The Effects of Acute Thermoneutral and Hot Water Immersion on Cerebrovascular Reactivity

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Are transnational tobacco companies' market access strategies linked to economic development models? A case study of South Korea.

Transnational tobacco companies (TTCs) have used varied strategies to access previously closed markets. Using TTCs' efforts to enter the South Korean market from the late 1980s as a case study, this article asks whether there are common patterns in these strategies that relate to the broader economic development models adopted by targeted countries. An analytical review of the existing literature on TTCs' efforts to access emerging markets was conducted to develop hypotheses relating TTCs' strategies to countries' economic development models. A case study of Korea was then undertaken based on analysis of internal tobacco industry documents. Findings were consistent with the hypothesis that TTCs' strategies in Korea were linked to Korea's export-oriented economic development model and its hostile attitude towards foreign investment. A fuller understanding of TTCs' strategies for expansion globally can be derived by locating them within the economic development models of specific countries or regions. Of foremost importance is the need for governments to carefully balance economic and public health policies when considering liberalisation

KiDS-i-800: Comparing weak gravitational lensing measurements in same-sky surveys

We present a weak gravitational lensing analysis of 815 square degree of $i$-band imaging from the Kilo-Degree Survey (KiDS-$i$-800). In contrast to the deep $r$-band observations, which take priority during excellent seeing conditions and form the primary KiDS dataset (KiDS-$r$-450), the complementary yet shallower KiDS-$i$-800 spans a wide range of observing conditions. The overlapping KiDS-$i$-800 and KiDS-$r$-450 imaging therefore provides a unique opportunity to assess the robustness of weak lensing measurements. In our analysis, we introduce two new `null' tests. The `nulled' two-point shear correlation function uses a matched catalogue to show that the calibrated KiDS-$i$-800 and KiDS-$r$-450 shear measurements agree at the level of $1 \pm 4$\%. We use five galaxy lens samples to determine a `nulled' galaxy-galaxy lensing signal from the full KiDS-$i$-800 and KiDS-$r$-450 surveys and find that the measurements agree to $7 \pm 5$\% when the KiDS-$i$-800 source redshift distribution is calibrated using either spectroscopic redshifts, or the 30-band photometric redshifts from the COSMOS survey.Comment: 24 pages, 20 figures. Submitted to MNRAS. Comments welcom

739 observed NEAs and new 2-4m survey statistics within the EURONEAR network

We report follow-up observations of 477 program Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) using nine telescopes of the EURONEAR network having apertures between 0.3 and 4.2 m. Adding these NEAs to our previous results we now count 739 program NEAs followed-up by the EURONEAR network since 2006. The targets were selected using EURONEAR planning tools focusing on high priority objects. Analyzing the resulting orbital improvements suggests astrometric follow-up is most important days to weeks after discovery, with recovery at a new opposition also valuable. Additionally we observed 40 survey fields spanning three nights covering 11 sq. degrees near opposition, using the Wide Field Camera on the 2.5m Isaac Newton Telescope (INT), resulting in 104 discovered main belt asteroids (MBAs) and another 626 unknown one-night objects. These fields, plus program NEA fields from the INT and from the wide field MOSAIC II camera on the Blanco 4m telescope, generated around 12,000 observations of 2,000 minor planets (mostly MBAs) observed in 34 square degrees. We identify Near Earth Object (NEO) candidates among the unknown (single night) objects using three selection criteria. Testing these criteria on the (known) program NEAs shows the best selection methods are our epsilon-miu model which checks solar elongation and sky motion and the MPC's NEO rating tool. Our new data show that on average 0.5 NEO candidates per square degree should be observable in a 2m-class survey (in agreement with past results), while an average of 2.7 NEO candidates per square degree should be observable in a 4m-class survey (although our Blanco statistics were affected by clouds). At opposition just over 100 MBAs (1.6 unknown to every 1 known) per square degree are detectable to R=22 in a 2m survey based on the INT data, while our two best ecliptic Blanco fields away from opposition lead to 135 MBAs (2 unknown to every 1 known) to R=23.Comment: Published in Planetary and Space Sciences (Sep 2013

Inclusion of MUC1 (Ma695) in a panel of immunohistochemical markers is useful for distinguishing between endocervical and endometrial mucinous adenocarcinoma*

BACKGROUND: Distinguishing endocervical adenocarcinoma (ECA) from endometrial mucinous adenocarcinoma (EMMA) is clinically significant in view of the differences in their management and prognosis. In this study, we used a panel of tumor markers to determine their ability to distinguish between primary endocervical adenocarcinoma and primary endometrial mucinous adenocarcinoma. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry using monoclonal antibodies to MUC1 (Ma695), p16, estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and vimentin, was performed to examine 32 cases, including 18 EMMAs and 14 ECAs. For MUC1, cases were scored based on the percentage of staining pattern, apical, apical and cytoplasmic (A/C), or negative. For p16, cases were scored based on the percentage of cells stained. For the rest of the antibodies, semiquantitative scoring system was carried out. RESULTS: For MUC1, majority of EMMA (14 of 18 cases, 78%) showed A/C staining, whereas only few ECA (2 of 14, 14%) were positive. The difference of MUC1 expression in the two groups of malignancy was statistically significant (p < 0.001). Staining for p16 was positive in 10 of 14 (71%) ECA and 4 of 18 (22%) EMMA. Estrogen receptor was positive in 3 of 14 (21%) ECA and 17 of 18 (94%) EMMA. Progesterone receptor was positive in 3 of 14 (21%) ECA and 16 of 18 (89%) EMMA. Vimentin was positive in 1 of 14 (7%) ECA, and 9 of 18 (50%) EMA, with median and range of 0 (0–6), and 1.5 (0–9) respectively. CONCLUSION: A panel of immunohistochemical markers including MUC1, p16, ER, PR, and vimentin is recommended, when there is morphological and clinical doubt as to the primary site of endocervical or endometrial origin

