MMSET deregulation affects cell cycle progression and adhesion regulons in t(4;14) myeloma plasma cells

BackgroundThe recurrent immunoglobulin translocation, t(4;14)(p16;q32) occurs in 15% of multiple myeloma patients and is associated with poor prognosis, through an unknown mechanism. The t(4;14) up-regulates fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) and multiple myeloma SET domain (MMSET) genes. The involvement of MMSET in the pathogenesis of t(4;14) multiple myeloma and the mechanism or genes deregulated by MMSET upregulation are still unclear.Design and MethodsThe expression of MMSET was analyzed using a novel antibody. The involvement of MMSET in t(4;14) myelomagenesis was assessed by small interfering RNA mediated knockdown combined with several biological assays. In addition, the differential gene expression of MMSET-induced knockdown was analyzed with expression microarrays. MMSET gene targets in primary patient material was analyzed by expression microarrays.ResultsWe found that MMSET isoforms are expressed in multiple myeloma cell lines, being exclusively up-regulated in t(4;14)-positive cells. Suppression of MMSET expression affected cell proliferation by both decreasing cell viability and cell cycle progression of cells with the t(4;14) translocation. These findings were associated with reduced expression of genes involved in the regulation of cell cycle progression (e.g. CCND2, CCNG1, BRCA1, AURKA and CHEK1), apoptosis (CASP1, CASP4 and FOXO3A) and cell adhesion (ADAM9 and DSG2). Furthermore, we identified genes involved in the latter processes that were differentially expressed in t(4;14) multiple myeloma patient samples.ConclusionsIn conclusion, dysregulation of MMSET affects the expression of several genes involved in the regulation of cell cycle progression, cell adhesion and survival.

National incomes and economic growth in pre-industrial Europe: insights from recent research

Pessimistic Malthusian verdicts on the capacity of pre-industrial European economies to sustain a degree of real economic growth under conditions of population growth are challenged using current reconstructions of urbanisation ratios, the real wage rates of building and agricultural labourers, and GDP per capita estimated by a range of methods. Economic growth is shown to have outpaced population growth and raised GDP per capita to in excess of $1,500 (1990 $ international at PPP) in Italy during its twelfth- and thirteenth-century commercial revolution, Holland during its fifteenth- and sixteenth-century golden age, and England during the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century runup to its industrial revolution. During each of these Smithian growth episodes expanding trade and commerce sustained significant output and employment growth in the manufacturing and service sectors. These positive developments were not necessarily reflected by trends in real wage rates for the latter were powerfully influenced by associated changes in relative factor prices and the per capita supply of labour as workers varied the length of the working year in order to consume either more leisure or more goods. The scale of the divergence between trends in real wage rates and GDP per capita nevertheless varied a great deal between countries for reasons which have yet to be adequately explained.

Techno-Economic and Life Cycle Assessment for the Production of Green Composites

Botanically, green composites belong to an economically important seed plant family that includes maize, wheat, rice, and sorghum known as Saccharum offi cinarum. There are so many natural fibers available in the environment such as rice husk, hemp fibers, flax fibers, bamboo fibers, coconut fiber, coconut coir, grawia optiva and many others also. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a process to estimate the environmental feature and potential impacts related to a product, by organizing a directory of pertinent inputs and outputs of a product system, assessing the potential environmental impacts related with the said inputs and outputs, explaining the results of the inventory analysis and impact evaluation phases in connection to the objectives of the study. Particularly Bagasse, an agricultural residue not only becomes a problem from the environmental point of view, but also affects the profitability of the sugarcane industries. This chapter discusses the properties, processing methods and various other aspects including economic and environmental aspects related to green composites.

Alcoholic Beverage Preference and Dietary Habits in Elderly across Europe: Analyses within the Consortium on Health and Ageing: Network of Cohorts in Europe and the United States (CHANCES) Project

INTRODUCTION: The differential associations of beer, wine, and spirit consumption on cardiovascular risk found in observational studies may be confounded by diet. We described and compared dietary intake and diet quality according to alcoholic beverage preference in European elderly.

METHODS: From the Consortium on Health and Ageing: Network of Cohorts in Europe and the United States (CHANCES), seven European cohorts were included, i.e. four sub-cohorts from EPIC-Elderly, the SENECA Study, the Zutphen Elderly Study, and the Rotterdam Study. Harmonized data of 29,423 elderly participants from 14 European countries were analyzed. Baseline data on consumption of beer, wine, and spirits, and dietary intake were collected with questionnaires. Diet quality was assessed using the Healthy Diet Indicator (HDI). Intakes and scores across categories of alcoholic beverage preference (beer, wine, spirit, no preference, non-consumers) were adjusted for age, sex, socio-economic status, self-reported prevalent diseases, and lifestyle factors. Cohort-specific mean intakes and scores were calculated as well as weighted means combining all cohorts.

RESULTS: In 5 of 7 cohorts, persons with a wine preference formed the largest group. After multivariate adjustment, persons with a wine preference tended to have a higher HDI score and intake of healthy foods in most cohorts, but differences were small. The weighted estimates of all cohorts combined revealed that non-consumers had the highest fruit and vegetable intake, followed by wine consumers. Non-consumers and persons with no specific preference had a higher HDI score, spirit consumers the lowest. However, overall diet quality as measured by HDI did not differ greatly across alcoholic beverage preference categories.

DISCUSSION: This study using harmonized data from ~30,000 elderly from 14 European countries showed that, after multivariate adjustment, dietary habits and diet quality did not differ greatly according to alcoholic beverage preference.