Roles of CCL2-CCR2 Axis in the Tumor Microenvironment

Chemokines are a small family of cytokines that were first discovered as chemotactic factors in leukocytes during inflammation, and reports on the relationship between chemokines and cancer progression have recently been increasing. The CCL2-CCR2 axis is one of the major chemokine signaling pathways, and has various functions in tumor progression, such as increasing tumor cell proliferation and invasiveness, and creating a tumor microenvironment through increased angiogenesis and recruitment of immunosuppressive cells. This review discusses the roles of the CCL2-CCR2 axis and the tumor microenvironment in cancer progression and their future roles in cancer therapy.     

The influence of the organic/inorganic interface on the organic-inorganic hybrid solar cells

Organic-inorganic hybrid solar cells based on poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and (6,6)-phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) hybridized with ZnO nanorods were fabricated by growing vertical ZnO nanorods on indium tin oxide (ITO) substrates and filling with bulk heterojunction polymers (P3HT:PCBM). The interface between the organic and inorganic nanostructures influences the performance of the organic-inorganic hybrid solar cells. In this paper, the influence of the state of the P3HT:PCBM/ZnO interface on the performance of organic-inorganic hybrid solar cells is examined. The solar cell performance was high when the P3HT:PCBM/ZnO junction area was large. The charge separation is effective when the active layer/electron transport layer junction area is large, resulting in increasing photocurrent and a high conversion efficiency. The bulk-heterojunction polymer concentration was kept low to infiltrate into the ZnO nanorods, resulting in a large active layer/electron transport layer junction area.     

Phase transition and hydrogenation properties of Ce2Ni7-type Pr2Co7 during the hydrogen absorption process

The crystal structure and hydrogenation properties of Pr₂Co₇ with a Ce₂Ni₇-type structure were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and observation of the pressure–composition (PC) isotherms. The reversible hydrogen capacity reached 0.8 H/M, and two plateaus were observed in the absorption–desorption process. The two observed hydride phases, Pr₂Co₇H_2.7 and Pr₂Co₇H_7.2, were determined to have hexagonal (space group: P6₃/mmc) and orthorhombic (space group: Pbcn) crystal structures, respectively. The crystal structure transformed in the order of hexagonal with a Ce₂Ni₇-type structure (original alloy) → same Ce₂Ni₇-type structure (Pr₂Co₇H_2.7) → orthorhombic (Pr₂Co₇H_7.2). The crystal lattice of the Pr₂Co₇H_2.7 underwent anisotropic expansion along the c-axis of the original alloy, whereas that of Pr₂Co₇H_7.2 exhibited isotropic expansion. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) values for the original alloy and hydride phases during the hydrogen absorption–desorption process were evaluated based on the XRD data. The FWHM values for the main peaks decreased as the hydrogen content increased during the absorption process, indicating that the number of lattice defects did not increase upon hydrogenation. The plateau pressures during the absorption process of the second cycle were the same as those of the first cycle, which also suggests that there were no lattice defects.     

Side Setback Areas as Side Yards Architectural and Psychological Evaluation of Side Setback Areas in Residential Buildings Using a Multidimensional Measure – Case Study of Sapporo Neighbourhoods,Japan

In urban environments, front yards and backyards are valued by residents for the opportunities they provide for enriching residential activities and promoting neighbourly ties. This article extends previous inquiries to identify the preferred uses and attributes of side setback areas in a comparatively dense urban environment. While front yards or backyards may contribute to sociability, no such effects have been reported for the side setback areas, with their function being instrumental rather than social. On the basis of a 2013 survey, the average side setback area in Sapporo (Japan) is <2 m wide and its typical use is for storage. A series of cross-statistical analyses was used to investigate possible correlations and to predict the role of the physical attributes of adjacent facades on the perceptions of the respondents. This was followed by an in-depth interview of those who volunteered. The results indicated that side setback areas that were lesser than 1-m wide were perceived as abandoned and assumed to have no function. However, those wider than 1 m were seen as secondary storage areas. Regardless of this, respondents valued the light and ventilation provided by side setback areas.     

