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Mihaela Asp,1 Ingrida Mockute,1 Anna Måsbäck,2 Karina Liuba,1 Päivi Kannisto,1 Susanne Malander3 1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Clinical Science, Skåne University Hospital, Lund University, Lund, Sweden; 2Department of Clinical Genetics and Pathology, Department of Clinical Science, Skåne University Hospital, Lund University, Lund, Sweden; 3Department of Oncology and Pathology, Department of Clinical Science, Skåne University Hospital, Lund University, Lund, SwedenCorrespondence: Mihaela Asp, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Clinical Science, Skåne University Hospital, Lund University, Klinikgatan 12, Lund, 221 85, Sweden, Tel +46722434109, Email mihaela.asp@med.lu.sePurpose: Tru-cut biopsy is a minimally invasive technique used to obtain tissue samples for the diagnosis of tumors, especially in patients where primary surgery is not indicated. The aim of this study was to assess the adequacy, accuracy and safety of the tru-cut biopsy for diagnosis in gynecological cancer.Methods: A retrospective population-based review of 328 biopsies was conducted. The indications for tru-cut biopsies were diagnosis of primary tumors, metastases of gynecological and non-gynecological tumors, and suspected recurrences. A tissue sample was considered adequate when the quality/quality was sufficient to identify the subtype/origin of the tumor. Potential factors affecting adequacy were analyzed using logistic regressions analyses. Accuracy was defined as agreement between the diagnosis of the tru-cut biopsy and the postoperative histology. The therapy plan was registered, and the clinical applicability of the tru-cut biopsy was investigated. Complications within 30 days after the biopsy procedure were registered.Results: In total, 300 biopsies were identified as tru-cut biopsies. The overall adequacy was 86.3%, varying between 80.8% and 93.5%, respectively, when performed by a gynecological oncologist or a gynecologist with a subspecialty in ultrasound diagnosis. Sampling of a pelvic mass had a lower adequacy (81.6%) compared with sampling of the omentum (93.9%) or carcinomatosis (91.5%). The accuracy was 97.5%, and the complication rate was 1.3%.Conclusion: The tru-cut biopsy is a safe and reliable diagnostic method with a high accuracy and a good adequacy, depending on the site of the tissue sample, indications for the biopsy and the experience of the operator.Keywords: tru-cut biopsy, gynecological malignancy, ultrasound, adequacy, accuracy

Anna Norbeck,1,2 Mihaela Asp,1,2 Tobias Carlsson,3 Päivi Kannisto,1,2 Susanne Malander4,5 1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Skåne University Hospital, Lund, Sweden; 2Department of Clinical Sciences, Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden; 3Regional Cancer Centre South, Region Skåne, Lund, Sweden; 4Department of Oncology, Skåne University Hospital, Lund, Sweden; 5Department of Clinical Sciences, Division of Oncology, Lund University, Lund, SwedenCorrespondence: Anna Norbeck, Kvinnoklinken Skånes Universitetessjukhus, Klinikgatan 12, Lund, 221 85, Sweden, Tel +4646172106, Email anna.norbeck@med.lu.sePurpose: The majority of women with ovarian cancer are diagnosed in late stages. Most women do have symptoms prior to diagnosis, sometimes several months before the diagnosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the timeline from the first presentation of symptoms to a physician until there is a reasonable suspicion of cancer, among women diagnosed with advanced stage ovarian cancer. We wanted to investigate which symptoms were the most common and whether there are other factors affecting the time interval before the suspicion of cancer was confirmed.Patients and Methods: This was a retrospective population-based cohort study of women diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2019 who were referred to Skane University Hospital Lund, Sweden. Data were collected from electronic medical records at Skane University Hospital. The time interval was recorded as the time from first physician consultation with predefined symptoms to the date when there was a reasonable suspicion of ovarian cancer. Data processing and statistical analysis were performed with the statistical software R.Results: Among the 249 patients included in this study, the median time interval from the first consultation to the reasonable suspicion of cancer was 24 days. The first consultation in specialized care had a 70% decrease in delay compared to primary care. Emergency consultations had a 52.2% decrease in time delay compared to planned consultations. Older age was associated with an increase in the geometric mean by 54.7%, comparing the first to the third quartile. The most common symptom was abdominal pain.Conclusion: The length of time interval from first presentation with symptoms relating to ovarian cancer to reasonable suspicion of cancer was associated with whether the consultation was in primary or specialized care, emergency or planned visit and the patient’s age.Keywords: epithelial ovarian cancer, routes to diagnosis, cancer patient pathway, time to diagnosis

