Curvy surface conformal ultra-thin transfer printed Si optoelectronic penetrating microprobe arrays

Penetrating neural probe arrays are powerful bio-integrated devices for studying basic neuroscience and applied neurophysiology, underlying neurological disorders, and understanding and regulating animal and human behavior. This paper presents a penetrating microprobe array constructed in thin and flexible fashion, which can be seamlessly integrated with the soft curvy substances. The function of the microprobes is enabled by transfer printed ultra-thin Si optoelectronics. As a proof-of-concept device, microprobe array with Si photodetector arrays are demonstrated and their capability of mapping the photo intensity in space are illustrated. The design strategies of utilizing thin polyimide based microprobes and supporting substrate, and employing the heterogeneously integrated thin optoelectronics are keys to accomplish such a device. The experimental and theoretical investigations illustrate the materials, manufacturing, mechanical and optoelectronic aspects of the device. While this paper primarily focuses on the device platform development, the associated materials, manufacturing technologies, and device design strategy are applicable to more complex and multi-functionalities in penetrating probe array-based neural interfaces and can also find potential utilities in a wide range of bio-integrated systems

Vibro-acoustic coupled analysis excited by correlated turbulent boundary layer

Vibro-acoustic coupling is one of the most concerned problems in the design stage of aircraft and aerospace vehicle. An algorithm that integrates the finite element method (FEM), the boundary element method (BEM) and an acquisition method of excitation correlation is proposed to conduct the vibro-acoustic coupled analysis under correlated excitations in time and spatial domains. The Corcos/Smol’yakov-Tkachenko (ST) power spectral density models are adopted for the correlated excitation with a divisional method, and the vibro-acoustic coupled analysis of complex structures can be greatly simplified. First, a simply supported panel under correlated TBL is investigated to validate the proposed algorithm. Then, the proposed algorithm is applied to a stiffened panel to carry out the vibro-acoustic coupled analysis under three types of excitation: (a) perfectly correlated TBL, (b) partially correlated TBL based on the Corcos or ST model, and (c) uncorrelated TBL. Parameters which may affect the vibro-acoustic coupled analysis, such as the coupled effect, the correlation of excitation and the speed and thickness of the turbulence, are also discussed. Results show that the proposed method is suitable for the vibro-acoustic coupled analysis of complex systems under correlated random excitations. The vibro-acoustic coupling effect will result in a decrease in both the natural frequency and structural response under perfectly correlated excitation, and an increase in the structural response for partial correlated and uncorrelated excitations. However, the coupling effect has little influence on the acoustical response. The structural and acoustic responses due to partially correlated excitation are larger than that due to perfectly correlated excitation. Moreover, the structural and acoustic responses increase with the increment in turbulence speed and thickness, and the difference among the responses under the three different types of excitations rapidly increase with the increasing of the turbulence speed

Effects of mTOR inhibitor, everolimus, on proliferation, autophagy and temozolomide sensitivity of glioma cells

Purpose: To study the effect of the mTOR inhibitor, everolimus, on glioma cell proliferation, autophagy, and drug sensitivity to temozolomide (TMZ).Methods: Human glioma cell lines were cultured in vitro, and the effects of different concentrations of everolimus on the proliferation of brain glial cells were determined using CCK-8 method. The effect of different concentrations of everolimus on brain glial cell levels of autophagy protein were assayed by western blot method.Results: The results of CCK-8 analysis showed that everolimus inhibited the proliferation of glial cells in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. Western blot results showed that the expression levels of autophagy proteins, LC3-II and LC3-II/I, were gradually and concentration-dependently up-regulated, while p62 protein level was gradually decreased concentration-dependently, when compared with blank control (p < 0.05). Treatment with different concentrations of TMZ alone, and in combination with everolimus for 48 h inhibited the proliferation of brain glial cells in a concentration-dependent manner, but the inhibition due to TMZ-everolimus combination was significantly higher than that of TMZ singletreatment (p < 0.05). After 48 h, the expression level of Beclin-1 increased with the ratio of LC3-II/LC-I in TMZ-everolimus group, while the expression level of p62 decreased, when compared with TMZ alone, or control (p < 0.05).Conclusion: Everolimus significantly inhibits the proliferation of glioma cells and promotes the occurrence of autophagy. Combined use of TMZ and everolimus significantly enhances the sensitivity of TMZ to glioma cells, inhibits cell proliferation, and promotes autophagy better than TMZ alone. Keywords: mTOR inhibitor, Everolimus, Glioma cells, Proliferation, Autophag