Viscoelastic Stress Analysis of a Strip Plate under Moving Contact with Dry Friction

Moving contact problems in a viscoelastic body with a rigidindentor are often seen in an industrial field. An evaluation of thetime-temperature-dependent stress and strain behavior around a contactregion is required in order to make clear the fundamental mechanism ofthe local fracture and wear on the contact surface of the viscoelasticbody under moving loads with dry friction. No analyses have yet beenpublished about the stress/strain of the viscoelastic moving contactproblem with the dry friction using both an experimental and a numericalmethod. The authors discuss an experimental and a numerical model forthe analysis of not only the viscoelastic stress and strain, but alsodeformations, taking into consideration the dry friction. Animage-processing-aided photoviscoelastic technique is applied foranalyzing the principal stress and strain behavior near the contactregion. Also, a two-dimensional plane stress model which consists of aviscoelastic strip and a rigid sliding cylinder is adopted in a finiteelement analysis of the same problem. The time-dependent stress andstrain and the coefficient of dry friction are successfully evaluated byexperimental and numerical methods.     

An agent architecture for strategy-centric adaptive QoS control in flexible videoconference system

In this paper, we propose an agent architecture to improve flexibility of a videoconference system with strategy-centric adaptive QoS (Quality of Service) control mechanism. The proposed architecture realizes more flexibility by changing their QoS control strategies dynamically. To switch the strategies, system considers the properties of problems occurred on QoS and status of problem solving process. This architecture is introduced as a part of knowledge base of agent that deals with cooperation between software module of videoconference systems. We have implemented the mechanism, and our prototype system shows its capability of flexible problem solving against the QoS degradation, along with other possible problems within the given time limitation. Thus we confirmed that the proposed architecture can improve its flexibility of a videoconference system compared to traditional systems. Takuo Suganuma, Dr.Eng.: He is a research associate of Research Institute of Electrical Communication of Tohoku University. He received a Dr.Eng. degree from Chiba Institute of Technology in 1997. His research interests include agent-based computing and design methodology for distributed systems. He is a member of IPSJ, IEICE and IEEE. SungDoke Lee: He is a Ph.D. Student in the Graduate School of Information Sciences in Tohoku University. He received his MEng degree at Chonbuk National University, Korea in 1991. His research interests include Flexible Network and Knowledge of Agent. Tetsuo Kinoshita, Dr.Eng.: He is an associate professor of Research Institute of Electrical Communication of Tohoku University. He received a Dr.Eng. degree in information engineering from Tohoku University, Japan. His research interests include knowledge engineering, cooperative distributed processing and agent-based computing. He received the the IPSJ Best Paper Award in 1997, etc. He is a member of IPSJ, IEICE, JSAI, AAAI, ACM and IEEE. Norio Shiratori, Dr.Eng.: After receiving his Dr.Eng degree at Tohoku University, he joined the Research Institute of Electrical Communication of Tohoku University in 1977, and is now a professor at the same University. He has been engaged in research on distributed processing system, and flexible intelligent network. He received the 25th Anniversary of IPSJ Memorial Prize-Winning Paper Award in 1985, the 6th Telecommunications Advancement Foundation Incorporation Award in 1991, the Best Paper Award of ICOIN-9 in 1994, the IPSJ Best Paper Award in 1997, etc. He has been named a Fellow of the IEEE for his contributions to the field of computer communication networks.     

An intelligent support system for protocol and communicationsoftware development

An intelligent support system, designed to make the development of protocols and communication software easy and user-friendly, is described. The support system is outlined and its accessories (the knowledge-based specification editor, the validation expert system, the software generation expert system, the conformance-testing expert system, and the protocol-conversion expert system) are described in detail. Artificial intelligence techniques are used in the design of each component of the support system. An example which demonstrates the functions of each component in the support system is given     

Free Volume of Metaphosphate Glasses at the Transition Temperature

The free volume fraction (v_f) defined by Simha and Boyer was measured for metaphosphate and mixed metaphosphate glasses (MO · P₂O₅; M=Ca, Sr, Ba, Mg, Zn). The glasses were classified into groups (1) in which M =Ca, Sr, Ba (V_f≠0.1) and (2) in which M =Mg, Zn (v_f∼ 0.l). The V_f values of mixed glasses containing cations from both groups varied. Thus, these glasses are not in an iso-free-volume state at the glass transition temperature.     

Evidence that the initial up-regulation of phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis in free cholesterol-loaded macrophages is an adaptive response that prevents cholesterol-induced cellular necrosis. Proposed role of an eventual failure of this response in foam cell necrosis in advanced atherosclerosis

Macrophages in atherosclerotic lesions accumulate free cholesterol (FC) as well as cholesteryl ester and appear to have high rates of phospholipid (PL) synthesis and increased PL mass. Previous short term (i.e. 相似文献