Unraveling the Prognostic Significance of Rgs Gene Family in Gastric Cancer and the Potential Implication of Rgs4 in Regulating Tumor-infiltrating Fibroblast

Regulator of G-protein signaling (RGS) proteins are regulators of signal transduction mediated by G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Current studies have shown that some molecules in the RGS gene family are related to the occurrence, development and poor prognosis of malignant tumors. However, the RGS gene family has been rarely studied in gastric cancer. In this study, we explored the mutation and expression profile of RGS gene family in gastric cancer, and evaluated the prognostic value of RGS expression. Then we established a prognostic model based on RGS gene family and performed functional analysis. Further studies showed that RGS4, as an independent prognostic predictor, may play an important role in regulating fibroblasts in the immune microenvironment. In conclusion, this study explores the value of RGS gene family in gastric cancer, which is of great significance for predicting the prognosis and guiding the treatment of gastric cancer

Influence of Metal Fiber Content and Arrangement on Shielding Effectiveness for Blended Electromagnetic Shielding Fabric

More metal fiber content of blended electromagnetic shielding (EMS) fabric results in higher shielding effectiveness (SE) of the fabric. However, there is little information about the influence of the metal fiber content on the SE considering the fabric structure. This study constructs an index of metal fiber content per unit area (MFCPUA), and discusses the influence of the metal fiber content on the SE of the EMS fabric when fabric parameters are changed. Computations for the MFCPUA and the thickness and porosity of the metal fiber arrangement are given, and then experiments are designed to test the SE of different EMS fabric samples. According to the experimental results, the influence of the MFCPUA on the SE is analyzed and influence mechanism is discussed when the fabric weaves, emission frequencies and weft and warp densities are changed. Results show that the MFCPUA and the SE are positive increase relation; the frequency and the SE are the negative increase relation when the metal fiber content is unchanged; the influence of the fabric weave type on the SE depends on the length of the yarn floats; the SE values of fabric with same weave are same when the MFCPUA is same regardless of the fabric density.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ms.21.2.6529</p

The Sensor Proteins BcSho1 and BcSln1 Are Involved in, Though Not Essential to, Vegetative Differentiation, Pathogenicity and Osmotic Stress Tolerance in Botrytis cinerea

High-osmolarity glycerol (HOG) signaling pathway belongs to mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades that regulate responses of organism to diverse extracellular stimuli. The membrane spanning proteins Sho1 and Sln1 serve as biosensors of HOG pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In this study, we investigated the biological functions of BcSHO1 and BcSLN1 in the gray mold fungus Botrytis cinerea. Target gene deletion demonstrated that both BcSHO1 and BcSLN1 are important for mycelial growth, conidiation and sclerotial formation. The BcSHO1 and BcSLN1 double deletion mutant ΔBcSln1-Sho1 produced much more, but smaller sclerotia than ΔBcSho1 and the wild-type (WT) strain, while ΔBcSln1 failed to develop sclerotia on all tested media, instead, formed a large number of conidia. Infection tests revealed that the virulence of ΔBcSln1-Sho1 decreased significantly, however, ΔBcSho1 or ΔBcSln1 showed no difference with the WT strain. In addition, ΔBcSln1-Sho1 exhibited resistance to osmotic stress by negatively regulating the phosphorylation of BcSak1 (yeast Hog1). All the phenotypic defects of mutants were recovered by target gene complementation. These results suggest that BcSHO1 and BcSLN1 share some functional redundancy in the regulation of fungal development, pathogenesis and osmotic stress response in B. cinerea

Metformin downregulates PD-L1 expression in esophageal squamous cell catrcinoma by inhibiting IL-6 signaling pathway

Purpose: To characterize the mechanism by which metformin inhibits PD-L1 expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and to evaluate the effect of metformin on the antitumor immune response. Methods: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database was used to analyze the correlations between IL-6 and prognosis and between IL-6 and PD-L1 gene expression in esophageal cancer. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), Western blotting and immunofluorescence were used to study the mechanism by which metformin affects PD-L1 expression. Additionally, T cell function was assessed in a coculture system containing ESCC cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) treated with metformin or IL-6. In an Results: The TCGA esophageal cancer data showed that IL-6 expression was positively correlated with PD-L1 expression and that patients with high IL-6 expression had a significantly lower overall survival rate than patients with low IL-6 expression. PD-L1 expression in ESCC cell lines was significantly inhibited by metformin Conclusions: Metformin downregulated PD-L1 expression by blocking the IL-6/JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway in ESCC, which enhanced the antitumor immune response

Three-Dimensional Stochastic Distribution Characteristics of Void Fraction in Longwall Mining-Disturbed Overburden of Inclined Coal Seam

AbstractFractures in the overburden induced by mining disturbances provide a channel for fluid flow between the surface and the underground. Mining-induced strata movement and fracture distribution are influenced by the gravity and dip angles of rock seams. In this paper, a new three-dimensional theoretical distribution model for void fraction in each partition of overlying rock strata disturbed by inclined coal seam mining was constructed. Based on the theoretical determination model, the three-dimensional random distribution characteristics for void fraction were obtained by combining the random distribution law of void fraction obtained by similar physical simulation experiments and image processing techniques. Theoretical deterministic models, stochastic theoretical models, and similar physical simulations all show that void fraction distribution in the tendency direction of the coal seam shows a bimodal asymmetric distribution with high and low peaks and a symmetric distribution in the strike direction. The void fraction of the overburden in the central part of the mining area is smaller than that of the surrounding area. The results of the theoretically determined model and stochastic model of the void fraction for the strata with different mining lengths and different coal seam inclinations were compared with the results of similar simulation experiments, respectively. The results are in agreement, further verifying the practicality of the model

