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Reports on a cross-cultural study into science teachers' awareness of potential culture clashes in their classrooms where their students' home culture differed from the culture of Western science being taught. In one setting, Canadian teachers taught mainly Aboriginal students. In the second setting, Japanese teachers taught Western science to Japanese students. (SAH)

This study examined the associations between school entry skills and science achievement at both the student and school levels among fourth-grade students in South Korea, Singapore, Japan, Chinese Taipei, and Hong Kong. Data of the five Asian regions in the 2015 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) were analysed. Variables included Interest, Self-concept, School entry skills - reported by parents, Cognitive activities, Parent attitudes toward mathematics and science, Home educational resources, and Gender, all at the student level, and Emphasis on academic success, Discipline problems, and School entry skills – reported by principals at the school level. Results of the multilevel path analysis indicated that School entry skills positively and directly influenced science achievement, and simultaneously mediated the influence from cognitive activities to science achievement at the student level. These findings were consistent among the five Asian regions. At the school level, it was found that compared to School entry skills, School emphasis on academic success was the stronger predictor of science achievement among students for most Asian regions. Implications for improving primary school students’ science learning are discussed.

Fluorescence imaging of tumours facilitates rapid intraoperative diagnosis. Thus far, a promising activatable fluorescence probe for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has not been developed. Herein, the utility of the fluorescence imaging of HCC using a β-galactosidase (β-Gal)-activatable fluorescence probe SPiDER-βGal was examined. β-Gal activity was measured in cryopreserved tissues from 68 patients. Live cell imaging of HCC cell lines and imaging of tumour-bearing model mice were performed using SPiDER-βGal. Furthermore, fluorescence imaging was performed in 27 freshly resected human HCC specimens. In cryopreserved samples, β-Gal activity was significantly higher in tumour tissues than in non-tumour tissues. Fluorescence was observed in HCC cell lines. In mouse models, tumours displayed stronger fluorescence than normal liver tissue. In freshly resected specimens, fluorescence intensity in the tumour was significantly higher than that in non-tumour liver specimens as early as 2 min after spraying. Receiver operating characteristic curves were generated to determine the diagnostic value of SPiDER-βGal 10 min after its spraying; an area under the curve of 0.864, sensitivity of 85.2%, and specificity of 74.1% were observed for SPiDER-βGal. SPiDER-βGal is useful for the rapid fluorescence imaging of HCC. Fluorescence imaging guided by SPiDER-βGal would help surgeons detect tumours rapidly and achieve complete liver resection.

Background: This study aims to explore novel microRNAs in plasma for screening cancer and predicting clinical outcomes in pancreatic cancer (PCa) patients using a microRNA array-based approach. Methods: We used the Toray 3D-Gene microRNA array-based approach to compare plasma levels between PCa patients and healthy volunteers. Results: (1) Six oncogenic microRNAs (miR-615-5p, -744, -575, -557, -675, and -550a) with high expression in plasma were selected. (2) By quantitative RT–PCR using plasma samples from 94 PCa patients and 68 healthy volunteers, a significantly higher level of plasma miR-744 in PCa patients than in healthy volunteers was validated in small-scale analysis ( P =0.0038), two independent cohort analyses, and large-scale analysis ( P <0.0001, AUC 0.8307). (3) miR-744 expression was significantly higher in PCa tissues ( P =0.0069) and PCa cell lines ( P =0.0074) than in normal tissues and fibroblasts, respectively. Preoperative plasma level of miR-744 was significantly reduced in postoperative samples ( P =0.0063). (4) A high level of plasma miR-744, which was correlated with lymph node metastasis ( P =0.0407) and recurrences ( P =0.0376), was an independent poor prognostic factor of PCa patients after pancreatectomy ( P =0.0007, HR 21.2 (3.17–436)). Furthermore, a high level of plasma miR-744 contributed to poorer progression-free survival of non-operable PCa patients who underwent gemcitabine-based chemotherapy ( P =0.0533). Overexpression of miR-744 in PCa cells induced significant chemoresistance to gemcitabine in vitro . Conclusions: Plasma miR-744 might be useful biomarker for screening PCa, monitoring, and predicting poor prognosis and chemoresistance in PCa patients.

