Disappearance of Schwinger's string at the charge - monopole "molecule"

An equivalence of total momentum operator of charge - monopole system to the momentum operator of a symmetrical quantum top is observed. This explicitly shows the string independence of Dirac's quantization condition leading to disappearance of Schwinger's string and reveals some properties of diatomic molecule for this system.Comment: 9 page

Case report: Adjuvant therapy with toceranib for an incompletely resected renal cell carcinoma with suspected pulmonary metastasis in a dog

Primary renal neoplasia is rare in humans and dogs, with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) being the most common form of this cancer. As RCC is often diagnosed at an advanced stage, pulmonary metastasis is frequently observed. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are the standard adjuvant treatments for metastatic RCC in humans. Similarly, in veterinary medicine, recent trials have employed TKIs for early-stage RCC patients who underwent complete surgical resection and showed no distant metastasis. However, the use of TKIs has not yet been reported commonly in cases of advanced RCC with metastasis. This case study presents the first clinical outcomes of TKI therapy in a dog with incompletely resected RCC and metastasis. A 5-year-old spayed female Chihuahua was referred to our hospital with a right renal mass and multiple pulmonary nodules suspected to be metastases. A portion of the renal mass was surgically removed, and histopathological examination revealed RCC with a high mitotic index. Adjuvant chemotherapy was administered, owing to incomplete resection with suspected pulmonary metastasis. An anticancer drug response prediction test was conducted using patient tissues. Since toceranib showed the most favorable responsiveness, it was selected as a therapeutic agent. Toceranib was orally administered at a dosage of 2.27 mg/kg every 48 h. Regular medical records for potential adverse effects were obtained, including systemic blood pressure, complete blood count, serum biochemical examination, and urinalysis. After 2 weeks of toceranib therapy, partial remission of pulmonary nodules continued for 2 months. The patient did not experience any adverse effects of the anticancer drug during the 4-month follow-up period. However, the patient died from an unidentified cause 6 months after the initial detection of the renal mass. This report describes the use of toceranib in dogs with RCC. In the present case, the patient showed an initial response to chemotherapy, and despite the presence of several poor prognostic factors, the dog survived beyond the expected 3-month lifespan to 6 months. Notably, no adverse events were observed during treatment

Establishment and characterization of six canine hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines

BackgroundHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common malignant liver tumor in dogs. Although surgical resection is a major treatment option for canine HCC, there are no distinct strategies for unresectable tumor subtypes or adjuvant chemotherapy for tumors with positive margins. We aimed to establish and characterize novel HCC cell lines from canine patients.MethodsThe cellular morphology, general growth features and tumorigenicity of the established cell lines were evaluated. We also examined the sensitivity of the cell lines to multi-target tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs).ResultsWe established novel canine HCC cell lines from hepatic tumors and an additional kidney tumor of six canine patients. All cell lines showed colony forming and migratory ability. KU-cHCC-001 and KU-cHCC-001-Kidney, two cell lines exhibiting high epithelial–mesenchymal transition characteristics, showed tumorigenicity in xenografted mice. Toceranib, a veterinary TKI that targets vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGFR)/platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR)/c-kit, effectively inhibited the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway and induced apoptosis. The established canine HCC cell lines showed greater sensitivity to toceranib than to sorafenib, a first-line treatment for human HCC targeting RAF/VEGFR/PDGFR. Sorafenib showed improved anti-tumor effects when co-treated with SCH772984, an extracellular signal-regulated kinase inhibitor.ConclusionOur study suggests new therapeutic strategies for canine HCC, and these cell lines are valuable research materials for understanding HCC tumor biology in both humans and dogs

Design and Implementation of Edge-Fog-Cloud System through HD Map Generation from LiDAR Data of Autonomous Vehicles

Self-driving cars, autonomous vehicles (AVs), and connected cars combine the Internet of Things (IoT) and automobile technologies, thus contributing to the development of society. However, processing the big data generated by AVs is a challenge due to overloading issues. Additionally, near real-time/real-time IoT services play a significant role in vehicle safety. Therefore, the architecture of an IoT system that collects and processes data, and provides services for vehicle driving, is an important consideration. In this study, we propose a fog computing server model that generates a high-definition (HD) map using light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data generated from an AV. The driving vehicle edge node transmits the LiDAR point cloud information to the fog server through a wireless network. The fog server generates an HD map by applying the Normal Distribution Transform-Simultaneous Localization and Mapping(NDT-SLAM) algorithm to the point clouds transmitted from the multiple edge nodes. Subsequently, the coordinate information of the HD map generated in the sensor frame is converted to the coordinate information of the global frame and transmitted to the cloud server. Then, the cloud server creates an HD map by integrating the collected point clouds using coordinate information

