Testing the theory of immune selection in cancers that break the rules of transplantation

Modification of cancer cells likely to reduce their immunogenicity, including loss or down-regulation of MHC molecules, is now well documented and has become the main support for the concept of immune surveillance. The evidence that these modifications, in fact, result from selection by the immune system is less clear, since the possibility that they may result from reorganized metabolism associated with proliferation or from cell de-differentiation remains. Here, we (a) survey old and new transplantation experiments that test the possibility of selection and (b) survey how transmissible tumours of dogs and Tasmanian devils provide naturally evolved tests of immune surveillance

The active living gender's gap challenge: 2013-2017 Eurobarometers physical inactivity data show constant higher prevalence in women with no progress towards global reduction goals

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization (WHO) considers physical inactivity (PIA) as a critical noncommunicable factor for disease and mortality, affecting more women than men. In 2013, the WHO set a 10% reduction of the PIA prevalence, with the goal to be reached by 2025. Changes in the 2013-2017 period of physical inactivity prevalence in the 28 European Union (EU) countries were evaluated to track the progress in achieving WHO 2025 target. METHODS: In 2013 and 2017 EU Special Eurobarometers, the physical activity levels reported by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire of 53,607 adults were analyzed. Data were considered as a whole sample and country-by-country. A χ2 test was used to analyze the physical inactivity prevalence (%) between countries, analyzing women and men together and separately. Additionally, PIA prevalence was analyzed between years (2013-2017) for the overall EU sample and within-country using a Z-Score for two population proportions. RESULTS: The PIA prevalence increased between 2013 and 2017 for the overall EU sample (p <  0.001), and for women (p = 0.04) and men (p < 0.001) separately. Data showed a higher PIA prevalence in women versus men during both years (p <  0.001). When separately considering changes in PIA by gender, only Belgium's women and Luxembourg's men showed a reduction in PIA prevalence. Increases in PIA prevalence over time were observed in women from Austria, Croatia, Germany, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, Romania, and Slovakia and in men from Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain. CONCLUSIONS: PIA prevalence showed an overall increase across the EU and for both women and men between 2013 and 2017, with higher rates of PIA reported for women versus men during both years. PIA prevalence was reduced in only Belgium's women and Luxembourg's men. Our data indicate a limited gender-sensible approach while tacking PIA prevalence with no progress reaching global voluntary reductions of PIA for 2025

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

Glycation marker glucosepane increases with the progression of osteoarthritis and correlates with morphological and functional changes of cartilage in vivo

Background: Changes of serum concentrations of glycated, oxidized, and nitrated amino acids and hydroxyproline and anticyclic citrullinated peptide antibody status combined by machine learning techniques in algorithms have recently been found to provide improved diagnosis and typing of early-stage arthritis of the knee, including osteoarthritis (OA), in patients. The association of glycated, oxidized, and nitrated amino acids released from the joint with development and progression of knee OA is unknown. We studied this in an OA animal model as well as interleukin-1β-activated human chondrocytes in vitro and translated key findings to patients with OA. Methods: Sixty male 3-week-old Dunkin-Hartley guinea pigs were studied. Separate groups of 12 animals were killed at age 4, 12, 20, 28 and 36 weeks, and histological severity of knee OA was evaluated, and cartilage rheological properties were assessed. Human chondrocytes cultured in multilayers were treated for 10 days with interleukin-1β. Human patients with early and advanced OA and healthy controls were recruited, blood samples were collected, and serum or plasma was prepared. Serum, plasma, and culture medium were analyzed for glycated, oxidized, and nitrated amino acids. Results: Severity of OA increased progressively in guinea pigs with age. Glycated, oxidized, and nitrated amino acids were increased markedly at week 36, with glucosepane and dityrosine increasing progressively from weeks 20 and 28, respectively. Glucosepane correlated positively with OA histological severity (r = 0.58, p < 0.0001) and instantaneous modulus (r = 0.52–0.56; p < 0.0001), oxidation free adducts correlated positively with OA severity (p < 0.0009–0.0062), and hydroxyproline correlated positively with cartilage thickness (p < 0.0003–0.003). Interleukin-1β increased the release of glycated and nitrated amino acids from chondrocytes in vitro. In clinical translation, plasma glucosepane was increased 38% in early-stage OA (p < 0.05) and sixfold in patients with advanced OA (p < 0.001) compared with healthy controls. Conclusions: These studies further advance the prospective role of glycated, oxidized, and nitrated amino acids as serum biomarkers in diagnostic algorithms for early-stage detection of OA and other arthritic disease. Plasma glucosepane, reported here for the first time to our knowledge, may improve early-stage diagnosis and progression of clinical OA

