Clinical Outcomes of Intraoperative Radiation Therapy for Extremity Sarcomas

Purpose. Radiation of extremity lesions, a key component of limb-sparing therapy, presents particular challenges, with significant risks of toxicities. We sought to explore the efficacy of intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) in the treatment of soft tissue sarcomas of the extremities. Patients. Between 1995 and 2001, 17 patients received IORT for soft tissue sarcomas of the extremities. Indications for IORT included recurrent tumors in a previously radiated field or tumors adjacent to critical structures. Results. Gross total resections were achieved in all 17 patients. Two patients experienced locoregional relapses, six patients recurred at metastatic sites, and one patient died without recurrence. Thirty-six month estimates for locoregional control, disease free survival, and overall survival were 86%, 50%, and 78%, respectively. IORT was extremely well tolerated, with no toxicities referable to IORT. Conclusions. For patients with soft tissue sarcomas of the extremities, IORT used as a boost to EBRT provides excellent local control, with limited acute toxicities

Infection with Mansonella perstans Nematodes in Buruli Ulcer Patients, Ghana.

During August 2010-December 2012, we conducted a study of patients in Ghana who had Buruli ulcer, caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans, and found that 23% were co-infected with Mansonella perstans nematodes; 13% of controls also had M. perstans infection. M. perstans co-infection should be considered in the diagnosis and treatment of Buruli ulcer

A review of inclusive business models and their application in aquaculture development

For aquaculture to continue along its current growth trajectory and contribute towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, value chains must become more inclusive. Smallholders and other local value chain actors are often constrained by circumstances and market failures in the global aquaculture industry. Integrating these actors into aquaculture value chains through inclusive business models (IBMs) is often touted as a solution to sustainable and ethical trade and business that can generate development outcomes. We reviewed 36 papers under seven business models commonly used in agriculture development to assess their application in aquaculture value chains in lower‐income countries. A global value chain (GVC) analysis is used to unpack the economic and social upgrading objectives of the different IBMs, as well as the types of relational coordination used between actors in the chain to achieve development outcomes. The extent to which these IBMs helped poor actors overcome certain barriers is evaluated with a focus on how they may ensure or be a risk to inclusiveness through the relations and upgrading opportunities evident in their make‐up. The analysis found that the majority of the models focused on economic upgrading over social upgrading. Providing opportunities for the latter is key to achieving the inclusive objectives of IBMs. Greater horizontal coordination between actors can create further opportunities for economic upgrading established under vertical coordination with other nodes upstream and downstream in a value chain. There is a need to further contextualize these models to aquaculture systems and develop clear indicators of inclusiveness

Topography of the Chimpanzee Corpus Callosum

The corpus callosum (CC) is the largest commissural white matter tract in mammalian brains, connecting homotopic and heterotopic regions of the cerebral cortex. Knowledge of the distribution of callosal fibers projecting into specific cortical regions has important implications for understanding the evolution of lateralized structures and functions of the cerebral cortex. No comparisons of CC topography in humans and great apes have yet been conducted. We investigated the topography of the CC in 21 chimpanzees using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Tractography was conducted based on fiber assignment by continuous tracking (FACT) algorithm. We expected chimpanzees to display topographical organization similar to humans, especially concerning projections into the frontal cortical regions. Similar to recent studies in humans, tractography identified five clusters of CC fibers projecting into defined cortical regions: prefrontal; premotor and supplementary motor; motor; sensory; parietal, temporal and occipital. Significant differences in fractional anisotropy (FA) were found in callosal regions, with highest FA values in regions projecting to higher-association areas of posterior cortical (including parietal, temporal and occipital cortices) and prefrontal cortical regions (p<0.001). The lowest FA values were seen in regions projecting into motor and sensory cortical areas. Our results indicate chimpanzees display similar topography of the CC as humans, in terms of distribution of callosal projections and microstructure of fibers as determined by anisotropy measures

