2,664 research outputs found
Enhancing network transmission capacity by efficiently allocating node capability
A network s transmission capacity is the maximal rate of traffic inflow that the network can handle without causing congestion Here we study how to enhance this quantity by allocating resource to individual nodes while preserving the total amount of the resource available We propose a practical and effective scheme which redistributes node capability based on the local knowledge of node connectivity We show that our scheme enhances the transmission capacity of networks with heterogeneous structures by up to two orders of magnitude
Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Secretome: Influencing Therapeutic Potential by Cellular Pre-conditioning
Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are self-renewing, culture-expandable adult stem cells that have been isolated from a variety of tissues, and possess multipotent differentiation capacity, immunomodulatory properties, and are relatively non-immunogenic. Due to this unique set of characteristics, these cells have attracted great interest in the field of regenerative medicine and have been shown to possess pronounced therapeutic potential in many different pathologies. MSCs' mode of action involves a strong paracrine component resulting from the high levels of bioactive molecules they secrete in response to the local microenvironment. For this reason, MSCs' secretome is currently being explored in several clinical contexts, either using MSC-conditioned media (CM) or purified MSC-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) to modulate tissue response to a wide array of injuries. Rather than being a constant mixture of molecular factors, MSCs' secretome is known to be dependent on the diverse stimuli present in the microenvironment that MSCs encounter. As such, the composition of the MSCs' secretome can be modulated by preconditioning the MSCs during in vitro culture. This manuscript reviews the existent literature on how preconditioning of MSCs affects the therapeutic potential of their secretome, focusing on MSCs' immunomodulatory and regenerative features, thereby providing new insights for the therapeutic use of MSCs' secretome.We would like to acknowledge Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020) in the framework of the project âBioengineered Therapies for Infectious Diseases and Tissue Regenerationâ (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000012). We also acknowledge Fundação para a CiĂȘncia e a Tecnologia (FCT) and Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER) funds through the COMPETE 2020-Operacional Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalization (POCI), Portugal 2020-in the framework of the project âInstitute for Research and Innovation in Health Sciencesâ (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007274). We also acknowledge EUROSPINE TRF for the funded project âDisc Regeneration, Immuno, and Neuro Modulationâ , ref. 2017_05 . In addition, JF and RG also acknowledge FCT for funding the BiotechHealth Ph.D. fellowship (PD/BD/135486/2018) and the FCT Investigator Grant (IF/00638/2014), respectively
Antikaon production in nucleon-nucleon reactions near threshold
The antikaon production cross section from nucleon-nucleon reactions near
threshold is studied in a meson exchange model. We include both pion and kaon
exchange, but neglect the interference between the amplitudes. In case of pion
exchange the antikaon production cross section can be expressed in terms of the
antikaon production cross section from a pion-nucleon interaction, which we
take from the experimental data if available. Otherwise, a -resonance
exchange model is introduced to relate the different reaction cross sections.
In case of kaon exchange the antikaon production cross section is related to
the elastic and cross sections, which are again taken from
experimental measurements. We find that the one-meson exchange model gives a
satisfactory fit to the available data for the cross section
at high energies. We compare our predictions for the cross section near
threshold with an earlier empirical parameterization and that from phase space
models.Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX, 5 postscript figures included, submitted to Z. Phys.
