Magnetic fluid hyperthermia (MFH) is a novel reliable technique with excellent potential for thermal therapies and treating breast tumours. This method involves injecting a magnetic nanofluid into ...the tumour and applying an external AC magnetic field to induce heat in the magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) and raise the tumour temperature to ablation temperature ranges. Because of the complexity of considering and coupling all different physics involves in this phenomenon and also due to the intricacy of a thorough FEM numerical study, few FEM-based studies address the entire MFH process as similar to reality as possible. The current study investigates a FEM-based three-dimensional numerical simulation of MFH of breast tumours as a multi-physics problem. An anatomically realistic breast phantom (ARBP) is considered, some magnetic nanofluid is injected inside the tumour, and the diffusion phenomenon is simulated. Then, the amount of heat generated in the MNP-saturated tumour area due to an external AC magnetic field is simulated. In the end, the fraction of tumour tissue necrotized by this temperature rise is evaluated. The study's results demonstrate that by injecting nanofluid and utilizing seven circular copper windings with each coil carrying 400 A current with a frequency of 400 kHz for generating the external AC magnetic field, the temperature in tumour tissue can be raised to a maximum of about 51.4°C, which leads to necrosis of entire tumour tissue after 30 minutes of electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure. This numerical platform can depict all four various physics involved in the MFH of breast tumours by numerically solving all different equation sets coupled together with high precision. Thus, the proposed model can be utilized by clinicians as a reliable tool for predicting and identifying the approximate amount of temperature rise and the necrotic fraction of breast tumour, which can be very useful to opt for the best MFH therapeutic procedure and conditions based on various patients. In future works, this numerical platform's results should be compared with experimental in-vivo results to improve and modify this platform in order to be ready for clinical applications.
Heterostructured metal—organic framework (MOF)‐on‐MOF thin films have the potential to cascade the various properties of different MOF layers in a sequence to produce functions that cannot be ...achieved by single MOF layers. An integration method that relies on van der Waals interactions, and which overcomes the lattice‐matching limits of reported methods, has been developed. The method deposits molecular sieving Cu‐TCPP (TCPP=5,10,15,20‐tetrakis(4‐carboxyphenyl)porphyrin) layers onto semiconductive Cu‐HHTP (HHTP=2,3,6,7,10,11‐hexahydrotriphenylene) layers to obtain highly oriented MOF‐on‐MOF thin films. For the first time, the properties in different MOF layers were cascaded in sequence to synergistically produce an enhanced device function. Cu‐TCPP‐on‐Cu‐HHTP demonstrated excellent selectivity and the highest response to benzene of the reported recoverable chemiresistive sensing materials that are active at room temperature. This method allows integration of MOFs with cascading properties into advanced functional materials.
MOF‐on‐MOF thin films were prepared from Cu‐HHTP (HHTP=hexahydrotriphenylene) and Cu‐TCPP (TCPP=tetrakis(4‐carboxyphenyl)porphyrin frameworks). The properties of the MOF layers cascade to produce functionality not achieved by a single layer. The MOF‐on‐MOF films demonstrate excellent selectivity and the highest response to benzene among reported recoverable chemiresistive sensing materials active at room temperature.
Gemcitabine (GEM) resistance in pancreatic adenocarcinoma mediated by the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) has been demonstrated. Therefore, investigating the safety and the ...potential of new auxiliary methods for pancreatic cancer treatment is urgent. Ursolic acid (UA), a natural pentacyclic triterpenoid found in apple peels, rosemary, and thyme, has been reported to have anticancer capacity. This study aimed to reveal the underlying mechanisms of UA in cell death and drug enhancement, especially in GEM‐resistant pancreatic cancer cells. First, GEM‐resistant cells (MIA Paca‐2GEMR cells) were established by incrementally increasing GEM culture concentrations. UA treatment reduced cell viability through cell cycle arrest and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, resulting in apoptosis and autophagy in a dose‐dependent manner in MIA Paca‐2 and MIA Paca‐2GEMR cells. High RAGE expression in MIA Paca‐2GEMR cells was suppressed by UA treatment. Interestingly, knocking down RAGE expression showed similar UA‐induced effects in both cell lines. Remarkably, UA had a drug‐enhancing effect by decreasing cell viability and increasing cell cytotoxicity when combined with GEM treatment. In conclusions, UA triggered ER stress, subsequently regulating apoptosis‐ and autophagy‐related pathways and increasing GEM chemosensitivity in pancreatic cancer cells by inhibiting the expression of RAGE.
