MDR-1 gene expression is a minor factor in determining the multidrug resistance phenotype of MCF7/ADR and KB-V1 cells

AbstractThe relevance of MDR-1 gene expression to the multidrug resistance phenotype was investigated. Drug-resistant cells, KB-V1 and MCF7/ADR, constantly expressed mRNA of the MDR-1 gene and were more resistant to vinblastine and adriamycin than drug-sensitive cells, KB-3–1 and MCF7. The drug efflux rate of KB-V1 was the same as KB-3–1 although the MDR-1 gene was expressed in only the resistant cell. The higher intracellular drug concentration of KB-3–1 than KB-V1 was due to the large drug influx. In the case of MCF7 and MCF7/ADR, the influx and efflux of the drug had nearly the same pattern and drug efflux was not affected by verapamil. The amount of ATP, cofactor of drug pumping activity of P-glycoprotein, was not changed by the resistance. These observations suggested that drug efflux mediated by MDR-1 gene expression was not a major determining factor of drug resistance in the present cell systems, and that the drug resistance could be derived from the change in drug uptake and other mechanisms

A Study Using a Monte Carlo Method of the Optimal Configuration of a Distribution Network in Terms of Power Loss Sensing

Recently there have been many studies of power systems with a focus on “New and Renewable Energy” as part of “New Growth Engine Industry” promoted by the Korean government. “New And Renewable Energy”—especially focused on wind energy, solar energy and fuel cells that will replace conventional fossil fuels—is a part of the Power-IT Sector which is the basis of the SmartGrid. A SmartGrid is a form of highly-efficient intelligent electricity network that allows interactivity (two-way communications) between suppliers and consumers by utilizing information technology in electricity production, transmission, distribution and consumption. The New and Renewable Energy Program has been driven with a goal to develop and spread through intensive studies, by public or private institutions, new and renewable energy which, unlike conventional systems, have been operated through connections with various kinds of distributed power generation systems. Considerable research on smart grids has been pursued in the United States and Europe. In the United States, a variety of research activities on the smart power grid have been conducted within EPRI’s IntelliGrid research program. The European Union (EU), which represents Europe’s Smart Grid policy, has focused on an expansion of distributed generation (decentralized generation) and power trade between countries with improved environmental protection. Thus, there is current emphasis on a need for studies that assesses the economic efficiency of such distributed generation systems. In this paper, based on the cost of distributed power generation capacity, calculations of the best profits obtainable were made by a Monte Carlo simulation. Monte Carlo simulations that rely on repeated random sampling to compute their results take into account the cost of electricity production, daily loads and the cost of sales and generate a result faster than mathematical computations. In addition, we have suggested the optimal design, which considers the distribution loss associated with power distribution systems focus on sensing aspect and distributed power generation

Design of Safety Assurance System of Specific Vehicle Information using ABPRE in the Fog Computing Environment

There would be high demand for technology that monitors illegal activity and detects risk with respect to vehicles on the road in a future urban traffic system, for accident prevention. However, there may be substantial overheads from the massive amount of data that would be required for the surveillance system as it would be automatically operated and used, as further advancements are made in sensor network technology and IoT (Internet of Things). In the transportation field, systems were mainly studied to measure the driver\u27s drowsiness or mobile phone use. These systems will collect information from several mobile devices at the same time, resulting in overhead of data. Fog computing reduces the overhead of data because it uses distributed proxy servers. However, security aspects were not considered. Encryption can be done to ensure the privacy of the information on the moving vehicles. However, in order to track a specific vehicle the data of the moving vehicles should be provided decrypted or decrypted by the secondary user. In this paper, to solve security aspects, we provide a new DSS model that utilizes ABPRE (Attribute Based Proxy Re-Encryption). The proposed system encrypts data sensed from moving vehicles. The cipher is configured to re-encrypt quickly at the proxy. The proposed method allows only users with access authority via secondary user\u27s properties to access data with attribute-based re-encryption. Therefore, safety is secured

HMC05, Herbal Formula, Inhibits TNF- α

Vascular inflammation has been implicated in the progression of cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis. In the present study, we found that HMC05, an extract from eight different herbal mixtures, dose-dependently inhibited tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)-induced adhesion of monocytes to endothelial cells. Such inhibitory effect of HMC05 correlated with suppressed expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, CC chemokine receptor 2, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 and intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1. In addition, HMC05 significantly inhibited production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nuclear factor (NF)-κB activation by TNF-α. Those inhibitory effects of HMC05 (1–10 μg mL−1) on the TNF-α-induced inflammatory event was similar to those of berberine (1–10 μM), which is a major component of HMC05 and one of herbal compounds known to have vasorelaxing and lipid-lowering activities. However, berberine significantly reduced the viability of HUVECs in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. In contrast, HMC05 (1–10 μg ml−1) did not affect the cell viability for up to 48 h treatment. In conclusion, we propose that HMC05 may be a safe and potent herbal formula against vascular inflammation, and its action may be attributable to the inhibition of ROS- and NF-κB-dependent expression of adhesion molecules and chemokines

