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Groundwater is an essential source of water in Taiwan, and its long-term overuse has resulted in water resource problems that have become a potential crisis in the Zhuoshui River Basin. This overuse of groundwater may also lead to subsidence, which can have significant consequences for the area and its infrastructure. The lack of complete observations of groundwater extraction in Taiwan due to historical factors has made it difficult to accurately understand and manage the amount of water being taken, particularly for agricultural purposes.In view of this, this study uses time series data from 87 agricultural groundwater wells in Huwei Town, Yunlin County from January 2016 to July 2017, and time series data on agricultural well electricity usage in the Changshui River Basin, combined with other attribute data, to understand farmers' water pumping behavior using data mining methods and to estimate the amount of water taken in the Huwei area using machine learning.This study obtained the spatial and temporal distribution of groundwater withdrawals in the Huwei area in 2018.

Here, we found that STK4 was significantly downregulated in colon cancer and was associated with distal metastasis and poor survival. STK4 colocalized with β‐catenin and directly phosphorylated β‐catenin resulting in its degradation via the ubiquitin‐mediated pathway. This may suggest that STK4 knockdown causes β‐catenin phosphorylation failure and subsequently β‐catenin accumulation, consequently leading to anchorage‐independent growth and metastasis in colon cancer., Mammalian STE20‐like kinase 1 (MST1/STK4/KRS2) encodes a serine/threonine kinase that is the mammalian homolog of Drosophila Hippo. STK4 plays an important role in controlling cell growth, apoptosis, and organ size. STK4 has been studied in many cancers with previous studies indicating an involvement in colon cancer lymph node metastasis and highlighting its potential as a diagnostic marker for colon cancer. However, the role of STK4 defect in promoting colon cancer progression is still understudied. Here, we found that STK4 was significantly downregulated in colon cancer and was associated with distal metastasis and poor survival. Furthermore, STK4 knockdown enhanced sphere formation and metastasis in vitro and promoted tumor development in vivo. We found that STK4 colocalized with β‐catenin and directly phosphorylated β‐catenin resulting in its degradation via the ubiquitin‐mediated pathway. This may suggest that STK4 knockdown causes β‐catenin phosphorylation failure and subsequently β‐catenin accumulation, consequently leading to anchorage‐independent growth and metastasis in colon cancer. Our results support that STK4 may act as a potential candidate for the assessment of β‐catenin‐mediated colon cancer prognosis.

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is one of the most common types of malignant tumor. Sequestosome 1 (SQSTM1) serves as an adaptor of autophagy for degrading protein aggregates. The regulation of autophagy by EGFR and its clinical impacts are indicated in various types of cancer. However, the association of EGFR and SQSTM1 in OSCC is still unknown. Our results show that the expression levels of SQSTM1 and EGFR proteins are higher in tumor tissues than in the corresponding tumor-adjacent (CTAN) tissues of OSCC patients. The expression levels of SQSTM1 were positively associated with the EGFR expression level. High co-expression of SQSTM1 and EGFR is associated with poor prognosis in OSCC patients. Moreover, SQSTM1 expression is decreased in EGFR-knockdown cells. Cell growth and invasion/migration are also decreased in cells with single/combined knockdowns of EGFR and SQSTM1 or in SQSTM1-knockdown cells without EGFR kinase inhibitor Lapatinib treatment compared to that in scrambled cells. However, cell growth and invasion/metastasis were not significantly different between the scrambled cells and SQSTM1-knockdown cells in the presence of Lapatinib. This study is the first to indicate the biological roles and clinical significance of SQSTM1 regulation by EGFR in OSCC.

A variety of cellulose-based polymer composite materials has been developed and show different impacts on the morphologies and properties of composites. Herein, we report the morphologies and properties of composites by blending polyurethane (PU) with either ethyl cellulose (EC) or cellulose nanofiber (CNF) through either drop-casting or electrospinning process. EC is homogenously mixed with PU without microphase separation and enhanced Young's modulus of composites from 0.04 to 6.94 MPa. The CNF is heterogeneously distributed in PU/CNF composites without interference on the PU microstructure and slightly increased modulus to 0.24 MPa. While the shearing force of the electrospinning process slightly affects the PU/EC composites, it drastically enhances PU crystallinity and Young's modulus to 54.95 MPa in PU/CNF composites. A model is established to summarize the effect of cellulose additives, compositions, and processes on PU/cellulose composites, providing a comprehensive understanding for designing future cellulose composites.

