Overdiagnosis and overtreatment of breast cancer: Overdiagnosis in randomised controlled trials of breast cancer screening

Data from randomised controlled trials of mammographic screening can be used to determine the extent of any overdiagnosis, as soon as either a time equivalent to the lead-time has elapsed after the final screen, or the control arm has been offered screening. This paper reviews those randomised trials for which breast cancer incidence data are available. In recent trials in which the control group has not been offered screening, an excess incidence of breast cancer remains after many years of follow-up. In those trials in which the control arm has been offered screening, although there is a possible shift from invasive to in situ disease, there is no evidence of overdiagnosis as a result of incident screens

The Hair Cell α9α10 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor: Odd Cousin in an Old Family

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are a subfamily of pentameric ligand-gated ion channels with members identified in most eumetazoan clades. In vertebrates, they are divided into three subgroups, according to their main tissue of expression: neuronal, muscle and hair cell nAChRs. Each receptor subtype is composed of different subunits, encoded by paralogous genes. The latest to be identified are the α9 and α10 subunits, expressed in the mechanosensory hair cells of the inner ear and the lateral line, where they mediate efferent modulation. α9α10 nAChRs are the most divergent amongst all nicotinic receptors, showing marked differences in their degree of sequence conservation, their expression pattern, their subunit co-assembly rules and, most importantly, their functional properties. Here, we review recent advances in the understanding of the structure and evolution of nAChRs. We discuss the functional consequences of sequence divergence and conservation, with special emphasis on the hair cell α9α10 receptor, a seemingly distant cousin of neuronal and muscle nicotinic receptors. Finally, we highlight potential links between the evolution of the octavolateral system and the extreme divergence of vertebrate α9α10 receptors

The Impact of Noise and Dust Level on Rental Price of Residential Tenements around Lafarge Cement Factory in Ewekoro Town, Nigeria

This study employed hedonic pricing model to investigate the impact of noise and dust spewed from a cement factory on a sample of 126 tenements from 11 residential settlements within Ewekoro local housing market in Nigeria. Market-wide hedonic model for all the 126 tenements within 5.5km of the cement factory) was estimated. In addition, two separate unrestricted hedonic models were also estimated (the first consisting of 38 tenements within 2.5km of the factory and the other comprising 88 tenements located between 2.5km to 5.5km of the factory). The hedonic models which take the doublelog functional form were estimated with house rent (a proxy for house price) as the dependent variable. Generally, the results of the market-wide model revealed that, dust level and noise, which are negative externalities from the cement factory dampen rent by 21.90% (N 13815) and 1.49% (N 24.80) respectively within the study area. Findings from the unrestricted models further signify that tenement rents tend to decrease with increasing distance to Lafarge cement factory due to severity of dust and noise. As panacea to this problem it is recommended that government should provide policy response - the introduction of effluent fees which would force the cement and other manufacturing companies to internalize their externalities by paying for noise and dust pollution. The basic objective of such policy response is for manufacturing companies to move to the use of energy efficient and eco-friendly plants that generate less noise and dust in their production operations. On the other, the cement company should also imbibe Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as part of its efforts in providing a sustainable living environment for the residents in Ewekoro town.Key words: Cement factory, Externalities, Hedonic modelling, Tenements, Settlements

Rigid and Schurian modules over cluster-tilted algebras of tame type

We give an example of a cluster-tilted algebra Λ with quiver Q, such that the associated cluster algebra A(Q) has a denominator vector which is not the dimension vector of any indecomposable Λ-module. This answers a question posed by T. Nakanishi. The relevant example is a cluster-tilted algebra associated with a tame hereditary algebra. We show that for such a cluster-tilted algebra Λ, we can write any denominator vector as a sum of the dimension vectors of at most three indecomposable rigid Λ-modules. In order to do this it is necessary, and of independent interest, to first classify the indecomposable rigid Λ-modules in this case

Effet du système de production sur l'âge au premier vêlage chez la vache Borgou au Bénin. – Etude rétrospective

Effect of Production Systems on Age at First Calving on Borgou Cow in Benin. -Retrospective Study. Data collected from "Monastère de l'Etoile" in department of Borgou in Benin, were used to evaluate the age at first calving of Borgou cow under two different production systems, i.e., extensive and semi-intensive. Production systems significantly affect age at first calving (p< 0.01): cow represented in the extensive system had a higher age at first calving than those presented in the semi-intensive system

Fractional Euler-Lagrange differential equations via Caputo derivatives

We review some recent results of the fractional variational calculus. Necessary optimality conditions of Euler-Lagrange type for functionals with a Lagrangian containing left and right Caputo derivatives are given. Several problems are considered: with fixed or free boundary conditions, and in presence of integral constraints that also depend on Caputo derivatives.Comment: This is a preprint of a paper whose final and definite form will appear as Chapter 9 of the book Fractional Dynamics and Control, D. Baleanu et al. (eds.), Springer New York, 2012, DOI:10.1007/978-1-4614-0457-6_9, in pres

Behavioral Social Choice: Probabilistic Models, Statistical Inference, and Applications

Behavioral Social Choice looks at the probabilistic foundations of collective decision-making rules. The authors challenge much of the existing theoretical wisdom about social choice processes, and seek to restore faith in the possibility of democratic decision-making. In particular, they argue that worries about the supposed prevalence of majority rule cycles that would preclude groups from reaching a final decision about what alternative they prefer have been greatly overstated. In practice, majority rule can be expected to work well in most real-world settings. Furthermore, if there is a problem, they show that the problem is more likely to be one of sample estimates missing the majority winner in a close contest (e.g., Bush-Gore) than a problem about cycling. The authors also provide new mathematical tools to estimate the prevalence of cycles as a function of sample size and insights into how alternative model specifications can change our estimates of social orderings

The relationship between serum bilirubin level with interleukin.6, interleukin.10 and mortality scores in patients with sepsis

Context: Bilirubin has been shown to influence the mechanisms of both apoptosis and inflammation.Aims: The aim of the following study is to investigate the relationship between the serum bilirubin level with sepsis progression.Settings and Design: A total of 20 patients from intensive care unit were included for this study.Materials and Methods: Patients were divided into two groups: Patients diagnosed with sepsis according to the American College of Chest  Physicians/Society of Clinical Care Medicine consensus conference criteria (n = 10) and patients treated for various other diagnoses (n = 10). Blood samples were collected for both groups at the time of origin (defined as the time of diagnosis) and 24 and 48 h after diagnosis. Serum interleukin (IL).6, IL.10 and bilirubin levels were analyzed and compared. Acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE) II and sepsis related organ failure (SOFA) scores of the patients were also evaluated. Statistical Analysis Used: We used Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS for Windows, version 17.0, SPSS Inc. 233 South Wacker Drive, Chicago) for statistical analysis.Results: At all.time intervals, serum IL.6, IL.10 and total, direct and  indirect serum bilirubin levels were significantly higher in the sepsis group (P < 0.05); APACHE II and SOFA scores were also significantly higher. Both SOFA scores and serum IL.10 levels were positively correlated with bilirubin levels 24 h after diagnosis (P < 0.05, r = .0.76).Conclusions: Although levels of bilirubin and other associated parameters were higher for the sepsis group, only SOFA score and bilirubin levels were correlated. Because bilirubin is already a SOFA parameter, this correlation was not considered as clinically significant.Key words: Acute physiology and chronic health evaluation, bilirubin, interleukin.6, interleukin.10, sepsi