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This study aimed to evaluate arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), and lead (Pb) levels in dried chili peppers from nine districts in Guizhou Province. These heavy metals, widely dispersed and capable of transferring to crops, pose potential health risks to humans. The assessment included modeling daily intake (EDI), target hazard quotient (THQ), total target hazard index (TTHQ), and target carcinogenic risk (TCR) to assess health risks across different population groups. Results showed chromium (0.9540 ± 0.301 mg/kg) and lead (0.8949 ± 0.266 mg/kg) had the highest concentrations, followed by arsenic (0.3287 ± 0.093 mg/kg) and cadmium (0.0627 ± 0.017 mg/kg). Children exhibited higher EDI values than adults, indicating greater health risks from dried chili pepper consumption at equivalent levels. THQ and TTHQ values were below 1 across all regions, indicating no significant health risks associated with dried chili pepper consumption. Similarly, TCR values were below 10–4 for all nine regions, indicating an acceptable level of carcinogenic risk. Overall, consuming dried chili peppers in Guizhou Province poses an acceptable health risk, but caution is advised, especially for children, to limit heavy metal exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer stem cells (CSCs), a rare subset of tumor cells, have been recognized as promotive role on tumor initiation and propagation. Among, aerobic glycolysis, widely clarified in multiple tumor cells, is the key for maintaining cancer stemness. Regrettably, it is largely unknown about the connection of cellular metabolic reprogramming and stemness in gastric carcinoma (GC). Two GC parental cells lines PAMC‐82 and SNU‐16 and their spheroids were obtained to determine the expression status of POU1F1 using quantitative real‐time PCR (qRT‐PCR) and western blotting analysis, respectively. Gain or loss‐of‐function assay was employed to assess its biological effects. Sphere formation and transwell assays were performed to evaluate the stem cell‐like traits, including self‐renewal capacity, migration and invasion. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and luciferase reporter assays were conducted for determining the binding relationship of POU1F1 on ENO1 promoter region. Herein, aberrantly upregulated POU1F1 was observed in spheroids, compared with the parental PAMC‐82 and SNU‐16 cells, which promoted stem cell‐like traits, as representing increasing sphere formation, enhanced cell migration and invasion. Additionally, POU1F1 expression was positively with glycolytic signaling, as displaying increasing glucose consumption, lactic acid production, and extracellular acid ratio (ECAR). Furthermore, POU1F1 was identified to be a transcriptional activator of ENO1, of which overexpression remarkably abolished POU1F1 knockdown‐mediated blocking effects. Taken together, we draw a conclusion that POU1F1 facilitated the stem cell‐like properties of GC cells through transcriptionally augmenting ENO1 to enhance glycolysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer stem cells are undifferentiated cancer cells that have self‐renewal ability, a high tumorigenic activity, and a multilineage differentiation potential. MicroRNAs play a critical role in regulating gene expression during carcinogenesis. Here, we investigated the role of miR‐7 and the mechanism by which it is dysregulated in gastric cancer stem cells (GCSCs). The stem cell marker, CD44, was used to sort GCSCs by fluorescence‐activated cell sorting. We found that CD44 (+) cells have higher invasiveness and form more number of sphere colonies than CD44 (−) cells. Quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) revealed that the miR‐7‐5p expression was remarkably downregulated in GCSCs but was significantly increased in the methionine‐deprived medium. The downregulation of miR‐7‐5p results from the increased DNA methylation in the promoter region using the methylation‐specific PCR. Overexpression of miR‐7‐5p reduced the formation of colony and decreased the invasion of GCSCs through targeting Smo and Hes1 and subsequent repressing Notch and Hedgehog signaling pathways in vitro. Notably, upregulating miR‐7‐5p inhibited the growth of tumor in the xenograft model. Hence, these data demonstrated that miR‐7‐5p represses GCSC invasion through inhibition of Smo and Hes1, which provides a potential therapeutic target of gastric cancer treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To estimate the diagnostic performance of acoustic radiation force impulse elastography in distinguishing between benign and malignant superficial lymph nodes, relevant articles published before October 31, 2018, in China and other countries were used. Conclusively, a total of 18 articles were analyzed. Sixteen studies used Virtual Touch tissue quantification (Siemens Healthineers, Erlangen, Germany), and 4 studies used Virtual Touch tissue imaging (Siemens Healthineers). After a meta‐analysis, it was found that acoustic radiation force impulse elastography is an efficient method for detecting superficial lymph nodes. In addition, if the cutoff value for the shear wave velocity were less than 2.85 m/s, the summary sensitivity would increase, and the heterogeneity would be reduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]