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Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a common malignancy that is characterized by strong invasiveness and rapid development. With lack of effective treatments, patients still suffer from poor outcome. In this study, we established liposomal nanoparticles carrying microRNA-124 (Ls/miR-124) and detected their inhibitory effect on PC cells. Ls/miR-124 nanoparticles were prepared and co-cultured with PC cells (Ls/miR-124 group), as some PC cells were treated with pure liposome particles (Ls group), or gemcitabine (gemcitabine group) and some untreated were treated as control group. Flow cytometry and transwell assay were used to determine apoptosis and migration of PC cells. Bax, Bcl-2, and Caspase-3 expressions were measured. The Ls/miR-124 nanoparticles presented around 100 nm size at 3:1 molar ratio of DOTAP/Chol, with stable properties and high potential. The fluorescence intensity of the cells in the Ls/miR-124 group and gemcitabine group were higher than Ls and blank groups. RT-qPCR analysis confirmed the up-regulation of miR-124 with high transfection efficiency of 85%. Proliferation of cells in each group increased upon culture. Administration of either Ls/miR-124 nanoparticles or gemcitabine significantly decreased PC cell proliferation and increased apoptosis at similar apoptotic rate of 29.76±3.78% and 30.15±3.57. Besides, the Ls/miR-124 and gemcitabine groups had cell cycle arrest in G0/G1 phase (67.98±3.45%) and exhibited decreased migration of 19.78±2.97% and invaded cells (42.56±6.98%). The expression of Bax in both groups decreased, while expressions of Bcl-2 and Caspase-3 increased. In conclusion, administration of Ls/miR-124 nanoparticles decreased cell viability and migration of PC cells, inhibiting cell cycle progression but increasing apoptosis and restraining development of PC.

The current radiologic criteria for assessing intraoperative superior mesenteric-portal vein (SMPV) involvement (i.e., presence of tumor-SMPV contact180° or venous deformity) in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) are highly specific but insufficiently sensitive. Therefore, development of improved markers for a more accurate prediction is essential. This study aimed to develop a risk score model to estimate SMPV involvement in PDAC using radiomics analysis of computed tomography (CT) images.Data from two institution-based cohorts of PDAC patients undergoing preoperative CT scans were used to develop (n = 173) and validate (n = 156) a radiomics-based risk score of SMPV involvement using clinical and imaging variables. A radiomics signature was developed based on 2436 radiomic features extracted from the semi-automatic three-dimensional segmentation ofn CT images. The SMPV involvement risk score was built using multivariate logistic regression and compared with the current radiologic criteria.The study surgically identified SMPV involvement in 59 (34.1%) and 57(36.5 %) patients with PDAC in the development and validation cohorts, respectively. A 12-feature-based radiomics signature achieved areas under receiver operating characteristics curves (AUCs) of 0.89 or greater for estimating SMPV involvement. Multivariate regression identified the radiomics signature and SMPV deformity as associated with SMPV involvement. The risk score model had significantly improved AUC (0.928 vs. 0.768; P0.001) and sensitivity (84.2% vs. 66.7%; P = 0.025) in the radiologic evaluation.The novel risk score in this study, combining radiomics signature and venous deformity, demonstrated promising performance for estimating SMPV involvement preoperatively for patients with PDAC.

Heterogeneous surface with superhydrophilic/superhydrophobic stripes (HS-s/sS) has great practical significance, which can be used in fuel cell water management, condensation heat transfer enhancement, underwater drag reduction. Herein, a fast and simple method for uniform HS-s/sS on several mesh materials, including copper, stainless steel, and nickel, is achieved by using picosecond (ps) laser line-by-line scanning. Note that the scanning period between the lines is kept constant during processing, the HS-s/sS is formed by self-organized, while the similar structure cannot be processed on solid metal surfaces using the same parameters. The processing parameters, including scanning speed, defocus amount (DA), scanning period, and single pulse energy are systematically investigated to optimize HS-s/sS fabrication. It is found that the period of processed stripe on the mesh material is ∼1 mm, which is much larger than the scanning period. Interestingly, the as-prepared mesh surface show superhydrophobicity in the convex striped surface and superhydrophilicity in concave striped parts. The scanning electron microscopy results show that the structures on convex stripe are mainly composed of disordered hill-like structures, while the structures on the concave stripe mainly consist of periodic nanostripe structures. Moreover, the proportion of oxygen on the convex stripe is obviously higher than that on the concave stripe. The underlying mechanism of the HS-s/sS formation can be attributed to the interference between surface phonon polaritons (SPP) and the incident picosecond laser, as well as surface shock wave caused by the picosecond laser. We believe that such functional surfaces will be promising candidates for controlling liquid motion and fluid diversion processes.

