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Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is one of the leading causes of cancer death in the world and lacks an effective targeted therapy. G-protein-coupled receptor 161 (GPR161) has been demonstrated to perform the functional regulations on TNBC progression and might be a potential new target for TNBC therapy. This study showed the effects of bisdemethoxycurcumin (BDMC) on GPR161 regulation, indicating that BDMC effectively inhibited GPR161 expression and downregulated GPR161-driven signaling. BDMC showed the potent inhibitory effects on TNBC proliferation through suppressing GPR161-mediated mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)/70 kDa ribosomal protein S6 kinase (p70S6K) activation. Besides, in this study, we discover the mechanism of GPR161-driven TNBC metastasis, linking to GPR161-mediated twist-related protein 1 (Twist1)/matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP9) contributing to the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). BDMC effectively repressed GPR161-mediated TNBC metastasis via inhibiting Twist1/MMP9-induced EMT. The three-dimensional invasion assay also showed that BDMC significantly inhibited TNBC invasion. The combination treatment of BDMC and rapamycin enhanced the inhibition of TNBC proliferation and metastasis through increasing the blockage of mTOR activation. Furthermore, this study also observed that BDMC activated the caspase 3/9 signaling pathway to induce TNBC apoptosis. Therefore, BDMC could be applicable to anticancer therapy, especially targeting on the GPR161-driven cancer type.

Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-induced ligand (TRAIL) shows little or no toxicity in most normal cells and preferentially induces apoptosis in a variety of malignant cells. However, patients develop resistance to TRAIL, therefore, sensitizing agents that can sensitize the tumor cells to TRAIL-mediated apoptosis are necessary. In this study, we investigated the effect of 2-(3-hydroxyphenyl)-5-methylnaphthyridin-4-one (CSC-3436), an useful flavonoid, to overcome the TRAIL-resistant triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells. We found that CSC-3436 potentiated TRAIL-induced apoptosis in TRAIL-resistant TNBC cells and this correlated with the upregulation of death receptors (DR)-5 and down-regulation of decreased decoy receptor (DcR)-1 expression. When examined for its mechanism, we found that the decreased expression of anti-apoptotic proteins c-FLIPS/L, Bcl-Xl, Bcl-2, Survivin, and XIAP. CSC-3436 would increase the expression of Bax and promoted the cleavage of bid. In addition, the induction of DR5 by CSC-3436 was found to be dependent on the modulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS)/p38/C/EBP-homologous protein (CHOP) signaling pathways. Overall, our results indicated that CSC-3436 could potentiate the apoptotic effects of TRAIL through down-regulation of cell survival proteins and upregulation of DR5 via the ROS-mediated upregulation of CHOP protein.

The growing exasperating effect of climate change calls for an immensely augmented decline of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in all aspects of human life. Marketers have increasingly employed different strategies in attempt to change consumer behavior having a pivotal role in diminishing CO2 emissions. Yet, little work has been done to investigate the influencing factors that can develop sustainable consumption patterns. Drawing on Terror Management Theory (TMT), this research attempts to explore the relationships between omnipresent fear of death and consumers’ willingness to pay for carbon emissions. The results demonstrate that mortality salience is positively associated with materialism whereas self-esteem tends to decrease it. The results further indicate that, these two research precursors positively influence consumers’ health consciousness; materialism and health consciousness lower and positively influence consumers’ willingness to pay extra to offset carbon emissions, respectively. This study advances our knowledge regarding the willingness of consumers to pay for carbon offsets and strengthens the literature on climate change response by providing empirical evidence of the effects of various psychological factors. On the basis of these findings, this study also provides key managerial instructions for the carbon offset program. Fear of death is critically important because it can greatly affect consumers’ willingness to pay for carbon taxes, so managers should foster consumers’ self-esteem yet offering material bonuses to airline passengers, on the contrary, might not have a desired effect on sustainable behavior.

Bladder cancer is the most common malignancy of the urinary tract and arising from the epithelial lining of the urinary bladder. Resistance to cytotoxic therapies is associated with overexpression of oncogenic proteins; including HER2, and Akt in chemotherapy resistance of bladder cancer. Various studies demonstrated that curcuminoids, the most important active phenolic compounds of turmeric (Curcuma longa), have anti-tumor activities in a wide range of human malignant cell lines. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether curcuminoids (curcumin, demethoxycurcumin (DMC), and bisdemethoxycurcumin) could repress the expression of HER2 in HER2-overexpressing bladder cancer cells. Among the test compounds, DMC significantly suppressed the expression of HER2, and preferentially inhibited cell proliferation and induced apoptosis in HER2-overexpressing bladder cancer cells. DMC decreases HER2 level through inhibiting the interaction of HER2 and Hsp90. Our study also indicated that DMC showed additive activity in combination with chemotherapeutic agents, including paclitaxel and cisplatin. These findings show that DMC should be developed further as a new antitumor drug candidate for treatment of HER2-overexpressing bladder cancer.

