A Rare Case of High-Grade Urothelial Carcinoma of Renal Pelvis and Proximal Ureter with Divergent Differentiation

Urothelial carcinoma with divergent differentiation is a variant of urothelial carcinoma and it is being increasingly recognized with the increase in awareness and advancement of immunohistochemistry. It is important to quantify the degrees of each differentiation for the prognosis and treatment of the patient. Here, we present a unique case of urothelial carcinoma of Renal pelvis with divergent differentiation showing urothelial, squamous, papillary, glandular, Rhabdoid and Plasmacytoid differentiation

Netrin-1 Signals Through Protein Kinases in \u3cem\u3eTetrahymena thermophila\u3c/em\u3e

Netrins are a family of signaling proteins involved in developmental processes such as neuronal guidance and angiogenesis. The best characterized netrin, netrin-1, signals through a number of different receptors. When acting as a chemoattractant, netrin-1 primarily signals through the DCC receptor and associated protein tyrosine kinase and MAP kinase signaling pathways. When acting as a chemorepellent, netrin-1 signals through the UNC5 receptor, which involves recruitment of the protein tyrosine phosphatase, SHP2. While netrins are ubiquitously expressed throughout the animal kingdom, our laboratory was the first to describe a netrin-1 like protein in Tetrahymena. This netrin-1 like protein is secreted from Tetrahymena and acts as a chemorepellent. In our current study, we describe signaling through netrin-1 in this organism. Netrin-1 signaling is inhibited by the tyrosine kinase inhibitor, hypericin, and by the broad-spectrum kinase in hibitor, apigenin, both acting in the micromolar range.. We are conducting further studies to determine whether netrin-1 signaling results in changes to the phosphorylation state of intracellular proteins

Effect of clock gating in conditional pulse enhancement flip-flop for low power applications

Flip-Flops (FFs) play a fundamental role in digital designs. A clock system consumes above 25% of total system power. The use of pulse-triggered flip-flops (P-FFs) in digital design provides better performance than conventional flip-flop designs. This paper presents the design of a new power-efficient implicit pulse-triggered flip-flop suitable for low power applications. This flip-flop architecture is embedded with two key features. Firstly, the enhancement in width and height of triggering pulses during specific conditions gives a solution for the longest discharging path problem in existing P-FFs. Secondly, the clock gating concept reduces unwanted switching activities at sleep/idle mode of operation and thereby reducing dynamic power consumption. The post-layout simulation results in cadence software based on CMOS 90-nm technology shows that the proposed design features less power dissipation and better power delay performance (PDP) when compared with conventional P-FFs. Its maximum power saving against conventional designs is up to 30.65%

Distance- rather than location-based temporal judgements are more accurate during episodic recall in a real-world task

Definitions of episodic memory typically emphasise the importance of spatiotemporal frameworks in the contextual reconstruction of episodic retrieval. However, our ability to retrieve specific temporal contexts of experienced episodes is poor. This has bearing on the prominence of temporal context in the definition and evaluation of episodic memory, particularly among non-human animals. Studies demonstrating that rats rely on elapsed time (distance) rather than specific timestamps (location) to disambiguate events have been used to suggest that human episodic memory is qualitatively different to other species. We examined whether humans were more accurate using a distance- or location-based method for judging when an event happened. Participants (n = 57) were exposed to a series of events and then asked either when (e.g., 1:03 pm) or how long ago (HLA; e.g., 33 min) a specific event took place. HLA judgements were significantly more accurate, particularly for the most recently experienced episode. Additionally, a significantly higher proportion of participants making HLA judgements accurately recalled non-temporal episodic features across all episodes. Finally, for participants given the choice of methods for making temporal judgements, a significantly higher proportion chose to use HLA judgements. These findings suggest that human and non-human temporal judgements are not qualitatively different.PostprintPeer reviewe

An analysis of the impacts of global climate and emissions changes on regional tropospheric ozone

Many of the synergistic impacts resulting from future changes in emissions as well as changes in ambient temperature, moisture, and UV flux have not been quantified. A three-dimensional regional-scale photo-chemical model (STEM-2) is used in this study to evaluate these perturbations to trace gas cycles over the eastern half of the United States of America. The model was successfully used to simulate a regional-scale ozone episode (base case - June 1984) and four perturbations scenarios - viz., perturbed emissions, temperature, water vapor column, and incoming UV flux cases, and a future scenario (for the year 2034). The impact of these perturbation scenarios on the distribution of ozone and other major pollutants such as SO2 and sulfates were analyzed in detail. The spatial distribution and the concentration of ozone at the surface increased by about 5-15 percent for most cases except for the perturbed water vapor case. The regional scale surface ozone concentration distribution for the year 2034 (future scenario) showed an increase of non-attainment areas. The rural areas of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Georgia showed the largest change in the surface ozone field for the futuristic scenario when compared to the base case

