Assessing the validity of western measurement of online risks to children in an Asian context

Before the advent of the Internet, television with limited channels was the only media choice that most children were exposed to, and took place under family supervision. Children’s television viewing was controllable and the risks were limited to watching sexual and violent content. Nowadays, children are surrounded by a variety of digital media and are exposed to many different risks, many of which are still unknown and under-researched. For many children, the Internet is fully integrated into their daily lives, along with the potential risks. The present study aimed to (i) describe the level of risks children are exposed to, and (2) test the measurement validity of a total of 45 items assessing nine scales online risky behavior in children were adapted from studies carried out in Europe and the United States. The study comprised 420 school going children aged 9, 11, 13, 14, and 16 studying in Malaysia. Descriptive analyses showed that children were more exposed to ‘unwanted exposure to pornography’ and less to ‘conduct risk’. Boys and older children were more exposed to the risks compared to girls and younger children. The study validated five dimensions (inappropriate materials, sexting, contact-related risks on, risky online sexual behavior, and bullying/being bullied) assessing children’s online risky behavior by using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Further research is needed to investigate the measurement of children’s online risk, since the scales developed in Europe and the United States are not wholly suitable to an Asian context

Restriction Inhibition Assay: A Qualitative and Quantitative Method to Screen Sequence Specific DNA Binder from Herbal Plants

Purpose: To employ restriction inhibition assay (RIA) to screen phytochemical-rich fractions (PRFs) with high affinity for EcoRI and HindIII restriction sequences and correlate their interaction to an anticancer activity.Methods: pBR322 linear plasmid DNA was used as a template to screen the sequence-selective inhibition of aqueous extracts of Cinnamomum zeylanicum and Picrorhiza kurroa, respectively. The template was further incubated with different concentrations of PRFs prior to digestion with restriction endonucleases HindIII and EcoRI. The Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) and Sequence Tag Sites (STS) of oncogenes were screened for the presence of EcoRI and HindIII restriction sequences to associate an anticancer property to PRF.Results: The inhibitory concentrations of Cinnamomum zeylanicum aqueous extract against HindIII and EcoRI endonucleases were approximately 2.5 and 5 μg/μl, respectively. No binding was observed for Picrorhiza kurroa at both HindIII and EcoRI restriction sites. The saponin-rich fractions of Cinnamomum zeylanicum showed significant (p < 0.001) inhibition as compared to control at concentrations of 0.28±1.45 μg/μl for EcoRI and 0.11±2.68 μg/μl for HindIII endonucleases. Both EcoRI and HindIII restriction sites were found repeatedly in the STS and ESTs of BRCA2, the early onset oncogene.Conclusion: The inhibition of endonucleases by phytochemical-rich fractions provides direct evidence of the use of RIA for screening as well as demonstrating the binding specificity of these PRFs. The presence of 5’-AAGCTT-3’ & 5’-GAATTC-3’ in the ESTs of BRAC2 provides an insight into the use of screened components as leads in the search for novel anticancer compounds.Keywords: Restriction endonucleases, Restriction sites, Phytochemicals, Restriction inhibition assay (RIA), Binding specificity, Oncogenes, Sequence tag sites, Expressed sequence tag, Anticancer

Light and temperature effects on sprout yield and its proximate composition and vitamin C content in Lignosus and Mung beans

Bean sprout is used as vegetables. The present study investigated the effect of temperature and light on seed germination and sprout yield, and proximate (crude protein, crude fat, crude fibre, nitrogen free extract and ash) composition of sprout in Lignosus (Dipogon lignosus (L.) Verdc.) and Mung (Vigna radiata Wilczek) beans. Three temperatures (ambient, 25o and 30oC) and two light regimes; continuous dark, (CD) and continuous dark alternated by ½ hour light daily, (DAL) were used for seed germination and bean sprout yield. Data were collected 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 hours after setting the presoaked seeds in the petri dishes. Of the temperature regimes, generally better seed germination and sprout fresh weight (yield) were observed at 25oC in Mung bean and 30oC in Lignosus bean. Germination and sprout yield were similar under CD and DAL. Both under CD and DAL, sprout yield was higher after 120 hours compared to 96 hrs after germination in both the beans. Proximate composition of dry seeds and their sprouts was also determined. Irrespective of species, crude protein content was significantly higher in sprout (average of 29.33%) than dry seed (average of 24.33%).Vitamin C was significantly higher in Lignosus bean sprout (20.93 mg 100g-1) compared to Mung bean sprout (9.52 mg 100g-1). This is the first world report on Lignosus bean sprout. It may be concluded that better sprout yield and good protein content were obtained at 25oC in Mung bean and 30oC in Lignosus bean after 120 hrs of germination irrespective of dark and light

