Early increases in plasminogen activator activity following partial hepatectomy in humans

Background Increases in urokinase-like plasminogen activator (uPA) activity are reported to be amongst the earliest events occurring in remnant liver following partial hepatectomy in rats, and have been proposed as a key component of the regenerative response. Remodelling of the extracellular matrix, conversion of single chain hepatocyte growth factor to the active two-chain form and a possible activation of a mitogenic signalling pathway have all been ascribed to the increased uPA activity. The present study aimed to determine whether similar early increases in uPA activity could be detected in the remnant liver following resection of metastatic tumours in surgical patients. Results Eighteen patients undergoing partial hepatectomy for the removal of hepatic metastases secondary to primary colonic tumours were studied. Increased plasminogen activator activity was found in the final liver samples for the group of patients in whom the resection size was at least 50%. For smaller resections, the increased activity was not observed. The increased activity did not correlate with the age of the patient or with the time between the start of resection and the end of the operation. There was, however, a negative correlation between plasminogen activator activity and the time for which blood supply to the liver was clamped. Conclusions Our findings are in accordance with those from experimental animal models and show, for the first time, that rapid increases in plasminogen activator activity can occur following similarly large liver resection in humans. Thus, increases in plasminogen activator activity are an early event in the remnant liver following major liver resection in man. Our observations provide support for the contention that increases in plasminogen activators play a key role in the initiation of hepatic regeneration in man

SHED: The Sustainable Hub for Education and Demonstration

Our lives we are routinely confronted with images of climate change, resource depletion, and environmental degradation. The Sustainable Hub for Education and Demonstration (SHED) reflects my personal commitment to action in confronting this seemingly overwhelming problem. The structure embodies the practice of green building and makes connections among education, resource conservation, service learning, and community action. As a demonstration of resource conservation, the SHED was designed to be recycled, reused, or repurposed at the end of its service life. The materials of the structure will reincarnated in another use cycle and no deposits will be made to a landfill. Educational and service learning goals of the SHED were achieved by the involvement of students from UW Tacoma and Clover Park Technical College. The participating students learned the advantages of green building and sustainable development while volunteering more than 1600 hours of time. Additionally, the SHED has made a contribution to community action for sustainable development by being the first structure in Tacoma to use industrial hemp as a building material. Earth Day, April 23, 2016, marked a day that brought together students, community members, and industry professionals to install the hemp-lime wall of the SHED in the UW Tacoma Giving Garden. The SHED is small, but has large and lasting implications. It will remain in place and serve as a venue for the education of sustainability issues for generations to come

Sustainable Hub for Education and Demonstration

In our lives we are routinely confronted with images of climate change, resource depletion, and environmental degradation. The Sustainable Hub for Education and Demonstration (SHED) reflects my personal commitment to action in confronting this seemingly overwhelming problem. The structure embodies the practice of green building and makes connections among education, resource conservation, service learning, and community action. As a demonstration of resource conservation, the SHED was designed to be recycled, reused, or repurposed at the end of its service life. The materials of the structure will be reincarnated in another use cycle and no deposits will be made to a landfill. Educational and service learning goals of the SHED were achieved by the involvement of students from UW Tacoma and Clover Park Technical College. The participating students learned the advantages of green building and sustainable development while volunteering more than 1600 hours of time. Additionally, the SHED has made a contribution to community action for sustainable development by being the first structure in Tacoma to use industrial hemp as a building material. Earth Day, April 23, 2016, marked a day that brought together students, community members, and industry professionals to install the hemp-lime wall of the SHED in the UW Tacoma Giving Garden. The SHED is small, but has large and lasting implications. It will remain in place and serve as a venue for sustainability education for generations to come

Factors contributing to the time taken to consult with symptoms of lung cancer: a cross-sectional study

<b>Objectives</b>: To determine what factors are associated with the time people take to consult with symptoms of lung cancer, with a focus on those from rural and socially deprived areas. <b>Methods</b>: A cross-sectional quantitative interview survey was performed of 360 patients with newly diagnosed primary lung cancer in three Scottish hospitals (two in Glasgow, one in NE Scotland). Supplementary data were obtained from medical case notes. The main outcome measures were the number of days from (1) the date participant defined first symptom until date of presentation to a medical practitioner; and (2) the date of earliest symptom from a symptom checklist (derived from clinical guidelines) until date of presentation to a medical practitioner. <b>Results</b>: 179 participants (50%) had symptoms for more than 14 weeks before presenting to a medical practitioner (median 99 days; interquartile range 31–381). 270 participants (75%) had unrecognised symptoms of lung cancer. There were no significant differences in time taken to consult with symptoms of lung cancer between rural and/or deprived participants compared with urban and/or affluent participants. Factors independently associated with increased time before consulting about symptoms were living alone, a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and longer pack years of smoking. Haemoptysis, new onset of shortness of breath, cough and loss of appetite were significantly associated with earlier consulting, as were a history of chest infection and renal failure. <b>Conclusion</b>: For many people with lung cancer, regardless of location and socioeconomic status, the time between symptom onset and consultation was long enough to plausibly affect prognosis. Long-term smokers, those with COPD and/or those living alone are at particular risk of taking longer to consult with symptoms of lung cancer and practitioners should be alert to this

