Blood exosomal micro ribonucleic acid profiling reveals the complexity of hepatocellular carcinoma and identifies potential biomarkers for differential diagnosis

BACKGROUND Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide,but there is a shortage of effective biomarkers for its diagnosis.AIM To explore blood exosomal micro ribonucleic acids(miRNAs)as potential biomarkers for HCC diagnosis.RESULTS The principal component analysis suggested that daily alcohol consumption could alter the blood exosomal miRNA profiles of hepatitis B virus positive non-HCC patients through miR-3168 and miR-223-3p.The miRNA profiles also revealed the tumor stages of HCC patients.High expression of miR-455-5p and miR-30c-5p,which significantly correlated with better overall survival in tumor tissues,could also be detected in blood exosomes.Two pairs of miRNAs(miR-584-5p/miR-106-3p and miR-628-3p/miR-941)showed a 94.1%sensitivity and 68.4%specificity to differentiate HCC patients from non-HCC patients.The specificity of the combination was substantially influenced by alcohol consumption habits.CONCLUSION This study suggested that blood exosomal miRNAs can be used as new noninvasive diagnostic tools for HCC.However,their accuracy could be affected by tumor stage and alcohol consumption habits.

Analysis of the Food Consumption Mode and Its Influencing Factors in Kazakhstan

The excessive influence of human activity has highlighted the dilemma between maintaining a stable ecosystem while satisfying consumer demands for food.Kazakhstan has ecological problems caused by the conflict between humans and the land,grasslands and raising livestock.Therefore,this study of the food consumption modes in Kazakhstan aims to improve the sustainability of food consumption while maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.Based on the data of food consumption in Kazakhstan in 2012 and 2016,and through the delineation of consumption modes and the analysis of their changes,this study found three very different food consumption modes in Kazakhstan-one dominated by milk and cereals;one by milk,cereals and meat;and one by milk,cereals,meat,vegetables and fruit.These three modes were distributed separately in the northern,central and southern regions of Kazakhstan,respectively.It is worth noting that food consumption in Kazakhstan is developing into a pattern of milk,cereals and meat.Confronted with the different food consumption modes and their tendencies toward variations,the basic theories of food production need to be revised,and the exchange of information and cooperation between the different regions of Kazakhstan and relevant interests abroad should be encouraged in order to increase the well-being of local consumers.

A comparison of chemical MSW compositional data between China and Denmark

Chemical waste compositions are important for municipal solid waste management, as they determine the pollution potentials from different waste strategies. A representative dataset for chemical characteristics of individual waste fractions is frequently required to assess chemical waste composition, but it is usually reported in developed countries and not in developing countries. In this study, a dataset for Chinese waste was established through careful data screening and assessment, named as CN dataset. Meanwhile, a dataset for Danish waste（DK dataset） was also summarized based on previous studies. In order to quantitatively evaluate the reliabilities of CN and DK datasets, the chemical waste compositions in four Chinese cities were estimated by utilizing both of them, respectively. It is indicated that the usage of CN datasets led to significantly lower discrepancies from the actual values based on laboratory analysis in most cases. Within the datasets, the moisture contents of food waste, paper, textiles, and plastics, the carbon content of food waste, as well as the oxygen content of plastics would induce significant divergences, which should be paid special attention when gathering the information. In addition, the fractional waste compositions in China showed similar features with other developing countries but differ significantly with developed countries. Thus the above-mentioned conclusions could also be true in other developing countries.