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Background: Ki-67 immunostaining is commonly used in neuroendocrine tumors to estimate the proliferative index and for grading. This study investigates its association with the invasiveness of follicular-derived thyroid carcinomas (TCs). Methods: A retrospective analysis of patients with TC at three McGill University teaching hospitals between January 2018 and November 2023 was conducted. The inclusion criteria included patients with malignant thyroid tumors and accessible Ki-67 LI data from final pathology specimens. The data collected included patient demographics, Ki-67 LI values, and different invasiveness attributes, such as molecular mutations, the histological subtype, lymphovascular invasion (LVI), extrathyroidal extension (ETE), and positive lymph nodes (LNs). Results: In total, 212 patients met the inclusion criteria, of which 80.7% were females and 19.3% were males. The Ki-67 LI ranged from 1% to 30%, with the majority of the cases within the range of 1–15%. A significant association was observed between higher Ki-67 LI and high-risk histological subtypes of thyroid carcinoma (p < 0.001). Similarly, Ki-67 LI was significantly associated with LVI and positive LN metastasis (p < 0.001 and p = 0.036, respectively). However, no significant association was found between the Ki-67 LI and gene mutations or ETE (p = 0.133 and p = 0.190, respectively). Using percentiles to establish a cutoff, patients with a Ki-67 LI higher than 6.7 showed a higher likelihood of being associated with invasive features. Conclusion: Elevated Ki-67 LI can serve as an indicator of aggressiveness in follicular-derived TC, especially when associated with distinct histological subtypes, LVI and positive LNs.

Hand-grip strength was evaluated in 757 recreational downhill skiers and compared to 1021 community-dwellers. Findings are reported for age and sex categories consistent with community-dwelling norms. Effect size (Cohen's d) was calculated to estimate the clinical relevance of strength differences between populations. Most male and half of the female age categories of downhill skiers demonstrated higher grip strength of the dominant hand (moderate to large effect size) compared to the reference population. Hand-grip strength in skiers declined with age at a similar rate as in the reference population. Relative grip strength (per kg body mass) was significantly and positively correlated with physical activity (hours/week), and with the number of ski days per year, and negatively with body mass. Thus, hand-grip strength may be related to the type, volume and intensity of exercise regularly performed. These results can help to assess whether the individual hand-grip strength is above or below average with regard to the normal population and the skier population as well and will support advice for training and/or rehabilitation.

The growth rings of fossil wood provide valuable data on tree ecology. As many of the parameters controlling width are climatic, it is tempting to use these rings as an indicator of climate. This is what has been done, with great success, by dendrochronological studies of archaeological wood. For wood dating from before the Pleistocene, however, the task is more uncertain. Since around 1980, researchers have relied mainly on a statistical parameter, the mean sensitivity, an average of the difference in width between two consecutive rings. However, there has never been a critical examination of utility and significance of this parameter for fossil wood. I compiled 63 studies that used mean sensitivity for palaeoclimatological inferences. An analysis of this compilation is presented here. Despite its ups and downs since the 1980’s, mean sensitivity is increasingly used by palaeobotanists. However, it has been used in very different ways. The values obtained for the same fossil can vary greatly from one researcher to another, but also according to the radii of the woody axis considered. Within fossil wood assemblages, average sensitivity varies widely, but rarely consistently. Overall, mean sensitivity values are continuously, normally and unimodally distributed, and therefore are unsuitable for characterising discrete climate classes. Finally, it seems that the most recent studies are also the least cautious when it comes to interpreting the values obtained.

