The chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes of the green algae Pediastrum duplex isolated from Central Georgia (USA)

A Pediastrum duplex (Chlorophyta) strain was isolated from a freshwater system in Milledgeville, Georgia and its chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes sequenced. The chloroplast genome was 199,241 bp with 136 genes and the mitochondrial 40,756 bp with 40 genes, both were circular. Comparison of the ‘Milledgeville’ plastome to other P. duplex isolates revealed a nearly identical sequence identity to archived genes and genomic fragments from the strain UTEX1364 which was isolated from Lake Machovo in 1962. These sequences provide chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes from a wild P. duplex isolate and provide more organelle genomes for a genus with cryptic phylogenetic relationships

Molecular dissection of the mechanism by which EWS/FLI expression compromises actin cytoskeletal integrity and cell adhesion in Ewing sarcoma.

Ewing sarcoma is the second-most-common bone cancer in children. Driven by an oncogenic chromosomal translocation that results in the expression of an aberrant transcription factor, EWS/FLI, the disease is typically aggressive and micrometastatic upon presentation. Silencing of EWS/FLI in patient-derived tumor cells results in the altered expression of hundreds to thousands of genes and is accompanied by dramatic morphological changes in cytoarchitecture and adhesion. Genes encoding focal adhesion, extracellular matrix, and actin regulatory proteins are dominant targets of EWS/FLI-mediated transcriptional repression. Reexpression of genes encoding just two of these proteins, zyxin and α5 integrin, is sufficient to restore cell adhesion and actin cytoskeletal integrity comparable to what is observed when the EWS/FLI oncogene expression is compromised. Using an orthotopic xenograft model, we show that EWS/FLI-induced repression of α5 integrin and zyxin expression promotes tumor progression by supporting anchorage-independent cell growth. This selective advantage is paired with a tradeoff in which metastatic lung colonization is compromised

Increased risk for other cancers in individuals with Ewing sarcoma and their relatives.

BackgroundThere are few reports of the association of other cancers with Ewing sarcoma in patients and their relatives. We use a resource combining statewide genealogy and cancer reporting to provide unbiased risks.MethodsUsing a combined genealogy of 2.3 million Utah individuals and the Utah Cancer Registry (UCR), relative risks (RRs) for cancers of other sites were estimated in 143 Ewing sarcoma patients using a Cox proportional hazards model with matched controls; however, risks in relatives were estimated using internal cohort-specific cancer rates in first-, second-, and third-degree relatives.ResultsCancers of three sites (breast, brain, complex genotype/karyotype sarcoma) were observed in excess in Ewing sarcoma patients. No Ewing sarcoma patients were identified among first-, second-, or third-degree relatives of Ewing sarcoma patients. Significantly increased risk for brain, lung/bronchus, female genital, and prostate cancer was observed in first-degree relatives. Significantly increased risks were observed in second-degree relatives for breast cancer, nonmelanoma eye cancer, malignant peripheral nerve sheath cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and translocation sarcomas. Significantly increased risks for stomach cancer, prostate cancer, and acute lymphocytic leukemia were observed in third-degree relatives.ConclusionsThis analysis of risk for cancer among Ewing sarcoma patients and their relatives indicates evidence for some increased cancer predisposition in this population which can be used to individualize consideration of potential treatment of patients and screening of patients and relatives

Untangling the eclectronic propierties of triindole-based semiconductors

Organic semiconductors have emerged as an important class of materials that offer interesting prospects for high throughput, low-cost and flexible electronic circuits. In this sense, triindole-based systems have demonstrated great potential as p-type semiconductors in organic field-effect transistors (OFETs).[1] Recently, we have performed a combined experimental and theoretical study of three new crystalline N-trimethyltriindoles endowed with different functionalities at 3, 8 and 13 positions, either unsubstituted or with three methoxy or acetyl groups (Figure 1a), with the main goal of exploring the correlation between the electronic nature of the substituents and their solid-state organization, electronic properties and semiconductor behavior.[2] On the other hand, the design and synthesis of covalent organic framework materials (constructed from the union of different covalently linked conjugated platforms) are being deeply investigated in organic electronics.[3] In line with this , we have also investigated how the structural and the electronic properties of 2D triindole-based polymers (Figure 1b) can be modulated by the (i) modification of the linkage position from para (T2) to meta (T3), (ii) by the insertion of different π-bridges between the cores and (iii) by the increment of the number of π-bridges from 3 to 6 units (T2,3).[4] Overall, the results of this work open the door to the control of the degree of the π-conjugation for their subsequent synthesis and real application in organic electronic devices.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Packet re-cycling: eliminating packet losses due to network failures.

