TWIST1, a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor with versatile roles in cancer, is frequently deregulated in cancers, through established pathway perturbations. However. the significance of ...TWIST1 methylation in the deregulation of TWIST1 in gastrointestinal cancers is not fully clear. This study hypothesized that TWIST1 promoter methylation deregulates TWIST1 expression independent of established deregulators such as the WNT, TGFB, NOTCH and miRNA pathways. To prove this hypothesis, colon, gastric and rectal cancer genomic data comprising gene expression, DNA methylation, and miRNA data were retrieved from the Cancer Genome Atlas cohorts which are publicly available in cancer genomic databases, the Genome Data Commons and the cBioportal.org. About 217 variables comprising expression levels of genes of the WNT, TGFB, NOTCH and miRNA signalling pathways, as well as the beta values of 17 TWIST1 methylation loci were subjected to Principal Component Regression Analysis, and then standard Linear Regression Analysis. The results showed that TWIST1 methylation is a predictor of TWIST1 expression in the gastrointestinal cancers, independent of WNT, TGFB, and NOTCH signalling and miRNA deregulation. The results also showed that different TWIST1 methylation loci may deregulate TWIST1 expression in different cancer types. The inference that can be drawn from this study is that TWIST1 DNA methylation is an important TWIST1 deregulation mechanism in colon, rectal and gastric cancers.
IMPORTANCE: A secular trend for earlier menarcheal age has been established in girls but there are few studies of pubertal timing for boys. OBJECTIVE: To determine if there is a secular trend for ...earlier pubertal timing among boys. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: For this population-based retrospective cohort study conducted in Gothenburg, Sweden, we collected heights and weights from school health records for boys born consecutively from January 1 and onwards in 1947 and every 5 years from 1951 to 1996 (n = 375 for each birth cohort from 1947-1991, n = 340 for the birth cohort in 1996, and n = 4090 for the total cohort). We estimated age at the peak height velocity (PHV), the maximum growth velocity during puberty, and childhood body mass index (BMI) at age 8 years for all study participants. The data were analyzed during 2018 and 2019. Boys were eligible if they had a complete personal identity number and data to calculate their age at PHV and childhood BMI. Approximately 2.4% of the original study population was excluded because they lacked a personal identity number, and in the remaining study population, 4090 (69%) had sufficient data to calculate childhood BMI and age at PHV. EXPOSURES: The exposure was birth year and a potential confounding factor was childhood BMI. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The outcome was age at PHV. RESULTS: Of the 4090 participants, most were white and the mean (SD) age at PHV was 13.9 (1.1) years. A linear regression model revealed a significant association between year of birth and age at PHV. Age at PHV was 1.5 months earlier for every decade increase in birth year (95% CI, −1.72 to −1.19; P < .001). After adjusting for childhood BMI, age at PHV was 1.2 months earlier per decade increase in birth year (95% CI, −1.41 to −0.89). All analyses were repeated in the subgroup of boys born in Sweden and with parents born in Sweden with similar results, indicating that the secular trend was not explained by demographic changes in the population between 1947 and 1996. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: We provide evidence of a secular trend for earlier pubertal timing in boys that is partially explained by an increased childhood BMI, but other factors that are unknown contribute.
Soil microbial respiration (SMR) is considered a robust estimate of potential soil biological activity. SMR measurement by incubation studies in laboratory conditions is a well-established technique, ...however is costly and time consuming depending on the selected incubation period. Based on 210 data available from Iran and Italy, we developed and validated (randomly selecting 70 and 30% of total data, respectively) a multiple linear regression analysis procedure for evaluating SMR. CumR (cumulative respiration during a 28 days incubation period) was evaluated from laboratory incubation measured at day 1 (R1d), day 2 (R2d) and day 4 (R4d), and CbasR (basal respiration at the last day of incubation, 28 days) from laboratory incubation at R4d. The best model prediction for CumR was found for the three parameters model (R1d, R2d and R4d; Adjusted R2 = 0.90, RMSE = 46.5), and was still accurate in the two parameters model (R1d and R4d; Adjusted R2 = 0.89, RMSE = 48.1) and in the one parameter model (R4d; Adjusted R2 = 0.86, RMSE = 57.2). Model prediction for CbasR from R4d was acceptable (Adjusted R2 = 0.71, RMSE = 3.64). Since the main aim of the study was to provide a time and cost-effective method for deriving CumR and CbasR, we can speculate that model prediction based on one parameter model (R4d) is still sufficiently accurate. The models were validated with a large data-set of laboratory measures from Italy (1050 samples) and very close relationships were found between actual and predicted values for both CumR and CbasR. Therefore, the proposed models can be used for the application of composite indexes for soil quality assessment and recommended for further research with the same methodology using other datasets.