Abstract Background Genomic testing has enhanced pre-surgical decision making for cytologically indeterminate thyroid nodules, but there remains uncertainty regarding RAS mutations. The addition of extra genetic alterations to previous driver mutation panels has been shown to improve predictive value. This study aims to evaluate the relationship between the mutant allele frequency (AF) and likelihood of malignancy in thyroid nodules with RAS mutations. Methods A retrospective cohort review was performed evaluating patients with indeterminate cytology (Bethesda categories III, IV and V) and ThyroSeq® v3 testing demonstrating a RAS mutation, who underwent surgery. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses were used to evaluate relationships between AF, other genetic alterations, and malignancy. Results Thirty-nine patients met criteria, 77% of the thyroid nodules (30/39) were found to be malignant. None demonstrated aggressive pathology. On univariate regression, there was no relationship between AF and likelihood of malignancy. There was, however, a significant correlation between AF and the rate of an additional genetic alteration. Multivariate analysis found a trend between RAS, a second genetic alteration and malignancy, but it did not reach statistical significance. Conclusions There was no direct relationship between the level of allelic frequency in thyroid nodules expressing RAS mutations and the likelihood of malignancy. There was a statistically significant relationship between increasing AF and the presence of a second genetic abnormality, suggesting a possible progression from initial driver mutation and then a second genetic alteration prior to malignant transformation. Graphical abstract

We describe Jurassic fossilized woods from the Gümüşhane and Erzurum regions of Turkey that represent the eastern Sakarya Zone (eSZ) terrestrial biota. We collected 27 fossil wood fragments in total. All 27 fossil wood specimens represent coniferous trees. We assigned ten specimens to Agathoxylon sp. type 1, fourteen to Agathoxylon sp. type 2, two to Protelicoxylon asiaticum and one to Xenoxylon hopeiense. Middle Jurassic woods are represented by Agathoxylon only what does not allow for any palaeobiogeographic inferences. The Late Jurassic wood flora evidences a continuity of Gondwanan eSZ terrestrial areas with the Laurasian ones. The occurrence of Xenoxylon within this Late Jurassic wood flora suggests an abundant water supply under a relatively cool/humid climate. Overall, both floras show important similarities to contemporary fossil wood flora from Iran and, to a lesser extent, to those from Georgia

IntroductionMost people who smoke cigarettes begin in their teens and teens may also be attracted to new tobacco, nicotine, and cannabis products. We describe use prevalence among upper-secondary school students in Switzerland, including daily use, of tobacco, nicotine, and cannabis products.MethodsWe invited secondary school students (age 15 to 21) in two Swiss cantons to take an online survey between October 2021 and February 2022. The survey collected demographic information and asked how frequently they used tobacco products (cigarettes in commercial packages, self-rolled cigarettes, hookahs, pipes, cigars and cigarillos, tobacco heating systems, snus, snuff), non-tobacco nicotine products (nicotine pouches, e-cigarettes with and without nicotine), and cannabis products (smoking with and without tobacco, cannabis vaping). Answers were scored on a Likert scale (no use in past month, less than weekly, weekly but not daily, daily use, prefer not to say), then tabulated and reported as descriptive statistics.ResultsOf 32,614 students in the schools we contacted, 9,515 (29.2%) completed the survey; 49.5% identified as female and 48.4% as male; 9.5% were under 16, 47% were 16–17, 27.5% were 18–19, and 16% were over 19. Reported daily use was most frequent for tobacco cigarettes in commercial packages (14.2%), snus (4.1%) and cannabis smoking with tobacco (3.6%). Most participants (54.8%) reported they had used at least one product at least once within the last month.ConclusionStudents who used a product were most likely to smoke cigarettes, but many regularly used new tobacco, nicotine and cannabis products, though use frequency varies.

Between 1833 and 1836 in England, then in Prussia and finally in France, young botanists experimented with making plant fossils to understand better how such fossils could be formed and how to interpret fossil assemblages. These experiments are described and discussed. Despite these promising beginnings, plant taphonomy was not really developed as a science until much later.

