When applied to a pilot line consisting of 100 workers, the intervention-reduced work related accidents in 80%, absenteeism in 45.65%, and eliminated work related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD), medical consultations, and turnover. Further, the output rate of the multifunctional team increased average 3% compared to the production rate of the regular lines following the Taylor/Ford system

(with the same shoe model being manufactured), while the rework and spoilage rates were reduced 85% and 69%, respectively. ACY-738 clinical trial (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.”
“A 74 year old lady presented with difficulty in breathing and hypoxia. She was initially treated as pulmonary embolism (PE). However, confirmatory tests did not suggest the diagnosis of PE. Further tests gave the diagnosis of an ovarian carcinoid presenting with shortness of breath and hypoxia. After an selleck chemicals llc initial treatment with Octreotide. she underwent salpingo-oophorectomy.\n\nShe became asymptomatic and made an uneventful recovery. Ovarian carcinoids can produce carcinoid syndrome without the presence of hepatic metastases. Here we provide a short review on ovarian carcinoids.”
“Rapid and accurate detection of Streptococcus pneumoniae

(Sp), Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) and Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) in sputum by conventional methods remains problematic. Primers based on capsular polysaccharide biosynthesis gene (cpsA), the region II of the

capsulation locus (cap), the insertion sequence IS6110 were designed for Sp, Hib, MTBC respectively. These primers were incorporated in a multiplex touchdown PCR assay for simultaneous detection of Sp, Hib and MTBC. The multiplex touchdown PCR assay was evaluated using standard strains and clinical sputum samples. The multiplex touchdown PCR assay showed 100% Selleckchem MX69 specificity in identifying Sp, Hib, MTBC from pure culture of standard strains. The sensitivities of the multiplex touchdown PCR assay were 94%, 98%, 98% for detection of Sp, Hib and MTBC respectively based on culture results while evaluated using 492 consecutive qualified clinical sputum samples; the specificities were all 100%. This highly sensitive and specific multiplex touchdown PCR assay offers a rapid and simple method for detection of Sp, Hib and MTBC in clinical sputum samples.”
“Renal artery stenting is expected to improve or stabilize renal function. However, the efficacy of renal artery stenting in severely reduced renal function is unclear. We evaluated 23 patients with class IV or V renal dysfunction who were treated for renal artery stenosis between 2004 and 2009. Improvement in renal function was found in 7 (30%) patients, all of whom were treated with distal protection device. Deterioration of renal function was found in 4 (17%) cases. In these 4 cases, distal protection device could not be used for anatomical reasons.

40; 95% CI 1.30-1.51). The proportion of chlamydia infections

detected increased for all socio-demographic and self-reported sexual behaviour groups both during and after the campaign.\n\nConclusion: The uptake of chlamydia testing rose during the campaign; however, this apparent increase was not maintained once overall trends in testing were taken into account. Nonetheless, once secular and cyclical trends were controlled for, the campaign was associated with an increased positivity linked to increased testing of high risk individuals groups in the target population Smoothened Agonist in vivo who were previously less likely to come forward for testing. However, our study indicated that there may have been a disparity in the impact of the campaign on different population groups. The content and delivery of ongoing and future information campaigns aimed at increasing chlamydia screening should be carefully developed so that they are relevant to all sections of the target population.”
“Silicon sensors are used for the tracker

and vertex detectors of all the main current high energy physics experiments because of their unsurpassed performance in terms of granularity, resolution and speed while offering relatively low mass. The anticipated future upgrade of the present Large Hadron Collider (the Super LHC, sLHC) will require detectors with similar performance in terms of speed and low mass, but with increased granularity and a factor of ten more radiation tolerance. The radiation hardening of silicon ACY-738 mw sensors, given the sLHC requirements, is being investigated