Vehicle emissions have become a major source of air pollution in urban cities. The vehicle emission inventory of the Liaoning province from 2000 to 2030 was established based on the COPERT model and ArcGIS, and the temporal and spatial distribution characteristics of six pollutants (CO, NMVOC, NO

Breast cancer is a major public health problem throughout the world. In this report, we investigated whether CHM-1, a novel synthetic antimitotic agent could be developed into a potent antitumor agent for treating human breast cancer. CHM-1 induced growth inhibition in MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-453 and MCF-7 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. Importantly, CHM-1 is less toxic to normal breast (HBL-100) cells. CHM-1 interacted with tubulin, markedly inhibited tubulin polymerization, and disrupted microtubule organization. Proteins from control and CHM-1-treated animal tumor specimens were analyzed by two-dimensional electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Our results indicated that CHM-1 increased the expression of SIRT2 protein, an NAD-dependent tubulin deacetylase. A prodrug strategy was also investigated to address the problem of low aqueous solubility and low bioavailability of the antitumor agent CHM-1. The water-soluble prodrug of CHM-1 (CHM-1-P) was synthesized. After oral and intravenous administration, CHM-1-P induced a dose-dependent inhibition of tumor growth. The aforementioned excellent anti-tumor activity profiles of CHM-1 and its prodrug CHM-1-P, suggests that CHM-1-P deserves to further develop as a clinical trial candidate for treating human breast carcinoma.

Increasing evidence supports the anti-estrogenic and/or anti-proliferative properties of luteolin, which is a natural flavonoid existing in herbs, vegetables and fruits. However, the molecular mechanisms responsible for these effects are only partially explored. In the present study, estrogen receptor-alpha (ER-α) was identified as a potential molecular target for luteolin. Our data indicated that treatment with luteolin engendered suppression of ER-α protein and mRNA expression in ER-α-positive breast cancer cells. Y-box binding protein-1 (YB-1) is a known transcriptional regulator of ER-α expression. In this studies it was demonstrated that luteolin decreased YB-1 protein and mRNA expression. Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) is able to phosphorylate many downstream effectors that have the potential to regulate YB-1 transcription. We provided evidence for a mechanism by which luteolin suppressed YB-1 expression through the downregulation of ILK/Akt/STAT3-regulated Twist expression in ER-α-positive breast cancer cells. Our data also showed that luteolin inhibited cancer migration and invasion through the inhibition of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Taken together, these data indicate that the antitumorigenic effects of luteolin in ER-α-positive breast cancer cells may arise from its ability to reduce ER-α expression.

Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-induced ligand (TRAIL) is nontoxic to normal cells and preferentially cytotoxic to cancer cells. Recent data suggest that malignant breast cancer cells often become resistant to TRAIL. Pterostilbene (PTER), a naturally occurring analogue of resveratrol found in blueberries, is known to induce cancer cells to undergo apoptosis. In the present study, we examined whether PTER affects TRAIL-induced apoptosis and its mechanism in TRAIL-resistant triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells. Our data indicated that PTER induced apoptosis (14.68 ± 3.78% for 40 μM PTER vs 1.98 ± 0.25% for control, p < 0.01) in TNBC cells and enhanced TRAIL-induced apoptosis in TRAIL-resistant TNBC cells (18.45 ± 4.65% for 40 μM PTER vs 29.38 ± 6.35% for combination of 40 μM PTER and 100 ng/mL TRAIL, p < 0.01). We demonstrated that PTER induced death receptors DR5 and DR4 as well as decreased decoy receptor DcR-1 and DcR-2 expression. PTER also decreased the antiapoptotic proteins c-FLIPS/L, Bcl-Xl, Bcl-2, survivin, and XIAP. PTER induced the cleavage of bid protein and caused proapoptotic Bax accumulation. Moreover, we found that PTER induced the expression of DR4 and DR5 through the reactive oxygen species (ROS)/ endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress/ERK 1/2 and p38/C/EBP-homologous protein (CHOP) signaling pathways. Overall, our results showed that PTER potentiated TRAIL-induced apoptosis via ROS-mediated CHOP activation leading to the expression of DR4 and DR5.

