A literature review on surgery for cervical vagal schwannomas

Cervical vagal schwannoma is a benign, slow-growing mass, often asymptomatic, with a very low lifetime risk of malignant transformation in general population, but diagnosis is still a challenge. Surgical resection is the treatment of choice even if its close relationship with nerve fibres, from which it arises, threats vagal nerve preservation. We present a case report and a systematic review of literature. All studies on surgical resection of cervical vagal schwannoma have been reviewed. Papers matching the inclusion criteria (topic on surgical removal of cervical vagal schwannoma, English language, full text available) were selected. Fifty-three patients with vagal neck schwannoma submitted to surgery were identified among 22 studies selected. Female/male ratio was 1.5 and median age 44 years. Median diameter was 5 cm (range 2 to 10). Most schwannoma were asymptomatic (68.2%) and received an intracapsular excision (64.9%). Postoperative symptoms were reported in 22.6% of patients. Cervical vagal schwannoma is a benign pathology requiring surgical excision, but frequently postoperative complications can affect patients lifelong, so, surgical indications should be based carefully on the balance between risks and benefits

Assessment of Chemical Inhibitor Addition to Improve the Gas Production from Biowaste

The coexistence of sulphate-reducing bacteria and methanogenic archaea in the reactors during the anaerobic digestion from sulphate-containing waste could favor the accumulation of sulfide on the biogas, and therefore reduce its quality. In this study, the effect of sulphate-reducing bacteria inhibitor (MoO−2 4 ) addition in a two phase system from sulphate-containing municipal solid waste to improve the quality of the biogas has been investigated. The results showed that although SRB and sulphide production decreased, the use of inhibitor was not effective to improve the anaerobic digestion in a two phase system from sulphate-containing waste, since a significant decrease on biogas and organic matter removal were observed. Before MoO−2 4 addition the average values of volatile solid were around 12 g/kg, after 5 days of inhibitor use, those values did exceed to 28 g/kg. Molybdate caused acidification in the reactor and it was according to decrease in the pH values. In relation to microbial consortia, the effect of inhibitor was a decrease in Bacteria (44%; 60% in sulphate-reducing bacteria) and Archaea (38%) population

Surfactant protein D inhibits HIV-1 infection of target cells via interference with gp120-CD4 interaction and modulates pro-inflammatory cytokine production

© 2014 Pandit et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Surfactant Protein SP-D, a member of the collectin family, is a pattern recognition protein, secreted by mucosal epithelial cells and has an important role in innate immunity against various pathogens. In this study, we confirm that native human SP-D and a recombinant fragment of human SP-D (rhSP-D) bind to gp120 of HIV-1 and significantly inhibit viral replication in vitro in a calcium and dose-dependent manner. We show, for the first time, that SP-D and rhSP-D act as potent inhibitors of HIV-1 entry in to target cells and block the interaction between CD4 and gp120 in a dose-dependent manner. The rhSP-D-mediated inhibition of viral replication was examined using three clinical isolates of HIV-1 and three target cells: Jurkat T cells, U937 monocytic cells and PBMCs. HIV-1 induced cytokine storm in the three target cells was significantly suppressed by rhSP-D. Phosphorylation of key kinases p38, Erk1/2 and AKT, which contribute to HIV-1 induced immune activation, was significantly reduced in vitro in the presence of rhSP-D. Notably, anti-HIV-1 activity of rhSP-D was retained in the presence of biological fluids such as cervico-vaginal lavage and seminal plasma. Our study illustrates the multi-faceted role of human SPD against HIV-1 and potential of rhSP-D for immunotherapy to inhibit viral entry and immune activation in acute HIV infection. © 2014 Pandit et al.The work (Project no. 2011-16850) was supported by Medical Innovation Fund of Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi, India (www.icmr.nic.in/)

Differential regulation of NF-κB activation and function by topoisomerase II inhibitors

BACKGROUND: While many common chemotherapeutic drugs and other inducers of DNA-damage result in both NF-κB nuclear translocation and DNA-binding, we have previously observed that, depending on the precise stimulus, there is great diversity of the function of NF-κB. In particular, we found that treatment of U-2 OS osteosarcoma cells with the anthracycine daunorubicin or with ultraviolet (UV-C) light resulted in a form of NF-κB that repressed rather than induced NF-κB reporter plasmids and the expression of specific anti-apoptotic genes. Anthracyclines such as daunorubicin can induce DNA-damage though inhibiting topoisomerase II, intercalating with DNA and undergoing redox cycling to produce oxygen free radicals. In this study we have investigated other anthracyclines, doxorubicin and aclarubicin, as well as the anthracenedione mitoxantrone together with the topoisomerase II inhibitor ICRF-193, which all possess differing characteristics, to determine which of these features is specifically required to induce both NF-κB DNA-binding and transcriptional repression in U-2 OS cells. RESULTS: The use of mitoxantrone, which does not undergo redox cycling, and the reducing agent epigallocatechingallate (EGCG) demonstrated that oxygen free radical production is not required for induction of NF-κB DNA-binding and transcriptional repression by these agents and UV-C. In addition, the use of aclarubicin, which does not directly inhibit topoisomerase II and ICRF-193, which inhibits topoisomerase II but does not intercalate into DNA, demonstrated that topoisomerase II inhibition is not sufficient to induce the repressor form of NF-κB. CONCLUSION: Induction of NF-κB DNA-binding and transcriptional repression by topoisomerase II inhibitors was found to correlate with an ability to intercalate into DNA. Although data from our and other laboratories indicates that topoisomerase II inhibition and oxygen free radicals do regulate NF-κB, they are not required for the particular ability of NF-κB to repress rather than activate transcription. Together with our previous data, these results demonstrate that the nature of the NF-κB response is context dependent. In a clinical setting such effects could profoundly influence the response to chemotherapy and suggest that new methods of analyzing NF-κB function could have both diagnostic and prognostic value

