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ABSTRACTRecent studies have revealed that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play critical roles in the tumorigenesis and proliferation of human cancer. Several polymorphisms of lncRNAs have been found to be involved in the risk of neuroblastoma (NB). However, studies on the relationship between polymorphisms in lncRNA exons and NB are infrequent. We evaluated the association between rs11752942 A > G polymorphism in lnc-RNA-uc003opf.1exon and neuroblastoma susceptibility by performing a hospital-based study with 275 patients and 531 controls. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) assessed by using logistic regression models were used to determine the strength of the association. We found that the rs11752942 G allele is significantly associated with decreased neuroblastoma risk (AG vs. AA: adjusted OR = 0.72, 95% CI = 0.53–0.98, P= 0.038; and AG/GG vs. AA: adjusted OR = 0.74, 95% CI = 0.55–0.99, P= 0.045) after adjusting for age and gender. This association was more prominent in females, subjects with tumor in the mediastinum or early-stage. Furthermore, the expression quantitative trait locus analysis indicated that rs11752942 G was associated with decreased expression of its neighboring gene LRFN2mRNA. These results indicate that lncRNA-uc003opf.1may be a novel potentially functional lncRNA that may be used as a predictive marker, for it might contribute to decreased neuroblastoma risk.

Surgical planning in liver resection depends on the precise understanding of the three-dimensional (3D) relation of tumors to the intrahepatic vascular trees. This study aimed to investigate the impact of 3D printing (3DP) technology on the understanding of surgical liver anatomy. We selected four hepatic tumors that were previously resected. For each tumor, a virtual 3D reconstruction (VIR) model was created from multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) and was prototyped using a 3D printer. Forty-five surgical residents were evenly assigned to each group (3DP, VIR, and MDCT groups). After evaluation of the MDCT scans, VIR model, or 3DP model of each tumor, surgical residents were asked to assign hepatic tumor locations and state surgical resection proposals. The time used to specify the tumor location was recorded. The correct responses and time spent were compared between the three groups. The assignment of tumor location improved steadily from MDCT, to VIR, and to 3DP, with a mean score of 34.50, 55.25, and 80.92, respectively. These scores were out of 100 points. The 3DP group had significantly higher scores compared with other groups (p< 0.001). Furthermore, 3DP significantly improved the accuracy of surgical resection proposal (p< 0.001). The mean accuracy of the surgical resection proposal for 3DP, VIR, and MDCT was 57, 25, and 25%, respectively. The 3DP group took significantly less time, compared with other groups (p< 0.005). The mean time spent on assessing the tumor location for 3DP, VIR, and MDCT groups was 93, 223, and 286 s, respectively. 3D printing improves the understanding of surgical liver anatomy for surgical residents. The improved comprehension of liver anatomy may facilitate laparoscopy or open liver resection.

Objective To investigate the impact of using a three-dimensional (3D) printed liver model for patient education.Methods Children with hepatic tumours who were scheduled for hepatectomy were enrolled, and patient-specific 3D liver models were printed with photosensitive resin, based on computed tomography (CT) images. Before surgery, their parents received information regarding liver anatomy, physiology, tumour characteristics, planned surgery, and surgical risks using these CT images. Then, parents completed questionnaires regarding this information. Thereafter, 3D printed models of each patient were presented along with an explanation of the general printing process, and the same questionnaire was completed. The median number of correct responses in each category before and after the 3D printed model presentation was compared.Results Seven children and their 14 parents were enrolled in the study. After the presentation of 3D printed models, parental understanding of basic liver anatomy and physiology, tumour characteristics, the planned surgical procedure, and surgical risks significantly improved. Parents demonstrated improvements in their understanding of basic liver anatomy by 26.4%, basic liver physiology by 23.6%, tumour characteristics by 21.4%, the planned surgical procedure by 31.4%, and surgical risks by 27.9%.Conclusions Using 3D printed liver models improved parental education regarding the understanding of liver anatomy and physiology, tumour characteristics, surgical procedure, and associated surgical risks.

