Simulations of Weighted Tree Automata

Simulations of weighted tree automata (wta) are considered. It is shown how such simulations can be decomposed into simpler functional and dual functional simulations also called forward and backward simulations. In addition, it is shown in several cases (fields, commutative rings, Noetherian semirings, semiring of natural numbers) that all equivalent wta M and N can be joined by a finite chain of simulations. More precisely, in all mentioned cases there exists a single wta that simulates both M and N. Those results immediately yield decidability of equivalence provided that the semiring is finitely (and effectively) presented.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figure

Reduction of serum IGF-I levels in patients affected with Monoclonal Gammopathies of undetermined significance or Multiple Myeloma. Comparison with bFGF, VEGF and K-ras gene mutation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Serum levels of IGF-I in patients affected with multiple myeloma (MM) have been scarcely studied. The present study is aimed to explore this point comparing 55 healthy subjects, 71 monoclonal gammopaties of uncertain significance (MGUS) and 77 overt MM patients. In the same subjects, basic FGF and VEGF, have been detected. All three mediators were analyzed in function of K-<it>ras </it>mutation and melphalan response. Concerning IGF-I, two representative monitoring examples have also been added.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Cytokine determinations were performed by commercially available ELISA kits, while K12-<it>ras </it>mutation was investigated on genomic DNA isolated from bone marrow cell specimens by RFLP-PCR assay.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Significant reductions of IGF-I levels were observed in MGUS and MM as compared with healthy controls. In addition, MM subjects showed significantly decreased serum IGF-I levels than MGUS. Conversely, increasing levels were observed for bFGF and VEGF, molecules significantly correlated. A multivariate analysis corrected for age and gender confirmed the significant difference only for IGF-I values (P = 0.01). K12-<it>ras </it>mutation was significantly associated with malignancy, response to therapy and with significantly increased serum bFGF levels.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>IGF-I reduction in the transition: Controls→MGUS→MM and changes observed over time suggest that IGF-I should be furtherly studied in future clinical trials as a possible monitoring marker for MM.</p

External Ocular Surface Bacterial Isolates and their Antimicrobial Susceptibility Patterns among Pre-operative Cataract Patients at Mulago National Hospital in Kampala, Uganda.

Endophthalmitis is a severe complication of cataract surgery which leads to high ocular morbidity and visual loss even with antibiotic treatment. Bacterial ocular floras are the implicated causative agents. This study was undertaken to evaluate the external ocular surface bacterial isolates and their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns among pre-operative cataract patients at Mulago National Hospital. This cross sectional study enrolled consecutively 131 patients scheduled for routine cataract surgery in the Department of Ophthalmology at Mulago National Hospital in Kampala, Uganda. Eyelid margin and conjunctival swabs were collected and processed using standard microbiological procedures to identify bacterial isolates and their respective antimicrobial susceptibility patterns. Of 131 patients involved (mean age 63.3 ± 14.5 years), 54.2% (71/131) were females. The eyelid margin and conjunctival samples were culture positive in 59.5% (78/138) and 45.8% (60/138) respectively. The most common organisms identified were Coagulase-negative Staphylococci (CoNS) [65.9% (91/138)] and Staphylococcus aureus [21.0% (29/138)]. CoNS showed the highest resistance to tetracycline (58.2%, 53/91) and erythromycin (38.5%, 35/91), whereas in S. aureus the resistance to tetracycline and erythromycin were 55.2% (16/29) and 31.0% (9/29) respectively. Methicillin resistant CoNS (MRS) and Methicillin resistance S. aureus (MRSA) were 31.9% (29/91) and 27.6% (8/29) respectively. There were low resistance rates for CoNS, S. aureus and other bacterial isolates to ciprofloxacin (11.1%-24.2%), gentamicin (5.6-31.0%), tobramycin (17.2% -25.3%) and vancomycin (0.0%). CoNS and S. aureus are the most common bacterial isolates found on the external ocular surface of the pre-operative cataract patients. Ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, tobramycin and vancomycin showed the lowest resistance rates to all bacterial isolates, therefore may be used to reduce bacteria load in the conjunctiva sac among cataract patients prior to surgery

Association Analysis of IL-17A and IL-17F Polymorphisms in Chinese Han Women with Breast Cancer