ANALYSIS ON CONSTRUCTION DEFORMATION AND SUPPORTING STRUCTURE OF TWO-STEP AND THREESECTION EXCAVATION METHOD FOR SUPER LARGER SPAN HIGHWAY TUNNEL

The super larger span tunnel is a common form of highway reconstruction and expansionprojects in recent years. In order to determine the stability of tunnel structure of the two-step andthree-section excavation method of the III-level surrounding rock mass of the super larger spanhighway, the field test method was adopted. Relying on the Laohushan Tunnel in Jinan, Shandong,China, the deformation and the structure performance of the super larger span tunnel in III-levelsurrounding rock mass are analyzed, and the safety of the tunnel and the support structure isevaluated on this basis. The results show that the maximum settlement of the arch section of theGrade III surrounding rock section is 12.5mm, and the maximum clearance convergence is 5.8mm.Both of them are much smaller than the design reserved deformation of 80mm. The maximumpressure of the surrounding rock is 0.091MPa, showing that the force acting on the supportingstructure by surrounding rock mass is small. The inner and outer arched parts of the steel frameare subject to large stresses, and most of them are tensile stresses. The maximum stress of thesteel frame is 283 MPa, and occurs at the inner side of right arch waist. Although the local stressexceeds the yield strength of the steel (235 MPa), it does not exceed its ultimate compressivestrength of 400 MPa, and the tensile and compressive stress values of the other inner and outerparts do not exceed the yield strength. Mainly, the maximum stress appears on the left side wall,reaching 4.83 MPa, which is far less than the ultimate compressive strength of sprayed concrete(11.9 MPa). For super larger span highway tunnels, located in III-level surrounding rock mass,constructed by two-step and three-section excavation method, the initial support effectivelycontrolled the tunnel deformation, the supporting structures were fully protected and the tunnelstructure was stable. The super larger span tunnel is a common form in the road reconstructionand expansion project in recent years. In order to determine the stability of tunnel structure of thetwo steps and three excavation method of the III-level surrounding rock mass of the super largerspan highway, the field test method was adopted. Relying on the Laohushan Tunnel, thedeformation and the structure performance of the super larger span tunnel in III-level surroundingrock mass were analyzed. The results show that the maximum settlement of arch of the III-levelsurrounding rock mass is 12.5mm in super larger span highway tunnel, and the maximumclearance convergence is 5.8mm. Both of them are smaller than the design reserved deformationof 80mm. The maximum surrounding rock mass pressure is 0.091MPa, the force acting on thesupporting structure by surrounding rock mass are small. The inner and outer arched parts of the steel frame bear larger stress, and are mostly tensile stress. The maximum stress on inner side ofthe steel frame is 283 MPa, and occurs at the right arch waist. The maximum stress on the outerside of the steel frame is184 MPa, and occurs at the vault. The steel frame plays an important rolein the initial support, however the force does not reach the yield strength of the steel. The shotcreteis subjected to pressure, the maximum stress appears on the left side wall is 4.83 MPa, which ismuch smaller than the ultimate compressive strength of shotcrete of 25 MPa. So for super largerspan highway tunnels, located in III-level surrounding rock mass, constructed by two-step andthree-excavation method, the whole structure is stable

Relations of diet and physical activity to bone mass and height in black and white adolescents

