Juvenile survival curves in a solitary ground squirrel with a prolonged hibernation:effects of individual characteristics,environment,and maternal investment

Juvenile survival is a key life-history influence on population dynamics and adaptive evolution.We analyzed the effects of individual chara-cteristics,early environment,and maternal investment on juvenile survival in a large solitary hibernating rodent-yellow ground squirrel Spermophilus fulvus using Cox mixed-effects models.Only 48%of weaned pups survived to dispersal and 17%survived to hibernation.Early life expectancy was primarily determined by individual characteristics and,to a lesser extent,by the early environment.The strongest and pos-itive predictor of juvenile survival was body mass which crucially affected mortality immediately after weaning.Males suffered higher mortality than females after the onset of dispersal;however,the overall difference between sexes was partly masked by high rates of mortality in the first days after emergence in both sexes.Later emerged juveniles had lower life expectancy than the earliest pups.The overall effect of local juvenile density was positive.Prolonged lactation did not enhance juvenile survival:Pups nursed longer survived shorter than the young nursed for a shorter period.Our findings support the hypothesis that females of S.fulvus cannot effectively regulate maternal expenditures to mitigate the effects of unfavorable conditions on their offspring.The strategy to deal with seasonal time constraints on life history in female S.fulvus suggests an early termination of maternal care at the cost of juvenile quality and survival.This female reproductive strategy corresponds to a"fast-solitary"life of folivorous desert-dwelling S.fulvus and other solitary ground squirrels with prolonged hibernation.

Treatment trends of muscle invasive bladder cancer: Evidence from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database, 1988 to 2013

Objective:Guidelines for muscle-invasive bladder cancer(MIBC)recommend that patients receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy with radical cystectomy as treatment over radical cystectomy alone.Though trends and practice patterns of MIBC have been defined using the National Cancer Database,data using the Surveillance,Epidemiology,and End Results(SEER)program have been poorly described.Methods:Using the SEER database,we collected data of MIBC according to the American Joint Commission on Cancer.We considered differences in patient demographics and tumor charac-teristics based on three treatment groups:chemotherapy(both adjuvant and neoadjuvant)with radical cystectomy,radical cystectomy,and chemoradiotherapy.Multinomial logistic regression was performed to compare likelihood ratios.Temporal trends were included for each treatment group.Kaplan-Meier curves were performed to compare cause-specific sur-vival.A Cox proportional-hazards model was utilized to describe predictors of survival.Results:Of 16728 patients,10468 patients received radical cystectomy alone,3236 received chemotherapy with radical cystectomy,and 3024 received chemoradiotherapy.Patients who received chemoradiotherapy over radical cystectomy were older and more likely to be African American;stage III patients tended to be divorced.Patients who received chemotherapy with radical cystectomy tended to be males;stage II patients were less likely to be Asian than Caucasian.Stage III patients were less likely to receive chemoradiotherapy as a treatment op-tion than stage II.Chemotherapy with radical cystectomy and chemoradiotherapy are both un-derutilized treatment options,though increasingly utilized.Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed significant differences between stage II and III tumors at each interval.A Cox proportional-hazards model showed differences in gender,tumor stage,treatment modality,age,andmarital status.Conclusion:Radical cystectomy alone is still the most commonly used treatment for muscle-invasive bladder cancer based on temporal trends.Significant disparities exist in those who receive radical cystectomy over chemoradiotherapy for treatment.

