Due to the simplicity of experimental determination and sensitivity to raw materials and/or processing changes, bending strength is frequently used as a quality control parameter in the development ...and manufacture stages of floor and wall ceramic tiles. This configures the ideal scenario to apply the techniques of experiments design, often used in a lot of other areas, to model the dry bending strength of such ceramics bodies. In the present study, three different raw materials, namely a clay mineral, sodium feldspar and quartz, were selected and eight formulations thereof (triaxial compositions) were used to obtain the limiting conditions of the experiments design. Those formulations were then processed under conditions similar to those used in the ceramics industry: powder preparation (wet grinding, drying, granulation and humidification), green body preparation (pressing and drying) and characterization. The use of this methodology enabled the calculation of a regression model relating the dry bending strength with composition. After statistical analysis and a verification experiment, the significance and validity of the special-cubic model obtained was confirmed.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the precision and accuracy of smartphone applications for measuring the total height of trees. We measured the heights of 90 trees of different species on ...the campus of the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro in Seropédica, equally distributed in three height classes: (1) h ≤ 11.5 m; (2) 11.5 <h < 20 m; and (3) h ≥ 20 m. The heights measured by the Vertex III® hypsometer was the reference for the comparison of the tested applications: Measure Height (MH and MDH), Hypsometer (HYP), Simple Measure (SM), Height Calculator (HC), Smart Tools (ST), Height and Distance (HD), Two Point Height (TPH and TPH2) and Tree Meter (TM) using the MOTO G5 smartphone. For data analysis, we performed an F (α = 0,05) test, and if there is a significant difference Dunnett's mean test (α = 0,05) was applied, and height variation coefficients (CV%) were analyzed for all applications used. Then, we carried out the graphical analysis of the differences and the statistical parameters of Bias (V), Mean of Absolute Differences (MD), Standard Deviation of Differences (DPD), ending with the performance index (c). We concluded that the applications Height Calculator (HC), Smart Tools (ST) and, Two Point Height, (TPH) present greater precision and accuracy in the measurement of the total height of the trees. However, we observed that increasing the height of the trees, reduces the performance of the applications, mainly using the Simple Measure (SM) and Height and Distance (HD) applications. The Tree Meter (TM) can be used on trees smaller than 20 m in total height. Measure Height (MH and MDH) and Hypsometer (HYP) applications have low precision and accuracy in estimates.
Non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) is one of the most frequently involved pathogens in bacterial exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In the airways, the main tissue ...target of NTHi is bronchial epithelium, where this pathogen can further amplify the inflammatory and structural changes induced by proinflammatory cytokines such as tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate, in primary cultures of human bronchial epithelial cells, the effects of NTHi on signal transduction pathways, apoptotic events and chemokine production activated by TNF-α. Moreover, we also evaluated the effects exerted on such cellular and molecular phenomena by a corticosteroid drug. p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) phosphorylation was analyzed by Western blotting, using an anti-phospho-p38 MAPK monoclonal antibody. Apoptosis was assayed by active caspase-3 expression. Interleukin-8 (IL-8/CXCL8) was detected in cell-free culture supernatants by ELISA. TNF-α induced a significant increase in p38 MAPK phosphorylation. NTHi was able to potentiate the stimulatory actions of TNF-α on caspase-3 expression and, to a lesser extent, on IL-8 secretion. These effects were significantly (P < 0.01) inhibited by a pharmacological pre-treatment with budesonide. These results suggest that TNF-a is able to stimulate, via activation of p38 MAPK signalling pathway, IL-8 release and airway epithelial cell apoptosis; the latter effect can be markedly potentiated by NTHi. Furthermore, budesonide can be very effective in preventing, through inhibition of p38 MAPK phosphorylation, both structural and proinflammatory changes elicited in bronchial epithelium by TNF-α and NTHi.
