The uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of intact rocks is one of the key parameters in the course of site characterizations. The isotropy/anisotropy condition of the UCS of intact rocks is dependent on the internal structure of the rocks. The rocks with a random grain structure exhibit an isotropic behavior. However, the rocks with a linear/planar grain structure generally behave transversely-...

Defective fibrillar collagen polymerization in primary tumors has been correlated with increased metastasis. However, it is unclear how collagen organization influences tumor invasion. In this study, we show that collagen I polymerized without telopeptides (the flanking regions of collagen molecules) can differentially affect the three-dimensional migration of mammary carcinoma cells. MDA-MB-23...

Live bacteria and archaea have been isolated from several rock salt deposits of up to hundreds of millions of years of age from all around the world. A key factor affecting their longevity is the ability to keep their genomic DNA intact, for which efficient repair mechanisms are needed. Polyploid microbes are known to have an increased resistance towards mutations and DNA damage, and it has bee...

Ezrin, radixin, and moesin (ERM) proteins are known to be substrates of Rho kinase (ROCK), a key player in vascular smooth muscle regulation. Their function in arteries remains to be elucidated. The objective of the present study was to investigate ERM phosphorylation and function in rat aorta and mesenteric artery and the influence of ERM-binding phosphoprotein 50 (EBP50), a scaffold partner o...

Geological isolation of nuclear waste requires laboratory and field investigations to evaluate migration parameters such as diffusion and dispersion coefficient of radionuclides in order to assess the site suitability for locating a high level radioactive waste repository. However, migration of radionuclides through the rock mass away from the radioactive waste repository is an extremely slow p...

a r t i c l e i n f o The purpose of this study is to analytically predict and to experimentally investigate the seismic response of adjacent filled parallel rock fractures with dissimilar properties (e.g., fracture thickness and stiffness). The time-domain recursive method is extended to predict that a P-wave propagates normally across the filled parallel fractures using the specific stiffness...

Liu, Caiqiong, Jianmin Zuo, Evi Pertens, Peter B. Helli, and Luke J. Janssen. Regulation of Rho/ROCK signaling in airway smooth muscle by membrane potential and [Ca ]i. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 289: L574–L582, 2005. First published June 3, 2005; doi:10.1152/ajplung.00134.2005.—Recently, we have shown that Rho and Rho-activated kinase (ROCK) may become activated by high-millimolar KCl,...

Human ESCs are the pluripotent precursor of the three embryonic germ layers. Human ESCs exhibit basal-apical polarity, junctional complexes, integrin-dependent matrix adhesion, and E-cadherin-dependent cell-cell adhesion, all characteristics shared by the epiblast epithelium of the intact mammalian embryo. After disruption of epithelial structures, programmed cell death is commonly observed. If...

The in-situ tests have been widely used to directly assess the strength and deformability of rock mass, along with which, various numerical approaches were proposed to give rational interpretations to the mechanical phenomenon happening during these tests. In this study, the so-called potential cracks are introduced into DEM model, leading to expanded DEM (EDEM) approach which is capable of sim...