Cognition, Resources, and Institutions in the Explanation of Attitudes to Free Trade

This article proposes a framework for the analysis of attitudes to foreign trade policies that challenges the traditional skill-endowment approach. The traditional approach assumes informed individuals who calculate the costs and benefits of alternative policies. We propose that individuals lack information and that their positions rest on economic vulnerability, as mediated through risk-aversion. We also stress the role of environmental signals and political endorsements in guiding individuals' views on trade policy. We test this alternative approach with a Spanish survey conducted in May 2009 and the ISSP survey conducted in 2003 in a large number of less developed and more developed countries. The Spanish data show that the population is largely uninformed and that their ideas about the consequences of free trade policy do not explain attitudes among different socio-demographic groups. Meanwhile, the ISSP data contradict important aspects of the traditional approach and are consistent with the alternative approach.

A medium for inducing conversion of Histoplasma capsulatum var. capsulatum into its yeast-like form

Histoplasma capsulatum var. capsulatum is a dimorphic fungus that, under special conditions, converts from its more common mycelial form to a yeast-like form. Achieving this conversion, however, has been problematical for researchers. The present study tested conversion rates in ten Histoplasma capsulatum var. capsulatum strains using seven culture media, four of wich were conventional and three novel. One of our novel media, MLGema, induced complete conversion, of two strains within five days of incubation at 35 degrees centigrades, and of all strains that eventually converted by the time of the second subculturing transfer, under defined experimental conditions. MLGema is also inexpensive and easy to produce.

Die Inguinal-Hernienplastik nach Lichtenstein: Eine einfache und komplikationsarme Technik, besonders geeignet für die Tageschirurgie [The Lichtenstein inguinal hernia-plasty: a simple and complication-free technique, especially suited for ambulatory surgery].

A consecutive series of 353 patients who underwent Lichtenstein mesh repair for inguinal hernia from the 1st of July 1994 to the 30th of July 1995 were studied. We analysed our indication, technique, complications, follow-up and outcome. Special consideration was given to the advantages and acceptance of day-case surgery. Our results suggest that the Lichtenstein repair should be considered as a new standard procedure, especially outside of hernia centres.

Plasma Level of Mmp-9 as Predictive Factor for Response and Progression Free Survival in Patients Treated with Bevacizumab (Bev) and Pegylated Liposomal Doxorubicin (Pld): Sakk 24/06

