Pancreatic cancer is one of the malignant tumors that threaten human health.
The gene expression profiles of GSE15471, GSE19650, GSE32676 and GSE71989 were downloaded from the gene expression omnibus ...database including pancreatic cancer and normal samples. The differentially expressed genes between the two types of samples were identified with the Limma package using R language. The gene ontology functional and pathway enrichment analyses of differentially-expressed genes were performed by the DAVID software followed by the construction of a protein-protein interaction network. Hub gene identification was performed by the plug-in cytoHubba in cytoscape software, and the reliability and survival analysis of hub genes was carried out in The Cancer Genome Atlas gene expression data.
The 138 differentially expressed genes were significantly enriched in biological processes including cell migration, cell adhesion and several pathways, mainly associated with extracellular matrix-receptor interaction and focal adhesion pathway in pancreatic cancer. The top hub genes, namely
,
,
,
and
were identified from the protein-protein interaction network. The expression levels of hub genes were consistent with data obtained in The Cancer Genome Atlas.
,
,
and
were significantly linked with poor survival in pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
These hub genes may be used as potential targets for pancreatic cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Cupping therapy has been popular in elite athletes in recent years. However, the effect of cupping therapy on reducing muscle fatigue has not been investigated. The purpose of this study was to ...investigate the immediate and delayed effects of cupping therapy on reducing biceps brachii fatigue during biceps curls. Twelve healthy untrained participants were recruited for this repeated-measures study. Cupping therapy (–300 mmHg pressure for 5 min) and sham control (no negative pressure for 5 min) were applied after biceps fatigue induced by performing repeated biceps curls at 75% of the 10 repetitions of maximum of the non-dominant hand. Surface electromyography (EMG) with spectral analyses mean frequency (MNF), median frequency (MDF), and spectral moments ratio (SMR) were used to assess muscle fatigue during the fatigue task. EMG signals during the first 10 repetitions and the last 10 repetitions of biceps curls were used to assess neuromuscular fatigue. There were significant decreases in MNF and MDF and a significant increase in SMR immediately and 24 h after the sham control (no intervention). When comparing the MNF, MDF, and SMR after cupping therapy to the sham control, there was no significant immediate effect on reducing muscle fatigue. However, there was a significant delayed effect on improving recovery following fatigue for the cupping therapy compared to the sham control (MNF changes: sham 0.87 ± 0.02 vs. cupping 0.91 ± 0.02,
p <
0.05; MDF changes sham: 0.85 ± 0.03 vs. cupping: 0.91 ± 0.02,
p <
0.05; SMR changes: sham 1.89 ± 0.15 vs. cupping 1.58 ± 0.13,
p <
0.05). The findings of this study demonstrate that there is a time effect of cupping therapy for reducing muscle fatigue. Cupping therapy is effective on reducing biceps brachii muscle fatigue after 24 h.
This study aimed to investigate the degree of regularity of surface electromyography (sEMG) signals during muscle fatigue during dynamic contractions and muscle recovery after cupping therapy. To the ...best of our knowledge, this is the first study assessing both muscle fatigue and muscle recovery using a nonlinear method. Twelve healthy participants were recruited to perform biceps curls at 75% of the 10 repetitions maximum under four conditions: immediately and 24 h after cupping therapy (−300 mmHg pressure), as well as after sham control (no negative pressure). Cupping therapy or sham control was assigned to each participant according to a pre-determined counter-balanced order and applied to the participant’s biceps brachii for 5 min. The degree of regularity of the sEMG signal during the first, second, and last 10 repetitions (Reps) of biceps curls was quantified using a modified sample entropy (Ems) algorithm. When exercise was performed immediately or 24 h after sham control, Ems of the sEMG signal showed a significant decrease from the first to second 10 Reps; when exercise was performed immediately after cupping therapy, Ems also showed a significant decrease from the first to second 10 Reps but its relative change was significantly smaller compared to the condition of exercise immediately after sham control. When exercise was performed 24 h after cupping therapy, Ems did not show a significant decrease, while its relative change was significantly smaller compared to the condition of exercise 24 h after sham control. These results indicated that the degree of regularity of sEMG signals quantified by Ems is capable of assessing muscle fatigue and the effect of cupping therapy. Moreover, this measure seems to be more sensitive to muscle fatigue and could yield more consistent results compared to the traditional linear measures.
