The development of a walkability audit. Based on Iranian cities pedestrian environment

Given its influence on public health and the vehicle usage, along with its negative consequences, walkability has attracted much attention in recent decades. Meanwhile, the development of a method to measure walkability of urban areas for the purpose of improving this feature is of utmost importance. Hence, after a comprehensive investigation of environmental measures which are related to the users’ walking behavior, the researchers attempted to develop an efficient and reliable environmental audit tool based on these measures. Following the development of a protocol for utilization and management of the tool, we designed two different tests to validate it. The participants were taught how to use the tool, then, it was tested in the Eram neighborhood of Shiraz (Fars province, Iran). The statistical analysis of the obtained data showed that 13 of the environmental measures were not reliable to be used in various environments. However, given the remaining 50 items, the tool is valid for being applied to other urban areas

P2X7 mRNA expression in non-small cell lung cancer: MicroRNA regulation and prognostic value

The human P2X7 receptor is significant and exhibits several functions in neoplasia. At present, little is known with regard to its regulation. P2X7 expression may be regulated post-transcriptionally and putative microRNA (miRNA) binding sites are considered to be involved. The aim of this study was to determine whether miRNAs (miR-21, let-7 g and miR-205) regulate P2X7 mRNA stability. In addition, the impact of P2X7 expression in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) was investigated. P2X7 mRNA and mature Let-7 g, miR-21, and miR-205 expression levels were quantified in 96 NSCLC cases using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. In all samples, epidermal growth factor receptor and K-Ras mutational analysis was also performed. Samples with low P2X7 expression were found to exhibit a higher fold change in miR-21 expression when compared with samples exhibiting high P2X7 expression. Significantly higher miR-21 expression was observed in the tumors of NSCLC patients with a K-Ras mutation when compared with patients who had K-Ras wild-type tumors (P=0.003). Additionally, to evaluate the association between P2X7 expression and prognosis in NSCLC patients, survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan-Meier method. A significant difference in the progression-free survival and overall survival in the NSCLC patients with high P2X7 expression was identified, when compared with that of patients with low expression (P=0.03 and P=0.02, respetively). Therefore, we hypothesized that high levels of miR-21 expression in NSCLC patients with K-Ras mutations may be regulated by a complex circuit, including P2X7 downregulation and together these processes may promote tumor progression

Treatment with interleukin-2 in malignant pleural mesothelioma: immunological and angiogenetic assessment and prognostic impact

BACKGROUND: Administration of interleukin-2 (IL-2) has shown some effects on malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) tumour regression. The purpose of this study was to investigate the ability of IL-2 to modify immunological effector cells and angiogenesis in MPM patients and their prognostic value. METHODS: Tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (CD4, CD8, Foxp3), mast cells (MCs) (tryptase and chymase), microvessel count (MVC) and VEGF were determined by immunohistochemistry in two series of MPM patients: 60 patients treated with intra-pleural preoperative IL-2 and 33 patients untreated. RESULTS: Tryptase MCs, and CD8 and Foxp3 lymphocytes were significantly increased in the IL-2-treated group, whereas MVC was significantly lower in the same group. Moreover, in the IL-2-treated group, greater tryptase + MCs and greater Foxp3 lymphocytes were associated with improved and poorer clinical outcomes, respectively. Notably, when these two immunological parameters were combined, they predicted outcomes more effectively. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that IL-2 treatment leads to a significant increase of immunological parameters, concomitantly with a reduction in vasculature, providing new insight into the cancer mechanisms mediated by IL-2. Moreover, these results suggest that tryptase-positive MCs and Foxp3 + lymphocytes predict clinical outcomes in IL-2-treated patients, highlighting the critical role of the inflammatory response in mesothelioma cancer progression. British Journal of Cancer (2009) 101, 1869-1875. doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6605438 www.bjcancer.com (C) 2009 Cancer Research U

Corpus ethnographique du projet de recherche "De l'apprentissage en famille a la scolarisation républicaine. Deux cas d'étude en Guyane et en Polynésie française" (observation systématiques)

Il s'agit du deuxième volume de la thèse de doctorat en ethnologie "De l'apprentissage en famille à la scolarisation républicaine. Deux cas d'étude en Guyane et en Polynésie française", soutenue à l'Université de la Polynésie française en 2016. Le fichier intègre toutes les grilles chronométriques utilisées lors des observations systématiques (behavior sampling) réalisées dans le cadre de cette recherche doctorale. Les observations ont été codées à partir d’une grille simplifiée (et adapté aux terrains de travail choisis: éloignés et avec une faible couverture numérique) dans laquelle j’ai noté, à intervalles de cinq minutes, les interactions éducatives que chaque membre de la famille ou de la communauté entretenaient avec l’enfant-éduqué, en tenant aussi compte du style éducatif caractérisant chaque interaction . Au total, j’ai réalisé plus de 1440 heures d’observation directe dans le seul but de mesurer la « quantité » d’interactions éducatives, ce qui m’a permis d’obtenir des données comparables quant au « poids » de chaque acteur – ou microsystème – en charge de la transmission de la culture dans les deux contextes étudiés.THIS DATASET IS ARCHIVED AT DANS/EASY, BUT NOT ACCESSIBLE HERE. TO VIEW A LIST OF FILES AND ACCESS THE FILES IN THIS DATASET CLICK ON THE DOI-LINK ABOV

Proximal Myopathy due to m.5835G>A Mutation in Mitochondrial MT-TY Gene

Mitochondrial (mt) tRNA (MTT) gene mutations are an important cause of mitochondrial diseases and are associated with a wide range of clinical presentations. Most mutations fall into three mitochondrial tRNAs (tRNAIle, tRNALeu (UUR), and tRNALys) and are responsible for half of the mitochondrial diseasees associated with tRNA mutation, with MERRF, MELAS, mitochondrial myopathy, and Leigh syndrome being the most frequent phenotypes. More than 100 tRNA pathogenetic mutations are described, showing little correlation between the observed clinical phenotype and a specific mitochondrial tRNA mutation. Furthermore different mutation can manifest with similar clinical phenotypes, making the genotype-phenotype correlation difficult. Here we report the case of an Italian 53-year-old woman presenting with a proximal myopathy and the m.5835G>A mutation in MT-TY gene coding for the mitochondrial tRNA Tyrosine gene