Upregulated wnt-11 and mir-21 expression trigger epithelial mesenchymal transition in aggressive prostate cancer cells

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second-leading cause of cancer-related death among men. microRNAs have been identified as having potential roles in tumorigenesis. An oncomir, miR-21, is commonly highly upregulated in many cancers, including PCa, and showed correlation with the Wnt-signaling axis to increase invasion. Wnt-11 is a developmentally regulated gene and has been found to be upregulated in PCa, but its mechanism is unknown. The present study aimed to investigate the roles of miR-21 and Wnt-11 in PCa in vivo and in vitro. First, different Gleason score PCa tissue samples were used; both miR-21 and Wnt-11 expressions correlate with high Gleason scores in PCa patient tissues. This data then was confirmed with formalin-fixed paraffin cell blocks using PCa cell lines LNCaP and PC3. Cell survival and colony formation studies proved that miR-21 involves in cells’ behaviors, as well as the epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Consistent with the previous data, silencing miR-21 led to significant inhibition of cellular invasiveness. Overall, these results suggest that miR-21 plays a significant role related to Wnt-11 in the pathophysiology of PCa

Consumer Willingness-To-Pay for Different Organic Certification Logos in Turkey

Using data from focus group discussions with consumers and a choice experimentconducted in some of Turkey’s major cities, this study investigates whetherTurkish consumers prefer certain organic labelling schemes over others attemptsand to elicit their willingness to pay (WTP) for different organic certificationlogos. Although the level of awareness regarding organic certification logos waslow, consumers’ perceptions of the logos were generally positive. The results ofthe random parameter logit models indicated a positive WTP for the presence ofone of the three tested certification body logos in addition to the mandatorygovernmental logo. Given the low level of certification logo awareness, theconclusion is that both purchasing decisions and perceptions regarding logoswere affected by subjective criteria. Both the government and certification bodiesshould develop measures to increase consumer awareness of their logos and formconsumer perceptions and attitudes regarding the quality of the certificationimplied by the logo

Factors influencing the perception of organic certification logos in Turkey

Consumers’ perceptions on organic certification logos and the factors influencing these perceptions were explored. Data from surveys conducted in major cities of Turkey revealed that organic food consumers had little knowledge about logos, although the declared level of trust in organic logos was high. According to ordered logit models, consumer’s perceptions on organic certification logos were influenced by purchasing frequency and weight of organic foods in total food consumption. Dummy variables representing additional private certification company logos as well were generally found to have a significant effect on logo perception. This result suggests that consumers’ attitudes towards these logos and towards the governmental logo are not the same. Female and older people were more sceptical about the trustworthiness of the logos. While the credibility of the logos and the standards and control systems underlying the logos increased as frequency of purchasing organic food increased, those consumers who prefer organic open markets for buying organic food were hesitant to trust the credibility of the organic certification logos. The mandatory governmental logo and the underlying standards are trusted more than the private company logos. However, the difference of the attitudes toward logos decreases when the control system is in question. When a comparison between perceptions towards labels including different additional certification companies’ logos is made, the additional logo was found to affect the stated preferences more negatively when the companies were foreign. Enhanced interest and trust in the organic certification logos among consumers would foment the development of the organic sector, and the findings of this paper serve as an input for the achievement of this aim

Update or Wait: How to Keep Your Data Fresh

In this work, we study how to optimally manage the freshness of information updates sent from a source node to a destination via a channel. A proper metric for data freshness at the destination is the age-of-information, or simply age, which is defined as how old the freshest received update is since the moment that this update was generated at the source node (e.g., a sensor). A reasonable update policy is the zero-wait policy, i.e., the source node submits a fresh update once the previous update is delivered and the channel becomes free, which achieves the maximum throughput and the minimum delay. Surprisingly, this zero-wait policy does not always minimize the age. This counter-intuitive phenomenon motivates us to study how to optimally control information updates to keep the data fresh and to understand when the zero-wait policy is optimal. We introduce a general age penalty function to characterize the level of dissatisfaction on data staleness and formulate the average age penalty minimization problem as a constrained semi-Markov decision problem (SMDP) with an uncountable state space. We develop efficient algorithms to find the optimal update policy among all causal policies, and establish sufficient and necessary conditions for the optimality of the zero-wait policy. Our investigation shows that the zero-wait policy is far from the optimum if (i) the age penalty function grows quickly with respect to the age, (ii) the packet transmission times over the channel are positively correlated over time, or (iii) the packet transmission times are highly random (e.g., following a heavy-tail distribution)