Spinal cord injury (SCI) causes a disruption of autonomic nervous regulation to the cardiovascular system, leading to various cardiovascular and microvascular diseases. Exercise training is an ...effective intervention for reducing risk for microvascular diseases in healthy people. However, the effectiveness of exercise training on improving microvascular function in people with SCI is largely unknown. The purpose of this study was to compare blood flow oscillations in people with spinal cord injury and different physical activity levels to determine if such a lifestyle might influence skin blood flow. A total of 37 participants were recruited for this study, including 12 athletes with SCI (ASCI), 9 participants with SCI and a sedentary lifestyle (SSCI), and 16 healthy able-bodied controls (AB). Sacral skin blood flow (SBF) in response to local heating at 42 °C for 50 min was measured using laser Doppler flowmetry. The degree of the regularity of blood flow oscillations (BFOs) was quantified using a multiscale entropy approach. The results showed that BFO was significantly more irregular in ASCI and AB compared to SSCI during the maximal vasodilation period. Our results also demonstrate that the difference in the regularity of BFOs between original SBF signal and phase-randomized surrogate time series was larger in ASCI and AB compared to SSCI. Our findings indicate that SCI causes a loss of complexity of BFOs and exercise training may improve complexity in people with SCI. This study demonstrates that multiscale entropy is a sensitive method for detecting differences between different categories of people with SCI and might be able to detect effects of exercise training related to skin blood flow.
Local vibration has shown promise in improving skin blood flow (SBF). However, there is no consensus on the selection of the best vibration frequency. An important reason may be that previous studies ...utilized time- and frequency-domain parameters to characterize vibration-induced SBF responses. These parameters are unable to characterize the structural features of the SBF response to local vibrations, thus contributing to the inconsistent findings seen in vibration research. The objective of this study was to provide evidence that nonlinear dynamics of SBF responses would be an important aspect for assessing the effect of local vibration on SBF. Local vibrations at 100 Hz, 35 Hz, and 0 Hz (sham vibration) with an amplitude of 1 mm were randomly applied to the right first metatarsal head of 12 healthy participants for 10 min. SBF at the same site was measured for 10 min before and after local vibration. The degree of regularity of SBF was quantified using a multiscale sample entropy algorithm. The results showed that 100 Hz vibration significantly increased multiscale regularity of SBF but 35 Hz and 0 Hz (sham vibration) did not. The significant increase of regularity of SBF after 100 Hz vibration was mainly attributed to increased regularity of SBF oscillations within the frequency interval at 0.0095-0.15 Hz. These findings support the use of multiscale regularity to assess effectiveness of local vibration on improving skin blood flow.
Cupping therapy has been widely used in treating musculoskeletal impairments. However, there is no specific guideline on selecting the intensity of cupping therapy, including the pressure and ...duration. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of different pressures and durations of cupping therapy on skin blood flow responses. A 2 × 2 factorial design, including two negative pressures at -225 and -300 mmHg and two durations at 5 and 10 min, was tested in 12 healthy participants. The four protocols of cupping therapy were tested in four different days. Skin blood flow was measured using laser Doppler flowmetry on the left triceps (the SJ12 acupoint). Skin blood flow after cupping therapy was expressed as a ratio of skin blood flow before cupping therapy. The results showed that -300 mmHg caused a significant increase in peak skin blood flow (16.7 ± 2.6 times) compared to -225 mmHg (11.1 ± 2.2 times,
< 0.05) under 5-min duration. The largest difference in skin blood flow is between -300 mmHg for 5 min (16.7 ± 2.6 times) and -225 mmHg for 10 min (8.1 ± 2.3 times,
< 0.01). Our findings demonstrated that a higher value (300 mmHg) of negative pressure is more effective on increasing skin blood flow compared to a lower value (225 mmHg). Also, a shorter duration (5 min) causes a larger peak and total skin blood flow compared to a longer duration (10 min). This study provides the first evidence showing the effect of pressures and durations of cupping therapy on skin blood flow responses.
