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Objectives: This study aims to investigate the function of the protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5) and fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3)/Akt signaling axis in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of human lung cancer. Methods: The mRNA and protein expression levels of PRMT5, FGFR3, p-Akt, and EMT markers are determined by quantitative real-time PCR and Western blotting, respectively; the expression and localization of PRMT5, p-Akt, and proliferating cell nuclear antigen are detected by immunofluorescence; the human lung cancer cell proliferation is measured by MTS assay. Results: PRMT5 and FGFR3 are highly expressed in human lung cancer tissues and are closely related to lymphatic metastasis. Moreover, down-regulation of PRMT5 by lentivirus-mediated shRNAs or inhibition of PRMT5 by specific inhibitors attenuates FGFR3 expression, Akt phosphorylation, and lung cancer cell proliferation. Further studies show that silencing PRMT5 impairs EMT-related markers, including vimentin, collagen I, and β-catenin. Conversely, ectopic expression of PRMT5 increases FGFR3 expression, Akt phosphorylation, and EMT-related markers, suggesting that PRMT5 regulates metastasis probably through the FGFR3/Akt signaling axis. Conclusion: PRMT5/FGFR3/Akt signaling axis controls human lung cancer progression and metastasis and also implies that PRMT5 may serve as a prognostic biomarker and therapeutic candidate for treating lung cancer.

Objective: Invasive breast cancer (BRCA) is one of the prevalent types of invasive tumors with high mortality worldwide. Due to the lack of effective treatment to control the recurrence of distant metastases, the prognosis of BRCA is still very unsatisfactory. We aimed to find some biomarkers by bioinformatics analysis for survival prediction. Methods: Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened out based on tumor group and normal group. Then, the weighted gene correlation network analysis (WGCNA) was employed to identify the clinically associated gene sets. Meanwhile, the enrichment analyses were performed for the functional annotation of the critical genes. The Kaplan Meier analysis calculated the essential genes’ prognostic value. Results: After threshold screening, 1655 DEGs were obtained for subsequent analysis. 51 out of 1655 DEGs were significantly associated with BRCA patients’ estrogen receptor status via WGCNA. Three genes (FABP7, CXCL3, and LOC284578) out of the 51 genes were associated with overall survival, and 3 genes were relapse-free survival associated. Finally, we obtained 5 essential prognostic associated genes (FABP7, CXCL3, LOC284578, CAPN6, and NRG2), which could be used as prognostic factors for BRCA. Conclusion: Our findings obtained a gene module associated with BRCA clinical trait and several key genes that acted as essential components in the prognostic of cancer, which may improve its treatment.

As a malignant hematopoietic stem cell disease, leukemia remains life-threatening due to its increasing incidence rate and mortality rate. Therefore, its early diagnosis and treatment play a very important role. In the present work, we systematically reviewed the current applications and future directions of positron emission tomography (PET) in patients with leukemia, especially 18 F-FDG PET/CT. As a useful imaging approach, PET significantly contributes to the diagnosis and treatment of different types of leukemia, especially in the evaluation of extramedullary infiltration, monitoring of leukemia relapse, detection of Richter’s transformation (RT), and assessment of the inflammatory activity associated with acute graft versus host disease. Future investigations should be focused on the potential of PET/CT in the prediction of clinical outcomes in patients with leukemia and the utility of novel radiotracers.

Polysaccharides from Pinelliae Rhizoma Praeparatum Cum Alumine (PPA) have various biological activities, but their properties after oral administration are not clear. In this study, the absorption, digestion and fermentation properties of PPA were studied using in vivo fluorescence tracking, in vitro simulated digestion and fecal fermentation experiments. The absorption experiment showed that fluorescence was only observed in the gastrointestinal system, indicating that PPA could not be absorbed. Simulated digestion results showed that there were no significant changes in the molecular weight, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) spectrum, monosaccharides and reducing sugar of PPA during the digestion process, showing that the overall structure of PPA was not damaged. However, the carbohydrate gel electrophoresis bands of PPA enzymatic hydrolysates after simulated digestion were significantly changed, indicating that simulated digestion might impact the configuration of PPA. In vitro fermentation showed that PPA could be degraded by microorganisms to produce short chain fatty acids, leading to a decrease in pH value. PPA can promote the proliferation of Bacteroideaceae, Megasphaera, Bacteroideaceae, and Bifidobacteriaceae, and inhibit the growth of Desulfobacteriota and Enterobacteriaceae. The results indicated that PPA could treat diseases by regulating gut microbiota, providing a scientific basis for the application and development of PPA., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Despite significant progress in diagnosis and treatment, asthma remains a serious public health challenge. The conventional therapeutic drugs for asthma often have side effects and unsatisfactory clinical efficacy. Therefore, it is very urgent to develop new drugs to overcome the shortcomings of conventional drugs. Natural polysaccharides provide enormous resources for the development of drugs or health products, and they are receiving a lot of attention from scientists around the world due to their safety, effective anti-inflammatory and immune regulatory properties. Increasing evidence shows that polysaccharides have favorable biological activities in the respiratory disease, including asthma. This review provides an overview of primary literature on the recent advances of polysaccharides from natural resources in the treatment of asthma. The mechanisms and practicability of polysaccharides, including polysaccharides from plants, fungus, bacteria, alga, animals and others are reviewed. Finally, the further research of polysaccharides in the treatment of asthma are discussed. This review can provide a basis for further study of polysaccharides in the treatment of asthma and provides guidance for the development and clinical application of novel asthma treatment drugs., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The pericarp of Zanthoxylum bungeanum maxim (PZM) is a commonly used spice and herbal medicine in China. In the present study, the structural characteristics of PPZM were investigated by saccharide mapping after enzymatic digestion by using high-performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) and polysaccharide analysis by using carbohydrate gel electrophoresis (PACE). The mechanisms of protective effects of PPZM on Aβ 25-35 -induced oxidative damage were explored in PC12 cells. The results showed that PPZM contained 1,4-α-D-galactosidic, 1,4-α-D-galactosiduronic, and (1→4)-β-D-glucosidic linkages. Pretreatment with PPZM significantly increased the cell viability of Aβ 25-35 -injured PC12 cells. Flow cytometry and Hoechst/PI staining indicated that PPZM gradually relieved the apoptosis of the Aβ 25-25 -treated cells. PPZM markedly decreased the ROS level of PC12 cells and suppressed Aβ 25-35 -induced oxidative stress by increasing the SOD level, and decreasing the level of MDA and LDH. The mRNA expressions of caspase-3 and Bax were significantly downregulated, and Bcl-2 expression was upregulated by treatment with PPZM. PPZM significantly increased the mRNA expression of Nrf2 and HO-1 in Aβ 25-35 treated cells. The results indicated that PPZM alleviated apoptosis and oxidative stress induced by Aβ 25-25 through the inhibition of mitochondrial dependent apoptosis and activation of Nrf2/HO-1 pathway. PPZM can be used as a potential protective agent against Aβ 25-25 -induced neurotoxicity.

