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The plant hormones cytokinin (CK) and abscisic acid (ABA) play critical and often opposite roles during plant growth, development, and responses to abiotic and biotic stresses. Rose (Rosa sp.) is an economically important ornamental crop sold as cut flowers. Rose petals are extremely susceptible to gray mold disease caused by the necrotrophic fungal pathogen Botrytis cinerea. The infection of rose petals by B. cinerea leads to tissue collapse and rot, causing severe economic losses. In this study, we showed that CK and ABA play opposite roles in the susceptibility of rose to B. cinerea. Treatment with CK enhanced the disease protection of rose petals to B. cinerea, while ABA promoted disease progression. We further demonstrated that rose flowers activate CK-mediated disease protection via a B. cinerea-induced rose transcriptional repressor, Rosa hybrida (Rh)WRKY13, which is an ortholog of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), AtWRKY40. RhWRKY13 binds to promoter regions of the CK degradation gene CKX3 (RhCKX3) and the ABA-response gene ABA insensitive4 (RhABI4), leading to simultaneous inhibition of their expression in rose petals. The increased CK content and reduced ABA responses result in enhanced protection from B. cinerea. Collectively, these data reveal opposite roles for CK and ABA in the susceptibility of rose petals against B. cinerea infection, which is mediated by B. cinerea-induced RhWRKY13 expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The characteristics, formation mechanisms, and influences on physical properties of carbonate minerals in shale reservoirs of Wufeng-Longmaxi formations in Sichuan Basin are systematically investigated by utilizing electron probe microscope with spectrometer and energy spectrometer, combined with physical properties and whole rock X-diffraction and organic carbon data. The research yielded the findings that follow: First, the main carbonate minerals are calcite, dolomite, and ferriferous dolomite. Calcite is a single mineral that fills the siliceous shell cavity of radiolarians and exists between mineral particles. Ferriferous dolomite always rings dolomite, which is a single mineral that is present among mineral particles and aggregates. Second, calcite is produced by microorganisms that secrete calcium carbonate in the surface of seawater. The siliceous skeleton cavity of radiolarian and seawater both precipitate calcite, which partially dissolves while settling in seawater before depositing on the seabed and being preserved by burial. Thirdly, the dolomite is a diagenetic mineral formed on the water-sediment interface with physiological activities of sulfate bacteria, and the ferriferous dolomite is produced by methanogenic metabolism during the initial burial of muddy sediments. Fourthly, organic carbon, pyrite, quartz, and clay minerals are closely related to reservoir physical properties, while carbonate has no effect on porosity and permeability as a whole. Future research on shale reservoir diagenesis should make use of the in-situ detection and element area scanning, in particular with the spectrogram from electron probe microscope technology, which provides typical petrological evidences for the study of characteristics, formation mechanism, and influence on physical properties of carbonate minerals in shale reservoirs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid technological advances in hydraulic fracturing, the economic development of ultra-tight gas/oil reservoirs becomes feasible, altering current energy image between demand and supply. The key parameter evaluating the artificial hydraulic fracture is the long-term conductivity, manifesting the transport capacity for reservoir fluids. The majority of previous contributions focused on the impacts of inherent proppant properties on long-term fracture conductivity, while the influence induced by mixture proppants with a wide range of particle size has not received due attention. In particular, as for the realistic field case, multiple types of proppants with diverse particle sizes are utilized to reach desirable conductivity. At the same time, the stress conditions inevitably change within the depressurization development process, leading to the evident enhancement of closing pressure towards artificial fracture, acting as the detrimental role for long-term fracture conductivity. As a result, it is dramatically necessary and urgent to reveal the mutual influence arising from mixture proppants as well as closing pressure. In order to address this issue, series of laboratory experiments are implemented, and comprehensive theoretical analysis in terms of experimental data is performed. Results show that (a) reduction of particle size is observed with increasing closing pressure, the average decreasing rate approaches 19.3%; (b) Closing pressure acts as a detrimental role impairing conductivity, the amplitude is able to reach 42.1% as for the mixture case with a relatively high proportion of mesh-20/40 particles; (c) Mixing proppants uniformly fails to enhance fracture conductivity effectively, and the forward segmentation is demonstrated as the suitable strategy and beneficial for fluid transport capacity. The contribution expects to advance current understanding regarding the impact of mixture proppants on long-term fracture conductivity. • Laboratory experiments are implemented to examine long-term fracture conductivity. • Multiple factors are investigated, including closing pressure, mixture ratio, as well as mixture strategy. • Mixing proppants uniformly fails to enhance fracture conductivity effectively. • Decreasing amplitude reaches 42.1% as for relative high proportion of mesh-20/40 particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Numerous studies have indicated that the apoptosis and proliferation of granulosa cells (GCs) are closely related to the normal growth and development of follicles and ovaries. Previous evidence has suggested that miR-126-3p might get involved in the apoptosis and proliferation of GCs, and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase regulatory subunit 2 (PIK3R2) gene has been predicted as one target of miR-126-3p. However, the molecular regulation of miR- 126-3p on PIK3R2 and the effects of PIK3R2 on porcine GCs apoptosis and proliferation remain virtually unexplored. Methods: In this study, using porcine GCs as a cellular model, luciferase report assay, mutation and deletion were applied to verify the targeting relationship between miR-126-3p and PIK3R2. Annexin-V/PI staining and 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine assay were applied to explore the effect of PIK3R2 on GCs apoptosis and proliferation, respectively. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western Blot were applied to explore the regulation of miR- 126-3p on PIK3R2 expression. Results: We found that miR-126-3p targeted at PIK3R2 and inhibited its mRNA and protein expression. Knockdown of PIK3R2 significantly inhibited the apoptosis and promoted the proliferation of porcine GCs, and significantly down-regulated the mRNA expression of several key genes of PI3K pathway such as insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R), insulin receptor (INSR), pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 1 (PDK1), and serine/threonine kinase 1 (AKT1). Conclusion: MiR-126-3p might target and inhibit the mRNA and protein expressions of PIK3R2, thereby inhibiting GC apoptosis and promoting GC proliferation by down-regulating several key genes of the PI3K pathway, IGF1R, INSR, PDK1, and AKT1. These findings would provide great insight into further exploring the molecular regulation of miR-126-3p and PIK3R2 on the functions of GCs during the folliculogenesis in female mammals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cell cycle-regulated methylation state of Caulobacter DNA mediates the temporal control of transcriptional activation of several key regulatory proteins. Temporally controlled synthesis of the CcrM DNA methyltransferase and Lon-mediated proteolysis restrict CcrM to a specific time in the cell cycle, thereby allowing the maintenance of the hemimethylated state of the chromosome during the progression of DNA replication. We determined that a chromosomal DNA-based platform stimulates CcrM degradation by Lon and that the CcrM C terminus both binds to its DNA substrate and is recognized by the Lon protease. Upon asymmetric cell division, swarmer and stalked progeny cells employ distinct mechanisms to control active CcrM. In progeny swarmer cells, CcrM is completely degraded by Lon before its differentiation into a