Introduction to (p × n)-Type Transverse Thermoelectrics

This chapter will review (p × n)-type transverse thermoelectrics (TTE). Starting with the device advantages of single-leg (p × n)-type TTE’s over other thermoelectric paradigms, the theory of (p × n)-type TTE materials is given. Then, the figure of merit, transport equations, and thermoelectric tensors are derived for an anisotropic effective-mass model in bulk three-dimensional materials (3D), quasi-two-dimensional (2D), and quasi-one-dimensional (1D) materials. This chapter concludes with a discussion of the cooling power for transverse thermoelectrics in terms of universal heat flux and electric field scales. The importance of anisotropic ambipolar conductivity for (p × n)-type TTEs highlights the need to explore noncubic, narrow-gap semiconductor or semimetallic candidate materials

Common Co-activation of AXL and CDCP1 in EGFR-mutation-positive Non-smallcell Lung Cancer Associated With Poor Prognosis.

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutation-positive non-smallcell lung cancer (NSCLC) is incurable, despite high rates of response to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). We investigated receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), Src family kinases and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) as genetic modifiers of innate resistance in EGFR-mutation-positive NSCLC. We performed gene expression analysis in two cohorts (Cohort 1 and Cohort 2) of EGFR-mutation-positive NSCLC patients treated with EGFR TKI. We evaluated the efficacy of gefitinib or osimertinib with the Src/FAK/Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) inhibitor, TPX0005 in vitro and in vivo. In Cohort 1, CUB domain-containing protein-1 (CDCP1) was an independent negative prognostic factor for progression-free survival (hazard ratio of 1.79, p=0.0407) and overall survival (hazard ratio of 2.23, p=0.0192). A two-gene model based on AXL and CDCP1 expression was strongly associated with the clinical outcome to EGFR TKIs, in both cohorts of patients. Our preclinical experiments revealed that several RTKs and non-RTKs, were up-regulated at baseline or after treatment with gefitinib or osimertinib. TPX-0005 plus EGFR TKI suppressed expression and activation of RTKs and downstream signaling intermediates. Co-expression of CDCP1 and AXL is often observed in EGFR-mutation-positive tumors, limiting the efficacy of EGFR TKIs. Co-treatment with EGFR TKI and TPX-0005 warrants testing

Discovering Cooperative Relationships of Chromatin Modifications in Human T Cells Based on a Proposed Closeness Measure

BACKGROUND: Eukaryotic transcription is accompanied by combinatorial chromatin modifications that serve as functional epigenetic markers. Composition of chromatin modifications specifies histone codes that regulate the associated gene. Discovering novel chromatin regulatory relationships are of general interest. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Based on the premise that the interaction of chromatin modifications is hypothesized to influence CpG methylation, we present a closeness measure to characterize the regulatory interactions of epigenomic features. The closeness measure is applied to genome-wide CpG methylation and histone modification datasets in human CD4+T cells to select a subset of potential features. To uncover epigenomic and genomic patterns, CpG loci are clustered into nine modules associated with distinct chromatin and genomic signatures based on terms of biological function. We then performed Bayesian network inference to uncover inherent regulatory relationships from the feature selected closeness measure profile and all nine module-specific profiles respectively. The global and module-specific network exhibits topological proximity and modularity. We found that the regulatory patterns of chromatin modifications differ significantly across modules and that distinct patterns are related to specific transcriptional levels and biological function. DNA methylation and genomic features are found to have little regulatory function. The regulatory relationships were partly validated by literature reviews. We also used partial correlation analysis in other cells to verify novel regulatory relationships. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The interactions among chromatin modifications and genomic elements characterized by a closeness measure help elucidate cooperative patterns of chromatin modification in transcriptional regulation and help decipher complex histone codes

Effects of ocean eddies on the tropical storm Roanu intensity in the Bay of Bengal.

A tropical storm (TS) Roanu occurred in northern Sri Lanka in 2016, which transported northwards along the west coast of the Bay of Bengal (BoB). During the development of the TS, ocean eddies on its track had an important effect on the intensity of Roanu. The dynamic mechanism was investigated with multisource reanalysis and Argo float data in this study. The results show that ocean eddies were the main reason why Roanu first enhanced, weakened, and then enhanced again. Warm eddy W1 supports the initial development of the TS, cold eddy C1 weakens Roanu, and warm eddy W2 continues to support Roanu. On May 19, 2016, the maximum average latent heat flux over W1 was 260.85 w/m2, while that of C1 was only 200.71 w/m2. After the passage of Roanu, the tropical cyclone heat potential (TCHP) of eddies significantly decreased. The TCHP of W1, W2, C1 and C2 decreased by 20.95 kJ/cm2, 11.07 kJ/cm2, 29.82 kJ/cm2, 9.31 kJ/cm2, respectively. The mixed layer of warm eddies deepened much more than that of cold eddies, supporting Roanu development. In addition, changes in potential vorticity (PV) values caused by the disturbance of eddies may also reflect changes in the TS intensity. This study offers new insights on the influence of ocean eddies in regulating the development of tropical cyclone (TC) in the BoB

