Synchronous Occurrence of Primary Neoplasms in the Uterus with Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Cervix and Adenocarcinoma of the Endometrium

SummaryObjectiveSynchronous primary malignant neoplasms of the uterus are uncommon. Patients with synchronous cervical and endometrial cancers are even rarer. We describe a case of cervical squamous cell carcinoma and endometrial endometrioid adenocarcinoma occurring simultaneously in a 47-year-old woman presenting with massive menstrual bleeding. The concept of synchronous primary malignancies of the genital tract is also reviewed in this report.Case ReportA 47-year-old overtly obese female presented with menometrorrhagia of over 6 months' duration. Pelvic examination detected a large cervix but apparently normal externals. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a mass over the cervical region and endometrial lesions in the uterine cavity. Surgical exploration disclosed a cervical tumor and erosion of the endometrium. The pathologic findings were compatible with synchronous occurrence of primary neoplasms in the uterus with squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix and adenocarcinoma of the endometrium.ConclusionSynchronous genital tract neoplasms are rare but cause more clinical problems than a single neoplasm. It is practical to pay more attention to the differential diagnosis of primary and metastatic tumors. The second primary cancer that occurs in an individual with endometrial cancer may offer an opportunity for early detection. The prognosis for a patient with synchronous gynecologic malignancies does not seem to be worse

An Efficient Lagrangean Relaxation-based Object Tracking Algorithm in Wireless Sensor Networks

In this paper we propose an energy-efficient object tracking algorithm in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Such sensor networks have to be designed to achieve energy-efficient object tracking for any given arbitrary topology. We consider in particular the bi-directional moving objects with given frequencies for each pair of sensor nodes and link transmission cost. This problem is formulated as a 0/1 integer-programming problem. A Lagrangean relaxation-based (LR-based) heuristic algorithm is proposed for solving the optimization problem. Experimental results showed that the proposed algorithm achieves near optimization in energy-efficient object tracking. Furthermore, the algorithm is very efficient and scalable in terms of the solution time

Glutamatergic Dysfunction and Glutamatergic Compounds for Major Psychiatric Disorders: Evidence From Clinical Neuroimaging Studies

Excessive glutamate release has been linked to stress and many neurodegenerative diseases. Evidence indicates abnormalities of glutamatergic neurotransmission or glutamatergic dysfunction as playing an important role in the development of many major psychiatric disorders (e.g., schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder). Recently, ketamine, an N-methyl-d-aspartate antagonist, has been demonstrated to have promisingly rapid antidepressant efficacy for treatment-resistant depression. Many compounds that target the glutamate system have also become available that possess potential in the treatment of major psychiatric disorders. In this review, we update evidence from recent human studies that directly or indirectly measured glutamatergic neurotransmission and function in major psychiatric disorders using modalities such as magnetic resonance spectroscopy, positron emission tomography/single-photon emission computed tomography, and paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation. The newer generation of antidepressants that target the glutamatergic system developed in human clinical studies is also reviewed

Cucurbitacin E inhibits the Yes‑associated protein signaling pathway and suppresses brain metastasis of human non‑small cell lung cancer in a murine model.

