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Showing papers by "University of Bern published in 2005"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The addition of temozolomide to radiotherapy for newly diagnosed glioblastoma resulted in a clinically meaningful and statistically significant survival benefit with minimal additional toxicity.
Abstract: methods Patients with newly diagnosed, histologically confirmed glioblastoma were randomly assigned to receive radiotherapy alone (fractionated focal irradiation in daily fractions of 2 Gy given 5 days per week for 6 weeks, for a total of 60 Gy) or radiotherapy plus continuous daily temozolomide (75 mg per square meter of body-surface area per day, 7 days per week from the first to the last day of radiotherapy), followed by six cycles of adjuvant temozolomide (150 to 200 mg per square meter for 5 days during each 28-day cycle). The primary end point was overall survival. results A total of 573 patients from 85 centers underwent randomization. The median age was 56 years, and 84 percent of patients had undergone debulking surgery. At a median follow-up of 28 months, the median survival was 14.6 months with radiotherapy plus temozolomide and 12.1 months with radiotherapy alone. The unadjusted hazard ratio for death in the radiotherapy-plus-temozolomide group was 0.63 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.52 to 0.75; P<0.001 by the log-rank test). The two-year survival rate was 26.5 percent with radiotherapy plus temozolomide and 10.4 percent with radiotherapy alone. Concomitant treatment with radiotherapy plus temozolomide resulted in grade 3 or 4 hematologic toxic effects in 7 percent of patients.

16,653 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Arlequin ver 3.0 as discussed by the authors is a software package integrating several basic and advanced methods for population genetics data analysis, like the computation of standard genetic diversity indices, the estimation of allele and haplotype frequencies, tests of departure from linkage equilibrium, departure from selective neutrality and demographic equilibrium, estimation or parameters from past population expansions, and thorough analyses of population subdivision under the AMOVA framework.
Abstract: Arlequin ver 3.0 is a software package integrating several basic and advanced methods for population genetics data analysis, like the computation of standard genetic diversity indices, the estimation of allele and haplotype frequencies, tests of departure from linkage equilibrium, departure from selective neutrality and demographic equilibrium, estimation or parameters from past population expansions, and thorough analyses of population subdivision under the AMOVA framework. Arlequin 3 introduces a completely new graphical interface written in C++, a more robust semantic analysis of input files, and two new methods: a Bayesian estimation of gametic phase from multi-locus genotypes, and an estimation of the parameters of an instantaneous spatial expansion from DNA sequence polymorphism. Arlequin can handle several data types like DNA sequences, microsatellite data, or standard multi-locus genotypes. A Windows version of the software is freely available on http://cmpg.unibe.ch/software/arlequin3.

14,271 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Patients with glioblastoma containing a methylated MGMT promoter benefited from temozolomide, whereas those who did not have a methylation of theMGMT promoter did notHave such a benefit and were assigned to only radiotherapy.
Abstract: background Epigenetic silencing of the MGMT (O 6 -methylguanine–DNA methyltransferase) DNArepair gene by promoter methylation compromises DNA repair and has been associated with longer survival in patients with glioblastoma who receive alkylating agents. methods We tested the relationship between MGMT silencing in the tumor and the survival of patients who were enrolled in a randomized trial comparing radiotherapy alone with radiotherapy combined with concomitant and adjuvant treatment with temozolomide. The methylation status of the MGMT promoter was determined by methylation-specific polymerase-chain-reaction analysis. results The MGMT promoter was methylated in 45 percent of 206 assessable cases. Irrespective of treatment, MGMT promoter methylation was an independent favorable prognostic factor (P<0.001 by the log-rank test; hazard ratio, 0.45; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.32 to 0.61). Among patients whose tumor contained a methylated MGMT promoter, a survival benefit was observed in patients treated with temozolomide and radiotherapy; their median survival was 21.7 months (95 percent confidence interval, 17.4 to 30.4), as compared with 15.3 months (95 percent confidence interval, 13.0 to 20.9) among those who were assigned to only radiotherapy (P=0.007 by the log-rank test). In the absence of methylation of the MGMT promoter, there was a smaller and statistically insignificant difference in survival between the treatment groups. conclusions Patients with glioblastoma containing a methylated MGMT promoter benefited from temozolomide, whereas those who did not have a methylated MGMT promoter did not have such a benefit.

