Ferritin level prospectively predicts hepatocarcinogenesis in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection

Previous studies have detected a higher level of ferritin in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but a potential causal association between serum ferritin level and hepatocarcinogenesis remains to be clarified. Using a well-established prospective cohort and longitudinally collected serial blood samples, the association between baseline ferritin levels and HCC risk were evaluated in 1,152 patients infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV), a major risk factor for HCC. The association was assessed by Cox proportional hazards regression model using univariate and multivariate analyses and longitudinal analysis. It was demonstrated that HBV patients who developed HCC had a significantly higher baseline ferritin level than those who remained cancer-free (188.00 vs. 108.00 ng/ml, P\u3c0.0001). The patients with a high ferritin level (≥200 ng/ml) had 2.43-fold increased risk of HCC compared to those with lower ferritin levels [hazard ratio (HR), 2.43; 95% confidence interval, 1.63-3.63]. A significant trend of increasing HRs along with elevated ferritin levels was observed (P for trend \u3c0.0001). The association was still significant after multivariate adjustment. Incorporating ferritin into the α-fetoprotein (AFP) model significantly improved the performance of HCC prediction (the area under the curve from 0.74 to 0.77, P=0.003). Longitudinal analysis showed that the average ferritin level in HBV patients who developed HCC was persistently higher than in those who were cancer-free during follow-up. HCC risk reached a peak at approximately the fifth year after baseline ferritin detection. Moreover, stratified analyses showed that the association was noted in both males and females, and was prominent in patients with a low AFP value. In short, serum ferritin level could independently predict the risk of HBV-related HCC and may have a complementary role in AFP-based HCC diagnosis. Future studies are warranted to validate these findings and test its clinical applicability in HCC prevention and management. © 2018, Spandidos Publication

Skill Demands in the Audit Labor Market: Evidence from Job Postings

This study examines how the demand for auditor skill sets has changed over the past decade as well as how these changes relate to audit quality and audit fees. Using a novel dataset that contains the near-universe of online job postings by accounting firms from 2007 to 2017, we find that audit firms have decreased their demand for auditors and increased their demand for IT-related personnel. We also find that audit firms are increasingly demanding expanded skill sets from their auditors—the portion of cognitive, social, and IT-related skills has increased over our sample period whereas financial skills have remained relatively flat. Further, we find substantial variation in the demand for skills not only across audit firms, but also across offices within an audit firm. More importantly, these differences in skill requirements have a significant effect on audit quality—specifically, audit offices that demand more social and cognitive skills are less likely to have clients experience subsequent restatements. Taken together, our findings provide new insights on the changing dynamics of the auditor labor market and their relations to audit quality

Pattern Construction Based on the Analysis of Cathedral Floor Plans

Cathedrals are large buildings used for Christian worship and are located worldwide. Cathedral sites, size and layouts often have symbolic considerations. Floor plans are considered to be the first step in construction, and are the determinations of building designs which follow. This paper suggests a range of simple geometric methods to create repeating pattern alternatives suited to textile and similar end uses. Based on reference to cathedral floor plans, these methods include: various square-based and golden-section-based constructions; root-two rectangles and modular combinations

Size-dependent endocytosis of gold nanoparticles studied by three-dimensional mapping of plasmonic scattering images

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Understanding the endocytosis process of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) is important for the drug delivery and photodynamic therapy applications. The endocytosis in living cells is usually studied by fluorescent microscopy. The fluorescent labeling suffers from photobleaching. Besides, quantitative estimation of the cellular uptake is not easy. In this paper, the size-dependent endocytosis of AuNPs was investigated by using plasmonic scattering images without any labeling.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The scattering images of AuNPs and the vesicles were mapped by using an optical sectioning microscopy with dark-field illumination. AuNPs have large optical scatterings at 550-600 nm wavelengths due to localized surface plasmon resonances. Using an enhanced contrast between yellow and blue CCD images, AuNPs can be well distinguished from cellular organelles. The tracking of AuNPs coated with aptamers for surface mucin glycoprotein shows that AuNPs attached to extracellular matrix and moved towards center of the cell. Most 75-nm-AuNPs moved to the top of cells, while many 45-nm-AuNPs entered cells through endocytosis and accumulated in endocytic vesicles. The amounts of cellular uptake decreased with the increase of particle size.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We quantitatively studied the endocytosis of AuNPs with different sizes in various cancer cells. The plasmonic scattering images confirm the size-dependent endocytosis of AuNPs. The 45-nm-AuNP is better for drug delivery due to its higher uptake rate. On the other hand, large AuNPs are immobilized on the cell membrane. They can be used to reconstruct the cell morphology.</p

