MiR-92b and miR-9/9* Are Specifically Expressed in Brain Primary Tumors and Can Be Used to Differentiate Primary from Metastatic Brain Tumors

A recurring challenge for brain pathologists is to diagnose whether a brain malignancy is a primary tumor or a metastasis from some other tissue. The accurate diagnosis of brain malignancies is essential for selection of proper treatment. MicroRNAs are a class of small non-coding RNA species that regulate gene expression; many exhibit tissue-specific expression and are misregulated in cancer. Using microRNA expression profiling, we found that hsa-miR-92b and hsa-miR-9/hsa-miR-9* are over-expressed, specifically in brain primary tumors, as compared to primary tumors from other tissues and their metastases to the brain. By considering the expression of only these two microRNAs, it is possible to distinguish between primary and metastatic brain tumors with very high accuracy. These microRNAs thus represent excellent biomarkers for brain primary tumors. Previous reports have found that hsa-miR-92b and hsa-miR-9/hsa-miR-9* are expressed more strongly in developing neurons and brain than in adult brain. Thus, their specific over-expression in brain primary tumors supports a functional role for these microRNAs or a link between neuronal stem cells and brain tumorigenesis

International consensus on natural orifice specimen extraction surgery (NOSES) for colorectal cancer

In recent years, natural orifice specimen extraction surgery (NOSES) in the treatment of colorectal cancer has attracted widespread attention. The potential benefits of NOSES including reduction in postoperative pain and wound complications, less use of postoperative analgesic, faster recovery of bowel function, shorter length of hospital stay, better cosmetic and psychological effect have been described in colorectal surgery. Despite significant decrease in surgical trauma of NOSES have been observed, the potential pitfalls of this technique have been demonstrated. Particularly, several issues including bacteriological concerns, oncological outcomes and patient selection are raised with this new technique. Therefore, it is urgent and necessary to reach a consensus as an industry guideline to standardize the implementation of NOSES in colorectal surgery. After three rounds of discussion by all members of the International Alliance of NOSES, the consensus is finally completed, which is also of great significance to the long-term progress of NOSES worldwide.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Reemerging superconductivity at 48 K across quantum criticality in iron chalcogenides

Pressure plays an essential role in the induction1 and control2,3 of superconductivity in iron-based superconductors. Substitution of a smaller rare-earth ion for the bigger one to simulate the pressure effects has surprisingly raised the superconducting transition temperature Tc to the record high 55 K in these materials4,5. However, Tc always goes down after passing through a maximum at some pressure and the superconductivity eventually tends to disappear at sufficiently high pressures1-3. Here we show that the superconductivity can reemerge with a much higher Tc after its destruction upon compression from the ambient-condition value of around 31 K in newly discovered iron chalcogenide superconductors. We find that in the second superconducting phase the maximum Tc is as high as 48.7 K for K0.8Fe1.70Se2 and 48 K for (Tl0.6Rb0.4)Fe1.67Se2, setting the new Tc record in chalcogenide superconductors. The presence of the second superconducting phase is proposed to be related to pressure-induced quantum criticality. Our findings point to the potential route to the further achievement of high-Tc superconductivity in iron-based and other superconductors.Comment: 20 pages and 7 figure

Longer sleep is associated with lower BMI and favorable metabolic profiles in UK adults: Findings from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey

Ever more evidence associates short sleep with increased risk of metabolic diseases such as obesity, which may be related to a predisposition to non-homeostatic eating. Few studies have concurrently determined associations between sleep duration and objective measures of metabolic health as well as sleep duration and diet, however. We therefore analyzed associations between sleep duration, diet and metabolic health markers in UK adults, assessing associations between sleep duration and 1) adiposity, 2) selected metabolic health markers and 3) diet, using National Diet and Nutrition Survey data. Adults (n = 1,615, age 19–65 years, 57.1% female) completed questions about sleep duration and 3 to 4 days of food diaries. Blood pressure and waist circumference were recorded. Fasting blood lipids, glucose, glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), thyroid hormones, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured in a subset of participants. We used regression analyses to explore associations between sleep duration and outcomes. After adjustment for age, ethnicity, sex, smoking, and socioeconomic status, sleep duration was negatively associated with body mass index (-0.46 kg/m2 per hour, 95% CI -0.69 to -0.24 kg/m2, p < 0.001) and waist circumference (-0.9 cm per hour, 95% CI -1.5 to -0.3cm, p = 0.004), and positively associated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (0.03 mmol/L per hour, 95% CI 0.00 to 0.05, p = 0.03). Sleep duration tended to be positively associated with free thyroxine levels and negatively associated with HbA1c and CRP (p = 0.09 to 0.10). Contrary to our hypothesis, sleep duration was not associated with any dietary measures (p ≥ 0.14). Together, our findings show that short-sleeping UK adults are more likely to have obesity, a disease with many comorbidities

The placebo effect and its determinants in fibromyalgia: meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

