Prostate cancer in BRCA2 germline mutation carriers is associated with poorer prognosis

BACKGROUND: The germline BRCA2 mutation is associated with increased prostate cancer (PrCa) risk. We have assessed survival in young PrCa cases with a germline mutation in BRCA2 and investigated loss of heterozygosity at BRCA2 in their tumours. METHODS: Two cohorts were compared: one was a group with young-onset PrCa, tested for germline BRCA2 mutations (6 of 263 cases had a germline BRAC2 mutation), and the second was a validation set consisting of a clinical set from Manchester of known BRCA2 mutuation carriers (15 cases) with PrCa. Survival data were compared with a control series of patients in a single clinic as determined by Kaplan-Meier estimates. Loss of heterozygosity was tested for in the DNA of tumour tissue of the young-onset group by typing four microsatellite markers that flanked the BRCA2 gene, followed by sequencing. RESULTS: Median survival of all PrCa cases with a germline BRCA2 mutation was shorter at 4.8 years than was survival in controls at 8.5 years (P = 0.002). Loss of heterozygosity was found in the majority of tumours of BRCA2 mutation carriers. Multivariate analysis confirmed that the poorer survival of PrCa in BRCA2 mutation carriers is associated with the germline BRCA2 mutation per se. CONCLUSION: BRCA2 germline mutation is an independent prognostic factor for survival in PrCa. Such patients should not be managed with active surveillance as they have more aggressive disease. British Journal of Cancer (2010) 103, 918-924. doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6605822 www.bjcancer.com Published online 24 August 2010 (C) 2010 Cancer Research U

Catálogo de autoridades da Rede BIM (DPHDM): Estudo de caso no tratamento de registros de pontos de acesso

Identificar possíveis problemas na alimentação da base de autoridades de assuntos da Rede BIM através da utilização do software Pergamum, e contribuir para padronização de seus pontos de acesso. A partir da revisão da literatura proposta, considera a importância da recuperação da informação para sua disseminação e ainda faz um breve levantamento dos padrões internacionais utilizados para esse fim. A metodologia utilizada envolveu a análise da base, limitada à letra “c” do alfabeto, e se propôs a detectar possíveis inconsistências existentes. Os principais problemas encontrados foram: falhas de grafia, falhas de entrada de cabeçalhos e duplicidade de assuntos. Os resultados práticos para a Rede BIM são: agilização dos serviços de catalogação e referência da Rede BIM, maior controle bibliográfico e facilidade na recuperação de itens nas pesquisas dos usuários. O Estudo de caso se propõe a contribuir com esclarecimentos quanto a equívocos cometidos, de forma a auxiliar na padronização e documentação do processo de alimentação da base de autoridades de assuntos pelos bibliotecários das 45 organizações militares, possibilitando benefícios aos serviços de catalogação e referência e finalmente, propiciando um atendimento mais prático e ágil ao usuário da Rede BIM

The digestion of protein and carbohydrate by the stream detritivore, Tipula abdominalis (Diptera, Tipulidae)

The digestive system of larvae of Tipula abdominalis (Diptera, Tipulidae), a stream detritivore, is poorly adapted for the digestion of the major polysaccharides in its diet, but well adapted for the digestion of protein. These crane fly larvae are unable to digest the major cell wall polysaccharides of higher plants, i.e., cellulose, hemicellulose and pectin. The only polysaccharides toward which the midguts of T. abdominalis exhibited any activity were α-amylose and laminarin, indicating that polysaccharide digestion is restricted to α-1,4-and β-1,3-glucans. The most concentrated source of these two classes of carbohydrates in submerged leaf litter would be associated fungal tissue. The midgut of T. abdominalis is strongly alkaline throughout, with a maximum pH near 11.5 in a narrow zone near the midpoint. Proteolytic activity in the midgut is extraordinarily high, and the pH optimum for midgut proteolytic activity is above 11. We conclude that the high alkalinity and high proteolytic activity observed in T. abdominalis larvae are manifestations of a highly efficient protein-digesting system, a system of crucial importance to a nitrogen-limited organism which must derive its nitrogen from a resource in which much of the limited nitrogen present is in a “bound” form in complexes of proteins with lignins and polyphenols.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47733/1/442_2004_Article_BF00346265.pd

