Augmented manipulation ability in humans with six-fingered hands

Neurotechnology attempts to develop supernumerary limbs, but can the human brain deal with the complexity to control an extra limb and yield advantages from it? Here, we analyzed the neuromechanics and manipulation abilities of two polydactyly subjects who each possess six fingers on their hands. Anatomical MRI of the supernumerary finger (SF) revealed that it is actuated by extra muscles and nerves, and fMRI identified a distinct cortical representation of the SF. In both subjects, the SF was able to move independently from the other fingers. Polydactyly subjects were able to coordinate the SF with their other fingers for more complex movements than five fingered subjects, and so carry out with only one hand tasks normally requiring two hands. These results demonstrate that a body with significantly more degrees-of-freedom can be controlled by the human nervous system without causing motor deficits or impairments and can instead provide superior manipulation abilities.

Universal Self-Similar Scaling of Spatial Wilson Loops Out of Equilibrium

We investigate strongly correlated non-Abelian plasmas out of equilibrium. Based on numerical simulations, we establish a self-similar scaling property for the time evolution of spatial Wilson loops that characterizes a universal state of matter far from equilibrium. Most remarkably, it exhibits a generalized area law which holds for a sufficiently large ratio of spatial area and fractional power of time. Performing calculations also for the perturbative regime at higher momenta, we are able to characterize the full nonthermal scaling properties of SU(2) and SU(3) symmetric plasmas from short to large distance scales in terms of two independent universal exponents and associated scaling functions.

Blinatumomab for the treatment of adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia

The marker CD19 is frequently expressed on the surface of malignant B cells including non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), which makes it an attractive target for antineoplastic therapy (1). T cells are part of the immune surveillance system for malignant cells (2). Blinatumomab is a bispecific T cell engager (BiTE(®)) antibody that binds both CD3-positive T cells and CD19-positive B cells via its two variable antigen-binding domains. Once bound to both the T and B cell, blinatumomab induces T-cell activation and subsequently perforin-mediated malignant B-cell death. It has shown efficacy in ALL with minimal residual disease, relapsed/refractory ALL, and NHL in phase I and II clinical trials. With a favorable safely profile and promising results, blinatumomab was granted accelerated FDA approval to treat B-cell ALL in December 2014. Herein, we will review the most relevant data related to blinatumomab in ALL.

Metastatic breast cancer detection and therapy monitoring using folate-targeting flow cytometry

23

Background: Circulating tumor cell (CTC) has emerged as a valuable surrogate tumor marker for cancer diagnosis, prognosis, therapy personalization, and drug discovery. To identify CTCs, EpCAM and/or cytokeratin have been commonly used; however, their expression may diminish for subgroups of breast cancers or during epithelial-mesenchymal transition. A unique approach by targeting folate receptor (FR) on CTCs overcomes the limitation. Cancer cells overexpress FR with high affinity (KD=0.1 nM) to internalize high levels of folate for rapid growth. FR is also found upregulated in most cancers, while at very low levels in normal tissues.

Methods: A flow cytometry based in-vitro CTC assay kit (OncoIVDx) was developed by IV Diagnostics Inc to specifically enumerate CTCs which overexpress FRs. 20 mL of 9 metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients' peripheral blood was collected using CellSave tube before and after the treatment in midst of therapy. CTCs were tagged by fluorescently labeled folate conjugate, while leukocytes were counterstained by anti-CD45. To absolutely count the rare CTCs, a fluorescent bead was added serving internal control.

Results: Table.

Conclusions: No obvious shift in dot plots was found for patients' leucocytes compared to those in normal sample. Tumor size, histologic grade, nodal involvement and lymphovascular invasion (LVI) did not display a significant association with CTC presence, although more positive nodes with identified LVI might indicate an unfavorable increase in CTC counts. CTC presence was found associated with serum marker CA27.29. A score of 30 and less correlated with CTC response to the treatment. Chemotherapy alone or in combination with hormone therapy did not correlate with the change in CTC counts after treatment, except for hormone therapy alone. Unfavorable progression of cancers could be predicated for the patients with approximately 25 and more CTCs. We would like to thank NIH/NCI for SBIR phase I grant (1R43CA13789301A1).

[Table: see text]

Outbreak of haemolytic uraemic syndrome and bloody diarrhoea due to Escherichia coli O104:H4, south-west France, June 2011

Binary file ES_Abstracts_Final_ECDC.txt matches

Protein cross-migration during isolation of nuclei from mixtures of heated and unheated HeLa cells

To investigate the cross-migration of proteins during nuclear isolation heated and control cells were mixed prior to nuclear isolation. These nuclei were stained with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC, a protein-specific stain) and with propidium iodide (PI, a DNA-specific stain). Flow cytometric (FCM) analysis showed two populations distinguishable on the basis of protein content. The protein content of the nuclei in the upper population was identical to that for nuclei isolated from heated cells while that for the lower population had a protein content identical to the protein content of nuclei from control cells. This result shows that the heat-induced increase in nuclear protein content occurred throughout the entire population of nuclei (i.e., in G1, S, and G2 nuclei) and that the measured protein content of nuclei was not affected by the presence of the other population during isolation. The capability of the FCM to sort subpopulations from different regions of a histogram was used to separate the subpopulations after analysis. When control cells were prelabeled with [3H]leucine and mixed with unlabeled heated cells, 11% of the radioactivity was found to be associated with the nuclei from heated cells. Autoradiographs showed grains over approximately 99% of the nuclei from heated cells. When [3H]TdR was used as a label in a similar experiment, only 0-3% of the label was observed to become associated with the population of nuclei from heated cells and autoradiography showed that 97% of these nuclei were not labeled. Comparable results were obtained when the labeled cells were heated and the control cells were left unlabeled. These results show that a small amount of protein (approximately 10% of the nuclear protein) will cross-migrate during nuclear isolation without affecting the net amount of protein in either population.

