Depsipeptide (Romidepsin) in Treating Patients With Metastatic or Unresectable Soft Tissue Sarcoma

ClinicalTrials.gov

2017-05-18

Adult Alveolar Soft-part Sarcoma; Adult Angiosarcoma; Adult Epithelioid Sarcoma; Adult Extraskeletal Chondrosarcoma; Adult Extraskeletal Osteosarcoma; Adult Fibrosarcoma; Adult Leiomyosarcoma; Adult Liposarcoma; Adult Malignant Fibrous Histiocytoma; Adult Malignant Hemangiopericytoma; Adult Malignant Mesenchymoma; Adult Neurofibrosarcoma; Adult Rhabdomyosarcoma; Adult Synovial Sarcoma; Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor; Metastatic Ewing Sarcoma/Peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Adult Soft Tissue Sarcoma; Recurrent Ewing Sarcoma/Peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Stage III Adult Soft Tissue Sarcoma; Stage IV Adult Soft Tissue Sarcoma

Talazoparib and Temozolomide in Treating Younger Patients With Refractory or Recurrent Malignancies

ClinicalTrials.gov

2018-03-02

Adult Solid Neoplasm; Childhood Solid Neoplasm; Recurrent Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia; Recurrent Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia; Recurrent Childhood Central Nervous System Neoplasm; Recurrent Ewing Sarcoma/Peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Malignant Solid Neoplasm; Refractory Central Nervous System Neoplasm

[Supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumor: a single center experience and comparison with the literature].

PubMed

Schmid, I; Stachel, D; Graubner, U B; Elsner, R; Schulze, S; Pöllinger, B; Goetz, C; Haas, R J

2005-01-01

Supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumors (stPNETs) are malignant tumors. We saw within three years six children with stPNETs. In four of the six children radical resection could be achieved. All had craniospinal irradiation and chemotherapy according to the HIT-91 protocol. The two children with incomplete resection died due to tumor progression after 7 and 10 months. Two of the 4 children with complete tumor resection had local relapses 8 months after diagnosis and died after 14 and 18 months. One child had a diffuse meningeal relapse 12 months after diagnosis. Despite (high-dose) systemic chemotherapy and intraventricular mafosfamide, he died 21 months after diagnosis due to tumor although remission could be achieved. Only one child is still in remission 86 months after diagnosis.

Conservative multimodal management of a primitive neuroectodermal tumor of the thyroid.

PubMed

Natale, Romain; Thariat, Juliette; Vedrine, Pierre Olivier; Bozec, Alex; Peyrottes, Isabelle; Marcy, Pierre Yves; Haudebourg, Juliette; Pedeutour, Florence; Saâda, Esma; Thyss, Antoine

2013-04-15

Primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNET) represent 1% of sarcomas. Head and neck peripheral PNETs have an intermediate prognosis between abdominopelvic disease and extremities. We here report the case of a 40-year old male who presented with primitive neuroectodermal tumor of the thyroid and was treated by multimodal treatment, including surgery, chemotherapy and intermediate dose radiotherapy. The patient is alive and fit with a functional larynx at 27 months. Multimodal treatments yield five-year survival rates of about 60%. Major drug regimens use vincristine, doxorubicin, ifosfamide or cyclophosphamide, dactinomycin and/or etoposide. Complete surgical excision is undertaken whenever possible to improve long-term survival. However, the relative radiosensitivity of tumors of the Ewing family, suggest multimodal treatment including adjuvant conformal radiotherapy in case of positive margins or poor response to chemotherapy rather than resection with 2-3 cm margins, which would imply laryngeal sacrifice for thyroid tumors. The role of expert rare tumor networks is crucial for optimal decision-making and management of such rare tumors on a case by case basis.

Bilateral Ewing Sarcoma/Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor of the Breast: A Very Rare Entity and Review of the Literature

PubMed Central

Majid, N.; Amrani, M.; Ghissassi, I.; El Cadi, M.; El Bouzidi, M.; El Kabous, M.; Kherbach, A.; Errihani, H.

2013-01-01

Peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNET) are rare malignant tumors, affecting mostly children and adolescents and have been described in breast in eight case reports only. In this paper, we present a case of bilateral mammary ES/PNET where distinction between primary and metastatic diseases was discussed through a literature review. The aim of this work is to demonstrate that although rare, the possibility of PNET should be kept in mind while evaluating a palpable breast abnormality in a young female. PMID:23819085

Congenital Ewing's Sarcoma/Peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

PubMed

Jin, Shu-Guang; Jiang, Xiao-Ping; Zhong, Lin

2016-10-01

Ewing's sarcoma (EWS) and peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumor (pPNET) are small round cell malignancies that develop in soft tissue and bone. They very rarely affect newborns. A diagnosis of EWS/pPNET depends mainly on immunohistochemistry and molecular/genetic assays. Since these tumors are highly aggressive, patient prognosis is typically very poor, and treatment remains a challenge. Here, we report a 13-day-old newborn diagnosed with congenital EWS/pPNET and describe its treatment. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor Presenting with Diffuse Leptomeningeal Involvement in a 55-Year-Old Woman: A Case Report and Brief Summary of Current Diagnostic Tests and Treatment

PubMed Central

Kalidindi, Navya; Torres, Carlos H.; Michaud, Jean; Zwicker, Jocelyn Christine

2014-01-01

Primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNETs) are typically present as masses in children and adolescents, but rarely in adults. Diagnoses, management strategies, and prognostication factors are not well established in adult cases of PNETs. We describe the case of a central nervous system PNET diagnosed in a 55-year-old woman presenting with a sudden onset of symptoms consisting of increased intracranial pressure and findings of diffuse leptomeningeal enhancement and a small medullary lesion seen on MRI. Amongst the small database of PNETs diagnosed in adults, our case report stands out as one of few cases describing a primarily leptomeningeal PNET diagnosed on biopsy. We also review the literature on PNETs presenting with diffuse leptomeningeal disease and the treatment of PNETs in the adult population. PMID:25202261

Oxaliplatin and Irinotecan in Treating Young Patients With Refractory Solid Tumors or Lymphomas

ClinicalTrials.gov

2013-06-04

Childhood Burkitt Lymphoma; Childhood Central Nervous System Germ Cell Tumor; Childhood Diffuse Large Cell Lymphoma; Childhood Grade III Lymphomatoid Granulomatosis; Childhood Immunoblastic Large Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Childhood Brain Stem Glioma; Recurrent Childhood Cerebellar Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Cerebral Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Ependymoma; Recurrent Childhood Grade III Lymphomatoid Granulomatosis; Recurrent Childhood Large Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Childhood Liver Cancer; Recurrent Childhood Lymphoblastic Lymphoma; Recurrent Childhood Malignant Germ Cell Tumor; Recurrent Childhood Medulloblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Rhabdomyosarcoma; Recurrent Childhood Small Noncleaved Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Childhood Soft Tissue Sarcoma; Recurrent Childhood Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Childhood Visual Pathway Glioma; Recurrent Colon Cancer; Recurrent Ewing Sarcoma/Peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Melanoma; Recurrent Nasopharyngeal Cancer; Recurrent Neuroblastoma; Recurrent Osteosarcoma; Recurrent Wilms Tumor and Other Childhood Kidney Tumors; Recurrent/Refractory Childhood Hodgkin Lymphoma; Unspecified Childhood Solid Tumor, Protocol Specific

Identification of CD56 and CD57 by flow cytometry in Ewing's sarcoma or primitive neuroectodermal tumor.

PubMed

Gardner, L J; Polski, J M; Fallon, R; Dunphy, C H

1998-07-01

CD56 and CD57 are commonly considered as natural killer and neuroectodermal markers, but their expression has been identified in a wide spectrum of neoplasms including some cases of Ewing's sarcoma (ES) and primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET). We report two cases of small, round blue cell tumor (SRBCT), in which flow cytometry immunophenotyping (FCI) detected strong expression of CD56 and CD57 (one case). Immunohistochemical staining with Leu-19 and Leu-7 confirmed the FI results. Although CD56 and CD57 expression is consistent with ES/PNET, it can be potentially misleading if results of FCI are interpreted in the absence of other findings. These cases suggest the utility of FCI in undifferentiated SRBCT. The literature on CD56 and CD57 expression in ES/PNET is reviewed and discussed.

Stereotactic Radiosurgery in Treating Patients With Brain Tumors

ClinicalTrials.gov

2012-03-21

Adult Central Nervous System Germ Cell Tumor; Adult Malignant Meningioma; Adult Medulloblastoma; Adult Noninfiltrating Astrocytoma; Adult Oligodendroglioma; Adult Craniopharyngioma; Adult Meningioma; Brain Metastases; Adult Ependymoma; Adult Pineal Parenchymal Tumor; Adult Brain Stem Glioma; Adult Infiltrating Astrocytoma; Mixed Gliomas; Stage IV Peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor

Flavopiridol in Treating Children With Relapsed or Refractory Solid Tumors or Lymphomas

ClinicalTrials.gov

2013-07-01

Recurrent Childhood Brain Stem Glioma; Recurrent Childhood Cerebellar Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Cerebral Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Ependymoma; Recurrent Childhood Large Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Childhood Liver Cancer; Recurrent Childhood Lymphoblastic Lymphoma; Recurrent Childhood Malignant Germ Cell Tumor; Recurrent Childhood Medulloblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Rhabdomyosarcoma; Recurrent Childhood Small Noncleaved Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Childhood Soft Tissue Sarcoma; Recurrent Childhood Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Childhood Visual Pathway and Hypothalamic Glioma; Recurrent Childhood Visual Pathway Glioma; Recurrent Ewing Sarcoma/Peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Neuroblastoma; Recurrent Osteosarcoma; Recurrent Retinoblastoma; Recurrent Wilms Tumor and Other Childhood Kidney Tumors; Recurrent/Refractory Childhood Hodgkin Lymphoma; Unspecified Childhood Solid Tumor, Protocol Specific

Primary primitive neuroectodermal tumor of the cervix

PubMed Central

Li, Bo; Ouyang, Ling; Han, Xue; Zhou, Yang; Tong, Xin; Zhang, Shulang; Zhang, Qingfu

2013-01-01

Primary primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNETs) are rare and high-grade malignant tumors that mostly occur in children and young adults. The most common sites are the trunk, limbs, and retroperitoneum. Herein, we present a case of a PNET involving the cervix uteri in a 27-year-old woman. The lesion showed characteristic histologic features of a PNET and was positive for the immunohistochemical markers cluster of differentiation (CD) 99, vimentin, neuron-specific enolase, neural cell adhesion molecule 1 (CD56), and CD117 (c-kit), further defining the tumor while helping to confirm PNET. The clinical Stage IIIB tumor was treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. PMID:23836982

TCRαβ+/CD19+ Depleted Haploidentical HSCT + Zoledronate

ClinicalTrials.gov

2018-05-09

Acute Myeloid Leukemia; Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia; Hodgkin Lymphoma; Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; Myelodysplastic Syndrome; Myeloproliferative Syndrome; Rhabdomyosarcoma; Ewing Sarcoma; Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Osteosarcoma; Neuroblastoma

Palbociclib in Treating Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Rb Positive Advanced Solid Tumors, Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, or Histiocytic Disorders With Activating Alterations in Cell Cycle Genes (A Pediatric MATCH Treatment Trial)

ClinicalTrials.gov

2018-06-13

Advanced Malignant Solid Neoplasm; RB1 Positive; Recurrent Childhood Ependymoma; Recurrent Ewing Sarcoma; Recurrent Glioma; Recurrent Hepatoblastoma; Recurrent Kidney Wilms Tumor; Recurrent Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis; Recurrent Malignant Germ Cell Tumor; Recurrent Malignant Glioma; Recurrent Medulloblastoma; Recurrent Neuroblastoma; Recurrent Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; Recurrent Osteosarcoma; Recurrent Peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Rhabdoid Tumor; Recurrent Rhabdomyosarcoma; Recurrent Soft Tissue Sarcoma; Refractory Ependymoma; Refractory Ewing Sarcoma; Refractory Glioma; Refractory Hepatoblastoma; Refractory Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis; Refractory Malignant Germ Cell Tumor; Refractory Malignant Glioma; Refractory Medulloblastoma; Refractory Neuroblastoma; Refractory Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; Refractory Osteosarcoma; Refractory Peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Refractory Rhabdoid Tumor; Refractory Rhabdomyosarcoma; Refractory Soft Tissue Sarcoma

Ewing sarcoma

MedlinePlus

Bone cancer - Ewing sarcoma; Ewing family of tumors; Primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNET); Bone neoplasm - Ewing sarcoma ... adulthood. But it usually develops during puberty, when bones are growing rapidly. It is more common in ...

Imetelstat Sodium in Treating Younger Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Solid Tumors

ClinicalTrials.gov

2017-02-08

Childhood Hepatoblastoma; Previously Treated Childhood Rhabdomyosarcoma; Recurrent Childhood Liver Cancer; Recurrent Childhood Rhabdomyosarcoma; Recurrent Ewing Sarcoma/Peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Neuroblastoma; Recurrent Osteosarcoma

[Primitive neuroectodermal tumor/Ewing's sarcoma of the penis in children: a case report and review of the literature].

PubMed

Zhang, Da-Wei; Jin, Mei; Zhou, Chun-Ju; Song, Hong-Cheng; Ma, Xiao-Li

2012-12-01

To investigate the clinical manifestations, pathological characteristics and treatment of primitive neuroectodermal tumor/Ewing's sarcoma (PNET/EWS) of the penis in children. We analyzed the clinical data of a case of PNET/EWS and reviewed relevant literature. The patient was a 5-year-old boy, admitted for penis swelling with pain for 11 months. Biopsy showed a small round cell tumor, CD99 positive by immunohistochemical staining, with EWS translocation by fluorescence in situ hybridization on molecular biological examination. The tumor was confirmed to be PNET/EWS of the penis, and disappeared after 45 weeks of chemotherapy and local radiotherapy. PNET/EWS of the penis is an extremely rare disease, with no specific clinical symptoms except penis enlargement with pain. Immunohistochemistry and molecular biological examination contribute to its diagnosis.

Vismodegib and Gamma-Secretase/Notch Signalling Pathway Inhibitor RO4929097 in Treating Patients With Advanced or Metastatic Sarcoma

ClinicalTrials.gov

2016-06-09

Adult Alveolar Soft Part Sarcoma; Adult Angiosarcoma; Adult Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor; Adult Epithelioid Hemangioendothelioma; Adult Epithelioid Sarcoma; Adult Extraskeletal Myxoid Chondrosarcoma; Adult Extraskeletal Osteosarcoma; Adult Fibrosarcoma; Adult Leiomyosarcoma; Adult Liposarcoma; Adult Malignant Mesenchymoma; Adult Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumor; Adult Rhabdomyosarcoma; Adult Synovial Sarcoma; Adult Unclassified Pleomorphic Sarcoma; Chondrosarcoma; Clear Cell Sarcoma of the Kidney; Conjunctival Kaposi Sarcoma; Dermatofibrosarcoma Protuberans; Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor; Metastatic Ewing Sarcoma/Peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Metastatic Osteosarcoma; Ovarian Sarcoma; Recurrent Adult Soft Tissue Sarcoma; Recurrent Adult Unclassified Pleomorphic Sarcoma of Bone; Recurrent Ewing Sarcoma/Peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Kaposi Sarcoma; Recurrent Osteosarcoma; Recurrent Uterine Corpus Sarcoma; Small Intestine Leiomyosarcoma; Stage III Adult Soft Tissue Sarcoma; Stage III Uterine Sarcoma; Stage IV Adult Soft Tissue Sarcoma; Stage IV Uterine Sarcoma; Unclassified Pleomorphic Sarcoma of Bone

Imatinib Mesylate in Treating Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Solid Tumors of Childhood

ClinicalTrials.gov

2015-04-14

Childhood Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor; Childhood Synovial Sarcoma; Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor; Lung Metastases; Recurrent Childhood Soft Tissue Sarcoma; Recurrent Ewing Sarcoma/Peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Neuroblastoma; Recurrent Osteosarcoma

Study of Genistein in Pediatric Oncology Patients (UVA-Gen001)

ClinicalTrials.gov

2017-06-20

Lymphoma; Childhood Lymphoma; Solid Tumor; Childhood Solid Tumor; Neuroblastoma; Ewing Sarcoma; Hodgkin Lymphoma; Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; Rhabdomyosarcoma; Soft Tissue Sarcoma; Medulloblastoma; Germ Cell Tumor; Wilms Tumor; Brain Neoplasms; Medulloblastoma, Childhood; Neuroectodermal Tumors, Primitive

Molecular-Guided Therapy for Childhood Cancer

ClinicalTrials.gov

2017-07-07

Neuroblastoma; Medulloblastoma; Glioma; Ependymoma; Choroid Plexus Neoplasms; Craniopharyngioma; Dysembryoplastic Neuroepithelial Tumor; Meningioma; Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumors (PNETs); Germ Cell Tumors; Rhabdomyosarcoma; Non-rhabdomyosarcoma; Ewings Sarcoma; Osteosarcoma; Wilms Tumor; Renal Cell Carcinoma; Malignant Rhabdoid Tumor; Clear Cell Sarcoma; Liver Tumors

Evaluating Dactinomycin and Vincristine in Young Patients With Cancer

ClinicalTrials.gov

2017-05-15

Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia; Childhood Rhabdomyosarcoma; Childhood Soft Tissue Sarcoma; Ewing Sarcoma; Ewing Sarcoma of Bone; Ewing Sarcoma/Peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor (PNET); Unspecified Childhood Solid Tumor, Protocol Specific; Wilms Tumor and Other Childhood Kidney Tumors

Mesenchymal Stem Cells and the Origin of Ewing's Sarcoma

PubMed Central

Lin, Patrick P.; Wang, Yongxing; Lozano, Guillermina

2011-01-01

The origin of Ewing's sarcoma is a subject of much debate. Once thought to be derived from primitive neuroectodermal cells, many now believe it to arise from a mesenchymal stem cell (MSC). Expression of the EWS-FLI1 fusion gene in MSCs changes cell morphology to resemble Ewing's sarcoma and induces expression of neuroectodermal markers. In murine cells, transformation to sarcomas can occur. In knockdown experiments, Ewing's sarcoma cells develop characteristics of MSCs and the ability to differentiate into mesodermal lineages. However, it cannot be concluded that MSCs are the cell of origin. The concept of an MSC still needs to be rigorously defined, and there may be different subpopulations of mesenchymal pluripotential cells. Furthermore, EWS-FLI1 by itself does not transform human cells, and cooperating mutations appear to be necessary. Therefore, while it is possible that Ewing's sarcoma may originate from a primitive mesenchymal cell, the idea needs to be refined further. PMID:20953407

Epidemiology, management and treatment outcome of medulloblastoma in singapore.

PubMed

Chan, Mei-Yoke; Teo, Wan-Yee; Seow, Wan-Tew; Tan, Ah-Moy

2007-05-01

Medulloblastoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumour is the most common type of malignant brain tumour in children. Long-term survival rates have improved over the years with a combination of surgical, radiotherapeutic and chemotherapeutic treatment modalities in the developed world. This paper aims to analyse the epidemiology and outcome of medulloblastoma in Singapore and compare our results with those reported in the literature. A 9-year retrospective study was done using data reported to the Singapore Children's Cancer Registry from June 1997 to June 2005. Only 39 children up to the age of 15 years diagnosed histologically with medulloblastoma or primitive neuroectodermal tumour arising from the cerebellum were included in the study. Follow-up data were collected up to June 2006 and analysed using SPSS v 13.0 software. Medulloblastoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumour was the most common type of brain tumour, accounting for 40.7% of all brain tumours diagnosed in children in Singapore. The 5-year event-free survival rate was 44.5%, while the 5- year overall survival rate was 51.5%. Nearly half (41%) of our patients had spinal metastasis at presentation and this was associated with a worse event-free survival (6.3% vs 71.9%, P = 0). Children under 36 months of age had a significantly poorer overall survival (28.8% vs 52.2%, P = 0.041). The outcome of medulloblastoma in Singapore was inferior to reported figures in the literature. We need to close identified gaps in care, like standardising assessment and treatment protocols, in order to improve our results. Research into molecular and genetic characteristics may also throw light on whether the disease is inherently more aggressive in our population.

The role of immunohistochemistry in medullomyoblastoma--a case series highlighting divergent differentiation.

PubMed

Sachdeva, Man Updesh S; Vankalakunti, Mahesha; Rangan, Aruna; Radotra, Bishan D; Chhabra, Rajesh; Vasishta, Rakesh K

2008-04-25

To analyse the histo-morphology of cases of medullomyoblastoma and identifying its divergent differentiation. A retrospective review of all cases reported as medulloblastoma between the period of Jan 2000 to Dec 2006 was carried out on Hematoxylin and eosin (H & E) stained slides. The cases were screened on light microscopy for primitive neuroectodermal component of a medulloblastoma accompanied by areas of "myoid" differentiation, identified on the basis of presence of strap cells (indicating a clear skeletal muscle differentiation) and/or large anaplastic cells with vescicular nuclei and moderate to abundant amount of eosinophilic cytoplasm. All these cases were subjected to a panel of immunohistochemical stains, including Desmin, GFAP, NFP, HMB45, SMA, S100, CK and EMA. Ultrastructural analysis was done on tissue obtained from paraffin blocks in 2 cases. Male predominance (M:F = 5:1) was noted with an incidence of five percent of all cases of medulloblastoma (6 out of 120 cases) over a period of 6 years. Primitive neuroectodermal areas were accompanied with areas of "myoid" differentiation, 5 cases showing strap cells. Two cases with epithelial and cartilaginous differentiation were seen. Three cases showed focal melanocytic differentiation, identified only on HMB45 immunostaining. Four cases showed glial differentiation. Neuronal differentiation again was very focally seen in two cases, of which one was identified only by NFP immunostain. Seventh case is included in the study, however it is not considered to calculate incidence as it occurred beyond the period of 6 years of records search. Medullomyoblastoma is a rare childhood tumor of cerebellum. Majority of cases reveal divergent differentiation, which are identified with the help of panel of immunostains indicating multi-potential nature of primitive neuroectodermal cells.

Clinical analysis of primary primitive neuroectodermal tumors in the female genital tract.

PubMed

Xiao, Changji; Zhao, Jing; Guo, Peng; Wang, Dan; Zhao, Dachun; Ren, Tong; Yang, Jiaxin; Shen, Keng; Lang, Jinghe; Xiang, Yang; Cui, Quancai

2014-03-01

The aim of the study was to investigate the clinical manifestations, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNETs) in the female genital tract. From April 2001 to May 2013, the clinicopathologic characteristics, treatments, outcomes, and prognosis of 11 patients with PNET in the female genital tract were analyzed retrospectively at our hospital. The location of PNET in the 11 patients presented here included vulva (2 patients), cervix (2 patients), uterus and its ligament (5 patients), and the ovaries (2 patients). Ages ranged from 18 to 59 years (median, 31 years).The main clinical manifestations of PNET in the female genital tract are irregular vaginal bleeding (6 patients), pelvic mass, uterine enlargement, and rapidly increasing vulvar mass (8 patients), and vulvar pain and lower abdominal pain (5 patients). The CA125 levels of 8 patients were elevated before the operations and reduced to normal when the diseases were controlled, while the levels increased as the tumor was progressive. Results for the most commonly used immunohistochemistry studies revealed CD99 in 11 of the 11 tumors, synaptophysin in 6 of the 7 positive tumors, and neuron-specific enolase in 6 of the 6 tumors. Ten patients underwent surgical resection. Nine of them underwent preoperative or/and postoperative combination chemotherapy. The follow-up of 10 patients were available and ranged from 1 to 145 months (median, 30.5 months), 3 of whom experiencing recurrence. Primitive neuroectodermal tumor is very rare and can originate from any part of the female genital tract. The tumors had different manifestations but the same pathologic features. CA125 may be an important marker for prognosis and follow-up of PNET of the female internal genital tract.

Fine-Needle Aspiration of Metastatic Central Type Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumors in Patients with a Germ Cell Tumor.

PubMed

Chen, Shaoxiong; Idrees, Muhammad; Lin, Jingmei; Wu, Howard H

2017-01-01

Central type primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNET) are some of the most frequent somatic type tumors derived from germ cell tumors and can metastasize. We studied the cytomorphological features of metastatic central type PNET by fine-needle aspiration (FNA). A computerized search of our laboratory information system was performed for the 9-year period from 2005 through 2014 to identify all cytology cases in which a diagnosis of metastatic central type PNET had been rendered. A total of 5 FNA cases were collected and direct smears were reexamined. All patients had a history of testicular or ovarian germ cell tumors. Direct smears displayed single and clusters of atypical round to oval cells with scant to moderate cytoplasm. Abundant naked nuclei were present in Diff-Quik-stained smears with mild to marked crushed artifacts and nuclear molding. Tumor cells showed fine granular chromatin, nuclear size variation (up to 1:3), and one or more small nucleoli. Pseudorosettes (Homer Wright-like rosette) were noticed in 1 case. Tumor cells were commonly positive for synaptophysin. Metastatic PNET can be reliably diagnosed by FNA. Differential diagnoses include Ewing sarcoma/peripheral PNET, alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, neuroblastoma, etc. It is important to be familiar with this entity to avoid diagnostic pitfalls. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Expression of hydroxyindole-O-methyltransferase enzyme in the human central nervous system and in pineal parenchymal cell tumors.

PubMed

Fukuda, Takahiro; Akiyama, Nobutake; Ikegami, Masahiro; Takahashi, Hitoshi; Sasaki, Atsushi; Oka, Hidehiro; Komori, Takashi; Tanaka, Yuko; Nakazato, Youichi; Akimoto, Jiro; Tanaka, Masahiko; Okada, Yoshikazu; Saito, Saburo

2010-05-01

Pineal parenchymal tumor (PPT) cells usually show immunoreactivity for synaptophysin, neuron-specific enolase, neurofilament protein, class III beta-tubulin, tau protein, PGP9.5, chromogranin, serotonin, retinal S-antigen, and rhodopsin, but these markers are not specific for PPTs. Melatonin is produced and secreted mainly bypineal parenchymal cells; hydroxyindole-O-methyltransferase (HIOMT) catalyzes the final reaction in melatonin biosynthesis. We hypothesized that HIOMT could serve as a tumor marker of PPTs, and we investigated HIOMT localization and HIOMT expression in samples of normal human tissue and in PPTs, primitive neuroectodermal tumors, and medulloblastomas. In normal tissue, HIOMT was expressed in retinal cells, pineal parenchymal cells, neurons of the Edinger-Westphal nucleus, microglia, macrophages, thyroid follicular epithelium, principal and oxyphil cells of parathyroid gland, adrenal cortical cells, hepatic parenchymal cells, renal tubule epithelium, and enteroendocrine cells of stomach and duodenum. The HIOMT was also expressed in all 46 PPTs studied. The proportions of HIOMT-immunoreactive cells successively decreased in the following tumors: pineocytoma, pineal parenchymal tumor of intermediate differentiation, and pineoblastoma. A few HIOMT-immunoreactive cells were observed in one of 6 primitive neuroectodermal tumors and 23 of 42 medulloblastomas. These results indicate that HIOMT immunohistochemistry may be useful for the diagnosis of PPTs and be a prognostic factor in PPTs.

Embryonal tumor with abundant neuropil and true rosettes: a systematic literature review and report of 2 new cases.

PubMed

Alexiou, George A; Stefanaki, Kalliopi; Vartholomatos, George; Sfakianos, George; Prodromou, Neofytos; Moschovi, Maria

2013-12-01

Embryonal tumor with abundant neuropil and true rosettes has been recently defined as a distinct central nervous system embryonal neoplasm, although it was initially regarded as a subtype of central nervous system primitive neuroectodermal tumor. To date 70 cases have been reported. We have performed a literature review and we present 2 new cases. Analysis of the reported data revealed that radiotherapy, tumor excision and high-dose adjuvant chemotherapy with sequential autologous hematopoietic stem cell rescue have a prognostic significance.

Wild-Type Reovirus in Combination With Sargramostim in Treating Younger Patients With High-Grade Relapsed or Refractory Brain Tumors

ClinicalTrials.gov

2018-03-16

Childhood Astrocytoma; Childhood Atypical Teratoid/Rhabdoid Tumor; Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma; Glioma; Recurrent Childhood Anaplastic Oligodendroglioma; Recurrent Childhood Brain Neoplasm; Recurrent Childhood Glioblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Medulloblastoma; Recurrent Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Refractory Brain Neoplasm

Palbociclib Isethionate in Treating Younger Patients With Recurrent, Progressive, or Refractory Central Nervous System Tumors

ClinicalTrials.gov

2017-09-27

Childhood Choroid Plexus Tumor; Childhood Ependymoblastoma; Childhood Grade III Meningioma; Childhood High-grade Cerebellar Astrocytoma; Childhood High-grade Cerebral Astrocytoma; Childhood Medulloepithelioma; Recurrent Childhood Anaplastic Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Anaplastic Oligoastrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Anaplastic Oligodendroglioma; Recurrent Childhood Brain Stem Glioma; Recurrent Childhood Cerebellar Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Cerebral Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Giant Cell Glioblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Glioblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Gliomatosis Cerebri; Recurrent Childhood Gliosarcoma; Recurrent Childhood Medulloblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Pineoblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor

Irinotecan in Treating Children With Refractory Solid Tumors

ClinicalTrials.gov

2013-06-13

Childhood Central Nervous System Germ Cell Tumor; Childhood Choroid Plexus Tumor; Childhood Craniopharyngioma; Childhood Grade I Meningioma; Childhood Grade II Meningioma; Childhood Grade III Meningioma; Childhood Infratentorial Ependymoma; Childhood Oligodendroglioma; Childhood Supratentorial Ependymoma; Previously Treated Childhood Rhabdomyosarcoma; Recurrent Childhood Cerebellar Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Cerebral Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Ependymoma; Recurrent Childhood Medulloblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Rhabdomyosarcoma; Recurrent Childhood Visual Pathway and Hypothalamic Glioma; Recurrent Childhood Visual Pathway Glioma; Recurrent Ewing Sarcoma/Peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Neuroblastoma; Recurrent Osteosarcoma; Unspecified Childhood Solid Tumor, Protocol Specific

Study of Fixed vs. Flexible Filgrastim to Accelerate Bone Marrow Recovery After Chemotherapy in Children With Cancer

ClinicalTrials.gov

2017-03-28

Childhood Choroid Plexus Tumor; Childhood Medulloblastoma; Childhood Pineoblastoma; Childhood Soft Tissue Sarcoma; Childhood Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Neuroblastoma; Osteosarcoma; Retinoblastoma; Wilms Tumor and Other Childhood Kidney Tumors; Recurrent/Refractory Childhood Hodgkin Lymphoma; Unspecified Childhood Solid Tumor, Protocol Specific

Alisertib in Treating Young Patients With Recurrent or Refractory Solid Tumors or Leukemia

ClinicalTrials.gov

2017-09-21

Hepatoblastoma; Previously Treated Childhood Rhabdomyosarcoma; Recurrent Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia; Recurrent Childhood Acute Myeloid Leukemia; Recurrent Childhood Kidney Neoplasm; Recurrent Childhood Malignant Germ Cell Tumor; Recurrent Childhood Rhabdomyosarcoma; Recurrent Childhood Soft Tissue Sarcoma; Recurrent Ewing Sarcoma/Peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Neuroblastoma; Recurrent Osteosarcoma

AZD2171 in Treating Young Patients With Recurrent, Progressive, or Refractory Primary CNS Tumors

ClinicalTrials.gov

2016-03-04

Childhood Atypical Teratoid/Rhabdoid Tumor; Childhood Central Nervous System Germ Cell Tumor; Childhood Cerebral Anaplastic Astrocytoma; Childhood Cerebral Astrocytoma; Childhood Grade I Meningioma; Childhood Grade II Meningioma; Childhood Grade III Meningioma; Childhood Infratentorial Ependymoma; Childhood Oligodendroglioma; Childhood Spinal Cord Neoplasm; Childhood Supratentorial Ependymoma; Recurrent Childhood Brain Neoplasm; Recurrent Childhood Brain Stem Glioma; Recurrent Childhood Cerebellar Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Cerebral Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Ependymoma; Recurrent Childhood Medulloblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Pineoblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Subependymal Giant Cell Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Childhood Visual Pathway Glioma

Collecting and Storing Blood and Brain Tumor Tissue Samples From Children With Brain Tumors

ClinicalTrials.gov

2017-12-11

Childhood Atypical Teratoid/Rhabdoid Tumor; Childhood Central Nervous System Germ Cell Tumor; Childhood Choroid Plexus Tumor; Childhood Craniopharyngioma; Childhood Grade I Meningioma; Childhood Grade II Meningioma; Childhood Grade III Meningioma; Childhood High-grade Cerebral Astrocytoma; Childhood Infratentorial Ependymoma; Childhood Low-grade Cerebral Astrocytoma; Childhood Oligodendroglioma; Childhood Supratentorial Ependymoma; Newly Diagnosed Childhood Ependymoma; Recurrent Childhood Cerebellar Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Cerebral Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Ependymoma; Recurrent Childhood Medulloblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Childhood Visual Pathway and Hypothalamic Glioma; Recurrent Childhood Visual Pathway Glioma

Cixutumumab and Temsirolimus in Treating Younger Patients With Recurrent or Refractory Sarcoma

ClinicalTrials.gov

2018-03-21

Childhood Alveolar Soft Part Sarcoma; Childhood Angiosarcoma; Childhood Epithelioid Sarcoma; Childhood Fibrosarcoma; Childhood Gliosarcoma; Childhood Leiomyosarcoma; Childhood Liposarcoma; Childhood Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumor; Childhood Synovial Sarcoma; Previously Treated Childhood Rhabdomyosarcoma; Recurrent Childhood Rhabdomyosarcoma; Recurrent Childhood Soft Tissue Sarcoma; Recurrent Ewing Sarcoma/Peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Osteosarcoma; Rhabdomyosarcoma

Primary Ewing's sarcoma-primitive neuroectodermal tumor of the uterus: a case report and literature review.

PubMed

Park, Jeong-Yeol; Lee, Sun; Kang, Hyoung Jin; Kim, Hy-Sook; Park, Sang-Yoon

2007-08-01

Primary Ewing's sarcoma-primitive neuroectodermal tumor (ES-PNET) of the uterus is an extremely rare malignancy. A 30-year-old Korean woman presented with abnormal uterine bleeding with uterine enlargement. A computed tomography (CT) scan and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the abdomen and pelvis showed a huge uterine mass measuring 18 x 20 x 21 cm, metastasis to both pelvic and para-aortic lymph nodes, and omental infiltration. The pathology report of the uterine mass described a uniformly hypercellular tumor, which was arranged in diffuse solid sheets of uniform, small, rounded, and sometimes spindle-shaped cells, with scanty cytoplasm. Immunohistochemically, the mass tested positive for vimentin, CD99, and chromogranin. The patient received several courses of combination chemotherapy and radiotherapy but died from tumor progression 16 months after the initial diagnosis. This is a rare case of primary uterine ES-PNET in a woman of reproductive age. A review of the literature indicates that primary uterine ES-PNET requires early diagnosis and multimodality treatment including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. The behavior of this tumor is potentially aggressive.

Peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumor of the vulva: report of a case with imprint cytology.

PubMed

Takeshima, N; Tabata, T; Nishida, H; Furuta, N; Tsuzuku, M; Hirai, Y; Hasumi, K

2001-01-01

Peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET) of the vulva is an extremely rare disease, and, to our knowledge, only two cases have been previously reported. A 45-year-old woman presented with a mass in the right labium major. Three years after removal of the tumor, she noticed a new lesion in the same place and underwent a partial vulvectomy. The imprint cytology of the recurrent tumor showed a monomorphic appearance, composed of small round cells with scant cytoplasm against a hemorrhagic background. These tumor cells were loosely connective, but rosettelike structures were observed focally. On pathologic examination, the neoplasm was composed of small round tumor cells showing sinusoidal, diffuse or micropapillary growth. Immunohistochemically, the neoplastic cells stained positively for neuron-specific enolase, vimentin and HBA 71 and negatively for cytokeratin, HBA 45 and muscle-specific actin. The morphologic characteristics of the disease were well expressed in the imprint cytology, and this influenced the selection of immunohistochemical studies. Cytologic examination for vulvar tumors, even imprint cytology, can be a useful tool in obtaining an accurate pathologic diagnosis of a rare disease, such as peripheral PNET.

Primary Pulmonary Ewing's Sarcoma/Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor in a 67-year-old Man

PubMed Central

Lee, Yoon Young; Kim, Do Hoon; Lee, Ji Hye; Choi, Jong Sang; In, Kwang Ho; Oh, Yu Whan; Cho, Kyung Hwan

2007-01-01

Extraskeletal Ewing's sarcoma (EES) is a branch of neuroectodermal tumor (PNET), which is very rare soft tissue sarcoma. We report a case of EES/PNET arising is the lung of a 67-yr-old man. Computed tomography, bone scintigraphy, and positron emission tomography confirmed the mass to have a primary pulmonary origin. The mass showed positive reactivity in the Periodic Acid Schiff (PAS) stain and MIC-2 immunoreactivity in immunohistochemical stain. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was performed, which revealed an EWSR1 (Ewing sarcoma breakpoint region 1) 22q12 rearrangement. The diagnosis was confirmed both pathologically and genetically. The mass lesion was resected, and the patient is currently undergoing chemotherapy. PMID:17923745

Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone Suppression for Protection Against Hypothyroidism Due to Craniospinal Irradiation for Childhood Medulloblastoma/Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Massimino, Maura; Gandola, Lorenza; Collini, Paola

Purpose: Hypothyroidism is one of the earliest endocrine effects of craniospinal irradiation (CSI). The effects of radiation also depend on circulating thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), which acts as an indicator of thyrocyte function and is the most sensitive marker of thyroid damage. Hence, our study was launched in 1998 to evaluate the protective effect of TSH suppression during CSI for medulloblastoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumor. Patients and Methods: From Jan 1998 to Feb 2001, a total of 37 euthyroid children scheduled for CSI for medulloblastoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumor underwent thyroid ultrasound and free triiodothyronine (FT3), free thyroxine (FT4), and TSH evaluation at the beginningmore » and end of CSI. From 14 days before and up to the end of CSI, patients were administered L-thyroxine at suppressive doses; every 3 days, TSH suppression was checked to ensure a value <0.3 {mu}M/ml. During follow-up, blood tests and ultrasound were repeated after 1 year; primary hypothyroidism was considered an increased TSH level greater than normal range. CSI was done using a hyperfractionated accelerated technique with total doses ranging from 20.8-39 Gy; models were used to evaluate doses received by the thyroid bed. Results: Of 37 patients, 25 were alive a median 7 years after CSI. They were well matched for all clinical features, except that eight children underwent adequate TSH suppression during CSI, whereas 17 did not. Hypothyroidism-free survival rates were 70% for the 'adequately TSH-suppressed' group and 20% for the 'inadequately TSH-suppressed' group (p = 0.02). Conclusions: Thyroid-stimulating hormone suppression with L-thyroxine had a protective effect on thyroid function at long-term follow-up. This is the first demonstration that transient endocrine suppression of thyroid activity may protect against radiation-induced functional damage.« less

Cixutumumab in Treating Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Solid Tumors

ClinicalTrials.gov

2015-03-18

Adult Rhabdomyosarcoma; Adult Synovial Sarcoma; Childhood Hepatoblastoma; Childhood Synovial Sarcoma; Previously Treated Childhood Rhabdomyosarcoma; Recurrent Adrenocortical Carcinoma; Recurrent Adult Soft Tissue Sarcoma; Recurrent Childhood Liver Cancer; Recurrent Childhood Rhabdomyosarcoma; Recurrent Childhood Soft Tissue Sarcoma; Recurrent Ewing Sarcoma/Peripheral Primitive; Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Neuroblastoma; Recurrent Osteosarcoma; Recurrent Retinoblastoma; Recurrent Wilms Tumor and Other Childhood Kidney Tumors

Vemurafenib in Treating Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Advanced Solid Tumors, Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, or Histiocytic Disorders With BRAF V600 Mutations (A Pediatric MATCH Treatment Trial)

ClinicalTrials.gov

2018-06-25

Advanced Malignant Solid Neoplasm; Ann Arbor Stage III Childhood Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; Ann Arbor Stage IV Childhood Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; BRAF NP_004324.2:p.V600X; Ependymoma; Ewing Sarcoma; Hepatoblastoma; Histiocytosis; Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis; Malignant Germ Cell Tumor; Malignant Glioma; Osteosarcoma; Peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Childhood Central Nervous System Neoplasm; Recurrent Childhood Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; Recurrent Malignant Solid Neoplasm; Recurrent Neuroblastoma; Refractory Central Nervous System Neoplasm; Refractory Malignant Solid Neoplasm; Refractory Neuroblastoma; Refractory Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; Rhabdoid Tumor; Rhabdomyosarcoma; Soft Tissue Sarcoma; Wilms Tumor

Development of mediastinal lymphoma after radiotherapy for concurrent medulloblastoma and PNET in a patient with Gorlin syndrome.

PubMed

Jiang, Tao; Wang, Junmei; Wang, Ying; Li, Chunde

2016-08-12

Very young children with Gorlin syndrome are at risk for developing medulloblastoma. Patients with Gorlin syndrome may have multiple system abnormalities, including basal cell carcinomas, jaw cysts, desmoplastic medulloblastoma, palmar/plantar pits, rib abnormalities, and intracranial falx calcification. The early diagnosis of Gorlin syndrome in desmoplastic medulloblastoma patients is very important because these patients should receive chemotherapy as a first-line treatment and should avoid radiotherapy as much as possible. In the present study, a 5-year-old male patient had a concurrent cerebellar desmoplastic medulloblastoma and temporal primitive neuroectodermal tumor. Examinations of this patient revealed multiple café-au-lait spots, a jaw cyst, and a bifid rib. A molecular classification analysis revealed that the patient's cerebellar tumor was of the sonic hedgehog subtype. Twenty-seven months after tumor resection and cerebrospinal irradiation were performed, mediastinal lymphoma was found in the patient. The patient ultimately died of lymphoma. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a concurrent medulloblastoma and primitive neuroectodermal tumor and the fourth report of multiple café-au-lait spots in a patient with Gorlin syndrome. This report is also the first account of the development of mediastinal lymphoma after spinal irradiation in a patient with Gorlin syndrome. Chemotherapy should be the first-line treatment for medulloblastoma patients with Gorlin syndrome. Young patients with medulloblastoma of the desmoplastic subtype and multiple café-au-lait spots should be thoroughly examined for Gorlin syndrome.

Surveillance imaging in children with malignant CNS tumors: low yield of spine MRI.

PubMed

Perreault, Sébastien; Lober, Robert M; Carret, Anne-Sophie; Zhang, Guohua; Hershon, Linda; Décarie, Jean-Claude; Vogel, Hannes; Yeom, Kristen W; Fisher, Paul G; Partap, Sonia

2014-02-01

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is routinely obtained in patients with central nervous system (CNS) tumors, but few studies have been conducted to evaluate this practice. We assessed the benefits of surveillance MRI and more specifically spine MRI in a contemporary cohort. We evaluated MRI results of children diagnosed with CNS tumors from January 2000 to December 2011. Children with at least one surveillance MRI following the diagnosis of medulloblastoma (MB), atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor (ATRT), pineoblastoma (PB), supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumor, supratentorial high-grade glioma (World Health Organization grade III-IV), CNS germ cell tumors or ependymoma were included. A total of 2,707 brain and 1,280 spine MRI scans were obtained in 258 patients. 97% of all relapses occurred in the brain and 3% were isolated to the spine. Relapse was identified in 226 (8%) brain and 48 (4%) spine MRI scans. The overall rate of detecting isolated spinal relapse was 9/1,000 and 7/1,000 for MB patients. MRI performed for PB showed the highest rate for detecting isolated spinal recurrence with 49/1,000. No initial isolated spinal relapse was identified in patients with glioma, supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumor and ATRT. Isolated spinal recurrences are infrequent in children with malignant CNS tumors and the yield of spine MRI is very low. Tailoring surveillance spine MRI to patients with higher spinal relapse risk such as PB, MB with metastatic disease and within 3 years of diagnosis could improve allocation of resources without compromising patient care.

Positron Emission Tomography Using Fluorine F 18 EF5 to Find Oxygen in Tumor Cells of Patients Who Are Undergoing Surgery or Biopsy for Newly Diagnosed Brain Tumors

ClinicalTrials.gov

2013-01-15

Adult Anaplastic Astrocytoma; Adult Anaplastic Ependymoma; Adult Anaplastic Oligodendroglioma; Adult Brain Stem Glioma; Adult Central Nervous System Germ Cell Tumor; Adult Choroid Plexus Tumor; Adult Craniopharyngioma; Adult Diffuse Astrocytoma; Adult Ependymoblastoma; Adult Ependymoma; Adult Giant Cell Glioblastoma; Adult Glioblastoma; Adult Gliosarcoma; Adult Grade I Meningioma; Adult Grade II Meningioma; Adult Grade III Meningioma; Adult Medulloblastoma; Adult Meningeal Hemangiopericytoma; Adult Mixed Glioma; Adult Myxopapillary Ependymoma; Adult Oligodendroglioma; Adult Pilocytic Astrocytoma; Adult Pineoblastoma; Adult Pineocytoma; Adult Subependymoma; Adult Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor (PNET); Meningeal Melanocytoma

17-N-Allylamino-17-Demethoxygeldanamycin in Treating Patients With Advanced Epithelial Cancer, Malignant Lymphoma, or Sarcoma

ClinicalTrials.gov

2013-02-06

AIDS-related Peripheral/Systemic Lymphoma; AIDS-related Primary CNS Lymphoma; Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma; Angioimmunoblastic T-cell Lymphoma; Chondrosarcoma; Extranodal Marginal Zone B-cell Lymphoma of Mucosa-associated Lymphoid Tissue; Intraocular Lymphoma; Metastatic Ewing Sarcoma/Peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Metastatic Osteosarcoma; Nodal Marginal Zone B-cell Lymphoma; Ovarian Sarcoma; Primary Central Nervous System Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; Recurrent Adult Burkitt Lymphoma; Recurrent Adult Diffuse Large Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Adult Diffuse Mixed Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Adult Diffuse Small Cleaved Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Adult Hodgkin Lymphoma; Recurrent Adult Immunoblastic Large Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Adult Lymphoblastic Lymphoma; Recurrent Adult Soft Tissue Sarcoma; Recurrent Adult T-cell Leukemia/Lymphoma; Recurrent Cutaneous T-cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; Recurrent Ewing Sarcoma/Peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Grade 1 Follicular Lymphoma; Recurrent Grade 2 Follicular Lymphoma; Recurrent Grade 3 Follicular Lymphoma; Recurrent Mantle Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Marginal Zone Lymphoma; Recurrent Mycosis Fungoides/Sezary Syndrome; Recurrent Osteosarcoma; Recurrent Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma; Recurrent Uterine Sarcoma; Small Intestine Lymphoma; Splenic Marginal Zone Lymphoma; Stage IV Adult Burkitt Lymphoma; Stage IV Adult Diffuse Large Cell Lymphoma; Stage IV Adult Diffuse Mixed Cell Lymphoma; Stage IV Adult Diffuse Small Cleaved Cell Lymphoma; Stage IV Adult Hodgkin Lymphoma; Stage IV Adult Immunoblastic Large Cell Lymphoma; Stage IV Adult Lymphoblastic Lymphoma; Stage IV Adult Soft Tissue Sarcoma; Stage IV Adult T-cell Leukemia/Lymphoma; Stage IV Cutaneous T-cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; Stage IV Grade 1 Follicular Lymphoma; Stage IV Grade 2 Follicular Lymphoma; Stage IV Grade 3 Follicular Lymphoma; Stage IV Mantle Cell Lymphoma; Stage IV Marginal Zone Lymphoma; Stage IV Mycosis Fungoides/Sezary Syndrome; Stage IV Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma; Stage IV Uterine Sarcoma; Unspecified Adult Solid Tumor, Protocol Specific

Efficacy of 68Ga-DOTATOC Positron Emission Tomography (PET) CT in Children and Young Adults With Brain Tumors

ClinicalTrials.gov

2017-04-27

Acoustic Schwannoma; Adult Anaplastic Astrocytoma; Adult Anaplastic Ependymoma; Adult Anaplastic Meningioma; Adult Anaplastic Oligodendroglioma; Adult Brain Stem Glioma; Adult Choroid Plexus Tumor; Adult Craniopharyngioma; Adult Diffuse Astrocytoma; Adult Ependymoblastoma; Adult Ependymoma; Adult Giant Cell Glioblastoma; Adult Glioblastoma; Adult Gliosarcoma; Adult Grade I Meningioma; Adult Grade II Meningioma; Adult Medulloblastoma; Adult Meningeal Hemangiopericytoma; Adult Mixed Glioma; Adult Myxopapillary Ependymoma; Adult Oligodendroglioma; Adult Papillary Meningioma; Adult Pilocytic Astrocytoma; Adult Pineal Gland Astrocytoma; Adult Pineoblastoma; Adult Pineocytoma; Adult Subependymal Giant Cell Astrocytoma; Adult Subependymoma; Adult Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor (PNET); Childhood Choroid Plexus Tumor; Childhood Craniopharyngioma; Childhood Ependymoblastoma; Childhood Grade I Meningioma; Childhood Grade II Meningioma; Childhood Grade III Meningioma; Childhood High-grade Cerebellar Astrocytoma; Childhood High-grade Cerebral Astrocytoma; Childhood Infratentorial Ependymoma; Childhood Low-grade Cerebellar Astrocytoma; Childhood Low-grade Cerebral Astrocytoma; Childhood Medulloepithelioma; Childhood Supratentorial Ependymoma; Meningeal Melanocytoma; Newly Diagnosed Childhood Ependymoma; Recurrent Adult Brain Tumor; Recurrent Childhood Anaplastic Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Anaplastic Oligoastrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Anaplastic Oligodendroglioma; Recurrent Childhood Brain Stem Glioma; Recurrent Childhood Cerebellar Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Cerebral Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Diffuse Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Ependymoma; Recurrent Childhood Fibrillary Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Gemistocytic Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Giant Cell Glioblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Glioblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Gliomatosis Cerebri; Recurrent Childhood Gliosarcoma; Recurrent Childhood Medulloblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Oligoastrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Oligodendroglioma; Recurrent Childhood Pilocytic Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Pilomyxoid Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Pineoblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Pleomorphic Xanthoastrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Protoplasmic Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Subependymal Giant Cell Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Childhood Visual Pathway and Hypothalamic Glioma; Recurrent Childhood Visual Pathway Glioma; Untreated Childhood Anaplastic Astrocytoma; Untreated Childhood Anaplastic Oligodendroglioma; Untreated Childhood Brain Stem Glioma; Untreated Childhood Cerebellar Astrocytoma; Untreated Childhood Cerebral Astrocytoma; Untreated Childhood Diffuse Astrocytoma; Untreated Childhood Fibrillary Astrocytoma; Untreated Childhood Gemistocytic Astrocytoma; Untreated Childhood Giant Cell Glioblastoma; Untreated Childhood Glioblastoma; Untreated Childhood Gliomatosis Cerebri; Untreated Childhood Gliosarcoma; Untreated Childhood Medulloblastoma; Untreated Childhood Oligoastrocytoma; Untreated Childhood Oligodendroglioma; Untreated Childhood Pilocytic Astrocytoma; Untreated Childhood Pilomyxoid Astrocytoma; Untreated Childhood Pineoblastoma; Untreated Childhood Pleomorphic Xanthoastrocytoma; Untreated Childhood Protoplasmic Astrocytoma; Untreated Childhood Subependymal Giant Cell Astrocytoma; Untreated Childhood Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Untreated Childhood Visual Pathway and Hypothalamic Glioma; Untreated Childhood Visual Pathway Glioma

Integrative genomic analyses identify LIN28 and OLIG2 as markers of survival and metastatic potential in childhood central nervous system primitive neuro-ectodermal brain tumours

PubMed Central

Picard, Daniel; Miller, Suzanne; Hawkins, Cynthia E; Bouffet, Eric; Rogers, Hazel A; Chan, Tiffany SY; Kim, Seung-Ki; Ra, Young-Shin; Fangusaro, Jason; Korshunov, Andrey; Toledano, Helen; Nakamura, Hideo; Hayden, James T; Chan, Jennifer; Lafay-Cousin, Lucie; Hu, Ping X; Fan, Xing; Muraszko, Karin M; Pomeroy, Scott L; Lau, Ching C; Ng, Ho-Keung; Jones, Chris; Meter, Timothy Van; Clifford, Steven C; Eberhart, Charles; Gajjar, Amar; Pfister, Stefan M; Grundy, Richard G; Huang, Annie

2013-01-01

Background Childhood Central Nervous System Primitive Neuro-Ectodermal brain Tumours (CNS-PNETs) are highly aggressive brain tumours for which molecular features and best therapeutic strategy remains unknown. We interrogated a large cohort of these rare tumours in order to identify molecular markers that will enhance clinical management of CNS-PNET. Methods Transcriptional and copy number profiles from primary hemispheric CNS-PNETs were examined using clustering, gene and pathways enrichment analyses to discover tumour sub-groups and group-specific molecular markers. Immuno-histochemical and/or gene expression analyses were used to validate and examine the clinical significance of novel sub-group markers in 123 primary CNS-PNETs. Findings Three molecular sub-groups of CNS-PNETs distinguished by primitive neural (Group 1), oligo-neural (Group 2) and mesenchymal lineage (Group 3) gene expression signature were identified. Tumour sub-groups exhibited differential expression of cell lineage markers, LIN28 and OLIG2, and correlated with distinct demographics, survival and metastatic incidence. Group 1 tumours affected primarily younger females; male: female ratios were respectively 0.61 (median age 2.9 years; 95% CI: 2.4–5.2; p≤ 0.005), 1.25 (median age 7.9 years; 95% CI: 6–9.7) and 1.63 (median age 5.9 years; 95% CI: 4.9–7.8) for group 1, 2 and 3 patients. Overall outcome was poorest in group 1 patients which had a median survival of 0.8 years (95% CI: 0.47–1.2; p=0.019) as compared to 1.8 years (95% CI: 1.4–2.3) and 4.3 years; (95% CI: 0.82–7.8) respectively for group 2 and 3 patients. Group 3 tumours had the highest incidence of metastases at diagnosis; M0: M+ ratio were respectively 0.9 and 3.9 for group 3, versus group 1 and 2 tumours combined (p=0.037). Interpretation LIN28 and OLIG2 represent highly promising, novel diagnostic and prognostic molecular markers for CNS PNET that warrants further evaluation in prospective clinical trials. PMID:22691720

Cilengitide in Treating Children With Refractory Primary Brain Tumors

ClinicalTrials.gov

2013-09-27

Childhood Central Nervous System Germ Cell Tumor; Childhood Choroid Plexus Tumor; Childhood Craniopharyngioma; Childhood Ependymoblastoma; Childhood Grade I Meningioma; Childhood Grade II Meningioma; Childhood Grade III Meningioma; Childhood High-grade Cerebellar Astrocytoma; Childhood High-grade Cerebral Astrocytoma; Childhood Infratentorial Ependymoma; Childhood Low-grade Cerebellar Astrocytoma; Childhood Low-grade Cerebral Astrocytoma; Childhood Medulloepithelioma; Childhood Mixed Glioma; Childhood Oligodendroglioma; Childhood Supratentorial Ependymoma; Recurrent Childhood Brain Stem Glioma; Recurrent Childhood Brain Tumor; Recurrent Childhood Cerebellar Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Cerebral Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Ependymoma; Recurrent Childhood Medulloblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Pineoblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Subependymal Giant Cell Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Childhood Visual Pathway and Hypothalamic Glioma

Temozolomide and O6-Benzylguanine in Treating Children With Recurrent Brain Tumors

ClinicalTrials.gov

2013-09-27

Childhood Central Nervous System Germ Cell Tumor; Childhood Choroid Plexus Tumor; Childhood Craniopharyngioma; Childhood Ependymoblastoma; Childhood Grade I Meningioma; Childhood Grade II Meningioma; Childhood Grade III Meningioma; Childhood High-grade Cerebellar Astrocytoma; Childhood High-grade Cerebral Astrocytoma; Childhood Infratentorial Ependymoma; Childhood Low-grade Cerebellar Astrocytoma; Childhood Low-grade Cerebral Astrocytoma; Childhood Medulloepithelioma; Childhood Mixed Glioma; Childhood Oligodendroglioma; Childhood Supratentorial Ependymoma; Recurrent Childhood Brain Stem Glioma; Recurrent Childhood Cerebellar Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Cerebral Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Ependymoma; Recurrent Childhood Medulloblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Pineoblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Subependymal Giant Cell Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Childhood Visual Pathway and Hypothalamic Glioma

Lenalidomide in Treating Young Patients With Recurrent, Progressive, or Refractory CNS Tumors

ClinicalTrials.gov

2013-09-27

Childhood Atypical Teratoid/Rhabdoid Tumor; Childhood Central Nervous System Germ Cell Tumor; Childhood Choroid Plexus Tumor; Childhood Craniopharyngioma; Childhood Ependymoblastoma; Childhood Grade I Meningioma; Childhood Grade II Meningioma; Childhood Grade III Meningioma; Childhood High-grade Cerebellar Astrocytoma; Childhood High-grade Cerebral Astrocytoma; Childhood Infratentorial Ependymoma; Childhood Low-grade Cerebellar Astrocytoma; Childhood Low-grade Cerebral Astrocytoma; Childhood Medulloepithelioma; Childhood Mixed Glioma; Childhood Oligodendroglioma; Childhood Supratentorial Ependymoma; Recurrent Childhood Brain Tumor; Recurrent Childhood Cerebellar Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Cerebral Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Ependymoma; Recurrent Childhood Medulloblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Pineoblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Subependymal Giant Cell Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Childhood Visual Pathway and Hypothalamic Glioma

Yoga Therapy in Treating Patients With Malignant Brain Tumors

ClinicalTrials.gov

2017-07-27

Adult Anaplastic Astrocytoma; Adult Anaplastic Ependymoma; Adult Anaplastic Meningioma; Adult Anaplastic Oligodendroglioma; Adult Brain Stem Glioma; Adult Choroid Plexus Tumor; Adult Diffuse Astrocytoma; Adult Ependymoblastoma; Adult Ependymoma; Adult Giant Cell Glioblastoma; Adult Glioblastoma; Adult Gliosarcoma; Adult Grade II Meningioma; Adult Medulloblastoma; Adult Meningeal Hemangiopericytoma; Adult Mixed Glioma; Adult Oligodendroglioma; Adult Papillary Meningioma; Adult Pineal Gland Astrocytoma; Adult Pineoblastoma; Adult Pineocytoma; Adult Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor (PNET); Recurrent Adult Brain Tumor

Intraventricular mass lesions at magnetic resonance imaging: iconographic essay - part 1*

PubMed Central

de Castro, Felipe Damásio; Reis, Fabiano; Guerra, José Guilherme Giocondo

2014-01-01

The present essay is illustrated with magnetic resonance images obtained at the authors' institution over the past 15 years and discusses the main imaging findings of intraventricular tumor-like lesions (ependymoma, pilocytic astrocytoma, central neurocytoma, ganglioglioma, choroid plexus papilloma, primitive neuroectodermal tumors, meningioma, epidermoid tumor). Such lesions represent a subgroup of intracranial lesions with unique characteristics and some image patterns that may facilitate the differential diagnosis. PMID:25741075

Conservative Treatment of Ewing's Sarcoma of the Uterus in Young Women.

PubMed

Loverro, Giuseppe; Resta, Leonardo; Di Naro, Edoardo; Caringella, Anna Maria; Mastrolia, Salvatore Andrea; Vicino, Mario; Tartagni, Massimo; Schonauer, Luca Maria

2015-01-01

Ewing sarcoma-primitive neuroectodermal tumors (ES/PNETs) constitute a family of neoplasms characterized by a continuum of neuroectodermal differentiations. ES/PNET of the uterus is rare. There are 48 cases of ES/PNET of the uterus published in the literature as far as we know. We describe a case of Ewing sarcoma of the uterus occurring in a 17-year-old woman presenting with a two-month history of pelvic pain. After surgical excision and microscopic, immunohistochemical, and electron microscopy examination, the diagnosis of Ewing sarcoma of the uterus was suggested. This report will discuss the diagnosis and surgical and clinical management of Ewing uterine sarcoma in young women, according to the available literature. In spite of the rarity of ES/PNETs, they should be taken into account in the differential diagnosis of uterine neoplasms in young women.

Episome-generated N-myc antisense RNA restricts the differentiation potential of primitive neuroectodermal cell lines.

PubMed Central

Whitesell, L; Rosolen, A; Neckers, L M

1991-01-01

Neuroectodermal tumors of childhood provide a unique opportunity to examine the role of genes potentially regulating neuronal growth and differentiation because many cell lines derived from these tumors are composed of at least two distinct morphologic cell types. These types display variant phenotypic characteristics and spontaneously interconvert, or transdifferentiate, in vitro. The factors that regulate transdifferentiation are unknown. Application of antisense approaches to the transdifferentiation process has allowed us to explore the precise role that N-myc may play in regulating developing systems. We now report construction of an episomally replicating expression vector designed to generate RNA antisense to part of the human N-myc gene. Such a vector is able to specifically inhibit N-myc expression in cell lines carrying both normal and amplified N-myc alleles. Inhibition of N-myc expression blocks transdifferentiation in these lines, with accumulation of cells of an intermediate phenotype. A concomitant decrease in growth rate but not loss of tumorigenicity was observed in the N-myc nonamplified cell line CHP-100. Vector-generated antisense RNA should allow identification of genes specifically regulated by the proto-oncogene N-myc. Images PMID:1996098

Ispinesib in Treating Young Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Solid Tumors or Lymphoma

ClinicalTrials.gov

2013-01-15

Childhood Burkitt Lymphoma; Childhood Central Nervous System Germ Cell Tumor; Childhood Choroid Plexus Tumor; Childhood Craniopharyngioma; Childhood Grade I Meningioma; Childhood Grade II Meningioma; Childhood Grade III Meningioma; Childhood High-grade Cerebral Astrocytoma; Childhood Infratentorial Ependymoma; Childhood Low-grade Cerebral Astrocytoma; Childhood Spinal Cord Neoplasm; Childhood Supratentorial Ependymoma; Recurrent Childhood Brain Stem Glioma; Recurrent Childhood Brain Tumor; Recurrent Childhood Cerebellar Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Cerebral Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Ependymoma; Recurrent Childhood Grade III Lymphomatoid Granulomatosis; Recurrent Childhood Large Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Childhood Lymphoblastic Lymphoma; Recurrent Childhood Medulloblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Small Noncleaved Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Childhood Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Childhood Visual Pathway and Hypothalamic Glioma; Unspecified Childhood Solid Tumor, Protocol Specific

FR901228 in Treating Children With Refractory or Recurrent Solid Tumors or Leukemia

ClinicalTrials.gov

2013-01-15

Blastic Phase Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia; Childhood Central Nervous System Germ Cell Tumor; Childhood Choroid Plexus Tumor; Childhood Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia; Childhood Craniopharyngioma; Childhood Grade I Meningioma; Childhood Grade II Meningioma; Childhood Grade III Meningioma; Childhood High-grade Cerebral Astrocytoma; Childhood Infratentorial Ependymoma; Childhood Low-grade Cerebral Astrocytoma; Childhood Spinal Cord Neoplasm; Childhood Supratentorial Ependymoma; Recurrent Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia; Recurrent Childhood Acute Myeloid Leukemia; Recurrent Childhood Brain Stem Glioma; Recurrent Childhood Cerebellar Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Cerebral Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Ependymoma; Recurrent Childhood Medulloblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Childhood Visual Pathway and Hypothalamic Glioma; Refractory Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia; Relapsing Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia; Unspecified Childhood Solid Tumor, Protocol Specific

Oxaliplatin in Treating Young Patients With Recurrent Solid Tumors That Have Not Responded to Previous Treatment

ClinicalTrials.gov

2013-06-04

Childhood Central Nervous System Germ Cell Tumor; Childhood Extragonadal Germ Cell Tumor; Childhood Hepatoblastoma; Childhood Hepatocellular Carcinoma; Childhood High-grade Cerebral Astrocytoma; Childhood Low-grade Cerebral Astrocytoma; Childhood Malignant Ovarian Germ Cell Tumor; Childhood Malignant Testicular Germ Cell Tumor; Childhood Teratoma; Recurrent Adrenocortical Carcinoma; Recurrent Childhood Brain Stem Glioma; Recurrent Childhood Cerebellar Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Cerebral Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Ependymoma; Recurrent Childhood Liver Cancer; Recurrent Childhood Malignant Germ Cell Tumor; Recurrent Childhood Rhabdomyosarcoma; Recurrent Childhood Soft Tissue Sarcoma; Recurrent Childhood Visual Pathway and Hypothalamic Glioma; Recurrent Colon Cancer; Recurrent Ewing Sarcoma/Peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Nasopharyngeal Cancer; Recurrent Neuroblastoma; Recurrent Osteosarcoma; Recurrent Rectal Cancer; Recurrent Renal Cell Cancer

Congenital extraskeletal Ewing's sarcoma of chest wall--a rare case report.

PubMed

Atla, Bhagyalakshmi; Prasad, B Satya Vara; Sri, K Satya; Vandana, Geeta

2011-01-01

Congenital extraskeletal Ewing's sarcoma or peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumor is an extremely uncommon and invariably fatal tumor. We report a case of extraskeletal congenital Ewing's sarcoma in a female fetus delivered at 34 weeks of gestation who died immediately after birth. In English literature, majority of cases of Ewing's sarcoma in neonates reported were skeletal. To the best of our knowledge, very few cases of extra-skeletal Ewing's sarcoma in neonates are reported in the literature.

Multiple Ewing Sarcoma/Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumors in the Mediastinum: A Case Report and Literature Review.

PubMed

Bae, Sung Hwan; Hwang, Jung Hwa; Da Nam, Bo; Kim, Hyun Jo; Kim, Ki-Up; Kim, Dong Won; Choi, In Ho

2016-02-01

Ewing sarcoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumors (ES/PNET) are high-grade malignant neoplasms. These malignancies present very rare tumors of thoracopulmonary area and even rarer in the mediastinum. In our knowledge, ES/PNET presented with multiple mediastinal masses has not been reported previously. We experienced a case of a 42-year-old man presented with gradual onset of left-side pleuritic chest pain. A contrast-enhanced chest computed tomography (CT) scan showed separate 2 large heterogeneously enhancing masses in each anterior and middle mediastinum of the left hemithorax. Positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) scan revealed high fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake in the mediastinal masses. After surgical excision for the mediastinal masses, both of the masses were diagnosed as the ES/PNET group of tumors on the histopathologic examination. The patient refused postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy and came back with local tumor recurrence and distant metastasis on 4-month follow-up after surgical resection. We report this uncommon form of ES/PNET. We are to raise awareness that this rare malignancy should be considered as a differential diagnosis of the malignant mediastinal tumors and which can be manifested as multiple masses in a patient. Understanding this rare entity of extra-skeletal ES/PNET and characteristic imaging findings can help radiologists and clinicians to approach proper diagnosis and better management for this highly malignant tumor.

Multiple Ewing Sarcoma/Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumors in the Mediastinum

PubMed Central

Bae, Sung Hwan; Hwang, Jung Hwa; Da Nam, Bo; Kim, Hyun Jo; Kim, Ki-Up; Kim, Dong Won; Choi, In Ho

2016-01-01

Abstract Ewing sarcoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumors (ES/PNET) are high-grade malignant neoplasms. These malignancies present very rare tumors of thoracopulmonary area and even rarer in the mediastinum. In our knowledge, ES/PNET presented with multiple mediastinal masses has not been reported previously. We experienced a case of a 42-year-old man presented with gradual onset of left-side pleuritic chest pain. A contrast-enhanced chest computed tomography (CT) scan showed separate 2 large heterogeneously enhancing masses in each anterior and middle mediastinum of the left hemithorax. Positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) scan revealed high fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake in the mediastinal masses. After surgical excision for the mediastinal masses, both of the masses were diagnosed as the ES/PNET group of tumors on the histopathologic examination. The patient refused postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy and came back with local tumor recurrence and distant metastasis on 4-month follow-up after surgical resection. We report this uncommon form of ES/PNET. We are to raise awareness that this rare malignancy should be considered as a differential diagnosis of the malignant mediastinal tumors and which can be manifested as multiple masses in a patient. Understanding this rare entity of extra-skeletal ES/PNET and characteristic imaging findings can help radiologists and clinicians to approach proper diagnosis and better management for this highly malignant tumor. PMID:26886614

Primitive neuroectodermal tumor of the cervix uteri. A case report.

PubMed

Horn, L C; Fischer, U; Bilek, K

1997-02-01

Primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNET) of the female genital tract are rare and more common in the ovary, but uncommon in the cervix uteri. A 26-year-old woman presented with suspect cervical smears. The conization specimen showed a small cell non-keratinised squamous cell carcinoma with involved margins. The patient underwent radical abdominal hysterectomy and pelvic lymphonodectomy. The microscopic examination showed a densely cellular tumor of small neuroendocrine cells with scanty cytoplasm and rosettes. Immunohistochemically, the cells were slightly positive for NSE and negative for S 100, GFAP, neurofilaments, squamous cell cytokeratin 1, vimentin, desmin and leukocyte common antigen. The diagnosis of PNET, stage pT1b1,N0, M0 was made. The patient underwent adjuvant pelvic radiation. Three years later, pulmonary metastases occured. Radiation therapy of the thorax and six courses of combination chemotherapy (5-FU and cis-platinium) could not prevent tumor progression. The patient died 4.2 years after diagnosis. The autopsy showed widespread lymphatic metastases and hepatic, pulmonal and skeletal metastases and a peritoneal carcinosis. The tumors are resistent to radio- and chemotherapy, and the prognosis is generally poor. Up to 15% foci of squamous or glandular differentiation occur in or adjacent to these tumors. So the authors favor the histogenesis from a pluripotent endocervical stem cell. The neuroendocrine component of mixed tumors improve the prognosis. Therefore, it is necessary to recognize this component.