BACKGROUND Buccal mucosal squamous cell carcinoma (BMSCC) is an aggressive oral cancer. Moreover, reversion-inducing cysteine-rich protein with Kazal motifs (RECK) is a well-known tumor suppressor in many cancers. Our aim was to investigate the association of RECK expression with prognosis in BMSCC patients with different clinicopathological features. MATERIALS AND METHODS The expression level of RECK was determined by immunohistochemistry using tissue microarrays containing specimens from 193 BMSCC patients. The association of RECK expression with outcomes in BMSCC patients stratified by different clinicopathological features was analyzed by Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS The low expression level of RECK was associated with shorter disease-specific survival, especially in patients with age >40 years, moderate or poor cell differentiation, advanced pathological stage, and history of postoperative radiotherapy. However, the low expression level of RECK was not associated with poor disease-free survival, except in BMSCC patients with age ≦40 years, advanced pathological stage and lymph node metastasis. Furthermore, RECK-knockdowned cells showed higher cell viability and abilities of invasion/migration, indicating that RECK might be a tumor suppressor for tumor progression in oral cancer. CONCLUSION The low expression of RECK might be a potential prognostic biomarker for pathological outcome-dependent BMSCC patients.

BACKGROUND/AIM Long-term exposure to betel quid (BQ)-, cigarette-, and alcohol-induced chronic inflammation is a crucial risk factor for oral and pharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) progression. We analyzed the genotypes of stromal-cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) and CXC-chemokine receptor-4 (CXCR4) and determined the association between their polymorphisms and the risk of OPSCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study consisted of 452 patients with pathologically proved OPSCC and 424 sex- and age-matched cancer-free controls. The genotypes of SDF-1 and CXCR4 were detected through the TaqMan real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. RESULTS Our data indicated that the C allele and C/C genotypes of CXCR4 were significantly associated with OPSCC [adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=1.41, 95% confidence interval (CI):1.02-1.96, p=0.037 and AOR=1.51, 95% CI:1.05-2.17, p=0.028, respectively] and OSCC (AOR=1.41, 95%CI:1.00-2.00, p=0.049 and AOR=1.49, 95%CI:1.01-2.20, p=0.044, respectively) risk. Patients with genetic polymorphisms of the genotype combination SDF-1/CXCR4 had a higher risk of OSCC (p trend=0.033). We analyzed the effects of CXCR4 genetic variants on susceptibility to OPSCC in patients with different risk habits of BQ chewing, tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption, and revealed that C/T+T/T genotypes exerted an increased risk only in patients with one (AOR=2.68, p=0.036) or two risk habits (AOR=2.02, p=0.027) compared to patients with the C/C genotype. CONCLUSION We concluded that CXCR4 C>T can be used as a genetic marker of susceptibility to OPSCC, particularly in OPSCC patients with one or two types of risk habits with a synergistic effect.

BACKGROUND Type V collagen (COL5), in the functional heterotrimer [α1(V)2 α2(V)] isoform, participates in the malignancies of various cancers. However, its role in tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) remains unclear. MATERIALS AND METHODS The expression levels of COL5A1 and COL5A2 polypeptide chains were examined using the tissue microarray from 245 TSCC patients with immunohistochemistry. Paired t test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test were performed for comparisons among the groups. Survival rates were estimated by using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared with log-rank tests. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to evaluate the impact of protein expression level on survival rate. RESULTS Expression level of COL5A1 was significantly increased in tumor tissues (P

