Membrane repair against H. pylori promotes cancer cell proliferation

Membrane repair is a universal response against physical and biological insults and enables cell survival. Helicobacter pylori is one of the most common human pathogens and the first formally recognized bacterial carcinogen associated with gastric cancer. However, little is known about host membrane repair in the context of H. pylori infection. Here we show that H. pylori disrupts the host plasma membrane and induces Ca2+ influx, which triggers the translocation of annexin family members A1 and A4 to the plasma membrane. This in turn activates a membrane repair response through the recruitment of lysosomal membranes and the induction of downstream signaling transduction pathways that promote cell survival and proliferation. Based on our data, we propose a new model by which H. pylori infection activates annexin A1 and A4 for membrane repair and how annexin A4 over-expression induced signaling promotes cell proliferation. Continual activation of this membrane repair response signaling cascade may cause abnormal cellular states leading to carcinogenesis. This study links H. pylori infection to membrane repair, providing insight into potential mechanisms of carcinogenesis resulting from membrane damage

Singlet Charge 2/32/3 Quark hiding the Top: Tevatron and LEP Implications

If $c$ and $t$ quarks are strongly mixed with a weak singlet charge $2/3$ quark, $BR(t\to \ell\nu + X)$ could be suppressed via the $t\to cH^0$ mode, thereby the top quark could still hide below $M_W$, whereas the heavy quark signal observed at the Tevatron is due to the dominantly singlet quark $Q$. This may occur without affecting the small $m_c$ value. Demanding $m_Q \simeq 175$ GeV and m_t \ltap M_W, we find that $BR(t\to \ell\nu + X)$ cannot be too suppressed. The heavy quark $Q$ decays via $W,\ H$, and $Z$ bosons. The latter can lead to $b$-tagged $Z + 4$ jet events, while the strong $c$--$Q$ mixing is reflected in sizable $Q\to sW$ fraction. $Z\to t\bar c$ decay occurs at tree level and may be at the $10^{-3}$ order, leading to the signature of $Z\to \ell\nu b\bar c$, all isolated and with large $p_T$, at $10^{-5}$ order.Comment: 10 pages + 3 Figures (not included), ReVTeX, NTUTH-94-1

MeInfoText: associated gene methylation and cancer information from text mining

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>DNA methylation is an important epigenetic modification of the genome. Abnormal DNA methylation may result in silencing of tumor suppressor genes and is common in a variety of human cancer cells. As more epigenetics research is published electronically, it is desirable to extract relevant information from biological literature. To facilitate epigenetics research, we have developed a database called MeInfoText to provide gene methylation information from text mining.</p> <p>Description</p> <p>MeInfoText presents comprehensive association information about gene methylation and cancer, the profile of gene methylation among human cancer types and the gene methylation profile of a specific cancer type, based on association mining from large amounts of literature. In addition, MeInfoText offers integrated protein-protein interaction and biological pathway information collected from the Internet. MeInfoText also provides pathway cluster information regarding to a set of genes which may contribute the development of cancer due to aberrant methylation. The extracted evidence with highlighted keywords and the gene names identified from each methylation-related abstract is also retrieved. The database is now available at <url>http://mit.lifescience.ntu.edu.tw/</url>.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>MeInfoText is a unique database that provides comprehensive gene methylation and cancer association information. It will complement existing DNA methylation information and will be useful in epigenetics research and the prevention of cancer.</p

The Effects Between Numerical Tabulations And Graphs Of Financial Information On The Judgment Of Investors

Due to developments in information markets and advancements in information technology, and with the rapidity of information flow on the Internet, it is vital to increase the level of information transparency. Disclosure methods of financial information have presently become an important topic of discussion. By using numerical tables, non-distorted graphs or distorted graphs of financial information, this research discusses whether financial information display types indeed influence investors’ judgments and decisions. We investigate and analyze the use of graph disclosure in Taiwan and use experiment design methods to test the effect of investors’ judgment by comparing different display types of financial information. Our results find graphs are used to display comparative than numerical financial information, showing how this can influence investors’ awareness and judgments and use of graphs can be used to manipulate impressions (impression management)

Methanol plug assisted sweeping-micellar electrokinetic chromatography for the determination of dopamine in urine by violet light emitting diode-induced fluorescence detection

Abstract The use and limitations of a methanol plug assisted sweeping-micellar electrokinetic chromatography (sweeping-MEKC) method is described. Using naphthalene-2,3-dicarboxaldehyde (NDA)-labeled dopamine as a model compound, this new method was also used in the determination of dopamine in actual urine samples. An inexpensive violet light emitting diode (LED) was used for the light source, because this is suitable for fluorescence excitation. The number of theoretical plates of the analyte was determined to be ∼1 × 10 5 and ∼2 × 10 5 by means of MEKC and sweeping-MEKC and this was improved to ∼1 × 10 6 when the methanol plug assisted mode was applied. In addition, the detection limit of NDA-labeled dopamine was determined to be 9.1 × 10 −7 and 1.2 × 10 −8 M by means of MEKC and sweeping-MEKC and this was improved to 4.7 × 10 −9 M when the methanol plug assisted sweeping-MEKC mode was applied

Outcomes of patients with rodenticide poisoning at a far east poison center

BACKGROUND: Rodenticide poisoning remains a major public health problem in Asian countries. Nevertheless, very few data are available in world literature regarding the outcomes of these patients. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical outcomes of rodenticide poisonings in our hospital and to compare these data with published reports from other international poison centers. FINDINGS: We retrospectively examined the records of 20 patients with rodenticide poisoning (8 brodifacoum, 12 bromadiolone) who were referred to Chang Gung Memorial Hospital between 2000 and 2011. It was found that most of the rodenticide patients were middle-aged adults. Both genders were equally affected and many patients had a past history of major depressive disorder or schizophrenia. Nevertheless, patients with bromadiolone were referred significantly sooner than patients with brodifacoum poisoning (0.1 ± 0.1 versus 5.5 ± 10.5, P < 0.001). Furthermore, it was found that patients with brodifacoum suffered higher incidences of ecchymosis (50.0% versus 0%, P = 0.006) and hematuria (50.0% versus 0%, P = 0.006) than patients with bromadiolone poisoning. Laboratory analysis also demonstrated a poorer hemostatic profile of patients with brodifacoum [prothrombin time (PT), international normalized ratio (INR), 4.3 ± 4.8 versus 1.0 ± 0.1, P = 0.032; PT prolongation, 50.0% versus 0%, P = 0.006; activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) prolongation, 50.0% versus 0%, P = 0.006] than patients with bromadiolone poisoning. At the end of analysis, no patient died of the poisoning. CONCLUSION: The favorable outcome (zero mortality rate) is comparable to the published reports from other international poison centers. Further studies are warranted