Occurrence of Regulated and Emerging Iodinated DBPs in the Shanghai Drinking Water

10.1371/journal.pone.0059677PLoS ONE83

Software monitoring system of banking devices of self-service: Engineering-psychological approach to development of the system

Information technology is an innovative developing space that is not limited to territorial boundaries and is becoming increasingly global in scope. It actively provides solutions for the tasks of both the townsfolk and entire sectors of the industry, being one of the most important factors that have a strong influence on reality

ASEAN's unchanged melody? The theory and practice of 'non-interference' in Southeast Asia

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published as Jones, Lee. (2010). ASEAN's unchanged melody? The theory and practice of 'non-interference' in Southeast Asia. Pacific Review 23:4, 479-502 as published in PACIFIC REVIEW 2010 © Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/09512748.2010.49599

Cardiac Remodeling After Hypertensive Pregnancy Following Physician-Optimized Blood Pressure Self-Management: The POP-HT Randomized Clinical Trial Imaging Sub-study.

Background: Hypertensive pregnancy disorders are associated with adverse cardiac remodeling, which can fail to reverse postpartum in some women. The Physician Optimized Postpartum Hypertension Treatment trial demonstrated improved blood pressure control, while the cardiovascular system recovers postpartum, associates with persistently reduced blood pressure. We now report the impact on cardiac remodeling. Methods: In this prospective, randomized, open-label, blinded endpoint trial, in a single UK hospital, 220 women were randomly assigned 1:1 to self-monitoring with research physician-optimized antihypertensive titration, or usual postnatal care from primary care physician and midwife. Participants were aged 18 years or over, with pre-eclampsia or gestational hypertension, requiring antihypertensives on hospital discharge postnatally. Pre-specified secondary cardiac imaging outcomes were recorded by echocardiography around delivery, and again at blood pressure primary outcome assessment, around nine months postpartum, when cardiovascular magnetic resonance was also performed. Results: 187 women (101 intervention; 86 usual care) underwent echocardiography at baseline and follow up, at a mean 258+/-14.6 days postpartum, of which 174 (93 intervention; 81 usual care) also had cardiovascular magnetic resonance at follow up. Relative wall thickness by echocardiography was 0.06 (95% CI0.07 to 0.05, P=<0.001) lower in the intervention group between baseline and follow up, and cardiovascular magnetic resonance at follow up demonstrated a lower left ventricular mass (-6.37g/m2 (95% CI -7.99 to -4.74, P<0.001), end diastolic volume (-3.87ml/m2, 95% CI -6.77 to -0.98, P=0.009) and end systolic volume (-3.25ml/m2, 95% CI 4.87 to -1.63, P <0.001) and higher left and right ventricular ejection fraction by 2.6% (95% CI 1.3 to 3.9, P<0.001) and 2.8% (95% CI 1.4 to 4.1, P<0.001) respectively. Echocardiography assessed left ventricular diastolic function demonstrated a mean difference in average E/E' of 0.52 (95% CI -0.97 to -0.07, P=0.024), and a reduction in left atrial volumes of -4.33ml/m2 (95% CI -5.52 to -3.21, P=<0.001) between baseline and follow up, when adjusted for baseline differences in measures. Conclusions: Short-term postnatal optimization of blood pressure control following hypertensive pregnancy, through self-monitoring and physician-guided antihypertensive titration, associates with long term changes in cardiovascular structure and function, in a pattern associated with more favorable cardiovascular outcomes

The MicroRNA-200 Family Is Upregulated in Endometrial Carcinoma

BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs (miRNAs, miRs) are small non-coding RNAs that negatively regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. MicroRNAs are dysregulated in cancer and may play essential roles in tumorigenesis. Additionally, miRNAs have been shown to have prognostic and diagnostic value in certain types of cancer. The objective of this study was to identify dysregulated miRNAs in endometrioid endometrial adenocarcinoma (EEC) and the precursor lesion, complex atypical hyperplasia (CAH). METHODOLOGY: We compared the expression profiles of 723 human miRNAs from 14 cases of EEC, 10 cases of CAH, and 10 normal proliferative endometria controls using Agilent Human miRNA arrays following RNA extraction from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues. The expression of 4 dysregulated miRNAs was validated using real time reverse transcription-PCR. RESULTS: Forty-three miRNAs were dysregulated in EEC and CAH compared to normal controls (p<0.05). The entire miR-200 family (miR-200a/b/c, miR-141, and miR-429) was up-regulated in cases of EEC. CONCLUSIONS: This information contributes to the candidate miRNA expression profile that has been generated for EEC and shows that certain miRNAs are dysregulated in the precursor lesion, CAH. These miRNAs in particular may play important roles in tumorigenesis. Examination of miRNAs that are consistently dysregulated in various studies of EEC, like the miR-200 family, will aid in the understanding of the role that miRNAs play in tumorigenesis in this tumour type

A Systems Biology Approach to Characterize the Regulatory Networks Leading to Trabectedin Resistance in an In Vitro Model of Myxoid Liposarcoma

Trabectedin, a new antitumor compound originally derived from a marine tunicate, is clinically effective in soft tissue sarcoma. The drug has shown a high selectivity for myxoid liposarcoma, characterized by the translocation t(12;16)(q13; p11) leading to the expression of FUS-CHOP fusion gene. Trabectedin appears to act interfering with mechanisms of transcription regulation. In particular, the transactivating activity of FUS-CHOP was found to be impaired by trabectedin treatment. Even after prolonged response resistance occurs and thus it is important to elucidate the mechanisms of resistance to trabectedin. To this end we developed and characterized a myxoid liposarcoma cell line resistant to trabectedin (402-91/ET), obtained by exposing the parental 402-91 cell line to stepwise increases in drug concentration. The aim of this study was to compare mRNAs, miRNAs and proteins profiles of 402-91 and 402-91/ET cells through a systems biology approach. We identified 3,083 genes, 47 miRNAs and 336 proteins differentially expressed between 402-91 and 402-91/ET cell lines. Interestingly three miRNAs among those differentially expressed, miR-130a, miR-21 and miR-7, harbored CHOP binding sites in their promoter region. We used computational approaches to integrate the three regulatory layers and to generate a molecular map describing the altered circuits in sensitive and resistant cell lines. By combining transcriptomic and proteomic data, we reconstructed two different networks, i.e. apoptosis and cell cycle regulation, that could play a key role in modulating trabectedin resistance. This approach highlights the central role of genes such as CCDN1, RB1, E2F4, TNF, CDKN1C and ABL1 in both pre- and post-transcriptional regulatory network. The validation of these results in in vivo models might be clinically relevant to stratify myxoid liposarcoma patients with different sensitivity to trabectedin treatment

Mechanisms of international influence on domestic elite sport policy

In the analysis of sport policy the permeability of domestic policy processes and the significance of non-domestic policy influences is increasingly acknowledged. There is also a growing awareness of the role of domestic institutional arrangements in mediating influences external to the domestic policy system. Taking the interaction between non-domestic influences and domestic policy processes as its starting point the article evaluates, in relation to elite sport, the variety of mechanisms that have been identified as linking the domestic and non-domestic policy spheres. It is argued that the mechanisms vary in relation to the locus of initiative, the basis of engagement, the key relationships and the nature of power relationships. It is also argued that in many countries in relation to elite sport policy there is a dual process in operation of domestically initiated policy learning and non-domestically initiated policy harmonisation through policy regimes