From farm to fork… and beyond! UV enhances Aryl hydrocarbon receptor-mediated activity of cruciferous vegetables in human intestinal cells upon colonic fermentation

While the "farm to fork" strategy ticks many boxes in the sustainability agenda, it does not go far enough in addressing how we can improve crop nutraceutical quality. Here, we explored whether supplementary ultraviolet (UV) radiation exposure during growth of broccoli and Chinese cabbage can induce bioactive tryptophan- and glucosinolate-specific metabolite accumulation thereby enhancing Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) activation in human intestinal cells. By combining metabolomics analysis of both plant extracts and in vitro human colonic fermentation extracts with AhR reporter cell assay, we reveal that human colonic fermentation of UVB-exposed Chinese cabbage led to enhanced AhR activation in human intestinal cells by 23% compared to plants grown without supplementary UV. Thus, by exploring aspects beyond "from farm to fork", our study highlights a new strategy to enhance nutraceutical quality of Brassicaceae, while also providing new insights into the effects of cruciferous vegetables on human intestinal health.

Variational analysis of inextensible elastic curves

We minimize elastic energies on framed curves which penalize both curvature and torsion. We also discuss critical points using the infinite dimensional version of the Lagrange multipliers’ method. Finally, some examples arising from the applications are discussed and also numerical experiments are presented.

778 THE IMPACT OF MUSCULOSKELETAL CONDITIONS AND FRAILTY ON THE ABILITY TO SELF-CARE OR BE IN RECEIPT OF CARE: A STUDY OF COMMUNITY-

Introduction

Musculoskeletal conditions (MSC) and frailty lead to a significant burden of disease in later life. Living independently remains the aim of older adults but ability to self-care or access care at home may hamper this. Our aim was to consider whether MSC (osteoporosis, sarcopenia, osteoarthritis) and frailty were associated with ability to self-care or influence access to formal/informal care among community-dwelling older adults.

Methods

Participants were recruited from an established cohort study of community-dwelling adults in the UK. Osteoporosis was assessed using Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry. Sarcopenia was assessed using EWSGOP2 criteria. Osteoarthritis of the hand, hip or knee was defined by clinical examination. Frailty was assessed using Fried criteria. Ability to self-care and access to formal/informal care were self-reported.

Results

443 men and women (median age 75.5 [IQR 73.5–77.9] years) participated. Osteoporosis affected (n = 74) 21.4% of participants, (n = 115) 26.8% had osteoarthritis, (n = 30) 8.6% had sarcopenia, and (n = 33) 7.6% were identified as frail. Most participants (n = 402 [90.7%]) reported no problems with self-care. Identical proportions of participants received informal (n = 53 [12%]) and formal (n = 53 [12%]) care at home in the previous year. Reporting difficulties with self-care was associated with clinical osteoarthritis (OR 3.48, 95% CI 1.63–7.43, p = 0.001) and frailty (5.29, 2.12–13.2, p < 0.001), but not with osteoporosis or sarcopenia. Receiving informal care at home in the past year was associated with osteoarthritis (2.56, 1.28–5.14, p = 0.008), the coexistence of two or more MSC (6.50, 1.66–25.39, p = 0.007), and frailty (6.25, 2.59–15.08, p < 0.001), but not with osteoporosis or sarcopenia alone. None of the conditions were associated with receiving formal care.

Conclusion

MSC are associated with informal receipt of care. Presence of two or more MSC convey similar informal care requirements to those living with frailty. Early assessment and management of MSC and frailty in clinical practice may reduce need for care and preserve independence.

Shift work amongst older UK workers and job exit

BACKGROUND

Night/shift work may be increasing but there are few data about the prevalence amongst older workers. With governments encouraging people to work to older ages, it is important to know how feasible night/shift work is for them and whether there are any adverse health consequences.

AIMS

Amongst current older workers (aged 50-64 years), to explore the prevalence of night/shift working and evaluate its health impacts and sustainability over 4 years of follow-up.

