SERPINs shelter the endowed migrants in a hostile land

Since metastatic lesions of solid tumors are the major cause of mortality in cancer patients, understanding the molecular mechanisms of metastasis is of paramount importance. Although extensive knowledge has been accumulated regarding the early steps in metastasis—starting with the departure of cancer cells from their primary sites, to their transit through the hematogenous and/or lymphatic systems, and ending with their entrance into the parenchyma of distant organs—it is difficult if not impossible to translate such knowledge into medicine due to the challenge of identifying patients with only primary tumors but otherwise pristine organs. In other words, autopsy studies indicate that a large proportion of patients already harbor dormant, undetectable micrometastases at the time of cancer diagnosis (Hensel et al, 2013 ). Accordingly, stopping tumor cell dissemination is too late for these patients. Therefore, understanding the survival and outgrowth of micrometastases may hold greater promise to combat metastatic disease.     

Bayesian nonparametric inference for panel count data with an informative observation process

In this paper, the panel count data analysis for recurrent events is considered. Such analysis is useful for studying tumor or infection recurrences in both clinical trial and observational studies. A bivariate Gaussian Cox process model is proposed to jointly model the observation process and the recurrent event process. Bayesian nonparametric inference is proposed for simultaneously estimating regression parameters, bivariate frailty effects, and baseline intensity functions. Inference is done through Markov chain Monte Carlo, with fully developed computational techniques. Predictive inference is also discussed under the Bayesian setting. The proposed method is shown to be efficient via simulation studies. A clinical trial dataset on skin cancer patients is analyzed to illustrate the proposed approach.     

Functional classifications of coastal barrier island vegetation

Abstract. Due to the complexity of coastal barrier vegetation, it is useful to apply a functional-type approach to assess the response of barrier island vegetation to climate change. In this paper, a simple clustering analysis is applied to a group of 19 plant associations, based on six plant attributes and six environmental constraints. This analysis results in the suggestion that the main division of the vegetation types at Virginia Coast Reserve is between herbaceous and woody types, which differs from the existing classification which recognizes three groups: xeric-mesic herbaceous, woody and hydric-halophytic herbaceous. Considerations about grouping plant functional types are also addressed in this paper. At a global scale, inclusion of barrier plant functional types may not be so important for the climate-change response of vegetation, but it may be necessary to consider these important systems for spatially explicit modelling of landscape responses.     

Focal adhesion kinase maintains,but not increases the adhesion of dental pulp cells

Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) functions as a key enzyme in the integrin-mediated adhesion-signalling pathway. Here, we aimed to investigate the effects of FAK on adhesion of human dental pulp (HDP) cells. We transfected lentiviral vectors to silence or overexpress FAK in HDP cells ex vivo. Early cell adhesion, cell survival and focal contacts (FCs)-related proteins (FAK and paxillin) were examined. By using immunofluorescence, the formation of FCs and cytoskeleton was detected, respectively. We found that both adhesion and survival of HDP cells were suppressed by FAK inhibition. However, FAK overexpression slightly inhibited cell adhesion and exhibited no change in cell survival compared with the control. A thick rim of cytoskeleton accumulated and smaller dot-shaped FCs appeared in FAK knockdown cells. Phosphorylation of paxillin (p-paxillin) was inhibited in FAK knockdown cells, verifying that the adhesion was inhibited. Less cytoskeleton and elongated FCs were observed in FAK-overexpressed cells. However, p-paxillin had no significant difference compared with the control. In conclusion, the data suggest that FAK maintains cell adhesion, survival and cytoskeleton formation, but excessive FAK has no positive effects on these aspects.     

墨江蜈蚣与少棘蜈蚣的比较研究──Ⅱ．药效和毒理

本文比较了墨江蜈蚣与少棘蜈蚣的药效学和毒理学作用，实验包括抗惊厥试验、对致病性真菌和细菌体外生长的影响、急性毒性试验和染色体畸变实验等。结果两种蜈蚣的３％醋酸提取液对所试的真菌有抑制作用但无杀真菌作用，而对细菌无抑制作用。两种蜈蚣的毒性很低，在给小鼠５０ｇ／ｋｇ的剂量下都无法测出ＬＤ５０。在２０５ｍｇ／ｋｇ条件下的致突变率与未给药的突变率接近，表明两者都无遗传毒性。     

Complementary Aluminum Nanopatch/Nanohole Arrays for Broad Palettes of Colors

Plasmonics - We investigate aluminum nanopatch/nanohole arrays surrounded by a dielectric material on plastic substrates for large area color printing. In this specific arrangement, metallic...