Circular RNA CDR1as Promotes Gastric Cancer Growth via miR-299-3p/TGIF1 Axis

Background Gastric cancer (GC) is a common malignancy worldwide. Circular RNA CDR1as has been reported as a crucial regulator in human diseases including cancer. However, its biological roles, mechanisms and clinical values in GC remain largely unknown. Methods and Results CDR1as levels were surveyed in paired GC and adjacent normal tissues, paired blood samples from GC patients and healthy controls by RT-qPCR. Its clinical values were evaluated by ROC analysis, survival analysis and correlations with clinic pathological features. Cell transfection was performed to manipulate gene expression. In vitro CCK8 and colony formation assays and in vivo xenograft mouse model were employed to determine CDR1as effects on GC growth. CDR1as-miRNA and miRNA-mRNA interactions were predicted by bioinformatics analysis and further verified by RIP, dual-luciferase reporter gene assays, RT-qPCR, western blot and functional rescue experiments. Our results showed that CDR1as level was significantly downregulated in GC tissues and correlated with nerve invasion and poor prognosis. GC patients presented higher plasma CDR1as level than healthy controls. Functionally, knockdown of CDR1as inhibited GC cell proliferation and viability while its overexpression promoted GC growth in vitro and in vivo. The proliferation-related proteins PCNA and Cyclin D1 and apoptosis-related proteins Bax, Bcl-2, Caspase-3 and Caspase-9 were regulated. Mechanistically, CDR1as acted as a miR-299-3p sponge to relieve its suppressive effects and upregulate TGIF1 expression to promote GC growth.Conclusions CDR1as may be considered as a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for GC. CDR1as/miR-299-3p/TGIF1 axis promotes GC growth in vitro and in vivo.

Evaluation of the Compatibility of Modified Encapsulated Sodium Silicate for Self-Healing of Cementitious Composites

Healing agent carriers play a significant role in defining the performance of the autonomous self-healing system. Particularly, the ability to survive during the mixing process and the release of the healing agent when cracks occur without affecting the mechanical properties of the cementitious composite. Up to now, these issues are still a concern since glass capsules are unable to survive the mixing process, while some types of microcapsules were reported to cause a decrement in strength as well as limited strength recovery. Therefore, this study was twofold, addressing the surface treatment of polystyrene (PS) capsules and the evaluation of the compatibility of the modified capsules for cement-based applications. Secondly, assessing the healing performance of modified PS capsules in cementitious composites. Furthermore, the study also evaluates the potential healing performance due to the synergic effect between the encapsulation method and the autogenous self-healing mechanism. The investigation was carried out by measuring the changes in the pH of pore solution, FTIR analysis, survival ratio, and bonding strength. For self-healing assessment, the compression cracks on the cement paste were created at an early age and the strength recovery was measured at the age of 28 and 56 days. To identify the chemical compounds responsible for the healing process, SEM-EDX tests were conducted. Moreover, the effect of silica fume (SF) on bonding strength and self-healing was also evaluated. Based on the results, the modified PS capsules by roughing approach showed promising performance in terms of survivability, bonding, and recovery. The modified PS capsule increased the strength recovery by about 12.5–15% for 100%OPC and 95%OPC + 5%SF, respectively. The finding observed that the combining of modified PS capsules and the inclusion of SF gave high strength recovery of about 20% compared to 100%OPC without capsules. Thus, the modified PS capsule has a good potential for self-healing of cementitious-based applications.