replication-competent stalked cell later in the cell cycle. In progeny stalked cells, however, accumulated CcrM that has not been degraded before the immediate initiation of DNA replication is sequestered to the cell pole. Single-molecule imaging demonstrated physical anticorrelation between sequestered CcrM and chromosomal DNA, thus preventing DNA remethylation. The distinct control of available CcrM in progeny swarmer and stalked cells serves to protect the hemimethylated state of DNA during chromosome replication, enabling robustness of cell cycle progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The natural course of radiation encephalopathy following nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) radiotherapy remains poorly understood. The present study aimed to investigate the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) characteristics and evolution of radiation encephalopathy. A series of 162 follow‑up MRI examinations from 68 NPC patients with radiation encephalopathy in the temporal lobes were analyzed retrospectively. Each component of radiation encephalopathy was defined as follows: i) contrast enhanced lesions were enhanced lesions on contrast enhanced T1‑weighted images (T1WI); ii) white matter lesions were lesions of homogeneous hyperintensity on T2‑weighted images (T2WI) and hypointensity on T1WI; iii) cysts were round or oval well‑defined lesions of hyperintensity on T2WI; iv) hemosiderin deposition were nodular or annular hypointense lesions with lower hypointense than normal white matter on both T1WI and T2WI; v) gray matter lesions were defined as disruption or erosion of hyperintensity in the cortex on T2WI. Contrast enhanced lesions, white matter lesions, gray matter lesions, cysts and hemosiderin deposition were detected in 105 (100.0%), 98 (93.3%), 94 (89.5%), 2 (1.7%) and 2 (1.7%) cases of the 105 initial diagnosed temporal lobe lesions. Contrast enhanced lesions were the most commonly observed, followed by white matter lesions, gray matter lesions, temporal lobe atrophy, cysts and hemosiderin deposition. In addition, 12 new lesions were identified during the follow‑up, 4 of which presented as solid enhanced nodular lesions. Importantly, in 11 of the 117 (9.4%) affected temporal lobes, solid enhanced nodular lesions were observed to be the only initial abnormalities to occur. For those enhanced nodular lesions measuring <0.8 cm, no necrosis could be detected. On the contrary, all the contrast enhanced lesions measuring >2.0 cm exhibited a necrotic core. To the best of our knowledge, the present study revealed for the first time solid enhanced nodular lesions as the earliest MRI abnormalities of radiation encephalopathy following NPC radiotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cordycepin exhibits various bio-activities, including anticancer, antibacterial, antiviral and immune regulation activities, and is a significant focus of research. However, the preparation of high-purity cordycepin remains challenging. Also, the molecular target with which cordycepin interacts to cause an antibacterial effect remains unknown. In the present study, cordycepin was prepared by preparative high-performance liquid chromatography (prep-HPLC) and the purity obtained was 99.6%, indicating that this technique may be useful for the large-scale isolation of cordycepin in the future. The results of computational molecular docking analysis indicated that the interaction energy between cordycepin and NAD+ -dependent DNA ligase (LigA) was lower than that between cordycepin and other common antibacterial targets. The highly pure cordycepin obtained by prep-HPLC demonstrated inhibitory activity against LigA from various bacteria in vitro. In conclusion, cordycepin may be useful as a broad-spectrum antibiotic targeting LigA in various bacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is currently no consensus regarding the optimal radiation volume for high-grade glioma (HGG). The brain volume irradiated is associated with the extent of radiation neurotoxicity. When reducing the treatment volume, the risk of geographic tumor miss should be considered. In such cases, the recurrence patterns and, particularly, the rate of marginal tumor recurrence, are important indices for determining the optimal radiation volume. In the present study, a smaller-target delineation protocol with limited margins was adopted. The postoperative enhancing tumor and resection cavity were defined as gross tumor volume (GTV); 1 and 2 cm were added to the GTV to create clinical target volume (CTV1 and CTV2), which received 60 and 54 Gy, respectively. At a median follow-up of 14 months, 54 HGG patients developed tumor recurrence. The median overall and progression-free survival were 14 and 10.5 months, respectively. A total of 34 patients developed central recurrence, 8 presented with in-field recurrence, 2 developed marginal recurrence, 2 had distant recurrence and 11 patients developed cerebrospinal fluid dissemination, 2 of whom developed central recurrence, with 1 patient simultaneously developing marginal recurrence. Local recurrence (central and in-field) was found to be the main recurrence pattern. As the rate of marginal recurrence was low (<5%), it appears that the smaller irradiated volume in the present study was appropriate. However, clinical trials investigating limited irradiation volume are required to validate our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cell fusion occurs in development and in physiology and rarely in those settings is it associated with malignancy. However, deliberate fusion of cells and possibly untoward fusion of cells not suitably poised can eventuate in aneuploidy, DNA damage and malignant transformation. How often cell fusion may initiate malignancy is unknown. However, cell fusion could explain the high frequency of cancers in tissues with low underlying rates of cell proliferation and mutation. On the other hand, cell fusion might also engage innate and adaptive immune surveillance, thus helping to eliminate or retard malignancies. Here we consider whether and how cell fusion might weigh on the overall burden of cancer in modern societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A multi-model data fusion algorithm based on social image features and its corresponding text description is proposed. Firstly, three different features are investigated, and particularly, uniform colour space (UCS) is used to improve performance of colour pattern recognition. Similarity of different images is measured using the text associated with social image information, which can enhance the distinguish ability of the original image features. The experimental results show that compared with using text feature or image features, combining two kinds of information can achieve better clustering performance. The proposed clustering algorithm based on pre-classification and multi-model data fusion is better than commonly used clustering algorithms at present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What kind of information is used and in which way the particles interact with each other have direct effects on the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm efficiency. In order to use the information more fully, effectively and reasonably, the paper proposes a fully and discriminatorily informed PSO (FDIPSO) algorithm. Unlike the traditional PSO algorithm, the algorithm takes the positive effects of all the superior neighbors and the negative effects of the inferior particles into account and employs different mechanisms for attractive and repulsive effects to prevent confusion of swarm evolution caused by the different effects. The superior information is fully used to build high quality equilibrium points as attractors to guide particles while the repulsive effect from inferior information is embodied by introducing an 'escape coefficient' to help adjust the movement of particles. Experimental studies are conducted on a set of well-known benchmark functions including unimodal, multimodal and rotated problems. Computational results show positive effect and negative effect work collaboratively in FIDPSO, verify the relative superiority of this strategy over four other information sharing strategies and indicate that the approach outperforms several other state-of-art PSO variants on the test problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The oil and gas potential of the Yan'an Formation in the Ordos Basin has yet to be fully tapped. In this study, the pore structure, mobile fluid saturation, and water flooding micro-mechanism of the Yan'an Formation sandstone are systematically studied through the application