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This study aimed at finding the strategies of politeness in requests as well as the potential differences between Jordanian children in their use of such strategies. The study compared the participants on the basis of two variables: age and gender. According to the age variable, the participants were divided into three groups: 5, 7 and 9 year-olds. Each group contained 24 participants who were then divided into 12 males and 12 females. The researchers used video-recording to elicit the participants' requests while they ask the researchers for some cookies. On the basis of age, the findings support previous research that age has an obvious effect on the use of politeness in requests. It was found that nine-year-olds were more able to use indirect forms of requests than seven and five- year- old children. Although 5 and 7-year-olds were able to use indirect forms, they opted more to direct requests that have a semantic softener. On the basis of gender, the differences between males and females in using direct and indirect requests were irrelevant.

Thyroglobulin (Tg) is a glycoprotein hormone uniquely synthesized and secreted by both benign and malignant thyroid tissue. As such, serial Tg measurements have become a cornerstone in the longterm management of patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). Currently, three different methods exist for the determination of serum Tg values: immunometric assays (IMA), radioimmunoassay (RIA) and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (Tg-LC/MS). All assays produce accurate and reproducible Tg levels, the only difference being the sensitivity limits of each assay. However, in the presence of circulating thyroglobulin antibodies (TgAb), the performance of these assays is reduced. Because 25 percent of patients with DTC have circulating TgAb, accurate Tg measurements can be compromised. In DTC patients with documented disease and TgAb, up to 50 percent of serum Tg levels will result as undetectable when measured either by the IMA or Tg-LC/MS while only four percent are undetectable when measured by the RIA. This necessitates prescreening all Tg samples for the presence of TgAb and rerouting samples to the RIA, if available. As the Tg RIA is not widely available, preliminary studies have demonstrated that TgAb can be used as a surrogate tumor marker in patients with DTC. In conclusion, patients with DTC who are TgAb positive, as described above, require alterations in the usual management of DTC.

Background Over-expression of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 promotes breast cancer progression by multiple mechanisms, including induction of stem-like cells (SLC). Combined gene expression and microRNA microarray analyses of empty vector vs COX-2- transfected COX-2 low MCF7 breast cancer cell line identified two COX-2-upregulated microRNAs, miR-526b and miR-655, both found to be oncogenic and SLC-promoting. Cytoplasmic Polyadenylation Element-Binding Protein 2 (CPEB2) was the single common target of both microRNAs, the functions of which remain controversial. CPEB2 has multiple isoforms (A-F), and paradoxically, a high B/A ratio was reported to impart anoikis-resistance and metastatic phenotype in triple- negative breast cancer cells. We tested whether CPEB2 is a tumor suppressor in mammary epithelial cells. Methods We knocked-out CPEB2 in the non-tumorigenic mammary epithelial cell line MCF10A by CRISPR/Cas9-double nickase approach, and knocked-down CPEB2 with siRNAs in the poorly malignant MCF7 cell line, both lines being high CPEB2-expressing. The resultant phenotypes for oncogenity were tested in vitro for both lines and in vivo for CPEB2KO cells. Finally, CPEB2 expression was compared between human breast cancer and non-tumor breast tissues. Results CPEB2 (isoform A) expression was inversely correlated with COX-2 or the above microRNAs in COX-2-divergent breast cancer cell lines. CPEB2KO MCF10A cells exhibited oncogenic properties including increased proliferation, migration, invasion, EMT (decreased E-Cadherin, increased Vimentin, N-Cadherin, SNAI1, and ZEB1) and SLC phenotype (increased tumorsphere formation and SLC marker-expression). Tumor-suppressor p53 protein was shown to be a novel translationally-regulated target of CPEB2, validated with polysome profiling. CPEB2KO, but not wild-type cells produced lung colonies upon intravenous injection and subcutaneous tumors and spontaneous lung metastases upon implantation at mammary sites in NOD/SCID/IL2Rϒ-null mice, identified with HLA immunostaining. Similarly, siRNA-mediated CPEB2 knockdown in MCF7 cells promoted oncogenic properties in vitro. Human breast cancer tissues (n = 105) revealed a lower mRNA expression for CPEB2 isoform A and also a lower A/B isoform ratio than in non-tumour breast tissues (n = 20), suggesting that CPEB2A accounts for the tumor-suppressor functions of CPEB2. Conclusions CPEB2, presumably the isoform A, plays a key role in suppressing tumorigenesis in mammary epithelial cells by repressing EMT, migration, invasion, proliferation and SLC phenotype, via multiple targets, including a newly-identified translational target p53. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12885-019-5771-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The presence of calcification is uncommon in pituitary adenomas, and often lends support to other diagnoses including craniopharyngioma. The majority of calcified pituitary adenomas are prolactin-secreting tumors. We report two patients with calcified macroprolactinomas, one that was treated medically with a biochemical response and partial tumor response, and one that was treated successfully via an endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal approach. Suspected calcified prolactinomas can be initially managed medically as per standard treatment for typical prolactinomas; however, the presence of diffuse calcification may hinder tumor shrinkage. Tumors that are refractory to medical treatment can be safely managed with surgery.