Cuproptosis is a novel type of programmed cell death that is being linked to varied malignancy activities. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are demonstrating an increasing ability to influence the progression of cancer and the immune microenvironment. As a result, using the TCGA database, we attempted to construct a cuproptosis-related lncRNAs risk model to predict the prognosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD) and identify the relationship between the risk model and the tumor immune microenvironment (TME). The Cox proportional hazards model and the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) determined a 9-CuRDEPLs (Cuproptosis-related differential expression prognostic lncRNAs) prognostic risk model. Kaplan-Meier (K-M) and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves validate the accuracy of the model. Multivariate Cox analysis employing a risk score as well as patients' clinical parameters shows that a risk score can independently predict the prognosis of PAAD. A nomogram was created, exhibiting that the risk model was capable of accurately predicting the overall survival of PAAD patents for 1, 3, and 5 years. The link between the immunological features and 9-CuRDEPL's model was also investigated further. The findings suggest that TME, particularly CD8+ cells, differs from high to low risk groups. The drug correlation assay reveals that nine CuRDEPLs have a strong relationship with the sensitivity of certain drugs. All of these suggest that 9-CuRDEPL's model could be utilized to forecast the prognosis of PAAD and will help guide clinical therapy for pancreatic cancer.

A new kind of multifunctional nanoparticles (UCCM NPs) composed of upconversion NPs (UCNPs), copper sulfide NPs (CuS NPs) and manganese dioxide (MnO2) coatings are developed for hypoxic remission and enhanced radiotherapy and photothermal therapy.

Biodegradable magnesium (Mg) implants spontaneously releasing therapeutic agents against tumors are an intriguing therapeutic approach for both tissue repair and tumor treatment. Anastomotic staples are extensively used for wound closure after surgical resection in patients with colorectal tumors. However, the safety of Mg anastomosis implants for intestinal closure and the effect of tumor suppression remain elusive. Here, we used a high-purity Mg staple to study these issues. Based on the results, we found that it has the potential to heal wounds produced after colorectal tumor resection while inhibiting relapse of residual tumor cells in vitro and in vivo. After implantation of Mg staples for 7 weeks in rabbits, the intestinal wound gradually healed with no adverse effects such as leakage or inflammation. Furthermore, the implanted Mg staples inhibit the growth of colorectal tumor cells and block migration to normal organs because of the increased concentration of Mg ions and released hydrogen. Such an antitumor effect is further confirmed by the in vitro cell experiments. Mg significantly induces apoptosis of tumor cells as well as inhibits cell growth and migration. Our work presents a feasible therapeutic opinion to design Mg anastomotic staples to perform wound healing and simultaneously release tumor suppressor elements in vivo to decrease the risk of tumor recurrence and metastasis.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most commonly diagnosed human cancers in the world and the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death. In this study, we found that BAI1-associated protein 2-like 2 (BAIAP2L2) was upregulated in HCC tissues and was an independent risk factor for overall survival in HCC patients. BAIAP2L2 promoted cell proliferation, stem cell activity, and cell cycle progression and inhibited apoptosis in HCC. In addition, BAIAP2L2 enhanced HCC metastasis and activated the EMT pathway. At the molecular level, NFκB1 stimulated BAIAP2L2 transcription by binding directly to its promoter region. BAIAP2L2 interacted with GABPB1 to inhibit its ubiquitin-mediated degradation and promote its nuclear translocation. Moreover, BAIAP2L2 regulated telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) by upregulating GABPB1 and subsequently promoted cancer properties in HCC. Collectively, our study reveals the function and mechanism of BAIAP2L2 in HCC and provides a potential biomarker and therapeutic target for HCC.

AIM To investigate the value of computed tomography (CT) texture analysis (TA) and imaging features for evaluating suspected surgical superior mesenteric–portal vein (SMPV) invasion in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). MATERIALS AND METHODS Fifty-four patients with PDAC in the pancreatic head or uncinate process with suspected SMPV involvement were analysed retrospectively. SMPV invasion status was identified by surgical exploration. For each patient, 396 texture features were extracted on pretreatment CT. Non-parametric tests and minimum redundancy maximum relevance were used for feature selection. A CTTA model was constructed using multivariate logistic regression, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) of the model was calculated. Two reviewers evaluated qualitative imaging features independently for SMPV invasion and interobserver agreement was investigated. The diagnostic performance of the imaging features and the CTTA model for SMPV invasion was compared using the McNemar test. RESULTS Of the 54 patients with PDAC, SMPV invasion was detected in 23 (42.6%). The CTTA model yielded an AUROC of 0.88 (95% confidence interval, 0.76–0.97) and achieved significantly higher specificity (0.90) than the two reviewers (0.61 and 0.65; p=0.027 and 0.043). Interobserver agreement was moderate between the two reviewers (κ = 0.517). Of the 13 cases with disagreement between the two reviewers, 11 cases were predicted accurately by the CTTA model. CONCLUSION CTTA can predict suspected SMPV invasion in PDAC and may be a beneficial addition for qualitative imaging evaluation.