Treatment outcome and patterns of failure in patients of non-pineal supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumor: review of literature and clinical experience form a regional cancer center in north India.

PubMed

Biswas, Ahitagni; Mallick, Supriya; Purkait, Suvendu; Roy, Soumyajit; Sarkar, Chitra; Bakhshi, Sameer; Singh, Manmohan; Julka, Pramod Kumar; Rath, Goura Kishor

2015-07-01

Supra-tentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumors (SPNET) are high-grade, hemispheric tumors, which account for around 2-3 % of pediatric brain tumors. We herein intend to report the clinical features and treatment outcome of patients with nonpineal SPNET treated at our institute. Clinical data were collected by retrospective chart review from 2006 to 2012. Histopathology slides were reviewed, and relevant immunohistochemistry stains were done. Overall survival (OS), recurrence-free survival (RFS) and event-free survival (EFS) were analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier product-limit method. Fifteen patients met the study criterion (male: female = 2:1). Median age at presentation was 11 years (range 3-49 years). Surgical resection was gross total in 6 (40%) and subtotal in 8 (53.33%) patients. At presentation, two patients had leptomeningeal dissemination. Radiation therapy was delivered in 11 (73.33%) patients: craniospinal irradiation in 8 (36 Gy/20 fractions/4 weeks to the craniospinal axis followed by a local boost of 20 Gy/10 fractions/2 weeks) and focal RT in 3 patients. Systemic chemotherapy (median 6 cycles; range 1-16 cycles), given in 13 (86.67%) patients, included the VAC regimen (vincristine, adriamycin, cyclophosphamide) alternating with IE (ifosfamide,etoposide). After a median follow-up of 22.6 months (mean, 24.47 months), complete response and progressive disease were noted in 8 (53.33%) and 7 (46.67%) patients, respectively. Median OS was not reached, and estimated median EFS was noted to be 4.12 years (actuarial rate of EFS at 2 years, 55.2%). Maximal safe resection followed by craniospinal irradiation and systemic chemotherapy with 6-12 cycles of an alternating regimen of VAC and IE is a reasonable treatment strategy in patients with nonpineal SPNET.

Ewing's Sarcoma of the Adrenal Gland.

PubMed

Pal, Dilip Kumar; Chandra, Vipin; Ranjan, Kumar Rajiv; Chakrabortty, Debasis; Banerjee, Manju

2016-01-01

Ewing's sarcoma (ES) or primitive neuro-ectodermal tumor (PNET) typically occurs in long or flat bones, the chest wall, extra-skeletal soft tissue, and rarely in solid organs. Incidence of adrenal Ewing's sarcoma is very rare. Here we report a case of Ewing's sarcoma of the right adrenal gland in an 8-year-old girl who presented with an abdominal mass. The huge tumor was managed by preoperative neo-adjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgical resection. She died due to metastasis after five months of surgery.

Identification of Two Candidate Tumor Suppressor Genes on Chromosome 17p13.3: Assessment of Their Roles in Breast and Ovarian Carcinogenesis.

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-08-01

has also been reported in primitive neuroectodermal tumors (19), carcinoma of the cervix uteri (20), medulloblastoma, osteosarcoma (21), astrocytoma...Knudson, A. G., Jr. Oncogenes and tumor-suppressor genes. In: W. J. Hoskins, C. A. Perez, and R. C. Young (eds.), Principles and Practice of... Young , B. D., Nakayama, K., and Steiner, D. F. Processing of wild-type and mutant proinsulin-like growth factor-IA by subtilisin-related proprotein

Nivolumab With or Without Ipilimumab in Treating Younger Patients With Recurrent or Refractory Solid Tumors or Sarcomas

ClinicalTrials.gov

2018-06-25

Metastatic Melanoma; Recurrent Ewing Sarcoma/Peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Hodgkin Lymphoma; Recurrent Malignant Solid Neoplasm; Recurrent Melanoma; Recurrent Neuroblastoma; Recurrent Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; Recurrent Osteosarcoma; Recurrent Rhabdomyosarcoma; Refractory Hodgkin Lymphoma; Refractory Malignant Solid Neoplasm; Refractory Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; Stage III Cutaneous Melanoma AJCC v7; Stage IIIA Cutaneous Melanoma AJCC v7; Stage IIIB Cutaneous Melanoma AJCC v7; Stage IIIC Cutaneous Melanoma AJCC v7; Stage IV Cutaneous Melanoma AJCC v6 and v7

ABT-888 and Temozolomide in Treating Young Patients With Recurrent or Refractory CNS Tumors

ClinicalTrials.gov

2014-07-07

Childhood Atypical Teratoid/Rhabdoid Tumor; Childhood Central Nervous System Germ Cell Tumor; Childhood Choroid Plexus Tumor; Childhood Craniopharyngioma; Childhood Ependymoblastoma; Childhood Grade I Meningioma; Childhood Grade II Meningioma; Childhood Grade III Meningioma; Childhood High-grade Cerebellar Astrocytoma; Childhood High-grade Cerebral Astrocytoma; Childhood Infratentorial Ependymoma; Childhood Low-grade Cerebellar Astrocytoma; Childhood Low-grade Cerebral Astrocytoma; Childhood Medulloepithelioma; Childhood Mixed Glioma; Childhood Oligodendroglioma; Childhood Supratentorial Ependymoma; Recurrent Childhood Brain Stem Glioma; Recurrent Childhood Brain Tumor; Recurrent Childhood Cerebellar Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Cerebral Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Ependymoma; Recurrent Childhood Medulloblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Pineoblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Spinal Cord Neoplasm; Recurrent Childhood Subependymal Giant Cell Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Childhood Visual Pathway and Hypothalamic Glioma

Primary Ewing's sarcoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumor of the ileum: case report of a 16-year-old Chinese female and literature review.

PubMed

Li, Teng; Zhang, Fang; Cao, Yarui; Ning, Shoubin; Bi, Yongmin; Xue, Weicheng; Ren, Li

2017-05-04

Ewing's sarcoma (ES) and primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNET) are closely related tumors. Although soft tissue ES/PNET are common in clinical practice, they are rare in the small intestine. Because of the absence of characteristic clinical symptoms, they are easily misdiagnosed as other benign or malignant diseases. Here, we present the case of a 16-year-old female who complained of anemia and interval hematochezia. Her serum test results showed only a slight elevation of CA-125 and a low level of hemoglobin. Computer tomography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed a cystic and solid mass in the lower abdominal quadrant and pelvic region, which prompted suspicion of a malignant gastrointestinal stromal tumor of the small intestine. After resection, the tumor's histology and immunohistochemistry (positive for CD99, vimentin and synaptophysin) results suggested ES/PNET. Fluorescent in situ hybridization tests proved the breakpoint rearrangement of the EWSR1 gene in chr 22.Ultrastructural analysis revealed neurosecretory and glycogen granules in the tumor cell cytoplasm. Together, these data supported the diagnosis of a rare case of localized ES/PNET in the small intestine without adjuvant chemo- or radiotherapy. To our knowledge, this is the first report from China of a primary small bowel ES/PNET in the English-language literature. In addition, on the basis of findings from previous publications and the current case, the optimal treatment for localized gastrointestinal ES/PNET is discussed.

Temozolomide is an active agent in children with recurrent medulloblastoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumor: an Italian multi-institutional phase II trial.

PubMed

Cefalo, Graziella; Massimino, Maura; Ruggiero, Antonio; Barone, Giuseppe; Ridola, Vita; Spreafico, Filippo; Potepan, Paolo; Abate, Massimo E; Mascarin, Maurizio; Garrè, Maria Luisa; Perilongo, Giorgio; Madon, Enrico; Colosimo, Cesare; Riccardi, Riccardo

2014-05-01

The aim of this study was to assess the objective response rate (ORR) of children and young adults with recurrent medulloblastoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumor (MB/PNET) treated with temozolomide (TMZ). The secondary purpose was to analyze the toxicity profile of TMZ when administered orally for 5 days in 3 divided daily doses every 28 days. Forty-two patients with recurrent MB/PNET, aged 21 years and younger, were recruited. Patients were treated with oral TMZ. Starting doses ranged from 120 to 200 mg/m(2)/day based on previous treatments. A craniospinal MRI was performed prior to the first cycle of TMZ and following every 2 cycles of treatment. Median age was 10 years (range, 2-21 years). Forty of 42 patients were assessed for response and toxicity. The objective response rate was 42.5%: 6 patients achieved a complete response, 11 had a partial response, and 10 had stable disease. Progression-free survival rates for all patients at 6 and 12 months were 30% and 7.5%, respectively. Their median overall survival rates at 6 and 12 months were 42.5% and 17.5%, respectively. No major extrahematological effects or life-threatening events were reported. The most common grade 3/4 toxicity included thrombocytopenia (17.5%), neutropenia (7.5%), and anemia (2.5%). TMZ proved to be an effective agent in children and young adults with MB/PNET, heavily pre-treated, with a tolerable toxicity profile.

Vorinostat and Temozolomide in Treating Young Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Primary Brain Tumors or Spinal Cord Tumors

ClinicalTrials.gov

2013-05-01

Childhood Atypical Teratoid/Rhabdoid Tumor; Childhood Central Nervous System Choriocarcinoma; Childhood Central Nervous System Embryonal Tumor; Childhood Central Nervous System Germinoma; Childhood Central Nervous System Mixed Germ Cell Tumor; Childhood Central Nervous System Teratoma; Childhood Central Nervous System Yolk Sac Tumor; Childhood Choroid Plexus Tumor; Childhood Craniopharyngioma; Childhood Ependymoblastoma; Childhood Grade I Meningioma; Childhood Grade II Meningioma; Childhood Grade III Meningioma; Childhood High-grade Cerebellar Astrocytoma; Childhood High-grade Cerebral Astrocytoma; Childhood Infratentorial Ependymoma; Childhood Low-grade Cerebellar Astrocytoma; Childhood Low-grade Cerebral Astrocytoma; Childhood Medulloepithelioma; Childhood Mixed Glioma; Childhood Oligodendroglioma; Childhood Supratentorial Ependymoma; Extra-adrenal Paraganglioma; Recurrent Childhood Brain Stem Glioma; Recurrent Childhood Central Nervous System Embryonal Tumor; Recurrent Childhood Cerebellar Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Cerebral Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Ependymoma; Recurrent Childhood Medulloblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Pineoblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Spinal Cord Neoplasm; Recurrent Childhood Subependymal Giant Cell Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Childhood Visual Pathway and Hypothalamic Glioma

Supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumors (S-PNET) in children: A prospective experience with adjuvant intensive chemotherapy and hyperfractionated accelerated radiotherapy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Massimino, Maura; Gandola, Lorenza; Spreafico, Filippo

Purpose: Supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumors (S-PNET) are rare and have a grim prognosis, frequently taking an aggressive course with local relapse and metastatic spread. We report the results of a mono-institutional therapeutic trial. Methods and Materials: We enrolled 15 consecutive patients to preradiation chemotherapy (CT) consisting of high-dose methotrexate, high-dose etoposide, high-dose cyclophosphamide, and high-dose carboplatin, craniospinal irradiation (CSI) with hyperfractionated accelerated radiotherapy (HART) plus focal boost, maintenance with vincristine/lomustine or consolidation with high-dose thiotepa followed by autologous stem-cell rescue. Results: Median age was 9 years; 7 were male, 8 female. Site of disease was pineal in 3, elsewhere inmore » 12. Six patients were had no evidence of disease after surgery (NED). Of those with evidence of disease after surgery (ED), 2 had central nervous system spread. Of the 9 ED patients, 2 had complete response (CR) and 2 partial response (PR) after CT, 4 stable disease, and 1 progressive disease. Of the 7 ED patients before radiotherapy, 1 had CR, 4 PR, and 2 minor response, thus obtaining a 44% CR + PR after CT and 71% after HART. Because of rapid progression in 2 of the first 5 patients, high-dose thiotepa was systematically adopted after HART in the subsequent 10 patients. Six of 15 patients relapsed (4 locally, 1 locally with dissemination, 1 with dissemination) a mean of 6 months after starting CT, 2 developed second tumors; 5 of 6 relapsers died at a median of 13 months. Three-year progression-free survival, event-free survival, and overall survival were 54%, 34%, and 61%, respectively. Conclusion: Hyperfractionated accelerated RT was the main tool in obtaining responses in S-PNET; introducing the myeloablative phase improved the prognosis (3/10 vs. 3/5 relapses), though the outcome remained unsatisfactory despite the adoption of this intensive treatment.« less

Olaparib in Treating Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Advanced Solid Tumors, Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, or Histiocytic Disorders With Defects in DNA Damage Repair Genes (A Pediatric MATCH Treatment Trial)

ClinicalTrials.gov

2018-06-25

Advanced Malignant Solid Neoplasm; Ann Arbor Stage III Childhood Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; Ann Arbor Stage IV Childhood Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; Deleterious ATM Gene Mutation; Deleterious BRCA1 Gene Mutation; Deleterious BRCA2 Gene Mutation; Deleterious RAD51C Gene Mutation; Deleterious RAD51D Gene Mutation; Histiocytosis; Low Grade Glioma; Malignant Glioma; Recurrent Childhood Central Nervous System Neoplasm; Recurrent Childhood Ependymoma; Recurrent Childhood Malignant Germ Cell Tumor; Recurrent Childhood Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; Recurrent Childhood Rhabdomyosarcoma; Recurrent Childhood Soft Tissue Sarcoma; Recurrent Ewing Sarcoma/Peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Glioma; Recurrent Hepatoblastoma; Recurrent Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis; Recurrent Malignant Solid Neoplasm; Recurrent Medulloblastoma; Recurrent Neuroblastoma; Recurrent Osteosarcoma; Refractory Central Nervous System Neoplasm; Refractory Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis; Refractory Malignant Solid Neoplasm; Refractory Neuroblastoma; Refractory Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; Rhabdoid Tumor; Wilms Tumor

Erdafitinib in Treating Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Advanced Solid Tumors, Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, or Histiocytic Disorders With FGFR Mutations (A Pediatric MATCH Treatment Trial)

ClinicalTrials.gov

2018-06-25

Advanced Malignant Solid Neoplasm; Ann Arbor Stage III Childhood Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; Ann Arbor Stage IV Childhood Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; FGFR1 Gene Mutation; FGFR2 Gene Mutation; FGFR3 Gene Mutation; FGFR4 Gene Mutation; Histiocytosis; Low Grade Glioma; Malignant Glioma; Recurrent Central Nervous System Neoplasm; Recurrent Childhood Ependymoma; Recurrent Childhood Malignant Germ Cell Tumor; Recurrent Childhood Medulloblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; Recurrent Childhood Rhabdomyosarcoma; Recurrent Childhood Soft Tissue Sarcoma; Recurrent Ewing Sarcoma/Peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Hepatoblastoma; Recurrent Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis; Recurrent Malignant Solid Neoplasm; Recurrent Neuroblastoma; Recurrent Osteosarcoma; Refractory Central Nervous System Neoplasm; Refractory Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis; Refractory Malignant Solid Neoplasm; Refractory Neuroblastoma; Refractory Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; Rhabdoid Tumor; Stage III Soft Tissue Sarcoma AJCC v7; Stage IV Soft Tissue Sarcoma AJCC v7; Wilms Tumor

Treatment of Children With Central Nervous System Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumors/Pinealoblastomas in the Prospective Multicentric Trial HIT 2000 Using Hyperfractionated Radiation Therapy Followed by Maintenance Chemotherapy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gerber, Nicolas U., E-mail: nicolas.gerber@kispi.uzh.ch; Hoff, Katja von; Resch, Anika

Purpose: The prognosis for children with central nervous system primitive neuroectodermal tumor (CNS-PNET) or pinealoblastoma is still unsatisfactory. Here we report the results of patients between 4 and 21 years of age with nonmetastatic CNS-PNET or pinealoblastoma diagnosed from January 2001 to December 2005 and treated in the prospective GPOH-trial P-HIT 2000-AB4. Methods and Materials: After surgery, children received hyperfractionated radiation therapy (36 Gy to the craniospinal axis, 68 Gy to the tumor region, and 72 Gy to any residual tumor, fractionated at 2 × 1 Gy per day 5 days per week) accompanied by weekly intravenous administration of vincristine and followed by 8 cycles of maintenance chemotherapy (lomustine, cisplatin, andmore » vincristine). Results: Twenty-six patients (15 with CNS-PNET; 11 with pinealoblastoma) were included. Median age at diagnosis was 11.5 years old (range, 4.0-20.7 years). Gross total tumor resection was achieved in 6 and partial resection in 16 patients (indistinct, 4 patients). Median follow-up of the 15 surviving patients was 7.0 years (range, 5.2-10.0 years). The combined response rate to postoperative therapy was 17 of 20 (85%). Eleven of 26 patients (42%; 7 of 15 with CNS-PNET; 4 of 11 with pinealoblastoma) showed tumor progression or relapse at a median time of 1.3 years (range, 0.5-1.9 years). Five-year progression-free and overall survival rates (±standard error [SE]) were each 58% (±10%) for the entire cohort: CNS-PNET was 53% (±13); pinealoblastoma was 64% (±15%; P=.524 and P=.627, respectively). Conclusions: Postoperative hyperfractionated radiation therapy with local dose escalation followed by maintenance chemotherapy was feasible without major acute toxicity. Survival rates are comparable to those of a few other recent studies but superior to those of most other series, including the previous trial, HIT 1991.« less

Temozolomide is an active agent in children with recurrent medulloblastoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumor: an Italian multi-institutional phase II trial

PubMed Central

Cefalo, Graziella; Massimino, Maura; Ruggiero, Antonio; Barone, Giuseppe; Ridola, Vita; Spreafico, Filippo; Potepan, Paolo; Abate, Massimo E.; Mascarin, Maurizio; Garrè, Maria Luisa; Perilongo, Giorgio; Madon, Enrico; Colosimo, Cesare; Riccardi, Riccardo

2014-01-01

Background The aim of this study was to assess the objective response rate (ORR) of children and young adults with recurrent medulloblastoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumor (MB/PNET) treated with temozolomide (TMZ). The secondary purpose was to analyze the toxicity profile of TMZ when administered orally for 5 days in 3 divided daily doses every 28 days. Methods Forty-two patients with recurrent MB/PNET, aged 21 years and younger, were recruited. Patients were treated with oral TMZ. Starting doses ranged from 120 to 200 mg/m2/day based on previous treatments. A craniospinal MRI was performed prior to the first cycle of TMZ and following every 2 cycles of treatment. Results Median age was 10 years (range, 2–21 years). Forty of 42 patients were assessed for response and toxicity. The objective response rate was 42.5%: 6 patients achieved a complete response, 11 had a partial response, and 10 had stable disease. Progression-free survival rates for all patients at 6 and 12 months were 30% and 7.5%, respectively. Their median overall survival rates at 6 and 12 months were 42.5% and 17.5%, respectively. No major extrahematological effects or life-threatening events were reported. The most common grade 3/4 toxicity included thrombocytopenia (17.5%), neutropenia (7.5%), and anemia (2.5%). Conclusions TMZ proved to be an effective agent in children and young adults with MB/PNET, heavily pre-treated, with a tolerable toxicity profile. PMID:24482446

Ultrasound-guided core needle biopsy in diagnosis of abdominal and pelvic neoplasm in pediatric patients.

PubMed

Wang, Hailing; Li, Fangxuan; Liu, Juntian; Zhang, Sheng

2014-01-01

Ultrasound-guided core needle biopsy of abdominal and pelvic masses in adults has gained tremendous popularity. However, the application of the same treatment in children is not as popular because of apprehensions regarding inadequate tissues for the biopsy and accidental puncture of vital organs. Data of the application of ultrasound-guided core needle biopsy in 105 pediatric patients with clinically or ultrasound-diagnosed abdominopelvic masses were reviewed. Diagnostic procedures were conducted in our institution from May 2011 to May 2013. The biopsies were conducted on 86 malignant lesions and 19 benign lesions. 86 malignant tumors comprised neuroblastomas (30 cases), hepatoblastomas (15 cases), nephroblastomas (11 cases), and primitive neuroectodermal tumors/malignant small round cells (6 cases). Among malignant tumor cases, only a pelvic primitive neuroectodermal tumor did not receive a pathological diagnosis. Therefore, the biopsy accuracy was 98.8 % in malignant tumor. However, the biopsies for one neuroblastomas and one malignant small round cell tumor were inadequate for cytogenetic analysis. Therefore, 96.5 % of the malignant tumor patients received complete diagnosis via biopsy. 19 benign tumors comprised mature teratoma (10 cases), hemangioendothelioma (3 cases), paraganglioma (2 cases), and infection (2 cases). The diagnostic accuracy for benign neoplasm was 100 %. Five patients experienced postoperative complications, including pain (2 patients), bleeding from the biopsy site (2 patients), and wound infection (1 patient). Ultrasound-guided core needle biopsy is an efficient, minimally invasive, accurate, and safe diagnostic method that can be applied in the management of abdominal or pelvic mass of pediatric patients.

A practical approach to the clinical diagnosis of Ewing's sarcoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumour and other small round cell tumours sharing EWS rearrangement using new fluorescence in situ hybridisation probes for EWSR1 on formalin fixed, paraffin wax embedded tissue.

PubMed

Yamaguchi, U; Hasegawa, T; Morimoto, Y; Tateishi, U; Endo, M; Nakatani, F; Kawai, A; Chuman, H; Beppu, Y; Endo, M; Kurotaki, H; Furuta, K

2005-10-01

Over 90% of Ewing's sarcoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumour (ES/PNET) cases have the t(11;22) chromosomal rearrangement, which is also found in other small round cell tumours, including desmoplastic small round cell tumour (DSRCT) and clear cell sarcoma (CCS). Although this rearrangement can be analysed by fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) using routinely formalin fixed, paraffin wax embedded (FFPE) tissues when fresh or frozen tissues are not available, a sensitive and convenient detection method is needed for routine clinical diagnosis. To investigate the usefulness of newly developed probes for detecting EWS rearrangement resulting from chromosomal translocations using FISH and FFPE tissue in the clinical diagnosis of ES/PNET, DSRCT, and CCS. Sixteen ES/PNETs, six DSRCTs, and six CCSs were studied. Three poorly differentiated synovial sarcomas, three alveolar rhabdomyosarcomas, and three neuroblastomas served as negative controls. Interphase FISH analysis was performed on FFPE tissue sections with a commercially available EWSR1 (22q12) dual colour, breakapart rearrangement probe. One fused signal and one split signal of orange and green, demonstrating rearrangement of the EWS gene, was detected in 14 of 16 ES/PNETs, all six DRSCTs, and five of six CCSs, but not in the negative controls. Interphase FISH using this newly developed probe is sensitive and specific for detecting the EWS gene on FFPE tissues and is of value in the routine clinical diagnosis of ES/PNET, DSRCT, and CCS.

RO4929097, Temozolomide, and Radiation Therapy in Treating Patients With Newly Diagnosed Malignant Glioma

ClinicalTrials.gov

2015-09-28

Acoustic Schwannoma; Adult Anaplastic (Malignant) Meningioma; Adult Anaplastic Astrocytoma; Adult Anaplastic Ependymoma; Adult Brain Stem Glioma; Adult Choroid Plexus Neoplasm; Adult Craniopharyngioma; Adult Diffuse Astrocytoma; Adult Ependymoblastoma; Adult Ependymoma; Adult Giant Cell Glioblastoma; Adult Glioblastoma; Adult Gliosarcoma; Adult Grade I Meningioma; Adult Grade II Meningioma; Adult Medulloblastoma; Adult Mixed Glioma; Adult Myxopapillary Ependymoma; Adult Oligodendroglioma; Adult Papillary Meningioma; Adult Pilocytic Astrocytoma; Adult Pineal Gland Astrocytoma; Adult Pineoblastoma; Adult Pineocytoma; Adult Primary Melanocytic Lesion of Meninges; Adult Subependymal Giant Cell Astrocytoma; Adult Subependymoma; Adult Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Malignant Adult Intracranial Hemangiopericytoma

Gadobutrol Versus Gadopentetate Dimeglumine or Gadobenate Dimeglumine Before DCE-MRI in Diagnosing Patients With Multiple Sclerosis, Grade II-IV Glioma, or Brain Metastases

ClinicalTrials.gov

2017-03-22

Adult Anaplastic (Malignant) Meningioma; Adult Anaplastic Astrocytoma; Adult Anaplastic Ependymoma; Adult Anaplastic Oligodendroglioma; Adult Brain Stem Glioma; Adult Choroid Plexus Neoplasm; Adult Diffuse Astrocytoma; Adult Ependymoblastoma; Adult Ependymoma; Adult Giant Cell Glioblastoma; Adult Glioblastoma; Adult Gliosarcoma; Adult Grade II Meningioma; Adult Medulloblastoma; Adult Mixed Glioma; Adult Oligodendroglioma; Adult Papillary Meningioma; Adult Pineal Gland Astrocytoma; Adult Pineoblastoma; Adult Primary Melanocytic Lesion of Meninges; Adult Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Malignant Adult Intracranial Hemangiopericytoma; Metastatic Malignant Neoplasm in the Brain; Multiple Sclerosis; Recurrent Adult Brain Neoplasm

Vorinostat With or Without Isotretinoin in Treating Young Patients With Recurrent or Refractory Solid Tumors, Lymphoma, or Leukemia

ClinicalTrials.gov

2014-06-16

Childhood Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (M3); Childhood Atypical Teratoid/Rhabdoid Tumor; Childhood Burkitt Lymphoma; Childhood Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia; Childhood Diffuse Large Cell Lymphoma; Childhood Immunoblastic Large Cell Lymphoma; Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia; Recurrent Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia; Recurrent Childhood Acute Myeloid Leukemia; Recurrent Childhood Grade III Lymphomatoid Granulomatosis; Recurrent Childhood Large Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Childhood Lymphoblastic Lymphoma; Recurrent Childhood Medulloblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Small Noncleaved Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Childhood Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Neuroblastoma; Recurrent/Refractory Childhood Hodgkin Lymphoma; Relapsing Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia; Unspecified Childhood Solid Tumor, Protocol Specific

Vorinostat and Bortezomib in Treating Young Patients With Refractory or Recurrent Solid Tumors, Including Central Nervous System Tumors and Lymphoma

ClinicalTrials.gov

2013-07-01

Childhood Burkitt Lymphoma; Childhood Central Nervous System Choriocarcinoma; Childhood Central Nervous System Germ Cell Tumor; Childhood Central Nervous System Germinoma; Childhood Central Nervous System Mixed Germ Cell Tumor; Childhood Central Nervous System Teratoma; Childhood Central Nervous System Yolk Sac Tumor; Childhood Choroid Plexus Tumor; Childhood Craniopharyngioma; Childhood Diffuse Large Cell Lymphoma; Childhood Immunoblastic Large Cell Lymphoma; Childhood Medulloepithelioma; Childhood Meningioma; Childhood Mixed Glioma; Childhood Nasal Type Extranodal NK/T-cell Lymphoma; Childhood Oligodendroglioma; Recurrent Childhood Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Childhood Brain Stem Glioma; Recurrent Childhood Central Nervous System Embryonal Tumor; Recurrent Childhood Cerebellar Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Cerebral Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Ependymoma; Recurrent Childhood Grade III Lymphomatoid Granulomatosis; Recurrent Childhood Large Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Childhood Lymphoblastic Lymphoma; Recurrent Childhood Malignant Germ Cell Tumor; Recurrent Childhood Medulloblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Pineoblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Small Noncleaved Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Childhood Subependymal Giant Cell Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Childhood Visual Pathway and Hypothalamic Glioma; Recurrent Childhood Visual Pathway Glioma; Recurrent/Refractory Childhood Hodgkin Lymphoma; Unspecified Childhood Solid Tumor, Protocol Specific

Radiation Is an Important Component of Multimodality Therapy for Pediatric Non-Pineal Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McBride, Sean M.; Daganzo, Sally M.; Banerjee, Anuradha

Purpose: To review a historical cohort of pediatric patients with supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumors (sPNET), to clarify the role of radiation in the treatment of these tumors. Patients and Methods: Fifteen children aged <18 years with non-pineal sPNETs diagnosed between 1992 and 2006 were identified. Initial therapy consisted of surgical resection and chemotherapy in all patients and up-front radiotherapy (RT) in 5 patients. Five patients had RT at the time of progression, and 5 received no RT whatever. Kaplan-Meier estimates of overall survival were then calculated. Results: The median follow-up from diagnosis for all patients was 31 months (range, 0.5-165more » months) and for surviving patients was 49 months (range, 10-165). Of the 5 patients who received up-front RT, all were alive without evidence of disease at a median follow-up of 50 months (range, 25-165 months). Only 5 of the 10 patients who did not receive up-front RT were alive at last follow-up. There was a statistically significant difference in overall survival between the patient group that received up-front RT and the group that did not (p = 0.048). In addition, we found a trend toward a statistically significant improvement in overall survival for those patients who received gross total resections (p = 0.10). Conclusions: Up-front RT and gross total resection may confer a survival benefit in patients with sPNET. Local failure was the dominant pattern of recurrence. Efforts should be made to determine patients most likely to have local failure exclusively or as a first recurrence, in order to delay or eliminate craniospinal irradiation.« less

Radiological features of primitive neuroectodermal tumors in intra-abdominal and retroperitoneal regions: A series of 18 cases

PubMed Central

Zhang, Youming; Xiao, Desheng; Yin, Hongling; Long, Xueying; Li, Li; Zai, Hongyan; Chen, Minfeng; Li, Wenzheng; Sun, Lunquan

2017-01-01

Objectives To characterize the imaging and clinicopathological features of primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNETs) arising in intra-abdominal and retroperitoneal regions. Methods Eighteen patients with histopathologically proven intra-abdominal and retroperitoneal PNET were enrolled; computed tomography was performed for all cases, and magnetic resonance imaging was performed for a single case. Typical computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging findings, including morphology, texture and enhancement features, as well as clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis data were retrospectively analyzed. Results Of eighteen PNET patients, fifteen were male and three were female, with a median age of 36 years (range, 2–65 years). The onset of symptoms was most often nonspecific and insidious. The mean tumor diameter was 7.2 cm (range, 3.0–12.1 cm), with necrosis in fifteen cases, cystic changes in eight, partition structure in five, calcification in five, hemorrhage in two, and mural nodules in one. Contrast enhanced computed tomography showed multiple tiny feeding arteries within the masses in six cases, resulting in a crab-like appearance, and mild ring enhancement pattern in five cases. Eleven cases showed surrounding invasion and metastasis. Of the eighteen PNET cases, nine cases showed smooth, well-defined margins, and nine cases had irregular, ill-defined margins. A median survival was 10.0±1.6 months. However, chemotherapy had efficacy on patients even those with advanced disease. Conclusions Primary intra-abdominal and retroperitoneal PNETs are rare, and imaging features documented here may help the diagnosis of this severe disease. Notably, two signs present in retroperitoneal PNET tumors, including a mild ring enhancement pattern and a crab-like appearance of the tiny feeding arteries, may have the potential to help us improve the ability to make a relatively reliable diagnosis. PMID:28319177

A Phase II Study of Preradiotherapy Chemotherapy Followed by Hyperfractionated Radiotherapy for Newly Diagnosed High-Risk Medulloblastoma/Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor: A Report From the Children's Oncology Group (CCG 9931)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Allen, Jeffrey; Donahue, Bernadine; Mehta, Minesh

2009-07-15

Purpose: To verify feasibility and monitor progression-free survival and overall survival in children with high-risk medulloblastoma and noncerebellar primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNETs) treated in a Phase II study with preradiotherapy chemotherapy (CHT) followed by high-dose, hyperfractionated craniospinal radiotherapy (CSRT). Methods and Materials: Eligibility criteria included age >3 years at diagnosis, medulloblastoma with either high M stage and/or >1.5 cm{sup 2} postoperative residual disease, and all patients with noncerebellar PNET. Treatment was initiated with five alternating monthly cycles of CHT (A [cisplatin, cyclophosphamide, etoposide, and vincristine], B [carboplatin and etoposide], A, B, and A) followed by hyperfractionated CSRT (40 Gy) withmore » a boost to the primary tumor (72 Gy) given in twice-daily 1-Gy fractions. Results: The valid study group consisted of 124 patients whose median age at diagnosis was 7.8 years. Eighty-four patients (68%) completed the entire protocol according to study guidelines (within 9 months), and the median time to complete CSRT was 1.6 months. Major reasons for failure to complete CHT included progressive disease (17%) and toxic death (2.4%). The 5-year progression-free survival and overall survival rates were 43% {+-} 5% and 52% {+-} 5%, respectively. No significant differences were detected in subset analysis related to response to CHT, site of primary tumor, postoperative residual disease, or M stage. Conclusions: The feasibility of this intensive multimodality protocol was confirmed, and response to pre-RT CHT did not impact on survival. Survival data from this protocol can not be compared with data from other studies, given the protocol design.« less

Proton Radiation Therapy for Pediatric Medulloblastoma and Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumors: Outcomes for Very Young Children Treated With Upfront Chemotherapy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jimenez, Rachel B., E-mail: rbjimenez@partners.org; Sethi, Roshan; Depauw, Nicolas

Purpose: To report the early outcomes for very young children with medulloblastoma or supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumor (SPNET) treated with upfront chemotherapy followed by 3-dimensional proton radiation therapy (3D-CPT). Methods and Materials: All patients aged <60 months with medulloblastoma or SPNET treated with chemotherapy before 3D-CPT from 2002 to 2010 at our institution were included. All patients underwent maximal surgical resection, chemotherapy, and adjuvant 3D-CPT with either craniospinal irradiation followed by involved-field radiation therapy or involved-field radiation therapy alone. Results: Fifteen patients (median age at diagnosis, 35 months) were treated with high-dose chemotherapy and 3D-CPT. Twelve of 15 patients hadmore » medulloblastoma; 3 of 15 patients had SPNET. Median time from surgery to initiation of radiation was 219 days. Median craniospinal irradiation dose was 21.6 Gy (relative biologic effectiveness); median boost dose was 54.0 Gy (relative biologic effectiveness). At a median of 39 months from completion of radiation, 1 of 15 was deceased after a local failure, 1 of 15 had died from a non-disease-related cause, and the remaining 13 of 15 patients were alive without evidence of disease recurrence. Ototoxicity and endocrinopathies were the most common long-term toxicities, with 2 of 15 children requiring hearing aids and 3 of 15 requiring exogenous hormones. Conclusions: Proton radiation after chemotherapy resulted in good disease outcomes for a small cohort of very young patients with medulloblastoma and SPNET. Longer follow-up and larger numbers of patients are needed to assess long-term outcomes and late toxicity.« less

Targeted Therapy Directed by Genetic Testing in Treating Pediatric Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Advanced Solid Tumors, Non-Hodgkin Lymphomas, or Histiocytic Disorders (The Pediatric MATCH Screening Trial)

ClinicalTrials.gov

2018-06-25

Advanced Malignant Solid Neoplasm; Ann Arbor Stage III Childhood Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; Ann Arbor Stage IV Childhood Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; Childhood Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis; Histiocytic Sarcoma; Juvenile Xanthogranuloma; Malignant Glioma; Recurrent Central Nervous System Neoplasm; Recurrent Childhood Ependymoma; Recurrent Childhood Malignant Germ Cell Tumor; Recurrent Childhood Medulloblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; Recurrent Childhood Rhabdomyosarcoma; Recurrent Childhood Soft Tissue Sarcoma; Recurrent Ewing Sarcoma; Recurrent Glioma; Recurrent Hepatoblastoma; Recurrent Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis; Recurrent Malignant Solid Neoplasm; Recurrent Neuroblastoma; Recurrent Osteosarcoma; Recurrent Peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Refractory Central Nervous System Neoplasm; Refractory Childhood Malignant Germ Cell Tumor; Refractory Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis; Refractory Malignant Solid Neoplasm; Refractory Neuroblastoma; Rhabdoid Tumor; Stage III Osteosarcoma AJCC v7; Stage III Soft Tissue Sarcoma AJCC v7; Stage IV Osteosarcoma AJCC v7; Stage IV Soft Tissue Sarcoma AJCC v7; Stage IVA Osteosarcoma AJCC v7; Stage IVB Osteosarcoma AJCC v7; Wilms Tumor

Larotrectinib in Treating Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Advanced Solid Tumors, Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, or Histiocytic Disorders With NTRK Fusions (A Pediatric MATCH Treatment Trial)

ClinicalTrials.gov

2018-06-25

Advanced Malignant Solid Neoplasm; Ann Arbor Stage III Childhood Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; Ann Arbor Stage IV Childhood Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; Malignant Glioma; NTRK1 Fusion Positive; NTRK2 Fusion Positive; NTRK3 Fusion Positive; Recurrent Central Nervous System Neoplasm; Recurrent Childhood Ependymoma; Recurrent Childhood Malignant Germ Cell Tumor; Recurrent Childhood Medulloblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; Recurrent Childhood Rhabdomyosarcoma; Recurrent Childhood Soft Tissue Sarcoma; Recurrent Ewing Sarcoma; Recurrent Glioma; Recurrent Hepatoblastoma; Recurrent Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis; Recurrent Malignant Solid Neoplasm; Recurrent Neuroblastoma; Recurrent Osteosarcoma; Recurrent Peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Refractory Central Nervous System Neoplasm; Refractory Childhood Malignant Germ Cell Tumor; Refractory Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis; Refractory Malignant Solid Neoplasm; Refractory Neuroblastoma; Refractory Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; Rhabdoid Tumor; Stage III Osteosarcoma AJCC v7; Stage III Soft Tissue Sarcoma AJCC v7; Stage IV Osteosarcoma AJCC v7; Stage IV Soft Tissue Sarcoma AJCC v7; Stage IVA Osteosarcoma AJCC v7; Stage IVB Osteosarcoma AJCC v7; Wilms Tumor

PI3K/mTOR Inhibitor LY3023414 in Treating Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Advanced Solid Tumors, Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, or Histiocytic Disorders With TSC or PI3K/MTOR Mutations (A Pediatric MATCH Treatment Trial)

ClinicalTrials.gov

2018-06-18

Advanced Malignant Solid Neoplasm; Ann Arbor Stage III Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; Ann Arbor Stage IV Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; Malignant Glioma; Recurrent Central Nervous System Neoplasm; Recurrent Childhood Ependymoma; Recurrent Ewing Sarcoma; Recurrent Glioma; Recurrent Hepatoblastoma; Recurrent Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis; Recurrent Malignant Germ Cell Tumor; Recurrent Malignant Solid Neoplasm; Recurrent Medulloblastoma; Recurrent Neuroblastoma; Recurrent Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; Recurrent Osteosarcoma; Recurrent Peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Rhabdomyosarcoma; Recurrent Soft Tissue Sarcoma; Refractory Central Nervous System Neoplasm; Refractory Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis; Refractory Malignant Germ Cell Tumor; Refractory Malignant Solid Neoplasm; Refractory Neuroblastoma; Refractory Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; Rhabdoid Tumor; Stage III Osteosarcoma AJCC v7; Stage III Soft Tissue Sarcoma AJCC v7; Stage IV Osteosarcoma AJCC v7; Stage IV Soft Tissue Sarcoma AJCC v7; Stage IVA Osteosarcoma AJCC v7; Stage IVB Osteosarcoma AJCC v7; TSC1 Gene Mutation; TSC2 Gene Mutation; Wilms Tumor

131-I coupled to monoclonal antibodies as therapeutic agents for neuroectodermally derived tumors: fact or fiction?

PubMed

Kemshead, J T; Jones, D H; Lashford, L; Prichard, J; Gordon, I; Breatnach, F; Coakham, H B

1986-01-01

It has been suggested that monoclonal antibodies may be useful in targeting cytotoxic compounds to tumor cells. We have explored their use in targeting 131-I to highly radiosensitive primitive neural tumors such as neuroblastoma and pineoblastomas. Two routes of administration have been employed, intravenous and intrathecal. Our current experience in using radiolabelled antibodies is described, indicating toxicities seen and any therapeutic benefit observed. The results of the study suggest that if targeted radiation has a role in the treatment of these malignancies, it will be restricted to the eradication of small tumor masses from the body.

Central Diabetes Insipidus and Cisplatin-Induced Renal Salt Wasting Syndrome: A Challenging Combination.

PubMed

Cortina, Gerard; Hansford, Jordan R; Duke, Trevor

2016-05-01

We describe a 2-year-old female with a suprasellar primitive neuroectodermal tumor and central diabetes insipidus (DI) who developed polyuria with natriuresis and subsequent hyponatremia 36 hr after cisplatin administration. The marked urinary losses of sodium in combination with a negative sodium balance led to the diagnosis of cisplatin-induced renal salt wasting syndrome (RSWS). The subsequent clinical management is very challenging. Four weeks later she was discharged from ICU without neurological sequela. The combination of cisplatin-induced RSWS with DI can be confusing and needs careful clinical assessment as inaccurate diagnosis and management can result in increased neurological injury. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

High-Dose Chemotherapy With or Without Total-Body Irradiation Followed by Autologous Stem Cell Transplant in Treating Patients With Hematologic Cancer or Solid Tumors

ClinicalTrials.gov

2018-04-05

Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Remission; Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia in Remission; Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia With 11q23 (MLL) Abnormalities; Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia With Del(5q); Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia With Inv(16)(p13;q22); Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia With t(15;17)(q22;q12); Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia With t(16;16)(p13;q22); Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia With t(8;21)(q22;q22); Adult Nasal Type Extranodal NK/T-cell Lymphoma; Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Remission; Childhood Acute Myeloid Leukemia in Remission; Childhood Burkitt Lymphoma; Childhood Diffuse Large Cell Lymphoma; Childhood Immunoblastic Large Cell Lymphoma; Childhood Nasal Type Extranodal NK/T-cell Lymphoma; Ewing Sarcoma/Peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor (PNET); Extranodal Marginal Zone B-cell Lymphoma of Mucosa-associated Lymphoid Tissue; Hepatosplenic T-cell Lymphoma; Intraocular Lymphoma; Nodal Marginal Zone B-cell Lymphoma; Peripheral T-cell Lymphoma; Plasma Cell Neoplasm; Primary Systemic Amyloidosis; Recurrent Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia; Recurrent Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia; Recurrent Adult Burkitt Lymphoma; Recurrent Adult Diffuse Large Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Adult Diffuse Mixed Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Adult Diffuse Small Cleaved Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Adult Grade III Lymphomatoid Granulomatosis; Recurrent Adult Hodgkin Lymphoma; Recurrent Adult Immunoblastic Large Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Adult Lymphoblastic Lymphoma; Recurrent Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia; Recurrent Childhood Acute Myeloid Leukemia; Recurrent Childhood Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Childhood Grade III Lymphomatoid Granulomatosis; Recurrent Childhood Large Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Childhood Lymphoblastic Lymphoma; Recurrent Childhood Small Noncleaved Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Cutaneous T-cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; Recurrent Ewing Sarcoma/Peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Grade 1 Follicular Lymphoma; Recurrent Grade 2 Follicular Lymphoma; Recurrent Grade 3 Follicular Lymphoma; Recurrent Malignant Testicular Germ Cell Tumor; Recurrent Mantle Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Marginal Zone Lymphoma; Recurrent Neuroblastoma; Recurrent Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma; Recurrent/Refractory Childhood Hodgkin Lymphoma; Refractory Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia; Refractory Multiple Myeloma; Regional Neuroblastoma; Splenic Marginal Zone Lymphoma; Testicular Lymphoma; Unspecified Adult Solid Tumor, Protocol Specific; Unspecified Childhood Solid Tumor, Protocol Specific; Waldenström Macroglobulinemia

Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumors of the Female Genital Tract: A Morphologic, Immunohistochemical, and Molecular Study of 19 Cases.

PubMed

Chiang, Sarah; Snuderl, Matija; Kojiro-Sanada, Sakiko; Quer Pi-Sunyer, Ariadna; Daya, Dean; Hayashi, Tohru; Bosincu, Luisanna; Ogawa, Fumihiro; Rosenberg, Andrew E; Horn, Lars-Christian; Wang, Lu; Iafrate, A John; Oliva, Esther

2017-06-01

Primary primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET) of the female genital tract is rare, and its proper classification remains unclear. The clinical, histologic, and immunophenotypic features as well as EWSR1 rearrangement status of 19 gynecologic PNETs, including 10 ovarian, 8 uterine, and 1 vulvar tumors, are herein reported. Patient age ranged from 12 to 68 years, with a median age of 20 and 51 years among those with ovarian and uterine PNETs, respectively. Morphologic features of central nervous system (CNS) tumors were seen in 15 PNETs, including 9 medulloblastomas, 3 ependymomas, 2 medulloepitheliomas, and 1 glioblastoma, consistent with central PNET. The remaining 4 PNETs were composed entirely of undifferentiated small round blue cells and were classified as Ewing sarcoma/peripheral PNET. Eight PNETs were associated with another tumor type, including 5 ovarian mature cystic teratomas, 2 endometrial low-grade endometrioid carcinomas, and a uterine carcinosarcoma. By immunohistochemistry, 17 PNETs expressed at least 1 marker of neuronal differentiation, including synaptophysin, NSE, CD56, S100, and chromogranin in 10, 8, 14, 8, and 1 tumors, respectively. GFAP was positive in 4 PNETs, all of which were of central type. Membranous CD99 and nuclear Fli-1 staining was seen in 10 and 16 tumors, respectively, and concurrent expression of both markers was seen in both central and Ewing sarcoma/peripheral PNETs. All tumors expressed vimentin, whereas keratin cocktail (CAM5.2, AE1/AE3) staining was only focally present in 4 PNETs. Fluorescence in situ hybridization was successful in all cases and confirmed EWSR1 rearrangement in 2 of 4 tumors demonstrating morphologic features of Ewing sarcoma/peripheral PNET and concurrent CD99 and Fli-1 expression. In conclusion, central and Ewing sarcoma/peripheral PNETs may be encountered in the female genital tract with central PNETs being more common. Central PNETs show a spectrum of morphologic features that overlaps with CNS tumors but lack EWSR1 rearrangements. GFAP expression supports a morphologic impression of central PNET and is absent in Ewing sarcoma/peripheral PNET. Ewing sarcoma/peripheral PNETs lack morphologic features of CNS tumors.

Primary soft tissue Ewing's sarcoma of the maxillary sinus in elderly patients: presentation, management and prognosis.

PubMed

Dutta, M; Ghatak, S; Biswas, G; Sen, A

2014-06-01

Nonosseous or soft tissue Ewing's sarcoma is a rare form of Ewing's sarcoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumour that seldom affects the head and neck region. Involvement of the nose and paranasal sinuses is extremely uncommon, with only eight of such patients being reported to date, mostly affecting adolescents and young adults. To our knowledge, this study is the first comprehensive report of primary soft tissue Ewing's sarcoma involving the paranasal sinuses in an elderly patient who successfully completed treatment. We herein discuss the pathogenesis, management and factors affecting the prognosis of this rare group of tumours involving the nose and paranasal sinuses, in relation to the available literature.

"Pre-emptive strike"-the case for early treatment of hepatic sinusoidal obstruction syndrome with defibrotide.

PubMed

Rajagopal, Revathi; Phillips, Marianne B; Gottardo, Nicholas G

2018-07-01

The initial signs of hepatic sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (HSOS) can be challenging to recognize in children, especially outside the hematopoietic stem cell transplantation setting. To assist clinicians to promptly identify HSOS, the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation has proposed pediatric HSOS diagnostic criteria which emphasize unexplained consumptive and transfusion-refractory thrombocytopenia. To highlight the importance of these "bellwether" early signs of HSOS and the efficacy of pre-emptive treatment with defibrotide, we describe the case of a child with a right 11th rib primitive neuroectodermal tumor who developed HSOS following focal radiotherapy and actinomycin-D treatment. © 2018 The Authors. Pediatric Blood & Cancer Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Comparative expression analysis reveals lineage relationships between human and murine gliomas and a dominance of glial signatures during tumor propagation in vitro.

PubMed

Henriquez, Nico V; Forshew, Tim; Tatevossian, Ruth; Ellis, Matthew; Richard-Loendt, Angela; Rogers, Hazel; Jacques, Thomas S; Reitboeck, Pablo Garcia; Pearce, Kerra; Sheer, Denise; Grundy, Richard G; Brandner, Sebastian

2013-09-15

Brain tumors are thought to originate from stem/progenitor cell populations that acquire specific genetic mutations. Although current preclinical models have relevance to human pathogenesis, most do not recapitulate the histogenesis of the human disease. Recently, a large series of human gliomas and medulloblastomas were analyzed for genetic signatures of prognosis and therapeutic response. Using a mouse model system that generates three distinct types of intrinsic brain tumors, we correlated RNA and protein expression levels with human brain tumors. A combination of genetic mutations and cellular environment during tumor propagation defined the incidence and phenotype of intrinsic murine tumors. Importantly, in vitro passage of cancer stem cells uniformly promoted a glial expression profile in culture and in brain tumors. Gene expression profiling revealed that experimental gliomas corresponded to distinct subclasses of human glioblastoma, whereas experimental supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumors (sPNET) correspond to atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor (AT/RT), a rare childhood tumor. ©2013 AACR.

New Brain Tumor Entities Emerge from Molecular Classification of CNS-PNETs.

PubMed

Sturm, Dominik; Orr, Brent A; Toprak, Umut H; Hovestadt, Volker; Jones, David T W; Capper, David; Sill, Martin; Buchhalter, Ivo; Northcott, Paul A; Leis, Irina; Ryzhova, Marina; Koelsche, Christian; Pfaff, Elke; Allen, Sariah J; Balasubramanian, Gnanaprakash; Worst, Barbara C; Pajtler, Kristian W; Brabetz, Sebastian; Johann, Pascal D; Sahm, Felix; Reimand, Jüri; Mackay, Alan; Carvalho, Diana M; Remke, Marc; Phillips, Joanna J; Perry, Arie; Cowdrey, Cynthia; Drissi, Rachid; Fouladi, Maryam; Giangaspero, Felice; Łastowska, Maria; Grajkowska, Wiesława; Scheurlen, Wolfram; Pietsch, Torsten; Hagel, Christian; Gojo, Johannes; Lötsch, Daniela; Berger, Walter; Slavc, Irene; Haberler, Christine; Jouvet, Anne; Holm, Stefan; Hofer, Silvia; Prinz, Marco; Keohane, Catherine; Fried, Iris; Mawrin, Christian; Scheie, David; Mobley, Bret C; Schniederjan, Matthew J; Santi, Mariarita; Buccoliero, Anna M; Dahiya, Sonika; Kramm, Christof M; von Bueren, André O; von Hoff, Katja; Rutkowski, Stefan; Herold-Mende, Christel; Frühwald, Michael C; Milde, Till; Hasselblatt, Martin; Wesseling, Pieter; Rößler, Jochen; Schüller, Ulrich; Ebinger, Martin; Schittenhelm, Jens; Frank, Stephan; Grobholz, Rainer; Vajtai, Istvan; Hans, Volkmar; Schneppenheim, Reinhard; Zitterbart, Karel; Collins, V Peter; Aronica, Eleonora; Varlet, Pascale; Puget, Stephanie; Dufour, Christelle; Grill, Jacques; Figarella-Branger, Dominique; Wolter, Marietta; Schuhmann, Martin U; Shalaby, Tarek; Grotzer, Michael; van Meter, Timothy; Monoranu, Camelia-Maria; Felsberg, Jörg; Reifenberger, Guido; Snuderl, Matija; Forrester, Lynn Ann; Koster, Jan; Versteeg, Rogier; Volckmann, Richard; van Sluis, Peter; Wolf, Stephan; Mikkelsen, Tom; Gajjar, Amar; Aldape, Kenneth; Moore, Andrew S; Taylor, Michael D; Jones, Chris; Jabado, Nada; Karajannis, Matthias A; Eils, Roland; Schlesner, Matthias; Lichter, Peter; von Deimling, Andreas; Pfister, Stefan M; Ellison, David W; Korshunov, Andrey; Kool, Marcel

2016-02-25

Primitive neuroectodermal tumors of the central nervous system (CNS-PNETs) are highly aggressive, poorly differentiated embryonal tumors occurring predominantly in young children but also affecting adolescents and adults. Herein, we demonstrate that a significant proportion of institutionally diagnosed CNS-PNETs display molecular profiles indistinguishable from those of various other well-defined CNS tumor entities, facilitating diagnosis and appropriate therapy for patients with these tumors. From the remaining fraction of CNS-PNETs, we identify four new CNS tumor entities, each associated with a recurrent genetic alteration and distinct histopathological and clinical features. These new molecular entities, designated "CNS neuroblastoma with FOXR2 activation (CNS NB-FOXR2)," "CNS Ewing sarcoma family tumor with CIC alteration (CNS EFT-CIC)," "CNS high-grade neuroepithelial tumor with MN1 alteration (CNS HGNET-MN1)," and "CNS high-grade neuroepithelial tumor with BCOR alteration (CNS HGNET-BCOR)," will enable meaningful clinical trials and the development of therapeutic strategies for patients affected by poorly differentiated CNS tumors. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Multimodality Treatment in Ewing's Sarcoma Family Tumors of the Maxilla and Maxillary Sinus: Review of the Literature

PubMed Central

Mamot, Christoph; Krasniqi, Fatime; Metternich, Frank

2016-01-01

The Ewing sarcoma family of tumors (ESFT) encompasses a group of highly aggressive, morphologically similar, malignant neoplasms sharing a common spontaneous genetic translocation that affect mostly children and young adults. These predominantly characteristic, small round-cell tumors include Ewing's sarcoma of the bone and soft tissue, as well as primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNETs) involving the bone, soft tissue, and thoracopulmonary region (Askin's tumor). Extraosseous ESFTs are extremely rare, especially in the head and neck region, where literature to date consists of sporadic case reports and very small series. We hereby present a review of the literature published on ESFTs reported in the maxilla and maxillary sinus region from 1968 to 2016. PMID:27413360

Primary Ewing's Sarcoma/Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor of Kidney with Caval Involvement in a Pregnant Woman.

PubMed

Ding, Yinghui; Huang, Zhenlin; Ding, Yafei; Jia, Zhankui; Gu, Chaohui; Xue, Rui; Yang, Jinjian

2016-01-01

In this article, we report the case of a woman in whom was found an abdominal mass during pregnancy and who underwent nephrectomy and extraction of the emboli after delivery. The kidney had a volume of 15 × 10 × 8 cm and pathological diagnosis was primary Ewing's sarcoma. The patient was treated with conventional chemotherapy for 1 year after surgery, at which time multiple metastases were found. From this case, we surmise that hormonal changes that occur during pregnancy may accelerate the growth of Ewing's sarcoma of the kidney, suggesting that renal tumors in pregnant women demand serious attention and that anti-cancer treatment should begin as soon as possible. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

A Case of Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumor.

PubMed

Reisner, David; Brahee, Deborah; Patel, Shweta; Hartman, Matthew

2015-08-01

Desmoplastic small round cell tumor is a rare, aggressive tumor primarily affecting young males. It is considered a childhood cancer, and is characterized by a unique chromosomal translocation which leads to failure to suppress tumor growth. It is classified as a soft tissue sarcoma, sharing some features with other small round cell tumors such as Ewing's Sarcoma and primitive neuroectodermal tumor. Typical imaging findings include multiple heterogeneous, lobular abdominal masses, which can grow very large. Often there is a dominant mass with additional peritoneal, omental, retroperitoneal and retrovesical masses. Prognosis is relatively poor with a 3 year survival rate of 50% in those treated aggressively with surgical resection, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. The clinical presentation, imaging characteristics and pathology are discussed in regards to a recent case.

Gamma-Secretase Inhibitor RO4929097 in Treating Young Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Solid Tumors, CNS Tumors, Lymphoma, or T-Cell Leukemia

ClinicalTrials.gov

2014-11-04

Childhood Atypical Teratoid/Rhabdoid Tumor; Childhood Central Nervous System Choriocarcinoma; Childhood Central Nervous System Germinoma; Childhood Central Nervous System Mixed Germ Cell Tumor; Childhood Central Nervous System Teratoma; Childhood Central Nervous System Yolk Sac Tumor; Childhood Choroid Plexus Tumor; Childhood Craniopharyngioma; Childhood Ependymoblastoma; Childhood Grade I Meningioma; Childhood Grade II Meningioma; Childhood Grade III Meningioma; Childhood Infratentorial Ependymoma; Childhood Medulloepithelioma; Childhood Mixed Glioma; Childhood Oligodendroglioma; Childhood Supratentorial Ependymoma; Gonadotroph Adenoma; Pituitary Basophilic Adenoma; Pituitary Chromophobe Adenoma; Pituitary Eosinophilic Adenoma; Prolactin Secreting Adenoma; Recurrent Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia; Recurrent Childhood Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Childhood Brain Stem Glioma; Recurrent Childhood Central Nervous System Embryonal Tumor; Recurrent Childhood Cerebellar Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Cerebral Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Ependymoma; Recurrent Childhood Grade III Lymphomatoid Granulomatosis; Recurrent Childhood Large Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Childhood Lymphoblastic Lymphoma; Recurrent Childhood Medulloblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Pineoblastoma; Recurrent Childhood Small Noncleaved Cell Lymphoma; Recurrent Childhood Spinal Cord Neoplasm; Recurrent Childhood Subependymal Giant Cell Astrocytoma; Recurrent Childhood Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Childhood Visual Pathway and Hypothalamic Glioma; Recurrent Childhood Visual Pathway Glioma; Recurrent Pituitary Tumor; Recurrent/Refractory Childhood Hodgkin Lymphoma; T-cell Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia; T-cell Large Granular Lymphocyte Leukemia; TSH Secreting Adenoma; Unspecified Childhood Solid Tumor, Protocol Specific

Ultrastructural findings in transplanted experimental brain tumors and their significance for the cytogenesis of such tumors.

PubMed

Mennel, H D

1988-01-01

Tumors induced by transplacental action in the spinal cord of rats were transplanted into the brains of the same rat strain. They were followed up by electron microscopy during the first ten passages. Three architectural features were detected: First pure tumor parts, second myelin breakdown and phagocytosis, and third the resulting accumulation of resting macrophages. Architecture two and three were interpreted as result of considerable phagocytotic activity of tumor cells localized within the white substance of the brain and spinal cord. Only architecture one was considered to represent proper tumor. Since this was low differentiated and partial astrocytic differentiation only occurred around vessels to remarkable extent, the thesis is put forward that these transplacentally induced tumors correspond to human primitive neuroectodermal tumors.

MicroRNA Signatures as Biomarkers and Therapeutic Target for CNS Embryonal Tumors: The Pros and the Cons

PubMed Central

Shalaby, Tarek; Fiaschetti, Giulio; Baumgartner, Martin; Grotzer, Michael A.

2014-01-01

Embryonal tumors of the central nervous system represent a heterogeneous group of childhood cancers with an unknown pathogenesis; diagnosis, on the basis of histological appearance alone, is controversial and patients’ response to therapy is difficult to predict. They encompass medulloblastoma, atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumors and a group of primitive neuroectodermal tumors. All are aggressive tumors with the tendency to disseminate throughout the central nervous system. The large amount of genomic and molecular data generated over the last 5–10 years encourages optimism that new molecular targets will soon improve outcomes. Recent neurobiological studies have uncovered the key role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in embryonal tumors biology and their potential use as biomarkers is increasingly being recognized and investigated. However the successful use of microRNAs as reliable biomarkers for the detection and management of pediatric brain tumors represents a substantial challenge. This review debates the importance of miRNAs in the biology of central nervous systemembryonal tumors focusing on medulloblastoma and atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumors and highlights the advantages as well as the limitations of their prospective application as biomarkers and candidates for molecular therapeutic targets. PMID:25421247

Incidence and survival of children with central nervous system primitive tumors in the French National Registry of Childhood Solid Tumors.

PubMed

Desandes, Emmanuel; Guissou, Sandra; Chastagner, Pascal; Lacour, Brigitte

2014-07-01

Central nervous system (CNS) tumors are the second most common childhood malignancy. The French National Registry of Childhood Solid Tumors (NRCST) makes it possible to describe this variety of distinct tumor types and to provide incidence and survival data in France on a nationwide basis. All children aged 0-14 years, who were registered with a primary CNS tumor in the NRCST of France between 2000 and 2008, were identified. Tumors were classified according to the International Classification of Childhood Cancer, third edition. Approximately 57% of pediatric CNS tumors were gliomas, with astrocytomas of the pilocytic type predominating. Distributions of subtypes by age showed that primitive neuroectodermal tumors and ependymomas mainly occurred in children aged <5 years. The mean annual incidence rate of CNS tumors was 39 per million. No statistically significant change in time trends of incidence rate was observed during 2000-2008. For all tumors combined, overall survival was 84.8% (95% CI, 83.7%-85.9%) at 1 year and 72.9% (95% CI, 71.5%-74.3%) at 5 years. Survival time trends were studied in a multivariate analysis observing a reduction in the risk of death in periods of diagnosis 2003-2005 (HR = 0.8; 95% CI, 0.7–0.9) and 2006-2008 (HR = 0.7; 95% CI, 0.6-0.9) compared with 2000-2002. The stable incidence rates during the last 10 years could indicate that major changes in environmental risk factors are unlikely, but the ongoing need for population-based surveillance remains relevant. Results indicate a positive trend in the survival probability still persistent in the 2000s.

Embryonal tumor with abundant neuropil and true rosettes: an autopsy case-based update and review of the literature.

PubMed

Adamek, Dariusz; Sofowora, Kolawole D; Cwiklinska, Magdalena; Herman-Sucharska, Izabela; Kwiatkowski, Stanislaw

2013-05-01

Embryonal tumor with abundant neuropil and true rosettes (ETANTR) is a rare subtype of primitive neuroectodermal tumors first reported in 2000. It is rare among the group of embryonal central nervous system tumors with approximately 50 reported cases. ETANTR has been suggested to be a separate entity among this group of tumors. Herein, we present only the second autopsy case of ETANTR, which occurred in a 17-month-old boy, and was located in the brainstem. The tumor was inoperable, and despite chemotherapy, the child died 3 months after initial hospitalization. A brain only autopsy was performed. Neuropathological and neuroimaging examinations suggest ETANTR grew by expansion rather than invasion distorting anatomical structures of the posterior fossa. We suggest that the characteristic histopathological picture of the tumor is the result of multifocal and dispersed germinative activity surrounded by mature neuropil-like areas. ETANTR is a pediatric tumor occurring in children under 4 with a significantly poor prognosis with more cases and research required to characterize this rare embryonal tumor.

Tissue Elasticity Regulated Tumor Gene Expression: Implication for Diagnostic Biomarkers of Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor

PubMed Central

Vu, Long T.; Keschrumrus, Vic; Zhang, Xi; Zhong, Jiang F.; Su, Qingning; Kabeer, Mustafa H.; Loudon, William G.; Li, Shengwen Calvin

2015-01-01

Background The tumor microenvironment consists of both physical and chemical factors. Tissue elasticity is one physical factor contributing to the microenvironment of tumor cells. To test the importance of tissue elasticity in cell culture, primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET) stem cells were cultured on soft polyacrylamide (PAA) hydrogel plates that mimics the elasticity of brain tissue compared with PNET on standard polystyrene (PS) plates. We report the molecular profiles of PNET grown on either PAA or PS. Methodology/Principal Findings A whole-genome microarray profile of transcriptional expression between the two culture conditions was performed as a way to probe effects of substrate on cell behavior in culture. The results showed more genes downregulated on PAA compared to PS. This led us to propose microRNA (miRNA) silencing as a potential mechanism for downregulation. Bioinformatic analysis predicted a greater number of miRNA binding sites from the 3' UTR of downregulated genes and identified as specific miRNA binding sites that were enriched when cells were grown on PAA—this supports the hypothesis that tissue elasticity plays a role in influencing miRNA expression. Thus, Dicer was examined to determine if miRNA processing was affected by tissue elasticity. Dicer genes were downregulated on PAA and had multiple predicted miRNA binding sites in its 3' UTR that matched the miRNA binding sites found enriched on PAA. Many differentially regulated genes were found to be present on PS but downregulated on PAA were mapped onto intron sequences. This suggests expression of alternative polyadenylation sites within intron regions that provide alternative 3' UTRs and alternative miRNA binding sites. This results in tissue specific transcriptional downregulation of mRNA in humans by miRNA. We propose a mechanism, driven by the physical characteristics of the microenvironment by which downregulation of genes occur. We found that tissue elasticity-mediated cytokines (TGFβ2 and TNFα) signaling affect expression of ECM proteins. Conclusions Our results suggest that tissue elasticity plays important roles in miRNA expression, which, in turn, regulate tumor growth or tumorigenicity. PMID:25774514

Clinical management of a unique case of PNET of the uterus during pregnancy, and review of the literature.

PubMed

De Nola, Rosalba; Di Naro, Edoardo; Schonauer, Luca Maria; Lucarelli, Giuseppe; Battaglia, Michele; Fiore, Maria Grazia; Mastrolia, Salvatore Andrea; Loverro, Giuseppe

2018-01-01

PNETs (primitive neuroectodermal tumors) are a family of highly malignant neoplasms characterized by small round cells of neuroepithelial origin. They usually involve bone and soft tissues, and have a higher incidence in childhood. In this case report, we describe the obstetric and oncological outcome of a huge mass diagnosed as a leiomyoma in a 39-year-old pregnant woman who complained of low back pain, dysuria, and urinary frequency at 22 weeks of gestation. During the 25th week of pregnancy, the patient was referred to our hospital at night with severe anemia and suspected hemoperitoneum. She underwent an emergency caesarean section, delivering a female fetus weighing 400 g, with an Apgar score of 7 at 1 minute and 9 at 5 minutes. During surgery, we found a huge uterine sarcoma-like metastatic tumor, invading the pelvic peritoneum and parametria bilaterally; the adnexae seemed disease-free. We performed a type B radical hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, pelvic peritonectomy, omentectomy, appendectomy, and excision of a bulky lymph node. Seven days after delivery, staging computed tomography (CT) scan demonstrated a large lombo-aortic lymph node compressing the left renal vein and we completed debulking with a second surgery, including diaphragmatic peritonectomy and excision of a huge lymph node by lombo-aortic lymphadenectomy, requiring partial reconstruction of an infiltrated renal vein. Ten days after the second surgery, echo-color Doppler showed a regular microcirculation in the left kidney. The patient was discharged after 10 days, and the baby after 1 month, both in good health.Histological examination revealed a uterine body cPNET (central primitive neuroectodermal tumor) orienting the clinical management toward chemotherapy with cisplatin and etoposide. PNETs are aggressive neoplasms, usually diagnosed at an advanced stage. Due to their low incidence, universally accepted guidelines are still unavailable. Radical surgery leaving no macroscopic residual disease is mandatory in advanced stages. A good fertility-sparing procedure can be performed only in young women at early stages of disease, when the wish for childbearing is not yet fulfilled. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

The evolution of nervous system patterning: insights from sea urchin development

PubMed Central

Angerer, Lynne M.; Yaguchi, Shunsuke; Angerer, Robert C.; Burke, Robert D.

2011-01-01

Recent studies of the sea urchin embryo have elucidated the mechanisms that localize and pattern its nervous system. These studies have revealed the presence of two overlapping regions of neurogenic potential at the beginning of embryogenesis, each of which becomes progressively restricted by separate, yet linked, signals, including Wnt and subsequently Nodal and BMP. These signals act to specify and localize the embryonic neural fields – the anterior neuroectoderm and the more posterior ciliary band neuroectoderm – during development. Here, we review these conserved nervous system patterning signals and consider how the relationships between them might have changed during deuterostome evolution. PMID:21828090

SJDAWN: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Phase 1 Study Evaluating Molecularly-Driven Doublet Therapies for Children and Young Adults With Recurrent Brain Tumors

ClinicalTrials.gov

2018-04-09

Anaplastic Astrocytoma; Anaplastic Ependymoma; Anaplastic Ganglioglioma; Anaplastic Meningioma; Anaplastic Oligodendroglioma; Pleomorphic Xanthoastrocytoma, Anaplastic; Atypical Teratoid/Rhabdoid Tumor; Brain Cancer; Brain Tumor; Central Nervous System Neoplasms; Choroid Plexus Carcinoma; CNS Embryonal Tumor With Rhabdoid Features; Ganglioneuroblastoma of Central Nervous System; CNS Tumor; Embryonal Tumor of CNS; Ependymoma; Glioblastoma; Glioma; Glioma, Malignant; Medulloblastoma; Medulloblastoma; Unspecified Site; Medulloepithelioma; Neuroepithelial Tumor; Neoplasms; Neoplasms, Neuroepithelial; Papillary Tumor of the Pineal Region (High-grade Only); Pediatric Brain Tumor; Pineal Parenchymal Tumor of Intermediate Differentiation (High-grade Only); Pineoblastoma; Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor; Recurrent Medulloblastoma; Refractory Brain Tumor; Neuroblastoma. CNS; Glioblastoma, IDH-mutant; Glioblastoma, IDH-wildtype; Medulloblastoma, Group 3; Medulloblastoma, Group 4; Glioma, High Grade; Neuroepithelial Tumor, High Grade; Medulloblastoma, SHH-activated and TP53 Mutant; Medulloblastoma, SHH-activated and TP53 Wildtype; Medulloblastoma, Chromosome 9q Loss; Medulloblastoma, Non-WNT Non-SHH, NOS; Medulloblastoma, Non-WNT/Non-SHH; Medulloblastoma, PTCH1 Mutation; Medulloblastoma, WNT-activated; Ependymoma, Recurrent; Glioma, Recurrent High Grade; Glioma, Recurrent Malignant; Embryonal Tumor, NOS; Glioma, Diffuse Midline, H3K27M-mutant; Embryonal Tumor With Multilayered Rosettes (ETMR); Ependymoma, NOS, WHO Grade III; Ependymoma, NOS, WHO Grade II; Medulloblastoma, G3/G4; Ependymoma, RELA Fusion Positive

Differentiation of neural crest stem cells from nasal mucosa into motor neuron-like cells.

