Three-dimensional (3D) microstructures created by microfabrication and additive manufacturing have demonstrated value across a number of fields, ranging from biomedicine to microelectronics. However, ...the techniques used to create these devices each have their own characteristic set of advantages and limitations with regards to resolution, material compatibility, and geometrical constraints that determine the types of microstructures that can be formed. We describe a microfabrication method, termed StampEd Assembly of polymer Layers (SEAL), and create injectable pulsatile drug-delivery microparticles, pH sensors, and 3D microfluidic devices that we could not produce using traditional 3D printing. SEAL allows us to generate microstructures with complex geometry at high resolution, produce fully enclosed internal cavities containing a solid or liquid, and use potentially any thermoplastic material without processing additives.
Summary
The Theatre Recovery and Anaesthetic Nurse Capnography Education (TRACE) project is a multidisciplinary quality improvement project. The overall aim is to educate anaesthetic and recovery ...nurses on the correct use of capnography and educate non‐consultant hospital doctors on the guidelines on Preventing Unrecognised Oesophageal Intubation from the Project for Universal Management of Airways group. This project addresses technical aspects of task performance such as correct waveform identification and interpretation, troubleshooting abnormal waveforms and establishing routine checks of capnography both pre‐induction and post‐intubation. The pre‐induction verification of the correct function of capnography is an essential component of this project. In addition, the project focuses on team aspects of task performance with an emphasis on team psychological safety, empowering nurses to speak up using graded assertiveness and flattening hierarchies. As a result of the project, our nurses' knowledge about capnography and waveform identification improved to over 80% correct answers six months after completion of the project. In addition, over 90% of participants reported feeling confident in speaking up to both consultants and non‐consultant hospital doctors when a waveform was not present before induction of anaesthesia or after attempted tracheal intubation.
Survivin is a member of the inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) family, and is also involved in the regulation of cell division. Survivin is widely expressed in foetal tissues and in human cancers, but ...generally not in normal adult tissue. This study examined the expression of surviving protein in a series of 293 cases of invasive primary breast carcinoma. Survivin immunoreactivity was assessed using two different polyclonal antibodies, and evaluated semiquantitatively according to the percentage of cells demonstrating distinct nuclear and/or diffuse cytoplasmic staining. Overall, 60% of tumours were positive for survivin: 31% demonstrated nuclear staining only, 13% cytoplasmic only, and 16% of tumour cells demonstrated both nuclear and cytoplasmic staining. Statistical analysis revealed that survivin expression was independent of patient's age, tumour size, histological grade, nodal status, and oestrogen receptor status. In multivariate analysis, nuclear survivin expression was a significant independent prognostic indicator of favourable outcome both in relapse-free and overall survival (P<0.001 and P=0.01, respectively). In conclusion, our results show that survivin is frequently overexpressed in primary breast cancer. Nuclear expression is most common and is an independent prognostic indicator of good prognosis.
Survivin, an inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) containing one baculovirus IAP repeat (BIR) domain, has been reported to be capable of regulating both cellular proliferation and apoptotic cell death. ...Survivin splice variants, survivin-DeltaEx3 and survivin-2B, have apparently retained and lost anti-apoptotic potential, respectively. As survivin was first discovered due to its high homology with effector cell protease receptor (EPR-1), a protein involved in blood coagulation, it has been suggested (but not proven) that EPR-1 may act as a natural anti-sense to survivin in cells. Survivin homologs have been found in non-human species. Survivin expression has been described during embryonic development and in adult cancerous tissues, with greatly reduced expression in adult normal differentiated tissues, particularly if their proliferation index is low. Survivin has been defined as a universal tumor antigen and as the fourth most significant transcriptosome expressed in human tumors. Although survivin is usually located in the cell cytoplasmic region and associated with poor prognosis in cancer, nuclear localisation, indicative of favorable prognosis, has also been reported. Survivin expression has also been reported in a number of proliferating normal adult tissues. Extensive research has been conducted, aimed at increasing our understanding of survivin, by determining its sub-cellular structure and location, mechanism(s) of action and control of expression. While much important information on this molecule has been accumulated, there are still many areas of controversy or limited information. Further research may enable exploitation of survivin overexpression in cancer compared to normal tissues, making survivin a potentially attractive target for cancer therapeutics.
