Translating Metabolic Reprogramming into New Targets for Kidney Cancer.

In the age of bioinformatics and with the advent of high-powered computation over the past decade or so the landscape of biomedical research has become radically altered. Whereas a generation ago, investigators would study their "favorite" protein or gene and exhaustively catalog the role of this compound in their disease of interest, the appearance of omics has changed the face of medicine such that much of the cutting edge (and fundable!) medical research now evaluates the biology of the disease nearly in its entirety. Couple this with the realization that kidney cancer is a "metabolic disease" due to its multiple derangements in biochemical pathways [1, 2], and clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) becomes ripe for data mining using multiple omics approaches

Empty nose syndrome : case report

Empty Nose Syndrome (ENS) is a term first introduced by Kern and Moore which is used to describe a rare spectrum of various symptoms suffered by patients who had had previous radical turbinate surgery with a CT scan appearance of the paranasal sinuses after gross tissue loss. The most common symptom is so- called ‘‘paradoxical’’ nasal obstruction, reported by the patient despite objectively permeable cavities on clinical examination with no obstacle found on imaging or rhinomanometry and acoustic rhinometry.1 In most cases, the inferior turbinate (IT) has been resected radically even though middle turbinate (MT) resection has also been implicated.2 Incidence is unknown, as there have been no specific studies published. The estimated rate of ENS following inferior turbinate resection is 20%, which induces simple dry nose.peer-reviewe

Bell polynomials in combinatorial Hopf algebras

Partial multivariate Bell polynomials have been defined by E.T. Bell in 1934. These polynomials have numerous applications in Combinatorics, Analysis, Algebra, Probabilities, etc. Many of the formulae on Bell polynomials involve combinatorial objects (set partitions, set partitions in lists, permutations, etc.). So it seems natural to investigate analogous formulae in some combinatorial Hopf algebras with bases indexed by these objects. The algebra of symmetric functions is the most famous example of a combinatorial Hopf algebra. In a first time, we show that most of the results on Bell polynomials can be written in terms of symmetric functions and transformations of alphabets. Then, we show that these results are clearer when stated in other Hopf algebras (this means that the combinatorial objects appear explicitly in the formulae). We investigate also the connexion with the Fa{\`a} di Bruno Hopf algebra and the Lagrange-B{\"u}rmann formula

Loss of angiotensin II receptor expression in dopamine neurons in Parkinson’s disease correlates with pathological progression and is accompanied by increases in Nox4- and 8-OH guanosine-related nucleic acid oxidation and caspase-3 activation

In rodent models of Parkinsons disease (PD), dopamine neuron loss is accompanied by increased expression of angiotensin II (AngII), its type 1 receptor (AT1), and NADPH oxidase (Nox) in the nigral dopamine neurons and microglia. AT1 blockers (ARBs) stymie such oxidative damage and neuron loss. Whether changes in the AngII/AT1/Nox4 axis contribute to Parkinson neuropathogenesis is unknown. Here, we studied the distribution of AT1 and Nox4 in dopamine neurons in two nigral subregions: the less affected calbindin-rich matrix and the first-affected calbindin-poor nigrosome 1 of three patients, who were clinically asymptomatic, but had nigral dopamine cell loss and Braak stages consistent with a neuropathological diagnosis of PD (prePD). For comparison, five clinically- and neuropathologically-confirmed PD patients and seven age-matched control patients (AMC) were examined.AT1 and Nox4 immunoreactivity was noted in dopamine neurons in both the matrix and the nigrosome 1. The total cellular levels of AT1 in surviving dopamine neurons in the matrix and nigrosome 1 declined from AMC>prePD>PD, suggesting that an AngII/AT1/Nox4 axis orders neurodegenerative progression. In this vein, the loss of dopamine neurons was paralleled by a decline in total AT1 per surviving dopamine neuron. Similarly, AT1 in the nuclei of surviving neurons in the nigral matrix declined with disease progression, i.e., AMC>prePD>PD. In contrast, in nigrosome 1, the expression of nuclear AT1 was unaffected and similar in all groups. The ratio of nuclear AT1 to total AT1 (nuclear + cytoplasmic + membrane) in dopamine neurons increased stepwise from AMC to prePD to PD. The proportional increase in nuclear AT1 in dopamine neurons in nigrosome 1 of prePD and PD patients was accompanied by elevated nuclear expression of Nox4, oxidative damage to DNA, and caspase-3-mediated cell loss.Our observations are consistent with the idea that AngII/AT1/Nox4 axis-mediated oxidative stress gives rise to the dopamine neuron dysfunction and loss characteristic of the neuropathological and clinical manifestations of PD and suggest that the chance for a neuron to survive increases in association with lower total as well as nuclear AT1 expression. Our results support the need for further evaluation of ARBs as disease-modifying agents in PD

Impact assessment of heavy metals pollution of Vartur lake, Bangalore

The unscientific disposal of wastes and pollution in urban water bodies has caused immense problems not only to human beings but also to the aquatic biodiversity. Assessment of heavy metals in Vartur Lake, Bangalore, revealed that Cadmium (Cd), Cobalt (Co), Chromium (Cr), Nickel (Ni), and Lead (Pb) all exceeded drinking water standards. Nevertheless, Chromium (Cr) exceeded the CPCB’s tolerance limits for water bodies subjected to effluent discharge. In Eichornia crassipes, Cd, Co, Cr, and Ni were critical. In the sediments, Cadmium (Cd) and Nickel (Ni) exceeded the Probable Effect Level (PEL). Sediment Geo-accumulation Index of the lake showed moderate contamination with Mn, Cu, and Pb. Cr had the highest plant/sediments metal concentration factor even though its bioavailability in plants (71.5 ppm) was lower compared to Manganese (192.3 ppm). This calls for immediate action to be implemented to carry out necessary environmental mitigation measures for the lake

Detection of malicious VBA macros using machine learning methods

Since their appearance in 1994 in the Concept virus, VBA macros remain a preferred choice for malware authors. There are two main attack techniques when it comes to document-based malware: exploits and VBA macros, with the latter applied in the vast majority of threats. Although Microsoft have added multiple security features in an attempt to protect users against malicious macros, such protections are often easily circumvented by simple social engineering techniques. Anti-virus companies can no longer rely on static signatures due to the rate at which new macro malware is distributed, and thus are tasked with employing a more proactive approach to threat detection. This paper details the literature on machine learning methods for the detection of VBA macro malware. Further, a machine learning system for the detection of VBA macro malware is proposed and evaluated. A Random Forest classifier achieves a true positive detection rate of 98.9875% with a false positive detection rate of 1.07% over a set of 611 mixed (benign and malicious) malware samples