Mathematical insights into neuroendocrine transdifferentiation of human prostate cancer cells

Prostate cancer represents the second most common cancer diagnosed in men and the fifth most common cause of death from cancer worldwide. In this paper, we consider a nonlinear mathematical model exploring the role of neuroendocrine transdifferentiation in human prostate cancer cell dynamics. Sufficient conditions are given for both the biological relevance of the model’s solutions and for the existence of its equilibria. By means of a suitable Liapunov functional the global asymptotic stability of the tumour-free equilibrium is proven, and through the use of sensitivity and bifurcation analyses we identify the parameters responsible for the occurrence of Hopf and saddle-node bifurcations. Numerical simulations are provided highlighting the behaviour discovered, and the results are discussed together with possible improvements to the model

Marketing Eggs in Eastern South Dakota : A Study of Pricing Policies and Practices of Country Egg Dealers

Egg sales provide producers with a fairly steady income throughout the year. This helps the producer over periods of low income and high expense resulting from thr seasonal nature if income from major cash crops. More than one-half of the eggs produced in South Dakota are shipped to out-of-state markets. In 1955 cash income derived from egg sales by producers was $28,116,000 or 6.1 per cent of South Dakota\u27s net farm income. Poultry and poultry products ranked fourth in importance of income derived from livestock and livestock products during the period from 1952 to 1955 in South Dakota. According to the 1950 Census of Agriculture chickens were reported on 83.1 per cent of the 66,450 South Dakota farms. The state\u27s poultry industry is concentrated in the eastern one-third of the state. Three-fourths of the state\u27s total chicken population are produced and marketed from farms in the eastern one-third of the state

Aquilegia, Vol. 32 No. 1, Spring 2008, Newsletter of the Colorado Native Plant Society

https://epublications.regis.edu/aquilegia/1123/thumbnail.jp

A multifactorial \u2018Consensus Signature\u2019 by in silico analysis to predict response to neoadjuvant anthracycline-based chemotherapy in triple-negative breast cancer

BACKGROUND: Owing to the complex processes required for anthracycline-induced cytotoxicity, a prospectively defined multifactorial Consensus Signature (ConSig) might improve prediction of anthracycline response in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients, whose only standard systemic treatment option is chemotherapy. AIMS: We aimed to construct and evaluate a multifactorial signature, comprising measures of each function required for anthracycline sensitivity in TNBC. METHODS: ConSigs were constructed based on five steps required for anthracycline function: drug penetration, nuclear topoisomerase II\u3b1 (topoII\u3b1) protein location, increased topoII\u3b1 messenger RNA (mRNA) expression, apoptosis induction, and immune activation measured by, respectively, HIF1\u3b1 or SHARP1 signature, LAPTM4B mRNA, topoII\u3b1 mRNA, Minimal Gene signature or YWHAZ mRNA, and STAT1 signature. TNBC patients treated with neoadjuvant anthracycline-based chemotherapy without taxane were identified from publicly available gene expression data derived with Affymetrix HG-U133 arrays (training set). In silico analyses of correlation between gene expression data and pathological complete response (pCR) were performed using receiver-operating characteristic curves. To determine anthracycline specificity, ConSigs were assessed in patients treated with anthracycline plus taxane. Specificity, sensitivity, positive and negative predictive value, and odds ratio (OR) were calculated for ConSigs. Analyses were repeated in two validation gene expression data sets derived using different microarray platforms. RESULTS: In the training set, 29 of 147 patients had pCR after anthracycline-based chemotherapy. Various combinations of components were evaluated, with the most powerful anthracycline response predictors being ConSig1: (STAT1+topoII\u3b1 mRNA +LAPTM4B) and ConSig2: (STAT1+topoII\u3b1 mRNA+HIF1\u3b1). ConSig1 demonstrated high negative predictive value (85%) and high OR for no pCR (3.18) and outperformed ConSig2 in validation sets for anthracycline specificity. CONCLUSIONS: With further validation, ConSig1 may help refine selection of TNBC patients for anthracycline chemotherapy

Avidity maturation of memory CD8 T cells is limited by self-antigen expression

Immune tolerance to self-antigens is a complex process that utilizes multiple mechanisms working in concert to maintain homeostasis and prevent autoimmunity. We developed a system that revealed a population of self-specific CD8 T cells within the endogenous T cell repertoire. Immunization of ovalbumin (OVA)-expressing transgenic mice with recombinant viruses expressing OVA-peptide variants induced self-reactive T cells in vivo that matured into memory T cells able to respond to secondary infection. However, whereas the avidity of memory cells in normal mice increased dramatically with repeated immunizations, avidity maturation was limited for self-specific CD8 T cells. Despite decreased avidity, such memory cells afforded protection against infection, but did not induce overt autoimmunity. Further, up-regulation of self-antigen expression in dendritic cells using an inducible system promoted programmed death-1 expression, but not clonal expansion of preexisting memory cells. Thus, the self-reactive T cell repertoire is controlled by overlapping mechanisms influenced by antigen dose

Aquilegia, Vol. 30 No. 1, January-February 2006: Newsletter of the Colorado Native Plant Society

https://epublications.regis.edu/aquilegia/1115/thumbnail.jp

Editorial: Athlete Psychological Resilience and Digital Mental Health Implementation

An athlete’s ability to adapt to stress and adversity is vital for their psychological resilience. While resilience has been traditionally considered from a physiological perspective in sports, in recent years, the importance of the mind–body connection has led to a growing interest in the field of athlete psychological resilience. In this Research Topic, we have received papers evaluating different approaches to psychological resilience in elite athletes, endurance athletes (ranging from competitive amateurs to professional athletes), and tactical athletes also known as high-performance military personnel. Three of the four articles of this collection primarily examined athlete psychological resilience and one article also focused on digital mental health implementation. Each article is presented separately because of the investigation of different types of athletes in addition to the exploration of cognitive and/or psychological resilience

The phosphorus composition of temperate pasture soils determined by NaOH-EDTA extraction and solution 31P NMR spectroscopy

Information on the composition and dynamics of soil phosphorus (P) remains limited, but is integral to understanding soil biogeochemical cycles. We used solution 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to characterise NaOH—EDTA extractable P in 29 permanent pasture soils from England and Wales (total carbon 29-80 g kg- 1 soil, clay 219-681 g kg- 1 soil, pH 4.4-6.8). Total P ranged between 376 and 1981 mg P kg- 1 soil, of which between 45 and 88% was extracted with NaOH—EDTA. The extracts were dominated by orthophosphate monoesters (29-60% extracted P) and inorganic orthophosphate (21-55% extracted P), with smaller concentrations of orthophosphate diesters (2-10% extracted P), pyrophosphate (1-7% extracted P), phosphonates (0 - 3% extracted P), and traces of polyphosphates. Orthophosphate diesters were subclassified into phospholipids (1- 7% extracted P) and DNA (1-6% extracted P). Signals slightly downfield of inorganic orthophosphate were tentatively assigned to aromatic orthophosphate diesters similar in structure to R-(—)-1,1'-binaphthyl-2,2'-diyl hydrogen phosphate. Such signals are rarely detected in soil extracts, but were present in relatively large concentrations in the samples analysed here (2-5% extracted P). Relationships between functional P groups and soil properties suggested that the various functional groups are involved in the soil P cycle to different extents. In particular, concentrations of orthophosphate monoesters appeared to be controlled by the potential for chemical stabilisation in soil, whereas DNA and pyrophosphate were strongly correlated with the microbial biomass, suggesting an active involvement in biological nutrient turnove