Osteoblastoma of the rib with CT and MR imaging: a case report and literature review

Osteoblastoma is a rare bone tumor which is mostly found in the vertebral column and long bone. We describe a 59-year-old woman with osteoblastoma in the right fifth posterior segment of the rib, whose presenting symptoms were right back pain for two years and awakened at night. Chest computer tomography (CT) and thoracic spine magnetic resonance (MR) imaging findings included an expansile lesion of the right fifth rib and an ossified matrix. Surgical resection of the lesion confirmed a benign osteoblastoma. 12 months follow-up revealed disappearance of right back pain. Rib osteoblastoma in plain film has been described previously; however, to our knowledge this is the only case report emphasized in CT and MR imaging

Concomitant primary breast carcinoma and primary choroidal melanoma: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Choroidal melanoma and choroidal metastasis are distinct pathological entities with very different treatments and prognoses. They may be difficult to distinguish to the untrained observer.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A case of concomitant choroidal melanoma in a woman with primary breast carcinoma is described. The choroidal lesion was thought initially to be a metastasis, and treated with external beam radiotherapy. The tumour did not regress but remained stable in size for a period of three years. Following referral to an ophthalmologist, the diagnosis was revised after re-evaluation of the clinical, ultrasonographic and angiographic findings.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Although metastases are the most common ocular tumour, a differential diagnosis of a concurrent primary ocular malignancy should always be considered, even in patients with known malignant disease. Thorough ophthalmic evaluation is important, as multiple primary malignancies may occur concomitantly. The prognostic and therapeutic implications of accurate diagnosis by an ophthalmologist are of profound significance to affected patients and their families.</p

Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) extracts suppress the adhesion, migration and invasion of human breast cancer cell line

We examined the inhibitory effects of loquat methanol extract on the adhesion, migration, invasion and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activities of MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cell line. Cells were cultured with DMSO or with 10, 25, or 50 µg/ml of loquat methanol extract. Both leaf and seed extracts significantly inhibited growth of MDA-MB-231 cells in a dose-dependent manner, although leaf extract was more effective. Adhesion and migration were significantly inhibited by loquat extracts in a dose-dependent manner. Loquat extract also inhibited the invasion of breast cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner and leaf extract was more effective than seed extract. MMP-2 and MMP-9 activities were also inhibited by loquat extract. Our results indicate that methanol extracts of loquat inhibit the adhesion, migration and invasion of human breast cancer cells partially through the inhibition of MMP activity and leaf extract has more anti-metastatic effects in cell based assay than seed extract. Clinical application of loquat extract as a potent chemopreventive agent may be helpful in limiting breast cancer invasion and metastasis

Effect of Chlorella vulgaris intake on cadmium detoxification in rats fed cadmium

The aim of this study was to investigate if dietary Chlorella vulgaris (chlorella) intake would be effective on cadmium (Cd) detoxification in rats fed dietary Cd. Fourteen-week old male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats weighing 415.0 ± 1.6 g were randomly divided into two groups and fed slightly modified American Institute of Nutrition-93 Growing (AIN-93G) diet without (n=10) or with (n=40) dietary Cd (200 ppm) for 8 weeks. To confirm alteration by dietary Cd intake, twenty rats fed AIN-93G diet without (n=10) and with (n=10) dietary Cd were sacrificed and compared. Other thirty rats were randomly blocked into three groups and fed slightly modified AIN-93G diets replacing 0 (n=10), 5 (n=10) or 10% (n=10) chlorella of total kg diet for 4 weeks. Daily food intake, body weight change, body weight gain/calorie intake, organ weight (liver, spleen, and kidney), perirenal fat pad and epididymal fat pad weights were measured. To examine Cd detoxification, urinary Cd excretion and metallothonein (MT) concentrations in kidney and intestine were measured. Food intake, calorie intake, body weight change, body weight gain/calorie intake, organ weight and fat pad weights were decreased by dietary Cd intake. Urinary Cd excretion and MT concentrations in kidney and small intestine were increased by dietary Cd. After given Cd containing diet, food intake, calorie intake, body weight change, body weight gain/calorie intake, organ weights and fat pad weights were not influenced by dietary chlorella intake. Renal MT synthesis tended to be higher in a dose-dependent manner, but not significantly. And chlorella intake did not significantly facilitate renal and intestinal MT synthesis and urinary Cd excretion. These findings suggest that, after stopping cadmium supply, chlorella supplementation, regardless of its percentage, might not improve cadmium detoxification from the body in growing rats

Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks, 1990-2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015

SummaryBackground The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2015 provides an up-to-date synthesis of the evidence for risk factor exposure and the attributable burden of disease. By providing national and subnational assessments spanning the past 25 years, this study can inform debates on the importance of addressing risks in context. Methods We used the comparative risk assessment framework developed for previous iterations of the Global Burden of Disease Study to estimate attributable deaths, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), and trends in exposure by age group, sex, year, and geography for 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks from 1990 to 2015. This study included 388 risk-outcome pairs that met World Cancer Research Fund-defined criteria for convincing or probable evidence. We extracted relative risk and exposure estimates from randomised controlled trials, cohorts, pooled cohorts, household surveys, census data, satellite data, and other sources. We used statistical models to pool data, adjust for bias, and incorporate covariates. We developed a metric that allows comparisons of exposure across risk factors—the summary exposure value. Using the counterfactual scenario of theoretical minimum risk level, we estimated the portion of deaths and DALYs that could be attributed to a given risk. We decomposed trends in attributable burden into contributions from population growth, population age structure, risk exposure, and risk-deleted cause-specific DALY rates. We characterised risk exposure in relation to a Socio-demographic Index (SDI). Findings Between 1990 and 2015, global exposure to unsafe sanitation, household air pollution, childhood underweight, childhood stunting, and smoking each decreased by more than 25%. Global exposure for several occupational risks, high body-mass index (BMI), and drug use increased by more than 25% over the same period. All risks jointly evaluated in 2015 accounted for 57·8% (95% CI 56·6–58·8) of global deaths and 41·2% (39·8–42·8) of DALYs. In 2015, the ten largest contributors to global DALYs among Level 3 risks were high systolic blood pressure (211·8 million [192·7 million to 231·1 million] global DALYs), smoking (148·6 million [134·2 million to 163·1 million]), high fasting plasma glucose (143·1 million [125·1 million to 163·5 million]), high BMI (120·1 million [83·8 million to 158·4 million]), childhood undernutrition (113·3 million [103·9 million to 123·4 million]), ambient particulate matter (103·1 million [90·8 million to 115·1 million]), high total cholesterol (88·7 million [74·6 million to 105·7 million]), household air pollution (85·6 million [66·7 million to 106·1 million]), alcohol use (85·0 million [77·2 million to 93·0 million]), and diets high in sodium (83·0 million [49·3 million to 127·5 million]). From 1990 to 2015, attributable DALYs declined for micronutrient deficiencies, childhood undernutrition, unsafe sanitation and water, and household air pollution; reductions in risk-deleted DALY rates rather than reductions in exposure drove these declines. Rising exposure contributed to notable increases in attributable DALYs from high BMI, high fasting plasma glucose, occupational carcinogens, and drug use. Environmental risks and childhood undernutrition declined steadily with SDI; low physical activity, high BMI, and high fasting plasma glucose increased with SDI. In 119 countries, metabolic risks, such as high BMI and fasting plasma glucose, contributed the most attributable DALYs in 2015. Regionally, smoking still ranked among the leading five risk factors for attributable DALYs in 109 countries; childhood underweight and unsafe sex remained primary drivers of early death and disability in much of sub-Saharan Africa. Interpretation Declines in some key environmental risks have contributed to declines in critical infectious diseases. Some risks appear to be invariant to SDI. Increasing risks, including high BMI, high fasting plasma glucose, drug use, and some occupational exposures, contribute to rising burden from some conditions, but also provide opportunities for intervention. Some highly preventable risks, such as smoking, remain major causes of attributable DALYs, even as exposure is declining. Public policy makers need to pay attention to the risks that are increasingly major contributors to global burden. Funding Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

A general refutation of Okishio’s theorem and a proof of the falling rate of profit