Neuroblastoma is one of the most commonly diagnosed solid cancers for children, and genetic factors may play a critical role in neuroblastoma development. Previous genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified nine genes associated with neuroblastoma susceptibility in Caucasians. To determine whether genetic variations in these genes are also associated with neuroblastoma susceptibility in Southern Chinese children, we genotyped 25 polymorphisms within these genes by the TaqMan method in 256 cases and 531 controls. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to evaluate the strength of the associations. We performed a meta-analysis to further evaluate the associations. Furthermore, we calculated the area under the receiver-operating characteristic curves (AUC) to assess which gene/genes may better predict neuroblastoma risk. We confirmed that CASC15rs6939340 A>G, rs4712653 T>C, rs9295536 C>A, LIN28Brs221634 A>T, and LMO1rs110419 A>G were associated with significantly altered neuroblastoma susceptibility. We also confirmed that rs6939340 A>G (G versus A: OR=1.30, 95% CI=1.13-1.50) and rs110419 G>A (A versus G: OR=1.37, 95% CI=1.19-1.58) were associated with increased neuroblastoma risk for all subjects. We also found that the combination of polymorphisms in CASC15, LIN28B, and LMO1may be used to predict neuroblastoma risk (AUC=0.63, 95% CI=0.59-0.67). Overall, we verified five GWAS-identified polymorphisms that were associated with neuroblastoma susceptibility alteration for Southern Chinese population; however, these results need further validation in studies with larger sample sizes.

The purpose of this study is to assess the role of turbulence on the lubrication performances of coupled journal-thrust water-lubricated bearing with micro grooves using a numerical model. The results of the simulation model are compared to the published experimental data to verify the validity of the numerical model. The load capacity, maximum film pressure, and local Reynolds number variations with the rotating speed, eccentricity, radial clearance, axial geometric gap, and micro groove depth for coupled journal-thrust water-lubricated bearing are examined. Furthermore, the calculated results under the turbulent flow are compared with those under laminar flow for coupled and separate bearings. The results show that the turbulence effect can improve the lubrication performances by enlarging fluid pressure and load capacity of the coupled journal-thrust bearing and the laminar flow assumption is no longer applicable to the actual operating conditions of the water-lubricated bearings at a high rotation speed. In addition, optimal micro groove depths for both journal bearing and thrust bearing exist to reach the peak of the load capacity while the optimal micro groove depths for journal bearing and thrust bearing are not the same.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of the misalignment journal, caused by linear shaft misalignment, on the transient wear and mixed lubrication performances using a numerical model. In the numerical model, the transient geometry lubrication clearance considering the journal misalignment, the transient elastic deformation, and the transient wear depth of the bearing are incorporated to evaluate the transient film thickness during the wear process. The evolutions, under different external loads, of the wear depth of the bearing, wear-rate, elastic deformation of the bearing, film thickness, fluid pressure, and contact pressure are calculated by the numerical model. Furthermore, the calculated results of the misaligned journal bearing are compared with those of the aligned journal bearing. The results show that the distributions of the wear depth of the bearing, film pressure, and elastic deformation of the bearing are asymmetric along the axial direction and the peak values of them shift toward the back end when the journal misalignment is considered. The maximum wear depth, maximum fluid pressure, maximum contact pressure, and maximum bearing’s elastic deformation of the misaligned journal condition are significantly larger than those of the aligned journal condition.

Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid tumor in childhood. However, ganglioneuroma (GN) and ganglioneuroblastoma intermixed (GNBI), are considerably rare. Herein, we reported a rare case of bilateral thoracic and adrenal GN and GNBI in a 5-year-old boy. A three-stage operation was performed and all tumors were completely resected. The patient received no further treatment and no recurrence was found during a 2-year follow-up.