In this article, I argue that parental privacy has often been given too much weight in theorising about justice at schools. Susan Okin famously stated that as the family serves as the children's 'first school of justice', it should also be internally just. However, she agreed with John Rawls on that interfering directly within the family life, even in the name of equality and justice, would risk causing injustice to those who do not share these liberal ideals. I ask in what sense this principle of non-intrusion into the private should be extended over the school institution. If the principles of public justice and private morality came into conflict in school education, which set of principles should be given priority? I pose Rawls' suggestion concerning children's schooling against his depiction of the family and claim that these two are normatively at odds with each other. Of the two, the latter seems paradoxically to allow for more extensive public regulation and therefore his view of the school must be modified accordingly. Moreover, I revisit one of Okin's main arguments that countering injustices requires active and explicated countermeasures where education plays a key role. Therefore, it is justified to prioritise principles of public morality, and teach related substantial values at schools, given that they accord with the demands of justice. Parental privacy applies to schools only in a limited sense.

In this paper, I argue that the more objectively desirable children's formal education is, the stronger are the moral reasons to conceptualise the school normatively as a public social institution. Social institutions are goods-producing teleological entities for which the good created provides a central framework for the normative evaluation of the institution. The intrinsic value of desirable human goods morally obliges both their collective availability and collective production that, on a large scale, is possible only via public social institutions. In contrast, private social institutions are disposed to produce goods whether instrumentally or exclusively, and thus, within private institutions, the production and distribution of the desirable goods is easily compromised for private purposes, such as for monetary profit, ideological gain or the internal coherence of a social group. Privatisation of desirable goods thus endangers their collective availability. Moreover, private social institutions are required to bring forth the aggregated interests of their members that might only have an arbitrary connection to desirable goods, whereas public institutions are morally and politically responsible to the general public to guarantee the collective availability of the goods that they produce. Therefore, if children's formal education is considered a desirable good, it is also a collective good that ought primally be publicly produced.

Abstract Aim To explore the impact of interprofessional education (IPE) on undergraduate nursing and medical students' knowledge, competence and targeted competence in diabetes care. Design Mixed methods design. Methods A voluntary IPE course of diabetes management was organized for nursing (n = 15) and medical (n = 15) students, who performed a diabetes knowledge test and self‐evaluation of diabetes competence before and after the course and were compared with non‐participating students. The participating students' focus‐group interviews were analysed using inductive content analysis. Results The IPE course improved nursing students' diabetes knowledge and self‐evaluated competence among nursing and medical students. The baseline differences in self‐evaluated competence between the groups disappeared. The non‐participating students evaluated their competence higher than the participants, though they scored lower or equally in the knowledge test. In conclusion, IPE showed potential in increasing students' self‐evaluated competence, motivation to learn more and nursing students' diabetes knowledge, offering better prospects for future interprofessional diabetes management.

Dehospitalization for people with severe mental illness (SMI) has continued for decades and led to the development of assisted living (AL) services. However, there is little knowledge on how the increasing use of AL services relates to the time trends of different psychiatric services. This study utilizes a 23-year time series data from Finland to evaluate the use of AL services in relation to the use of psychiatric inpatient and specialized psychiatric outpatient care. This population-based data from 1996 to 2018 was extracted from the Sotkanet Statistics and Indicator Bank, administered by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL). The analyses of the time trends in different levels of psychiatric AL services, classified according to support given to AL habitants, was possible to perform from the year 2006 onwards. The Joinpoint Regression analysis was applied to estimate time trends of the indicators selected for our study. In the whole 23-year study period, an increased rate of habitants in psychiatric AL services was correlated with an increased number of specialized psychiatric outpatient visits (r = 0.766, p

Modular co-simulation contributes to both engineering and research, but the earlier solutions have lacked the combination of platform independence, loose coupling between the modules, and tools for straightforward development. This paper describes the simulation platform SimCES (Simulation Environment of Complex Energy System) that solves these issues with a microservice architecture, combining message-broker-based communication, containerization, and a development toolkit. The components can even communicate over Internet. Furthermore, there are developer tools that enable an easy start for developers with Python and Docker, but any external platform is possible too. SimCES is domain agnostic but stems from the energy domain.

