Genome-Wide Association Study for Maize Leaf Cuticular Conductance Identifies Candidate Genes Involved in the Regulation of Cuticle Development.

The cuticle, a hydrophobic layer of cutin and waxes synthesized by plant epidermal cells, is the major barrier to water loss when stomata are closed at night and under water-limited conditions. Elucidating the genetic architecture of natural variation for leaf cuticular conductance (g c) is important for identifying genes relevant to improving crop productivity in drought-prone environments. To this end, we conducted a genome-wide association study of g c of adult leaves in a maize inbred association panel that was evaluated in four environments (Maricopa, AZ, and San Diego, CA, in 2016 and 2017). Five genomic regions significantly associated with g c were resolved to seven plausible candidate genes (ISTL1, two SEC14 homologs, cyclase-associated protein, a CER7 homolog, GDSL lipase, and β-D-XYLOSIDASE 4). These candidates are potentially involved in cuticle biosynthesis, trafficking and deposition of cuticle lipids, cutin polymerization, and cell wall modification. Laser microdissection RNA sequencing revealed that all these candidate genes, with the exception of the CER7 homolog, were expressed in the zone of the expanding adult maize leaf where cuticle maturation occurs. With direct application to genetic improvement, moderately high average predictive abilities were observed for whole-genome prediction of g c in locations (0.46 and 0.45) and across all environments (0.52). The findings of this study provide novel insights into the genetic control of g c and have the potential to help breeders more effectively develop drought-tolerant maize for target environments

Efficacy of temsirolimus in metastatic chromophobe renal cell carcinoma

<p>Background: Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a histopathologically and molecularly heterogeneous disease with the chromophobe subtype (chRCC) accounting for approximately 5% of all cases. The median overall survival of advanced RCC has improved significantly since the advent of tyrosine kinase inhibitors and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors. However, high-quality evidence for the use of new generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors in patients with advanced chRCC is lacking. Few published case reports have highlighted the use of temsirolimus in chRCC.</p> <p>Case presentation: Here, we report the case of a 36-year-old Caucasian woman with metastatic chRCC with predominantly skeletal metastases who was refractory to sunitinib who demonstrated a durable clinical response to temsirolimus lasting 20 months. We review the available evidence pertaining to the use of new generation molecularly targeted agents, in particular mTOR inhibitors in chRCC and discuss their emerging role in the management of this disease which would aid the oncologists faced with the challenge of treating this rare type of RCC.</p> <p>Conclusion: Conducting randomised clinical trials in this rarer sub-group of patients would be challenging and our case report and the evidence reviewed would guide the physicians to make informed decision regarding the management of these patients.</p&gt

MicroRNA Expression in a Readily Accessible Common Hepatic Artery Lymph Node Predicts Time to Pancreatic Cancer Recurrence Postresection

Lymph node involvement in pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAC) predicts postresection survival, but early lymph node metastasis detection is not easily accomplished. We assessed a panel of microRNAs (miRNAs) in a common hepatic artery lymph node (station 8) that is readily accessible during pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) to determine if increased miRNA levels correlate with postresection recurrence. Station 8 lymph nodes overlying the common hepatic artery collected during PD were assayed for miRNA-10b, miRNA-30c, miRNA-21, and miRNA-155 and cytokeratin-19 (CK19), an epithelial cell marker, using quantitative PCR. Expression was correlated with disease recurrence, recurrence-free survival (RFS), and overall survival (OS). Station 8 lymph nodes from 37 patients (30 periampullary carcinomas (PCs), 2 chronic pancreatitis, 5 other cancers) exhibited increased miRNA-10b levels in 14/30 PCs, and in 10 of these 14 patients, cancer recurred during the study period (2012–2015). High miRNA-10b was also associated with shorter RFS (42.5 vs. 92.4 weeks, p < 0.05) but not OS, whereas miRNA-30c, miRNA-21, and miRNA-155 levels and CK19 mRNA levels in station 8 nodes were variable and did not correlate with RFS or OS. We conclude that elevated miRNA-10b levels in station 8 lymph nodes could be utilized to assess risk for early disease progression in patients with periampullary tumors

Outcome of ATP-based tumor chemosensitivity assay directed chemotherapy in heavily pre-treated recurrent ovarian carcinoma

