Diversity Characterization of Optimized Two-Antenna Systems for UMTS Handsets

This paper presents the evaluation of the diversity performance of several two-antenna systems for UMTS terminals. All the measurements are done in a reverberation chamber and in a Wheeler cap setup. First, a two-antenna system having poor isolation between its radiators is measured. Then, the performance of this structure is compared with two optimized structures having high isolation and high total efficiency, thanks to the implementation of a neutralization technique between the radiating elements. The key diversity parameters of all these systems are discussed, that is, the total efficiency of the antenna, the envelope correlation coefficient, the diversity gains, the mean effective gain (MEG), and the MEG ratio. The comparison of all these results is especially showing the benefit brought back by the neutralization technique

Increase in mast cells and hyaluronic acid correlates to radiation-induced damage and loss of serous acinar cells in salivary glands: the parotid and submandibular glands differ in radiation sensitivity.

The detailed mechanisms which can explain the inherent radiosensitivity of salivary glands remain to be elucidated. Although DNA is the most plausible critical target for the lethal effects of irradiation, interactions with other constituents, such as cell membrane and neuropeptides, have been suggested to cause important physiological changes. Moreover, mast cells seem to be closely linked to radiation-induced pneumonitis. Therefore, in the present study the effects of fractionated irradiation on salivary glands have been assessed with special regard to the appearance of mast cells and its correlation with damage to gland parenchyma. Sprague-Dawley strain rats were unilaterally irradiated to the head and neck with the salivary glands within the radiation field. The irradiation was delivered once daily for 5 days to a total dose of 20, 35 and 45 Gy. The contralateral parotid and submandibular glands served as intra-animal controls and parallel analysis of glands was performed 2, 4, 10 or 180 days following the last radiation treatment. Morphological analysis revealed no obvious changes up to 10 days after the irradiation. At 180 days a radiation dose-dependent loss of gland parenchyma was seen, especially with regard to serious acinar cells in parotid gland and acinar cells and serous CGT (convoluted granular tubule) cells in the submandibular gland. These changes displayed a close correlation with a concomitant dose-dependent enhanced density of mast cells and staining for hyaluronic acid. This cell population seems to conform with the features of the connective tissue mast cell type. The parotid seems to be more sensitive to irradiation than the submandibular gland. Thus, the present results further strengthen the role of and the potential interaction of mast cells with radiation-induced tissue injury and alterations in normal tissue integrity

A realistic assessment of methods for extracting gene/protein interactions from free text

Background: The automated extraction of gene and/or protein interactions from the literature is one of the most important targets of biomedical text mining research. In this paper we present a realistic evaluation of gene/protein interaction mining relevant to potential non-specialist users. Hence we have specifically avoided methods that are complex to install or require reimplementation, and we coupled our chosen extraction methods with a state-of-the-art biomedical named entity tagger. Results: Our results show: that performance across different evaluation corpora is extremely variable; that the use of tagged (as opposed to gold standard) gene and protein names has a significant impact on performance, with a drop in F-score of over 20 percentage points being commonplace; and that a simple keyword-based benchmark algorithm when coupled with a named entity tagger outperforms two of the tools most widely used to extract gene/protein interactions. Conclusion: In terms of availability, ease of use and performance, the potential non-specialist user community interested in automatically extracting gene and/or protein interactions from free text is poorly served by current tools and systems. The public release of extraction tools that are easy to install and use, and that achieve state-of-art levels of performance should be treated as a high priority by the biomedical text mining community

Outcomes of total hip arthroplasty, as a salvage procedure, following failed internal fixation of intracapsular fractures of the femoral neck: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

AIMS: The optimal management of intracapsular fractures of the femoral neck in independently mobile patients remains open to debate. Successful fixation obviates the limitations of arthroplasty for this group of patients. However, with fixation failure rates as high as 30%, the outcome of revision surgery to salvage total hip arthroplasty (THA) must be considered. We carried out a systematic review to compare the outcomes of salvage THA and primary THA for intracapsular fractures of the femoral neck. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We performed a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) compliant systematic review, using the PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane libraries databases. A meta-analysis was performed where possible, and a narrative synthesis when a meta-analysis was not possible. RESULTS: Our analyses revealed a significantly increased risk of complications including deep infection, early dislocation and peri-prosthetic fracture with salvage THA when compared with primary THA for an intracapsular fracture of the femoral neck (overall risk ratio of 3.15). Functional outcomes assessment using EuroQoL (EQ)-5D were not significantly different (p = 0.3). CONCLUSION: Salvage THA carries a significantly higher risk of complications than primary THA for intracapsular fractured neck of femur. Current literature is still lacking well designed studies to provide a full answer to the question. TAKE HOME MESSAGE: Salvage THA is associated with more complications than primary THA for intracapsular neck of femur fractures

Genetic variants of Anaplasma phagocytophilum from 14 equine granulocytic anaplasmosis cases

