Oxidized low-density lipoproteins (oxLDL) and oxidized low-density lipoprotein autoantibodies (OLAB) have been detected in human plasma and atherosclerotic lesions. OLAB appear to play a role in the ...clearance of oxLDL from circulation. Higher levels of OLAB appear to be associated with a reduced risk of a wide range of cardiovascular diseases. We investigated the prognostic value of plasma oxLDL and OLAB in patients undergoing primary coronary balloon angioplasty for acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).
Plasma oxLDL and OLAB concentrations were measured in 56 patients with acute STEMI before primary angioplasty, and then 3 days, 7 days and 1 month after the acute event. Follow-up angiography was repeated 6 months later to detect the presence of restensosis (defined as >50% luminal diameter stenosis). The thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) risk score was calculated to determine the relationship between OLAB/oxLDL ratio and TIMI risk scores.
Of the 56 patients, 18 (31%) had angiographic evidence of restenosis. Plasma OLAB concentrations were significantly lower in the restenosis group before angioplasty (181±114 vs. 335±257 U/L, p = 0.003), and at day 3 (155±92 vs. 277±185 U/L, p<0.001) and day 7 (177±110 vs. 352±279 U/L, p<0.001) after the acute event. There was no difference in oxLDL concentration between the two groups. The ratio of OLAB/oxLDL positively correlated with TIMI risk scores before angioplasty (p for trend analysis, p = 0.004), at day 3 (p = 0.008) and day 7 (p<0.001) after STEMI.
A relative deficit of OLAB, and hence likely impaired clearance of oxLDL, is associated with the risk of arterial restenosis after primary angioplasty for acute STEMI.
ObjectiveLung adenocarcinoma is a non-small cell lung cancer, a common cancer in both genders, and has poor clinical outcome. Our aim was to evaluate the role of epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like ...domain multiple 6 (EGFL6) and its prognostic significance in lung adenocarcinoma.MethodsEGFL6 expression was studied by immunohistochemical staining of specimens from 150 patients with lung adenocarcinoma. The correlation between clinicopathological features and EGFL6 expression was quantitatively analysed. We used Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazard models to examine the prognostic value of EGFL6 in terms of overall survival.ResultsNo significant correlation was found between EGFL6 expression and clinical parameters. However, patients with high levels of EGFL6 expression showed a tendency towards poor prognosis, with borderline statistical significance. Grouping the patients according to a medium age value revealed a significant association between high EGFL6 expression and poor clinical outcome in young patients. This finding was further confirmed by grouping the patients into three groups according to age. HR in patients with high EGFL6 expression was higher in younger patients than in older patients.ConclusionHigh EGFL6 expression may serve as a marker for poor prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma, especially in younger patients.
Up-regulation of ICAM-1 (intercellular adhesion molecule-1) is frequently implicated in lung inflammation and lung diseases, such as IPF (idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis). Thrombin has been shown to ...play a key role in inflammation via the induction of adhesion molecules, which then causes lung injury. However, the mechanisms underlying thrombin-induced ICAM-1 expression in HPAEpiCs (human pulmonary alveolar epithelial cells) remain unclear. In the present study, we have shown that thrombin induced ICAM-1 expression in HPAEpiCs. Pre-treatment with the inhibitor of thrombin PPACK (D-Phe-Pro-Arg-chloromethyl ketone), c-Src (PP1), PDGFR (platelet-derived growth factor receptor) (AG1296), PI3K (phosohinositide 3-kinase) (LY294002), NF-κB (nuclear factor κB) (Bay11-7082) or p300 (GR343) and transfection with siRNAs of c-Src, PDGFR, Akt, p65 and p300 markedly reduced thrombin-induced ICAM-1 expression and monocyte adherence to HPAEpiCs challenged with thrombin. In addition, we established that thrombin stimulated the phosphorylation of c-Src, PDGFR, Akt and p65, which were inhibited by pre-treatment with their respective inhibitors PP1, AG1296, LY294002 or Bay11-7082. In addition, thrombin also enhanced Akt and NF-κB translocation from the cytosol to the nucleus, which was reduced by PP1, AG1296 or LY294002. Thrombin induced NF-κB promoter activity and the formation of the p65-Akt-p300 complex, which were inhibited by AG1296, LY294002 or PP1. Finally, we have shown that thrombin stimulated in vivo binding of p300, Akt and p65 to the ICAM-1 promoter, which was reduced by AG1296, LY294002, SH-5 or PP1. These results show that thrombin induced ICAM-1 expression and monocyte adherence via a c-Src/PDGFR/PI3K/Akt/NF-κB-dependent pathway in HPAEpiCs. Increased understanding of the signalling mechanisms underlying ICAM-1 gene regulation will create opportunities for the development of anti-inflammatory therapeutic strategies.
