Liver metastases of colorectal cancer – where are the limitations of multimodality treatment?

The prognosis of patients with liver-only metastases of colorectal cancer varies significantly, depending mostlyon technical resectability of metastases. Possible treatment modalities include surgical resection, methods oflocal ablative treatment, as well as systemic chemotherapy. Hereunder, we present a case of a 52-year-old malepatient with colon cancer metastases limited initially to the liver, who underwent multimodality treatment consistingof systemic chemotherapy and several forms of localised treatment: radioembolisation, non-anatomical resectionand thermoablation of liver metastases, and wedge resection of lung metastasis. Despite achieving long-lastingcontrol of liver metastases, localised treatment resulted also in chronic thrombocytopaenia, which preventedintroduction of optimal subsequent systemic treatment.Prognosis of patients with liver-only metastases of colorectal cancer varies significantly, depending mostly on technical resectability of metastases. Possible treatment modalities include surgical resection, methods of local ablative treatment, as well as systemic chemotherapy. Hereunder, we present a case of a 52-year old male patient with colon cancer metastases limited initially to the liver, who underwent multimodality treatment consisting of systemic chemotherapy and several forms of localized treatment: radioembolisation, non-anatomical resection and thermoablation of liver metastases and wedge resection of lung metastasis. Despite achieving long-lasting control of liver metastases, localized treatment resulted also in chronic thrombocytopenia, that prevented introduction of optimal subsequent systemic treatment

Virulent bacterial infection improves aversive learning performance in Drosophila melanogaster.

Virulent infections are expected to impair learning ability, either as a direct consequence of stressed physiological state or as an adaptive response that minimizes diversion of energy from immune defense. This prediction has been well supported for mammals and bees. Here, we report an opposite result in Drosophila melanogaster. Using an odor-mechanical shock conditioning paradigm, we found that intestinal infection with bacterial pathogens Pseudomonas entomophila or Erwinia c. carotovora improved flies' learning performance after a 1h retention interval. Infection with P. entomophila (but not E. c. carotovora) also improved learning performance after 5 min retention. No effect on learning performance was detected for intestinal infections with an avirulent GacA mutant of P. entomophila or for virulent systemic (hemocoel) infection with E. c. carotovora. Assays of unconditioned responses to odorants and shock do not support a major role for changes in general responsiveness to stimuli in explaining the changes in learning performance, although differences in their specific salience for learning cannot be excluded. Our results demonstrate that the effects of pathogens on learning performance in insects are less predictable than suggested by previous studies, and support the notion that immune stress can sometimes boost cognitive abilities

Effects of an entomopathogenic fungus on the reproductive potential of Drosophila males.

While mortality is often the primary focus of pathogen virulence, non-lethal consequences, particularly for male reproductive fitness, are less understood; however, they are essential for understanding how sexual selection contributes to promoting resistance. We investigated how the fungal pathogen Metarhizium brunneum affects mating ability, fertility, and seminal fluid protein (SFP) expression of male Drosophila melanogaster paired with highly receptive virgin females in non-competitive settings. Depending on sex and dose, there was a 3-6-day incubation period after infection, followed by an abrupt onset of mortality. Meanwhile, the immune response was strongly induced already 38 h after infection and continued to increase as infection progressed. Latency to mate somewhat increased during the incubation period compared to sham-treated males, but even on Day 5 post infection >90% of infected males mated within 2 h. During the incubation period, M. brunneum infection reduced male reproductive potential (the number of offspring sired without mate limitation) by 11%, with no clear increase over time. Approaching the end of the incubation period, infected males had lower ability to convert number of mating opportunities into number of offspring. After repeated mating, infected males had lower SFP expression than sham controls, more so in males that mated with few mates 24 h earlier. Overall, despite strong activation of the immune response, males' mating ability and fertility remained surprisingly little affected by the fungal infection, even shortly before the onset of mortality. This suggests that the selection for resistance acts mainly through mortality, and the scope for fertility selection to enhance resistance in non-competing settings is rather limited

Quantitative genetics of learning ability and resistance to stress in Drosophila melanogaster.

Even though laboratory evolution experiments have demonstrated genetic variation for learning ability, we know little about the underlying genetic architecture and genetic relationships with other ecologically relevant traits. With a full diallel cross among twelve inbred lines of Drosophila melanogaster originating from a natural population (0.75 < F < 0.93), we investigated the genetic architecture of olfactory learning ability and compared it to that for another behavioral trait (unconditional preference for odors), as well as three traits quantifying the ability to deal with environmental challenges: egg-to-adult survival and developmental rate on a low-quality food, and resistance to a bacterial pathogen. Substantial additive genetic variation was detected for each trait, highlighting their potential to evolve. Genetic effects contributed more than nongenetic parental effects to variation in traits measured at the adult stage: learning, odorant perception, and resistance to infection. In contrast, the two traits quantifying larval tolerance to low-quality food were more strongly affected by parental effects. We found no evidence for genetic correlations between traits, suggesting that these traits could evolve at least to some degree independently of one another. Finally, inbreeding adversely affected all traits

Research on properties of multi-core superconducting wires made from materials based on magnesium and boron (MgB2)

The article presents the results of laboratory research on the production of multi-core superconducting wires. Multicore wires containing boron and magnesium powders in a copper matrix were obtained in the drawing process combined with intermediate heat treatment. The wires contains powder cores were sintered under high isostatic pressure to produce the MgB2 superconducting phase. The critical temperature for the composite’s superconducting state was determined. The macrostructure and energy dispersion (EDX) analysis of multi-core wires was also presented

Influence of plastic deformation on the change of electrical and mechanical properties oxygen-free (OF) copper and copper alloy wires

This article is devoted to the comparison of changes in mechanical and electrical properties due to the applied deformation of copper and copper alloy rods. Bars from four different production technologies were deformed in the drawing process, including oxygen-free (OF) copper, electrolytic copper ETP, copper from cable granulate and silver copper with a high silver content up to 15 wt. % obtained in laboratory technology. The article presents the chemical purity, physical and electrical properties of rods before deformation. The summary of the research on the selected materials are changes in mechanical properties and electrical conductivity as a function of deformation up to 3,5 on a logarithmic scale and the coefficient of electromechanical efficiency WEM