Superconductivity-induced Phonon Renormalization on NaFe1−x_{1-x}Cox_{x}As

We report a study of the lattice dynamics in superconducting NaFeAs (Tc = 8 K) and doped NaFe0.97Co0.03As (Tc = 20 K) using Raman light scattering. Five of the six phonon modes expected from group theory are observed. In contrast with results obtained on iso-structural and iso-electronic LiFeAs, anomalous broadening of Eg(As) and A1g(Na) modes upon cooling is observed in both samples. In addition, in the Co-doped sample, a superconductivity-induced renormalization of the frequency and linewidth of the B1g(Fe) vibration is observed. This renormalization can not be understood within a single band and simple multi-band approaches. A theoretical model that includes the effects of SDW correlations along with sign-changing s-wave pairing state and interband scattering has been developed to explain the observed behavior of the B1g(Fe) mode.Comment: 10 pages; 6 figure

Models of Intragroup Conflict in Management: A Literature Review

The study of intragroup dynamics in management studies views conflict as a contingency process that can benefit or harm a group based of characteristics of the group and context. We review five models of intragroup conflict in management studies. These models include diversity-conflict and behavioral negotiation models that focus primarily on conflict within a group of people; social exchange and transaction cost economics models that focus primarily on conflict within a group of firms; and social dilemma models that focus on conflict in collectives of people, organizations, communities, and generations. The review is constituted by summarizing the insights of each model, foundational papers to each model; the most recent uses and developments of the models in the last decade; the complementarity of these models; and the future research directions

Pseudogap-less high Tc_{c} superconductivity in BaCox_{x}Fe2−x_{2-x}As2_{2}

The pseudogap state is one of the peculiarities of the cuprate high temperature superconductors. Here we investigate its presence in BaCo$_{x}$Fe$_{2-x}$As$_{2}$, a member of the pnictide family, with temperature dependent scanning tunneling spectroscopy. We observe that for under, optimally and overdoped systems the gap in the tunneling spectra always closes at the bulk T$_{c}$, ruling out the presence of a pseudogap state. For the underdoped case we observe superconducting gaps over large fields of view, setting a lower limit of tens of nanometers on the length scale of possible phase separated regions.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

High tumour islet macrophage infiltration correlates with improved patient survival but not with EGFR mutations, gene copy number or protein expression in resected non-small cell lung cancer

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of tumour-associated macrophages with a focus on micro-anatomical localisation and determine whether molecular changes of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) are related to macrophage infiltration in resected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). One hundred and forty-four patients were included in this study. Immunohistochemistry was used to identify CD68+ macrophages in the tumour islet and surrounding stroma. Epidermal growth factor receptor mutations were studied by direct sequencing. The EGFR gene copy number and protein expression were analysed by fluorescence in situ hybridisation and immunohistochemistry. Patients with a high tumour islet macrophage density survived longer than did the patient with a low tumour islet macrophage density (5-year overall survival rate was 63.9 vs 38.9%, P=0.0002). A multivariate Cox proportional hazard analysis revealed that the tumour islet macrophage count was an independent prognostic factor for survival (hazard ratio 0.471, 95% confidence interval 0.300–0.740). However, EGFR mutations, gene copy number, and protein expression were not related to the macrophage infiltration. In conclusion, tumour islet macrophage infiltration was identified as a strong favourable independent prognostic marker for survival but not correlated with the molecular changes of the EGFR in patients with resected NSCLC

Fast and stable gratings inscription in POFs made of different materials with pulsed 248 nm KrF laser

