CDKN2A is not the principal target of deletions on the short arm of chromosome 9 in neuroendocrine (Merkel cell) carcinoma of the skin

The majority of small-cell lung cancers (SCLCs) express p16 but not pRb. Given our previous study showing loss of pRb in Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC)/neuroendocrine carcinoma of the skin and the clinicopathological similarities between SCLC and MCC, we wished to determine if this was also the case in MCC. Twenty-nine MCC specimens from 23 patients were examined for deletions at 10 loci on 9p and 1 on 9q. No loss of heterozygosity (LOH) was seen in 9 patients including 2 for which tumour and cell line DNAs were examined. Four patients had LOH for all informative loci on 9p. Ten tumours showed more limited regions of loss on 9p, and from these 2 common regions of deletion were determined. Half of all informative cases had LOH at D9S168, the most telomeric marker examined, and 3 specimens showed loss of only D9S168. A second region (IFNA-D9S126) showed LOH in 10 (44%) cases, and case MCC26 showed LOH for only D9S126, implicating genes centromeric of the CDKN2A locus. No mutations in the coding regions of p16 were seen in 7 cell lines tested, and reactivity to anti-p16 antibody was seen in all 11 tumour specimens examined and in 6 of 7 cell lines from 6 patients. Furthermore, all cell lines examined reacted with anti-p14(ARF) antibody. These results suggest that neither transcript of the CDKN2A locus is the target of deletions on 9p in MCC and imply the existence of tumour-suppressor genes mapping both centromeric and telomeric of this locus.

Undrained sediment loading key to long-runout submarine mass movements : evidence from the Caribbean Volcanic Arc

Long undersea debris runout can be facilitated by a boundary layer formed by weak marine sediments under a moving slide mass. Undrained loading of such offshore sediment results in a profound drop of basal shear resistance, compared to subaerial shear resistance, enabling long undersea runout. Thus large long-runout submarine landslides are not truly enigmatic (Voight and Elsworth 1992, 1997), but are understandable in terms of conventional geotechnical principles. A corollary is that remoulded undrained strength, and not friction angle, should be used for basal resistance in numerical simulations. This hypothesis is testable via drilling and examining the structure at the soles of undersea debris avalanches for indications of incorporation of sheared marine sediments, by tests of soil properties, and by simulations. Such considerations of emplacement process are an aim of ongoing research in the Lesser Antilles (Caribbean Sea), where multiple offshore debris avalanche and dome-collapse debris deposits have been identified since 1999 on swath bathymetric surveys collected in five oceanographic cruises. This paper reviews the prehistoric and historic collapses that have occurred offshore of Antilles arc islands and summarizes ongoing research on emplacement processes.

Lateral movements in composite high-rise buildings under seismic action

Daring human nature has already led to the construction of high-rise buildings in naturally challenging geological regions and in worse environments of the world. However; literature review divulges that there is a lag in research of certain generic principles and rules for the prediction of lateral movement in multistorey construction. The present competitive trend orders the best possible used of available construction material and resources. Hence; the mixed used of reinforced concrete with structural steel is gaining prevalence day by day. This paper investigates the effects of Seismic load on composite multistorey building provided with core wall and trusses through FEM modelling. The results showed that increased rigidity corresponds to lower period of vibration and hence higher seismic forces. Since Seismic action is a function of mass and response acceleration, therefore; mass increment generate higher earthquake load and thus cause higher impact base shear and overturning movement. Whereas; wind force depends on building exposed, larger the plan dimension greater is the wind impact. Nonetheless; outriggers trusses noticeably contribute, in improving the serviceability of structure subjected to wind and earthquake forces.

Water-based exercise for patients with chronic arm lymphedema : a randomized controlled pilot trial

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility and effect of a water-based exercise (WBE) program on lymphedema status and shoulder range of motion (ROM) among women with breast cancer related lymphedema. Design: Single-blinded, randomized controlled pilot trial. Twenty-nine eligible breast cancer survivors (median 10 years after surgery) with arm lymphedema (median 21% inter limb difference) were included and randomized into intervention (n= 15) or control (n=14). Twenty-five participants completed the study. The intervention was at least twice weekly WBE for 8 weeks; supervised initially but performed independently during the study period. Outcomes of interest were feasibility as measured by retention and adherence, lymphedema status as measured by optoelectronic perometry, bioimpedance spectroscopy and tissue dielectric constant, and shoulder range of motion (ROM) as measured by goniometer. Results: Four participants were not measured at post-intervention and were not included in the analysis (retention). Four participants in the intervention group did not perform the minimum WBE criteria set (adherence). No effect was found on lymphedema status. Compared to the control group, median ROM change for flexion was 6 (1-10) degrees (p<0.001) and 6 (0-15.5) degrees (p=0,07) for external rotation. Clinically relevant increase in the intervention group was found for 36% in flexion (p≤0.05) and (57%) in external rotation (p≤0.05) compared to controls. Conclusions: This study shows WBE is feasible for breast cancer survivors with arm lymphedema and that shoulder ROM can be improved years after cancer treatment has been completed.

