Synthèse de macromères à base de chlorures de vinyle et de vinylidène au moyen de télomères

New macromers 4, 8, and 10, containing ester, alcohol, or acid functions, were prepared starting with vinyl chloride (CV) or vinylidene dichloride (CV₂). The telomer 1, resulting from CV₂ and CCI₄ was telomerized with allyl acetate and the product was transformed into the acrylate 4 by hydrolysis of the reaction product and subsequent esterification. Macromers 8 and 10 were prepared from CV by radical telomerization with thioglycolic acid (7) and 2-mercaptoethanol (9), respectively. Reactive double bonds were introduced into these macromers by reaction with acrylic acid, Vinyl chloroformate, methacryloyl chloride, or 2,3 -epoxypropyle methacrylate, leading to new macromers 12, 13, 14, and 15, respectively.     

Chromosome analyses of 16 cases of Wilms tumor: different pattern in unfavorable histology

Cytogenetic analyses of 16 cases of Wilms tumor with abnormal karyotypes were reviewed, 15 cases of unilateral tumor and 1 bilateral. Three tumors exhibited an unfavorable histology (i.e., anaplastic changes); the rest fell into the favorable histology group. Of the 17 tumors with abnormal clonal aberrations, 9 tumors were hyperdiploid (53%), 7 had pseudodiploid karyotypes (41%), and 1 was hypodiploid (6%). The most common numerical aberrations in descending order of frequency were gain of chromosomes 12, 8, and 6 and loss of chromosome 16. Structural rearrangements mostly involved chromosome 1, followed by chromosomes 7, 14, and 17. Clustering of breaks around 1p22 approximately p31-->pter resulting in partial loss of 1p was the most frequent structural aberration. Additionally, i(7q) was observed as a sole abnormality in two tumors and a 7p translocation in two other tumors. Two other recurrent abnormalities were a partial deletion of 14q, seen in three tumors, and complete loss of chromosome 14 in one tumor. All three Wilms tumors with unfavorable histology had abnormalities of 17p, resulting in TP53 gene deletion. These findings provide further support for the importance of gains of chromosomes 12, 8, and 6 and loss of 1p in the development of Wilms tumor. The results also support the association of unfavorable-histology Wilms tumors with TP53 deletion. The nonrandom losses of 16/16q, 7p, and 14q may point to the importance of genomic imbalance in the pathogenetic consequences and progression of Wilms tumor.     

Photodynamic therapy induced Fas-mediated apoptosis in human carcinoma cells

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a clinical approach that utilizes light-activated drugs for the treatment of a variety of pathologic conditions. Human poorly (CNE2) and moderately differentiated (TW0-1) human nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells undergo rapid apoptosis when treated with PDT sensitized with Hypocrellin A (HA) and Hypocrellin B (HB). It has been shown that these compounds have a strong photodynamic effect on tumors and viruses. The initiating events of PDT sensitized HA and HB-induced apoptosis are poorly defined. In the current study, we sought to determine whether Fas/FasL upregulation and involvement of mitochondrial events are an early event in HA and HB-treated PDT induced apoptosis. Loss of mitochondrial transmembrane potential, release of cytochrome c, involvement of caspases-8 and -3 and the status caspase-3 specific substrate PARP, were evaluated in PDT treated tumor cells. Photoactivation of HA and HB enhanced both CD95/CD95L expression and induced CD95-signaling dependent cell death in all tumor cell lines studied. CD95/ CD95L expression appeared within 2 h following light activation and appeared to be a primary event in PDT induced apoptosis. Furthermore, these results indicate that release of mitochondrial cytochrome c into the cytoplasm is a secondary event following the activation of initiator caspase-8 preceding caspase-3 activation, cleavage of PARP and DNA fragmentation. Cytochrome c appeared in the cytosol within 2-3 h post PDT. Cleavage of PARP was observed at 3-4 h following PDT and caspase-3 specific inhibitor DEVD-CHO and broad-spectrum caspases inhibitor z-VAD-fmk blocked caspase-3 activation and PARP cleavage suggesting that caspase-3 plays an important role in HA and HB-induced apoptosis.     

