Genetic changes underlying clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) include alterations in genes controlling cellular oxygen sensing (e.g. VHL) and the maintenance of chromatin states (e.g. PBRM1). We surveyed more than 400 tumors using different genomic platforms and identified 19 significantly mutated genes. The PI3K/Akt pathway was recurrently mutated, suggesting this pathway as a potential therapeutic target. Widespread DNA hypomethylation was associated with mutation of the H3K36 methyltransferase SETD2, and integrative analysis suggested that mutations involving the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex (PBRM1, ARID1A, SMARCA4) could have far-reaching effects on other pathways. Aggressive cancers demonstrated evidence of a metabolic shift, involving down-regulation of genes involved in the TCA cycle, decreased AMPK and PTEN protein levels, up-regulation of the pentose phosphate pathway and the glutamine transporter genes, increased acetyl-CoA carboxylase protein, and altered promoter methylation of miR-21 and GRB10. Remodeling cellular metabolism thus constitutes a recurrent pattern in ccRCC that correlates with tumor stage and severity and offers new views on the opportunities for disease treatment.

The interpretation of graduate mismatch manifested either as over-education or as over-skilling remains problematical. This article analyses the relationship of educational and skills mismatch with pay, job satisfaction and job mobility using unique data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey. Over-education and over-skilling are found to be distinct phenomena and their combination results in the most severe negative labour market outcomes. Using panel methodology reduces strongly the size of many relevant coefficients, questioning previous cross-sectional results in the literature. The article shows that the relationship between mismatch and labour market outcomes is strongly influenced by unobserved heterogeneity.

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BackgroundCotton is the world’s most important natural textile fiber and a significant oilseed crop. Decoding cotton genomes will provide the ultimate reference and resource for research and utilization of the species. Integration of high-density genetic maps with genomic sequence information will largely accelerate the process of whole-genome assembly in cotton.ResultsIn this paper, we update a high-density interspecific genetic linkage map of allotetraploid cultivated cotton. An additional 1,167 marker loci have been added to our previously published map of 2,247 loci. Three new marker types, InDel (insertion-deletion) and SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) developed from gene information, and REMAP (retrotransposon-microsatellite amplified polymorphism), were used to increase map density. The updated map consists of 3,414 loci in 26 linkage groups covering 3,667.62 cM with an average inter-locus distance of 1.08 cM. Furthermore, genome-wide sequence analysis was finished using 3,324 informative sequence-based markers and publicly-available Gossypium DNA sequence information. A total of 413,113 EST and 195 BAC sequences were physically anchored and clustered by 3,324 sequence-based markers. Of these, 14,243 ESTs and 188 BACs from different species of Gossypium were clustered and specifically anchored to the high-density genetic map. A total of 2,748 candidate unigenes from 2,111 ESTs clusters and 63 BACs were mined for functional annotation and classification. The 337 ESTs/genes related to fiber quality traits were integrated with 132 previously reported cotton fiber quality quantitative trait loci, which demonstrated the important roles in fiber quality of these genes. Higher-level sequence conservation between different cotton species and between the A- and D-subgenomes in tetraploid cotton was found, indicating a common evolutionary origin for orthologous and paralogous loci in Gossypium.ConclusionThis study will serve as a valuable genomic resource for tetraploid cotton genome assembly, for cloning genes related to superior agronomic traits, and for further comparative genomic analyses in Gossypium.

BackgroundHsp90-beta and annexin A1 were investigated as prognostic factors because of their apparent association with tumorigenesis. However, the effect of Hsp90-beta and annexin A1 in lung cancer remains poorly understood. The expressions of Hsp90-beta and annexin A1 in lung cancer and normal lung specimens were examined, and the relationships with respect to the clinico-pathological features and patient survival in lung cancer were analyzed.MethodsThe expression levels of Hsp90-beta and annexin A1 were examined using immunohistochemistry, in-situ hybridization, and Western blot.ResultsLung cancer tissues exhibited higher expression levels of Hsp90-beta and annexin A1 than the normal tissues (p < 0.05), and the expression levels of the markers were significantly associated with the pathological grade and lymphatic invasion of lung cancer (p < 0.05). Moreover, the upregulation of Hsp90-beta and annexin A1 correlated with decreased survival (p < 0.05).ConclusionThe upregulation of Hsp90-beta and annexin A1 were associated with poor post-surgical survival time and lymphatic metastasis of lung cancer patients. Moreover, the high expression of the markers was an independent predictor of poor outcomes.

Ueno and Ohata (1996) pointed out the importance of the correction of precipitation measurements on the Tibetan Plateau. The present author offers some comments to evaluate more quantitatively their results, which are summarized as follows: (1) the validity of the correction of precipitation should be checked for the individual cases, along with the total amount; (2) the diameter of the gauge should be investigated for any systematic bias of the measured precipitation; (3) the increment obtained through the correction procedure should be quantitatively compared with the standard error of the corresponding regression analysis; and (4) the effect of the correction should be looked at from various viewpoints, e. g., quantitative comparisons of the corrected precipitation with precipitation estimates from space, as well as with the surface energy budget on the Tibetan Plateau.

We propose that serum miR-125b may represent a novel biomarker in NSCLC patients and that high miR-125b expression is an independent prognostic factor for survival.

A nanocrystalline TiO 2 (anatase) nanosheet exposing mainly the (001) crystal faces was tested as photoanode material in dye-sensitized solar cells. The nanosheets were prepared by hydrothermal growth in HF medium. Good-quality thin films were deposited on F-doped SnO 2 support from the TiO 2 suspension in ethanolic or aqueous media. The anatase (001) face adsorbs a smaller amount of the used dye sensitizer (C101) per unit area than the (101) face which was tested as a reference. The corresponding solar cell with sensitized (001)-nanosheet photoanode exhibits a larger open-circuit voltage than the reference cell with (101)-terminated anatase nanocrystals. The voltage enhancement is attributed to the negative shift of flatband potential for the (001) face. This conclusion rationalizes earlier works on similar systems, and it indicates that careful control of experimental conditions is needed to extract the effect of band energetic on the current/voltage characteristics of dye-sensitized solar cell.