Microparticles and Exercise in Clinical Populations

open access journalMicroparticles (MPs) are shed membrane vesicles released from a variety of cell types in response to cellular activation or apoptosis. They are elevated in a wide variety of disease states and have been previously measured to assess both disease activity and severity. However, recent research suggests that they also possess bioeffector functions, including but not limited to promoting coagulation and thrombosis, inducing endothelial dysfunction, increasing pro-inflammatory cytokine release and driving angiogenesis, thereby increasing cardiovascular risk. Current evidence suggests that exercise may reduce both the number and pathophysiological potential of circulating MPs, making them an attractive therapeutic target. However, the existing body of literature is largely comprised of in vitro or animal studies and thus drawing meaningful conclusions with regards to health and disease remains difficult. In this review, we highlight the role of microparticles in disease, comment on the use of exercise and dietary manipulation as a therapeutic strategy, and suggest future research directions that would serve to address some of the limitations present in the research to dat

Specific paucity of unmyelinated C-fibers in cutaneous peripheral nerves of the African naked-mole rat: comparative analysis using six species of bathyergidae

In mammalian peripheral nerves, unmyelinated C-fibers usually outnumber myelinated A-fibers. Using transmission electron microscopy we recently showed that the saphenous nerve of the naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber) has a C-fiber deficit manifested as a substantially lower C:A-fiber ratio compared to other mammals. Here we determined the uniqueness of this C-fiber deficit by performing a quantitative anatomical analysis of several peripheral nerves in five further members of the Bathyergidae mole-rat family: silvery (Heliophobius argenteocinereus), giant (Fukomys mechowii), Damaraland (Fukomys damarensis), Mashona (Fukomys darlingi) and Natal (Cryptomys hottentotus natalensis) mole-rats. In the largely cutaneous saphenous and sural nerves we found that the naked mole-rat had the lowest C:A-fiber ratio (~1.5:1 compared to ~3:1), whereas in nerves innervating both skin and muscle (common peroneal and tibial) or just muscle (lateral/medial gastrocnemius), this pattern was mostly absent. We asked whether lack of hair follicles alone accounts for the C-fiber paucity using a mouse model, which loses virtually all its hair as a consequence of conditional deletion of the beta-catenin gene in the skin. These beta-catenin loss-of function mice (beta-cat LOF mice) displayed only a mild decrease in C:A-fiber ratio compared to wild-type mice (4.42 compared to 3.81). We suggest that the selective cutaneous C-fiber deficit in the cutaneous nerves of naked mole-rats is unlikely to be primarily due to lack of skin hair follicles. Possible mechanisms contributing to this unique peripheral nerve anatomy are discussed

Soft-mode anisotropy in the negative thermal expansion material ReO3

We use a symmetry-motivated approach to analyse neutron pair distribution function data to investigate the character of the soft phonon modes in negative thermal expansion (NTE) material ReO3. This analysis shows that its local structure is dominated by an in-phase octahedral tilting mode and that the octahedral units are far less flexible to scissoring type deformations than in the related NTE compound ScF3. The lack of flexibility in ReO3 restricts the NTE-driving phonons to a smaller region of reciprocal space, limiting the magnitude and temperature range of NTE. These results support the idea that structural flexibility is an important factor in NTE materials. Surprisingly, our results show that the local fluctuations, even at elevated temperatures, respect the symmetry and order parameter direction of the initial pressure induced phase transition in ReO3. The result indicates that the dynamic motions associated with rigid unit modes are highly anisotropic in these systems

Iron phosphate glasses: Bulk properties and atomic scale structure

Bulk properties such as glass transition temperature, density and thermal expansion of iron phosphate glass compositions, with replacement of Cs by Ba, are investigated as a surrogate for the transmutation of 137Cs to 137Ba, relevant to the immobilisation of Cs in glass. These studies are required to establish the appropriate incorporation rate of 137Cs in iron phosphate glass. Density and glass transition temperature increases with the addition of BaO indicating the shrinkage and reticulation of the iron phosphate glass network. The average thermal expansion coefficient reduces from 19.8 × 10−6 K−1 to 13.4 × 10−6 K−1, when 25 wt. % of Cs2O was replaced by 25 wt. % of BaO in caesium loaded iron phosphate glass. In addition to the above bulk properties, the role of Ba as a network modifier in the structure of iron phosphate glass is examined using various spectroscopic techniques. The FeII content and average coordination number of iron in the glass network was estimated using Mössbauer spectroscopy. The FeII content in the un-doped iron phosphate glass and barium doped iron phosphate glasses was 20, 21 and 22 ± 1% respectively and the average Fe coordination varied from 5.3 ± 0.2 to 5.7 ± 0.2 with increasing Ba content. The atomic scale structure was further probed by Fe K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The average coordination number provided by extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy and X-ray absorption near edge structure was in good agreement with that given by the Mössbauer data