Ellegaardrobinson8984

Lung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide, and metastasis in lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Thus, understanding the mechanism of lung cancer metastasis will improve the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer patients. Herein, we found that expression of cluster of differentiation 109 (CD109) was correlated with the invasive and metastatic capacities of lung adenocarcinoma cells. CD109 is upregulated in tumorous tissues, and CD109 overexpression was associated with tumor progression, distant metastasis, and a poor prognosis in patient with lung adenocarcinoma. Mechanistically, expression of CD109 regulates protein kinase B (AKT)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling via its association with the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Inhibition of CD109 decreases EGFR phosphorylation, diminishes EGF-elicited activation of AKT/mTOR, and sensitizes tumor cells to an EGFR inhibitor. Taken together, our results show that CD109 is a potential diagnostic and therapeutic target in lung cancer patients. © 2020 The Authors. Cancer Science published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Japanese Cancer Association.BACKGROUND The association between fear of pain (FOP) and pain intensity has remained unclear. This study aimed to examine whether highly pain-fearful participants showed pain perceptual biases to general painful stimulus or to specific threatening painful stimulus. METHODS Fifty-nine undergraduates were recruited into low (n = 30) and high (n = 29) FOP groups and completed a threatening pain perception task with two tasks. Task 1 assessed pain perceptual biases by calculating the percentage of near-threshold pain stimulus judged as painful and assessing the average pain intensity ratings to those painful stimuli. Task 2 assessed pain perceptual biases by measuring pain ratings to each single threshold (low intensity) and twice-threshold (high intensity) pain stimulus. RESULTS Results from task 1 indicated that higher FOP levels were associated with higher pain sensitivity when pain was appraised as a threat, reflected as high FOP group reporting higher pain intensity to those stimuli judged as painful in high threat condition than in low threat condition. Consistently, results from task 2 observed that when noxious stimulus intensity increased to threshold pain and twice threshold pain levels, high FOP group also generally reported higher pain intensity in high threat condition than in low threat condition. However, for both tasks, no such threat level differences were observed in low FOP group. CONCLUSIONS The current research emphasized that participants with higher FOP level showed pain perceptual biases to specific threatening painful stimulus. Threat appraisal of pain played a key role in the positive association between pain-related fear and pain perceptual biases. SIGNIFICANCE The findings highlight the modulatory influence of threat appraisal of pain in the positive association between pain-related fear and pain perceptual biases. © 2020 European Pain Federation - EFIC®.Machines are systems that harness input power to extend or advance function. Fundamentally, machines are based on the integration of materials with mechanisms to accomplish tasks-such as generating motion or lifting an object. An emerging research paradigm is the design, synthesis, and integration of responsive materials within or as machines. Herein, a particular focus is the integration of responsive materials to enable robotic (machine) functions such as gripping, lifting, or motility (walking, crawling, swimming, and flying). Key functional considerations of responsive materials in machine implementations are response time, cyclability (frequency and ruggedness), sizing, payload capacity, amenability to mechanical programming, performance in extreme environments, and autonomy. This review summarizes the material transformation mechanisms, mechanical design, and robotic integration of responsive materials including shape memory alloys (SMAs), piezoelectrics, dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs), ionic electroactive polymers (IEAPs), pneumatics and hydraulics systems, shape memory polymers (SMPs), hydrogels, and liquid crystalline elastomers (LCEs) and networks (LCNs). Structural and geometrical fabrication of these materials as wires, coils, films, tubes, cones, unimorphs, bimorphs, and printed elements enables differentiated mechanical responses and consistently enables and extends functional use. © 2019 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.BACKGROUND The strong ion model (SIM) is an alternative paradigm in the characterization of acid-base disturbances particularly in complex disorders. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES To compare the acid-base changes in dogs with parvoviral enteritis (PE) using the Henderson-Hasselbalch (HH) approach, with 2 strong ion approaches. ANIMALS Forty-four dogs with PE, and 16 age-matched control dogs. METHODS Prospective controlled observational study. Acid-base status was evaluated using the HH model, Fencl-Stewart (FS) approach and a validated strong ion model (VDM). The acid-base changes according to each model were classified and compared. Statistical correlations between pH, CO2 , and various SIM variables were performed, as well as between the sum of effects (SOE) of the SIM and the individual variables comprising the SOE. RESULTS The HH model identified acid-base disorders in 31/44 cases of which 16/31 were mixed with metabolic acidosis and concurrent respiratory alkalosis the most common (10/31). Using the FS approach, metabolic changes were present 36/42 cases, with changes in free water (FW), chloride, and unmeasured anions (UA) being the most prevalent. Both FW and UA correlated well with pH; however, UA were most consistently abnormal in severe acidemia. Similarly to the HH, the VDM detected acid-base disturbances in 28/44 cases. Major contributors to the acid-base changes were hyponatremia, hypochloremia, and Atot acidosis because of elevated globulins and increased UA. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE Acid-base changes are common and complex in dogs with PE, and were easier to understand using a SIM paradigm. Increases in UA have not been documented in PE in dogs. © 2020 The Authors. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.OBJECTIVE The presented study aimed to investigate the association of A-kinase interacting protein 1 (AKIP1) expression with tumor properties, liver functions, cancer markers, and overall survival (OS) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. METHODS A total of 432 HCC patients receiving surgery were retrospectively reviewed in our study. Clinical characteristics of patients were obtained. Tumor tissue specimens of all patients were collected, and AKIP1 expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry (IHC) assay. OS was assessed, and the median follow-up duration was 35.0 months. AKIP1 high expression was defined as total IHC score more than 3 and was further graded as AKIP1 high+ (IHC 4-6), AKIP1 high++ (IHC 7-9), and AKIP1 high+++ (IHC 10-12). RESULTS About 265 (61.3%) patients presented with AKIP1 low expression and 167 (38.7%) patients had AKIP1 high expression. AKIP1 high expression correlated with higher performance status score (P = .006), largest tumor size ≥5.0 cm (P  less then  .001), Barcelona clinic liver cancer (BCLC) stage B (vs stage A; P = .024), increased alpha-fetoprotein level (P = .036), and higher carbohydrate antigen 199 level (P  less then  .001). AKIP1 high expression (P  less then  .001) and increased AKIP1 expression grade (P  less then  .001) both correlated with worse OS, and Cox's regression analyses revealed that AKIP1 high expression (P  less then  .001) was an independent predictive factor for shorter OS. In subgroup analysis, AKIP1 high expression and more advanced AKIP1 expression grade associated with worse OS in both BCLC stage A subgroup patients (both P  less then  .001) and BCLC stage B subgroup patients (both P  less then  .001), respectively. CONCLUSION AKIP1 is a novel and promising biomarker for disease monitoring and prognosis in HCC patients. © 2020 The Authors. Journal of Clinical Laboratory Analysis Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Robust, selective, and stable in the presence of ethylene, ruthenium olefin metathesis pre-catalyst, [3-benzyl-1-(10-phenyl-9-phenanthryl)]-2-imidazolidinylidenedichloro(o-isopropoxyphenylmethylene)ruthenium(II), Ru-3, bearing an unsymetrical N-heterocyclic carbene (uNHC) ligand, has been synthesized. The initiation rate of Ru-3 was examined by ring-closing metathesis and cross-metathesis reactions with a broad spectrum of olefins, showing an unprecendented selectivity. It was also tested in industrially relevant ethenolysis reactions of olefinic substrates from renewable feedstock with very good yields and selectivities. © 2020 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. read more KGaA, Weinheim.Higher thermostability or acid resistance for fungal α-amylase will help to improve the sugar-making process and cut down the production costs. Here, the thermostability or acid resistance of Rhizopus oryzae α-amylase (ROAmy) was significantly enhanced by site-directed evolution based on multiple sequence alignment (MSA) method. For instance, compared with the wild-type ROAmy, the optimum temperature of mutants G136D and A144Y was increased from 50°C to 55°C, and that for mutants V174R and I276P was increased from 50°C to 60°C. The optimum pH of mutants G136D and A144Y shifted from 5.5 to 5.0, and that of mutants V174R and T253E changed from 5.5 to 4.5. The results showed that mutant V174R had a 2.52-fold increase in half-life at 55°C, a 2.55-fold increase in half-life at pH 4.5 and a 1.61-fold increase in catalytic efficiency (kcat /Km ) on soluble starch. The 3-D model simulation revealed that changes of hydrophilicity, hydrogen bond, salt bridge or rigidity observed in mutants might mainly account for the improvement of thermostability and acid resistance. The mutants with improved catalytic properties attained in this work may render an accessible and operable approach for directed evolution of fungal α-amylase aimed at interesting functions. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.AIM This study aimed to examine associations between cognitive impairment and quality of life and healthcare utilization in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) stages 3 to 5. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted in 379 outpatients with a mean age of 65.7 years at tertiary care hospitals in Thailand. link2 Cognitive function was measured using the Mini-Mental State Examination, and quality of life was measured using the five-dimension European quality of life (EQ-5D-5L) multi-attribute utility instrument. The effects of cognitive impairment on the likelihood of reporting 'no problems' for each EQ-5D dimension, the quality of life scores and healthcare utilization were determined using an appropriate multivariate analysis. RESULTS The prevalence of cognitive impairment in patients with CKD stages 3 to 5 was 15.8% (95% confidence interval [CI], 12.3, 19.9). link3 Patients with cognitive impairment had a significantly lower likelihood of achieving good outcomes in the mobility, self-care, usual activities and anxiety/depression dimensions of the EQ-5D-5L than those with normal cognition.