ASIC1 and ASIC3 contribute to acidity-induced EMT of pancreatic cancer through activating Ca/RhoA pathway.

Extracellular acid can have important effects on cancer cells. Acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs), which emerged as key receptors for extracellular acidic pH, are differently expressed during various diseases and have been implicated in underlying pathogenesis. This study reports that ASIC1 and ASIC3 are mainly expressed on membrane of pancreatic cancer cells and upregulated in pancreatic cancer tissues.

Slotted labyrinthotomy approach with customized electrode for patients with common cavity deformity.

Objectives/hypothesis: Cochlear implantation for patients with common cavity deformity (CCD) can be difficult, with a higher incidence of intra- and postoperative complications; outcomes with CCD patients are also highly variable. In this study, surgical time was compared between the traditional facial recess approach (TFRA) and the transmastoid slotted labyrinthotomy approach (TSLA). Audiological outcomes and the benefit of using customized electrode arrays for CCD patients are also discussed.

Cognitive and neuroimaging changes in healthy immigrants upon relocation to a high altitude: A panel study.

Background: Cognitive and neuroimaging changes under chronic high-altitude exposure have never been followed up and dynamically assessed.

Objectives: To investigate the cognitive and brain structural/functional alterations associated with chronic high-altitude exposure.

Methods: Sixty-nine college freshmen that were immigrating to Tibet were enrolled and followed up for two years.

Efficacy and safety of statins and exercise combination therapy compared to statin monotherapy in patients with dyslipidaemia: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background Statin treatment in association with physical exercise can substantially reduce mortality in dyslipidaemic individuals. However, the available data to compare the efficacy and safety of statins and exercise combination therapy with statin monotherapy are limited. Design Systematic review and meta-analysis.

MoS nanosheet-Au nanorod hybrids for highly sensitive amperometric detection of HO in living cells.

MoS nanosheet-Au nanorod (MoS-Au) hybrids were utilized to immobilize catalase (CAT) to construct a sensitive hydrogen peroxide (HO) electrochemical biosensor for the reliable determination of HO released from living cells. The fabricated biosensor was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-Vis spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Raman spectroscopy, it was observed that the MoS-Au hybrid provides excellent matrixes for the adsorption of CAT and the entrapped CAT maintains its native structure and bioactivity. The results of direct electrochemical measurements indicate that on the CAT/MoS-Au modified electrode, CAT exhibits a surface controlled and fast electron transfer process towards HO reduction.

Dissociated patterns of anti-correlations with dorsal and ventral default-mode networks at rest.

Previous studies of resting state functional connectivity have demonstrated that the default-mode network (DMN) is negatively correlated with a set of brain regions commonly activated during goal-directed tasks. However, the location and extent of anti-correlations are inconsistent across different studies, which has been posited to result largely from differences in whether or not global signal regression (GSR) was applied as a pre-processing step. Notably, coordinates of seed regions-of-interest defined within the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC)/precuneus, an area often employed to study functional connectivity of the DMN, have been inconsistent across studies.

Nuisance Regression of High-Frequency Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Data: Denoising Can Be Noisy.

Recently, emerging studies have demonstrated the existence of brain resting-state spontaneous activity at frequencies higher than the conventional 0.1 Hz. A few groups utilizing accelerated acquisitions have reported persisting signals beyond 1 Hz, which seems too high to be accommodated by the sluggish hemodynamic process underpinning blood oxygen level-dependent contrasts (the upper limit of the canonical model is ∼0.

Adult lead exposure increases blood-retinal permeability: A risk factor for retinal vascular disease.

Low-to-moderate level developmental and adult lead exposure produces retinal dysfunction and/or degeneration in humans and experimental animals. Although high level in vivo or in vitro lead disrupts blood-brain-barrier tight junctions and increases its permeability, the blood-retinal-barrier (BRB) has not been examined. There were four overall goals.

Impact of Peri-Operative Anemia and Blood Transfusions in Patients with Gastric Cancer Receiving Gastrectomy.

Background: Potential disadvantages of blood transfusion during curative gastrectomy for gastric cancer have been reported, and the role of peri-operative transfusions remains to be ascertained. Thus, the aim of our study was to survey its impact in patients with gastric cancer undergoinging gastrectomy.

Materials And Methods: Clinical data of patients receiving curative gastrectomy at Far Eastern Memorial Hospital were obtained.

NIRS-Based Hyperscanning Reveals Inter-brain Neural Synchronization during Cooperative Jenga Game with Face-to-Face Communication.

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is an increasingly popular technology for studying social cognition. In particular, fNIRS permits simultaneous measurement of hemodynamic activity in two or more individuals interacting in a naturalistic setting. Here, we used fNIRS hyperscanning to study social cognition and communication in human dyads engaged in cooperative and obstructive interaction while they played the game of Jenga™.

Involvement of Cold Inducible RNA-Binding Protein in Severe Hypoxia-Induced Growth Arrest of Neural Stem Cells In Vitro.

Neonatal hypoxia is the leading cause of brain damage with birth complications. Many studies have reported proliferation-promoting effect of mild hypoxia on neural stem cells (NSCs). However, how severe hypoxia influences the behavior of NSCs has been poorly explored.

