砂金及“狗头金”次生增生的有限性

对砂金、“狗头金”的次生增生边宽度，砂金和“狗头金”的粒度和成色与原生金矿体的自然金粒度和成色的对比结果表明，砂金、“狗头金”在表生条件下的次生增生程度是十分有限的。对有限增生的原因进行了分析，认为可能与H2O2、微生物等对微细粒金具有双重作用有关，即其对微细粒金的溶解及再生均起作用。从而得出砂金及“狗头金”应由原生金矿体中的富金集合体（大块金及金的巨晶）在表生条件下遭受改造并发生有限增生所形成。

Internal War, International Mediation and Non-Official Diplomacy: Lessons from Mozambique

Jackson, R. (2005). Internal War, International Mediation and Non-Official Diplomacy: Lessons from Mozambique. Journal of Conflict Studies. 25(1), pp.153-76 RAE2008

Contemporary results of focal therapy for prostate cancer using cryoablation.

The concept of focal therapy is rapidly evolving and gaining popularity from both physician and patient perspectives. We review the rationale, candidate selection, and results of the first clinical studies of focal cryoablation for selected patients with low volume and low- to low-moderate-risk features of prostate cancer as an alternative to whole-gland treatment. In spite of improved understanding of the tumor biology of early stage disease, we currently have limited tools to select appropriate patients with low- to low-moderate risk unifocal or unilateral prostate cancer who may be amenable to focal therapy. From a technical point, a number of ablative treatment options for focal therapy are available, with cryoablation having the most clinical experience. Recently, several reports have been published from single and multi-institutional studies that discuss focal therapy as a reasonable balance between cancer control and quality-of-life outcomes. Retrospective pathologic data from large prostatectomy series, however, do not clearly reveal valid and reproducible criteria to select appropriate candidates for focal cryoablation because of the complexity of tumorigenesis in early stage disease. At this time, a more feasible option remains hemiablation of the prostate with reasonable certainty about the absence of clinically significant cancer lesion(s) on the contralateral side of the prostate based on three-dimensional transperineal prostate biopsy mapping studies. Minimally invasive, parenchyma-preserving cryoablation can be considered as a potential feasible option in the treatment armamentarium of early stage, localized prostate cancer in appropriately selected candidates. There is a need to further test this technique in randomized, multicenter clinical trials.

Researcher practices on returning genetic research results.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: as genetic and genomic research proliferates, debate has ensued about returning results to participants. In addition to consideration of the benefits and harms to participants, researchers must also consider the logistical and financial feasibility of returning research results. However, little data exist of actual researcher practices. METHODS: we conducted an online survey of 446 corresponding authors of genetic/genomic studies conducted in the United States and published in 2006-2007 to assess the frequency with which they considered, offered to, or actually returned research results, what factors influenced these decisions, and the method of communicating results. RESULTS: the response rate was 24% (105/446). Fifty-four percent of respondents considered the issue of returning research results to participants, 28% offered to return individual research results, and 24% actually returned individual research results. Of those who considered the issue of returning research results during the study planning phase, the most common factors considered were whether research results were deemed clinically useful (18%) and respect for participants (13%). Researchers who had a medical degree and conducted studies on children were significantly more likely to offer to return or actually return individual results compared to those with a Ph.D. only. CONCLUSIONS: we speculate that issues associated with clinical validity and respect for participants dominated concerns of time and expense given the prominent and continuing ethical debates surrounding genetics and genomics research. The substantial number of researchers who did not consider returning research results suggests that researchers and institutional review boards need to devote more attention to a topic about which research participants are interested.

Integrated pathway and epistasis analysis reveals interactive effect of genetic variants at TERF1 and AFAP1L2 loci on melanoma risk.

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have characterized 13 loci associated with melanoma, which only account for a small part of melanoma risk. To identify new genes with too small an effect to be detected individually but which collectively influence melanoma risk and/or show interactive effects, we used a two-step analysis strategy including pathway analysis of genome-wide SNP data, in a first step, and epistasis analysis within significant pathways, in a second step. Pathway analysis, using the gene-set enrichment analysis (GSEA) approach and the gene ontology (GO) database, was applied to the outcomes of MELARISK (3,976 subjects) and MDACC (2,827 subjects) GWASs. Cross-gene SNP-SNP interaction analysis within melanoma-associated GOs was performed using the INTERSNP software. Five GO categories were significantly enriched in genes associated with melanoma (false discovery rate ≤ 5% in both studies): response to light stimulus, regulation of mitotic cell cycle, induction of programmed cell death, cytokine activity and oxidative phosphorylation. Epistasis analysis, within each of the five significant GOs, showed significant evidence for interaction for one SNP pair at TERF1 and AFAP1L2 loci (pmeta-int  = 2.0 × 10(-7) , which met both the pathway and overall multiple-testing corrected thresholds that are equal to 9.8 × 10(-7) and 2.0 × 10(-7) , respectively) and suggestive evidence for another pair involving correlated SNPs at the same loci (pmeta-int  = 3.6 × 10(-6) ). This interaction has important biological relevance given the key role of TERF1 in telomere biology and the reported physical interaction between TERF1 and AFAP1L2 proteins. This finding brings a novel piece of evidence for the emerging role of telomere dysfunction into melanoma development.

[Crossword] Crossword solution - by Parsman

Tony Mann provides the crossword solution under the pseudonym of Parsman.

First report of a novel plant lysozyme with both antifungal and antibacterial activities.

A novel lysozyme exhibiting antifungal activity and with a molecular mass of 14.4 kDa in SDS–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was isolated from mung bean (Phaseolus mungo) seeds using a procedure that involved aqueous extraction, ammonium sulfate precipitation, ion exchange chromatography on CM-Sephadex, and high-performance liquid chromatography on POROS HS-20. Its N-terminal sequence was very different from that of hen egg white lysozyme. Its pI was estimated to be above 9.7. The specific activity of the lysozyme was 355 U/mg at pH 5.5 and 30 °C. The lysozyme exhibited a pH optimum at pH 5.5 and a temperature optimum at 55 °C. It is reported herein, for the first time, that a novel plant lysozyme exerted an antifungal action toward Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium solani, Pythium aphanidermatum, Sclerotium rolfsii, and Botrytis cinerea, in addition to an antibacterial action against Staphylococcus aureus.

Prediction- and simulation-error based perceptron training: Solution space analysis and a novel combined training scheme

Previous papers have noted the difficulty in obtaining neural models which are stable under simulation when trained using prediction-error-based methods. Here the differences between series-parallel and parallel identification structures for training neural models are investigated. The effect of the error surface shape on training convergence and simulation performance is analysed using a standard algorithm operating in both training modes. A combined series-parallel/parallel training scheme is proposed, aiming to provide a more effective means of obtaining accurate neural simulation models. Simulation examples show the combined scheme is advantageous in circumstances where the solution space is known or suspected to be complex. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Characterizing the marine Natura 2000 network for the Atlantic region

1. One of the goals for Natura 2000, a key European Community programme of nature conservation, is to produce a network of protected areas. An analysis of the Natura 2000 marine sites proposed in the most recently agreed list for the Atlantic region (northern Portugal to Denmark, n = 298) was used to characterize the network in terms of site areas and inter-site distances. Sites were considered as part of the network when they included any of the marine Natura 2000 Annex I habitat types found in the Atlantic region (excluding lagoons).