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.     

Melt-spinning and the thermal decomposition of mixed polymers containing polysilsesquioxane and polycarbosilane

Journal of Materials Science - We attempted melt-spinning and investigated the compatibility and thermal decomposition of a mixture comprising polysilsesquioxane and polycarbosilane for the purpose...     

香港部屋 日本新潟县

<正>香港部屋座落在日本新潟县中鱼沼郡津南町内的一个村落里。津南的上乡被大自然紧紧包围着,是一个有大树,有小草,充满着雪国风貌的青葱之地。为了不打扰这份自然和宁静,LAAB以融入作为设计理念,希望香港部屋成为这个村落的一部分。屋顶微微倾侧,和村落中此起彼落的民居建筑物互相呼应。LAAB用新潟当地的鱼沼杉木和常见的镀铁板     

Effect of Mo on corrosion behavior of Ni20Cr–xMo alloys in air with NaCl–KCl–CaCl2 vapor at 570°C

The effect of Mo on the corrosion behavior of Ni20Cr–xMo alloys in an oxidizing chlorine-containing atmosphere using air mixed with the salt-vapor mixture of NaCl–KCl–CaCl₂ at 570°C was investigated. The results revealed that the corrosion performance of the Ni20Cr alloys in the oxidizing chlorine atmosphere was improved by Mo addition of up to 3 wt%. The Mo-free alloy formed a potassium chromate during corrosion as a result of the reaction between the Cr₂O₃ scale and KCl vapor. The chromate formation increased the chlorine potential at the scale surface and induced the breakdown of the protective Cr₂O₃ scale, resulting in internal chromium chloride precipitates and a Cr-depleted zone. In contrast, the presence of Mo resulted in the formation of a NiO scale, which did not react with the salt vapors and, therefore, prevented the formation of chromates. The beneficial effect of Mo on the high-temperature chlorination of Ni–Cr alloys in salt-vapor-containing atmospheres was ascribed to the suppression of chlorine generation due to NiO scale formation.     

A Method for Systematic Assessment of Intrinsically Disordered Protein Regions by NMR

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) that lack stable conformations and are highly flexible have attracted the attention of biologists. Therefore, the development of a systematic method to identify polypeptide regions that are unstructured in solution is important. We have designed an “indirect/reflected” detection system for evaluating the physicochemical properties of IDPs using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). This approach employs a “chimeric membrane protein”-based method using the thermostable membrane protein PH0471. This protein contains two domains, a transmembrane helical region and a C-terminal OB (oligonucleotide/oligosaccharide binding)-fold domain (named NfeDC domain), connected by a flexible linker. NMR signals of the OB-fold domain of detergent-solubilized PH0471 are observed because of the flexibility of the linker region. In this study, the linker region was substituted with target IDPs. Fifty-three candidates were selected using the prediction tool POODLE and 35 expression vectors were constructed. Subsequently, we obtained ¹⁵N-labeled chimeric PH0471 proteins with 25 IDPs as linkers. The NMR spectra allowed us to classify IDPs into three categories: flexible, moderately flexible, and inflexible. The inflexible IDPs contain membrane-associating or aggregation-prone sequences. This is the first attempt to use an indirect/reflected NMR method to evaluate IDPs and can verify the predictions derived from our computational tools.     

Effects of CuO Addition on Electrical Properties of 0.6BiFeO3–0.4(Bi0.5K0.5)TiO3 Lead‐Free Piezoelectric Ceramics

0.6BiFeO₃–0.4(Bi_0.5K_0.5)TiO₃ (0.6BF–0.4BKT) ceramic samples with 0.0–4.0 mol% CuO were prepared by the solid‐state reaction. The CuO addition aided the densification of the samples and slightly increased the lattice constant. The relaxor‐like defuse dielectric peak of 0.6BF–0.4BKT became sharper with increasing the CuO content. Polarization–electric field curve of the undoped 0.6BF–0.4BKT was a pinched loop in the as‐sintered state, while that was a square hysteresis with a large remanent polarization of 48 μC/cm² after the thermal quenching, demonstrating a strong domain wall pinning due to defect dipoles. We found that the CuO addition up to 2.0 mol% facilitates the polarization switching in the as‐sintered samples to increase the remanent polarization and the piezoelectric d₃₃ coefficient. The results of the structural and electrical investigations suggested that the copper ion acts as a donor in 0.6BF–0.4BKT by compensating the potassium vacancy created by the evaporation of K₂O during the calcination and sintering processes.     

