Despite the growing problem of clandestine drug laboratories, there is currently little evidence of systematic knowledge regarding the crime-commission process involved in this criminal enterprise. ...In addition, as mentioned by Levi and Maguire, strategic measures utilized in law enforcement interventions that extend beyond immediate operational goals towards a lasting reduction in organized forms of crime are also lacking. The purpose of this study is to better understand the crimecommission process of clandestine drug laboratories and identify significant points for intervention by using crime scripts. This objective is achieved through a qualitative content analysis of 25 court cases in which a crime script comprising seven stages is identified. Potential prevention measures are also underpinned and summarized according to the problem analysis triangle. It is concluded that a focus on location, chemicals and equipment might have the most detrimental effect on the overall manufacturing script process.
Despite being a subject of long-term research on fusion-reactor structural materials, the behaviour of hydrogen in tungsten under plasma exposure remains unclear. Here, the explicit transmission ...electron microscopy observations for recrystallised W after hydrogen plasma exposure are successfully obtained. These are the first observations to show the intra-granular blisters are located on the {100} planes. Molecular dynamics simulations confirm the hydrogen blister initiating at dislocation core behaved similarly to those in experiment. We propose that the widely reported intra-granular hydrogen blisters are nucleated at the edge dislocation core and develop along the (100) plane in tungsten.
Display omitted
Hydatidiform mole (HM) is classified into partial (PHM) and complete (CHM) subtypes according to histopathologic and genetic criteria. Traditionally, it is believed that PHM carries a better ...prognosis and rarely develops metastasis. However, making a distinction between PHM and CHM using histologic criteria alone may be difficult.
The authors used fluorescent microsatellite genotyping following laser-capture microdissection and chromosome in situ hybridization (CISH) to perform a genetic analysis of six patients with histologically diagnosed PHM who subsequently developed metastatic gestational trophoblastic neoplasia.
Patients ranged in age from 25 years to 44 years (mean, 33.2 years). The gestational age of the molar pregnancies varied from 6 weeks to 20 weeks. All six patients had pulmonary metastases, with additional liver metastasis in two patients. Among the six patients with histologically diagnosed PHM, it was found that four patients had a diploid karyotype and no maternal alleles; thus, their neoplasms actually were CHM. Maternal genome was detected in the remaining two patients consistent with a biparental origin, and these patients had a triploid karyotype. CISH findings in all patients correlated with the genotyping findings. Triploid HM had maternally derived alleles, whereas diploid HMs were purely androgenetic.
In the current study, which may be the largest series of genetically analyzed metastatic PHMs to date, the difficulty of histologic distinction between PHM and CHM was confirmed. Molecular analysis may help to refine the classification of HM. Although the current findings support the belief that most aggressive trophoblastic diseases are derived from CHM, a small number of PHMs do progress to metastatic disease. Thus, the current study reaffirmed that all patients with HM should be followed closely irrespective of histologic subclassification.
To establish and verify the utility of measuring urine prostate cancer antigen 3 (PCA3) mRNA levels in the diagnosis of prostate cancer among Hong Kong Chinese patients.
Cross-sectional study.
...Urology Unit of a regional hospital in Hong Kong.
This study was carried out in two parts. In the first part, 102 post-prostatic massage urine samples were collected from patients with known prostate cancer (38 patients) and controls (64 patients, with normal digital rectal examination and serum prostate-specific antigen <4 ng/mL). The urine levels of PCA3 and prostate-specific antigen mRNA were measured and the best cut-off point for differentiating cancer was determined. In the second part of the study, post-prostatic massage urine samples from 47 patients with clinically suspected prostate cancer were collected prior to prostate biopsy. The performance of PCA3 as a diagnostic aid for cancer was then assessed using the aforementioned cut-off value.
In the first part of the study, the best cut-off for the PCA3 ratio (defined as the ratio of the Ct value of PCA3/PSA mRNA) was 1.127. Applying this cut-off to the 47 patients with clinically suspected prostate cancer and no history of previous prostate biopsy, the sensitivity and specificity of PCA3 for diagnosing prostate cancer were 71% and 92%, respectively.