Although disease susceptibility is known to differ between men and women, it is controversial whether the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors for malignancies also differs between the sexes. We conducted a meta-analysis to explore the impact of sex on immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment outcomes. We searched PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane Library databases from inception to October 1, 2020 for randomized controlled trials of immune checkpoint inhibitors with hazard ratios (HRs) stratified by sex. We calculated the pooled HRs for men and women using the ln(HR), and assessed the heterogeneity between the two estimates through an interaction test. In total, 22,268 patients from 39 randomized controlled trials were included. Immune checkpoint inhibitors yielded better overall survival than conventional agents in both men (HR: 0.75, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.71-0.80) and women (HR: 0.77, 95% CI: 0.70-0.85). Progression-free survival benefits were also observed in both men (HR: 0.64, 95% CI: 0.58-0.70) and women (HR: 0.67, 95% CI: 0.58-0.77) treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors. No sex differences in the response to immune checkpoint inhibitors were found when overall survival and progression-free survival were used as the endpoints.

Epilepsy is a chronic disease that can cause temporary brain dysfunction as a result of sudden abnormal discharge of the brain neurons. The seizure mechanism of epilepsy is closely related to the neurotransmitter imbalance, synaptic recombination, and glial cell proliferation. In addition, epileptic seizures can lead to mitochondrial damage, oxidative stress, and the disorder of sugar degradation. Although the mechanism of epilepsy research has reached up to the genetic level, the presently available treatment and recovery records of epilepsy does not seem promising. Recently, natural medicines have attracted more researches owing to their low toxicity and side-effects as well as the excellent efficacy, especially in chronic diseases. In this study, the antiepileptic mechanism of the bioactive components of natural drugs was reviewed so as to provide a reference for the development of potential antiepileptic drugs. Based on the different treatment mechanisms of natural drugs considered in this review, it is possible to select drugs clinically. Improving the accuracy of medication and the cure rate is expected to compensate for the shortage of the conventional epilepsy treatment drugs., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 He, Hu, Li, Zhao, Fan, He, Lu, Ye, Huang and Wu.)

Abstract: Mass lesions in the brain encompass a wide range neoplastic and nonneoplastic entities. These can present as a diagnostic pitfall, with nonspecific, overlapping symptoms and similar appearances on radiology. They may cause death through varied mechanisms, either specific to the underlying pathophysiology or due to the space-occupying effect of the lesion. We report a case of fatal hemorrhagic cerebral pseudocyst, a rare mass lesion, associated with a cerebral varix, causing death in a morbidly obese individual. To the best of our knowledge, there is no previous documentation in the postmortem literature of this entity as a cause of death. This case aims to document this rare entity in the differential diagnosis of a tumor-like lesion in the brain, highlight the clinical difficulty in its assessment, and demonstrate an uncommon mechanism of death, of a mass lesion acting as a focus causing seizures, with resulting hypoxia due to effects of morbid obesity and heart failure., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

The effect of preoperative Double-J (DJ) ureteral stenting before flexible ureterorenoscopy (FURS) in the treatment for urinary stones was evaluated. We retrospectively enrolled 306 consecutive patients who underwent FURS from Jan. 2014 to Dec. 2017. All the patients were classified into two groups according to whether they had DJ ureteral stenting before FURS. Baseline characteristics (age, sex, stone location, stone size, surgical success rate, operation time, stone-free rate of the first day after surgery, stone-free rate of the first month after surgery, total complication rate) were compared using Chi-square test for categorical variables and Kruskal-Wallis test for continuous variables. In total, 306 patients were included in this study. The group of DJ stenting before FURS included 203 (66.3%) patients, and non-DJ stenting before FURS was observed in 103 (33.7%) patients. The group of DJ stenting before FURS was significantly associated with a shorter operation time (53.8 vs. 59.3 min, P<0.001), a higher stone-free rate of the first day after surgery (69.0% vs. 51.5%, P=0.003). However, statistical significant differences were not found in the age, sex, stone location, stone size, surgical success rate, stone-free rate of the first month after surgery (89.2% vs. 81.6%, P=0.065) and total complication rate (5.4% vs. 9.7%, P=0.161) between the two groups. Preoperative DJ ureteral stenting before FURS could reduce the operation time and increase stone-free rate of the first day after surgery. However, it might not benefit the stone-free rate of the first month after surgery and reduce the complication rate. Preoperative DJ stenting should be not routinely performed.

The structure of interconnected systems and its impact on the system dynamics is a much-studied cross-disciplinary topic. Although various critical phenomena have been found in different models, study of the connections between different percolation transitions is still lacking. Here we propose a unified framework to study the origins of the discontinuous transitions of the percolation process on interacting networks. The model evolves in generations with the result of the present percolation depending on the previous state, and thus is history-dependent. Both theoretical analysis and Monte Carlo simulations reveal that the nature of the transition remains the same at finite generations but exhibits an abrupt change for the infinite generation. We use brain functional correlation and morphological similarity data to show that our model also provides a general method to explore the network structure and can contribute to many practical applications, such as detecting the abnormal structures of human brain networks., (© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of China Science Publishing & Media Ltd.)

Bombyx Batryticatus (BB) is a known traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) utilized to treat convulsions, epilepsy, cough, asthma, headaches, etc. in China for thousands of years. This study is aimed at investigating optimum extraction of protein-rich extracts from BB (BBPs) using response surface methodology (RSM) and exploring the protective effects of BBPs against nerve growth factor (NGF)-induced PC12 cells injured by glutamate (Glu) and their underlying mechanisms. The results indicated optimum process of extraction was as follows: extraction time 1.00 h, ratio of liquid to the raw material 3.80 mL/g and ultrasonic power 230.0 W. The cell viability of PC12 cells stimulated by Glu was determined by CCK-8 assay. The levels of γ-aminobutyric (GABA), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-4 (IL-4), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) and glucocorticoid receptor alpha (GR) in PC12 cells were assayed by ELISA. Furthermore, the Ca 2+ levels in PC12 cells were determined by flow cytometry analysis. Protein and mRNA expressions of GABAA-Rα1, NMDAR1, GAD 65, GAD 67, GAT 1 and GAT 3 in PC12 cells were evaluated by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blotting assays. Results revealed that BBPs decreased toxic effects due to Glu treatment and decreased Ca 2+ levels in PC12 cells. After BBPs treatments, levels of GABA and 5-HT were increased and contents of TNF-α, IL-4 and IL-1β were decreased in NGF-induced PC12 cells injured by Glu. Moreover, BBPs up-regulated the expressions of GABAA-Rα1, GAD 65 and GAD 67, whereas down-regulated that of NMDAR1 GAT 1 and GAT 3. These findings suggested that BBPs possessed protective effects on NGF-induced PC12 cells injured by Glu via γ-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA) signaling pathways, which demonstrated that BBPs has potential anti-epileptic effect in vitro. These findings may be useful in the development of novel medicine for the treatment of epilepsy.

