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Background The incidence of hair loss among Chinese male has increased to 21.3 per hundred. Hair restoration has been an effective technique. Detailed hair distribution has a tremendous impact on the surgery design. Objective To investigate the pattern of hair distribution in Chinese young adult males. Methods A total of 1000 males without hair disease were enrolled. We evaluated the locations of the main anatomical marks at different sites on the scalp and analyzed the hair density and follicular unit structure using the standard photographs and trichoscope. Results The hairline shapes were classified as: linear (48.7%), linear with central protrusion (27.9%), round (9.8%), round with central protrusion (13.7%). The average height of the median line was 6.78 ± 0.75 cm, the ratio of the median line and the forehead height was 0.333. The average distance from the parietal whorl to the vertical bimeatal line was 7.05 ± 3.32 cm, and most of the PWs were on the right (51.4%) and had a clockwise pattern (73.3%). The hair density was 171.12 ± 18.32 hairs/cm in the vertex. 1-hair follicular units were (75.90% and 56.39%) in anterior hairline and temporal area. Conclusion Our study clearly assisted understanding of scalp anatomy and hair distribution in Chinese young adult males.

Interleukin‑17A (IL‑17A) is a CD4 T-cell-derived pro-inflammatory cytokine that is involved in human cervical tumorigenesis. Heparanase (HPSE) is an endo-glycosidase expressed in mammals, which has been confirmed to be associated with cervical cancer invasion. In the present study, it was hypothesized that IL‑17A and HPSE are key proteins promoting tumor angiogenesis and cell proliferation and invasion in cervical cancer. The expression of IL‑17A and HPSE in cervical cancer tissues was detected by immunohistochemical staining. In addition, the expression of IL‑17A and HPSE was down- and upregulated via RNAi and human recombinant proteins, and MTT and Transwell assays were performed to examine cervical cancer cell proliferation and invasion, respectively. Flow cytometry analysis was also performed to detect cell cycle distribution, and the levels of target mRNA and protein were evaluated by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blotting, respectively. IL‑17A and HPSE were highly expressed in cervical cancer tissues, and microvessel density was notably higher in the IL‑17A-positive group. IL‑17A and/or HPSE recombinant protein promoted the proliferation and invasion of cervical cancer cells, increased the proportion of cells in the G2/M phase, and enhanced the mRNA and protein expression of human papillomavirus E6, P53, vascular endothelial growth factor and CD31, whereas downregulation of IL‑17A and/or HPSE exerted the opposite effects. Furthermore, downregulation of IL‑17A and/or HPSE was found to inhibit the expression of nuclear factor (NF)-κB P65. In summary, IL‑17A and HPSE may promote tumor angiogenesis and cell proliferation and invasion in cervical cancer, possibly via the NF-κB signaling pathway. These findings may lead to the identification of new diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets.

Bubble breakup and coalescence is a phenomenon which occurs within a developing subsea gas plume. A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model incorporating bubble breakup and coalescence was developed to describe the behaviour of a subsea gas release and the subsequent rising gas plume. The model was assessed for its suitability in capturing the characteristic behaviour of a rising gas plume by comparing the CFD results with experimental data obtained from underwater gas release experiments. The study shows bubble breakup and coalescence plays a key role in determining the shape and the behaviour of a subsea gas release. Without the bubble breakup and coalescence included in the CFD model a narrower plume width and higher rising velocity is observed when compared to the experimental data. With bubble breakup and coalescence included the results obtained from the CFD model more accurately match the experimental data. Breakup and coalescence is a mechanism which redistributes the energy within the core of the gas plume towards the edge of the plume. This has a significant impact on the plume characteristics and is vital to be included in the CFD model to describe the behaviour of the released gas. The study was carried out using air as the released gas. This was done to compare with the available experimental data where air was used as the source. However the CFD model developed is applicable for hydrocarbon subsea gas releases.