Prolactin receptor is a negative prognostic factor in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck

Background: The influence of human prolactin (hPRL) on the development of breast and other types of cancer is well established. Little information, however, exists on the effects of hPRL on squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck (SCCHNs). Methods: In this study, we evaluated prolactin receptor (PRLR) expression in SCCHN cell lines and assessed by immunohistochemistry the expression in 89 patients with SCCHNs. The PRLR expression was correlated with clinicopathological characteristics as well as clinical outcome. The effect of hPRL treatment on tumour cell growth was evaluated in vitro. Results: Immunoreactivity for PRLR was observed in 85 out of 89 (95%) tumours. Multivariate COX regression analysis confirmed high levels of PRLR expression (>25% of tumour cells) to be an independent prognostic factor with respect to overall survival (HR=3.70, 95% CI: 1.14–12.01; P=0.029) and disease-free survival (P=0.017). Growth of PRLR-positive cancer cells increased in response to hPRL treatment. Conclusion: Our data indicate that hPRL is an important growth factor for SCCHN. Because of PRLR expression in a vast majority of tumour specimens and its negative impact on overall survival, the receptor represents a novel prognosticator and a promising drug target for patients with SCCHNs

Limits on WWZ and WW\gamma couplings from p\bar{p}\to e\nu jj X events at \sqrt{s} = 1.8 TeV

We present limits on anomalous WWZ and WW-gamma couplings from a search for WW and WZ production in p-bar p collisions at sqrt(s)=1.8 TeV. We use p-bar p -> e-nu jjX events recorded with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider during the 1992-1995 run. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 96.0+-5.1 pb^(-1). Assuming identical WWZ and WW-gamma coupling parameters, the 95% CL limits on the CP-conserving couplings are -0.33<lambda<0.36 (Delta-kappa=0) and -0.43<Delta-kappa<0.59 (lambda=0), for a form factor scale Lambda = 2.0 TeV. Limits based on other assumptions are also presented.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, 2 table

Search For Heavy Pointlike Dirac Monopoles

We have searched for central production of a pair of photons with high transverse energies in $p\bar p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 1.8$ TeV using $70 pb^{-1}$ of data collected with the D\O detector at the Fermilab Tevatron in 1994--1996. If they exist, virtual heavy pointlike Dirac monopoles could rescatter pairs of nearly real photons into this final state via a box diagram. We observe no excess of events above background, and set lower 95% C.L. limits of $610, 870, or 1580 GeV/c^2$ on the mass of a spin 0, 1/2, or 1 Dirac monopole.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure

The Dijet Mass Spectrum and a Search for Quark Compositeness in bar{p}p Collisions at sqrt{s} = 1.8 TeV

Using the DZero detector at the 1.8 TeV pbarp Fermilab Tevatron collider, we have measured the inclusive dijet mass spectrum in the central pseudorapidity region |eta_jet| < 1.0 for dijet masses greater than 200 Gev/c^2. We have also measured the ratio of spectra sigma(|eta_jet| < 0.5)/sigma(0.5 < |eta_jet| < 1.0). The order alpha_s^3 QCD predictions are in good agreement with the data and we rule out models of quark compositeness with a contact interaction scale < 2.4 TeV at the 95% confidence level.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Search for High Mass Photon Pairs in p-pbar --> gamma-gamma-jet-jet Events at sqrt(s)=1.8 TeV

A search has been carried out for events in the channel p-barp --> gamma gamma jet jet. Such a signature can characterize the production of a non-standard Higgs boson together with a W or Z boson. We refer to this non-standard Higgs, having standard model couplings to vector bosons but no coupling to fermions, as a "bosonic Higgs." With the requirement of two high transverse energy photons and two jets, the diphoton mass (m(gamma gamma)) distribution is consistent with expected background. A 90(95)% C.L. upper limit on the cross section as a function of mass is calculated, ranging from 0.60(0.80) pb for m(gamma gamma) = 65 GeV/c^2 to 0.26(0.34) pb for m(gamma gamma) = 150 GeV/c^2, corresponding to a 95% C.L. lower limit on the mass of a bosonic Higgs of 78.5 GeV/c^2.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures. Replacement has new H->gamma gamma branching ratios and corresponding new mass limit