The good oral health plays a pivotal role in improving the general health of the body. The purpose of this study was to evaluate an innovative design incorporating oral health education into a human ...physiology curriculum for students of early childhood education by evaluating the students’ perspectives on the oral health curriculum.
Forty-two first-year students who took the compulsory course entitled “Introduction to Human Physiology” in National Taiwan Normal University in 2022 were invited to fill out the questionnaire for a presurvey regarding their familiarity with basic oral health concepts, and a postsurvey in which the students answered the same presurvey questions after finishing the class.
Of the 42 students, 41 (97.62%) participated in both the presurvey and postsurvey. The results showed that the learning unit of oral health education helped students in raising their concepts on oral health. To the questions asking that I understand the structure and function of the oral cavity and I understand common oral diseases (dental caries and periodontal diseases), the numbers of students who agreed increased from 12 (29.27%) to 39 (95.12%) and 11 (26.83%) to 36 (87.80%), respectively. Moreover, the mean scores increased from 3.24 to 4.20 (P < 0.001) and from 3.12 to 4.29 (P < 0.001) for the two corresponding questions, respectively.
In this study, the learning unit of oral health education in the human physiology curriculum for students of early childhood education helped the students to increase their awareness and understanding of oral health.
Good oral health is important for general health of the body. This study aimed to evaluate an innovative design incorporating oral health education related to oral pathogenic bacteria into a ...microbiology laboratory curriculum for students of department of life science by evaluating the students’ perspectives on the oral health curriculum.
Twenty-six students who took the elective course entitled “Microbiology Laboratory” in the National Taiwan Normal University in 2022 were invited to fill out the questionnaire for a presurvey regarding their familiarity with basic oral health concepts, and a postsurvey in which the students answered the same presurvey questions after finishing the class.
Of the 26 students, 25 (96.15%) participated in both the presurvey and postsurvey. The results showed that the learning unit of oral health education related to oral pathogenic bacteria helped students in raising their concepts of oral health. To the questions asking that I understand the bacteria that cause dental caries and the pathogenic mechanism and I understand the bacteria that cause periodontal diseases and the pathogenic mechanism, the numbers of students who agreed both questions increased from 2 (8%) to 25 (100%), respectively. Moreover, the mean scores increased from 2.64 to 4.32 (P < 0.001) and from 2.68 to 4.32 (P < 0.001) for the two corresponding questions, respectively.
The learning unit of oral health education in the microbiology laboratory curriculum helped the students of department of life science to increase their awareness and understanding of oral health.
In this paper, a geometry based decoder with low decoding complexity and exact maximum-likelihood (ML) performance is proposed for underdetermined multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. In ...the proposed decoder, an underdetermined MIMO system can be divided into a multiple-input single-output (MISO) sub-system and a regular MIMO sub-system in which numbers of transmit and receive antennas are equal. An efficient slab search algorithm (ESSA) is adopted to efficiently obtain valid candidate points in the MISO sub-system. By adopting ESSA in the MISO sub-system and sphere decoding algorithm (SDA) in the MIMO sub-system, ML solution of underdetermined MIMO system can be obtained with low computational complexity. To further reduce the computational complexity, a near-ML SDA is proposed to more efficiently find the candidate points in the MIMO sub-system. In addition, an optimal preprocessing technique is proposed from the geometrical perspective and the comprehensive analysis on the complexity reduction is also provided. Simulation results indicate that the proposed approach significantly reduces the complexity as compared to existing ML decoders, particularly for systems with large number of antennas and/or high-order constellations.
