The protein expressions of neurotrophic factors can be enhanced by low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) stimulation in the brain. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the protective effect ...of LIPUS stimulation against aluminum-induced cerebral damage in Alzheimer's disease rat model. LIPUS was administered 7 days before each aluminum chloride (AlCl3) administration, and concomitantly given with AlCl3 daily for a period of 6 weeks. Neurotrophic factors in hippocampus were measured by western blot analysis. Behavioral changes in the Morris water maze and elevated plus maze were examined in rats after administration of AlCl3. Various biochemical analyses were performed to evaluate the extent of brain damages. LIPUS is capable of prompting levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in rat brain. AlCl3 administration resulted in a significant increase in the aluminum concentration, acetylcholinesterase activity and beta-amyloid (Aβ) deposition in AlCl3 treated rats. LIPUS stimulation significantly attenuated aluminum concentration, acetylcholinesterase activity, Aβ deposition and karyopyknosis in AlCl3 treated rats. Furthermore, LIPUS significantly improved memory retention in AlCl3-induced memory impairment. These experimental results indicate that LIPUS has neuroprotective effects against AlCl3-induced cerebral damages and cognitive dysfunction.
With the implementations of “Zero Waste” and Industry 4.0, the rapidly increasing applications of artificial intelligence in waste management have generated a large amount of image data, with ...concomitant improvements in the analysis methods. As advanced image analysis approaches, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have become indispensable tools for finding hidden patterns in visual features. Over the last few years, CNNs have been progressively applied to a wide variety of intelligent waste identification and recycling (IWIR). However, CNNs are still new to environmental researchers, and current studies on IWIR are hard to summarize due to the lack of benchmarks and widely accepted standards for the datasets and models used. Therefore, the aim of this review was to examine CNN approaches and their applications in IWIRs. First, some essential knowledge of CNNs was introduced. Then, the various open-source datasets and advanced CNN models used in IWIR were outlined, with insights into the three main tasks: classification, object detection, and segmentation. Then, three key fields of CNN applications in IWIR, i.e., recyclable material identification, trash pollution detection, and solid waste classification, were summarized. Finally, the challenges and limitations of the current applications were discussed to elucidate the future prospects of CNNs in this field.
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•The sensing performance of sensors based on conducting polymers is greatly affected by the presence of water vapor.•The TFB sensor exhibited high sensitivity to acetone, down to ppb ...levels in ambient air.•A humidification tube was designed as an ammonia filter to improve selectivity.
The major merits of organic-based sensors include their low cost, room-temperature operation, and small size. However, their sensitivity and selectivity are concerning, especially in the application of breath analysis. In this work, organic-based sensors were developed based on cylindrical nano-pore structures, which enhanced the sensitivity down to ppb levels. The sensing performance was demonstrated both in pure nitrogen and ambient air. The sensor constructed with poly(9,9-dioctylfluorenyl-2,7-diyl)-co-(4,4′-(N-(4-sec-butylphenyl)diphenylamine) (TFB) exhibited a 5% sensing response to 300 ppb of acetone in ambient air. In addition, the sensor’s response to other major breath components, including nitric oxide, ethanol, carbon dioxide, and ammonia, was also established. The results showed that the TFB sensor also exhibited a good response to ammonia. Therefore, a humidification tube was designed as an ammonia filter to improve selectivity. The concept of integrating a highly sensitive sensor with a customized sensing system shows promise for medical applications.
Abstract
Background
Regulation of the mRNA life cycle is central to gene expression control and determination of cell fate. miRNAs represent a critical mRNA regulatory mechanism, but despite decades ...of research, their mode of action is still not fully understood.
Results
Here, we show that eIF4A2 is a major effector of the repressive miRNA pathway functioning via the Ccr4-Not complex. We demonstrate that while DDX6 interacts with Ccr4-Not, its effects in the mechanism are not as pronounced. Through its interaction with the Ccr4-Not complex, eIF4A2 represses mRNAs at translation initiation. We show evidence that native eIF4A2 has similar RNA selectivity to chemically inhibited eIF4A1. eIF4A2 exerts its repressive effect by binding purine-rich motifs which are enriched in the 5′UTR of target mRNAs directly upstream of the AUG start codon.
