Search for dijet resonances in 7 TeV pp collisions at CMS

A search for narrow resonances in the dijet mass spectrum is performed using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.9 pb⁻¹ collected by the CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Upper limits at the 95% confidence level are presented on the product of the resonance cross section, branching fraction into dijets, and acceptance, separately for decays into quark-quark, quark-gluon, or gluon-gluon pairs. The data exclude new particles predicted in the following models at the 95% confidence level: string resonances, with mass less than 2.50 TeV, excited quarks, with mass less than 1.58 TeV, and axigluons, colorons, and E6 diquarks, in specific mass intervals. This extends previously published limits on these models.

Prevalence and predictors of loss of wild type BRCA1 in estrogen receptor positive and negative BRCA1-associated breast cancers

Introduction

The majority of breast cancers that occur in BRCA1 mutation carriers (BRCA1 carriers) are estrogen receptor-negative (ER-). Therefore, it has been suggested that ER negativity is intrinsic to BRCA1 cancers and reflects the cell of origin of these tumors. However, approximately 20% of breast cancers that develop in BRCA1 carriers are ER-positive (ER+); these cancers are more likely to develop as BRCA1 carriers age, suggesting that they may be incidental and unrelated to BRCA1 deficiency. The purpose of this study was to compare the prevalence of loss of heterozygosity due to loss of wild type (wt) BRCA1 in ER+ and ER- breast cancers that have occurred in BRCA1 carriers and to determine whether age at diagnosis or any pathologic features or biomarkers predict for loss of wt BRCA1 in these breast cancers.

Methods

Relative amounts of mutated and wt BRCA1 DNA were measured by quantitative polymerase chain reaction performed on laser capture microdissected cancer cells from 42 ER+ and 35 ER- invasive breast cancers that developed in BRCA1 carriers. BRCA1 gene methylation was determined on all cancers in which sufficient DNA was available. Immunostains for cytokeratins (CK) 5/6, 14, 8 and 18, epidermal growth factor receptor and p53 were performed on paraffin sections from tissue microarrays containing these cancers.

Results

Loss of wt BRCA1 was equally frequent in ER+ and ER- BRCA1-associated cancers (81.0% vs 88.6%, respectively; P = 0.53). One of nine cancers tested that retained wt BRCA1 demonstrated BRCA1 gene methylation. Age at diagnosis was not significantly different between first invasive ER+ BRCA1 breast cancers with and without loss of wt BRCA1 (mean age 45.2 years vs 50.1 years, respectively; P = 0.51). ER+ BRCA1 cancers that retained wt BRCA1 were significantly more likely than those that lost wt BRCA1 to have a low mitotic rate (odds ratio (OR), 5.16; 95% CI, 1.91 to ∞). BRCA1 cancers with loss of wt BRCA1 were more likely to express basal cytokeratins CK 5/6 or 14 (OR 4.7; 95% CI, 1.85 to ∞).

Conclusions

We found no difference in the prevalence of loss of wt BRCA1 between ER+ and ER- invasive BRCA1-associated breast cancers. Our findings suggest that many of the newer therapies for BRCA1 breast cancers designed to exploit the BRCA1 deficiency in these cancers may also be effective in ER+ cancers that develop in this population.

Obesity of TallyHO/JngJ mouse is due to increased food intake with early development of leptin resistance

TALLYHO/JngJ (TallyHo) mouse is a recently established animal model for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with phenotypes of mild obesity and male-limited hyperglycemia. In this study, we investigated how obesity develops in TallyHo mice by measuring parameters of food intake and energy expenditure. At 4 weeks of age, TallyHo mice were heavier than control C57BL/6 mice with increased food intake but comparable energy expenditure parameters, such as body temperature, cold-induced thermogenesis, oxygen consumption rate (VO(2)) and spontaneous locomotor activity. Furthermore, pair-fed TallyHo mice, which were fed the same amount of food as C57BL/6 mice, showed similar patterns of body weight gain to C57BL/6 mice at all ages, implying that obesity in TallyHo mice may develop by increased food intake but not by decreased energy consumption. TallyHo mice appear to have hypothalamic leptin resistance at 4 weeks of age, as indicated by the increased expression of orexigenic neuropeptides in the hypothalamus and no alteration of food intake and neuropeptide expression upon intravenous leptin treatment. Leptin injection to TallyHo mice, however, increased the phosphorylation of STAT3 and Akt, an important signaling mediator of leptin, in a pattern similar to that in C57BL/6 mice. In conclusion, increased food intake is a crucial component in the development of obesity in TallyHo mice, in which central leptin resistance, possibly caused by uncoupling between activation of leptin signaling and neuropeptide expression, might be involved.

