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Summary: Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in women. Among breast cancer types, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) accounts for 15% of all breast cancers with aggressive tumor behavior. By using bioinformatic approaches, we observed that the microRNA-708 promoter is highly methylated in breast carcinomas, and this methylation is linked to a poor prognosis. Moreover, microRNA-708 expression correlates with better clinical outcomes in TNBC patients. Combination treatment with the hypomethylating agent decitabine and synthetic glucocorticoid significantly increased the expression of microRNA-708, reactivated DNMT-suppressed pathways, and decreased the expression of multiple metastasis-promoting genes such as matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and IL-1β, leading to the suppression of breast cancer cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, as well as reduced tumor growth and distant metastasis in the TNBC xenograft mouse model. Overall, our study reveals a therapeutic opportunity in which a combined regimen of decitabine with glucocorticoid may have therapeutic potential in treating TNBC patients.

A novel PID-type fuzzy logic controller (FLC) with an online fuzzy tuner was created to maintain stable in situ control of the cutting front temperature, aiming to enhance the laser process for thin non-oriented electrical steel sheets. In the developed controller, the output scaling factors and the universe of discourse were initially optimized using a hybrid of the particle swarm optimization and grey wolf optimization methods. The optimal parameters obtained were utilized in experiments involving the laser cutting of thin non-oriented electrical steel sheets, compared to an open-loop control system maintaining a constant cutting speed. The PID-type FLC with an online fuzzy tuner demonstrated a superior cutting quality, generating a smaller roundness and a reduced heat-affected zone (HAZ) through the in situ tuning of control parameters. Particularly, the HAZ width was significantly smaller than that reported in a previous study which used fuzzy gain scheduling for temperature control. Moreover, the cutting time was diminished by optimally adjusting the cutting speed using PID-type FLC with an online fuzzy tuner. Therefore, the accumulated heat in the steel sheet, particularly under high laser pulse frequencies, was effectively reduced, making it suitable for industrial applications.

BackgroundSuicide is still the leading cause of death in the 15 to 34-year age group, especially for girls aging 15 to 19-year old. In China particularly, the suicide rate of female is 60% higher than male. The gender difference on suicidal ideation and its patterns with academic, family, social and health-risk factors is unknown among adolescents in Beijing, China.MethodsA total of 33 635 students in grades 7-12 in Beijing participated in the 2014 Chinese Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance. Data were stratified by gender and associations with suicidal ideation were analyzed using χ2 test and multivariate regression analyses. The interaction effects on suicidal ideation between gender and the related behaviors were also analyzed.ResultsThe prevalence of suicidal ideation was significantly higher for girls (13.3%) than boys (10.7%). The multivariate regression analyses indicated that high academic pressure, running away from home, feeling lonely or sad/hopeless, being bullied, fighting, and binge drinking were significantly associated with suicidal ideation in boys and girls. Factors more strongly associated with suicidal ideation in girls than boys were being in junior vs senior high school (girl vs boys: 1.24 vs NA), high academic pressure (2.42 vs 1.55), ever smoking (1.52 vs NA), binge drinking (1.30 vs 1.17), fighting once (1.63 vs 1.06) and being sad/hopeless (2.39 vs 2.04) and their interaction with gender were all statistically significant (P

Abstract Purpose To investigate whether a cocktail therapy of dexamethasone, ropivacaine, dexmedetomidine, and vitamin B12 can achieve satisfactory pain relief and promote early functional recovery after PPECD. Methods Eighty single-level patients with CDH who received PPECD were retrospectively divided into two groups: the cocktail and control groups. Clinical data were recorded and evaluated by a dedicated physician who was not involved in the patient’s treatment. The primary clinical outcomes included visual analog scores (VASs) for upper limber pain and neck disability index (NDI) scores. The follow-up time points were preoperatively and postoperative 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months. The modified MacNab criteria was used to evaluate the surgical effect of the last follow-up. Results The follow-up data of 74 cases were complete, except 6 cases lost to follow-up. There was no significant difference between the two groups in demographics, duration of symptoms, operation stage (p > 0.05), and operation time (80.5 ± 5.5 vs. 81.5 ± 3.5 min). The VAS in the upper limbs pain was significantly higher postoperatively than preoperatively in both groups (p 0.05). In the control group, two cases with foraminal stenosis were found to have unrelieved pain in the early postoperative period, but the pain was relieved at the final follow-up and did not convert to open decompression surgery. Conclusions Cocktail treatment, in which a drug sustained-release material made of gelatin sponge was impregnated with dexamethasone, ropivacaine, dexmedetomidine and vitamin B12, facilitates pain relief and early postoperative recovery after PPECD.

Regulating the morphology and composition of Fe-containing phases can significantly improve the mechanical properties of Al–Mg–Si alloys. Here, we successfully prepared the high-performance AA6061 alloys by the route of sub-rapid solidification (SRS) based on twin-roll casting (TRC). Excellent tensile strength (∼372 MPa) and elongation (∼19%) were achieved in the peak-aged TRC sample, which increased simultaneously compared with the counterpart (∼351 MPa and ∼14%) fabricated via ingot casting (IC). It was found that the strength-ductility synergy of the TRC sample was caused by the high cooling rate, wherein the SRS can refine the microstructure significantly and promote the reaction from the AlFeSi to the AlFeMgSi (Mg:Fe:Si = 1:1.5:2.5) phase. The centerline segregation in the TRC strip could be well mitigated during solution treatment because the reduced size and Mg-incorporation accelerated the redissolution of AlFeMgSi phases. The alleviative segregation greatly promoted supersaturated solution, and thus contributing to the synergy of strength and ductility. Meanwhile, the Si-rich AlFeMgSi phase could decompose into the Fe-rich α-AlFeSi (Fe:Si > 1) during solution treatment, which expanded the solid solubility of Si and Mg. Therefore, an enhanced aging hardening response was obtained in the peak-aged TRC sample, showing the high number density and volume fraction of β” phase. The results would provide guidelines for developing high-performance Al–Mg–Si alloys based on the SRS during TRC.