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Background Although FOXO3a can inhibit the cell proliferation of prostate cancer, its relationship with reactive oxygen species (ROS) in prostate cancer (PCa) has not been reported. Methods We analyzed the correlation between the expression of FOXO3a and the antioxidant enzyme catalase in prostate cancer with the TCGA and GEPIA databases. We also constructed a PPI network of FOXO3a via the STRING database. The mRNA and protein expression of FOXO3a and catalase were detected by qRT-PCR or western blotting in LNCaP and 22RV1 cells treated with DHT, R1881, or Enzalutamide. The effects of FOXO3a on catalase expression were tested by over-expressing or knocking down FOXO3a in LNCaP cells. Furthermore, the catalase activity and ROS level were detected in LNCaP cells treated with DHT. Cell proliferation and ROS were also analyzed in LNCaP which was treated with antioxidant. Results Results showed that the catalase expression was down-regulated in prostate cancer. A positive correlation between FOXO3a and catalase existed. DHT treatment could significantly reduce FOXO3a and catalase expression at mRNA and protein level in LNCaP cells. Catalase expression partly depended on FOXO3a as over-expression and knockdown of FOXO3a could result in the expresssion change of catalase. DHT treatment was found to inhibit catalase activity and increase ROS level in prostate cancer cell. Our study also demonstrated that antioxidant treatment reduced DHT-induced proliferation and ROS production in prostate cancer cell. Conclusions We discovered a novel mechanism by which DHT promotes prostate cancer cell proliferation via suppressing catalase activity and activating ROS signaling via a FOXO3a dependent manner.

C-reactive protein (CRP) can exist in both pentameric (pCRP) and monomeric conformation (mCRP). Though serum pCRP is an established marker of inflammation, the diagnostic significance of mCRP remains unknown largely due to the lack of a reliable assay. The power and specificity of antibody-based assays are limited by the antibody reagents used and by the degree of cross-reactivity that may exist in detecting each antigen, as mCRP is known to be formed from the pentameric and both conformations usually coexist in clinical samples. Here, we describe an assay that measures both CRP conformations in simple samples in a single assay. This assay depends on the rationale that the intra-molecular disulfide bonds in pCRP resist reduction, while those in mCRP can be readily reduced. The distinct sensitivity of pCRP and mCRP to reduction can be easily detected and separated by electrophoresis. This assay may provide a means to study clinical correlation between pCRP and mCRP in clinical samples in the future and to evaluate their respective significance as disease markers.

Iron is an essential metal ion in the human body and usually dysregulated in cancers. However, a comprehensive overview of the iron-related genes and their clinical relevance in cancer is lacking. In this study, we utilized the expression profiling, proteomics, and epigenetics from the Cancer Genome Atlas database to systematically characterized the alterations of iron-related genes. There were multiple iron-related genes with dysregulation across 14 cancers and some of these ectopic changes may be associated with aberrant DNA methylation. Meanwhile, a variety of genes were significantly associated with patient survival, especially in kidney renal clear cell carcinoma. Then differentially expressed genes were validated in clinical samples. Finally, we found deferoxamine and erastin could inhibit proliferation in various tumor cells and influence the expression of several iron-related genes. Overall, our study provides a comprehensive analysis of iron metabolism across cancers and highlights the potential treatment of iron targeted therapies for cancers.

Background. The tumor-infiltrating immune cells are closely associated with the prognosis of gastric cancer (GC). This article is aimed at determining the composition change of immune cells and immune regulatory factors in GC and normal tissues, depicting their prognosis value in GC, and revealing the relationship between them and GC clinical parameters. Methods. We used CIBERSORT to calculate the proportion of 22 immune cells in the GC or normal tissues; a t -test was applied to assess the expression difference of immune cells and immune regulatory factors in normal and GC tissues. The relationship of the immune cells, immune regulatory factors, and GC patients’ clinical characteristics was assessed by univariate analysis. Results. In this study, we found that the proportion of macrophages increased, while plasma cells and monocytes decreased in GC tissues. In these immune fractions, Tregs and naïve B cells were found to be correlated with GC patients’ prognosis. Interestingly, the expression of immune regulatory factors was ambiguous with their classical function in GC tissues. For example, TIM-3, FOXP3, and CMTM6 were overexpressed, while CD27 and PD-1 were underexpressed in GC tissues. We also found that IDO1, PD-1, TIGIT, and TIM-3 were highly expressed in high-grade GC tissues, the HERC2 expression level was related to patients’ gender, and the TIGIT expression level was sensitive to targeted therapy. Furthermore, our results suggested that the infiltration of Tregs and naive B cells was strongly correlated with the T stage, radiation therapy, targeted molecular therapy, and the expression levels of TIM-3 and FOXP3 in GC. Conclusion. The expression pattern of tumor-infiltrating immune cells and immune regulatory factors was systematically depicted in the GC tumor microenvironment, indicating that individualized treatment based on the tumor-infiltrating immune cells and immune regulatory factors may be beneficial to GC patients.

