Deregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) is essential to tumor development, and serum miRNA profiles have been reported in several cancers. However, the serum miRNA profile in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remained unclear. The present study aimed to explore abnormal miRNA profile in sera samples from OSCC patients and the association of miR-483-5p with patient prognosis. Microarray analysis was performed in sera from OSCC patients versus healthy controls. miR-483-5p expression was measured by reverse transcription (RT)-PCR and correlated to clinicopathological characteristics of OSCC patients. The prognostic significance was then evaluated with a Kaplan-Meier curve and log-rank tests, using a Cox proportional hazard model. According to microRNA array, 16 miRNAs were upregulated and 10 were downregulated in OSCC patient sera. miR-483-5p expression was significantly increased in OSCC patients (3.23-fold, p < 0.01), and this was significantly correlated with tumor nodal metastasis (TNM) stage and lymph nodal metastases (p < 0.01, p < 0.01). For predicting OSCC, receiver operating characteristic (ROC)/area under the curve (AUC) analysis confirmed a AUC of 0.85 (sensitivity of 0.853 and specificity of 0.746). OSCC patients with high serum miR-483-5p had lower survival than those with low expression, and multivariate analyses for overall survival revealed that high serum miR-483-5p expression was an independent prognostic factor for OSCC (HR = 2.32, 95 %CI 1.20-4.48). miR-483-5p expression increased in OSCC patient sera, and this may be a novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for OSCC.

We conduct a nonlinear joint inversion of receiver functions and surface waves to obtain the lithosphere structure in east‐central China. We also use SKS splitting measurements to evaluate upper mantle deformation. The velocity model reveals that, to the east of the North‐South Gravity Lineament, the crust and lithosphere are significantly thinned. Three extensive crustal/lithospheric thinning subregions are identified. This indicates that the lithospheric modification in east‐central China is nonuniform due to heterogeneity of lithospheric strength. Extensive crustal and lithospheric thinning probably occurs in some weak zones such as basin‐range junction belts and large faults. The structure beneath the Dabie orogenic belt is complex due to the collision between the North and South China Blocks during the Late Paleozoic‐Triassic. The Dabie orogenic belt is delineated by a thick crust with a midcrust low‐velocity zone and a two‐directional convergence in the lithospheric scale. The crust and uppermost mantle across the Tanlu fault exhibit a strong seismic velocity contrast, which suggests deep penetration of this lithospheric‐scale fault. Most of our splitting measurements show nearly E‐W trending fast polarization. The similar present‐day lithosphere structure and upper mantle deformation may imply that the eastern North China Craton and South China Block have been dominated by a common dynamic process since the Late Mesozoic. The westward subduction of the Philippine plate and the long‐range effects of the collision between the Indian and Eurasia plates during the Cenozoic may have also contributed to the present velocity structure and stress field of eastern China.

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Most conventional motion planning algorithms that are based on the model of the environment cannot perform well when dealing with the navigation problem for real-world mobile robots where the environment is unknown and can change dynamically. In this paper, a layered goal-oriented motion planning strategy using fuzzy logic is developed for a mobile robot navigating in an unknown environment. The information about the global goal and the long-range sensory data are used by the first layer of the planner to produce an intermediate goal, referred to as the way-point, that gives a favorable direction in terms of seeking the goal within the detected area. The second layer of the planner takes this way-point as a subgoal and, using short-range sensory data, guides the robot to reach the subgoal while avoiding collisions. The resulting path, connecting an initial point to a goal position, is similar to the path produced by the visibility graph motion planning method, but in this approach there is no assumption about the environment. Due to its simplicity and capability for real-time implementation, fuzzy logic has been used for the proposed motion planning strategy. The resulting navigation system is implemented on a real mobile robot, Koala, and tested in various environments. Experimental results are presented which demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed fuzzy navigation system.