Lack of mutations of exon 2 of the MEN1 gene in endocrine and nonendocrine sporadic tumors

In addition to the mutations that underlie most cases of the multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) syndrome, somatic mutations of the MEN1 gene have also been described in sporadic tumors like gastrinomas, insulinomas and bronchial carcinoid neoplasm. We examined exon 2 of this gene, where most of the mutations have been described, in 148 endocrine and nonendocrine sporadic tumors. DNA was obtained by phenol/chloroform extraction and ethanol precipitation from 92 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded samples, and from 40 fresh tumor tissue samples. We used 5 pairs of primers to encompass the complete coding sequence of exon 2 of the MEN1 gene that was screened by the polymerase chain reaction-single-stranded conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) technique in 78 sporadic thyroid cancers: 28 follicular adenomas, 35 papillary carcinomas, 14 follicular carcinomas, and 1 anaplastic thyroid carcinoma. We also examined 46 adrenal lesions (3 hyperplasias, 3 adenomas and 35 adrenocortical carcinomas, 2 pheochromocytomas, 2 ganglioneuroblastomas, and 1 lymphoma) and 24 breast cancers (6 noninvasive, 16 infiltrating ductal, and 2 invasive lobular tumors). The PCR product of 5 tumors suspected to present band shifts by SSCP was cloned. Direct sense and antisense sequencing did not identify mutations. These results suggest that the MEN1 gene is not important in breast, thyroid or adrenal sporadic tumorigenesis. Because the frequency of mutations varies significantly among tumor subgroups and allelic deletions are frequently observed at 11q13 in thyroid and adrenal cancers, another tumor suppressor gene residing in this region is likely to be involved in the tumorigenesis of these neoplasms.86186

Bayesian Forecasting Of Temporal Gene Expression By Using An Autoregressive Panel Data Approach

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)We propose and evaluate a novel approach for forecasting gene expression over non-observed times in longitudinal trials under a Bayesian viewpoint. One of the aims is to cluster genes that share similar expression patterns over time and then use this similarity to predict relative expression at time points of interest. Expression values of 106 genes expressed during the cell cycle of Saccharomyces cerevisiae were used and genes were partitioned into five distinct clusters of sizes 33, 32, 21, 16, and 4. After removing the last observed time point, the agreements of signals (upregulated or downregulated) considering the predicted expression level were 72.7, 81.3, 76.2, 68.8, and 50.0%, respectively, for each cluster. The percentage of credibility intervals that contained the true values of gene expression for a future time was ~90%. The methodology performed well, providing a valid forecast of gene expression values by fitting an autoregressive panel data model. This approach is easily implemented with other time-series models and when Poisson and negative binomial probability distributions are assumed for the gene expression data. © FUNPEC-RP.152CAPES, Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível SuperiorCNPq, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico#APQ 00825, FAPEMIG, Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas GeraisFUNARBE, Fundação Arthur BernardesCoordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

Analysis of a Sorter Cascade Applied to Control a Wheelchair

The precise eye state detection is a fundamental stage for various activities that require human-machine interaction (HMI). This chapter presents an analysis of the implementation of a system for navigating a wheelchair with automation (CRA), based on facial expressions, especially eyes closed using a Haar cascade classifier (HCC). Aimed at people with locomotor disability of the upper and lower limbs, the state detection was based on two steps: the capture of the image, which concentrates on the detection actions and image optimization; actions of the chair, which interprets the data capture and sends the action to the chair. The results showed that the model has excellent accuracy in identification with robust performance in recognizing eyes closed, bypassing well occlusion issues and lighting with about 98% accuracy. The application of the model in the simulations opens the implementation and marriage opportunity with the chair sensor universe aiming a safe and efficient navigation to the user

A well simulator for homogeneous reservoirs based on formulations of the isogeometric boundary element method

The development of a simulator for homogeneous reservoirs with application in producer wells (represented by a sink) and the aquifer analysis is obtained by combining the Boundary Element Method (BEM), the Isogeometric Formulation using NURBS (Non Uniform Rational B-Spline) as shape functions, and also the Axisymmetric Formulation. The Isogeometric Formulation makes the discretization of geometric model (mesh generation), which is the step of numerical analysis that is more time consuming for the engineer, be no longer necessary, since the same functions that describe the geometry also approximate the field variables in the BEM. In other words, the same discretization used in the geometric model, generated in CAD (Computer Aided Design) modeling programs, also is used by the BEM. The oil and water reservoirs, as simplified models for validation of the new mathematical methodology, can be fully represented by the analysis of a plane passing through the axis of rotational (axial) symmetry. The dimension of the problem is reduced from three to two dimensions: radial and axial directions only, and all variables in the circumferential direction are assumed to be constant. When the geometry and the problem variables are both axisymmetric, then the problem is considered fully axisymmetric. The isogeometric and axisymmetric formulations are coupled to obtain the well simulator for the single and double phase case, i.e. one or two incompressible fluids inside the reservoir. The determination of boundary conditions for the model, including the analysis of fluids interface movement, is also presented. The final code is a new tool for the analysis of gas/water coning phenomenon and quick drawdown problem in homogeneous reservoirs, as validation models. Validation of the results is carried out by comparing with others numerical methods and analytical results

Comparison of dimensionality reduction methods to predict genomic breeding values for carcass traits in pigs

A significant contribution of molecular genetics is the direct use of DNA information to identify genetically superior individuals. With this approach, genome-wide selection (GWS) can be used for this purpose. GWS consists of analyzing a large number of single nucleotide polymorphism markers widely distributed in the genome; however, because the number of markers is much larger than the number of genotyped individuals, and such markers are highly correlated, special statistical methods are widely required. Among these methods, independent component regression, principal component regression, partial least squares, and partial principal components stand out. Thus, the aim of this study was to propose an application of the methods of dimensionality reduction to GWS of carcass traits in an F2 (Piau x commercial line) pig population. The results show similarities between the principal and the independent component methods and provided the most accurate genomic breeding estimates for most carcass traits in pigs

Radiative processes as a condensation phenomenon and the physical meaning of deformed canonical structures

Working with well known models in $(2+1)D$ we discuss the physics behind the deformation of the canonical structure of these theories. A new deformation is constructed linking the massless scalar field theory with the self-dual theory. This is the exact dual of the known deformation connecting the Maxwell theory with the Maxwell-Chern-Simons theory. Duality is used to establish a web of relations between the mentioned theories and a physical picture of the deformation procedure is suggested.Comment: revtex4 file, 16 page

Meningite crônica, hidrocefalia e paraplegia medular em histoplasmose não-sistêmica

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Meningite Crônica, Hidrocefalia E Paraplegia Medular Em Histoplasmose Não-sistêmica

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