Hyperdominance in the Amazonian tree flora

The vast extent of the Amazon Basin has historically restricted the study of its tree communities to the local and regional scales. Here, we provide empirical data on the commonness, rarity, and richness of lowland tree species across the entire Amazon Basin and Guiana Shield (Amazonia), collected in 1170 tree plots in all major forest types. Extrapolations suggest that Amazonia harbors roughly 16,000 tree species, of which just 227 (1.4%) account for half of all trees. Most of these are habitat specialists and only dominant in one or two regions of the basin. We discuss some implications of the finding that a small group of species--less diverse than the North American tree flora--accounts for half of the world's most diverse tree community.This work was supported by Alberta Mennega Stichting; ALCOA Suriname; Banco de la República; Center for Agricultural Research in Suriname; Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (Plano Nacional de Pós-Graduação); Conselho Nacional de Desenvovimento Científico e Tecnológico of Brazil (CNPq) projects Programa de Pesquisas Ecológicas de Longa Duração (PELD) (558069/2009-6), Programa de Apoio a Núcleos de Excelência da Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Amazonas (PRONEX-FAPEAM) (1600/2006), Áreas Úmidas, and MAUA; PELD (403792/2012-6), PPBio, CENBAM, Universal (479599/2008-4), and Universal 307807-2009-6; Fundação de Amparo À Pesquisa Do Estado Do Amazonas (APEAM) projects DCR/2006, Hidroveg with FAPESP, and PRONEX with CNPq; FAPESP; Colciencias; Duke University; Ecopetrol; FEPIM 044/2003; the Field Museum; Conservation International/DC (TEAM/INPA Manuas), Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation; Guyana Forestry Commission; Investissement d’Avenir grant of the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) (Centre d’Étude de la Biodiversité Amazonienne ANR-10-LABX-0025); Margaret Mee Amazon Trust; Miquel fonds; National Geographic Society (7754-04, 8047-06 to P.M.J.); Netherlands Foundation for the Advancement of Tropical Research WOTRO grants WB85- 335 and W84-581; Primate Conservation Incorporated; Programme Ecosystèmes Tropicaux (French Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development; Shell Prospecting and Development Peru; Smithsonian Institution’s Biological Diversity of the Guiana Shield Program; Stichting het van Eeden-fonds; the Body Shop; the Ministry of the Environment of Ecuador; TROBIT; Tropenbos International; NSF (NSF-0743457 and NSF-0101775 to P.M.J.); USAID; Variety Woods Guyana; WWF-Brazil; WWF-Guianas; XIIéme Contrat de Plan Etat Région-Guyane (French Government and European Union); and grants to RAINFOR from the European Union, UK Natural Environment Research Council, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and U.S. National Geographic Society. O.L.P. is supported by a European Research Council Advanced Grant and a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award