Background: There is currently no identified marker predicting benefit from Bev in patients with breast cancer (pts). We monitored prospectively 6 angiogenesis-related factors in the blood of advanced stage pts treated with a combination of Bev and PLD in a phase II trial of the Swiss Group for Clinical Cancer Research, SAKK.Methods: Pts received PLD (20 mg/m2) and Bev (10 mg/kg) every 2 weeks for a maximum of 12 administrations, followed by Bev monotherapy until progression or severe toxicity. Blood samples were collected at baseline, during treatment and at treatment discontinuation. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (Quantikine, R&DSystems and Reliatech) were used to measure vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), placental growth factor (PlGF), matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) and soluble VEGF receptors -1, -2 and -3. The natural log-transformed (ln) data for each factor was analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) model to investigate differences between the mean values of the subgroups of interest (where a = 0.05), based on the best tumor response by RECIST.Results: 132 samples were collected in 41 pts. The mean of baseline ln MMP-9 levels was significantly lower in pts with tumor progression than those with tumor response (p=0.0202, log fold change=0.8786) or disease control (p=0.0035, log fold change=0.8427). Higher MMP-9 level was a significant predictor of superior progression free survival (PFS): p=0.0417, hazard ratio=0.574, 95% CI=0.336-0.979. In a multivariate cox proportional hazards model, containing performance status, disease free interval, number of tumor sites, visceral involvement and prior adjuvant chemotherapy, using stepwise regression baseline MMP-9 was still a statistically 117P Table 1. SOLTI-0701* AC01B07* NU07B1* SOR+CAP N=20 PL+CAP N=33 SOR+ GEM/CAP N=23 PL+ GEM/CAP N=27 SOR+PAC N=48 PL+PAC N=46 Baseline characteristics Age, median (range), y 49 (32-72) 53 (30-78 54 (32-69) 57 (31-82) 50 (27-80) 52 (23-74) AJCC stage, n (%) IIIB/IIIC 3 (15) 6 (18) 0 (0) 3 (11) 8 (17) 9 (20) IV 17 (85) 27 (82) 23 (100) 24 (89) 40 (83) 37 (80) Metastatic site, n (%) Non-visceral 3 (15) 6 (18) 7 (30) 6 (22) 9 (19) 17 (37) Visceral 17 (85) 27 (82) 16 (70) 21 (78) 39 (81) 29 (63) Prior metastatic chemo, n (%) 8 (40) 15 (45) 21 (91) 25 (93) - - Efficacy PFS, median, mo 4.3 2.5 3.1 2.6 5.6 5.5 HR (95% CI)_ 0.60 (0.31, 1.14) 0.57 (0.30, 1.09) 0.86 (0.50, 1.45) 1-sided P value_ 0.055 0.044 0.281 Overall survival, median, mo 17.5 16.1 Pending 14.7 18.2 HR (95% CI)_ 0.98 (0.50, 1.89) 1.11 (0.64, 1.94) 1-sided P value_ 0.476 0.352 Safety N=20 N=33 N=22 N=27 N=46 N=46 Tx-emergent Grade 3/4, n (%) 15 (75) 16 (48) 20 (91) 17 (63) 36 (78) 16 (35) Grade 3§ hand-foot skin reaction/ syndrome 8 (40) 5 (15) 8 (36) 0 (0) 14 (30) 2 (4) *Efficacy results based on intent-to-treat population and safety results based on safety population (pts who received study drug[s]); _Cox regression within each subgroup; _log-rank test within each subgroup; §maximum toxicity grade for hand-foot skin reaction/syndrome; AJCC, American Joint Committee on Cancer mittedabstractsª The Author 2011. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society for Medical Oncology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com Downloaded from annonc.oxfordjournals.org at Bibliotheque Cantonale et Universitaire on June 6, 2011 significant factor (p=0.0266). The results of the other measured factors were presented elsewhere.Conclusions: Higher levels of MMP-9 could predict tumor response and superior PFSin pts treated with a combination of Bev and PLD. These exploratory results justify further investigations of MMP-9 in pts treated with Bev combinations in order to assess its role as a prognostic and predictive factor.Disclosure: K. Zaman: Participation in advisory board of Roche; partial sponsoring ofthe study by Roche (the main sponsor was the Swiss Federation against Cancer (Oncosuisse)). B. Thu¨rlimann: stock of Roche; Research grants from Roche. R. vonMoos: Participant of Advisory Board and Speaker honoraria

Gamma Knife radiosurgery after previous microvascular decompression decreases the chances of pain free in classical trigeminal neuralgia

Purpose: To evaluate the safety-efficacy of Gamma Knife surgery (GKS) as a second treatment for classical trigeminal neuralgia (CTN), and the influence of prior microvascular decompression (MVD). Methods: Between July 1992 and November 2010, 737 patients have been operated with GKRS for ITN and prospectively evaluated in Timone University Hospital in Marseille, France. Among these, 54 patients had a previous history of MVD. Radiosurgery using a Gamma Knife (model B or C or Perfexion) was performed on the basis of on both MR and CT targeting. A single 4 mm isocenter was positioned in the cisternal portion of the trigeminal nerve at a median distance of 7.6 mm (range 3.9-11.9) anteriorly to the emergence of the nerve (retrogasserian target). A median maximum dose of 85 Gy (range 70-90) was delivered. Here, the 45 patients with previous MVD and a follow-up longer than one year are evaluated (the patients with megadolichobasilar artery compression and multiple sclerosis were excluded). Results: The median age in this series was 56.75 years (range 28.09-82.39). The median follow-up period was 39.48 months (range 14.10-144.65). All the patients had a past history of surgery, with at least one previous failed MVD, but also radiofrequency lesion (RFL) in 16 patients (35.6%), balloon microcompression in 7 (15.6%) and glycerol rhizotomy in 1 (2.2%). Thirty-five patients (77.8%) were initially pain free after GKS within a median time of 14 days (range 0, 180). Patients from this group had less probability of being pain free compared to our global population of essential trigeminal neuralgia without previous MVD history (p=0.010, hazard ratio of 0.64). Their probability of remaining pain free at 3, 5, 7 and 10 years was 66.5%, 59.1%, 59.1% and 44.3%, respectively. Twelve patients (34.3%) initially pain free experienced a recurrence with a median delay of 31.21 months (range 3.40-89.93). The hypoesthesia actuarial rate at 1 year was 9.1% and remained stable till 12 years with a median delay of onset of 8 months (range 8-8). Conclusions: Retrogasserian GKS proofed to be safe and effective on the long-term basis even after failed previous MVD. Even if the initial result of pain free was only 77.8%, the toxicity was low with only 9.1% hypoesthesia. No patient reported a bothersome hypoesthesia. The probability of maintaining pain relief in the long-term was of 44.3% at 10 years.

