Clinical significance of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in laryngeal carcinoma: Its role in the different subsites

Background: During epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, cancer cells lose adhesion capacity gaining migratory properties. The role of the process on prognosis has been evaluated in 50 cases of laryngeal carcinoma. Methods: E-cadherin, N-cadherin, β-catenin, α-catenin, γ-catenin, caveolin-1, and vimentin immunohistochemical expression were evaluated using a double score based on staining intensity and cellular localization. Results: Cytoplasmic E-cadherin and α/γ catenin staining were associated with a decrease in survival, cytoplasmic β-catenin was associated with advanced stage, and N-cadherin and vimentin expression were associated with poor differentiation and tumor relapse. On the basis of cancer cells, epithelial or mesenchymal morphological and immunophenotypic similarity we identified 4 main subgroups correlated with a transition to a more undifferentiated phenotype, which have a different pattern of relapse and survival. Conclusion: The negative prognostic role of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition has been confirmed and a predictive role in glottic tumors has been suggested, leading us to propose epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition as an additional adverse feature in laryngeal carcinoma

KMT2C modulates migration and invasion processes in osteosarcoma cell lines

In this study we investigated the role of KMT2C (a chromatin-modifying and remodelling protein) in osteosarcoma progression through cell migration and invasion assays in osteosarcoma primary and metastatic cell lines. Wound healing and transwell assays were used to detect changes of cell migration and matrigel assay was used to evaluate changes of cell invasion in primary and metastatic osteosarcoma cell lines after KMT2C siRNA transfection. We found that primary osteosarcoma cell lines showed the highest capacity of migration before mRNA KMT2C silencing and the highest capacity of invasion after mRNA KMT2C silencing; on the contrary, osteosarcoma metastatic cell line showed the highest capacity of migration after mRNA KMT2C silencing and the highest capacity of invasion before mRNA KMT2C silencing. Our study supports data in favour of selective enhancer changes, KMT2C-mediated, in metastatic osteosarcoma probably due to the different microenvironment between primary and metastatic sites

Involvement of pro-inflammatory cytokines and growth factors in the pathogenesis of Dupuytren's contracture: a novel target for a possible future therapeutic strategy?

Dupuytren's contracture (DC) is a benign fibro-proliferative disease of the hand causing fibrotic nodules and fascial cords which determine debilitating contracture and deformities of fingers and hands. The present study was designed to characterize pro-inflammatory cytokines and growth factors involved in the pathogenesis, progression and recurrence of this disease, in order to find novel targets for alternative therapies and strategies in controlling DC. The expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and of growth factors was detected by immunohistochemistry in fibrotic nodules and normal palmar fascia resected respectively from patients affected by DC and carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS; as negative controls). Reverse transcription (RT)-PCR analysis and immunofluorescence were performed to quantify the expression of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1, interleukin (IL)-1β and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) by primary cultures of myofibroblasts and fibroblasts isolated from Dupuytren's nodules. Histological analysis showed high cellularity and high proliferation rate in Dupuytren's tissue, together with the presence of myofibroblastic isotypes; immunohistochemical staining for macrophages was completely negative. In addition, a strong expression of TGF-β1, IL-1β and VEGF was evident in the extracellular matrix and in the cytoplasm of fibroblasts and myofibroblasts in Dupuytren's nodular tissues, as compared with control tissues. These results were confirmed by RT-PCR and by immunofluorescence in pathological and normal primary cell cultures. These preliminary observations suggest that TGF-β1, IL-1β and VEGF may be considered potential therapeutic targets in the treatment of Dupuytren's disease (DD)

PerfWeb: How to Violate Web Privacy with Hardware Performance Events

The browser history reveals highly sensitive information about users, such as financial status, health conditions, or political views. Private browsing modes and anonymity networks are consequently important tools to preserve the privacy not only of regular users but in particular of whistleblowers and dissidents. Yet, in this work we show how a malicious application can infer opened websites from Google Chrome in Incognito mode and from Tor Browser by exploiting hardware performance events (HPEs). In particular, we analyze the browsers' microarchitectural footprint with the help of advanced Machine Learning techniques: k-th Nearest Neighbors, Decision Trees, Support Vector Machines, and in contrast to previous literature also Convolutional Neural Networks. We profile 40 different websites, 30 of the top Alexa sites and 10 whistleblowing portals, on two machines featuring an Intel and an ARM processor. By monitoring retired instructions, cache accesses, and bus cycles for at most 5 seconds, we manage to classify the selected websites with a success rate of up to 86.3%. The results show that hardware performance events can clearly undermine the privacy of web users. We therefore propose mitigation strategies that impede our attacks and still allow legitimate use of HPEs

Improved version of the eikonal model for absorbing spherical particles

We present a new expression of the scattering amplitude, valid for spherical absorbing objects, which leads to an improved version of the eikonal method outside the diffraction region. Limitations of this method are discussed and numerical results are presented and compared successfully with the Mie theory.Comment: 7 pages, postscript figures available on cpt.univ-mrs.fr, to appear in J. Mod. Optic

Z' Physics

The limits on extra neutral gauge bosons, which could be reached at LEP2, are reviewed. Exclusion and discovery limits are discussed for f\bar f and WW production.Comment: 20 pages Latex, 7 figures included by epsfig, Contribution to the Proceedings the workshop "Physics at LEP2", Geneva, 199

Stress management interventions among healthcare workers using mindfulness. A systematic review.

Background: stress among healthcare professionals has gained more and more attention due to the negative consequences on their and patients’ health. As a result of intense working hours, night shifts, responsibilities of care, and emotional contact with patients, healthcare workers experience stressful conditions. Interventions to prevent and manage their wellbeing are needed, in order to reduce the risks of onset of burnout syndrome. Aim: the aim of this systematic review is to analyze how mindfulness courses can improve mental and physical well-being of healthcare workers. Methods: a literature search was conducted in May 2018 using the databases Medline (PubMed), Scopus and Isi Web of Knowledge. Studies were included if they examined mindfulness interventions as possible solutions to manage stress among healthcare workers. Results: fifty-eight articles met the inclusion criteria: 13 of them were clinical trials; 11 were randomized clinical trials; 12 were systematic reviews; 7 were narrative reviews and 15 were observational studies. The studies included showed effectiveness of mindfulness programs in reducing stress, self-compassion, burnout, anxiety and depression. Significant negative association has been observed between MBSR and stress levels (β: −0.60, 95% CI:−5.95 to −4.04, P< 0.001) and mental exhaustion (β:−0.43, 95% CI:−3.30 −1.86, P< 0.001). Clinical trials focused on psychoeducational interventions highlighted decreased burnout scores in intervention group (SDM: -0.38). Conclusion: courses based on mindfulness showed to be effective in improving healthcare workers’ well-being, increasing their quality of life and the productivity outcomes. The evidence derived from this systematic review suggests that these interventions should be included within the work organization in order to be viable tools for promoting self-care and quality of care