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Melanoma is a kind of aggressive skin neoplasms with high mortality. The purpose of this present research was to investigate the effects and potential mechanisms of long-noncoding RNA (lncRNA) MSC antisense RNA 1 (MSC-AS1) in melanoma. MSC-AS1, miR-330-3p and YAP1 expression levels in melanoma tissues and cells were assessed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Melanoma cells were evaluated using cell count kit-8, clone formation and ELISA in vitro . The relationship among MSC-AS1, YAP1 and miR-330-3p was validated by pull-down and luciferase reporter assays. Finally, the role of MSC-AS1 in vivo was determined by the xenograft model. Results showed that lncRNA MSC-AS1 was upregulated in melanoma tissues and cells. High expression of MAS-AS1 was positively correlated with a poor prognosis. Pull-down and luciferase reporter demonstrated that miR-330-3p specifically binds directly to YAP1 and MSC-AS1, respectively. MSC-AS1 promoted the expression of YAP1 by downregulating miR-330-3p. Functional experiments suggested that knockdown of MSC-AS1 suppressed the proliferation of melanoma cells and decreased the levels of glutamine, glutamate and α-ketoglutarate, glutaminase and glutamine transporter alanine-serine-cysteine transporter 2. Upregulation of miR-330-3p alleviated the promotion effect of MSC-AS1 overexpression on the proliferation and glutaminolysis of melanoma cells. The above changes could be reversed by YAP1 overexpression. In addition, knockdown of MSC-AS1 dramatically restrained the growth of melanoma cells in xenograft model. In conclusion, our results revealed that MSC-AS1 facilitated the proliferation and glutaminolysis of melanoma cells by regulating miR-330-3p/ YAP1 pathway, suggesting that MSC-AS1 could provide a new idea for the treatment of melanoma.

BACKGROUND Organ-associated pseudosarcomatous myofibroblastic proliferation (PMP) is a very rare disorder. In the urogenital tract, PMP preferentially involves the urinary bladder; kidney involvement is rare. Here, we report a rare case of PMP with ossification in the lower pole of the kidney, which mimics urothelial carcinoma or an osteogenic tumor. CASE SUMMARY A Chinese man was admitted to our hospital due to intermittent hematuria for more than 1 mo. Enhanced renal computed tomography revealed a mass in the left renal pelvis and upper ureter. The preoperative clinical diagnosis was renal pelvic carcinoma, determined by imaging examination and biopsy. After a standard preparation for surgery, the patient underwent retroperitoneoscopic radical nephroureterectomy. The operative findings were an extensive renal tumor (6 cm × 4.5 cm × 4.5 cm) invading the lower pole of the kidney and upper ureter. The final pathological diagnosis was organ-associated PMP with ossification. After 6-mo follow-up, no recurrence or metastasis was found. CONCLUSION This case of PMP was unusual for its mimicking renal pelvic carcinoma in imaging examinations, making biopsy necessary.

Circular RNA (circRNA) has been proved to mediate the biological functions of fibroblasts to participate in the regulation of keloid formation. However, the role of circCOL5A1 in keloid formation remains to be further confirmed.Primary keloid fibroblasts were isolated form keloid tissues. The expression of circCOL5A1, microRNA (miR)- 877-5p, and early growth response 1 (EGR1) were determined by quantitative real-time PCR. Transfection experiments were carried out to explore the effects of circCOL5A1, miR-877-5p, and EGR1 on cell functions. Cell proliferation, migration, invasion and apoptosis were detected using cell counting kit 8 assay, colony formation assay, transwell assay and flow cytometry. The protein levels of apoptosis markers, extracellular matrix (ECM) markers and EGR1 were measured by western blot analysis. The mechanism of circCOL5A1 was confirmed by RNA pull-down assay, dual-luciferase reporter assay and RIP assay.Our data showed that circCOL5A1 was upregulated in keloid tissues and fibroblasts. Silencing of circCOL5A1 had an inhibition effect on proliferation, migration, invasion and ECM production, while had a promotion effect on apoptosis in keloid fibroblasts. MiR-877-5p could be sponged by circCOL5A1, and its overexpression could repress the biological functions of keloid fibroblasts. The rescue experiments showed that miR-877-5p inhibitor could reverse the suppressive effect of circCOL5A1 knockdown on the biological functions of keloid fibroblasts. In addition, EGR1 was a target of miR-877-5p, and its expression was positively regulated by circCOL5A1. The inhibition effect of miR-877-5p on the biological functions of keloid fibroblasts could be abolished by EGR1 overexpression.In summary, circCOL5A1 facilitates keloid fibroblast proliferation, migration, invasion and ECM production through the miR-877-5p/EGR1 axis, thereby potentially promoting keloid formation.

