Who will do general surgery?

The document attached has been archived with permission from the editor of the Medical Journal of Australia. An external link to the publisher’s copy is included.Advantages to patients of a single anaesthetic for more than one operation are obvious; attracting generalist surgeons, training them and ensuring they have adequate credentials remain hurdles.Martin H Bruening and Guy J Madder

A detailed study of the photo-injection annealing of thermally diffused InP solar cells

A detailed analysis of the annealing of thermally diffused InP solar cells fabricated by the Nippon Mining Co. is presented. The cells were irradiated with 1 MeV electrons, and the induced degradation is measured using deep level transient spectroscopy and low temperature (86 K) IV measurements. Clear recovery of the photovoltaic parameters is observed during low temperature (T is less than 300 K) solar illuminations (1 sun, AMO) with further recovery at higher temperatures (300 less than T less than 500 K). For example, the output of a cell which was irradiated up to a fluence of 1 x 10(exp 16) cm(sup -2) was observed to recover to within 5 percent of the pre-irradiation output. An apparent correlation between the recovery of I(sub sc) and the annealing of the H4 defect and of the minority carrier trapping centers is observed. An apparent correlation between the recovery of VO, and the annealing of the H5 defect is also observed. These apparent correlations are used to develop a possible model for the mechanism of the recovery of the solar cells

Nucleosomes in serum of patients with early cerebral stroke

Background: Nucleosomes are cell death products that are elevated in serum of patients with diseases that are associated with massive cell destruction. We investigated the kinetics of circulating nucleosomes after cerebral stroke and their correlation with the clinical status. Methods: In total, we analyzed nucleosomes by ELISA in sera of 63 patients with early stroke daily during the first week after onset. For correlation with the clinical pathology, patients were grouped into those with medium to slight functional impairment (Barthel Index BI >= 50) and those with severe functional impairment (BI = 50 showed a continuous increase in nucleosomes until day 5 (median: 523 arbitrary units, AU) followed by a slow decline. In contrast, patients with BI = 50 (497 AU; p = 0.031). Concerning the infarction volume, nucleosomes showed significant correlations for the concentrations on day 3 (r = 0.43; p = 0.001) and for the area under the curve (r = 0.34; p = 0.016). Conclusion: Even if nucleosomes are nonspecific cell death markers, their release into serum after cerebral stroke correlates with the gross functional status as well as with the infarction volume and can be considered as biochemical correlative to the severity of stroke. Copyright (c) 2006 S. Karger AG, Basel

FGF receptor genes and breast cancer susceptibility: results from the Breast Cancer Association Consortium

Background:Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies in women. Genome-wide association studies have identified FGFR2 as a breast cancer susceptibility gene. Common variation in other fibroblast growth factor (FGF) receptors might also modify risk. We tested this hypothesis by studying genotyped single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and imputed SNPs in FGFR1, FGFR3, FGFR4 and FGFRL1 in the Breast Cancer Association Consortium. Methods:Data were combined from 49 studies, including 53 835 cases and 50 156 controls, of which 89 050 (46 450 cases and 42 600 controls) were of European ancestry, 12 893 (6269 cases and 6624 controls) of Asian and 2048 (1116 cases and 932 controls) of African ancestry. Associations with risk of breast cancer, overall and by disease sub-type, were assessed using unconditional logistic regression. Results:Little evidence of association with breast cancer risk was observed for SNPs in the FGF receptor genes. The strongest evidence in European women was for rs743682 in FGFR3; the estimated per-allele odds ratio was 1.05 (95 confidence interval=1.02-1.09, P=0.0020), which is substantially lower than that observed for SNPs in FGFR2. Conclusion:Our results suggest that common variants in the other FGF receptors are not associated with risk of breast cancer to the degree observed for FGFR2. © 2014 Cancer Research UK

Response to issues on GM agriculture in Africa: Are transgenic crops safe?

The controversies surrounding transgenic crops, often called Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), call for a need to raise the level of public awareness of Genetic Modification (GM) technology in Africa. This should be accomplished by educating the public about the potential benefits and risks that may be associated with this new technology. In the last 15 years, GM crop producing countries have benefited from adoption of this new technology in the form of improved crop productivity, food security, and quality of life. The increased income to resource-poor farmers is a key benefit at the individual level especially as most countries using this technology are in the developing world, including three African countries (South Africa, Burkina Faso and Egypt). Despite clear benefits to countries and farmers who grow GMOs, many people are concerned about suspected potential risks associated with GMOs. This sparks debate as to whether GM technology should be adopted or not. Given the concerns regarding the safety of GMO products, thorough scientific investigation of safe application of GMOs is required. The objective of this paper is to respond to the issues of GM agriculture in Africa and some of the issues surrounding the adoption of GM crops between developed and developing countries. In this article, I analyse relevant papers relating to the adoption of GM technology particularly in developing countries including the few African countries that have adopted GM crops. The issues discussed span a wide range including: safety; potential benefits and risks; disputes between the United States of America (USA) and the European Union (EU) over adoption of GM crops with a focus on Africa continent. This article is concluded by summarising the issues raised and how GM technology can be adopted for agricultural development in Africa

