1,345 research outputs found
Epithelial–mesenchymal plasticity : emerging parallels between tissue morphogenesis and cancer metastasis
Many cells possess epithelial–mesenchymal plasticity (EMP), which allows them to shift reversibly between adherent, static and more detached, migratory states. These changes in cell behaviour are driven by the programmes of epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) and mesenchymal–epithelial transition (MET), both of which play vital roles during normal development and tissue homeostasis. However, the aberrant activation of these processes can also drive distinct stages of cancer progression, including tumour invasiveness, cell dissemination and metastatic colonization and outgrowth. This review examines emerging common themes underlying EMP during tissue morphogenesis and malignant progression, such as the context dependence of EMT transcription factors, a central role for partial EMTs and the nonlinear relationship between EMT and MET.
This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Contemporary morphogenesis'
Proximal business intelligence on the semantic web
This is the post-print version of this article. The official version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2010 Springer.Ubiquitous information systems (UBIS) extend current Information System thinking to explicitly differentiate technology between devices and software components with relation to people and process. Adapting business data and management information to support specific user actions in context is an ongoing topic of research. Approaches typically focus on providing mechanisms to
improve specific information access and transcoding but not on how the information
can be accessed in a mobile, dynamic and ad-hoc manner. Although web ontology has been used to facilitate the loading of data warehouses, less research has been carried out on ontology based mobile reporting. This paper explores how business data can be modeled and accessed using the web ontology
language and then re-used to provide the invisibility of pervasive access; uncovering
more effective architectural models for adaptive information system strategies of this type. This exploratory work is guided in part by a vision of business intelligence that is highly distributed, mobile and fluid, adapting to sensory understanding of the underlying environment in which it operates. A proof-of concept mobile and ambient data access architecture is developed in order to further test the viability of such an approach. The paper concludes with an ontology engineering framework for systems of this type – named UBIS-ONTO
Breast cancer screening in a resource poor country: Ultrasound versus mammography
Background: Breast cancer is the commonest female cancer in Nigeria. Despite its increased awareness, affordability of available screening tools is a bane. Mammography, the goal standard for screening is costly and not widely available in terms of infrastructure, technical/personnel capabilities. Ultrasound is accessible and affordable.Objectives: This study compared the use of ultrasound and mammography as breast cancer screening tools in women in South West Nigeria by characterizing and comparing the prevalent breast parenchyma, breast cancer features and the independent sensitivity of ultrasound and mammography.Methods: This cross sectional comparative descriptive study used both ultrasound and mammography as screening tools in 300 consenting women aged 30 to 60 years who attended a free breast cancer screening campaign in a tertiary hospital in Lagos. Categorical variables were presented in tables and Chi squares for associations P- value set at ± 0.1.Results: Mean age was 41.01 + 6.5years with majority in the 30 – 39 year age group 139 (55%). Fatty (BIRADS A and B) parenchyma predominated {ultrasound 237 (79%); mammography 233 (77.7%)} in all age groups. 7 (2.3%) were confirmed malignant by histology with (6) in the 30-39 age group and (1) in the 40-49 age group. Ultrasounddetected all the confirmed cases 7(100%), whereas mammography detected 6 (85%). Sensitivity was higher using ultrasound (100%) than mammography (85.7%).Conclusion: Ultrasound can be utilized as a first line of screening especially in remote/rural areas in developing world.Funding: Part funding from Run for Cure governmental organizationKeywords: Breast Cancer, Women, Ultrasound, Mammography, Sensitivit
Constrained spin dynamics description of random walks on hierarchical scale-free networks
We study a random walk problem on the hierarchical network which is a
scale-free network grown deterministically. The random walk problem is mapped
onto a dynamical Ising spin chain system in one dimension with a nonlocal spin
update rule, which allows an analytic approach. We show analytically that the
characteristic relaxation time scale grows algebraically with the total number
of nodes as . From a scaling argument, we also show the
power-law decay of the autocorrelation function C_{\bfsigma}(t)\sim
t^{-\alpha}, which is the probability to find the Ising spins in the initial
state {\bfsigma} after time steps, with the state-dependent non-universal
exponent . It turns out that the power-law scaling behavior has its
