Search

Objective To explore the molecular mechanisms of celecoxib-induced pancreatic cancer suppression in vivo and in vitro. Methods The anti-pancreatic cancer activities of celecoxib (0, 20, 60 and 100 μmol/L) were investigated by cell viability and migration of Panc-1 and Bxpc-3 cells in vitro. The expression of L1CAM in pancreatic cancer and adjacent tissues was compared using immunohistochemistry. The expressions of L1CAM, STAT3, p-STAT3, NF-κB, p-NF-κB were determined by western blotting, and cell invasive ability was determined by wound healing assay in L1CAM-silenced and over-expressed Panc-1and Bxpc-3 cells. Results The expression of L1CAM in pancreatic carcinoma was stronger than that in the adjacent tissues and L1CAM could increase the growth and invasion of pancreatic cancer cells. Over-expression of L1CAM activated the STAT3/NF-κB signaling pathway in Panc-1 and Bxpc-3 pancreatic cancer cells and celecoxib inhibited their viability and the expressions of STAT3, p-STAT3, NF-κB, p-NF-κB as well as full length L1CAM in a concentration dependent manner. Conclusions L1CAM was highly expressed in pancreatic cancer tissue and positively correlated with age, TNM staging and tumor differentiation. L1CAM activated the STAT/NF-κB signaling pathway and celecoxib could inhibit the activity of L1CAM, STAT3 and the NF-κB signaling pathway resulting in decreased growth and invasion of pancreatic cancer cells.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Interferon-alpha (IFN-α) has recently been recognized to harbor therapeutic potential in the prevention and treatment of HCC, but it remains controversial as to whether IFN-α exerts direct cytotoxicity against HCC. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is overexpressed in HCC and is considered to play a role in hepatocarcinogenesis. Therefore, we aimed to elucidate the combined effect of a COX-2 inhibitor, celecoxib, and IFN-α on in vitro growth suppression of HCC using the hepatoma cell line HLCZ01 and the in vivo nude mouse xenotransplantation model using HLCZ01 cells. Treatment with celecoxib and IFN-α synergistically inhibited cell proliferation in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Apoptosis was identified by 4׳,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole dihydrochloride and fluorescent staining. IFN-α upregulated the expression of TRAIL, while celecoxib increased the expression of TRAIL receptors. The combined regimen with celecoxib and IFN-α reduced the growth of xenotransplanted HCCs in nude mice. The regulation of IFN-α- and COX-2 inhibitor-induced cell death is impaired in a subset of TRAIL-resistant cells. The molecular mechanisms of HCC cells resistant to TRAIL-induced apoptosis were explored using molecular biological and immunological methods. Interferon-α and the COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib synergistically increased TRAIL-induced apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma. These data suggest that IFN-α and celecoxib may offer a novel role with important implications in designing new therapeutics for TRAIL-resistant tumors.

ObjectiveAn early onset of menarche and, later, menopause are well-established risk factors for the development of breast cancer and endometrial cancer. Although the largest GWASs have identified 389 independent signals for age at menarche (AAM) and 44 regions for age at menopause (ANM), GWAS can only identify the associations between variants and traits. The aim of this study was to identify genes whose expression levels were associated with AAM or ANM due to pleiotropy or causality by integrating GWAS data with genome-wide expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) data. We also aimed to identify the pleiotropic genes that influenced two phenotypes.MethodWe employed GWAS data of AAM and ANM and Genome-wide eQTL data from whole blood. The summary data-based Mendelian randomization (SMR) method was used to prioritize the associated genes for further study. The colocalization analysis was used to identify the pleiotropic genes.ResultsWe identified 31 genes whose expression was associated with AAM and 24 genes whose expression was associated with ANM due to pleiotropy or causality. Two pleiotropic genes were identified to be associated with two phenotypes.ConclusionThe results point out the most possible genes which were responsible for the association. Our study prioritizes the associated genes for further functional mechanistic study of AAM and ANM and illustrates the benefit of integrating different omics of data into the study of complex traits.

Objectives: Intrahepatic recurrence is the major cause of death among patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after curative surgical resection. Several approaches have been reported to decrease the recurrence rate. The objective of our study was to compare the clinical effects of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) combined with interferon-alpha (IFN-α) therapy on recurrence after hepatic resection in patients with HBV-related HCC with that of TACE chemotherapy alone. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the data from 228 patients who were diagnosed with HBV-related HCC and underwent curative resection between January 2001 to December 2008. The patients were divided into TACE (n = 126) and TACE-IFN-α (n = 102) groups for postoperative chemotherapy. The TACE regimen consisted of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), cisplatin (DDP) , and the emulsion mixed with mitomycin C (MMC) and lipiodol. The recurrence rates, disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS), and risk of recurrence were evaluated. Results: The clinicopathological parameters and adverse effects were similar between the 2 groups (P > 0.05). The median OS for the TACEIFN-α group (36.3 months) was significantly longer than that of the TACE group (24.5 months, P < 0.05). The 3-and 5-year OS for the TACE-IFN-α group were significantly longer than those of the TACE group ( P < 0.05) and the recurrence rate was significantly lower ( P < 0.05). The TACE and IFN-α combination therapy, active hepatitis HBV infection, the number of tumor nodules, microvascular invasion, liver cirrhosis, and the BCLC stage were independent predictors of OS and DFS. Conclusions: The use of the TACE and IFN-α combination chemotherapy after curative hepatic resection safely and effectively improves OS and decreases recurrence in patients with HBV-related HCC who are at high risk. Our findings can serve as a guide for the selection of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy for patients with HBV-related HCC who are at high risk of recurrence.

