Similarities of SNARC, cognitive Simon, and visuomotor Simon effects in terms of response time distributions, hand-stimulus proximity, and temporal dynamics.

The spatial-numerical association of response codes (SNARC) and Simon effects are attributed to the same type of conflict according to dimensional overlap (DO) theory: the congruency of task-irrelevant spatial information and the selected response (e.g., left or right). However, previous studies have yielded inconsistent results regarding the relationship between the two effects, with some studies reporting an interaction while others did not. This discrepancy may be attributed to the use of different types of Simon effects (visuomotor and cognitive Simon effects) in these studies, as the spatial codes associated with these two types of Simon effects are distinct (exogenous and endogenous, respectively). The aim of this study was to address these inconsistencies and gain a better understanding of the similarities and differences in spatial representations generated by spatial location, semantic information, and numerical information. We attempted to classify the relationships among the SNARC and Simon effects. Specifically, the visuomotor Simon, cognitive Simon, and SNARC effects were compared from three perspectives: the response time (RT) distribution, hand-stimulus proximity, and temporal dynamics (with the drift diffusion model; DDM). Regarding RTs, the results showed that the visuomotor Simon effect decreased with increased values of RT bins, while the cognitive Simon and SNARC effects increased. Additionally, the visuomotor Simon effect was the only effect influenced by hand-stimulus proximity, with a stronger effect observed in the hand-proximal condition than in the hand-distal condition. Regarding the DDM results, only the visuomotor Simon effect exhibited a higher drift rate and longer non-decision time in the incompatible condition than in the compatible condition. Conversely, both the SNARC and cognitive Simon effects exhibited an inverse pattern regarding the drift rate and no significant difference in non-decision time between the two conditions. These findings suggest that the SNARC effect is more similar to the cognitive Simon effect than the visuomotor Simon effect, indicating that the endogenous spatial-numerical representation of the SNARC effect might share an underlying processing mechanism with the endogenous spatial-semantic representation of the cognitive Simon effect but not with the exogenous location representation of the visuomotor Simon effect. Our results further demonstrate that the origin of spatial information could impact the classification of conflicts and supplement DO theory.

Predictive value of the second-trimester fibronectin concentration for severe preeclampsia: A prospective nested case-control study in China.

AIM: To evaluate the value of the second-trimester fibronectin concentration, alone and in combination with other markers (e.g., mean arterial pressure, inhibin A), in the identification of women who subsequently develop severe preeclampsia. METHODS: For this prospective nested case-control study, serum from pregnant women (gestational age 15-22 weeks) who underwent routine Down syndrome screening was analyzed. The women were tracked to delivery and assigned to the severe preeclampsia or control group, according to whether they developed severe preeclampsia. Each woman who later developed severe preeclampsia was paired with five healthy women with pregnancies of similar gestational age (± 1 week). Fibronectin, inhibin A, human chorionic gonadotropin, placental growth factor, cysteine, and homocysteine concentrations were measured in 44 cases in the severe preeclampsia group and 220 cases in the control group. The body mass index and mean arterial pressure were calculated. All results were compared between the two groups. Logistic regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic curve construction were conducted for markers differing significantly between two groups. RESULTS: The second-trimester fibronectin value was positively correlated with severe preeclampsia and predicted 67.7% of severe preeclampsia cases. The combination of fibronectin, inhibin A, and mean arterial pressure predicted 76.7% of severe preeclampsia cases; predictive values for combinations of fibronectin with mean arterial pressure or inhibin A were 75.4% and 74.6%, respectively. Combination with these other markers increased the predictive value of fibronectin. In addition, fibronectin was more powerful for the late severe preeclampsia and severe preeclampsia without fetal growth restriction subgroups. CONCLUSIONS: The second-trimester fibronectin concentration can be used to predict severe preeclampsia.

[Textual research on Wumei Pills].