Abstract Objectives To investigate the efficacy of local cooling on reducing sacral skin ischemia in a weight-bearing position, and to identify the underlying physiological mechanisms using ...wavelet-based spectrum analysis of reactive hyperemia in people with spinal cord injury (SCI). Design Repeated-measures and before-after trial design. Setting University research laboratory. Participants Wheelchair users with SCI with injury level between C4 and T5 (n=10) and able-bodied controls (n=10). Interventions Three protocols consisting of pressure without temperature changes, pressure with local cooling (Δt=−10°C), and pressure with local heating (Δt=+10°C) were tested. Each protocol consisted of a 10-minute baseline period, a 20-minute loading period at 60mmHg, and a 20-minute recovery period (reactive hyperemia). A 30-minute washout period was allowed between protocols. Main Outcome Measures A compound sensor head consisting of laser Doppler and heating and cooling probes was used to measure sacral skin blood flow and control skin temperature. Reactive hyperemic response to pressure and temperature stimuli was characterized in the time and frequency (metabolic .0095–.02Hz, neurogenic .02–.05Hz, and myogenic .05–.15Hz components) domains. Results Pressure with local cooling resulted in a smaller reactive hyperemic response in both people with SCI and able-bodied controls as compared with pressure with local heating ( P <.017) and pressure without temperature changes ( P <.017), and the smaller hyperemia was attributed to reduced metabolic and neurogenic activities. People with SCI showed an attenuated response in reactive hyperemia ( P <.017). Conclusions This study supports the concept of using local cooling to reduce skin ischemia under surface pressure in people with SCI.
Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is a common complication of diabetes mellitus, while tissue ischemia caused by impaired vasodilatory response to plantar pressure is thought to be a major factor of the ...development of DFUs, which has been assessed using various measures of skin blood flow (SBF) in the time or frequency domain. These measures, however, are incapable of characterizing nonlinear dynamics of SBF, which is an indicator of pathologic alterations of microcirculation in the diabetic foot. This study recruited 18 type 2 diabetics with peripheral neuropathy and eight healthy controls. SBF at the first metatarsal head in response to locally applied pressure and heating was measured using laser Doppler flowmetry. A multiscale entropy algorithm was utilized to quantify the regularity degree of the SBF responses. The results showed that during reactive hyperemia and thermally induced biphasic response, the regularity degree of SBF in diabetics underwent only small changes compared to baseline and significantly differed from that in controls at multiple scales (p < 0.05). On the other hand, the transition of regularity degree of SBF in diabetics distinctively differed from that in controls (p < 0.05). These findings indicated that multiscale entropy could provide a more comprehensive assessment of impaired microvascular reactivity in the diabetic foot compared to other entropy measures based on only a single scale, which strengthens the use of plantar SBF dynamics to assess the risk for DFU.
Building collapse leads to mechanical injury, which is the main cause of injury and death, with crush syndrome as its most common complication. During the post-disaster search and rescue phase, if ...rescue personnel hastily remove heavy objects covering the bodies of injured individuals and fail to provide targeted medical care, ischemia-reperfusion injury may be triggered, leading to rhabdomyolysis. This may result in disseminated intravascular coagulation or acute respiratory distress syndrome, further leading to multiple organ failure, which ultimately leads to shock and death. Using bio-radar to detect vital signs and identify compression states can effectively reduce casualties during the search for missing persons behind obstacles. A time-domain ultra-wideband (UWB) bio-radar was applied for the non-contact detection of human vital sign signals behind obstacles. An echo denoising algorithm based on PSO-VMD and permutation entropy was proposed to suppress environmental noise, along with a wounded compression state recognition network based on radar-life signals. Based on training and testing using over 3000 data sets from 10 subjects in different compression states, the proposed multiscale convolutional network achieved a 92.63% identification accuracy. This outperformed SVM and 1D-CNN models by 5.30% and 6.12%, respectively, improving the casualty rescue success and post-disaster precision.
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