Bone turnover and articular cartilage differences localized to subchondral cysts in knees with advanced osteoarthritis

Objective: To investigate changes in bone structure, turnover, and articular cartilage localized in subchondral bone cyst (SBC) regions associated with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: Tibial plateaus (n ¼ 97) were collected from knee OA patients during total knee arthroplasty (TKA). SBCs were identified using micro-computed tomography, and the specimens were divided into non-cyst (n ¼ 25) and bone cyst (n ¼ 72) groups. Microstructure of subchondral bone was assessed using bone volume fraction (BV/TV), trabecular number (Tb.N), structure model index (SMI) and bone mineral density (BMD). In bone cyst group, the cyst subregion, which contained at least one cyst, and the pericyst subregion, which contained no cysts, were further selected for microstructure analysis. Articular cartilage damage was estimated using the Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) score. The numbers of TRAPþ osteoclasts, Osterixþ osteoprogenitors, Osteocalcinþ osteoblasts and expression of SOX9 were evaluated by immunohistochemistry. Results: Bone cyst group presented higher BV/TV, Tb.N and SMI at subchondral bone than non-cyst group. Furthermore, cyst subregion displayed increased BV/TV and Tb.N but lower BMD and SMI than peri-cyst subregion. Histology revealed a higher OARSI score in bone cyst group. SBC exhibited a weak relationship with BV/TV, etc. The numbers of TRAPþ osteoclasts, Osterixþ osteoprogenitors, Osteocalcinþ osteoblasts and expression of SOX9, were higher in bone cyst group. Conclusion: SBCs within knee OA are characterized by focally increased bone turnover, altered bone structure and more severe articular cartilage damage. The increased bone turnover possibly contributes to altered bone structure localized in SBC areas, and thus aggravates articular cartilage degeneration. © 2015 Osteoarthritis Research Society International. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.postprin

Characterizing Rhodopsin-Arrestin Interactions with the Fragment Molecular Orbital (FMO) Method

Arrestin binding to G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) plays a vital role in receptor signaling. Recently, the crystal structure of rhodopsin bound to activated visual arrestin was resolved using XFEL (X-ray free electron laser). However, even with the crystal structure in hand, our ability to understand GPCR-arrestin binding is limited by the availability of accurate tools to explore receptor-arrestin interactions. We applied fragment molecular orbital (FMO) method to explore the interactions formed between the residues of rhodopsin and arrestin. FMO enables ab initio approaches to be applied to systems that conventional quantum mechanical (QM) methods would be too compute-expensive. The FMO calculations detected 35 significant interactions involved in rhodopsin-arrestin binding formed by 25 residues of rhodopsin and 28 residues of arrestin. Two major regions of interaction were identified: at the C-terminal tail of rhodopsin (D330-S343) and where the "finger loop" (G69-T79) of arrestin directly inserts into rhodopsin active core. Out of these 35 interactions, 23 were mainly electrostatic and 12 hydrophobic in nature

Y-Chromosome Evidence for Common Ancestry of Three Chinese Populations with a High Risk of Esophageal Cancer

High rates of esophageal cancer (EC) are found in people of the Henan Taihang Mountain, Fujian Minnan, and Chaoshan regions of China. Historical records describe great waves of populations migrating from north-central China (the Henan and Shanxi Hans) through coastal Fujian Province to the Chaoshan plain. Although these regions are geographically distant, we hypothesized that EC high-risk populations in these three areas could share a common ancestry. Accordingly, we used 16 East Asian-specific Y-chromosome biallelic markers (single nucleotide polymorphisms; Y-SNPs) and six Y-chromosome short tandem repeat (Y-STR) loci to infer the origin of the EC high-risk Chaoshan population (CSP) and the genetic relationship between the CSP and the EC high-risk Henan Taihang Mountain population (HTMP) and Fujian population (FJP). The predominant haplogroups in these three populations are O3*, O3e*, and O3e1, with no significant difference between the populations in the frequency of these genotypes. Frequency distribution and principal component analysis revealed that the CSP is closely related to the HTMP and FJP, even though the former is geographically nearer to other populations (Guangfu and Hakka clans). The FJP is between the CSP and HTMP in the principal component plot. The CSP, FJP and HTMP are more closely related to Chinese Hans than to minorities, except Manchu Chinese, and are descendants of Sino-Tibetans, not Baiyues. Correlation analysis, hierarchical clustering analysis, and phylogenetic analysis (neighbor-joining tree) all support close genetic relatedness among the CSP, FJP and HTMP. The network for haplogroup O3 (including O3*, O3e* and O3e1) showed that the HTMP have highest STR haplotype diversity, suggesting that the HTMP may be a progenitor population for the CSP and FJP. These findings support the potentially important role of shared ancestry in understanding more about the genetic susceptibility in EC etiology in high-risk populations and have implications for determining the molecular basis of this disease

Four Work-Ins by Australian Journalists, 1944-80

During industrial disputes with employers between 1944 and 1980 the Australian Journalist's Association occasionally turned to the tactic of the work-in, producing wild cat newspapers during strikes in Sydney. These newspapers (The News, and The Clarion) exemplified problematic elements of the work-in as a working-class strategy. While single incident studies of the work-in have been conducted in Australia, the Australian Journalist Association work-ins present a time series of struggle. This time series allows for a broader evaluation of the radical content of the work-in and indicates that the tactic can become systematised, less radical, and less participatory when not connected to a broader generation of workplace radical behaviour by workers. In short: the work-in, much like the strike or go slow, can become a tame cat tactic – it is not inherently transgressive or opposed to capitalist production. Expectedly, the first work-ins were more radical in scope, presenting a newspaper which fully duplicated the commodity produced under capitalist control and in some ways exceeded the scope presented by capitalist organised journalism in both a material and a cultural sense. However, this radical economic potential dissipated by the end of the time series of work-ins. Instead of providing an alternative commodity fit for market, the tactic produced propaganda pieces aimed primarily at the members of the community who would be predisposed to favour the journalist's case. The 1980s Clarion was not a daily newspaper of news, sport, racing, women's interest, classifieds, and general opinion. This change will be explained in terms of human causes such as skills loss, production process causes such as computerisation and wire services, and broader social causes such as the changing role of the newspaper in Australian society.The symposium is organised on behalf of AAHANZBS by the Business and Labour History Group, The University of Sydney, with the financial support of the University’s Faculty of Economics and Business

TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits-the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants-determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits-almost complete coverage for 'plant growth form'. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait-environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

Jet energy measurement with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV

The jet energy scale and its systematic uncertainty are determined for jets measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 38 pb-1. Jets are reconstructed with the anti-kt algorithm with distance parameters R=0. 4 or R=0. 6. Jet energy and angle corrections are determined from Monte Carlo simulations to calibrate jets with transverse momenta pT≥20 GeV and pseudorapidities {pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy systematic uncertainty is estimated using the single isolated hadron response measured in situ and in test-beams, exploiting the transverse momentum balance between central and forward jets in events with dijet topologies and studying systematic variations in Monte Carlo simulations. The jet energy uncertainty is less than 2. 5 % in the central calorimeter region ({pipe}η{pipe}<0. 8) for jets with 60≤pT<800 GeV, and is maximally 14 % for pT<30 GeV in the most forward region 3. 2≤{pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy is validated for jet transverse momenta up to 1 TeV to the level of a few percent using several in situ techniques by comparing a well-known reference such as the recoiling photon pT, the sum of the transverse momenta of tracks associated to the jet, or a system of low-pT jets recoiling against a high-pT jet. More sophisticated jet calibration schemes are presented based on calorimeter cell energy density weighting or hadronic properties of jets, aiming for an improved jet energy resolution and a reduced flavour dependence of the jet response. The systematic uncertainty of the jet energy determined from a combination of in situ techniques is consistent with the one derived from single hadron response measurements over a wide kinematic range. The nominal corrections and uncertainties are derived for isolated jets in an inclusive sample of high-pT jets. Special cases such as event topologies with close-by jets, or selections of samples with an enhanced content of jets originating from light quarks, heavy quarks or gluons are also discussed and the corresponding uncertainties are determined. © 2013 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration

Glyoxalase-I Is a Novel Prognosis Factor Associated with Gastric Cancer Progression

Glyoxalase I (GLO1), a methylglyoxal detoxification enzyme, is implicated in the progression of human malignancies. The role of GLO1 in gastric cancer development or progression is currently unclear. The expression of GLO1 was determined in primary gastric cancer specimens using quantitative polymerase chain reaction, immunohistochemistry (IHC), and western blotting analyses. GLO1 expression was higher in gastric cancer tissues, compared with that in adjacent noncancerous tissues. Elevated expression of GLO1 was significantly associated with gastric wall invasion, lymph node metastasis, and pathological stage, suggesting a novel role of GLO1 in gastric cancer development and progression. The 5-year survival rate of the lower GLO1 expression groups was significantly greater than that of the higher expression groups (log rank P = 0.0373) in IHC experiments. Over-expression of GLO1 in gastric cancer cell lines increases cell proliferation, migration and invasiveness. Conversely, down-regulation of GLO1 with shRNA led to a marked reduction in the migration and invasion abilities. Our data strongly suggest that high expression of GLO1 in gastric cancer enhances the metastasis ability of tumor cells in vitro and in vivo, and support its efficacy as a potential marker for the detection and prognosis of gastric cancer

Introgression of Chromosome 3Ns from Psathyrostachys huashanica into Wheat Specifying Resistance to Stripe Rust

Wheat stripe rust is a destructive disease in the cool and humid wheat-growing areas of the world. Finding diverse sources of stripe rust resistance is critical for increasing genetic diversity of resistance for wheat breeding programs. Stripe rust resistance was identified in the alien species Psathyrostachys huashanica, and a wheat- P. huashanica amphiploid line (PHW-SA) with stripe rust resistance was reported previously. In this study, a P. huashanica 3Ns monosomic addition line (PW11) with superior resistance to stripe rust was developed, which was derived from the cross between PHW-SA and wheat J-11. We evaluated the alien introgressions PW11-2, PW11-5 and PW11-8 which were derived from line PW11 for reaction to new Pst race CYR32, and used molecular and cytogenetic tools to characterize these lines. The introgressions were remarkably resistant to CYR32, suggesting that the resistance to stripe rust of the introgressions thus was controlled by gene(s) located on P. huashanica chromosome 3Ns. All derived lines were cytologically stable in term of meiotic chromosome behavior. Two 3Ns chromosomes of P. huashanica were detected in the disomic addition line PW11-2. Chromosomes 1B of substitution line PW11-5 had been replaced by a pair of P. huashanica 3Ns chromosomes. In PW11-8, a small terminal segment from P. huashanica chromosome arm 3NsS was translocated to the terminal region of wheat chromosomes 3BL. Thus, this translocated chromosome is designated T3BL-3NsS. These conclusions were further confirmed by SSR analyses. Two 3Ns-specific markers Xgwm181 and Xgwm161 will be useful to rapidly identify and trace the translocated fragments. These introgressions, which had significant characteristics of resistance to stripe rust, could be utilized as novel germplasms for wheat breeding