It has not been established which specific measures of obesity might be most appropriate for predicting CVD risk in Asians. The objectives of the present study were to determine the associations of BMI, waist circumference (WC) and waist:height ratio (WHtR) with CVD risk factors and to evaluate the optimal cut-off values to define overweight or obesity in Chinese adults. Data collected from seven nationwide health examination centres during 2008 and 2009 were analysed. The BMI, WC and WHtR of 244 266 Chinese adults aged $20 years included in the study were measured. Logistic regression models were fit to evaluate the OR of each CVD risk factor according to various anthropometric indices. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were conducted to assess the optimal cut-off values to predict the risk of diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidaemia and the metabolic syndrome. WHtR had the largest areas under the ROC curve for all CVD risk factors in both sexes, followed by WC and BMI. The optimal cut-off values were approximately 24·0 and 23·0 kg/m 2 for BMI, 85·0 and 75·0 cm for WC, and 0·50 and 0·48 for WHtR for men and women, respectively. According to well-established cut-off values, BMI was found to be a more sensitive indicator of hypertension in both men and women, while WC and WHtR were found to be better indicators of diabetes and dyslipidaemia. A combination of BMI and central obesity measures was found to be associated with greater OR of CVD risk factors than either of them alone in both sexes. The present study demonstrated that WHtR and WC may be better indicators of CVD risk factors for Chinese people than BMI.

Purpose: We applied a unique method to identify genes expressed in whole blood that can serve as biomarkers to detect colorectal cancer (CRC). Experimental Design:Total RNA was isolated from 211blood samples (110 non-CRC,101CRC). Microarray and quantitative real-time PCR were used for biomarker screening and validation, respectively. Results: From a set of 31 RNA samples (16 CRC, 15 controls), we selected 37 genes from analyzed microarray data that differed significantly between CRC samples and controls (P < 0.05).We tested these genes with a second set of 115 samples (58 CRC, 57 controls) using quantitative real-time PCR, validating 17 genes as differentially expressed. Five of these genes were selected for logistic regression analysis, of which two were the most up-regulated (CDA and MGC20553) and three were the most down-regulated (BANK1, BCNP1, and MS4A1) in CRC patients. Logit

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) play a pivotal role in promoting tumor growth and metastasis and can even decrease the efficacy of immunotherapy. In breast cancer, MDSCs are recruited mainly by breast cancer cells to form a tumor-favoring microenvironment to suppress the anti-tumor immune response. In addition, MDSCs can react directly with breast cancer cells. In this paper, we describe several ways to recruit MDSCs in breast cancer, including breast cancer cell-derived cytokines and chemokines. The intracellular pathways in MDSCs during recruitment are classified as the STAT3-NF-κB-IDO pathway, the STAT3/IRF-8 pathway and the PTEN/Akt pathway. MDSCs act on T cells and NK cells to suppress the body's immunity, and via IL-6 trans-signaling, promote breast cancer directly. We further describe MDSC-targeted immune therapies for breast cancer, which are classified as: preventing the formation of MDSCs, eliminating MDSDCs, and reducing the products of MDSCs. Furthermore, MDSC-targeted immunotherapy potentiates the effect of the other immunotherapies. Based on the facts that MSDCs have significant roles in breast cancer malignant behaviors and can be suppressed by various strategies, we do believe MDSC-targeted immunotherapy presents a broad prospect in the future.

SYNOPSISReactive melt processing of different types of diamines with polyethylene containing carboxylic acid groups and polystyrene containing anhydride groups was carried out. The reactivity of primary, secondary, and tertiary diamines with these acid polymers was determined using various techniques. Molecular weight increases due to crosslinking were observed through ( 1 ) changes in the torque during the reactive processing, ( 2 ) decrease in melt flow indices, and ( 3 ) decrease in solubility of the reaction products. The chemical compositions of the reaction products were examined by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Thermal analysis using differential scanning calorimetry ( DSC ) was carried out to determine the crystallization behavior, glass transition temperatures, and thermal stabilities of the reaction products. Results show that the primary amine is the most reactive towards carboxylic acid or anhydride groups followed by the secondary and then the tertiary amine. Anhydride groups on polymers are of higher activity towards secondary or primary amino groups than carboxylic acid groups in the nucleophilic acyl substitution reactions. Reaction products crosslinked with the primary diamine are less stable than their parent acidic polymers. On the other hand, crosslinking with the secondary or tertiary diamine gives products with higher thermal stability than the parent acidic polymers. The formation of reversible and irreversible crosslinks with different types of diamines is also reported.

Kostochka and Thomason in the 1980s independently proved that every graph with no K t minor has average degree O(t √ log t), which implies that every such graph is O(t √ log t)-colorable. We show that every graph with no K t minor is O(t(log t) 0.354 )-colorable, making the first improvement on the order of magnitude of the Kostochka-Thomason bound.

Let K k , C k , T k , and P k denote a complete graph on k vertices, a cycle on k vertices, a tree on k + 1 vertices, and a path on k + 1 vertices, respectively. Let K m − H be the graph obtained from K m by removing the edges set E(H) of the graph H (H is a subgraph of K m ). A sequence S is potentially K m − H-graphical if it has a realization containing a K m − H as a subgraph. Let σ(K m − H, n) denote the smallest degree sum such that every n-term graphical sequence S with σ(S) ≥ σ(K m − H, n) is potentially K m − H-graphical. In this paper, we determine the values of σ(K r+1 −H, n) for n ≥ 4r+10, r ≥ 3, r+1 ≥ k ≥ 4 where H is a graph on k vertices which contains a tree on 4 vertices but not contains a cycle on 3 vertices. We also determine the values of σ(K r+1 − P 2 , n) for n ≥ 4r + 8, r ≥ 3.

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Reported relationships among Helicobacter pylori infection, white blood cell (WBC) count and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are inconsistent and controversial. We, therefore, conducted a cross-sectional study to investigate the associations among the presence of NAFLD, WBC count and H pylori infection, as diagnosed using the 13C-urea breath test (UBT).This study included 20,389 subjects enrolled at the International Health Care Center of the Second Affiliated Hospital of the Zhejiang University School of Medicine from January 2015 to December 2015. All participants underwent a 13C-UBT for the diagnosis of H pylori infection and ultrasonography for NAFLD as well as a blood test to determine WBC count. Multivariate logistic regression was then performed to evaluate the relationship among H pylori infection, WBC count and NAFLD.H pylori infection was detected in 38.49% (7,848/20,389) of the subjects via the UBT, and NAFLD was present in 37.24% (7,592/20,389) of the subjects. The prevalence of H pylori infection was higher in the NAFLD group than in the control group (41.25% vs 36.85%, P <.001). Significant differences were found between various WBC quartiles and H pylori infection, age, gender, body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (HS-CRP), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C), fasting blood glucose (FPG), homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), and smoking. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that the combination of H pylori infection and WBC count (odds ratio [OR] = 1.067, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.014, 1.093; P = .007; OR = 1.165, 95% CI: 1.023, 1.488; P <.001; OR = 1.183, 95% CI: 1.085, 1.559; P <.001, respectively) was positively associated with NAFLD.H pylori infection and WBC count may contribute to the pathogenesis of NAFLD.