"© 2018 Optical Society of America. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic reproduction and distribution, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modifications of the content of this paper are prohibited"[EN] This paper presents fiber Bragg grating (FBG) inscription with a pulsed 248 nm UV KrF laser in polymer optical fibers (POFs) made of different polymers, namely polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), cyclic-olefin polymer and co-polymer, and Polycarbonate. The inscribed gratings and the corresponding inscription parameters are compared with grating inscribed in POFs made of the aforementioned materials but with the hitherto most used laser for inscription, which is a continuous wave 325 nm UV HeCd laser. Results show a reduction of the inscription time of at least 16 times. The maximum time reduction is more than 130 times. In addition, a reflectivity and a bandwidth close to or higher than the ones with the 325 nm laser were obtained. The polymer optical fiber Bragg gratings (POFBGs) inscribed with the 248 nm laser setup present high stability with small variations in their central wavelength, bandwidth, and reflectivity after 40 days. (c) 2018 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement.Fundacao para Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT) (SFRH/BPD/109458/2015, UID/EEA/50008/2013).Marques, C.; Min, R.; Leal-Junior, A.; Antunes, P.; Fasano, A.; Woyessa, G.; Nielsen, K.... (2018). Fast and stable gratings inscription in POFs made of different materials with pulsed 248 nm KrF laser. Optics Express. 26(2):2013-2022. https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.26.002013S20132022262Webb, D. J. (2015). Fibre Bragg grating sensors in polymer optical fibres. Measurement Science and Technology, 26(9), 092004. doi:10.1088/0957-0233/26/9/092004Prado, A. R., Leal-Junior, A. G., Marques, C., Leite, S., de Sena, G. L., Machado, L. C., … Pontes, M. J. (2017). Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) recycling for the production of optical fiber sensor systems. Optics Express, 25(24), 30051. doi:10.1364/oe.25.030051Hu, X., Saez-Rodriguez, D., Marques, C., Bang, O., Webb, D. J., Mégret, P., & Caucheteur, C. (2015). Polarization effects in polymer FBGs: study and use for transverse force sensing. Optics Express, 23(4), 4581. doi:10.1364/oe.23.004581Pospori, A., Marques, C. A. F., Bang, O., Webb, D. J., & André, P. (2017). Polymer optical fiber Bragg grating inscription with a single UV laser pulse. Optics Express, 25(8), 9028. doi:10.1364/oe.25.009028Marques, C. A. F., Webb, D. J., & Andre, P. (2017). Polymer optical fiber sensors in human life safety. Optical Fiber Technology, 36, 144-154. doi:10.1016/j.yofte.2017.03.010Fasano, A., Woyessa, G., Janting, J., Rasmussen, H. K., & Bang, O. (2017). Solution-Mediated Annealing of Polymer Optical Fiber Bragg Gratings at Room Temperature. IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, 29(8), 687-690. doi:10.1109/lpt.2017.2678481Woyessa, G., Pedersen, J. K. M., Fasano, A., Nielsen, K., Markos, C., Rasmussen, H. K., & Bang, O. (2017). Zeonex-PMMA microstructured polymer optical FBGs for simultaneous humidity and temperature sensing. Optics Letters, 42(6), 1161. doi:10.1364/ol.42.001161Fasano, A., Woyessa, G., Stajanca, P., Markos, C., Stefani, A., Nielsen, K., … Bang, O. (2016). Fabrication and characterization of polycarbonate microstructured polymer optical fibers for high-temperature-resistant fiber Bragg grating strain sensors. Optical Materials Express, 6(2), 649. doi:10.1364/ome.6.000649Woyessa, G., Nielsen, K., Stefani, A., Markos, C., & Bang, O. (2016). Temperature insensitive hysteresis free highly sensitive polymer optical fiber Bragg grating humidity sensor. Optics Express, 24(2), 1206. doi:10.1364/oe.24.001206Leal-Junior, A. G., Frizera, A., & José Pontes, M. (2018). Sensitive zone parameters and curvature radius evaluation for polymer optical fiber curvature sensors. Optics & Laser Technology, 100, 272-281. doi:10.1016/j.optlastec.2017.10.006Stefani, A., Andresen, S., Yuan, W., Herholdt-Rasmussen, N., & Bang, O. (2012). High Sensitivity Polymer Optical Fiber-Bragg-Grating-Based Accelerometer. IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, 24(9), 763-765. doi:10.1109/lpt.2012.2188024Marques, C. A. F., Peng, G.-D., & Webb, D. J. (2015). Highly sensitive liquid level monitoring system utilizing polymer fiber Bragg gratings. Optics Express, 23(5), 6058. doi:10.1364/oe.23.006058Jensen, J. B., Hoiby, P. E., Emiliyanov, G., Bang, O., Pedersen, L. H., & Bjarklev, A. (2005). Selective detection of antibodies in microstructured polymer optical fibers. Optics Express, 13(15), 5883. doi:10.1364/opex.13.005883Emiliyanov, G., Høiby, P., Pedersen, L., & Bang, O. (2013). Selective Serial Multi-Antibody Biosensing with TOPAS Microstructured Polymer Optical Fibers. Sensors, 13(3), 3242-3251. doi:10.3390/s130303242Hassan, H. U., Janting, J., Aasmul, S., & Bang, O. (2016). Polymer Optical Fiber Compound Parabolic Concentrator fiber tip based glucose sensor: in-Vitro Testing. IEEE Sensors Journal, 1-1. doi:10.1109/jsen.2016.2606580Yuan, W., Khan, L., Webb, D. J., Kalli, K., Rasmussen, H. K., Stefani, A., & Bang, O. (2011). Humidity insensitive TOPAS polymer fiber Bragg grating sensor. Optics Express, 19(20), 