Microcracking (crack growth), along with accumulation of inelastic strain, takes place in crystalline rock such as granite when it is subjected to differential stress. As a result, growing cracks ...become interconnected, completely altering permeability. Therefore, coupling between crack growth and permeability change must be determined to fully understand the hydro-mechanical response of rocks subjected to non-hydrostatic stress. Damage growth in triaxial tests on Inada granite under confining pressures up to 140 MPa was analyzed using the crack tensor concept proposed by Oda (Soils and Foundations 22 (4) (1982) 96), and permeability change was also formulated in terms of damage growth. Transient pulse tests were carried out on the damaged samples to see if the permeability change is really related to the associated damage growth. The conclusions are summarized as follows: A permeability tensor formulated by microstructural parameters is well supported by the transient pulse tests. This is particularly true when we deal with highly damaged granite. Where crack density is low, however, the hydraulic properties must be considered by taking into account the effect of spherical pores on them. The permeability of the sample subjected to increasing stress up to failure is about two to three orders of magnitude larger than that of intact granite under the same confining pressure (140 MPa). This change is surprisingly large compared with the result by Zoback and Byerlee (J. Geophys. Res. 80 (5) (1975) 752). Permeability tensors of the damaged samples are represented as more or less isotropic tensors. Rocks under stress in the field can be regarded as isotropic porous media, in spite of the fact that cracks grow preferentially parallel to the major stress.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Graft incompatibility in solanaceous plants was investigated using representative cultivars of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), eggplant (Solanum melongena L.), and pepper (Capsicum annuum L.). ...Evaluations of the extent of graft (in)compatibility were made by examining survival percentages, fruit yields, and fruit quality in grafted plants. Tomato/pepper (scion/rootstock) and pepper/tomato grafts were considered severely incompatible, and the tomato/eggplant and eggplant/tomato grafts were considered moderately incompatible, when compared with the compatible homo-specific graft combinations of tomato/tomato, eggplant/eggplant, and pepper/pepper.Three, or 3 and 6 weeks after grafting, the dry weights of scions and rootstocks, carbohydrate concentrations in stems above and below the graft unions, scion mineral nutrient concentrations, water potentials of scions, and xylem hydraulic conductivities were measured in the grafted plants. The anatomy of the graft unions was also observed. Growth inhibition and high mortality in tomato/pepper and pepper/tomato grafts (i.e., severe graft incompatibility) was due to discontinuities in the vascular bundles at the graft union, which prevented the translocation of assimilates, mineral nutrients, and water between scions and rootstocks. Reductions in fruit yield and/or fruit quality of tomato/eggplant and eggplant/tomato grafts (i.e., moderate graft incompatibility) may have been due to differences in the requirements for assimilates and mineral nutrients between tomato and eggplant. Plant responses to graft incompatibility varied in solanaceous plants depending on the scion and rootstock combination.
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BFBNIB, GIS, IJS, KISLJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM, UPUK
Summary
There is no standard surgical protocol of bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaws (BRONJ), because of the impossibility to visualize this feature intraoperatively. The aim of this ...study was to introduce how to provide preoperative labeling of the viable bone with minocycline bone fluorescence technique (MBFT) by using VELscope® and investigate histopathologically.
Introduction
The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) and the Japanese Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (JSOMS) now recommend a more conservative treatment strategy. There is no standard surgical protocol of bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaws (BRONJ) because of the impossibility to visualize this feature intraoperatively. The aim of this study was to introduce a mechanism providing preoperative labeling of a viable bone using minocycline bone fluorescence technique (MBFT) with VELscope® and to histopathologically investigate.
Methods
This report describes a surgical technique used in six patients with BRONJ who underwent jawbone resection under minocycline bone fluorescence imaging using VELscope®. Subsequently, we investigated and compared the clinical findings using VELscope® and histopathological findings.
Results
Histopathological examinations showed that the non-fluorescent moiety was consistent with the BRONJ lesions.
