Ambulance destroyed after intersection collision

Surveillance video shows a car drive past a stop sign and into a Twin Township Ambulance on June 23, 2016. The broadside collision completely destroyed the patient care compartment.

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Microfluidic Buffer Exchange for Interference-free Micro/Nanoparticle Cell Engineering

This protocol describes the use of an inertial microfluidics-based buffer exchange strategy to purify micro/nanoparticle engineered cells with efficient depletion of unbound particles.

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Utility of Gleason pattern 4 morphologies detected on transrectal ultrasound (TRUS)-guided biopsies for prediction of upgrading or upstaging in Gleason score 3 + 4 = 7 prostate cancer

Abstract

Selected patients with Gleason score (GS) 3 + 4 = 7 prostate cancer (PCa) detected on transrectal ultrasound (TRUS)-guided biopsies may be considered for active surveillance (AS); however, a proportion of these will harbor more aggressive disease. The purpose of this study was to determine if morphologies of Gleason pattern 4 PCa may predict upgrading and/or upstaging after radical prostatectomy (RP). A database search for men with GS 3 + 4 = 7 PCa diagnosed on TRUS-guided biopsy that underwent RP between January 2010 and October 2015 identified 152 patients. Two blinded genitourinary pathologists independently reviewed the biopsies and assessed ill-defined glands (IDG), fused glands, small or large cribriform patterns, and glomerulations. Patient age, serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA), percentage (%) of biopsy sites involved by 3 + 4 = 7 PCa, and overall extent of pattern 4 were also recorded. GS and stage (presence or absence of extraprostatic extension [EPE]) were retrieved from RP reports. Data were compared using independent t tests and chi-square. Inter-observer agreement was calculated using Cohen's Kappa statistic. Percent of biopsy sites and extent of pattern 4 were compared to statistically significant morphologies using the Spearman correlation. 28.3 % (43/152) of patients were upgraded to GS >3 + 4 = 7 at RP (GS 4 + 3 = 7 [N = 17], GS 4 + 3 = 7 with tertiary pattern 5 [N = 25], and GS 4 + 5 = 9 [N = 1]) and 44.1 % (67/152) showed EPE after RP. PSA was associated with both upgrading (8.5 ± 5.4 vs. 6.9 ± 3.2 ng/mL, [p = 0.04]) and EPE (8.2 ± 4.6 vs. 6.7 ± 3.2 ng/mL, [p = 0.03]). IDG, fused glands, and glomerulations were not associated with upgrading or EPE (p > 0.05) with moderate to strong inter-observer agreement (K = 0.76–0.88). There was strong inter-observer agreement for small and large cribriform formations (K = 0.93 and 0.94, respectively) and both patterns were strongly associated with upgrading (p < 0.001) and EPE (p = 0.02) on RP. Strong associations were observed between increasing number of morphologies and both upgrading (p = 0.0.25) and EPE (p < 0.001). Overall extent of pattern 4 was associated with upgrading (p = 0.009) and EPE (p = 0.019) while percent of sites involved by GS 3 + 4 = 7 was only associated with EPE (p = 0.023). Cribriform morphology correlated to percentage of sites with 3 + 4 and overall extent of pattern 4 (rho = 0.25, p = 0.002, rho = 0.20, p = 0.015, respectively). Presence of cribriform morphology on TRUS-guided biopsy is strongly associated with upgrading and upstaging at RP and shows near-perfect inter-observer agreement whereas IDG, fused glands, and glomerulations were not useful. Cribriform morphology may be of importance when considering treatment plans for patients with intermediate risk PCa.

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Engineering Three-dimensional Epithelial Tissues Embedded within Extracellular Matrix

This manuscript describes a soft lithography-based technique to engineer uniform arrays of three-dimensional (3D) epithelial tissues of defined geometry surrounded by extracellular matrix. This method is amenable to a wide variety of cell types and experimental contexts and allows for high-throughput screening of identical replicates.

