536 research outputs found

    Modulation of the Endothelial Phenotype by Transforming Growth Factor-β2 and Nck Signaling

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    The development of solid tumors and atherosclerosis requires neovascularization. In contrast to blood vessels of healthy organs, blood vessels associated with atherosclerosis and tumors are poorly organized and leaky. However, it is poorly understood how microenvironmental factors modulate molecular mechanisms underlying the abnormal vascular phenotype. The objective in this project is to determine cellular changes elicited by transforming growth factor-β2 (TGF-β2) and the Nck adaptors in the transition of endothelial sheets from a stable/cohesive to a loosely organized, permeable phenotype. It is hypothesized that the Nck adaptors link heightened matrix stiffness and TGF-β2 signaling thereby inducing cytoskeletal changes underlying the tumor-associated endothelial phenotype. Cell culture experiments coupled with immunofluorescence labeling indicate change in cell morphology and patterns of protein expression/subcellular distribution when TGF-β2-treated cells were compared with control endothelial cells. Preliminary results indicate the Nck modulates TGF-beta-induced changes in cell morphology. These results suggest that the TGF-β2 signaling pathway and/or the silencing of the Nck could be targeted to prevent Endothelial to Mesenchymal Transition (EndMT) and the abnormal vasculature in atherosclerosis.

    Renovation of El Camino Real of Santa Clara

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    In this project we focus on a section of the El Camino Real that is a major corridor that connects the South Bay to much of the Peninsula. The portion that we are looking at is by Santa Clara University from Lafayette Street to Scott Boulevard which consists of 3lanes in both directions. This is much wider than sections farther north as there are much higher traffic volumes in the spread out South Bay. As a result, El Camino Real can be dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists. Along with pedestrian safety concerns, our project goes into the inadequate service levels for public transit, the VTA 522El Camino Real Rapid Bus in particular. Our redesign of El Camino Real was inspired by the VTA’s BRT, Bus Rapid Transit, which converts 1 of 3 car lanes into a Bus Only lane and adds a bike lane. We created several alternative design options for the project and discuss each option’s strengths and weaknesses. After we decided on a design, we ran a Synchro simulation to see how the traffic conditions would be affected by our redesign. We noted the different service levels and safety improvements

    Data Locality Optimization on Resource - Shared Clusters

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    Department of Computer Science and EngineeringResource-shared clusters between users on various computing frameworks such as Dryad, Hadoop, and Spark are becoming a hot trend mainly due to the lower costs offered when input data are shared among separated clusters. However, the performance of such resource-shared clusters relies on data locality, which is directly related to the overhead of the communication network. Due to this issue, we decided to study the scheduling methods to achieve an optimal solution for data locality, enabling a better performance of applications on the resource-shared clusters while still ensuring the fairness. Our first approach was based on the Linear Programming algorithm, while the second one was adopted from the graph algorithm - Min Cost Max Flows. To demonstrate the applicability of our solutions, an experimental study was carried out, using various workloads consisting of multiple Hadoop and Spark applications. The results showed that our approaches improved the performance of these workloads, namely 1.67 times faster than conventional static partition and 1.49 times faster than fair sharing methods.ope

    Modulation of the Endothelial Phenotype by Transforming Growth Factor-β2 and Nck Signaling

    Get PDF
    The development of solid tumors and atherosclerosis requires neovascularization. In contrast to blood vessels of healthy organs, blood vessels associated with atherosclerosis and tumors are poorly organized and leaky. However, it is poorly understood how microenvironmental factors modulate molecular mechanisms underlying the abnormal vascular phenotype. The objective in this project is to determine cellular changes elicited by transforming growth factor-β2 (TGF-β2) and the Nck adaptors in the transition of endothelial sheets from a stable/cohesive to a loosely organized, permeable phenotype. It is hypothesized that the Nck adaptors link heightened matrix stiffness and TGF-β2 signaling thereby inducing cytoskeletal changes underlying the tumor-associated endothelial phenotype. Cell culture experiments coupled with immunofluorescence labeling indicate change in cell morphology and patterns of protein expression/subcellular distribution when TGF-β2-treated cells were compared with control endothelial cells. Preliminary results indicate the Nck modulates TGF-beta-induced changes in cell morphology. These results suggest that the TGF-β2 signaling pathway and/or the silencing of the Nck could be targeted to prevent Endothelial to Mesenchymal Transition (EndMT) and the abnormal vasculature in atherosclerosis.

    Stabilizing global foreign exchange markets in the time of COVID-19 : The role of vaccinations

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    Acknowledgements We are grateful to the managing editor, Professor Ali M. Fatemi, and two anonymous referees for valuable comments and suggestions. All remaining errors are our own.Peer reviewedPostprin
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