Phenotypic novelties can arise if integrated developmental pathways are expressed at new developmental stages and then recruited to serve new functions. We analyze the origin of a novel developmental ...trait of Dictyostelid amoebae: the evolution of cAMP as a developmental chemoattractant. We show that cAMP's role of attracting starving amoebae arose through recruitment of a pathway that originally evolved to coordinate fruiting body morphogenesis. Orthologues of the high-affinity cAMP receptor (cAR), cAR1, were identified in a selection of species that span the Dictyostelid phylogeny. The cAR1 orthologue from the basal species Dictyostelium minutum restored aggregation and development when expressed in an aggregation-defective mutant of the derived species Dictyostelium discoideum that lacks high-affinity cARs, thus demonstrating that the D. minutum cAR is a fully functional cAR. cAR1 orthologues from basal species are expressed during fruiting body formation, and only this process, and not aggregation, was disrupted by abrogation of cAR1 function. This is in contrast to derived species, where cAR1 is also expressed during aggregation and critically regulates this process. Our data show that coordination of fruiting body formation is the ancestral function of extracellular cAMP signaling, whereas its derived role in aggregation evolved by recruitment of a preexisting pathway to an earlier stage of development. This most likely occurred by addition of distal cis-regulatory regions to existing cAMP signaling genes.
This volume contains solicited articles by speakers at the workshop ranging from expository surveys to original research papers, each of which carefully refereed. They all bear witness to the very ...rich mathematics that is connected with the study of elementary operators, may it be multivariable spectral theory, the invariant subspace problem or tensor products of C*-algebras. Contributors: N. Boudi D. Kitson B. Magajna M. Mathieu P. Rosenthal V.S. Shulman R.M. Timoney Yu.V. Turovskii L. Turowska
Phenolic compounds in Sicilian olive oils were analyzed by GC–MS and GC–MS/MS after extraction with methanol:water 80:20 and derivatization with bis(trimethylsilyl)trifluoracetamide and ...trimethylchlorosilane (BSTFA:TMCS 99:1). Numerous compounds were detected and 23 were identified. Tyrosol, hydroxytyrosol and the decarbomethoxy ligstroside and oleuropein aglycons in the dialdehydic forms were the most abundant compounds. 4-(Acetoxyethyl)-1-hydroxybenzene, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetaldehyde, syringaldehyde and the
cis form of ferulic acid were identified: these compounds were not found in olive oils before. The presence of the dialdehydic form of elenolic acid (without carbomethoxy group) linked to 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylethanol was hypothesized. There were quantitative differences in oils from the varieties
Nocellara del Belice,
Santagatese and
Cerasuola; these differences could depend on the olive varieties and ripeness.
This study determined the utility of a panel of serum fibrosis markers along with routine laboratory tests in estimating the likelihood of histological cirrhosis in a cohort of prior nonresponders ...with chronic hepatitis C. The relationship between serum markers and quantitative hepatic collagen content was also determined. Liver biopsy samples from 513 subjects enrolled in the HALT‐C trial were assigned Ishak fibrosis scores. The collagen content of 386 sirius‐red stained, nonfragmented biopsy samples was quantified using computerized morphometry. Serum tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase‐1 (TIMP‐1), amino‐terminal peptide of type III procollagen (PIIINP), hyaluronic acid (HA), and YKL‐40 levels were determined using commercially available assays.Sixty‐two percent of patients had noncirrhotic fibrosis (Ishak stage 2‐4) whereas 38% had cirrhosis (Ishak stage 5,6). Multivariate analysis identified a 3‐variable model (HA, TIMP‐1, and platelet count) that had an area under the receiver operating curve (AUROC) of 0.81 for estimating the presence of cirrhosis. This model was significantly better than that derived from the cirrhosis discriminant score (AUROC 0.70), the AST‐to‐platelet ratio (AUROC 0.73), and a prior model developed in HALT‐C patients (AUROC 0.79). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the serum fibrosis markers correlated substantially better with Ishak fibrosis scores than with the log hepatic collagen content (AUROC 0.84 versus 0.72). Conclusion: A 3‐variable model consisting of serum HA, TIMP‐1, and platelet count was better than other published models in identifying cirrhosis in HALT‐C Trial subjects. The stronger correlation of the serum markers with Ishak scores suggests that serum fibrosis markers reflect the pattern of fibrosis more closely than the quantity of hepatic collagen. (HEPATOLOGY 2008.)