Innate behaviors are genetically encoded, but their underlying molecular mechanisms remain largely unknown. Predator odor 2,4,5-trimethyl-3-thiazoline (TMT) and its potent analog 2-methyl-2-thiazoline (2MT) are believed to activate specific odorant receptors to elicit innate fear/defensive behaviors in naive mice. Here, we conduct a large-scale recessive genetics screen of ethylnitrosourea (ENU)-mutagenized mice. We find that loss of Trpa1, a pungency/irritancy receptor, diminishes TMT/2MT and snake skin-evoked innate fear/defensive responses. Accordingly, Trpa1−/− mice fail to effectively activate known fear/stress brain centers upon 2MT exposure, despite their apparent ability to smell and learn to fear 2MT. Moreover, Trpa1 acts as a chemosensor for 2MT/TMT and Trpa1-expressing trigeminal ganglion neurons contribute critically to 2MT-evoked freezing. Our results indicate that Trpa1-mediated nociception plays a crucial role in predator odor-evoked innate fear/defensive behaviors. The work establishes the first forward genetics screen to uncover the molecular mechanism of innate fear, a basic emotion and evolutionarily conserved survival mechanism., TMT is a chemical that evokes innate defensive behaviors yet the molecular mechanisms are not well understood. Here the authors perform a large-scale forward genetics screen in mice and identify Trpa1, a pungency/irritancy receptor, as a chemosensor for predator odor-evoked innate fear and defensive behaviors.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the key pathways and genes in the progression of cervical cancer. The gene expression profiles GSE7803 and GSE63514 were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified using GEO2R and the limma package, and Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses were conducted using the Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery. The hub genes were identified using Cytoscape and protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks were constructed using the STRING database. A total of 127 and 99 DEGs were identified in the pre-invasive and invasive stages of cervical cancer, respectively. GO enrichment analysis indicated that the DEGs in pre-invasive cervical cancer were primarily associated with the ‘protein binding’, ‘single-stranded DNA-dependent ATPase activity’, ‘DNA replication origin binding’ and ‘microtubule binding’ terms, whereas the DEGs in invasive cervical cancer were associated with the ‘extracellular matrix (ECM) structural constituent’, ‘heparin binding’ and ‘integrin binding’. KEGG enrichment analysis revealed that the pre-invasive DEGs were significantly enriched in the ‘cell cycle’, ‘DNA replication’ and ‘p53 signaling pathway’ terms, while the invasive DEGs were enriched in the ‘amoebiasis’, ‘focal adhesion’, ‘ECM-receptor interaction’ and ‘platelet activation’ terms. The PPI network identified 4 key genes (PCNA, CDK2, VEGFA and PIK3CA), which were hub genes for pre-invasive and invasive cervical cancer. In conclusion, bioinformatics analysis identified 4 key genes in cervical cancer progression (PCNA, CDK2, VEGFA and PIK3CA), which may be potential biomarkers for differentiating normal cervical epithelial tissue from cervical cancer.

Cervical, endometrial and vulvar cancer are three common types of gynecological tumor that threaten the health of females worldwide. Since their underlying mechanisms and associations remain unclear, a comprehensive and systematic bioinformatics analysis is required. The present study downloaded GSE63678 from the GEO database and then performed functional enrichment analyses, including gene ontology and pathway analysis. To further investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the three types of gynecological cancer, protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis was performed. A biological network was generated with the guidance of the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes database and was presented in Cytoscape. A total of 1,219 DEGs were identified for the three types of cancer, and 25 hub genes were revealed. Pathway analysis and the PPI network indicated that four main types of pathway participate in the mechanism of gynecological cancer, including viral infections and cancer formation, tumorigenesis and development, signal transduction, and endocrinology and metabolism. A preliminary gynecological cancer biological network was constructed. Notably, following all analysis, the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway was identified as a potential biomarker pathway. Seven pivotal hub genes (CCNA2, CDK1, CCND1, FGF2, IGF1, BCL2 and VEGFA) of the three gynecological cancer types were proposed. The seven hub genes may serve as targets in gynecological cancer for prevention and early intervention. The PI3K/Akt pathway was identified as a critical biomarker of the three types of gynecological cancer, which may serve a role in the pathogenesis. In summary, the present study provided evidence that could support the treatment of gynecologic tumors in the future.