Cluster materials have attracted much attention because of their unique chemical and physical properties, hitherto unseen in bulk materials. Inspired by the lipid self-assembly principle, a series of heterocluster Janus molecules (HCJMs) with atomic precision have been rationally designed and synthesized by connecting different clusters via covalent bonds for the construction of nanomaterials and nano-objects. Due to their amphiphilicity, HCJMs self-assemble into cluster-containing nanomaterials or nano-objects with versatile ordered structures beyond those observed in conventional crystals. Their hybrid composition and nanoscale size are also greatly advantageous in the study of their fine structure by electron microscopy techniques, and enable their formation mechanisms to be unraveled. Finally, the influence of the characteristics of the HCJMs on the structure and properties of the self-assembled nano-objects are explored comprehensively. This synthesis strategy will promote further development of cluster materials with advanced functions via rational molecular design toward the construction of hierarchical nanostructures via molecular self-assembly., (© 2019 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Recent progress on multiplex networks has provided a powerful way to abstract the diverse interaction of a network system with multiple layers. In this paper, we show that a multiplex structure can greatly affect the spread of an epidemic driven by traffic dynamics. One of the interesting findings is that the multiplex structure could suppress the outbreak of an epidemic, which is different from the typical finding of spread dynamics in multiplex networks. In particular, one layer with dense connections can attract more traffic flow and eventually suppress the epidemic outbreak in other layers. Therefore, the epidemic threshold will be larger than the minimal threshold of the layers. With a mean-field approximation, we provide explicit expressions for the epidemic threshold and for the onset of suppressing epidemic spreading in multiplex networks. We also provide the probability of obtaining a multiplex configuration that suppresses the epidemic spreading when the multiplex is composed of: (i) two Erdős-Rényi layers and (ii) two scale-free layers. Therefore, compared to the situation of an isolated network in which a disease may be able to propagate, a larger epidemic threshold can be found in multiplex structures.

The two-lane driven system is a type of important model to research some transport systems, and also a powerful tool to investigate properties of nonequilibrium state systems. This paper presents a driven bidirectional two-lane model. The dynamic characteristics of the model with periodic boundary are investigated by Monte Carlo simulation, simple mean field, and cluster mean field methods, respectively. By simulations, phase separations are observed in the system with some values of model parameters. When the phase separation does not occur, cluster mean field results are in good agreement with simulation results. According to the cluster mean field analysis and simulations, a conjecture about the condition that the phase separation happens is proposed. Based on the conjecture, the phase boundary distinguishing phase separation state and homogeneous state is determined, and a corresponding phase diagram is drawn. The conjecture is validated through observing directly the spatiotemporal diagram and investigating the coarsening process of the system by simulation, and a possible mechanism causing the phase separation is also discussed. These outcomes maybe contribute to understand deeply transport systems including the congestion and efficiency of the transport, and enrich explorations of nonequilibrium state systems.

Inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa B kinase subunit beta (IKK-β), a specific regulator of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), is considered a valid target to design novel candidate drugs to treat rheumatoid arthritis and various cancers. In the present study, quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR) and molecular docking techniques were used to screen for new IKK-β inhibitors from a series of 2-acylamino-3-aminothienopyridine analogs. During the two-dimensional QSAR phase, the statistical model partial least square was selected from among two alternatives (r 2  = 0.868, q 2 (cross-validation) = 0.630). Descriptors with positive or negative contributions were derived from the created model. To build of three-dimensional QSAR models, we used three different fingerprints as analysis precepts for molecular clustering and the subsequent division of training sets and test sets. The best model, which used fingerprint model definition language public keys, was selected for further prediction of the compounds' activities. Favorable physicochemical, structural, electrostatic, and steric properties were derived from the created QSAR models and then used for drug design with an in-house library. Amongst the designed compounds, compounds B01 and B02 showed good predicted activities. Furthermore, after a selecting the protein structure and docking method, docking studies were carried out to reveal the detailed interactions between the ligands and the target protein. Binding affinity was measured and sorted using the value of "-CDOCKER&#95;ENERGY". The high -CDOCKER&#95;ENERGY values of compounds B01 (41.6134 kcal/mol) and B02 (40.1366 kcal/mol) indicated their prominent docking affinities., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: To determine the associations among diabetes status, Metformin administration and prostate cancer (PCa) detection at biopsy in Chinese population., Methods: A case-control study was conducted among a prospectively enrolled prostate biopsy cohort of 518 patients from Jan 2013 to Dec 2014 at our institute. Diabetes status and Metformin administration were determined through medical records and self-report. Different clinical characteristics were registered and compared among different groups. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate the effects of diabetes status and Metformin administration on the detection of overall as well as high-grade PCa at biopsy., Results: PCa was detected in 229 (44.2%) men, and high-grade PCa (Gleason score ≥8) was detected in 65 (12.5%) men. Diabetes was observed in 96 men, and 28 of them were administered with Metformin. Both overall and high-grade cancer detection rates were significantly higher in diabetic patients (p<0.001). In multivariate analysis, diabetes status was a risk factor for high-grade cancer detection (OR 7.699, 95%CI 3.483-17.020, p<0.001), but not for total PCa detection (OR 1.774, 95%CI 0.831-3.787, p=0.138). Meanwhile, Metformin administration was proved to be a protective factor for high-grade disease (OR 0.420, 95%CI 0.201-0.879, p=0.021) in multivariate analysis, while no correlation was detected with overall cancer detection (OR 0.786, 95%CI 0.172-3.593, p=0.756)., Conclusions: Diabetes status was positively associated with biopsy-mediated high-grade PCa detection in Chinese population, while the positive association would be partly compromised by Metformin administration.

High-fat diet induced obesity was associated with more aggressive prostate cancer. Recent research has demonstrated that integrin-linked kinase (ILK), β-parvin and downstream cofilin 1 jointly affected cancer progression. Meanwhile, these proteins were also involved in energy metabolism. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the potential function of ILK, β-parvin and cofilin 1 in the high-fat diet-induced progression of prostate cancer. Transgenic mice with prostate cancer were employed, fed with different diets and sacrificed at 20 and 28 weeks. Tumor differentiation, extracapsular extension and metastasis were compared between the groups. Expression levels of ILK, β-parvin and cofilin 1 in prostate were evaluated by immunohistochemical analysis and determined by an immunoreactivity score. Public databases were applied for analysis and validation. It was detected that high-fat diet feeding promoted cancer progression in transgenic mice with prostate cancer, with increased expressions of β-parvin (P=0.038) and cofilin 1 (P=0.018). Higher expressions of ILK, β-parvin and cofilin 1 were also associated with poorer cancer differentiation. Additionally, higher mRNA levels of CFL1 were correlated with a worse disease-free survival in patients of certain subgroups from The Cancer Genome Atlas database. Further studies were warranted in discussing the potential roles of ILK, β-parvin and cofilin 1 in high-fat diet feeding induced progression of prostate cancer.