origin in an quasi-ultrametric structure of the configuration space.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure
Universality of Frequency and Field Scaling of the Conductivity Measured by Ac-Susceptibility of a Ybco-Film
Utilizing a novel and exact inversion scheme, we determine the complex linear
conductivity from the linear magnetic ac-susceptibility
which has been measured from 3\,mHz to 50\,MHz in fields between 0.4\,T and
4\,T applied parallel to the c-axis of a 250\,nm thin disk. The frequency
derivative of the phase and the dynamical scaling of
above and below provide clear evidence for a
continuous phase transition at to a generic superconducting state. Based
on the vortex-glass scaling model, the resulting critical exponents and
are close to those frequently obtained on films by other means and
associated with an 'isotropic' vortex glass. The field effect on
can be related to the increase of the glass coherence length,
.Comment: 8 pages (5 figures upon request), revtex 3.0, APK.94.01.0
Critical exponents in Ising spin glasses
We determine accurate values of ordering temperatures and critical exponents
for Ising Spin Glass transitions in dimension 4, using a combination of finite
size scaling and non-equilibrium scaling techniques. We find that the exponents
and vary with the form of the interaction distribution, indicating
non-universality at Ising spin glass transitions. These results confirm
conclusions drawn from numerical data for dimension 3.Comment: 6 pages, RevTeX (or Latex, etc), 10 figures, Submitted to PR
Temperature dependence and mechanisms for vortex pinning by periodic arrays of Ni dots in Nb films
Pinning interactions between superconducting vortices in Nb and magnetic Ni
dots were studied as a function of current and temperature to clarify the
nature of pinning mechanisms. A strong current dependence is found for a square
array of dots, with a temperature dependent optimum current for the observation
of periodic pinning, that decreases with temperature as (1-T/Tc)3/2. This same
temperature dependence is found for the critical current at the first matching
field with a rectangular array of dots. The analysis of these results allows to
narrow the possible pinning mechanisms to a combination of two: the interaction
between the vortex and the magnetic moment of the dot and the proximity effect.
Moreover, for the rectangular dot array, the temperature dependence of the
crossover between the low field regime with a rectangular vortex lattice to the
high field regime with a square configuration has been studied. It is found
that the crossover field increases with decreasing temperature. This dependence
indicates a change in the balance between elastic and pinning energies,
associated with dynamical effects of the vortex lattice in the high field
range.Comment: 12 text pages (revtex), 6 figures (1st jpeg, 2nd-6th postscript)
accepted in Physical Review
Dynamic scaling and aging phenomena in short-range Ising spin glass: CuCoCl-FeCl graphite bi-intercalation compound
Static and dynamic behavior of short-range Ising-spin glass
CuCoCl-FeCl graphite bi-intercalation compounds
(GBIC) has been studied with SQUID DC and AC magnetic susceptibility. The
dependence of the zero-field relaxation time above a spin-freezing
temperature (= 3.92 0.11 K) is well described by critical slowing
down. The absorption below decreases with
increasing angular frequency , which is in contrast to the case of 3D
Ising spin glass. The dynamic freezing temperature at which
dd, is determined as a function of
frequency (0.01 Hz 1 kHz) and magnetic field (0 5 kOe). The dynamic scaling analysis of the relaxation time
defined as at suggests the absence of
SG phase in the presence of (at least above 100 Oe). Dynamic scaling
analysis of and near
leads to the critical exponents ( = 0.36 0.03, = 3.5
0.4, = 1.4 0.2, = 6.6 1.2, = 0.24
0.02, and = 0.13 0.02). The aging phenomenon is studied through
the absorption below . It obeys a
power-law decay with an exponent . The rejuvenation effect is also observed under
sufficiently large (temperature and magnetic-field) perturbations.Comment: 14 pages, 19 figures; to be published in Phys. Rev. B (September 1,
2003
The Potts Fully Frustrated model: Thermodynamics, percolation and dynamics in 2 dimensions
We consider a Potts model diluted by fully frustrated Ising spins. The model
corresponds to a fully frustrated Potts model with variables having an integer
absolute value and a sign. This model presents precursor phenomena of a glass
transition in the high-temperature region. We show that the onset of these
phenomena can be related to a thermodynamic transition. Furthermore this
transition can be mapped onto a percolation transition. We numerically study
the phase diagram in 2 dimensions (2D) for this model with frustration and {\em
without} disorder and we compare it to the phase diagram of the model with
frustration {\em and} disorder and of the ferromagnetic model.
Introducing a parameter that connects the three models, we generalize the exact
expression of the ferromagnetic Potts transition temperature in 2D to the other
cases. Finally, we estimate the dynamic critical exponents related to the Potts
order parameter and to the energy.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, new result
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