A Systematic Analysis on DNA Methylation and the Expression of Both mRNA and microRNA in Bladder Cancer

Background: DNA methylation aberration and microRNA (miRNA) deregulation have been observed in many types of cancers. A systematic study of methylome and transcriptome in bladder urothelial carcinoma has never been reported. Methodology/Principal Findings: The DNA methylation was profiled by modified methylation-specific digital karyotyping (MMSDK) and the expression of mRNAs and miRNAs was analyzed by digital gene expression (DGE) sequencing in tumors and matched normal adjacent tissues obtained from 9 bladder urothelial carcinoma patients. We found that a set of significantly enriched pathways disrupted in bladder urothelial carcinoma primarily related to "neurogenesis" and "cell differentiation" by integrated analysis of -omics data. Furthermore, we identified an intriguing collection of cancer-related genes that were deregulated at the levels of DNA methylation and mRNA expression, and we validated several of these genes (HIC1, SLIT2, RASAL1, and KRT17) by Bisulfite Sequencing PCR and Reverse Transcription qPCR in a panel of 33 bladder cancer samples. Conclusions/Significance: We characterized the profiles between methylome and transcriptome in bladder urothelial carcinoma, identified a set of significantly enriched key pathways, and screened four aberrantly methylated and expressed genes. Conclusively, our findings shed light on a new avenue for basic bladder cancer research

Research of heat and moisture transfer influence on the characteristics of the ground heat pump exchangers in unsaturated soil

In recent years, the ground source heat pump (GSHP) system has been widely used due to its high unit efficiency, considerable energy conservation and low operating cost. However, the heat transfer efficiency of ground heat exchangers (GHE) in some projects decreases year by year. This results in the decrease of performance of the GHSP system. This is mainly because of lacking of the deep research about the heat and moisture transfer influence on the GHE in unsaturated soil. In this paper, a new model for predicting the soil thermal conductivity under different temperatures was developed. By comparing with the Campbell and de V-1 models, the new model showed better performance on predicting the soil thermal conductivity. Thereafter, a coupled heat and moisture transfer model in unsaturated soil was established for the GHE. In addition, the mode1 was verified by comparing its results against those established by other researchers. By the results, it was found that the model calculation results agreed well with the experimental data in the literature. Finally, the effects of different factors, including the soil types, soil porosity on the characteristics of the GHE were studied

Development of a nodal model for predicting the vertical temperature profile in a stratum-ventilated room

This paper presents the development and validation of a simplified nodal model that predicts the vertical temperature profile in a stratum-ventilated room. With full consideration of the mechanism of stratum ventilation and the effects of envelope heat transmission, the vertical temperature profile in a stratum-ventilated room could be predicted. The proposed model was validated through nine experiments of different scenarios. Generally good agreements between the model-predictions and measurements were achieved on the vertical air temperature profile, vertical temperature differences and area-weighted mean surface temperatures of different room enclosures. The agreements were also good for the volume-weighted mean temperatures of the core zone and breathing zone. Therefore, this nodal model can be used for energy calculation and practical engineering design

Dynamic character investigation and optimization of a novel air-source heat pump system

Heating capacity of an air-source heat pump (ASHP) system often decreases when it is operated in winter. This is because of frosting significantly affects the heat transfer efficiency of evaporator, and thus the airflow passage blocked. In order to solve this problem, a novel frost-free ASHP system, integrated with dehumidification and thermal energy storage, has been developed. In this paper, to further investigate the dynamic characteristics of the system working at low temperature, a mathematical model of the novel frost-free ASHP system was constructed. The mathematical model was verified by comparison with experimental data that showed that the measured results were in good accordance with the numerical ones. According to the mathematical model, the research results indicated that, at relatively humidity (RH) of 80%, the system average COP increased by 56.2% when ambient temperature increased from −10 °C to 0 °C. However, it decreased by 6.7% when RH increased from 75% to 85% at temperature of 0 °C. In addition, the system average COP at the air velocity of 3.0 m s−1 was higher 0.22 and 0.16 than that of 2.5 m s−1 and 3.5 m s−1. Finally, the correlations of the system frost-free working time and the system COP with ambient temperature and relative humidity were obtained, respectively, by multivariate linear regression. These results provided a basis in improving and optimizing the thermal system COP and other main performance parameters

Interleukin 4 activates a signal transducer and activator of transcription (Stat) protein which interacts with an interferon-gamma activation site-like sequence upstream of the I epsilon exon in a human B cell line. Evidence for the involvement of Janus kinase 3 and interleukin-4 Stat.

Germ line C transcripts can be induced by IL-4 in the human B cell line, BL-2. Utilizing a IFN-gamma activation site-like DNA sequence element located upstream of the I epsilon exon, we demonstrated by gel mobility shift assays that IL-4 induced a binding activity in the cytosol and nucleus of BL-2 cells. This factor was designated IL-4 NAF (IL-4-induced nuclear-activating factors) and was identified as a tyrosine phosphoprotein, which translocates from the cytosol to the nucleus upon IL-4 treatment. Because these are the characteristics of a signal transducer and activator of transcription (Stat) protein, we determined whether antibodies to Stat proteins will interfere with gel mobility shift and found that antibodies to IL-4 Stat, also known as Stat6, but not antibodies to other Stat proteins, interfere with the formation of the IL-4 NAF complex. Congruous with the involvement of a Stat protein, IL-4 induced robust Janus kinase 3 (JAK3) activity in BL-2 cells. Cotransfection of JAK3 with IL-4 Stat into COS-7 cells produced an intracellular activity which bound the same IFN-gamma activation site-like sequence and comigrated with IL-4 NAF in electrophoretic mobility shift assay. These results show that IL-4 NAF is IL-4 Stat, which is activated by JAK3 in response to IL-4 receptor engagement

An experimental investigation into stratum ventilation for the cooling of an office with asymmetrically distributed heat gains

The performance of stratum ventilation in an office with a glazed façade was investigated. An electric heating film, hung on a side wall of the test chamber, was employed to simulate the heat gain via a glazing curtain wall. In total, 13 experimental cases were conducted by adjusting the heat generation of the heating film, the temperature and the airflow rate of supply air. The performance of stratum ventilation was evaluated by examining the distributions of temperature, velocity and dimensionless carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration, effective draft temperature for stratum ventilation (EDTS), predicted mean vote index (PMV), and efficiencies of heat and contaminant removals. The experimental results demonstrated that stratum ventilation performed well in heat removal and contaminant removal. Quality inhaled air for the occupants was provided in all experimental cases. It was found that the glass wall temperature had a significant influence on thermal comfort of occupants. When the inner surface temperature of glass wall closed to 40 °C, the PMV values approached the upper bound of the comfort zone. For every case wherein the cooling load was 90 W/m2 or below, and the supply air temperature was 19¿21 °C, thermal comfort of the occupants was provided. Both the efficiencies of heat removal and of local contaminant removal improved with increasing airflow rate at constant supply air temperature. Therefore, stratum ventilation could perform well in cooling offices with highly asymmetric distribution of heat gains