A wide range of sediments formed in various sedimentary environments, including coals, carbargillites, shale and mudstones collected throughout China, have been studied by laboratory pyrolysis. The results show that the vitrinite reflectivity (Ro) values of these samples generally increase with an increase of pyrolysis temperature. However, the degree of increase in vitrinite reflectance is different from sample to sample. The corresponding pyrolysing temperatures for the peak generation of liquid hydrocarbons also reveal the apparent fluctuation among the samples. These variations are largely controlled by the properties of the source rock and types of organic matter, which are closely related to the primary sedimentary environments. Therefore, the sedimentary environment, age and the buried history should be considered when Ro and hydrocarbon yield of source rock are used to assess the source rock and basin.

Benzothiazoles distributional characteristics of crude oils and non-hydrocarbon fractions of source rocks in Mangya depression of the Qaidam Basin, Lunnan oil field in the Tarim Basin, Kelamayi oil field in the Junggar Basin and the Tulufan Basin oil field were analyzed. It was found that the distributions of benzothiazole are remarkable diversity in different sedimentary environmental oils. The swamp crude oils contain high quantity of benzothiazole and relatively high quantity of alkylthio-benzothiazole and 2(3H)-benzothiazolone. But the quantity of the 2,2′-dithiobisbenzothiazole is relatively low. The abundance of benzothiazole and 2,2′-dithiobis-benzothiazole are relatively high in semi-brackish water lacustrine crude oils, but the quantity of alkylthio-benzothiazole and 2(3H)-benzothiazolone are relatively low. The benzothiazoles belong to weak acid and mild base compound, and their stabilization conditions relate to their environmental medium. The nitrogenous bases are in favor of alkalescence environment, while weak acid nitrogenous compounds are the main stable products under the weak acid environment. Benzothiazoles have great significance in identifying the oil- and gas-formed environment and the geochemistry study of non-hydrocarbon fraction in the future.

Sinking particulate material collected from Nansha Yongshu reef lagoon and the continental shelf of the East China Sea by sediment traps has been analyzed and studied for the first time using organic geochemical method. The results show that about half of the sinking particulate organic matter in the two study areas are consumed before reaching the depth of 5 m to the sea floor and the degree of this consumption in Yongshu reef lagoon is larger than that in the continental shelf of the East China Sea. The distributions of hydrocarbons and fatty acids indicate that the minor difference of biological sources of sinking particulate organic matter exists between Yongshu reel lagoon and the continental shelf of the East China Sea, but they mainly come from marine plankton. Stronger biological and biochemical transformations of sinking particulate organic matter are also observed and the intensity of this transformation in Yongshu reef lagoon is greater than that in the continental shelf of the East China Sea. It is found that the occurrence of C-25 highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) diene may be related to the composition of diatom species.

A brief discussion is given to the thermal-induced polycondensation of soluble organic matter (SOM) in coal during lower maturation stage, based on laboratory simulation on hydrocarbon generation from coal and on correlation with natural maturation of coal. An essential relationship between the retrogressive variation of SOM and thermal-induced polycondensation during the lower maturation stage has been established.

