Growth hormone deficiency is common in intracranial tumors, which is usually treated with surgery and radiotherapy. A number of previous studies have investigated the relationship between the growth hormone replacement therapy (GHRT) and risk of tumor recurrence/ progression; however, the evidence remains controversial. We conducted a meta-analysis of published studies to estimate the potential relation between GHRT and intracranial tumors recurrence/progression. Three comprehensive databases, PUBMED, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library, were researched with no limitations, covering all published studies till the end of July, 2014. Reference lists from identified studies were also screened for additional database. The summary relative risks (RR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) were calculated by fixed-effects models for estimation. Fifteen eligible studies, involving more than 2232 cases and 3606 controls, were included in our meta-analysis. The results indicated that intracranial tumors recurrence/progression was not associated with GHRT (RR 0.48, 95 % CI 0.39-0.56), and for children, the pooled RR was 0.44 and 95 % CI was 0.34-0.54. In subgroup analysis, risks of recurrence/progression were decreased for craniopharyngioma, medulloblastoma, astrocytoma, glioma, but not for pituitary adenomas, and non-functioning pituitary adenoma (NFPA), ependymoma.Results from our analysis indicate that GHRT decreases the risk of recurrence/progression in children with intracranial tumors, craniopharyngioma, medulloblastoma, astrocytoma, or glioma. However, GHRT for pituitary adenomas, NFPA, and ependymoma was not associated with the recurrence/progression of the tumors. GH replacement seems safe from the aspect of risk of tumor progression.

Context.Little is known about the diversity in the light curves of supernovae (SNe) associated with gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), including whether the light curve of SN 1998bw can be used as a representative template or whether there is a luminosity-decline rate relation akin to that of SNe Ia. Aims. In this paper, we aim to obtain well-constrained light curves of GRB-SNe without the assumption of empirical or parametric templates and to investigate whether the peak brightness correlates with other parameters such as the light curve shape or the time of peak. Methods. We select eight SNe in the redshift range 0.0085 to 0.606, which are firmly associated with GRBs. The light curves of these GRB-SNe are well sampled across the peak. Afterglow and host galaxy contributions are subtracted and dust reddening is corrected for. Low-order polynomial functions are fitted to the light curves. A K-correction is applied to transform the light curves into the rest frame V band. Results. GRB-SNe have fairly uniform peak luminosities, similar to SNe Ia. Moreover, GRB-SNe follow a luminosity-decline rate relation similar to the Phillips relation for SNe Ia. The relation between the peak magnitude M V,peak and the decline rate ∆m V,15 in V band is M V,peak = 1.59 +0.28 −0.24 ∆m V,15 − 20.61 +0.19 −0.22 mag, with χ 2 = 5.2 for 6 degrees of freedom. This luminosity-decline rate relation is tighter than the k − s relation, where k and s are the factors describing the relative brightness and width to the light curve of SN 1998bw. The peak luminosities of GRB-SNe are also weakly correlated with the time of peak: the brighter the GRB-SN, the longer the rise time. Conclusions. The light curve of SN 1998bw, stretched around the time of explosion, can be used as a template for GRB-SNe with reasonable confidence, but stretching around the peak produces better results. GRB-SNe exhibit a luminosity-decline rate relation, similar to SNe Ia, both in normalization and slope. The existence of such a relation provides a new constraint on GRB explosion models. Considering the usefulness of SNe Ia in measuring cosmological distances, it is possible that GRB-SNe can be used as standardizable candles to measure cosmological distances and constrain cosmological parameters.

Background Starting with low metastatic capability, T4N0M0 (diameter ≥ 7 cm) non‐small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs) constitute a unique tumor subset, as with a large tumor size but no regional or distant metastases. We systematically investigated intratumoral heterogeneity, clonal structure, chromosomal instability (CIN), and immune microenvironment in T4N0M0 (≥7 cm) NSCLCs. Methods Whole‐exome sequencing, RNA sequencing, and multiplex immunohistochemistry (mIHC) staining were conducted to analyze 24 spatially segregated tumor samples from eight patients who were pathologically diagnosed with T4N0M0 (diameter ≥ 7 cm) NSCLCs. The adjacent normal tissues and peripheral blood served as controls. Results In total, 35.2% of mutations and 91.1% of somatic copy number alterations were classified as subclonal events, which exhibited widespread genetic intratumoral heterogeneity. In contrast, a low degree of CIN was observed. None of the patients had genome doubling. The burden of loss of heterozygosity, aneuploidy, and the genome instability index of these tumors were significantly lower than those in the TRACERx cohort. Expression profiles revealed significantly upregulated expression of cell division‐related signals and the G2/M checkpoint pathway. In addition, a similar expression pattern of the immune microenvironment was observed in different regions of the tumor, which was confirmed by mIHC profiles. Conclusions Our study indicates the presence of intratumoral genetic heterogeneity and immune microenvironmental heterogeneity features in T4N0M0 NSCLCs, and the low degree of CIN may be related to the low metastatic capability.

Accurate detection of the direction of hydraulic fracturing cracks in the oil field is one of the crucial factors in rational exploitation of the remaining oil and enhanced oil recovery. In this paper, using the potential and the potential gradient test methods and virtual instrument technology, we design and develop an intelligent borehole-surface electrical method multi-parameters detection system (BEMDS), which can achieve multi-channel, multi-parameter and high-precision borehole-surface electrical method data acquisition. Joint programming technology of Labview and Matlab gains the simultaneously measurement of the parameters of resistivity and induced polarization. As a result, the drawbacks of the original instrument that measuring single parameters and cannot mutually authenticate has been overcome.