Semiclassical approach to black hole absorption of electromagnetic radiation emitted by a rotating charge

We consider an electric charge, minimally coupled to the Maxwell field, rotating around a Schwarzschild black hole. We investigate how much of the radiation emitted from the swirling charge is absorbed by the black hole and show that most of the photons escape to infinity. For this purpose we use the Gupta-Bleuler quantization of the electromagnetic field in the modified Feynman gauge developed in the context of quantum field theory in Schwarzschild spacetime. We obtain that the two photon polarizations contribute quite differently to the emitted power. In addition, we discuss the accurateness of the results obtained in a full general relativistic approach in comparison with the ones obtained when the electric charge is assumed to be orbiting a massive object due to a Newtonian force.Comment: 8 pages (revtex), 8 figure

NK-cell and T-cell functions in patients with breast cancer: effects of surgery and adjuvant chemo- and radiotherapy

Breast cancer is globally the most common malignancy in women. Her2-targeted monoclonal antibodies are established treatment modalities, and vaccines are in late-stage clinical testing in patients with breast cancer and known to promote tumour-killing through mechanisms like antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity. It is therefore increasingly important to study immunological consequences of conventional treatment strategies. In this study, functional tests and four-colour flow cytometry were used to detect natural killer (NK)-cell functions and receptors as well as T-cell signal transduction molecules and intracellular cytokines in preoperative breast cancer patients, and patients who had received adjuvant radiotherapy or adjuvant combined chemo-radiotherapy as well as in age-matched healthy controls. The absolute number of NK cells, the density of NK receptors as well as in vitro quantitation of functional NK cytotoxicity were significantly higher in preoperative patients than the post-treatments group and controls. A similar pattern was seen with regard to T-cell signalling molecules, and preoperative patients produced significantly higher amounts of cytokines in NK and T cells compared to other groups. The results indicate that functions of NK and T cells are well preserved before surgery but decrease following adjuvant therapy, which may speak in favour of early rather than late use of immunotherapeutic agents such as trastuzumab that may depend on intact immune effector functions

A multi-stage genome-wide association study of bladder cancer identifies multiple susceptibility loci.

We conducted a multi-stage, genome-wide association study of bladder cancer with a primary scan of 591,637 SNPs in 3,532 affected individuals (cases) and 5,120 controls of European descent from five studies followed by a replication strategy, which included 8,382 cases and 48,275 controls from 16 studies. In a combined analysis, we identified three new regions associated with bladder cancer on chromosomes 22q13.1, 19q12 and 2q37.1: rs1014971, (P = 8 × 10⁻¹²) maps to a non-genic region of chromosome 22q13.1, rs8102137 (P = 2 × 10⁻¹¹) on 19q12 maps to CCNE1 and rs11892031 (P = 1 × 10⁻⁷) maps to the UGT1A cluster on 2q37.1. We confirmed four previously identified genome-wide associations on chromosomes 3q28, 4p16.3, 8q24.21 and 8q24.3, validated previous candidate associations for the GSTM1 deletion (P = 4 × 10⁻¹¹) and a tag SNP for NAT2 acetylation status (P = 4 × 10⁻¹¹), and found interactions with smoking in both regions. Our findings on common variants associated with bladder cancer risk should provide new insights into the mechanisms of carcinogenesis

Genome of the Avirulent Human-Infective Trypanosome—Trypanosoma rangeli

Background: Trypanosoma rangeli is a hemoflagellate protozoan parasite infecting humans and other wild and domestic mammals across Central and South America. It does not cause human disease, but it can be mistaken for the etiologic agent of Chagas disease, Trypanosoma cruzi. We have sequenced the T. rangeli genome to provide new tools for elucidating the distinct and intriguing biology of this species and the key pathways related to interaction with its arthropod and mammalian hosts.  Methodology/Principal Findings: The T. rangeli haploid genome is ,24 Mb in length, and is the smallest and least repetitive trypanosomatid genome sequenced thus far. This parasite genome has shorter subtelomeric sequences compared to those of T. cruzi and T. brucei; displays intraspecific karyotype variability and lacks minichromosomes. Of the predicted 7,613 protein coding sequences, functional annotations could be determined for 2,415, while 5,043 are hypothetical proteins, some with evidence of protein expression. 7,101 genes (93%) are shared with other trypanosomatids that infect humans. An ortholog of the dcl2 gene involved in the T. brucei RNAi pathway was found in T. rangeli, but the RNAi machinery is non-functional since the other genes in this pathway are pseudogenized. T. rangeli is highly susceptible to oxidative stress, a phenotype that may be explained by a smaller number of anti-oxidant defense enzymes and heatshock proteins.  Conclusions/Significance: Phylogenetic comparison of nuclear and mitochondrial genes indicates that T. rangeli and T. cruzi are equidistant from T. brucei. In addition to revealing new aspects of trypanosome co-evolution within the vertebrate and invertebrate hosts, comparative genomic analysis with pathogenic trypanosomatids provides valuable new information that can be further explored with the aim of developing better diagnostic tools and/or therapeutic targets

