1H MR Spectroscopy in Gliomatosis: Is there a Sensitivity Issue?

Objective. 1H MR spectroscopy (MRS) is widely performed for assessment of brain tumours and is considered a highly sensitive technique capable of differentiating benign from malignant conditions and tumour grading. Method. We present a case of a 69 year old woman who was suspected to have gliomatosis on MRI. Results. MRS performed using single voxel and chemical shift/multivoxel techniques was within normal limits. A repeat scan 6 months later showed progressive disease, and biopsy was performed that proved the diagnosis of glioblastoma. Conclusion. Normal MRS in a patient with suspicion of gliomatosis on MRI should not reassure clinicians into assuming a benign aetiology or a good prognosis in short term

Urinary Tract Infection in Renal Allograft Recipents

Renal replacement therapy in the form of renal transplantation (RT) is the treatment of choice in these patients. Various factors influence the graft survival, infections being most common. Infections account for 16% of patient deaths and 7.7% of death censored graft failure in renal transplant patients. Urinary tract infection (UTI) is the most common infectious complication accounting for 45–72% of all infections. According to few studies UTI may have a negative impact over the long term survival of renal allograft. There are multiple factors that predispose these patients to UTI. Elderly age group, female gender, increased duration of catheterization and anatomical abnormalities of the urinary tract are most common predisposing factors. E. coli is the most frequently isolated organisms from the urine of these patients. We would proceed further with two cases which presented as UTI in post-transplant period. The first patient transplanted (living donor related) for diabetes induced end stage renal disease had developed UTI 4 years post-transplant. The other patient underwent deceased donor renal transplant for adult polycystic disease related chronic kidney disease, presented 2 years post-transplant with UTI

Pathology Associated with Hormones of Adrenal Cortex

Adrenal gland is an endocrine organ comprising of an outer cortex and inner medulla. These secrete various hormones that have a vital role in maintaining the normal homeostasis of the body. Lesions of adrenal cortex are quite common to encounter and most of these are related to the hormones secreted by three layers of adrenal cortex: the zona glomerulosa, the zona fasciculata, and the zona reticularis. Also it is very infrequent to encounter metastatic lesions in the adrenal glands too. So it is very important as a part of a clinician as well as a pathologist to know the pattern in which these hormones are secreted along with their physiological roles. Thus this chapter includes the disease that are related to excess as well as deficiencies of the hormones secreted by adrenal cortex. The chapter also includes various genetic syndromes that are associated with the disorders associated with hormones of adrenal cortex. The last part of the chapter includes a brief description of various benign as well as malignant lesions, the pathological as well as the etiological aspects and the hormonal abnormalities associated. This chapter thus mainly focuses on the pathology associated with the adrenal cortex and hormones secreted by the various layers of adrenal cortex

A Green Bank Telescope search for narrowband technosignatures between 1.1-1.9 GHz during 12 Kepler planetary transits

A growing avenue for determining the prevalence of life beyond Earth is to search for "technosignatures" from extraterrestrial intelligences/agents. Technosignatures require significant energy to be visible across interstellar space and thus intentional signals might be concentrated in frequency, in time, or in space, to be found in mutually obvious places. Therefore, it could be advantageous to search for technosignatures in parts of parameter space that are mutually-derivable to an observer on Earth and a distant transmitter. In this work, we used the L-band (1.1-1.9 GHz) receiver on the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) to perform the first technosignature search pre-synchronized with exoplanet transits, covering 12 Kepler systems. We used the Breakthrough Listen turboSETI pipeline to flag narrowband hits ($\sim$3 Hz) using a maximum drift rate of $\pm$614.4 Hz/s and a signal-to-noise threshold of 5 - the pipeline returned $\sim 3.4 \times 10^5$ apparently-localized features. Visual inspection by a team of citizen scientists ruled out 99.6% of them. Further analysis found 2 signals-of-interest that warrant follow-up, but no technosignatures. If the signals-of-interest are not re-detected in future work, it will imply that the 12 targets in the search are not producing transit-aligned signals from 1.1-1.9 GHz with transmitter powers $>$60 times that of the former Arecibo radar. This search debuts a range of innovative technosignature techniques: citizen science vetting of potential signals-of-interest, a sensitivity-aware search out to extremely high drift rates, a more flexible method of analyzing on-off cadences, and an extremely low signal-to-noise threshold.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figure

