Differences in telomere length between sporadic and familial cutaneous melanoma

BACKGROUND: Several pieces of evidence indicate that a complex relationship exists between constitutional telomere length (TL) and the risk of cutaneous melanoma. Although the general perception is that longer telomeres increase melanoma risk, some studies do not support this association. We hypothesise that discordant data are due to the characteristics of the studied populations. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the association of telomere length with familial and sporadic melanoma. METHODS: TL was measured by multiplex quantitative PCR in leukocytes from 310 melanoma patients according to familial/sporadic and single/multiple cancers and 216 age-matched controls. RESULTS: Patients with sporadic melanoma were found to have shorter telomeres as compared to those with familial melanoma. In addition, shorter telomeres, while tending to reduce the risk of familial melanoma regardless of single or multiple tumors, nearly trebled the risk of single sporadic melanoma. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first time that TL has been correlated to opposite effects on melanoma risk according to the presence or absence of familial predisposition. Individual susceptibility to melanoma should be taken into account when assessing the role of TL as a risk factor. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Verificação dos níveis de aptidão física de crianças com idade entre 6 e 9 anos

Anais do II Seminário Seminário Estadual PIBID do Paraná: tecendo saberes / organizado por Dulcyene Maria Ribeiro e Catarina Costa Fernandes — Foz do Iguaçu: Unioeste; Unila, 2014Neste trabalho mensurou-se a estatura, massa e a aptidão cardiovascular de 112 crianças, entre 6 e 9 anos de idade, em ambos os gêneros. Todas elas são alunas da Escola Municipal Nossa Senhora de Fátima, da cidade de Palmas/PR e estão em turmas onde acadêmicos do Curso de Educação Física, do IFPR – Campus Palmas atuam como apoiadores pelo PIBID. Classificou-se 76,77% com estado nutricional normal, 1,79% com baixo peso e 21,42% com sobrepeso e obesos. Na avaliação pelo I.M.C. encontrou-se 9,82% em zona de risco, o que remete a necessidade de ações imediatas nas aulas de Educação Física. Na aptidão cardiovascular encontrou-se somente 9,82% em condição de risco, que mostra que são crianças bem ativas fisicamente e que deve-se mantê-las assim para prevenir problemas com a saúd

Taking tadpole biology into the 21st century: a consensus paper from the First Tadpoles International Workshop

Although tadpoles are common, frequently encountered vertebrates, their natural history is poorly known. Despite the fact that Brazil harbors the highest anuran diversity in the world, with almost a thousand known species (Segalla et  al., 2014), the larvae of many species remain undescribed. The problem is not unique to Brazil. At the turn of the century, approximately ⅔ of almost 3,300 anuran species with a larval stage lacked tadpole descriptions (McDiarmid & Altig, 1999). The proportion of neotropical anurans with free-swimming larvae that are not described is estimated to be around 40% (Provete et al., 2012).Fil: Rossa Feres, Denise de C.. Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho; BrasilFil: Venesky, Matthew. Allegheny College; Estados UnidosFil: Nomura, Fausto. Universidade Federal de Goias; BrasilFil: Eterovick, Paula C.. Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais; BrasilFil: Vera Candioti, María Florencia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Menin, Marcelo. Universidade Federal do Amazonas; BrasilFil: Juncá, Flora A.. Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana; BrasilFil: Schiesari, Luis C.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Haddad, Celio F. B.. Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho; BrasilFil: Garey, Michel V.. Universidade Federal da Integração Latino-Americana; BrasilFil: dos Anjos, Luciano A.. Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho; BrasilFil: Wasserug, Richard. Dalhousie University Halifax; Canadá. University Of British Columbia; Canad

Location of chlorogenic acid biosynthesis pathway and polyphenol oxidase genes in a new interspecific anchored linkage map of eggplant

© Gramazio et al.; licensee BioMed Central. 2014. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated

Altered tumor formation and evolutionary selection of genetic variants in the human MDM4 oncogene

A large body of evidence strongly suggests that the p53 tumor suppressor pathway is central in reducing cancer frequency in vertebrates. The protein product of the haploinsufficient mouse double minute 2 (MDM2) oncogene binds to and inhibits the p53 protein. Recent studies of human genetic variants in p53 and MDM2 have shown that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) can affect p53 signaling, confer cancer risk, and suggest that the pathway is under evolutionary selective pressure (1–4). In this report, we analyze the haplotype structure of MDM4, a structural homolog of MDM2, in several different human populations. Unusual patterns of linkage disequilibrium (LD) in the haplotype distribution of MDM4 indicate the presence of candidate SNPs that may also modify the efficacy of the p53 pathway. Association studies in 5 different patient populations reveal that these SNPs in MDM4 confer an increased risk for, or early onset of, human breast and ovarian cancers in Ashkenazi Jewish and European cohorts, respectively. This report not only implicates MDM4 as a key regulator of tumorigenesis in the human breast and ovary, but also exploits for the first time evolutionary driven linkage disequilibrium as a means to select SNPs of p53 pathway genes that might be clinically relevant

