Loss of Ep-CAM (CO17-1A) expression predicts survival in patients with gastric cancer

Preoperative staging of gastric cancer is difficult and not optimal. The TNM stage is an important prognostic factor, but it can only be assessed reliably after surgery. Therefore, there is need for additional, reliable prognostic factors that can be determined preoperatively in order to select patients who might benefit from (neo) adjuvant treatment. Expression of immunohistochemical markers was demonstrated to be associated with tumour progression and metastasis. The expression of p53, CD44 (splice variants v5, v6 and v9), E-cadherin, Ep-CAM (CO17-1A antigen) and c-erB2/neu were investigated in tumour tissues of 300 patients from the Dutch Gastric Cancer Trial, investigating the value of extended lymphadenectomy compared to that of limited lymphadenectomy). The expression of tumour markers was analysed with respect to patient survival. Patients without loss of Ep-CAM-expression of tumour cells (19%) had a significantly better 10-year survival (P<0.0001) compared to patients with any loss: 42% (s.e.=7%) vs 22% (s.e.=3%). Patients with CD44v6 (VFF18) expression in more than 25% of the tumour cells (69% of the patients) also had a significantly better survival (P=0.01) compared to patients with expression in less than 25% of the tumour cells: 10 year survival rate of 29% (s.e.=3%) vs 19% (s.e.=4%). The prognostic value of both markers was stronger in stages I and II, and independent of the TNM stage. Ep-CAM and CD44v6-expression provides prognostic information additional to the TNM stage. Loss of Ep-CAM-expression identifies aggressive tumours especially in patients with stage I and II disease. This information may be helpful in selecting patients suitable for surgery or for additional treatment pre- or postoperatively

Academic Performance and Behavioral Patterns

Identifying the factors that influence academic performance is an essential part of educational research. Previous studies have documented the importance of personality traits, class attendance, and social network structure. Because most of these analyses were based on a single behavioral aspect and/or small sample sizes, there is currently no quantification of the interplay of these factors. Here, we study the academic performance among a cohort of 538 undergraduate students forming a single, densely connected social network. Our work is based on data collected using smartphones, which the students used as their primary phones for two years. The availability of multi-channel data from a single population allows us to directly compare the explanatory power of individual and social characteristics. We find that the most informative indicators of performance are based on social ties and that network indicators result in better model performance than individual characteristics (including both personality and class attendance). We confirm earlier findings that class attendance is the most important predictor among individual characteristics. Finally, our results suggest the presence of strong homophily and/or peer effects among university students

The role of the right temporoparietal junction in perceptual conflict: detection or resolution?

The right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) is a polysensory cortical area that plays a key role in perception and awareness. Neuroimaging evidence shows activation of rTPJ in intersensory and sensorimotor conflict situations, but it remains unclear whether this activity reflects detection or resolution of such conflicts. To address this question, we manipulated the relationship between touch and vision using the so-called mirror-box illusion. Participants' hands lay on either side of a mirror, which occluded their left hand and reflected their right hand, but created the illusion that they were looking directly at their left hand. The experimenter simultaneously touched either the middle (D3) or the ring finger (D4) of each hand. Participants judged, which finger was touched on their occluded left hand. The visual stimulus corresponding to the touch on the right hand was therefore either congruent (same finger as touch) or incongruent (different finger from touch) with the task-relevant touch on the left hand. Single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was delivered to the rTPJ immediately after touch. Accuracy in localizing the left touch was worse for D4 than for D3, particularly when visual stimulation was incongruent. However, following TMS, accuracy improved selectively for D4 in incongruent trials, suggesting that the effects of the conflicting visual information were reduced. These findings suggest a role of rTPJ in detecting, rather than resolving, intersensory conflict

Differential cross sections and spin density matrix elements for the reaction gamma p -> p omega

High-statistics differential cross sections and spin density matrix elements for the reaction gamma p -> p omega have been measured using the CLAS at Jefferson Lab for center-of-mass (CM) energies from threshold up to 2.84 GeV. Results are reported in 112 10-MeV wide CM energy bins, each subdivided into cos(theta_CM) bins of width 0.1. These are the most precise and extensive omega photoproduction measurements to date. A number of prominent structures are clearly present in the data. Many of these have not previously been observed due to limited statistics in earlier measurements

CD133+ adult human retinal cells remain undifferentiated in Leukaemia Inhibitory Factor (LIF)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>CD133 is a cell surface marker of haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. Leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF), sustains proliferation and not differentiation of embryonic stem cells. We used CD133 to purify adult human retinal cells and aimed to determine what effect LIF had on these cultures and whether they still had the ability to generate neurospheres.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Retinal cell suspensions were derived from adult human post-mortem tissue with ethical approval. With magnetic automated cell sorting (MACS) CD133⁺retinal cells were enriched from post mortem adult human retina. CD133⁺retinal cell phenotype was analysed by flow cytometry and cultured cells were observed for proliferative capacity, neuropshere generation and differentiation with or without LIF supplementation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We demonstrated purification (to 95%) of CD133⁺cells from adult human postmortem retina. Proliferating cells were identified through BrdU incorporation and expression of the proliferation markers Ki67 and Cyclin D1. CD133⁺retinal cells differentiated whilst forming neurospheres containing appropriate lineage markers including glia, neurons and photoreceptors. LIF maintained CD133⁺retinal cells in a proliferative and relatively undifferentiated state (Ki67, Cyclin D1 expression) without significant neurosphere generation. Differentiation whilst forming neurospheres was re-established on LIF withdrawal.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These data support the evidence that CD133 expression characterises a population of cells within the resident adult human retina which have progenitor cell properties and that their turnover and differentiation is influenced by LIF. This may explain differences in retinal responses observed following disease or injury.</p