Trends and Regional Differences in Breastfeeding in Germany From 1871 To 1937

This article describes trends and regional differences in breastfeeding within Germany from 1870 to 1937. Sharp regional differences in both the in cidence and duration of breastfeeding are present around 1910. There is a com plex pattern of trends in infant-feeding practices. Breastfeeding declined in urban areas between the late nineteenth century and the first World War. A strong nationwide resurgence in the incidence of breastfeeding occurred between the two world wars, accompanied by a decline in the average duration of breastfeeding. By 1937, the formerly great regional differences in breastfeeding had nearly dis appeared. The article also discusses social, economic, cultural, and historical variables affecting infant-feeding practices, including local breastfeeding customs, a national infant welfare campaign, and allowances to nursing mothers.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/67272/2/10.1177_036319908501000203.pd

Evaluating cloud deployment scenarios based on security and privacy requirements

Migrating organisational services, data and application on the Cloud is an important strategic decision for organisations due to the large number of benefits introduced by the usage of cloud computing, such as cost reduction and on demand resources. Despite, however, of the many benefits, there are challenges and risks for cloud adaption related to (amongst others) data leakage, insecure APIs, and shared technology vulnerabilities. These challenges need to be understood and analysed in the context of an organisation relevant cloud computing deployment models. Although, the literature provides a large number of references to works that consider cloud computing security issues, no work has been provided, to our knowledge, which supports the elicitation of security and privacy requirements and the selection of an appropriate cloud deployment model based on such requirements. This work contributes towards this gap. In particular, we propose a requirements engineering framework to support the elicitation of security and privacy requirements and the selection of an appropriate deployment model based on the elicited requirements. Our framework provides a modelling language that builds on concepts from requirements, security, privacy and cloud engineering and a systematic process. We use a real case study, based on the Greek National Gazette, to demonstrate the applicability of our work

Quantitative Proteomics Identifies Serum Response Factor Binding Protein 1 as a Host Factor for Hepatitis C Virus Entry

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) enters human hepatocytes through a multistep mechanism involving, among other host proteins, the virus receptor CD81. How CD81 governs HCV entry is poorly characterized, and CD81 protein interactions after virus binding remain elusive. We have developed a quantitative proteomics protocol to identify HCV-triggered CD81 interactions and found 26 dynamic binding partners. At least six of these proteins promote HCV infection, as indicated by RNAi. We further characterized serum response factor binding protein 1 (SRFBP1), which is recruited to CD81 during HCV uptake and supports HCV infection in hepatoma cells and primary human hepatocytes. SRFBP1 facilitates host cell penetration by all seven HCV genotypes, but not of vesicular stomatitis virus and human coronavirus. Thus, SRFBP1 is an HCV-specific, pan-genotypic host entry factor. These results demonstrate the use of quantitative proteomics to elucidate pathogen entry and underscore the importance of host protein-protein interactions during HCV invasion

Colocalization of 14-3-3 Proteins with SOD1 in Lewy Body-Like Hyaline Inclusions in Familial Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Cases and the Animal Model

Background and Purpose: Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) is a major component of Lewy body-like hyaline inclusion (LBHI) found in the postmortem tissue of SOD1-linked familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FALS) patients. In our recent studies, 14-3-3 proteins have been found in the ubiquitinated inclusions inside the anterior horn cells of spinal cords with sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). To further investigate the role of 14-3-3 proteins in ALS, we performed immunohistochemical analysis of 14-3-3 proteins and compared their distributions with those of SOD1 in FALS patients and SOD1-overexpressing mice. Methods: We examined the postmortem brains and the spinal cords of three FALS cases (A4V SOD1 mutant). Transgenic mice expressing the G93A mutant human SOD1 (mutant SOD1-Tg mice), transgenic mice expressing the wild-type human SOD1 (wild-type SOD1-Tg mice), and non-Tg wild-type mice were also subjected to the immunohistochemical analysis. Results: In all the FALS patients, LBHIs were observed in the cytoplasm of the anterior horn cells, and these inclusions were immunopositive intensely for pan 14-3-3, 14-3-3$\beta$, and 14-3-3$\gamma$. In the mutant SOD1-Tg mice, a high degree of immunoreactivity for misfolded SOD1 (C4F6) was observed in the cytoplasm, with an even greater degree of immunoreactivity present in the cytoplasmic aggregates of the anterior horn cells in the lumbar spinal cord. Furthermore, we have found increased 14-3-3$\beta$ and 14-3-3$\gamma$ immunoreactivities in the mutant SOD1-Tg mice. Double immunofluorescent staining showed that C4F6 and 14-3-3 proteins were partially co-localized in the spinal cord with FALS and the mutant SOD1-Tg mice. In comparison, the wild-type SOD1-Tg and non-Tg wild-type mice showed no or faint immunoreactivity for C4F6 and 14-3-3 proteins (pan 14-3-3, 14-3-3$\beta$, and 14-3-3$\gamma$) in any neuronal compartments. Discussion: These results suggest that 14-3-3 proteins may be associated with the formation of SOD1-containing inclusions, in FALS patients and the mutant SOD1-Tg mice.Mathematic