Staphylococcus aureus is the most commonly found Gram-positive bacterium in patients admitted to intensive-care units, causing septicaemia or pneumonia. S. aureus is considered to play an important ...role in the induction of cell adhesion molecules. Resveratrol, a compound found in the skins of red fruits, may inhibit the inflammatory signalling pathways involved in lung diseases. In the present paper, we have shown that resveratrol reduced S. aureus-mediated VCAM-1 (vascular cell adhesion molecule-1) expression in HPAEpiCs (human lung epithelial cells) and lungs of mice. In an in vivo study, we have shown that resveratrol inhibited S. aureus-induced pulmonary haematoma and leucocyte count in BAL (bronchoalveolar lavage) fluid in mice. In an in vitro study, we observed that resveratrol attenuated S. aureus-induced TLR2 (Toll-like receptor 2), MyD88 (myeloid differentiation factor 88) and PI3K (phosphoinositide 3-kinase) complex formation. S. aureus stimulated Akt, JNK1/2 (c-Jun N-terminal kinase 1/2) and p42/p44 MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) phosphorylation, which were inhibited by resveratrol. In addition, S. aureus induced IκB (inhibitor of nuclear factor κB) α and NF-κB (nuclear factor κB) p65 phosphorylation and NF-κB p65 translocation, which were reduced by resveratrol. Finally, we found that S. aureus induced NF-κB and p300 complex formation and p300 phosphorylation, which were inhibited by resveratrol. Thus resveratrol functions as a suppressor of S. aureus-induced inflammatory signalling not only by inhibiting VCAM-1 expression, but also by reducing TLR2-MyD88-PI3K complex formation and Akt, JNK1/2, p42/p44 MAPK, p300 and NF-κB activation in HPAEpiCs.
Abstract Background Although human papillomavirus (HPV) infections have been causally linked to oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), the potential role of low-risk HPV (LR-HPV) types in the ...pathogenesis of this malignancy remains unclear. Objectives We sought to investigate the distribution of HPV genotypes and their prognostic significance in OSCC patients treated by radical surgery, either with or without adjuvant therapy. Study design We studied two non-overlapping OSCC cohorts for the periods 2005–2006 (2005 cohort, n = 204) and 2010–2011 (2010 cohort, n = 206). Paraffin-embedded tissue blocks were collected, and the HPV genotype was determined using PCR plus HPV blot tests. The primary study endpoint was the prevalence of HPV genotypes. The secondary endpoints were the 2-year therapeutic outcomes. Results The overall prevalence of HPV infections did not differ significantly in the two study cohorts. However, the prevalence of LR-HPV was significantly higher in the 2010 cohort than in the 2005 cohort ( p = 0.002). The overall prevalence of HPV infections was not significantly associated with the 2-year outcomes. However, multivariate analysis demonstrated that LR-HPV infection was a predictor of poor 2-year disease-free survival ( p = 0.036, hazard ratio HR = 3.1), disease-specific survival ( p = 0.014, HR = 3.8), and overall survival ( p = 0.016, HR = 3.2) in the subgroups of OSCC patients with poor differentiation, pN2 lymph node metastases, or extracapsular spread ( n = 150). Conclusions LR-HPV infections may have an important role in determining the clinical outcomes of certain OSCC patients bearing specific risk factors.
The well-known cell-averaging constant false alarm rate (CA-CFAR) scheme and its variants suffer from masking effect in multi-target scenarios. Although order-statistic CFAR (OS-CFAR) scheme performs ...well in such scenarios, it is compromised with high computational complexity. To handle masking effects with a lower computational cost, in this paper, we propose a deep-learning based CFAR (DL- CFAR) scheme. DL-CFAR is the first attempt to improve the noise estimation process in CFAR based on deep learning. Simulation results demonstrate that DL-CFAR outperforms conventional CFAR schemes in the presence of masking effects. Furthermore, it can outperform conventional CFAR schemes significantly under various signal-to-noise ratio conditions. We hope that this work will encourage other researchers to introduce advanced machine learning technique into the field of target detection.
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