Aktivnost arginaze u ovarijskim strukturama krava švicarske smeđe pasmine i njezinih križanaca.

Arginase is the last enzyme of the urea cycle. It catalyses the hydrolysis of L-arginine to L-ornitine and urea. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of arginase activity in ovarian structures such as: Graaf follicles, GF (Medium and Large size, M- and L-size), Corpus Haemorrhagicum (CH), and various types of Corpus Luteum (CL) such as: cyclic CL (CCL), 2-4 month pregnancy CL (2-4 MCL) and 4-7 month pregnancy CL (4-7 MCL). Ovarian tissues of 62 cows (7-10 years old and Brown Swiss or its cross-breeds), collected from a local slaughterhouse, were used as material. The materials were divided into 6 experimental groups, as follows: MGF group (n = 7), LGF group (n = 21), CH group (n = 7), CCL group (n = 6), 2-4 MCL group (n = 9) and 4-7 MCL group (n = 12). Arginase activities were measured as 0.056 ± 0.017, 0.100 ± 0.016, 2.517 ± 0.521, 0.827 ± 0.190, 0.674 ± 0.106 and 0.833 ± 0.093 U/mg protein in all groups, respectively. Arginase activity in the CH group was significantly higher than that in the CCL, 2-4 MCL and 4-7 MCL groups (P<0.001). The lowest enzyme activity was in the MGF and LGF groups. Hence, it was concluded that the arginase enzyme might play a crucial role in cell division, proliferation and differentiation in the ovarian tissues (especially the CH) of mature cows.Arginaza je posljednji enzim u ciklusu ureje koji katalizira hidrolizu L-arginina u L-ornitin i ureju. Cilj istraživanja bio je utvrditi prisutnost aktivnosti arginaze u ovarijskim strukturama kao što su Graafovi folikuli, GF (srednje veliki - M i veliki - L), corpus haemorrhagicum (CH) i različiti tipovi corpus luteum (CL) kao što su ciklični (CCL), 2-4 mjeseca graviditetni (2-4 MCL) i 4-7 mjeseci graviditetni (4-7 MCL). Tkiva ovarija od 62 krave (švicarske smeđe pasmine i križanaca u dobi od 7 do 10 godina) prikupljena su u lokalnoj klaonici. Materijali su bili podijeljeni u 6 pokusnih skupina kako slijedi: MGF skupina (n = 7), LGF skupina (n = 21), CH skupina (n = 7), CCL skupina (n = 6), 2-4 MCL skupina (n = 9) i 4-7 MCL skupina (n = 12). Slijedom navedenih skupina, aktivnost arginaze bila je 0,056 ± 0,017, 0,100 ± 0,016, 2,517 ± 0,521, 0,827 ± 0,190, 0,674 ± 0,106 i 0,833 ± 0,093 U/mg. Aktivnost arginaze u CH skupini bila je signifikantno viša u odnosu na skupine CCL, 2-4 MCL i 4-7 MCL (P<0,001). Najniža aktivnost enzima bila je u skupinama MGF i LGF. Zaključeno je o mogućoj ključnoj ulozi aktivnosti enzima arginaze u diobi stanica, proliferaciji i diferencijaciji ovarijskih tkiva (osobito CH) kod odraslih krava

Is amygdala size correlated with stress?

Background: One of the important mechanisms that regulate the stress response of the body is hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis. One of the structures activating this axis is amygdala. We have seen people around who react calmer and cooler to very stressful situations. Are people with smaller amygdala really calmer? Or, can we say that the bigger the amygdala, which is the trigger of the body’s response to stress, the more a person panics? Aim of the study is to compare the saliva cortisol levels and amygdala volume.Materials and methods: Study conducted with 63 male students. Magnetic resonance images of students were taken before their final exam to calculate amygdala volumes. Saliva samples of all students were taken two times to detect cortisol levels in saliva. First one was 20 days before the final exam and second one was on the exam day. We assumed that the students were stressful on exam day.Results and Conclusions: No statistically significant correlation was found between saliva cortisol levels and amygdala volume in the study

Open Problems in (Hyper)Graph Decomposition

Large networks are useful in a wide range of applications. Sometimes problem instances are composed of billions of entities. Decomposing and analyzing these structures helps us gain new insights about our surroundings. Even if the final application concerns a different problem (such as traversal, finding paths, trees, and flows), decomposing large graphs is often an important subproblem for complexity reduction or parallelization. This report is a summary of discussions that happened at Dagstuhl seminar 23331 on "Recent Trends in Graph Decomposition" and presents currently open problems and future directions in the area of (hyper)graph decomposition

