Sex-and gender-specific disparities in colorectal cancer risk

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer morbidity both in men and in women.However,females over 65 years old show higher mortality and lower 5-year survival rate of colorectal cancer compared to their age-matched male counterparts.The objective of this review is to suggest gender-based innovations to improve colorectal cancer outcomes in females.Women have a higher risk of developing right-sided(proximal) colon cancer than men,which is associated with more aggressive form of neoplasia compared to left-sided(distal) colon cancer.Despite differences in tumor location between women and men,most of scientific researchers do not consider sex specificity for study design and interpretation.Also,colorectal cancer screening guidelines do not distinguish females from male,which may explain the higher frequency of more advanced neoplasia when tumors are first detected and false negative results in colonoscopy in females.Moreover,socio-cultural barriers within females are present to delay screening and diagnosis.Few studies,among studies that included both men and women,have reported sex-specific estimates of dietary risk factors which are crucial to establish cancer prevention guidelines despite sex-and genderassociated differences in nutrient metabolism and dietary practices.Furthermore,anti-cancer drug use for colorectal cancer treatment can cause toxicity to the reproductive system,and gender-specific recurrence and survival rates are reported.Therefore,by understanding sex-and gender-related biological and socio-cultural differences in colorectal cancer risk,gender-specific strategies for screening,treatment and prevention protocols can be established to reduce the mortality and improve the quality of life.

Prebiotic UG1601 mitigates constipation-related events in association with gut microbiota: A randomized placebo-controlled intervention study

BACKGROUND Constipation is a common functional gastrointestinal disorder and its etiology is multifactorial.Growing evidence suggests that intestinal dysbiosis is associated with the development of constipation.Prebiotics are subjected to bacterial fermentation in the gut to produce short-chain fatty acids(SCFAs),which can help relieve constipation symptoms.The prebiotic UG1601 consists of inulin,lactitol,and aloe vera gel,which are known laxatives,but randomized,controlled clinical trials that examine the effects of this supplement on gut microbiota composition are lacking.AIM To assess the efficacy of the prebiotic UG1601 in suppressing constipation-related adverse events in subjects with mild constipation.METHODS Adults with a stool frequency of less than thrice a week were randomized to receive either prebiotics or a placebo supplement for 4 wk.All participants provided their fecal and blood samples at baseline and at the end of intervention.Gastrointestinal symptoms and stool frequency were evaluated.The concentrations of serum endotoxemia markers and fecal SCFAs were determined.The relative abundance of SCFA-producing bacteria and the gut microbial community in the responders and non-responders in the prebiotics supplementation group were evaluated.RESULTS There were no significant differences in gastrointestinal symptoms between groups,although the prebiotic group showed greater symptom improvement.However,after prebiotic usage,serum cluster of differentiation(CD)14 and lipopolysaccharide(LPS)concentrations were significantly decreased(CD14,P=0.012;LPS,P<0.001).The change in LPS concentration was significantly larger in the prebiotic group than in the placebo group(P<0.001).Fecal SCFAs concentrations did not differ between groups,while the relative abundance of Roseburia hominis,a major butyrate producer,was significantly increased in the prebiotic group(P=0.045).The abundances of the phylum Firmicutes and the family Lachnospiraceae(phylum Firmicutes,class Clostridia)(P=0.009)were decreased in the responders within the prebiotic group.In addition,the proportions of the phylum Firmicutes,the class Clostridia,and the order Clostridiales were inversely correlated with several fecal SCFAs(P<0.05).CONCLUSION Alterations in gut microbiota composition,including a decrease in the phylum Firmicutes and an increase in butyrate-producing bacteria,following prebiotic UG1601 supplementation might help alleviate symptom scores and endotoxemia.

Circulating levels of vitamin D and colorectal adenoma: A case-control study and a meta-analysis

AIM: To examine the association between circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels and colorectal adenoma in a case-control study and a meta-analysis. METHODS: We conducted a matched case-control study(112 cases and 112 matched controls) and combined 15 studies, including our study, in a metaanalysis. The study-specific odds ratios(ORs) and 95% confidence intervals(CIs) were pooled using a randomeffects model. In total, 5454 colorectal adenomas and 6656 controls were included in the meta-analysis. RESULTS: In a meta-analysis including 14 previous studies and our study, we observed a significant inverse association between circulating 25(OH)D levels and colorectal adenoma(OR = 0.68; 95%CI: 0.54-0.82) when comparing the highest category with the lowest category. Stratification by adenoma location(proximal or distal adenoma) showed similar estimates. When we stratified by study region, the ORs(95%CIs) were 0.70(0.52-0.88) in the US and 0.66(0.34-0.97) in Asia. CONCLUSION: These data suggest an inverse association between circulating 25(OH) Dlevels and colorectal adenoma in both Western and Asian populations.

