548 research outputs found
A population-based case-control study on social factors and risk of testicular germ cell tumours
Objectives Incidence rates for testicular cancer have risen over the last few decades. Findings of an association between the risk of testicular cancer and social factors are controversial. The association of testicular cancer and different indicators of social factors were examined in this study.<p></p>
Design Caseâcontrol study.<p></p>
Setting Population-based multicentre study in four German regions (city states Bremen and Hamburg, the Saarland region and the city of Essen).<p></p>
Participants The study included 797 control participants and 266 participants newly diagnosed with testicular cancer of which 167 cases were classified as seminoma and 99 as non-seminoma. The age of study participants ranged from 15 to 69â
years.<p></p>
Methods Social position was classified by educational attainment level, posteducational training, occupational sectors according to Erikson-Goldthorpe-Portocarrero (EGP) and the socioeconomic status (SES) on the basis of the International SocioEconomic Index of occupational status (ISEI). ORs and corresponding 95% CIs (95% CIs) were calculated for the whole study sample and for seminoma and non-seminoma separately.<p></p>
Results Testicular cancer risk was modestly increased among participants with an apprenticeship (OR=1.7 (95% CI 1.0 to 2.8)) or a university degree (OR=1.6 (95% CI 0.9 to 2.8)) relative to those whose education was limited to school. Analysis of occupational sectors revealed an excess risk for farmers and farm-related occupations. No clear trend was observed for the analyses according to the ISEI-scale.<p></p>
Conclusions Social factors based on occupational measures were not a risk factor for testicular cancer in this study. The elevated risk in farmers and farm-related occupations warrants further research including analysis of occupational exposures.<p></p>
Reconstruction of Bandlimited Functions from Unsigned Samples
We consider the recovery of real-valued bandlimited functions from the
absolute values of their samples, possibly spaced nonuniformly. We show that
such a reconstruction is always possible if the function is sampled at more
than twice its Nyquist rate, and may not necessarily be possible if the samples
are taken at less than twice the Nyquist rate. In the case of uniform samples,
we also describe an FFT-based algorithm to perform the reconstruction. We prove
that it converges exponentially rapidly in the number of samples used and
examine its numerical behavior on some test cases
Multiplication and Composition in Weighted Modulation Spaces
We study the existence of the product of two weighted modulation spaces. For
this purpose we discuss two different strategies. The more simple one allows
transparent proofs in various situations. However, our second method allows a
closer look onto associated norm inequalities under restrictions in the Fourier
image. This will give us the opportunity to treat the boundedness of
composition operators.Comment: 49 page
Nanosized superparamagnetic precipitates in cobalt-doped ZnO
The existence of semiconductors exhibiting long-range ferromagnetic ordering
at room temperature still is controversial. One particularly important issue is
the presence of secondary magnetic phases such as clusters, segregations,
etc... These are often tedious to detect, leading to contradictory
interpretations. We show that in our cobalt doped ZnO films grown
homoepitaxially on single crystalline ZnO substrates the magnetism
unambiguously stems from metallic cobalt nano-inclusions. The magnetic behavior
was investigated by SQUID magnetometry, x-ray magnetic circular dichroism, and
AC susceptibility measurements. The results were correlated to a detailed
microstructural analysis based on high resolution x-ray diffraction,
transmission electron microscopy, and electron-spectroscopic imaging. No
evidence for carrier mediated ferromagnetic exchange between diluted cobalt
moments was found. In contrast, the combined data provide clear evidence that
the observed room temperature ferromagnetic-like behavior originates from
nanometer sized superparamagnetic metallic cobalt precipitates.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures; details about background subtraction added to
section III. (XMCD
Seasonality of aerosol optical properties in the Arctic
Given the sensitivity of the Arctic climate to short-lived climate forcers,
long-term in situ surface measurements of aerosol parameters are useful in
gaining insight into the magnitude and variability of these climate forcings.
Seasonality of aerosol optical properties â including the aerosol
light-scattering coefficient, absorption coefficient, single-scattering
albedo, scattering Ă
ngström exponent, and asymmetry parameter â are
presented for six monitoring sites throughout the Arctic: Alert, Canada;
Barrow, USA; Pallas, Finland; Summit, Greenland; Tiksi, Russia; and Zeppelin
Mountain, Ny-Ă
lesund, Svalbard, Norway. Results show annual variability
in all parameters, though the seasonality of each aerosol optical property
varies from site to site. There is a large diversity in magnitude and
variability of scattering coefficient at all sites, reflecting differences in
aerosol source, transport, and removal at different locations throughout the
Arctic. Of the Arctic sites, the highest annual mean scattering coefficient
is measured at Tiksi (12.47 Mmâ1), and the lowest annual mean
scattering coefficient is measured at Summit (1.74 Mmâ1). At most
sites, aerosol absorption peaks in the winter and spring, and has a minimum
throughout the Arctic in the summer, indicative of the Arctic haze
phenomenon; however, nuanced variations in seasonalities suggest that this
phenomenon is not identically observed in all regions of the Arctic. The
highest annual mean absorption coefficient is measured at Pallas
(0.48 Mmâ1), and Summit has the lowest annual mean absorption
coefficient (0.12 Mmâ1). At the Arctic monitoring stations analyzed
here, mean annual single-scattering albedo ranges from 0.909 (at Pallas) to
0.960 (at Barrow), the mean annual scattering Ă
ngström exponent
ranges from 1.04 (at Barrow) to 1.80 (at Summit), and the mean asymmetry
parameter ranges from 0.57 (at Alert) to 0.75 (at Summit). Systematic
variability of aerosol optical properties in the Arctic supports the notion
that the sites presented here measure a variety of aerosol populations, which
also experience different removal mechanisms. A robust conclusion from the
seasonal cycles presented is that the Arctic cannot be treated as one common
and uniform environment but rather is a region with ample spatiotemporal
