Unveiling potential: urinary exosomal mRNAs as non-invasive biomarkers for early prostate cancer diagnosis.

BACKGROUND: This study investigated the use of urinary exosomal mRNA as a potential biomarker for the early detection of prostate cancer (PCa). METHODS: Next-generation sequencing was utilized to analyze exosomal RNA from 10 individuals with confirmed PCa and 10 individuals without cancer. Subsequent validation through qRT-PCR in a larger sample of 43 PCa patients and 92 healthy controls revealed distinct mRNA signatures associated with PCa. RESULTS: Notably, mRNAs for RAB5B, WWP1, HIST2H2BF, ZFY, MARK2, PASK, RBM10, and NRSN2 showed promise as diagnostic markers, with AUC values between 0.799 and 0.906 and significance p values. Combining RAB5B and WWP1 in an exoRNA diagnostic model outperformed traditional PSA tests, achieving an AUC of 0.923, 81.4% sensitivity, and 89.1% specificity. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the potential of urinary exosomal mRNA profiling, particularly focusing on RAB5B and WWP1, as a valuable strategy for improving the early detection of PCa.

MicroRNA-196a-5p facilitates the onset and progression via targeting ITM2B in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a prevalent malignancy affecting the digestive tract, with an increasing incidence rate worldwide. Recently, numerous studies revealed that microRNAs were associated with gene expression regulation, particularly their involvement in the regulation of tumor cells, garnering widespread attention. Here, we discovered that miR-196a-5p was significantly upregulated in both ESCC tissues and cells, which was correlated with an unfavorable prognosis. Series functional in vitro investigations have confirmed that silencing miR-196a-5p obviously restrained the ESCC cells malignant phenotypes and promoted apoptosis. Bioinformatics analysis and rescue experiments revealed that miR-196a-5p directly targeted ITM2B, exerting influence on the development of ESCC cells through negative regulation of ITM2B expression. Xenograft mouse models were established for conducting in vivo experiments, providing further confirmation of the regulatory mechanism and biological significance of the miR-196a-5p/ITM2B axis in ESCC. Our research demonstrated miR-196a-5p promoted ESCC malignant progression by interacting with ITM2B, thereby providing novel clues and potential targets for the new diagnosis and thereby of ESCC.

Identification of tumor immunophenotypes associated with immunotherapy response in bladder cancer.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to reveal immunophenotypes associated with immunotherapy response in bladder cancer, identify the signature genes of immune subtypes, and provide new molecular targets for improving immunotherapy response. METHODS: Bladder cancer immunophenotypes were characterized in the bulk RNA sequencing dataset GSE32894 and Imvigor210, and gene expression signatures were established to identify the immunophenotypes. Expression of gene signatures were validated in single-cell RNA sequencing dataset GSE145140 and human proteins expression data source. Investigation of Immunotherapy Response was performed in IMvigor210 dataset. Prognosis of tumor immunophenotypes was further analyzed. RESULTS: Inflamed and immune-excluded immunophenotypes were characterized based on the tumor immune cell scores. Risk score models that were established rely on RNA sequencing profiles and overall survival of bladder cancer cohorts. The inflamed tumors had lower risk scores, and the low-risk tumors were more likely to respond to atezolizumab, receiving complete response/partial response (CR/PR). Patients who responded to atezolizumab had higher SRRM4 and lower NPHS1 and TMEM72 expression than the non-responders. SRRM4 expression was a protective factor for bladder cancer prognosis, while the NPHS1 and TMEM72 showed the opposite pattern. CONCLUSION: This study provided a novel classification method for tumor immunophenotypes. Bladder cancer immunophenotypes can predict the response to immune checkpoint blockade. The immunophenotypes can be identified by the expression of signature genes.

A study comparing dusting to basketing for renal stones ≤ 2 cm during flexible ureteroscopy

ABSTRACT Objectives To compare the dusting efficiency and safety with basketing for treating renal stones ≤ 2 cm during flexible ureteroscopy (fURS). Materials and methods This study included 218 patients with renal stones ≤ 2 cm treated with fURS. Among them, 106 patients underwent dusting, and 112 patients underwent fragmentation with basket extraction. All patients were followed up for 3 months postoperatively. The operating time, lasing time, stone-free rate (SFR) and complication rate were compared. Results The mean stone size in the dusting group was 1.3 cm, whereas 1.4 cm in the basketing group. The mean operative time was significantly lower in the dusting group than in the basketing group (43.1±11.7 minutes VS 60.5±13.4 minutes, P <0.05), but the lasing time was significantly longer for the dusting group than for the basketing group (17.7±3.9 minutes VS 14.1±3.6 minutes, P <0.05). SFR was significantly higher in the basketing group immediately after the operation and follow-up after 1 month (76.8% vs 55.7%, P= 0.001 and 88.4% vs 78.3%, P = 0.045). However, the SFR was similar for both groups (88.8% in the dusting group vs. 90.2% in the basketing group) after 3 months postoperatively. There was no statistical difference in the complication rates between the two groups. Conclusions Dusting has advantages in shortening the operation time and reducing the operation cost, but the lasing time was longer compared with the basketing. Although there is no difference in long-term effect, basketing is superior to dusting in terms of short-term SFR. Moreover, dusting should be avoided in some special cases and basketing a better choice. Both techniques are effective for the treatment of renal stones ≤ 2 cm and choice depends on patient demographic and stone characteristics.

