Metastasis is the leading cause of cancer-associated death in most tumor types. Metastatic dissemination of cancer cells from the primary tumor is believed to be initiated by the reactivation of an ...embryonic development program referred to as epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), whereby epithelial cells lose apicobasal polarity and cell-cell contacts, and gain mesenchymal phenotypes with increased migratory and invasive capabilities. EMT has also been implicated in the regulation of cancer stem cell property, immune suppression and cancer regression. Several transcription factors have been identified as master regulators of EMT, including the Snail, Zeb and Twist families, and their expression is tightly regulated at different steps of transcription, translation and protein stability control by a variety of cell-intrinsic pathways as well as extracellular cues. Here, we review the recent literature on the signaling pathways and mechanisms that control the expression of these master transcription factors during EMT and cancer progression.
Background:
Tendinopathy is very common in the general population. There are increasing numbers of clinical studies referring to platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and platelet-poor plasma (PPP) as ...treatments for tendinopathy.
Purpose:
To perform a meta-analysis of the outcomes of the PRP groups by preparation method and injection technique in tendinopathy. To determine the clinical effectiveness of the preparations and to evaluate the effect of controls used in the studies reviewed.
Study Design:
Systematic review and meta-analysis.
Methods:
The PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, and Medline databases were searched in March 2012, April 2014, and August 2015, and randomized controlled trials using autologous blood, PRP, PPP, or autologous conditioned plasma in tendinopathy with outcome measures of pain and follow-up time of 3 months were included in this review. Trials including surgery, tendon tears, and muscle or ligament injuries were excluded. Study quality was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration risk-of-bias tool by 2 reviewers. Data were pooled using random-effects meta-analysis. The primary outcome measure was a change in pain intensity. Where more than 1 pain scale was included, a functional score was selected ahead of a visual analog scale score.
Results:
A total of 18 studies (1066 participants) were included. Eight studies were deemed to be at low risk of bias. The most significant outcomes in the PRP groups were seen in those treated with highly cellular leukocyte-rich PRP (LR-PRP) preparations: GPS kit (standardized mean difference SMD, 35.75; 95% CI, 28.40-43.10), MyCells kit (SMD, 31.84; 95% CI, 17.56-46.13), Prosys kit (SMD, 42.99; 95% CI, 37.73-48.25), and unspecified LR-PRP (SMD, 34.62; 95% CI, 31.69-37.55). When the LR-PRP system types were grouped, there was a strongly positive effect (SMD, 36.38; 95% CI, 34.00-38.77) when compared with leukocyte-poor PRP (SMD, 26.77; 95% CI, 18.31-35.22). In assessing the control groups, there was no clear difference between different types of control injections: saline (SMD, 14.62; 95% CI, 10.74-18.50), local anesthetic (SMD, 15.00; 95% CI, 7.66-22.34), corticosteroid (SMD, 23.82; 95% CI, 10.74-18.50), or dry needling (SMD, 25.22; 95% CI, 21.27-29.16).
Conclusion:
There is good evidence to support the use of a single injection of LR-PRP under ultrasound guidance in tendinopathy. Both the preparation and intratendinous injection technique of PRP appear to be of great clinical significance.
We compare two types of Tsallis distribution, that is, with and without thermodynamical description, using the experimental data from the STAR, PHENIX, ALICE, and CMS Collaborations on the rapidity ...and energy dependence of the transverse momentum spectra in p + p collisions. Both of them can fit the particle spectra well. We show that the Tsallis distribution with thermodynamical description gives lower temperatures than the ones without it. The extra factor m T (transverse mass) in the Tsallis distribution with thermodynamical description plays an important role in the discrepancies between the two types of Tsallis distribution. But for the heavy particles, the choice to use m T or E T (transverse energy) in the Tsallis distribution becomes more crucial.
Carbon nanotube (CNT) polymer composites exhibit strong nonlinear and asymmetric piezoresistivity about zero strain in tensile and compressive strain states. The existing models explain the ...characteristic qualitatively but not quantitatively. This paper attempts to understand the mechanisms of this piezoresistivity by developing a new 3-dimensional percolation CNT network model, where the effect of CNT deformation (wall indentation and tube bending) is considered for the first time. The predicted electrical conductivity and piezoresistivity agree with experiments quantitatively, which reveals that the CNT deformation is a dominant mechanism for the nonlinearity and asymmetry of piezoresistivity of CNT-polymer composites. Parametric studies have been conducted to show the effects of morphology and electrical properties of CNTs, work functions and Poisson's ratio of polymer on the piezoresistivity of CNT-polymer composites for future application in nanosensing composites.
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•The mechanisms of piezoresistivity of CNT–polymer composites are studied by tunneling theory and Landauer–Büttiker formula.•The CNT deformation is found as a dominant mechanism for nonlinearity and asymmetry of piezoresistivity of the composites.•Effects of morphology and electrical properties of CNTs, work functions and Poisson's ratio of polymer on piezoresistivity are studied.