BACKGROUND Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is an important viral pathogen responsible for severe infection of the lower respiratory tract in children under the age of 5 years. No vaccines against RSV are currently in clinical use. Vaccine-associated enhanced respiratory disease (ERD) caused by excess Th2 type responses was observed in a clinical trial of formalin-inactivated RSV (FI-RSV) in antigen-naive infants. Thus, inducing a balanced immune response is a crucial issue in the development of an RSV vaccine. METHODS In this study, we constructed, expressed, and purified a recombinant RSV vaccine candidate (i.e., HRO24) containing the two heptad repeat regions and the antigenic sites O, II, and IV of the RSV F protein. The RSV vaccine candidate was intranasally administrated to BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice in combination with virus-like particles (VLPs) derived from the core protein of the hepatitis B virus (HBc). Mucosal immunity to HRO24 was then assessed. RESULTS Intranasal administration of HBc VLPs in combination with HRO24 induced serum IgGs against HRO24 as well as lung HRO24-specific sIgAs in both C57BL/6 and BALB/c mouse models. The secretion of IFN-γ from splenocyte re-stimulation and an elevated ratio of serum IgG2a to IgG1 indicated that the immune response induced by the HBc VLPs/HRO24 mixture was Th1-biased. Weight loss of

Due to the rapid development of IoT systems and applications, a large amount of sensors' data has been generated. Processing and analyzing these data provide users with better applications in diversity. However, current wireless sensing nodes still have a significant issue of power consumption. As the application requirements usually have bounded-error tolerance in IoT systems, our previous research proposed bounded-error data compression to extend the lifetime of IoT system. Meanwhile, the IoT data storing and sharing often rely on the third party service providers. It created another issues of data privacy. To solve these problems, this paper proposes a bounded-error IoT (BIoT) data privacy protection scheme via blockchain smart contract to provide secure data storing and sharing. BIoT not only extends the lifetime of IoT systems, but also provides different levels of service quality in privacy protection according to the agreement of the rights and payment in smart contract. Experimental results demonstrate that BIoT can prolong the IoT system lifetime with data privacy protection.

Vitamin D is associated with cardiovascular health through activating the vitamin D receptor that targets genes related to cardiovascular disease (CVD). The human cardiac microvascular endothelial cells (HCMECs) were used to develop mechanically and TGF-&beta, 1-induced fibrosis models, and the rat was used as the isoproterenol (ISO)-induced fibrosis model. The rats were injected with ISO for the first five days, followed by vitamin D injection for the consecutive three weeks before being sacrificed on the fourth week. Results showed that mechanical stretching reduced endothelial cell marker CD31 and VE-cadherin protein expressions, as well as increased &alpha, smooth muscle actin (&alpha, SMA) and fibronectin (FN). The transforming growth factor-&beta, 1 (TGF-&beta, 1) reduced CD31, and increased &alpha, SMA and FN protein expression levels. Vitamin D presence led to higher protein expression of CD31, and lower protein expressions of &alpha, SMA and FN compared to the control in the TGF-&beta, 1-induced fibrosis model. Additionally, protein expression of VE-cadherin was increased and fibroblast-specific protein-1 (FSP1) was decreased after vitamin D treatment in the ISO-induced fibrosis rat. In conclusion, vitamin D slightly inhibited fibrosis development in cell and animal models. Based on this study, the beneficial effect of vitamin D may be insignificant, however, further investigation of vitamin D&rsquo, s effect in the long-term is required in the future.

Background It is technical demanding to execute primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA) for post-traumatic knee arthritis with periarticular implants. Our purpose is to present a simple extramedullary guide technique and report the clinical results of our series of primary TKAs in patients with post-traumatic arthritis without hardware removal. Methods Between April 2014 and March 2019, a series of seven patients with post-traumatic knee arthritis and retained hardware were included. All the surgeries were performed by the same surgeon. The mean age of the patients was 67 years. All the index procedures were performed with primary TKAs by the same surgeon according to simple extramedullary technique. The parallelism between the distal femoral and proximal tibial cuts as well as the required limb alignments were verified intra-operatively. Radiographic measurements and clinical outcomes were reviewed retrospectively. Results Overall, there was a good restoration of postoperative mechanical alignment in all cases. The mean post-operative Hip-Knee-Ankle (HKA) angle was 179.4°. No patient required allogenic blood transfusion or prolonged hospital stays. No surgical site-specific complications were noted by chart review. In the last follow-up, no implant failure was found. Clinical assessments according to knee society score showed good knee scores (89.1), functional scores (87.9) and motion arc (112.9). Conclusions Our results show that post-traumatic knee arthritis can be safely managed with this extramedullary method without hardware removal.

