Search

Background: Prognostic biomarkers remain a focus in colorectal cancer during last decades. There are some studies of E2F transcription factors in different cancer. But the utility of E2F transcription factors as cancer biomarkers in colorectal cancer has not been confirmed. In this research we analyzed multiple databases and performed experimental validation of E2Fs as biomarkers. Methords: Bioinformatics analysis was the main part of this research. Besides, IHC was used to the huamn normal and tumor tissues.Results: Our study showed that the mRNA expression levels of E2F1/3/4/5/6/7/8 were significantly upregulated in carcinoma tissues, whereas E2F2 mRNA was downregulated. High E2F3/4 expression correlated with poor prognosis, whereas high E2F2 expression was correlated with good prognosis. Pathological parameters indicated that expression levels of E2F1/3/5 varied in different tumor stages; however, expression of E2F2/4/6/7/8 did not vary with tumor stage. E2F4 expression was higher in men than women. For pathological type, E2F8 expression was higher in the mucinous adenocarcinoma group compared with the adenocarcinoma group. E2F expression levels were altered in 175 of 524 patients (33%) with colorectal cancer, and the alterations of E2Fs in mucinous adenocarcinoma were more frequent than in adenocarcinoma. Cell cycle was the core function and the most enriched pathway of E2Fs. The functions of E2F2/3/4 may be regulated by some miRNAs. Conclusions: We proved that E2F2/3/4 can be used as prognostic biomarkers for colorectal cancer, and E2F2/3/4 mRNAs may be targeted by some miRNAs to influence “CELL CYCLE” pathway and exert their core functions in colorectal cancer.

Background Primary bilateral macronodular adrenocortical hyperplasia (PBMAH) is a rare form of adrenal Cushing’s syndrome. The slowly progressing expansion of bilateral adrenal tissues usually persists for dozens of years, leading to delayed onset with severe conditions due to chronic mild hypercortisolism. About 20–50% cases were found to be caused by inactivating mutation of armadillo repeat-containing protein 5 (ARMC5) gene. Case presentation A 51-year-old man was admitted for severe diabetes mellitus, resistant hypertension, centripedal obesity and edema. PBMAH was diagnosed after determination of adrenocorticotropic hormone and cortisol levels, dexamethasone suppression tests and abdominal contrast-enhanced CT scanning. The metabolic disorders of the patient remarkably improved after sequentially bilateral laparoscopic adrenalectomy combined with hormone replacement. Sanger sequencing showed germline nonsense mutation of ARMC5 c.967C>T (p.Gln323Ter). The second somatic missense mutation of ARMC5 was detected in one out of two resected nodules, reflecting the second-hit model of tumorigenesis. Routine genetic testing in his apparently healthy offspring showed one of two daughters and one son harbored the germline mutation. Conclusions In conclusion, our case report highlight the importance of genetic testing in the molecular diagnosis of PBMAH. Genetic screening in related family members will find out asymptomatic variant carriers to guide life-long follow-up.

To discuss clinical outcomes of accordion operation for the Ilizarov technique in treating tibial bone defects.From January 2014 to June 2016, 22 patients with tibial bone defects were treated by Ilizarov bone-transport technique, including 19 males and 3 females with an average age of 44.04 years old ranging from 23 to 60 years old;the length of the bone defects before the bone transport was 5 to 11 cm with an average 7.68 cm; Cause of injury invlved traffic accidents in 14 cases, fall injury in 3, smashing injury in 4, high drop injury in 1; 6 cases were on the left and 16 cases were on the right. The patients were divided into two groups: 11 cases in accordion group were treated by "accordion operation" after bone transport was completed;11 cases in control group were treated by the external fixator locked waiting for bone consolidation after bone transport was completed. All patients were followed up for 18 to 36 months with an average time of 27.9 months. There was no statistical significance between two groups, such as sex, age, length of bone defect(The result of X-ray evaluation was all patients achieved bone healing. In accordion group, the bone healing time was (365±91) days, the bone healing index was (46.2±3.5) d/cm; in control group, the bone healing time was(435±108) days, the bone healing index was (57.8±3.5) d/cm. There was no statistical significance in the bone healing time between the two groups(Accordion operation for the Ilizarov technique in treating tibial bone defects can shorten the treatment time and consolidation time, and improve the healing index.