KiDS+GAMA: cosmology constraints from a joint analysis of cosmic shear, galaxy–galaxy lensing, and angular clustering

We present cosmological parameter constraints from a joint analysis of three cosmological probes: the tomographic cosmic shear signal in ∼450 deg2 of data from the Kilo Degree Survey (KiDS), the galaxy-matter cross-correlation signal of galaxies from the Galaxies And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey determined with KiDS weak lensing, and the angular correlation function of the same GAMA galaxies. We use fast power spectrum estimators that are based on simple integrals over the real-space correlation functions, and show that they are practically unbiased over relevant angular frequency ranges. We test our full pipeline on numerical simulations that are tailored to KiDS and retrieve the input cosmology. By fitting different combinations of power spectra, we demonstrate that the three probes are internally consistent. For all probes combined, we obtain S8≡σ8Ωm/0.3−−−−−−√=0.800+0.029−0.027⁠, consistent with Planck and the fiducial KiDS-450 cosmic shear correlation function results. Marginalizing over wide priors on the mean of the tomographic redshift distributions yields consistent results for S8 with an increase of 28percent in the error. The combination of probes results in a 26 per cent reduction in uncertainties of S8 over using the cosmic shear power spectra alone. The main gain from these additional probes comes through their constraining power on nuisance parameters, such as the galaxy intrinsic alignment amplitude or potential shifts in the redshift distributions, which are up to a factor of 2 better constrained compared to using cosmic shear alone, demonstrating the value of large-scale structure probe combination

The search for transient astrophysical neutrino emission with IceCube-DeepCore

We present the results of a search for astrophysical sources of brief transient neutrino emission using IceCube and DeepCore data acquired between 2012 May 15 and 2013 April 30. While the search methods employed in this analysis are similar to those used in previous IceCube point source searches, the data set being examined consists of a sample of predominantly sub-TeV muon-neutrinos from the Northern Sky (-5 degrees < delta < 90 degrees) obtained through a novel event selection method. This search represents a first attempt by IceCube to identify astrophysical neutrino sources in this relatively unexplored energy range. The reconstructed direction and time of arrival of neutrino events are used to search for any significant self-correlation in the data set. The data revealed no significant source of transient neutrino emission. This result has been used to construct limits at timescales ranging from roughly 1 s to 10 days for generic soft-spectra transients. We also present limits on a specific model of neutrino emission from soft jets in core-collapse supernovae

Decreased D2-40 and increased p16INK4A immunoreactivities correlate with higher grade of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>D2-40 has been shown a selective marker for lymphatic endothelium, but also shown in the benign cervical basal cells. However, the application of D2-40 immunoreactivity in the cervical basal cells for identifying the grade of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) has not been evaluated.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this study, the immunoreactive patterns of D2-40, compared with p16^INK4A, which is currently considered as the useful marker for cervical cancers and their precancerous diseases, were examined in total 125 cervical specimens including 32 of CIN1, 37 of CIN2, 35 of CIN3, and 21 of normal cervical tissue. D2-40 and p16^INK4Aimmunoreactivities were scored semiquantitatively according to the intensity and/or extent of the staining.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Diffuse D2-40 expression with moderate-to-strong intensity was seen in all the normal cervical epithelia (21/21, 100%) and similar pattern of D2-40 immunoreactivity with weak-to-strong intensity was observed in CIN1 (31/32, 97.2%). However, negative and/or focal D2-40 expression was found in CIN2 (negative: 20/37, 54.1%; focal: 16/37, 43.2%) and CIN3 (negative: 22/35, 62.8%; focal: 12/35, 34.3%). On the other hand, diffuse immunostaining for p16^INK4Awas shown in 37.5% of CIN1, 64.9% of CIN2, and 80.0% of CIN3. However, the immunoreactive pattern of D2-40 was not associated with the p16^INK4Aimmunoreactivity.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Immunohistochemical analysis of D2-40 combined with p16^INK4Amay have a significant implication in clinical practice for better identifying the grade of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, especially for distinguishing CIN1 from CIN2/3.</p

TP53-binding protein variants and breast cancer risk: a case-control study

INTRODUCTION: The TP53-binding protein (53BP1) has been shown to influence TP53-mediated transcriptional activation, thus playing a pivotal role in DNA damage signalling. Genetic aberrations in TP53 and in ATM and CHEK2 predispose to cancer. We have therefore examined the effects of 53BP1 single nucleotide polymorphisms (D353E, G412S, and K1136Q) and the novel 53BP1 6bp deletion (1347_1352delTATCCC) on breast cancer risk. METHODS: Allelic discrimination was performed to investigate the frequencies of 53BP1 D353E, G412S, and K1136Q and of 1347_1352delTATCCC in 353 patients with breast cancer and 960 control individuals. RESULTS: No significant association of 53BP1 D353E, G412S, or K1136Q with breast cancer risk was detected. 53BP1 1347_1352delTATCCC, leading to the loss of an isoleucine and a proline residue, showed a nonsignificant inverse association with breast cancer risk (odds ratio = 0.61, 95% confidence interval = 0.22 to 1.68, P = 0.34). CONCLUSION: The lack of association casts doubt on the putative effects of D353E, G412S, and K1136Q on breast cancer risk. Investigating a larger study cohort might elucidate the influence of the 6bp deletion 1347_1352delTATCCC. Studying the functional effect and the impact of this variant on the risk of other cancers may be revealing