Spontaneous Goiter and Cancer of the Thyroid in Animals

Author Institution: Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus 1

Second primary malignancies in thyroid cancer patients

The late health effects associated with radioiodine ((131)I) given as treatment for thyroid cancer are difficult to assess since the number of thyroid cancer patients treated at each centre is limited. The risk of second primary malignancies (SPMs) was evaluated in a European cohort of thyroid cancer patients. A common database was obtained by pooling the 2-year survivors of the three major Swedish, Italian, and French cohorts of papillary and follicular thyroid cancer patients. A time-dependent analysis using external comparison was performed. The study concerned 6841 thyroid cancer patients, diagnosed during the period 1934-1995, at a mean age of 44 years. In all, 17% were treated with external radiotherapy and 62% received (131)I. In total, 576 patients were diagnosed with a SPM. Compared to the general population of each of the three countries, an overall significantly increased risk of SPM of 27% (95% CI: 15-40) was seen in the European cohort. An increased risk of both solid tumours and leukaemias was found with increasing cumulative activity of (131)I administered, with an excess absolute risk of 14.4 solid cancers and of 0.8 leukaemias per GBq of (131)I and 10(5) person-years of follow-up. A relationship was found between (131)I administration and occurrence of bone and soft tissue, colorectal, and salivary gland cancers. These results strongly highlight the necessity to delineate the indications of (131)I treatment in thyroid cancer patients in order to restrict its use to patients in whom clinical benefits are expected

The effects of concentration and salinity on polymer adsorption isotherm at sandstone rock surface

Adsorption of hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) polymers on sandstone rock surface was studied by static adsorption experiments. Total of 10 Runs of static experiments were conducted in test tubes by mixing the desired solution with crushed rock sample, at temperature of 25 °C, and salinity range from 0-4 wt%. The results are in conformity with Langmuir's isotherm. Ten different isotherms were generated at each Run. The initial polymer concentration was varied from 0.3-2.1 g/l. The effects of salinity have been studied by observation on Langmuir adsorption coefficients (Y and K). The results show that the adsorption coefficient (Y) was found to have linear relationship with salinity. The adsorption coefficient (K) was found to be related to salinity by a quadratic relationship

Anti‐cN‐1A autoantibodies are absent in juvenile dermatomyositis

Objectives: To assess anti‐cytosolic 5′‐nucleotidase 1A (cN‐1A/NTC51A) autoantibodies in children with juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) and healthy controls, using three different methods of antibody detection, as well as verification of the results in an independent cohort. / Methods: Anti‐cN‐1A reactivity was assessed in 34 Dutch JDM patients and 20 healthy juvenile controls by a commercially available full‐length cN‐1A ELISA, a synthetic peptide ELISA and by immunoblotting using a lysate from cN‐1A expressing HEK‐293 cells. Sera from JDM patients with active disease and in remission were analysed. An independent British cohort of 110 JDM patients and 43 healthy juvenile controls was assessed by an in‐house full‐length cN‐1A ELISA. / Results: Anti‐cN‐1A reactivity was not present in JDM patients’ sera or in healthy controls when tested with the commercially available full‐length cN‐1A ELISA or by immunoblotting, both in active disease and in remission. Also, in the British JDM cohort anti‐cN‐1A reactivity was not detected. Three Dutch JDM patients tested weakly positive for one of the three synthetic cN‐1A peptides measured by ELISA. / Conclusion: JDM patients and young healthy individuals do not show anti‐cN‐1A reactivity as assessed by different antibody detection techniques

Recovery of NIS expression in thyroid cancer cells by overexpression of Pax8 gene

BACKGROUND: Recovery of iodide uptake in thyroid cancer cells by means of obtaining the functional expression of the sodium/iodide symporter (NIS) represents an innovative strategy for the treatment of poorly differentiated thyroid cancer. However, the NIS gene expression alone is not always sufficient to restore radioiodine concentration ability in these tumour cells. METHODS: In this study, the anaplastic thyroid carcinoma ARO cells were stably transfected with a Pax8 gene expression vector. A quantitative RT-PCR was performed to assess the thyroid specific gene expression in selected clones. The presence of NIS protein was detected by Western blot and localized by immunofluorescence. A iodide uptake assay was also performed to verify the functional effect of NIS induction and differentiation switch. RESULTS: The clones overexpressing Pax8 showed the re-activation of several thyroid specific genes including NIS, Pendrin, Thyroglobulin, TPO and TTF1. In ARO-Pax8 clones NIS protein was also localized both in cell cytoplasm and membrane. Thus, the ability to uptake the radioiodine was partially restored, associated to a high rate of efflux. In addition, ARO cells expressing Pax8 presented a lower rate of cell growth. CONCLUSION: These finding demonstrate that induction of Pax8 expression may determine a re-differentiation of thyroid cancer cells, including a partial recovery of iodide uptake, fundamental requisite for a radioiodine-based therapeutic approach for thyroid tumours

Scaling of Transport Coefficients of Porous Media under Compaction

Porous sediments in geological systems are exposed to stress by the above-laying mass and consequent compaction, which may be significantly nonuniform across the massif. We derive scaling laws for the compaction of sediments of similar geological origin. With these laws, we evaluate the dependence of the transport properties of a fluid-saturated porous medium (permeability, effective molecular diffusivity, hydrodynamic dispersion, electrical and thermal conductivities) on its porosity. In particular, we demonstrate that the assumption of a uniform geothermal gradient is not adequate for systems with nonuniform compaction and show the importance of the derived scaling laws for mathematical modelling of methane hydrate deposits; these deposits are believed to have potential for impact on global climate change and Glacial-Interglacial cycles.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

Enhanced CellClassifier: a multi-class classification tool for microscopy images

BACKGROUND: Light microscopy is of central importance in cell biology. The recent introduction of automated high content screening has expanded this technology towards automation of experiments and performing large scale perturbation assays. Nevertheless, evaluation of microscopy data continues to be a bottleneck in many projects. Currently, among open source software, CellProfiler and its extension Analyst are widely used in automated image processing. Even though revolutionizing image analysis in current biology, some routine and many advanced tasks are either not supported or require programming skills of the researcher. This represents a significant obstacle in many biology laboratories. RESULTS: We have developed a tool, Enhanced CellClassifier, which circumvents this obstacle. Enhanced CellClassifier starts from images analyzed by CellProfiler, and allows multi-class classification using a Support Vector Machine algorithm. Training of objects can be done by clicking directly "on the microscopy image" in several intuitive training modes. Many routine tasks like out-of focus exclusion and well summary are also supported. Classification results can be integrated with other object measurements including inter-object relationships. This makes a detailed interpretation of the image possible, allowing the differentiation of many complex phenotypes. For the generation of the output, image, well and plate data are dynamically extracted and summarized. The output can be generated as graphs, Excel-files, images with projections of the final analysis and exported as variables. CONCLUSION: Here we describe Enhanced CellClassifier which allows multiple class classification, elucidating complex phenotypes. Our tool is designed for the biologist who wants both, simple and flexible analysis of images without requiring programming skills. This should facilitate the implementation of automated high-content screening