University of Macau

About: University of Macau is a education organization based out in Macao, Macau, China. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Computer science & Population. The organization has 6636 authors who have published 18324 publications receiving 327384 citations. The organization is also known as: UM & UMAC.

A toll-like receptor agonist mimicking microbial signal to generate tumor-suppressive macrophages.

Abstract: Switching macrophages from a pro-tumor type to an anti-tumor state is a promising strategy for cancer immunotherapy. Existing agents, many derived from bacterial components, have safety or specificity concerns. Here, we postulate that the structures of the bacterial signals can be mimicked by using non-toxic biomolecules of simple design. Based on bioactivity screening, we devise a glucomannan polysaccharide with acetyl modification at a degree of 1.8 (acGM-1.8), which specifically activates toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) signaling and consequently induces macrophages into an anti-tumor phenotype. For acGM-1.8, the degree of acetyl modification, glucomannan pattern, and acetylation-induced assembly are three crucial factors for its bioactivity. In mice, intratumoral injection of acGM-1.8 suppresses the growth of two tumor models, and this polysaccharide demonstrates higher safety than four classical TLR agonists. In summary, we report the design of a new, safe, and specific TLR2 agonist that can generate macrophages with strong anti-tumor potential in mice.

Interrelating leadership behaviors, organizational socialization, and organizational culture

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to look into the theories regarding leadership, organizational culture, and organizational socialization and the theory that some aspects of socialization (e.g. employee enthusiasm for, or lack of, cooperation) can influence an organization's culture.Design/methodology/approach – Via questionnaire, 166 employees from a variety of organizations evaluated their leaders and companies on all variables. Correlation and regression analyses were employed.Findings – Correlations revealed leader behaviors to be more control‐oriented in bureaucratic culture; and more flexible‐oriented in innovative culture; but, contrary to expectations, more control‐oriented in supportive culture. Regressions confirmed these results and revealed that both leadership and socialization explained significant variance in all cultures. The leadership behaviors were also differentially associated with the socialization content domains, supporting most but refuting some aspects of organization theor...

Supramolecular Polymerization-Induced Nanoassemblies for Self-Augmented Cascade Chemotherapy and Chemodynamic Therapy of Tumour

Abstract: The clinical application of chemodynamic therapy is impeded by the insufficient intracellular H 2 O 2 level in tumour tissues. Herein, we developed a supramolecular nanoparticle via a simple one-step supramolecular polymerization-induced self-assembly process using platinum (IV) complex-modified β-cyclodextrin-ferrocene conjugates as supramolecular monomers. The supramolecular nanoparticles could dissociate rapidly upon exposure to endogenous H 2 O 2 in the tumour and release hydroxyl radicals as well as platinum (IV) prodrugs in situ , which is reduced into cisplatin to significantly promote the generation of H 2 O 2 in the tumour tissue. Thus, the supramolecular nanomedicine overcomes the limitation of conventional chemodynamic therapy via the self-augmented cascade radical generation and drug release. In addition, the dissociated supramolecular nanoparticles could be readily excreted from the body via renal clearance to effectively avoid systemic toxicity and ensure long term biocompatibility of the nanomedicine. This work may provide new insights on the design and development of novel supramolecular nanoassemblies for cascade chemo/chemodynamic therapy.

Adaptive fuzzy output-feedback controller design for nonlinear systems via backstepping and small-gain approach.

Abstract: This paper focuses on an input-to-state practical stability (ISpS) problem of nonlinear systems which possess unmodeled dynamics in the presence of unstructured uncertainties and dynamic disturbances. The dynamic disturbances depend on the states and the measured output of the system, and its assumption conditions are relaxed compared with the common restrictions. Based on an input-driven filter, fuzzy logic systems are directly used to approximate the unknown and desired control signals instead of the unknown nonlinear functions, and an integrated backstepping technique is used to design an adaptive output-feedback controller that ensures robustness with respect to unknown parameters and uncertain nonlinearities. This paper, by applying the ISpS theory and the generalized small-gain approach, shows that the proposed adaptive fuzzy controller guarantees the closed-loop system being semi-globally uniformly ultimately bounded. A main advantage of the proposed controller is that it contains only three adaptive parameters that need to be updated online, no matter how many states there are in the systems. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed approach is illustrated by two simulation examples.