Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio Predicts PSA Response and Prognosis in Prostate Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis - Fig 3

<p>Forest plot and meta-analysis of studies evaluating the association between an elevated NLR and PSARS (A), BCR (B), PFS (C), RFS (D), OS (E).</p

Meta-analysis of NLRs based on different end points.

<p>Meta-analysis of NLRs based on different end points.</p

Subgroup meta-analysis of the NLR and OS.

<p>Subgroup meta-analysis of the NLR and OS.</p

Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio Predicts PSA Response and Prognosis in Prostate Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis - Fig 2

<p>Forest plot and meta-analysis of studies evaluating the association between an elevated NLR and PSARS (A), BCR (B), PFS (C), RFS (D), OS (E).</p

Fully Aromatic Ionomers with Precisely Sequenced Sulfonated Moieties for Enhanced Proton Conductivity

A series of six fully aromatic ionomers with precisely sequenced sulfonated sites along the polymer chains have been designed, prepared, and characterized as proton-exchange membranes. Two straightforward and efficient synthetic strategies based on Ullmann ether reactions and a Baeyer–Villiger rearrangement were devised to obtain bisphenol monomers with four or six phenylene units linked exclusively by ether bridges to avoid transetherification reactions. Polycondensations of these bisphenol monomers with mono- or disulfonated dihalide monomers gave high molecular weight poly­(arylene ether), poly­(arylene ether sulfone), and poly(arylene ether ketone) homopolymers having microblock-like structures with sulfonated moieties separated by monodisperse nonsulfonated oligo­(ether) spacers. The nanoscale morphology and properties of solvent cast membranes were closely related to the nature of the oligo­(ether) spacers. Small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) measurements showed intense scattering and very narrow ionomer peaks with second-order features for the polymers with the six-ring spacers. This clearly indicated that the controlled ionic sequencing enabled self-assembly of ionic aggregates with a much higher degree of organization in relation to a corresponding aromatic ionomer with a statistical distribution of the sulfonate groups. At an identical ionic content, the ionomers containing <i>meta</i> ether linkages had lower glass transition temperatures than the all-<i>para</i> materials, leading to a higher water uptake and proton conductivity of the former ionomers. A membrane with an ion exchange capacity (IEC) of 2.05 mequiv g^–1 and containing exclusively <i>para</i> linkages reached the same level of proton conductivity as Nafion at 100% relative humidity (RH), and also had an excellent dimensional stability in boiling water. Under reduced RH, the conductivity of this membrane greatly exceeded that of a membrane based on a statistical copolymer analogue with a similar ionic content

Peritumoral monocytes induce cancer cell autophagy to facilitate the progression of human hepatocellular carcinoma

<p>Macroautophagy/autophagy is an important catabolic process mediating cellular homeostasis and plays critical roles in cancer development. Whereas autophagy has been widely studied in various pathological models, little is known about the distribution, clinical significance and regulatory mechanism of this process in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In the present study, we found that tumor tissues exhibited significantly increased levels of autophagy compared with non-tumor tissues, and cancer cells with higher levels of autophagy were predominantly enriched in the invading edge regions of human HCC. Increased MAP1LC3B/LC3B expression in the invading edge regions was significantly correlated with a higher density of closely located monocytes, and TNF and IL1B derived from tumor-activated monocytes synergistically induced cancer cell autophagy in the invading edge regions of HCC. Monocyte-elicited autophagy induced the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of cancer cells and promoted tumor metastasis by activating the NFKB-SNAI1 signaling pathway. Moreover, the increase of LC3B⁺ cancer cells in the invading edge areas was associated with high mortality and reduced survival of patients with HCC. These findings indicated that cancer cell autophagy is regulated by a collaborative interaction between tumor and immune cell components in distinct HCC microenvironments, thus allowing the inflammatory monocytes to be rerouted in a tumor-promoting direction.</p