A new vibrational level of the H2+_2^+ molecular ion

A new state of the H$_2^+$ molecular ion with binding energy of 1.09$\times10^{-9}$ a.u. below the first dissociation limit is predicted, using highly accurate numerical nonrelativistic quantum calculations. It is the first L=0 excited state, antisymmetric with respect to the exchange of the two protons. It manifests itself as a huge p-H scattering length of $a=750\pm 5$ Bohr radii.Comment: 6 pages + 3 figure

Worldwide Incidence of Ocular Melanoma and Correlation With Pigmentation-Related Risk Factors

Purpose: The worldwide incidence of ocular melanoma (OM), uveal melanoma (UM), and conjunctival melanoma has last been reported on 15 years ago. Recently, light iris color and four specific single-nucleotide-polymorphisms (SNPs) have been identified as a UM-risk factor. Furthermore, six iris color predicting SNPs have been discovered (IrisPlex). Interestingly, two of these (rs129138329 and rs12203592) are also UM-risk factors. We collected worldwide incidence data of OM and investigated its correlations with iris color, IrisPlex SNPs, and UM-risk SNPs. Methods: Cases of OM, as defined by the International Classification of Diseases Oncology C69 (eye), 8720/3 to 8790/3 (malignant melanoma), and 8000 to 8005 (malignant neoplasm), between 1988 and 2012, were extracted from the Cancer Incidence in Five Continents. Incidence rates were age-standardized and their trends were analyzed with joinpoint regression and age period cohort modeling. Frequencies for each country of iris color, IrisPlex SNPs, and UM-risk SNPs were collected from the literature. Results:Incidence rates were generally ≥8.0 cases per million person-years in Northern Europe, Western Europe, and Oceania; 2.0 to 7.9 in North America, Eastern Europe, and Southern Europe; and &lt;2.0 in South America, Asia, and Africa. OM incidence correlated with latitude (r = 0.77, P ≤ 0.001) and is expressed as a north-to-south decreasing gradient in Europe. SNP rs12913832 correlated with OM incidence (r = 0.83, P ≤ 0.001), blue iris color (r = 0.56, P ≤ 0.05), green iris color (r = 0.51, P ≤ 0.05), and brown iris color (r = -0.64, P ≤ 0.01). Trends were stable for most countries (28/35). Conclusions: OM incidence is highest in populations of European ancestry and lowest in populations of Asian and African ancestry. Overall, trends are stable, and the spatial correlation among OM incidence, iris color, and rs12913832 may support the role of pigmentation-related risk factors in OM development.</p

Are software engineers' responses to incomplete requirements related to project characteristics?

Software requirements quality affects software product quality. For high-quality software products, software requirements must be complete. When faced with incomplete requirements, software engineers attempt to fill the requirements' gaps differently, either by getting feedback from the user or by making assumptions. Assumptions may be explicit or implicit. Explicit assumptions are preferable to implicit assumptions as explicit assumptions can be validated. We conduct an empirical study to determine whether the number of explicit assumptions made by software engineers is related to a project's characteristics. Using data from two CMMI Level 3 companies and 16 projects, we investigated the responses of 92 software engineers to the same incomplete software requirement. Our findings show possible relationships between projects' characteristics and the number of explicit assumptions. ©2009 IEEE

Diagnostic value of combined serum biomarkers for the evaluation of liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C infection: A multicenter, noninterventional, observational study

Background/Aims: The hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is important cause of chronic hepatitis. Liver biopsy is considered the gold standard for assessment of fibrosis but this procedure is an invasive procedure. We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic efficiency of non-invasive serum biomarkers, separately and in combinations, on liver fibrosis in treatment-naive chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients. Materials and Methods: Two hundred and sixteen treatment-naive CHC patients were enrolled from 32 locations across Turkey in this open-labelled, non-interventional prospective observational study. FibroTest®, aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index(APRI), aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase ratio (AAR), fibrosis index based on four factors (FIB-4), Age-platelet(AP) index and Forns index were measured and compared with Metavir scores got from liver biopsies. Results: Data from 182 patients with baseline liver biopsy were suitable for analysis. One hundred and twenty patients (65.9%) had F0-F1 fibrosis and 62 patients (34.1%) had F2-F4 fibrosis. APRI 0.732 area under the curve(AUC) indicated advanced fibrosis with 69% sensitivity and 77% specificity. FIB-4 0.732 AUC and FibroTest 0.715 AUC indicated advanced fibrosis with 69% and 78.4% sensitivity, and 75% and 71.4% specificity, respectively. The combined use of tests also led to an increase in AUC and specificity. Combinations of FibroTest with APRI and/or FIB-4, and FIB-4 with APRI were optimal for the evaluation of liver fibrosis. Conclusion: Fibrotest, FIB-4, APRI, AP index and Forns index exhibit good diagnostic performance for determining liver fibrosis in CHC patients, and the use of at least two tests together will increase their diagnostic value still further. © Copyright 2018 by The Turkish Society of Gastroenterology

Metastatic Disease in Polyploid Uveal Melanoma Patients Is Associated With BAP1 Mutations