Advanced FinFET device architecture generates new profile control requirement in 1× node and beyond. The corner at the intersection between the Gate and Fin is critical geometry for device yield and reliability. The residue-free corner at Gate-Fin interface after Polysilicon gate etch is desirable yet also a known challenge to detect and control. Current detection methods for gate poly footing, also known as gate skirt, are destructive with long turnaround time, resulting in slow progress in process development and high-volume process control. To meet the gap, e-Tilt imaging technique along with corner rounding algorithm has been developed on CDSEM platform to visualize and quantify residue at fin-gate intersection (poly-footing). In this paper, we'll discuss the challenges, approaches, and results associated with the first-in-industry implementation of the inline poly-footing detection within a HVM Fab. Two sets of DOEs (Design of Experiment) were conducted to validate the sensitivity to Etch recipes and Etch Chambers. The accuracy and precision of the poly-footing measurement were qualified with correlation to commonly used hammer test results and eTest results. Future study includes precision and throughput improvement to meet the need of 1× node.

Fire and Gas detectors are used on Oil and Gas facilities to trigger an alarm and potentially initiate automatic safety measures in response to hazardous leaks. The effectiveness of the Fire and Gas system strongly depends on the layout and coverage of the detectors implemented. Prescriptive approaches using industry guidelines (e.g. SHELL DEP 32.30.20.11-Gen or BP GP 30-85) outline a target gas cloud size for detection for enclosed, semi-enclosed, and open areas. The objective of this study was to assess the conservatism inherent in prescriptive approaches in comparison to a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) approach. The employment of a CFD approach to model the dispersion of flammable gas from the potential loss of containment was used to determine whether the prescriptive approaches are overly or under conservative for flammable gas detection. The analysis found for the same assessment parameters such as zone volume and a 90% single detector coverage criterion, geographic coverage (prescriptive approach) requires a significant increase in gas detectors to meet the criterion, an extra 13 detectors. Further to this analysis, the method of using the volume of a sphere to calculate the equivalent diameter was assessed. It was found by modelling the characteristics of a flammable gas release and using the volume of a cone to calculate the equivalent diameter, a more accurate and realistic method was obtained. The study also introduces a 3D frequency plot which is a novel tool for positioning the detectors in the most effective areas irrespective of equivalent diameter. Incorporating the proposed CFD method with the prescriptive approaches raises a number of questions in the area of Fire and Gas Mapping. Whilst the future for this industry may be the use of scenario based coverage, more research is required in order to develop the most effective method.

What is the effect of C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) on human sperm capacitation in vitro and what is the mechanism of this effect?CNP/NPR-B expression in the female rat genital tract was examined by immunohistochemistry and western blot assay, and then the role of CNP in human sperm capacitation was determined. The signal transduction pathway of CNP in the process was determined to elucidate the regulation mechanism of CNP by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and flow cytometry.Both CNP and NPR-B were expressed in the genital tract of female rats, especially in the mucosa epithelium cell of the oviduct; the CNP level in the rat oviduct was higher than that in the cervix. Both CNP and NPR-B level in the rat oviduct varied during the oestrus cycle, maximal expression being observed at proestrus. Furthermore, intracellular cGMP level in spermatozoa was significantly enhanced by CNP (P 0.01). PKG activity was detected in the spermatozoa, and it can be activated by the CNP and 8-Br-cGMP (cGMP analogue). The PKG inhibitor KT5823 inhibited the effect of CNP on sperm hyperactivation and the acrosome reaction. Finally, CaCNP secreted by the female genital tract might bind to NPR-B on the spermatozoa. It successively stimulated intracellular cGMP/PKG signalling, increased Ca

Pre-eclampsia (PE) is a common but complex condition that can occur in pregnancy. It is estimated to affect 3-8% of pregnancies worldwide. PE development is thought to be multifactorial and to involve the dysregulation of microRNA (miR) expression. However, the precise mechanisms of PE development remain unclear. The present study aimed to illustrate the association between miR‑203 expression and PE development in samples of human placenta collected from mothers with (n=18) and without (n=20) PE. It was demonstrated that miR‑203 expression was significantly increased in the PE placenta compared with the normal placenta samples, while the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) was decreased. In vitro experiments revealed that miR‑203 overexpression significantly downregulated VEGFA expression and inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion ability of HTR‑8/SVneo cells. Suppression of miR‑203 expression alleviated these effects. A luciferase reporter assay confirmed the interaction of the 3'‑untranslated region of VEGFA with miR‑203. Thus, miR‑203 may have significant contribution to the development of PE by targeting VEGFA in the human placenta and may have potential as a biomarker or therapeutic target in the treatment of PE.

Full details of studies are disclosed on the total syntheses of binding pocket analogues of vancomycin bearing the peripheral l-vancosaminyl-1,2-d-glucosyl disaccharide that contain changes to a key single atom in the residue-4 amide (residue-4 carbonyl O → S, NH, H2) designed to directly address the underlying molecular basis of resistance to vancomycin. Also disclosed are studies piloting the late-stage transformations conducted on the synthetically more accessible C-terminus hydroxymethyl aglycon derivatives and full details of the peripheral chlorobiphenyl functionalization of all of the binding-pocket-modified vancomycin analogues designed for dual d-Ala-d-Ala/d-Ala-d-Lac binding. Their collective assessment indicates that combined binding pocket and chlorobiphenyl peripherally modified analogues exhibit a remarkable spectrum of antimicrobial activity (VSSA, MRSA, and VanA and VanB VRE) and impressive potencies against both vancomycin-sensitive and vancomycin-resistant bacteria (MICs = 0.06–0.005 and...

Vacuolar protein-sorting 34 (Vps34), the catalytic subunit in the class III PtdIns3 (phosphatidylinositol 3) kinase complexes, mediates the production of PtdIns3P, a key intracellular lipid involved in regulating autophagy and receptor degradation. However, the signal transduction pathways by which extracellular signals regulate Vps34 complexes and the downstream cellular mechanisms are not well understood. Here we show that DNA damage-activated mitotic arrest and CDK activation lead to the phosphorylation of Vps34, which provides a signal to promote its ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation mediated by FBXL20 (an F-box protein) and the associated Skp1 (S-phase kinase-associated protein-1)–Cullin1 complex, leading to inhibition of autophagy and receptor endocytosis. Furthermore, we show that the expression of FBXL20 is regulated by p53-dependent transcription. Our study provides a molecular pathway by which DNA damage regulates Vps34 complexes and its downstream mechanisms, including autophagy and receptor endocytosis, through SCF (Skp1–Cul1–F-box)-mediated ubiquitination and degradation. Since the expression of FBXL20 is regulated by p53-dependent transcription, the control of Vps34 ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation by FBXL20 and the associated SCF complex expression provides a novel checkpoint for p53 to regulate autophagy and receptor degradation in DNA damage response.

Metabolic stress caused by perturbation of receptor tyrosine kinase FLT3 sensitizes cancer cells to autophagy inhibition and leads to excessive activation of chaperone-mediated autophagy, which triggers metabolic catastrophe in cancer cells through the degradation of HK2., Hexokinase II (HK2), a key enzyme involved in glucose metabolism, is regulated by growth factor signaling and is required for initiation and maintenance of tumors. Here we show that metabolic stress triggered by perturbation of receptor tyrosine kinase FLT3 in non–acute myeloid leukemia cells sensitizes cancer cells to autophagy inhibition and leads to excessive activation of chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA). Our data demonstrate that FLT3 is an important sensor of cellular nutritional state and elucidate the role and molecular mechanism of CMA in metabolic regulation and mediating cancer cell death. Importantly, our proteome analysis revealed that HK2 is a CMA substrate and that its degradation by CMA is regulated by glucose availability. We reveal a new mechanism by which excessive activation of CMA may be exploited pharmacologically to eliminate cancer cells by inhibiting both FLT3 and autophagy. Our study delineates a novel pharmacological strategy to promote the degradation of HK2 in cancer cells.

Zearalenone (ZEA), a mycotoxin produced by Fusarium fungi, is found in cereal crops. Although the toxic effects of ZEA have been well characterized, the mechanism is not clear, especially with respect to the oxidative damage. In this study, we determined superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels as indexes of oxidative damage caused by ZEA and investigated whether the damage involved Keap1/Nrf2/HO-1 pathway in hepatic L02 cells. The results indicated that ZEA induced cytotoxicity in L02 cells by reducing cell viability, inhibiting SOD activity and increasing MDA levels. ZEA also altered mRNA and protein expressions of antioxidant genes including Keap1, Nrf2 and its downstream gene HO-1. Furthermore, simultaneous treatment with ZEA and tertiary butylhydroquinone (t-BHQ, and inducer of Nrf2) could restore HO-1 expression level compared with exposed to ZEA alone. In summary, ZEA probably induces oxidative damage through a pathway which involves Keap1 up-regulation, Nrf2 and HO-1 down-regulation.