of a series of rock physics and fluid experiments. The results show that there is a good positive correlation between porosity and permeability, and the reservoirs are divided into types I, II, and III. Mercury injection tests show that the average pore throat radius of the oil-bearing reservoir ranges from 1 to 7 mm. The displacement pressure of the Yan'an Formation is also relatively low, and it decreases from 0.1 MPa to 0.01 MPa as the rock porosity increases from 11% to 18%. NMR tests show that small (diameter <0.5 mm) and medium pores (diameter ranging from 0.5 to 2.5 mm) are predominant in the reservoir. Different types of reservoirs have different characteristics of relative permeability curve. In addition, when the average oil recovery rate is less than 1 ml/min, the oil displacement efficiency increases faster. However, when the average oil recovery rate is between 1e3.5 ml/min, the oil displacement efficiency is maintained at around 27%e30%. Physical properties of the reservoir, pore-throat structure, experimental pressure difference, and pore volume injected d all have significant effects on oil displacement efficiency. For Type I and Type II reservoirs, the increase of the pore volume injected has a significant effect on oil displacement efficiency. However, for Type III reservoirs, the change of pore volume injected has insignificant effect on oil displacement efficiency. This study provides a reference for the formulation of estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) measures for similar sandstone reservoirs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new monitoring method for multimode processes based on subspace decomposition. In the proposed method, the influence of quality variables and multimode information are considered in multimode processes modeling, which is crucially important to ensure industrial production safety and quality stabilization. Process data are decomposed into the global common subspace and the local specific subspace and monitoring is performed in each subspace to simplify the model structure. Two experiments: penicillin fermentation processes and practical foods industrial production processes, have been used to demonstrate the excellent performance of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research reported a micelle/microemulsion bimodal templating method to synthesize hierarchical porous silicas (HPS) by using a P123/cosurfactant/1,3,5-trimethylbenzene/water four-component microemulsion system. The influence of different diols (i.e., ethanediol, 1,3-propanediol, 1,4-butanediol, 1,5-pentadiol, and 1,6-hexanediol) as cosurfactants on the synthesis of HPS was systematically investigated. Among the obtained mesoporous silica materials, the HPS materials with pore structures of disordered-SBA-15-type (Dis-SBA-15) together with mesocellular foams (MCFs) could be clearly identified from the TEM images when using ethanediol, 1,3-propanediol, or 1,4-butanediol as the swelling agent of P123 in the initial synthesis environment, while MCFs were the main phases as using 1,5-pentadiol and 1,6-hexanediol. The results showed that those shorter chain diols with carbon number from 2 to 4 (involving ethanediol, 1,3-propanediol, and 1,4-butanediol) could more easily swell the P123 micelles compared with the longer chain diols (1,5-pentadiol and 1,6-hexanediol). Consequently, HPS materials with large pore volumes (up to 1.48 cm³ g-1) were successfully prepared by the oriented role from the templates of the swollen P123 micelles and TMB/P123 microemulsions. This approach provides a novel pathway for the facile synthesis of HPS materials with large pore volumes which may be a type of promising candidate for various applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During corticogenesis, pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP; ADCYAP1) may contribute to proliferation control by activating PAC1 receptors of neural precursors in the embryonic ventricular zone. PAC1 receptors, specifically the hop and short iso-forms, couple differentially to and activate distinct pathways that produce pro- or anti-mitogenic actions. Previously, we found that PACAP was an anti-mitogenic signal from embryonic day 13.5 (E13.5) onward both in culture and in vivo and activated cAMP signaling through the short isoform. However, we now find that mice deficient in PACAP exhibited a decrease in the BrdU labeling index (LI) in E9.5 cortex, suggesting that PACAP normally promotes proliferation at this stage. To further define mechanisms, we established a novel culture model in which the viability of very early cortical precursors (E9.5 mouse and E10.5 rat) could be maintained. At this stage, we found that PACAP evoked intracellular calcium fluxes and increased phospho-PKC levels, as well as stimulated G1 cyclin mRNAs and proteins, S-phase entry, and proliferation without affecting cell survival. Significantly, expression of hop receptor isoform was 24-fold greater than the short isoform at E10.5, a ratio that was reversed at E14.5 when short expression was 15-fold greater and PACAP inhibited mitogenesis. Enhanced hop isoform expression, elicited by in vitro treatment of E10.5 precursors with retinoic acid, correlated with sustained pro-mitogenic action of PACAP beyond the developmental switch. Conversely, depletion of hop receptor using short-hairpin RNA abolished PACAP mitogenic stimulation at E10.5. These observations suggest that PACAP elicits temporally specific effects on cortical proliferation via developmentally regulated expression of specific receptor isoforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elongator is a histone acetyl-transferase complex consisting of six subunits, and is highly conserved in eukaryotic organisms. Here, we isolated two novel mutants, elp2 and elp6, during a genetic screening for ABA-hypersensitive Arabidopsis mutants. Map-based cloning identified ELP2 and ELP6, which encode the orthologs of the yeast Elongator subunits, ELP2 and ELP6, respectively. Another Elongator subunit mutant, elp4/ elo1, was obtained from the SALK T-DNA collection. The elp1/ abo1/ elo2 mutant was isolated in a previous study. All four of the Elongator mutants had narrow leaves, reduced root growth, ABA hypersensitivity and an increased accumulation of anthocyanins. Mutations in the core subcomplex subunits ELP1/ABO1 and ELP2, but not in the accessory subcomplex subunits ELP4/ELO1 and ELP6, caused stomatal closing to be supersensitive to ABA. In addition, the four mutants were all more resistant than the wild type to oxidative stress produced by methyl viologen, and to CsCl. Gene expression analysis indicated that the four mutants had increased transcript levels of CAT3 under normal conditions, increased transcript levels of ZAT10 when treated with ABA and reduced transcript levels of MYBL2, which encodes a single-repeat MYB protein, acting as a negative regulator of anthocyanin biosynthesis. Our results suggest that Elongator plays crucial roles in regulating plant responses to ABA, oxidative stress resistance and anthocyanin biosynthesis in Arabidopsis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Application of a high dose of juvenile hormone (JH) III or its mimics (JHM) to Drosophila at the white puparium stage causes the formation of a pupal-like abdomen with few or no short bristles. We report here that the rosy (ry) gene encoding the enzyme xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH), which catalyzes the final two- step oxidation in purine catabolism, is required for this effect of JH on the epidermis. In ry506 (null allele) homozygotes or hemizygotes, JH III or pyriproxifen (a JHM) had little effect on abdominal bristle or cuticle formation, but disrupted the development of the central nervous system as in wild-type flies. Wild-type ry rescued the JH sensitivity of the abdominal epidermis in ry506 mutants. Inhibition of XDH activity phenocopied the ry null mutant's insensitivity to JH. Larvae fed on hypoxanthine or xanthine showed a decreased JH sensitivity. ry506 clones were sensitive to JH, indicating that ry is required non-cell autonomously for the JH effects. Normally JH applied at pupariation causes the aberrant reexpression of the transcription factor broad in the abdominal epidermis during adult development, but in the ry506mutant most of the cells in the dorsal tergite showed no broad reexpression, indicating that ry is upstream of broad in the JH signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a rare malignancy in most parts of the world, but is one of the most common cancers in Southeast Asia. Both genetic and environmental factors contribute to the tumorigenesis