Homogeneous solutions of the heat equation

AbstractWe complete a characterization of homogeneous solutions of the heat equation begun by D. V. Widder. We determine regions of convergence for expansions of temperature functions in terms of the homogeneous solutions

CRISPR accelerates the cancer drug discovery

Emerging cohorts and basic studies have associated certain genetic modifications in cancer patients, such as gene mutation, amplification, or deletion, with the overall survival prognosis, underscoring patients??? genetic background may directly regulate drug sensitivity/resistance during chemotherapies. Understanding the molecular mechanism underpinning drug sensitivity/resistance and further uncovering the effective drugs have been the major ambition in the cancer drug discovery. The emergence and popularity of CRISPR/Cas9 technology have reformed the entire life science research, providing a precise and simplified genome editing tool with unlimited editing possibilities. Furthermore, it presents a powerful tool in cancer drug discovery, which hopefully facilitates us with a rapid and reliable manner in developing novel therapies and understanding the molecular mechanisms of drug sensitivity/resistance. Herein, we summarized the application of CRISPR/Cas9 in drug screening, with the focus on CRISPR/Cas9 mediated gene knockout, gene knock-in, as well as transcriptional modification. Additionally, this review provides the concerns, cautions, and ethnic considerations that need to be taken when applying CRISPR in the drug discovery.Peer reviewe

LAPTM4B-35 promotes cancer cell migration via stimulating integrin beta1 recycling and focal adhesion dynamics

Metastasis is the main cause of cancer patients' death despite tremendous efforts invested in developing the related molecular mechanisms. During cancer cell migration, cells undergo dynamic regulation of filopodia, focal adhesion, and endosome trafficking. Cdc42 is imperative for maintaining cell morphology and filopodia, regulating cell movement. Integrin beta1 activates on the endosome, the majority of which distributes itself on the plasma membrane, indicating that endocytic trafficking is essential for this activity. In cancers, high expression of lysosome-associated protein transmembrane 4B (LAPTM4B) is associated with poor prognosis. LAPTM4B-35 has been reported as displaying plasma membrane distribution and being associated with cancer cell migration. However, the detailed mechanism of its isoform-specific distribution and whether it relates to cell migration remain unknown. Here, we first report and quantify the filopodia localization of LAPTM4B-35: mechanically, that specific interaction with Cdc42 promoted its localization to the filopodia. Furthermore, our data show that LAPTM4B-35 stabilized filopodia and regulated integrin beta1 recycling via interaction and cotrafficking on the endosome. In our zebrafish xenograft model, LAPTM4B-35 stimulated the formation and dynamics of focal adhesion, further promoting cancer cell dissemination, whereas in skin cancer patients, LAPTM4B level correlated with poor prognosis. In short, this study establishes an insight into the mechanism of LAPTM4B-35 filopodia distribution, as well as into its biological effects and its clinical significance, providing a novel target for cancer therapeutics development.Peer reviewe

CoDeF: Content Deformation Fields for Temporally Consistent Video Processing

We present the content deformation field CoDeF as a new type of video representation, which consists of a canonical content field aggregating the static contents in the entire video and a temporal deformation field recording the transformations from the canonical image (i.e., rendered from the canonical content field) to each individual frame along the time axis.Given a target video, these two fields are jointly optimized to reconstruct it through a carefully tailored rendering pipeline.We advisedly introduce some regularizations into the optimization process, urging the canonical content field to inherit semantics (e.g., the object shape) from the video.With such a design, CoDeF naturally supports lifting image algorithms for video processing, in the sense that one can apply an image algorithm to the canonical image and effortlessly propagate the outcomes to the entire video with the aid of the temporal deformation field.We experimentally show that CoDeF is able to lift image-to-image translation to video-to-video translation and lift keypoint detection to keypoint tracking without any training.More importantly, thanks to our lifting strategy that deploys the algorithms on only one image, we achieve superior cross-frame consistency in processed videos compared to existing video-to-video translation approaches, and even manage to track non-rigid objects like water and smog.Project page can be found at https://qiuyu96.github.io/CoDeF/.Comment: Project Webpage: https://qiuyu96.github.io/CoDeF/, Code: https://github.com/qiuyu96/CoDe

Linear Positional Isomer Sorting in Nonporous Adaptive Crystals of a Pillar[5]arene

Here we show a new adsorptive separation approach using nonporous adaptive crystals of a pillar[5]­arene. Desolvated perethylated pillar[5]­arene crystals (<b>EtP5</b>α) with a nonporous character selectively adsorb 1-pentene (<b>1-Pe</b>) over its positional isomer 2-pentene (<b>2-Pe</b>), leading to a structural change from <b>EtP5</b>α to <b>1-Pe</b> loaded structure (<b>1-Pe</b>@<b>EtP5</b>). The purity of <b>1-Pe</b> reaches 98.7% in just one cycle and <b>EtP5</b>α can be reused without losing separation performance

Mechanochemical synthesis of pillar[5]quinone derived multi-microporous organic polymers for radioactive organic iodide capture and storage.

