The respiratory tract microbiome and its relationship to lung cancer and environmental exposures found in rural china.

We previously reported that bacterial diversity in sputum samples from never-smoking women in rural China varied by lung cancer status and household air pollution (HAP) exposure type. Here, we expand on our associations between environmental exposures and respiratory tract microbiota with an additional 90 never-smoking women from Xuanwei, China. DNA from sputum samples of cases (n = 45) and controls (n = 45) was extracted using a multistep enzymatic and physical lysis, followed by a standardized clean up.

The Critical Role of RNA mA Methylation in Cancer.

Since the identification of the first RNA demethylase and the establishment of methylated RNA immunoprecipitation-sequencing methodology 6 to 7 years ago, RNA methylation has emerged as a widespread phenomenon and a critical regulator of transcript expression. This new layer of regulation is termed "epitranscriptomics." The most prevalent RNA methylation, -methyladenosine (mA), occurs in approximately 25% of transcripts at the genome-wide level and is enriched around stop codons, in 5'- and 3'-untranslated regions, and within long internal exons.

Variation in ribosomal DNA copy number is associated with lung cancer risk in a prospective cohort study.

Disruption of ribosomal DNA (rDNA) has been linked to a variety of diseases in humans, including carcinogenesis. To evaluate the associations between rDNA copy number (CN) and risk of lung cancer, we measured 5.8S and 18S rDNA CN in the peripheral blood of 229 incident lung cancer cases and 1:1 matched controls from a nested case-control study within a prospective cohort of male smokers.

Field Emission Measurements of Solid Fuel Stoves in Yunnan, China Demonstrate Dominant Causes of Uncertainty in Household Emission Inventories.

Emission factors of carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter (PM), organic carbon (OC), and elemental carbon (EC), as well as combustion efficiency and particle optical properties were measured during 37 uncontrolled cooking tests of residential stoves in Yunnan Province, China. Fuel mixtures included coal, woody biomass, and agricultural waste. Compared to previously published emission measurements of similar stoves, these measurements have higher CO and PM emission factors.

Fenestration of Lamina Terminalis During Anterior Circulation Aneurysm Clipping on Occurrence of Shunt-Dependent Hydrocephalus After Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: Meta-Analysis.

Background: Shunt-dependent hydrocephalus (SDH) is a common complication after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage and affects its outcome significantly. Whether fenestration of the lamina terminalis (FLT) during anterior circulation aneurysm clipping for aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage can decrease the occurrence of SDH is still controversial.

Methods: Ovid and PubMed databases were retrieved by the following key words: "hydrocephalus," "subarachnoid hemorrhage," "aneurysm," "fenestration," and "lamina terminalis.

Pre-diagnostic serum concentrations of organochlorines and risk of acute myeloid leukemia: A nested case-control study in the Norwegian Janus Serum Bank Cohort.

Background: Epidemiologic studies suggest an increased risk of leukemia among individuals occupationally exposed to some organochlorine (OC) compounds. Associations between serum OC pesticide and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) levels and risk of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the most common subtype of acute leukemia in adult populations, have not been evaluated prospectively in the general population.

Objective: We evaluated the risk of AML in relation to pre-diagnostic serum levels of OC pesticides and PCBs in a case-control study nested within the Janus Serum Bank Cohort.

Accuracy of lateral cephalogram for diagnosis of adenoid hypertrophy and posterior upper airway obstruction: A meta-analysis.

Introduction: Accurate diagnosis of adenoid hypertrophy and posterior upper airway obstruction using a lateral cephalogram is challenging. No universal guidelines for assessing adenoidal enlargement and upper airway obstruction have been established. We performed a meta-analysis to assess the diagnostic accuracy of a lateral cephalogram for adenoid hypertrophy.

Flexible Artificial Solid Electrolyte Interphase Formed by 1,3-Dioxolane Oxidation and Polymerization for Metallic Lithium Anodes.

Lithium-tin (Li-Sn) alloys are perfect substrate materials for anodes in high-energy density lithium metal secondary batteries. A new approach is proposed to further prevent the Li deposit on Li-Sn alloy substrates from reaction with electrolytes using an artificial solid electrolyte interphase (ASEI) based on electrochemical oxidation and polymerization of 1,3-dioxolane precursor with LiTFSI additive. This ASEI layer is flexible, stable, ion conductive, and electrically insulating, which can provide very stable cycling of Li-Sn alloy substrate anodes for Li deposition/stripping with an average Coulombic efficiency of 98.

Benzene Exposure Response and Risk of Myeloid Neoplasms in Chinese Workers: A Multicenter Case-Cohort Study.

Background: There is international consensus that benzene exposure is causally related to acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and more recent evidence of association with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). However, there are uncertainties about the exposure response, particularly risks by time since exposure and age at exposure.

Methods: In a case-cohort study in 110 631 Chinese workers followed up during 1972-1999 we evaluated combined MDS/AML (n = 44) and chronic myeloid leukemia (n = 18).

Lung cancer risk by geologic coal deposits: A case-control study of female never-smokers from Xuanwei and Fuyuan, China.

Coal types vary around the world because of geochemical differences in their source deposits; however, the influence of coal emissions from different deposits on human health remains unexplored. To address this issue, we conducted the first study of the relationship between coal use from various deposits and lung cancer risk in Xuanwei and Fuyuan, counties in China where lung cancer rates are among the highest in the world among female never-smokers due to use of bituminous ("smoky") coal for heating and cooking. We conducted a population-based case-control study of 1031 lung cancer cases and 493 controls among never-smoking women in Xuanwei and Fuyuan.

Is high vitamin B12 status a cause of lung cancer?

