Re-evaluation of the carcinogenic significance of hepatitis B virus integration in hepatocarcinogenesis

To examine the role of hepatitis B virus (HBV) integration in hepatocarcinogenesis, a systematic comparative study of both tumor and their corresponding non-tumor derived tissue has been conducted in a cohort of 60 HBV associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. By using Alu-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and ligation-mediated PCR, 233 viral-host junctions mapped across all human chromosomes at random, no difference between tumor and non-tumor tissue was observed, with the exception of fragile sites (P = 0.0070). HBV insertions in close proximity to cancer related genes such as hTERT were found in this study, however overall they were rare events. No direct correlation between chromosome aberrations and the number of HBV integration events was found using a sensitive array-based comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) assay. However, a positive correlation was observed between the status of several tumor suppressor genes (TP53, RB1, CDNK2A and TP73) and the number of chromosome aberrations (r = 0.6625, P = 0.0003). Examination of the viral genome revealed that 43% of inserts were in the preC/C region and 57% were in the HBV X gene. Strikingly, approximately 24% of the integrations examined had a breakpoint in a short 15 nt viral genome region (1820-1834 nt). As a consequence, all of the confirmed X gene insertions were C-terminal truncated, losing their growth-suppressive domain. However, the same pattern of X gene C-terminal truncation was found in both tumor and non-tumor derived samples. Furthermore, the integrated viral sequences in both groups had a similar low frequency of C1653T, T1753V and A1762T/G1764A mutations. The frequency and patterns of HBV insertions were similar between tumor and their adjacent non-tumor samples indicating that the majority of HBV DNA integration events are not associated with hepatocarcinogenesis

Counting double cosets with application to generic 3-manifolds

We study the growth of double cosets in the class of groups with contracting elements, including relatively hyperbolic groups, CAT(0) groups and mapping class groups among others. Generalizing a recent work of Gitik and Rips about hyperbolic groups, we prove that the double coset growth of two Morse subgroups of infinite index is comparable with the orbital growth function. The same result is further obtained for a more general class of subgroups whose limit sets are proper subsets in the entire limit set of the ambient group. As an application, we confirm a conjecture of Maher that hyperbolic 3-manifolds are exponentially generic in the set of 3-manifolds built from Heegaard splitting using complexity in Teichm\"{u}ller metric.Comment: 22 pages, no figures, exposition improved and reference update

Finite Element Analysis for the Inhibition of EMAT Lamb Waves Multimode

The guided waves, especially Lamb waves, due to its longer propagation, lower loss and higher efficiency and sensitivity, are widely used in various kinds of thin layer structure test-ing (for example plates, pipelines and tanks). Electromagnetic ultrasonic Lamb waves testing combining the characteristics of Electromagnetic ultrasonic testing and guided waves, which has a better application prospect. Unfortunately, Lamb waves possess the multi-modes char-acteristic: several different modes propagate in the specimen simultaneous. Moreover, all of the modes of lamb waves are dispersive. Both make the received signals so complex and messy that the echo signals of the flaws might be difficult or even impossible to interpret in the practical application. In this paper, according to the characteristics of electromagnetic ul-trasonic excitation and combining with the structure of the double transducer and the method of phase cancellation [1,2], the characteristics of single lamb waves were studied by theory and simulation methods. The simulation results show that the structure of the double transducers can completely eliminates a mode and enhances another to excite single-mode. The single-mode exciting re-duces the difficulty of the subsequent signal analysis and processing, which provides reliable information for the practical application of detecting flaws. This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (51077036, 51207105, 51307043) and Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province (E2016202260)

Prognostic analysis of esophageal cancer patients after neoadjuvant therapy

BackgroundNeoadjuvant therapy is widely used for esophageal cancer (EC), but optimal treatment regimens and predictive factors for outcomes remain unclear. This study retrospectively analyzed data from EC patients who underwent neoadjuvant therapy.MethodsThe chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test was utilized to examine differences in general clinicopathological data between treatment benefit groups. Survival analyses were conducted using Kaplan-Meier methods. Cox univariate and multivariate regression analyses were employed to identify independent risk factors affecting overall survival (OS) in EC patients receiving different treatment modalities.ResultsThe study included 175 EC patients who underwent neoadjuvant therapy. Analysis of clinical benefit differences revealed that patients aged < 65 years (P = 0.028) and those with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) (P = 0.027) were more likely to achieve a complete response, while N1 patients more frequently attained an objective response (P < 0.001). OS analysis indicated that patients who did not receive immunotherapy exhibited better survival outcomes compared to those who did (P = 0.002). Patients with pretreatment N3 status demonstrated poorer survival compared to those with N0 (P = 0.004), N1 (P = 0.003), and N2 (P = 0.003) status. Among post-neoadjuvant EC patients who did not receive immunotherapy, those with primary tumors located in the middle esophagus (hazard ratio [HR], 0.181; 95% Confidence interval (CI) = 0.044-0.739; P = 0.017) and lower esophagus (HR, 0.163; 95%CI = 0.032-0.821; P = 0.028) demonstrated a better prognosis compared to patients with tumors in the upper esophagus. Notably, EC patients who did not receive immunotherapy after neoadjuvant therapy and underwent 3-6 cycles of therapy exhibited a poorer prognosis compared to those who received 1-2 cycles (HR, 2.731; 95%CI = 1.187-6.284; P = 0.018).ConclusionsIn conclusion, this study found that immunotherapy did not play a decisive role in neoadjuvant EC therapy. Instead, 1-2 cycles of chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy were associated with a more favorable prognosis for these patients

