The relationships between the immunoexpression of KAI1, MMP-2, MMP-9 and steroid receptors expression in endometrial cancer

The role of the parallel expression of the KAI1 protein and metalloproteinases (MMP-2 and MMP-9) in respect to the status of steroid receptors in endometrial cancer is still incompletely understood. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of and correlation between KAI1 on one hand and MMP-2 and MMP-9 on the other hand in terms of the status of the estrogen (ER) and progesterone receptors (PR) in 100 patients with endometrial cancer. The expressions of KAI1, MMP-2, MMP-9, ER and PR were assessed immunohistochemically on paraffin-embedded tissues. No correlations were found between these biomarkers and the clinical and pathological parameters of the endometrial cancer. However, in KAI1-positive cases, the expression was limited to a small area of tumor tissue in FIGO stages III–IV. A tendency towards the high expression of MMP-9 and MMP-2 was observed in the advanced stages of endometrial cancer (FIGO IIIA–IV). Positive correlations between the presence of KAI1 and PR and between the presence of MMP-9 and PR were found in endometrial cancer. A positive correlation was also observed between KAI1 and MMP-2 expression, and a borderline one between KAI1 and MMP-9 expression in endometrial cancer. KAI1+/PR+ and KAI1+/ER– immunophenotypes were observed more frequently in FIGO low stages and with well-differentiated tumor grade. However, the KAI1–/ER+ and KAI1–/PR+ immunophenotypes were mainly observed in advanced stages of endometrial cancer. KAI1+/MMP-2+ and KAI1+/MMP-9+ immunophenotypes were observed in FIGO Istage and with well-differentiated tumors. KAI1–/MMP-2+ and KAI1–/MMP-9+ phenotypes were more often observed in FIGO stage II. Our study showed that KAI1 protein, as well as steroid receptors, might modulate MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression in endometrial cancer. Our study revealed that the overlapping expression of the biomarkers investigated here suggests that cooperation between these molecules exists, even at the early stages of endometrial cancer growth, and may determine the speed of tumor cell dissemination and might characterize the biological behavior of endometrial cancer

The use of Twitter during the televised electoral debates in the 2018 Andalusian elections

Twitter está consolidado como medio de comunicación política, despertando interés de candidatos y partidos por su capacidad de movilizar a los ciudadanos y articular una campaña a favor de sus propios intereses (Kreiss, 2016). Numerosas investigaciones han analizado su poder como herramienta de comunicación y polarización política (Congosto-Martínez, 2016; Moya-Sánchez & Herrera-Damas, 2016), así como herramienta de debate [estudios de contenido (Moe, 2012), estudios de sentimiento (Stieglitz&DangXuan, 2013). Este trabajo analizará cómo las fuerzas políticas PP, PSOE, Ciudadanos, Podemos y Vox han utilizado Twitter durante la retransmisión de los debates electorales de los comicios andaluces, celebrados el dos de diciembre de 2018. Se hará un seguimiento de los perfiles de los cuatro partidos que participaron en los debates retransmitidos por CanalSur y TVE los días 19 y 26 de noviembre, así como de Vox, la fuerza que irrumpe en el gobierno contra todo pronóstico. Se prestará atención a contenido y flujo de tuits de cada perfil, retuits, respuestas y hashtags, para comprobar si el uso de esta red social ha servido para predecir la tendencia política (Deltell et al, 2013). Además de los datos cuantitativos, se analizarán las estrategias seguidas por los partidos políticos en sus perfiles durante la emisión de los debates televisados. Los resultados servirán para establecer un marco general de análisis de cómo esta red ha influido en la comunicación de los partidos en campaña, así como detectar el interés que suscitan entre su audiencia los temas que se plantean durante ambos debates.Twitter is consolidated as a political media, generating interest among candidates and parties due to its capability for mobilizing citizens and articulating a campaign in support of their own interests (Kreiss, 2016). Several studies have analyzed its power as a tool for communication and political polarization (Congosto-Martínez, 2016; Moya-Sánchez & Herrera-Damas, 2016),as well as a tool for debate [content studies (Moe, 2012), sentiment studies (Stieglitz & Dang-Xuan, 2013)]. This paper will analyze how the political parties PP, PSOE, Ciudadanos, Podemos and Vox have used Twitter during the broadcasting of the electoral debates for the Andalusian elections, held December 2nd, 2018. A monitoring of the profiles of the four parties which participated in the debates televised by CanalSur and TVE on November 19thand 26thwill be performed, as well as of that of Vox, given that, against all odds, it has entered the Government. Content, flow of tweets by each profile, retweets, answers and hashtags will be reviewed to find out whether the use of this social network could predict the political tendency (Deltell et al, 2013). In addition to the quantitative data, the strategies followed by the political parties in their profiles during the broadcasting of the electoral debates will be analyzed. The results will be useful for establishing a general analysis framework on how this social network has influenced the communication of the parties during the campaign, as well as for detecting the interest that the different topics proposed during both debates raise among its audience

