Circulating microRNAs: next-generation biomarkers for early lung cancer detection

Early diagnosis of lung cancer by low-dose computed tomography is an effective strategy to reduce cancer mortality in high-risk individuals. However, recruitment of at-risk individuals with asymptomatic lung cancer still remains challenging. We developed a minimal invasive serum test, based on the detection of circulating microRNAs, which can identify at-risk individuals with asymptomatic early stage non-small cell lung carcinomas with 80% accuracy

Technique of sentinel lymph node biopsy and lymphatic mapping during laparoscopic colon resection for cancer

BACKGROUND: The utility of lymph node mapping to improve staging in colon cancer is still under evaluation. Laparoscopic colectomy for colon cancer has been validated in multi-centric trials. This study assessed the feasibility and technical aspects of lymph node mapping in laparoscopic colectomy for colon cancer. METHODS: A total of 42 patients with histologically proven colon cancer were studied from January 2006 to September 2007. Exclusion criteria were: advanced disease (clinical stage III), rectal cancer, previous colon resection and contraindication to laparoscopy. Lymph-nodal status was assessed preoperatively by computed tomography (CT) scan and intra-operatively with the aid of laparoscopic ultrasound. Before resection, 2-3 ml of Patent Blue V dye was injected sub-serosally around the tumour. Coloured lymph nodes were marked as sentinel (SN) with metal clips or suture and laparoscopic colectomy with lymphadenectomy completed as normal. In case of failure of the intra-operative procedure, an ex vivo SN biopsy was performed on the colectomy specimen after resection. RESULTS: A total number of 904 lymph nodes were examined, with a median number of 22 lymph nodes harvested per patient. The SN detection rate was 100%, an ex vivo lymph node mapping was necessary in four patients. Eleven (26.2%) patients had lymph-nodal metastases and in five (45.5%) of these patients, SN was the only positive lymph node. There were two (18.2%) false-negative SN. In three cases (7.1%) with aberrant lymphatic drainage, lymphadenectomy was extended. The accuracy of SN mapping was 95.2% and negative predictive value was 93.9%. CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic lymphatic mapping and SN removal is feasible in laparoscopic colectomy for colon cancer. The ex vivo technique is useful as a salvage technique in case of failure of the intra-operative procedure. Prospective studies are justified to determine the real accuracy and false-negative rate of the technique

Photofission and Quasi-Deuteron-Nuclear State as Mixing of Bosons and Fermions

The empirical-phenomenological quasi-deuteron photofission description is theoretically justified within the semiclassical, intermediate statistics model. The transmutational fermion (nucleon) - boson (quasi-deuteron) potential plays an essential role in the present context and is expressed in terms of thermodynamical and of microscopical quantities, analogous to those commonly used in the superfluid nuclear model.Comment: 7 pages, RevTex, to appear in Zeit. f. Phys.

The Effects of Serotonin Receptor Antagonists on Contraction and Relaxation Responses Induced by Electrical Stimulation in the Rat Small Intestine