Abstract Background Anthranilate is a platform chemical used by the industry in the synthesis of a broad range of high-value products, such as dyes, perfumes and pharmaceutical compounds. Currently anthranilate is produced via chemical synthesis from non-renewable resources. Biological synthesis would allow the use of renewable carbon sources and avoid accumulation of toxic by-products. Microorganisms produce anthranilate as an intermediate in the tryptophan biosynthetic pathway. Several prokaryotic microorganisms have been engineered to overproduce anthranilate but attempts to engineer eukaryotic microorganisms for anthranilate production are scarce. Results We subjected Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a widely used eukaryotic production host organism, to metabolic engineering for anthranilate production. A single gene knockout was sufficient to trigger anthranilate accumulation both in minimal and SCD media and the titer could be further improved by subsequent genomic alterations. The effects of the modifications on anthranilate production depended heavily on the growth medium used. By growing an engineered strain in SCD medium an anthranilate titer of 567.9 mg l−1 was obtained, which is the highest reported with an eukaryotic microorganism. Furthermore, the anthranilate biosynthetic pathway was extended by expression of anthranilic acid methyltransferase 1 from Medicago truncatula. When cultivated in YPD medium, this pathway extension enabled production of the grape flavor compound methyl anthranilate in S. cerevisiae at 414 mg l−1. Conclusions In this study we have engineered metabolism of S. cerevisiae for improved anthranilate production. The resulting strains may serve as a basis for development of efficient production host organisms for anthranilate-derived compounds. In order to demonstrate suitability of the engineered S. cerevisiae strains for production of such compounds, we successfully extended the anthranilate biosynthesis pathway to synthesis of methyl anthranilate.

Abstract Background Ovarian cancer (OC) is usually detected in late clinical stages, and imaging at diagnosis is crucial. Peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) and cardio phrenic lymph nodes (CPLN) are pathological findings of computed tomography (CT) and are relevant for surgical planning. Furthermore, mammographic breast density (BD) has shown an association with OC risk and might be prognostically relevant. However, it is not known if PC, CPLN, and BD are associated with aggressive OC subtypes and impaired OC survival. Herein, we investigated associations between three comprehensive image parameters and OC subtypes and survival. Methods The Malmö Diet and Cancer Study is a prospective study that included 17,035 women (1991–1996). Tumor information on 159 OC and information on OC specific survival (last follow-up, 2017-12-31) was registered. The CT and mammography closest to diagnosis were evaluated (Peritoneal Carcinomatosis Index PCI, CPLN, and BD). Associations between CT-PCI, CPLN, and BD vs. clinical stage [stage I vs. advanced stage (II-IV), histological type/grade (high grade serous and endometrioid vs. other subtypes], and OC-specific survival were analyzed by logistic and Cox regression. Results There was a significant association between higher CT-PCI score and advanced clinical stage (adjusted OR 1.26 (1.07–1.49)), adjusted for age at diagnosis and histological type/grade. Increasing CT-PCI was significantly associated with impaired OC specific survival (adjusted HR 1.04 (1.01–1.07)), adjusted for age at diagnosis, histological type/grade, and clinical stage. There was no significant association between PCI and histological type/grade, nor between BD or CPLN vs. the studied outcomes. Conclusions Image PCI score was significantly associated with advanced clinical stages and impaired OC survival. An objective approach (based on imaging) to scoring peritoneal carcinomatosis in ovarian cancer could help surgeons and oncologists to optimize surgical planning, treatment, and care.

Abstract Background Optimal infusion rate of colloids in patients with suspected hypovolemia is unknown, and the primary objective of the present study was to test if plasma volume expansion by 5% albumin is greater if fluid is administered slowly rather than rapidly. Methods Patients with signs of hypoperfusion after major abdominal surgery were randomized to intravenous infusion of 5% albumin at a dose of 10 ml/kg (ideal body weight) either rapidly (30 min) or slowly (180 min). Plasma volume was measured using radiolabeled albumin at baseline, at 30 min, and at 180 min after the start of infusion. Primary outcome was change in plasma volume from the start of infusion to 180 min after the start of infusion. Secondary outcomes included the change in the area under the plasma volume curve and transcapillary escape rate (TER) for albumin from 180 to 240 min after the start of albumin infusion. Results A total of 33 and 31 patients were included in the analysis in the slow and rapid groups, respectively. The change in plasma volume from the start of infusion to 180 min did not differ between the slow and rapid infusion groups (7.4 ± 2.6 vs. 6.5 ± 4.1 ml/kg; absolute difference, 0.9 ml/kg [95%CI, − 0.8 to 2.6], P = 0.301). Change in the area under the plasma volume curve was smaller in the slow than in the rapid infusion group and was 866 ± 341 and 1226 ± 419 min ml/kg, respectively, P

