Co-expression of KLK6 and KLK10 as prognostic factors for survival in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Kallikreins play an important role in tumour microenvironment and as cancer biomarkers in different cancer entities. Previous studies suggested an upregulation of KLK10 and KLK6 in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Therefore, we evaluated the clinicopathological role of these kallikreins and their value as biomarkers in PDAC

Aortic atheroma as a source of stroke - assessment of embolization risk using 3D CMR in stroke patients and controls

Background It was our purpose to identify vulnerable plaques in the thoracic aorta using 3D multi-contrast CMR and estimate the risk of cerebral embolization using 4D flow CMR in cryptogenic stroke patients and controls. Methods One hundred patients (40 with cryptogenic stroke, 60 ophthalmologic controls matched for age, sex and presence of hypertension) underwent a novel 3D multi-contrast (T1w, T2w, PDw) CMR protocol at 3 Tesla for plaque detection and characterization within the thoracic aorta, which was combined with 4D flow CMR for mapping potential embolization pathways. Plaque morphology was assessed in consensus reading by two investigators and classified according to the modified American-Heart-Association (AHA) classification of atherosclerotic plaques. Results In the thoracic aorta, plaques <4 mm thickness were found in a similar number of stroke patients and controls [23 (57.5%) versus 33 (55.0%); p = 0.81]. However, plaques ≥4 mm were more frequent in stroke patients [22 (55.0%) versus 10 (16.7%); p < 0.001]. Of those patients with plaques ≥4 mm, seven (17.5%) stroke patients and two (3.3%) controls (p < 0.001) had potentially vulnerable AHA type VI plaques. Six stroke patients with vulnerable AHA type VI plaques ≥4 mm had potential embolization pathways connecting the plaque, located in the aortic arch (n = 3) and proximal descending aorta (n = 3), with the individual territory of stroke, which made them the most likely source of stroke in those patients. Conclusions Our findings underline the significance of ≥4 mm thick and vulnerable plaques in the aortic arch and descending aorta as a relevant etiology of stroke

The role of surface-induced ordering in the crystallisation of PET films

The molecular configuration and long-range order at the surface of spin-cast poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) thin films spin-cast onto an etched \chem{Si(001)} surface during crystallisation from the amorphous state has been investigated for a range of annealing temperatures. The structural ordering at the surface of the film was compared directly with that in the bulk of the film by employing grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction with incident angles below, at and above the critical angle for total reflection. Ordering was observed at the surface at annealing temperatures of 80–95\un{{}^{\circ}C}, lower than that in the bulk, involving local parallel alignment of chains in the plane of the surface with the benzene rings oriented preferentially with the ring plane parallel to the surface. Comparison with atomic-force microscopy images enables the fold configuration at the surface to be deduced