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During cellular senescence, irreversible cell cycle arrest is accompanied by morphological and genetic alterations. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a critical role in regulating senescence by modulating the abundance of crucial senescence regulatory proteins. Therefore, to identify novel senescence-associated miRNAs, we analyzed differentially expressed miRNAs in microvascular endothelial cells (MVEC). Among the 80 differentially expressed miRNAs in replicative senescent MVECs, 16 miRNAs of unknown gene ontology were used in the senescence-associated β-galactosidase assay. Thus, we identified miR-214-5p as having high senescence-inducing activity, inhibiting the proliferation and angiogenesis activity of MVECs. To reveal the senescence-regulating mechanism of miR-214-5p, we searched for target genes through sequence- and literature-based analysis. Molecular manipulation of miR-214-5p demonstrated that miR-214-5p regulated the expression and function of Jagged 1 (JAG1) in senescent MVECs. Silencing JAG1 or downstream genes of JAG1-Notch signaling, accelerated the senescence of MVECs. Additionally, ectopic overexpression of JAG1 reversed the senescence-inducing activity of miR-214-5p. In conclusion, we identified miR-214-5p as a senescence-associated miRNA. Targeting miR-214-5p may be a potential strategy to delay vascular aging and overcome the detrimental effects of senescence and age-related diseases.

With the development of electric vehicles, indoor driving robots, wearable devices, etc., research on technology for recognizing one's current location continues to progress. Self-localization is an essential need for autonomous driving and mainly requires global positioning system (GPS), thereby using technologies such as LiDAR, Wi-Fi, and visible light communication (VLC). However, GPS is greatly affected by its surrounding environment, and it can make errors, especially in spaces where signals are blocked, such as tunnels and buildings. In this paper, we propose a system for estimating one's location using LED lights and frequency components with different color temperatures in an indoor space such as a tunnel. We installed three types of LED lights with different color temperatures in a tunnel-like experimental environment and collected data using RGB sensors. We also estimated the user's current location according to the color temperature and frequency component analysis from the data. In most cases, it was measured within a margin of error of 0–2 cm. It is expected that this will be used for generating data on the location of indoor service robots and autonomous vehicles in spaces where it is difficult to use GPS.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and F-actin cytoskeleton dynamics play important roles in the survival rate of blastocysts after the vitrifiedwarming process. However, the protective effects of Mito-TEMPO against cryo-injury and viability through F-actin aggregation and mitochondrial-specific ROS production in vitrificated-warmed bovine embryos have not been investigated. The aims of the present study were to: (1) determine the effects of Mito-TEMPO on embryonic developmental competence and quality by F-actin stabilization during in vitro culturing (IVC), and (2) confirm the effects of Mito-TEMPO through F-actin structure on the cryotolerance of vitrification-warming in Mito-TEMPO exposed in vitro production (IVP) of bovine blastocysts. Bovine zygotes were cultured with 0.1 μM Mito-TEMPO treatment for 2 days of IVC. Mito-TEMPO (0.1 μM) exposed bovine embryos slightly improved in blastocyst developmental rates compared to the non-treated group. Moreover, the viability of vitrified-warmed blastocysts from Mito-TEMPO treated embryos significantly increased (p < 0.05, non-treated group: 66.7 ± 3.2% vs Mito-TEMPO treated group: 79.2 ± 5.9%; re-expanded at 24 hours). Mito-TEMPO exposed embryos strengthened the F-actin structure and arrangement in the blastocyst after vitrification-warming. Furthermore, the addition of Mito-TEMPO into the IVC medium enhanced embryonic survival and quality through F-actin stabilization after the vitrification-warming procedure. Overall, our results suggest that supplementing the culture with 0.1 μM Mito- TEMPO improves the embryonic quality and cryo-survival of IVP bovine blastocysts.