A study comparing dusting to basketing for renal stones ≤ 2 cm during flexible ureteroscopy.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the dusting efficiency and safety with basketing for treating renal stones ≤ 2 cm during flexible ureteroscopy (fURS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study included 218 patients with renal stones ≤ 2 cm treated with fURS. Among them, 106 patients underwent dusting, and 112 patients underwent fragmentation with basket extraction. All patients were followed up for 3 months postoperatively. The operating time, lasing time, stone-free rate (SFR) and complication rate were compared. RESULTS: The mean stone size in the dusting group was 1.3 cm, whereas 1.4 cm in the basketing group. The mean operative time was significantly lower in the dusting group than in the basketing group (43.1±11.7 minutes VS 60.5±13.4 minutes, P < 0.05), but the lasing time was significantly longer for the dusting group than for the basketing group (17.7±3.9 minutes VS 14.1±3.6 minutes, P < 0.05). SFR was significantly higher in the basketing group immediately after the operation and follow-up after 1 month (76.8% vs 55.7%, P= 0.001 and 88.4% vs 78.3%, P = 0.045). However, the SFR was similar for both groups (88.8% in the dusting group vs. 90.2% in the basketing group) after 3 months postoperatively. There was no statistical difference in the complication rates between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Dusting has advantages in shortening the operation time and reducing the operation cost, but the lasing time was longer compared with the basketing. Although there is no difference in long-term effect, basketing is superior to dusting in terms of short-term SFR. Moreover, dusting should be avoided in some special cases and basketing a better choice. Both techniques are effective for the treatment of renal stones ≤ 2 cm and choice depends on patient demographic and stone characteristics.

12 Months Persistent Immunogenicity after Hepatitis B Vaccination in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes and Immunogenicity of Revaccination in Non-Responders: An Open-Label Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: In initial studies, the immunogenicity and safety of hepatitis B vaccines in patients with diabetes has been assessed in China. METHODS: In six township health centers in Gansu Province, 232 diabetic patients and 77 healthy people were allocated to receive two 3-dose hepatitis B vaccines (Group D20SC 0-1-6; Group D20CHO 0-1-6; Group ND20SC 0-1-6). Participants were followed up at 12 months after being fully vaccinated. One dose of the vaccine was randomly administered to non-responders. Chi-square test was used to compare the differences in response rate between two groups. RESULTS: The anti-HBs response rates of three groups decreased from 84.1%, 89.1% and 88.3% at one month to 64.6%, 79.8% and 71.4% at twelve months. There was no statistical difference in the immune response rates between Group D20SC 0-1-6 and Group ND20SC 0-1-6; however, that of Group D20CHO 0-1-6 was higher than that of Group D20SC 0-1-6. After revaccination, the geometric mean concentrations were 491.7 mIU/mL and 29.7 mIU/mL after using vaccines containing 60 µg and 20 µg HBsAg. CONCLUSIONS: At 12 months, immune response in diabetic patients were not significantly different from that in healthy people. Revaccination with one dose of hepatitis B vaccine containing 60 µg HBsAg for non-responders was more satisfactory.

RF Signal-Based UAV Detection and Mode Classification: A Joint Feature Engineering Generator and Multi-Channel Deep Neural Network Approach.

With the proliferation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to provide diverse critical services, such as surveillance, disaster management, and medicine delivery, the accurate detection of these small devices and the efficient classification of their flight modes are of paramount importance to guarantee their safe operation in our sky. Among the existing approaches, Radio Frequency (RF) based methods are less affected by complex environmental factors. The similarities between UAV RF signals and the diversity of frequency components make accurate detection and classification a particularly difficult task. To bridge this gap, we propose a joint Feature Engineering Generator (FEG) and Multi-Channel Deep Neural Network (MC-DNN) approach. Specifically, in FEG, data truncation and normalization separate different frequency components, the moving average filter reduces the outliers in the RF signal, and the concatenation fully exploits the details of the dataset. In addition, the multi-channel input in MC-DNN separates multiple frequency components and reduces the interference between them. A novel dataset that contains ten categories of RF signals from three types of UAVs is used to verify the effectiveness. Experiments show that the proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art UAV detection and classification approaches in terms of 98.4% and F1 score of 98.3%.