In traditional maximum torque per ampere (MTPA) method based on signal injection, fixed wave amplitude and constant integral coefficient are employed, which actually degrade the optimal current angle tracking performance in variable conditions, especially under heavy loads. In order to solve this problem, an improved MTPA method based on amplitude-adjustable square wave injection is proposed. First, the relationships among optimal current angle, square wave amplitude and electromagnetic torque are analyzed. The analysis results indicate that if fixed wave amplitude is adopted, the fluctuations in the obtained current angle increases when load torque rises. Based on this relationship, an amplitude-adjustable square wave virtual signal injection MTPA method is proposed. By adjusting square wave amplitude according to the load torque, steady-state fluctuations of the obtained current angle can be reduced compared to conventional method under heavy loads. Meanwhile, to improve the MTPA dynamic response under load change conditions, an adaptive fuzzy control method is proposed for adjusting integral coefficient. Finally, the validity of the improved MTPA method is verified through experimental results.

This paper presents a sensorless speed control method of permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) applying sliding-mode control theory, to enhance the observation precision and improve robustness of control system. Firstly, an improved full-order sliding mode observer (FSMO) with sigmoid function is gifted to weaken the high-frequency (HF) chattering caused by conventional sliding mode observer (SMO). The quadrature phase-locked loop (PLL) is used to calculate high-precision rotor location and speed, avoiding the use of filter. Then the nonsingular fast terminal sliding mode controller (NFTSMC) in speed controller is introduced to replace traditional proportional integral (PI) controller to improve the dynamic performance of control system. The outcomes verify that the presented control method enhances the overall observation precision, suppresses HF chattering, and increases dynamic and stable state response of PMSM.

Although sophisticated radiotherapy (RT) technology has been widely applied in clinical oncotherapy, unsatisfactory therapeutic effects due to hypoxic tumor microenvironments and complications are still prevalent. Herein, copper sulphide nanoparticles (CuS NPs) wrapped on the surface of upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs)

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a malignant tumor that seriously perils human health. Recent years have seen much effect in revealing the pathological association between lncRNA and HCC. Herein, we identified lncRNA DHRS4-AS1 as a potential tumor suppressor in HCC. Firstly, it was discovered that DHRS4-AS1 was significantly down-regulated in HCC tissues compared to normal tissues based on the database TCGA. It was also detected in a lower-than-usual expression quantity in HCC tissues we collected and HCC cell lines. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that high expression of DHRS4-AS1 contributed to higher overall survival rate of HCC patients. DHRS4-AS1 expression was significantly correlated to tumor size (P = 0.02) and TNM stage (P = 0.045). CCK-8, BrdU and colony-forming assays collectively demonstrated that overexpression of DHRS4-AS1 significantly restrained HCC cell proliferation. In vivo xenograft animal experiment showed that DHRS4-AS1 could efficiently preclude the tumor growth of HCC. Further investigation performed using flow cytometry and western blot showed that DHRS4-AS1 exerted its effects by accelerating cell apoptosis and capturing cell cycle in G0/G1 phase. Our study subsequently lucubrated that miR-522-3p was a negative target of DHRS4-AS1. Increased expression level of miR-522-3p was examined in HCC tissues and cell lines. Similarly, miR-522-3p mimics could reverse the inhibitory effect on HCC brought by DHRS4-AS1. SOCS5 was then discovered as a down-stream target of miR-522-3p, which suggested that SOCS5 participated in DHRS4-AS1/miR-522-3p axis to collectively mediate the development of HCC. Our study provides lncRNA DHRS4-AS1/miR-522-3p/SOCS5 axis as a novel target for HCC therapeutic strategy with potentiality.