Recent studies have shown that metastasis‐associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1) was overexpressed in many human solid cancers, however, its roles in plasma of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients were unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the significance of plasma MALAT1 levels in HCC patients. Plasma samples were collected from pre‐operative HCC, hepatic disease patients, and healthy controls, and tissue samples from HCC patients and colorectal cancer patients with liver metastasis. Plasma and tissue MALAT1 levels were measured. Plasma MALAT1 levels were progressively and significantly higher in HCC patients than hepatic disease patients, and higher in hepatic disease patients than healthy controls. The expression of MALAT1 in HCC tissue was slightly higher than that in paired non‐cancerous liver tissue, but not significant. The expression of MALAT1 in the non‐cancerous liver tissue of 20 HCC patients was significantly higher than that in normal liver tissue of 13 colorectal cancer patients. In contrast, plasma MALAT1 levels were significantly low in HCC patients with hepatitis B infection, and significantly high in patients with liver damage B or liver cirrhosis. In a receiver–operator curve analysis of HCC and hepatic disease patients, the cut‐off value of plasma MALAT1 was 1.60 and the area under the curve was 0.66. Plasma MALAT1 levels were not correlated with α‐fetoprotein or protein induced by vitamin K absence II, whereas sensitivity and specificity for the detection of HCC with the combination of MALAT1, α‐fetoprotein, and protein induced by vitamin K absence II were 88.6% and 75%, respectively. In conclusion, the plasma MALAT1 level is associated with liver damage, and has clinical utility for predicting development of HCC. The aim of present study was to investigate the significance of plasma MALAT1 levels in HCC patients. Plasma MALAT1 levels were progressively and significantly higher in HCC patients than hepatic disease patients, and higher in hepatic disease patients than healthy controls. Plasma MALAT1 levels have clinical utility for predicting liver damage and development of HCC.

The optimal extent of lymph node dissection in colon cancer surgery is specified in guidelines based on the results of past analyses. However, with advances in surgical techniques and multidisciplinary treatments, the clinical significance of dissecting each lymph node may change. In this study, we re-examined the optimal dissection range in each colon cancer localization. We retrospectively analyzed 788 cases of T1–T4 colon cancer who underwent radical resection between 2008 and 2018 at our hospital, and evaluated the Lymphadenectomy Index. No metastases to the main lymph node were found in T1 cases. In T2 cases, dissection effect to the main lymph node were observed in cases with tumors localized in the ascending colon and left side of the transverse colon. For tumors localized in the cecum, dissection was effective for lymph nodes in nodal station 213, in the right side of the transverse colon in station 211, in the descending colon in station 221, and in the sigmoid colon in station 231. These lymph nodes could have been considered out of scope for dissection if the Japanese guidelines were followed. In these cases, the extent of lymph node dissection should be carefully considered on a case-by-case basis.

Background This study aims to explore novel microRNAs in urine for screening and predicting clinical characteristics in pancreatic cancer (PC) patients using a microRNA array-based approach. Methods We used the Toray ® 3D-Gene microRNA array-based approach to compare urinary levels between PC patients and healthy volunteers. Results (1) Four oncogenic microRNAs (miR-744-5p, miR-572, miR-210-3p, and miR-575) that were highly upregulated in the urine of PC patients compared to healthy individuals were identified by comprehensive microRNA array analysis. (2) Test-scale analysis by quantitative RT-PCR for each group of 20 cases showed that miR-210-3p was significantly upregulated in the urine of PC patients compared to healthy individuals ( P  = 0.009). (3) Validation analysis (58 PC patients and 35 healthy individuals) confirmed that miR-210-3p was significantly upregulated in the urine of PC patients compared to healthy individuals ( P  < 0.001, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve = 0.79, sensitivity: 0.828, specificity: 0.743). We differentiated PC patients into invasive ductal carcinoma (IDCa) and intraductal papillary mucinous carcinoma (IPMC) groups. In addition to urinary miR-210-3p levels being upregulated in IDCa over healthy individuals ( P  = 0.009), urinary miR-210-3p levels were also elevated in IPMC over healthy individuals ( P  = 0.0018). Urinary miR-210-3p can differentiate IPMC from healthy individuals by a cutoff of 8.02 with an AUC value of 0.762, sensitivity of 94%, and specificity of 63%. (4) To test whether urinary miR210-3p levels reflected plasma miR-210-3p levels, we examined the correlation between urinary and plasma levels. Spearman’s correlation analysis showed a moderate positive correlation (ρ = 0.64, P  = 0.005) between miR-210-3p expression in plasma and urine. Conclusions Urinary miR-210-3p is a promising, non-invasive diagnostic biomarker of PC, including IPMC. Trial registration Not applicable.