Circulating microRNAs carried by exosomes have emerged as promising diagnostic biomarkers for cancer because of their abundant amount and remarkable stability in body fluids. Exosomal microRNAs in blood are typically quantified using the RNA isolation-qRT-PCR workflow, which cannot distinguish circulating microRNAs secreted by cancer cells from those released by non-tumor cells, making it potentially less sensitive in detecting cancer-specific microRNA biomarkers. We have developed a sensitive and simple tethered cationic lipoplex nanoparticles (tCLN) biochip to detect exosomal microRNAs in human sera. The tCLN biochip allows the discrimination of tumor-derived exosomes from their non-tumor counterparts, and thus achieves higher detection sensitivity and specificity than qRT-PCR. We have demonstrated the clinical utility of the tCLN biochip in lung cancer diagnosis using sera from normal controls, therapy-naive early stage and late stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Total five microRNAs (miR-21, miR-25, miR-155, miR-210, and miR-486) were selected as the biomarkers. Each microRNA biomarker measured by tCLN assay showed higher sensitivity and specificity in lung cancer detection than that measured by qRT-PCR. When all five microRNAs were combined, the tCLN assay distinguished normal controls from all NSCLC patients with sensitivity of 0.969, specificity of 0.933 and AUC of 0.970, and provided much better diagnostic accuracy than qRT-PCR (sensitivity = 0.469, specificity = 1.000, AUC = 0.791). Remarkably, the tCLN assay achieved absolute sensitivity and specificity in discriminating early stage NSCLC patients from normal controls, demonstrating its great potential as a liquid biopsy assay for lung cancer early detection.

Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-technology is an important platform in medicine and disease modeling. Physiological degeneration and disease onset are common occurrences in the aging population. iPSCs could offer regenerative medical options for age-related degeneration and disease in the elderly. However, reprogramming somatic cells from the elderly is inefficient when successful at all. Perhaps due to their low rates of replication in culture, traditional transduction and reprogramming approaches with centenarian fibroblasts met with little success. A simple and reproducible reprogramming process is reported here which enhances interactions of the cells with the viral vectors that leads to improved iPSC generation. The improved methods efficiently generates fully reprogrammed iPSC lines from 105-107 years old subjects in feeder-free conditions using an episomal, Sendai-Virus (SeV) reprogramming vector expressing four reprogramming factors. In conclusion, dermal fibroblasts from human subjects older than 100 years can be efficiently and reproducibly reprogrammed to fully pluripotent cells with minor modifications to the standard reprogramming procedures. Efficient generation of iPSCs from the elderly may provide a source of cells for the regeneration of tissues and organs with autologous cells as well as cellular models for the study of aging, longevity and age-related diseases.

BACKGROUND: Brain metastases (BMs) develop by largely unknown mechanisms and cause major morbidity and mortality in patients with solid tumors. Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is frequently detected in tumor tissue from patients with different cancers. Here, we aimed to determine the prevalence and potential prognostic role of HCMV in BMs. METHODS: We obtained archived samples of BMs from 41 patients with breast cancer and 37 with colorectal cancer and paired primary tumor tissues from 13 and 12 patients in each respective group. In addition, primary breast cancer tissues from 15 patients were included. HCMV proteins were detected with an immunohistochemical technique and Western blot. HCMV nucleic acids were detected with TaqMan polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. RESULTS: HCMV proteins were abundantly expressed in 99% of BM specimens, and in 12 of 13 (92%) paired primary breast cancer specimens. All 12 paired colon cancer samples were positive for HCMV proteins. Protein staining was mainly confined to neoplastic cells. Western blot analysis detected an HCMV-IE reactive protein in 53% of breast cancer specimens, and PCR detected the presence of HCMV DNA and transcripts in 92% and 80% of samples, respectively. Patients with high-level expression of HCMV-IE proteins in their tumors had a shorter time to tumor progression and shorter overall survival. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of HCMV proteins and nucleic acids is very high in primary and metastatic tumors and may drive the development of metastatic brain tumors; therefore, this virus may represent a potential therapeutic target in metastatic cancer.

