Fatal Obstacle Research Articles

Solvent Molecule Design Enables Excellent Charge Transfer Kinetics for a Magnesium Metal Anode

Lacking of suitable electrolytes is a fatal obstacle for the development of rechargeable magnesium batteries (RMBs). Herein, according to the design of a series of solvent molecules, we find 3-methoxypropylamine possesses a middle coordination ability that can be used as an effective solvent and realize a reversible Mg anode with traditional Mg salts. Mechanism study indicates, attributed to its unique solvated structure, energy barriers in both the charge transfer process and desolvation process are extremely low, thus leading to the fast charge transfer kinetics. The relationship between solvated structures and performances is precisely revealed for the first time in RMBs. Additionally, electrolytes with amine solvents possess outstanding water-resistant properties owing to strong hydrogen bonds between amine groups and water. This work proposes a universal design principle of solvent molecules for RMBs, inspiring a new thinking of developing advanced electrolytes in the view of solvents.

Testis-expressed gene 11 inhibits cisplatin-induced DNA damage and contributes to chemoresistance in testicular germ cell tumor

Testicular germ cell tumor (TGCT) is a rare cancer but the most common tumor among adolescent and young adult males. Patients with advanced TGCT often exhibit a worse prognosis due to the acquisition of therapeutic resistance. Cisplatin-based chemotherapy is a standard treatment for advanced TGCTs initially sensitive to cisplatin, as exemplified by embryonal carcinoma. The acquisition of cisplatin resistance, however, could be a fatal obstacle for TGCT management. To identify cisplatin resistance-related genes, we performed transcriptome analysis for cisplatin-resistant TGCT cells compared to parental cells. In two types of cisplatin-resistant TGCT cell models that we established from patient-derived TGCT cells, and from the NEC8 cell line, we found that mRNA levels of the high-mobility-group nucleosome-binding gene HMGN5 and meiosis-related gene TEX11 were remarkably upregulated compared to those in the corresponding parental cells. We showed that either HMGN5 or TEX11 knockdown substantially reduced the viability of cisplatin-resistant TGCT cells in the presence of cisplatin. Notably, TEX11 silencing in cisplatin-resistant TGCT cells increased the level of cleaved PARP1 protein, and the percentage of double-strand break marker γH2AX-positive cells. We further demonstrated the therapeutic efficiency of TEX11-specific siRNA on in vivo xenograft models derived from cisplatin-resistant patient-derived TGCT cells. Taken together, the present study provides a potential insight into a mechanism of cisplatin resistance via TEX11-dependent pathways that inhibit apoptosis and DNA damage. We expect that our findings can be applied to the improvement of cisplatin-based chemotherapy for TGCT, particularly for TEX11-overexpressing tumor.

Pelayanan Pihak Rumah Sakit Swasta Terhadap Pasien Miskin di Kota Lhokseumawe

The hospital as a health service facility has a very strategic role in an effort to accelerate the improvement of the health status of the Indonesian citizens - both public and private hospitals. This is because hospitals have the capacity of affording quality health services that are affordable to the poor community. Based on the research results, it shows that the health services provided by the Bunda Lhokseumawe Hospital have been carried out optimally according to the applicable procedures. Patient satisfaction with the health services. There are those who give satisfying responses to a friendly doctor's attitude and there are also the patient's responses that are not satisfactory. The lack of ability of IT operators to computer applications is a very fatal obstacle in online administration services. To overcome this predicament, intensive socialization and training are required for the IT operators so that they will be able to overcome various obstacles in the event of technical errors during data entry. Another obstacle to health services carried out by the Bunda Lhokseumawe Hospital for patients is the lack of specialist doctors. To overwhelm this matter, the management must recruit more specialist doctors to the hospital.

‘Therefore They Shouldn’t Exist’: The Carter Administration, the ‘Israel Lobby’ and the Sinai Settlements

The Israeli settlements in Sinai could have been a fatal obstacle to Egyptian–Israeli peace, but the Jimmy Carter administration overcame it. The established narrative of how Israel ceded the Sinai settlements focuses on the Camp David summit. However, the real battle over the fate of the settlements was fought previously. In February–April 1978, the Carter administration attempted to turn pro-Israeli supporters in the United States against the Israeli position, according to which the Sinai settlements should remain in place. The Menachem Begin government mobilized to counter that push but lost the battle. Contrary to his image as an awkward political operator, Carter won over supporters of Israel effectively. The case raises questions regarding the oft-mentioned role of the ‘Israel lobby’ in preventing peace.

Folate-Targeted Redox-Responsive Polymersomes Loaded with Chemotherapeutic Drugs and Tariquidar to Overcome Drug Resistance.

Tumor multidrug resistance (MDR) is a fatal obstacle to cancer chemotherapy. The combination of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) inhibitor and chemotherapeutic drugs is one of the effective strategies to reverse tumor MDR. Herein, a folate-decorated PCL-ss-PEG-ss-PCL based redox-responsive polymersome (FA-TQR-Co-PS) was constructed, which was loaded with P-gp inhibitor tariquidar (TQR), anticancer drugs doxorubicin (DOX) and paclitaxel (PTX). The results suggested that the FA-TQR-Co-PS with an apparent bilayered lamellar structure displayed good monodispersity, high drug loading capacity, superior stability and redox-stimulated drug release peculiarity. In vitro cellular uptake study demonstrated that FA-TQR-Co-PS increased drug accumulation into MCF-7/ADR cells via the TQR-induced P-gp efflux inhibition, and further improved targeting to tumor cells due to folate receptor-mediated endocytosis. Furthermore, the DOX and PTX cytotoxicity and proapoptotic activity against MCF-7/ADR was enhanced dramatically along with the administration of TQR, and the cell cycle was profoundly blocked in G2/M phase. The folate-targeted redox-responsive polymersomes loaded with chemotherapeutic drugs and P-gp inhibitor demonstrated noticeable synergistic effect against human MDR MCF-7 cells and successfully reversed drug resistance, which displayed high potential in overcoming tumor MDR as a novel drug delivery system.

Stacked Structure Improves Output Reproducibility of Rubber Force Sensor

The electricity-conducting rubber force sensor is an attractive candidate as a low-cost material for tactile sensors. This article shows the evidence that the output reproducibility is largely improved when two identical sheets of the sensors are stacked. The stacked structure may reduce accidental error that is a fatal obstacle in an accurate control system.

我が国におけるカンキツの品種育成

Programmed citrus breeding in Japan began at the National Institute of Fruit Science in 1937. The intent was both to improve fruit quality and productivity and to broaden fruit ripening time. Citrus is a woody perennial crop that requires a lengthy period of time during cross-breeding for the cross-seedlings to flower and bear fruit. Polyembryony is a fatal obstacle specific to citrus cross-breeding in many cultivars in which a high percentage of seedlings are not hybrids, but rather identical to the female parent, which severely hinders cross-breeding. Therefore, cultivar improvement was achieved through identification of bud sports (natural mutation) among the tree branches.On the other hand, in 1979, cross-breeding efforts slowly continued and succeeded in producing ‘Kiyomi’ tangor, which is a hybrid of ‘Miyagawa-wase’ mandarin and ‘Trovita’ orange. ‘Kiyomi’ is the first tangor cultivar to be released in Japan. It has excellent eating quality, high juiciness, and fragrant flavor. Fortunately, ‘Kiyomi’ seeds are monoembryonic, meaning that all the seedlings raised are hybrids.In addition, since the latter half of the 1990’s, new cultivars bearing fruit containing functional constituents, including carotenoids such as β-cryptoxanthin and/or polymethoxyflavonoids such as nobiletin, have been released. ‘Kankitsu Chukanbohon Nou 6 gou’ fruit has excellent eating quality when fresh, contains high levels of functional constituents, including β-cryptoxanthin, nobiletin, tangeretin, and phenylpropanoids, and is suitable for value-added fruit processing due to its functional constituents.