Wumei Pills originates from Treatise on Cold Damage. A total of 128 records on it were screened out, involving 102 ancient books, 110 modern clinical studies, and 48 diseases. According to the records, the prescription origin, prescription composition, prescription explanation, main indications, dosage, medicinal processing, preparation, and usage, contraindications, and mo-dern clinical applications were analyzed. The result shows that Wumei Pills is composed of Mume Fructus, Asari Radix et Rhizoma, Zingiberis Rhizoma, Coptidis Rhizoma, Angelicae Sinensis Radix, Aconiti Lateralis Radix Praeparata, Zanthoxyli Pericarpium, Cinnamomi Ramulus, Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma, and Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex. The main indications expand over time, and it can be applied to diarrhea, dysentery, retching, chest pain, cough, Qi ascending from lower abdomen, and reversal cold of hands and feet with the syndromes of cold and heat in complexity and hyperactivity of liver Yang and spleen deficiency. According to modern clinical records, it is mainly used for the treatment of diseases in the digestive system, nervous system, endocrine system, metabolic system, etc., such as ulcerative colitis, diarrhea, insomnia, and type 2 diabetes mellitus. The dosage of Wumei Pills has gradually reduced from the Han Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, but the proportions of the medicinals has remained basically unchanged. In this prescription, Aconiti Lateralis Radix Praeparata and Zanthoxyli Pericarpium need to be processed, while the rest medicinals are used in raw form. As for the medicinal selection, Zanthoxyli Pericarpium is examinable. Asari Radix et Rhizoma is derived from Aristolochiaceae, which is toxic to the liver and kidney, so the dosage should be kept in a safe range. In summary, Wumei Pills has great clinical value. The textual research on Wumei Pills helps clarify the development of Wumei Pills, which provides evidence in-depth research and development and rational clinical application of Wumei Pills.

Integrated analyses identify miR-34c-3p/MAGI3 axis for the Warburg metabolism in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Activated oncogenes and loss of tumor suppressors contribute to reprogrammed energy metabolism and induce aerobic glycolysis, also known as Warburg effect. MicroRNAs are profoundly implicated in human malignancies by inhibiting translation of multiple mRNA targets. Using hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) molecular profiles from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), we identified a handful of dysregulated microRNA in HCC glycolysis, especially miR-34c-3p. Antagonization of miR-34c-3p inhibited the lactate production, glucose consumption, extracellular acidification rate (ECAR), and aggressive proliferation in HCC cells. Hijacking glycolysis by 2-deoxy-d-glucose or galactose largely abrogated the suppressive effects of miR-34c-3p inhibition in HCC. Membrane associated guanylate kinase, WW, and PDZ domain containing 3 (MAGI3) is then identified as a direct functional target of miR-34c-3p in regulating HCC glycolysis and oncogenic activities. Mechanistically, MAGI3 physically interacted with ß-catenin to regulate its transcriptional activity and c-Myc expression, which further facilitates the Warburg effect by increasing expression of glycolytic genes including HK2, PFKL, and LDHA. Moreover, overexpressed miR-34c-3p and reduced MAGI3 predicted poor clinical outcome and was closely associated with the maximum standard uptake value (SUVmax) in HCC patients who received preoperative 18 F-FDG PET/CT. Our findings elucidate critical several microRNAs implicated in HCC glycolysis and reveal a novel function of miR-34c-3p/MAGI3 axis in Warburg effect through regulating ß-catenin activity.

Sialic acid-engineered mesoporous polydopamine dual loaded with ferritin gene and SPIO for achieving endogenous and exogenous synergistic T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging of HCC.

