Results of special mechanical analyses of Luna 16 material

The studies carried out on the Luna 16 regolith have confirmed the data that were already published internationally. By means of activation analysis under irradiation in the reactor, activation analysis with a 14 MeV U-generator, and mass spectroscopy on samples of 10 or 20 mg, six main and 63 trace elements were quantitatively determined and compared with known data

Effect of pulsed electromagnetic fields on endoplasmic reticulum stress

The maintenance of protein homeostasis in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is crucial in cell life. Disruption of proteostasis results in ER stress that activates the unfolded protein response (UPR); a signalling network assigned to manage the accumulated misfolded or unfolded proteins. Prolonged or unresolved ER stress leads to apoptotic cell death that can be the basis of many serious diseases. Our aim was to study the effect of pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMF), an alternative, non-invasive therapeutic method on ER stressed cell lines. First, the effect of PEMF treatment on the expression of ER stress markers was tested in three different cell lines. PEMF had no remarkable effect on ER stress protein levels in human embryonic kidney (HEK293T) and human liver carcinoma (HepG2) cell lines. However, the expression of BiP, Grp94 and CHOP were increased in HeLa cells upon PEMF exposure. Therefore, HepG2 cell line was selected for further experiments. Cells were stressed by tunicamycin and exposed to PEMF. Grp94, PDI, CHOP and PARP expression as markers of stress were monitored by Western blot and cell viability was also investigated. Tunicamycin treatment, as expected, increased the expression of Grp94, PDI, CHOP and inactivated PARP. Analysis of protein expression showed that PEMF was able to decrease the elevated level of ER chaperons Grp94, PDI and the apoptosis marker CHOP. The truncated, inactive form of PARP was also decreased. Accordingly, cell viability was also improved by PEMF exposure. These results indicate that PEMF is able to moderate ER stress induced by tunicamycin in HepG2 cells. However, our results clearly draw attention to that different cell lines may vary in the response to PEMF treatment. © 2016, Polish Physiological Society. All rights reserved

What can we learn from geographical comparisons of childhood cancer survival?

With improvements in treatment for childhood cancer, comparisons of survival rates between countries have become important to inform future health policies and treatment strategies. Population-based cancer registry data are viewed as the gold standard for such comparisons, but even these have potential confounding factors. Here, we review the interpretation of recent geographical comparisons of childhood cancer survival from the viewpoint of the British Isles, a region with a 45-year record of national population-based cancer registration and a national childhood cancer clinical trials organisation in place for nearly 30 years. Using national data on referral patterns to tertiary paediatric oncology centres, we explore some of the reasons for lower survival rates in the past for some tumour groups and anticipate continued improvement in the next decade. Participation in international clinical trials coincided with rapid gains in survival for hepatoblastoma. This exemplifies the potential benefits of international collaborative clinical research, particularly for rare subgroups

Evolution and expression of core SWI/SNF genes in red algae

Red algae are the oldest identifiable multicellular eukaryotes, with a fossil record dating back more than a billion years. During that time two major rhodophyte lineages, bangiophytes and florideophytes, have evolved varied levels of morphological complexity. These two groups are distinguished, in part, by different patterns of multicellular development, with florideophytes exhibiting a far greater diversity of morphologies. Interestingly, during their long evolutionary history, there is no record of a rhodophyte achieving the kinds of cellular and tissue‐specific differentiation present in other multicellular algal lineages. To date, the genetic underpinnings of unique aspects of red algal development are largely unexplored; however, they must reflect the complements and patterns of expression of key regulatory genes. Here we report comparative evolutionary and gene expression analyses of core subunits of the SWI/SNF chromatin‐remodeling complex, which is implicated in cell differentiation and developmental regulation in more well studied multicellular groups. Our results suggest that a single, canonical SWI/SNF complex was present in the rhodophyte ancestor, with gene duplications and evolutionary diversification of SWI/SNF subunits accompanying the evolution of multicellularity in the common ancestor of bangiophytes and florideophytes. Differences in how SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling evolved subsequently, in particular gene losses and more rapid divergence of SWI3 and SNF5 in bangiophytes, could help to explain why they exhibit a more limited range of morphological complexity than their florideophyte cousins

Technical Note: Trend estimation from irregularly sampled, correlated data

Estimation of a trend of an atmospheric state variable is usually performed by fitting a linear regression line to a set of data of this variable sampled at different times. Often these data are irregularly sampled in space and time and clustered in a sense that error correlations among data points cause a similar error of data points sampled at similar times. Since this can affect the estimated trend, we suggest to take the full error covariance matrix of the data into account. Superimposed periodic variations can be jointly fitted in a straightforward manner, even if the shape of the periodic function is not known. Global data sets, particularly satellite data, can form the basis to estimate the error correlations. State-dependent amplitudes of superimposed periodic corrections result in a non-linear optimization problem which is solved iteratively

Incidence of childhood renal tumours: An international population-based study

Malignant renal tumours represent 5% of childhood cancers and include types with likely different aetiology: Wilms tumour (WT), rhabdoid renal tumour, kidney sarcomas and renal carcinomas. WT is the most common renal tumour in children, previously shown to vary internationally and with ethnicity. Using the comprehensive database of the International Incidence of Childhood Cancer study (IICC), we analysed global variations and time trends in incidence of renal tumour types in children (age 0‐14 years) and adolescents (age 15‐19 years). The results were presented by 14 world regions, and five ethnic groups in the United States. We included 15 320 renal tumours in children and 800 in adolescents reported to the 163 contributing registries during 2001‐2010. In children, age‐standardised incidence rate (ASR) of renal tumours was 8.3 per million (95% confidence interval, CI = 8.1, 8.4); it was the highest in North America and Europe (9‐10 per million) and the lowest in most Asian regions (4‐5 per million). In the United States, Blacks had the highest ASR (10.9 per million, 95% CI = 10.2, 11.6) and Asian and Pacific Islanders the lowest (4.4 per million, 95% CI = 3.6, 5.1). In adolescents, age‐specific incidence rate of renal tumours was 1.4 per million (95% CI = 1.3, 1.5). WT accounted for over 90% of all renal tumours in each age from 1 to 7 years and the proportion of renal carcinomas increased gradually with age. From 1996 to 2010, incidence remained mostly stable for WT (average annual percent change, AAPC = 0.1) and increased for renal carcinomas in children (AAPC = 3.7) and adolescents (AAPC = 3.2). Our findings warrant further monitoring

HomeScout: Anti-Stalking Mobile App for Bluetooth Low Energy Devices

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) personal trackers are affordable devices misused to track nonconsensual individuals. Due to the increased misuse, Apple implemented two detection applications. However, the Android application is limited to user-initiated scans with a fixed detection algorithm. This paper focuses on reducing the misuse of malicious trackers by examining current solutions, potential generic detection approaches, and improving tracker detection times. HomeScout expands detection to the Tile and Samsung Galaxy SmartTag+, and examines the misuse potential of all BLE-enabled devices. HomeScout can reliably detect devices tracking the user as quickly as 1 minute once in motion by optimizing the parameters. The optimal parameter setting for distance is 200 m due to its high recall rate, for occurrence is 2, and for time is 1 minute. Furthermore, HomeScout applies the tracking algorithm to all BLE-enabled devices