The survival of murine hepatitis virus (a surrogate of SARS-CoV-2) on conventional packaging materials under cold chain conditions

IntroductionThe cold chain conditions have been suggested to facilitate long-distance transmission of SARS-CoV-2, but it is unclear how viable the virus is on cold chain packaging materials.MethodsThis study used the MHV-JHM strain of murine hepatitis virus as a model organism to investigate the viability of SARS-CoV-2 on foam, plastic, cardboard, and wood sheets at different temperatures (−40°C, −20°C, and 4°C). In addition, the ability of peracetic acid and sodium hypochlorite to eliminate the MHV-JHM on plastic and cardboard sheets were also evaluated.ResultsThe results indicate that MHV-JHM can survive on foam, plastic, or cardboard sheets for up to 28 days at −40°C and −20°C, and up to 14 days on foam and plastic surfaces at 4°C. Although viral nucleic acids were still detectable after storing at 4°C for 28 days, the corresponding virus titer was below the limit of quantification (LOQ).DiscussionThe study highlights that a positive nucleic acid test result may not indicate that the virus is still viable, and confirms that peracetic acid and sodium hypochlorite can effectively eliminate MHV-JHM on packaging materials under cold chain conditions

Unraveling Enhanced Activity, Selectivity, and Coke Resistance of Pt–Ni Bimetallic Clusters in Dry Reforming

By introducing Pt atoms into the surface of reduced hydrotalcite (HT)-derived nickel (Ni/HT) catalysts by redox reaction, we synthesized an enhanced active and stable Ni-based catalyst for methane dry reforming reaction. The bimetallic Pt–Ni catalysts can simultaneously enhance the catalyst activity, increase the H2/CO ratio by suppressing reverse water–gas shift reaction, and enhance the stability by increasing the resistance to the carbon deposition during the reaction. Kinetic study showed that 1.0Pt–12Ni reduces the activation energy for CH4 dissociation and enhances the catalytic activity of the catalyst and lowers the energy barrier for CO2 activation and promotes the formation of surface O* by CO2 adsorptive dissociation. It is beneficial to enhance the resistance to the carbon deposition and prolong its service life in the reaction process. In addition, density-functional theory calculations rationalized the higher coke resistance of Pt–Ni catalysts where CH is more favorable to be oxidized instead of cracking into surface carbon on the Pt–Ni surface, compared with Ni(111) and Pt(111). Even if a small amount of carbon deposited on the Pt–Ni surface, its oxidation process requires a lower activation barrier. Thus, it demonstrates that the bimetallic Pt–Ni catalyst has the best ability to resist carbon deposition compared with monometallic samples.publishedVersio

Effects of Different Inducers on Higher Alcohol Dehydrogenase from Galactomyces geotrichum

The inducers of the chemical or physical factors could affect the gene expression and transcription of strain directly or indirectly. In order to explore the inductive effect of higher alcohol on Galactomyces geotrichum, the G. geotrichum S12, derived from the soil, was induced by five higher alcohols, including n-propanol, n-butanol, isobutanol, n-hexanol and isoamyl alcohol. The effects of induction dose and induction time for degradation activity of different higher alcohols by strain S12 and its transforming enzyme were studied. The results showed that the enzyme activity formed by strain S12 was higher when the inducers were chosen as n-hexanol and isobutanol. The optimum induction time was 6 h when n-propanol, n-butanol, isobutanol and n-hexanol were used as inducers. While the optimum induction time of strain S12 and enzyme induced by isoamyl alcohol was 12 h. When n-propanol and n-hexanol were used as inducers, the optimal concentration was 1.5 g/L. While the optimal concentrations of strain S12 and enzyme induced by n-butanol, isobutanol and isoamyl alcohol were 1.0, 0.5 and 2.5 g/L, respectively. The results of native polyacryplamide gel electrophoresis (Native-PAGE) indicated that dehydrogenase formation, molecular weight about 223 kDa, was induced by five higher alcohols. In particular, the strain, induced by hexanol, had much higher capability in degrading five higher alcohols at the same time. The products of the above five higher alcohols after catalyzing by G. geotrichum S12 induced by hexanol were their corresponding acids and esters

DASES: a database of alternative splicing for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Esophageal carcinoma ranks as the sixth leading cause of cancer-related mortality globally, with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) being particularly prevalent among Asian populations. Alternative splicing (AS) plays a pivotal role in ESCC development and progression by generating diverse transcript isoforms. However, the current landscape lacks a specialized database focusing on alternative splicing events (ASEs) derived from a large number of ESCC cases. Additionally, most existing AS databases overlook the contribution of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in ESCC molecular mechanisms, predominantly focusing on mRNA-based ASE identification. To address these limitations, we deployed DASES (http://www.hxdsjzx.cn/DASES). Employing a combination of publicly available and in-house ESCC RNA-seq datasets, our extensive analysis of 346 samples, with 93% being paired tumor and adjacent non-tumor tissues, led to the identification of 257 novel lncRNAs in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Leveraging a paired comparison of tumor and adjacent normal tissues, DASES identified 59,094 ASEs that may be associated with ESCC. DASES fills a critical gap by providing comprehensive insights into ASEs in ESCC, encompassing lncRNAs and mRNA, thus facilitating a deeper understanding of ESCC molecular mechanisms and serving as a valuable resource for ESCC research communities