Comment on ‘Tumour-infiltrating inflammation and prognosis in colorectal cancer: systematic review and meta-analysis’

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Strange form factors in the context of SAMPLE, HAPPEX, and A4 experiments

The strange properties of the nucleon are investigated within the framework of the SU(3) chiral quark-soliton model assuming isospin symmetry and applying the symmetry conserving SU(3) quantization. We present the form factors $G^0_{E,M}(Q^2)$, $G^Z_M(Q^2)$ and the electric and magnetic strange form factors $G^s_{E,M}(Q^2)$ incorporating pion and kaon asymptotics. The results show a fairly good agreement with the recent experimental data from the SAMPLE and HAPPEX collaborations. We also present predictions for future measurements including the A4 experiment at MAMI (Mainz).Comment: 10 pages with four figures. RevTeX4 is used. Few lines are changed. Accepted for publication in Phys.Rev.

Hybrid desalination processes for beneficial use of reverse osmosis brine: Current status and future prospects

© 2018 Elsevier B.V. As water shortage has increasingly become a serious global problem, desalination using seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) is considered as a sustainable source of potable water sources. However, a major issue on the SWRO desalination plant is the generation of brine that has potential adverse impact due to its high salt concentration. Accordingly, it is necessary to develop technologies that allow environmentally friendly and economically viable management of SWRO brines. This paper gives an overview of recent research works and technologies to treat SWRO brines for its beneficial use. The treatment processes have been classified into two different groups according to their final purpose: 1) technologies for producing fresh water and 2) technologies for recovering energy. Topics in this paper includes membrane distillation (MD), forward osmosis (FO), pressure-retarded osmosis (PRO), reverse electrodialysis (RED) as emerging tools for beneficial use of SWRO brine. In addition, a new approach to simultaneously recover water and energy from SWRO brine is introduced as a case study to provide insight into improving the sustainability of seawater desalination

Two-gap superconductivity in Ba_1-xK_xFe_2As_2: A complementary study of the magnetic penetration depth by \muSR and ARPES

We investigate the magnetic penetration depth \lambda in superconducting Ba_1-xK_xFe_2As_2 (T_c\simeq32K) with muon-spin rotation (\muSR) and angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES). Using \muSR, we find the penetration-depth anisotropy \gamma_\lambda=\lambda_c/\lambda_{ab} and the second-critical-field anisotropy \gamma_{H_c2} to show an opposite T-evolution below T_c. This dichotomy resembles the situation in the two-gap superconductor MgB_2. A two-gap scenario is also suggested by an inflection point in the in-plane penetration depth \lambda_ab around 7K. The complementarity of \muSR and ARPES allows us to pinpoint the values of the two gaps and to arrive to a remarkable agreement between the two techniques concerning the full T-evolution of \lambda_ab. This provides further support for the described scenario and establishes ARPES as a tool to assess macroscopic properties of the superconducting condensate.Comment: Accepted for publication by Phys. Rev. Let

Spectral origin of the colossal magnetodielectric effect in multiferroic DyMn2O5

The origin of the colossal magnetodielectric effect in DyMn2O5 [1] has been an outstanding question in multiferroics. Here, we report the activation of the electric dipole mode at 4-5 cm-1 in an applied magnetic field which fully accounts for the CMD effect. We examine two alternative explanations of this mode: an electromagnon and transitions between f-electron levels of Dy3+ ions. The experimental and theoretical evidence supports the electromagnon origin of the CMD effect.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PR

Presumed pseudokinase VRK3 functions as a BAF kinase

Vaccinia-related kinase 3 (VRK3) is known as a pseudokinase that is catalytically inactive due to changes in motifs that are essential for kinase activity. Although VRK3 has been regarded as a genuine pseudokinase from structural and biochemical studies, recent reports suggest that VRK3 acts as an active kinase as well as a signaling scaffold in cells. Here, we demonstrate that VRK3 phosphorylates the nuclear envelope protein barrier-to-autointegration factor (BAF) on Ser4. Interestingly, VRK3 kinase activity is dependent upon its N-terminal regulatory region, which is excluded from the determination of its crystal structure. Furthermore, the kinase activity of VRK3 is involved in the regulation of the cell cycle. VRK3 expression levels increase during interphase, whereas VRK1 is enriched in late G2 and early M phase. Ectopic expression of VRK3 induces the translocation of BAF from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. In addition, depletion of VRK3 decreases the population of proliferating cells. These data suggest that VRK3-mediated phosphorylation of BAF may facilitate DNA replication or gene expression by facilitating the dissociation of nuclear envelope proteins and chromatin during interphase. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.1174Ysciescopu

Bidirectional signaling of neuregulin-2 mediates formation of GABAergic synapses and maturation of glutamatergic synapses in newborn granule cells of postnatal hippocampus

Expression of neuregulin-2 (NRG2) is intense in a few regions of the adult brain where neurogenesis persists; however, little is understood about its role in developments of newborn neurons. To study the role of NRG2 in synaptogenesis at different developmental stages, newborn granule cells in rat hippocampal slice cultures were labeled with retrovirus encoding tetracycline-inducible microRNA targeting NRG2 and treated with doxycycline (Dox) at the fourth or seventh postinfection day (dpi). The developmental increase of GABAergic postsynaptic currents (GPSCs) was suppressed by the early Dox treatment (4 dpi), but not by late treatment (7 dpi). The late Dox treatment was used to study the effect of NRG2 depletion specific to excitatory synaptogenesis. The Dox effect on EPSCs emerged 4 d after the impairment in dendritic outgrowth became evident (10 dpi). Notably, Dox treatment abolished the developmental increases of AMPA-receptor mediated EPSCs and the AMPA/NMDA ratio, indicating impaired maturation of glutamatergic synapses. In contrast to GPSCs, Dox effects on EPSCs and dendritic growth were independent of ErbB4 and rescued by concurrent overexpression of NRG2 intracellular domain. These results suggest that forward signaling of NRG2 mediates GABAergic synaptogenesis and its reverse signaling contributes to dendritic outgrowth and maturation of glutamatergic synapses.117Ysciescopu

Hyperon semileptonic decays and quark spin content of the proton

We investigate the hyperon semileptonic decays and the quark spin content of the proton $\Delta \Sigma$ taking into account flavor SU(3) symmetry breaking. Symmetry breaking is implemented with the help of the chiral quark-soliton model in an approach, in which the dynamical parameters are fixed by the experimental data for six hyperon semileptonic decay constants. As a result we predict the unmeasured decay constants, particularly for $\Xi^0 \to \Sigma^+$, which will be soon measured and examine the effect of the SU(3) symmetry breaking on the spin content $\Delta \Sigma$ of the proton. Unfortunately large experimental errors of $\Xi^-$ decays propagate in our analysis making $\Delta \Sigma$ and $\Delta s$ practically undetermined. We conclude that statements concerning the values of these two quantities, which are based on the exact SU(3) symmetry, are premature. We stress that the meaningful results can be obtained only if the experimental errors for the $\Xi$ decays are reduced.Comment: The final version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. D. 18 pages, RevTex is used with 4 figures include