Mapping of heavy metal contamination in alluvial soils of the Middle Nile Delta of Egypt

Areas contaminated by heavy metals were identified in the El-Gharbia Governorate (District) of Egypt. Identification used remote sensing and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) as the main research tools. Digital Elevation Models (DEM), Landsat 8 and contour maps were used to map physiographic units. Nine soil profiles were sampled in different physiographic units in the study area. Geochemical analysis of the 33 soil samples was conducted using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF). Vanadium (V), nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) concentrations were measured. V, Ni and Cr concentrations exceeded recommended safety values in all horizons of the soil profiles, while Cu had a variable distribution. Zn concentrations slightly exceeded recommended concentration limits. Concentrations were mapped in each physiographic unit using the inverse distance weighted (IDW) function of Arc-GIS 10.1 software. Pollution levels were closely associated with industry and urban areas

Evaluaci\uf3n del riesgo ambiental del insecticida metamidofos en bioensayos con cuatro organismos acu\ue1ticos no destinatarios

The aim of this research was to evaluate the ecotoxicological effect of methamidophos using two formulations of different toxicological class [Monofos\uae, class Ia (extremely dangerous) and Tamaron\uae, class Ib (highly dangerous)] on four non-target aquatic organisms: bloodworm Chironomus calligraphus (Goeldi, 1905) (Diptera: Chironomidae), black sea urchin Tetrapygus niger Molina, 1782(Echinodermata: Arbaciidae), neon tetra Paracheirodon innesi (Rabout, 1940) (Osteichthyes: Characidae); and rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum, 1792) (Osteichthyes: Salmonidae). Both methamidophos formulations evidenced a high risk effect on the aquatic environment, finding effects on larvae of C. calligraphus (Class Ia, LC50 at 48 h = 1.32 mg a.i. L-1 and Class Ib, LC50 at 48 h = 4.5 mg a.i. L-1), on fertilization of T. niger (Class Ia, IC50 at 1 h = 1423 mg a.i. L-1 and Class Ib, IC50 at 1 h = 608 mg a.i. L-1), on P. innesi (Class Ia, LC50 at 96 h = 20.56 mg a.i. L-1 and Class Ib, LC50 at 96 h = 10.13 mg a.i. L-1) and O. mykiss (Class Ib, LC50 at 96 h = 19.12 mg a.i. L-1). The sequence of sensibility to methamidophos in both formulations was: C. calligraphus > O. mykiss 48 P. innesi > T. niger.In addition, two sublethal effects were evaluated on P. innesi, immobilization and strange swimming, and finally an increment of opercular movement in O. mykiss. Risk quotients (RQ) indicated in all cases a high risk of methamidophos towards the aquatic environments.El objetivo de este trabajo fue evaluar el efecto ecotoxicol\uf3gico del metamidofos, en dos formulaciones de diferente categor\ueda toxicol\uf3gica [Monofos\uae, categor\ueda Ia (extremadamente peligroso) y Tamaron\uae, categor\ueda Ib (altamente peligroso)] sobre cuatro organismos acu\ue1ticos no destinatarios: la lombriz roja Chironomus calligraphus (Goeldi, 1905) (Diptera:Chironomidae), el erizo negro Tetrapygus niger Molina, 1782(Echinodermata: Arbaciidae), el ne\uf3n tetra Paracheirodon innesi (Rabout, 1940) (Osteichthyes: Characidae) y la trucha Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum, 1792) (Osteichthyes: Salmonidae). Ambas formulaciones del metamidofos provocaron un alto riesgo sobre el ambiente acu\ue1tico, al encontrarse efectos sobre las larvas de C. calligraphus (Clase Ia, CL50 a 48 h = 1,32 mg i.a. L-1 y Clase Ib, CL50 a 48 h = 4,5 mg i.a. L-1), sobre la fertilizaci\uf3n de T. niger (Class Ia, CI50 a 1 h = 1423 mg i.a. L-1 y Clase Ib, CI50 a 1 h = 608 mg i.a. L-1),en P. innesi (Clase Ia, CL50 a 96 h = 20,56 mg i.a. L-1 y Clase Ib, CL50 a 96 h = 10,13 mg i.a. L-1) y en O. mykiss (Clase Ib, CL50 a 96 h = 19,12 mg i.a. L-1). La secuencia de sensibilidad al metamidofos en ambas formulaciones fue: C. calligraphus > O. mykiss 48 P. innesi > T. niger.En adici\uf3n, se evaluaron dos efectos subletales en P. innesi, inmovilizaci\uf3n y nado extra\uf1o, y finalmente, incremento de movimiento opercular en O. mykiss. Los cuocientes de riesgo (CR) indicaron en todos los casos un alto riesgo del metamidofos en el ambiente acu\ue1tico

Confirmation of the utility of the International Staging System and identification of a unique pattern of disease in Brazilian patients with multiple myeloma

Santa Casa São Paulo, São Paulo, BrazilUniv Fed Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilUniv São Paulo, São Paulo, BrazilHEMOPE, Recife, PE, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, BrazilUniv Fed Bahia, BR-41170290 Salvador, BA, BrazilHosp Brigadeiro São Paulo, São Paulo, BrazilUniv Fed Rio Grande do Sul, BR-90046900 Porto Alegre, RS, BrazilSch Med, Ribeirao Preto, BrazilUniv Fed Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, BrazilUniv Fed Parana, BR-80060000 Curitiba, Parana, BrazilUniv Estadual Campinas, BR-13081970 Campinas, SP, BrazilInst Nacl Canc Rio Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilCanc Res & Biostat, Seattle, WA USACedars Sinai Outpatient Canc Ctr, Aptium Oncol Inc, Los Angeles, CA USAUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Genetic events in the progression of adenoid cystic carcinoma of the breast to high-grade triple-negative breast cancer

Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the breast is a rare histologic type of triple-negative breast cancer with an indolent clinical behavior, often driven by the MYB-NFIB fusion gene. Here we sought to define the repertoire of somatic genetic alterations in two adenoid cystic carcinomas associated with high-grade triple-negative breast cancer. The different components of each case were subjected to copy number profiling and massively parallel sequencing targeting all exons and selected regulatory and intronic regions of 488 genes. Reverse transcription PCR and fluorescence in situ hybridization were employed to investigate the presence of the MYB-NFIB translocation. The MYB-NFIB fusion gene was detected in both adenoid cystic carcinomas and their associated high-grade triple-negative breast cancer components. Whilst the distinct components of both cases displayed similar patterns of gene copy number alterations, massively parallel sequencing analysis revealed intra-tumor genetic heterogeneity. In case 1, progression from the trabecular adenoid cystic carcinoma to the high-grade triple-negative breast cancer was found to involve clonal shifts with enrichment of mutations affecting EP300, NOTCH1, ERBB2 and FGFR1 in the high-grade triple-negative breast cancer. In case 2, a clonal KMT2C mutation was present in the cribriform adenoid cystic carcinoma, solid adenoid cystic carcinoma and high-grade triple-negative breast cancer components, whereas a mutation affecting MYB was present only in the solid and high-grade triple-negative breast cancer areas and additional three mutations targeting STAG2, KDM6A and CDK12 were restricted to the high-grade triple-negative breast cancer. In conclusion, adenoid cystic carcinomas of the breast with high-grade transformation are underpinned by MYB-NFIB fusion gene, and, akin to other forms of cancer, may be constituted by a mosaic of cancer cell clones at diagnosis. The progression from adenoid cystic carcinoma to high-grade triple-negative breast cancer of no special type may involve the selection of neoplastic clones and/ or the acquisition of additional genetic alterations

Whole-genome sequencing to determine origin of multinational outbreak of Sarocladium kiliense bloodstream infections