CWF-145, a synthetic 2-phenyl-4-quinolone derivative exerted potent cytotoxicity against prostate cancer. CWF-145 inhibited prostate cancer cell lines PC-3, DU-145 and LNCap. It had a very low IC50 about 200 nM against castrate-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) PC-3. We found that CWF-145 had a similar effect to clinical trial antimitotic agents in cancer cells and normal cells. CWF-145 arrested cell cycle at G2/M phase by binding to the β-tubulin at the colchicine-binding site then disrupted microtubule polymerization. Furthermore, the damaged microtubule affected the Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway. Our data showed that CWF-145 activated Akt and mTOR expression to increase emi1 accumulation and inhibit APC. The increased cyclin B1 and securin arrested cell cycle at G2/M phase. Moreover, we showed that Akt activation markedly increased resistance to microtubule-directed agents, including CWF-145, colchicine, and paclitaxel. Interestingly, rapamycin inhibited Akt-mediated therapeutic resistance, indicating that these effects were dependent on mTOR. Taken together, these observations suggest that activation of the Akt/mTOR signaling pathway can promote resistance to chemotherapeutic agents that do not directly target metabolic regulation. These data may provide insight into potentially synergistic combinations of anticancer therapies.

Organic acids secreted from the roots of plants play important roles in nutrient acquisition and metal detoxification; however, the precise underlying mechanisms of these processes remain poorly understood. In the present study we examined the content of organic acids exuded from roots and the effects of these organic acids on the activation of slowly available potassium (K) at different K levels, including normal K supply and K-deficient conditions. In addition, the study system also comprised a high-K tobacco variety (ND202) and two common ones (K326 and NC89). Our results showed that high-K varieties exhibited significantly higher contents of organic acids in its root exudates and available K in both rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soils than the other varieties. This research also suggested that a cyclic process in which soil was acidified after being complexed by organic acids was involved in the release of slowly available K, and that this process primarily depended on the soil pH at high organic acids concentrations, but the complexation of organic ligands became dominant at low concentrations. In conclusion, tobacco roots secrete organic acids to increase available K content and improve the utilisation rate of soil K. High-K varieties probably enhance slowly available K activation by secreting relatively high amounts of organic acids, thus leading to more available K in soil for absorption by plants.

The pollution characteristics and emission factors (EFs) of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of vehicles were investigated using the tunnel test method on weekdays and weekends in the Wujinglu Tunnel in Tianjin, China. Gas samples in the tunnel were collected with 3.2 L stainless steel canisters and 99 VOCs species were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The concentration levels, variation characteristics, and EFs of the VOCs were analyzed. The ozone formation potentials (OFPs) and secondary organic aerosol formation potentials (SOAFPs) of the VOCs in the tunnel were calculated. Moreover, a comparison of the study results with current literature was conducted. The total concentrations of VOCs at the inlet and midpoint are (190.85±51.15) μg·m

// Jui-Wen Ma 1 , Chao-Ming Hung 2, 3 , Ying-Chao Lin 4, 5, 6 , Chi-Tang Ho 7 , Jung-Yie Kao 1 , Tzong-Der Way 8, 9 1 Institute of Biochemistry, College of Life Science, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan 2 Department of General Surgery, E-Da Hospital, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 3 School of Medicine, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 4 Division of Neurosurgery, Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital, Taichung Branch, Taiwan 5 School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan 6 Department of Medical Imaging and Radiological Science, Central Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taichung, Taiwan 7 Department of Food Science, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA 8 Department of Biological Science and Technology, College of Biopharmaceutical and Food Sciences, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan 9 Department of Health and Nutrition Biotechnology, College of Health Science, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan Correspondence to: Tzong-Der Way, email: tdway@mail.cmu.edu.tw Jung-Yie Kao, email: biosjyk@gmail.com Keywords: HER-2-overexpressing breast cancer cells, aloe-emodin, Y-box binding protein-1, ILK/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway, epithelial-mesenchymal transition Received: January 06, 2016 Accepted: June 12, 2016 Published: July 06, 2016 ABSTRACT Human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2)-positive breast cancer tends to be aggressive, highly metastatic, and drug resistant and spreads rapidly. Studies have indicated that emodin inhibits HER-2 expression. This study compared the HER-2-inhibitory effects of two compounds extracted from rhubarb roots: aloe-emodin (AE) and rhein. Our results indicated that AE exerted the most potent inhibitory effect on HER-2 expression. Treatment of HER-2-overexpressing breast cancer cells with AE reduced tumor initiation, cell migration, and cell invasion. AE was able to suppress YB-1 expression, further suppressing downstream HER-2 expression. AE suppressed YB-1 expression through the inhibition of Twist in HER-2-overexpressing breast cancer cells. Our data also found that AE inhibited cancer metastasis and cancer stem cells through the inhibition of EMT. Interestingly, AE suppressed YB-1 expression through the downregulation of the intracellular integrin-linked kinase (ILK)/protein kinase B (Akt)/mTOR signaling pathway in HER-2-overexpressing breast cancer cells. In vivo study showed the positive result of antitumor activity of AE in nude mice injected with human HER-2-overexpressing breast cancer cells. These findings suggest the possible application of AE in the treatment of HER-2-positive breast cancer.

