Cation export by overland flow in a recently burnt forest area in north-central Portugal

The current fire regime in the Mediterranean Basin constitutes a serious threat to natural ecosystems because it drastically enhances surface runoff and soil erosion in the affected areas. Besides soil particles themselves, soil cations can be lost by fire-enhanced overland flow, increasing the risk of fertility loss of the typically shallow and nutrient poor Mediterranean soils. Although the importance of cations for land-use sustainability is widely recognized, cation losses by post-fire runoff have received little research attention. The present study aimed to address this research gap by assessing total exports of Na(+), K(+), Ca(2+) and Mg(2+) in a recently burnt forest area in north-central Portugal. These exports were compared for two types of planted forest (eucalypt vs. maritime pine plantations), two types of parent materials (schist vs. granite) and for two spatial scales (micro-plot vs. hill slope). The study sites were a eucalypt plantation on granite (BEG), a eucalypt plantation on schist (BES) and a maritime pine plantation on schist (BPS). Overland flow samples were collected during the first six months after the wildfire. Cation losses differed strikingly between the two forest types on schist, being higher at the eucalypt than pine site. This difference was evident at both spatial scales, and probably due to the extensive cover of a needle cast from the scorched pine crowns. The role of parent material in cation export was less straightforward as it varied with spatial scale. Cation losses were higher for the eucalypt plantation on schist than for that on granite at the micro-plot scale, whereas the reverse was observed at the hill slope scale. Finally, cation yields were higher at the micro-plot than slope scale, in agreement with the general notion of scaling-effect in runoff generation.

Investigating Alfvénic wave propagation in coronal open-field regions

The physical mechanisms behind accelerating solar and stellar winds are a long-standing astrophysical mystery, although recent breakthroughs have come from models invoking the turbulent dissipation of Alfvén waves. The existence of Alfvén waves far from the Sun has been known since the 1970s, and recently the presence of ubiquitous Alfvénic waves throughout the solar atmosphere has been confirmed. However, the presence of atmospheric Alfvénic waves does not, alone, provide sufficient support for wave-based models; the existence of counter-propagating Alfvénic waves is crucial for the development of turbulence. Here, we demonstrate that counter-propagating Alfvénic waves exist in open coronal magnetic fields and reveal key observational insights into the details of their generation, reflection in the upper atmosphere and outward propagation into the solar wind. The results enhance our knowledge of Alfvénic wave propagation in the solar atmosphere, providing support and constraints for some of the recent Alfvén wave turbulence models.

A case of acquired Gitelman syndrome presenting as hypokalemic paralysis

We report a case of a young female patient who presented with weakness of upper and lower limbs. On evaluation, she had hypokalemia, hypomagnesemia, metabolic alkalosis and hypocalciuria. Anti-Ro (SSA) antibody was positive. She had an acquired Gitelman syndrome due to primary Sjögren's syndrome (SS). SS presenting with features of Gitelman syndrome is very rare.

Parents' conceptions of their homework involvement in elementary school

BACKGROUND

Homework is a universal practice used in schools, and is commonly related to academic achievement. According to literature, parental homework involvement has positive and negative aspects, depending on parents’ behaviors.

METHOD

Assuming a phenomenographic perspective, this study examined 4th graders’ parents’ conceptions of their involvement in homework. With the purpose of mapping the parents’ various conceptions of homework involvement, 32 semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed.

RESULTS

The results show that parents’ conceptions of homework involvement have a positive meaning, and focus primarily on the role played in the promotion of academic learning by (a) fostering their children’s autonomy, (b) exerting control over their learning, and (c) providing them with emotional encouragement (when children struggle with difficulties).

CONCLUSIONS

Given that parents perceive their involvement in their children’s homework as important, it is necessary to promote parent-teacher collaboration and parent-training workshops to improve the quality of parental homework involvement.