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignant tumor with poor prognosis. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is one of the most effective imaging methods for the early diagnosis of HCC. However, the current MR contrast agents are still facing challenges in the early diagnosis of HCC due to their relatively low sensitivity and biosafety. Thus, the development of effective MR agents is highly needed for the early diagnosis of HCC. RESULTS: Herein, we fabricated an HCC-targeted nanocomplexes containing SPIO-loaded mesoporous polydopamine (MPDA@SPIO), sialic acid (SA)-modified polyethyleneimine (SA-PEI), and alpha-fetoprotein regulated ferritin gene (AFP-Fth) which was developed for the early diagnosis of HCC. It was found that the prepared nanocomplexes (MPDA@SPIO/SA-PEI/AFP-Fth) has an excellent biocompatibility towards the liver cells. In vivo and in vivo studies revealed that the transfection of AFP-Fth gene in hepatic cells significantly upregulated the expression level of ferritin, thereby resulting in an enhanced contrast on T2-weighted images via the formed endogenous MR contrast. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggested that MPDA@SPIO/SA-PEI/AFP-Fth had a superior ability to enhance the MR contrast of T2-weighted images of tumor region than the other preparations, which was due to its HCC-targeted ability and the combined T2 contrast effect of endogenous ferritin and exogenous SPIO. Our study proved that MPDA@SPIO/SA-PEI/AFP-Fth nanocomplexes could be used as an effective MR contrast agent to detect HCC in the early stage.

Collagen Type X Alpha 1 (COL10A1) Contributes to Cell Proliferation, Migration, and Invasion by Targeting Prolyl 4-Hydroxylase Beta Polypeptide (P4HB) in Breast Cancer.

BACKGROUND Breast cancer, a common malignant tumor, has been considered as the leading cause of cancer-related death in women. Collagen type X alpha 1 (COL10A1) is overexpressed in breast cancer. The current study was designed to determine the functional involvement and regulatory mechanism of COL10A1 on the growth and metastasis of breast cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS COL10A1 and Prolyl 4-hydroxylase beta polypeptide (P4HB) expressions in normal tissues and tumor tissues of breast cancer patients were obtained from the GEPIA dataset. COL10A1 and P4HB levels in breast cancer cell lines were detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and western blot analysis. Furthermore, the interaction between COL10A1 and P4HB was confirmed by co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) assay. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and colony formation assay were applied to evaluate cell proliferation and clone-forming abilities of breast cancer cells. In addition, wound healing assay and transwell assay were performed to measure cell migration and invasion capabilities, respectively, in breast cancer. RESULTS The GEPIA dataset presented overexpressed COL10A1 and P4HB in tumor tissues of breast cancer patients. COL10A1 and P4HB expression levels were greatly upregulated in breast cancer cell lines. In addition, COL10A1 could directly interact with P4HB. Functionally, overexpressed COL10A1 boosted the proliferation and metastasis of breast cancer cells and silenced COL10A1 impeded the progression of breast cancer. More importantly, knockdown of P4HB weakened the promoting effects of overexpressed COL10A1 on cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in breast cancer. CONCLUSIONS COL10A1 promotes the malignant progression of breast cancer by upregulating P4HB expression, indicating that COL10A1 functions as an oncogene in breast cancer.

Effects of sevoflurane exposure on apoptosis and cell cycle of peripheral blood lymphocytes, and immunologic function.

BACKGROUND: Waste anesthetic gases (WAGs) leaked from new-type halogenated inhalational anesthetics such as sevoflurane have been were reported to pose a risk for the health of operating room personnel. The effects of WAGs on peripheral blood lymphocytes, however, remain yet controversial. The present study was undertaken to examine the effects of occupational sevoflurane exposure on the peripheral blood lymphocytes of medical personnel who work in the operating room. METHODS: A cohort of 56 medical residents were divided into exposed group (n = 28) and control group (non-exposed group) (n = 28). Gas chromatography was used to measure the concentration of sevoflurane in the medical resident's breathing zone during surgeries under inhalation anesthesia in the exposure group. The gas collection lasted an hour. Peripheral blood lymphocytes were isolated from venous blood, and then apoptosis and cell cycle were analyzed by flow cytometry. EDTA-anticoagulated whole blood was harvested to analyze the lymphocyte subsets by flow cytometry. Immunoglobulins (IgA, IgM, IgG) were quantified by immunoturbidimetry. RESULTS: The average concentration of sevoflurane in the exposed group was 1.03 ppm with a range from 0.03 ppm to 2.24 ppm. No significant effects were found on the apoptosis rates or cell cycles of peripheral blood lymphocytes in the exposed group relative to the control group (P > 0.05). Similarly, there were no significant differences in the lymphocyte subsets or the levels of immunoglobulins (IgA, IgM, IgG) between the two groups (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Occupational exposure to low-level sevoflurane has no significant effect on the peripheral blood lymphocytes of operating room staff, but this conclusion needs to be confirmed by multicenter and long-term follow-up studies with large samples. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER AND DATE OF REGISTRATION: ChiCTR2000040772 , December 9, 2020 (Retrospective registration).

