Besides the conventional clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), papillary RCC (pRCC) is the second most common renal malignancy. Papillary RCCs can further be subdivided into two distinct subtypes. ...Although a clinical relevance of pRCC subtyping has been shown, little is known about the molecular characteristics of both pRCC subtypes.
We performed microarray-based microRNA (miRNA) expression profiling of primary ccRCC and pRCC cases. A subset of miRNAs was identified and used to establish a classification model for ccRCC, pRCC types 1 and 2 and normal tissue. Furthermore, we performed gene set enrichment analysis with the predicted miRNA target genes.
Only five miRNAs (miR-145, -200c, -210, -502-3p and let-7c) were sufficient to identify the samples with high accuracy. In a collection of 111 tissue samples, 73.9% were classified correctly. An enrichment of miRNA target genes in the family of multidrug-resistance proteins was noted in all tumours. Several components of the Jak-STAT signalling pathway might be targets for miRNAs that define pRCC tumour subtypes.
MicroRNAs are able to accurately classify RCC samples. Deregulated miRNAs might contribute to the high chemotherapy resistance of RCC. Furthermore, our results indicate that pRCC type 2 tumours could be dependent on oncogenic MYC signalling.
This study investigated the effects of feeding graded levels of sun-dried red grape pomace (GP; 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20%) on growth, carcass and meat physico-chemical quality attributes of Dohne Merino ...lambs for 42 days. Dry matter intake increased quadratically with a critical value (i.e., optimum inclusion level) of 11.3% GP (P ≤ 0.05). Diet exhibited similar quadratic responses for average daily gain, live, hot and cold carcass weights with optimum inclusion levels at 9.6, 9.7, 12, 2 and 12.1, respectively (P ≤ 0.05). Overall, meat quality traits were not negatively affected by GP inclusion (P > .05). Gross profit was influenced by diet, with an optimum inclusion level at 12.2% (quadratic; P ≤ 0.05). Overall, inclusion of 12.2% GP in lamb finishing diets at the expense of oat bran and wheat bran middlings improved lamb productivity, without compromising meat quality.
•The study evaluated the performance of lambs fed graded levels of dried grape pomace.•Feed intake, ADG and carcass weights were greatest between 9.6 and 12.2% grape pomace diet.•Gross margin returns were greatest for 12.2% grape pomace diet.•Overall, 12.2% grape pomace diet increased productivity, without affecting meat quality.
HIV-infected patients are at increased risk of coronary artery disease (CAD). We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of cardiac screening for HIV-positive men at intermediate or greater CAD risk.
We ...developed a lifetime microsimulation model of CAD incidence and progression in HIV-infected men.
Input parameters were derived from two HIV cohort studies and the literature. We compared no CAD screening with stress testing and coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA)-based strategies. Patients with test results indicating 3-vessel/left main CAD underwent invasive coronary angiography (ICA) and received coronary artery bypass graft surgery. In the stress testing + medication and CCTA + medication strategies, patients with 1-2-vessel CAD results received lifetime medical treatment without further diagnostics whereas in the stress testing + intervention and CCTA + intervention strategies, patients with these results underwent ICA and received percutaneous coronary intervention.
Compared to no screening, the stress testing + medication, stress testing + intervention, CCTA + medication, and CCTA + intervention strategies resulted in 14, 11, 19, and 14 quality-adjusted life days per patient and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios of 49,261, 57,817, 34,887 and 56,518 Euros per quality-adjusted life year (QALY), respectively. Screening only at higher CAD risk thresholds was more cost-effective. Repeated screening was clinically beneficial compared to one-time screening, but only stress testing + medication every 5 years remained cost-effective. At a willingness-to-pay threshold of 83,000 €/QALY (∼ 100,000 US$/QALY), implementing any CAD screening was cost-effective with a probability of 75-95%.
Screening HIV-positive men for CAD would be clinically beneficial and comes at a cost-effectiveness ratio comparable to other accepted interventions in HIV care.
To investigate muon-induced nuclear reactions leading to the production of radionuclides, targets made of C
9H
12, SiO
2, Al
2O
3, Al, S, CaCO
3, Fe, Ni, Cu, Gd, Yb and Tl were irradiated with 100 ...and 190 GeV muons in the NA54 experimental setup at CERN. The radionuclide concentrations were measured with accelerator mass spectrometry and γ-spectroscopy. Results are presented for the corresponding partial formation cross-sections. Several of the long-lived and short-lived radionuclides studied are also produced by fast cosmic ray muons in the atmosphere and at depths underground. Because of their importance to earth sciences investigations, calculations of the depth dependence of production rates by fast cosmic ray muons have been made.
