Cyanoacrylate glue for iatrogenic retinal breaks during vitrectomy in stage 5 familial exudative vitreoretinopathy

PurposeTo describe the role of cyanoacrylate glue in sealing iatrogenic retinal breaks (IRBs) during vitrectomy in stage 5 familial exudative vitreoretinopathy (FEVR) with funneled retinal detachment (RD).MethodsNine eyes of nine patients diagnosed as stage 5 FEVR were treated with cyanoacrylate glue for IRBs during vitrectomy from July 2020 to January 2022. The clinical records, including patient information, surgical process, and follow-up examinations, were collected retrospectively. Anatomical outcomes and visual outcomes were summarized.ResultsThe average age at surgery was 19.6 months (range: 3.8–41.1 months). The mean post-operative follow-up period was 12.5 months (range: 9.8–18.8 months). Before surgery, five eyes had an open-funnel RD and four eyes had a closed-funnel RD. All the preretinal fibroplasia membranes were removed as thoroughly as possible in the nine eyes. IRBs formed at the posterior pole in two eyes and peripheral retina in seven eyes. All the IRBs were sealed successfully by the cyanoacrylate glue when they appeared. At the final post-operative visit, eight eyes had partial retinal reattachment without progression of fibroplasia tissues, while one eye had total retinal redetachment. The rate for stable anatomical outcome was 88.9% (8/9) in this study. The visual testing available for seven eyes demonstrated light perception in five eyes and no light perception in two eyes. No severe perioperative glue-related complications were noted during the follow-ups.ConclusionThe application of cyanoacrylate glue may be an alternative therapy for IRBs in stage 5 FEVR surgeries, while the long-term efficacy and safety still need further investigation

Helix grounding electrode with good grounding performance

Grounding electrode is used for discharging current and ensure the safe and stable operation of electrical equipment. Grounding performance of grounding electrode will degradation with limited installation space. This paper proposes helix grounding electrode and builds theoretically and simulating model on the helix grounding electrode. Analyzing grounding surface potential and step voltage distribution, grounding resistance and surface current density distribution. Results show helix grounding electrode can reduce grounding resistance, improve grounding surface potential distribution and the discharging current distribution

Twist1 enhances hypoxia induced radioresistance in cervical cancer cells by promoting nuclear EGFR localization

Twist1 is a crucial transcription factor that regulates epithelial mesenchymal transition and involves in metastasis. Recent evidence suggests that Twist1 plays important role in hypoxia-induced radioresistance, but the underlying mechanism remains elusive. Here we investigated the change of Twist1 expression in human cervical squamous cancer cell line SiHa after hypoxia treatment. We also explored the role of Twist1 in radioresistance by manipulating the expression level of Twist1.We observed that hypoxia treatment elevated the expression of Twist1 in SiHa cells. Knockdown of Twist1 with siRNA increased the radiosensitivity of SiHa cells under hypoxia condition, accompanied by reduced levels of nuclear Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) and DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK). Conversely, overexpression of Twist1 led to increased radioresistance of SiHa cells, which in turn increased nuclear EGFR localisation and expression levels of nuclear DNA-PK. Moreover, concomitant high expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1? (HIF-1?) and Twist1 in primary tumors of cervical cancer patients correlated with the worse prognosis after irradiation treatment. Taken together, these data provide new insights into molecular mechanism underlying hypoxia-induced radio resistance in cervical cancer cells, and suggest that Twist1 is a promising molecular target to improve the efficacy of cancer radiotherapy

Up-Converting Nanoparticle-Based Immunochromatographic Strip for Multi-Residue Detection of Three Organophosphorus Pesticides in Food