The effects of inversion and eye displacements of familiar and unknown faces on early and late-stage ERPs.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to examine whether configural alterations of faces affect early or late processing stages as a function of their familiarity and their level of representation in memory. We then sought to verify whether the structural encoding stage is susceptible to top-down influences. METHODS: Electrophysiologic and behavioral studies were undertaken, during which unknown and familiar faces were presented upright or upside-down with or without feature alterations. The subjects were asked to determine whether the faces were familiar or not. RESULTS: N170 and N360 amplitudes were larger for familiar faces as well as altered ones. A higher degree of familiarity decreased reaction times (RTs) and N360 latencies, but increased N170 latencies, whereas face alterations increased RTs and latencies of both components examined. However, familiarity interacted with altered face configurations only for RTs and the N170. SIGNIFICANCE: In the perceptual stage, familiar faces seem to develop a more elaborate type of processing because of top-down influences linked to the robust nature of their representations in memory. The more elaborate type of processing for familiar faces has advantageous consequences for the following steps of information processing, by facilitating access to structural representations in memory (N360) as well as the final step reflected by RTs. The fact that configural alterations cause different effects for familiar as opposed to unfamiliar faces indicate that these stimuli are processed in a qualitatively different manner and solicit different representations in memory.     

Synthesis of graft polymers from an ozonised ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, 2. Determination of the efficiency and of the decomposition rate of macroinitiators

Polymers can be treated with an ozone/oxygen mixture to create peroxide and hydroperoxide groups on the polymer chain. These heat-sensitive functional groups can serve to initiate radical polymerization of vinyl monomers to form graft copolymers. The efficiency and the decomposition rate constant of an ozonized ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) are determined using the polymerization rate of styrene. The thermal polymerization of styrene is studied in the presence of non-ozonized EVA. The thermal polymerization has no effect on the polymerization of styrene at the beginning of the reaction. Transfer reactions between the growing polystyrene radical and the EVA chain are negligible. The activation energy of the decomposition rate of ozonized EVA is calculated and reaches 46 kJ/mol. The entropy variation of the decomposition reaction is also calculated. The result obtained shows an important decrease (?45 cal · mol^?1 · K^?1) of the entropy which is opposite to the common behaviour (?6 to +13 cal · mol^?1 · K^?1) expected. The efficiency observed for the ozonized polymers is low and reaches only 20% at 100°C, this can be explained by the lack of mobility of the created radicals.     

Prevalence of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus in Dromedary Camels,Tunisia

Free-roaming camels, especially those crossing national borders, pose a high risk for spreading Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). To prevent outbreaks, active surveillance is necessary. We found that a high percentage of dromedaries in Tunisia are MERS-CoV seropositive (80.4%) or actively infected (19.8%), indicating extensive MERS-CoV circulation in Northern Africa.     