Using the enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE) system with cyclic frequency hopping as an example, we apply a Kalman-filter power control method based on interference tracking to packet voice service in wireless networks. Our results show that the power-control method significantly improves the spectral efficiency by enabling the 1/3 frequency reuse while maintaining a stringent requirement of 2% packet loss probability for voice service. Specifically, for allocated spectrum of 1.8, 3.6 and 5.4 MHz, the 1/3 reuse with the Kalman power control can yield 102.5%, 49.5% and 32.5% improvement in spectral efficiency, respectively, over the 3/9 reuse (regardless of whether or not power control is used). We also compare the performance of the Kalman method with a traditional signalto-interference-ratio method and a control method that is based on the last interference measurement. We find that appropriate selection of power for the first packet of each talk spurt and the filtering function for noisy measurements are crucial in providing high system capacity for packet voice service. For the EDGE system, we also identify a need for shortening the power update period, which is 480 ms in the specifications.

To explore the major risk factors for pulmonary infection after radical gastrectomy in patients with gastric cancer.From November 2010 to February 2014, a total of 765 patients undergoing radical gastrectomy at our hospital were divided into 2 groups based upon the presence of postoperative pulmonary infection (n = 32, 4.2%) or not (n = 733, 95.8%). Their clinicopathological data were retrospectively analyzed by Logistic regressive analysis with a case-control study model.Comparing with the control group, the patients had longer surgical duration (245.7 ± 66.7 vs 210.9 ± 47.2 min, P0.01), higher rates of requiring intensive care (12.50% vs 2.86%, P = 0.02) and longer post-operative hospital stays (21.9 ± 24.9 vs 14.2 ± 4.2 days, P0.01) in the postoperative pulmonary infection group.Univariate Logistic regressive analysis found that age ≥ 60 years, smoking ≥ 400 year by cigarette, diabetes mellitus, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, proximal or total gastrectomy, combined organ resection, surgical duration ≥ 240 min, intra-operative blood loss ≥ 300 ml, peri-operative transfusion, transfusion ≥ 3 unit packed red blood cell, post-operative transfusion and post-operative complications other than pulmonary infections were associated with postoperative pulmonary infection (all P0.05).Further multivariate analysis identified 4 independent risk factors for pulmonary infection after radical gastrectomy, including diabetes mellitus (OR = 4.77, 95%CI:1.18-19.23), post-operative complications other than pulmonary infections (OR = 3.15, 95%CI:1.25-7.90), intra-operative blood loss ≥ 300 ml (OR = 2.63, 95%CI:1.17-5.90) and post-operative nasogastric tube ≥ 5 days (OR = 2.30, 95%CI:1.02-5.21).Correcting the modifiable risk factors may reduce the incidence of pulmonary infection and shorten the length of hospital stays and costs after radical gastrectomy in patients with gastric cancer.

Objective: The objective of the present study was to explore the major risk factors of surgical complications using the Clavien-Dindo classification. Methods: The case-control design was used. A total of 1049 patients who underwent radical gastrectomy in Hunan Cancer Hospital between October 2010 and August 2014 were retrospectively analyzed, including 122 patients (11.6%) with complications and 927 patients (88.4%) with no complications. Risk factors were evaluated. Results: Following radical gastrectomy, 122 patients (11.6%) experienced a total of 151 complications. The incidence of Stages II, IIIa, IIIb, IVa, IVb and V complications was 9.6% (n = 101), 2.5% (n = 26), 1.0% (n = 11), 0.8% (n = 8), 0% (n = 0), and 0.5% (n = 5), respectively. The incidence of severe complications (Stage ≥ IIIa) was 4.8% (n = 50). Multivariate analysis showed that combined resection (Odds Ratio [OR] = 3.36, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.71~6.60, P < 0.01), perioperative blood transfusion (OR = 2.13, 95% CI: 1.38-3.29, P < 0.01), and BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 (OR = 1.98, 95% CI: 1.16-3.40, P = 0.01) were independent risk factors of complications. Conclusions: Combined resection, perioperative blood transfusion, and BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 are positively correlated with complications.

Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) is a key component of mobile robot's navigation. In this paper, we present a vision-based system of mapping and localization. The system builds a map which contains 3D landmarks of environment. 3D landmarks are reconstructed based on sequential Harris Corner Features. In order to match regained features with landmarks in the map, we present a simple method, i.e. Inverse Projection. The method is relatively simple and effective. We also propose an efficient observe model that simplifies the Jacobian Matrix when apply the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) framework. We conduct experiments in both simulation and real-time environment, and give error analysis for robot's and landmarks' position. Experiment results show that landmarks are localized accurately and robot trajectory is well estimated by matched landmarks.