Analysis of Significant Genes and Pathways in Esophageal Cancer Based on Gene Expression Omnibus Database

Objective To screen antigen targets for immunotherapy by analyzing over-expressed genes,and to identify significant pathways and molecular mechanisms in esophageal cancer by using bioinformatic methods such as enrichment analysis,protein-protein interaction(PPI)network,and survival analysis based on the Gene Expression Omnibus(GEO)database.Methods By screening with highly expressed genes,we mainly analyzed proteins MUC13 and EPCAM with transmembrane domain and antigen epitope from TMHMM and IEDB websites.Significant genes and pathways associated with the pathogenesis of esophageal cancer were identified using enrichment analysis,PPI network,and survival analysis.Several software and platforms including Prism 8,R language,Cytoscape,DAVID,STRING,and GEPIA platform were used in the search and/or figure creation.Results Genes MUC13 and EPCAM were over-expressed with several antigen epitopes in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma(ESCC)tissue.Enrichment analysis revealed that the process of keratinization was focused and a series of genes were related with the development of esophageal cancer.Four genes including ALDH3A1,C2,SLC6A1,and ZBTB7C were screened with significant P value of survival curve.Conclusions Genes MUC13 and EPCAM may be promising antigen targets or biomarkers for esophageal cancer.Keratinization may greatly impact the pathogenesis of esophageal cancer.Genes ALDH3A1,C2,SLC6A1,and ZBTB7C may play important roles in the development of esophageal cancer.

Population dynamics and protection strategies of Litsea coreana Levl.var.sinensis with Guizhou Province in China as an example

Studying the dynamics of plant populations is crucial to the conservation and management of endangered plants.The diameter at breast height(DBH),tree height,crown width,and environmental factors of a total of 15 plots in five populations in Guizhou Province,China were measured in this study.The method of substituting diameter at breast height for age was used to divide the population into 7 age classes.The age structure,static life table,and relationship between the population characteristics and environmental factors of the Litsea coreana Levl.var.sinensis population were studied.Moreover,the time series model was used to predict the population dynamics.Results showed that the age structure of population in Zhengan County(Population ZA)had an inverted Jshape with abundant seedlings and insufficient middle-aged and elderly individuals.The age structures of populations in Daozhen County(Population DZ),Kaiyang County(KY),Meitan County(Population MT),and Xishui County(Population XS)were spindle-shaped with few young individuals and many middle-aged and elderly individuals.The mortality rate of each population fluctuated with the increase in age class,and the populations were extremely unstable.The survival curve was close to the Deevey III type,and the degree of deviation was related to the lack of young individuals.After the age stages II,IV,and VI,the number of aged plants in the different populations initially increased then decreased,and population stability was difficult to maintain.Redundancy analysis showed that the DBH,tree height and crown width of the population decreased with the increase of annual mean temperature,and the population density was restricted by soil nutrient conditions to a certain extent.The results of this work provide scientific basis for the conservation and sustainable utilization of natural populations of L.coreana var.sinensis in Guizhou Province,China.

Electroacupuncture in the repair of spinal cord injury:inhibiting the Notch signaling pathway and promoting neural stem cell proliferation

Electroacupuncture for the treatment of spinal cord iniury has a good dinical curative effect, but the underlying mechanism is unclear. In our experiments, the spinal cord of adult Sprague-Daw- ley rats was clamped for 60 seconds. Dazhui （GV14） and Mingmen （GV4） acupoints of rats were subjected to electroacupuncture. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay revealed that the expres- sion of serum inflammatory factors was apparently downregulated in rat models of spinal cord injury after electroacupuncture. Hematoxylin-eosin staining and immunohistochemistry results demonstrated that electroacupuncture contributed to the proliferation of neural stem cells in rat injured spinal cord, and suppressed their differentiation into astrocytes. Real-time quantitative PCR and western blot assays showed that electroacupuncture inhibited activation of the Notch signaling pathway induced by spinal cord injury. These findings indicate that electroacupuncture repaired the injured spinal cord by suppressing the Notch signaling pathway and promoting the proliferation of endogenous neural stem ceils.