Surgical management of cervical spine instability in rheumatoid arthritis patients

AIM

Cross-sectional study that aims to evaluate the results of cervical spine surgeries due to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) instability, between January of 2000 and of 2012 in a main Portuguese centre.

METHODS

Patients followed on Rheumatology submitted to cervical spine fusion due to atlantoaxial (AAI), sub-axial (SAI) or cranio-cervical (CCI) instabilities between 2000-2012 were included. Information about the surgical procedure and associated complications was gathered and imagiologic and clinical indexes before and after surgery (as anterior and posterior atlanto-axial interval and Ranawat index) were evaluated and compared using adequate statistics.

RESULTS

Forty-five patients with RA were included: 25 with AAI, 13 with CCI and 7 with SAI. Ten AAI and 4 CCI patients were submitted to wiring stabilization techniques; 15 AAI and 9 CCI patients to rigid ones; and in all patients with SAI an anterior cervical arthrodesis was chosen. There is a significant increase in PADI and a decrease in AADI in the postoperative evaluation (p<0,05) that only remains significant when rigid systems were used. After surgery the Ranawat index decreased (p<0,05) and no patient showed a deterioration of neurological condition. The complication rate was of 23,1%, with 5 mal-unions.

CONCLUSION

Surgical management of cervical column instabilities in patients with rheumatoid arthritis seems to be a safe procedure, with a high rate of neurologic improvement. Rigid techniques seem to lead to a better imagiological improvement when compared to wiring ones.

MicroRNA expression profiling in male and female familial breast cancer

Background:

Gender-associated epigenetic alterations are poorly investigated in male and female familial breast cancer (fBC). MicroRNAs may contribute to the different biology in men and women particularly related to RASSF1A pathways.

Methods:

Microarray technology was used to evaluate miRNA profile in 24 male and 43 female fBC. Key results were validated using RT–qPCR in an external samples set. In vitro studies were carried out to verify microRNA–target gene interaction.

Results:

Pathway enrichment analysis with the 287 differentially expressed microRNAs revealed several signalling pathways differently regulated in male and female cases. Because we previously hypothesised a peculiar involvement of RASSF1A in male fBC pathogenesis, we focussed on the MAPK and the Hippo signalling pathways that are regulated by RASSF1A. Male miR-152 and miR-497 upregulation and RASSF1A and NORE1A interacting gene downregulation were observed, confirming a possible indirect interaction between miRNAs and the two genes.

Conclusions:

For the first time, a different microRNA expression pattern in male and female fBC has been shown. Moreover, the importance of RASSF1A pathway in male fBC carcinogenesis has been confirmed, highlighting a possible role for miR-152 and miR-497 in controlling MAPK and Hippo signalling pathways, regulated by RASSF1A.

DNA methylation and miRNAs regulation in hereditary breast cancer: epigenetic changes, players in transcriptional and post- transcriptional regulation in hereditary breast cancer

The genetic alterations associated with breast carcinogenesis are well known. On the contrary epigenetic alterations in hereditary breast cancer are a new field. Two epigenetic mechanisms have emerged as the most critical players in transcriptional regulation in breast cancer: the methylation of DNA and microRNA interference. In this review we will focus on recent findings on gene silencing caused by DNA methylation and microRNA to explore the potential role of these epigenetic changes in the understanding of hereditary breast cancer. Moreover we will describe the same alterations in basal-like breast cancer and in triple-negative breast cancer, since their phenotypes have similarities with BRCA1-mutated tumors. To underline the possibility that some epigenetic alterations could also be used as potential epigenetic biomarkers of drug sensitivity or resistance, we will discuss the more common therapies in hereditary breast cancer that could also be applied to breast cancer with basal-like or triple negative phenotypes.