Many breakthroughs in the laboratories often do not bridge the gap between research and commercialization. However, silicon photonics bucked the trend, with industry observers estimating the ...commercial market to close in on a billion dollars in 2020 <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref45">45 . Silicon photonics leverages the billions of dollars and decades of research poured into silicon semiconductor device processing to enable high yield, robust processing, and most of all, low cost. Silicon is also a good optical material, with transparency in the commercially important infrared wavelength bands, and is a suitable platform for large-scale photonic integrated circuits. Silicon photonics is therefore slated to address the world's ever-increasing needs for bandwidth. It is part of an emerging ecosystem which includes designers, foundries, and integrators. In this paper, we review most of the foundries that presently enable silicon photonics integrated circuits fabrication. Some of these are pilot lines of major research institutes, and others are fully commercial pure-play foundries. Since silicon photonics has been commercially active for some years, foundries have released process design kits (PDK) that contain a standard device library. These libraries represent optimized and well-tested photonic elements, whose performance reflects the stability and maturity of the integration platforms. We will document the early works in silicon photonics, as well as its commercial status. We will provide a comprehensive review of the development of silicon photonics and the foundry services which enable the productization, including various efforts to develop and release PDK devices. In this context, we will report the long-standing efforts and contributions that previously IME/A * STAR and now AMF has dedicated to accelerating this journey.
Recent studies have revealed that the interactions between clustered vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs) can help improve the total power production. Thus this study compares four typical ...arrangements (I, II, III, IV) of multi-turbines placed in close proximity to investigate their efficiencies of power generation. A series of computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations, based on two-dimensional (2D) unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) theory, are performed for all four arrangements to achieve the maximum average power coefficient. First, the accuracy of the CFD model is validated against the field test results of 1.2 kW Windspire VAWT in reference. Then the performance of each arrangement at different proximities is investigated. It is found that the constraint effect in the lateral direction and the upstream turbines’ blockage effect can be triggered at a certain separation distance, which greatly affects the average power generation. In most cases, the 3-VAWT cluster is of higher efficiency than the 2-VAWT cluster in terms of the average power coefficient. The developed 3-VAWT cluster (Arrangement IV) has an average power coefficient up to 11.1% higher than that of an isolated turbine. In order to demonstrate the useful guidance of this study in practical applications, the performance of a newly developed wind-solar-aquaculture (WSA) system with multi-VAWTs is appraised. For the foundation of this system with restricted space, employment of the 3-VAWT cluster (Arrangement III) will yield yearly energy generation greater than that by three isolated turbines.
•Separation distances of clustered vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs) are optimized.•Constraint effect and blockage effect affect the efficiency of clustered VAWTs.•In most cases, the 3-VAWT cluster is of higher efficiency than the 2-VAWT cluster.•3-VAWT cluster yields yearly energy generation higher than that by 3 isolated VAWTs.
We previously reported preliminary findings that post induction imatinib mesylate (340 mg/m(2)/day), in combination with intensive chemotherapy, resulted in outcomes similar to blood and marrow ...transplant (BMT) for pediatric patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). We now report 5-year outcomes of imatinib plus intensive chemotherapy in 91 children (1-21 years) with and without allogeneic BMT (N=91). We explore the impacts of additional chromosomal abnormalities and minimal residual disease (MRD) by flow cytometry on outcomes. The 5-year disease-free survival was similar for Cohort 5 patients, treated with chemotherapy plus imatinib (70%±12%, n=28), sibling donor BMT patients (65%±11%, n=21) and unrelated donor BMT patients (59±15%; P=0.60, n=13). Patients with additional cytogenetic abnormalities had worse outcomes (P=0.05). End induction (pre-imatinib) MRD was not prognostic for Cohort 5 or allogeneic BMT patients, although limited by small numbers. The re-induction rate following relapse was similar to other higher-risk ALL groups. Longer-term follow-up confirms our initial observation of substantially good outcomes for children and adolescents with Ph+ ALL treated with imatinib plus intensive chemotherapy with no advantage for allogeneic BMT.
The Monkhorst-Pack scheme is a method to save time in the days of slow computers. It excludes umklapp phonons with significant consequences. Its widespread application to evaluate superconductivity ...arises from the desire to reduce phonon contributions to solve a historical difficulty of the BCS theory. An alternative method turns out to be more accurate in Pb and Pd.
The Monkhorst-Pack scheme is a method to save time in the days of slow computers. It excludes umklapp phonons and offers erroneous evaluations in superconducting Pb and Pd (curves). An alternative method leads to better results (silhouettes).
In this article, we study the stable control of tethered despin of a massive rotating space object in a central gravity field by a small space tug. A control scheme under the passivity-based model ...predictive control framework is designed to ensure that the constraints of state and input (bounded libration angle, positive tether tension, and bounded thrust) are satisfied. Furthermore, an additional passivity constraint is introduced into the passivity-based model predictive control to guarantee the asymptotic stability of the closed-loop control system. The attainable equilibrium configuration of the tethered system is first analyzed. Then, a framework of the storage energy function is constructed by the potential energy shaping methodology to establish the passivity mapping of the tethered system from input to output. Finally, the strictly asymptotic stability of despinning control of the tethered system under the proposed control law is theoretically proved by the invariance theorem and Lyapunov stability theory. The effectiveness of the proposed control scheme is verified by numerical simulation.
This article presents an adaptive antisaturation prescribed-time control (AAPTC) scheme for the stable payload retrieval of a two-body tethered space system following the desired libration state. The ...tethered payload is retrieved at the analytical speed function corresponding to the desired stable libration state. At the same time, the thrust at the payload is applied with the proposed AAPTC scheme to closely track the desired state to eliminate any deviation from the desired libration state due to external disturbances. The influence of the thrust saturation is minimized by a neural dynamics-based adaptive antisaturation compensator (ASC) that quickly drives the control system away from the saturated region. The Lyapunov stability of the proposed control scheme is proved analytically. Numerical simulations validate the effectiveness of the proposed prescribed-time strategy and the adaptive ASC.
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