from many angles: different silicon materials, different electrode geometries and varying the thickness of the active substrate.\n\nIt has been proposed that possible advantages could be achieved with detectors thinner than the accepted standard of 300 m. The effect of the thickness on the performances of finely segmented silicon sensors after severe hadron irradiation (up to 2 x 10(16) 1 MeV neutron equivalent/cm(2)) is presented. For the first time, the charge collection properties of microstrip detectors made on 200 mu m n-type float zone (FZ) and 150 mu m selleckchem high resistivity epitaxial silicon substrates are compared with thin (140 mu m) and standard p-type devices.”
“Abird-parasitic fly, Carnus orientalis Maa, 1968, is recorded for the first time from Japan, and it is taxonomically reexamined on the basis of specimens collected in Okinawa Prefecture. Adult flies were found from nestlings of Ryukyu scops owl (Otus elegans Cassin, 1852), which is a new host for C. orientalis. Bionomic remarks regarding C. orientalis are presented, and a key to the world species of Carnus is also provided.”
“Objective-The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of the combined deletion of ABCA1 and ABCG1 expression in macrophages on foam cell formation and atherosclerosis.

“
“Vaccines intended to induce a cytotoxic CD8+ T-cell response are highly sought after. However, some of these vaccines can be problematic if they replicate in the host. An alternative

strategy is to exploit cross-presentation of exogenous antigens to express peptides on major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules. During cross-presentation, the delivered exogenous antigen can be taken up and processed through diverse mechanisms. Here, we will discuss the recent advances regarding the complex nature of the cross-priming process and the models that www.selleckchem.com/products/as1842856.html reflect its relevance in vivo. Moreover, we summarize current data that explore potential adjuvants and vaccine vectors that deliver antigens to activate CD8+ T cells relying on cross-presentation.”
“Purpose: Elevated intraocular pressure is a crucial pathologic event for the development of glaucoma (GL). this website We have reported that nerve growth factor (NGF) reaches retinal cells and the optic nerve (ON) when applied to the eye. Whether ocular application of NGF prevents or reduces damage to retinal

ganglion cell (RGC) is not known.\n\nMethods: GL was induced in adult rats by the injection of hypertonic saline into the episcleral vein of the right eye and the left eye used as control. Rats were then treated daily with ocular application of NGF or vehicle solution for 7 weeks. Retinal and ON tissues were then used for structural, immunohistochemical, and biochemical studies.\n\nResults: The injection of hypertonic saline into the episcleral vein led to progressive degeneration of RGCs, with the loss of nearly 40% of these cells after 7 weeks of treatment. This cellular loss is associated with the downregulation of NGF and NGF-receptor expression in the retina and ON of the glaucomatous eye and ocular treatment with NGF significantly reduced the deficit induced by GL.\n\nConclusions:

These findings indicate that NGF can exert protective action on RGC degeneration occurring in glaucomatous retina. We suggest that ocular NGF treatment might be a suitable pharmacologic approach to investigate protective mechanisms of degenerating RGCs.”
“Purpose: This study aimed at evaluating the pattern of changes in estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor Alvocidib in vivo (PR) and the HER2 expression in primary and recurrent breast cancer. Methods: In the study, we analyzed the changes of the ER and PR and the HER2 immunohistochemical expression to identify the patterns of changes and the predictive factors for the changes in 153 patients with primary and recurrent breast cancer between 1991 and 2005. Results: There was a significant decrease in the positive rate of ER (50.3% to 38.6%, p<0.001), PR (43.8% to 26.8%, p= 0.0095) and the HER2 (40.3% to 36.3%, p<0.001) expression in the primary breast cancers and recurrent breast cancers. The rate of triple negativity (ER/PR/HER2: all negative) was increased from 25.8% to 43.5% (p<0.001). Among 44 (28.

Libraries generated following this strategy were evaluated in terms of their folding competence and their functional proficiency, an observation that was formalized as a Structure-Function Loop Adaptability value. Molecular details about the function and structure of some variants were obtained by enzyme kinetics and circular dichroism. This strategy yields functional variants that retain Selleckchem Pexidartinib the original activity at higher frequencies, suggesting a new strategy for protein engineering that incorporates

a more divergent sequence exploration beyond that limited to point mutations. We discuss how this approach may provide insights into the mechanism of enzyme evolution and function. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“For clinicians, soft connective tissue integration (STI), one of the critical issues for dental implant success, is usually tested using the fibroblasts monolayer regime. Therefore, we aimed at an extension of this regime by employing interactive gingival fibroblast-keratinocyte cocultures (CCs) as an in vivo-like test platform. In the extended regime, 13 STI-relevant genes were analyzed in response to five different titanium implant biomaterial

