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A recent study of a mouse model of prostate cancer uncovers a mechanistic underpinning of the epidemiologic link between the use of beta-blockers and a reduced risk of prostate cancer.

Concerns about prolonged downtime and functionality losses observed after recent seismic events have made it clear that seismic design is heading towards a resilience-based approach. However, there is still currently no clear consensus on how to quantify and interpret resilience. In this document, a probabilistic approach to estimate recovery times and functionality loss in buildings is presented, which allows for the estimation of seismic resilience through consideration of delay times and the behavior of non-structural elements. To achieve these goals, simple models that associate structural response and the resilience parameters (recovery time and functionality) are defined. The proposed approach was implemented in a database for public school buildings in Puebla City, where the expected times and functionality were obtained, thus allowing for quantification of the seismic resilience of each structure. Furthermore, target values for low and high resilience are proposed, which helps to identify the weakest elements in the educative Mexican infrastructure. The results showed that the inclusion of delay times and non-structural elements in resilience quantification is mandatory if an overestimation of resilience values is to be avoided. At the same time, the target values allow for the different structures to be categorized according to the resilience values obtained, finding that a significant portion of Mexican school buildings are underprepared in a resilience context.

This article presents a simple yet profound idea: the lessons learned through the study of democratic schools can offer key insights into how to reinvigorate democracy. To prove this claim, the authors draw on their experience as co-editors of the book Designing Democratic Schools and Learning Environments - A Global Perspective. The book explores almost forty cases in sixteen countries where educational initiatives have been implemented and designed to foster democratic forms of education. Using the four-frames theoretical approach by Bolman and Deal (2021), the article assesses how the process of producing a book that analyzes democratic schools and learning environments relates to the challenges faced by democratic governance. The article suggests that the difficulties and challenges of building democratic learning environments may correlate with the difficulties of sustaining and protecting a democracy. This has been highlighted through the example of the democratic book creation process that we followed.  This article contributes to the broader topic of the purposes of education by examining ways in which schools and education systems can transform distributive leadership, self-governance, and student agency into key aspects of the mission of reinvigorating democracy in the twenty-first century.

Background. There are questions regarding the prevalence of xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) in patients with prostate cancer and its association with the RNASEL R462Q polymorphism.We therefore investigated whether XMRV infection could be found in patients with prostate cancer from the southern United States, and we sought to verify the association with the R462Q. Methods.Methods. Prostate tissue specimens of 144 patients with prostate cancer from the southern United States were genotyped for R462Q by real time polymerase chain reaction allelic discrimination and were screened for XMRV proviral DNA by nested polymerase chain reaction specific for the env gene. Results. The R462Q polymorphism was found at an allelic frequency of 0.33. XMRV was detected in 32 (22%) of the 144 patients. Patients were significantly more likely to test positive for XMRV in both tumor and normal tissue rather than either alone (κ = 0.64). A positive result for XMRV was not significantly correlated with the R462Q polymorphism (P = .82) or clinical pathological parameters of prostate cancer, including Gleason score (P = .29). Conclusions. XMRV is detectable in normal and tumor prostate tissue from patients with prostate cancer, independent of R462Q. The presence of XMRV in normal tissue suggests that infection may precede cancer onset.

The combination of grading and staging is the basis of current standard of care for prediction for most cancers. D. F. Gleason created the current prostate cancer (PCa) grading system. This system has been modified several times. Molecular data have been added. Currently, all grading systems are cancer-cell based. To review the literature available on host response measures as reactive stroma grading and stromogenic carcinoma, and their predictive ability for PCa biochemical recurrence and PCa-specific death. Our own experience has shown that reactive stroma grading and the subsequently binarized system (stromogenic carcinoma) can independently predict biochemical recurrence and/or PCa-specific death, particularly in patients with a Gleason score of 6 or 7. Stromogenic carcinoma has been validated by 4 other independent groups in at least 3 continents. Broders grading and Dukes staging have been combined to form the most powerful prognostic tools in standard of care. The time has come for us to incorporate measures of host response (stromogenic carcinoma) into the arsenal of elements we use to predict cancer survival, without abandoning what we know works. These data also suggest that our current definition of PCa might need some revision.

Most studies on the determinants of poverty do not consider that the relative importance of each of these determinants can vary depending on the degree of poverty suffered by each group of poor people. For Mexico's case, the studies carried out so far do not contemplate this approach, even though there is wide variation in the degree of poverty among the different groups of the poor. Investigating these differences is important to design better policies for fighting poverty, which consider how each variable that explains poverty affects each group of people who suffer from poverty differently. This article examines the determinants of poverty for Mexican households. Using data from the Mexican National Household Income and Expenditure Survey (ENIGH) 2018, the study estimates a probit model and a quantile regression model to examine the extent to which the determinants of poverty vary across the poverty spectrum. The results from the probit model indicate that households with more than one member, having a female head, or speaker of an indigenous language are more likely to be poor. The results obtained in the quantile regressions indicate that there are significant differences with the results of the simple ordinary least squares model, especially for households in extreme poverty but also for the other income categories analyzed for several of the explanatory variables used in the models. Households in the categories extremely poor and deeply poor are most affected if they are in the southern region or if the household head speaks an indigenous language or is an elderly person. It is observed that achieving a higher educational level is an effective way to increase income across the poverty spectrum.

