Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a biolipid that has diverse biological activities implicated in ovarian cancer initiation and progression. Previous studies have shown the critical role of the ...Rho/Rho-associated kinase (ROCK) pathway in LPA-induced ovarian cancer progression. However, detailed underlying mechanism by which the Rho/ROCK pathway induces ovarian cancer cell invasion is still incompletely understood. In the present study, we observed that the Rho/ROCK pathway is implicated in the production of proteolytic enzymes, leading to LPA-induced ovarian cancer cell invasion. LPA induced matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 expression in CAOV-3 and PA-1 cells and urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) expression in SKOV-3 cells. LPA-induced proteolytic enzyme expression was required for the invasion of ovarian cancer cells expressing corresponding enzymes. Pretreatment of cells with a pharmacological inhibitor of Rho/ROCK (Y-27632) or overexpression of a dominant-negative mutant of Rho (Rho N19) profoundly inhibited LPA-induced proteolytic enzyme expression as well as the invasive potential of ovarian cancer cells. In addition, transfection with dominant-negative Ras (Ras N17) significantly inhibited LPA-induced Rho activation as well as MMP-9 and uPA expression. Consistently, Y-27632 reduced LPA-induced nuclear factor (NF)-κB activation that is critical for proteolytic enzyme expression and cellular invasion. Collectively, we demonstrate a mechanism by which LPA promotes ovarian cancer progression through coordinate activation of a Ras/Rho/ROCK/NF-κB signaling pathway and the proteolytic enzyme secretion, providing novel biomarkers and promising therapeutic targets for ovarian cancer cell progression.
In this study, the radiation process in the Korean Integrated Model (KIM) is modified to calculate the cloud radiative forcing keeping a physical consistency with the microphysics, convection, and ...cloudiness schemes in an aspect of hydrometeor. A formula to calculate effective radii of cloud water in radiation scheme of the KIM is modified to be consistent with that in the microphysics scheme and the radiative effect of a subgrid-scale hydrometeor is considered along with convective parameterization and cloudiness schemes. The impacts of these modifications on radiation and precipitation are diagnosed via an observation comparison, and a detailed analysis of these impacts is conducted. Especially, the contrasting feedback of the subgrid-scale hydrometeor on precipitation over the land and the ocean is separately discussed.
Abstract
The catalog of km-sized near-Earth objects (NEOs) is nearly complete. Typical impact monitoring analyses search for possible impacts over the next 100 yr and none of the km-sized objects ...represent an impact threat over that time interval. Assessing the impact risk over longer timescales is a challenge since orbital uncertainties grow. To overcome this limitation we analyze the evolution of the minimum orbit intersection distance (MOID), which bounds the closest possible encounters between the asteroid and the Earth. The evolution of the MOID highlights NEOs that are in the vicinity of the Earth for longer periods of time, and we propose a method to estimate the probability of a deep Earth encounter during these periods. This metric is used to rank the km-sized catalog in terms of their long-term impact hazard to identify targets of potential interest for additional observation and exploration.
Ga-doped CdS thin films, with different Ga/Cd ratios, were grown using chemical bath deposition. The effect of Ga-doping on optical properties and bandgap of CdS films is investigated. Resistivity, ...carrier density, and mobility of doped films were acquired using Hall effect measurements. Crystal structure as well as crystal quality and phase transition were determined using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Micro-Raman spectroscopy. Film morphology was studied using scanning electron microscopy, while film chemistry and binding states were studied using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). A minimum bandgap of 2.26
eV was obtained at Ga/Cd ratio of 1.7
×
10
−2. XRD studies showed Ga
3+ ions entering the lattice substitutionally at low concentration, and interstitially at high concentration. Phase transition, due to annealing, as well as induced lattice defects, due to doping, were detected by Micro-Raman spectroscopy. The highest carrier density and lowest resistivity were obtained at Ga/Cd ratio of 3.4
×
10
−2. XPS measurements detect an increase in sulfur deficiency in doped films.
The incidence and clinical aspects of seizures remain to be elucidated in patients with
acute pesticide intoxication. The present study included subjects who ingested pesticide
with the intention of ...committing suicide and were treated at Soonchunhyang University
Hospital (Cheonan, Korea) between January 2011 and December 2014. We analyzed the
incidence and characterized the type and frequency of seizure, from the medical records of
464 patients with acute pesticide intoxication, according to the pesticide class. The
effect of seizure on the clinical outcome was assessed. The incidence of seizure was 31.5%
in patients who ingested glufosinate ammonium {2-amino-4-hydroxyl (methyl) phosphinoyl
butyrate; ammonium DL-homoalanin-4-yl (methyl) phosphinate}, followed by those who
ingested pyrethroid (5.9%) or glycine derivatives (5.4%). All of the seizures developed
between 12 and 24 h of pesticide ingestion and had ceased by 72 h after seizure
initiation, following treatment with antiseizure medication. Generalized tonic–clonic
seizures were the most commonly observed (85.7% of the cases). Multivariable logistic
regression analysis showed that the effect of seizure on mortality was not statistically
significant. In conclusion, glufosinate ammonium herbicide is the most common seizurogenic
pesticide class. Seizure itself was not a risk factor for mortality in patients with acute
glufosinate ammonium intoxication.