Background High Snail expression is known as a poor prognostic factor in breast cancer. However, its prognostic impact for breast cancer with different molecular subtypes is still controversial. Methods Snail expression was examined by immunohistochemistry in tissue microarray slides of 85 corresponding tumor-adjacent normal (CTAN) and 247 breast invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) tissues. Multivariable Cox regression analysis was used to assess the impact of Snail expression on survival rate by different molecular subtypes of breast IDC patients. Results The level of Snail expression in IDC tumor tissues was significantly higher than that in CTAN tissues. Moreover, high Snail expression had direct impacts on poor disease specific survival (DSS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in breast IDC patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive and human epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-positive statuses as well as the HER2 intrinsic subtype. Additionally, breast IDC patients with a combination of three prognostic factors, including high Snail expression and HER2-positive and EGFR-positive statuses, had much poor DSS and DFS with a statistically significant linear trend. Conclusion High Snail expression could predict a poor prognosis for breast IDC patients with HER2/EGFR-positive subtypes.

Dysfunctional microRNAs (miRNAs) play a crucial role in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) progression. In the present study, we performed next-generation sequencing for miRNA profiling of the OSCC tissues and corresponding adjacent normal tissues in two patients with OSCC. We observed that 45 miRNAs were substantially up-regulated and 17 miRNAs were down-regulated in OSCC tissues. Since information on the biological role of miR-21-3p (passenger strand) in OSCC is limited, the expression levels of miR-21-3p were further evaluated in 95 OSCC tissue samples by a stem-loop real-time polymerase chain reaction. Our results revealed that miR-21-3p is significantly overexpressed in the OSCC tissues compared with the corresponding adjacent normal tissues (p

Objective To investigate the relationships between two single-nucleotide polymorphisms at miR-146a C > G (rs2910164) and miR-1269b G > C (rs7210937) and the risk of developing oral premalignant lesions (OPLs), oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), pharyngeal SCC (PSCC), and oral and pharyngeal SCC (OPSCC). Design Genotyping of miR-146a C > G and miR-1269b G > C was performed in two case-control studies using the TaqMan assay. A total of 197 healthy control subjects, 241 OPLs patients, and 188 OPSCC patients who habitually chewed betel quid (BQ) were recruited into one case-control study. Additionally, 668 cancer-free control subjects and 658 OPSCC patients were recruited into the other case-control study. Results The G/G genotype at miR-146a C > G was associated with the decreased risk of OSCC [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 0.66, P = 0.040], PSCC (AOR = 0.42, P = 0.013), and OPSCC (AOR = 0.63, P = 0.020). Additionally, the C allelic type and C/C genotype at miR-1269b G > C decreased the risk of BQ-related oral leukoplakia (C vs. G: AOR = 0.68, P = 0.012; C/C vs. G/G: AOR = 0.43, P = 0.009), BQ-related OPLs (C vs. G: AOR = 0.69, P = 0.008; C/C vs. G/G: AOR = 0.44, P = 0.005), and BQ-related OPSCC (C vs. G: AOR = 0.65, P = 0.003; C/C vs. G/G: AOR = 0.47, P = 0.011). In OPSCC patients, the G/G genotype of miR-146a was correlated with well-differentiated cells (P = 0.041), and the G/C and C/C genotypes of miR-1269b were correlated with the absence of lymph node involvement (P = 0.031), especially in OSCC patients (P = 0.038 and P = 0.007, respectively). Conclusion The genetic variants of miR-146a and miR-1269b are biomarkers against the development of OPLs and OPSCC.

