The Role of microRNAs in Development of Colitis-Associated Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most deadly cancer worldwide, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is one of the critical factors in CRC carcinogenesis. IBD is responsible for an unphysiological and sustained chronic inflammation environment favoring the transformation. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) belong to a class of highly conserved short single-stranded segments (18–25 nucleotides) non-coding RNA and have been extensively discussed in both CRC and IBD. However, the role of miRNAs in the development of colitis-associated CRC (CAC) is less clear. The aim of this review is to summarize the major upregulated (miR-18a, miR-19a, miR-21, miR-31, miR-155 and miR-214) and downregulated (miR-124, miR-193a-3p and miR-139-5p) miRNAs in CAC, and their roles in genes’ expression modulation in chronic colonic-inflammation-induced carcinogenesis, including programmed cell-death pathways. These miRNAs dysregulation could be applied for early CAC diagnosis, to predict therapy efficacy and for precision treatment.     

Tests of assumptions about the joint receipt of gambles in rank- and sign-dependent utility theory.

A rank- and sign-dependent utility theory is based on an operation of joint receipt of 2 independent gambles and 3 assumptions regarding the operation (R. D. Luce, 1992). The authors tested these 3 assumptions (i.e., segregation, duplex decomposition, and the additivity of certainty equivalents over joint receipt) using both judged and choice certainty equivalents (CEs). Median choice CEs provided support for both segregation and duplex decomposition but little support for additivity in gains or in losses, whereas median judged CEs also failed to support segregation. The latter failure appears to result from some Ss misunderstanding the instructions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived dangerousness of recreational drugs

In Study One, a sample of 230 college students were asked to estimate the abuse potential and lethality of commonly used recreational drugs, both licit and illicit. In Study Two, a sample of 103 degreed nurses were asked to estimate the lethality of the same recreational drugs. The findings indicate that the illicit drugs under consideration are perceived as presenting the greatest danger to the user and that dangers attributed to the use of licit recreational drugs are generally minimized. Perception of danger was found to be unaffected by exposure to reported drug education programs. Results are discussed in terms of public health implications.     

MODELING WATER LOSS DURING FRYING OF POTATO STRIPS: EFFECT OF SOLUTE IMPREGNATION

The effect of solute impregnation on water loss and oil uptake during potato strip frying was studied. Blanched potato strips were impregnated at 25°C by soaking in a solution of sucrose-NaCl-water, 20-5-75% by weight. After rinsing and air drying, strips were deep fried in sunflower oil at 160, 170 and 180°C. A control treatment, consisting of potato strips blanched but not soaked and later air dried was also conducted. Solute impregnation provided a decrease of the oil uptake. Two models, based on Fick's law were used to describe water loss during frying. The first one is the classic model with an effective moisture diffusion coefficient assumed a constant value. The second model considers that diffusion coefficient varies during the frying process. For a given frying temperature, constant diffusion coefficient for control potatoes resulted in lower values than the impregnated ones. The variable diffusivity model showed a two-stage behavior: during the first stage of frying, diffusion coefficient increased with frying temperatures, but from a given time on an inverse behavior began. This last fact was found to be related to an increase of the measured peak force needed to penetrate the potato crust.     

Synthesis,characterization, and chelating properties of the polymacromonomer: Poly[(ethyleneglycol) methyl ether methacrylate]

The radical polymerization of the macromonomer poly(ethyleneglycol) methyl ether methacrylate with ammonium persulfate at 60°C was carried out. The polymer was completely soluble in water. Yield was 75%. The polymacromonomer was characterized by Fourier transform infrared, proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy. M_n, M_w, and the polydispersity were determined by gel permeation chromatography. The polymacromonomer showed a high thermal stability with a TDT_50% of 420°C. The metal ion binding capacity of this polychelatogen with respect to different metal ions was investigated through the liquid‐phase polymer‐based retention (LPR) technique. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 85: 2929–2934, 2002     

Alumina Grown during Deposition of Thermal Barrier Coatings on NiCrAlY

The microstructure of Al₂O₃ formed by oxidation of a model NiCrAlY alloy during electron-beam physical vapor deposition of ZrO₂–7.6 mol% YO_1.5 is examined and compared with that formed on the bare substrate. The growth rate, morphology, and chemical composition of the oxide vary among the different constituents of the alloy surface and are further influenced by the O₂ partial pressure and the physical presence of the thermal barrier coating (TBC) layer. These differences, however, are largely limited to the outer oxide layer. The interplay between the TBC and the growing oxide leads to the formation of a fine-grain Al₂O₃–ZrO₂"mixed zone" within the thermally grown oxide. A mechanism is outlined to explain this behavior, based on the dissolution of ZrO₂ in a transient Al₂O₃ structure growing by outward diffusion of Al, and its subsequent reprecipitation when the metastable phase transforms to the stable α-Al₂O₃ form.     

Sorafenib delivery nanoplatform based on superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles magnetically targets hepatocellular carcinoma

Currently,sorafenib is the only systemic therapy capable of increasing overall survival of hepatocellular carcinoma patients.Unfortunately,its side effects,particularly its overall toxicity,limit the therapeutic response that can be achieved.Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) are very attractive for drug delivery because they can be targeted to specific sites in the body through application of a magnetic field,thus improving intratumoral accumulation and reducing adverse effects.Here,nanoformulations based on polyethylene glycol modified phospholipid micelles,loaded with both SPIONs and sorafenib,were successfully prepared and thoroughly investigated by complementary techniques.This nanovector system provided effective drug delivery,had an average hydrodynamic diameter of about 125 nm,had good stability in aqueous medium,and allowed controlled drug loading.Magnetic analysis allowed accurate determination of the amount of SPIONs embedded in each micelle.An in vitro system was designed to test whether the SPION micelles can be efficiently held using a magnetic field under typical flow conditions found in the human liver.Human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cells were selected as an in vitro system to evaluate tumor cell targeting efficacy of the superparamagnetic micelles loaded with sorafenib.These experiments demonstrated that this delivery platform is able to enhance sorafenib's antitumor effectiveness by magnetic targeting.The magnetic nanovectors described here represent promising candidates for targeting specific hepatic tumor sites,where selective release of sorafenib can improve its efficacy and safety profile.     

Synthetic handwritten CAPTCHAs

CAPTCHAs (completely automated public Turing test to tell computers and humans apart) are in common use today as a method for performing automated human verification online. The most popular type of CAPTCHA is the text recognition variety. However, many of the existing printed text CAPTCHAs have been broken by web-bots and are hence vulnerable to attack. We present an approach to use human-like handwriting for designing CAPTCHAs. A synthetic handwriting generation method is presented, where the generated textlines need to be as close as possible to human handwriting without being writer-specific. Such handwritten CAPTCHAs exploit the differential in handwriting reading proficiency between humans and machines. Test results show that when the generated textlines are further obfuscated with a set of deformations, machine recognition rates decrease considerably, compared to prior work, while human recognition rates remain the same.