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Background. Signal transduction and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is an oncogene with transcriptional activity. In recent years, there have been several studies concerning the clinicopathological significance of the expression of the STAT3 protein in thyroid cancer. However, the results are still inconsistent. In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the relationship between the expression of STAT3 protein and thyroid cancer susceptibility and its clinicopathological characteristics. Methods. We searched the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) database, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), Chinese Scientific and Journal Database (VIP), Wanfang, PubMed, and EMBASE. The time frame of the publication search was from the establishment of each of the databases until December 2021. We performed a meta-analysis to quantitatively evaluate the relationship between the expression of the STAT3 protein in thyroid cancer and its clinicopathological characteristics. Results. A total of eight articles were included in the meta-analysis, covering 448 thyroid cancer patients and 227 controls. Results indicated that the expression of STAT3 protein in thyroid cancer tissue is highly expressed (OR = 14.41, 95% CI (6.94, 29.91), p

Background To assess the feasibility and safety of tubeless video-assisted thoracoscopic sympathectomy (VATS) with a single 5 mm port under nonintubated, intravenous anesthesia with spontaneous ventilation in selected patients with primary palmar hyperhidrosis (PPH). Methods Adults (aged between 18 and 60 years) with moderate or severe PPH symptoms were enrolled. Demographic information and clinical data were obtained from 172 consecutive patients undergoing thoracoscopic surgery for PPH from March 2014 to December 2020. The primary outcomes were the rate of complications, including death, and the intraoperative conversion rate to 3-port VATS. The secondary outcomes were the conversion rate to intubated anesthesia during the operation and the surgical duration and pain score of postoperative day 0. Results In total, 172 patients were included with 88 males and 84 females. The median age was was 25 years (IQR:21–30 years). No mortalities or major morbidities occurred in any patient. The overall median surgical duration was 53 min (IQR:37–72 min). The median length of postoperative hospital stay was one day (IQR:one–one day). The median pain score of POD0 was 2 (IQR:2–2). Intraoperative conversion to 3-port VATS followed by drainage tube insertion occurred in one (0.6%) patient due to extensive pleural adhesions. No patients required conversion to intubated anesthesia during surgery. No postoperative mechanical ventilation was noted in any patient. Conclusions For selected patients with PPH, tubeless VATS with a single 5 mm port using spontaneous ventilation anesthesia can be considered a feasible and safe operation. The surgical wound is extremely small and the operation time is shorter than the conventional technique. Trial registration This study was in conformity with the Declaration of Helsinki, and was approved by the National Ethics Committee of the University of the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital (Approval number: [2020]70). We registered the study in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (Registration number: ChiCTR2100049063) in 2021.Informed consent was collected from all the participants of this study. URL for this clinical trial registration is: https://www.chictr.org.cn/index.aspx.

More and more attention is paid to application of material flow accounting for the sustainability of resource management. This paper evaluates the dynamics stocks and flows associated with the U.S. copper industry based on historical data of copper consumption during1900–2016. This paper shows the current in-use stocks and predicts the amount of scrap generation until 2031 of different consumption scenarios. During1900–2016, about 60% of consumed copper transformed to scrap, the rest still existed in in-use stocks. The change of copper consumption during 2016–2031 has little effect on the amount of scrap generation in 2031. For sectors, building construction is the largest consumer of copper, with an average of 37% of total consumption. But scrap generated from building construction is only 16,800 Gg, far less than the 33,900 Gg generated from electric and electronic products. This is due to the generally long-life expectancy of building construction. Besides, the maximum amount of in-use stocks is 74,400 Gg in the calculation period, 67% (about 49,700 Gg) of which is from building construction. Several recycling indicators defined from different perspectives also have been measured. All recycling indicators in the U.S. are higher than the global average. However, compared to the considerable amount of scrap generation, recycled copper for domestic consumption is very small, only accounting for 8.1% in the past decades. This is because of large amount of export scrap and high recovery costs.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to examine the effects of the natural flavonoid, quercetin, in a rat model of adenine-induced chronic kidney disease. MATERIAL AND METHODS Forty male Wister rats were divided into four groups: normal (no adenine or quercetin) (n=10); untreated model (treated withadenine but not quercetin) (n=10); quercetin-treated model (5 mg/kg/day for 21 days) (n=10); quercetin-treated model (10 mg/kg/day for 21 days) (n=10). Urine and blood samples were collected and rat kidneys were examined histologically. RESULTS Comparison of the findings of the model rats treated with quercetin (n=20) with non-treated model rats (n=10) showed reduced levels of fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23): normal group, 19.6 pg/ml; untreated group, 73.6 pg/ml; quercetin-treated group (5 mg/kg), 34.25 pg/ml; and quercetin-treated group (10 mg/kg), 21.3 pg/ml. Quercetin-treated model rats had reduced serum levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH), inorganic phosphate, increased urine protein-to-creatinine ratio, increased urine antioxidants, serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and interleukin (IL)-8 when compared with the untreated model group and the control group. Quercetin treatment 10 mg/kg (n=10) reduced the levels of creatinine, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and urinary uric acid. Renal histopathology in model rats treated with quercetin (n=20) showed reduced inflammation compared with the untreated model rats (n=10). CONCLUSIONS In a rat model of adenine-induced chronic kidney disease, treatment with quercetin improved renal function, reduced oxidative stress factors, serum levels of FGF23, and kidney inflammation.

Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is the most common type of thyroid malignancy, and it is often observed to overexpress epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Previous research has indicated that EH domain-containing 1 (EHD1) is associated with EGFR-mediated endocytotic recycling in multiple tumor types. The objective of the present study was to determine the protein expression levels and clinical significance of EHD1, EGFR, caveolin-1 (CAV-1) and RAB11 family interacting protein 3 (RAB11FIP3) in PTC. PTC specimens were analyzed for EHD1, EGFR, CAV-1 and RAB11FIP3 expression via immunohistochemistry and western blotting. The associations between protein expression and clinicopathological features were assessed. EHD1, EGFR, CAV-1 and RAB11FIP3 expression levels were increased in human PTC. Additionally, the expression level of EHD1 protein was significantly associated with tumor size, lymph node metastasis and EGFR expression (P

The efficient recycling of metal resources will greatly reduce impact on environment. Analyzing the structures of steel manufacturing processes and evaluating the consumption of iron and steel scrap will provide support for China to increase the efficiency of steel resources recycling. Based on the dynamic material flow analysis (DMFA) method, the Weibull distribution was used in this paper to calculate the theoretical amount of old scrap in China from 1949 to 2025 according to historical consumption data. Compared with traditional processes, the EAF (Electric Arc Furnace) production has better energy-saving potential. The results showed that during 1949–2017, domestic cumulative consumption of iron resources was 7.72 billion tons, the average consumption of construction industry accounted for 58.4% of total social consumption, and the accumulated old scrap was 946 million tons. The accumulated quantity of old scrap accounted for only 12.4% of the total consumption. A great number of scrap will be generated in the future. By 2025, the total supply of steel scrap will be about 200 million tons, of which more than 80% will come from old scrap. In the scenario of the ratio of EAF production reach of 25%, 120 million tons of iron ore, 130 million tons of CO\(_2\) emissions and 57 million tons of solid wastes will be reduced.

Soil respiration (Rs) in high-altitude areas are normally sensitive to varying climatic conditions. The objective of this research was mainly to explore temporal variations in Rs rates and the corresponding controlling factors for the establishment of appropriate fitting models in a sub-alpine meadow of north China. The data was obtained through field measuring and extraction of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) in the geographical unit of the study site over the period of 2007 to 2015. The main results were as follows: (1) seasonal variations in Rs rates, soil temperature (Ts), land surface temperature (LST), and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) all produced symmetrical bell type patterns, while soil moisture (Ms) showed a fluctuating pattern, (2) a Ts-exponential model could greatly capture seasonal variations of Rs rates in the study site, reflecting the role of temperature as a dominant driving factor in determining Rs temporal variations in alpine meadow areas, (3) there was no significant difference between the performing indicators evaluating the proposed Ts-exponential model and the LST-exponential model. This indicated great potential for applying remote sensing products to estimate seasonal Rs rates and 4) seasonal variations in Rs rates towards temperature sensitivity (Q10) showed a concave curve and dramatically decreased as the temperature increased from &minus, 1 to 11 &deg, C. Overall, the results indicated that attention to significant effects of climatic conditions on Rs, particularly in areas of low temperature, should be warranted. Also, applicability of remote sensing products for estimating Rs was reflected and demonstrated.