A Modulated Closed Form solution for Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping - A thorough evaluation and comparison to iterative methods based on edge prior knowledge.

The aim of this study is to perform a thorough comparison of quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) techniques and their dependence on the assumptions made. The compared methodologies were: two iterative single orientation methodologies minimizing the l2, l1TV norm of the prior knowledge of the edges of the object, one over-determined multiple orientation method (COSMOS) and anewly proposed modulated closed-form solution (MCF). The performance of these methods was compared using a numerical phantom and in-vivo high resolution (0.65mm isotropic) brain data acquired at 7T using a new coil combination method. For all QSM methods, the relevant regularization and prior-knowledge parameters were systematically changed in order to evaluate the optimal reconstruction in the presence and absence of a ground truth. Additionally, the QSM contrast was compared to conventional gradient recalled echo (GRE) magnitude and R2* maps obtained from the same dataset. The QSM reconstruction results of the single orientation methods show comparable performance. The MCF method has the highest correlation (corrMCF=0.95, r(2)MCF =0.97) with the state of the art method (COSMOS) with additional advantage of extreme fast computation time. The l-curve method gave the visually most satisfactory balance between reduction of streaking artifacts and over-regularization with the latter being overemphasized when the using the COSMOS susceptibility maps as ground-truth. R2* and susceptibility maps, when calculated from the same datasets, although based on distinct features of the data, have a comparable ability to distinguish deep gray matter structures.

Description of the adult form of Nybelinia (Syngenes) rougetcampanae Dollfus, 1960 and some new data on n. (n.) bisculata (Linton, 1889) (Trypanorhyncha: Tentaculariidae)

The adult form of Nybelinia (Syngenes) rougetcampanae Dollfus, 1960 is described, parasitizing one specimen of Sphyrna lewni (Griffith & Smith, 1834) out of the five ones necropsied and one out of six Nothorhynchus pectorosus (Garman, 1884) was found harbouring N. (N.) bisculata (Linton, 1889). The finding of these cestodes under Trypanorhyncha in sharks captured off the coast of Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil, amplifies their known geographical distribution and adds new host records for these parasites.

Immunoglobulin classes in aquatic mammals. Characterization by serologic cross-reactivity, molecular size and binding of human free secretory component.

On the basis of serologic cross-reactivity, three immunoglobulin classes homologous to human IgG, IgM and IgA were identified in two species of acquatic mammal representing the orders Cetacea (dolphin) and Pinnipedea (sea lion). Molecular size was estimated by sucrose density gradient ultracentrifugation and Sephadex G-200 chromatography, indicating a 7S IgG, 19S IgM and heterogeneous serum IgA. Human secretory component was readily bound to the IgM of both species and to an apparently lesser extent to the larger molecular size populations of IgA. No binding was observed with IgG. Several antisera specific for human γ-chains gave a single precipitin line with the sea lion IgG but when made to react with dolphin serum produced two lines, suggesting the presence of two different subclasses of IgG in this species.