of NPC, most notably the consumption of certain salted food items and Epstein-Barr virus infection. This review will focus on the current progress of the genetic analysis of NPC (genetic susceptibilities and somatic alterations). We will review the current advances in genomic technologies and their shaping of the future direction of NPC research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional lymph node metastasis is a critical event in oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC) progression. The identification of biomarkers associated with the metastatic process would provide critical prognostic information to facilitate clinical decision making for improved management of OTSCC patients. Global expressional profiles were obtained for 25 primary OTSCCs, where 11 cases showed lymph node metastasis (pN+) histologically and 14 cases were non-metastatic (pN-). Seven of pN+ cases also exhibited extracapsular spread (ECS) of metastatic nodes. Multiple expression indices were used to generate signature gene sets for pN +/- and ECS+/- cases. Selected genes from signature gene sets were validated using quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The classification powers of these genes were then evaluated using a logistic model, receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, and leave-one-out cross-validation. qRT-PCR validation data showed that differences at RNA levels are either statistically significant (P < .05) or suggestive (P < .1) for six of eight genes tested (BMP2, CTTN, EEF1A1, GTSE1, MMP9, and EGFR) for pN+/- cases, and for five of eight genes tested (BMP2, CTTN, EEF1A1, MMP9, and EGFR) for ECS+/- cases. Logistic models with specific combinations of genes (CTTN+MMP9+EGFR for pN and CTTN+EEF1A1+MMP9 for ECS) achieved perfect specificity and sensitivity. Leave-one-out cross-validation showed overall accuracy rates of 85% for both pN and ECS prediction models. Our results demonstrated that the pN and the ECS of OTSCCs can be predicted by gene expression analyses of primary tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple displacement-based whole-genome DNA amplification is a promising tool to obtain sufficient DNA from small tissue specimens for various genetic analyses, such as SNP array-based analysis. Using Affymetrix 10 K and 100 K SNP mapping array, we evaluated the performance of the Phi29 DNA polymerase-based genome amplification. Greater than 99% concordance in genotyping calls were achieved between amplified and non-amplified DNAs for both arrays. By utilizing the Affymetrix GeneChip Chromosome Copy Number Tool, the allelic imbalance profiles for the advanced stage oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC) were generated based on 10 K and 100 K SNP mapping array results. The results from these two array platforms agree closely, but more precise allelic imbalance patterns can be revealed from the 100 K SNP mapping array data. Furthermore, our data suggested a frequent loss at 3p11–p12 for advanced stage OTSCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have developed a program, ScreenTransporter (ST), to screen for potential members of recognized transporter families. This program uses Blastpgp as the engine to search a nonredundant database, NRDB90, based on an adjustable E-value cut-off as well as adjustable protein size criteria. Additional parameters can be integrated in later versions. ST is convenient for easily obtaining nonredundant members of transporter families starting from several homologous query sequences. The program can be applied to any protein family.Copyright © 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We developed novel programs for displaying and analyzing the transmembrane α-helical segments (TMSs) in the aligned sequences of homologous integral membrane proteins. TMS_ALIGN predicts the positions of putative TMSs in multiply aligned protein sequences and graphically shows the TMSs in the alignment. TMS_SPLIT (1) predicts the positions of TMSs for each sequence; (2) allows a user to select proteins with a specified number of TMSs, and (3) splits the sequences into groups of TMSs of equal numbers. TMS_CUT works like TMS_SPLIT, but it can cut sequences with any combination of TMSs. The BASS program similarly allows comparison of protein repeat elements, equivalent to TMS_SPLIT plus IC, but it provides the comparison data expressed in BLAST E values. These programs, together with the IntraCompare program, facilitate the identification of repeat sequences in integral membrane proteins. They also facilitate the estimation of protein topology and the determination of evolutionary pathways.Copyright © 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is defined by common behavioral characteristics, raising the possibility of shared pathogenic mechanisms. Yet, vast clinical and etiological heterogeneity suggests personalized phenotypes. Surprisingly, our iPSC studies find that six individuals from two distinct ASD subtypes, idiopathic and 16p11.2 deletion, have common reductions in neural precursor cell (NPC) neurite outgrowth and migration even though whole genome sequencing demonstrates no genetic overlap between the datasets. To identify signaling differences that may contribute to these developmental defects, an unbiased phospho-(p)-proteome screen was performed. Surprisingly despite the genetic heterogeneity, hundreds of shared p-peptides were identified between autism subtypes including the mTOR pathway. mTOR signaling alterations were confirmed in all NPCs across both ASD subtypes, and mTOR modulation rescued ASD phenotypes and reproduced autism NPC-associated phenotypes in control NPCs. Thus, our studies demonstrate that genetically distinct ASD subtypes have common defects in neurite outgrowth and migration which are driven by the shared pathogenic mechanism of mTOR signaling dysregulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is defined by common behavioral characteristics, raising the possibility of shared pathogenic mechanisms. Yet, vast clinical and etiological heterogeneity suggests personalized phenotypes. Surprisingly, our iPSC studies find that six individuals from two distinct ASD subtypes, idiopathic and 16p11.2 deletion, have common reductions in neural precursor cell (NPC) neurite outgrowth and migration even though whole genome sequencing demonstrates no genetic overlap between the datasets. To identify signaling differences that may contribute to these developmental defects, an unbiased phospho-(p)-proteome screen was performed. Surprisingly despite the genetic heterogeneity, hundreds of shared p-peptides were identified between autism subtypes including the mTOR pathway. mTOR signaling alterations were confirmed in all NPCs across both ASD subtypes, and mTOR modulation rescued ASD phenotypes and reproduced autism NPC-associated phenotypes in control NPCs. Thus, our studies demonstrate that genetically distinct ASD subtypes have common defects in neurite outgrowth and migration which are driven by the shared pathogenic mechanism of mTOR signaling dysregulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: A mycophenolate sodium enteric-coated tablet has shown a satisfying anti-rejection effect in patients receiving solid organ transplantation. The current study evaluated the bioequivalence between the test (Ruiyirong®) vs. reference (Myfortic®) formulations by exploring equations for predicting their area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) using a limited sampling strategy in healthy subjects. Methods: Forty-eight healthy Chinese subjects were randomized into three administration sequences (testreference-reference, reference-reference-test, and reference-test-reference) to receive the Ruiyirong or Myfortic treatment on days I, 8, and 15. Results: The 90% confidential interval (Cl) of the geometric mean ratios (tesl/reference) of maximum plasma concentration (Cmax), the AUC from lime 0 to the last timepoint (AUCo,), and the AUC from 0 to infinity (AUCo-oo) was 92.90%-l 10.57%, 96.91%-101.80%, and 96.71 %-10l .84%, respectively. All these values fell into the bioequivalence criteria of 80.00%-125.00% (based on the criteria of the Food and Drug Administration). The adverse events were 10.4% in Ruiyirong test group and 14.6% in Myfortic reference group. Eight equations for estimating the AUC of the Ruiyirong test and Myfortic reference formulations were evaluated; most of them worked well with the R-value >0.8. Among the four chosen equations, the intragroup verification exhibited a high agreement with the R-value ranging from 0.857 to 0.971 and with the low predictive error (PE 5% with absolute PE > 15%). Meanwhile, the