Relationship between p53 expression and gastric cancers in cardia and antrum

Background: The mutations in p53 gene and accumulation of p53 protein are the most common genetic events in gastric carcinomas. The present study was conducted to compare the frequency of p53 gene overexpression in a consecutive series of adenocarcinomas arising from the cardia and the antrum. This study also evaluates the associations of this gene expression with demographic and clinicopathologic findings (age, sex, histology, and grade of tumor). Methods: Retrospective analysis was performed on 111 patients with gastric cancer who had undergone upper gastrointestinal endoscopies in 5th Azar Medical Center (northeastern, Iran), during 1998-2005. The series comprised of 25 patients with cardia adenocarcinoma and 86 patients with antral adenocarcinoma. p53 alteration (nuclear p53 overexpression) was detected by immunohistochemistry. Results: Nuclear p53 overexpression was found in 14 (56%) out of the 25 and 27 (31.3%) out of the 86 patients with cardia and antral adenocarcinomas, respectively. p53 gene overexpression was significantly more frequent in adenocarcinomas of the cardia than the antrum. There were no differences in the clinicopathologic characteristics of the tumors between p53-positive and p53-negative cases in both types of the cancer. Conclusion: This study shows that p53 alterations correlate well with gastric location, and they are more frequent in adenocarcinoma of the cardia than the antrum. This result reinforce the hypothesis that the cancers of the lower esophagus and upper stomach have distinct epidemiologic, pathogenesis, and molecular characteristics from that observed in cancers of the lower part of the stomach

Massive malignant pleural effusion due to lung adenocarcinoma in 13-year-old boy

A 13-year-old boy with no risk factors for lung cancer presented with a massive left-sided pleural effusion and a mediastinal shift on chest radiography and computed tomography. A chest tube drained bloody pleural fluid with an exudative pattern. A pleural biopsy and wedge biopsy of the left lower lobe revealed mucinous adenocarcinoma in the left lower lobe wedge biopsy and metastatic adenocarcinoma in the pleural biopsy. The patient is currently undergoing chemotherapy. Radiotherapy is planned after shrinkage of the tumor. Adenocarcinoma of the lung is very rarely seen in teenagers or children, especially in the absence of risk factors. © SAGE Publications

Higher order time integration schemes for thermal coupling of flows and structures

The application of higher order implicit time integration schemes to conjugate heat transfer problems is analyzed with Dirichlet-Neumann as the decomposition method. In the literature, only up to second order implicit time integration schemes have been reported while there is a potential for gaining computational efficiency using higher orders. For loose coupling of the domains, the IMEX scheme consisting of the ESDIRK scheme for integrating the governing equations within the subdomains and an ERK scheme for explicit integration of the explicit coupling terms is utilized. The IMEX scheme is analyzed for two cases. In one, the material properties of the coupled domains are the same and in the other they are different. While for both cases, the IMEX scheme preserves the design order of the time integration scheme, different stability and accuracy properties are observed for the two. Finally, the computational efficiency of the higher order IMEX schemes relative to the second order scheme is demonstrated using a test case in 2-D involving coupled conduction problem of three domains

Combination of gastric atrophy, reflux symptoms and histological subtype indicates two distinct aetiologies of gatric cardia cancer.

