Adenocarcinoma in bladder diverticulum, metastatic from gastric cancer

BACKGROUND: Metastasis to the urinary bladder from gastric cancer is rare. Metastasis to a diverticulum of the bladder from gastric cancer is extremely rare. We report a case of isolated bladder metastasis from gastric cancer and invasion localized to the muscularis propria of the primary site (stomach). CASE PRESENTATION: A 90-year-old female presented with nausea and vomiting that was diagnosed as gastric cancer, the patient also had intermittent hematuria. Pelvic computed tomography identified an abnormally thickened area in the bladder wall that was diagnosed as a diverticulum of the bladder. A biopsy of the bladder wall revealed well differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma metastatic from gastric carcinoma. CONCLUSION: Almost all cases of bladder metastasis from gastric cancer had peritoneal dissemination. This particular presentation of bladder metastasis from gastric cancer, to the best of our knowledge, has not been previously reported

Bipartite-play Dialogue Collection for Practical Automatic Evaluation of Dialogue Systems

Automation of dialogue system evaluation is a driving force for the efficient development of dialogue systems. This paper introduces the bipartite-play method, a dialogue collection method for automating dialogue system evaluation. It addresses the limitations of existing dialogue collection methods: (i) inability to compare with systems that are not publicly available, and (ii) vulnerability to cheating by intentionally selecting systems to be compared. Experimental results show that the automatic evaluation using the bipartite-play method mitigates these two drawbacks and correlates as strongly with human subjectivity as existing methods.Comment: 9 pages, Accepted to The AACL-IJCNLP 2022 Student Research Workshop (SRW

Single-molecule observations of RNA-RNA kissing interactions in a DNA nanostructure

RNA molecules uniquely form a complex through specific hairpin loops, called a kissing complex. The kissing complex is widely investigated and used for the construction of RNA nanostructures. Molecular switches have also been created by combining a kissing loop and a ligand-binding aptamer to control the interactions of RNA molecules. In this study, we incorporated two kinds of RNA molecules into a DNA origami structure and used atomic force microscopy to observe their ligand-responsive interactions at the single-molecule level. We used a designed RNA aptamer called GTPswitch, which has a guanosine triphosphate (GTP) responsive domain and can bind to the target RNA hairpin named Aptakiss in the presence of GTP. We observed shape changes of the DNA/RNA strands in the DNA origami, which are induced by the GTPswitch, into two different shapes in the absence and presence of GTP, respectively. We also found that the switching function in the nanospace could be improved by using a cover strand over the kissing loop of the GTPswitch or by deleting one base from this kissing loop. These newly designed ligand-responsive aptamers can be used for the controlled assembly of the various DNA and RNA nanostructures

Mammalian Lgl Forms a Protein Complex with PAR-6 and aPKC Independently of PAR-3 to Regulate Epithelial Cell Polarity

AbstractBackground: Epithelial cells have apicobasal polarity and an asymmetric junctional complex that provides the bases for development and tissue maintenance. In both vertebrates and invertebrates, the evolutionarily conserved protein complex, PAR-6/aPKC/PAR-3, localizes to the subapical region and plays critical roles in the establishment of a junctional complex and cell polarity. In Drosophila, another set of proteins called tumor suppressors, such as Lgl, which localize separately to the basolateral membrane domain but genetically interact with the subapical proteins, also contribute to the establishment of cell polarity. However, how physically separated proteins interact remains to be clarified.Results: We show that mammalian Lgl competes for PAR-3 in forming an independent complex with PAR-6/aPKC. During cell polarization, mLgl initially colocalizes with PAR-6/aPKC at the cell-cell contact region and is phosphorylated by aPKC, followed by segregation from apical PAR-6/aPKC to the basolateral membrane after cells are polarized. Overexpression studies establish that increased amounts of the mLgl/PAR-6/aPKC complex suppress the formation of epithelial junctions; this contrasts with the previous observation that the complex containing PAR-3 promotes it.Conclusions: These results indicate that PAR-6/aPKC selectively interacts with either mLgl or PAR-3 under the control of aPKC activity to regulate epithelial cell polarity

MOLECULAR DISCRIMINATION BETWEEN INDIVIDUAL METACERCARIAE OF PARAGONIMUS HETEROTREMUS AND P. WESTERMANI OCCURRING IN THAILAND

Abstract. To accurately discriminate between individual metacercariae of Paragonimus heterotremus and P. westermani occurring in Thailand, polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based molecular methods were established and subjected to an evaluation. We first amplified and sequenced the second internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) region of the nuclear ribosomal DNA of the two species. Based on their nucleotide differences, P. heterotremus and P. westermani were unequivocally discriminated from each other. These nucleotide differences were further utilized to select the ApaL1 endonuclease site for PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analyses and to design species-specific primers for multiplex PCR reactions. Both PCR-RFLP and multiplex PCR methods allowed a more rapid and labor-effective species discrimination. Furthermore, the multiplex PCR method enabled the most efficient discrimination because species identification involved a single round of PCR in a single tube. In Thailand, P. heterotremus is the only species affecting humans. Thus, the methods established in the present study can be used as reliable tools to identify the lung fluke metacercariae that cause human disease. primers. All of these methods utilize nucleotide differences in the second internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) of the nuclear ribosomal DNA (rDNA) for dicrimination between the two species. In the present study, we focused on the lung flukes occurring in Thailand and applied the methods for species discrimination between individual metacercariae of P. heterotremus and P. westermani. MATERIALS AND METHODS Parasite material and DNA isolation The metacercariae of P. heterotremus and P. westermani DNA amplification, restriction digestion and sequencing The rDNA region spanning the ITS2 from individual metacercariae of the two species was amplified by PCR using the primers, 3S (forward, 5'-GGTACCGGTGGATCACTCGGCTCGTG-3') and A28 (reverse, 5'-GGGATCCTGGTTAGTTTCTTTT CCTCCGC-3'). These primers were designed on the basis of the conserved rDNA sequences of the Schistosoma specie

Rethinking the discovery function of proof within the context of proofs and refutations

Proof and proving are important components of school mathematics and have multiple functions in mathematical practice. Among these functions of proof, this paper focuses on the discovery function that refers to invention of a new statement or conjecture by reflecting on or utilizing a constructed proof. Based on two cases in which eighth and ninth graders engaged in proofs and refutations, we demonstrate that facing a counterexample of a primitive statement can become a starting point of students’ activity for discovery, and that a proof of the primitive statement can function as a useful tool for inventing a new conjecture that holds for the counterexample. An implication for developing tasks by which students can experience this discovery function is mentioned.ArticleInternational Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology. 45(7):1053-1067 (2014)journal articl