Extracellular Vesicles: Messengers of p53 in Tumor–Stroma Communication and Cancer Metastasis

Tumor progression to a metastatic and ultimately lethal stage relies on a tumor-supporting microenvironment that is generated by reciprocal communication between tumor and stromal host cells. The tumor–stroma crosstalk is instructed by the genetic alterations of the tumor cells—the most frequent being mutations in the gene Tumor protein p53 (TP53) that are clinically correlated with metastasis, drug resistance and poor patient survival. The crucial mediators of tumor–stroma communication are tumor-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs), in particular exosomes, which operate both locally within the primary tumor and in distant organs, at pre-metastatic niches as the future sites of metastasis. Here, we review how wild-type and mutant p53 proteins control the secretion, size, and especially the RNA and protein cargo of tumor-derived EVs. We highlight how EVs extend the cell-autonomous tumor suppressive activity of wild-type p53 into the tumor microenvironment (TME), and how mutant p53 proteins switch EVs into oncogenic messengers that reprogram tumor–host communication within the entire organism so as to promote metastatic tumor cell dissemination.     

IV-Controlling in einem Systemhaus

This paper analyses the characteristics of software houses as service providers. The tasks of internal IT-services are determined from these characteristics and a reporting system for the IT-controlling is outlined. The concept results from the analysis of one of the 25 largest German software houses. The paper concludes with a case study of the fiscal year 2000 IT-controlling report of the above-mentioned firm.     

A novel fiber-optic pressure sensor operated at 1300-nm wavelength

In this paper, we discuss a particular topology of a fiber-optic pressure transducer, developed recently at the Laboratory of the Photonics Research Center, University of Quebec en Outaouais. The sensor, which is an extension of our previous polarimetric configuration, was designed to operate using typical telecommunications components at the wavelength of 1300 nm. The pressure sensor is temperature compensated in an innovative way and has no polarizer between the LD and the sensor. The absolute accuracy of this sensor can be less than 1% in a wide range of temperatures, and including all types of metrological errors such as hysteresis and unrepeatability.     

On-line H NMR spectroscopic investigation of hydrogen bonding in supercritical and near critical CO2–methanol up to 35 MPa and 403 K

On-line NMR spectroscopy can beneficially be applied to studies of supercritical and near-critical fluids as an alternative to optical spectroscopy. Up to now high pressure NMR experiments are predominantly accomplished using custom made NMR batch reactors. The authors present a novel high pressure cell with displacement plunger for on-line NMR experiments on compressible fluids which can be used in conjunction with commercially available SCF NMR flow probes. The on-line technique offers advantages compared to stopped flow techniques such as enhanced control of mixture composition and reaction parameters as well as the facility of engagement into the reaction. The new apparatus is used for NMR studies on hydrogen bonding of methanol in near critical and supercritical carbon dioxide up to 403 K and 35 MPa for which data on the chemical shift of the hydroxyl group and methyl group are reported and interpreted.     

In Google We Trust: Users' Decisions on Rank, Position, and Relevance

An eye tracking experiment revealed that college student users have substantial trust in Google's ability to rank results by their true relevance to the query. When the participants selected a link to follow from Google's result pages, their decisions were strongly biased towards links higher in position even if the abstracts themselves were less relevant. While the participants reacted to artificially reduced retrieval quality by greater scrutiny, they failed to achieve the same success rate. This demonstrated trust in Google has implications for the search engine's tremendous potential influence on culture, society, and user traffic on the Web.