Effects of DNA Extraction and Purification Methods on Real-Time Quantitative PCR Analysis of Roundup Ready Soybean

The quality of DNA affects the accuracy and repeatability of quantitative PCR results. Different DNA extraction and purification methods were compared for quantification of Roundup Ready (RR) soybean (event 40-3-2) by real-time PCR. DNA was extracted using cetylmethylammonium bromide (CTAB), DNeasy Plant Mini Kit, and Wizard Magnetic DNA purification system for food. CTAB-extracted DNA was also purified using the Zymo (DNA Clean & Concentrator 25 kit), Qtip 100 (Qiagen Genomic-Tip 100/G), and QIAEX II Gel Extraction Kit. The CTAB extraction method provided the largest amount of DNA, and the Zymo purification kit resulted in the highest percentage of DNA recovery. The Abs260/280 and Abs260/230 ratios were less than the expected values for some of the DNA extraction and purification methods used, indicating the presence of substances that could inhibit PCR reactions. Real-time quantitative PCR results were affected by the DNA extraction and purification methods used. Further purification or dilution of the CTAB DNA was required for successful quantification of RR soybean. Less variability of quantitative PCR results was observed among experiments and replications for DNA extracted and/or purified by CTAB, CTAB+Zymo, CTAB+Qtip 100, and DNeasy methods. Correct and repeatable results for real-time PCR quantification of RR soybean were achieved using CTAB DNA purified with Zymo and Qtip 100 methods.

Patient and caregiver perceptions of lymphoma care and research opportunities: A qualitative study

BACKGROUND

Although the number of lymphoma survivors has increased, the needs and research priorities of survivors and their caregivers rarely are examined and addressed. Determining the needs and priorities for this population requires an assessment of the attitudes and experiences of patients and caregivers. The authors conducted a qualitative study with lymphoma survivors and their caregivers to determine care needs and research priorities.

METHODS

In the first phase, 2 semistructured focus groups were conducted with 15 lymphoma survivors and their caregivers. In phase 2, a total of 19 individual semistructured telephone interviews were conducted with lymphoma survivors and their caregivers. In both phases, participants discussed cancer experiences and research priorities. All interviews were transcribed. MAXQDA software (version 18.0.8) was used for coding and identifying themes.

RESULTS

The majority of participants felt disconnected from their clinical care team due to a lack of communication. Focus group participants noted a lack of information regarding diagnoses, treatment, research, and survivorship care. Participants coped with fear through strong social support and fostering relationships with their clinical care teams. Some caregivers felt completely ignored by clinicians. Participants expressed interest in research, but had difficulty finding relevant studies. Several interviewees desired holistic and survivorship-oriented research and more studies regarding quality of life and mental health.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of the current study identified unmet needs in clinical care and patient-oriented research, including needs for a focus on quality of life after treatment, communication between patients and the scientific community, and emotional well-being. Health care professionals can use these data to provide care delivery, supportive services, and research that meets the needs of lymphoma survivors and their caregivers.

Age-specific characteristics of neutrophilic dermatoses and neutrophilic diseases in children

BACKGROUND

Our suggested 'modern' concepts of 'neutrophilic dermatoses' (ND) and 'neutrophilic disease' were based on observations in adult patients and have not been studied in paediatric patients. Only a minority of ND occurs in children, and little is known about age-specific characteristics.

OBJECTIVES

To describe age-specific characteristics of ND in children and to study whether our suggested 'modern' classification of ND may be applied to children.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective multicentre study in a French cohort of 27 paediatric patients diagnosed with pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) or Sweet's syndrome (SS).

RESULTS

Demographics and distribution of typical/atypical forms were similar in patients diagnosed with PG and SS. Atypical ND were more frequent in infants (90%), when compared to young children (60%) and adolescents (33%). Neutrophilic disease was observed in 17/27 patients and was most frequent in infants. Neutrophilic disease of the upper respiratory tract, as well as cardiac neutrophilic disease, was only observed in infants, whereas other locations were similarly found in infants, young children and adolescents. In infants and young children, ND were associated with a large spectrum of general diseases, whereas in adolescents associations were limited to inflammatory bowel disease and Behçet's disease.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study describes the concept of ND in paediatric patients and shows that they have some characteristics different from ND occurring in adults. ND occurring in infants can be associated with a large spectrum of general diseases. Occurrence of neutrophilic disease is frequent in children. Thus, ND occurring in young paediatric patients should incite clinicians to schedule complementary explorations in order to search for involvement of other organs and to rule out monogenetic autoinflammatory syndromes.

Incidence and outcomes of lymphoid malignancies in adolescent and young adult patients in the United States

Lymphoma incidence and survival in adolescent and young adult (AYA, defined as 15-39 years of age) and adult patients (>39 years) were assessed using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data. From 2000 to 2014, 431 721 lymphoma cases were reported to SEER, 9% in AYA patients. In the AYA group, the highest age-adjusted incidence rate was for classical Hodgkin lymphoma [HL; 3·4 per 100 000 person-years; 95% confidence interval (CI), 3·38-3·49] followed by diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL; 1·56, 95% CI, 1·53-1·60) and for adults, it was plasma cell neoplasms (14·17, 95% CI, 14·07-14·27), DLBCL (13·86, 95% CI, 13·76-13·96) and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL; 13·19, 95% CI, 13·09-13·29). HL comprised 42% of lymphoma cases for AYAs, but only 4% in adults. The occurrence of DLBCL among AYAs and adults was similar, 18% and 20%, respectively. Twenty-eight percent of AYAs compared with 9% of adults presented with stage II disease, and 21% of AYAs compared with 10% of adults had B-symptoms. Extranodal disease was less common (33%) in AYAs than adults (59%). Overall, AYA patients with lymphoma have better 2- and 5-year relative survival rates (RSRs) compared to adults. When restricted to HL and DLBCL, RSR of AYA patients exceeds adult RSR.

