Prognostic value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in breast cancer

AbstractInflammation is an essential component of pathogenesis and progression of cancer. A high neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is considered as a prognostic indicator for breast cancer. This meta-analysis was conducted to establish the overall accuracy of the NLR test in the diagnosis of breast cancer. A comprehensive search of the literature was conducted by using PubMed, Web of Science and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). Published studies dating up to July 2014 and 4,293 patients were enrolled in the present study. In order to evaluate the association between NLR and overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), recurrence-free survival (RFS) or cancer specific survival (CSS), the hazard ratios (HRs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were extracted. OS was the primary outcome. The results suggested that increased NLR was a strong predictor for OS with HR of 2.28 (95% CI=1.08–4.80, Pheterogeneity<0.001). Stratified analyses indicated that a high NLR appeared to be a negative prognostic marker in Caucasian populations (HR=4.53, 95% CI=3.11–6.60, Pheterogeneity=0.096), multivariate analysis method (HR=2.10, 95% CI=1.52–2.89, Pheterogeneity=0.591), and mixed metastasis (HR=4.53, 95% CI=3.11–6.60, Pheterogeneity=0.096). Elevated NLR was associated with a high risk for DFS (HR=1.38, 95% CI=1.09–1.74, Pheterogeneity=0.050) and in subgroups of multivariate analysis (HR=1.64, 95% CI=1.25–2.14, Pheterogeneity=0.545) and mixed metastasis (HR=1.99, 95% CI=1.28–3.09, Pheterogeneity=0.992). In summary, NLR could be considered as a predictive factor for patients with breast cancer

Three-Dimensional Path Planning for AUVs Based on Standard Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm

This paper proposes an improved standard particle swarm optimization 2011 for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). A mutation operator with a threshold is introduced to solve the problem of particles falling into the local extreme, and a nonlinear adaptive parameter strategy is introduced to accelerate the convergence speed. The proposed algorithm considers “path length”, “path safety”, “path smoothness” and “physical constraints” synthetically. For the specific navigation environment of AUVs, the path planning simulation is conducted based on MATLAB/Simulink, and the navigation guidance and control closed-loop simulation system is established. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Long non-coding RNA 91H regulates IGF2 expression by interacting with IGF2BP2 and promotes tumorigenesis in colorectal cancer

We, the Editors and Publisher of the journal Artificial Cells, Nanomedicine, and Biotechnology, have retracted the following article:Tianyi Gao, Xiangxiang Liu, Bangshun He, Yuqin Pan & Shukui Wang (2020) Long non-coding RNA 91H regulates IGF2 expression by interacting with IGF2BP2 and promotes tumorigenesis in colorectal cancer, Artificial Cells, Nanomedicine, and Biotechnology, 48:1, 664-671, DOI: 10.1080/21691401.2020.1727491Since publication, the authors noticed duplication in Figure 1A and 4A. As this error directly impacts the reported results and conclusions the authors alerted the issue to the Editor and Publisher to request correction. The authors acknowledged that they had made mistakes and the Editor and Publisher found there to be fundamental flaws present within the requested corrections, as well as the rest of the paper. The authors have agreed to the retraction of this article.We have been informed in our decision-making by our policy on publishing ethics and integrity and the COPE guidelines on retractions.The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as ‘Retracted’

A high-density genetic map of Schima superba based on its chromosomal characteristics

Abstract Background Schima superba (Theaceae) is a popular woody tree in China. The obscure chromosomal characters of this species are a limitation in the development of high-density genetic linkage maps, which are valuable resources for molecular breeding and functional genomics. Results We determined the chromosome number and the karyotype of S. superba as 2n = 36 = 36 m, which is consistent with the tribe Schimeae (n = 18). A high-density genetic map was constructed using genotyping by sequencing (GBS). A F1 full-sib with 116 individuals and their parents (LC31 × JO32) were sequenced on the Illumina HiSeq™ platform. Overall, 343.3 Gb of raw data containing 1,191,933,474 paired-end reads were generated. Based on this, 99,966 polymorphic SNP markers were developed from the parents, and 2209 markers were mapped onto the integrated genetic linkage map after data filtering and SNP genotyping. The map spanned 2076.24 cM and was distributed among 18 linkage groups. The average marker interval was 0.94 cM. A total of 168 quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for 14 growth traits were identified. Conclusions The chromosome number and karyotype of S. superba was 2n = 36 = 36 m and a linkage map with 2209 SNP markers was constructed to identify QTLs for growth traits. Our study provides a basis for molecular-assisted breeding and genomic studies, which will contribute towards the future research and genetic improvement of S. superba