The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-angiogenic effects of the hexane fraction of Adenophora triphylla var. japonica root extract (HAT) and its influence on the development of erlotinib resistance in human lung cancer cells. HAT significantly reduced the migration, invasion, and tube formation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). The phosphorylation levels of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) and its downstream molecules were decreased via HAT, indicating its anti-angiogenic potential in endothelial cells (ECs). A docking analysis demonstrated that β-sitosterol and lupeol, representative components of HAT, exhibit a high affinity for binding to VEGFR2. In addition, conditioned media from HAT-pretreated H1299 human lung cancer cells attenuated cancer-cell-induced chemotaxis of HUVECs, which was attributed to the decreased expression of angiogenic and chemotactic factors in H1299 cells. Interestingly, co-culture of erlotinib-sensitive PC9 human lung cancer cells with HUVECs induced erlotinib resistance in PC9 cells. However, co-culture with HAT-pretreated HUVECs partially restored the sensitivity of PC9 cells to erlotinib. HAT inhibited the development of erlotinib resistance by attenuating hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) production by ECs. Taken together, our results demonstrate that HAT exerts its anticancer effects by regulating the crosstalk between ECs and lung cancer cells.

The condition of a railway vehicle’s wheels is an essential factor for safe operation. However, the current inspection of railway vehicle wheels is limited to periodic major and minor maintenance, where physical anomalies such as vibrations and noise are visually checked by maintenance personnel and addressed after detection. As a result, there is a need for predictive technology concerning wheel conditions to prevent railway vehicle damage and potential accidents due to wheel defects. Insufficient predictive technology for railway vehicle’s wheel conditions forms the background for this study. In this research, a real-time tire wear classification system for light-rail rubber tires was proposed to reduce operational costs, enhance safety, and prevent service delays. To perform real-time condition classification of rubber tires, operational data from railway vehicles, including temperature, pressure, and acceleration, were collected. These data were processed and analyzed to generate training data. A 1D–CNN model was employed to classify tire conditions, and it demonstrated exceptionally high performance with a 99.4% accuracy rate.

The wheels of railway vehicles are of paramount importance in relation to railroad operations and safety. Currently, the management of railway vehicle wheels is restricted to post-event inspections of the wheels whenever physical phenomena, such as abnormal vibrations and noise, occur during the operation of railway vehicles. To address this issue, this paper proposes a method for predicting abnormalities in railway wheels in advance and enhancing the learning and prediction performance of machine learning algorithms. Data were collected during the operation of Line 4 of the Busan Metro in South Korea by directly attaching sensors to the railway vehicles. Through the analysis of key factors in the collected data, factors that can be used for tire condition classification were derived. Additionally, through data distribution analysis and correlation analysis, factors for classifying tire conditions were identified. As a result, it was determined that the z-axis of acceleration has a significant impact, and machine learning techniques such as SVM (Linear Kernel, RBF Kernel) and Random Forest were utilized based on acceleration data to classify tire conditions into in-service and defective states. The SVM (Linear Kernel) yielded the highest recognition rate at 98.70%.

Vitrification methods are commonly used for mammalian reproduction through the long-term storage of blastocyst produced in vitro. However, the survival and quality of embryos following vitrification are significantly low compared with blastocyst from in vitro production (IVP). This study evaluates that the survival of frozen-thawed bovine embryos was relevant to mitochondrial superoxide derived mitochondrial activity. Here we present supplementation of the cryopreservation medium with Mito- TEMPO (0.1 μM) induced a significant (p < 0.001; non-treated group: 56.8 ± 8.7%, reexpanded at 24 h vs Mito-TEMPO treated group: 77.5 ± 8.9%, re-expanded at 24 h) improvement in survival rate of cryopreserved-thawed bovine blastocyst. To confirm the quality of vitrified blastocyst after thawing, DNA fragmentation of survived embryos was examined by TUNEL assay. As a result, TUNEL positive cells rates of frozenthawed embryos were lower in the Mito-TEMPO treated group (4.2 ± 1.4%) than the non-treated group (7.1 ± 3.5%). In addition, we investigated the intracellular ROS and mitochondrial specific superoxide production using DCF-DA and Mito-SOX staining in survived bovine embryos following vitrification depending on Mito-TEMPO treatment. As expected, intracellular ROS levels and superoxide production of vitrified blastocysts after cryopreservation were significantly reduced (p < 0.05) according to Mito-TEMPO supplement in freezing medium. Also, mitochondrial activity measured by MitoTracker Orange staining increased in the frozen-thawed embryos with Mito-TEMPO compared with non-treated group. These results indicate that the treatment of Mito-TEMPO during cryopreservation might induce reduction in DNA fragmentation and apoptosis-related ROS production, consequently increasing mitochondrial activation for developmental capacity of frozen-thawed embryos.

