Activity

Moreover, bioinformatic analysis and dual-luciferase reporter assays confirmed that circFBXW7 can directly target miR-23a-3p, which then blocks the binding of miR-23a-3p to the 3′ un-translated region (UTR) of PTEN. Mechanically, circFBXW7 suppresses cell proliferation and metastasis in glioma by sponging miR-23a-3p, resulting in elevated PTEN expression. In addition, in vivo experiments also confirmed that circFBXW7 overexpression effectively halts tumor growth and metastasis. Consistent with the in vitro observations, circFBXW7 overexpression significantly decreased miR-23a-3p, Ki-67, and N-cadherin, as well as increased PTEN and E-cadherin levels. CONCLUSION Our results revealed that circFBXW7 exhibits anti-proliferative and anti-metastasis activities via sponging miR-23a-3p to elevate PTEN expression in glioma, which may offer a novel target for clinical therapy and diagnosis of glioma. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) is a fatal disease that could lead to a serious respiratory illness. VBIT12 It is caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus. In December 2019, the first of human cases were identified in China and the infection spread quickly around the world. The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the disease, a global pandemic on 11 March 2020, even as COVID-19 rapidly spread across the world. According to clinical reports, fever, headache, cough and myalgia are common clinical symptoms. Many symptoms also occur, such as sputum formation, haemoptysis and diarrhea. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.With interest we read the study by Simonnet A et al. (1) in which important novel evidence is addressed that obesity is highly frequent among critically ill patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-Cov-2) infection. Although clinically very relevant, it remains difficult to elucidate the mechanisms by which SARS-Cov-2 severity is increased in the context of obesity. As reported by Katz JN et al. (2), 28% of hospitalised patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) presented cardiac complications including myocarditis, arrhythmias, heart failure (HF) and sudden death. Considering that myocardial response in COVID-19 is closely associated with in-hospital mortality, local biological effects on myocardial tissue from epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) is warrant further discussion. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Filariasis is a public health menace and is a cause for concern due to its endemicity in tropical and subtropical countries of Africa, Asia, and Western Pacific. Even in endemic areas, it is rare to find filariasis in fluid specimens especially cerebrospinal fluid. Herein, we report a case of unsuspected filarial parasitic infection in an adult male admitted as a case of space occupying lesion in brain with suspicion of lymphoma/granulomatous disease on the basis of clinicoradiological details. To the best of our knowledge, such an extensive brain involvement by filariasis has not been reported before. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between side asymmetry in nasal resistance (NR) and severity of the nasal airway obstruction (NAO) in patients with different types of nasal septal deformity (NSD). DESIGN Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study SETTING The study was conducted in a tertiary medical center PARTICIPANTS The study included 232 patients, who were referred to the CT examination of the paranasal sinuses. Exclusion criteria were sinonasal and respiratory diseases that may interfere with the nasal obstruction. The presence and the type of NSD were recorded according to the Mladina’s classification. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The presence and severity of NAO in each patient was assessed by NOSE questionnaire. Eight computational models of the nasal cavity were created from CT scans. Models represented seven Mladina’s NSD types and a straight septum of a symptomless patient. CFD calculated airflow partitioning and NR for each nasal passage. Side differences in NR were calculated by the equation ∆NR= NRleft – NRright . The relationship between NOSE scores, airflow partitioning, and side differences in NR was explored using Spearman’s correlation analysis. RESULTS Mladina’s types of NSD showed differences in airflow partitioning and the degree of side asymmetry in NR. A significant positive correlation was detected between side differences in NR and NOSE scores (R=0.762, p=0.028). A significant negative correlation was found between the percent of unilateral airflow and NR (R= -0.524, p= 0.037). CONCLUSIONS Our results demonstrated that side asymmetry in NR could explain differences in NAO severity related to the NSD type. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Colorectal cancer (CRC) remains a leading cause of cancer death. Nanotechnology has focused on reaching more effective treatments. In this concern, magnetic nanoparticles (MNP) have been studied for a wide range of biomedical applications related to CRC, such as diagnostic imaging, drug delivery and thermal therapy. However, limited research is currently found in open literature referred to nanosystems combining all these mentioned areas (theranostics). When developing nanosystems intended as theranostics applied to CRC, the possible variations between patients must be considered. Therefore, multiple in vitro assays are required as guidance for future pre-clinical and clinical trials. The objective of this contribution is to evaluate the available and recent literature regarding the interactions of MNP and CRC models, aiming to critically analyzing the information given by the commonly used assays, evaluating the data provided by each one, in view of the implementation of this novel technology in CRC diagnostic and therapy. © 2020 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.We analysed the importance of systemic and peripheral arteriovenous O2 difference (a- v – O2 and a-vf O2 difference, respectively) and O2 extraction fraction for maximal oxygen uptake ( V ˙ O2max ). Fick law of diffusion and the Piiper and Scheid model were applied to investigate whether diffusion vs perfusion limitations vary with V ˙ O2max . Articles (n=17) publishing individual data (n=154) on V ˙ O2max , maximal cardiac output ( Q ˙ max ; indicator-dilution or Fick method), a- v – O2 difference (catheters or Fick equation) and systemic O2 extraction fraction were identified. For the peripheral responses, group-mean data (articles n=27; subjects n=234) on leg blood flow (LBF; thermodilution), a-vf O2 difference and O2 extraction fraction (arterial and femoral venous catheters) were obtained. Q ˙ max and two-LBF increased linearly by 4.9-6.0 L·min-1 per 1 L·min-1 increase in V ˙ O2max (R2 =0.73 and R2 =0.67, respectively; both P less then 0.001). The a- v – O2 difference increased from 118-168 mL·L-1 from a V ˙ O2max of 2-4.5 L·min-1 followed by a reduction (second-order polynomial R2 =0.27). After accounting for a hypoxemia-induced decrease in arterial O2 content with increasing V ˙ O2max (R2 =0.17; P less then 0.001), systemic O2 extraction fraction increased up to ~90% ( V ˙ O2max 4.5 L·min-1 ) with no further change (exponential decay model R2 =0.42). Likewise, leg O2 extraction fraction increased with V ˙ O2max to approach a maximal value of ~90-95% (R2 =0.83). Muscle O2 diffusing capacity and the equilibration index Y increased linearly with V ˙ O2max (R2 =0.77 and R2 =0.31, respectively; both P less then 0.01), reflecting decreasing O2 diffusional limitations and accentuating O2 delivery limitations. In conclusion, although O2 delivery is the main limiting factor to V ˙ O2max , enhanced O2 extraction fraction (≥90%) contributes to the remarkably high V ˙ O2max in endurance-trained individuals. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.After having read your recent Editorial “COVID 19 and the Patient with Obesity – The Editors Speak Out”1 , I wish to share my own personal experience. I am an anesthesiologist working on the frontline of the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic at an academic and teaching establishment, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, in New York City. As Director of the Bariatric Anesthesia division, and an airway expert, I was assigned to our COVID Airway Team, in March 2020. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Rickettsia consists of some of the most prevalent symbionts of insects and often plays a significant role in the biology of its hosts. Recently, a maternally inherited Torix group Rickettsia, provisionally named as RiTBt, was recorded in a species of notorious pest whitefly, tentatively named as Asia II 1, from the Bemisia tabaci complex. The role of this Rickettsia in the biology of its host is unknown. Here we investigated the impact of RiTBt on the performance and virus transmission capacity of Asia II 1. RiTBt did not significantly affect the life history parameters of the whitefly when the host insect was reared on tobacco, tomato, and cotton, three host plants with relatively low, medium and high suitability to the whitefly. Intriguingly, RiTBt slightly enhanced whitefly transmission of cotton leaf curl Multan virus (CLCuMuV), a virus that is transmitted by the whitefly in the field and has caused extensive damage to cotton production. Specifically, compared with whiteflies without RiTBt, following a 48 h virus acquisition whiteflies with RiTBt had higher titer of virus and showed higher efficiency of virus transmission. A rickettsial secretory protein BtR242 was identified as a putative virus-binding protein, and was observed to interact with the coat protein of CLCuMuV in vitro. Viral infection of the whitefly downregulated gene transcript level of BtR242 gene. These observations indicate that RiTBt has limited impact on the biology of the Asia II 1 whitefly, and whether this symbiont has functions in the biology of other host whiteflies warrants future investigations. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Variation in the relationship between gestation length and body mass can arise because different types of tissue require varying amounts of energy to build, and not all species build such tissues in the same proportions. Given that a pregnant female has a finite amount of energy, trade-offs between investment in different tissues may occur. Here we examine if dental precocity accounts for variation in primate gestation length. If true, this could explain why folivorous species with precocial dentition have longer gestation lengths than predicted by neonatal brain and body mass. We compiled data on gestation length, neonate and adult female body and brain mass from the literature. We used published postcanine eruption schedules at four months of age and measured the total occlusal area as dental endowment to approximate dental precocity at birth. Species with embryonic delay in growth or altricial neonates were not considered because they represent grade shifts regarding gestation length. Consequently, our data were biased toward Simiiformes and Old World monkeys, specifically.