Background: Rs31489 in the cleft lip and palate transmembrane1-like gene (CLPTM1L) has been identified to be associated with lung cancer through genome-wide association studies (GWAS). However, some recent replication studies yielded inconclusive results. Thus, we undertook this study to investigate the precise effect of rs31489 on lung cancer susceptibility. Materials and Methods: A hospital-based case-control study in 1,673 Chinese subjects (611 individuals with lung cancer and 1,062 controls) and a meta-analysis among 32,199 subjects (16,364 cases and 15,835 controls) were performed in this study. Results: In our case-control study, rs31489 was inversely associated with lung cancer (AC versus CC: OR=0.68, 95%CI=0.52-0.88; additive model: OR=0.68, 95%CI=0.54-0.85; dominant model: OR=0.65, 95%CI =0.51-0.84). Stratification analysis by smoking status showed a significant association and strong genetic effect in non-smokers but not in smokers. Our metaanalysis further confirmed the association, although with significant heterogeneity contributed by study design and source of controls, as shown by stratified analysis. Sensitive and cumulative analyses both indicated robust stability of our results. In addition, there was no observable publication bias in our meta-analysis. Conclusions: Overall, the findings from our replication study and meta-analysis demonstrated that CLPTM1L gene rs31489 is significantly associated with lung cancer.

It is very difficult to evaluate 3D profile accuracy of micro-machined surface due to the 3D characterization of its measured point cloud. Hence, three ideal point cloud models, which are grid point model, slash profile model and horizontal profile model, were constructed to register 3D measured point cloud of micro-machined surface and evaluate the accuracies of characterized profile and points. First, #400 and #600 diamond wheel V-tips were employed to fabricate non-integrated and integrated micro-pyramid-structured surfaces with 173 µm in depth and 0.865 in aspect ratio in Computer Numerical Control (CNC) grinding system, respectively; then a white light interferometer was utilized to measure the micro-ground surfaces; finally, registration accuracy and registration efficiency were investigated with regard to characterized profile and point accuracies. The results show that registration accuracy increases and registration efficiency decreases with increasing model point number, but they have little relation with the posture of measured point cloud. Registration error may converge to micro-ground form error when model point number is larger than measured point number. Moreover, the slash profile and horizontal profile models may register characterized profile and point more precisely than grid point model. The slash profile model can produce the best registration accuracy and efficiency. It is confirmed that the micro-ground form errors are 23.8 µm and 7.9 µm, the characterized profile errors are 37.2 µm and 19.0 µm and the characterized peak errors are 51.2 µm and 34.1 µm for non-integrated surface and integrated surface, respectively. As a result, a #600 diamond grinding wheel may be used to perform a precision micro-grinding in CNC grinding system.

The characteristics of thermophilic aerobic composting process for municipal solid waste were studied. The changes of pH and organic matter content, the infrared spectra of organic matter before and after composting, the development of humification, and the toxicity for the seed were investigated. The results indicated that: the pH quickly increased and then decreased, stabilized in the neutral range; organic matter degradation occurred mainly in the first 30 days of high temperature rapid composting stage, indicating the high temperature phase played the main role in the organic matter degradation; the increases of humus, fulvic acid, humic acid and humic acid/fulvic acid ratio also showed the conversion of organic matters to humus. Composting decreased the matters inhibiting seed germination and weakened the toxicity for the plant, and the sample reached maturity through composting.

The effects of Bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2) on the angiogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma have not yet been observed and its molecular mechanisms is not clear. We first constructed the recombinant lentivirus vectors expressing small hairpin RNA against BMP-2 gene (LV-SH-BMP2) and the recombinant lentivirus vectors over-expressing BMP-2 (overexpression-LV-BMP2), and then the two recombinant lentivirus vectors were respectively transfected into Hep G2 cells. The Hep G2 cells transfected with LV-SH-BMP2 or overexpression-LV-BMP2 were respectively co-cultured with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) to observe the effects of BMP-2 on HUVECs. The effect of BMP-2 on tumor microvessel density (MVD) was examined. The abilities of proliferation, migration and angiogenesis were significantly inhibited in the HUVECs co-cultured with BMP-2 knockdown Hep G2 (all P P P