FOXO3a is an important member of the FOXO subfamily of Forkhead transcription factors, which plays an important role in promoting cell apoptosis, inducing cell cycle arrest, inhibiting cell proliferation and suppressing tumor metastasis through phosphorylation, ubiquitination-mediated degradation and microRNA. Studies show that upregulated expression of FOXO3a can inhibit the growth of PCa cells. This review summarizes the advances in the studies of the FOXO3a signaling pathway in PCa, aiming to provide some new ideas on the clinical diagnosis and targeted therapy of the malignancy.

Summary This article reports a Przewalski's horse from the Kalamaili Nature Reserve (KNR) in China transported to our institute to determine the cause of death. The animal had been subjected to necropsy before being transported to our institute; the entire digestive tract was removed but not opened to reduce the possible loss of parasites. During examination, ascarids in the intestines and bots in the oral cavity and stomach were observed. The parasites were identified according to an identification key and enumerated. The ascarids were identified as Parascaris spp. and were associated with a volvulus, resulting in intestinal obstruction. A total of two (stomach), one (duodenum) and 106 (intestines) Parascaris spp. were counted. Bots in the digestive tract were identified as third stage larvae of Gasterophilus pecorum (G. pecorum), Gasterophilus nigricornis (G. nigricornis) and Gasterophilus nasalis (G. nasalis), which may have been associated with stomach ulcers suffered by the horse. Attached to the lining of the oral cavity and stomach were 331 and 2014, respectively, larvae of G. pecorum, while in the duodenum there were 23 third stage larvae of G. nigricornis and 20 third stage larvae of G. nasalis. Therefore, the possibility of the presence of these parasites should not be overlooked in Przewalski horses as these parasites may be responsible for severe clinical signs in infected animals.

Human C-reactive protein (CRP) is a serum-soluble pattern recognition receptor that serves as a marker of inflammation and directly contributes to innate immunity. In this study, we show that human CRP also directly contributes to adaptive immunity, that is, native CRP binds specifically to human Jurkat T cells and to mouse naive CD4+ T cells and modulates their Th1 and Th2 responses. In vitro both exogenously added (purified) and endogenously expressed (via transfection) human CRP inhibited Th1 differentiation and augmented Th2 differentiation of naive CD4+ T cells. In vivo for human CRP transgenic compared with wild-type mice, a lesser proportion of the T cells recovered from the spleens of healthy animals were Th1 cells. Moreover, in both CRP transgenic mice and in wild-type mice treated with human CRP, during myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein peptide–induced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis both the Th1 cell response and disease severity were inhibited. These pattern recognition–independent actions of CRP directly on T cells highlights the potential for this soluble pattern recognition receptor to act as a tonic regulator of immunity, shaping global adaptive immune responses during both homeostasis and disease.

A survey was conducted on the detection of the larval Gasterophilus species in 90 equines via necropsy or after administering oral ivermectin in Xinjian, China, from 2008 to 2013. All 90 (100%) equines were infested by larval Gasterophilus, and 3723second instar larvae (L2) and 63,778 third instar larvae (L3) were collected from faecal samples and the digestive tract, a ratio of L2:L3=1:17. Over 84.45% of the animals contained ≤1500 larvae and 7.78% had >2000 larvae. The highest totals of L2 and L 3 larvae in any one animal were 1208 in Mongolian wild ass (Equus hemionus hemionus), 2491 in Przewalski's horse (Equus ferus przewalskii), and 1785 in the domestic horse (Equus ferus caballus). Six species of Gasterophilus were identified, with the following proportions of overall parasite abundance: Gasterophilus pecorum 88.94%, Gasterophilus nigricornis 4.94%, Gasterophilus nasalis 3.93%, Gasterophilus haemorrhoidalis 1.91%, Gasterophilus intestinalis 0.19%, and Gasterophilus inermis 0.087%. A majority of equines (n=32, 35.57%) was infested with five Gasterophilus species, while 29 animals (32.22%) harboured four species, 13 animals (14.44%) had six, 12 animals (13.33%) had three, three (3.33%) had two, and one (1.11%) had only one species. The percentage of Przewalski's horses infested was higher than local domestic horse or Mongolian wild ass.

A nonlinear and coupling model is established according to the multi-layer register system working principle in gravure printed electronic equipments, and then, the linear model of the register system is constructed based on one order Taylor formula. In order to improve the speed and accuracy of register control, a feedforward PID control algorithm is presented according to the linear model in multi-layer register system. This algorithm is unique in that it uses the PID to adjust the inputs of the register system, and feedforward compensation for the known disturbance, making the register control accuracy has been greatly improved. The simulation shows that the proposed register controller is able to realize a high precision control for the register system and endowed with better control performance than PID controller in register control.