Conclusions
The surgical treatments that were exactly performed using MBFT with VELscope® offered successful management of BRONJ. This bone fluorescence helped to define the margins of resection, thus improving surgical therapy for extended osteonecrosis.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Despite initial dramatic response, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutant lung cancer patients always acquire resistance to EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). Gatekeeper T790M mutation ...in EGFR is the most prevalent genetic alteration underlying acquired resistance to EGFR-TKI, and EGFR mutant lung cancer cells are reported to be addictive to EGFR/Akt signaling even after acquired T790M mutation. Here, we focused on Akt kinase-interacting protein1 (Aki1), a scaffold protein of PI3K (phosphoinositide 3-kinase)/PDK1 (3-phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase)/Akt that determines receptor signal selectivity for non-mutated EGFR, and assessed its role in EGFR mutant lung cancer with or without gatekeeper T790M mutation. Cell line-based assays showed that Aki1 constitutively associates with mutant EGFR in lung cancer cells with (H1975) or without (PC-9 and HCC827) T790M gatekeeper mutation. Silencing of Aki1 induced apoptosis of EGFR mutant lung cancer cells. Treatment with Aki1 siRNA dramatically inhibited growth of H1975 cells in a xenograft model. Moreover, silencing of Aki1 further potentiated growth inhibitory effect of new generation EGFR-TKIs against H1975 cells in vitro. Aki1 was frequently expressed in tumor cells of EGFR mutant lung cancer patients (53/56 cases), including those with acquired resistance to EGFR-TKI treatment (7/7 cases). Our data suggest that Aki1 may be a critical mediator of survival signaling from mutant EGFR to Akt, and may therefore be an ideal target for EGFR mutant lung cancer patients, especially those with acquired EGFR-TKI resistance due to EGFR T790M gatekeeper mutation.
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DOBA, EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Abstract
A multi-stage shifter allows timestamped measurements by emulsion films, which have a thin medium and high resolution (< 1μm). Using multiple layers of emulsion films that move at different ...speeds like hands of an analog clock, the shifter can create a unique positional displacement with respect to the time-track recorded. The time information of each track is obtained by reproducing each positional displacement by track reconstruction. We developed a new model of shifter with a lighter structure to enable a large aperture area and long-duration observation times by adding more layers. Operational testing suggested that the new shifter has a sub-second time resolution, which allows an emulsion gamma-ray telescope to obtain an imaging resolution within 1° (> 80 MeV), like previous balloon experiments. Furthermore, by adding a layer which move at 100 μm s-1, it achieved the 0.1 s time resolution required for high-resolution imaging above 1 GeV. We also found the possibilities of an almost three-fold improvement in the spatial resolutions in track reconstruction compared with the conventional model and of achieving time resolution on a scale of tens of milliseconds, which would enable phase resolution of a pulsar.
We develop an orbital angular momentum (OAM) excitation pump-probe (Pp) spectroscopy and perform experiments on a Bi
2
Sr
2
CaCu
2
O
8+
δ
(Bi2212) superconductor. The OAM modulation for the pump is ...realized by using a transverse mode conversion technique which allows to modulate the chirality of the optical OAM with a fixed polarization. The result reveals a difference of the OAM-dependent transient reflectivity changes below
T
c
, indicating that the pump OAM can break the chiral symmetry of the superconducting (SC) state. The OAM dependences of the transient signal imply that the quasi-particle (QP) excitation with OAM enhances the SC with opposite chirality and/or suppress the SC with equal chirality. The temperature dependence of the OAM dynamics shows virtually no pairing fluctuation that usually appears in the QP dynamics observed by conventional Pp, suggesting that the nonequilibrium OAM dynamics is sensitive to the delocalized OAM associated with long range order.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OBVAL, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
The development of a safe and reproducible gene delivery system is an essential step toward the clinical application of the hydrodynamic gene delivery (HGD) method. For this purpose, we have ...developed a novel electric power-driven injection system called the HydroJector-EM, which can replicate various time-pressure curves preloaded into the computer program before injection. The assessment of the reproducibility and safety of gene delivery system in vitro and in vivo demonstrated the precise replication of intravascular time-pressure curves and the reproducibility of gene delivery efficiency. The highest level of luciferase expression (272 pg luciferase per mg of proteins) was achieved safely using the time-pressure curve, which reaches 30 mm Hg in 10 s among various curves tested. Using this curve, the sustained expression of a therapeutic level of human factor IX protein (>500 ng ml(-1)) was maintained for 2 months after the HGD of the pBS-HCRHP-FIXIA plasmid. Other than a transient increase in liver enzymes that recovered in a few days, no adverse events were seen in rats. These results confirm the effectiveness of the HydroJector-EM for reproducible gene delivery and demonstrate that long-term therapeutic gene expression can be achieved by automatic computer-controlled hydrodynamic injection that can be performed by anyone.
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DOBA, EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
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