Cyclooxygenase-2 Expression in Bladder Cancer and Patient Prognosis: Results from a Large Clinical Cohort and Meta-Analysis

Aberrant overexpression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX2) is observed in urothelial carcinoma of the bladder (UCB). Studies evaluating COX2 as a prognostic marker in UCB report contradictory results. We determined the prognostic potential of COX2 expression in UCB and quantitatively summarize the results with those of the literature through a meta-analysis. Newly diagnosed UCB patients recruited between 1998–2001 in 18 Spanish hospitals were prospectively included in the study and followed-up (median, 70.7 months). Diagnostic slides were reviewed and uniformly classified by expert pathologists. Clinical data was retrieved from hospital charts. Tissue microarrays containing non-muscle invasive (n = 557) and muscle invasive (n = 216) tumours were analyzed by immunohistochemistry using quantitative image analysis. Expression was evaluated in Cox regression models to assess the risk of recurrence, progression and disease-specific mortality. Meta-hazard ratios were estimated using our results and those from 11 additional evaluable studies. COX2 expression was observed in 38% (211/557) of non-muscle invasive and 63% (137/216) of muscle invasive tumors. Expression was associated with advanced pathological stage and grade (p<0.0001). In the univariable analyses, COX2 expression - as a categorical variable - was not associated with any of the outcomes analyzed. As a continuous variable, a weak association with recurrence in non-muscle invasive tumors was observed (p-value = 0.048). In the multivariable analyses, COX2 expression did not independently predict any of the considered outcomes. The meta-analysis confirmed these results. We did not find evidence that COX2 expression is an independent prognostic marker of recurrence, progression or survival in patients with UCB.The work was partially supported by the Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ministry of Science and Innovation, Spain (G03/174, 00/0745, PI051436, PI061614 and G03/174); Red Temática de Investigación Cooperativa en Cáncer- RD06/0020-RTICC; Consolider ONCOBIO; EU-FP6-STREP-37739-DRoP-ToP; EU-FP7-HEALTH-F2-2008-201663-UROMOL; EU-FP7-HEALTH-F2-2008-201333-DECanBio; USA-NIH-RO1-CA089715; and a PhD fellowship awarded to MJC from the ‘‘la Caixa’’ foundation, Spain, and a postdoctoral fellowship awarded to AFSA from the Fundación Científica de la AEC

A guild-based protocol to target potential natural enemies of philaenus spumarius (Hemiptera: Aphrophoridae), a vector of xylella fastidiosa (xanthomonadaceae): A case study with spiders in the olive grove

The olive grove is a key landscape across the Mediterranean basin. This agroecosystem is threatened by Xylella fastidiosa, the causal agent of the olive tree quick decline syndrome, Philaenus spumarius being the main vector. A way to limit pest populations relies on the use of biological control agents such as arthropods. Among them, spiders are generalist predators with di erent hunting strategies that feed mostly on insects and can contribute to limit pests. In this work, field and laboratory data were used to provide a protocol aiming to facilitate the selection of species of spiders among di erent guilds that could represent potential natural enemies of P. spumarius. Sampling of spiders was conducted in olive groves in northeastern Portugal. Two species, namely the orb-weaver Araniella cucurbitina and the ambusher Synema globosum, were selected according to the dominant guilds of spiders inhabiting the olive crop. We tested the di erences of potential predatory e ciency using classical functional response tests with P. spumarius as prey. A type-II functional response was found for A. cucurbitina, whereas a type-I response was found for S. globosum. This di erence uncovers a di erent potential e ciency among the two species as natural enemies of P. spumarius with relevant implications at high prey density in the field. A conceptual workflow to follow the fieldwork and selection of species for further work (i.e., laboratory assays) is provided and discussed. Standardized methods regarding the assessment of the suitability and e ciency of potential natural enemies are essential for the integration of results at di erent geographical extents and crops. Selecting functional counterparts such as di erent species of predators occurring at di erent locations that use the same prey (e.g., a pest) in the same way (e.g., hunting strategy) would facilitate developing biological control schemes.This research was funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement N. 727987 “Xylella fastidiosa Active Containment Through a multidisciplinary-Oriented Research Strategy XF-ACTORS”, the Spanish Ministry of Innovation and Science under the RETOS programme grant AGL2017-89604R and strategic project PEst-OE/AGR/UI0690/2019 – CIMO, funded by national funds through FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The role of the pathologist in tissue banking: European Consensus Expert Group Report

Human tissue biobanking encompasses a wide range of activities and study designs and is critical for application of a wide range of new technologies (-“omics”) to the discovery of molecular patterns of disease and for implementation of novel biomarkers into clinical trials. Pathology is the cornerstone of hospital-based tissue biobanking. Pathologists not only provide essential information identifying the specimen but also make decisions on what should be biobanked, making sure that the timing of all operations is consistent with both the requirements of clinical diagnosis and the optimal preservation of biological products. This document summarizes the conclusions of a Pathology Expert Group Meeting within the European Biological and Biomolecular Research Infrastructure (BBMRI) Program. These recommendations are aimed at providing guidance for pathologists as well as for institutions hosting biobanks on how to better integrate and support pathological activities within the framework of biobanks that fulfill international standards

