Purpose: Recent studies have suggested that microRNA biomarkers could be useful for stratifying lung cancer subtypes, but microRNA signatures varied between different populations. Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is one major subtype of lung cancer that urgently needs biomarkers to aid patient management. Here, we undertook the first comprehensive investigation on microRNA in Chinese SCC patients.Experimental Design: MicroRNA expression was measured in cancerous and noncancerous tissue pairs strictly collected from Chinese SCC patients (stages I-III), who had not been treated with chemotherapy or radiotherapy prior to surgery. The molecular targets of proposed microRNA were further examined.Results: We identified a 5-microRNA classifier (hsa-miR-210, hsa-miR-182, hsa-miR-486-5p, hsamiR-30a, and hsa-miR-140-3p) that could distinguish SCC from normal lung tissues. The classifier had an accuracy of 94.1% in a training cohort (34 patients) and 96.2% in a test cohort (26 patients). We also showed that high expression of hsa-miR-31 was associated with poor survival in these 60 SCC patients by Kaplan-Meier analysis (P ¼ 0.007), by univariate Cox analysis (P ¼ 0.011), and by multivariate Cox analysis (P ¼ 0.011). This association was independently validated in a separate cohort of 88 SCC patients (P ¼ 0.008, 0.011, and 0.003 in Kaplan-Meier analysis, univariate Cox analysis, and multivariate Cox analysis, respectively). We then determined that the tumor suppressor DICER1 is a target of hsa-miR-31. Expression of hsa-miR-31 in a human lung cancer cell line repressed DICER1 activity but not PPP2R2A or LATS2.Conclusions: Our results identified a new diagnostic microRNA classifier for SCC among Chinese patients and a new prognostic biomarker, hsa-miR-31. Clin Cancer Res; 17(21); 6802-11. Ó2011 AACR.

In sports literature, women’s participation in physical activities has always been characterized as “problematic.” Muslim women’s participation is often considered to be limited by their culture and religion, which also affects their attitude toward physical activities. The purpose of this study is to explore the participation and perceived constraints of Pakistani female students in physical activities, using a feminism-in-sports approach. Semi-structured and informant-style interviews with female students from Larkana, Pakistan, were conducted. The results show that participants either do not practice or participate very little, due to the limitations of socioeconomic factors, religious values, and culture. By exploring the diverse ways in which 20 female students talk about their participation in sports activities, we provide different narratives for sports decision-makers (at the school and government level), parents, and community practitioners (political and religious) to consider and draw upon in their curriculum and policy design, as well as daily practices, to support women’s participation in sport activities.

Physical activity (PA) refers to any action produced by skeletal muscle that consumes energy. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), PA is the primary element that can improve health at the community level. Obviously, PA plays an important role in the social, physical, and mental development of men and women, as well as in balancing weight. However, the large-scale negative impacts of physical inactivity on health-related issues are also recognized globally, such as obesity, which is the source of many non-communication diseases (NCDs). In Pakistan alone, 46% of deaths occur due to NCD. The majority of NCD deaths are linked to obesity, and Pakistan is the ninth most obese country in the world. Research on obesity caused by sedentary work in Pakistan is lacking, especially among university employees. To fill this gap, the current study mainly focuses on the rising non-communicable disease (NCD) rates among university employees in Pakistan due to a lack of exercise (obesity, in this case), with the help of a self-designed knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) questionnaire. Five universities in the Sindh province of Pakistan were surveyed (n = 276), following the concept of Yin–Yang as a theoretical lens. The results of the current study show that the knowledge, behaviors, and attitudes of university employees have a great influence on their body mass index (BMI). The study shows that Pakistani residents’ (especially teaching staff) perceptions and attitudes towards obesity and PA have been instructive, but their practices need to be improved.

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