Senescence Marker Protein 30 (SMP30): A Novel Pan-Species Diagnostic Marker for the Histopathological Diagnosis of Breast Cancer in Humans and Animals

Senescence marker protein 30 (SMP30) is a cell survival factor playing an important role in vitamin C synthesis and antiapoptosis. Moreover, its cytoprotective role suggests a possibility to be related to cancer cell survival. Mammary carcinoma is a common cancer in both humans and animals. Because of its histopathological diversity, especially in the early stage, histopathological diagnosis may be complicated; therefore, a diagnostic marker is helpful for confirmation. The present study analyzed the expression pattern of SMP30 in mammary carcinoma in humans, dogs, and cats. Immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, and western blot analysis were used to investigate SMP30 expression patterns. The expression was specifically observed in neoplastic glandular epithelial cells. The expression increased with the malignancy of glandular epithelial cells with a highly proliferative status. However, SMP30 expression was low in normal mammary gland tissues or well-differentiated adenoma tissues. The patterns were consistently reproduced in canine primary mammary carcinoma cells and MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 human carcinoma cell lines. This study provides useful information to understand SMP30 expression in various stages of mammary carcinoma and to suggest its utility as a pan-species diagnostic marker, thereby helping to establish strategies for diagnosing mammary carcinoma in several species.     

皖西地区田间持水量分布特征研究与应用

文章根据皖西地区地理特征和不同种类土壤分布,选取了山区、丘陵区和平原区具有代表性的土壤监测点,采取改进的沙箱渗透法开展田间持水量及其分布特征实验研究,给出了成果。     

Development of the critical film thickness correlation for an advanced annular film mechanistic dryout model applicable to MARS code

It is generally assumed in the mechanistic film dryout model that the critical heat flux (CHF) arises when liquid film calculated from evaporation, droplet entrainment and deposition gets dryout. The dryout of film is usually assumed when film thickness becomes zero. However, it was indicated that the complete dryout assumption can estimate CHF well for uniform heating case but cannot simulate accurately for non-uniform heating case. The critical film thickness concept may be an appropriate approach physically because there is a possibility of instantaneous disappearance of liquid film when it gets very thin. Therefore, a critical dryout film thickness correlation was developed to properly model dryout phenomenon together with MARS code based on experimental data. The modified version of MARS implementing a newly developed critical dryout film thickness correlation was assessed using various dryout data including those of non-uniform heating case and flow reduction transient test. The prediction results showed improved agreement with the experimental data.     

Phase Formations and Electrical Properties of Various (Bi, La)4Ti3O12 Thin Films by Chemical Solution Deposition

The phase formation and electrical properties of (Bi, La)₄Ti₃O₁₂ (BLT) thin film and V-, Sm-doped BLT thin films prepared by the chemical solution deposition method on Pt/TiO₂/SiO₂/Si substrates have been investigated. It was observed that the microstructure and electrical properties of BLT thin films dramatically varied with V- and Sm-doping. The crystallinity and grain size of BLT thin films were definitely increased by V- and Sm-doping into BLT films, which resulted in the enhancement of remanent polarization in doped BLT films. The remanent polarization (Pr) of Sm-doped BLT films annealed for 3 min by an RTA system was about 9 C/cm². The V- and Sm-doped BLT films also exhibited good fatigue characteristics under bipolar stressing to 10¹⁰ cycles.     

Effects of periodicity and oxygen partial pressure on the crystallinity and dielectric property of artificial SrTiO3/BaTiO3 superlattices integrated on Si substrates by pulsed laser deposition method

Epitaxial SrTiO₃(STO)/BaTiO₃(BTO) artificial superlattices have been grown on TiN buffered Si (001) substrates by pulsed laser deposition method and the effects of stacking periodicity and processing oxygen partial pressure on their crystallinity and dielectric properties were studied. The crystal orientation, epitaxy nature, and microstructure of STO/BTO superlattices were investigated using X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The TiN buffer layer and superlattice thin films were grown with cube-on-cube epitaxial orientation relationship of [110](001)_films∣∣[110](001)_TiN∣∣[110](001)_Si. The c-axis lattice parameter of the STO/BTO superlattice decreased from 0.412 nm to 0.406 nm with increasing oxygen partial pressure and the dielectric constants, measured at the frequency of 100 kHz at room temperature, of the superlattices with 2 nm/2 nm periodicity increased from 312 at 1 × 10^− 5 Torr to 596 at 1 × 10^− 3 Torr. The dielectric constants of superlattices grown at oxygen partial pressure of 1 × 10^− 3 Torr increased from 264 to 678 with decreasing periodicity of the superlattices from 10 nm/10 nm to 1 nm/1 nm.     