Cylindrical vibratory gyroscope is a kind of mode-matched gyros, and the frequency split would affect its sensitivity significantly. Frequency tuning is a major method to decrease the split. In the process of frequency tuning, the natural frequency should be measured firstly, and the measurement error is one of the decisive factor of tuning accuracy. Due to the measurement error of frequency is Normal Distribution, its effects on frequency tuning are studied by theoretical and simulation analysis from the statistical aspect. Firstly, the influence of frequency splitting on gyro sensitivity is studied, which shows the importance of reducing frequency splitting. Then the effect of different measuring accuracy on the measured value is analyzed. Thirdly, the tuning error that caused by the measurement error is researched in the process of trimming, and the tuning error is derived by theoretical analysis. Simulation and experiment results under different measurement error exemplify the value of tuning error. Finally, the optimal measurement accuracy that ensures achieving tuning accuracy is discussed.

Cylindrical shell vibration gyroscope is a kind of solid wave gyroscope which uses the inertia effect of elastic wave to detect the rotation angular velocity. Precision dynamic balance is the key to improve the stability of gyro standing wave vibration. In this paper, precision dynamic mass-stiffness balancing along the working mode axis at the top of the resonator cup-wall is studied. The radial region of different trimming types and the variation of resonator natural frequency and frequency split with trimming hole depth are determined by the simulation. The femtosecond laser precision trimming-ablation experiment verifies the simulation results. The experiment and simulation have good consistency. This paper clearly clarifies the precision dynamic mass-stiffness balancing law of trimming along the working mode axis, which provides a guarantee for high efficiency and high precision trimming.

Phase-to-neutral voltage or neutral-to-virtual neutral voltage zero-crossing points (ZCPs) detection method is usually used for sensorless brushless dc motor commutation control. Unfortunately, neither of them can be realized in lower speed range. In this paper, a simple commutation point detection method is proposed based on detecting inactive phase terminal to dc-link midpoint voltage. It eliminates the requirement of neutral wire or virtual neutral voltage and provides an amplified version of back electromotive force at the ZCPs which makes the lower speed range detection possible. As the speed increases, commutation point error is enlarged due to the low-pass filter. Utilizing the symmetry of the terminal to midpoint voltage, the phase error can be corrected. However, due to the nonlinear relationship between the detected voltage difference and phase error, it is difficult to regulate the error fast and robustly. Therefore, a novel phase regulator based on fuzzy neural network is proposed in this paper with simple structure and learning ability. The validity of the proposed ZCPs detection method and commutation instant shift correction method are verified through experimental results.

Objectives To develop a radiomics signature for predicting surgical portal vein-superior mesenteric vein (PV-SMV) in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and measure the effect of providing the predictions of radiomics signature to radiologists with different diagnostic experiences during imaging interpretation. Methods Between February 2008 and June 2020, 146 patients with PDAC in pancreatic head or uncinate process from two institutions were retrospectively included and randomly split into a training (n = 88) and a validation (n =58) cohort. Intraoperative vascular exploration findings were used to identify surgical PV-SMV invasion. Radiomics features were extracted from the portal venous phase CT images. Radiomics signature was built with a linear elastic-net regression model. Area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of the radiomics signature was calculated. A senior and a junior radiologist independently review CT scans and made the diagnosis for PV-SMV invasion both with and without radiomics score (Radscore) assistance. A 2-sided Pearson's chi-squared test was conducted to evaluate whether there was a difference in sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy between the radiomics signature and the unassisted radiologists. To assess the incremental value of providing Radscore predictions to the radiologists, we compared the performance between unassisted evaluation and Radscore-assisted evaluation by using the McNemar test. Results Numbers of patients identified as presence of surgical PV-SMV invasion were 33 (37.5%) and 19 (32.8%) in the training and validation cohort, respectively. The radiomics signature achieved an AUC of 0.848 (95% confidence interval, 0.724-0.971) in the validation cohort and had a comparable sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy as the senior radiologist in predicting PV-SMV invasion (all p-values > 0.05). Providing predictions of radiomics signature increased both radiologists' sensitivity in identifying PV-SMV invasion, while only the increase of the junior radiologist was significant (63.2 vs 89.5%, p-value = 0.025) instead of the senior radiologist (73.7 vs 89.5%, p-value = 0.08). Both radiologists' accuracy had no significant increase when provided radiomics signature assistance (both p-values > 0.05). Conclusions The radiomics signature can predict surgical PV-SMV invasion in patients with PDAC and may have incremental value to the diagnostic performance of radiologists during imaging interpretation.

