Neurotrophin receptors expression and JNK pathway activation in human astrocytomas

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Neurotrophins are growth factors that regulate cell growth, differentiation and apoptosis in the nervous system. Their diverse actions are mediated through two different transmembrane – receptor signaling systems: Trk receptor tyrosine kinases (TrkA, TrkB, TrkC) and p75^NTRneurotrophin receptor. Trk receptors promote cell survival and differentiation while p75^NTRinduces, in most cases, the activity of JNK-p53-Bax apoptosis pathway or suppresses intracellular survival signaling cascades. Robust Trk activation blocks p75^NTR-induced apoptosis by suppressing the JNK-p53-Bax pathway. The aim of this exploratory study was to investigate the expression levels of neurotrophin receptors, Trks and p75^NTR, and the activation of JNK pathway in human astrocytomas and in adjacent non-neoplastic brain tissue.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded serial sections from 33 supratentorial astrocytomas (5 diffuse fibrillary astrocytomas, WHO grade II; 6 anaplastic astrocytomas, WHO grade III; 22 glioblastomas multiforme, WHO grade IV) were immunostained following microwave pretreatment. Polyclonal antibodies against TrkA, TrkB, TrkC and monoclonal antibodies against p75^NTRand phosphorylated forms of JNK (pJNK) and c-Jun (pc-Jun) were used. The labeling index (LI), defined as the percentage of positive (labeled) cells out of the total number of tumor cells counted, was determined.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Moderate to strong, granular cytoplasmic immunoreactivity for TrkA, TrkB and TrkC receptors was detected in greater than or equal to 10% of tumor cells in the majority of tumors independently of grade; on the contrary, p75^NTRreceptor expression was found in a small percentage of tumor cells (~1%) in some tumors. The endothelium of tumor capillaries showed conspicuous immunoreactivity for TrkB receptor. Trk immunoreactivity seemed to be localized in some neurons and astrocytes in non-neoplastic tissue. Phosphorylated forms of JNK (pJNK) and c-Jun (pc-Jun) were significantly co-expressed in a tumor grade-dependent manner (p < 0.05). Interestingly, a statistically significant (p < 0.05) reverse relationship between Trk receptors LIs and pc-Jun/pJNK LIs was noted in some glioblastomas multiforme.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In the context of astrocytomas, Trk receptors (TrkA, TrkB, TrkC) expression may promote tumor growth independently of grade. Furthermore, activation of JNK pathway may contribute to progression towards malignancy. Considering the fact that regional tumor heterogeneity may be a limiting factor for immunohistochemical studies, the significance of the reverse relationship between Trk receptors and pc-Jun/pJNK LIs with respect to biological behavior of human astrocytomas requires further evaluation.</p

Sociolinguistic Features for Author Gender Identification: From Qualitative Evidence to Quantitative Analysis

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Quantitative Linguistics on 7 October 2016, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/09296174.2016.1226430. The Accepted Manuscript is under embargo. Embargo end date: 7 April 2018.Theoretical and empirical studies prove the strong relationship between social factors and the individual linguistic attitudes. Different social categories, such as gender, age, education, profession and social status, are strongly related with the linguistic diversity of people’s everyday spoken and written interaction. In this paper, sociolinguistic studies addressed to gender differentiation are overviewed in order to identify how various linguistic characteristics differ between women and men. Thereafter, it is examined if and how these qualitative features can become quantitative metrics for the task of gender identification from texts on web blogs. The evaluation results showed that the “syntactic complexity”, the “tag questions”, the “period length”, the “adjectives” and the “vocabulary richness” characteristics seem to be significantly distinctive with respect to the author’s gender.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Towards disappearing user interfaces for ubiquitous computing: human enhancement from sixth sense to super senses

The enhancement of human senses electronically is possible when pervasive computers interact unnoticeably with humans in Ubiquitous Computing. The design of computer user interfaces towards “disappearing” forces the interaction with humans using a content rather than a menu driven approach, thus the emerging requirement for huge number of non-technical users interfacing intuitively with billions of computers in the Internet of Things is met. Learning to use particular applications in Ubiquitous Computing is either too slow or sometimes impossible so the design of user interfaces must be naturally enough to facilitate intuitive human behaviours. Although humans from different racial, cultural and ethnic backgrounds own the same physiological sensory system, the perception to the same stimuli outside the human bodies can be different. A novel taxonomy for Disappearing User Interfaces (DUIs) to stimulate human senses and to capture human responses is proposed. Furthermore, applications of DUIs are reviewed. DUIs with sensor and data fusion to simulate the Sixth Sense is explored. Enhancement of human senses through DUIs and Context Awareness is discussed as the groundwork enabling smarter wearable devices for interfacing with human emotional memories

