Feminist theories in the sociology of religion

Sociology could not be bypassed by the impact of feminist theories. Women’s population in religions. The increase of interest in women’s religiousness on areas of ex Yugoslavia. Why have women been ignored and marginalised by the society and the Church? What are feminist theories? Two kinds of feminist theories. Anthropocentrism. An attitude of traditionalists to feminism. A woman in written religious sources. How much has the stand view on the period influenced the position of women in religions? A woman in traditions of the Asian and Far East religions. A woman in the Abraham’s religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam). When do feminist theories appear? Gender studies. Feminist theories in different religious traditions. What is required in feminist theories? The position of a woman in society and culture. A woman in the role of the religious leader. Feminist theology. The critics of feminist theorie

OTX015 (MK-8628), a novel BET inhibitor, exhibits antitumor activity in non-small cell and small cell lung cancer models harboring different oncogenic mutations.

Inhibitors targeting epigenetic control points of oncogenes offer a potential mean of blocking tumor progression in small cell and non-small cell lung carcinomas (SCLC, NSCLC). OTX015 (MK-8628) is a BET inhibitor selectively blocking BRD2/3/4. OTX015 was evaluated in a panel of NSCLC or SCLC models harboring different oncogenic mutations. Cell proliferation inhibition and cell cycle arrest were seen in sensitive NSCLC cells. MYC and MYCN were downregulated at both the mRNA and protein levels. In addition, OTX015-treatment significantly downregulated various stemness cell markers, including NANOG, Musashi-1, CD113 and EpCAM in H3122-tumors in vivo. Conversely, in SCLC models, weak antitumor activity was observed with OTX015, both in vitro and in vivo. No predictive biomarkers of OTX015 activity were identified in a large panel of candidate genes known to be affected by BET inhibition. In NSCLC models, OTX015 was equally active in both EML4-ALK positive and negative cell lines, whereas in SCLC models the presence of functional RB1 protein, which controls cell progression at G1, may be related to the final biological outcome of OTX015. Gene expression profiling in NSCLC and SCLC cell lines showed that OTX015 affects important genes and pathways with a very high overlapping between both sensitive and resistant cell lines. These data support the rationale for the OTX015 Phase Ib (NCT02259114) in solid tumors, where NSCLC patients with rearranged ALK gene or KRAS-positive mutations are currently being treated

Infrared nanoscopy of Dirac plasmons at the graphene-SiO2 interface

We report on infrared (IR) nanoscopy of 2D plasmon excitations of Dirac fermions in graphene. This is achieved by confining mid-IR radiation at the apex of a nanoscale tip: an approach yielding two orders of magnitude increase in the value of in-plane component of incident wavevector q compared to free space propagation. At these high wavevectors, the Dirac plasmon is found to dramatically enhance the near-field interaction with mid-IR surface phonons of SiO2 substrate. Our data augmented by detailed modeling establish graphene as a new medium supporting plasmonic effects that can be controlled by gate voltage.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure

Hypersensitivity reactions related to oxaliplatin (OHP)

Patients treated with platinum compounds are subject to hypersensitivity reactions. Our study has highlighted the reactions related to oxaliplatin (OHP) infusion. One hundred and twenty-four patients affected by advanced colorectal cancer were treated with different schedules containing OHP, at the Institute of Haematology and Medical Oncology 'L. and A. Seragnoli' of Bologna and at the Medical Oncology Division of Livorno Hospital. Seventeen patients (13%) showed hypersensitivity reactions after a few minutes from the start of the OHP infusion. Usually, these reactions were seen after 2-17 exposures to OHP (Mean\ub1s.e.: 9.4\ub11.07). No patient experienced allergic reactions at his/her first OHP infusion. Eight patients developed a mild reaction consisting of flushing and swelling of the face and hands, itching, sweating and lachrymation. The remaining nine patients showed a moderate-severe reaction with dyspnoea, wheezing, laryngospasm, psycho-motor agitation, tachycardia, precordial pain, diffuse erythema, itching and sweating. Six patients out of 17 were re-exposed to the drug with premedication of steroids and all except one developed the hypersensitivity reaction again. The cumulative dose, the time of exposure to OHP and the clinical features are variable and unpredictable. The risk of developing hypersensitivity reactions in patients treated with a short infusion of OHP cannot be underestimated. \ua9 2003 Cancer Research UK