Proposing to use artificial neural Networks for NoSQL attack detection

[EN] Relationships databases have enjoyed a certain boom in software worlds until now. These days, with the rise of modern applications, unstructured data production, traditional databases do not completely meet the needs of all systems. Regarding these issues, NOSQL databases have been developed and are a good alternative. But security aspects stay behind. Injection attacks are the most serious class of web attacks that are not taken seriously in NoSQL. This paper presents a Neural Network model approach for NoSQL injection. This method attempts to use the best and most effective features to identify an injection. The features used are divided into two categories, the first one based on the content of the request, and the second one independent of the request meta parameters. In order to detect attack payloads features, we work on character level analysis to obtain malicious rate of user inputs. The results demonstrate that our model has detected more attack payloads compare with models that work black list approach in keyword level

Multilocus variable number of tandem repeat analysis reveals multiple introductions in Spain of Xanthomonas arboricola pv. Pruni, the causal agent of bacterial spot disease of stone fruits and almond

Xanthomonas arboricola pv. pruni is the causal agent of the bacterial spot disease of stone fruits, almond and some ornamental Prunus species. In Spain it was first detected in 2002 and since then, several outbreaks have occurred in different regions affecting mainly Japanese plum, peach and almond, both in commercial orchards and nurseries. As the origin of the introduction(s) was unknown, we have assessed the genetic diversity of 239 X. arboricola pv. pruni strains collected from 11 Spanish provinces from 2002 to 2013 and 25 reference strains from international collections. We have developed an optimized multilocus variable number of tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) scheme targeting 18 microsatellites and five minisatellites. A high discriminatory power was achieved since almost 50% of the Spanish strains were distinguishable, confirming the usefulness of this genotyping technique at small spatio-temporal scales. Spanish strains grouped in 18 genetic clusters (conservatively delineated so that each cluster contained haplotype networks linked by up to quadruple-locus variations). Furthermore, pairwise comparisons among populations from different provinces showed a strong genetic differentiation. Our results suggest multiple introductions of this pathogen in Spain and redistribution through contaminated nursery propagative plant material

The global atmospheric electrical circuit and climate

Evidence is emerging for physical links among clouds, global temperatures, the global atmospheric electrical circuit and cosmic ray ionisation. The global circuit extends throughout the atmosphere from the planetary surface to the lower layers of the ionosphere. Cosmic rays are the principal source of atmospheric ions away from the continental boundary layer: the ions formed permit a vertical conduction current to flow in the fair weather part of the global circuit. Through the (inverse) solar modulation of cosmic rays, the resulting columnar ionisation changes may allow the global circuit to convey a solar influence to meteorological phenomena of the lower atmosphere. Electrical effects on non-thunderstorm clouds have been proposed to occur via the ion-assisted formation of ultra-fine aerosol, which can grow to sizes able to act as cloud condensation nuclei, or through the increased ice nucleation capability of charged aerosols. Even small atmospheric electrical modulations on the aerosol size distribution can affect cloud properties and modify the radiative balance of the atmosphere, through changes communicated globally by the atmospheric electrical circuit. Despite a long history of work in related areas of geophysics, the direct and inverse relationships between the global circuit and global climate remain largely quantitatively unexplored. From reviewing atmospheric electrical measurements made over two centuries and possible paleoclimate proxies, global atmospheric electrical circuit variability should be expected on many timescale

Chemical vapour deposition synthetic diamond: materials, technology and applications

Substantial developments have been achieved in the synthesis of chemical vapour deposition (CVD) diamond in recent years, providing engineers and designers with access to a large range of new diamond materials. CVD diamond has a number of outstanding material properties that can enable exceptional performance in applications as diverse as medical diagnostics, water treatment, radiation detection, high power electronics, consumer audio, magnetometry and novel lasers. Often the material is synthesized in planar form, however non-planar geometries are also possible and enable a number of key applications. This article reviews the material properties and characteristics of single crystal and polycrystalline CVD diamond, and how these can be utilized, focusing particularly on optics, electronics and electrochemistry. It also summarizes how CVD diamond can be tailored for specific applications, based on the ability to synthesize a consistent and engineered high performance product.Comment: 51 pages, 16 figure

Institutional shared resources and translational cancer research

The development and maintenance of adequate shared infrastructures is considered a major goal for academic centers promoting translational research programs. Among infrastructures favoring translational research, centralized facilities characterized by shared, multidisciplinary use of expensive laboratory instrumentation, or by complex computer hardware and software and/or by high professional skills are necessary to maintain or improve institutional scientific competitiveness. The success or failure of a shared resource program also depends on the choice of appropriate institutional policies and requires an effective institutional governance regarding decisions on staffing, existence and composition of advisory committees, policies and of defined mechanisms of reporting, budgeting and financial support of each resource. Shared Resources represent a widely diffused model to sustain cancer research; in fact, web sites from an impressive number of research Institutes and Universities in the U.S. contain pages dedicated to the SR that have been established in each Center, making a complete view of the situation impossible. However, a nation-wide overview of how Cancer Centers develop SR programs is available on the web site for NCI-designated Cancer Centers in the U.S., while in Europe, information is available for individual Cancer centers. This article will briefly summarize the institutional policies, the organizational needs, the characteristics, scientific aims, and future developments of SRs necessary to develop effective translational research programs in oncology