Smad Ubiquitination Regulatory Factor 1 (Smurf1) Promotes Thyroid Cancer Cell Proliferation and Migration via Ubiquitin-Dependent Degradation of Kisspeptin-1

Background/Aims: Thyroid cancer is the most common malignancy in human endocrine system. Smad ubiquitination regulatory factor 1 (Smurf1) is an E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase in ubiquitin-proteasome pathway (UPP) system. This study aimed to investigate the effects of Smurf1 on thyroid cancer proliferation and metastasis, as well as underlying potential mechanism. Methods: The expression levels of Smurf1 in thyroid tumor tissues and thyroid cancer cells were detected by western blotting and qRT-PCR. Then, the effects of up-regulation or down-regulation of Smurf1 on thyroid cancer cell viability, migration, invasion, proliferation and apoptosis were measured using trypan blue exclusion assay, two-chamber migration (invasion) assay, cell colony formation assay and Guava Nexin assay, respectively. The ubiquitination of kisspeptin-1 (KISS-1) was assessed by protein ubiquitination assay. Finally, the effects of KISS-1 overexpression on activity of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway, as well as thyroid cancer cell viability, migration, invasion, proliferation and apoptosis were also detected, respectively. Results: Smurf1 was highly expressed in thyroid tumor tissues and thyroid cancer cells. Up-regulation of Smurf1 promoted the viability, migration, invasion and proliferation of thyroid cancer cells. Knockdown of Smurf1 had opposite effects. Moreover, smurf1 promoted the ubiquitination of KISS-1. Overexpression of KISS-1 inactivated NF-κB pathway, suppressed thyroid cancer cell viability, migration, invasion and proliferation, and induced cell apoptosis. Conclusion: Up-regulation of Smurf1 exerted important roles in thyroid cancer formation and development by promoting thyroid cancer proliferation and metastasis. The ubiquitin-dependent degradation of KISS-1 induced by Smurf1 and the activation of NF-κB signaling pathway might be involved in this process. Smurf1 could be an effective therapy target and biomarker for thyroid cancer treatment

Second-Line Combination Chemotherapy with Docetaxel and Nedaplatin for Cisplatin-Pretreated Refractory Metastatic/Recurrent Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Background:There is an urgent need for an effective second-line chemotherapy regimen after failure of the standard cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil therapy.Patients and Methods:This study investigated the efficacy and toxicity of the combination of docetaxel (30 mg/m2) during a 1-hour infusion, followed by nedaplatin (50 mg/m2) during a 2-hour infusion (both drugs were administered on day 1 as an outpatient regimen and repeated every 2 weeks) as second-line chemotherapy for patients with cisplatin-pretreated refractory metastatic/recurrent esophageal squamous cell carcinoma after surgery.Results:Forty-six of the 48 patients (95.8%) were assessable for response. Partial response was confirmed in 13 of 48 cases yielding a response rate of 27.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 14.5–39.7%). The median overall time to progression and overall survival was 3.1 months (95% CI, 2.3–3.9 months) and 5.9 months (95% CI, 3.9–7.8 months), respectively. The estimate of overall survival at 12 months was 16.7% (95% CI, 6.1–27.2%). Grade 3 anemia leucopenia, grade 4 anemia leucopenia and neutropenia were detected in only 4 (8.7%), 8 (17.4%), and 9 patients (19.6%), respectively.Conclusions:The combination chemotherapy of docetaxel and nedaplatin in the outpatient setting is well tolerated and useful as second-line chemotherapy for cisplatin-pretreated refractory metastatic/recurrent esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

The World Federation of Democratic Youth and Bruno Bernini's encounter with Mao's China

This paper examines the role played by adult-led youth groups in providing avenues for early encounters between Italian and Chinese Communists in the '50s. In particular, it focuses on the links built up within international organisations linked to the Soviet-sponsored peace movement at a time when direct exchange between the Italian and Chinese Communist parties had yet to start. Relying on a large variety of primary and secondary sources, some of which have never been used before, I provide evidence of how participation in Soviet-led international organisations made early political contacts and interactions possible. The focus is on Bruno Bernini, whose personal experience in China is examined within the context of the World Federation of Democratic Youth's policies and initiatives in the early and mid-'50s

Investigation of Hydraulic Fracturing Crack Propagation Behavior in Multi-Layered Coal Seams

Coalbed methane is not only a clean energy source, but also a major problem affecting the efficient production of coal mines. Hydraulic fracturing is an effective technology for enhancing the coal seam permeability to achieve the efficient extraction of methane. This study investigated the effect of a coal seam reservoir’s geological factors on the initiation pressure and fracture propagation. Through theoretical analysis, a multi-layered coal seam initiation pressure calculation model was established based on the broken failure criterion of maximum tensile stress theory. Laboratory experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of the coal seam stress and coal seam dip angle on the crack initiation pressure and fracture propagation. The results reveal that the multi-layered coal seam hydraulic fracturing initiation pressure did not change with the coal seam inclination when the burial depth was the same. When the dip angle was the same, the initiation pressure linearly increased with the reservoir depth. A three-dimensional model was established to simulate the actual hydraulic fracturing crack propagation in multi-layered coal seams. The results reveal that the hydraulic crack propagated along the direction of the maximum principal stress and opened in the direction of the minimum principal stress. As the burial depth of the reservoir increased, the width of the hydraulic crack also increased. This study can provide the theoretical foundation for the effective implementation of hydraulic fracturing in multi-layered coal seams