article i nfo Spatial transitions between slope positions (landform positions) are often gradual. Various methods have been developed to quantify the transitions using fuzzy slope positions. However, few studies have used the quantitative information on fuzzy slope positions in digital soil mapping or other terrain- related geographic modeling. This paper examines the use of such information for mapping soil organic matter content (SOM) within a purposive (or directed) sampling framework for predictive soil mapping. First, a fi ve slope position system (i.e., ridge, shoulder slope, back slope, foot slope, channel) was adopted and the fuzzy slope positions were der ived through an approach based on typical slope position locations. The typical slope position locations were extracted using a set of rules based on terrain attributes and domain knowledge. Secondly, the fuzzy slope positions were used to direct purposive sampling, which determined the typical SOM value for each slope position type. Typical SOM values were then combined with fuzzy slope position data to map the spatial variation of SOM using a weighted-average model - the fuzzy slope position weighted (FSPW) model - to predict the spatial distribution of SOM for two soil layers at depths of 10-15 cm and 35-40 cm in a low-relief watershed in north-eastern China. The study area comprised two portions: an area of about 4 km 2 used for model development, and an area of about 60 km 2 for model extrapolation and validation. Evaluation results show that our FSPW model produces a better prediction of the SOM than that provided by a multiple linear regression (MLR) model. Quantitative measures in the model-development area, including correlation coefficient, mean absolute error, and root mean square of error, show that the performance of the FSPW model with five modeling points from purposive sampling compares favorably with MLR results for 48 modeling points. Evidence from the quantitative assessment based on a validation set of 102 sample points in the model-extrapolation area shows that the FSPW model performs better than the MLR model, which suggests that information on fuzzy slope position was useful in aiding digital soil mapping over the area.

Rotating machinery becomes more and more large and complex, increasingly high degree of automation. Rotating machinery fault could easily lead to heavy losses. Therefore, the requirements of monitoring and diagnosis systems are increasing high. In this paper, the superiority of the application of virtual instrument on condition monitoring and diagnosis system building in the industrial production is described. And then, the rotor system as the main research object, a rotating machinery condition monitoring and diagnosis system is built by using Virtual Instrument technology. At the same time, the structure of the condition monitoring and diagnosis system is discussed. Besides, data acquisition process and fault features recognition method are discussed as well. Finally, the correctness and accuracy of fault detection are verified by means of experiments.

Because of wrong setting or long-term running of rotating machinery, the looseness may ouur in the bearing seats or bases. And also bring impact and rubbing of rotor-stator, That is the looseness and rub-impact coupling fault. In the paper,a mechanics model and a finite element model of a vertical dual-disk cantilever rotor- bearing system with coupling faults of looseness and rub-impact are set up. Based on the nonlinear finite element method and contact theory, the dynamical characteristices of the system under the influence of the looseness rigidity and impact-rub clearance is studied. The results show that the impact-rub of rotor-stator can reduce the low frequency vibration caused by looseness, and the impact-rub caused by looseness has obvious orientation. Also, the conclusion of diagnosing the looseness and rub-impact coupling faults is given in the end of the paper.

p53 is a key regulator in cell apoptosis, and cancer cells deficient in p53 expression fail to respond to chemotherapy. Here we show that effective Doxorubicin (DOX)-induced apoptosis is p53-dependent. However, an alternative treatment of DOX/TNF-alpha/DOX restored sensitivity of p53-deficient cells to DOX-induced apoptosis. Treatment of cells with TNF-alpha resulted in a decrease of p21 (waf1/cip1/sdi1) expression following second dose of DOX. In previous work, we demonstrated that p21 suppressed DOX-induced apoptosis via its (cyclin-dependent kinase) CDK-binding and CDK-inhibitory activity. Thus, we propose that TNF-alpha enhances the anti-cancer effect of DOX through suppressing the anti-apoptotic activity of p21, and that a combined treatment TNF-alpha/Dox is an effective chemotherapeutic strategy for p53-deficient cancers.