Role of senescence marker p16INK4a measured in peripheral blood T-lymphocytes in predicting length of hospital stay after coronary artery bypass surgery in older adults

Adults older than 65 years undergo more than 120,000 coronary artery bypass (CAB) procedures each year in the United States. Chronological age alone, though commonly used in prediction models of outcomes after CAB, does not alone reflect variability in aging process; thus, the risk of complications in older adults. We performed a prospective study to evaluate a relationship between senescence marker p16INK4a expression in peripheral blood T-lymphocytes (p16 levels in PBTLs) with aging and with perioperative outcomes in older CAB patients. We included 55 patients age 55 and older, who underwent CAB in Johns Hopkins Hospital between September 1st, 2010 and March 25th, 2013. Demographic, clinical and laboratory data following outline of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons data collection form was collected, and p16 mRNA levels in PBTLs were measured using Taqman® qRT-PCR. Associations between p16 mRNA levels in PBTLs with length of hospital stay, frailty status, p16 protein levels in the aortic and left internal mammary artery tissue, cerebral oxygen saturation, and augmentation index as a measure of vascular stiffness were measured using regression analyses. Length of hospital stay was the primary outcome of interest, and major organ morbidity, mortality, and discharge to a skilled nursing facility were secondary outcomes. In secondary analysis, we evaluated associations between p16 mRNA levels in PBTLs and interleukin-6 levels using regression analyses. Median age of enrolled patients was 63.5 years (range 56-81 years), they were predominantly male (74.55%), of Caucasian descent (85.45%). Median log2(p16 levels in PBTLs) were 4.71 (range 1.10-6.82). P16 levels in PBTLs were significantly associated with chronological age (mean difference 0.06 for each year increase in age, 95% CI 0.01-0.11) and interleukin 6 levels (mean difference 0.09 for each pg/ml increase in IL-6 levels, 95% CI 0.01-0.18). There were no significant associations with frailty status, augmentation index, cerebral oxygenation and p16 protein levels in blood vessels. Increasing p16 levels in PBTLs did not predict length of stay in the hospital (HR 1.10, 95% CI 0.87-1.40) or intensive care unit (HR 1.02, 95% CI 0.79-1.32). Additional evaluation of p16 levels in PBTLs as predictor of perioperative outcomes is required and should include additional markers of immune system aging as well as different outcomes after CAB in addition to length of hospital stay

A role for core planar polarity proteins in cell contact-mediated orientation of planar cell division across the mammalian embryonic skin

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. © The Author(s) 2017. Supplementary information accompanies this paper at doi:10.1038/s41598-017-01971-2.The question of how cell division orientation is determined is fundamentally important for understanding tissue and organ shape in both healthy or disease conditions. Here we provide evidence for cell contact-dependent orientation of planar cell division in the mammalian embryonic skin. We propose a model where the core planar polarity proteins Celsr1 and Frizzled-6 (Fz6) communicate the long axis orientation of interphase basal cells to neighbouring basal mitoses so that they align their horizontal division plane along the same axis. The underlying mechanism requires a direct, cell surface, planar polarised cue, which we posit depends upon variant post-translational forms of Celsr1 protein coupled to Fz6. Our hypothesis has parallels with contact-mediated division orientation in early C. elegans embryos suggesting functional conservation between the adhesion-GPCRs Celsr1 and Latrophilin-1. We propose that linking planar cell division plane with interphase neighbour long axis geometry reinforces axial bias in skin spreading around the mouse embryo body.Peer reviewe

The nucleon-nucleon interaction

We review the major progress of the past decade concerning our understanding of the nucleon-nucleon interaction. The focus is on the low-energy region (below pion production threshold), but a brief outlook towards higher energies is also given. The items discussed include charge-dependence, the precise value of the $\pi NN$ coupling constant, phase shift analysis and high-precision NN data and potentials. We also address the issue of a proper theory of nuclear forces. Finally, we summarize the essential open questions that future research should be devoted to.Comment: 42 pages, 12 figures, iopart.cls style; Topical Review prepared for J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part. Phy