Angiogenesis during placentation is of great significance in maintaining normal pregnancy. However, the molecular mechanisms of this process are not clear. It has been reported that miR-203 plays a critical role in the development and progression of many tumors but not focused on the relationship between miR-203 and placental angiogenesis. The present study aims to illustrate the correlation between miR-203 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGFA)/vascular endothelial growth factor receptors 2 (VEGFR2) in human placenta and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) obtained from 40 samples. Samples of human placenta were collected based on gestation age, which was divided into early preterm (n = 10), late preterm (n = 12), and term (n = 18). In this work, we demonstrated that the expression of miR-203 decreased significantly in the placenta according to the gestation age, in contrast, the expression of VEGFA and VEGFR2 increased accordingly. In vitro experiments revealed that overexpression of miR-203 not only suppressed the proliferation, migration, invasion, and tube formation of HUVECs but also affected the expression of VEGFA and VEGFR2. Furthermore, inhibition of miR-203 expression showed equally apparent positive effects on HUVECs. In conclusion, our study suggests that miR-203 plays an important role in regulating placental angiogenesis through inhibiting the expression of VEGFA and VEGFR2, thus miR-203 may represent a potential therapeutic target for patients with abnormal formation of blood vessels in the placenta.

HOX transcript antisense RNA (HOTAIR) is a long non-coding RNA located within the Homeobox C (HOXC) gene cluster on chromosome 12. Previous studies have revealed that HOTAIR is overexpressed in many types of cancers and is associated with metastasis and poor survival rates; however, few reports have mentioned the relationship between HOTAIR and angiogenesis of the human placenta. The aim of the present study was to investigate the correlation between HOTAIR and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) A in the human placenta. HOTAIR levels decreased significantly in human placenta with increasing gestational age, and were negatively correlated with VEGFA levels. Invitro assays revealed that HOTAIR overexpression suppressed the proliferation, migration, invasion and tube formation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs); however, inhibition of HOTAIR had the opposite effects. Furthermore, VEGFA overexpression reversed the inhibitory effect of HOTAIR on the proliferation, migration, invasion and tube formation of HUVECs. In addition, overexpression of HOTAIR significantly inhibited VEGFA expression. Notably, a luciferase reporter assay found that HOTAIR inhibited VEGFA transcription by directly targeting the VEGFA promoter. Together, these results suggest that HOTAIR plays an important role in suppressing angiogenesis of the human placenta by inhibiting the expression of VEGFA; thus, HOTAIR may represent a potential therapeutic target for patients with human placental vascularisation abnormalities.

BACKGROUND Cultured epithelial cells transplantation is a known surgical technique for vitiligo. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the factors influencing efficacy and safety of cultured epithelial cells transplantation in 9-month follow-up. METHODS Demographic, clinical, and repigmentation outcomes were reviewed for patients with facial segmental vitiligo who had undergone cultured epithelial cells transplantation from November 2013 to July 2015 at the clinic of the Department of Dermatology, Huashan Hospital, China. RESULTS Twenty-eight patients who had undergone cultured epithelial cells transplantation were included. A satisfactory result (>50% repigmentation) was achieved in 79% patients with facial segmental vitiligo in 9 months. The treatment effect was significantly different in 6th month (P = 0.032), 9th month (P = 0.006) compared with 3rd month. Disease stability did significantly affect repigmentation outcome in 9th month (Z = 2.113, P = 0.035). No significant difference was observed between single segmental type versus mixed type (Z = 1.081, P = 0.280). Adverse effects were nearly absent. CONCLUSION Cultured epithelial cells transplantation is a relatively safe and effective therapy for facial segmental stable vitiligo patients.

Increasing evidence suggests that the widely used antidiabetic drug metformin have an extensive therapeutic range beyond hypoglycemic therapy. We previously found that metformin significantly attenuated acute hepatitis. The present study investigated the potential effects of metformin on carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced liver fibrosis in mice. The results indicated that treatment with metformin suppressed CCl4-induced elevation of liver index, formation of fibrotic septa, accumulation of connective tissue and upregulation of collagen I. These effects were not associated with increase of the antioxidative transcription factor nuclear erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2) or its downstream targets, heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) and NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1). However, treatment with metformin suppressed CCl4-induced expression of transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1) and phosphorylation of Smad3, which was accompanied with decreased level of alpha smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), a marker for the activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). These data indicates that metformin could mitigate CCl4-induced liver fibrosis and these beneficial effects might result from suppressed TGF-β1/Smad3 signaling.

