Conceptual Content in Terms of Preuniversity Education (PUE) Textbooks

The purpose of this paper is the identification of terminology in science textbooks to PUE, focusing on the accuracy of the terms and their definitions.The methodology used is an exhaustive collection of terminology in science textbooks to PUE in Albania. The review of expression of understanding object- conceptual of the terms of the natural sciences, as well as the explanation of the content of the term by definition, are techniques used to achieve this goal. Scientific and technical terminology PUE texts include the basic science terms, that make education curriculum. The compilers of the texts tend to use increasingly Albanian terms that replace foreign terms. However are noticed uses of terms that do not correspond exactly with the foreign term, double terms that burden the terminological system. In textbooks, equally important are the definitions that explain the content of nocionore units. Long and incomplete, data definitions between synonyms, are hampering the understanding of the content of the term. Such problems will find solutions through normative explanatory dictionaries that determine with scientific accuracy the nocionore lexical value of each edge.Keywords: scientific terminology and teaching, nocionore unit, definition, ken terms, normative explanatory dictionary

Novel hydroxyapatite/carboxymethylchitosan composite scaffolds prepared through an innovative ‘‘autocatalytic’’ electroless coprecipitation route

A developmental composite scaffold for bone tissue engineering applications composed of hydroxyapatite (HA) and carboxymethylchitosan (CMC) was obtained using a coprecipitation method, which is based on the ‘‘autocatalytic’’ electroless deposition route. The results revealed that the pores of the scaffold were regular, interconnected, and possess a size in the range of 20–500 lm. Furthermore, the Fourier transform infra-red spectrum of the composite scaffolds exhibited all the characteristic peaks of apatite, and the appearance of typical bands from CMC, thus showing that coprecipitation of both organic and inorganic phases was effective. The X-ray diffraction pattern of composite scaffolds demonstrated that calciumphosphates consisted of crystalline HA. From microcomputed tomography analysis, it was possible to determine that composite scaffolds possess a 58.9% 6 6% of porosity. The 2D morphometric analysis demonstrated that on average the scaffolds consisted of 24% HA and 76% CMC. The mechanical properties were assessed using compressive tests, both in dry and wet states. Additionally, in vitro tests were carried out to evaluate the wateruptake capability, weight loss, and bioactive behavior of the composite scaffolds. The novel hydroxyapatite/ carboxymethylchitosan composite scaffolds showed promise whenever degradability and bioactivity are simultaneously desired, as in the case of bone tissue-engineering scaffolding applications.Contract grant sponsor: European Union (STREP Project HIPPOCRATES); contract grant number: NMP3-CT-2003-50575

Identification of Stage-Specific Breast Markers using Quantitative Proteomics

YesMatched healthy and diseased tissues from breast cancer patients were analyzed by quantitative proteomics. By comparing proteomic profiles of fibroadenoma (benign tumors, three patients), DCIS (noninvasive cancer, three patients), and invasive ductal carcinoma (four patients), we identified protein alterations that correlated with breast cancer progression. Three 8-plex iTRAQ experiments generated an average of 826 protein identifications, of which 402 were common. After excluding those originating from blood, 59 proteins were significantly changed in tumor compared with normal tissues, with the majority associated with invasive carcinomas. Bioinformatics analysis identified relationships between proteins in this subset including roles in redox regulation, lipid transport, protein folding, and proteasomal degradation, with a substantial number increased in expression due to Myc oncogene activation. Three target proteins, cofilin-1 and p23 (increased in invasive carcinoma) and membrane copper amine oxidase 3 (decreased in invasive carcinoma), were subjected to further validation. All three were observed in phenotype-specific breast cancer cell lines, normal (nontransformed) breast cell lines, and primary breast epithelial cells by Western blotting, but only cofilin-1 and p23 were detected by multiple reaction monitoring mass spectrometry analysis. All three proteins were detected by both analytical approaches in matched tissue biopsies emulating the response observed with proteomics analysis. Tissue microarray analysis (361 patients) indicated cofilin-1 staining positively correlating with tumor grade and p23 staining with ER positive status; both therefore merit further investigation as potential biomarkers.Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation, Yorkshire Cancer Researc

Calcified Algae for Tissue Engineering.

This book presents the latest advances in marine structures and related biomaterials for applications in both soft- and hard-tissue engineering, as well as controlled drug delivery

Quantitative Proteomics Reveals Myosin and Actin as Promising Saliva Biomarkers for Distinguishing Pre-Malignant and Malignant Oral Lesions

Oral cancer survival rates increase significantly when it is detected and treated early. Unfortunately, clinicians now lack tests which easily and reliably distinguish pre-malignant oral lesions from those already transitioned to malignancy. A test for proteins, ones found in non-invasively-collected whole saliva and whose abundances distinguish these lesion types, would meet this critical need.To discover such proteins, in a first-of-its-kind study we used advanced mass spectrometry-based quantitative proteomics analysis of the pooled soluble fraction of whole saliva from four subjects with pre-malignant lesions and four with malignant lesions. We prioritized candidate biomarkers via bioinformatics and validated selected proteins by western blotting. Bioinformatic analysis of differentially abundant proteins and initial western blotting revealed increased abundance of myosin and actin in patients with malignant lesions. We validated those results by additional western blotting of individual whole saliva samples from twelve other subjects with pre-malignant oral lesions and twelve with malignant oral lesions. Sensitivity/specificity values for distinguishing between different lesion types were 100%/75% (p = 0.002) for actin, and 67%/83% (p<0.00001) for myosin in soluble saliva. Exfoliated epithelial cells from subjects' saliva also showed increased myosin and actin abundance in those with malignant lesions, linking our observations in soluble saliva to abundance differences between pre-malignant and malignant cells.Salivary actin and myosin abundances distinguish oral lesion types with sensitivity and specificity rivaling other non-invasive oral cancer tests. Our findings provide a promising starting point for the development of non-invasive and inexpensive salivary tests to reliably detect oral cancer early