What Are the New Challenges of the Current Cancer Biomarkers?

Biomarkers are emerging research filed in the past decade. Even though numerous biomarkers were reported, the efficiency of cancer therapy remains low. So the question emerges as to how much can we trust the current biomarkers on cancer therapy? In this upcoming chapter, we would like to illustrate the outcomes of classical cancer therapies on advanced pancreatic cancer disclosed successful, neutral and failed in clinical trials. The analysis will be carried on the perspective interdisciplinary on the biomarkers including anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, biochemistry, history path and development of pharmacy. Particular in-depth insight may open a window for new researches and lighting the therapies

The significance of glycolysis in tumor progression and its relationship with the tumor microenvironment

It is well known that tumor cells rely mainly on aerobic glycolysis for energy production even in the presence of oxygen, and glycolysis is a known modulator of tumorigenesis and tumor development. The tumor microenvironment (TME) is composed of tumor cells, various immune cells, cytokines, and extracellular matrix, among other factors, and is a complex niche supporting the survival and development of tumor cells and through which they interact and co-evolve with other tumor cells. In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in glycolysis and the TME. Many studies have found that glycolysis promotes tumor growth, metastasis, and chemoresistance, as well as inhibiting the apoptosis of tumor cells. In addition, lactic acid, a metabolite of glycolysis, can also accumulate in the TME, leading to reduced extracellular pH and immunosuppression, and affecting the TME. This review discusses the significance of glycolysis in tumor development, its association with the TME, and potential glycolysis-targeted therapies, to provide new ideas for the clinical treatment of tumors

Stoichiometric traits (N:P) of understory plants contribute to reductions in plant diversity following long‐term nitrogen addition in subtropical forest

Nitrogen enrichment is pervasive in forest ecosystems, but its influence on understory plant communities and their stoichiometric characteristics is poorly understood. We hypothesize that when forest is enriched with nitrogen (N), the stoichiometric characteristics of plant species explain changes in understory plant diversity. A 13-year field experiment was conducted to explore the effects of N addition on foliar carbon (C): N: phosphorus (P) stoichiometry, understory plant species richness, and intrinsic water use efficiency (iWUE) in a subtropical Chinese fir forest. Four levels of N addition were applied: 0, 6, 12, and 24 g m−2 year−1. Individual plant species were categorized into resistant plants, intermediate resistant plants, and sensitive plants based on their response to nitrogen addition. Results showed that N addition significantly decreased the number of species, genera, and families of herbaceous plants. Foliar N:P ratios were greater in sensitive plants than resistant or intermediate resistant plants, while iWUE showed an opposite trend. However, no relationship was detected between soil available N and foliar N, and soil N:P and foliar N:P ratios. Our results indicated that long-term N addition decreased the diversity of understory plants in a subtropical forest. Through regulating water use efficiency with N addition, sensitive plants change their N:P stoichiometry and have a higher risk of mortality, while resistant plants maintain a stable N:P stoichiometry, which contributes to their survival. These findings suggest that plant N:P stoichiometry plays an important role in understory plant performance in response to environmental change of N

A CsI hodoscope on CSHINE for Bremsstrahlung {\gamma}-rays in Heavy Ion Reactions

Bremsstrahlung $\gamma$ production in heavy ion reactions at Fermi energies carries important physical information including the nuclear symmetry energy at supra-saturation densities. In order to detect the high energy Bremsstrahlung $\gamma$ rays, a hodoscope consisting of 15 CsI(Tl) crystal read out by photo multiplier tubes has been built, tested and operated in experiment. The resolution, efficiency and linear response of the units to $\gamma$ rays have been studied using radioactive source and $({\rm p},\gamma)$ reactions. The inherent energy resolution of $1.6\%+2\%/E_{\gamma}^{1/2}$ is obtained. Reconstruction method has been established through Geant 4 simulations, reproducing the experimental results where comparison can be made. Using the reconstruction method developed, the whole efficiency of the hodoscope is about $2.6\times 10^{-4}$ against the $4\pi$ emissions at the target position, exhibiting insignificant dependence on the energy of incident $\gamma$ rays above 20 MeV. The hodoscope is operated in the experiment of $^{86}$Kr + $^{124}$Sn at 25 MeV/u, and a full $\gamma$ energy spectrum up to 80 MeV has been obtained.Comment: 9 pages, 19 figure

Impacts of climate change and fruit tree expansion on key hydrological components at different spatial scales

