HSP90AA1 promotes lymphatic metastasis of hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma by regulating epithelial-mesenchymal transition

Lymphatic metastasis(LM)emerges as an independent prognostic marker for hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma(HSPSCC),chiefly contributing to treatment inefficacy.This study aimed to scrutinize the prognostic relevance of HSP90AA1 and its potential regulatory mechanism of concerning LM in HPSCC.Methods:In a preceding investigation,HSP90AA1,a differential gene,was discovered through transcriptome sequencing of HPSCC tissues,considering both the presence and absence of LM.Validation of HSP90AA1 expression was accomplished via qRT-PCR,western-blotting(WB),and immunohistochemistry(IHC),while its prognostic significance was assessed employing Kaplan–Meier survival analysis(KMSA),log-rank test(LR),and Cox’s regression analysis(CRA).Bioinformatics techniques facilitated the prediction and analysis of its plausible mechanisms in LM,further substantiated by in vitro and in vivo experiments utilizing FaDu cell lines.Results:HSP90AA1 is substantially upregulated in HPSCC with LM and is identified as an independent prognostic risk determinant.The down-regulation of HSP90AA1 can achieve inhibition of tumor cell proliferation,migration and invasion.Both in vivo experiments and Bioinformatics exploration hint at promoting LM by Epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT),regulated by HSP90AA1.Conclusions:HSP90AA1,by controlling EMT,can foster LM in HPSCC.This finding sets the foundation for delving into new therapeutic targets for HPSCC.

Comparison of the efficacy of drug-eluting balloon for de novo lesions and in-stent restenosis lesions of the femoropopliteal arteries

Objective:To compare the efficacy of drug-eluting balloons for de novo and in-stent restenosis(ISR)for lesions of the femoropopliteal arteries during 12-month follow-up.Materials and methods:A retrospective analysis of 66 patients was performed.These patients had lower extremity atherosclerosis obliterans and were treated with drug-eluting balloons from June 2016 to June 2017.All the lesions were femoropopliteal,including 47 de novo lesions and 19 ISR lesions.Clinical results were followed up at 6 months and 12 months postoperatively.The primary patency rate,target lesion revascularization,Rutherford classification,ankle-brachial index,amputation rate and mortality were compared between the two groups.Results:All the 66 patients underwent the treatment of femoropopliteal artery lesions with unilateral limbs.The surgical success rates were 100%.No adverse events such as acute ischemia or amputation occurred in the hospital.There was no difference between the two groups'Rutherford classification and the ankle-brachial index at the 6-month follow-up(p>0.05).At the 12-month follow-up,the de novo group's Rutherford classification was lower than the ISR group(p=0.026),and the ankle-brachial index of the ISR group was lower(0.66±0.033 vs 0.52±0.056,p=0.036).There was no difference between the patency rate of the de novo group and the ISR group(93.6%vs 84.2%,p=0.229)at the 6-month follow-up.However,the ISR group patency rate was lower at the 12-month follow-up(63.2%vs 85.1%,p=0.048).As for revascularization there was no significant difference between the two groups at the 6-month follow-up(4.2%vs 10.5%,p=0.334),but a higher rate occurred in the ISR group at the 12-month follow-up(26.3%vs 6.4%,p=0.025).There were no significant differences in the mortality or amputation rate between the two groups(p>0.05).Conclusions:Drug-eluting balloons were effective in treating both de novo lesions and ISR lesions in the atherosclerotic femoropopliteal artery,but the 12-month follow-up results of ISR lesions were less favorable than the de novo lesions.

PARK1 gene mutation of autosomal dominant Parkinson's disease family

Studies have shown that PARK1 gene is associated with the autosomal dominant inheritance of Parkinson＇s disease. PARK1 gene contains two mutation sites, namely Ala30Pro and Ala53Thr, which are located on exons 3 and 4, respectively. However, the genetic loci of the pathogenic genes remain unclear. In this study, blood samples were collected from 11 members of a family with high prevalence of Parkinson＇s disease, including four affected cases, five suspected cases and two non-affected cases. Point mutation screening of common mutation sites on PARK1 gene exon 4 was conducted using PCR, to determine the genetic loci of the causative gene for Parkinson＇s disease. Gene identification and sequencing results showed that a T base deletion mutation was observed in the PARK1 gene exon 4 of all 11 collected samples. It was confirmed that the PARK1 gene exon 4 gene mutation is an important pathogenic mutation for Parkinson＇s disease.

Neuronal apoptosis and interleukin 1-beta converting enzyme expression in the frontal cortex and hippocampus of mice with ischemia/reperfusion injury