Ovarian leiomyoma as a potential cause of compromised fertility

OBJECTIVE

To analyze cases of ovarian leiomyomas and to discuss the proper surgical management.

DESIGN

A case series and discussion.

SETTING

General university hospital and healthcare center.

PATIENT(S)

Nine patients who were diagnosed with ovarian leiomyomas after surgery between 1993 and 2009.

INTERVENTION(S)

None.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S)

A preoperative diagnosis that was matched to the postoperative diagnosis and the type of surgery.

RESULT(S)

In all cases, ovarian leiomyoma was misdiagnosed preoperatively as pedunculated uterine myoma, ovarian fibroma, or even ovarian endometrioma. Seven (77.8%) of the nine patients underwent a salpingo-oophorectomy or an oophorectomy with or without hysterectomy, and only two (22.2%) patients were submitted to an ovary-preserving surgery (i.e., a cystectomy or ovarian wedge resection).

CONCLUSION(S)

Because of their extreme rarity, ovarian leiomyomas are seldom suspected intraoperatively or preoperatively. However, most of these tumors appear at reproductive age and have a benign nature, similar to uterine myomas. Therefore, surgeons should perform ovary-preserving management, especially in young patients.

Development of murine leukemia virus-based retroviral vectors with a minimum possibility of cis-activation

The possibility of insertional mutagenesis in retroviral gene therapy can be reduced by using a vector lacking the enhancer sequence present in the U3 of the long-terminal repeats. However, such vectors suffer from many pitfalls. We attempted to improve a murine leukemia virus-based retroviral vector containing the enhancer-free U3, first by making it easier to construct a producer line and then by introducing the cellular RPL10 promoter as an internal promoter. The reverse orientation of the expression cassette of the transgene was found to give higher transducing titer and higher-level gene expression. The deletion analysis revealed that the 54-bp-long sequence of U3 (34 and 20 bp present at 5' and 3' extreme ends, respectively) was sufficient for the functions of retroviral vectors. The data from the in vitro cell culture assay indicated that the final construct, ROK, containing all these features, had little cis-activation activity, even if it was placed right upstream from the RNA start site of the neighboring gene. Our data suggested that the newly developed vector might provide increased safety, while still producing high viral titer from a stable producer line and high-level gene expression in various target cells including human CD34(+) stem cells.

Mutations in SOHLH1 gene associate with nonobstructive azoospermia

In a previous study, we found SOHLH1 (spermatogenesis and oogenesis-specific basic helix-loop-helix 1) as the first testis-specific basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor essential for spermatogonial differentiation. SOHLH1 therefore represents an excellent candidate gene for testicular failure such as nonobstructive azoospermia (NOA). We analyzed whether there were mutations in the SOHLH1 gene in 96 Korean patients with NOA. The sequence analysis discovered three novel variations: one intronic variant (c.346-1G>A), and two nonsynonymous exonic variants (c.91T>C and c.529C>A) with known single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), which included six intronic variants, two synonymous, and two nonsynonymous variants. We examined the consequences of mutations in SOHLH1 using in vivo and in vitro assays. Analysis of transcripts from minigenes carrying the c.346-1G>A revealed that splicing site variation leads to the partial deletion at a cryptic splicing site within exon 4. This deletion results in SOHLH1 with a truncated bHLH domain. Transient transfection assay showed that the SOHLH1 mutant with the truncated domain disrupted the transcriptional activity of KIT promoter, whereas two missense mutations harboring either p.Arg37Gln or p.Pro269Ser did not have a significant effect on its transactivation. Our findings indicate that a splice-acceptor site mutation that probably causes a nonfunctional SOHLH1 protein results in nonobstructive azoospermia by the lack of normal spermatogenesis.

