Although multidrug resistance protein 2 (MRP2) confers chemoresistance in some cancer types, its implication on oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains unclear.
We evaluated MRP2 ...expression by immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR using 81 resected specimens from ESCC patients who did or did not receive neo-adjuvant chemotherapy (NACT), including 5-fluorouracil, doxorubicin, and cisplatin (CDDP). Correlation between MRP2 expression and response to chemotherapy was also examined in 42 pre-therapeutic biopsy samples and eight ESCC cell lines.
MRP2-positive immunostaining was more frequently observed in ESCCs with NACT than in those without NACT (27.3 vs 5.4%). The MRP2-positive patients showed poorer prognosis than MRP2-negative patients (5-year survival rate, 25.6 vs 55.7%). Concordantly, ESCC with NACT showed 2.1-fold higher mRNA expression of MRP2 than those without NACT (P=0.0350). In pre-therapeutic biopsy samples of patients with NACT, non-responders showed 2.9-fold higher mRNA expression of MRP2 than responders (P=0.0035). Among the panel of ESCC cell lines, TE14 showed the highest MRP2 mRNA expression along with the strongest resistance to CDDP. Inhibition of MRP2 expression by small-interfering RNA reduced chemoresistance to CDDP.
Our data suggested that MRP2 is one of molecules, which regulate the sensitivity to chemotherapy including CDDP in advanced ESCC patients.
Abstract
Background
There are numerous reports that social and emotional skills in early childhood have profound influence on lifelong health. The aim of this research is to determine the relation ...between the lifestyle and the social and emotional skills among children in present day Japan.
Methods
The object of analysis was a total of 110 parents of kindergarten students (56 boys, 48 girls,6 gender unknown) from 3 kindergartens in central Okinawa Island. The survey was conducted in mid-December 2019. Regarding the content of the survey, parents were asked to answer on a five-point scale, based on their subjective opinion, how good is their child, as compared to other children, in each of the 9 sub-scales of the social and emotional skills proposed in the 2015 OECD report, namely “perseverance,” “self-control,” “passion for goals,” “sociability,” “respect,” “caring,” “self-esteem,” “optimism,” “confidence.” Additionally, other question items were set, mainly to ask about the child's own lifestyle.
Results
The results of multivariate logistic regression analysis are following. As for “achieving goals:” 3 items for perseverance - “there are few likes and dislikes about food (OR:2.67, 95％CI:1.03～6.94, p=.043),” “Time for playing games on smartphone is determined (OR:3.21, 95％CI:1.19～8.68, p=.021),” “Eat more fruits (OR:3.03, 95％CI:1.24～8.26, p=.016),” are statistically significant. Other results are omitted in this abstract
Conclusions
It became clear that the acquisition of social and emotional skills during early childhood generally involves regular lifestyle and “discipline” at home as a whole. Besides, it is important for parent and child to do various activities together, including those aiming to increase cognitive skills. This study is considered to be a powerful evidence for the development of future intervention programme, aimed at acquiring social and emotional skills in early childhood.
Key messages
In early childhood family and kindergarten have to cooperate to foster social and emotional skills, important for lifelong health. This study is considered to be a powerful evidence for the development of future intervention programme, aimed at acquiring social and emotional skills in early childhood.
New applications for micro-EDM Fleischer, J; Masuzawa, T; Schmidt, J ...
Journal of materials processing technology,
06/2004, Volume:
149, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
With the development of the WEDG (wire-electrodischarge-grinding) it became possible to produce very small electrodes or products like e.g. ejection pins or cores for mould inserts. A new field for ...the WEDG is the production of milling tools for micro-cutting. The Institute of Production Science (wbk) of the University of Karlsruhe and the Institute of Industrial Science of the University of Tokyo, Center for International Research on MicroMechatronics, developed together a way to produce these milling tools in tungsten carbide with CNC-controlled EDM machines. This research has shown the potential of the machining of micro-cutting tools with a diameter smaller then 100
μm—which is at the moment the size of the smallest commercial milling tool in tungsten carbide—by micro-EDM.
An overview is given of the applications of short and ultrashort lasers in material processing. Shorter pulses reduce heat-affected damage of the material and opens new ways for nanometer accuracy. ...Even forty years after the development of the laser there is a lot of effort in developing new and better performing lasers. The driving force is higher accuracy at reasonable cost, which is realised by compact systems delivering short laser pulses of high beam quality. Another trend is the shift towards shorter wavelengths, which are better absorbed by the material and which allows smaller feature sizes to be produced. Examples of new products, which became possible by this technique, are given. The trends in miniaturization as predicted by Moore and Taniguchi are expected to continue over the next decade too thanks to short and ultrashort laser machining techniques. After the age of steam and the age of electricity we have entered the age of photons now.
