The genes that carcinogens act upon

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Banks' risk assessment of Swedish SMEs

Building on the literatures on asymmetric information and risk taking, this paper applies conjoint experiments to investigate lending officers' probabilities of supporting credit to established or existing SMEs. Using a sample of 114 Swedish lending officers, we test hypotheses concerning how information on the borrower's ability to repay the loan; alignment of risk preferences; and risk sharing affect their willingness to grant credit. Results suggest that features that reduce the risk to the bank and shift the risk to the borrower have the largest impact. The paper highlights the interaction between factors that influence the credit decision. Implications for SMEs, banks and research are discussed

Antecedents and consequences of effectuation and causation in the international new venture creation process

The selection of the entry mode in an international market is of key importance for the venture. A process-based perspective on entry mode selection can add to the International Business and International Entrepreneurship literature. Framing the international market entry as an entrepreneurial process, this paper analyzes the antecedents and consequences of causation and effectuation in the entry mode selection. For the analysis, regression-based techniques were used on a sample of 65 gazelles. The results indicate that experienced entrepreneurs tend to apply effectuation rather than causation, while uncertainty does not have a systematic influence. Entrepreneurs using causation-based international new venture creation processes tend to engage in export-type entry modes, while effectuation-based international new venture creation processes do not predetermine the entry mod

Conservative management of lowâ risk prostate cancer among young versus older men in the United States: Trends and outcomes from a novel national database

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151903/1/cncr32332.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151903/2/cncr32332_am.pd

Ultrastructural and biochemical characterization of mechanically adaptable collagenous structures in the edible sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus

The viscoelastic properties of vertebrate connective tissues rarely undergo significant changes withinphysiological timescales, the only major exception being the reversible destiffening of the mammalianuterine cervix at the end of pregnancy. In contrast to this, the connective tissues of echinoderms (seaurchins, starfish, sea cucumbers, etc.) can switch reversibly between stiff and compliant conditions intimescales of around a second to minutes. Elucidation of the molecular mechanism underlying suchmutability has implications for the zoological, ecological and evolutionary field. Important informationcould also arise for veterinary and biomedical sciences, particularly regarding the pathological plasti-cization or stiffening of connective tissue structures. In the present investigation we analyzed aspectsof the ultrastructure and biochemistry in two representative models, the compass depressor ligamentand the peristomial membrane of the edible sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus, compared in three differentmechanical states. The results provide further evidence that the mechanical adaptability of echinodermconnective tissues does not necessarily imply changes in the collagen fibrils themselves. The higher gly-cosaminoglycan (GAG) content registered in the peristomial membrane with respect to the compassdepressor ligament suggests a diverse role of these molecules in the two mutable collagenous tissues.The possible involvement of GAG in the mutability phenomenon will need further clarification. Duringthe shift from a compliant to a standard condition, significant changes in GAG content were detected onlyin the compass depressor ligament. Similarities in terms of ultrastructure (collagen fibrillar assembling)and biochemistry (two alpha chains) were found between the two models and mammalian collagen.Nevertheless, differences in collagen immunoreactivity, alpha chain migration on SDS-PAGE and BLASTalignment highlighted the uniqueness of sea urchin collagen with respect to mammalian collagen

Controlling the rheology of gellan gum hydrogels in cell culture conditions

Successful culturing of tissues within polysaccharide hydrogels is reliant upon specific mechanical properties. Namely, the stiffness and elasticity of the gel have been shown to have a profound effect on cell behaviour in 3D cell cultures and correctly tuning these mechanical properties is critical to the success of culture. The usual way of tuning mechanical properties of a hydrogel to suit tissue engineering applications is to change the concentration of polymer or its cross-linking agents. In this study sonication applied at various amplitudes was used to control mechanical properties of gellan gum solutions and gels. This method enables the stiffness and elasticity of gellan gum hydrogels cross-linked with DMEM to be controlled without changing either polymer concentration or cross-linker concentration. Controlling the mechanical behaviour of gellan hydrogels impacted upon the activity of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in encapsulated MC3T3 pre-osteoblasts. This shows the potential of applying a simple technique to generate hydrogels where tissue-specific mechanical properties can be produced that subsequently influence cell behaviour

Cardiac and Pulmonary Dosimetric Parameters in Lung Cancer Patients Undergoing Post-Operative Radiation Therapy in the Real-World Setting

Purpose/Objective(s): The recently published Lung ART trial reported increased rates of cardiac and pulmonary toxicity in the post-operative radiation therapy arm. It remains unknown whether the dosimetric parameters reported in Lung ART are representative of real-world practice. The purpose of this study is to examine heart and lung dose exposure in patients receiving post-operative radiation therapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) across a statewide consortium. Materials/Methods: From 2012 to 2020, 377 patients at 27 academic and community centers within the Michigan Radiation Oncology Quality Consortium (MROQC) underwent surgical resection followed by post-operative radiation therapy for non-metastatic NSCLC. Demographic and dosimetric data were prospectively collected for these patients. Rates of 3D-CRT and IMRT use were analyzed. Mean heart dose (MHD), heart V5, heart V35, mean lung dose (MLD), lung V20, target volume and minimum dose to 95% PTV were calculated for these patients and the reported dosimetric parameters were stratified by treatment modality. Results: 51% of patients in this cohort had N2 disease at the time of surgery, 18% had a positive margin. 65.8% of patients were treated with IMRT compared to 32.1% treated with 3D-CRT. Average MHD for all patients was 10.3 Gy, mean Heart V5 was 40.3% and mean heart V35 was 12.6%. Average MLD was 11.2 Gy and mean lung V20 was 18.9%. These dosimetric parameters did not significantly differ based on treatment modality, with MHD and MLD 9.9 Gy and 10.1 Gy, respectively, for patients treated with 3D-CRT compared to 10.6 Gy and 11.8 Gy for patients treated with IMRT. Conclusion: Cardiac and lung dosimetric parameters for patients receiving post-operative radiation therapy for NSCLC are similar to the dosimetric characteristics reported in Lung ART. The mean heart and mean lung doses observed are slightly lower (MHD 10.3 Gy, MLD 11.2 Gy) compared to Lung ART (MHD 13 Gy, MLD 13 Gy), possibly owing to increased use of IMRT. These data support application of Lung ART\u27s findings outside of the clinical trial setting

