Potential latitudinal variation in orodigestive tract cancers in Africa

BACKGROUND. Previous studies have alluded to a causal relationship between pathological entities and geographical variations, but there is a paucity of studies from Africa discussing the effect of latitudinal variation on orodigestive cancers in this region. It seems plausible that the burden of orodigestive cancer would differ as a result of variations in diet, cultural habits, climate and environmental conditions down the length of Africa. OBJECTIVES. To analyse regional variations in prevalence, incidence and mortality data in the global cancer statistics database (GLOBOCAN 2012) curated by the World Health Organization and the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Basic descriptive statistical tools were used to depict regional variations in cancer morbidity and mortality. METHODS. Data on 13 African countries between longitude 20⁰ and 30⁰ east and latitude 35⁰ north and 35⁰ south were examined for variation in age-standardised orodigestive cancer prevalence, incidence and mortality. Possible regional causes for orodigestive tract cancer development were investigated. Data on lip and oral cavity, oesophageal, gastric, colorectal, liver, gallbladder and pancreatic cancers in the RESULTS. Our empirical findings from this preliminary study support the notion that the incidence and prevalence of orodigestive cancers vary within Africa. This effect may be due to environmental, economic, political and possibly genetic factors. CONCLUSIONS. Considering the heterogeneity of the above factors across Africa, disbursement of funding for cancer research and therapy in Africa should be focused in terms of regional variations to make best use of the fiscal allocation by African governments, non-governmental organisations and international agencies

Inhibition of Bacterial Growth and Biofilm Production by Metabolites from Hypericum spp

Biofilm embedded bacterial pathogens such as Staphylococcus spp., Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter baumannii are difficult to eradicate and are major sources of bacterial infections. New drugs are needed to combat these pathogens. Hypericum is a plant genus that contains species known to have antimicrobial properties. However, the specific metabolites responsible for the antimicrobial properties are not entirely known, nor have most compounds been tested as inhibitors of biofilm development. The investigation presented here tested seven secondary metabolites isolated from the species Hypericum densiflorum, Hypericum ellipticum, Hypericum prolificum and Hypericum punctatum as inhibitors of bacterial growth and biofilm production. Assays were conducted against Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus aureus, clinical methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and Acinetobacter baumannii. Five of the seven metabolites demonstrated growth inhibition against the Gram-positive bacteria with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) ranging from 1.95 µg/mL to 7.81 µg/mL. Four of the metabolites inhibited biofilm production by certain Gram-positive strains at sub-MIC concentrations

Accuracy of clinical coding for procedures in oral and maxillofacial surgery.

Clinical coding has important financial implications, and discrepancies in the assigned codes can directly affect the funding of a department and hospital. Over the last few years, numerous oversights have been noticed in the coding of oral and maxillofacial (OMF) procedures. To establish the accuracy and completeness of coding, we retrospectively analysed the records of patients during two time periods: March to May 2009 (324 patients), and January to March 2014 (200 patients). Two investigators independently collected and analysed the data to ensure accuracy and remove bias. A large proportion of operations were not assigned all the relevant codes, and only 32% - 33% were correct in both cycles. To our knowledge, this is the first reported audit of clinical coding in OMFS, and it highlights serious shortcomings that have substantial financial implications. Better input by the surgical team and improved communication between the surgical and coding departments will improve accuracy

Steady water waves with multiple critical layers: interior dynamics

We study small-amplitude steady water waves with multiple critical layers. Those are rotational two-dimensional gravity-waves propagating over a perfect fluid of finite depth. It is found that arbitrarily many critical layers with cat's-eye vortices are possible, with different structure at different levels within the fluid. The corresponding vorticity depends linearly on the stream function.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures. As accepted for publication in J. Math. Fluid Mec

An evidence map of psychosocial interventions for the earliest stages of bipolar disorder.

Depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder are three of the four most burdensome problems in people aged under 25 years. In psychosis and depression, psychological interventions are effective, low-risk, and high-benefit approaches for patients at high risk of first-episode or early-onset disorders. We review the use of psychological interventions for early-stage bipolar disorder in patients aged 15-25 years. Because previous systematic reviews had struggled to identify information about this emerging sphere of research, we used evidence mapping to help us identify the extent, distribution, and methodological quality of evidence because the gold standard approaches were only slightly informative or appropriate. This strategy identified 29 studies in three target groups: ten studies in populations at high risk for bipolar disorder, five studies in patients with a first episode, and 14 studies in patients with early-onset bipolar disorder. Of the 20 completed studies, eight studies were randomised trials, but only two had sample sizes of more than 100 individuals. The main interventions used were family, cognitive behavioural, and interpersonal therapies. Only behavioural family therapies were tested across all of our three target groups. Although the available interventions were well adapted to the level of maturity and social environment of young people, few interventions target specific developmental psychological or physiological processes (eg, ruminative response style or delayed sleep phase), or offer detailed strategies for the management of substance use or physical health

Mixed Models with n>1 and Large Scale Structure constraints

Recent data on CBR anisotropies show a Doppler peak higher than expected in CDM cosmological models, if the spectral index $n=1$. However, CDM and LCDM models with n>1 can hardly be consistent with LSS data. Mixed models, instead, whose transfer function is naturally steeper because of free--streaming in the hot component, may become consistent with data if n>1, when Omega_h is large. This is confirmed by our detailed analysis, extended both to models with a hot component whose momentum space distribution had a thermal origin (like massive neutrinos), and to models with a non--cold component arising from heavier particle decay. In this work we systematically search models which fulfill all constraints which can be implemented at the linear level. We find that a stringent linear constraint arises from fitting the extra-power parameter Gamma. Other significant constraints arise comparing the expected abundances of galaxy clusters and high-z systems with observational data. Keeping to models with Gamma \geq 0.13, a suitable part of the space parameter still allows up to \sim 30% of hot component (it is worth outlining that our stringent criteria allow only models with 0.10 \mincir Omega_h \mincir 0.16, if n \leq 1). We also outline that models with such large non--cold component would ease the solution of the so--called baryon catastrophe in galaxy clusters.Comment: 28 pages + 9 figures, uses elsart.sty, to be published in New Astronom

An enrichment method for temperature-sensitive and auxotrophic mutants of yeast

An enrichment procedure that exploits the difference in heat-sensitivity between exponentially growing and stationary phase cells has been developed for the isolation of yeast mutants. Enrichments of up to 12-fold for temperature-sensitive lethal mutants and of up to 15-fold for auxotrophs have been obtained with single cycles of selection. Still higher enrichments (to frequencies of greater than 90% and 80% for temperature-sensitive lethals and auxotrophs, respectively) have been obtained with multiple cycles of selection. The method requires no special parent strain, and seems adaptable to the selection of a wide variety of types of mutants.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47545/1/438_2004_Article_BF00274022.pd

The Centurion 18 telescope of the Wise Observatory

We describe the second telescope of the Wise Observatory, a 0.46-m Centurion 18 (C18) installed in 2005, which enhances significantly the observing possibilities. The telescope operates from a small dome and is equipped with a large-format CCD camera. In the last two years this telescope was intensively used in a variety of monitoring projects. The operation of the C18 is now automatic, requiring only start-up at the beginning of a night and close-down at dawn. The observations are mostly performed remotely from the Tel Aviv campus or even from the observer's home. The entire facility was erected for a component cost of about 70k$ and a labor investment of a total of one man-year. We describe three types of projects undertaken with this new facility: the measurement of asteroid light variability with the purpose of determining physical parameters and binarity, the following-up of transiting extrasolar planets, and the study of AGN variability. The successful implementation of the C18 demonstrates the viability of small telescopes in an age of huge light-collectors, provided the operation of such facilities is very efficient.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, some figures quality was degraded, accepted for publication in Astrophysics and Space Scienc

Slow Epidemic of Lymphogranuloma Venereum L2b Strain

We traced the Chlamydia trachomatis L2b variant in Amsterdam and San Francisco. All recent lymphogranuloma venereum cases in Amsterdam were caused by the L2b variant. This variant was also present in the 1980s in San Francisco. Thus, the current "outbreak" is most likely a slowly evolving epidemic