• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.14
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• pp.5861-5865
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• 2014

High risk forms of the human papilloma virus (HPV) are generally accepted as necessary causative agents for cervical cancer. Recently, a possible relation between HPV and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) has also been noticed. The present study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of HPV infection in OSCCs in Wuhan city. DNA samples were collected from fresh tissues in 200 patients with OSCC and 68 normal controls. The polymerase chain reaction and direct sequencing were used to identify the HPV types in the samples. The prevalence of HPV of all types in the OSCC group was higher than in the control group (55/200 vs 2/68, OR=11.5, 95% CI=2.6-50.2). HPV16 and HPV18 were the main types detected, with HPV6 was the only low-risk type identified. High-risk HPV types HPV16 and HPV18 are prevalent in OSCC patients and may participate in the development of OSCC with traditional risk factors, tobacco and alcohol, possibly exerting synergistic effects. The results of multinomial logistic regression showed that those who smoked, consumed alcohol and with HPV infection have the highest risk of developing oral cancer (OR=13.3, 95% CI=3.1-56.8). Adjusted for age, smoking and alcohol use, HPV infection was independently associated with oral squamous cell carcinoma.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.5133-5139
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• 2013

Background: Perineural invasion (PNI) has been reported as one of the sources of locoregional recurrence in resected pancreatic cancer (PC). However the impact of PNI in resected pancreatic cancer remains controversial. The purpose of this study was to determine the association between PNI status and clinical outcomes. Methods: Publications were identified which assessed prognostic significance of PNI status in resected pancreatic cancer up to February 2013. A meta-analysis was performed to clarify the association between PNI status and clinical outcomes. Results: A total of 21 studies met the inclusion criteria, covering 4,459 cases. Analysis of these data showed that intrapancreatic PNI was correlated with reduced overall survival only in resected pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients (HR=1.982, 95%CI: 1.526-2.574, p=0.000). Extrapancreatic PNI was correlated with reduced overall survival in all resected pancreatic cancer patients (HR=1.748, 95%CI: 1.372-2.228, p=0.000). Moreover, intrapancreatic PNI status may be associated with tumor recurrence in all resected pancreatic cancer patients (HR=2.714, 95%CI: 1.885-3.906, p=0.000). Conclusion: PNI was an independent and poor prognostic factor in resected PDAC patients. Moreover, intrapancreatic PNI status may be associated with tumor recurrence.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.5017-5021
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• 2013

Objective: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a small class of non-coding, single-stranded RNAs with a critical role in genesis and maintenance of renal cancer mainly through binding to 3'-untranslated regions (3'UTR) of target mRNAs, which causes a block of translation and/or mRNA degradation. The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential effects of miR-122 in human renal cell carcinomas. Methods: The expression level of miR-122 was quantified by qRT-PCR. MTT, colony formation, invasion and migration assays were used to explore the potential functions of miR-122 in human renal cell carcinoma cells. Results: Cellular growth, invasion and migration in two A498 and 786-O cells were significantly increased after miR-122 transfection. Further experiments demonstrated that overexpression of miR-122 resulted in the increase of phospho-Akt (Ser473) and phospho-mTOR (Ser2448), then activation of mTOR targets, p70S6K and 4E-BP1. Conclusions: The up-regulation of miR-122 may play an important role in the progress of renal cancer through activating PI3K/Akt signal pathway and could be a potential molecular target for anti-cancer therapeutics.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.86-97
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• 2020

Objective: To propose a three-dimensional (3D) method for evaluating temporomandibular joint (TMJ) changes during Twin-block treatment. Methods: Seventeen patients with Class II division 1 malocclusion treated using Twin-block and nine untreated patients with a similar malocclusion were included in this research. We collected their cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) data from before and 8 months after treatment. Segmentations were constructed using ITK-SNAP. Condylar volume and superficial area were measured using 3D Slicer. The 3D landmarks were identified on CBCT images by using Dolphin software to assess the condylar positional relationship. 3D models of the mandible and glenoid fossa of the patients were constructed and registered via voxel-based superimposition using 3D Slicer. Thereafter, skeletal changes could be visualized using 3DMeshMetric in any direction of the superimposition on a color-coded map. All the superimpositions were measured using the same scale on the distance color-coded map, in which red color represents overgrowth and blue color represents resorption. Results: Significant differences were observed in condylar volume, superficial area, and condylar position in both groups after 8 months. Compared with the control group (CG), the Twin-block group exhibited more obvious condyle-fossa modifications and joint positional changes. Moreover, on the color-coded map, more obvious condyle-fossa modifications could be observed in the posterior and superior directions in the Twin-block group than in the CG. Conclusions: We successfully established a 3D method for measuring and evaluating TMJ changes caused by Twin-block treatment. The treatment produced a larger condylar size and caused condylar positional changes.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.2192-2198
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• 2016

