Study of Hormone Receptors and Epidermal Growth Factor Expression in Invasive Breast Cancers in a Cohort of Western India

The objective of study was to evaluate and correlate the pathological characteristics of breast cancer patients with estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (Her2/neu) detected by immunohistochemistry and/or fluorescent in situ hybridization method. We have conducted 2 year study of 204 cases of breast cancer at HCG-Medisurge Hospitals, Ahmedabad from 2009 to 2011. Significant correlation was found in ER and PR expression whereas no correlation was found in hormonal receptors and Her2/neu expression. ER and PR positivity increased with advancing age in breast carcinoma patients while not affecting Her2/neu expression. The expression of hormone receptors were higher in infiltrating lobular carcinoma and infiltrating duct carcinoma subtypes of breast carcinoma as compared to other subtypes such medullary and in situ carcinoma. High-grade carcinoma patients were predominantly ER/PR negative and Her2/neu positive as compared to lower grade breast carcinoma whereas high-stage carcinoma patients were ER/PR positive and Her2/neu positive as compared to lower stage breast carcinoma.     

Story of fission

The discovery of nuclear fission is the culmination of sustained efforts involving many scientists led by Hahn and Meitner to understand the production of artificial radioactivity induced by neutrons bombarding uranium. The large energy release in this process was almost immediately used for both military and civilian purposes. It also started the largescale funding of scientific research by governments across the world. Nuclear energy is one of the clean sources of energy and contributes very little to global warming.     

Enrico Fermi — The complete physicist

Enrico Fermi was a versatile physicist contributing in equal measure to theory and experiments. He is credited to be the ‘Father of the Atomic Age’ following his successful demonstration of sustained chain reaction in Chicago Pile-1. In this article, I have discussed his major experimental contributions that clearly demonstrate his simplicity of conception, meticulous attention to detail and directness of approach to the problem at hand.     

Holocaust Perversions: The Stalags Pulp Fiction and the Eichmann Trial

The Stalags, an Israeli pulp fiction series whose advent coincided with the 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem, portrayed sadomasochistic scenarios between SS female guards and Allied soldiers in POW camps. Written in Hebrew by native Israelis, these cheap pocketbooks were enormously popular with Israeli teenagers, many of whom were children of Holocaust survivors. We posit the Stalags (a) as a fictional counterpart of the trial, complementing the legal procedure with feats of the imagination, and (b) as a text upon which the Israeli young generation negotiated issues of power and identity.     

Movie Stars and the Volatility of Movie Revenues

Research has found conflicting results regarding the profitability of movies that have big-name stars. Why then, are stars selected to act in movies? Using the concepts of risk, volatility, and brand loyalty, this research proposes that although stars may not guarantee profits, their presence results in lower weekly revenue volatility. Using a database comprising 41 stars and their presence in 467 movies from over a 26-year period, this study finds broad support for this hypothesis.     

The dream of statehood and the reality of conflict: local and international coverage of the Palestinian United Nations bid for statehood

This paper examines whether or not media coverage is biased by the political orientation of the journalists’ country, specifically illustrated by the 2011 bid for statehood by the Palestinian Authority in the United Nations. This bid represents a symbolic step toward international recognition of a Palestinian state, an important event in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A quantitative analysis was conducted on 1577 news reports from American, European, and Middle Eastern outlets to determine the differences in media coverage of the Palestinian bid for statehood among the channels. The findings suggest that Israeli channels broadcasted a relatively low number of items in which the Palestinian declaration itself was the main theme. The BBC broadcasted a relatively high rate of such items, and offered balanced coverage of both Israeli and Palestinian positions, while coverage by American FOX News channel reflected a pro-Israel bias. The findings also suggest that media outlets may be biased toward specific leaders. This work builds on a growing body of research on media framing of political conflicts and the effect of the political context of a country on its media outlets’ coverage.     

The experiment of Michelson and Morley

Light was assumed to propagate in a medium called ether which was all pervading and stationary. Earth’s motion through ether was expected to have an effect on the velocity of light in the direction of the relative motion by the law of addition of velocities. Michelson–Morley experiment used an interferometric technique to detect this effect and got a null result, which was the first strong evidence against existence of ether and eventually had a natural explanation in special theory of relativity.     

Story of superconductivity

Electricity is carried through metallic wires, called conductors. In the process, electrons move through metallic conductors that offer resistance (the value depends on the particular metal used), to the passage of electrons. This leads to the production of heat and loss of energy. This heating process is utilised in many electrical devices. However, for transmission of electrical energy from the power plants to the user and in many other applications, it would be a great boon if no energy was lost to resistance. The discovery of superconductivity by Heike Kamerlingh Onnes in 1911 at Leiden, offered a glimmer of hope to make this dream possible. It was a discovery totally unexpected at that time, and we owe this discovery to the painstaking and methodical investigations of Onnes–first to produce very low temperatures, and then measure properties of materials at these freezing temperatures.