The Tumor Microenvironment in Liver Metastases from Colorectal Carcinoma in the Context of the Histologic Growth Patterns

Colorectal carcinoma (CRC) is the third most common cancer. Likewise, it is a disease that has a long survival if it is prematurely detected. However, more than 50% of patients will develop metastases, mainly in the liver (LM-CRC), throughout the evolution of their disease, which accounts for most CRC-related deaths. Treatment it is certainly a controversial issue, since it has not been shown to increase overall survival in the adjuvant setting, although it does improve disease free survival (DFS). Moreover, current chemotherapy combinations are administered based on data extrapolated from primary tumors (PT), not considering that LM-CRC present a very particular tumor microenvironment that can radically condition the effectiveness of treatments designed for a PT. The liver has a particular histology and microenvironment that can determine tumor growth and response to treatments: double blood supply, vascularization through fenestrated sinusoids and the presence of different mesenchymal cell types, among other particularities. Likewise, the liver presents a peculiar immune response against tumor cells, a fact that correlates with the poor response to immunotherapy. All these aspects will be addressed in this review, putting them in the context of the histological growth patterns of LM-CRC, a particular pathologic feature with both prognostic and predictive repercussions.     

Categorization of ambient media projects on their business models, innovativeness, and characteristics—evaluation of Nokia Ubimedia MindTrek Award Projects of 2010

Ambient Media describe media environments, where the medium is embedded within the natural environment. They follow the anytime, anywhere, and anyhow principle for media access. The Nokia Ubimedia MindTreks Awards have been established a few years ago to explore the potential of ambient media. In this article we analyze the total project portfolio submitted to the 4th Nokia Ubimedia MindTrek Awards in 2010 according to their business value, innovativeness, and use of ambient media. The aim of this article is to gain insights into the general characteristics of ambient media, their properties, and business functions. The article rounds up in providing a substantial framework and guidelines for ambient media developers in their product designs.     

Design of whey protein nanostructures for incorporation and release of nutraceutical compounds in food

Whey proteins are widely used as nutritional and functional ingredients in formulated foods because they are relatively inexpensive, generally recognized as safe (GRAS) ingredient, and possess important biological, physical, and chemical functionalities. Denaturation and aggregation behavior of these proteins is of particular relevance toward manufacture of novel nanostructures with a number of potential uses. When these processes are properly engineered and controlled, whey proteins may be formed into nanohydrogels, nanofibrils, or nanotubes and be used as carrier of bioactive compounds. This review intends to discuss the latest understandings of nanoscale phenomena of whey protein denaturation and aggregation that may contribute for the design of protein nanostructures. Whey protein aggregation and gelation pathways under different processing and environmental conditions such as microwave heating, high voltage, and moderate electrical fields, high pressure, temperature, pH, and ionic strength were critically assessed. Moreover, several potential applications of nanohydrogels, nanofibrils, and nanotubes for controlled release of nutraceutical compounds (e.g. probiotics, vitamins, antioxidants, and peptides) were also included. Controlling the size of protein networks at nanoscale through application of different processing and environmental conditions can open perspectives for development of nanostructures with new or improved functionalities for incorporation and release of nutraceuticals in food matrices.     

Torrefied biomass‐polypropylene composites

Torrefied almond shells and wood chips were incorporated into polypropylene as fillers to produce torrefied biomass‐polymer composites. The composites were prepared by extrusion and injection molding. Response surface methodology was used to examine the effects of filler concentration, filler size, and lignin factor (relative lignin to cellulose concentration) on the material properties of the composites. The heat distortion temperatures, thermal properties, and tensile properties of the composites were characterized by thermomechanical analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and tensile tests, respectively. The torrefied biomass composites had heat distortion temperatures of 8–24°C higher than that of neat polypropylene. This was due to the torrefied biomass restricting mobility of polypropylene chains, leading to higher temperatures for deformation. The incorporation of torrefied biomass generally resulted in an increase in glass transition temperature, but did not affect melting temperature. Also, the composites had lower tensile strength and elongation at break values than those of neat polypropylene, indicating weak adhesion between torrefied biomass and polypropylene. However, scanning electron microscopy results did indicate some adhesion between torrefied biomass and polypropylene. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 41582.     

Connecting the real world with the digital overlay with smart ambient media—applying Peirce’s categories in the context of ambient media

This article is based on the keynote held at the workshop on Events in Multimedia (EiMM09) that took place in conjunction with the ACM Multimedia conference in Beijing in October 2009. The idea of the keynote was to develop and explain the idea of ambient media in general, it is principles, and additionally relate ambient media to information theoretical approaches such as Peirce’s categories, to the theories of decision making, and to theories discussing how smart objects can be made ‘smart’ by simulating the human mind. This article rounds up with practical examples underlining the presented ideas and theories.     

High quality TbMnO3 films deposited on YAlO3

High quality thin films of TbMnO₃ were grown by pulsed laser deposition on orthorhombicYAlO₃ (1 0 0). The interface and surface roughness of a 55 nm thick film were probed by X-ray reflectometry and atomic force microscopy, yielding a roughness of 1 nm. X-ray diffraction revealed untwinned films and a small mosaic spread of 0.04° and 0.2° for out-of-plane and in-plane reflections, respectively. This high degree of epitaxy was also confirmed by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. Using polarized neutron diffraction we could identify a magnetic structure with the propagation vector (0 0.27 0), identical to the bulk magnetic structure of TbMnO₃.     

The Connectionist Inductive Learning and Logic Programming System

This paper presents the Connectionist Inductive Learning and Logic Programming System (C-IL²P). C-IL²P is a new massively parallel computational model based on a feedforward Artificial Neural Network that integrates inductive learning from examples and background knowledge, with deductive learning from Logic Programming. Starting with the background knowledge represented by a propositional logic program, a translation algorithm is applied generating a neural network that can be trained with examples. The results obtained with this refined network can be explained by extracting a revised logic program from it. Moreover, the neural network computes the stable model of the logic program inserted in it as background knowledge, or learned with the examples, thus functioning as a parallel system for Logic Programming. We have successfully applied C-IL²P to two real-world problems of computational biology, specifically DNA sequence analyses. Comparisons with the results obtained by some of the main neural, symbolic, and hybrid inductive learning systems, using the same domain knowledge, show the effectiveness of C-IL²P.     

A comparison of Queen's and Minnesota Kent-Rosanoff word association norms.

Compared a new set of queen's norms (for responses to 100 words from the kent-rosanoff word association test) collected in kingston, canada with minnesota norms reported by D. S. Palermo and J. J. Jenkins (see pa, vol. 39:17) for the 1st 9 primaries plus a 10th category for all other responses. Out of the 20 words compared, 19 were significantly different. In the light of previous evidence, word associations seem to have both a time and a place specificity, but its degree does not appear to be attributable to environmental-cultural differences between canada and the united states. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)