This paper presents Packet Re-cycling (PR), a technique that takes advantage of cellular graph embeddings to reroute packets that would otherwise be dropped in case of link or node failures. The technique employs only one bit in the packet header to cover any single link failures, and in the order of log2(d) bits to cover all non-disconnecting failure combinations, where d is the diameter of the network. We show that our routing strategy is effective and that its path length stretch is acceptable for realistic topologies. The packet header overhead incurred by PR is very small, and the extra memory and packet processing time required to implement it at each router are insignificant. This makes PR suitable for loss-sensitive, mission-critical network applications

C/EBPβ-1 promotes transformation and chemoresistance in Ewing sarcoma cells.

CEBPB copy number gain in Ewing sarcoma was previously shown to be associated with worse clinical outcome compared to tumors with normal CEBPB copy number, although the mechanism was not characterized. We employed gene knockdown and rescue assays to explore the consequences of altered CEBPB gene expression in Ewing sarcoma cell lines. Knockdown of EWS-FLI1 expression led to a decrease in expression of all three C/EBPβ isoforms while re-expression of EWS-FLI1 rescued C/EBPβ expression. Overexpression of C/EBPβ-1, the largest of the three C/EBPβ isoforms, led to a significant increase in colony formation when cells were grown in soft agar compared to empty vector transduced cells. In addition, depletion of C/EBPβ decreased colony formation, and re-expression of either C/EBPβ-1 or C/EBPβ-2 rescued the phenotype. We identified the cancer stem cell marker ALDH1A1 as a target of C/EBPβ in Ewing sarcoma. Furthermore, increased expression of C/EBPβ led to resistance to chemotherapeutic agents. In summary, we have identified CEBPB as an oncogene in Ewing sarcoma. Overexpression of C/EBPβ-1 increases transformation, upregulates expression of the cancer stem cell marker ALDH1A1, and leads to chemoresistance

Fluorescent and Electroactive Monoalkyl BTD-Based Liquid Crystals with Tunable Self-Assembling and Electronic Properties

We report here on a series of redox active benzothiadiazole-based luminophores ffinctionalized on one edge with a phenyl-nonyl substituent, which confers these molecules a rodlike shape and a tendency to self-assemble into layered superstructures. On the other edge, the molecules are endowed with different p-substituted phenyl rings, which allows the modulation of their redox and optical properties on the basis of the electronic nature of the terminal substituents. We have found that just one lateral alkyl chain is sufficient to induce mesomorphism in these molecules, which present nematic or smectic mesophases upon therinal treatment. Single-crystal analysis allows us to get an insight into the nature of the forces responsible for different supramolecular assemblies in these derivatives, and point to a strong contribution of the terminal groups in the different arrangements observed. The interesting redox and optical properties together with their self-assembling tendencies render these new materials interesting candidates for optoelectromcs

Recursive Loop-Free Alternates for full protection against transient link failures

In this paper, we propose a routing technique, “recursive Loop-Free Alternates (rLFAs)”, to alleviate packet loss due to transient link failures. The technique consists of a backup path calculation with corresponding re-routing scheme based on the Loop-Free Condition (LFC) as defined in the basic specification for IP Fast Re-Route (IPFRR). Under this routing strategy, nodes calculate backup paths by modifying the weights of links in the primary shortest path tree. If a failure occurs, the detecting node determines the number of recursions, which indicates the number of times packets must be forwarded along the alternate next hops to bypass the failed link. This technique guarantees full repair coverage for single link failures. We evaluate the performance of our proposed technique through simulations and show that the incurred overheads, the stretch of its pre-computed alternate paths, and the failure-state Maximum Link Utilisation (MLU) are minimal