The Out-of-Equilibrium Time-Dependent Gutzwiller Approximation

We review the recently proposed extension of the Gutzwiller approximation, M. Schiro' and M. Fabrizio, Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 076401 (2010), designed to describe the out-of-equilibrium time-evolution of a Gutzwiller-type variational wave function for correlated electrons. The method, which is strictly variational in the limit of infinite lattice-coordination, is quite general and flexible, and it is applicable to generic non-equilibrium conditions, even far beyond the linear response regime. As an application, we discuss the quench dynamics of a single-band Hubbard model at half-filling, where the method predicts a dynamical phase transition above a critical quench that resembles the sharp crossover observed by time-dependent dynamical mean field theory. We next show that one can actually define in some cases a multi-configurational wave function combination of a whole set of mutually orthogonal Gutzwiller wave functions. The Hamiltonian projected in that subspace can be exactly evaluated and is equivalent to a model of auxiliary spins coupled to non-interacting electrons, closely related to the slave-spin theories for correlated electron models. The Gutzwiller approximation turns out to be nothing but the mean-field approximation applied to that spin-fermion model, which displays, for any number of bands and integer fillings, a spontaneous $Z_2$ symmetry breaking that can be identified as the Mott insulator-to-metal transition.Comment: 25 pages. Proceedings of the Hvar 2011 Workshop on 'New materials for thermoelectric applications: theory and experiment

Comments on a class of orthogonality relations relevant to fluid-structure interaction

Copyright @ 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V

Transplantation for renal failure secondary to enteric hyperoxaluria: a case report

Enteric hyperoxaluria can lead to renal failure. There have only been a few reports of renal transplantation as treatment of endstage renal disease secondary to enteric hyperoxaluria and results have been mixed. This report describes a patient with Crohn's disease who developed chronic renal failure from enteric hyperoxaluria. He subsequently had a successful renal transplant without any post-operative oxalate related complications and has satisfactory renal function almost three years later. Aggressive pre-transplant hemodialysis was not done. The literature associated with renal transplantation for enteric hyperoxaluria is reviewed

Risk factors for presentation to hospital with severe anaemia in Tanzanian children: a case-control study.

In malaria endemic areas anaemia is a usually silent condition that nevertheless places a considerable burden on health services. Cases of severe anaemia often require hospitalization and blood transfusions. The objective of this study was to assess risk factors for admission with anaemia to facilitate the design of anaemia control programmes. We conducted a prospective case-control study of children aged 2-59 months admitted to a district hospital in southern Tanzania. There were 216 cases of severe anaemia [packed cell volume (PCV) < 25%] and 234 age-matched controls (PCV > or = 25%). Most cases [55.6% (n = 120)] were < 1 year of age. Anaemia was significantly associated with the educational level of parents, type of accommodation, health-seeking behaviour, the child's nutritional status and recent and current medical history. Of these, the single most important factor was Plasmodium falciparum parasitaemia [OR 4.3, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.9-6.5, P < 0.001]. Multivariate analysis showed that increased recent health expenditure [OR 2.2 (95% CI 1.3-3.9), P = 0.005], malnutrition [OR 2.4 (95%CI 1.3-4.3), P < 0.001], living > 10 km from the hospital [OR 3.0 (95% CI 1.9-4.9), P < 0.001], a history of previous blood transfusion [OR 3.8 (95% CI 1.7-9.1), P < 0.001] and P. falciparum parasitaemia [OR 9.5 (95% CI 4.3-21.3), P < 0.001] were independently related to risk of being admitted with anaemia. These findings are considered in terms of the pathophysiological pathway leading to anaemia. The concentration of anaemia in infants and problems of access to health services and adequate case management underline the need for targeted preventive strategies for anaemia control

Triple-negative breast cancer and PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homologue)loss are predictors of BRCA1 germline mutations in women with early-onset and familial breast cancer, but not in women with isolated late-onset breast cancer