BACKGROUND: We wished to evaluate the clinical response following ATP-Tumor Chemosensitivity Assay (ATP-TCA) directed salvage chemotherapy in a series of UK patients with advanced ovarian cancer. The results are compared with that of a similar assay used in a different country in terms of evaluability and clinical endpoints. METHODS: From November 1998 to November 2001, 46 patients with pre-treated, advanced ovarian cancer were given a total of 56 courses of chemotherapy based on in-vitro ATP-TCA responses obtained from fresh tumor samples or ascites. Forty-four patients were evaluable for results. Of these, 18 patients had clinically platinum resistant disease (relapse < 6 months after first course of chemotherapy). There was evidence of cisplatin resistance in 31 patients from their first ATP-TCA. Response to treatment was assessed by radiology, clinical assessment and tumor marker level (CA 125). RESULTS: The overall response rate was 59% (33/56) per course of chemotherapy, including 12 complete responses, 21 partial responses, 6 with stable disease, and 15 with progressive disease. Two patients were not evaluable for response having received just one cycle of chemotherapy: if these were excluded the response rate is 61%. Fifteen patients are still alive. Median progression free survival (PFS) was 6.6 months per course of chemotherapy; median overall survival (OAS) for each patient following the start of TCA-directed therapy was 10.4 months (95% confidence interval 7.9-12.8 months). CONCLUSION: The results show similar response rates to previous studies using ATP-TCA directed therapy in recurrent ovarian cancer. The assay shows high evaluability and this study adds weight to the reproducibility of results from different centre

Использование барий-стронциевого карбонатита при изготовлении сварочных флюсов на основе техногенных отходов металлургического производства

В данной работе рассмотрена возможность использования барий-стронциевого карбонатита при изготовлении сварочных флюсов на основе шлака производства силикомарганца, а так же на основе ковшевых электросталеплавильных шлаков, образованных при производстве рельсовых марок стали. В серии опытов в лабораторных условиях изготавливали и исследовали различные составы сварочных флюсов, были определены химические составы наплавленного металла, проведен металлографический анализ.In this paper the possibility of using barium-strontium carbonatite in the manufacture of welding fluxes on the basis of slag from the production of silicomanganese, and based on ladle steelmaking slags formed in the production of rail steel grades. In a series of experiments in the laboratory have produced and investigated different compositions of welding fluxes, were determined the chemical compositions of the weld metal metallographic analysis

Duration of androgen suppression before radiotherapy for localized prostate cancer: Radiation therapy oncology group randomized clinical trial 9910

Purpose To determine whether prolonged androgen suppression (AS) duration before radiotherapy improves survival and disease control in prostate cancer. Patients and Methods One thousand five hundred seventy-nine men with intermediate-risk prostate cancer were randomly assigned to 8 weeks of AS followed by radiotherapy with an additional 8 weeks of concurrent AS (16 weeks total) or to 28 weeks of AS followed by radiotherapy with an additional 8 weeks of AS (36 weeks total). The trial sought primarily to detect a 33% reduction in the hazard of prostate cancer death in the 28-week assignment. Time-to-event end points are reported for up to 10 years of follow-up. Results There were no between-group differences in baseline characteristics of 1,489 eligible patients with follow-up. For the 8- and 28-week assignments, 10-year disease-specific survival rates were 95% (95% CI, 93.3% to 97.0%) and 96% (95% CI, 94.6% to 98.0%; hazard ratio [HR], 0.81; P = .45), respectively, and 10-year overall survival rates were66%(95% CI, 62.0% to 69.9%) and67%(95% CI, 63.0% to 70.8%; HR, 0.95; P = .62), respectively. For the 8- and 28-week assignments, 10-year cumulative incidences of locoregional progression were 6% (95% CI, 4.3% to 8.0%) and 4% (95% CI, 2.5% to 5.7%; HR, 0.65; P = .07), respectively; 10-year distant metastasis cumulative incidences were 6% (95% CI, 4.0% to 7.7%) and 6% (95% CI, 4.0% to 7.6%; HR, 1.07; P = .80), respectively; and 10-year prostate-specific antigen-based recurrence cumulative incidences were 27% (95% CI, 23.1% to 29.8%) and 27% (95% CI, 23.4% to 30.3%; HR, 0.97; P = .77), respectively. Conclusion Extending AS duration from 8 weeks to 28 weeks before radiotherapy did not improve outcomes. A lower than expected prostate cancer death rate reduced ability to detect a between-group difference in disease-specific survival. The schedule of 8 weeks of AS before radiotherapy plus 8 weeks of AS during radiotherapy remains a standard of care in intermediate-risk prostate cancer

Kepler eclipsing binary stars. VII. the catalogue of eclipsing binaries found in the entire Kepler data set

The primary Kepler Mission provided nearly continuous monitoring of ~200,000 objects with unprecedented photometric precision. We present the final catalog of eclipsing binary systems within the 105 deg2 Kepler field of view. This release incorporates the full extent of the data from the primary mission (Q0-Q17 Data Release). As a result, new systems have been added, additional false positives have been removed, ephemerides and principal parameters have been recomputed, classifications have been revised to rely on analytical models, and eclipse timing variations have been computed for each system. We identify several classes of systems including those that exhibit tertiary eclipse events, systems that show clear evidence of additional bodies, heartbeat systems, systems with changing eclipse depths, and systems exhibiting only one eclipse event over the duration of the mission. We have updated the period and galactic latitude distribution diagrams and included a catalog completeness evaluation. The total number of identified eclipsing and ellipsoidal binary systems in the Kepler field of view has increased to 2878, 1.3% of all observed Kepler targets