NDE Detection and Characterization of Damage in Honeycomb Sandwich Composites

This study deals with a non-destructive evaluation technique for detecting defects in composite panels. In this non-destructive evaluation technique, various low-frequency techniques are applied such as a tapping technology. Another terahertz wave application will be utilized. In particular, the tapping technique is utilized in order to evaluate the characteristics of the honeycomb member based on the hysteresis effect analysis. Here, the area surrounded by the hysteresis loop in the force-displacement curve is related to the increased internal friction loss that is the cause of the energy absorption absorbed by the composite member after the load is applied. The loop area where the composite member was damaged was well agreed with the damage level. Artificial defects were manufactured on the surface of honeycomb sandwich composite panels. An NDE technique was proposed in order to detect defects by using terahertz waves and was discussed for tuning the practical use

Evolutionary Action of Mutations Reveals Antimicrobial Resistance Genes in Escherichia coli

Since antibiotic development lags, we search for potential drug targets through directed evolution experiments. A challenge is that many resistance genes hide in a noisy mutational background as mutator clones emerge in the adaptive population. Here, to overcome this noise, we quantify the impact of mutations through evolutionary action (EA). After sequencing ciprofloxacin or colistin resistance strains grown under different mutational regimes, we find that an elevated sum of the evolutionary action of mutations in a gene identifies known resistance drivers. This EA integration approach also suggests new antibiotic resistance genes which are then shown to provide a fitness advantage in competition experiments. Moreover, EA integration analysis of clinical and environmental isolates of antibiotic resistant of E. coli identifies gene drivers of resistance where a standard approach fails. Together these results inform the genetic basis of de novo colistin resistance and support the robust discovery of phenotype-driving genes via the evolutionary action of genetic perturbations in fitness landscapes

miR-1269 promotes metastasis and forms a positive feedback loop with TGF-β

As patient survival drops precipitously from early-stage cancers to late-stage and metastatic cancers, microRNAs that promote relapse and metastasis can serve as prognostic and predictive markers as well as therapeutic targets for chemoprevention. Here we show that miR-1269a promotes colorectal cancer (CRC) metastasis and forms a positive feedback loop with TGF-β signalling. miR-1269a is upregulated in late-stage CRCs, and long-term monitoring of 100 stage II CRC patients revealed that miR-1269a expression in their surgically removed primary tumours is strongly associated with risk of CRC relapse and metastasis. Consistent with clinical observations, miR-1269a significantly increases the ability of CRC cells to invade and metastasize in vivo. TGF-β activates miR-1269 via Sox4, while miR-1269a enhances TGF-β signalling by targeting Smad7 and HOXD10, hence forming a positive feedback loop. Our findings suggest that miR-1269a is a potential marker to inform adjuvant chemotherapy decisions for CRC patients and a potential therapeutic target to deter metastasis

Demographic and Clinical Characteristics of Patients with Severe Asthma in the Asian Pacific Region : data from the International Severe Asthma Registry (ISAR)

Peer reviewe

Factors influencing physicians’ continuous blogging: A survey

Background: Health information can be more easily transmitted and diffused through the Internet, but questionable online health information often misinforms patients. Physicians have a duty to inform patients how to achieve positive health outcomes. Many physicians often write blogs to provide patients with the right health information. However, most articles available on this sub-ject only describe the blog phenomena without providing a theoretical background and an empirical analysis of doctors using blogs. Methods: This study based on social cognitive theory (SCT) explores the factors influencing physicians’ intention of continuously blogging. A total of 887 physician blog-gers were invited to participate in an online survey and 128 valid responses were received. Results: The SCT was proven to be useful in explaining 36.8% of the variation in physicians’ continuous intention to blog. Conclusions: We provide references for platform developers with different strategies to motivate doctors to blog, and the implications and limitations of this study are discussed

NDE Detection and Characterization of Damage in Honeycomb Sandwich Composites

This study deals with a non-destructive evaluation technique for detecting defects in composite panels. In this non-destructive evaluation technique, various low-frequency techniques are applied such as a tapping technology. Another terahertz wave application will be utilized. In particular, the tapping technique is utilized in order to evaluate the characteristics of the honeycomb member based on the hysteresis effect analysis. Here, the area surrounded by the hysteresis loop in the force-displacement curve is related to the increased internal friction loss that is the cause of the energy absorption absorbed by the composite member after the load is applied. The loop area where the composite member was damaged was well agreed with the damage level. Artificial defects were manufactured on the surface of honeycomb sandwich composite panels. An NDE technique was proposed in order to detect defects by using terahertz waves and was discussed for tuning the practical use

Single-Cell Transcriptomics Reveals Heterogeneity and Drug Response of Human Colorectal Cancer Organoids.

Organoids are three-dimensional cell cultures that mimic organ functions and structures. The organoid model has been developed as a versatile in vitro platform for stem cell biology and diseases modeling. Tumor organoids are shown to share ~ 90% of genetic mutations with biopsies from same patients. However, it's not clear whether tumor organoids recapitulate the cellular heterogeneity observed in patient tumors. Here, we used single-cell RNA-Seq to investigate the transcriptomics of tumor organoids derived from human colorectal tumors, and applied machine learning methods to unbiasedly cluster subtypes in tumor organoids. Computational analysis reveals cancer heterogeneity sustained in tumor organoids, and the subtypes in organoids displayed high diversity. Furthermore, we treated the tumor organoids with a first-line cancer drug, Oxaliplatin, and investigated drug response in single-cell scale. Diversity of tumor cell populations in organoids were significantly perturbed by drug treatment. Single-cell analysis detected the depletion of chemosensitive subgroups and emergence of new drug tolerant subgroups after drug treatment. Our study suggests that the organoid model is capable of recapitulating clinical heterogeneity and its evolution in response to chemotherapy

Integrated Analysis of TP53 Gene and Pathway Alterations in The Cancer Genome Atlas

International audienceThe TP53 tumor suppressor gene is frequently mutated in human cancers. An analysis of five data platforms in 10,225 patient samples from 32 cancers reported by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) enables comprehensive assessment of p53 pathway involvement in these cancers. More than 91% of TP53-mutant cancers exhibit second allele loss by mutation, chromosomal deletion, or copy-neutral loss of heterozygosity. TP53 mutations are associated with enhanced chromosomal instability, including increased amplification of oncogenes and deep deletion of tumor suppressor genes. Tumors with TP53 mutations differ from their non-mutated counterparts in RNA, miRNA, and protein expression patterns, with mutant TP53 tumors displaying enhanced expression of cell cycle progression genes and proteins. A mutant TP53 RNA expression signature shows significant correlation with reduced survival in 11 cancer types. Thus, TP53 mutation has profound effects on tumor cell genomic structure, expression, and clinical outlook