Mapping and prediction of geogenic radon potential in Germany

Mapping and prediction of geogenic radon potential in Germany is based on the results of standardized field measurements, taking into account gas radon activity concentration, gas permeability and the geological situation as the major parameters for its classification and regionalisation. In a first approach, areas with metamorphic and silica-rich volcanic rocks as well as with distinct Paleozoic sedimentary rocks, characterized by enhanced radionuclide contents, were surveyed in regional scale. The sampling grid for these investigation areas was 535 km or denser, depending on the specific geological situation. For the major part of the total area of Germany which is covered by younger Mesozoic to Cenozoic rock units, the expected geogenic radon potential is medium-to-low. The sampling grid within these larger lithologically homogeneous areas was therefore more widely spaced. The regionalisation of the measured radon values was calculated on the basis of rasterized geological maps, taking into account the lithological boundaries as delimiting borders for the data interpolation. Such a GIS supported approach will allow further regional discrimination by including digital terrain models and soil maps. The obtained radon potential maps serve as a planning aid for government administration to direct further investigations and preventive measures. Finally, different techniques for regionalisation according to administrative boundaries are discussed

Molecular profiling of signet ring cell colorectal cancer provides a strong rationale for genomic targeted and immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies

We would like to thank all patients whose samples were used in this study. We are also thankful to the Northern Ireland Biobank and Grampian Biorepository for providing us with tissue blocks and patient data; and Dr HG Coleman (Queen’s University Belfast) for her advice on statistical analyses. This work has been carried out with financial support from Cancer Research UK (grant: C11512/A18067), Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre Network (grant: C36697/A15590 from Cancer Research UK and the NI Health and Social Care Research and Development Division), the Sean Crummey Memorial Fund and the Tom Simms Memorial Fund. The Northern Ireland Biobank is funded by HSC Research and Development Division of the Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland and Cancer Research UK through the Belfast CRUK Centre and the Northern Ireland Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre; additional support was received from Friends of the Cancer Centre. The Northern Ireland Molecular Pathology Laboratory which is responsible for creating resources for the Northern Ireland Biobank has received funding from Cancer Research UK, Friends of the Cancer Centre and Sean Crummey Foundation.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The Relationship Between HR Practices and Firm Performance: Examining Causal Order

Significant research attention has been devoted to examining the relationship between HR practices and firm performance, and the research support has assumed HR as the causal variable. Using data from 45 business units (with 62 data points), this study examines how measures of HR practices correlate with past, concurrent, and future operational performance measures. The results indicate that correlations with performance measures at all three times are both high and invariant, and that controlling for past or concurrent performance virtually eliminates the correlation of HR with future performance. Implications are discussed

Randomized Clinical-Trial of Manipulative Therapy and Physiotherapy for Persistent Back and Neck Complaints - Results of One Year Follow-Up

Objective - To compare the effectiveness of manipulative therapy, physiotherapy, treatment by the general practitioner, and placebo therapy in patients with persistent non-specific back and neck complaints. Design - Randomised clinical trial. Setting-Primary health care in the Netherlands. Patients-256 patients with non-specific back and neck complaints of at least six weeks' duration who had not received physiotherapy or manipulative therapy in the past two years. Interventions - At the discretion of the manipulative therapists, physiotherapists, and general practitioners. Physiotherapy consisted of exercises, massage, and physical therapy (heat, electrotherapy, ultrasound, shortwave diathermy). Manipulative therapy consisted of manipulation and mobilisation of the spine. Treatment by general practitioners consisted of drugs (for example, analgesics), advice about posture, home exercises, and (bed)rest. Placebo treatment consisted of detuned shortwave diathermy (10 minutes) and detuned ultrasound (10 minutes). Main outcome measures - Changes in severity of the main complaint and limitation of physical functioning measured on 10 point scales by a blinded research assistant and global perceived effect measured on a 6 point scale by the patients. Results - Many patients in the general practitioner and placebo groups received other treatment during follow up. Improvement in the main complaint was larger with manipulative therapy (4·5) than with physiotherapy (3·8) after 12 months' follow up (difference 0·9; 95% confidence interval 0·1 to 1·7). Manipulative therapy also gave larger improvements in physical functioning (difference 0·6; -0·1 to 1·3). The global perceived effect after six and 12 months' follow up was similar for both treatments. Conclusions - Manipulative therapy and physiotherapy are better than general practitioner and placebo treatment. Furthermore, manipulative therapy is slightly better than physiotherapy after 12 months

