Diseases affecting the kidney constitute a major health issue worldwide. Their incidence and poor prognosis affirm the urgent need for the development of new therapeutic strategies. Recently, ...differentiation of pluripotent cells to somatic lineages has emerged as a promising approach for disease modelling and cell transplantation. Unfortunately, differentiation of pluripotent cells into renal lineages has demonstrated limited success. Here we report on the differentiation of human pluripotent cells into ureteric-bud-committed renal progenitor-like cells. The generated cells demonstrated rapid and specific expression of renal progenitor markers on 4-day exposure to defined media conditions. Further maturation into ureteric bud structures was accomplished on establishment of a three-dimensional culture system in which differentiated human cells assembled and integrated alongside murine cells for the formation of chimeric ureteric buds. Altogether, our results provide a new platform for the study of kidney diseases and lineage commitment, and open new avenues for the future application of regenerative strategies in the clinic.
'Stability Analysis and Robust Control of Time-Delay Systems' focuses on essential aspects of this field, including the stability analysis, stabilization, control design, and filtering of various ...time-delay systems. Primarily based on the most recent research, this monograph presents all the above areas using a free-weighting matrix approach first developed by the authors. The effectiveness of this method and its advantages over other existing ones are proven theoretically and illustrated by means of various examples. The book will give readers an overview of the latest advances in this active research area and equip them with a pioneering method for studying time-delay systems. It will be of significant interest to researchers and practitioners engaged in automatic control engineering. Prof. Min Wu, senior member of the IEEE, works at the Central South University, China.
Recent studies have demonstrated the ability for polystyrene (PS) degradation within the gut of mealworms (Tenebrio molitor). To determine whether plastics may be broadly susceptible to ...biodegradation within mealworms, we evaluated the fate of polyethylene (PE) and mixtures (PE + PS). We find that PE biodegrades at comparable rates to PS. Mass balances indicate conversion of up 49.0 ± 1.4% of the ingested PE into a putative gas fraction (CO2). The molecular weights (M n) of egested polymer residues decreased by 40.1 ± 8.5% in PE-fed mealworms and by 12.8 ± 3.1% in PS-fed mealworms. NMR and FTIR analyses revealed chemical modifications consistent with degradation and partial oxidation of the polymer. Mixtures likewise degraded. Our results are consistent with a nonspecific degradation mechanism. Analysis of the gut microbiome by next-generation sequencing revealed two OTUs (Citrobacter sp. and Kosakonia sp.) strongly associated with both PE and PS as well as OTUs unique to each plastic. Our results suggest that adaptability of the mealworm gut microbiome enables degradation of chemically dissimilar plastics.
Abstract
Aiming at the problems of backward calibration method of smoke alarm, low production efficiency and difficult real-time monitoring, a digital twin system modeling and monitoring method of ...smoke alarm calibration is proposed. First, through the analysis of smoke alarm calibration requirements, the overall framework design of the digital twin calibration system for smoke alarm is proposed, and then the twin model of smoke box is constructed by running the digital twin five-dimensional model. The physical smoke box, geometric model, physical model, rule model and behavior model are introduced in detail; Then the communication system architecture, data acquisition and data mapping are used to construct the twin data model; Finally, the feasibility was verified by the calibration system of an enterprise. Through the system, the qualified rate of smoke alarm calibration was increased from 98 to 99.6%, and the repair rate of defective products was reduced by 1.6%.
Here, we discuss the findings to date about genes and pathways required for regulation of somatic follicle-cell proliferation and differentiation during Drosophila oogenesis and demonstrate how loss ...of these genes contributes to the tumorigenic potential of mutant cells. Follicle cells undergo cell-fate determination through stepwise activation of multiple signaling pathways, including the Notch, Hedgehog, Wingless, janus kinase/STAT, and JNK pathways. In addition, changes in DNA replication and cellular growth depend on the spatial and temporal activation of the mitotic cycle-endocycle and endocycle-gene amplification cell-cycle switches and insulin-dependent monitoring of cellular health; systemic loss of these pathways contributes to loss of controlled cellular proliferation, loss of differentiation/growth, and aberrant cell polarity in follicle cells. We also highlight the effects of the neoplastic and Hippo pathways on the cell cycle and cellular proliferation in promoting normal development and conclude that lack of coordination of multiple signaling pathways promotes conditions favorable for tumorigenesis.