The correlation between CT features and insulin resistance levels in patients with T2DM complicated with primary pulmonary tuberculosis.

The aim is to investigate the correlation between computed tomography (CT) features and insulin resistance levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) complicated with primary pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). Nearly, 268 untreated PTB patients complicated with T2DM were divided into two groups according to the optimal cutoff value of HOMA-IR score for the Chinese population: HOMA-IR ≤ 2.69 (Group I: 74 patients), >2.69 (Group II: 194 patients). The basic characteristics and changes of CT manifestations were analyzed. In the two groups, the detection rate of large segmented leafy shadow was 39.2% and 78.9%; the air bronchogram sign detection rate was 40.5% and 80.9%; the discovery rate of mouth-eaten cavity was 33.8% and 73.7%; the thin-walled cavity detection rate was 2.7% and 16.0%; the rate of multiple cavities was 35.1% and 69.6%; and bronchial tuberculosis was found in 4.1% and 35.6%, respectively. The detection rates of lesions in Group II were significantly higher than in Group I (p < .05). HOMA-IR was found independently associated with large segmented leafy shadow, air bronchial sign, thin-walled cavity, and bronchial tuberculosis. The level of insulin resistance can effectively reflect the severity of PTB patients with T2DM. CT scan can directly provide image information in clinics. These two examinations can guide clinicians to accurately formulate subsequent treatment plans.

Identification of functional lncRNAs based on competing endogenous RNA network in osteoblast differentiation.

Adult human mesenchymal stem cells have the potential to differentiate into osteoblast, which plays crucial roles in bone regeneration and repair. Some transcriptional factors (TFs), such as BMP-2 and RUNX2, have been demonstrated to control the differentiation processes. It is important to discover more key regulators in osteoblast differentiation. Recently, some studies found long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) participating in osteoblast differentiation, such as MALAT1, DANCR, and ANCR. In this study, we performed a network-based computational analysis to investigate the lncRNA-messenger RNA (mRNA) crosstalks via integrating microRNA (miRNA)-RNA interactions, gene coexpression, and protein-protein interactions. First, multiple topology analyses were performed to osteoblast-differentiation-related lncRNA-mRNA network (ODLMN). Several lncRNAs with central topology structures were identified as key regulators. Results showed that these lncRNAs participated in osteoblast differentiation via phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), mitogen-activated protein kinase, and Ras signals. Previous studies have demonstrated that lncRNAs exert functions by involving in close modules. Second, after performing module searching in ODLMN, two functional modules were identified, which played crucial roles through involving in PI3K/protein kinase B, cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate, and hypoxia-inducible factor 1 pathways. Third, a subset of core lncRNA-TF crosstalks that might form feedback loops to control the biological processes in osteoblast differentiation was identified. These core lncRNA-TF feedback loops showed more TF binding affinity than other lncRNAs. All these results can help us to uncover the molecular mechanism and provide new targets for bone regeneration and repair.

TSG101 promotes the proliferation, migration and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma cells by regulating the PEG10.