A Sustainable Land Utilization Pattern for Confirming Integrity of Economic and Ecological Objectives under Uncertainties

In this study, an integrated crop–forest system with market approach (ICFM) associated with recovering forest and withdrawing cultivation was developed for confirming regional integrity of economic and ecological objectives under uncertainties. A mixed quadratic stochastic-fuzzy programming method (QSF) was proposed for planning an ICFM issue under uncertainties. QSF can not only deal with spatial and temporal variations of meteorological condition, but also handle uncertainties expressed in terms of probability distributions and fuzzy sets. Meanwhile, it can also tackle nonlinear relationships between land resource plan and economic data. The developed QSF was applied to an ICFM issue in Xixian county, China. The results of adverse effects from irrigation, ecological effects from forest, land utilization with market approach and optimal system benefits were obtained. It can facilitate policymakers to adjust current land utilization with market approach to improve the productivities of land resources. The tradeoff between crop irrigation and forest protection can prompt generation of optimized plans with consideration of economic and ecological objectives, which can be availed to generate strategies for confirming integrity of socio-economic and eco-environmental sustainability

The Progressive Collapse Resistance Mechanism of Conventional Island Shield Buildings in Nuclear Power Plants

In China, conventional island shield buildings (CISBs), which are situated close to the nuclear islands of nuclear power plants, are class III seismic items. This is the most important level in the seismic fortification standard. Calculations to check resistance overturning under extremely safe seismic action should be carried out. Although strict seismic design has been carried out, many beyond-design-basis events, such as the 3/11 earthquake in Japan, have occurred in recent years. Under the action of such accidental loads, there is still the possibility that the important vertical bearing components of a CISB will be damaged or destroyed, which will lead to the progressive vertical collapse of the CISB structure, and ultimately threaten the safe operation of the nuclear power plant. Therefore, it is necessary to study the progressive collapse resistance mechanism of the CISB in order to further optimize and improve its design. In this paper, we take the CISB as a research object and consider the failure mechanism of its vertical progressive collapse synthetically, using SAP2000 finite element software to study the causation and strength of resistance force and internal force redistribution characteristics due to progressive collapse under different column removal conditions (long-side middle, short-side middle, internal, and corner columns) using the instantaneous unloading method. The results show that the residual structure is at risk of collapse under the corner and long-edge middle column removal conditions, and there is no risk of collapse under the short-edge middle and internal column conditions. The failure and collapse resistance of the corner column only has a beam mechanism, and the long-side middle column forms a catenary mechanism in the Y direction. The short-side middle column can resist collapse by the beam mechanism, while the internal column forms a bidirectional catenary mechanism in the X and Y directions. The axial force of the column in the residual structure is mainly redistributed to column members with adjacent spans to the failure column, and column members with separated spans are less affected

Frequency-Specific Analysis of the Dynamic Reconfiguration of the Brain in Patients with Schizophrenia

The analysis of resting-state fMRI signals usually focuses on the low-frequency range/band (0.01–0.1 Hz), which does not cover all aspects of brain activity. Studies have shown that distinct frequency bands can capture unique fluctuations in brain activity, with high-frequency signals (>0.1 Hz) providing valuable information for the diagnosis of schizophrenia. We hypothesized that it is meaningful to study the dynamic reconfiguration of schizophrenia through different frequencies. Therefore, this study used resting-state functional magnetic resonance (RS-fMRI) data from 42 schizophrenia and 40 normal controls to investigate dynamic network reconfiguration in multiple frequency bands (0.01–0.25 Hz, 0.01–0.027 Hz, 0.027–0.073 Hz, 0.073–0.198 Hz, 0.198–0.25 Hz). Based on the time-varying dynamic network constructed for each frequency band, we compared the dynamic reconfiguration of schizophrenia and normal controls by calculating the recruitment and integration. The experimental results showed that the differences between schizophrenia and normal controls are observed in the full frequency, which is more significant in slow3. In addition, as visual network, attention network, and default mode network differ a lot from each other, they can show a high degree of connectivity, which indicates that the functional network of schizophrenia is affected by the abnormal brain state in these areas. These shreds of evidence provide a new perspective and promote the current understanding of the characteristics of dynamic brain networks in schizophrenia