Denitrification and nitrous oxide emissions from riparian forests soils exposed to prolonged nitrogen runoff

Compared to upland forests, riparian forest soils have greater potential to remove nitrate (NO3) from agricultural run-off through denitrification. It is unclear, however, whether prolonged exposure of riparian soils to nitrogen (N) loading will affect the rate of denitrification and its end products. This research assesses the rate of denitrification and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from riparian forest soils exposed to prolonged nutrient run-off from plant nurseries and compares these to similar forest soils not exposed to nutrient run-off. Nursery run-off also contains high levels of phosphate (PO4). Since there are conflicting reports on the impact of PO4 on the activity of denitrifying microbes, the impact of PO4 on such activity was also investigated. Bulk and intact soil cores were collected from N-exposed and non-exposed forests to determine denitrification and N2O emission rates, whereas denitrification potential was determined using soil slurries. Compared to the non-amended treatment, denitrification rate increased 2.7- and 3.4-fold when soil cores collected from both N-exposed and non-exposed sites were amended with 30 and 60 μg NO3-N g-1 soil, respectively. Net N2O emissions were 1.5 and 1.7 times higher from the N-exposed sites compared to the non-exposed sites at 30 and 60 μg NO3-N g-1 soil amendment rates, respectively. Similarly, denitrification potential increased 17 times in response to addition of 15 μg NO3-N g-1 in soil slurries. The addition of PO4 (5 μg PO4–P g-1) to soil slurries and intact cores did not affect denitrification rates. These observations suggest that prolonged N loading did not affect the denitrification potential of the riparian forest soils; however, it did result in higher N2O emissions compared to emission rates from non-exposed forests

CCR9-CCL25 interactions promote cisplatin resistance in breast cancer cell through Akt activation in a PI3K-dependent and FAK-independent fashion

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Chemotherapy heavily relies on apoptosis to kill breast cancer (BrCa) cells. Many breast tumors respond to chemotherapy, but cells that survive this initial response gain resistance to subsequent treatments. This leads to aggressive cell variants with an enhanced ability to migrate, invade and survive at secondary sites. Metastasis and chemoresistance are responsible for most cancer-related deaths; hence, therapies designed to minimize both are greatly needed. We have recently shown that CCR9-CCL25 interactions promote BrCa cell migration and invasion, while others have shown that this axis play important role in T cell survival. In this study we have shown potential role of CCR9-CCL25 axis in breast cancer cell survival and therapeutic efficacy of cisplatin.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation, Vybrant apoptosis and TUNEL assays were performed to ascertain the role of CCR9-CCL25 axis in cisplatin-induced apoptosis of BrCa cells. Fast Activated Cell-based ELISA (FACE) assay was used to quantify <it>In situ </it>activation of PI3K^p85, Akt^Ser473, GSK-3β^Ser9and FKHR^Thr24in breast cancer cells with or without cisplatin treatment in presence or absence of CCL25.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>CCR9-CCL25 axis provides survival advantage to BrCa cells and inhibits cisplatin-induced apoptosis in a PI3K-dependent and focal adhesion kinase (FAK)-independent fashion. Furthermore, CCR9-CCL25 axis activates cell-survival signals through Akt and subsequent glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta (GSK-3β) and forkhead in human rhabdomyosarcoma (FKHR) inactivation. These results show that CCR9-CCL25 axis play important role in BrCa cell survival and low chemotherapeutic efficacy of cisplatin primarily through PI3K/Akt dependent fashion.</p

Cytogerontology since 1881: A reappraisal of August Weismann and a review of modern progress

Cytogerontology, the science of cellular ageing, originated in 1881 with the prediction by August Weismann that the somatic cells of higher animals have limited division potential. Weismann's prediction was derived by considering the role of natural selection in regulating the duration of an organism's life. For various reasons, Weismann's ideas on ageing fell into neglect following his death in 1914, and cytogerontology has only reappeared as a major research area following the demonstration by Hayflick and Moorhead in the early 1960s that diploid human fibroblasts are restricted to a finite number of divisions in vitro. In this review we give a detailed account of Weismann's theory, and we reveal that his ideas were both more extensive in their scope and more pertinent to current research than is generally recognised. We also appraise the progress which has been made over the past hundred years in investigating the causes of ageing, with particular emphasis being given to (i) the evolution of ageing, and (ii) ageing at the cellular level. We critically assess the current state of knowledge in these areas and recommend a series of points as primary targets for future research

