Diffractive production of electroweak vector bosons at the LHC

We analyse diffractive electroweak vector boson production in hadronic collisions and show that the single diffractive W boson production asymmetry in rapidity is a particularly good observable at the LHC to test the concept of the flavour symmetric pomeron parton distributions. It may also provide an additional constraint for the parton distribution functions in the proton.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Unique metabolic features of pancreatic cancer stroma: relevance to the tumor compartment, prognosis, and invasive potential.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has a dismal prognosis. The aggressiveness and therapeutic recalcitrance of this malignancy has been attributed to multiple factors including the influence of an active desmoplastic stroma. How the stromal microenvironment of PDAC contributes to the fatal nature of this disease is not well defined. In the analysis of clinical specimens, we observed diverse expression of the hypoxic marker carbonic anhydrase IX and the lactate transporter MCT4 in the stromal compartment. These stromal features were associated with the epithelial to mesenchymal phenotype in PDAC tumor cells, and with shorter patient survival. Cultured cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) derived from primary PDAC exhibited a high basal level of hypoxia inducible factor 1a (HIF1α) that was both required and sufficient to modulate the expression of MCT4. This event was associated with increased transcription and protein synthesis of HIF1α in CAFs relative to PDAC cell lines, while surprisingly the protein turnover rate was equivalent. CAFs utilized glucose predominantly for glycolytic intermediates, whereas glutamine was the preferred metabolite for the TCA cycle. Unlike PDAC cell lines, CAFs were resistant to glucose withdrawal but sensitive to glutamine depletion. Consistent with the lack of reliance on glucose, CAFs could survive the acute depletion of MCT4. In co-culture and xenograft studies CAFs stimulated the invasive potential and metastatic spread of PDAC cell lines through a mechanism dependent on HIF1α and MCT4. Together, these data indicate that stromal metabolic features influence PDAC tumor cells to promote invasiveness and metastatic potential and associate with poor outcome in patients with PDAC

RB loss contributes to aggressive tumor phenotypes in MYC-driven triple negative breast cancer

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is characterized by multiple genetic events occurring in concert to drive pathogenic features of the disease. Here we interrogated the coordinate impact of p53, RB, and MYC in a genetic model of TNBC, in parallel with the analysis of clinical specimens. Primary mouse mammary epithelial cells (mMEC) with defined genetic features were used to delineate the combined action of RB and/or p53 in the genesis of TNBC. In this context, the deletion of either RB or p53 alone and in combination increased the proliferation of mMEC; however, the cells did not have the capacity to invade in matrigel. Gene expression profiling revealed that loss of each tumor suppressor has effects related to proliferation, but RB loss in particular leads to alterations in gene expression associated with the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. The overexpression of MYC in combination with p53 loss or combined RB/p53 loss drove rapid cell growth. While the effects of MYC overexpression had a dominant impact on gene expression, loss of RB further enhanced the deregulation of a gene expression signature associated with invasion. Specific RB loss lead to enhanced invasion in boyden chambers assays and gave rise to tumors with minimal epithelial characteristics relative to RB-proficient models. Therapeutic screening revealed that RB-deficient cells were particularly resistant to agents targeting PI3K and MEK pathway. Consistent with the aggressive behavior of the preclinical models of MYC overexpression and RB loss, human TNBC tumors that express high levels of MYC and are devoid of RB have a particularly poor outcome. Together these results underscore the potency of tumor suppressor pathways in specifying the biology of breast cancer. Further, they demonstrate that MYC overexpression in concert with RB can promote a particularly aggressive form of TNB

The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Eating Behavior among Adults Poles

Background: Due to the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), many restrictions and temporary lockdown were carried out. As a result, previous lifestyle, including diet, were disrupted.Objectives: The aim of this review was to assess changes in eating behavior during the COVID-19 compared to the period before pandemic in Poland. Methods: In the review involved original studies concerning adults Poles (aged ≥ 18), including changes in their eating behavior.Results: The COVID-19 pandemic and the social isolation periods had ambiguous influence on diet in Poland. The changes were dependent on many factors e.g. age, sex, education, occupation, or body weight. In general, regular diet pattern was followed. In case of changes, positive and negative eating habits were observed. Improper eating behavior such as the increase of total food and junk food intake was noticed, however improvement of the diet also was observed. Consumption of healthy food, such as vegetables and fruit went up. The significant increase of home cooking also was noticed.Conclusions: The present review indicates the need for future strategies to assess nutrition in cases of alarming situations. Promoting healthy eating behavior appears to be essential, especially during the pandemic

Empathy among the members of isolated culture

This article presents a look at the resocialization, as a cultural offer, which were presented for imprisoned persons. Perceiving the phenomenon of the prison subculture, as a threat to the future readaptation, a program with using elements of drama was suggested and presented whether and what scope he can contribute to the increase in the level of empathy in