Perspectives and Prospects in the Chemotherapy of Gastrointestinal Cancer

5-Flourouracil (5-FU) is the best agent for the treatment of all gastrointestinal cancers but should be used with restraint, since severe toxicity does not guarantee increased response or survival time. Experimental work suggests that glucose enhances cellular uptake of 5-FU. Alkylating agents are definitely useful and occasionally produce long-term responses. Mitomycin C shows activity but is not available. There are reports of responses to methotrexate, vinca alkaloids, and mithramycin, but their place in the management of gastrointestinal cancer is not established. The usefulness of alkylating agents or 5-FU as adjuvants to surgery is not clear, but evidence is accumulating which supports the adjuvant use of 5-FU when disease is left behind. There is laboratory evidence that anticoagulation can prevent tumor recurrence, and this should be studied further. The best combination chemotherapy has not been determined. Regional chemotherapy offers a logical approach, but comparative data with systemic treatment are lacking, although techniques for protracted infusion, particularly of primary and secondary hepatic tumors, may justify its increased use. Wound washing with available contact tumoricidal agents is contraindicated, as it may increase local recurrence

The Combined Effects of Pulsed Magnetic Radiation (Diapulse) and Chemotherapy on Tumor Bearing Mice. The Measurement of Rodent Palatal Explants as a Device for Measurement of the Biologic Effects of Nonionic Radiation (EMR)

Simultaneous treatment utilizing pulsed radiowave and cancer chemotherapy significantly extended the life span of mice with Lewis lung transplanted carcinoma. In comparison with nontreated controls, the combination of hydroxyurea and whole body nonionizing EM radiation (at 27.12 MHz) produced differential enhancement of longevity depending on hydroxyurea combined with highest power output achieved by pulsing the radiation 600 times per second; at a 3.9% duty cycle, peak watts = 975 produced the mean extension of life 67% greater than that of the group treated with hydroxyurea alone

The NASA Exoplanet Archive: Data and Tools for Exoplanet Research

We describe the contents and functionality of the NASA Exoplanet Archive, a database and tool set funded by NASA to support astronomers in the exoplanet community. The current content of the database includes interactive tables containing properties of all published exoplanets, Kepler planet candidates, threshold-crossing events, data validation reports and target stellar parameters, light curves from the Kepler and CoRoT missions and from several ground-based surveys, and spectra and radial velocity measurements from the literature. Tools provided to work with these data include a transit ephemeris predictor, both for single planets and for observing locations, light curve viewing and normalization utilities, and a periodogram and phased light curve service. The archive can be accessed at http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 4 figure

Dimethyl Sulfoxide Induces Both Direct and Indirect Tau Hyperphosphorylation

Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is widely used as a solvent or vehicle for biological studies, and for treatment of specific disorders, including traumatic brain injury and several forms of amyloidosis. As Alzheimer’s disease (AD) brains are characterized by deposits of β-amyloid peptides, it has been suggested that DMSO could be used as a treatment for this devastating disease. AD brains are also characterized by aggregates of hyperphosphorylated tau protein, but the effect of DMSO on tau phosphorylation is unknown. We thus investigated the impact of DMSO on tau phosphorylation in vitro and in vivo. One hour following intraperitoneal administration of 1 or 2 ml/kg DMSO in mice, no change was observed in tau phosphorylation. However, at 4 ml/kg, tau was hyperphosphorylated at AT8 (Ser202/Thr205), PHF-1 (Ser396/Ser404) and AT180 (Thr231) epitopes. At this dose, we also noticed that the animals were hypothermic. When the mice were maintained normothermic, the effect of 4 ml/kg DMSO on tau hyperphosphorylation was prevented. On the other hand, in SH-SY5Y cells, 0.1% DMSO induced tau hyperphosphorylation at AT8 and AT180 phosphoepitopes in normothermic conditions. Globally, these findings demonstrate that DMSO can induce tau hyperphosphorylation indirectly via hypothermia in vivo, and directly in vitro. These data should caution researchers working with DMSO as it can induce artifactual results both in vivo and in vitro