6,018 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: One year of treatment with trastuzumab after adjuvant chemotherapy significantly improves disease-free survival among women with HER2-positive breast cancer.
Abstract: background Trastuzumab, a recombinant monoclonal antibody against HER2, has clinical activity in advanced breast cancer that overexpresses HER2. We investigated its efficacy and safety after excision of early-stage breast cancer and completion of chemotherapy. methods This international, multicenter, randomized trial compared one or two years of trastuzumab given every three weeks with observation in patients with HER2-positive and either node-negative or node-positive breast cancer who had completed locoregional therapy and at least four cycles of neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy. results Data were available for 1694 women randomly assigned to two years of treatment with trastuzumab, 1694 women assigned to one year of trastuzumab, and 1693 women assigned to observation. We report here the results only of treatment with trastuzumab for one year or observation. At the first planned interim analysis (median follow-up of one year), 347 events (recurrence of breast cancer, contralateral breast cancer, second nonbreast malignant disease, or death) were observed: 127 events in the trastuzumab group and 220 in the observation group. The unadjusted hazard ratio for an event in the trastuzumab group, as compared with the observation group, was 0.54 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.43 to 0.67; P<0.0001 by the log-rank test, crossing the interim analysis boundary), representing an absolute benefit in terms of disease-free survival at two years of 8.4 percentage points. Overall survival in the two groups was not significantly different (29 deaths with trastuzumab vs. 37 with observation). Severe cardiotoxicity developed in 0.5 percent of the women who were treated with trastuzumab. conclusions One year of treatment with trastuzumab after adjuvant chemotherapy significantly improves disease-free survival among women with HER2-positive breast cancer. (clinicaltrials.gov number, NCT 00045032.)

4,815 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
Joseph Adams1, Madan M. Aggarwal2, Zubayer Ahammed3, J. Amonett4  +363 moreInstitutions (46)
TL;DR: In this paper, the most important experimental results from the first three years of nucleus-nucleus collision studies at RHIC were reviewed, with emphasis on results of the STAR experiment.

2,750 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is hypothesized that both cam and pincer impingement lead to osteoarthritis of the hip and that both mechanisms result in different patterns of articular damage.
Abstract: Recently, femoroacetabular impingement has been recognised as a cause of early osteoarthritis. There are two mechanisms of impingement: 1) cam impingement caused by a non-spherical head and 2) pincer impingement caused by excessive acetabular cover. We hypothesised that both mechanisms result in different patterns of articular damage. Of 302 analysed hips only 26 had an isolated cam and 16 an isolated pincer impingement. Cam impingement caused damage to the anterosuperior acetabular cartilage with separation between the labrum and cartilage. During flexion, the cartilage was sheared off the bone by the non-spherical femoral head while the labrum remained untouched. In pincer impingement, the cartilage damage was located circumferentially and included only a narrow strip. During movement the labrum is crushed between the acetabular rim and the femoral neck causing degeneration and ossification. Both cam and pincer impingement lead to osteoarthritis of the hip. Labral damage indicates ongoing impingement and rarely occurs alone.

