IN VITRO EVALUATION OF CYTOTOXICITY, OXIDATIVE STRESS, DNA DAMAGE AND INFLAMMATION INDUCED BY DIESEL EXHAUST PARTICLES IN HUMAN A549 LUNG CELLS AND MURINE RAW 264.7 MACROPHAGES

Objective: The aim of the present study was to examine the in vitro oxidative stress, cytotoxicity, inflammation and DNA damage induced by Diesel Exhaust Particles (DEPs). Methods: Alveolar macrophages (murine RAW 264.7 cells) and cultured type II epithelium cells (human A549 lung cells) were exposed to various concentrations of Diesel Exhaust Particles for 24 h. The experiment was evaluated for cell viability, oxidative stress, cytotoxicity, inflammation and DNA damage parameters. Results: The results showed that overall both cell lines had similar patterns in response to the oxidative stress, cytotoxicity, inflammation and DNA damage parameters induced by DEPs. Vehicle control showed no changes compared to the control. Both cells showed significant changes at the dose of 20 μg/mL and significant changes were found in cytotoxicity, oxidative stress, DNA damage and inflammation indexes. Conclusion: Hence, exposure to DEPs resulted in doseâ€dependent toxicity in cultured A549 cells and RAW264.7cells and was closely correlated to increased inflammation and oxidative stress

Assessment of the Linkages and Leakages in a Cloud-Based Computing Collaboration among Construction Stakeholders

The uniqueness of the construction industry can be understood in the large volumes of information in terms of paper works, processes, and communication disseminated daily. The voluminous information requires close coordination which cloud based systems offer. The aim of this research is to assess the linkages and leakages in a cloud-based computing collaboration among construction stakeholders. A purposive sampling technique was used in selecting the participants of the study. A questionnaire based instrument was distributed to eighty (80) construction stakeholder in Lagos State, Nigeria. The data collected was analyzed using SPSS v.21. Statistical tools such as frequencies, stacked bars, mean scores, factor analysis, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used in the study. The result of the study revealed that construction stakeholders rarely utilize cloud-based technologies for their construction processes. Construction professionals that access cloud based technologies, do so with their smart mobile phones, laptops, and tablet. The study classified the leakages that exist in the use of cloud-based technologies as securitybased factors, cloud-based infrastructure factors, and cloud-based benefits deficiency based factors. In conclusion, the study revealed that the linkages in the use of cloudbased technologies include knowledge sharing, remote access of back-office activities and engendering collaboration among construction stakeholders. It was recommended that construction stakeholders should leverage on the benefits cloud-based technologies has to offer in today’s competitive economy. Construction stakeholdersshould be adequately informed on the available cloud-based computing technologies and the additions it can bring into the construction process. Cloud computing technology vendors should improve on the security and privacy features of the platform for adequate protection of building data

Prediction of survival of HPV16-negative, p16-negative oral cavity cancer patients using a 13-gene signature: A multicenter study using FFPE samples

Objectives: To test the performance of an oral cancer prognostic 13-gene signature for the prediction of survival of patients diagnosed with HPV-negative and p16-negative oral cavity cancer. Materials and Methods: Diagnostic formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded oral cavity cancer tumor samples were obtained from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/University of Washington, University of Calgary, University of Michigan, University of Utah, and seven ARCAGE study centers coordinated by the International Agency of Research on Cancer. RNA from 638 Human Papillomavirus (HPV)-negative and p16-negative samples was analyzed for the 13 genes using a NanoString assay. Ridge-penalized Cox regressions were applied to samples randomly split into discovery and validation sets to build models and evaluate the performance of the 13-gene signature in predicting 2-year oral cavity cancer-specific survival overall and separately for patients with early and late stage disease. Results: Among AJCC stage I/II patients, including the 13-gene signature in the model resulted in substantial improvement in the prediction of 2-year oral cavity cancer-specific survival. For models containing age and sex with and without the 13-gene signature score, the areas under the Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve (AUC) and partial AUC were 0.700 vs. 0.537 (p < 0.001), and 0.046 vs. 0.018 (p < 0.001), respectively. Improvement in predicting prognosis for AJCC stage III/IV disease also was observed, but to a lesser extent. Conclusions: If confirmed using tumor samples from a larger number of early stage oral cavity cancer patients, the 13-gene signature may inform personalized treatment of early stage HPV-negative and p16-negative oral cavity cancer patients

Genome-wide association analyses identify new susceptibility loci for oral cavity and pharyngeal cancer

We conducted a genome-wide association study of oral cavity and pharyngeal cancer in 6,034 cases and 6,585 controls from Europe, North America and South America. We detected eight significantly associated loci (P < 5 x 10(-8)), seven of which are new for these cancer sites. Oral and pharyngeal cancers combined were associated with loci at 6p21.32 (rs3828805, HLA-DQB1), 10q26.13 (rs201982221, LHPP) and 11p15.4 (rs1453414, OR52N2-TRIM5). Oral cancer was associated with two new regions, 2p23.3 (rs6547741, GPN1) and 9q34.12 (rs928674, LAMC3), and with known cancer-related loci-9p21.3 (rs8181047, CDKN2B-AS1) and 5p15.33 (rs10462706, CLPTM1L). Oropharyngeal cancer associations were limited to the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region, and classical HLA allele imputation showed a protective association with the class II haplotype HLA-DRB1*1301-HLA-DQA1*0103-HLA-DQB1*0603 (odds ratio (OR) = 0.59, P = 2.7 x 10(-9)). Stratified analyses on a subgroup of oropharyngeal cases with information available on human papillomavirus (HPV) status indicated that this association was considerably stronger in HPV-positive (OR = 0.23, P = 1.6 x 10(-6)) than in HPV-negative (OR = 0.75, P = 0.16) cancers

Prevention of HIV-1 transmission through breastfeeding: efficacy and safety of maternal antiretroviral therapy versus infant nevirapine prophylaxis for duration of breastfeeding in HIV-1-infected women with high CD4 cell count (IMPAACT PROMISE): a randomized, open label, clinical trial.

CAPRISA, 2018.Abstract available in pdf