Search

In the southwestern United States, non-native grass invasions have increased wildfire occurrence in deserts and the likelihood of fire spread to and from other biomes with disparate fire regimes. The elevational transition between desertscrub and montane grasslands, woodlands, and forests generally occurs at ∼1,200 masl and has experienced fast suburbanization and an expanding wildland-urban interface (WUI). In summer 2020, the Bighorn Fire in the Santa Catalina Mountains burned 486 km2 and prompted alerts and evacuations along a 40-km stretch of WUI below 1,200 masl on the outskirts of Tucson, Arizona, a metropolitan area of >1M people. To better understand the changing nature of the WUI here and elsewhere in the region, we took a multidimensional and timely approach to assess fire dynamics along the Desertscrub-Semi-desert Grassland ecotone in the Catalina foothills, which is in various stages of non-native grass invasion. The Bighorn Fire was principally a forest fire driven by a long-history of fire suppression, accumulation of fine fuels following a wet winter and spring, and two decades of hotter droughts, culminating in the hottest and second driest summer in the 125-yr Tucson weather record. Saguaro (Carnegia gigantea), a giant columnar cactus, experienced high mortality. Resprouting by several desert shrub species may confer some post-fire resiliency in desertscrub. Buffelgrass and other non-native species played a minor role in carrying the fire due to the patchiness of infestation at the upper edge of the Desertscrub biome. Coupled state-and-transition fire-spread simulation models suggest a marked increase in both burned area and fire frequency if buffelgrass patches continue to expand and coalesce at the Desertscrub/Semi-desert Grassland interface. A survey of area residents six months after the fire showed awareness of buffelgrass was significantly higher among residents that were evacuated or lost recreation access, with higher awareness of fire risk, saguaro loss and declining property values, in that order. Sustained and timely efforts to document and assess fast-evolving fire connectivity due to grass invasions, and social awareness and perceptions, are needed to understand and motivate mitigation of an increasingly fire-prone future in the region.

Extragalactic fast X-ray transients (FXTs) are a class of soft (0.3–10 keV) X-ray transients lasting a few hundred seconds to several hours. Several progenitor mechanisms have been suggested to produce FXTs, including supernova shock breakouts, binary neutron star mergers, or tidal disruptions involving an intermediate-mass black hole and a white dwarf. We present detailed host studies, including spectroscopic observations of the host galaxies of seven XMM-Newton -discovered FXTs. The candidate hosts lie at redshifts 0.0928 < z < 0.645 implying peak X-ray luminosities of 1043 erg s−1< LX < 1045 erg s−1 and physical offsets of 1 kpc < r proj < 22 kpc. These observations increase the number of FXTs with a spectroscopic redshift measurement by a factor of 2, although we note that one event is re-identified as a Galactic flare star. We infer host star formation rates and stellar masses by fitting the combined spectroscopic and archival photometric data. We also report on a contemporaneous optical counterpart search to the FXTs in Pan-STARRS and ATLAS by performing forced photometry at the position of the FXTs. We do not find any counterpart in our search. Given our constraints, including peak X-ray luminosities, optical limits, and host properties, we find that XRT 110 621 is consistent with an supernova shock breakout (SN SBO) event. Spectroscopic redshifts of likely host galaxies for four events imply peak X-ray luminosities that are too high to be consistent with SN SBOs, but we are unable to discard either the binary neutron star or white dwarf–intermediate-mass black hole tidal disruption event scenarios for these FXTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zhennan Yun,1 Fanqi Meng,1 Peiqiang Jiang,2 Meng Yue,1 Shiquan Li11Department of Colorectal and Anal Surgery, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin 130021, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin 130021, People’s Republic of ChinaBackground and purpose: An increasing number of studies have revealed that microRNAs (miRNAs) are the main drivers of hepatocarcinogenesis including progression to later stages of liver cancer. Recently, miR-548b was identified as a cancer-related miRNA in glioma and tongue squamous cell carcinoma. Nonetheless, the expression pattern and specific roles of miR-548b in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have not yet been clarified.Methods: Expression levels of miR-548b in HCC tissues and cell lines were measured by reverse-transcription quantitative PCR. In vitro and in vivo functional assays were performed to determine the effects of miR-548b on the malignant phenotypes of HCC cells. In addition, the molecular mechanisms by which miR-548b regulates the initiation and progression of HCC were investigated in detail.Results: miR-548b expression was weak in HCC tissues and cell lines. The low miR-548b expression significantly correlated with tumor size, TNM stage, and venous infiltration of HCC. In addition, exogenous miR-548b expression suppressed HCC cell proliferation, colony formation, and metastasis and induced apoptosis in vitro. Silencing of miR-548b exerted an opposite effect on these characteristics of HCC cells. Furthermore, miR-548b overexpression hindered tumor growth in vivo. Mechanistic analysis identified high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) as a direct target gene of miR-548b in HCC cells. Moreover, an HMGB1 knockdown reproduced the effects of miR-548b upregulation on HCC cells. Recovered HMGB1 expression reversed the effects of miR-548b on HCC cells. Notably, miR-548b overexpression deactivated the PI3K–AKT pathway in HCC cells in vitro and in vivo.Conclusion: Our findings provide the first evidence that miR-548b restrains HCC progression, at least partially, by downregulating HMGB1 and deactivating the PI3K–AKT pathway. Thus, miR-548b might be a novel target for the development of new therapies for HCC.Keywords: microRNA-548b, hepatocellular carcinoma, PI3K–AKT pathway, high-mobility group box 1, HMGB1