Visitors’ space use pattern in museums is the mechanism by which visitors can understand and comprehend the internal display environment through a series of behaviors that begin with Capture, Navigation and ends by stopping to view display content. To find out the effect of the internal physical environment of the display spaces which consist of (the display containers) represented by the surrounding surfaces and (display content) of exhibits, the organizational characteristics of each one had to be studied to know their impact in these different patterns of space use. The relationship between the patterns of display space use represented by (visitors exploratory movement and stopping to view exhibits) and the internal space characteristics represented by (organizational relationships of display container and content) is a phenomenon that didn’t have a great deal of studying despite its role in making the museum experience successful. Accordingly, the research aimed at shedding light on the nature of this relationship through studying a group of neutral display spaces for the display containers with their contents along with their different spatial organization between two of international museums within an interactive approach based on the actual analysis of the visitor behavior by observation and tracking in addition to carrying out syntactical analysis for the display halls in the selected samples with Depthmap UCL software. The results of the practical study showed that the matching between the display container and island display content in the spatial organization raises the learning opportunity and going deeply into the display content as well as stimulating the interaction of visitors through focusing on exhibits on one hand, this interaction with display, on the other hand, towards wall display content increases as much as this matching decreases.

تناولت بعض البحوث المعمارية الحديثة الحركة التكعيبية من خلال علاقتها بالعمارة مباشرة أو من خلال ظاهرة محددة تربط الاثنين معا بطريقة غير مباشرة ، بينما يتناول هذا البحث موضوع النظام في التكعيبية حسب المنهج البنيوي الذي يركز على ميزات ثلاث هي الكلية والتحويلا والضبط الذاتي ، وقد حاول البحث توضيح كلا منها مع التركيز على الحقل المعماري، وعلى الوسائل الشكلية المستخدمة لتعزيز النظام في النتاج المعماري. برز منها وسيلة الإيقاع حيث تم تعريفه وبيان أهميته وأنواعه، ثم سعى البحث في مرحلته الثانية إلى الكشف عن طبيعة الإيقاع في توجه إحيائية العشرينات ، وقد أظهرت النتائج استخدام معماريي هذا التوجه للإيقاع الطباقي في الواجهات من خلال عدة مستويات تضم شبكات وجدران وعناصر تتداخل مع بعضها لتحقق كلية الواجهات معززة بهذا نظامها التكعيبي. جاءت الاستنتاجات مؤكدة لتأثر توجه إحيائية العشرينات في العمارة بالحركة التكعيبية في الفن، ومؤيدة لمضمون بعض الأدبيات السابقة.