This is the first published general refutation of the Okishio theorem. An earlier refutation based on a specific example was published by Kliman and McGlone in 1988. Okishio’s theorem, published in 1961, asserts that if real wages stay constant, the rate of profit necessarily rises in consequence of any cost-reducing technical change. It proves this within a simultaneous equation (general equlibrium) framework. This paper establishes that this proposition is false within a differential equation (temporal) approach. In such a framework the denominator of the rate of profit rises continuously, regardless of whether or not there is technical change, unless capitalist consumption exceeds profit, as occurs in a slump. Okishio himself asserts that his theorem is ‘contrary to Marx’s Gesetz des Tendentiellen Falls der Profitrate’ – contrary to Marx’s law of the tendency of the rate of profit to fall. This assertion is, within the literature, universally taken to be the substantive content of the ‘Okishio Theorem’. Thus, if Marx’s approach to value is in fact temporal, and not simultaneist, this assertion by Okishio is false, since it applies not to Marx’s own theory, but to the interpretation of that theory subsequently attributed to Marx by a specific school of thought represented principally by Bortkiewicz, Sweezy, Morishima, Seton, and Steedman. The subsequent accumulation of hermeneutic evidence strongly supports the thesis that Marx’s theory is temporalist and not simultaneist. Since the Okishio theorem makes the general assertion that the rate of profit must necessarily rise if there are cost-saving technical changes, and since Kliman and McGlone demonstrate a particular case in which cost-saving technical change leads to a fall in the profit rate, the Kliman-McGlone paper is the first published refutation of the Okishio theorem. The present paper is a generalisation of this refutation which establishes the precise conditions under which the profit rate rise or falls, and establishes the general result that the profit rate necessarily falls as a consequence of capitalist accumulation with a constant real wage, until and unless accumulation ceases in value terms. Consequently the mathematical findings set out in this paper, refute the Okishio Theorem

Marine Polysaccharides in Pharmaceutical Applications: An Overview

The enormous variety of polysaccharides that can be extracted from marine plants and animal organisms or produced by marine bacteria means that the field of marine polysaccharides is constantly evolving. Recent advances in biological techniques allow high levels of polysaccharides of interest to be produced in vitro. Biotechnology is a powerful tool to obtain polysaccharides from a variety of micro-organisms, by controlling the growth conditions in a bioreactor while tailoring the production of biologically active compounds. Following an overview of the current knowledge on marine polysaccharides, with special attention to potential pharmaceutical applications and to more recent progress on the discovering of new polysaccharides with biological appealing characteristics, this review will focus on possible strategies for chemical or physical modification aimed to tailor the final properties of interest

Kinetic regulation of multi-ligand binding proteins

Background: Second messengers, such as calcium, regulate the activity of multisite binding proteins in a concentration-dependent manner. For example, calcium binding has been shown to induce conformational transitions in the calcium-dependent protein calmodulin, under steady state conditions. However, intracellular concentrations of these second messengers are often subject to rapid change. The mechanisms underlying dynamic ligand-dependent regulation of multisite proteins require further elucidation. Results: In this study, a computational analysis of multisite protein kinetics in response to rapid changes in ligand concentrations is presented. Two major physiological scenarios are investigated: i) Ligand concentration is abundant and the ligand-multisite protein binding does not affect free ligand concentration, ii) Ligand concentration is of the same order of magnitude as the interacting multisite protein concentration and does not change. Therefore, buffering effects significantly influence the amounts of free ligands. For each of these scenarios the influence of the number of binding sites, the temporal effects on intermediate apo- and fully saturated conformations and the multisite regulatory effects on target proteins are investigated. Conclusions: The developed models allow for a novel and accurate interpretation of concentration and pressure jump-dependent kinetic experiments. The presented model makes predictions for the temporal distribution of multisite protein conformations in complex with variable numbers of ligands. Furthermore, it derives the characteristic time and the dynamics for the kinetic responses elicited by a ligand concentration change as a function of ligand concentration and the number of ligand binding sites. Effector proteins regulated by multisite ligand binding are shown to depend on ligand concentration in a highly nonlinear fashion