Atmospheric Temperature anomalies as manifestation of the dark Universe

We are investigating the possible origin of small-scale anomalies, like the annual stratospheric temperature anomalies. Unexpectedly within known physics, their observed planetary "dependency", does not match concurrent solar activity, whose impact on the atmosphere is unequivocal; this points at an additional energy source of exo-solar origin. A viable concept behind such observations is based on possible gravitational focusing by the Sun and its planets towards the Earth of low-speed invisible streaming matter; its influx towards the Earth gets temporally enhanced. Only a somehow "strongly" interacting invisible streaming matter with the small upper atmospheric screening can be behind the observed temperature excursions. Ordinary dark matter (DM) candidates like axions or WIMPs, cannot have any noticeable impact. The associated energy deposition is $\mathcal{O}(\sim 1000\, \mathrm{GeV}/{{\mathrm{cm}}^2}/\mathrm{sec})$. The atmosphere has been uninterruptedly monitored for decades. Therefore, the upper atmosphere can serve as a novel (low-threshold) detector for the dark Universe, with built-in spatiotemporal resolution while the solar system gravity acts temporally as a signal amplifier. Interestingly, the anomalous ionosphere shows a relationship with the inner earth activity like earthquakes. Similarly investigating the transient sudden stratospheric warmings within the same reasoning, the nature of the assumed "invisible streams" could be deciphered.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, Published in the proceedings of the "15th International Conference on Meteorology, Climatology and Atmospheric Physics (COMECAP 2021)" see https://www.conferre.gr/allevents/comecap2020/Proceedings_Final.pd

Beam test performance of a prototype module with Short Strip ASICs for the CMS HL-LHC tracker upgrade

The Short Strip ASIC (SSA) is one of the four front-end chips designed for the upgrade of the CMS Outer Tracker for the High Luminosity LHC. Together with the Macro-Pixel ASIC (MPA) it will instrument modules containing a strip and a macro-pixel sensor stacked on top of each other. The SSA provides both full readout of the strip hit information when triggered, and, together with the MPA, correlated clusters called stubs from the two sensors for use by the CMS Level-1 (L1) trigger system. Results from the first prototype module consisting of a sensor and two SSA chips are presented. The prototype module has been characterized at the Fermilab Test Beam Facility using a 120 GeV proton beam

Test beam performance of a CBC3-based mini-module for the Phase-2 CMS Outer Tracker before and after neutron irradiation

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN will undergo major upgrades to increase the instantaneous luminosity up to 5–7.5×10$^{34}$ cm$^{-2}$s$^{-1}$. This High Luminosity upgrade of the LHC (HL-LHC) will deliver a total of 3000–4000 fb-1 of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13–14 TeV. To cope with these challenging environmental conditions, the strip tracker of the CMS experiment will be upgraded using modules with two closely-spaced silicon sensors to provide information to include tracking in the Level-1 trigger selection. This paper describes the performance, in a test beam experiment, of the first prototype module based on the final version of the CMS Binary Chip front-end ASIC before and after the module was irradiated with neutrons. Results demonstrate that the prototype module satisfies the requirements, providing efficient tracking information, after being irradiated with a total fluence comparable to the one expected through the lifetime of the experiment

Impact of K-ras over-expression in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma

Background/Aim: Oncogene up-regulation combined with suppressor gene down-regulation is a crucial genetic combination that promotes cell neoplastic phenotype and progressively malignant transformation in solid malignancies, including laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). Among oncogenes, the Kirsten ras oncogene homolog (K-Ras) is involved in LSCC onset and progression. Patients and Methods: Sixty (n=60) primary LSCC tissue sections were analyzed by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Digital image analysis (DIA) was also implemented for measuring K-Ras protein expression levels. Results: High KRas protein expression levels were observed in 20/60 (33.3%) LSCC tissue sections, whereas the rest of the cases (n=40; 66.7%) demonstrated low expression. Overall K-Ras expression was borderline significantly associated to the grade of the examined malignancies (p=0.048), whereas no other strong statistical correlations were identified. A progressive K-Ras overexpression was observed in all grades of the examined cases. Conclusion: K-Ras over expression is correlated to a progressive dedifferentiation in LSCC. © 2021 International Institute of Anticancer Research. All rights reserved

Horner’s Syndrome Incidental to Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma Excision: Case Report and Brief Literature Review

Horner’s syndrome is characterized by a combination of ipsilateral miosis, blepharoptosis, enophthalmos, facial anhidrosis, and iris heterochromia in existence of congenital lesions. The syndrome results from a disruption of the ipsilateral sympathetic innervation of the eye and ocular adnexa at different levels. Though rare, thyroid and neck surgery could be considered as possible causes of this clinical entity. We present a case of Horner’s syndrome in a patient after total thyroidectomy and neck dissection for medullary thyroid cancer with neck nodal disease and attempt a brief review of the relevant literature

Deregulation of PTEN expression in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma based on tissue microarray digital analysis

Background/Aim: Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) (gene locus: 10q23.3) -a tumor suppressor gene- is deleted, mutated or epigenetically hyper-methylated in a variety of malignancies. PTEN acts as a negative regulator in PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling transduction pathway. Our aim was to investigate PTEN protein expression patterns in laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas (LSCC). Materials and Methods: Using tissue microarray technology, fifty (n=50) primary LSCCs were cored and reembedded into one recipient block. Immunohistochemistry and digital image analysis were implemented for evaluating protein expression levels. Results: Abnormal protein expression (low to negative staining intensity values) was observed in 28/50 (56%) tissue cores. Overall PTEN expression was associated with the anatomical region of the malignancies (p=0.039), whereas a borderline correlation with the differentiation grade was also assessed (p=0.05). Conclusion: Aberrant expression of PTEN tumor-suppressor gene in LSCCs seems to affect their biological behavior. Well-differentiated tumors express moderate to high protein levels, an evidence of normal gene function, whereas loss of its expression correlates with a progressive tumor dedifferentiation. Additionally, loss of its expression is detected more frequently in specific anatomical regions of the larynx (glottis, predominantly, and partially supraglottis)

ALK Protein Expression Patterns in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Oral Cavity

Background: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is characterized by a broad spectrum of genomic imbalances, including gross chromosomal (polysomy/ aneuploidy) ones as well as specific gene alterations. Aberrant expression of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) seems to be a useful molecular marker for discriminating patients based on genetic signatures in a variety of solid malignancies, such as lung carcinoma. Our aim was to analyze ALK protein expression patterns in a series of OSCCs. Materials and Methods: Fifty (n=50) OSCC tissue sections were analyzed by implementing an ALK-based immunohistochemistry protocol. Digital image analysis was performed for measuring the corresponding protein expression levels. Results: ALK overexpression was observed in 14/50 (28%) OSCC tissue sections, whereas the rest 36/50 (72%) demonstrated low expression levels. ALK expression was negatively associated with grade (p=0.027) and stage (p=0.0028) of the examined cases. Conclusion: Abnormal ALK expression in subsets of patients with OSCC seems to be related to an aggressive phenotype (advanced stage/progressive dedifferentiation). ALK protein overexpression may be used as a significant marker for applying targeted therapeutic regimens. © 2022 International Institute of Anticancer Research. All rights reserved

P53/MDM2 co-expression in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma based on digital image analysis

Background: P53 is a key regulator of genomic stability and function, acting as a tumor suppressor protein. Our aim was to correlate P53 expression with murine double minute 2 (MDM2), a proto-oncogene that interacts with P53 and forms an auto-regulatory pathway, in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). Materials and Methods: A total of 50 LSCC cases were included in the study. Immunohistochemistry was applied by using antibodies to P53 and MDM2 in the corresponding tissue sections. Protein expression levels for both molecules were measured by implementing a digital image analysis assay (immunostaining intensity levels, densitometric evaluation). Results: Overexpression of P53 protein was observed in 16/50 (32%) LSCC cases, while 22/50 (44%) cases strongly expressed MDM2 protein. Interestingly, in 13/50 (26%) cases, combined overexpression of P53/MDM2 was detected. Overall P53 was strongly positively correlated with MDM2 expression (p=0.001). Both P53 and MDM2 overexpression were significantly correlated with advanced stage of LSCC (p=0.032 and p=0.001, respectively). Additionally, MDM2 was found to be associated with poorer survival of patients (p=0.046). Conclusion: Aberrant co-expression of P53 and MDM2 is associated with advanced stage in LSCC. Furthermore, MDM2 overexpression is a frequent and critical genetic event in LSCC and seems to negatively affect survival. © 2019 International Institute of Anticancer Research. All rights reserved

Impact of topoisomerases complex deregulation on head and neck carcinoma genomic instability

Head and neck carcinoma (HNC) comprises a variety of pathological entities. Among them, squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is histo-pathologically prominent. Specific malignancies, such as nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) arise also from the same anatomical region. In all of them, genomic instability (GI) is implicated not only in the early stages of epithelial malignant transformation, but also in the aggressiveness of the corresponding phenotypes. Among the molecules that are frequently deregulated in solid malignancies including HNCs, topoisomerases (Topo) are of increased significance due to their involvement in DNA topological, structural, and functional stability. The main members are Topo I (20q11), Topo II alpha (17q21) and Topo IIb (3p24). In the current article, we describe the mechanisms of Topo I and Topo IIa deregulation leading to GI in a variety of HNCs. Furthermore, novel data regarding the corresponding targeted therapeutic strategies are presented. © 2021 International Institute of Anticancer Research. All rights reserved