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Introduction: Hydrogen sulphide (H2S) has been established as a key member of the gasotransmitters family that recently showed a pivotal role in various pathological conditions including cancer. Objectives: This study investigated the role of H2S in breast cancer (BC) pathogenesis, on BC immune recognition capacity and the consequence of targeting H2S using non-coding RNAs. Methods: Eighty BC patients have been recruited for the study. BC cell lines were cultured and transfected using validated oligonucleotide delivery system. Gene and protein expression analysis was performed using qRT-PCR, western blot and flow-cytometry. In-vitro analysis for BC hallmarks was performed using MTT, BrdU, Modified Boyden chamber, migration and colony forming assays. H2S and nitric oxide (NO) levels were measured spectrophotometrically. Primary natural killer cells (NK cells) and T cell isolation and chimeric antigen receptor transduction (CAR T cells) were performed using appropriate kits. NK and T cells cytotoxicity was measured. Finally, computational target prediction analysis and binding confirmation analyses were performed using different software and dual luciferase assay kit, respectively. Results: The H2S synthesizing enzymes, cystathionine β-synthase (CBS) and cystathionine γ-lyase (CSE), exhibited elevated levels in the clinical samples that correlated with tumor proliferation index. Knock-down of CBS and CSE in the HER2+ BC and triple negative BC (TNBC) cells resulted in significant attenuation of BC malignancy. In addition to increased susceptibility of HER2+ BC and TNBC to the cytotoxic activity of HER2 targeting CAR T cells and NK cells, respectively. Transcriptomic and phosphoprotein analysis revealed that H2S signaling is mediated through Akt in MCF7, STAT3 in MDA-MB-231 and miR-155/ NOS2/NO signaling in both cell lines. Lastly, miR-4317 was found to function as an upstream regulator of CBS and CSE synergistically abrogates the malignancy of BC cells. Conclusion: These findings demonstrate the potential role of H2S signaling in BC pathogenesis and the potential of its targeting for disease mitigation.

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is known to participate in bacteria-induced inflammatory response in periodontal diseases. Therefore, it is necessary to quantify H2S produced by oral bacteria for diagnosis and treatment of oral diseases including halitosis and periodontal disease. In this study, we introduce a paper-based colorimetric assay for detecting bacterial H2S utilizing silver/Nafion/polyvinylpyrrolidone membrane and a 96-well microplate. This H2S-sensing paper showed a good sensitivity (8.27 blue channel intensity/μM H2S, R2 = 0.9996), which was higher than that of lead acetate paper (6.05 blue channel intensity/μM H2S, R2 = 0.9959). We analyzed the difference in H2S concentration released from four kinds of oral bacteria (Eikenella corrodens, Streptococcus sobrinus, Streptococcus mutans, and Lactobacillus casei). Finally, the H2S level in Eikenella corrodens while varying the concentration of cysteine and treatment time was quantified. This paper-based colorimetric assay can be utilized as a simple and effective tool for in vitro screening of H2S-producing ability of many bacteria as well as salivary H2S analysis.

This paper proposes a fault-location algorithm for ultra-high-voltage untransposed parallel transmission lines that only use the voltages and currents at the local end. The proposed algorithm uses the voltage equation for the faulted phase of the faulted line. The equation contains the fault distance, fault resistance, and fault current. To obtain the fault current, Kirchhoff's voltage law is applied on the loops of three phases consisting of the faulted line and the adjacent parallel line. The fault current can be represented in terms of the fault distance. Inserting the fault current into the voltage equation results in an equation that contains only two parameters (i.e., the fault distance and fault resistance). The fault distance is estimated by solving the equation. Test results indicated that the algorithm accurately estimates the fault distance regardless of the fault resistance and mutual coupling effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper suggests policy implications for the mitigation of resident conflict in public rental apartment complexes in South Korea. Employing a nation-wide disaggregate dataset from the 2011 Korea Housing Survey for Public Housing Residents, we developed a probability model of the occurrence of conflicts among the residents in mixed-tenure public housings. The results showed that spatial configuration of dwelling units between rental and privately owned units, management system, and resident’s organization played important roles in the occurrence of resident’s conflict. The degree of spatial integration showed a significant relationship to the occurrence of residents’ conflicts in that two types of mixing (i.e., segregated and segmented) were positively associated with the increase in conflicts among residents, whereas the other two types (i.e., “line-mix” and “random-mix”) with higher levels of spatial integration had a negative association with it. Although both “line-mix” and “random-mix” can be considered as a type of spatial configuration with higher level of spatial integration, it was found that only “random-mix” was statistically significant. It is suggested that “a pepper-potted strategy” needs to be implemented to mitigate residents’ conflicts in mixed-tenure public housing developments in South Korea.