Background: The main source of 5-HT in body is in enterchromafin cells of intestine, different studies mentioned different roles for endogenous 5-HT and receptors involved and it is not clearified the mechanism of action of endogenous 5-HT. Objectives: To study the role of endogenous 5-HT on modulation of contraction and relaxation responses induced by electrical field stimulation (EFS) in different regions of the rat intestine. Materials and Methods: Segments taken from the rat duodenum, jejunum, mid and terminal ileum were vertically mounted, connected to a transducer and exposed to EFS with different frequencies in the absence and presence of various inhibitors of enteric mediators i. e. specific 5-HT receptor antagonists. Results: EFS-induced responses were sensitive to TTX and partly to atropine, indicating a major neuronal involvement and a cholinergic system. Pre-treatment with WAY100635 (a 5-HT1A receptor antagonist) and granisetron up to 10.0 µM, GR113808 (a 5-HT4 receptor antagonist), methysergide and ritanserin up to 1.0 µM, failed to modify responses to EFS inall examined tissues. In the presence of SB258585 1.0 µM (a 5-HT6 receptor antagonist) there was a trend to enhance contraction in the proximal part of the intestine and reduce contraction in the distal part. Pre-treatment with SB269970A 1.0 µM (5-HT7 receptor antagonist) induced a greater contractile response to EFS at 0.4 Hz only in the duodenum. Conclusions: The application of 5-HT1A, 5-HT2, 5-HT3, 5-HT4, 5-HT6 and 5-HT7 receptor antagonists, applied at concentrations lower than 1.0 µM did not modify the EFS-induced contraction and relaxation responses, whichsuggests the unlikely involvement of endogenous 5-HT in mediating responses to EFS in the described test conditions. Keywords: Electric Stimulation Therapy; Serotonin 5-HT1 Receptor Antagonists; Intestine, Smal

Minimizing Acquisition Maximizing Inference -- A demonstration on print error detection

Is it possible to detect a feature in an image without ever looking at it? Images are known to have sparser representation in Wavelets and other similar transforms. Compressed Sensing is a technique which proposes simultaneous acquisition and compression of any signal by taking very few random linear measurements (M). The quality of reconstruction directly relates with M, which should be above a certain threshold for a reliable recovery. Since these measurements can non-adaptively reconstruct the signal to a faithful extent using purely analytical methods like Basis Pursuit, Matching Pursuit, Iterative thresholding, etc., we can be assured that these compressed samples contain enough information about any relevant macro-level feature contained in the (image) signal. Thus if we choose to deliberately acquire an even lower number of measurements - in order to thwart the possibility of a comprehensible reconstruction, but high enough to infer whether a relevant feature exists in an image - we can achieve accurate image classification while preserving its privacy. Through the print error detection problem, it is demonstrated that such a novel system can be implemented in practise

Transport characteristics of guanidino compounds at the blood-brain barrier and blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier: relevance to neural disorders

Guanidino compounds (GCs), such as creatine, phosphocreatine, guanidinoacetic acid, creatinine, methylguanidine, guanidinosuccinic acid, γ-guanidinobutyric acid, β-guanidinopropionic acid, guanidinoethane sulfonic acid and α-guanidinoglutaric acid, are present in the mammalian brain. Although creatine and phosphocreatine play important roles in energy homeostasis in the brain, accumulation of GCs may induce epileptic discharges and convulsions. This review focuses on how physiologically important and/or neurotoxic GCs are distributed in the brain under physiological and pathological conditions. Transporters for GCs at the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and the blood-cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) barrier (BCSFB) have emerged as substantial contributors to GCs distribution in the brain. Creatine transporter (CRT/solute carrier (SLC) 6A8) expressed at the BBB regulates creatine concentration in the brain, and represents a major pathway for supply of creatine from the circulating blood to the brain. CRT may be a key factor facilitating blood-to-brain guanidinoacetate transport in patients deficient in S-adenosylmethionine:guanidinoacetate N-methyltransferase, the creatine biosynthetic enzyme, resulting in cerebral accumulation of guanidinoacetate. CRT, taurine transporter (TauT/SLC6A6) and organic cation transporter (OCT3/SLC22A3) expressed at the BCSFB are involved in guanidinoacetic acid or creatinine efflux transport from CSF. Interestingly, BBB efflux transport of GCs, including guanidinoacetate and creatinine, is negligible, though the BBB has a variety of efflux transport systems for synthetic precursors of GCs, such as amino acids and neurotransmitters. Instead, the BCSFB functions as a major cerebral clearance system for GCs. In conclusion, transport of GCs at the BBB and BCSFB appears to be the key determinant of the cerebral levels of GCs, and changes in the transport characteristics may cause the abnormal distribution of GCs in the brain seen in patients with certain neurological disorders