1,825 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In postmenopausal women with endocrine-responsive breast cancer, adjuvant treatment with letrozole, as compared with tamoxifen, reduced the risk of recurrent disease, especially at distant sites.
Abstract: Background The aromatase inhibitor letrozole is a more effective treatment for metastatic breast cancer and more effective in the neoadjuvant setting than tamoxifen. We compared letrozole with tamoxifen as adjuvant treatment for steroid-hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer in postmenopausal women. Methods The Breast International Group (BIG) 1-98 study is a randomized, phase 3, double-blind trial that compared five years of treatment with various adjuvant endocrine therapy regimens in postmenopausal women with hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer: letrozole, letrozole followed by tamoxifen, tamoxifen, and tamoxifen followed by letrozole. This analysis compares the two groups assigned to receive letrozole initially with the two groups assigned to receive tamoxifen initially; events and follow-up in the sequential-treatment groups were included up to the time that treatments were switched. Results A total of 8010 women with data that could be assessed were enrolled, 4003 in the letrozole group and 4007 in the tamoxifen group. After a median follow-up of 25.8 months, 351 events had occurred in the letrozole group and 428 events in the tamoxifen group, with five-year disease-free survival estimates of 84.0 percent and 81.4 percent, respectively. As compared with tamoxifen, letrozole significantly reduced the risk of an event ending a period of disease-free survival (hazard ratio, 0.81; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.70 to 0.93; P=0.003), especially the risk of distant recurrence (hazard ratio, 0.73; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.60 to 0.88; P=0.001). Thromboembolism, endometrial cancer, and vaginal bleeding were more common in the tamoxifen group. Women given letrozole had a higher incidence of skeletal and cardiac events and of hypercholesterolemia. Conclusions In postmenopausal women with endocrine-responsive breast cancer, adjuvant treatment with letrozole, as compared with tamoxifen, reduced the risk of recurrent disease, especially at distant sites. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00004205.)

1,532 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
15 Sep 2005-Nature
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the pathway upstream of integrin activation and found that PECAM-1 and VEGFR2 are sufficient to confer responsiveness to flow in heterologous cells.
Abstract: Shear stress is a fundamental determinant of vascular homeostasis, regulating vascular remodelling, cardiac development and atherogenesis, but the mechanisms of transduction are poorly understood. Previous work showed that the conversion of integrins to a high-affinity state mediates a subset of shear responses, including cell alignment and gene expression. Here we investigate the pathway upstream of integrin activation. PECAM-1 (which directly transmits mechanical force), vascular endothelial cell cadherin (which functions as an adaptor) and VEGFR2 (which activates phosphatidylinositol-3-OH kinase) comprise a mechanosensory complex. Together, these receptors are sufficient to confer responsiveness to flow in heterologous cells. In support of the relevance of this pathway in vivo, PECAM-1-knockout mice do not activate NF-kappaB and downstream inflammatory genes in regions of disturbed flow. Therefore, this mechanosensing pathway is required for the earliest-known events in atherogenesis.

1,387 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Inhaled ultrafine titanium dioxide particles were found on the luminal side of airways and alveoli, in all major lung tissue compartments and cells, and within capillaries, while particle uptake in vitro did not occur by any of the expected endocytic processes, but rather by diffusion or adhesive interactions.
Abstract: High concentrations of airborne particles have been associated with increased pulmonary and cardiovascular mortality, with indications of a specific toxicologic role for ultrafine particles (UFPs; particles < 0.1 microm). Within hours after the respiratory system is exposed to UFPs, the UFPs may appear in many compartments of the body, including the liver, heart, and nervous system. To date, the mechanisms by which UFPs penetrate boundary membranes and the distribution of UFPs within tissue compartments of their primary and secondary target organs are largely unknown. We combined different experimental approaches to study the distribution of UFPs in lungs and their uptake by cells. In the in vivo experiments, rats inhaled an ultrafine titanium dioxide aerosol of 22 nm count median diameter. The intrapulmonary distribution of particles was analyzed 1 hr or 24 hr after the end of exposure, using energy-filtering transmission electron microscopy for elemental microanalysis of individual particles. In an in vitro study, we exposed pulmonary macrophages and red blood cells to fluorescent polystyrene microspheres (1, 0.2, and 0.078 microm) and assessed particle uptake by confocal laser scanning microscopy. Inhaled ultrafine titanium dioxide particles were found on the luminal side of airways and alveoli, in all major lung tissue compartments and cells, and within capillaries. Particle uptake in vitro into cells did not occur by any of the expected endocytic processes, but rather by diffusion or adhesive interactions. Particles within cells are not membrane bound and hence have direct access to intracellular proteins, organelles, and DNA, which may greatly enhance their toxic potential.

