Loss of mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 4 (SMAD4) expression and its correlation with clinicopathological parameters in pancreatic carcinoma

Abstract: Pancreatic cancer (PC) has an important role in the clinical and research area representing one of the lowest five-year rates as well as a global mortality rate of 4.8% due to its late and poor diagnosis. Therapeutic strategies have also an unsatisfactory response. Even after surgery, the recurrence or appearance of metastasis are frequent, leading to a poor overall survival. The PC has been related with several mutations, including K-RAS; P16; TP53; HER2. Besides, it is also associated with the deleted in pancreatic cancer locus 4 (DPC4), also known as the suppressor mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 4 (SMAD4) which is present in nearly 50% of the diagnosed patients with PC. Preceding studies proved that SMAD4 loss expression plays an important role in tumorigenesis and in the promotion of pancreatic carcinoma´s growth. Therefore, it is highly relevant in late stages suggesting that SMAD4 may be a molecular biomarker in prognostic results. The main goal of this review is to highlight the foregoing findings focused on SMAD4 deletion and its influence in clinicopathological parameters in pancreatic carcinoma by referring some of the investigations and clinical trials made in this field. Furthermore, it is also required to contemplate some of the therapeutical strategies and the influence of SMAD4 in future therapiesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Susceptibility testing of Candida albicans and Candida glabrata to Glycyrrhiza glabra L.

Medicinal plants and their botanical formulations have gained a pivotal attention among scientific researchers mainly due to its action as health promoters. Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra L.) constitutes a great example, with an increasingly evidenced antimicrobial potential. Opportunistic yeast infections constitute an alarming public health problem, highly exacerbated by the inefficacy of antifungal drugs and the increase of drug-resistant microorganisms, being Candida species one of the most common invaders. The present work aims to assess Candida glabrata and Candida albicans susceptibility to G. glabra methanol: water extract by using flow cytometry and transmission electron microscopy techniques. After 5 minutes, licorice extract (1.5 mg/mL) altered Candida membrane potential. Within an hour, it induced primary damages on Candida species cells, causing cell cytoplasm disorganization with high evidence of cell membrane invaginations, making cells turgid. Thus, based on the current findings, licorice extract seems to be a promising anti-Candida agent, without presenting any toxic potential at the effective concentrations used.The authors are grateful to Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for N. Martins grant (SFRH/BD/87658/2012) and financial support to the research centre CIMO (strategic project PEst-OE/ AGR/UI0690/2014). This work was also supported by the Programa Operacional, Fatores de competitividade – COMPETE and by national funds through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia on the scope of the projects FCT PTDC/SAU-MIC/119069/2010, RECI/EBBEBI/0179/2012 and PEst-OE/EQB/LA0023/2013. The authors thank the Project “BioHealth – Biotechnology and Bioengineering approaches to improve health quality”, Ref. NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000027, cofunded by the Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2–O Novo Norte), QREN, FEDER.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Gas Chromatography in the Analysis of Compounds Released from Wood into Wine

Wood has been used in alcoholic beverages for centuries, mainly as material for containers used for alcoholic beverages aging. Recently OIV (Organisation International de la Vigne et du Vin) approved the use of chips (Resolution oeno 3/2005) and staves as alternatives for barrels. These practices are being rapidly spread among winemakers. The increased used of these alternatives are mainly related to low investments, similar sensorial results obtained in shorter time, simplicity of use and the possibility of avoiding contamination and offflavours, too-often related to aged or contaminated barrels. Besides oak, other woods are being looked at for enological purposes, such as acacia, cherry, chestnut and mulberry. Their characteristics are commonly compared to oak. In the past, chestnut (Castanea sativa) was widely used in the Mediterranean area, because of its availability and its cheap price. Chestnut wood has higher porosity than oak. Cherry wood (Prunus avium) has high porosity and oxygen permeation, and is usually used for short aging times. Acacia wood (Robinia pseudoacacia) is hard, with low porosity. Mulberry wood (Morus alba and Morus nigra) is tender and elastic, with medium porosity, and is characterized by a low release of compounds. The lack of properties for cooperage is now overcome by their possible use as staves or chips. The aim of this work is to present an overview on volatile and semi-volatile composition of different kind of wood with oenological interest. Within this purpose, this work will be focused on a bibliographic review of the most used chromatographic methods for characterization of volatile and semi-volatile compounds, including also a brief description of the most common reported sample preparation methods for chromatographic analysis

Aneurismas Toracoabdominais Rotos [ruptured Thoracoabdominal Aneurysms]