Background: Multiple researches have revealed that long non-coding RNA (lncRNAs) served as regulatory factor in modulating tumorigenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this study, we demonstrated that lncRNA HCP5 was a tumor promoting factor of HCC, and the molecular mechanism of HCP5 has been elucidated at length.Methods: BrdU, transwell assay and flow cytometry were exerted to estimate cell growth, metastasis, invasion and apoptosis of HCC in vitro. Animal studies were performed the effect of HCP5 in vivo. Furthermore, we identified that miR-29b-3p interacted with HCP5 or DNA methyltransferase 3A (DNMT3A) using dual luciferase assay. qRT-PCR, western blot, BrdU, tanswell and flow cytometry assays were used to investigate the correlation of HCP5/miR-29b-3p/DNMT3A axis. Results: In present research, we elaborated that HCP5 was overexpressed in HCC tissues and cell lines, and this phenomenon was even obvious in metastatic and recurrent cases. Knockdown of HCP5 significantly alleviated cell growth, metastasis and invasion through preventing apoptosis and activating EMT progress. Moreover, miR-29b-3p has been identified as a negatively regulatory target gene of HCP5, which served as tumor suppressor of HCC to prevent cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Subsequently, DNMT3A was found as a downstream regulatory factor of miR-29b-3p, of which study found that a participated element of HCC progression by activating AKT phosphorylation.Conclusion: Generally, our study elucidated for the first time that HCP5 plays a crucial role in HCC via HCP5/ miR-29b-3p/DNMT3A/AKT axis and demonstrated a novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategy with potentiality.

Back-EMF zero crossing-based sensorless motor driving method suffers from a starting problem since there is no back-EMF at standstill, while the ${\rm{V}/ }f$ or ${\rm{I}/ }f$ based method is parameter sensitive. Without position sensors, smoothly driving a nonsalient BLDC motor from standstill is difficult. To solve this problem, the relationship between preposition current, energizing time, and transient speed in startup process is analyzed. Based on this relationship, starting from standstill and directly switching to self-synchronization stage can be realized without external-synchronization process. In addition, to lower the back-EMF zero-crossing points (ZCPs) detection speed, the line voltages difference ZCPs detection circuit is designed, and a novel phase error correction method based on a neuro-fuzzy controller is presented to provide accurate commutation point in the high-speed range. The experimental results show that reliable startup and accurate commutation can be guaranteed by the proposed strategy.

Background and aims Several studies were conducted to explore the prognostic value of platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) in pancreatic cancer and have reported contradictory results. This study aims to summarize the prognostic role of PLR in pancreatic cancer. Materials and methods Embase, PubMed and Cochrane Library were completely searched. The cohort studies focusing on the prognostic role of PLR in pancreatic cancer were eligible. The overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were analyzed. Results Fifteen papers containing 17 cohort studies with pancreatic cancer were identified. The results showed patients that with low PLR might have longer OS when compared to the patients with high PLR (hazard ratio=1.28, 95% CI=1.17–1.40, P

Several studies were carried out to explore the prognostic role of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in pancreatic cancer, however, with contradictory results. The objectives of this study were to summarize the prognostic value of NLR in pancreatic cancer. Embase, PubMed and Cochrane Library were comprehensively retrieved. All the cohort studies focusing on the prognostic value of NLR in pancreatic cancer were eligible. 37 papers containing 43 cohort studies with pancreatic cancer were finally included into this study. The results presented that patients with low NLR might have longer OS when compared to the patients with high NLR (HR = 1.81, 95%CI = 1.59-2.05, P 0.00001; I

By investigating the migration and invasion ability in pancreatic cancer, this study probed into the lncRNA MALAT1 molecular mechanism on Hippo-YAP signaling. The expression of lncRNA MALAT1 in PC tissues and cells was detected by qRT-PCR and Western blot. The effect of si-MALAT1 on proliferation was determined by CCK-8 assay. Cell apoptosis, migration, and invasion were respectively detected by flow cytometry assay, wound healing assay, and transwell assay. Western blot and immunohistochemistry were successively used for detecting LATS1 and YAP1 expression in pancreatic cancer tissues. The microarray analysis determined that lncRNA MALAT1 in pancreatic cancer was highly expressed. LncRNA MALAT1 presented an extremely high expression level in pancreatic cancer tissues and cells. After transfected with si-MALAT1, the proliferation of AsPC-1 cells decreased, induce apoptosis of AsPC-1 cells, and migration and invasion ability were reduced. The tendency of LATS1 expression level was down-regulated and YAP1 show the opposite trend in the Hippo-YAP signaling. The in vivo assay was found that the tumor to be small in size and volume, and the expression of Ki-67 was decreased. High expression of lncRNA MALAT1 in PC disorder the proliferation, apoptosis, and migration and invasion ability via influence Hippo-YAP signaling pathway.