Scheduling Algorithms for Procrastinators

This paper presents scheduling algorithms for procrastinators, where the speed that a procrastinator executes a job increases as the due date approaches. We give optimal off-line scheduling policies for linearly increasing speed functions. We then explain the computational/numerical issues involved in implementing this policy. We next explore the online setting, showing that there exist adversaries that force any online scheduling policy to miss due dates. This impossibility result motivates the problem of minimizing the maximum interval stretch of any job; the interval stretch of a job is the job's flow time divided by the job's due date minus release time. We show that several common scheduling strategies, including the "hit-the-highest-nail" strategy beloved by procrastinators, have arbitrarily large maximum interval stretch. Then we give the "thrashing" scheduling policy and show that it is a \Theta(1) approximation algorithm for the maximum interval stretch.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure

Geophysical anomalies and quartz deformation of the Warburton West structure, central Australia

This paper reports geophysical anomalies and intra-crystalline quartz lamellae in drill cores from the Warburton West Basin overlapping the border of South Australia and the Northern Territory. The pre-Upper Carboniferous ~450×300km-large Warburton Basin, north-eastern South Australia, is marked by distinct eastern and western magnetic, gravity and low-velocity seismic tomography anomalies. Quartz grains from arenite core samples contain intra-crystalline lamellae in carbonate-quartz veins and in clastic grains, similar to those reported earlier from arenites, volcanic rocks and granites from the Warburton East Basin. Universal Stage measurements of quartz lamellae in both sub-basins define Miller-Bravais indices of {10-12} and {10-13}. In-situ quartz lamellae occur only in pre-Late Carboniferous rocks whereas lamellae-bearing clastic quartz grains occur in both pre-Late Carboniferous and post-Late Carboniferous rocks - the latter likely redeposited from the pre-Late Carboniferous basement. Quartz lamellae in clastic quartz grains are mostly curved and bent either due to tectonic deformation or to re-deformation of impact-generated planar features during crustal rebound or/and post-impact tectonic deformation. Seismic tomography low-velocity anomalies in both Warburton West Basin and Warburton East Basin suggest fracturing of the crust to depths of more than 20km. Geophysical modelling of the Cooper Basin, which overlies the eastern Warburton East Basin, suggests existence of a body of high-density (~2.9-3.0gr/cm) and high magnetic susceptibility (SI~0.012-0.037) at a depth of ~6-10km at the centre of the anomalies. In the Warburton West Basin a large magnetic body of SI=0.030 is modelled below ~10km, with a large positive gravity anomaly offset to the north of the magnetic anomaly. In both the Warburton East and Warburton West the deep crustal fracturing suggested by the low velocity seismic tomography complicates interpretations of the gravity data. Universal Stage measurements of quartz lamellae suggest presence of both planar deformation features of shock metamorphic derivation and deformed planar lamella. The latter may be attributed either to re-deformation of impact-generated lamella, impact rebound deformation or/and post impact tectonic deformation. The magnetic anomalies in the Warburton East and West sub-basins are interpreted in terms of (1) presence of deep seated central mafic bodies; (2) deep crustal fracturing and (3) removal of Devonian and Carboniferous strata associated with rebound of a central uplift consequent on large asteroid impact. Further tests of the Warburton structures require deep crustal seismic transects