A case of systemic lupus erythematosus presenting as malignant hypertension with hypertensive retinopathy

The variability of cardiovascular abnormalities is one of the characteristics of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Among the cardiovascular manifestations, hypertension is reported in 14% to 58.1% of patients in diverse ethnic populations, and remains a clinically important issue due to its close relationship with early mortality in patients with SLE. The development of hypertension in patients with SLE has been associated with advanced lupus-related renal disease and the medications used for the treatment of lupus. Malignant hypertension is a serious complication of hypertension; it rarely occurs in patients with SLE. However, it can occur in patients with other complicated medical conditions such as the antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (APS) or cardiac tamponade. Here, we report the case of a patient with SLE and malignant hypertension with hypertensive retinopathy that initially presented without clinical evidence of APS or hypertensive nephropathy.

Living donor liver transplantation for acute hepatic failure caused by reactivation of hepatitis B virus infection after chemotherapy for hematologic malignancy: case reports

Cancer chemotherapy in chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers occasionally leads to acute hepatic failure (AHF) from viral reactivation resulting in an high mortality rate. In this situation, living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) can be life saving. Herein we have reported 2 cases of successful LDLT performed for AHF caused by reactivation of HBV infection during chemotherapy for hematologic malignancies. In case 1, a 38-year-old male HBV carrier with a neck mass was hisopathologically diagnosed as Hodgkin's lymphoma. During 4 cycles of chemotherapy he developed right upper quadrant pain and jaundice. Laboratory data (alanine amino transferase, 701 U/L, total bilirubin: 7.92 mg/dL, positive hepatitis B e antigen showed that he had experienced an acute exacerbation of chronic hepatitis. Soon, he developed grade IV hepatic encephalopathy with a total bilirubin level of 50.56 mg/dL and a model for End-Stage Liver Disease score of 40. After LDLT, he has been free of relapse for 52 months so far. In case 2, a 49-year-old male HBV carrier was diagnosed in the chronic phase of chronic myeloid leukemia. The patient had been under Imatinib treatment for 1 year until he was admitted for AHF. He developed grade II encephalopathy with a total bilirubin of 50.8 mg/dL. We performed LDLT; the patient has been free of relapse for 17 months. LDLT was a life-saving procedure for AHF caused by reactivation of HBV during chemotherapy for hematologic malignancy. It can provide long-term survival if the coexistent hematologic malignancy has been controlled.

Proliferation of pancreatic endocrine cells using disaggregation-expansion-reaggregation technology in isolated rat islets

Donor scarcity is a major obstacle for clinical islet transplantation. Hence, the effective use of the limited number of available islets is necessary for successful islet transplantation. We have developed a new technology that could produce pseudo-islets. Morphologic and functional evaluation was performed to test the feasibility of using these cells for transplantation. A 3-step procedure known as disaggregation-expansion-reaggregation (DER) was employed for pseudo-islet preparation. Islets isolated from 200 to 250-g male Lewis rats by collagenase digestion were separated into single cells by trypsinization. These pancreatic endocrine cells (PECs) were expanded by serial passages in culture before being aggregated at a high cell-density in a suspended state. After DER, cells were morphologically analyzed over time, and gene expression evaluated by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Through expansion by passage for 2 weeks in continuous cultures, approximately 1 million PECs were recovered after aggregation. By phase-contrast microscopy, they presented with spherical shapes and similar sizes compared with naïve islets (50-800 microm). RT-PCR results indicated expression of insulin, glucagon, and pancreatic and duodenal homeobox gene 1, which were observed in primary isolated islets as well. The insulin secretion capacity of pseudo-islets was confirmed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In conclusion, PECs treated with DER showed potential to serve as a cell source for pseudo-islet generation after in vitro cellular expansion. These cells were both morphologically and genetically similar to naïve islets. Our new technique could be a potential method to overcome the scarcity of donor islets in the near future.

