Artificial co-drivers as a universal enabling technology for future intelligent vehicles and transportation systems

This position paper introduces the concept of artificial “co-drivers” as an enabling technology for future intelligent transportation systems. In Sections I and II, the design principles of co-drivers are introduced and framed within general human–robot interactions. Several contributing theories and technologies are reviewed, specifically those relating to relevant cognitive architectures, human-like sensory-motor strategies, and the emulation theory of cognition. In Sections III and IV, we present the co-driver developed for the EU project interactIVe as an example instantiation of this notion, demonstrating how it conforms to the given guidelines. We also present substantive experimental results and clarify the limitations and performance of the current implementation. In Sections IV and V, we analyze the impact of the co-driver technology. In particular, we identify a range of application fields, showing how it constitutes a universal enabling technology for both smart vehicles and cooperative systems, and naturally sets out a program for future research

Cuprizone induced-demyelination in mice alters brain expression of genes involved in arachidonic acid metabolism .

Chronic feeding with the copper chelator cuprizone in mice causes oligodendrocyte death and subsequent reversible demyelination. Although the mechanism of demyelination is unknown, activation of glia is integral to the process. Since metabolism of arachidonic acid (AA) is involved in glial activation, we hypothesized that cuprizone exposure would alter expression of AA cascade genes. Mice were fed 0.2 % cuprizone in the diet for 6 weeks and then returned to a normal diet. Histochemistry with the myelin stains Black Gold and Fluoromyelin demonstrated that frank demyelination and influx of glial cells into the corpus collosum begins at week 3 and peaks at week 5. A decrease in myelin and oligodendrocyte markers, accompanied by increased expression of markers of microglia (CD11b) and astrocytes (glial acidic fibrillary protein), was evident at week one. Gene expression of cyclooxygenase-2 and 15-lipoxygenase (LOX) was also changed at week one, suggesting that these genes are either involved in or respond to early demyelination. Expression of 5-LOX was not changed during early demyelination but it peaked during week 5, when glial markers and frank demyelination also reached their peak, suggesting that 5-LOX expression is a consequence of the massive influx of inflammatory cells into the area of demyelination. Our study is the first to demonstrate that multiple enzymes involved in arachidonic acid metabolism are altered in the cuprizone model of demyelination and remyelination. These data may help to develop new therapeutic targets to treat human demyelinating diseases, such as multiple sclerosis. Supported by the Intramural Research Program of the NIH, NIA

Processed meat and the risk of selected digestive tract and laryngeal neoplasms in Switzerland

Background: Processed meat has been related to the risk of digestive tract neoplasms but the evidence remains inconclusive. We examined data from a network of case-control studies conducted between 1992 and 2002 in the Swiss Canton of Vaud. Patients and methods: We studied 316 patients with incident, histologically confirmed oral and pharyngeal cancer, 138 patients with oesophageal cancer, 91 patients with laryngeal cancer and 323 patients with colorectal cancer. Controls were 1271 subjects admitted to the same hospital for a wide spectrum of acute non-neoplastic conditions, unrelated to long-term modification of diet. Results: There were strong direct trends in risk between consumption of processed meat and the various neoplasms considered: the multivariate odds ratios for the highest quartile of intake compared to the lowest were 4.7 for oral and pharyngeal cancer, 4.5 for oesophageal cancer, 3.4 for laryngeal cancer and 2.5 for colorectal cancer. The association was stronger in younger subjects, in moderate drinkers and in non-smokers. Conclusion: Processed meat represents a strong indicator of unfavourable diet for digestive tract and laryngeal cancer risk in this populatio

Lung cancer mortality in European women: recent trends and perspectives

Background: Lung cancer mortality in men has been declining since the late 1980s in most European countries. In women, although rates are still appreciably lower than those for men, steady upward trends have been observed in most countries. To quantify the current and future lung cancer epidemic in European women, trends in lung cancer mortality in women over the last four decades were analyzed, with specific focus on the young. Patients and methods: Age-standardized (world standard) lung cancer mortality rates per 100 000 women—at all ages, and truncated 35-64 and 20-44 years—were derived from the WHO for the European Union (EU) as a whole and for 33 separate European countries. Joinpoint regression analysis was used to identify points where a significant change in trends occurred. Results: In the EU overall, female lung cancer mortality rates rose by 23.8% between 1980-1981 and 1990-1991 (from 7.8 to 9.6/100 000), and by 16.1% thereafter, to reach the value of 11.2/100 000 in 2000-2001. Increases were smaller in the last decade in several countries. Only in England and Wales, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and Ukraine did female lung cancer mortality show a decrease over the last decade. In several European countries, a decline in lung cancer mortality in young women (20-44 years) was observed over the last decade. Conclusions: Although female lung cancer mortality is still increasing in most European countries, the more favorable trends in young women over recent calendar years suggest that if effective interventions to control tobacco smoking in women are implemented, the lung cancer epidemic in European women will not reach the levels observed in the US

