In this letter, a compact rat-race coupler is developed using shunt-stub-based artificial transmission lines (SSB ATLs). A conventional quarter-wavelength microstrip can be equivalent to an SSB ATL ...realized by two series high-impedance microstrips with the high-impedance branch-type shunt stubs. The circuit configuration of the SSB ATL is beneficial to miniaturize the circuit size using the folding technique. By integrating six SSB ATLs, a compact rat-race coupler can be implemented with a 3.9% circuit size of the conventional one. The measured results of the developed rat-race coupler are in a good agreement with the simulated results by full-wave electromagnetic simulator.
Ovarian high‐grade serous carcinoma (HGSC) is the most lethal gynecological malignancy. Prevailing evidences suggest that drug resistance and recurrence of ovarian HGSC are caused by the presence of ...cancer stem cells. Therefore, targeting cancer stems is appealing, however, all attempts to date, have failed. To circumvent this limit, we analyzed differential transcriptomes at early differentiation of ovarian HGSC stem cells and identified the developmental transcription factor GATA3 as highly expressed in stem, compared to progenitor cells. GATA3 expression associates with poor prognosis of ovarian HGSC patients, and was found to recruit the histone H3, lysine 27 (H3K27) demethylase, UTX, activate stemness markers, and promote stem‐like phenotypes in ovarian HGSC cell lines. Targeting UTX by its inhibitor, GSKJ4, impeded GATA3‐driven stemness phenotypes, and enhanced apoptosis of GATA3‐expressing cancer cells. Combinations of gemcitabine or paclitaxel with GSKJ4, resulted in a synergistic cytotoxic effect. Our findings provide evidence for a new role for GATA3 in ovarian HGSC stemness, and demonstrate that GATA3 may serve as a biomarker for precision epigenetic therapy in the future.
What's new?
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) routinely evade conventional cancer therapies and fuel tumor regrowth. However, while CSC targeting is an appealing therapeutic strategy, studies are needed to better understand CSC differentiation. Here, in multipotent CSCs from ovarian high‐grade serous carcinomas (HGSCs), complexes consisting of the stemness regulator GATA3 and the histone demethylase UTX were found to maintain cancer stemness via epigenetic activation of c‐MYC, CD44, and NANOG. GATA3 was further identified as an independent risk factor in early‐stage ovarian HGSC. The results suggest that GATA3 is a prognostic marker in ovarian tumorigenesis and that targeting GATA3/UTX is a promising therapeutic approach.
As consumer needs for product features change rapidly, companies must develop new products (NPD) that satisfy these needs in the shortest possible time. Consumer product selection behavior is ...generally overlooked when developing new products. This is a more complicated problem for consumers belonging to multiple types, such as hospitals and patients. Quality function deployment (QFD) is a good and commonly used method for product design and selection. Choosing the right product design for a company is a crucial strategic consideration to satisfy the needs of consumers and the company’s technical requirements. Designing a new product is multicriteria decision-making (MCDM). In this study, the analytical hierarchy process (AHP), QFD, and multichoice goal programming (MCGP) were combined to address the design and selection of new products. This integrated method considers both tangible (qualitative) and intangible (quantitative) factors, as well as “the higher criterion is better” and “the lower criteria is better” when selecting new design projects. To prove the practicality and sustainable value of the model, we considered a Taiwanese company that developed medical aid products as an example. This paper suggests a good decision-making tool for selecting a new product design based on “more is better/less is better” criteria.
Precision medicine requires markers for therapeutic guidance. The purpose of this study was to determine whether epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) epigenetics can lead to the identification of ...biomarkers for precision medicine. Through integrative methylomics, we discovered and validated the epigenetic signature of NEFH and HS3ST2 as an independent prognostic factor for type II EOC in our dataset (n = 84), and two independent methylomics datasets (total n = 467). Integrated transcriptomics dataset (n = 1147) and tissue microarrays (n = 54) of HS3ST2 also related to high‐methylation statuses and the EOC prognosis. Mechanistic explorations of HS3ST2 have assessed responses to oncogenic stimulations such as IL‐6, EGF, and FGF2 in cancer cells. The combination of HS3ST2 and various oncogenic ligands also confers the worse outcome. 3‐O‐sulfation of heparan sulfate by HS3ST2 makes ovarian cancer cells intrinsically sensitive to oncogenic signals, which sheds new light on the application of HS3ST2 as a companion diagnostic for targeted therapy using kinase inhibitors or therapeutic antibodies.
What's new?
Most targeted therapies for epithelial ovarian cancer are ineffective. For precision medicine to be effective, companion diagnostic tests are needed. Through integrative epigenomics, here the authors discovered and validated the epigenetic signature of NEFH/HS3ST2 as a stratifying prognostic factor. Mechanistic investigations of HS3ST2 revealed inhibitory effects on various oncogenic signals and malignant phenotypes. Low HS3ST2 and overexpression of oncogenic ligands synergized to confer a poor outcome. Furthermore, 3‐O‐sulfation of heparan sulfate by HS3ST2 made ovarian cancer cells intrinsically sensitive to oncogenic signals, suggesting the application of HS3ST2 as a companion diagnostic for targeted therapy using kinase inhibitors or therapeutic antibodies.