Association between self-monitoring of blood glucose and hepatitis B virus infection among people with diabetes mellitus: a cross-sectional study in Gansu Province, China.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose was to explore the association between self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection among people with diabetes. DESIGN: A cross-sectional comparative study. SETTING: Six township hospitals in Gansu Province, China in October 2018. PARTICIPANTS: 408 patients with diabetes were systematically recruited, and based on their characteristics 408 people without diabetes were randomly matched 1:1. INTERVENTIONS: Venous blood was collected for HBV serological testing and blood glucose testing. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was comparison of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positive rates between the two groups. The secondary outcome was the relationship between frequency of SMBG and HBsAg positivity. RESULTS: HBsAg positive rate in people without diabetes was 2.0% and in those with diabetes was 4.2%. Whether in people without diabetes or patients with diabetes, higher frequency of SMBG was associated with higher HBsAg positive rate. Increases in the duration of diabetes were correlated with increasing rates of HBsAg. Compared with people without diabetes, logistic regression identified an association between diabetes and HBV infection (OR=2.8; 95% CI 1.0 to 7.6), but impaired fasting glucose was not (OR=2.3; 95% CI 0.5 to 9.9). CONCLUSION: Routine blood glucose monitoring at home was associated with HBV infection, which meant people with diabetes may be at high risk of HBV infection. China is a country with high prevalence of both HBsAg and diabetes, and the increased risk of HBV infection in populations with diabetes needs more attention.

Phosphoproteomics Analysis of Plant Root Tissue.

Plants absorb water and nutrients from soil through roots and transmit these resources through the xylem to the shoot. Roots therefore participate in information and material transduction as well as signal communication with the shoot. The importance of reversible protein phosphorylation in the regulation of plant growth and development has been amply demonstrated through decades of research. Here, we present a simple mass spectrometry-based shotgun phosphoproteomics protocol for Arabidopsis root tissue. Through this method, we can profile the Arabidopsis root phosphoproteome and construct signal networks of key proteins to better understand their roles in plant growth and development.

Immunogenicity and safety of hepatitis B vaccination in patients with type 2 diabetes in China: An open-label randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains a global public health challenge. Patients with diabetes are at greater risk of HBV infection than healthy people. The immunogenicity and safety of two major hepatitis B vaccines were evaluated in Chinese patients with diabetes. METHODS: In this phase IV, open-label, randomized, controlled study, participants with diabetes were randomly recruited from 6 townshiphealthcenters in Gansu Province and received either a 3-dose Saccharomyces cerevisiae recombinant hepatitis B vaccine (Group D20SC 0-1-6, n = 113) or a 3-dose Chinese hamster ovary cell (CHO) recombinant hepatitis B vaccine (Group D20CHO 0-1-6, n = 119). Healthy control groups were randomly recruited from the same 6 health centers and received 3 doses of the saccharomyces cerevisiae recombinant hepatitis B vaccine (Group ND20SC 0-1-6, n = 77). Immunogenicity, including seroconversion rate and geometric mean concentration (GMC) at 1 month after three doses of vaccination, and safety were assessed. The seroconversion rate was defined as the concentration of HBsAb ≥ 10 mIU/mL. RESULTS: The seroconversion rates of Group D20SC 0-1-6, Group D20CHO 0-1-6 and Group ND20SC 0-1-6 were 89.6%, 91.4% and 97.1%, respectively, in the per-protocol analysis, and these differences were not statistically significant. The antibody concentration in Group D20SC 0-1-6 (GMC = 601 mIU/mL) was lower than that of the healthy control group (GMC = 1465 mIU/mL), but no significant difference was found in the GMC between the Group D20CHO 0-1-6 (GMC = 778 mIU/mL) and Group D20SC 0-1-6. Adverse events (AEs) were comparable between groups, and no serious AEs were found in these three groups. CONCLUSIONS: The Saccharomyces cerevisiae recombinant and CHO recombinant hepatitis B vaccines in China can induce good immunogenicity in a diabetic population, although the antibody concentration may be lower, indicating the feasibility of vaccinating a large number of diabetic patients in China with these vaccines.

Sliding mode control with system constraints for aircraft engines.

This paper proposes a constraint-tolerant design with sliding mode strategy to improve the stability of aircraft engine control. To handle the difficulties associated with the high-frequency switching laws, merely attenuating the chattering is far from satisfactory. System constraints on input, output, and input rate should be addressed in the design process. For a sort of uncertain nonlinear systems subjected to the constraints, sliding mode regulators are designed using Lyapunov analysis. A turbofan engine is adopted for simulation, which shows that the methodology developed in this paper can handle the speed tracking and limit protection problem in a stable fashion, despite the negative influence posed by the system constraints.