Cosmology on all scales: A two-parameter perturbation expansion

S.R.G., K.A.M. and T.C. acknowledge support from the STF

Determination of genetic variability of Asian rice (Oryza sativa L.) varieties using microsatellite markers

The microsatellite or simple sequence repeat (SSR) marker analysis was done to determine the allelic diversity and relationship among thirty-five Asian cultivars of rice including 19 aromatic, 13 nonaromaticand 3 japonica type cultivars. A total of 144 alleles were detected at the 32 SSR loci, of which 141 (98%) were polymorphic. The number of alleles generated by each marker ranged from 2 to 13 with an average of 4.5 alleles per marker. The size of smallest and largest allele ranged from 8(RM122) to as high as 71 (RM302). Polymorphism information content (PIC) values ranged between 0.157 (RM19, RM55) and 0.897 (RM70), with an average of 0.603 per marker. Basmati rice varieties amplified different alleles at 15 of the SSR loci than those in the japonica and/ or indica rice varieties. A number of SSRs were identified that could be utilized to differentiate between basmati and other non-basmati rice varieties. The RM252 and RM310 showed a clear differentiation of japonica cultivarsfrom other ones. Pair-wise Nei and Li’s similarity coefficients ranged from 0.19 to 0.90. The dendrogram based on the cluster analysis by microsatellite polymorphism, grouped 35 rice cultivars into two major groups effectively differentiating the tall, late maturing and slender aromatic cultivars from the short statured, early, short bold and long bold non-aromatic cultivars. These results could be useful for monitoring purity, genotype identification and for plant variety protection

Interesting Modification to Single Bundle ACL reconstruction to achieve Double Bundle Morphology

In this article, we discuss a modification to Single Bundle ACL reconstruction that reduces the number of tunnels to just Solitary Tibial and Solitary Principal Femoral Socket with a narrow 4mm Supplementary femoral tunnel to obtain a double-bundle morphology with essentially a technique similar to Single bundle ACL reconstructio

May Measurement Month (MMM) 2017: an analysis of blood pressure screening results in Bangladesh-South Asia

Elevated blood pressure (BP) is a growing burden worldwide, leading to over 10 million deaths each year. Based on the findings of the non-communicable disease Risk Factors Survey Bangladesh 2010, the prevalence of hypertension in adults 25 years or older in Bangladesh is 20.1%. The Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey, 2011 showed that approximately 50% of those affected are unaware of their hypertensive condition. The May Measurement Month 2017 (MMM17) is a global initiative of the International Society of Hypertension (ISH) aimed at raising awareness of high BP. We participated in MMM17 to raise awareness of hypertension screening and identify those with elevated BP who were unaware, and those on treatment with still uncontrolled hypertension. Following the standard protocol designed by the ISH, we participated in MMM17, an opportunistic cross-sectional survey of volunteers aged ≥18. It was carried out in May 2017. BP measurement, the definition of hypertension and statistical analysis followed the standard MMM protocol. Data were collected from 35 screening sites in 33 districts in Bangladesh. Personnel from several government and non-government organizations volunteered in this huge event. A total of 11 418 individuals were screened during MMM17, of which 5401 (47.3%) were found to have hypertension. Of 8365 individuals not receiving anti-hypertensive medication, 2348 (28.1%) were hypertensive. Of 3053 individuals receiving anti-hypertensive medication, 1594 (52.2%) had uncontrolled BP. MMM17 was the largest BP screening campaign undertaken in Bangladesh. This study suggests that opportunistic screening can identify significant numbers of people with raised BP. A periodic public health programme at a national level needs to be initiated to increase hypertension detection and control rate and thus for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases

Angiomyofibroblastoma of the spermatic cord: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Angiomyofibroblastoma is a benign soft tissue tumor with tendency to arise in the vulva.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report a 36-year-old Greek Caucasian man presenting with a left inguinal painless mass. This is the second case of angiomyofibroblastoma of the spermatic cord. At operation, a 4.5 cm well-circumscribed solid tumor was found adherent to the spermatic cord. The tumor consisted of spindle-shaped cells proliferating in short fascicles between numerous medium-sized blood vessels with thin and hyalinized walls. Neoplastic cells had eosinophilic cytoplasm with neither mitotic figures nor nuclear atypia. The stroma included abundant mast cells and few mature lypocytes. Immunostaining showed positivity for vimentin, CD34, desmin and smooth muscle actin. Our patient was treated by simple excision and was followed up for five years with clinical examination and ultrasonography, revealing no evidence of local recurrence or metastasis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This unusual neoplasm should be distinguished from aggressive angiomyxoma and other myxoid malignant tumors with widespread metastatic potential.</p