Carbon isotopic analyses of individual fatty acids in modern sediments from Ruoergai Marsh and Nansha Sea, China were undertaken to evaluate the biological sources of individual sedimentary fatty acids. The mean δ13C values of individual fatty acids are −33.9‰ for Ruoergai Marsh and −29.3‰ for Nansha Sea, indicating different biological sources. The isotopic compositions of fatty acids of various chain lengths differ significantly, indicating that they have separate origins. The δ13C values of long-chain saturated acids (≥C20:0) from the two environments reflect a source from higher-land plants, whereas C16:0 and C18:0 acid values indicate an origin is from plankton for Nansha Sea samples and from higher-land plants for Ruoergai Marsh sample. The C16:1 and C18:1 monounsaturated acids in Nansha Sea samples probably have a common source as saturated fatty acids with the same carbon number, or are derived in part from a 13C-depleted source. Isotopic compositions of C14:0 and C15:0 acids in the two kinds of environments imply bacterial sources.

We have for the first time studied the compositions of ketone, aldehyde and alcohol lipid compounds in sinking particulate materials from Yongshu Reef lagoon and the continental shelf of the East China Sea collected by sediment trap sampling apparatus. The results indicate that sinking particulate materials contain abundant isoprenoid ketone, aldehyde and alcohol lipid compounds which take part in marine chemical cycling. The compositional features of these compounds show that sinking particulate organic matter mainly comes from autochthonous marine organisms and Yongshu Reef lagoon has more submerged macrophytes-derived component, while the continental shelf of the East China Sea contains more dinoflagellate-derived constituent. The contribution of higher land plant to sinking particulate organic matter may be very small. In contrast, it is greater in Yongshu Reef lagoon than that in the continental shelf of the East China Sea. Sinking particulate organic matter in the two regions undergoes strong biochemical transformation processes before reaching the depth of 5 m to the sea floor, and its intensity is greater in Yongshu Reef lagoon than in the continental shelf of the East China Sea. These results have certain reference value to the researches of marine chemistry, marine biology and marine sedimentology in China, and reveal the importance of organic geochemistry to the study of oceanology.

Carbon isotopic compositions of individual n-alkanols and sterols in modern sediments from the Nansha Islands sea area are measured after derivatization to trimethylsilyl ethers by the new isotopic analytical technique of GC/C/IRMS. The effects of the three added silyl carbon atoms in every alcohol molecule on these compound isotopic compositions and the characteristics of their carbon isotopic compositions are studied. Then their biological sources are discussed using their carbon isotopic compositions.

This paper investigates the risk management for residential mortgage in China. The paper finds out that the Chinese commercial banks have to take all the risks of residential mortgages. By examining a causal model of China’s mortgage market, the paper reveals that with relatively tight financial regulations by Chinese central bank, commercial banks have to solely depend on the credit system to screen out potential default loan applicants. Therefore, it is urgent for commercial banks to build an effective screening system to reduce the risk introduced by loan defaults. The paper reports an analytic study based on a real dataset of 641,988 observations provided by a Chinese commercial bank. The outcomes suggest that the classification model is effective for credit scoring with the data collected at China, and, however, the quality of the data needs to be improved for more precise default risk management.

Introduction Since 2015 is the year of FinTech in Taiwan, it is worth investigating the challenges that emerged when banks were encouraged to invest in FinTech companies for collaboration. This study aims to identify the strategic considerations in the process of searching for FinTech investment targets. Case description This study used a case study investigation of a top-5 bank in Taiwan. The major data sources include the meeting notes of the FinTech investment task force and interviews with the team members. Co-opetition theory was adopted as the theoretical framework and interview questions were derived from the PARTS strategies in co-petition theory. The results relate to: (1) the strategic goals of FinTech investment, (2) the added value from FinTech companies, (3) criteria in selecting candidates in the same FinTech area, (4) choosing to work as either a cooperator or a competitor, and (5) barriers from policies and regulations. Discussion and evaluation This study has several findings: (1) regulations and policies shape FinTech’s development; (2) banks, technology companies, and customers are not “FinTech ready;” (3) Compare top-down with bottom up strategies; (4) banks and FinTech companies have complex relationships; (5) it is unlikely that Taiwan will produce FinTech disruptors in the near future. Conclusion The findings and discussion can benefit researchers and administrators in finance-related industries. More studies are desired to observe long-term development in terms of how companies collaborate or compete in specific FinTech areas.