This study was expected to reveal the regulatory effects of lncRNA UCA1 on pancreatic cancer cell progression through targeting miR-96/FOXO3. Microarray analysis was carried out on 36 cases of pancreatic cancer tissues and 16 cases of adjacent tissues among them. Expression levels of lncRNA UCA1, miR-96, and FOXO3 in pancreatic cancer tissues and cell lines were determined by qRT-PCR. Expression levels of FOXO3 protein were determined by western blot. Cell viability, cell cycle and apoptosis, cell invasion and migration were detected by CCK-8, flow cytometry, and transwell assay, respectively. The colocalization relationship between lncRNA UCA1 and miR-96 was detected by RNA FISH. Whether UCA1 could target miR-96 and whether miR-96 could target FOXO3 3'UTR were verified by dual-luciferase reporter gene assay. High expression of lncRNA UCA1 and FOXO3 and low expression of miR-96 were shown in pancreatic cancer. Inhibition of UCA1 suppressed pancreatic tumor cell proliferation, colony formation, and metastasis, while inhibition of miR-96 promoted pancreatic cancer cell progression. FOXO3 was the downstream target gene of miR-96 and showed the opposite effects. LncRNA UCA1 promoted cell proliferation, invasion, migration and inhibited cell apoptosis of pancreatic cancer through down-regulating miR-96 and up-regulating FOXO3. © 2018 IUBMB Life, 70(4):276-290, 2018.

Flexible-bending is an innovative processing technique for profiles and tubes, which adjusts the curved shape of the forming part through numerical control. In this article, the flexible-bending forming precision of 304 stainless steel tubes was studied. The flexible-bending process of the tubes was simulated through finite element method in comparison with that of experiments. After the investigations of forming springback and residual stress, we conclude that regardless of changes in wall thickness or outer diameter, the residual stress decreases first and then increases following the increase of the ratio between outer diameter and wall thickness. Neither the wall thickening rate nor thinning rate is affected by wall thickness changes. The thrust of the pusher maintains stable during the bending process. The changes of both wall thickness and outer diameter affect the springback to some extents. When the radius of the target is constant, the springback can be optimized by adjusting the offset of the bending die and the distance between the guide and the die. The experiments agree well with the numerical simulations.

The new flexible-bending technique is used in three-dimension (3D) bending of profile and tube cross-sections. The bending radius of the forming part of profile or tube is adjusted by numerical control. The flexible-bending has some advantages, such as free definable bending geometry, and avoidance of re-clamping. The rapid development of Chinese aerospace industry has raised the demand for 3D bending profile. However, traditional bending methods of profile fail to meet the requirements of high applicability, and personalized small batch production. In this article, we studied the flexible-bending formability of asymmetric cross-section L-shaped thin-wall aluminum. The simulating calculation was carried out on finite element simulation software. Comparisons between simulation and experiment show that error analysis is needed. After the investigation of forming springback, side bending and twisting, we conclude that the springback amount changes to some extent following the increase of uplift amount H of bending die in the Y-direction. The springback can be optimized according to the variation trend. The side bending is eliminated by increasing the reverse displacement of the side bending trend. The twisting defect is relieved by intensifying the reverse displacement along the X-axis and altering degree-of-freedom UR3 along the Z-axis.

Purpose Glycyrrhizic acid (GA) is the main active ingredient extracted from Chinese herb licorice root, and it shows anti-tumor effects in many cancer types, while its role in gastric cancer (GC) is still unknown. In this study, we evaluated the effects of GA on GC cells and explored the underlying mechanisms. Methods The anti-proliferation effect of GA on GC cells was assessed by CCK-8, colony formation, and EdU assay. The effects of GA on cell cycle and apoptosis were detected by flow cytometer. Western blotting was performed to explore the underlying mechanisms. Results Our results showed that GA had a time- and dose-dependent inhibitory effect on proliferation of GC cells. Flow cytometer analysis demonstrated that GA would lead to G1/S-phase arrest and apoptosis. GA treatment down-regulated the levels of G1 phase-related proteins, including cyclin D1, D2, D3, E1, and E2. In terms of apoptosis, GA treatment up-regulated the levels of Bax, cleaved PARP, and pro-caspase-3, -8, -9, but did not influence their cleavage patterns. The expression of Bcl-2, survivin and p65 was attenuated after treatment. Besides, GA would down-regulate the phosphorylation of PI3K/AKT pathway. Conclusion This study focused on inhibitory effect of GA on GC cells by inducing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Several important cyclins- and apoptosis-related proteins were involved in the regulation of GA to GC cells, and phosphorylated PI3K and AKT were attenuated. The results of this study indicated that GA is a potential and promising anti-cancer drug for GC.