The effect of using two representations of the normal-to-surface magnetic field to calculate photospheric measures that are related to the active region (AR) potential for flaring is presented. ...Several AR properties were computed using line-of-sight (
B
los
) and spherical-radial (
B
r
) magnetograms from the Space-weather HMI Active Region Patch (SHARP) products of the
Solar Dynamics Observatory
, characterizing the presence and features of magnetic polarity inversion lines, fractality, and magnetic connectivity of the AR photospheric field. The data analyzed correspond to
≈
4
,
000
AR observations, achieved by randomly selecting 25% of days between September 2012 and May 2016 for analysis at 6-hr cadence. Results from this statistical study include: i) the
B
r
component results in a slight upwards shift of property values in a manner consistent with a field-strength underestimation by the
B
los
component; ii) using the
B
r
component results in significantly lower inter-property correlation in one-third of the cases, implying more independent information as regards the state of the AR photospheric magnetic field; iii) flaring rates for each property vary between the field components in a manner consistent with the differences in property-value ranges resulting from the components; iv) flaring rates generally increase for higher values of properties, except the Fourier spectral power index that has flare rates peaking around a value of
5
/
3
. These findings indicate that there may be advantages in using
B
r
rather than
B
los
in calculating flare-related AR magnetic properties, especially for regions located far from central meridian.
We search for energetic electron recoil signals induced by boosted dark matter (BDM) from the galactic center using the COSINE-100 array of NaI(Tl) crystal detectors at the Yangyang Underground ...Laboratory. The signal would be an excess of events with energies above 4 MeV over the well-understood background. Because no excess of events are observed in a 97.7 kg·yr exposure, we set limits on BDM interactions under a variety of hypotheses. Notably, we explored the dark photon parameter space, leading to competitive limits compared to direct dark photon search experiments, particularly for dark photon masses below 4 MeV and considering the invisible decay mode. Furthermore, by comparing our results with a previous BDM search conducted by the Super-Kamionkande experiment, we found that the COSINE-100 detector has advantages in searching for low-mass dark matter. This analysis demonstrates the potential of the COSINE-100 detector to search for MeV electron recoil signals produced by the dark sector particle interactions.
Hand hygiene compliance among healthcare workers (HCWs) in intensive care units (ICUs) is disconcertingly low.
To identify the effective intervention(s) for increasing HH compliance among HCWs in ...adult ICUs.
Two major electronic databases, OVID Medline and CINAHL, were searched by using a combination of MeSH terms and text words (e.g. hand hygiene, hand washing, compliance, adher*, improve*, develop* and intensive care unit) for relevant articles. This was supplemented by Google Scholar and hand searching of included bibliographies. Data from identified articles were then abstracted, quality-assessed, and combined into a summary effect.
Of 89 titles and abstracts that were identified, 14 articles were finally included. Overall study quality was good. However, variations in design, setting, sample size, and intervention(s) tested precluded a meta-analysis; hence a narrative synthesis was conducted. The interventions included education, observation, provision of supplies, improving access and directive support; tested singly or in combination; resulted in positive outcomes in all but one study. A combination of administrative support, ‘supplies’, education and training, reminders, surveillance, and performance feedback raised the compliance from a baseline of 51.5% to a record 80.1%; but no set of intervention(s) could improve the compliance to the desired near-100% level.
Available data suggest that multi-modal interventions are effective in raising the compliance to a ‘plateau’ level but not up to the desired standard. Methodologically appropriate trials of combined interventions could enhance the evidence about interventions to improve hand hygiene compliance among ICU staff.
We present a topology optimization framework to design periodic composites comprised of piezoelectric constituents that exhibit large flexoelectric constants. The novelty of the approach is that it ...leverages a representative volume element (RVE)-based computational homogenization approach that enables the analysis of periodic composites where the characteristic dimensions of the microstructure are significantly smaller than those of the structure, and as such requires only the optimization of a single RVE rather than that of the entire structure. We utilize this approach to analyze the enhancement in flexoelectric constants that can be achieved in different types of PZT-based composites, including hard–hard (PZT–PZT), and hard–soft (PZT–polymer composite, and porous PZT) structures. In all cases, significant enhancements are observed, with improvements between 2 and 15 times those of a naive guess, with some designs reaching a factor of one order of magnitude larger than BTO. We identify different mechanisms governing the enhanced electromechanical couplings, which can arise either from an enhancement of effective piezoelectricity in the RVE for PZT–PZT composites, or from a more subtle interplay involving the enhancement of effective piezoelectric and dielectric properties coupled with a reduction in mechanical compliance for PZT–polymer and porous PZT RVEs.
Abstract We report experimental observations on the effect of plasma boundary shaping towards balanced double-null (DN) configuration on the plasma performance in KSTAR. The transition from a ...single-null to a DN configuration resulted in improved plasma performance, manifested through changes in the pedestal region, decreased density, and core MHD activity variation. Specifically, the DN transition led to a wider and higher pedestal structure, accompanied by grassy edge-localized modes (ELMs) characteristics. The density decrease was a prerequisite for performance enhancement during DN shaping, increasing fast ion confinement. Optimizing the plasma near the core region was associated with the suppression of sawtooth instabilities and the occurrence of fishbone modes during the DN transition. Integrated modeling demonstrated that secondary effects of the DN shaping could increase core thermal energy confinement.
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