The prognostic significance of genetic polymorphisms (Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase C677T, Methionine Synthase A2756G, Thymidilate Synthase tandem repeat polymorphism) in multimodally treated oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma

The present study retrospectively examined the correlation between the outcome of patients with locally advanced oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (cT3-4 cN0-1 cM0) after multimodal treatment (radiochemotherapy±surgical resection), and the presence of genetic polymorphisms in genes involved in folate metabolism. In total, 68 patients who took part in a prospective multicentric trial received 5-fluorouracil (FU)-based radiochemotherapy, optionally followed by surgery. DNA was extracted from pretherapeutic tumour biopsies and was subsequently genotyped for common genetic polymorphisms of three genes (MTHFR C677T, MTR A2756G, TS tandem repeat polymorphism) involved in folate metabolism and potentially in sensitivity to 5-FU-based chemotherapy. The genotypes were correlated with tumour response to polychemotherapy, radiochemotherapy and with overall survival. Tumours with the MTR wild-type genotype (2756AA) showed a median survival time of 16 months, whereas tumours with an MTR variant genotype (2756AG/2756GG) showed a median survival time of 42 months (P=0.0463). No prognostic impact could be verified for the genotypes of the MTHFR genes and the TS gene. Among tumours treated with radiochemotherapy and subsequent resection, MTR variant genotype showed higher histopathological response rate than tumours with MTR wild-type genotype (P=0.0442). In contrast, no significant relationship between clinically determined tumour regression after polychemotherapy and polymorphisms of the three genes under analysis was observed. In conclusion, pretherapeutic determination of the MTR A2756G polymorphism may predict survival of multimodally treated oesophageal squamous cell carcinomas. Determination of MTHFR C677T and TS tandem repeat polymorphism has no predictive value

From taxonomies to ontologies: formalizing generalization knowledge for on-demand mapping

© 2015 Cartography and Geographic Information Society Automation of the cartographic design process is central to the delivery of bespoke maps via the web. In this paper, ontological modeling is used to explicitly represent and articulate the knowledge used in this decision-making process. A use case focuses on the visualization of road traffic accident data as a way of illustrating how ontologies provide a framework by which salient and contextual information can be integrated in a meaningful manner. Such systems are in anticipation of web-based services in which the user knows what they need, but do not have the cartographic ability to get what they want

Occupational tetraethyl lead poisoning in Autonomous Province of Voivodina

Rad obuhvata prikaz 22 slučaja otrovanja tetraetilolovom, od kojih je 8 bilo lečeno na Neuropsihijatrijskom odeljenju u Somboru, a 14 na Neuropsihijatrijskoj klinici u Novom Sadu. Kliničke slike obolelih na oba mesta su imale zajedničke karakteristike, te su se mogle svrstati u tri forme: diskretnu, manifestnu i tešku, odnosno smrtnu. Osam bolesnika pripadalo je ovoj trećoj g rupi i od njih je troje umrlo. U radu se iiznose rezultati kemijsko-toksikoloških analiza krvi i mokraće bolesnika primljenih na Neuropsihijatrijsko odeljenje Opšte bolnice Sombor, bolesnika lečenih na Neuropsihijatoijskoj klinici u Novom Sadu, karakteristike obdukcionih nalaza, rezultati kemijsko-toksikoloških analiza unutrašnjih organa obdukovanih i nalazi tetraetilolova u tri uzorka benzina koji je korišten za pranje zamašćenih metalnih delova u industrijskim preduzećima iz kojih potiču oboleli radnici.Twenty-two cases of poisoning with tetraethyl lead are described. The patients were treated in the Neuropsychiatric ward of the General Hospital in Sombor and in the Neuropsychiatric University Department in Novi Sad. Clinical pictures of poisoning were classified into three groups: discrete, manifest and severe/with lethal issue. Eight patients belonged to the third group, three of them died. In \u27the paper are presented the results of chemico-toxicological analyses of the blood and urine of treated patients, post mortem findings and ,the results of the chemical analysis of three samples of the petrol used for metal washing in the plants in which the poisoned workers were employed

Mining Spatio-temporal Data at Different Levels of Detail

Presented at the 11th AGILE International Conference on Geographic Information Science (AGILE 2008), Girona, Spain, 5-8 May 2008In this paper we propose a methodology for mining very large spatio-temporal datasets. We propose a two-pass strategy for mining and manipulating spatio-temporal datasets at different levels of detail (i.e., granularities). The approach takes advantage of the multi-granular capability of the underlying spatio-temporal model to reduce the amount of data that can be accessed initially. The approach is implemented and applied to real-world spatio-temporal datasets. We show that the technique can deal easily with very large datasets without losing the accuracy of the extracted patterns, as demonstrated in the experimental results.Science Foundation Ireland; Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering & TechnologyConference detailshttp://plone.itc.nl/agile/agile-conference

Measurement of N-Type 6H SiC Minority-Carrier Diffusion Lengths by Electron Bombardment of Schottky Barriers

Minority-Carrier diffusion lengths of n-type 6H-SiC were measured using the electron-beam induced current (EBIC) technique. Experimental values of primary beam current, EBIC, and beam voltage were obtained for a variety of SIC samples. This data was used to calculate experimental diode efficiency vs. beam voltage curves. These curves were fit to theoretically calculated efficiency curves, and the diffusion length and metal layer thickness were extracted. The hole diffusion length in n-6H SiC ranged from 0.93 +/- 0.15 microns