A number of cardiac fluoroscopic interventions have increased rapidly worldwide over the past decade. Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) and stent implantation have become ...increasingly popular, and these advancements have allowed patients to receive repetitive treatments for restenosis. However, these advancements also significantly increase radiation exposure that may lead to higher cumulative doses of radiation. In the present study, a nationwide population-based case-controlled study was used to explore the risk of leukemia after cardiac angiographic fluoroscopic intervention.A total of 5026 patients with leukemia and 100,520 control patients matched for age and sex (1:20) by a propensity score method without any cancer history were enrolled using the Registry Data for Catastrophic Illness and the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) of Taiwan between 2008 and 2010. All subjects were retrospectively surveyed (from year 2000) to determine receipt of cardiac fluoroscopic interventions. Data were analyzed using conditional logistic regression models, and estimated crude and adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval).After adjusting for age, gender, and comorbidities, PTCA was found to be associated with an increased risk of leukemia with an adjusted OR of 1.566 (95% CI, 1.282-1.912), whereas coronary angiography alone without PTCA and cardiac electrophysiologic study were not. Our results also showed that an increased frequency of PTCA and coronary angiography was associated with a higher risk of leukemia (adjusted OR: 1.326 to 1.530 all P < 0.05). Gender subgroup analyses demonstrated that men were associated with a higher risk of leukemia compared with women.These results provide additional data in the quantification of the long-term health effects of radiation exposure derived from the cardiac fluoroscopic diagnostic and therapeutic intervention. PTCA alone or PTCA with coronary angiography was associated with an elevated risk of leukemia. Continued follow-up of existing cohorts will be valuable to help assess lifetime risks of cancer.
The performance of quasi‐2D perovskite light emitting diodes (LEDs) with mixed small cations, cesium and formamidinium (FA), is significantly affected by their ratio. The best devices obtained for ...Cs:FA ratio of 1:1 exhibit a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 12.1%, maximum luminance of 15 070 cd m−2 and maximum current efficiency of 46.1 cd A−1, which is significantly higher (about 3 times) compared to devices with FA only (maximum EQE of 4.1%, maximum luminance of 4521 cd m−2) and Cs‐only (maximum EQE of 4.0%, maximum luminance of 4886 cd m−2). The photoluminescence quantum yield of the Cs:FA 1:1 sample is similarly enhanced, 21.3% compared 5.4% and 6%, for FA‐only and Cs‐only samples, respectively. It can be observed that the Cs:FA ratio significantly affects the crystallization of the perovskite, with the optimal 1:1 ratio resulting in the formation of tetragonal Cs0.5FA0.5PbBr3 phase (different from cubic FAPbBr3 and orthorhombic CsPbBr3) with pronounced preferential orientation as well as a significant reduction in the trap density, which leads to a substantial improvement in the light‐emitting performance.
Mixing of small cations, cesium and formamidinium (FA), alters the crystallization of hexylammonium‐based quasi‐2D perovskite films, resulting in significant improvement in the light‐emitting performance, with maximum external quantum efficiency (12.1%) and maximum luminance (15070 cd m−2) about three times higher compared to single cation devices.
Abstract
Platinum-based drug like cisplatin is the standard first-line drug to treat patients with bladder cancer. However, tumors may recur and develop into multiple-drug resistant characteristics. ...The acquisition of resistance to conventional chemotherapy is a challenge in the treatment of bladder cancer relapse. Cancer stem cell (CSC) hypothesis has been an attractive theory. CSCs can resist therapeutic assaults, giving rise to multiple drug resistance and promotion of tumor relapse and metastasis. It has been shown that the fraction of cancer cells expressing MDR1 that functions as an energy-dependent drug efflux pump may be associated with Oct-4 expression. We have demonstrated that Oct-4 expression in bladder cancer predicts tumor progression. In the present study, we proposed that Oct-4 expression in bladder cancer increases MDR1 gene expression and thereby results in multiple drug resistance. We found a positive correlation between Oct-4 and MDR1 expression levels in clinical samples of bladder cancer. Furthermore, overexpression of Oct-4 increased MDR1 expression, which resulted in poor response to cisplatin in human bladder transitional cell carcinoma cells. Conversely, knockdown of Oct-4 reduced MDR1 expression and rendered cells hypersensitive to cisplatin. We also verified that Oct-4 transactivated the MDR1 gene promoter by binding to the Oct-4 response element (ORE). More importantly, Oct-4 and MDR1 gene expression could be induced by treatment with cisplatin, suggesting that Oct-4 is a member of the MDR1 enhanceosome. Our data can explain, in part, the high recurrence rate and drug resistance of bladder cancer. For clinical implication, we demonstrated that reduction of Oct-4 expression by all-trans retinoic acid, a derivative of vitamin A, improved sensitivity of bladder cancer cells to gemcitabine and cisplatin. In addition, we found that high expression levels of Oct-4 and MDR1 were associated with high tumor recurrence. Taken together, our results provide evidence that Oct-4 plays an important role in cisplatin-acquired resistance in bladder cancer. They also implicate Oct-4 as a therapeutic target.
Note: This abstract was not presented at the meeting.