Let-7 miRNA and CDK4 siRNA co-encapsulated in Herceptin-conjugated liposome for breast cancer stem cells

Recently,breast cancer stem cells(BCSCs)have rapidly emerged as a novel target for the therapy of breast cancer as they play critical roles in tumor growth,maintenance,metastasis,and recurrence.Let-7 miRNA is known to be downregulated in a variety of cancers,especially BCSCs,whereas CDK4 being overexpressed in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2(HER-2)overexpressing tumor cells.In this study,let-7 miRNA and CDK4-specific siRNA were chosen as therapeutic agents and co-encapsulated in Herceptinconjugated cationic liposomes for breast cancer therapy.Particle size,zeta potential,and encapsulation efficacy of mi/siRNA-loaded PEGylated liposome conjugated with Herceptin(Her-PEG-Lipo-mi/siRNA)were 176 nm,28.1 mV,and 99.7%±0.1%,respectively.Enhanced cellular uptake(86%)was observed by fluorescence microscopy when SK-BR-3 cells were treated with Her-PEG-Lipo-mi/siRNA.Also,the increased amount of let-7a mRNA and decreased amount of cellular CDK4 mRNA were observed by qRT-PCR when SK-BR-3 cells were treated with Her-PEG-Lipo-mi/siRNA,which was even more so when SK-BR-3 stem cells were used(197 vs 768 times increase for let-7a,62%vs 68%decrease for CDK4).Growth inhibition(65%)andmigration arrest(0.5%)of the cellswere achieved by the treatment of the cells with Her-PEG-Lipo-mi/siRNA,but not withmi/siRNA complex or other formulations.In conclusion,an efficient liposomal delivery system for the combination of miRNA and siRNA to target the BCSCs was developed and could be used as an efficacious therapeuticmodality for breast cancer.

Medical Image Compression Method Using Lightweight Multi-Layer Perceptron for Mobile Healthcare Applications

As video compression is one of the core technologies required to enable seamless medical data streaming in mobile healthcare applications,there is a need to develop powerful media codecs that can achieve minimum bitrates while maintaining high perceptual quality.Versatile Video Coding(VVC)is the latest video coding standard that can provide powerful coding performance with a similar visual quality compared to the previously developed method that is High Efficiency Video Coding(HEVC).In order to achieve this improved coding performance,VVC adopted various advanced coding tools,such as flexible Multi-type Tree(MTT)block structure which uses Binary Tree(BT)split and Ternary Tree(TT)split.However,VVC encoder requires heavy computational complexity due to the excessive Ratedistortion Optimization(RDO)processes used to determine the optimalMTT block mode.In this paper,we propose a fast MTT decision method with two Lightweight Neural Networks(LNNs)using Multi-layer Perceptron(MLP),which are applied to determine the early termination of the TT split within the encoding process.Experimental results show that the proposed method significantly reduced the encoding complexity up to 26%with unnoticeable coding loss compared to the VVC TestModel(VTM).

Real-Time Multimodal Biometric Authentication of Human Using Face Feature Analysis

As multimedia data sharing increases,data security in mobile devices and its mechanism can be seen as critical.Biometrics combines the physiological and behavioral qualities of an individual to validate their character in real-time.Humans incorporate physiological attributes like a fingerprint,face,iris,palm print,finger knuckle print,Deoxyribonucleic Acid(DNA),and behavioral qualities like walk,voice,mark,or keystroke.The main goal of this paper is to design a robust framework for automatic face recognition.Scale Invariant Feature Transform(SIFT)and Speeded-up Robust Features(SURF)are employed for face recognition.Also,we propose a modified Gabor Wavelet Transform for SIFT/SURF(GWT-SIFT/GWT-SURF)to increase the recognition accuracy of human faces.The proposed scheme is composed of three steps.First,the entropy of the image is removed using Discrete Wavelet Transform(DWT).Second,the computational complexity of the SIFT/SURF is reduced.Third,the accuracy is increased for authentication by the proposed GWT-SIFT/GWT-SURF algorithm.A comparative analysis of the proposed scheme is done on real-time Olivetti Research Laboratory(ORL)and Poznan University of Technology(PUT)databases.When compared to the traditional SIFT/SURF methods,we verify that the GWT-SIFT achieves the better accuracy of 99.32%and the better approach is the GWT-SURF as the run time of the GWT-SURF for 100 images is 3.4 seconds when compared to the GWT-SIFT which has a run time of 4.9 seconds for 100 images.