Event Related Message Processing: Perceiving and Remembering Changes in Films with and without Soundtrack

Hollywood movies provide continuous audiovisual information. Yet, information conveyed by movies address different sensory systems. For a broad variety of media applications (such as multimedia learning environments) it is important to understand the underlying cognitive principles. This project addresses the interplay of auditory and visual information during movie perception. Because auditory information is known to change basic visual processes, it is possible that movie perception and comprehension depends on stimulus modality. In this project, we report three experiments that studied how humans perceive and remember changes in visual and audiovisual movie clips. We observed basic processes of event perception (event segmentation, change detection, and memory) to be independent of stimulus modality. We thus conclude that event boundary perception is a general perceptual-cognitive mechanism and discuss these findings with respect to current cognitive psychological and media psychological theories

Event Related Message Processing: Perceiving and Remembering Changes in Films with and without Soundtrack

Humans perceive changes in the continuous stream of sensory information as event boundaries. Although event boundary perception is thought of as a general mechanism, there is some evidence that it might depend on stimulus modality. As an example, memory for event boundaries is higher than memory for non-event boundaries. Yet, this event boundary advantage has only been demonstrated with visual dynamic scenes and has failed to replicate with audiovisual dynamic scenes. As previous work on attention allocation in mediated message processing showed, auditory information has an underestimated, and still inconclusive, impact on audiovisual information encoding and memorization. Because auditory information changes basic visual processes, it is thus possible that event boundary perception depends on stimulus modality. We report three within-subjects experiments that studied how humans perceive and remember changes in visual and audiovisual dynamic scenes using a single set of stimuli. We observed basic processes of event perception (event segmentation, change detection, and memory) to be independent of stimulus modality. We thus conclude that event boundary perception is a general perceptual-cognitive mechanism

Phytophthora capsici on vegetable hosts in South Africa: Distribution, host range and genetic diversity

The oomycete Phytophthora capsici is an economically important plant pathogen worldwide. Not much is known about this pathogen in South Africa. Therefore, the first aim of the study was to obtain a better understanding of the host range and distribution of the pathogen. Second, South African P. capsici isolates were characterised through mating-type tests and genotyping with eight microsatellite markers (simple sequence repeat markers (SSR)) that were developed from the draft genome sequence. Analyses of diseased samples from 2000 to 2008 showed that P. capsici was present in at least five provinces on cucurbitaceous (Cucumis melo and Cucurbita spp.) and solanaceous (Capsicum spp. and Lycopersicon esculentum) crops. Mating-type analyses of 78 isolates collected from these hosts showed that both mating types were present in all the sampled production regions. The mating-type frequency in the total South African population did not deviate significantly from a 1:1 ratio. Microsatellite genotyping of the isolates revealed that genotypic diversity was high in all regional populations with 59 of 78 isolates representing unique SSR multilocus genotypes (MLG). The remaining 19 isolates consisted of eight MLG that each included two to three isolates with identical SSR alleles. These identical isolates were considered to be clones that were derived from asexual reproduction due to significant PSEX <0.003 and PSEX(f) <0.008 probability values. Clonal genotypes were identified within and between production regions (Limpopo and Mpumalanga), on different crops (bell pepper, piquanté pepper and tomato) and across years. © 2010 Australasian Plant Pathology Society.Articl

<I>Phytophthora infestans </I>populations in central, eastern and southern African countries consist of two major clonal lineages

Please help populate SUNScholar with the full text of SU research output. Also - should you need this item urgently, please send us the details and we will try to get hold of the full text as quick possible. E-mail to [email protected]. Thank you.Journal Articles (subsidised)AgriwetenskappePlantpatologi

A Multiple Regime Nonlinear Asymmetric AR(p)-GARCH(1,1) Model

In this article a multiple regime extension for the Heston-Nandi GARCH(1,1) model is presented to describe the asymmetries and intermittent dynamics in financial volatility. The statistical properties and the estimation of their parameters are addressed in detail. The number of regimes in the model is determined through a statistical procedure based on a novel robust Lagrange Multiplier (LM) specification. The ability of the model to forecast financial market volatility is empirically compared to other GARCH models for a set comprising some of the major world stock indexes and their corresponding foreign exchange rates during the recent financial crisis