Acute myelogenous leukemia switch lineage upon relapse to acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a case report

Acute leukemia, the most common form of cancer in children, accounts for approximately 30% of all childhood malignancies, with acute lymphoblastic leukemia being five times more frequent than acute myeloid leukemia. Lineage switch is the term that has been used to describe the phenomenon of acute leukemias that meet the standard French-American-British system criteria for a particular lineage (either lymphoid or myeloid) upon initial diagnosis, but meet the criteria for the opposite lineage at relapse. Many reports have documented conversions of acute lymphoblastic leukemia to acute myeloid leukemia

Ecological implications of fine-scale fire patchiness and severity in tropical savannas of northern Australia

Research ArticleUnderstanding fine-scale fire patchiness has significant implications for ecological processes and biodiversity conservation. It can affect local extinction of and recolonisation by relatively immobile fauna and poorly seed-dispersed flora in fire-affected areas. This study assesses fine-scale fire patchiness and severity, and associated implications for biodiversity, in north Australian tropical savanna systems. We used line transects to sample burning patterns of ground layer vegetation in different seasons and vegetation structure types, within the perimeter of 35 fires that occurred between 2009 and 2011. We evaluated two main fire characteristics: patchiness (patch density and mean patch length) and severity (inferred from char and scorch heights, and char and ash proportions). The mean burned area of ground vegetation was 83 % in the early dry season (EDS: May to July) and 93 % in the late dry season (LDS: August to November). LDS fires were less patchy (smaller and fewer unburned patches), and had higher fire severity (higher mean char and scorch heights, and twice the proportion of ash) than EDS fires. Fire patchiness varied among vegetation types, declining under more open canopy structure. The relationship between burned area and fire severity depended on season, being strongly correlated in the EDS and uncorrelated in the LDS. Simulations performed to understand the implications of patchiness on the population dynamics of fire-interval sensitive plant species showed that small amounts of patchiness substantially enhance survival. Our results indicate that the ecological impacts of high frequency fires on firesensitive regional biodiversity elements are likely to be lower than has been predicted from remotely sensed studies that are based on assumptions of homogeneous burninginfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Cyclooxygenase-2 and prostaglandin E<inf>2</inf> signaling through prostaglandin receptor EP- 2 favor the development of myocarditis during acute trypanosoma cruzi infection

Inflammation plays an important role in the pathophysiology of Chagas disease, caused by Trypanosoma cruzi. Prostanoids are regulators of homeostasis and inflammation and are produced mainly by myeloid cells, being cyclooxygenases, COX-1 and COX-2, the key enzymes in their biosynthesis from arachidonic acid (AA). Here, we have investigated the expression of enzymes involved in AA metabolism during T. cruzi infection. Our results show an increase in the expression of several of these enzymes in acute T. cruzi infected heart. Interestingly, COX-2 was expressed by CD68+ myeloid heart-infiltrating cells. In addition, infiltrating myeloid CD11b+Ly6G- cells purified from infected heart tissue express COX-2 and produce prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) ex vivo. T. cruzi infections in COX-2 or PGE2- dependent prostaglandin receptor EP-2 deficient mice indicate that both, COX-2 and EP-2 signaling contribute significantly to the heart leukocyte infiltration and to the release of chemokines and inflammatory cytokines in the heart of T. cruzi infected mice. In conclusion, COX-2 plays a detrimental role in acute Chagas disease myocarditis and points to COX-2 as a potential target for immune intervention.This work was supported by (NG) grants from “Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias” (PS09/00538 and PI12/00289); “Universidad Autónoma de Madrid” and “Comunidad de Madrid” (CC08-UAM/SAL-4440/08); by (MF) grants from “Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación” (SAF2010-17833); “Red de Investigación de Centros de Enfermedades Tropicales” (RICET RD12/0018/0004); European Union (HEALTH-FE-2008-22303, ChagasEpiNet); AECID Cooperation with Argentine (A/025417/09 and A/031735/10), Comunidad de Madrid (S-2010/BMD- 2332) and “Fundación Ramón Areces”. NAG was recipient of a ISCIII Ph.D. fellowship financed by the Spanish “Ministerio de Sanidad”. CCM and HC were recipients of contracts from SAF2010-17833 and PI060388, respectively.Peer Reviewe

Agreement of Self-Reported and Genital Measures of Sexual Arousal in Men and Women: A Meta-Analysis

The assessment of sexual arousal in men and women informs theoretical studies of human sexuality and provides a method to assess and evaluate the treatment of sexual dysfunctions and paraphilias. Understanding measures of arousal is, therefore, paramount to further theoretical and practical advances in the study of human sexuality. In this meta-analysis, we review research to quantify the extent of agreement between self-reported and genital measures of sexual arousal, to determine if there is a gender difference in this agreement, and to identify theoretical and methodological moderators of subjective-genital agreement. We identified 132 peer- or academically-reviewed laboratory studies published between 1969 and 2007 reporting a correlation between self-reported and genital measures of sexual arousal, with total sample sizes of 2,505 women and 1,918 men. There was a statistically significant gender difference in the agreement between self-reported and genital measures, with men (r = .66) showing a greater degree of agreement than women (r = .26). Two methodological moderators of the gender difference in subjective-genital agreement were identified: stimulus variability and timing of the assessment of self-reported sexual arousal. The results have implications for assessment of sexual arousal, the nature of gender differences in sexual arousal, and models of sexual response

Disrupting Circadian Homeostasis of Sympathetic Signaling Promotes Tumor Development in Mice

and why disruption of circadian rhythm may lead to tumorigenesis. oncogenic potential, leading to tumor development in the same organ systems in wild-type and circadian gene-mutant mice. is a clock-controlled physiological function. The central circadian clock paces extracellular mitogenic signals that drive peripheral clock-controlled expression of key cell cycle and tumor suppressor genes to generate a circadian rhythm in cell proliferation. Frequent disruption of circadian rhythm is an important tumor promoting factor

Nanoscale heat transfer - from computation to experiment

Heat transfer can differ distinctly at the nanoscale from that at the macroscale. Recent advancement in computational and 5 experimental techniques has enabled a large number of interesting observations and understanding of heat transfer processes at the nanoscale. In this review, we will first discuss recent advances in computational and experimental methods used in nanoscale thermal transport studies, followed by reviews of novel thermal transport phenomena at the nanoscale observed in both computational and experimental studies, and discussion on current understanding of these novel 10 phenomena. Our perspectives on challenges and opportunities on computational and experimental methods are also presented.University of Notre Dame (Startup fund)United States. Dept. of Energy. Office of Basic Energy Sciences (Solid-State Solar-Thermal Energy Conversion Center

Forty years of carabid beetle research in Europe - from taxonomy, biology, ecology and population studies to bioindication, habitat assessment and conservation

Volume: 100Start Page: 55End Page: 14