Inflammation influences cancer development and progression, and a low lymphocyte to monocyte ratio (LMR) has been reported to be a poor prognostic indicator in several malignancies. Here we quantify the prognostic impact of this biomarker and assess its consistency in various cancers. Eligible studies were retrieved from PubMed, Embase and Web of Science databases. Overall survival (OS) was the primary outcome, cancer-specific survival (CSS), disease-free survival (DFS), recurrence-free survival (RFS), and progression-free survival (PFS) were secondary outcomes. Pooled hazard ratios (HRs), odds ratios (ORs), and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Fifty-six studies comprising 20,248 patients were included in the analysis. Overall, decreased LMR was significantly associated with shorter OS in non-hematological malignancy (HR: 0.59, 95% CI: 0.53–0.66; P < 0.001) and hematological malignancy (HR: 0.44, 95% CI: 0.34–0.56; P < 0.001). Similar results were found in CSS, DFS, RFS and PFS. Moreover, low LMR was significantly associated with some clinicopathological characteristics that are indicative of poor prognosis and disease aggressiveness. By these results, we conclude that a decreased LMR implied poor prognosis in patients with cancer and could serve as a readily available and inexpensive biomarker for clinical decision.

The absence of orexin results in narcolepsy-cataplexy. While the function of the central orexinergic system in sleep regulation has been well studied, the role of orexin in motor control is largely unknown. Here, we show that orexin-A acts via OX(1) and OX(2) receptors to directly depolarize neurons in the rat lateral vestibular nucleus (LVN), a subcortical motor center, and enhance their sensitivity. A dual ionic mechanism involving both Na+-Ca²+ exchangers and inward rectifier K+ channels underlies these effects. Furthermore, orexin-A regulates central vestibular-mediated posture, motor balance and negative geotaxis. Orexin is critical when an animal is facing a major motor challenge as opposed to during rest and general movements. Therefore, orexin participates not only in sleep and emotion (nonsomatic) but also in motor (somatic) regulation, suggesting that the central orexinergic system plays an important role in somatic-nonsomatic integration. These findings may account for why the absence of orexin results in narcolepsy-cataplexy.

This is a systematic review of studies investigating the prognostic value of different microRNAs (miRs) in renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Twenty-seven relevant studies were identified, with a total of 2578 subjects. We found that elevated expression of miR-21, miR-1260b, miR-210, miR-100, miR-125b, miR-221, miR-630, and miR-497 was associated with a poor prognosis in RCC patients. Conversely, decreased expression of miR-106b, miR-99a, miR-1826, miR-215, miR-217, miR-187, miR-129–3p, miR-23b, miR-27b, and miR-126 was associated with a worse prognosis. We performed meta-analyses on studies to address the prognostic value of miR-21, miR-126, miR-210, and miR-221. This revealed that elevated miR-21 expression was associated with shorter overall survival (OS; hazard ratio [HR], 2.29; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.28–4.08), cancer specific survival (CSS; HR, 4.16; 95% CI, 2.49–6.95), and disease free survival (DFS; HR, 2.15; 95% CI, 1.16–3.98). The decreased expression of miR-126 was associated with shorter CSS (HR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.15–0.85), OS (HR, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.30–0.69), and DFS (HR 0.30; 95% CI, 0.18–0.50). Our comprehensive systematic review reveals that miRs, especially miR-21 and miR-126, could be promising prognostic markers and useful therapeutic targets in RCC.

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Anatomical retroperitoneoscopic adrenalectomy is a safe, effective, technically efficient procedure for surgical adrenal diseases.

We report fabrication of nanostructured, laser-doped selective emitter (LDSE) silicon solar cells with power conversion efficiency of 18.1 % and a fill factor (FF) of 80.1 %. The nanostructured solar cells were realized through a single step, mask-less, scalable reactive ion etch (RIE) texturing of the surface. The selective emitter was formed by means of laser doping using a continuous wave (CW) laser and subsequent contact formation using light-induced plating of Ni and Cu. The combination of RIE-texturing and a LDSE cell design has to our knowledge not been demonstrated previously. The resulting efficiency indicates a promising potential, especially considering that the cell reported in this work is the first proof-of-concept and that the fabricated cell is not fully optimized in terms of plating, emitter sheet resistance and surface passivation. Due to the scalable nature and simplicity of RIE-texturing as well as the LDSE process, we consider this specific combination a promising candidate for a cost-efficient process for future Si solar cells.

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BackgroundTranscription factor E2F1 exerts effects on many types of cancers. As an upstream regulator of a host of genes, E2F1 can trigger diverse aberrant transcription processes that may dominate malignancy. Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the most common subtype in renal cell carcinoma which displays high malignancy and has a shortage of biomarkers in clinics. Our study aimed to explore the function of E2F1 in ccRCC and its correlation with clinicopathological parameters.Methodology/Principle FindingsTranscription factor E2F1 was mainly distributed in cancer cell nucleus and mRNA expression significantly increased in 72 cases of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) tissues compared with adjacent non-cancerous kidney tissues (p<0.001). The protein expression was consistent with mRNA expression. Further analysis in 92 cases indicated that E2F1 mRNA level expression was associated with the tumor pathologic parameters embracing diameter, Fuhrman tumor grade, pT stage, TNM stage grouping and macrovascular infiltration (MAVI). These surgical specimens had high grade tumors accompanied with an elevated E2F1 expression. Moreover, E2F1 transfection was found to contribute significantly to cancer cell proliferation, migration and invasion in vitro.Conclusions/SignificanceOverexpression of E2F1 may be a key event in the local and vascular infiltration of ccRCC indicated by the activation of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) 2 and MMP9. These findings highlighted the implication of E2F1’s function in the metastatic process. Furthermore, the clinical relevance of E2F1 in ccRCC pointed to a potential new therapeutic target.