231 research outputs found
La peche artisanale maritime en Cote d'Ivoire: le potentiel de peche
The marine artisanal fishery in Ivory Coast covers all the continental shelf, with high activities around Abidjan and San-Pedro. Four types of fishing tackles are recorded: purse seines, beach seines, gillnets and lines. The first three ones are used by Fanti and Awran, who represent three quarters of total artisanal fishermen; lines are used by Ghan, Aladjan and Nanakrou. Canoe, the only artisanal way of navigation, varies in size and shape according to the different fishing communities
Persistent risk for new, subsequent new and recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma despite successful anti-hepatitis B virus therapy and tumor ablation: The need for hepatitis B virus cure.
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the most significant hepatocarcinogens. The ultimate goal of anti-HBV treatment is to prevent the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). During the last two decades, with the use of currently available anti-HBV therapies (lamivudine, entecavir and tenofovir disoproxil fumatate), there has been a decrease in the incidence of HBV-associated HCC (HBV-HCC). Furthermore, several studies have demonstrated a reduction in recurrent or new HCC development after initial HCC tumor ablation. However, during an observation period spanning 10 to 20 years, several case reports have demonstrated the development of new, subsequent new and recurrent HCC even in patients with undetectable serum HBV DNA. The persistent risk for HCC is attributed to the presence of covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) in the hepatocyte nucleus which continues to work as a template for HBV replication. While a functional cure (loss of hepatitis B surface antigen and undetectable viral DNA) can be attained with nucleos(t)ide analogues, these therapies do not eliminate cccDNA. Of utmost importance is successful eradication of the transcriptionally active HBV cccDNA from hepatocyte nuclei which would be considered a complete cure. The unpredictable nature of HCC development in patients with chronic HBV infection shows the need for a complete cure. Continued support and encouragement for research efforts aimed at developing curative therapies is imperative. The aims of this minireview are to highlight these observations and emphasize the need for a cure for HBV
Dynamics of Helping Behavior and Networks in a Small World
To investigate an effect of social interaction on the bystanders'
intervention in emergency situations a rescue model was introduced which
includes the effects of the victim's acquaintance with bystanders and those
among bystanders from a network perspective. This model reproduces the
experimental result that the helping rate (success rate in our model) tends to
decrease although the number of bystanders increases. And the interaction
among homogeneous bystanders results in the emergence of hubs in a helping
network. For more realistic consideration it is assumed that the agents are
located on a one-dimensional lattice (ring), then the randomness
is introduced: the random bystanders are randomly chosen from a whole
population and the near bystanders are chosen in the nearest order to
the victim. We find that there appears another peak of the network density in
the vicinity of and due to the cooperative and competitive
interaction between the near and random bystanders.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figure
Pattern Formation in a Two-Dimensional Array of Oscillators with Phase-Shifted Coupling
We investigate the dynamics of a two-dimensional array of oscillators with
phase-shifted coupling. Each oscillator is allowed to interact with its
neighbors within a finite radius. The system exhibits various patterns
including squarelike pinwheels, (anti)spirals with phase-randomized cores, and
antiferro patterns embedded in (anti)spirals. We consider the symmetry
properties of the system to explain the observed behaviors, and estimate the
wavelengths of the patterns by linear analysis. Finally, we point out the
implications of our work for biological neural networks
Usefulness of Highly Sensitive AFP-L3 and DCP in Surveillance for Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Patients with a Normal Alpha-Fetoprotein
Background and aims: Early detection of Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) is crucial for effective management. Incidence of HCC has increased in the United States largely attributed to hepatitis B and C virus. Lens culinaris agglutinin-reactive Alpha-Fetoprotein (AFP-L3) and Des-Gamma-Carboxy Prothrombin (DCP) are being recognized specific biomarkers for HCC.
Methods: We measured AFP-L3 and DCP in serial serum specimens of a cohort of chronic hepatitis patients on HCC surveillance and compared these markers to abdominal imaging. Among fifty patients who developed HCC during surveillance, 30 were included in the study with available sera 1-2 years before, at diagnosis and post ablation of HCC. For controls, three consecutive annual sera were examined from 106 chronic hepatitis patients without HCC during surveillance for 5-10 years. The μTASWako i30 auto analyzer was used for the assay that utilizes the microfluidics chip based assay platform. It can fractionate AFP-L3 glycoform and calculates AFP-L3% if AFP level is ≥ 0.6 ng/mL.
Results: Combination of AFP, AFP-L3 and DCP showed high sensitivity of 83% in all patients and 75% in patients with AFP\u3c20 ng/mL. AFP-L3 and DCP assays were useful in patients with low levels of AFP (\u3c20 ng/mL) and could detect significant AFP-L3% elevation in some patients more than one year before the diagnosis of HCC. Furthermore, AFP-L3 predicted recurrence of HCC.