Long-term prognosis in patients continuing taking antithrombotics after peptic ulcer bleeding

AIM To investigate the long-term prognosis in peptic ulcer patients continuing taking antithrombotics after ulcer bleeding, and to determine the risk factors that influence the prognosis. METHODS All clinical data of peptic ulcer patients treated from January 1, 2009 to January 1, 2014 were retrospectively collected and analyzed. Patients were divided into either a continuing group to continue taking antithrombotic drugs after ulcer bleeding or a discontinuing group to discontinue antithrombotic drugs. The primary outcome of follow-up in peptic ulcer bleeding patients was recurrent bleeding, and secondary outcome was death or acute cardiovascular disease occurrence. The final date of follow-up was December 31, 2014. Basic demographic data, complications, and disease classifications were analyzed and compared by t- or χ2-test. The number of patients that achieved various outcomes was counted and analyzed statistically. A survival curve was drawn using the Kaplan-Meier method, and the differencewas compared using the log-rank test. COX regression multivariate analysis was applied to analyze risk factors for the prognosis of peptic ulcer patients. RESULTS A total of 167 patients were enrolled into this study. As for the baseline information, differences in age, smoking, alcohol abuse, and acute cardiovascular diseases were statistically significant between the continuing and discontinuing groups(70.8 ± 11.4 vs 62.4 ± 12.0, P < 0.001; 8(8.2%) vs 15(21.7%), P < 0.05; 65(66.3%) vs 13(18.8%), P < 0.001). At the end of the study, 18 patients had recurrent bleeding and three patients died or had acute cardiovascular disease in the continuing group, while four patients had recurrent bleeding and 15 patients died or had acute cardiovascular disease in the discontinuing group. The differences in these results were statistically significant(P = 0.022, P = 0.000). The Kaplan-Meier survival curve indicated that the incidence of recurrent bleeding was higher in patients in the continuing group, and the risk of death and developing acute cardiovascular disease was higher in patients in the discontinuing group(log-rank test, P = 0.000 for both). Furthermore, COX regression multivariate analysis revealed that the hazard ratio(HR) for recurrent bleeding was 2.986(95%CI: 067-8.356, P = 0.015) in the continuing group, while HR for death or acute cardiovascular disease was 5.216(95%CI: 1.035-26.278, P = 0.028).CONCLUSION After the occurrence of peptic ulcer bleeding, continuing antithrombotics increases the risk of recurrent bleeding events, while discontinuing antithrombotics would increase the risk of death and developing cardiovascular disease. This suggests that clinicians should comprehensively consider the use of antithrombotics after peptic ulcer bleeding.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TELOMERE LENGTH AND RADIOSENSITIVITY IN VARIOUS HUMAN CANCER CELL LINES

Objective： To investigate the relationship between telomere length and radiosensitivity in various human cancer cell lines with the expectation to find a valid and common predictor of radiosensitivity for different cancers. Methods： Eight human cancer cell lines were used, including five human breast cancer cell lines （ZR-75-30, MCF-7, MDA-MB-435S, T-47-D, F539-1590）, two human larynx squamous carcinoma cell lines （Hep-2 and Hep-2R） and a human malignant glioma cell line （U251）. Among them, the radioresistant cell line Hep-2R was isolated and established from a radiosensitive human larynx squamous carcinoma cell line Hep-2 by our center. The radiobiological characteristics of the eight lines were analyzed by the method of colony-forming assay and the radiosensitivity parameters were calculated. Telomere length was analyzed by TRF （mean Telomere Restriction Fragments） length assay. Results： The radioresistance of Hep-2R cell line proved to be stable in long-term passaged cultures as well as in frozen samples. Radiosensitivity parameters are different among those lines. The SF2 values of Hep-2 and U251 are 0.4148 and 0.7520, respectively; The SF2 values of breast cancer cell lines are between those of Hep-2 and U251. The TRF of Hep-2R is 11.12Kb, longer than three times that of its parental counterpart. There is a positive correlation both between SF2 and TRF （r=-0.786, P〈0.05）, and between Do and TRF （r=0.905, P〈0.01）. Conclusion： It is concluded that radiosensitivity and telomere length （TRF） are negatively correlated, TRF could be a valid predictor for radiosensitivity.