Xanthoxyletin blocks the RANK/RANKL signaling pathway to suppress the growth of human pancreatic cancer cells

Xanthoxyletin is a vital plant-derived bioactive coumarin. It has been shown to exhibit anticancer effects against different human cancers. Nonetheless, the anticancer effects of xanthoxyletin against human pancreatic cancer cells have not been evaluated. Against this backdrop, the present study was designed to evaluate the anticancer effects of xanthoxyletin in human pancreatic cancer cells and to decipher the underlying molecular mechanisms. The results revealed a significant (p < 0.05) upregulation of receptor activator of NF-kappaB (RANK), receptor activator of NF-kappaB ligand (RANKL) and osteoprotegerin (OPG) in human pancreatic tissues and cell lines at both transcriptional and translational levels. The administration of pancreatic cancer cells with xanthoxyletin diminished the viability of Capan-2 cells in a concentration-dependent manner and led to a significant decline in RANK, RANKL, and OPG expression. Silencing of RANK and xanthoxyletin treatment declined the viability of Capan-2 pancreatic cancer cells via induction of apoptosis. However, pancreatic cancer cells overexpressing RANK could rescue the growth inhibitory effects. Collectively, xanthoxyletin targets the RANK/RANKL signaling pathway in pancreatic cancer cells to induce cell apoptosis and may prove to be an important lead molecule. Keywords

GRAND THEATER SQUARE - SHANGHAI

Over the last few years, Shanghai has been facing challenging urban problems resulting from rapid economic growth. Its traditional urban fabric is being destroyed hastily to make way for the galloping new constructions. To protect this city's priceless urban heritage from being engulfed by scaleless development is an emergency measure we must take now. This thesis will explore the validity of the insertion of a new mixed-used commercial, cultural and residential complex into a 6.5-acre traditional city block in a very heterogeneous urban space of Shanghai. The purpose is to provide an aesthetically dynamic yet practical solution to fill the wide scale gap between contemporary high-rise buildings and the historic blocks, to set an example of revitalization and rehabilitation that inspiringly employs the spirit of old traditional neighborhoods to highlight the city's historical past, and finally, to redefine the place of history in a new urban environment

Time Variation of Fine-Structure Constant Constrained by [O III] Emission-Lines at 1.1<z<3.7

[O III]$\lambda\lambda$4960,5008 doublet are often the strongest narrow emission lines in starburst galaxies and quasi-stellar objects (QSOs), and thus are a promising probe to possible variation of the fine-structure constant $\alpha$ over cosmic time. Previous such studies using QSOs optical spectra were limited to $z<1$. In this work, we constructed a sample of 40 spectra of Ly$\alpha$ emitting galaxies (LAEs) and a sample of 46 spectra of QSOs at $1.09<z<3.73$ using the VLT/X-Shooter near-infrared spectra publicly available. We measured the wavelength ratios of the two components of the spin-orbit doublet and accordingly calculated $\alpha(z)$ using two methods. Analysis on all of the 86 spectra yielded $\Delta\alpha/\alpha=(-3\pm6)\times10^{-5}$ with respect to the laboratory $\alpha$ measurements, consistent with no variation over the explored time interval. If assuming a uniform variation rate, we obtained $\alpha^{-1}{\rm d}\alpha/{\rm d}t = (-3\pm6)\times10^{-15}$ yr$^{-1}$ within the last 12 Gyrs. Extensive tests indicate that $\alpha$ variation could be better constrained using starburst galaxies' spectra than using QSO spectra in future studies.Comment: 24 pages, 22 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Deepfakes for Medical Video De-Identification: Privacy Protection and Diagnostic Information Preservation

Data sharing for medical research has been difficult as open-sourcing clinical data may violate patient privacy. Traditional methods for face de-identification wipe out facial information entirely, making it impossible to analyze facial behavior. Recent advancements on whole-body keypoints detection also rely on facial input to estimate body keypoints. Both facial and body keypoints are critical in some medical diagnoses, and keypoints invariability after de-identification is of great importance. Here, we propose a solution using deepfake technology, the face swapping technique. While this swapping method has been criticized for invading privacy and portraiture right, it could conversely protect privacy in medical video: patients' faces could be swapped to a proper target face and become unrecognizable. However, it remained an open question that to what extent the swapping de-identification method could affect the automatic detection of body keypoints. In this study, we apply deepfake technology to Parkinson's disease examination videos to de-identify subjects, and quantitatively show that: face-swapping as a de-identification approach is reliable, and it keeps the keypoints almost invariant, significantly better than traditional methods. This study proposes a pipeline for video de-identification and keypoint preservation, clearing up some ethical restrictions for medical data sharing. This work could make open-source high quality medical video datasets more feasible and promote future medical research that benefits our society.Comment: Accepted for publication at the AAAI/ACM Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, and Society (AIES) 202