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Objectives Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a fatal neurodegenerative disease characterized by selective motor neuron loss in the brain and spinal cord. The cause of this selective death of motor neurons is still unclear, but among several pathomechanisms that have been discussed, the loss of neurotrophic factors is one hypothesis. Basic fibroblast growth factor 2 (bFGF) may be a potential neurotrophic factor for slowing various neurodegenerative diseases, but its potential role in the prognosis of ALS is not known. Methods To explore the role of bFGF in ALS, we investigated changes in bFGF in the CSF and serum from patients with sALS and from the control group. Furthermore, we analyzed the correlations between bFGF, disease duration, disease progression rate, ALSFRS-r score and survival. Results The level of bFGF increased in both the CSF and serum in sALS patients. It was higher in patients with longer durations. It was negatively correlated with disease progression rates, especially in the later stages of sALS, but showed no linear correlation with ALSFRS-r. In an analysis of the relationship between bFGF and survival, we found that sALS patients with high levels of bFGF had significantly higher cumulative survival rates than patients with low levels of bFGF. Discussion and Conclusion In conclusion, endogenous bFGF increased both in the CSF and serum of sALS patients and it may be a useful biomarker that could predict disease progression and survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have studied the properties (surface pressure, compression and shear moduli, texture) of silica nanoparticle layers at the air-water interface. Particle hydrophobicity or, equivalently, the contact angle between particles, air and water, is the main factor that influences surface organization and surface elastic moduli. The surface layers are denser for particles of higher hydrophobicity. The compression and shear moduli, as well as the yield and melt strains, present a maximum for contact angles around 90°. The dependence of the mechanical properties on particle hydrophobicity is closely related to the foamability and stability of the foams made from dispersions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Successful experimentation on acousto-optic Bragg diffraction in a LiNbO3 composite waveguide that consists of an array of parallel but uncoupled channel waveguides directly extended to a single-mode planar waveguide and a titanium-indiffused proton-exchanged (TIPE) microlens array is reported for the first time. A channel-waveguide array, a planar waveguide, a linear TIPE microlens array, a 500-MHz surface acoustic wave transducer, and an integrating lens have all been integrated in a substrate size of 0.2×1.0×2.0 cm to form an integrated acousto-optic Bragg modulator that should find a variety of applications in optical computing, signal processing, and communications. The resulting modulator module has been utilized to perform matrix-vector multiplication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single-mode planar waveguide microlenses and microlens arrays in LiNbO3 have been fabricated using a combination of titanium diffusion and proton exchange processes. The lenses have demonstrated properties such as very short focal length, micron focal spot size, and large angular field of view that are desirable for applications in integrated and fiber-optic signal processing and computing as well as communication systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Aberrant expression of mucins can promote the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), which leads to enhanced tumorigenesis. Carcinogenesis-related pathways involving c-MET and β-catenin involve mucins. Among the mucins, MUC5AC and MUC6 are characteristic for stomach mucins. This study characterized expressions of MET, MUC5AC, MUC5B, and MUC6 EMT signaling in human gastric cancer (GC) cell lines, and further characterized the differential susceptibility of these cell lines to tepotinib. Methods We assessed the antitumor activity of tepotinib in GC cell lines. The effect of tepotinib on cell viability (IC50), apoptotic cell death, the EMT, and c-MET and β-catenin signaling were evaluated by MTS, flow cytometry, western blotting, and qRT-PCR. Antitumor efficacy was assessed in MKN45 xenograft mice. Results Tepotinib treatment showed dose-dependent growth inhibition of c-MET-amplified SNU620, MKN45, and KATO III cells with concomitant induction of apoptosis, but tepotinib treatment did not have an effect on c-MET-reduced MKN28 and AGS cells. Tepotinib treatment also significantly reduced expressions of phosphor-c-MET, total c-MET, phosphor-ERK, total ERK, beta-catenin, and c-MYC protein in SNU620 and MKN45 cells. In contrast, this drug was only slightly active against KATO III cells. Notably, tepotinib significantly reduced the expressions of EMT promotion genes such as MMP7, COX-2, WNT1, MUC5B, and c-MYC in c-MET-expressed GC cells, and increased expressions of EMT suppression genes such as MUC5AC, MUC6, GSK3β, and ECAD. In a murine xenograft model, tumor volumes were significantly reduced in the tepotinib-treated group, when administered by daily oral gavage at a dose of 10 mg/kg/day. Histologically, tepotinib induced more necrosis than in the control group. Conclusions These results are consistent with clinical evaluations of tepotinib in c-MET and MUC5B-expressed GCs. Editorial acknowledgement National R&D Program for Cancer Control, Ministry of Health and Welfare (HA17C0054), the National Research Foundation of Korea grant funded by the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT (NRF-2017R1A2B4005055), the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (awarded in 2018, 18183MFDS491) of Korea, the Hallym University Medical Center Research Fund, and the Hallym University Internal Translational Research Fund (No. HURF-2015-38). Legal entity responsible for the study The authors. Funding Has not received any funding. Disclosure All authors have declared no conflicts of interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Many patients with refractory or relapsed gastric cancer after first-line chemotherapy have received salvage chemotherapy in routine clinical practice. However, there was no evidence to support this treatment until recent phase III trials demonstrated substantial prolongation of overall survival. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis of these trials and investigated whether second-line chemotherapy was more effective than best supportive care. Patients and methods We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL, Issue 1, 2013), MEDLINE (1950 to March week 4, 2013) and EMBASE (1980–2013, week 13). In addition, we searched all abstracts and virtual meeting presentations from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) conferences held between 2004 and 2013. Results The search process yielded 578 studies, two of which were randomized phase III trials that compared chemotherapy with supportive care. From the abstracts and virtual meeting presentations of ASCO held between 2004 and 2013, 127 abstracts were identified that evaluated second-line chemotherapy; only one relevant abstract was included in the meta-analysis. Conclusion This meta-analysis demonstrated evidence to support second-line chemotherapy in advanced gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]