1,259 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is proved that the sign problem is nondeterministic polynomial (NP) hard, implying that a generic solution of the sign problems would also solve all problems in the complexity class NP inPolynomial time.
Abstract: Quantum Monte Carlo simulations, while being efficient for bosons, suffer from the "negative sign problem" when applied to fermions--causing an exponential increase of the computing time with the number of particles. A polynomial time solution to the sign problem is highly desired since it would provide an unbiased and numerically exact method to simulate correlated quantum systems. Here we show that such a solution is almost certainly unattainable by proving that the sign problem is nondeterministic polynomial (NP) hard, implying that a generic solution of the sign problem would also solve all problems in the complexity class NP in polynomial time.

1,025 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In both groups, smaller trials and those of lower quality showed more beneficial treatment effects than larger and higher-quality trials, compatible with the notion that the clinical effects of homoeopathy are placebo effects.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This review provides knowledge on fluorine interactions classified into phenyl-perfluorophenyl-, C-FH, FF and C-FpiF interactions.
Abstract: In the last decade interactions of fluorine substituents in a variety of organic compounds have gained interest in life science and solid state materials. This review provides knowledge on fluorine interactions classified into phenyl–perfluorophenyl-, C–F⋯H, F⋯F and C–F⋯πF interactions. Except for phenyl–perfluorophenyl stacking featuring a stabilising energy of about 30 kJ·mol−1, interactions involving fluorine are generally weak. Although, there is still no concise understanding of fluorine interactions, there are numerous examples showing the influence of weak synthons on chemical, physical and biological properties.