High‐resolution GC/MS studies of a light crude oil fraction

The continuous development in analytical instrumentation has brought the newly developed Orbitrap‐based gas chromatography / mass spectrometry (GC/MS) instrument into the forefront for the analysis of complex mixtures such as crude oil. Traditional instrumentation usually requires a choice to be made between mass resolving power or an efficient chromatographic separation, which ideally enables the distinction of structural isomers that is not possible by mass spectrometry alone. Now, these features can be combined, thus enabling a deeper understanding of the constituents of volatile samples on a molecular level. Although electron ionization is the most popular ionization method employed in GC/MS analysis, the need for softer ionization methods has led to the utilization of atmospheric pressure ionization sources. The last arrival to this family is the atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI), which was originally developed for liquid chromatography / mass spectrometry (LC/MS). With a newly developed commercial GC‐APPI interface, it is possible to extend the characterization of unknown compounds. Here, first results about the capabilities of the GC/MS instrument under high or low energy EI or APPI are reported on a volatile gas condensate. The use of different ionization energies helps matching the low abundant molecular ions to the structurally important fragment ions. A broad range of compounds from polar to medium polar were successfully detected and complementary information regarding the analyte was obtained

Evaluation of the combination of different atmospheric pressure ionization sources for the analysis of extremely complex mixtures

Characterization of complex samples remains a challenging task due to the high number of compounds present. Matrix effects, ion discrimination and suppression are limiting factors which force the use of different methods for the same sample to gain a broad understanding of complex mixtures

Understanding “Fouling” in Extremely Complex Petroleum Mixtures

“Fouling”, the unwanted deposition of solids, causes significant operational difficulties in petroleum producing and processing industries and is considered a billion dollar problem. There are two routes of petroleum fouling: physical fouling, where material of low-solubility precipitates, and chemical fouling, where a chemical reaction produces insoluble material, often on the surface of heat exchangers. By implementing laboratory-scale experimental simulations of the industrial process using a petroleum derived light crude oil fraction, it is shown that chemical fouling proceeds via multistep pathways involving dehydrogenation and radical formation reactions on PAHs, resulting in the formation of carbonaceous deposits

Study of Crude Oil Fouling from Sulfur-Containing Compounds Using High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry

With the depletion of conventional resources, heavier and more sulfur-rich crude oils come into the focus of interest. However, the utilization of such feedstocks is extremely undesirable since their high sulfur content causes corrosion fouling, catalyst poisoning, and emissions of toxic pollutants into the atmosphere. As known catalyst poisoners, sulfur-containing compounds are also suspected to play an important role in crude oil fouling, that is, the formation of undesired solid deposits. To overcome these problems, insightful knowledge on the chemical composition of the sulfur-containing compounds on a molecular level and their behavior is necessary. Here, fouling reactions of a gas condensate were simulated in the laboratory under atmospheric and inert conditions, with special focus on sulfur-containing compounds, and the resulting mixtures were analyzed by using sophisticated analytical methods such as ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry and electron microscopy. The results indicate that sulfur-containing compounds decompose at elevated temperatures, partly by a radical-induced mechanism. Furthermore, the resulting intermediates show a limited stability in the presence of oxygen

Αnalysis of the road network of Greek cities with urban planning and sustainable criteria

