A diagnostic marker for superficial urothelial bladder carcinoma : lack of nuclear ATBF1 (ZFHX3) by immunohistochemistry suggests malignant progression

Background: Pathological stage and grade have limited ability to predict the outcomes of superficial urothelial bladder carcinoma at initial transurethral resection (TUR). AT-motif binding factor 1 (ATBF1) is a tumor suppressive transcription factor that is normally localized to the nucleus but has been detected in the cytoplasm in several cancers. Here, we examined the diagnostic value of the intracellular localization of ATBF1 as a marker for the identification of high risk urothelial bladder carcinoma. Methods: Seven anti-ATBF1 antibodies were generated to cover the entire ATBF1 sequence. Four human influenza hemagglutinin-derived amino acid sequence-tagged expression vectors with truncated ATBF1 cDNA were constructed to map the functional domains of nuclear localization signals (NLSs) with the consensus sequence KR[X10-12]K. A total of 117 samples from initial TUR of human bladder carcinomas were analyzed. None of the patients had received chemotherapy or radiotherapy before pathological evaluation. Results: ATBF1 nuclear localization was regulated synergistically by three NLSs on ATBF1. The cytoplasmic fragments of ATBF1 lacked NLSs. Patients were divided into two groups according to positive nuclear staining of ATBF1, and significant differences in overall survival (P = 0.021) and intravesical recurrence-free survival (P = 0.013) were detected between ATBF1+ (n= 110) and ATBF1− (n=7) cases. Multivariate analysis revealed that ATBF1 staining was an independent prognostic factor for intravesical recurrence-free survival after adjusting for cellular grading and pathological staging (P = 0.008). Conclusions: Cleavage of ATBF1 leads to the cytoplasmic localization of ATBF1 fragments and downregulates nuclear ATBF1. Alterations in the subcellular localization of ATBF1 due to fragmentation of the protein are related to the malignant character of urothelial carcinoma. Pathological evaluation using anti-ATBF1 antibodies enabled the identification of highly malignant cases that had been overlooked at initial TUR. Nuclear localization of ATBF1 indicates better prognosis of urothelial carcinoma

Researching peers and disaster vulnerable communities: an insider perspective

Conducting research among peers and communities that a researcher also serves may be both daunting and rewarding. Researching peers may make the researcher feel uncomfortable raising certain questions that are sensitive or that could be construed to be testing their competencies. This paper is inclined more towards showing that it is advantageous to be an insider, whose position can facilitate collection of information that could not have been accessed, or revealed to an outsider. The paper reports on fieldwork conducted in a low-income country in Sub-Sahara Africa as part of a doctoral study with communities affected by disasters and those that work with such communities. The paper demonstrates the complexities of conducting such research and provides some insights that may be useful to insiders, outsiders or “in-betweeners” embarking on fieldwork in low-income countries and among vulnerable population struggling with manifold stresses and shocks

Observation of dust and anthropogenic aerosol plumes in the Northwest Pacific with a two-wavelength polarization lidar on board the research vessel Mirai

Dust and anthropogenic aerosol plumes from the Asian continent were observed in the Northwest Pacific (32.0° to 38.0°N, 146.5°E) with a two-wavelength polarization lidar on board the research vessel Mirai during the MR01-K02 cruise (May 14 to 28, 2001). Dust aerosols were identified from the aerosol depolarization ratio at 532 nm and the ratio of the backscattering coefficient at 1064 nm and 532 nm. High aerosol density air masses with a low depolarization ratio and a small wavelength ratio (indicating small particle size) were also detected in the plume. The distribution patterns of the dust and the spherical aerosols were conceptionally explained by the model prediction for dust and sulfate with the Chemical Weather Forecast System (CFORS). Aerosols with large particle size but with low depolarization ratio were also observed in between the layers of dust and sulfate. This indicates that the aerosols were possibly an internal mixture of dust and sulfate