Detectable clonal mosaicism and its relationship to aging and cancer

In an analysis of 31,717 cancer cases and 26,136 cancer-free controls from 13 genome-wide association studies, we observed large chromosomal abnormalities in a subset of clones in DNA obtained from blood or buccal samples. We observed mosaic abnormalities, either aneuploidy or copy-neutral loss of heterozygosity, of >2 Mb in size in autosomes of 517 individuals (0.89%), with abnormal cell proportions of between 7% and 95%. In cancer-free individuals, frequency increased with age, from 0.23% under 50 years to 1.91% between 75 and 79 years (P = 4.8 × 10(-8)). Mosaic abnormalities were more frequent in individuals with solid tumors (0.97% versus 0.74% in cancer-free individuals; odds ratio (OR) = 1.25; P = 0.016), with stronger association with cases who had DNA collected before diagnosis or treatment (OR = 1.45; P = 0.0005). Detectable mosaicism was also more common in individuals for whom DNA was collected at least 1 year before diagnosis with leukemia compared to cancer-free individuals (OR = 35.4; P = 3.8 × 10(-11)). These findings underscore the time-dependent nature of somatic events in the etiology of cancer and potentially other late-onset diseases

Interaction between neutrophils and Schistosoma mansoni larvae in vivo: a transmission electron-microscopic study Interação entre neutrófilos e larvas de Schistosoma mansoni in vivo: estudo ao microscópio eletrônico de transmissão

Schistosoma mansoni cercariae were inoculated into the peritoneal cavity of naive mice and recovered 30 minutes later. Ultrastructural studies showed that neutrophils adhere to the larval surface and participate in the removal of glycocalyx by phagocytosis. This finding suggests that the neutrophils can play a role on the cercaria-schistosomulum transformation process.<br>Cercárias de Schistosoma mansoni foram inoculadas na cavidade peritoneal de camundongos normais e recuperadas 30 minutos depois. Estudos ultra-estruturais mostraram que neutrófilos aderem à superfície da larva, participando da remoção do glicocálice através de fagocitose. Este achado sugere que neutrófilos possam ter papel no processo de transformação de cercária em esquistossômulo

Renewal equations for option pricing

89.65.Gh Economics; econophysics, financial markets, business and management, 05.40.Fb Random walks and Levy flights, 02.50.Ey Stochastic processes,