Yun Z, Meng F, Jiang P, Yue M, Li S. Cancer Manag Res. 2019;11:5821–5834. The Editor and Publisher of Cancer Management and Research wish to retract the published article. Concerns were raised over alleged image duplication in Figures 6D and 8A with similar images from unrelated articles, specifically: Figure 6D, panel Hep3B 1 appears to have been duplicated with a similar image in Figure 5D from Chen et al, 2019 (https://doi.org/10.2147/OTT.S192137). Figure 6D, panel SK-HEP-1 6 appears to have been duplicated with a similar image in Figure 6D from Liu et al, 2019 (https://doi.org/10.3892/ijo.2019.4735). Figure 8A, panels NC mimics 2 and miR-548b mimics 2 appear to have been duplicated with similar images in Figure 8A from Song et al, 2019 (https://doi.org/10.2147/OTT.S201282). The authors responded to our queries but were unable to provide a satisfactory explanation for the alleged duplication and could not provide satisfactory original data for their study. The Editor advised for the article to be retracted. Our decision-making was informed by our policy on publishing ethics and integrity and the COPE guidelines on retraction. The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as “Retracted”. This retraction relates to this paper

Luu X, Yue M, Li C, Sun D, Wang L. Onco Targets Ther. 2020;13:12067–12081. The Editor and Publisher of OncoTargets and Therapy wish to publish an Expression of Concern for the published article. Following publication, concerns were raised about the scientific integrity of the articles content. We reached out to the authors requesting they supply information that would confirm the integrity of the data. The authors provided several files in response to our queries but they did not satisfy our requirements to confirm the authenticity of some types of data. In addition, there were unexplained similarities between some of the figures presented in this article, and figures presented in articles by different authors groups. As yet, the authors have not provided a satisfactory explanation for this. Therefore, as we continue to work through the issues raised, we advise readers to interpret the information presented in the article with due caution. The authors have been notified about this Expression of Concern. Read the original article

Meng Yue, Shiquan Li, Guoqiang Yan, Chenyao Li, Zhenhua Kang Department of Surgery, First Hospital, JiLin University, Changchun, Jilin, People’s Republic of China Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the short- and long-term outcomes of laparoscopic hepatectomy (LH) for colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) in elderly patients.Patients and methods: Between January 2009 and January 2016, LH was performed for 241 consecutive patients who were ≥60 years old and had CRLM. Based on their age at the LH, the patients were divided into an elderly group (≥70 years old, 78 patients) and a middle-aged group (60–69 years old, 163 patients). The short- and long-term outcomes were compared between the two groups.Results: Compared to the middle-aged group, the elderly group had higher values for Charlson comorbidity index, proportion of preoperative chemotherapy, and American Society of Anesthesiologists score. No other significant differences were observed in the preoperative characteristics. The elderly group had a higher conversion rate, compared to the middle-aged group, although no significant differences were observed in the surgical procedures, surgical times, intraoperative blood losses, numbers and severities of postoperative 90-day complications, postoperative 90-day mortality rates, pathology results, and other short-term outcomes. Long-term follow-up revealed similar rates of recurrence, disease-free survival, and overall survival in the two groups. Multivariable analysis revealed that age did not independently predict overall survival or disease-free survival.Conclusion: Similar short- and long-term outcomes were observed after LH for CRLM in elderly and middle-aged patients. Thus, advanced age is not a contraindication for LH treatment in this setting. Keywords: laparoscopic hepatectomy, minimally invasive surgery, colorectal liver metastases, surgical oncology

In recent years, MnFePGe magnetocaloric materials have been widely studied as promising candidates for magnetic refrigeration materials. The Curie temperature of MnFePGe can be adjusted to around room temperature by changing the element ratio or doping with other elements. Due to its first-order magnetic and structural transition, it engenders a large entropy change but unfortunately also exhibits a large thermal hysteresis during the phase transition, which leads to energy loss and lower refrigeration capability. In this paper, we establish a correlation between the in-plane covalent bonding and Curie temperature (TC), thermal hysteresis (ΔThys), two-phase coexistence zone (ΔTcoex), and entropy change (ΔSDSC) using 54 Mn2−xFexPyGe1−yMz (where M is a metallic or nonmetallic doped element) samples with different components. Neutron diffraction and XRD diffraction data and refinements have been employed to allow a detailed electron density reconstruction of six typical samples with the maximum entropy method. We find that the length of the in-plane bonding is closely correlated with the TC and ΔThys, while the TC, ΔThys, ΔTcoex, and ΔSDSC have no significant correlation with the length of the interlayer covalent bond. Moreover, we find that the ΔThys correlates most strongly with the change in the bond length when undergoing the paramagnetic-to-ferromagnetic phase transition rather than the absolute value of the bond length. These results provide an understanding of how to control the properties, enabling effective ways to tune the composition of magnetic refrigeration materials to tailor magnetocaloric properties for optimal performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]