261 σ.Αντικείμενο της παρούσας διπλωματικής εργασίας αποτελεί η ανάλυση του οδικού δικτύου 20 παράκτιων και ορεινών πόλεων της Ελλάδας. Bασιστήκαμε στην υπόθεση πως ηθελημένα ή συγκυριακά το υπάρχον οδικό δίκτυο και ο εν γένει αστικός ιστός παρέχουν στα κτίρια τη δυνατότητα να χωροθετηθούν σωστά στα οικόπεδα σύμφωνα με τις αρχές του βιοκλιματικού – πολεοδομικού σχεδιασμού. Σε μεγαλύτερο βαθμό εξετάζεται κατά πόσο εξυπηρετείται ο ηλιασμός των πόλεων από τον τρόπο πολεοδόμησής τους. Μέσα από τη διαδικασία της έρευνας αυτής πρόκειται να επαληθευτεί ή να διαψευσθεί η αρχική υπόθεση. Οι πόλεις που μελετούνται βρίσκονται σε διάφορα γεωγραφικά πλάτη και είναι πόλεις ποικίλων γεωγραφικών και ιστορικών χαρακτηριστικών: πόλεις με μακραίωνη ιστορία όπως το Άργος, η Κίσσαμος , η Λειβαδιά, η Μύρινα, η Σπάρτη, πόλεις που αναπτύχθηκαν κατά τη διάρκεια της οθωμανικής κατοχής όπως η Καρδίτσα, πόλεις νεότερες με οικιστική εξέλιξη τους τελευταίους δύο αιώνες όπως τα Νέα Μουδανιά. Για κάθε πόλη εξετάζονται τα πολεοδομικά χαρακτηριστικά της (προσανατολισμός οδών, πλάτος, γεωμετρία οικοδομικών τετραγώνων, συντελεστής δόμησης κτιρίων) τα οποία συσχετίζονται κατόπιν με τα γεωφυσικά χαρακτηριστικά αυτής (κλίμα, ανάγλυφο) στα πλαίσια της τρισδιάστατης περιβαλλοντικής ανάλυσης του χώρου. Η δε ανάλυση του οδικού δικτύου των 20 παράκτιων αυτών πόλεων σε δυο διαστάσεις, πραγματοποιείται με τη βοήθεια της ρουτίνας βιοκλίμα σε περιβάλλον AutoCAD, δίνοντας στοιχεία για το πλήθος και το μήκος των δρόμων με ευνοϊκό προσανατολισμό. Επιπρόσθετα γίνεται καταγραφή της οικιστικής εξέλιξης των πόλεων στο πέρασμα των αιώνων με αντίστοιχους χάρτες.The purpose of this diploma thesis is to analyze the road network of 20 coastal and mountainous cities in Greece. Initially, it is assumed that, either by design or by chance, the existing road network enables the arrangement of buildings on plots in compliance with the principals of sustainable design. In particular, it is examined whether a city’s layout best serves the receipt of solar energy. The scope of this study includes cities that are located in a variety of different latitudes, and with variable geographical and historical traits are the following: historical cities such as Argos, Kissamos, Livadia, Myrina, Sparti. Cities that, developed during the occupation of the Ottoman such as Karditsa. Cities that have been developed during the last two centuries such as Nea Moudania . It is studied the urban layout of each city (road orientation, width, geometry of blocks), which is then connected to the geophysical characteristics (climate, bass-relief, etc.) under the three dimensional environmental analysis of the scenery. The road network analysis of the aforementioned cities is achieved via AutoCAD’s Bioclimatic routine, providing findings concerning the multitude and length of roads with favorable orientation. Through this research procedure, it is feasible to group cities with common characteristics, as well as appoint cities that validate the initial hypothesis. Furthermore, the residential development of these cities throughout the centuries is recorded and is presented through maps.Μαρία Α. Κονδύλ

Impact of Trucks on Arterial LOS and Freeway Work Zone Capacity Part B:Freeway Work Zone Capacity

The existing FDOT lane closure analysis method was developed several years ago, and it is the desire of the Department to evaluate and update it accordingly. The objective of this research was to develop analytical models and procedures for estimating the capacity of a freeway work zone considering various geometric and traffic parameters. Due to the Unavailability of real-world work zone data, the study was based on simulation. CORSIM (version 5.1) was used to develop a comprehensive database which was used in the analytical model development. Models were developed for three types of work zone configurations (2-to-1, 3-to-2, and 3-to-1 lane closures). Two different types of models were developed for each lane closure configuration; a planning model and an operational model. The Planning model is the simplest once and it applies when a capacity estimate is required, but the work zone is not in place. The operational model requires more data as input, and it may be used for estimating the capacity of an existing work zone