Previous studies have indicated that the adrenergic receptor signaling pathway plays a fundamental role in chronic stress-induced cancer metastasis. In this study, we investigated whether an ethanol extract of Perilla frutescens leaves (EPF) traditionally used to treat stress-related symptoms by moving Qi could regulate the adrenergic agonist-induced metastatic ability of cancer cells. Our results show that adrenergic agonists including norepinephrine (NE), epinephrine (E), and isoproterenol (ISO) increased migration and invasion of MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells and Hep3B human hepatocellular carcinoma cells. However, such increases were completely abrogated by EPF treatment. E/NE induced downregulation of E-cadherin and upregulation of N-cadherin, Snail, and Slug. Such effects were clearly reversed by pretreatment with EPF, suggesting that the antimetastatic activity of EPF could be related to epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) regulation. EPF suppressed E/NE-stimulated Src phosphorylation. Inhibition of Src kinase activity with dasatinib completely suppressed the E/NE-induced EMT process. Transfecting MDA-MB-231 cells with constitutively activated Src (SrcY527F) diminished the antimigration effect of EPF. Taken together, our results demonstrate that EPF can suppress the adrenergic agonist-promoted metastatic ability of cancer cells by inhibiting Src-mediated EMT. This study provides basic evidence supporting the probable use of EPF to prevent metastasis in cancer patients, especially those under chronic stress.

Quantitative reverse transcription PCR is used for gene expression analysis as the accurate and sensitive method. To analyze quantification of gene expression changes in apple plants, 10 housekeeping genes (ACT, CKL, EF-1α, GAPDH, MDH, PDI, THFs, UBC, UBC10, and WD40) were evaluated for their stability of expression during infection by Apple stem grooving virus (ASGV) or in cold-stress apple plant buds. Five reference-gene validation programs were used to establish the order of the most stable genes for ASGV as CKL>THFs>GAPDH>ACT, and the least stable genes WD40CKL>UBC10, and the least stable genes were ACT

Cryopreservation is used for blastocyst preservation of most mammalian embryos and is an important technique for breeding. We aimed to compare the efficiency of the cryopreservation method using the standard Cryotop device and the ReproCarrier device, a domestic product manufactured in Korea. The efficacy of the two devices was analyzed based on the survival rate, intracellular levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and apoptosis of the vitrified bovine blastocysts. The survival rates of the vitrified-warmed blastocysts were similar between the ReproCarrier group (58.4 ± 17.7%) and Cryotop group (59.9 ± 14.1%). Intracellular ROS levels and apoptotic index were determined by DCFDA staining and TUNEL assay. Changes in intracellular ROS levels, number of total nuclei, and cellular apoptosis of vitrified blastocysts after cryopreservation were not significantly different between the two groups. These results indicate that the ReproCarrier device method is as effective as the standard Cryotop method for vitrification of bovine blastocysts in vitro.

When high waves and storm surge strike simultaneously, the characteristics of the fluid field change drastically from overtopping according to the wave runup height to overflow through a transition state that combines overtopping and overflows. However, an estimation model or evaluation method has not yet been established because there is not enough engineering data. This study developed a wave overtopping-overflow transition model based on a full-scale experiment involving wave overtopping and overflow transition, which appropriately reproduced the effect of waves or the temporal change in inundation flow. Using this model to perform a calculation for the wave overtopping and overflow transition process under typical circumstances, this study determined the wave runup height and features of the inundation flow under time series changes as an example.

