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.     

Hybrid negative example selection using visual and conceptual features

An application of Query-By-Example (QBE) is presented where shots that are visually similar to provided example shots are retrieved. To implement QBE, counter-example shots are required to accurately distinguish shots that are relevant to the query from those that are not (Li and Snoek (2009), Yu et al. (2004)). However, there are usually a huge number of shots, not relevant to a particular query, which can serve as counter-example shots. It is difficult for a user to provide counter-example shots that would aid retrieval. Thus, we developed a QBE method based on partially supervised learning where a retrieval model is constructed by selecting counter-example shots from shots without user supervision. To ensure the speed and accuracy of the QBE method, we select a small number of counter-example shots that are visually similar to given example shots but irrelevant to the query. Such shots are useful for characterizing the boundary between relevant and irrelevant shots. For our method, we first filter shots that are visually dissimilar to example shots based on SVMs on a visual feature. Then we filter shots relevant to the query based on concept detection results from pre-constructed classifiers. Shots that pass the above two tests are considered as counter-example shots. Experimental results obtained using TRECVID 2009 video data validate the effectiveness of our method.     

Droplet size distribution and evaporation characteristics of fuel spray by a swirl type atomizer

Spray atomization and evaporation play extremely important roles in mixture formation and combustion processes of direct injection (DI) gasoline engines. In this study, the fundamental characteristics of a swirl spray injected into a constant volume vessel are investigated by means of several laser diagnostic techniques including the laser diffraction-based method for droplet size distribution, the laser induced fluorescence-particle image velocimetry for velocity distributions of droplets and spray-induced ambient air flow, and the two-wavelength laser absorption-scattering technique for concentration distributions of liquid and vapor phases in the spray. The results show that the droplets at outer zone of the spray exhibit larger diameter than those at inner zone under both ambient pressures 0.1 and 0.4 MPa. While this can be partially attributed to the effect of spray-induced ambient air flow, the strength of ambient air flow become small when increasing the ambient pressure from 0.1 to 0.4 MPa, indicating the strong influence of spray dynamics on the droplet size distribution. In the evaporating spray, there are higher vapor concentrations near the spray axis than at peripheral zones. At 4.0 ms after start of injection, spray droplets almost completely evaporate under ambient temperature 500 K and pressure 1.0 MPa, but there are significantly amount of fuels with equivalence ratio below 0.5 in the spray. Reduction in ambient pressure promotes the air entrainment and droplet evaporation, but lowered ambient pressure results in more fuel vapor of equivalence ratio above 1.3 along the spray axis.     

Obstructive jaundice due to multiple hepatic abscesses

A 63-year-old Japanese male with diabetes mellitus developed obstructive jaundice following the onset of multiple hepatic abscesses. Percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography showed intrahepatic bile duct irregularity and dilatations accompanied by a complete obstruction of the right branch of the intrahepatic bile duct. Three kinds of organisms were cultured from the blood and the drained bile. The cholangiographic changes returned to the normal after the liver abscesses subsided following biliary drainage and the administration of intravenous antibiotics.     

Simultaneous Measurements of an Ultrasound and a Torsional Oscillator for 4He in a Nanoporous Glass

Previously, we carried out ultrasonic measurements for liquid ⁴He filled in a nanoporous glass (Gelsil), and observed an increase in the sound velocity due to decoupling of the superfluid component. At zero pressure, the superfluid transition temperature T _C is suppressed to 1.4 K from the bulk lambda point, 2.17 K. This behavior is the same as torsional oscillator measurements by Yamamoto et al. (Phys. Rev. Lett. 93:075302, 2004). However, the pressure dependence of T _C and the temperature dependence of the superfluid fraction are very different from the torsional oscillator measurements. In order to clarify the origin of the difference, we have developed a new technique of simultaneous measurement of an ultrasound and a torsional oscillator, and the system successfully works for a nanoporous glass. Here, we compare decoupling of the superfluid component for ⁴He films between an ultrasound and a torsional oscillator.     

Lycopodium Spores: A Naturally Manufactured,Superrobust Biomaterial for Drug Delivery

Herein, the exploration of natural plant‐based “spores” for the encapsulation of macromolecules as a drug delivery platform is reported. Benefits of encapsulation with natural “spores” include highly uniform size distribution and materials encapsulation by relatively economical and simple versatile methods. The natural spores possess unique micromeritic properties and an inner cavity for significant macromolecule loading with retention of therapeutic spore constituents. In addition, these natural spores can be used as advanced materials to encapsulate a wide variety of pharmaceutical drugs, chemicals, cosmetics, and food supplements. Here, for the first time a strategy to utilize natural spores as advanced materials is developed to encapsulate macromolecules by three different microencapsulation techniques including passive, compression, and vacuum loading. The natural spore formulations developed by these techniques are extensively characterized with respect to size uniformity, shape, encapsulation efficiency, and localization of macromolecules in the spores. In vitro release profiles of developed spore formulations in simulated gastric and intestinal fluids have also been studied, and alginate coatings to tune the release profile using vacuum‐loaded spores have been explored. These results provide the basis for further exploration into the encapsulation of a wide range of therapeutic molecules in natural plant spores.     

Biodegradations of statistical copolymers composed of D,L‐lactide and cyclic carbonates

Syntheses and biodegradation of statistical copolymers of D ,L ‐lactide (D ,L ‐LA) with trimethylene carbonate (TMC), rac‐1‐methyltrimethylene carbonate (1‐MTMC) and 2,2‐dimethyltrimethylene carbonate (2,2‐DTMC) were investigated at various monomer ratios using SmMe(C₅Me₅)₂THF as an initiator at 80 °C for 24 h in toluene. Biodegradations of poly(D ,L ‐LA‐co‐racemo‐1‐MTMC) (95/5) and poly(D ,L ‐LA‐co‐2,2‐DTMC) (98/2) with a compost at 60 °C proceed rapidly. Enzymatic degradations of these polymers were also performed using cholesterol esterase, lipoprotein lipase and proteinase K. Only poly(D ,L ‐LA‐co‐TMC) was biodegraded with cholesterol esterase, while poly(TMC), poly(1‐MTMC), poly(2,2‐DTMC) and poly(D ,L ‐LA) were barely degraded with these enzymes. Biodegradations of poly(D ,L ‐LA‐co‐TMC) (87/13) and poly(D ,L ‐LA‐co‐racemo‐1‐MTMC) (95/5) are rapid using proteinase K. Physical properties of these copolymers were also described. © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

Instantaneous control method with a GTO converter for active andreactive powers in superconducting magnetic energy storage

A new type of GPG (gate pulse generator) is presented to give GTO power converters quick response firing angle control and PWM control functions. Using the GPG, an instantaneous control method of active and reactive powers for an SMES (superconducting magnetic energy storage) employing one GTO converter is studied