Introduction: Given that breast cancers in germline BRCA1 carriers are predominantly estrogen-negative and triple-negative, it has been suggested that women diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) younger than 50 years should be offered BRCA1 testing, regardless of family cancer characteristics. However, the predictive value of triple-negative breast cancer, when taken in the context of personal and family cancer characteristics, is unknown. The aim of this study was to determine whether TNBC is a predictor of germline BRCA1 mutations, in the context of multiple predictive factors.Methods: Germline mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 were analyzed by Sanger sequencing and multiple ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) analysis in 431 women from the Malaysian Breast Cancer Genetic Study, including 110 women with TNBC. Logistic regression was used to identify and to estimate the predictive strength of major determinants. Estrogen receptor (ER) and phosphatase and tensin homologue (PTEN) status were assessed and included in a modified Manchester scoring method.Results: Our study in an Asian series of TNBC patients demonstrated that 27 (24.5%) of 110 patients have germline mutations in BRCA1 (23 of 110) and BRCA2 (four of 110). We found that among women diagnosed with breast cancer aged 36 to 50 years but with no family history of breast or ovarian cancer, the prevalence of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations was similar in TNBC (8.5%) and non-TNBC patients (6.7%). By contrast, in women diagnosed with breast cancer, younger than 35 years, with no family history of these cancers, and in women with a family history of breast cancer, the prevalence of mutations was higher in TNBC compared with non-TNBC (28.0% and 9.9%; P = 0.045; and 42.1% and 14.2%; P < 0.0001, respectively]. Finally, we found that incorporation of estrogen-receptor and TNBC status improves the sensitivity of the Manchester Scoring method (42.9% to 64.3%), and furthermore, incorporation of PTEN status further improves sensitivity (42.9% to 85.7%).Conclusions: We found that TNBC is an important criterion for highlighting women who may benefit from genetic testing, but that this may be most useful for women with early-onset breast cancer (35 years or younger) or with a family history of cancers. Furthermore, addition of TNBC and PTEN status improves the sensitivity of the Manchester scoring method and may be particularly important in the Asian context, where risk-assessment models underestimate the number of mutation carriers. © 2012 Phuah et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Systemic Treatments for Mesothelioma: Standard and Novel

Systemic therapy is the only treatment option for the majority of mesothelioma patients, for whom age, co-morbid medical illnesses, non-epithelial histology, and locally advanced disease often preclude surgery. For many years, chemotherapy had a minimal impact on the natural history of this cancer, engendering considerable nihilism. Countless drugs were evaluated, most of which achieved response rates below 20% and median survival of <1 year. Several factors have hampered the evaluation of systemic regimens in patients with mesothelioma. The disease is uncommon, affecting only about 2500 Americans annually. Thus, most clinical trials are small, and randomized studies are challenging to accrue. There is significant heterogeneity within the patient populations of these small trials, for several reasons. Since all of the staging systems for mesothelioma are surgically based, it is almost impossible to accurately determine the stage of a patient who has not been resected. Patients with very early stage disease may be lumped together with far more advanced patients in the same study. The disease itself is heterogenous, with many different prognostic factors, most notably three pathologic subtypes—epithelial, sarcomatoid, and biphasic—that have different natural histories, and varying responses to treatment. Finally, response assessment is problematic, since pleural-based lesions are difficult to measure accurately and reproducibly. Assessment criteria often vary between trials, making some cross-trial comparisons difficult to interpret. Despite these limitations, in recent years, there has been a surge of optimism regarding systemic treatment of this disease. Several cytotoxic agents have been shown to generate reproducible responses, improve quality of life, or prolong survival in mesothelioma. Drugs with single-agent activity include pemetrexed, raltitrexed, vinorelbine, and vinflunine. The addition of pemetrexed or raltitrexed to cisplatin prolongs survival. The addition of cisplatin to pemetrexed, raltitrexed, gemcitabine, irinotecan, or vinorelbine improves response rate. The combination of pemetrexed plus cisplatin is considered the benchmark front-line regimen for this disease, based on a phase III trial in 456 patients that yielded a response rate of 41% and a median survival of 12.1 months. Vitamin supplementation with folic acid is essential to decrease toxicity, though recent data suggests that there may be an optimum dose of folic acid that should be administered; higher doses may diminish the effectiveness of pemetrexed. There are also several unresolved questions about the duration and timing of treatment with pemetrexed that are the subject of planned clinical trials. It is essential to recognize that the improvements observed with the pemetrexed/cisplatin combination, though real, are still modest. Other active drugs or drug combinations may be more appropriate for specific individuals, and further research is still needed to improve upon these results. Since the majority of mesotheliomas in the United States occur in the elderly, non-cisplatin-containing pemetrexed combinations may be more appropriate for some patients. Now that effective agents have been developed for initial treatment, several classical cytotoxic drugs and many novel agents are being evaluated in the second-line setting. These include drugs targeted against the epidermal growth factor, platelet-derived growth factor, vascular endothelial growth factor, src kinase, histone deacetylase, the proteasome, and mesothelin. Given the progress made in recent years, there is reason to believe that more effective treatments will continue to be developed