Survival analysis in the incident dialysis patients by different modalities

Background: To analysis survival in onset uremic patients who initiating HD or PD dialysis in our dialysis center. Methods: Between Jan. 2015 and June. 2018, patients with onset uremia and initiating planned-start dialysis were retrospectively enrolled in this study and followed up to January, 2019. The relationships between the types of dialysis modality and patient prognosis were assessed. Results: A total of 460 patients were included in the final analysis. Of which, 213 patient (46.30%) undergoing PD and 247 patients (53.70%) undergoing HD with arteriovenous fistula. The average follow-up time was 27.9 months. Eighty-seven (18.91%) patients died during the study period. The all-cause mortality was 127 per 1000 person-year. It was 102 per 1000 person-year in the HD group and 171 per 1000 person-year in the PD group ( p < 0.01). However, dialysis modality was not an independent predictor for survival. During the first year after dialysis initiation, patient survival was comparable between the PD and HD groups (log-rank p = 0.14). As the dialysis age increased over 1 year, HD patients seemed to have a better survival as compared to that of PD patient (log-rank p < 0.05), especially those older than 65 years and without DN. Conclusions: Though dialysis modality was not an independent factor for overall survival, HD therapy seemed to be more suitable for patients without DN.

Identification the ferroptosis-related gene signature in Gastric cancer based on weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA)

Background Ferroptosis is a mode of regulated cell death that depends on iron, plays pivotal roles in regulating various biological process in human cancers. However, the role of ferroptosis in Gastric cancer (GC) remains unclear. Methods A total of 2721 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were filtered base on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) (n = 375) dataset. Gene modules were identified based on co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). Functional analysis was performed to explore the biological function. Lasso-penalized and univariate Cox regression (UCR) analysis, survival genes were screened out to construct a prognostic model, which validated by the GSE43292 dataset. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) for prognostic index was performed. Finally, the correlations of ferroptosis and immune cells were assessed through the TIMER database. Results Compared to normal specimens, 1063 highly upregulated and 1658 downregulated genes respectively and their normal counterparts in GC specimens were screened. WGCNA analysis was used and identified 7 modules, of which, blue module with the most significant enrichment result was selected. By taking intersections of blue module and differentially expressed ferroptosis-related genes (DEFRGs), we got 23 common genes. Functional analysis was performed to explore the biological function of the interested genes, and with the consequences Lasso-penalized and univariate Cox regression (UCR) analysis, survival genes were screened out to construct a prognostic model based on 3 genes (SLC1A5, ANGPTL4, and CGAS), which could play a role in predicting the survival of GC patients. UCR and multivariate Cox regression (MCR) analysis revealed that the prognostic index could be used as independent prognostic indicators and validated using another GSE84437 dataset. Notably, patients in high-risk groups had higher levels of higher mutation frequencies such as TTN and TP53.Mechanistically. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) unveiled several significant and pathways involved in GC. TIMER analysis demonstrated that risk score strongly correlated with Macrophage and CD4 + T cells infiltration. In addition, high- and low-risk group illustrated different distributions in different immune status. Conclusions In this study, a novel FRGs signature was built. It could accurately predict GC prognosis and pave the new way for diagnosis and therapy strategy. May reflect the status of tumor immune microenvironment.

On Behavior Laplace Integral Operators with Generalized Bessel Matrix Polynomials and Related Functions

Recently, the applications and importance of integral transforms (or operators) with special functions and polynomials have received more attention in various fields like fractional analysis, survival analysis, physics, statistics, and engendering. In this article, we aim to introduce a number of Laplace and inverse Laplace integral transforms of functions involving the generalized and reverse generalized Bessel matrix polynomials. In addition, the current outcomes are yielded to more outcomes in the modern theory of integral transforms.

Natural History of Renal Neuroendocrine Neoplasms: A NET by Any Other Name?

Renal neuroendocrine neoplasms are rare, with descriptions of cases limited to individual reports and small series. The natural history of this group of neuroendocrine neoplasms is poorly understood. In this study, we queried the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database over a four-decade period where we identified 166 cases of primary renal neuroendocrine neoplasms. We observed a 5-year overall survival of 50%. On multivariate analysis, survival was influenced by stage, histology, and if surgery was performed. We observed that patients managed by operative management had a greater frequency of localized or regional stage disease as well as a greater frequency of neuroendocrine tumor, grade 1 histology; whereas those managed non-operatively tended to have distant disease and histologies of neuroendocrine carcinoma, NOS and small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma. This is the largest description of patients with renal neuroendocrine neoplasms. Increased survival was observed in patients with earlier stage and favorable histologies.

