A prospective study of endogenous serum hormone concentrations and breast cancer risk in post-menopausal women on the island of Guernsey

The associations between serum concentrations of oestradiol, testosterone and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) and risk of breast cancer in post-menopausal women were investigated in a prospective study on the island of Guernsey. Sixty-one women who developed breast cancer an average of 7.8 years after blood collection were matched for age, year of blood collection and number of years post-menopausal with 179 control subjects. Women using exogenous hormones at the time of blood collection were excluded from the study. Women who subsequently developed breast cancer had a 29% higher geometric mean oestradiol concentration than control women (P = 0.004). The odds ratio for breast cancer in the top third compared with the lowest third of the oestradiol concentration distribution was 5.03 (95% confidence interval 2.02-12.49, P for trend < 0.001). Adjusting for testosterone and SHBG concentrations did not substantially alter the odds ratio for oestradiol. Although testosterone and SHBG concentrations were associated with breast cancer risk, the concentrations of these hormones were correlated with those of oestradiol; the associations were not statistically significant after adjusting for oestradiol concentration. These data provide evidence that serum oestradiol concentrations in post-menopausal women may have a substantial effect on breast cancer risk.     

A patient with Graves' disease, thrombocytopenia and chronic hepatitis B

A 22-year-old Chinese man, a HBsAg carrier, presented with relapse of thyrotoxic Graves' disease complicated by thrombocytopenia and hepatitis. Platelet count and liver enzymes gradually improved following successful treatment of the thyrotoxicosis with radioactive iodine. Possible pathogenetic links and therapeutic implications are discussed.     

Technetium-99m-MIBI versus fluorine-18-FDG in diffuse multiple myeloma

Experience of scintigraphic detection of bone lesion and active bone marrow involvement of multiple myeloma, especially with sestamibi and FDG-PET scans is in evolution. We report a case of intense sestamibi uptake in bone marrow correlating with the extent of the disease, while FDG-PET scans showed activity only in areas of active disease progression associated with pain. Technetium-99m-sestamibi appears to indicate the extent of the disease, while [18F]FDG-PET scans show sites of active tumor proliferation and may be useful in directing local therapy such as radiation.     

Desorption of cadmium from a natural Shanghai clay using citric acid industrial wastewater

The sorption/desorption characteristics of heavy metals onto/from soil particle surfaces are the primary factors controlling the success of the remediation of heavy-metal contaminated soils. These characteristics are pH-dependent, chemical-specific, and reversible; and can be modified by enhancement agents such as chelates and surfactants. In this study, batch experiments were conducted to evaluate the feasibility of using citric acid industrial wastewater (CAIW) to desorb cadmium from a natural clay from Shanghai, China at different soil mixture pHs. It can be observed from the results that the proportion of cadmium desorbed from the soil using synthesized CAIW is generally satisfactory, i.e., >60%, when the soil mixture pH is lower than 6. However, the proportion of desorbed cadmium decreases significantly with increase in soil mixture pH. The dominant cadmium desorption mechanism using CAIW is the complexion of cadmium with citric acid and acetic acid in CAIW. It is concluded that CAIW can be a promising enhancement agent for the remediation of cadmium-contaminated natural soils when the environmental conditions are favorable. As a result, CAIW, a waste product itself, can be put into productive use in soil remediation.     

Noise-free dual-wavelength difference imaging of plasmonic resonant nanoparticles in living cells

Herein, we demonstrated a new optical microscopy method to selectively image small-size gold nanoparticles (GNPs) inside noisy living cells through determination of the difference image between the probe beam (illuminated at the resonance wavelength of GNPs, 532 nm) and the reference beam (illuminated at 473 nm). From computer simulation and single-particle imaging experiments, we demonstrated that GNPs with a diameter of 45 nm could be selectively imaged in the GNPs/cell lysates mixture and inside living cells by dual-wavelength difference (DWD) imaging. The diffusion dynamics of nucleic acids functionalized GNPs on cell membranes and the internalization kinetics of these GNPs by living cells were explored with this method. Our real-time tracking experiments showed that statistically 80% of GNPs were under restricted diffusion on the cell membrane. The cell cytoskeleton fence effect, as observed in the single-particle tracking experiments, may be one of the main factors for the restricted diffusion mode.     

A non-trial-and-error method for lag-lead compensator design

A universal design chart for lag-lead compensators is given. This chart allows compensators to be designed without trial-and-error while meeting four specifications: steady-state error; phase margin; gain margin; and gain (or phase) crossover frequency     

Hypoxia Regulates the Self-Renewal of Endometrial Mesenchymal Stromal/Stem-like Cells via Notch Signaling

Human endometrium is an incredibly dynamic tissue undergoing cyclic regeneration and shedding during a woman’s reproductive life. Endometrial mesenchymal stromal/stem-like cells (eMSC) contribute to this process. A hypoxic niche with low oxygen levels has been reported in multiple somatic stem cell types. However, the knowledge of hypoxia on eMSC remains limited. In mice, stromal stem/progenitor cells can be identified by the label-retaining technique. We examined the relationship between the label-retaining stromal cells (LRSC) and hypoxia during tissue breakdown in a mouse model of simulated menses. Our results demonstrated that LRSC resided in a hypoxic microenvironment during endometrial breakdown and early repair. Immunofluorescence staining revealed that the hypoxic-located LRSC underwent proliferation and was highly colocalized with Notch1. In vitro studies illustrated that hypoxia activated Notch signaling in eMSC, leading to enhanced self-renewal, clonogenicity and proliferation of cells. More importantly, HIF-1α played an essential role in the hypoxia-mediated maintenance of eMSC through the activation of Notch signaling. In conclusion, our findings show that some endometrial stem/progenitor cells reside in a hypoxic niche during menstruation, and hypoxia can regulate the self-renewal activity of eMSC via Notch signaling.