Long-term exposure to betel quid (BQ)-, cigarette-, and alcohol-induced chronic inflammation is a crucial risk factor for oral and pharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) progression. We analyzed the genotypes of stromal-cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) and CXC-chemokine receptor-4 (CXCR4) and determined the association between their polymorphisms and the risk of OPSCC.This study consisted of 452 patients with pathologically proved OPSCC and 424 sex- and age-matched cancer-free controls. The genotypes of SDF-1 and CXCR4 were detected through the TaqMan real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method.Our data indicated that the C allele and C/C genotypes of CXCR4 were significantly associated with OPSCC [adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=1.41, 95% confidence interval (CI):1.02-1.96, p=0.037 and AOR=1.51, 95% CI:1.05-2.17, p=0.028, respectively] and OSCC (AOR=1.41, 95%CI:1.00-2.00, p=0.049 and AOR=1.49, 95%CI:1.01-2.20, p=0.044, respectively) risk. Patients with genetic polymorphisms of the genotype combination SDF-1/CXCR4 had a higher risk of OSCC (p trend=0.033). We analyzed the effects of CXCR4 genetic variants on susceptibility to OPSCC in patients with different risk habits of BQ chewing, tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption, and revealed that C/T+T/T genotypes exerted an increased risk only in patients with one (AOR=2.68, p=0.036) or two risk habits (AOR=2.02, p=0.027) compared to patients with the C/C genotype.We concluded that CXCR4 CT can be used as a genetic marker of susceptibility to OPSCC, particularly in OPSCC patients with one or two types of risk habits with a synergistic effect.

Thought runs through the mind like blood runs through our body to keep us alive. Like the mind, the body does not stay inert and is in constant motion. Not a single cell in our body is left inert unless cell is under stress or dying. These scenarios are reflected upon when a person is sick, the person lies in bed with less movement; however, is active when the person is healthy. The topic of mechanical stimulation has emerged due to the increasing understanding of the physical stimulations we face each day. Further understanding of the mechanically-regulated mechanism can help us explore the pathological events in a disease. Here, we reviewed the role of sensory proteins in pathological events that are observed in cardiomyopathy, cancer, respiratory, renal, obesity, genetics, physical injury and bacterial infection. Taken together, sensory proteins are mechanically-activated which assist reception of external physical stimulation and convert into biochemical to trigger intracellular signaling cascade.

Rice husk is an agricultural waste. Rice husk ash (RHA) is the main residue when rice husk is burned to produce biomass energy. The conversion of RHA into high-value-added products is a sustainable method and can help develop a circular economy. In this study, a graphene oxide/SBA-15 composite was synthesized from RHA. Experimental investigations revealed that the various oxygen-containing functional groups of the graphene oxide/SBA-15 composite resulted in considerably enhanced adsorption capacity. Furthermore, the composite possessed a pore volume of 0.978 cm 3/g, pore size of 10.5 nm, and surface area of 625 m2/g. The pore structure of the composite was mainly a hexagonal array of mesopores, which did not change with the addition of GO. TEM images revealed that the SBA-15 surface was homogeneously covered with GO flakes. Raman spectroscopy demonstrated that composite contained disordered carbon with a high degree of oxidation. The effects of adsorption conditions – adsorbent dosage, initial dye concentration, adsorption temperature, and solution pH – on the Rhodamine B adsorption of the graphene oxide/SBA-15 composite were investigated. The composite exhibited the highest adsorption capacity of 151.28 mg/g at 80 ∘ C. The adsorption was endothermic with enthalpy of 11.83 kJ/mol. The isotherm adsorption experiment revealed that the Langmuir model was the best fit for the adsorption results. Kinetic investigations revealed that the adsorption process followed the pseudo-second-order model. The adsorption rate was mainly controlled by the intraparticle diffusion step. Commercially available SBA-15 materials are expensive. This study provides an economically viable method of treating RHA that improves its potential for applications involving removal of dyes from wastewater.

This study investigated laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) produced on a tilted stainless steel surface with a p- and s-polarized laser beam. Different types of LIPSS on the tilted surface were compared, and the direct fabrication of one-dimensional rotational low spatial frequency LIPSS (LSFL) on a tilted surface using a stationary s-polarized laser beam was demonstrated. In addition, by changing the laser scanning strategy, an area pattern covered with lightning-like structures and even the two-dimensional structures fabricated on the tilted surface we demonstrated. The evolution of LSFL at different line scanning regions was obtained, and the possible reason for the rotation of LSFL on tilted surfaces was presented.