Abstract Background An international group of experts recommended reclassifying non-invasive follicular variant of papillary thyroid cancers (FVPTC) as ‘non-invasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary-like nuclear features’ (NIFTP) in April 2016. The purpose of this study was to establish preoperative clinical, laboratory, ultrasonographic, and cytological variables, which can differentiate NIFTP from FVPTC. Methods We conducted a retrospective chart review of consecutive patients from a single institution evaluated between January 2012 and December 2017. 203 adult patients underwent lobectomy or total thyroidectomy for a FVPTC during that period. Each patient’s medical chart was reviewed and information on pre-operative variables was recorded. An expert pathologist reviewed all surgical specimens and reclassified a subset of FVPTC as NIFTP according to the specific criteria. Results Overall, 44 patients were included in the NIFTP group and 159 in the non-NIFTP group. Mean age was 50.1 years in the NIFTP group and 50.7 in the non-NIFTP group. Most patients were female (86.4% (38/44) in the NIFTP group vs 79.8% (127/159) in the non-NIFTP group). More patients underwent lobectomy in the NIFTP group (50% (22/44) vs 16.4% (26/159) in the non-NIFTP group, p =

Dinosaur bonebeds with amber content, yet scarce, offer a superior wealth and quality of data on ancient terrestrial ecosystems. However, the preserved palaeodiversity and/or taphonomic characteristics of these exceptional localities had hitherto limited their palaeobiological potential. Here, we describe the amber from the Lower Cretaceous dinosaur bonebed of Ariño (Teruel, Spain) using a multidisciplinary approach. Amber is found in both a root layer with amber strictly in situ and a litter layer mainly composed of aerial pieces unusually rich in bioinclusions, encompassing 11 insect orders, arachnids, and a few plant and vertebrate remains, including a feather. Additional palaeontological data—charophytes, palynomorphs, ostracods— are provided. Ariño arguably represents the most prolific and palaeobiologically diverse locality in which fossiliferous amber and a dinosaur bonebed have been found in association, and the only one known where the vast majority of the palaeontological assemblage suffered no or low-grade pre-burial transport. This has unlocked unprecedentedly complete and reliable palaeoecological data out of two complementary windows of preservation—the bonebed and the amber—from the same site.

The peripheral T-cell pool undergoes a striking age associated remodeling which is accelerated by progressive insulin resistance. Exercise training is known to delay several aspects of T-cell senescence. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the effect of 3 weeks regular concentric or eccentric endurance exercise training on the composition of the T-cell compartment in pre-diabetic subjects. Sixteen male older adults with impaired glucose tolerance were recruited and performed either concentric exercise (CE) or eccentric exercise (EE) walking 3 times a week for 3 weeks. Fasting venous blood sampling was performed before training and after the training intervention. Various T-cell subpopulations were analyzed by flow cytometry. We did not find significant time × group effects (interaction) but found several significant time effects for cell type ratios and cell subsets proportions. There was an increase of the CD4+/CD8+ (0.55 ± 0.85%; p = 0.033) and CD4+/CD3+ ratio (5.63 ± 8.44%; p = 0.018) and a decrease of the CD8+/CD3+ ratio (-0.95 ± 1.64%; p = 0.049) after training. We found proportional increases of CD4+/CCR7+/CD45RO+ central memory cells (5.02 ± 7.68%; p = 0.030), naïve CD8+/CCR7+/CD45RO- (3.00 ± 6.68%; p = 0.047) and CD8+/CCR7+/CD45RO+ central memory cells (3.01 ± 3.70%; p = 0.009), while proportions of CD4+/CCR7-/CD45RO- TEMRA cells (-2.17 ± 4.66%; p = 0.012), CD8+/CCR7-/CD45RO- TEMRA cells (-5.11 ± 7.02%; p = 0.018) and CD16+ cells (-4.67 ± 6.45%; p = 0.016) decreased after training. 3 weeks of either CE or EE were effective in reversing hallmarks of T-cell senescence in pre-diabetic subjects. It is suggested that exercise stimulates production and mobilization of naïve T-cells, while differentiated TEMRA cells might disappear by apoptosis.