PubMed

Bagher, Zohreh; Kamrava, Seyed Kamran; Alizadeh, Rafieh; Farhadi, Mohammad; Absalan, Moloud; Falah, Masoumeh; Faghihi, Faezeh; Zare-Sadeghi, Arash; Komeili, Ali

2018-05-25

Cell transplantation is a potential therapeutic approach for repairing neuropathological and neurodegenerative disorders of central nervous system by replacing the degenerated cells with new ones. Among a variety of stem cell candidates to provide these new cells, olfactory ectomesenchymal stem cells (OE-MSCs) have attracted a great attention due to their neural crest origin, easy harvest, high proliferation, and autologous transplantation. Since there is no report on differentiation potential of these cells into motor neuron-like cells, we evaluated this potential using Real-time PCR, flowcytometry and immunocytochemistry after the treatment with differentiation cocktail containing retinoic acid and Sonic Hedgehog. Immunocytochemistry staining of the isolated OE-MSCs demonstrated their capability to express nestin and vimentin, as the two markers of primitive neuroectoderm. The motor neuron differentiation of OE-MSCs resulted in changing their morphology into bipolar cells with high expression of motor neuron markers of ChAT, Hb-9 and Islet-1 at the level of mRNA and protein. Consequently, we believe that the OE-MSCs have great potential to differentiate into motor neuron-like cells and can be an ideal stem cell source for the treatment of motor neuron-related disorders of central nervous system. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Guidelines for imaging retinoblastoma: imaging principles and MRI standardization.

PubMed

de Graaf, Pim; Göricke, Sophia; Rodjan, Firazia; Galluzzi, Paolo; Maeder, Philippe; Castelijns, Jonas A; Brisse, Hervé J

2012-01-01

Retinoblastoma is the most common intraocular tumor in children. The diagnosis is usually established by the ophthalmologist on the basis of fundoscopy and US. Together with US, high-resolution MRI has emerged as an important imaging modality for pretreatment assessment, i.e. for diagnostic confirmation, detection of local tumor extent, detection of associated developmental malformation of the brain and detection of associated intracranial primitive neuroectodermal tumor (trilateral retinoblastoma). Minimum requirements for pretreatment diagnostic evaluation of retinoblastoma or mimicking lesions are presented, based on consensus among members of the European Retinoblastoma Imaging Collaboration (ERIC). The most appropriate techniques for imaging in a child with leukocoria are reviewed. CT is no longer recommended. Implementation of a standardized MRI protocol for retinoblastoma in clinical practice may benefit children worldwide, especially those with hereditary retinoblastoma, since a decreased use of CT reduces the exposure to ionizing radiation.

Distinct Neural Stem Cell Populations Give Rise to Disparate Brain Tumors in Response to N-MYC

PubMed Central

Swartling, Fredrik J.; Savov, Vasil; Persson, Anders I.; Chen, Justin; Hackett, Christopher S.; Northcott, Paul A.; Grimmer, Matthew R.; Lau, Jasmine; Chesler, Louis; Perry, Arie; Phillips, Joanna J.; Taylor, Michael D.; Weiss, William A.

2012-01-01

SUMMARY The proto-oncogene MYCN is mis-expressed in various types of human brain tumors. To clarify how developmental and regional differences influence transformation, we transduced wild-type or mutationally-stabilized murine N-mycT58A into neural stem cells (NSCs) from perinatal murine cerebellum, brain stem and forebrain. Transplantation of N-mycWT NSCs was insufficient for tumor formation. N-mycT58A cerebellar and brain stem NSCs generated medulloblastoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumors, whereas forebrain NSCs developed diffuse glioma. Expression analyses distinguished tumors generated from these different regions, with tumors from embryonic versus postnatal cerebellar NSCs demonstrating SHH-dependence and SHH-independence, respectively. These differences were regulated in-part by the transcription factor SOX9, activated in the SHH subclass of human medulloblastoma. Our results demonstrate context-dependent transformation of NSCs in response to a common oncogenic signal. PMID:22624711

Vertebrate homologues of Frodo are dynamically expressed during embryonic development in tissues undergoing extensive morphogenetic movements.

PubMed

Hunter, Nina L; Hikasa, Hiroki; Dymecki, Susan M; Sokol, Sergei Y

2006-01-01

Frodo has been identified as a protein interacting with Dishevelled, an essential mediator of the Wnt signaling pathway, critical for the determination of cell fate and polarity in embryonic development. In this study, we use specific gene probes to characterize stage- and tissue-specific expression patterns of the mouse Frodo homologue and compare them with Frodo expression patterns in Xenopus embryos. In situ hybridization analysis of mouse Frodo transcripts demonstrates that, similar to Xenopus Frodo, mouse Frodo is expressed in primitive streak mesoderm, neuroectoderm, neural crest, presomitic mesoderm, and somites. In many cases, Frodo expression is confined to tissues undergoing extensive morphogenesis, suggesting that Frodo may be involved in the regulation of cell shape and motility. Highly conserved dynamic expression patterns of Frodo homologues indicate a similar function for these proteins in different vertebrates. 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Embryonal tumors with abundant neuropil and true rosettes: 2 illustrative cases and a review of the literature.

PubMed

Manjila, Sunil; Ray, Abhishek; Hu, Yin; Cai, Dan X; Cohen, Mark L; Cohen, Alan R

2011-01-01

Embryonal tumor with abundant neuropil and true rosettes (ETANTR) is a recently identified variant of primitive neuroectodermal tumor, with fewer than 50 cases reported in the literature to date. Histologically, this tumor has features of ependymoblastoma and neuroblastoma, demonstrating areas of fine fibrillary neuropil intermingled with ependymoblastic rosettes and zones of undifferentiated neuroepithelial cells. However, ETANTR is distinguished pathologically from other embryonal tumors by the striking abundance of neuropil. Clinically, ETANTRs have shown high malignant potential and poor clinical outcome despite aggressive treatment. The authors describe 2 illustrative surgical cases of ETANTR, one involving the longest reported survival in the literature to date. The other had a poor outcome despite high-dose adjuvant chemotherapy with sequential autologous hematopoietic stem cell rescue. The authors review the natural history and treatment strategies available for this unusual malignant pediatric brain tumor.

PDGF-C is an EWS/FLI induced transforming growth factor in Ewing Family Tumors

PubMed Central

Zwerner, Jeffrey P.; May, William A.

2013-01-01

The aberrant transcription factors associated with many human malignancies function by deregulation of tumorigenic pathways. However, identification of these pathways has come slowly. Virtually all cases of Ewing’s Sarcoma and peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor (PNET) are associated with aberrant transcription factors which fuse amino-terminal EWS with the DNA binding moiety of an ETS transcription factor (FLI-1 in 90% of cases). Attempts to identify the downstream targets of these chimeras in the Ewing Family Tumors (EFT) on the basis of differential gene regulation have produced little association with tumor biology. As an alternative approach, we have used highly efficient retroviral systems to biologically screen cDNA derived from cells transformed by EWS/FLI-1. We have identified the recently described PDGF-C as target of EWS/ETS transcriptional deregulation. This transcriptional deregulation is specific to EWS/FLI. PDGF-C possesses substantial biologic activity in vitro and in vivo. It is expressed in EFT cell lines and in primary tumors. Within these EFT cell lines, PDGF-C expression is dependent upon EWS/FLI activity. These results suggest that PDGF-C may be a significant mediator of EWS/FLI driven oncogenesis. PMID:11313995

Immunohistochemical detection of FLI-1 protein expression: a study of 132 round cell tumors with emphasis on CD99-positive mimics of Ewing's sarcoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumor.

PubMed

Folpe, A L; Hill, C E; Parham, D M; O'Shea, P A; Weiss, S W

2000-12-01

The histologic and immunohistochemical differentiation of Ewing' s sarcoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumor (ES/PNET) from other small, blue, round cell tumors may be difficult. Despite initial promise, CD99 (MIC2) has not proven to be a specific marker. Approximately 90% of ES/PNET have a specific t(11; 22)(q24;q12) that results in fusion of the EWS and FLI-1 genes, and overexpression of FLI-1 protein. A recent study has shown immunohistochemical FLI-1 expression in five of seven of the ES/PNET cases tested. We evaluated FLI-1 expression in 132 well-characterized small, blue, round cell tumors. All tumors were immunostained for FLI-1 (1:40, Sc 356 polyclonal, Santa Cruz Biotechnology) using steam heat for epitope retrieval. Only nuclear staining was accepted as positive. Endothelial cells were strongly positive in all cases and served as an internal control. In many cases, a subset of lymphocytes also stained positive. No staining was seen in any other normal tissue. FLI-1 expression was seen in 29 of 41 (71%) ES/PNET, 7 of 8 (88%) lymphoblastic lymphomas, 0 of 8 poorly differentiated synovial sarcomas (PDSS), 0 of 32 rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), 0 of 30 neuroblastomas, 0 of 8 esthesioneuroblastomas, 0 of 3 Wilms' tumors, 0 of 1 mesenchymal chondrosarcoma, and in 1 of 1 desmoplastic round cell tumor. This last case was known to have an EWS/WT-1 fusion. Although the EWS/FLI-1 fusion gene is specific for ES/PNET, FLI-1 protein expression is not. Significantly, the great majority of lymphoblastic lymphomas (also CD99-positive) are strongly FLI-1-positive. Immunohistochemical detection of FLI-1 may be valuable in confirming the diagnosis of ES/ PNET in cases in which molecular genetic evaluation is not feasible. FLI-1 protein expression is also helpful in distinguishing ES/PNET from other tumors that may be CD99-positive, such as PDSS and RMS. It is not surprising that some ES/ PNET are FLI-1-negative, because not all ES/PNET have the classic EWS/FLI-1, and some cases of ES/PNET may produce either low levels of protein or idiotypically different protein.

MYCN induces neuroblastoma in primary neural crest cells.

PubMed

Olsen, R R; Otero, J H; García-López, J; Wallace, K; Finkelstein, D; Rehg, J E; Yin, Z; Wang, Y-D; Freeman, K W

2017-08-31

Neuroblastoma (NBL) is an embryonal cancer of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), which causes 15% of pediatric cancer deaths. High-risk NBL is characterized by N-Myc amplification and segmental chromosomal gains and losses. Owing to limited disease models, the etiology of NBL is largely unknown, including both the cell of origin and the majority of oncogenic drivers. We have established a novel system for studying NBL based on the transformation of neural crest cells (NCCs), the progenitor cells of the SNS, isolated from mouse embryonic day 9.5 trunk neural tube explants. Based on pathology and gene expression analysis, we report the first successful transformation of wild-type NCCs into NBL by enforced expression of N-Myc, to generate phenotypically and molecularly accurate tumors that closely model human MYCN-amplified NBL. Using comparative genomic hybridization, we found that NCC-derived NBL tumors acquired copy number gains and losses that are syntenic to those observed in human MYCN-amplified NBL including 17q gain, 2p gain and loss of 1p36. When p53-compromised NCCs were transformed with N-Myc, we generated primitive neuroectodermal tumors with divergent differentiation including osteosarcoma. These subcutaneous tumors were metastatic to regional lymph nodes, liver and lung. Our novel experimental approach accurately models human NBL and establishes a new system with potential to study early stages of NBL oncogenesis, to functionally assess NBL oncogenic drivers and to characterize NBL metastasis.

Evolutionary constraint on Otx2 neuroectoderm enhancers-deep conservation from skate to mouse and unique divergence in teleost

PubMed Central

Kurokawa, Daisuke; Sakurai, Yusuke; Inoue, Ai; Nakayama, Rika; Takasaki, Nobuyoshi; Suda, Yoko; Miyake, Tsutomu; Amemiya, Chris T.; Aizawa, Shinichi

2006-01-01

Otx2 is a paired type homeobox gene that plays essential roles in each step and site of head development in vertebrates. In the mouse, Otx2 expression in the anterior neuroectoderm is regulated primarily by two distinct enhancers: anterior neuroectoderm (AN) and forebrain/midbrain (FM) enhancers at 92 kb and 75 kb 5′of the Otx2 locus, respectively. The AN enhancer has activity in the entire anterior neuroectoderm at headfold and early somite stages, whereas the FM enhancer is subsequently active in the future caudal forebrain and midbrain ectoderm. In tetrapods, both AN and FM enhancers are conserved, whereas the AN region is missing in teleosts, despite overt Otx2 expression in the anterior neuroectoderm. Here, we show that zebrafish and fugu FM regions drive expression not only in the forebrain and midbrain but also in the anterior neuroectoderm at headfold stage. The analysis of coelacanth and skate genomic Otx2 orthologues suggests that the utilization of the two enhancers, AN and FM, is an ancestral condition. In contrast, the AN enhancer has been specifically lost in the teleost lineage with a compensatory establishment of AN activity within the FM enhancer. Furthermore, the AN activity in the fish FM enhancer was established by recruiting upstream factors different from those that direct the tetrapod AN enhancer, yet zebrafish FM enhancer is active in both mouse and zebrafish anterior neuroectoderm at the headfold stage. PMID:17159156

Hanging drop culture enhances differentiation of human adipose-derived stem cells into anterior neuroectodermal cells using small molecules.

PubMed

Amirpour, Noushin; Razavi, Shahnaz; Esfandiari, Ebrahim; Hashemibeni, Batoul; Kazemi, Mohammad; Salehi, Hossein

2017-06-01

Inspired by in vivo developmental process, several studies were conducted to design a protocol for differentiating of mesenchymal stem cells into neural cells in vitro. Human adipose-derived stem cells (hADSCs) as mesenchymal stem cells are a promising source for this purpose. At current study, we applied a defined neural induction medium by using small molecules for direct differentiation of hADSCs into anterior neuroectodermal cells. Anterior neuroectodermal differentiation of hADSCs was performed by hanging drop and monolayer protocols. At these methods, three small molecules were used to suppress the BMP, Nodal, and Wnt signaling pathways in order to obtain anterior neuroectodermal (eye field) cells from hADSCs. After two and three weeks of induction, the differentiated cells with neural morphology expressed anterior neuroectodermal markers such as OTX2, SIX3, β-TUB III and PAX6. The protein expression of such markers was confirmed by real time, RT-PCR and immunocytochemistry methods According to our data, it seems that the hanging drop method is a proper approach for neuroectodermal induction of hADSCs. Considering wide availability and immunosuppressive properties of hADSCs, these cells may open a way for autologous cell therapy of neurodegenerative disorders. Copyright © 2017 ISDN. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pineal tumors: analysis of treatment results in 20 patients.

PubMed

Amendola, Beatriz E; Wolf, Aizik; Coy, Sammie R; Amendola, Marco A; Eber, Daryl

2005-01-01

The authors evaluate their results when using gamma knife surgery (GKS) in the management of patients with tumors in the pineal region. This is a retrospective clinical evaluation of 20 patients with primary tumors of the pineal region treated with GKS from November 1994 through August 2003. There were 13 germ cell tumors, two pineoblastomas, two low-grade gliomas, one primitive neuroectodermal tumor, one teratoma, and one pineocytoma. There were 10 male and 10 female patients. Their median age was 15.5 years (range 5-71 years). The median margin dose was 11 Gy (range 8-20 Gy). The median target volume was 3.1 cm3 (range 0.1-49.9 cm3). Five patients received sequential systemic chemotherapy and four underwent adjuvant conventional radiation therapy. Seventeen (85%) of 20 patients are alive with a median survival of 30.4 months (range 0-85.7 months). Two patients required retreatment. Three patients died: one of unrelated causes, one who presented with extensive local disease, and the other of meningeal carcinomatosis with local control of the primary tumor. No complications from GKS were noted. This initial experience suggests that GKS is a valuable treatment modality for the management of pineal region tumors. This technique offers excellent local tumor control and minimal patient morbidity, allowing for immediate use of systemic chemotherapy and/or conventional radiation if indicated.

[A new entity in WHO classification of tumors of the central nervous system--embryonic tumor with abundant neuropil and true rosettes: case report and review of literature].

PubMed

Ryzhova, M V; Zheludkova, O G; Ozerov, S S; Shishkina, L V; Panina, T N; Gorelyshev, S K; Novikov, A I; Melikian, A G; Kushel', Iu V; Korshunov, A E

2011-01-01

Embryonic tumor with abundant neuropil and true rosettes (ETANTR) is a very aggressive rare tumor with unique histologic and molecular features occurring in very young children. At present approximately 80 cases of ETANTR have been documented in the literature since first description in 2000. We report seven patients with ETANTR below 4 years of age who underwent surgical resection in the Burdenko Neurosurgery Institute between 2005 and 2010. Four children have received different modality chemotherapy and radiotherapy and two patients were treated by chemotherapy alone. One child did not receive any adjuvant treatment. All children had local relapses, two of them were operated twice. A 2 year old girl underwent subtotal resection thrice. Histological examination showed that all tumors were composed of true multilayered rosettes admixed with large areas of paucicellular neuropil. By analysis of recurrences we have found that large areas of neuropil and number of true rosettes were lost and tumors acquired a resemblance to central nervous system primitive neuroectodermal tumors. In four cases frozen tumor material was available for array-based comparative genomic hybridization, which discovered trisomy of chromosome 2 and amplification at the 19q13.42 chromosome locus. Fluorescence in situ hybridization revealed amplification at the 19q13.42 chromosome locus in all cases.

Combination Adenovirus + Pembrolizumab to Trigger Immune Virus Effects

ClinicalTrials.gov

2018-06-20

Brain Cancer; Brain Neoplasm; Glioma; Glioblastoma; Gliosarcoma; Malignant Brain Tumor; Neoplasm, Neuroepithelial; Neuroectodermal Tumors; Neoplasm by Histologic Type; Neoplasm, Nerve Tissue; Nervous System Diseases

Ewing’s Sarcoma Family Tumors in the Jaws: Case Report, Immunohistochemical Analysis and Literature Review

PubMed Central

CASAROTO, ANA REGINA; SAMPIERI, MARCELO BONIFACIO DA SILVA; SOARES, CLEVERSON TEIXEIRA; SANTOS, PAULO SERGIO DA SILVA; YAEDU, RENATO YASSUTAKA FARIA; DAMANTE, JOSÉ HUMBERTO; LARA, VANESSA SOARES

2017-01-01

Due to the low incidence of the Ewing’s Sarcoma (ES) family tumors, the available epidemiology is likely to be unreliable, and at present, there are no standard diagnostic or clinical guidelines outlining their management. This report describes a case of peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumor (ES/pPNET) which initially mimicked cystic lesions, and describes a comparison between ES and ES/pPNET in the jaws by the World Health Organization classification. This review addressed 63 cases published in the English literature between 1950 and 2016. The majority of cases were ES. Both ES and ES/pPNET mimicked other benign entities such as traumatic, cystic and inflammatory lesions. The patients who died of their disease had a history of metastatic tumors, and primary tumor located in the mandible and maxilla for ES and ES/pPNET, respectively. The differentiation of the ES family tumors from other small blue-cell tumors may be difficult and requires familiarity with histological and immunohistochemical features. PMID:28438883

Primary Ewing Sarcoma of the Thyroid—Eight Cases in a Decade: A Case Report and Literature Review

PubMed Central

Kabata, Paweł; Kaniuka-Jakubowska, Sonia; Kabata, Wanda; Lakomy, Joanna; Biernat, Wojciech; Sworczak, Krzysztof; Jaśkiewicz, Janusz; Świerblewski, Maciej

2017-01-01

Sarcomas represent less than 1% of all malignant tumors found in the thyroid. Of these, primary extraosseoussarcoma has been reported only a few times in the past decade. We present the case of a 34-year-old male who had a fast-growing hard mass in the lower left neck. FNA was inconclusive. Core needle biopsy revealed the diagnosis of an Ewing sarcoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumor. Mutation of EWSR1 was confirmed using the FISH method. Following treatment by neoadjuvant chemotherapy, we observed clinical, radiological, and finally histopathological remission. This was followed by a left-sided isthmolobectomy with unilateral cervical lymph node dissection by lateral lymphadenectomy, which revealed no residual disease. Posttreatment radiotherapy was administered but discontinued upon the patient’s request. After 18 months of observation, the patient had no recurrence or metastasis and required l-thyroxine supplementation. We discuss our case using a comparative literature review to the few other known case reports. PMID:29163353

[Pineal anlage tumor in a 8-month-old boy. The first case reported in Spanish language].

PubMed

Rodríguez-Velasco, Alicia; Ramírez-Reyes, Alma Griselda

2014-01-01

The pineal anlage tumor is a very infrequent malign neoplasm. Even though it has been documented in literature, it is not listed yet in the World Health Organization's last nervous system classification (2007). It is a primitive pineal tumor with neuroepithelial and ectomesenchyme differentiation. Due to its low frequency, the understanding of its biological behavior and a suitable treatment are incomplete. In a search performed in PubMed with the term pineal anlage tumor, only seven informed cases were identified between 1989 and 2011. An 8-month-old infant was brought to medical attention because he had a progressive enlargement of the cephalic perimeter, and convergent strabismus of two months of evolution. A pineal tumor was identified. The histology showed glial tissue, ganglia cells, pigmented neuroepithelium and striate muscle cells. A ventriculoperitoneal derivation was done to diminish hydrocephalic pressure and also to led the complete surgical resection. The patient was treated with two courses of chemotherapy with carboplatine, ifosfamide and mesna. One year after the treatment, the patient is asymptomatic. This is the first case reported in Spanish language. Given that it is a really infrequent tumor, it could be misdiagnosed as teratome, melanotic or mesoblastic medulloblastoma, or a melanotic neuroectodermal tumor of childhood (melanotic prognoma).

Neuropathology of genetically engineered mice: consensus report and recommendations from an international forum.

PubMed

Weiss, William A; Israel, Mark; Cobbs, Charles; Holland, Eric; James, C David; Louis, David N; Marks, Cheryl; McClatchey, Andrea I; Roberts, Tim; Van Dyke, Terry; Wetmore, Cynthia; Chiu, Ing-Ming; Giovannini, Marco; Guha, Abhijit; Higgins, Robert J; Marino, Silvia; Radovanovic, Ivan; Reilly, Karlyne; Aldape, Ken

2002-10-24

The Mouse Models of Cancer Consortium of the NCI sponsored a meeting of neuropathologists and veterinary pathologists in New York City in November of 2000. A rapidly growing number of genetically engineered mice (GEM) predisposed to tumors of the nervous system have led to a concomitant need for neuropathological evaluation and validation of these models. A panel of 13 pathologists reviewed material representing most of the available published and unpublished GEM models of medulloblastoma, primitive neuroectodermal tumor, astrocytoma, oligodendroglioma, mixed glioma, and tumors of the peripheral nerve. The GEM tumors were found to have many similarities and some distinct differences with respect to human disease. After review of the biology and pathology for all models presented, participants were split into groups reflective of clinical expertise in human pathology, tumor biology, neuroimaging, or treatment/intervention. Recommendations were made detailing an extensive and complete neuropathological characterization of animals. Importance was placed on including information on strains, tumor clonality, and examination for genetic mutation or altered gene expression characteristics of the corresponding human malignancy. Specific proposals were made to incorporate GEM models in emerging neuroradiological modalities. Recommendations were also made for preclinical validation of these models in cancer therapeutics, and for incorporation of surrogate markers of tumor burden to facilitate preclinical evaluation of new therapies.

MYCN induces neuroblastoma in primary neural crest cells

PubMed Central

Olsen, R R; Otero, J H; García-López, J; Wallace, K; Finkelstein, D; Rehg, J E; Yin, Z; Wang, Y-D; Freeman, K W

2017-01-01

Neuroblastoma (NBL) is an embryonal cancer of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), which causes 15% of pediatric cancer deaths. High-risk NBL is characterized by N-Myc amplification and segmental chromosomal gains and losses. Owing to limited disease models, the etiology of NBL is largely unknown, including both the cell of origin and the majority of oncogenic drivers. We have established a novel system for studying NBL based on the transformation of neural crest cells (NCCs), the progenitor cells of the SNS, isolated from mouse embryonic day 9.5 trunk neural tube explants. Based on pathology and gene expression analysis, we report the first successful transformation of wild-type NCCs into NBL by enforced expression of N-Myc, to generate phenotypically and molecularly accurate tumors that closely model human MYCN-amplified NBL. Using comparative genomic hybridization, we found that NCC-derived NBL tumors acquired copy number gains and losses that are syntenic to those observed in human MYCN-amplified NBL including 17q gain, 2p gain and loss of 1p36. When p53-compromised NCCs were transformed with N-Myc, we generated primitive neuroectodermal tumors with divergent differentiation including osteosarcoma. These subcutaneous tumors were metastatic to regional lymph nodes, liver and lung. Our novel experimental approach accurately models human NBL and establishes a new system with potential to study early stages of NBL oncogenesis, to functionally assess NBL oncogenic drivers and to characterize NBL metastasis. PMID:28459463

Nucleosome eviction along with H3K9ac deposition enhances Sox2 binding during human neuroectodermal commitment

PubMed Central

Du, Yanhua; Liu, Zhenping; Cao, Xinkai; Chen, Xiaolong; Chen, Zhenyu; Zhang, Xiaobai; Zhang, Xiaoqing; Jiang, Cizhong

2017-01-01

Neuroectoderm is an important neural precursor. However, chromatin remodeling and its epigenetic regulatory roles during the differentiation of human neuroectodermal cells (hNECs) from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) remain largely unexplored. Here, we obtained hNECs through directed differentiation from hESCs, and determined chromatin states in the two cell types. Upon differentiation, H2A.Z-mediated nucleosome depletion leads to an open chromatin structure in promoters and upregulates expression of neuroectodermal genes. Increase in H3K9ac signals and decrease in H3K27me3 signals in promoters result in an active chromatin state and activate neuroectodermal genes. Conversely, decrease in H3K9ac signals and increase in H3K27me3 signals in promoters repress pluripotency genes. Moreover, H3K9ac signals facilitate the pluripotency factor Sox2 binding to target sites unique to hNECs. Knockdown of the acetyltransferase Kat2b erases H3K9ac signals, disrupts Sox2 binding, and fails the differentiation. Our results demonstrate a hierarchy of epigenetic regulation of gene expression during the differentiation of hNECs from hESCs through chromatin remodeling. PMID:28475175

Single cell cultures of Drosophila neuroectodermal and mesectodermal central nervous system progenitors reveal different degrees of developmental autonomy.

PubMed

Lüer, Karin; Technau, Gerhard M

2009-08-03

The Drosophila embryonic central nervous system (CNS) develops from two sets of progenitor cells, neuroblasts and ventral midline progenitors, which behave differently in many respects. Neuroblasts derive from the neurogenic region of the ectoderm and form the lateral parts of the CNS. Ventral midline precursors are formed by two rows of mesectodermal cells and build the CNS midline. There is plenty of evidence that individual identities are conferred to precursor cells by positional information in the ectoderm. It is unclear, however, how far the precursors can maintain their identities and developmental properties in the absence of normal external signals. To separate the respective contributions of autonomous properties versus extrinsic signals during their further development, we isolated individual midline precursors and neuroectodermal precursors at the pre-mitotic gastrula stage, traced their development in vitro, and analyzed the characteristics of their lineages in comparison with those described for the embryo. Although individually cultured mesectodermal cells exhibit basic characteristics of CNS midline progenitors, the clones produced by these progenitors differ from their in situ counterparts with regard to cell numbers, expression of molecular markers, and the separation of neuronal and glial fate. In contrast, clones derived from individually cultured precursors taken from specific dorsoventral zones of the neuroectoderm develop striking similarities to the lineages of neuroblasts that normally delaminate from these zones and develop in situ. This in vitro analysis allows for the first time a comparison of the developmental capacities in situ and in vitro of individual neural precursors of defined spatial and temporal origin. The data reveal that cells isolated at the pre-mitotic and pre-delamination stage express characteristics of the progenitor type appropriate to their site of origin in the embryo. However, presumptive neuroblasts, once specified in the neuroectoderm, exhibit a higher degree of autonomy regarding generation of their lineages compared to mesectodermal midline progenitors.

Survival of patients with Ewing's sarcoma in Yazd-Iran.

PubMed

Akhavan, Ali; Binesh, Fariba; Shamshiri, Hadi; Ghanadi, Fazllolah

2014-01-01

The Ewing's sarcoma family is a group of small round cell tumors which accounts for 10-15% of all primary bone neoplasms. The aim of this study was to evaluate the survival of Ewing's sarcoma patients in our province and to determine of influencing factors. All patients with documented Ewing's sarcoma/ primitive neuroectodermal tumor(PNET) family pathology were enrolled in this study during a period of eight years. For all of them local and systemic therapy were carried out. Overall and event free survival and prognostic factors were evaluated. Thirty two patients were enrolled in the study. The median age was 17.5 years. Twenty (65.2%) were male and 9 (28.1%) were aged 14 years or less. Mean disease free survival was 26.8 (95%CI; 13.8-39.9) months and five year disease free survival was 26%. Mean overall survival was 38.7 months (95%CI; 25.9-50.6) and median overall survival was 24 months. Five year overall survival was 25%. From the variables evaluated , only presence of metastatic disease at presentation (p value=0. 028) and complete response (p value =0. 006) had significant relations to overall survival. Survival of Ewing's sarcoma in our province is disappointing. It seems to be mostly due to less effective treatment. Administration of adequate chemotherapy dosage, resection of tumor with negative margins and precise assessment of irradiation volume may prove helpful.

Cytogenetically confirmed primary Ewing's sarcoma of the pancreas.

PubMed

Golhar, Ankush; Ray, Samrat; Haugk, Beate; Singhvi, Suresh Kumar

2017-05-04

Ewing's sarcoma is a highly aggressive malignant tumour most commonly affecting long bones in children and adolescents. It is part of the Ewing's sarcoma family of tumours (ESFTs) that also include peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumour and Askin's tumours. ESFTs share common cytogenetic aberrations, antigenic profiles and proto-oncogene expression with an overall similar clinical course. In 99% of ESFTs, genetic translocation with molecular fusion involves the EWSR1 gene on 22q12. Approximately 30% of ESFTs are extraosseous, most commonly occurring in the soft tissues of extremities, pelvis, retroperitoneum and chest wall. Primary presentation in solid organs is very rare but has been described in multiple sites including the pancreas. Accurate diagnosis of a Ewing's sarcoma in a solid organ is critical in facilitating correct treatment. We report the case of a 17-year-old girl with cytogenetically confirmed primary pancreatic Ewing's sarcoma and provide a brief review of the published literature. © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd (unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Protective, elective lung irradiation in non-metastatic Ewing's sarcoma.

PubMed

Marinova, L; Hristozova, I; Mihaylova, I; Perenovska, P

2015-07-01

Ewing's sarcoma in childhood is a disease from family of the peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumours. For a period of 16 y (1984-2000), 34 children with Ewing's sarcoma were treated and followed in our department. Twenty-seven of these patients were without distant metastases. Complex treatment was applied to all these patients-chemotherapy VACA (vincristine, actinomycin D, cyclophosphamide, adriamycin), local radiotherapy to a total dose of 50-56 Gy +/- surgery. After, a local tumour control was achieved in 11 children with non-metastatic Ewing's sarcoma, elective whole lung irradiation to a total dose of 12-15 Gy was applied. Our experience in these 11 patients with non-metastatic Ewing's sarcoma, in whom elective lung irradiation was applied, showed significant reduction in the lung metastases, improved free of disease survival and overall survival. The achieved good treatment results necessitate extending this treatment approach through defining the risk groups of patients, suitable for elective lung radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy in non-metastatic Ewing's sarcoma. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Primary Ewing's sarcoma of vulva: a case report and a review of the literature.

PubMed

Che, Shao-Min; Cao, Pei-Long; Chen, Hong-Wei; Liu, Zi; Meng, Du

2013-03-01

Ewing sarcomas/peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumors (ES/pPNET) are extremely rare in the vulva. A review of the literature reveals only 14 previously reported possible cases. Here we reported a case of primary extraskeletal Ewing's sarcoma (EES) of the vulva in a 37-year-old woman. Characteristic histologic features of ES/pPNET were present in this case, including a monomorphic population of small round blue cells with cytoplasmic glycogen confirmed by periodic acid-Schiff, membrane staining with CD99 and nuclear staining with FLI-1. After surgery, the patient was found to have pulmonary metastasis and then received six cycles of polychemotherapy. She is still alive with stable disease after 1 year of follow up. Our findings underline the crucial role of immunohistochemical techniques in the differential diagnosis of small round cell tumors in these unusual locations. We also give a summary about the clinical and pathological features of the primary ES/pPNET in the vulva reported previously in the literature. © 2012 The Authors. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Research © 2012 Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

BMPs regulate msx gene expression in the dorsal neuroectoderm of Drosophila and vertebrates by distinct mechanisms.

PubMed

Esteves, Francisco F; Springhorn, Alexander; Kague, Erika; Taylor, Erika; Pyrowolakis, George; Fisher, Shannon; Bier, Ethan

2014-09-01

In a broad variety of bilaterian species the trunk central nervous system (CNS) derives from three primary rows of neuroblasts. The fates of these neural progenitor cells are determined in part by three conserved transcription factors: vnd/nkx2.2, ind/gsh and msh/msx in Drosophila melanogaster/vertebrates, which are expressed in corresponding non-overlapping patterns along the dorsal-ventral axis. While this conserved suite of "neural identity" gene expression strongly suggests a common ancestral origin for the patterning systems, it is unclear whether the original regulatory mechanisms establishing these patterns have been similarly conserved during evolution. In Drosophila, genetic evidence suggests that Bone Morphogenetic Proteins (BMPs) act in a dosage-dependent fashion to repress expression of neural identity genes. BMPs also play a dose-dependent role in patterning the dorsal and lateral regions of the vertebrate CNS, however, the mechanism by which they achieve such patterning has not yet been clearly established. In this report, we examine the mechanisms by which BMPs act on cis-regulatory modules (CRMs) that control localized expression of the Drosophila msh and zebrafish (Danio rerio) msxB in the dorsal central nervous system (CNS). Our analysis suggests that BMPs act differently in these organisms to regulate similar patterns of gene expression in the neuroectoderm: repressing msh expression in Drosophila, while activating msxB expression in the zebrafish. These findings suggest that the mechanisms by which the BMP gradient patterns the dorsal neuroectoderm have reversed since the divergence of these two ancient lineages.

BMPs Regulate msx Gene Expression in the Dorsal Neuroectoderm of Drosophila and Vertebrates by Distinct Mechanisms

PubMed Central

Esteves, Francisco F.; Taylor, Erika; Pyrowolakis, George; Fisher, Shannon; Bier, Ethan

2014-01-01

In a broad variety of bilaterian species the trunk central nervous system (CNS) derives from three primary rows of neuroblasts. The fates of these neural progenitor cells are determined in part by three conserved transcription factors: vnd/nkx2.2, ind/gsh and msh/msx in Drosophila melanogaster/vertebrates, which are expressed in corresponding non-overlapping patterns along the dorsal-ventral axis. While this conserved suite of “neural identity” gene expression strongly suggests a common ancestral origin for the patterning systems, it is unclear whether the original regulatory mechanisms establishing these patterns have been similarly conserved during evolution. In Drosophila, genetic evidence suggests that Bone Morphogenetic Proteins (BMPs) act in a dosage-dependent fashion to repress expression of neural identity genes. BMPs also play a dose-dependent role in patterning the dorsal and lateral regions of the vertebrate CNS, however, the mechanism by which they achieve such patterning has not yet been clearly established. In this report, we examine the mechanisms by which BMPs act on cis-regulatory modules (CRMs) that control localized expression of the Drosophila msh and zebrafish (Danio rerio) msxB in the dorsal central nervous system (CNS). Our analysis suggests that BMPs act differently in these organisms to regulate similar patterns of gene expression in the neuroectoderm: repressing msh expression in Drosophila, while activating msxB expression in the zebrafish. These findings suggest that the mechanisms by which the BMP gradient patterns the dorsal neuroectoderm have reversed since the divergence of these two ancient lineages. PMID:25210771

Pediatric brain tumor cancer stem cells: cell cycle dynamics, DNA repair, and etoposide extrusion

PubMed Central

Hussein, Deema; Punjaruk, Wiyada; Storer, Lisa C.D.; Shaw, Lucy; Ottoman, Ramadan; Peet, Andrew; Miller, Suzanne; Bandopadhyay, Gagori; Heath, Rachel; Kumari, Rajendra; Bowman, Karen J.; Braker, Paul; Rahman, Ruman; Jones, George D.D.; Watson, Susan; Lowe, James; Kerr, Ian D.; Grundy, Richard G.; Coyle, Beth

2011-01-01

Reliable model systems are needed to elucidate the role cancer stem cells (CSCs) play in pediatric brain tumor drug resistance. The majority of studies to date have focused on clinically distinct adult tumors and restricted tumor types. Here, the CSC component of 7 newly established primary pediatric cell lines (2 ependymomas, 2 medulloblastomas, 2 gliomas, and a CNS primitive neuroectodermal tumor) was thoroughly characterized. Comparison of DNA copy number with the original corresponding tumor demonstrated that genomic changes present in the original tumor, typical of that particular tumor type, were retained in culture. In each case, the CSC component was approximately 3–4-fold enriched in neurosphere culture compared with monolayer culture, and a higher capacity for multilineage differentiation was observed for neurosphere-derived cells. DNA content profiles of neurosphere-derived cells expressing the CSC marker nestin demonstrated the presence of cells in all phases of the cell cycle, indicating that not all CSCs are quiescent. Furthermore, neurosphere-derived cells demonstrated an increased resistance to etoposide compared with monolayer-derived cells, having lower initial DNA damage, potentially due to a combination of increased drug extrusion by ATP-binding cassette multidrug transporters and enhanced rates of DNA repair. Finally, orthotopic xenograft models reflecting the tumor of origin were established from these cell lines. In summary, these cell lines and the approach taken provide a robust model system that can be used to develop our understanding of the biology of CSCs in pediatric brain tumors and other cancer types and to preclinically test therapeutic agents. PMID:20978004

Pediatric brain tumor cancer stem cells: cell cycle dynamics, DNA repair, and etoposide extrusion.

PubMed

Hussein, Deema; Punjaruk, Wiyada; Storer, Lisa C D; Shaw, Lucy; Othman, Ramadhan; Ottoman, Ramadan; Peet, Andrew; Miller, Suzanne; Bandopadhyay, Gagori; Heath, Rachel; Kumari, Rajendra; Bowman, Karen J; Braker, Paul; Rahman, Ruman; Jones, George D D; Watson, Susan; Lowe, James; Kerr, Ian D; Grundy, Richard G; Coyle, Beth

2011-01-01

Reliable model systems are needed to elucidate the role cancer stem cells (CSCs) play in pediatric brain tumor drug resistance. The majority of studies to date have focused on clinically distinct adult tumors and restricted tumor types. Here, the CSC component of 7 newly established primary pediatric cell lines (2 ependymomas, 2 medulloblastomas, 2 gliomas, and a CNS primitive neuroectodermal tumor) was thoroughly characterized. Comparison of DNA copy number with the original corresponding tumor demonstrated that genomic changes present in the original tumor, typical of that particular tumor type, were retained in culture. In each case, the CSC component was approximately 3-4-fold enriched in neurosphere culture compared with monolayer culture, and a higher capacity for multilineage differentiation was observed for neurosphere-derived cells. DNA content profiles of neurosphere-derived cells expressing the CSC marker nestin demonstrated the presence of cells in all phases of the cell cycle, indicating that not all CSCs are quiescent. Furthermore, neurosphere-derived cells demonstrated an increased resistance to etoposide compared with monolayer-derived cells, having lower initial DNA damage, potentially due to a combination of increased drug extrusion by ATP-binding cassette multidrug transporters and enhanced rates of DNA repair. Finally, orthotopic xenograft models reflecting the tumor of origin were established from these cell lines. In summary, these cell lines and the approach taken provide a robust model system that can be used to develop our understanding of the biology of CSCs in pediatric brain tumors and other cancer types and to preclinically test therapeutic agents.

The case for DNA methylation based molecular profiling to improve diagnostic accuracy for central nervous system embryonal tumors (not otherwise specified) in adults.

PubMed

Halliday, Gail C; Junckerstorff, Reimar C; Bentel, Jacqueline M; Miles, Andrew; Jones, David T W; Hovestadt, Volker; Capper, David; Endersby, Raelene; Cole, Catherine H; van Hagen, Tom; Gottardo, Nicholas G

2018-01-01

Central nervous system primitive neuro-ectodermal tumors (CNS-PNETs), have recently been re-classified in the most recent 2016 WHO Classification into a standby catch all category, "CNS Embryonal Tumor, not otherwise specified" (CNS embryonal tumor, NOS) based on epigenetic, biologic and histopathologic criteria. CNS embryonal tumors (NOS) are a rare, histologically and molecularly heterogeneous group of tumors that predominantly affect children, and occasionally adults. Diagnosis of this entity continues to be challenging and the ramifications of misdiagnosis of this aggressive class of brain tumors are significant. We report the case of a 45-year-old woman who was diagnosed with a central nervous system embryonal tumor (NOS) based on immunohistochemical analysis of the patient's tumor at diagnosis. However, later genome-wide methylation profiling of the diagnostic tumor undertaken to guide treatment, revealed characteristics most consistent with IDH-mutant astrocytoma. DNA sequencing and immunohistochemistry confirmed the presence of IDH1 and ATRX mutations resulting in a revised diagnosis of high-grade small cell astrocytoma, and the implementation of a less aggressive treatment regime tailored more appropriately to the patient's tumor type. This case highlights the inadequacy of histology alone for the diagnosis of brain tumours and the utility of methylation profiling and integrated genomic analysis for the diagnostic verification of adults with suspected CNS embryonal tumor (NOS), and is consistent with the increasing realization in the field that a combined diagnostic approach based on clinical, histopathological and molecular data is required to more accurately distinguish brain tumor subtypes and inform more effective therapy. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

PAX3-FOXO1 transgenic zebrafish models identify HES3 as a mediator of rhabdomyosarcoma tumorigenesis.

PubMed

Kendall, Genevieve C; Watson, Sarah; Xu, Lin; LaVigne, Collette A; Murchison, Whitney; Rakheja, Dinesh; Skapek, Stephen X; Tirode, Franck; Delattre, Olivier; Amatruda, James F

2018-06-05

Alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma is a pediatric soft-tissue sarcoma caused by PAX3/7-FOXO1 fusion oncogenes and is characterized by impaired skeletal muscle development. We developed human PAX3-FOXO1 -driven zebrafish models of tumorigenesis and found that PAX3-FOXO1 exhibits discrete cell lineage susceptibility and transformation. Tumors developed by 1.6-19 months and were primitive neuroectodermal tumors or rhabdomyosarcoma. We applied this PAX3-FOXO1 transgenic zebrafish model to study how PAX3-FOXO1 leverages early developmental pathways for oncogenesis and found that her3 is a unique target. Ectopic expression of the her3 human ortholog, HES3 , inhibits myogenesis in zebrafish and mammalian cells, recapitulating the arrested muscle development characteristic of rhabdomyosarcoma. In patients, HES3 is overexpressed in fusion-positive versus fusion-negative tumors. Finally, HES3 overexpression is associated with reduced survival in patients in the context of the fusion. Our novel zebrafish rhabdomyosarcoma model identifies a new PAX3-FOXO1 target, her3 / HES3 , that contributes to impaired myogenic differentiation and has prognostic significance in human disease. © 2018, Kendall et al.

TFG-MET fusion in an infantile spindle cell sarcoma with neural features.

PubMed

Flucke, Uta; van Noesel, Max M; Wijnen, Marc; Zhang, Lei; Chen, Chun-Liang; Sung, Yun-Shao; Antonescu, Cristina R

2017-09-01

An increasing number of congenital and infantile sarcomas displaying a primitive, monomorphic spindle cell phenotype have been characterized to harbor recurrent gene fusions, including infantile fibrosarcoma and congenital spindle cell rhabdomyosarcoma. Here, we report an unusual spindle cell sarcoma presenting as a large and infiltrative pelvic soft tissue mass in a 4-month-old girl, which revealed a novel TFG-MET gene fusion by whole transcriptome RNA sequencing. The tumor resembled the morphology of an infantile fibrosarcoma with both fascicular and patternless growth, however, it expressed strong S100 protein immunoreactivity, while lacking SOX10 staining and retaining H3K27me3 expression. Although this immunoprofile suggested partial neural/neuroectodermal differentiation, overall features were unusual and did not fit into any known tumor types (cellular schwannoma, MPNST), raising the possibility of a novel pathologic entity. The TFG-MET gene fusion expands the genetic spectrum implicated in the pathogenesis of congenital spindle cell sarcomas, with yet another example of kinase oncogenic activation through chromosomal translocation. The discovery of this new fusion is significant since the resulting MET activation can potentially be inhibited by targeted therapy, as MET inhibitors are presently available in clinical trials. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A case-control study of childhood brain tumors and fathers' hobbies: a Children's Oncology Group study.

PubMed

Rosso, Andrea L; Hovinga, Mary E; Rorke-Adams, Lucy B; Spector, Logan G; Bunin, Greta R

2008-12-01

A comprehensive case-control study was conducted to evaluate parental risk factors for medulloblastoma (MB) and primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET). This analysis was conducted to evaluate associations between fathers' hobbies and risk of their children developing MB/PNET. The hobbies chosen for study were those with similar exposures as occupations associated with childhood cancers. Cases were 318 subjects under six years of age at diagnosis between 1991 and 1997 and registered with the Children's Cancer Group. An equal number of controls were selected through random digit dialing and individually matched to cases. In multivariate analyses, a significant association was seen for lawn care with pesticides [during pregnancy: odds ratio (OR) = 1.6, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.0, 2.5; after birth: OR = 1.8, 95% CI: 1.2, 2.8] and a weak association was seen for stripping paint [during pregnancy: OR = 1.4, 95% CI: 0.8, 2.6; after birth: OR = 1.4, 95% CI: 0.7, 2.6]. This study suggests that household exposures from hobbies, particularly pesticides, may increase risk of MB/PNET in children; previous research has been mostly limited to occupational exposures.

A CASE-CONTROL STUDY OF CHILDHOOD BRAIN TUMORS AND FATHERS’ HOBBIES — A CHILDREN’S ONCOLOGY GROUP STUDY

PubMed Central

Rosso, Andrea L.; Hovinga, Mary E.; Rorke-Adams, Lucy B.; Spector, Logan G.; Bunin, Greta R.

2009-01-01

Objective A comprehensive case-control study was conducted to evaluate parental risk factors for medulloblastoma (MB) and primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET). This analysis was conducted to evaluate associations between fathers’ hobbies and risk of their children developing MB/PNET. The hobbies chosen for study were those with similar exposures as occupations associated with childhood cancers. Methods Cases were 318 subjects under 6 years of age at diagnosis between 1991-1997 and registered with the Children’s Cancer Group. An equal number of controls were selected through random digit dialing and individually matched to cases. Results In multivariate analyses, a significant association was seen for lawn care with pesticides [during pregnancy: odds ratio (OR) = 1.6, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.0, 2.5; after birth: OR = 1.8, 95% CI: 1.2, 2.8] and a weak association was seen for stripping paint [during pregnancy: OR = 1.4, 95% CI: 0.8, 2.6; after birth: OR = 1.4, 95% CI: 0.7, 2.6]. Conclusions This study suggests that household exposures from hobbies, particularly pesticides, may increase risk of MB/PNET in children; previous research has been mostly limited to occupational exposures. PMID:18560982

On Synchronization Primitive Systems.

DTIC Science & Technology

The report studies the question: what synchronization primitive should be used to handle inter-process communication. A formal model is presented...between these synchronization primitives. Although only four synchronization primitives are compared, the general methods can be used to compare other... synchronization primitives. Moreover, in the definitions of these synchronization primitives, conditional branches are explicitly allowed. In addition

[Primitive cutaneous Ewing's sarcoma: a diagnostic and therapeutic dilemma].

PubMed

Delaplace, M; Mélard, P; Perrinaud, A; Goré, C; Vergier, B; Machet, L

2011-05-01

Ewing's sarcoma (or peripheral neuroectodermal tumour) is generally found in bone tissue, and a primary dermal site is extremely rare. We report a case of primary cutaneous Ewing's sarcoma in a 21-year-old woman. A 21-year-old woman presented with a scapular lesion that had been slowly developing for one year. The 1-cm lesion was removed and histological examination showed proliferation of small round cells in the dermis. Immunostaining revealed cytoplasmic membrane expression of CD99 and a negative immunoprofile for other small round-cell tumors. Ewing's sarcoma fusion gene transcripts were detected using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). A staging examination revealed no other abnormalities. It was decided to treat the lesion as for osseous Ewing's sarcoma with wide resection followed by systemic adjuvant chemotherapy. Cutaneous Ewing's sarcoma raises concerns about diagnosis and treatment. Owing to the non-specificity of its clinical presentation, histology and immunoprofile, diagnosis of superficial Ewing's sarcoma is difficult and numerous differential diagnoses must be considered. When dealing with a surface tumour, the diagnosis of cutaneous Ewing's sarcoma must be considered. CD99 immunostaining and molecular testing for evidence of EWSR1 rearrangement are useful investigations to confirm the diagnosis. Furthermore, modalities of treatment must be carefully discussed. Cutaneous Ewing's sarcoma is currently treated in the same way as osseous Ewing's sarcoma (wide surgical excision, adjuvant radiotherapy when surgical margins are unsatisfactory, systemic adjuvant chemotherapy, and, in some cases, bone marrow transplant). However, some studies show a more favourable prognosis for cutaneous Ewing's sarcoma than for osseous Ewing's sarcoma. We may thus ask whether such aggressive multimodal treatment is needed. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

[Novel concepts in biology of diffuse endocrine system: results and future investigations].

PubMed

Iaglov, V V; Iaglova, N V

2012-01-01

Diffuse endocrine system is a largest part of endocrine system of vertebrates. Recend findings showed that DES-cells are not neuroectodermal but have ectodermal, mesodermal, and entodermal ontogeny. The article reviews novel concept of diffuse endocrine system anatomy and physiology, functional role of DES hormones and poorly investigated aspects like DES-cell morphology, hormones secretion in normal and pathologic conditions. Further research of diffuse endocrine system has a great significance for biochemistry, morphology, and clinical medicine.

Origin of Ameloblastoma From Basal Cells of the Oral Epithelium- Establishing the Relation Using Neuroectodermal Markers

PubMed Central

Suneela, S; Narayan, T V; Shreedhar, Balasundari; Mohanty, Leeky; Shenoy, Sadhana; Swaminathan, Uma

2014-01-01

Background and Objectives: Basal cell layer of the oral epithelium has been rightfully regarded as a potential source of odontogenic tumours and cysts, but, without substantial evidence. Also, whether the basal cell layer retains within it, some properties of ectomesenchyme, which was imbibed during the early embryogenesis and hence its neuroectodermal relation, is not known. Here, an attempt is made to establish the hidden neuroectodermal potential of the oral epithelium, especially the basal layer, by observing the expression of known neuroectodermal markers, NSE (Neuron Specific Enolase), Synaptophysin and CD99. The expression of the same markers has also been studied in Ameloblastoma, connecting it with oral epithelium, in turn establishing basal cell layer as a potential source of Ameloblastoma. Materials and Methods: Sections of formalin fixed, paraffin embedded tissue samples of 20 cases of Ameloblastoma and 10 cases of Normal Retromolar mucosa, were stained immunohistochemically with NSE, Synaptophysin, CD99 and also with CK-19 and evaluated for positive expression. Results: Positive reaction was obtained in all the cases of Ameloblastoma and NRM (Normal Retromolar mucosa) with NSE, all the cases of Ameloblastoma and eight cases of NRM with Synaptophysin and in six cases of Ameloblastoma and NRM with CD99. The staining was diffuse and more marked in case of NSE than Synaptophysin and CD99. CK19 staining done to assure that the tissue antigenicity was maintained was positive in all the samples. Interpretation and Conclusion: A strong relationship between the neuroectoderm, Ameloblastoma and the basal layer of the oral epithelium is established by the study. It favours the hypothesis that the basal cell layer of oral mucosa may be the sought out culprit in most cases of the Ameloblastomas, especially those occurring in the non-tooth bearing area. This would call for the need to incorporate additional therapy in the form of mucosal striping along with the conventional treatment. PMID:25478446

Melanotic neuroectodermal tumour of infancy at the anterior fontanelle.

PubMed

Nishio, S; Morioka, T; Murakami, N; Fukui, M; Inamitsu, T; Ishihara, S

1999-03-01

We describe a 4-month-old girl presenting with a melanotic neuroectodermal tumour of infancy at the anterior fontanelle. According to the neuroimaging findings, this tumour was found to lie epidurally, adherent to the dura mater, with thickening of the adjacent frontal bone. The tumour was dense on CT, while MRI showed a major part of the tumour to be isointense with cerebral cortex on both T1- and T2-weighted images. The neuroimaging and clinical features are briefly discussed.

A well-known lesion in an unusual location: infantile myofibroma of the eyelid: a case report and review of literature.

PubMed

Asadi Amoli, Fahimeh; Sina, Amir Hossein; Kasai, Aboulfazl; Ayan, Zahra

2010-01-01

Myofibroma is a neoplasia of myofibroblasts that can be solitary or multiple and it is found most commonly in the head & neck region including scalp, forehead, parotid region and oral cavity. In the eyelid it is rarely reported. It has a benign course in the solitary form and fatal in its multiple form. A 4 month male infant referred to Farabi hospital -the referral center for eye diseases- with a 2 month history of a mass in his eyelid with gradual enlargement with no other complaints. The only abnormal physical finding was a 2.5 cm mass in the eyelid. This mass was excised and sent to the hospital pathology laboratory. When confronting a spindle cell lesion with a nodular or multinodular growth pattern which appears biphasic due to alteration of light and dark staining areas, the surgical pathologist should think to the possibility of myofibroma. Its pattern of growth and architecture rules out the other differential diagnoses like nodular fasciitis, fibrous histiocytoma, infantile fibromatosis, and peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumor, mesenchymal chondrosarcoma, malignant hemangiopericytoma, juvenile fibrosarcoma and poorly differentiated synovial sarcoma. In difficult cases immunohistochemical staining is helpful that is Vimentin & Actin positivity & Desmin, CK, EMA & S100 negativity.

Blue Cell Tumour at Unusual Site: Retropritoneal Ewings Sarcoma.

PubMed

Javalgi, Anita P; Karigoudar, Mahesh H; Palur, Katyayani

2016-04-01

Ewing's sarcoma is a highly malignant tumour of osseous or non-osseous origin, tremed as extra-skeletal Ewings sarcoma if arising from soft tissue. It is rare occurrence tumor most commonly occurring in paravertebral area, chest wall, head & neck and retroperitoneum. Reporting an interesting case of retroperitoneal Ewing's sarcoma in 39 years old female. Patient had complains of abdominal discomfort & vague pain since 2 months, following weakness in lower limb and loss of weight. On detail history and examination she was further referred to detail pathological and radiological investigations. Haematological profile, renal function test and liver function test were in normal limits. USG abdomen was normal, MRI showed a mass in pelvis retroperitoneum measuring 10x10cms, bilateral ovaries and tubes were normal. Because of retroperitoneal nature of tumor and suspicion of uterine sarcoma, laparotomy was performed. The large retroperitoneal mass adherent to posterior of uterus was excised and send for histopathological diagnosis. On gross and microscopy examination the diagnosis of blue cell tumor with PAS positivity, possibility of extraskeletal Ewing's sarcoma/primitive neuro-ectodermal tumor was made which was further confirmed by immunohistochemistry, positive for S100, Vementin and CD99 and negative for desmin and CK. Confirmed diagnosis help in accurate management and improves survival rate.

Small round blue cell tumors of the sinonasal tract: a differential diagnosis approach.

PubMed

Thompson, Lester Dr

2017-01-01

One of the most challenging diagnostic categories within tumors of the sinonasal tract is the small round blue cell tumors. Biopsies are usually small and limited, resulting in considerable diagnostic difficulty for practicing surgical pathologists. These tumors share several overlapping histologic and immunophenotypic findings while also showing considerable variation within and between cases. Specific tumor site of origin, imaging findings, and clinical findings must be combined with the histology and pertinent ancillary studies if the correct diagnosis is to be reached. Discrimination between neoplasms is critical as there are significant differences in therapy and overall outcome. It is important to have a well developed differential diagnosis for this category of tumors, where each of the diagnoses is considered, evaluated, and either confirmed or excluded from further consideration. In an undifferentiated tumor, showing a small round blue cell morphology, using the mnemonic 'MR SLEEP' helps to highlight tumors to consider: melanoma, mesenchymal chondrosarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, sinonasal undifferentiated carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma (including NUT carcinoma), small cell osteosarcoma, lymphoma, esthesioneuroblastoma (olfactory neuroblastoma), Ewing sarcoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumor, pituitary adenoma, and plasmacytoma. A panel of pertinent immunohistochemistry studies, histochemistries and/or molecular tests should aid in reaching a diagnosis, especially when taking the pattern and intensity of reactions into consideration.

Detection of EWS/FLI-1 fusion in non-Ewing soft tissue tumors.

PubMed

Trancău, I O; Huică, R; Surcel, M; Munteanu, A; Ursaciuc, C

2015-01-01

EWS/FLI-1 fusion mainly appears in Ewing's sarcoma or the primitive neuroectodermal tumors and represents a genomic marker for these tumors. However, it can appear with lower frequency in other soft tissue tumors. The paper investigates the presence of EWS/FLI-1 fusion in clinically diagnosed sarcoma belonging to different non-Ewing connective tissue tumors in order to search for a possible new biomarker valuable for investigators. 20 patients with soft tissue tumors, who underwent surgery, were tested. Intra-operative samples of normal and tumor tissue were collected for histopathological diagnosis and genetics determinations. The patients' RNA from tumor and normal peritumoral tissue was extracted and EWS/FLI-1 fusion screened by quantitative real-time PCR. The relative expression of the fusion in the tumor sample was compared to the similar expression in normal tissue. The amplification in the threshold zone was shown by 5 samples (25%): 2 clear cell sarcoma, 1 fibrosarcoma, 1 malignant tumor of nerve sheath, 1 metastatic adenocarcinoma. We differentiated between the unspecific amplification and concluded that these are weak positive results. Genomic investigation may establish the tumor malignancy and its possible affiliation earlier than histopathology. It can support the screening of EWS/FLI-1 fusion in a larger variety of clinically diagnosed soft tissue tumors.

Immunohistochemical expression of WT1 by desmoplastic small round cell tumor: a comparative study with other small round cell tumors.

PubMed

Barnoud, R; Sabourin, J C; Pasquier, D; Ranchère, D; Bailly, C; Terrier-Lacombe, M J; Pasquier, B

2000-06-01

Desmoplastic small round cell tumors (DSRCTs) present a reciprocal chromosomal translocation, t(11;22)(p13;q12), that results in fusion of Ewing's sarcoma and Wilms' tumor (WT1) genes. The authors evaluated 15 DSRCTs and 71 other tumors often considered in the differential diagnosis for immunoreactivity using a polyclonal antibody directed against the WT1 part of the chimeric protein resulting from this translocation. WT1 immunostaining was performed on paraffin material using the WT(C-19) antibody after heat-antigen retrieval. All the DSRCTs (15 of 15, 100%) demonstrated strong WT1 nuclear immunoreactivity. Ten of 14 nephroblastomas (71%) disclosed WT1-positive nuclei in accordance with the staining reported by others, and rare and focal nuclear positivity was detected in two of 17 rhabdomyosarcomas. WT1 immunoreactivity was not observed in Ewing's sarcoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumors (zero of 21, 0%), neuroblastomas (zero of 17, 0%), or rhabdoid tumors of the kidney (zero of two, 0%). In nephroblastoma, differential diagnosis with DSRCT was not difficult: Clinical and morphologic data are not similar for these two entities. The current study validates WT1 immunoreactivity as a useful marker to separate DSRCT from other small round cell tumors.

Model-Free Primitive-Based Iterative Learning Control Approach to Trajectory Tracking of MIMO Systems With Experimental Validation.

PubMed

Radac, Mircea-Bogdan; Precup, Radu-Emil; Petriu, Emil M

2015-11-01

This paper proposes a novel model-free trajectory tracking of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems by the combination of iterative learning control (ILC) and primitives. The optimal trajectory tracking solution is obtained in terms of previously learned solutions to simple tasks called primitives. The library of primitives that are stored in memory consists of pairs of reference input/controlled output signals. The reference input primitives are optimized in a model-free ILC framework without using knowledge of the controlled process. The guaranteed convergence of the learning scheme is built upon a model-free virtual reference feedback tuning design of the feedback decoupling controller. Each new complex trajectory to be tracked is decomposed into the output primitives regarded as basis functions. The optimal reference input for the control system to track the desired trajectory is next recomposed from the reference input primitives. This is advantageous because the optimal reference input is computed straightforward without the need to learn from repeated executions of the tracking task. In addition, the optimization problem specific to trajectory tracking of square MIMO systems is decomposed in a set of optimization problems assigned to each separate single-input single-output control channel that ensures a convenient model-free decoupling. The new model-free primitive-based ILC approach is capable of planning, reasoning, and learning. A case study dealing with the model-free control tuning for a nonlinear aerodynamic system is included to validate the new approach. The experimental results are given.

Comparative Anatomy of Maintenance Tasks (CAMT): A Feasibility Study

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-03-01

systems. Methods for task primitive definition were developed, then taken into the field for testing . Task primitives were defined to cover three remove...engine maintenance) and to test whether task primitives developed for one weapon system could have applicability to other weapon systems (Phase 2...requirements, levying MPT constraints and predicting MPT requirements are only ritualistic exercises until the operational test and evaluation of a

[Undifferentiated soft tissue tumor with rhabdoid phenotype (extra-renal rhabdoid tumor). Report of a congenital case associated with medulloblastoma in a brother].

PubMed

Costes, V; Medioni, D; Durand, L; Sarran, N; Marguerite, G; Baldet, P

1997-03-01

We report a case of congenital cervical rhabdoid tumor with association of a medulloblastoma in a brother. The immunohistochemical features of this tumor are compatible with a neuroectodermal differentiation (MIC 2+, Leu 7+). Extrarenal rhabdoid tumors share a common morphology but do not represent a single entity with only one histogenesis. Most of them are now considered to be of neuroectodermal origin. In our case, the association with a medulloblastoma in a brother seems to confirm this concept.

[Outstanding problems of normal and pathological morphology of the diffuse endocrine system].

PubMed

Iaglov, V V; Iaglova, N V

2011-01-01

The diffuse endocrine system (DES)--a mosaic-cellular endoepithelial gland--is the biggest part of the human endocrine system. Scientists used to consider cells of DES as neuroectodermal. According to modem data cells of DES are different cytogenetic types because they develop from the different embryonic blastophyllum. So that any hormone-active tumors originated from DES of the digestive, respiratory and urogenital system shouldn't be considered as neuroendocrinal tumors. The basic problems of DES morphology and pathology are the creation of scientifically substantiated histogenetic classification of DES tumors.

The Spemann organizer meets the anterior-most neuroectoderm at the equator of early gastrulae in amphibian species

PubMed Central

Yanagi, Takanori; Ito, Kenta; Nishihara, Akiha; Minamino, Reika; Mori, Shoko; Sumida, Masayuki; Hashimoto, Chikara

2015-01-01

The dorsal blastopore lip (known as the Spemann organizer) is important for making the body plan in amphibian gastrulation. The organizer is believed to involute inward and migrate animally to make physical contact with the prospective head neuroectoderm at the blastocoel roof of mid- to late-gastrula. However, we found that this physical contact was already established at the equatorial region of very early gastrula in a wide variety of amphibian species. Here we propose a unified model of amphibian gastrulation movement. In the model, the organizer is present at the blastocoel roof of blastulae, moves vegetally to locate at the region that lies from the blastocoel floor to the dorsal lip at the onset of gastrulation. The organizer located at the blastocoel floor contributes to the anterior axial mesoderm including the prechordal plate, and the organizer at the dorsal lip ends up as the posterior axial mesoderm. During the early step of gastrulation, the anterior organizer moves to establish the physical contact with the prospective neuroectoderm through the “subduction and zippering” movements. Subduction makes a trench between the anterior organizer and the prospective neuroectoderm, and the tissues face each other via the trench. Zippering movement, with forming Brachet's cleft, gradually closes the gap to establish the contact between them. The contact is completed at the equator of early gastrulae and it continues throughout the gastrulation. After the contact is established, the dorsal axis is formed posteriorly, but not anteriorly. The model also implies the possibility of constructing a common model of gastrulation among chordate species. PMID:25754292

Comparison of endoscope- versus microscope-assisted resection of deep-seated intracranial lesions using a minimally invasive port retractor system.

PubMed

Hong, Christopher S; Prevedello, Daniel M; Elder, J Bradley

2016-03-01

Tubular brain retractors may improve access to deep-seated brain lesions while potentially reducing the risks of collateral neurological injury associated with standard microsurgical approaches. Here, microscope-assisted resection of lesions using tubular retractors is assessed to determine if it is superior to endoscope-assisted surgery due to the technological advancements associated with modern tubular ports and surgical microscopes. Following institutional approval of the tubular port, data obtained from the initial 20 patients to undergo transportal resection of deep-seated brain lesions were analyzed in this study. The pathological entities of the resected tissues included metastatic tumors (8 patients), glioma (7), meningioma (1), neurocytoma (1), radiation necrosis (1), primitive neuroectodermal tumor (1), and hemangioblastoma (1). Surgery incorporated endoscopic (5 patients) or microscopic (15) assistance. The locations included the basal ganglia (11 patients), cerebellum (4), frontal lobe (2), temporal lobe (2), and parietal lobe (1). Cases were reviewed for neurological outcomes, extent of resection (EOR), and complications. Technical data for the port, surgical microscope, and endoscope were analyzed. EOR was considered total in 14 (70%), near total (> 95%) in 4 (20%), and subtotal (< 90%) in 2 (10%) of 20 patients. Incomplete resection was associated with the basal ganglia location (p < 0.05) and use of the endoscope (p < 0.002). Four of 5 (80%) endoscope-assisted cases were near-total (2) or subtotal (2) resection. Histopathological diagnosis, presenting neurological symptoms, and demographics were not associated with EOR. Complication rates were low and similar between groups. Initial experience with tubular retractors favors use of the microscope rather than the endoscope due to a wider and 3D field of view. Improved microscope optics and tubular retractor design allows for binocular vision with improved lighting for the resection of deep-seated brain lesions.

High-level expression of podoplanin in benign and malignant soft tissue tumors: immunohistochemical and quantitative real-time RT-PCR analysis.

PubMed

Xu, Yongjun; Ogose, Akira; Kawashima, Hiroyuki; Hotta, Tetsuo; Ariizumi, Takashi; Li, Guidong; Umezu, Hajime; Endo, Naoto

2011-03-01

Podoplanin is a 38 kDa mucin-type transmembrane glycoprotein that was first identified in rat glomerular epithelial cells (podocytes). It is expressed in normal lymphatic endothelium, but is absent from vascular endothelial cells. D2-40 is a commercially available mouse monoclonal antibody which binds to an epitope on human podoplanin. D2-40 immunoreactivity is therefore highly sensitive and specific for lymphatic endothelium. Recent investigations have shown widespread applications of immunohistochemical staining with D2-40 in evaluating podoplanin expression as an immunohistochemical marker for diagnosis and prognosis in various tumors. To determine whether the podoplanin (D2-40) antibody may be useful for the diagnosis of soft tissue tumors, 125 cases, including 4 kinds of benign tumors, 15 kinds of malignant tumors and 3 kinds of tumor-like lesions were immunostained using the D2-40 antibody. Total RNA was extracted from frozen tumor tissue obtained from 41 corresponding soft tissue tumor patients and 12 kinds of soft tissue tumor cell lines. Quantitative real-time PCR reactions were performed. Immunohistochemical and quantitative real-time RT-PCR analyses demonstrated the expression of the podoplanin protein and mRNA in the majority of benign and malignant soft tissue tumors and tumor-like lesions examined, with the exception of alveolar soft part sarcoma, embryonal and alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, extraskeletal Ewing's sarcoma/peripheral primitive neuro-ectodermal tumor and lipoma, which were completely negative for podoplanin. Since it is widely and highly expressed in nearly all kinds of soft tissue tumors, especially in spindle cell sarcoma, myxoid type soft tissue tumors and soft tissue tumors of the nervous system, podoplanin is considered to have little value in the differential diagnosis of soft tissue tumors.

Proton Therapy in Children: A Systematic Review of Clinical Effectiveness in 15 Pediatric Cancers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Leroy, Roos, E-mail: Roos.leroy@kce.fgov.be; Benahmed, Nadia; Hulstaert, Frank

Because it spares many normal tissues and reduces the integral dose, proton therapy (PT) is the preferred tumor irradiation technique for treating childhood cancer. However, to the best of our knowledge, no systematic review of the clinical effectiveness of PT in children has been reported in the scientific literature. A systematic search for clinical outcome studies on PT published between 2007 and 2015 was performed in Medline (through OVID), EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library. Twenty-three primary studies were identified, including approximately 650 patients overall. The median/mean follow-up times were limited (range, 19-91 months). None of the studies were randomized, 2 weremore » comparative, and 20 were retrospective. Most suffered from serious methodologic limitations, yielding a very low level of clinical evidence for the outcomes in all indications. For example, for retinoblastoma, very low-level evidence was found that PT might decrease the incidence of second malignancies. For chondrosarcoma, chordoma, craniopharyngioma, ependymoma, esthesioneuroblastoma, Ewing sarcoma, central nervous system germinoma, glioma, medulloblastoma, osteosarcoma, and rhabdomyosarcoma, there was insufficient evidence to either support or refute PT in children. For pelvic sarcoma (ie, nonrhabdomyosarcoma and non-Ewing sarcoma), pineal parenchymal tumor, primitive neuroectodermal tumor, and “adult-type” soft tissue sarcoma, no studies were identified that fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Although there is no doubt that PT reduces the radiation dose to normal tissues and organs, to date the critical clinical data on the long-term effectiveness and harm associated with the use of PT in the 15 pediatric cancers under investigation are lacking. High-quality clinical research in this area is needed.« less

Physics of the primitive solar nebula and of giant gaseous protoplanets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cameron, A. G. W.