This article explores the effects of atorvastatin on cultured breast cancer cells. Our experiment demonstrated that atorvastatin triggered autophagy and inhibited proliferation in breast cancer cells. A CCK8 assay indicated that atorvastatin can inhibit the activity of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Western blotting results showed that atorvastatin increased the conversion of light chain 3 (LC3)-I to LC3-phosphatidylethanolamine conjugate (LC3-II). Confocal microscopy was used to reveal the appearance of a punctate structure in the cytoplasm, and electron microscopy was used to reveal the formation of double-membrane autophagosome. In conclusion, our study showed that atorvastatin may affect MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells by inducing autophagy.

Purpose: Our aim was to determine the prognostic factors in Chinese patients with prostate cancer receiving primary androgen deprivation therapy (PADT), validate the Japan Cancer of the Prostate Risk Assessment (J-CAPRA) score, and investigate the impacts of pre-existing obesity and diabetes mellitus (DM)., Methods: The study enrolled Chinese patients diagnosed with prostatic adenocarcinoma and treated with bilateral orchiectomy as PADT at Huashan Hospital, Fudan University (Shanghai, China), from January 2003 to December 2015. The overall survival (OS) and prognostic value of J-CAPRA score, pre-existing obesity, DM, and various clinicopathological variables were analyzed., Results: Of the 435 patients enrolled, 174 (40.0%) deaths occurred during follow-up; 3- and 5-year OS were 74.0 and 58.9%, respectively. Multivariate analysis identified that higher Gleason score and metastasis were both correlated with worse OS and that higher J-CAPRA score was correlated with worse OS [hazard ratio (HR) 1.110, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.035-1.190, P = 0.003). Different risk categories based on J-CAPRA score showed good stratification in OS (log-rank P = 0.015). In subgroup analysis, pre-existing obesity as a protective factor in younger patients (age ≤ 65, HR 0.271, 95% CI 0.075-0.980, P = 0.046) and pre-existing DM as a risk factor in older patients (> 75, HR 1.854, 95% CI 1.026-3.351, P = 0.041) for OS were recognized, and the prediction accuracy of J-CAPRA was elevated after incorporating pre-existing obesity and DM., Conclusions: The J-CAPRA score presented with good OS differentiation among Chinese patients under PADT. Younger patients (age ≤ 65) had better OS with pre-existing obesity, while older patients (age > 75) had worse OS with pre-existing DM.

Soft nanotubes are normally constructed from chiral amphiphiles through helical self-assembly. Yet, how to self-assemble achiral molecules into nanotubes is still a challenge. Here, we report the nanotube construction with achiral shape amphiphiles through helical self-assembly and also unravel the formation mechanisms. The amphiphiles have a dumbbell shape and are composed by covalently linking three achiral moieties together: two unlike clusters and an organic tether. The difference in polarity between the unlike clusters drives the amphiphiles to self-assemble into single- and multi-walled nanotubes as well as intermediates. Analysis of the key intermediates unravels the self-assembly mechanism of helicity-selective nucleation and growth. Meanwhile, direct visualization of the individual clusters in the ribbons displays a two-dimensional deformed hexagonal lattice. Thus, we speculate that it is the lattice deformation that creates anisotropic tension along different directions of the ribbon which further results in the formation of helical ribbons towards nanotubes by amphiphiles., (© 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

High-fat diet (HFD) -induced obesity is associated with more aggressive and lethal prostate cancer (PCa) in males, although the exact underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In the present study, transgenic adenocarcinoma of mouse prostate (TRAMP) models fed on an HFD (40% fat) or a control diet (CD; 16% fat) were generated, and cancer differentiation, local invasion and metastasis were compared at 20, 24 and 28 weeks. Mouse sera from each group were collected, and adipokines and cytokines were measured using multiplex immunoassays. HFD-sera and CD-sera were additionally processed into conditioned media (2.5% mixed sera), and in vitro studies were conducted to determine the proliferation, migration and invasion of cancer cells when conditioned media were used for culture. In TRAMP mice, HFD feeding increased body weight and adipose tissue deposition, and promoted the progression of PCa, specifically with regard to poorer differentiation, increased local invasion and metastasis rate. Sera from HFD-fed TRAMP mice contained increased levels of leptin, and a time-dependent increasing trend in the levels of CC chemokine ligand (CCL)3, CCL4, CCL5 and CXC chemokine ligand (CXCL)10 was observed. However, no alterations were detected in the levels of adiponectin, interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-12p70, interferon-γ, tumor necrosis factor-α, CCL2, CCL7, CCL11, CXCL1 and CXCL2. In vitro studies determined that HFD-sera-conditioned medium promoted proliferation, migration and invasion of DU145 cells, as compared with CD-sera-conditioned medium and serum-free medium. In conclusion, the results of the present study suggested that the circulating adipokine and cytokine alterations in response to excess adipose tissue deposition induced by HFD feeding contributed to PCa progression.

In this study, the ultrasound-assisted extraction of polysaccharides (PSA) from Pinelliae Rhizoma Praeparatum Cum Alumine (PRPCA) was optimized by response surface methodology (RSM). The structural characteristics of PSA were analyzed by UV-vis spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, high performance gel permeation chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography, respectively. In addition, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of PSA were studied by different in vitro assays. Results indicated that the optimal extraction conditions were as follows: the ratio of water to raw of 30 mL/g, extraction time of 46.50 min, ultrasonic temperature of 72.00 °C, and ultrasonic power of 230 W. Under these conditions, the obtained PSA yield (13.21 ± 0.37%) was closely agreed with the predicted yield by the model. The average molecular weights of the PSA were estimated to be 5.34 × 10³ and 6.27 × 10⁵ Da. Monosaccharide composition analysis indicated that PSA consisted of mannose, galactose uronic acid, glucose, galactose, arabinose with a molar ratio of 1.83:0.55:75.75:1.94:0.45. Furthermore, PSA exhibited moderate antioxidant and antibacterial activities in vitro. Collectively, this study provides a promising strategy to obtain bioactive polysaccharides from processed products of herbal medicines., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Clusters are an important class of nanoscale molecules or superatoms that exhibit an amazing diversity in structure, chemical composition, shape, and functionality. Assembling two types of clusters is creating emerging cluster-assembled materials (CAMs). In this paper, we report an effective approach to produce quasi two-dimensional (2D) CAMs of two types of spherelike clusters, polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS), and polyoxometalates (POM). To avoid macrophase separation between the two clusters, they are covalently linked to form a POM-POSS cocluster with Janus characteristics and a dumbbell shape. This Janus characteristics enables the cocluster to self-assemble into diverse nanoaggregates, as conventional amphiphilic molecules and macromolecules do, in selective solvents. In our study, we obtained micelles, vesicles, nanosheets, and nanoribbons by tuning the n-hexane content in mixed solvents of acetone and n-hexane. Ordered packing of clusters in the nanosheets and nanoribbons were directly visualized using high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) technique. We infer that the increase of packing order results in the vesicle-to-sheet transition and the change in packing mode causes the sheet-to-ribbon transitions. Our findings have verified the effectivity of creating quasi 2D cluster-assembled materials though the cocluster self-assembly as a new approach to produce novel CAMs.