PURPOSE. Most of the uvea melanoma (UM) display a near-diploid (normal, similar to 2N) karyotype with only a few chromosomal changes. In contrast to these simple aberrations 18% of the UM samples show a polyploid character (>2N) and this was associated with an unfavorable prognosis. This study attempts to gain insight in the prognostic value of polyploidy in UM. METHODS. In 202 patients the ploidy status of the UM was determined using cytogenetic analysis, fluorescence-in-situ-hybridization (FISH), multiplex ligation dependent probe amplification (MLPA), and/or single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array analysis. Immunohistochemistry was used to determine the BAP1 expression and mutation analyses of BAP1 (coding regions) and the mutation hotspots for the SF3B1, EIF1AX, GNAQ, and GNA11 genes was carried out using Sanger sequencing or whole-exome sequencing. RESULTS. Twenty-three patients had a polyploid UM karyotype (11.4%). Patients with a polyploid tumor had larger tumors (15.61 vs. 13.13 mm, P = 0.004), and more often loss of heterozygosity of chromosome 3 (P = 0.003). No difference in occurrence of mutations between polyploid and diploid tumors was observed for BAP1, SF3B1, EIF1AX, GNAQ, and GNA11. Polyploidy did not affect survival (P = 0.143). BAP1 deficiency was the only significant independent prognostic predictor for patients with polyploid tumors, with a 16-fold increased hazard ratio (HR 15.90, P = 0.009). CONCLUSIONS. The prevalence of mutations in the UM related genes is not different in polyploid UM compared with diploid UM. Moreover, similar to patients with diploid UM, BAP1 mutation is the most significant prognostic predictor of metastasis in patients with polyploid UM

Veronica plants-drifting from farm to traditional healing, food application, and phytopharmacology

The Veronica genus, with more than 200 species, belongs to the Plantaginaceae family and is distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere and in many parts of Southern Hemisphere. These plants are traditionally used in medicine for wound healing, in the treatment of rheumatism, and in different human diseases. This paper reviews the chemical composition of some valuable Veronica species, the possibilities Veronica extracts have in food preservation and as food ingredients, and their functional properties. Veronica species represent a valuable source of biological active secondary metabolites, including iridoid glycosides and phenolic compounds. In particular, due to presence of these phytochemicals, Veronica species exhibit a wide spectrum of biological activities, including antimicrobial and antioxidant. In fact, some studies suggest that some Veronica extracts can inhibit foodborne pathogens, such as Listeria monocytogenes, but only a few of them were performed in food systems. Moreover, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and other bioactivities were reported in vitro and in vivo. The bioactivity of Veronica plants was demonstrated, but further studies in food systems and in humans are required.M.d.M.C. is grateful for funding from the “Acción 6 del Plan de Apoyo a la Investigación de la Universidad de Jaén, 2017–2019”. N. Martins would like to thank the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT-Portugal) for the Strategic project ref. UID/BIM/04293/2013 and “NORTE2020 – Northern Regional Operational Program” (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000012)

Electrical anisotropy in high-Tc granular superconductors in a magnetic field

We propose an analytical model devoted to explain the anisotropy of the electrical resistance observed below the critical temperature in granular high-Tc superconductors submitted to a magnetic field H. Reported experimental results obtained on a YBCO sample show that the superconducting transition occurs in two stages, with a steep drop of the resistance at Tc and a subsequent, smoother decrease. In this second stage, the resistance versus temperature curve is strongly dependent not only on the field intensity, but also on the angle between H and the macroscopic current density j. We start from the assumption that the resistance below Tc is mainly due to the weak links between grains. In the model, weak links are thought of as flat surface elements separating adjacent grains. We calculate the probability for a weak link to undergo the transition to the resistive state as a function of the angle it makes with the external magnetic field H and the macroscopic current density j. In doing this, an important role is given to the strong nonuniformity of the local magnetic field within the specimen, due to the effect of the screening supercurrents flowing on the surface of the grains. Finally, we calculate the electrical resistance of the sample in the two cases H⊥j and H∥j. The predictions of this simple model turn out to be in reasonable agreement with reported experimental results obtained on a YBCO granular specimen

SRSF2 Mutations in Uveal Melanoma: A Preference for In-Frame Deletions?

Background: Uveal melanoma (UM) is the most common primary ocular malignancy in adults in the Western world. UM with a mutation in SF3B1, a spliceosome gene, is characterized by three or more structural changes of chromosome 1, 6, 8, 9, or 11. Also UM without a mutation in SF3B1 harbors similar chromosomal aberrations. Since, in addition to SF3B1, mutations in U2AF1 and SRSF2 have also been observed in hematological malignancies, UM without a SF3B1 mutation—but with the characteristic chromosomal pattern—might harbor mutations in one of these genes. Methods: 42 UMs were selected based on their chromosomal profile and wildtype SF3B1 status. Sanger sequencing covering the U2AF1 (exon 2 and 7) hotspots and SRSF2 (exon 1 and 2) was performed on DNA extracted from tumor tissue. Data of three UM with an SRSF2 mutation was extracted from the The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Results: Heterozygous in-frame SRSF2 deletions affecting amino acids 92–100 were detected in two UMs (5%) of 42 selected tumors and in three TGCA UM specimens. Both the UM with an SRSF2 mutation from our cohort and the UM samples from the TCGA showed more than four structural chromosomal aberrations including (partial) gain of chromosome 6 and 8, although in two TCGA UMs monosomy 3 was observed. Conclusions: Whereas in myelodysplastic syndrome predominantly missense SRSF2 mutations are described, the observed SRSF2 mutations in UM are all in-frame deletions of 8–9 amino acids. This suggests that the R625 missense SF3B1 mutations and SRSF2 mutations in UM are different compared to the spliceosome gene mutations in hematological cancers, and probably target a different, as yet unknown, set of genes involved in uv