Angstrom-Scale Distance Dependence of Antenna-Enhanced Vibrational Signals

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Retrospective analyses of cisplatin-based doublet combination chemotherapy in patients with advanced gastric cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Backgrounds</p> <p>Cisplatin-based chemotherapy, in combination with fluoropyrimidines or taxanes, have demonstrated efficacy against advanced gastric cancer (AGC). This retrospective study was performed with the data obtained from our cancer chemotherapy registry and eight another cancer centers.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In 2008, a total of 283 AGC patients were treated with cisplatin-based doublet chemotherapy in the first-line setting: capecitabine plus cisplatin (XP, n = 77), S-1 plus cisplatin (SP, n = 97), taxanes (docetaxel, paclitaxel) plus cisplatin (TP, n = 72), and 5-fluorouracil plus platinum (FP, n = 37). The primary endpoint of this study was overall survival (OS) and the secondary endpoints were safety, response rate and progression-free survival (PFS).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The median age was 54 years with a range of 28-78 years and median delivered number of chemotherapy cycles were XP: 4, SP: 5, TP: 5 and FP: 5, respectively. Objective tumor responses (38%; 95% CI, 32-43%) were 40% for XP, 42% for SP, 36% for DP, and 24% for FP. The estimated median PFS was 4.5 months (95% CI, 3.6-5.4 months) and the median OS was 12.3 months (95% CI, 10.8-13.7 months). No statistically significant difference was found between each regimen used as first-line chemotherapy. At multivariate analysis, independent prognostic parameters for OS were prior gastrectomy, peritoneal dissemination, performance status and hemoglobin level</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>All of the cisplatin-based doublet chemotherapy regimens appear to be active as first-line chemotherapy for AGC. With better patient selection according to clinical parameters and molecular markers, clinical outcomes of AGC patients in first-line setting can be improved.</p

Molecular mechanisms of action and prediction of response to oxaliplatin in colorectal cancer cells

The platinum compound oxaliplatin has been shown to be an effective chemotherapeutic agent for the treatment of colorectal cancer. In this study, we investigate the molecular mechanisms of action of oxaliplatin to identify means of predicting response to this agent. Exposure of colon cancer cells to oxaliplatin resulted in G2/M arrest and apoptosis. Immunofluorescent staining demonstrated that the apoptotic cascade initiated by oxaliplatin is characterised by translocation of Bax to the mitochondria and cytochrome c release into the cytosol. Oxaliplatin treatment resulted in caspase 3 activation and oxaliplatin-induced apoptosis was abrogated by inhibition of caspase activity with z-VAD-fmk, but was independent of Fas/FasL association. Targeted inactivation of Bax or p53 in HCT116 cells resulted in significantly increased resistance to oxaliplatin. However, the mutational status of p53 was unable to predict response to oxaliplatin in a panel of 30 different colorectal cancer cell lines. In contrast, the expression profile of these 30 cell lines, assessed using a 9216-sequence cDNA microarray, successfully predicted the apoptotic response to oxaliplatin. A leave-one-out cross-validation approach was used to demonstrate a significant correlation between experimentally observed and expression profile predicted apoptosis in response to clinically achievable doses of oxaliplatin (R=0.53; P=0.002). In addition, these microarray experiments identified several genes involved in control of apoptosis and DNA damage repair that were significantly correlated with response to oxaliplatin

A phase I clinical and pharmacokinetic study of capecitabine (Xeloda®) and irinotecan combination therapy (XELIRI) in patients with metastatic gastrointestinal tumours

Capecitabine is a highly active oral fluoropyrimidine that is an attractive alternative to 5-fluorouracil in colorectal cancer treatment. The current study, undertaken in 27 patients with gastrointestinal tumours, aimed to assess the toxicity and potential for significant pharmacokinetic interactions of a combination regimen incorporating capecitabine with 3-weekly irinotecan (XELIRI). Irinotecan (200 and 250 mg m−2) was administered as a 90-min infusion on day 1 in combination with escalating capecitabine doses (700–1250 mg m−2 twice daily) administered on days 2–15 of a 3-week treatment cycle. Pharmacokinetics were characterised on days 1 and 2 of the first two cycles. A total of 103 treatment cycles were administered. The principal dose-limiting toxicities were diarrhoea and neutropenia. Capecitabine 1150 mg m−2 twice daily with irinotecan 250 mg m−2 was identified as the maximum-tolerated dose and capecitabine 1000 mg m−2 with irinotecan 250 mg m−2 was identified as the recommended dose for further study. Analyses confirmed that there were no significant pharmacokinetic interactions between the two agents. The combination was clinically active, with complete and partial responses achieved in heavily pretreated patients. This study indicates that XELIRI is a potentially feasible and clinically active regimen in patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancer