The details of auditory response at the subthreshold level in the rodent primary somatosensory cortex, the barrel cortex, have not been studied extensively, although several phenomenological reports ...have been published. Multisensory features may act as neuronal representations of links between inputs from one sensory modality to other sensory modalities. Here, we examined the basic multisensory postsynaptic responses in the rodent barrel cortex using in vivo whole-cell recordings of neurons. We observed robust responses to acoustic stimuli in most barrel cortex neurons. Acoustically evoked responses were mediated by hearing and reached approximately 60% of the postsynaptic response amplitude elicited by strong somatosensory stimuli. Compared to tactile stimuli, auditory stimuli evoked postsynaptic potentials with a longer latency and longer duration. Specifically, auditory stimuli in barrel cortex neurons appeared to trigger "up states", episodes associated with membrane depolarization and increased synaptic activity. Taken together, our data suggest that barrel cortex neurons have multisensory properties, with distinct synaptic mechanisms underlying tactile and non-tactile responses.
Recent studies have demonstrated that microRNAs (miRNAs) are stably detectable in blood and can serve as useful biomarkers for cancer.
We performed an miRNA array using serum samples obtained from ...oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients or healthy controls. MiR-1246 was the most markedly elevated in ESCC patients. Therefore, miR-1246 was selected as a candidate for further analysis. The serum miR-1246 level in 46 healthy controls and 101 ESCC patients was evaluated and compared among various clinicopathological characteristics. MiR-1246 expressions in tissue, exosomal, and cellular samples were also examined.
Serum miR-1246 alone yielded an receiver-operating characteristic curve area of 0.754, with 71.3% sensitivity and 73.9% specificity for distinguishing ESCC patients from healthy controls. Serum miR-1246 was significantly correlated with the TNM stage and showed to be the strongest independent risk factor for poor survival (HR, 4.032; P=0.017). Unlike the tendency shown in previous reports, miR-1246 was not upregulated in ESCC tissue samples. Furthermore, exosomal miR-1246 did not reflect the abundance in the cell of origin.
These data support our contention that serum miR-1246 has strong potential as a novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in ESCC, and its releasing mechanism is selective and independent of tissue miRNA abundance.
In the field of spintronics, researchers have manipulated magnetization using spin-polarized currents. Another option is to use a voltage-induced symmetry change in a ferromagnetic material to cause ...changes in magnetization or in magnetic anisotropy. However, a significant improvement in efficiency is needed before this approach can be used in memory devices with ultralow power consumption. Here, we show that a relatively small electric field (less than 100 mV nm(-1)) can cause a large change (approximately 40%) in the magnetic anisotropy of a bcc Fe(001)/MgO(001) junction. The effect is tentatively attributed to the change in the relative occupation of 3d orbitals of Fe atoms adjacent to the MgO barrier. Simulations confirm that voltage-controlled magnetization switching in magnetic tunnel junctions is possible using the anisotropy change demonstrated here, which could be of use in the development of low-power logic devices and non-volatile memory cells.
FSCN1 and matrix metalloproteinase 14 (MMP14) are both invadopodia-related proteins. We herein elucidate the tumourigenicity of these proteins and identify novel therapeutic agents in esophageal ...squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).
FSCN1 and MMP14 were evaluated by immunohistochemistry and quantitative PCR, and microRNA (miR)-133a was also evaluated by PCR in surgical ESCC specimens. The roles of FSCN1, MMP14 and miR-133a were established in ESCC cells.
The expression of FSCN1 or MMP14 was an independent poor prognostic factor according to a multivariate analysis of immunohistochemistry, and their co-expression correlated with the poorest overall survival (OS) out of all the examined factors. Additionally, their mRNAs significantly correlated and both inversely correlated with miR-133a in surgical specimens. Transfection of a miR-133a mimic decreased the mRNA and protein levels of both FSCN1 and MMP14 in ESCC cells. The knockdown of FSCN1 or MMP14 and transfection of a miR-133a mimic inhibited the proliferation and invasion of ESCC cells. Patients with a lower miR-133a expression have a significantly poorer OS than those with a higher expression.
The combined expression of FSCN1 and MMP14 is associated with a poor prognosis, and miR-133a, which regulates their mRNAs, can serve as a strong tumour suppressor of ESCC.