BACKGROUND： Interleukin 1β-converting enzyme （ICE） gene expression can induce neuronal apoptosis. However, the dynamic changes in ICE gene expression and its effects on neuronal apoptosis under cerebral ischemia/reperfusion conditions remain unclear. OBJECTIVE： To observe neuronal apoptosis and changes in ICE gene expression in the frontal cortex and hippocampus following ischemia/reperfusion injury. DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING： A randomized, controlled animal study was conducted at the Laboratory of Experimental Animal Center, the Second Hospital of Jilin University and Central Laboratory, the Second Hospital of Jilin University, China, from November 2008 to September 2009. MATERIALS： The ICE gene primer sequence （TaKaPa Co., Dalian, China）, FACScan Flow cytometer （Becton Dickinson, Franklin Lakes, N J, USA）, and Perkin Elmer GeneAmp PCR system 2400 （Perkin Elmer, Waltham, MA, USA） were used in this study. METHODS： A total of 45 healthy, adult, male, Kunming mice were randomly assigned to normal control （n = 5）, sham surgery （n = 5）, and model （n = 35） groups. The mice in the model group were equally and randomly subdivided into seven subgroups according to various reperfusion time points （1 hour, 1,3, 7, 14, 28, and 42 days）. Animal models of ischemia/reperfusion injury were established by bilateral carotid artery ligation in the model group. The mice in the sham surgery group only received saline perfusion and surgery for carotid artery exposure. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： Neuronal apoptosis in the frontal cortex and hippocampus of mice was measured using flow cytometry. The time course of ICE mRNA levels in the frontal cortex and hippocampus were quantified using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS： Neuronal apoptosis in the frontal cortex and hippocampus peaked at 3 days following ischemia/reperfusion injury （P 〈 0.05）. ICE mRNA expression increased in the frontal cortex at 1 day following ischemia/reperfusion injury （P 〈 0.05）, decreased at 3 days, and then peaked at 14 days （P 〈 0.05）. ICE mRNA expression increased in the hippocampus at 3 days following ischemia/reperfusion injury （P 〈 0.05）, peaked at 7 days （P 〈 0.05）, and then decreased gradually to normal levels at 28 days. CONCLUSION： Neuronal apoptosis peaked at 3 days following ischemia/reperfusion injury, and both apoptosis and ICE mRNA levels remained high for 2 weeks after injury. Early apoptosis may result from increased ICE mRNA expression.

Electrical manipulation of lightwaves in the uniaxially strained photonic honeycomb lattices under a pseudomagnetic field

The realization of pseudomagnetic fields for lightwaves has attained great attention in the field of nanophotonics.Like real magnetic fields,Landau quantization could be induced by pseudomagnetic fields in the strainengineered graphene.We demonstrated that pseudomagnetic fields can also be introduced to photonic crystals by exerting a linear parabolic deformation onto the honeycomb lattices,giving rise to degenerate energy states and flat plateaus in the photonic band structures.We successfully inspire the photonic snake modes corresponding to the helical state in the synthetic magnetic heterostructure by adopting a microdisk for the unidirectional coupling.By integrating heat electrodes,we can further electrically manipulate the photonic density of states for the uniaxially strained photonic crystal.This offers an unprecedented opportunity to obtain on-chip robust optical transports under the electrical tunable pseudomagnetic fields,opening the possibility to design Si-based functional topological photonic devices.

Solution processed MoS2-PVA composite for subbandgap mode-locking of a wideband tunable ultrafast Er：fiber laser

We fabricate a free-standing few-layer molybdenum disulfide （MoS2）-polymer composite by liquid phase exfoliation of chemically pristine MoS2 crystals and use this to demonstrate a wideband tunable, ultrafast mode-locked fiber laser. Stable, picosecond pulses, tunable from 1,535 nm to 1,565 nm, are generated, corresponding to photon energies below the MoS2 material bandgap. These results contribute to the growing body of work studying the nonlinear optical properties of transition metal dichalcogenides that present new opportunities for ultrafast photonic applications.

Simulation of urban expansion based on cellular automata and maximum entropy model

Urban expansion is a hot topic in land use/land cover change(LUCC)researches.In this paper,maximum entropy model and cellular automata(CA)model are coupled into a new CA model(Maxent-CA)for urban expansion.This model can help to obtain transition rules from single-period dataset.Moreover,it can be constructed and calibrated easily with several steps.Firstly,Maxent-CA model was built by using remote sensing data of China in 2000(basic data)and spatial variables(such as population density and Euclidean distance to cities).Secondly,the proposed model was calibrated by analyzing training samples,neighborhood structure and spatial scale.Finally,this model was verified by comparing logistic regression CA model and their simulation results.Experiments showed that suitable sampling ratio(sampling ratio equals the proportion of urban land in the whole region)and von Neumann neighborhood structure will help to yield better results.Spatial structure of simulation results becomes simple as spatial resolution decreases.Besides,simulation accuracy is significantly affected by spatial resolution.Compared to simulation results of logistic regression CA model,Maxent-CA model can avoid clusters phenomenon and obtain better results matching actual situation.It is found that the proposed model performs well in simulating urban expansion of China.It will be helpful for simulating even larger study area in the background of global environment changes.

MULTI-SCALE STRUCTURES IN EMULSION AND MICROSPHERE COMPLEX SYSTEMS

Multi-scale structures involved in emulsion and microsphere complex systems are presented and discussed. The stability and spatio-temporal structures of emulsions, as well as nano-structures formed on the surface of microspheres after polymerization, are affected by the molecular emulsifier/stabilizer structures and the adsorbed emulsifier/stabilizer nano-structures on the oil/water interface. The broad size distribution and variation of surface features of droplets are responsible for variations of the adsorbed emulsifier/stabilizer structures and the stability of the emulsions. On the other hand, preparation of a uniformly sized emulsion and employment of a combined emulsifier/stabilizer system can preserve the stability of the emulsions and microspheres. The above phenomena should be modeled by a multiscale method, in order to maintain the stability of individual emulsion systems and realize the desired nano-structures of microspheres by choosing adequate emulsifier/stabilizer and experimental parameters.