Organophosphorus (OP) pesticides are widely used to control pests because of their high activity. This study described a rapid and sensitive lateral flow immunochromatographic (LFIC) assay based on up-converting nanoparticles (UCNPs) for multi-residue detection of three OP pesticides. The developed assay integrated novel fluorescent material UCNPs labeled with a broad-specific monoclonal antibody. Based on the competitive platform by immobilized antigen in the test zone, the optimized UCNPs-LFIC assay enabled sensitive detection for parathion, parathion-methyl, and fenitrothion with IC50 of 3.44, 3.98, and 12.49 ng/mL (R2 ≥ 0.9776) within 40 min. The detectable ability ranged from 0.98 to 250 ng/mL. There was no cross-reactivity with fenthion, phoxim, isocarbophos, chlorpyrifos, or triazophos, even at a high concentration of 500 ng/mL. Matrix interference from various agricultural products was also studied in food sample detection. In the spiked test, recoveries of the three OP pesticides ranged from 67 to 120% and relative standard deviations were below 19.54%. These results indicated that the proposed strip assay can be an alternative screening tool for rapid detection of the three OP pesticides in food samples

PRIMA-1Met suppresses colorectal cancer independent of p53 by targeting MEK

This work was supported by Grant No. 81201779 (Hua Xiong) from the National Natural Science Youth Foundation; Grant No. 81502118 (Yanmei Zou) from the National Natural Science Youth Foundation; Grant No. 2014CFB250 (Yanmei Zou) from the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province; Grant No. 81372434 (Huihua Xiong) from the National Natural Science Foundation.PRIMA-1Met is the methylated PRIMA-1 (p53 reactivation and induction of massive apoptosis) and could restore tumor suppressor function of mutant p53 and induce p53 dependent apoptosis in cancer cells harboring mutant p53. However, p53 independent activity of PRIMA-1Met remains elusive. Here we reported that PRIMA-1Met attenuated colorectal cancer cell growth irrespective of p53 status. Kinase profiling revealed that mitogen-activated or extracellular signal-related protein kinase (MEK) might be a potential target of PRIMA-1Met. Pull-down binding and ATP competitive assay showed that PRIMA-1Met directly bound MEK in vitro and in cells. Furthermore, the direct binding sites of PRIMA-1Met were explored by using a computational docking model. Treatment of colorectal cancer cells with PRIMA-1Met inhibited p53-independent phosphorylation of MEK, which in turn impaired anchorage-independent cell growth in vitro. Moreover, PRIMA-1Met suppressed colorectal cancer growth in xenograft mouse model by inhibiting MEK1 activity. Taken together, our findings demonstrate a novel p53-independent activity of PRIMA-1Met to inhibit MEK and suppress colorectal cancer growth.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

FGFR2 Promotes Gastric Cancer Progression by Inhibiting the Expression of Thrombospondin4 via PI3K-Akt-Mtor Pathway

Background/Aims: Fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 (FGFR2) has attracted considerable interest as a therapeutic target in gastric cancer (GC). There is growing evidence to suggest that the bioavailability of the potent pro-tumor function of FGFR2 is associated with thrombospondins (TSPs). As a follow-on from our previous study, here we evaluated the potential clinical significance and mechanism of the relationship between FGFR2 and TSP4 in GC. Methods: Expression levels of FGFR2 and TSP4 were detected by immunohistochemistry in GC tissue microarray slides. SGC7901 and MKN28 cell lines were used to confirm the relationship between FGFR2 and TSP4. In vitro cell viability, colony formation, and invasion and migration assays were performed to evaluate the effect of FGFR2-TSP4 axis on tumor cell activities. The mechanism of TSP4 regulated by FGFG2 was explored via small molecular inhibitors in vitro and a xenograft model. Results: FGFR2 was shown to be markedly overexpressed in GC tissues and was correlated with a high risk of lymph node metastasis, late clinical stage, and poor prognosis. Low TSP4 expression was associated with shorter overall survival (OS) and advanced stage in GC patients. Interestingly, correlation analysis indicated that FGFR2 was negatively associated with TSP4. Indeed, in vitro and in vivo experiments suggested FGFR2 activation could downregulate TSP4 expression, which played an important role in the proliferation, invasion and migration of GC cells. We also found involvement of the PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway in the FGFR2-TSP4 axis. Conclusion: The FGFR2 signal promotes human GC progression through the downregulation of TSP4 via PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway. Our findings provide a foundation for further investigating promising therapeutic strategies for GC overexpressing FGFR2

