Ginseng and Ganoderma lucidum Use after Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Quality of Life: A Report from the Shanghai Breast Cancer Survival Study

Objective: To evaluate associations between quality of life (QOL) and use of ginseng and Ganoderma lucidum (G. lucidum) among breast cancer survivors. Methods: Included in this study were 4,149 women with breast cancer who participated in the Shanghai Breast Cancer Survival Study. Ginseng use was assessed at 6-, 18-, and 36-month post-diagnosis surveys; G. lucidum use was assessed at the 6- and 36-month surveys. QOL was evaluated at the 6- and 36-month surveys. Multiple linear regression models were used to examine associations between ginseng and G.lucidum use and QOL assessed at the 36-month survey, with adjustment for potential confounders and baseline QOL. Results: At 6 months post-diagnosis, 14.2 % of participants reported regular use of ginseng and 58.8 % reported use of G. lucidum. We found no significant associations between ginseng use at 6, 18, and 36 months post-diagnosis and participants’ total QOL score or individual scores for psychological, physical, or social well-being. Post-diagnosis G. lucidum use was positively associated with social well-being (adjusted mean difference: 1.26; 95 % CI: 0.66, 1.86), but was inversely associated with physical well-being (adjusted mean difference: 21.16; 95 % CI: 21.86, 20.47) with a dose-response pattern observed for cumulative number of times of use (P for trend,0.001 for both). Conclusion: We found no evidence that post-diagnosis ginseng use improved the QOL of breast cancer survivors. Post

A novel TOPSIS–CBR goal programming approach to sustainable healthcare treatment

Cancer is one of the most common diseases worldwide and its treatment is a complex and time-consuming process. Specifically, prostate cancer as the most common cancer among male population has received the attentions of many researchers. Oncologists and medical physicists usually rely on their past experience and expertise to prescribe the dose plan for cancer treatment. The main objective of dose planning process is to deliver high dose to the cancerous cells and simultaneously minimize the side effects of the treatment. In this article, a novel TOPSIS case based reasoning goal-programming approach has been proposed to optimize the dose plan for prostate cancer treatment. Firstly, a hybrid retrieval process TOPSIS–CBR [technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) and case based reasoning (CBR)] is used to capture the expertise and experience of oncologists. Thereafter, the dose plans of retrieved cases are adjusted using goal-programming mathematical model. This approach will not only help oncologists to make a better trade-off between different conflicting decision making criteria but will also deliver a high dose to the cancerous cells with minimal and necessary effect on surrounding organs at risk. The efficacy of proposed method is tested on a real data set collected from Nottingham City Hospital using leave-one-out strategy. In most of the cases treatment plans generated by the proposed method is coherent with the dose plan prescribed by an experienced oncologist or even better. Developed decision support system can assist both new and experienced oncologists in the treatment planning process

BAFF Promotes Th17 Cells and Aggravates Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis

BAFF, in addition to promoting B cell survival and differentiation, may affect T cells. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of BAFF on Th17 cell generation and its ramifications for the Th17 cell-driven disease, EAE.Th17 cells were increased in BAFF-Tg B6 (B6.BTg) mice and decreased in B6.Baff(-/-) mice. Th17 cells in B6.Baff(-/-) mice bearing a BAFF Tg (B6.Baff(-/-).BTg mice) were identical to those in B6.BTg mice, indicating that membrane BAFF is dispensable for Th17 cell generation as long as soluble BAFF is plentiful. In T + non-T cell criss-cross co-cultures, Th17 cell generation was greatest in cultures containing B6.BTg T cells and lowest in cultures containing B6.Baff(-/-) T cells, regardless of the source of non-T cells. In cultures containing only T cells, Th17 cell generation followed an identical pattern. CD4(+) cell expression of CD126 (IL-6R α chain) was increased in B6.BTg mice and decreased in B6.Baff(-/-) mice, and activation of STAT3 following stimulation with IL-6 + TGF-β was also greatest in B6.BTg cells and lowest in B6.Baff(-/-) cells. EAE was clinically and pathologically most severe in B6.BTg mice and least severe in B6.Baff(-/-) mice and correlated with MOG(35-55) peptide-induced Th17 cell responses.Collectively, these findings document a contribution of BAFF to pathogenic Th17 cell responses and suggest that BAFF antagonism may be efficacious in Th17 cell-driven diseases

Long-Term Trends in Visibility and at Chengdu, China

Long-term (1973 to 2010) trends in visibility at Chengdu, China were investigated using meteorological data from the U.S. National Climatic Data Center. The visual range exhibited a declining trend before 1982, a slight increase between 1983 and 1995, a sharp decrease between 1996 and 2005, and some improvements after 2006. The trends in visibility were generally consistent with the economic development and implementation of pollution controls in China. Intensive PM2.5 measurements were conducted from 2009 to 2010 to determine the causes of visibility degradation. An analysis based on a modification of the IMPROVE approach indicated that PM2.5 ammonium bisulfate contributed 27.7% to the light extinction coefficient (bext); this was followed by organic mass (21.7%), moisture (20.6%), and ammonium nitrate (16.3%). Contributions from elemental carbon (9.4%) and soil dust (4.3%) were relatively minor. Anthropogenic aerosol components (sulfate, nitrate, and elemental carbon) and moisture at the surface also were important determinants of the aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 550 nm, and the spatial distributions of both bext and AOD were strongly affected by regional topography. A Positive Matrix Factorization receptor model suggested that coal combustion was the largest contributor to PM2.5 mass (42.3%) and the dry-air light-scattering coefficient (47.7%); this was followed by vehicular emissions (23.4% and 20.5%, respectively), industrial emissions (14.9% and 18.8%), biomass burning (12.8% and 11.9%), and fugitive dust (6.6% and 1.1%). Our observations provide a scientific basis for improving visibility in this area.</p

Opposing regulation of the locus encoding IL-17 through direct, reciprocal actions of STAT3 and STAT5

IL-2, a cytokine linked to human autoimmune diseases, limits IL-17 production. We show that deletion of STAT3 in T cells abrogates IL-17 production and attenuates autoimmunity associated with IL-2 deficiency. While STAT3 induces IL-17 and RORγt and inhibits FOXP3, IL-2 inhibited IL-17 independently of FOXP3 and RORγt. We found that STAT3 and STAT5 bound to multiple common sites across the Il17 genetic locus. The induction of STAT5 binding by IL-2 was associated with a reduction in STAT3 binding at these sites and the inhibition of associated active epigenetic marks. Titrating the relative activation of STAT3 and STAT5 modulated Th17 cell specification and thus, the balance rather than the absolute magnitude of these signals determine the propensity of cells to make a key inflammatory cytokine