Implications of Technological Change for Journalists' Tasks and Skills

The authors explore how technology has altered the work processes and activities in news organizations. They show how story ideageneration, research, sourcing, processing, packaging, and repurposinghave changed and created needs for news skills and capabilities

Non-dental oral cavity findings in gastroesophageal reflux disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is known as the most prevalent gastrointestinal disorder in the United States, leading to substantial morbidity, although associated mortality is rare. Based on the appearance of esophageal mucosa on upper endoscopy, GERD is divided into erosive esophagitis (ERD) and nonerosive reflux disease (NERD). Heartburn and acid regurgitation are the typical symptoms of the disease, although some patients may present atypical manifestations such as epigastric pain, nausea, asthma, chronic cough, pharyngitis, laryngitis, sleep disturbances, otitis, and sinusitis. Other signs, such as oral mucosal lesions may result from GERD by direct acid or acidic vapor contact in the oral cavity. Oral manifestations such as tooth erosion, periodontitis, gingivitis, palatal erythema, ulceration, glossitis, oral acid burning sensation, halitosis, xerostomia have recently been reported in GERD patients. A considerable percentage of the patients are affected by oral manifestations before the onset of gastrointestinal symptoms, although in most cases the gastrointestinal signs and symptoms dominate the clinical picture. The injured oral mucosa negatively impacts the quality of life, especially functional limitation, physical inability and psychological disabilities, thus leading to social isolation. There is plenty of non-standardized information on the oral mucosal changes in GERD. In this context, we aimed at synthesizing and analyzing the current available evidence on non-dental oral cavity lesions and complaints that are present in patients diagnosed with GERD

Neuroendocrine carcinoma of the breast: a case report

Neuroendocrine breast carcinomas represent a rare subtype of breast cancer. Their definition, prevalence and prognosis remain controversial in the literature. Regarding the presentation, there are no differences from other breast carcinomas and clinical syndromes related to hormone production are extremely rare. Refinement of the classification of neuroendocrine neoplasms of the breast is needed in order to improve the reproducibility of their diagnostic criteria and to define their clinical significance. This article presents the case of a 44-year-old female patient diagnosed with invasive breast carcinoma with neuroendocrine features, according to the 2012 World Health Organization (WHO) definition, with focus on presentation, clinical manifestations, diagnostic approach and differential diagnosis

Incidence and survival for oropharynx and non-oropharynx head and neck cancers among veterans living with HIV

BACKGROUND: People living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH) have an excess risk for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) compared to the general U.S. population, but little is known about HIV-specific risk factors associated with the incidence and outcomes HNSCC. We aim to identify clinical and HIV-specific risk factors associated with oropharyngeal and non-oropharyngeal HNSCC incidence and outcomes separately. METHODS: We constructed a retrospective cohort study of 45,052 PLWH aged 18 or above from the national Veteran Affairs (VA) Corporate Data from 1999 to 2015. We extracted demographic data and risk factor information, including history of alcohol abuse, smoking, CD4 count (cells/μl), and percent of follow-up time with undetectable HIV viral load as time-updated variables. We calculated the age-standardized incidence rates of oropharyngeal and non-oropharyngeal HNSCC and estimated adjusted hazard ratios (HR). We also examined overall survival using Kaplan-Meier curves and adjusted HR. RESULTS: The standardized incidence rate of oropharyngeal and non-oropharyngeal HNSCC in this veteran cohort of PLWH is 23.0 (95% confidence intervals (CIs): 17.1-28.9) and 55.4 (95% CI: 46.5-64.3) per 100,000 person-years, respectively. Nadir CD4 count ≤200 was associated with an increased risk of non-oropharyngeal HNSCC (HR: 1.78; 95% CI: 1.31-2.30 vs \u3e200). Five-year overall survival of OPSCC (37.0%) was significantly lower than non-oropharyngeal HNSCC (49.1%). CONCLUSIONS: PLWH who receive care in the VA had higher age-adjusted HNSCC incidence rates than reported in the general population, suggesting that HIV and immunosuppression play a role. Additional studies should be conducted to study the interaction between HPV and HIV

