Simultaneous neoadjuvant radiochemotherapy with capecitabine and oxaliplatin for locally advanced rectal cancer: Treatment outcome outside clinical trials

Background: Phase II trials of neoadjuvant treatment in UICC-TNM stageII and III rectal cancer with capecitabine and oxaliplatin demonstrated favourable rates on tumour regression with acceptable toxicity. Patients and methods: Retrospective evaluation of 34 patients treated from 2005-2008 outside clinical trials (CTR) with neoadjuvant irradiation (45-50.4Gy) and simultaneous capecitabine 825mg/m2 b.i.d. on days 1-14 and 22-35 and oxaliplatin 50mg/m2 on days 1, 8, 22 and 29 (CAPOX). Twenty-six (77%) patients received one or two courses of capecitabine 1,000mg/m2 b.i.d. on days 1-14 and oxaliplatin 130mg/m2 on day 1 (XELOX) prior to simultaneous chemoradiotherapy. Results: UICC-TNM stage regression was observed in 60% (n = 20). Dworak's regression grades 3 and 4 were achieved in 18.2% (n = 6) and 15.1% (n = 5) of the patients. Sphincter-preserving surgery was performed in 53% (n = 8) of patients with a tumour of the lower rectum. Within the mean observation of 24 months, none of the patients relapsed locally, 1patient had progressive disease and 5patients (15%) relapsed distantly. Toxicity of grade 3 and 4 was mainly diarrhoea 18% (n = 6) and perianal pain 9% (n = 3). Nevertheless, severe cardiac events (n = 2), severe electrolyte disturbances (n = 2), and syncopes (n = 2) were observed as well. Conclusion: Treatment efficacy and common toxicity are similar to the reports of phaseI/II trials. However, several severe adverse events were observed in our cohort study. The predisposing factors for these events have yet to be studied and may have implications for the selection of patients outside CT

Categorization in IT and PFC: Model and Experiments

In a recent experiment, Freedman et al. recorded from inferotemporal (IT) and prefrontal cortices (PFC) of monkeys performing a "cat/dog" categorization task (Freedman 2001 and Freedman, Riesenhuber, Poggio, Miller 2001). In this paper we analyze the tuning properties of view-tuned units in our HMAX model of object recognition in cortex (Riesenhuber 1999) using the same paradigm and stimuli as in the experiment. We then compare the simulation results to the monkey inferotemporal neuron population data. We find that view-tuned model IT units that were trained without any explicit category information can show category-related tuning as observed in the experiment. This suggests that the tuning properties of experimental IT neurons might primarily be shaped by bottom-up stimulus-space statistics, with little influence of top-down task-specific information. The population of experimental PFC neurons, on the other hand, shows tuning properties that cannot be explained just by stimulus tuning. These analyses are compatible with a model of object recognition in cortex (Riesenhuber 2000) in which a population of shape-tuned neurons provides a general basis for neurons tuned to different recognition tasks

Torsion and Inflammation of Meckel's Diverticulum: Rare Cause of Acute Abdominal Pain

Meckel's diverticulum is a remnant of the embryologic vitelline duct. It was named after its anatomical and embryological description, in the early 19th century, by Johann Meckel. It is known as a true diverticulum of the small bowel and is typically estimated to be present in 2% of the general population, with only a very small percentage being symptomatic. In this report, we present a 14-year-old boy with complaints of abdominal pain, fever, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. During physical examination we observed peritoneal irritation and raised inflammatory markers. Surgical exploration revealed torsion and inflammation of a large Meckel's diverticulum with a gangrenous area. In order to ensure the removal of etopic tissue, if present, segmental bowel resection with primary anastomosis was performed. Histopathological analysis did not find ectopic tissue. The operative and postoperative courses were uneventful. Meckel's diverticulum is an important differential diagnosis in acute abdominal pain in children.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Chimpanzee coordination and potential communication in a two-touchscreen turn-taking game