•Soil biological activity is an important parameter of soil quality•CumR and CbasR measurements are costly and time consuming•Multiple linear regression analysis was used for predicting CumR and CbasR•The models could quickly, accurately and cost effectively estimate CumR and CbasR•The models were validated with a large data-set available for Italy
The complex evaluation of thermo-physiological comfort for a particular garment is still challenging, as it depends on the different structural parameters and individual properties of textiles. ...Measurement of relevant fabric characteristics requires very specific laboratory equipment, such as an M 290 moisture management tester (SDL ATLAS) or similar. For this reason, it is obvious that there is a great demand to predict the overall moisture management capability ( OMMC) based on the individual properties that are responsible for clothing comfort and testing according to different standards rather than OMMC-specific calculation using the M 290 tester. Therefore, in this research, linear regression analysis was performed using MATLAB software to predict the OMMC for cotton–polyester fabrics knitted in two patterns, namely 1 × 1 rib and half-Milano rib, using four percentages of fibers. Water vapor permeability, water vapor resistance, water absorption capacity, water absorption time, and air permeability were used as input variables for linear regression analysis to predict the OMMC of fabrics. The performed analysis has shown that the OMMC is directly dependent on the relative water vapor permeability and air permeability, and the linear regression equation suggested in this research can predict the suitability of a textile for a particular garment concerning its moisture management behavior.
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•Efficient intramolecular charge transfer in Bithiophene Carboxamidine Derivatives.•Specific interactions have strong effect on the photophysical properties of MBTCH and ...DMBTCH.•Locally excited and intramolecular charge transfer states are stabilized by hydrogen bonding interactions.•Structural effect has a great effect on intramolecular charge transfer properties.
The photophysical properties of water soluble 5′-(4-methoxyphenyl)-2,2′-bithiophene-5-carboxamidine hydrochloride salt (MBTCH) and 5′-(3,5-dimethoxyphenyl)-2,2′-bithiophene-5-carboxamidine hydrochloride salt (DMBTCH) were studied in different solvents. The absorption spectra of MBTCH and DMBTCH show very weak solvent dependence, while the fluorescence emission spectra show bathochromic shift of about 35 nm and 48 nm on changing the solvent from cyclohexane to DMSO for DMBTCH and MBTCH, respectively. In protic solvents further bathochromic shift is observed in case of DMBTCH. The excited state time resolved decay of MBTCH and DMBTCH were measured over the entire fluorescence spectra and fitted very well with bi-exponential function in all solvents. Correlation of MBTCH and DMBTCH photophysical properties with ETN (Reichardt’s normalized polarity parameter) was successful when the solvents are classified according to their hydrogen bonding properties, namely, protic and aprotic solvent categories. Reichardt-Ravi equation was used to determine dipole moment changes, Δμ, in both categories of solvents. Several multiple linear regression solvation energy relationships were used to assess the dependence of the photophysical properties on specific and non-specific properties of the solvents, such as Kamlet-Taft, Catalán and Laurence et al. relationships. These relationships have shown that hydrogen bonding interactions (specific interactions) and dipolar interaction (non-specific) competes strongly in their contribution to the photophysical properties of the studied compounds with slight domination of the latter.
To control the harvest date of strawberries, we constructed a device that can control the local fruit temperature and investigate the effects of fruit cooling and heating on fruit maturation and ...quality. Fruits were sequentially placing into thermally insulated tubs to control the local temperature during fruit development. The average fruit temperature decreased by 4.1℃ during fruit cooling and increased by 3.8℃ during fruit heating when compared with fruit without local temperature control. The number of days from flowering to harvest (i.e., days to maturation) was strongly affected by fruit temperature, with fruit cooling prolonging and fruit heating shortening the days to maturation when compared to the control. Non-linear regression analysis revealed two regression formulas for predicting days to maturation from the average fruit temperature. When compared to the fruit without local temperature control, fruit size, soluble solids content and dry matter ratio decreased significantly with fruit heating, while in contrast, no differences were observed for these quality parameters with fruit cooling.
