Integrin α6 (ITGA6), a transmembrane glycoprotein adhesion receptor protein, is widely upregulated in many types of tumors and promotes migration and invasion in cancer cells. However, the role that ...the ITGA6-associated signaling network plays in radiosensitivity in breast cancer has not been described. The expression of ITGA6 was examined in human breast cancer and normal breast cell lines using western blot analysis. We also explored the role of ITGA6 in the regulation of radiation sensitivity in breast cancer using the colony formation assays, cell cycle analyses, apoptosis assays and immunofluorescence analyses. The results showed that the protein and mRNA expression levels of ITGA6 was higher in breast cancer cells than in normal cells. ITGA6 protectived responses to radiotherapy in breast cancer cells by altering cell apoptosis, DNA damage repair and cell-cycle regulation. Furthermore, ITGA6 enhanced radiation resistance via PI3K/Akt and MEK/Erk signaling. In addition, overexpressing ITGA6 promoted radiation resistance in cells, and this effect was neutralized by the PI3K inhibitor LY294002 and MEK inhibitor U0126. Taken together, these findings indicate that ITGA6 might be involved in a mechanism that underlies radiation resistance and that ITGA6 could be a potential target for therapies aimed at overcoming radiation resistance in breast cancer.
Progression to severe disease is a difficult problem in treating coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19). The purpose of this study is to explore changes in markers of severe disease in COVID‐19 ...patients. Sixty‐nine severe COVID‐19 patients were included. Patients with severe disease showed significant lymphocytopenia. Elevated level of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), C‐reactive protein (CRP), ferritin, and D‐dimer was found in most severe cases. Baseline interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) was found to be associated with COVID‐19 severity. Indeed, the significant increase of baseline IL‐6 was positively correlated with the maximal body temperature during hospitalization and with the increased baseline of CRP, LDH, ferritin, and D‐dimer. High baseline IL‐6 was also associated with more progressed chest computed tomography (CT) findings. Significant decrease in IL‐6 and improved CT assessment was found in patients during recovery, while IL‐6 was further increased in exacerbated patients. Collectively, our results suggest that the dynamic change in IL‐6 can be used as a marker for disease monitoring in patients with severe COVID‐19.
Synopsis
Sixty‐nine severe COVID‐19 patients were analyzed for disease monitoring. Elevated baseline interleukin (IL)‐6 was found positively correlated to maximal body temperature, CRP, LDH, ferritin and D‐dimer during disease progression. IL‐6 increased during disease exacerbation and decreased during recovery.
The IL‐6 level is associated with disease severity in severe cases of COVID‐19.
The dynamic change in IL‐6 reflects the disease course of severe COVID‐19 cases.
Sixty‐nine severe COVID‐19 patients were analyzed for disease monitoring. Elevated baseline interleukin (IL)‐6 was found positively correlated to maximal body temperature, CRP, LDH, ferritin and D‐dimer during disease progression. IL‐6 increased during disease exacerbation and decreased during recovery.
•Couple RS data and PyWOFOST crop model using EnKF to simulate maize growth in Northeast China.•Both the uncertainty of RS data and crop model strongly affect the simulated results.•The yield ...estimation based on EnKF improves the accuracy of crop simulation.•The PyWOFOST model is applicable for maize growth simulation in Northeast China.
The crop model (PyWOFOST) which coupled remote sensing information and a crop model (WOFOST) with Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) was used to simulate maize growth and yield in Northeastern China with MODIS LAI as the coupling point. The assimilation plan focused on analyzing the impact of uncertainties of remote sensing observations (MODIS LAI) and crop model parameters (thermal time from emergence to anthesis, TSUM1) on the modeling results. First, the PyWOFOST model is used to simulate the maize LAI, yield and growth duration at site's scale; then the impact of remote sensing and crop model uncertainties on crop growth simulation is analyzed; finally, the regional maize yield is estimated with the PyWOFOST model, and the results are verified using the maize statistical yield. Results show that the simulated maize yield with assimilation has significantly improved compared to the one without assimilation. Under a business-as-usual scenario, the modeling results without assimilation has an error of 14.04%. The assimilated results show errors of 12.71%, 11.91%, 10.44%, and 10.48% at different TSUM1 uncertainty levels at 0, 10, 20, and 30°C, respectively. The simulated LAI with assimilation agree better with the field observations than the one without assimilation. Without assimilation, the simulated growth duration has a mean deviation from the observed results at 3.4 days; with assimilation, the deviation would be 3.5, 4.3, 5.0, and 5.5 days respectively at different TSUM1 uncertainty levels. The results show that the errors for 58.82% areas are smaller than 15%. The simulated and statistical yields are highly correlated (R=0.875), and the determination coefficient is at 0.806. The study shows that it is applicable to simulate crop growth using a crop model assimilated with remote sensing data based on EnKF and it is significant to estimate the remote sensing and crop model uncertainties in crop yield estimation.
