Chengyu Lu

Glycyrrhizic acid (GA), a major compound separated from Radix Glycyrrhizae, has been shwon to exert various biochemical effects, including neuroprotective effects. In the present study, we investigated the protective effects of GA against 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+)‑induced damage to differentiated PC12 (DPC12) cells. Compared with the MPP+-treated cells, GA markedly improved cell viability, restored mitochondrial dysfunction, suppressed the overexpression of cleaved poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), and suppressed the overproduction of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and intracellular Ca2+ overload. The protective effects of GA on cell survival were further confirmed in primary cortical neurons. GA markedly increased the expression of phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (p-ERK), as well as its migration from the cytoplasm to nucleus. PD98059, an inhibitor of ERK, blocked GA-enhanced ERK activation and reduced cell viability. However, pre-treatment with GA had no effects on the expression of phosphorylated AKT (p-AKT) and total AKT (t-AKT). These results indicate that the GA-mediated neuroprotective effects are associated with its modulation of multiple anti-apoptotic and pro-apoptotic factors, particularly the ERK signaling pathway. This study provides evidence supporting the use of GA as a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases and neuronal injury.

BACKGROUND: Many studies have shown that cancer cell differentiation and microvascular invasion play a principle role in cancer progression and metastasis, and non-invasive imaging techniques such as CT, MRI and US assessing the differentiation and the surgical resectibility and the prognosis of cancers are now of great importance. This study aimed to explore the correlation of triple-phase multi-slice CT scan with the histological differentiation and intratumor microvascular/lymphatic invasion of progressive gastric cancer. METHODS: The present study included 64 patients with gastric cancer, all of whom underwent routinal and dual-phase contrast enhancement multi-slice CT examinations of the upper abdomen before surgery. The post-operative specimens were used for determination of histological differentiation, cancer cell invasion of intratumoral microvascular/lymphatic vessel identified by CD34 and D2-40 expression. Correlations between contrast enhancement ratio (CER) of triple-phase multi-slice CT scan in gastric cancer and histological differentiation as well as intratumoral microvascular/lymphatic invasion were compared and analyzed. RESULTS: There was a significant correlation between CER of triple-phase CT scan in gastric cancer and tumor histological differentiation (P < 0.05). CER of the arterial phase in gastric cancer with intratumoral microvascular invasion was significantly higher than that without invasion (0.61 ± 0.28 vs. 0.46 ± 0.14, P < 0.05); CER of the arterial-parenchymal phase was significantly lower in gastric cancer with intratumoral microvascular invasion than that without invasion (1.81 ± 0.39 vs. 2.28 ± 0.80, P < 0.05). However, CER of the parenchymal phase in gastric cancer with intratumoral lymphatic invasion was significantly higher than that without invasion (1.25 ± 0.57 vs. 1.00 ± 0.35, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: CER of triple-phase multi-slice CT scan in gastric cancer is closely correlated with intratumoral microvascular and lymphatic invasion, and also could be used as a marker for histological differentiation.

Vehicle routing is a well-known optimization research topic with significant practical importance. Among different approaches to solving vehicle routing, heuristics can produce a satisfactory solution at a reasonable computational cost. Consequently, much effort has been made in the past decades to develop vehicle routing heuristics. In this article, we systematically survey the existing vehicle routing heuristics, particularly on works carried out in recent years. A classification of vehicle routing heuristics is presented, followed by a review of their methodologies, recent developments, and applications. Moreover, we present a general framework of state-of-the-art methods and provide insights into their success. Finally, three emerging research topics with notable works and future directions are discussed.