The main goal of the therapy with purified human plasma alpha1-antitrypsin (A1AT) is to increase A1AT levels and to prevent lungs from elastolytic activity in patients with PiZZ (Glu342Lys) A1AT deficiency-related emphysema. Potential hepatic gains of this therapy are unknown. Herein, we investigated the effect of A1AT therapy on SERPINA1 (gene encoding A1AT) expression. The expression of SERPINA1 was determined in A1AT or A1AT plus Oncostatin M (OSM) treated primary human hepatocytes isolated from liver tissues from A1AT deficient patients and control liver tissues. In addition, SERPINA1 mRNA was assessed in lung tissues from PiZZ emphysema patients with and without A1AT therapy, and in adherent human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) isolated from healthy PiMM donors. In a dose-dependent manner purified A1AT lowered SERPINA1 expression in hepatocytes. This latter effect was more prominent in hepatocytes stimulated with OSM. Although it did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.0539)-analysis of lung tissues showed lower SERPINA1 expression in PiZZ emphysema patients receiving augmentation therapy relative to those without therapy. Finally, exogenously added purified A1AT (1mg/ml) reduced SERPINA1 expression in naïve as well as in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated human adherent PBMCs. Exogenous A1AT protein reduces its own endogenous expression. Hence, augmentation with native M-A1AT protein and a parallel reduction in expression of dysfunctional mutant Z-A1AT may be beneficial for PiZZ liver, and this motivates further studies.

At least seven studies have suggested that microRNA levels in whole blood can be diagnostic for lung cancer. We conducted a large bi-institutional study to validate this. Qiagen® PAXgene™ Blood miRNA System was used to collect blood and extract RNA from it for 85 pathologic stage I-IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cases and 76 clinically-relevant controls who had a benign pulmonary mass, or a high risk of developing lung cancer because of a history of cigarette smoking or age >60 years. Cases and controls were similar for age, gender, race, and blood hemoglobin and leukocyte but not platelet levels (0.23 and 0.26 million/μl, respectively; t test P = 0.01). Exiqon® MiRCURY™ microarrays were used to quantify microRNAs in RNA isolates. Quantification was also performed using Taqman™ microRNA reverse transcription (RT)-PCR assays for five microRNAs whose lung cancer-diagnostic potential had been suggested in seven published studies. Of the 1,941 human mature microRNAs detectable with the microarray platform, 598 (31%) were identified as expressed and reliably quantified among the study's subjects. However, none of the microRNAs was differentially expressed between cases and controls (P >0.05 at false discovery rate

Miten tavaratuotanto ja tuotteiden mainonta vaikuttavat televisiotuotantoon? Kaupallisen television ansaintalogiikka on kaksivaiheinen: televisio tuottaa sisältöjä houkuttelemaan katsojia, joita se myy mainostajalle tuotteiden potentiaalisina kuluttajina. Tässä mediahistoriallisessa artikkelissa analysoidaan, miten ja mitä MTV myy mainostajille eli miten kuluttajaa määritellään ja arvotetaan myytävänä tuotteena. MTV rakensi 1990-luvulla mainosmyynnissään yleisöstä tuotteita luokittelemalla heitä erilaisiksi segmenteiksi ja kuluttajatyypeiksi. MTV:n mainostajille ja mainostoimistoille suunnattuja Media Manager -mediaoppaita ja tutkimusjulkaisuja analysoidessani havaitsin aineistosta arvoja ja ihanteita 1990-luvun kulutuskulttuurista. Kuluttaja alettiin nähdä entistä yksilöidympänä massa-ajattelun sijaan, kun yksilökeskeisyyden arvo nousi kilpailutalouden ja uusliberalistisen ideologian myötä. Analyysini tuloksena havaitsin, että kiinnostavimpia kohderyhmiä yhdistivät 1990-luvulla hyvän ostovoiman lisäksi nuoruus, edelläkävijyys ja aktiivisuus. Brändien ja nuorten kohderyhmän nousu kytkeytyvät globalisoituvaan halpatuotantoon, jossa tuotteita myydään myös immateriaalista arvoa tuottamaan elämäntavan ilmaisemiseksi. Katsojien rakentaminen myytäviksi tuotteiksi asettaa kuluttajien maun ja elämäntyylit tiettyihin markkinoinnin tarkoituksiin sopiviin ja kulutusvalintojen määrittämiin kategorioihin, jotka rakentavat kulutusyhteiskunnan valtarakenteita.