In this study, we analyzed the effectiveness of a data visualization tool (dashboard) designed to provide insights to decision-makers about the vulnerability of water resources in the tri-national Upper Lempa River Basin (CARL) in the face of future climate and land use uncertainties. The effectiveness of the dashboard was assessed using three methods: (1) a user survey for evaluating dashboard clarity, completeness, and ease of use using seven parameters proposed by Stephen Few. The result of the survey overwhelmingly indicated a positive experience when interacting with the dashboard; (2) pre- and post-use tests were used to assess knowledge acquisition. The users’ correct answers increased by an average of 35%, and incorrect answers decreased by an average of 25% for questions assessing an understanding of water demands, the effects of climate change on the basin’s water security, land use trends, and the sub-basins with the highest vulnerability in the region; and, significantly, (3) user reports on insights drawn from their interaction with the dashboard. Users drew insights on the extent to which different regions will likely experience increased vulnerability regarding water resources and on strategies that could reduce this vulnerability. The key issues that need to be addressed to ensure that the dashboard fosters greater transparency and public participation in governance and is used by decision-makers to improve the management of water resources in this watershed are the following: (1) the incorporation of user feedback and the inclusion of adaptation strategies and their impacts on the dashboard; (2) the commitment and training of a local institution to host and maintain the dashboard and to make it available to the public; (3) the engagement of decision-makers from the three countries regarding the use of the dashboard to understand future uncertainties and the potential impact of adaptation strategies on performance metrics.

Can water security serve as a platform for developing a long-term solution to ongoing water crises? Many regions around the world are experiencing severe water problems, including water scarcity, water-borne diseases, water-related natural hazards, and water conflicts. These issues are expected to increase and intensify in the future. Both developed and developing economies face a water supply and demand imbalance that will potentially influence their water pricing structures. Institutions and policies that govern the pricing of this natural capital remain crucial for driving food production and providing services. The complex and multifaceted issues of sustainable water management call for a standard set of tools that can capture and create desired water security scenarios. Water pricing is an important contributing factor for achieving these scenarios. In this paper, we analyze how water pricing can be used as a tool to enact the water security agenda. This paper addresses these issues from three facets: (1) Economic aspects—the multiple processes through which water is conceptualized and priced; (2) analysis of water pricing considering its effect in water consumption; and (3) arguments for assessing the potential of water pricing as a tool to appraise water security.

TGF-β1 is overexpressed in wound repair and in most proliferative disorders including benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer. The stromal microenvironment at these sites is reactive and typified by altered phenotype, matrix deposition, inflammatory responses, and alterations in nerve density and biology. TGF-β1 is known to modulate several stromal responses; however there are few transgenic models to study its integrated biology. To address the actions of TGF-β1 in prostate disorders, we targeted expression of an epitope tagged and constitutively active TGF-β1 via the enhanced probasin promoter to the murine prostate gland epithelium. Transgenic mice developed age-dependent lesions leading to severe, yet focal attenuation of epithelium, and a discontinuous basal lamina. These changes were associated with elevated fibroplasia and frequency of collagenous micronodules in collapsed acini, along with an induced inflammation in nerve ganglia and small vessels. Elevated recruitment of CD115+ myeloid cells but not mature macrophages was observed in nerve ganglia, also in an age-dependent manner. Similar phenotypic changes were observed using a human prostate epithelium tissue recombination xenograft model, where epithelial cells engineered to overexpress TGF-β1 induced fibrosis and altered matrix deposition concurrent with inflammation in the stromal compartment. Together, these data suggest that elevated TGF-β1 expression induces a fibroplasia stromal response associated with breach of epithelial wall structure and inflammatory involvement of nerve ganglia and vessels. The novel findings of ganglia and vessel inflammation associated with formation of collagenous micronodules in collapsed acini is important as each of these are observed in human prostate carcinoma and may play a role in disease progression.

Context.—The variety of morphologic patterns of different entities of the genitourinary tract can present a diagnostic dilemma for the pathologist. This is especially true in cases of mimics of cancer, a cancer of unknown primary, or poorly differentiated tumors, in which it is hard to assign histogenesis needed to plan the correct therapy for the patient. Immunohistochemistry offers a better capacity than hematoxylin-eosin staining alone to differentiate human tissue types. Also, in the past decades, several techniques had been developed to differentiate between benign and malignant processes with morphologic overlap. By using immunohistochemistry in selected cases, the rate of false-negative and false-positive diagnoses can be reduced, and some patients are afforded the opportunity to get more specific or effective therapy as a result. Objective.—For each subgroup of genitourinary system tumors, common diagnostic problems are reviewed, and immunohistochemical markers useful in addressing these problems are discussed, along with expected patterns of immunoreactivity. Data Sources.—The pertinent literature, with focus on immunohistochemical staining of tumors of the genitourinary tract. Conclusions.—The addition of immunohistochemistry to the diagnostic armamentarium for genitourinary pathologic diagnosis has increased the sensitivity and specificity of diagnoses and aided in the selection of optional therapeutic regimens in selected cases.