30913 research outputs found
Sort by
RCAN1 Regulates Mitochondrial Function and Increases Susceptibility to Oxidative Stress in Mammalian Cells
Get PDFCopyright © 2014 Heshan Peiris et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Mitochondria are the primary site of cellular energy generation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation. Elevated ROS levels are detrimental to normal cell function and have been linked to the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders such as Down's syndrome (DS) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). RCAN1 is abundantly expressed in the brain and overexpressed in brain of DS and AD patients. Data from nonmammalian species indicates that increased RCAN1 expression results in altered mitochondrial function and that RCAN1 may itself regulate neuronal ROS production. In this study, we have utilized mice overexpressing RCAN1 and demonstrate an increased susceptibility of neurons from these mice to oxidative stress. Mitochondria from these mice are more numerous and smaller, indicative of mitochondrial dysfunction, and mitochondrial membrane potential is altered under conditions of oxidative stress. We also generated a PC12 cell line overexpressing RCAN1 . Similar to neurons, cells have an increased susceptibility to oxidative stress and produce more mitochondrial ROS. This study demonstrates that increasing RCAN1 expression alters mitochondrial function and increases the susceptibility of neurons to oxidative stress in mammalian cells. These findings further contribute to our understanding of RCAN1 and its potential role in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders such as AD and DS
A Laparoendoscopic Single-Site Surgery Approach to Mesh Sacrohysteropexy
Get PDFCopyright © 2013 Fariba Behnia-Willison et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Although laparoendoscopic single-site surgery (LESS) has spread across surgical disciplines, this has not been the case for the repair of uterovaginal prolapse. We describe the use of this technique for mesh sacrohysteropexy to correct a global prolapse classified as stage II on the pelvic organ prolapse quantification (POP-Q) system. The procedure involved intraoperative modification of a commercially available single incision port. At the 18 months followup, the patient was free of symptoms and had no objective prolapse
Local Uniform Convexity and Kadec-Klee Type Properties in -interpolation spaces II
No full textCopyright © 2004 Hindawi Publishing Corporation. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.We study local uniform convexity and Kadec-Klee type properties in K-interpolation spaces of Lorentz couples. We show that a wide class of Banach couples of (commutative and) non-commutative Lorentz spaces possess the (so-alled) (DGL)-property originally introduced by Davis, Ghoussoub and Lindenstrauss in the context of renorming order continuous Banach latties. This property is used as a key tool to show that local uniform convexity and certain Kadec-Klee type properties in non-commutative symmetric spaces of measurable operators may be inferred from corresponding properties of the parameter space of the K-interpolation method. Further applications are given to renorming properties of separable symmetric Banach function spaces and their non-commutative counterparts
Maxon is an Optimal Suture for Bile Duct Anastomoses in Pigs
Get PDFCopyright © 1993 Hindawi Publishing Corporation. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Background. Three commonly used sutures were tested in a pig model of bile duct anastomosis to assesstheir relative contributions to inflammation and scarring.Methods. Thirty pigs were randomised to bile duct division and anastomosis with either polyglyconate(Maxon), polyglactin 910 (Vicryl) or polypropylene (Prolene). Half the animals were sacrificed at twoweeks and the remainder at 23 weeks. Anastomoses were assessed by cholangiography, scanningelectron microscopy and light microscopy.Results. There was less short term histological reaction with the two monofilament materials, Proleneand Maxon, compared to the braided suture Vicryl. Maxon was associated with less long terminflammation than Prolene, was found to handle better, and has an advantage over Prolene by beingabsorbable.Conclusion. Maxon is an optimal suture for bile duct anastomoses. Its long term absorptioncharacteristics make it suitable for situations where bile duct healing may be delayed
Review of Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi, translated by Jonathan Wright.
Get PDFReview of Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi, translated by Jonathan Wright
Review of A Gesture of Reconciliation: Partnership Studies in Australian Literature by Antonella Riem.