The tumour susceptibility gene 101 (TSG101) is reported to play important roles in the development and progression of several human cancers. However, its potential roles and underlined mechanisms in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are still needed to be further clarified. In the present study, we reported that knock down of TSG101 suppressed the proliferation, migration and invasion of HCC cells, while overexpression of TSG101 facilitated them. Molecularly, the results revealed that knock down of TSG101 significantly decreased the cell cycle related regulatory factor p53 and p21. In another point, knock down of TSG101 also obviously decreased the level of metallopeptidase inhibitor TIMP1 (Tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases 1), which results in inhibition of MMP2, MMP7 and MMP9. In contrast, overexpression of TSG101 had opposite effects. The iTRAQ proteomics analysis identified that oncogenic protein PEG10 (Paternally expressed gene 10) might be a potential downstream target of TSG101. Further investigation showed that TSG101 interacted with PEG10 and protected it from proteasomal degradation thereby regulating the expression of p53, p21 and MMPs. Finally, we found that both TSG101 and PEG10 proteins are up-regulated and presented a direct correlation in HCC patients. In conclusion, these results suggest that TSG101 is up-regulated in human HCC patients, which may accelerate the proliferation, migration and invasion of HCC cells through regulating PEG10.

Early prediction of preeclampsia and small-for-gestational-age via multi-marker model in Chinese pregnancies: a prospective screening study.

BACKGROUND: Recent evidence suggests early screening of preeclampsia and small-for-gestational-age (SGA) would benefit pregnancies followed by subsequent prophylactic use of aspirin. Multi-marker models have shown capability of predicting preeclampsia and SGA in first trimester. Yet the clinical feasibility of combined screening model for Chinese pregnancies has not been fully assessed. The aim of this study is to evaluate the applicability of a multi-marker screening model to the prediction of preeclampsia and SGA in first trimester particularly among Chinese population. METHODS: Three thousand two hundred seventy pregnancies meeting the inclusion criteria took first-trimester screening of preeclampsia and SGA. A prior risk based on maternal characteristics was evaluated, and a posterior risk was assessed by combining prior risk with multiple of median (MoM) values of mean arterial pressure (MAP), serum placental growth factor (PLGF) and pregnancy associated plasma protein A (PAPP-A). Both risks were calculated by Preeclampsia PREDICTOR™ software, Perkin Elmer. Screening performance of prior and posterior risks for early and late preeclampsia by using PREDICTOR software was shown by Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) curves. The estimation of detection rates and false positive rates of delivery with both preeclampsia and SGA was made. RESULTS: Eight cases developed early preeclampsia (0.24%) and 35 were diagnosed as late preeclampsia (1.07%). Five with early preeclampsia and ten with late preeclampsia later delivered SGA newborns (0.46%); 84 without preeclampsia gave birth to the SGAs (2.57%). According to ROC curves, posterior risks performed better than prior risks in terms of preeclampsia, especially in early preeclampsia. At 10% false positive rate, detection rates of early and late preeclampsia were 87.50 and 48.57%, detection rates of early and late SGA were 41.67 and 28.00%, respectively. For SGA, detection rates in cases with preeclampsia were much higher than those in absence of it. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that combined screening model could be useful for predicting early preeclampsia in Chinese pregnancies. Furthermore, the performance of SGA screening by same protocol is strongly associated with preeclampsia.