METHODS

Data from the Health and Employment After Fifty cohort were used to describe the demographic, job and health characteristics of men and women undertaking night/shift work. Longitudinal data were used to examine the number and nature of exits annually thereafter.

RESULTS

Amongst the 5409 working at baseline, 32% reported night/shift work in sectors which differed by sex. Night/shift workers were more likely to be: current smokers; doing physically demanding work; struggling to cope at work; dissatisfied with their hours; depressed; sleeping poorly; rating their health poorly. Women whose job involves night work were more likely to exit the workforce over 4 years.

CONCLUSIONS

Almost one in three contemporary UK older workers report night/shift work. We found some evidence of adverse impacts on health, sleep and well-being and higher rates of job exit amongst women. More research is needed but night/shift work may be challenging to sustain for older workers and could have health consequences.

Experimental observation of Faraday waves in soft gels

We report the experimental observation of Faraday waves on soft gels. These were obtained using agarose in a mechanically vibrated cylindrical container. Low driving frequencies induce subharmonic standing waves with spatial structure that conforms to the geometry of the container. We report the experimental observation of the first 15 resonant Faraday wave modes that can be defined by the mode number (n,ℓ) pair. We also characterize the shape of the instability tongue and show the complex dependence upon material properties can be understood as an elastocapillary effect.

Applied health communication training as active methodologies in undergraduate medical

Background

Health education plays a fundamental role in the formation of critical and reflective health professionals, preparing them to transcend theories and experience challenging practices. For the educator, it is unique to guide the way that can transform a gap in the undergraduate medical education into a possibility of positive action. It was in this sense that the health communication training was developed, supported by theory of neurolinguistics and techniques of emotional intelligence. Teachers of the Communication, Leadership and Management Skills (speech therapist, psychologist, nurse, doctor, dentist) programmed a training to work with students, all from the second year of the undergraduate medical course, to stimulate verbal communication. and nonverbal. Six experiential activities were used in the classroom, detailing: Activity 1 - Assertive Communication;. Activity 2 - Consensus Groups. Activity 3 - Nonverbal Communication. Activity 4 - Body Shapes. Activity 5 - Perception of the Other.

Objective

This qualitative descriptive study aimed to report the experience of a trainning on the topic of health communication held in an institution of the public higher education system in Brazil with the purpose of promoting innovation in the education of medical students.

Results

Faced with activities like this, we realize that students go through a process of breaking paradigms, which significantly influences their way of thinking. Initial training should provide adequate support to students from the perspective of the knowledge spiral. From the generalist content, with the evolution of the undergraduate years, the student perfects and deepens his reflections, in a continuous process of meanings.

Conclusions

The training of verbal and nonverbal communication with medical students satisfactorily developed skills in personal interaction, behavioral, empathy, self-perception.

Key messages

This work represents a breakthrough in the field of health education towards producing technology for health professionals. Among the challenges of the 21st century is the use of new teaching methodologies that address the demands of world health problems.

Parametric Amplification and Noise Squeezing in Room Temperature Atomic Vapors

We report on the use of parametric excitation to coherently manipulate the collective spin state of an atomic vapor at room temperature. Signatures of the parametric excitation are detected in the ground-state spin evolution. These include the excitation spectrum of the atomic coherences, which contains resonances at frequencies characteristic of the parametric process. The amplitudes of the signal quadratures show amplification and attenuation, and their noise distribution is characterized by a strong asymmetry, similar to those observed in mechanical oscillators. The parametric excitation is produced by periodic modulation of the pumping beam, exploiting a Bell-Bloom-like technique widely used in atomic magnetometry. Notably, we find that the noise squeezing obtained by this technique enhances the signal-to-noise ratio of the measurements up to a factor of 10, and improves the performance of a Bell-Bloom magnetometer by a factor of 3.

A Case of Cavernous Haemangioma of the Spleen

The clinical and pathological data of a case of cavernous haemangioma of the spleen are reported. The diagnostic value of scanning in the present case is discussed.

