196 research outputs found
Expression, Tissue Distribution and Function of miR-21 in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Objective:MiR-21 is an oncomir expressed by malignant cells and/or tumor microenvironment components. In this study we focused on understanding the effects of stromal miR-21 on esophageal malignant cells.Design:MiR-21 expression was evaluated in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples from patients with esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma (SCC) by quantitative RT-PCR. MiR-21 tissue distribution was visualized with in situ hybridization. A co-culture system of normal fibroblasts and esophageal cancer cells was used to determine the effects of fibroblasts on miR-21 expression levels, and on SCC cell migration and invasion.Results:MiR-21 was overexpressed in SCCs, when compared to the adjacent non-tumor tissues (P = 0.0007), and was mainly localized in the cytoplasm of stromal cells adjacent to malignant cells. Accordingly, miR-21 expression was increased in tumors with high versus low stromal content (P = 0.04). When co-cultured with normal fibroblasts, miR-21 expression was elevated in SCC cells (KYSE-30), while its expression was restricted to fibroblasts when co-cultured with adenocarcinoma cells (OE-33 and FLO-1). MiR-21 was detected in conditioned media of cancer cell lines, illustrating the release of this miRNA into the environment. Co-culturing with normal fibroblasts or addition of fibroblast conditioned media caused a significant increase in cell migration and invasion potency of KYSE-30 cells (P<0.0001). In addition, co-culturing cancer cells with fibroblasts and expression of miR-21 induced the expression of the cancer associated fibroblast (CAF) marker S100A4.Conclusions:MiR-21 expression is mostly confined to the SCC stroma and its release from fibroblasts influences the migration and invasion capacity of SCC cells. Moreover, miR-21 may be an important factor in "activating" fibroblasts to CAFs. These findings provide new insights into the role of CAFs and the extracellular matrix in tumor microenvironment formation and in tumor cell maintenance, and suggest miR-21 may contribute to cellular crosstalk in the tumor microenvironment. © 2013 Nouraee et al
Spin diffusion in doped semiconductors
The behavior of spin diffusion in doped semiconductors is shown to be
qualitatively different than in undoped (intrinsic) ones. Whereas a spin packet
in an intrinsic semiconductor must be a multiple-band disturbance, involving
inhomogeneous distributions of both electrons and holes, in a doped
semiconductor a single-band disturbance is possible. For n-doped nonmagnetic
semiconductors the enhancement of diffusion due to a degenerate electron sea in
the conduction band is much larger for these single-band spin packets than for
charge packets, and can exceed an order of magnitude at low temperatures even
for equilibrium dopings as small as 10^16 cm^-3. In n-doped ferromagnetic and
semimagnetic semiconductors the motion of spin packets polarized antiparallel
to the equilibrium carrier spin polarization is predicted to be an order of
magnitude faster than for parallel polarized spin packets. These results are
reversed for p-doped semiconductors.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure
Spin transport theory in ferromagnet/semiconductor systems with non-collinear magnetization configurations
We present a comprehensive theory of spin transport in a non-degenerate
semiconductor that is in contact with multiple ferromagnetic terminals. The
spin dynamics in the semiconductor is studied during a perturbation of a
general, non-collinear magnetization configuration and a method is shown to
identify the various configurations from current signals. The conventional
Landauer-B\"{u}ttiker description for spin transport across Schottky contacts
is generalized by the use of a non-linearized I-V relation, and it is extended
by taking into account non-coherent transport mechanisms. The theory is used to
analyze a three terminal lateral structure where a significant difference in
the spin accumulation profile is found when comparing the results of this model
with the conventional model.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figure
The Ramsey method in high-precision mass spectrometry with Penning traps: Experimental results
The highest precision in direct mass measurements is obtained with Penning
trap mass spectrometry. Most experiments use the interconversion of the
magnetron and cyclotron motional modes of the stored ion due to excitation by
external radiofrequency-quadrupole fields. In this work a new excitation
scheme, Ramsey's method of time-separated oscillatory fields, has been
successfully tested. It has been shown to reduce significantly the uncertainty
in the determination of the cyclotron frequency and thus of the ion mass of
interest. The theoretical description of the ion motion excited with Ramsey's
method in a Penning trap and subsequently the calculation of the resonance line
shapes for different excitation times, pulse structures, and detunings of the
quadrupole field has been carried out in a quantum mechanical framework and is
discussed in detail in the preceding article in this journal by M. Kretzschmar.
