Reduced Claudin-12 Expression Predicts Poor Prognosis in Cervical Cancer

Background: Within the claudin (CLDN) family, CLDN12 mRNA expression is altered in various types of cancer, but its clinicopathological relevance has yet to be established due to the absence of specific antibodies (Abs) with broad applications. Methods: We generated a monoclonal Ab (mAb) against human/mouse CLDN12 and verified its specificity. By performing immunohistochemical staining and semiquantification, we evaluated the relationship between CLDN12 expression and clinicopathological parameters in tissues from 138 cases of cervical cancer. Results: Western blot and immunohistochemical analyses revealed that the established mAb selectively recognized the CLDN12 protein. Twenty six of the 138 cases (18.8%) showed low CLDN12 expression, and the disease-specific survival (DSS) and recurrence-free survival rates were significantly decreased compared with those in the high CLDN12 expression group. We also demonstrated, via univariable and multivariable analyses, that the low CLDN12 expression represents a significant prognostic factor for the DSS of cervical cancer patients (HR 3.412, p = 0.002 and HR 2.615, p = 0.029, respectively). Conclusions: It can be concluded that a reduced CLDN12 expression predicts a poor outcome for cervical cancer. The novel anti-CLDN12 mAb could be a valuable tool to evaluate the biological relevance of the CLDN12 expression in diverse cancer types and other diseases.     

Stability of electronic nose (e-nose) as determined by considering date-pits heated at different temperatures

Variability and sensitivity of a portable electronic nose (32 sensors) was assessed by considering different variables for measurement (i.e., reference, standard, first and second purges, sample draw time, waiting time for the volatiles released in the headspace, and mass of sample or headspace volume of the jar containing sample). In this study, dried date-pits were used a model sample. The highest stability was achieved when both reference and standard (i.e., dried date-pits, no heating treatment) were used before test sample measurement. Higher sample draw time more than 10 s significantly decreased the stability, whereas optimum second purge was observed at 50 s. Optimum time to generate volatile was observed as 24 h. A sample of 100 g increased the signal intensity compared to the 50 g sample for the 60°C and 100°C treated samples, while an opposite trend was observed for the 150°C treated sample. Finally, the responses of volatile components in date-pits heated at different temperatures (60°C, 100°C, and 150°C) were measured using the optimum operating conditions. Principal component analysis explored the relationships between the volatile features and classified date-pits heated at different temperatures. The results showed that an electronic nose was able to classify date-pits based on their volatile components generated by different degrees of heating (93.3% accuracy).     

Numerical investigation on the electronic components' cooling for different coolants by finite element method

In this study, we conducted a numerical simulation to examine the cooling performance of an aluminum finned heat sink attached to a silicon chip, placed in a chamber of a rectangular cross-section. The heat sink is cooled by convective heat transfer utilizing nine commercially available gaseous coolants, namely air, hydrogen, helium, nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, freon12 vapor, propane, and ammonia. To select an appropriate coolant for electronic devices in terms of thermal–hydraulic performance, the maximum temperature on the chip domain and the associated pressure drop in the cooling channel as a function of coolant velocity are analyzed for the aforementioned fluids. It has been found that the minimum temperature is recorded for propane and freon12 vapor, which is approximately 31.1°C, for a coolant velocity of 0.5 m/s, but freon12 vapor shows the highest pressure drop, approximately 900 mPa, among all coolants. In the overall velocity regime, hydrogen shows the best cooling performance in terms of both cooling capacity and hydrodynamic characteristics. But considering safety issues, helium can be a better alternative. This comprehensive study provides a better understanding of different coolant performances, which will aid engineers to develop an effective cooling technique to accommodate the inexorably rising power demand.     

Ergonomic mismatch between students anthropometry and university classroom furniture

University students spend most of their time in classrooms, mostly in a sitting position. Prolonged sitting on ill-fitted furniture and the resulting bad posture is making students suffer from different musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). This study evaluates the potential mismatch between furniture dimensions and anthropometric measurements. To determine potential mismatch, 13 anthropometric measurements of 550 students and 11 dimensions of two types of classroom furniture (mounted-desktop and chair-with-table) were measured and then compared. Additionally, chi-square test was performed to compare the relation between anthropometry and relevant furniture dimensions. Results showed that a significant number of mismatches emerged between anthropometric measurements and furniture dimensions. For both types of furniture, seat height was too high and seat depth was too deep. Moreover, for mounted desktop, desk height is almost appropriate for all students whereas for chair and table, it was too high for the males. These circumstances may lead to increase discomfort and increase MSDs problems among all students. It can be concluded that the dimensions of both types of classroom furniture were not appropriate for users according to anthropometric measurements. This analysis recommends the measurements of furniture dimensions based on participants’ anthropometric measurements to avoid or minimise discomfort and MSDs problems.     

Flexible and Conductive 3D Printable Polyvinylidene Fluoride and Poly(N,N‐dimethylacrylamide) Based Gel Polymer Electrolytes

In this work, 3D printable gel polymer electrolytes (GPEs) based on N,N‐dimethylacrylamide (DMAAm) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) in lithium chloride containing ethylene glycol solution are synthesized and their physicochemical properties are investigated. 3D printing is carried out with a customized stereolithography type 3D gel printer named “Soft and Wet Intelligent Matter‐Easy Realizer” and free forming GPE samples having variable shapes and sizes are obtained. Printed PVDF/PDMAAm‐based GPEs exhibit tunable mechanical properties and favorable thermal stability. Electrochemical proprieties of the printed GPEs are carried out via impedance spectroscopy in the temperature range of 25–90 °C by varying PVDF content. Ionic conductivity as high as 6.5 × 10^?4 S cm^?1 is achieved at room temperature for GPE containing low PVDF content (5 wt%) and conductivity of the GPEs is increased as temperature rises.     

Chemically Tailored Multifunctional Asymmetric Isoporous Triblock Terpolymer Membranes for Selective Transport

Membrane-based separation of organic molecules with 1–2 nm lateral dimensions is a demanding but rather underdeveloped technology. The major challenge is to fabricate membranes having distinct nanochannels with desired functionality. Here, a bottom-up strategy to produce such a membrane using a tailor-made triblock terpolymer featuring miscible end blocks with two different functional groups is demonstrated. A scalable multifunctional integral asymmetric isoporous membrane is fabricated by the solvent evaporation-induced self-assembly of the block copolymer combined with nonsolvent-induced phase separation. The membrane nanopores are readily functionalized using positively and negatively charged moieties by two straightforward gas–solid reactions. The pores of the post-functionalized membranes act as target-specific functional soft nanochannels due to swelling of the polyelectrolyte blocks in a hydrated state. The membranes show unprecedented separation selectivity of small molecules based on size and/or charge which demonstrates the potential of the proposed strategy to prepare next-generation nanofiltration membranes.