The aims of this study were to determine whether placebo treatment in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) is effective for fibromyalgia and to identify possible determinants of the magnitude of any such placebo effect. A systematic literature search was undertaken for RCTs in people with fibromyalgia that included a placebo and/or a no-treatment (observation only or waiting list) control group. Placebo effect size (ES) for pain and other outcomes was measured as the improvement of each outcome from baseline divided by the standard deviation of the change from baseline. This effect was compared with changes in the no-treatment control groups. Meta-analysis was undertaken to combine data from different studies. Subgroup analysis was conducted to identify possible determinants of the placebo ES. A total of 3912 studies were identified from the literature search. After scrutiny, 229 trials met the inclusion criteria. Participants who received placebo in the RCTs experienced significantly better improvements in pain, fatigue, sleep quality, physical function, and other main outcomes than those receiving no treatment. The ES of placebo for pain relief was clinically moderate (0.53, 95%CI 0.48 to 0.57). The ES increased with increasing strength of the active treatment, increasing participant age and higher baseline pain severity, but decreased in RCTS with more women and with longer duration of fibromyalgia. In addition, placebo treatment in RCTs is effective in fibromyalgia. A number of factors (expected strength of treatment, age, gender, disease duration) appear to influence the magnitude of the placebo effect in this condition

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

A Higher Correlation of HCV Core Antigen with CD4+ T Cell Counts Compared with HCV RNA in HCV/HIV-1 Coinfected Patients

Development of HCV infection is typically followed by chronic hepatitis C (CHC) in most patients, while spontaneous HCV viral clearance (SVC) occurs in only a minority of subjects. Compared with the widespread application of HCV RNA testing by quantitative RT-PCR technique, HCV core antigen detection may be an alternative indicator in the diagnosis of hepatitis C virus infections and in monitoring the status of infectious individuals. However, the correlation and differences between these two indicators in HCV infection need more investigation, especially in patients coinfected by HIV-1. In this study, a total of 354 anti-HCV and/or anti-HIV serum positive residents from a village of central China were enrolled. Besides HCV-related hepatopathic variables including clinical status, ALT, AST, anti-HCV Abs, as well as the altered CD4+/CD8+ T cell counts, HCV core antigen and HCV viral load were also measured. The concentration of serum HCV core antigen was highly correlated with level of HCV RNA in CHC patients with or without HIV-1 coinfection. Of note, HCV core antigen concentration was negatively correlated with CD4+ T cell count, while no correlation was found between HCV RNA level and CD4+ T cell count. Our findings suggested that quantitative detection of plasma HCV core antigen may be an alternative indicator of HCV RNA qPCR assay when evaluating the association between HCV replication and host immune status in HCV/HIV-1 coinfected patients

SLAM algorithm applied to robotics assistance for navigation in unknown environments

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The combination of robotic tools with assistance technology determines a slightly explored area of applications and advantages for disability or elder people in their daily tasks. Autonomous motorized wheelchair navigation inside an environment, behaviour based control of orthopaedic arms or user's preference learning from a friendly interface are some examples of this new field. In this paper, a Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) algorithm is implemented to allow the environmental learning by a mobile robot while its navigation is governed by electromyographic signals. The entire system is part autonomous and part user-decision dependent (semi-autonomous). The environmental learning executed by the SLAM algorithm and the low level behaviour-based reactions of the mobile robot are robotic autonomous tasks, whereas the mobile robot navigation inside an environment is commanded by a Muscle-Computer Interface (MCI).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this paper, a sequential Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) feature-based SLAM algorithm is implemented. The features correspond to lines and corners -concave and convex- of the environment. From the SLAM architecture, a global metric map of the environment is derived. The electromyographic signals that command the robot's movements can be adapted to the patient's disabilities. For mobile robot navigation purposes, five commands were obtained from the MCI: turn to the left, turn to the right, stop, start and exit. A kinematic controller to control the mobile robot was implemented. A low level behavior strategy was also implemented to avoid robot's collisions with the environment and moving agents.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The entire system was tested in a population of seven volunteers: three elder, two below-elbow amputees and two young normally limbed patients. The experiments were performed within a closed low dynamic environment. Subjects took an average time of 35 minutes to navigate the environment and to learn how to use the MCI. The SLAM results have shown a consistent reconstruction of the environment. The obtained map was stored inside the Muscle-Computer Interface.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The integration of a highly demanding processing algorithm (SLAM) with a MCI and the communication between both in real time have shown to be consistent and successful. The metric map generated by the mobile robot would allow possible future autonomous navigation without direct control of the user, whose function could be relegated to choose robot destinations. Also, the mobile robot shares the same kinematic model of a motorized wheelchair. This advantage can be exploited for wheelchair autonomous navigation.</p

Extant diversity of bryophytes emerged from successive post-Mesozoic diversification bursts

Unraveling the macroevolutionary history of bryophytes, which arose soon after the origin of land plants but exhibit substantially lower species richness than the more recently derived angiosperms, has been challenged by the scarce fossil record. Here we demonstrate that overall estimates of net species diversification are approximately half those reported in ferns and similar to 30% those described for angiosperms. Nevertheless, statistical rate analyses on time-calibrated large-scale phylogenies reveal that mosses and liverworts underwent bursts of diversification since the mid-Mesozoic. The diversification rates further increase in specific lineages towards the Cenozoic to reach, in the most recently derived lineages, values that are comparable to those reported in angiosperms. This suggests that low diversification rates do not fully account for current patterns of bryophyte species richness, and we hypothesize that, as in gymnosperms, the low extant bryophyte species richness also results from massive extinctions.Assembling the Tree of Life programme at NSF; NSF [EF-0531730-002, EF-0531680, EF-0531750]; Scottish Government's Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division; BeiPD-cofund Marie Curie fellowshipinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio