Slip considered path planning of a novel angled-spoke based robot in a terrain mixture of granular media and rigid support.

Navigation in terrains mixture of rigid support and granular media is associated with slippage. It is important to find the optimal path because slippage implies the possibility of a mobile robot being stuck in the sand. This research introduce concept of effective distance which consider effect of slippage to present a path planning algorithm. Effective distance is a conceptual distance that the mobile robot traverse to reach next node, and it is calculated based on traversable difficulty. Traversable difficulty varies with the slope angle, and the revolution speed of the angled spoke-based wheel (ASW) is estimated using meta-model. The meta-model is achieved empirically. Experiments have done in testbench which can implement slope angle and terrain types. Effectiveness of this algorithm was verified through simulation. For the simulations three cost determination methods, namely, the effective distance with varying revolution speed of the ASW, the effective distance with fixed revolution speed of the ASW, and actual distance were examined in four different scenarios. The effective distance with varying revolution speed of the ASW has maximum [Formula: see text] longer total actual distance. However, it results minimum [Formula: see text] shorter total effective distance.

Rhus verniciflua Stokes extract induces inhibition of cell growth and apoptosis in human chronic myelogenous leukemia K562 cells.

Rhus verniciflua Stokes has been widely used as a traditional medicinal plant with a variety of pharmacological activities. We investigated the mechanisms involved in mediating the effects of Rhus verniciflua Strokes (R. verniciflua) extract in human chronic myelogenous leukemia K562 cells, including caspase-dependent apoptotic pathways related to cell-cycle arrest, as well as the inhibition of nuclear factor NF-κB activation and upregulation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway. R. verniciflua extract suppressed the abnormal cellular proliferation of K562 cells in a dose- and time­dependent manner and increased the quantitative proportions of cells involved in the early and late process of apoptosis. Furthermore, R. verniciflua extract significantly mediated the mRNA levels of pro-apoptotic and anti-apoptotic regulators, such as Bcl-2, Bax, Mcl-1 and survivin in apoptotic cells. Particularly, the treatment of K562 cells with R. verniciflua extract augmented the caspase­3 activity and increased the expression of caspase­3 protein, while co-treatment with R. verniciflua extract and the permeant pan­caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK and caspase­3 inhibitor Z-DEVD-FMK inversely enhanced the proliferation of K562 cells. The extract of R. verniciflua inhibited the activation of NF-κB and the phosphorylation of ERK. Collectively, these results indicated that the extract of R. verniciflua inhibited the proliferation of human chronic myelogenous leukemia K562 cells by activating the apoptotic process via caspase­3 overexpression and the regulation of the NF-κB and MAPK signaling.

Orostachys japonicus inhibits the expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 mRNA and modulates the expression of iNOS and COX-2 genes in human PMA-differentiated THP-1 cells via inhibition of NF-κB and MAPK activation.

Orostachys japonicus has been used in traditional medicine as an anticancer agent. The present study aimed to investigate the mechanism by which O. japonicus extract affects the expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9, its association with the expression of the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) genes in phorbol myristate acetate-differentiated THP-1 human monocytic leukemia cells and how it mediates the nuclear factor (NF)-κB and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways. Cell proliferation was analyzed by MTT assay, mRNA expression was detected by quantitative polymerase chain reaction and protein expression was measured by western blot analysis. It was demonstrated that O. japonicus suppressed the mRNA expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9. In addition, O. japonicus was found to downregulate iNOS and COX-2 transcription and translocation. Furthermore, O. japonicus inhibited NF-κB p65 activity as well as the phosphorylation of p38 MAPK, MAPK kinase (MEK) and extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK). The present results suggested that O. japonicus inhibited not only MMP-2 and MMP-9 mRNA expression, but also iNOS and COX-2 gene expression, suppressed NF-κB activation and reduced phosphorylation of p38 MAPK, MEK and ERK. The present results therefore indicated that O. japonicus was able to inhibit the expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 and suppress the transcription and translocation of iNOS and COX-2 by directly inhibiting the activation of NF-κB and the phosphorylation of the MAPK pathway in THP-1 cells.

Two-year clinical effectiveness of adhesives and retention form on resin composite restorations of non-carious cervical lesions.

The current study investigated the clinical effectiveness of three adhesives and the use of retention form in Class V resin composite restorations of the non-carious cervical lesion (NCCL) over a two-year period. One-hundred and fifty NCCLs in 39 patients were restored with resin composites according to six experimental protocols combining the presence or absence of retention form and three adhesives: ScotchBond Multi-Purpose (MP, 3M ESPE), an experimental adhesive (EX, Vericom) and Adper Prompt (AP, 3M ESPE). All restorations were evaluated at baseline, 6, 12 and 24 months. Modified United States Public Health Service (USPHS) criteria were used to evaluate the restorations. MP was found to have significantly superior marginal adaptation than AP in cumulative logistic regression analysis (odds ratio, 2.12; 95% confidence interval, 1.05-4.31; p = 0.0397). In analysis using the Pearson's Chi-square or Fisher's Exact Test to compare the clinical performance of restorations with and without retention form, EX with retention form showed a significantly higher retention rate at two years than that without retention form (p = 0.0089). Restorations with retention form also showed significantly less marginal discoloration than those without retention form in all three adhesives (p = 0.0336).