Effects of Epigallocatechin gallate glucoside on antitumor activities in human laryngeal epidermoid carcinoma Hep2

(−)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) has been reported to inhibit cellular proliferation and induce apoptosis in a range of cancer cells. This study examined the cytotoxicity of EGCG glucoside on human laryngeal epidermoid carcinoma Hep2 cells. The EGCG glucoside treatment decreased the cell viability in Hep2 cells. Furthermore, EGCG glucoside caused apoptotic morphological changes with chromatin condensation and nuclear fragmentation, as observed by a terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay and activated caspase-3 immunohistochemisty. However, the EGCG glucoside did not induce the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), suggesting that oxidative stress is not involved in the apoptotic response. EGCG glucoside induces apoptosis in Hep2 cells through not the generation of ROS, but the activation of caspase-3.     

The Effect of Local Cooking Methods on Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) Contents in Beef,Goat Meat,and Pork as Potential Sources of Human Exposure in Kisumu City,Kenya

Roasted meat is known to be a major source of human exposure to PAHs. The contribution of direct-heat charcoal-roasted, electric- oven grilled, and shallow-pan fried meat to human exposure in Kisumu City was not known although the three modes of cooking meat are very prevalent. This study analyzed the concentrations of the PAHs in raw beef, goat meat, and pork, investigated the effect of direct-heat charcoal roasting, electric-oven grilling, and shallow-pan frying on these concentrations, and compared their concentration levels with international standards for foods in order to assess the potential risks to consumers. Samples were taken from three popular meat-roasting hotels within Kisumu City, Kenya. Extraction of PAHs was done using liquid-liquid partition after saponification with alcoholic potassium hydroxide followed by clean-up on a silica gel column and final analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Roasting and shallow-pan frying introduced new PAHs and significantly (P ≤ 0.05) increased the concentrations of those existing in raw meat. Direct-heat charcoal roast beef had 5 new PAHs and a total mean PAH content of 17.88 μg/kg, compared with a mean of 1.39 μg/kg for raw beef, with the potent dibenz(a,h)anthracene also being detected. Direct-heat charcoal roasted goat meat had three new PAHs and a total mean PAH content of 4.77 μg/kg, compared with a mean of 2.13 μg/kg in raw meat, with the potent benzo(a)pyrene concentration being 8.84% of the total mean PAH. Fried pork had 7 new PAHs and a total mean PAH content of 3.47 μg/kg, compared with a mean total of 0.17 μg/kg, detected in the raw meat. Roast beef had the highest individual PAH concentration (5.03 μg/kg) and highest total PAHs concentration (17.88 μg/kg), both being higher than acceptable EU limits. The PAHs from local raw and cooked meat were characterized and quantified for the first time in Kisumu City and the study therefore provided the needed baseline data on PAHs in raw and cooked meat.     

MSE Analysis of Sampling Frequency Offset Estimation Scheme for OFDM-Based Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) Systems

A precise estimation and compensation of sampling frequency offset (SFO) is an important issue in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system because of its time-variant behavior. This paper considers the problem of SFO estimation for OFDM-based digital radio mondiale (DRM) systems. In this study, we develop expressions for the mean square error (MSE) of the conventional SFO estimators used in the OFDM-based DRM system. Their low-complexity variants and computation complexity are reported. The theoretical MSE analysis for different algorithms are validated by Monte-Carlo simulations within the framework of the OFDM parameter and pilot pattern defined in the DRM specification. It is also shown that the computation complexity of the low-complexity variants is significantly reduced, compared with that of original versions.     

Characteristics of laser-annealed ZnO thin film transistors

We investigated the effects of laser annealing on ZnO thin film transistors (TFTs). ZnO layers were deposited on a bottom-gate patterned Si substrate by radio-frequency sputtering at room temperature. Laser annealing of the ZnO films reduced the full width at half maximum of the ZnO (002) diffraction peak from 0.49° to 0.1°. It reveals that the crystalline quality is improved by annealing effect. A SiO₂ formed in low temperature was used as the gate dielectric. Unannealed ZnO-TFTs were operated in enhancement mode with a threshold voltage of 21.6 V. They had a field-effect mobility of 0.004 cm²/Vs and an on/off current ratio of 134. Laser annealing of the ZnO-TFTs by 200 laser pulses reduced their threshold voltage to 0.6 V and increased their field-effect mobility to 5.08 cm²/Vs. The increase of mobility is originated from the crystallization enhancement of ZnO films after laser annealing.     

Chemical composition and antioxidant activity of Korean cactus (Opuntia humifusa) fruit

The chemical composition and antioxidant activities of the Korean cactus (Opuntia humifusa, OH) fruit were investigated in this study. Major minerals in the OH fruit were P, Ca, and Mg. Total dietary fiber content was 22.8% and the soluble dietary fiber/insoluble dietary fiber ratio was 1:1.3. An 80% ethanol extract was used to investigate antioxidant activities based on DPPH radical scavenging ability as well as total phenolic and flavonoid content. OH fruit extract from 80% ethanol was sequentially fractionated according to the polarity of solvents. Among various fractions, the ethyl acetate fraction showed the highest antioxidant activity as well as the highest total phenolic and total flavonoid contents compared to other fractions. The most abundant phenolic acid in the ethyl acetate fraction was ferulic acid, followed by protocatechuic acid. The most abundant flavonoid was taxifolin, followed by myricetin. The results suggested that OH fruit could be a good potential source of antioxidant.