We developed an omnidirectional Compton camera for radioactive environmental monitoring which can visualize gamma rays with energy below 250 keV emitted from various radiopharmaceuticals used in ...nuclear medicine facilities to prevent occupational radiation exposure. An omnidirectional Compton camera based on high light yield scintillators CsI(Tl) or NaI(Tl) developed in our previous studies is a promising system for environmental radiation monitoring because it has a wide field of view and high sensitivity for sub-MeV gamma rays. However, its sensitivity rapidly decreases below 250 keV because photoelectric effect becomes more dominant than the Compton scattering process due to their large effective atomic numbers (approximately 50). Thus, CaF2(Eu) was adopted, which has both low effective atomic number (approximately 15) and high light yield. Four CaF2(Eu) crystals were arranged symmetrically to achieve a relatively uniform acceptance in all directions. Similarly, the detector rotation technique was adopted to suppress artificial patterns in a reconstructed gamma-ray image because of the small number of crystals. Through experiments in a laboratory and at a nuclear medicine facility, the capability of the camera to visualize gamma rays in energies from 250 keV to 60 keV with reasonable observation time for practical clinical use was confirmed.
Viscose fiber (VIF) burns easily, bio-based carrageenan fiber (CAF) is inherently flame retardant. Can the addition of carrageenan fibers improve the flame retardant properties of VIF/CAF blended ...materials? In this study, VIF/CAF papers were successfully prepared in a green way without any pollution. The thermal degradation properties and flame retardancy of VIF/CAF papers were tested by thermogravimetric analysis, limiting oxygen index test, flammability test and cone calorimeter test. The results showed that the introduction of carrageenan fibers significantly changed the thermal stability and flame retardancy of VIF/CAF papers. Moreover, the addition of carrageenan fibers obviously increased the mechanical strength of the VIF/CAF papers.
•OmGel is a patient-derived matrix with unprecedented similarity with the matrix of ovarian metastatic tumours.•OmGel is a physiologically and clinically relevant matrix for functional assays in ...vitro.•OmGel supports invasion of ovarian cancer cells.•OmGel modulates CAF phenotype.
High-grade serous (HGS) ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynaecological disease in the world and metastases is a major cause. The omentum is the preferential metastatic site in HGS ovarian cancer patients and in vitro models that recapitulate the original environment of this organ at cellular and molecular level are being developed to study basic mechanisms that underpin this disease. The tumour extracellular matrix (ECM) plays active roles in HGS ovarian cancer pathology and response to therapy. However, most of the current in vitro models use matrices of animal origin and that do not recapitulate the complexity of the tumour ECM in patients.
Here, we have developed omentum gel (OmGel), a matrix made from tumour-associated omental tissue of HGS ovarian cancer patients that has unprecedented similarity to the ECM of HGS omental tumours and is simple to prepare. When used in 2D and 3D in vitro assays to assess cancer cell functions relevant to metastatic ovarian cancer, OmGel performs as well as or better than the widely use Matrigel and does not induce additional phenotypic changes to ovarian cancer cells. Surprisingly, OmGel promotes pronounced morphological changes in cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs). These changes were associated with the upregulation of proteins that define subsets of CAFs in tumour patient samples, highlighting the importance of using clinically and physiologically relevant matrices for in vitro studies. Hence, OmGel provides a step forward to study the biology of HGS omental metastasis. Metastasis in the omentum are also typical of other cancer types, particularly gastric cancer, implying the relevance of OmGel to study the biology of other highly lethal cancers.
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•TLD-100, TLD-200, TLD-400 and GR-200 dosimeters could be potentially used in the field of UV Dosimetry.•Luminescence characterization (CL and TL) of these dosimeters exposed to ...electro beam, beta and Ultraviolet C radiation were here discussed in detail.•TL glow curves allows to discriminate groups of components of the TLDs exposed to beta and UVC radiation.•CL emissions differ considerably in the shape and intensity due to their chemical compositions.•The estimation of the kinetic parameters could be studied by means of the Computerised Glow Curve Deconvolution (CGCD) method.
This paper reports on the luminescence characterization of TLD-100 (LiF: Ti, Mg), TLD-200 (CaF2: Dy), TLD-400 (CaF2: Mn) and GR-200 (LiF: Mg, Cu, P) dosimeters exposed to electro beam, beta and ultraviolet C radiation -UVC-. All of them show high sensitivity to radiation regardless of whether it is ionizing or partially ionizing radiation based on their luminescence properties (cathodoluminescence -CL- or thermoluminescence -TL-). CL emission differs significantly among them in shape and intensity due to their chemical compositions. LiF samples display three maxima at: (i) 300–450 nm linked to intrinsic and structural defects, (ii) a green waveband probably due to F3+ centres or the presence of hydroxyl groups and (iii) the red-infrared emission band associated with F2 centres. However, CL spectra from the CaF2 dosimeters display meaningful differences due to the dopant. TLD-200 is characterized by an emission with four sharp individual peaks in the green-IR spectral region (due to the Dy3+), whilst TLD-400 exhibits a broad maximum peaked at ̴500 nm (linked to the Mn2+). On the other hand, the variation in the TL glow curves allows to discriminate the TLDs exposed to beta and UVC radiation since they give rise to different chemical-physical processes and that have been studied from the estimation of the kinetic parameters by means of the Computerised Glow Curve Deconvolution (CGCD) method.
