Functional Screen for microRNAs Suppressing Anchorage-Independent Growth in Human Cervical Cancer Cells

The progression of anchorage-dependent epithelial cells to anchorage-independent growth represents a critical hallmark of malignant transformation. Using an in vitro model of human papillomavirus (HPV)-induced transformation, we previously showed that acquisition of anchorage-independent growth is associated with marked (epi)genetic changes, including altered expression of microRNAs. However, the laborious nature of the conventional growth method in soft agar to measure this phenotype hampers a high-throughput analysis. We developed alternative functional screening methods using 96- and 384-well ultra-low attachment plates to systematically investigate microRNAs regulating anchorage-independent growth. SiHa cervical cancer cells were transfected with a microRNA mimic library (n = 2019) and evaluated for cell viability. We identified 84 microRNAs that consistently suppressed growth in three independent experiments. Further validation in three cell lines and comparison of growth in adherent and ultra-low attachment plates yielded 40 microRNAs that specifically reduced anchorage-independent growth. In conclusion, ultra-low attachment plates are a promising alternative for soft-agar assays to study anchorage-independent growth and are suitable for high-throughput functional screening. Anchorage independence suppressing microRNAs identified through our screen were successfully validated in three cell lines. These microRNAs may provide specific biomarkers for detecting and treating HPV-induced precancerous lesions progressing to invasive cancer, the most critical stage during cervical cancer development.     

Effects of large-scale research funding programs: a Japanese case study

This study investigates the effects of large-scale research funding from the Japanese government on the research outcomes of university researchers. To evaluate the effects, we use the difference-in-differences estimator and measure research outcomes in terms of number of papers and citation counts per paper. Our analysis shows that the funding program led to an increase in the number of papers in some fields and an increase in the citation counts in the other fields. A comparison of our estimation results with assessment data obtained from peer reviews showed important differences. Since the characteristics of research vary according to the field, bibliometrics analysis should be used along with the peer review method for a more accurate analysis of research impact.     

It's all in your head: Why is the body inversion effect abolished for headless bodies?

It has been recently argued that human bodies are processed by a specialized processing mechanism. Central evidence was that body inversion reduces recognition abilities (body inversion effect; BIE) as much as it does for faces, but more than for other objects. Here we showed that the BIE is markedly reduced for headless bodies and examined the reason for this unexpected finding. Two alternative hypotheses were examined. Either the BIE is reduced for any type of incomplete body, or the head plays a special role in discrimination of body posture. Results show that omission of other body parts (leg or arms) did not influence the magnitude of the BIE relative to complete bodies. Analogous manipulations with faces did not influence the magnitude of the face inversion effect. Importantly, similar to effects we found for headless bodies, discrimination abilities for upright bodies and the BIE were markedly reduced for complete bodies that did not differ in head posture. We conclude that intact discrimination of body posture relies heavily on the head position. Our findings also imply that the BIE and the face inversion effect may be generated by different mechanisms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Biochemical and sensorial evaluation of intact and boned broiler breast meat tenderness during ageing

Meat tenderness is the main characteristic demanded by consumers and is affected by rigor mortis development and proteolysis activities, both of which occur during carcass refrigeration. In this work, we demonstrate that broiler breast fillet tenderness can be further increased and its extension depends on whether or not meat is excised from the carcass. Post-harvest samples taken from 0 to 72 h after slaughtering and kept refrigerated at 2 ± 2 °C were evaluated for tenderness by myofibrillar fragmentation index determination, shear force analysis and sensorial testing. The 24 h post-harvested intact samples were 30.6% more tender than excised samples and 41.7% more tender than control samples (p ? 0.05). The myofibrillar fragments index was 13.2% higher in intact samples than in deboned fillet (p ? 0.05) and a sensory test showed that the 24 h intact samples were of major acceptability. Our results demonstrated that tenderness was best achieved with intact breast fillet samples stored at 2 ± 2 °C for 24 h.     

