Red meat and cancer risk in a network of case-control studies focusing on cooking practices

Background Consumption of red meat has been related to increased risk of several cancers. Cooking methods could modify the magnitude of this association, as production of chemicals depends on the temperature and duration of cooking. Methods We analyzed data from a network of case-control studies conducted in Italy and Switzerland between 1991 and 2009. The studies included 1465 oral and pharyngeal, 198 nasopharyngeal, 851 laryngeal, 505 esophageal, 230 stomach, 1463 colon, 927 rectal, 326 pancreatic, 3034 breast, 454 endometrial, 1031 ovarian, 1294 prostate and 767 renal cancer cases. Controls included 11 656 patients admitted for acute, non-neoplastic conditions. Odds ratios (ORs) and confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated by multiple logistic regression models, adjusted for known confounding factors. Results Daily intake of red meat was significantly associated with the risk of cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx (OR for increase of 50 g/day = 1.38; 95% CI: 1.26-1.52), nasopharynx (OR = 1.29; 95% CI: 1.04-1.60), larynx (OR = 1.46; 95% CI: 1.30-1.64), esophagus (OR = 1.46; 95% CI: 1.23-1.72), colon (OR = 1.17; 95% CI: 1.08-1.26), rectum (OR = 1.22; 95% CI:1.11-1.33), pancreas (OR = 1.51; 95% CI: 1.25-1.82), breast (OR = 1.12; 95% CI: 1.04-1.19), endometrium (OR = 1.30; 95% CI: 1.10-1.55) and ovary (OR = 1.29; 95% CI: 1.16-1.43). Fried meat was associated with a higher risk of cancer of oral cavity and pharynx (OR = 2.80; 95% CI: 2.02-3.89) and esophagus (OR = 4.52; 95% CI: 2.50-8.18). Risk of prostate cancer increased for meat cooked by roasting/grilling (OR = 1.31; 95% CI: 1.12-1.54). No heterogeneity according to cooking methods emerged for other cancers. Nonetheless, significant associations with boiled/stewed meat also emerged for cancer of the nasopharynx (OR = 1.97; 95% CI: 1.30-3.00) and stomach (OR = 1.86; 95% CI: 1.20-2.87). Conclusions Our analysis confirmed red meat consumption as a risk factor for several cancer sites, with a limited impact of cooking methods. These findings, thus, call for a limitation of its consumption in populations of Western countrie

Targeting prostate cancer based on signal transduction and cell cycle pathways

Prostate cancer remains a leading cause of death in men despite increased capacity to diagnose at earlier stages. After prostate cancer has become hormone independent, which often occurs after hormonal ablation therapies, it is difficult to effectively treat. Prostate cancer may arise from mutations and dysregulation of various genes involved in regulation signal transduction (e.g., PTEN, Akt, etc.,) and the cell cycle (e.g., p53, p21Cip1, p27Kip1, Rb, etc.,). This review focuses on the aberrant interactions of signal transduction and cell cycle genes products and how they can contribute to prostate cancer and alter therapeutic effectiveness. Originally published Cell Cycle, Vol. 7, No. 12, June 200

Computational Modeling of PI3K/AKT and MAPK Signaling Pathways in Melanoma Cancer

Background Malignant melanoma is an aggressive tumor of the skin and seems to be resistant to current therapeutic approaches. Melanocytic transformation is thought to occur by sequential accumulation of genetic and molecular alterations able to activate the Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK (MAPK) and/or the PI3K/AKT (AKT) signalling pathways. Specifically, mutations of B-RAF activate MAPK pathway resulting in cell cycle progression and apoptosis prevention. According to these findings, MAPK and AKT pathways may represent promising therapeutic targets for an otherwise devastating disease. Result Here we show a computational model able to simulate the main biochemical and metabolic interactions in the PI3K/AKT and MAPK pathways potentially involved in melanoma development. Overall, this computational approach may accelerate the drug discovery process and encourages the identification of novel pathway activators with consequent development of novel antioncogenic compounds to overcome tumor cell resistance to conventional therapeutic agents. The source code of the various versions of the model are available as S1 Archive

Comparison of predicted and real parameters of PV systems in the Czech Republic and Spain

ArticleThis paper compares predicted performance by a simulation software for a given new constructed PV system of crystalline silicon technology located in Prague with 10 kWp peak power and a similar system in Spain. Simulation software used for the sake of this paper was publicly available PVGIS from the website of its creators, parameters were set to be the same like in the real PV system. The difference between the predicted and the real data was calculated and then discussed in the result section of this pape r. Suggestion how to increase the accuracy of the prediction by the simulation software is in the discussion part of this paper