Social skills are important but difficult to measure. So far, few empirical studies have examined the effect of social skills on the performance of professionals. Using the number of LinkedIn ...connections as a proxy for social skills, we investigate the effect of financial analysts' social skills on their performance. We use multiple ways to validate the measure of social skills and show that analysts with better social skills produce more accurate earnings forecasts and that their stock recommendations elicit stronger market reactions. Furthermore, these socially skilled analysts are more likely to be voted as All‐Star Analysts. This study provides the first large‐sample evidence highlighting the importance of social skills on financial analysts' performance.
Résumé
L'effet des compétences sociales sur la performance des analystes
Les compétences sociales sont importantes, mais difficiles à mesurer. Jusqu’à présent, peu d’études empiriques ont examiné l'effet des compétences sociales sur la performance des professionnels. En utilisant le nombre de relations sur LinkedIn comme indicateur des compétences sociales, les auteurs étudient l'effet des compétences sociales des analystes financiers sur leur performance. Ils utilisent plusieurs moyens pour valider la mesure des compétences sociales et montrent que les analystes ayant de meilleures compétences sociales produisent des prévisions de résultats plus précises et que leurs recommandations en matière d'actions suscitent des réactions plus fortes du marché. De plus, ces analystes socialement compétents sont plus susceptibles d’être élus analystes All‐Star. Les auteurs exposent les conclusions d'une première étude portant sur un vaste échantillon soulignant l'importance des compétences sociales sur la performance des analystes financiers.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a pandemic. Rapidly distinguishing COVID-19 from other respiratory infections is a challenge for first-line health care providers. This ...retrospective study was conducted at the Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taiwan. Patients who visited the outdoor epidemic prevention screening station for respiratory infection from February 19 to April 30, 2020, were evaluated for blood biomarkers to distinguish COVID-19 from other respiratory infections. Monocyte distribution width (MDW) ≥ 20 (odds ratio OR: 8.39, p = 0.0110, area under curve AUC: 0.703) and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) < 3.2 (OR: 4.23, p = 0.0494, AUC: 0.673) could independently distinguish COVID-19 from common upper respiratory tract infections (URIs). Combining MDW ≥ 20 and NLR < 3.2 was more efficient in identifying COVID-19 (AUC: 0.840). Moreover, MDW ≥ 20 and NLR > 5 effectively identified influenza infection (AUC: 0.7055). Thus, MDW and NLR can distinguish COVID-19 from influenza and URIs.
Photon upconversion via triplet–triplet annihilation (TTA) has achieved high efficiencies in solution and within polymer matrices that support molecular migration systems. It has diverse potential ...applications including bioimaging, optical sensors, and photovoltaics. To date, however, the reported performance of TTA in rigid solid‐state systems is substantially inferior, which may complicate the integration of TTA in other solid‐state devices. Here, solid‐state loss mechanisms in a green‐to‐blue upconversion system are investigated, and three specific losses are identified: energy back transfer, sensitizer aggregation, and triplet–charge annihilation. Strategies are demonstrated to mitigate energy back transfer and sensitizer aggregation, and a completely dry‐processed solid‐state TTA upconversion system having an upconversion efficiency of ≈2.5% (by the convention of maximum efficiency being 100%) at a relatively low excitation intensity of 238 mW cm−2 is reported. This device is the first demonstration of dry‐processed solid‐state TTA comparable to solution‐processed solid‐state systems. The strategies reported here can be generalized to other upconversion systems and offer a route to achieving higher‐performance solid‐state TTA upconversion devices that are compatible with applications sensitive to solvent damage.
