Role of Cancer Microenvironment in Metastasis: Focus on Colon Cancer

One person on three will receive a diagnostic of cancer during his life. About one third of them will die of the disease. In most cases, death will result from the formation of distal secondary sites called metastases. Several events that lead to cancer are under genetic control. In particular, cancer initiation is tightly associated with specific mutations that affect proto-oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes. These mutations lead to unrestrained growth of the primary neoplasm and a propensity to detach and to progress through the subsequent steps of metastatic dissemination. This process depends tightly on the surrounding microenvironment. In fact, several studies support the point that tumour development relies on a continuous cross-talk between cancer cells and their cellular and extracellular microenvironments. This signaling cross-talk is mediated by transmembrane receptors expressed on cancer cells and stromal cells. The aim of this manuscript is to review how the cancer microenvironment influences the journey of a metastatic cell taking liver invasion by colorectal cancer cells as a model

ICAR: endoscopic skull‐base surgery

n/

Comprehensive molecular characterization of the hippo signaling pathway in cancer

Hippo signaling has been recognized as a key tumor suppressor pathway. Here, we perform a comprehensive molecular characterization of 19 Hippo core genes in 9,125 tumor samples across 33 cancer types using multidimensional “omic” data from The Cancer Genome Atlas. We identify somatic drivers among Hippo genes and the related microRNA (miRNA) regulators, and using functional genomic approaches, we experimentally characterize YAP and TAZ mutation effects and miR-590 and miR-200a regulation for TAZ. Hippo pathway activity is best characterized by a YAP/TAZ transcriptional target signature of 22 genes, which shows robust prognostic power across cancer types. Our elastic-net integrated modeling further reveals cancer-type-specific pathway regulators and associated cancer drivers. Our results highlight the importance of Hippo signaling in squamous cell cancers, characterized by frequent amplification of YAP/TAZ, high expression heterogeneity, and significant prognostic patterns. This study represents a systems-biology approach to characterizing key cancer signaling pathways in the post-genomic era

Fabrication of biomimetic 3-D structured diaphragms

We report on a new approach to the fabrication of 3-D structured diaphragms using integrated surface and deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) bulk silicon micromachining on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer. Polysilicon diaphragms of 1 mm × 2 mm × 1.2 μm, and 1 mm × 2 mm × 2.4 μm parylene diaphragms, which are designed for a biomimetic directional microphone and a differential microphone, respectively have been successfully fabricated by our method. The membranes have 20 μm-thick silicon proof masses, solid stiffeners, hollow stiffeners, and 20 μm-deep corrugations to mimic the tympanal membranes of the fly's ears. Acoustic measurements of the diaphragm using laser vibrometry have demonstrated high directional sensitivity of the device.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

A hybrid artificial intelligence approach using GIS-based neural-fuzzy inference system and particle swarm optimization for forest fire susceptibility modeling at a tropical area

© 2016 Elsevier B.V. This paper proposes and validates a novel hybrid artificial intelligent approach, named as Particle Swarm Optimized Neural Fuzzy (PSO-NF), for spatial modeling of tropical forest fire susceptibility. In the proposed approach, a Neural Fuzzy inference system (NF) was used to establish the forest fire model whereas Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) was adopted to investigate the best values for the model parameters. Tropical forest at the province of Lam Dong (Central Highland of Vietnam) was used as a case study. For this purpose, historic forest fires and ten ignition factors (slope, aspect, elevation, land use, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, distance to road, distance to residence area, temperature, wind speed, and rainfall) were collected from various sources to construct a GIS database, and then, the database was used to develop and validate the proposed model. The performance of the forest model was assessed using the Receiver Operating Characteristic curve, area under the curve (AUC), and several statistical measures. The results showed that the proposed model performs well, both on the training dataset (AUC = 0.932) and the validation dataset (AUC = 0.916). The usability of the proposed model was further assessed through comparisons with those derived from two benchmark state-of-the art machine learning methods, Random Forests (RF) and Support Vector Machine (SVM). Because the performance of the proposed model is better than the two benchmark models, we concluded that the PSO-NF model is a valid alternative tool that should be considered for tropical forest fire susceptibility modeling. The result in this study is useful for forest planning and management in forest fire prone areas

Reliability and validity of the Vietnamese version of the 9-item Utrecht Work Engagement Scale

OBJECTIVES: The present study investigated the reliability and validity of a newly developed Vietnamese version of the 9-item Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-9-V) in a sample of hospital nurses in Hanoi, Vietnam. METHODS: The UWES-9 was translated into Vietnamese following a standard procedure. A survey was conducted of 949 registered nurses in a large tertiary general hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2018, using a self-administered questionnaire including the Vietnamese UWES-9, other scales measuring health status, work performance, job demand, job control, and workplace social support, and questions pertaining to demographic variables. Cronbach's alpha and interclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated to assess reliability. Explanatory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to assess factorial validity. Convergent validity was tested based on associations between the UWES-9-V and subscales and other scales. RESULTS: The Cronbach's alpha coefficients of the UWES-9-V and the Vigor, Absorption, and Dedication subscales were 0.93, 0.86, 0.77, and 0.90, respectively. ICC of the UWES-9-V in a subsample after 3 months was 0.48. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated an acceptable fit of both one-factor and three-factor structures, with the three-factor model having the better fit. The UWES-9-V and its subscales correlated with depression, anxiety and stress, health-related quality of life and health condition, job performance, and psychosocial work environment. CONCLUSIONS: The study findings suggest that the UWES-9-V is a reliable and valid instrument to measure work engagement among hospital nurses in Vietnam, a low- and middle-income country. Future studies should confirm the validity and reliability of the UWES-9-V among various occupations

Effects of two types of smartphone-based stress management programmes on depressive and anxiety symptoms among hospital nurses in Vietnam: a protocol for three-arm randomised controlled trial

INTRODUCTION: Due to an increasing demand for healthcare in low-income and middle-income countries in Asia, it is important to develop a strategy to manage work-related stress in healthcare settings, particularly among nurses in these countries. The purpose of this three-arm randomised controlled trial (RCT) is to examine the effects of a newly developed smartphone-based multimodule stress management programme on reducing severity of depressive and anxiety symptoms as primary outcomes at 3-month and 7-month follow-ups among hospital nurses in Vietnam. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The target study population will be registered nurses working in a large general hospital (which employs approximately about 2000 nurses) in Vietnam. They will be invited to participate in this study. Participants who fulfil the eligibility criteria will be randomly allocated to the free-choice, multimodule stress management (intervention group A, n=360), the internet cognitive behavioural therapy (iCBT), that is, fixed-order stress management (intervention group B, n=360), or a treatment as usual control group (n=360). Two types (free-choice and fixed sequential order) of smartphone-based six-module stress management programmes will be developed. Participants in the intervention groups will be required to complete one of the programmes within 10 weeks after the baseline survey. The primary outcomes are depressive and anxiety symptoms, measured by using the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS) at 3-month and 7 month follow-ups. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study procedures have been approved by the Research Ethics Review Board of Graduate School of Medicine/Faculty of Medicine, the University of Tokyo (no 11991) and the Ethical Review Board for Biomedical Research of Hanoi University of Public Health (no 346/2018/YTCC-HD3). If a significant effect of the intervention programmes will be found in the RCT, the programmes will be made available to all nurses in the hospital including the control group. If the positive effects are found in this RCT, the e-stress management programmes will be disseminated to all nurses in Vietnam. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: UMIN000033139; Pre-results