Accuracy and reproducibility of coral Sr/Ca SIMS timeseries in modern and fossil corals

© The Author(s), 2022. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Sayani, H., Cobb, K., Monteleone, B., & Bridges, H. Accuracy and reproducibility of coral Sr/Ca SIMS timeseries in modern and fossil corals. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 23(9), (2022): e2021GC010068, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021gc010068.Coral strontium-to-calcium ratios (Sr/Ca) provide quantitative estimates of past sea surface temperatures (SST) that allow for the reconstruction of changes in the mean state and climate variations, such as the El Nino-Southern Oscillation, through time. However, coral Sr/Ca ratios are highly susceptible to diagenesis, which can impart artifacts of 1–2°C that are typically on par with the tropical climate signals of interest. Microscale sampling via Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) for the sampling of primary skeletal material in altered fossil corals, providing much-needed checks on fossil coral Sr/Ca-based paleotemperature estimates. In this study, we employ a set modern and fossil corals from Palmyra Atoll, in the central tropical Pacific, to quantify the accuracy and reproducibility of SIMS Sr/Ca analyses relative to bulk Sr/Ca analyses. In three overlapping modern coral samples, we reproduce bulk Sr/Ca estimates within ±0.3% (1σ). We demonstrate high fidelity between 3-month smoothed SIMS coral Sr/Ca timeseries and SST (R = −0.5 to −0.8; p < 0.5). For lightly-altered sections of a young fossil coral from the early-20th century, SIMS Sr/Ca timeseries reproduce bulk Sr/Ca timeseries, in line with our results from modern corals. Across a moderately-altered section of the same fossil coral, where diagenesis yields bulk Sr/Ca estimates that are 0.6 mmol too high (roughly equivalent to −6°C artifacts in SST), SIMS Sr/Ca timeseries track instrumental SST timeseries. We conclude that 3–4 SIMS analyses per month of coral growth can provide a much-needed quantitative check on the accuracy of fossil coral Sr/Ca-derived estimates of paleotemperature, even in moderately altered samples.We'd also like to thank Yolande Berta and Georgia Tech's Center for Nanostructure Characterization for providing access to their SEM facilities, and the Khaled bin Sultan Living Ocean Foundation and The Nature Conservancy for financial and logistical support for field excursions to Palmyra. Funding for this work was provided by the National Science Foundation (Award Numbers 1502832 and 2002458 to K.M.C) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Award Number: NA11OAR4310165 to K.M.C)

Difficult Biliary Stones: A Comprehensive Review of New and Old Lithotripsy Techniques

Biliary stones represent the most common indication for therapeutic endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography. Many cases are successfully managed with biliary sphincterotomy and stone extraction with balloon or basket catheters. However, more complex conditions secondary to the specific features of stones, the biliary tract, or patient's needs could make the stone extraction with the standard techniques difficult. Traditionally, mechanical lithotripsy with baskets has been reported as a safe and effective technique to achieve stone clearance. More recently, the increasing use of endoscopic papillary large balloon dilation and the diffusion of single-operator cholangioscopy with laser or electrohydraulic lithotripsy have brought new, safe, and effective therapeutic possibilities to the management of such challenging cases. We here summarize the available evidence about the endoscopic management of difficult common bile duct stones and discuss current indications of different lithotripsy techniques

Exosomes from metastatic cancer cells transfer amoeboid phenotype to non-metastatic cells and increase endothelial permeability: their emerging role in tumor heterogeneity

The goal of this study was to understand if exosomes derived from high-metastatic cells may influence the behavior of less aggressive cancer cells and the properties of the endothelium. We found that metastatic colon cancer cells are able to transfer their amoeboid phenotype to isogenic primary cancer cells through exosomes, and that this morphological transition is associated with the acquisition of a more aggressive behavior. Moreover, exosomes from the metastatic line (SW620Exos) exhibited higher ability to cause endothelial hyperpermeability than exosomes from the non metastatic line (SW480Exos). SWATH-based quantitative proteomic analysis highlighted that SW620Exos are significantly enriched in cytoskeletal-associated proteins including proteins activating the RhoA/ROCK pathway, known to induce amoeboid properties and destabilization of endothelial junctions. In particular, thrombin was identified as a key mediator of the effects induced by SW620Exos in target cells, in which we also found a significant increase of RhoA activity. Overall, our results demonstrate that in a heterogeneous context exosomes released by aggressive sub-clones can contribute to accelerate tumor progression by spreading malignant properties that affect both the tumor cell plasticity and the endothelial cell behavior

Tailoring CD19xCD3-DART exposure enhances T-cells to eradication of B-cell neoplasms.