Exosomal lncRNA 91H is associated with poor development in colorectal cancer by modifying HNRNPK expression

Abstract Background Exosomes mediated transfer of lncRNA 91H may play a critical role in the development of CRC. However, few studies have proved the mechanism. So we performed this study to deeply explore the biological functions of exosomal 91H in the development and progression of CRC. Methods The association between lncRNA 91H and exosomes was detected in vitro and vivo. Then RNA pulldown and RIP were used to detect how lncRNA 91H affect CRC IGF2 express. At last, clinic pathological significance of exosomal 91H was evaluated by Cox proportional hazards model. Results We found that serum lncRNA 91H expression was closely related to cancer exosomes in vitro and vivo which may enhance tumor-cell migration and invasion in tumor development by modifying HNRNPK expression. Then the clinic pathological significance of exosomal 91H was evaluated which demonstrated that CRC patients with high lncRNA 91H expression usually showed a higher risk in tumor recurrence and metastasis than patients with low lncRNA 91H expression (P < 0.05). Conclusion All these data suggested that exosomal lncRNA 91H enhancing CRC metastasis by modifying HNRNPK expression might be an early plasma-based biomarker for CRC recurrence or metastasis. Further large-scale studies are needed to confirm our findings

Polystyrene nanoplastics exposure causes erectile dysfunction in rats

Polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs), emerging and increasingly pervasive environmental contaminants, have the potential to cause persistent harm to organisms. Although previous reports have documented local accumulation and adverse effects in a variety of major organs after PS-NPs exposure, the impact of PS-NPs exposure on erectile function remains unexplored. Herein, we established a rat model of oral exposure to 100 nm PS-NPs for 28 days. To determine the best dose range of PS-NPs, we designed both low-dose and high-dose PS-NPs groups, which correspond to the minimum and maximum human intake doses, respectively. The findings indicated that PS-NPs could accumulate within the corpus cavernosum and high dose but not low dose of PS-NPs triggered erectile dysfunction. Moreover, the toxicological effects of PS-NPs on erectile function include fibrosis in the corpus cavernous, endothelial dysfunction, reduction in testosterone levels, elevated oxidative stress and apoptosis. Overall, this study revealed that PS-NPs exposure can cause erectile dysfunction via multiple ways, which provided new insights into the toxicity of PS-NPs

Fast, Sensitive, and Quantitative Point-of-Care Platform for the Assessment of Drugs of Abuse in Urine, Serum, and Whole Blood

Drug abuse is a major public health problem in many countries in Europe and North America. Currently available platforms for drug abuse assessment are facing technical challenges of nonquantitation, inaccuracy, low throughput, incompatibility with diverse complex specimens, long assay times, and requirement of instrument and/or expertise for readout. Here, we report an integrated competitive volumetric-bar-chart chip (CV-Chip) to assay multiple drug targets at the point-of-care (POC). To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time that a POC platform has been demonstrated to fully address the above-mentioned limitations. We applied this integrated CV-chip platform to assay multiple drugs in 38 patient urine and serum samples and validated the on-chip results with an LC-MS/MS method, indicating a clinical sensitivity and specificity of 0.94 and 1.00, respectively. We further demonstrated that the combination of an on-chip blood separator with the CV-Chip enabled the platform to directly assay finger-prick whole blood samples, which have always been recognized as an ideal biospecimen for POC detections. In summary, this integrated CV-Chip is able to serve as a sensitive, accurate, fast, portable, readout visible, and minimally invasive platform for drug abuse assessment