Combined regression score predicts outcome after neoadjuvant treatment of oesophageal cancer.

Background: Histopathologic regression following neoadjuvant treatment (NT) of oesophageal cancer is a prognostic factor of survival, but the nodal status is not considered. Here, a score combining both to improve prediction of survival after neoadjuvant therapy is developed.

Methods: Seven hundred and fifteen patients with oesophageal squamous cell (SCC) or adenocarcinoma (AC) undergoing NT and esophagectomy were analysed.

Single-cell analysis delineates a trajectory toward the human early otic lineage.

Efficient pluripotent stem cell guidance protocols for the production of human posterior cranial placodes such as the otic placode that gives rise to the inner ear do not exist. Here we use a systematic approach including defined monolayer culture, signaling modulation, and single-cell gene expression analysis to delineate a developmental trajectory for human otic lineage specification in vitro. We found that modulation of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) and WNT signaling combined with FGF and retinoic acid treatments over the course of 18 days generates cell populations that develop chronological expression of marker genes of non-neural ectoderm, preplacodal ectoderm, and early otic lineage.

Assortative mating drives linkage disequilibrium between sperm and egg recognition protein loci in the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus.

Sperm and eggs have interacting proteins on their surfaces that influence their compatibility during fertilization. These proteins are often polymorphic within species, producing variation in gamete affinities. We first demonstrate the fitness consequences of various sperm bindin protein (Bindin) variants in the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, and assortative mating between males and females based on their sperm Bindin genotype.

Alteration of forest structure modifies the distribution of scale insect, Stigmacoccus garmilleri, in Mexican tropical montane cloud forests.

Stigmacoccus garmilleri Foldi (Hemiptera: Margarodidae) is an ecologically important honeydew-producing scale insect associated with oak trees (Quercus spp.) in highland forests of Veracruz, Mexico. The honeydew exudates of S.

Simultaneous positive and negative frequency-dependent selection on sperm bindin, a gamete recognition protein in the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus.

Gamete-recognition proteins often, but not always, evolve rapidly. We explored how variation in sperm bindin influences reproductive success of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus during group spawning in the sea. Despite large variation in male and female abundance and neighbor distances, males with common genotypes had higher reproductive success than males with rare genotypes.