To investigate the effects of abolished cholic acid (CA) synthesis in the ApoE knockout model [apolipoprotein E (apoE) KO],a double-knockout (DKO) mouse model was created by crossbreeding Cyp8b1 knockout mice (Cyp8b1 KO), unable to synthesize the primary bile acid CA, with apoE KO mice. After 5 months of cholesterol feeding, the development of atherosclerotic plaques in the proximal aorta was 50% less in the DKO mice compared with the apoE KO mice. This effect was associated with reduced intestinal cholesterol absorption, decreased levels of apoB-containing lipoproteins in the plasma, enhanced bile acid synthesis, reduced hepatic cholesteryl esters, and decreased hepatic activity of ACAT2. The upregulation of Cyp7a1 in DKO mice seemed primarily caused by reduced expression of the intestinal peptide FGF15. Treatment of DKO mice with the farnesoid X receptor (FXR) agonist GW4064 did not alter the intestinal cholesterol absorption, suggesting that the action of CA in this process is confined mainly to formation of intraluminal micelles and less to its ability to activate the nuclear receptor FXR. Inhibition of CA synthesis may offer a therapeutic strategy for the treatment of hyperlipidemic conditions that lead to atherosclerosis.

The preservation of microRNAs in formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue makes them particularly useful for biomarker studies. The utility of small RNA sequencing for microRNA expression profiling of FFPE samples has yet to be determined.Total RNA was extracted from de-paraffinized and proteinase K-treated FFPE specimens (15-20 years old) of 8 human lung adenocarcinoma tumors by affinity chromatography on silica columns. MicroRNAs in the RNA preparations were quantified by the Illumina HiSeq 2000 sequencing platform with sequencing libraries prepared with the TruSeq Small RNA Sample Preparation Kit (version 2.0) to obtain unpaired reads of 50 b for small RNA fragments. MicroRNAs were also quantified using Agilent Human miRNA (release 16.0) microarrays that can detect 1,205 mature microRNAs and by quantitative reverse transcription (RT)-PCR assays.Between 9.1-16.9 million reads were obtained by small RNA sequencing of extracted RNA samples. Of these, only 0.6-2.3% (mean = 1.5%) represented microRNAs. The sequencing method detected 454-625 microRNAs/sample (mean = 550) compared with 200-349 (mean = 286) microRNAs detected by microarray. In Spearman correlation analyses, the average correlation coefficient for the 126 microRNAs detected in all samples by both methods was 0.37, and >0.5 for 63 microRNAs. In correlation analyses of the sequencing- and RT-PCR-based measurements, the coefficients were 0.19-0.95 (mean = 0.73) and >0.7, respectively, for 7 of 9 examined microRNAs. The average inter-replicate Spearman correlation coefficient for the sequencing method was 0.81.Small RNA sequencing can be used to obtain microRNA profiles of FFPE tissue specimens with performance characteristics similar to those of microarrays, in spite of the fragmentation of ribosomal and messenger RNAs that reduces the method's informative capacity. The accuracy of the method can conceivably be improved by increasing sequencing depth and/or depleting FFPE tissue RNAs of ribosomal RNA fragments.

This article, titled "Tru-Cut Biopsy in Gynecological Cancer: Adequacy, Accuracy, Safety, and Clinical Applicability," presents the findings of a retrospective review of 328 tru-cut biopsies. The study aimed to assess the adequacy, accuracy, and safety of tru-cut biopsies in diagnosing primary tumors, metastases, and suspected recurrences in gynecological cancer. The results showed an overall adequacy of 86.3%, with higher rates when performed by a gynecological oncologist or a gynecologist with ultrasound diagnosis subspecialty. The accuracy was 97.5%, and the complication rate was 1.3%. The study concludes that tru-cut biopsy is a safe and reliable diagnostic method with high accuracy and good adequacy, depending on the site of the tissue sample, indications for the biopsy, and the operator's experience. [Extracted from the article]