The myeloid-specific IgA Fc receptor ($Fc{\alpha}R$) is a cell surface molecule on immunocytes that provides a fundamental connection between humoral and cellular immunity. In this study, the full-length cDNA sequence of swine $Fc{\alpha}RI$ ($swFc{\alpha}RI$) was isolated and characterized and found to contain a 792-base-pair open reading frame, encoding a 264-amino-acid transmembrane glycoprotein with a predicted molecular mass of 29.4 kDa. The $swFc{\alpha}RI$ shares high amino acid sequence homology (>50%) with its counterparts from cattle, seal, and horse. Rosetting analysis confirmed that COS-7 cells transfected with an $swFc{\alpha}RI$ expression plasmid was able to combine with chicken erythrocytes sensitized with porcine IgA, but not IgG.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.528-536
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• 2016

Although many fungicides are registered for use to control powdery mildew on cucurbits, management of resistance to fungicides in pathogen populations still remains a major challenge. Two biopesticides Regalia SC and HMO 736 were evaluated in the greenhouse and field for their efficacy against powdery mildew in squash. In greenhouses, Regalia SC alone significantly (P < 0.05) reduced powdery mildew compared to the nontreated control, and was as effective as the chemical standard Procure 480SC (triflumizole). In alternation with Procure 480SC, Regalia SC demonstrated greater or equivalent effects on reducing the disease. HMO 736 alone showed varying levels of disease control, but alternating with Procure 480SC significantly improved control efficacy. In addition, application of Regalia SC or HMO 736 each in alternation with Procure 480SC significantly increased the chlorophyll content in leaves and the total fresh weight of squash plants, when compared with the water control, Regalia SC and HMO 736 alone. In field trials, application of Regalia SC and HMO 736 each alone significantly reduced disease severity in one of two field trials during the early stage of disease development, but not during later stages when disease pressure became high. Both Regalia SC and HMO 736 each applied in alternation with Procure 480SC significantly improved the control efficacy compared to Procure 480SC alone. Results from this study demonstrated that an integrated management program can be developed for powdery mildew in squash by integrating the biopesticides Regalia SC, HMO 736 with the chemical fungicide Procure 480SC.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.10 no.11
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• pp.5400-5418
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• 2016

Femtocells are envisioned as a key solution to embrace the ever-increasing high data rate and thus are extensively deployed. However, the dense and random deployments of femtocell access points (FAPs) induce severe intercell inference that in turn may degrade the performance of spectral efficiency. Hence, unrestrained proliferation of FAPs may not acquire a net throughput gain. Besides, given that numerous FAPs deployed in ultra-dense networks (UDNs) lead to significant energy consumption, the amount of FAPs deployed is worthy of more considerations. Nevertheless, little existing works present an analytical result regarding the optimal FAP density for a given User Equipment (UE) density. This paper explores the realistic scenario of randomly distributed FAPs in UDN and derives the coverage probability via Stochastic Geometry. From the analytical results, coverage probability is strictly increasing as the FAP-to-UE ratio increases, yet the growing rate of coverage probability decreases as the ratio grows. Therefore, we can consider a specific FAP-to-UE ratio as the point where further increasing the ratio is not cost-effective with regards to the requirements of communication systems. To reach the optimal FAP density, we can deploy FAPs in line with peak traffic and randomly switch off FAPs to keep the optimal ratio during off-peak hours. Furthermore, considering the unbalanced nature of traffic demands in the temporal and spatial domain, dynamically and carefully choosing the locations of active FAPs would provide advantages over randomization. Besides, with a huge FAP density in UDN, we have more potential choices for the locations of active FAPs and this adds to the demand for a strategic sleeping policy.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.1373-1392
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• 2015