Establishment of a set of inbred strains of the pine wood nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Aphelenchida: Aphelenchoididae), and evidence of their varying levels of virulence

Pine wilt disease (PWD) caused by the pine wood nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Steiner and Buhrer) Nickle, has become a worldwide problem. The pathogenic mechanism of PWD continues to remain controversial, which in part may be attributed to the lack of universal materials of B. xylophilus with a high genetic purity. The intrinsic high genetic diversity in B. xylophilus isolates/populations must be a fatal obstacle for performing forward genetics and other molecular approaches to controlling them. We conducted a series of successive full-sib mating of conventional isolates of B. xylophilus to establish a set of inbred strains. Using DNA markers, we also determined their genetic diversity and biological characteristics, such as virulence and reproductive ability. Consequently, the newly established strains yielded a higher genetic purity than the conventional isolates and showed varying virulence despite sharing a common ancestor. The significance of this study lies not only in establishing a set of inbred strains of B. xylophilus with the certification of their purity but also in demonstrating that avirulent strain(s) with a genotype similar to the virulent strains can be obtained by simple successive full-sib mating. This technique is one of the most powerful tools for elucidating the pathogenic mechanism(s) of PWD.

Temperature-controlled autocollimator with ultrahigh angular measuring precision

A temperature-controlled autocollimator with ultrahigh angular measuring precision is proposed in this article, which is different from our previous publication [J. Yuan and X. W. Long, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 74, 1362 (2003)]. The autocollimator consists of a zoom lens illuminating a charge-coupled device (CCD). This design provides a compact size and increased stability without compromising precision. Moreover, this design makes it possible to detect a target mirror with either plane reflectors or spherical reflectors. Devices for shock absorption and heat insulation were implemented to diminish external interferences. A special temperature-control system for the autocollimator is designed to control the temperature of the autocollimator. The temperature of the autocollimator fluctuates less than ±0.01°C. The CCD camera’s noise is a fatal obstacle that prevents us from achieving an ultrahigh angular measuring precision. In this article, the influence of the CCD camera’s noise on the measuring resolution is analyzed theoretically in detail. Based on the analysis, some special noise-suppressing methods to eliminate the influence of the CCD camera’s noise are proposed. Both the influence of the CCD camera’s noise and the noise-suppressing methods have not been discussed in our previous publication [J. Yuan and X. W. Long, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 74, 1362 (2003)]. By using the methods mentioned above, the measuring precision of the autocollimator has been greatly improved and the requirements on the external condition have been greatly reduced. The method is proved to be reliable by a prototype experiment. Two-axis angular displacement can be measured simultaneously and a measuring precision of 0.005arcsec has been achieved, which is currently the highest measuring precision in the world.

Adhesion properties of CVD diamond film on binder-less sintered tungsten carbide prepared by the spark sintering process

Abstract This paper describes the adhesion property of chemical-vapor-deposited (CVD) diamond film on tungsten carbide (WC) bodies prepared by spark sintering without a binder. WC bodies ranging from 70 to 95% of density ratio have been sintered under different sintering conditions, and their mechanical properties, such as hardness and bending strength, have been measured. High-quality diamond films with a higher nucleation density compared to that on WC–Co have been deposited on this WC substrate using the microwave plasma CVD method. A comparison study using indentation tests shows that the adhesive strength of diamond films on this binder-less sintered WC is remarkably superior to that on WC–Co, which is believed to result from the increase in diamond nucleation density, the enhanced mechanical bonding between the substrate and the diamond film and the well-matching of thermal expansion coefficients caused by the absence of the fatal obstacle of cobalt. Moreover, an increase in adhesive strength has occurred on the binder-less sintered WC with lower density ratios.

Hoary Bat the Victim of a Barbed Wire Fence

The barbed wire fence is occasionally a fatal obstacle to flying mammals. In May, 1933, Paul B. Johnson (Jour. Mamm., 14: 156) reported finding a …