Preoperative prism adaptation test in normosensoric strabismus

In 19 patients with normosensoric esotropia, the squint angles measured with the alternate cover test were compared with those after prolonged prismatic correction of the squint angle and with those after prolonged occlusion of one eye. All patients showed an increase of the squint angle after prism adaptation. The angle was generally smaller after diagnostic occlusion of one eye than after prism adaptation. We assume that the increase in the squint angle after prism adaptation is caused by an anomalous sensorial relationship between the two eyes that was not detected with the usual psychophysical tests. Surgery tailored to the squint angle after prism adaptation seems advisable in patients with normosensoric esotropia

The teaching of recent and violent conflicts as challenges for history education

This paper has been written with the support of Projects EDU2015-65088P from the DGICYT (Ministry of Education, Spain) and also the Project PICT2012-1594 from the ANPCYT (Argentina) coordinated by the autho

Poor Reproducibility of Allergic Rhinitis SNP Associations

10.1371/journal.pone.0053975PLoS ONE81

A Systematic Study of Gene Mutations in Urothelial Carcinoma; Inactivating Mutations in TSC2 and PIK3R1

Abstract BACKGROUND: Urothelial carcinoma (UC) is characterized by frequent gene mutations of which activating mutations in FGFR3 are the most frequent. Several downstream targets of FGFR3 are also mutated in UC, e.g., PIK3CA, AKT1, and RAS. Most mutation studies of UCs have been focused on single or a few genes at the time or been performed on small sample series. This has limited the possibility to investigate co-occurrence of mutations. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We performed mutation analyses of 16 genes, FGFR3, PIK3CA, PIK3R1 PTEN, AKT1, KRAS, HRAS, NRAS, BRAF, ARAF, RAF1, TSC1, TSC2, APC, CTNNB1, and TP53, in 145 cases of UC. We show that FGFR3 and PIK3CA mutations are positively associated. In addition, we identified PIK3R1 as a target for mutations. We demonstrate a negative association at borderline significance between FGFR3 and RAS mutations, and show that these mutations are not strictly mutually exclusive. We show that mutations in BRAF, ARAF, RAF1 rarely occurs in UC. Our data emphasize the possible importance of APC signaling as 6% of the investigated tumors either showed inactivating APC or activating CTNNB1 mutations. TSC1, as well as TSC2, that constitute the mTOR regulatory tuberous sclerosis complex were found to be mutated at a combined frequency of 15%. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our data demonstrate a significant association between FGFR3 and PIK3CA mutations in UC. Moreover, the identification of mutations in PIK3R1 further emphasizes the importance of the PI3-kinase pathway in UC. The presence of TSC2 mutations, in addition to TSC1 mutations, underlines the involvement of mTOR signaling in UC

Genetic diversity in cultivated carioca common beans based on molecular marker analysis

A wide array of molecular markers has been used to investigate the genetic diversity among common bean species. However, the best combination of markers for studying such diversity among common bean cultivars has yet to be determined. Few reports have examined the genetic diversity of the carioca bean, commercially one of the most important common beans in Brazil. In this study, we examined the usefulness of two molecular marker systems (simple sequence repeats – SSRs and amplified fragment length polymorphisms – AFLPs) for assessing the genetic diversity of carioca beans. The amount of information provided by Roger’s modified genetic distance was used to analyze SSR data and Jaccards similarity coefficient was used for AFLP data. Seventy SSRs were polymorphic and 20 AFLP primer combinations produced 635 polymorphic bands. Molecular analysis showed that carioca genotypes were quite diverse. AFLPs revealed greater genetic differentiation and variation within the carioca genotypes (Gst = 98% and Fst = 0.83, respectively) than SSRs and provided better resolution for clustering the carioca genotypes. SSRs and AFLPs were both suitable for assessing the genetic diversity of Brazilian carioca genotypes since the number of markers used in each system provided a low coefficient of variation. However, fingerprint profiles were generated faster with AFLPs, making them a better choice for assessing genetic diversity in the carioca germplasm

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)1.

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field