Design of the Balance@Work project: systematic development, evaluation and implementation of an occupational health guideline aimed at the prevention of weight gain among employees

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Occupational health professionals may play an important role in preventive health promotion activities for employees. However, due to a lack of knowledge and evidence- and practice based methods and strategies, interventions are hardly being implemented by occupational physicians to date. The aim of the Balance@Work project is to develop, evaluate, and implement an occupational health guideline aimed at the prevention of weight gain among employees.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Following the guideline development protocol of the Netherlands Society of Occupational Medicine and the Intervention Mapping protocol, the guideline was developed based on literature, interviews with relevant stakeholders, and consensus among an expert group. The guideline consists of an individual and an environmental component. The individual component includes recommendations for occupational physicians on how to promote physical activity and healthy dietary behavior based on principles of motivational interviewing. The environmental component contains an obesogenic environment assessment tool. The guideline is evaluated in a randomised controlled trial among 20 occupational physicians. Occupational physicians in the intervention group apply the guideline to eligible workers during 6 months. Occupational physicians in the control group provide care as usual. Measurements take place at baseline and 6, 12, and 18 months thereafter. Primary outcome measures include waist circumference, daily physical activity and dietary behavior. Secondary outcome measures include sedentary behavior, determinants of behavior change, body weight and body mass index, cardiovascular disease risk profile, and quality of life. Additionally, productivity, absenteeism, and cost-effectiveness are assessed.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Improving workers' daily physical activity and dietary behavior may prevent weight gain and subsequently improve workers' health, increase productivity, and reduce absenteeism. After an effect- and process evaluation the guideline will be adjusted and, after authorisation, published. Together with several implementation aids, the published guideline will be disseminated broadly by the Netherlands Society of Occupational Medicine.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>ISRCTN73545254/NTR1190</p

Application of Multi-SNP Approaches Bayesian LASSO and AUC-RF to Detect Main Effects of Inflammatory-Gene Variants Associated with Bladder Cancer Risk

The relationship between inflammation and cancer is well established in several tumor types, including bladder cancer. We performed an association study between 886 inflammatory-gene variants and bladder cancer risk in 1,047 cases and 988 controls from the Spanish Bladder Cancer (SBC)/EPICURO Study. A preliminary exploration with the widely used univariate logistic regression approach did not identify any significant SNP after correcting for multiple testing. We further applied two more comprehensive methods to capture the complexity of bladder cancer genetic susceptibility: Bayesian Threshold LASSO (BTL), a regularized regression method, and AUC-Random Forest, a machine-learning algorithm. Both approaches explore the joint effect of markers. BTL analysis identified a signature of 37 SNPs in 34 genes showing an association with bladder cancer. AUC-RF detected an optimal predictive subset of 56 SNPs. 13 SNPs were identified by both methods in the total population. Using resources from the Texas Bladder Cancer study we were able to replicate 30% of the SNPs assessed. The associations between inflammatory SNPs and bladder cancer were reexamined among non-smokers to eliminate the effect of tobacco, one of the strongest and most prevalent environmental risk factor for this tumor. A 9 SNP-signature was detected by BTL. Here we report, for the first time, a set of SNP in inflammatory genes jointly associated with bladder cancer risk. These results highlight the importance of the complex structure of genetic susceptibility associated with cancer risk.The work was partially supported by the Fondo de Investigacion Sanitaria, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (G03/174, 00/0745, PI051436, PI061614, PI09-02102, G03/174 and Sara Borrell fellowship to ELM) and Ministry of Science and Innovation (MTM2008-06747-C02-02 and FPU fellowship award to VU), Spain; AGAUR-Generalitat de Catalunya (Grant 2009SGR-581); Fundaciola Maratode TV3; Red Tematica de Investigacion Cooperativa en Cancer (RTICC); Asociacion Espanola Contra el Cancer (AECC); EU-FP7-201663; and RO1-CA089715 and CA34627; the Spanish National Institute for Bioinformatics (www.inab.org); and by the Intramural Research Program of the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, USA. MD Anderson support for this project included U01 CA 127615 (XW); R01 CA 74880 (XW); P50 CA 91846 (XW, CPD); Betty B. Marcus Chair fund in Cancer Prevention (XW); UT Research Trust fund (XW) and R01 CA 131335 (JG)

Ovarian cancer molecular pathology.

Peer reviewe

Dynamics of notch pathway expression during mouse testis post-natal development and along the spermatogenic cycle

Articles in International JournalsThe transcription and expression patterns of Notch pathway components (Notch 1–3, Delta1 and 4, Jagged1) and effectors (Hes1, Hes2, Hes5 and Nrarp) were evaluated (through RT-PCR and IHC) in the mouse testis at key moments of post-natal development, and along the adult spermatogenic cycle. Notch pathway components and effectors are transcribed in the testis and expressed in germ, Sertoli and Leydig cells, and each Notch component shows a specific cell-type and timewindow expression pattern. This expression at key testis developmental events prompt for a role of Notch signaling in prepubertal spermatogonia quiescence, onset of spermatogenesis, and regulation of the spermatogenic cycle