The diffusion between the virgin and aged asphalt binder in recycled mixture is a crucial factor affecting its macro-mechanical performance. In this study, combined model of virgin-aged layered structure was assembled based on molecular dynamics (MD) method. A four-component twelve-category molecule were used to asphalt. behaviors characterized by mean square displacement (MSD), coefficient, re...

Apoptosis or programmed cell death occurs in multicellular organisms throughout life. The removal of apoptotic cells by phagocytes prevents secondary necrosis and inflammation and also plays a key role in tissue remodeling and regulating immune responses. The molecular mechanisms that regulate the engulfment of apoptotic cells are just beginning to be elucidated. Recent genetic studies in the n...

Abnormal regulation of cell migration and altered rearrangement of cytoskeleton are characteristic of metastatic cells. The first described suppressor of metastatic processes is NM23-H1, which displays NDPK (nucleoside-diphosphate kinase) activity. To better understand the role of nm23 genes in cell migration, we investigated the function of NDK-1, the sole Caenorhabditis elegans homolog of gro...

Genetic tractability and easy manipulation make Caenorhabditis elegans a good model to study host-pathogen interactions. Dozens of different bacterial species can pathogenically infect C. elegans under laboratory conditions, and all of these microbes are extracellular pathogens to nematodes. Viruses, on the other hand, are obligate intracellular parasites, and yet no viral infections have been ...

Root cause analysis (RCA) is a recommended practice in retrospectives and cause-effect diagram (CED) is a commonly recommended technique for RCA. Our objective is to evaluate whether CED improves the outcome of RCA and the perceptions of retrospective participants. We conducted a controlled experiment with eleven student software project teams by using two-by-two crossover design resulting in t...

Convection-enhanced delivery (CED) is a technique designed to deliver drugs directly into the brain or tumors. Its ability to bypass the blood-brain barrier (BBB), one of the major hurdles in delivering drugs to the brain, has made it a promising drug delivery method for the treatment of primary brain tumors. A number of clinical trials utilizing CED of various therapeutic agents have been cond...

Root cause analysis (RCA) is a recommended practice in retrospectives and cause–effect diagram (CED) is a commonly recommended technique for RCA. Our objective is to evaluate whether CED improves the outcome and perceived utility of RCA. We conducted a controlled experiment with 11 student software project teams by using a single factor paired design resulting in a total of 22 experimental unit...

Purpose: To identify the structures of cellulose-extract derivative (CED) formed by heating Lentinus edodes cellulose in water surroundings that can efficiently inhibit aflatoxin production by Aspergillus flavus. Methods: CED was purified on Sepharose CL-6B columns, and then structurally characterized using amino acid analyzer, gas chromatography, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and po...

Bcl-2 family proteins include anti- and proapoptotic factors that play important roles in regulating apoptosis in diverse species. Identification of compounds that can modulate the activities of Bcl-2 family proteins will facilitate development of drugs for treatment of apoptosis-related human diseases. We used an in vitro selection method named systematic evolution of ligands by exponential en...