Use of Twitter during televised election debates: Spanish general election (28 April 2019) vs. French general election (24 April 2022)

Social media have become key in political communication, playing a crucial role in election campaigns due to their fast, ubiquitous communication. This paper focuses on the comparison of the use of the social network Twitter in Spanish and French public and commercial television stations, during the last televised debates held during their general elections (2019 and 2022). It seeks to find whether conversation and interaction with their audiences take place, and whether these meet the dialogic principles set forth by Kent and Taylor adapted to Twitter by Ribalko and Seltzer to include usefulness of information, generation of return visits and dialogic loop preservation. To do this, the content of the general Twitter profiles of two French television stations, together with their profiles focused on informative content, were analyzed before, during and after the televised election debate held on 20 April. Likewise, the Twitter profiles corresponding to two Spanish television stations, together with the profiles corresponding to their news programs, were studied before, during and after the televised election debates held on 22 and 23 April. After screening all their posts, those referring to the debate and generating the largest engagement figures were selected, in order to compare the topics covered in the televised debates with those covered in Twitter. The results reveal that the information-focused accounts originate more posts whose content is linked to the televised debates, in contrast with the general accounts. Furthermore, both the unidirectionality of their content, and the lack of dialogue and interaction between these accounts and their audiences, become apparent, in addition to the minimal occurrence of “debate about the debate” flow among users.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación | Ref. PID2021-124293OB-I00Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación | Ref. PDC2021-121720-100Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación | Ref. PID2021-122386OB-I0

Environmental Work and Peace Work: The Palestinian-Israeli Case

This paper, based on a larger study that was carried out by a joint Palestinian – Israeli research team before and during the Al Aqsa Intifada, examines Israeli and Palestinian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that have worked on joint environmental projects. We focus here on three jointly run Palestinian – Israeli NGOs, 16 Israeli organizations and 12 Palestinian organizations that engaged in cooperative work, looking at the kind of work they did, their perceptions of the causes of environmental damage and its connection to the conflict, their perceptions of the roles of NGOs within their societies, and obstacles encountered in cooperative work. Data about the NGOs were collected through face-to-face audio taped interviews, their publications, and from their websites. Results showed that while the Israeli and Palestinian NGOs agree that joint work is needed to address ecological problems, they differ in their reasons for working together, their perceptions of the sources of environmental deterioration, the roles that NGOs should be taking within their society, the relationship of the Israeli – Palestinian conflict to the state of the environment, and the effect that a final peace agreement would have on solving these problems. It was concluded that the “environmental narratives” of the two sides differ greatly, and that the establishment of a “culture of peace” is a very long-term process

Universal evaluation of MLC models in treatment planning systems based on a common set of dynamic tests

Reference standards; Commission on professional and hospital activities; Radiotherapy, Intensity-ModulatedEstándares de referencia; Comisión sobre actividades profesionales y hospitalarias; Radioterapia de intensidad moduladaEstàndards de referència; Comissió sobre activitats professionals i hospitalàries; Radioteràpia d'intensitat moduladaPurpose: To demonstrate the feasibility of characterising MLCs and MLC models implemented in TPSs using a common set of dynamic beams. Materials and methods: A set of tests containing synchronous (SG) and asynchronous sweeping gaps (aSG) was distributed among twenty-five participating centres. Doses were measured with a Farmer-type ion chamber and computed in TPSs, which provided a dosimetric characterisation of the leaf tip, tongue-and-groove, and MLC transmission of each MLC, as well as an assessment of the MLC model in each TPS. Five MLC types and four TPSs were evaluated, covering the most frequent combinations used in radiotherapy departments. Results: Measured differences within each MLC type were minimal, while large differences were found between MLC models implemented in clinical TPSs. This resulted in some concerning discrepancies, especially for the HD120 and Agility MLCs, for which differences between measured and calculated doses for some MLC-TPS combinations exceeded 10%. These large differences were particularly evident for small gap sizes (5 and 10 mm), as well as for larger gaps in the presence of tongue-and-groove effects. A much better agreement was found for the Millennium120 and Halcyon MLCs, differences being within ± 5% and ± 2.5%, respectively. Conclusions: The feasibility of using a common set of tests to assess MLC models in TPSs was demonstrated. Measurements within MLC types were very similar, but TPS dose calculations showed large variations. Standardisation of the MLC configuration in TPSs is necessary. The proposed procedure can be readily applied in radiotherapy departments and can be a valuable tool in IMRT and credentialing audits