intergroup verification indicated a high inter-agreement with the R-value ranging from 0.896 to 0.974 (all P < 0.001). Conclusion: The Ruiyirong test vs. Myfortic reference formulations meet the bioequivalent criteria and are well tolerated. The further linear regression analysis explores eight equations predicting the AUC value and the chosen four equations for the Ruiyirong test and Mayfortic reference formulations are interchangeable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive scarring disease arising from impaired regeneration of the alveolar epithelium after injury. During regeneration, type 2 alveolar epithelial cells (AEC2s) assume a transitional state that upregulates multiple keratins and ultimately differentiate into AEC1s. In IPF, transitional AECs accumulate with ineffectual AEC1 differentiation. However, whether and how transitional cells cause fibrosis, whether keratins regulate transitional cell accumulation and fibrosis, and why transitional AECs and fibrosis resolve in mouse models but accumulate in IPF are unclear. Here, we show that human keratin 8 (KRT8) genetic variants were associated with IPF. Krt8-/- mice were protected from fibrosis and accumulation of the transitional state. Keratin 8 (K8) regulated the expression of macrophage chemokines and macrophage recruitment. Profibrotic macrophages and myofibroblasts promoted the accumulation of transitional AECs, establishing a K8-dependent positive feedback loop driving fibrogenesis. Finally, rare murine transitional AECs were highly senescent and basaloid and may not differentiate into AEC1s, recapitulating the aberrant basaloid state in human IPF. We conclude that transitional AECs induced and were maintained by fibrosis in a K8-dependent manner; in mice, most transitional cells and fibrosis resolved, whereas in human IPF, transitional AECs evolved into an aberrant basaloid state that persisted with progressive fibrosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new method for estimating the strength of granular profile control agents during ASP water flooding was proposed considering the transport behavior for granular profile control agents in the reservoir. The strength of granular profile control agents (size over 80 mesh) passing through the sieve (diameter 0.1 mm) is determined by the value of the breakthrough pressure. The strength of profile control agent particles (size 20-60 mesh) is determined by the breakthrough pressure value, measured on a sieve with a diameter of 0.3 mm. Breakthrough pressure values of 8 types of granular profile control agents were determined under various experimental condition (for particle expansion time of 24 hours, 120 hours, and 30 days, respectively). The results show that the longer the expansion time of granular profile control agents, the smaller the strength. According to the results of a study conducted on a granular profile control agent of the same type (of example: QC5050) with different particle sizes (80-120 mesh, 80 mesh, and 20-40 mesh), it can be concluded that the larger the size of the particles of the profile control agents, the greater the value of the corresponding breakout pressure. A new parameter has been introduced – a rebound coefficient – for evaluating elasticity of granular profile control agents. The rebound coefficient was measured for 8 types of granular profile control agents at different pressures (2, 4, 6, and 8 MPa). The results show that the number of samples with a rebound ratio higher than 20% reached more than 70% in 64 experiments conducted on 8 samples. A negative correlation relationship between the rebound coefficient and the breakthrough pressure was determined, and a method was proposed for estimating the strength and elasticity of the granular profile control agents considering the influence of the rebound coefficient and the breaking pressure through the sieve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aquaporins (AQPs) are one of the most ancient superfamily proteins, which are essential for maintaining the fluid homeostasis of most organisms against various environments. Here, the latest findings for function of AQPs in cell signal transduction in plants are summarized. We also put forward several issues that still need to be addressed in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transient properties of a tumor cell growth model with immune surveillance driven by cross-correlated multiplicative and additive noises are investigated. The explicit expression of extinction rate from the state of a stable tumor to the state of extinction is obtained. Based on the numerical computations, we find the following: (i) the intensity of multiplicative noise D and the intensity of additive noise a enhance the extinction rate for the case of l [?] 0 (i.e. l denotes cross-correlation intensity between two noises), but for the case of l > 0, a critical noise intensity D or a exists at which the extinction rate is the smallest; D and a at first weaken the extinction rate and then enhance it. (ii) The immune rate b and the cross-correlation intensity l play opposite roles on the extinction rate, i.e. b enhances the extinction rate of the tumor cell, while l weakens the extinction rate of the tumor cell. Namely, the immune rate can enhance the extinction of the tumor cell and the cross-correlation between two noises can enhance stability of the cancer state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamic impact behavior of droplets from solid surfaces has attracted increasing interest, especially propelled by the advances in the bio-inspired interfacial materials. In this work, we investigate the impact and bouncing dynamics of ethylene glycol droplets containing silica nanoparticles on superhydrophobic surfaces (SHS). We find that the rebounding of droplets from SHS is highly dependent on the impact velocity and suspension concentrations. By increasing the impact velocity or suspension concentrations, the probability of droplet bouncing from SHS is greatly reduced. The presence of nanoparticles can significantly increase the viscous energy dissipation inside the liquid droplets, therefore suppressing the jumping from surfaces. Based on the energy dissipation characterization, we also find the critical concentration to determine the manifestation of the viscous effect, above which the liquid suspensions exhibit non-Newtonian fluid properties. Our study provides an efficient approach to dynamically control the liquid jumping behaviors on SHS by tailoring the suspension concentrations. The insights learned from this study can be very useful in many industrial applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 induces a robust, extended inflammatory "cytokine storm" that contributes to an increased morbidity and mortality, particularly in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Macrophages are a key innate immune cell population responsible for the cytokine storm that has been shown, in T2D, to promote excess inflammation in response to infection. Using peripheral monocytes and sera from human patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and a murine hepatitis coronavirus (MHV-A59) (an established murine model of SARS), we identified that coronavirus induces an increased Mφ-mediated inflammatory response due to a coronavirus-induced decrease in the histone methyltransferase, SETDB2. This decrease in SETDB2 upon coronavirus infection results in a decrease of the repressive trimethylation of histone 3 lysine 9 (H3K9me3) at NFkB binding sites on inflammatory gene promoters, effectively increasing inflammation. Mφs isolated from mice with a myeloid-specific deletion of SETDB2 displayed increased pathologic inflammation following coronavirus infection. Further, IFNβ directly regulates SETDB2 in Mφs via JaK1/STAT3 signaling, as blockade of this pathway altered SETDB2 and the inflammatory response to coronavirus infection. Importantly, we also found that loss of SETDB2 mediates an increased inflammatory response in diabetic Mφs in response to coronavirus infection. Treatment of coronavirus-infected diabetic Mφs with IFNβ reversed the inflammatory cytokine production via up-regulation of SETDB2/H3K9me3 on inflammatory gene promoters. Together, these results describe a potential mechanism for the increased Mφ-mediated cytokine storm in patients with T2D in response to COVID-19 and suggest that therapeutic targeting of the IFNβ/SETDB2 axis in T2D patients may decrease pathologic inflammation associated with COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Drosophila melanogaster broad locus is essential for normal metamorphic development. Broad encodes three genetically distinct functions (rbp, br, and 2Bc) and a family of four zinc-finger DNA-binding proteins (Z1-Z4). The Z1, Z2, and Z3 protein isoforms are primarily associated with the rbp, br, and 2Bc genetic functions respectively. The Z4 protein isoform also provides some rbp genetic function, however an essential function for the Z4 isoform in metamorphosis has not been identified. To determine the degree of conservation of Z4 function between the tobacco hornworm Manduca sexta and Drosophila we generated transgenic Drosophila expressing the Manduca broad Z4 isoform and used this transgene to rescue rbp mutant lethality during Drosophila metamorphosis. We find that the Manduca Z4 protein has significant biological activity in Drosophila with respect to rescue of rbp-associated lethality. There was also some overlap in effects on cuticle gene expression between the Manduca Z4 and Drosophila Z1 isoforms that was not shared with the Drosophila Z4 isoform. Our findings show that Z4 function has been conserved over the 260-million-year period since the divergence of Diptera and Lepidoptera, and are consistent with the hypothesis that the Drosophila Z4 and Manduca Z4 isoforms have essential roles in metamorphosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The oral mucosa exhibits exceptional healing capability when compared to skin. Recent studies suggest that intrinsic differences in coding genes and regulatory small non-coding RNA (sncRNA) genes (e.g., microRNAs) may underlie the exceptional healing that occurs in the oral mucosa. Here, we investigate the role of a novel class of sncRNA—Piwi-interacting RNA (piRNA)—in the tissue-specific differential response to injury. An abundance of piRNAs was detected in both skin and oral mucosal epithelium during wound healing. The expression of PIWI genes (the obligate binding partners of piRNAs) was also detected in skin and oral wound healing. This data suggested that PIWI-piRNA machinery may serve an unknown function in the highly orchestrated wound healing process. Furthermore, unique tissue-specific piRNA profiles were obtained in the skin and oral mucosal epithelium, and substantially more changes in piRNA expression were observed during skin wound healing than oral mucosal wound healing. Thus, we present the first clue suggesting a role of piRNA in wound healing, and provide the first site-specific piRNA profile of skin and oral mucosal wound healing. These results serve as a foundation for the future investigation of the functional contribution(s) of piRNA in wound repair and tissue regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Radiation necrosis is 1 of the most significant complications of brain tumor irradiation. The standard treatment for patients with radiation necrosis consists of corticosteroids to reduce the amount of cerebral edema and, if required, cyst drainage. Case Reports: 2 patients with symptomatic radiation necrosis initially unresponsive to steroid treatment were treated with repeated low-dose bevacizumab at 5 mg/kg body weight. Rapid and lasting symptom relief, as well as neuroradiological improvement was seen in both cases. A dramatic rapid magnetic resonance imaging response with decrease in contrast enhancement was found shortly after administering the first dose of bevacizumab. The improvement of perifocal edema was relatively slower than of the reduction of enhancement. Only a slight reduction in size of the involved area could be expected after the first dose of bevacizumab. Further shrinkage was seen after the second and third doses. The individuals reported have been doing well for more than 45 and 22 months, respectively, after the initiation of bevacizumab treatment. Conclusion: Our data add to the literature supporting of the use of bevacizumab as an effective therapeutic agent for radiation necrosis, particularly in cases unresponsive to steroid treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) is a complex disease with extensive genetic and epigenetic defects, including microRNA deregulation. The aims of the present study were to test the feasibility of performing the microRNA profiling analysis on archived TSCC specimens and to assess the potential diagnostic utility of the identified microRNA biomarkers for the detection of TSCC. TaqMan array-based microRNA profiling analysis was performed on 10 archived TSCC samples and their matching normal tissues. A panel of 12 differentially expressed microRNAs was identified. Eight of these differentially expressed microRNAs were validated in an independent sample set. A random forest (RF) classification model was built with miR-486-3p, miR-139-5p, and miR-21, and it was able to detect TSCC with a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 86.7% (overall error rate = 6.7%). As such, this study demonstrated the utility of the archived clinical specimens for microRNA biomarker discovery. The feasibility of using microRNA biomarkers (miR-486-3p, miR-139-5p, and miR-21) for the detection of TSCC was confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asymmetric mode competitions are observed in the design of an X-band triaxial klystron amplifier with an asymmetric input cavity, and the generation mechanism of the asymmetric mode competition is analyzed in the paper. The results indicate that the asymmetric modes are excited in the buncher cavity. The asymmetric mode (coaxial TM612 mode) in the buncher cavity with the highest shunt impedance can start up first among the asymmetric modes with negative beam loading conductance. The coupling of the corresponding coaxial TE mode between the buncher and input cavity exacerbates the start oscillation of the asymmetric mode competition. The rationality of the analysis is demonstrated by cutting off the propagation of the corresponding coaxial TE modes between the buncher cavity and the input cavity, and the asymmetric mode competitions are thoroughly suppressed by specially designed reflectors and lossy material. In simulation, a microwave with a power of 1.28GW and a frequency of 9.375 GHz is generated, and the extraction efficiency and the gain are 34.5% and 41.5 dB, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the era of intensity-modulated radiotherapy, distant metastasis is currently the main cause of treatment failure for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Additional therapeutic strategies are required to control the metastasis and improve survival. One strategy is targeted therapy, for example against c-Kit. In the current study, the frequency of c-Kit expression was determined immunohistochemically in 106 NPC patients. c-Kit expression changes during the course of radiation therapy were detected in 41 cases via weekly biopsy. Twelve cases (11.3%) had c-Kit expression scores of 3+ and 16 (15.1%) had scores of 2+. Thus, c-Kit overexpression (2+ or 3+) was observed in 28 (26.4%) patients. There were 35 (33.0%) and 43 (40.6%) patients with c-Kit expression scores of 1+ and 0, respectively. Furthermore, a trend of decreased c-Kit expression was observed after commencing radiotherapy according to the 41 NPC patients who were biopsied weekly. Therefore, c-Kit overexpression was identified to be common in NPC, and evaluating c-Kit as a therapeutic target for metastatic NPC via c-Kit overexpression subsequent to first line treatment may be of interest. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first to demonstrate a trend of decreased c-Kit expression during the course of radiotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC) is one of the most aggressive forms of head and neck/oral cancer (HNOC), and is a complex disease with extensive genetic and epigenetic defects, including microRNA deregulation. Identifying the deregulation of microRNA-mRNA regulatory modules (MRMs) is crucial for understanding the role of microRNA in OTSCC.Methods: A comprehensive bioinformatics analysis was performed to identify MRMs in HNOC by examining the correlation among differentially expressed microRNA and mRNA profiling datasets and integrating with 12 different sequence-based microRNA target prediction algorithms. Confirmation experiments were performed to further assess the correlation among MRMs using OTSCC patient samples and HNOC cell lines. Functional analyses were performed to validate one of the identified MRMs: miR-21-15-Hydroxyprostaglandin Dehydrogenase (HPGD) regulatory module.Results: Our bioinformatics analysis revealed 53 MRMs that are deregulated in HNOC. Four high confidence MRMs were further defined by confirmation experiments using OTSCC patient samples and HNOC cell lines, including miR-21-HPGD regulatory module. HPGD is a known anti-tumorigenic effecter, and