This paper presents a new automatically quantitative facial features classification system for TCM spirit diagnosis based on facial features. Facial diagnosis is an important diagnostic method in TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) and has been used for a long time. However, this traditional diagnostic method is mainly based on observation by TCM doctors and their personal experience. To develop quantification methods for TCM is very important. First, we capture facial features from video images through some algorithms, and then we use some classification models to analyze them. Finally, IG (Information Gain) is used to analyse which kind of features has good performance. Experiment results show that our system has high classification accuracy.

To explore the association of perioperative homologous blood transfusion (packed red blood cell, PRBC) and postoperative complications after radical gastrectomy in patients with gastric cancer.From October 2010 to July 2013, a total of 636 patients undergoing radical gastrectomy at Department of Gastric, DuodenalPancreatic Surgery at Hunan Provincial Tumor Hospital were divided into 2 groups according to perioperative blood transfusion (n = 170, 26.73%) or not (n = 466, 73.27%). Their clinicopathological data, such as age, gender, co-morbidities, surgical duration, intraoperative blood loss volume and pathological stage were retrospectively analyzed by case-control study model. And the transfusion group was further divided into subgroup by transfusion volume (total PRBC3.0, 3.0-7.5 or7.5 U) and timing (pre-, intra- or post-operative) to examine the association of transfusion volume and timing with postoperative complications by Logistic regression.Thirty-two patients suffered from complications in the transfusion group (18.82%). And it was significantly more common than that in the control group (10.09% (47/466) , P0.01). Moreover, the complication rate (33.33% (12/36) ) was obviously higher in the large transfusion volume group (PRBC7.5 U) than with those in the moderate (15.53% (16/103), P = 0.02) and low groups (12.90% (4/31) , P = 0.04). Infection was more common along with the total amount of transfused blood (6.45% (2/31), 10.68% (11/103) and 19.44% (7/36) in the low, moderate and large transfusion group respectively). Yet the differences were insignificant (P = 0.22). There was no significant difference of complication rates among the pre-, intra- and post-operative transfusion group classified by transfusion time (P = 0.39). And the postoperative infection rates were also insignificantly different (P = 0.88). Further Logistic analysis revealed that perioperative transfusion (OR = 2.71, 95% CI: 1.40-5.27, P0.01) was an independent risk factor for postoperative complications after radical gastrectomy.Perioperative blood transfusion is significantly associated with postoperative complications after radical gastrectomy in patients with gastric cancer. And a positive correlation exists between infection and the amount of transfused blood. But there was no association between transfusion time and complications. Thus decreasing perioperative transfusion may reduce the incidence of postoperative complications and shorten the length of hospital stays.

Using the MPEG-4 advanced audio coder (AAC) music as an example of streaming applications, we investigate the improvement of error performance for the streaming service by link adaptation and power control techniques in an enhanced general packet radio services (EGPRS) cellular network. A low packet error rate and variability are essential in providing a short error-burst length so that error concealment techniques can be effectively applied to music packets. We study the effects of a combined link adaptation and power control scheme (referred to as the error-based scheme) for achieving a target error rate and reducing error variability. By simulation, we compare the error performance of the error-based scheme at both the EGPRS block and AAC frame level with another adaptation algorithm (referred to as the throughput-based scheme) with a goal of maximizing overall network throughput. It is found that when offered with a similar traffic load, the former scheme can provide noticeable improvement of music quality over the throughput-based scheme. To achieve a similar AAC frame error rate, our results also show that the error-based scheme can increase the link throughput over the throughput-based scheme by 66.7% in one of our examples. These results reveal that by aiming at required error targets and thus reducing error variability, the error-based scheme for link adaptation and power control are helpful in improving quality and capacity for streaming applications.

The Enhanced General Packet Radio Services is one of the proposals submitted to the IMT-2000 initiative of the ITU for third-generation wireless services. EGPRS is also the evolutionary path chosen by the Universal Wireless Communications Consortium, leading toward the convergence of GSM and IS-136 standards for their next-generation wireless systems. We discuss the feasibility of supporting integrated services, such as packet voice, Web browsing, and best-effort data, using EGPRS. We first describe the relevant capabilities offered by the currently proposed standard, and then outline additional capabilities at the radio link control/medium access control layer that are necessary to support integrated services in a spectrally efficient manner. In summary, these needed capabilities are: fast uplink access during an ongoing session; fast resource assignment for both uplink and downlink; and the ability to differentiate services at the base station subsystem. To realize these capabilities, we propose enhancements to the RLC/MAC layer. These enhancements include a new set of packet control channels (namely, a fast packet access channel in the uplink, and a fast packet access grant channel and a fast packet polling channel in the downlink); uplink access protocols that utilize these control channels; and a modified fast uplink access channel structure. These changes would enable EGPRS to offer a wide range of services through a single packet-based network. Similar ideas are also applicable to other third-generation systems.