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Qinghuan Li,1,* Yi Liang,1,* Zeng Liu,2 Chuanyun Yu1 1Oncology Radiotherapy Center, Xiangyang Central Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Hubei University of Arts and Science, Xiangyang, Hubei, 441021, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Oncology, Xiangyang Central Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Hubei University of Arts and Science, Xiangyang, Hubei, 441021, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Chuanyun Yu Tel/Fax +86-710-2813559Email yuchuanyunxy@163.comZeng Liu Email liu8901@126.comBackground: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) ranks the sixth most common cancer worldwide. This study aims to evaluate the associations of GWAS-identified HNSCC risk loci with progression, efficacy and toxicity of radiotherapy of HNSCC treated with radiotherapy.Methods: Six GWAS-identified risk loci were genotyped and evaluated. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine the associations of these SNPs with progression, efficacy and toxicity of radiotherapy of HNSCC treated with radiotherapy.Results: We found that rs259919 was significantly associated with higher TNM stage (allele A vs G: OR=1.49; 95% CI: 1.09– 2.03; P=0.012), while rs3135001 was significantly associated with better efficacy of radiotherapy (allele T vs C: OR=1.80, 95% CIs=1.19– 2.73, P=0.005). Both SNP rs1265081 (allele A vs C: OR=1.41, 95% CIs=1.08– 1.86, P=0.012) and rs3135001 (allele T vs allele C: OR=0.53, 95% CIs=0.35– 0.79, P=0.002) were significantly associated with the occurrence of grade 3– 4 oral mucositis.Conclusion: We identified that three GWAS-identified HNSCC risk loci were significantly associated with progression, efficacy and toxicity of radiotherapy of HNSCC. Our findings strengthen the understanding of the essential role of genetic background in the progression and therapeutic effects of HNSCC.Keywords: progression, genetic, radiotherapy, HNSCC, efficacy, toxicity

The physical properties of a snowpack strongly influence the emissions from the substratum, making snow property retrievals feasible by means of the surface brightness temperature observed by passi...

Background The poor outcomes in advanced gastric cancer (GC) necessitate alternative therapeutic strategy. Ubiquitin-specific protease 11 (USP11) has recently garnered attention as a therapeutic target in cancer because of its important regulatory role in cancer cell functions. Here, we revealed the expression, function and underlying molecular interactions of USP11 in gastric cancer. Methods The expression of USP11 was analyzed using immunohistochemistry and ELISA. The loss-of function and gain-of function analysis of USP11 was performed using siRNA knockdown and plasmid overexpression approaches. The downstream molecules regulated by USP11 were determined using immunoblotting analysis. Results USP11 was upregulated in ∼80% of gastric cancer patients, and the upregulation was associated with HER3 overexpression. In addition, USP11 level was not regulated by HER3 and vice versa. Functional studies demonstrated that USP11 overexpression promoted gastric cancer growth and migration, and alleviated toxicity-induced by chemotherapeutic drug. In contrast, USP11 depletion significantly inhibited gastric cancer growth, migration and survival, and augmented chemotherapeutic drug's efficacy. Gastric cancer cells with higher USP11 levels were more sensitive to USP11 inhibitions than cells with lower USP11 levels. Mechanism studies showed that USP11 depletion suppressed migration via RhoA-mediated pathway and inhibited growth and survival likely via Ras-mediated pathway. Conclusions Our work highlights the important role of USP11 in gastric cancer and therapeutic value of inhibiting USP11 to sensitize gastric cancer to chemotherapy.

ElectroMagnetic (EM) reasons resulting in temperature dependence of L-band Vegetation Optical Depth (L-VOD) are currently overlooked in remote sensing products. Discrepancies in retrievals of geophysical surface properties over vegetated areas can result from this incompleteness. This perception motivated to explore EM considerations in how temperature drives L-VOD of a boreal forest. Thereto, a novel physics-based model is developed and evaluated to assess L-VOD sensitivities to canopy temperature and some other model parameters. The L-VOD model is compared to L-VOD derived from close-range L-band brightness temperatures measured through the tree canopy at the Finnish Meteorological Institute's Arctic Research Center (FMI-ARC) in Sodankyla (Finland) during a 4-week and a 1-day period in 2019. Furthermore, the model's ability to explain L-VOD retrieved from brightness temperatures of the “Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity” (SMOS) satellite over the “Sodankyla grid cell” is investigated. Experimental L-VOD are maximal at around 0 °C and decrease when canopy temperature is moving away from zero degree Celsius. This temperature response, observed at different temporal- and spatial scales, is captured by the proposed L-VOD model and explained by freezing tree sap-water and the dependence of water permittivity on temperature. The demonstrated EM-induced temperature dependence suggest caution with interpreting satellite-based L-VOD, because increased L-VOD around the freezing point is not solely due to increased biomass or rehydration of the vegetation. Further, our study can find future application to compensate L-VOD for EM-induced temperature sensitivity. This potentially leads to improved explanatory power of temperature normalized L-VOD for characterization of forest phenology. Furthermore, we suggest examining the presence and strength of the demonstrated L-VOD temperature response as a practical L-VOD retrieval quality assessment method under steady forest phenology.

Moderate to high spatial resolution (

The Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) operates a suite of ground-based active and passive microwave instruments at a test site representative of the Northern boreal forest zone. The instruments provide hourly to daily multifrequency observations of microwave signatures from the natural landscape throughout the year. Supported by comprehensive in situ observations of soil, vegetation, snow and atmospheric conditions, the data enable testing and formulation of new methods to retrieve geophysical parameters from remote sensing data. Complementing ground-based observations, airborne campaigns have been used to extend the spatial scale of observations to cover different types of terrain. In this paper an overview of the site and instrumentation is given, giving examples of recent campaigns and use of the collected data in the development of new Earth Observation methods. All data, including the raw data observations, are available for research purposes from FMI.

Land use patterns are changing and the environment has become more vulnerable in an agro-pastoral ecotone in Inner Mongolia. Modeling studies can be done through studying the relationships between the soil organic carbon density (SOCD) and the influencing factors in differing land uses such as cropland, forest and grassland. Such studies can provide the basis for predicting soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and using land resources efficiently. Therefore, the relationships between the SOCD of surface soils and the influencing factors, such as soil type, slope and elevation, were selected for a study in differing land uses of Duolun County, Inner Mongolia. The results showed that: (1) The variation in SOCD among the soil types followed the same order in the three land uses: chernozems > meadow soils > bog soils > castanozems > gray-cinnamon soils > eolian soils. The sensitivity of SOCD to land use change was different for the six soil types. Both the degradation of grassland and the application of the government policy of returning forest from cropland induced the greatest variation in SOCD. (2) SOCD correlated significantly with soil type and elevation in each land use. There was a significant correlation between SOCD and slope in the forest. (3) Statistical models showing SOCD and the influencing factors were developed and provided the basis for predicting SOC stocks in Duolun County, Inner Mongolia.

Mouse or human T cells developing in xenogeneic porcine thymus are functional. With efficient peripheral repopulation of mouse T cells by grafting fetal pig thymus (FP THY), B6 nude mice were immunized with inactivated syngeneic melanoma, B16 cells. Splenocytes from B16-immunized FP THY-grafted B6 nude mice efficiently killed B16, but not EL4 target cells in cytotoxicity assays in vitro. Adoptive transfer of splenocytes from B16-immunizd FP THY-grafted B6 nude mice to B16-bearing B6 mice significantly prolonged recipient survival and inhibited B16 solid tumor growth when B16 cells were injected IV or SC, respectively, compared with the identical controls. Splenocytes from nonimmunized FP THY-grafted B6 nude mice failed to protect B6 mice from B 16-induced mortality. The present data have demonstrated that mouse T cells maturing in xenogeneic thymus have the ability to kill syngeneic tumor cells. This study may offer a novel resource to produce host antitumor T cells for adoptive immunotherapy of tumor patients.

The CNO2 bond dissociation energies (BDEs) and the heats of formation (HOFs) of nitromethane and polynitromethanes (dinitromethane, trinitromethane, and tetranitromethane) system in gas phase at 298.15 K were calculated theoretically. Density functional theory (DFT) B3LYP, B3P86, B3PW91, and PBE0 methods in combination with different basis sets were employed. It was found that the CNO2 bond BDEs can be improved from B3LYP to B3PW91 to B3P86 or PBE0 functional. Levels of theory employing B3P86 and PBE0 functionals were found to be sufficiently reliable without the presence of diffusion functions. As the number of NO2 groups on the same C atom increases, the PBE0 functional performs better than the B3P86 functional. Regarding the calculated HOFs, all four functionals can yield satisfactory results with deviations of

Differentiation and proliferation of haematopoietic progenitor cells occur in intimate contact with the bone marrow microenvironment which is composed of stromal cells and extracellular matrix proteins. MOP3 (also known as brain and muscle Arnt-like protein-1, BMAL1), a master regulator of circadian rhythm, plays important roles in the regulation of cell differentiation and general physical functions. In the present studies, MOP3-deficient mice had significantly reduced levels of B cells in the peripheral blood, spleen and bone marrow compared MOP3(+/-) or MOP3(+/+) littermates. Flow cytometry analysis showed the levels of pre-B cells in bone marrow of MOP3(-/-) mice were similar as that in control mice. Adoptive transfer of MOP3(-/-) bone marrow cells (BMC) to lethally irradiated BALB/c Rag2(-/-) recipients, normal T and B cell development was observed, whereas Adoptive transfer of BALB/c BMC to lethally irradiated MOP3(-/-) recipients, B-cell development was significantly impaired. These results presented herein with MOP3-deficient mice reveal the involvement of MOP3 in the development of B cells, but not other immune cells. The effect of MOP3 on the differentiation of pre-B cells to mature B cells might be mediated by the bone marrow microenvironment. This study also showed a connection between a master regular of circadian rhythm with B-cell development in mice.

MOP3 (also known as BMAL1), a master regulator of circadian rhythm, plays important roles in the regulation of cell differentiation and general physical functions. In the present studies, MOP3 deficient mice had significantly reduced body weight and showed remarkable mortality around six months of age. The levels of AST, ALT, BUN, or UREA in the blood of about four month-old MOP3(-/-) mice were significantly higher than MOP3(+/-) or MOP3(+/+) littermates. However, no apparent pathological changes in the livers, hearts, lungs or kidneys of about four month-old MOP3(-/-) mice were observed. In addition, altered levels of white blood cells, lymphocytes, and platelets in peripheral blood of MOP3(-/-)mice were detected. The results presented herein with MOP3-deficient mice offered the basic principle for the essential roles of MOP3 in keeping normal survival abilities in mice. This study may have significant clinical impacts on the consideration about the abnormality of circadian rhythms and sleeping disorders caused physical and metabolism dysfunctions as well as the mortality.