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Equine Granulocytic Anaplasmosis (EGA) is caused by <it>Anaplasma phagocytophilum</it>, a tick-transmitted, obligate intracellular bacterium. In Europe, it is transmitted by <it>Ixodes ricinus</it>. A large number of genetic variants of <it>A. phagocytophilum </it>circulate in nature and have been found in ticks and different animals. Attempts have been made to assign certain genetic variants to certain host species or pathologies, but have not been successful so far. The purpose of this study was to investigate the causing agent <it>A. phagocytophilum </it>of 14 cases of EGA in naturally infected horses with molecular methods on the basis of 4 partial genes (<it>16S rRNA</it>, <it>groEL</it>, <it>msp2</it>, and <it>msp4</it>).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>All DNA extracts of EDTA-blood samples of the horses gave bands of the correct nucleotide size in all four genotyping PCRs. Sequence analysis revealed 4 different variants in the partial <it>16S rRNA</it>, <it>groEL </it>gene and <it>msp2 </it>genes, and 3 in the <it>msp4 </it>gene. One <it>16S rRNA </it>gene variant involved in 11 of the 14 cases was identical to the "prototype" variant causing disease in humans in the amplified part [GenBank: <ext-link ext-link-id="U02521" ext-link-type="gen">U02521</ext-link>]. Phylogenetic analysis revealed as expected for the <it>groEL </it>gene that sequences from horses clustered separately from roe deer. Sequences of the partial <it>msp2 </it>gene from this study formed a separate cluster from ruminant variants in Europe and from all US variants.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results show that more than one variant of <it>A. phagocytophilum </it>seems to be involved in EGA in Germany. The comparative genetic analysis of the variants involved points towards different natural cycles in the epidemiology of <it>A. phagocytophilum</it>, possibly involving different reservoir hosts or host adaptation, rather than a strict species separation.</p

Sperm design and variation in the New World blackbirds (Icteridae)

Post-copulatory sexual selection (PCSS) is thought to be one of the evolutionary forces responsible for the rapid and divergent evolution of sperm design. However, whereas in some taxa particular sperm traits are positively associated with PCSS, in other taxa, these relationships are negative, and the causes of these different patterns across taxa are poorly understood. In a comparative study using New World blackbirds (Icteridae), we tested whether sperm design was influenced by the level of PCSS and found significant positive associations with the level of PCSS for all sperm components but head length. Additionally, whereas the absolute length of sperm components increased, their variation declined with the intensity of PCSS, indicating stabilizing selection around an optimal sperm design. Given the diversity of, and strong selection on, sperm design, it seems likely that sperm phenotype may influence sperm velocity within species. However, in contrast to other recent studies of passerine birds, but consistent with several other studies, we found no significant link between sperm design and velocity, using four different species that vary both in sperm design and PCSS. Potential reasons for this discrepancy between studies are discussed

Fifteen new risk loci for coronary artery disease highlight arterial-wall-specific mechanisms

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Although 58 genomic regions have been associated with CAD thus far, most of the heritability is unexplained, indicating that additional susceptibility loci await identification. An efficient discovery strategy may be larger-scale evaluation of promising associations suggested by genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Hence, we genotyped 56,309 participants using a targeted gene array derived from earlier GWAS results and performed meta-analysis of results with 194,427 participants previously genotyped, totaling 88,192 CAD cases and 162,544 controls. We identified 25 new SNP-CAD associations (P &lt; 5 × 10(-8), in fixed-effects meta-analysis) from 15 genomic regions, including SNPs in or near genes involved in cellular adhesion, leukocyte migration and atherosclerosis (PECAM1, rs1867624), coagulation and inflammation (PROCR, rs867186 (p.Ser219Gly)) and vascular smooth muscle cell differentiation (LMOD1, rs2820315). Correlation of these regions with cell-type-specific gene expression and plasma protein levels sheds light on potential disease mechanisms

The landscape of a Swedish boat-grave cemetery

This is the published PDF version of an article published in Landscapes© 2010. The definitive version is available at http://www.maneyonline.com/toc/lan/11/1The paper integrates topographical and experiential approaches to the mortuary landscape of a Viking period inhumation-grave excavated in 2005 within the cemetery at Skamby, Kuddy parish, Östergötland province, Sweden. We argue that the landscape context was integral to the performance of the funerary ceremonies and the subsequent monumental presence of the dead in the landscape. We offer a way to move beyond monocausal explanations for burial location based on single-scale analyses. Instead, we suggest that boat-inhumation at Skamby was a commemorative strategy that operated on multiple scales and drew its significance from multiple landscape attributes.British Academ

Benznidazole-Resistance in Trypanosoma cruzi Is a Readily Acquired Trait That Can Arise Independently in a Single Population

Benznidazole is the frontline drug used against Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease. However, treatment failures are often reported. Here, we demonstrate that independently acquired mutations in the gene encoding a mitochondrial nitroreductase (TcNTR) can give rise to distinct drug-resistant clones within a single population. Following selection of benznidazole-resistant parasites, all clones examined had lost one of the chromosomes containing the TcNTR gene. Sequence analysis of the remaining TcNTR allele revealed 3 distinct mutant genes in different resistant clones. Expression studies showed that these mutant proteins were unable to activate benznidazole. This correlated with loss of flavin mononucleotide binding. The drug-resistant phenotype could be reversed by transfection with wild-type TcNTR. These results identify TcNTR as a central player in acquired resistance to benznidazole. They also demonstrate that T. cruzi has a propensity to undergo genetic changes that can lead to drug resistance, a finding that has implications for future therapeutic strategies