Long noncoding RNA AK027294 acts as an oncogene in non-small cell lung cancer by up-regulating STAT3.

Since this article has been suspected of research misconduct and the corresponding authors did not respond to our request to prove originality of data and figures, "Long noncoding RNA AK027294 acts as an oncogene in non-small cell lung cancer by up-regulating STAT3, by B. Chen, C.-H. Ling, published in Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2019; 23 (3): 1102-1107-DOI: 10.26355/eurrev_201902_17000-PMID: 30779078" has been withdrawn. The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. https://www.europeanreview.org/article/17000.

Long noncoding RNA AK027294 acts as an oncogene in non-small cell lung cancer by up-regulating STAT3.

OBJECTIVE: Recent researches have proved that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important role in multiple diseases, including malignant tumors. The aim of this study was to explore the exact role of lncRNA AK027294 in the development of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and to investigate the possible underlying mechanism. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Real Time-quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR) was utilized to detect the AK027294 expression in NSCLC patients. Then, cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay, colony formation assay, and 5-Ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU) incorporation assay were performed, respectively. Furthermore, RT-qPCR and Western blot assay were used to explore the potential mechanism. RESULTS: The expression level of AK027294 NSCLC samples was significantly higher than that of adjacent tissues. Subsequent functional assays showed that the growth ability of NSCLC cells was markedly inhibited after AK027294 silence. In addition, after AK027294 knock-down, the expression of signal transducers and activators of transcription 3 (STAT3) was remarkably down-regulated. Furthermore, the results demonstrated that the STAT3 expression was positively correlated with the AK027294 expression in NSCLC tissues. CONCLUSIONS: The above results indicated that AK027294 could enhance the growth ability of NSCLC by up-regulating STAT3. Our findings suggested that AK027294 might be a potential therapeutic target for NSCLC.

The frequency of snowline-region planets from four-years of OGLE-MOA-Wise second-generation microlensing.

We present a statistical analysis of the first four seasons from a "second-generation" microlensing survey for extrasolar planets, consisting of near-continuous time coverage of 8 deg2 of the Galactic bulge by the OGLE, MOA, and Wise microlensing surveys. During this period, 224 microlensing events were observed by all three groups. Over 12% of the events showed a deviation from single-lens microlensing, and for ~1/3 of those the anomaly is likely caused by a planetary companion. For each of the 224 events we have performed numerical ray-tracing simulations to calculate the detection efficiency of possible companions as a function of companion-to-host mass ratio and separation. Accounting for the detection efficiency, we find that 55 - 22 + 34 % of microlensed stars host a snowline planet. Moreover, we find that Neptunes-mass planets are ~ 10 times more common than Jupiter-mass planets. The companion-to-host mass ratio distribution shows a deficit at q ~ 10-2, separating the distribution into two companion populations, analogous to the stellar-companion and planet populations, seen in radial-velocity surveys around solar-like stars. Our survey, however, which probes mainly lower-mass stars, suggests a minimum in the distribution in the super-Jupiter mass range, and a relatively high occurrence of brown-dwarf companions.

Exoplanet detection. A terrestrial planet in a ~1-AU orbit around one member of a ~15-AU binary.

Using gravitational microlensing, we detected a cold terrestrial planet orbiting one member of a binary star system. The planet has low mass (twice Earth's) and lies projected at ~0.8 astronomical units (AU) from its host star, about the distance between Earth and the Sun. However, the planet's temperature is much lower, <60 Kelvin, because the host star is only 0.10 to 0.15 solar masses and therefore more than 400 times less luminous than the Sun. The host itself orbits a slightly more massive companion with projected separation of 10 to 15 AU. This detection is consistent with such systems being very common. Straightforward modification of current microlensing search strategies could increase sensitivity to planets in binary systems. With more detections, such binary-star planetary systems could constrain models of planet formation and evolution.

Defining sarcopenia: the impact of different diagnostic criteria on the prevalence of sarcopenia in a large middle aged cohort.

Sarcopenia, low muscle mass, is an increasing problem in our ageing society. The prevalence of sarcopenia varies extremely between elderly cohorts ranging from 7% to over 50%. Without consensus on the definition of sarcopenia, a variety of diagnostic criteria are being used. We assessed the degree of agreement between seven different diagnostic criteria for sarcopenia based on muscle mass and handgrip strength, described in literature. In this cross-sectional study, we included men (n=0325) and women (n=0329) with complete measurements of handgrip strength and body composition values as measured by bioimpedance analysis within the Leiden Longevity Study. Prevalence of sarcopenia was stratified by gender and age. In men (mean age 64.5 years), the prevalence of sarcopenia with the different diagnostic criteria ranged from 0% to 20.8% in the lowest age category (below 60 years), from 0%to 31.2% in the middle (60 to 69 years) and from 0% to 45.2% in the highest age category (above 70 years). In women (mean age 61.8 years), the prevalence of sarcopenia ranged from 0% to 15.6%, 0% to 21.8% and 0% to 25.8% in the lowest, middle and highest age category, respectively. Only one participant (0.2%) was identified having sarcopenia according to all diagnostic criteria that marked prevalence above 0%. We conclude that the prevalence of sarcopenia is highly dependent on the applied diagnostic criteria. It is necessary to reach a consensus on the definition of sarcopenia in order to make studies comparable and for implementation in clinical care.

