Retroviruses and sexual size dimorphism in domestic cats (Felis catus L.)

Hochberg and co-workers have predicted that an increase in host adult mortality due to parasites is balanced by an earlier age at first reproduction. In polygynous species we hypothesize that such a pattern would lead to diverging selection pressure on body size between sexes and increased sexual size dimorphism. In polygynous mammals, male body size is considered to be an important factor for reproductive success. Thus, under the pressure of a virulent infection, males should be selected for rapid growth and/or higher body size to be able to compete successfully as soon as possible with opponents. In contrast, under the same selection pressure, females should be selected for lighter adult body size or rapid growth to reach sexual maturity earlier. We investigated this hypothesis in the domestic cat Felis catus. Orange cats have greater body size dimorphism than non-orange cats. Orange females are lighter than non-orange females, and orange males are heavier than non-orange males. Here, we report the extent to which orange and non-orange individuals differ in infection prevelance for two retroviruses, feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and feline leukaemia virus (FeLV). FIV is thought to be transmitted almost exclusively through aggressive contacts between individuals, whereas FeLV transmission occurs mainly through social contacts. The pattern of infection of both diseases is consistent with the higher aggressiveness of orange cats. In both sexes, orange cats are significantly more infected by FIV, and tend to be less infected by FeLV than other cats. The pattern of infection is also consistent with an earlier age at first reproduction in orange than in non-orange cats, at least for females. These results suggest that microparasitism may have played an important role in the evolution of sexual size dimorphism of domestic cats.     

Optimal constraint-based decision tree induction from itemset lattices

In this article we show that there is a strong connection between decision tree learning and local pattern mining. This connection allows us to solve the computationally hard problem of finding optimal decision trees in a wide range of applications by post-processing a set of patterns: we use local patterns to construct a global model. We exploit the connection between constraints in pattern mining and constraints in decision tree induction to develop a framework for categorizing decision tree mining constraints. This framework allows us to determine which model constraints can be pushed deeply into the pattern mining process, and allows us to improve the state-of-the-art of optimal decision tree induction.     

The Chemokine Receptor CCR3 Is Potentially Involved in the Homing of Prostate Cancer Cells to Bone: Implication of Bone-Marrow Adipocytes

Bone metastasis remains the most frequent and the deadliest complication of prostate cancer (PCa). Mechanisms leading to the homing of tumor cells to bone remain poorly characterized. Role of chemokines in providing navigational cues to migrating cancer cells bearing specific receptors is well established. Bone is an adipocyte-rich organ since 50 to 70% of the adult bone marrow (BM) volume comprise bone marrow adipocytes (BM-Ads), which are likely to produce chemokines within the bone microenvironment. Using in vitro migration assays, we demonstrated that soluble factors released by human primary BM-Ads are able to support the directed migration of PCa cells in a CCR3-dependent manner. In addition, we showed that CCL7, a chemokine previously involved in the CCR3-dependent migration of PCa cells outside of the prostate gland, is released by human BM-Ads. These effects are amplified by obesity and ageing, two clinical conditions known to promote aggressive and metastatic PCa. In human tumors, we found an enrichment of CCR3 in bone metastasis vs. primary tumors at mRNA levels using Oncomine microarray database. In addition, immunohistochemistry experiments demonstrated overexpression of CCR3 in bone versus visceral metastases. These results underline the potential importance of BM-Ads in the bone metastatic process and imply a CCR3/CCL7 axis whose pharmacological interest needs to be evaluated.     

The influence of lung volume during imaging on CFD within realistic airway models

In this article, we address a fundamental question regarding computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling within lung airways: does the inhaled volume during imaging have a significant effect on CFD computations of aerosol deposition? High resolution computed tomography (HRCT) images taken at mean lung volume (MLV) and at total lung capacity (TLC) obtained as part of a previous study of ventilation and aerosol deposition using positron emission tomography (PET) in challenged asthmatics were utilized to construct two airway models for each subject, and the differences in CFD calculated deposition metrics were subsequently quantified. These models included all the airway generations that could be rendered from the HRCT images. CFD calculations for three inhalation flow rates and four monodisperse aerosol sizes used images at MLV and at TLC from 24 volunteer subjects. Both large scale and detailed measures of particle deposition distribution were used in the analysis. The influence of lung volume during imaging is to increase airway dimensions in realistic models and thus reduce flow velocity and deposition due to impaction in the upper airways as calculated by CFD. However, large-scale deposition measures are confounded when the TLC models include deeper generations in the lung that increase the total airway deposition. These trends are modulated by the flow and particle characteristics of the aerosol, making consistent quantifiable differences between MLV and TLC difficult to predict unless both models consider the same anatomical airways.

© 2017 American Association for Aerosol Research     

Malignant Leydig cell tumor of the testis secreting progesterone

Malignant Leydig cell tumours of the testis occur in only 0.1-0.3% of patients with testicular tumours. Less than 50 cases of malignant Leydig cells tumours have been previously reported. A report of a new case is presented. This tumour was unusual because of high progesterone level. We analyzed malignant pathologic signs of Leydig cell tumours as immunohistochemical proliferation index. Management of this tumour, for which chemotherapy is not yet available, is discussed.     

An inductive database system based on virtual mining views

Inductive databases integrate database querying with database mining. In this article, we present an inductive database system that does not rely on a new data mining query language, but on plain SQL. We propose an intuitive and elegant framework based on virtual mining views, which are relational tables that virtually contain the complete output of data mining algorithms executed over a given data table. We show that several types of patterns and models that are implicitly present in the data, such as itemsets, association rules, and decision trees, can be represented and queried with SQL using a unifying framework. As a proof of concept, we illustrate a complete data mining scenario with SQL queries over the mining views, which is executed in our system.     

Contralateral perirenal metastasis of renal adenocarcinoma

The objective of this paper is to report an exceptional case of solitary contralateral perirenal metastasis from a renal cell carcinoma. Investigation of this 62-year old patient, presenting with isolated haematuria, revealed a tumour, 9 cm in diameter, in the upper pole of the right kidney, associated with contralateral metastasis in the left perirenal fat. A right radical nephrectomy and left lumpectomy including the fat around the tumour were performed via a bilateral subcostal incision. Pathological staging was pT3b N0 M1, Fuhrman grade III. With a follow-up of eight months, this patient was asymptomatic with a normal radiological assessment.