Vitamin B supplementation can have side effects for human health, including cancer risk. We aimed to elucidate the role of vitamin B12 in lung cancer etiology via direct measurements of pre-diagnostic circulating vitamin B12 concentrations in a nested case-control study, complemented with a Mendelian randomization (MR) approach in an independent case-control sample. We used pre-diagnostic biomarker data from 5183 case-control pairs nested within 20 prospective cohorts, and genetic data from 29,266 cases and 56,450 controls.

Carnosic acid potentiates the anticancer effect of temozolomide by inducing apoptosis and autophagy in glioma.

Objective: Malignant glioma is a lethal brain tumor with a low survival rate and poor prognosis. New strategies are urgently needed to augment the chemotherapeutic effects of temozolomide (TMZ), the standard drug in glioma treatment. Carnosic acid (CA) has been reported to have anticancer, antioxidant and anti-infectious properties.

miR-454-3p Is an Exosomal Biomarker and Functions as a Tumor Suppressor in Glioma.

Glioma is the most common type of primary malignant brain tumor in adults. Our previous work discovered that plasma miR-454-3p may have some advantages in glioma prognosis, but the clinical significance and the regulatory mechanism of miR-454-3p in glioma have not been systematically investigated, especially regarding the relationship between circulating and tissue miR-454-3p. The expression level of miR-454-3p in glioma serum and tissues was analyzed through quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR).

3D bioprinted glioma cell-laden scaffolds enriching glioma stem cells via epithelial-mesenchymal transition.

Glioma stem cells (GSCs) are thought to be the root cause of tumor recurrence and drug resistance in glioma patients. In-depth study of GSCs is of great significance for developing the treatment strategies of glioma. Unfortunately, it is difficult and takes complicated process to obtain GSCs.

The Relationship Between Population Attributable Fraction and Heritability in Genetic Studies.

Population attributable fraction (PAF) has been widely used to quantify the proportion of disease risk in a population that can be attributed to risk factors in epidemiological studies. However, the use of PAF has been limited in assessing the contribution of genetic variants. Most notably, the PAF estimate is typically much larger than other commonly used measures, such as heritability, thereby raising the concern that PAF may overestimate the genetic contribution.

Consensus report of the 8 and 9th Weinman Symposia on Gene x Environment Interaction in carcinogenesis: novel opportunities for precision medicine.

The relative contribution of intrinsic genetic factors and extrinsic environmental ones to cancer aetiology and natural history is a lengthy and debated issue. Gene-environment interactions (G x E) arise when the combined presence of both a germline genetic variant and a known environmental factor modulates the risk of disease more than either one alone. A panel of experts discussed our current understanding of cancer aetiology, known examples of G × E interactions in cancer, and the expanded concept of G × E interactions to include somatic cancer mutations and iatrogenic environmental factors such as anti-cancer treatment.

Two high-risk susceptibility loci at 6p25.3 and 14q32.13 for Waldenström macroglobulinemia.

Waldenström macroglobulinemia (WM)/lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma (LPL) is a rare, chronic B-cell lymphoma with high heritability. We conduct a two-stage genome-wide association study of WM/LPL in 530 unrelated cases and 4362 controls of European ancestry and identify two high-risk loci associated with WM/LPL at 6p25.3 (rs116446171, near EXOC2 and IRF4; OR = 21.

Identification of gene expression predictors of occupational benzene exposure.

Background: Previously, using microarrays and mRNA-Sequencing (mRNA-Seq) we found that occupational exposure to a range of benzene levels perturbed gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

Objectives: In the current study, we sought to identify gene expression biomarkers predictive of benzene exposure below 1 part per million (ppm), the occupational standard in the U.S.

Use and Reliability of Exposure Assessment Methods in Occupational Case-Control Studies in the General Population: Past, Present, and Future.

Introduction: Retrospective occupational exposure assessment has been challenging in case-control studies in the general population. We aimed to review (i) trends of different assessment methods used in the last 40 years and (ii) evidence of reliability for various assessment methods.

Methods: Two separate literature reviews were conducted.

Circulating sCD27 and sCD30 in pre-diagnostic samples collected fifteen years apart and future non-Hodgkin lymphoma risk.

Elevated serum sCD27 and sCD30 from a single banked sample have been associated with future non-Hodgkin lymphoma risk (NHL); however, the etiologic relevance of this finding is unclear. To address this question, we conducted a case-control study (235 cases, 235 controls) nested within the CLUE-I and CLUE-II cohorts, which enrolled participants in 1974 and 1989 respectively in Washington County, Maryland. Our study features a subset of 102 cases and 102 controls with two banked pre-diagnostic samples each, collected 15 years apart.

Non-invasive assessment of liver quality in transplantation based on thermal imaging analysis.

Background And Objective: Liver quality evaluation is one of the vital steps for predicting the success of liver transplantation. Current evaluation methods, such as biopsy and visual inspection, which are either invasive or lack of consistent standards, provide limited predictive value of long-term transplant viability. Objective analytical models, based on the real-time infrared images of livers during perfusion and preservation, are proposed as novel methods to precisely evaluate donated liver quality.

Bioprinting of glioma stem cells improves their endotheliogenic potential.

Glioblastoma (GBM), with rich blood vessels and high invasiveness, is the most common malignant primary brain tumor. The current treatment strategies are less effective, resulting in tumor recurrence. Tumor angiogenesis plays an important role in the occurrence, development and metastasis of GBM.

Coaxial extrusion bioprinted shell-core hydrogel microfibers mimic glioma microenvironment and enhance the drug resistance of cancer cells.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common primary malignant central nervous system tumor. The current treatment is mainly surgical resection combined with radiotherapy, chemotherapy and other comprehensive treatment methods. However, the treatment effect is unsatisfactory, the resistance of cancer cells to alkylating agent is the major reason for the recurrence of GBM.