BackgroundMobile text messages are a widely recognized communication method in societies, as the global penetration of the technology approaches 100% worldwide. Systematic knowledge is still lacking on how the mobile telephone text messaging (short message service, SMS) has been used in health care services. ObjectiveThis study aims to review the literature on the use of mobile phone text message reminders in health care. MethodsWe conducted a systematic literature review of studies on mobile telephone text message reminders. The data sources used were PubMed (MEDLINE), CINAHL, Proquest Databases/ PsycINFO, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Scopus, and hand searching since 2003. Studies reporting the use of SMS intended to remind patients in health services were included. Given the heterogeneity in the studies, descriptive characteristics, purpose of the study, response rates, description of the intervention, dose and timing, instruments, outcome measures, and outcome data from the studies were synthesized using a narrative approach. ResultsFrom 911 initial citations, 60 studies were included in the review. The studies reported a variety of use for SMS. Mobile telephone text message reminders were used as the only intervention in 73% (44/60) of the studies, and in 27% (16/60) of the remaining studies, SMS was connected to another comprehensive health intervention system. SMS reminders were sent to different patient groups: patients with HIV/AIDS (15%, 9/60) and diabetes (13%, 8/60) being the most common groups. The response rates of the studies varied from 22-100%. Typically, the text message reminders were sent daily. The time before the specific intervention to be rendered varied from 10 minutes (eg, medication taken) to 2 weeks (eg, scheduled appointment). A wide range of different evaluation methods and outcomes were used to assess the impact of SMS varying from existing databases (eg, attendance rate based on medical records), questionnaires, and physiological measures. About three quarters of the studies (77%, 46/60) reported improved outcomes: adherence to medication or to treatment reportedly improved in 40% (24/60) of the studies, appointment attendance in 18% (11/60) of the studies, and non-attendance rates decreased in 18% (11/60) of the studies. Other positive impacts were decreased amount of missed medication doses, more positive attitudes towards medication, and reductions in treatment interruptions. ConclusionsWe can conclude that although SMS reminders are used with different patient groups in health care, SMS is less systematically studied with randomized controlled trial study design. Although the amount of evidence for SMS application recommendations is still limited, having 77% (46/60) of the studies showing improved outcomes may indicate its use in health care settings. However, more well-conducted SMS studies are still needed.

ObjectiveTranscriptional profiling of epithelial ovarian cancer has revealed molecular subtypes correlating to biological and clinical features. We aimed to determine gene expression differences between malignant, benign and borderline serous ovarian tumors, and investigate similarities with the well-established intrinsic molecular subtypes of breast cancer.MethodsGlobal gene expression profiling using Illumina's HT12 Bead Arrays was applied to 59 fresh-frozen serous ovarian malignant, benign and borderline tumors. Nearest centroid classification was performed applying previously published gene profiles for the ovarian and breast cancer subtypes. Correlations to gene expression modules representing key biological breast cancer features were also sought. Validation was performed using an independent, publicly available dataset.Results5,944 genes were significantly differentially expressed between benign and malignant serous ovarian tumors, with cell cycle processes enriched in the malignant subgroup. Borderline tumors were split between the two clusters. Significant correlations between the malignant serous tumors and the highly aggressive ovarian cancer signatures, and the basal-like breast cancer subtype were found. The benign and borderline serous tumors together were significantly correlated to the normal-like breast cancer subtype and the ovarian cancer signature derived from borderline tumors. The borderline tumors in the study dataset, in addition, also correlated significantly to the luminal A breast cancer subtype. These findings remained when analyzed in an independent dataset, supporting links between the molecular subtypes of ovarian cancer and breast cancer beyond those recently acknowledged.ConclusionsThese data link the transcriptional profiles of serous ovarian cancer to the intrinsic molecular subtypes of breast cancer, in line with the shared clinical and molecular features between high-grade serous ovarian cancer and basal-like breast cancer, and suggest that biomarkers and targeted therapies may overlap between these tumor subsets. The link between benign and borderline ovarian cancer and luminal breast cancer may indicate endocrine responsiveness in a subset of ovarian cancers.

In spring 2013, students attending the course The Central Areas of Chemistry Education II studied the history of key chemistry concepts as well as the research on the use of historical approach to chemistry teaching. Based on the research literature, they produced materials for chemistry teaching in secondary and upper secondary school. In addition to teaching the concepts and phenomena of chemistry, the historical approach was used to deal with nature of chemistry as a science. In the articles, the students present the theoretical background for historical approach and history related to the produced material. The teaching materials (in Finnish) can be found online from the site of KEMMA Centre for Chemistry Education: http://www.luma.fi/kemma.