As the world's largest economy, the U.S. needs a lot of material input, to realize the sustainable development of its economy. Copper has excellent physical and chemical properties, widely used in various fields, which makes copper stock-in-use continue increasing. What is the trend of copper stock-in-use and which is the driving of the consumption of copper in the U.S.? Is there any relationship between the economic development index and the copper stock-in-use? In this paper, the average service life method and the method of depreciation of fixed assets are adopted to answer these questions. The results demonstrated that: (1) the total copper stock-in-use was a relative smooth trend during 1985-2015 in the U.S., and reached its peak in 2007 with 68.9 Mt, the amount of copper stock-in-use was almost at the “saturation” stage since then. (2) Before the year 2000, with the growth of GDP, the per capita copper stock-in-use also increased.

As the fast development of China’s economy, the power generation has increased rapidly to support the economic growth. In China, thermal power, as a traditional power generation, consumes more fossil energy and brings great damage on environment. As for wind power, a clean and renewable power generation, uses wind energy and is beneficial to environment. In order to describe the differences between these two generations in detail, this paper compared the thermal power with the wind power from the generating total cost to the environmental impact in a quantitative way. And the scenario analysis was adopted for predicting the energy conservation and the emission reduction by wind power. The results show that: (1) Coal is still the dominant input for energy consumption in China and the installed capacity of thermal power takes 65% to total installed capacity. As for the wind power, wind energy only has a share of 5.89% to the total energy consumption and the installed capacity of wind power contributes 8% on total installed capacity. (2) The total cost of thermal power is higher than that of wind power, with 0.47 yuan/KWh. (3) Comparing with the thermal power, the wind power save 238.87 million tons of coal equivalent in total. In addition, the wind power reduces 668.54 million tons of CO2 emissions, 1.73 million tons of SO2 emissions, 1.8 million tons of NOx emissions and 0.3 million tons of smoke emissions during 2008 to 2015. (4) The coal conservation and the emission reduction by wind power are much greater in high economic growth rate scenario.

In this study, different acid modification methods were used to prepare two types of inorganic flocculation compounds. First, under simulated wastewater conditions, the optimal input quantity for phosphorus elimination of flocculant #1 was 0.5 g/L, and the optimal agitation conditions were rapid agitation at 300 rpm for 60 s followed by slow agitation at 20 rpm for 15 min. The optimal input amount of flocculant #2 was 0.8 g/L, and the optimal agitation conditions were rapid agitation at 300 rpm for 30 s followed by slow agitation at 100 rpm for 10 min. Then they were used to treat water from the East Lake. The removal rates of TP, ammonia nitrogen, COD, and turbidity by flocculant #1 were 91.45%, 60.90%, 80.71%, and 93.05%, respectively; the corresponding removal rates by flocculant #2 were 92.74%, 58.49%, 76.92%, and 84.66%, respectively. The discharged water for both flocculants had TP and COD concentrations that met the type III standards in GB3838-2002.