Breast Carcinoma with Osteoclast-Like Giant Cells: Immunohistochemical and Ultrastructural Study of a Case and Review of the Literature

We describe an unusual case of infiltrating ductal carcinoma, not otherwise specified, containing numerous benign stromal osteoclast giant cells (OGCs). Macroscopically, the tumor appeared as a well-outlined dark brown mass and was initially interpreted as a benign lesion on the mammograms. OGCs were uniformly distributed in the tumor and were found in vascularized, hemorrhagic stroma often abutted on the nests of tumor cells. Electron microscopy supported a histiocytic origin of the OGCs, but immunohistochemistry failed to confirm the observation. The patient was alive and well 30 months following the operation. A review of the literature concerning breast carcinoma with OGCs is also presented.

Metastatic Cervical Carcinoma Presenting as Primary Thyroid Cancer. Case Report

Secondary neoplasm of the thyroid mimicking a primary thyroid lesion is a very rare finding. A case of squamous and anaplastic cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix metastatic to the thyroid is described.

Quantitative Determination of Mammary Tumor Virus in Individual Samples of Mouse Milk

The possibility to determine quantitatively the intact mammary tumor virus (MTV) in milk of mice carrying milk-transmitted MTV has been assayed by a method that allows direct comparison between individual milk samples. The method is based on (a) the measure of light scattering of partially purified MTV preparations, (b) the use of milk from genetically identical MTV free mice as blank and (c) the quantitative reference to the total protein content of whole milk. The sensitivity, specificity and reproducibility of the procedure, as well as the requirement of appropriate quantitative references, are illustrated and discussed. BALB/c (MTV free), BALB/cfC3H, and BALB/cfRIII mice have been used.

HPV Testing and Pap Test: Role for a Combined Approach in a Non-Screened Population

The aim of the present study was to test the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as a tool to identify human papillomavirus (HPV) in routine cytological samples scraped from the uterine cervix. Moreover, attention has been focused on the correlation between HPV types and early intraepithelial lesions. The study involved 586 women who had undergone conventional Pap test. Analysis of HPV infection was performed by PCR and HPV typing by dot blot. In a group of 78 cases histologically diagnosed as high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSILs), the cytological diagnosis was correct in 92.3% and the HPV test was positive in 89.8% of cases; combined positivity at Pap and/or HPV tests raised this figure to 99.0%. In a group of 67 cases histologically diagnosed as low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSILs), the cytological diagnosis was correct in 73.1% and the PCR-based HPV test was positive in 64.2%; combined positivity at Pap and/or HPV tests raised this figure to 91.0%. This study confirms the limitations of screening programs based on Pap test only. Our results suggest, in fact, that adding the HPV test to primary screening could increase the yield of preinvasive cervical lesions.

Insulin-Like Growth Factor II (IGF-II) Immunohistochemistry in Breast Cancer: Relationship with the Most Important Morphological and Biochemical Prognostic Parameters

Recent in situ hybridization experiments have shown a high content of IGF-II mRNA in breast cancer stroma. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between IGF-II protein expression and several prognostic parameters in 75 infiltrating ductal carcinomas (IDC) of the breast. Tissue sections were evaluated for proliferative activity, IGF-II protein, ER, PgR, p53, and p21 expression using immunohistochemical procedures. The degree of stromal proliferation was assessed. Menopausal status, axillary lymph node involvement and nuclear grade were known. Thirty-five patients (44.3%) were premenopausal and 47 (62.6%) had lymph node metastases. Marked stromal proliferation was found in 34 (45.3%) specimens and high nuclear grade in 20 (26.5%). Eighteen tumors (24%) showed no IGF-II immunostaining. In the positive cases, IGF-II was detected both in the tumor stroma and in the cytoplasm of epithelial cancer cells: a high IGF-II content was found in 12 specimens (16.0%), a low content in 14 (18.7%) and a moderate content in 31 (41.3%). Twenty-four tumors (32.0%) showed high proliferative activity. Both ER and PgR were expressed in the nucleus of cancer cells: 49 tumors (65.3%) were ER positive (ER+) and 34 (45.3%) PgR positive (PgR+). p21 protein was detected in 37 tumors (49.6%) and p53 in 12 (16%). IGF-II protein was not correlated with menopausal status, lymph node metastases, nuclear grade, proliferative activity, ER or p53. In contrast, IGF-II correlated strongly with stromal proliferation (p=0.008), PgR (p=0.03) and p21 (p=0.01). This study demonstrates that in IDC of the breast IGF-II protein is expressed in the epithelium and stroma of the majority of tumors and is correlated with stromal amount, PgR and p21 expression. These preliminary results indicate that IGF-II expression in breast cancer is connected with two important regulators of breast cancer growth and differentiation.