Journal ArticleDOI
Max Aebi1
TL;DR: Overall, a satisfactory outcome can be expected in well-differentiated indications and properly tailored surgical procedures, although until today prospective, controlled studies with outcome measures and pre- and post-operative patient’s health status are lacking.
Abstract: Adult scoliosis is defined as a spinal deformity in a skeletally mature patient with a Cobb angle of more than 10 degrees in the coronal plain. Adult scoliosis can be separated into four major groups: Type 1: Primary degenerative scoliosis, mostly on the basis of a disc and/or facet joint arthritis, affecting those structures asymmetrically with predominantly back pain symptoms, often accompanied either by signs of spinal stenosis (central as well as lateral stenosis) or without. These curves are often classified as "de novo" scoliosis. Type 2: Idiopathic adolescent scoliosis of the thoracic and/or lumbar spine which progresses in adult life and is usually combined with secondary degeneration and/or imbalance. Some patients had either no surgical treatment or a surgical correction and fusion in adolescence in either the thoracic or thoracolumbar spine. Those patients may develop secondary degeneration and progression of the adjacent curve; in this case those curves belong to the type 3a. Type 3: Secondary adult curves: (a) In the context of an oblique pelvis, for instance, due to a leg length discrepancy or hip pathology or as a secondary curve in idiopathic, neuromuscular and congenital scoliosis, or asymmetrical anomalies at the lumbosacral junction; (b) In the context of a metabolic bone disease (mostly osteoporosis) combined with asymmetric arthritic disease and/or vertebral fractures. Sometimes it is difficult to decide, what exactly the primary cause of the curve was, once it has significantly progressed. However, once an asymmetric load or degeneration occurs, the pathomorphology and pathomechanism in adult scoliosis predominantly located in the lumbar or thoracolumbar spine is quite predictable. Asymmetric degeneration leads to increased asymmetric load and therefore to a progression of the degeneration and deformity, as either scoliosis and/or kyphosis. The progression of a curve is further supported by osteoporosis, particularly in post-menopausal female patients. The destruction of facet joints, joint capsules, discs and ligaments may create mono- or multisegmental instability and finally spinal stenosis. These patients present themselves predominantly with back pain, then leg pain and claudication symptoms, rarely with neurological deficit, and almost never with questions related to cosmetics. The diagnostic evaluation includes static and dynamic imaging, myelo-CT, as well as invasive diagnostic procedures like discograms, facet blocks, epidural and root blocks and immobilization tests. These tests may correlate with the clinical and the pathomorphological findings and may also offer the least invasive and most rational treatment for the patient. The treatment is then tailored to the specific symptomatology of the patient. Surgical management consists of either decompression, correction, stabilization and fusion procedures or a combination of all of these. Surgical procedure is usually complex and has to deal with a whole array of specific problems like the age and the general medical condition of the patient, the length of the fusion, the condition of the adjacent segments, the condition of the lumbosacral junction, osteoporosis and possibly previous scoliosis surgery, and last but not least, usually with a long history of chronified back pain and muscle imbalance which may be very difficult to be influenced. Although this surgery is demanding, the morbidity cannot be considered significantly higher than in other established orthopaedic procedures, like hip replacement, in the same age group of patients. Overall, a satisfactory outcome can be expected in well-differentiated indications and properly tailored surgical procedures, although until today prospective, controlled studies with outcome measures and pre- and post-operative patient's health status are lacking. As patients, who present themselves with significant clinical problems in the context of adult scoliosis, get older, minimal invasive procedures to address exactly the most relevant clinical problem may become more and more important, basically ignoring the overall deformity and degeneration of the spine.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a new model of giant planet formation that extends the core-accretion model of Pollack et al. (1996, Icarus, 124, 62) to include migration, disc evolution and gap formation.
Abstract: We present a new model of giant planet formation that extends the core-accretion model of Pollack et al. (1996, Icarus, 124, 62) to include migration, disc evolution and gap formation. We show that taking these effects into account can lead to much more rapid formation of giant planets, making it compatible with the typical disc lifetimes inferred from observations of young circumstellar discs. This speed up is due to the fact that migration prevents the severe depletion of the feeding zone as observed in in situ calculations. Hence, the growing planet is never isolated and it can reach cross-over mass on a much shorter timescale. To illustrate the range of planets that can form in our model, we describe a set of simulations in which we have varied some of the initial parameters and compare the final masses and semi-major axes with those inferred from observed extra-solar planets.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This review addresses current knowledge of the molecular trafficking signals involved in the migration of circulating leukocytes across the highly specialized blood-central nervous system (CNS) barriers during immunosurveillance and inflammation.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The first results demonstrate that the KIDSCREEN-52 questionnaire is a promising cross-cultural measure of health-related quality-of-life assessment for children and adolescents in Europe.
Abstract: This study describes the development and reports the first psychometric results of the European KIDSCREEN-52 generic health-related quality-of-life questionnaire for children and adolescents. The KIDSCREEN-52, including ten dimensions, was applied in a European survey involving 12 countries (i.e., Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Hungary, The Netherlands, Poland, Sweden and the UK) and 22,110 children and adolescents aged between 8 and 18 years of age. Questionnaire development included a literature search, expert consultation, and focus group discussions with children and adolescents. After definition of dimensions and collection of items, a translation process following international translation guidelines, cognitive interviews and a pilot test were performed. Analysis regarding psychometric properties showed Cronbach-α ranged from 0.77 to 0.89. Correlation coefficients between KINDLR and KIDSCREEN-52 dimensions were high for those assessing similar constructs (r = 0.51-0.68). All KIDSCREEN-52 dimensions showed a gradient according to socioeconomic status and most dimensions showed a gradient according to psychosomatic health complaints. The first results demonstrate that the KIDSCREEN-52 questionnaire is a promising cross-cultural measure of health-related quality-of-life assessment for children and adolescents in Europe. © 2005 Future Drugs Ltd.