This study adopted an integrated approach to investigate how second language (L2) writers engaged in cognitive processes during planning and writing and generated their written products under a ...randomly assigned planning time condition. Participants were 160 intermediate-high L2 writers who performed a narrative task under either the pre-task planning condition (PTP), the online planning condition (OLP), the combination of the pre-task and online planning condition (PTP/OLP), or the no planning condition (NP). Furthermore, 60 writers, randomly selected from the four task conditions, participated in video stimulated recall interviews (VSRIs). L2 writers’ performance was analyzed using complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) measures. Quantitative analyses revealed that PTP, OLP, and PTP/OLP improved complexity and fluency, but OLP and PTP/OLP fostered accuracy while PTP had no effect compared to NP. Additionally, only the paired interaction between PTP/OLP and PTP was positive for fluency while other paired interactions remained insignificant. The VSRIs also demonstrated that while PTP facilitated attention to the planning processes and OLP improved attention to the translating processes and monitoring system, PTP/OLP aided in differentially attending to the writing systems and processes. These results suggest that task planning mitigated specific demands on L2 writers’ cognitive processes and fostered writing products.
Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) is a cytokine essential for the induction of the fibrotic response and for the activation of the cancer stroma. Strong evidence suggests that a strong cross-talk ...exists among TGF-β and the tissue extracellular matrix components. TGF-β is stored in the matrix as part of a large latent complex bound to the latent TGF-β binding protein (LTBP) and matrix binding of latent TGF-β complexes, which is required for an adequate TGF-β function. Once TGF-β is activated, it regulates extracellular matrix remodelling and promotes a fibroblast to myofibroblast transition, which is essential in fibrotic processes. This cytokine also acts on other cell types present in the fibrotic and tumour microenvironment, such as epithelial, endothelial cells or macrophages and it contributes to the cancer-associated fibroblast (CAF) phenotype. Furthermore, TGF-β exerts anti-tumour activity by inhibiting the host tumour immunosurveillance. Aim of this review is to update how TGF-β and the tissue microenvironment cooperate to promote the pleiotropic actions that regulate cell responses of different cell types, essential for the development of fibrosis and tumour progression. We discuss recent evidences suggesting the use of TGF-β chemical inhibitors as a new line of defence against fibrotic disorders or cancer.
Heterogeneity of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) can result from activation of distinct signaling pathways. We show that in primary human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs), fibroblast growth factor ...(FGF) and transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) signaling oppositely modulate multiple CAF effector genes. Genetic abrogation or pharmacological inhibition of either pathway results in induction of genes responsive to the other, with the ETV1 transcription factor mediating the FGF effects. Duality of FGF/TGF-β signaling and differential ETV1 expression occur in multiple CAF strains and fibroblasts of desmoplastic versus non-desmoplastic skin squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs). Functionally, HDFs with opposite TGF-β versus FGF modulation converge on promoting cancer cell proliferation. However, HDFs with increased TGF-β signaling enhance invasive properties and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of SCC cells, whereas HDFs with increased FGF signaling promote macrophage infiltration. The findings point to a duality of FGF versus TGF-β signaling in distinct CAF populations that promote cancer development through modulation of different processes.
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•FGF and TGF-β signaling exert opposite control over multiple CAF effector genes•ETV1 transcription factor mediates FGF effects and suppresses those of TGF-β•Modulation of either pathway leads to different tumor-promoting CAF populations•TGF-β-activated CAFs promote EMT, but FGF-activated CAFs increase inflammation
Bordignon et al. show that activation of FGF and TGF-β control opposite key CAF effectors. Suppression of one pathway leads to activation of the other and results in tumor-promoting CAF populations that elicit EMT versus inflammation. FGF/TGF-β dualism applies to distinct CAF subsets in invading desmoplastic versus non-desmoplastic skin SCCs.
Polar molecules offer a new platform for quantum simulation of systems with long-range interactions, based on the electrostatic interaction between their electric dipole moments. Here, we report the ...development of coherent quantum state control using microwave fields in 40Ca19F and 87Rb133Cs molecules, a crucial ingredient for many quantum simulation applications. We perform Ramsey interferometry measurements with fringe spacings of ∼1 kHz and investigate the dephasing time of a superposition of N = 0 and N = 1 rotational states when the molecules are confined. For both molecules, we show that a judicious choice of molecular hyperfine states minimises the impact of spatially varying transition-frequency shifts across the trap. For magnetically trapped 40Ca19F we use a magnetically insensitive transition and observe a coherence time of 0.61(3) ms. For optically trapped 87Rb133Cs we exploit an avoided crossing in the AC Stark shifts and observe a maximum coherence time of 0.75(6) ms.
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