Evidence of Structure-Performance Relation for Surfactants Used as Antiagglomerants for Hydrate Management

Molecular dynamics simulations were employed to study the structure of molecularly thin films of antiagglomerants adsorbed at the interface between sII methane hydrates and a liquid hydrocarbon. The liquid hydrocarbon was composed of dissolved methane and higher-molecular-weight alkane such as n-hexane, n-octane, and n-dodecane. The antiagglomerants considered were surface-active compounds with three hydrophobic tails and a complex hydrophilic head that contains both amide and tertiary ammonium cation groups. The length of the hydrophobic tails and the surface density of the compounds were changed systematically. The results were analyzed in terms of the preferential orientation of the antiagglomerants, density distributions of various molecular compounds, and other molecular-level properties. At low surface densities, the hydrophobic tails do not show preferred orientation, irrespectively of the tail length. At sufficiently high surface densities, our simulations show pronounced differences in the structure of the interfacial film depending on the molecular features and on the type of hydrocarbons present in the system. Some antiagglomerants are found to pack densely at the interface and exclude methane from the interfacial region. Under these conditions, the antiagglomerant film resembles a frozen interface. The hydrophobic tails of the antiagglomerants that show this feature has a length comparable to that of the n-dodecane in the liquid phase. It is possible that the structured interfacial layer is in part responsible for determining the performance of antiagglomerants in flow-assurance applications. The simulation results are compared against experimental data obtained with the rocking cell apparatus. It was found that the antiagglomerants for which our simulations suggest evidence of a frozen interface at sufficiently high surface densities are those that show better performance in rocking cell experiments.

Inclusion of Radiation Environment Variability in Total Dose Hardness Assurance Methodology

Variability of the space radiation environment is investigated with regard to parts categorization for total dose hardness assurance methods. It is shown that it can have a significant impact. A modified approach is developed that uses current environment models more consistently and replaces the radiation design margin concept with one of failure probability during a mission.

Confined Water Determines Transport Properties of Guest Molecules in Narrow Pores

We computed the transport of methane through 1 nm wide slit-shaped pores carved out of solid substrates. Models for silica, magnesium oxide, and alumina were used as solid substrates. The pores were filled with water. The results show that the methane permeability through the hydrated pores is strongly dependent on the solid substrate. Detailed analysis of the simulated systems reveals that local properties of confined water, including its structure, and more importantly, evolution of solvation free energy and hydrogen bond structure are responsible for the pronounced differences observed. The simulations are extended to multicomponent systems representative of natural gas, containing methane, ethane, and H2S. The results show that all pores considered have high affinity for H2S, moderate affinity for methane, and low affinity for ethane. The H2S/methane transport selectivity through the hydrated alumina pore is comparable, or superior, to that reported for existing commercial membranes. A multiscale approach was then implemented to demonstrate that a Smoluchowski one-dimensional model is able to reproduce the molecular-level results for short pores when appropriate values for the local self-diffusion coefficients are used as input parameters. We propose that the model can be extended to predict methane transport through uniform hydrated pores of macroscopic length. When verified by experiments, our simulation results could have important implications in applications such as natural gas sweetening and predictions of methane migration through hydraulically fractured shale formations.

Integrating understanding of epidemiology and genomics in B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma as a pathway to novel management strategies

Non-Hodgkin lymphomas include a biologically and clinically heterogeneous group of cancers distinguished by genetics, histology, and treatment outcomes. New discoveries regarding the genomic alterations and epidemiological exposures associated with these lymphomas have enhanced our understanding of factors that contribute to lymphomagenesis for specific subtypes. We explore the impact of normal B-cell biology engineered for recognizing a wide variety of antigens on the development of specific lymphoma subtypes, review lymphoma genetics, and examine the epidemiology of B-cell NHLs including recent investigations of risk factors for particular lymphoma subtypes based on large pooled analyses. Burkitt lymphoma, an aggressive form of B-cell NHL involving translocation of the MYC gene and an immunoglobulin gene has been associated with a history of eczema, hepatitis C, and occupation as a cleaner. Increased risk of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma has been associated with increased young adult body mass index, history of B-cell-activating autoimmune diseases, hepatitis C, and several single nucleotide variants involving the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region of chromosome 6 and non-HLA loci near EXOC2, PVT1, MYC, and NCOA1. Tumor sequencing studies suggest that multiple pathways are involved in the development of DLBCL. Additional studies of epidemiological exposures, genome wide associations, and tumor sequencing in follicular, lymphoplasmacytic, marginal zone, and mantle cell lymphoma demonstrate overlapping areas of increased risk factors and unique factors for specific subtypes. Integrating these findings is important for constructing comprehensive models of NHL pathogenesis, which could yield novel targets for therapy and strategies for lymphoma prevention in certain populations.