To convert bleached softwood paper grade pulp into dissolving pulp for viscose application, two stages of treatments consisting of enzymatic treatment and alkaline peroxide treatment were investigated. It was found that high reactivity (about 80%) of pulp could be achieved by endoglucanases (EG)-rich industrial cellulase treatment, and the alpha-cellulose content as well as the viscosity of enzymatically treated pulp can be further adjusted by the alkaline peroxide treatment with certain dosages of NaOH and H2O2 to finally meet the quality requirements of dissolving pulp. The resulting pulp with 68.7% of reactivity, 92.1% of alpha-cellulose content, and 506.9 mL/g of pulp viscosity could be obtained after the two stages of treatments. The appropriate dosage of EG-rich cellulase was 300 IU/g bone dry pulp in the stage of enzymatic treatment, while the suitable dosages of NaOH and H2O2 were 9 wt% and 1 wt%, respectively, in the stage of alkaline peroxide treatment. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Inorganic nitrogen and heavy metals pervasively co-exist in industrial and domestic wastewaters. In this work, Pseudomonas brassicacearum LZ-4 was tested for the simultaneous reduction of Cr(VI) and nitrate. Nitrate was found to be the best inorganic nitrogen source for strain LZ-4, and could promote Cr(VI) reduction. Cr(VI) had a low degree of inhibition on denitrification, and even 50mgL-1 Cr(VI) did not inhibit reduction of 100mgL-1 NO3--N. The capability of simultaneous reduction of Cr(VI) and nitrate was illustrated by the reductase genes contained in the LZ-4 genome. Application in a batch membrane bioreactor showed that the immobilized strain LZ-4 could remove over 95% of 500mgL-1 NO3--N, 80% of 10mgL-1 Cr(VI), and 96% of 5000mgL-1 COD in each batch of 46days. In summary, the strain LZ-4 is an ideal candidate for remediation of co-contaminants.

// Yuexiong Yi 1 , Huirong Li 2 , Qiongying Lv 1 , Kejia Wu 1 , Wenfen Zhang 3 , Juan Zhang 4 , Dingjun Zhu 5 , Qing Liu 3 , Wei Zhang 1 1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, P.R. China 2 Department of Gynecology, Shandong Jiaohong Hospital, Jinan, Shandong 250031, P.R. China 3 Department of Gynecology, The 5th Hospital of Jinan, Shandong 250031, P.R. China 4 The First Department of Gynecology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, P.R. China 5 Department of Gynecology, Shiyan Materal and Children Health Hospital, Shiyan 44200, P.R. China Correspondence to: Wei Zhang, email: zhangweiwuhan163@163.com Keywords: miR-202, cyclin D1, cervical cancer Received: June 30, 2016 Accepted: September 28, 2016 Published: October 06, 2016 ABSTRACT The human cervical cancer (CC) acts as the most common one of women tumors. However, the pathological changes and molecular alterations of CC are not clear. It has been reported that miR-202 takes part in the development and progression of different tumors. The present study aims to detect the expression of miR-202 in 100 cases of CC tissues and cells, and then we continued to investigate the potential mechanisms of miR-202 in CC cells. In this work, we found that the expression of miR-202 is obviously decreased in both CC cell lines and tissues, and negatively related with the expression of cyclin D1 in SiHa, HeLa and Caski cells. In-vitro assay revealed that the ectopic expression of miR-202 suppressed the proliferation, migration and invasion of SiHa and HeLa cells. Additionally, the over-expression of miR-202 extremely affected the expression of cyclin D1 protein. Notably, the over-expression of cyclin D1 in SiHa and HeLa cells with miR-202 mimics attenuated the inhibitory effects of miR-202 on cell proliferation, migration and invasion. In conclusion, our study identified that miR-202 plays an important role in regulating cell proliferation, migration and invasion of CC by directly targeting cyclin D1, thus miR-202 may represent a potential therapeutic target for patients with cervical cancer.