Influence of the host related factors in the development of the hepatosplenic form of schistosomiasis mansoni

The frequency of hepatosplenomegaly in endemic areas is not proportional to the fecal ova count. This may be explained by epidemiological genetic. The occurrence of two or more cases of schistosomal hepatosplenomegaly in nuclear family is much higher than expected. The concentration is higher among siblings than it is among mothers and children of further and children. It is not significant between father and mother. If the mother, instead of the father has hepatosplenic schistosomiasis the relative risk for the child to acquire hepatosplenomegaly is at least five times (the maternal affect). The inbreeding is highler in the hepatosplenic than in the hepatointestinal patients. In some areas in Brazil the hepatosplenic form of the schistosomiasis mansoni occurs with much higher frequency in whites than in blacks. After treatment, reversion of hepatosplenic schistosomiasis occurs more frequently in non-whithers. It seems that the resistance of blacks to the hepatosplenic form of schistosomiasis may be related to the glyoxalase system , perhaps associated to another genetic marker. The hepatosplenic schistosomiasis is less frequent in longilineal individuals. In some areas the hepatosplenic form of schistosomiasis is more frequent in A blood group of ABO sistem. The family heredograms do not suggest a single mendelian inheritance, but probably a multifactorial and possibility poligenic one.

Bounding the residual finiteness of free groups

"Vegeu el resum a l'inici del document del fitxer adjunt."

Epidemiological aspects of American Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in a periurban area of the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

In order to characterize the epidemiology of American Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (ACL) in a periurban area of the municipality of Sabará in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte (MRBH), an area until then considered free of the disease, a cross sectional survey was undertaken in 1990. The survey of the population consisted of 1119 interviews and 881 clinical examinations using Montenegro's skin test (MST). A low prevalence (3.7%) of positive MST was encountered. The disease had been occuring in the area for about 20 years in the form of sporadic cases. The predominant species of sandfly both in domestic areas and nearby areas of secondary vegetation was Lutzomyia whitmani. A canine survey of delayed hypersensitivity to the antigen P10,000 identified only one dog with a positive reaction out of 113 examined. The transmission of ACL in MRBH was confirmed. The occurrence of the disease in women, children and individuals with no contact with forest areas as well as the presence of potential vector species in the domiciliar environment, suggests the transmission of the disease in this environment.

Statistical properties of subgroups of free groups

The usual way to investigate the statistical properties of finitely generated subgroups of free groups, and of finite presentations of groups, is based on the so-called word-based distribution: subgroups are generated (finite presentations are determined) by randomly chosen k-tuples of reduced words, whose maximal length is allowed to tend to infinity. In this paper we adopt a different, though equally natural point of view: we investigate the statistical properties of the same objects, but with respect to the so-called graph-based distribution, recently introduced by Bassino, Nicaud and Weil. Here, subgroups (and finite presentations) are determined by randomly chosen Stallings graphs whose number of vertices tends to infinity. Our results show that these two distributions behave quite differently from each other, shedding a new light on which properties of finitely generated subgroups can be considered frequent or rare. For example, we show that malnormal subgroups of a free group are negligible in the raph-based distribution, while they are exponentially generic in the word-based distribution. Quite surprisingly, a random finite presentation generically presents the trivial group in this new distribution, while in the classical one it is known to generically present an infinite hyperbolic group.

The subclinical form of experimental visceral leishmaniasis in dogs

Pathological aspects of a subclinical form of experimental canine leishmaniasis is reported here for the first time. Fifteen mongrel dogs were used in the present study. Eight dogs were infected and seven were used as control. Four of the control dogs were inoculated with spleen cells from non-infected hamsters. The eight mongrel dogs inoculated intravenously with amastigotes forms of Leishmania chagasi envolved for periods as long as 25 months without any clinical characteristic sign of classical Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL). Most of the laboratory test results were compatible to those of the seven control animals but culture of bone marrow aspirated material and serologic testing (IIF) demonstrated or provided evidence that the animals were infected. The most important and predominant histopathological lesion in infected animals were epitheloid granulomas presented in the liver, spleen, adrenal gland and lung of some animals. Channels containing erythrocytes in some granulomas of the liver suggeste that these granulomas are formed inside sinusoidal capillaries. Despite the animals were proved to be infected and presented characteristic histologic lesions, they did not present external signs of disease. The granulomatous aspect of the lesions indicates a good immunologic reactivity and suggest that a host-parasite equilibrium does exist in the dog experimental model