Recently, autonomous driving technology has been in the spotlight. However, autonomous driving is still in its infancy in the railway industry. In the case of railways, there are fewer control elements than autonomous driving of cars due to the characteristics of running on railways, but there is a disadvantage in that evasive maneuvers cannot be made in the event of a dangerous situation. In addition, when braking, it cannot be decelerated quickly for the weight of the body and the safety of the passengers. In the case of a tram, one of the railway systems, research has already been conducted on how to generate a profile that plans braking and acceleration as a base technology for autonomous driving, and to find the location coordinates of surrounding objects through object recognition. In pilot research about the tram’s automated driving, YOLOv3 was used for object detection to find object coordinates. YOLOv3 is an artificial intelligence model that finds coordinates, sizes, and classes of objects in an image. YOLOv3 is the third upgrade of YOLO, which is one of the most famous object detection technologies based on CNN. YOLO’s object detection performance is characterized by ordinary accuracy and fast speed. For this paper, we conducted a study to find out whether the object detection performance required for autonomous trams can be sufficiently implemented with the already developed object detection model. For this experiment, we used the YOLOv4 which is the fourth upgrade of YOLO.

Currently, studies on autonomous driving are being actively conducted. Vehicle positioning techniques are very important in the autonomous driving area. Currently, the global positioning system (GPS) is the most widely used technology for vehicle positioning. Although technologies such as the inertial navigation system and vision are used in combination with GPS to enhance precision, there is a limitation in measuring the lane and position in shaded areas of GPS, like tunnels. To solve such problems, this paper presents the use of LED lighting for position estimation in GPS shadow areas. This paper presents simulations in the environment of three‐lane tunnels with LEDs of different color temperatures, and the results show that position estimation is possible by the analyzing chromaticity of LED lights. To improve the precision of positioning, a fuzzy logic system is added to the location function in the literature [1]. The experimental results showed that the average error was 0.0619 cm, and verify that the performance of developed position estimation system is viable compared with previous works.

Chronic stress has been reported to stimulate the release of catecholamines, including norepinephrine (NE) and epinephrine (E), which promote cancer progression by activating the adrenergic receptor (AR). Although previous studies showed that β2-AR mediated chronic stress-induced tumor growth and metastasis, the underlying mechanism has not been fully explored. In this study, we aimed to investigate the molecular mechanism by which β2-AR exerts a pro-metastatic function in hepatocarcinoma (HCC) cells and breast cancer (BC) cells. Our results showed that Hep3B human HCC cells and MDA-MB-231 human BC cells exhibited the highest ADRB2 expression among diverse HCC and BC cell lines. NE, E, and isoprenaline (ISO), adrenergic agonists commonly increased the migration and invasion of Hep3B cells and MDA-MB-231 cells. The phosphorylation level of Src was significantly increased by E/NE. Dasatinib, a Src kinase inhibitor, blocked E/NE-induced migration and invasion, indicating that AR agonists enhanced the mobility of cancer cells by activating Src. ADRB2 knockdown attenuated E/NE-induced Src phosphorylation, as well as the metastatic ability of cancer cells, suggesting the essential role of β2-AR. Taken together, our results demonstrate that chronic stress-released catecholamines promoted the migration and invasion of HCC cells and BC cells via β2-AR-mediated Src activation.

The purpose of this paper is to study the recognition of ships and their structures to improve the safety of drone operations engaged in shore-to-ship drone delivery service. This study has developed a system that can distinguish between ships and their structures by using a convolutional neural network (CNN). First, the dataset of the Marine Traffic Management Net is described and CNN’s object sensing based on the Detectron2 platform is discussed. There will also be a description of the experiment and performance. In addition, this study has been conducted based on actual drone delivery operations—the first air delivery service by drones in Korea.

The aim of this study was to investigate the anticancer effects of the root extract of Peucedanum praeruptorum Dunn (EPP) in human non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells and explore the mechanisms of action. We used four types of human lung cancer cell lines, including H1299 (epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) wild-type), PC9 (EGFR Glu746-Ala750 deletion mutation in exon 19; EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI)-sensitive), H1975 (EGFR L858R/T790M double-mutant; EGFR TKI-resistant), and PC9/ER (erlotinib-resistant) cells. EPP suppressed cell growth and the colony formation of NSCLC cells in a concentration-dependent manner. EPP stimulated chromatin condensation, increased the percentage of sub-G1 phase cells, and enhanced the proportion of annexin V-positive cells, demonstrating that EPP triggered apoptosis in NSCLC cells regardless of the EGFR mutation and EGFR TKI resistance status. The phosphorylation level of the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) and AKT was decreased by EPP. The expression of STAT3 target genes was also downregulated by EPP. EPP reversed hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)-induced MET phosphorylation and gefitinib resistance. Taken together, our results demonstrate that EPP exerted anticancer effects not only in EGFR TKI-sensitive NSCLC cells, but also in EGFR TKI-resistant NSCLC cells, by suppressing MET activity.