Based on observations of soil respiration rate (Rs) and both biotic and abiotic factors in Pangquangou Nature Reserve at three sampling scales (4, 2, and 1 m), we studied the spatial heterogeneity of Rs and the factors, and analyzed impacts of soil temperature at the 5, 10 and 15 cm depth (T5, T10, T15), soil moisture over the depth of 0-10 cm (Ws), and soil total nitrogen (N), soil total organic carbon (C), ratio of carbon and nitrogen (C/N), soil total sulfur (S), litter fall mass (Lw) and litter fall moisture (Lm) on the spatial heterogeneity of Rs, respectively. We also calculated the minimum sampling number of all the factors at different confidence levels and under the responding estimation accuracy. The results showed that: (1) the spatial heterogeneity of C/N at 4 m sampling scale, Ws at 2 m sampling scale and T10, T15 at 1 m sampling scale had low variability, while the spatial variation of Rs and other related factors had medium variability. Coefficients of variation of Rs, C/N and S decreased with the increase of the sampling scales, but those of N, C, Ws, T₅, T₁₀, T₁₅, Lw and Lm showed contrary trend; (2) the spatial autocorrelation of Rs, Ws, T₅, T₁₀, T₁₅, Lw and Lm decreased with the decrease of sampling scales but the spatial autocorrelation of C, N, C/N increased with the decrease of sampling scales, and the spatial autocorrelation of S decreased with the decrease of the sampling scales at initial stage and then increased; (3) the key factors that influenced the spatial heterogeneity of soil respiration were different at different sampling scales. Soil temperature was the key factor influencing the spatial heterogeneity of Rs at a larger scale. However, at a smaller scale, the spatial heterogeneity of Rs was influenced by C, Lw and Lm; (4) the minimum sampling number for soil respiration measurement and its influencing factors reduced greatly with the decrease of confidence level and responding estimation accuracy. The sampling numbers of Rs, C/N and S increased with the decrease of sampling scales, while those of N, C, Ws, T₅, T₁₀, T₁₅, Lw and Lm decreased.

Previous studies have indicated that caveolin-1 (Cav-1) is able to bind the signal transduction factor epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) to regulate its tyrosine kinase activity. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the clinical significance of Cav-1 gene expression in association with the expression of EGFR in patients with breast cancer. Primary breast cancer samples from 306 patients were analyzed for Cav-1 and EGFR expression using immunohistochemistry, and clinical significance was assessed using multivariate Cox regression analysis, Kaplan-Meier estimator curves and the log-rank test. Stromal Cav-1 was downregulated in 38.56% (118/306) of tumor tissues, whereas cytoplasmic EGFR and Cav-1 were overexpressed in 53.92% (165/306) and 44.12% (135/306) of breast cancer tissues, respectively. EGFR expression was positively associated with cytoplasmic Cav-1 and not associated with stromal Cav-1 expression in breast cancer samples; however, low expression of stromal Cav-1 was negatively associated with cytoplasmic Cav-1 expression in total tumor tissues, and analogous results were identified in the chemotherapy group. Multivariate Cox's proportional hazards model analysis revealed that, for patients in the estrogen receptor (ER)(+) group, the expression of stromal Cav-1 alone was a significant prognostic marker of breast cancer. However, in the chemotherapy, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2)(-), HER-2(+) and ER(-) groups, the use of combined markers was more effective prognostic marker. Stromal Cav-1 has a tumor suppressor function, and the combined marker stromal Cav-1/EGFR expression was identified as an improved prognostic marker in the diagnosis of breast cancer. Parenchymal expression of Cav-1 is able to promote EGFR signaling in breast cancer, potentially being required for EGFR-mediated initiation of mitosis.

Recent research indicates that RBMS3 may act as a tumor suppressor gene (TSG) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). It has been reported that RBMS3 directly binds to the promoter region of c-Myc in ESCC and that β-catenin from both whole cell extracts and nuclear fractionation was significantly downregulated in RBMS3-transfected NPC cells compared to control cells. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical significance of the RBMS3 gene expression in relation to the expression of Wnt pathway components in patients with lung squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). RBMS3, c-Myc and cytoplasmic β-catenin were detected in 39.76, 56.63 and 89.16 % of 83 LSCC samples by immunohistochemistry, respectively, in 83 primary LSCC samples. Semiquantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting demonstrated decreased RBMS3 mRNA and expression in 33.33 % (10/30) and 36.67 % (11/30) tumor tissues, respectively. Statistical correlation analysis showed RBMS3 to be negatively correlated with c-Myc (r = −0.384, p < 0.001) and not correlated with cytoplasmic β-catenin in the LSCC samples. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards model analysis showed that the combined marker RBMS3/c-Myc was an independent prognostic indicator of overall survival (p = 0.001; HR 3.470; IC 95 %, 1.652–7.290), and c-Myc was a prognostic indicator of disease-free survival (p < 0.001; HR 3.182; IC 95 %, 1.961–8.920). RBMS3 is a novel TSG in LSCC, and its downregulation facilitates development and progression of LSCC. Therefore, it is suggested that Rbms3 as a tumor marker may play an important role in diagnosis of LSCC.