► An extensive collection of literature in self-healing on cementitious materials. ► Possible mechanisms for self-healing in cementitious materials are reviewed. ► The strategies for the self-healing ...of cementitious materials are summarized. ► A comparison is made on the different strategies and different healing agents. ► The status quo of self-healing on Engineered Cementitious Composite (ECC) is discussed.
Cementitious materials are the most widely used building materials all over the word. However, deterioration is inevitable even since the very beginning of the service life, then maintenance and repair work, which are often labor- and capital-intensive, would be followed. Thus, self-healing of the affected cementitious materials is of great importance. Self-healing phenomenon in cementitious materials has been noticed and been studying for a long time. The possible mechanisms for self-healing phenomenon in cementitious materials, which are summarized based on substantial experimental studies and practical experience, are reviewed. In order to endow or enhance the self-healing property of cementitious materials, many different and innovative strategies have been proposed and developed during the past decades. Then the different strategies employed for the self-healing of cementitious materials, i.e. the use of hollow fibers, microencapsulation, expansive agents and mineral admixtures, bacteria and shape memory materials, are reviewed and summarized. A comparison study is conducted subsequently on different strategies to self-healing and on different healing agents used as well. Engineered Cementitious Composite (ECC) is a new type of cement-based materials, which has unique properties compared with traditional cementitious materials. Further, a summary about the research status of self-healing on ECC is given. It shows that ECC bears great potential in realizing effective self-healing due to its unique micro-crack behavior and tight crack-width control property combined with its relatively high percentage of cementitious components and low water–binder ratio.
This paper presents a new method of improving the disturbance-rejection performance of a servo system based on the estimation of an equivalent input disturbance (EID). First, the concept of EID is ...defined. Next, the configuration of an improved servo system employing the new disturbance-estimation method is described. Then, a method of designing a control law employing a disturbance estimate is explained. Finally, the speed control of a rotational control system is used to demonstrate the validity of the method, and some design guidelines are presented.
Malignant tumors are caused by uncontrolled proliferation of transformed mutant cells that have lost the ability to maintain tissue integrity. Although a number of causative genetic backgrounds for ...tumor development have been discovered, the initial steps mutant cells take to escape tissue integrity and trigger tumorigenesis remain elusive. Here, we show through analysis of conserved neoplastic tumor-suppressor genes (nTSGs) in Drosophila wing imaginal disc epithelia that tumor initiation depends on tissue-intrinsic local cytoarchitectures, causing tumors to consistently originate in a specific region of the tissue. In this "tumor hotspot" where cells constitute a network of robust structures on their basal side, nTSG-deficient cells delaminate from the apical side of the epithelium and begin tumorigenic overgrowth by exploiting endogenous Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK/STAT) signaling activity. Conversely, in other regions, the "tumor coldspot" nTSG-deficient cells are extruded toward the basal side and undergo apoptosis. When the direction of delamination is reversed through suppression of RhoGEF2, an activator of the Rho family small GTPases, and JAK/STAT is activated ectopically in these coldspot nTSG-deficient cells, tumorigenesis is induced. These data indicate that two independent processes, apical delamination and JAK/STAT activation, are concurrently required for the initiation of nTSG-deficient-induced tumorigenesis. Given the conservation of the epithelial cytoarchitecture, tumorigenesis may be generally initiated from tumor hotspots by a similar mechanism.
Face-to-face interfacial assembly of TiO2-g-C3N4 hybrid (2D TCN-A) is developed by surfactant-assisted hydrothermal treatment forming a sandwich structure of anatase TiO2 nanosheets (TiO2-A, 5–6 ...monolayers) and g-C3N4 nanosheets (∼3 monolayers). Post air-annealing is found effective for insertion of oxygen to the hybrid, which remedies the oxygen vacancies of TiO2 (B) nanosheets and converts it to anatase nanosheets. The enhanced light adsorption, increased donor density, and prolonged life of charge carries are achieved by variation of bandgap and the formation of heterojuction between the two kinds of nanosheets, facilitating separation and transfer of charge carriers. The 2D TCN-A-70 nanosheets show a high photodegradation rate of methyl orange (k app ≈ 0.189 min–1) and photocatalytic evolution rate of hydrogen (18200 μmol g–1 h–1). This 2D nanosheets hybrid is potentially useful in alleviating environmental and energy issues.
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