ABE Teacher\u27s Handbook of Services Available for Adult Learners

Handbook published by the Appalachian Adult Education Center at Morehead State University in 1972 for teachers working with adult learners in Jefferson County, Alabama

Novel Magnetic Resonance Imaging strategy targeting Neurotensin Receptors in detection of Prostate Cancer [preprint]

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of all male cancer deaths. One of the factors present in malignant prostate cells and shown to support its metastatic growth is the neuropeptide neurotensin (NT). The primary goal of the present study was to establish the feasibility of using a newly developed paramagnetic receptor ligand for NT and non-invasive ultrahigh-field magnetic resonance (MR) imaging to visualize prostate cancer in rodents. Orthotropic xenografts were initiated in six-week old male BALB/c nu/nu athymic mice (n = 28) by intra-prostatic (ventral lobe) inoculation of human prostate cancer cells (10 μL of PC3 cells (10^6/100 μL)). Palpable tumors developed within 30-60 days. A micro-imager utilized in these studies was an actively shielded 9.4T, 89 mm bore, Oxford superconducting magnet with a 100 gauss/cm gradient system. Prior to contrast injection, T2 weighted anatomy scans were done to localize the tumor with a spin-echo multi-slice sequence with TR: 2000 TE: 40 and NEX: 1 in both coronal and axial planes. The paramagnetic ligand data sets were collected with a spin-echo, T1 weighted pulse sequence (MSME): TR 300 msec; TE 5 msec; NEX 4 in both axial and coronal planes. The data sets were taken initially at 5-min intervals post contrast injection for the first half hour and then at 15 min intervals for the next 1.5-2 hours for a time series analyses. The temporal distribution of MR signal intensity in various regions were determined in the absence and presence of NT. Our results confirm that the novel NT molecule was protected from enzymatic degradation and capable of forming a high-affinity paramagnetic NT ligand with an extended half-life. During the imaging studies, the signal intensity increased by 200% in the region of the tumor. This increase in signal intensity approached maximum binding within 30 minutes and remained visible for 1-hour post-injection of the contrast agent. Taken together, these findings suggest that it is feasible to detect and image prostate cancer using a paramagnetic NT ligand and the emergence of the NT receptor ligand that may be used as a diagnostic marker for prostate cancer in humans

Ozone exposure is associated with acute changes in inflammation, fibrinolysis, and endothelial cell function in coronary artery disease patients

Air pollution is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, of which ozone is a major contributor. Several studies have found associations between ozone and cardiovascular morbidity, but the results have been inconclusive. We investigated associations between ozone and changes across biological pathways associated with cardiovascular disease

MUC4 activates HER2 signalling and enhances the motility of human ovarian cancer cells

The mucin MUC4 is a high molecular weight transmembrane glycoprotein. It consists of a mucin-type subunit (MUC4α) and a transmembrane growth factor-like subunit (MUC4β). The mucin MUC4 is overexpressed in many epithelial malignancies including ovarian cancer, suggesting a possible role in the pathogenesis of these cancers. In this study, we investigated the functional role of MUC4 in the human ovarian cancer cell line SKOV3. The mucin MUC4 was ectopically expressed by stable transfection, and its expression was examined by western blot and confocal microscopy analyses. The in vitro studies demonstrated an enhanced motility of MUC4-expressing SKOV3 cells compared with the vector-transfected cells. The mucin MUC4 expression was associated with apparent changes in actin organisation, leading to the formation of microspike, lammelopodia and filopodia-like cellular projections. An enhanced protein expression and activation of HER2, a receptor tyrosine kinase, was also seen, although no significant change was observed in HER-2 transcript levels in the MUC4-transfected SKOV3 cells. Reciprocal co-immunoprecipitation revealed an interaction of MUC4 with HER2. Further, the MUC4-overexpressing SKOV3 cells exhibited an increase in the phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase (FAK), Akt and ERK, downstream effectors of HER2. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that MUC4 plays a role in ovarian cancer cell motility, in part, by altering actin arrangement and potentiating HER2 downstream signalling in these cells

Vacuolization of hematopoietic precursors: an enigma with multiple etiologies

Cytoplasmic vacuoles in precursors can be seen in a number of clinical settings, including copper deficiency, zinc toxicity, alcohol abuse, antibiotic treatment, myelodysplasia, and VEXAS syndrome. Gurnari et al asked how common VEXAS syndrome is in patients whose bone marrow aspirates show this distinctive feature, finding 2 diagnoses of VEXAS among 24 cases with vacuoles

Oxy-fuel combustion of coal and biomass blends

The ignition temperature, burnout and NO emissions of blends of a semi-anthracite and a high-volatile bituminous coal with 10 and 20 wt.% of olive waste were studied under oxy-fuel combustion conditions in an entrained flow reactor (EFR). The results obtained under several oxy-fuel atmospheres (21%O2–79%CO2, 30%O2–70%CO2 and 35%O2–65%CO2) were compared with those attained in air. The results indicated that replacing N2 by CO2 in the combustion atmosphere with 21% of O2 caused an increase in the temperature of ignition and a decrease in the burnout value. When the O2 concentration was increased to 30 and 35%, the temperature of ignition was lower and the burnout value was higher than in air conditions. A significant reduction in ignition temperature and a slight increase in the burnout value was observed after the addition of biomass, this trend becoming more noticeable as the biomass concentration was increased. The emissions of NO during oxy-fuel combustion were lower than under air-firing. However, they remained similar under all the oxy-fuel atmospheres with increasing O2 concentrations. Emissions of NO were significantly reduced by the addition of biomass to the bituminous coal, although this effect was less noticeable in the case of the semi-anthracite.This work was carried out with financial support from the Spanish MICINN (Project PS-120000-2005-2) co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund. M.V.G. and L.A. acknowledge funding from the CSIC JAE-Doc and CSIC JAE-Pre programs, respectively, co-financed by the European Social Fund. J.R. acknowledges funding from the Government of the Principado de Asturias (Severo Ochoa program).Peer reviewe