Introduction: To assess the risk factors of Gleason sum upgrading between biopsy and radical prostatectomy (RP) and update the nomogram for the prediction of Gleason sum upgrading., Methods: The study cohort consisted of 237 Chinese prostate adenocarcinoma patients who underwent 10-core prostate biopsy and subsequently received RP in Huashan Hospital from February 2011 to May 2015. The main outcome of our study was Gleason sum upgrading between biopsy and RP pathology. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were conducted to explore the potential predictors, and ultimately to build the nomograms. The prediction model was further evaluated for its ability to predict significant upgrading in patients with biopsy Gleason sum<8., Results: In the main cohort of all the patients, Gleason sum upgrading was observed in 62 (26.16%) patients. The pre-operative prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level, biopsy Gleason sum, and digital rectal examination were used in building the nomogram, which was validated internally with a bootstrap-corrected concordance index of 0.787. In the sub-cohort of 115 patients with standardized biopsy details, Gleason sum upgrading was observed in 31 (26.96%) patients. The pre-operative PSA level, biopsy Gleason sum, and number of positive cores were used in the nomogram, which was also validated internally with a bootstrap-corrected concordance index of 0.833. These two nomograms both demonstrated satisfactory statistical performance for predicting significant upgrading., Conclusions: Updated nomograms to predict Gleason sum upgrading in Chinese population between biopsy and RP were developed, demonstrating good statistical performance upon internal validation., (Copyright © 2016 AEU. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Charred areca nut (CAN) is used to treat dyspepsia and abdominal distension in children. However, reports revealed that arecoline, the most important active constituent of CAN, possesses potential toxicities. This study was designed to investigate the optimum arecoline content in CAN, using the "target constituent removal combined with bioactivity assay" strategy. Based on PTLC method, we prepared CAN lacking all arecoline (WAC-100R) and a series of different ratios of arecoline-removed CAN samples (WAC-Rx). MTT and acute toxicity assays indicated that decreasing content by 50% decreased CAN toxicity significantly. Animal results revealed arecoline contents over 50% could guarantee the beneficial effects of CAN on gastrointestinal tract. Additionally, decreasing arecoline content in CAN by 50% decreased its pro-apoptotic effects significantly. Furthermore, decreasing 50% arecoline content in CAN down-regulated the expressions of Cleaved-Caspase-3, c-jun, c-fos, COX-2, PGE2, and IL-1α. Thus, our results revealed that CAN with 50% arecoline content (WAC-50R) has similar beneficial effects on the gastrointestinal tract to CAN, whereas its toxicity was decreased significantly. Collectively, our study suggested that the strategy of "target constituent removal combined with bioactivity assay" is a promising method to identify the optimum arecoline content in CAN, which is approximately 0.12%.

The communication networks in real world often couple with each other to save costs, which results in any network does not have a stand-alone function and efficiency. To investigate this, in this paper we propose a transportation model on two coupled networks with bandwidth sharing. We find that the free-flow state and the congestion state can coexist in the two coupled networks, and the free-flow path and congestion path can coexist in each network. Considering three bandwidth-sharing mechanisms, random, assortative and disassortative couplings, we also find that the transportation capacity of the network only depends on the coupling mechanism, and the fraction of coupled links only affects the performance of the system in the congestion state, such as the traveling time. In addition, with assortative coupling, the transportation capacity of the system will decrease significantly. However, the disassortative coupling has little influence on the transportation capacity of the system, which provides a good strategy to save bandwidth. Furthermore, a theoretical method is developed to obtain the bandwidth usage of each link, based on which we can obtain the congestion transition point exactly.

Leptin and adiponectin signaling was associated with development and progression of various cancers. The present study aimed to clarify the role of genetic variants in leptin, adiponectin and their receptors in prostate cancer. After comprehensive search and manuscript scanning, a total of 49 genetic variants were enrolled and examined for their relations to cancer risk and aggressiveness. In the meta-analysis, LEP rs7799039 (allele contrast: OR 1.133, 95%CI 1.024-1.254), ADIPOQ rs2241766 (allele contrast: OR 1.201, 95%CI 1.015-1.422) and ADIPOR1 rs10920531 (allele contrast: OR 1.184, 95%CI 1.075-1.305) variants were identified to be correlated with increased risk of prostate cancer. On the contrary, LEPR rs1137101 (allele contrast: OR 0.843, 95%CI 0.730-0.973) and ADIPOR1 rs2232853 (allele contrast: OR 0.638, 95%CI 0.535-0.760) variants were associated with decreased risk of prostate cancer. From the pooled-review, we additionally recognized eight variants associated with cancer risk and another eight variants associated with cancer aggressiveness, respectively. These observations indicated important roles of leptin, adiponectin and their receptors in the development and progression of prostate cancer. The identified polymorphisms might assist in developing better risk-assessment tools, as well as generating novel targeted therapies, especially for obese cancer patients with impaired leptin and adiponectin signaling.

Introduction: This work was to analyze characteristics of breast cancer (BC) in Central China, summarize main characteristics in China and compare with USA., Methods: BC main characteristics from four hospitals in Central China from 2002 to 2012 were collected and analyzed. All the single and large-scale clinical reports covering at least ten years were selected and summarized to calculate the BC characteristics of China. BC Characteristics in USA were selected based on the database from Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program., Results: Age distribution in Central China was normal with one age peak at 45-49 years, displaying differences from USA and Chinese American with two age peaks. BC characteristics in Central China displayed distinct features from USA and Chinese American, including significant younger onset age, lower proportion of patients with stage I, lymph node negative, small tumor size and ER positive. A total ten long-term and large-scale clinical reports were selected for BC characteristics of Mainland China analysis. A total of 53,571 BC patients were enrolled from 1995 to 2012. The main characteristics of BC in Mainland China were similar as that in Central China, but were significant different from developed regions of China (Hong Kong and Taiwan), USA and Chinese American., Conclusions: BC characteristics in Central China displayed representative patterns of Mainland China, while showed distinct patterns from Chinese patients in other developed areas and USA., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Context: Arecoline is an effective constituent of Areca catechu L. (Arecaceae) with various pharmacological effects. However, investigations also revealed that long use of arecoline could arouse some oral diseases., Objective: The present review gathers the fragmented information available in the literature (before 1 October 2015) regarding pharmacology and toxicology of arecoline. We also discussed the potential developments and applications of arecoline in the future., Methods: All the available information regarding the arecoline is compiled from scientific databases, including Science Direct, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, etc., Results: Previous research demonstrated that arecoline is one of the major effective constituents in A. catechu. Additionally, arecoline has a wide spectrum of pharmacological activities including effects on nervous, cardiovascular, digestive and endocrine systems and anti-parasitic effects. What's more, arecoline is reported to be the primary toxic constituent of A. catechu, and the main toxic effects include oral submucous fibrosis (OSF), oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and genotoxicity., Conclusion: Arecoline has great potential to be a therapeutic drug for various ailments. However, further investigations are needed in the future to reduce or eliminate its toxicities before developing into new drug.