Phosphorylation of CLK2 at serine 34 and threonine 127 by AKT controls cell survival after ionizing radiation

AKT phosphorylates components of the intrinsic cell survival machinery and promotes survival to various stimuli. In the present study, we identified CDC-like kinase 2 (CLK2) as a new substrate of AKT activation and elucidated its role in cell survival to ionizing radiation. AKT directly binds to and phosphorylates CLK2 on serine 34 and threonine 127, in vitro and in vivo. CLK2 phosphorylation was detected in HeLa cells overexpressing active AKT. In addition, we demonstrated that ionizing radiation induces CLK2 phosphorylation via AKT activation. In contrast, the suppression of endogenous AKT expression by siRNA inhibited CLK2 phosphorylation in response to 2 gray of γ-ray or insulin. Furthermore, we examined the effect of CLK2 on the survival of irradiated CCD-18Lu cells overexpressing Myc-CLK2. CLK2 overexpression significantly increased cell growth and inhibited cell death induced by 2 gray. The role of CLK2 in cell survival to ionizing radiation was dependent on the phosphorylation of serine 34 and threonine 127. Our results suggest that AKT activation controls cell survival to ionizing radiation by phosphorylating CLK2, revealing an important regulatory mechanism required for promoting cell survival.

Negative regulation of hypoxic responses via induced Reptin methylation

Lysine methylation within histones is crucial for transcriptional regulation and thus links chromatin states to biological outcomes. Although recent studies have extended lysine methylation to nonhistone proteins, underlying molecular mechanisms such as the upstream signaling cascade that induces lysine methylation and downstream target genes modulated by this modification have not been elucidated. Here, we show that Reptin, a chromatin-remodeling factor, is methylated at lysine 67 in hypoxic conditions by the methyltransferase G9a. Methylated Reptin binds to the promoters of a subset of hypoxia-responsive genes and negatively regulates transcription of these genes to modulate cellular responses to hypoxia.

Transcriptional regulation of 1-cys peroxiredoxin by the proto-oncogene protein DEK

The nuclear phosphoprotein DEK is abundantly present in cells and is implicated in diseases including leukemia and autoimmune disorders. DEK has three highly acidic amino acid domains and inhibits histone acetyltransferase activity by binding directly to histones. In a previous study, differentially regulated proteins under DEK knockdown conditions, including the up-regulated protein 1-cys peroxiredoxin (1-cys Prx), were identified by proteome analysis. Here, an in vivo reporter assay with short hairpin RNA-mediated DEK knockdown revealed that DEK negatively regulated 1-cys Prx transcription, and that the NF-κB subunit p65 had a synergistic effect on this DEK-mediated repression. Both proteins are recruited to the 1-cys Prx promoter region and regulate its transcription. Our study demonstrates that DEK modulates the transcriptional regulation of the target gene through protein interaction with other regulatory proteins.

First measurement of Bose-Einstein correlations in proton-proton collisions at √s=0.9 and 2.36 TeV at the LHC

Bose-Einstein correlations have been measured using samples of proton-proton collisions at 0.9 and 2.36 TeV center-of-mass energies, recorded by the CMS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The signal is observed in the form of an enhancement of pairs of same-sign charged particles with small relative four-momentum. The size of the correlated particle emission region is seen to increase significantly with the particle multiplicity of the event.

Transverse-momentum and pseudorapidity distributions of charged hadrons in pp collisions at square root of s = 7 TeV

Charged-hadron transverse-momentum and pseudorapidity distributions in proton-proton collisions at square root of s = 7  TeV are measured with the inner tracking system of the CMS detector at the LHC. The charged-hadron yield is obtained by counting the number of reconstructed hits, hit pairs, and fully reconstructed charged-particle tracks. The combination of the three methods gives a charged-particle multiplicity per unit of pseudorapidity dN(ch)/dη|(|η|<0.5) = 5.78 ± 0.01(stat) ± 0.23(syst) for non-single-diffractive events, higher than predicted by commonly used models. The relative increase in charged-particle multiplicity from square root of s = 0.9 to 7 TeV is [66.1 ± 1.0(stat) ± 4.2(syst)]%. The mean transverse momentum is measured to be 0.545 ± 0.005(stat) ± 0.015(syst)  GeV/c. The results are compared with similar measurements at lower energies.

Comparison of the incidence and severity of cough after alfentanil and remifentanil injection

BACKGROUND

Intravenous administration of fentanyl derivatives can induce cough paradoxically. This study examined the incidence and severity of cough after a bolus of alfentanil and remifentanil.

