PURPOSE: Triptolide (TPL) is a diterpenoid triepoxide that effectively induces apoptosis in a wide variety of cancer cells. However, the detailed mechanism by which TPL activates caspase cascade remains elusive. This study aimed to examine the antitumor effects of TPL against pancreatic cancer and investigate the underlying mechanism. METHODS: Cell proliferation was evaluated by sulforhodamine B assay. The apoptosis was evaluated by caspase activity assay, Western blot and flow cytometry. DcR3 level was measured by ELISA. AsPC-1 xenografts were established to compare the in vivo antitumor effects of TPL and Gemcitabine. RESULTS: TPL inhibited the proliferation and induced the apoptosis of pancreatic cancer cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. TPL also inhibited DcR3 expression in a dose- and time-dependent manner. siRNA-mediated DcR3 knockdown sensitized pancreatic cancer cells to TPL-induced apoptosis. In vivo, DcR3 siRNA significantly enhanced TPL-induced apoptosis and tumor growth inhibition. Moreover, TPL showed less toxicity compared to Gemcitabine in mice model. CONCLUSIONS: TPL induces the apoptosis of pancreatic cancer cells via the downregulation of DcR3 expression and has the potential as an effective agent against pancreatic cancer.

Abacus experts are able to mentally calculate multi-digit numbers rapidly. Some behavioral and neuroimaging studies have suggested a visuospatial and visuomotor strategy during abacus mental calculation. However, no study up to now has attempted to dissociate temporally the visuospatial neural process from the visuomotor neural process during abacus mental calculation. In the present study, an abacus expert performed the mental addition tasks (8-digit and 4-digit addends presented in visual or auditory modes) swiftly and accurately. The 100% correct rates in this expert's task performance were significantly higher than those of ordinary subjects performing 1-digit and 2-digit addition tasks. ERPs, EEG source localizations, and fMRI results taken together suggested visuospatial and visuomotor processes were sequentially arranged during the abacus mental addition with visual addends and could be dissociated from each other temporally. The visuospatial transformation of the numbers, in which the superior parietal lobule was most likely involved, might occur first (around 380 ms) after the onset of the stimuli. The visuomotor processing, in which the superior/middle frontal gyri were most likely involved, might occur later (around 440 ms). Meanwhile, fMRI results suggested that neural networks involved in the abacus mental addition with auditory stimuli were similar to those in the visual abacus mental addition. The most prominently activated brain areas in both conditions included the bilateral superior parietal lobules (BA 7) and bilateral middle frontal gyri (BA 6). These results suggest a supra-modal brain network in abacus mental addition, which may develop from normal mental calculation networks.

Objective. To investigate serum ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) levels in gestational diabetes mellitus and the effect of treatment with continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion on the biomarker. Methods. The gestational diabetes mellitus women in the second trimester were evaluated before and after the two kinds of treatments with continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion and medical nutrition therapy for 6 weeks. Maternal serum ischemia-modified albumin and metabolic parameters were measured at baseline and at the 6th week. Results.Serum ischemia-modified albumin levels and metabolic parameters were higher in patients with gestational diabetes mellitus at baseline than in controls. Ischemia-modified albumin levels were correlated with plasma glucose (p < 0.05). Variables of glycemic control and ischemia-modified albumin levels were significantly reduced at the 6th week. The effect of insulin treatment was generally better than diet therapy. Linear regression analysis showed that fasting plasma glucose was an independent determinant for IMA levels (β = 0.611, p = 0.035).Fetal outcome was similar except for macrosomia and Apgar score at 5 min. Conclusion.Serum ischemia-modified albumin levels were higher in gestational diabetes mellitus compared to normal pregnancy. Continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion consistently improved metabolic disorder control. Gestational diabetes mellitus women were associated to a higher risk of oxidative stress and pregnancy complications.

A search for a Higgs boson in the four-lepton decay channel H→ZZ, with each Z boson decaying to an electron or muon pair, is reported. The search covers Higgs boson mass hypotheses in the range of 110<m_{H}<600  GeV. The analysis uses data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.7  fb^{-1} recorded by the CMS detector in pp collisions at sqrt[s]=7  TeV from the LHC. Seventy-two events are observed with four-lepton invariant mass m_{4ℓ}>100  GeV (with 13 below 160 GeV), while 67.1±6.0 (9.5±1.3) events are expected from background. The four-lepton mass distribution is consistent with the expectation of standard model background production of ZZ pairs. Upper limits at 95% confidence level exclude the standard model Higgs boson in the ranges of 134-158 GeV, 180-305 GeV, and 340-465 GeV. Small excesses of events are observed around masses of 119, 126, and 320 GeV, making the observed limits weaker than expected in the absence of a signal.