Engineering Properties of PVA Fibre-Reinforced Geopolymer Mortar Containing Waste Oyster Shells.

Recycling crushed waste oyster shells (WOS) as a fine aggregate is an attractive method of disposal. However, its use in geopolymer mortar has not been reported. The influence of PVA fibres on the engineering properties of the new geopolymer mortar is still unclear.

Research on multi-agent genetic algorithm based on tabu search for the job shop scheduling problem.

The solution to the job shop scheduling problem (JSSP) is of great significance for improving resource utilization and production efficiency of enterprises. In this paper, in view of its non-deterministic polynomial properties, a multi-agent genetic algorithm based on tabu search (MAGATS) is proposed to solve JSSPs under makespan constraints. Firstly, a multi-agent genetic algorithm (MAGA) is proposed.

Targeting of CYP17A1 Lyase by VT-464 Inhibits Adrenal and Intratumoral Androgen Biosynthesis and Tumor Growth of Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer.

Cytochrome P450 17α-hydroxylase/17,20-lyase (CYP17A1) is a validated treatment target for the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Abiraterone acetate (AA) inhibits both 17α-hydroxylase (hydroxylase) and 17,20-lyase (lyase) reactions catalyzed by CYP17A1 and thus depletes androgen biosynthesis. However, coadministration of prednisone is required to suppress the mineralocorticoid excess and cortisol depletion that result from hydroxylase inhibition.

Genetic Variant in ACVR2B Is Associated with Lean Mass.

Introduction: Low lean mass (LM) is a risk factor for chronic disease, a major cause of disability and diminished quality of life, and is a heritable trait. However, relatively few specific genetic factors have been identified as potentially influencing this trait.

Methods: In this study, we selected 1493 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in 155 candidate genes involved in anabolic, catabolic, growth hormone, and other related pathways and examined their association with LM, assessed by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, in a sample of 2760 non-Hispanic and Hispanic white postmenopausal women from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) Observational Study.

Combined Tumor Suppressor Defects Characterize Clinically Defined Aggressive Variant Prostate Cancers.

Purpose: Morphologically heterogeneous prostate cancers that behave clinically like small-cell prostate cancers (SCPC) share their chemotherapy responsiveness. We asked whether these clinically defined, morphologically diverse, "aggressive variant prostate cancer (AVPC)" also share molecular features with SCPC.

Experimental Design: Fifty-nine prostate cancer samples from 40 clinical trial participants meeting AVPC criteria, and 8 patient-tumor derived xenografts (PDX) from 6 of them, were stained for markers aberrantly expressed in SCPC.

Somatostatin receptor type 2-based reporter expression after plasmid-based in vivo gene delivery to non-small cell lung cancer.

Plasmids tend to have much lower expression than viruses. Gene expression after systemic administration of plasmid vectors has not been assessed using somatostatin receptor type 2 (SSTR2)-based reporters. The purpose of this work was to identify gene expression in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after systemic liposomal nanoparticle delivery of plasmid containing SSTR2-based reporter gene.

Hip geometry in diabetic women: implications for fracture risk.

Objective: Women with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have a higher risk of fractures despite increased bone mineral density (BMD) as compared to women without diabetes. We hypothesized that bone strength is diminished in women with T2DM after accounting for lean body mass, which may contribute to their increased fracture risk.

Methods: Participants from Women's Health Initiative Observational Study were included in this cross-sectional study.

Modeling a lethal prostate cancer variant with small-cell carcinoma features.

Purpose: Small-cell prostate carcinoma (SCPC) morphology predicts for a distinct clinical behavior, resistance to androgen ablation, and frequent but short responses to chemotherapy. We sought to develop model systems that reflect human SCPC and can improve our understanding of its biology.

Experimental Design: We developed a set of castration-resistant prostate carcinomas xenografts and examined their fidelity to their human tumors of origin.

Stronger bone correlates with African admixture in African-American women.

Osteoporosis affects all populations, but the risk for low bone density and fracture varies greatly by self-reported race and ethnicity. In this article, the relationship between measured percent African admixture and hip structural geometry, estimated from the hip structural analysis (HSA) program, was examined in a subcohort of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI). The study sample included 793 African-American women and 8559 non-Hispanic white women.

Confounders in the association between exercise and femur bone in postmenopausal women.

