Vasohibin-1 suppresses colon cancer

Vasohibin-1 (VASH1) is an endogenous angiogenesis inhibitor. However, the clinical relevance of VASH1 in colon cancer and its regulations on cancer angiogenesis and cancer cell biological characteristics are still unknown. Here we showed that stromal VASH1 levels were negatively correlated with tumor size, advanced clinical stage and distant metastases in colon cancer patients. Overexpression of VASH1 in colon cancer cells induced apoptosis and senescence, inhibiting cancer cell growth and colony formation in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. In addition, knockdown of VASH1 in cancer cells promoted cell growth, adhesion and migration in vitro, and enhanced tumorigenesis and metastasis in vivo

On Motzkin-Straus Type of Results and Frankl-F\"uredi Conjecture for Hypergraphs

A remarkable connection between the order of a maximum clique and the Graph-Lagrangian of a graph was established by Motzkin and Straus in 1965. This connection and its extension were useful in both combinatorics and optimization. Since then, Graph-Lagrangian has been a useful tool in extremal combinatorics. In this paper, we give a parametrized Graph-Lagrangian for non-uniform hypergraphs and provide several Motzkin-Straus type results for nonuniform hypergraphs which generalize results from [1] and [2]. Another part of the paper concerns a long-standing conjecture of Frankl-F\"uredi on Graph-Lagrangians of hypergraphs. We show the connection between the Graph-Lagrangian of $\{1, r_1, r_2, \cdots, r_l\}$-hypergraphs and $\{ r_1, r_2, \cdots, r_l\}$-hypergraphs. Some of our results provide solutions to the maximum value of a class of polynomial functions over the standard simplex of the Euclidean space.Comment: 24 page

Characterization of condensed tannins from purple prairie clover (Dalea purpurea Vent.) conserved as either freeze-dried forage, sun-cured hay or silage

Conservation methods have been shown to affect forage nutrient composition and value, but little information is available about the effect of forage conservation on plant condensed tannins (CT). The objective of this study was to assess the effects of conservation method on the concentration, chemical composition and biological activity of CT. Whole-plant purple prairie clover (PPC, Dalea purpurea Vent.) was harvested at full flower and conserved as freeze-dried forage (FD), hay (HAY) or silage (SIL). Concentration of CT in conserved PPC was determined by the butanol-HCl-acetone method. Structural composition, protein-precipitation capacity and anti-bacterial activity of CT isolated from conserved forage were determined by in situ thiolytic degradation followed by HPLC-MS analysis, a protein precipitation assay using bovine serum albumin and ribulose 1,5-disphosphate carboxylase as model proteins and by an Escherichia coli (E. coli) growth test, respectively. Conservation method had no effect on concentration of total CT, but ensiling decreased (p HAY > SIL. E. coli growth n M9 medium was inhibited by 25-100 µg/mL of CT isolated from FD, HAY and SIL (p < 0.05), but preservation method had no effect on the ability of CT to inhibit bacterial growth. The results demonstrated that ensiling decreased the extractability and protein-precipitating capacity of CT by increasing the proportions of PC. Purple prairie clover conserved as hay retained more biologically active CT than if it was conserved as silage

CONODONTS FROM THE WA’ERGANG SECTION, CHINA, A POTENTIAL GSSP FOR THE UPPERMOST STAGE OF THE CAMBRIAN

Furongian (upper Cambrian) conodonts from the Shenjiawan Formation, Wa’ergang section, Taoyuan County, Hunan Province, South China are described. The Wa’ergang section has been proposed as a potential GSSP for the base of the uppermost stage of the Cambrian System, at the first appearance of the agnostoid trilobite Lotagnostus americanus. The Shenjiawan Formation consists of limestone with intercalations of marlstone and shale. The conodont yielding is low and the preservation is moderate. The conodont fauna includes proto-, para- and euconodonts. Conodont taxa characteristic of North China, South China and Korea occur together with cosmopolitan taxa. The biostratigraphic distribution of conodonts is directly correlated with the agnostoid trilobite biozones, with the base of the Proconodontus posterocostatus Zone very close to the base of the Lotagnostus americanus trilobite Zone

Open Challenges and Opportunities in Federated Foundation Models Towards Biomedical Healthcare

This survey explores the transformative impact of foundation models (FMs) in artificial intelligence, focusing on their integration with federated learning (FL) for advancing biomedical research. Foundation models such as ChatGPT, LLaMa, and CLIP, which are trained on vast datasets through methods including unsupervised pretraining, self-supervised learning, instructed fine-tuning, and reinforcement learning from human feedback, represent significant advancements in machine learning. These models, with their ability to generate coherent text and realistic images, are crucial for biomedical applications that require processing diverse data forms such as clinical reports, diagnostic images, and multimodal patient interactions. The incorporation of FL with these sophisticated models presents a promising strategy to harness their analytical power while safeguarding the privacy of sensitive medical data. This approach not only enhances the capabilities of FMs in medical diagnostics and personalized treatment but also addresses critical concerns about data privacy and security in healthcare. This survey reviews the current applications of FMs in federated settings, underscores the challenges, and identifies future research directions including scaling FMs, managing data diversity, and enhancing communication efficiency within FL frameworks. The objective is to encourage further research into the combined potential of FMs and FL, laying the groundwork for groundbreaking healthcare innovations.Comment: 42 page

Lupus Erythematosus: Dermatologic Perspectives on the Diversity

Lupus is one of the complex autoimmune disease, which is difficult to diagnose and consists of few subtypes that are required to be classified. During our clinical work, we found out that the dermoscopy can be of great benefit to diagnose discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE). The histopathological examination is very important to confirm the diagnosis. The cases of infant LE patients, may derive the autoimmune antibodies from their mothers in order to diagnose the neonatal lupus erythematosus. Thus, it is very important to examine the antibodies of the mother, who may also be a subclinical LE patient and need continuous follow-ups or even treatment managements. Here, we present the cases of lupus with particular characteristics including linear cutaneous lupus erythematosus, DLE, and neonatal lupus erythematosus