// Ting-Ying Fu 1, 2, * , Chao-Nan Wu 3, 4, * , Huei-Cin Sie 1 , Jiin-Tsuey Cheng 5 , Yaoh-Shiang Lin 6 , Huei-Han Liou 7 , Yu-Kai Tseng 8, 9 , Chih-Wen Shu 7 , Kuo-Wang Tsai 7, 10 , Leing-Ming Yen 1 , Hui-Wen Tseng 11, 12 , Ching-Jiunn Tseng 7, 13, 14, 15 , Luo-Ping Ger 7, 16 , Pei-Feng Liu 7, 17 1 Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 2 Department of Optometry, Shu-Zen Junior College of Medicine and Management, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 3 Department of Stomatology, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 4 Department of Dental Technology, Shu-Zen Junior College of Medicine and Management, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 5 Department of Biological Sciences, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 6 Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 7 Department of Medical Education and Research, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 8 Department of Orthopedics, Show Chwan Memorial Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan 9 Department of Orthopedics, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan 10 Department of Chemical Biology, National Pingtung University of Education, Pingtung, Taiwan 11 Department of Dermatology, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 12 Department of Nursing, Meiho University, Pingtung, Taiwan 13 Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan 14 Department of Pharmacology, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan 15 Department of Medical Research, China Medical University Hospital, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan 16 Institute of Biomedical Sciences, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 17 Department of Biotechnology, Fooyin University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan * These authors have contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Luo-Ping Ger, email: lpger@vghks.gov.tw Pei-Feng Liu, email: pfliu@vghks.gov.tw Keywords: DDX60, oral cancer, subsite-specific, tumorigenesis, prognosis Received: April 14, 2016 Accepted: October 28, 2016 Published: November 08, 2016 ABSTRACT The clinical significance and biological function of DEXD/H box helicase 60 (DDX60) in oral cancer remains unknown. Herein, we evaluated the association of DDX60 expression with tumorigenesis and the prognosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). DDX60 expression was examined by immunohistochemistry on tissue microarray slides of 494 OSCC patients, including 180 buccal mucosal SCC (BMSCC), 241 tongue SCC (TSCC), and 73 lip SCC (LSCC) patients. DDX60 expression was significantly increased in all three subsites of OSCC compared to its expression in tumor adjacent normal tissues. However, its association with tumorigenesis was specific to the oral cavity subsite after the stratification of betel quid chewing, smoking, and drinking. Among OSCC patients, higher levels of DDX60 expression were associated with the male gender, a well-differentiated tumor, advanced stage of disease, and a large tumor size with subsite specific features. LSCC patients with high DDX60 expression levels showed shorter disease-specific survival, particularly those with moderately or poorly differentiated tumors. Additionally, TSCC or OSCC patients with high DDX60 expression showed a poor disease-free survival (DFS), particularly those with moderately or poorly differentiated tumors. Therefore, DDX60 is a novel and unfavorable biomarker for tumorigenesis and prognosis of OSCC in a subsite-specific manner.

We aimed to investigate the association of the expression levels of five epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related proteins (Snail, Twist, E-cadherin, N-cadherin, and Vimentin) with tumorigenesis, pathologic parameters and prognosis in tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) patients by immunohistochemistry of tissue microarray. The expression levels of Snail, E-cadherin, N-cadherin and Vimentin were significantly different between the tumor adjacent normal and tumor tissues. In tumor tissues, lower E-cadherin and higher N-cadherin levels were associated with a higher grade of cell differentiation, advanced stage of disease, and lymph node metastasis. However, higher Vimentin expression was associated with poor cell differentiation and lymph node metastasis. Patients with low E-cadherin expression had poor disease-specific survival (DSS). Conversely, positive N-cadherin and higher Vimentin expression levels were associated with poor DSS and disease-free survival. Notably, our multivariate Cox regression model indicated that high Vimentin expression was an adverse prognostic factor for DSS in TSCC patients, even after the adjustment for cell differentiation, pathological stage, and expression levels of Snail, Twist, E-cadherin, and N-cadherin. Snail, E-cadherin, N-cadherin, and Vimentin were associated with tumorigenesis and pathological outcomes. Among the five EMT-related proteins, Vimentin was a potential prognostic factor for TSCC patients.