Controlling light emission from quantum emitters has important applications, ranging from solid-state lighting and displays to nanoscale single-photon sources. Optical antennas have emerged as ...promising tools to achieve such control right at the location of the emitter, without the need for bulky, external optics. Semiconductor nanoantennas are particularly practical for this purpose because simple geometries such as wires and spheres support multiple, degenerate optical resonances. Here, we start by modifying Mie scattering theory developed for plane wave illumination to describe scattering of dipole emission. We then use this theory and experiments to demonstrate several pathways to achieve control over the directionality, polarization state and spectral emission that rely on a coherent coupling of an emitting dipole to optical resonances of a silicon nanowire. A forward-to-backward ratio of 20 was demonstrated for the electric dipole emission at 680 nm from a monolayer MoS2 by optically coupling it to a silicon nanowire.
Summary
Background
Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) is the second most frequent cancer in humans after basal cell carcinoma, and its incidence is dramatically rising. CSCC is rarely ...problematic, but given its high frequency, the absolute number of complicated cases is also high. It is necessary to identify molecular markers in order to recognize those CSCCs with poor prognosis. There is controversy concerning the role of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) as a marker of prognosis in CSCC. In addition, EGFR‐targeted therapies have emerged in recent years and a better understanding of the role of EGFR in CSCC may be of help for some patients in predicting prognosis and guiding curative management.
Objectives
To evaluate the role of EGFR as a prognostic factor in CSCC.
Methods
We evaluated clinical and histopathological features, including events of poor clinical evolution, in a series of 94 cases of CSCC. We also analysed EGFR expression by immunohistochemistry, fluorescent in situ hybridization and quantitative polymerase chain reaction.
Results
We detected EGFR in 85 cases (90%), with overexpression in 33 cases (35%), and aberrant EGFR expression in the cytoplasm in 50 cases (53%). EGFR overexpression in the primary tumours was associated with lymph node progression, tumour–nodes–metastasis stage progression and proliferation (Ki‐67 staining) in CSCC. EGFR overexpression and poor grade of differentiation were the strongest independent variables defining lymph node metastasis and progression in CSCC in a logistic regression model.
Conclusions
We demonstrate that EGFR overexpression has prognostic implications associated with lymph node metastasis and progression in CSCC.
What's already known about this topic?
Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) is the second most frequent cancer in humans and sometimes exhibits a poor outcome.
Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) activation in keratinocytes induces cellular proliferation, increases cell survival and induces resistance to apoptosis.
While the expression of EGFR has been extensively studied in CSCC, there is some controversy surrounding its prognostic significance.
What does this study add?
Based on the results of our study, EGFR overexpression appears to have prognostic implications associated with lymph node metastasis and progression in CSCC.
There was no association between the level of EGFR protein, detected by immunohistochemistry, and the level of EGFR RNA.
What is the translational message?
We provide evidence that EGFR expression is a molecular marker for poor clinical outcome in cases of CSCC.
EGFR‐targeted therapies might be helpful in selected patients with metastatic CSCC.
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Linked Comment: Griewank. Br J Dermatol 2017; 176:1126–1127
Background
The knowledge about chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) phenotypes is based on its clinical characteristics, associated comorbidities, course of the disease, and its response to the ...available effective drugs. Genotype expression and its further correlation with CSU phenotypes are still unknown. We describe the cutaneous transcriptome of patients suffering a severely active CSU refractory to antihistamine treatment.
Methods
Through the bioinformatic analysis of the whole Human Genome with Oligo Microarrays and quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), relevant genes expressed in nonlesional (NLS‐CSU) and lesional skin (LS‐CSU) and peripheral blood were identified in 20 patients suffering from severely active CSU and 10 healthy controls (HCs).
Results
From 39 genes differentially expressed in NLS‐CSU when compared with HCs, 31 (79.48%) were confirmed by qPCR corresponding to genes involved in epidermal homeostasis and dermal repair. From the analysis comparing LS‐CSU with NLS‐CSU, a selection of 142 genes was studied with qPCR, and 103 (72.53%) were confirmed. Differentially expressed genes in the phenomenon of wheal development are involved in a variety of biological functions as, epidermal differentiation, intracellular signal function, transcriptional factors cell cycle differentiation, inflammation, or coagulation. Differentially expressed genes that uniformly increase or decrease along the skin worsening until the wheal appearance is shown.
Conclusion
The skin of CSU patients with a severely active disease shows an overall immunological skin involvement showing a peculiar gene profile.
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