<b>INTRODUCTION</b> Atrophic gastritis is a risk factor for non-cardia gastric cancer, and gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) for oesophageal adenocarcinoma. The role of atrophic gastritis and GORD in the aetiology of adenocarcinoma of the cardia remains unclear. We have investigated the association between adenocarcinoma of the different regions of the upper gastrointestinal tract and atrophic gastritis and GORD symptoms. <b>METHODS</b> 138 patients with upper GI adenocarcinoma and age and sex matched controls were studied. Serum pepsinogen I/II was used as a marker of atrophic gastritis and categorised to five quintiles. History of GORD symptoms, smoking and H.pylori infection was incorporated in logistic regression analysis. Lauren classification of gastric cancer was used to subtype gastric and oesophageal adenocarcinoma. <b>RESULTS</b> Non-cardia cancer was associated with atrophic gastritis but not with GORD symptoms; 55% of these cancers were intestinal subtype. Oesophageal adenocarcinoma was associated with GORD symptoms, but not with atrophic gastritis; 84% were intestinal subtype. Cardia cancer was positively associated with both severe gastric atrophy [OR, 95% CI: 3.92 (1.77 – 8.67)] and with frequent GORD symptoms [OR, 95% CI: 10.08 (2.29 – 44.36)] though the latter was only apparent in the nonatrophic subgroup and in the intestinal subtype. The association of cardia cancer with atrophy was stronger for the diffuse versus intestinal subtype and this was the converse of the association observed with non-cardia cancer. <b>CONCLUSION</b> These findings indicate two distinct aetiologies of cardia cancer, one arising from severe atrophic gastritis and being of intestinal or diffuse subtype similar to non-cardia cancer, and one related to GORD and intestinal in subtype, similar to oesophageal adenocarcinoma. Gastric atrophy, GORD symptoms and histological subtype may distinguish between gastric versus oesophageal origin of cardia cancer

Comparing effects of in-home decontamination procedures by common components on antioxidant activity and microbial load in some selected vegetables

Aims: Decontamination procedures are different in each country, as the other applications of disinfection, and standards. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of household decontaminations and storage time on the antioxidant activity and microbial load of salad vegetables. Instrument & Methods: This analytic-descriptive study was conducted on 4 types of salad vegetables; cucumber, tomato, lettuce, and sweet basil. After washing, samples with storage time of 0 day were analyzed immediately. Other samples were held in 4°C for 3 and 5 days. Five different washing and decontamination methods were compared; water washing, detergent washing, benzalkonium chloride, sequential washing and Kanz disinfecting method. The Ferric Reducing Ability of Plasma assay was used to measure the antioxidant activity. Aerobic mesophyll bacteria and total coliforms were chosen as microbial load index. ANOVA and Tukey post-hoc tests were used to analyze the data. Findings: By increasing the storage time, the antioxidant activity of all types of vegetables reduced. There was a significant decrease in antioxidant activity in all types of vegetables using sequential washing method with water, detergent, and benzalkonium chloride and Kanz disinfection method. All washing methods were effective in decontamination for either mesophyll bacteria or total coliforms, except for total coliforms in lettuce. There was no significant difference in microbial load among first 4 methods of washing (p>0.05), but a significant difference was observed in Kanz disinfection method (p<0.05). Conclusion: Kanz disinfection is the most effective decontamination method to eliminate microorganisms index, which also reduce the antioxidant activity

Implementing structural fuses in CFRP components via microstructurally-engineered crack paths

This study aims to develop and implement actual carbon fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) solutions for realising structural fuses in real components. To this end, we have developed various concepts for structural fuses, applied to generic idealised components and aimed at engaging different in-plane and through-the-thickness damage propagation mechanisms. Micro-cut patterns (MCPs) / crack path combinations have been engraved on thin-ply CFRP prepregs (by using a laser cut machine) for manufacturing CFRP specimens. Afterwards, we have carried out a series of experimental studies to evaluate the fracture properties of various MCPs under three-point bending (3PB). Then, 3PB results were used to refine and down-select our concepts, for use in our generic idealised component design to test them under indentation test using a cantilever beam rig. The test results demonstrated that MCPs can provide significant control over the fracture locus and path, additionally allowing the failure initiation load and energy dissipation to be tailored

Classification of bianisotropic metasurfaces from reflectance and transmittance measurements

Upon using fundamental electromagnetic properties of metasurfaces we build a platform to classify reciprocal bianisotropic metasurfaces from typical experimental measurements and determine isotropic, anisotropic, bi-isotropic (chiral), and bianisotropic (so-called omega) properties. We provide experimental guidelines to identify each class by measuring macroscopic scattering parameters, i.e., reflection and transmission coefficients upon plane wave illumination with linear and/or circular polarization. We explicitly provide a recipe of what metasurface properties can and cannot be inferred by means of chosen polarization, reflection, and transmission properties. We also clarify common confusions in the classification of anisotropic versus chiral metasurfaces based on circular dichroism measurements presented in the recent literature.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, 2 table