Interobserver Reproducibility of Immunohistochemical Her-2/Neu Assessment in Human Breast Cancer: An Update from INQAT round III

The clinical interest in HER-2/neu is related to trastuzumab, a drug used to treat patients with invasive breast carcinoma overexpressing the HER-2/neu protein. It is very important to correctly identify those patients who may benefit from trastuzumab by accurate assessment of the HER-2/neu status. Of the various methods available, the Dako Herceptest for immunohistochemical assay is considered the most reliable to reach this goal. The aim of this study was to investigate within a group of Italian laboratories the reproducibility of the results of HER-2/neu assessment by means of the Dako scoring system on slides stained with the Herceptest kit. This study was also conceived as the continuation of one of our previous studies, which was similar in its aims but different in the classification criteria adopted. Our results show that, whereas the intra-observer reproducibility was generally satisfactory, the interobserver reproducibility was not. Moreover, our findings confirm that the two extreme classes (0 and 3+) are more easy to identify than the other two and that the Herceptest does not allow to discriminate optimally between scoring classes 2+ and 3+. These findings are relevant in clinical practice where the treatment choice is based on categories defined by this assay, suggesting the need of adopting educational programs and/or new reference materials to improve the assay performance.

Abstract P1-03-07: The "panta rhei" of breast cancer: Gene expression timeline analysis during progression of microinvasive breast cancer microenvironment

Background. Tumors develop by progression through a series of stages. It is now widely accepted that cancer is attributed to the accumulation of genetic alterations in cells. Every cells of the tumor microenvironment is constantly changing in the flow of the cancer progression. A number of genes have been identified as having functions in various stages of progression in promoting cancer progression in experimental models. However, the association between gene expression alterations and resulting phenotypic alterations with respect to the aggressiveness and migration potential of cancer cells is not fully understood. Therefore, elucidation of genotype–phenotype correlation will be required to further understand the complex process of progression and invasion. All tumors require at least some stroma to meet their needs of nutrition, waste removal, and structure. It has become clear in recent years that stroma is essential for tumor maintenance and growth and has potential as a therapeutic target. Here, we aimed to give a chronological order of gene expression changes given in the dynamical framework of microinvasive breast cancer microenvironment.

Materials and Methods. RNA-seq (Ion Proton technology) was performed on three microinvasive breast cancers, applying new modifications to the usual protocol. For each of them we microdissected 7 different portions of the tumor (around 200 cells), 4 related to the breast epithelium and 3 to the stroma. The regions were selected on the basis of their grade of progression. Breast epithelium was chronologically subdivided in normal breast epithelium (NBE), carcinoma in situ (CIS), emerging invasive fingers (EIF) and invasive breast cancer (IBC). For each of the breast epithelium subdivisions we collected the adjacent stroma (S) except for the in situ portion: S-NBE, S-EIF and S-IBC.

Results: Whole transcriptome analysis performed on each microdissected regions reveals a series of gene expression changes occurring during cancer progression in the breast epithelium along with the adjacent stroma. The dendogram analysis, based on the whole gene expression data of each patient revealed a perfect group organization of the various microdissected portions of stroma and mammary epithelium. Within the dendogram, the organization of Normal, In Situ, EIF and Invasive tissue respected perfectly the biological assumptions.

