The actuation voltage of microelectromechanical system (MEMS) metal switches was investigated at temperatures ranging from 10 to 290K. The investigation shows a 50% increase in the actuation voltage ...at low temperature. A comparison has been made using a published model and showed similar increment of actuation voltage at low temperature.
Germanium ionization detectors with sensitivities as low as 100eVee (electron-equivalent energy) open new windows for studies on neutrino and dark matter physics. The relevant physics subjects are ...summarized. The detectors have to measure physics signals whose amplitude is comparable to that of pedestal electronic noise. To fully exploit this new detector technique, various experimental issues including quenching factors, energy reconstruction and calibration, signal triggering and selection as well as evaluation of their associated efficiencies have to be attended. The efforts and results of a research program to address these challenges are presented.
Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) develop as manifestations of the recognition and defense against malignant cells by the host immune system. TILs were literally defined as “tumor-infiltrating ...lymphocytes”, which a posteriori locate within the tumor tissues. Although such cells can be found, they fail to control the growth of tumor. Many have proposed diverse mechanisms for dysfunction of TILs with regard to the roles of immunosurveillance against cancer. However, only a few cancer types, e.g. melanoma, have seen the benefits brought by activating these cells for immunotherapy. Functional defects of TILs have been linked to abnormalities of signaling molecules; however, there is conflicting data. The death of TILs was attributed to expression of cancer-derived FasL, PD-1 and RCAS1, and cancer-induced activation-induced cell death (AICD). Confirmed by studies using TILs and animal models, the compromise of tumor-specific immune responses was thought to result from not only mechanisms of clonal anergy but also exhaustion and/or deletion. Furthermore, functional cytotoxic CD8
+ TILs might be rendered incompetent by cancer-induced up-regulation of inhibitory NK receptors or proximal signaling abnormalities. Additionally, immune privilege was partly attributed to recruitment of regulatory T cells to the tumor sites. The failure of IL-2 signaling, which stands at the center of T cell functionalities, had been linked to the enzymatic activity of cancer-derived matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). Finally, the exploitation of IDO expression, an important enzyme in pregnancy-related immunosuppression, by cancer cells might play a role in tumor immunity. The disparity of cancer types, origin, developmental stages and individual genetic backgrounds likely account for differences, or even contradictions, which might be the reason why immunotherapy works only on a few cancer types. Delineating the mechanisms behind functional defects of TILs can help not only boost chances of the development of a successful cure but understand the not fully identified roles played by immune system in the face of malignancies.
The relationship of neuronal DNA damage to tangle-bearing neurons and nitrotyrosine (NT) expression, a neurochemical marker of oxidative damage mediated by peroxynitrite, was examined in visual ...cortex of AD patients. Many terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-positive neurons were detected and the majority (93%) of these TdT-labeled neurons lacked evidence of tangle formation. NT expression was elevated in AD cases and most TdT-labeled nuclei also showed strong NT immunoreactivity. These data suggest the hypothesis that the neurons with DNA damage in the absence of tangle formation may degenerate by tangle-independent mechanisms and that oxidative damage may contribute to such mechanisms in AD.
A phosphorus-containing epoxy resin, bis(3-t-butyl-4-glycidyloxyphenyl-2,4-di-t-butylphenyl)resorcinol diphosphate, was synthesized and subsequently cured with non-phosphorus containing amines, ...and/or novel phosphorus-containing aromatic or polyoxyalkylene amines. Chemical structures of these materials were characterized with FTIR, NMR, elemental analysis, and amine titration. The introduction of soft –P–O– linkage, polyoxyalkyene, or hard aromatic group into the backbones of the synthesized phosphorus-containing amines provides epoxy polymers with high phosphorus contents and tailored flexibility. Thermal analysis of differential scanning calorimeter and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) reveals that these resulted epoxy polymers possess moderate
T
gs and thermal stability. Furthermore, high char yields in TGA analysis and high limited oxygen index values indicate that these phosphorus-containing epoxy polymers possess excellent flame retardant properties.
Zoledronic acid (ZOL) was shown earlier to prolong survival in animal models of lung cancer. The aim of this study was to examine whether alteration of intracellular cyclins, cyclin-dependent ...kinases, cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors, retinoblastoma, and Ras protein expression and E2F localization are among the possible antilung cancer mechanisms driven by ZOL. Furthermore, we used geranylgeraniol to test whether the mevalonate pathway is involved in the antitumor effects of ZOL against lung cancer. Line-1 cells, a murine lung adenocarcinoma cell line, were examined. ZOL significantly slowed the growth of these cells both in vitro and in vivo. The ZOL-treated cells typically arrested at the S/G2/M phase of the cell cycle, accompanied by increased intracellular levels of cyclin A, B1, and CDC2 and decreased levels of cyclin D, p21, p27, phosphorylated retinoblastoma, and Ras. In addition, ZOL affected the distribution of E2F. When geranylgeraniol was added to the ZOL-treated cells, either in vitro or in vivo, tumor growth, cell-cycle progression, the expression of certain cyclins, and cyclin-related regulatory proteins were partially returned to that of untreated controls. Therefore, ZOL elicits cell-cycle prolongation that seems to be associated with alterations in the levels of certain cyclins and cyclin-related regulatory proteins. Furthermore, the mevalonate pathway regulates ZOL-induced murine lung cancer inhibition both in vitro and in vivo.
...this critical point remains controversial^. ...more easily and practical tool is needed. Case Report 52-year-old male, with history of type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension and morbid obesity, ...was intubated due to acute exacerbation of COPD with hypercapnic respiratory failure.
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