An area of research that has been recently gaining attention is the relationship between cancer stem cell (CSC) biology and chemo-resistance in colon cancer patients. It is well recognized that tumor ...initiation, growth, invasion and metastasis are promoted by CSCs. An important reason for the widespread interest in the CSC model is that it can comprehensibly explain essential and poorly understood clinical events, such as therapy resistance, minimal residual disease, and tumor recurrence. This review discusses the recent advances in colon cancer stem cell research, the genes responsible for CSC chemoresistance, and new therapies against CSCs.
The purpose of the study was to design a device for the dissolution of fertilizers for agricultural use in an automatic and environmentally sustainable way to facilitate the work of farmers. To ...achieve this goal, an outdated blade design was used, which generates turbulent and laminar flows thanks to the angle of inclination of its blades. In tests, the combination of these two flows gave a better result compared to laminar and turbulent flows separately. The best results were achieved by varying the spin and speed, the time between spins, and the rest time. The time it would take to dissolve the mixture was drastically reduced if it were conducted in the traditional way (manually) or compared with commercial mixers. In conclusion, the technique used for the dissolution of agricultural minerals is more effective and reduces time, energy, and effort. This was able to reduce the time necessary to dissolve the fertilizer by 93 percent compared to doing it manually and by 66 percent compared to using commercial mixers, in a solution of 100 L of water per 100 kg of ammonium sulfate.
Antimonide-based family holds the potential for developing a new generation of mid-infrared applications. Here, we report on the growth of InSbxAs1-x alloys on n− and p−type GaSb(100) substrates ...varying the Sb mole fraction (x), using the liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) technique. We show that the ternary alloy grown on the n−type GaSb substrate presents higher crystalline quality, thermal diffusivity and interfacial thermal conductivity, as compared to the one grown on pin equation type GaSb substrates which decrease as the Sb mole fraction (x) in the layer increases. Our results demonstrate that the InSbxAs1-x/n−GaSb heterostructure reaches the thermal equilibrium faster than the InSbxAs1-x/p−GaSb structure, with lower roughness, strain, as well as a better chemical abruptness at substrate-layer interface. We also find that the growth mechanism of the InSbxAs1-x alloy is constituted by In−As and In−Sb bonds. Furthermore, the Raman scattering spectra measured at different layer depths evidence that the crystalline quality improves with depth and allow the identification of an intrinsic depletion region. Since the InSbxAs1-x alloy presents a long-range atomic order grown on both n− and p−type GaSb substrates, the phonon-plasmon coupled L− and L+ modes are observed, and from the L+ coupled mode, we obtain the intrinsic carrier concentration and its variation with the Sb mole fraction. Therefore, this work provides important guidance on the structural, thermal, and chemical properties of the surface, bulk and interface of InSbxAs1-x alloys, that should be considered to improve the performance of future devices, such as better heat dissipation.$
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•InSbxAs1−x alloys on n− and p−GaSb substrates were grown by LPE.•Effect of the Sb content on InSbxAs1−x properties was found.•Analysis of surface, bulk and interface of InSbxAs1−x alloys.•Study of thermal diffusivity, interfacial conductivity and growth mechanism.•Study of crystalline quality and intrinsic carrier concentration.
In
x
Ga
1
-
x
As
y
Sb
1
-
y
epilayers with a fixed In content of
x
= 0.145 were grown on GaSb(100) substrates using liquid-phase epitaxy (LPE). The lattice mismatch between the quaternary epilayers ...and substrates was analyzed for different As contents (
y
) by X-ray
ω
-2
θ
. Epilayers with As content between
y
= 0.120 and
y
= 0.124 exhibited a positive lattice mismatch, leading to compressive strain. These samples showed a high crystalline quality and flat surfaces, as confirmed by high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HR-XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Quaternary alloys with As content between
y
= 0.133 and
y
= 0.141 displayed a negative lattice mismatch, resulting in tensile strain. Structural defects in these samples were evidenced by HR-XRD and on AFM micrographs. Raman measurements also revealed that lateral strain has a direct impact on the intensities of the LO-like, phonon–plasmon and disorder-activated longitudinal acoustic modes. For all In
x
Ga
1
-
x
As
y
Sb
1
-
y
films, photoluminescence (PL) spectra showed a bound exciton (BE) transition, with additional features observed in samples under tensile strain, indicating the involvement of native defect centers and donor–acceptor pairs. This study provides new insights into the effect of lateral strain on the crystalline and surface quality, and optical properties of quaternary alloys, relevant for novel optoelectronic applications.
•Glucose homeostasis is rearranged by dexamethasone (DEX) treatment with long-term deleterious effects.•DEX significantly reduced circulating levels of endogenous cortisol as well as hematocrit.•DEX ...significantly upregulates gene expression of brain trh along with hypophyseal pomcb and gh.•In contrast to control or cortisol groups, DEX does not promote anion-absorptive currents in the distal intestine.•Only DEX treatment promoted significant differences between proximal and distal intestinal regions’ transepithelial electric resistance.