19731. doi:10.1364/oe.19.019731Johnson, I. P., Yuan, W., Stefani, A., Nielsen, K., Rasmussen, H. K., Khan, L., … Bang, O. (2011). Optical fibre Bragg grating recorded in TOPAS cyclic olefin copolymer. Electronics Letters, 47(4), 271. doi:10.1049/el.2010.7347Markos, C., Stefani, A., Nielsen, K., Rasmussen, H. K., Yuan, W., & Bang, O. (2013). High-T_g TOPAS microstructured polymer optical fiber for fiber Bragg grating strain sensing at 110 degrees. Optics Express, 21(4), 4758. doi:10.1364/oe.21.004758Woyessa, G., Fasano, A., Stefani, A., Markos, C., Nielsen, K., Rasmussen, H. K., & Bang, O. (2016). Single mode step-index polymer optical fiber for humidity insensitive high temperature fiber Bragg grating sensors. Optics Express, 24(2), 1253. doi:10.1364/oe.24.001253Woyessa, G., Fasano, A., Markos, C., Stefani, A., Rasmussen, H. K., & Bang, O. (2016). Zeonex microstructured polymer optical fiber: fabrication friendly fibers for high temperature and humidity insensitive Bragg grating sensing. Optical Materials Express, 7(1), 286. doi:10.1364/ome.7.000286Stefani, A., Nielsen, K., Rasmussen, H. K., & Bang, O. (2012). Cleaving of TOPAS and PMMA microstructured polymer optical fibers: Core-shift and statistical quality optimization. Optics Communications, 285(7), 1825-1833. doi:10.1016/j.optcom.2011.12.033Nielsen, K., Rasmussen, H. K., Adam, A. J., Planken, P. C., Bang, O., & Jepsen, P. U. (2009). Bendable, low-loss Topas fibers for the terahertz frequency range. Optics Express, 17(10), 8592. doi:10.1364/oe.17.008592Nielsen, K., Rasmussen, H. K., Jepsen, P. U., & Bang, O. (2010). Broadband terahertz fiber directional coupler. Optics Letters, 35(17), 2879. doi:10.1364/ol.35.002879Anthony, J., Leonhardt, R., Argyros, A., & Large, M. C. J. (2011). Characterization of a microstructured Zeonex terahertz fiber. Journal of the Optical Society of America B, 28(5), 1013. doi:10.1364/josab.28.001013Woyessa, G., Fasano, A., Markos, C., Rasmussen, H. K., & Bang, O. (2017). Low Loss Polycarbonate Polymer Optical Fiber for High Temperature FBG Humidity Sensing. IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, 29(7), 575-578. doi:10.1109/lpt.2017.2668524Johnson, I. P., Kalli, K., & Webb, D. J. (2010). 827 nm Bragg grating sensor in multimode microstructured polymer optical fibre. Electronics Letters, 46(17), 1217. doi:10.1049/el.2010.1595Stefani, A., Wu Yuan, Markos, C., & Bang, O. (2011). Narrow Bandwidth 850-nm Fiber Bragg Gratings in Few-Mode Polymer Optical Fibers. IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, 23(10), 660-662. doi:10.1109/lpt.2011.2125786Hu, X., Pun, C.-F. J., Tam, H.-Y., Mégret, P., & Caucheteur, C. (2014). Highly reflective Bragg gratings in slightly etched step-index polymer optical fiber. Optics Express, 22(15), 18807. doi:10.1364/oe.22.018807Hu, X., Pun, C.-F. J., Tam, H.-Y., Mégret, P., & Caucheteur, C. (2014). Tilted Bragg gratings in step-index polymer optical fiber. Optics Letters, 39(24), 6835. doi:10.1364/ol.39.006835Sáez-Rodríguez, D., Nielsen, K., Rasmussen, H. K., Bang, O., & Webb, D. J. (2013). Highly photosensitive polymethyl methacrylate microstructured polymer optical fiber with doped core. Optics Letters, 38(19), 3769. doi:10.1364/ol.38.003769Hu, X., Woyessa, G., Kinet, D., Janting, J., Nielsen, K., Bang, O., & Caucheteur, C. (2017). BDK-doped core microstructured PMMA optical fiber for effective Bragg grating photo-inscription. Optics Letters, 42(11), 2209. doi:10.1364/ol.42.002209Statkiewicz-Barabach, G., Kowal, D., Mergo, P., & Urbanczyk, W. (2015). Comparison of growth dynamics and temporal stability of Bragg gratings written in polymer fibers of different types. Journal of Optics, 17(8), 085606. doi:10.1088/2040-8978/17/8/085606Marques, C., Pospori, A., Demirci, G., Çetinkaya, O., Gawdzik, B., Antunes, P., … Webb, D. (2017). Fast Bragg Grating Inscription in PMMA Polymer Optical Fibres: Impact of Thermal Pre-Treatment of Preforms. Sensors, 17(4), 891. doi:10.3390/s17040891Bundalo, I.-L., Nielsen, K., Markos, C., & Bang, O. (2014). Bragg grating writing in PMMA microstructured polymer optical fibers in less than 7 minutes. Optics Express, 22(5), 5270. doi:10.1364/oe.22.005270Oliveira, R., Bilro, L., & Nogueira, R. (2015). Bragg gratings in a few mode microstructured polymer optical fiber in less than 30 seconds. Optics Express, 23(8), 10181. doi:10.1364/oe.23.010181Lacraz, A., Polis, M., Theodosiou, A., Koutsides, C., & Kalli, K. (2015). Femtosecond Laser Inscribed Bragg Gratings in Low Loss CYTOP Polymer Optical Fiber. IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, 27(7), 693-696. doi:10.1109/lpt.2014.2386692Theodosiou, A., Lacraz, A., Stassis, A., Koutsides, C., Komodromos, M., & Kalli, K. (2017). Plane-by-Plane Femtosecond Laser Inscription Method for Single-Peak Bragg Gratings in Multimode CYTOP Polymer Optical Fiber. Journal of Lightwave Technology, 35(24), 5404-5410. doi:10.1109/jlt.2017.2776862Yuan, W., Stefani, A., Bache, M., Jacobsen, T., Rose, B., Herholdt-Rasmussen, N., … Bang, O. (2011). Improved thermal and strain performance of annealed polymer optical fiber Bragg gratings. Optics Communications, 284(1), 176-182. doi:10.1016/j.optcom.2010.08.069Bundalo, I.-L., Nielsen, K., Woyessa, G., & Bang, O. (2017). Long-term strain response of polymer optical fiber FBG sensors. Optical Materials Express, 7(3), 967. doi:10.1364/ome.7.00096

Stabilization of mismatch repair gene PMS2 by glycogen synthase kinase 3β is implicated in the treatment of cervical carcinoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>PMS2 expression loss was reported in a variety of human. However, its importance has not been fully understood in cervical carcinoma. The aim of this study was to determine the expression of PMS2 in cervical carcinoma and evaluate the significance of mismatch repair gene PMS2 regulated by glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK-3β) in chemosensitivity.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We examined PMS2 and phosphorylated GSK-3β(<it>s</it>9) expression in cervical carcinoma tissues using immunohistochemical staining. Furthermore, we detected PMS2 expression in HeLa cells and evaluate the interaction with GSK-3β after transfection with GSK-3β by small interference RNA (siRNA), co-immunoprecipitation and immunoblotting. We also evaluated the effect of PMS2 transfection on HeLa cells' chemosensitivity to cisplatin treatment.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found significant downregulation of PMS2 in cervical carcinoma, which was negatively associated with phosphorylated GSK-3β (<it>s</it>9). Furthermore, we demonstrated GSK-3β transfection was able to interact with PMS2 and enhance PMS2 production in HeLa cells, and increased PMS2 production was responsible for enhanced chemosensitivity.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results provide the evidence that stabilization of PMS2 production by GSK-3β was important to improve chemosensitization, indicating the significance of GSK-3β-related PMS2 downregulation in the development of cervical carcinoma and in developing a potential strategy for chemotherapy.</p