The performances of the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT) risk calculator and other risk calculators for prostate cancer (PCa) prediction in Chinese populations were poorly understood. We performed this study to build risk calculators (Huashan risk calculators) based on Chinese population and validated the performance of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), PCPT risk calculator, and Huashan risk calculators in a validation cohort. We built Huashan risk calculators based on data from 1059 men who underwent initial prostate biopsy from January 2006 to December 2010 in a training cohort. Then, we validated the performance of PSA, PCPT risk calculator, and Huashan risk calculators in an observational validation study from January 2011 to December 2014. All necessary clinical information were collected before the biopsy. The results showed that Huashan risk calculators 1 and 2 outperformed the PCPT risk calculator for predicting PCa in both entire training cohort and stratified population (with PSA from 2.0 ng ml-1 to 20.0 ng m). In the validation study, Huashan risk calculator 1 still outperformed the PCPT risk calculator in the entire validation cohort (0.849 vs 0.779 in area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUC] and stratified population. A considerable reduction of unnecessary biopsies (approximately 30%) was also observed when the Huashan risk calculators were used. Thus, we believe that the Huashan risk calculators (especially Huashan risk calculator 1) may have added value for predicting PCa in Chinese population. However, these results still needed further evaluation in larger populations.

Driven diffusive systems have been a paradigm for modelling many physical, chemical, and biological transport processes. In the systems, spatial correlation plays an important role in the emergence of a variety of nonequilibrium phenomena and exhibits rich features such as pronounced oscillations. However, the lack of analytical results of spatial correlation precludes us from fully understanding the effect of spatial correlation on the dynamics of the system. Here we offer precise analytical predictions of the spatial correlation in a typical driven diffusive system, namely facilitated asymmetric exclusion process. We find theoretically that the correlation between two sites decays exponentially as their distance increases, which is in good agreement with numerical simulations. Furthermore, we find the exponential decay is a universal property of macroscopic homogeneous state in a broad class of 1D driven diffusive systems. Our findings deepen the understanding of many nonequilibrium phenomena resulting from spatial correlation in driven diffusive systems.

In this work, we report the preparation of complex nano-objects by means of a stepwise self-assembly of two polymer-polyoxometalate hybrids (PPHs) in solution. The PPHs are designed and synthesized by tethering two linear poly(ε-caprolactone)s (PCL) of different molecular weights (MW) on a complex of a Wells-Dawson-type polyoxometalate (POM) cluster and its countraions. The higher MW PCL-POM self-assembled into nanosheets, while the lower MW PCL-POM assembled into nanotubes just by altering the ratio of water in the DMF-water mixed solvent system. The two nano-objects have a similar membrane structure in which a PCL layer is sandwiched by the two POM-based complex layers. The PCL layer in the nanosheets is semicrystalline, while the PCL layer in the nanotubes is amorphous. We further exploited this MW-dependence to self-assemble the nanotubes on the nanosheet edges to create complex tube-graft-sheet nano-objects. We found that the nanotubes nucleate on the four {110} faces of the PCL crystal and then further grow along the crystallographic b-axis of the PCL crystal. Our findings offer hope for the further development of nano-objects with increasing complexity.

Clusters with diverse structures and functions have been used to create novel cluster-assembled materials (CAMs). Understanding their self-assembly process is a prerequisite to optimize their structure and function. Herein, two kinds of unlike organo-functionalized inorganic clusters are covalently linked by a short organic tether to form a dumbbell-shaped Janus co-cluster. In a mixed solvent of acetonitrile and water, it self-assembles into a crystal with a honeycomb superstructure constructed by hexagonal close-packed cylinders of the smaller cluster and an orderly arranged framework of the larger cluster. Reconstruction of these structural features via coarse-grained molecular simulations demonstrates that the cluster crystallization and the nanoscale phase separation between the two incompatible clusters synergistically result in the unique nano-architecture. Overall, this work opens up new opportunities for generating novel CAMs for advanced future applications., (© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Background: The aim of the study is to investigate whether body mass index (BMI) affected pathological characteristics and biochemical recurrence (BCR) of prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy in Chinese men., Methods: Medical records of 211 Chinese patients who underwent radical prostatectomy between 2006 and 2014 were retrospectively reviewed, with follow-up time of 24.5 ± 27.0 months. Multivariate logistic and Cox regression analyses were applied to address the impact of BMI on adverse pathological outcomes and BCR following prostatectomy. A meta-analysis of published studies from MEDLINE or EMBASE was conducted to determine the relationship between BMI and BCR following prostatectomy among Asian populations., Results: Higher BMI was positively correlated with higher biopsy Gleason score (odds ratios (OR) 1.163, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.023-1.322, P = 0.021) and pathological Gleason score (OR 1.220, 95 % CI 1.056-1.410, P = 0.007) in multivariate analysis. BCR was detected in 48 patients (22.7 %). Multivariate Cox proportional hazards analysis revealed that higher BMI (hazard ratio (HR) 1.145, 95 % CI 1.029-1.273, P = 0.013) and prostate-specific antigen (HR 1.659, 95 % CI 1.102-2.497, P = 0.015) levels were independent predictors of BCR. The meta-analysis enrolled eight Asian studies of 4145 patients treated by radical prostatectomy. Based on random-effects approach, a 5 kg/m(2) increase in BMI was correlated with 28 % higher risk of BCR (HR 1.22, 95 % CI 0.86-1.72) without statistical significance., Conclusions: The present study suggested that higher BMI was an independent risk factor for a higher Gleason score, as well as an independent predictor of BCR after radical prostatectomy in Chinese patients. Meta-analysis of Asian studies also indicated that obese patients, although without statistical significance, might be more likely to suffer from BCR.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Currently, human liver is susceptible to injury caused by alcohol and virus infiltration, resulting in hepatitis, cirrhosis, and even hepatocellular carcinoma. Paederia scandens (Lour.) Merr. var. tomentosa (Rubiaceae) has been used as traditional medicine in Asian countries to treat jaundice, dysentery, and abdominal mass. Furthermore, the abundance of iridoid glycosides in Paederia species indicates their notable hepatoprotective potential., Materials and Methods: Total iridoid glycosides (TG) was prepared, and constituents of TG were analyzed by HPLC. TG and silymarin (positive) were orally administered for 15 days. Then, acute liver injury rats was induced by intraperitoneally injection (i.p.) of 10% CCl4 (0.12%, v/v, dissolved in olive oil, 10 mL/kg, body weight). Rats were sacrificed at 16 h after CCl4 injection. Liver tissues and blood were collected. Serum samples were prepared to determine the activities of alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST), whereas liver tissue sections were prepared for the purpose of examining possible liver histopathological changes. In addition, antioxidant enzyme activities in liver tissues were also evaluated., Results: Our results demonstrated that TG significantly decreased the levels of AST and ALT, compared with those in control rats. In addition, pre-treatment of the rats with TG clearly alleviated their liver tissue injuries. What's more, the activities of GSH, GAT and SOD in the groups of TG-treated rats were significantly increased compared with those of rats in the control group, whereas the levels of MDA were decreased., Conclusions: Our present research indicated that TG possessed notable hepatoprotective activity via decreasing oxidative stress level in liver tissues., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To investigate the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and prostate cancer (PCa) risk at biopsy in Chinese men., Patients and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of 1,807 consecutive men who underwent initial multicore (≥10) prostate biopsy under transrectal ultrasound guidance between Dec 2004 and Feb 2014. BMI was categorised based on the Asian classification of obesity as follows: <18.5 (underweight), 18.5-22.9 (normal weight), 23-24.9 (overweight), 25-29.9 (moderately obese), and ≥30 kg/m2 (severely obese). The odds ratios (OR) of each BMI category for risk of PCa and high-grade prostate cancer (HGPCa, Gleason score ≥4+3) detection were estimated in crude, age-adjusted and multivariate-adjusted models. Prevalence ratios and accuracies of PSA predicted PCa were also estimated across BMI groups., Results: In total, PCa was detected by biopsy in 750 (45.4%) men, and HGPCa was detected in 419 (25.4%) men. Compared with men of normal weight, underweight men and obese men were older and had higher prostate specific antigen levels. The risk of overall PCa detection via biopsy presented an obvious U-shaped relationship with BMI in crude analysis. Overall, 50.0%, 37.4%, 45.6% 54.4% and 74.1% of the men in the underweight, normal weight, overweight, moderately obese and severely obese groups, respectively, were diagnosed with PCa via biopsy. In multivariate analysis, obesity was significantly correlated with a higher risk of PCa detection (OR = 1.17, 95%CI 1.10-1.25, P<0.001). However, higher BMI was not correlated with HGPCa detection (OR = 1.03, 95%CI 0.97-1.09, P = 0.29). There were no significant differences in the accuracy of using PSA to predict PCa or HGPCa detection across different BMI categories., Conclusion: Obesity was associated with higher risk of PCa detection in the present Chinese biopsy population. No significant association was detected between obesity and HGPCa.