Pemphigus Vegetans -Masquerading as malignancy of lip A Case Report

Pemphigus vegetans is a rare variant of pemphigus vulgaris characterized by pustules or papillomatous vegetations, preferentially affecting intertriginous and periorificial areas. Exceptional manifestations may be misdiagnosed resulting in delayed diagnosis and treatment.  We herein report an unusual manifestation of Pemphigus Vegetans in a 58-year-old female presented with history of swelling and pain in the lower lip for 4 months. Suspecting malignancy of lip-edge wedge biopsy of the lesion was done. On examination it was a proliferative lesion of size 2 x 1 cm in the lower lip, irregular in shape with no discharge. On cut section a grey white to grey brown soft tissue fragment measuring 1.5 x 1 x 0.7 cm lesion was received. Microscopic examination of multiple sections showed a polypoidal ulcerative swelling with marked pseudoepitheliomatous hyperplasia, hyperkeratosis, marked irregular acanthosis and a focus showing suprabasal clefting. The base of the supra basal cleft showed villi formation covered by stratum basalis cells giving “tomb stone appearance”. Dermis showed marked inflammatory infiltrates consisting of intraepidermal eosinophils, numerous plasma cells and lymphocytes, along with inflammatory infiltrates in the minor salivary glands. There is no evidence of malignancy. On further evaluation with immunofluorescence intercellular deposition of IgG and C3 in a fishnet pattern was seen confirming the diagnosis of Pemphigus vegetans

Identification of variety-specific ISSR markers in small cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum Maton.)

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International Labor Standards, Soft Regulation, and National Government Roles

[Excerpt] In this article, we briefly describe the different approaches to the regulation of international labor standards, and then argue for a new role for national governments based on soft rather than hard regulation approaches. We argue that this new role shows potential for significantly enhancing progress in international labor standards, since it enables governments to articulate a position without having to deal with the enforcement issues that hard regulation mandates. We justify this new role for governments based on the increasing use of soft regulation in the international arena. Of course, this approach is not without its own problems, but given that existing approaches have all provided imperfect solutions to the problem of improving labor standards globally, re-visiting the role of national governments is in our view, highly important

The Chemorepellent, Netrin-1, Appears to Signal Through a Tyrosine Kinase in Tetrahymena thermophila

Netrin-1 is a pleiotropic peptide signaling molecule. Its most well-known role in vertebrate development is neuronal guidance. Depending upon the cell type and signal concentration gradient, netrin-1 may serve either as a chemoattractant, causing formation of axonal growth cones, or as a chemorepellent, causing growth cone collapse within the axon. Netrin-1 can bind to at least two types of receptors, and uses a variety of signaling proteins to convey its message. In some vertebrate cell types, the netrin-1 signal is G-protein mediated, while in other cell types, netrin signaling requires a tyrosine kinase or some other combination of kinases in order to signal. Tetrahymena thermophila are free-living, eukaryotic cells that can respond to chemoattractants and chemorepellents by moving toward attractants and away from repellents. By studying the behavior of these organisms, we have found that netrin-1 acts as a chemorepellent in T. thermophila. Response to netrin-1 is concentration dependent, with an EC100 of approximately 1 micromolar, and an EC50 of approximately 10 pM. Netrin-1 avoidance may be effectively eliminated by the addition of the broad-spectrum tyrosine kinase inhibitor, genistein, to the behavioral assay. The IC100 of genistein was approximately 75 micrograms/ml, while the IC50 of this compound was near 50 micrograms/ml. G-protein inhibitors, calcium chelators, and a number of other pharmacological inhibitors had no effect on netrin-1 signaling in this organism. These data show that netrin-1 is a chemorepellent in Tetrahymena thermophila and that netrin signaling appears to implicate a tyrosine kinase in this organism. Further studies will help us to determine whether genistein is specifically acting upon a tyrosine kinase pathway or whether the inhibition is occurring via some other genistein-mediated effect

Pharmacological Evidence Suggests That the Lysozyme/PACAP Receptor of \u3cem\u3eTetrahymena thermophila\u3c/em\u3e is a Polycation Receptor

Pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP) is a peptide hormone that exists in two biologically active forms: PACAP-38 and PACAP-27. Several types of PACAP receptors have been characterized, and these have been classified into three families: the VPAC1, the VPAC2, and the PAC1 receptors. In this study, we used in vivo behavioral assays along with pharmacological inhibitors to investigate the behavior of the lysozyme/PACAP receptor in Tetrahymena. This receptor behaves like a PAC1 receptor in some respects; however, PACAP 6-38 serves as an agonist, rather than an antagonist, for this receptor. These results are consistent with the existence of a generalized polycation receptor rather than a PACAP-specific receptor