The incorporation of supramolecular macrocycles into porous organic polymers may endow the material with enhanced uptake of specific guests through host-guest interactions. Here we report a solvent and catalyst-free mechanochemical synthesis of pillar[5]quinone (P5Q) derived multi-microporous organic polymers with hydrophenazine linkages (MHP-P5Q), which show a unique 3-step N2 adsorption isotherm. In comparison with analogous microporous hydrophenazine-linked organic polymers (MHPs) obtained using simple twofold benzoquinones, MHP-P5Q is demonstrated to have a superior performance in radioactive iodomethane (CH3I) capture and storage. Mechanistic studies show that the rigid pillar[5]arene cavity has additional binding sites though host-guest interactions as well as the halogen bond (-I⋯N = C-) and chemical adsorption in the multi-microporous MHP-P5Q mainly account for the rapid and high-capacity adsorption and long-term storage of CH3I

Imaging and Pathological Features of Percutaneous Cryosurgery on Normal Lung Evaluated in a Porcine Model

Background and objective Lung cancer is one of the most commonly occurring malignancies and frequent causes of death in the world. Cryoablation is a safe and alternative treatment for unresectable lung cancer. Due to the lung being gas-containing organ and different from solid organs such as liver and pancreas, it is difficult to achieve the freezing range of beyond the tumor edge 1 cm safety border. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of different numbers of freeze cycles on the effectiveness of cryoablation on normal lung tissue and to create an operation guideline that gives the best effect. Methods Six healthy Tibetan miniature pigs were given a CT scan and histological investigation after percutaneous cryosurgery. Cryoablation was performed as 2 cycles of 10 min of active freezing in the left lung; each freeze followed by a 5 min thaw. In the right lung, we performed the same 2 cycles of 5 min of freezing followed by 5 min of thawing. However, for the right lung, we included a third cycle of consisting of 10 min of freezing followed by 5 min of thawing. Three cryoprobes were inserted into the left lung and three cryoprobes in the right lung per animal, one in the upper and two in the lower lobe, so as to be well away from each other. Comparison under the same experimental condition was necessary. During the experiment, observations were made regarding the imaging change of ice-ball. The lungs were removed postoperatively at 3 intervals: 4 h, 3 d of postoperation and 7 d of postoperation, respectively, to view microscopic and pathological change. Results The ice-ball grew gradually in relation to the increase in time, and the increase in number of cycles. The size of the cryolesion (hypothesis necrotic area) in specimens, over time, became larger in size than the size of the ice-ball during operation, regardless of whether 2 or 3 freeze-thaw cycles were performed. The area of necrosis was gradually increased over the course of time. The hypothesis necrotic area was equal to necrosis area 3 d after cryosurgery. Conclusion Percutaneous cryoablation of the lung can achieve complete ablation of target tissue. The freezing technique may be different depending on the individual circumstances of each tumor. In technology, 3 freeze-thaw cycles are recommended, and the range of cryoablation’s effective diameter may be not necessarily beyond the tumor edge at least 1 cm safe border during cryosurgery

Styrene Purification by Guest-Induced Restructuring of Pillar[6]arene

The separation of styrene (St) and ethylbenzene (EB) mixtures is important in the chemical industry. Traditionally, this is done using energy-intensive vacuum distillation columns. Adsorptive separation is an alternative approach. Here, we explore the St and EB adsorption selectivity of two pillar-shaped macrocyclic pillar[n]arenes (EtP5 and EtP6; n 5 and 6). Both crystalline and amorphous EtP6 can capture St from a St-EB mixture with remarkably high selectivity. We show that EtP6 can be used to separate St from a 50:50 v/v St:EB mixture, yielding in a single adsorption cycle St with a purity of > 99 %. Single crystal structures, powder X-ray diffraction patterns and molecular simulations all suggest that this selectivity is due to a guest-induced structural change in EtP6 rather than a simple cavity/pore size effect. This restructuring means that the material ‘self-heals’ upon each recrystallization, and St separation can be carried out over multiple cycles with no loss of performance