Zielvorstellungen und Entwicklungsperspektiven für den Ökolandbau aus Naturschutzsicht

Vor dem Hintergrund einer weiteren Ausweitung des Ökologischen Landbaus (ÖL) und seiner möglichen Intensivierung wurde in einer Literaturstudie und mit Expertenbefragungen ermittelt, mit welchen Maßnahmen auf einzelnen Betrieben eine Erhaltung und Steigerung der Biodiversität in dem Maße erreicht werden kann, dass die Populationen typischer Agrararten gesichert werden können. Als Beispielarten wurden Vögel der Agrarlandschaft und der Feldhase gewählt. Die Ergebnisse der Literaturrecherche ergab eine Maßnahmenmatrix für 47 Feldvogelarten, die zum Teil auch mit quantitativen Angaben unterlegt werden konnte. In einer bundesweiten, repräsentativen Umfrage unter 238 ÖL-Betrieben wurde ermittelt, welche Naturschutzleistungen von den Betrieben bereits erbracht werden, und zu welchen weiteren Maßnahmen die Betriebe ggf. bereit sind. Die Rücklaufquote war sehr hoch, durch 50 Betriebsbesuche vor Ort konnten die Ergebnisse validiert und die Verallgemeinerbarkeit festgestellt werden. Die Umfrage zeigte, dass im ÖL bereits viele Betriebe neben den systemgebundenen allgemeinen Leistungen zum Umweltschutz wesentliche zusätzliche Beiträge zum Naturschutz leisten; hoch sind diese Leistungen insbesondere im Bereich der Nutzungsvielfalt und der Artenvielfalt auf Ackerflächen sowie beim Anteil von Landschaftselementen an der Betriebsfläche. Bedarf an Umsetzung von speziellen Naturschutz-Maßnahmen besteht im Bereich der Artenvielfalt von Grünlandflächen und beim Einsatz spezieller naturschonender Techniken. Die Bereitschaft zu zusätzlichen Naturschutzmaßnahmen auf den Betrieben ist hoch. Sie wird jedoch oft durch Zeitmangel und fehlende finanzielle Förderung begrenzt. Entscheidend für eine weitere Entwicklung des Naturschutzes im ÖL sind Naturschutz-Beratung und Weiterbildung mit der Perspektive der Erarbeitung ökologischer Betriebsentwicklungspläne

Methylation profiling of mesothelioma using real-time methylation-specific PCR: A pilot study

We tested whether methylation profiles generated by real-time methylation-specific PCR (MSP) can be useful in differentiating benign, reactive mesothelial cell proliferation (RM) from malignant mesothelioma (MM). Forty-two of the 63 cases (67%) yielded informative results for RARΒ2, GPC3, CDKN2A (p16), TERT, and CCND2 (cyclinD2) gene methylation. DNA methylation of any gene was observed in much higher frequency in MM cases than RM cases (63% vs. 33%, P 0.05; GPC3: 36% vs. 27%, P > 0.05; CDKN2A: 4% vs. 0%; TERT: 4% vs. 0%), while CCND2 methylation was not detected in any case. Although preliminary, we demonstrate that real-time MSP can be applied to archival specimens and gene methylation profiling may have potential to be a useful ancillary tool to help distinguish MM from RM . Diagn. Cytopathol. 2007;35:498–502. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/56179/1/20692_ftp.pd

Solitary fibrous tumor of the male breast: a case report and review of the literature

Extrapleural solitary fibrous tumors are very rare and occasionally they appear in extraserosal soft tissues or parenchymatous organs. In such cases the right preoperative diagnosis is often difficult and challenging, because both radiological and cytological examinations are not exhaustive. For these reasons, surgical excision is frequently the only way to reach the correct diagnosis and to achieve definitive treatment. A few cases of solitary fibrous tumors have been also described in the breast. Although rare, this lesion opens difficulties in preoperative diagnosis entering in differential diagnosis with other benign lesions as well as with breast cancer. In this article we describe a case of a solitary fibrous tumor of the breast in a 49-year-old man. Problems related to differential diagnosis and the possible pitfalls that can be encountered in the diagnostic iter of such rare tumor are discussed

Marker genes for circulating tumour cells predict survival in metastasized breast cancer patients

We investigated the prognostic significance of circulating breast cancer cells in peripheral blood detected by quantitative RT-PCR of marker genes in patients with advanced breast cancer. Blood samples from 94 breast cancer patients with metastatic disease (M1) were examined for circulating tumour cells by studying the mRNA expression of CK19, p1B, PS2 and EGP2 by real-time PCR. Using a score function, developed for predicting circulating tumour cells by quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA), the four expression levels were combined into a single discriminant value. Tumour cells were present in 24 out of 94 (31%) of the patients. In 77% (72 out of 94) of the patients distant metastatic disease was localised in the bone. In 36% (26 out of 72) of the patients with bone metastases at the time of blood sampling, a positive QDA for the four genes was found, in contrast to only 14% (three out of 22) without bone involvement. Overall survival rates by Kaplan-Meier revealed no prognostic effect for the presence of bone metastases (P=0.93). However, patients with a positive QDA value did have a progression-free survival at 1 year of 3% and overall survival at 2 years of 17%, against 22 and 36% for patients with a negative QDA value (P=0.015 and 0.0053, respectively). Breast cancer patients with metastatic disease have a significantly worse progression-free and overall survival when circulating tumour cells can be detected in their peripheral bloo

High tumour contamination of leukaphereses in patients with small cell carcinoma of the lung: a comparison of immunocytochemistry and RT-PCR

In small-cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) tumour cell contamination of leukaphereses is unknown. The present study was performed to define appropriate markers for reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), then to assess the contamination rate of leukaphereses and corresponding bone marrow samples. Immunocytochemistry (ICC) and RT-PCR methods were also compared. Among the 33 patients included, analyses were performed in 16 who had multiple leukaphereses and 17 who had only bone marrow. Leukapheresis products and bone marrow were analysed by ICC using several specific monoclonal antibodies against neural-cell adhesion molecule (N-CAM), epithelial glycoprotein (EGP-40) and cytokeratins (CK). Samples were also analyzed by RT-PCR for expression for N-CAM, synaptophysin, neuron-specific enolase, chromogranin, cytokeratin-18/-19, CEA, EGP-40, apomucin type 1 (MUC-1) and human endothelial cell-specific molecule (ESM-1). Using ICC staining, contaminating tumour cells were detected in 34% of leukaphereses (27% in patients with limited disease and 43% in those with extensive disease). N-CAM was the most reliable marker for detection of contamination. For RT-PCR, CK-19 and CEA were the only appropriate markers. Positive signal rate in leukaphereses increased to 78% (89% for patients with limited disease and 67% for extensive disease). In bone marrow, both techniques were in agreement whereas in leukaphereses, RT-PCR was better than ICC. A high rate of tumour cell contamination was demonstrated not only in bone marrow but also in leukaphereses from SCLC patients. The most appropriate technique was RT-PCR mainly in patients with limited disease. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.co