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Automated Lipid Bilayer Membrane Formation Using a Polydimethylsiloxane Thin Film

We demonstrate a storable, transportable lipid bilayer formation system. A lipid bilayer membrane can be formed within 1 hr with over 80% success rate when a frozen membrane precursor is brought to ambient temperature. This system will reduce laborious processes and expertise associated with ion channels.

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Effects of bypass system on PCDD/F emission and chlorine circulation in cement kilns

Abstract

A bypass at the kiln inlet allows the effective reduction of alkali chloride cycles and thus perhaps affects the emission of PCDD/Fs. Effects of bypass system on PCDD/F emission and chlorine circulation were studied in two typical dry cement kilns with 5000 ton/day clinker capacity in China and named CK1 and CK2, respectively. Firstly, the emission level of PCDD/Fs with the operation of bypass system was estimated in CK1, to certify that bypass system has a perfect adaption to the cement kiln regarding the PCDD/F emission even with the refuse derived fuel (RDF) as the replacement of fuel. On the other hand, the operating conditions in the CK2 were scrutinised by monitoring the concentrations of SO₂, NH₃ and HCl. In addition, the characteristics of raw meal, clinker, bag filter ash and bypass ash were also investigated by Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS), metal and chlorine analysis. The balance of chlorine showed that 18 % of the possible accumulated chlorine could be ejected from the cement kiln system when 2 % of kiln exhaust gas was extracted. Furthermore, the emission level of PCDD/Fs in the main flue gas also decreased from 0.037 ± 0.035 ng I-TEQ/Nm³ to 0.019 ± 0.007 ng I-TEQ/Nm³ with a reduction efficiency of 48.2 %. Most importantly, PCDD/F emission from the bypass system was proven to have rather minor effect on the total emission factor. The congener distributions of PCDD/Fs were also analysed in the flue gas and fly ash, before and after application of bypass system, to find cues to the formation mechanism.

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Somatic Hypermutation in Immunity and Cancer: Critical Analysis of Strand-Biased and Codon-Context Mutation Signatures

Publication date: Available online 10 July 2016
Source:DNA Repair
Author(s): Edward J. Steele
For 30 years two general mechanisms have competed to explain somatic hypermutation of immunoglobulin (Ig) genes. The first, the DNA-based model, is focussed only on DNA substrates. The modern form is the Neuberger "DNA Deamination Model" based on activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) and short-patch error-prone DNA repair by DNA Polymerase-η operating around AID C-to-U lesions. The other is an RNA-based mechanism or the "Reverse Transcriptase Model" of SHM which produces strand-biased mutations at A:T and G:C base pairs. This involves error-prone cDNA synthesis via an RNA-dependent DNA polymerase copying the Ig pre-mRNA template and integrating the now error-filled cDNA copy back into the normal chromosomal site. The modern form of this mechanism depends on AID dC-to-dU lesions and long tract error-prone cDNA synthesis of the transcribed strand by DNA Polymerase-η acting as a reverse transcriptase. The evidence for and against each mechanism is critically evaluated. The conclusion is that all the SHM molecular data gathered since 1980 supports directly or indirectly the RNA/RT-based mechanism. All the data and critical analyses are systematically laid out so the reader can evaluate this conclusion for themselves.Recently we have investigated whether similar RNA/RT-based mutator mechanisms explain how de novo mutations arise in somatic tissues (cancer genomes). The data analyses indeed suggest that cancers arise via dysregulated "Ig-like SHM responses" involving rogue DNA and RNA deaminations coupled to genome-wide RT events. Further, Robyn Lindley has recently shown that the strand-biased mutations in cancer genome genes are also in "codon-context." This has been termed Targeted Somatic Mutation (TSM) to highlight that mutations are far more targeted than previously thought in somatic tissues associated with disease. The TSM process implies an "in-frame DNA reader" whereby DNA and RNA deaminases at transcribed regions are guided in their mutagenic action, by the codon reading frame of the DNA.



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