Currently, the location recognition and positioning system are the essential parts of unmanned vehicles. Among them, location estimation under GPS-denied environments is currently being studied using IMU, Wi-Fi, and VLC, but there are problems such as cumulative errors, hardware complexity, and precision positioning. To address this problem with the current positioning system, the present study proposed a lane positioning technique by analyzing the chromaticity coordinates, judging from the color temperature of LED lights in tunnels. The tunnel environment was built using LEDs with three color temperatures, and to solve nonlinear problems such as lane positioning from chromaticity analysis, a single input single output fuzzy algorithm was developed to estimate the position of an object on lanes using chromaticity values of signals measured by RGB sensors. The RGB value measured by the sensor removes the disturbance through the pre-processing filter, accepts only the tunnel LED information, and estimates where it is located on the x-distance indicating the lane position through a fuzzy algorithm. Finally, the performance of the fuzzy algorithm was evaluated through experiments, and the accuracy was shown with an average error of less than 4.86%.

High mobility group box 2 (HMGB2) is a non-histone chromosomal protein involved in various biological processes, including cellular senescence. However, its role in cellular senescence has not been evaluated extensively. To determine the regulatory role and mechanism of HMGB2 in cellular senescence, we performed gene expression analysis, senescence staining, and tube formation assays using young and senescent microvascular endothelial cells (MVECs) after small RNA treatment or HMGB2 overexpression. HMGB2 expression decreased with age and was regulated at the transcriptional level. siRNA-mediated downregulation inhibited cell proliferation and accelerated cellular senescence. In contrast, ectopic overexpression delayed senescence and maintained relatively higher tube-forming activity. To determine the HMGB2 downregulation mechanism, we screened miRNAs that were significantly upregulated in senescent MVECs and selected HMGB2-targeting miRNAs. Six miRNAs, miR-23a-3p, 23b-3p, -181a-5p, -181b-5p, -221-3p, and -222-3p, were overexpressed in senescent MVECs. Ectopic introduction of miR-23a-3p, -23b-3p, -181a-5p, -181b-5p, and -221-3p, with the exception of miR-222-3p, led to the downregulation of HMGB2, upregulation of senescence-associated markers, and decreased tube formation activity. Inhibition of miR-23a-3p, -181a-5p, -181b-5p, and -221-3p delayed cellular senescence. Restoration of HMGB2 expression using miRNA inhibitors represents a potential strategy to overcome the detrimental effects of cellular senescence in endothelial cells.

The traffic accident occurrence rate is increasing relative to the increase in the number of people using personal mobility device (PM). This paper proposes an airbag system with a more efficient algorithm to decide the deployment of a wearable bike airbag in case of an accident. The existing wearable airbags are operated by judging the accident situations using the thresholds of sensors. However, in this case, the judgment accuracy can drop against various motions. This study used the long short-term memory (LSTM) model using the sensor values of the inertial measurement unit (IMU) as input values to judge accident occurrences, which obtains data in real time from the three acceleration-axis and three angular velocity-axis sensors on the driver motion states and judges whether or not an accident has occurred using the obtained data. The existing neural network (NN) or convolutional neural network (CNN) model judges only the input data. This study confirmed that this model has a higher judgment accuracy than the existing NN or CNN by giving strong points even in “past information” through LSTM by regarding the driver motion as time-series data.

