Although significant advances have recently been made in the diagnosis and treatment of cervical carcinoma, the long-term survival rate for advanced cervical cancer remains low. Therefore, an urgent ...need exists to both uncover the molecular mechanisms and identify potential therapeutic targets for the treatment of cervical cancer. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have important roles in cancer progression and could be used as either potential therapeutic agents or targets. miR-506 is a component of an X chromosome-linked miRNA cluster. The biological functions of miR-506 have not been well established. In this study, we found that miR-506 expression was downregulated in approximately 80% of the cervical cancer samples examined and inversely correlated with the expression of Ki-67, a marker of cell proliferation. Gain-of-function and loss-of-function studies in human cervical cancer, Caski and SiHa cells, demonstrated that miR-506 acts as a tumor suppressor by inhibiting cervical cancer growth in vitro and in vivo. Further studies showed that miR-506 induced cell cycle arrest at the G1/S transition, and enhanced apoptosis and chemosensitivity of cervical cancer cell. We subsequently identified Gli3, a hedgehog pathway transcription factor, as a direct target of miR-506 in cervical cancer. Furthermore, Gli3 silencing recapitulated the effects of miR-506, and reintroduction of Gli3 abrogated miR-506-induced cell growth arrest and apoptosis. Taken together, we conclude that miR-506 exerts its anti-proliferative function by directly targeting Gli3. This newly identified miR-506/Gli3 axis provides further insight into the pathogenesis of cervical cancer and indicates a potential novel therapeutic agent for the treatment of cervical cancer.
A new alpha-emitting isotope U-214, produced by the fusion-evaporation reaction W-182(Ar-36,4n) U-214, was identified by employing the gas-filled recoil separator SHANS and the recoil-a correlation ...technique. More precise a-decay properties of even-even nuclei U-216,U-218 were also measured in the reactions of Ar-40, Ca-40 beams with W-180,W-182,W- 184 targets. By combining the experimental data, improved alpha-decay reduced widths delta(2) for the even-even Po-Pu nuclei in the vicinity of the magic neutron number N = 126 are deduced. Their systematic trends are discussed in terms of the N-p N-n scheme in order to study the influence of protonneutron interaction on a decay in this region of nuclei. It is strikingly found that the reduced widths of( 214,216)U are significantly enhanced by a factor of two as compared with the NpNn systematics for the 84 <= Z <= 90 and N < 126 even-even nuclei. The abnormal enhancement is interpreted by the strong monopole interaction between the valence protons and neutrons occupying the pi 1f (7/2) and nu 1f(5/2) spin-orbit partner orbits, which is supported by the large-scale shell model calculation.
The effects of dietary Lactobacillus (BCRC 16092) and inulin on growth performance, intestinal microflora, mineral utilization, and tissue mineral contents were evaluated in broilers. The experiment ...was conducted using 1,152 one-day-old broilers randomly distributed to 9 treatments in a factorial arrangement (3 × 3) using 3 levels of inulin (0, 1, and 2%) and 3 levels of Lactobacillus addition (108, 109, and 1010 CFU/kg). Broilers (1 D of age; 8 replicates per treatments and 16 broilers per replicate) with an initial body weight of 48.36 ± 0.21g were evaluated for 42 D. A 4-D mineral digestibility trial was conducted during the final week of the experiment. The results showed that Lactobacillus supplementation can increase average daily gain and nutrient digestibility and improve feed/gain in broilers (P < 0.05). Moreover, Lactobacillus and inulin supplementation increased the numbers of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria, increased serum concentration of IgG and IgA, and decreased the numbers of Escherichia coli and pH in ileum and cecum. The present study demonstrated Lactobacillus and inulin fed to broilers has a positive effect on gut microbiota, growth and nutrient utilization, immune system, and mineral metabolism.
Abstract Radio observations of pulsars offer a potential method to probe the intricate microstructure in the turbulent interstellar medium. Here we report on a high-resolution dynamic spectral ...analysis of the “swooshing pulsar” B0919+06 observed with the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope over multiple epochs and with the ultrawideband receiver on the Parkes radio telescope. For all observations, the dynamic scintillation spectra, two-dimensional autocovariance functions, and secondary spectra are presented. At 1250 MHz, the decorrelation bandwidth, diffraction timescale, and the drift rate are determined to be Δ ν d = 25.89 ± 7.55 MHz, Δ τ d = 14.42 ± 3.98 minutes, and dt / d ν = 0.07 ± 0.14 minutes MHz −1 , respectively. The frequency dependencies of the scintillation parameters exhibit single power-law spectral behaviors, indicating that the electron density fluctuations in the interstellar medium approximately follow the Kolmogorov spectrum. The secondary spectra exhibit two distinct parabolic arcs with well-determined curvatures of 0.002 and 0.02 s 3 for the outer and inner arcs, respectively. The locations of the scattering screens are approximately determined to be 157.3 and 726.0 pc, respectively, from the pulsar for isotropic scattering. The inner scintillation arc is present contemporaneously over a wide frequency range, indicating that the scintillation arc is a broadband phenomenon. The arc curvature scales with observing frequency as a power law with an index of −2.05 ± 0.05, which implies that the scattering screen spans a physical distance from 689.7 to 883.3 pc from the pulsar.
