Role of epithelial-mesenchymal transition in gastric cancer initiation and progression

Gastric cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors worldwide.Due to its intricate initiation and progression mechanisms,early detection and effective treatment of gastric cancer are difficult to achieve.The epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT)is characterized as a fundamental process that is critical for embryonic development,wound healing and fibrotic disease.Recent evidence has established that aberrant EMT activation in the human stomach is closely associated with gastric carcinogenesis and tumor progression.EMT activation endows gastric epithelial cells with increased characteristics of mesenchymal cells and reduces their epithelial features.Moreover,mesenchymal cells tend to dedifferentiate and acquire stem cell or tumorigenic phenotypes such as invasion,metastasis and apoptosis resistance as well as drug resistance during EMT progression.There are a number of molecules that indicate the stage of EMT(e.g.,E-cadherin,an epithelial cell biomarker);therefore,certain transcriptional proteins,especially E-cadherin transcriptional repressors,may participate in the regulation of EMT.In addition,EMT regulation may be associated with certain epigenetic mechanisms.The aforementioned molecules can be used as early diagnostic markers for gastric cancer,and EMT regulation can provide potential targets for gastric cancer therapy.Here,we review the role of these aspects of EMT in gastric cancer initiation and development.

Adenovirus expressing p27^(kip1) suppresses growth of established esophageal carcinoma xenografts

AIM: To investigate the growth suppression of ade novirus expressing p27kip1 on established esophageal tumors in nude mice. METHODS: Esophageal carcinoma xenografts in nude mice were established by tumor tissue mass transplantation. The successfully constructed reco mbinant adenoviral vectors carrying p27kip1 gene (Ad p27kip1) were directly injected into the esophageal tumors in nude mice. Compared to control group, the growth curve of tumor was drawn and the growth inhibition rate of tumor was calculated. The histology of tumors was examined by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining. The expression of p27kip1 and survivin was detected in tumors by immunohistochemical technique. RESULTS: The growth of tumors in gene therapy group with Ad-p27kip1 was obviously suppressed compared to control group (0.42±0.08 g vs 1.17±0.30 g, t=6.39, P<0.01), the inhibition rate of tumor growth reached 64.1%. Pathological detection showed that the tumors in nude mice were poorly differentiated esophageal squamous carcinoma. In addition, the expression of P27kip1 was increased, while the expression of survivin was decreased in tumors after being transfected with Ad-p27kip1. CONCLUSION: p27kip1 gene therapy mediated by adenovirus vector has a significant inhibitory effect on esophageal carcinoma in vivo. Up-regulated p27kip1 expression and down-regulated survivin expression may be its important mechanisms.

液基细胞学、肿瘤标志物SP70联合检测对肺腺癌转移胸腔积液的诊断价值

目的:探讨液基细胞学与肿瘤标志物SP70联合检测对肺腺癌转移胸腔积液的诊断价值。方法:回顾性分析徐州医科大学附属医院2018年11月至2019年3月收治肺腺癌转移胸腔积液27例和非癌性胸腔积液12例,收集放化疗前患者的胸腔积液,采用美国SurePathTM PrepStain全自动液基薄层细胞制片染片机(BD TriPath)及相关耗材制备液基薄片,巴氏染色用于细胞学诊断,同时采用双抗体夹心ELISA法对39份胸腔积液标本上清进行SP70检测。统计分析液基细胞学联合SP70检测对恶性胸腔积液诊断的敏感性、特异性、符合率。结果:以27份癌性胸腔积液和12份非癌性胸腔积液SP70的ELISA检测结果作ROC曲线,分析得出胸腔积液SP70>9.73 ng/mL,可以帮助预测肺腺癌转移胸腔积液,AUC为0.824,采用该截断值诊断肺腺癌转移胸腔积液的敏感性、特异性分别为70.4%和91.7%。液基细胞学与肿瘤标志物SP70联合检测的符合率为89.7%,灵敏度为81.4%,均高于单独液基细胞学的检测,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结论:液基细胞学联合肿瘤标志物SP70有助于提高肺腺癌转移胸腔积液的诊断。