Citation Format: Chia-Sing Lu, Ai-Li Shiau, Gia-Shing Shieh, Bing-Hua Su, Wu-Chou Su, Wen-Horng Yang, Chao-Liang Wu. Acquisition of Oct-4 upregulation transactivates MDR1 and is associated with increased tumor recurrence in bladder cancer. abstract. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 4701. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-4701
Previous efforts to derive lung progenitor cells from human embryonic stem (hES) cells using embryoid body formation or stromal feeder cocultures had been limited by low efficiencies. Here, we report ...a step-wise differentiation method to drive both hES and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells toward the lung lineage. Our data demonstrated a 30% efficiency in generating lung epithelial cells (LECs) that expresses various distal lung markers. Further enrichment of lung progenitor cells using a stem cell marker, CD166 before transplantation into bleomycin-injured NOD/SCID mice resulted in enhanced survivability of mice and improved lung pulmonary functions. Immunohistochemistry of lung sections from surviving mice further confirmed the specific engraftment of transplanted cells in the damaged lung. These cells were shown to express surfactant protein C, a specific marker for distal lung progenitor in the alveoli. Our study has therefore demonstrated the proof-of-concept of using iPS cells for the repair of acute lung injury, demonstrating the potential usefulness of using patient's own iPS cells to prevent immune rejection which arise from allogenic transplantation.
The synthesis of a chiral fluorescent silole derivative containing l‐leucine methyl ester moiety (Silole–Leu) is reported by B. S. Li, B. Z. Tang, co‐workers on page 6593. Silole–Leu exhibits ...aggregation‐induced emission and circular dichroism, and circular polarized luminescence. Silole–Leu is endowed with the ability to self‐assemble into nano/micro helical luminescent fibers and their dimensions can be tuned by adjusting the ratio and volume of the mixed solvents for assembling.
Previous efforts to derive lung progenitor cells from human embryonic stem (hES) cells using embryoid body formation or stromal feeder cocultures had been limited by low efficiencies. Here, we report ...a step-wise differentiation method to drive both hES and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells toward the lung lineage. Our data demonstrated a 30% efficiency in generating lung epithelial cells (LECs) that expresses various distal lung markers. Further enrichment of lung progenitor cells using a stem cell marker, CD166 before transplantation into bleomycin-injured NOD/SCID mice resulted in enhanced survivability of mice and improved lung pulmonary functions. Immunohistochemistry of lung sections from surviving mice further confirmed the specific engraftment of transplanted cells in the damaged lung. These cells were shown to express surfactant protein C, a specific marker for distal lung progenitor in the alveoli. Our study has therefore demonstrated the proof-of-concept of using iPS cells for the repair of acute lung injury, demonstrating the potential usefulness of using patient's own iPS cells to prevent immune rejection which arise from allogenic transplantation.
Increased lymphocyte apoptosis and defects in macrophage removal of apoptotic cells have been suggested to contribute to the development of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The aim of this study ...was to investigate the relationship between peripheral lymphocyte apoptosis, macrophage function as determined by the serum levels of neopterin and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), and SLE disease activity. Peripheral apoptotic lymphocytes (AL) were detected by annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) staining and flow cytometry. Serum levels of neopterin and IFN-gamma were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). SLE disease activity was determined using the systemic lupus activity measure (SLAM) and the serum titer of anti-dsDNA antibodies. The percentage of AL in the peripheral blood of active SLE patients was significantly higher (13.07+/-7.39%, n=30) than that of the inactive SLE patients (4.08+/-3.55%, n=8, p<0.01) and normal controls (5.13+/-3.37%, n=11, p<0.01). Serum levels of neopterin in active SLE patients were significantly higher (1.39+/-1.10 microg/dl, n=22) than in controls (0.26+/-0.19 microg/dl, n=20, p<0.01). Serum levels of IFN-gamma in active SLE patients were elevated (58.97+/-34.52 ng/l, n=15) when compared with controls (28.06+/-2.35 ng/l, n=16, p<0.05). The percentage of AL correlated significantly with serum levels of neopterin (r=0.446, p<0.05, n=22) and SLAM score (r=0.533, p<0.001, n=38), but not with the serum levels of IFN-gamma. The SLAM score also correlated with the serum levels of neopterin (r=0.485, p<0.05, n=22), but not with those of IFN-gamma. Our study supported the hypothesis that increased lymphocyte apoptosis has a pathogenic role in SLE. The increased levels of serum neopterin may suggest an attempt of the patients' macrophage system to remove the apoptotic cell excess. Since serum levels of neopterin correlated with the overall lupus disease activity, they may be regarded as an index of SLE disease activity.
We consider a wireless system with unreliable microwave backhaul links. Since the links may be disconnected, the location update procedure may be incorrectly exercised, which results in misrouted ...calls. This paper proposes an analytic model to derive the misrouting probabilities as functions of the link disconnection time distribution. These equations can be used as the design guideline to select the microwave equipment for the wireless system.
This study presented to insert a small-scaled microphone of the ear-set of a smart mobile (Amazing A6, Taiwan MobileTM) into an eartip of the stethoscope, the sound can be transmitted by the mobile ...when it dialed to another phone or mobile. In this study, we employed another smart phone (Galaxy R GT19103, SamsungTM) to be the receiver. The results were showed by spectrogram which demonstrated the components of frequencies of the sounds. Finally, we proposed to improve the study by database.
PDF