Conclusions: More thorough analyses are needed to give a clear view of the flow of molecular events starting from the normal breast epithelium to the microinvasive stage, as well as to give a better understanding of the stroma-epithelium molecular means of communication. The analysis of all the molecular changes occuring in the breast epithelium and in the stroma of microinvasive cancer could lead to the development of new therapeutic targets.

Citation Format: Lessi F, Scatena C, Aretini P, Menicagli M, Franceschi S, Ortenzi V, La Ferla M, De Gregorio V, Bevilacqua G, Naccarato GA, Mazzanti CM. The "panta rhei" of breast cancer: Gene expression timeline analysis during progression of microinvasive breast cancer microenvironment. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Eighth Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2015 Dec 8-12; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-03-07.

Top Quark Pair Production in Association with a Jet with Next-to-Leading-Order QCD Off-Shell Effects at the Large Hadron Collider

We present a complete description of top quark pair production in association with a jet in the dilepton channel. Our calculation is accurate to next-to-leading order (NLO) in QCD and includes all nonresonant diagrams, interferences, and off-shell effects of the top quark. Moreover, nonresonant and off-shell effects due to the finite W gauge boson width are taken into account. This calculation constitutes the first fully realistic NLO computation for top quark pair production with a final state jet in hadronic collisions. Numerical results for differential distributions as well as total cross sections are presented for the Large Hadron Collider at 8 TeV. With our inclusive cuts, NLO predictions reduce the unphysical scale dependence by more than a factor of 3 and lower the total rate by about 13% compared to leading-order QCD predictions. In addition, the size of the top quark off-shell effects is estimated to be below 2%.

Immunohistochemical markers of neural progenitor cells in the early embryonic human cerebral cortex

The development of the human central nervous system represents a delicate moment of embryogenesis. The purpose of this study was to analyze the expression of multiple immunohistochemical markers in the stem/progenitor cells in the human cerebral cortex during the early phases of development. To this end, samples from cerebral cortex were obtained from 4 human embryos of 11 weeks of gestation. Each sample was formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded and immunostained with several markers including GFAP, WT1, Nestin, Vimentin, CD117, S100B, Sox2, PAX2, PAX5, Tβ4, Neurofilament, CD44, CD133, Synaptophysin and Cyclin D1. Our study shows the ability of the different immunohistochemical markers to evidence different zones of the developing human cerebral cortex, allowing the identification of the multiple stages of differentiation of neuronal and glial precursors. Three important markers of radial glial cells are evidenced in this early gestational age: Vimentin, Nestin and WT1. Sox2 was expressed by the stem/progenitor cells of the ventricular zone, whereas the postmitotic neurons of the cortical plate were immunostained by PAX2 and NSE. Future studies are needed to test other important stem/progenitor cells markers and to better analyze differences in the immunohistochemical expression of these markers during gestation.

A room-temperature alternating current susceptometer--data analysis, calibration, and test

An AC susceptometer operating in the range of 10 Hz to 100 kHz and at room temperature is designed, built, calibrated, and used to characterize the magnetic behaviour of coated magnetic nanoparticles. Other weakly magnetic materials (in amounts of some millilitres) can be analyzed as well. The setup makes use of a digital acquisition system in order to determine the amplitude and the phase of the sample magnetization as a function of the frequency of the driving magnetic field, which is powered by a digital waveform generator. A specific acquisition strategy makes the response directly proportional to the sample susceptibility, taking advantage of the differential nature of the coil assembly. A calibration method based on conductive samples is developed.

p53 nuclear accumulation in preneoplastic lesions and stage I uterine endometrioid adenocarcinoma

A total of 118 endometrial neoplastic and preneoplastic lesions comprising 43 uterine endometrioid adenocarcinoma at stage I, 40 complex (adenomatous) hyperplasias and 35 atypical hyperplasias were examined for p53 nuclear accumulation to assess the incidence of p53 alterations in infiltrating carcinomas and to verify if p53 aberrations may allow the identification of a subset of premalignant cases with high risk of progression. No specific immunostaining was observed in the cases of complex hyperplasia without atypias. One (3%) of 35 atypical hyperplasias showed focal areas of p53 immuno-reactivity. The overall frequency of p53 overexpression in endometrial carcinomas was 54%. The distribution of cases with nuclear accumulation of p53 was significantly different (p=0.01) in tumours with different degree of invasiveness. In addition, p53 nuclear accumulation was observed more often in tumours with moderate (G2) or poor differentiation (G3) (p=0.03). Our data indicate that p53 aberrations are not early events in endometrial carcinogenesis and may be related with tumour progression and aggressiveness.

