A Novel Model Measuring the Harm of Transplanting Hepatocellular Carcinoma Exceeding Milan Criteria

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/75159/1/j.1600-6143.2007.02138.x.pd

Illuminating Choices for Library Prep: A Comparison of Library Preparation Methods for Whole Genome Sequencing of Cryptococcus neoformans Using Illumina HiSeq.

The industry of next-generation sequencing is constantly evolving, with novel library preparation methods and new sequencing machines being released by the major sequencing technology companies annually. The Illumina TruSeq v2 library preparation method was the most widely used kit and the market leader; however, it has now been discontinued, and in 2013 was replaced by the TruSeq Nano and TruSeq PCR-free methods, leaving a gap in knowledge regarding which is the most appropriate library preparation method to use. Here, we used isolates from the pathogenic fungi Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii and sequenced them using the existing TruSeq DNA v2 kit (Illumina), along with two new kits: the TruSeq Nano DNA kit (Illumina) and the NEBNext Ultra DNA kit (New England Biolabs) to provide a comparison. Compared to the original TruSeq DNA v2 kit, both newer kits gave equivalent or better sequencing data, with increased coverage. When comparing the two newer kits, we found little difference in cost and workflow, with the NEBNext Ultra both slightly cheaper and faster than the TruSeq Nano. However, the quality of data generated using the TruSeq Nano DNA kit was superior due to higher coverage at regions of low GC content, and more SNPs identified. Researchers should therefore evaluate their resources and the type of application (and hence data quality) being considered when ultimately deciding on which library prep method to use

Itinerant electron metamagnetism in LaCo9_9Si4_4

The strongly exchange enhanced Pauli paramagnet LaCo$_9$Si$_4$ is found to exhibit an itinerant metamagnetic phase transition with indications for metamagnetic quantum criticality. Our investigation comprises magnetic, specific heat, and NMR measurements as well as ab-initio electronic structure calculations. The critical field is about 3.5 T for $H||c$ and 6 T for $H\bot c$, which is the lowest value ever found for rare earth intermetallic compounds. In the ferromagnetic state there appears a moment of about 0.2 $\mu_B$/Co at the $16k$ Co-sites, but sigificantly smaller moments at the 4d and $16l$ Co-sites.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, PRB Rapid Communication, in prin

The angular correlations of galaxies in the COSMOS field

We present measurements of the two-point galaxy angular correlation function w(\theta) in the COSMOS field. Independent determinations of w(\theta) as a function of magnitude limit are presented for both the HST ACS catalog and also for the ground-based data from Subaru and the CFHT. Despite having significantly different masks, these three determinations agree well. At bright magnitudes (IAB<22), our data generally match very well with existing measurements and with mock catalogs based on semi-analytic galaxy formation calculations of Kitzbichler and White from the Millennium Simulation. The exception is that our result is at the upper end of the expected cosmic variance scatter for \theta > 10 arcmin, which we attribute to a particularly rich structure known to exist at z~0.8. For fainter samples, however, the level of clustering is somewhat higher than reported by some previous studies: in all three catalogues we find w(\theta=1')~0.014 at a median IAB magnitude of 24. At these very faintest magnitudes, our measurements agree well with the latest determinations from the Canada-France Legacy Survey. This level of clustering is approximately double what is predicted by the semi-analytic catalogs (at all angles). The semi-analytic results allow an estimate of cosmic variance, which is too small to account for the discrepancy. We therefore conclude that the mean amplitude of clustering at this level is higher than previously estimated.Comment: Six pages, five figures. Accepted for publication in the ApJS COSMOS special issue, Sept. 200

Osmoregulators proline and glycine betaine counteract salinity stress in canola

Salt inundation leads to increased salinization of arable land in many arid and semi-arid regions. Until genetic solutions are found farmers and growers must either abandon salt-affected fields or use agronomic treatments that alleviate salt stress symptoms. Here, field experiments were carried out to study the effect of the osmoregulators proline at 200 mg L-1 and glycine betaine at 400 mg L-1 in counteracting the harmful effect of soil salinity stress on canola plants grown in Egypt. We assessed growth characteristics, yield and biochemical constituents. Results show first that all growth characters decreased with increasing salinity stress but applied osmoregulators alleviated these negative effects. Second, salinity stress decreased photosynthetic pigments, K and P contents, whilst increasing proline, soluble sugars, ascorbic acid, Na and Cl contents. Third, application of osmoregulators without salt stress increased photosynthetic pigments, proline, soluble sugars, N, K and P contents whilst decreasing Na and Cl contents. It is concluded that the exogenously applied osmoregulators glycine betaine and proline can fully or partially counteract the harmful effect of salinity stress on growth and yield of canola.© INRA and Springer-Verlag, France 2012

The Role of Important Non-Parental Adults (VIPs) in the Lives of Older Adolescents: A Comparison of Three Ethnic Groups