Targeting the leukemic stem cell: the Holy Grail of leukemia therapy

Since the discovery of leukemic stem cells (LSCs) over a decade ago, many of their critical biological properties have been elucidated, including their distinct replicative properties, cell surface phenotypes, their increased resistance to chemo-therapeutic drugs and the involvement of growthpromoting chromosomal translocations. Of particular importance is their ability to transfer malignancy to non-obese diabetic-severe combined immunodeficient (NOD-SCID) mice. Furthermore, numerous studies demonstrate that acute myeloid leukemia arises from mutations at the level of stem cell, and chronic myeloid leukemia is also a stem cell disease. In this review, we will evaluate the main characteristics of LSCs elucidated in several well-documented leukemias. In addition, we will discuss points of therapeutic intervention. Promising therapeutic approaches include the targeting of key signal transduction pathways (for example, PI3K, Rac and Wnt) with smallmolecule inhibitors and specific cell surface molecules (for example, CD33, CD44 and CD123), with effective cytotoxic antibodies. Also, statins, which are already widely therapeutically used for a variety of diseases, show potential in targeting LSCs. In addition, drugs that inhibit ATP-binding cassette transporter proteins are being extensively studied, as they are important in drug resistance â a frequent characteristic of LSCs. Although the specific targeting of LSCs is a relatively new field, it is a highly promising battleground that may reveal the Holy Grail of cancer therapy. Originally published Leukemia, Vol. 23, No. 1, Jan 200

First measurement of nuclear recoil head-tail sense in a fiducialised WIMP dark matter detector

Recent computational results suggest that directional dark matter detectors have potential to probe for WIMP dark matter particles below the neutrino floor. The DRIFT-IId detector used in this work is a leading directional WIMP search time projection chamber detector. We report the first measurements of the detection of the directional nuclear recoils in a fully fiducialised low-pressure time projection chamber. In this new operational mode, the distance between each event vertex and the readout plane is determined by the measurement of minority carriers produced by adding a small amount of oxygen to the nominal CS$_{2}$ + CF$_{4}$ target gas mixture. The CS$_2$ + CF$_4$ + O$_2$ mixture has been shown to enable background-free operation at current sensitivities. Sulfur, fluorine, and carbon recoils were generated using neutrons emitted from a $^{252}$Cf source positioned at different locations around the detector. Measurement of the relative energy loss along the recoil tracks allowed the track vector sense, or the so-called head-tail asymmetry parameter, to be deduced. Results show that the previously reported observation of head-tail sensitivity in pure CS$_{2}$ is well retained after the addition of oxygen to the gas mixture

GSK-3 as potential target for therapeutic intervention in cancer

The serine/threonine kinase glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) was initially identified and studied in the regulation of glycogen synthesis. GSK-3 functions in a wide range of cellular processes. Aberrant activity of GSK-3 has been implicated in many human pathologies including: bipolar depression, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, cancer, non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) and others. In some cases, suppression of GSK-3 activity by phosphorylation by Akt and other kinases has been associated with cancer progression. In these cases, GSK-3 has tumor suppressor functions. In other cases, GSK-3 has been associated with tumor progression by stabilizing components of the beta-catenin complex. In these situations, GSK-3 has oncogenic properties. While many inhibitors to GSK-3 have been developed, their use remains controversial because of the ambiguous role of GSK-3 in cancer development. In this review, we will focus on the diverse roles that GSK-3 plays in various human cancers, in particular in solid tumors. Recently, GSK-3 has also been implicated in the generation of cancer stem cells in various cell types. We will also discuss how this pivotal kinase interacts with multiple signaling pathways such as: PI3K/PTEN/Akt/mTORC1, Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK, Wnt/beta-catenin, Hedgehog, Notch and others

DERIVATIONAL AND INFLECTIONAL MORPHEME IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE

This paper talks about the morphology which study or words how they are formed and their relationship to other words in the same language. However, we focus on the derivational and inflectional morpheme, which has some aspects (suffixes and prefixes) and how they are categorized. In the context of Natural Language Processing, the question of how the boundaries of merging, derivation, and inflection with each other and with areas outside morphology can be determined and gained new relevance. This work develops a framework that can provide background for answers at the same time and is interesting, both theoretically and practically. On the basis of a thorough discussion of the literature, language-independent definitions are given for compounding, derivation, and inflection. We are as the writers, we look for the references using the internet.research method The descriptive  method is one of the methods we made to collect data, because our research formed a theoretical explanation different reference sources. Some of the data that we have obtained is the result of many references on the internet that we have filtered and selected according to the chapters or material we have examined and to using the descriptive method the researcher also uses the content analysis method, the discussion of a study using this method, is in-depth which will study a theory that has existed in the past and present by comparing which is more relevant to be used for the general public.             There are some differences between inflectional and derivational morphemes. First, inflectional morphemes never change the grammatical category (part of speech) of a word. derivational morphemes often change the part of speech of a word. Thus, the verb read becomes the noun reader when we add the derivational morpheme -er. It is simply that read is a verb, but reader is a noun. However, some derivational morphemes do not change the grammatical category of a word

Autonomous photovoltaic system for night-time lighting in the stable

ArticleAutonomous photovoltaic (PV) systems are suitable, for example, for powering various appliances or scientific instruments in the field, for automatic data collection, for signaling, etc. At the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, we have designed an experimental autonomous PV system designed for night-time lighting for orientating in a stable for horses. The article describes the construction of a PV system with a PV panel rated at 170 Wp, with a lead-acid accumulator and a 1,5 W LED light source. The data collection was automated. The data evaluation shows that during the whole year, the PV system has been recharged and there was no lighting failure. The paper also presents important measured characteristics