Journal ArticleDOI
08 Jul 2005-Science
TL;DR: In this paper, the Vgamma2Vdelta2+-T cell receptor was found to be associated with the performance of professional antigen-presenting cells such as dendritic cells.
Abstract: Human gammadelta T cells are considered to play a vital role in protective immunity through cytokine secretion and cytotoxic activity. We report that cells expressing the Vgamma2Vdelta2+-T cell receptor (Vdelta2+ T cells) also display principal characteristics of professional antigen-presenting cells such as dendritic cells. Thus, when activated, these cells efficiently processed and displayed antigens and provided co-stimulatory signals sufficient for strong induction of naive alphabeta T cell proliferation and differentiation. We suggest that, upon microbial activation, Vdelta2+ T cells participate in the induction of adaptive immune responses and that these cells may be a useful tool in vaccine development and immunotherapy.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Owing to their distinct homing preferences and helper function, these T cells differ from T helper 1 and T helper 2 cells and have been denoted follicular B helper T cells.
Abstract: T-cell help for B cells is essential for high-affinity antibody responses and B-cell memory. Recently, the identity of a discrete follicular population of T cells that has a crucial role in this process has become clearer. Similar to primed CD4(+) T cells in the tonsils and memory CD4(+) T cells in the peripheral blood, this follicular population of T cells expresses CXC-chemokine receptor 5 (CXCR5). Owing to their distinct homing preferences and helper function, these T cells differ from T helper 1 and T helper 2 cells and have been denoted follicular B helper T cells. Here, we outline the central role of this subset in normal and pathological immune responses.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a comparison between high-resolution palaeohydrological and palaeoglaciological data in west-central Europe over the past 3500 years is presented.
Abstract: On the basis of glacier and lake-level records, this paper attempts, for the first time, a comparison between high-resolution palaeohydrological and palaeoglaciological data in west-central Europe over the past 3500 years. A data set of tree-ring width, radiocarbon and archaeological data, in addition to historical sources, were used to reconstruct fluctuations of the Great Aletsch, the Gorner and the Lower Grindelwald glaciers in the Swiss Alps. The three ice-streams experienced nearly synchronous advances at c. 1000-600 BC and AD 500-600, 800-900, 1100-1200 and 1300-1860. These glacier fluctuations show strong correspondence with lake-level variations reconstructed in eastern France (Jura mountains and Pre-Alps) and on the Swiss Plateau. This supports the hypothesis of climatically driven fluctuations. Historical data available for the period since AD 1550 reveal, in detail, various meteorological conditions behind the successive glacier advances. However, in agreement with the general trend shown by th...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, an overview of the recent results on upconversion spectroscopy obtained in our group is presented, where it is demonstrated that as much as 50% of the NIR excitation photons contribute to the up-conversion emission.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The state of European research in historical climatology is discussed in detail in this paper, where the main focus concentrates on data, methods, definitions of the "Medieval Warm Period" and the "Little Ice Age", synoptic interpretation of past climates, climatic anomalies and natural disasters, and the vulnerability of economies and societies to climate as well as images and social representations of past weather and climate.
Abstract: This paper discusses the state of European research in historical climatology. This field of science and an overview of its development are described in detail. Special attention is given to the documentary evidence used for data sources, including its drawbacks and advantages. Further, methods and significant results of historical-climatological research, mainly achieved since 1990, are presented. The main focus concentrates on data, methods, definitions of the "Medieval Warm Period" and the "Little Ice Age", synoptic interpretation of past climates, climatic anomalies and natural disasters, and the vulnerability of economies and societies to climate as well as images and social representations of past weather and climate. The potential of historical climatology for climate modelling research is discussed briefly. Research perspectives in historical climatology are formulated with reference to data, methods, interdisciplinarity and impacts.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results, which are appropriately controlled for confounding by indication, are consistent with reported declines in rates of AIDS and death in developed countries, and provide a context in which to consider adverse effects of HAART.