Landau-Ginzburg/Calabi-Yau Correspondence via Wall-Crossing

Landau-Ginzburg/Calabi-Yau correspondence claims the equivalence between the Gromov-Witten theory and the Fan-Jarvis-Ruan-Witten theory. The authors survey recently developed wall-crossing approach to the Landau-Ginzburg/Calabi-Yau correspondence for a quintic threefold.

Long-term effects of various types of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors on changes in glomerular filtration rate in Korea

Few long-term follow-up studies have compared the changes in renal function according to the type of statin used in Korea.We compared the long-term effects of statin intensity and type on the changes in the glomerular filtration rate(GFR).We extracted data of patients who took statin for the first time.We analyzed whether or not different statins affect the changes in GFR at 3 months after baseline and 4 years after.We included 3678 patients and analyzed the changes in GFR.The GFR decreased by 3.2%±0.4%on average 4 years after the first statin prescription,indicating statistically significant deterioration(from 83.5±0.4 mL/min/1.73 m2 to 79.9±0.4 mL/min/1.73 m2,P<0.001).When comparing the GFR among different statins,significant differences were observed between atorvastatin and fluvastatin(−5.3%±0.7%vs.1.2%±2.2%,P<0.05)and between atorvastatin and simvastatin(−5.3%±0.7%vs.−0.7%±0.8%,P<0.05).In pitavastatin(odds ratio[OR]=0.64,95%confidence interval[CI]=0.46-0.87,P<0.005)and simvastatin(OR=0.69,95%CI=0.53-0.91,P<0.008),the GFR rate that decreased by<60 mL/min/1.73 m2 was significantly lower than that of atorvastatin.Regarding long-term statin intake,GFR changed with the type of statin.This work is the first in Korea to compare each statin in terms of changes in the GFR after the statin prescription.

On-skin and tele-haptic application of mechanically decoupled taxel array on dynamically moving and soft surfaces

To accurately probe the tactile information on soft skin,it is critical for the pressure sensing array to be free of noise and inter-taxel crosstalk,irrespective of the measurement condition.However,on dynamically moving and soft surfaces,which are common conditions for on-skin and robotic applications,obtaining precise measurement without compromising the sensing performance is a significant challenge due to mechanical coupling between the sensors and with the moving surface.In this work,multi-level architectural design of micro-pyramids and trapezoid-shaped mechanical barrier array was implemented to enable accurate spatiotemporal tactile sensing on soft surfaces under dynamic deformations.Trade-off relationship between limit of detection and bending insensitivity was discovered,which was overcome by employing micropores in barrier structures.Finally,in-situ pressure mapping on dynamically moving soft surfaces without signal distortion is demonstrated while human skin and/or soft robots are performing complicated tasks such as reading Braille and handling the artificial organs.

Protein Arginine Methyltransferase 1 Ablation in Motor Neurons Causes Mitochondrial Dysfunction Leading to Age-related Motor Neuron Degeneration with Muscle Loss

Neuromuscular dysfunction is tightly associated with muscle wasting that occurs with age or due to degenerative diseases.However,the molecular mechanisms underlying neuromuscular dysfunction are currently unclear.Recent studies have proposed important roles of Protein arginine methyltransferase 1(Prmt1)in muscle stem cell function and muscle maintenance.In the current study,we set out to determine the role of Prmt1 in neuromuscular function by generating mice with motor neuron-specific ablation of Prmt1(mnKO)using Hb9-Cre.mnKO exhibited age-related motor neuron degeneration and neuromuscular dysfunction leading to premature muscle loss and lethality.Prmt1 deficiency also impaired motor function recovery and muscle reinnervation after sciatic nerve injury.The transcriptome analysis of aged mnKO lumbar spinal cords revealed alterations in genes related to inflammation,cell death,oxidative stress,and mitochondria.Consistently,mnKO lumbar spinal cords of sciatic nerve injury model or aged mice exhibited elevated cellular stress response in motor neurons.Furthermore,Prmt1 inhibition in motor neurons elicited mitochondrial dysfunction.Our findings demonstrate that Prmt1 ablation in motor neurons causes agerelated motor neuron degeneration attributing to muscle loss.Thus,Prmt1 is a potential target for the prevention or intervention of sarcopenia and neuromuscular dysfunction related to aging.