The demands for stereoscopic images are rapidly growing in recent years. However, complicated system installation and expensive devices are usually required for those applications. Also, the ...restrictions of visual angles and the problem of slowly displaying the contents still exist. Furthermore, the traditional applications of anamorphosis are confined to fixed viewing positions with static content. Motivated by solving those problems, this paper presents an imaging system using one projector and perspective projection to generate static and dynamic anamorphic images. Then 3D images can be superimposed and displayed above two orthogonal planes. Furthermore, not only the images can be watched at a fixed position, but the function of demonstrating anamorphic images to viewers standing at different positions can also be achieved. Experimental results have shown that the proposed algorithms can successfully fulfil those two requirements. By using perspective projection to produce static and dynamic anamorphic images, this system can diversify the usage of stereoscopic images, provide high-quality images, and enhance the 3D visual effect. Also, those functions can increase the system variety in different applications of object demonstration.
This paper investigates the effect of product market competition, along with the interaction effect of market competition and the type of mergers and acquisitions (focused or diversified M&As) on an ...acquirer's post-merger long-term performance. Literature suggests that market competition has the function of disciplining managers and forcing them to operate efficiently. Our main hypotheses are that market competition has a positive effect on post-merger performance only for focused mergers due to the diversification-discount phenomenon, and that diversified mergers may erode the benefits of competition in post-merger performance. Using merger events for Taiwan's listed firms as a sample, the evidence supports our hypotheses, even when considering the endogeneity of market competition and considering only non-electronics events. The discipline derived from market competition tends to be weak across the whole sample. The robustness check confirms the limited positive effect of competition caused by finding a negative relation between acquisition premium and competition only for the focused M&As.
•Product market competition positively affects focused merger performance.•Diversified mergers reduce the benefits of competition in post-merger performance.•Competition's positive effect holds even considering its endogeneity.•There is a negative market competition-merger premium relation for focused merger.
ABSTRACT
Manuscript Type: Empirical
Research Question/Issue: This study aims to evaluate the suitability of Taiwan's minimum shareholding requirement for small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs), ...and to examine whether stewardship theory and both incentive and entrenchment effects can characterize the ownership‐performance relationship simultaneously.
Research Findings/Results: We apply new empirical methods to a balanced panel dataset including 496 firm‐level observations of 62 Taiwanese SMEs publicly traded from 1999 to 2006. The results show a nonlinear ownership‐performance relationship, first negative then positive, with a single threshold value of insider ownership (5.4 per cent). This indicates that both effects combine and that the current regulated minimum level of insider shareholdings for public SMEs may be too high.
Theoretical Implications: Our evidence supports both convergence‐of‐interests and entrenchment effects and suggests a better specification that prevents spurious relations obtained from traditional methods. The stewardship theory does work in Taiwan. Insiders behave as loyal stewards rather than motivated by desire for entrenchment. Our empirical evidence suggests an avenue of future research, specifically to form better strategies for those involved in corporate governance.
Practical Implications: We suggest that Taiwanese authorities should lessen ownership obligations, thereby leading to improved corporate governance by increasing the independence of the boards of directors. Emerging markets can learn from the Taiwan experience and then formulate their own regulations. Publicly traded SMEs could offer compensation to insiders such as stock options and performance shares. Asymmetric information problems often experienced by outside stockholders and foreign investors can be alleviated by these signals of insider ownership.
The halophile Vibrio vulnificus is an etiologic agent of human mortality from seafood-borne infections. We applied whole-genome sequencing and comparative analysis to investigate the evolution of ...this pathogen. The genome of biotype 1 strain, V. vulnificus YJ016, was sequenced and includes two chromosomes of estimated 3377 kbp and 1857 kbp in size, and a plasmid of 48,508 bp. A super-integron (SI) was identified, and the SI region spans 139 kbp and contains 188 gene cassettes. In contrast to non-SI sequences, the captured gene cassettes are unique for any given Vibrio species and are highly variable among V. vulnificus strains. Multiple rearrangements were found when comparing the 5.3-Mbp V. vulnificus YJ016 genome and the 4.0-Mbp V. cholerae El Tor N16961 genome. The organization of gene clusters of capsular polysaccharide, iron metabolism, and RTX toxin showed distinct genetic features of V. vulnificus and V. cholerae. The content of the V. vulnificus genome contained gene duplications and evidence of horizontal transfer, allowing for genetic diversity and function in the marine environment. The genomic information obtained in this study can be applied to monitoring vibrio infections and identifying virulence genes in V. vulnificus.
Multiple KH-domain proteins, collectively known as vigilins, are evolutionarily highly conserved proteins that are present in eukaryotic organisms from yeast to metazoa. Proposed roles for vigilins ...include chromosome segregation, messenger RNA (mRNA) metabolism, translation and tRNA transport. As a step toward understanding its biological function, we have identified the fission yeast vigilin, designated Vgl1, and have investigated its role in cellular response to environmental stress. Unlike its counterpart in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we found no indication that Vgl1 is required for the maintenance of cell ploidy in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Instead, Vgl1 is required for cell survival under thermal stress, and vgl1Δ mutants lose their viability more rapidly than wild-type cells when incubated at high temperature. As for Scp160 in S. cerevisiae, Vgl1 bound polysomes accumulated at endoplasmic reticulum (ER) but in a microtubule-independent manner. Under thermal stress, Vgl1 is rapidly relocalized from the ER to cytoplasmic foci that are distinct from P-bodies but contain stress granule markers such as poly(A)-binding protein and components of the translation initiation factor eIF3. Together, these observations demonstrated in S. pombe the presence of RNA granules with similar composition as mammalian stress granules and identified Vgl1 as a novel component that required for cell survival under thermal stress.
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