Altered tumor formation and evolutionary selection of genetic variants in the human MDM4 oncogene

A large body of evidence strongly suggests that the p53 tumor suppressor pathway is central in reducing cancer frequency in vertebrates. The protein product of the haploinsufficient mouse double minute 2 (MDM2) oncogene binds to and inhibits the p53 protein. Recent studies of human genetic variants in p53 and MDM2 have shown that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) can affect p53 signaling, confer cancer risk, and suggest that the pathway is under evolutionary selective pressure (1–4). In this report, we analyze the haplotype structure of MDM4, a structural homolog of MDM2, in several different human populations. Unusual patterns of linkage disequilibrium (LD) in the haplotype distribution of MDM4 indicate the presence of candidate SNPs that may also modify the efficacy of the p53 pathway. Association studies in 5 different patient populations reveal that these SNPs in MDM4 confer an increased risk for, or early onset of, human breast and ovarian cancers in Ashkenazi Jewish and European cohorts, respectively. This report not only implicates MDM4 as a key regulator of tumorigenesis in the human breast and ovary, but also exploits for the first time evolutionary driven linkage disequilibrium as a means to select SNPs of p53 pathway genes that might be clinically relevant

3-D SURVEY APPLIED TO INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY BY TLS METHODOLOGY

This work describes the three-dimensional survey of "Ex Stazione Frigorifera Specializzata": initially used for agricultural storage, during the years it was allocated to different uses until the complete neglect. The historical relevance and the architectural heritage that this building represents has brought the start of a recent renovation project and functional restoration. In this regard it was necessary a global 3-D survey that was based on the application and integration of different geomatic methodologies (mainly terrestrial laser scanner, classical topography, and GNSS). The acquisitions of point clouds was performed using different laser scanners: with time of flight (TOF) and phase shift technologies for the distance measurements. The topographic reference network, needed for scans alignment in the same system, was measured with a total station. For the complete survey of the building, 122 scans were acquired and 346 targets were measured from 79 vertices of the reference network. Moreover, 3 vertices were measured with GNSS methodology in order to georeference the network. For the detail survey of machine room were executed 14 scans with 23 targets. The 3-D global model of the building have less than one centimeter of error in the alignment (for the machine room the error in alignment is not greater than 6 mm) and was used to extract products such as longitudinal and transversal sections, plans, architectural perspectives, virtual scans. A complete spatial knowledge of the building is obtained from the processed data, providing basic information for restoration project, structural analysis, industrial and architectural heritage valorization

God’s gifts: destiny, poverty, and temporality in the mines of Sierra Leone

In Sierra Leone, many artisanal miners share the view that every human act and every event is the realisation of an inscrutable divine plan. Even though notions of fate and destiny are part of the vocabulary of Krio, the country’s lingua franca, miners prefer to use expressions that evoke God and stress His immanent presence and influence in their everyday lives. In order to understand the religious vocabulary of contingency and the cosmology underlying the ways in which miners interpret, reproduce, and imaginatively prepare the conditions to change their lives, this article focuses on the ritual practices connected to artisanal diamond mining. It considers these rituals as attempts to resolve the ever-present temporal and moral tensions between actual conditions of suffering and poverty, and the realisation of the well-being that miners associate with their desired futures

Comic Book (Extended Intellectual Output 2 of Blurred Lives Project: a Cross-National Co-Participatory Exploration of Cyberbullying, Young People and Socio-Economic Disadvantage)

Pupils aged 14-16 years from all over Europe have developed a comic book on the impact of cyberbullying and how to act against it. The comics are developed by the pupils and redrawn by a professional illustrator. Each story is aimed at raising awareness among young people of your age regarding the problem of cyberbullying and offers tools to combat it. In addition, the comic books include reflective questions and assignments to help you to better understand cyberbullying and think of effective solutions

Coping with cybervictimization: The role of direct confrontation and resilience on adolescent wellbeing

Background. Recent studies have consistently identified the negative consequences of cyberbullying on adolescent mental health. Nevertheless, not all cybervictims are alike, and in the last few years some evidence has appeared indicating that faced with cyberbullying, victims may manifest different emotional outcomes. In this study, we explored whether cybervictim resilience fully or partially mediates the effects of cybervictimization and whether a confrontational coping strategy impacts emotional symptoms. Methods. The study was carried out with a sample of 474 high school students equally distributed between males and females. Data were collected using a questionnaire comprising four measures assessing cybervictimization, direct confrontation coping strategy, resilience and emotional symptoms. Results. Structural equation modelling indicated that the effects of cybervictimization and confrontational coping strategy on emotional symptoms were mediated by resilience, with cybervictimization showing a positive effect while direct confrontation a negative effect. Cybervictimization also showed a positive direct effect on emotional symptoms. Conclusions. These results are presented in light of their implications for designing effective interventions able to protect and promote adolescents\u2019 psychological wellbeing