Many patients with B-cell malignancies can be successfully treated, although tumor eradication is rarely achieved. T-cell-directed killing of tumor cells using engineered T-cells or bispecific antibodies is a promising approach for the treatment of hematologic malignancies. We investigated the efficacy of CD19xCD3 DART bispecific antibody in a broad panel of human primary B-cell malignancies. The CD19xCD3 DART identified 2 distinct subsets of patients, in which the neoplastic lymphocytes were eliminated with rapid or slow kinetics. Delayed responses were always overcome by a prolonged or repeated DART exposure. Both CD4 and CD8 effector cytotoxic cells were generated, and DART-mediated killing of CD4+ cells into cytotoxic effectors required the presence of CD8+ cells. Serial exposures to DART led to the exponential expansion of CD4 + and CD8 + cells and to the sequential ablation of neoplastic cells in absence of a PD-L1-mediated exhaustion. Lastly, patient-derived neoplastic B-cells (B-Acute Lymphoblast Leukemia and Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma) could be proficiently eradicated in a xenograft mouse model by DART-armed cytokine induced killer (CIK) cells. Collectively, patient tailored DART exposures can result in the effective elimination of CD19 positive leukemia and B-cell lymphoma and the association of bispecific antibodies with unmatched CIK cells represents an effective modality for the treatment of CD19 positive leukemia/lymphoma

Hepatic follicular lymphoma in an old patient with Crohn’s disease: a rare case and review of the literature

OBJECTIVE: Crohn’s Disease (CD) has been associated with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Follicular Lymphoma (FL) limited to the liver is extremely rare, accounting for 1% to 4.4% of all Primary Hepatic Lymphoma (PHL). CASE PRESENTATION: In 2018, an 85-years old male patient with post-operative recurrence of ileal CD referred rare episodes of fever and mild diffuse abdominal pain. Since cholecystectomy in 2001, clinical history was characterized by recurrent episodes of cholangitis and common bile duct stones. In 2018, ultrasonography and MRI showed a solid focal hepatic lesion (FHL)(4.5 cm x 2.5 cm) in the IV hepatic segment. The radiographic aspect of the lesion was unusual. Initially, focal nodular hyperplasia was suspected. Clinical history of cholangitis and radiological findings subsequently suggested a diagnosis of Hepatic Abscess (HA). A progressive enlargement of the FHL (7.3 cm x 5.8 cm) despite antibiotic treatments, led to perform a liver biopsy. Histological and immunophenotypi-cal analysis of the FHL (7.5 cm x 5.4 cm) enabled a final diagnosis of FL. The “in situ” hybridization for Epstein-Barr virus (EBER) was negative. No additional lesions related to FL were initially detected, thus suggesting a very rare case of PHL in an old patient with CD never treated with thiopurines. CONCLUSIONS: This case report highlights the need to consider a rare diagnosis of FL of the liver in patients showing a challenging focal hepatic lesion of unknown origin

SEEMP: A Semantic Interoperability Infrastructure for e-government services in the employment sector

This paper presents SEEMP, a marketplace to coordinate and integrate public and private employment services (ESs) around the EU Member States. The need for flexible collaboration in the marketplace gives rise to the issue of interoperability in both data exchange and share of services. SEEMP proposes a mixed approach that relies on the concepts of services and semantics. SEEMP approach combines Software Engineering and Semantic Web methodologies/tools in an infrastructure that allows for a meaningful service-based communication among ESs

Arthroscopic treatment of an unusual distal clavicle ostheochondroma causing rotator cuff impingement: Case report and literature review

Chronic shoulder impingement is one of the most common causes of shoulder pain. Intrinsic, extrinsic and secondary factors play a role in this syndrome; however the etiology of the pathology is still under debate. In rare cases, it can be caused by tumors, such as an osteochondroma. In the present study, a 49-year-old patient presented with shoulder pain for 6 months. Initially he underwent conservative treatment, without relief of symptoms. X-rays and MRI were then performed and showed the presence of an exostotic formation on the undersurface of the lateral third of the clavicle. The formation was arthroscopically removed. Histologic examination confirmed the diagnosis of osteochondroma. After surgery, the patient resumed fully activities with no symptoms within 3 months. At 1 year follow up, there are still no clinical or radiological signs of recurrence. This is, to our knowledge, the first case where an arthroscopic approach was used to remove an ostochondroma of the distal third of the clavicle

The Decrease of Uch-L1 Activity Is a Common Mechanism Responsible for Aβ 42 Accumulation in Alzheimer's and Vascular Disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a multifactorial pathology causing common brain spectrum disorders in affected patients. These mixed neurological disorders not only include structural AD brain changes but also cerebrovascular lesions. The main aim of the present issue is to find the factors shared by the two pathologies. The decrease of ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase L1 (Uch-L1), a major neuronal enzyme involved in the elimination of misfolded proteins, was observed in ischemic injury as well as in AD, but its role in the pathogenesis of AD is far to be clear. In this study we demonstrated that Uch-L1 inhibition induces BACE1 up-regulation and increases neuronal and apoptotic cell death in control as well as in transgenic AD mouse model subjected to Bengal Rose, a light-sensitive dye inducing that induces a cortical infarction through photo-activation. Under the same conditions we also found a significant activation of NF-κB. Thus, the restoration of Uch-L1 was able to completely prevent both the increase in BACE1 protein levels and the amount of cell death. Our data suggest that the Uch-L1-mediated BACE1 up-regulation could be an important mechanism responsible for Aβ peptides accumulation in vascular injury and indicate that the modulation of the activity of this enzyme could provide new therapeutic strategies in AD