Conclusions
Our data support a model whereby purine motifs towards the 3′ end of the 5′UTR are associated with increased ribosome occupancy and possible uORF activation upon eIF4A2 binding.
Hyperthermia (HT) has shown feasibility and potency as an anticancer therapy. Administration of HT in the chemotherapy has previously enhanced the cytotoxicity of drugs against pancreatic cancer. ...However, the drugs used when conducting these studies are substantially conventional chemotherapeutic agents that may cause unwanted side effects. Additionally, the thermal dosage in the treatment of cancer cells could also probably harm the healthy cells. The purpose of this work was to investigate the potential of the two natural polyphenolic compounds, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and chlorogenic acid (CGA), as heat synergizers in the thermal treatment of the PANC-1 cells. Furthermore, we have introduced a unique strategy entitled the thermal cycling-hyperthermia (TC-HT) that is capable of providing a maximum synergy and minimal side effect with the anticancer compounds. Our results demonstrate that the combination of the TC-HT and the CGA or EGCG markedly exerts the anticancer effect against the PANC-1 cells, while none of the single treatment induced such changes. The synergistic activity was attributed to the cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase and the induction of the ROS-dependent mitochondria-mediated apoptosis. These findings not only represent the first in vitro thermal synergistic study of natural compounds in the treatment of pancreatic cancer, but also highlight the potential of the TC-HT as an alternative strategy in thermal treatment.
This study aimed to determine the risk and time trends of herpes zoster among patients with head and neck cancer, with or without radiotherapy.
A total of 2160 patients with head and neck cancer were ...enrolled. The radiotherapy and non- radiotherapy cohorts were frequency-matched at a 1:1 ratio according to sex, age, and index date. Moreover, 1080 matched non-cancer individuals were considered normal controls. Data were obtained from the National Health Insurance Research Database and Cancer Registry. The primary end point was the incidence of herpes zoster, and the adjusted confounding factors were age, sex, comorbidities, oncological surgery, and chemotherapy.
The incidence of herpes zoster was higher in cancer patients than in non-cancer individuals but did not significantly differ (13.67 vs. 8.06 per 1,000 person-years, p = 0.18). The risk of herpes zoster was significantly higher in the radiotherapy cohort than in the non-radiotherapy cohort (18.55 vs. 9.06 per 1,000 person-years, p = 0.03). The 5-year incidence rates in the radiotherapy and non-radiotherapy cohorts were 8.9% and 5%, respectively (p < 0.0001). Survival analysis indicated there was no immortal time bias. The time trends in the radiotherapy cohort persistently showed a high risk within the first 2 years, which decreased thereafter. Only patients with comorbid rheumatoid arthritis showed a significantly high risk of herpes zoster (p = 0.02). Oncological surgery and chemotherapy had no impact on the development of herpes zoster.
This nationwide population-based study showed that patients with head and neck cancer receiving radiotherapy are at an increased risk of herpes zoster. Health care professionals should pay more attention to this vulnerable group to improve their quality of life.
GaN-based light emitting diodes (LEDs) have potential as photodetectors (PDs) for visible light communication (VLC). In current studies on LED-based PDs, devices are operated in a reverse-biased or ...zero-biased state. In this work, the performance of an blue mini-LED as both a PD and light source was studied. An aluminum oxide passivation was deposited on the sidewalls of the active region using atomic-layer deposition. In addition to improving the external quantum efficiency of mini-LEDs and reducing leakage current, sidewall passivation can also increase the responsivity of mini-LED PD. At a bias of 3 V (corresponding to injection current of 11.5 mA), the mini-LED PD had a response of 0.243 A/W. Based on the system above, a VLC link over 1 m with a data rate of 528 Mbps is achieved using 16-ary quadrature amplitude modulation orthogonal frequency division multiplexing. Moreover, the mini-LED PD could simultaneously act as an uplink detector and a downlink transmitter in the same full-duplex VLC system. With transmission distance of 1 m/1 m, a transmission rate of 350 Mbps in the uplink and downlink was achieved. The proposed method allows the same mini-LED to be used simultaneously as a display and VLC transmitter and receiver, which not only simplifies the structure of the full-duplex communication system and reduces system power consumption, but also facilitates the integration of multifunctional small LED devices.
Although alcohol is an established risk factor of head and neck cancer (HNC), insufficiencies exist in the literature in several aspects. We analyzed detailed alcohol consumption data (amount and ...type of alcoholic beverage) of 811 HNC patients and 940 controls to evaluate the association between alcohol and HNC by HNC sites and by genotypes of ADH1B and ALDH2. Alcohol was associated with an increased HNC risk in a dose-response relationship, with the highest risk observed for hypopharyngeal cancer, followed by oropharyngeal and laryngeal cancers. Liquor showed a stronger positive association with HNC than beer and wine. The highest HNC risk occurred in individuals with the slow ADH1B and slow/non-functional ALDH2 genotype combination. In our study population, 21.8% of HNCs, 55.7% of oropharyngeal cancers, and 89.1% of hypopharyngeal cancers could be attributed to alcohol. Alcohol accounted for 47.3% of HNCs among individuals with the slow ADH1B and slow/non-functional ALDH2 genotype combination. The HNC risk associated with alcohol became comparable to that of never/occasional drinkers after ten or more years of cessation from regular alcohol drinking. In conclusion, alcohol use is associated with an increased HNC risk, particularly for individuals with slow ethanol metabolism. HNC incidence may be reduced by alcohol cessation.
Naphthalimide derivatives have multiple biological activities, including antitumour and anti‐inflammatory activities. We previously synthesized several naphthalimide derivatives; of them, compound 5 ...was found to exert the strongest inhibitory effect on human DNA topoisomerase II activity. However, the effects of naphthalimide derivatives on platelet activation have not yet been investigated. Therefore, the mechanism underlying the antiplatelet activity of compound 5 was determined in this study. The data revealed that compound 5 (5–10 μM) inhibited collagen‐ and convulxin‐ but not thrombin‐ or U46619‐mediated platelet aggregation, suggesting that compound 5 is more sensitive to the inhibition of glycoprotein VI (GPVI) signalling. Indeed, compound 5 could inhibit the phosphorylation of signalling molecules downstream of GPVI, followed by the inhibition of calcium mobilization, granule release and GPIIb/IIIa activation. Moreover, compound 5 prevented pulmonary embolism and prolonged the occlusion time, but tended to prolong the bleeding time, indicating that it can prevent thrombus formation but may increase bleeding risk. This study is the first to demonstrate that the naphthalimide derivative compound 5 exerts antiplatelet and antithrombotic effects. Future studies should modify compound 5 to synthesize more potent and efficient antiplatelet agents while minimizing bleeding risk, which may offer a therapeutic potential for cardiovascular diseases.
Medulloblastoma (MB) is a highly malignant pediatric brain tumor. In the latest classification, medulloblastoma is divided into four distinct groups: wingless (WNT), sonic hedgehog (SHH), Group 3, ...and Group 4. We analyzed the magnetic resonance imaging radiomics features to find the imaging surrogates of the 4 molecular subgroups of MB. Frozen tissue, imaging data, and clinical data of 38 patients with medulloblastoma were included from Taipei Medical University Hospital and Taipei Veterans General Hospital. Molecular clustering was performed based on the gene expression level of 22 subgroup-specific signature genes. A total 253 magnetic resonance imaging radiomic features were generated from each subject for comparison between different molecular subgroups. Our cohort consisted of 7 (18.4%) patients with WNT medulloblastoma, 12 (31.6%) with SHH tumor, 8 (21.1%) with Group 3 tumor, and 11 (28.9%) with Group 4 tumor. 8 radiomics gray-level co-occurrence matrix texture (GLCM) features were significantly different between 4 molecular subgroups of MB. In addition, for tumors with higher values in a gray-level run length matrix feature-Short Run Low Gray-Level Emphasis, patients have shorter survival times than patients with low values of this feature (p = 0.04). The receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed optimal performance of the preliminary prediction model based on GLCM features for predicting WNT, Group 3, and Group 4 MB (area under the curve = 0.82, 0.72, and 0.78, respectively). The preliminary result revealed that 8 contrast-enhanced T1-weighted imaging texture features were significantly different between 4 molecular subgroups of MB. Together with the prediction models, the radiomics features may provide suggestions for stratifying patients with MB into different risk groups.
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