The role of maternal age & birth order on the development of unilateral and bilateral retinoblastoma: a multicentre study

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Retinoblastoma is a common childhood intraocular malignancy, the bilateral form of which most commonly results from a de novo germline pathogenic variant in the RB1 gene. Both advanced maternal age and decreasing birth order are known to increase the risk of de novo germline pathogenic variants, while the influence of national wealth is understudied. This cohort study aimed to retrospectively observe whether these factors influence the ratio of bilateral retinoblastoma cases compared to unilateral retinoblastoma, thereby inferring an influence on the development of de novo germline pathogenic variants in RB1. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Data from 688 patients from 11 centres in 10 countries were analysed using a series of statistical methods. RESULTS: No associations were found between advanced maternal age, birth order or GDP per capita and the ratio of bilateral to unilateral retinoblastoma cases (p values = 0.534, 0.201, 0.067, respectively), indicating that these factors do not contribute to the development of a de novo pathogenic variant. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a lack of a definitive control group and genetic testing, this study demonstrates that advanced maternal age, birth order or GDP per capita do not influence the risk of developing a bilateral retinoblastoma

Solar Ring Mission: Building a Panorama of the Sun and Inner-heliosphere

Solar Ring (SOR) is a proposed space science mission to monitor and study the Sun and inner heliosphere from a full 360{\deg} perspective in the ecliptic plane. It will deploy three 120{\deg}-separated spacecraft on the 1-AU orbit. The first spacecraft, S1, locates 30{\deg} upstream of the Earth, the second, S2, 90{\deg} downstream, and the third, S3, completes the configuration. This design with necessary science instruments, e.g., the Doppler-velocity and vector magnetic field imager, wide-angle coronagraph, and in-situ instruments, will allow us to establish many unprecedented capabilities: (1) provide simultaneous Doppler-velocity observations of the whole solar surface to understand the deep interior, (2) provide vector magnetograms of the whole photosphere - the inner boundary of the solar atmosphere and heliosphere, (3) provide the information of the whole lifetime evolution of solar featured structures, and (4) provide the whole view of solar transients and space weather in the inner heliosphere. With these capabilities, Solar Ring mission aims to address outstanding questions about the origin of solar cycle, the origin of solar eruptions and the origin of extreme space weather events. The successful accomplishment of the mission will construct a panorama of the Sun and inner-heliosphere, and therefore advance our understanding of the star and the space environment that holds our life.Comment: 41 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, to be published in Advances in Space Researc

Differences in Childhood Growth Parameters Between Patients With Somatic and Heritable Retinoblastoma.

PURPOSE: Little is known regarding differences in childhood growth between somatic and heritable retinoblastoma (Rb) populations. We aimed to compare childhood growth parameters between somatic and heritable Rb cohorts at birth and at time of diagnosis with Rb. METHODS: A multinational, longitudinal cohort study was conducted with patients from 11 centers in 10 countries who presented with treatment naïve Rb from January to December 2019. Variables of interest included age, sex, and size characteristics at birth and at time of presentation, as well as germline mutation status. After Bonferroni correction, results were statistically significant if the P value was less than 0.005. RESULTS: We enrolled 696 patients, with 253 analyzed after exclusion criteria applied. Between somatic (n = 39) and heritable (n = 214) Rb cohorts, with males and females analyzed separately, there was no significant difference in birth weight percentile, weight percentile at time of diagnosis, length percentile at time of diagnosis, weight-for-length percentile at time of diagnosis, or change of weight percentile from birth to time of diagnosis. Patients with heritable Rb had a smaller mean weight percentile at birth and smaller mean weight and length percentiles at time of diagnosis with Rb, although this difference was not statistically significant. All cohorts experienced a slight negative change of weight percentile from birth to time of diagnosis. No cohort mean percentiles met criteria for failure to thrive, defined as less than the 5th percentile. CONCLUSIONS: Children with Rb seem to have normal birth and childhood growth patterns. There is no definitive evidence that somatic or heritable Rb has a biological or environmental impact on childhood growth parameters