Topics concerning autonomous navigation, especially those related to positioning systems, have recently attracted increased research attention. The commonly available global positioning system (GPS) is unable to determine the positions of vehicles in GPS-shaded regions. To address this concern, this paper presents a fuzzy-logic system capable of determining the position of a moving robot in a GPS-shaded indoor environment by analyzing the chromaticity and frequency-component ratio of LED lights installed under the ceiling. The proposed system’s performance was analyzed by performing a MATLAB simulation of an indoor environment with obstacles. During the simulation, the mobile robot utilized a fuzzy autonomous navigation system with behavioral rules to approach targets successfully in a variety of indoor environments without colliding with obstacles. The robot utilized the x and y coordinates of the fuzzy positioning system. The results obtained in this study confirm the suitability of the proposed method for use in applications involving autonomous navigation of vehicles in areas with poor GPS-signal reception, such as in tunnels.

The risk of environmental pollution is a consequence of every kind of energy, including fossil fuels, nuclear power plants, and thermoelectric power plants. For the purpose of reducing the use ratio of such energy, research on eco-friendly energy is being actively carried out, and has shown that among all kinds of energy, solar energy has an advantage: it can supply us with inexhaustible clean energy. However, since solar energy depends on sunlight, the output may be unstable as it is influenced by weather or surrounding structures. In this paper, there is presented a control system which transmits power to a storage device, in a specific state, after the energy of the low-illumination section is charged in a supercapacitor using the accumulation-type controller by use of a supercapacitor. Feedback from the power output of photovoltaic panels (PVs) demonstrates that the power of the low-illumination section can be charged without being discarded. The charging rate was compared with other solar controllers being sold on the market, and the comparison was made through state of charge (SOC) measurements after the battery had been charged by photovoltaic panels for a whole day. It was confirmed that the solar controller, by use of supercapacitor integrator proposed in this paper, stored higher levels of energy than the existing solar controllers over the same hours and under the same conditions.

Exercise and antioxidants have health benefits that improve cognitive impairment and may act synergistically. In this study, we examined the effects of treadmill exercise (TE) and mitochondria-targeted antioxidant mitoquinone (MitoQ), individually or combined, on learning and memory, mitochondrial dynamics, NADPH oxidase activity, and neuroinflammation and antioxidant activity in the hippocampus of D-galactose-induced aging rats. TE alone and TE combined with MitoQ in aging rats reduced mitochondrial fission factors (Drp1, Fis1) and increased mitochondrial fusion factors (Mfn1, Mfn2, Opa1). These groups also exhibited improved NADPH oxidase activity and antioxidant activity (SOD-2, catalase). TE or MitoQ alone decreased neuroinflammatory response (COX-2, TNF-α), but the suppression was greater with their combination. In addition, aging-increased neuroinflammation in the dentate gyrus was decreased in TE but not MitoQ treatment. Learning and memory tests showed that, contrarily, MitoQ alone demonstrated some similar effects to TE but not a definitive improvement. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that MitoQ exerted some positive effects on aging when used as an isolated treatment, but TE had a more effective role on cognitive impairment, oxidative stress, inflammation, and mitochondria dysfunction. Our findings suggest that the combination of TE and MitoQ exerted no synergistic effects and indicated regular exercise should be the first priority in neuroprotection of age-related cognitive decline.

Background/AimsSilibinin, the main component of silymarin, is used as a hepatoprotectant and exhibits anticancer effects against various cancer cells. This study evaluated the effects of a combination of silibinin with either gefitinib or sorafenib on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells.MethodsSeveral different human HCC cell lines were used to test the growth-inhibiting effects and cell toxicity of silibinin both alone and in combination with either gefitinib or sorafenib. The cell viability and growth inhibition were assessed using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay, trypan blue staining, and a colony-forming assay. Furthermore, changes in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-related signals were evaluated by Western blot analysis.ResultsGefitinib, sorafenib, and silibinin individually exhibited dose-dependent antiproliferative effects on HCC cells. Combined treatment with silibinin enhanced the gefitinib-induced growth-inhibiting effects in some HCC cell lines. The combination effect of gefitinib and silibinin was synergistic in the SNU761 cell line, but was only additive in the Huh-BAT cell line. The combination effect may be attributable to inhibition of EGFR-dependent Akt signaling. Enhanced growth-inhibiting effects were also observed in HCC cells treated with a combination of sorafenib and silibinin.ConclusionsCombined treatment with silibinin enhanced the growth-inhibiting effects of both gefitinib and sorafenib. Therefore, the combination of silibinin with either sorafenib or gefitinib could be a useful treatment approach for HCC in the future.