Framing Movements for Gesture Interface Design

Gesture interfaces are an attractive avenue for human-computer interaction, given the range of expression that people are able to engage when gesturing. Consequently, there is a long running stream of research into gesture as a means of interaction in the field of human-computer interaction. However, most of this research has focussed on the technical challenges of detecting and responding to people’s movements, or on exploring the interaction possibilities opened up by technical developments. There has been relatively little research on how to actually design gesture interfaces, or on the kinds of understandings of gesture that might be most useful to gesture interface designers. Running parallel to research in gesture interfaces, there is a body of research into human gesture, which would seem a useful source to draw knowledge that could inform gesture interface design. However, there is a gap between the ways that ‘gesture’ is conceived of in gesture interface research compared to gesture research. In this dissertation, I explore this gap and reflect on the appropriateness of existing research into human gesturing for the needs of gesture interface design. Through a participatory design process, I designed, prototyped and evaluated a gesture interface for the work of the dental examination. Against this grounding experience, I undertook an analysis of the work of the dental examination with particular focus on the roles that gestures play in the work to compare and discuss existing gesture research. I take the work of the gesture researcher McNeill as a point of focus, because he is widely cited within gesture interface research literature. I show that although McNeill’s research into human gesture can be applied to some important aspects of the gestures of dentistry, there remain range of gestures that McNeill’s work does not deal with directly, yet which play an important role in the work and could usefully be responded to with gesture interface technologies. I discuss some other strands of gesture research, which are less widely cited within gesture interface research, but offer a broader conception of gesture that would be useful for gesture interface design. Ultimately, I argue that the gap in conceptions of gesture between gesture interface research and gesture research is an outcome of the different interests that each community brings to bear on the research. What gesture interface research requires is attention to the problems of designing gesture interfaces for authentic context of use and assessment of existing theory in light of this.

Average travel time estimations for urban routes that consider exit turning movements

This paper presents a methodology for real-time estimation of exit movement-specific average travel time on urban routes by integrating real-time cumulative plots, probe vehicles, and historic cumulative plots. Two approaches, component based and extreme based, are discussed for route travel time estimation. The methodology is tested with simulation and is validated with real data from Lucerne, Switzerland, that demonstrate its potential for accurate estimation. Both approaches provide similar results. The component-based approach is more reliable, with a greater chance of obtaining a probe vehicle in each interval, although additional data from each component is required. The extreme-based approach is simple and requires only data from upstream and downstream of the route, but the chances of obtaining a probe that traverses the entire route might be low. The performance of the methodology is also compared with a probe-only method. The proposed methodology requires only a few probes for accurate estimation; the probe-only method requires significantly more probes.

A locus on the long arm of chromosome 1 as a possible cause of essential hypertension

None of the genes responsible for essential hypertension has been identified. Recent work in genetically hypertensive rats has shown linkage of blood pressure with alleles of the renin gene. Since the renin gene is a member of a conserved synteny group that in humans spans chromosome 1q21.3-32.3 and includes the gene for antithrombin III (AT3), we used linkage studies to examine the relationship between alleles of AT3 and hypertension in a family having 10 affected members. From the lod score obtained at a recombination fraction of zero the odds for linkage of AT3 and hypertension in this family were calculated as 6:1 in favour of linkage. This result provides grounds for further examination of the possible role of the 1q23 locus in the aetiology of essential hypertension.

Comparison between electrically-evoked and voluntary wrist movements on sensorimotor and prefrontal cortical activation : A multi-channel time domain fNIRS study

Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) has been consistently demonstrated to improve skeletal muscle function in neurological populations with movement disorders, such as poststroke and incomplete spinal cord injury (Vanderthommen and Duchateau, 2007). Recent research has documented that rapid, supraspinal central nervous system reorganisation/neuroplastic mechanisms are also implicated during NMES (Chipchase et al., 2011). Functional neuroimaging studies have shown NMES to activate a network of sub-cortical and cortical brain regions, including the sensorimotor (SMC) and prefrontal (PFC) cortex (Blickenstorfer et al., 2009; Han et al., 2003; Muthalib et al., 2012). A relationship between increase in SMC activation with increasing NMES current intensity up to motor threshold has been previously reported using functional MRI (Smith et al., 2003). However, since clinical neurorehabilitation programmes commonly utilise NMES current intensities above the motor threshold and up to the maximum tolerated current intensity (MTI), limited research has determined the cortical correlates of increasing NMES current intensity at or above MTI (Muthalib et al., 2012). In our previous study (Muthalib et al., 2012), we assessed contralateral PFC activation using 1-channel functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) during NMES of the elbow flexors by increasing current intensity from motor threshold to greater than MTI and showed a linear relationship between NMES current intensity and the level of PFC activation. However, the relationship between NMES current intensity and activation of the motor cortical network, including SMC and PFC, has not been clarified. Moreover, it is of scientific and clinical relevance to know how NMES affects the central nervous system, especially in comparison to voluntary (VOL) muscle activation. Therefore, the aim of this study was to utilise multi-channel time domain fNIRS to compare SMC and PFC activation between VOL and NMESevoked wrist extension movements.