Evaluation of In vivo Bioactivity of a Mutated Streptokinase

 Background: Immunogenicity of Streptokinase, as a thrombolytic drug, has limited its clinical use. Elimination of the amino acid residues that are responsible for immunogenicity while don’t affect the bioactivity of streptokinase is worthy. Recently, we modified the streptokinase through the elimination of 42 amino acids from its’ C-terminal and assessed its bioactivity in vitro. In this study, bioactivity of the mutated-streptokinase determined and compared with those of commercially available streptokinase (Heberkinase) in rabbits with induced blood clot.Materials and Methods: . Recombinant mutated streptokinase was purified and its lipopolysaccharide  contained  remove and evaluated by LAL test. Thrombolytic activity of drug was evaluated by rabbit jugular vein as in vivo thrombosis model. The thrombolytic property of the drug was evaluated with determining of D-dimer in plasma.Results:. The results showed in vivo bioactivity of both truncated and commercial streptokinase (p<0.05). This study showed an important influence of the 42 amino acids of C-terminal in bioactivity of the streptokinase.Conclusion: Clinical use of the r-streptokinase requires more modification to restore its’ activity in vivo. This product may be a promising choice for clinical use after confirmation of its stability and non-immunogenicity

Prospects for detecting the 21cm forest from the diffuse intergalactic medium with LOFAR

We discuss the feasibility of the detection of the 21cm forest in the diffuse IGM with the radio telescope LOFAR. The optical depth to the 21cm line has been derived using simulations of reionization which include detailed radiative transfer of ionizing photons. We find that the spectra from reionization models with similar total comoving hydrogen ionizing emissivity but different frequency distribution look remarkably similar. Thus, unless the reionization histories are very different from each other (e.g. a predominance of UV vs. x-ray heating) we do not expect to distinguish them by means of observations of the 21cm forest. Because the presence of a strong x-ray background would make the detection of 21cm line absorption impossible, the lack of absorption could be used as a probe of the presence/intensity of the x-ray background and the thermal history of the universe. Along a random line of sight LOFAR could detect a global suppression of the spectrum from z>12, when the IGM is still mostly neutral and cold, in contrast with the more well-defined, albeit broad, absorption features visible at lower redshift. Sharp, strong absorption features associated with rare, high density pockets of gas could be detected also at z~7 along preferential lines of sight.Comment: 12 pages, 13 figures. MNRAS, in pres

Macropore effects on pesticides transport to groundwater

The objective of this investigation was to evaluate the leaching and degradation characteristics of atrazine and bromide in a field of alluvial soils under irrigated, no-till management. The experimental site was 0.1 ha in size. The soils were Sarpy (mixed, mesic Typic Udipsamments) with the surface texture varying from silt loam to loamy sand. Atrazine was applied at 2.2 kg/ha after sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) was planted. Bromide was applied at 115 kg/ha five days later. Soil cores were extracted to a depth of 150 cm which were segmented into 7.5 cm increments and were analyzed for each of the chemicals separately. The dates for sampling were one week, one month, two months, three months, and four months after application of the chemicals. As a result 1134 and 3542 soil samples were extracted for atrazine and bromide analysis, respectively. Atrazine was detected within the 15 to 22.5 cm depth increment one week after application. These data suggest that some of the atrazine can move to depth of 20 cm after one week which is probably due to the presence of macropores (1-5 mm diameter holes) open to the soil surface which were present in this field under no-till management. Atrazine was detected at very low concentrations at two and four months after application. Although extreme variability in atrazine concentrations occurred, the variations were not explained totally by differences in soil texture. The data in this study indicate some potential, although small, for atrazine contamination of groundwater.Project # G-1432-03 Agreement # 14-08-0001-G-1423-0