Usefulness of Videofluoroscopic Swallow Study with Mixed Consistency Food for Patients with Stroke or Other Brain Injuries

This study evaluated the feasibility of mixed consistency foods test in patients with dysphagia which developed after stroke or other brain injuries. The findings of a videofluoroscopic swallow study (VFSS) were compared using single versus mixed consistency foods. Forty-nine patients with stroke or other brain injuries who had no significant abnormal findings in the single consistency food VFSS and started regular hospital diet were recruited for this study. Twenty-five (51%) of the 49 patients showed normal findings whereas 24 (49%) patients showed abnormal findings in the mixed consistency food VFSS. Abnormal findings included posterior spillage of liquid prematurely to pyriform sinus (n = 23), laryngeal penetration (n = 6), subglottic aspiration in the oral preparatory phase of swallowing (chewing), solid components (n = 2), and significant (more than 10%) residue in valleculae or pyriform sinus (n = 2). There was an increased risk of abnormal findings in mixed consistency food VFSS such as aspiration and penetration when a patient showed delayed pharyngeal delay time in single consistency food using liquids. In conclusion, VFSS protocols using mixed consistency foods would be useful before starting regular diet for patients after stroke or other brain injuries

A Split-Gate Positive Feedback Device With an Integrate-and-Fire Capability for a High-Density Low-Power Neuron Circuit

Hardware-based spiking neural networks (SNNs) to mimic biological neurons have been reported. However, conventional neuron circuits in SNNs have a large area and high power consumption. In this work, a split-gate floating-body positive feedback (PF) device with a charge trapping capability is proposed as a new neuron device that imitates the integrate-and-fire function. Because of the PF characteristic, the subthreshold swing (SS) of the device is less than 0.04 mV/dec. The super-steep SS of the device leads to a low energy consumption of ∼0.25 pJ/spike for a neuron circuit (PF neuron) with the PF device, which is ∼100 times smaller than that of a conventional neuron circuit. The charge storage properties of the device mimic the integrate function of biological neurons without a large membrane capacitor, reducing the PF neuron area by about 17 times compared to that of a conventional neuron. We demonstrate the successful operation of a dense multiple PF neuron system with reset and lateral inhibition using a common self-controller in a neuron layer through simulation. With the multiple PF neuron system and the synapse array, on-line unsupervised pattern learning and recognition are successfully performed to demonstrate the feasibility of our PF device in a neural network

G-protein coupled receptor 64 (GPR64) acts as a tumor suppressor in endometrial cancer

Background Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecological cancer. G-protein coupled receptor 64 (GPR64) belongs to a family of adhesion GPCRs and plays an important role in male fertility. However, the function of GPR64 has not been studied in endometrial cancer. Our objective is to investigate the role of GPR64 in endometrial cancer. Methods We examined the levels of GPR64 in human endometrioid endometrial carcinoma by immunohistochemistry analysis. To determine a tumor suppressor role of GPR64 in endometrial cancer, we used a siRNA loss of function approach in human endometrial adenocarcinoma cell lines. Results GPR64 levels were remarkably lower in 10 of 21 (47.62%) of endometrial carcinoma samples compared to control. Depletion of GPR64 by siRNA transfection revealed an increase of colony formation ability, cell proliferation, cell migration, and invasion activity in Ishikawa and HEC1A cells. The expression of Connexin 43 (Cx43), a member of the large family of gap junction proteins, was reduced through activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) in Ishikawa cells with GPR64-deficicy. Conclusions These results suggest that GPR64 plays an important tumor suppressor role in endometrial cancer.Grant numbers and sources of support: The design, data collection, data analysis, and data interpretation of this study were supported by Bio-industry Technology Development Program (IPET312060–5), Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Republic of Korea (to J.M.L.), and NIH R01 HD084478 (to J.W.J.). The analysis and interpretation of data and writing support of this manuscript were supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2016R1D1A1B03934346), Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Republic of Korea (to J.Y.Y.) and Grant Number P50CA098258 from the National Cancer Institute (to R.R.B. and T.H.K.)