Altruism and sacrifice : mafia free gift giving in south Italy

As a social phenomenon that torments modern states, mafia receives considerable political and legal attention. The term mafia itself is often directly related to criminality and violence. Thus far violence has been employed as an analytical construct that could explain compliance with the mafia ethos. Nevertheless this schema fails to take into consideration possible discourses that make mafia tolerable. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in Reggio Calabria, South Italy, this paper explores distinctive mafia notions of giving and charity. Mafia free gifts, albeit rare, are paradoxical in the sense that through elaborate speech registers both the donor and the recipient debase the very act of gift-giving so as not to be bound in relations of reciprocity and obligation. These mafia gifts, which have so far escaped anthropological attention, are conceptualised as tropes of worldly imagining aspiring to non-worldly discourses. Status, umiltà, duty and sacrifice frame free gifting as accorded to the overt religious rhetoric of mafia hierarchy. In this paper I argue that a) free gifting embraces a series of complex non-violent discourses which relate closely to religious duty and altruism but work alongside capitalist systems b) in principal these gifts do not bind people, yet are imbued with the potential of a relation.PostprintPeer reviewe

Measurement of the branching ratios of the Z0 into heavy quarks

We measure the hadronic branching ratios of the Z0 boson into heavy quarks: Rb=Gamma(Z0->bb)/Gamma(Z0->hadrons) and Rc=Gamma(Z0->cc/Gamma(Z0->hadrons) using a multi-tag technique. The measurement was performed using about 400,000 hadronic Z0 events recorded in the SLD experiment at SLAC between 1996 and 1998. The small and stable SLC beam spot and the CCD-based vertex detector were used to reconstruct bottom and charm hadron decay vertices with high efficiency and purity, which enables us to measure most efficiencies from data. We obtain, Rb=0.21604 +- 0.00098(stat.) +- 0.00073(syst.) -+ 0.00012(Rc) and, Rc= 0.1744 +- 0.0031(stat.) +- 0.0020(syst.) -+ 0.0006(Rb)Comment: 37 pages, 8 figures, to be submitted to Phys. Rev. D version 2: changed title to ratios, used common D production fractions for Rb and Rc and corrected Zgamma interference. Identical to PRD submissio

Direct Measurements of A_b and A_c using Vertex/Kaon Charge Tags at SLD

Exploiting the manipulation of the SLC electron-beam polarization, we present precise direct measurements of the parity violation parameters A_c and A_b in the Z boson - c quark and Z boson - b quark coupling. Quark/antiquark discrimination is accomplished via a unique algorithm that takes advantage of the precise SLD CCD vertex detector, employing the net charge of displaced vertices as well as the charge of kaons that emanate from those vertices. From the 1996-98 sample of 400,000 Z decays, produced with an average beam polarization of 73.4%, we find A_c = 0.673 +/- 0.029 (stat.) +/- 0.023 (syst.) and A_b = 0.919 +/- 0.018 (stat.) +/- 0.017 (syst.).Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables, to be submitted to Physical Review Letters; version 2 reflects changes suggested by the refere

Picosecond Bunch length and Energy-z correlation measurements at SLAC's A-Line and End Station A

We report on measurements of picosecond bunch lengths and the energy-z correlation of the bunch with a high energy electron test beam to the A-line and End Station A (ESA) facilities at SLAC. The bunch length and the energy-z correlation of the bunch are measured at the end of the linac using a synchrotron light monitor diagnostic at a high dispersion point in the A-line and a transverse RF deflecting cavity at the end of the linac. Measurements of the bunch length in ESA were made using high frequency diodes (up to 100 GHz) and pyroelectric detectors at a ceramic gap in the beamline. Modeling of the beam's longitudinal phase space through the linac and A-line to ESA is done using the 2-dimensional tracking program LiTrack, and LiTrack simulation results are compared with data. High frequency diode and pyroelectric detectors are planned to be used as part of a bunch length feedback system for the LCLS FEL at SLAC. The LCLS also plans precise bunch length and energy-z correlation measurements using transverse RF deflecting cavities

The exceptional value of intact forest ecosystems

As the terrestrial human footprint continues to expand, the amount of native forest that is free from significant damaging human activities is in precipitous decline. There is emerging evidence that the remaining intact forest supports an exceptional confluence of globally significant environmental values relative to degraded forests, including imperilled biodiversity, carbon sequestration and storage, water provision, indigenous culture and the maintenance of human health. Here we argue that maintaining and, where possible, restoring the integrity of dwindling intact forests is an urgent priority for current global efforts to halt the ongoing biodiversity crisis, slow rapid climate change and achieve sustainability goals. Retaining the integrity of intact forest ecosystems should be a central component of proactive global and national environmental strategies, alongside current efforts aimed at halting deforestation and promoting reforestation