Stray magnetic field compensation with a scalar atomic magnetometer

We describe a system for the compensation of time-dependent stray magnetic fields using a dual channel scalar magnetometer based on nonlinear Faraday rotation in synchronously optically pumped Cs vapor. We detail the active control strategy, with an emphasis on the electronic circuitry, based on a simple phase-locked-loop integrated circuit. The performance and limits of the system developed are tested and discussed. The system was applied to significantly improve the detection of free induction decay signals from protons of remotely magnetized water precessing in an ultralow magnetic field.

Dominant QCD backgrounds in Higgs boson analyses at the LHC: a study of pp --> tt + 2 jets at next-to-leading order

We report the results of a next-to-leading order simulation of top quark pair production in association with two jets. With our inclusive cuts, we show that the corrections with respect to leading order are negative and small, reaching 11%. The error obtained by scale variation is of the same order. Additionally, we reproduce the result of a previous study of top quark pair production in association with a single jet.

All-optical magnetometry for NMR detection in a micro-Tesla field and unshielded environment

An all-optical atomic magnetometer is used to detect a proton free-precession signal from a water sample polarized in a 0.7 T field and remotely analyzed in a 4 microT field. Nuclear spins are manipulated either by pi/2 pulses or by non-adiabatic rotation. The magnetometer operates at room temperature, in an unshielded environment and has a dual-channel sensor for differential measurements.

Two mutations of BRCA2 gene at exon and splicing site in a woman who underwent oncogenetic counseling

BACKGROUND

Although most BRCA sequence variants are clearly deleterious and unequivocally pathogenetic, several are still classified as variants of unknown significance.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We followed families undergoing oncogenetic counseling from risk identification to risk definition by genetic testing and risk management.

RESULTS

We identified two germline mutations in the BRCA2 gene in a woman with breast and ovarian cancer. One sequence alteration was 859/G>A in exon 7 (V211I). The other second sequence alteration (IVS13-2A>T) affected the splicing site in intron 13. The latter alteration is not yet listed in the Breast Cancer Information Core database. RT-PCR resulted in transcription of a sequence lacking exon 7 and a subsequent anomalous stop codon in exon 9 thereby confirming altered messenger RNA (mRNA) maturation. Amplification of the mutation in intron 13 resulted in transcription of a sequence lacking exon 14 and an anomalous stop codon in exon 15 thereby confirming altered mRNA maturation. Both mutations led to a truncated BRCA2 protein in its carboxy-terminal region.

CONCLUSION

The two BRCA2 mutations identified affect mRNA splicing fidelity and play a pathogenetic role in breast and ovarian cancer.

KRAS mutation testing for predicting response to anti-EGFR therapy for colorectal carcinoma: proposal for an European quality assurance program

Novel therapeutic agents targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) have improved outcomes for patients with colorectal carcinoma. However, these therapies are effective only in a subset of patients. Activating mutations in the KRAS gene are found in 30-40% of colorectal tumors and are associated with poor response to anti-EGFR therapies. Thus, KRAS mutation status can predict which patient may or may not benefit from anti-EGFR therapy. Although many diagnostic tools have been developed for KRAS mutation analysis, validated methods and standardized testing procedures are lacking. This poses a challenge for the optimal use of anti-EGFR therapies in the management of colorectal carcinoma. Here we review the molecular basis of EGFR-targeted therapies and the resistance to treatment conferred by KRAS mutations. We also present guideline recommendations and a proposal for a European quality assurance program to help ensure accuracy and proficiency in KRAS mutation testing across the European Union.