Abstract The S100 family is a group of small, calcium-binding proteins with at least 20 distinct members in humans. Several of these have been associated with cancer invasion or metastasis in recent ...studies. Transcriptional analysis of gene expression in a panel of lung cancer-derived cell lines identified S100A13 as being associated with a more aggressive invasive phenotype in vitro . Hierarchical clustering grouped this gene with several others that have established functional roles in this phenotype both in vitro and in vivo ( ICAM1 , CD34 , EFNB2 and HGF) as well as genes involved in processes such as angiogenesis ( TEM7 , JAG2 ). Depletion of cellular S100A13 mRNA levels by RNAi in highly invasive lung cancer cell lines resulted in a 50–80% decrease in their invasive potential in an in vitro assay. This reduction could not be accounted for by reduced cellular proliferation. Conversely, transient overexpression of exogenous S100A13 in less invasive cell lines had no impact on invasive potential suggesting that upregulation of S100A13 expression alone is insufficient to induce the phenotype. We conclude that S100A13 is involved in but not capable of inducing invasion, since elevated S100A13 mRNA expression correlates with a more invasive phenotype and in vitro invasion can be inhibited by reduced S100A13 expression.
The LUX-ZEPLIN experiment is a dark matter detector centered on a dual-phase xenon time projection chamber operating at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South Dakota, USA. This ...Letter reports results from LUX-ZEPLIN's first search for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) with an exposure of 60 live days using a fiducial mass of 5.5 t. A profile-likelihood ratio analysis shows the data to be consistent with a background-only hypothesis, setting new limits on spin-independent WIMP-nucleon, spin-dependent WIMP-neutron, and spin-dependent WIMP-proton cross sections for WIMP masses above 9 GeV/c^{2}. The most stringent limit is set for spin-independent scattering at 36 GeV/c^{2}, rejecting cross sections above 9.2×10^{-48} cm at the 90% confidence level.
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•As the starch content in the graft copolymers increased, protein adsorption decreased significantly.•A high amylose graft structure provided comparable protein resistance compared to a similarly ...constructed PEG-containing copolymer.•Grafting branched high amylopectin-derived maltodextrin to the synthetic polymer backbones conferred modest protein resistance.
Amphiphilic hybrid graft copolymers were synthesized using a graft-to methodology and their protein adsorption profiles studied. Three different hydrophilic side chains were studied: hydroxypropylated high amylose starch, maltodextrin, and polyethylene glycol (PEG). In the high amylose starch compositions, there was a pronounced decrease in protein adsorption with increasing polysaccharide content. As the starch content in the graft copolymers increased from 10wt% to 53wt%, BSA protein adsorption decreased by 83% whereas fibrinogen adsorption was reduced by 40%. Comparisons between the starch-containing hybrid polymers and their respective hydrophobic urethane-linked polyesters were also made. Hybrid 53, containing 53wt% starch, showed a 85% reduction in BSA adsorption and 51% reduction in fibrinogen relative to their urethane-linked polyester backbone controls. Grafting branched high amylopectin-derived maltodextrin to the synthetic polymer backbones also conferred modest protein resistance to the hydrophobic backbone polymer. Lastly, it was found that a high amylose graft structure provided comparable, if not slightly more effective, protein resistance compared to a similarly constructed PEG-containing amphiphilic copolymer.
The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment Akimov, D.Yu; Angelides, N.; Araújo, H.M. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
02/2020, Volume:
953, Issue:
C
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
We describe the design and assembly of the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment, a direct detection search for cosmic WIMP dark matter particles. The centerpiece of the experiment is a large liquid xenon time ...projection chamber sensitive to low energy nuclear recoils. Rejection of backgrounds is enhanced by a Xe skin veto detector and by a liquid scintillator Outer Detector loaded with gadolinium for efficient neutron capture and tagging. LZ is located in the Davis Cavern at the 4850’ level of the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South Dakota, USA. We describe the major subsystems of the experiment and its key design features and requirements.
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