Proteome Regulation during Olea europaea Fruit Development

Widespread in the Mediterranean basin, Olea europaea trees are gaining worldwide popularity for the nutritional and cancer-protective properties of the oil, mechanically extracted from ripe fruits. Fruit development is a physiological process with remarkable impact on the modulation of the biosynthesis of compounds affecting the quality of the drupes as well as the final composition of the olive oil. Proteomics offers the possibility to dig deeper into the major changes during fruit development, including the important phase of ripening, and to classify temporal patterns of protein accumulation occurring during these complex physiological processes.In this work, we started monitoring the proteome variations associated with olive fruit development by using comparative proteomics coupled to mass spectrometry. Proteins extracted from drupes at three different developmental stages were separated on 2-DE and subjected to image analysis. 247 protein spots were revealed as differentially accumulated. Proteins were identified from a total of 121 spots and discussed in relation to olive drupe metabolic changes occurring during fruit development. In order to evaluate if changes observed at the protein level were consistent with changes of mRNAs, proteomic data produced in the present work were compared with transcriptomic data elaborated during previous studies.This study identifies a number of proteins responsible for quality traits of cv. Coratina, with particular regard to proteins associated to the metabolism of fatty acids, phenolic and aroma compounds. Proteins involved in fruit photosynthesis have been also identified and their pivotal contribution in oleogenesis has been discussed. To date, this study represents the first characterization of the olive fruit proteome during development, providing new insights into fruit metabolism and oil accumulation process

Contribution of spatially explicit models to climate change adaptation and mitigation plans for a priority forest habitat

Climate change will impact forest ecosystems, their biodiversity and the livelihoods they sustain. Several adaptation and mitigation strategies to counteract climate change impacts have been proposed for these ecosystems. However, effective implementation of such strategies requires a clear understanding of how climate change will influence the future distribution of forest ecosystems. This study uses maximum entropy modelling (MaxEnt) to predict environmentally suitable areas for cork oak (Quercus suber) woodlands, a socio-economically important forest ecosystem protected by the European Union Habitats Directive. Specifically, we use two climate change scenarios to predict changes in environmental suitability across the entire geographical range of the cork oak and in areas where stands were recently established. Up to 40 % of current environmentally suitable areas for cork oak may be lost by 2070, mainly in northern Africa and southern Iberian Peninsula. Almost 90 % of new cork oak stands are predicted to lose suitability by the end of the century, but future plantations can take advantage of increasing suitability in northern Iberian Peninsula and France. The predicted impacts cross-country borders, showing that a multinational strategy, will be required for cork oak woodland adaptation to climate change. Such a strategy must be regionally adjusted, featuring the protection of refugia sites in southern areas and stimulating sustainable forest management in areas that will keep long-term suitability. Afforestation efforts should also be promoted but must consider environmental suitability and land competition issues

Circulating microparticles: square the circle

Background: The present review summarizes current knowledge about microparticles (MPs) and provides a systematic overview of last 20 years of research on circulating MPs, with particular focus on their clinical relevance. Results: MPs are a heterogeneous population of cell-derived vesicles, with sizes ranging between 50 and 1000 nm. MPs are capable of transferring peptides, proteins, lipid components, microRNA, mRNA, and DNA from one cell to another without direct cell-to-cell contact. Growing evidence suggests that MPs present in peripheral blood and body fluids contribute to the development and progression of cancer, and are of pathophysiological relevance for autoimmune, inflammatory, infectious, cardiovascular, hematological, and other diseases. MPs have large diagnostic potential as biomarkers; however, due to current technological limitations in purification of MPs and an absence of standardized methods of MP detection, challenges remain in validating the potential of MPs as a non-invasive and early diagnostic platform. Conclusions: Improvements in the effective deciphering of MP molecular signatures will be critical not only for diagnostics, but also for the evaluation of treatment regimens and predicting disease outcomes

QCD and strongly coupled gauge theories : challenges and perspectives

We highlight the progress, current status, and open challenges of QCD-driven physics, in theory and in experiment. We discuss how the strong interaction is intimately connected to a broad sweep of physical problems, in settings ranging from astrophysics and cosmology to strongly coupled, complex systems in particle and condensed-matter physics, as well as to searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. We also discuss how success in describing the strong interaction impacts other fields, and, in turn, how such subjects can impact studies of the strong interaction. In the course of the work we offer a perspective on the many research streams which flow into and out of QCD, as well as a vision for future developments.Peer reviewe

Multi-messenger observations of a binary neutron star merger

On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ~1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40+8-8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 Mo. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ~40 Mpc) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One- Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ~10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position ~9 and ~16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta