CPEB1, a histone-modified hypomethylated gene,is regulated by miR-101 and involved in cell senescence in glioma

Epigenetic mechanisms have important roles in carcinogenesis. We certified that the mRNA translation-related gene cytoplasmic polyadenylation element-binding protein 1 (CPEB1) is hypomethylated and overexpressed in glioma cells and tissues. The knockdown of CPEB1 reduced cell senescence by regulating the expression or distribution of p53 in glioma cells. CPEB1 is also regulated directly by the tumor suppressor miR-101, a potential marker of glioma. It is known that the histone methyltransferase enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) and embryonic ectoderm development (EED) are direct targets of miR-101. We demonstrated that miR-101 downregulated the expression of CPEB1 through reversing the methylation status of the CPEB1 promoter by regulating the presence on the promoter of the methylation-related histones H3K4me2, H3K27me3, H3K9me3 and H4K20me3. The epigenetic regulation of H3K27me3 on CPEB1 promoter is mediated by EZH2 and EED. EZH2 has a role in the regulation of H3K4me2. Furthermore, the downregulation of CPEB1 induced senescence in a p53-dependent manner.     

Global Changes in the Mammary Epigenome Are Induced by Hormonal Cues and Coordinated by Ezh2

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Highlights? The mammary epigenome is highly sensitive to steroid hormones at specific developmental stages ? Ezh2 links hormonal cues to changes in chromatin structure and gene expression ? Progesterone is a key in vivo regulator of Ezh2 ? Hormone-induced chromatin changes likely play a role in the initiation of breast cancer     

Application of Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm to Maximum Likelihood DOA Estimation

Maximum Likelihood (ML) method has an excellent performance for Direction-Of-Arrival (DOA) estimation, but a multidimensional nonlinear solution search is required which complicates the computation and prevents the method from practical use. To reduce the high computational burden of ML method and make it more suitable to engineering applications, we apply the Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) algorithm to maximize the likelihood function for DOA estimation. As a recently proposed bio-inspired computing algorithm, ABC algorithm is originally used to optimize multivariable functions by imitating the behavior of bee colony finding excellent nectar sources in the nature environment. It offers an excellent alternative to the conventional methods in ML-DOA estimation. The performance of ABC-based ML and other popular meta-heuristic-based ML methods for DOA estimation are compared for various scenarios of convergence, Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), and number of iterations. The computation loads of ABC-based ML and the conventional ML methods for DOA estimation are also investigated. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed ABC based method is more efficient in computation and statistical performance than other ML-based DOA estimation methods.     

Confidence interval of intrinsic optimum temperature estimated using thermodynamic SSI model

The intrinsic optimum temperature for the development of ectotherms is one of the most important factors not only for their physiological processes but also for ecological and evolutional processes. The Sharpe–Schoolfield–Ikemoto (SSI) model succeeded in defining the temperature that can thermodynamically meet the condition that at a particular temperature the probability of an active enzyme reaching its maximum activity is realized. Previously, an algorithm was developed by Ikemoto (Tropical malaria does not mean hot environments. Journal of Medical Entomology, 45, 963–969) to estimate model parameters, but that program was computationally very time consuming. Now, investigators can use the SSI model more easily because a full automatic computer program was designed by Shi et al. (A modified program for estimating the parameters of the SSI model. Environmental Entomology, 40, 462–469). However, the statistical significance of the point estimate of the intrinsic optimum temperature for each ectotherm has not yet been determined. Here, we provided a new method for calculating the confidence interval of the estimated intrinsic optimum temperature by modifying the approximate bootstrap confidence intervals method. For this purpose, it was necessary to develop a new program for a faster estimation of the parameters in the SSI model, which we have also done.     

芪苈强心胶囊辅助治疗老年慢性心力衰竭的临床研究

目的：探讨芪苈强心胶囊辅助治疗老年慢性心力衰竭的临床疗效及其安全性。方法：选择我科2012年1月．6月收治的102例老年慢性心力衰竭患者为研究对象,并将其随机分为两组,对照组42例,给予西医常规治疗及地高辛0．125mg／d;观察组60例,在对照组基础上将地高辛用量改为O．0625mg／d,并予芪苈强心胶囊,每次4粒,每日3次12服,2个月为1个疗程,治疗3个疗程后观察和比较两组心功能的变化。结果：观察组和对照组的治疗总有效率分别为95．0．％和78．6％,观察组显著高于对照组,两组比较差异有统计学意义（P〈0．05）;观察组的平均住院时间明显短于对照组（P〈0．05）。治疗后,两组心输出量（cO）、每搏输出量（SV）、左室射血分数（LVEF）舒张晚期与舒张早期充盈速度比（～E）均较治疗前明显升高（P〈0．05）,而脑钠肽（BNP）水平较治疗前显著降低（P〈O．05）,且观察组CO、SV水平均明显高于对照组（P〈0．05）,BNP水平明显低于对照组（P〈0．05）。治疗过程中,对照组发生洋地黄中毒3例,观察组无不良事件发生。结论：芪苈强心胶囊辅助治疗老年慢性心力衰竭可有效改善其心功能,并减少地高辛用量和洋地黄中毒的发生,值得临床推广应用。