it regulates the tumorigenic actions of Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) by converts PGE2 to its biologically inactive metabolite. Ectopic transfection of miR-21 reduced the expression of HPGD in OTSCC cell lines, and the direct targeting of the miR-21 to the HPGD mRNA was confirmed using a luciferase reporter gene assay. The PGE2-mediated upregulation of miR-21 was also confirmed which suggested the existence of a positive feed-forward loop that involves miR-21, HPGD and PGE2 in OTSCC cells that contribute to tumorigenesis.Conclusions: We identified a number of high-confidence MRMs in OTSCC, including miR-21-HPGD regulatory module, which may play an important role in the miR-21-HPGD-PGE2 feed-forward loop that contributes to tumorigenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our previous studies demonstrated that the downregulation of microtubule-associated tumor suppressor 1/angiotensin II type 2 receptor-interacting protein (MTUS1/ATIP) is associated with poor differentiation and prognosis in tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC), and that ATIP1 exerts an antiproliferative effect on TSCC. The aim of the present study was to further investigate the anticancer effect of MTUS1/ATIP3a in TSCC. It was observed that UM1 cells (a TSCC cell line with high migration and invasion ability) exhibited lower expression of ATIP3a compared with UM2 cells (a TSCC cell line with lower migration and invasion ability). Restoration of ATIP3a expression in UM1 cells exerted antiproliferative effects and inhibited migration and invasion, whereas knockdown of ATIP3a promoted proliferation, migration and invasion in UM2 cells. Restoration of ATIP3a expression inhibited the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) and the expression of Snai2 and vimentin in UM1 cells, whereas knockdown of ATIP3a promoted the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and the expression of Snai2 and vimentin in UM2 cells. Therefore, MTUS1/ATIP3a was found to suppress the proliferation, migration and invasion of TSCC cells via the ERK1/2-Snai2 pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stress-strength reliability problems arise frequently in applied statistics and related fields. Often they involve two independent and possibly small samples of measurements on strength and breakdown pressures (stress). The goal of the researcher is to use the measurements to obtain inference on reliability, which is the probability that stress will exceed strength. This paper addresses the case where reliability is expressed in terms of an integral which has no closed form solution and where the number of observed values on stress and strength is small. We find that the Lagrange approach to estimating constrained likelihood, necessary for inference, often performs poorly. We introduce a penalized likelihood method and it appears to always work well. We use third order likelihood methods to partially offset the issue of small samples. The proposed method is applied to draw inferences on reliability in stress-strength problems with independent exponentiated exponential distributions. Simulation studies are carried out to assess the accuracy of the proposed method and to compare it with some standard asymptotic methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Microtubule-associated tumor suppressor gene (MTUS1) has been identified as tumor suppressor gene in many malignant tumors. In this study, we investigated the role of MTUS1 in the development of salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma (SACC) and its functional effect on the migration and invasion of SACC. Methods: Archival clinical samples including 49 primary SACC were examined for MTUS1 expression by immunohistochemistry. Statistical analyses were performed to evaluate the correlation between MTUS1 with histopathological features and survival. The expression of MTUS1/ATIP (AT2 receptor-interacting protein) isoforms was determined in SACC tissue samples and cell lines using quantitative RT-PCR assays. Then we investigated whether the migration and invasion of SACC were mediated by MTUS1/ATIP3a using in vitro cell migration and invasion assay. Results: We confirmed that the down-regulation of MTUS1 was a frequent event in SACC, and was correlated with distant metastasis and associated with reduced overall survival and disease free survival. Isoform specific quantitative RT-PCR assays revealed that ATIP1, ATIP3a and ATIP3b were the major isoforms of the MTUS1 gene products in SACC, and were significant down-regulation in SACC as compared to matching normal tissues. For functional analyses, we found that SACC-LM cells (SACC cell line with higher migration and invasion ability) possessed a lower expression level of ATIP3a compared to SACC-83 cells (lower migration and invasion ability). Restoration of ATIP3a expression in SACC-LM cells induced anti-proliferative activity and inhibited the migration and invasion ability. Knockdown of ATIP3a promoted the proliferation, migration and invasion ability of SACC-83 cells. Restoration of ATIP3a inhibited the phosphorylation of ERK (extracellular-regulated kinase) 1/2, the expression of Slug and Vimentin in SACC-LM cells, while knockdown of ATIP3a increased the phosphorylation of ERK1/2, the expression of Slug and Vimentin in SACC-83 cells. Conclusions: Our studies confirm that MTUS1 plays an important role in the progression of SACC, and may serve as a biomarker or therapeutic target for patients with SACC. MTUS1/ATIP3a down-regulation contributes to the proliferation, migration and the invasion abilities of SACC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel composite material ZSM-5/KIT-6 (ZK-W) was synthesized by enwrapping nano-sized ZSM-5 zeolite crystals with mesoporous KIT-6 silica. This composite was used as catalyst support for NiMo sulfide in the hydrodesulfurization (HDS) of 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene (4,6-DMDBT). The NiMo/ZK-W catalyst showed the highest HDS activity and its 4,6-DMDBT conversion was about double that of a conventional NiMo/Al2O3 catalyst at 320 °C, 4.0 MPa, and LHSV of 150 h-1 and on the basis of sulfur. The superior catalytic performance of NiMo/ZK-W is related to the synergistic effect of the excellent diffusion through the hierarchical porous structure and the suitable Brønsted acid sites. 3,6-DMDBT and 3,7-DMDBT, two isomers of 4,6-DMDBT, were identified simultaneously for the first time in the HDS products of 4,6-DMDBT over the NiMo/ZK-W catalyst. The NiMo/ZK-W catalyst exhibited a superior isomerization ability, and 4,4'-dimethylbiphenyl was the main product, indicating that the isomerization pathway is the main reaction route. A new reaction network of 4,6-DMDBT HDS over NiMo/ZK-W catalyst was proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite extensive progress, current icephobic materials are limited by the breakdown of their icephobicity in the condensation frosting environment. In particular, the frost formation over the entire surface is inevitable as a result of undesired inter-droplet freezing wave propagation initiated by the sample edges. Moreover, the frost formation directly results in an increased frost adhesion, posing severe challenges for the subsequent defrosting process. Here, we report a hierarchical surface which allows for interdroplet freezing wave propagation suppression and efficient frost removal. The enhanced performances are mainly owing to the activation of the microscale edge effect in the hierarchical surface, which increases the energy barrier for ice bridging as well as engendering the liquid lubrication during the defrosting process. We believe the concept of harnessing the surface morphology to achieve superior performances in two opposite phase transition processes might shed new light on the development of novel materials for various applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a survival modeling approach to promoting ranking diversity for biomedical information retrieval. The proposed approach concerns with finding relevant documents that can deliver more different aspects of a query. First, two probabilistic models derived from the survival analysis theory are proposed for measuring aspect novelty. Second, a new method using Wikipedia to detect aspects covered by retrieved documents is presented. Third, an aspect filter based on a two-stage model is introduced. It ranks the detected aspects in decreasing order of the probability that an aspect is generated by the query. Finally, the relevance and the novelty of retrieved documents are combined at the aspect level for reranking. Experiments conducted on the TREC 2006 and 2007 Genomics collections demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach in promoting ranking diversity for biomedical information retrieval. Moreover, we further evaluate our approach in the Web retrieval environment. The evaluation results on the ClueWeb09-T09B collection show that our approach can achieve promising performance improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