Komórki macierzyste i progenitorowe w biostrukturze ścian naczyń krwionośnych

Development of vascular and hematopoietic systems during organogenesis occurs at the same time. During vasculogenesis, a small part of cells does not undergo complete differentiation but stays on this level, “anchored” in tissue structures described as stem cell niches. The presence of blood vessels within tissue stem cell niches is typical and led to identification of niches and ensures that they are functioning. The three-layer biostructure of vessel walls for artery and vein, tunica: intima, media and adventitia, for a long time was defined as a mechanical barrier between vessel light and the local tissue environment. Recent findings from vascular biology studies indicate that vessel walls are dynamic biostructures, which are equipped with stem and progenitor cells, described as vascular wall-resident stem cells/progenitor cells (VW-SC/PC). Distinct zones for vessel wall harbor heterogeneous subpopulations of VW-SC/PC, which are described as “subendothelial or vasculogenic zones”. Recent evidence from in vitro and in vivo studies show that prenatal activity of stem and progenitor cells is not only limited to organogenesis but also exists in postnatal life, where it is responsible for vessel wall homeostasis, remodeling and regeneration. It is believed that VW-SC/PC could be engaged in progression of vascular disorders and development of neointima. We would like to summarize current knowledge about mesenchymal and progenitor stem cell phenotype with special attention to distribution and biological properties of VW-SC/PC in biostructures of intima, media and adventitia niches. It is postulated that in the near future, niches for VW-SC/PC could be a good source of stem and progenitor cells, especially in the context of vessel tissue bioengineering as a new alternative to traditional revascularization therapies

Bacteriological and cytological findings during the late puerperal period after two different treatments of retained placenta followed by acute puerperal metritis

The aim of the study was to compare the effect of two acute puerperal metritis (APM) treatment protocols on uterine condition during the late puerperal period (5th to 7th week). Late gestation healthy cows (n = 21) were divided randomly in three equal groups. Parturitions were induced. Treatments of APM were started on the third day postpartum (PP). Group A was treated with an oxytocin analogue carbetocin for three days and intrauterine administration of cephapirin between days 15 and 17. Group B was given intramuscular injection of ceftiofur for five days followed by two injections of prostaglandin F2α, at an interval of 12 h, on the eighth day PP. Group C served as the control group with no treatment. Body temperature was recorded daily for 14 days PP. Uterine biopsies for bacteriology, and uterobrush samples for cytology, were taken once a week from the 5th to 7th week postpartum. No differences were found in body temperature on day 14 PP, presence of bacteriological infections and disappearance of uterine inflammatory signs diagnosed by cytological examination between experimental groups

Efficacy and mechanisms underlying a gamified attention bias modification training in anxious youth: protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background Attention bias modification training (ABMT) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) likely target different aspects of aberrant threat responses in anxiety disorders and may be combined to maximize therapeutic benefit. However, studies investigating the effect of ABMT in the context of CBT have yielded mixed results. Here, we propose an enhanced ABMT to target the attentional bias towards threat, in addition to classic CBT for anxiety disorders in youth. This enhanced ABMT integrates the modified dot-probe task used in previous studies, where a target is always presented at the previous location of the neutral and not the simultaneously presented threatening stimulus, with a visual search, where the targets are always presented distally of threatening distractors. These two training elements (modified dot-probe and visual search) are embedded in an engaging game to foster motivation and adherence. Our goal is to determine the efficacy of the enhanced ABMT in the context of CBT. Further, we aim to replicate two previous findings: (a) aberrant amygdala connectivity being the neurobiological correlate of the attentional bias towards threat at baseline; and (b) amygdala connectivity being a mediator of the ABMT effect. We will also explore moderators of treatment response (age, sex, depressive symptoms and irritability) on a behavioral and neuronal level. Methods One hundred and twenty youth (8–17 years old) with a primary anxiety disorder diagnosis all receive CBT and are randomized to nine weeks of either active or control ABMT and symptom improvement will be compared between the two study arms. We will also recruit 60 healthy comparison youth, who along with eligible anxious youth, will be assessed with the dot-probe task during fMRI (anxious youth: before and after training; healthy volunteers: second measurement twelve weeks after initial assessment). Discussion The present study will contribute to the literature by (1) potentially replicating that aberrant amygdala connectivity mediates the attentional bias towards threat in anxious youth; (2) determining the efficacy of enhanced ABMT; and (3) advancing our understanding of the mechanisms underlying ABMT. Trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT03283930 Trial registration date: September 14th 2017. The trial registration took place retrospectively. Data acquisition started February 1st 2017

Induction level determines signature of gene expression noise in cellular systems

Noise in gene expression, either due to inherent stochasticity or to varying inter- and intracellular environment, can generate significant cell-to-cell variability of protein levels in clonal populations. We present a theoretical framework, based on stochastic processes, to quantify the different sources of gene expression noise taking cell division explicitly into account. Analytical, time-dependent solutions for the noise contributions arising from the major steps involved in protein synthesis are derived. The analysis shows that the induction level of the activator or transcription factor is crucial for the characteristic signature of the dominant source of gene expression noise and thus bridges the gap between seemingly contradictory experimental results. Furthermore, on the basis of experimentally measured cell distributions, our simulations suggest that transcription factor binding and promoter activation can be modelled independently of each other with sufficient accuracy