The Collins-Roscoe mechanism and D-spaces

We prove that if a space X is well ordered $(\alpha A)$, or linearly semi-stratifiable, or elastic then X is a D-space

Conditional inactivation of the Men1 gene leads to pancreatic and pituitary tumorigenesis but does not affect normal development of these tissues

Mutations of the MEN1 gene, encoding the tumor suppressor menin, predispose individuals to the cancer syndrome multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1, characterized by the development of tumors of the endocrine pancreas and anterior pituitary and parathyroid glands. We have targeted the murine Men1 gene by using Cre recombinase-loxP technology to develop both total and tissue-specific knockouts of the gene. Conditional homozygous inactivation of the Men1 gene in the pituitary gland and endocrine pancreas bypasses the embryonic lethality associated with a constitutional Men1(-/-) genotype and leads to beta-cell hyperplasia in less than 4 months and insulinomas and prolactinomas starting at 9 months. The pituitary gland and pancreas develop normally in the conditional absence of menin, but loss of this transcriptional cofactor is sufficient to cause beta-cell hyperplasia in some islets; however, such loss is not sufficient to initiate pituitary gland tumorigenesis, suggesting that additional genetic events are necessary for the latter

Baseline neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio holds no prognostic value for esophageal and junctional adenocarcinoma in patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy

BACKGROUND: Several studies have reported that neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) can predict survival in esophageal and gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma, as it reflects systemic inflammation. Hence, we aimed to determine whether baseline NLR holds prognostic value for esophageal adenocarcinoma patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (nCT) followed by surgery. METHODS: We studied the data of 139 patients that received nCT before undergoing esophagectomy with curative intent, all identified from a prospectively maintained database (1998-2016). Pretreatment hematology reports were used to calculate the baseline NLR. A receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC-curve) was plotted to determine an optimal cutoff value. NLR quartiles were used to display possible differences between groups in relation to overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) using the method of Kaplan-Meier. Cox regression analysis was performed to assess the prognostic value of NLR. RESULTS: The median OS and DFS times were 46 months (interquartile range [IQR]: 19-166) and 30 months (IQR: 13-166], respectively, for the entire cohort. The ROC-curve showed that NLR has no discriminating power for survival status (area under the curve = 0.462) and therefore no optimal cutoff value could be determined. There were no statistically significant differences in median OS times for NLR quartiles: 65 (Q1), 32 (Q2), 45 (Q3), and 46 months (Q4) (P = 0.926). Similarly, DFS showed no difference between quartile groups, with median survival times of 27 (Q1), 19 (Q2), 36 (Q3), and 20 months (Q4) (P = 0.973). Age, pN, pM, and resection margin were independent prognostic factors for both OS and DFS. On the contrary, NLR was not associated with OS or DFS in univariable and multivariable analyses. CONCLUSION: Baseline NLR holds no prognostic value for esophageal and gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma patients treated with nCT in this study, in contrast to other recently published papers. This result questions the validity of NLR as a reliable prognostic indicator and its clinical usefulness in these patients

Current-controlled nanomagnetic writing for reconfigurable magnonic crystals

Abstract: Strongly-interacting nanomagnetic arrays are crucial across an ever-growing suite of technologies. Spanning neuromorphic computing, control over superconducting vortices and reconfigurable magnonics, the utility and appeal of these arrays lies in their vast range of distinct, stable magnetization states. Different states exhibit different functional behaviours, making precise, reconfigurable state control an essential cornerstone of such systems. However, few existing methodologies may reverse an arbitrary array element, and even fewer may do so under electrical control, vital for device integration. We demonstrate selective, reconfigurable magnetic reversal of ferromagnetic nanoislands via current-driven motion of a transverse domain wall in an adjacent nanowire. The reversal technique operates under all-electrical control with no reliance on external magnetic fields, rendering it highly suitable for device integration across a host of magnonic, spintronic and neuromorphic logic architectures. Here, the reversal technique is leveraged to realize two fully solid-state reconfigurable magnonic crystals, offering magnonic gating, filtering, transistor-like switching and peak-shifting without reliance on global magnetic fields

POT1 mutations predispose to familial melanoma

Deleterious germline variants in CDKN2A account for around 40% of familial melanoma cases, and rare variants in CDK4, BRCA2, BAP1 and the promoter of TERT have also been linked to the disease. Here we set out to identify new high-penetrance susceptibility genes by sequencing 184 melanoma cases from 105 pedigrees recruited in the UK, The Netherlands and Australia that were negative for variants in known predisposition genes. We identified families where melanoma cosegregates with loss-of-function variants in the protection of telomeres 1 gene (POT1), with a proportion of family members presenting with an early age of onset and multiple primary tumors. We show that these variants either affect POT1 mRNA splicing or alter key residues in the highly conserved oligonucleotide/oligosaccharide-binding (OB) domains of POT1, disrupting protein-telomere binding and leading to increased telomere length. These findings suggest that POT1 variants predispose to melanoma formation via a direct effect on telomeres.D.J.A., C.D.R.-E., Z.D., J.Z.L., J.C.T., M.P. and T.M.K. were supported by Cancer Research UK and the Wellcome Trust (WT098051). C.D.R.-E. was also supported by the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología of Mexico. K.A.P. and A.M.D. were supported by Cancer Research UK (grants C1287/A9540 and C8197/A10123) and by the Isaac Newton Trust. N.K.H. was supported by a fellowship from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC). L.G.A. was supported by an Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited Trustees PhD scholarship. A.L.P. is supported by Cure Cancer Australia. The work was funded in part by the NHMRC and Cancer Council Queensland. The work of N.A.G. was in part supported by the Dutch Cancer Society (UL 2012-5489). M.H., J.A.N.-B. and D.T.B. were supported by Cancer Research UK (programme awards C588/A4994 and C588/A10589 and the Genomics Initiative). C.L.-O., A.J.R. and V.Q. are funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), the Red Temática de Investigación del Cáncer (RTICC) del ISCIII and the Consolider-Ingenio RNAREG Consortium. C.L.-O. is an investigator with the Botín Foundation.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from NPG via http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng.294

The well-ordered (F) spaces are D-spaces

We studied the relationships between Collins-Roscoe mechanism and D-spaces, proved that well-ordered (F) spaces are D-spaces. This positively answered a question asked by D.Soukup and Y.Xu before.Comment: 6 page

Il sito web dell'Osservatorio Vesuviano

L'Osservatorio Vesuviano ha di recente realizzato una radicale ristrutturazione del proprio sito Web, attivo dalla seconda metà del 1997, al fine di adeguarlo alla sua nuova configurazione giuridica. Infatti, dal 10 gennaio 2001 è entrato a far parte dell'Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), un ente nazionale di nuova formazione in cui sono confluiti i maggiori enti ed istituzioni di ricerca operanti nel campo della geofisica e della vulcanologia in Italia. Con la nascita dell'INGV si è posta un'esigenza di coordinamento tra i siti web di dette istituzioni, che si configurano attualmente come sezioni del nuovo ente nazionale. Inoltre, è sorta la necessità di creare delle pagine comuni, relative all'ente nella sua totalità, che introducessero i visitatori alle pagine delle singole sezioni ed eventualmente a specifici tematismi riguardanti le attività dell'ente. A tal fine, è stato istituito un gruppo di Coordinamento Nazionale per il Web che comprende personale afferente alle diverse sezioni. Parallelamente sono stati istituiti gruppi di lavoro locali per la ristrutturazione dei siti delle sezioni. Nell'ambito di questa riorganizzazione, presso l'Osservatorio Vesuviano, con Decreto Direttoriale N. 6, del 30 gennaio 2002, è stato istituito un gruppo di lavoro con il compito di curare la progettazione e lo sviluppo del nuovo sito web della sezione. Nello svolgimento di questa attività il gruppo di lavoro si è posto come obbiettivi prioritari l'usabilità e l'accessibilità del sito, in ottemperanza alle indicazioni espresse dalla più recente normativa apparsa in materia. Per perseguire a pieno questi obbiettivi e garantire la massima fruibilità delle informazioni è stata prevista, fin dalla fase progettuale, la realizzazione del sito anche in versione inglese, che attualmente è in allestimento. Il nuovo sito web dell'Osservatorio Vesuviano è stato messo in linea il 22 maggio 2002 ed è visitabile all'indirizzo http://www.ov.ingv.it. Nel seguito del presente rapporto sono introdotte sinteticamente le finalità istituzionali e le principali attività dell'Osservatorio Vesuviano e sono descritte le fasi di progettazione e sviluppo del sito, con particolare dettaglio sulla strutturazione dei contenuti, definita nell'ambito delle linee dettate dal decreto di istituzione del gruppo di lavoro, e sulle scelte tecnologiche adottate