Breast cancer response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy: predictive markers and relation with outcome

The aim of this study was to provide a better insight into breast cancer response to chemotherapy. Chemotherapy improves outcome in breast cancer patients. The effect of cytotoxic treatment cannot be predicted for individual patients. Therefore, the identification of tumour characteristics associated with tumour response and outcome is of great clinical interest. We studied 97 patients, who received anthracycline-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Tumour samples were taken prior to and after chemotherapy. We quantified the response to chemotherapy clinically and pathologically and determined histological and molecular tumour characteristics. We assessed changes in the expression of Bcl-2, ER, P53 HER2 and Ki-67. Association with response and outcome was tested for all parameters. The experimental results showed 15 clinical (17%) and three (3%) pathological complete remissions. There were 18 (20%) clinical vs 29 (33%) pathological nonresponders. The expression of most markers was similar before and after chemotherapy. Only Ki-67 was significantly decreased after chemotherapy. Factors correlated with response were: large tumour size, ER negativity, high Ki-67 count and positive P53 status. Tumour response and marker expression did not predict disease-free or overall survival. In conclusion, clinical and pathological response assessments are poorly associated. Proliferation decreases significantly after chemotherapy. ER negativity and a high proliferation index are associated with better response. HER2 status does not predict response, and outcome is not related to tumour response

A randomized, controlled trial of 3.0 mg of liraglutide in weight management

BACKGROUND Obesity is a chronic disease with serious health consequences, but weight loss is difficult to maintain through lifestyle intervention alone. Liraglutide, a glucagonlike peptide-1 analogue, has been shown to have potential benefit for weight management at a once-daily dose of 3.0 mg, injected subcutaneously. METHODS We conducted a 56-week, double-blind trial involving 3731 patients who did not have type 2 diabetes and who had a body-mass index (BMI; the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters) of at least 30 or a BMI of at least 27 if they had treated or untreated dyslipidemia or hypertension. We randomly assigned patients in a 2:1 ratio to receive once-daily subcutaneous injections of liraglutide at a dose of 3.0 mg (2487 patients) or placebo (1244 patients); both groups received counseling on lifestyle modification. The coprimary end points were the change in body weight and the proportions of patients losing at least 5% and more than 10% of their initial body weight. RESULTS At baseline, the mean (±SD) age of the patients was 45.1±12.0 years, the mean weight was 106.2±21.4 kg, and the mean BMI was 38.3±6.4; a total of 78.5% of the patients were women and 61.2% had prediabetes. At week 56, patients in the liraglutide group had lost a mean of 8.4±7.3 kg of body weight, and those in the placebo group had lost a mean of 2.8±6.5 kg (a difference of -5.6 kg; 95% confidence interval, -6.0 to -5.1; P&lt;0.001, with last-observation-carried-forward imputation). A total of 63.2% of the patients in the liraglutide group as compared with 27.1% in the placebo group lost at least 5% of their body weight (P&lt;0.001), and 33.1% and 10.6%, respectively, lost more than 10% of their body weight (P&lt;0.001). The most frequently reported adverse events with liraglutide were mild or moderate nausea and diarrhea. Serious events occurred in 6.2% of the patients in the liraglutide group and in 5.0% of the patients in the placebo group. CONCLUSIONS In this study, 3.0 mg of liraglutide, as an adjunct to diet and exercise, was associated with reduced body weight and improved metabolic control. (Funded by Novo Nordisk; SCALE Obesity and Prediabetes NN8022-1839 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01272219.)

Measurement of prompt J/ψ pair production in pp collisions at √s = 7 Tev

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