Precatalyst Evolution in PBiP-Pd Complexes for Electrocatalytic Proton Reduction

Main-group metals as supporting ligands for transition metals offer potential for bimetallic synergistic effects. We investigated a bismuth-palladium system utilizing a PBiP pincer ligand (BiPdCl) as precatalysts for electrocatalytic proton reduction with thiophenol. Rinse tests revealed the formation of a surface-bound active species, likely comprised of Pd-based heterogenous materials. NMR and UV-visible spectroscopic studies unveiled that in diluted solutions of polar coordinating solvents, the chloride trans to the bismuthane readily dissociates, affording the solvent-coordinated species (BiPdsolvent) as the predominant solution species. Following thiol– solvent ligand exchange, an equilibrium mixture of the solvent-bound species and the thiolate complex (BiPdS) forms. The crystal structures of BiPdS and an acetonitrile-coordinated model complex (BiPdAcN) shows the thermodynamic trans influence of the bismuthane ligand. Structural analysis, corroborated by computational investigations, suggests that the reduction of BiPdsolvent is primarily ligand-based than Pd-centered, hinting at a Bi(III)–Pd(0) oxidation states rather than the Bi(I)–Pd(II) model suggested by the Lewis structure of BiPdsolvent. The electron-rich Pd and electron-poor Bi centers explain its electrochemical decomposition similar to other Pd(0) species. Our findings shed light on the electronic properties and reactivities of the studied Bi–Pd compounds, offering an example of ambiguous oxidation states within this system

Quantitative evaluation of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography in the diagnosis of chronic ischemic renal disease in a dog model.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this feasibility study was to prospectively explore in a dog model of chronic ischemic renal disease (CIRD) the hypothesis that real-time contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) can quantitatively evaluate the early perfusion changes of renal cortex. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this animal care and use committee-approved study, the model of CIRD was carried out in healthy dogs (10.0~12.0 kg, n=5), by placing the Ameroid ring constrictors on the distal portion of right renal artery through operation. CEUS monitoring of right kidney perfusion was performed by intravenous bolus injection of 0.6 ml Sulfur hexafluoride filled microbubbles (SonoVue; Bracco S.P.A., Milan, Italy) every week after operation. The slope rate of ascending curve (A) and descending curve (α), area under curve (AUC), derived peak intensity (DPI), and time to peak (TTP) were measured in renal cortex using commercial quantification software (Q-LAB version 6; Philips Medical Systems, Bothell,WA,USA). The sensitivity of CEUS was compared with blood serum urea nitrogen (BUN) and serum creatinine (SCr) level. RESULTS: With the progression of CIRD, dogs showed delayed enhancement and perfusion in renal CEUS curve. Earliest significant changes happened 4 weeks after operation on DPI and TTP which changed from 13.04 ± 2.71 to 15.58 ± 4.75 dB and 9.03 ± 2.01 to 10.62 ± 6.04 sec, respectively (P<.05). CONCLUSIONS: CEUS can display the perfusion changes of CIRD in the early period

Research and Implementation of Optimization and Promotion of Power Grid Emergency Command Center

In order to enable the power grid emergency command center to meet the needs of the emergency work under the current new situation, and provide strong support for emergency response and important activities of power conservation, based on the in-depth study and analysis of the application scenarios and basic business of the power grid emergency command center, combined with advanced information communication technology, and studied the optimization and upgrading methods of the power grid emergency command center. Through the research on the optimization and upgrading method of power grid emergency command center, the optimization and upgrading scheme is proposed to guide the power grid enterprises to carry out the optimization and upgrading work of emergency command center. The optimization and upgrading scheme of the power grid emergency command center will be used for the transformation and upgrading of the emergency command center of the power grid companies at all levels, which will help the power grid companies at all levels to improve their emergency

SrTiO3 thin film photothermoelectric photodetector in long-wavelength infrared region

Reduced SrTiO3 (r-STO) with large Seebeck coefficient is promising for high-performance photothermoelectric (PTE) photodetector. However the response time of bulk r-STO photodetector is on second scale. Here we use subwavelength nanophotonic structures to enhance light absorption and decrease the response time of r-STO PTE photodetector to microsecond scale in long-wavelength infrared (LWIR) region. Moreover, with arranged Au disk array of different radius, we obtain an ultrabroadband absorber whose bandwidth covers the whole LWIR range with more than 60% absorption

Progressive Bilateral-Context Driven Model for Post-Processing Person Re-Identification

Most existing person re-identification methods compute pairwise similarity by extracting robust visual features and learning the discriminative metric. Owing to visual ambiguities, these content-based methods that determine the pairwise relationship only based on the similarity between them, inevitably produce a suboptimal ranking list. Instead, the pairwise similarity can be estimated more accurately along the geodesic path of the underlying data manifold by exploring the rich contextual information of the sample. In this paper, we propose a lightweight post-processing person re-identification method in which the pairwise measure is determined by the relationship between the sample and the counterpart's context in an unsupervised way. We translate the point-to-point comparison into the bilateral point-to-set comparison. The sample's context is composed of its neighbor samples with two different definition ways: the first order context and the second order context, which are used to compute the pairwise similarity in sequence, resulting in a progressive post-processing model. The experiments on four large-scale person re-identification benchmark datasets indicate that (1) the proposed method can consistently achieve higher accuracies by serving as a post-processing procedure after the content-based person re-identification methods, showing its state-of-the-art results, (2) the proposed lightweight method only needs about 6 milliseconds for optimizing the ranking results of one sample, showing its high-efficiency. Code is available at: https://github.com/123ci/PBCmodel