Background/Aim: The banana flower is used for ameliorating urinary disturbance. However, there is limited evidence to support the efficacy or mechanism of action of banana flower against benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). In the present study, the anti-BPH activity and mechanisms of banana flower extracts were investigated in vitro and in vivo. Materials and Methods: The banana flower extract is a water-soluble extract obtained by sonication. MTT assay was used to examine whether banana flower extract exhibited cytotoxic effects on BPH-1 cells. The effect of banana flower extract on cell-cycle distribution was examined by flow cytometry. The expression of cell-cycle-regulatory molecules was determined by western blot analysis. Testosterone propionate (TP)-induced rat model of BPH was used to evaluate the anti-BPH activity of banana flower extract in vivo. Results: Banana flower extract reduced epithelial cell line BPH-1 cell viability through cell-cycle arrest at G(1) phase. Moreover, banana flower extract reduced the expression of cyclin D1 and cyclin-dependent kinase 6, while it increased the expression of p53 and p27. Interestingly, banana flower extract suppressed BPH-related inflammatory responses through suppressing cyclo-oxygenase-2 expression and prostaglandin E2 production. Finally, banana flower extract administered orally to male rats reduced prostatic weight and serum dihydrotestosterone level, and improved prostate gland morphology. High-performance liquid chromatography revealed that banana flower extract contains citric acid, taurine, pantothenic acid and nicotinic acid components. In summary, banana flower extract may be used as a therapeutic agent for BPH via anti-proliferative and anti-inflammatory activities.

“Triple negative breast cancer” (TNBC) is associated with a higher rate and earlier time of recurrence and worse prognosis after recurrence. In this study, we aimed to examine the crosstalk between fibroblasts and TNBC cells. The fibroblasts were isolated from TNBC patients’ tissue in tumor burden zones, distal normal zones and interface zones. The fibroblasts were indicated as cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), normal zone fibroblasts (NFs) and interface zone fibroblasts (INFs). Our study found that INFs grew significantly faster than NFs and CAFs in vitro. The epithelial BT20 cells cultured with the conditioned medium of INFs (INFs-CM) and CAFs (CAFs-CM) showed more spindle-like shape and cell scattering than cultured with the conditioned medium of NFs (NFs-CM). These results indicated that factors secreted by INFs-CM or CAFs-CM could induce the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) phenotype in BT20 cells. Using an in vitro co-culture model, INFs or CAFs induced EMT and promoted cancer cell migration in BT20 cells. Interestingly, we found that emodin inhibited INFs-CM or CAFs-CM-induced EMT programming and phenotype in BT20 cells. Previous studies reported that CAFs and INFs-secreted TGF-β promoted human breast cancer cell proliferation, here; our results indicated that TGF-β initiated EMT in BT20 cells. Pretreatment with emodin significantly suppressed the TGF-β-induced EMT and cell migration in BT20 cells. These results suggest that emodin may be used as a novel agent for the treatment of TNBC.

Surface state of transmission line is an important factor to the corona characteristics. Therefore, this paper using surface roughness as the experimental parameters, using Aluminum Conductor Steel Reinforced cable LGJ-400/50 as the experimental materials in wind sand environment, studied the effect of sand particles on the surface of LGJ-400/50 Aluminum Conductor Steel Reinforced cable though the wind tunnel experiment. According to the experimental results a line chart about roughness changing along with the erosion time is obtained. By using Matlab least square fitting function make the line chart into a curve so that trends can be clearly reflected. The results show that: (1) the curve can be divided into two parts: the fast rising stage and the stable stage, the stable stage is related to the formation of oxide layer; (2) when the attack angle is 30 ° surface erosion is the most serious and changes of surface roughness have a maximum value.

Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis‑inducing ligand (TRAIL) has potential application in cancer therapy and it has the ability to selectively kill cancer cells without affecting normal cells. However, the development of resistance to TRAIL in cancer cells cannot be avoided. This study investigated the effects of 2-(5-methylselenophen‑2‑yl)‑6,7‑methylenedioxyquinolin‑4-one (CCT327), an analogue of quinolin-4-one, on the sensitization of cancer cells to TRAIL and on TRAIL‑induced apoptosis in TRAIL‑resistance human leukemia cells (HL60‑TR). We found that CCT327 enhanced TRAIL‑induced apoptosis through upregulation of death receptors DR4 and DR5. In addition to upregulating DRs (death receptors), CCT327 suppressed the expression of decoy receptor DcR1 and DcR2. CCT327 significantly downregulated the expression of FLICE inhibitory protein (cFLIP) and other antiapoptotic proteins. We also demonstrated that CCT327 could activate p38 and JNK. Moreover, CCT327-induced induction of DR5 and DR4 was mediated by reactive oxygen species (ROS), and N-acetylcysteine (NAC) blocked the induction of DRs by CCT327. Taken together, these results showed that CCT327 combined with TRAIL treatment may provide an effective therapeutic strategy for cancer.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is one of the most lethal types of tumors and highly metastatic and invasive. The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is the crucial step for cancer cells to initiate the metastasis and could be induced by many growth factors. In this study, we found that GBM8401 cells were converted to fibroblastic phenotype and the space between the cells became expanded in response to insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) treatment. Epithelial markers were downregulated and mesenchymal markers were upregulated simultaneously after IGF-1 treatment. Our results illustrate that IGF-1 was able to induce EMT in GBM8401 cells. Osthole would reverse IGF-1-induced morphological changes, upregulated the expression of epithelial markers, and downregulated the expression of mesenchymal markers. Moreover, wound-healing assay also showed that osthole could inhibit IGF-1-induced migration of GBM8401 cells. By using dual-luciferase reporter assay and real-time PCR, we demonstrated that osthole inhibited IGF-1-induced EMT at the transcriptional level. Our study found that osthole decreased the phosphorylation of Akt and GSK3β and recovered the GSK3β bioactivity in inhibiting EMT transcription factor Snail and Twist expression. These results showed that osthole inhibited IGF-1-induced EMT by blocking PI3K/Akt pathway. We hope that osthole can be used in anticancer therapy and be a new therapeutic medicine for GBM in the future.

The paper designed questionnaires to examine status of environmental problems among social problemsHow does the people place the environmental problem in their mind could be an important factor in surveying the ponderance of the local environmental problem. The environmental problem was placed in a relatively higher rate by be chosen at the first rank.and has become a key problem in concern by groups of answerers.

The project used the Tanggu alkali-slag wasteland in Tianjin as a case-study of ecological restoration engineering project, researched the characteristic of alkali-slag and status of the unproductive land, manufactured the alkali slag soil to fill the low-lying-land, covered with exogenous planting soil and planted artificial vegetation which dominated by native plant which could survive easily, investigated the method of wasteland disposal by building artificial mountain of easy-softening alkali-slag.

In order to accurately measure the surface roughness of the outer strands on aluminum conductor steel reinforced cable, two different methods are proposed to correct the error by the general method using light-section microscope. Comparing the images by staining method and angle amendment method for ACSR cable, it is found that the later is better than staining methods. The result conducts that angle amendment method using light-section microscope is suitable for measuring the surface roughness of the outer strands on ACSR cable.

DNA methylation is one of the most important epigenetic mechanisms, and participates in the pathogenic processes of many diseases. Differentially methylated regions (DMRs) in the genome have been reported and implicated in a number of different diseases, tissues and cell types, and are associated with gene expression levels. Therefore, identification of DMRs is one of the most critical and fundamental issues in dissecting the disease etiologies. Based on bisulfite conversion, advances in sequence- and array-based technologies have helped investigators study genome-wide DNA methylation. Many methods have been developed to detect DMRs, and they have revolutionized our understanding of DNA methylation and provided new insights into its role in diverse biological functions. According to data and region types, we discuss various methods in detecting DMRs, their utility and limitations comprehensively. We recommend using a few of the methods in the same data and region type to detect DMRs because they could be complementary to one another.