FGFR4 Links Glucose Metabolism and Chemotherapy Resistance in Breast Cancer.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Poor response to chemotherapy leads to the relapse and metastatic progression of tumors. Reprogrammed glucose metabolism is one of the important hallmarks of cancer that facilitates cancer cell survival, proliferation and chemoresistance. However, the precise fate of glucose metabolism and its role in therapy responsiveness in cancers remains largely unexplored. METHODS: The glycolytic phenotype of doxorubicin (ADR)-resistant breast cancer cells and their parental cells was assessed by measuring glucose uptake, lactate release, and extracellular acidification rate (ECAR). Protein expression was detected by Western blotting analysis and mRNA expression was detected using q-PCR. Cell survival ratio was determined by the cell counting kit 8 assay. The role of fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 (FGFR4) in glycolysis, chemoresistance, and the underlying mechanisms were studied by using gene expression microarray and short hairpin RNA-mediated gene knockdown. RESULTS: We found that glycolytic flux are increased in two doxorubicin (ADR)-resistant breast cancer cell lines compared with their parental wild type cells, as demonstrated by increased glucose uptake, lactate release, and extracellular acidification rate (ECAR). By gene expression microarray, we identified FGFR4 as a critical modulator of ADR resistance and enhanced glucose metabolism. Genetic silencing of FGFR4 increased the chemosensitivity and suppressed the enhanced glycolytic flux in ADR-resistant cells. Mechanistically, activation of FGFR4 signaling in ADR-resistant cells led to the phosphorylation of FGF receptor substrate 2 (FRS2) and further activated the downstream MAPK/ERK signaling. Pharmacological inhibition of FGFR4-FRS2-ERK signaling pathway significantly blocked the chemoresistant and glycolytic phenotypes of ADR-resistant cells. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that high levels of FGFR4 can increase glucose metabolism and lead to chemoresistance in breast cancer and reveal the mechanistic basis for targeting FGFR4 as a therapeutic opportunity for chemoresistant tumors.

Modified device for fluid percussion injury in rodents.

Fluid percussion (FP) injury model is a popular animal model of traumatic brain injury (TBI), but still there are some issues need to be addressed. To increase the validity and reliability of this technique, we adapted the FP device using electromagnetic protractor, stainless-steel cylinder, changing pressure transducer position, and foam pads to adjust the parameters of FP pulse. Besides, the adjusted FP device is more automatic. The FP pulse is promptly measured and displayed in a graphic user interface software. The modified device resulted in reliable FP pulse. The accuracy of the pendulum leveling was improved with using the electromagnetic protractor with slots. We then collected behavioral, cognition, electrophysiological, and immunohistochemical data to verify the percussion effects in TBI mice. Lateral fluid percussion injury (FPI) or sham treatment was administered at the right frontal motorsensory region of male C57BL/6J mice. TBI mice showed evident motor, cognitive, and functional impairments, characterized by evaluation of neurological, righting, geotaxis and cliff aversion reflexes, limb asymmetrical use, rotarod running, and Morris water maze testing. The neurobehavioral damages were scaled with histopathological findings. Further, the overall firing rates and theta powers in hippocampal CA1 were significantly reduced in TBI mice compared to sham mice at Days 2 and 3 after electrode implanting. The adapted device induced effects on behavior and biology in mice that agree with existing models. These findings confirmed the validity of adjustments, and the modified device may boost the interest in TBI studies.

[Analysis of adverse reactions' factors to Danhong injection--nested case control study by using hospital centralized monitoring data].

To study the adverse reactions' factors to Danhong injection in the real world. A multi-center, large sample and prospective hospital centralized monitoring method was adopted, and 30 888 cases of Danhong injection from 37 national 3A hospitals were collected to carry out a nested case control design study. These cases were divided into adverse reaction group and non-adverse group. Single factor logistic regression and multiple factor logistic regression were used to analyze data, and investigate the correlation between adverse reaction and gender, allergy history, methods of administration, and combined drug use. One hundred and eight cases of adverse reactions in 30 888 patients were determined, with an incidence of 0.35%. The results showed that Danhong injection combined with other medication(potassium mendoxine magnesium, thymic peptide, celecoxib, fumarate bisoprolol) with history of adverse reactions including scephalosporin allergy and proprietary Chinese medicine allergies had more adverse reactions than the control group(P<0.05, estimated coefficient>0), indicating that these six factors were the risk factors for the adverse reaction of Danhong injection. The adverse reaction of Danhong injection combined with the aspirin was less than that in the control group(P<0.05, estimated coefficient<0), indicating that the aspirin was a non-risk factor for the adverse reaction of Danhong injection. All the above results indicate that the adverse factors to Danhong injection include scephalosporin allergy, patent Chinese medicine allergy, Danhong injection combined with medication(potassium mendoxine magnesium, thymic peptide, celecoxib, fumarate bisoprolol), suggesting special attention shall be paid in clinical application.