Merging of granular flows is ubiquitous in industrial, mining, and geological processes. However, its behavior remains poorly understood. This paper studies the phase transition and flow-rate behavior of two granular flows merging into one channel. When the main channel is wider than the side channel, the system shows a remarkable two-sudden-drops phenomenon in the outflow rate when gradually increasing the main inflow. When gradually decreasing the main inflow, the system shows obvious hysteresis phenomenon. We study the flow-rate-drop phenomenon by measuring the area fraction and the mean velocity at the merging point. The phase diagram of the system is also presented to understand the occurrence of the phenomenon. We find that the dilute-to-dense transition occurs when the area fraction of particles at the joint point exceeds a critical value ϕ(c)=0.65±0.03.

Background: We aimed to examine whether proinflammatory cytokines participated in prostate cancer (PCa) development and progression promoted by high-fat diet (HFD)., Methods: TRAMP (transgenic adenocarcinoma mouse prostate) mice were randomly divided into two groups: normal diet group and HFD group. Mortality rate and tumor formation rate were examined. TRAMP mice were sacrificed and sampled on the 20th, 24th, and 28th week, respectively. Levels of proinflammatory cytokines, including IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α, were tested by FlowCytomix. Prostate tissue of TRAMP mice was used for histology study., Results: A total of 13 deaths of TRAMP mice were observed, among which 3 (8.33%) were from the normal diet group and 10 (27.78%) from the HFD group. The mortality rate of TRAMP mice from HFD group was significantly higher than that of normal diet group (P = 0.032). Tumor formation rate at 20th week of age of HFD group was significantly higher than that of normal diet group (P = 0.045). Proinflammatory cytokines levels, including IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α, were significantly higher in HFD TRAMP mice., Conclusions: HFD could promote TRAMP mouse PCa development and progression with elevated proinflammatory cytokines levels. Proinflammatory cytokines could contribute to PCa development and progression promoted by HFD.

Purpose: We aimed to examine the effect of high-fat diet (HFD) on prostate cancer (PCa) development and progression and to investigate whether metformin would postpone PCa development and progression promoted by HFD., Methods: TRAMP mice were randomly divided into three groups: normal diet group, HFD group and metformin-HFD (Met-HFD) group. Mortality rate and tumor formation rate were examined. TRAMP mice were sacrificed and sampled on the 20th, 24(th), and 28th week, respectively. Serum levels of insulin and IGF-1 were tested by ELISA. Prostate tissue of TRAMP mice was used for HE staining., Results: A total of 17 deaths of TRAMP mice were observed, including 3 (10 %) from the normal diet group, 10 (33.33 %) from the HFD group, and 4 (13.33 %) from Met-HFD group. The mortality rate of TRAMP mice from HFD group was significantly higher than that of normal diet group (P = 0.028), and metformin could moderately decrease the mortality rate by 60.01 % (P = 0.067). Tumor formation rates were not significantly different among the three groups. Levels of glucose, insulin, and IGF-1 tended to increase with TRAMP mice's age in HFD group. TRAMP mice from HFD group had higher serum insulin and IGF-1 levels. A moderate decrease in IGF-1 was also seen in Met-HFD group., Conclusions: HFD could promote TRAMP mouse PCa development and progression and metformin had moderate effect of reducing PCa mortality rate with a decrease in serum IGF-1 level.

Background and Objectives: In previous studies, obesity (measured according to the body mass index) has correlated inconsistently with the risk of biopsy-measured prostate cancer, and specifically high-grade prostate cancer. This meta-analysis aimed to clarify these correlations., Methods: A comprehensive literature search of the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases was conducted for relevant studies published through January 2014. The pooled estimates of odds ratios (OR) and confidence intervals (CI) were computed, and the meta-analysis was performed with the STATA software according to a random effects approach., Results: A total of 11 studies that included 29,464 individuals were identified. A 5-kg/m2 increase in body mass index was associated with a 15% (OR, 1.15; 95% CI, 0.98-1.34) higher risk of prostate cancer detection and a 37% (OR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.19-1.57) higher risk of high-grade prostate cancer detection at biopsy. There were no differences among the results of studies conducted in the USA, Europe or Asia. We also found that studies that had adjusted for prostate-specific antigen levels, digital rectal examination results, and prostate volumes obtained positive significant outcomes (OR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.12-1.44), whereas studies that did not adjust for the above-mentioned confounding variables obtained negative results (OR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.68-1.25). Moreover, the positive correlation between body mass index and the detection of both prostate cancer and high-grade diseases tended to be stronger as the number of biopsy cores increased., Conclusion: The present meta-analysis demonstrated that a high body mass index correlated positively with prostate cancer detection, especially high-grade prostate cancer detection. The adoption of a modified and possibly more aggressive biopsy strategy was suggested for obese populations.

This paper studies a weakly and asymmetrically coupled three-lane driven diffusive system. A non-monotonically changing density profile in the middle lane has been observed. When the extreme value of the density profile reaches ρ = 0.5, a bulk induced phase transition occurs which exhibits a shock and a continuously and smoothly decreasing density profile which crosses ρ = 0.5 upstream or downstream of the shock. The existence of double shocks has also been observed. A mean-field approach has been used to interpret the numerical results obtained by Monte Carlo simulations. The current minimization principle has excluded the occurrence of two or more bulk induced shocks in the general case of nonzero lane changing rates.