A novel coronavirus known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread across the world, prompting the World Health Organization to declare the coronavirus disease of ...2019 (COVID-19) a public health emergency of international concern. Cancer patients are regarded as a highly vulnerable population to SARS-CoV-2 infection and development of more severe COVID-19 symptoms, which is possibly due to the systemic immunosuppressive state caused directly by tumor growth and indirectly by effects of anticancer treatment. Currently, much effort has been directed toward studying the pathogenesis and treatment of COVID-19, but the risk profiles, prognoses, and treatment outcomes in cancer patients remain unclear. Based on the current literature, we summarize the risk profiles, clinical and biochemical characteristics, and therapy outcomes of COVID-19 infections in cancer patients. The challenges in the clinical care of cancer patients with COVID-19 are discussed. The goal of this review is to stimulate research to better understand the biological impact and prognoses of COVID-19 infections in cancer patients, thus facilitating improvement of the clinical management of these patients.
A tetrakis(bisurea)‐decorated tetraphenylethene (TPE) ligand (L2) was designed, which, upon coordination with phosphate ions, displays fluorescence “turn‐on” over a wide concentration range, from ...dilute to concentrated solutions and to the solid state. The fluorescence enhancement can be attributed to the restriction of the intramolecular rotation of TPE by anion coordination. The crystal structure of the A4L2 (A=anion) complex of L2 with monohydrogen phosphate provides direct evidence for the coordination mode of the anion. This “anion‐coordination‐induced emission” (ACIE) is another approach for fluorescence turn‐on in addition to aggregation‐induced emission (AIE).
Phosphate ions in a bind: The tetrakis(bisurea)‐decorated tetraphenylethene (TPE) displays fluorescence “turn‐on” over a wide concentration range upon phosphate coordination. The fluorescence enhancement can be attributed to the restriction of the intramolecular rotation of TPE by anion coordination. This “anion‐coordination‐induced emission” (ACIE) is another approach for fluorescence turn‐on.
Abstract
An understanding of mechanisms that underlie the steady increase in crop yields over recent decades is important for promotion of future sustainable yield gains and maintenance of future ...food security. In this study, we coupled observational maize yield and climate variables based on crop development data from 1981 to 2009 to construct an empirical model that can resolve the separate and combined effects of climate and agricultural practices related to crop timing on maize yield in Northeast China (NEC), the largest spring maize-producing region of China. Climate warming contributed to approximately 15.6% of the trend for increasing yield over the 29 year period. The beneficial effects of climate warming on yield were due to increases in accumulation of temperatures between 10 °C and 30 °C (growing degree days, GDD), which positively contributed to 29.7% of yield and offset the −14.1% yield reduction caused by a trend involving increasing accumulation of temperatures above 30 °C (or extreme degree days, EDD). Adaptive improvements in crop timing practices (e.g. shifts in planting date and selection of later-maturity cultivars) further optimized the impacts of GDD and EDD during the entire growing season by exploiting more GDD during the reproductive phase and fewer EDD during the vegetative phase, thereby contributing to a yield gain of 25.4% over the period from 1981 to 2009. Taken together, climate warming and crop timing practices contributed to 39.4% of the maize yield increase since 1981. Yield losses due to climate warming were detected at only one site located in the southern part of the NEC region, where yield losses must be offset by positive effects of crop timing changes. The trends in maize yields presented here may provide guidance for effective adaptation options for maize production under conditions of continued climate warming.
