Detection of somatic changes in human cancer DNA by DNA fingerprint analysis.

Minisatellite DNA probes which can detect a large number of autosomal loci dispersed throughout the human genome were used to examine the constitutional and tumour DNA of 35 patients with a variety of cancers of which eight were of gastrointestinal origin. Somatic changes were seen in the tumour DNA in ten of the 35 cases. The changes included alterations in the relative intensities of hybridising DNA fragments, and, in three cases of cancers of gastrointestinal origin, the appearance of novel minisatellite fragments not seen in the corresponding constitutional DNA. The results of this preliminary study suggests that DNA fingerprint analysis provides a useful technique for identifying somatic changes in cancers

Differential adherence and expression of virulence traits by Candida albicans and Candida parapsilosis in mono- and dual-species cultures in artificial saliva

AIMS: To evaluate specific virulence factors of Candida albicans and Candida parapsilosis clinical oral isolates in mono- and dual-species culture in the presence of artificial saliva. METHODS AND RESULTS: Two of the strains used in this study were isolated from co-infection (C. albicans AM and C. parapsilosis AM2), and the other two were isolated from single infection (C. albicans AC and C. parapsilosis AD). The number of adhered yeast cells was measured and their enzymatic activity was determined simultaneously. In mono-species culture, C. parapsilosis strains adhered to a higher extent to the surface in comparison with the C. albicans strains. In dual-species culture, the C. parapsilosis strains adhered more in the presence of C. albicans AM. Interestingly, C. albicans AM and C. parapsilosis AD adhered to a higher extent when compared with all other co-cultures. In dual-species culture, the enzymatic activity of C. parapsilosis strains in the presence of C. albicans AC was higher than in the presence of C. albicans AM. CONCLUSIONS: The virulence factors of C. albicans and C. parapsilosis differ from strain to strain and are influenced by the presence of other species in culture. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: To understand the expression of virulence factors in Candida dual-species systems.This work was supported by Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the grant SFRH/BPD/20987/2004 attributed to Claudia Botelho

Hepatitis C treatment strategies in prisons: a cost-effectiveness analysis

In Australian prisons approximately 20% of inmates are chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), providing an important population for targeted treatment and prevention. A dynamic mathematical model of HCV transmission was used to assess the impact of increasing direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatment uptake on HCV incidence and prevalence in the prisons in New South Wales, Australia, and to assess the cost-effectiveness of alternate treatment strategies. We developed four separate models reflecting different average prison lengths of stay (LOS) of 2, 6, 24, and 36 months. Each model considered four DAA treatment coverage scenarios of 10% (status-quo), 25%, 50%, and 90% over 2016–2045. For each model and scenario, we estimated the lifetime burden of disease, costs and changes in quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) in prison and in the community during 2016–2075. Costs and QALYs were discounted 3.5% annually and adjusted to 2015 Australian dollars. Compared to treating 10% of infected prisoners, increasing DAA coverage to 25%, 50%, and 90% reduced HCV incidence in prisons by 9–33% (2-months LOS), 26–65% (6-months LOS), 37–70% (24-months LOS), and 35–65% (36-months LOS). DAA treatment was highly cost-effective among all LOS models at conservative willingness-to-pay thresholds. DAA therapy became increasingly cost-effective with increasing coverage. Compared to 10% treatment coverage, the incremental cost per QALY ranged from $497-$569 (2-months LOS), -$280–$323 (6-months LOS), -$432–$426 (24-months LOS), and -$245–$477 (36-months LOS). Treating more than 25% of HCV-infected prisoners with DAA therapy is highly cost-effective. This study shows that treating HCV-infected prisoners is highly cost-effective and should be a government priority for the global HCV elimination effort.Jisoo A. Kwon, Georgina M. Chambers, Fabio Luciani, Lei Zhang, Shamin Kinathil, Dennis Kim ... et al

Identified baryon and meson distributions at large transverse momenta from Au+Au collisions at sNN=200\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}} = 200 GeV

Transverse momentum spectra of $\pi^{\pm}$, $p$ and $\bar{p}$ up to 12 GeV/c at mid-rapidity in centrality selected Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}} = 200$ GeV are presented. In central Au+Au collisions, both $\pi^{\pm}$ and $p(\bar{p})$ show significant suppression with respect to binary scaling at $p_T >$ 4 GeV/c. Protons and anti-protons are less suppressed than $\pi^{\pm}$, in the range 1.5 $< p_{T} <$6 GeV/c. The $\pi^-/\pi^+$ and $\bar{p}/p$ ratios show at most a weak $p_T$ dependence and no significant centrality dependence. The $p/\pi$ ratios in central Au+Au collisions approach the values in p+p and d+Au collisions at $p_T >$ 5 GeV/c. The results at high $p_T$ indicate that the partonic sources of $\pi^{\pm}$, $p$ and $\bar{p}$ have similar energy loss when traversing the nuclear medium.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Common genetic variants of fetal hemoglobin modify hematological phenotypes in MDS/MPN/Myeloma patients receiving cytotoxic drugs