Cancer mortality in the European Union, 1970-2003, with a joinpoint analysis

Background: Cancer mortality peaked in the European Union (EU) in the late 1980s and declined thereafter. Materials and methods: We analyzed EU cancer mortality data provided by the World Health Organization in 1970-2003, using joinpoint analysis. Results: Overall, cancer mortality levelled off in men since 1988 and declined in 1993-2003 (annual percent change, APC = −1.3%). In women, a steady decline has been observed since the early 1970s. The decline in male cancer mortality has been driven by lung cancer, which levelled off since the late 1980s and declined thereafter (APC = 2.7% in 1997-2003). Recent decreases were also observed for other tobacco-related cancers, as oral cavity/pharynx, esophagus, larynx and bladder, as well as for colorectal (APC = −0.9% in 1992-2003) and prostate cancers (APC = −1.0% in 1994-2003). In women, breast cancer mortality levelled off since the early 1990s and declined thereafter (APC = −1.0% in 1998-2003). Female mortality declined through the period 1970-2003 for colorectal and uterine cancer, while it increased over the last three decades for lung cancer (APC = 4.6% in 2001-2003). In both sexes, mortality declined in 1970-2003 for stomach cancer and for a few cancers amenable to treatment. Conclusion: This update analysis of the mortality from cancer in the EU shows favorable patterns over recent years in both sexe

The recent decline in mortality from Hodgkin lymphomas in central and eastern Europe

Background: Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a largely curable disease and its mortality had steadily declined in western Europe since the late 1960s. Only modest declines were, however, observed in central/eastern Europe. Materials and methods: We updated trends in mortality from HL in various European areas up to 2004 and analyzed patterns in incidence for selected European countries providing national data. Results: In most western European countries, HL mortality continued to steadily decline up to the mid 2000s. More recent reductions were also observed in eastern European countries. Overall, mortality from HL declined from 1.17/100 000 (age-standardized, world population) in 1980-1989 to 1.42/100 000 in 2000-2004 in men from the 15 member states of the European Union (EU) from western and northern Europe. In the EU 10 accession countries of central and eastern Europe, male mortality from HL was 1.42/100 000 in 1980-1984, 1.32 in 1990-1994, and declined to 0.76 in 2000-2004. Similar trends were observed in women. No consistent patterns were found for HL incidence. Conclusions: The present work confirms the persistent declines in HL mortality in western European countries, and shows favorable patterns over more recent calendar years in central/eastern ones, where rates, however, are still at levels observed in western Europe in the early 1990

Time-dependent changes in the brain arachidonic acid cascade during cuprizone-induced demyelination and remyelination

Phospholipases A(2) (PLA(2)) are the enzymatic keys for the activation of the arachidonic acid (AA) cascade and the subsequent synthesis of pro-inflammatory prostanoids (prostaglandins and tromboxanes). Prostanoids play critical roles in the initiation and modulation of inflammation and their levels have been reported increased in several neurological and neurodegenerative disorders, including multiple sclerosis (MS). Here, we aimed to determine whether brain expression PLA(2) enzymes and the terminal prostagland in levels are changed during cuprizone-induced demyelination and in the subsequent remyelination phase. Mice were given the neurotoxicant cuprizone through the diet for six weeks to induce brain demyelination. Then, cuprizone was withdrawn and mice were returned to a normal diet for 6 weeks to allow spontaneous remyelination. We found that after 4-6 weeks of cuprizone, sPLA(2)(V) and cPLA(2), but not iPLA(2)(VI), gene expression was upregulated in the cortex, concomitant with an increase in the expression of astrocyte and microglia markers. Cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 gene expression was consistently upregulated during all the demyelination period, whereas COX-1 sporadically increased only at week 5 of cuprizone exposure. However, we found that at the protein level only sPLA(2)(V) and COX-1 were elevated during demyelination, with COX-1 selectively expressed by activated and infiltrated microglia/macrophages and astrocytes. Levels of PGE(2), PGD(2), PGI(2) and TXB(2) were also increased during demyelination. During remyelination, none of the PLA(2) isoforms was significantly changed, whereas COX-1 and -2 were sporadically upregulated only at the gene expression level. PGE(2), PGI(2) and PGD(2) levels returned to normal, whereas TXB(2) was still upregulated after 3 weeks of cuprizone withdrawal. Our study characterizes for the first time time-dependent changes in the AA metabolic pathway during cuprizone-induced demyelination and the subsequent remyelination and suggests that sPLA(2)(V) is the major isoform contributing to AA release

Cancer mortality in Europe, 2000-2004, and an overview of trends since 1975

Background: To update the pattern of cancer mortality in Europe. Materials and methods: We analysed cancer mortality in 34 European countries during 2000-2004, with an overview of trends in 1975-2004 using data from the World Health Organization. Results: From 1990-1994 to 2000-2004, overall cancer mortality in the European Union declined from 185.2 to 168.0/100 000 (world standard, −9%) in men and from 104.8 to 96.9 (−8%) in women, with larger falls in middle age. Total cancer mortality trends were favourable, though to a variable degree, in all major European countries, including Russia, but not in Romania. The major determinants of these favourable trends were the decline of lung (−16%) and other tobacco-related cancers in men, together with the persistent falls in gastric cancer, and the recent appreciable falls in colorectal cancer. In women, relevant contributions came from the persistent decline in cervical cancer and the recent falls in breast cancer mortality, particularly in northern and western Europe. Favourable trends were also observed for testicular cancer, Hodgkin lymphomas, leukaemias, and other neoplasms amenable to treatment, though the reductions were still appreciably smaller in eastern Europe. Conclusion: This updated analysis of cancer mortality in Europe showed a persistent favourable trend over the last year