Solid‐state triplet–triplet‐annihilation‐based photon‐upconversion systems are subject to losses from back transfer, molecular aggregation, and triplet–charge annihilation. Following strategies provided to mitigate these losses, a dry‐processed solid‐state device having comparable upconversion efficiency and threshold intensity to solution‐processed solid‐state systems is developed, offering a route for high‐performance upconversion devices compatible with applications sensitive to solvent damage.
Hyperuricemia, the physiological prerequisite for gout, is linked to the presence and severity of multiple comorbidities that affect longevity and well-being. By using the baseline data from the ...China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, a nationally representative survey, the prevalence of hyperuricemia in general middle-aged and older Chinese was estimated. The potential effects of health behaviours and comorbidities on hyperuricemia were also explored. In 2010, the prevalence of hyperuricemia among middle-aged and older Chinese was 6.4%. Hyperuricemia was more prevalent in males than in females (7.9% vs. 4.9%). The risk of hyperuricemia increased with advanced age in both sexes. In males, current drinking, obesity and dyslipidemia were positively associated with hyperuricemia, whereas singles males and males living in North China were with lower odds of having hyperuricemia. For females, being single, at a higher economic level, living in the Southwest China, smoking, obesity, diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidemia were all significant risk factors for hyperuricemia, but females living in North China and Northwest China were with a lower hyperuricemia prevalence than females in East China. Therefore, hyperuricemia in China was not as prevalent as in developed countries, its prevalence varied greatly according to demographic, socioeconomic, and geographic factors.
An antineoplastic drug‐free anticancer strategy enabled by host defense peptides (HDPs)‐mimicking synthetic polypeptides is reported. The polypeptide exhibits a broad spectrum of anticancer activity ...in 12 cancer cell lines, including drug‐resistant and highly metastatic tumor cells. Detailed mechanistic studies reveal that the cationic anticancer polypeptide (ACPP) can directly induce rapid necrosis of cancer cells within minutes through a membrane‐lytic mechanism. Moreover, a pH‐sensitive zwitterionic derivative of ACPP (DA‐ACPP) is prepared for in vivo application. DA‐ACPP shows negligible hemolysis under neutral physiological conditions, and can be converted back to ACPP in slightly acidic tumor environments, resulting in selective killing of cancer cells. Consequently, DA‐ACPP shows an effective inhibition of tumor growth in both 4T1 orthotopic breast tumor models and B16‐F10 melanoma pulmonary metastatic models. Overall, these findings demonstrate that synthetic HDPs‐mimicking polypeptides represent safe and effective antineoplastic agents, which sheds new light on the development of drug‐free synthetic polymers for cancer therapy.
An antineoplastic drug‐free anticancer strategy enabled by host defense peptides (HDPs)‐mimicking synthetic polypeptides is proposed. The synthetic anticancer polypeptides (ACPP) exhibit broad‐spectrum anticancer activity through an HDPs‐like membrane‐lytic mechanism. Modification of ACPP with 2,3‐dimethylmaleic anhydride (DA) generates a pH‐sensitive zwitterionic derivative, DA‐ACPP, with improved biocompatibility, which can selectively lyse tumors in vivo after being activated in acidic tumor microenvironment.
Although Hi-C technology is one of the most popular tools for studying 3D genome organization, due to sequencing cost, the resolution of most Hi-C datasets are coarse and cannot be used to link ...distal regulatory elements to their target genes. Here we develop HiCPlus, a computational approach based on deep convolutional neural network, to infer high-resolution Hi-C interaction matrices from low-resolution Hi-C data. We demonstrate that HiCPlus can impute interaction matrices highly similar to the original ones, while only using 1/16 of the original sequencing reads. We show that the models learned from one cell type can be applied to make predictions in other cell or tissue types. Our work not only provides a computational framework to enhance Hi-C data resolution but also reveals features underlying the formation of 3D chromatin interactions.
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