Get PDFReview of A Gesture of Reconciliation: Partnership Studies in Australian Literature by Antonella Riem
The Power of Nothing(s): Parahumanity and Erasure in Indra Sinha’s Animal’s People
Get PDFIndra Sinha’s 2007 novel Animal’s People, a fictionalized account of the legacy of the Bhopal industrial disaster, centers on a young man who has been physically altered by a large-scale chemical spill that killed thousands and left countless more ill or disfigured. Left with a bent spine that necessitates walking on all fours, he is constantly teased by other children in his youth and dubbed with the epithet “Animal.” Rather than separate himself from this derogatory name, he embraces it and all that being an “Animal” entails, all but shunning his humanity and forming a strong, often vulgar personality in the process. In many ways, the character of Animal presents a case of what critic Monique Allewaert terms parahumanity. Parahumans exist on a horizontal plane alongside humans and animals, thereby subverting enlightenment organizational thinking that places a definite border between the two. The category of parahuman also stands in contrast to the posthuman as it reinforces one’s humanity while also refusing to rely on binary thinking. Animal represents this category as he consistently declares his inhumanity while maintaining traits that firmly cement his conditioned human nature, including his quest for sex, love, and occasional misogynistic attitudes. While critics have interrogated the posthuman nature of the character and Sinha’s text, they often rely on a hard definition of posthumanity that reflects prior definitions of humanity and neglects the subtlety inherent in such a complex narrative and its equally complex narrator. By situating Animal and the novel he inhabits within a more nuanced parahuman context it is possible to challenge the concepts of humanity and posthumanity while simultaneously deepening Allewaert’s concept of parahumanity
Complete ‘Voices from the Margins’ Special Feature
No full textComplete ‘Voices from the Margins’ Special Feature in one file (for downloading or printing
Circulating tumour DNA for monitoring colorectal cancer—a prospective cohort study to assess relationship to tissue methylation, cancer characteristics and surgical resection
Get PDF© The Author(s). 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.Abstract
Background
Cell-free circulating tumour-derived DNA (ctDNA) can be detected by testing for methylated BCAT1 and IKZF1 DNA, which has proven sensitivity for colorectal cancer (CRC). A prospective correlative biomarker study between presence of methylated BCAT1 and IKZF1 in tissue and blood was conducted in cases with CRC to explore how detection of such ctDNA biomarkers relates to cancer characteristics, methylation in tissue and surgical resection of the primary cancer.
Methods
Enrolled patients with invasive CRC had blood collected at diagnosis, prior to any treatment or surgery (peri-diagnostic sample). A subgroup of patients also had cancer and adjacent non-neoplastic tissue collected at surgical resection, as well as a second blood sample collected within 12 months of surgery (post-surgery sample). DNA was extracted from all samples and assayed for methylated BCAT1 and IKZF1 to determine the degree of methylation in tissue and the presence of ctDNA in blood.
Results
Of 187 cases providing peri-diagnostic blood samples, tissue was available in 91, and 93 provided at least one post-surgery blood sample for marker analysis. Significant methylation of either BCAT1 or IKZF1 was seen in 86/91 (94.5%) cancer tissues, with levels independent of stage and higher than that observed in adjacent non-neoplastic specimens (P < 0.001). ctDNA methylated in BCAT1 or IKZF1 was detected in 116 (62.0%) cases at diagnosis and was significantly more likely to be detected with later stage (P < 0.001) and distal tumour location (P = 0.004). Of the 91 patients who provided pre-and post-surgery blood samples, 47 patients were ctDNA-positive at diagnosis and 35 (74.5%) became negative after tumour resection.
Conclusion
This study has shown that BCAT1 and IKZF1 methylation are common events in CRC with almost all cancer tissues showing significant levels of methylation in the two genes. The presence of ctDNA in blood is stage-related and show rapid reversion to negative following surgical resection. Monitoring methylated BCAT1 and IKZF1 levels could therefore inform adequacy of surgical resection.
Trial registration
Australian New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry number
12611000318987
. Registered 25 March 2011