Peat Bog Wildfire Smoke Exposure in Rural North Carolina Is Associated with Cardiopulmonary Emergency Department Visits Assessed through Syndromic Surveillance

Background: In June 2008, burning peat deposits produced haze and air pollution far in excess of National Ambient Air Quality Standards, encroaching on rural communities of eastern North Carolina. Although the association of mortality and morbidity with exposure to urban air pollution is well established, the health effects associated with exposure to wildfire emissions are less well understood. Objective: We investigated the effects of exposure on cardiorespiratory outcomes in the population affected by the fire. Methods: We performed a population-based study using emergency department (ED) visits reported through the syndromic surveillance program NC DETECT (North Carolina Disease Event Tracking and Epidemiologic Collection Tool). We used aerosol optical depth measured by a satellite to determine a high-exposure window and distinguish counties most impacted by the dense smoke plume from surrounding referent counties. Poisson log-linear regression with a 5-day distributed lag was used to estimate changes in the cumulative relative risk (RR). Results: In the exposed counties, significant increases in cumulative RR for asthma [1.65 (95% confidence interval, 1.25–2.1)], chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [1.73 (1.06–2.83)], and pneumonia and acute bronchitis [1.59 (1.07–2.34)] were observed. ED visits associated with cardiopulmonary symptoms [1.23 (1.06–1.43)] and heart failure [1.37 (1.01–1.85)] were also significantly increased. Conclusions: Satellite data and syndromic surveillance were combined to assess the health impacts of wildfire smoke in rural counties with sparse air-quality monitoring. This is the first study to demonstrate both respiratory and cardiac effects after brief exposure to peat wildfire smoke

Clinical and basic implications of dynamic T cell receptor clonotyping in hematopoietic cell transplantation

TCR repertoire diversification constitutes a foundation for successful immune reconstitution after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT). Deep TCR V beta sequencing of 135 serial specimens from a cohort of 35 allo-HCT recipients/donors was performed to dissect posttransplant TCR architecture and dynamics. Paired analysis of clonotypic repertoires showed a minimal overlap with donor expansions. Rarefied and hyperexpanded clonotypic patterns were hallmarks of T cell reconstitution and influenced clinical outcomes. Donor and pretransplant TCR diversity as well as divergence of class I human leukocyte antigen genotypes were major predictors of recipient TCR repertoire recovery. Complementary determining region 3-based specificity spectrum analysis indicated a predominant expansion of pathogen- and tumor-associated clonotypes in the late post-allo-HCT phase, while autoreactive clones were more expanded in the case of graft-versus-host disease occurrence. These findings shed light on post-allo-HCT adaptive immune reconstitution processes and possibly help in tracking alloreactive responses

Использование барий-стронциевого карбонатита при изготовлении сварочных флюсов на основе техногенных отходов металлургического производства

В данной работе рассмотрена возможность использования барий-стронциевого карбонатита при изготовлении сварочных флюсов на основе шлака производства силикомарганца, а так же на основе ковшевых электросталеплавильных шлаков, образованных при производстве рельсовых марок стали. В серии опытов в лабораторных условиях изготавливали и исследовали различные составы сварочных флюсов, были определены химические составы наплавленного металла, проведен металлографический анализ.In this paper the possibility of using barium-strontium carbonatite in the manufacture of welding fluxes on the basis of slag from the production of silicomanganese, and based on ladle steelmaking slags formed in the production of rail steel grades. In a series of experiments in the laboratory have produced and investigated different compositions of welding fluxes, were determined the chemical compositions of the weld metal metallographic analysis

Progress in Assessing Air Pollutant Risks from In Vitro Exposures: Matching Ozone Dose and Effect in Human Airway Cells

In vitro exposures to air pollutants could, in theory, facilitate a rapid and detailed assessment of molecular mechanisms of toxicity. However, it is difficult to ensure that the dose of a gaseous pollutant to cells in tissue culture is similar to that of the same cells during in vivo exposure of a living person. The goal of the present study was to compare the dose and effect of O3 in airway cells of humans exposed in vivo to that of human cells exposed in vitro. Ten subjects breathed labeled O3 (18O3, 0.3 ppm, 2 h) while exercising intermittently. Bronchial brush biopsies and lung lavage fluids were collected 1 h post exposure for in vivo data whereas in vitro data were obtained from primary cultures of human bronchial epithelial cells exposed to 0.25–1.0 ppm 18O3 for 2 h. The O3 dose to the cells was defined as the level of 18O incorporation and the O3 effect as the fold increase in expression of inflammatory marker genes (IL-8 and COX-2). Dose and effect in cells removed from in vivo exposed subjects were lower than in cells exposed to the same 18O3 concentration in vitro suggesting upper airway O3 scrubbing in vivo. Cells collected by lavage as well as previous studies in monkeys show that cells deeper in the lung receive a higher O3 dose than cells in the bronchus. We conclude that the methods used herein show promise for replicating and comparing the in vivo dose and effect of O3 in an in vitro system