Characterization of complementary deoxyribonucleic acid and genomic deoxyribonucleic acid for the beta chain of human fibrinogen

A total of 148 cDNAs coding for the beta chain of human fibrinogen have been identified from a human liver cDNA library employing a bovine cDNA as a probe. The largest cDNA insert contained 1932 base pairs cloned into the PstI site of plasmid pBR322. This cDNA insert contained 66 base pairs coding for a portion or all of a signal sequence, 1383 base pairs coding for 461 amino acids in the mature protein, a stop codon of TAG, a noncoding region of 431 base pairs, and a poly(A) tail of 19 base pairs. Most of the cDNA inserts coding for the beta chain were found to have a noncoding region of 98 or 167 base pairs rather than 431 base pairs at the 3'-end. The bovine cDNA for the beta chain was also employed as a probe for screening a lambda phage library containing human genomic DNA. Seven positive phage were identified. One of the phage, which contained the entire gene for the beta chain of fibrinogen, was examined by electron microscopy, and portions of its DNA sequence are presented. Seven intervening sequences were identified in the gene for the beta chain of human fibrinogen. The largest intervening sequence (approximately 1.3 kilobases) was found at the 5'-end of the gene and was located between amino acid residues 8 and 9, which are present in fibrinopeptide B. A sequence analysis of the 5'-end of the gene also indicated that the B chain of human fibrinogen contained a signal sequence of either 16, 27, or 30 amino acid residues.

Dimethyl sulfoxide alteration of collagen

In vitro incubation of human scar in our laboratory with 99% DMSO demonstrated, by electron microscopy, the disruption of the collagen fibers. This may prove to be a useful preparatory step for selective enzymatic assault upon exuberant or undesirable scar tissue in the clinical setting. Further study of this concept is planned.

Sequence homology and structural comparison between the chromosomal human alpha 1-antitrypsin and chicken ovalbumin genes

The human chromosomal alpha 1-antitrypsin gene has been cloned. This gene is approximately 5 kilobase pairs long and contains three intervening sequences in the peptide-coding region. DNA sequences coding for the amino and carboxyl termini of a alpha 1-antitrypsin have been identified. Human alpha 1-antitrypsin and chicken ovalbumin show significant sequences homology and belong to a common protein super-family. Yet the number, position and size of intervening sequences reveal that the two genes are dissimilar.

Mosaic structure and mRNA precursors of uteroglobin, a hormone-regulated mammalian gene

The synthesis of uteroglobin in the rabbit uterus is induced by progesterone and is repressed by estrogen which has an over-riding effect over the inducer. The dual hormonal control system offers an excellent model for studying hormonal regulation of mammalian gene expression. Using a full-length uteroglobin cDNA clone as a specific hybridization probe, recombinant lambda phages containing the entire chromosomal uteroglobin gene have been isolated from a rabbit genomic DNA library. Electronmicroscopic analysis of hybrid molecules formed between the chromosomal uteroglobin gene and uteroglobin mRNA indicated the presence of 2 intervening sequences within this gene. The mosaic structure of the uteroglobin gene has been substantiated by detailed restriction mapping and Southern hybridization. The gene is 3.0 kilobases in length to code for a mature mRNA of 465 nucleotides. Northern hybridization of poly(A)-containing RNA from 4-day-pregnant rabbit uterus with the full-length cDNA clone revealed the presence of uteroglobin mRNA precursors. The size of the largest precursor RNA species detected by the cDNA clone is the same as the entire chromosomal uteroglobin gene. The fidelity of the precursor RNAs was established by their ability to hybridize with specific intervening sequence probes. Thus the entire uteroglobin gene is expressed into primary RNA transcripts, which are subsequently processed into mature mRNA molecules by splicing.

A suggestion of linkage between the Marfan syndrome and the rhesus blood group

The linkage relationships of the locus for the Marfan Syndrome were investigated with 19 marker loci in 17 families. Close linkage with several marker loci was excluded. There was a suggestion of linkage between the locus for the Marfan Syndrome and Rh.

Parkinson's disease

Images

Phagocytosis of asbestos fibers by human pulmonary alveolar macrophages

Human pulmonary alveolar macrophages (PAMs) were cultured for 24--72 h with varying concentrations (0--300 microgram/ml) of amosite asbestos (AS). At lower AS concentrations, (less than 100 microgram/ml) no decrease in cell viability occurred during the first 24 h of culture. Significant cytotoxicity (P less than 0.005 in all instances) was observed, however, following incubation for 24 h with higher AS concentrations (greater than 100 microgram/ml). Even following incubation with lower concentrations of AS, significant cytotoxicity (P less than 0.006 in all instances) was observed after 48 or 72 h of culture. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) clearly illustrates the various stages of AS phagocytosis by PAMs. SEM also documented morphological changes in PAMs following AS exposure. These included increased zeiosis and the appearance of a fibrous-like material on the surface of AS fibers following initial contact with the PAM cytoplasmic membrane. Further study of the biological interactions between AS and human cells, such as PAMs, might provide valuable information regarding the etiology of AS-related lung disorders.

Autosomal dominantly inherited adductor laryngeal paralysis--a new syndrome with a suggestion of linkage to HLA

A family is reported with autosomal dominantly inherited congenital bilateral adductor paralysis of the larynx. This disorder has apparently not been described previously. A search for linkage in this family with the loci for 19 other genetic markers showed a suggestion of linkage with HLA and GLO, and accordingly a suggestion that the locus for this disorder may be assigned to chromosome 6.