The electric double layer has a life of its own

Using molecular dynamics simulations with recently developed importance sampling methods, we show that the differential capacitance of a model ionic liquid based double-layer capacitor exhibits an anomalous dependence on the applied electrical potential. Such behavior is qualitatively incompatible with standard mean-field theories of the electrical double layer, but is consistent with observations made in experiment. The anomalous response results from structural changes induced in the interfacial region of the ionic liquid as it develops a charge density to screen the charge induced on the electrode surface. These structural changes are strongly influenced by the out-of-plane layering of the electrolyte and are multifaceted, including an abrupt local ordering of the ions adsorbed in the plane of the electrode surface, reorientation of molecular ions, and the spontaneous exchange of ions between different layers of the electrolyte close to the electrode surface. The local ordering exhibits signatures of a first-order phase transition, which would indicate a singular charge-density transition in a macroscopic limit

WNT signalling in prostate cancer

Genome sequencing and gene expression analyses of prostate tumours have highlighted the potential importance of genetic and epigenetic changes observed in WNT signalling pathway components in prostate tumours-particularly in the development of castration-resistant prostate cancer. WNT signalling is also important in the prostate tumour microenvironment, in which WNT proteins secreted by the tumour stroma promote resistance to therapy, and in prostate cancer stem or progenitor cells, in which WNT-β-catenin signals promote self-renewal or expansion. Preclinical studies have demonstrated the potential of inhibitors that target WNT receptor complexes at the cell membrane or that block the interaction of β-catenin with lymphoid enhancer-binding factor 1 and the androgen receptor, in preventing prostate cancer progression. Some WNT signalling inhibitors are in phase I trials, but they have yet to be tested in patients with prostate cancer

Learning from your investors: can the geographical composition of institutional investors affect the chance of success in international M&A deals?

We produce new evidence on whether management which is keen to make foreign acquisitions can benefit from consultation with information-intensive institutional investors who have expertise in the target foreign markets. This research suggests that, in such instances, management should recognise the benefit of effective two-way communication before embarking on such costly strategies. Consistent with theoretical literature, we propose that this can be explained by the fact that complex valuation information is dispersed among many economic agents and management may only have limited access to such data. This research shows that the likelihood of both cross-border deal completion and medium-term cross-border deal success through time depends upon management learning from and getting the support of key institutional investors with regional (foreign) expertise. The theoretical information economics model presented by Dye and Sridhar in 2002 states that the information flow between management and capital markets should be viewed as two way. This study offers empirical evidence in support of their theory. This study offers insights into the positive effect of establishing a proactive investor relations programme for the recruitment of dedicated foreign institutional investors before embarking on cross-border M&A. The results indicate that management should closely monitor the share register and identify those investors who are transient and those who are, in contrast, dedicated. Attention then needs to be directed to establishing effective communication with the dedicated investors with regional expertise

Multiplicity dependence of jet-like two-particle correlations in p-Pb collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 5.02 TeV

Two-particle angular correlations between unidentified charged trigger and associated particles are measured by the ALICE detector in p-Pb collisions at a nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV. The transverse-momentum range 0.7 $< p_{\rm{T}, assoc} < p_{\rm{T}, trig} <$ 5.0 GeV/$c$ is examined, to include correlations induced by jets originating from low momen\-tum-transfer scatterings (minijets). The correlations expressed as associated yield per trigger particle are obtained in the pseudorapidity range $|\eta|<0.9$. The near-side long-range pseudorapidity correlations observed in high-multiplicity p-Pb collisions are subtracted from both near-side short-range and away-side correlations in order to remove the non-jet-like components. The yields in the jet-like peaks are found to be invariant with event multiplicity with the exception of events with low multiplicity. This invariance is consistent with the particles being produced via the incoherent fragmentation of multiple parton--parton scatterings, while the yield related to the previously observed ridge structures is not jet-related. The number of uncorrelated sources of particle production is found to increase linearly with multiplicity, suggesting no saturation of the number of multi-parton interactions even in the highest multiplicity p-Pb collisions. Further, the number scales in the intermediate multiplicity region with the number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions estimated with a Glauber Monte-Carlo simulation.Comment: 23 pages, 6 captioned figures, 1 table, authors from page 17, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/161