Microevolution of Helicobacter pylori during prolonged infection of single hosts and within families

Our understanding of basic evolutionary processes in bacteria is still very limited. For example, multiple recent dating estimates are based on a universal inter-species molecular clock rate, but that rate was calibrated using estimates of geological dates that are no longer accepted. We therefore estimated the short-term rates of mutation and recombination in Helicobacter pylori by sequencing an average of 39,300 bp in 78 gene fragments from 97 isolates. These isolates included 34 pairs of sequential samples, which were sampled at intervals of 0.25 to 10.2 years. They also included single isolates from 29 individuals (average age: 45 years) from 10 families. The accumulation of sequence diversity increased with time of separation in a clock-like manner in the sequential isolates. We used Approximate Bayesian Computation to estimate the rates of mutation, recombination, mean length of recombination tracts, and average diversity in those tracts. The estimates indicate that the short-term mutation rate is 1.4×10−6 (serial isolates) to 4.5×10−6 (family isolates) per nucleotide per year and that three times as many substitutions are introduced by recombination as by mutation. The long-term mutation rate over millennia is 5–17-fold lower, partly due to the removal of non-synonymous mutations due to purifying selection. Comparisons with the recent literature show that short-term mutation rates vary dramatically in different bacterial species and can span a range of several orders of magnitude

IDEAL-CRT: A Phase 1/2 Trial of Isotoxic Dose-Escalated Radiation Therapy and Concurrent Chemotherapy in Patients With Stage II/III Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Purpose To report toxicity and early survival data for IDEAL-CRT, a trial of dose-escalated concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for non-small cell lung cancer. Patients and Methods Patients received tumor doses of 63 to 73 Gy in 30 once-daily fractions over 6 weeks with 2 concurrent cycles of cisplatin and vinorelbine. They were assigned to 1 of 2 groups according to esophageal dose. In group 1, tumor doses were determined by an experimental constraint on maximum esophageal dose, which was escalated following a 6 + 6 design from 65 Gy through 68 Gy to 71 Gy, allowing an esophageal maximum tolerated dose to be determined from early and late toxicities. Tumor doses for group 2 patients were determined by other tissue constraints, often lung. Overall survival, progression-free survival, tumor response, and toxicity were evaluated for both groups combined. Results Eight centers recruited 84 patients: 13, 12, and 10, respectively, in the 65-Gy, 68-Gy, and 71-Gy cohorts of group 1; and 49 in group 2. The mean prescribed tumor dose was 67.7 Gy. Five grade 3 esophagitis and 3 grade 3 pneumonitis events were observed across both groups. After 1 fatal esophageal perforation in the 71-Gy cohort, 68 Gy was declared the esophageal maximum tolerated dose. With a median follow-up of 35 months, median overall survival was 36.9 months, and overall survival and progression-free survival were 87.8% and 72.0%, respectively, at 1 year and 68.0% and 48.5% at 2 years. Conclusions IDEAL-CRT achieved significant treatment intensification with acceptable toxicity and promising survival. The isotoxic design allowed the esophageal maximum tolerated dose to be identified from relatively few patients

Genetics of callous-unemotional behavior in children

Callous-unemotional behavior (CU) is currently under consideration as a subtyping index for conduct disorder diagnosis. Twin studies routinely estimate the heritability of CU as greater than 50%. It is now possible to estimate genetic influence using DNA alone from samples of unrelated individuals, not relying on the assumptions of the twin method. Here we use this new DNA method (implemented in a software package called Genome-wide Complex Trait Analysis, GCTA) for the first time to estimate genetic influence on CU. We also report the first genome-wide association (GWA) study of CU as a quantitative trait. We compare these DNA results to those from twin analyses using the same measure and the same community sample of 2,930 children rated by their teachers at ages 7, 9 and 12. GCTA estimates of heritability were near zero, even though twin analysis of CU in this sample confirmed the high heritability of CU reported in the literature, and even though GCTA estimates of heritability were substantial for cognitive and anthropological traits in this sample. No significant associations were found in GWA analysis, which, like GCTA, only detects additive effects of common DNA variants. The phrase ‘missing heritability’ was coined to refer to the gap between variance associated with DNA variants identified in GWA studies versus twin study heritability. However, GCTA heritability, not twin study heritability, is the ceiling for GWA studies because both GCTA and GWA are limited to the overall additive effects of common DNA variants, whereas twin studies are not. This GCTA ceiling is very low for CU in our study, despite its high twin study heritability estimate. The gap between GCTA and twin study heritabilities will make it challenging to identify genes responsible for the heritability of CU