Folate is a vital vitamin for the human being and its deficiency can lead to a variety of clinical abnormalities ranging from neural tube defects to cancers. Benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), a strong mutagen and carcinogen, is considered one of the common contaminants in food. The aim of this study was to investigate the positive effect of folate on cancer prevention at a fundamental level. In the present study, we investigated the impact of folic acid on BaP-induced mutagenicity and genotoxicity by means of in vitro and in vivo experiments. The reformed Ames test was applied to study the antimutagenicity of folic acid against BaP. The protective effect of folic acid on cytotoxicity caused by BaP in human liver cell line L02 was evaluated by MTT assay. In addition, the effect of folic acid on the BaP-induced genotoxicity in vivo was assessed by mouse bone marrow micronucleus assay. The results indicated that folic acid significantly inhibited the reverse mutation of Salmonella typhimurium strains TA98 and TA100, and protected the viability of human liver cells against BaP (p

C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) is a newly discovered type of local regulatory factor that mediates its biological effects through the specific, membrane-bound natriuretic peptide receptor-B (NPR-B). Recent studies have established that CNP is closely related to male reproductive function. The aims of this study were to determine the distribution of CNP/NPR-B in human ejaculated spermatozoa through different methods (such as immunolocalization, real time polymerase chain reaction and Western Blot), and then to evaluate the influence of CNP on sperm function in vitro, such as motility and acrosome reaction. Human semen samples were collected from consenting donors who met the criteria of the World Health Organization for normozoospermia. Our results show that the specific receptor NPR-B of CNP is localized in the acrosomal region of the head and the membrane of the front-end tail of the sperm, and there is no signal of CNP in human sperm. Compared with the control, CNP can induce a significant dose-dependent increase in spermatozoa motility and acrosome reaction. In summary, CNP/NPR-B can affect sperm motility and acrosome reaction, thus regulating the reproductive function of males. CNP may be a new key factor in regulating sperm function.

Hexokinase II (HK2), a key enzyme involved in glucose metabolism, is regulated by growth factor signaling and is required for initiation and maintenance of tumors. Here we show that metabolic stress triggered by perturbation of receptor tyrosine kinase FLT3 in non-acute myeloid leukemia cells sensitizes cancer cells to autophagy inhibition and leads to excessive activation of chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA). Our data demonstrate that FLT3 is an important sensor of cellular nutritional state and elucidate the role and molecular mechanism of CMA in metabolic regulation and mediating cancer cell death. Importantly, our proteome analysis revealed that HK2 is a CMA substrate and that its degradation by CMA is regulated by glucose availability. We reveal a new mechanism by which excessive activation of CMA may be exploited pharmacologically to eliminate cancer cells by inhibiting both FLT3 and autophagy. Our study delineates a novel pharmacological strategy to promote the degradation of HK2 in cancer cells.

Male-pattern hair loss (MPHL) is a condition that affects the majority of men during adulthood. This condition is not life threatening but needs constant treatment and monitoring, especially in recent years where male appearance is gaining significant importance in society. An ideal classification with high amount of detail, practicality, and reproducibility is required to accurately diagnose and monitor this condition regularly and to assess the outcome of treatment. Numerous classifications have been invented, but many variants with different levels of detail, practicality, and reproducibility may cause confusion among clinicians. One clinician may not accurately able to convey accurate clinical description if different classifications are used. To avoid confusion, a new classification that can balance detail, practicality, and reproducibility is required. We hope that this will translate to better treatment and monitoring for patients. This review article aims to review different existing MPHL classifications and how it compares to each other in terms of detail, practicality, and reproducibility.

Our research is motivated by the ubiquitous availability of multiprocessor computers and the observation that available Web Ontology Language OWL reasoners only make use of a single processor. This becomes rather frustrating for users working in ontology development, especially if their ontologies are complex and require long processing times using these OWL reasoners. We present a novel algorithm that uses a divide and conquer strategy for parallelizing OWL TBox classification, a key task in description logic reasoning. We discuss some interesting properties of our algorithm, e.g., its suitability for distributed reasoning, and present an empirical study using a set of benchmark ontologies, where a speedup of upi¾?to a factor of 4 has been observed when using 8 workers in parallel.