Background The statistical tests for single locus disease association are mostly under-powered. If a disease associated causal single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) operates essentially through a complex mechanism that involves multiple SNPs or possible environmental factors, its effect might be missed if the causal SNP is studied in isolation without accounting for these unknown genetic influences. In this study, we attempt to address the issue of reduced power that is inherent in single point association studies by accounting for genetic influences that negatively impact the detection of causal variant in single point association analysis. In our method we use propensity score (PS) to adjust for the effect of SNPs that influence the marginal association of a candidate marker. These SNPs might be in linkage disequilibrium (LD) and/or epistatic with the target-SNP and have a joint interactive influence on the disease under study. We therefore propose a propensity score adjustment method (PSAM) as a tool for dimension reduction to improve the power for single locus studies through an estimated PS to adjust for influence from these SNPs while regressing disease status on the target-genetic locus. The degree of freedom of such a test is therefore always restricted to 1. Results We assess PSAM under the null hypothesis of no disease association to affirm that it correctly controls for the type-I-error rate ( 70%) and shows an average of 15% improvement in power as compared with commonly-used logistic regression method and PLINK under most simulated scenarios. Using the open-access multifactor dimensionality reduction dataset, PSAM displays improved significance for all disease loci. Through a whole genome study, PSAM was able to identify 21 SNPs from the GAW16 NARAC dataset by reducing their original trend-test p-values from within 0.001 and 0.05 to p-values less than 0.0009, and among which 6 SNPs were further found to be associated with immunity and inflammation. Conclusions PSAM improves the significance of single-locus association of causal SNPs which have had marginal single point association by adjusting for influence from other SNPs in a dataset. This would explain part of the missing heritability without increasing the complexity of the model due to huge multiple testing scenarios. The newly reported SNPs from GAW16 data would provide evidences for further research to elucidate the etiology of rheumatoid arthritis. PSAM is proposed as an exploratory tool that would be complementary to other existing methods. A downloadable user friendly program, PSAM, written in SAS, is available for public use.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have become the method of choice for identifying disease susceptibility genes in common disease genetics research. Despite successes in these studies, much of the heritability remains unexplained due to lack of power and low resolution. High-density genotyping arrays can now screen more than 5 million genetic markers. As a result, multiple comparison has become an important issue especially in the era of next-generation sequencing. We propose to use a two-stage maximal segmental score procedure (MSS) which uses region-specific empirical P-values to identify genomic segments most likely harboring the disease gene. We develop scoring systems based on Fisher's P-value combining method to convert locus-specific significance levels into region-specific scores. Through simulations, our result indicated that MSS increased the power to detect genetic association as compared with conventional methods provided type I error was at 5%. We demonstrated the application of MSS on a publicly available case-control dataset of Parkinson's disease and replicated the findings in the literature. MSS provides an efficient exploratory tool for high-density association data in the current era of next-generation sequencing. R source codes to implement the MSS procedure are freely available at http://www.csjfann.ibms.sinica.edu.tw/EAG/program/programlist.htm.

Social media, especially social networking, are rapidly becoming very popular online activities among people all over the world. The use of online media is causing several workplace-related problems. Therefore, in this study we investigated the associations between social media usage behavior, personal background, and work values. Using office workers for the research sample and Facebook as the social medium for investigation, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted to dimensionalize the constructs of social media usage behavior and work values. The results of bivariate correlation suggest that personal background and social media usage behavior are correlated and social media usage behavior and work values are partially correlated.

The investigators previously found that the administration of lemnalol, a natural marine compound isolated from the Formosan soft coral Lemnalia cervicorni, produced anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects in carrageenan-injected rats. Recently, several studies have demonstrated that the development and maintenance of neuropathic pain are accompanied by releasing of proinflammatory mediators from activated glial cells in the spinal cord. In this study, we investigated the antinociceptive properties of lemnalol, a potential anti-inflammatory compound, on chronic constriction injury (CCI) in a well-established rat model of neuropathic pain. Our results demonstrated that a single intrathecal administration of lemnalol (0.05-10 μg) significantly attenuated CCI-induced thermal hyperalgesia and mechanical allodynia, 14 days postsurgery. Furthermore, immunohistofluorescence analyses showed that lemnalol (10 μg) also significantly inhibits CCI-induced upregulation of microglial and astrocytic immunohistochemical activation markers in the dorsal horn of the lumbar spinal cord. Double immunofluorescent staining demonstrated that intrathecal injection of lemnalol (10 μg) markedly inhibited spinal proinflammatory mediator tumor necrosis factor-α expression in microglial cells and astrocytes in neuropathic rats. Collectively, our results indicate that lemnalol is a potential therapeutic agent for neuropathic pain, and that further exploration of the effects of lemnalol on glial proinflammatory responses is warranted.