Indoor boundary layer chemistry modeling

Ozone (O₃) chemistry is thought to dominate the oxidation of indoor surfaces. We consider the hypothesis that reactions taking place within indoor boundary layers result in greater than anticipated hydroxyl radical (OH) deposition rates. We develop models that account for boundary layer mass‐transfer phenomena, O₃‐terpene chemistry and OH formation, removal, and deposition; we solve these analytically and by applying numerical methods. For an O₃‐limonene system, we find that OH flux to a surface with an O₃ reaction probability of 10^?8 is 4.3 × 10^?5 molec/(cm² s) which is about 10 times greater than predicted by a traditional boundary layer theory. At very low air exchange rates the OH surface flux can be as much as 10% of that for O₃. This effect becomes less pronounced for more O₃‐reactive surfaces. Turbulence intensity does not strongly influence the OH concentration gradient except for surfaces with an O₃ reaction probability >10^?4. Although the O₃ flux dominates OH flux under most conditions, OH flux can be responsible for as much as 10% of total oxidant uptake to otherwise low‐reactivity surfaces. Further, OH chemistry differs from that for ozone; therefore, its deposition is important in understanding the chemical evolution of some indoor surfaces and surface films.     

Grain refinement and superplasticity of pipes processed by high-pressure sliding

ABSTRACT

The high-pressure sliding (HPS) process was applied for grain refinement of a pipe form of an Al-3wt%Mg-0.2wt%Sc alloy by developing two types of straining techniques (called in this study anvil sliding and mandrel sliding). To achieve a homogeneous microstructure throughout the cross-section of the pipe, the sample is rotated around the longitudinal axis every after sliding operation by introducing multi-pass technique, named multi-pass HPS (MP-HPS) as developed earlier for rods. The MP-HPS-processed sample shows ultrafine-grained structures with an average grain size of ～260 and ～300?nm after the HPS processing using anvil sliding and mandrel sliding. The samples also exhibit superplasticity with total elongations well more than 400%, respectively. A finite-element method is used to simulate the evolution of strain in the HPS processing and demonstrates that the simulation well represents the experimental results.     

Determination of atomistic deformation of tricalcium silicate paste with high-volume fly ash

We examined the effect of incorporating high-volume fly ash on the atomic arrangement and interatomic deformation behavior of calcium silicate hydrates in tricalcium silicate paste upon exposure to external forces. The interatomic structural changes and strains under compressive load were assessed using synchrotron in situ high-energy X-ray scattering-based atomic pair distribution function analysis. Three different types of strains, which were (a) macroscopic strains from gauges on the surfaces of specimen, (b) strains in a reciprocal space (Bragg peak shift), and (c) strains in real space (PDF peak shift), were compared to each other. All monitored and calculated strains for tricalcium silicate-fly ash (50 wt% fly ash) paste were compared with the counterparts of the pure tricalcium silicate paste. Pair distribution function analysis in the range of r < 10 Å indicated that the atomic arrangement of tricalcium silicate-fly ash was similar to that of synthetic calcium silicate hydrates followed by that of pure tricalcium silicate paste. Moreover, the pair distribution function refinement results revealed that the calcium silicate hydrate structure in tricalcium silicate-fly ash paste was similar to tobermorite 11 Å, unlike that in pure tricalcium silicate paste. The interatomic strain of tricalcium silicate-fly ash in the real space (r < 20 Å) was smaller than that of tricalcium silicate under compression, which suggested that the incompressibility of calcium silicate hydrates at atomistic scale was enhanced by the incorporation of fly ash into it. This was likely to be caused by the increased silicate polymerization of calcium silicate hydrates, which was attributed to the increase in the amount of silicate in their structure via the addition of fly ash.     

Permeability differences based on three-dimensional geometrical information of void spaces

In this study,the permeabilities of Berea and Otway sandstones were measured under different confining pressures,and porosity was investigated through mercury intrusion porosimetry(MIP).The total porosities of the Berea and Otway sandstones were approximately 17.4%and 25%,respectively.Pore size distributions of each sandstone were almost the same,but the pores in the Otway sandstone were slightly narrower.However,the permeability of the Otway sandstone was smaller than that of the Berea sandstone by one order of magnitude.Three-dimensional(3D)void geometry and geometrical properties of the void spaces relevant to flow were compared to obtain the relation between the permeability differences and porosities of the two sandstones.The 3D geometrical analysis using microfocus X-ray computed tomography(CT)was performed,and the pore geometries of both sandstones were compared using the 3D medial axis(3DMA)method.Pore and throat radii,pore coordination number,tortuosity,number of connecting paths,connecting path volume,and other factors were determined using 3DMA.The Otway sandstone was characterized by a small effective throat/pore radius ratio.Based on the fluid flow mechanism,the lower effective throat/pore radius ratio results in a lower permeability induced by the fluid energy loss,which means that the 3D geometrical shape of void spaces affects the permeability value.