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When Anglo-Saxon warriors buckled on gem encrusted, intricately wrought gold arms and armor, they did not merely transform their appearance, but shifted their fundamental ontology. We consider objects from the Staffordshire Hoard as embodiments of fah and ælf-sciéne, specifically Anglo-Saxon ideas of visual splendor, and the modern notion of bling in order to excavate their role in the transformation of men into posthuman teratological wonders. We strive to imagine the hoard not as a series of objects but as embodied apparatuses inextricable from those who wore them and from the violence they were intended to fend off, yet accelerate.

[No abstract available]

CD146, a cell adhesion molecule, is overexpressed in a variety of carcinomas, including melanoma, prostate cancer, epithelial ovarian cancer, and breast cancer. The level of expression is directly correlated with tumour progression and metastatic potential. The most commonly affected organ for both neoplastic and non-neoplastic tumours is the skin. The objective of this study is to investigate the immunohistochemical expression of CD146 in canine skin tumours of epidermal or follicular origin in 53 squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs), 9 squamous papillomas, 7 infundibular keratinizing acanthomas (IKA), 21 trichoepitheliomas, 13 trichoblastomas, and 3 pilomatricomas. Immunohistochemical results showed that SCCs (90.6%), squamous papilloma (33.3%), IKA (85.7%), trichoepithelioma (85.9%), trichoblastoma (30.8%) and pilomatricoma (100%), respectively, were positive for CD146. The significant expression of CD146 in SCCs supports its importance as a useful treatment target. CD146 could also be used in differentiation of trichoepithelioma and trichoblastoma.

25th Annual Congress of the European-Association-of-Nuclear-Medicine (EANM) -- OCT 27-31, 2012 -- Milan, ITALY Sager, Sait/0000-0003-2013-5845; Sonmezoglu, Kerim/0000-0003-1215-5184 WOS: 000309726603278 … European Assoc Nucl Med (EANM)

Emerging infectious diseases have caused a global effort for development of fast and accurate detection techniques. The rapidly mutating nature of viruses presents a major difficulty, highlighting the need for specific detection of genetically diverse strains. One such infectious agent is SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV), which emerged in 2003. This study aimed to develop a real-time RT-PCR detection assay specific for SARS-CoV, taking into account its intrinsic polymorphic nature due to genetic drift and recombination and the possibility of continuous and multiple introductions of genetically non-identical strains into the human population, by using mismatch-tolerant molecular beacons designed to specifically detect the SARS-CoV S, E, M and N genes. These were applied in simple, reproducible duplex and multiplex real-time PCR assays on 25 post-mortem samples and constructed RNA controls, and they demonstrated high target detection ability and specificity. This assay can readily be adapted for detection of other emerging and rapidly mutating pathogens. © 2011 Springer-Verlag. 156 671 680 Cited By :5

MUC20, a novel mucin protein highly expressed in kidney, was isolated as an up-regulated gene in renal tissues of patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN) ( J Biol Chem 279:1968, 2004). Functional analyses of MUC20 have demonstrated its role as a negative regulator of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)-induced Grb2-Ras pathway. The C-terminus of MUC20 associates with the multifunctional docking site of Met, preventing Grb2 recruitment to Met and thus attenuating HGF-induced proliferation and matrix metalloproteinase expression ( Mol Cell Biol 24:7456, 2004). In addition, it has been suggested that the oligomerization of MUC20, caused by its overproduction or some other unknown factor(s), which leads to this association with Met. Interestingly, in human MUC20, the repeat numbers of the extracellular tandem domain, which may have an influence on the oligomerization, showed a divergence, with two to six repeat types in several human cell lines. In this study, to clarify the role of MUC20 in human kidney diseases, we analyzed the expression of MUC20 in kidney tissues of patients with IgAN by in situ hybridization. We also investigated the possible association of the tandem repeat polymorphism of MUC20 with renal survival in 236 patients with histologically proven IgAN. In normal kidneys, the expression of MUC20 was confined to the distal tubules, where Met was colocalized by immunohsitochemistry. In addition, glomerular podocytes and the parietal epithelial cells lining Bowman's capsule demonstrated positive expression of MUC20. In renal tissues of IgAN, up-regulation of MUC20 expression in proximal tubules, as well as in distal tubules, was observed. By Kaplan-Meier analysis, the prognosis of IgAN patients with five or six of tandem repeat of MUC20 ( N = 130) was significantly better than those without ( N = 106, log-rank, χ 2 = 10.51) ( P = 0.0012). The tandem repeat polymorphism of MUC20 was an independent risk factor for the progression of renal dysfunction even after adjusting for other clinical risk factors, including hypertension, urinary protein excretion of more than 1.0 g/day, and no administration of renin angiotensin system inhibitors. This study supports the role of MUC20 in regulating the Met signaling cascade, which is implicated not only in renal development and maintenance of kidney functions but also in tubular repair and regeneration under pathological conditions in human glomerulonephritis. The tandem repeat polymorphism in MUC20, which may directly affect its oligomerization and binding to Met, is associated with the renal prognosis of IgAN. Factors that regulate the function of MUC20 may be useful therapeutic agents for progression of renal injury.