Ruminally cannulated Rambouillet wether lambs were used in three 6 x 6 Latin square experiments (n = 6/experiment) to determine which essential AA limit N retention. Lambs (BW = 36.9 ± 1.9 kg for ...Exp. 1, 35.1 ± 1.4 kg for Exp. 2, and 46.0 ± 1.3 kg for Exp. 3) were housed in metabolism crates and limit-fed (DMI = approx. 1.8% of BW daily) twice daily a soybean hull-based diet low in ruminally undegradable protein. Treatments for Exp. 1 were continuous abomasal infusions of a solution (500 mL/d) containing 1) no AA (CON), 2) a mixture of 10 essential AA and 2 nonessential AA (10EAA), 3) 10EAA with Met removed, 4) 10EAA with Lys removed, 5) 10EAA with His removed, and 6) 10EAA with Thr removed. Treatments for Exp. 2 were abomasal infusions of 1) CON, 2) 10EAA, 3) 10EAA with Leu, Ile, and Val removed (-BCAA), 4) 10EAA with Arg removed, 5) 10EAA with Phe removed, and 6) 10EAA with Trp removed. Treatments for Exp. 3 were abomasal infusions of 1) CON, 2) 10EAA, 3) -BCAA, 4) 10EAA with Leu removed, 5) 10EAA with Ile removed, and 6) 10EAA with Val removed. All lambs received continuous infusions of acetate and propionate into the rumen and dextrose into the abomasum to supply additional energy. Periods were 7 d: 3 d for adaptation to abomasally infused treatments and 4 d for fecal and urinary collections. Blood samples were collected 3 h after feeding on d 7. In all 3 experiments, N retention was greater (P < 0.10) for lambs receiving 10EAA vs. CON, demonstrating that the basal AA supply from CON was limiting. Removal of each of the essential AA from 10EAA decreased (P < 0.10) their concentrations in plasma (except for Trp), indicating that 10EAA supplied these AA in excess of the animal's requirement. In Exp. 1, N retention (g/d) decreased (P < 0.10) in response to the removal of Met and Thr, but was not affected by removal of Lys and His from 10EAA. In Exp. 2, N retention decreased (P < 0.10) in response to removal of all 3 branched-chain AA, Arg, and Trp, whereas the removal of Phe from 10EAA did not affect N retention. In Exp. 3, N retention decreased (P < 0.10) in response to removal of branched-chain AA and Val, but was not affected by the omission of Leu and Ile from 10EAA. The results of this research demonstrated that Met, Thr, Arg, Trp, and Val limited N retention of lambs fed a diet low in ruminally undegradable protein.
•Effect of dried grape pomace (DGP) on nutrient utilization in lambs was evaluated.•aNDFom and starch intake declined linearly with increasing DGP levels.•Ammonia–nitrogen production decreased ...linearly with the addition of DGP.•Total volatile fatty acids production exhibited a quadratic response to DGP addition.•Microbial nitrogen supply decreased as the level of DGP increased in the diet.
The objective of the study was to evaluate the effects of feeding varying levels of sun–dried red grape pomace (DGP; Vitis vinifera L. cultivar Pinotage) on nutrient digestibility, rumen fermentation, microbial nitrogen (N) supply, N retention and efficiency of N utilization in lambs. Twenty-one Dohne Merino wether lambs (6.0 ± 1.0 months and 51.6 ± 4.70 kg initial body weight) were randomly assigned to three diets containing 0, 100 and 200 g DGP per kg of diet dry matter in pelleted total mixed rations (TMR). The experiment consisted of 14 days for adaptation to the diets and 7 days for data collection. Intake of neutral detergent fiber (aNDFom) and starch decreased linearly (P ≤ 0.05) while ether extract intake increased linearly (P ≤ 0.05) with the addition of DGP. Apparent total tract aNDFom digestibility decreased linearly (P ≤ 0.05) with increasing levels of DGP. Total volatile fatty acids (VFA) production was quadratically (P ≤ 0.05) influenced by DGP addition. Increasing levels of DGP led to a linear decrease (P ≤ 0.05) in concentrations of butyrate and valerate. Allantoin, microbial N supply, total purine derivatives excreted linearly declined (P ≤ 0.05) with DGP addition. Nitrogen retention and the efficiency of N utilization were not influenced by diet (P > 0.05). Overall, addition of DGP in the lamb finisher diets reduced carbohydrate intake, microbial N yield, total purine derivatives excreted and increased total VFA concentration but did not have adverse effect of DGP on N retention and the efficiency of N utilization.
This article uses theories of festival culture to interpret the 1912 Slet, or gymnastic festival, of the Czech nationalist gymnastic organization Sokol. The author analyses the various elements of ...the celebration to show how it drew upon traditions of European festival culture to promote a sense of national and Slavic solidarity. The article focuses on the high points of the multi-day celebration: the mass callisthenic display, which presented an idealized picture of the national body; the parade through Prague past throngs of cheering spectators, which demonstrated a form of national communication; and the mass theatrical event performed on the exercise field, which articulated the Slet's themes in dramatic form. The article concludes by showing how the messages encoded in the Slet were illusory, proving the argument of theorists of festival culture that festivals create idealized worlds at odds with the conditions of real life.
Wet and, to a lesser extent, dry deposition of atmospheric ¹²⁹I are known to represent the dominating processes responsible for ¹²⁹I in continental environmental samples that are remote from ¹²⁹I ...sources and not directly influenced by any liquid ¹²⁹I release of nuclear installations. Up to now, however, little is known about the major emitters and the related global deposition pattern of ¹²⁹I. In this work an overview over major sources of ¹²⁹I is given, and hitherto unknown time-dependent releases from these were estimated. Total gaseous ¹²⁹I releases from the US and former Soviet reprocessing facilities Hanford, Savannah River, Mayak, Seversk and Zheleznogorsk were found to have been 0.53, 0.27, 1.05, 0.23 and 0.14TBq, respectively. These facilities were thus identified as major airborne ¹²⁹I emitters. The global deposition pattern due to the ¹²⁹I released, depending on geographic latitude and longitude, and on time was studied using a box model describing the global atmospheric transport and deposition of ¹²⁹I. The model predictions are compared to ¹²⁹I concentrations measured by means of Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) in water samples that were collected from various lakes in Asia, Africa, America and New Zealand, and to published values. As a result, both pattern and temporal evolution of ¹²⁹I deposition values measured in and calculated for different types of environmental samples are, in general, in good agreement. This supports our estimate on atmospheric ¹²⁹I releases and the considered substantial transport and deposition mechanisms in our model calculations.