Made by motion, Series one

“Made by Motion” is a collaboration between digital artist Paul Van Opdenbosch and performer and choreographer Elise May; a series of studies on captured motion data used to generating experimental visual forms that reverberate in space and time. The project investigates the invisible forces generated by and influencing the movement of a dancer. Along with how the forces can be captured and applied to generating visual outcomes that surpass simple data visualisation, projecting the intent of the performer’s movements. The source or ‘seed’ comes from using an Xsens MVN - Inertial Motion Capture system to capture spontaneous dance movements, with the visual generation conducted through a customised dynamics simulation. In this first series the visual investigation focused on manipulating the movement date at the instance of capture, capture been the recording of three-dimensional movement as ‘seen’ by the hardware and ‘understood’ through the calibration of software. By repositioning the capture hardware on the body we can effectively change how the same sequence of movements is ‘seen’ by the motion capture system thus generating a different visual result from effetely identical movement. The outcomes from the experiments clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of using motion capture hardware as a creative tool to manipulate the perception of the capture subject, in this case been a sequence of dance movements. The creative work exhibited is a cross-section of the experiments conducted in practice with the first animated work (Movement A - Control) using the motion capture hardware in its default ‘normal’ configuration. Following this is the lower body moved to the upper body (Lb-Ub), right arm moved onto the left arm (Ra-La), right leg moved onto the left leg (Rl-Ll) and finally the left leg moved onto a object that is then held in the left hand (Ll-Pf (Lh)).

Taking victims seriously? : the role of victims' rights movements in the emergence of restorative justice

It is widely accepted in the literature on restorative justice that restorative practices emerged at least partly as a result of the recent shift towards recognising the rights of victims of crime, and increasing the involvement of victims in the criminal justice system. This article seeks to destabilise this claim. Although it accepts that there is a relationship between the emergence of a strong victims' rights movement and the emergence of restorative justice, it argues that this relationship is more nuanced, complex and contingent than advocates of restorative justice allow.

Incidence of unilateral arm lymphoedema after breast cancer : a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background The body of evidence related to breast-cancer-related lymphoedema incidence and risk factors has substantially grown and improved in quality over the past decade. We assessed the incidence of unilateral arm lymphoedema after breast cancer and explored the evidence available for lymphoedema risk factors. Methods We searched Academic Search Elite, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (clinical trials), and Medline for research articles that assessed the incidence or prevalence of, or risk factors for, arm lymphoedema after breast cancer, published between January 1, 2000, and June 30, 2012. We extracted incidence data and calculated corresponding exact binomial 95% CIs. We used random effects models to calculate a pooled overall estimate of lymphoedema incidence, with subgroup analyses to assess the effect of different study designs, countries of study origin, diagnostic methods, time since diagnosis, and extent of axillary surgery. We assessed risk factors and collated them into four levels of evidence, depending on consistency of findings and quality and quantity of studies contributing to findings. Findings 72 studies met the inclusion criteria for the assessment of lymphoedema incidence, giving a pooled estimate of 16·6% (95% CI 13·6–20·2). Our estimate was 21·4% (14·9–29·8) when restricted to data from prospective cohort studies (30 studies). The incidence of arm lymphoedema seemed to increase up to 2 years after diagnosis or surgery of breast cancer (24 studies with time since diagnosis or surgery of 12 to <24 months; 18·9%, 14·2–24·7), was highest when assessed by more than one diagnostic method (nine studies; 28·2%, 11·8–53·5), and was about four times higher in women who had an axillary-lymph-node dissection (18 studies; 19·9%, 13·5–28·2) than it was in those who had sentinel-node biopsy (18 studies; 5·6%, 6·1–7·9). 29 studies met the inclusion criteria for the assessment of risk factors. Risk factors that had a strong level of evidence were extensive surgery (ie, axillary-lymph-node dissection, greater number of lymph nodes dissected, mastectomy) and being overweight or obese. Interpretation Our findings suggest that more than one in five women who survive breast cancer will develop arm lymphoedema. A clear need exists for improved understanding of contributing risk factors, as well as of prevention and management strategies to reduce the individual and public health burden of this disabling and distressing disorder.

Hearing loss and a supportive tactile signal in a navigation system : effects on driving behavior and eye movements

An on-road study was conducted to evaluate a complementary tactile navigation signal on driving behaviour and eye movements for drivers with hearing loss (HL) compared to drivers with normal hearing (NH). 32 participants (16 HL and 16 NH) performed two preprogrammed navigation tasks. In one, participants received only visual information, while the other also included a vibration in the seat to guide them in the correct direction. SMI glasses were used for eye tracking, recording the point of gaze within the scene. Analysis was performed on predefined regions. A questionnaire examined participant's experience of the navigation systems. Hearing loss was associated with lower speed, higher satisfaction with the tactile signal and more glances in the rear view mirror. Additionally, tactile support led to less time spent viewing the navigation display.