Properties of liquefied wood modified melamine-formaldehyde (MF) resin adhesive and its application for bonding particleboards

In this study, we modified melamine-formaldehyde (MF) resin adhesive with liquefied wood (LW) and determined the properties of MF–LW adhesive mixtures. Furthermore, we produced particleboards using prepared MF–LW mixtures and evaluated their mechanical and physical properties. Results showed that with increasing content of LW in the adhesive mixture gel time and peak temperature increased while reaction enthalpy decreased. With increasing substitution of MF resin adhesive with LW the thermal stability of adhesive mixture reduced, namely thermal degradation started at lower temperature and weight loss increased. Properties of particleboards improved with increasing amount of LW in the adhesive mixture up to 20% and then deteriorated. Nevertheless, the properties of particleboard with 30% LW in the adhesive mixture were comparable to the properties of particleboard without LW while they worsen at greater portion of LW. Consequently, MF resin adhesive with 30% LW substitution could be used to produce particleboards with suitable mechanical properties and reduced formaldehyde release content.     

Alternatives to Outdoor Daylight Illumination for Photodynamic Therapy—Use of Greenhouses and Artificial Light Sources

Daylight-mediated photodynamic therapy (daylight PDT) is a simple and pain free treatment of actinic keratoses. Weather conditions may not always allow daylight PDT outdoors. We compared the spectrum of five different lamp candidates for indoor “daylight PDT” and investigated their ability to photobleach protoporphyrin IX (PpIX). Furthermore, we measured the amount of PpIX activating daylight available in a glass greenhouse, which can be an alternative when it is uncomfortable for patients to be outdoors. The lamps investigated were: halogen lamps (overhead and slide projector), white light-emitting diode (LED) lamp, red LED panel and lamps used for conventional PDT. Four of the five light sources were able to photobleach PpIX completely. For halogen light and the red LED lamp, 5000 lux could photobleach PpIX whereas 12,000 lux were needed for the white LED lamp. Furthermore, the greenhouse was suitable for daylight PDT since the effect of solar light is lowered only by 25%. In conclusion, we found four of the five light sources and the greenhouse usable for indoor daylight PDT. The greenhouse is beneficial when the weather outside is rainy or windy. Only insignificant ultraviolet B radiation (UVB) radiation passes through the greenhouse glass, so sun protection is not needed.     

Development of a screening test based on isothermal calorimetry for determination of self‐heating potential of biomass pellets

For the risk for spontaneous combustion in storage of biomass pellets to be assessed, it is important to know how prone the fuel is to self‐heating. There are traditional methods that are used to determine self‐heating characteristics of fuels, eg, basket heating tests. The results from basket heating tests indirectly give the reactivity from a series of tests at high temperatures. This paper presents a sensitive screening test procedure for biomass pellets using isothermal calorimetry for direct measurement of the heat production rate at typical bulk storage temperatures. This method can be used to directly compare the reactivity of different batches of biomass pellets. The results could be used, eg, by storage security managers to gain better knowledge of their fuels propensity for self‐heating and thereby for safer storage. A large number of tests have been performed to develop the test procedure presented. Different parameters, such as temperature, type of the test sample (powder/crushed or pellets), mass of test sample, and preheating time, have been varied. Furthermore, gas concentrations in the sample ampoule have been measured before and after some tests to study the oxygen consumption and the formation of CO and CO₂. Three different types of pellets with different characteristics were tested to assess the variation in behaviour. Based on these tests, a screening test procedure is presented with a test temperature of 60°C, a sample size of 4 g, a 15‐minute preheating period at the test temperature, and 24‐hour test duration.     

Improvement in efficiency-bandwidth product in small dielectricloaded antennas

The efficiency-bandwidth product (EB) is used in the evaluation of small dielectric loaded monopole antennas (DLMAs). The EBs of the DLMAs have been precisely measured on the basis of the Wheeler cap method. As a result, an improvement in the EB of electrically small cylindrical DLMAs has been confirmed experimentally in comparison with that in a bare monopole antenna. In addition, within the category of electrically small antennas considered here, it seems that there exists an optimum value of permittivity for the dielectric loading for which the best EB value is obtained     

淬火速率对AA7108铝合金的微观结构和力学性能的影响

在480°C固溶温度对AA7108铝合金进行不同工艺的淬火。将合金连续冷却、淬火至中间温度（400,300和200°C）并保温不同时间,再进行工业两步人工时效处理,以获得最大强度（T6）。T6态淬火材料的拉伸试验表明,材料的强度很大程度上取决于冷却/保温时间。通过透射电子显微镜（TEM）观察材料中沉淀物结构来解释材料的力学性能差异。