Drug resistance has always been an important problem affecting the therapeutic effect of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). To investigate the potential role of lncRNA TTN-AS1 in HCC cells with sorafenib (SOR) resistance, and explore the underlying pathways, quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to test the expression of TTN-AS1 in HCC tissues and cells. Then, the expression of TTN-AS1 was down-regulated by shRNA, the activity changes, apoptosis and related protein expression in HCC cells with/without SOR treatment were observed in succession. Expression levels of the downstream target of TTN-AS1, miR-16-5p were studied by dual-luciferase binding assay, cell proliferation, and western blotting analysis. Nude mice models of human HCC with TTN-AS1 gene knockdown were established to observe the tumor growth. As the results revealed, TTN-AS1 silencing in HCC cells induced apoptosis by enhancing the sensitivity of cells to SOR, and the tumor in nude mice became smaller. The mechanism study showed that miR-16-5p was affected by TTN-AS1 sponge, up-regulated cyclin E1 expression, and regulated PTEN/Akt signaling pathway, thereby significantly alleviating the inhibition of apoptosis of HCC cells induced by TTN-AS1 gene. Collectively, our results provided TTN-AS1 as a potential therapeutic target for sorafenib resistance in HCC.

BACKGROUND Many publications showed red blood cell distribution width (RDW) might associate with the prognosis of gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, however, the agreement has not been reached because of controversial results. This meta-analysis aimed to explore the prognostic value of RDW in GI cancers. METHODS Four common databases were comprehensively searched to look for relevant studies. The meta-analyses for overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival were performed using hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI), and the meta-analyses for clinical parameters were conducted using odd ratio and 95% CI. RESULTS A total of 13 studies involving with 3,509 patients with GI cancers were included into this study. The results showed, compared to patients with low RDW, patients with high RDW tended to have shorter OS (HR = 1.75, 95%CI = 1.57-1.94, P

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been shown to play a significant role in the progression of many cancers, including pancreatic cancer (PC). However, the biological function and regulatory mechanisms of lncRNAs in PC remains largely unclear. The aim of this study was to identify and evaluate the potential functions of lncRNAs in PC and reveal the underlying mechanisms of their effects. Screening of published microarray data (GEO accession Nos. {"type":"entrez-geo","attrs":{"text":"GSE16515","term_id":"16515"}}GSE16515 and {"type":"entrez-geo","attrs":{"text":"GSE32688","term_id":"32688"}}GSE32688), revealed lncRNA AFAP1-AS1 to be one of the most upregulated lncRNAs in PC tissues. High expression of AFAP1-AS1 was correlated with advanced stages, tumor size and lymph node metastasis, as well as with poorer overall survival in patients with PC. Functionally, knockdown of AFAP1-AS1 by transfection with siRNA inhibited the proliferative and invasive capacities of PaCa-2 and SW1990 PC cells, promoted apoptosis of PC cells in vitro, and impaired in-vivo tumorigenicity. In particular, it was hypothesized that AFAP1-AS1 may act as a competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA), effectively becoming a sink for miR-133a whose expression was found to be downregulated in PC tissues and cell lines, and which was negatively correlated with the expression of AFAP1-AS1. We also found that the IGF1R oncogene which is an important regulator of MEK/ERK signaling pathway, was positively regulated by AFAP1-AS1 through ameliorating miR-133a-mediated IGF1R repression in PC tissues. Moreover, we demonstrated that knockdown of IGF1R by transfection with si-IGF1R suppressed cell proliferation, invasion and migration of PaCa-2 and SW1990 PC cells, suggesting that IGF1R may function as an oncogene in PC cells. Further investigations revealed that miR-133a reversed the biological effects of AFAP1-AS1 on PC cells. Collectively, the findings provide new evidence that AFAP1-AS1 could regulate the progression of pancreatic cancer by acting as a ceRNA, and suggest it has potential for use as both a biomarker for the early detection PC and for the development of individualized therapies for PC.