Ductal Prostate Cancers Demonstrate Poor Outcomes with Conventional Therapies

BackgroundDuctal prostate adenocarcinoma (DAC) is a rare, aggressive, histologic variant of prostate cancer that is treated with conventional therapies, similar to high-risk prostate adenocarcinoma (PAC).ObjectiveTo assess the outcomes of men undergoing definitive therapy for DAC or high-risk PAC and to explore the effects of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) in improving the outcomes of DAC.Design, setting, and participantsA single-center retrospective review of all patients with cT1–4/N0–1 DAC from 2005 to 2018 was performed. Those undergoing radical prostatectomy (RP) or radiotherapy (RTx) for DAC were compared with cohorts of high-risk PAC patients.Outcome measurements and statistical analysisMetastasis-free survival (MFS) and overall survival (OS) rates were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression models.Results and limitationsA total of 228 men with DAC were identified; 163 underwent RP, 34 underwent RTx, and 31 had neoadjuvant therapy prior to RP. In this study, 163 DAC patients and 155 PAC patients undergoing RP were compared. Similarly, 34 DAC patients and 74 PAC patients undergoing RTx were compared. DAC patients undergoing RP or RTx had worse 5-yr MFS (75% vs 95% and 62% vs 93%, respectively, p < 0.001) and 5-yr OS (88% vs 97% and 82% vs 100%, respectively, p < 0.05) compared with PAC patients. In the 76 men who received adjuvant/salvage ADT after RP, DAC also had worse MFS and OS than PAC (p < 0.01). A genomic analysis revealed that 10/11 (91%) DACs treated with ADT had intrinsic upregulation of androgen-resistant pathways. Further, none of the DAC patients (0/15) who received only neoadjuvant ADT prior to RP had any pathologic downgrading. The retrospective nature was a limitation.ConclusionsMen undergoing RP or RTx for DAC had worse outcomes than PAC patients, regardless of the treatment modality. Upregulation of several intrinsic resistance pathways in DAC rendered ADT less effective. Further evaluation of the underlying biology of DAC with clinical trials is needed.Patient summaryThis study demonstrated worse outcomes among patients with ductal adenocarcinoma of the prostate than among high-grade prostate adenocarcinoma patients, regardless of the treatment modality.     

Evaluation of daily avanafil efficacy in improving the endothelial function in Egyptian males with erectile dysfunction

Avanafil is a highly selective and potent oral phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor. However, its impact on the soluble markers of endothelial function has not been investigated yet. This study was conducted to assess the effect of daily avanafil on the endothelial markers' serum level and erectile function in patients with erectile dysfunction. In this work, we randomly divided 140 males with erectile dysfunction and other diseases commonly associated with endothelial dysfunction like diabetes mellitus, hypertension and dyslipidaemia into two equal groups: treatment group, treated with 50mg daily oral avanafil, and control group, treated with placebo. The International Index of Erectile Function-5 score and the serum levels of nitric oxide, cyclic guanosine monophosphate and endothelin-1 as markers of endothelial function were measured at baseline and after four weeks of treatment in both groups. At the end of treatment period, those randomised to avanafil achieved statistically significant improvement in erectile function, nitric oxide, cyclic guanosine monophosphate and endothelin-1 levels from baseline versus placebo regardless the type and duration of associated comorbidity as well as the duration and severity of erectile dysfunction. These results permitted us to suggest that daily avanafil can improve the impaired endothelial function associated with the erectile dysfunction.     

Endocrine contribution to the sexual dysfunction in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease and the role of hyperprolactinemia

In this study, we investigated the prevalence of sexual dysfunction among males with advanced chronic kidney disease and the effect of treating hyperprolactinemia among these patients. In this prospective study, patients were assessed with history, physical examination, hormonal assessment, and two questionnaires, IIEF and AIPE. Patients with hyperprolactinemia received treatment with cabergoline 0.5 mg once per week for 6 months and were re-evaluated. A total of 102 patients were included in this study, 75 (73.53%) were on hemodialysis, 13 (12.75%) on peritoneal dialysis and 14 (13.73%) on medical treatment alone. Ninety (88.24%) patients had premature ejaculation, 85 (83.33%) had anything from mild-to-moderate-to-severe erectile dysfunction. The incidence of hypogonadism and hyperprolactinemia was 34.4%. Patients treated with cabergoline (n = 26) showed a significant increase in LH levels (p = .003) and a significant decrease in prolactin levels (p = .003). Testosterone levels and the incidence of erectile dysfunction or premature ejaculation did not improve significantly. There is a high incidence of sexual dysfunction among patients. Treatment of hyperprolactinemia is effective in correcting prolactin levels, but does not improve erectile dysfunction or premature ejaculation. Therefore, treating hyperprolactinemia is not an overall effective treatment for erectile dysfunction in these patients.