This study attempts to investigate the impact of service cues (physical environment and contact personnel) on various modes of perceived value (conceptualized as functional value, social value, emotional value, and epistemic value) in restaurant environments. Empirical data was collected from five restaurants located at National Central University, Taiwan. 314 questionnaires were eventually collected. The findings reveal that, in general, the two means of service cues have significant, albeit differential, impact on various modes of perceived value. Physical environment is found to be significant in the formation of all the four modes of perceived value, while its impact on emotional value seems to be most influential. Contact personnel are significant determinants of three of the four perceived values (social value excluded) but have the most impact on functional value.

Immune escape is a characteristic of cancer progression, but its underlying molecular mechanism is still poorly understood. An immunomodulatory protein, indoleamide 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), is induced by gamma-interferon (IFN-gamma) in several immune cells; those cells are observed in cancer cell microenvironment and can enhance immune escape. Previous studies show that IDO is expressed in the process of tumor formation and associated with cancer cell immune tolerance. By locally degrading tryptophan, IDO inhibits the proliferation of T lymphocytes and induces T cell apoptosis, leading to suppression of T cell response. In this study, (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), the major constituent of green tea, is found to significantly inhibit the expression of IDO in human oral cancer cell lines. EGCG suppresses the induction of IDO at transcriptional level. Activation of STAT1 is discovered to play an important role in regulating IDO expression by IFN-gamma. The study results demonstrate that EGCG can inhibit translocation of STAT1 into nucleus in IFN-gamma-stimulated human oral cancer cells. In addition, both tyrosine and serine phosphorylation of STAT1 are revealed to be suppressed by EGCG. Moreover, phosphorylation of PKC-delta, JAK-1, and JAK-2, which are the upstream event for the activation of STAT1, are also inhibited by EGCG in IFN-gamma-stimulated human oral cancer cells. These data show that EGCG inhibited IDO expression by blocking the IFN-gamma-induced JAK-PKC-delta-STAT1 signaling pathway. This study indicates that EGCG is a potential drug for immune and target therapy to enhance cancer therapy by increasing antitumor immunity.

Copy number variation (CNV) is a form of DNA sequence variation in the human genome. CNVs can affect expression of nearby and distant genes, and some of them might cause certain phenotypic differences. CNVs vary slightly in location and frequency among different populations. Because currently-available CNV information from Asian population was limited to fewer small-scale studies with only dozens of subjects, a high-resolution CNV survey was conducted using a large number of Han Chinese in this study. The Illumina HumanMap550K single-nucleotide polymorphism array was used to identify CNVs from 813 unrelated Han Chinese residing in Taiwan. A total of 365 CNV regions were identified in this population, and the average size of the CNV regions was 235 kb (covering a total of 2.86% of the human genome), and 67 (18.4%) were newly-discovered CNV regions. Two hundred and seventy-nine CNV regions (76%) were verified from 304 randomly-selected samples by Affymetrix 500K GeneChip and qPCR experiments. These regions contain 1029 genes, some of which are associated with diseases. Consistent with previous studies, most CNVs were rare structural variations in the human genome, and only 64 regions (17.5%) had a CNV allele frequency greater than 1%. Our discovery of 67 new CNV regions indicates that previous CNV coverage of the human genome is incomplete and there is diversity among different ethnic populations. The comprehensive knowledge of CNVs in the human genome is very important and useful in further genetic studies.

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the impact of perceived value on customer intention to use the internet as a retailing platform and, more specifically, the impact that perceived value (comprising functional, social, emotional and epistemic values) has on Taiwanese customer intention to conduct the two distribution channel functions, i.e. information collection and order placement, through the internet.Design/methodology/approachA total of 295 usable survey responses were collected in the main commuter district of Taipei, Taiwan.FindingsThe findings indicate that both functional and epistemic values have a significant impact on information collection and order placement. Nevertheless, social value has an impact only on information collection, whereas emotional value has a significant impact only on order placement.Originality/valueThe aforementioned issue has rarely been researched but is essential to the development of a channel of distribution theory and is of immediate relevance to marketing practices. The paper pioneers the study of the impact of perceived value in this context work that empirically investigated such an issue.

