Nitroxoline suppresses metastasis in bladder cancer via EGR1/circNDRG1/miR-520h/smad7/EMT signaling pathway

Bladder cancer is one of the most common and deadly cancer worldwide. Current chemotherapy has shown limited efficacy in improving outcomes for patients. Nitroxoline, an old and widely used oral antibiotic, which was known to treat for urinary tract infection for decades. Recent studies suggested that nitroxoline suppressed the tumor progression and metastasis, especially in bladder cancer. However, the underlying mechanism for anti-tumor activity of nitroxoline remains unclear. Methods: CircRNA microarray was used to explore the nitroxoline-mediated circRNA expression profile of bladder cancer lines. Transwell and wound-healing assay were applied to evaluate the capacity of metastasis. ChIP assay was chosen to prove the binding of promotor and transcription factor. RNA-pulldown assay was performed to explore the sponge of circRNA and microRNA. Results: We first identified the circNDRG1 (has_circ_0085656) as a novel candidate circRNA. Transwell and wound-healing assay demonstrated that circNDRG1 inhibited the metastasis of bladder cancer. ChIP assay showed that circNDRG1 was regulated by the transcription factor EGR1 by binding the promotor of host gene NDRG1. RNA-pulldown assay proved that circNDRG1 sponged miR-520h leading to the overexpression of smad7, which was a negative regulatory protein of EMT. Conclusions: Our research revealed that nitroxoline may suppress metastasis in bladder cancer via EGR1/circNDRG1/miR-520h/smad7/EMT signaling pathway

Epidemiology characteristics of the drinking patterns and alcohol consumption among adults in Hainan Province, China

BackgroundAlcohol consumption is a significant risk factor for premature mortality and increased disease burden worldwide, especially among young and middle-aged individuals. This study aims to evaluate drinking patterns and alcohol consumption among adults in Hainan Province, while also identifying associated factors.MethodsAnalyses based on the 2022 “2 + 3” epidemiological survey in Hainan were conducted, and the drinking types, quantities, and frequencies among local residents were described. Chi-square tests and multiple linear regression were employed for the statistical analysis.ResultsA total of 32,857 adults participated, yielding an overall drinking rate of 42.8%. The drinking rate was significantly higher among men (64.4%) than women (18.9%). The highest drinking rates were found in the 30–59 age group, especially among individuals aged 30–39. Ethnic minorities had a higher drinking rate (70.1%) than Han individuals. Lower educational attainment was associated with lower drinking rates, although the prevalence of active drinkers was higher. Men preferred strong liquor and beer, whereas women favored beer and rice wine. The average weekly alcohol consumption was 59.8 mL for men and 10.9 mL for women, with 43.6% of men exceeding 100 mL weekly, compared to 12.7% of women.ConclusionThis study emphasizes the complexity and diversity of drinking behaviors among adults in Hainan Province. Sociodemographic factors, including gender, age, ethnicity, education, marital status, occupation, and region, are closely linked to drinking behaviors. The findings provide a scientific basis for developing targeted public health strategies, highlighting the need for effective interventions to mitigate alcohol-related health issues among high-risk populations

An Audio Steganography Based on Run Length Encoding and Integer Wavelet Transform

This paper proposes an audio steganography method based on run length encoding and integer wavelet transform which can be used to hide secret message in digital audio. The major contribution of the proposed scheme is to propose an audio steganography with high capacity, where the secret information is compressed by run length encoding. In the applicable scenario, the main purpose is to hide as more information as possible in the cover audio files. First, the secret information is chaotic scrambling, then the result of scrambling is run length encoded, and finally, the secret information is embedded into integer wavelet coefficients. The experimental results and comparison with existing technique show that by utilizing the lossless compression of run length encoding and anti-attack of wavelet domain, the proposed method has improved the capacity, good audio quality, and can achieve blind extraction while maintaining imperceptibility and strong robustness.</jats:p

Bright Near-infrared Anti-Stokes Fluorescence of ICG under Low Power CW Laser Excitation and its Applications in Bioimaging

AbstractAnti-Stokes fluorescence was observed in ICG, a molecule approved by the FDA for clinical use. The wavelengths of its fluorescence are mainly located in the near-infrared band of 800 nm~900 nm, with a high quantum yield up to 8%. In order to know its generation mechanism, based on multi-photon absorption (MPA) theory, thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) theory and hot band absorption theory, its power dependence, temperature dependence of absorption spectra and fluorescence spectra, and fluorescence lifetime were measured. Its generation mechanism was finally determined to be hot band absorption process. Since ICG showed bright anti-Stokes fluorescence in near-infrared region, which offers substantially longer penetration depth in biological tissues than visible light, excellent photostability and biosafety, we applied it to in vivo imaging and compared it with upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs). The result is that ICG exhibited much stronger fluorescence than UCNPs, providing more anatomical information of samples. This contributes to a better choice for anti-Stokes fluorescence bioimaging.</jats:p