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Background. Neoadjuvant radiation is recommended for locally advanced rectal cancer, with proven benefit in local control but not in disease-free survival. However, the impact of long-course radiation on postoperative bowel function and quality of life (QOL) remains controversial. This study aimed to investigate the impact of long-course neoadjuvant radiation on bowel function and QOL, and to identify risk factors for severe bowel dysfunction.Methods. Patients who underwent long-course neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) or chemotherapy (nCT) followed by radical low anterior resection for locally advanced rectal cancer were recruited from the FOWARC randomized controlled trial. Low anterior resection syndrome (LARS) score and European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) C30/CR29 questionnaires were used to assess bowel function and QOL, respectively. Results. Overall, 220 patients responded after a median follow-up of 40.2 months, of whom 119 (54.1%) reported major LARS, 74 (33.6%) reported minor LARS, and 27 (12.3%) reported no LARS. Compared with the nCT group, the nCRT group reported more major LARS (64.4% vs. 38.6%, p \ 0.001) and worse QOL. Long-course neoadjuvant radiation (OR 2.20, 95% CI 1.24-3.91; p = 0.007), height of anastomosis (OR 0.74, 95% CI 0.63-0.88; p \ 0.001), and diverting ileostomy (OR 2.59, 95% CI 1.27-5.30; p = 0.009) were independent risk factors for major LARS. Conclusions. Long-course neoadjuvant radiation, along with low anastomosis, are likely independent risk factors for postoperative bowel function and QOL. Our findings might have implications for alleviating LARS and improving QOL by informing selection of neoadjuvant treatment.Weipeng Sun, Ruoxu Dou, and Jiaohua Chen have contributed equally as first authors.Ruoxu Dou, Lei Wang, and Jianping Wang have contributed equally as corresponding authors.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver malignancy and is the fourth-leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. HCC is refractory to many standard cancer treatments and the prognosis is often poor, highlighting a pressing need to identify biomarkers of aggressiveness and potential targets for future treatments. Kinesin family member 2C (KIF2C) is reported to be highly expressed in several human tumors. Nevertheless, the molecular mechanisms underlying the role of KIF2C in tumor development and progression have not been investigated. In this study, we found that KIF2C expression was significantly upregulated in HCC, and that KIF2C up-regulation was associated with a poor prognosis. Utilizing both gain and loss of function assays, we showed that KIF2C promoted HCC cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and metastasis both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, we identified TBC1D7 as a binding partner of KIF2C, and this interaction disrupts the formation of the TSC complex, resulting in the enhancement of mammalian target of rapamycin complex1 (mTORC1) signal transduction. Additionally, we found that KIF2C is a direct target of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway, and acts as a key factor in mediating the crosstalk between Wnt/β-catenin and mTORC1 signaling. Thus, the results of our study establish a link between Wnt/β-catenin and mTORC1 signaling, which highlights the potential of KIF2C as a therapeutic target for the treatment of HCC.

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Micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) inertial measurement unit (IMU) outputs are corrupted by significant sensor errors. The navigation errors of a MEMS-based inertial navigation system will therefore accumulate very quickly over time. This requires aiding from other sensors such as Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). However, it will still remain a significant challenge in the presence of GNSS outages, which are typically in urban canopies. This paper proposed a rotary inertial navigation system (INS) to mitigate navigation errors caused by MEMS inertial sensor errors when external aiding information is not available. A rotary INS is an inertial navigator in which the IMU is installed on a rotation platform. Application of proper rotation schemes can effectively cancel and reduce sensor errors. A rotary INS has the potential to significantly increase the time period that INS can bridge GNSS outages and make MEMS IMU possible to maintain longer autonomous navigation performance when there is no external aiding. In this research, several IMU rotation schemes (rotation about X-, Y- and Z-axes) are analyzed to mitigate the navigation errors caused by MEMS IMU sensor errors. As the IMU rotation induces additional sensor errors, a calibration process is proposed to remove the induced errors. Tests are further conducted with two MEMS IMUs installed on a tri-axial rotation table to verify the error mitigation by IMU rotations.