The inherent nature of the international e-tailing environment leads to the consideration of purchase risk. In this study, an attempt is made to investigate the effect of three extrinsic cues, e-tailer brand equity, Country-Of-e-tailers (COE) and guarantee quality, within such an environment in Taiwan. The research findings support the proposed hypotheses that these exogenous factors affect a mediator, i.e., perceived e-tailer service quality, which in turn affects purchase risk perceived by online shoppers in a borderless marketplace. In conclusion, managerial implications of the research results as well as future research directions are presented and discussed.

The use of the international franchise system on a global scale provides impetus for academic interests investigating such an issue. Nevertheless, there is a lack of research regarding its stage development. In this research, a stage model, termed the “stage model of the international franchise system development” is proposed, to provide insight into the process of implementing the international franchise system successfully. The development of the proposed model refers to related literature and is based on case studies from five international franchisors in Taiwan. Firms' objectives, key organizational issues and characterization at each stage were documented during the research.

PurposeThis research attempts to investigate the differences of consumer perceptions on product quality, price, brand leadership and brand personality among national brands, international private labels and local private labels. It aims to use product categories as the moderator of the preceding perceptions.Design/methodology/approachData were collected outside the entrances of the main rail station of Taipei, Taiwan. A systematic sampling was adopted and 254 questionnaires were eventually collected.FindingsThe findings revealed that on the whole national brands were perceived as significantly superior to international private labels, while international private labels were perceived as being superior to local private labels in terms of all perceptions except price perception. The findings also revealed that product categories moderated price and brand personality perceptions across the three brand types, while product categories failed to moderate the effect of the three brands types on quality and brand leadership perceptions.Originality/valueThis research represents one of the few pioneer works that empirically investigate the aforementioned issues.

This study was designed to uncover the impact of neuroticism on leisure satisfaction based on online games in Taiwan, the country that has the second largest online game-playing market in the world. A systematic sampling produced 500 usable questionnaires for the final data analysis. The findings indicate a negative relationship between neuroticism and leisure satisfaction. This research therefore provides evidence that overall leisure satisfaction decreases in persons with a greater neuroticism tendency.

In this study the relationship between extroversion and leisure motivation in Taiwanese fitness center members was examined. A systematic sampling (one out of ten entering the fitness center) produced 424 usable questionnaires for the final data analysis. The findings reveal that extroversion is positively correlated with the four leisure motivation dimensions: Intellectual, Social, Competence-mastery and Stimulus-avoidance. We therefore conclude that extroverts will be highly motivated to attend fitness centers.

Objectives: Many patients with Crohn’s disease (CD) have low bone mineral density (BMD) that may not be solely attributable to glucocorticoid use. We hypothesised that low BMD in patients with CD is associated with elevated circulating levels of the active form of vitamin D, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH) 2 D). We further hypothesised that this was secondary to increased synthesis of 1,25(OH) 2 D by inflammatory cells in the intestine. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between 1,25(OH) 2 D levels and BMD in patients with CD. Methods: An IRB approved retrospective review of medical records from patients with CD (n = 138) or ulcerative colitis (UC, n = 29). Measurements of vitamin D metabolites and immunoreactive parathyroid hormone (iPTH) were carried out. BMD results were available for 88 CD and 20 UC patients. Immunohistochemistry or real time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for the enzyme 1α-hydroxylase was performed on colonic biopsies from patients with CD (14) or UC (12) and normal colons (4). Results: Inappropriately high levels of serum 1,25(OH) 2 D (>60 pg/ml) were observed in 42% of patients with CD compared with only 7% in UC, despite no differences in mean iPTH. Serum 1,25(OH) 2 D levels were higher in CD (57 pg/ml) versus UC (41 pg/ml) (p = 0.0001). In patients with CD, there was a negative correlation between 1,25(OH) 2 D levels and lumbar BMD ( r = −0.301, p = 0.005) independent of therapeutic glucocorticoid use. 1,25(OH) 2 D levels also correlated with CD activity. Lastly, immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR demonstrated increased expression of intestinal 1α-hydroxylase in patients with CD. Conclusions: These data demonstrate that elevated 1,25(OH) 2 D is more common in CD than previously appreciated and is independently associated with low bone mineral density. The source of the active vitamin D may be the inflamed intestine. Treatment of the underlying inflammation may improve metabolic bone disease in this subgroup of patients.