Introduction: Abundant animal and human evidence demonstrates that loading stimuli generate positive adaptive changes in bone, but effects of activity on bone mineral density (BMD) are often modest and frequently equivocal.

Hypothesis: Physical activity effects on the femur would be better reflected in measurements of geometry than BMD.

Study Design: Cross-sectional cohort study.

Does obesity really make the femur stronger? BMD, geometry, and fracture incidence in the women's health initiative-observational study.

Heavier individuals have higher hip BMD and more robust femur geometry, but it is unclear whether values vary in proportion with body weight in obesity. We studied the variation of hip BMD and geometry across categories of body mass index (BMI) in a subset of postmenopausal non-Hispanic whites (NHWs) from the Women's Health Initiative Observational Cohort (WHI-OS). The implications on fracture incidence were studied among NHWs in the entire WHI-OS.

Hormone therapy improves femur geometry among ethnically diverse postmenopausal participants in the Women's Health Initiative hormone intervention trials.

Loss of bone strength underlies osteoporotic fragility fractures. We hypothesized that hormone interventions significantly improve the structural geometry of proximal femur cross-sections. Study participants were from the Women's Health Initiative hormone intervention trials: either the conjugated equine estrogen (CEE) only (N(placebo) = 447, N(CEE) = 422) trial or the estrogen (E) plus progestin (P) (N(placebo) = 441, N(E+P) = 503) trial, who were 50-79 yr old at baseline and were followed up to 6 yr.

Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry is a valid tool for assessing skeletal muscle mass in older women.

Assessing skeletal muscle mass (SMM) is critical in studying and detecting sarcopenia. Direct measurements by MRI or computerized tomography are expensive or high in radiation exposure. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is promising for body composition assessments, but the validity of DXA for predicting SMM in the elderly is still under investigation.

Tumor-specific activation of human telomerase reverses transcriptase promoter activity by activating enhancer-binding protein-2beta in human lung cancer cells.

The up-regulated expression and telomerase activity of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) are hallmarks of tumorigenesis. The hTERT promoter has been shown to promote hTERT gene expression selectively in tumor cells but not in normal cells. However, little is known about how tumor cells differentially activate hTERT transcription and induce telomerase activity.

Tumor suppressor 101F6 and ascorbate synergistically and selectively inhibit non-small cell lung cancer growth by caspase-independent apoptosis and autophagy.

101F6 is a candidate tumor suppressor gene harbored on chromosome 3p21.3, a region with frequent and early allele loss and genetic alterations in many human cancers. We previously showed that enforced expression of wild-type 101F6 by adenoviral vector-mediated gene transfer significantly inhibited tumor cell growth in 3p21.

Synergistic tumor suppression by coexpression of FUS1 and p53 is associated with down-regulation of murine double minute-2 and activation of the apoptotic protease-activating factor 1-dependent apoptotic pathway in human non-small cell lung cancer cells.

FUS1 is a novel tumor suppressor gene identified in human chromosome 3p21.3 region. Loss of expression and deficiency of posttranslational modification of FUS1 protein have been found in a majority of human lung cancers.

An analysis: colon cancer mortality in Tianjin, China, from 1981 to 2000.

Aim: To analyze the data from Tianjin Cancer Registry of mortality due to colon cancer from 1981 to 2000 in Tianjin, China.

Methods: Tumors diagnosed in this study were coded according to ICD-9. Mortality rates were calculated by sex and calendar year of diagnosis.

[Analysis on causes of death of childhood leukemia from 1981 to 2000 in the city of Tianjin].

Objective: Leukemia is a major cause of death of children in China, which accounts for 50 % of all cancers of children. Data from Tianjin Cancer Hospital was analyzed for mortality of leukemia in children under 20 years from 1981 to 2000 in the city of Tianjin.

Methods: All physicians and medical staff of the hospitals and clinics in the registry area were responsible for filling out the report forms for every new case diagnosed as malignant tumors.

Human immunodeficiency virus knowledge and attitudes among hospital-based healthcare professionals in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China.

Background And Objective: Since the discovery of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) on the Chinese mainland in 1985, the virus has spread to all provinces and autonomous regions. Although much research emphasis has been placed on studying behaviors and transmission knowledge among high-risk populations, especially drug abusers and commercial sex workers, little has been done to measure understanding within other risk groups. The objective of this study was to investigate HIV/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) knowledge and attitudes among hospital-based healthcare professionals in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China.