1978-01-01

It has been proposed that the supernova responsible for injecting Al-26 into the early solar system was in fact responsible for triggering the collapse of an interstellar cloud in order to produce a system of stars, one of which would be the solar system. Details concerning the mechanism involved in such a process are discussed. Attention is given to the evolution of the primitive solar nebula, the instabilities in the primitive solar nebula, and the giant gaseous protoplanets. The principal conclusion to be drawn from the material presented is that the primitive solar nebula was a rather chaotic place, highly turbulent, with the multiple formation of giant gaseous protoplanets.

Melanotic neuroectodermal tumor of the neurocranium in infancy.

PubMed

Walsh, J W; Strand, R D

1982-01-01

Melanotic neuroectodermal tumors of the neurocranium are a rare but life-threatening disorder of infancy. 11 previously reported cases are reviewed in terms of clinical presentation, radiological diagnosis, and management. A twelfth case, a 4-month-old infant who developed three discrete sites of tumor unilaterally in the neurocranium is presented. Several hypotheses for the mechanism of formation of these tumors are reviewed. The authors propose that the mechanism of formation involves a dysontogenesis of neural crest tissue and that these tumors form, at least in part, from fragments of melanin-containing arachnoid villi which are displaced during embryonic development.

Using Parallel Processing for Problem Solving.

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-12-01

are the basic parallel proces- sing primitive . Different goals of the system can be pursued in parallel by placing them in separate activities...Language primitives are provided for manipulating running activities. Viewpoints are a generalization of context FOM -(over "*’ DD I FON 1473 ’EDITION OF I...arc the basic parallel processing primitive . Different goals of the system can be pursued in parallel by placing them in separate activities. Language

Childhood cancer incidence trends in association with US folic acid fortification (1986-2008).

PubMed

Linabery, Amy M; Johnson, Kimberly J; Ross, Julie A

2012-06-01

Epidemiologic evidence indicates that prenatal vitamin supplementation reduces risk for some childhood cancers; however, a systematic evaluation of population-based childhood cancer incidence trends after fortification of enriched grain products with folic acid in the United States in 1996-1998 has not been previously reported. Here we describe temporal trends in childhood cancer incidence in association with US folic acid fortification. Using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program data (1986-2008), we calculated incidence rate ratios and 95% confidence intervals to compare pre- and postfortification cancer incidence rates in children aged 0 to 4 years. Incidence trends were also evaluated by using joinpoint and loess regression models. From 1986 through 2008, 8829 children aged 0 to 4 years were diagnosed with malignancies, including 3790 and 3299 in utero during the pre- and postfortification periods, respectively. Pre- and postfortification incidence rates were similar for all cancers combined and for most specific cancer types. Rates of Wilms tumor (WT), primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNETs), and ependymomas were significantly lower postfortification. Joinpoint regression models detected increasing WT incidence from 1986 through 1997 followed by a sizable decline from 1997 through 2008, and increasing PNET incidence from 1986 through 1993 followed by a sharp decrease from 1993 through 2008. Loess curves indicated similar patterns. These results provide support for a decrease in WT and possibly PNET incidence, but not other childhood cancers, after US folic acid fortification.

Formation and Rupture of the Internal Carotid Artery Aneurysm after Multiple Courses of Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy for Management of the Skull Base Ewing Sarcoma/PNET: Case Report.

PubMed

Tamura, Manabu; Kogo, Kasei; Masuo, Osamu; Oura, Yoshinori; Matsumoto, Hiroyuki; Fujita, Koji; Nakao, Naoyuki; Uematsu, Yuji; Itakura, Toru; Chernov, Mikhail; Hayashi, Motohiro; Muragaki, Yoshihiro; Iseki, Hiroshi

2013-12-01

Background Aneurysm formation after stereotactic irradiation of skull base tumors is rare. The formation and rupture of an internal carotid artery (ICA) aneurysm in a patient with skull base Ewing sarcoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET), who underwent surgery followed by multiple courses of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and chemotherapy, is described. Case Description A 25-year-old man presented with a sinonasal tumor with intraorbital and intracranial growth. At that time cerebral angiography did not reveal any vascular abnormalities. The lesion was resected subtotally. Histopathologic diagnosis was Ewing sarcoma/PNET. The patient underwent multiple courses of chemotherapy and three courses of IMRT at 3, 28, and 42 months after initial surgery. The total biologically effective dose delivered to the right ICA was 220.2 Gy. Seven months after the third IMRT, the patient experienced profound nasal bleeding that resulted in hypovolemic shock. Angiography revealed a ruptured right C4-C5 aneurysm and irregular stenotic changes of the ICA. Lifesaving endovascular trapping of the right ICA was done. The patient recovered well after surgery but died due to tumor recurrence 6 months later. Conclusion Excessive irradiation of the ICA may occasionally result in aneurysm formation, which should be borne in mind during stereotactic irradiation of malignant skull base tumors.

Clinicopathological findings of primary esophageal malignant melanoma: report of six cases and review of literature.

PubMed

Zheng, Jinfeng; Mo, Haiying; Ma, Shufang; Wang, Zhenzheng

2014-01-01

We studied images and histopathological features of primary esophageal malignant melanoma to explore the clinical pathological features, diagnosis, differential diagnoses, and treatment. Immunolabelling was conducted on six cases of esophageal malignant melanoma using histological and immunohistochemical techniques. Combined with the related literature, the clinical manifestations, imaging, histopathological and immunohistochemical features, treatment, and prognosis of primary esophageal malignant melanoma were observed and analyzed. The six patients with primary esophageal malignant melanoma were all male with an average age of 63.4 years. Poor food intake was observed in all patients, and the symptoms showed progressive aggravation. Endoscopic feed tube revealed dark brown and black nodular and polypoid lesions, 1/4-1/2 loop cavity. Tumor histopathology revealed the following characteristics: tumor cells arranged in nests, sheets and cords, round or polygonal, abundant and red-stained cytoplasm, melanin granules in the cytoplasm, heterogeneous nucleus sizes, centered or deviated nuclei, clearly identifiable nucleoli, and apparent pathological mitosis. The immune phenotype was as follows: tumor cells had diffuse expression of HMB45, Melan A, and S100. The cells were CK negative, and the Ki67-positive cell number was 40%-45%. Primary esophageal malignant melanoma is rare with high malignancy and poor prognosis. Immunohistochemical staining is helpful for diagnosing this tumor. The differential diagnosis includes low differentiated carcinoma, primitive neuroectodermal tumor, esophageal sarcomatoid carcinoma, esophageal lymphoma, and other tumors.

Increased p53 immunopositivity in anaplastic medulloblastoma and supratentorial PNET is not caused by JC virus

PubMed Central

Eberhart, Charles G; Chaudhry, Aneeka; Daniel, Richard W; Khaki, Leila; Shah, Keerti V; Gravitt, Patti E

2005-01-01

Background p53 mutations are relatively uncommon in medulloblastoma, but abnormalities in this cell cycle pathway have been associated with anaplasia and worse clinical outcomes. We correlated p53 protein expression with pathological subtype and clinical outcome in 75 embryonal brain tumors. The presence of JC virus, which results in p53 protein accumulation, was also examined. Methods p53 protein levels were evaluated semi-quantitatively in 64 medulloblastomas, 3 atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumors (ATRT), and 8 supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumors (sPNET) using immunohistochemistry. JC viral sequences were analyzed in DNA extracted from 33 frozen medulloblastoma and PNET samples using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Results p53 expression was detected in 18% of non-anaplastic medulloblastomas, 45% of anaplastic medulloblastomas, 67% of ATRT, and 88% of sPNET. The increased p53 immunoreactivity in anaplastic medulloblastoma, ATRT, and sPNET was statistically significant. Log rank analysis of clinical outcome revealed significantly shorter survival in patients with p53 immunopositive embryonal tumors. No JC virus was identified in the embryonal brain tumor samples, while an endogenous human retrovirus (ERV-3) was readily detected. Conclusion Immunoreactivity for p53 protein is more common in anaplastic medulloblastomas, ATRT and sPNET than in non-anaplastic tumors, and is associated with worse clinical outcomes. However, JC virus infection is not responsible for increased levels of p53 protein. PMID:15717928

Metabolic brain imaging correlated with clinical features of brain tumors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Alavi, J.; Alavi, A.; Dann, R.

1985-05-01

Nineteen adults with brain tumors have been studied with positron emission tomography utilizing FDG. Fourteen had biopsy proven cerebral malignant glioma, one each had meningioma, hemangiopericytoma, primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET), two had unbiopsied lesions, and one patient had an area of biopsy proven radiation necrosis. Three different patterns of glucose metabolism are observed: marked increase in metabolism at the site of the known tumor in (10 high grade gliomas and the PNET), lower than normal metabolism at the tumor (in 1 grade II glioma, 3 grade III gliomas, 2 unbiopsied low density nonenhancing lesions, and the meningioma), no abnormality (1more » enhancing glioma, the hemangiopericytoma and the radiation necrosis.) The metabolic rate of the tumor or the surrounding brain did not appear to be correlated with the history of previous irradiation or chemotherapy. Decreased metabolism was frequently observed in the rest of the affected hemisphere and in the contralateral cerebellum. Tumors of high grade or with enhancing CT characteristics were more likely to show increased metabolism. Among the patients with proven gliomas, survival after PETT scan tended to be longer for those with low metabolic activity tumors than for those with highly active tumors. The authors conclude that PETT may help to predict the malignant potential of tumors, and may add useful clinical information to the CT scan.« less

p53 Restoration in Induction and Maintenance of Senescence: Differential Effects in Premalignant and Malignant Tumor Cells

PubMed Central

Harajly, Mohamad; Zalzali, Hasan; Nawaz, Zafar; Ghayad, Sandra E.; Ghamloush, Farah; Basma, Hussein; Zainedin, Samiha; Rabeh, Wissam; Jabbour, Mark; Tawil, Ayman; Badro, Danielle A.; Evan, Gerard I.

2015-01-01

The restoration of p53 has been suggested as a therapeutic approach in tumors. However, the timing of p53 restoration in relation to its efficacy during tumor progression still is unclear. We now show that the restoration of p53 in murine premalignant proliferating pineal lesions resulted in cellular senescence, while p53 restoration in invasive pineal tumors did not. The effectiveness of p53 restoration was not dependent on p19Arf expression but showed an inverse correlation with Mdm2 expression. In tumor cells, p53 restoration became effective when paired with either DNA-damaging therapy or with nutlin, an inhibitor of p53-Mdm2 interaction. Interestingly, the inactivation of p53 after senescence resulted in reentry into the cell cycle and rapid tumor progression. The evaluation of a panel of human supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumors (sPNET) showed low activity of the p53 pathway. Together, these data suggest that the restoration of the p53 pathway has different effects in premalignant versus invasive pineal tumors, and that p53 activation needs to be continually sustained, as reversion from senescence occurs rapidly with aggressive tumor growth when p53 is lost again. Finally, p53 restoration approaches may be worth exploring in sPNET, where the p53 gene is intact but the pathway is inactive in the majority of examined tumors. PMID:26598601

PMS2 mutations in childhood cancer.

PubMed

De Vos, Michel; Hayward, Bruce E; Charlton, Ruth; Taylor, Graham R; Glaser, Adam W; Picton, Susan; Cole, Trevor R; Maher, Eamonn R; McKeown, Carole M E; Mann, Jill R; Yates, John R; Baralle, Diana; Rankin, Julia; Bonthron, David T; Sheridan, Eamonn

2006-03-01

Until recently, the PMS2 DNA mismatch repair gene has only rarely been implicated as a cancer susceptibility locus. New studies have shown, however, that earlier analyses of this gene have had technical limitations and also that the genetic behavior of mutant PMS2 alleles is unusual, in that, unlike MLH1 or MSH2 mutations, PMS2 mutations show low heterozygote penetrance. As a result, a dominantly inherited cancer predisposition has not been a feature reported in families with PMS2 mutations. Such families have instead been ascertained through childhood-onset cancers in homozygotes or through apparently sporadic colorectal cancer in heterozygotes. We present further information on the phenotype associated with homozygous PMS2 deficiency in 13 patients from six families of Pakistani origin living in the United Kingdom. This syndrome is characterized by café-au-lait skin pigmentation and a characteristic tumor spectrum, including leukemias, lymphomas, cerebral malignancies (such as supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumors, astrocytomas, and glioblastomas), and colorectal neoplasia with an onset in early adult life. We present evidence for a founder effect in five families, all of which carried the same R802-->X mutation (i.e., arginine-802 to stop) in PMS2. This cancer syndrome can be mistaken for neurofibromatosis type 1, with important management implications including the risk of the disorder occurring in siblings and the likelihood of tumor development in affected individuals.

The mevalonate pathway regulates primitive streak formation via protein farnesylation

PubMed Central

Okamoto-Uchida, Yoshimi; Yu, Ruoxing; Miyamura, Norio; Arima, Norie; Ishigami-Yuasa, Mari; Kagechika, Hiroyuki; Yoshida, Suguru; Hosoya, Takamitsu; Nawa, Makiko; Kasama, Takeshi; Asaoka, Yoichi; Alois, Reiner Wimmer; Elling, Ulrich; Penninger, Josef M.; Nishina, Sachiko; Azuma, Noriyuki; Nishina, Hiroshi

2016-01-01

The primitive streak in peri-implantation embryos forms the mesoderm and endoderm and controls cell differentiation. The metabolic cues regulating primitive streak formation remain largely unknown. Here we utilised a mouse embryonic stem (ES) cell differentiation system and a library of well-characterised drugs to identify these metabolic factors. We found that statins, which inhibit the mevalonate metabolic pathway, suppressed primitive streak formation in vitro and in vivo. Using metabolomics and pharmacologic approaches we identified the downstream signalling pathway of mevalonate and revealed that primitive streak formation requires protein farnesylation but not cholesterol synthesis. A tagging-via-substrate approach revealed that nuclear lamin B1 and small G proteins were farnesylated in embryoid bodies and important for primitive streak gene expression. In conclusion, protein farnesylation driven by the mevalonate pathway is a metabolic cue essential for primitive streak formation. PMID:27883036

Exploiting replication in distributed systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Birman, Kenneth P.; Joseph, T. A.

1989-01-01

Techniques are examined for replicating data and execution in directly distributed systems: systems in which multiple processes interact directly with one another while continuously respecting constraints on their joint behavior. Directly distributed systems are often required to solve difficult problems, ranging from management of replicated data to dynamic reconfiguration in response to failures. It is shown that these problems reduce to more primitive, order-based consistency problems, which can be solved using primitives such as the reliable broadcast protocols. Moreover, given a system that implements reliable broadcast primitives, a flexible set of high-level tools can be provided for building a wide variety of directly distributed application programs.

Dynamic Primitives of Motor Behavior

PubMed Central

Hogan, Neville; Sternad, Dagmar

2013-01-01

We present in outline a theory of sensorimotor control based on dynamic primitives, which we define as attractors. To account for the broad class of human interactive behaviors—especially tool use—we propose three distinct primitives: submovements, oscillations and mechanical impedances, the latter necessary for interaction with objects. Due to fundamental features of the neuromuscular system, most notably its slow response, we argue that encoding in terms of parameterized primitives may be an essential simplification required for learning, performance, and retention of complex skills. Primitives may simultaneously and sequentially be combined to produce observable forces and motions. This may be achieved by defining a virtual trajectory composed of submovements and/or oscillations interacting with impedances. Identifying primitives requires care: in principle, overlapping submovements would be sufficient to compose all observed movements but biological evidence shows that oscillations are a distinct primitive. Conversely, we suggest that kinematic synergies, frequently discussed as primitives of complex actions, may be an emergent consequence of neuromuscular impedance. To illustrate how these dynamic primitives may account for complex actions, we briefly review three types of interactive behaviors: constrained motion, impact tasks, and manipulation of dynamic objects. PMID:23124919

Development of an Instrument for Assessing the Effectiveness of Chemistry Classroom Teaching

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Changlong; Fu, Lihai; He, Peng

2014-04-01

Classroom teaching is a main frontier of the implementation of new curricular ideas in China. The study reported in this article is concerned with the effectiveness of system of classroom teaching (SCT) in chemistry lessons. According to the Systems Science theory, we took a macroscopic view on the SCT, arguing that SCT is a hierarchy of system, which includes class system, plate system, unit system, and primitive system. In this study, we focused on primitive system of classroom teaching (PrS)—the lowest level in a SCT. Using focus group interviews, this study investigated the variables related to the effectiveness of PrS. We found a total of 21 such variables. To identify the main factors underlying the effectiveness of PrS, we further used exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. We found five main factors: rational use of time, quality of teaching behavior chain, match degree, quality of using resource and technology, and rationality of primitive content. Based on these findings, we constructed an evaluation scale for assessing the effectiveness of primitive system of chemistry classroom teaching.

Comparative analysis of the 5S rRNA and its associated proteins reveals unique primitive rather than parasitic features in Giardia lamblia.

PubMed

Feng, Jin-Mei; Sun, Jun; Xin, De-Dong; Wen, Jian-Fan

2012-01-01

5S rRNA is a highly conserved ribosomal component. Eukaryotic 5S rRNA and its associated proteins (5S rRNA system) have become very well understood. Giardia lamblia was thought by some researchers to be the most primitive extant eukaryote while others considered it a highly evolved parasite. Previous reports have indicated that some aspects of its 5S rRNA system are simpler than that of common eukaryotes. We here explore whether this is true to its entire system, and whether this simplicity is a primitive or parasitic feature. By collecting and confirming pre-existing data and identifying new data, we obtained almost complete datasets of the system of three isolates of G. lamblia, two other parasitic excavates (Trichomonas vaginalis, Trypanosoma cruzi), and one free-living one (Naegleria gruberi). After comprehensively comparing each aspect of the system among these excavates and also with those of archaea and common eukaryotes, we found all the three Giardia isolates to harbor a same simplified 5S rRNA system, which is not only much simpler than that of common eukaryotes but also the simplest one among those of these excavates, and is surprisingly very similar to that of archaea; we also found among these excavates the system in parasitic species is not necessarily simpler than that in free-living species, conversely, the system of free-living species is even simpler in some respects than those of parasitic ones. The simplicity of Giardia 5S rRNA system should be considered a primitive rather than parasitically-degenerated feature. Therefore, Giardia 5S rRNA system might be a primitive system that is intermediate between that of archaea and the common eukaryotic model system, and it may reflect the evolutionary history of the eukaryotic 5S rRNA system from the archaeal form. Our results also imply G. lamblia might be a primitive eukaryote with secondary parasitically-degenerated features.

A real-time robot arm collision detection system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shaffer, Clifford A.; Herb, Gregory M.

1990-01-01

A data structure and update algorithm are presented for a prototype real time collision detection safety system for a multi-robot environment. The data structure is a variant of the octree, which serves as a spatial index. An octree recursively decomposes 3-D space into eight equal cubic octants until each octant meets some decomposition criteria. The octree stores cylspheres (cylinders with spheres on each end) and rectangular solids as primitives (other primitives can easily be added as required). These primitives make up the two seven degrees-of-freedom robot arms and environment modeled by the system. Octree nodes containing more than a predetermined number N of primitives are decomposed. This rule keeps the octree small, as the entire environment for the application can be modeled using a few dozen primitives. As robot arms move, the octree is updated to reflect their changed positions. During most update cycles, any given primitive does not change which octree nodes it is in. Thus, modification to the octree is rarely required. Incidents in which one robot arm comes too close to another arm or an object are reported. Cycle time for interpreting current joint angles, updating the octree, and detecting/reporting imminent collisions averages 30 milliseconds on an Intel 80386 processor running at 20 MHz.

Emergence of Functional Hierarchy in a Multiple Timescale Neural Network Model: A Humanoid Robot Experiment

PubMed Central

Yamashita, Yuichi; Tani, Jun

2008-01-01

It is generally thought that skilled behavior in human beings results from a functional hierarchy of the motor control system, within which reusable motor primitives are flexibly integrated into various sensori-motor sequence patterns. The underlying neural mechanisms governing the way in which continuous sensori-motor flows are segmented into primitives and the way in which series of primitives are integrated into various behavior sequences have, however, not yet been clarified. In earlier studies, this functional hierarchy has been realized through the use of explicit hierarchical structure, with local modules representing motor primitives in the lower level and a higher module representing sequences of primitives switched via additional mechanisms such as gate-selecting. When sequences contain similarities and overlap, however, a conflict arises in such earlier models between generalization and segmentation, induced by this separated modular structure. To address this issue, we propose a different type of neural network model. The current model neither makes use of separate local modules to represent primitives nor introduces explicit hierarchical structure. Rather than forcing architectural hierarchy onto the system, functional hierarchy emerges through a form of self-organization that is based on two distinct types of neurons, each with different time properties (“multiple timescales”). Through the introduction of multiple timescales, continuous sequences of behavior are segmented into reusable primitives, and the primitives, in turn, are flexibly integrated into novel sequences. In experiments, the proposed network model, coordinating the physical body of a humanoid robot through high-dimensional sensori-motor control, also successfully situated itself within a physical environment. Our results suggest that it is not only the spatial connections between neurons but also the timescales of neural activity that act as important mechanisms leading to functional hierarchy in neural systems. PMID:18989398

Technical design and system implementation of region-line primitive association framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Min; Xing, Jinjin; Wang, Jie; Lv, Guonian

2017-08-01

Apart from regions, image edge lines are an important information source, and they deserve more attention in object-based image analysis (OBIA) than they currently receive. In the region-line primitive association framework (RLPAF), we promote straight-edge lines as line primitives to achieve powerful OBIAs. Along with regions, straight lines become basic units for subsequent extraction and analysis of OBIA features. This study develops a new software system called remote-sensing knowledge finder (RSFinder) to implement RLPAF for engineering application purposes. This paper introduces the extended technical framework, a comprehensively designed feature set, key technology, and software implementation. To our knowledge, RSFinder is the world's first OBIA system based on two types of primitives, namely, regions and lines. It is fundamentally different from other well-known region-only-based OBIA systems, such as eCogntion and ENVI feature extraction module. This paper has important reference values for the development of similarly structured OBIA systems and line-involved extraction algorithms of remote sensing information.

ARCGRAPH SYSTEM - AMES RESEARCH GRAPHICS SYSTEM

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hibbard, E. A.

1994-01-01

Ames Research Graphics System, ARCGRAPH, is a collection of libraries and utilities which assist researchers in generating, manipulating, and visualizing graphical data. In addition, ARCGRAPH defines a metafile format that contains device independent graphical data. This file format is used with various computer graphics manipulation and animation packages at Ames, including SURF (COSMIC Program ARC-12381) and GAS (COSMIC Program ARC-12379). In its full configuration, the ARCGRAPH system consists of a two stage pipeline which may be used to output graphical primitives. Stage one is associated with the graphical primitives (i.e. moves, draws, color, etc.) along with the creation and manipulation of the metafiles. Five distinct data filters make up stage one. They are: 1) PLO which handles all 2D vector primitives, 2) POL which handles all 3D polygonal primitives, 3) RAS which handles all 2D raster primitives, 4) VEC which handles all 3D raster primitives, and 5) PO2 which handles all 2D polygonal primitives. Stage two is associated with the process of displaying graphical primitives on a device. To generate the various graphical primitives, create and reprocess ARCGRAPH metafiles, and access the device drivers in the VDI (Video Device Interface) library, users link their applications to ARCGRAPH's GRAFIX library routines. Both FORTRAN and C language versions of the GRAFIX and VDI libraries exist for enhanced portability within these respective programming environments. The ARCGRAPH libraries were developed on a VAX running VMS. Minor documented modification of various routines, however, allows the system to run on the following computers: Cray X-MP running COS (no C version); Cray 2 running UNICOS; DEC VAX running BSD 4.3 UNIX, or Ultrix; SGI IRIS Turbo running GL2-W3.5 and GL2-W3.6; Convex C1 running UNIX; Amhdahl 5840 running UTS; Alliant FX8 running UNIX; Sun 3/160 running UNIX (no native device driver); Stellar GS1000 running Stellex (no native device driver); and an SGI IRIS 4D running IRIX (no native device driver). Currently with version 7.0 of ARCGRAPH, the VDI library supports the following output devices: A VT100 terminal with a RETRO-GRAPHICS board installed, a VT240 using the Tektronix 4010 emulation capability, an SGI IRIS turbo using the native GL2 library, a Tektronix 4010, a Tektronix 4105, and the Tektronix 4014. ARCGRAPH version 7.0 was developed in 1988.

Multi-processor including data flow accelerator module

DOEpatents

Davidson, George S.; Pierce, Paul E.

1990-01-01

An accelerator module for a data flow computer includes an intelligent memory. The module is added to a multiprocessor arrangement and uses a shared tagged memory architecture in the data flow computer. The intelligent memory module assigns locations for holding data values in correspondence with arcs leading to a node in a data dependency graph. Each primitive computation is associated with a corresponding memory cell, including a number of slots for operands needed to execute a primitive computation, a primitive identifying pointer, and linking slots for distributing the result of the cell computation to other cells requiring that result as an operand. Circuitry is provided for utilizing tag bits to determine automatically when all operands required by a processor are available and for scheduling the primitive for execution in a queue. Each memory cell of the module may be associated with any of the primitives, and the particular primitive to be executed by the processor associated with the cell is identified by providing an index, such as the cell number for the primitive, to the primitive lookup table of starting addresses. The module thus serves to perform functions previously performed by a number of sections of data flow architectures and coexists with conventional shared memory therein. A multiprocessing system including the module operates in a hybrid mode, wherein the same processing modules are used to perform some processing in a sequential mode, under immediate control of an operating system, while performing other processing in a data flow mode.

Chemical evolution of primitive solar system bodies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oro, J.; Mills, T.

1989-01-01

Observations on organic molecules and compounds containing biogenic elements in the interstellar medium and in the primitive bodies of the solar system are reviewed. The discovery of phosphorus molecular species in dense interstellar clouds, the existence of organic ions in the dust and gas phase of the comas of Comet Halley, and the presence of presolar, deuterium-hydrogen ratios in the amino acids of carbonaceous chondrites are discussed. The relationships between comets, dark asteroids, and carbonaceous chondrites are examined. Also, consideration is given to the chemical evolution of Titan, the primitive earth, and early Mars.

Process Management and Exception Handling in Multiprocessor Operating Systems Using Object-Oriented Design Techniques. Revised Sep. 1988

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Russo, Vincent; Johnston, Gary; Campbell, Roy

1988-01-01

The programming of the interrupt handling mechanisms, process switching primitives, scheduling mechanism, and synchronization primitives of an operating system for a multiprocessor require both efficient code in order to support the needs of high- performance or real-time applications and careful organization to facilitate maintenance. Although many advantages have been claimed for object-oriented class hierarchical languages and their corresponding design methodologies, the application of these techniques to the design of the primitives within an operating system has not been widely demonstrated. To investigate the role of class hierarchical design in systems programming, the authors have constructed the Choices multiprocessor operating system architecture the C++ programming language. During the implementation, it was found that many operating system design concerns can be represented advantageously using a class hierarchical approach, including: the separation of mechanism and policy; the organization of an operating system into layers, each of which represents an abstract machine; and the notions of process and exception management. In this paper, we discuss an implementation of the low-level primitives of this system and outline the strategy by which we developed our solution.

Comparative Analysis of the 5S rRNA and Its Associated Proteins Reveals Unique Primitive Rather Than Parasitic Features in Giardia lamblia

PubMed Central

Xin, De-Dong; Wen, Jian-Fan

2012-01-01

Background 5S rRNA is a highly conserved ribosomal component. Eukaryotic 5S rRNA and its associated proteins (5S rRNA system) have become very well understood. Giardia lamblia was thought by some researchers to be the most primitive extant eukaryote while others considered it a highly evolved parasite. Previous reports have indicated that some aspects of its 5S rRNA system are simpler than that of common eukaryotes. We here explore whether this is true to its entire system, and whether this simplicity is a primitive or parasitic feature. Methodology/Principal Findings By collecting and confirming pre-existing data and identifying new data, we obtained almost complete datasets of the system of three isolates of G. lamblia, two other parasitic excavates (Trichomonas vaginalis, Trypanosoma cruzi), and one free-living one (Naegleria gruberi). After comprehensively comparing each aspect of the system among these excavates and also with those of archaea and common eukaryotes, we found all the three Giardia isolates to harbor a same simplified 5S rRNA system, which is not only much simpler than that of common eukaryotes but also the simplest one among those of these excavates, and is surprisingly very similar to that of archaea; we also found among these excavates the system in parasitic species is not necessarily simpler than that in free-living species, conversely, the system of free-living species is even simpler in some respects than those of parasitic ones. Conclusion/Significance The simplicity of Giardia 5S rRNA system should be considered a primitive rather than parasitically-degenerated feature. Therefore, Giardia 5S rRNA system might be a primitive system that is intermediate between that of archaea and the common eukaryotic model system, and it may reflect the evolutionary history of the eukaryotic 5S rRNA system from the archaeal form. Our results also imply G. lamblia might be a primitive eukaryote with secondary parasitically-degenerated features. PMID:22685540

Childhood Cancer Incidence Trends in Association With US Folic Acid Fortification (1986–2008)

PubMed Central

Johnson, Kimberly J.; Ross, Julie A.

2012-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Epidemiologic evidence indicates that prenatal vitamin supplementation reduces risk for some childhood cancers; however, a systematic evaluation of population-based childhood cancer incidence trends after fortification of enriched grain products with folic acid in the United States in 1996–1998 has not been previously reported. Here we describe temporal trends in childhood cancer incidence in association with US folic acid fortification. METHODS: Using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program data (1986–2008), we calculated incidence rate ratios and 95% confidence intervals to compare pre- and postfortification cancer incidence rates in children aged 0 to 4 years. Incidence trends were also evaluated by using joinpoint and loess regression models. RESULTS: From 1986 through 2008, 8829 children aged 0 to 4 years were diagnosed with malignancies, including 3790 and 3299 in utero during the pre- and postfortification periods, respectively. Pre- and postfortification incidence rates were similar for all cancers combined and for most specific cancer types. Rates of Wilms tumor (WT), primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNETs), and ependymomas were significantly lower postfortification. Joinpoint regression models detected increasing WT incidence from 1986 through 1997 followed by a sizable decline from 1997 through 2008, and increasing PNET incidence from 1986 through 1993 followed by a sharp decrease from 1993 through 2008. Loess curves indicated similar patterns. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide support for a decrease in WT and possibly PNET incidence, but not other childhood cancers, after US folic acid fortification. PMID:22614769

Extraosseous Primary Intracranial Ewing Sarcoma/peripheral Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumor: Series of Seven Cases and Review of Literature

PubMed Central

Singh, Amit Kumar; Srivastava, Arun Kumar; Pal, Lily; Sardhara, Jayesh; Yadav, Rajan; Singh, Shalini; Bhaisora, Kamlesh Singh; Das, Kuntal Kanti; Mehrotra, Anant; Sahu, Rabi Narayan; Jaiswal, Awadhesh Kumar; Behari, Sanjay

2018-01-01

Background: The Ewing sarcoma peripheral PNET (ES-pPNET) is very rare small round cell tumour that involves the CNS as either a primary dural neoplasm or by direct extension from contiguous bone or soft tissue. Materials and Methods: Biopsy proven cases of intracranial ES/pPNET with orbital involvement operated during Jan 2010-Jan 2014 were retrospectively included and their clinical data, operative and histological findings were reviewed from institutional oncology register. Results: seven patients (4 males; 3 female) were studied with mean age at presentation of 13 years. Six patients had orbital involvement in one or other form. Surgical excision was gross total in five, near total in one, and subtotal in one patient. All patients received adjuvant therapy, only chemotherapy in 2, only Radiotherapy in four, both in one. MRI characteristics were studied in six patients. Four patients died with average survival of 33.2 months and three patients are having Progression free survival of average 23.3 months. Conclusions: The EWS-pPNET is very rare tumour and very poorly described in literature. These tumours are showing special predilection for the frontotemporal dura and erode through the flat bone of cranium like orbital roof and lateral wall of the orbit. These tumours are aggressive, multi compartmental, vascular and very rapidly growing, so missing or overlooking the primary symptoms of dural stretching/bony involvement leads to delay in management and poor outcome. PMID:29682023

Multiagent chemotherapy and deferred radiotherapy in infants with malignant brain tumors: a report from the Children's Cancer Group.

PubMed

Geyer, J Russell; Sposto, Richard; Jennings, Mark; Boyett, James M; Axtell, Richard A; Breiger, David; Broxson, Emmett; Donahue, Bernadine; Finlay, Jonathan L; Goldwein, Joel W; Heier, Linda A; Johnson, Dennis; Mazewski, Claire; Miller, Douglas C; Packer, Roger; Puccetti, Diane; Radcliffe, Jerilynn; Tao, May Lin; Shiminski-Maher, Tania

2005-10-20

To evaluate response rate, event-free survival (EFS), and toxicity of two chemotherapeutic regimens for treatment of children younger than 36 months with malignant brain tumors and to estimate control intervals without irradiation in children with no residual tumor after initial surgery and induction chemotherapy and with delayed irradiation in patients with residual tumor or metastatic disease at diagnosis. Patients were randomly assigned to one of two regimens of induction chemotherapy (vincristine, cisplatin, cyclophosphamide, and etoposide v vincristine, carboplatin, ifosfamide, and etoposide). Maintenance chemotherapy began after induction in children without progressive disease. Children with no residual tumors after induction therapy and no metastatic disease at diagnosis were not to receive radiation therapy unless their tumors progressed. Two hundred ninety-nine infants were enrolled. Forty-two percent of patients responded to induction chemotherapy. At 5 years from study entry, the EFS rate was 27% +/- 3%, and the survival rate was 43% +/- 3%. There was no significant difference between the two arms in terms of response rate or EFS. For medulloblastoma, supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumor, ependymoma, and rhabdoid tumors, 5-year EFS rates were 32% +/- 5%, 17% +/- 6%, and 32% +/- 6%, and 14% +/- 7%, respectively. Fifty-eight percent of patients who were alive 5 years after study entry had not received radiation therapy. Intensified induction chemotherapy resulted in a high response rate of malignant brain tumors in infants. Survival was comparable to that of previous studies, and most patients who survived did not receive radiation therapy.

Effusion cytomorphology of small round cell tumors.

PubMed

Ikeda, Katsuhide; Tsuta, Koji

2016-01-01

Small round cell tumors (SRCTs) are a group of tumors composed of small, round, and uniform cells with high nuclear/cytoplasmic (N/C) ratios. The appearance of SRCT neoplastic cells in the effusion fluid is very rare. We reported the cytomorphological findings of SRCTs in effusion cytology, and performed statistical and mathematical analyses for a purpose to distinguish SRCTs. We analyzed the cytologic findings of effusion samples from 40 SRCT cases and measured the lengths of the nuclei, cytoplasms, and the cell cluster areas. The SRCT cases included 14 Ewing sarcoma (EWS)/primitive neuroectodermal tumor cases, 5 synovial sarcoma cases, 6 rhabdomyosarcoma cases, 9 small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) cases, and 6 diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBL) cases. Morphologically, there were no significant differences in the nuclear and cytoplasmic lengths in cases of EWS, synovial sarcoma, and rhabdomyosarcoma. The cytoplasmic lengths in cases of SCLC and DLBL were smaller than those of EWS, synovial sarcoma, and rhabdomyosarcoma. The nuclear density of the cluster in SCLC was higher than that in other SRCTs, and cases of DLBL showed a lack of anisokaryosis and anisocytosis. We believe that it might be possible to diagnose DLBL and SCLC from cytologic analysis of effusion samples but it is very difficult to use this method to distinguish EWS, synovial sarcoma, and rhabdomyosarcoma. Statistical and mathematical analyses indicated that nuclear density and dispersion of nuclear and cytoplasmic sizes are useful adjuncts to conventional cytologic diagnostic criteria, which are acquired from experience.

Specification and Verification of Secure Concurrent and Distributed Software Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-02-01

primitive search strategies work for operating systems that contain relatively few operations . As the number of operations increases, so does the the...others have granted him access to, etc . The burden of security falls on the operating system , although appropriate hardware support can minimize the...Guttag, J. Horning, and R. Levin. Synchronization primitives for a multiprocessor: a formal specification. Symposium on Operating System Principles

Search for Primitive Matter in the Solar System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Libourel, G.; Michel, P.; Delbo, M.; Ganino, C.; Recio-Blanco, A.; de Laverny, P.; Zolensky, M. E.; Krot, A. N.

2017-01-01

Recent astronomical observations and theoretical modeling led to a consensus regarding the global scenario of the formation of young stellar objects (YSO) from a cold molecular cloud of interstellar dust (organics and minerals) and gas that, in some cases, leads to the formation of a planetary system. In the case of our Solar System, which has already evolved for approximately 4567 Ma, the quest is to access, through the investigation of planets, moons, cometary and asteroidal bodies, meteorites, micrometeorites, and interplanetary dust particles, the primitive material that contains the key information about the early Solar System processes and its evolution. However, laboratory analyses of extraterrestrial samples, astronomical observations and dynamical models of the Solar System evolution have not brought yet any conclusive evidence on the nature and location of primitive matter in the Solar System, preventing a clear understanding of its early stages.

Security Primitives for Reconfigurable Hardware-Based Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-05-01

work, we propose security primitives using ideas centered around the notion of “moats and drawbridges .” The primitives encompass four design properties...Santa Bar- bara, CA 93106; email: sherwood@cs.ucsb.edu; R. Kastner, Department of Computer Science and Engineering , University of California, San...fingerprint reader), the other to control the ethernet IP core—and an AES encryption engine used by both of the processor cores. These cores are all implemented

A Generalized-Compliant-Motion Primitive

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Backes, Paul G.

1993-01-01

Computer program bridges gap between planning and execution of compliant robotic motions developed and installed in control system of telerobot. Called "generalized-compliant-motion primitive," one of several task-execution-primitive computer programs, which receives commands from higher-level task-planning programs and executes commands by generating required trajectories and applying appropriate control laws. Program comprises four parts corresponding to nominal motion, compliant motion, ending motion, and monitoring. Written in C language.

The DISCUS Hardware System,

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-07-01

blocks. DISCUS has no form of hardware synchronisation between the processors. The only synchronisation is at an operating system level. ;ach processor is... operations in global store so that semaphoring on global objects can be done correctly. Write Protect is used by the operating system for read-only...the appropriate operating system program. String Handling primitives . The Z8000 has a rich set of string primitives . However as we saw before if a

A direct Primitive Variable Recovery Scheme for hyperbolic conservative equations: The case of relativistic hydrodynamics.

PubMed

Aguayo-Ortiz, A; Mendoza, S; Olvera, D

2018-01-01

In this article we develop a Primitive Variable Recovery Scheme (PVRS) to solve any system of coupled differential conservative equations. This method obtains directly the primitive variables applying the chain rule to the time term of the conservative equations. With this, a traditional finite volume method for the flux is applied in order avoid violation of both, the entropy and "Rankine-Hugoniot" jump conditions. The time evolution is then computed using a forward finite difference scheme. This numerical technique evades the recovery of the primitive vector by solving an algebraic system of equations as it is often used and so, it generalises standard techniques to solve these kind of coupled systems. The article is presented bearing in mind special relativistic hydrodynamic numerical schemes with an added pedagogical view in the appendix section in order to easily comprehend the PVRS. We present the convergence of the method for standard shock-tube problems of special relativistic hydrodynamics and a graphical visualisation of the errors using the fluctuations of the numerical values with respect to exact analytic solutions. The PVRS circumvents the sometimes arduous computation that arises from standard numerical methods techniques, which obtain the desired primitive vector solution through an algebraic polynomial of the charges.

A direct Primitive Variable Recovery Scheme for hyperbolic conservative equations: The case of relativistic hydrodynamics

PubMed Central

Mendoza, S.; Olvera, D.

2018-01-01

In this article we develop a Primitive Variable Recovery Scheme (PVRS) to solve any system of coupled differential conservative equations. This method obtains directly the primitive variables applying the chain rule to the time term of the conservative equations. With this, a traditional finite volume method for the flux is applied in order avoid violation of both, the entropy and “Rankine-Hugoniot” jump conditions. The time evolution is then computed using a forward finite difference scheme. This numerical technique evades the recovery of the primitive vector by solving an algebraic system of equations as it is often used and so, it generalises standard techniques to solve these kind of coupled systems. The article is presented bearing in mind special relativistic hydrodynamic numerical schemes with an added pedagogical view in the appendix section in order to easily comprehend the PVRS. We present the convergence of the method for standard shock-tube problems of special relativistic hydrodynamics and a graphical visualisation of the errors using the fluctuations of the numerical values with respect to exact analytic solutions. The PVRS circumvents the sometimes arduous computation that arises from standard numerical methods techniques, which obtain the desired primitive vector solution through an algebraic polynomial of the charges. PMID:29659602

Postures and Motions Library Development for Verification of Ground Crew Human Systems Integration Requirements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jackson, Mariea Dunn; Dischinger, Charles; Stambolian, Damon; Henderson, Gena

2012-01-01

Spacecraft and launch vehicle ground processing activities require a variety of unique human activities. These activities are being documented in a Primitive motion capture library. The Library will be used by the human factors engineering in the future to infuse real to life human activities into the CAD models to verify ground systems human factors requirements. As the Primitive models are being developed for the library the project has selected several current human factors issues to be addressed for the SLS and Orion launch systems. This paper explains how the Motion Capture of unique ground systems activities are being used to verify the human factors analysis requirements for ground system used to process the STS and Orion vehicles, and how the primitive models will be applied to future spacecraft and launch vehicle processing.

Postures and Motions Library Development for Verification of Ground Crew Human Factors Requirements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stambolian, Damon; Henderson, Gena; Jackson, Mariea Dunn; Dischinger, Charles

2013-01-01

Spacecraft and launch vehicle ground processing activities require a variety of unique human activities. These activities are being documented in a primitive motion capture library. The library will be used by human factors engineering analysts to infuse real to life human activities into the CAD models to verify ground systems human factors requirements. As the primitive models are being developed for the library, the project has selected several current human factors issues to be addressed for the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion launch systems. This paper explains how the motion capture of unique ground systems activities is being used to verify the human factors engineering requirements for ground systems used to process the SLS and Orion vehicles, and how the primitive models will be applied to future spacecraft and launch vehicle processing.

Antigen tissue distribution of Avian bornavirus (ABV) in psittacine birds with natural spontaneous proventricular dilatation disease and ABV genotype 1 infection.

PubMed

Wünschmann, Arno; Honkavuori, Kirsi; Briese, Thomas; Lipkin, W Ian; Shivers, Jan; Armien, Aníbal G

2011-07-01

Tissues of 10 psittacines from aviary 1 ("case birds") and 5 psittacines from different aviaries were investigated for the presence of Avian bornavirus (ABV) antigen by immunohistochemistry using a polyclonal serum specific for the viral nucleocapsid (N) protein. Seven of 10 case birds had clinical signs, and necropsy findings consistent with proventricular dilatation disease (PDD) while 3 case birds and the 5 birds from other aviaries did not exhibit signs and lesions of this disease. In birds with clinical signs of PDD, ABV antigen was largely limited to neuroectodermal cells including neurons, astroglia, and ependymal cells of the central nervous system, neurons of the peripheral nervous system, and adrenal cells. ABV antigen was present in the nuclei and cytoplasm of infected cells. In 2 case birds that lacked signs and lesions of PDD, viral antigen had a more widespread distribution and was present in nuclei and cytoplasm of epithelial cells of the alimentary and urogenital tract, retina, heart, skeletal muscle, and skin in addition to the mentioned neuroectodermal cells. ABV RNA was identified by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in tissues of all 7 case birds available for testing from aviary 1, including 4 birds with PDD lesions and the 3 birds without PDD lesions. Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis indicated the presence of ABV genotype 1 in all cases. Findings further substantiate a role of ABV in PDD of psittacine bird species.

Antigen tissue distribution of Avian bornavirus (ABV) in psittacine birds with natural spontaneous proventricular dilatation disease and ABV genotype 1 infection

PubMed Central

Wünschmann, Arno; Honkavuori, Kirsi; Briese, Thomas; Lipkin, W. Ian; Shivers, Jan; Armien, Aníbal G.

2014-01-01

Tissues of 10 psittacines from aviary 1 (“case birds”) and 5 psittacines from different aviaries were investigated for the presence of Avian bornavirus (ABV) antigen by immunohistochemistry using a polyclonal serum specific for the viral nucleocapsid (N) protein. Seven of 10 case birds had clinical signs, and necropsy findings consistent with proventricular dilatation disease (PDD) while 3 case birds and the 5 birds from other aviaries did not exhibit signs and lesions of this disease. In birds with clinical signs of PDD, ABV antigen was largely limited to neuroectodermal cells including neurons, astroglia, and ependymal cells of the central nervous system, neurons of the peripheral nervous system, and adrenal cells. ABV antigen was present in the nuclei and cytoplasm of infected cells. In 2 case birds that lacked signs and lesions of PDD, viral antigen had a more widespread distribution and was present in nuclei and cytoplasm of epithelial cells of the alimentary and urogenital tract, retina, heart, skeletal muscle, and skin in addition to the mentioned neuroectodermal cells. ABV RNA was identified by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in tissues of all 7 case birds available for testing from aviary 1, including 4 birds with PDD lesions and the 3 birds without PDD lesions. Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis indicated the presence of ABV genotype 1 in all cases. Findings further substantiate a role of ABV in PDD of psittacine bird species. PMID:21908314

Unravelling the mystery of stem/progenitor cells in human breast milk.

PubMed

Fan, Yiping; Chong, Yap Seng; Choolani, Mahesh A; Cregan, Mark D; Chan, Jerry K Y

2010-12-28

Mammary stem cells have been extensively studied as a system to delineate the pathogenesis and treatment of breast cancer. However, research on mammary stem cells requires tissue biopsies which limit the quantity of samples available. We have previously identified putative mammary stem cells in human breast milk, and here, we further characterised the cellular component of human breast milk. We identified markers associated with haemopoietic, mesenchymal and neuro-epithelial lineages in the cellular component of human breast milk. We found 2.6 ± 0.8% (mean ± SEM) and 0.7 ± 0.2% of the whole cell population (WCP) were found to be CD133+ and CD34+ respectively, 27.8 ± 9.1% of the WCP to be positive for Stro-1 through flow-cytometry. Expressions of neuro-ectodermal stem cell markers such as nestin and cytokeratin 5 were found through reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and in 4.17 ± 0.2% and 0.9 ± 0.2% of the WCP on flow-cytometry. We also established the presence of a side-population (SP) (1.8 ± 0.4% of WCP) as well as CD133+ cells (1.7 ± 0.5% of the WCP). Characterisation of the sorted SP and non-SP, CD133+ and CD133- cells carried out showed enrichment of CD326 (EPCAM) in the SP cells (50.6 ± 8.6 vs 18.1 ± 6.0, P-value  = 0.02). However, culture in a wide range of in vitro conditions revealed the atypical behaviour of stem/progenitor cells in human breast milk; in that if they are present, they do not respond to established culture protocols of stem/progenitor cells. The identification of primitive cell types within human breast milk may provide a non-invasive source of relevant mammary cells for a wide-range of applications; even the possibility of banking one's own stem cell for every breastfeeding woman.

Unravelling the Mystery of Stem/Progenitor Cells in Human Breast Milk

PubMed Central

Fan, Yiping; Chong, Yap Seng; Choolani, Mahesh A.; Cregan, Mark D.; Chan, Jerry K. Y.

2010-01-01

Background Mammary stem cells have been extensively studied as a system to delineate the pathogenesis and treatment of breast cancer. However, research on mammary stem cells requires tissue biopsies which limit the quantity of samples available. We have previously identified putative mammary stem cells in human breast milk, and here, we further characterised the cellular component of human breast milk. Methodology/Principal Findings We identified markers associated with haemopoietic, mesenchymal and neuro-epithelial lineages in the cellular component of human breast milk. We found 2.6±0.8% (mean±SEM) and 0.7±0.2% of the whole cell population (WCP) were found to be CD133+ and CD34+ respectively, 27.8±9.1% of the WCP to be positive for Stro-1 through flow-cytometry. Expressions of neuro-ectodermal stem cell markers such as nestin and cytokeratin 5 were found through reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and in 4.17±0.2% and 0.9±0.2% of the WCP on flow-cytometry. We also established the presence of a side-population (SP) (1.8±0.4% of WCP) as well as CD133+ cells (1.7±0.5% of the WCP). Characterisation of the sorted SP and non-SP, CD133+ and CD133- cells carried out showed enrichment of CD326 (EPCAM) in the SP cells (50.6±8.6 vs 18.1±6.0, P-value  = 0.02). However, culture in a wide range of in vitro conditions revealed the atypical behaviour of stem/progenitor cells in human breast milk; in that if they are present, they do not respond to established culture protocols of stem/progenitor cells. Conclusions/Significance The identification of primitive cell types within human breast milk may provide a non-invasive source of relevant mammary cells for a wide-range of applications; even the possibility of banking one's own stem cell for every breastfeeding woman. PMID:21203434

Diagnostic implications of IDH1-R132H and OLIG2 expression patterns in rare and challenging glioblastoma variants.

PubMed

Joseph, Nancy M; Phillips, Joanna; Dahiya, Sonika; M Felicella, Michelle; Tihan, Tarik; Brat, Daniel J; Perry, Arie

2013-03-01

Recent work has demonstrated that nearly all diffuse gliomas display nuclear immunoreactivity for the bHLH transcription factor OLIG2, and the R132H mutant isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) protein is expressed in the majority of diffuse gliomas other than primary glioblastoma. However, these antibodies have not been widely applied to rarer glioblastoma variants, which can be diagnostically challenging when the astrocytic features are subtle. We therefore surveyed the expression patterns of OLIG2 and IDH1 in 167 non-conventional glioblastomas, including 45 small cell glioblastomas, 45 gliosarcomas, 34 glioblastomas with primitive neuroectodermal tumor-like foci (PNET-like foci), 23 with an oligodendroglial component, 11 granular cell glioblastomas, and 9 giant cell glioblastomas. OLIG2 was strongly expressed in all glioblastomas with oligodendroglial component, 98% of small cell glioblastomas, and all granular cell glioblastomas, the latter being particularly helpful in ruling out macrophage-rich lesions. In 74% of glioblastomas with PNET-like foci, OLIG2 expression was retained in the PNET-like foci, providing a useful distinction from central nervous system PNETs. The glial component of gliosarcomas was OLIG2 positive in 93% of cases, but only 14% retained focal expression in the sarcomatous component; as such this marker would not reliably distinguish these from pure sarcoma in most cases. OLIG2 was expressed in 67% of giant cell glioblastomas. IDH1 was expressed in 55% of glioblastomas with oligodendroglial component, 15% of glioblastomas with PNET-like foci, 7% of gliosarcomas, and none of the small cell, granular cell, or giant cell glioblastomas. This provides further support for the notion that most glioblastomas with oligodendroglial component are secondary, while small cell glioblastomas, granular cell glioblastomas, and giant cell glioblastomas are primary variants. Therefore, in one of the most challenging differential diagnoses, IDH1 positivity could provide strong support for glioblastoma with oligodendroglial component, while essentially excluding small cell glioblastoma.

The ocular pathology of Norrie disease in a fetus of 11 weeks' gestational age.

PubMed

Parsons, M A; Curtis, D; Blank, C E; Hughes, H N; McCartney, A C

1992-01-01

The ocular pathology of Norrie disease was studied for the first time in a fetus of 11 weeks' gestation, following prenatal diagnosis using genetic markers for Norrie disease and elective abortion. The eyes were histologically normal, with no evidence of primary neuroectodermal maldevelopment of the retina, previously postulated to be the cause of the ocular changes. We believe that the retinal and other manifestations of Norrie disease are the result of a primary abnormality of vascular proliferation, probably in relation to persistent hyperplastic primary vitreous after approximately 14 weeks' gestation. We postulate that the ocular and otological effects of Norrie disease may be due to a genetically mediated abnormality of secretion of, or sensitivity to, angiogenic growth factors at endodermal-neuroectodermal interfaces during fetal and postnatal development.

Interstellar chemistry recorded in organic matter from primitive meteorites.

PubMed

Busemann, Henner; Young, Andrea F; Alexander, Conel M O'd; Hoppe, Peter; Mukhopadhyay, Sujoy; Nittler, Larry R

2006-05-05

Organic matter in extraterrestrial materials has isotopic anomalies in hydrogen and nitrogen that suggest an origin in the presolar molecular cloud or perhaps in the protoplanetary disk. Interplanetary dust particles are generally regarded as the most primitive solar system matter available, in part because until recently they exhibited the most extreme isotope anomalies. However, we show that hydrogen and nitrogen isotopic compositions in carbonaceous chondrite organic matter reach and even exceed those found in interplanetary dust particles. Hence, both meteorites (originating from the asteroid belt) and interplanetary dust particles (possibly from comets) preserve primitive organics that were a component of the original building blocks of the solar system.

Advanced Numerical Techniques of Performance Evaluation. Volume 2

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-06-01

multiprocessor environment. This factor is determined by the overhead of the primitives available in the system ( semaphore , monitor , or message... semaphore , monitor , or message passing primitives ) and U the programming ability of the user who implements the simulation. " t,: the sequential...Warp Operating System . i Pro" lftevcnth ACM Symposum on Operating Systems Princlplcs, pages 77 9:3, Auslin, TX, Nov wicr 1987. ACM. [121 D.R. Jefferson

Low-Resolution Spectroscopy of Primitive Asteroids: Progress Report for SARA/VSU Survey

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leake, M. A.; Nogues, J. P.; Gaines, J. K.; Looper, J. K.; Freitas, K. A.

2001-01-01

Progress on a low-resolution survey of primitive C-class asteroids continues using new equipment (and its associated problems) to understand aqueous alteration in the solar system. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

RIPE integrity primitives, part 2 (RACE Integrity Primitives Evaluation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Denboer, B.; Boly, J. P.; Bosselaers, A.; Brandt, J.; Chaum, D.; Damgaard, I.; Dichtl, M.; Fumy, W.; Vanderham, M.; Jansen, C. J. A.

1993-04-01

A manual intended for those seeking to secure information systems by applying modern cryptography is presented. It represents the successful attainment of goals by RIPE (RACE (Research and development of Advanced Communications technology in Europe) Integrity Primitives Evaluation). The recommended portfolio of integrity primitives, which is the main product of the project, forms the heart of the manual. By integrity, is meant the kinds of security that can be achieved through cryptography, apart from keeping messages secret. Thus included are ways to ensure that stored or communicated data is not illicitly modified, that parties exchanging messages are actually present, and that 'signed' electronic messages can be recognized as authentic by anyone. Of particular concern to the project were the high speed requirements of broadband communication. The project also aimed for completeness in its recommendations. As a result, the portfolio contains primitives, that is building blocks, that can meet most of today's perceived needs for integrity.

RIPE integrity primitives, part 1 (RACE Integrity Primitives Evaluation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Denboer, B.; Boly, J. P.; Bosselaers, A.; Brandt, J.; Chaum, D.; Damgaard, I.; Dichtl, M.; Fumy, W.; Vanderham, M.; Jansen, C. J. A.

1993-04-01

A manual intended for those seeking to secure information systems by applying modern cryptography is presented. It represents the successful attainment of goals by RIPE (RACE (Research and development of Advanced Communication technology in Europe) Integrity Primitives Evaluation). The recommended portfolio of integrity primitives, which is the main product of the project, forms the heart of the manual. By integrity, is meant the kinds of security that can be achieved through cryptography, apart from keeping messages secret. Thus included are ways to ensure that stored or communicated data is not illicitly modified, that parties exchanging messages are actually present, and that 'signed' electronic messages can be recognized as authentic by anyone. Of particular concern to the project were the high speed requirements of broadband communication. The project also aimed for completeness in its recommendations. As a result, the portfolio contains primitives, that is building blocks, that can meet most of today's perceived needs for integrity.

Heuristics for Cooperative Problem Solving

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-02-01

briefly, cooperation is a very common problem-solving technique in natural systems and occurs in a wide variety of animals ranging from termites and...primitive way with pheromones but sometimes more directly. As with social spiders, they show relatively primitive coordination of behavior. In spite

Perivascular Mesenchymal Stem Cells From the Adult Human Brain Harbor No Instrinsic Neuroectodermal but High Mesodermal Differentiation Potential.

PubMed

Lojewski, Xenia; Srimasorn, Sumitra; Rauh, Juliane; Francke, Silvan; Wobus, Manja; Taylor, Verdon; Araúzo-Bravo, Marcos J; Hallmeyer-Elgner, Susanne; Kirsch, Matthias; Schwarz, Sigrid; Schwarz, Johannes; Storch, Alexander; Hermann, Andreas

2015-10-01

Brain perivascular cells have recently been identified as a novel mesodermal cell type in the human brain. These cells reside in the perivascular niche and were shown to have mesodermal and, to a lesser extent, tissue-specific differentiation potential. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are widely proposed for use in cell therapy in many neurological disorders; therefore, it is of importance to better understand the "intrinsic" MSC population of the human brain. We systematically characterized adult human brain-derived pericytes during in vitro expansion and differentiation and compared these cells with fetal and adult human brain-derived neural stem cells (NSCs) and adult human bone marrow-derived MSCs. We found that adult human brain pericytes, which can be isolated from the hippocampus and from subcortical white matter, are-in contrast to adult human NSCs-easily expandable in monolayer cultures and show many similarities to human bone marrow-derived MSCs both regarding both surface marker expression and after whole transcriptome profile. Human brain pericytes showed a negligible propensity for neuroectodermal differentiation under various differentiation conditions but efficiently generated mesodermal progeny. Consequently, human brain pericytes resemble bone marrow-derived MSCs and might be very interesting for possible autologous and endogenous stem cell-based treatment strategies and cell therapeutic approaches for treating neurological diseases. Perivascular mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) recently gained significant interest because of their appearance in many tissues including the human brain. MSCs were often reported as being beneficial after transplantation in the central nervous system in different neurological diseases; therefore, adult brain perivascular cells derived from human neural tissue were systematically characterized concerning neural stem cell and MSC marker expression, transcriptomics, and mesodermal and inherent neuroectodermal differentiation potential in vitro and in vivo after in utero transplantation. This study showed the lack of an innate neuronal but high mesodermal differentiation potential. Because of their relationship to mesenchymal stem cells, these adult brain perivascular mesodermal cells are of great interest for possible autologous therapeutic use. ©AlphaMed Press.

The Midline Protein Regulates Axon Guidance by Blocking the Reiteration of Neuroblast Rows within the Drosophila Ventral Nerve Cord

PubMed Central

Manavalan, Mary Ann; Gaziova, Ivana; Bhat, Krishna Moorthi

2013-01-01

Guiding axon growth cones towards their targets is a fundamental process that occurs in a developing nervous system. Several major signaling systems are involved in axon-guidance, and disruption of these systems causes axon-guidance defects. However, the specific role of the environment in which axons navigate in regulating axon-guidance has not been examined in detail. In Drosophila, the ventral nerve cord is divided into segments, and half-segments and the precursor neuroblasts are formed in rows and columns in individual half-segments. The row-wise expression of segment-polarity genes within the neuroectoderm provides the initial row-wise identity to neuroblasts. Here, we show that in embryos mutant for the gene midline, which encodes a T-box DNA binding protein, row-2 neuroblasts and their neuroectoderm adopt a row-5 identity. This reiteration of row-5 ultimately creates a non-permissive zone or a barrier, which prevents the extension of interneuronal longitudinal tracts along their normal anterior-posterior path. While we do not know the nature of the barrier, the axon tracts either stall when they reach this region or project across the midline or towards the periphery along this zone. Previously, we had shown that midline ensures ancestry-dependent fate specification in a neuronal lineage. These results provide the molecular basis for the axon guidance defects in midline mutants and the significance of proper specification of the environment to axon-guidance. These results also reveal the importance of segmental polarity in guiding axons from one segment to the next, and a link between establishment of broad segmental identity and axon guidance. PMID:24385932

The Open Source Hardening Project

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-07-01

invariants have been violated. Further, despite the severity of storage system bugs, deployed testing meth- ods remain primitive , typically a combination of...an exponen- tially increasing number all-at-once. As a result, EX- PLODE unsurprisingly looks like a primitive operating system: it has a queue of...via semaphores . However, doing so requires intrusive changes and, in our experience [30], backfires with unexpected deadlock since semaphores prevent a

Primitive Liquid Water of the Solar System in an Aqueous Altered Carbonaceous Chondrite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tsuchiyama, A.; Miyake, A.; Kitayama, A.; Matsuno, J.; Takeuchi, A.; Uesugi, K.; Suzuki, Y.; Nakano, T.; Zolensky, M. E.

2016-01-01

Non-destructive 3D observations of the aqueous altered CM chondrite Sutter's Mill using scanning imaging x-ray microscopy (SIXM) showed that some of calcite and enstatite grains contain two-phase inclusion, which is most probably composed of liquid water and bubbles. This water should be primitive water responsible for aqueous alteration in an asteroid in the early solar system.

Clinical, Pathological, and Surgical Outcomes for Adult Pineoblastomas.

PubMed

Gener, Melissa A; Conger, Andrew R; Van Gompel, Jamie; Ariai, Mohammad S; Jentoft, Mark; Meyer, Fredric B; Cardinal, Jeremy S; Bonnin, José M; Cohen-Gadol, Aaron A

2015-12-01

Pineoblastomas are uncommon primitive neuroectodermal tumors that occur mostly in children; they are exceedingly rare in adults. Few published reports have compared the various aspects of these tumors between adults and children. The authors report a series of 12 pineoblastomas in adults from 2 institutions over 24 years. The clinical, radiologic, and pathologic features and clinical outcomes were compared with previously reported cases in children and adults. Patient age ranged from 24 to 81 years, and all but 1 patient exhibited symptoms of obstructive hydrocephalus. Three patients underwent gross total resection, and subtotal resection was performed in 3 patients. Diagnostic biopsy specimens were obtained in an additional 6 patients. Pathologically, the tumors had the classical morphologic and immunohistochemical features of pineoblastomas. Postoperatively, 10 patients received radiotherapy, and 5 patients received chemotherapy. Compared with previously reported cases, several differences were noted in clinical outcomes. Of the 12 patients, only 5 (42%) died of their disease (average length of survival, 118 months); 5 patients (42%) are alive with no evidence of disease (average length of follow-up, 92 months). One patient died of unrelated causes, and one was lost to follow-up. Patients with subtotal resections or diagnostic biopsies did not suffer a worse prognosis. Of the 9 patients with biopsy or subtotal resection, 4 are alive, 4 died of their disease, and 1 died of an unrelated hemorrhagic cerebral infarction. Although this series is small, the data suggest that pineoblastomas in adults have a less aggressive clinical course than in children. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Apparent diffusion coefficient in glioblastoma with PNET-like components, a GBM variant.

PubMed

Ali, Saad; Joseph, Nancy M; Perry, Arie; Barajas, Ramon F; Cha, Soonmee

2014-09-01

Glioblastoma (GBM) with primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET)-like (GBM-PNET) components is a rare variant of GBM. Recent studies describe PNET-like clinical behavior in these patients-with significantly increased propensity for CSF dissemination and a benefit of "PNET-like" chemotherapy. The imaging appearance of GBM-PNET is not well-described and given areas of marked cellularity in the PNET components one might expect significantly reduced diffusion on MRI. The purpose of this study is to quantitatively evaluate the diffusion characteristics in GBM-PNET and compare them with conventional GBMs. Nine patients with surgical specimens yielding GBM-PNET were identified from the UCSF Pathology files. MR images of these patients were reviewed retrospectively. DWI (diffusion-weighted imaging) sequences were analyzed with multiple regions of interests placed within the tumor, and ADC (apparent diffusion coefficient) values were measured. Results were compared to previously published ADC values in pathology-proven conventional GBM cases from our institution. Reduced ADC was seen in GBM-PNET (mean 581 × 10(-6) mm(2)/s, range 338-817) compared to previously published mean of 1,030 × 10(-6) mm(2)/s in the enhancing components of conventional GBMs. We report substantially reduced ADC values in GBM-PNETs compared to conventional GBMs. If demonstrated in a larger sample, when areas of marked reduced diffusion are seen in a suspected GBM, MRI may appropriately direct tissue sampling and can advocate a thorough search for PNET-like components on histopathology. These patients may have a higher chance of developing CSF dissemination and may benefit from "PNET-like" platinum-based chemotherapy.

Carbon Ion Radiotherapy for Unresectable Retroperitoneal Sarcomas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Serizawa, Itsuko, E-mail: s_itsuko@nirs.go.j; Kagei, Kenji; Kamada, Tadashi

2009-11-15

Purpose: To evaluate the applicability of carbon ion radiotherapy (CIRT) for unresectable retroperitoneal sarcomas with regard to normal tissue morbidity and local tumor control. Methods and Materials: From May 1997 to February 2006, 24 patients (17 male and 7 female) with unresectable retroperitoneal sarcoma received CIRT. Age ranged from 16 to 77 years (median, 48.6 years). Of the patients, 16 had primary disease and 8 recurrent disease. Histologic diagnoses were as follows: malignant fibrous histiocytoma in 6, liposarcoma in 3, malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor in 3, Ewing/primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET) in 2, and miscellaneous in 10 patients. The histologicmore » grades were as follows: Grade 3 in 15, Grade 2-3 in 2, Grade 2 in 3, and unknown in 4. Clinical target volumes ranged between 57 cm{sup 3} and 1,194 cm{sup 3} (median 525 cm{sup 3}). The delivered carbon ion dose ranged from 52.8 to 73.6 GyE in 16 fixed fractions over 4 weeks. Results: The median follow-up was 36 months (range, 6-143 months). The overall survival rates at 2 and 5 years were 75% and 50%, respectively. The local control rates at 2 and 5 years were 77% and 69%. No complications of the gastrointestinal tract were encountered. No other toxicity greater than Grade 2 was observed. Conclusions: Use of CIRT is suggested to be effective and safe for retroperitoneal sarcomas. The results obtained with CIRT were a good overall survival rate and local control, notwithstanding the fact that most patients were not eligible for surgical resection and had high-grade sarcomas.« less

Diagnostic utility of cyclin D1 in the diagnosis of small round blue cell tumors in children and adolescents.

PubMed

Magro, Gaetano; Salvatorelli, Lucia; Alaggio, Rita; D'Agata, Velia; Nicoletti, Ferdinando; Di Cataldo, Andrea; Parenti, Rosalba

2017-02-01

Small round blue cell tumors (SRBCTs) of children and adolescents are often diagnostically challenging lesions. With the increasing diagnostic approach based on small biopsies, there is the need of specific immunomarkers that can help in the differential diagnosis among the different tumor histotypes to assure the patient a correct diagnosis for proper treatment. Based on our recent studies showing cyclin D1 overexpression in both Ewing sarcoma/primitive peripheral neuroectodermal tumor (EWS/pPNET) and peripheral neuroblastic tumors (neuroblastoma and ganglioneuroblastoma), we immunohistochemically assessed cyclin D1 immunoreactivity in 128 cases of SRBCTs in children and adolescents to establish its potential utility in the differential diagnosis. All cases of EWS/pPNET and the undifferentiated/poorly differentiated neuroblastomatous component of all peripheral neuroblastic tumors exhibited strong and diffuse nuclear staining (>50% of neoplastic cells) for cyclin D1. In contrast, this marker was absent from rhabdomyosarcoma (regardless of subtype) and lymphoblastic lymphoma (either B- or T-cell precursors), whereas it was only focally detected (<5% of neoplastic cells) in some cases of Wilms tumor (blastemal component) and desmoplastic small round cell tumor. Our findings suggest that cyclin D1 can be exploitable as a diagnostic adjunct to conventional markers in confirming the diagnosis of EWS/pPNET or neuroblastoma/ganglioneuroblastoma. Its use in routine practice may also be helpful for those cases of SRBCT with undifferentiated morphology that are difficult to diagnose after application of the conventional markers. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The force on the flex: Global parallelism and portability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jordan, H. F.

1986-01-01

A parallel programming methodology, called the force, supports the construction of programs to be executed in parallel by an unspecified, but potentially large, number of processes. The methodology was originally developed on a pipelined, shared memory multiprocessor, the Denelcor HEP, and embodies the primitive operations of the force in a set of macros which expand into multiprocessor Fortran code. A small set of primitives is sufficient to write large parallel programs, and the system has been used to produce 10,000 line programs in computational fluid dynamics. The level of complexity of the force primitives is intermediate. It is high enough to mask detailed architectural differences between multiprocessors but low enough to give the user control over performance. The system is being ported to a medium scale multiprocessor, the Flex/32, which is a 20 processor system with a mixture of shared and local memory. Memory organization and the type of processor synchronization supported by the hardware on the two machines lead to some differences in efficient implementations of the force primitives, but the user interface remains the same. An initial implementation was done by retargeting the macros to Flexible Computer Corporation's ConCurrent C language. Subsequently, the macros were caused to directly produce the system calls which form the basis for ConCurrent C. The implementation of the Fortran based system is in step with Flexible Computer Corporations's implementation of a Fortran system in the parallel environment.

Basis set construction for molecular electronic structure theory: natural orbital and Gauss-Slater basis for smooth pseudopotentials.