Неалкогольный стеатоз печени и трансплантация печени: противоречия, результаты и перспективы

Clinica Gastroenterologie, Departamentul Medicină Internă, USMF N. Testemiţanu, Clinica Chirurgie Biliopancreatică, Departamentul Chirurgie, USMF N. Testemiţanu, Chișinău, Republica Moldova, Clinica de Chirurgie și Transplant Hepatic, Institutul Clinic Fundeni, București, România, Conferinţa Naţională de Gastroenterologie și Hepatologie cu participare internaţională 20 iunie 2014 Chişinău, Republica MoldovaNonalcoholic fatty liver disease affects a substantial proportion of the general population worldwide. This high prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease has important consequences in the donor selection process for liver transplantation, and in the post transplant period given the high recurrence rate of disease. De novo NAFLD can also occur in the allograft of patients transplanted for nonNAFLD liver disease. Predictors for NAFLD post-transplant recurrence include obesity, hyperlipidemia and diabetes as well as steroid dose after liver transplantation. A polymorphism in PNPLA3 that mediates triglyceride hydrolysis is linked to pre-transplant risk of obesity and has also been linked to post transplant NAFLD risk. This paper reviews the implications of NAFLD in both the pre- and post-liver transplantation settingЗначительная часть населения в мире страдает неалкогольным стеатозом печени. Высокая распространенность неалкогольного стеатоза печени имеет важные последствия в процессе отбора доноров для трансплантации печени. Неалкогольный стеатоз поражает пересаженную печень реципиентов, которые не страдали этой патологией до пересадки. Факторы, влияющие на развитие неалкогольного стеатоза печени после трансплантации, включают ожирение, гиперлипидемию и диабет, а также использование высоких доз стероидов после трансплантации. Генетический полиморфизм PNPLA3, влияя на гидролиз триглицеридов, связан с риском ожирения перед трансплантацией и риском неалкогольного стеатоза печени после трансплантации. В настоящем обзоре литературы рассматривается влияние неалкогольного стеатоза печени на состояние пациентов перед и после трансплантации

Cum steatoza hepatică non-alcoolică a grefei influenţează securitatea donatorului după transplant hepatic de la donator viu

Introducere: Nu este bine determinată influenţa gradului de steatoză a grefei asupra securităţii donatorului viu după hepatectomie efectuată pentru donare. Gradul steatozei hepatice la donator viu ar putea infl uenţa, precum şi potenţial afecta recuperarea donatorului după hepatectomie parţială. Scopul acestui studiu a fost evaluarea impactului steatozei hepatice macroveziculare minimale asupra evoluţiei postoperatorii şi securităţii donatorului de ficat viu. Material şi metode: În studiul au fost incluşi 7 donatori de ficat vii care au fost divizaţi în două grupe în dependenţă de prezenţa steatozei hepatice minimale macroveziculare la examenul morfopatologic. Grupele au fost analizate prin prisma examenului pre operator demografi c, antropometric, evaluării intraoperatorii, postoperatorii şi prevalenţei complicaţiilor. Rezultate: au fost găsite diferenţe semnificative statistic privind indicele masei corporale, duratei intervenţiei chirurgicale, nivelului ALAT, duratei normalizării transaminazelor. Prezenţa steatozei hepatice nu a infl uenţat numărul complicaţiile postoperatorii şi volumul hemoragiei intraoperatorii. Concluzii: supravieţuirea grefei şi a donatorului nu este afectata de steatoza hepatică macroveziculară minimală (până la 30%). Evoluţia postoperatorie nu depinde de prezenţa steatozei hepatice macroveziculare minimale

Alternate wiring of a KNOXI genetic network underlies differences in leaf development of A. thaliana and C. hirsuta

