Overexpression of Cancer-Associated Genes via Epigenetic Derepression Mechanisms in Gynecologic Cancer

Like other cancers, most gynecologic cancers are caused by aberrant expression of cancer-related genes. Epigenetics is one of the most important gene expression mechanisms, which contribute to cancer development and progression by regulating cancer-related genes. Since the discovery of differential gene expression patterns in cancer cells when compared with normal cells, extensive efforts have been made to explore the origins of abnormal gene expression in cancer. Epigenetics, the study of inheritable changes in gene expression that do not alter DNA sequence is a key area of this research. DNA methylation and histone modification are well-known epigenetic mechanisms, while microRNAs and alternative splicing have recently been identified as important regulators of epigenetic mechanisms. These mechanisms not only affect specific target gene expression but also regulate the functioning of other epigenetic mechanisms. Moreover, these diverse epigenetic regulations occur simultaneously. Epigenetic regulation of gene expression is extraordinarily complicated and all epigenetic mechanisms to be studied at once to determine the exact gene regulation mechanisms. Traditionally, the contribution of epigenetics to cancer is thought to be mediated through the inactivation of tumor suppressor genes expression. But recently, it is arising that some oncogenes or cancer-promoting genes (CPGs) are overexpressed in diverse type of cancers through epigenetic derepression mechanism, such as DNA and histone demethylation. Epigenetic derepression arises from diverse epigenetic changes, and all of these mechanisms actively interact with each other to increase oncogenes or CPGs expression in cancer cell. Oncogenes or CPGs overexpressed through epigenetic derepression can initiate cancer development, and accumulation of these abnormal epigenetic changes makes cancer more aggressive and treatment resistance. This review discusses epigenetic mechanisms involved in the overexpression of oncogenes or CPGs via epigenetic derepression in gynecologic cancers. Therefore, improved understanding of these epigenetic mechanisms will provide new targets for gynecologic cancer treatment

On the Production of High-Purity Docosahexaenoic Acid from Heterotrophic Microalgae

Omega-3 fatty acids provide significant health benefits and are a popular nutritional supplement in the nutraceuticals industry. Omega-3 fatty acids such as docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA) have been reported to improve heart health and mental health. In addition, DHA consumption has been tied to improvements in infant cognitive development. Therefore, high-purity DHA is a desired ingredient in the production of infant formula. The omega-3 oils originating from fish tend to have carcinogenic risks in addition to a bad odor. In recent years, the industry trend has shifted to producing these omega-3 fatty acids via microalgae species– making it a profitable time to enter the DHA production market. The proposed design is for a plant to cultivate the Schizochytrium cells in the upstream process, and then extract and purify the desired omega-3 fatty acid oils in the downstream process. The project proposal called for production of 881,800 lb DHA per year, but our plant has the capacity to produce 1,148,000 lb DHA per year at a competitive price of $362.90 per lb of DHA. Clinton, Iowa was chosen as the plant location due to its proximity to the Mississippi River and the Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) plant, allowing for direct access to water and waste disposal. Our process is estimated to have an IRR of 153.8$775,600,000 and a ROI of 206.5%. The process itself begins with fermentation of the microalgae cells, starting with lab-scale fermentors, increasing in size to seed fermentors, and finally scaling up to production fermentor size. Schizochytrium sp. is the strain of heterotrophic microalgae, chosen for its ability to accumulate lipids in high concentration, and its ability to produce DHA triglyceride in high selectivity with respect to other omega-3 fatty acids. Following fermentation, extraction operations are carried out with a hexane solvent and bead mill to extract the crude oils. The hexane is then evaporated and recycled back to the bead mill. The purification process of the crude oil involves saponification of the triglycerides into fatty acid salts. Acetic acid is then added to convert the salts into the final docosahexaenoic acid product. The saponification and protonation reactions take place in Scheibel columns. The final DHA product is 98% pure by mass, and will be sent to a pack out station to be packaged into pharmaceutical grade drums for customers

DS-ARP: A New Detection Scheme for ARP Spoofing Attacks Based on Routing Trace for Ubiquitous Environments