Placing sensors at appropriate locations is an important task in the design of an efficient structural health monitoring (SHM) system for a large-scale civil structure. In this paper, a hybrid optimization algorithm called virus monkey algorithm (VMA) based on the virus theory of evolution is proposed to seek the optimal placement of sensors. Firstly, the dual-structure coding method is adopted instead of binary coding method to code the solution. Then, the VMA is designed to incorporate two populations, a monkey population and a virus population, enabling the horizontal propagation between the monkey and virus individuals and the vertical inheritance of monkey's position information from the previous to following position. Correspondingly, the monkey population in this paper is divided into the superior and inferior monkey populations, and the virus population is divided into the serious and slight virus populations. The serious virus is used to infect the inferior monkey to make it escape from the local optima, while the slight virus is adopted to infect the superior monkey to let it find a better result in the nearby area. This kind of novel virus infection operator enables the coevolution of monkey and virus populations. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed VMA is demonstrated by designing the sensor network of the Canton Tower, the tallest TV Tower in China. Results show that innovations in the VMA proposed in this paper can improve the convergence of algorithm compared with the original monkey algorithm (MA).

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.687-694
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• 2017

Plumbagin, a hydroxy 1,4-naphthoquinone compound from plant metabolites, exhibits anticancer, antibacterial, and antifungal activities via modulating various signaling molecules. However, its effects on vascular functions are rarely studied except in pulmonary and coronary arteries where NADPH oxidase (NOX) inhibition was suggested as a mechanism. Here we investigate the effects of plumbagin on the contractility of skeletal artery (deep femoral artery, DFA), mesenteric artery (MA) and renal artery (RA) in rats. Although plumbagin alone had no effect on the isometric tone of DFA, $1{\mu}M$ phenylephrine (PhE)-induced partial contraction was largely augmented by plumbagin (${\Delta}T_{Plum}$, 125% of 80 mM KCl-induced contraction at $1{\mu}M$). With relatively higher concentrations (>$5{\mu}M$), plumbagin induced a transient contraction followed by tonic relaxation of DFA. Similar biphasic augmentation of the PhE-induced contraction was observed in MA and RA. VAS2870 and GKT137831, specific NOX4 inhibitors, neither mimicked nor inhibited ${\Delta}T_{Plum}$ in DFA. Also, pretreatment with tiron or catalase did not affect ${\Delta}T_{Plum}$ of DFA. Under the inhibition of PhE-contraction with L-type $Ca^{2+}$ channel blocker (nifedipine, $1{\mu}M$), plumbagin still induced tonic contraction, suggesting $Ca^{2+}$-sensitization mechanism of smooth muscle. Although ${\Delta}T_{Plum}$ was consistently observed under pretreatment with Rho A-kinase inhibitor (Y27632, $1{\mu}M$), a PKC inhibitor (GF 109203X, $10{\mu}M$) largely suppressed ${\Delta}T_{Plum}$. Taken together, it is suggested that plumbagin facilitates the PKC activation in the presence of vasoactive agonists in skeletal arteries. The biphasic contractile effects on the systemic arteries should be considered in the pharmacological studies of plumbagin and 1,4-naphthoquinones.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.30 no.7
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• pp.1459-1462
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• 2009

Two new flavone glycosides, giraldiin A and B, together with three known compounds, annulatin, myricetin 3-O-$\alpha$- L-rhamnopyranoside and gallic acid, were isolated from the ethanol extract of the root of Pteroxygonum giraldii Damm. et Diels. The structures of giraldiin A and B are designated as 3'-($\alpha$-L-arabinopyranosyloxy)-4',5,5',7- tetrahydroxy-3-methoxyflavone and 4'-($\beta$-D-glucopyranosyloxy)-5,5',7-trihydroxy-2',3-dimethoxyflavone, respectively, on the basis of detailed spectroscopic analyses. The free radical scavenging activity of giraldiin A was evaluated by decolouring spectrophotometry of pentamethine cyanine dye (Cy5) with $Fe^{2+}-H_2O_2$ Fenton radical generating system. The results indicated the hydroxyl free radical scavenging activity of giraldiin A (E$D_{50}$ = 23.7 nmol/mL) is higher than that of some known antioxidants such as rutin, puerarin, daidzein and 2,6-di-tertbutyl-4-methylphenol.