Effect of HSPC016 gene expression on the aggregative growth of dermal papillae cells.

In previous studies, HSPC016 was identified as a differentially expressed gene in dermal papilla cells (DPC) with aggregative behaviour. To clarify its role in the regulation of DPC, the recombinant HSPC016 protein was expressed using the Pichia pastoris expression system, and three small interfering ribonucleic acid duplexes (siRNA) were designed and transfected into DPC. Results showed that DPC with the HSPC016 gene inhibited, exhibit non-aggregative behaviour and grow much slower than normal DPC, and that the recombinant HSPC016 protein could promote the proliferation of high-passage DPC and induce its aggregative behaviour.

Subset selection strategy-based pancreas segmentation in CT.

Background: Although convolutional neural network (CNN)-based methods have been widely used in medical image analysis and have achieved great success in many medical segmentation tasks, these methods suffer from various imbalance problems, which reduce the accuracy and validity of segmentation results. Methods: We proposed two simple but effective sample balancing methods, positive-negative subset selection (PNSS) and hard-easy subset selection (HESS) for foreground-to-background imbalance and hard-to-easy imbalance problems in medical segmentation tasks. The PNSS method gradually reduces negative-easy slices to enhance the contribution of positive pixels, and the HESS method enhances the iteration of hard slices to assist the model in paying greater attention to the feature extraction of hard samples. Results: The proposed methods greatly improved the segmentation accuracy of the worst case (samples with the worst segmentation results) on the public National Institutes of Health (NIH) clinical center pancreatic segmentation dataset, and the minimum dice similarity coefficient (DSC) was improved by nearly 5%. Furthermore, performance gains were also observed with the proposed methods in liver segmentation (the minimum DSC increased from 75.03% to 84.29%), liver tumor segmentation (the minimum DSC increased from 20.92% to 35.73%), and brain tumor segmentation (the minimum DSC increased from 21.97% to 30.38%) on different neural networks. These results indicate that the proposed methods are effective and robust. Conclusions: Our proposed method can effectively alleviate foreground-to-background imbalance and hard-to-easy imbalance problems, and can improve segmentation accuracy, especially for the worst case, which guarantees the reliability of the proposed methods in clinical applications.

The spatiotemporal characteristics of N170s for faces and words: A meta-analysis study.

N170 is a negative event-related potential (ERP) component in response to visual stimuli, such as faces. It remains controversial whether N170 reflects the specific processing of faces or can also be elicited by objects of expertise (e.g., words). In this research, we conducted a meta-analysis for the spatiotemporal characteristics of N170 of face and word stimuli from 24 studies in which both stimuli were presented for each subject. We observed that (1) both face and word stimuli can elicit conspicuous N170s and that there was no difference between the amplitude of face-N170 and word-N170; (2) there is no difference in the latencies between the two N170s; and (3) both N170s are distributed in the occipitotemporal regions but with a reversed hemispheric distribution pattern-face-N170 is more negative in the right than left occipitotemporal regions, while word-N170 is the opposite. These results showed that the face- and word-N170s are qualitatively the same but have different hemispheric lateralization advantages-N170 might be a general neural index of the expertise-dependent object-recognition process in occipitotemporal regions.

The Maturation of Tumor Suppressor miR-497 in Hepatocellular Carcinoma is Inhibited by Oncogenic circRNA SCARB1.