A quantity survey of intravenous administration of metronidazole in its different forms in a tertiary teaching hospital.

The aim of this paper is to examine the prescribing patterns and cost of various formulations of metronidazole in a hospital setting over a 3-month period. Oral metronidazole has high bioavailability (98.9%) with peak plasma concentrations averaged at 2.3 h after dosing. Despite the high bioavailability of oral metronidazole, many patients continue to receive metronidazole intravenously when they are suitable for oral preparation. An audit of 120 consecutive patients prescribed metronidazole was conducted at the Liverpool Hospital, NSW, from March to July 2005. There were 65 men and 55 women (age 18-93). Of the 120 patients, 16 were on oral, 1 on rectal and 103 were on intravenous metronidazole. Treatment was initiated based on clinical diagnoses. Potential pathogens were subsequently identified on only 21 occasions. The use of metronidazole as an oral preparation was contraindicated in 27 patients (22.5%) who were nil-by-mouth. Of these, rectally administered metronidazole was contraindicated in only eight patients. The average course of intravenous metronidazole was 8.0 +/- 9.7 days (mean +/- SD). The total number of intravenous metronidazole treatment days was 824. Oral metronidazole would have been possible in 618 out of the 824 days. The estimated cost to administer each dose of oral, suppository and intravenous forms of metronidazole is $A0.11, $A1.34 and $A6.09 respectively. Thus, substantial savings could be achieved if oral metronidazole were to be administered whenever possible. The early use of oral or rectal metronidazole should be encouraged when there are no clinical contraindications.

Immunohistochemical markers of prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer: a review and proposal for a multiphase approach to marker evaluation.

Characteristics of the tumour that affect and predict the survival outcome of patients with cancer are prognostic markers for cancer. In non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), stage is the main determinant of prognosis and the basis for deciding options for treatment. Patients with early-stage tumour are treated by complete surgical resection, which is curative in 40-70% of patients. That there are other factors important in determining the biology of these tumours, especially genes that have a role in metastasis, is indicated. Such factors could potentially be used to further classify patients into groups according to substages that may be treated differently. During the past decade, a large number of proteins that are putatively important in carcinogenesis and cancer biology have been studied for their prognostic value in NSCLC, but none of them have been proved to be sufficiently useful in clinical diagnosis. Several markers (epidermal growth factor receptor, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, Ki-67, p53 and Bcl-2) have been studied exhaustively. Ki-67, p53 and Bcl-2 are suggested to be important but weak prognostic markers, by meta-analyses of the results. Cyclin E, vascular endothelial growth factor A, p16(INK4A), p27(kip1) and beta-catenin are promising candidates, but require further study in large randomised clinical trial samples by using standardised assays and scoring systems. Some issues and inconsistencies in the reported studies to date are highlighted and discussed. A guideline for a multi-phase approach for conducting future studies on prognostic immunohistochemistry markers is proposed here.

Diagnostic value of arterial hematocrits in neonatal polycythemia.

In order to study the correlation among arterial, capillary and venous hematocrits, sixty newborn babies delivered in our hospital were chosen after receiving their parents' consents for hematocrits study within their first eight hours of life. The venous hematocrits of them (59.77 +/- 14.15%) correlate with arterial hematocrits (57.84 +/- 14.36%) very well (r = 0.95, p less than 0.001). Whereas, the venous and arterial hematocrits correlate with capillary hematocrits (66.63 +/- 15.56%) also significantly (r = 0.72, p less than 0.001 for both). Arterial hematocrits of more than 62% is proportionate to venous hematocrits of 64% and above. The relationship between arterial and venous hematocrits does not change even after we divide the subjects into those venous hematocrits above 64% and those below 64%. Furthermore, the capillary hematocrits of above 70% can be used as the criteria of polycythemia in the neonatal screening. If the capillary hematocrit is above 70%, then venous hematocrit should be checked for the confirmation of polycythemia.

[Use of flow cytometry in the diagnosis of bladder tumor].

Bladder irrigation specimens from 42 patients, in which 10 cases were benign tumor or bladder inflammation and 32 cases transitional cell carcinoma, were analysed by flow cytometry (FCM). Compared with routine cytological examination, their positive rates were 87.4% and 62.5% respectively. The difference was statistically significant. FCM is more sensitive and specific than the conventional cytology in detection of bladder tumor.

Electron microscopic study of toxicity of intravitreal injections of gentamicin in primates.

Seven eyes of four young adult cynomolgus monkeys were injected intravitreally with 0.4 mg of gentamicin. One eye was enucleated after 1 day, and two eyes were enucleated after 1 week, 2 weeks and 1 month. The control eye received an intravitreal injection of 0.1 mL of saline and was enucleated after 1 week. All the eyes underwent electroretinography and ophthalmoscopy before and after treatment. No differences were detected by these techniques or by light and electron microscopy between the experimental eyes and the control.