Circulating levels of monocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cells (M-MDSC) and CXCL-8 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)

BACKGROUND: Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) are categorized as granulocytic (G-MDSCs) and monocytic (M-MDSCs) and their expansion play a role in cancer progression. Recruitment to the cancer site depends upon the presence of a chemoattractant. We aimed to investigate the presence of MDSC subtypes and of interleukin-8 (CXCL-8) in the peripheral blood in lung cancer subtypes including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Peripheral blood samples of 26 NSCLC patients, 18 SCLC patients, and 8 healthy control donors (HDs) were harvested and the surface expression of CD14, CD15, CD11b, and HLA-DR on MDSCs was measured using flow cytometry. The level of serum CXCL8 was measured by the ELISA method. RESULTS: The frequency of circulating M-MDSCs was significantly higher in patients with NSCLC than in SCLC and HDs. In contrast, there was no statistical difference concerning the frequency of circulating G-MDSCs between the three groups. The concentration of CXCL-8 was significantly higher in the NSCLC and SCLC patients than in HD control with no significant difference between NSCLC and SCLC groups. There was no correlation between serum CXCL8 and G-MDSC levels. CONCLUSION: Our data confirm a higher frequency of circulating M-MDSCs, but not G-MDSCs, in the blood of those suffering from NSCLC but not for SCLC cases. Measuring MDSC subtypes and serum chemotactic factors may have implications for the differential diagnosis of NSCLC

The Gluonic Field of a Heavy Quark in Conformal Field Theories at Strong Coupling

We determine the gluonic field configuration sourced by a heavy quark undergoing arbitrary motion in N=4 super-Yang-Mills at strong coupling and large number of colors. More specifically, we compute the expectation value of the operator tr[F^2+...] in the presence of such a quark, by means of the AdS/CFT correspondence. Our results for this observable show that signals propagate without temporal broadening, just as was found for the expectation value of the energy density in recent work by Hatta et al. We attempt to shed some additional light on the origin of this feature, and propose a different interpretation for its physical significance. As an application of our general results, we examine when the quark undergoes oscillatory motion, uniform circular motion, and uniform acceleration. Via the AdS/CFT correspondence, all of our results are pertinent to any conformal field theory in 3+1 dimensions with a dual gravity formulation.Comment: 1+38 pages, 16 eps figures; v2: completed affiliation; v3: corrected typo, version to appear in JHE

Health-related motivational and behavioral processes associated with DNA methylation of the TNF gene

Objective: Epigenetics has been described as one of the most exciting areas of contemporary biology, and research has begun to explore whether epigenetic modifications are influenced by psychological processes. The present research explored the associations of health-related motivation and behavior with the DNA methylation of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) gene. Method: Participants (N = 88) completed questionnaires examining engagement with health-related behavior (i.e., physical activity, diet, and smoking) and health-related motivation from the perspective of self-determination theory. They also provided a capillary blood sample for DNA extraction and analysis of four CpG sites via bisulfite conversion within Exon 1 of TNF. Results: Health-related autonomous motivation was weakly but positively associated with TNF methylation (β = .18, ρ = .08). Indirect effects were identified in a subsequent step; autonomous motivation was positively associated with fruit consumption (β = .29, ρ = .004), negatively associated with smoking (β = .22, ρ = .03), but not associated with physical activity (β = .10, ρ = .34). Moreover, TNF methylation was positively associated with lifetime physical activity (β = .18, ρ = .08) and negatively associated with smoking (β = .23, ρ = .03). Direct effects of autonomous motivation on DNA methylation did not persist when these indirect effects were included (β = .09, ρ = .43). Conclusions: Results support the idea that autonomous motivation is associated with DNA methylation, albeit indirectly through tobacco consumption

Association between vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms and chronic periodontitis among Libyans

Background: Chronic periodontitis (CP) is a common oral disease characterized by inflammation in the supporting tissue of the teeth ‘the periodontium’, periodontal attachment loss, and alveolar bone loss. The disease has a microbial etiology; however, recent findings suggest that the genetic factors, such as vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms, have also been included.Aim: Investigation of the relationship between VDR gene polymorphisms and CP among Libyans.Materials and methods: In this study, we examined 196 unrelated Libyans between the ages of 25 and 65 years, including 99 patients and 97 controls. An oral examination based on Ramfjord Index was performed at different dental clinics in Tripoli and information were collected using a self-reported questionnaire. DNA was extracted from buccal swabs; the VDR ApaI, BsmI, and FokI polymorphisms were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction and were sequenced using Sanger Method.Results: A significant difference in the newly detected ApaI SNP C/T rs#731236 was found (p0.022), whereas no significant differences were found in ApaI SNP G/T rs#7975232, BsmI SNPA/G rs#1544410, and FokI SNP A/G rs#2228570 between patients and controls (p0.939, 0.466, 0.239), respectively.Conclusion: VDR ApaI SNP C/T rs#731236 may be related to the risk of CP in the Libyan population.Keywords: chronic periodontitis; vitamin D receptor; gene; polymorphisms; variations; SN

Conjugated Alpha-Alumina nanoparticle with vasoactive intestinal peptide as a Nano-drug in treatment of allergic asthma in mice

Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease characterized by airway inflammation, bronchoconstriction, airway hyperresponsiveness and recurring attacks of impaired breathing. Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) has been proposed as a novel anti-asthma drug due to its effects on airway smooth muscle relaxation, bronchodilation and vasodilation along with its immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties. In the current study, we investigated the therapeutic effects of VIP when conjugated with α-alumina nanoparticle (α-AN) to prevent enzymatic degradation of VIP in the respiratory tract. VIP was conjugated with α-AN. Balb/c mice were sensitized and challenges with ovalbumin (OVA) or PBS and were divided in four groups; VIP-treated, α-AN-treated, α-AN-VIP-treated and beclomethasone-treated as a positive control group. Specific and total IgE level, airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR), bronchial cytokine expression and lung histology were measured. α-AN-VIP significantly reduced the number of eosinophils (Eos), serum IgE level, Th2 cytokines and AHR. These effects of α-AN-VIP were more pronounced than that seen with beclomethasone or VIP alone (P<0.05). The current data indicate that α-AN-VIP can be considered as an effective nano-drug for the treatment of asthma

Early-Time Energy Loss in a Strongly-Coupled SYM Plasma

We carry out an analytic study of the early-time motion of a quark in a strongly-coupled maximally-supersymmetric Yang-Mills plasma, using the AdS/CFT correspondence. Our approach extracts the first thermal effects as a small perturbation of the known quark dynamics in vacuum, using a double expansion that is valid for early times and for (moderately) ultrarelativistic quark velocities. The quark is found to lose energy at a rate that differs significantly from the previously derived stationary/late-time result: it scales like T^4 instead of T^2, and is associated with a friction coefficient that is not independent of the quark momentum. Under conditions representative of the quark-gluon plasma as obtained at RHIC, the early energy loss rate is a few times smaller than its late-time counterpart. Our analysis additionally leads to thermally-corrected expressions for the intrinsic energy and momentum of the quark, in which the previously discovered limiting velocity of the quark is found to appear naturally.Comment: 39 pages, no figures. v2: Minor corrections and clarifications. References added. Version to be published in JHE

The Subleading Term of the Strong Coupling Expansion of the Heavy-Quark Potential in a N=4\mathcal N=4 Super Yang-Mills Plasma

Applying the AdS/CFT correspondence, the expansion of the heavy-quark potential of the ${\cal N}$ supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory at large $N_c$ is carried out to the sub-leading term in the large 't Hooft coupling at nonzero temperatures. The strong coupling corresponds to the semi-classical expansion of the string-sigma model, the gravity dual of the Wilson loop operator, with the sub-leading term expressed in terms of functional determinants of fluctuations. The contributions of these determinants are evaluated numerically.Comment: 17 pages in JHEP3, typos fixed, updated version to be published in JHE

Safety evaluation of substituted thiophenes used as flavoring ingredients.

This publication is the second in a series by the Expert Panel of the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association summarizing the conclusions of its third systematic re-evaluation of the safety of flavorings previously considered to be generally recognized as safe (GRAS) under conditions of intended use. Re-evaluation of GRAS status for flavorings is based on updated considerations of exposure, structural analogy, metabolism, pharmacokinetics and toxicology and includes a comprehensive review of the scientific information on the flavorings and structurally related substances. Of the 12 substituted thiophenes reviewed here, 11 were reaffirmed as GRAS based on their rapid absorption, metabolism and excretion in humans and animals; the low estimated dietary exposure from flavor use; the wide margins of safety between the conservative estimates of intake and the no-observed-adverse effect levels; and the lack of significant genotoxic and mutagenic potential. For one of the substituted thiophenes, 3-acetyl-2,5-dimethylthiophene, it was concluded that more detailed exposure information, comparative metabolism studies and comprehensive toxicity data, including an in-depth evaluation of the mechanism of action for any adverse effects observed, are required for continuation of its FEMA GRAS™ status. In the absence of these data, the compound was removed from the FEMA GRAS list

Height estimates for Killing graphs

The paper aims at proving global height estimates for Killing graphs defined over a complete manifold with nonempty boundary. To this end, we first point out how the geometric analysis on a Killing graph is naturally related to a weighted manifold structure, where the weight is defined in terms of the length of the Killing vector field. According to this viewpoint, we introduce some potential theory on weighted manifolds with boundary and we prove a weighted volume estimate for intrinsic balls on the Killing graph. Finally, using these tools, we provide the desired estimate for the weighted height in the assumption that the Killing graph has constant weighted mean curvature and the weighted geometry of the ambient space is suitably controlled.Comment: 26 pages. Final version. To appear on Journal of Geometric Analysi

Constant mean curvature surfaces in AdS_3

We construct constant mean curvature surfaces of the general finite-gap type in AdS_3. The special case with zero mean curvature gives minimal surfaces relevant for the study of Wilson loops and gluon scattering amplitudes in N=4 super Yang-Mills. We also analyze properties of the finite-gap solutions including asymptotic behavior and the degenerate (soliton) limit, and discuss possible solutions with null boundaries.Comment: 19 pages, v2: minor corrections, to appear in JHE