INTRODUCTION: Circular RNA (CircRNA) SCARB1 plays an oncogenic role in renal cell carcinoma, while its role in other cancers is unclear. The aim of this study was to explore the role of circRNA SCARB1 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: The expression of circRNA SCARB1, mature miR-497 and miR-497 precursor in HCC and paired non-tumor tissues from 64 HCC patients were analyzed by RT-qPCR. CircRNA SCARB1 was overexpressed in HCC cells, followed by the measurement of the expression levels of both mature miR-497 and miR-497 precursor to evaluate the effects of overexpression of circRNA SCARB1 on the maturation of miR-497. The effects of circRNA SCARB1 and miR-497 on the proliferation and migration of HCC cells were assessed by CCK-8 assay and Transwell assay, respectively. RESULTS: We found that circRNA SCARB1 was upregulated in HCC. In addition, mature miR-497 and miR-497 were downregulated in HCC. Correlation analysis showed that circRNA SCARB1 was inversely correlated with mature miR-497 but not miR-497 precursor. Consistently, in HCC cells, downregulated mature miR-497, but not miR-497 precursor, was observed in HCC cells transfected with circRNA SCARB1 expression vector. Analysis of cellular behaviors showed that overexpression of circRNA SCARB1 increased the proliferation and migration of HCC cells, while overexpression of miR-497 decreased cell proliferation and migration. Moreover, overexpression of miR-497 reduced the effects of overexpression of circRNA SCARB1. DISCUSSION: Therefore, circRNA SCARB1 is upregulated in HCC and promotes HCC cell proliferation and migration by suppressing the maturation of miR-497.

Reliability optimization of process parameters for marine diesel engine block hole system machining using improved PSO.

The processing quality of the block hole system affects the working performance of the marine diesel engine block directly. Choosing an appropriate combination of process parameters is a prerequisite to improving the accuracy of the block hole system. Uncertain fluctuations of process parameters during the machining process would affect the process reliability of the block hole system, resulting in an ultra-poor accuracy. For this reason, the RBF method is used to establish the relationship between the verticality of the cylinder hole and process parameters, including cutting speed, depth of cut, and feed rate. The minimum cylinder hole verticality is taken as the goal and the process reliability constraints of the cylinder hole are set based on Monte Carlo, a reliability optimization model of processing parameters for cylinder hole is established in this paper. Meanwhile, an improved particle swarm algorithm was designed to solve the model, and eventually, the global optimal combination of process parameters for the cylinder hole processing of the diesel engine block in the reliability stable region was obtained.

Predictive Models for HCC Prognosis, Recurrence Risk, and Immune Infiltration Based on Two Exosomal Genes: MYL6B and THOC2.

INTRODUCTION: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a heterogeneous molecular disease with complex molecular pathogenesis that influences the efficacy of therapies. Exosomes play a crucial role in tumorigenesis and poor disease outcomes in HCC. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to identify the optimal gene set derived from exosomes in HCC with substantial predictive value to construct models for determining prognosis, recurrence risk and diagnosis and to identify candidates suitable for immunotherapy and chemotherapy, thereby providing new ideas for the individualized treatment of patients and for improving prognosis. METHODS: Weighted correlation network analysis (WGCNA) and univariate and multivariate Cox PH regression analyses were applied to identify exosome-related signatures in the TCGA and exoRbase databases associated with clinical relevance, immunogenic features and tumor progression in HCC. Cell experiments were performed to further confirm the oncogenic effect of MYL6B and THOC2. RESULTS: The models for prognosis and recurrence risk prediction were built based on two exosomal genes (MYL6B and THOC2) and were confirmed to be independent predictive factors with superior predictive performance. Patients with high prognostic risk had poorer prognosis than patients with low prognostic risk in all HCC datasets, namely, the TCGA cohort (HR=2.5, P<0.001), the ICGC cohort (HR=3.15, P<0.001) and the GSE14520 cohort (HR=1.85, P=0.004). A higher recurrence probability was found in HCC patients with high recurrence risk than in HCC patients with low recurrence risk in the TCGA cohort (HR=2.44, P<0.001) and the GSE14520 cohort (HR=1.54, P=0.025). High prognostic risk patients had higher expression of immune checkpoint genes, such as PD1, B7H3, B7H5, CTLA4 and TIM3 (P<0.05). Diagnostic models based on the same two genes were able to accurately distinguish HCC patients from normal individuals and HCC from dysplastic nodules. CONCLUSION: Our findings lay the foundation for identifying molecular markers to increase the early detection rate of HCC, improve disease outcomes, and determine more effective individualized treatment options for patients.