Searching for plasticity in dissociated cortical cultures on multi-electrode arrays
We attempted to induce functional plasticity in dense cultures of cortical cells using stimulation through extracellular electrodes embedded in the culture dish substrate (multi-electrode arrays, or MEAs). We looked for plasticity expressed in changes in spontaneous burst patterns, and in array-wide response patterns to electrical stimuli, following several induction protocols related to those used in the literature, as well as some novel ones. Experiments were performed with spontaneous culture-wide bursting suppressed by either distributed electrical stimulation or by elevated extracellular magnesium concentrations as well as with spontaneous bursting untreated. Changes concomitant with induction were no larger in magnitude than changes that occurred spontaneously, except in one novel protocol in which spontaneous bursts were quieted using distributed electrical stimulation
Arsenic trioxide exerts synergistic effects with cisplatin on non-small cell lung cancer cells via apoptosis induction
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Despite multidisciplinary treatment, lung cancer remains a highly lethal disease due to poor response to chemotherapy. The identification of therapeutic agents with synergistic effects with traditional drugs is an alternative for lung cancer therapy. In this study, the synergistic effects of arsenic trioxide (As<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>) with cisplatin (DDP) on A549 and H460 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells were explored.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A549 and H460 human lung cancer cells were treated with As<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3 </sub>and/or DDP. Cell growth curves, cell proliferation, cell cycle, and apoptosis of human cancer cell lines were determined by the 3-(4,5)-dimethylthiahiazo (-z-y1)-3,5-di-phenytetrazoliumromide (MTT) method, clonogenic assay, and flow cytometry (FCM). Apoptosis was further assessed by TUNEL staining. Cell cycle and apoptosis related protein p21, cyclin D1, Bcl-2, bax, clusterin, and caspase-3 were detected by western blot.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>MTT and clonogenic assay showed As<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3 </sub>within 10<sup>-2 </sup>ÎŒM to 10 ÎŒM exerted inhibition on the proliferation of NSCLC cells, and 2.5 ÎŒM As<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3 </sub>exerted synergistic inhibition on proliferation with 3 ÎŒg/ml DDP. The combination indices (CI) for A549 and H460 were 0.5 and 0.6, respectively, as confirmed by the synergism of As<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3 </sub>with DDP. FCM showed As<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3 </sub>did not affect the cell cycle. The G0/G1 fraction ranged from 57% to 62% for controlled A549 cells and cells treated with As<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3 </sub>and/or DDP. The G0/G1 fraction ranged from 37% to 42% for controlled H460 cells and cells treated with As<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3 </sub>and/or DDP. FCM and TUNEL staining illustrated that the combination of As<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3 </sub>and DDP provoked synergistic effects on apoptosis induction based on the analysis of the apoptosis index. Western blotting revealed that the expression of cell cycle related protein p21 and cyclin D1 were not affected by the treatments, whereas apoptosis related protein bax, Bcl-2, and clusterin were significantly regulated by As<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3 </sub>and/or DDP treatments compared with controls. The expression of caspase-3 in cells treated with the combination of As<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3 </sub>and DDP did not differ from that in cells treated with a single agent.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>As<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3 </sub>exerted synergistic effects with DDP on NSCLC cells, and the synergistic effects were partly due to the induction of caspase-independent apoptosis.</p
Tag-Aware Recommender Systems: A State-of-the-art Survey
In the past decade, Social Tagging Systems have attracted increasing
attention from both physical and computer science communities. Besides the
underlying structure and dynamics of tagging systems, many efforts have been
addressed to unify tagging information to reveal user behaviors and
preferences, extract the latent semantic relations among items, make
recommendations, and so on. Specifically, this article summarizes recent
progress about tag-aware recommender systems, emphasizing on the contributions
from three mainstream perspectives and approaches: network-based methods,
tensor-based methods, and the topic-based methods. Finally, we outline some
other tag-related works and future challenges of tag-aware recommendation
algorithms.Comment: 19 pages, 3 figure
Three-dimensionally Ordered Macroporous Structure Enabled Nanothermite Membrane of Mn2O3/Al
Mn2O3 has been selected to realize nanothermite membrane for the first time in the literature. Mn2O3/Al nanothermite has been synthesized by magnetron sputtering a layer of Al film onto three-dimensionally ordered macroporous (3DOM) Mn2O3 skeleton. The energy release is significantly enhanced owing to the unusual 3DOM structure, which ensures Al and Mn2O3 to integrate compactly in nanoscale and greatly increase effective contact area. The morphology and DSC curve of the nanothermite membrane have been investigated at various aluminizing times. At the optimized aluminizing time of 30âmin, energy release reaches a maximum of 2.09âkJâgâ1, where the Al layer thickness plays a decisive role in the total energy release. This method possesses advantages of high compatibility with MEMS and can be applied to other nanothermite systems easily, which will make great contribution to little-known nanothermite research
Factorizations of Elements in Noncommutative Rings: A Survey
We survey results on factorizations of non zero-divisors into atoms
(irreducible elements) in noncommutative rings. The point of view in this
survey is motivated by the commutative theory of non-unique factorizations.
Topics covered include unique factorization up to order and similarity, 2-firs,
and modular LCM domains, as well as UFRs and UFDs in the sense of Chatters and
Jordan and generalizations thereof. We recall arithmetical invariants for the
study of non-unique factorizations, and give transfer results for arithmetical
invariants in matrix rings, rings of triangular matrices, and classical maximal
orders as well as classical hereditary orders in central simple algebras over
global fields.Comment: 50 pages, comments welcom
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