Objective: To evaluate the pre-, intra- and postoperative data of ruptured thoracoabdominal aneurysms operated at Hospital de Clínicas da Universidade Estadual de Campinas. Methods: A retrospective study of five patients submitted to repair of ruptured thoracoabdominal aneurysm at Hospital de Clínicas da Universidade Estadual de Campinas from September 2000 to April 2004. All patients presented a ruptured type IV thoracoabdominal aneurysm, and four of them were hemodynamically stable. Three patients were operated by the simple supraceliac aortic clamping and saline solution infusion at 4°C in the renal arteries; one patient died during the surgery before the aneurysm was opened; and one patient was operated by perfusion of oxygenated blood in the visceral arteries. Results: Of the five patients operated, two died (40%). One of them presented hemodynamic instability and died during the surgery; the other patient died on the 26 th postoperative day due to multiple organ failure. All three surviving patients progressed well, with no sequelae. Among patients who were taken to the operating room hemodynamically stable, the mortality rate was 25%. Conclusions: Patients with ruptured type IV thoracoabdominal aneurysm, hemodynamically stable, achieved satisfactory surgical results, similar to infrarenal ruptured aneurysms. Copyright © 2006 by Sociedade Brasileira de Angiologia e de Cirurgia Vascular.513741Bradbury, A.W., Bulstrode, N.W., Gilling-Smith, G., Stansby, G., Mansfield, A.O., Wolfe, J.H., Repair of ruptured thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm is worthwhile in selected cases (1999) Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg, 17, pp. 160-165Lewis, M.E., Ranasinghe, A.M., Revell, M.P., Bonser, R.S., Surgical repair of ruptured thoracic and thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms (2002) Br J Surg, 89, pp. 442-445Cowan Jr., J.A., Dimick, J.B., Wainess, R.M., Henke, P.K., Stanley, J.C., Upchurch Jr., G.R., Ruptured thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm treatment in the United States: 1988 to 1998 (2003) J Vasc Surg, 38, pp. 319-322LeMaire, S.A., Rice, D.C., Schmittling, Z.C., Coselli, J.S., Emergency surgery for thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms with acute presentation (2002) J Vasc Surg, 35, pp. 1171-1178Rocha, E.F., Luccas, G.C., Baldini Neto, L., Aneurisma tóracoabdominal inflamatório (2005) J Vasc Br, 4, pp. 301-306Rocha, E.F., Guillaumon, A.T., Antunes, N., Vieira, R.W., Aneurisma toracoabdominal roto: Modificação do circuito de perfusão visceral (2004) Rev Bras Cir Cardiovasc, 19, pp. 413-416Mastroroberto, P., Chello, M., Emergency thoracoabdominal aortic repair: Clinical outcome (1999) J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg, 118, pp. 477-481Cota, A.M., Omer, A.A., Jaipersad, A.S., Wilson, N.V., Elective versus ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm repair: A 1-year cost-effectiveness analysis (2005) Ann Vasc Surg, 19, pp. 858-861Girardi, L.N., Krieger, K.H., Altorki, N.K., Mack, C.A., Lee, L.Y., Isom, O.W., Ruptured descending and thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms (2002) Ann Thorac Surg, 74, pp. 1066-1070Schepens, M.A., Defauw, J.J., Hamerlijnck, R.P., De Geest, R., Vermeulen, F.E., Surgical treatment of thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms by simple crossclamping. Risk factors and late results (1994) J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg, 107, pp. 134-142Cambria, R.P., Davison, J.K., Zannetti, S., L'Italien, G., Atamian, S., Thoracoabdominal aneurysm repair: Perspectives over a decade with the clamp-and-sew technique (1997) Ann Surg, 226, pp. 294-303Anacleto, A., Anacleto, J.C., Aneurismas da aorta torácica e toracoabdominal (2002) Cirurgia Vascular: Cirurgia Endovascular, Angiologia, pp. 439-459. , Brito CJ. Rio de Janeiro: RevinterSantos, V.P., Ignácio, M.R., Da Silveira, D.R., Caffaro, R.A., Aneurisma toracoabdominal roto: Relato de um caso com o uso de anel rígido sulcado de Delrin intraluminal na anastomose proximal (2004) J Vasc Br, 3, pp. 383-38

Black hole solutions in F(R) gravity with conformal anomaly

In this paper, we consider $F(R)=R+f(R)$ theory instead of Einstein gravity with conformal anomaly and look for its analytical solutions. Depending on the free parameters, one may obtain both uncharged and charged solutions for some classes of $F(R)$ models. Calculation of Kretschmann scalar shows that there is a singularity located at $r=0$, which the geometry of uncharged (charged) solution is corresponding to the Schwarzschild (Reissner-Nordstr\"om) singularity. Further, we discuss the viability of our models in details. We show that these models can be stable depending on their parameters and in different epoches of the universe.Comment: 12 pages, one figur

Measurement of νˉμ\bar{\nu}_{\mu} and νμ\nu_{\mu} charged current inclusive cross sections and their ratio with the T2K off-axis near detector

We report a measurement of cross section $\sigma(\nu_{\mu}+{\rm nucleus}\rightarrow\mu^{-}+X)$ and the first measurements of the cross section $\sigma(\bar{\nu}_{\mu}+{\rm nucleus}\rightarrow\mu^{+}+X)$ and their ratio $R(\frac{\sigma(\bar \nu)}{\sigma(\nu)})$ at (anti-)neutrino energies below 1.5 GeV. We determine the single momentum bin cross section measurements, averaged over the T2K $\bar{\nu}/\nu$-flux, for the detector target material (mainly Carbon, Oxygen, Hydrogen and Copper) with phase space restricted laboratory frame kinematics of $\theta_{\mu}$500 MeV/c. The results are $\sigma(\bar{\nu})=\left( 0.900\pm0.029{\rm (stat.)}\pm0.088{\rm (syst.)}\right)\times10^{-39}$ and $\sigma(\nu)=\left( 2.41\ \pm0.022{\rm{(stat.)}}\pm0.231{\rm (syst.)}\ \right)\times10^{-39}$in units of cm$^{2}$/nucleon and$R\left(\frac{\sigma(\bar{\nu})}{\sigma(\nu)}\right)= 0.373\pm0.012{\rm (stat.)}\pm0.015{\rm (syst.)}$.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figure