Solitary mandibular metastasis as an initial manifestation of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Oral metastases from hepatocellular carcinoma are very rare. We encountered a case of hepatocellular carcinoma with a solitary metastasis to the mandible as an initial manifestation. The patient was a 76-year-old man who was admitted for left mandibular swelling. A biopsy specimen of mandible was suspected to be a metastatic tumor. The histological findings, abdominal computed tomography, bone scintigraphy, and F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) revealed it to be a solitary metastasis from hepatocellular carcinoma. As a result, he was diagnosed to have liver cirrhosis due to a hepatitis C virus infection and hepatocellular carcinoma with a solitary metastasis to the mandible. The primary lesion was treated with transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE), and the metastasis to the mandible was surgically resected. The patient survived for 9 months after treatment without recurrence

A bound on Universal Extra Dimension Models from up to 2fb^{-1} of LHC Data at 7TeV

The recent up to 2fb^{-1} of data from the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the CERN Large Hadron Collider at 7TeV put an upper bound on the production cross section of a Higgs-like particle. We translate the results of the H -> WW -> l nu l nu and H -> gamma gamma as well as the combined analysis by the ATLAS and CMS into an allowed region for the Kaluza-Klein (KK) mass M_{KK} and the Higgs mass $M_H$ for all the known Universal Extra Dimension (UED) models in five and six dimensions. Our bound is insensitive to the detailed KK mass splitting and mixing and hence complementary to all other known signatures.Comment: (v2) accepted for publication in Phys. Lett. B, newer data shown in Lepton-Photon conference (especially from separate WW and di-photon channels) are included, title changed accordingly, comments and references added; (v1) 10 pages, 2 figures, 2 table

Chemosensitivity of Patient-Derived Cancer Stem Cells Identifies Colorectal Cancer Patients with Potential Benefit from FGFR Inhibitor Therapy

Some colorectal cancer patients harboring FGFR (fibroblast growth factor receptor) genetic alterations, such as copy number gain, mutation, and/or mRNA overexpression, were selected for enrollment in several recent clinical trials of FGFR inhibitor, because these genetic alterations were preclinically reported to be associated with FGFR inhibitor sensitivity as well as poor prognosis, invasiveness, and/or metastatic potential. However, few enrolled patients were responsive to FGFR inhibitors. Thus, practical strategies are eagerly awaited that can stratify patients for the subset that potentially responds to FGFR inhibitor chemotherapy. In the present study, we evaluated the sensitivity to FGFR inhibitor erdafitinib on 25 patient-derived tumor-initiating cell (TIC) spheroid lines carrying wild-type RAS and RAF genes, both in vitro and in vivo. Then, we assessed possible correlations between the sensitivity and the genetic/genomic data of the spheroid lines tested. Upon their exposure to erdafitinib, seven lines (7/25, 28%) responded significantly. Normal colonic epithelial stem cells were unaffected by the inhibitors. Moreover, the combination of erdafitinib with EGFR inhibitor erlotinib showed stronger growth inhibition than either drug alone, as efficacy was observed in 21 lines (84%) including 14 (56%) that were insensitive to erdafitinib alone. The in vitro erdafitinib response was accurately reflected on mouse xenografts of TIC spheroid lines. However, we found little correlation between their genetic/genomic alterations of TIC spheroids and the sensitivity to the FGFR inhibitor. Accordingly, we propose that direct testing of the patient-derived spheroids in vitro is one of the most reliable personalized methods in FGFR-inhibitor therapy of colorectal cancer patients

An improved method for culturing patient-derived colorectal cancer spheroids

患者由来大腸がん幹細胞培養を用いた薬剤感受性試験を開発 --個別化医療の実現へ期待--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2018-09-03.Recent advances allowed culturing and examination of patient-derived colorectal cancer (PD-CRC) cells as organoids or spheroids. To be applied to practical personalized medicine, however, current methods still need to be strengthened for higher efficiency. Here we report an improved method to propagate PD-CRC tumor initiating cells (TICs) in spheroid culture. We established > 100 cancer spheroid lines derived from independent colorectal cancer patients employing a serum-containing medium with additional inhibitors, Y27632 and SB431542. Because colorectal cancer spheroids showed wide-range growth rates depending on the patient tumors, we searched for supplementary factors that accelerated proliferation of slow-growing CRC-TIC spheroids. To this end, we introduced a convenient growth-monitoring method using a luciferase reporter. We found that epidermal growth factor (EGF) and/or basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) were critical for steady propagation of a subset of CRC-TIC spheroids carrying the wild-type RAS and RAF genes. We also identified 5′-(N-ethyl-carboxamido)-adenosine (NECA), an adenosine receptor agonist, as an essential supplement for another subset of spheroids. Based on these results, we propose to optimize culture conditions for CRC-TIC spheroids by adjusting to the respective tumor samples. Our method provides a versatile tool that can be applied to personalized chemotherapy evaluation in prospective clinical studies