Oviposition site selection is an important aspect of the behavioural ecology of insects. A comparison of the habitats used by a species enhances our understanding of their adaptation to altered environments. We collected data on the oviposition behaviours of Gasterophilus pecorum (Diptera: Gasterophilidae) in its habitat in Kalamaili Nature Reserve (KNR), Xinjiang, China between March and October 2014. We found 91 quadrats were used by G. pecorum for oviposition. Examining 13 ecological factors using the t-test, chi-square test, and principal component analysis showed that G. pecorum’s oviposition habitat was preferentially on slopes with inclinations of 10–30° that were semi-sunny, semi-cloudy slopes, in positions high or low on the slopes, with preferences for total plants lower than 10% and Stipa capillata coverage lower than 10% on the low slopes, but Ceratoides latens coverage on the high and intermediate slopes, when the numbers of plant species and families were lower than five. G. pecorum often selected sites at a distance

In the printing process, it mainly depends on the stability of systematic tension control to ensure the quality of print. Meanwhile, systematic tension is mainly created from unwinding section, from which it is easy to cause fluctuation and variation of tension. Hence, how to maintain the stability of the tension in unwinding system has become a key problem to tension control system. Unwinding system is a typical multi-input-multi-output, nonlinear and strong coupling system. It is difficult to control with the traditional design method. In this paper, we realize the system’s decoupling and linearization based on the inverse system theory, which make the system change from a coupled and nonlinear system to two order pseudo-linear systems after a series of control variable transformations. We introduce active-damping into the pseudo-linear system to overcome the zero-damping and enhance the ability of disturbance-resist. On the basis of these, a PID controller is designed for the unwinding tension control system. Though simulation and analysis, it shows that the proposed strategy of inverse system decoupling control can achieve the decoupling unwinding control system, and the PID controller which is designed after introducing the active-damping makes the system get an ideal control effect.

The title compound, 1,1′,8,8′-tetra­methoxy-9,9′-bianthracene-10,10′(9H,9′H)-dione, C32H26O6, was obtained by the reduction of 1,8-di­methoxy­anthra­quinone with sodium borohydride and tri­fluoro­acetic acid. In the anthrone dimers, the methoxy and carbonyl groups are attached to opposite sides of the anthracene rings. In the solid state, the mol­ecule has a crystallographically imposed centre of symmetry located at the mid-point of the C—C bond linking the two anthracene systems.

In high-speed and high-precision printing process, the stability of tension control is essential for printing control system because the fluctuation and variation of tension have an important influence on the precision of the print register. This paper presents a unique decoupling controller based on active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) method in order to strengthen the stability of the tension in unwinding system of gravure printing machines. In this paper, we first construct a nonlinear decoupling model in order to get the order and the static decoupling part of the unwinding system. Secondly, based on the order and the static decoupling part, an ADRC decoupling controller is designed for the unwinding tension system of gravure printing machines. Finally, the results of simulation with ADRC and PID controllers show that the proposed tension controller achieves a good decoupling control for unwinding system and has better robustness against internal and external disturbance than traditional PID controller in tension control of the unwinding system.

C-reactive protein (CRP) is an established marker of inflammation with pattern-recognition receptor-like activities. Despite the close association of the serum level of CRP with the risk and prognosis of several types of cancer, it remains elusive whether CRP contributes directly to tumorigenesis or just represents a bystander marker. We have recently identified recurrent mutations at the SNP position -286 (rs3091244) in the promoter of CRP gene in several tumor types, instead suggesting that locally produced CRP is a potential driver of tumorigenesis. However, it is unknown whether the -286 site is the sole SNP position of CRP gene targeted for mutation and whether there is any association between CRP SNP mutations and other frequently mutated genes in tumors. Herein, we have examined the genotypes of three common CRP non-coding SNPs (rs7553007, rs1205, rs3093077) in tumor/normal sample pairs of 5 cancer types (n = 141). No recurrent somatic mutations are found at these SNP positions, indicating that the -286 SNP mutations are preferentially selected during the development of cancer. Further analysis reveals that the -286 SNP mutations of CRP tend to co-occur with mutated APC particularly in rectal cancer (p = 0.04; n = 67). By contrast, mutations of CRP and p53 or K-ras appear to be unrelated. There results thus underscore the functional importance of the -286 mutation of CRP in tumorigenesis and imply an interaction between CRP and Wnt signaling pathway.

In the title compound {systematic name: (R,R)-4,4′-di­chloro-2,2′-[cyclo­hexane-1,2-diyl­bis­(nitrilo­methyl­idyne)]­diphenol},C20H20Cl2N2O2, there are two chiral C atoms and two intramolecular O—H⋯N hydrogen bonds. The molecule lies on a twofold rotation axis. The crystal structure is stabilized by intermolecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, which link the mol­ecules into one-dimensional helical chains along the b axis.