Circulating cell-free DNA assessment in biofluids from children with neuroblastoma demonstrates feasibility and potential for minimally invasive molecular diagnostics

Liquid biopsy strategies in pediatric patients are challenging due to low body weight. This study investigated cfDNA size distribution and concentration in blood, bone marrow, cerebrospinal fluid, and urine from 84 patients with neuroblastoma classified as low (n = 28), intermediate (n = 6), or high risk (n = 50) to provide key data for liquid biopsy biobanking strategies. The average volume of blood and bone marrow plasma provided ranged between 1 and 2 mL. Analysis of 637 DNA electropherograms obtained by Agilent TapeStation measurement revealed five different major profiles and characteristic DNA size distribution patterns for each of the biofluids. The proportion of samples containing primarily cfDNA was, at 85.5%, the highest for blood plasma. The median cfDNA concentration amounted to 6.28 ng/mL (blood plasma), 58.2 ng/mL (bone marrow plasma), 0.08 ng/mL (cerebrospinal fluid), and 0.49 ng/mL (urine) in samples. Meta-analysis of the dataset demonstrated that multiple cfDNA-based assays employing the same biofluid sample optimally require sampling volumes of 1 mL for blood and bone marrow plasma, 2 mL for cerebrospinal fluid, and as large as possible for urine samples. A favorable response to treatment was associated with a rapid decrease in blood-based cfDNA concentration in patients with high-risk neuroblastoma. Blood-based cfDNA concentration was not sufficient as a single parameter to indicate high-risk disease recurrence. We provide proof of concept that monitoring neuroblastoma-specific markers in very small blood volumes from infants is feasible

Diversity, abundance and size structure of pelagic sharks caught in tuna longline survey in the Indian seas

26-36<span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family: " times="" new="" roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"times="" roman";mso-bidi-font-family:="" "times="" roman";mso-ansi-language:en-us;mso-fareast-language:en-us;="" mso-bidi-language:ar-sa;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"="" lang="EN-US">Diversity and abundance of pelagic shark bycatch in the tuna longline operations in northern Indian Ocean were examined for the period 2004-2010.  During the survey 1.2 million hooks were deployed in three regions of seas around India resulting in the catch of 1501 numbers of sharks. Significant variations in the diversity and abundance of pelagic sharks were observed among the three regions of Indian seas. Catches of sharks are prominent in Andaman & Nicobar region contributing 35.15% of the catch by number and 51.46% by weight. In the eastern Arabian Sea, sharks constituted 15.49% and 14.89% of the total catch by number and weight respectively.   In western Bay of Bengal, this group contributed 7.74% (by number) and 9.33% (by weight) to the total catch. Alopias pelagicus, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Carcharhinus limbatus, Alopias superciliosus and Carcharhinus falciformis were the dominant species of pelagic sharks observed in the Indian seas. Time series analysis of hooking rates revealed drastic decline in the abundance of pelagic sharks in the Arabian Sea as well as Bay of Bengal. </span

On the elastic properties of mineralized turkey leg tendon tissue: multiscale model and experiment.

International audienceThe key parameters influencing the elastic properties of the mineralized turkey leg tendon (MTLT) were investigated. Two structurally different tissue types appearing in the MTLT were considered: circumferential and interstitial tissue. These differ in their amount of micropores and their average diameter of the mineralized collagen fibril bundles. A multiscale model representing the apparent elastic stiffness tensor of MTLT tissue was developed using the Mori-Tanaka and the self-consistent homogenization schemes. The volume fraction of mineral (hydroxyapatite) in the fibril bundle, TeX , and the tissue microporosity are the variables of the model. The MTLT model was analyzed performing a global sensitivity analysis (Elementary Effects method) and a parametric study. The stiffnesses parallel (axial) and perpendicular (transverse) to the MTLT long axis were the only significantly sensitive components of the apparent stiffness tensor of MTLT tissue. The most important parameters influencing these apparent stiffnesses are TeX , tissue microporosity, as well as shape and distribution of the minerals in the fibril bundle (intra- vs. interfibrillar). The predicted apparent stiffness was converted to acoustic impedance for model validation. From measurements on embedded MTLT samples, including 50- and 200-MHz scanning acoustic microscopy as well as synchrotron radiation micro-computed tomography, we obtained site-matched acoustic impedance and TeX data of circumferential and interstitial tissue. The experimental and the model data compare very well for both tissue types (relative error 6-8 %)