Despite its limited stratigraphical value, fossil wood has been revealed to be of interest to characterize the palaeoenvironment evolution during the sedimentation of the Khorat Group. It helps understand the ecosystems in which the rich Thai Dinosaur faunas evolved. The available Khorat group fossil wood record was, however, mostly from the northeastern Thailand (Isan). New data are presented here, from the southwestern Isan provinces of Chaiyaphum and Nakhon Ratchasima. Although 17 new samples were studied, specific diversity was not increased, which suggests that the taxonomical investigation of the Khorat wood record is quite complete. Fossil wood from the Phu Phan Formation is reported for the fi rst time, and assigned to the genus Shimakuroxylon. Despite being sedimentologically similar, the Phra Wihan and Phu Phan formations seem to yield different woods, which suggests that they may have had different palaeoecology or provenance

Many sport drinks contain a mixture of potential ergogenic substances. Recently, a new sport drink with 25 different ingredients was introduced to the market. Various athletes reported beneficial performance effects from the supplement, though without scientific evidence. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the sport drink on exercise performance. Nine sport students performed 3 test sessions including a cycle exercise tests to exhaustion, a leg strength test and a jump test. Each session was separated by 1 week. The first session was performed as a familiarization trial. In a random order, half of the participants performed the second session after consumption of the multi ingredient sport drink (MISD intake of 40g, 24 and 1h before each test) and half after placebo ingestion (same amount). During test session 3 the conditions were reversed (cross-over setting). Near infrared spectroscopy analyses were performed on the vastus lateralis during the MISD and placebo cycling test. The sport drink compared to placebo, improved maximal power output (7 watts, 95% CI 1.1-13.4), increased maximal lactate concentration (2.5 mmol/l, 95% CI 1.6-3.4), and power output at the individual threshold (Dmax) (6.1 watts, 95% CI 1.9-10.3). Power output at the 4 mmol/l threshold was reduced (9.0 watts, 95% CI -17.4 to -0.6) during the MISD trial. Additionally, the sport drink led to a steeper tissue oxygenation index decrease (TOI, slope: -0.0182±0.0084 vs. -0.0256±0.0073, p

Introduction. Diagnosis of adrenal crisis and panhypopituitarism in patients with septic shock is difficult but crucial for outcome. Case. A 66-year-old woman with metastasized breast cancer presented to the ED with respiratory insufficiency and septic shock after a 2-day history of the flu. After transfer to the ICU, corticosteroids were started in addition to antibiotics, as the patient was vasopressor-nonresponsive. Diabetes insipidus was diagnosed due to polyuria and treated with 4 mg desmopressin. Thereafter, norepinephrine could be tapered rapidly. On day 2, basal cortisol was 136 nmol/L with an increase to 579 nmol/L in low-dose cosyntropin testing. Polyuria had not developed again. Therefore, corticosteroids were stopped. On day 3, the patient developed again nausea, vomiting, and polyuria. Adrenal crisis and diabetes insipidus were postulated. Corticosteroids and desmopressin were restarted. Further testing confirmed panhypopituitarism. MRI showed a new sellar metastasis. After 2 weeks, stimulated cortisol in cosyntropin testing reached only 219 nmol/l, confirming adrenal insufficiency. Discussion. The time course showed that the adrenal glands took 2 weeks to atrophy after loss of pituitary ACTH secretion. Therefore, a misleading result of the cosyntropin test in the initial phase with low basal cortisol and allegedly normal response to exogenous ACTH may be seen. Cosyntropin testing in the critically ill should be interpreted with caution and in the corresponding clinical setting.

In this contribution, the effect of the presence of a presumed inert gas like N 2 in the feed gas on the biological methanation of hydrogen and carbon dioxide with Methanothermobacter marburgensis was investigated. N 2 can be found as a component besides CO 2 in possible feed gases like mine gas, weak gas, or steel mill gas. To determine whether there is an effect on the biological methanation of CO 2 and H 2 from renewable sources or not, the process was investigated using feed gases containing CO 2 , H 2 , and N 2 in different ratios, depending on the CO 2 content. A possible effect can be a lowered conversion rate of CO 2 and H 2 to CH 4 . Feed gases containing up to 47% N 2 were investigated. The conversion of hydrogen and carbon dioxide was possible with a conversion rate of up to 91% but was limited by the amount of H 2 when feeding a stoichiometric ratio of 4:1 and not by adding N 2 to the feed gas.