Human non‑small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is associated with an extremely poor prognosis especially for the 40% of patients who develop brain metastasis, and few treatment strategies exist. Cucurbitacin E (CuE), an oxygenated tetracyclic triterpenoid isolated from plants particularly of the family Cucurbitaceae, has shown anti‑tumorigenic properties in several types of cancer, yet the mechanism remains unclear. Yes‑associated protein (YAP), a main mediator of the Hippo signaling pathway, promotes tumorigenesis, drug resistance and metastasis in human NSCLC. The present study was designed to ascertain whether CuE inhibits YAP and its downstream gene expression in the human NSCLC cell lines H2030‑BrM3 (K‑rasG12C mutation) and PC9‑BrM3 (EGFRΔexon19 mutation), which have high potential for brain metastasis. The efficacy of CuE in suppressing brain metastasis of H2030‑BrM3 cells in a murine model was also investigated. It was found that after CuE treatment in H2030‑BrM3 and PC9‑BrM3 cells, YAP protein expression was decreased, and YAP signaling GTIIC reporter activity and expression of the downstream genes CTGF and CYR61 were significantly (P<0.01) decreased. CuE treatment also reduced the migration and invasion abilities of the H2030‑BrM3 and PC9‑BrM3 cells. Finally, our in vivo study showed that CuE treatment (0.2 mg/kg) suppressed H2030‑BrM3 cell brain metastasis and that mice treated with CuE survived longer than the control mice treated with 10% DMSO (P=0.02). The present study is the first to demonstrate that CuE treatment inhibits YAP and the signaling downstream gene expression in human NSCLC in vitro, and suppresses brain metastasis of NSCLC in a murine model. More studies to verify the promising efficacy of CuE in inhibiting brain metastasis of NSCLC and various other cancers may be warranted

Safety-based Injection Strategy for Carbon Dioxide Geological Sequestration in a Deep Saline Aquifer with Complex Sandstone-shale Sequences: A Case Study from Taiwan

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to decide the best injection strategy for CO2 geo-sequestration in a deep saline aquifer with complex bedded sandstone-shale sequences. The best injection strategy is decided based on the estimates of the safety index (SFI). Numerical simulation method was used in this study. The major conclusions from this study are: (1) Safe trapping mechanisms contribute to a lower risk of CO2 leakage by trapping CO2 as immobile blobs or changing the phase of CO2 from supercritical phase to aqueous, ionic, and mineral phases in the post-injection period. (2) For an aquifer with complex sandstone-shale sequences, the best injection strategy should be decided by the results of risk evaluation and the SFI estimation. (3) The well location affected the injection strategy. The risk of CO2 leakage was lower using a down-dip injection well than an up-dip well. (4) The best strategy for this case study was to use the down-dip well to inject CO2 into the bottom sandstone layer. The SFI for this scenario reached 0.99 at the storage time of 1000 years, which meant that the probability of CO2 leakage occurring was nearly zero

Construction and verification of digital electronics contestants' indicators for vocational education in Taiwan

No AbstractKeywords: competency indicator, digital electronics, important-performance analysis, skill competitio

Excoecarianin, Isolated from Phyllanthus urinaria Linnea, Inhibits Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 Infection through Inactivation of Viral Particles

Phyllanthus urinaria Linnea (Euphorbiaceae) is one of the traditional medicinal plants widely used by oriental people to treat various diseases. We have previously demonstrated that the acetone extract of P. urinaria inhibits herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) but not HSV-1 infection. In a continuing effort to clarify the antiviral mechanisms of P. urinaria, we isolated the pure compound excoecarianin from the whole plant of P. urinaria through acetone extraction, and investigated its anti-HSV-1 and HSV-2 activities. Our results indicated that excoecarianin protected Vero cells from HSV-2 but not HSV-1 infection, and its 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) was 1.4 ± 0.1 μM. The antiviral effective concentration of excoecarianin did not affect the viability or the morphology of Vero cells. Although excoecarianin inhibited HSV-2 infection, the inhibitory effect, however, was most prominent when excoecarianin was concurrently added with the virus. Pretreatment of Vero cells with excoecarianin with removal of the drug prior to infection did not yield any antiviral effects, and the same observation was made for post viral entry treatment. Subsequent studies revealed that excoecarianin inactivated HSV-2 virus particles to prevent viral infection. A synergistic antiviral effect against HSV-2 was also observed when Vero cells were treated with a combination of acyclovir (ACV) and excoecarianin. These results suggested that excoecarianin merits to be further explored as an entry inhibitor against HSV-2 and could potentially be investigated for combinatorial drug treatment with nucleoside analogues such as ACV in therapeutic management of HSV-2 infection