DNA Repair Biomarker for Lung Cancer Risk and its Correlation With Airway Cells Gene Expression.

Background: Improving lung cancer risk assessment is required because current early-detection screening criteria miss most cases. We therefore examined the utility for lung cancer risk assessment of a DNA Repair score obtained from OGG1, MPG, and APE1 blood tests. In addition, we examined the relationship between the level of DNA repair and global gene expression. Methods: We conducted a blinded case-control study with 150 non-small cell lung cancer case patients and 143 control individuals. DNA Repair activity was measured in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and the transcriptome of nasal and bronchial cells was determined by RNA sequencing. A combined DNA Repair score was formed using logistic regression, and its correlation with disease was assessed using cross-validation; correlation of expression to DNA Repair was analyzed using Gene Ontology enrichment. Results: DNA Repair score was lower in case patients than in control individuals, regardless of the case's disease stage. Individuals at the lowest tertile of DNA Repair score had an increased risk of lung cancer compared to individuals at the highest tertile, with an odds ratio (OR) of 7.2 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 3.0 to 17.5; P < .001), and independent of smoking. Receiver operating characteristic analysis yielded an area under the curve  of 0.89 (95% CI = 0.82 to 0.93). Remarkably, low DNA Repair score correlated with a broad upregulation of gene expression of immune pathways in patients but not in control individuals. Conclusions: The DNA Repair score, previously shown to be a lung cancer risk factor in the Israeli population, was validated in this independent study as a mechanism-based cancer risk biomarker and can substantially improve current lung cancer risk prediction, assisting prevention and early detection by computed tomography scanning.This work was funded by grants from NIH/NCI/EDRN (#1 U01 CA111219), the Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute, Florida, the Mike Rosenbloom Foundation and Weizmann Institute of Science to ZL and TPE; and by grants from Cancer Research UK to BP and to the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre; and by a UK National Institute for Health Research Senior Fellowship to BP; and by the Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre and the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre to RCR. Volunteer participant recruitment through the Cambridge Bioresource was funded by the Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre

Multi-instrument multi-scale experimental damage mechanics for fibre reinforced composites

© Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd. Reliable investigation of damage in fibre reinforced composites requires concurrent in- and ex-situ application of multiple instruments at different scale: digital image correlation, acoustic emission registration, optical/electron microscopy, C-scan, X-ray imaging and micro-computed tomography. The multi-instrument experimental mechanics allows detailed damage monitoring and inspection

Eye contact avoidance in crowds: A large wearable eye-tracking study

Eye contact is essential for human interactions. We investigated whether humans are able to avoid eye contact while navigating crowds. At a science festival, we fitted 62 participants with a wearable eye tracker and instructed them to walk a route. Half of the participants were further instructed to avoid eye contact. We report that humans can flexibly allocate their gaze while navigating crowds and avoid eye contact primarily by orienting their head and eyes towards the floor. We discuss implications for crowd navigation and gaze behavior. In addition, we address a number of issues encountered in such field studies with regard to data quality, control of the environment, and participant adherence to instructions. We stress that methodological innovation and scientific progress are strongly interrelated

Mapping strains and fibre fracture in carbon fibre composites using in situ Digital Volume Correlation

This paper presents a novel application of Digital Volume Correlation (DVC) and in situ Synchrotron Radiation Computed Tomography (SRCT) to uniaxial loading in Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymers (CFRPs). DVC is a relatively novel tool for quantifying full-field volumetric displacements and implicit strain fields [1]. To permit the application of DVC to displacements and/or strain measurements parallel to the fibre direction in well aligned unidirectional (UD) materials, a methodology was developed for the insertion of sparse populations of sub-micrometre particles within the matrix to act as displacement trackers (fiducial markers). For the novel materials systems we have developed, measurement noise is considered, along with the spatial filtering intrinsic to established DVC data processing. The evolution of individually fractured filaments into clusters of breaks is presented, together with the associated elevated strain region. A balance of spatial resolution and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is discussed in relation to measuring local micromechanical phenomena, such as ineffective length, within the bulk material. It is shown that novel, mechanistically consistent measurements may be made in relation to fibre failure events.status: publishe

Replacing eye trackers in ongoing studies : A comparison of eye‐tracking data quality between the Tobii Pro TX300 and the Tobii Pro Spectrum

The Tobii Pro TX300 is a popular eye tracker in developmental eye-tracking research, yet it is no longer manufactured. If a TX300 breaks down, it may have to be replaced. The data quality of the replacement eye tracker may differ from that of the TX300, which may affect the experimental outcome measures. This is problematic for longitudinal and multi-site studies, and for researchers replacing eye trackers between studies. We, therefore, ask how the TX300 and its successor, the Tobii Pro Spectrum, compare in terms of eye-tracking data quality. Data quality—operationalized through precision, accuracy, and data loss—was compared between eye trackers for three age groups (around 5-months, 10-months, and 3-years). Precision was better for all gaze position signals obtained with the Spectrum in comparison to the TX300. Accuracy of the Spectrum was higher for the 5-month-old and 10-month-old children. For the three-year-old children, accuracy was similar across both eye trackers. Gaze position signals from the Spectrum exhibited lower proportions of data loss, and the duration of the data loss periods tended to be shorter. In conclusion, the Spectrum produces gaze position signals with higher data quality, especially for the younger infants. Implications for data analysis are discussed

Impact du bypass gastrique de type Roux-en-Y sur les réponses cérébrales à la stimulation orale sucrée en IRM fonctionnelle chez des miniporcs obèses et intégration des données avec le microbiote intestinal et les profils métabolomiques

International audienc

Maternal diet effects during the perinatal period on cognitive and hedonic brain processes and metabolism of adult Yucatan minipigs Tests on obese adults Test on lean adults

International audienceA lot of evidences defend the existence of a relationship between industrial food consumption and the increase of obesity prevalence (OMS, 2011). Our study explored the impact of Western diet exposure on both cognitive and hedonic functions through behavioural assessments and brain imaging, completing by metabolic and physiologic assessment, to determine the role of diet, then, weight gain, on the cognitive abilities, eating behaviour and metabolism of adult males and females Yucatan minipigs, before and after diet induced obesity challenge. Learning and memory performances were tested using the holeboard discrimination task, with a palatable food reward (M&M’s®). Eating behaviour was explored with a two-choice feed test. In parallel, the brain glucose metabolism was investigated using Positron Emission Tomography (PET), during a sucrose oral stimulation. This longitudinal study involves three steps : the first one aims to compare an HFF (hight fat fructose) to a STD (standard) diet, with isocaloric incomes. The second one consisting in an obesogenic challenge with ad libitum access to HFF food. The third step involves weight loss, using bariatric surgery or restrained diet. Key words: nutritional imprinting, behavior, brain, reward system, memory, learning, minipig

Synchrotron radiation computed tomography for experimental validation of a tensile strength model for unidirectional fibre-reinforced composites

Synchrotron radiation computed tomography has been used to analyse fibre break accumulation in unidirectional composites loaded in tension. The data are compared to model predictions. The model only slightly overestimated the composite failure strain, but predictions of fibre break density were too high, which can be mainly attributed to errors in the Weibull distribution. Both the number and percentage of interacting fibre break clusters were under-predicted by the model. This was attributed to an underestimation of stress concentrations in the model. While the experimental observations revealed mainly co-planar clusters, the model predicted mainly diffuse clusters. The experiments showed that the clusters did grow any further after their formation, while the model predicted a gradual development. Both local and dynamic stress concentrations were hypothesised to be key features for further exploration. The discrepancies identified, inform suggestions for directions advancing the state-of-the-art strength models of UD composites.publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Synchrotron radiation computed tomography for experimental validation of a tensile strength model for unidirectional fibre-reinforced composites journaltitle: Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2015.06.018 content_type: article copyright: Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.status: publishe

Hard X-ray nanoscale imaging of carbon fibre composites using Near-Field Ptychography

Near-Field Ptychography (NFP) is a powerful technique that allows reconstruction of both the complex-valued illumination field and transmission function of the sample, owing to its data redundancy. When combined with tomography, NFP can produce highresolution quantitative volumetric datasets. Here we present the application of this technique, combining a synchrotron radiation source with NFP, yielding a novel approach capable of providing a deeper understanding of the failure processes in carbon fibre reinforced polymers. Volumes based on the phase information retrieved with NFP, thus, will provide insights directly on the 3D electron density distribution of the sample. We performed these measurements at a 150 nm pixel size on a CFRP sample that previously underwent a tensile test up to ∼ 93% its maximum load. High-resolution 3D imaging data for fibre and matrix damage is crucial to understanding tensile failures. In this work, we address some of the features that can be appreciated at this resolution, and their implication in the understanding of the failure processes mentioned above