Glimpses of Semantic Web Technologies and Related Case Studies

Semantic web is a platform of new evolution in rapidly developing World Wide Web. Semantic web refers to extracting knowledge from large amount of data. The purpose of this paper is to give a first-hand information and description for the semantic web technology. Although several research works have been carried out in the high semantic web technology, the semantic web is yet vastly unexplored. A semantic web technological innovation is rapidly changing traditional methods of searching data and how search engines work. Few prominent semantic web case studies are presented. One of the popular applications of XML RDF is Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed which is discussed in detail

High-Grade B-cell Lymphoma, Not Otherwise Specified: A Multi-Institutional Retrospective Study

In this multi-institutional retrospective study, we examined the characteristics and outcomes of 160 patients with high-grade B-cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified (HGBL-NOS)-a rare category defined by high-grade morphologic features and lack of MYC rearrangements with BCL2 and/or BCL6 rearrangements ( double hit ). Our results show that HGBL-NOS tumors are heterogeneous: 83% of patients had a germinal center B-cell immunophenotype, 37% a dual-expressor immunophenotype (MYC and BCL2 expression), 28% MYC rearrangement, 13% BCL2 rearrangement, and 11% BCL6 rearrangement. Most patients presented with stage IV disease, a high serum lactate dehydrogenase, and other high-risk clinical factors. Most frequent first-line regimens included dose-adjusted cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and etoposide, with rituximab and prednisone (DA-EPOCH-R; 43%); rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP; 33%); or other intensive chemotherapy programs. We found no significant differences in the rates of complete response (CR), progression-free survival (PFS), or overall survival (OS) between these chemotherapy regimens. CR was attained by 69% of patients. PFS at 2 years was 55.2% and OS was 68.1%. In a multivariable model, the main prognostic factors for PFS and OS were poor performance status, lactate dehydrogenase \u3e3 × upper limit of normal, and a dual-expressor immunophenotype. Age \u3e60 years or presence of MYC rearrangement were not prognostic, but patients with TP53 alterations had a dismal PFS. Presence of MYC rearrangement was not predictive of better PFS in patients treated with DA-EPOCH-R vs R-CHOP. Improvements in the diagnostic criteria and therapeutic approaches beyond dose-intense chemotherapy are needed to overcome the unfavorable prognosis of patients with HGBL-NOS

Phylogenetic ctDNA analysis depicts early-stage lung cancer evolution.

The early detection of relapse following primary surgery for non-small-cell lung cancer and the characterization of emerging subclones, which seed metastatic sites, might offer new therapeutic approaches for limiting tumour recurrence. The ability to track the evolutionary dynamics of early-stage lung cancer non-invasively in circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) has not yet been demonstrated. Here we use a tumour-specific phylogenetic approach to profile the ctDNA of the first 100 TRACERx (Tracking Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Evolution Through Therapy (Rx)) study participants, including one patient who was also recruited to the PEACE (Posthumous Evaluation of Advanced Cancer Environment) post-mortem study. We identify independent predictors of ctDNA release and analyse the tumour-volume detection limit. Through blinded profiling of postoperative plasma, we observe evidence of adjuvant chemotherapy resistance and identify patients who are very likely to experience recurrence of their lung cancer. Finally, we show that phylogenetic ctDNA profiling tracks the subclonal nature of lung cancer relapse and metastasis, providing a new approach for ctDNA-driven therapeutic studies

Water use efficiency and phyto-remediation potential of water hyacinth under elevated CO 2

ABSTRACT A pot culture experiment was conducted in Open Top Chambers during 2007-08. The plantlets (ramets) of water hyacinth were grown in pots with four different media (M1-tap water, M2-distilled water, M3-hoagland solution and M4-hoagland solution with added heavy metals) in three replications and the pots were kept in open top chambers (OTCs), maintained at ambient (360±20ppm) and elevated CO2 (550±30 ppm), and in open field conditions. Pots in three replications from each media-without plant-were kept under the above three conditions as control to measure the evaporation for WUE estimation. The growth of the plants grown in M1 and M2 was severely affected. The plants grown under elevated CO2 and nutrient rich media (M3 and M4) maintained higher green-leaf area over the growth period and recorded higher net assimilation rate (NAR). CO2 enrichment resulted into reduction of water loss (increased WUE) from plants grown in hoagland (M3) and heavy metal (M4) solutions. When the comparison was made in between M3 and M4 treatments, there was tremendous increase in WUE (reduced transpirational loss of water per gram of dry matter produced) in plants grown in M4. the elevated CO2 enhanced the uptake of heavy metals like Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn in both the media but it was higher in M4 than in M3 due to increased availability