Previous research has consistently documented the importance of VIPs (mentors or important non-parental adults) in the lives of adolescents. Little is known, however, about whether VIPs play the same important roles across ethnic groups and whether VIPs remain influential when adolescents are older and involved in romantic relationships. The present study compared VIPs of 355 Hispanic, Asian, and European American older adolescents (age range = 17–19 years; M = 18.7 years; 62% female). Results indicated that, despite ethnic differences in their social capital, VIPs’ psychological characteristics (e.g., warmth and acceptance, depressive symptoms, and problem behavior) were similar. VIPs were perceived to have more positive psychological profiles than parents and peers, and in some cases, romantic partners. Moreover, with a few exceptions, the associations between VIP characteristics and adolescent adjustment (e.g., self-esteem, depressive symptoms, and problem behavior) were largely similar across ethnic groups. Finally, VIPs made unique contributions to adolescents’ self-esteem and problem behaviors even after the effects of romantic partners were considered. Implications of the findings are discussed

Large Structures and Galaxy Evolution in COSMOS at z < 1.1

We present the first identification of large-scale structures (LSS) at z $< 1.1$ in the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS). The structures are identified from adaptive smoothing of galaxy counts in the pseudo-3d space ($\alpha,\delta$,z) using the COSMOS photometric redshift catalog. The technique is tested on a simulation including galaxies distributed in model clusters and a field galaxy population -- recovering structures on all scales from 1 to 20\arcmin without {\it a priori} assumptions for the structure size or density profile. Our procedure makes {\bf no} {\it a priori} selection on galaxy spectral energy distribution (SED, for example the Red Sequence), enabling an unbiased investigation of environmental effects on galaxy evolution. The COSMOS photometric redshift catalog yields a sample of $1.5\times10^5$ galaxies with redshift accuracy, $\Delta z_{FWHM}/(1+z) \leq 0.1$ at z $< 1.1$ down to I$_{AB} \leq 25$ mag. Using this sample of galaxies, we identify 42 large-scale structures and clusters. abstract truncated for astroph 25 line limit -- see preprintComment: 72 pages with 29 pages of figures, for cosmos apj suppl special issu

Sex differences in the association between plasma copeptin and incident type 2 diabetes: the Prevention of Renal and Vascular Endstage Disease (PREVEND) study

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Vasopressin plays a role in osmoregulation, glucose homeostasis and inflammation. Therefore, plasma copeptin, the stable C-terminal portion of the precursor of vasopressin, has strong potential as a biomarker for the cardiometabolic syndrome and diabetes. Previous results were contradictory, which may be explained by differences between men and women in responsiveness of the vasopressin system. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of copeptin for prediction of future type 2 diabetes in men and women separately. METHODS: From the Prevention of Renal and Vascular Endstage Disease (PREVEND) study, 4,063 women and 3,909 men without diabetes at baseline were included. A total of 208 women and 288 men developed diabetes during a median follow-up of 7.7 years. RESULTS: In multivariable-adjusted models, we observed a stronger association of copeptin with risk of future diabetes in women (OR 1.49 [95% CI 1.24, 1.79]) than in men (OR 1.01 [95% CI 0.85, 1.19]) (p (interaction) < 0.01). The addition of copeptin to the Data from the Epidemiological Study on the Insulin Resistance Syndrome (DESIR) clinical model improved the discriminative value (C-statistic,+0.007, p = 0.02) and reclassification (integrated discrimination improvement [IDI] = 0.004, p < 0.01) in women. However, we observed no improvement in men. The additive value of copeptin in women was maintained when other independent predictors, such as glucose, high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and 24 h urinary albumin excretion (UAE), were included in the model. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: The association of plasma copeptin with the risk of developing diabetes was stronger in women than in men. Plasma copeptin alone, and along with existing biomarkers (glucose, hs-CRP and UAE), significantly improved the risk prediction for diabetes in women

Elevated expression of long intergenic non-coding RNA HOTAIR in a basal-like variant of MCF-7 breast cancer cells

Epigenetic regulation of gene expression is critical to phenotypic maintenance and transition of human breast cancer cells. HOX antisense intergenic RNA (HOTAIR) is a long intergenic non-coding RNA that epigenetically represses gene expression via recruitment of enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2), a histone methyltransferase. Elevated expression of HOTAIR promotes progression of breast cancer. In the current study we examined the expression and function of HOTAIR in MCF-7-TNR cells, a derivative of the luminal-like breast cancer cell line MCF-7 that acquired resistance to TNF-α-induced cell death. The expression of HOTAIR, markers of the luminal-like and basal-like subtypes, and growth were compared between MCF-7 and MCF-7-TNR cells. These variables were further assessed upon inhibition of HOTAIR, EZH2, p38 MAPK, and SRC kinase in MCF-7-TNR cells. When compared with MCF-7 cells, MCF-7-TNR cells exhibited an increase in the expression of HOTAIR, which correlated with characteristics of a luminal-like to basal-like transition as evidenced by dysregulated gene expression and accelerated growth. MCF-7-TNR cells exhibited reduced suppressive histone H3 lysine27 trimethylation on the HOTAIR promoter. Inhibition of HOTAIR and EZH2 attenuated the luminal-like to basal-like transition in terms of gene expression and growth in MCF-7-TNR cells. Inhibition of p38 and SRC diminished HOTAIR expression and the basal-like phenotype in MCF-7-TNR cells. HOTAIR was robustly expressed in the native basal-like breast cancer cells and inhibition of HOTAIR reduced the basal-like gene expression and growth. Our findings suggest HOTAIR-mediated regulation of gene expression and growth associated with the basal-like phenotype of breast cancer cells