variability in aerosols. This notion is important in considering the design
or aerosol monitoring networks in the region and is important for informing
climate models to better represent short-lived aerosol climate forcers in
order to yield more accurate climate predictions for the Arctic.</p
Predictors and prognosis of right ventricular function in pulmonary hypertension due to heart failure with reduced ejection fraction
Aims Failure of right ventricular (RV) function worsens outcome in pulmonary hypertension (PH). The adaptation of RV contractility to afterload, the RV-pulmonary artery (PA) coupling, is defined by the ratio of RV end-systolic to PA elastances (Ees/Ea). Using pressure-volume loop (PV-L) technique we aimed to identify an Ees/Ea cut-off predictive for overall survival and to assess hemodynamic and morphologic conditions for adapted RV function in secondary PH due to heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFREF).Methods and results This post hoc analysis is based on 112 patients of the prospective Magdeburger Resynchronization Responder Trial. All patients underwent right and left heart echocardiography and a baseline PV-L and RV catheter measurement. A subgroup of patients (n = 50) without a pre-implanted cardiac device underwent magnetic resonance imaging at baseline. The analysis revealed that 0.68 is an optimal Ees/Ea cut-off (area under the curve: 0.697, P = 0.68 vs. = 0.68 showed comparable RV-Ees/Ea ratios (0.88 vs. 0.9, P = 0.39), RV size/function, and survival. In contrast, secondary PH with RV-PA coupling ratio Ees/Ea 160 mL, RV-mass/volume-ratio 171 mL, odds ratio (OR) 0.96, P = 0.021], high pulsatile load (PA compliance = 0.68) in PH was associated with preserved RV size/function and mid-term survival, comparable with HFREF without PH.Cardiolog
The complex TIE between macrophages and angiogenesis
Macrophages are primarily known as phagocytic immune cells, but they also play a role in diverse processes, such as morphogenesis, homeostasis and regeneration. In this review, we discuss the influence of macrophages on angiogenesis, the process of new blood vessel formation from the pre-existing vasculature. Macrophages play crucial roles at each step of the angiogenic cascade, starting from new blood vessel sprouting to the remodelling of the vascular plexus and vessel maturation. Macrophages form promising targets for both pro- and anti-angiogenic treatments. However, to target macrophages, we will first need to understand the mechanisms that control the functional plasticity of macrophages during each of the steps of the angiogenic cascade. Here, we review recent insights in this topic. Special attention will be given to the TIE2-expressing macrophage (TEM), which is a subtype of highly angiogenic macrophages that is able to influence angiogenesis via the angiopoietin-TIE pathway
Mixture Risk Assessment of Complex Real-Life MixturesâThe PANORAMIX Project
Humans are involuntarily exposed to hundreds of chemicals that either contaminate our environment and food or are added intentionally to our daily products. These complex mixtures of chemicals may pose a risk to human health. One of the goals of the European Unionâs Green Deal and zero-pollution ambition for a toxic-free environment is to tackle the existent gaps in chemical mixture risk assessment by providing scientific grounds that support the implementation of adequate regulatory measures within the EU. We suggest dealing with this challenge by: (1) characterising âreal-lifeâ chemical mixtures and determining to what extent they are transferred from the environment to humans via food and water, and from the mother to the foetus; (2) establishing a high-throughput whole-mixture-based in vitro strategy for screening of real-life complex mixtures of organic chemicals extracted from humans using integrated chemical profiling (suspect screening) together with effect-directed analysis; (3) evaluating which human blood levels of chemical mixtures might be of concern for childrenâs development; and (4) developing a web-based, ready-to-use interface that integrates hazard and exposure data to enable component-based mixture risk estimation. These concepts form the basis of the Green Deal project PANORAMIX, whose ultimate goal is to progress mixture risk assessment of chemicals.Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, the Green Deal project PANORAMIX Grant Agreement No. 10103663
Tumor-Associated Macrophages (TAMs) Form an Interconnected Cellular Supportive Network in Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma
BACKGROUND: A relationship between the increased density of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and decreased survival was recently reported in thyroid cancer patients. Among these tumors, anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is one of the most aggressive solid tumors in humans. TAMs (type M2) have been recognized as promoting tumor growth. The purpose of our study was to analyze with immunohistochemistry the presence of TAMs in a series of 27 ATC. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Several macrophages markers such as NADPH oxidase complex NOX2-p22phox, CD163 and CD 68 were used. Immunostainings showed that TAMs represent more than 50% of nucleated cells in all ATCs. Moreover, these markers allowed the identification of elongated thin ramified cytoplasmic extensions, bestowing a "microglia-like" appearance on these cells which we termed "Ramified TAMs" (RTAMs). In contrast, cancer cells were totally negative. Cellular stroma was highly simplified since apart from cancer cells and blood vessels, RTAMs were the only other cellular component. RTAMs were evenly distributed and intermingled with cancer cells, and were in direct contact with other RTAMs via their ramifications. Moreover, RTAMs displayed strong immunostaining for connexin Cx43. Long chains of interconnected RTAMs arose from perivascular clusters and were dispersed within the tumor parenchyma. When expressed, the glucose transporter Glut1 was found in RTAMs and blood vessels, but rarely in cancer cells. CONCLUSION: ATCs display a very dense network of interconnected RTAMs in direct contact with intermingled cancer cells. To our knowledge this is the first time that such a network is described in a malignant tumor. This network was found in all our studied cases and appeared specific to ATC, since it was not found in differentiated thyroid cancers specimens. Taken together, these results suggest that RTAMs network is directly related to the aggressiveness of the disease via metabolic and trophic functions which remain to be determined
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