Accounting for stress: a comparative analysis of corporate reporting on work-related stress by UK, German and Greek companies

Paper presented at 22nd CSEAR International Congress on Social and Environmental Accounting Research, St Andrews, 01 Sep 2010 - 03 Sep 2010Work-related stress seems to be on the rise in recent years, and the contemporary prolonged financial uncertainty appears to have further contributed to it. However there seems to be a lack of studies investigating associated corporate disclosures. This paper attempts to contribute to this area by exploring the reporting on work-related stress, by some of the largest companies in the UK, Germany and Greece, through an investigation of their annual and ‘stand-alone’ reports and websites. Although it was expected that the inherent cultural differences among the investigated organisations would trigger some diversity in their stress-related reporting, a, by and large, complete absence of such reporting is found, with organisations from all countries limiting their references to, utmost, lip-service. The paper moves on to suggest potential reasons for this profound lack of relevant disclosure and highlights ways forward

Quantitative expression analysis of the apoptotic gene BCL2L12 in breast cancer: association with clinical and molecular prognostic parameters

Apoptosis is a highly orchestrated, genetically regulated form of cell death, the impairment of which is crucial in breast cancer (BC) development and progression. BCL2L12, a member of the BCL2 family of apoptosis-related genes, has been studied in various malignancies, revealing its potential role as a tumor biomarker. It has been recently found that BCL2L12 is subjected to alternative splicing, resulting in the generation of 13 alternatively spliced variants. The aim of this study was the quantification of BCL2L12 splice variants 1 and 2 (v.1 and v.2) expression at the mRNA level and the assessment of their biomarker potential in BC

Nonhalogenated organic molecules from Laurencia algae

The marine red algae of the genus Laurencia have produced more 700 secondary metabolites and exhibited high molecular diversity and intriguing bioactivity. Since the halogenated structures have been comprehensively reviewed previously, this review, covering up to the end of 2012, mainly focuses on the source, structure elucidation, and bioactivity of nonhalogenated organic molecules from Laurencia spp. as well as the relationship between nonhalogenated and halogenated products. Overall, 173 new or new naturally occurring compounds with 58 skeletons, mainly including sesquiterpenes, diterpenes, triterpenes, and C15-acetogenins, are described.The marine red algae of the genus Laurencia have produced more 700 secondary metabolites and exhibited high molecular diversity and intriguing bioactivity. Since the halogenated structures have been comprehensively reviewed previously, this review, covering up to the end of 2012, mainly focuses on the source, structure elucidation, and bioactivity of nonhalogenated organic molecules from Laurencia spp. as well as the relationship between nonhalogenated and halogenated products. Overall, 173 new or new naturally occurring compounds with 58 skeletons, mainly including sesquiterpenes, diterpenes, triterpenes, and C-15-acetogenins, are described

Long noncoding RNAs in digestive system malignancies: A novel class of cancer biomarkers and therapeutic targets?

High throughput methodologies have revealed the existence of an unexpectedly large number of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs). The unconventional role of lncRNAs in gene expression regulation and their broad implication in oncogenic and tumor suppressive pathways have introduced lncRNAs as novel biological tumor markers. The most prominent example of lncRNAs application in routine clinical practice is PCA3, a FDA-approved biomarker for prostate cancer. Regarding digestive system malignancies, the oncogenic HOTAIR is one of the most widely studied lncRNAs in the preclinical level and has already been identified as a potent prognostic marker for major malignancies of the gastrointestinal tract. Here, we provide an overview of recent findings regarding the emerging role of lncRNAs not only as key regulators of cancer initiation and progression in colon, stomach, pancreatic, liver, and esophageal cancers, but also as reliable tumor markers and therapeutic tools. lncRNAs can be easily, rapidly, and cost-effectively determined in tissues, serum, and gastric juice, making them highly versatile analytes. Taking also into consideration the largely unmet clinical need for early diagnosis and more accurate prognostic/predictive markers for gastrointestinal cancer patients, we comment upon the perspectives of lncRNAs as efficient molecular tools that could aid in the clinical management. Copyright © 2015 Athina Kladi-Skandali et al