This paper reports the design and analysis of a tubular permanent magnet linear generator (TPMLG) for a small-scale wave-energy converter. The analytical field computation is performed by applying a magnetic vector potential and a 2-D analytical model to determine design parameters. Based on analytical solutions, parametric analysis is performed to meet the design specifications of a wave-energy converter (WEC). Then, 2-D FEA is employed to validate the analytical method. Finally, the experimental result confirms the predictions of the analytical and finite element analysis (FEA) methods under regular and irregular wave conditions.

Tetraarsenic hexoxide (As4O6) has been used in Korean folk medicines for the treatment of cancer, however its anti-cancer mechanisms remain obscured. Here, this study investigated the anti-cancer effect of As4O6 on SW620 human colon cancer cells. As4O6 has showed a dose-dependent inhibition of SW620 cells proliferation. As4O6 significantly increased the sub-G1 and G2/M phase population, and Annexin V-positive cells in a dose-dependent manner. G2/M arrest was concomitant with augment of p21 and reduction in cyclin B1, cell division cycle 2 (cdc 2) expressions. Nuclear condensation, cleaved nuclei and poly (adenosine diphosphate‑ribose) polymerase (PARP) activation were also observed in As4O6-treated SW620 cells. As4O6 induced depolarization of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP, ΔΨm) but not reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. Further, As4O6 increased death receptor 5 (DR5), not DR4 and suppressed the B‑cell lymphoma‑2 (Bcl-2) and X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP) family proteins. As4O6 increased the formation of AVOs (lysosomes and autophagolysosomes) and promoted the conversion of microtubule-associated protein 1A/1B-light chain 3 (LC3)-I to LC3-II in a dose- and time- dependent manner. Interestingly, a specific phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt inhibitor (LY294002) augmented the As4O6 induced cell death; whereas p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases (p38 MAPK) inhibitor (SB203580) abrogated the cell death. Thus, the present study provides the first evidence that As4O6 induced G2/M arrest, apoptosis and autophagic cell death through PI3K/Akt and p38 MAPK pathways alteration in SW620 cells.

Half precast concrete slabs with inverted multi-ribs (Joint Advanced Slab, JAS), which enhance composite performance between slabs by introducing shear keys at connections between the slabs and improve structural performance by placing prestressing tendons and truss-type shear reinforcements, have recently been developed and applied in many construction fields. In this study, flexural and shear tests were performed to verify the structural performance of JAS members. Towards this end, two flexural specimens and four shear specimens were fabricated, and the presence of cast-in-place concrete and the location of the critical section were set as the main test variables. In addition, the flexural and shear performance of the JAS was quantitatively evaluated using a non-linear flexural analysis model and current structural design codes. Evaluation results confirmed that the flexural behavior of the JAS was almost similar to the behavior simulated through the non-linear flexural analysis model, and the shear performance of the JAS can also be estimated appropriately by using the shear strength equations presented in the current design codes. For the JAS with cast-in-place concrete, however, the shear strength estimation results differed significantly depending on the way that the shear contributions of the precast concrete unit and cast-in-place concrete were calculated. Based on the analysis results, this study proposed a design method that can reasonably estimate the shear strength of the composite JAS.

Suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS) family is an important negative regulator of cytokine signaling and deregulation of SOCS has been involved in many types of cancer. All cervical cancer cell lines tested showed lower expression of SOCS1, SOCS3, and SOCS5 than normal tissue or cell lines. The immunohistochemistry result for SOCS proteins in human cervical tissue also confirmed that normal tissue expressed higher level of SOCS proteins than neighboring tumor. Similar to the regulation of SOCS in other types of cancer, DNA methylation contributed to SOCS1 downregulation in CaSki, ME-180, and HeLa cells. However, the expression of SOCS3 or SOCS5 was not recovered by the inhibition of DNA methylation. Histone deacetylation may be another regulatory mechanism involved in SOCS1 and SOCS3 expression, however, SOCS5 expression was neither affected by DNA methylation nor histone deacetylation. Ectopic expression of SOCS1 or SOCS3 conferred radioresistance to HeLa cells, which implied SOCS signaling regulates the response to radiation in cervical cancer. In this study, we have shown that SOCS expression repressed by, in part, epigenetically and altered SOCS1 and SOCS3 expression could contribute to the radiosensitive phenotype in cervical cancer.