Despite the convenience, ubiquitous computing suffers from many threats and security risks. Security considerations in the ubiquitous network are required to create enriched and more secure ubiquitous environments. The address resolution protocol (ARP) is a protocol used to identify the IP address and the physical address of the associated network card. ARP is designed to work without problems in general environments. However, since it does not include security measures against malicious attacks, in its design, an attacker can impersonate another host using ARP spoofing or access important information. In this paper, we propose a new detection scheme for ARP spoofing attacks using a routing trace, which can be used to protect the internal network. Tracing routing can find the change of network movement path. The proposed scheme provides high constancy and compatibility because it does not alter the ARP protocol. In addition, it is simple and stable, as it does not use a complex algorithm or impose extra load on the computer system

An Exploratory Pilot Study with Plasma Protein Signatures Associated with Response of Patients with Depression to Antidepressant Treatment for 10 Weeks.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a leading cause of global disability with a chronic and recurrent course. Recognition of biological markers that could predict and monitor response to drug treatment could personalize clinical decision-making, minimize unnecessary drug exposure, and achieve better outcomes. Four longitudinal plasma samples were collected from each of ten patients with MDD treated with antidepressants for 10 weeks. Plasma proteins were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively with a nanoflow LC-MS/MS technique. Of 1153 proteins identified in the 40 longitudinal plasma samples, 37 proteins were significantly associated with response/time and clustered into six according to time and response by the linear mixed model. Among them, three early-drug response markers (PHOX2B, SH3BGRL3, and YWHAE) detectable within one week were verified by liquid chromatography-multiple reaction monitoring/mass spectrometry (LC-MRM/MS) in the well-controlled 24 patients. In addition, 11 proteins correlated significantly with two or more psychiatric measurement indices. This pilot study might be useful in finding protein marker candidates that can monitor response to antidepressant treatment during follow-up visits within 10 weeks after the baseline visit

Characteristics and Risk Factors for Pressure Ulcers in Severe Trauma Patients Admitted to the Trauma Intensive Care Unit

Purpose A retrospective descriptive study was performed to develop strategies to manage or prevent pressure ulcers in patients with severe trauma being cared for in the trauma intensive care unit (TICU). Methods Study data was compiled from 315 patients with severe trauma (injury severity score ≥ 15) who were admitted to a general hospital from January 1, 2020, to February 28, 2021 and were being cared for in the TICU. For patients with pressure ulcers, the characteristics and associated factors of pressure ulcers were examined. Results There were 42 severe trauma patients (13.3%) with pressure ulcers, of which, 50.0% of cases occurred at the site of the coccyx. In 50% of patients, Stage 2 pressure ulcers were observed. The mean onset day of pressure ulcers was 9.74 days after admission. The occurrence of diabetes, critical care triage score, length of stay in intensive care, death, shock, dialysis, ventilator application, endotracheal intubation, peripheral insertion central catheter insertion, A-line insertion, body protector application, sedatives, blood pressure boosters, nasal cannula, high-flow oxygenators, oxygen tip application, drainage insertion, nasogastric tube nutrition, and ventilator application period were investigated. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the influencing factors for the development of pressure ulcers were endotracheal intubation, length of stay in the TICU, and age, in that order. Conclusion By identifying the characteristics and risk factors associated with pressure ulcers in patients with severe trauma, strategies can be developed to better prevent or manage pressure ulcers in the future

Functional clustering methods for binary longitudinal data with temporal heterogeneity

In the analysis of binary longitudinal data, it is of interest to model a dynamic relationship between a response and covariates as a function of time, while also investigating similar patterns of time-dependent interactions. We present a novel generalized varying-coefficient model that accounts for within-subject variability and simultaneously clusters varying-coefficient functions, without restricting the number of clusters nor overfitting the data. In the analysis of a heterogeneous series of binary data, the model extracts population-level fixed effects, cluster-level varying effects, and subject-level random effects. Various simulation studies show the validity and utility of the proposed method to correctly specify cluster-specific varying-coefficients when the number of clusters is unknown. The proposed method is applied to a heterogeneous series of binary data in the German Socioeconomic Panel (GSOEP) study, where we identify three major clusters demonstrating the different varying effects of socioeconomic predictors as a function of age on the working status