Postoperative hepatobiliary enzyme abnormalities often present as postoperative liver dysfunction in patients with gastric cancer (GC). This study aimed to identify the risk factors for postoperative liver dysfunction and their clinical impact after GC surgery. We retrospectively analyzed the data of 124 patients with GC who underwent laparoscopic or robotic surgery at Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine between 2017 and 2019. Twenty (16.1%) patients with GC developed postoperative liver dysfunction (Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 5.0 ≥ Grade 3). Univariate analyses identified robotic surgery as a risk factor for postoperative liver dysfunction ( P  = 0.005). There was no correlation between the postoperative liver dysfunction status and postoperative complications or postoperative hospital stays. Patients with postoperative liver dysfunction did not have significantly worse overall survival ( P  = 0.296) or recurrence-free survival ( P  = 0.565) than those without postoperative liver dysfunction. Robotic surgery is a risk factor for postoperative liver dysfunction; however, postoperative liver dysfunction does not affect short or long-term outcomes.

Background/Aim: The membrane transporters activated in cancer stem cells (CSCs) are the target of novel cancer therapies for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The present investigation demonstrated the expression profiles of ion channels in CSCs of HCC. Materials and Methods: Cells that highly expressed aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 family member A1 (ALDH1A1) were separated from HepG2 cells, a human HCC cell line, by fluorescence-activated cell sorting, and CSCs were identified based on the formation of tumorspheres. Gene expression profiles in CSCs were investigated using microarray analysis. Results: Among HepG2 cells, ALDH1A1 messenger RNA level was higher in CSCs than in non-CSCs. Furthermore, CSCs exhibited resistance to cisplatin and had the capacity to redifferentiate. The results of the microarray analysis of CSCs showed the up-regulated expression of several genes related to ion channels, such as calcium voltage-gated channel auxiliary subunit gamma 4 (CACNG4). The cytotoxicity of the CACNG4 inhibitor amlodipine was higher at lower concentrations in CSCs than in non-CSCs, and markedly decreased the number of tumorspheres. The cell population among HepG2 cells that highly expressed ALDH1A1 was also significantly reduced by this inhibitor. Conclusion: CACNG4 plays a role in maintaining CSCs, and its inhibitor, amlodipine, could potentially be a targeted therapeutic agent against HCC.

This study explored decreased tumor suppressor microRNA (miRNA) plasma levels in pancreatic cancer (PCa) patients to clarify their potential as novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets. We used the microRNA array-based approach to select candidates by comparing plasma levels between PCa patients and healthy volunteers. Six down-regulated miRNAs (miR-107, miR-126, miR-451, miR-145, miR-491-5p, and miR-146b-5p) were selected. Small- and large-scale analyses using samples from 100 PCa patients and 80 healthy volunteers revealed that miR-107 was the most down-regulated miRNA in PCa patients compared with healthy volunteers ( P  < 0.0001; area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve, 0.851). A low miR-107 plasma level was significantly associated with advanced T stage, N stage, and liver metastasis and was an independent factor predicting poor prognosis in PCa patients ( P  = 0.0424; hazard ratio, 2.95). miR-107 overexpression in PCa cells induced G1/S arrest with the production of p21 and inhibited cell proliferation through the transcriptional regulation of Notch2. In vivo , the restoration and maintenance of the miR-107 plasma level significantly inhibited tumor progression in mice. Depletion of the tumor suppressor miR-107 in plasma relates to tumor progression and poor outcomes. The restoration of the plasma miR-107 level might be a novel anticancer treatment strategy for PCa.