Background: Research into the etiology of breast cancer has recently focused on the role of the immunity and inflammation. The proinflammatory cytokines IL-17A and IL-17F can mediate inflammation and cancer. To evaluate the influences of IL-17A and IL-17F gene polymorphisms on the risk of sporadic breast cancer, a case-control study was conducted in Chinese Han women. Methodology and Principal Findings: We genotyped three single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in IL-17A (rs2275913, rs3819025 and rs3748067) and five SNPs in IL-17F (rs7771511, rs9382084, rs12203582, rs1266828 and rs763780) to determine the haplotypes in 491 women with breast cancer and 502 healthy individuals. The genotypes were determined using the SNaPshot technique. The differences in the genotypic distribution between breast cancer patients and healthy controls were analyzed with the Chi-square test for trends. For rs2275913 in IL-17A, the frequency of the AA genotype was higher in patients than controls (P = 0.0016). The clinical features analysis demonstrated significant associations between IL-17 SNPs and tumor protein 53 (P53), progesterone receptor (PR), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (Her-2) and triple-negative (ER-/PR-/Her-2-) status. In addition, the haplotype analysis indicated that the frequency of the haplotype A rs2275913G rs3819025G rs3748067, located in the IL-17A linkage disequilibrium (LD) block, was higher in patients than in controls (P = 0.0471 after correction for multiple testing)

Preoperative elevation of serum C – reactive protein is predictive for prognosis in myeloma bone disease after surgery

We investigated whether preoperative levels of serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and its correlation with tumour clinicopathological findings adds prognostic information beyond the time of diagnosis in patients with myeloma bone disease (MM) to facilitate the surgical decision-making process. Six hundred and fifty-eight myeloma patients were evaluated retrospectively for surgery. Clinicopathological variables of patients who underwent surgery (n=71) were compared between patients with preoperative CRP ⩾6 mg l−1 and those with CRP <6 mg l−1. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify prognostic factors after surgery. Patients with an increase of CRP prior to surgery showed inferior survival compared to patients with normal levels. Patients with normal CRP levels at diagnosis but elevations prior to surgery do seem to have a similar unfavourable overall survival (OS) than patients with an increase both, at diagnosis and at surgery. Conversely, patients with normal CRP levels prior to surgery still have the best OS, irrespective of their basic values. Multivariate analysis revealed preoperative CRP levels above 6 mg l−1 Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) above normal, and osteolyses in long weight bearing bones as independent predictors of survival. These findings suggest that in patients with MM serum levels of CRP increase during disease activity and might be significantly correlated with specific disease characteristics including adverse prognostic features such as osteolyses in long weight bearing bones. Thus, preoperative elevated CRP serum levels might be considered as independent predictor of prognosis and could provide additional prognostic information for the risk stratification before surgical treatment in patients with myeloma bone disease

The influence of systemic inflammation, dietary intake and stage of disease on rate of weight loss in patients with gastro-oesophageal cancer

Although weight loss is often a dominant symptom in patients with upper gastrointestinal malignancy, there is a lack of objective evidence describing changes in nutritional status and potential associations between weight loss, food intake, markers of systemic inflammation and stage of disease in such patients. Two hundred and twenty patients diagnosed with gastric/oesophageal cancer were studied. Patients underwent nutritional assessment consisting of calculation of body mass index, measurement of weight loss, dysphagia scoring and estimation of dietary intake. Serum acute-phase protein concentrations were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In all, 182 (83%) patients had lost weight at diagnosis (median loss, 7% body weight). Weight loss was associated with poor performance status, advanced disease stage, dysphagia, reduced dietary intake and elevated serum C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations. Multiple regression identified dietary intake (estimate of effect, 38%), serum CRP concentrations (estimate of effect, 34%) and stage of disease (estimate of effect, 28%) as independent variables in determining degree of weight loss. Mechanisms other than reduced dietary intake or mechanical obstruction by the tumour appear to be involved in the nutritional decline in patients with gastro-oesophageal malignancy. Recognition that systemic inflammation plays a role in nutritional depletion may inform the development of appropriate therapeutic strategies to ameliorate weight loss, making patients more tolerant of cancer-modifying treatments such as chemotherapy