Background: We had shown that over-expression of the inflammation-associated enzyme cyclo-oxygenase (COX)-2 promotes breast cancer progression and metastasis and sustains stem-like cells (SLC), believed to evade traditional therapy and promote tumor reoccurrence. Stable transfection of the COX-2 gene into COX-2–, HER-2–, non-metastatic human MCF-7 breast cancer cell line (named MCF-7-COX-2) led to a highly aggressive phenotype in vitro, where we observed epithelial-mesenchymal transition, increased migration, invasion, clonogenic tumorsphere forming ability (surrogate of SLC) and expression of SLC marker ALDH. Furthermore, we observed an increase in the tumorigenic and metastatic capacity of the cells in immuno-compromised mice in vivo. Combined gene expression and microRNA (miRNA) micro-array analysis of MCF-7 and MCF-7-COX-2 cells revealed COX-2 induced up-regulation of two miRNAs, miR-526b and miR-655, and down-regulation of their common gene target, cytoplasmic polyadenylation element binding protein (CPEB)-2. While both miRNAs were found to be oncogenic in functional assays, the function of CPEB-2 in breast cancer remains untested. Hypothesis: miR-526b and miR-655 down-regulate CPEB-2 to promote breast cancer cell aggressiveness and the SLC phenotype. Approaches & Results: (1) To test if expression levels of COX-2 and CPEB-2 are inversely related, we measured both gene and protein expression in multiple COX-2 disparate breast cancer cell lines. (2) We also tested if there is an inverse relationship between miRNA expression and the expression levels of their target gene CPEB-2. We found that high COX-2/miRNA expressing cell lines such as MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7-COX-2 had significantly lower expression of CPEB-2 than MCF-7 cells (low COX-2/low miRNA). (3) To test the functional effects of CPEB-2 gene manipulation in vitro and in vivo, we knocked down CPEB-2 in CPEB-2-high MCF-7 cell line. MCF-7-CPEB-2-KD cells were found to be more migratory and invasive than control cells in transwell assays. Ongoing studies are to test (a) whether there is a cause and effect relationship between the expression of the miRNAs and CPEB-2 expression, that is, whether knocking down or knocking in the miRNAs respectively up-regulates and down-regulates CPEB-2 expression; and (b) whether CPEB-2 expression is lower in breast cancer tissues than in adjacent non-tumor tissues, and inversely correlated with the miRNAs in breast cancer tissues. Conclusion and Significance: If CPEB-2 is proven to be tumor suppressor, these oncogenic miRNAs and putatively anti-oncogenic CPEB-2 may serve as potential biomarkers in personalizing breast cancer therapy with COX-2 inhibitors as adjuvant. (Supported by funds of the OICR to PKL. AH and MM are CaRTT/TBCRU scholars). Citation Format: Asma Hasan, Mousumi Majumder, Peeyush K Lala. The role of cytoplasmic polyadenylation element binding protein-2 in breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Seventh Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2014 Dec 9-13; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(9 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-07-29.

To describe the clinical characteristics and the risk factors associated with mortality in patients with meningitis. This is a retrospective review of patients diagnosed to have meningitis with positive culture of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimen. All cases aged 19 > years who were admitted to Hospital USM between January 2004 and December 2011 were included in the study. The CSF results database were obtained from the Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Hospital USM, Kelantan. A checklist was used to record the clinical characteristics. A total of 125 cases met the inclusion criteria. The age of patients ranged between newborn and 19 years old (Mean±SD, 74.5±80.6 months). The majority of them were males (65.6%). Fever was the most common presentation (73.6%) followed by poor oral intake (48.0%), seizure (36.0%) and headache (24.8%). The mortality rate was 31.2%. Coagulase negative staphylococcus was the most frequent pathogens isolated (21.6%), followed by Acinetobacter spp. (17.6%), Staphylococcus aureus (13.6%), Streptococcus spp. (11.2%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (6.4%). There were significant association of in-hospital death with age (p=0.020) and conscious level (p=0.001). Infectious meningitis is a big health concern, especially among children. We found that coagulase negative staphylococcus, Acinetobacter species, S. aureus, Streptococcus spp and K. pneumoniae were prevalent in our hospital. These microorganisms were hospital associated pathogens. The 31% mortality linked to hospital acquired meningitis specifies the need for focused physician attention especially among younger aged patients.