Assessing how fruit tree expansion and climate variability affect hydrological components (e.g., water yield, surface runoff, underground runoff, soil water, evapotranspiration, and infiltration) at different spatial scales is crucial for the management and protection of watersheds, ecosystems, and engineering design. The Jiujushui watershed (259.32 km2), which experienced drastic forest changes over the past decades, was selected to explore the response mechanisms of hydrological components to fruit tree expansion and climate variability at different spatial scales (whole basin and subbasin scale). Specifically, we set up two change scenarios (average temperature increase of 0.5°C and fruit tree area expansion of 18.97%) in the SWAT model by analyzing historical data (1961∼2011). Results showed that climate change reduced water yield, surface runoff, and underground runoff by 6.75, 0.37, and 5.91 mm, respectively. By contrast, the expansion of fruit trees increased surface runoff and water yield by 2.81 and 4.10 mm, respectively, but decreased underground runoff by 1 mm. Interestingly, the sub-basins showed different intensities and directions of response under climate change and fruit tree expansion scenarios. However, the downstream response was overall more robust than the upstream response. These results suggest that there may be significant differences in the hydrological effects of climate change and fruit tree expansion at different spatial scales, thus any land disturbance measures should be carefully considered

Probing high-momentum component in nucleon momentum distribution by neutron-proton bremsstrahlung {\gamma}-rays in heavy ion reactions

The high momentum tail (HMT) of nucleons, as a signature of the short-range correlations in nuclei, has been investigated by the high-energy bremsstrahlung $\gamma$ rays produced in $^{86}$Kr + $^{124}$Sn at 25 MeV/u. The energetic photons are measured by a CsI(Tl) hodoscope mounted on the spectrometer CSHINE. The energy spectrum above 30 MeV can be reproduced by the IBUU model calculations incorporating the photon production channel from $np$ process in which the HMTs of nucleons is considered. A non-zero HMT ratio of about $15\%$ is favored by the data. The effect of the capture channel $np \to d\gamma$ is demonstrated

Revisit to the yield ratio of triton and 3^3He as an indicator of neutron-rich neck emission

The neutron rich neck zone created in heavy ion reaction is experimentally probed by the production of the $A=3$ isobars. The energy spectra and angular distributions of triton and $^3$He are measured with the CSHINE detector in $^{86}$Kr +$^{208}$Pb reactions at 25 MeV/u. While the energy spectrum of $^{3}$He is harder than that of triton, known as "$^{3}$He-puzzle", the yield ratio $R({\rm t/^3He})$ presents a robust rising trend with the polar angle in laboratory. Using the fission fragments to reconstruct the fission plane, the enhancement of out-plane $R({\rm t/^3He})$ is confirmed in comparison to the in-plane ratios. Transport model simulations reproduce qualitatively the experimental trends, but the quantitative agreement is not achieved. The results demonstrate that a neutron rich neck zone is formed in the reactions. Further studies are called for to understand the clustering and the isospin dynamics related to neck formation

A novel diagnostic model for predicting immune microenvironment subclass based on costimulatory molecules in lung squamous carcinoma

There is still no ideal predictive biomarker for immunotherapy response among patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Costimulatory molecules play a role in anti-tumor immune response. Hence, they can be a potential biomarker for immunotherapy response. The current study comprehensively investigated the expression of costimulatory molecules in lung squamous carcinoma (LUSC) and identified diagnostic biomarkers for immunotherapy response. The costimulatory molecule gene expression profiles of 627 patients were obtained from the The Cancer Genome Atlas, GSE73403, and GSE37745 datasets. Patients were divided into different clusters using the k-means clustering method and were further classified into two discrepant tumor microenvironment (TIME) subclasses (hot and cold tumors) according to the immune score of the ESTIMATE algorithm. A high proportion of activated immune cells, including activated memory CD4 T cells, CD8 T cells, and M1 macrophages. Five CMGs (FAS, TNFRSF14, TNFRSF17, TNFRSF1B, and TNFSF13B) were considered as diagnostic markers using the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator and the Support Vector Machine-Recursive Feature Elimination machine learning algorithms. Based on the five CMGs, a diagnostic nomogram for predicting individual tumor immune microenvironment subclasses in the TCGA dataset was developed, and its predictive performance was validated using GSE73403 and GSE37745 datasets. The predictive accuracy of the diagnostic nomogram was satisfactory in all three datasets. Therefore, it can be used to identify patients who may benefit more from immunotherapy

Variation of Tensor Force due to Nuclear Medium Effect

The enhancement of $J^{\pi}(T)$=3$^{+}$(0) state with isospin $T=0$ excited by the tensor force in the free $^{6}$Li nucleus has been observed, for the first time, relative to a shrinkable excitation in the $^{6}$Li cluster component inside its host nucleus. Comparatively, the excitation of $J^{\pi}(T)$=0$^{+}$(1) state with isospin $T=1$ for these two $^{6}$Li formations take on an approximately equal excitation strength. The mechanism of such tensor force effect was proposed due to the intensive nuclear medium role on isospin $T$=0 state.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure