Effects of Source on Copper Uptake by Swine

Four catheterized crossbred (Y x H) barrows were used in a 4 x 4 latin square arrangement of treatments in a completely randomized block design, to determine the effect of source on copper uptake as determined by serum Cu concentration changes over a 7.5-hr sampling period

Effects of Source on Copper Uptake by Swine

Four catheterized crossbred (Y x H) barrows were used in a 4 x 4 latin square arrangement of treatments in a completely randomized block design, to determine the effect of source on copper uptake as determined by serum Cu concentration changes over a 7.5-hr sampling period

Cyclic shear tests on RC precast beam-to-column connections retrofitted with a three-hinged steel device

Recent European earthquakes demonstrated that the seismic response of RC precast structures can be significantly influenced by the connection systems. Moreover, during past seismic events, many failures of the beam-to-column connections occurred due to their inadequate strength under seismic loads. The seismic safety of these connections has a crucial role in the overall seismic capacity of existing precast structures. A new connection system is employed as a retrofitting solution for a damaged beam-to-column connection and its cyclic shear performance is investigated by means of two cyclic shear tests on two different configurations. In both the experimental tests, the results demonstrate an efficient behavior of the retrofitted connections under horizontal cyclic loads. The comparison between the performance of the investigated connection and the response of a typical beam-to-column dowel connection allows to discuss the main critical features of the dowel connection system

Vaginal metastasis of a Ewing sarcoma five years after resection of the primary tumor

A 35-year-old female presented with pain and swelling of the distal left radius. A diagnosis of Ewing sarcoma was made and she underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgery. Macroscopic viable areas remained on the map of the surgical specimen; as such, she was classified as a poor responder and received high dose adjuvant chemotherapy. She remained disease-free for five years, until age 40. A vaginal polyp was then detected during a routine gynaecologic examination. It was removed and histopathology revealed metastatic Ewing sarcoma

A specification patterns system for discrete event systems analysis

As formal verification tools gain popularity, the problem arises of making them more accessible to engineers. A correct understanding of the logics used to express properties of a system's behavior is needed in order to guarantee that properties correctly encode the intent of the verification process. Writing appropriate properties, in a logic suitable for verification, is a skillful process. Errors in this step of the process can create serious problems since a false sense of safety is gained with the analysis. However, when compared to the effort put into developing and applying modeling languages, little attention has been devoted to the process of writing properties that accurately capture verification requirements. In this paper we illustrate how a collection of property patterns can help in simplifying the process of generating logical formulae from informally expressed requirements

Renal primitive neuroectodermal tumor: does age at diagnosis impact outcomes?

Primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET) of the kidney is a rare and highly malignant neoplasm. The median age for renal PNET is 27 years but it can be seen also in a wide age range between 3 and 78 years. We performed a Medline search for the term renal PNET and identified 79 cases up till December of 2010. We report here a new case of renal PNET and a literature review for published data for evaluation of clinicopathological prognostic factors, with an emphasis on prognosis in two groups of adults and children-adolescents: 18 years of age or under and over 18 years

Consensus criteria for sensitive detection of minimal neuroblastoma cells in bone marrow, blood and stem cell preparations by immunocytology and QRT-PCR: recommendations by the International Neuroblastoma Risk Group Task Force

Disseminating disease is a predictive and prognostic indicator of poor outcome in children with neuroblastoma. Its accurate and sensitive assessment can facilitate optimal treatment decisions. The International Neuroblastoma Risk Group (INRG) Task Force has defined standardised methods for the determination of minimal disease (MD) by immunocytology (IC) and quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (QRT-PCR) using disialoganglioside GD2 and tyrosine hydroxylase mRNA respectively. The INRG standard operating procedures (SOPs) define methods for collecting, processing and evaluating bone marrow (BM), peripheral blood (PB) and peripheral blood stem cell harvest by IC and QRT-PCR. Sampling PB and BM is recommended at diagnosis, before and after myeloablative therapy and at the end of treatment. Peripheral blood stem cell products should be analysed at the time of harvest. Performing MD detection according to INRG SOPs will enable laboratories throughout the world to compare their results and thus facilitate quality-controlled multi-centre prospective trials to assess the clinical significance of MD and minimal residual disease in heterogeneous patient groups

Molecular Characterization, Tissue Distribution, Subcellular Localization and Actin-Sequestering Function of a Thymosin Protein from Silkworm

We identified a novel gene encoding a Bombyx mori thymosin (BmTHY) protein from a cDNA library of silkworm pupae, which has an open reading frame (ORF) of 399 bp encoding 132 amino acids. It was found by bioinformatics that BmTHY gene consisted of three exons and two introns and BmTHY was highly homologous to thymosin betas (Tβ). BmTHY has a conserved motif LKHTET with only one amino acid difference from LKKTET, which is involved in Tβ binding to actin. A His-tagged BmTHY fusion protein (rBmTHY) with a molecular weight of approximately 18.4 kDa was expressed and purified to homogeneity. The purified fusion protein was used to produce anti-rBmTHY polyclonal antibodies in a New Zealand rabbit. Subcellular localization revealed that BmTHY can be found in both Bm5 cell (a silkworm ovary cell line) nucleus and cytoplasm but is primarily located in the nucleus. Western blotting and real-time RT-PCR showed that during silkworm developmental stages, BmTHY expression levels are highest in moth, followed by instar larvae, and are lowest in pupa and egg. BmTHY mRNA was universally distributed in most of fifth-instar larvae tissues (except testis). However, BmTHY was expressed in the head, ovary and epidermis during the larvae stage. BmTHY formed complexes with actin monomer, inhibited actin polymerization and cross-linked to actin. All the results indicated BmTHY might be an actin-sequestering protein and participate in silkworm development

Exploiting Clinical Trial Data Drastically Narrows the Window of Possible Solutions to the Problem of Clinical Adaptation of a Multiscale Cancer Model

The development of computational models for simulating tumor growth and response to treatment has gained significant momentum during the last few decades. At the dawn of the era of personalized medicine, providing insight into complex mechanisms involved in cancer and contributing to patient-specific therapy optimization constitute particularly inspiring pursuits. The in silico oncology community is facing the great challenge of effectively translating simulation models into clinical practice, which presupposes a thorough sensitivity analysis, adaptation and validation process based on real clinical data. In this paper, the behavior of a clinically-oriented, multiscale model of solid tumor response to chemotherapy is investigated, using the paradigm of nephroblastoma response to preoperative chemotherapy in the context of the SIOP/GPOH clinical trial. A sorting of the model's parameters according to the magnitude of their effect on the output has unveiled the relative importance of the corresponding biological mechanisms; major impact on the result of therapy is credited to the oxygenation and nutrient availability status of the tumor and the balance between the symmetric and asymmetric modes of stem cell division. The effect of a number of parameter combinations on the extent of chemotherapy-induced tumor shrinkage and on the tumor's growth rate are discussed. A real clinical case of nephroblastoma has served as a proof of principle study case, demonstrating the basics of an ongoing clinical adaptation and validation process. By using clinical data in conjunction with plausible values of model parameters, an excellent fit of the model to the available medical data of the selected nephroblastoma case has been achieved, in terms of both volume reduction and histological constitution of the tumor. In this context, the exploitation of multiscale clinical data drastically narrows the window of possible solutions to the clinical adaptation problem