Two interrelated problems in biology are understanding the regulatory logic and predictability of morphological evolution. Here, we studied these problems by comparing Arabidopsis thaliana, which has simple leaves, and its relative, Cardamine hirsuta, which has dissected leaves comprising leaflets. By transferring genes between the two species, we provide evidence for an inverse relationship between the pleiotropy of SHOOTMERISTEMLESS (STM) and BREVIPEDICELLUS (BP) homeobox genes and their ability to modify leaf form. We further show that cis-regulatory divergence of BP results in two alternative configurations of the genetic networks controlling leaf development. In C. hirsuta, ChBP is repressed by the microRNA164A (MIR164A)/ChCUP-SHAPED COTYLEDON (ChCUC) module and ChASYMMETRIC LEAVES1 (ChAS1), thus creating cross-talk between MIR164A/CUC and AS1 that does not occur in A. thaliana. These different genetic architectures lead to divergent interactions of network components and growth regulation in each species. We suggest that certain regulatory genes with low pleiotropy are predisposed to readily integrate into or disengage from conserved genetic networks influencing organ geometry, thus rapidly altering their properties and contributing to morphological divergence

Integrative genomic analysis reveals low T-cell infiltration as the primary feature of tobacco use in HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer

Although tobacco use is an independent adverse prognostic feature in HPV(+) oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC), the biologic features associated with tobacco use have not been systematically investigated. We characterized genomic and immunologic features associated with tobacco use through whole exome sequencing, mRNA hybridization, and immunohistochemical staining in 47 HPV(+) OPSCC tumors. Low expression of transcripts in a T cell-inflamed gene expression profile (TGEP) was associated with tobacco use at diagnosis and lower overall and disease-free survival. Tobacco use was associated with an increased proportion of T \u3e C substitutions and a lower proportion of expected mutational signatures, but not with increases in mutational burden or recurrent oncogenic mutations. Our findings suggest that rather than increased mutational burden, tobacco\u27s primary and clinically relevant association in HPV(+) OPSCC is immunosuppression of the tumor immune microenvironment. Quantitative assays of T cell infiltration merit further study as prognostic markers in HPV(+) OPSCC

Whole blood transcript and protein abundance of the vascular endothelial growth factor family relate to cognitive performance

The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) family of genes has been implicated in the clinical development of Alzheimer's Disease (AD). A previous study identified associations between gene expression of VEGF family members in the prefrontal cortex and cognitive performance and AD pathology. This study explored if those associations were also observed in the blood. Consistent with previous observations in brain tissue, higher blood gene expression of placental growth factor (PGF) was associated with a faster rate of memory decline (p=0.04). Higher protein abundance of FMS-related receptor tyrosine kinase 4 (FLT4) in blood was associated with biomarker levels indicative of lower amyloid and tau pathology, opposite the direction observed in brain. Also, higher gene expression of VEGFB in blood was associated with better baseline memory (p=0.008). Notably, we observed that higher gene expression of VEGFB in blood was associated with lower expression of VEGFB in the brain (r=-0.19, p=0.02). Together, these results suggest that the VEGFB, FLT4, and PGF alterations in the AD brain may be detectable in the blood compartment

Conservation versus divergence in LEAFY and APETALA functions between Arabidopsis thaliana and Cardamine hirsuta

International audienceA conserved genetic toolkit underlies the development of diverse floral forms among angiosperms. However, the degree of conservation vs divergence in the configuration of these gene regulatory networks is less clear. We addressed this question in a parallel genetic study between the closely related species Arabidopsis thaliana and Cardamine hirsuta. We identified leafy (lfy) and apetala1 (ap1) alleles in a mutant screen for floral regulators in C. hirsuta. C. hirsuta lfy mutants showed a complete homeotic conversion of flowers to leafy shoots, mimicking lfy ap1 double mutants in A. thaliana. Through genetic and molecular experiments, we showed that AP1 activation is fully dependent on LFY in C. hirsuta, by contrast to A. thaliana. Additionally, we found that LFY influences heteroblasty in C. hirsuta, such that loss or gain of LFY function affects its progression. Overexpression of UNUSUAL FLORAL ORGANS also alters C. hirsuta leaf shape in an LFY-dependent manner. We found that LFY and AP1 are conserved floral regulators that act nonredundantly in C. hirsuta, such that LFY has more obvious roles in floral and leaf development in C. hirsuta than in A. thaliana