Apoptosis plays a dual role in cancer development and malignancy. The role of apoptosis-related caspases in cancer remains controversial, particularly in oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC). In this study, we examined the protein levels of cleaved caspase-3, caspase-3, caspase-8, and caspase-9 on tissue microarrays consisting of samples from 246 OTSCC patients by immunohistochemistry. Wilcoxon signed-rank test indicated that the protein levels of cleaved caspase-3, caspase-3, caspase-8, and caspase-9 in tumor tissues were significantly higher compared to those in adjacent normal tissues (all p

Background Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are more than 200 nucleotides in length and lack transcriptional ability. The biological function of lncRNAs in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remains unclear. The aim of this study was to identify the dysfunction of lncRNA in OSCC. Results We analyzed the transcriptome profiles of human OSCC tissues and paired adjacent normal tissues from two patients through a next-generation sequencing approach. A total of 14 lncRNAs were upregulated (fold change ≥3) and 13 were downregulated (fold change ≤−3) in OSCC tissues compared with the adjacent normal tissues. SOX21-AS1 was subjected to further analysis, revealing that the expression levels of SOX21-AS1 significantly decreased in OSCC compared with the adjacent normal tissue. The promoter activity of SOX21-AS1 was obviously suppressed by in vitro methylation. The DNA methylation status of the SOX21-AS1 promoter was analyzed using combined bisulfite restriction analysis, revealing that the aberrant promoter hypermethylation of SOX21-AS1 was observed frequently in OSCC tissues. The effects of SOX21-AS1 on cell proliferation and invasion were examined through transient transfection. Our data showed that SOX21-AS1 could significantly suppress oral cancer cell growth and invasion. Furthermore, the low expression level of SOX21-AS1 was significantly correlated with an advanced stage (P = 0.047), large tumor size (P = 0.033), and poor disease-specific survival in OSCC patients (P = 0.002). Conclusions SOX21-AS1 was identified as susceptible dysfunction correlated with promoter hypermethylation in OSCC. Low SOX21-AS1 expression may be an adverse prognostic biomarker for OSCC. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13148-016-0291-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Objectives This case-control study evaluated the association of the single nucleotide polymorphism rs7372209 (T>C) in pri-mir-26a-1 with the risk and progression of betel quid (BQ)–related oral premalignant lesions (OPLs) and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Study Design In total, 597 BQ chewers were recruited: 196 healthy controls, 241 patients with OPLs, and 160 patients with OSCC. Genotypes were determined using the TaqMan real-time assay. Results The C/T + T/T genotypes and T allele in pri-mir-26a-1 were correlated with a decreased risk of BQ-related OPLs (P = .038 and .005, respectively), oral leukoplakia (P = .01 and .001, respectively), and advanced-stage OSCC (P = .021 and .004, respectively). The effects of the C/T + T/T genotypes and T allele on the decreased risk of OPLs were potent in the older age group (both Pinteraction Conclusions BQ chewers carrying the T allele or C/T + T/T genotypes in pri-mir-26a-1 may have a decreased risk of oral leukoplakia, OPLs, and advanced-stage OSCC.

Promoter activity of CpG dinucleotideless was examined using in vitro methylation assay. Luciferase activity of CpG dinucleotide-less promoters was analyzed through in vitro methylation. (A, B) Schema of the luciferase constructs containing two CpG dinucleotide-less promoters of pGL-serum-response element and pGL-cAMP-response element (upper panels). Promoter constructs were methylated in vitro by using M. SssI methylase enzymes, and luciferase activity was examined using the Dual-Glo luciferase reporter assay system kit. (PPT 174 kb)

The cellular localization of SOX21-AS1 and putative mechanism were examined in SAS cell. (A) Cell-fractioned RNA was isolated from the nuclei and cytoplasms of SAS cells. Expression levels of SOX21-AS1 were detected using RT-qPCR. (B) Expression levels of SOX21 were examined using real-time PCR after SOX21-AS1 was transfected into SAS cells. (C) Expression levels of EMT- and cell cycle-relative genes were examined using a Western blot approach in SAS cells with SOX21-AS1 overexpression. (PPT 2411 kb)

The correlation between od SOX21-AS1 expression and DNA methylation status. Correlation between SOX21-AS1 expression and DNA methylation status was examined in OSCC from 86 patients. (PPT 134 kb)

Analysis of the prognostic significance of SOX21-AS1 expression in oral cancer. (A, B) DSS and DSF were compared according to SOX21-AS1 expression levels in oral cancer tissues. (PPT 239 kb)

The detailed clinical characteristics of two OSCC patients. (DOC 29 kb)

The categories of sequence reads in the four libraries. (DOC 28 kb)