Searching for Giant Exoplanets around M-dwarf Stars (GEMS) I: Survey Motivation

Recent discoveries of transiting giant exoplanets around M-dwarf stars (GEMS), aided by the all-sky coverage of TESS, are starting to stretch theories of planet formation through the core-accretion scenario. Recent upper limits on their occurrence suggest that they decrease with lower stellar masses, with fewer GEMS around lower-mass stars compared to solar-type. In this paper, we discuss existing GEMS both through confirmed planets, as well as protoplanetary disk observations, and a combination of tests to reconcile these with theoretical predictions. We then introduce the \textit{Searching for GEMS} survey, where we utilize multi-dimensional nonparameteric statistics to simulate hypothetical survey scenarios to predict the required sample size of transiting GEMS with mass measurements to robustly compare their bulk-density with canonical hot-Jupiters orbiting FGK stars. Our Monte-Carlo simulations predict that a robust comparison requires about 40 transiting GEMS (compared to the existing sample of $\sim$ 15) with 5-$\sigma$ mass measurements. Furthermore, we discuss the limitations of existing occurrence estimates for GEMS, and provide a brief description of our planned systematic search to improve the occurrence rate estimates for GEMS.Comment: 16 pages + references, including 7 figures. Accepted in AAS Journal

The NEID spectrometer: fibre injection system design

NEID is a high resolution echelle spectrograph designed to enable extremely precise Doppler radial velocity observations of stars in the 380-930nm wavelength range1. It has recently been installed at the 3.5m WIYN telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, and is currently being commissioned. The design is based on a white pupil layout with a monolithic parabolic primary mirror and a 195mm pupil size on the R4 Echelle grating. Here we describe the optical and mechanical design, assembly, and alignment of the fiber injection system which converts the native focal ratio of the sky, calibration, and science fibers to the focal ratio required to form the 195mm collimated beam

Human Papillomavirus Type 18 E6 and E7 Genes Integrate into Human Hepatoma Derived Cell Line Hep G2

Background and Objectives: Human papillomaviruses have been linked causally to some human cancers such as cervical carcinoma, but there is very little research addressing the effect of HPV infection on human liver cells. We chose the human hepatoma derived cell line Hep G2 to investigate whether HPV gene integration took place in liver cells as well. Methods: We applied PCR to detect the possible integration of HPV genes in Hep G2 cells. We also investigated the expression of the integrated E6 and E7 genes by using RT-PCR and Western blotting. Then, we silenced E6 and E7 expression and checked the cell proliferation and apoptosis in Hep G2 cells. Furthermore, we analyzed the potential genes involved in cell cycle and apoptosis regulatory pathways. Finally, we used in situ hybridization to detect HPV 16/18 in hepatocellular carcinoma samples. Results: Hep G2 cell line contains integrated HPV 18 DNA, leading to the expression of the E6 and E7 oncogenic proteins. Knockdown of the E7 and E6 genes expression reduced cell proliferation, caused the cell cycle arrest at the S phase, and increased apoptosis. The human cell cycle and apoptosis real-time PCR arrays analysis demonstrated E6 and E7-mediated regulation of some genes such as Cyclin H, UBA1, E2F4, p53, p107, FASLG, NOL3 and CASP14. HPV16/18 was found in only 9% (9/100) of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. Conclusion: Our investigations showed that HPV 18 E6 and E7 genes can be integrated into the Hep G2, and we observed a low prevalence of HPV 16/18 in hepatocellular carcinoma samples. However, the precise risk of HPV as causative agent of hepatocellular carcinoma needs further study

Identification of a better Homo sapiens Class II HDAC inhibitor through binding energy calculations and descriptor analysis

Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are the most common on sexually transmitted viruses in the world. HPVs are responsible for a large spectrum of deseases, both benign and malignant. The certain types of HPV are involved in the development of cervical cancer. In attemps to find additional drugs in the treatment of cervical cancer, inhibitors of the histone deacetylases (HDAC) have received much attention due to their low cytotoxic profiles and the E6/E7 oncogene function of human papilomavirus can be completely by passed by HDAC inhibition. The histone deacetylase inhibitors can induce growth arrest, differentiation and apoptosis of cancer cells. HDAC class I and class II are considered the main targets for cancer. Therefore, the six HDACs class II was modeled and about two inhibitors (SAHA and TSA) were docked using AutoDock4.2, to each of the inhibitor in order to identify the pharmacological properties. Based on the results of docking, SAHA and TSA were able to bind with zinc ion in HDACs models as a drug target. SAHA was satisfied almost all the properties i.e., binding affinity, the Drug-Likeness value and Drug Score with 70% oral bioavailability and the carbonyl group of these compound fits well into the active site of the target where the zinc is present. Hence, SAHA could be developed as potential inhibitors of class II HDACs and valuable cervical cancer drug candidate

How does financial reporting quality relate to investment efficiency?

Prior evidence that higher-quality financial reporting improves capital investment efficiency leaves unaddressed whether it reduces over- or under-investment. This study provides evidence of both in documenting a conditional negative (positive) association between financial reporting quality and investment for firms operating in settings more prone to over-investment (under-investment). Firms with higher financial reporting quality also are found to deviate less from predicted investment levels and show less sensitivity to macro-economic conditions. These results suggest that one mechanism linking reporting quality and investment efficiency is a reduction of frictions such as moral hazard and adverse selection that hamper efficient investment