[The activation of microglia caused by lead and manganese co-exposure induces activation of astrocytes and decrease of glutamine synthetase activity].

Objective: To establish microglia and astrocyte co-culture cell model and investigate the effects of lead and manganese alone or co-exposure on different glia cells and the effect of microglia activation on astrocytes' function.

Methods: MTT assay was performed to select the appropriate dose and time of lead and manganese exposure that didn't affect C6 cell growth. Then with BV2 microglia and C6 astrocytes, cell models were established through lead acetate and manganese chloride alone and co-exposure.

Cellular uptake of lead in the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier: Novel roles of Connexin 43 hemichannel and its down-regulations via Erk phosphorylation.

As the structural basis of blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier (BCB), epithelial cells in the choroid plexus (CP) are targets for lead (Pb). Pb is known to accumulate in the CP; however, the mechanism of Pb uptake in the choroidal epithelial cells remains unknown. Recently, hemichannels of Connexin 43 (Cx43), the most ubiquitously expressed gap junction proteins in the CP, were found to be important pathways for many substances.

The History, Status, Gaps, and Future Directions of Neurotoxicology in China.

Background: Rapid economic development in China has produced serious ecological, environmental, and health problems. Neurotoxicity has been recognized as a major public health problem. The Chinese government, research institutes, and scientists conducted extensive studies concerning the source, characteristics, and mechanisms of neurotoxicants.

Influence of the cortical midline structures on moral emotion and motivation in moral decision-making.

The present study aims to examine the relationship between the cortical midline structures (CMS), which have been regarded to be associated with selfhood, and moral decision making processes at the neural level. Traditional moral psychological studies have suggested the role of moral self as the moderator of moral cognition, so activity of moral self would present at the neural level. The present study examined the interaction between the CMS and other moral-related regions by conducting psycho-physiological interaction analysis of functional images acquired while 16 subjects were solving moral dilemmas.

Hypoxia-induced lncRNA-NUTF2P3-001 contributes to tumorigenesis of pancreatic cancer by derepressing the miR-3923/KRAS pathway.

Recent studies indicate that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play crucial roles in numerous cancers, while their function in pancreatic cancer is rarely elucidated. The present study identifies a functional lncRNA and its potential role in tumorigenesis of pancreatic cancer. Microarray co-assay for lncRNAs and mRNAs demonstrates that lncRNA-NUTF2P3-001 is remarkably overexpressed in pancreatic cancer and chronic pancreatitis tissues, which positively correlates with KRAS mRNA expression.

MiR-652 inhibits acidic microenvironment-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition of pancreatic cancer cells by targeting ZEB1.

Recent evidences suggest that the acidic microenvironment might facilitate epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) of tumor cells, while the effects of acidity on EMT of pancreatic cancer (PC) remain undefined. The present study demonstrated that acidity suppressed miR-652 expression, which further promoted EMT process by absenting inhibition on the transcriptional factor ZEB1 expression. At first, we found that acidity remarkably enhanced invasion ability of PC cells accompanying with increased mesenchymal and decreased epithelial markers.

Dynamic optical arbitrary waveform shaping based on cascaded optical modulators of single FBG.

A dynamic optical arbitrary waveform generation (O-AWG) with amplitude and phase independently controlled in optical modulators of single fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) has been proposed. This novel scheme consists of several optical modulators. In the optical modulator (O-MOD), a uniform FBG is used to filter spectral component of the input signal.

Effects of Mild Chronic Intermittent Cold Exposure on Rat Organs.

Cold adaptation is a body's protective response to cold stress. Mild chronic intermittent cold (CIC) exposure has been used to generate animal models for cold adaptation studies. However, the effects of mild CIC exposure on vital organs are not completely characterized.

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Methods.

Since its inception in 1992, Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) has become an indispensible tool for studying cognition in both the healthy and dysfunctional brain. FMRI monitors changes in the oxygenation of brain tissue resulting from altered metabolism consequent to a task-based evoked neural response or from spontaneous fluctuations in neural activity in the absence of conscious mentation (the "resting state"). Task-based studies have revealed neural correlates of a large number of important cognitive processes, while fMRI studies performed in the resting state have demonstrated brain-wide networks that result from brain regions with synchronized, apparently spontaneous activity.

Collisions in Chiral Kinetic Theory.

Using a covariant formalism, we construct a chiral kinetic theory Lorentz invariant to order O(ℏ), which includes collisions. We find a new contribution to the particle number current due to the side jumps required by the conservation of angular momentum during collisions. We also find a conserved symmetric stress-energy tensor as well as the H function obeying Boltzmann's H theorem.

A novel injectable porous surface modified bioactive bone cement for vertebroplasty: an in vivo biomechanical and osteogenic study in a rabbit osteoporosis model.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of a novel injectable Porous Surface Modified Bioactive Bone Cement (PSMBBC) for vertebroplasty of aiding osteoporotic vertebrae in an osteoporosis model.

Methods: 72 osteoporosis rabbits were randomly divided into three groups: the Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA) group, the PSMBBC group and the control group. PMMA and PSMBBC were administrated to osteoporotic vertebrae in vertebroplasty, respectively.