Friction and wear behaviors of Si 3 N 4 -whisker-reinforced Si 3 N 4 -composites have been studied in different sliding directions with respect to the orientation of the Si 3 N 4 -whiskers by using a ball-on-disk reciprocating sliding apparatus. These ceramic samples were sintered by the gas press sintering (GPS) technique at 1875 and 2000°C for 4 h in 2.4 MPa of N 2 gas, where the whiskers were controlled to have unidirectional orientation with different alignments or orientation (0°/90°) with a cross-structure by tape-casting and stacking. The results show that for the unidirectionally orientated composites, wear rate in the direction parallel to the whiskers is much greater than in perpendicular direction. With decreasing alignment of the whiskers, the wear rate decreases in the parallel sliding direction and increases in the perpendicular direction. Wear rate of the bidirectionally oriented (BD) composites is between those of unidirectionally oriented composites in the two sliding directions. With increasing sintering temperature, the wear rate increases in both parallel and perpendicular directions. Wear process occurs periodically during sliding.

Sliding behaviors of a unidirectionally oriented Si 3 N 4 -whisker-reinforced Si 3 N 4 composite has been studied in different directions with respect to the orientation of the Si 3 N 4 whisker grains by using a ball-on-disk reciprocating sliding apparatus. The results show that the friction and wear behaviors are much different in different sliding directions and under different applied loads, wear presents periodic in a sliding process, and wear mechanism is generally microfracture.

To investigate the effects and the possible molecular mechanisms of metformin on HER2 positive breast cancer cells.SK-BR-3 HER2 positive breast cancer cells were treated with different concentrations of metformin. The growth inhibitory rate of the cells was calculated by MTT assay, apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry, and the expression level of heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) was performed by Western blot analysis. A control group consisted of cells treated with PBS.With increased concentrations of metformin, cell growth inhibitory rates increased. The growth inhibitory rates with 0.5 mM, 2mM or 8mM metformin were significantly higher compared with the control group (p0.05). Apoptosis in the metformin treated cells was also significantly higher compared with the control group (p=0.003). The expression level of HSP90 in the metformin group was significantly lower than that in the control group.Metformin can inhibit the proliferation and promote apoptosis of HER2 positive breast cancer cells,which is maybe related to inhibition of HSP90.

A comprehensive analysis of the organic compounds of the airborne dust collected in Beijing University of Post and Telecommunications has been carried out by combined application of four analytic methods including infrared spectroscopy, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS), high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC/MS) and thermogravimetric analysis. The aim is to gain a better understanding of the main organic constituents in the dust and seek an efficient method for analysis of the organic compounds. The results show that weight percentage of the organic compounds and "black" carbon is about 20% of the dust. The main constituents of the organic compounds are a series of alkanes (C/sub 7/-C/sub 40+/) and two ortho-benzendicarboxylic acid esters. These materials probably are from the chimney of the central heating station and exhaust gas of vehicles. Evidences show that the organics in dust may also contribute to electrical contact failures of connectors and cannot be ignored.

SummaryHistone acetylation plays critical roles in chromatin remodeling, DNA repair, and epigenetic regulation of gene expression, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Proteasomes usually catalyze ATP- and polyubiquitin-dependent proteolysis. Here, we show that the proteasomes containing the activator PA200 catalyze the polyubiquitin-independent degradation of histones. Most proteasomes in mammalian testes (“spermatoproteasomes”) contain a spermatid/sperm-specific α subunit α4 s/PSMA8 and/or the catalytic β subunits of immunoproteasomes in addition to PA200. Deletion of PA200 in mice abolishes acetylation-dependent degradation of somatic core histones during DNA double-strand breaks and delays core histone disappearance in elongated spermatids. Purified PA200 greatly promotes ATP-independent proteasomal degradation of the acetylated core histones, but not polyubiquitinated proteins. Furthermore, acetylation on histones is required for their binding to the bromodomain-like regions in PA200 and its yeast ortholog, Blm10. Thus, PA200/Blm10 specifically targets the core histones for acetylation-mediated degradation by proteasomes, providing mechanisms by which acetylation regulates histone degradation, DNA repair, and spermatogenesis.