Dissolution is a milestone of the head-end of hydrometallurgical processes, as the stabilization rates of the chemical elements determine the process performance and hold-up. This study aims at better understanding the chemical and physico-chemical phenomena of uranium dioxide dissolution reactions in nitric acid media in the Purex process, which separates the reusable materials and the final wastes of the spent nuclear fuels. It has been documented that the attack of sintering-manufactured uranium dioxide solids occurs through preferential attack sites, which leads to the development of cracks in the solids. Optical microscopy observations show that in some cases, the development of these cracks leads to the solid cleavage. It is shown here that the dissolution of the detached fragments is much slower than the process of the complete cleavage of the solid, and occurs with no disturbing phenomena, like gas bubbling. This fact has motivated the measurement of dissolution kinetics using optical microscopy and image processing. By further discriminating between external resistance and chemical reaction, the “true” chemical kinetics of the reaction have been measured, and the highly autocatalytic nature of the reaction confirmed. Based on these results, the constants of the chemical reactions kinetic laws have also been evaluated.

This article draws a state of knowledge of the dissolution of uranium dioxide in nitric acid media. The chemistry of the reaction is first investigated, and two reactions appear as most suitable to describe the mechanism, leading to the formation of monoxide and dioxide nitrogen as reaction by-products, while the oxidation mechanism is shown to happen before solubilization. The solid aspect of the reaction is also investigated: manufacturing conditions have an impact on dissolution kinetics, and the non-uniform attack at the surface of the solid results in the appearing of pits and cracks. Last, the existence of an autocatalytic mechanism is questionned. The second part of this article presents a compilation of the impacts of several physico-chemical parameters on the dissolution rates. Even though these measurements have been undertaken under a broad variety of conditions, and that the rate determining step of the reaction is usually not specified, general trends are drawn from these results. Finally, it appears that several key points of knowledge still have to be clarified concerning the dissolution of uranium dioxide in nitric acid media, and that the macroscopic scale which has been used in most studies is probably not suitable.

Repeated visual processing of an unfamiliar face suppresses neural activity in face-specific areas of the occipito-temporal cortex. This "repetition suppression" (RS) is a primitive mechanism involved in learning of unfamiliar faces, which can be detected through amplitude reduction of the N170 event-related potential (ERP). The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) exerts top-down influence on early visual processing. However, its contribution to N170 RS and learning of unfamiliar faces remains unclear. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) transiently increases or decreases cortical excitability, as a function of polarity. We hypothesized that DLPFC excitability modulation by tDCS would cause polarity-dependent modulations of N170 RS during encoding of unfamiliar faces. tDCS-induced N170 RS enhancement would improve long-term recognition reaction time (RT) and/or accuracy rates, whereas N170 RS impairment would compromise recognition ability. Participants underwent three tDCS conditions in random order at ∼72 hour intervals: right anodal/left cathodal, right cathodal/left anodal and sham. Immediately following tDCS conditions, an EEG was recorded during encoding of unfamiliar faces for assessment of P100 and N170 visual ERPs. The P3a component was analyzed to detect prefrontal function modulation. Recognition tasks were administered ∼72 hours following encoding. Results indicate the right anodal/left cathodal condition facilitated N170 RS and induced larger P3a amplitudes, leading to faster recognition RT. Conversely, the right cathodal/left anodal condition caused N170 amplitude and RTs to increase, and a delay in P3a latency. These data demonstrate that DLPFC excitability modulation can influence early visual encoding of unfamiliar faces, highlighting the importance of DLPFC in basic learning mechanisms.