A rapid method for parameter optimization for Ti-47Al-2Cr-2Nb powder in selective laser melting (SLM) based on melt pool characterizations is developed. The laser power and scanning speed are ...selected through the surface morphologies of single tracks to fabricate the high-density samples. The influences of the parameters on sectional geometric characteristics (width, height, depth, bulge area, penetration area and dilution) are analyzed by linear regression analysis, and the regression models are established to predict the geometric characteristics of single tracks. An inappropriate combination of process parameters can cause material evaporation and the melt pool instability, leading to generation of cracking and balling, which will reduce the linear correlation. The loss of Al is also an important reference criterion for the optimization of the process parameters, so Al content measurements are conducted to validate evaporation during the SLM processing. The Al loss from single tracks varies from 5.73 to 0.32at%. Applying optimal process parameters to the fabrication of TiAl parts result in densities ranging from 97.34% to 98.95%. However, more serious losses and an uneven distribution of Al in the fabricated samples are observed.
•A rapid method for optimization of parameters is developed.•The regression models are established to predict the geometrical characteristics.•The loss and uneven distribution of Al are found.•The evaporation of Al and the cracking cannot be completely eliminated.
Saltwater intrusion is a major environmental problem in many estuaries worldwide, including Modaomen Estuary in China's Pearl River Delta. It varies in multiple time-scales and is regulated by many ...external forcings. Here we focus on its intraseasonal and interannual variabilities in dry seasons and their relationships with external forcings. Empirical orthogonal function analysis (EOF) and multiple linear regression analysis are used to investigate the effects of river discharge, tides, and winds on saltwater intrusion from 2004 to 2016 based on daily observation data. On the intraseasonal timescale, tidal range has the largest influence, followed by river discharge and winds, and the effect of the alongshore winds is greater than that of the cross-shore winds. On the interannual timescale, river discharge contributes 57% of the variance for the saltwater intrusion and plays the most important role, while tidal range has a negligible impact. The effect of winds contributes 13% of the variance, and the effect of the cross-shore winds is larger than that of the alongshore ones. A combination of river discharge, tidal range, and winds explains 71% of the saltwater intrusion variance. The interannual variability of saltwater intrusion is also found to be correlated with ENSO, with the correlation coefficient reaching as high as 0.48. In most El Niño/La Niña events there are more/less river discharge, stronger Easterly/Northeasterly winds, and less/more saltwater intrusion in Modaomen Estuary. The findings of our study shed light on the long-term variability of saltwater intrusion in other estuaries.
•Intraseasonal and interannual variabilities of saltwater intrusion are studied.•On the intraseasonal timescale, tidal range has the largest influence.•On the interannual timescale, river discharge plays the most important role.•The interannual variability of saltwater intrusion is correlated with ENSO.
To date, few studies have investigated the simultaneous effects of macro-scale parameters (MSPs) such as land use, population density, geology, and erosion layers on micro-scale water quality ...variables (MSWQVs). This research focused on an evaluation of the relationship between MSPs and MSWQVs in the Siminehrood River Basin, Iran. In addition, we investigated the importance of water particle travel time (hydrological distance) on this relationship. The MSWQVs included 13 physicochemical and biochemical parameters observed at 15 stations during three seasons. Primary screening was performed by utilizing three multivariate statistical analyses (Pearson's correlation, cluster and discriminant analyses) in seven series of observed data. These series included three separate seasonal data, three two-season data, and aggregated three-season data for investigation of relationships between MSPs and MSWQVs. Coupled data (pairs of MSWQVs and MSPs) repeated in at least two out of three statistical analyses were selected for final screening. The primary screening results demonstrated significant relationships between land use and phosphorus, total solids and turbidity, erosion levels and electrical conductivity, and erosion and total solids. Furthermore, water particle travel time effects were considered through three geographical pattern definitions of distance for each MSP by using two weighting methods. To find effective MSP factors on MSWQVs, a multivariate linear regression analysis was employed. Then, preliminary equations that estimated MSWQVs were developed. The preliminary equations were modified to adaptive equations to obtain the final models. The final models indicated that a new metric, referred to as hydrological distance, provided better MSWQV estimation and water quality prediction compared to the National Sanitation Foundation Water Quality Index.
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•We explored relation between water quality and macro-scale parameters (MSPs).•This relation was explored by considering a new distance (hydrological) type.•Results indicated that water quality parameters were highly correlated with MSPs.
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