Recent years have seen a growing interest in the question of whether and how groups of nonhuman primates coordinate their behaviors for mutual benefit. On the one hand, it has been shown that chimpanzees in the wild and in captivity can solve various coordination problems. On the other hand, evidence of communication in the context of coordination problems is scarce. Here, we investigated how pairs of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) solved a problem of dynamically coordinating their actions for achieving a joint goal. We presented five pairs of chimpanzees with a turn-taking coordination game, where the task was to send a virtual target from one computer display to another using two touch-screens. During the joint practice of the game some subjects exhibited spontaneous gesturing. To address the question whether these gestures were produced to sustain coordination, we introduced a joint test condition in which we simulated a coordination break-down scenario: subjects appeared either unwilling or unable to return the target to their partner. The frequency of gesturing was significantly higher in these test trials than in the regular trials. Our results suggest that at least in some contexts chimpanzees can exhibit communicative behaviors to sustain coordination in joint action

Transmembrane Complexes of DAP12 Crystallized in Lipid Membranes Provide Insights into Control of Oligomerization in Immunoreceptor Assembly

The membrane-spanning α helices of single-pass receptors play crucial roles in stabilizing oligomeric structures and transducing biochemical signals across the membrane. Probing intermolecular transmembrane interactions in single-pass receptors presents unique challenges, reflected in a gross underrepresentation of their membrane-embedded domains in structural databases. Here, we present two high-resolution structures of transmembrane assemblies from a eukaryotic single-pass protein crystallized in a lipidic membrane environment. Trimeric and tetrameric structures of the immunoreceptor signaling module DAP12, determined to 1.77-Å and 2.14-Å resolution, respectively, are organized by the same polar surfaces that govern intramembrane assembly with client receptors. We demonstrate that, in addition to the well-studied dimeric form, these trimeric and tetrameric structures are made in cells, and their formation is competitive with receptor association in the ER. The polar transmembrane sequences therefore act as primary determinants of oligomerization specificity through interplay between charge shielding and sequestration of polar surfaces within helix interfaces

Interacting mindreaders

Could interacting mindreaders be in a position to know things which they would be unable to know if they were manifestly passive observers? This paper argues that they could. Mindreading is sometimes reciprocal: the mindreader's target reciprocates by taking the mindreader as a target for mindreading. The paper explains how such reciprocity can significantly narrow the range of possible interpretations of behaviour where mindreaders are, or appear to be, in a position to interact. A consequence is that revisions and extensions are needed to standard theories of the evidential basis of mindreading. The view also has consequences for understanding how abilities to interact combined with comparatively simple forms of mindreading may explain the emergence, in evolution or development, of sophisticated forms of social cognition

Getting a Transcription Factor to Only One Nucleus Following Mitosis

The Ace2 transcription factor from budding yeast has both a regulated nuclear localization signal and a regulated nuclear export signal, and Ace2 phosphorylation by the Cbk1 kinase results in Ace2 accumulation in daughter cells but not mothers

Failure behavior of internally pressurized flawed and unflawed steam generator tubing at high temperatures -- Experiments and comparison with model predictions

This report summarizes experimental work performed at Argonne National Laboratory on the failure of internally pressurized steam generator tubing at high temperatures ({le} 700 C). A model was developed for predicting failure of flawed and unflawed steam generator tubes under internal pressure and temperature histories postulated to occur during severe accidents. The model was validated by failure tests on specimens with part-through-wall axial and circumferential flaws of various lengths and depths, conducted under various constant and ramped internal pressure and temperature conditions. The failure temperatures predicted by the model for two temperature and pressure histories, calculated for severe accidents initiated by a station blackout, agree very well with tests performed on both flawed and unflawed specimens

Sharing tasks or sharing actions? Evidence from the joint Simon task.

In a joint Simon task, a pair of co-acting individuals divide labors of performing a choice-reaction task in such a way that each actor responds to one type of stimuli and ignores the other type that is assigned to the co-actor. It has been suggested that the actors share the mental representation of the joint task and perform the co-actor’s trials as if they were their own. However, it remains unclear exactly which aspects of co-actor’s task-set the actors share in the joint Simon task. The present study addressed this issue by manipulating the proportions of compatible and incompatible trials for one actor (inducer actor) and observing its influences on the performance of the other actor (diagnostic actor) for whom there were always an equal proportion of compatible and incompatible trials. The design of the present study disentangled the effect of trial proportion from the confounding effect of compatibility on the preceding trial. The results showed that the trial proportions for the inducer actor had strong influences on the inducer actor’s own performance, but it had little influence on the diagnostic actor’s performance. Thus, the diagnostic actor did not represent aspects of the inducer actor’s task-set beyond stimuli and responses of the inducer actor. We propose a new account of the effect of preceding compatibility on the joint Simon effect.Action Contro