Cryptic Speciation in Brazilian Epiperipatus (Onychophora: Peripatidae) Reveals an Underestimated Diversity among the Peripatid Velvet Worms

Taxonomical studies of the neotropical Peripatidae (Onychophora, velvet worms) have proven difficult, due to intraspecific variation and uniformity of morphological characters across this onychophoran subgroup. We therefore used molecular approaches, in addition to morphological methods, to explore the diversity of Epiperipatus from the Minas Gerais State of Brazil.Our analyses revealed three new species. While Epiperipatus diadenoproctussp. nov. can be distinguished from E. adenocryptussp. nov. and E. paurognostussp. nov. based on morphology and specific nucleotide positions in the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and small ribosomal subunit RNA gene sequences (12S rRNA), anatomical differences between the two latter species are not evident. However, our phylogenetic analyses of molecular data suggest that they are cryptic species, with high Bayesian posterior probabilities and bootstrap and Bremer support values for each species clade. The sister group relationship of E. adenocryptussp. nov. and E. paurognostussp. nov. in our analyses correlates with the remarkable morphological similarity of these two species. To assess the species status of the new species, we performed a statistical parsimony network analysis based on 582 base pairs of the COI gene in our specimens, with the connection probability set to 95%. Our findings revealed no connections between groups of haplotypes, which have been recognized as allopatric lineages in our phylogenetic analyses, thus supporting our suggestion that they are separate species.Our findings suggest high cryptic species diversity and endemism among the neotropical Peripatidae and demonstrate that the combination of morphological and molecular approaches is helpful for clarifying the taxonomy and species diversity of this apparently large and diverse onychophoran group

Effect of thermal treatment on the growth, structure and luminescence of nitride-passivated silicon nanoclusters

Silicon nanoclusters (Si-ncs) embedded in silicon nitride films have been studied to determine the effects that deposition and processing parameters have on their growth, luminescent properties, and electronic structure. Luminescence was observed from Si-ncs formed in silicon-rich silicon nitride films with a broad range of compositions and grown using three different types of chemical vapour deposition systems. Photoluminescence (PL) experiments revealed broad, tunable emissions with peaks ranging from the near-infrared across the full visible spectrum. The emission energy was highly dependent on the film composition and changed only slightly with annealing temperature and time, which primarily affected the emission intensity. The PL spectra from films annealed for duration of times ranging from 2 s to 2 h at 600 and 800°C indicated a fast initial formation and growth of nanoclusters in the first few seconds of annealing followed by a slow, but steady growth as annealing time was further increased. X-ray absorption near edge structure at the Si K- and L3,2-edges exhibited composition-dependent phase separation and structural re-ordering of the Si-ncs and silicon nitride host matrix under different post-deposition annealing conditions and generally supported the trends observed in the PL spectra

Securing the Anthropocene? International Policy Experiments in Digital Hacktivism: A Case Study of Jakarta

This article analyses security discourses that are beginning to self-consciously take on board the shift towards the Anthropocene. Firstly, it sets out the developing episteme of the Anthropocene, highlighting the limits of instrumentalist cause-and-effect approaches to security, increasingly becoming displaced by discursive framings of securing as a process, generated through new forms of mediation and agency, capable of grasping inter-relations in a fluid context. This approach is the methodology of hacking: creatively composing and repurposing already existing forms of agency. It elaborates on hacking as a set of experimental practices and imaginaries of securing the Anthropocene, using as a case study the field of digital policy activism with the focus on community empowerment through social-technical assemblages being developed and applied in ‘the City of the Anthropocene’: Jakarta, Indonesia. The article concludes that policy interventions today cannot readily be grasped in modernist frameworks of ‘problem solving’ but should be seen more in terms of evolving and adaptive ‘life hacks’

Variations in strain affect friction and microstructure evolution in copper under a reciprocating tribological load

The microstructure of the materials constituting a metallic frictional contact strongly influences tribological performance. Being able to tailor friction and wear is challenging due to the complex microstructure evolution associated with tribological loading. Here, we investigate the effect of the strain distribution on these processes. High-purity copper plates were morphologically surface textured with two parallel rectangles—referred to as membranes—over the entire sample length by micro-milling. By keeping the width of these membranes constant and only varying their height, reciprocating tribological loading against sapphire discs resulted in different elastic and plastic strains. Finite element simulations were carried out to evaluate the strain distribution in the membranes. It was found that the maximum elastic strain increases with decreasing membrane stiffness. The coefficient of friction decreases with increasing membrane aspect ratio. By analyzing the microstructure and local crystallographic orientation, we found that both show less change with decreasing membrane stiffness

The Lid Domain of Caenorhabditis elegans Hsc70 Influences ATP Turnover, Cofactor Binding and Protein Folding Activity

Hsc70 is a conserved ATP-dependent molecular chaperone, which utilizes the energy of ATP hydrolysis to alter the folding state of its client proteins. In contrast to the Hsc70 systems of bacteria, yeast and humans, the Hsc70 system of C. elegans (CeHsc70) has not been studied to date