We show that Cyclooxygenase-2 over-expression induces an oncogenic microRNA miR655 in human breast cancer cells by activation of EP4. MiR655 expression positively correlated with COX-2 in genetically disparate breast cancer cell lines and increased in all cell lines when grown as spheroids, implicating its link with stem-like cells (SLCs). Ectopic miR655 over-expression in MCF7 and SKBR3 cells resulted in increased proliferation, migration, invasion, spheroid formation and Epithelial to Masenchymal transition (EMT). Conversely, knocking down miR655 in aggressive MCF7-COX2 and SKBR3-COX2 cells reverted these phenotypes. MCF7-miR655 cells displayed upregulated NOTCH/WNT genes; both pathway inhibitors abrogated miR655-induced spheroid formation, linking miR655 with SLC-related pathways. MiR655 expression was dependent on EP4 activity and EP4 downstream signaling pathways PI3K/AKT, ERK and NF-kB and led to TGFβ resistance for Smad3 phosphorylation. Tail vein injection of MCF7-miR655 and SKBR3-miR655 cells in NOD/SCID/GUSB-null mice revealed increased lung colony growth and micrometastases to liver and spleen. MiR655 expression was significantly high in human breast tumors (n = 105) compared to non-tumor tissues (n = 20) and associated with reduced patient survival. Thus miR655 could serve as a prognostic breast cancer biomarker.

In published studies, cohorts of patients with bacteremia due to vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) have predominantly been infected with Enterococcus faecium . Little is known about the epidemiology and outcomes associated with bacteremia due to VR Enterococcus faecalis . A retrospective study of isolates obtained from January 2008 to October 2010 was conducted at Detroit Medical Center (DMC). Unique patients with blood cultures positive for VRE were reviewed. Outcomes were analyzed using logistic regression. During the study period, 105 cases of bacteremia due to VR E. faecalis and 197 cases of bacteremia due to VR E. faecium were identified. The mean age in the study cohort was 61.5 ± 15 years; 162 subjects (53.6%) were male. After controlling for a propensity score, bacteremia due to VR E. faecalis was associated with >2-fold-lower in-hospital mortality than bacteremia due to VR E. faecium . Interestingly, bacteremia due to VR E. faecalis was associated with longer hospital stay after VRE isolation, although total length of stay was similar for groups with VR E. faecalis and VR E. faecium . Bacteremia due to VR E. faecalis was associated with a >2-fold-lower risk for mortality than bacteremia due to VR E. faecium , possibly due to the availability of β-lactam therapeutics for treatment of VR E. faecalis .

It is found that the low-frequency ion acoustic and electrostatic drift waves can become unstable in uniform electron–ion and electron–positron–ion plasmas due to the ion shear flow. In a collisional plasma a drift-dissipative instability can also take place. In the presence of collisions the temporal behavior of nonlinear drift-dissipative mode can be represented in the form of well-known Lorenz and Stenflo type equations that admit chaotic trajectories. On the other hand, a quasi-stationary solution of the mode coupling equations can be represented in the form of monopolar vortex. The results of the present investigation can be helpful in understanding electrostatic turbulence and wave phenomena in laboratory and astrophysical plasmas.

Amicrobial pustulosis of the folds (APF) is a rare, chronic, relapsing cutaneous disease seen almost exclusively in young women with a history of autoimmune disease, most commonly systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), or who simply have circulating autoantibodies1,2,3. APF is characterized by recurrent crops of pustules primarily in the skin folds and periorificial regions that eventually coalesce …

Architectural literatures and practices presented the concept of Enrichment asone of the solutions for the problems of Modemism. The importance of this conceptemerges due to its relation with other phenomena like visual complexity and ambiguity.Enrichment is a product character and a strategy to its creation. This productpossess abundance and detail in the visual tools causing the meaning enrichment and itsreadiness for multi interpretations.This concept is present in to two levels; the first, formal and includescomplexity and riddles, while the second is moral which includes the multiinterpretations.These sub-concepts cover many tools to achieve it like redundance,contrast, formal transformations, slight contrast within a strong order and an ambiguousmeaning.