PIK3CA mutations in in situ and invasive breast carcinomas.

The PIK3 signaling pathway has been identified as one of the most important and most frequently mutated pathways in breast cancer. Somatic mutations in the catalytic subunit of PIK3CA have been found in a significant fraction of breast carcinomas, and it has been proposed that mutant PIK3CA plays a role in tumor initiation. However, the majority of primary human tumors analyzed for genetic alterations in PIK3CA have been invasive breast carcinomas and the frequency of PIK3CA mutations in preinvasive lesions has not been explored.

Toxicity of carbon nanotubes to the activated sludge process.

The discharge of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) from industrial waste or disposal of such materials from commercial and/or domestic use will inevitably occur with increasing production and enter into wastewater treatment facilities with unknown consequences. Therefore, a better knowledge of the toxicity of CNTs to biological processes in wastewater treatment will be critical. This study examined the toxicity of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) on the microbial communities in activated sludge.

Profiling critical cancer gene mutations in clinical tumor samples.

Background: Detection of critical cancer gene mutations in clinical tumor specimens may predict patient outcomes and inform treatment options; however, high-throughput mutation profiling remains underdeveloped as a diagnostic approach. We report the implementation of a genotyping and validation algorithm that enables robust tumor mutation profiling in the clinical setting.

Methodology: We developed and implemented an optimized mutation profiling platform ("OncoMap") to interrogate approximately 400 mutations in 33 known oncogenes and tumor suppressors, many of which are known to predict response or resistance to targeted therapies.

Examination of purified single-walled carbon nanotubes on activated sludge process using batch reactors.

This paper evaluated the impact of over 90% purified single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) on the activated sludge wastewater treatment process through a batch-scale study. We found that SWCNTs adsorbed 16.9% of the soluble COD (sCOD, soluble chemical oxygen demand) without activated sludge present.