We used whole-genome sequence typing (WGST) to investigate an outbreak of Sarocladium kiliense bloodstream infections (BSI) associated with receipt of contaminated antinausea medication among oncology patients in Colombia and Chile during 2013-2014. Twenty-five outbreak isolates (18 from patients and 7 from medication vials) and 11 control isolates unrelated to this outbreak were subjected to WGST to elucidate a source of infection. All outbreak isolates were nearly indistinguishable (≤5 single-nucleotide polymorphisms), and >21,000 single-nucleotide polymorphisms were identified from unrelated control isolates, suggesting a point source for this outbreak. S. kiliense has been previously implicated in healthcare-related infections; however, the lack of available typing methods has precluded the ability to substantiate point sources. WGST for outbreak investigation caused by eukaryotic pathogens without reference genomes or existing genotyping methods enables accurate source identification to guide implementation of appropriate control and prevention measures. © 2016, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). All rights reserved

A comprehensive assessment of the transcriptome of cork oak (Quercus suber) through EST sequencing

Background: Cork oak (Quercus suber) is one of the rare trees with the ability to produce cork, a material widely used to make wine bottle stoppers, flooring and insulation materials, among many other uses. The molecular mechanisms of cork formation are still poorly understood, in great part due to the difficulty in studying a species with a long life-cycle and for which there is scarce molecular/genomic information. Cork oak forests are of great ecological importance and represent a major economic and social resource in Southern Europe and Northern Africa. However, global warming is threatening the cork oak forests by imposing thermal, hydric and many types of novel biotic stresses. Despite the economic and social value of the Q. suber species, few genomic resources have been developed, useful for biotechnological applications and improved forest management. Results: We generated in excess of 7 million sequence reads, by pyrosequencing 21 normalized cDNA libraries derived from multiple Q. suber tissues and organs, developmental stages and physiological conditions. We deployed a stringent sequence processing and assembly pipeline that resulted in the identification of ~159,000 unigenes. These were annotated according to their similarity to known plant genes, to known Interpro domains, GO classes and E.C. numbers. The phylogenetic extent of this ESTs set was investigated, and we found that cork oak revealed a significant new gene space that is not covered by other model species or EST sequencing projects. The raw data, as well as the full annotated assembly, are now available to the community in a dedicated web portal at http://www.corkoakdb.org. Conclusions: This genomic resource represents the first trancriptome study in a cork producing species. It can be explored to develop new tools and approaches to understand stress responses and developmental processes in forest trees, as well as the molecular cascades underlying cork differentiation and disease response.Peer Reviewe

Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of WW bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13

Search for chargino-neutralino production with mass splittings near the electroweak scale in three-lepton final states in √s=13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for supersymmetry through the pair production of electroweakinos with mass splittings near the electroweak scale and decaying via on-shell W and Z bosons is presented for a three-lepton final state. The analyzed proton-proton collision data taken at a center-of-mass energy of √s=13  TeV were collected between 2015 and 2018 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139  fb−1. A search, emulating the recursive jigsaw reconstruction technique with easily reproducible laboratory-frame variables, is performed. The two excesses observed in the 2015–2016 data recursive jigsaw analysis in the low-mass three-lepton phase space are reproduced. Results with the full data set are in agreement with the Standard Model expectations. They are interpreted to set exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level on simplified models of chargino-neutralino pair production for masses up to 345 GeV

The contribution of 7q33 copy number variations for intellectual disability

Copy number variations (CNVs) at the 7q33 cytoband are very rarely described in the literature, and almost all of the cases comprise large deletions affecting more than just the q33 segment. We report seven patients (two families with two siblings and their affected mother and one unrelated patient) with neurodevelopmental delay associated with CNVs in 7q33 alone. All the patients presented mild to moderate intellectual disability (ID), dysmorphic features, and a behavioral phenotype characterized by aggressiveness and disinhibition. One family presents a small duplication in cis affecting CALD1 and AGBL3 genes, while the other four patients carry two larger deletions encompassing EXOC4, CALD1, AGBL3, and CNOT4. This work helps to refine the phenotype and narrow the minimal critical region involved in 7q33 CNVs. Comparison with similar cases and functional studies should help us clarify the relevance of the deleted genes for ID and behavioral alterations.FEDER funds, through the Competitiveness Factors Operational Programme (COMPETE), and by National funds, through the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), under the scope of the projects PIC/IC/83026/2007, PIC/IC/83013/2007, and POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007038. This work has also been funded by the project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000013, supported by the Northern Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio