Diagnostic and mechanistic implications of serum free light chains, albumin and alpha-fetoprotein in hepatocellular carcinoma

Background: Mass spectroscopy analysis suggested low serum albumin and high immunoglobulin free light chain (sFLC) levels may have diagnostic value in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Our aims were to apply quantitative assays to confirm these observations, determine their diagnostic utility, and investigate the mechanisms involved. Methods: Albumin, sFLC, routine liver and renal function tests were measured in patients with chronic liver disease with (n=102) and without (n=113) HCC. The discriminant performance was compared with the current standard serological test alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and area under the curve (AUC) analyses. Results: sFLC and serum albumin were each confirmed to have discriminatory utility in HCC with AUC values of 0.7 and 0.8, respectively. sFLC were strongly correlated with gammaglobulin levels and both these were inversely related to serum albumin levels. The discriminatory utility of sFLC was retained after adjusting for renal and liver function. Conclusions: Serum levels of sFLC and albumin were strongly associated with HCC as predicted by mass spectroscopy. Discrimination of HCC by AFP was improved by the addition of either albumin or sFLC. Larger prospective studies are required to determine how AFP, sFLC and albumin might be combined in a useful diagnostic approach for HCC

Barriers and facilitators to extended working lives in Europe : a gender focus

Background: There is a global imperative to respond to the challenge of a growing ‘old-age dependency ratio’ by ensuring the workforce is healthy enough to remain in work for longer. Currently more than half of older workers leave before the default retirement age, and in some countries (e.g. the United Kingdom) the time spent in retirement is increasing. At the same time across Europe there is a gender employment gap, with 14.5% fewer female workers between 55-64 years old, and a large variation in the participation of older women in the workforce (ranging from 30%-75%). As older women are under-represented in the workforce, increasing employment in this group has the propensity to go some way towards reducing the old-age dependency ratio to ensure continued economic growth. Objectives: This review explores the barriers and facilitators to extended working lives in Europe, particularly those than impact on women. Methods: A systematic mapping review process was undertaken using four electronic databases, Medline, PsychoInfo, Psych Extra via Ovid and Age Line via EBSCO, using the terms, ‘work’, ‘ageing’, ‘retirement’, ‘pension’, ‘old’, ‘barrier’, ‘extended working life’, ‘gender’, ‘health and wellbeing’. Hand searching was also carried out in the Journal of Aging and Human Development and the Journal of Ageing and Society. Results: The search resulted in 15 English language studies published from 1st January 2005 to the current date that met the inclusion criteria. Key findings: The key factors that influenced decisions to retire or extend working lives in Europe, were health; social factors; workplace factors; and financial security and pension arrangements. Conclusions and implications of key findings: Health was found to be the most commonly cited barrier to extended working lives in Europe, and a number of social inequalities to work exist by gender. Structural factors exist, such as the gender pay gap, which disadvantage women, while the nature of work itself differs by gender and can have a negative impact on health. Currently women tend to exit the labour market earlier than men, however, changes in the state pension age are resulting in women being required to work for as long as men, in most countries. For women to remain healthy at work, workplaces need to consider a range of interventions, including flexible arrangements to both work and retirement to enable women to balance the demands of work with domestic and caring responsibilities that particularly impact on them

Tracing the fate of Mg and Ca originating from liming in Beech forest ecosystems of Northern France over 40 years: ecosystem nutrient budgets and 26Mg/24Mg and 87Sr/86Sr natural isotope ratio variations

Most forest ecosystems grow on acid and nutrient poor soils. In many cases, the chemical fertility of forest soils is slowly degrading due to increasing external pressures (e.g. decreasing atmospheric inputs, increasing biomass exportations) and is a growing concern in the international forest community. Forest liming with a carbonate product is a solution to restore soil fertility and acidity, globally improve the ecosystem functioning and compensate for nutrient losses caused by biomass harvest and exportation. However, the effects of liming on ecosystem processes and the biogeochemical cycling of nutrients in forest ecosystems are little known. In this study we studied over 40 years the fate of magnesium and calcium originating from the dissolution of liming products in the soils and trees of five beech plots located in Northern France from ecosystem Mg and Ca budgets combined with the natural variations of magnesium and strontium isotopes (26Mg/24Mg and 87Sr/86Sr). Compared to the control plots, soil exchangeable pools of Mg and Ca in the 0-40cm layer increased during the first decade after liming but differences were no longer observable in soil pools after 20 to 30 years. However, the effect of liming on tree nutrition and growth was still observed after 40 years, most probably because the biological cycling of these elements was more dynamic in the limed plots. Liming effects varied between sites depending on the liming product and amount, and the initial chemical fertility level of the soil. The natural variations of Mg and Sr isotopic ratios are an interesting tool which enables to trace the incorporation over time of Mg and Ca liming products into their biogeochemical cycle in forest ecosystems and better understand the changes (biogeochemical processes and cycling) induced by liming operations

Mg isotope composition in beech forest ecosystems and variations induced by liming: insights from four experimental sites in Northern France

International audienceMany forest soils are acidic and have very low plant-available pools of magnesium. Past and present sylvicultural, nutritional and/or climatic pressures endured by forest ecosystems can result in net losses of nutrients and ecosystem function losses. Liming with a carbonate product is an alternative to counteract these degradations but the effects of liming on the biogeochemical cycling of nutrients over time and the dynamics of Mg released from liming products are still unclear. We studied the Mg isotopes composition in four paired-treatment experimental beech forest ecosystems in northern France. At the sites where dolomitic lime was applied, the variation in exchangeable and foliar δ26Mg demonstrated the direct contribution of dolomite-derived Mg to the replenishment of topsoil exchangeable pools and to tree nutrition improvement: dolomite-derived Mg was incorporated into the biological cycling which allows its retention on the mid to long term in the soil–plant system. At the sites limed with calcium carbonate, the changes in exchangeable and foliar Mg contents and δ26Mg observed on the long term suggest that the applied product contained a small amount of Mg and/or that Mg cycling changed after liming, to cope in particular with the low Mg availability. Lastly, our results highlight the high δ26Mg of the organic layer (humus): fractionation processes occurring within this layer (mineralization/ageing of organic matter, preferential retention of 26 Mg) could explain these singular signatures that could greatly influence the topsoil Mg exchangeable pools

Career Development and Aging

Career development and aging represents a topic of growing importance for individuals as well as organizations. As society and the workforce is aging, late career employees embody a steadily growing proportion of the working population (Van der Heijden, Schalk, & Van Veldhoven, 2008). In order to create and maintain a successful and satisfying late career, this population has to successfully deal with today’s changing work environment and its demands. In this chapter, first a review traditional stage-based models of late career development is given. Then an overview of how the current work environment increasingly necessitates a protean career orientation and career adaptability among older workers is provided. The chapter concludes with implications for career counseling and HR practices regarding older workers

Ultrastructural proof of polyomavirus in Merkel cell carcinoma tumour cells and its absence in small cell carcinoma of the lung

Contains fulltext : 81049.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: A new virus called the Merkel Cell Polyomavirus (MCPyV) has recently been found in Merkel Cell Carcinoma (MCC). MCC is a rare aggressive small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma primarily derived from the skin, morphologically indistinguishable from small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC). So far the actual presence of the virus in MCC tumour cells on a morphological level has not been demonstrated, and the presence of MCPyV in other small cell neuroendocrine carcinomas has not been studied yet. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We investigated MCC tissue samples from five patients and SCLCs from ten patients for the presence of MCPyV-DNA by PCR and sequencing. Electron microscopy was used to search ultrastructurally for morphological presence of the virus in MCPyV-DNA positive samples. MCPyV was detected in two out of five primary MCCs. In one MCC patient MCPyV-DNA was detected in the primary tumour as well as in the metastasis, strongly suggesting integration of MCPyV in the cellular DNA of the tumour in this patient. In the primary MCC of another patient viral particles in tumour cell nuclei and cytoplasm were identified by electron microscopy, indicating active viral replication in the tumour cells. In none of the SCLCs MCPyV-DNA was detected. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results strongly suggest that MCPyV is an oncogenic polyomavirus in humans, and is potentially causally related to the development of MCC but not to the morphological similar SCLC