PubMed

Petruzielo, F R; Toulouse, Julien; Umrigar, C J

2011-02-14

A simple yet general method for constructing basis sets for molecular electronic structure calculations is presented. These basis sets consist of atomic natural orbitals from a multiconfigurational self-consistent field calculation supplemented with primitive functions, chosen such that the asymptotics are appropriate for the potential of the system. Primitives are optimized for the homonuclear diatomic molecule to produce a balanced basis set. Two general features that facilitate this basis construction are demonstrated. First, weak coupling exists between the optimal exponents of primitives with different angular momenta. Second, the optimal primitive exponents for a chosen system depend weakly on the particular level of theory employed for optimization. The explicit case considered here is a basis set appropriate for the Burkatzki-Filippi-Dolg pseudopotentials. Since these pseudopotentials are finite at nuclei and have a Coulomb tail, the recently proposed Gauss-Slater functions are the appropriate primitives. Double- and triple-zeta bases are developed for elements hydrogen through argon. These new bases offer significant gains over the corresponding Burkatzki-Filippi-Dolg bases at various levels of theory. Using a Gaussian expansion of the basis functions, these bases can be employed in any electronic structure method. Quantum Monte Carlo provides an added benefit: expansions are unnecessary since the integrals are evaluated numerically.

15N Fractionation in Star-Forming Regions and Solar System Objects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wirstrom, Eva; Milam, Stefanie; Adande, GIlles; Charnley, Steven; Cordiner, Martin

2015-01-01

A central issue for understanding the formation and evolution of matter in the early Solar System is the relationship between the chemical composition of star-forming interstellar clouds and that of primitive Solar System materials. The pristinemolecular content of comets, interplanetary dust particles and carbonaceous chondrites show significant bulk nitrogen isotopic fractionation relative to the solar value, 14N15N 440. In addition, high spatial resolution measurements in primitive materials locally show even more extreme enhancements of 14N15N 100.

Cartesian oval representation of freeform optics in illumination systems.

PubMed

Michaelis, D; Schreiber, P; Bräuer, A

2011-03-15

The geometrical method for constructing optical surfaces for illumination purpose developed by Oliker and co-workers [Trends in Nonlinear Analysis (Springer, 2003)] is generalized in order to obtain freeform designs in arbitrary optical systems. The freeform is created by a set of primitive surface elements, which are generalized Cartesian ovals adapted to the given optical system. Those primitives are determined by Hamiltonian theory of ray optics. The potential of this approach is demonstrated by some examples, e.g., freeform lenses with collimating front elements.

Auto Transplant for High Risk or Relapsed Solid or CNS Tumors

ClinicalTrials.gov

2018-04-24

Ewing's Family Tumors; Renal Tumors; Hepatoblastoma; Rhabdomyosarcoma; Soft Tissue Sarcoma; Primary Malignant Brain Neoplasms; Retinoblastoma; Medulloblastoma; Supra-tentorial Primative Neuro-Ectodermal Tumor (PNET); Atypical Teratoid/Rhabdoid Tumor (AT/RT); CNS Tumors; Germ Cell Tumors

18F-FDG PET/CT in a cardiac metastasis in a patient with history of malignant neuroectodermal tumour of the chest wall: Case report and review of the literature.

PubMed

Marroquín, J A; Hernández, A C; Pilkington, J P; Saviatto, A; Tabuenca, M J; Estenoz, J M

The case presented is a 25-year-old male with a malignant neuroectodermal tumour on the left chest wall (Askin tumour), treated with surgery after neoadyuvant chemotherapy and followed by consolidation chemotherapy. After 9 years of disease free survival, the patient developed an acute pulmonary embolism. The echocardiogram, thoracic CT, and cardiac MRI scans revealed a mass in the right atrium. Recurrence of an Askin tumour versus an atrium myxoma was suspected. 18 F-FDG PET/CT showed an intense hypermetabolic right atrium mass with extension to the right ventricle highly suggestive of malignancy. The result of the histopathology examination after biopsy and subsequently exeresis of the right atrium mass was consistent with a metastasis of the primary tumour. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier España, S.L.U. y SEMNIM. All rights reserved.

A knowledge based system for scientific data visualization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Senay, Hikmet; Ignatius, Eve

1992-01-01

A knowledge-based system, called visualization tool assistant (VISTA), which was developed to assist scientists in the design of scientific data visualization techniques, is described. The system derives its knowledge from several sources which provide information about data characteristics, visualization primitives, and effective visual perception. The design methodology employed by the system is based on a sequence of transformations which decomposes a data set into a set of data partitions, maps this set of partitions to visualization primitives, and combines these primitives into a composite visualization technique design. Although the primary function of the system is to generate an effective visualization technique design for a given data set by using principles of visual perception the system also allows users to interactively modify the design, and renders the resulting image using a variety of rendering algorithms. The current version of the system primarily supports visualization techniques having applicability in earth and space sciences, although it may easily be extended to include other techniques useful in other disciplines such as computational fluid dynamics, finite-element analysis and medical imaging.

Real Time Programs: Design Implementation of Validation: A Survey.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-04-01

to implement the communication: *Using the operating system primitives . *Using a language facilkIt 121. Is *Using a module which provides the servie...Inertial Measurement System , the Head-Up display, the Doppler, Barometer etc .). The program’s main tasks are to calculate the navigation information...btsel using operating sistem primitives , ms implamemiaed in MASCOT channels). 4. ~Womm~om N~iat C...seA This comeeps (by Pamas) is powuin bailig to a

A real-time robot arm collision avoidance system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shaffer, Clifford A.; Herb, Gregory M.

1992-01-01

A data structure and update algorithm are presented for a prototype real-time collision avoidance safety system simulating a multirobot workspace. The data structure is a variant of the octree, which serves as a spatial index. An octree recursively decomposes 3D space into eight equal cubic octants until each octant meets some decomposition criteria. The N-objects octree, which indexes a collection of 3D primitive solids is used. These primitives make up the two (seven-degrees-of-freedom) robot arms and workspace modeled by the system. As robot arms move, the octree is updated to reflect their changed positions. During most update cycles, any given primitive does not change which octree nodes it is in. Thus, modification to the octree is rarely required. Cycle time for interpreting current arm joint angles, updating the octree to reflect new positions, and detecting/reporting imminent collisions averages 30 ms on an Intel 80386 processor running at 20 MHz.

YKL-40 is differentially expressed in human embryonic stem cells and in cell progeny of the three germ layers.

PubMed

Brøchner, Christian B; Johansen, Julia S; Larsen, Lars A; Bak, Mads; Mikkelsen, Hanne B; Byskov, Anne Grete; Andersen, Claus Yding; Møllgård, Kjeld

2012-03-01

The secreted glycoprotein YKL-40 participates in cell differentiation, inflammation, and cancer progression. High YKL-40 expression is reported during early human development, but its functions are unknown. Six human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines were cultured in an atmosphere of low or high oxygen tension, in culture medium with or without basic fibroblast growth factor, and on feeder layers comprising mouse embryonic fibroblasts or human foreskin fibroblasts to evaluate whether hESCs and their progeny produced YKL-40 and to characterize YKL-40 expression during differentiation. Secreted YKL-40 protein and YKL-40 mRNA expression were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and quantitative RT-PCR. Serial-sectioned colonies were stained for YKL-40 protein and for pluripotent hESC (OCT4, NANOG) and germ layer (HNF-3β, PDX1, CD34, p63, nestin, PAX6) markers. Double-labeling showed YKL-40 expression in OCT4-positive hESCs, PAX6-positive neuroectodermal cells, and HNF-3β-positive endodermal cells. The differentiating progeny showed strong YKL-40 expression. Abrupt transition between YKL-40 and OCT4-positive hESCs and YKL-40-positive ecto- and neuroectodermal lineages was observed within the same epithelial-like layer. YKL-40-positive cells within deeper layers lacked contact with OCT4-positive cells. YKL-40 may be important in initial cell differentiation from hESCs toward ectoderm and neuroectoderm, with retained epithelial morphology, whereas later differentiation into endoderm and mesoderm involves a transition into the deeper layers of the colony.

Transfer and Conceptual Change: The Change Process from the Theoretical Perspectives of Coordination Classes and Phenomenological Primitives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ozdemir, Omer F.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study is to understand the nature of pre-instructional knowledge transferred by students into problem situations and the change process on students' knowledge system during classroom discussions. This study was framed by two interrelated theoretical frameworks on knowledge structures, phenomenological primitives and…

Topological versus rheological entanglement length in primitive-path analysis protocols, tube models, and slip-link models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Everaers, Ralf

2012-08-01

We show that the front factor appearing in the shear modulus of a phantom network, Gph=(1-2/f)(ρkBT)/Ns, also controls the ratio of the strand length, Ns, and the number of monomers per Kuhn length of the primitive paths, NphPPKuhn, characterizing the average network conformation. In particular, NphPPKuhn=Ns/(1-2/f) and Gph=(ρkBT)/NphPPKuhn. Neglecting the difference between cross-links and slip-links, these results can be transferred to entangled systems and the interpretation of primitive path analysis data. In agreement with the tube model, the analogy to phantom networks suggest that the rheological entanglement length, Nerheo=(ρkBT)/Ge, should equal NePPKuhn. Assuming binary entanglements with f=4 functional junctions, we expect that Nerheo should be twice as large as the topological entanglement length, Netopo. These results are in good agreement with reported primitive path analysis results for model systems and a wide range of polymeric materials. Implications for tube and slip-link models are discussed.

The Nature and Origin of Interplanetary Dust: High Temperature Components

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keller, L. P.; Messenger, S.

2004-01-01

The specific parent bodies of individual interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) are un-known, but the anhydrous chondritic-porous (CP) sub-set has been linked directly to cometary sources [1]. The CP IDPs escaped the thermal processing and water-rock interactions that have severely modified or destroyed the original mineralogy of primitive meteorites. Their origin in the outer regions of the solar system suggests they should retain primitive chemical and physical characteristics from the earliest stages of solar system formation (including abundant presolar materials). Indeed, CP IDPs are the most primitive extraterrestrial materials available for laboratory studies based on their unequilibrated mineralogy [2], high concentrations of carbon, nitrogen and volatile trace elements relative to CI chondrites [3, 4, 5], presolar hydrogen and nitrogen isotopic signatures [6, 7] and abundant presolar silicates [8].

KSOS Computer Program Development Specifications (Type B-5). (Kernelized Secure Operating System). I. Security Kernel (CDRL 0002AF). II. UNIX Emulator (CDRL 0002AG). III. Security-Related Software (CDRL 0002AH).

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-12-01

Commun- ications Corporation, Palo Alto, CA (March 1978). g. [Walter at al. 74] Walter, K.G. et al., " Primitive Models for Computer .. Security", ESD-TR...discussion is followed by a presenta- tion of the Kernel primitive operations upon these objects. All Kernel objects shall be referenced by a common...set of sizes. All process segments, regardless of domain, shall be manipulated by the same set of Kernel segment primitives . User domain segments

SMP: A solid modeling program version 2.0

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Randall, D. P.; Jones, K. H.; Vonofenheim, W. H.; Gates, R. L.; Matthews, C. G.

1986-01-01

The Solid Modeling Program (SMP) provides the capability to model complex solid objects through the composition of primitive geometric entities. In addition to the construction of solid models, SMP has extensive facilities for model editing, display, and analysis. The geometric model produced by the software system can be output in a format compatible with existing analysis programs such as PATRAN-G. The present version of the SMP software supports six primitives: boxes, cones, spheres, paraboloids, tori, and trusses. The details for creating each of the major primitive types is presented. The analysis capabilities of SMP, including interfaces to existing analysis programs, are discussed.

Design principles of a cooperative robot controller

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hayward, Vincent; Hayati, Samad

1987-01-01

The paper describes the design of a controller for cooperative robots being designed at McGill University in a collaborative effort with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The first part of the paper discusses the background and motivation for multiple arm control. Then, a set of programming primitives, which are based on the RCCL system and which permit a programmer to specify cooperative tasks are described. The first group of primitives are motion primitives which specify asynchronous motions, master/slave motions, and cooperative motions. In the context of cooperative robots, trajectory generation issues will be discussed and the implementation described. A second set of primitives provides for the specification of spatial relationships. The relations between programming and control in the case of multiple robot are examined. Finally, the paper describes the allocation of various tasks among a set of microprocessors sharing a common bus.

Synthesis of refractory organic matter in the ionized gas phase of the solar nebula.

PubMed

Kuga, Maïa; Marty, Bernard; Marrocchi, Yves; Tissandier, Laurent

2015-06-09

In the nascent solar system, primitive organic matter was a major contributor of volatile elements to planetary bodies, and could have played a key role in the development of the biosphere. However, the origin of primitive organics is poorly understood. Most scenarios advocate cold synthesis in the interstellar medium or in the outer solar system. Here, we report the synthesis of solid organics under ionizing conditions in a plasma setup from gas mixtures (H2(O)-CO-N2-noble gases) reminiscent of the protosolar nebula composition. Ionization of the gas phase was achieved at temperatures up to 1,000 K. Synthesized solid compounds share chemical and structural features with chondritic organics, and noble gases trapped during the experiments reproduce the elemental and isotopic fractionations observed in primitive organics. These results strongly suggest that both the formation of chondritic refractory organics and the trapping of noble gases took place simultaneously in the ionized areas of the protoplanetary disk, via photon- and/or electron-driven reactions and processing. Thus, synthesis of primitive organics might not have required a cold environment and could have occurred anywhere the disk is ionized, including in its warm regions. This scenario also supports N2 photodissociation as the cause of the large nitrogen isotopic range in the solar system.

Synthesis of refractory organic matter in the ionized gas phase of the solar nebula

PubMed Central

Kuga, Maïa; Marty, Bernard; Marrocchi, Yves; Tissandier, Laurent

2015-01-01

In the nascent solar system, primitive organic matter was a major contributor of volatile elements to planetary bodies, and could have played a key role in the development of the biosphere. However, the origin of primitive organics is poorly understood. Most scenarios advocate cold synthesis in the interstellar medium or in the outer solar system. Here, we report the synthesis of solid organics under ionizing conditions in a plasma setup from gas mixtures (H2(O)−CO−N2−noble gases) reminiscent of the protosolar nebula composition. Ionization of the gas phase was achieved at temperatures up to 1,000 K. Synthesized solid compounds share chemical and structural features with chondritic organics, and noble gases trapped during the experiments reproduce the elemental and isotopic fractionations observed in primitive organics. These results strongly suggest that both the formation of chondritic refractory organics and the trapping of noble gases took place simultaneously in the ionized areas of the protoplanetary disk, via photon- and/or electron-driven reactions and processing. Thus, synthesis of primitive organics might not have required a cold environment and could have occurred anywhere the disk is ionized, including in its warm regions. This scenario also supports N2 photodissociation as the cause of the large nitrogen isotopic range in the solar system. PMID:26039983

[Bilateral anophthalmia and left-sided orbital tumor : case of an eight-month-old infant].

PubMed

Hundertmark, P; Dierks, P; Gottschalk, J; Kreusch, T; Wiegand, W

2011-08-01

An 8-month-old infant from Russia with bilateral anophthalmia presented with an expanding orbital tumor. The tumor was extirpated and the histological examination revealed a non-malignant pseudocystic process with residual neuro-ectodermal structures.

Android Protection Mechanism: A Signed Code Security Mechanism for Smartphone Applications

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-03-01

status registers, exceptions, endian support, unaligned access support, synchronization primitives , the Jazelle Extension, and saturated integer...supports comprehensive non-blocking shared-memory synchronization primitives that scale for multiple-processor system designs. This is an improvement... synchronization . Memory semaphores can be loaded and altered without interruption because the load and store operations are atomic. Processor

Prostaglandin E2 alters Wnt-dependent migration and proliferation in neuroectodermal stem cells: implications for autism spectrum disorders

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) is a natural lipid-derived molecule that is involved in important physiological functions. Abnormal PGE2 signalling has been associated with pathologies of the nervous system. Previous studies provide evidence for the interaction of PGE2 and canonical Wnt signalling pathways in non-neuronal cells. Since the Wnt pathway is crucial in the development and organization of the brain, the main goal of this study is to determine whether collaboration between these pathways exists in neuronal cell types. We report that PGE2 interacts with canonical Wnt signalling through PKA and PI-3K in neuroectodermal (NE-4C) stem cells. We used time-lapse microscopy to determine that PGE2 increases the final distance from origin, path length travelled, and the average speed of migration in Wnt-activated cells. Furthermore, PGE2 alters distinct cellular phenotypes that are characteristic of Wnt-induced NE-4C cells, which corresponds to the modified splitting behaviour of the cells. We also found that in Wnt-induced cells the level of β-catenin protein was increased and the expression levels of Wnt-target genes (Ctnnb1, Ptgs2, Ccnd1, Mmp9) was significantly upregulated in response to PGE2 treatment. This confirms that PGE2 activated the canonical Wnt signalling pathway. Furthermore, the upregulated genes have been previously associated with ASD. Our findings show, for the first time, evidence for cross-talk between PGE2 and Wnt signalling in neuronal cells, where PKA and PI-3K might act as mediators between the two pathways. Given the importance of PGE2 and Wnt signalling in prenatal development of the nervous system, our study provides insight into how interaction between these two pathways may influence neurodevelopment. PMID:24656144

Prostaglandin E2 alters Wnt-dependent migration and proliferation in neuroectodermal stem cells: implications for autism spectrum disorders.

PubMed

Wong, Christine T; Ahmad, Eizaaz; Li, Hongyan; Crawford, Dorota A

2014-03-23

Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) is a natural lipid-derived molecule that is involved in important physiological functions. Abnormal PGE2 signalling has been associated with pathologies of the nervous system. Previous studies provide evidence for the interaction of PGE2 and canonical Wnt signalling pathways in non-neuronal cells. Since the Wnt pathway is crucial in the development and organization of the brain, the main goal of this study is to determine whether collaboration between these pathways exists in neuronal cell types. We report that PGE2 interacts with canonical Wnt signalling through PKA and PI-3K in neuroectodermal (NE-4C) stem cells. We used time-lapse microscopy to determine that PGE2 increases the final distance from origin, path length travelled, and the average speed of migration in Wnt-activated cells. Furthermore, PGE2 alters distinct cellular phenotypes that are characteristic of Wnt-induced NE-4C cells, which corresponds to the modified splitting behaviour of the cells. We also found that in Wnt-induced cells the level of β-catenin protein was increased and the expression levels of Wnt-target genes (Ctnnb1, Ptgs2, Ccnd1, Mmp9) was significantly upregulated in response to PGE2 treatment. This confirms that PGE2 activated the canonical Wnt signalling pathway. Furthermore, the upregulated genes have been previously associated with ASD. Our findings show, for the first time, evidence for cross-talk between PGE2 and Wnt signalling in neuronal cells, where PKA and PI-3K might act as mediators between the two pathways. Given the importance of PGE2 and Wnt signalling in prenatal development of the nervous system, our study provides insight into how interaction between these two pathways may influence neurodevelopment.

Primitive erythropoiesis is regulated by miR-126 via nonhematopoietic Vcam-1+ cells.

PubMed

Sturgeon, Christopher M; Chicha, Laurie; Ditadi, Andrea; Zhou, Qinbo; McGrath, Kathleen E; Palis, James; Hammond, Scott M; Wang, Shusheng; Olson, Eric N; Keller, Gordon

2012-07-17

Primitive erythropoiesis defines the onset of hematopoiesis in the yolk sac of the early embryo and is initiated by the emergence of progenitors assayed as colony-forming cells (EryP-CFCs). EryP-CFCs are detected for only a narrow window during embryonic development, suggesting that both their initiation and termination are tightly controlled. Using the embryonic stem differentiation system to model primitive erythropoiesis, we found that miR-126 regulates the termination of EryP-CFC development. Analyses of miR-126 null embryos revealed that this miR also regulates EryP-CFCs in vivo. We identified vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (Vcam-1) expressed by a mesenchymal cell population as a relevant target of miR-126. Interaction of EryP-CFCs with Vcam-1 accelerated their maturation to ßh1-globin(+) and Ter119(+) cells through a Src family kinase. These findings uncover a cell nonautonomous regulatory pathway for primitive erythropoiesis that may provide insight into the mechanism(s) controlling the developmental switch from primitive to definitive hematopoiesis. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Logical Basis In The Layered Computer Vision Systems Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tejwani, Y. J.

1986-03-01

In this paper a four layer computer vision system model is described. The model uses a finite memory scratch pad. In this model planar objects are defined as predicates. Predicates are relations on a k-tuple. The k-tuple consists of primitive points and relationship between primitive points. The relationship between points can be of the direct type or the indirect type. Entities are goals which are satisfied by a set of clauses. The grammar used to construct these clauses is examined.

Quantifying chain reptation in entangled polymer melts: Topological and dynamical mapping of atomistic simulation results onto the tube model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stephanou, Pavlos S.; Baig, Chunggi; Tsolou, Georgia; Mavrantzas, Vlasis G.; Kröger, Martin

2010-03-01

The topological state of entangled polymers has been analyzed recently in terms of primitive paths which allowed obtaining reliable predictions of the static (statistical) properties of the underlying entanglement network for a number of polymer melts. Through a systematic methodology that first maps atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) trajectories onto time trajectories of primitive chains and then documents primitive chain motion in terms of a curvilinear diffusion in a tubelike region around the coarse-grained chain contour, we are extending these static approaches here even further by computing the most fundamental function of the reptation theory, namely, the probability ψ(s,t) that a segment s of the primitive chain remains inside the initial tube after time t, accounting directly for contour length fluctuations and constraint release. The effective diameter of the tube is independently evaluated by observing tube constraints either on atomistic displacements or on the displacement of primitive chain segments orthogonal to the initial primitive path. Having computed the tube diameter, the tube itself around each primitive path is constructed by visiting each entanglement strand along the primitive path one after the other and approximating it by the space of a small cylinder having the same axis as the entanglement strand itself and a diameter equal to the estimated effective tube diameter. Reptation of the primitive chain longitudinally inside the effective constraining tube as well as local transverse fluctuations of the chain driven mainly from constraint release and regeneration mechanisms are evident in the simulation results; the latter causes parts of the chains to venture outside their average tube surface for certain periods of time. The computed ψ(s,t) curves account directly for both of these phenomena, as well as for contour length fluctuations, since all of them are automatically captured in the atomistic simulations. Linear viscoelastic properties such as the zero shear rate viscosity and the spectra of storage and loss moduli obtained on the basis of the obtained ψ(s,t) curves for three different polymer melts (polyethylene, cis-1,4-polybutadiene, and trans-1,4-polybutadiene) are consistent with experimental rheological data and in qualitative agreement with the double reptation and dual constraint models. The new methodology is general and can be routinely applied to analyze primitive path dynamics and chain reptation in atomistic trajectories (accumulated through long MD simulations) of other model polymers or polymeric systems (e.g., bidisperse, branched, grafted, etc.); it is thus believed to be particularly useful in the future in evaluating proposed tube models and developing more accurate theories for entangled systems.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons - Primitive pigment systems in the prebiotic environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Deamer, D. W.

1992-01-01

The chemical evolution of meteoritic organics in the primitive earth is examined experimentally with attention given to the photochemical effects of hydrocarbon/water mixtures. Also addressed are the generation of amphiphilic products by photochemical reactions and the transduction of light energy into potentially useful forms. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) absorb light and exist in carbonaceous chondrites; PAHs are therefore examined as primitive pigments by means of salt solutions with pyrene, fluoranthene, and pyrene derivatives with hexadecane. The hexadecane undergoes photochemical oxidation and yields long-chain amphiphiles with oxygen supplied by water, and acid pH shifts also occur. PAHs are also tested in lipid bilayer membranes to examine light-energy transduction. Protons are found to accumulate within the membrane-bounded volume to form proton gradients, and this reaction is theorized to be a good model of primitive photochemical reactions that related to the transduction of light energy into useable forms.

Clay minerals in primitive meteorites and interplanetary dust 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zolensky, M. E.; Keller, L. P.

1991-01-01

Many meteorites and interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) with primitive compositions contain significant amounts of phyllosilicate minerals, which are generally interpreted as evidence of protoplanetary aqueous alteration at an early period of the solar system. These meteorites are chondrites (near solar composition) of the carbonaceous and ordinary varieties. The former are subdivided (according to bulk composition and petrology) into CI, CM, CV, CO, CR, and ungrouped classes. IDPs are extraterrestrial particulates, collected in stratosphere, which have chemical compositions indicative of a primitive origin; they are typically distinct from the primitive meteorites. Characterization of phyllosilicates in these materials is a high priority because of the important physico-chemical information they hold. The most common phyllosilicates present in chondritic extraterrestrial materials are serpentine-group minerals, smectites, and micas. We discuss these phyllosilicates and describe the interpretation of their occurrence in meteorites and IDPs and what this indicates about history of their parent bodies, which are probably the hydrous asteroids.

Context-specific function of the LIM homeobox 1 transcription factor in head formation of the mouse embryo.

PubMed

Fossat, Nicolas; Ip, Chi Kin; Jones, Vanessa J; Studdert, Joshua B; Khoo, Poh-Lynn; Lewis, Samara L; Power, Melinda; Tourle, Karin; Loebel, David A F; Kwan, Kin Ming; Behringer, Richard R; Tam, Patrick P L

2015-06-01

Lhx1 encodes a LIM homeobox transcription factor that is expressed in the primitive streak, mesoderm and anterior mesendoderm of the mouse embryo. Using a conditional Lhx1 flox mutation and three different Cre deleters, we demonstrated that LHX1 is required in the anterior mesendoderm, but not in the mesoderm, for formation of the head. LHX1 enables the morphogenetic movement of cells that accompanies the formation of the anterior mesendoderm, in part through regulation of Pcdh7 expression. LHX1 also regulates, in the anterior mesendoderm, the transcription of genes encoding negative regulators of WNT signalling, such as Dkk1, Hesx1, Cer1 and Gsc. Embryos carrying mutations in Pcdh7, generated using CRISPR-Cas9 technology, and embryos without Lhx1 function specifically in the anterior mesendoderm displayed head defects that partially phenocopied the truncation defects of Lhx1-null mutants. Therefore, disruption of Lhx1-dependent movement of the anterior mesendoderm cells and failure to modulate WNT signalling both resulted in the truncation of head structures. Compound mutants of Lhx1, Dkk1 and Ctnnb1 show an enhanced head truncation phenotype, pointing to a functional link between LHX1 transcriptional activity and the regulation of WNT signalling. Collectively, these results provide comprehensive insight into the context-specific function of LHX1 in head formation: LHX1 enables the formation of the anterior mesendoderm that is instrumental for mediating the inductive interaction with the anterior neuroectoderm and LHX1 also regulates the expression of factors in the signalling cascade that modulate the level of WNT activity. © 2015. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Epidemiological data and case load spectrum of patients presenting to bone and soft tissue disease management group at a tertiary cancer center.

PubMed

Gulia, A; Puri, A; Chorge, S; Panda, P K

2016-01-01

This study was conducted to know the spectrum and number of bone and soft tissue (BST) tumors presenting to our institute. We needed to assess the gap between the number of patients seen and infrastructure available, and based on this information, help formulate guidelines for optimum utilization of resources and to provide best possible evidence-based cancer care. This is a prospective observational study (epidemiological). This study included all new patients seen in BST-disease management group (DMG) in the year 2010. An audit form was devised to capture all the relevant information. A comparison of our data with other national and international studies was also done. Out of total 31,951 new patients registered at our institute, 2007 patients availed BST-DMG services. Sixty percent were bone tumors and 36% were soft tissue tumors. In bone tumor, 66% were malignant, 15% were benign, and 19% were non-neoplastic. Osteosarcoma (43%) was the most common malignant tumor followed by primitive neuroectodermal tumor/Ewing's (27%) and chondrosarcoma (11%). Giant cell tumor was the most common benign bone tumor. Eighty-one percent of all soft tissue lesions were malignant, of which 75% were of mesenchymal origin and 25% were of cutaneous origin. This is an attempt to document the epidemiology of musculoskeletal tumors presenting to our institution while guiding the institute to frame and implement disease-specific protocols and generate further research questions. Continued data collection and follow-up can provide valuable information on long-term survival and treatment-related toxicities. This data (within limitations) may be extrapolated to national level to identify the need for infrastructure and human resources.

A zebrafish transgenic model of Ewing's sarcoma reveals conserved mediators of EWS-FLI1 tumorigenesis.

PubMed

Leacock, Stefanie W; Basse, Audrey N; Chandler, Garvin L; Kirk, Anne M; Rakheja, Dinesh; Amatruda, James F

2012-01-01

Ewing's sarcoma, a malignant bone tumor of children and young adults, is a member of the small-round-blue-cell tumor family. Ewing's sarcoma family tumors (ESFTs), which include peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNETs), are characterized by chromosomal translocations that generate fusions between the EWS gene and ETS-family transcription factors, most commonly FLI1. The EWS-FLI1 fusion oncoprotein represents an attractive therapeutic target for treatment of Ewing's sarcoma. The cell of origin of ESFT and the molecular mechanisms by which EWS-FLI1 mediates tumorigenesis remain unknown, and few animal models of Ewing's sarcoma exist. Here, we report the use of zebrafish as a vertebrate model of EWS-FLI1 function and tumorigenesis. Mosaic expression of the human EWS-FLI1 fusion protein in zebrafish caused the development of tumors with histology strongly resembling that of human Ewing's sarcoma. The incidence of tumors increased in a p53 mutant background, suggesting that the p53 pathway suppresses EWS-FLI1-driven tumorigenesis. Gene expression profiling of the zebrafish tumors defined a set of genes that might be regulated by EWS-FLI1, including the zebrafish ortholog of a crucial EWS-FLI1 target gene in humans. Stable zebrafish transgenic lines expressing EWS-FLI1 under the control of the heat-shock promoter exhibit altered embryonic development and defective convergence and extension, suggesting that EWS-FLI1 interacts with conserved developmental pathways. These results indicate that functional targets of EWS-FLI1 that mediate tumorigenesis are conserved from zebrafish to human and provide a novel context in which to study the function of this fusion oncogene.

Renal cell carcinoma and a constitutional t(11;22)(q23;q11.2): case report and review of the potential link between the constitutional t(11;22) and cancer.

PubMed

Doyen, Jérôme; Carpentier, Xavier; Haudebourg, Juliette; Hoch, Benjamin; Karmous-Benailly, Houda; Ambrosetti, Damien; Fabas, Thibault; Amiel, Jean; Lambert, Jean-Claude; Pedeutour, Florence

2012-11-01

We observed a t(11;22)(q23-24;q11.2-12) and monosomy 3 in renal tumor cells from a 72-year-old man. The hypothesis of a primitive peripheral neuroectodermal tumor (PPNET) located in the kidney was promptly excluded: Histologically, the tumor was a clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and we did not observe an EWSR1 gene rearrangement. The constitutional origin of this alteration was established. We report on the second case of RCC in a patient with a constitutional t(11;22). The t(11;22)(q23;q11.2) is the main recurrent germline translocation in humans. Unbalanced translocation can be transmitted to the progeny and can cause Emanuel syndrome. Our observation alerts cancer cytogeneticists to the fortuitous discovery of the constitutional t(11;22) in tumor cells. This translocation appears grossly similar to the t(11;22)(q24;q12) of PPNET and should be evoked if present in all cells of a tumor other than PPNET. This is important when providing appropriate genetic counseling. Moreover, the potential oncogenic role of the t(11;22) and its predisposing risk of cancer are under debate. The family history of the patient revealed a disabled brother who died at an early age from colon cancer and a sister with breast cancer. This observation reopens the issue of a link between the constitutional t(11;22) and cancer, and the utility of cancer prevention workups for t(11;22) carriers. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Medulloblastoma in children and adolescents: a systematic review of contemporary phase I and II clinical trials and biology update.

PubMed

Bautista, Francisco; Fioravantti, Victoria; de Rojas, Teresa; Carceller, Fernando; Madero, Luis; Lassaletta, Alvaro; Moreno, Lucas

2017-11-01

Survival rates for patients with medulloblastoma have improved in the last decades but for those who relapse outcome is dismal and new approaches are needed. Emerging drugs have been tested in the last two decades within the context of phase I/II trials. In parallel, advances in genetic profiling have permitted to identify key molecular alterations for which new strategies are being developed. We performed a systematic review focused on the design and outcome of early-phase trials evaluating new agents in patients with relapsed medulloblastoma. PubMed, clinicaltrials.gov, and references from selected studies were screened to identify phase I/II studies with reported results between 2000 and 2015 including patients with medulloblastoma aged <18 years. A total of 718 studies were reviewed and 78 satisfied eligibility criteria. Of those, 69% were phase I; 31% phase II. Half evaluated conventional chemotherapeutics and 35% targeted agents. Overall, 662 patients with medulloblastoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumors were included. The study designs and the response assessments were heterogeneous, limiting the comparisons among trials and the correct identification of active drugs. Median (range) objective response rate (ORR) for patients with medulloblastoma in phase I/II studies was 0% (0-100) and 6.5% (0-50), respectively. Temozolomide containing regimens had a median ORR of 16.5% (0-100). Smoothened inhibitors trials had a median ORR of 8% (3-8). Novel drugs have shown limited activity against relapsed medulloblastoma. Temozolomide might serve as backbone for new combinations. Novel and more homogenous trial designs might facilitate the development of new drugs. © 2017 The Authors. Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Clinical features and outcomes in patients with extraskeletal Ewing sarcoma

PubMed Central

Applebaum, Mark A.; Worch, Jennifer; Matthay, Katherine K.; Goldsby, Robert; Neuhaus, John; West, Daniel C.; DuBois, Steven G.

2010-01-01

Background Ewing sarcoma can arise in either bone or soft tissue locations. We sought to investigate if patient characteristics, treatment strategies, and outcomes differ between skeletal Ewing sarcoma and extraskeletal Ewing sarcoma (EES). Procedure Patients < 40 years of age with Ewing sarcoma or peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET) reported to the US SEER database from 1973 to 2007 were evaluated based on skeletal (n=1519) vs. extraskeletal (n=683) site of origin. Patient characteristics were compared using Fisher exact tests. Overall survival was estimated by Kaplan-Meier methods and compared using log-rank tests and Cox models. Results Patients with EES had a higher mean age (19.5 vs. 16.3 years; p < 0.001) and were less likely to be male (53.4% vs. 63.3%; p < 0.001) or white (84.8% vs. 92.5%; p < 0.001) compared to patients with skeletal tumors. Extraskeletal tumors were more likely to arise in axial locations (72.9% vs. 54.2%; p = 0.001), though less likely to arise specifically in the pelvis (19.8% vs. 26.6%; p < 0.001). Metastatic status or tumor size did not differ by group. Five-year overall survival was superior for localized EES compared to localized skeletal tumors (69.7% vs. 62.6%; p = 0.02). The hazard ratio for death in patients with localized skeletal tumors compared to localized EES was 2.36 (95% CI 1.61-3.44) beyond 24 months from initial diagnosis. Conclusions Patient characteristics and outcomes differ among patients with EES compared to patients with skeletal Ewing sarcoma. These findings may have important implications for patient care. PMID:21692057

The antiretroviral nucleoside analogue Abacavir reduces cell growth and promotes differentiation of human medulloblastoma cells

PubMed Central

Rossi, Alessandra; Russo, Giuseppe; Puca, Andrew; La Montagna, Raffaele; Caputo, Mariella; Mattioli, Eliseo; Lopez, Massimo; Giordano, Antonio; Pentimalli, Francesca

2009-01-01

Abacavir is one of the most efficacious nucleoside analogues, with a well-characterized inhibitory activity on reverse transcriptase enzymes of retroviral origin, and has been clinically approved for the treatment of AIDS. Recently, Abacavir has been shown to inhibit also the human telomerase activity. Telomerase activity seems to be required in essentially all tumours for the immortalization of a subset of cells, including cancer stem cells. In fact, many cancer cells are dependent on telomerase for their continued replication and therefore telomerase is an attractive target for cancer therapy. Telomerase expression is upregulated in primary primitive neuroectodermal tumours and in the majority of medulloblastomas suggesting that its activation is associated with the development of these diseases. Therefore, we decided to test Abacavir activity on human medulloblastoma cell lines with high telomerase activity. We report that exposure to Abacavir induces a dose-dependent decrease in the proliferation rate of medulloblastoma cells. This is associated with a cell accumulation in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle in the Daoy cell line, and with increased cell death in the D283-MED cell line, and is likely to be dependent on the inhibition of telomerase activity. Interestingly, both cell lines showed features of senescence after Abacavir treatment. Moreover, following Abacavir exposure we detected, by immunofluorescence staining, increased protein expression of the glial marker glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and the neuronal marker synaptophysin (SYN) in both medulloblastoma cell lines. In conclusion, our results suggest that Abacavir reduces proliferation and induces differentiation of human medulloblastoma cells through the downregulation of telomerase activity. Thus, using Abacavir, alone or in combination with current therapies, might be an effective therapeutic strategy for the treatment of medulloblastoma. PMID:19358275

Outcome of Children With Metastatic Medulloblastoma Treated With Carboplatin During Craniospinal Radiotherapy: A Children's Oncology Group Phase I/II Study

PubMed Central

Jakacki, Regina I.; Burger, Peter C.; Zhou, Tianni; Holmes, Emiko J.; Kocak, Mehmet; Onar, Arzu; Goldwein, Joel; Mehta, Minesh; Packer, Roger J.; Tarbell, Nancy; Fitz, Charles; Vezina, Gilbert; Hilden, Joanne; Pollack, Ian F.

2012-01-01

Purpose We evaluated the feasibility of administering carboplatin as a radiosensitizer during craniospinal radiation therapy (CSRT) to patients with high-risk medulloblastomas (MBs) and supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumors, and we report the outcome in the subset with metastatic (M+) MB. Patients and Methods After surgery, patients received 36 Gy CSRT with boosts to sites of disease. During radiation, patients received 15 to 30 doses of carboplatin (30-45 mg/m2/dose), along with vincristine (VCR) once per week for 6 weeks. Patients on regimen A received 6 months of maintenance chemotherapy (MC) with cyclophosphamide and VCR. Once the recommended phase II dose (RP2D) of carboplatin was determined, cisplatin was added to the MC (regimen B). Results In all, 161 eligible patients (median age, 8.7 years; range, 3.1 to 21.6 years) were enrolled. Myelosuppression was dose limiting and 35 mg/m2/dose × 30 was determined to be the RP2D of carboplatin. Twenty-nine (36%) of 81 patients with M+ MB had diffuse anaplasia. Four patients were taken off study within 11 months of completing radiotherapy for presumed metastatic progression and are long-term survivors following palliative chemotherapy. Excluding these four patients, 5-year overall survival ± SE and progression-free survival ± SE for M+ patients treated at the RP2D on regimen A was 82% ± 9% and 71% ± 11% versus 68% ± 10% and 59% ± 10% on regimen B (P = .36). There was no difference in survival by M stage. Anaplasia was a negative predictor of outcome. Conclusion The use of carboplatin as a radiosensitizer is a promising strategy for patients with M+ MB. Early progression should be confirmed by biopsy. PMID:22665539

Deuterium enrichment in the primitive ices of the protosolar nebula

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lutz, Barry L.; Owen, Tobias; De Bergh, Catherine

1990-01-01

On the basis of CH3D/CH4-ratio observations in the outer planets, the present effort to estimate the D/H ratio of the protosolar nebula's primitive ices arrives at two simple, yet effectively limiting models which constrain the degree of dilution undergone by deuterated volatiles through mixing with the initial hydrogen envelopes. These volatiles would have been contributed to planetary atmospheres by evaporated primordial ices. Ice D/H ratio model results of 0.0001 to 0.001 are compared with values for other potentially primitive material-containing bodies in the solar system, as well as with D/H ratio values from interstellar polyatomic molecules.

Navigation Strategies for Primitive Solar System Body Rendezvous and Proximity Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Getzandanner, Kenneth M.

2011-01-01

A wealth of scientific knowledge regarding the composition and evolution of the solar system can be gained through reconnaissance missions to primitive solar system bodies. This paper presents analysis of a baseline navigation strategy designed to address the unique challenges of primitive body navigation. Linear covariance and Monte Carlo error analysis was performed on a baseline navigation strategy using simulated data from a· design reference mission (DRM). The objective of the DRM is to approach, rendezvous, and maintain a stable orbit about the near-Earth asteroid 4660 Nereus. The outlined navigation strategy and resulting analyses, however, are not necessarily limited to this specific target asteroid as they may he applicable to a diverse range of mission scenarios. The baseline navigation strategy included simulated data from Deep Space Network (DSN) radiometric tracking and optical image processing (OpNav). Results from the linear covariance and Monte Carlo analyses suggest the DRM navigation strategy is sufficient to approach and perform proximity operations in the vicinity of the target asteroid with meter-level accuracy.

A knowledge-based object recognition system for applications in the space station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dhawan, Atam P.

1988-01-01

A knowledge-based three-dimensional (3D) object recognition system is being developed. The system uses primitive-based hierarchical relational and structural matching for the recognition of 3D objects in the two-dimensional (2D) image for interpretation of the 3D scene. At present, the pre-processing, low-level preliminary segmentation, rule-based segmentation, and the feature extraction are completed. The data structure of the primitive viewing knowledge-base (PVKB) is also completed. Algorithms and programs based on attribute-trees matching for decomposing the segmented data into valid primitives were developed. The frame-based structural and relational descriptions of some objects were created and stored in a knowledge-base. This knowledge-base of the frame-based descriptions were developed on the MICROVAX-AI microcomputer in LISP environment. The simulated 3D scene of simple non-overlapping objects as well as real camera data of images of 3D objects of low-complexity have been successfully interpreted.

Hierarchical HMM based learning of navigation primitives for cooperative robotic endovascular catheterization.

PubMed

Rafii-Tari, Hedyeh; Liu, Jindong; Payne, Christopher J; Bicknell, Colin; Yang, Guang-Zhong

2014-01-01

Despite increased use of remote-controlled steerable catheter navigation systems for endovascular intervention, most current designs are based on master configurations which tend to alter natural operator tool interactions. This introduces problems to both ergonomics and shared human-robot control. This paper proposes a novel cooperative robotic catheterization system based on learning-from-demonstration. By encoding the higher-level structure of a catheterization task as a sequence of primitive motions, we demonstrate how to achieve prospective learning for complex tasks whilst incorporating subject-specific variations. A hierarchical Hidden Markov Model is used to model each movement primitive as well as their sequential relationship. This model is applied to generation of motion sequences, recognition of operator input, and prediction of future movements for the robot. The framework is validated by comparing catheter tip motions against the manual approach, showing significant improvements in the quality of catheterization. The results motivate the design of collaborative robotic systems that are intuitive to use, while reducing the cognitive workload of the operator.

Basic and clinical aspects of malignant melanoma

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nathanson, L.

1987-01-01

This book contains the following 10 chapters: The role of oncogenes in the pathogenesis of malignant melanoma; Laminin and fibronectin modulate the metastatic activity of melanoma cells; Structure, function and biosynthesis of ganglioside antigens associated with human tumors derived from the neuroectoderm; Epidemiology of ocular melanoma; Malignant melanoma: Prognostic factors; Endocrine influences on the natural history of human malignant melanoma; Psychosocial factors associated with prognostic indicators, progression, psychophysiology, and tumor-host response in cutaneous malignant melanoma; Central nervous system metastases in malignant melanoma; Interferon trials in the management of malignant melanoma and other neoplasms: an overview; and The treatment of malignantmore » melanoma by fast neutrons.« less

Cnidarian Nerve Nets and Neuromuscular Efficiency.

PubMed

Satterlie, Richard A

2015-12-01

Cnidarians are considered "nerve net animals" even though their nervous systems include various forms of condensation and centralization. Yet, their broad, two-dimensional muscle sheets are innervated by diffuse nerve nets. Do the motor nerve nets represent a primitive organization of multicellular nervous systems, do they represent a consequence of radial symmetry, or do they offer an efficient way to innervate a broad, two-dimensional muscle sheet, in which excitation of the muscle sheet can come from multiple sites of initiation? Regarding the primitive nature of cnidarian nervous systems, distinct neuronal systems exhibit some adaptations that are well known in higher animals, such as the use of oversized neurons with increased speed of conduction, and condensation of neurites into nerve-like tracts. A comparison of neural control of two-dimensional muscle sheets in a mollusc and jellyfish suggests that a possible primitive feature of cnidarian neurons may be a lack of regional specialization into conducting and transmitting regions. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Orbital infantile myofibroma: a case report and clinicopathologic review of 24 cases from the literature.

PubMed

Mynatt, Corey J; Feldman, Kenneth A; Thompson, Lester D R

2011-09-01

Isolated orbital infantile myofibroma are rare tumors in the head and neck. The mass-like clinical presentation and variable histologic features result in frequent misdiagnosis and potentially inappropriate clinical management. There are only a few reported cases in the English literature. Twenty-four patients with orbital infantile myofibroma or myofibromatosis were compiled from the English literature (Medline 1960-2011) and integrated with this case report. The patients included 14 males and 10 females, aged newborn to 10 years (mean, 34.8 months), who presented with a painless mass in the infra- or supraorbital regions, usually increasing in size andassociated with exophthalmos (n = 5). Females were on average older than their male counterparts (38.9 vs. 31.9 months, respectively; P = 0.71). The tumors were twice as frequent on the left (n = 16) than right (n = 8). Patients experienced symptoms for an average of 2.7 months before clinical presentation. The tumors involved the bone (n = 17) or the soft tissues (n = 7) of the orbit, with extension into the nasal or oral cavity (n = 3). The mean size was 3.0 cm, with a statistically significant difference between males and females (mean: 3.9 vs. 1.82; P = 0.0047), but without any differences based on age at presentation (P = 0.25), duration of symptoms (P = 0.66), or bone or soft tissue involvement (P = 0.51). Grossly, all tumors were well-circumscribed, firm to rubbery, homogenous, and white-grey. Histologically, the tumors were biphasic, showing whorled and nodular areas of fusiform cells with extracellular collagen, mixed with a population of small, primitive-appearing, darkly staining cells. Necrosis was not present, but mitoses could be seen. Tumors with immunohistochemistry performed showed strong and diffuse smooth muscle actin and vimentin immunoreactivity, but were negative with muscle specific actin, desmin, MYOD1, myogenin, S100 protein, GFAP, keratin, CD31, 34, Factor VIIIR-Ag, and CD45RB. The principle histologic differential diagnosis includes juvenile hyaline fibromatosis, fibrous hamartoma of infancy, fibromatosis coli, leiomyoma, infantile hemangiopericytoma, infantile fibrosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumor, and lymphoma. All patients were managed with surgery. Recurrences developed in two patients at 4 and 6 months, respectively. Follow-up data was available on all but two patients (n = 22). These patients were either alive without evidence of disease (n = 18), alive but with disease (n = 3), or had died unrelated to this disease (i.e., neuroblastoma, n = 1). Orbital infantile myofibroma is a rare tumor, presenting in infancy as an enlarging mass of the orbit, with characteristic histomorphologic and immunophenotypic features. Orbital disease is usually isolated rather than part of systemic disease, and shows an excellent long-term prognosis, making appropriate separation from other conditions important.

Assemblage of Presolar Materials and Early Solar System Condensates in Chondritic Porous Interplanetary Dust Particles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nguyen, A. N.; Nakamura-Messenger, K.; Messenger, S.; Keller, L. P.; Kloeck, W.

2015-01-01

Anhydrous chondritic porous inter-planetary dust particles (CP IDPs) contain an assortment of highly primitive solar system components, molecular cloud matter, and presolar grains. These IDPs have largely escaped parent body processing that has affected meteorites, advocating cometary origins. Though the stardust abundance in CP IDPs is generally greater than in primitive meteorites, it can vary widely among individual CP IDPs. The average abundance of silicate stardust among isotopically primitive IDPs is approx. 375 ppm while some have extreme abundances up to approx. 1.5%. H and N isotopic anomalies are common in CP IDPs and the carrier of these anomalies has been traced to organic matter that has experienced chemical reactions in cold molecular clouds or the outer protosolar disk. Significant variations in these anomalies may reflect different degrees of nebular processing. Refractory inclusions are commonly observed in carbonaceous chondrites. These inclusions are among the first solar system condensates and display 16O-rich isotopic compositions. Refractory grains have also been observed in the comet 81P/Wild-2 samples re-turned from the Stardust Mission and in CP IDPs, but they occur with much less frequency. Here we conduct coordinated mineralogical and isotopic analyses of CP IDPs that were characterized for their bulk chemistry by to study the distribution of primitive components and the degree of nebular alteration incurred.

Developmental Approach for Behavior Learning Using Primitive Motion Skills.

PubMed

Dawood, Farhan; Loo, Chu Kiong

2018-05-01

Imitation learning through self-exploration is essential in developing sensorimotor skills. Most developmental theories emphasize that social interactions, especially understanding of observed actions, could be first achieved through imitation, yet the discussion on the origin of primitive imitative abilities is often neglected, referring instead to the possibility of its innateness. This paper presents a developmental model of imitation learning based on the hypothesis that humanoid robot acquires imitative abilities as induced by sensorimotor associative learning through self-exploration. In designing such learning system, several key issues will be addressed: automatic segmentation of the observed actions into motion primitives using raw images acquired from the camera without requiring any kinematic model; incremental learning of spatio-temporal motion sequences to dynamically generates a topological structure in a self-stabilizing manner; organization of the learned data for easy and efficient retrieval using a dynamic associative memory; and utilizing segmented motion primitives to generate complex behavior by the combining these motion primitives. In our experiment, the self-posture is acquired through observing the image of its own body posture while performing the action in front of a mirror through body babbling. The complete architecture was evaluated by simulation and real robot experiments performed on DARwIn-OP humanoid robot.

Secure Computer System: Unified Exposition and Multics Interpretation

DTIC Science & Technology

1976-03-01

prearranged code to semaphore critical information to an undercleared subject/process. Neither of these topics is directly addressed by the mathematical...FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS. RULES OF OPERATION FOR A SECURE MULTICS Kernel primitives for a secure Multics will be derived from a higher level user...the Multics architecture as little as possible; this will account to a large extent for radical differences in form between actual kernel primitives

Symbolic Dynamics and Grammatical Complexity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hao, Bai-Lin; Zheng, Wei-Mou

The following sections are included: * Formal Languages and Their Complexity * Formal Language * Chomsky Hierarchy of Grammatical Complexity * The L-System * Regular Language and Finite Automaton * Finite Automaton * Regular Language * Stefan Matrix as Transfer Function for Automaton * Beyond Regular Languages * Feigenbaum and Generalized Feigenbaum Limiting Sets * Even and Odd Fibonacci Sequences * Odd Maximal Primitive Prefixes and Kneading Map * Even Maximal Primitive Prefixes and Distinct Excluded Blocks * Summary of Results

Existence and Non-uniqueness of Global Weak Solutions to Inviscid Primitive and Boussinesq Equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chiodaroli, Elisabetta; Michálek, Martin

2017-08-01

We consider the initial value problem for the inviscid Primitive and Boussinesq equations in three spatial dimensions. We recast both systems as an abstract Euler-type system and apply the methods of convex integration of De Lellis and Székelyhidi to show the existence of infinitely many global weak solutions of the studied equations for general initial data. We also introduce an appropriate notion of dissipative solutions and show the existence of suitable initial data which generate infinitely many dissipative solutions.

Deictic primitives for general purpose navigation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Crismann, Jill D.

1994-01-01

A visually-based deictic primative used as an elementary command set for general purpose navigation was investigated. It was shown that a simple 'follow your eyes' scenario is sufficient for tracking a moving target. Limitations of velocity, acceleration, and modeling of the response of the mechanical systems were enforced. Realistic paths of the robots were produced during the simulation. Scientists could remotely command a planetary rover to go to a particular rock formation that may be interesting. Similarly an expert at plant maintenance could obtain diagnostic information remotely by using deictic primitives on a mobile are used in the deictic primitives, we could imagine that the exact same control software could be used for all of these applications.

Single molecules can operate as primitive biological sensors, switches and oscillators.

PubMed

Hernansaiz-Ballesteros, Rosa D; Cardelli, Luca; Csikász-Nagy, Attila

2018-06-18

Switch-like and oscillatory dynamical systems are widely observed in biology. We investigate the simplest biological switch that is composed of a single molecule that can be autocatalytically converted between two opposing activity forms. We test how this simple network can keep its switching behaviour under perturbations in the system. We show that this molecule can work as a robust bistable system, even for alterations in the reactions that drive the switching between various conformations. We propose that this single molecule system could work as a primitive biological sensor and show by steady state analysis of a mathematical model of the system that it could switch between possible states for changes in environmental signals. Particularly, we show that a single molecule phosphorylation-dephosphorylation switch could work as a nucleotide or energy sensor. We also notice that a given set of reductions in the reaction network can lead to the emergence of oscillatory behaviour. We propose that evolution could have converted this switch into a single molecule oscillator, which could have been used as a primitive timekeeper. We discuss how the structure of the simplest known circadian clock regulatory system, found in cyanobacteria, resembles the proposed single molecule oscillator. Besides, we speculate if such minimal systems could have existed in an RNA world.

Progenitors of the protochordate ocellus as an evolutionary origin of the neural crest

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

The neural crest represents a highly multipotent population of embryonic stem cells found only in vertebrate embryos. Acquisition of the neural crest during the evolution of vertebrates was a great advantage, providing Chordata animals with the first cellular cartilage, bone, dentition, advanced nervous system and other innovations. Today not much is known about the evolutionary origin of neural crest cells. Here we propose a novel scenario in which the neural crest originates from neuroectodermal progenitors of the pigmented ocelli in Amphioxus-like animals. We suggest that because of changes in photoreception needs, these multipotent progenitors of photoreceptors gained the ability to migrate outside of the central nervous system and subsequently started to give rise to neural, glial and pigmented progeny at the periphery. PMID:23575111

Neurofibromatosis: chronological history and current issues.

PubMed

Antônio, João Roberto; Goloni-Bertollo, Eny Maria; Trídico, Lívia Arroyo

2013-01-01

Neurofibromatosis, which was first described in 1882 by Von Recklinghausen, is a genetic disease characterized by a neuroectodermal abnormality and by clinical manifestations of systemic and progressive involvement which mainly affect the skin, nervous system, bones, eyes and possibly other organs. The disease may manifest in several ways and it can vary from individual to individual. Given the wealth of information about neurofibromatosis, we attempted to present this information in different ways. In the first part of this work, we present a chronological history, which describes the evolution of the disease since the early publications about the disorder until the conclusion of this work, focusing on relevant aspects which can be used by those wishing to investigate this disease. In the second part, we present an update on the various aspects that constitute this disease.

Neurofibromatosis: chronological history and current issues*

PubMed Central

Antônio, João Roberto; Goloni-Bertollo, Eny Maria; Trídico, Lívia Arroyo

2013-01-01

Neurofibromatosis, which was first described in 1882 by Von Recklinghausen, is a genetic disease characterized by a neuroectodermal abnormality and by clinical manifestations of systemic and progressive involvement which mainly affect the skin, nervous system, bones, eyes and possibly other organs. The disease may manifest in several ways and it can vary from individual to individual. Given the wealth of information about neurofibromatosis, we attempted to present this information in different ways. In the first part of this work, we present a chronological history, which describes the evolution of the disease since the early publications about the disorder until the conclusion of this work, focusing on relevant aspects which can be used by those wishing to investigate this disease. In the second part, we present an update on the various aspects that constitute this disease. PMID:23793209

Posterior Circulation Moyamoya Disease versus Primitive Vertebral-Basilar Artery System Moyamoya Disease: New Classification of Moyamoya Disease from the Perspective of Embryology.

PubMed

Tan, Cunxin; Duan, Ran; Ye, Xun; Zhang, Dong; Wang, Rong

2016-12-01

Moyamoya disease (MMD) is a chronic cerebrovascular disorder with little known etiology. We aim to propose a new classification system for MMD from the perspective of embryology. MMD patients' digital subtraction angiograms were retrospectively analyzed. Every angiogram was analyzed to find the abnormal vessels and from which part of the posterior cerebral artery (PCA) the lesions begin. In 262 MMD cases, 32 pediatric patients had PCA involvement, of which 17 were male and 15 were female; 68 adults had PCA involvement, of which 33 were male and 35 were female. The initially affected part of the PCA was compared between sexes and between pediatric and adult patients, and the findings are not statistically significant (P = 0.233, P = 0.855, P = 0.343, respectively). However, of the 100 cases with PCA involvement, only 4 had the lesions begin from the first part of the PCA, and all of the 4 cases had the basilar artery lesions. All the other 96 cases had the lesions begin from the second part of the PCA or from the posterior communication artery, which is derived from the caudal ramus of the primitive intracarotid artery, leaving the first part of the PCA and basilar artery excluded from affection. MMD should be classified into primitive intracarotid artery system-involved type and primitive vertebral basilar artery system-involved type. The reason that the vertebral basilar artery is so rarely involved in MMD might be because of its late development in the brain. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Sandboxes for Model-Based Inquiry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brady, Corey; Holbert, Nathan; Soylu, Firat; Novak, Michael; Wilensky, Uri

2015-04-01

In this article, we introduce a class of constructionist learning environments that we call Emergent Systems Sandboxes ( ESSs), which have served as a centerpiece of our recent work in developing curriculum to support scalable model-based learning in classroom settings. ESSs are a carefully specified form of virtual construction environment that support students in creating, exploring, and sharing computational models of dynamic systems that exhibit emergent phenomena. They provide learners with "entity"-level construction primitives that reflect an underlying scientific model. These primitives can be directly "painted" into a sandbox space, where they can then be combined, arranged, and manipulated to construct complex systems and explore the emergent properties of those systems. We argue that ESSs offer a means of addressing some of the key barriers to adopting rich, constructionist model-based inquiry approaches in science classrooms at scale. Situating the ESS in a large-scale science modeling curriculum we are implementing across the USA, we describe how the unique "entity-level" primitive design of an ESS facilitates knowledge system refinement at both an individual and social level, we describe how it supports flexible modeling practices by providing both continuous and discrete modes of executability, and we illustrate how it offers students a variety of opportunities for validating their qualitative understandings of emergent systems as they develop.

Origin and Evolutionary Alteration of the Mitochondrial Import System in Eukaryotic Lineages

PubMed Central

Fukasawa, Yoshinori; Oda, Toshiyuki; Tomii, Kentaro

2017-01-01

Abstract Protein transport systems are fundamentally important for maintaining mitochondrial function. Nevertheless, mitochondrial protein translocases such as the kinetoplastid ATOM complex have recently been shown to vary in eukaryotic lineages. Various evolutionary hypotheses have been formulated to explain this diversity. To resolve any contradiction, estimating the primitive state and clarifying changes from that state are necessary. Here, we present more likely primitive models of mitochondrial translocases, specifically the translocase of the outer membrane (TOM) and translocase of the inner membrane (TIM) complexes, using scrutinized phylogenetic profiles. We then analyzed the translocases’ evolution in eukaryotic lineages. Based on those results, we propose a novel evolutionary scenario for diversification of the mitochondrial transport system. Our results indicate that presequence transport machinery was mostly established in the last eukaryotic common ancestor, and that primitive translocases already had a pathway for transporting presequence-containing proteins. Moreover, secondary changes including convergent and migrational gains of a presequence receptor in TOM and TIM complexes, respectively, likely resulted from constrained evolution. The nature of a targeting signal can constrain alteration to the protein transport complex. PMID:28369657

Hard Spheres on the Primitive Surface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dotera, Tomonari; Takahashi, Yusuke

2015-03-01

Recently hierarchical structures associated with the gyroid in several soft-matter systems have been reported. One of fundamental questions is regular arrangement or tiling on minimal surfaces. We have found certain numbers of hard spheres per unit cell on the gyroid surface are entropically self-organized. Here, new results for the primitive surface are presented. 56/64/72 per unit cell on the primitive minimal surface are entropically self-organized. Numerical evidences for the fluid-solid transition as a function of hard sphere radius are obtained in terms of the acceptance ratio of Monte Carlo moves and order parameters. These arrangements, which are the extensions of the hexagonal arrangement on a flat surface, can be viewed as hyperbolic tiling on the Poincaré disk with a negative Gaussian curvature.

The Abundance and Distribution of Presolar Materials in Cluster IDPS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Messenger, Scott; Keller, Lindsay; Nakamura-Messenger, Keiko; Ito, Motoo

2007-01-01

Presolar grains and remnants of interstellar organic compounds occur in a wide range of primitive solar system materials, including meteorites, interplanetary dust particles (IDPs), and comet Wild-2 samples. Among the most abundant presolar phases are silicate stardust grains and molecular cloud material. However, these materials have also been susceptible to destruction and alteration during parent body and nebular processing. In addition to their importance as direct samples of remote and ancient astrophysical environments, presolar materials thus provide a measure of how well different primitive bodies have preserved the original solar system starting materials.

An interval logic for higher-level temporal reasoning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schwartz, R. L.; Melliar-Smith, P. M.; Vogt, F. H.; Plaisted, D. A.

1983-01-01

Prior work explored temporal logics, based on classical modal logics, as a framework for specifying and reasoning about concurrent programs, distributed systems, and communications protocols, and reported on efforts using temporal reasoning primitives to express very high level abstract requirements that a program or system is to satisfy. Based on experience with those primitives, this report describes an Interval Logic that is more suitable for expressing such higher level temporal properties. The report provides a formal semantics for the Interval Logic, and several examples of its use. A description of decision procedures for the logic is also included.

Genetic control of Drosophila nerve cord development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Skeath, James B.; Thor, Stefan

2003-01-01

The Drosophila ventral nerve cord has been a central model system for studying the molecular genetic mechanisms that control CNS development. Studies show that the generation of neural diversity is a multistep process initiated by the patterning and segmentation of the neuroectoderm. These events act together with the process of lateral inhibition to generate precursor cells (neuroblasts) with specific identities, distinguished by the expression of unique combinations of regulatory genes. The expression of these genes in a given neuroblast restricts the fate of its progeny, by activating specific combinations of downstream genes. These genes in turn specify the identity of any given postmitotic cell, which is evident by its cellular morphology and choice of neurotransmitter.

Microfluidic assay of the deformability of primitive erythroblasts.

PubMed

Zhou, Sitong; Huang, Yu-Shan; Kingsley, Paul D; Cyr, Kathryn H; Palis, James; Wan, Jiandi

2017-09-01

Primitive erythroblasts (precursors of red blood cells) enter vascular circulation during the embryonic period and mature while circulating. As a result, primitive erythroblasts constantly experience significant hemodynamic shear stress. Shear-induced deformation of primitive erythroblasts however, is poorly studied. In this work, we examined the deformability of primitive erythroblasts at physiologically relevant flow conditions in microfluidic channels and identified the regulatory roles of the maturation stage of primitive erythroblasts and cytoskeletal protein 4.1 R in shear-induced cell deformation. The results showed that the maturation stage affected the deformability of primitive erythroblasts significantly and that primitive erythroblasts at later maturational stages exhibited a better deformability due to a matured cytoskeletal structure in the cell membrane.

Shortest multiple disconnected path for the analysis of entanglements in two- and three-dimensional polymeric systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kröger, Martin

2005-06-01

We present an algorithm which returns a shortest path and related number of entanglements for a given configuration of a polymeric system in 2 or 3 dimensions. Rubinstein and Helfand, and later Everaers et al. introduced a concept to extract primitive paths for dense polymeric melts made of linear chains (a multiple disconnected multibead 'path'), where each primitive path is defined as a path connecting the (space-fixed) ends of a polymer under the constraint of non-interpenetration (excluded volume) between primitive paths of different chains, such that the multiple disconnected path fulfills a minimization criterion. The present algorithm uses geometrical operations and provides a—model independent—efficient approximate solution to this challenging problem. Primitive paths are treated as 'infinitely' thin (we further allow for finite thickness to model excluded volume), and tensionless lines rather than multibead chains, excluded volume is taken into account without a force law. The present implementation allows to construct a shortest multiple disconnected path (SP) for 2D systems (polymeric chain within spherical obstacles) and an optimal SP for 3D systems (collection of polymeric chains). The number of entanglements is then simply obtained from the SP as either the number of interior kinks, or from the average length of a line segment. Further, information about structure and potentially also the dynamics of entanglements is immediately available from the SP. We apply the method to study the 'concentration' dependence of the degree of entanglement in phantom chain systems. Program summaryTitle of program:Z Catalogue number:ADVG Program summary URL:http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/ADVG Program obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen's University of Belfast, N. Ireland Computer for which the program is designed and others on which it has been tested: Silicon Graphics (Irix), Sun (Solaris), PC (Linux) Operating systems or monitors under which the program has been tested: UNIX, Linux Program language used: USANSI Fortran 77 and Fortran 90 Memory required to execute with typical data: 1 MByte No. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 10 660 No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 119 551 Distribution formet:tar.gz Nature of physical problem: The problem is to obtain primitive paths substantiating a shortest multiple disconnected path (SP) for a given polymer configuration (chains of particles, with or without additional single particles as obstacles for the 2D case). Primitive paths are here defined as in [M. Rubinstein, E. Helfand, J. Chem. Phys. 82 (1985) 2477; R. Everaers, S.K. Sukumaran, G.S. Grest, C. Svaneborg, A. Sivasubramanian, K. Kremer, Science 303 (2004) 823] as the shortest line (path) respecting 'topological' constraints (from neighboring polymers or point obstacles) between ends of polymers. There is a unique solution for the 2D case. For the 3D case it is unique if we construct a primitive path of a single chain embedded within fixed line obstacles [J.S.B. Mitchell, Geometric shortest paths and network optimization, in: J.-R. Sack, J. Urrutia (Eds.), Handbook of Computational Geometry, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 2000, pp. 633-701]. For a large 3D configuration made of several chains, short is meant to be the Euclidean shortest multiple disconnected path (SP) where primitive paths are constructed for all chains simultaneously. While the latter problem, in general, does not possess a unique solution, the algorithm must return a locally optimal solution, robust against minor displacements of the disconnected path and chain re-labeling. The problem is solved if the number of kinks (or entanglements Z), explicitly deduced from the SP, is quite insensitive to the exact conformation of the SP which allows to estimate Z with a small error. Efficient method of solution: Primitive paths are constructed from the given polymer configuration (a non-shortest multiple disconnected path, including obstacles, if present) by first replacing each polymer contour by a line with a number of 'kinks' (beads, nodes) and 'segments' (edges). To obtain primitive paths, defined to be uncrossable by any other objects (neighboring primitive paths, line or point obstacles), the algorithm minimizes the length of all primitive paths consecutively, until a final minimum Euclidean length of the SP is reached. Fast geometric operations rather than dynamical methods are used to minimize the contour lengths of the primitive paths. Neighbor lists are used to keep track of potentially intersecting segments of other chains. Periodic boundary conditions are employed. A finite small line thickness is used in order to make sure that entanglements are not 'lost' due to finite precision of representation of numbers. Restrictions on the complexity of the problem: For a single chain embedded within fixed line or point obstacles, the algorithm returns the exact SP. For more complex problems, the algorithm returns a locally optimal SP. Except for exotic, probably rare, configurations it turns out that different locally optimal SPs possess quite an identical number of nodes. In general, the problem constructing the SP is known to be NP-hard [J.S.B. Mitchell, Geometric shortest paths and network optimization, in: J.-R. Sack, J. Urrutia (Eds.), Handbook of Computational Geometry, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 2000, pp. 633-701], and we offer a solution which should suffice to analyze physical problems, and gives an estimate about the precision and uniqueness of the result (from a standard deviation by varying the parameter: cyclicswitch). The program is NOT restricted to handle systems for which segment lengths of the SP exceed half the box size. Typical running time: Typical running times are approximately two orders of magnitude shorter compared with the ones needed for a corresponding molecular dynamics approach, and scale mostly linearly with system size. We provide a benchmark table.

Maternal xNorrin, a Canonical Wnt Signaling Agonist and TGF-β Antagonist, Controls Early Neuroectoderm Specification in Xenopus

PubMed Central

Xu, Suhong; Cheng, Feng; Liang, Juan; Wu, Wei; Zhang, Jian

2012-01-01

Dorsal–ventral specification in the amphibian embryo is controlled by β-catenin, whose activation in all dorsal cells is dependent on maternal Wnt11. However, it remains unknown whether other maternally secreted factors contribute to β-catenin activation in the dorsal ectoderm. Here, we show that maternal Xenopus Norrin (xNorrin) promotes anterior neural tissue formation in ventralized embryos. Conversely, when xNorrin function is inhibited, early canonical Wnt signaling in the dorsal ectoderm and the early expression of the zygotic neural inducers Chordin, Noggin, and Xnr3 are severely suppressed, causing the loss of anterior structures. In addition, xNorrin potently inhibits BMP- and Nodal/Activin-related functions through direct binding to the ligands. Moreover, a subset of Norrin mutants identified in humans with Norrie disease retain Wnt activation but show defective inhibition of Nodal/Activin-related signaling in mesoderm induction, suggesting that this disinhibition causes Norrie disease. Thus, xNorrin is an unusual molecule that acts on two major signaling pathways, Wnt and TGF-β, in opposite ways and is essential for early neuroectoderm specification. PMID:22448144

Oparin's coacervates as an important milestone in chemical evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kolb, Vera M.

2015-09-01

Although Oparin's coacervate model for the origin of life by chemical evolution is almost 100 years old, it is still valid. However, the structure of his originally proposed coacervate is not considered prebiotic, based on some recent developments in prebiotic chemistry. We have remedied this deficiency of the Oparin's model, by substituting his coacervate with a prebiotically feasible one. Oparin's coacervates are aqueous structures, but have a boundary with the rest of the aqueous medium. They exhibit properties of self-replication, and provide a path to a primitive metabolism, via chemical competition and thus a primitive selection. Thus, coacervates are good models for proto-cells. We review here some salient points of Oparin's model and address also some philosophical views on the beginning of natural selection in primitive chemical systems.

Compositional studies of primitive asteroids

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vilas, Faith

1991-01-01

The aqueous alteration history in the solar system are studied through acquiring additional CCD reflectance spectra in the blue-UV through near-IR spectral region and analyzing these spectra for information about iron oxides in phyllosilicates identified in the CM and CI carbonaceous chondrites. Emphasis is on the main-belt and Cybele primitive asteroids, as these asteroids show spectral diversity and are also spectral analogues for known meteorite samples. The porphyrin bands found in organics near 0.4 micron is also sought.

A Simulation System Based on the Actor Paradigm

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-02-01

of the protocol. Shared memory communication requires the programmer to wait and signal semaphores explicitly to synchronize the communicating parties...wide range of possibilities within the same basic protocol. - The simplicity of the primitive operation set affords those creating new operations...more flexibility (Ada has a large and complicated primitive set). -3- II I I I B A I -I I I I I . 0 1 2 3 4 5 Time 0: Both processes A and B are

Knowledge Based Synthesis of Efficient Structures for Concurrent Computation Using Fat-Trees and Pipelining.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-12-31

synthesize synchronization skeletons"Science of Computer Programming 2, 1982, pp. 241-266 [Gel85] Gelernter, David, "Generative communication in...effective computation based on given primitives . An architecture is an abstract object-type, whose instances are computing systems. By a parallel computing...explaining the language primitives on this basis. We explain how such a basis can be "simpler" than a general-purpose manual-programming language such as

Temporal Subtraction of Digital Breast Tomosynthesis Images for Improved Mass Detection

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-10-01

K. Fishman and B. M. W. Tsui, "Development of a computer-generated model for the coronary arterial tree based on multislice CT and morphometric data...mathematical models based on geometric primitives8-22. Bakic et al created synthetic x-ray mammograms using a 3D simulated breast tissue model consisting of...utilized a combination of voxel matrices and geometric primitives to create a breast phantom that includes the breast surface, the duct system, and

Mineral Composition of Organically Grown Wheat Genotypes: Contribution to Daily Minerals Intake

PubMed Central

Hussain, Abrar; Larsson, Hans; Kuktaite, Ramune; Johansson, Eva

2010-01-01

In this study, 321 winter and spring wheat genotypes were analysed for twelve nutritionally important minerals (B, Cu, Fe, Se, Mg, Zn, Ca, Mn, Mo, P, S and K). Some of the genotypes used were from multiple locations and years, resulting in a total number of 493 samples. Investigated genotypes were divided into six genotype groups i.e., selections, old landraces, primitive wheat, spelt, old cultivars and cultivars. For some of the investigated minerals higher concentrations were observed in selections, primitive wheat, and old cultivars as compared to more modern wheat material, e.g., cultivars and spelt wheat. Location was found to have a significant effect on mineral concentration for all genotype groups, although for primitive wheat, genotype had a higher impact than location. Spring wheat was observed to have significantly higher values for B, Cu, Fe, Zn, Ca, S and K as compared to winter wheat. Higher levels of several minerals were observed in the present study, as compared to previous studies carried out in inorganic systems, indicating that organic conditions with suitable genotypes may enhance mineral concentration in wheat grain. This study also showed that a very high mineral concentration, close to daily requirements, can be produced by growing specific primitive wheat genotypes in an organic farming system. Thus, by selecting genotypes for further breeding, nutritional value of the wheat flour for human consumption can be improved. PMID:20948934

How rare is complex life in the Milky Way?

PubMed

Bounama, Christine; von Bloh, Werner; Franck, Siegfried

2007-10-01

An integrated Earth system model was applied to calculate the number of habitable Earth-analog planets that are likely to have developed primitive (unicellular) and complex (multicellular) life in extrasolar planetary systems. The model is based on the global carbon cycle mediated by life and driven by increasing stellar luminosity and plate tectonics. We assumed that the hypothetical primitive and complex life forms differed in their temperature limits and CO(2) tolerances. Though complex life would be more vulnerable to environmental stress, its presence would amplify weathering processes on a terrestrial planet. The model allowed us to calculate the average number of Earth-analog planets that may harbor such life by using the formation rate of Earth-like planets in the Milky Way as well as the size of a habitable zone that could support primitive and complex life forms. The number of planets predicted to bear complex life was found to be approximately 2 orders of magnitude lower than the number predicted for primitive life forms. Our model predicted a maximum abundance of such planets around 1.8 Ga ago and allowed us to calculate the average distance between potentially habitable planets in the Milky Way. If the model predictions are accurate, the future missions DARWIN (up to a probability of 65%) and TPF (up to 20%) are likely to detect at least one planet with a biosphere composed of complex life.

Microcrystals and Amorphous Material in Comets and Primitive Meteorites: Keys to Understanding Processes in the Early Solar System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nuth, J. A.; Brearley, A. J.; Scott, E. R. D.

2004-01-01

Comets, fine-grained matrices of chondrites, and chondritic interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) are each composed of both crystalline and amorphous silicates. The primitive solar nebula, in which comets and asteroids accreted, was formed from the collapsed core of a Giant Molecular Cloud, that, in turn, condensed from materials present in the interstellar medium (ISM). Despite observations that reveal the presence of crystalline magnesium silicate minerals in the shells of very high mass-loss-rate stars [1,2], typical silicate grains in the ISM are most likely to be amorphous, given their relatively long residence time in such a high radiation environment. An upper limit of 3% crystalline grains can be derived from their non-detection in spectra of ISM solids [3]. If the vast majority of grains that enter the primitive solar nebula are amorphous, then the observation of crystalline dust in comets and primitive chondrite matrices indicates the action of specific processes required to transform the amorphous starting materials into the crystals that are observed.

Secure Heterogeneous Multicore Platform Through Diversity and Redundancy

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-03-31

implementation detects synchronization in this way. If a programmer uses custom synchronization primitives , our approach assumes that such primitives ... synchronization primitives . Primitives such as barriers and spinlocks explicitly enforce a pre- determined ordering among threads. Therefore, the outcome of...these synchronization operations are deterministic. In the discussion, we will refer to these primitives as ordering synchronization operations. On the

ATHENA: A Personalized Platform to Promote an Active Lifestyle and Wellbeing Based on Physical, Mental and Social Health Primitives

PubMed Central

Fahim, Muhammad; Idris, Muhammad; Ali, Rahman; Nugent, Christopher; Kang, Byeong; Huh, Eui-Nam; Lee, Sungyoung

2014-01-01

Technology provides ample opportunities for the acquisition and processing of physical, mental and social health primitives. However, several challenges remain for researchers as how to define the relationship between reported physical activities, mood and social interaction to define an active lifestyle. We are conducting a project, ATHENA(activity-awareness for human-engaged wellness applications) to design and integrate the relationship between these basic health primitives to approximate the human lifestyle and real-time recommendations for wellbeing services. Our goal is to develop a system to promote an active lifestyle for individuals and to recommend to them valuable interventions by making comparisons to their past habits. The proposed system processes sensory data through our developed machine learning algorithms inside smart devices and utilizes cloud infrastructure to reduce the cost. We exploit big data infrastructure for massive sensory data storage and fast retrieval for recommendations. Our contributions include the development of a prototype system to promote an active lifestyle and a visual design capable of engaging users in the goal of increasing self-motivation. We believe that our study will impact the design of future ubiquitous wellness applications. PMID:24859031

Origin and Evolutionary Alteration of the Mitochondrial Import System in Eukaryotic Lineages.

PubMed

Fukasawa, Yoshinori; Oda, Toshiyuki; Tomii, Kentaro; Imai, Kenichiro

2017-07-01

Protein transport systems are fundamentally important for maintaining mitochondrial function. Nevertheless, mitochondrial protein translocases such as the kinetoplastid ATOM complex have recently been shown to vary in eukaryotic lineages. Various evolutionary hypotheses have been formulated to explain this diversity. To resolve any contradiction, estimating the primitive state and clarifying changes from that state are necessary. Here, we present more likely primitive models of mitochondrial translocases, specifically the translocase of the outer membrane (TOM) and translocase of the inner membrane (TIM) complexes, using scrutinized phylogenetic profiles. We then analyzed the translocases' evolution in eukaryotic lineages. Based on those results, we propose a novel evolutionary scenario for diversification of the mitochondrial transport system. Our results indicate that presequence transport machinery was mostly established in the last eukaryotic common ancestor, and that primitive translocases already had a pathway for transporting presequence-containing proteins. Moreover, secondary changes including convergent and migrational gains of a presequence receptor in TOM and TIM complexes, respectively, likely resulted from constrained evolution. The nature of a targeting signal can constrain alteration to the protein transport complex. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

Influence of sediment recycling on the trace element composition of primitive arc lavas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Collinet, M.; Jagoutz, O. E.

2017-12-01

Primitive calc-alkaline lavas from continental arcs are, on average, enriched in incompatible elements compared to those from intra-oceanic arcs. This relative enrichment is observed in different groups of trace elements: LILE (e.g. K, Rb), LREE to MREE (La-Dy) and HFSE (e.g.Zr, Nb) and is thought to result from (1) a transfer of material from the subducting slab to the mantle wedge at higher temperature than in intra-oceanic margins and/or (2) lower average degrees of melting in the mantle wedge, as a consequence of thicker overlying crusts and higher average pressures of melting. In addition to thicker overlying crusts and generally higher slab temperatures, continental margins are characterized by larger volumes of rock exposed above sea level and enhanced erosion rates compared to intra-oceanic arcs. As several geochemical signatures of arc lavas attest to the importance of sediment recycling in subduction zones, we explore the possibility that the high concentrations of incompatible elements in primitive lavas from continental arcs directly reflect a larger input of sediment to the subduction system. Previous efforts to quantify the sediment flux to oceanic trenches focused on the thickness of pelagic and hemipelagic sediments on top of the plate entering the subduction zone (Plank and Langmuir, 1993, Nature). These estimates primarily relied on the sediment layer drilled outboard from the subduction system and likely underestimate the volume of sediment derived from the arc itself. Accordingly, we find that such estimates of sediment flux do not correlate with the concentration of incompatible elements in primitive arc lavas. To account for regional contributions of coarser detrital sediments, usually delivered to oceanic trenches by turbidity currents, we apply to arc segments a model that quantifies the sediment load of rivers based on the average relief, area, temperature and runoff of their respective drainage areas (Syvitski et al., 2003, Sediment. Geol.). Our new estimates of sediment fluxes correlate positively with incompatible element concentrations in primitive arc lavas. We conclude that a large fraction of the local terrigenous sediments is subducted and contributes to the observed dichotomy in the trace element budget between primitive lavas from continental and oceanic margins.

Minimization In Digital Design As A Meta-Planning Problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ho, William P. C.; Wu, Jung-Gen

1987-05-01

In our model-based expert system for automatic digital system design, we formalize the design process into three sub-processes - compiling high-level behavioral specifications into primitive behavioral operations, grouping primitive operations into behavioral functions, and grouping functions into modules. Consideration of design minimization explicitly controls decision-making in the last two subprocesses. Design minimization, a key task in the automatic design of digital systems, is complicated by the high degree of interaction among the time sequence and content of design decisions. In this paper, we present an AI approach which directly addresses these interactions and their consequences by modeling the minimization prob-lem as a planning problem, and the management of design decision-making as a meta-planning problem.

Compositional studies of primitive asteroids

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vilas, Faith

1991-01-01

Primitive asteroids in the solar system (C, P, D class and associated subclasses) are believed to have undergone less thermal processing compared with the differential (S class) asteroids. Telescopic spectra of C class asteroids show effects of aqueous alteration products produced when heating of the asteroids was sufficient to melt surface water, but not strong enough to produce differentiation. Spectrum analysis of P and D class asteroids suggests that aqueous alteration terminated in the outer belt and did not operate at the distance of Jupiter's orbit.

An anterior signaling center patterns and sizes the anterior neuroectoderm of the sea urchin embryo.

PubMed

Range, Ryan C; Wei, Zheng

2016-05-01

Anterior signaling centers help specify and pattern the early anterior neuroectoderm (ANE) in many deuterostomes. In sea urchin the ANE is restricted to the anterior of the late blastula stage embryo, where it forms a simple neural territory comprising several types of neurons as well as the apical tuft. Here, we show that during early development, the sea urchin ANE territory separates into inner and outer regulatory domains that express the cardinal ANE transcriptional regulators FoxQ2 and Six3, respectively. FoxQ2 drives this patterning process, which is required to eliminate six3 expression from the inner domain and activate the expression of Dkk3 and sFRP1/5, two secreted Wnt modulators. Dkk3 and low expression levels of sFRP1/5 act additively to potentiate the Wnt/JNK signaling pathway governing the positioning of the ANE territory around the anterior pole, whereas high expression levels of sFRP1/5 antagonize Wnt/JNK signaling. sFRP1/5 and Dkk3 levels are rigidly maintained via autorepressive and cross-repressive interactions with Wnt signaling components and additional ANE transcription factors. Together, these data support a model in which FoxQ2 initiates an anterior patterning center that implements correct size and positions of ANE structures. Comparisons of functional and expression studies in sea urchin, hemichordate and chordate embryos reveal striking similarities among deuterostome ANE regulatory networks and the molecular mechanism that positions and defines ANE borders. These data strongly support the idea that the sea urchin embryo uses an ancient anterior patterning system that was present in the common ambulacrarian/chordate ancestor. © 2016. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Characterization of selected elementary motion detector cells to image primitives.

PubMed

Benson, Leslie A; Barrett, Steven F; Wright, Cameron H G

2008-01-01

Developing a visual sensing system, complete with motion processing hardware and software would have many applications to current technology. It could be mounted on many autonomous vehicles to provide information about the navigational environment, as well as obstacle avoidance features. Incorporating the motion processing capabilities into the sensor requires a new approach to the algorithm implementation. This research, and that of many others, have turned to nature for inspiration. Elementary motion detector (EMD) cells are involved in a biological preprocessing network to provide information to the motion processing lobes of the house degrees y Musca domestica. This paper describes the response of the photoreceptor inputs to the EMDs. The inputs to the EMD components are tested as they are stimulated with varying image primitives. This is the first of many steps in characterizing the EMD response to image primitives.

Efficient conservative ADER schemes based on WENO reconstruction and space-time predictor in primitive variables

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zanotti, Olindo; Dumbser, Michael

2016-01-01

We present a new version of conservative ADER-WENO finite volume schemes, in which both the high order spatial reconstruction as well as the time evolution of the reconstruction polynomials in the local space-time predictor stage are performed in primitive variables, rather than in conserved ones. To obtain a conservative method, the underlying finite volume scheme is still written in terms of the cell averages of the conserved quantities. Therefore, our new approach performs the spatial WENO reconstruction twice: the first WENO reconstruction is carried out on the known cell averages of the conservative variables. The WENO polynomials are then used at the cell centers to compute point values of the conserved variables, which are subsequently converted into point values of the primitive variables. This is the only place where the conversion from conservative to primitive variables is needed in the new scheme. Then, a second WENO reconstruction is performed on the point values of the primitive variables to obtain piecewise high order reconstruction polynomials of the primitive variables. The reconstruction polynomials are subsequently evolved in time with a novel space-time finite element predictor that is directly applied to the governing PDE written in primitive form. The resulting space-time polynomials of the primitive variables can then be directly used as input for the numerical fluxes at the cell boundaries in the underlying conservative finite volume scheme. Hence, the number of necessary conversions from the conserved to the primitive variables is reduced to just one single conversion at each cell center. We have verified the validity of the new approach over a wide range of hyperbolic systems, including the classical Euler equations of gas dynamics, the special relativistic hydrodynamics (RHD) and ideal magnetohydrodynamics (RMHD) equations, as well as the Baer-Nunziato model for compressible two-phase flows. In all cases we have noticed that the new ADER schemes provide less oscillatory solutions when compared to ADER finite volume schemes based on the reconstruction in conserved variables, especially for the RMHD and the Baer-Nunziato equations. For the RHD and RMHD equations, the overall accuracy is improved and the CPU time is reduced by about 25 %. Because of its increased accuracy and due to the reduced computational cost, we recommend to use this version of ADER as the standard one in the relativistic framework. At the end of the paper, the new approach has also been extended to ADER-DG schemes on space-time adaptive grids (AMR).

Compositional study of asteroids in the Erigone collisional family using visible spectroscopy at the 10.4m GTC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morate, David; de León, Julia; De Prá, Mário; Licandro, Javier; Cabrera-Lavers, Antonio; Campins, Humberto; Pinilla-Alonso, Noemí; Alí-Lagoa, Víctor

2015-11-01

Asteroid families are formed by the fragments produced by the disruption of a common parent body (Bendjoya & Zappalà 2002). Primitive asteroids in the solar system are believed to have undergone less thermal processing than the S-complex asteroids. Thus, study of primitive asteroid families provides information about the solar system formation period. The Erigone collisional family, together with other three families (Polana, Clarissa and Sulamitis), are believed to be the origin of the two primitive Near-Earth asteroids that are the main targets of the NASA’s OSIRIS-REx ((101955) Bennu) and JAXA’s Hayabusa 2 ((162173) 1999 JU3) missions (Campins et al. 2010; Campins et al. 2013; Lauretta et al. 2010; Tsuda et al. 2013). These spacecrafts will visit the asteroids, and a sample of their surface material will be returned to Earth. Understanding of the families that are considered potential sources will enhance the scientific return of the missions. The main goal of the work presented here is to characterize the Erigone collisional family. Asteroid (163) Erigone has been classified as a primitive object (Bus 1999; Bus & Binzel 2002), and we expect the members of this family to be consistent with the spectral type of the parent body. We have obtained visible spectra (0.5-0.9 μm) for 101 members of the Erigone family, using the OSIRIS instrument at the 10.4m Gran Telescopio Canarias. We performed a taxonomical classification of these asteroids, finding that the number of primitive objects in our sample is in agreement with the hypothesis of a common parent body. In addition, we have found a significant fraction of asteroids in our sample that present evidences of aqueous alteration. Study of aqueous alterations is important, as it can give information on the heating processes of the early Solar System, and for the associated astrobiological implications (it has been suggested that the Earth’s present water supply was brought here by asteroids, instead of comets, in opposition to previous explanations (Morbidelli et al. 2000).

Formation of Complex Amino Acid Precursors in Simulated Primitive Atmosphere and Their Alteration under Simulated Submarine Hydrothermal Conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kobayashi, Kensei; Kurihara, Hironari; Hirako, Tomoaki; Obayashi, Yumiko; Kaneko, Takeo; Takano, Yoshinori; Yoshimura, Yoshitaka

Since late 1970's a great number of submarine hydrothermal systems (SHSs) has been dis-covered, and they are considered possible sites of chemical evolution and generation of life on the Earth since their discovery in late 1970s. A number of experiments simulating the con-ditions of SHSs were conducted, and abiotic production and polymerization of amino acids were reported. Free amino acids were frequently used as starting materials to examine possible organic reactions in the simulation experiments. In our early studies, not free amino acids but complex amino acids precursors with large molecular weights were formed abiotically from simulated primitive Earth atmosphere (a mixture of CO, N2 and H2 O) (Takano et al., 2004). Such complex organics (hereafter referred as to CNWs) should have been delivered to SHSs in Primitive Ocean, where they were subjected to further alteration. We examined possible alteration of the complex organics in high-temperature high-pressure environments by the su-percritical water flow reactor (SCWFR) (Islam et al.. 2003) and an autoclave. CNWs were quite hydrophilic compounds whose molecular weights were ca. 3000. After heating 573 K for 2 min in the SCWFR, aggregates of organics were formed, which were separated from aque-ous solution with a Nucleopore filter (pore size: 200 nm). We propose the following scenario of chemical evolution: (1) Complex organics including amino acid precursors were formed in primitive atmosphere and/or extraterrestrial environments, (ii) they were delivered to primor-dial SHSs, (iii) hydrothermal alteration occurred in SHSs to give organic aggregates, (iv) quite primitive molecular systems with subtle biological functions were generated in the competition among such aggregates. References: Islam, Md. N., Kaneko, T., and Kobayashi, K (2003). Reactions of Amino Acids with a Newly ConstructedSupercritical Water Flow Reactor Simulating Submarine Hydrothermal Systems. Bull. Chem. Soc. Jpn., 76, 1171. Takano, Y., Marumo, K., Yabashi, S., Kaneko, T., and Kobayashi, K., (2004). Curie-Point Pyrolysis of Complex Organics Simulated by Cosmic Rays Irradiation of Simple Inorganic Gas Mixture. Appl Phys. Lett., 85, 1633.

Self assembly properties of primitive organic compounds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Deamer, D. W.

1991-01-01

A central event in the origin of life was the self-assembly of amphiphilic, lipid-like compounds into closed microenvironments. If a primitive macromolecular replicating system could be encapsulated within a vesicular membrane, the components of the system would share the same microenvironment, and the result would be a step toward true cellular function. The goal of our research has been to determine what amphiphilic molecules might plausibly have been available on the early Earth to participate in the formation of such boundary structures. To this end, we have investigated primitive organic mixtures present in carbonaceous meteorites such as the Murchison meteorite, which contains 1-2 percent of its mass in the form of organic carbon compounds. It is likely that such compounds contributed to the inventory of organic carbon on the prebiotic earth, and were available to participate in chemical evolution leading to the emergence of the first cellular life forms. We found that Murchison components extracted into non-polar solvent systems are surface active, a clear indication of amphiphilic character. One acidic fraction self-assembles into vesicular membranes that provide permeability barriers to polar solutes. Other evidence indicates that the membranes are bimolecular layers similar to those formed by contemporary membrane lipids. We conclude that bilayer membrane formation by primitive amphiphiles on the early Earth is feasible. However, only a minor fraction of acidic amphiphiles assembles into bilayers, and the resulting membranes require narrowly defined conditions of pH and ionic composition to be stable. It seems unlikely, therefore, that meteoritic infall was a direct source of membrane amphiphiles. Instead, the hydrocarbon components and their derivatives more probably would provide an organic stock available for chemical evolution. Our current research is directed at possible reactions which would generate substantial quantities of membranogenic amphiphiles. One possibility is photochemical oxidation of hydrocarbons.

Endometrial stromal sarcoma involving the urinary bladder: a study of 6 cases.

PubMed

Tian, Wei; Latour, Mathieu; Epstein, Jonathan I

2014-07-01

Endometrial stromal sarcoma (ESS) involving the urinary bladder is very rare, with no prior series reported. We identified 6 cases of low-grade ESS involving the bladder at our institution (1998 to 2013), 5 of them consults. The median age at bladder involvement was 60 years (range, 44 to 77 y). One patient presented with bladder involvement at initial diagnosis of ESS. The remaining 5 cases with bladder involvement presented 7 to 30 years (mean 18 y) after a known diagnosis of ESS (n=2) or after a remote history of hysterectomy with an uncertain diagnosis (n=3). The location of bladder involvement included dome (n=1), trigone (n=2), diffuse (n=1), and unknown (n=2). Two cases demonstrated worm-like infiltrating tumor nests classic of low-grade ESS with little stromal reaction with retraction artifact mimicking vascular invasion. One case originating from the ovary showed focal glandular differentiation in the bladder, resembling endometriosis. Two cases had abundant keloidal collagen formation, arranged haphazardly or in a sunburst pattern. One case showed primitive cells infiltrating entirely hyalinized stroma, after chemotherapy given for a misdiagnosis of urothelial carcinoma. CD31 was negative in all cases, except for 1 case with obvious large vessel invasion. The differential diagnosis included a large nested variant of urothelial carcinoma, carcinoid tumor, synovial sarcoma, solitary fibrous tumor, Ewing sarcoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumors, and endometriosis. CD10 was strongly positive in 5 cases, and 1 case had very focal, moderate staining. Estrogen receptor showed strong and diffuse staining in all 6 cases. Progesterone receptor showed moderate to strong staining in 5 cases and focal staining in 1 case. One case showed PAX8 expression, and 2 cases showed p16 nuclear and cytoplasmic expression. CD56 showed weak to strong staining in 4 cases. Two cases had diffuse synaptophysin, and 1 case had focal p63 positivity. GATA-3, CD34, and CD99 were negative in all cases. The Ki-67 index was 1% to 10% (mean 4%). The mitotic count was 0 to 3/10 HPF (mean <1/10 HPF). Two patients had metastases to pelvic lymph nodes, and 1 had possible lung metastasis. Three patients were treated with Megace and 1 with Arimidex after surgery. Follow-up averaged 19 years (0 to 33 y) after the initial diagnosis of ESS or hysterectomy and 3.5 years (0 to 11 y) after bladder surgery. ESS involving the bladder is extremely rare with a very long interval from onset to bladder involvement. In female patients, low-grade spindle cell lesions involving the bladder should include ESS in the differential diagnosis.

An approach to the origin of self-replicating system. I - Intermolecular interactions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Macelroy, R. D.; Coeckelenbergh, Y.; Rein, R.

1978-01-01

The present paper deals with the characteristics and potentialities of a recently developed computer-based molecular modeling system. Some characteristics of current coding systems are examined and are extrapolated to the apparent requirements of primitive prebiological coding systems.

Correlated study of initial Sr-87/Sr-86 and Al-Mg isotopic systematics and petrologic properties in a suite of refractory inclusions from the Allende meteorite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Podosek, Frank A.; Zinner, Ernst K.; Lundberg, Laura L.; Brannon, Joyce C.; Macpherson, Glenn J.

1991-01-01

The abundance and the distribution of Al-26, and the initial Sr-87/Sr-86 ratios were determined in a suite of six coarse-grained Ca-Al-rich inclusions from the Allende meteorite, using, respectively, petrographic and chemical characterizations and ion-probe mass spectrometric analyses of the Al-Mg isotopic system, and thermal emission spectrometric analyses of the Rb-Sr system. Results establish a firm association between primitive Al-26/Al-27 and primitive Sr-87/Sr-86 found in each of these inclusions. None of the results required interpretation in terms of heterogeneously distributed Al-26.

A cellular automaton model for neurogenesis in Drosophila

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luthi, Pascal O.; Chopard, Bastien; Preiss, Anette; Ramsden, Jeremy J.

1998-07-01

A cellular automaton (CA) is constructed for the formation of the central nervous system of the Drosophila embryo. This is an experimentally well-studied system in which complex interactions between neighbouring cells appear to drive their differentiation into different types. It appears that all the cells initially have the potential to become neuroblasts, and all strive to this end, but those which differentiate first block their as yet undifferentiated neighbours from doing so. The CA makes use of observational evidence for a lateral inhibition mechanism involving signalling products S of the ‘proneural’ or neuralizing genes. The key concept of the model is that cells are continuously producing S, but the production rate is lowered by inhibitory signals received from neighbouring cells which have advanced further along the developmental pathway. Comparison with experimental data shows that it well accounts for the observed proportion of neuroectodermal cells delaminating as neuroblasts.

Two different pathways for the transport of primitive and definitive blood cells from the yolk sac to the embryo in humans.

PubMed

Pereda, Jaime; Monge, Juan I; Niimi, Gen

2010-08-01

During the early human embryonic period nutrients and blood cells are temporarily provided by the extraembryonic yolk sac (YS). The YS before week six is involved not only in primitive but also in definitive erythropoiesis. While the destiny of primitive erythroid cells that fill the blood vessels of the YS is well known, the final destination of erythrocytes present in the endodermal vesicular system is unknown. In the present study we have investigated, step by step, the destiny of the erythrocytes present in the endodermal vesicles during the embryonic period. Twelve human YSs and their corresponding yolk stalks were analyzed between weeks 4 and 7 of embryonic age by light and scanning electron microscopy. It is shown that erythrocytes (according to their size and morphological features) located within the endodermal vesicles of the YS wall are pulled out through endodermal pits into the YS cavity, from where they reach the lumen of the primitive gut of the embryo through the vitelline duct, a temporary pathway communicating both compartments. During the study period no erythrocytes were seen within the embryo's vascular network where only primitive erythroblasts were identified. Our results indicate that the vitelline duct plays an important transient role as a pathway for the transport of nutrients and blood cells between the YS and the embryo before week five of embryonic development that ends just at the time when YS-embryo circulation becomes established. (c) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Self-organization of neural patterns and structures in 3D culture of stem cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sasai, Yoshiki

2013-05-01

Over the last several years, much progress has been made for in vitro culture of mouse and human ES cells. Our laboratory focuses on the molecular and cellular mechanisms of neural differentiation from pluripotent cells. Pluripotent cells first become committed to the ectodermal fate and subsequently differentiate into uncommitted neuroectodermal cells. Both previous mammalian and amphibian studies on pluripotent cells have indicated that the neural fate is a sort of the basal direction of the differentiation of these cells while mesoendodermal differentiation requires extrinsic inductive signals. ES cells differentiate into neuroectodermal cells with a rostral-most character (telencephalon and hypothalamus) when they are cultured in the absence of strong patterning signals. In this talk, I first discuss this issue by referring to our recent data on the mechanism of spontaneous neural differentiation in serum-free culture of mouse ES cells. Then, I will talk about self-organization phenomena observed in 3D culture of ES cells, which lead to tissue-autonomous formation of regional structures such as layered cortical tissues. I also discuss our new attempt to monitor these in vitro morphogenetic processes by live imaging, in particular, self-organizing morphogenesis of the optic cup in three-dimensional cultures.

ECK, a human EPH-related gene, maps to 1p36.1, a common region of alteration in human cancers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sulman, E.P.; Brodeur, G.M.; Ikegaki, N.

1997-03-01

Mouse eck, a member of the EPH gene family, has been mapped to mouse chromosome 4. The syntenic relationship between this chromosome and human chromosome 1 suggests that the human ECK gene maps to the distal short arm of human chromosome 1 (1p). Since this region is frequently deleted or altered in certain tumors of neuroectodermal origin, it is important to define the specific chromosomal localization of the human ECK gene. PCR screening of a rodent-human somatic cell hybrid panel by ECK-specific primers showed that ECK is indeed localized to human chromosome 1. Additional PCR screening of a regional screeningmore » panel for chromosome 1p indicated that ECK is localized to 1p36, distal to FUCA1. Furthermore, fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis with an ECK-specific P1 clone showed that ECK maps proximal to genetic marker D1S228. Taken together, the data suggest that ECK maps to 1p36.1, a region that is frequently deleted in neuroblastoma, melanoma, and other neuroectodermal tumors. 23 refs., 3 figs.« less

A theory of circular organization and negative feedback: defining life in a cybernetic context.

PubMed

Tsokolov, Sergey

2010-12-01

All life today incorporates a variety of systems controlled by negative feedback loops and sometimes amplified by positive feedback loops. The first forms of life necessarily also required primitive versions of feedback, yet surprisingly little emphasis has been given to the question of how feedback emerged out of primarily chemical systems. One chemical system has been established that spontaneously develops autocatalytic feedback, the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction. In this essay, I discuss the BZ reaction as a possible model for similar reactions that could have occurred under prebiotic Earth conditions. The main point is that the metabolism of contemporary life evolved from primitive homeostatic networks regulated by negative feedback. Because life could not exist in their absence, feedback loops should be included in definitions of life.

A Theory of Circular Organization and Negative Feedback: Defining Life in a Cybernetic Context

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsokolov, Sergey

2010-12-01

All life today incorporates a variety of systems controlled by negative feedback loops and sometimes amplified by positive feedback loops. The first forms of life necessarily also required primitive versions of feedback, yet surprisingly little emphasis has been given to the question of how feedback emerged out of primarily chemical systems. One chemical system has been established that spontaneously develops autocatalytic feedback, the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction. In this essay, I discuss the BZ reaction as a possible model for similar reactions that could have occurred under prebiotic Earth conditions. The main point is that the metabolism of contemporary life evolved from primitive homeostatic networks regulated by negative feedback. Because life could not exist in their absence, feedback loops should be included in definitions of life.

AMS -- The Unix ADAM Message System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kelly, B. D.; Chipperfield, A. J.

The ADAM Message System (AMS) library, which implements the ADAM inter-task communications protocol under Unix, is described, along with its Fortran-callable interface (FAMS). The description of AMS is distinguished from the current implementation which uses the Message System Primitives (MSP).

Near-infrared spectroscopy of primitive solar system objects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Luu, Jane; Jewitt, David; Cloutis, Edward

1994-01-01

We have obtained near-infrared (H and K band at lambda/Delta(lambda) is approximately 480 to 600) spectra of a sample of primitive objects including 2 Centaur objects (2060 Chiron and 5145 Pholus) and 16 P- and D-type asteroids. The spectra were obtained at the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope using the cooled grating spectrometer CGS4, and were used to search for chemically diagnostic vibrational features in these primitive objects. Pholus exhibits broad adsorption features at 2.07 and 2.27 micrometers, as well as a weak feature at 1.72 micrometers. The 1.72- and 2.27-micrometer features are similar to those seen in a laboratory tar sand sample. No distinct absorption features are found in other objects, including Chiron, which displays a spectrally neutral continuum. A comparison of the P- and D-type asteroid spectra with laboratory measurements of organic solids shows no compelling evidence for hydrocarbon overtones seen in terrestrial bituminous tar sands.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hua Chiaho, E-mail: Chia-Ho.Hua@stjude.org; Merchant, Thomas E.; Gajjar, Amar

Purpose: To characterize therapy-induced changes in normal-appearing brainstems of childhood brain tumor patients by serial diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Methods and Materials: We analyzed 109 DTI studies from 20 brain tumor patients, aged 4 to 23 years, with normal-appearing brainstems included in the treatment fields. Those with medulloblastomas, supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumors, and atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumors (n = 10) received postoperative craniospinal irradiation (23.4-39.6 Gy) and a cumulative dose of 55.8 Gy to the primary site, followed by four cycles of high-dose chemotherapy. Patients with high-grade gliomas (n = 10) received erlotinib during and after irradiation (54-59.4 Gy). Parametricmore » maps of fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) were computed and spatially registered to three-dimensional radiation dose data. Volumes of interest included corticospinal tracts, medial lemnisci, and the pons. Serving as an age-related benchmark for comparison, 37 DTI studies from 20 healthy volunteers, aged 6 to 25 years, were included in the analysis. Results: The median DTI follow-up time was 3.5 years (range, 1.6-5.0 years). The median mean dose to the pons was 56 Gy (range, 7-59 Gy). Three patterns were seen in longitudinal FA and apparent diffusion coefficient changes: (1) a stable or normal developing time trend, (2) initial deviation from normal with subsequent recovery, and (3) progressive deviation without evidence of complete recovery. The maximal decline in FA often occurred 1.5 to 3.5 years after the start of radiation therapy. A full recovery time trend could be observed within 4 years. Patients with incomplete recovery often had a larger decline in FA within the first year. Radiation dose alone did not predict long-term recovery patterns. Conclusions: Variations existed among individual patients after therapy in longitudinal evolution of brainstem white matter injury and recovery. Early response in brainstem anisotropy may serve as an indicator of the recovery time trend over 5 years after radiation therapy.« less

Skull base bony lesions: Management nuances; a retrospective analysis from a Tertiary Care Centre

PubMed Central

Singh, Amit Kumar; Srivastava, Arun Kumar; Sardhara, Jayesh; Bhaisora, Kamlesh Singh; Das, Kuntal Kanti; Mehrotra, Anant; Sahu, Rabi Narayan; Jaiswal, Awadhesh Kumar; Behari, Sanjay

2017-01-01

Background: Skull base lesions are not uncommon, but their management has been challenging for surgeons. There is large no of bony tumors at the skull base which has not been studied in detail as a group. These tumors are difficult not only because of their location but also due to their variability in the involvement of important local structure. Through this retrospective analysis from a Tertiary Care Centre, we are summarizing the details of skull base bony lesions and its management nuances. Materials and Methods: The histopathologically, radiologically, and surgically proven cases of skull base bony tumors or lesions involving bone were analyzed from the neurosurgery, neuropathology record of our Tertiary Care Institute from January 2009 to January 2014. All available preoperative and postoperative details were noted from their case files. The extent of excision was ascertained from operation records and postoperative magnetic resonance imaging if available. Results: We have surgically managed 41 cases of skull base bony tumors. It includes 11 patients of anterior skull base, 13 middle skull base, and 17 posterior skull base bony tumors. The most common bony tumor was chordoma 15 (36.6%), followed by fibrous dysplasia 5 (12.2%), chondrosarcoma (12.2%), and ewings sarcoma-peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumor (EWS-pPNET) five cases (12.2%) each. There were more malignant lesions (n = 29, 70.7%) at skull base than benign (n = 12, 29.3%) lesions. The surgical approach employed depended on location of tumor and pathology. Total mortality was 8 (20%) of whom 5 patients were of histological proven EWS-pPNET. Conclusions: Bony skull base lesion consists of wide variety of lesions, and requires multispecialty management. The complex lesions required tailored approaches surgery of these lesions. With the advent of microsurgical and endoscopic techniques, and use of navigation better outcomes are being seen, but these lesions require further study for development of proper management plan. PMID:28761532

Long-term neurologic health and psychosocial function of adult survivors of childhood medulloblastoma/PNET: a report from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study.

PubMed

King, Allison A; Seidel, Kristy; Di, Chongzhi; Leisenring, Wendy M; Perkins, Stephanie Mabry; Krull, Kevin R; Sklar, Charles A; Green, Daniel M; Armstrong, Gregory T; Zeltzer, Lonnie K; Wells, Elizabeth; Stovall, Marilyn; Ullrich, Nicole J; Oeffinger, Kevin C; Robison, Leslie L; Packer, Roger J

2017-05-01

Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant childhood brain tumor, although long-term risks for chronic neurologic health and psychosocial functioning in aging adult survivors are incompletely characterized. The Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS) includes 380 five-year survivors of medulloblastoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET; median age at follow-up: 30 y, interquartile range 24-36) and sibling comparison (n = 4031). Cumulative incidence of neurologic health conditions was reported. Cox regression models provided hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs. Cross-sectional outcomes were assessed using generalized linear models. Compared with siblings, survivors were at increased risk of late-onset hearing loss (HR: 36.0, 95% CI: 23.6-54.9), stroke (HR: 33.9, 95% CI: 17.8-64.7), seizure (HR: 12.8, 95% CI: 9.0-18.1), poor balance (HR: 10.4, 95% CI: 6.7-15.9), tinnitus (HR: 4.8, 95% CI: 3.5-6.8), and cataracts (HR: 31.8, 95% CI: 16.7-60.5). Temporal/frontal lobe radiotherapy of 50 Gy or more increased risk for hearing loss (HR: 1.9, 95% CI: 1.1-1.3), seizure (HR: 2.1, 95% CI: 1.1-3.9), stroke (HR: 3.5, 95% CI: 1.3-9.1), and tinnitus (HR: 2.0, 95% CI: 1.0-3.9). Survivors were less likely than siblings to earn a college degree (relative risk [RR]: 0.49, 95% CI: 0.39-0.60), marry (RR: 0.35, 95% CI: 0.29-0.42), and live independently (RR: 0.58, 95% CI: 0.52-0.66). Adult survivors of childhood medulloblastoma/PNET demonstrate pronounced risk for hearing impairment, stroke, lower educational attainment, and social independence. Interventions to support survivors should be a high priority. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Neuro-Oncology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

Vertebral Body Growth After Craniospinal Irradiation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hartley, Katherine A.; Li Chenghong; Laningham, Fred H.

2008-04-01

Purpose: To estimate the effects of radiotherapy and clinical factors on vertebral growth in patients with medulloblastoma and supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal tumors treated with craniospinal irradiation (CSI) and chemotherapy. Methods and Materials: The height of eight individual or grouped vertebral bodies (C3, C3-C4, T4, T4-T5, C6-T3, T4-T7, L3, L1-L5) was measured before and after CSI (23.4 or 36-39.6 Gy) in 61 patients. Of the 61 patients, 40 were boys and 21 were girls (median age, 7 years; range, 3-13 years), treated between October 1996 and October 2003. Sagittal T{sub 1}-weighted magnetic resonance images were used for the craniocaudal measurements. Themore » measurements numbered 275 (median, 5/patient; range, 3-7). The median follow-up after CSI was 44.1 months (range, 13.8-74.9 months). Results: Significant growth was observed in all measured vertebrae. Excluding C3-C4, the growth rate of the grouped vertebrae was affected by age, gender, and CSI dose (risk classification). The risk classification alone affected the growth rates of C3 (p = 0.002) and L3 (p = 0.02). Before CSI, the length of all vertebral bodies was an increasing function of age (p <0.0001). The C3 length before CSI was affected by gender and risk classification: C3 was longer for female (p = 0.07) and high-risk (p = 0.07) patients. Conclusion: All vertebrae grew significantly after CSI, with the vertebrae of the boys and younger patients growing at a rate greater than that of their counterparts. The effect of age was similar across all vertebrae, and gender had the greatest effect on the growth of the lower cervical and upper thoracic vertebrae. The effect of the risk classification was greatest in the lumbar spine by a factor of {<=}10.« less

Bag3-Induced Autophagy Is Associated with Degradation of JCV Oncoprotein, T-Ag

PubMed Central

Sariyer, Ilker Kudret; Merabova, Nana; Patel, Prem Kumer; Knezevic, Tijana; Rosati, Alessandra; Turco, Maria C.; Khalili, Kamel

2012-01-01

JC virus, JCV, is a human neurotropic polyomavirus whose replication in glial cells causes the fatal demyelinating disease progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). In addition, JCV possesses oncogenic activity and expression of its transforming protein, large T-antigen (T-Ag), in several experimental animals induces tumors of neural origin. Further, the presence of JCV DNA and T-Ag have been repeatedly observed in several human malignant tissues including primitive neuroectodermal tumors and glioblastomas. Earlier studies have demonstrated that Bag3, a member of the Bcl-2-associated athanogene (Bag) family of proteins, which is implicated in autophagy and apoptosis, is downregulated upon JCV infection of glial cells and that JCV T-Ag is responsible for suppressing the activity of the BAG3 promoter. Here, we investigated the possible impact of Bag3 on T-Ag expression in JCV-infected human primary glial cells as well as in cells derived from T-Ag-induced medulloblastoma in transgenic animals. Results from these studies revealed that overexpression of Bag3 drastically decreases the level of T-Ag expression by inducing the autophagic degradation of the viral protein. Interestingly, this event leads to the inhibition of JCV infection of glial cells, suggesting that the reduced levels of T-antigen seen upon the overexpression of Bag3 has a biological impact on the viral lytic cycle. Results from protein-protein interaction studies showed that T-Ag and Bag3 physically interact with each other through the zinc-finger of T-Ag and the proline rich domains of Bag3, and this interaction is important for the autophagic degradation of T-Ag. Our observations open a new avenue of research for better understanding of virus-host interaction by investigating the interplay between T-Ag and Bag3, and their impact on the development of JCV-associated diseases. PMID:22984599

Bag3-induced autophagy is associated with degradation of JCV oncoprotein, T-Ag.

PubMed

Sariyer, Ilker Kudret; Merabova, Nana; Patel, Prem Kumer; Knezevic, Tijana; Rosati, Alessandra; Turco, Maria C; Khalili, Kamel

2012-01-01

JC virus, JCV, is a human neurotropic polyomavirus whose replication in glial cells causes the fatal demyelinating disease progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). In addition, JCV possesses oncogenic activity and expression of its transforming protein, large T-antigen (T-Ag), in several experimental animals induces tumors of neural origin. Further, the presence of JCV DNA and T-Ag have been repeatedly observed in several human malignant tissues including primitive neuroectodermal tumors and glioblastomas. Earlier studies have demonstrated that Bag3, a member of the Bcl-2-associated athanogene (Bag) family of proteins, which is implicated in autophagy and apoptosis, is downregulated upon JCV infection of glial cells and that JCV T-Ag is responsible for suppressing the activity of the BAG3 promoter. Here, we investigated the possible impact of Bag3 on T-Ag expression in JCV-infected human primary glial cells as well as in cells derived from T-Ag-induced medulloblastoma in transgenic animals. Results from these studies revealed that overexpression of Bag3 drastically decreases the level of T-Ag expression by inducing the autophagic degradation of the viral protein. Interestingly, this event leads to the inhibition of JCV infection of glial cells, suggesting that the reduced levels of T-antigen seen upon the overexpression of Bag3 has a biological impact on the viral lytic cycle. Results from protein-protein interaction studies showed that T-Ag and Bag3 physically interact with each other through the zinc-finger of T-Ag and the proline rich domains of Bag3, and this interaction is important for the autophagic degradation of T-Ag. Our observations open a new avenue of research for better understanding of virus-host interaction by investigating the interplay between T-Ag and Bag3, and their impact on the development of JCV-associated diseases.

Molecular pathogenesis and targeted therapeutics in Ewing sarcoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumours

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Ewing sarcoma/PNET is managed with treatment paradigms involving combinations of chemotherapy, surgery, and sometimes radiation. Although the 5-year survival rate of non-metastatic disease approaches 70%, those cases that are metastatic and those that recur have 5-year survival rates of less than 20%. Molecularly targeted treatments offer the potential to further improve treatment outcomes. Methods A PUBMED search was performed from 1997 to 2011. Published literature that included the topic of the Ewing sarcoma/PNET was also referenced. Results Insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) antagonists have demonstrated modest single agent efficacy in phase I/II clinical trials in Ewing sarcoma/PNET, but have a strong preclinical rationale. Based on in vitro and animal data, treatment using antisense RNA and cDNA oligonucleotides directed at silencing the EWS-FLI chimera that occurs in most Ewing sarcoma/PNET may have potential therapeutic importance. However drug delivery and degradation problems may limit this therapeutic approach. Protein-protein interactions can be targeted by inhibition of RNA helicase A, which binds to EWS/FLI as part of the transcriptional complex. Tumour necrosis factor related apoptosis inducing ligand induction using interferon has been used in preclinical models. Interferons may be incorporated into future chemotherapeutic treatment paradigms. Histone deacetylase inhibitors can restore TGF-β receptor II allowing TFF-β signalling, which appears to inhibit growth of Ewing sarcoma/PNET cell lines in vitro. Immunotherapy using allogeneic natural killer cells has activity in Ewing sarcoma/PNET cell lines and xenograft models. Finally, cyclin dependent kinase inhibitors such as flavopiridol may be clinically efficacious in relapsed Ewing sarcoma/PNET. Conclusion Preclinical evidence exists that targeted therapeutics may be efficacious in the ESFT. IGF-1R antagonists have demonstrated efficacy in phase I/II clinical trials, although predicting responses remains a challenge. The future treatment of Ewing sarcoma/PNET is likely to be improved by these scientific advances. PMID:22587874

Infant brain tumors: incidence, survival, and the role of radiation based on Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Data.

PubMed

Bishop, Andrew J; McDonald, Mark W; Chang, Andrew L; Esiashvili, Natia

2012-01-01

To evaluate the incidence of infant brain tumors and survival outcomes by disease and treatment variables. The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program November 2008 submission database provided age-adjusted incidence rates and individual case information for primary brain tumors diagnosed between 1973 and 2006 in infants less than 12 months of age. Between 1973 and 1986, the incidence of infant brain tumors increased from 16 to 40 cases per million (CPM), and from 1986 to 2006, the annual incidence rate averaged 35 CPM. Leading histologies by annual incidence in CPM were gliomas (13.8), medulloblastoma and primitive neuroectodermal tumors (6.6), and ependymomas (3.6). The annual incidence was higher in whites than in blacks (35.0 vs. 21.3 CPM). Infants with low-grade gliomas had the highest observed survival, and those with atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumors (ATRTs) or primary rhabdoid tumors of the brain had the lowest. Between 1979 and 1993, the annual rate of cases treated with radiation within the first 4 months from diagnosis declined from 20.5 CPM to <2 CPM. For infants with medulloblastoma, desmoplastic histology and treatment with both surgery and upfront radiation were associated with improved survival, but on multivariate regression, only combined surgery and radiation remained associated with improved survival, with a hazard ratio for death of 0.17 compared with surgery alone (p = 0.005). For ATRTs, those treated with surgery and upfront radiation had a 12-month survival of 100% compared with 24.4% for those treated with surgery alone (p = 0.016). For ependymomas survival was higher in patients treated in more recent decades (p = 0.001). The incidence of infant brain tumors has been stable since 1986. Survival outcomes varied markedly by histology. For infants with medulloblastoma and ATRTs, improved survival was observed in patients treated with both surgery and early radiation compared with those treated with surgery alone. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Dual-Arm Generalized Compliant Motion With Shared Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Backes, Paul G.

1994-01-01

Dual-Arm Generalized Compliant Motion (DAGCM) primitive computer program implementing improved unified control scheme for two manipulator arms cooperating in task in which both grasp same object. Provides capabilities for autonomous, teleoperation, and shared control of two robot arms. Unifies cooperative dual-arm control with multi-sensor-based task control and makes complete task-control capability available to higher-level task-planning computer system via large set of input parameters used to describe desired force and position trajectories followed by manipulator arms. Some concepts discussed in "A Generalized-Compliant-Motion Primitive" (NPO-18134).

Element Mapping in Anhydrous IDPs: Identification of the Host Phases of Major/Minor Elements as a Test of Nebula Condensation Models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Flynn, G. J.; Keller, L. P.; Wirick, S.; Jacobsen, C.

2004-01-01

Many anhydrous interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) are the most pristine samples of primitive solar system dust currently available for laboratory analysis. Their primitive nature is demonstrated by: 1) the high content of moderately volatile elements, indicating they have not been heated significantly since formation, 2) the absence of hydrated material, indicating they never experienced aqueous processing, 3) the presence of unequilibrated mineral assemblages, 4) the presence of large isotopic anomalies (e.g., D and 15N enrichment), in these IDPs.

Comet Dust: The Story of Planet Formation as Told by the Tiniest of Particles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wooden, D. H.

2005-01-01

Our planetary system formed out of a gas-rich disk-shaped nebula with the early Sun at its center. Many small icy bodies were consumed by the formation of the giant planets. However, many km-size icy bodies were tossed out of the giant-planet region to the cold, distant reaches of our solar system. Comets remained in their places of cold storage until perturbed into orbits that carry them into the inner solar system where they pass relatively close to the Sun. Comets are warmed by the Sun and shed material from their outer layers. The ices and gases shed by comets reveal simple and complex organic molecules were present at the time and in the region of the formation of the giant planets. Where the Earth was forming was too hot and had too intense sunlight for many of these ices and molecules to survive. The dust shed by comets tells us that some stardust survived unaltered but much of the dust was heated and crystallized before becoming part of the comet. Therefore, comet dust grains tell of large radial migrations from the cold outer reaches near Neptune into the hot regions near the forming Sun, and then back out to the cold regions where icy comets were accreting and forming. On 2005 July 4, the NASA Deep Impact Mission hit a comet and ejected primitive materials fiom its interior. These materials were not released into the comet s coma during normal activity. Despite the many passages of this comet close to the Sun, these primitive volatile gases and dust grains survived in its interior. Comet dust grains show that cold and hot materials were mixed into the same tiny particle very early in the formation of the solar system, and these aggregate dust grains never saw high temperatures again. The survival of primitive materials in comet nuclei suggests comets could have delivered organic molecules and primitive dust grains to early Earth.

A Distributed Operating System for BMD Applications.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-01-01

Defense) applications executing on distributed hardware with local and shared memories. The objective was to develop real - time operating system functions...make the Basic Real - Time Operating System , and the set of new EPL language primitives that provide BMD application processes with efficient mechanisms

American Indian Systems for Natural Resource Management.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quintana, Jorge O.

1992-01-01

Outlines the philosophy and general principles of "primitive" indigenous production technologies and natural resource management systems in North and South America. Discusses indigenous practices that promote sustainable production in gathering, hunting and fishing, minerals extraction, and agriculture. (SV)

Exploring system interconnection architectures with VIPACES: from direct connections to NOCs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sánchez-Peña, Armando; Carballo, Pedro P.; Núñez, Antonio

2007-05-01

This paper presents a simple environment for the verification of AMBA 3 AXI systems in Verification IP (VIP) production called VIPACES (Verification Interface Primitives for the development of AXI Compliant Elements and Systems). These primitives are presented as a not compiled library written in SystemC where interfaces are the core of the library. The definition of interfaces instead of generic modules let the user construct custom modules improving the resources spent during the verification phase as well as easily adapting his modules to the AMBA 3 AXI protocol. This topic is the main discussion in the VIPACES library. The paper focuses on comparing and contrasting the main interconnection schemes for AMBA 3 AXI as modeled by VIPACES. For assessing these results we propose a validation scenario with a particular architecture belonging to the domain of MPEG4 video decoding, which is compound by an AXI bus connecting an IDCT and other processing resources.

Is there a single origin of life?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soffen, Gerald A.

The emergence of the first life on the earth is now established as an early event, and closely related to the evolving earth. Laboratory experiments examining possible chemical events have revealed a multitude of plausible pathways. Lack of knowledge of the primitive terrestrial conditions contemporary with the evolving prebolic organic chemistry limits reconstruction techniques. The primitive earth's aqueous history is essential to unraveling this problem. Based on our current knowledge of other planets of the solar system, we do not expect close analogues to the early earth. We still do not know if there was a second origin or if only earth has life. This may depend upon the question of the survival of information bearing chemical systems in a dynamic or chaotic environment and the chemical protection afforded within such a system. Water is the central molecule of controversy: the blessing and the curse of the chemist. New and novel chemical mechanisms and systems abound.

SUPERNOVA NEUTRINO NUCLEOSYNTHESIS OF THE RADIOACTIVE {sup 92}Nb OBSERVED IN PRIMITIVE METEORITES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hayakawa, T.; Chiba, S.; Iwamoto, N.

2013-12-10

The isotope {sup 92}Nb decays to {sup 92}Zr with a half-life of 3.47 × 10{sup 7} yr. Although this isotope does not exist in the current solar system, initial abundance ratios for {sup 92}Nb/{sup 93}Nb at the time of solar system formation have been measured in primitive meteorites. The astrophysical origin of this material, however, has remained unknown. In this Letter, we present new calculations which demonstrate a novel origin for {sup 92}Nb via neutrino-induced reactions in core-collapse supernovae (ν-process). Our calculated result shows that the observed ratio of {sup 92}Nb/{sup 93}Nb ∼ 10{sup –5} can be explained by the ν-process.

Existence and Regularity Results for the Inviscid Primitive Equations with Lateral Periodicity

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hamouda, Makram, E-mail: mahamoud@indiana.edu; Jung, Chang-Yeol, E-mail: changyeoljung@gmail.com; Temam, Roger, E-mail: temam@indiana.edu

2016-06-15

The article is devoted to prove the existence and regularity of the solutions of the 3D inviscid Linearized Primitive Equations (LPEs) in a channel with lateral periodicity. This was assumed in a previous work (Hamouda et al. in Discret Contin Dyn Syst Ser S 6(2):401–422, 2013) which is concerned with the boundary layers generated by the corresponding viscous problem. Although the equations under investigation here are of hyperbolic type, the standard methods do not apply because of the specificity of the hyperbolic system. A set of non-local boundary conditions for the inviscid LPEs has to be imposed at the lateralmore » boundary of the channel making thus the system well-posed.« less

Update on the management of unusual neuroendocrine tumors: pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma, medullary thyroid cancer and adrenocortical carcinoma.

PubMed

Strosberg, Jonathan R

2013-02-01

Pheochromocytomas, paragangliomas, and medullary thyroid carcinomas (MTCs) originate in cells that share a common neuroectodermal origin. Like other neuroendocrine neoplasms, they are characterized by a propensity to secrete amines (epinephrine and norepinephrine) and peptide hormones (calcitonin). Improved understanding of underlying molecular pathways, such as mutations of the RET (rearranged during transfection) proto-oncogene, has led to new rational targeted therapies. Adrenocortical carcinomas (ACCs) originate in the steroid hormone-producing adrenal cortex. While tumors of the adrenal cortex are not, strictly speaking, part the "diffuse neuroendocrine system," they are often included in neuroendocrine tumor guidelines due to their orphan status. In this update on management of unusual neuroendocrine tumors, we review the biology and treatment of these rare neoplasms. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Differential expression of two scribble isoforms during Drosophila embryogenesis.

PubMed

Li, M; Marhold, J; Gatos, A; Török, I; Mechler, B M

2001-10-01

The tumour suppressor gene scribble (scrib) is required for epithelial polarity and growth control in Drosophila. Here, we report the identification and embryonic expression pattern of two Scrib protein isoforms resulting from alternative splicing during scrib transcription. Both proteins are first ubiquitously expressed during early embryogenesis. Then, during morphogenesis each Scrib protein displays a specific pattern of expression in the central and peripheral nervous systems, CNS and PNS, respectively. During germ band extension, the expression of the longer form Scrib1 occurs predominantly in the neuroblasts derived from the neuro-ectoderm and becomes later restricted to CNS neurones as well as to the pole cells in the gonads. By contrast, the shorter form Scrib2 is strongly expressed in the PNS and a subset of CNS neurones.

The organic inventory of primitive meteorites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martins, Zita

Carbonaceous meteorites are primitive samples that provide crucial information about the solar system genesis and evolution. This class of meteorites has also a rich organic inventory, which may have contributed the first prebiotic building blocks of life to the early Earth. We have studied the soluble organic inventory of several CR and CM meteorites, using high performance liquid chromatography with UV fluorescence detection (HPLC-FD), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and gas chromatography-combustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-C-IRMS). Our target organic molecules include amino acids, nucleobases and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), among others. CR chondrites contain the highest amino acids concentration ever detected in a meteorite. The degree of aqueous alteration amongst this class of meteorites seems to be responsible for the amino acid distribution. Pioneering compound-specific carbon isotope measurements of nucleobases present in carbonaceous chondrites show that these compounds have a non-terrestrial origin. This suggests that components of the ge-netic code may have had a crucial role in life's origin. Investigating the abundances, distribution and isotopic composition of organic molecules in primitive meteorites significantly improves our knowledge of the chemistry of the early solar system, and the resources available for the first living organisms on Earth.

Efficient mixing of the solar nebula from uniform Mo isotopic composition of meteorites.

PubMed

Becker, Harry; Walker, Richard J

2003-09-11

The abundances of elements and their isotopes in our Galaxy show wide variations, reflecting different nucleosynthetic processes in stars and the effects of Galactic evolution. These variations contrast with the uniformity of stable isotope abundances for many elements in the Solar System, which implies that processes efficiently homogenized dust and gas from different stellar sources within the young solar nebula. However, isotopic heterogeneity has been recognized on the subcentimetre scale in primitive meteorites, indicating that these preserve a compositional memory of their stellar sources. Small differences in the abundance of stable molybdenum isotopes in bulk rocks of some primitive and differentiated meteorites, relative to terrestrial Mo, suggest large-scale Mo isotopic heterogeneity between some inner Solar System bodies, which implies physical conditions that did not permit efficient mixing of gas and dust. Here we report Mo isotopic data for bulk samples of primitive and differentiated meteorites that show no resolvable deviations from terrestrial Mo. This suggests efficient mixing of gas and dust in the solar nebula at least to 3 au from the Sun, possibly induced by magnetohydrodynamic instabilities. These mixing processes must have occurred before isotopic fractionation of gas-phase elements and volatility-controlled chemical fractionations were established.

Operating systems. [of computers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Denning, P. J.; Brown, R. L.

1984-01-01

A counter operating system creates a hierarchy of levels of abstraction, so that at a given level all details concerning lower levels can be ignored. This hierarchical structure separates functions according to their complexity, characteristic time scale, and level of abstraction. The lowest levels include the system's hardware; concepts associated explicitly with the coordination of multiple tasks appear at intermediate levels, which conduct 'primitive processes'. Software semaphore is the mechanism controlling primitive processes that must be synchronized. At higher levels lie, in rising order, the access to the secondary storage devices of a particular machine, a 'virtual memory' scheme for managing the main and secondary memories, communication between processes by way of a mechanism called a 'pipe', access to external input and output devices, and a hierarchy of directories cataloguing the hardware and software objects to which access must be controlled.

Optical music recognition on the International Music Score Library Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raphael, Christopher; Jin, Rong

2013-12-01

A system is presented for optical recognition of music scores. The system processes a document page in three main phases. First it performs a hierarchical decomposition of the page, identifying systems, staves and measures. The second phase, which forms the heart of the system, interprets each measure found in the previous phase as a collection of non-overlapping symbols including both primitive symbols (clefs, rests, etc.) with fixed templates, and composite symbols (chords, beamed groups, etc.) constructed through grammatical composition of primitives (note heads, ledger lines, beams, etc.). This phase proceeds by first building separate top-down recognizers for the symbols of interest. Then, it resolves the inevitable overlap between the recognized symbols by exploring the possible assignment of overlapping regions, seeking globally optimal and grammatically consistent explanations. The third phase interprets the recognized symbols in terms of pitch and rhythm, focusing on the main challenge of rhythm. We present results that compare our system to the leading commercial OMR system using MIDI ground truth for piano music.

Evaluating structural pattern recognition for handwritten math via primitive label graphs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zanibbi, Richard; Mouchère, Harold; Viard-Gaudin, Christian

2013-01-01

Currently, structural pattern recognizer evaluations compare graphs of detected structure to target structures (i.e. ground truth) using recognition rates, recall and precision for object segmentation, classification and relationships. In document recognition, these target objects (e.g. symbols) are frequently comprised of multiple primitives (e.g. connected components, or strokes for online handwritten data), but current metrics do not characterize errors at the primitive level, from which object-level structure is obtained. Primitive label graphs are directed graphs defined over primitives and primitive pairs. We define new metrics obtained by Hamming distances over label graphs, which allow classification, segmentation and parsing errors to be characterized separately, or using a single measure. Recall and precision for detected objects may also be computed directly from label graphs. We illustrate the new metrics by comparing a new primitive-level evaluation to the symbol-level evaluation performed for the CROHME 2012 handwritten math recognition competition. A Python-based set of utilities for evaluating, visualizing and translating label graphs is publicly available.

Prebiotic significance of extraterrestrial ice photochemistry: detection of hydantoin in organic residues.

PubMed

de Marcellus, Pierre; Bertrand, Marylène; Nuevo, Michel; Westall, Frances; Le Sergeant d'Hendecourt, Louis

2011-11-01

The delivery of extraterrestrial organic materials to primitive Earth from meteorites or micrometeorites has long been postulated to be one of the origins of the prebiotic molecules involved in the subsequent apparition of life. Here, we report on experiments in which vacuum UV photo-irradiation of interstellar/circumstellar ice analogues containing H(2)O, CH(3)OH, and NH(3) led to the production of several molecules of prebiotic interest. These were recovered at room temperature in the semi-refractory, water-soluble residues after evaporation of the ice. In particular, we detected small quantities of hydantoin (2,4-imidazolidinedione), a species suspected to play an important role in the formation of poly- and oligopeptides. In addition, hydantoin is known to form under extraterrestrial, abiotic conditions, since it has been detected, along with various other derivatives, in the soluble part of organic matter of primitive carbonaceous meteorites. This result, together with other related experiments reported recently, points to the potential importance of the photochemistry of interstellar "dirty" ices in the formation of organics in Solar System materials. Such molecules could then have been delivered to the surface of primitive Earth, as well as other telluric (exo-) planets, to help trigger first prebiotic reactions with the capacity to lead to some form of primitive biomolecular activity.

Use of Optical Storage Devices as Shared Resources in Local Area Networks

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-09-01

13 3. SERVICE CALLS FOR MS-DOS CD-ROM EXTENSIONS . 14 4. MS-DOS PRIMITIVE GROUPS ....................... 15 5. RAM USAGE FOR VARIOUS LAN...17 2. Service Call Translation to DOS Primitives ............. 19 3. MS-DOS Device Drivers ............................. 21 4. MS-DOS/ROM...directed to I/O devices will be referred to as primitive instruction groups). These primitive instruction groups include keyboard, video, disk, serial

Method for concurrent execution of primitive operations by dynamically assigning operations based upon computational marked graph and availability of data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mielke, Roland V. (Inventor); Stoughton, John W. (Inventor)

1990-01-01

Computationally complex primitive operations of an algorithm are executed concurrently in a plurality of functional units under the control of an assignment manager. The algorithm is preferably defined as a computationally marked graph contianing data status edges (paths) corresponding to each of the data flow edges. The assignment manager assigns primitive operations to the functional units and monitors completion of the primitive operations to determine data availability using the computational marked graph of the algorithm. All data accessing of the primitive operations is performed by the functional units independently of the assignment manager.

Tubulin post-translational modifications in the primitive protist Trichomonas vaginalis.

PubMed

Delgado-Viscogliosi, P; Brugerolle, G; Viscogliosi, E

1996-01-01

Using several specific monoclonal antibodies, we investigated the occurrence and distribution of different post-translationally modified tubulin during interphase and division of the primitive flagellated protist Trichomonas vaginalis. Immunoblotting and immunofluorescence experiments revealed that interphasic microtubular structures of T. vaginalis contained acetylated and glutamylated but non-tyrosinated and non-glycylated [Brugerolle and Adoutte, 1988: Bio Systems 21: 255-268] tubulin. Immunofluorescence studies performed on dividing cells showed that the extranuclear mitotic spindle (or paradesmosis) was acetylated and glutamylated, which contrast with the ephemeral nature of this structure. Newly formed short axostyles also contained acetylated and glutamylated tubulin suggesting that both post-translational modifications might take place very early after assembly of microtubular structures. Our results indicate that acetylation and glutamylation of tubulin appeared early in the history of eukaryotes and could reflect the occurrence of post-translational modifications of tubulin in the primitive eukaryotic cells. These cells probably had a highly ordered cross-linked microtubular cytoskeleton in which microtubules showed a low level of subunit exchange dynamics.

Topological analysis of polymeric melts: chain-length effects and fast-converging estimators for entanglement length.

PubMed

Hoy, Robert S; Foteinopoulou, Katerina; Kröger, Martin

2009-09-01

Primitive path analyses of entanglements are performed over a wide range of chain lengths for both bead spring and atomistic polyethylene polymer melts. Estimators for the entanglement length N_{e} which operate on results for a single chain length N are shown to produce systematic O(1/N) errors. The mathematical roots of these errors are identified as (a) treating chain ends as entanglements and (b) neglecting non-Gaussian corrections to chain and primitive path dimensions. The prefactors for the O(1/N) errors may be large; in general their magnitude depends both on the polymer model and the method used to obtain primitive paths. We propose, derive, and test new estimators which eliminate these systematic errors using information obtainable from the variation in entanglement characteristics with chain length. The new estimators produce accurate results for N_{e} from marginally entangled systems. Formulas based on direct enumeration of entanglements appear to converge faster and are simpler to apply.

Primitive Path Analysis and Stress Distribution in Highly Strained Macromolecules

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Polymer material properties are strongly affected by entanglement effects. For long polymer chains and composite materials, they are expected to be at the origin of many technically important phenomena, such as shear thinning or the Mullins effect, which microscopically can be related to topological constraints between chains. Starting from fully equilibrated highly entangled polymer melts, we investigate the effect of isochoric elongation on the entanglement structure and force distribution of such systems. Theoretically, the related viscoelastic response usually is discussed in terms of the tube model. We relate stress relaxation in the linear and nonlinear viscoelastic regimes to a primitive path analysis (PPA) and show that tension forces both along the original paths and along primitive paths, that is, the backbone of the tube, in the stretching direction correspond to each other. Unlike homogeneous relaxation along the chain contour, the PPA reveals a so far not observed long-lived clustering of topological constraints along the chains in the deformed state. PMID:29503762

Oxygen and the evolution of metabolic pathways

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jahnke, L. L.

1986-01-01

While a considerable amount of evidence has been accumulated about the history of oxygen on this planet, little is known about the relative amounts to which primitive cells might have been exposed. One clue may be found in the metabolic pathways of extant microorganisms. While eucaryotes are principally aerobic organisms, a number are capable of anaerobic growth by fermentation. One such eucaryotic microorganism, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, will grow in the complete absence of oxygen when supplemented with unsaturated fatty acid and sterol. Oxygen-requiring enzymes are involved in the synthesis of both of these compounds. Studies have demonstrated that the oxidative desaturation of palmitic acid and the conversion of squalene to sterols occur in the range of 10-(3) to 10(-2) PAL. Thus, if the oxygen requirements of these enzymatic processes are an indication, eucaryotes might be more primitive than anticipated from the microfossil record. Results of studies on the oxygen requirements for sterol and unsaturated fatty acid synthesis in a more primitive procaryotic system are also discussed.

How to Spot a Primitive Black Hole

NASA Image and Video Library

2010-03-17

These two data plots from NASA Spitzer Space Telescope show a primitive supermassive black hole top compared to a typical one; usually, dust tori are missing and only gas disks are observed in primitive black holes.

Primitive erythrocytes are generated from hemogenic endothelial cells.

PubMed

Stefanska, Monika; Batta, Kiran; Patel, Rahima; Florkowska, Magdalena; Kouskoff, Valerie; Lacaud, Georges

2017-07-25

Primitive erythroblasts are the first blood cells generated during embryonic hematopoiesis. Tracking their emergence both in vivo and in vitro has remained challenging due to the lack of specific cell surface markers. To selectively investigate primitive erythropoiesis, we have engineered a new transgenic embryonic stem (ES) cell line, where eGFP expression is driven by the regulatory sequences of the embryonic βH1 hemoglobin gene expressed specifically in primitive erythroid cells. Using this ES cell line, we observed that the first primitive erythroblasts are detected in vitro around day 1.5 of blast colony differentiation, within the cell population positive for the early hematopoietic progenitor marker CD41. Moreover, we establish that these eGFP + cells emerge from a hemogenic endothelial cell population similarly to their definitive hematopoietic counterparts. We further generated a corresponding βH1-eGFP transgenic mouse model and demonstrated the presence of a primitive erythroid primed hemogenic endothelial cell population in the developing embryo. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that both in vivo and in vitro primitive erythrocytes are generated from hemogenic endothelial cells.

Calculations of and evidence for chain packing stress in inverse lyotropic bicontinuous cubic phases.

PubMed

Shearman, Gemma C; Khoo, Bee J; Motherwell, Mary-Lynn; Brakke, Kenneth A; Ces, Oscar; Conn, Charlotte E; Seddon, John M; Templer, Richard H

2007-06-19

Inverse bicontinuous cubic lyotropic phases are a complex solution to the dilemma faced by all self-assembled water-amphiphile systems: how to satisfy the incompatible requirements for uniform interfacial curvature and uniform molecular packing. The solution reached in this case is for the water-amphiphile interfaces to deform hyperbolically onto triply periodic minimal surfaces. We have previously suggested that although the molecular packing in these structures is rather uniform the relative phase behavior of the gyroid, double diamond, and primitive inverse bicontinuous cubic phases can be understood in terms of subtle differences in packing frustration. In this work, we have calculated the packing frustration for these cubics under the constraint that their interfaces have constant mean curvature. We find that the relative packing stress does indeed differ between phases. The gyroid cubic has the least packing stress, and at low water volume fraction, the primitive cubic has the greatest packing stress. However, at very high water volume fraction, the double diamond cubic becomes the structure with the greatest packing stress. We have tested the model in two ways. For a system with a double diamond cubic phase in excess water, the addition of a hydrophobe may release packing frustration and preferentially stabilize the primitive cubic, since this has previously been shown to have lower curvature elastic energy. We have confirmed this prediction by adding the long chain alkane tricosane to 1-monoolein in excess water. The model also predicts that if one were able to hydrate the double diamond cubic to high water volume fractions, one should destabilize the phase with respect to the primitive cubic. We have found that such highly swollen metastable bicontinuous cubic phases can be formed within onion vesicles. Data from monoelaidin in excess water display a well-defined transition, with the primitive cubic appearing above a water volume fraction of 0.75. Both of these results lend support to the proposition that differences in the packing frustration between inverse bicontinuous cubic phases play a pivotal role in their relative phase stability.

A key heterogeneous structure of fractal networks based on inverse renormalization scheme

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bai, Yanan; Huang, Ning; Sun, Lina

2018-06-01

Self-similarity property of complex networks was found by the application of renormalization group theory. Based on this theory, network topologies can be classified into universality classes in the space of configurations. In return, through inverse renormalization scheme, a given primitive structure can grow into a pure fractal network, then adding different types of shortcuts, it exhibits different characteristics of complex networks. However, the effect of primitive structure on networks structural property has received less attention. In this paper, we introduce a degree variance index to measure the dispersion of nodes degree in the primitive structure, and investigate the effect of the primitive structure on network structural property quantified by network efficiency. Numerical simulations and theoretical analysis show a primitive structure is a key heterogeneous structure of generated networks based on inverse renormalization scheme, whether or not adding shortcuts, and the network efficiency is positively correlated with degree variance of the primitive structure.

Discovery of survival factor for primitive chronic myeloid leukemia cells using induced pluripotent stem cells

PubMed Central

Suknuntha, Kran; Ishii, Yuki; Tao, Lihong; Hu, Kejin; McIntosh, Brian E.; Yang, David; Swanson, Scott; Stewart, Ron; Wang, Jean Y.J.; Thomson, James; Slukvin, Igor

2016-01-01

A definitive cure for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) requires identifying novel therapeutic targets to eradicate leukemia stem cells (LSCs). However, the rarity of LSCs within the primitive hematopoietic cell compartment remains a major limiting factor for their study in humans. Here we show that primitive hematopoietic cells with typical LSC features, including adhesion defect, increased long-term survival and proliferation, and innate resistance to tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) imatinib, can be generated de novo from reprogrammed primary CML cells. Using CML iPSC-derived primitive leukemia cells, we discovered olfactomedin 4 (OLFM4) as a novel factor that contributes to survival and growth of somatic lin−CD34+ cells from bone marrow of patients with CML in chronic phase, but not primitive hematopoietic cells from normal bone marrow. Overall, this study shows the feasibility and advantages of using reprogramming technology to develop strategies for targeting primitive leukemia cells. PMID:26561938

Origin of primitive ocean island basalts by crustal gabbro assimilation and multiple recharge of plume-derived melts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borisova, Anastassia Y.; Bohrson, Wendy A.; Grégoire, Michel

2017-07-01

Chemical Geodynamics relies on a paradigm that the isotopic composition of ocean island basalt (OIB) represents equilibrium with its primary mantle sources. However, the discovery of huge isotopic heterogeneity within olivine-hosted melt inclusions in primitive basalts from Kerguelen, Iceland, Hawaii and South Pacific Polynesia islands implies open-system behavior of OIBs, where during magma residence and transport, basaltic melts are contaminated by surrounding lithosphere. To constrain the processes of crustal assimilation by OIBs, we employed the Magma Chamber Simulator (MCS), an energy-constrained thermodynamic model of recharge, assimilation and fractional crystallization. For a case study of the 21-19 Ma basaltic series, the most primitive series ever found among the Kerguelen OIBs, we performed sixty-seven simulations in the pressure range from 0.2 to 1.0 GPa using compositions of olivine-hosted melt inclusions as parental magmas, and metagabbro xenoliths from the Kerguelen Archipelago as wallrock. MCS modeling requires that the assimilant is anatectic crustal melts (P2O5 ≤ 0.4 wt.% contents) derived from the Kerguelen oceanic metagabbro wallrock. To best fit the phenocryst assemblage observed in the investigated basaltic series, recharge of relatively large masses of hydrous primitive basaltic melts (H2O = 2-3 wt%; MgO = 7-10 wt.%) into a middle crustal chamber at 0.2 to 0.3 GPa is required. Our results thus highlight the important impact that crustal gabbro assimilation and mantle recharge can have on the geochemistry of mantle-derived olivine-phyric OIBs. The importance of crustal assimilation affecting primitive plume-derived basaltic melts underscores that isotopic and chemical equilibrium between ocean island basalts and associated deep plume mantle source(s) may be the exception rather than the rule.

Transitions between discrete and rhythmic primitives in a unimanual task

PubMed Central

Sternad, Dagmar; Marino, Hamal; Charles, Steven K.; Duarte, Marcos; Dipietro, Laura; Hogan, Neville

2013-01-01

Given the vast complexity of human actions and interactions with objects, we proposed that control of sensorimotor behavior may utilize dynamic primitives. However, greater computational simplicity may come at the cost of reduced versatility. Evidence for primitives may be garnered by revealing such limitations. This study tested subjects performing a sequence of progressively faster discrete movements in order to “stress” the system. We hypothesized that the increasing pace would elicit a transition to rhythmic movements, assumed to be computationally and neurally more efficient. Abrupt transitions between the two types of movements would support the hypothesis that rhythmic and discrete movements are distinct primitives. Ten subjects performed planar point-to-point arm movements paced by a metronome: starting at 2 s, the metronome intervals decreased by 36 ms per cycle to 200 ms, stayed at 200 ms for several cycles, then increased by similar increments. Instructions emphasized to insert explicit stops between each movement with a duration that equaled the movement time. The experiment was performed with eyes open and closed, and with short and long metronome sounds, the latter explicitly specifying the dwell duration. Results showed that subjects matched instructed movement times but did not preserve the dwell times. Rather, they progressively reduced dwell time to zero, transitioning to continuous rhythmic movements before movement times reached their minimum. The acceleration profiles showed an abrupt change between discrete and rhythmic profiles. The loss of dwell time occurred earlier with long auditory specification, when subjects also showed evidence of predictive control. While evidence for hysteresis was weak, taken together, the results clearly indicated a transition between discrete and rhythmic movements, supporting the proposal that representation is based on primitives rather than on veridical internal models. PMID:23888139

A Hypothesis: Life Initiated from Two Genes, as Deduced from the RNA World Hypothesis and the Characteristics of Life-Like Systems

PubMed Central

Kawamura, Kunio

2016-01-01

RNA played a central role in the emergence of the first life-like system on primitive Earth since RNA molecules contain both genetic information and catalytic activity. However, there are several drawbacks regarding the RNA world hypothesis. Here, I briefly discuss the feasibility of the RNA world hypothesis to deduce the RNA functions that are essential for forming a life-like system. At the same time, I have conducted a conceptual analysis of the characteristics of biosystems as a useful approach to deduce a realistic life-like system in relation to the definition of life. For instance, an RNA-based life-like system should possess enough stability to resist environmental perturbations, by developing a cell-like compartment, for instance. Here, a conceptual viewpoint is summarized to provide a realistic life-like system that is compatible with the primitive Earth environment and the capabilities of RNA molecules. According to the empirical and conceptual analysis, I propose the hypothesis that the first life-like system could have initiated from only two genes. PMID:27490571

The Evolution of the Earliest Cells.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schopf, J. William

1978-01-01

Describes the unicellular microorganisms of three billion years ago. Explains how these primitive cells gave rise to biochemical systems and the present oxygen-rich atmosphere. Numerous diagrams, charts, and illustrations. (MA)

The Gemini Recipe System: A Dynamic Workflow for Automated Data Reduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Labrie, K.; Hirst, P.; Allen, C.

2011-07-01

Gemini's next generation data reduction software suite aims to offer greater automation of the data reduction process without compromising the flexibility required by science programs using advanced or unusual observing strategies. The Recipe System is central to our new data reduction software. Developed in Python, it facilitates near-real time processing for data quality assessment, and both on- and off-line science quality processing. The Recipe System can be run as a standalone application or as the data processing core of an automatic pipeline. Building on concepts that originated in ORAC-DR, a data reduction process is defined in a Recipe written in a science (as opposed to computer) oriented language, and consists of a sequence of data reduction steps called Primitives. The Primitives are written in Python and can be launched from the PyRAF user interface by users wishing for more hands-on optimization of the data reduction process. The fact that the same processing Primitives can be run within both the pipeline context and interactively in a PyRAF session is an important strength of the Recipe System. The Recipe System offers dynamic flow control allowing for decisions regarding processing and calibration to be made automatically, based on the pixel and the metadata properties of the dataset at the stage in processing where the decision is being made, and the context in which the processing is being carried out. Processing history and provenance recording are provided by the AstroData middleware, which also offers header abstraction and data type recognition to facilitate the development of instrument-agnostic processing routines. All observatory or instrument specific definitions are isolated from the core of the AstroData system and distributed in external configuration packages that define a lexicon including classifications, uniform metadata elements, and transformations.

A mutli-technique search for the most primitive CO chondrites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alexander, C. M. O'D.; Greenwood, R. C.; Bowden, R.; Gibson, J. M.; Howard, K. T.; Franchi, I. A.

2018-01-01

As part of a study to identify the most primitive COs and to look for weakly altered CMs amongst the COs, we have conducted a multi-technique study of 16 Antarctic meteorites that had been classified as primitive COs. For this study, we have determined: (1) the bulk H, C and N abundances and isotopes, (2) bulk O isotopic compositions, (3) bulk modal mineralogies, and (4) for some selected samples the abundances and compositions of their insoluble organic matter (IOM). Two of the 16 meteorites do appear to be CMs - BUC 10943 seems to be a fairly typical CM, while MIL 090073 has probably been heated. Of the COs, DOM 08006 appears to be the most primitive CO identified to date and is quite distinct from the other members of its pairing group. The other COs fall into two groups that are less primitive than DOM 08006 and ALH 77307, the previously most primitive CO. The first group is composed of members of the DOM 08004 pairing group, except DOM 08006. The second group is composed of meteorites belonging to the MIL 03377 and MIL 07099 pairing groups. These two pairing groups should probably be combined. There is a dichotomy in the bulk O isotopes between the primitive (all Antarctic finds) and the more metamorphosed COs (mostly falls). This dichotomy can only partly be explained by the terrestrial weathering experienced by the primitive Antarctic samples. It seems that the more equilibrated samples interacted to a greater extent with 16O-poor material, probably water, than the more primitive meteorites.

Effects of primitive photosynthesis on Earth's early climate system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ozaki, Kazumi; Tajika, Eiichi; Hong, Peng K.; Nakagawa, Yusuke; Reinhard, Christopher T.

2018-01-01

The evolution of different forms of photosynthetic life has profoundly altered the activity level of the biosphere, radically reshaping the composition of Earth's oceans and atmosphere over time. However, the mechanistic impacts of a primitive photosynthetic biosphere on Earth's early atmospheric chemistry and climate are poorly understood. Here, we use a global redox balance model to explore the biogeochemical and climatological effects of different forms of primitive photosynthesis. We find that a hybrid ecosystem of H2-based and Fe2+-based anoxygenic photoautotrophs—organisms that perform photosynthesis without producing oxygen—gives rise to a strong nonlinear amplification of Earth's methane (CH4) cycle, and would thus have represented a critical component of Earth's early climate system before the advent of oxygenic photosynthesis. Using a Monte Carlo approach, we find that a hybrid photosynthetic biosphere widens the range of geochemical conditions that allow for warm climate states well beyond either of these metabolic processes acting in isolation. Our results imply that the Earth's early climate was governed by a novel and poorly explored set of regulatory feedbacks linking the anoxic biosphere and the coupled H, C and Fe cycles. We suggest that similar processes should be considered when assessing the potential for sustained habitability on Earth-like planets with reducing atmospheres.

Local bone marrow renin-angiotensin system in primitive, definitive and neoplastic haematopoiesis.

PubMed

Haznedaroglu, Ibrahim C; Beyazit, Yavuz

2013-03-01

The locally active ligand peptides, mediators, receptors and signalling pathways of the haematopoietic BM (bone marrow) autocrine/paracrine RAS (renin-angiotensin system) affect the essential steps of definitive blood cell production. Haematopoiesis, erythropoiesis, myelopoiesis, formation of monocytic and lymphocytic lineages, thrombopoiesis and other stromal cellular elements are regulated by the local BM RAS. The local BM RAS is present and active even in primitive embryonic haematopoiesis. ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme) is expressed on the surface of the first endothelial and haematopoietic cells, forming the marrow cavity in the embryo. ACE marks early haematopoietic precursor cells and long-term blood-forming CD34(+) BM cells. The local autocrine tissue BM RAS may also be active in neoplastic haematopoiesis. Critical RAS mediators such as renin, ACE, AngII (angiotensin II) and angiotensinogen have been identified in leukaemic blast cells. The local tissue RAS influences tumour growth and metastases in an autocrine and paracrine fashion via the modulation of numerous carcinogenic events, such as angiogenesis, apoptosis, cellular proliferation, immune responses, cell signalling and extracellular matrix formation. The aim of the present review is to outline the known functions of the local BM RAS within the context of primitive, definitive and neoplastic haematopoiesis. Targeting the actions of local RAS molecules could represent a valuable therapeutic option for the management of neoplastic disorders.

Computational simulation of probabilistic lifetime strength for aerospace materials subjected to high temperature, mechanical fatigue, creep and thermal fatigue

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boyce, Lola; Bast, Callie C.; Trimble, Greg A.

1992-01-01

This report presents the results of a fourth year effort of a research program, conducted for NASA-LeRC by the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). The research included on-going development of methodology that provides probabilistic lifetime strength of aerospace materials via computational simulation. A probabilistic material strength degradation model, in the form of a randomized multifactor interaction equation, is postulated for strength degradation of structural components of aerospace propulsion systems subject to a number of effects or primitive variables. These primitive variables may include high temperature, fatigue or creep. In most cases, strength is reduced as a result of the action of a variable. This multifactor interaction strength degradation equation has been randomized and is included in the computer program, PROMISS. Also included in the research is the development of methodology to calibrate the above-described constitutive equation using actual experimental materials data together with regression analysis of that data, thereby predicting values for the empirical material constants for each effect or primitive variable. This regression methodology is included in the computer program, PROMISC. Actual experimental materials data were obtained from industry and the open literature for materials typically for applications in aerospace propulsion system components. Material data for Inconel 718 has been analyzed using the developed methodology.

Computational simulation of probabilistic lifetime strength for aerospace materials subjected to high temperature, mechanical fatigue, creep, and thermal fatigue

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boyce, Lola; Bast, Callie C.; Trimble, Greg A.

1992-01-01

The results of a fourth year effort of a research program conducted for NASA-LeRC by The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) are presented. The research included on-going development of methodology that provides probabilistic lifetime strength of aerospace materials via computational simulation. A probabilistic material strength degradation model, in the form of a randomized multifactor interaction equation, is postulated for strength degradation of structural components of aerospace propulsion systems subjected to a number of effects or primitive variables. These primitive variables may include high temperature, fatigue, or creep. In most cases, strength is reduced as a result of the action of a variable. This multifactor interaction strength degradation equation was randomized and is included in the computer program, PROMISC. Also included in the research is the development of methodology to calibrate the above-described constitutive equation using actual experimental materials data together with regression analysis of that data, thereby predicting values for the empirical material constants for each effect or primitive variable. This regression methodology is included in the computer program, PROMISC. Actual experimental materials data were obtained from industry and the open literature for materials typically for applications in aerospace propulsion system components. Material data for Inconel 718 was analyzed using the developed methodology.

Dynamic primitives in the control of locomotion.

PubMed

Hogan, Neville; Sternad, Dagmar

2013-01-01

Humans achieve locomotor dexterity that far exceeds the capability of modern robots, yet this is achieved despite slower actuators, imprecise sensors, and vastly slower communication. We propose that this spectacular performance arises from encoding motor commands in terms of dynamic primitives. We propose three primitives as a foundation for a comprehensive theoretical framework that can embrace a wide range of upper- and lower-limb behaviors. Building on previous work that suggested discrete and rhythmic movements as elementary dynamic behaviors, we define submovements and oscillations: as discrete movements cannot be combined with sufficient flexibility, we argue that suitably-defined submovements are primitives. As the term "rhythmic" may be ambiguous, we define oscillations as the corresponding class of primitives. We further propose mechanical impedances as a third class of dynamic primitives, necessary for interaction with the physical environment. Combination of these three classes of primitive requires care. One approach is through a generalized equivalent network: a virtual trajectory composed of simultaneous and/or sequential submovements and/or oscillations that interacts with mechanical impedances to produce observable forces and motions. Reliable experimental identification of these dynamic primitives presents challenges: identification of mechanical impedances is exquisitely sensitive to assumptions about their dynamic structure; identification of submovements and oscillations is sensitive to their assumed form and to details of the algorithm used to extract them. Some methods to address these challenges are presented. Some implications of this theoretical framework for locomotor rehabilitation are considered.

msh/Msx gene family in neural development.

PubMed

Ramos, Casto; Robert, Benoît

2005-11-01

The involvement of Msx homeobox genes in skull and tooth formation has received a great deal of attention. Recent studies also indicate a role for the msh/Msx gene family in development of the nervous system. In this article, we discuss the functions of these transcription factors in neural-tissue organogenesis. We will deal mainly with the interactions of the Drosophila muscle segment homeobox (msh) gene with other homeobox genes and the repressive cascade that leads to neuroectoderm patterning; the role of Msx genes in neural-crest induction, focusing especially on the differences between lower and higher vertebrates; their implication in patterning of the vertebrate neural tube, particularly in diencephalon midline formation. Finally, we will examine the distinct activities of Msx1, Msx2 and Msx3 genes during neurogenesis, taking into account their relationships with signalling molecules such as BMP.

Primitive Sca-1 Positive Bone Marrow HSC in Mouse Model of Aplastic Anemia: A Comparative Study through Flowcytometric Analysis and Scanning Electron Microscopy

PubMed Central

Chatterjee, Sumanta; Basak, Pratima; Das, Prosun; Das, Madhurima; Pereira, Jacintha Archana; Dutta, Ranjan Kumar; Chaklader, Malay; Chaudhuri, Samaresh; Law, Sujata

2010-01-01

Self-renewing Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) are responsible for reconstitution of all blood cell lineages. Sca-1 is the “stem cell antigen” marker used to identify the primitive murine HSC population, the expression of which decreases upon differentiation to other mature cell types. Sca-1+ HSCs maintain the bone marrow stem cell pool throughout the life. Aplastic anemia is a disease considered to involve primary stem cell deficiency and is characterized by severe pancytopenia and a decline in healthy blood cell generation system. Studies conducted in our laboratory revealed that the primitive Sca-1+ BM-HSCs (bone marrow hematopoietic stem cell) are significantly affected in experimental Aplastic animals pretreated with chemotherapeutic drugs (Busulfan and Cyclophosphamide) and there is increased Caspase-3 activity with consecutive high Annexin-V positivity leading to premature apoptosis in the bone marrow hematopoietic stem cell population in Aplastic condition. The Sca-1bright, that is, “more primitive” BM-HSC population was more affected than the “less primitive” BM-HSC Sca-1dim  population. The decreased cell population and the receptor expression were directly associated with an empty and deranged marrow microenvironment, which is evident from scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The above experimental evidences hint toward the manipulation of receptor expression for the benefit of cytotherapy by primitive stem cell population in Aplastic anemia cases. PMID:21048851

Commissioning of the upgraded CSC Endcap Muon Port Cards at CMS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ecklund, K.; Liu, J.; Madorsky, A.; Matveev, M.; Michlin, B.; Padley, P.; Rorie, J.

2016-01-01

There are 180 1.6 Gbps optical links from 60 Muon Port Cards (MPC) to the Cathode Strip Chamber Track Finder (CSCTF) in the original system. Before the upgrade each MPC was able to provide up to three trigger primitives from a cluster of nine CSC chambers to the Level 1 CSCTF. With an LHC luminosity increase to 1035 cm-2s-1 at full energy of 7 TeV/beam, the simulation studies suggest that we can expect two or three times more trigger primitives per bunch crossing from the front-end electronics. To comply with this requirement, the MPC, CSCTF, and optical cables need to be upgraded. The upgraded MPC allows transmission of up to 18 trigger primitives from the peripheral crate. This feature would allow searches for physics signatures of muon jets that require more trigger primitives per trigger sector. At the same time, it is very desirable to preserve all the old optical links for compatibility with the older Track Finder during transition period at the beginning of Run 2. Installation of the upgraded MPC boards and the new optical cables has been completed at the CMS detector in the summer of 2014. We describe the final design of the new MPC mezzanine FPGA, its firmware, and results of tests in laboratory and in situ with the old and new CSCTF boards.

Prebiotic chemistry and nucleic acid replication

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Orgel, L. E.; Lohrmann, R.

1974-01-01

Recent work is reviewed on some reactions that could have occurred on the primitive earth and that could have played a part in the evolution of a self-replicating system. The transition from the primitive atmosphere to the simplest replicating molecules is considered in four stages: (1) the formation of a 'prebiotic soup' of organic precursors, including the purine and pyrimidine bases and the pentose sugars; (2) the condensation of these precursors and inorganic phosphate to form monomeric nucleotides and activated nucleotide derivatives; (3) the polymerization of nucleotide derivatives to oligonucleotides; and (4) the complementary replication of oligonucleotides in a template-directed process that depends on Watson-Crick base pairing.

Memory efficient solution of the primitive equations for numerical weather prediction on the CYBER 205

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tuccillo, J. J.

1984-01-01

Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP), for both operational and research purposes, requires only fast computational speed but also large memory. A technique for solving the Primitive Equations for atmospheric motion on the CYBER 205, as implemented in the Mesoscale Atmospheric Simulation System, which is fully vectorized and requires substantially less memory than other techniques such as the Leapfrog or Adams-Bashforth Schemes is discussed. The technique presented uses the Euler-Backard time marching scheme. Also discussed are several techniques for reducing computational time of the model by replacing slow intrinsic routines by faster algorithms which use only hardware vector instructions.

Fundamental physical theories: Mathematical structures grounded on a primitive ontology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allori, Valia

In my dissertation I analyze the structure of fundamental physical theories. I start with an analysis of what an adequate primitive ontology is, discussing the measurement problem in quantum mechanics and theirs solutions. It is commonly said that these theories have little in common. I argue instead that the moral of the measurement problem is that the wave function cannot represent physical objects and a common structure between these solutions can be recognized: each of them is about a clear three-dimensional primitive ontology that evolves according to a law determined by the wave function. The primitive ontology is what matter is made of while the wave function tells the matter how to move. One might think that what is important in the notion of primitive ontology is their three-dimensionality. If so, in a theory like classical electrodynamics electromagnetic fields would be part of the primitive ontology. I argue that, reflecting on what the purpose of a fundamental physical theory is, namely to explain the behavior of objects in three-dimensional space, one can recognize that a fundamental physical theory has a particular architecture. If so, electromagnetic fields play a different role in the theory than the particles and therefore should be considered, like the wave function, as part of the law. Therefore, we can characterize the general structure of a fundamental physical theory as a mathematical structure grounded on a primitive ontology. I explore this idea to better understand theories like classical mechanics and relativity, emphasizing that primitive ontology is crucial in the process of building new theories, being fundamental in identifying the symmetries. Finally, I analyze what it means to explain the word around us in terms of the notion of primitive ontology in the case of regularities of statistical character. Here is where the notion of typicality comes into play: we have explained a phenomenon if the typical histories of the primitive ontology give rise to the statistical regularities we observe.

A novel class sensitive hashing technique for large-scale content-based remote sensing image retrieval

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reato, Thomas; Demir, Begüm; Bruzzone, Lorenzo

2017-10-01

This paper presents a novel class sensitive hashing technique in the framework of large-scale content-based remote sensing (RS) image retrieval. The proposed technique aims at representing each image with multi-hash codes, each of which corresponds to a primitive (i.e., land cover class) present in the image. To this end, the proposed method consists of a three-steps algorithm. The first step is devoted to characterize each image by primitive class descriptors. These descriptors are obtained through a supervised approach, which initially extracts the image regions and their descriptors that are then associated with primitives present in the images. This step requires a set of annotated training regions to define primitive classes. A correspondence between the regions of an image and the primitive classes is built based on the probability of each primitive class to be present at each region. All the regions belonging to the specific primitive class with a probability higher than a given threshold are highly representative of that class. Thus, the average value of the descriptors of these regions is used to characterize that primitive. In the second step, the descriptors of primitive classes are transformed into multi-hash codes to represent each image. This is achieved by adapting the kernel-based supervised locality sensitive hashing method to multi-code hashing problems. The first two steps of the proposed technique, unlike the standard hashing methods, allow one to represent each image by a set of primitive class sensitive descriptors and their hash codes. Then, in the last step, the images in the archive that are very similar to a query image are retrieved based on a multi-hash-code-matching scheme. Experimental results obtained on an archive of aerial images confirm the effectiveness of the proposed technique in terms of retrieval accuracy when compared to the standard hashing methods.

Chemical Signatures of Interstellar Dusts Preserved in Primitive Chondrites and Inner Planets of the Solar System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yin, Qing-Zhu

2002-01-01

We show that the inheritance of interstellar materials by the solar system is not only documented by the presence of presolar grains, various isotopic anomalies, but also expressed in the chemical element distribution in the inner solar system. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Learning multivariate distributions by competitive assembly of marginals.

PubMed

Sánchez-Vega, Francisco; Younes, Laurent; Geman, Donald

2013-02-01

We present a new framework for learning high-dimensional multivariate probability distributions from estimated marginals. The approach is motivated by compositional models and Bayesian networks, and designed to adapt to small sample sizes. We start with a large, overlapping set of elementary statistical building blocks, or "primitives," which are low-dimensional marginal distributions learned from data. Each variable may appear in many primitives. Subsets of primitives are combined in a Lego-like fashion to construct a probabilistic graphical model; only a small fraction of the primitives will participate in any valid construction. Since primitives can be precomputed, parameter estimation and structure search are separated. Model complexity is controlled by strong biases; we adapt the primitives to the amount of training data and impose rules which restrict the merging of them into allowable compositions. The likelihood of the data decomposes into a sum of local gains, one for each primitive in the final structure. We focus on a specific subclass of networks which are binary forests. Structure optimization corresponds to an integer linear program and the maximizing composition can be computed for reasonably large numbers of variables. Performance is evaluated using both synthetic data and real datasets from natural language processing and computational biology.

Cometary dust: the diversity of primitive refractory grains

PubMed Central

Ishii, H. A.

2017-01-01

Comet dust is primitive and shows significant diversity. Our knowledge of the properties of primitive cometary particles has expanded significantly through microscale investigations of cosmic dust samples (anhydrous interplanetary dust particles (IDPs), chondritic porous (CP) IDPs and UltraCarbonaceous Antarctic micrometeorites, Stardust and Rosetta), as well as through remote sensing (Spitzer IR spectroscopy). Comet dust are aggregate particles of materials unequilibrated at submicrometre scales. We discuss the properties and processes experienced by primitive matter in comets. Primitive particles exhibit a diverse range of: structure and typology; distribution of constituents; concentration and form of carbonaceous and refractory organic matter; Mg- and Fe-contents of the silicate minerals; sulfides; existence/abundance of type II chondrule fragments; high-temperature calcium–aluminium inclusions and ameboid-olivine aggregates; and rarely occurring Mg-carbonates and magnetite, whose explanation requires aqueous alteration on parent bodies. The properties of refractory materials imply there were disc processes that resulted in different comets having particular selections of primitive materials. The diversity of primitive particles has implications for the diversity of materials in the protoplanetary disc present at the time and in the region where the comets formed. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Cometary science after Rosetta’. PMID:28554979

Basic primitives for molecular diagram sketching

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

A collection of primitive operations for molecular diagram sketching has been developed. These primitives compose a concise set of operations which can be used to construct publication-quality 2 D coordinates for molecular structures using a bare minimum of input bandwidth. The input requirements for each primitive consist of a small number of discrete choices, which means that these primitives can be used to form the basis of a user interface which does not require an accurate pointing device. This is particularly relevant to software designed for contemporary mobile platforms. The reduction of input bandwidth is accomplished by using algorithmic methods for anticipating probable geometries during the sketching process, and by intelligent use of template grafting. The algorithms and their uses are described in detail. PMID:20923555

International peanut yield gains

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Peanut is grown in more than 100 countries, with China, India, the U.S., Nigeria, and Indonesia being the largest producers. Peanut production systems range from very primitive with only hand labor and few inputs of fertilizer or chemical controls for weeds or diseases to other systems that are h...

Primitive environment control for preservation of pit relics in archeology museums of China.

PubMed

Gu, Zhaolin; Luo, Xilian; Meng, Xiangzhao; Wang, Zanshe; Ma, Tao; Yu, Chuck; Rong, Bo; Li, Ku; Li, Wenwu; Tan, Ying

2013-02-05

Immovable historical relics in some archeology museums of China suffer deterioration due to their improper preservation environment. The existing environmental control systems used in archeology museums are often designed for the amenities of visitors, and these manipulated environments are often inappropriate for the conservation of abiotic relics. This paper points out that the large open space of the existing archeology museum could be a cause of deterioration of the relics from the point of view of indoor air convective flow. The paper illustrates the need to introduce a local pit environmental control, which could reintegrate a pit primitive environment for the preservation of the historical relics by using an air curtain system, orientated to isolate the unearthed relics, semiexposed in pits to the large gallery open space of the exhibition hall.

Precondensed matter - Key to the early solar system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clayton, D. D.

1978-01-01

Explicit astrophysical details are developed for the hypothesis that chemical and isotopic anomalies in primitive solar-system samples reflect routine initial chemical conditions within precondensed matter. The central feature of this theory concerns the chemical state of presolar dust, which is regarded as never having been vaporized in the region where the most chemically primitive samples (carbonaceous meteorites) accumulated. It is suggested that the initial chemical state of heavy atoms during meteorite and planetary accumulation was distributed between a refractory-mineral component from high-temperature condensation and a volatile component resulting from cold matter adhering to preexisting grains. Thermal conditions in the solar nebula are considered along with the existence of supernova condensates and other thermal condensates in the interstellar dust. Fractionation into volatile and refractory elements is idealized in terms of four distinct interstellar components, and the fractionated precondensed matter is described.

Dynamic primitives in the control of locomotion

PubMed Central

Hogan, Neville; Sternad, Dagmar

2013-01-01

Humans achieve locomotor dexterity that far exceeds the capability of modern robots, yet this is achieved despite slower actuators, imprecise sensors, and vastly slower communication. We propose that this spectacular performance arises from encoding motor commands in terms of dynamic primitives. We propose three primitives as a foundation for a comprehensive theoretical framework that can embrace a wide range of upper- and lower-limb behaviors. Building on previous work that suggested discrete and rhythmic movements as elementary dynamic behaviors, we define submovements and oscillations: as discrete movements cannot be combined with sufficient flexibility, we argue that suitably-defined submovements are primitives. As the term “rhythmic” may be ambiguous, we define oscillations as the corresponding class of primitives. We further propose mechanical impedances as a third class of dynamic primitives, necessary for interaction with the physical environment. Combination of these three classes of primitive requires care. One approach is through a generalized equivalent network: a virtual trajectory composed of simultaneous and/or sequential submovements and/or oscillations that interacts with mechanical impedances to produce observable forces and motions. Reliable experimental identification of these dynamic primitives presents challenges: identification of mechanical impedances is exquisitely sensitive to assumptions about their dynamic structure; identification of submovements and oscillations is sensitive to their assumed form and to details of the algorithm used to extract them. Some methods to address these challenges are presented. Some implications of this theoretical framework for locomotor rehabilitation are considered. PMID:23801959

36 CFR 261.21 - National Forest primitive areas.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false National Forest primitive areas. 261.21 Section 261.21 Parks, Forests, and Public Property FOREST SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE PROHIBITIONS General Prohibitions § 261.21 National Forest primitive areas. The following are...

Graphical Means for Inspecting Qualitative Models of System Behaviour

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bouwer, Anders; Bredeweg, Bert

2010-01-01

This article presents the design and evaluation of a tool for inspecting conceptual models of system behaviour. The basis for this research is the Garp framework for qualitative simulation. This framework includes modelling primitives, such as entities, quantities and causal dependencies, which are combined into model fragments and scenarios.…

The Development of Design Guides for the Implementation of Multiprocessing Element Systems.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-09-01

Conclusions............................ 30 -~-.4 IMPLEMENTATION OF CHILL SIGNALS . COMMUNICATION PRIMITIVES ON A DISTRIBUTED SYSTEM ........................ 31...Architecture of a Distributed System .......... ........................... 32 4.2 Algorithm for the SEND Signal Operation ...... 35 4.3 Algorithm for the...elements operating concurrently. Such Multi Processing-element Systems are clearly going to be complex and it is important that the designers of such

The Distributed Memory Computing Conference (5th) Held in Charleston, South Carolina on April 8-12, 1990. Volume 1. Applications

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-03-31

nodes, directional arrows show the parent and child rela- and the graphics driver runs on the CP, i.e., the tionship of processes. Although there is a...about ODB plus some number of transitory primitives, whether or not its child primitives are resident. Transitory primitives are discarded as needed...true if this Hnode’s child primitives approached. are not resident. This method of ODB decomposition has the ability to distribute a very large number of

The many mysteries of Homo naledi.

PubMed

Stringer, Chris

2015-09-10

More than 1500 fossils from the Rising Star cave system in South Africa have been assigned to a new human species, Homo naledi, which displays a unique combination of primitive and derived traits throughout the skeleton.

Paralex: An Environment for Parallel Programming in Distributed Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-12-07

distributed systems is coni- parable to assembly language programming for traditional sequential systems - the user must resort to low-level primitives ...to accomplish data encoding/decoding, communication, remote exe- cution, synchronization , failure detection and recovery. It is our belief that... synchronization . Finally, composing parallel programs by interconnecting se- quential computations allows automatic support for heterogeneity and fault tolerance

A Scalable Distributed Approach to Mobile Robot Vision

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kuipers, Benjamin; Browning, Robert L.; Gribble, William S.

1997-01-01

This paper documents our progress during the first year of work on our original proposal entitled 'A Scalable Distributed Approach to Mobile Robot Vision'. We are pursuing a strategy for real-time visual identification and tracking of complex objects which does not rely on specialized image-processing hardware. In this system perceptual schemas represent objects as a graph of primitive features. Distributed software agents identify and track these features, using variable-geometry image subwindows of limited size. Active control of imaging parameters and selective processing makes simultaneous real-time tracking of many primitive features tractable. Perceptual schemas operate independently from the tracking of primitive features, so that real-time tracking of a set of image features is not hurt by latency in recognition of the object that those features make up. The architecture allows semantically significant features to be tracked with limited expenditure of computational resources, and allows the visual computation to be distributed across a network of processors. Early experiments are described which demonstrate the usefulness of this formulation, followed by a brief overview of our more recent progress (after the first year).

Advanced texture filtering: a versatile framework for reconstructing multi-dimensional image data on heterogeneous architectures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zellmann, Stefan; Percan, Yvonne; Lang, Ulrich

2015-01-01

Reconstruction of 2-d image primitives or of 3-d volumetric primitives is one of the most common operations performed by the rendering components of modern visualization systems. Because this operation is often aided by GPUs, reconstruction is typically restricted to first-order interpolation. With the advent of in situ visualization, the assumption that rendering algorithms are in general executed on GPUs is however no longer adequate. We thus propose a framework that provides versatile texture filtering capabilities: up to third-order reconstruction using various types of cubic filtering and interpolation primitives; cache-optimized algorithms that integrate seamlessly with GPGPU rendering or with software rendering that was optimized for cache-friendly "Structure of Array" (SoA) access patterns; a memory management layer (MML) that gracefully hides the complexities of extra data copies necessary for memory access optimizations such as swizzling, for rendering on GPGPUs, or for reconstruction schemes that rely on pre-filtered data arrays. We prove the effectiveness of our software architecture by integrating it into and validating it using the open source direct volume rendering (DVR) software DeskVOX.

Why we need asteroid sample return mission?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barucci, Maria Antonietta

2016-07-01

Small bodies retain evidence of the primordial solar nebula and the earliest solar system processes that shaped their evolution. They may also contain pre-solar material as well as complex organic molecules, which could have a major role to the development of life on Earth. For these reasons, asteroids and comets have been targets of interest for missions for over three decades. However, our knowledge of these bodies is still very limited, and each asteroid or comet visited by space mission has revealed unexpected scientific results, e.g. the structure and nature of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P/C-G) visited by the Rosetta mission. Only in the laboratory can instruments with the necessary precision and sensitivity be applied to individual components of the complex mixture of materials that forms a small body regolith, to determine their precise chemical and isotopic composition. Such measurements are vital for revealing the evidence of stellar, interstellar medium, pre-solar nebula and parent body processes that are retained in primitive material, unaltered by atmospheric entry or terrestrial contamination. For those reasons, sample return missions are considered a high priority by a number of the leading space agencies. Abundant within the inner Solar System and the main impactors on terrestrial planets, small bodies may have been the principal contributors of the water and organic material essential to create life on Earth. Small bodies can therefore be considered to be equivalent to DNA for unravelling our solar system's history, offering us a unique window to investigate both the formation of planets and the origin of life. A sample return mission to a primitive Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) has been study at ESA from 2008 in the framework of ESA's Cosmic Vision (CV) programme, with the objective to answer to the fundamental CV questions "How does the Solar System work?" and "What are the conditions for life and planetary formations?". The returned material will allow us to study in terrestrial laboratories some of the most primitive materials available to investigate early solar system formation processes, to explore initial stages of habitable planet formation, to identify and characterize the organics and volatiles in a primitive asteroid. The ideal easy target body for such mission is a D type NEA. D types are the most abundant asteroids beyond the outer edge of the main belt. It is likely that they formed much further out in the Solar System, possibly as far as the transneptunian objects, and were subsequently captured in their present locations following the migration of the gas giants. Spectral features indicate that these bodies are organic rich, contain fine anhydrous minerals but also may be volatile rich and appear to be the most primitive rocky material present in the solar system. In addition to addressing the major science goals, sample return mission from a NEA also involved innovative European technologies. The key sample return capabilities, i.e. asteroid navigation, touch and go, sampling mechanism and the re-entry capsule have reached at ESA a validation status to enter implementation phase. The development of sample return technology represents in Europe a crucial element for planetary science and for the space technology development.

Ruptured profunda femoris aneurysm secondary to neurofibromatosis: vascular involvement in an unusual location.

PubMed

Emrecan, Bilgin; Onem, Gokhan; Susam, Ibrahim

2010-01-01

Neurofibromatosis is an autosomal dominant genetic disease characterized by abnormal growth that involves tissues of mesodermal and neuroectodermal origin. Aneurysms are rarely seen in peripheral arteries. This report presents a case of ruptured arterial aneurysm secondary to neurofibromatosis; the lesion occurred in the profunda femoris artery, a highly unusual location. Treatment of patients with ruptured arterial aneurysm secondary to neurofibromatosis may be interventional or surgical. In this case, a surgical approach was successful.

Engineered Herpes Simplex Viruses for the Treatment of Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumors

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-11-01

lines). This is an entry receptor usually limited to lymphoid cells has not been previously identified in neuroectodermal tissue. Year 3: As a... innate and adaptive immune 327 response. However, resistance is common in vitro and therefore, to the extent that tumor cell lines 328 maintain the...Handgretinger R, et al. Innate immune 461 defense defines susceptibility of sarcoma cells to measles vaccine virus-based oncolysis. J Virol. 462 2013;87

EZH2 is a mediator of EWS/FLI1 driven tumor growth and metastasis blocking endothelial and neuro-ectodermal differentiation

PubMed Central

Richter, Günther H. S.; Plehm, Stephanie; Fasan, Annette; Rössler, Sabine; Unland, Rebekka; Bennani-Baiti, Idriss M.; Hotfilder, Marc; Löwel, Diana; von Luettichau, Irene; Mossbrugger, Ilona; Quintanilla-Martinez, Leticia; Kovar, Heinrich; Staege, Martin S.; Müller-Tidow, Carsten; Burdach, Stefan

2009-01-01

Ewing tumors (ET) are highly malignant, localized in bone or soft tissue, and are molecularly defined by ews/ets translocations. DNA microarray analysis revealed a relationship of ET to both endothelium and fetal neural crest. We identified expression of histone methyltransferase enhancer of Zeste, Drosophila, Homolog 2 (EZH2) to be increased in ET. Suppressive activity of EZH2 maintains stemness in normal and malignant cells. Here, we found EWS/FLI1 bound to the EZH2 promoter in vivo, and induced EZH2 expression in ET and mesenchymal stem cells. Down-regulation of EZH2 by RNA interference in ET suppressed oncogenic transformation by inhibiting clonogenicity in vitro. Similarly, tumor development and metastasis was suppressed in immunodeficient Rag2−/−γC−/− mice. EZH2-mediated gene silencing was shown to be dependent on histone deacetylase (HDAC) activity. Subsequent microarray analysis of EZH2 knock down, HDAC-inhibitor treatment and confirmation in independent assays revealed an undifferentiated phenotype maintained by EZH2 in ET. EZH2 regulated stemness genes such as nerve growth factor receptor (NGFR), as well as genes involved in neuroectodermal and endothelial differentiation (EMP1, EPHB2, GFAP, and GAP43). These data suggest that EZH2 might have a central role in ET pathology by shaping the oncogenicity and stem cell phenotype of this tumor. PMID:19289832

Efficient Agent-Based Models for Non-Genomic Evolution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gupta, Nachi; Agogino, Adrian; Tumer, Kagan

2006-01-01

Modeling dynamical systems composed of aggregations of primitive proteins is critical to the field of astrobiological science involving early evolutionary structures and the origins of life. Unfortunately traditional non-multi-agent methods either require oversimplified models or are slow to converge to adequate solutions. This paper shows how to address these deficiencies by modeling the protein aggregations through a utility based multi-agent system. In this method each agent controls the properties of a set of proteins assigned to that agent. Some of these properties determine the dynamics of the system, such as the ability for some proteins to join or split other proteins, while additional properties determine the aggregation s fitness as a viable primitive cell. We show that over a wide range of starting conditions, there are mechanisins that allow protein aggregations to achieve high values of overall fitness. In addition through the use of agent-specific utilities that remain aligned with the overall global utility, we are able to reach these conclusions with 50 times fewer learning steps.

System for conversion between the boundary representation model and a constructive solid geometry model of an object

DOEpatents

Christensen, Noel C.; Emery, James D.; Smith, Maurice L.

1988-04-05

A system converts from the boundary representation of an object to the constructive solid geometry representation thereof. The system converts the boundary representation of the object into elemental atomic geometrical units or I-bodies which are in the shape of stock primitives or regularized intersections of stock primitives. These elemental atomic geometrical units are then represented in symbolic form. The symbolic representations of the elemental atomic geometrical units are then assembled heuristically to form a constructive solid geometry representation of the object usable for manufacturing thereof. Artificial intelligence is used to determine the best constructive solid geometry representation from the boundary representation of the object. Heuristic criteria are adapted to the manufacturing environment for which the device is to be utilized. The surface finish, tolerance, and other information associated with each surface of the boundary representation of the object are mapped onto the constructive solid geometry representation of the object to produce an enhanced solid geometry representation, particularly useful for computer-aided manufacture of the object.

Self-organization of neural tissue architectures from pluripotent stem cells.

PubMed

Karus, Michael; Blaess, Sandra; Brüstle, Oliver

2014-08-15

Despite being a subject of intensive research, the mechanisms underlying the formation of neural tissue architectures during development of the central nervous system remain largely enigmatic. So far, studies into neural pattern formation have been restricted mainly to animal experiments. With the advent of pluripotent stem cells it has become possible to explore early steps of nervous system development in vitro. These studies have unraveled a remarkable propensity of primitive neural cells to self-organize into primitive patterns such as neural tube-like rosettes in vitro. Data from more advanced 3D culture systems indicate that this intrinsic propensity for self-organization can even extend to the formation of complex architectures such as a multilayered cortical neuroepithelium or an entire optic cup. These novel experimental paradigms not only demonstrate the enormous self-organization capacity of neural stem cells, they also provide exciting prospects for studying the earliest steps of human neural tissue development and the pathogenesis of brain malformations in reductionist in vitro paradigms. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Evidence for extreme Ti-50 enrichments in primitive meteorites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fahey, A.; Mckeegan, K. D.; Zinner, E.; Goswami, J. N.

1985-01-01

The results of the first high mass resolution ion microprobe study of Ti isotopic compositions in individual refractory grains from primitive carbonaceous meteorites are reported. One hibonite from the Murray carbonaceous chondrite has a 10 percent excess of Ti-50, 25 times higher than the maximum value previously reported for bulk samples of refractory inclusions from carbonaceous chondrites. The variation of the Ti compositions between different hibonite grains, and among pyroxenes from a single Allende refractory inclusion, indicates isotopic inhomogeneities over small scale lengths in the solar nebula and emphasizes the importance of the analysis of small individual phases. This heterogeneity makes it unlikely that the isotopic anomalies were carried into the solar system in the gas phase.

The Tagish Lake meteorite: a possible sample from a D-type asteroid.

PubMed

Hiroi, T; Zolensky, M E; Pieters, C M

2001-09-21

A new type of carbonaceous chondrite, the Tagish Lake meteorite, exhibits a reflectance spectrum similar to spectra observed from the D-type asteroids, which are relatively abundant in the outer solar system beyond the main asteroid belt and have been inferred to be more primitive than any known meteorite. Until the Tagish Lake fall, these asteroids had no analog in the meteorite collections. The Tagish Lake meteorite is a carbon-rich (4 to 5 weight %), aqueously altered carbonaceous chondrite and contains high concentrations of presolar grains and carbonate minerals, which is consistent with the expectation that the D-type asteroids were originally made of primitive materials and did not experience any extensive heating.

Isotopic Anomalies in Primitive Solar System Matter: Spin-State-Dependent Fractionation of Nitrogen and Deuterium in Interstellar Clouds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wirstrom, Eva S.; Charnley, Steven B.; Cordiner, Martin A.; Milam, Stefanie N.

2012-01-01

Organic material found in meteorites and interplanetary dust particles is enriched in D and N-15. This is consistent with the idea that the functional groups carrying these isotopic anomalies, nitriles and amines, were formed by ion-molecule chemistry in the protosolar nebula, Theoretical models of interstellar fractionation at low temperatures predict large enrichments in both D and N-15 and can account for the largest isotopic enrichments measured in carbonaceous meteorites. However, more recent measurements have shown that, in some primitive samples, a large N-15 enrichment does not correlate with one in D, and that some D-enriched primitive material displays little, if any, N-15 enrichment. By considering the spin-state dependence in ion-molecule reactions involving the ortho and para forms of H2, we show that ammonia and related molecules can exhibit such a wide range of fractionation for both N-15 and D in dense cloud cores. We also show that while the nitriles, HCN and HNC, contain the greatest N=15 enrichment, this is not expected to correlate with extreme D enrichment. These calculations therefore support the view that solar system N-15 and D isotopic anomalies have an interstellar heritage. We also compare our results to existing astronomical observations and briefly discuss future tests of this model.

Isotopic Anomalies in Primitive Solar System Matter: Spin-State Dependent Fractionation of Nitrogen and Deuterium in Interstellar Clouds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wirstrom, Eva S.; Charnley, Steven B.; Cordiner, Martin A.; Milan, Stefanie N.

2012-01-01

Organic material found in meteorites and interplanetary dust particles is enriched in D and N-15, This is consistent with the idea that the functional groups carrying these isotopic anomalies, nitriles and amines, were formed by ion-molecule chemistry in the protosolar core. Theoretical models of interstellar fractionation at low temperatures predict large enrichments in both D and N-15 and can account for the largest isotop c enrichments measured in carbonaceous meteorites, However, more recent measurements have shown that, in some primitive samples, a large N-15 enrichment does not correlate with one in D, and that some D-enriched primitive material displays little, if any, N-15 enrichment. By considering the spin-state dependence in ion-molecule reactions involving the ortho and para forms of H2, we show that ammonia and related molecules can exhibit such a wide range of fractionation for both N-15 and D in dense cloud cores, We also show that while the nitriles, HCN and HNC, contain the greatest N-15 enrichment, this is not expected to correlate with extreme D emichment. These calculations therefore support the view that Solar System N-15 and D isotopic anomalies have an interstellar heritage, We also compare our results to existing astronomical observations and briefly discuss future tests of this model.

The many mysteries of Homo naledi

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

More than 1500 fossils from the Rising Star cave system in South Africa have been assigned to a new human species, Homo naledi, which displays a unique combination of primitive and derived traits throughout the skeleton. PMID:26354290

Life on Earth: From Chemicals in Space?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chemical and Engineering News, 1973

1973-01-01

Discusses experimental evidence for the existence of organic material in the solar system prior to the earth's formation. Indicates that the earth could have received much of its organic compounds from meteors falling on its primitive surface. (CC)

Brief non-symbolic, approximate number practice enhances subsequent exact symbolic arithmetic in children

PubMed Central

Spelke, Elizabeth S.

2014-01-01

Recent research reveals a link between individual differences in mathematics achievement and performance on tasks that activate the approximate number system (ANS): a primitive cognitive system shared by diverse animal species and by humans of all ages. Here we used a brief experimental paradigm to test one causal hypothesis suggested by this relationship: activation of the ANS may enhance children's performance of symbolic arithmetic. Over 2 experiments, children who briefly practiced tasks that engaged primitive approximate numerical quantities performed better on subsequent exact, symbolic arithmetic problems than did children given other tasks involving comparison and manipulation of non-numerical magnitudes (brightness and length). The practice effect appeared specific to mathematics, as no differences between groups were observed on a comparable sentence completion task. These results move beyond correlational research and provide evidence that the exercise of non-symbolic numerical processes can enhance children's performance of symbolic mathematics. PMID:24462713

A simple physical mechanism enables homeostasis in primitive cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Engelhart, Aaron E.; Adamala, Katarzyna P.; Szostak, Jack W.

2016-05-01

The emergence of homeostatic mechanisms that enable maintenance of an intracellular steady state during growth was critical to the advent of cellular life. Here, we show that concentration-dependent reversible binding of short oligonucleotides, of both specific and random sequence, can modulate ribozyme activity. In both cases, catalysis is inhibited at high concentrations, and dilution activates the ribozyme via inhibitor dissociation, thus maintaining near-constant ribozyme specific activity throughout protocell growth. To mimic the result of RNA synthesis within non-growing protocells, we co-encapsulated high concentrations of ribozyme and oligonucleotides within fatty acid vesicles, and ribozyme activity was inhibited. Following vesicle growth, the resulting internal dilution produced ribozyme activation. This simple physical system enables a primitive homeostatic behaviour: the maintenance of constant ribozyme activity per unit volume during protocell volume changes. We suggest that such systems, wherein short oligonucleotides reversibly inhibit functional RNAs, could have preceded sophisticated modern RNA regulatory mechanisms, such as those involving miRNAs.

The hemoglobin system of the primitive fish, Amia calva: isolation and functional characterization of the individual hemoglobin components.

PubMed

Weber, R E; Sullivan, B; Bonaventura, J; Bonaventura, C

1976-05-20

Blood from the primitive holostean fish, the bowfin, Amia calva, contains 2 mo of ATP per mol of hemoglobin. The hemolysates contain at least five tetrameric hemoglobin components which differ in their oxygen affinities and their response to cofactors such as ATP. The binding of oxygen by each chromatographically isolated component, including a cathodal component, is influenced by pH and organic phosphates; there is no significant differentiation of function or structure as seen in trout and certain other fish hemolysates. Kinetic analyses of ligand binding indicate that the Bohr and Root effects of Amia calva hemoglobins are best explained by changes in both the "on" and "off" constants. At low pH, the increase in the "off" constant is smaller than for most other Root hemoglobins. The hemoglobin system of Amina calva is functionally undifferentiated and may be representative of the ancestral condition in teleosts.

Application of the Probabilistic Dynamic Synthesis Method to the Analysis of a Realistic Structure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brown, Andrew M.; Ferri, Aldo A.

1998-01-01

The Probabilistic Dynamic Synthesis method is a new technique for obtaining the statistics of a desired response engineering quantity for a structure with non-deterministic parameters. The method uses measured data from modal testing of the structure as the input random variables, rather than more "primitive" quantities like geometry or material variation. This modal information is much more comprehensive and easily measured than the "primitive" information. The probabilistic analysis is carried out using either response surface reliability methods or Monte Carlo simulation. A previous work verified the feasibility of the PDS method on a simple seven degree-of-freedom spring-mass system. In this paper, extensive issues involved with applying the method to a realistic three-substructure system are examined, and free and forced response analyses are performed. The results from using the method are promising, especially when the lack of alternatives for obtaining quantitative output for probabilistic structures is considered.

Application of the Probabilistic Dynamic Synthesis Method to Realistic Structures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brown, Andrew M.; Ferri, Aldo A.

1998-01-01

The Probabilistic Dynamic Synthesis method is a technique for obtaining the statistics of a desired response engineering quantity for a structure with non-deterministic parameters. The method uses measured data from modal testing of the structure as the input random variables, rather than more "primitive" quantities like geometry or material variation. This modal information is much more comprehensive and easily measured than the "primitive" information. The probabilistic analysis is carried out using either response surface reliability methods or Monte Carlo simulation. In previous work, the feasibility of the PDS method applied to a simple seven degree-of-freedom spring-mass system was verified. In this paper, extensive issues involved with applying the method to a realistic three-substructure system are examined, and free and forced response analyses are performed. The results from using the method are promising, especially when the lack of alternatives for obtaining quantitative output for probabilistic structures is considered.

Telerobot control system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Backes, Paul G. (Inventor); Tso, Kam S. (Inventor)

1993-01-01

This invention relates to an operator interface for controlling a telerobot to perform tasks in a poorly modeled environment and/or within unplanned scenarios. The telerobot control system includes a remote robot manipulator linked to an operator interface. The operator interface includes a setup terminal, simulation terminal, and execution terminal for the control of the graphics simulator and local robot actuator as well as the remote robot actuator. These terminals may be combined in a single terminal. Complex tasks are developed from sequential combinations of parameterized task primitives and recorded teleoperations, and are tested by execution on a graphics simulator and/or local robot actuator, together with adjustable time delays. The novel features of this invention include the shared and supervisory control of the remote robot manipulator via operator interface by pretested complex tasks sequences based on sequences of parameterized task primitives combined with further teleoperation and run-time binding of parameters based on task context.

Cell Aggregation-induced FGF8 Elevation Is Essential for P19 Cell Neural Differentiation

PubMed Central

Wang, Chen; Xia, Caihong; Bian, Wei; Liu, Li; Lin, Wei; Chen, Ye-Guang; Ang, Siew-Lan

2006-01-01

FGF8, a member of the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) family, has been shown to play important roles in different developing systems. Mouse embryonic carcinoma P19 cells could be induced by retinoic acid (RA) to differentiate into neuroectodermal cell lineages, and this process is cell aggregation dependent. In this report, we show that FGF8 expression is transiently up-regulated upon P19 cell aggregation, and the aggregation-dependent FGF8 elevation is pluripotent stem cell related. Overexpressing FGF8 promotes RA-induced monolayer P19 cell neural differentiation. Inhibition of FGF8 expression by RNA interference or blocking FGF signaling by the FGF receptor inhibitor, SU5402, attenuates neural differentiation of the P19 cell. Blocking the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) pathway by overexpressing Smad6 in P19 cells, we also show that FGF signaling plays a BMP inhibition–independent role in P19 cell neural differentiation. PMID:16641368

Generalized compliant motion primitive

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Backes, Paul G. (Inventor)

1994-01-01

This invention relates to a general primitive for controlling a telerobot with a set of input parameters. The primitive includes a trajectory generator; a teleoperation sensor; a joint limit generator; a force setpoint generator; a dither function generator, which produces telerobot motion inputs in a common coordinate frame for simultaneous combination in sensor summers. Virtual return spring motion input is provided by a restoration spring subsystem. The novel features of this invention include use of a single general motion primitive at a remote site to permit the shared and supervisory control of the robot manipulator to perform tasks via a remotely transferred input parameter set.

77 FR 26507 - Application(s) for Duty-Free Entry of Scientific Instruments

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-04

...: FEI Company, Czech Republic. Intended Use: The instrument will be used for research on primitive solar system materials extracted from meteorites as well as on samples from NASA sample return missions, such... chemical origin of the solar system and the processes by which its small bodies evolved. Justification for...

System Architectural Concepts: Army Battlefield Command and Control Information Utility (CCIU).

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-07-25

produce (device-type), the computers they may interface with (required- host), and the identification number of the devices (device- number). Line- printers ...interface in a network PE ( ZINK Sol. A-5 GLOSSARY Kernel A layer of the PEOS; implements the basic system primitives. LUS Local Name Space Locking A

Combined Molecular Algorithms for the Generation, Equilibration and Topological Analysis of Entangled Polymers: Methodology and Performance

PubMed Central

Karayiannis, Nikos Ch.; Kröger, Martin

2009-01-01

We review the methodology, algorithmic implementation and performance characteristics of a hierarchical modeling scheme for the generation, equilibration and topological analysis of polymer systems at various levels of molecular description: from atomistic polyethylene samples to random packings of freely-jointed chains of tangent hard spheres of uniform size. Our analysis focuses on hitherto less discussed algorithmic details of the implementation of both, the Monte Carlo (MC) procedure for the system generation and equilibration, and a postprocessing step, where we identify the underlying topological structure of the simulated systems in the form of primitive paths. In order to demonstrate our arguments, we study how molecular length and packing density (volume fraction) affect the performance of the MC scheme built around chain-connectivity altering moves. In parallel, we quantify the effect of finite system size, of polydispersity, and of the definition of the number of entanglements (and related entanglement molecular weight) on the results about the primitive path network. Along these lines we approve main concepts which had been previously proposed in the literature. PMID:20087477

Modeling with Livingstone

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kurien, J.; Nayak, P.; Williams, B.; Koga, Dennis (Technical Monitor)

1998-01-01

MPL is the language with which a modeler describes a system to be diagnosed or controlled by Livingstone. MPL is used to specify what are the components of the system, how they are interconnected, and how they behave both nominally and when failed. Component behavioral models used by Livingstone are described by a set of propositional, well-formed formula (wff). An understanding of well-formed formula, primitive component types specified through defcomponent, and device structure specified by defmodule, is essential to understanding of MPL, This document describes: welI-formed formula (wff): The basis for describing the behavior of a component in a system defvalues: Specifies the domain (legal values) of a variable defcomponent: Defines the modes, behaviors and mode transitions for primitive components deftnodule: Defines composite devices, consisting of interconnected components defrelation: A macro mechanism for expanding a complex wff according to the value of an argument forall: An iteration construct used to expand a wff or relation on a set of arguments defsymbol-expansion: A mechanism for naming a collection of symbols (eg the name of all valves in the system)

Ada 9X Project Revision Request Report. Supplement 1

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-01-01

Non-portable use of operating system primitives or of Ada run time system internals. POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS: Mandate that compilers recognize tasks that...complex than a simple operating system file, the compiler vendor must provide routines to manipulate it (create, copy, move etc .) as a single entity... system , to support fault tolerance, load sharing, change of system operating mode etc . It is highly desirable that such important software be written in

Density of Primitive Pythagorean Triples

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Killen, Duncan A.

2004-01-01

Based on the properties of a Primitive Pythagorean Triple (PPT), a computer program was written to generate, print, and count all PPTs greater than or equal to I[subscript x], where I[subscript x] is an arbitrarily chosen integer. The Density of Primitive Pythagorean Triples may be defined as the ratio of the number of PPTs whose hypotenuse is…

A Discussion on the Substitution Method for Trigonometric Rational Functions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ponce-Campuzano, Juan Carlos; Rivera-Figueroa, Antonio

2011-01-01

It is common to see, in the books on calculus, primitives of functions (some authors use the word "antiderivative" instead of primitive). However, the majority of authors pay scant attention to the domains over which the primitives are valid, which could lead to errors in the evaluation of definite integrals. In the teaching of calculus, in…

Scientific Terminology and Minimum Terms in Speech Communication: Some Philosophical Ramblings.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krivonos, Paul D.; Sussman, Lyle.

Philosophers of science have emphasized the need for primitive terms, or "givens," in the construction of theory for any discipline. While there are inherent dangers regarding the use of primitive terms, they can have great value in serving as the basis for minimum terms, which are primitive terms unique to a discipline. (Borrowed terms are those…

A manual for PARTI runtime primitives

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Berryman, Harry; Saltz, Joel

1990-01-01

Primitives are presented that are designed to help users efficiently program irregular problems (e.g., unstructured mesh sweeps, sparse matrix codes, adaptive mesh partial differential equations solvers) on distributed memory machines. These primitives are also designed for use in compilers for distributed memory multiprocessors. Communications patterns are captured at runtime, and the appropriate send and receive messages are automatically generated.

Organic Analysis in the Miller Range 090657 CR2 Chondrite: Part 3 C and N Isotopic Imaging

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Messenger, S.; Nakamura-Messenger, K.; Elsila, J. E.; Berger, E. L.; Burton, A. S.; Clemett, S. J.; Cao, T.

2016-01-01

Primitive carbonaceous chondrites contain a wide variety of organic material, ranging from soluble discrete molecules to insoluble nanoglobules of macro-molecular carbon. The relationship between the soluble organic molecules, macromolecular organic material, and host minerals are poorly understood. Large H, C and N isotopic anomalies suggest some organic components formed in low-T interstellar or outer Solar System environments. The highest isotope anomalies occur in m-scale inclusions in the most primitive materials, such as cometary dust and the least altered carbonaceous chondrites. Often, the hosts of these isotopically anomalous 'hotspots' are discrete organic nanoglobules that probably formed in the outermost reaches of the protosolar disk or cold molecular cloud. Molecular and isotopic studies of meteoritic organic matter are aimed at identifying the chemical properties and formation processes of interstellar organic materials and the subsequent chemical evolutionary pathways in various Solar System environments. The combination of soluble and insoluble analyses with in situ and bulk studies provides powerful constraints on the origin and evolution of organic matter in the Solar System. Using macroscale extraction and analysis techniques as well as microscale in situ observations we have been studying both insoluble and soluble organic material in primitive astromaterial samples. Here, we present results of bulk C and N isotopic measurements and coordinated in situ C and N isotopic imaging and mineralogical and textural studies of carbonaceous materials in a Cr2 carbonaceous chondrite. In accompanying abstracts we discuss the morphology and distribution of carbonaceous components and soluble organic species of this meteorite.

THE METAMORPHOSIS OF VISUAL SYSTEMS IN THE SEA LAMPREY

PubMed Central

Wald, George

1957-01-01

The life cycle of the sea lamprey, Petromyzon marinus, includes two metamorphoses. At the end of a period spent as a blind larva, buried in the mud of streams, a first metamorphosis prepares it to migrate downstream to the sea or a lake for its growth phase. Then, following a second metamorphosis, it migrates upstream as a sexually mature adult to spawn and die. The downstream migrants have a visual system based upon rhodopsin and vitamin A1, whereas that of the upstream migrants is based upon porphyropsin and vitamin A2. The livers contain vitamin A1 at all stages. The sea lamprey therefore exhibits a metamorphosis of visual systems, like those observed earlier among amphibia. The presence of porphyropsin in this member of the most primitive living group of vertebrates, as in fishes and amphibia, supports the notion that porphyropsin may have been the primitive vertebrate visual pigment. Its association with fresh water existence throughout this range of organisms also is consistent with the view that the vertebrate stock originated in fresh water. The observation that in the life cycle of the lamprey rhodopsin precedes porphyropsin is not at variance with the idea that porphyropsin is the more primitive pigment, since this change is part of the second metamorphosis, marking the return to the original environment. The observation that in lampreys, fishes, and amphibia, porphyropsin maintains the same general association with fresh water, and rhodopsin with marine and terrestrial habit, suggests that a single genetic mechanism may govern this association throughout this wide span of organisms. PMID:13439167

Analysis of organic grain coatings in primitive interplanetary dust particles: Implications for the origin of Solar System organic matter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flynn, George

Analysis of organic grain coatings in primitive interplanetary dust particles: Implications for the origin of Solar System organic matter Chondritic, porous interplanetary dust particles (CP IDPs), the most primitive samples of extraterrestrial material available for laboratory analysis [1], are unequilibrated aggregates of mostly submicron, anhydrous grains of a diverse mineralogy. They contain organic matter not produced by parent body aqueous processing [2], some carrying H and N isotopic anomalies consistent with molecular cloud or outer Solar System material [3]. Scanning Transmission X-Ray Microscope (STXM) imaging at the C K-edge shows the individual grains in 10 micron aggregate CP IDPs are coated by a layer of carbonaceous material 100 nm thick. This structure implies a three-step formation sequence. First, individual grains condensed from the cooling nebular gas. Then complex, refractory organic molecules covered the surfaces of the grains either by deposition, formation in-situ, or a combination of both processes. Finally, the grains collided and stuck together forming the first dust-size material in the Solar System. Ultramicrotome sections, 70 to 100 nm thick were cut from several CP IDPs, embedded in elemental S to avoid exposure to C-based embedding media. X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure (XANES) spectra were derived from image stacks obtained using a STXM. "Cluster analysis" was used to compare the C-XANES spectra from each of the pixels in an image stack and identify pixels exhibiting similar spectra. When applied to a CP IDP, cluster analysis identifies most carbonaceous grain coatings in a particle as having similar C-XANES spectra. Two processes are commonly suggested in the literature for production of organic grain coatings. The similarity in thickness and C-XANES spectra of the coatings on different minerals in the same IDP indicates the first, mineral specific catalysis, was not the process that produced these organic rims. Our results are consistent with this primitive organic matter being produced by the alternative process of condensation of C-bearing ices onto the grain surfaces and production of refractory organic matter by UV or other ionizing radiation bombardment of the ices [4]. The processes by which primitive grains aggregate to form the first dust of our Solar System are not well understood. Collision experiments indicate that bare rocky grains bounce apart at collision speeds ¡30 to 50 m/s and shatter at larger speeds [5]. However, experiments indicate grains coated with organic matter stick quite easily, even at speeds up to 5 m/s -an order of magnitude higher than the speed at which silicate grains accrete [6]. Thus the organic grain coatings we identified likely played a critical role in dust aggregation in the early Solar System. References: [1] Ishii, H. et al. Science 2009. [2] Flynn, G. J. et al. (2003) Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 67, 4791-4806. [3] Keller L. P. et al. GCA (2004) Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 68, 2577-2589. [4] Bernstein, M. P. et al. (1995) Astrophys. J., 454, 327-344. [5] Hartmann, W. K. (1978) Icarus, 33, 50-61. [6] Kudo, T. et al. (2002) Meteoritics Planet. Sci., 37, 1975-1983.

Comet Dust: The Diversity of "Primitive" Particles and Implications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wooden, Diane H.; Ishii, Hope A.; Bradley, John P.; Zolensky, Michael E.

2016-01-01

Comet dust is primitive and shows significant diversity. Our knowledge of the properties of primitive particles has expanded significantly through microscale investigations of cosmic dust samples ( IDP's(Interplanetary Dust Particles) and AMM's (Antarctic Micrometeorites)) and of comet dust samples (Stardust and Rosetta's COSIMA), as well as through remote sensing (spectroscopy and imaging) via Spitzer and via spacecraft encounters with 103P/Hartley 2 and 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Microscale investigations show that comet dust and cosmic dust are particles of unequilibrated materials, including aggregates of materials unequilibrated at submicron scales. We call unequilibrated materials "primitive" and we deduce they were incorporated into ice-rich (H2O-, CO2-, and CO-ice) parent bodies that remained cold, i.e., into comets, because of the lack of aqueous or thermal alteration since particle aggregation; yet some Stardust olivines suggest mild thermal metamorphism. Primitive particles exhibit a diverse range of: structure and typology; size and size distribution of constituents; concentration and form of carbonaceous and organic matter; D-, N-, and O- isotopic enhancements over solar; Mg-, Fe-contents of the silicate minerals; the compositions and concentrations of sulfides, and of less abundant mineral species such as chondrules, CAIs and carbonates. The uniformity within a group of samples points to: aerodynamic sorting of particles and/or particle constituents; the inclusion of a limited range of oxygen fugacities; the inclusion or exclusion of chondrules; a selection of organics. The properties of primitive particles imply there were disk processes that resulted in different comets having particular selections of primitive materials. The diversity of primitive particles has implications for the diversity of materials in the protoplanetary disk present at the time and in the region where the comets formed.

Comet Dust: The Diversity of Primitive Particles and Implications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

John Bradley; Zolensky, Michael E.

2016-01-01

Comet dust is primitive and shows significant diversity. Our knowledge of the properties of primitive particles has expanded significantly through microscale investigations of cosmic dust samples (IDPs and AMMs) and of comet dust samples (Stardust and Rosetta's COSIMA), as well as through remote sensing (spectroscopy and imaging) via Spitzer and via spacecraft encounters with 103P/Hartley 2 and 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Microscale investigations show that comet dust and cosmic dust are particles of unequilibrated materials, including aggregates of materials unequilibrated at submicron scales. We call unequilibrated materials "primitive" and we deduce they were incorporated into ice-­-rich (H2O-, CO2-, and CO-ice) parent bodies that remained cold, i.e., into comets, because of the lack of aqueous or thermal alteration since particle aggregation; yet some Stardust olivines suggest mild thermal metamorphism. Primitive particles exhibit a diverse range of: structure and typology; size and size distribution of constituents; concentration and form of carbonaceous and organic matter; D-, N-, and O- isotopic enhancements over solar; Mg-, Fe-contentsof thesilicate minerals; the compositions and concentrations of sulfides, and of less abundant mineral species such as chondrules, CAIs and carbonates. The unifomity within a group of samples points to: aerodynamic sorting of particles and/or particle constituents; the inclusion of a limited range of oxygen fugacities; the inclusion or exclusion of chondrules; a selection of organics. The properites of primitive particles imply there were disk processes that resulted in different comets having particular selections of primitive materials. The diversity of primitive particles has implications for the diversity of materials in the protoplanetary disk present at the time and in the region where the comets formed.

Gas Phase Chemistry and Molecular Complexity: How Far Do They Go?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balucani, Nadia

2016-07-01

The accumulation of organic molecules of increasing complexity is believed to be an important step toward the emergence of life. But how massive organic synthesis could occur in primitive Earth, i.e. a water-dominated environment, is a matter of debate. Two alternative theories have been suggested so far: endogenous and exogenous synthesis. In the first theory, the synthesis of simple organic molecules having a strong prebiotic potential (simple prebiotic molecules SPMs, such as H2CO, HCN, HC3N, NH2CHO) occurred directly on our planet starting from simple parent molecules of the atmosphere, liquid water and various energy sources. Miller's experiment was a milestone in this theory, but it was later recognized that the complexity of a planet cannot be reproduced in a single laboratory experiment. Some SPMs have been identified in the N2-dominated atmosphere of Titan (a massive moon of Saturn), which is believed to be reminiscent of the primitive terrestrial atmosphere. As such, the atmosphere of Titan represents a planetary scale laboratory for the comprehension of SPM formation in an environment close enough to primitive Earth and is the current frontier in the endogenous theory exploration. In the exogenous theory, SPMs came from space, the carriers being comets, asteroids and meteorites. The rationale behind this suggestion is that plenty of SPMs have been observed in interstellar clouds (ISCs), including star-forming regions, and in small bodies like comets, asteroids and meteorites. Therefore, the basic idea is that SPMs were formed in the solar nebula, preserved during the early phases of the Solar System formation in the body of comets/asteroids/meteorites and finally delivered to Earth by cometary and meteoritic falls. In this contribution, the status of our knowledge on how SPMs can be formed in the gas phase, either in the primitive terrestrial atmosphere or in the cold nebula from which the Solar System originated, will be presented. Particular attention will be given to neutral-neutral reactions.

Circuit design tool. User's manual, revision 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miyake, Keith M.; Smith, Donald E.

1992-01-01

The CAM chip design was produced in a UNIX software environment using a design tool that supports definition of digital electronic modules, composition of these modules into higher level circuits, and event-driven simulation of these circuits. Our design tool provides an interface whose goals include straightforward but flexible primitive module definition and circuit composition, efficient simulation, and a debugging environment that facilitates design verification and alteration. The tool provides a set of primitive modules which can be composed into higher level circuits. Each module is a C-language subroutine that uses a set of interface protocols understood by the design tool. Primitives can be altered simply by recoding their C-code image; in addition new primitives can be added allowing higher level circuits to be described in C-code rather than as a composition of primitive modules--this feature can greatly enhance the speed of simulation.

Retention of primitive reflexes and delayed motor development in very low birth weight infants.

PubMed

Marquis, P J; Ruiz, N A; Lundy, M S; Dillard, R G

1984-06-01

Primitive reflexes and motor development were evaluated in 127 very low birth weight (VLBW) infants (birth weight less than 1501 grams) at four months corrected age. The asymmetrical tonic neck reflex, tonic labyrinth reflex, and Moro reflex were assessed for each child. The ability of each child to reach (obtain a red ring) and roll were observed. The child's performance on the gross motor scale of the Denver Development Screening Test was recorded. Thirty-seven term infants were administered identical evaluations at four months of age. The VLBW infants retained stronger primitive reflexes and exhibited a significantly higher incidence of motor delays than term infants. Significant correlations existed between the strength of the primitive reflexes and early motor development for VLBW infants. This study confirms a high incidence of motor delays among VLBW infants and demonstrates a clear association between retained primitive reflexes and delayed motor development in VLBW infants.

Infant Brain Tumors: Incidence, Survival, and the Role of Radiation Based on Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bishop, Andrew J.; McDonald, Mark W., E-mail: mwmcdona@iupui.edu; Indiana University Health Proton Therapy Center, Bloomington, IN

2012-01-01

Purpose: To evaluate the incidence of infant brain tumors and survival outcomes by disease and treatment variables. Methods and Materials: The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program November 2008 submission database provided age-adjusted incidence rates and individual case information for primary brain tumors diagnosed between 1973 and 2006 in infants less than 12 months of age. Results: Between 1973 and 1986, the incidence of infant brain tumors increased from 16 to 40 cases per million (CPM), and from 1986 to 2006, the annual incidence rate averaged 35 CPM. Leading histologies by annual incidence in CPM were gliomas (13.8), medulloblastomamore » and primitive neuroectodermal tumors (6.6), and ependymomas (3.6). The annual incidence was higher in whites than in blacks (35.0 vs. 21.3 CPM). Infants with low-grade gliomas had the highest observed survival, and those with atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumors (ATRTs) or primary rhabdoid tumors of the brain had the lowest. Between 1979 and 1993, the annual rate of cases treated with radiation within the first 4 months from diagnosis declined from 20.5 CPM to <2 CPM. For infants with medulloblastoma, desmoplastic histology and treatment with both surgery and upfront radiation were associated with improved survival, but on multivariate regression, only combined surgery and radiation remained associated with improved survival, with a hazard ratio for death of 0.17 compared with surgery alone (p = 0.005). For ATRTs, those treated with surgery and upfront radiation had a 12-month survival of 100% compared with 24.4% for those treated with surgery alone (p = 0.016). For ependymomas survival was higher in patients treated in more recent decades (p = 0.001). Conclusion: The incidence of infant brain tumors has been stable since 1986. Survival outcomes varied markedly by histology. For infants with medulloblastoma and ATRTs, improved survival was observed in patients treated with both surgery and early radiation compared with those treated with surgery alone.« less

Efficacy of vincristine and etoposide with escalating cyclophosphamide in poor-prognosis pediatric brain tumors1

PubMed Central

Ziegler, David S.; Cohn, Richard J.; McCowage, Geoffrey; Alvaro, Frank; Oswald, Cecilia; Mrongovius, Robert; White, Les

2006-01-01

The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of the VETOPEC regimen, a regimen of vincristine and etoposide with escalating doses of cyclophosphamide (CPA), in pediatric patients with high-risk brain tumors. Three consecutive studies by the Australia and New Zealand Children’s Cancer Study Group—VETOPEC I, Baby Brain 91, and VETOPEC II—have used a specific chemotherapy regimen of vincristine (VCR), etoposide (VP-16) and escalating CPA in patients with relapsed, refractory, or high-risk solid tumors. Patients in the VETOPEC II cohort were treated with very high dose CPA with peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) rescue. We analyzed the subset of patients with high-risk brain tumors treated with these intensive VETOPEC-based protocols to assess the response, toxicity, and survival. We also assessed whether the use of very high dose chemotherapy with stem cell rescue improved the response rate or affected toxicity. Seventy-one brain tumor patients were treated with VETOPEC-based protocols. Of the 54 patients evaluable for tumor response, 17 had a complete response (CR) and 20 a partial response (PR) to treatment, which yielded an overall response rate of 69%. The CR + PR was 83% (19/23) for medulloblastomas, 56% (5/9) for primitive neuroectodermal tumors, 55% (6/11) for grade 3 and 4 astrocytomas, and 80% (6/8) for ependymomas. At a median follow-up of 36 months, overall survival for the entire cohort of 71 patients was 32%, with event-free survival of 13%. There were no toxic deaths within the PBSC-supported VETOPEC II cohort, despite higher CPA doses, compared with 7% among the non-PBSC patients. This regimen produces high response rates in a variety of very poor prognosis pediatric brain tumors. The maximum tolerated dose of CPA was not reached. Higher escalation in doses of CPA did not deliver a further improvement in response. With PBSC rescue in the VETOPEC II study, hematologic toxicity was no longer a limiting factor. The response rates observed support further development of this chemotherapy regimen. PMID:16443948

Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2) –Specific Chimeric Antigen Receptor–Modified T Cells for the Immunotherapy of HER2-Positive Sarcoma

PubMed Central

Ahmed, Nabil; Brawley, Vita S.; Hegde, Meenakshi; Robertson, Catherine; Ghazi, Alexia; Gerken, Claudia; Liu, Enli; Dakhova, Olga; Ashoori, Aidin; Corder, Amanda; Gray, Tara; Wu, Meng-Fen; Liu, Hao; Hicks, John; Rainusso, Nino; Dotti, Gianpietro; Mei, Zhuyong; Grilley, Bambi; Gee, Adrian; Rooney, Cliona M.; Brenner, Malcolm K.; Heslop, Helen E.; Wels, Winfried S.; Wang, Lisa L.; Anderson, Peter; Gottschalk, Stephen

2015-01-01

Purpose The outcome for patients with metastatic or recurrent sarcoma remains poor. Adoptive therapy with tumor-directed T cells is an attractive therapeutic option but has never been evaluated in sarcoma. Patients and Methods We conducted a phase I/II clinical study in which patients with recurrent/refractory human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) –positive sarcoma received escalating doses (1 × 104/m2 to 1 × 108/m2) of T cells expressing an HER2-specific chimeric antigen receptor with a CD28.ζ signaling domain (HER2-CAR T cells). Results We enrolled 19 patients with HER2-positive tumors (16 osteosarcomas, one Ewing sarcoma, one primitive neuroectodermal tumor, and one desmoplastic small round cell tumor). HER2-CAR T-cell infusions were well tolerated with no dose-limiting toxicity. At dose level 3 (1 × 105/m2) and above, we detected HER2-CAR T cells 3 hours after infusion by quantitative polymerase chain reaction in 14 of 16 patients. HER2-CAR T cells persisted for at least 6 weeks in seven of the nine evaluable patients who received greater than 1 × 106/m2 HER2-CAR T cells (P = .005). HER2-CAR T cells were detected at tumor sites of two of two patients examined. Of 17 evaluable patients, four had stable disease for 12 weeks to 14 months. Three of these patients had their tumor removed, with one showing ≥ 90% necrosis. The median overall survival of all 19 infused patients was 10.3 months (range, 5.1 to 29.1 months). Conclusion This first evaluation of the safety and efficacy of HER2-CAR T cells in patients with cancer shows the cells can persist for 6 weeks without evident toxicities, setting the stage for studies that combine HER2-CAR T cells with other immunomodulatory approaches to enhance their expansion and persistence. PMID:25800760

Performance characteristics of a reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction assay for the detection of tumor-specific fusion transcripts from archival tissue.

PubMed

Fritsch, Michael K; Bridge, Julia A; Schuster, Amy E; Perlman, Elizabeth J; Argani, Pedram

2003-01-01

Pediatric small round cell tumors still pose tremendous diagnostic problems. In difficult cases, the ability to detect tumor-specific gene fusion transcripts for several of these neoplasms, including Ewing sarcoma/peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumor (ES/PNET), synovial sarcoma (SS), alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS), and desmoplastic small round cell tumor (DSRCT) using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), can be extremely helpful. Few studies to date, however, have systematically examined several different tumor types for the presence of multiple different fusion transcripts in order to determine the specificity and sensitivity of the RT-PCR method, and no study has addressed this issue for formalin-fixed material. The objectives of this study were to address the specificity, sensitivity, and practicality of such an assay applied strictly to formalin-fixed tissue blocks. Our results demonstrate that, for these tumors, the overall sensitivity for detecting each fusion transcript is similar to that reported in the literature for RT-PCR on fresh or formalin-fixed tissues. The specificity of the assay is very high, being essentially 100% for each primer pair when interpreting the results from visual inspection of agarose gels. However, when these same agarose gels were examined using Southern blotting, a small number of tumors also yielded reproducibly detectable weak signals for unexpected fusion products, in addition to a strong signal for the expected fusion product. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) studies in one such case indicated that a rearrangement that would account for the unexpected fusion was not present, while another case was equivocal. The overall specificity for each primer pair used in this assay ranged from 94 to 100%. Therefore, RT-PCR using formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue sections can be used to detect chimeric transcripts as a reliable, highly sensitive, and highly specific diagnostic assay. However, we strongly suggest that the final interpretation of the results from this assay be viewed in light of the other features of the case, including clinical history, histology, and immunohistochemistry, by the diagnostic pathologist. Additional studies such as FISH may be useful in clarifying the nature of equivocal or unexpected results.

Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2) -Specific Chimeric Antigen Receptor-Modified T Cells for the Immunotherapy of HER2-Positive Sarcoma.

PubMed

Ahmed, Nabil; Brawley, Vita S; Hegde, Meenakshi; Robertson, Catherine; Ghazi, Alexia; Gerken, Claudia; Liu, Enli; Dakhova, Olga; Ashoori, Aidin; Corder, Amanda; Gray, Tara; Wu, Meng-Fen; Liu, Hao; Hicks, John; Rainusso, Nino; Dotti, Gianpietro; Mei, Zhuyong; Grilley, Bambi; Gee, Adrian; Rooney, Cliona M; Brenner, Malcolm K; Heslop, Helen E; Wels, Winfried S; Wang, Lisa L; Anderson, Peter; Gottschalk, Stephen

2015-05-20

The outcome for patients with metastatic or recurrent sarcoma remains poor. Adoptive therapy with tumor-directed T cells is an attractive therapeutic option but has never been evaluated in sarcoma. We conducted a phase I/II clinical study in which patients with recurrent/refractory human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) -positive sarcoma received escalating doses (1 × 10(4)/m(2) to 1 × 10(8)/m(2)) of T cells expressing an HER2-specific chimeric antigen receptor with a CD28.ζ signaling domain (HER2-CAR T cells). We enrolled 19 patients with HER2-positive tumors (16 osteosarcomas, one Ewing sarcoma, one primitive neuroectodermal tumor, and one desmoplastic small round cell tumor). HER2-CAR T-cell infusions were well tolerated with no dose-limiting toxicity. At dose level 3 (1 × 10(5)/m(2)) and above, we detected HER2-CAR T cells 3 hours after infusion by quantitative polymerase chain reaction in 14 of 16 patients. HER2-CAR T cells persisted for at least 6 weeks in seven of the nine evaluable patients who received greater than 1 × 10(6)/m(2) HER2-CAR T cells (P = .005). HER2-CAR T cells were detected at tumor sites of two of two patients examined. Of 17 evaluable patients, four had stable disease for 12 weeks to 14 months. Three of these patients had their tumor removed, with one showing ≥ 90% necrosis. The median overall survival of all 19 infused patients was 10.3 months (range, 5.1 to 29.1 months). This first evaluation of the safety and efficacy of HER2-CAR T cells in patients with cancer shows the cells can persist for 6 weeks without evident toxicities, setting the stage for studies that combine HER2-CAR T cells with other immunomodulatory approaches to enhance their expansion and persistence. © 2015 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Mounting Debt.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fullerton, Jon

2004-01-01

Examines the politics of school budgeting. School managers operate with primitive accounting systems that can mask financial problems for years and are trapped by state, federal, and union mandates. Reforms include allowing districts flexibility to reallocate money; demanding both instructional leadership and financial expertise from…

Round Cell Tumors: Classification and Immunohistochemistry.

PubMed

Sharma, Shweta; Kamala, R; Nair, Divya; Ragavendra, T Raju; Mhatre, Swapnil; Sabharwal, Robin; Choudhury, Basanta Kumar; Rana, Vivek

2017-01-01

Round cell tumors as the name suggest are comprised round cells with increased nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio. This group of tumor includes entities such as peripheral neuroectodermal tumor, rhabdomyosarcoma, synovial sarcoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, neuroblastoma, hepatoblastoma, Wilms' tumor, and desmoplastic small round cell tumor. These round cells tumors are characterized by typical histological pattern, immunohistochemical, and electron microscopic features that can help in differential diagnosis. The present article describes the classification and explains the histopathology and immunohistochemistry of some important round cell tumors.

Recurrent PAX3-MAML3 Fusion in Biphenotypic Sinonasal Sarcoma

PubMed Central

Wang, Xiaoke; Bledsoe, Krista L.; Graham, Rondell P.; Asmann, Yan W.; Viswanatha, David S.; Lewis, Jean E.; Lewis, Jason T.; Chou, Margaret M.; Yaszemski, Michael J.; Jen, Jin; Westendorf, Jennifer J.; Oliveira, André M.

2014-01-01

Biphenotypic sinonasal sarcoma (SNS) is a newly described tumor of the nasal and paranasal areas. Herein, we report the novel recurring chromosomal translocation t(2;4)(q35;q31.1) in SNS. The translocation results in the formation of the fusion protein PAX3-MAML3, which is a potent transcriptional activator of PAX3 response elements. The SNS phenotype is characterized by aberrant expression of genes involved in neuroectodermal and myogenic differentiation, which closely simulates the developmental roles of PAX3. PMID:24859338

Using Abstraction in Explicity Parallel Programs.

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-07-01

However, we only rely on sequential consistency of memory operations. includ- ing reads. writes and any synchronization primitives provided by the...explicit synchronization primitives . This demonstrates the practical power of sequentially consistent memory, as opposed to weaker models of memory that...a small set of synchronization primitives , all pro- cedures have non-waiting specifications. This is in contrast to richer process-oriented

Semantically-Sensitive Macroprocessing

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-12-15

constr uct for protecting critical regions. Given the synchronization primitives P and V, we might implement the following transformation, where...By this we mean that the semantic model for the base language provides a primitive set of concepts, represented by data types and operations...the gener- ation of a (dynamic-) semantically equivalent program fragment ultimately expressible in terms of built-in primitives . Note that static

A manual for PARTI runtime primitives, revision 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Das, Raja; Saltz, Joel; Berryman, Harry

1991-01-01

Primitives are presented that are designed to help users efficiently program irregular problems (e.g., unstructured mesh sweeps, sparse matrix codes, adaptive mesh partial differential equations solvers) on distributed memory machines. These primitives are also designed for use in compilers for distributed memory multiprocessors. Communications patterns are captured at runtime, and the appropriate send and receive messages are automatically generated.

Fast concurrent array-based stacks, queues and deques using fetch-and-increment-bounded, fetch-and-decrement-bounded and store-on-twin synchronization primitives

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen, Dong; Gara, Alana; Heidelberger, Philip

Implementation primitives for concurrent array-based stacks, queues, double-ended queues (deques) and wrapped deques are provided. In one aspect, each element of the stack, queue, deque or wrapped deque data structure has its own ticket lock, allowing multiple threads to concurrently use multiple elements of the data structure and thus achieving high performance. In another aspect, new synchronization primitives FetchAndIncrementBounded (Counter, Bound) and FetchAndDecrementBounded (Counter, Bound) are implemented. These primitives can be implemented in hardware and thus promise a very fast throughput for queues, stacks and double-ended queues.

Probabilistic structural analysis of a truss typical for space station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pai, Shantaram S.

1990-01-01

A three-bay, space, cantilever truss is probabilistically evaluated using the computer code NESSUS (Numerical Evaluation of Stochastic Structures Under Stress) to identify and quantify the uncertainties and respective sensitivities associated with corresponding uncertainties in the primitive variables (structural, material, and loads parameters) that defines the truss. The distribution of each of these primitive variables is described in terms of one of several available distributions such as the Weibull, exponential, normal, log-normal, etc. The cumulative distribution function (CDF's) for the response functions considered and sensitivities associated with the primitive variables for given response are investigated. These sensitivities help in determining the dominating primitive variables for that response.

A method of plane geometry primitive presentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiao, Anbo; Luo, Haibo; Chang, Zheng; Hui, Bin

2014-11-01

Point feature and line feature are basic elements in object feature sets, and they play an important role in object matching and recognition. On one hand, point feature is sensitive to noise; on the other hand, there are usually a huge number of point features in an image, which makes it complex for matching. Line feature includes straight line segment and curve. One difficulty in straight line segment matching is the uncertainty of endpoint location, the other is straight line segment fracture problem or short straight line segments joined to form long straight line segment. While for the curve, in addition to the above problems, there is another difficulty in how to quantitatively describe the shape difference between curves. Due to the problems of point feature and line feature, the robustness and accuracy of target description will be affected; in this case, a method of plane geometry primitive presentation is proposed to describe the significant structure of an object. Firstly, two types of primitives are constructed, they are intersecting line primitive and blob primitive. Secondly, a line segment detector (LSD) is applied to detect line segment, and then intersecting line primitive is extracted. Finally, robustness and accuracy of the plane geometry primitive presentation method is studied. This method has a good ability to obtain structural information of the object, even if there is rotation or scale change of the object in the image. Experimental results verify the robustness and accuracy of this method.

An Operating Environment for the Jellybean Machine

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-05-01

MODEL 48 5.4.4 Restarting a Context The operating system provides one primitive message (RESTART-CONTEXT) and two system calls (XFERID and XFER.ADDR) to...efficient, powerful services is reqired to support this "stem. To provide this supportive operating environment, I developed an operating system kernel that...serves many of the initial needs of our machine. This Jellybean Operating System Software provides an object- based storage model, where typed

Isotopic Fractionation in Primitive Material: Quantifying the Contribution of Interstellar Chemistry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Charnley, Steven

2010-01-01

Anomalously fractionated isotopic material is found in many primitive Solar System objects, such as meteorites and comets. It is thought, in some cases, to trace interstellar matter that was incorporated into the Solar Nebula without undergoing significant processing. We will present the results of models of the nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon fractionation chemistry in dense molecular clouds, particularly in cores where substantial freeze-out of molecules on to dust has occurred. The range of fractionation ratios expected in different interstellar molecules will be discussed and compared to the ratios measured in molecular clouds, comets and meteoritic material. These models make several predictions that can be tested in the near future by molecular line observations, particularly with ALMA.

Effect of equilibration on primitive path analyses of entangled polymers.

PubMed

Hoy, Robert S; Robbins, Mark O

2005-12-01

We use recently developed primitive path analysis (PPA) methods to study the effect of equilibration on entanglement density in model polymeric systems. Values of Ne for two commonly used equilibration methods differ by a factor of 2-4 even though the methods produce similar large-scale chain statistics. We find that local chain stretching in poorly equilibrated samples increases entanglement density. The evolution of Ne with time shows that many entanglements are lost through fast processes such as chain retraction as the local stretching relaxes. Quenching a melt state into a glass has little effect on Ne. Equilibration-dependent differences in short-scale structure affect the craze extension ratio much less than expected from the differences in PPA values of Ne.

Portable programming on parallel/networked computers using the Application Portable Parallel Library (APPL)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Quealy, Angela; Cole, Gary L.; Blech, Richard A.

1993-01-01

The Application Portable Parallel Library (APPL) is a subroutine-based library of communication primitives that is callable from applications written in FORTRAN or C. APPL provides a consistent programmer interface to a variety of distributed and shared-memory multiprocessor MIMD machines. The objective of APPL is to minimize the effort required to move parallel applications from one machine to another, or to a network of homogeneous machines. APPL encompasses many of the message-passing primitives that are currently available on commercial multiprocessor systems. This paper describes APPL (version 2.3.1) and its usage, reports the status of the APPL project, and indicates possible directions for the future. Several applications using APPL are discussed, as well as performance and overhead results.

Probabilistic lifetime strength of aerospace materials via computational simulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Boyce, Lola; Keating, Jerome P.; Lovelace, Thomas B.; Bast, Callie C.

1991-01-01

The results of a second year effort of a research program are presented. The research included development of methodology that provides probabilistic lifetime strength of aerospace materials via computational simulation. A probabilistic phenomenological constitutive relationship, in the form of a randomized multifactor interaction equation, is postulated for strength degradation of structural components of aerospace propulsion systems subjected to a number of effects of primitive variables. These primitive variables often originate in the environment and may include stress from loading, temperature, chemical, or radiation attack. This multifactor interaction constitutive equation is included in the computer program, PROMISS. Also included in the research is the development of methodology to calibrate the constitutive equation using actual experimental materials data together with the multiple linear regression of that data.

Communication scheme based on evolutionary spatial 2×2 games

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ziaukas, Pranas; Ragulskis, Tautvydas; Ragulskis, Minvydas

2014-06-01

A visual communication scheme based on evolutionary spatial 2×2 games is proposed in this paper. Self-organizing patterns induced by complex interactions between competing individuals are exploited for hiding and transmitting secret visual information. Properties of the proposed communication scheme are discussed in details. It is shown that the hiding capacity of the system (the minimum size of the detectable primitives and the minimum distance between two primitives) is sufficient for the effective transmission of digital dichotomous images. Also, it is demonstrated that the proposed communication scheme is resilient to time backwards, plain image attacks and is highly sensitive to perturbations of private and public keys. Several computational experiments are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed communication scheme.

Chemical evolution and the origin of life

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oro, J.

1983-01-01

A review is presented of recent advances made in the understanding of the formation of carbon compounds in the universe and the occurrence of processes of chemical evolution. Topics discussed include the principle of evolutionary continuity, evolution as a fundamental principle of the physical universe, the nuclear synthesis of biogenic elements, organic cosmochemistry and interstellar molecules, the solar nebula and the solar system in chemical evolution, the giant planets and Titan in chemical evolution, and comets and their interaction with the earth. Also examined are carbonaceous chondrites, environment of the primitive earth, energy sources available on the primitive earth, the synthesis of biochemical monomers and oligomers, the abiotic transcription of nucleotides, unified prebiotic and enzymatic mechanisms, phospholipids and membranes, and protobiological evolution.

SCaLeM: A Framework for Characterizing and Analyzing Execution Models

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chavarría-Miranda, Daniel; Manzano Franco, Joseph B.; Krishnamoorthy, Sriram

2014-10-13

As scalable parallel systems evolve towards more complex nodes with many-core architectures and larger trans-petascale & upcoming exascale deployments, there is a need to understand, characterize and quantify the underlying execution models being used on such systems. Execution models are a conceptual layer between applications & algorithms and the underlying parallel hardware and systems software on which those applications run. This paper presents the SCaLeM (Synchronization, Concurrency, Locality, Memory) framework for characterizing and execution models. SCaLeM consists of three basic elements: attributes, compositions and mapping of these compositions to abstract parallel systems. The fundamental Synchronization, Concurrency, Locality and Memory attributesmore » are used to characterize each execution model, while the combinations of those attributes in the form of compositions are used to describe the primitive operations of the execution model. The mapping of the execution model’s primitive operations described by compositions, to an underlying abstract parallel system can be evaluated quantitatively to determine its effectiveness. Finally, SCaLeM also enables the representation and analysis of applications in terms of execution models, for the purpose of evaluating the effectiveness of such mapping.« less

Cognitive object recognition system (CORS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raju, Chaitanya; Varadarajan, Karthik Mahesh; Krishnamurthi, Niyant; Xu, Shuli; Biederman, Irving; Kelley, Troy

2010-04-01

We have developed a framework, Cognitive Object Recognition System (CORS), inspired by current neurocomputational models and psychophysical research in which multiple recognition algorithms (shape based geometric primitives, 'geons,' and non-geometric feature-based algorithms) are integrated to provide a comprehensive solution to object recognition and landmarking. Objects are defined as a combination of geons, corresponding to their simple parts, and the relations among the parts. However, those objects that are not easily decomposable into geons, such as bushes and trees, are recognized by CORS using "feature-based" algorithms. The unique interaction between these algorithms is a novel approach that combines the effectiveness of both algorithms and takes us closer to a generalized approach to object recognition. CORS allows recognition of objects through a larger range of poses using geometric primitives and performs well under heavy occlusion - about 35% of object surface is sufficient. Furthermore, geon composition of an object allows image understanding and reasoning even with novel objects. With reliable landmarking capability, the system improves vision-based robot navigation in GPS-denied environments. Feasibility of the CORS system was demonstrated with real stereo images captured from a Pioneer robot. The system can currently identify doors, door handles, staircases, trashcans and other relevant landmarks in the indoor environment.

The difficulties of using MACSYMA and the function of user aids

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Genesereth, M. R.

1977-01-01

The size and complexity of the MACSYMA system may create learning difficulties for users. Deficiency in understanding the system leads to resource knowledge difficulties. A communication factor arises from a difference between the primitive objects, actions, and relations of a user's problem and those provided by the system. The functions of various user aids in handling each of these difficulties are discussed.

Origin of fatty acid synthesis - Thermodynamics and kinetics of reaction pathways

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weber, Arthur L.

1991-01-01

The primitiveness of contemporary fatty acid biosynthesis was evaluated by using the thermodynamics and kinetics of its component reactions to estimate the extent of its dependence on powerful and selective catalysis by enzymes. Since this analysis indicated that the modern pathway is not primitive because it requires sophisticated enzymatic catalysis, an alternative pathway of primitive fatty acid synthesis is proposed that uses glycolaldehyde as a substrate. In contrast to the modern pathway, this primitive pathway is not dependent on an exogenous source of phosphoanhydride energy. Furthermore, the chemical spontaneity of its reactions suggests that it could have been readily catalyzed by the rudimentary biocatalysts available at an early stage in the origin of life.

The Impact of Software Structure and Policy on CPU and Memory System Performance

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-05-01

Mach 3.0 is that Ultrix is a monolithic or integrated system, and Mach 3.0 is a microkernel or kernelized system. In a monolithic system, all system...services are implemented in a single system context, the monolithic kernel . In a microkernel system such as Mach 3.0, primitive abstractions such as...separate protection domain as a server. Many current operating system text books discuss microkernel and monolithic kernel design. (See [17, 73, 77].) The

Planetesimals Born Big by Clustering Instability?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cuzzi, Jeffrey N.; Hartlep, Thomas; Simon, Justin I.; Estrada, Paul R.

2017-01-01

Roughly 100km diameter primitive bodies (today's asteroids and TNOs; [1]) are thought to be the end product of so-called "primary accretion". They dominated the initial mass function of planetesimals, and precipitated the onset of a subsequent stage, characterized by runaway gravitational effects, which proceeded onwards to planetary mass objects, some of which accreted massive gas envelopes. Asteroids are the parents of primitive meteorites; meteorite data suggest that asteroids initially formed directly from freelyfloating nebula particles in the mm-size range. Unfortunately, the process by which these primary 100km diameter planetesimals formed remains problematic. We review the most diagnostic primitive parent body observations, highlight critical aspects of the nebula context, and describe the issues facing various primary accretion models. We suggest a path forward that combines current scenarios of "turbulent concentration" (TC) and "streaming instabilities" (SI) into a triggered formation process we call clustering instability (CI). Under expected conditions of nebula turbulence, the success of these processes at forming terrestrial region (mostly silicate) planetesimals requires growth by sticking into aggregates in the several cm size range, at least, which is orders of magnitude more massive than allowed by current growth-by-sticking models using current experimental sticking parameters [2-4]. The situation is not as dire in the ice-rich outer solar system; however, growth outside of the snowline has important effects on growth inside of it [4] and at least one aspect of outer solar system planetesimals (high binary fraction) supports some kind of clustering instability.

Planetesimals Born Big by Clustering Instability?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cuzzi, Jeffrey N.; Hartlep, Thomas; Simon, Justin I.; Estrada, Paul R.

2017-01-01

Roughly 100km diameter primitive bodies (today's asteroids and TNOs; [1]) are thought to be the end product of so-called "primary accretion". They dominated the initial mass function of planetesimals, and precipitated the onset of a subsequent stage, characterized by runaway gravitational effects, which proceeded onwards to planetary mass objects, some of which accreted massive gas envelopes. Asteroids are the parents of primitive meteorites; meteorite data suggest that asteroids initially formed directly from freelyfloating nebula particles in the mm-size range. Unfortunately, the process by which these primary 100km diameter planetesimals formed remains problematic. We review the most diagnostic primitive parent body observations, highlight critical aspects of the nebula context, and describe the issues facing various primary accretion models. We suggest a path forward that combines current scenarios of "turbulent concentration" (TC) and "streaming instabilities" (SI) into a triggered formation process we call clustering instability (CI). Under expected conditions of nebula turbulence, the success of these processes at forming terrestrial region (mostly silicate) planetesimals requires growth by sticking into aggregates in the several cm size range, at least, which is orders of magnitude more massive than allowed by current growth-by-sticking models using current experimental sticking parameters [2-4]. The situation is not as dire in the ice-rich outer solar system; however, growth outside of the snowline has important effects on growth inside of it [4] and at least one aspect of outer solar system planetesimals (high binary fraction) supports some kind of clustering instability

Evidence for nucleosynthetic enrichment of the protosolar molecular cloud core by multiple supernova events.

PubMed

Schiller, Martin; Paton, Chad; Bizzarro, Martin

2015-01-15

The presence of isotope heterogeneity of nucleosynthetic origin amongst meteorites and their components provides a record of the diverse stars that contributed matter to the protosolar molecular cloud core. Understanding how and when the solar system's nucleosynthetic heterogeneity was established and preserved within the solar protoplanetary disk is critical for unraveling the earliest formative stages of the solar system. Here, we report calcium and magnesium isotope measurements of primitive and differentiated meteorites as well as various types of refractory inclusions, including refractory inclusions (CAIs) formed with the canonical 26 Al/ 27 Al of ~5 × 10 -5 ( 26 Al decays to 26 Mg with a half-life of ~0.73 Ma) and CAIs that show fractionated and unidentified nuclear effects (FUN-CAIs) to understand the origin of the solar system's nucleosynthetic heterogeneity. Bulk analyses of primitive and differentiated meteorites along with canonical and FUN-CAIs define correlated, mass-independent variations in 43 Ca, 46 Ca and 48 Ca. Moreover, sequential dissolution experiments of the Ivuna carbonaceous chondrite aimed at identifying the nature and number of presolar carriers of isotope anomalies within primitive meteorites have detected the presence of multiple carriers of the short-lived 26 Al nuclide as well as carriers of anomalous and uncorrelated 43 Ca, 46 Ca and 48 Ca compositions, which requires input from multiple and recent supernovae sources. We infer that the solar system's correlated nucleosynthetic variability reflects unmixing of old, galactically-inherited homogeneous dust from a new, supernovae-derived dust component formed shortly prior to or during the evolution of the giant molecular cloud parental to the protosolar molecular cloud core. This implies that similarly to 43 Ca, 46 Ca and 48 Ca, the short-lived 26 Al nuclide was heterogeneously distributed in the inner solar system at the time of CAI formation.

Possible complex organic compounds on Mars.

PubMed

Kobayashi, K; Sato, T; Kajishima, S; Kaneko, T; Ishikawa, Y; Saito, T

1997-01-01

It is suggested that primitive Mars had somehow similar environments as primitive Earth. If life was born on the primitive earth using organic compounds which were produced from the early Earth environment, the same types of organic compounds were also formed on primitive Mars. Such organic compounds might have been preserved on Mars still now. We are studying possible organic formation on primitive and present Mars. A gaseous mixture of CO2, CO, N2 and H2O with various mixing ratios were irradiated with high energy protons (major components of cosmic rays). Hydrogen cyanide and formaldehyde were detected among volatile products, and yellow-brown-colored water-soluble non-volatile substances were produced, which gave amino acids after acid-hydrolysis. Major part of "amino acid precursors" were not simple molecules like aminonitriles, but complex compounds which eluted earlier than free amino acids in cation-exchange HPLC. These organic compounds should be major targets in the future Mars mission. Strategy for the detection of the complex organics on Mars will be discussed.

Spectrum Analysis of Inertial and Subinertial Motions Based on Analyzed Winds and Wind-Driven Currents from a Primitive Equation General Ocean Circulation Model.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-12-01

1Muter.Te Motions Based on Ana lyzed Winds and wind-driven December 1982 Currents from. a Primitive Squat ion General a.OW -love"*..* Oean Circulation...mew se"$ (comeS.... do oISN..u am ae~ 00do OWaor NUN Fourier and Rotary Spc , Analysis Modeled Inertial and Subinrtial Motion 4 Primitive Equation

Intrapartum synthetic oxytocin reduce the expression of primitive reflexes associated with breastfeeding.

PubMed

Marín Gabriel, Miguel A; Olza Fernández, Ibone; Malalana Martínez, Ana M; González Armengod, Carmen; Costarelli, Valeria; Millán Santos, Isabel; Fernández-Cañadas Morillo, Aurora; Pérez Riveiro, Pilar; López Sánchez, Francisco; García Murillo, Lourdes

2015-05-01

Several synthetic peptide manipulations during the time surrounding birth can alter the specific neurohormonal status in the newborn brain. This study is aimed at assessing whether intrapartum oxytocin administration has any effect on primitive neonatal reflexes and determining whether such an effect is dose-dependent. A cohort prospective study was conducted at a tertiary hospital. Mother-infant dyads who received intrapartum oxytocin (n=53) were compared with mother-infant dyads who did not receive intrapartum oxytocin (n=45). Primitive neonatal reflexes (endogenous, antigravity, motor, and rhythmic reflexes) were quantified by analyzing videotaped breastfeeding sessions in a biological nurturing position. Two observers blind to the group assignment and the oxytocin dose analyzed the videotapes and assesed the newborn's state of consciousness according to the Brazelton scale. The release of all rhythmic reflexes (p=0.01), the antigravity reflex (p=0.04), and total primitive neonatal reflexes (p=0.02) in the group exposed to oxytocin was lower than in the group not exposed to oxytocin. No correlations were observed between the dose of oxytocin administered and the percentage of primitive neonatal reflexes released (r=0.03; p=0.82). Intrapartum oxytocin administration might inhibit the expression of several primitive neonatal reflexes associated with breastfeeding. This correlation does not seem to be dose-dependent.

MACOP modular architecture with control primitives

PubMed Central

Waegeman, Tim; Hermans, Michiel; Schrauwen, Benjamin

2013-01-01

Walking, catching a ball and reaching are all tasks in which humans and animals exhibit advanced motor skills. Findings in biological research concerning motor control suggest a modular control hierarchy which combines movement/motor primitives into complex and natural movements. Engineers inspire their research on these findings in the quest for adaptive and skillful control for robots. In this work we propose a modular architecture with control primitives (MACOP) which uses a set of controllers, where each controller becomes specialized in a subregion of its joint and task-space. Instead of having a single controller being used in this subregion [such as MOSAIC (modular selection and identification for control) on which MACOP is inspired], MACOP relates more to the idea of continuously mixing a limited set of primitive controllers. By enforcing a set of desired properties on the mixing mechanism, a mixture of primitives emerges unsupervised which successfully solves the control task. We evaluate MACOP on a numerical model of a robot arm by training it to generate desired trajectories. We investigate how the tracking performance is affected by the number of controllers in MACOP and examine how the individual controllers and their generated control primitives contribute to solving the task. Furthermore, we show how MACOP compensates for the dynamic effects caused by a fixed control rate and the inertia of the robot. PMID:23888140

Fully automatic segmentation of the femur from 3D-CT images using primitive shape recognition and statistical shape models.

PubMed

Ben Younes, Lassad; Nakajima, Yoshikazu; Saito, Toki

2014-03-01

Femur segmentation is well established and widely used in computer-assisted orthopedic surgery. However, most of the robust segmentation methods such as statistical shape models (SSM) require human intervention to provide an initial position for the SSM. In this paper, we propose to overcome this problem and provide a fully automatic femur segmentation method for CT images based on primitive shape recognition and SSM. Femur segmentation in CT scans was performed using primitive shape recognition based on a robust algorithm such as the Hough transform and RANdom SAmple Consensus. The proposed method is divided into 3 steps: (1) detection of the femoral head as sphere and the femoral shaft as cylinder in the SSM and the CT images, (2) rigid registration between primitives of SSM and CT image to initialize the SSM into the CT image, and (3) fitting of the SSM to the CT image edge using an affine transformation followed by a nonlinear fitting. The automated method provided good results even with a high number of outliers. The difference of segmentation error between the proposed automatic initialization method and a manual initialization method is less than 1 mm. The proposed method detects primitive shape position to initialize the SSM into the target image. Based on primitive shapes, this method overcomes the problem of inter-patient variability. Moreover, the results demonstrate that our method of primitive shape recognition can be used for 3D SSM initialization to achieve fully automatic segmentation of the femur.

Sustainability of a Compartmentalized Host-Parasite Replicator System under Periodic Washout-Mixing Cycles

PubMed Central

Furubayashi, Taro

2018-01-01

The emergence and dominance of parasitic replicators are among the major hurdles for the proliferation of primitive replicators. Compartmentalization of replicators is proposed to relieve the parasite dominance; however, it remains unclear under what conditions simple compartmentalization uncoupled with internal reaction secures the long-term survival of a population of primitive replicators against incessant parasite emergence. Here, we investigate the sustainability of a compartmentalized host-parasite replicator (CHPR) system undergoing periodic washout-mixing cycles, by constructing a mathematical model and performing extensive simulations. We describe sustainable landscapes of the CHPR system in the parameter space and elucidate the mechanism of phase transitions between sustainable and extinct regions. Our findings revealed that a large population size of compartments, a high mixing intensity, and a modest amount of nutrients are important factors for the robust survival of replicators. We also found two distinctive sustainable phases with different mixing intensities. These results suggest that a population of simple host–parasite replicators assumed before the origin of life can be sustained by a simple compartmentalization with periodic washout-mixing processes. PMID:29373536

System for conversion between the boundary representation model and a constructive solid geometry model of an object

DOEpatents

Christensen, N.C.; Emery, J.D.; Smith, M.L.

1985-04-29

A system converts from the boundary representation of an object to the constructive solid geometry representation thereof. The system converts the boundary representation of the object into elemental atomic geometrical units or I-bodies which are in the shape of stock primitives or regularized intersections of stock primitives. These elemental atomic geometrical units are then represented in symbolic form. The symbolic representations of the elemental atomic geometrical units are then assembled heuristically to form a constructive solid geometry representation of the object usable for manufacturing thereof. Artificial intelligence is used to determine the best constructive solid geometry representation from the boundary representation of the object. Heuristic criteria are adapted to the manufacturing environment for which the device is to be utilized. The surface finish, tolerance, and other information associated with each surface of the boundary representation of the object are mapped onto the constructive solid geometry representation of the object to produce an enhanced solid geometry representation, particularly useful for computer-aided manufacture of the object. 19 figs.

Interstellar and Solar System Organic Matter Preserved in Interplanetary Dust

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Messenger, Scott; Nakamura-Messenger, Keiko

2015-01-01

Interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) collected in the Earth's stratosphere derive from collisions among asteroids and by the disruption and outgassing of short-period comets. Chondritic porous (CP) IDPs are among the most primitive Solar System materials. CP-IDPs have been linked to cometary parent bodies by their mineralogy, textures, C-content, and dynamical histories. CP-IDPs are fragile, fine-grained (less than um) assemblages of anhydrous amorphous and crystalline silicates, oxides and sulfides bound together by abundant carbonaceous material. Ancient silicate, oxide, and SiC stardust grains exhibiting highly anomalous isotopic compositions are abundant in CP-IDPs, constituting 0.01 - 1 % of the mass of the particles. The organic matter in CP-IDPs is isotopically anomalous, with enrichments in D/H reaching 50x the terrestrial SMOW value and 15N/14N ratios up to 3x terrestrial standard compositions. These anomalies are indicative of low T (10-100 K) mass fractionation in cold molecular cloud or the outermost reaches of the protosolar disk. The organic matter shows distinct morphologies, including sub-um globules, bubbly textures, featureless, and with mineral inclusions. Infrared spectroscopy and mass spectrometry studies of organic matter in IDPs reveals diverse species including aliphatic and aromatic compounds. The organic matter with the highest isotopic anomalies appears to be richer in aliphatic compounds. These materials also bear similarities and differences with primitive, isotopically anomalous organic matter in carbonaceous chondrite meteorites. The diversity of the organic chemistry, morphology, and isotopic properties in IDPs and meteorites reflects variable preservation of interstellar/primordial components and Solar System processing. One unifying feature is the presence of sub-um isotopically anomalous organic globules among all primitive materials, including IDPs, meteorites, and comet Wild-2 samples returned by the Stardust mission.

Determining robot actions for tasks requiring sensor interaction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Budenske, John; Gini, Maria

1989-01-01

The performance of non-trivial tasks by a mobile robot has been a long term objective of robotic research. One of the major stumbling blocks to this goal is the conversion of the high-level planning goals and commands into the actuator and sensor processing controls. In order for a mobile robot to accomplish a non-trivial task, the task must be described in terms of primitive actions of the robot's actuators. Most non-trivial tasks require the robot to interact with its environment; thus necessitating coordination of sensor processing and actuator control to accomplish the task. The main contention is that the transformation from the high level description of the task to the primitive actions should be performed primarily at execution time, when knowledge about the environment can be obtained through sensors. It is proposed to produce the detailed plan of primitive actions by using a collection of low-level planning components that contain domain specific knowledge and knowledge about the available sensors, actuators, and sensor/actuator processing. This collection will perform signal and control processing as well as serve as a control interface between an actual mobile robot and a high-level planning system. Previous research has shown the usefulness of high-level planning systems to plan the coordination of activities such to achieve a goal, but none have been fully applied to actual mobile robots due to the complexity of interacting with sensors and actuators. This control interface is currently being implemented on a LABMATE mobile robot connected to a SUN workstation and will be developed such to enable the LABMATE to perform non-trivial, sensor-intensive tasks as specified by a planning system.

DARK Technology Transition Plan

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-04-01

or suspend/resume primitives , and bounded delays. Under the above circumstances, the extra language features, and the hidden system calls they... system , this implies that the mechanisms by which units interact - to synchronise , communicate, schedule one another, or alert one another - should be...the Kernel environment are: " The host system is a DEC VAX operating under VMS 5.0 (the specific host used at the SEI is a MicroVAX II operating under

MARCO POLO: near earth object sample return mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barucci, M. A.; Yoshikawa, M.; Michel, P.; Kawagushi, J.; Yano, H.; Brucato, J. R.; Franchi, I. A.; Dotto, E.; Fulchignoni, M.; Ulamec, S.

2009-03-01

MARCO POLO is a joint European-Japanese sample return mission to a Near-Earth Object. This Euro-Asian mission will go to a primitive Near-Earth Object (NEO), which we anticipate will contain primitive materials without any known meteorite analogue, scientifically characterize it at multiple scales, and bring samples back to Earth for detailed scientific investigation. Small bodies, as primitive leftover building blocks of the Solar System formation process, offer important clues to the chemical mixture from which the planets formed some 4.6 billion years ago. Current exobiological scenarios for the origin of Life invoke an exogenous delivery of organic matter to the early Earth: it has been proposed that primitive bodies could have brought these complex organic molecules capable of triggering the pre-biotic synthesis of biochemical compounds. Moreover, collisions of NEOs with the Earth pose a finite hazard to life. For all these reasons, the exploration of such objects is particularly interesting and urgent. The scientific objectives of MARCO POLO will therefore contribute to a better understanding of the origin and evolution of the Solar System, the Earth, and possibly Life itself. Moreover, MARCO POLO provides important information on the volatile-rich (e.g. water) nature of primitive NEOs, which may be particularly important for future space resource utilization as well as providing critical information for the security of Earth. MARCO POLO is a proposal offering several options, leading to great flexibility in the actual implementation. The baseline mission scenario is based on a launch with a Soyuz-type launcher and consists of a Mother Spacecraft (MSC) carrying a possible Lander named SIFNOS, small hoppers, sampling devices, a re-entry capsule and scientific payloads. The MSC leaves Earth orbit, cruises toward the target with ion engines, rendezvous with the target, conducts a global characterization of the target to select a sampling site, and delivers small hoppers (MINERVA type, JAXA) and SIFNOS. The latter, if added, will perform a soft landing, anchor to the target surface, and make various in situ measurements of surface/subsurface materials near the sampling site. Two surface samples will be collected by the MSC using “touch and go” manoeuvres. Two complementary sample collection devices will be used in this phase: one developed by ESA and another provided by JAXA, mounted on a retractable extension arm. After the completion of the sampling and ascent of the MSC, the arm will be retracted to transfer the sample containers into the MSC. The MSC will then make its journey back to Earth and release the re-entry capsule into the Earth’s atmosphere.

Next Generation, 4-D Distributed Modeling and Visualization of Battlefield

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-07-14

accurate. However, the effectiveness of such a view is determined by its usability. If the picture contained all the information that had been...major key to success in such missions is the ability to model real-world urban areas accurately and effectively , so as to support US military mission...primitives (including the standard CG primitives such as plane, cube, wedge, polyhedron, cylinder and sphere, and high-order surface primitives such as

A Guide to FASTGEN Target Geometric Modeling

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-10-01

component part is described in plate mode. These rules apply to all primitives with the exception of rod mode primitives which are always accompanied by a...format. A detailed discussion of the rules for preparing the target description file, where components are described using primitives defined as triangles...NN position is 99, the diameter of a rod mode component is limited to a maximum of 1.98-inches. Theie are several rules and cautions associated with

Hydrostatic calculations of axisymmetric flow and its stability for the AGCE model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, T. L.; Gall, R. L.

1981-01-01

Baroclinic waves in the atmospherics general circulation experiment (AGCE) apparatus by the use of numerical hydrostatic primitive equation models were determined. The calculation is accomplished by using an axisymmetric primitive equation model to compute, for a given set of experimental parameters, a steady state axisymmetric flow and then testing this axisymmetric flow for stability using a linear primitive equation model. Some axisymmetric flows are presented together with preliminary stability calculations.

Cave men: stone tools, Victorian science, and the 'primitive mind' of deep time.

PubMed

Pettitt, Paul B; White, Mark J

2011-03-20

Palaeoanthropology, the study of the evolution of humanity, arose in the nineteenth century. Excavations in Europe uncovered a series of archaeological sediments which provided proof that the antiquity of human life on Earth was far longer than the biblical six thousand years, and by the 1880s authors had constructed a basic paradigm of what 'primitive' human life was like. Here we examine the development of Victorian palaeoanthropology for what it reveals of the development of notions of cognitive evolution. It seems that Victorian specialists rarely addressed cognitive evolution explicitly, although several assumptions were generally made that arose from preconceptions derived from contemporary 'primitive' peoples. We identify three main phases of development of notions of the primitive mind in the period.

Insights to primitive replication derived from structures of small oligonucleotides

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, G. K.; Fox, G. E.

1995-01-01

Available information on the structure of small oligonucleotides is surveyed. It is observed that even small oligomers typically exhibit defined structures over a wide range of pH and temperature. These structures rely on a plethora of non-standard base-base interactions in addition to the traditional Watson-Crick pairings. Stable duplexes, though typically antiparallel, can be parallel or staggered and perfect complementarity is not essential. These results imply that primitive template directed reactions do not require high fidelity. Hence, the extensive use of Watson-Crick complementarity in genes rather than being a direct consequence of the primitive condensation process, may instead reflect subsequent selection based on the advantage of accuracy in maintaining the primitive genetic machinery once it arose.

Exploiting Virtual Synchrony in Distributed Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-02-01

for distributed systems yield the best performance relative to the level of synchronization guaranteed by the primitive . A pro- grammer could then... synchronization facility. Semaphores Replicated binary and general semaphores . Monitors Monitor lock, condition variables and signals. Deadlock detection...We describe applications of a new software abstraction called the virtually synchronous process group. Such a group consists of a set of processes

A Symbolic Approach Using Feature Construction Capable of Acquiring Information/Knowledge for Building Expert Systems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Major, Raymond L.

1998-01-01

Presents a technique for developing a knowledge-base of information to use in an expert system. Proposed approach employs a popular machine-learning algorithm along with a method for forming a finite number of features or conjuncts of at most n primitive attributes. Illustrates this procedure by examining qualitative information represented in a…

Geometry of Quantum Computation with Qudits

PubMed Central

Luo, Ming-Xing; Chen, Xiu-Bo; Yang, Yi-Xian; Wang, Xiaojun

2014-01-01

The circuit complexity of quantum qubit system evolution as a primitive problem in quantum computation has been discussed widely. We investigate this problem in terms of qudit system. Using the Riemannian geometry the optimal quantum circuits are equivalent to the geodetic evolutions in specially curved parametrization of SU(dn). And the quantum circuit complexity is explicitly dependent of controllable approximation error bound. PMID:24509710

Adlerian psychology as an intuitive operant system.

PubMed

Pratt, A B

1985-01-01

Traditional accounts of the Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler tend to sentimentalize his system and obscure its functional flavor. Six basic Adlerian positions on human behavior, including Rudolf Dreikurs' "four goals of misbehavior," are interpreted as a primitive statement of operant principles. Applied techniques long used by Individual Psychology practitioners strongly resemble interventions that applied behavior analysts have developed by more systematic means.

The interaction between giant gaseous protoplanets and the primitive solar nebula

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cameron, A. G. W.

1979-01-01

The manner in which a giant gaseous protoplanet becomes embedded in the primitive solar nebula determines surface boundary conditions which must be used in studying the evolution of such objects. On the one hand, if the system resembles a contact binary system, then the envelope of the protoplanet should approach the entropy of the surrounding nebula. On the other hand angular momentum transfer by resonance and tidal effects between the nebula and the protoplanet may cause the nebula to exhibit a zone of avoidance near the protoplanet, thus inhibiting exchange of material. This problem has been studied with a computer program developed by D. N. C. Lin which simulates disk hydrodynamics by particle motions with dissipation. These studies suggest that for expected values of the protoplanet/protosun mass ratios, significant inhibition of mass exchange is likely, so that it is a reasonable next step to undertake protoplanet evolution studies with the imposition of minimum protoplanet surface temperatures.

Propagation of eigenmodes and transfer functions in waveguide WDM structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mashkov, Vladimir A.; Francoeur, S.; Geuss, U.; Neiser, K.; Temkin, Henryk

1998-02-01

A method of propagation functions and transfer amplitudes suitable for the design of integrated optical circuits is presented. The method is based on vectorial formulation of electrodynamics: the distributions and propagation of electromagnetic fields in optical circuits is described by equivalent surface sources. This approach permits a division of complex optical waveguide structures into sets of primitive blocks and to separately calculate the transfer function and the transfer amplitude for each block. The transfer amplitude of the entire optical system is represented by a convolution of transfer amplitudes of its primitive blocks. The eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of arbitrary waveguide structure are obtained in the WKB approximation and compared with other methods. The general approach is illustrated with the transfer amplitude calculations for Dragone's star coupler and router.

A simple and efficient method for deriving neurospheres from bone marrow stromal cells

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yang Qin; Mu Jun; Li Qi

2008-08-08

Bone marrow stromal cells (MSCs) can be differentiated into neuronal and glial-like cell types under appropriate experimental conditions. However, previously reported methods are complicated and involve the use of toxic reagents. Here, we present a simplified and nontoxic method for efficient conversion of rat MSCs into neurospheres that express the neuroectodermal marker nestin. These neurospheres can proliferate and differentiate into neuron, astrocyte, and oligodendrocyte phenotypes. We thus propose that MSCs are an emerging model cell for the treatment of a variety of neurological diseases.

Acute coronary syndrome: a rare case of multiple endocrine neoplasia syndromes with pheochromocytoma and medullary thyroid carcinoma.

PubMed

Maloberti, Alessadro; Meani, Paolo; Pirola, Roberto; Varrenti, Marisa; Boniardi, Marco; De Biase, Anna Maria; Vallerio, Paola; Bonacina, Edgardo; Mancia, Giuseppe; Loli, Paola; Giannattasio, Cristina

2015-09-01

Pheochromocytoma is a tumor arising from neuroectodermal chromaffin tissues in the adrenal gland or extra-adrenal paraganglia (paragangliomas). The prevalence of the tumor is 0.1%-0.6% in the hypertensive population, of which 10%-20% are malignant. Pheochromocytoma produces, stores, and secretes catecholamines, as well as leads to hypertensive crisis, arrhythmia, angina, and acute myocardial infarction without coronary artery diseases. We report a case of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) with a final diagnosis of multiple endocrine neoplasia with pheochromocytoma and medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC).

PRIMitive Asteroids Spectroscopic Survey - PRIMASS: First Results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Leon, Julia; Pinilla-Alonso, Noemi; Campins, Humberto; Lorenzi, Vania; Licandro, Javier; Morate, David; Tanga, Paolo; Cellino, Alberto; Delbo, Marco

2015-11-01

NASA OSIRIS-REx and JAXA Hayabusa 2 sample-return missions have targeted two near-Earth asteroids: (101955) Bennu and (162173) 1999 JU3, respectively. These are primitive asteroids that are believed to originate in the inner belt, where five distinct sources have been identified: four primitive collisional families (Polana, Erigone, Sulamitis, and Clarissa), and a population of low-albedo and low-inclination background asteroids. Identifying and characterizing the populations from which these two NEAs might originate will enchance the science return of the two missions.With this main objective in mind, we initiated in 2010 a spectroscopic survey in the visible and the near-infrared to characterize the primitive collisional families in the inner belt and the low-albedo background population. This is the PRIMitive Asteroids Spectroscopic Survey - PRIMASS. So far we have obtained more than 200 spectra using telescopes located at different observatories. PRIMASS uses a variety of ground based facilities. Most of the spectra have been obtained using the 10.4m Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), and the 3.6m Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG), both located at the El Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (La Palma, Spain), and the 3.0m NASA Infrared Telescope Facility on Mauna Kea (Hawai, USA).We present the first results from our on-going survey (de Leon et al. 2015; Pinilla-Alonso et al. 2015; Morate et al. 2015), focused on the Polana and the Erigone primitive families, with visible and near-infrared spectra of more than 200 objects, most of them with no previous spectroscopic data. Our survey is already the largest database of primitive asteroids spectra, and we keep obtaining data on the Sulamitis and the Clarissa families, as well as on the background low-albedo population.

Friend of GATA (FOG) Interacts with the Nucleosome Remodeling and Deacetylase Complex (NuRD) to Support Primitive Erythropoiesis in Xenopus laevis

PubMed Central

Mimoto, Mizuho S.; Christian, Jan L.

2012-01-01

Friend of GATA (FOG) plays many diverse roles in adult and embryonic hematopoiesis, however the mechanisms by which it functions and the roles of potential interaction partners are not completely understood. Previous work has shown that overexpression of FOG in Xenopus laevis causes loss of blood suggesting that in contrast to its role in mammals, FOG might normally function to repress erythropoiesis in this species. Using loss-of-function analysis, we demonstrate that FOG is essential to support primitive red blood cell (RBC) development in Xenopus. Moreover, we show that it is specifically required to prevent excess apoptosis of circulating primitive RBCs and that in the absence of FOG, the pro-apoptotic gene Bim-1 is strongly upregulated. To identify domains of FOG that are essential for blood development and, conversely, to begin to understand the mechanism by which overexpressed FOG represses primitive erythropoiesis, we asked whether FOG mutants that are unable to interact with known co-factors retain their ability to rescue blood formation in FOG morphants and whether they repress erythropoiesis when overexpressed in wild type embryos. We find that interaction of FOG with the Nucleosome Remodeling and Deacetylase complex (NuRD), but not with C-terminal Binding Protein, is essential for normal primitive RBC development. In contrast, overexpression of all mutant and wild type constructs causes a comparable repression of primitive erythropoiesis. Together, our data suggest that a requirement for FOG and its interaction with NuRD during primitive erythropoiesis are conserved in Xenopus and that loss of blood upon FOG overexpression is due to a dominant-interfering effect. PMID:22235346

UNCOMPAHGRE PRIMITIVE AREA, COLORADO.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Luedke, R.G.; Sheridan, M.J.

1984-01-01

A mineral-resource study was made of that part of the Uncompahgre National Forest, Colorado constituting the officially designated primitive area. Because the primitive area and its southern border zone contained operating mines producing gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, and minor amounts of a few other metals, and had been a part of a highly productive mining region, the area was concluded to have large segments of both probable and substantiated mineral-resource potential. No energy resources were identified in the study.

Primitive myxoid mesenchymal tumor of infancy in a preterm infant.

PubMed

Lam, Joseph; Lara-Corrales, Irene; Cammisuli, Salvatore; Somers, Gino R; Pope, Elena

2010-01-01

Primitive myxoid mesenchymal tumor of infancy is a recently recognized entity that has been added to the differential diagnosis of myxoid tumors of the soft tissue. Few cases have been reported of this entity in the literature, but none presenting in a preterm infant. We present the case and clinical course of a preterm boy with a primitive myxoid mesenchymal tumor of infancy that occurred following excision of a congenital juvenile xanthogranuloma. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

HIGH UINTAS PRIMITIVE AREA, UTAH.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Crittenden, Max D.; Sheridan, Michael J.

1984-01-01

Mineral surveys in the High Uintas Primitive Area, Utah and the additions subsequently proposed concluded that the area has little promise for mineral resources. Of the areas around the fringes, a strip along the north flank fault can be classed as having probable energy-resource potential for oil and gas. The oil and gas potential could be tested by additional seismic studies followed by drilling. Much of the necessary information probably could be obtained without drilling within the primitive area itself.

Intrapartum Synthetic Oxytocin Reduce the Expression of Primitive Reflexes Associated with Breastfeeding

PubMed Central

Olza Fernández, Ibone; Malalana Martínez, Ana M.; González Armengod, Carmen; Costarelli, Valeria; Millán Santos, Isabel; Fernández-Cañadas Morillo, Aurora; Pérez Riveiro, Pilar; López Sánchez, Francisco; García Murillo, Lourdes

2015-01-01

Abstract Aim: Several synthetic peptide manipulations during the time surrounding birth can alter the specific neurohormonal status in the newborn brain. This study is aimed at assessing whether intrapartum oxytocin administration has any effect on primitive neonatal reflexes and determining whether such an effect is dose-dependent. Materials and Methods: A cohort prospective study was conducted at a tertiary hospital. Mother–infant dyads who received intrapartum oxytocin (n=53) were compared with mother–infant dyads who did not receive intrapartum oxytocin (n=45). Primitive neonatal reflexes (endogenous, antigravity, motor, and rhythmic reflexes) were quantified by analyzing videotaped breastfeeding sessions in a biological nurturing position. Two observers blind to the group assignment and the oxytocin dose analyzed the videotapes and assesed the newborn's state of consciousness according to the Brazelton scale. Results: The release of all rhythmic reflexes (p=0.01), the antigravity reflex (p=0.04), and total primitive neonatal reflexes (p=0.02) in the group exposed to oxytocin was lower than in the group not exposed to oxytocin. No correlations were observed between the dose of oxytocin administered and the percentage of primitive neonatal reflexes released (r=0.03; p=0.82). Conclusions: Intrapartum oxytocin administration might inhibit the expression of several primitive neonatal reflexes associated with breastfeeding. This correlation does not seem to be dose-dependent. PMID:25785487

The Influence of Footwear on the Modular Organization of Running.

PubMed

Santuz, Alessandro; Ekizos, Antonis; Janshen, Lars; Baltzopoulos, Vasilios; Arampatzis, Adamantios

2017-01-01

For most of our history, we predominantly ran barefoot or in minimalist shoes. The advent of modern footwear, however, might have introduced alterations in the motor control of running. The present study investigated shod and barefoot running under the perspective of the modular organization of muscle activation, in order to help addressing the neurophysiological factors underlying human locomotion. On a treadmill, 20 young and healthy inexperienced barefoot runners ran shod and barefoot at preferred speed (2.8 ± 0.4 m/s). Fundamental synergies, containing the time-dependent activation coefficients (motor primitives) and the time-invariant muscle weightings (motor modules), were extracted from 24 ipsilateral electromyographic activities using non-negative matrix factorization. In shod running, the average foot strike pattern was a rearfoot strike, while in barefoot running it was a mid-forefoot strike. In both conditions, five fundamental synergies were enough to describe as many gait cycle phases: weight acceptance, propulsion, arm swing, early swing and late swing. We found the motor primitives to be generally shifted earlier in time during the stance-related phases and later in the swing-related ones in barefoot running. The motor primitive describing the propulsion phase was significantly of shorter duration (peculiarity confirmed by the analysis of the spinal motor output). The arm swing primitive, instead, was significantly wider in the barefoot condition. The motor modules demonstrated analogous organization with some significant differences in the propulsion, arm swing and late swing synergies. Other than to the trivial absence of shoes, the differences might be deputed to the lower ankle gear ratio (and the consequent increased system instability) and to the higher recoil capabilities of the longitudinal foot arch during barefoot compared to shod running.

The Influence of Footwear on the Modular Organization of Running

PubMed Central

Santuz, Alessandro; Ekizos, Antonis; Janshen, Lars; Baltzopoulos, Vasilios; Arampatzis, Adamantios

2017-01-01

For most of our history, we predominantly ran barefoot or in minimalist shoes. The advent of modern footwear, however, might have introduced alterations in the motor control of running. The present study investigated shod and barefoot running under the perspective of the modular organization of muscle activation, in order to help addressing the neurophysiological factors underlying human locomotion. On a treadmill, 20 young and healthy inexperienced barefoot runners ran shod and barefoot at preferred speed (2.8 ± 0.4 m/s). Fundamental synergies, containing the time-dependent activation coefficients (motor primitives) and the time-invariant muscle weightings (motor modules), were extracted from 24 ipsilateral electromyographic activities using non-negative matrix factorization. In shod running, the average foot strike pattern was a rearfoot strike, while in barefoot running it was a mid-forefoot strike. In both conditions, five fundamental synergies were enough to describe as many gait cycle phases: weight acceptance, propulsion, arm swing, early swing and late swing. We found the motor primitives to be generally shifted earlier in time during the stance-related phases and later in the swing-related ones in barefoot running. The motor primitive describing the propulsion phase was significantly of shorter duration (peculiarity confirmed by the analysis of the spinal motor output). The arm swing primitive, instead, was significantly wider in the barefoot condition. The motor modules demonstrated analogous organization with some significant differences in the propulsion, arm swing and late swing synergies. Other than to the trivial absence of shoes, the differences might be deputed to the lower ankle gear ratio (and the consequent increased system instability) and to the higher recoil capabilities of the longitudinal foot arch during barefoot compared to shod running. PMID:29213246

Phosphate sorption and desorption on pyrite in primitive aqueous scenarios: relevance of acidic --> alkaline transitions.

PubMed

de Souza-Barros, Fernando; Braz-Levigard, Raphael; Ching-San, Yonder; Monte, Marisa M B; Bonapace, José A P; Montezano, Viviane; Vieyra, Adalberto

2007-02-01

Phosphate (P(i)) sorption assays onto pyrite in media simulating primeval aquatic scenarios affected by hydrothermal emissions, reveal that acidic conditions favour P(i) sorption whereas mild alkaline media--as well as those simulating sulfur oxidation to SO(2-) (4)--revert this capture process. Several mechanisms relevant to P(i) availability in prebiotic eras are implicated in the modulation of these processes. Those favouring sorption are: (a) hydrophobic coating of molecules, such as acetate that could be formed in the vicinity of hydrothermal vents; (b) water and Mg(2+) bridging in the interface mineral-aqueous media; (c) surface charge neutralization by monovalent cations (Na+ and K+). The increase of both the medium pH and the SO(2-) (4) trapping by the mineral interface would provoke the release of sorbed P(i) due to charge polarization. Moreover it is shown that P(i) self-modulates its sorption, a mechanism that depends on the abundance of SO(2-) (4) in the interface. The relevance of the proposed mechanisms of P(i) capture, release and trapping arises from the need of abundant presence of this molecule for primitive phosphorylations, since--similarly to contemporary aqueous media--inorganic phosphate concentrations in primitive seas should have been low. It is proposed that the presence of sulphide minerals with high affinity to P(i) could have trapped this molecule in an efficient manner, allowing its concentration in specific niches. In these niches, the conditions studied in the present work would have been relevant for its availability in soluble form, specially in primitive insulated systems with pH gradients across the wall.

Linear hypergeneralization of learned dynamics across movement speeds reveals anisotropic, gain-encoding primitives for motor adaptation.

PubMed

Joiner, Wilsaan M; Ajayi, Obafunso; Sing, Gary C; Smith, Maurice A

2011-01-01

The ability to generalize learned motor actions to new contexts is a key feature of the motor system. For example, the ability to ride a bicycle or swing a racket is often first developed at lower speeds and later applied to faster velocities. A number of previous studies have examined the generalization of motor adaptation across movement directions and found that the learned adaptation decays in a pattern consistent with the existence of motor primitives that display narrow Gaussian tuning. However, few studies have examined the generalization of motor adaptation across movement speeds. Following adaptation to linear velocity-dependent dynamics during point-to-point reaching arm movements at one speed, we tested the ability of subjects to transfer this adaptation to short-duration higher-speed movements aimed at the same target. We found near-perfect linear extrapolation of the trained adaptation with respect to both the magnitude and the time course of the velocity profiles associated with the high-speed movements: a 69% increase in movement speed corresponded to a 74% extrapolation of the trained adaptation. The close match between the increase in movement speed and the corresponding increase in adaptation beyond what was trained indicates linear hypergeneralization. Computational modeling shows that this pattern of linear hypergeneralization across movement speeds is not compatible with previous models of adaptation in which motor primitives display isotropic Gaussian tuning of motor output around their preferred velocities. Instead, we show that this generalization pattern indicates that the primitives involved in the adaptation to viscous dynamics display anisotropic tuning in velocity space and encode the gain between motor output and motion state rather than motor output itself.