Transcriptome profiling and analysis of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma from Kazakhstan.

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is the predominant subtype of esophageal cancer in Central Asia, often diagnosed at advanced stages. Understanding population-specific patterns of ESCC is crucial for tailored treatments. This study aimed to unravel ESCC's genetic basis in Kazakhstani patients and identify potential biomarkers for early diagnosis and targeted therapies. ESCC patients from Kazakhstan were studied. We analyzed histological subtypes and conducted in-depth transcriptome sequencing. Differential gene expression analysis was performed, and significantly dysregulated pathways were identified using KEGG pathway analysis (p-value < 0.05). Protein-protein interaction networks were constructed to elucidate key modules and their functions. Among Kazakhstani patients, ESCC with moderate dysplasia was the most prevalent subtype. We identified 42 significantly upregulated and two significantly downregulated KEGG pathways, highlighting molecular mechanisms driving ESCC pathogenesis. Immune-related pathways, such as viral protein interaction with cytokines, rheumatoid arthritis, and oxidative phosphorylation, were elevated, suggesting immune system involvement. Conversely, downregulated pathways were associated with extracellular matrix degradation, crucial in cancer invasion and metastasis. Protein-protein interaction network analysis revealed four distinct modules with specific functions, implicating pathways in esophageal cancer development. High-throughput transcriptome sequencing elucidated critical molecular pathways underlying esophageal carcinogenesis in Kazakhstani patients. Insights into dysregulated pathways offer potential for early diagnosis and precision treatment strategies for ESCC. Understanding population-specific patterns is essential for personalized approaches to ESCC management.

Promoting data harmonization to evaluate vaccine hesitancy in LMICs: approach and applications.

BACKGROUND: Factors influencing the health of populations are subjects of interdisciplinary study. However, datasets relevant to public health often lack interdisciplinary breath. It is difficult to combine data on health outcomes with datasets on potentially important contextual factors, like political violence or development, due to incompatible levels of geographic support; differing data formats and structures; differences in sampling procedures and wording; and the stability of temporal trends. We present a computational package to combine spatially misaligned datasets, and provide an illustrative analysis of multi-dimensional factors in health outcomes. METHODS: We rely on a new software toolkit, Sub-National Geospatial Data Archive (SUNGEO), to combine data across disciplinary domains and demonstrate a use case on vaccine hesitancy in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). We use data from the World Bank's High Frequency Phone Surveys (HFPS) from Kenya, Indonesia, and Malawi. We curate and combine these surveys with data on political violence, elections, economic development, and other contextual factors, using SUNGEO. We then develop a stochastic model to analyze the integrated data and evaluate 1) the stability of vaccination preferences in all three countries over time, and 2) the association between local contextual factors and vaccination preferences. RESULTS: In all three countries, vaccine-acceptance is more persistent than vaccine-hesitancy from round to round: the long-run probability of staying vaccine-acceptant (hesitant) was 0.96 (0.65) in Indonesia, 0.89 (0.21) in Kenya, and 0.76 (0.40) in Malawi. However, vaccine acceptance was significantly less durable in areas exposed to political violence, with percentage point differences (ppd) in vaccine acceptance of -10 (Indonesia), -5 (Kenya), and -64 (Malawi). In Indonesia and Kenya, although not Malawi, vaccine acceptance was also significantly less durable in locations without competitive elections (-19 and -6 ppd, respectively) and in locations with more limited transportation infrastructure (-11 and -8 ppd). CONCLUSION: With SUNGEO, researchers can combine spatially misaligned and incompatible datasets. As an illustrative example, we find that vaccination hesitancy is correlated with political violence, electoral uncompetitiveness and limited access to public goods, consistent with past results that vaccination hesitancy is associated with government distrust.

Correlation between structure, surface defect chemistry and 18O/16O exchange for La2Mo2O9 and La2(MoO4)3.

The La2Mo2O9 and La2(MoO4)3 powders were synthesized using a solid-state reaction method and used to prepare dense ceramics. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to study the chemical composition and charge numbers of the elements in the subsurface area of dense ceramics of lanthanum molybdates. The spectra were measured under an ultra-high vacuum of 7 × 10-11 atm at 30 °C and 600 °C, and under an oxygen atmosphere at 2 × 10-3 atm at 600 °C and 825 °C. High resolution spectra for La 3d, Mo 3d and O 1s states were obtained and analyzed. The kinetics of oxygen exchange were considered in the framework of a two-step model including the consecutive steps of dissociative adsorption and the incorporation of oxygen. The oxygen adsorption (ra) and incorporation (ri) rates were calculated. Correlations between the oxide surface defect chemistry and the rates of individual oxygen-exchange steps were discussed.

Modification of PCL Scaffolds by Reactive Magnetron Sputtering: A Possibility for Modulating Macrophage Responses.

Direct current (DC) reactive magnetron sputtering is as an efficient method for enhancing the biocompatibility of poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) scaffolds. However, the PCL chemical bonding state, the composition of the deposited coating, and their interaction with immune cells remain unknown. Herein, we demonstrated that the DC reactive magnetron sputtering of the titanium target in a nitrogen atmosphere leads to the formation of nitrogen-containing moieties and the titanium dioxide coating on the scaffold surface. We have provided the possible mechanism of PCL fragmentation and coating formation supported by XPS results and DFT calculations. Our preliminary biological studies suggest that DC reactive magnetron sputtering of the titanium target could be an effective tool to control macrophage functional responses toward PCL scaffolds as it allows to inhibit respiratory burst while retaining cell viability and scavenging activity.