Safety Evaluation of Concrete Structures Based on a Novel Energy Criterion

In this article,the post-peak softening stage of the constitutive relation and the elastic stiffness degradation of concrete are investigated,and a highly reasonable constitutive relation curve is proposed.At the material level,the energy change in the concrete failure process is studied based on the different stress-strain curves of concrete under uniaxial tension and compression.The concrete failure criterion based on elastic strain energy density is deemed suitable and consistent with the experimental phenomena.The hysteresis phenomenon(lags behind the peak strength)is also discussed.At the structure level,the strength reduction method is employed for the stability analysis,the energy change in the failure process of the Long Xi-Kou Dam is examined,and the results show that the dam failure criterion based on elastic strain energy shows a greater significance in practical applications compared with other conventional structural failure criteria in engineering.This criterion is objective and can avoid subjective arbitrariness.

Self-made wire loop snare successfully treats gastric persimmon stone under endoscopy

BACKGROUND Large gastric persimmon stones are generally resistant to standard endoscopic treatments.We applied an alternative endoscopic method using a hand-made snare for the treatment of large gastric phytobezoars.AIM To explore the clinical efficacy of a self-made wire loop snare to treat giant gastric persimmon stones.METHODS A retrospective study evaluated the clinical data of 38 patients with gastroliths admitted to Taihe Hospital in Shiyan City,Hubei Province,China,between March 2015 and October 2020.The patients were divided into observation(n=23)and control(n=15)groups.Patients in the observation group were treated with selfmade wire loop snares for lithotripsy,and patients in the control group were treated with traditional foreign body forceps,snares,injection needles,and other tools.Successful stone removal,treatment time,and hospital stay were compared.RESULTS The average operating time was significantly shorter(P<0.001)in the observation group(53.4 min)than that in the control group(172.8 min).The average hospital stay of the observation group(5.4 d)was significantly shorter(P<0.001)than that in the control group(10.3 d).Successful one-time treatment was significantly more frequent(P<0.001)in the observation group(87%)than in the control group(7%).CONCLUSION Self-made guidewire loop snares were successfully used to treat gastrolithiasis, and were significantly more effective than foreign body forceps, snares, and other traditionalmethods.

Visual tracking for underwater sea cucumber via correlation filters

One of the essential techniques for using underwater robots to fish sea cucumbers is that the robots must track sea cucumbers using computer vision technology.Tracking underwater targets is a challenging task due to suspension,water absorption,and light scattering.This study proposed a simple but effective algorithm for sea cucumber tracking based on Kernelized Correlation Filters(KCF)framework.This method tracked the head and tail of the sea cucumber respectively and calculated the scale change according to the distance between the head and tail.The KCF method was improved on three strategies.First of all,the target was searched at the predicted position to improve accuracy.Secondly,an adaptive learning rate updating method based on the detection score of each frame was proposed.Finally,the adaptive size of the histogram of the oriented gradient(HOG)feature was used to balance the accuracy and efficiency.Experimental results showed that the algorithm had good tracking performance.

Efficacy of interleukin-17 inhibitors on radiographic progression in psoriatic arthritis:A systematic review and meta-analysis

To the Editor:Psoriatic arthritis(PsA)is a highly heterogeneous inflammatory arthritis.It occurs in up to 30%of patients with psoriasis and can have severe impacts on peripheral joints,spine,tendon insertions,and fingers. ^([1])Radiographic progression is currently the preferred method for assessing structural damage of PsA. ^([2])Biologic treatment options for PsA include tumor necrosis factor-αinhibitors(TNFi),interleukin-12/23 inhibitors,and interleukin-17(IL-17)inhibitors.The therapeutic effects of IL-17 inhibitors on structural damage were not consistent over multiple trials.Therefore,a systematic review and meta-analysis of the available randomized controlled trials(RCTs)was conducted to quantify the overall effect of IL-17 inhibitors on structural damage in PsA.This study was registered with PROSPERO(No.CRD42022301774).