surfaces. The genes quantitated by real-time polymerase chain reaction were categorized as pro supportive or contra supportive, that is, nonsupportive for cell growth on an engineered surface. Monocultures had higher levels of this website contra supportive gene expression, but the fibroblast-keratinocyte CC had two out of five of the titanium BMN 673 in vivo surfaces with more pro supportive gene expression than contra supportive gene expression. We defined this change from contra supportive gene expression to pro supportive gene expression by developing the “relative supportive difference” index. Hence, interactive CCs exhibit valuable supportive effects on the expression of STI-relevant genes, possibly via physiological cell-to-cell-interactions. Our results render interactive gingival CCs suitable as a test platform

for dental implant-related STI under more in vivo-like conditions.”
“A study on the prevalence of hydatidosis in cattle, goats and sheep was carried out in Ngorongoro district of Arusha region, Tanzania. A 4-years data records from four slaughter slabs were retrieved and analysed. In addition, meat inspection was done in the same slaughter slabs for nine months and 64 households were interviewed to assess the community awareness on hydatidosis. Results showed the overall prevalence of hydatidosis to be 47.9%. Species prevalence of 48.7%, 34.7% and 63.8% in cattle, goats and sheep respectively was recorded. Of 174 cysts examined in cattle, 37 (21.3%) were fertile, 126 (72.4%) were sterile and 11 (6.3%) were calcified. Out of 215 goats and 67 sheep cysts examined, 52 (24.7%) and 26 (38.8%) were fertile, 138 (64.2%) and 38 (56.7%) were sterile, 24 (11.2%) and 3 (4.5%) were calcified respectively.

In this report we summarize the literature on neurological manifestations in Goltz syndrome.”
“The presence of chlorine in drinking water supplies in many countries creates the undesirable side effect causing a relatively under investigated degree of polymer degradation in the polyethylene

pipes used transport. In order to predict pipe lifetimes and ensure safe water supplies, a kinetic model using data for the degradation rates of polyethylenes immersed in chlorine solutions, was developed. In order to replicate phenomena that normally occur very slowly at low concentrations of chlorine, accelerated ageing studies were necessary. These were carried out at high chlorine concentrations under well-defined experimental conditions (70, 400 U0126 MAPK inhibitor and 4000 ppm). Results showed that, for the chlorine concentrations studied, a chain scission process associated with carbonyl formation is occurring. It was also shown that

the rate of this degradation does not depend on the presence of stabilizer. A kinetic model, taking into account the chlorine concentration, is proposed in order to simulate the molar mass changes occurring. This will facilitate the prediction of the degree of polyethylene embrittlement and ultimately the lifetime. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Background: MK-8776 inhibitor Transformation of indolent lymphomas (IL) to an aggressive histology (TIL) often results in a rapid clinical course, treatment refractoriness and shortened survival. Although rituximab-containing regimens (R-chemo) have become standard of care in CD20-positive TIL, the role of autologous stem-cell transplantation (ASCT) is still debated. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the outcome of AS1842856 cell line TIL patients improved if they,

at transformation, also received ASCT. Furthermore, we investigated the outcome of cases with histologically low-and high-grade components diagnosed either simultaneously or after a period of overt indolent disease. We also analyzed, whether prior rituximab treatment during the indolent course of the disease affected outcome after transformation. Patients and methods: Eighty-five patients ( smaller than = 68 years) with histologically confirmed TIL were included. Five-year overall (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were calculated. Selected parameters were tested in a multivariate analysis. All analyses were conducted on three cohorts: (i) whole cohort (all TIL), (ii) patients with co-existing evidence of both indolent and aggressive histology at diagnosis (Composite/discordant TIL) and (iii) patients transformed after prolonged prior indolent disease (sequential TIL). Results: Fifty-four patients (64%) received ASCT consolidation and 31 (36%) did not. Within the ‘all TIL’ cohort, the 5-year OS and PFS for R-chemo + ASCT versus R-chemo alone, were 67% versus 48% (P = 0.11) and 60% versus 30% (P = 0.02), respectively.