Giant cell tumor of bone (GCT) is a bone tumor consisting of numerous multinucleated osteoclastic giant cells involved in bone resorption and neoplastic osteoblast-like stromal cells responsible for tumor growth. The tumor occasionally metastasizes to the lung; however, factors leading to metastasis in this tumor are unknown. The TWIST-1 protein (also referred to as TWIST) has been suggested to be involved in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and tumor progression in some cancers. In this study we investigated the functional role of TWIST in GCT cell angiogenesis and migration. Overexpression of TWIST in neoplastic GCT stromal cells significantly increased mRNA and protein expression of VEGF and VEGFR1 in vitro, whereas knockdown of TWIST resulted in decreased VEGF and VEGFR1 expression. A stable cell line with TWIST overexpression resulted in features of EMT including increased cell migration and downregulation of E-cadherin. The results of our study indicate that TWIST may play an important role in angiogenesis and cell migration in GCT.

This article reviews the different techniques used to monitor the respiration and sounds of livestock. Livestock respiration is commonly assessed visually by observing abdomen fluctuation; however, the traditional methods are time consuming, subjective, being therefore impractical for large-scale operations and must rely on automation. Contact and non-contact technologies are used to automatically monitor respiration rate; contact technologies (e.g., accelerometers, pressure sensors, and thermistors) utilize sensors that are physically mounted on livestock while non-contact technologies (e.g., computer vision, thermography, and sound analysis) enable a non-invasive method of monitoring respiration. This work summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of contact and non-contact technologies and discusses the emerging role of non-contact sensors in automating monitoring for large-scale farming operations. This work is the first in-depth examination of automated monitoring technologies for livestock respiratory diseases; the findings and recommendations are important for livestock researchers and practitioners who can gain a better understanding of these different technologies, especially emerging non-contact sensing.

Highlights63% of the 24 center pivots tested in western Oklahoma had acceptable uniformity.On average, 7% of pumped water was lost before reaching the soil surface.Irrigation nonuniformity can have major, yet variable effects on water fluxes.Abstract. Nonuniform application of water through center pivots can lead to under- or over-irrigation at parts of the field, which can lead to water stress and yield reductions or loss of limited water resources and leaching of applied chemicals, respectively. In this study, irrigation uniformity tests were performed to determine the application uniformity and conveyance efficiency of 24 center pivots in western Oklahoma. The average coefficient of uniformity and low quarter distribution uniformity of the tested systems were 78% and 69%, respectively. These values indicate an overall borderline acceptable application uniformity. The average water conveyance efficiency was 93%, indicating that 7% of pumped water was lost before reaching the soil surface. Measured ratios of collected water in each collector to the average collected water for corresponding center pivots were used to simulate the effects of observed nonuniformity on water fluxes for a 10-year period. Under-irrigation (e.g., caused by clogged nozzles) led to considerable reduction in crop transpiration at the simulation location in the Panhandle, while the decreasing effects were more notable for deep percolation for the location in west-central Oklahoma. Over-irrigation (e.g., caused by leaks or missing nozzles) resulted in substantially larger deep percolations at both locations. Keywords: Catch-can, Conveyance efficiency, Water fluxes.

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