Conclusions: This is the first study in the U.S. patients using the μTASWako i30 analyzer to test these HCC biomarkers. Our results suggest that combinations of these biomarkers are highly useful for early detection of HCC
Solitary Dust--Acoustic Waves in a Plasma with Two-Temperature Ions and Distributed Grain Size
The propagation of weakly nonlinear dust--acoustic waves in a dusty plasma
containing two ion species with different temperatures is explored. The
nonlinear equations describing both the quadratic and cubic plasma
nonlinearities are derived. It is shown that the properties of dust--acoustic
waves depend substantially on the grain size distribution. In particular, for
solitary dust--acoustic waves with a positive potential to exist in a plasma
with distributed grain size, it is necessary that the difference between the
temperatures of two ion species be large that that in the case of unusized
grains.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figure
Nearest pattern interaction and global pattern formation
We studied the effect of nearest pattern interaction on a globally pattern
formation in a 2-dimensional space, where patterns are to grow initially from a
noise in the presence of periodic supply of energy. Although our approach is
general, we found that this study is relevant in particular to the pattern
formation on a periodically vibrated granular layer, as it gives a unified
perspective of the experimentally observed pattern dynamics such as oscillon
and stripe formations, skew-varicose and crossroll instabilities, and also a
kink formation and decoration
A long-term study of the effects of antiviral therapy on survival of patients with HBV-associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) following local tumor ablation.
The ultimate goal of antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is prevention of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Earlier we reported favorable effects of antiviral therapy on survival of HCC patients following curative tumor ablation (Int J Cancer online 14 April 2010; doi: 10.1002/ijc.25382). It was the first observation made in the United States. We now report 12 year follow-up of this patient group. CHB patients with no prior antiviral therapy with a single HCC (≤ 7 cm) were studied. All patients underwent local tumor ablation as their first option. Patients diagnosed before 1999 received no antiviral treatment while those diagnosed after 1999 received antiviral treatment. Survival between the treated and untreated groups was compared. Among 555 HCC patients seen at our clinic between 1991 and 2013, 25 subjects were eligible. Nine subjects (all male patients, median age 53 years [46-66]) did not receive antiviral therapy while 16 (14 male patients, median age 56 years [20-73]) received treatment. Between the two groups, there was no difference in their median tumor size and levels of alpha-fetoprotein and albumin. However, the survival was significantly different (P = 0.001): the median survival of the untreated was 16 months (3-36 months) while that of the treated was 80 months (15-152 months). Fourteen of 16 treated patients are alive to date with two longest survivors alive for ≥ 151 months. In conclusion, concomitant antiviral therapy for CHB patients with HCC reduces and prevents new/recurrent tumor and improves survival. This novel treatment strategy offers an alternative to liver transplantation in patients with HBV-associated HCC
Over-Time Impacts of Pictorial Health Warning Labels and their Differences across Smoker Subgroups:Results from Adult Smokers in Canada and Australia
Introduction: This study examines patterns of change in different smoker subgroups' responses to new pictorial health warning labels (HWLs) over the initial, two year post-implementation period in Canada, where HWLs include package inserts with cessation messages, and Australia, where "plain" packaging (i.e., prohibition of brand imagery) was also implemented. Methods: Data were collected from online consumer panels in Canada (n(smokers) = 3153; n(observations) = 5826) and Australia (n(smokers) = 2699; n(observations) = 5818) from September 2012 to September 2014, with approximately 1000 adult smokers surveyed in each country every four months, using replenishment to maintain sample size. Data were analyzed using generalized estimating equation models where main effects and interactions among time, country, and socio-demographic factors on HWL responses (i.e., attention to HWLs; cognitive and behavioral responses to HWLs) were examined. Results: Over time, attention to HWLs declined but cognitive and forgoing responses to HWLs increased, in both Canada and Australia. In both countries, compared to smokers with low income and/or education, smokers with high income and/or education showed an increase over time in attention and cognitive responses to HWLs (p < .05). In Australia only, compared to older smokers, younger smokers showed less decline over time in attention and greater increase in cognitive and forgoing responses to HWLs (p < .001). Conclusions: Novel HWL policies in Canada and Australia appear effective in staving off "wear out" over the first 2 years after implementation, particularly amongst smokers who are from higher SES groups and, in Australia, who are younger. Implications: Previous research shows that the effects of health warning label (HWL) on smokers decline over time, but no studies to date have evaluated whether trends differ across socio-demographic groups. This study suggests that innovative policy configurations that combine prominent pictorial HWLs with inserts (Canada) and with "plain" packaging (Australia) may delay wear out over the first 2 years after implementation. While this study found evidence for wear out in attention to HWLs, other HWL responses (cognitive responses, forgoing cigarettes) actually increased over time, with greater increases amongst smokers with higher income and/or education
- …