Abstract Background Information obtained by DNA microarray technology gives a rough snapshot of the transcriptome state, i.e., the expression level of all the genes expressed in a cell population at any given time. One of the challenging questions raised by the tremendous amount of microarray data is to identify groups of co-regulated genes and to understand their role in cell functions. Results MiCoViTo (Microarray Comparison Visualization Tool) is a set of biologists' tools for exploring, comparing and visualizing changes in the yeast transcriptome by a gene-centric approach. A relational database includes data linked to genome expression and graphical output makes it easy to visualize clusters of co-expressed genes in the context of available biological information. To this aim, upload of personal data is possible and microarray data from fifty publications dedicated to S. cerevisiae are provided on-line. A web interface guides the biologist during the usage of this tool and is freely accessible at http://www.transcriptome.ens.fr/micovito/. Conclusions MiCoViTo offers an easy-to-read picture of local transcriptional changes connected to current biological knowledge. This should help biologists to mine yeast microarray data and better understand the underlying biology. We plan to add functional annotations from other organisms. That would allow inter-species comparison of transcriptomes via orthology tables.

Background: Molecular testing can reduce the need for diagnostic thyroidectomy in cytologically indeterminate thyroid nodules. However, the health-related quality of life in patients managed with molecular testing is not well studied. Objective: The objective of this scoping review was to identify and analyze the health-related quality of life outcomes in patients with indeterminate thyroid nodules who are expected to undergo or have undergone surgery or molecular testing. Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted on PubMed, Scopus, PsychINFO, and Embase to identify relevant studies. The search terms included "thyroid neoplasms" or "thyroid nodule" and "molecular testing" or "surgery" and "quality of life". The included articles were analyzed for their main study objective, study design, participant characteristics, and main results. Results: Eight studies were included in this scoping review. Four evaluated the quality-adjusted life years for patients with indeterminate thyroid nodules. Three of these studies found that molecular testing slightly improved quality-adjusted life years compared to surgery, while one study found no difference. Two studies assessed surgical health-related quality of life outcomes and reported that patients with indeterminate thyroid nodules who were expected to undergo surgery favored surgical procedures, while those who underwent surgery experienced impaired health-related quality of life. Two studies evaluated molecular testing in patients with indeterminate thyroid nodules and found that the final molecular test result significantly impacted health-related quality of life outcomes. Patients with suspicious/positive molecular test results had worse symptoms of goiter, anxiety, and depression, while those with benign results had preserved health-related quality of life scores. Patients with benign results from molecular testing experience better health-related quality of life within the first year compared to those with benign surgical outcomes. Conclusions: This scoping review highlights the importance of considering health-related quality of life outcomes in the management of patients with indeterminate thyroid nodules. Benign molecular testing results yield better quality of life than benign surgical outcomes within the first year, suggesting molecular testing as a preferable option. Further research comparing the impact of surgery and molecular testing on health-related quality of life is needed to improve shared decision-making and patient outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ki-67 immunostaining is commonly used in neuroendocrine tumors to estimate the proliferative index and for grading. This study investigates its association with the invasiveness of follicular-derived thyroid carcinomas (TCs). Methods: A retrospective analysis of patients with TC at three McGill University teaching hospitals between January 2018 and November 2023 was conducted. The inclusion criteria included patients with malignant thyroid tumors and accessible Ki-67 LI data from final pathology specimens. The data collected included patient demographics, Ki-67 LI values, and different invasiveness attributes, such as molecular mutations, the histological subtype, lymphovascular invasion (LVI), extrathyroidal extension (ETE), and positive lymph nodes (LNs). Results: In total, 212 patients met the inclusion criteria, of which 80.7% were females and 19.3% were males. The Ki-67 LI ranged from 1% to 30%, with the majority of the cases within the range of 1–15%. A significant association was observed between higher Ki-67 LI and high-risk histological subtypes of thyroid carcinoma (p < 0.001). Similarly, Ki-67 LI was significantly associated with LVI and positive LN metastasis (p < 0.001 and p = 0.036, respectively). However, no significant association was found between the Ki-67 LI and gene mutations or ETE (p = 0.133 and p = 0.190, respectively). Using percentiles to establish a cutoff, patients with a Ki-67 LI higher than 6.7 showed a higher likelihood of being associated with invasive features. Conclusion: Elevated Ki-67 LI can serve as an indicator of aggressiveness in follicular-derived TC, especially when associated with distinct histological subtypes, LVI and positive LNs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]