The association between diabetes mellitus and prostate cancer: a meta-analysis and Mendelian randomization.

BACKGROUND: Prostate cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in the US, and it has a high mortality rate. Diabetes mellitus is also a dangerous health condition. While some studies have examined the relationship between diabetes mellitus and the risk of prostate cancer, there is still some debate on the matter. This study aims to carefully assess the relationship between prostate cancer and diabetes from both real-world and genetic-level data. METHODS: This meta-analysis was conducted following the PRISMA 2020 reporting guidelines. The study searched three databases including Medline, Embase and Cochrane. The studies about the incidence risk of prostate cancer with diabetes mellitus were included and used to evaluate the association. The odds ratio (OR), risk ratio (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were estimated using Random Effects models and Fixed Effects models. Mendelian randomization study using genetic variants was also conducted. RESULTS: A total of 72 articles were included in this study. The results showed that risk of prostate cancer decreased in diabetes patients. And the influence was different in different regions. This study also estimated the impact of body mass index (BMI) in the diabetes populations and found that the risk decreased in higher BMI populations. The MR analysis found that diabetes mellitus exposure reduced the risk of prostate cancer in the European population and Asia populations. Conclusions The diabetes mellitus has a protective effect on prostate cancer. And the influence of obesity in diabetes mellitus plays an important role in this effect.

Evolutionary genomic relationships and coupling in MK-STYX and STYX pseudophosphatases.

The dual specificity phosphatase (DUSP) family has catalytically inactive members, called pseudophosphatases. They have mutations in their catalytic motifs that render them enzymatically inactive. This study analyzes the significance of two pseudophosphatases, MK-STYX [MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphoserine/threonine/tyrosine-binding protein]) and STYX (serine/threonine/tyrosine-interacting protein), throughout their evolution and provides measurements and comparison of their evolutionary conservation. Phylogenetic trees were constructed to show any deviation from various species evolutionary paths. Data was collected on a large set of proteins that have either one of the two domains of MK-STYX, the DUSP domain or the cdc-25 homology (CH2) /rhodanese-like domain. The distance between species pairs for MK-STYX or STYX and Ka/Ks ratio were calculated. In addition, both pseudophosphatases were ranked among a large set of related proteins, including the active homologs of MK-STYX, MKP (MAPK phosphatase)-1 and MKP-3. MK-STYX had one of the highest species-species protein distances and was under weaker purifying selection pressure than most proteins with its domains. In contrast, the protein distances of STYX were lower than 82% of the DUSP-containing proteins and was under one of the strongest purifying selection pressures. However, there was similar selection pressure on the N-terminal sequences of MK-STYX, STYX, MKP-1, and MKP-3. We next perform statistical coupling analysis, a process that reveals interconnected regions within the proteins. We find that while MKP-1,-3, and STYX all have 2 functional units (sectors), MK-STYX only has one, and that MK-STYX is similar to MKP-3 in the evolutionary coupling of the active site and KIM domain. Within those two domains, the mean coupling is also most similar for MK-STYX and MKP-3. This study reveals striking distinctions between the evolutionary patterns of MK-STYX and STYX, suggesting a very specific role for each pseudophosphatase, further highlighting the relevance of these atypical members of DUSP as signaling regulators. Therefore, our study provides computational evidence and evolutionary reasons to further explore the properties of pseudophosphatases, in particular MK-STYX and STYX.

Theoretical study of the local structure and Raman spectra of CaO-SiO2 binary melts.

A procedure for the Raman spectra calculation of vitreous and molten silicates was presented in this paper. It includes molecular dynamics MD simulation for the generation of equilibrium configurations, Wilson's GF matrix method for the calculations of eigenfrequencies and corresponding vectors, electro-optical parameters method (EOPM) for the Raman intensity calculations, and the bond polarizability model (BPM) for the determination of polarizability and polarizability derivative. One of the most important characteristics of this procedure is the achievement of the partial Raman spectra of five tetrahedral units, as well as the total spectral envelope. In this paper, the calculation was carried out for the vitreous and molten calcium silicates with different compositions and at various temperatures. It is worthwhile to note that the calculation is based on statistical configurations distribution in the space and so it is not needed to artificially adjust the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of spectra. It was also tested through the good agreement of the calculated spectra with the experimental, including some regularity of spectral properties. According to the calculation, the symmetrical stretching of whole tetrahedral units, to which the stretching of Si-O(nb) bond gives the main contribution to intensity, is proven to be the dominance in the high-frequency range (800-1200 cm(-1)) and the symmetrical bending of Si-O(b)-Si, to which the stretching of Si-O(b) bond exhibits the main contribution, is the dominance in the medium-frequency range (400-700 cm(-1)). As the first theoretical results, the Raman scattering coefficient of each Q(i) was found little change along with the variation of composition and temperature.

[Raman spectroscopic study of silicon-oxygen tetrahedrons microstructure in x CaSiO3.LiBO2 solid solutions].

Raman spectra of xCaSiO3.LiBO2 (by weight ratio, x = 0, 0.25, 0.33, 0.50) crystals were measured. The microstructure of different silicon-oxygen tetrahedrons and their abundant variations with silica contents were studied. It shows that all the silicon-oxygen tetrahedrons are isolated by Si-Ob-B bondings or free SiO4(4-). No evidence suggests that there exist considerable Si-Ob-Si bondings. The abundance of Q2, Q4 species increases with the increasing silica content, there exists barely Q3 species even at high silica content. And the sum of integrated Raman peaks for all Qi species are linearly correlated with silica concentration in crystal, which offers the possibility to analysis silica in minerals, slags, glasses and soil samples directly.