We examined two hypotheses based on laboratory amendment experiments: (1) that development of the soil microbial community on volcanic deserts was regulated by substrate limitation; and (2) that the ...type and the extent of substrate limitation would change along the succession gradient. Soils were collected from the early (Stage B) and the late (Stage F) stages of primary succession of a subalpine volcanic desert on Mt. Fuji and they were amended with three carbon (C) sources (glucose, cellulose, or lignin), inorganic nitrogen (N), or phosphorus (P) sources alone or in a mixture. Respiration rates were monitored for 25 days and changes in microbial biomass and community structure were examined using the content and composition of phospholipid fatty acids. For both soils, the magnitude of the microbial response differed depending on the type of C source and it decreased in the following order reflecting the availability to microorganisms: glucose > cellulose > lignin. For Stage B soil, although any single amendment did not affect the microbial properties, combined amendment of C (glucose) and N increased microbial respiration and biomass and shifted the microbial community structure. In contrast, microbial properties in Stage F soils responded positively to single amendments of C source. Our results suggest that the microbial community in the early stage of succession is primarily limited by simultaneous shortage of C and N sources but the quality of the C source becomes more important in the late successional stages, which have large, but recalcitrant, organic matter pools in the soil.
•Substrate limitation to soil microbial community in a volcanic desert was examined.•Three C sources, inorganic N, and P were added to the soil alone or in combination.•Substrate limitation was important in regulating microbial activity and growth.•The type of substrate limitation could differ among microbial functional groups.•Substrate limitation changed from CN- to labile-C limitation along the succession.
Hydroxyapatite (HA) was coated onto titanium substrates using radio frequency sputtering, and the sputtered films were crystallized under hydrothermal conditions at 110–170
°C at pH values of 7.0 and ...9.5. The crystallite size, the remnant film thickness, and the surface morphology of the films were observed using X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy, respectively.
The crystallite size increased with the process temperature, and reached 123.6
nm (pH 9.5 and 170
°C) after 24
h. All of the crystallite sizes of the film treated at pH 9.5 were higher than those treated at pH 7.0 at each process temperature. The film treated at pH 9.5 retained more than 90% of the initial film thickness at any process temperature. The ratio of the film treated at pH 7.0 did not reached 90% at less than 150
°C, and tended to increase with the process temperature.
Sr-substituted hydroxyapatite thin films were prepared by sputtering technique from mixture targets of hydroxyapatite (HA) and strontium apatite (SrAp). The HA and SrAp powders were mixed at 0-100% ...Sr/(Sr+Ca) target ratios. The coated films were recrystallized by a hydrothermal treatment to reduce film dissolution. The films were then characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP). The osteocompatiblity of the films was also evaluated by the size of the bone formation area in osteoblast cells.In the XRD patterns, peaks shifted to lower 2θ values with increasing Sr/(Sr+Ca) target ratios, which indicated Sr incorporation into the HA lattice. In the SEM observation of the hydrothermally treated films, the surface was covered with globular particles, and the size of the globular particles increased from Sr0 to Sr40, and then the size decreased from Sr60 to Sr100. The ICP analysis showed that the Sr/(Sr+Ca) film ratios were almost the same as the target ratios. In the cell culture, the bone formation area on the Sr-substituted HA films increased with increasing Sr concentration, and saturated at Sr60.
The electronic properties of the junction formed between multi-nanolayer amorphous selenium and silicon are studied. The current–voltage (I–V) relationship of this type of junction was characterised ...and the result showed pn junction rectification. Capacitance–voltage (C–V) measurements were also used to obtain the value of the diffusion potential of the junction. From these data, the ideality factor and built-in potential were evaluated. The results show potential in the application of amorphous selenium and silicon as materials in tandem photovoltaic cells and in wide spectral range photodetectors.
Amorphous deuterated carbon (a-C:D) films were prepared using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) from CH4/CD4 and CH4/D2 source gases. For CH4/CD4, the gas flow ratio of CD4/(CD4 +CH4) ...was varied from 0 to 100%. For CH4/D2, the additional partial gas pressure of D2 was increased from 1 to 7Pa as the flow rate increased, and the partial gas pressure and the flow rate of CH4 were maintained at 10Pa and 10sccm, respectively. The concentrations of hydrogen (H) and deuterium (D) relative to carbon (C) in the films and the film densities were determined by elastic recoil detection analysis (ERDA) and Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS). Positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS) was performed to measure the vacancy-type defect of the film. The S value obtained from PAS measurement correlates to the vacancy-type defect in the film. The film hardness was also measured using a nanoindenter. For CH4/CD4, the D concentration in the film increased when the CD4/(CH4 +CD4) gas ratio increased, whereas the concentration of H decreased. For CH4/D2, the D concentration in the film increased with increasing D2 partial pressure, whereas the concentration of H decreased. From the PAS results, the S value increased with increasing CD4/(CH4 +CD4) gas ratio for CH4/CD4, whereas the S value did not change with any D2 partial pressure for CH4/D2. The hardness and the mass density of the films decreased when the CD4/(CH4 +CD4) gas ratio increased for CH4/CD4, whereas the hardness and the density did not change with any D2 partial pressure for CH4/D2. A correlation among the S value, the film hardness and the film density was observed, and the S value, the film hardness and the film density did not correlate to the D concentration in the film. These findings suggest that information about the vacancy-type defect of the hydrogenated amorphous carbon films is crucial for evaluation of their mechanical properties and density.
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