Expressional profiling and clinical relevance of RNase κ in prostate cancer: a novel indicator of favorable progression-free survival

Purpose: Considering the unmet need for novel molecular tumor markers capable of improving prostate cancer (CaP) patients’ management along with the fruitful results regarding the future use of ribonucleases (RNases) as molecular diagnostic and prognostic markers in CaP, we aimed to study the expressional profile of RNase κ in CaP and BPH and to investigate its clinical significance in CaP. Methods: Total RNA was extracted from 212 prostatic tissue samples (101 BPH and 111 CaP) and, following cDNA synthesis, quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) was performed for the expressional quantification of RNase κ. Extensive statistical analysis, including bootstrap resampling, was performed to investigate the differential expression of RNase κ in patients with BPH and CaP and its associations with patients’ clinicopathological and survival data. Results: RNase κ was significantly downregulated (P = 0.002) in CaP patients compared to BPH ones. RNase κ overexpression was associated with decreased risk of CaP development and can discriminate between CaP and BPH independently of serum PSA levels (crude odds ratio = 0.93, P = 0.001). RNase κ upregulation was also associated with less advanced (P = 0.018) and less aggressive (P = 0.001) tumors as well as with longer progression-free survival (PFS) (P = 0.003). Finally univariate bootstrap Cox regression confirmed that RNase κ was associated with favorable prognosis (HR = 0.85, P = 0.002). Conclusions: RNase κ is a biomarker of favorable prognosis in CaP, which is significantly associated with less advanced and aggressive disease, as well as with enhanced PFS. © 2018, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature

Huntington's disease in Greece: The experience of 14 years

A large scale genetic and epidemiological study of Huntington's disease (HD) was carried out in Greece from January 1995 to December 2008. Diagnostic testing was carried out in 461 symptomatic individuals, while 256 were tested for presymptomatic purposes. The diagnosis of HD with a CAG expansion ≥36 was confirmed in 278 symptomatic individuals. The prevalence of HD in Greece was estimated at approximately 2.5 to 5.4:100,000, while the mean minimum incidence was estimated at 2.2 to 4.4 per million per year. The molecular diagnosis of HD was confirmed in the majority of patients (84.4%) sent for confirmation. The false-positive cases 15.6% were characterized by the absence of a family history of HD and the presence of an atypical clinical picture. The uptake of predictive testing for HD was 8.6%. A prenatal test was requested in six pregnancies. The findings of our study do not differ significantly from those of similar studies from other European countries despite the relative genetic isolation of Greece. Of interest is the identification of clusters of HD in Greece. The presence or absence of a family history of HD should be interpreted cautiously, during the diagnostic process. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S

BCL2L12: A promising molecular prognostic biomarker in breast cancer

Objectives: BCL2-like 12 ( BCL2L12) is a new member of the BCL2 gene family that was discovered and cloned by members of our group and found to be expressed in the mammary gland. Many genes of the BCL2 family were found to be implicated in breast carcinogenesis and to serve as possible prognostic markers. The aim of the present study was the quantification of BCL2L12 mRNA expression in order to assess its value as a prognostic tissue biomarker in breast cancer (BC). Design and methods: BCL2L12 mRNA levels were determined in a statistically significant sample size of cancerous (N=108) and adjacent non-cancerous (N=71) breast tissues using a highly sensitive quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) method. Relative quantification analysis was conducted using the comparative CT (2-δδCT) method, whereas the association between BCL2L12 expression and clinopathological data, disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were estimated by statistical analysis. Results: BCL2L12 mRNA expression was decreased in malignant samples compared to the histologically normal counterparts ( p= 0.012). Significant relationships between BCL2L12 expression and TNM stages ( p= 0.009), metastatic potential ( p= 0.012), tumor size ( p= 0.04) and age ( p= 0.024) were observed. Moreover, Kaplan-Meier and Cox univariate analyses indicated that BCL2L12 expression is associated with longer DFS, whereas multivariate analysis pointed out the independent favorable prognostic value of BCL2L12. Conclusions: According to our results, BCL2L12 mRNA expression is a favorable prognostic marker of DFS for BC patients, suggesting its possible application as a novel prognostic indicator of this malignancy. © 2014