This article presents the findings of a study on the outcomes of thoracic sympathetic ganglion blocks (TSGB) in 207 chronic pain patients. The study aimed to investigate the relationship between the technical success of TSGB and pain reduction, as well as identify clinical factors relevant to a positive outcome. The results showed that 55.5% of patients reported pain reduction and 67.1% achieved temperature rises after TSGB. However, there was no significant relationship between pain reduction and temperature increase. Factors such as comorbid diabetes and adjuvant intake were positively associated with TSGB outcome, while psychiatric comorbidity and pain duration were negatively associated. The study suggests that further research is needed to identify significant factors associated with TSGB outcomes in patients with complex regional pain syndrome and neuropathic pain diseases. [Extracted from the article]

The European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology-Advisory Committee in Radiation Oncology Practice (ESTRO-ACROP) updated a new target volume delineation guideline for postmastectomy radiotherapy (PMRT) after implant-based reconstruction. This study aimed to evaluate the impact on breast complications with the new guideline compared to the conventional guidelines. In total, 308 patients who underwent PMRT after tissue expander or permanent implant insertion from 2016 to 2021 were included; 184 received PMRT by the new ESTRO-ACROP target delineation (ESTRO-T), and 124 by conventional target delineation (CONV-T). The endpoints were major breast complications (infection, necrosis, dehiscence, capsular contracture, animation deformity, and rupture) requiring re-operation or re-hospitalization and any grade ≥2 breast complications. With a median follow-up of 36.4 months, the cumulative incidence rates of major breast complications at 1, 2, and 3 years were 6.6%, 10.3%, and 12.6% in the ESTRO-T group, and 9.7%, 15.4%, and 16.3% in the CONV-T group; it did not show a significant difference between the groups (p = 0.56). In multivariable analyses, target delineation is not associated with the major complications (sHR = 0.87; p = 0.77). There was no significant difference in any breast complications (3-year incidence, 18.9% vs. 23.3%, respectively; p = 0.56). Symptomatic RT-induced pneumonitis was developed in six (3.2%) and three (2.4%) patients, respectively. One local recurrence occurred in the ESTRO-T group, which was within the ESTRO-target volume. The new ESTRO-ACROP target volume guideline did not demonstrate significant differences in major or any breast complications, although it showed a tendency of reduced complication risks. As the dosimetric benefits of normal organs and comparable oncologic outcomes have been reported, further analyses with long-term follow-up are necessary to evaluate whether it could be connected to better clinical outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peaches are susceptible to various environmental stresses. Particularly in late spring, freezing temperatures can damage peaches and consequently, affect their productivity. Therefore, flowering delay is a prominent strategy for avoiding spring frost damage. Our previous study confirmed that treatment with 5% sodium alginate and 100 mM CaCl2 (5AG) to avoid frost damage during the blooming stage delays flowering. To reveal the flowering delay mechanism of peaches, this study systematically analyzed the modification of amino acid profiles in control and 5AG-treated peach plants at different day intervals. Our findings indicate that arginine (Arg), glutamate (Glu), and proline (Pro) levels differed between the control and 5AG-treated peach shoots throughout the phenological development of flower buds. Furthermore, two amino acids (Arg and Glu) are involved in the Pro pathway. Thus, using a computational metabolomics method, Pro biosynthesis and its characteristics, gene ontology, gene synteny, cis-regulatory elements, and gene organizations were examined to decipher the involvement of Pro metabolism in peach flowering delay. In addition, qRT-PCR analysis revealed the transcriptional regulation of Pro-related and flowering-responsive genes and their role in flowering delay. Overall, this pilot study provides new insights into the role of Pro in the flowering delay mechanisms in Prunus persica through 5AG treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]