An intron 9 containing splice variant of PAX2

© 2009 Busse et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Branched-chain and aromatic amino acid catabolism into aroma volatiles in Cucumis melo L. fruit

The unique aroma of melons (Cucumis melo L., Cucurbitaceae) is composed of many volatile compounds biosynthetically derived from fatty acids, carotenoids, amino acids, and terpenes. Although amino acids are known precursors of aroma compounds in the plant kingdom, the initial steps in the catabolism of amino acids into aroma volatiles have received little attention. Incubation of melon fruit cubes with amino acids and α-keto acids led to the enhanced formation of aroma compounds bearing the side chain of the exogenous amino or keto acid supplied. Moreover, L-[13C6]phenylalanine was also incorporated into aromatic volatile compounds. Amino acid transaminase activities extracted from the flesh of mature melon fruits converted L-isoleucine, L-leucine, L-valine, L-methionine, or L-phenylalanine into their respective α-keto acids, utilizing α-ketoglutarate as the amine acceptor. Two novel genes were isolated and characterized (CmArAT1 and CmBCAT1) encoding 45.6 kDa and 42.7 kDa proteins, respectively, that displayed aromatic and branched-chain amino acid transaminase activities, respectively, when expressed in Escherichia coli. The expression of CmBCAT1 and CmArAT1 was low in vegetative tissues, but increased in flesh and rind tissues during fruit ripening. In addition, ripe fruits of climacteric aromatic cultivars generally showed high expression of CmBCAT1 and CmArAT1 in contrast to non-climacteric non-aromatic fruits. The results presented here indicate that in melon fruit tissues, the catabolism of amino acids into aroma volatiles can initiate through a transamination mechanism, rather than decarboxylation or direct aldehyde synthesis, as has been demonstrated in other plants

Test beam performance measurements for the Phase I upgrade of the CMS pixel detector

A new pixel detector for the CMS experiment was built in order to cope with the instantaneous luminosities anticipated for the Phase I Upgrade of the LHC. The new CMS pixel detector provides four-hit tracking with a reduced material budget as well as new cooling and powering schemes. A new front-end readout chip mitigates buffering and bandwidth limitations, and allows operation at low comparator thresholds. In this paper, comprehensive test beam studies are presented, which have been conducted to verify the design and to quantify the performance of the new detector assemblies in terms of tracking efficiency and spatial resolution. Under optimal conditions, the tracking efficiency is (99.95 ± 0.05) %, while the intrinsic spatial resolutions are (4.80 ± 0.25) μm and (7.99 ± 0.21) μm along the 100 μm and 150 μm pixel pitch, respectively. The findings are compared to a detailed Monte Carlo simulation of the pixel detector and good agreement is found.Peer reviewe

Measurement of the sum ofWW and WZ production with W+dijet events in pp collisions at √ s = 7 TeV

A measurement of the inclusive WW+WZ diboson production cross section in proton–proton collisions is reported, based on events containing a leptonically decaying √W boson and exactly two jets. The data sample, collected at s = 7 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb−1. The measured value of the sum of the inclusive WW and WZ cross sections is σ(pp → WW + WZ) = 68.9 ± 8.7 (stat.) ± 9.7 (syst.) ± 1.5 (lum.) pb, consistent with the standard model prediction of 65.6±2.2 pb. This is the first measurement of WW+WZ production in pp collisions using this signature. No evidence for anomalous triple gauge couplings is found and upper limits are set on their magnitudes