Recommendation algorithm based on collaborative filtering strategy has achieved great success in the field of personalized recommendation, However, based on collaborative filtering recommendation algorithm complexity is too high, over-fitting problem, the recommended accuracy requirements lead to the algorithm difficult to achieve in practical applications. Slope One algorithm greatly simplifies the complex process of collaborative filtering algorithm, dramatically reducing the recommended system and maintenance difficulty, but at the same time recommended the accuracy will decline. Recommended in order to take into account the recommendation algorithm of low complexity and high accuracy, the authors propose the improved algorithm based on the correct user similarity Slope One - USO algorithm The inspection results show that the algorithm can effectively improve the accuracy of the recommendation of the slope-one algorithm.

In the field of collaborative filtering recommendation, the accuracy requirement of the recommendation algorithm always makes it complex and hard to realize. Slope One algorithm, as a recent proposed algorithm, was not only easy to achieve, but also efficient and effective. However, Slope One algorithm performs not so well when dealing with personalized recommendation tasks which concern the relationship of users because Slope One Scheme and most of its improved algorithms are item-based collaborative filtering algorithms. To solve these problems, we proposed a User-based Slope One algorithm. The algorithm contains three parts. First, we should calculate the similarity of users. Second, we define a new variable to indicate the relationship between items and users. Third, we add this new variable into the weight of Weighted Slope One algorithm and get the final recommendation expression. We carry a lot of experiments with the MovieLens data set, and the result proves that our algorithm performs more accurate than the Slope One algorithm and the Weighted Slope One algorithm. Furthermore, it shows that User-based Slope One algorithm can improve the recommendation quality of the recommender system and deal with user-related tasks better.

Outsourcing can provide companies with a competitive advantage in cost. Finding the right company to outsource operations can be a challenge. Part of this challenge is communicating with prospective suppliers. Requests for quotations were sent to injection molders in the U.S., Mexico, and China. U.S. suppliers were found to be more responsive to e-mail and requested more information regarding the quoted component. Chinese manufactures were more willing to provide quotes and did so in a timely manner. Mexican manufacturers were the least responsive and required the longest lead time to provide a quote. The implications of supplier communication are discussed.

The mobile RFID system is a new application to use mobile phone as RFID reader with a wireless technology and provides new valuable services to user by integrating RFID and ubiquitous sensor network infrastructure with mobile communication and wireless internet. Contrast to the traditional RFID system, the communication channel between the database and the RFID reader is not assumed to be safe in the mobile RFID system any more. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a hash-based authentication protocol suitable to mobile RFID systems. The proposed protocol requires only hash, XOR and simple calculations but can provide good security and privacy protection features. It is effectively secure against threats such as impersonation, traceability and reply attack.

A thin film polarizer has been patterned and etched using reactive ion etching (RIE) in order to create 14 micron circular periodic structures. The polarization thin film has extinction ratio of 60dB in the blue and green visible spectrum and /spl sim/40db in the red spectrum. Various gas combinations for RIE has been explored and it has been experimentally determined that for a particular concentration of CF/sub 4/ and O/sub 2/ an optimum etching rate, in terms of speed and under-etching, is possible. Theoretical explanation for the optimum etching rate has been also presented. In addition, anisotropic etching with less then 0.5/spl mu/m under cutting has been achieved. Experimental results of the patterned structures under polarized light are presented.

Traditional imaging systems focus on converting light's intensity and color property into suitable electronic signals. An important property of light, polarization is ignored with these traditional imaging systems. Polarization vision contains information about the imaged environment, such as surface shapes, curvature and material properties. Real time extraction of polarization properties would further allow synergy with traditional adaptive spatiotemporal image processing techniques for synthetic imaging. Therefore, we have developed an image sensor with real-time polarimetric extraction capability at the focal plane using low power analog circuits. This novel imaging system is the first of its kind to compute Stokes parameters at the focal plane in real-time. In order to fully describe the polarization state of light in nature, three linear polarized projections or two linear polarized projections in combination with the total intensity are required. We have fabricated a two layer micro polarizer array with total thickness of around 20μm. The micro polarizer array is mounted on top of the imaging sensor. The image sensor is composed of a 256 by 256 photo pixel array, noise suppression circuitry and analog processing circuitry for polarimetric computation. The image sensor was fabricated in 0.18μ process with 10μm pixel pitch and 75% fill factor. Block-parallel pixel read out is employed in order to compute Stokes parameters on a neighborhood of 2 by 2 pixels. The Stokes parameters are presented together with the noise suppressed intensity image. Experimental data from the polarimetric imaging system is also presented.