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Yuan He,1,2,* Zhaona Fan,1,2,* Lihong He,1,2 Chi Zhang,1,2 Fan Ping,1,2 Miao Deng,1,2 Suyang Liu,1,2 Yanting Wang,1,2 Bin Cheng,1,2 Juan Xia1,2 1Hospital of Stomatology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 2Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stomatology, Guanghua School of Stomatology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Bin Cheng; Juan XiaGuangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stomatology, Guanghua School of Stomatology, Sun Yat-Sen University, No. 55 Linyuan Xi Road, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510055, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +862083741891Fax +86 20 83822807Email chengbin@mail.sysu.edu.cn; xiajuan@mail.sysu.edu.cnBackground: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), the most common epithelial malignant neoplasm in the head and neck, characterizes with local infiltration and metastasis of lymph nodes. The five-year survival rate of OSCC remains low despite the advances in clinical methods. Thus, it is necessary to develop a new effective therapeutic scheme for OSCC. Our previous results showed that metformin and 4SC-202 synergistically promoted the intrinsic apoptosis of OSCC in vitro and in vivo, but the effects on invasion and migration remained unclear.Methods: Human OSCC cell lines HSC6 and CAL33 were cultured with metformin (16 mM) or/and 4SC-202 (0.4 μM) for 72 h. STAT3 inhibitor S31-201 was applied at concentration of 60 μM for 48 h. Wound-healing assays and transwell assays were used to determine the invasion and migration ability of OSCC. qRT-PCR and Western blot were performed to detect mRNA levels and protein levels.Results: Metformin or/and 4SC-202 suppressed the migration and invasion of OSCC cells. Importantly, the expression of TWIST1 was suppressed by metformin and 4SC-202, while the invasion and migration inhibitory effects of metformin and 4SC-202 were countered by the overexpression of TWIST1. In addition, the phosphorylation level of STAT3 decreased after the administration of metformin or/and 4SC-202. Furthermore, inhibition of STAT3 by S31-201 suppressed the expression of TWIST1 and led to a decline in migration and invasion of OSCC, while overexpression of TWIST1 attenuated these effects.Conclusion: Metformin and 4SC-202 suppressed the invasion and migration of OSCC through inhibition of STAT3/TWIST1, and this scheme can serve as a novel therapeutic strategy for OSCC.Keywords: oral squamous cell carcinoma, metformin, 4SC-202, invasion, migration

Background Development assistance for health (DAH) is an important component of foreign assistance. International health consultants usually play a key role in the international DAH field. However, there is still a shortage of consulting training in China. To address this issue and develop new backup force of DAH for China, the Global Health Institute of Wuhan University (GHIWHU) launched a training program called the “Consulting Training Course for International Development Assistance for Health”. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the impact of the training on participants. Methods We conducted the analysis using Kirkpatrick’s model. An evaluation survey examining participants’ reaction (level 1) and learning (level 2) was carried out among trainees following the training, and a follow-up telephone interview of application (level 3) was made in three months after the training. Results A total of 25 participants from Chinese Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CCUGH) attended the training program. Results of satisfaction evaluation indicated that the training program was well received, with more than 85% of participants felt satisfied or relatively satisfied with the training. Trainees’ self-ratings of the consulting knowledge and skills showed a significant increase (p

This paper studies the network topology dynamic problem of the laser inter-satellite link in the navigation constellation. Since the reestablishment time of the laser inter-satellite link is relatively long, this paper envisages that multiple laser intersatellite links reestablish links at the same time when the network topology changes. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain certain performance during the change. The inter-satellite link of the navigation constellation needs to balance the communication and the inter-satellite orbit determination performance. This paper proposes the link transmission cost based on the inter-satellite link distance and the amount of data transmitted on the link to measure the communication performance of the inter-satellite link, and the position dilution of precision to measure the performance of the orbit determination. In this paper, a multi-objective optimization model is established, aiming to improve the performance of the communication and inter-satellite orbit determination. The model used genetic algorithm to solve the problem. The simulation results have shown that the inter-satellite link network topology witnessed an obvious improvement in both the communication performance and the orbit determination performance, and has good communication performance when network changes.

Youcheng Liu,1,* Shuang Yan,2,* Karen Poh,1 Suyang Liu,3 Emanehi Iyioriobhe,1 David A Sterling1 1Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX, USA; 2Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Fourth Affiliated Hospital, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, People’s Republic of China; 3Epidemiology, Human Genetics & Environmental Sciences, School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA *These authors contributed equally to this work Background: COPD is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in both high- and low-income countries and a major public health burden worldwide. While cigarette smoking remains the main cause of COPD, outdoor and indoor air pollution are important risk factors to its etiology. Although studies over the last 30years helped reduce the values, it is not very clear if the current air quality guidelines are adequately protective for COPD sufferers. Objective: This systematic review was to summarize the up-to-date literature on the impact of air pollution on the COPD sufferers. Methods: PubMed and Google Scholar were utilized to search for articles related to our study’s focus. Search terms included “COPD exacerbation”, “air pollution”, “air quality guidelines”, “air quality standards”, “COPD morbidity and mortality”, “chronic bronchitis”, and “air pollution control” separately and in combination. We focused on articles from 1990 to 2015. We also used articles prior to 1990 if they contained relevant information. We focused on articles written in English or with an English abstract. We also used the articles in the reference lists of the identified articles. Results: Both short-term and long-term exposures to outdoor air pollution around the world are associated with the mortality and morbidity of COPD sufferers even at levels below the current air quality guidelines. Biomass cooking in low-income countries was clearly associated with COPD morbidity in adult nonsmoking females. Conclusion: There is a need to continue to improve the air quality guidelines. A range of intervention measures could be selected at different levels based on countries’ socioeconomic conditions to reduce the air pollution exposure and COPD burden. Keywords: air pollution, biomass, chronic bronchitis, COPD, intervention

As a special population group, Canadian Aboriginal people are always of interest to scholars and policy makers since the well-being of Aboriginal people was and is lower than the overall national well-being level. To improve Aboriginal people’s well-being, improvement in education attainment is universally regarded as a prerequisite. From the 1600s onward, modern education and religious indoctrination has been imposed on Aboriginal societies by British governance, and later, the Government of Canada. For historical reasons, aboriginal people tend to keep themselves away from modern education, which has deferred their progress to a richer life. Also, government funding for Aboriginal post-secondary education has been insufficient. Under such a situation, Aboriginal people might still want to go to university in hopes of receiving a higher wage. But will Aboriginal people be discouraged when looking at the disparity in marginal return on education between different ethnic population groups?