A Study on Job Stress Factors Caused by Gender Ratio Imbalance in a Female-Dominated Workplace: Focusing on Male Airline Flight Attendants

This study investigated the factors that cause job stress among male flight attendants in a female-dominated airline organization, as well as the impact of job stress on their mental health and turnover intention. It also attempted to determine whether perceived family support, perceived organizational support, and job positions had moderating effects on male flight attendants’ job stress. Six job stress factors were identified through focus group interviews and a literature review. A survey was conducted from 1 January to 2 February 2022 to validate the research model, and 188 valid samples were used for statistical analysis. This study discovered that gender differences in communication, relationship conflict with colleagues, hierarchical organizational culture, and role overload had a direct impact on male flight attendants’ job stress. Job stress was found to have a negative impact on mental health and a positive impact on turnover intention. Perceived organizational support was also found to reduce job stress. This study is notably the first to address stress encountered by male flight attendants at work. It offers new directions for future airline personnel management and research. It also presents practical implications, such as the development of training and personnel management programs for male flight attendants

Galanin is an epigenetically silenced tumor suppressor gene in gastric cancer cells

<div><p>Galanin is a 30 amino-acid active neuropeptide that acts via three G-protein coupled galanin receptors, GALR1, GALR2 and GALR3. Recently, GALR1 was also suggested as a tumor suppressor gene that was frequently silenced in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma; moreover, galanin and GALR1 were reported to inhibit human oral cancer cell proliferation. However, the exact role of galanin in gastric cancer is unclear. Here, we describe the epigenetic silencing of galanin in human gastric cancer. Five gastric cancer cell lines (SNU-1, SNU-601, SNU-638, KATOIII, and AGS) showed a significant reduction in galanin expression that was restored by the demethylating agent 5-aza-2’-deoxycytidine. We confirmed the hypermethylation of CpG islands in the galanin promoter region by methylation-specific and bisulfate sequencing polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Interestingly, hypermethylated <i>galanin</i> did not affect galanin receptor expression. Exogenous galanin expression in silenced cells induced apoptosis and decreased phosphorylated Akt expression. Taken together, these data suggest that galanin hypermethylation impairs its tumor suppressor function in gastric cancer carcinogenesis.</p></div

Decreased <i>galanin</i> expression and restoration by demethylating agent.

<p>(A) mRNA expression of <i>Galanin</i> and its receptors (GARL1-3) were examined by RT-PCR. (B) Recovery of <i>Galanin</i> mRNA expression was examined by RT-PCR following treatment with demethylating agent 5-aza-dC in SNU-601 and AGS cells.</p

Establishment of Canine Transitional Cell Carcinoma Cell Lines Harboring BRAF V595E Mutation as a Therapeutic Target

Transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) is the most common malignant tumor of the canine urinary tract and tends to have a poor prognosis due to its invasive potential. Recent studies have reported that up to 80% of canine urothelial carcinoma has the BRAF V595E mutation, which is homologous to the human V600E mutation. Activating the BRAF mutation is an actionable target for developing effective therapeutic agents inhibiting the BRAF/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway in canine cancer as well as human cancer. We established novel canine TCC cell lines from two tumor tissues and one metastatic lymph node of canine TCC patients harboring the BRAF V595E mutation. Tumor tissues highly expressed the BRAF mutant and phosphorylated extracellular signal-related kinases (ERK)1/2 proteins. The derived cell lines demonstrated activated MAPK pathways. We also evaluated the cell lines for sensitivity to BRAF inhibitors. Sorafenib, a multiple kinase inhibitor targeting RAF/vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR), successfully inhibited the BRAF/MAPK pathway and induced apoptosis. The established canine TCC cell lines responded with greater sensitivity to sorafenib than to vemurafenib, which is known as a specific BRAF inhibitor in human cancer. Our results demonstrated that canine TCC cells showed different responses compared to human cancer with the BRAF V600E mutation. These cell lines would be valuable research materials to develop therapeutic strategies for canine TCC patients

Apoptosis in galanin-overexpressing cell lines.

<p>(A) Sub-G1 population was compared between <i>galanin</i>- (pEGFP-Galanin) and empty vector (pEGFP)-transfected cells. Significant differences are marked with *** (<i>p</i> < 0.0001). (B) Protein level and phosphorylation were examined by western blot analysis. Enhanced PARP cleavage was shown in <i>galanin</i>-transfected cells (arrow).</p