Bone marrow stem cells added to a hydroxyapatite scaffold result in better outcomes after surgical treatment of intertrochanteric hip fractures

INTRODUCTION

Intertrochanteric hip fractures occur in the proximal femur. They are very common in the elderly and are responsible for high rates of morbidity and mortality. The authors hypothesized that adding an autologous bone marrow stem cells concentrate (ABMC) to a hydroxyapatite scaffold and placing it in the fracture site would improve the outcome after surgical fixation of intertrochanteric hip fractures.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

30 patients were randomly selected and divided into 2 groups of 15 patients, to receive either the scaffold enriched with the ABMC (Group A) during the surgical procedure, or fracture fixation alone (Group B).

RESULTS

There was a statistically significant difference in favor of group A at days 30, 60, and 90 for Harris Hip Scores (HHS), at days 30 and 60 for VAS pain scales, for bedridden period and time taken to start partial and total weight bearing (P < 0.05).

DISCUSSION

These results show a significant benefit of adding a bone marrow enriched scaffold to surgical fixation in intertrochanteric hip fractures, which can significantly reduce the associated morbidity and mortality rates.

CONCLUSION

Bone marrow stem cells added to a hydroxyapatite scaffold result in better outcomes after surgical treatment of intertrochanteric hip fractures.

BRCAness: a deeper insight into basal-like breast tumors

The molecular scenario of breast cancer has become more complex in the last few years. Distinguishing between BRCA-associated, sporadic, HER2-enriched and triple-negative tumors is not sufficient to allow effective clinical management. Basal-like breast cancer, a subtype of triple-negative breast cancer, differs from others grouped under this heading. Commonalities between BRCA-related tumors and basal-like breast cancers (BRCAness phenotype) are highly relevant to ongoing clinical trials, in particular those investigating targeted therapies (e.g. PARP inhibitors) in sporadic breast tumors. The 'gold standard' to identify basal-like phenotype is DNA microarray, but integrated results could provide a panel of biomarkers helpful in identifying 'BRCAness' tumors (e.g. copy number aberrations, abnormal protein localization and altered transcriptional levels) and other molecular targets, such as APE1,the inhibition of which is emerging as an attractive breast cancer treatment in certain therapeutic settings.

Male breast cancer: genetics, epigenetics, and ethical aspects

BACKGROUND AND STUDY DESIGN

Male breast cancer (MBC) is a rare disease compared with female BC and our current understanding regarding breast carcinogenesis in men has been largely extrapolated from the female counterpart. We focus on differences between the ethical issues related to male and female BC patients. A systematic literature search by using PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/), was carried out to provide a synopsis of the current research in the field of MBC genetics, epigenetics and ethics. Original articles and reviews published up to September 2012 were selected by using the following search key words to query the PubMed website: 'male breast cancer', 'male breast cancer and genetic susceptibility', 'male breast cancer and epigenetics', 'male breast cancer and methylation', 'male breast cancer and miRNA', 'male breast cancer and ethics'.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

As in women, three classes of breast cancer genetic susceptibility (high, moderate, and low penetrance) are recognized in men. However, genes involved and their impact do not exactly overlap in female and male BC. Epigenetic alterations are currently scarcely investigated in MBC, however, the different methylation and miRNA expression profiles identified to date in female and male BCs suggest a potential role for epigenetic alterations as diagnostic biomarkers. Overall, much still needs to be learned about MBC and, because of its rarity, the main effort is to develop large consortia for moving forward in understanding MBC and improving the management of MBC patients on a perspective of gender medicine.

A woman with didanosine retinopathy and non-cirrhotic portal hypertension

We present a case of structural and functional changes compatible with didanosine retinopathy in a patient who also developed non-cirrhotic portal hypertension.

Intrarenal artery pseudoaneurysm after blunt abdominal trauma: a case report of successful superselective angioembolization

Renal artery pseudoaneurysm is a very rare complication after blunt trauma injury. We report on a case of a 54-year-old man admitted to our hospital for right flank pain and gross hematuria, 5 days after blunt abdominal trauma. The diagnosis of interlobar renal pseudoaneurysm was established by a computed tomography scan and confirmed by angiography. Successful superselective angioembolization was performed. This radiographic intervention is an effective and minimally invasive technique to stop active bleeding from renal artery pseudoaneurysms, when patients are hemodynamically stable and where technically feasible. A review of the literature was carried out.

