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Supplementary Table S1, Supplementary legends for Figures S1-S3, Supplementary Methods and References

EGFRvIII promotes glutamate release by glioma cells in a kinase-independent manner.

EGFR interacts with the central portion of xCT and thereby promotes surface expression of xCT.

Sulfasalazine does not affect intracellular ROS levels in Becker or U87MG cells.

Aims/Introduction: The influence of repeated insulin injection on subcutaneous tissue is known, but its impact on the skin is unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to elucidate the impact of repeated insulin injections on the skin. Material and Methods: The properties of the skin and the subcutaneous tissue were evaluated in 52 insulin-treated adult patients with diabetes with abnormal findings at the site of self-injection (36 with subcutaneous nodules, 16 with suspected subcutaneous tissue induration) by ultrasonography. In all subjects, both normal and abnormal areas were examined. In addition, skin biopsies were performed in four subjects. Results: The skin thickness of the normal and abnormal skin sites was 1.95 (1.60, 2.50) and 2.80 (2.27, 3.30) mm, respectively (median (first quartile, third quartile)), (P

To evaluate the drag coefficients for roof-top tree crowns, previously developed field test methods for monitoring wind speed, wind direction, and stem deflection were improved using solar cells as a source of power. A field test was conducted for a Norway spruce and a shirakanba located on a rooftop. The drag coefficients showed large variations during low wind speeds, which were caused by the flexural vibration of the tree trunk due to the fluctuating wind speed. To compensate for this effect, the upper percentage of drag coefficients obtained for the 0.5 m/s wind speed classes were used for the exponential regression for drag coefficient as a function of wind speed. As a result, a conservative evaluation of drag coefficients for a greater range of wind speeds could be established instead of using all data. The drag coefficients at 30 m/s wind speed were estimated to be 0.594 for the Norway spruce, and 0.154 for the shirakanba using the upper 50 % of the data. The exponential function convergence was more gradual for the spruce than for the shirakanba, which may be affected by a difference in the streamlining behavior.

Extracellular free amino acids contribute to the interaction between a tumor and its microenvironment through effects on cellular metabolism and malignant behavior. System xc(–) is composed of xCT and CD98hc subunits and functions as a plasma membrane antiporter for the uptake of extracellular cystine in exchange for intracellular glutamate. Here, we show that the EGFR interacts with xCT and thereby promotes its cell surface expression and function in human glioma cells. EGFR-expressing glioma cells manifested both enhanced antioxidant capacity as a result of increased cystine uptake, as well as increased glutamate, which promotes matrix invasion. Imaging mass spectrometry also revealed that brain tumors formed in mice by human glioma cells stably overexpressing EGFR contained higher levels of reduced glutathione compared with those formed by parental cells. Targeted inhibition of xCT suppressed the EGFR-dependent enhancement of antioxidant capacity in glioma cells, as well as tumor growth and invasiveness. Our findings establish a new functional role for EGFR in promoting the malignant potential of glioma cells through interaction with xCT at the cell surface. Cancer Res; 76(10); 2954–63. ©2016 AACR.

Various types of lightweight soils have been developed as fill materials over soft grounds and/or behind retaining walls in order to achieve the stability and less deformability. In this study, wasted rigid polyurethane foam (PUF) was used as the lightweight plastic material for a new type of lightweight soil. Since a large amount of the rigid PUF was disposed of every year, if the rigid PUF can be effectively used, the resulting lightweight soil will greatly contribute to the improvement of our environmental problems. The effect of the rigid PUF on the strength and deformation properties of lightweight stabilized soil was investigated based on unconfined compression tests. The main results obtained from this study were: 1) Peak and yielding strengths of the new lightweight soil mixed with PUF depend on the cement content, but not the type of PUF. 2) The stress-strain curves obtained from the compression tests for lightweight soil specimens with the rigid PUF showed a clear yielding phenomenon, and 3) the yielding stress and strain depend on the type of rigid PUF.

Core/shell capsules composed of calcium carbonate whisker core (rod-like shape) and chitosan/chitosansulfate shell were prepared by the layer-by-layer deposition technique. Two chitosan samples of different molecular weights (Mw=9.7×104and1.09×106g·mol-1) were used as original materials. Hollow capsules were also obtained by dissolution of the core in hydrochloric acid. Electron microscopy revealed that the surface of the shell is rather ragged associated with some agglomerates. The shell thicknesslobeys a linear relation with respect to the number of deposited layersmasl=md+a(a>0). The values ofd(thickness per layer) were 4.0 and 1.0 nm for the higher and lowerMwchitosan materials, respectively, both of which are greater than the thickness of the monolayer. The results suggest that the feature of the deposition does not obey an ideal homogeneous monolayer-by-monolayer deposition mechanism. Shell crosslinked capsules were also prepared via photodimerization reaction of cinnamoyl groups after a deposition of cinnamoyl chitosan to the calcium carbonate whisker core. The degree of crosslink was not enough to stabilize the shell structure, and hollow capsule was not obtained.