'Getting people on board': Discursive leadership for consensus building in team meetings

Meetings are increasingly seen as sites where organizing and strategic change take place, but the role of specific discursive strategies and related linguistic-pragmatic and argumentative devices, employed by meeting chairs, is little understood. The purpose of this article is to address the range of behaviours of chairs in business organizations by comparing strategies employed by the same chief executive officer (CEO) in two key meeting genres: regular management team meetings and ‘away-days’. While drawing on research from organization studies on the role of leadership in meetings and studies of language in the workplace from (socio)linguistics and discourse studies, we abductively identified five salient discursive strategies which meeting chairs employ in driving decision making: (1) Bonding; (2) Encouraging; (3) Directing; (4) Modulating; and (5) Re/Committing. We investigate the leadership styles of the CEO in both meeting genres via a multi-level approach using empirical data drawn from meetings of a single management team in a multinational defence corporation. Our key findings are, first, that the chair of the meetings (and leading manager) influences the outcome of the meetings in both negative and positive ways, through the choice of discursive strategies. Second, it becomes apparent that the specific context and related meeting genre mediate participation and the ability of the chair to control interactions within the team. Third, a more hierarchical authoritarian or a more interpersonal egalitarian leadership style can be identified via specific combinations of these five discursive strategies. The article concludes that the egalitarian leadership style increases the likelihood of achieving a durable consensus. Several related avenues for research are outlined

Urinary metabolomic analysis to identify preterm neonates exposed to histological chorioamnionitis : A pilot study

Objective Chorioamnionitis is a leading cause of preterm birth worldwide, with higher incidence at lower gestational ages. An early and reliable diagnosis of histological chorioamnionitis (HCA) in preterm infants may be helpful in guiding postnatal management, especially the administration of prophylactic antibiotics to prevent early-onset sepsis. The main aim of this study was to investigate metabolomic analysis of urines collected in the first 24 hours of life as diagnostic tool of HCA. Methods Gestational age-, birth weight-, delivery mode- and sex- matched (1:2) preterm neonates (< 35 weeks\u2019 gestation) born to mothers with or without HCA were enrolled from an observational study. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS)-based metabolomic analysis was performed on urine samples non-invasively collected in the first 24 hours of life. Univariate analysis, partial least square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and its associated variable importance in projection (VIP) score were performed. The most affected metabolic pathways were examined by Metabolite Sets Enrichment Analysis (MSEA). Results Fifteen cases (mean GA 30.2 \ub1 3.8 weeks, mean BW 1415 \ub1 471.9 grams) and 30 controls (mean GA 30.2 \ub1 2.9 weeks, mean BW 1426 \ub1 569.8 grams) were enrolled. Following univariate analysis, 29 metabolites had a significantly different concentration between cases and controls. The supervised PLS-DA model confirmed a separation between the two groups. Only gluconic acid, an oxidation product of glucose, was higher in cases than in controls. All other VIP metabolites were more abundant in the control group. Glutamate metabolism, mitochondrial electron transport chain, citric acid cycle, galactose metabolism, and fructose and mannose degradation metabolism were the most significantly altered pathways (P < 0.01). Conclusions For the first time, urinary metabolomics was able to discriminate neonates born to mothers with and without HCA. The identification of specifically altered metabolic pathways may be helpful in understanding metabolic derangement following chorioamnionitis

Prostate Cancer Radiation Therapy Recommendations in Response to COVID-19

Purpose: During a global pandemic, the benefit of routine visits and treatment of patients with cancer must be weighed against the risks to patients, staff, and society. Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers radiation oncology departments treat, and efficient resource utilization is essential in the setting of a pandemic. Herein, we aim to establish recommendations and a framework by which to evaluate prostate radiation therapy management decisions. Methods and Materials: Radiation oncologists from the United States and the United Kingdom rapidly conducted a systematic review and agreed upon recommendations to safely manage patients with prostate cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic. A RADS framework was created: remote visits, and avoidance, deferment, and shortening of radiation therapy was applied to determine appropriate approaches. Results: Recommendations were provided by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network risk group regarding clinical node-positive, postprostatectomy, oligometastatic, and low-volume M1 disease. Across all prostate cancer stages, telemedicine consultations and return visits were recommended when resources/staff available. Delays in consultations and return visits of between 1 and 6 months were deemed safe based on stage of disease. Treatment can be avoided or delayed until safe for very low, low, and favorable intermediate-risk disease. Unfavorable intermediate-risk, high-risk, clinical node-positive, recurrence postsurgery, oligometastatic, and low-volume M1 disease can receive neoadjuvant hormone therapy for 4 to 6 months as necessary. Ultrahypofractionation is preferred for localized, oligometastatic, and low-volume M1, and moderate hypofractionation is preferred for postprostatectomy and clinical node positive disease. Salvage is preferred to adjuvant radiation. Conclusions: Resources can be reduced for all identified stages of prostate cancer. The RADS (remote visits, and avoidance, deferment, and shortening of radiation therapy) framework can be applied to other disease sites to help with decision making in a global pandemic