Adaptively evolved Escherichia coli for improved ability of formate utilization as a carbon source in sugar???free conditions

Background: Formate converted from CO2 reduction has great potential as a sustainable feedstock for biological production of biofuels and biochemicals. Nevertheless, utilization of formate for growth and chemical production by microbial species is limited due to its toxicity or the lack of a metabolic pathway. Here, we constructed a formate assimilation pathway in Escherichia coli and applied adaptive laboratory evolution to improve formate utilization as a carbon source in sugar-free conditions. Results: The genes related to the tetrahydrofolate and serine cycles from Methylobacterium extorquens AM1 were overexpressed for formate assimilation, which was proved by the 13C-labeling experiments. The amino acids detected by GC/MS showed significant carbon labeling due to biomass production from formate. Then, 150 serial subcultures were performed to screen for evolved strains with improved ability to utilize formate. The genomes of evolved mutants were sequenced and the mutations were associated with formate dehydrogenation, folate metabolism, and biofilm formation. Last, 90 mg/L of ethanol production from formate was achieved using fed-batch cultivation without addition of sugars. Conclusion: This work demonstrates the effectiveness of the introduction of a formate assimilation pathway, combined with adaptive laboratory evolution, to achieve the utilization of formate as a carbon source. This study suggests that the constructed E. coli could serve as a strain to exploit formate and captured CO2

Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dys-regulated in tumors, but only a handful are known toplay pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferredlncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, onco-genes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) bymodeling their effects on the activity of transcriptionfactors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays.Our predictions included hundreds of candidateonco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancerlncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for thedysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and path-ways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrateproof of concept, we showed that perturbations tar-geting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) andTUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysre-gulated cancer genes and altered proliferation ofbreast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis in-dicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregu-lated in a tumor-specific manner, some, includingOIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergis-tically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumorcontexts

Genomic, Pathway Network, and Immunologic Features Distinguishing Squamous Carcinomas

This integrated, multiplatform PanCancer Atlas study co-mapped and identified distinguishing molecular features of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five sites associated with smokin