This study approached the long-term oral administration of cortisol (F) and dexamethasone (DEX), two synthetic glucocorticoids, compared to a control group (CT) in the juveniles of a marine teleost, the gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata). Physiologically, DEX treatment impaired growth, which appears to be linked to carbohydrate allocation in muscle and liver, hepatic triglycerides depletion, and reduced hematocrit. Hypophyseal gh mRNA expression was 2-fold higher in DEX than in CT or F groups. Similarly, hypothalamic trh and hypophyseal pomcb followed this pattern. Plasma cortisol levels were significantly lower in DEX than in CT, while F presented intermediate levels. In the posterior intestine, measured short circuit-current (Isc) was more anion absorptive in CT and F compared to the DEX group, whereas Isc remained unaffected in the anterior intestine. The derived transepithelial electric resistance (TEER) significantly differed between intestinal regions in the DEX group. These results provide new insights to understand better potential targeted biomarkers indicative of the differential glucocorticoid or mineralocorticoid-receptors activation in fish.
This study identified the occurrence of Holocene chronology hiatuses in the sedimentary record of the Patos-Mirim system caused by river avulsion processes, as well as evidence of sharp anthropogenic ...changes in the surrounding region of the lagoon water bodies. The presence of chronology hiatuses demonstrates the importance of considering the disturbance effect of paleo-drainage processes on the paleoenvironmental resolution and expression of the sedimentary record of such coastal plains. Anthropogenic activities especially those related to agriculture and forestry have increased significantly during the great acceleration, resulting in modifications of both the landscape and the environmental conditions of the lagoon bodies. Such impacts were clearly reflected in the sedimentary record where abrupt changes in palynological trends, sedimentary DNA, isotopic and granulometric analyses were inferred. The climatic conditions combined with regressive sea level can explain the chronology hiatuses. Pollen analyses demonstrated changes in the landscape, particularly indicated by the shift from Cyperaceae to Poaceae dominance after the 1960 CE. Therefore, all proxies together demonstrate the modification in the landscape and changes in the environment, clearly influenced by anthropogenic action from unsustainable agricultural practices.
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•The Patos-Mirim system is extensively dissected by Pleistocene/Holocene incised valleys.•The Holocene record is eroded by currents of meandering streams, which expression consisted of a Middle Holocene hiatus.•Novel palynological and 16S rRNA long-term data demonstrate changes in both landscape and lagoon anthropogenic transformation.
Highlights • Different vasotocin (AVT) and isotocin (IT) receptor cDNA sequences of Sparus aurata. • The three receptors are ubiquitously and differentially expressed in the 26 tissues examined. • ...Environmental salinity changes alter AVTRs, but not ITR, in different targets. • AVTRs present a clear sub-functionalization regulating different proteins/transporters.
Transmembrane BAX inhibitor motif-containing (TMBIM)-6, also known as BAX-inhibitor 1 (BI-1), is an anti-apoptotic protein that belongs to a putative family of highly conserved and poorly ...characterized genes. Here we report the function of TMBIM3/GRINA in the control of cell death by endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Tmbim3 mRNA levels are strongly upregulated in cellular and animal models of ER stress, controlled by the PERK signaling branch of the unfolded protein response. TMBIM3/GRINA synergies with TMBIM6/BI-1 in the modulation of ER calcium homeostasis and apoptosis, associated with physical interactions with inositol trisphosphate receptors. Loss-of-function studies in D. melanogaster demonstrated that TMBIM3/GRINA and TMBIM6/BI-1 have synergistic activities against ER stress in vivo. Similarly, manipulation of TMBIM3/GRINA levels in zebrafish embryos revealed an essential role in the control of apoptosis during neuronal development and in experimental models of ER stress. These findings suggest the existence of a conserved group of functionally related cell death regulators across species beyond the BCL-2 family of proteins operating at the ER membrane.
Let
X
be a Banach space and
Y
⊆
X
be a closed subspace. We prove that if the quotient
X
/
Y
is weakly Lindelöf determined or weak Asplund, then for every
w
∗
-convergent sequence
(
y
n
∗
)
n
∈
N
in
...Y
∗
there exist a subsequence
(
y
n
k
∗
)
k
∈
N
and a
w
∗
-convergent sequence
(
x
k
∗
)
k
∈
N
in
X
∗
such that
x
k
∗
|
Y
=
y
n
k
∗
for all
k
∈
N
. As an application, we obtain that
Y
is Grothendieck whenever
X
is Grothendieck and
X
/
Y
is reflexive, which answers a question raised by González and Kania.
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