This pilot study demonstrated that machine learning algorithms are potential tools for the evaluation and prediction of noise-induced hearing impairment in workers exposed to diverse complex industrial noises.This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License 4.0 (CCBY-NC-ND), where it is permissible to download and share the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially without permission from the journal.
These findings show that miR-29a exerts as a novel regulator in the fibrogenesis of keloid, suggesting that miR-29a might be a novel marker for keloid.
Excessive skin scars due to elective operations or trauma represent a challenging clinical problem. Pathophysiology of hypertrophic scars entails a prolonged inflammatory and proliferative phase of wound healing. Over expression of TGF-β1 and COX-2 play key regulatory roles of the aberrant fibrogenic responses and proinflammatory mediators. When we silenced TGF-β1 and COX-2 expression simultaneously in primary human fibroblasts, a marked increase in the apoptotic cell population occurred in contrast to those only treated with either TGF-β1 or COX-2 siRNA alone. Furthermore, using human hypertrophic scar and skin graft implant models in mice, we observed significant size reductions of the implanted tissues following intra-scar administration of TGF-β1/COX-2 specific siRNA combination packaged with Histidine Lysine Polymer (HKP). Gene expression analyses of those treated tissues revealed silencing of the target gene along with down regulations of pro-fibrotic factors such as α-SMA, hydroxyproline acid, Collagen 1 and Collagen 3. Using TUNEL assay detection, we found that the human fibroblasts in the implanted tissues treated with the TGF-β1/COX-2siRNAs combination exhibited significant apoptotic activity. Therefore we conclude that a synergistic effect of the TGF-β1/COX-2siRNAs combination contributed to the size reductions of the hypertrophic scar implants, through activation of fibroblast apoptosis and re-balancing between scar tissue deposition and degradation.
This study aimed to explore the diagnostic and prognostic values of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in breast cancer. Between September 2009 and October 2011, a total of 143 breast cancer patients and 161 healthy people were selected as case group and control group, respectively. After the identification of lesions by conventional ultrasound, all patients underwent CEUS. The CEUS images were analyzed, and time–intensity curves (TICs) were obtained. Hematoxylin–eosin and immunohistochemistry staining was performed on tissue specimens, according to which the expressions of estrogen receptor (ER), c-erb-B2, p53, and Ki-67 were measured. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to compare CEUS and TIC parameters between the two groups. Compared with the control group, cancer patients showed high enhancement, heterogeneous enhancement or defects in the central region, expansion of lesion diameter after enhancement and crab-like blur lesion edges. The peak intensity (PI), relative start time of enhancement, relative PI, and relative area under the curve in the case group were significantly higher than those in the control group. Logistic analysis showed that the uniformity of enhancement, expansion of lesion diameter, and relative PI were significant diagnostic parameters of breast cancer, with area under the curve being 0.798, 0.776, and 0.919, respectively. There were strong associations between CEUS characteristics and expressions of prognostic factors in breast cancer: the heterogeneous enhancement was common in c-erb-B2-positive tumors; the centripetal enhancement occurred more in ER-negative tumors; perforator vessels were often seen in tumors at high histological grade; perfusion defects were common in ER-negative, c-erb-B2-positive, and Ki-67-positive tumors. CEUS is a useful tool for the early diagnosis and prognosis of breast cancer.
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