Genetic studies identify common variants within the HBS1L-MYB intergenic region (HMIP), BCL11A, and Xmn1-HBG2 as associated with elevated fetal hemoglobin (HbF) levels and other clinically important human hematological traits. Recent studies suggest HbF is a predictor of outcome in MDS/AML patients receiving decitabine. We assessed effects of HbF genetic variants on hematological traits in myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN), myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and myeloma on HbF-inducing therapy to determine potential for variants predicting treatment response. Seven common HbF variants at HMIP, BCL11A, Xmn1-HGB2 loci were genotyped in 89 patients with MPN on Hydroxyurea (HU), myeloma on Lenalidomide, and MDS on Azacytidine. HbF genetic association was seen with rs9494142 (HMIP) in MPN on HU (p = 0.04) and rs1427407 (BCL11A) in myeloma on Lenalidomide (p = 0.002). HMIP variants rs9494142 and rs6920211 influenced baseline platelets (p = 0.04) and hemoglobin treatment response (p = 0.02). rs1427407 (BCL11A) was significantly associated with increased platelets (p = 0.04) negating thrombocytopenic tendency of Lenalidomide. These HbF variants showed significantly discordant minor allele frequencies in MDS/MPN/myeloma compared to wider European population data. This small study findings together suggest the implication of these variants in treatment response and disease biology in MDS/MPN/myeloma warranting larger prospective genotype-phenotype association studies

Longitudinal double-spin asymmetry and cross section for inclusive jet production in polarized proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 200 GeV

We report a measurement of the longitudinal double-spin asymmetry A_LL and the differential cross section for inclusive midrapidity jet production in polarized proton collisions at sqrt(s)=200 GeV. The cross section data cover transverse momenta 5 < pT < 50 GeV/c and agree with next-to-leading order perturbative QCD evaluations. The A_LL data cover 5 < pT < 17 GeV/c and disfavor at 98% C.L. maximal positive gluon polarization in the polarized nucleon.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. Minor changes from review process in Phys. Rev. Lett. Plain text tables of data in STAR publications may be found at http://www.star.bnl.gov/central/publications

Transverse-momentum dependent modification of dynamic texture in central Au+Au collisions at sqrt(S_NN)=200 GeV

Correlations in the hadron distributions produced in relativistic Au+Au collisions are studied in the discrete wavelet expansion method. The analysis is performed in the space of pseudorapidity (|eta| < 1) and azimuth (full 2 pi) in bins of transverse momentum (p_t) from 0.14 < p_t < 2.1 GeV/c. In peripheral Au+Au collisions a correlation structure ascribed to mini-jet fragmentation is observed. It evolves with collision centrality and p_t in a way not seen before which suggests strong dissipation of minijet fragmentation in the longitudinally-expanding medium.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure, accepted as Phys.Rev.C Rapid Communication. This version fixes journal style issue

Enhanced strange baryon production in Au+Au collisions compared to p+p at sqrts = 200 GeV

We report on the observed differences in production rates of strange and multi-strange baryons in Au+Au collisions at sqrts = 200 GeV compared to pp interactions at the same energy. The strange baryon yields in Au+Au collisions, then scaled down by the number of participating nucleons, are enhanced relative to those measured in pp reactions. The enhancement observed increases with the strangeness content of the baryon, and increases for all strange baryons with collision centrality. The enhancement is qualitatively similar to that observed at lower collision energy sqrts =17.3 GeV. The previous observations are for the bulk production, while at intermediate pT, 1 < pT< 4 GeV/c, the strange baryons even exceed binary scaling from pp yields.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures. Printed in PR

System-Size Independence of Directed Flow Measured at the BNL Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider

We measure directed flow (ν_1) for charged particles in Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions at √S_(NN)=200 and 62.4 GeV, as a function of pseudorapidity (η), transverse momentum (p_t), and collision centrality, based on data from the STAR experiment. We find that the directed flow depends on the incident energy but, contrary to all available model implementations, not on the size of the colliding system at a given centrality. We extend the validity of the limiting fragmentation concept to ν_1 in different collision systems, and investigate possible explanations for the observed sign change in ν_1(p_t)