Profile and risk factors in farmer injuries: a review based on Haddon matrix and 5 E’s risk reduction strategy

Farmers are considered a high-risk group for intentional and unintentional injuries. This review identified significant risk factors for agricultural injuries in farmers and explored injury prevention countermeasures based on the literature. Therefore, CiteSpace software was used to analyze the relevant literature in this field. Additionally, we identified both key risk factors and countermeasures using the Haddon matrix and the 5 E’s risk reduction strategies conceptual framework, respectively. The risk factors were identified from four categories (host, agent, physical environment, and social environment) corresponding to three phases (pre-event, event, and post-event). Interventions of 5 E’s risk reduction strategies including education, engineering, enforcement, economic, and emergency response have been proven effective in preventing injuries or reducing their severity. Our findings provide a comprehensive foundation and research direction for the study and prevention of injuries among farmers

Effects of microplastics pollution in sediments on physicochemical properties and microbial community distribution in coastal Spartina alterniflora-invaded wetlands

IntroductionCoastal wetlands play an important role in the global ecosystem, yet they are increasingly facing ecological degradation due to pollution and the spread of invasive Spartina alterniflora (S. alterniflora). Among the environmental challenges, microplastics (MPs) contamination in S. alterniflora-invaded coastal wetlands is of growing concern. However, the effects of MPs pollution in S. alterniflora-invaded coastal wetlands are not clear.MethodsThis study investigated the effects of S. altemiflora invasion on the distribution of MPs and the effects of MPs pollution on the physicochemical properties of sediments and the structure of microbial communities in the Tiaozini wetland of Jiangsu Province, China.Results and discussionThe total MPs abundance of the S. altemiflora single-plant area was the highest (16.338 x103 items/kg d.w.). Polyurethane and Chlorinated polyisoprene are typical MPs types in the study area. Polyurethane exhibits high abundance at all sampling sites, while Chlorinated polyisoprene is one of the dominant MPs types in the single-plant and sub-mature area of S. alterniflora. The results showed that the invasion of S. alterniflora promoted the accumulation of MPs in the sediments of the coastal wetland. This accumulation increased the total organic carbon (TOC), available phosphorus (AP) and total nitrogen (TN) contents. Moreover, MPs pollution increased the ALP and SUC enzyme activities of sediment. In addition, MPs contamination increased the abundance of Proteobacteria and Bacteroidota in the sediments. This study highlights the complex interactions between MPs pollution and S. alterniflora invasion, providing the foundation for understanding the synergistic impacts of these stressors on coastal wetland ecosystems

Cloning and Characterization of Maize miRNAs Involved in Responses to Nitrogen Deficiency

Although recent studies indicated that miRNAs regulate plant adaptive responses to nutrient deprivation, the functional significance of miRNAs in adaptive responses to nitrogen (N) limitation remains to be explored. To elucidate the molecular biology underlying N sensing/signaling in maize, we constructed four small RNA libraries and one degradome from maize seedlings exposed to N deficiency. We discovered a total of 99 absolutely new loci belonging to 47 miRNA families by small RNA deep sequencing and degradome sequencing, as well as 9 new loci were the paralogs of previously reported miR169, miR171, and miR398, significantly expanding the reported 150 high confidence genes within 26 miRNA families in maize. Bioinformatic and subsequent small RNA northern blot analysis identified eight miRNA families (five conserved and three newly identified) differentially expressed under the N-deficient condition. Predicted and degradome-validated targets of the newly identified miRNAs suggest their involvement in a broad range of cellular responses and metabolic processes. Because maize is not only an important crop but is also a genetic model for basic biological research, our research contributes to the understanding of the regulatory roles of miRNAs in plant adaption to N-deficiency stress