Iscador Qu inhibits doxorubicin-induced senescence of MCF7 cells

Chemotherapy in patients with inoperable or advanced breast cancer inevitably results in low-dose exposure of tumor-cell subset and senescence. Metabolically active senescent cells secrete multiple tumor promoting factors making their elimination a therapeutic priority. Viscum album is one of the most widely used alternative anti-cancer medicines facilitating chemotherapy tolerance of breast cancer patients. The aim of this study was to model and investigate how Viscum album extracts execute additive anti-tumor activity with low-dose Dox using ER + MCF7 breast cancer cells. We report that cotreatment of MCF7 with Viscum album and Dox abrogates G2/M cycle arrest replacing senescence with intrinsic apoptotic program. Mechanistically, this switch was associated with down-regulation of p21, p53/p73 as well as Erk1/2 and p38 activation. Our findings, therefore, identify a novel mechanistic axis of additive antitumor activity of Viscum album and low dose-Dox. In conclusion, ER + breast cancer patients may benefit from addition of Viscum album to low-dose Dox chemotherapy due to suppression of cancer cell senescence and induction of apoptosis

Persistent left superior vena cava: Review of the literature, clinical implications, and relevance of alterations in thoracic central venous anatomy as pertaining to the general principles of central venous access device placement and venography in cancer patients

Persistent left superior vena cava (PLSVC) represents the most common congenital venous anomaly of the thoracic systemic venous return, occurring in 0.3% to 0.5% of individuals in the general population, and in up to 12% of individuals with other documented congential heart abnormalities. In this regard, there is very little in the literature that specifically addresses the potential importance of the incidental finding of PLSVC to surgeons, interventional radiologists, and other physicians actively involved in central venous access device placement in cancer patients. In the current review, we have attempted to comprehensively evaluate the available literature regarding PLSVC. Additionally, we have discussed the clinical implications and relevance of such congenital aberrancies, as well as of treatment-induced or disease-induced alterations in the anatomy of the thoracic central venous system, as they pertain to the general principles of successful placement of central venous access devices in cancer patients. Specifically regarding PLSVC, it is critical to recognize its presence during attempted central venous access device placement and to fully characterize the pattern of cardiac venous return (i.e., to the right atrium or to the left atrium) in any patient suspected of PLSVC prior to initiation of use of their central venous access device

The IDENTIFY study: the investigation and detection of urological neoplasia in patients referred with suspected urinary tract cancer - a multicentre observational study

Objective To evaluate the contemporary prevalence of urinary tract cancer (bladder cancer, upper tract urothelial cancer [UTUC] and renal cancer) in patients referred to secondary care with haematuria, adjusted for established patient risk markers and geographical variation. Patients and Methods This was an international multicentre prospective observational study. We included patients aged ≥16 years, referred to secondary care with suspected urinary tract cancer. Patients with a known or previous urological malignancy were excluded. We estimated the prevalence of bladder cancer, UTUC, renal cancer and prostate cancer; stratified by age, type of haematuria, sex, and smoking. We used a multivariable mixed-effects logistic regression to adjust cancer prevalence for age, type of haematuria, sex, smoking, hospitals, and countries. Results Of the 11 059 patients assessed for eligibility, 10 896 were included from 110 hospitals across 26 countries. The overall adjusted cancer prevalence (n = 2257) was 28.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] 22.3–34.1), bladder cancer (n = 1951) 24.7% (95% CI 19.1–30.2), UTUC (n = 128) 1.14% (95% CI 0.77–1.52), renal cancer (n = 107) 1.05% (95% CI 0.80–1.29), and prostate cancer (n = 124) 1.75% (95% CI 1.32–2.18). The odds ratios for patient risk markers in the model for all cancers were: age 1.04 (95% CI 1.03–1.05; P < 0.001), visible haematuria 3.47 (95% CI 2.90–4.15; P < 0.001), male sex 1.30 (95% CI 1.14–1.50; P < 0.001), and smoking 2.70 (95% CI 2.30–3.18; P < 0.001). Conclusions A better understanding of cancer prevalence across an international population is required to inform clinical guidelines. We are the first to report urinary tract cancer prevalence across an international population in patients referred to secondary care, adjusted for patient risk markers and geographical variation. Bladder cancer was the most prevalent disease. Visible haematuria was the strongest predictor for urinary tract cancer