METHODS

Four hundred and sixty-five patients, aged 18-70 years, were allocated randomly to three groups to receive alfentanil 10 microg/kg, remifentanil 1 microg/kg or an equal volume of 0.9% saline intravenously over 10 s. Any episode of cough was classified as coughing and graded as mild (1-2), moderate (3-4) or severe (5 or more).

RESULTS

The overall incidence of cough was higher in the opioid groups than in the saline group. The remifentanil group [39/150 patients; 26.0% (95% CI, 19.6-33.6%)] showed a higher incidence than the alfentanil group [11/152 patients; 7.2% (95% CI, 0.4-12.6%)] (P<0.001). There was no significant difference in the severity of cough between the alfentanil group and the remifentanil group.

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrated that equipotent boluses of alfentanil and remifentanil induced coughing, even though the incidence of cough after alfentanil administration was lower than that after remifentanil administration.

Accelerated partial breast irradiation using multicatheter brachytherapy for select early-stage breast cancer: local control and toxicity

Background

To investigate the efficacy and safety of accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) via high-dose-rate (HDR) multicatheter interstitial brachytherapy for early-stage breast cancer.

Methods

Between 2002 and 2006, 48 prospectively selected patients with early-stage breast cancer received APBI using multicatheter brachytherapy following breast-conserving surgery. Their median age was 52 years (range 36-78). A median of 34 Gy (range 30-34) in 10 fractions given twice daily within 5 days was delivered to the tumor bed plus a 1-2 cm margin. Most (92%) patients received adjuvant systemic treatments. The median follow-up was 53 months (range 36-95). Actuarial local control rate was estimated from surgery using Kaplan-Meier method.

Results

Local recurrence occurred in two patients. Both were true recurrence/marginal miss and developed in patients with close (< 0.2 cm) surgical margin after 33 and 40 months. The 5-year actuarial local recurrence rate was 4.6%. No regional or distant relapse and death has occurred to date. Late Grade 1 or 2 late skin and subcutaneous toxicity was seen in 11 (22.9%) and 26 (54.2%) patients, respectively. The volumes receiving 100% and 150% of the prescribed dose were significantly higher in the patients with late subcutaneous toxicity (p = 0.018 and 0.034, respectively). Cosmesis was excellent to good in 89.6%.

Conclusions

APBI using HDR multicatheter brachytherapy yielded local control, toxicity, and cosmesis comparable to those of conventional whole breast irradiation for select early-stage breast cancer. Patients with close resection margins may be ineligible for APBI.

Regulation of mouse steroidogenesis by WHISTLE and JMJD1C through histone methylation balance

The dynamic exchange of histone lysine methylation status by histone methyltransferases and demethylases has been previously implicated as an important factor in chromatin structure and transcriptional regulation. Using immunoaffinity TAP analysis, we purified the WHISTLE-interacting protein complexes, which include the heat shock protein HSP90α and the jumonji C-domain harboring the histone demethylase JMJD1C. In this study, we demonstrate that JMJD1C specifically demethylates histone H3K9 mono- and di-methylation, and mediates transcriptional activation. We also provide evidence suggesting that both WHISTLE and JMJD1C performs functions in the development of mouse testes by regulating the expression of the steroidogenesis marker, p450c17, via SF-1-mediated transcription. Furthermore, we demonstrate that WHISTLE is recruited to the p450c17 promoter via SF-1 and represses the transcription of prepubertal stages of steroidogenesis, after which JMJD1C replaces WHISTLE and activates the expression of target genes via SF-1-mediated interactions. Our results demonstrate that the histone methylation balance mediated by HMTase WHISTLE and demethylase JMJD1C perform a transcriptional regulatory function in mouse testis development.

Segmental repositioning combined with orthodontic fine adjustment of nonerupting permanent molars: a case report

Eruption disturbance of a permanent tooth is challenging to clinicians. Eruption failure of a posterior tooth causes lateral open bite that severely interrupts function. This case report describes the treatment of nonerupting permanent molars by segmental repositioning followed by orthodontic fine adjustment. Two nonerupting permanent molars at different eruption stages were repositioned with a one- or two-step single-tooth segmental osteotomy technique. Final location of the repositioned tooth-alveolar bone segment was adjusted via orthodontic means.