Because the development of healthy bodies during the years of growth has life-long health consequences, it is important to understand the early influences of diet and physical activity (PA). One way to generate hypotheses concerning such influences is to conduct cross-sectional studies of how diet and PA are related to different components of body composition. The subjects were 660 black and white adolescents. Total body bone mineral content (BMC) was measured with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry; free-living diet and PA were assessed with 4–7 separate 24-h recalls. The main dietary variables investigated were: total energy intake, macronutrient distribution (%), dairy servings, vitamin D, and calcium. The main PA variables were hours of moderate PA (3–6 METs) and vigorous PA (>6 METs). BMC was higher in blacks than in whites (P<0.01) and it increased more in boys than in girls (age by sex interaction) as age increased (P<0.01). After adjustment for age, race and sex, higher levels of BMC were associated with higher levels of energy intake, dairy servings, calcium, vitamin D, and vigorous PA (all P 's<0.05). In the multivariable model, significant and independent proportions of the variance in BMC were explained by race, the age by sex interaction, calcium, and vigorous PA (all P 's<0.01). When height was used as the outcome variable, similar diet results were obtained; however, there was a sex by vigorous PA interaction, such that vigorous PA was associated with height only in the girls. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that the bone mass and height of growing youths are positively influenced by higher dietary intake of energy and dairy foods, along with sufficient amounts of vigorous PA. This hypothesis needs to be tested in randomized controlled trials

Differential Impact of Stress Reduction Programs upon Ambulatory Blood Pressure among African American Adolescents: Influences of Endothelin-1 Gene and Chronic Stress Exposure

Stress-activated gene × environment interactions may contribute to individual variability in blood pressure reductions from behavioral interventions. We investigated effects of endothelin-1 (ET-1) LYS198ASN SNP and discriminatory stress exposure upon impact of 12-week behavioral interventions upon ambulatory BP (ABP) among 162 prehypertensive African American adolescents. Following genotyping, completion of questionnaire battery, and 24-hour ABP monitoring, participants were randomized to health education control (HEC), life skills training (LST), or breathing awareness meditation (BAM). Postintervention ABP was obtained. Significant three-way interactions on ABP changes indicated that among ET-1 SNP carriers, the only group to show reductions was BAM from low chronic stress environments. Among ET-1 SNP noncarriers, under low chronic stress exposure, all approaches worked, especially BAM. Among high stress exposure noncarriers, only BAM resulted in reductions. If these preliminary findings are replicated via ancillary analyses of archival databases and then via efficacy trials, selection of behavioral prescriptions for prehypertensives will be edging closer to being guided by individual's underlying genetic and environmental factors incorporating the healthcare model of personalized preventive medicine

P/polyP/poly Invalidity of the Agr17 Functional Encryption Scheme

Functional encryption (FE) is an advanced topic in the research of cryptography, and the Agr17 FE scheme is one of the major FE schemes. It took the BGG+14 attribute-based encryption (ABE) scheme as a bottom structure, which was upgraded into a `partially hiding predicate encryption\u27 (PHPE) scheme and combined with a fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) scheme. However, there is a remaining problem, the implementation of the modulus reduction, in the Agr17 FE scheme. First, a modulus reduction is necessary for the polynomial-time computability of the scheme. Second, the detailed steps of the modulus reduction were absent in the scheme (including its conference version and full version). Instead, the authors only pointed out several reference works. The author\u27s meaning seemed to be that the modulus reduction of the Agr17 FE scheme can be obtained by directly using or simply generalizing these reference works. Third, these reference works only described various modulus reductions of FHE schemes, without the hint of how to generalize them into the modulus reduction of FE schemes. Finally, any modulus reduction of FHE can not be simply generalized into the modulus reduction of the Agr17 FE scheme due to the following two facts: (1) The Agr17 FE scheme has two moduli, which are the modulus of the FHE ciphertext and of the ABE ciphertext, both are originally superpolynomial in size for processing $P/poly$ functions. (2) Both moduli need to be scaled down to polynomial size, and both of them need to be reduced to the same new modulus, otherwise, the correctness of the scheme will fail. In this paper, we demonstrate that the Agr17 FE scheme is $P/poly$ invalid. More specifically, we show that, when processing $P/poly$ functions, the Agr17 FE scheme cannot be implemented again after its modulus reduction. To show the soundness of our demonstration, we present the statements in two stages. At the first stage, we show that the modulus reduction of the Agr17 FE scheme should be a double modulus reduction, which includes two modulus reductions for the FHE ciphertext and ABE ciphertext, respectively. This double modulus reduction has the following three key points: (1) The modulus reduction for the FHE ciphertext should be seen as a series of Boolean operations, and converted into `attribute quasi-homomorphic operations\u27. (2) The modulus reduction for the ABE ciphertext is a learning-with-errors (LWE) -based modulus reduction, which is an ordinary modulus reduction. (3) The two modulus reductions should obtain the same new modulus, otherwise, the scheme would not be implemented again. At the second stage, we show that the modulus reduction for the ABE ciphertext will destroy the structure of ABE so that the subsequent decryption would not be executed. The reason lies in that the decryption of ABE is an LWE decryption with conditions rather than an ordinary LWE decryption, and the modulus reduction will destroy the conditions of decryption. Besides, to show such invalidity cannot be easily crossed by revising the scheme, we design two revised versions of the Agr17 scheme. The first revised version is a `natural\u27 revised version of the Agr17 scheme. The key point is to change the small modulus inner product into an arithmetic inner product, which can be obtained by the modulus inner product of the ABE ciphertext. The first revised scheme is valid, i.e., the decryption can be implemented correctly. However, the revised scheme is insecure because the decryptor knows much more secret information, and hence the scheme can be broken by collusion attacks with much less cost. The second revised version is an application of the GGH+13b verification circuit technology which transforms a $P/poly$ function into an $NC^1$ circuit. The second revised scheme is valid, but it is far from the design idea of the Agr17 scheme, and its function class is quite limited, that is, those functions which can be equally transformed from $P/poly$ into $NC^1$ by equal verification transformation, rather than any $P/poly$ functions