Changes in phagocytic activity and nodulation in the greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), were examined after treatment with the culture fluid of the entomopathogenic fungus Nomuraea rileyi SH1. When isolated hemocytes of G. mellonella were incubated with the conidia of N. rileyi in vitro, the rates of phagocytosis increased at 4 h after incubation but decreased subsequently. On the contrary, the rates of phagocytosis of isolated hemocytes decreased by 80% after 24 h preincubation with the fungal culture fluid (1/200, 1/100 dilutions). Levels of inhibition of phagocytic activity by the culture fluid depended on dilutions used. Galleria mellonella larvae showed a peak of nodulation at 4 h after injection with conidia. The percentage of nodules in hemolymph did not decrease by preinjection with the culture fluid, whereas the percentage of nodule-containing conidia decreased, depending on the injected fluid. However, phagocytosis and nodulation in G. mellonella did not change after treatment of the culture fluid with proteinase K, indicating that the culture fluid contained proteinaceous immunosuppressive factors. Electrophoretic analysis of the culture fluid and not the fresh medium without culturing the fungus exhibited protein bands. Therefore, N. rileyi possibly secretes toxic proteins that impair cellular immune responses in G. mellonella larvae.

The apoptosis in SF-21 cell line can be induced by the conditioned medium (CM) of the entomopathogenic fungus, Nomuraea rileyi, based on changes in morphology and formation of apoptotic bodies in cultured cells, and with the onset of DNA fragmentation as shown by TUNEL staining and agarose electrophoresis. Moreover, the induction of apoptosis in SF-21 cells was inhibited by adding the inhibitor of effector caspase, viz. z-DEVD-fmk, to the CM, indicating that Sf-caspase-1 is involved in this apoptosis. Similarly, the inhibitor of initiator caspase, viz., z-VAD-fmk, inhibited apoptosis. Therefore, both initiator and effector caspases are possibly involved in the apoptosis of SF-21 cells. In addition, we detected Sf-caspase-1 activity in the process of apoptosis in SF-21 cells, suggesting that the effector caspase in SF-21 is similar to that found in mammalian cells. Our results also indicated that the apoptosis found in this line is accomplished through a Sf-caspase-1 signaling pathway. Arch. Insect Biochem. Physiol. 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Several applications benefited from multicast data distribution because a sender can concurrently transmit data to multiple receivers using fewer bandwidth. However, reliability is an important issue in multicast because retransmission is not very efficient in multicast. In recent years, Forward Error Correction (FEC) codes are proposed to facilitate reliable multicast data distribution and are applied to several applications. FEC provides a more efficient way of reliable multicast data distribution because of no retransmission. In this paper, we propose a new FEC codes (F-CR codes), which are extended from Chinese Remainder codes, require smaller transmission redundancy than conventional FEC codes and support two variants for transmission and computation efficiency. In particular, the r-decomposition variant allows the sender to decompose an output symbols encoded into r smaller sub-symbols. This decomposable property which is firstly proposed in this paper is especially suitable for link unstable networks or link heterogeneity networks like wireless sensor networks. The analysis and experiments also demonstrate the feasibility of F-CR codes.

Angiostrongylosis is a neurological disorder caused by invasion of the central nervous system by developing larvae of Angiostrongylus cantonensis. Purkinje cells in infected mouse cerebellums are small and irregular with degenerative atrophy or partial loss. Ultrastructural changes in degenerative cells included enlarged vacuolar structures and swollen mitochondria within the cytoplasm. The matrix metalloproteinase-9 mRNA which is low in normal cerebellums was expressed in A. cantonensis-infected mice cerebellum prior to Purkinje cell degeneration. Matrix metalloproteinase-9 protein level and enzyme activity increased when the Purkinje cells appeared degenerated. Using immunohistochemistry, matrix metalloproteinase-9 was localised within degenerative Purkinje cells. In addition, when the specific matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor, GM6001, was added, matrix metalloproteinase-9 enzyme activity was reduced by 41.6%. The numbers of degenerative Purkinje cells increased significantly upon establishment of infection but subsided upon inhibition. These results suggested that the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 may be associated with degeneration of Purkinje cells in mouse cerebellum infected by A. cantonensis.