The post-prostatic massage urine PCA3 level shows utility for diagnosing prostate cancer in patients with elevated prostate-specific antigen levels that could facilitate decisions to undertake prostate biopsy and avoid unnecessary biopsies.
Objective To estimate the prevalence of primary nocturnal enuresis (PNE) in Taiwanese children, and to examine factors associated with PNE and its severity.
Subjects and methods In all, 1683 ...questionnaires were sent to parents of schoolchildren aged 6–11 years randomly selected from three primary schools in Taipei City, Taiwan. The questionnaire was designed to collect information about the prevalence of and factors associated with PNE.
Results Of the questionnaires distributed, 1176 (70%) were completed. PNE was reported in 92 (8%) of the children; nine (10%) of these children were wet >3 nights per week. Factors associated with PNE included male gender, deep sleep, divorced parents or separated family and a positive family history of enuresis. Of these factors, only those children with deep sleep were more likely to have > 3 wet nights per week.
Conclusion The prevalence of and factors associated with PNE in Taiwan are similar to those reported in Western countries, but the percentage of children with severe enuresis is lower than in Sweden, France and Turkey. Deep sleepers are more likely to have severe enuresis.
To investigate the occurrence of somatic mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations in human primary endometrial carcinomas, we sequenced the D-loop region, the 12S and 16S rRNA genes of mtDNA of cancer ...tissues and their matched normal controls. About 56% (28 out of 50) of cases carry one or more somatic changes in mtDNA including deletion, point mutation and mitochondrial microsatellite instability (mtMSI), namely the change in length of short base-repetitive sequences of mtDNA. In particular, mtMSI was frequently detected in 89% (25 out of 28) of all the cases carrying somatic changes followed by point mutations (25%; seven out of 28) and deletion (3.5%; one out of 28). The CCCCCTCCCC sequences located in the Hypervariable Regions I and II of the D-loop and 12S rRNA gene are instability hot spot regions in endometrial carcinomas. It is suggested that errors in replication may account for the high frequency of mtMSI in human endometrial carcinomas. The relatively high prevalence of mtMSI may be a potential new tool for detection of endometrial cancer.
Aim: To evaluate the association between the polymorphisms of the Exo1 gene and the risk of lung cancer in central Taiwan.
Patients and Methods: In this hospital-based study, the association of Exo1 ...A-1419G (rs3754093), C-908G (rs10802996), A238G
(rs1776177), C498T (rs1635517), K589E (rs1047840), G670E (rs1776148), C723R (rs1635498), L757P (rs9350) and C3114T (rs851797)
polymorphisms with lung cancer risk in a central Taiwanese population was investigated. In total, 358 patients with lung cancer
and 358 age- and gender-matched healthy controls recruited from the China Medical Hospital in central Taiwan were genotyped.
Results: A significantly different distribution was found in the frequency of the Exo1 K589E genotype, but not the other genotypes,
between the lung cancer and control groups. The A allele Exo1 K589E conferred a significantly (p=0.0097) increased risk of
lung cancer. As for the rest of the polymorphisms, there was no difference in distribution between the lung cancer and control
groups. Gene environment interactions with smoking were significant for Exo1 K589E polymorphism. The Exo1 K589E AG and AA
genotype in association with smoking conferred an increased risk of 1.7208 (95% confidence interval=1.2188-2.4295) for lung
cancer. Conclusion: Our results provide the first evidence that the A allele of Exo1 K589E may be associated with the development
of lung cancer and may be a novel useful marker for primary prevention and anticancer intervention.
A combined experiments and mathematical modelling were carried out to study the kinetics of nonylphenol ethoxylation. Experiments were carried out in a well-stirred reactor used in an industrial ...research laboratory. The governing equations of the kinetic model were solved using
Mathematica (2009). Results were validated against published kinetic data. The experiments and kinetics modelling were extended to account the presence of nitrogen in the vapour phase for a potassium hydroxide catalyzed ethoxylation of nonylphenol in a well-stirred reactor. The modelling results were successfully validated against the experimental data. This model has been successfully used (
Chiu et al., 2008) for optimizing the productivity of the existing alkoxylation reactors and can be used as a tool for the exploration and design of innovative new reactor systems.
PDF