FTO variant rs9939609 is associated with body mass index and waist circumference, but not with energy intake or physical activity in European- and African-American youth

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Genome-wide association studies found common variants in the fat mass and obesity-associated (<it>FTO</it>) gene associated with adiposity in Caucasians and Asians but the association was not confirmed in African populations. Association of <it>FTO </it>variants with insulin resistance and energy intake showed inconsistent results in previous studies. This study aimed to assess the influence of <it>FTO </it>variant rs9939609 on adiposity, insulin resistance, energy intake and physical activity in European - (EA) and African-American (AA) youth.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We conducted a cross-sectional study in EA and AA youths. One thousand, nine hundred and seventy-eight youths (48.2% EAs, 47.1% male, mean age 16.5 years) had measures of anthropometry. Percent body fat (%BF) was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue (SAAT) by magnetic resonance imaging. Energy intake and physical activity were based on self report from up to 7 24-hour recalls. Physical activity was also measured by accelerometry.</p> <p>Results</p> <p><it>FTO </it>rs9939609 was significantly associated with body mass index (BMI) (<it>P </it>= 0.01), weight (<it>P </it>= 0.03) and waist circumference (<it>P </it>= 0.04), with per-allele effects of 0.4 kg/m², 1.3 kg and 0.8 cm, respectively. No significant association was found between rs9939609 and %BF, VAT, SAAT or insulin resistance (<it>P </it>> 0.05), or between rs9939609 and energy intake or vigorous physical activity (<it>P </it>> 0.05). No significant interactions of rs9939609 with ethnicity, gender, energy intake or physical activity were observed (<it>P </it>> 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The <it>FTO </it>variant rs9939609 is modestly associated with BMI and waist circumference, but not with energy intake or physical activity. Moreover, these effects were similar for EAs and AAs. Improved understanding of the effect of the <it>FTO </it>variant will offer new insights into the etiology of excess adiposity.</p

ABCC3 as a marker for multidrug resistance in non-small cell lung cancer

Multidrug resistance (MDR) contributes to the failure of chemotherapy and high mortality in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We aim to identify MDR genes that predict tumor response to chemotherapy. 199 NSCLC fresh tissue samples were tested for chemosensitivity by MTT assay. cDNA microarray was done with 5 samples with highest resistance and 6 samples with highest sensitivity. Expression of ABCC3 mRNA and protein was detected by real-time PCR and immunohistochemisty, respectively. The association between gene expression and overall survival (OS) was examined using Cox proportional hazard regression. 44 genes were upregulated and 168 downregulated in the chemotherapy-resistant group. ABCC3 was one of the most up-regulated genes in the resistant group. ABCC3-positive expression correlated with lymph node involvement, advanced TNM stage, more malignant histological type, multiple-resistance to anti-cancer drugs, and reduced OS. ABCC3 expression may serve as a marker for MDR and predictor for poor clinical outcome of NSCLC