MicroRNA-138 is one of the most frequently down-regulated microRNAs in cancer. We recently identified 51 candidate targets of microRNA-138 (Jiang, L., Dai, Y., Liu, X., Wang, C., Wang, A., Chen, Z., Heidbreder, C. E., Kolokythas, A., and Zhou, X. (2011) Hum. Genet. 129, 189-197). Among these candidates, Fos-like antigen 1 (FOSL1) is a member of Fos gene family and is a known proto-oncogene. In this study, we first confirmed the microRNA-138-mediated down-regulation of FOSL1 in squamous cell carcinoma cell lines. We then demonstrated the effect of this microRNA-138-FOSL1 regulatory module on downstream genes (homolog of Snail 2 (Snai2) expression and the Snai2-mediated repression of E-cadherin expression), as well as its contributions to tumorigenesis. The microRNA-138-directed recruitment of FOSL1 mRNA to the RNAi-induced silencing complex was confirmed by a ribonucleoprotein-immunoprecipitation assay. Three canonical and three high affinity non-canonical microRNA-138 (miR-138) targeting sites were identified on the FOSL1 mRNA: one in the 5′-UTR, three overlapping sites in the coding sequences, and two overlapping sites in the 3′-UTR. The direct targeting of miR-138 to these sites was confirmed using luciferase reporter gene assays. In summary, we describe an important microRNA regulatory module, which may play an important role in cancer initiation and progression. Our results also provide evidence that microRNAs target both canonical and non-canonical targeting sites located in all areas of the mRNA molecule (e.g. 5′-UTR, coding sequences, and 3′-UTR). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MicroRNA deregulation is a critical event in tumor initiation and progression. The down-regulation of microRNA-138 has been frequently observed in various cancers, including tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC). Our previous studies suggest that deregulation of miR-138 is associated with the enhanced proliferation and invasion in TSCC cells. Here, we seek to identify the targets of miR-138 in TSCC, and explore their functional relevance in tumorigenesis. Our genome-wide expression profiling experiments identified a panel of 194 unique transcripts that were significantly down-regulated in TSCC cells transfected with miR-138. A comprehensive screening using six different sequence-based microRNA target prediction algorithms revealed that 51 out of these 194 down-regulated transcripts are potential direct targets for miR-138. These targets include: chloride channel, nucleotide-sensitive, 1A (CLNS1A), G protein alpha inhibiting activity polypeptide 2 (GNAI2), solute carrier family 20, member 1 (SLC20A1), eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E binding protein 1 (EIF4EBP1), and Rho-related GTP-binding protein C (RhoC). GNAI2 is a known proto-oncogene that is involved in the initiation and progression of several different types of tumors. Direct targeting of miR-138 to two candidate binding sequences located in the 3′-untranslated region of GNAI2 mRNA was confirmed using luciferase reporter gene assays. Knockdown of miR-138 in TSCC cells enhanced the expression of GNAI2 at both mRNA and protein levels. In contrast, ectopic transfection of miR-138 reduced the expression of GNAI2, which, in consequence, led to reduced proliferation, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. In summary, we identified a number of high-confident miR-138 target genes, including proto-oncogene GNAI2, which may play an important role in TSCC initiation and progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Lymph node metastasis is a critical event in the progression of tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC). The identification of biomarkers associated with the metastatic process would provide critical prognostic information to facilitate clinical decision making. Previous studies showed that deregulation of manganese superoxide dismutase (SOD2) expression is a frequent event in TSCC and may be associated with enhanced cell invasion. The purpose of this study is to further evaluate whether the expression level of SOD2 is correlated with the metastatic status in TSCC patients. Methods: We first examined the SOD2 expression at mRNA level on 53 TSCC and 22 normal control samples based on pooled-analysis of existing microarray datasets. To confirm our observations, we examined the expression of SOD2 at protein level on an additional TSCC patient cohort (n = 100), as well as 31 premalignant dysplasias, 15 normal tongue mucosa, and 32 lymph node metastatic diseases by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Results: The SOD2 mRNA level in primary TSCC tissue is reversely correlated with lymph node metastasis in the first TSCC patient cohort. The SOD2 protein level in primary TSCC tissue is also reversely correlated with lymph node metastasis in the second TSCC patient cohort. Deregulation of SOD2 expression is a common event in TSCC and appears to be associated with disease progression. Statistical analysis revealed that the reduced SOD2 expression in primary tumor tissue is associated with lymph node metastasis in both TSCC patient cohorts examined. Conclusions: Our study suggested that the deregulation of SOD2 in TSCC has potential predictive values for lymph node metastasis, and may serve as a therapeutic target for patients at risk of metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Head and neck/oral cancer (HNOC) is a devastating disease. Despite advances in diagnosis and treatment,mortality rates have not improved significantly over the past three decades. Improvement in patient survival requires a better understanding of the disease progression so that HNOC can be detected early in the disease process and targeted therapeutic interventions can be deployed. Accumulating evidence suggests that microRNAs play important roles in many human cancers. They are pivotal regulators of diverse cellular processes including proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, survival, motility, and morphogenesis. MicroRNA expression patterns may become powerful biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis of HNOC. In addition, microRNA therapy could be a novel strategy for HNOC prevention and therapeutics. Recent advances in microRNA expression profiling have led to a better understanding of the cancer pathogenesis. In this review, we will survey recent technological advances inmicroRNA profiling and their applications in defining microRNA markers/targets for cancer prediction, diagnostics, treatment, and prognostics. MicroRNA alterations that consistently identified in HNOC will be discussed, such as upregulation of miR-21, miR-31, miR- 155, and downregulation of miR-26b, miR-107, miR-133b, miR-138, and miR-139. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Recent proteomic studies identified Hsp27 as a highly over-expressed protein in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Clinical studies that attempted to evaluate the prognostic values of Hsp27 yielded inconsistent results, which may be due to inclusion of OSCC cases from multiple anatomic sites. In this study, to determine the utility of Hsp27 for prognosis, we focused on oral tongue SCC (OTSCC), one of the most aggressive forms of OSCC. Methods: Archival clinical samples of 15 normal oral tongue mucosa, 31 dysplastic lesions, 80 primary OTSCC, and 32 lymph node metastases were examined for Hsp27 expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Statistical analyses were carried out to assess the prognostic value of Hsp27 expression for patients with this disease. Results: Dysregulation of Hsp27 expression was observed in dysplastic lesions, primary OTSCC, and lymph node metastases, and appears to be associated with disease progression. Statistical analysis revealed that the reduced Hsp27 expression in primary tumor tissue was associated with poor differentiation. Furthermore, the higher expression of Hsp27 was correlated with better overall survival. Conclusion: Our study confirmed that the dysregulation of Hsp27 expression is a frequent event during the progression of OTSCC. The expression of Hsp27 appears to be an independent prognostic marker for patients with this disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]