MicroRNA-551b expression profile in low and high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the expression of microRNA (miR)-551b in patients with low and high grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and to find an association with high-risk Human Papillomavirus (HR-HPV) infection-related prognostic biomarkers. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The expression level of miR-551b was determined in 50 paraffin-embedded cervical specimens (10 normal squamous epithelium, 18 condylomas, 8 CIN1, and 14 CIN2-3) using quantitative Real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). χ2-test compared miR-551b expression in different diagnosis groups. An Ordered Logistic Regression and a Probit correlation were made to correlate miR-551b expression levels with the cervical tissue histological findings. The immunohistochemical distribution of p16 and Ki-67 according to histopathological findings was also assessed. RESULTS: The distribution of the miR-551b expression profile was significantly lower in CIN1-3 samples compared to other histological diagnosis groups (condyloma and negative). The expression levels were inversely correlated to the cervical pathological grade, from negative to CIN2-3. A 1% increase in miR-551b expression level produced an increase of 19% to the probability of a minor histological grade diagnosis in a range from negative to CIN2-3 and an increase of 13% to the probability of a negative histological grade diagnosis. Among the cases with miR-551b expression < 0.02 (considered as cut-off value) a significant statistical correlation was found between p16 and Ki-67 expression and the diagnosis of CIN2-3. CONCLUSIONS: O ur d ata s howed a s ignificant inverse correlation between miR-551b expression and the histological grading of the lesions, suggesting a tumor suppressive function in the different stages of cervical dysplasia

Calibration of the Prompt L0 Trigger of the Silicon Pixel Detector for the ALICE Experiment

The ALICE Silicon Pixel Detector (SPD) is the innermost detector of the ALICE experiment at LHC. It includes 1200 front-end chips, with a total of ~107 pixel channels. The pixel size is 50 x 425 μm2. Each front-end chip transmits a Fast-OR signal upon registration of at least one hit in its pixel matrix. The signals are extracted every 100 ns and processed by the Pixel Trigger (PIT) system, to generate trigger primitives. Results are then sent within a latency of 800 ns to the Central Trigger Processor (CTP) to be included in the first Level 0 trigger decision. This paper describes the commissioning of the PIT, the tuning procedure of the front-end chips Fast-OR circuit, and the results of operation with cosmic muons and in tests with LHC beam

Access and metro network convergence for flexible end-to-end network design

This paper reports on the architectural, protocol, physical layer, and integrated testbed demonstrations carried out by the DISCUS FP7 consortium in the area of access - metro network convergence. Our architecture modeling results show the vast potential for cost and power savings that node consolidation can bring. The architecture, however, also recognizes the limits of long-reach transmission for low-latency 5G services and proposes ways to address such shortcomings in future projects. The testbed results, which have been conducted end-to-end, across access - metro and core, and have targeted all the layers of the network from the application down to the physical layer, show the practical feasibility of the concepts proposed in the project

Bone-specific response according to MDA criteria predicts immunotherapy efficacy among advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients

Purpose: The presence of bone metastasis at baseline has been associated with dismal prognosis under immunotherapy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) criteria may be limited for bone-specific response evaluation. Whether their assessment through MD Anderson (MDA) criteria predict immunotherapy efficacy is unknown. Materials and methods: We conducted a single-center retrospective study to assess the use of MDA criteria in evaluating bone metastasis in NSCLC treated with immunotherapy. Radiological imaging were reviewed to classify bone lesions as osteolytic, osteoblastic, or mixed. Bone response to treatment data was classified according to MDA criteria. Results: 222 patients received single-agent immunotherapy. The presence of bone metastasis increased the risk of death both in the univariate (HR: 1.46, 95% CI, 1.05–2.03, p = 0.024) and in the multivariate model (HR: 1.61, 95% CI, 1.10–2.36, p = 0.015). According to MDA criteria, 57.3% of patients had progressive disease as best response, 29.5% stable disease, 11.4% partial response and 1.6% complete response. Bone-specific objective response was associated with a significantly increased median overall survival (11.3 vs. 3.1&nbsp;months, p = 0.027) and longer median progression-free survival (6 vs. 2.1&nbsp;months, p = 0.056). The median time to bone failure (TBF) was 2.4&nbsp;months (IQR, 1.67–3.0). In 25.7% of cases, TBF was shorter than progression-free survival according to RECIST 1.1 criteria. TBF was positively correlated with overall survival (HR = 0.73, p = 0.00019). Conclusions: MDA criteria represent a reliable tool in assessing bone-specific response, offering a more accurate evaluation with the aim to earlier predict survival outcomes or treatment failure compared to RECIST criteria for advanced NSCLC patients receiving immunotherapy

Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) in NSCLC, Gastrointestinal, and Other Solid Tumors: Immunotherapy and Beyond

In the era of immunotherapy, identifying biomarkers of immune system activation has become a high-priority challenge. The blood neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been largely investigated as a biomarker in several cancer types. NLR values have been shown to mirror the tumor-induced inflammatory status and have been demonstrated to be a reliable prognostic tool across stages of disease and therapeutic approaches. When integrated with other biomarkers of response to immunotherapy, such as PD-L1, tumor mutational burden, and tumor-associated immune cells, the NLR may allow to further stratify patients with different likelihoods of deriving a significant clinical benefit. However, despite its accessibility, low cost, and easy interpretation, the NLR is still poorly used as a prognostic tool in daily clinical practice. In this review, we analyze the role of the NLR in defining the relationship between cancer and the immune system, its usefulness in daily clinical practice, and its relationship with other established or emerging biomarkers of immunotherapy outcomes

Effective Rheology of Bubbles Moving in a Capillary Tube

We calculate the average volumetric flux versus pressure drop of bubbles moving in a single capillary tube with varying diameter, finding a square-root relation from mapping the flow equations onto that of a driven overdamped pendulum. The calculation is based on a derivation of the equation of motion of a bubble train from considering the capillary forces and the entropy production associated with the viscous flow. We also calculate the configurational probability of the positions of the bubbles.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Are control of extracellular acid-base balance and regulation of skeleton genes linked to resistance to ocean acidification in adult sea urchins?

• Arbacia lixula and Paracentrotus lividus were differently affected at low seawater pH exposure. • P. lividus skeleton integrity was not affected by low seawater pH. • Arbacia lixula exposed to low seawater pH near CO2 vent showed decreased skeletal integrity. • pH exposure leads to changes in biomineralization-related genes expression. • Acid-base regulation capacity is linked with a better tolerance to low seawater pH

Charge separation relative to the reaction plane in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=2.76\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}= 2.76 TeV

Measurements of charge dependent azimuthal correlations with the ALICE detector at the LHC are reported for Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV. Two- and three-particle charge-dependent azimuthal correlations in the pseudo-rapidity range $|\eta| < 0.8$ are presented as a function of the collision centrality, particle separation in pseudo-rapidity, and transverse momentum. A clear signal compatible with a charge-dependent separation relative to the reaction plane is observed, which shows little or no collision energy dependence when compared to measurements at RHIC energies. This provides a new insight for understanding the nature of the charge dependent azimuthal correlations observed at RHIC and LHC energies.Comment: 12 pages, 3 captioned figures, authors from page 2 to 6, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/286

La pérdida de la eficiencia energética y ambiental de la movilidad de pasajeros en el Gran La Plata, entre 1993 y 2013

La forma de crecimiento de las ciudades argentinas en los últimos años ha incrementado la demanda de movilidad de pasajeros y la ineficiencia energética y ambiental de cada viaje. En este trabajo se presenta una evaluación energética y ambiental del sistema de transporte de pasajeros de la ciudad de La Plata entre 1993 y 2013, a efectos de dimensionar la pérdida de eficiencia de dicho sistema. La información de transporte se basa en encuestas de movilidad y la construcción de indicadores a partir de los valores del modelo Leap adaptados por la fundación Bariloche al caso argentino. Los resultados permiten establecer niveles de criticidad a las variables involucradas siendo la primera el incremento de las tasas de generación de viajes en automóvil, incluyendo los particulares y los autos de alquiler, y la segunda es el incremento de la distancia media de viajes por modo, especialmente por los modos individuales. Las conclusiones sugieren puntos focales para la aplicación de medidas de eficiencia energética y ambiental en el binomio integrado del desarrollo urbano y la movilidad de pasajeros