We studied the effectiveness of post-growth patterning and annealing on threading dislocation (TD) reduction in (211) CdTe/Si epilayers grown using metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy (MOVPE). ...Sixty-micrometer-wide square patterns were formed on the as-grown CdTe samples using photolithography and then subjected to ex situ annealing in a flowing hydrogen environment. The annealing temperature was varied from 550°C to 800°C, then held at this temperature for a fixed duration of 5 min. The TD densities were determined using the etch pit density (EPD) technique. A comparison of EPD values revealed that the patterned samples had lower EPD values than the unpatterned samples annealed under similar conditions. This suggests that annealing promotes dislocation glide to the sidewalls of the islands and is thus more effective at dislocation removal for the patterned samples in comparison to the unpatterned samples.
There are few practical applications for flow prediction in and around porous objects such as radiators, filters, fences or plant canopies. Reproduction of the configuration of solid obstacles in the ...fine mesh discretization is a direct way to make numerical calculations on porous objects. However, calculations using the fine mesh increase the computational load and cost a lot of time and money. In order to reduce these factors, we applied space averaging to the Navier–Stokes equations and derived filtered equations with a subgrid scale turbulent modeling for the large eddy simulation (LES). This paper demonstrates how we were able to calculate the space-averaged property of flows with coarse meshes without a heavy computational load. Finally, we also present a numerical calculation for the turbulent field around a windbreak placed on a flat plane and compare the results to a wind tunnel test data.
This paper presents an overview of the design of the ITER blanket remote handling system (BRHS), an indispensable component for ITER operation because the high irradiation environment will not allow ...humans to perform in-vessel maintenance activities. Instead, a large power manipulator will be deployed in the equatorial plane of the vacuum vessel and travel in the toroidal direction along an articulated rail, which will enable the heavy components to be handled with high positioning accuracy. The BRHS also includes a rail deployment system and various tooling and control systems in addition to its main components. This paper summarizes the design status of the in-vessel manipulator and its support system in the run-up to manufacture.
Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) with Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) transparent electrodes on RGB color filters were fabricated to demonstrate the feasibility of using this new material as an alternative to ...indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes. The process flow for fabricating LCDs with GZO electrodes was entirely compatible with that for commercially available LCDs using ITO electrodes. Concurrently, photolithography processing and wet-chemical etching techniques for the formation of GZO transparent electrodes on thin film transistor (TFT) arrays in LCD panels was developed. Fine-patterns of GZO with 2-μm line widths were successfully formed using lithography and wet -etching technology with a weakly acidic etchant of pH 5.5–6.8.
Background. Optimal empiric therapy for hospitalized patients with healthcare-associated pneumonia (HCAP) is uncertain. Methods. We prospectively applied a therapeutic algorithm, based on the ...presence of risk factors for multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens in a multicenter cohort study of 445 pneumonia patients, including both community-acquired pneumonia (CAP; n = 124) and HCAP (n = 321). Results. MDR pathogens were more common (15.3% vs 0.8%, P < .001) in HCAP patients than in CAP patients, including Staphylococcus aureus (11.5% vs 0.8%, P < .001); methicillin-resistant S. aureus (6.9% vs 0%, P = .003); Enterobacteriaceae (7.8% vs 2.4%, P = .037); and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (6.9% vs 0.8%, P = .01). Using the proposed algorithm, HCAP patients with ≥2 MDR risk factors, one of which was severity of illness (n = 170), vs HCAP patients with 0–1 risk factor (n = 151) had a significantly higher frequency of MDR pathogens (27.1% vs 2%, P < .001). In total, 93.1% of HCAP patients were treated according to the therapy algorithm, with only 53% receiving broad-spectrum empiric therapy, yet 92.9% received appropriate therapy for the identified pathogen. Thirty-day mortality was significantly higher for HCAP than for CAP (13.7% vs 5.6%, P = .017), but among HCAP patients with 0–1 MDR risk factor, mortality was lower than with ≥2 MDR risk factors (8.6% vs 18.2%, P = .012). In multivariate analysis, initial treatment failure, but not inappropriate empiric antibiotic therapy, was a mortality risk factor (odds ratio, 72.0). Conclusions. Basing empiric HCAP therapy on its severity and the presence of risk factors for MDR pathogens is a potentially useful approach that achieves good outcomes without excessive use of broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy. Clinical Trials Registration. Japan Medical Association Center for Clinical Trials, JMA-IIA00054.
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