Clashing Tradition of Textile Pattern Design Based on Tartan Proportions

Tartan, the woven checked wool textile considered to be originally from Scotland is common to many cultures and historical periods. The checked feature is due to the assembly of different coloured threads in 90 degree warp and weft directions (known as the ‘sett’). Originally (at least in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries) the colour of the sett was originally associated with different families, clans or geographic regions. Although tartan-type textiles have attained popularity the world over, it is also a predicted fashion wish for the forthcoming Autumn/Winter 2019/20 season (at least as suggested by exhibitors at Première Vision). Forthcoming fashionable designs may include ‘deconstructed tartan’, ‘textured checks’, ‘patched checks’ and ‘geometric printed checks’ etc. This paper aims to explore the proportions between tartan sett, the underlying grid structure and how these grids can be distorted for novel textile pattern design uses. A refreshing insight into textile pattern design methodology is thus provided. Key words: tartan, textile, grids, pattern design

Image-based measurement of alveoli volume expansion in an animal model of a diseased lung

Currently, there does not exist reliable MV treatment or protocols in critical care to treat acute respiratory diseases, and thus no proven way to optimise care to minimise the mortality, length of stay or cost. The overall approach of this research is to improve protocols by using appropriate computer models that take into account the essential lung mechanics. The aim of this research is to create an automated algorithm for tracking the boundary of individual or groups of alveoli, and to convert this into a pressure volume curve for three different types of alveoli. A technique called in vivo microscopy has been developed by Schiller et al which visualizes the inflation and deflation of individual alveoli in a surfactant deactivation model of lung injury in pigs. Three different types of alveoli were tracked using data from Schiller et al, type I, II and III. These types correspond to healthy alveoli, non-collapsing but partially diseased alveoli, and fully collapsing diseased alveoli respectively. The boundaries of all the alveoli that were tracked, compared well visually to the movies. Pressure versus Area curves were derived for both inflation and deflation, they captured the expected physiological behaviour, and were qualitatively similar to the quasi-static pressure area curves derived in Schiller et al, Quantitative differences are due to the dynamic effects of ventilation which were not investigated in Schiller et al

Cell-free circulating mitochondrial DNA content and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with chronic HBV infection.

Recent studies have demonstrated a potential link between circulating cell-free mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) content and cancers. However, there is no study evaluating the association between circulating mtDNA as a non-invasive marker of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk. We conducted a nested case-control study to determine circulating mtDNA content in serum samples from 116 HBV-related HCC cases and 232 frequency-matched cancer-free HBV controls, and evaluate the retrospective association between mtDNA content and HCC risk using logistic regression and their temporal relationship using a mixed effects model. HCC cases had significantly lower circulating mtDNA content than controls (1.06 versus 2.47, P = 1.7 × 10(-5)). Compared to HBV patients with higher mtDNA content, those with lower mtDNA content had a significantly increased risk of HCC with an odds ratio (OR) of 2.19 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.28-3.72, P = 0.004). Quartile analyses revealed a significant dose-dependent effect (Ptrend = 0.001) for this association. In a pilot longitudinal sub-cohort of 14 matched cases-control pairs, we observed a trend of dramatically decreased mtDNA content in cases and slightly decreased mtDNA content in controls, with a significant interaction of case-control status with time (Pinteraction = 0.049). Our findings suggest that circulating mtDNA is a potential novel non-invasive biomarker of HCC risk in HBV patients

Height-diameter equations for sixteen tree species in the central western Willamette Valley of Oregon

Equations for predicting tree height as a function of diameter outside bark at breast height are presented for 16 tree species from the central western Willamette Valley of Oregon. Foresters can use these "height-diameter" equations to avoid the time consuming task of measuring heights of all individual trees in an inventory, a stand exam, or a timber cruise. Equation coefficients were estimated with weighted nonlinear regression techniques. Because site index can influence height, alternative equations including transformations of site index as an independent variable also are presented for 6 of these 16 species