Yongping Zhou,1 Sijin Cheng,2 Sinuo Chen,2 Yongzhao Zhao1,2 1Department of Hepatobiliary, Wuxi Second Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi, People’s Republic of China; 2Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China Background: Several studies have explored the prognostic value of sirtuin 3 (SIRT3) in various cancers, but obtained inconsistent results. The current systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the association between SIRT3 expression and prognosis in various cancers. Methods: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library were comprehensively retrieved by the end of September 29, 2017. All the relevant studies were checked and included in the meta-analysis if they met the inclusion criteria. Results: A total of 17 studies involving 2,865 patients were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis. The results indicated that SIRT3 expression was not significantly associated with overall survival (OS) (hazard ratio [HR]=0.87, 95% CI=0.59–1.29,P=0.50) and disease-free survival (HR=0.87, 95% CI=0.57–1.31,P=0.50) in total various cancers. However, significant relationship between SIRT3 expression and OS in specific cancers was detected, including chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) (HR=0.48, 95% CI=0.26–0.89, P=0.019), hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (HR=0.56, 95% CI=0.42–0.74,P

Backgrounds Plenty of studies have been conducted to explore the prognostic value of LncRNA AFAP1-AS1 in various cancers, however, with contradictory outcomes. The aim of the current study was to explore the prognostic value of high LncRNA AFAP1-AS1 expression in various cancers. Methods PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane library, China National Knowledge Internet (CNKI) and Wan-fang database were comprehensively retrieved, and all the relevant studies were included into the study. Results A total of 21 studies involving 2179 patients were finally included into the systematic review and meta-analysis. Compared to low LncRNA AFAP1-AS1 expression, high LncRNA AFAP1-AS1 expression was significantly related to shorter OS (HR = 2.02, 95%CI = 1.51–2.70, P Conclusions Cancer patients with high LncRNA AFAP1-AS1 expression had shorter OS, DFS, RFS and PFS compared to those with low expression. Moreover, high LncRNA AFAP1-AS1 expression was significantly related to advanced clinical stage, larger tumor size, earlier tumor metastasis, earlier lymph nodal involvement and vascular invasion. High LncRNA AFAP1-AS1 expression was an unfavorable prognostic factor in various cancers.

In the process of frequency split trimming, the fluctuation of environmental temperature causes a deviation in measuring the natural frequency, which is bigger than the request trimming accuracy. Therefore, a measuring method with temperature compensation is proposed to reduce this impact. Firstly, the relationship between natural frequency of resonator and environmental temperature are studied by experiments. Furthermore, the corresponding model of temperature compensation is proposed, which is written into the measuring unit to calculate the compensated frequency. The frequencies before and after temperature compensation are measured to prove the correctness of this method. At last, a real time measuring experiment is accomplished to verify the feasibility in frequency split trimming. Results show that the effect of temperature on the natural frequency reduced significantly with the temperature compensation measuring method. The proposed method is applicable for other types of vibratory gyroscope in precision frequency measurement.

// Yongping Zhou 1 , Yuxuan Lu 2 , Runmin Li 2 , Nana Yan 3 , Xiding Li 4 and Tu Dai 1 1 Department of Hepatobiliary, Wuxi Second Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi, China 2 School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China 3 Department of Endocrinology, Hebei General Hospital, Shijiazhuang, China 4 Department of General Surgery, Wuxi Second Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi, China Correspondence to: Tu Dai, email: 810704041@qq.com Xiding Li, email: lixiding007@163.com Keywords: long non-coding RNA TUG1, cancer, prognostic Received: May 10, 2017 Accepted: July 26, 2017 Published: August 08, 2017 ABSTRACT Several studies were conducted to explore the prognostic role of long non-coding RNA taurine upregulated gene 1 (lncRNA TUG1) expression in various cancers, with contradictory. This study aims to summarize the prognostic role of lncRNA TUG1 expression in various cancers. Embase, PubMed and Cochrane Library were completely retrieved. The cohort studies focusing on the prognostic role of lncRNA TUG1 expression in various cancers were eligible. The endpoints were overall survival (OS) and clinicopathological parameters. 9 studies involving a total of 1,078 patients were identified. The results showed that high lncRNA TUG1 expression was obviously associated with worse OS when compared to the low lncRNA TUG1 expression (HR = 1.37, 95% CI = 1.07–1.76, P = 0.01; I 2 = 85%). However, No distinct relationship was observed between the lncRNA TUG1 expression and age (OR = 0.99, 95% CI = 0.76–1.28, P = 0.92; I2 = 4%), gender (OR = 0.92, 95% CI = 0.70–1.22, P = 0.57; I 2 = 0%), diameter (OR = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.34–2.01, P = 0.67; I 2 = 85%), smoking (OR = 1.09, 95% CI = 0.37–3.21, P = 0.87; I 2 = 73%), TNM stage (OR = 0.60, 95% CI = 0.25–1.43, P = 0.25; I 2 = 86%) and lymph node metastasis (OR = 1.07, 95% CI = 0.47–2.45, P = 0.87; I 2 = 86%). In conclusion, it was revealed that high lncRNA TUG1 expression is an unfavorable predictor of OS in patients with cancers, and lncRNA TUG1 expression is a promising prognostic biomarker for various cancers.