As a typical self-driven many-particle system far from equilibrium, traffic flow exhibits diverse fascinating non-equilibrium phenomena, most of which are closely related to traffic flow stability and specifically the growth/dissipation pattern of disturbances. However, the traffic theories have been controversial due to a lack of precise traffic data. We have studied traffic flow from a new perspective by carrying out large-scale car-following experiment on an open road section, which overcomes the intrinsic deficiency of empirical observations. The experiment has shown clearly the nature of car-following, which runs against the traditional traffic flow theory. Simulations show that by removing the fundamental notion in the traditional car-following models and allowing the traffic state to span a two-dimensional region in velocity-spacing plane, the growth pattern of disturbances has changed qualitatively and becomes qualitatively or even quantitatively in consistent with that observed in the experiment.

Obesity is inconsistently related to biochemical recurrence (BCR) of prostate cancer (PCa) in different epidemiological studies. We conducted a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of published studies from MEDLINE and EMBASE in order to determine the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and BCR of PCa. We identified a total of 26 studies including 36,927 individuals. Pooled estimates of relative risk (RR) and confidence interval (CI) were computed, and dose-response meta-analysis was subsequently performed. Based on the random-effects approach, a 5 kg/m(2) increase in BMI was associated with 16 % (RR 1.16, 95 % CI 1.08-1.24) higher risk of BCR for entire set of 26 studies. Significantly higher rates of BCR were also observed in radical prostatectomy series (RR 1.17, 95 % CI 1.07-1.28) and external beam radiation therapy series (RR 1.19, 95 % CI 1.10-1.28), while no significant correlation was observed in brachytherapy series (RR 0.91, 95 % CI 0.64-1.28). Different BCR outcomes came out for studies held in USA (RR 1.18, 95 % CI 1.10-1.28), Europe (RR 1.04 95 % CI 0.91-1.17) and Asia (RR 1.83 95 % CI 0.85-3.97), respectively. There was limited evidence of a nonlinear association between BMI and BCR, which showed a critical point of 33 in BMI. The findings from meta-analysis showed that excess BMI was positively correlated with BCR of PCa multifacetedly, indicating good weight control and detailed attention to treating obese patients might improve the prognosis of PCa.

Background: Breast cancer is the most common malignant tumor in females worldwide. Many differences exist in clinico-pathological characteristics of breast cancer patients between China and Western countries. This study aimed to analyze clinico-pathological characteristics of breast cancer from central China., Methods: Clinico- pathological information on breast cancer from three hospitals in central China was collected and analyzed., Results: From 1994 to 2012, 2,525 patients with a median age 50 years were included in this study. The 45-49-year age group and invasive ductal carcinoma not otherwise specified accounted for the highest proportions (19.1%, 480/2,525 and 81.0%, 1,982/2,446). Stages 0-I, II and III accounted for 28.0% (682/2,441), 48.4% (1,180/2,441), and 23.7% (578/2,441), respectively. Distribution of N stage showed that N0 accounted for 53.2% (1,344/2,525), and proportion of N0 rose from 51.1% (157/307) in 30-39-year age group to 64.3% (110/171) in ≥ 70-year age group, with an average increase of 2.1% in each age group. Modified radical mastectomy, radical mastectomy, breast-conserving surgery and simple mastectomy were performed for 71.8% (1,812/2,525), 18.0% (454/2,525), 5.2% (131/2,525) and 2.6% (66/2,525), respectively. Proportions of breast-conserving surgery in age ≤ 44-year group (68/132, 51.5%) and simple mastectomy in age ≥ 60-year group (57/89, 64.0%) were higher than in the other age groups. Breast cancers positive for estrogen receptor accounted for 53.0% (1,107/ 2,112). The comparisons among this study and other reports showed higher proportion of younger patients, lower proportion of breast- conserving surgery and positive estrogen receptor patients in China than western countries., Conclusions: Clinico-pathological characteristics in this study demonstrated clear differences between the center of China than Western countries. Additional classification systems should be developed to guide grading of early breast cancer more accurately, especially for N0 patients. Invasive ductal carcinoma is a focus for intensive research.

Background: The expending and invasive features of tumor nests could reflect the malignant biological behaviors of breast invasive ductal carcinoma. Useful information on cancer invasiveness hidden within tumor nests could be extracted and analyzed by computer image processing and big data analysis., Methods: Tissue microarrays from invasive ductal carcinoma (n = 202) were first stained with cytokeratin by immunohistochemical method to clearly demarcate the tumor nests. Then an expert-aided computer analysis system was developed to study the mathematical and geometrical features of the tumor nests. Computer recognition system and imaging analysis software extracted tumor nests information, and mathematical features of tumor nests were calculated. The relationship between tumor nests mathematical parameters and patients' 5-year disease free survival was studied., Results: There were 8 mathematical parameters extracted by expert-aided computer analysis system. Three mathematical parameters (number, circularity and total perimeter) with area under curve >0.5 and 4 mathematical parameters (average area, average perimeter, total area/total perimeter, average (area/perimeter)) with area under curve <0.5 in ROC analysis were combined into integrated parameter 1 and integrated parameter 2, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that integrated parameter 1 (P = 0.040) was independent prognostic factor of patients' 5-year disease free survival. The hazard risk ratio of integrated parameter 1 was 1.454 (HR 95% CI [1.017-2.078]), higher than that of N stage (HR 1.396, 95% CI [1.125-1.733]) and hormone receptor status (HR 0.575, 95% CI [0.353-0.936]), but lower than that of histological grading (HR 3.370, 95% CI [1.125-5.364]) and T stage (HR 1.610, 95% CI [1.026 -2.527])., Conclusions: This study indicated integrated parameter 1 of mathematical features (number, circularity and total perimeter) of tumor nests could be a useful parameter to predict the prognosis of early stage breast invasive ductal carcinoma.

A hybrid was at first synthesized by a postfunctionalization of an aminomethane trisalkoxo-functionalized Anderson-type polyoxometalate (POM) encapsulated by three tetrabutylammonium ions using a 3,5-bis(tetradecyloxy)benzoic acid by amidation. Then the three TBA(+) counter cations were programmatically replaced by protons (H(+)) following a molecule-to-amphiphile conversion. In this way one hybrid and three POM-containing hybrid amphiphiles (PCHAs) were acquired by adjusting the number (n) of TBA(+) ions and number (3 - n) of H(+) ions (n = 3, 2, 1, and 0). These compounds can be spread onto a water surface to form a Langmuir monolayer film at the air-water interface. Surface pressure-molecular area measurements exhibit the TBA(+) (H(+)) number playing an important role in the forming ability and stability of Langmuir monolayer films. Also, the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique has been used to transfer the monolayer film onto solid supports to fabricate solid multilayer films. It was found that the PCHA with three H(+) ions had the best Langmuir film-forming ability and thus formed stable LB films with a two-dimensional ordered structure. Our findings are instructive in fabricating and using solid films of the amphiphiles with POM headgroups.