Here, the new excitation technique has been applied with the ISOLTRAP mass
spectrometer at ISOLDE/CERN for mass measurements on stable as well as
short-lived nuclides. The experimental resonances are in agreement with the
theoretical predictions and a precision gain close to a factor of four was
achieved compared to the use of the conventional excitation technique.Comment: 12 pages, 14 figures, 2 table
beta-decay study of Cu-77
A beta-decay study of Cu-77 has been performed at the ISOLDE mass separator
with the aim to deduce its beta-decay properties and to obtain spectroscopic
information on Zn-77. Neutron-rich copper isotopes were produced by means of
proton- or neutron-induced fission reactions on U-238. After the production,
Cu-77 was selectively laser ionized, mass separated and sent to different
detection systems where beta-gamma and beta-n coincidence data were collected.
We report on the deduced half-live, decay scheme, and possible spin assignment
of 77Cu
Magnetic moments of Cu and Cu nuclei measured by in-source laser spectroscopy
We have obtained information on the atomic hyperfine splitting and, hence, on magnetic moments in neutron rich Cu isotopes by scanning the frequency of the narrow-band laser of the first excitation step in the resonance ionization laser ion source. The deduced magnetic moments are Cu, I = 1) = +2.48(2)(7) ; Cu, I=6) = +1.24(4)(6) and Cu, I=1) = +1.86(4)(6) ; Cu, I=6) = +1.50(7)(8). The results of the scans analysis point out on existence of a new isomer in Cu. It's deduced magnetic moment is (-)3.50(7)(11) that is in a good agreement with I=3 assignment. The method of in-source atomic spectroscopy, as well as the analysis of the obtained data, is described. The results are discussed in terms of single-particle configurations coupled to the Ni core
Scaling analysis of electron transport through metal-semiconducting carbon nanotube interfaces: Evolution from the molecular limit to the bulk limit
We present a scaling analysis of electronic and transport properties of
metal-semiconducting carbon nanotube interfaces as a function of the nanotube
length within the coherent transport regime, which takes fully into account
atomic-scale electronic structure and three-dimensional electrostatics of the
metal-nanotube interface using a real-space Green's function based
self-consistent tight-binding theory. As the first example, we examine devices
formed by attaching finite-size single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNT) to both
high- and low- work function metallic electrodes through the dangling bonds at
the end. We analyze the nature of Schottky barrier formation at the
metal-nanotube interface by examining the electrostatics, the band lineup and
the conductance of the metal-SWNT molecule-metal junction as a function of the
SWNT molecule length and metal-SWNT coupling strength. We show that the
confined cylindrical geometry and the atomistic nature of electronic processes
across the metal-SWNT interface leads to a different physical picture of band
alignment from that of the planar metal-semiconductor interface. We analyze the
temperature and length dependence of the conductance of the SWNT junctions,
which shows a transition from tunneling- to thermal activation-dominated
transport with increasing nanotube length. The temperature dependence of the
conductance is much weaker than that of the planar metal-semiconductor
interface due to the finite number of conduction channels within the SWNT
junctions. We find that the current-voltage characteristics of the metal-SWNT
molecule-metal junctions are sensitive to models of the potential response to
the applied source/drain bias voltages.Comment: Minor revision to appear in Phys. Rev. B. Color figures available in
the online PRB version or upon request to: [email protected]
Mathematical models as research data via flexiformal theory graphs
Mathematical modeling and simulation (MMS) has now been established as an essential part
of the scientific work in many disciplines. It is common to categorize the involved
numerical data and to some extent the corresponding scientific software as research
data. But both have their origin in mathematical models, therefore any holistic approach
to research data in MMS should cover all three aspects: data, software, and
models. While the problems of classifying, archiving and making accessible are largely
solved for data and first frameworks and systems are emerging for software, the question
of how to deal with mathematical models is completely open.
In this paper we propose a solution -- to cover all aspects of mathematical models: the
underlying mathematical knowledge, the equations, boundary conditions, numeric
approximations, and documents in a flexi\-formal framework, which has enough structure to
support the various uses of models in scientific and technology workflows.
Concretely we propose to use the OMDoc/MMT framework to formalize mathematical models
and show the adequacy of this approach by modeling a simple, but non-trivial model: van
Roosbroeck's drift-diffusion model for one-dimensional devices. This formalization -- and
future extensions -- allows us to support the modeler by e.g. flexibly composing models,
visualizing Model Pathway Diagrams, and annotating model equations in documents as
induced from the formalized documents by flattening. This directly solves some of the
problems in treating MMS as "research data'' and opens the way towards more MKM
services for models
Coupling a proton and a neutron to the semi-doubly magic nucleus Ni: A study of Cu via the decay of Ni and Cu
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