Inhibition of Escherichia coli in cultivated cattle manure

A common practice on Israeli dairy barns comprises daily cultivation of the manure. Cultivation is a mechanical process used to break up and till the manure bedding and it results in a drier and aerated bedding and cleaner cows, which consequently reduces the incidence of mastitis. Cultivation was associated with a shorter survival of Escherichia coli in cultivated manure as compared with noncultivated manure. The objective of the current study was to elucidate the mechanism responsible for the shorter survival duration of E. coli in the cultivated manure. We hypothesized that microorganisms that are antagonistic to E. coli, developing in the cultivated manure, are responsible for this phenomenon. A cow manure derived E. coli strain expressing the green fluorescence protein and antibiotic resistance markers was used to inoculate cow manure in 1.5-L jars. Manure treatments included cultivated and noncultivated manure. Half the jars of each cultivation treatment were autoclave sterilized at 121°C for 1 h on 3 successive days to eliminate from the manure antagonistic microorganisms. Each cultivation-sterilization treatment was performed in triplicate jars. Following sterilization, E. coli numbers in the cultivated and noncultivated manure were comparable, while in the nonsterilized manure the numbers were lower in the cultivated compared with the noncultivated manure. Several fungi isolated from the cultivated manure samples displayed inhibition effect on the tagged E. coli. Antagonistic fungi were also isolated from large-scale cultivated manure samples collected on several dairy farms in Israel. These findings support the notion that manure cultivation might facilitate the development of microorganisms that are antagonistic to E. coli, thus contributing to the general hygiene of the cattle. Identifying the mechanisms by which the antagonistic fungi affect the survival of E. coli in manure could be exploited for improvement of the animal health and for limiting the transmission of zoonotic pathogens to food and water.

Expression of base excision repair key factors and miR17 in familial and sporadic breast cancer

Understanding of BRCA1/2 interaction with the base excision repair (BER) pathway could improve therapy based on ‘synthetic lethality', whose effectiveness is based on homologous recombination deficiency in cells lacking functional BRCA genes. However, poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors failed in some patients and for this reason we explored BER key enzyme expression. In this study, the expression of BER enzymes (redox factor 1/apurinic-apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (REF1/APEX1), NTH endonuclease III-like 1 (NTHL1), 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase (OGG1), PARP1) and of the scaffold protein XRCC1 (X-ray repair complementing defective repair in Chinese hamster cells 1) were investigated in familial (BRCA-related and not) and sporadic breast cancer cases. Furthermore, miR17 expression was measured because of its role in the epigenetic regulation of BRCA1. Gene expression was evaluated in BRCA1-mutated cell lines, SUM149PT and SUM1315MO2, and in a BRCA1-proficient triple-negative MDA-MB-231 cell line. A cohort of 27 familial and 16 sporadic breast cancer patients was then examined to confirm results obtained from the cell line model. APEX1/REF1 was found to be upregulated in familial BRCA-wild-type and sporadic cases, indicating this enzyme as a potential therapeutic target. Furthermore, XRCC1 was overexpressed in BRCAX patients; consequently, we suggest to test the effectiveness of inhibitors targeting two different BER components in preclinical studies. XRCC1, which is also involved in the non-homologous end-joining pathway, was found to be downregulated in BRCA2-related patients concurrently with no change in PARP1 expression. Interestingly, no difference in PARP1 and miR17 expression was found in BRCA-related and sporadic breast cancer cases. PARP1 and miR17 could therefore be further investigated as molecular biomarkers of ‘BRCAness' phenotype, indicating patients which could really benefit from PARP inhibitor therapies.