Long noncoding RNAs in Brassica rapa L. following vernalization

© 2019, The Author(s). Brassica rapa L. is an important agricultural crop that requires a period of prolonged cold for flowering. This process is known as vernalization. Studies have shown that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in abiotic stress responses and several cold-responsive noncoding RNAs have been suggested to be involved in vernalization. We examined the transcriptome of the Chinese cabbage inbred line (B. rapa L. var. pekinensis) RJKB-T24, and identified 1,444 long intergenic noncoding RNAs (lincRNAs), 551 natural antisense transcripts (NATs), and 93 intronic noncoding RNAs (incRNAs); 549 of the 2,088 lncRNAs significantly altered their expression in response to four weeks of cold treatment. Most differentially expressed lncRNAs did not lead to a change of expression levels in mRNAs covering or near lncRNAs, suggesting that the transcriptional responses to four weeks of cold treatment in lncRNA and mRNA are independent. However, some differentially expressed mRNAs had NATs with expression altered in the same direction. These genes were categorized as having an abiotic stress response, suggesting that the paired-expression may play a role in the transcriptional response to vernalization or cold treatment. We also identified short-term cold treatment induced NATs in BrFLC and BrMAF genes, which are involved in vernalization. The lncRNAs we identified differed from those reported in Arabidopsis thaliana, suggesting the role of lncRNAs in vernalization differ between these two species

The role of FRIGIDA and FLOWERING LOCUS C genes in flowering time of Brassica rapa leafy vegetables

© 2019, The Author(s). There is a wide variation of flowering time among lines of Brassica rapa L. Most B. rapa leafy (Chinese cabbage etc.) or root (turnip) vegetables require prolonged cold exposure for flowering, known as vernalization. Premature bolting caused by low temperature leads to a reduction in the yield/quality of these B. rapa vegetables. Therefore, high bolting resistance is an important breeding trait, and understanding the molecular mechanism of vernalization is necessary to achieve this goal. In this study, we demonstrated that BrFRIb functions as an activator of BrFLC in B. rapa. We showed a positive correlation between the steady state expression levels of the sum of the BrFLC paralogs and the days to flowering after four weeks of cold treatment, suggesting that this is an indicator of the vernalization requirement. We indicate that BrFLCs are repressed by the accumulation of H3K27me3 and that the spreading of H3K27me3 promotes stable FLC repression. However, there was no clear relationship between the level of H3K27me3 in the BrFLC and the vernalization requirement. We also showed that if there was a high vernalization requirement, the rate of repression of BrFLC1 expression following prolonged cold treatments was lower

Needlestick and sharps injuries among health care workers at public tertiary hospitals in an urban community in Mongolia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Needlestick and sharps injuries (NSSIs) are one of the major risk factors for blood-borne infections at healthcare facilities. This study examines the current situation of NSSIs among health care workers at public tertiary hospitals in an urban community in Mongolia and explores strategies for the prevention of these injuries.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>A survey of 621 health care workers was undertaken in two public tertiary hospitals in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, in July 2006. A semi-structured and self-administered questionnaire was distributed to study injection practices and the occurrence of NSSIs. A multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate factors associated with experiencing NSSIs. Among the 435 healthcare workers who returned a completed questionnaire, the incidence of NSSIs during the previous 3 months was 38.4%. Health care workers were more likely to report NSSIs if they worked longer than 35 hours per week (odds ratio, OR: 2.47; 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.31-4.66) and administered more than 10 injections per day (OR: 4.76; 95% CI: 1.97-11.49). The likelihood of self-reporting NSSIs significantly decreased if health care workers adhered to universal precautions (OR: 0.34; 95% CI: 0.17-0.68).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>NSSIs are a common public health problem at public tertiary hospitals in Mongolia. The promotion of adequate working conditions, elimination of excessive injection use, and adherence to universal precautions will be important for the future control of potential infections with blood-borne pathogens due to occupational exposures to sharps in this setting.</p