Expression of RCAS1 Correlates with Urothelial Bladder Cancer Malignancy

RCAS1 is a protein that participates in regulation of the tumor microenvironment and its immune responses, all in order to evade the immune system. The aim of this study was to analyze RCAS1 expression in urothelial bladder cancer cells (and in fibroblasts and macrophages of the tumor stroma) and its relationship with the histological pattern of malignancy. Eighty-three postcystectomy patients were enrolled. We analyzed the histological maturity (grade), progress (pT stage), tissue invasion type (TIT), nonclassic differentiation number (NDN), and the ability to metastasize (pN). The expression of RCAS1 protein was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. Indicators of histological malignancy were observed solely in association with the RCAS1 expression in cells in the border parts (BPs) of the tumor. Histological malignancy of the tumor, indicated by the pT and pN, and metastasis-free survival time, correlated significantly with RCAS1 expression in tumor neoplastic cells, whereas malignancy determined by grade, TIT, and NDN correlated with RCAS1 expression in fibroblasts and macrophages in the tumor microenvironment. These findings suggest that the increased RCAS1 expression depends on its cellular source and that RCAS1 expression itself is a component of various signaling pathways. The immune escape occurs within the tumor BPs, where the increase in the RCAS1 expression occurs within tumor cells and stromal cells in its microenvironment. We conclude that the histological pattern of tumor malignancy, indicated by grade, TIT, NDN, pT, and pN is a morphological indicator of immune escape.     

Sustainable ammonia production through process synthesis and global optimization

Current ammonia production technologies have a significant carbon footprint. In this study, we present a process synthesis and global optimization framework to discover the efficient utilization of renewable resources in ammonia production. Competing technologies are incorporated in a process superstructure where biomass, wind, and solar routes are compared with the natural gas-based reference case. A deterministic global optimization-based branch-and-bound algorithm is used to solve the resulting large-scale nonconvex mixed-integer nonlinear programming problem (MINLP). Case studies for Texas, California, and Iowa are conducted to examine the effects of different feedstock prices and availabilities. Results indicate that profitability of ammonia production is highly sensitive to feedstock and electricity prices, as well as greenhouse gas (GHG) restrictions. Under strict 75% GHG reductions, biomass to ammonia route is found to be competitive with natural gas route, whereas wind and solar to ammonia routes require further improvement to compete with those two routes. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 65: e16498 2019     

Multilevel Recording in Ge2Sb2Te5 Thin Films

Semiconductors - The current–voltage characteristics measured on Ge2Sb2Te5 thin films in the current mode are studied. The effect of multilevel recording is established when applying...     

MACBHA: Modified Adaptive Cluster-Based Heuristic Approach with Co-operative Spectrum Sensing in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless Personal Communications - In the fusion experiment, sensitive radio frequency signal diagnostic instruments need to be protected against high power stray radiation coming from the Electron...     

Multi-objective particle swarm optimisation based integrated production inventory routing planning for efficient perishable food logistics operations

Sustainable and efficient food supply chain has become an essential component of one’s life. The model proposed in this paper is deeply linked to people's quality of life as a result of which there is a large incentive to fulfil customer demands through it. This proposed model can enhance food quality by making the best possible food quality accessible to customers, construct a sustainable logistics system considering its environmental impact and ensure the customer demand to be fulfilled as fast as possible. In this paper, an extended model is examined that builds a unified planning problem for efficient food logistics operations where four important objectives are viewed: minimising the total expense of the system, maximising the average food quality along with the minimisation of the amount of CO₂ emissions in transportation along with production and total weighted delivery lead time minimisation. A four objective mixed integer linear programming model for intelligent food logistics system is developed in the paper. The optimisation of the formulated mathematical model is proposed using a modified multi-objective particle swarm optimisation algorithm with multiple social structures: MO-GLNPSO (Multi-Objective Global Local Near-Neighbour Particle Swarm Optimisation). Computational results of a case study on a given dataset as well as on multiple small, medium and large-scale datasets followed by sensitivity analysis show the potency and effectiveness of the introduced method. Lastly, there has been a scope for future study displayed which would lead to the further progress of these types of models.     

Development of Manufacturing Technology of High-Power Gamma-Radiation Sources Based on Low-Leachable Materials with Cesium-137 Radionuclide

Theoretical Foundations of Chemical Engineering - A set of measures to establish the technology for manufacturing highly active sources of γ radiation with an active part from...