HLA-E expression in cervical adenocarcinomas: association with improved long-term survival

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cervical cancer is the third most common cancer in women worldwide. The most common histopathological subtype is cervical squamous cell carcinoma (SCC, 75-80%), followed by adenocarcinoma (AC) and adenosquamous carcinoma (ASC; together 15-20%). Rising incidence rates of AC have been observed relative and absolute to SCC and evidence is accumulating that cervical AC is a distinct clinical entity. Cervical SCC, ASC, and AC are caused by a persistent infection with high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) and failed control of the immune system plays a pivotal role in the carcinogenesis of all three histopathological subtypes. Human leukocyte antigen E (HLA-E), a non-classical HLA class Ib molecule, plays an important role in immune surveillance and immune escape of virally infected cells. In this study we investigated HLA-E expression in three well-defined cohorts of cervical AC, ASC, and SCC patients, and determined whether HLA-E expression was associated with histopathological parameters and patient survival.</p> <p>Methods and results</p> <p>HLA-E expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections of 79 SCC, 38 ASC, and 75 AC patients. All patients included were International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics stage I-II and underwent radical hysterectomy with lymphadenectomy as primary treatment. Significant differences between the histopathological subgroups were detected for age distribution, HPV positivity, HPV type distribution, tumour size, tumour infiltration depth, lymph-vascular space invasion, and adjuvant radiotherapy. High expression of HLA-E was found in 107/192 (56%) cervical carcinomas, with significantly more overexpression in cervical AC compared to SCC and ASC (37/79 SCC, 18/38 ASC, and 52/75 AC; <it>P</it> = 0.010). High HLA-E expression in cervical AC was associated with favourable long term disease-specific and recurrence-free survival (<it>P</it> = 0.005 and <it>P</it> = 0.001, respectively).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>High expression of HLA-E occurred in the majority of all histopathological subtypes of cervical cancer; especially in cervical AC. High HLA-E expression in cervical AC was associated with improved patient survival. This study also highlights the importance of careful evaluation of cervical carcinomas to distinguish histopathological subtypes. In the future, insight into the biological behaviour and distinct molecular carcinogenetic processes of the AC, ASC, and SCC subtypes may contribute to the development of more tumour-specific treatment strategies.</p

Statistical mechanics in the context of special relativity

In the present effort we show that $S_{\kappa}=-k_B \int d^3p (n^{1+\kappa}-n^{1-\kappa})/(2\kappa)$ is the unique existing entropy obtained by a continuous deformation of the Shannon-Boltzmann entropy $S_0=-k_B \int d^3p n \ln n$ and preserving unaltered its fundamental properties of concavity, additivity and extensivity. Subsequently, we explain the origin of the deformation mechanism introduced by $\kappa$ and show that this deformation emerges naturally within the Einstein special relativity. Furthermore, we extend the theory in order to treat statistical systems in a time dependent and relativistic context. Then, we show that it is possible to determine in a self consistent scheme within the special relativity the values of the free parameter $\kappa$ which results to depend on the light speed $c$ and reduces to zero as $c \to \infty$ recovering in this way the ordinary statistical mechanics and thermodynamics. The novel statistical mechanics constructed starting from the above entropy, preserves unaltered the mathematical and epistemological structure of the ordinary statistical mechanics and is suitable to describe a very large class of experimentally observed phenomena in low and high energy physics and in natural, economic and social sciences. Finally, in order to test the correctness and predictability of the theory, as working example we consider the cosmic rays spectrum, which spans 13 decades in energy and 33 decades in flux, finding a high quality agreement between our predictions and observed data. PACS number(s): 05.20.-y, 51.10.+y, 03.30.+p, 02.20.-aComment: 17 pages (two columns), 5 figures, RevTeX4, minor typing correction

The effect of the slope angle on the failure of the grass revetment due to wave impact

Parts of the Netherlands are protected against floods from the sea by a variety of dikes. At the Dollard in the Netherlands, a green dike was constructed. A green dike is a dike with a grass cover on the entire slope and such a dike does not contain a hard revetment to deal with the incoming waves (Figure ). The assessment of the strength of the grass revetment against wave impact is captured in the “Wettelijk Beoordelingsinstrumentarium” (WBI). However, it is uncertain under which storm circumstances the seaside grass revetment fails, because the slope angle is not included in the safety assessment (WBI). The objective of this research is to determine the effect of the slope angle on the duration until failure of the revetment due to wave impact, also termed resistanceduration

Strangephilic Higgs Bosons in the MSSM

We suggest a new CPX-derived scenario for the search of strangephilic MSSM Higgs bosons at the Tevatron and the LHC, in which all neutral and charged Higgs bosons decay predominantly into pairs of strange quarks and into a strange and a charm quark, respectively. The proposed scenario is realized within a particular region of the MSSM parameter space and requires large values of tan(beta), where threshold radiative corrections are significant to render the effective strange-quark Yukawa coupling dominant. Experimental searches for neutral Higgs bosons based on the identification of b-quark jets or tau leptons may miss a strangephilic Higgs boson and its existence could be inferred indirectly by searching for hadronically decaying charged Higgs bosons. Potential strategies and experimental challenges to search for strangephilic Higgs bosons at the Tevatron and the LHC are discussed.Comment: 18 pages, 7 eps figures, additional comments and references added, version as to appear in European Physical Journal