Reconfigurable liquid crystal droplets using a dielectric force Appl. Phys. Lett. 95, 241108 (2009); 10.1063/1.3275795 Effect of nanoparticle size on sessile droplet contact angle

Background Although chemotherapy, the most widely used systemic treatment in triple‐negative breast cancer (TNBC), markedly improved the patients’ outcome, chemoresistance always occurs. This study purposed to explore new therapeutic strategies for the treatment of chemoresistance. Methods and results The expression and prognostic value of DAB2IP were investigated in TNBC tissues and cell lines. Low DAB2IP expression predicted high mortality risk in TNBC. Inhibition of DAB2IP expression conferred cancer stem cell capacity and chemoresistance in TNBC cell lines. Using murine breast cancer (BC) xenograft models, we evaluated the association with DAB2IP and chemoresistance. DAB2IP inhibited TNBC tumourigenesis and chemoresistance in vivo. Further, we revealed that DAB2IP inhibited β‐catenin nuclear transport through competitive interaction with RAC1 and decreased β‐catenin accumulation in the cell nucleus. Finally, we found that the DNA methylation level was negatively associated with DAB2IP expression in TNBC. Inhibition of DNA methylation restored the DAB2IP expression and attenuated chemoresistance in TNBC. Conclusions We revealed that DAB2IP attenuates chemoresistance of TNBC via inhibition of RAC1‐mediated β‐catenin nuclear accumulation. Decitabine treatment results in re‐expression of DAB2IP by inhibiting DNA methylation and could be a potential therapeutic strategy for chemoresistance in TNBC.

Background:Osteotomy of the fibula is a common orthopedic procedure performed for various indications, including harvesting fibula for grafting purposes. The effect of fibular osteotomy and need for tibiofibular syndesmotic fixation fusion at different levels on tibiotalar joint is matter of debate. We performed a biomechanical analysis of the impact of fibular osteotomies at different levels and whether the fixation of distal tibiofibular joint mitigates instability caused by the osteotomy.Materials and Methods:Six lower limb specimens from fresh adult cadavers were used to prepare leg-foot models. The specimens were assigned to six status according to the level of osteotomy and whether fixation of distal tibiofibular joint was performed or not. Each specimen was then loaded axially to 700 N by the material testing machine, and the tibiotalar joint contact area and peak pressure were measured using an electronic pressure sensor.Results:The contact area and the pressure of tibiotalar joint showed significant changes when compared to the normal specimen. All osteotomy specimens had a decreased tibiotalar contact area and an increased peak pressure. This positively correlated with proximity of level of osteotomy to the lateral malleolus.Conclusions:Through this study, we found that fibular osteotomy had an adverse effect in terms of decreasing the contact surface of tibiotalar joint that led to increased peak pressure in the joint. However, bone fusion and screw fixation of the distal tibiofibular joint reduced these adverse effects.

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This paper studies the propellant and levitation forces of a prototype maglev system where the propellant forces are provided by a linear motor system. For this purpose, the mathematical model and method using finite element method coupled to external circuit model is developed. The details of the propellant and levitation forces for a prototype maglev system under different operating conditions are investigated, and some directions are given for practical engineering applications

The fracture behavior of materials and structures are always caused by stress concentration near the defects in materials. This article describes the complex potential method for solving plane problems of quasicrystalline materials with defects. In order to prove effectiveness and success of the method, an example is given, and the results have very important significance in studying two-dimensional quasicrystals.

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