Impella CP Implantation during Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation for Cardiac Arrest: A Multicenter Experience

Background: Impella CP is a left ventricular pump which may serve as a circulatory support during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for cardiac arrest (CA). Nevertheless, the survival rate and factors associated with survival in patients undergoing Impella insertion during CPR for CA are unknown. Methods: We performed a retrospective multicenter international registry of patients undergoing Impella insertion during on-going CPR for in- or out-of-hospital CA. We recorded immediate and 30-day survival with and without neurologic impairment using the cerebral performance category score and evaluated the factors associated with survival. Results: Thirty-five patients had an Impella CP implanted during CPR for CA. Refractory ventricular arrhythmias were the most frequent initial rhythm (65.7%). In total, 65.7% of patients immediately survived. At 30 days, 45.7% of patients were still alive. The 30-day survival rate without neurological impairment was 37.1%. In univariate analysis, survival was associated with both an age < 75 years and a time from arrest to CPR ≤ 5 min (p = 0.035 and p = 0.008, respectively). Conclusions: In our multicenter registry, Impella CP insertion during ongoing CPR for CA was associated with a 37.1% rate of 30-day survival without neurological impairment. The factors associated with survival were a young age and a time from arrest to CPR ≤ 5 min.

Survival analysis

This chapter describes survival analysis. Survival analysis concerns data where the outcome is a length of time, namely the time from inclusion in the study (such as diagnosis of some disease) till death or some other event — hence the term 'time to event analysis', which is also used. There are two primary targets normally addressed in survival analysis: survival probabilities and event rates. The chapter then looks at the life table estimator of survival function and the Kaplan–Meier estimator of survival. It also considers the Cox model and its relationship with Poisson models, as well as the Fine–Gray approach to competing risks.

Ureteral Stent and Percutaneous Nephrostomy in Managing Malignant Ureteric Obstruction of Gastrointestinal Origin: A 10 Years’ Experience

Background: Malignant ureteral obstruction (MUO) is variable in presentation and there is no consensus on its management, especially when caused by gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies. Our aim was to describe our experience with this oncological complication. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the outcomes of ureteral stent and nephrostomy tube (NT) positioning for GI-related MUO from 2010 to 2020. We performed descriptive analysis, survival analysis, and uni- and multi-variate analysis. Results: We included 51 patients. NT was mainly used when bladder involvement occurred and when MUO revealed an ex novo cancer diagnosis. Survival was poorer in patients with new diagnoses and in those receiving no treatment after decompression. Moreover, MUO caused by upper-GI tumors was related to shorter overall survival. Conclusions: GI tumors causing MUO should be considered of poor prognosis. Treatment decisions should be weighted accurately by both specialists and the patient.

A Phase-Type Distribution for the Sum of Two Concatenated Markov Processes Application to the Analysis Survival in Bladder Cancer

Stochastic processes are useful and important for modeling the evolution of processes that take different states over time, a situation frequently found in fields such as medical research and engineering. In a previous paper and within this framework, we developed the sum of two independent phase-type (PH)-distributed variables, each of them being associated with a Markovian process of one absorbing state. In that analysis, we computed the distribution function, and its associated survival function, of the sum of both variables, also PH-distributed. In this work, in one more step, we have developed a first approximation of that distribution function in order to avoid the calculation of an inverse matrix for the possibility of a bad conditioning of the matrix, involved in the expression of the distribution function in the previous paper. Next, in a second step, we improve this result, giving a second, more accurate approximation. Two numerical applications, one with simulated data and the other one with bladder cancer data, are used to illustrate the two proposed approaches to the distribution function. We compare and argue the accuracy and precision of each one of them by means of their error bound and the application to real data of bladder cancer.