In ovarian cancer patients, tumor fibrosis and angiotensin-driven fibrogenic signaling have been shown to inversely correlate with survival. We sought to enhance drug delivery and therapeutic ...efficacy by remodeling the dense extracellular matrix in two orthotopic human ovarian carcinoma xenograft models. We hypothesized that targeting the angiotensin signaling axis with losartan, an approved angiotensin system inhibitor, could reduce extracellular matrix content and the associated “solid stress,” leading to better anticancer therapeutic effect. We report here four translatable findings: (i) losartan treatment enhances the efficacy of paclitaxel—a drug used for ovarian cancer treatment—via normalizing the tumor microenvironment, resulting in improved vessel perfusion and drug delivery; (ii) losartan depletes matrix via inducing antifibrotic miRNAs that should be tested as candidate biomarkers of response or resistance to chemotherapy; (iii) although losartan therapy alone does not reduce tumor burden, it reduces both the incidence and the amount of ascites formed; and (iv) our retrospective analysis revealed that patients receiving angiotensin system inhibitors concurrently with standard treatment for ovarian cancer exhibited 30 mo longer overall survival compared with patients on other antihypertensives. Our findings provide the rationale and supporting data for a clinical trial on combined losartan and chemotherapy in ovarian cancer patients.
The use of modern crop varieties is a dominant method of obtaining high yields in crop production. Efforts to identify suitable varieties, with characteristics that would increase crop yield under ...future climate conditions, remain essential to developing sustainable agriculture and food security. This work aims to evaluate potential genotypic adaptations (i.e., using varieties with increased ability to produce desirable grain numbers under high temperatures and with enhanced thermal time requirements during the grain-filling period) to cope with the negative impacts of climate change on maize yield. The contributions of different options were investigated at six sites in the North China Plain using the APSIM model and the outputs of 8 GCMs under RCP4.5 scenarios. It was found that without considering adaptation options, mean maize yield would decrease by 7~18% during 2010-2039 relative to 1976-2005. A large decrease in grain number relative to stabilized grain weight decreased maize yield under future climate scenarios. Using heat-tolerant varieties, maize yield could increase on average by 6% to 10%. Using later maturing varieties, e.g., enhanced thermal time requirements during the grain-filling period, maize yield could increase by 7% to 10%. The optimal adaptation options were site specific.
In the 21st century, sludge disposal and resource recycling are global issues. Titanium coagulation has received increasing attention due its strong coagulation capability and sludge recycling. ...Titanium coagulation is highly efficient for the treatment of algae-laden micro-polluted surface water; however, the safe disposal of titanium-coagulated algae-rich sludge remains a challenge. Here, we report on the recycling of titanium-coagulated algae-rich sludge for the production of functional TiO2 nanoflowers (TNFs) through a simple hydrothermal and calcination process. Anatase TNFs (particle size of 10–15 nm) with petal-like structures (mesoporous), relatively high specific surface areas, i.e. 299.4 m2g-1, and low band gaps, i.e. 2.67 eV (compared to P-25), were obtained. Additionally, oxygen vacancy (OV) was generated on the surface of the recycled TNFs based on electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) results, which were verified by the first-principles calculations within density-functional theory. These TNFs display high photocatalytic performance for the degradation of diverse phenolic organic contaminants, such as bisphenol A, diphenyl phenol, p-tert-butyl phenol, and resorcinol, i.e. > 95%, under mild ultraviolet light irradiation and without any sacrificial reagents. Formation of OV on TNFs not only efficiently inhibited the recombination of photo-generated electrons and holes but also facilitated contaminant adsorption and photo-generated electron transfer on the surface of the recycled TNFs, thereby promoting the generation of holes and hydroxyl and superoxide radicals which were regarded as the reactive oxygen species for attacking contaminants in the reactions. This study proposes a new perspective on recycling chemical-coagulated sludge for producing functional nanomaterials as photocatalysts.
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•Emerging titanium coagulation for algae-laden micro-polluted surface water treatment.•Recycle of titanium-coagulated algae-laden sludge to produce functional TiO2.•The recycled TiO2 nanoflowers (TNFs) are capable of degrading phenolic contaminants.•Oxygen vacancy on TNFs surface enhanced the photocatalytic performance.
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