The NASA Roadmap to Ocean Worlds

In this article, we summarize the work of the NASA Outer Planets Assessment Group (OPAG) Roadmaps to Ocean Worlds (ROW) group. The aim of this group is to assemble the scientific framework that will guide the exploration of ocean worlds, and to identify and prioritize science objectives for ocean worlds over the next several decades. The overarching goal of an Ocean Worlds exploration program as defined by ROW is to identify ocean worlds, characterize their oceans, evaluate their habitability, search for life, and ultimately understand any life we find. The ROW team supports the creation of an exploration program that studies the full spectrum of ocean worlds, that is, not just the exploration of known ocean worlds such as Europa but candidate ocean worlds such as Triton as well. The ROW team finds that the confirmed ocean worlds Enceladus, Titan, and Europa are the highest priority bodies to target in the near term to address ROW goals. Triton is the highest priority candidate ocean world to target in the near term. A major finding of this study is that, to map out a coherent Ocean Worlds Program, significant input is required from studies here on Earth; rigorous Research and Analysis studies are called for to enable some future ocean worlds missions to be thoughtfully planned and undertaken. A second finding is that progress needs to be made in the area of collaborations between Earth ocean scientists and extraterrestrial ocean scientists

Permafrost is warming at a global scale

Permafrost warming has the potential to amplify global climate change, because when frozen sediments thaw it unlocks soil organic carbon. Yet to date, no globally consistent assessment of permafrost temperature change has been compiled. Here we use a global data set of permafrost temperature time series from the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost to evaluate temperature change across permafrost regions for the period since the International Polar Year (2007-2009). During the reference decade between 2007 and 2016, ground temperature near the depth of zero annual amplitude in the continuous permafrost zone increased by 0.39 ± 0.15 °C. Over the same period, discontinuous permafrost warmed by 0.20 ± 0.10 °C. Permafrost in mountains warmed by 0.19 ± 0.05 °C and in Antarctica by 0.37 ± 0.10 °C. Globally, permafrost temperature increased by 0.29 ± 0.12 °C. The observed trend follows the Arctic amplification of air temperature increase in the Northern Hemisphere. In the discontinuous zone, however, ground warming occurred due to increased snow thickness while air temperature remained statistically unchanged

Characterization of ARF-BP1/HUWE1 Interactions with CTCF, MYC, ARF and p53 in MYC-Driven B Cell Neoplasms

Transcriptional activation of MYC is a hallmark of many B cell lineage neoplasms. MYC provides a constitutive proliferative signal but can also initiate ARF-dependent activation of p53 and apoptosis. The E3 ubiquitin ligase, ARF-BP1, encoded by HUWE1, modulates the activity of both the MYC and the ARF-p53 signaling pathways, prompting us to determine if it is involved in the pathogenesis of MYC-driven B cell lymphomas. ARF-BP1 was expressed at high levels in cell lines from lymphomas with either wild type or mutated p53 but not in ARF-deficient cells. Downregulation of ARF-BP1 resulted in elevated steady state levels of p53, growth arrest and apoptosis. Co-immunoprecipitation studies identified a multiprotein complex comprised of ARF-BP1, ARF, p53, MYC and the multifunctional DNA-binding factor, CTCF, which is involved in the transcriptional regulation of MYC, p53 and ARF. ARF-BP1 bound and ubiquitylated CTCF leading to its proteasomal degradation. ARF-BP1 and CTCF thus appear to be key cofactors linking the MYC proliferative and p53-ARF apoptotic pathways. In addition, ARF-BP1 could be a therapeutic target for MYC-driven B lineage neoplasms, even if p53 is inactive, with inhibition reducing the transcriptional activity of MYC for its target genes and stabilizing the apoptosis-promoting activities of p53

Genomic, Pathway Network, and Immunologic Features Distinguishing Squamous Carcinomas

This integrated, multiplatform PanCancer Atlas study co-mapped and identified distinguishing molecular features of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five sites associated with smokin