Dapsone is an important medication for the treatment of leprosy, but a life-threatening drug hypersensitivity syndrome develops in some patients. In this report from China, an
HLA-B
locus is ...identified as a strong genetic risk factor for the syndrome.
Dapsone (4-4′-sulfonyldianiline), which was first synthesized in 1908,
1
is both an antibiotic and an antiinflammatory agent. Dapsone alone or in combination with other drugs has been used for the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases (e.g., leprosy, malaria, and actinomycetoma, as well as
Pneumocystis jirovecii
pneumonia in persons with human immunodeficiency virus HIV infection) and chronic inflammatory diseases characterized by the infiltration of neutrophils or eosinophils (e.g., dermatitis herpetiformis, linear IgA dermatosis, subcorneal pustular dermatosis, and erythema elevatum diutinum).
2
,
3
About 0.5 to 3.6% of persons treated with dapsone have a drug hypersensitivity syndrome,
3
–
5
which was first described by . . .
Abstract
We have carried out a detailed study of individual pulse emission from the pulsar J2022+5154 (B2021+51), observed at 2250 MHz using the Jiamusi 66 m radio telescope. We have investigated the ...modulations in single-pulse behavior using fluctuation spectral analysis, which shows the presence of two prominent periodicities, around 5 and 40 rotation periods, respectively. The shorter periodicity is associated with the phenomenon of subpulse drifting. In the absence of aliasing, the emission pattern is demonstrated to consist of eight subbeams, which rotate around the magnetic axis in about 45 periods. In addition to subpulse drifting, the pulsar also shows the presence of periodic amplitude modulation with a longer periodicity in the single-pulse sequence. The pulsar joins a select group that shows the presence of periodic phase-modulated drifting as well as amplitude-modulated drifting. This provides further evidence for the two phenomena being distinct from each other with different physical origins.
Abstract
Based on the database monitored by the 1.26 m National Astronomical Observatory–Guangzhou University Infrared/Optical Telescope, we studied the optical variabilities of FSRQ 3C454.3. The ...monitoring period was from 2016 October 17 to 2018 December 14, and there were 6701 observations covering the
g
,
r,
and
i
bands (2196 at the
g
band, 2214 at the
r
band, and 2291 at the
i
band). (1) The maximum variabilities were Δ
m
g
= 2.806 ± 0.124 mag at the
g
band; Δ
m
r
= 2.365 ± 0.160 mag at the
r
band; and Δ
m
i
= 3.126 ± 0.070 mag at the
i
band. (2) Among the
gri
intraday lightcurves, there are 172 portions of the data sets showing intraday variability (IDV). The distributions of IDV timescales (Δ
T
) can be profiled by a three-order Gaussian function, with the center values Δ
T
1
= 17.18 minutes, Δ
T
2
= 34.91 minutes, and Δ
T
3
= 68.92 minutes. These results imply that the origin of IDVs is very complicated. (3) Based on the IDV timescales, we obtained the emission size
R
≤ 7.17 × 10
15
cm, fixed the broad-line region and modeled the spectral energy distributions. (4) We used the Jurkevich method, red-noise fitting, and the weighted wavelet Z-transform to analyze the long-term variabilities and obtained indications of a possible period of
P
= 2.92 ± 0.85 yr, and used the binary black hole system to explain this period. Based on the long-term period, we can estimate the time until merger of the binary black hole,
t
merge
= 6.69 × 10
3
yr, and the luminosity of gravitational waves,
L
G
= 1.56 × 10
48
erg s
−1
.
Abstract
We have carried out a detailed study of polarimetric individual pulse emission from the pulsar J1701−3726 (B1658−37), observed at 1369 MHz using the Parkes 64 m radio telescope. The ...single-pulse sequences reveal the presence of the three major emission phenomena of pulse nulling, mode changing, and subpulse drifting. Trimodal distribution of the pulse energy is present, implying one population of nulls and two others of emission in the phase window. The mean flux density of the normal mode is almost two times that of the abnormal mode. Our data show that, for PSR J1701−3726, 64% of the time was spent in the normal mode and 12% was in the abnormal mode. The single pulses show the presence of two distinct periodic modulations using a fluctuation spectral analysis. About 24% of the nulls are found to create alternating bunches of nulls and bursts in a quasiperiodic manner with a longer periodicity of 48 ± 4 rotational periods. Additionally, the pulsar presents a steady even–odd modulated feature with a stationary longitude within the pulse window. The ramifications for constraining the viewing geometry and understanding the radio emission mechanisms are discussed.