Journal ArticleDOI
08 Dec 2005-Nature
TL;DR: Spectra and high-resolution images obtained by the Huygens Probe Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer instrument in Titan's atmosphere reveal the traces of once flowing liquid, and like Earth, the brighter highland regions show complex systems draining into flat, dark lowlands.
Abstract: The irreversible conversion of methane into higher hydrocarbons in Titan's stratosphere implies a surface or subsurface methane reservoir. Recent measurements from the cameras aboard the Cassini orbiter fail to see a global reservoir, but the methane and smog in Titan's atmosphere impedes the search for hydrocarbons on the surface. Here we report spectra and high-resolution images obtained by the Huygens Probe Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer instrument in Titan's atmosphere. Although these images do not show liquid hydrocarbon pools on the surface, they do reveal the traces of once flowing liquid. Surprisingly like Earth, the brighter highland regions show complex systems draining into flat, dark lowlands. Images taken after landing are of a dry riverbed. The infrared reflectance spectrum measured for the surface is unlike any other in the Solar System; there is a red slope in the optical range that is consistent with an organic material such as tholins, and absorption from water ice is seen. However, a blue slope in the near-infrared suggests another, unknown constituent. The number density of haze particles increases by a factor of just a few from an altitude of 150 km to the surface, with no clear space below the tropopause. The methane relative humidity near the surface is 50 per cent.

Journal ArticleDOI
17 Feb 2005-Neuron
TL;DR: It is suggested that memory storage requires synapses with multiple states exhibiting dynamics over a wide range of timescales, and the model constructed here combines high levels of memory storage with long retention times and significantly outperforms alternative models.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Research needs to be broadened to include older populations, other diseases, and populations from different parts of Europe to reduce exposure to cardiovascular risk factors in low-educational groups.

Journal ArticleDOI
25 Nov 2005-Science
TL;DR: A combined record of CH4 measured along the Dome C and the Vostok ice cores demonstrates, within the resolution of the authors' measurements, that preindustrial concentrations over Antarctica have not exceeded 773 ± 15 ppbv during the past 650,000 years.
Abstract: The European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica Dome C ice core enables us to extend existing records of atmospheric methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) back to 650,000 years before the present. A combined record of CH4 measured along the Dome C and the Vostok ice cores demonstrates, within the resolution of our measurements, that preindustrial concentrations over Antarctica have not exceeded 773 ± 15 ppbv (parts per billion by volume) during the past 650,000 years. Before 420,000 years ago, when interglacials were cooler, maximum CH4 concentrations were only about 600 ppbv, similar to lower Holocene values. In contrast, the N2O record shows maximum concentrations of 278 ± 7 ppbv, slightly higher than early Holocene values.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: MSCs isolated from fetal membranes and placenta showed typical MSC phenotype and were able to differentiate into mesodermal cells expressing cell markers/cytologic staining consistent with mature chondroblasts, osteoblasts, adipocytes, or myocytes and into neuronal cells presenting markers of various stages of maturation.


Journal ArticleDOI
Joseph Adams1, Madan M. Aggarwal2, Zubayer Ahammed3, J. Amonett4  +374 moreInstitutions (46)
TL;DR: The results from the STAR Collaboration on directed flow (v(1), elliptic flow, and the fourth harmonic in the anisotropic azimuthal distribution of particles from Au+Au collisions at root s(NN) = 200 GeV are summarized and compared with results from other experiments and theoretical models.
Abstract: The results from the STAR Collaboration on directed flow (v(1)), elliptic flow (v(2)), and the fourth harmonic (v(4)) in the anisotropic azimuthal distribution of particles from Au+Au collisions at root s(NN) = 200 GeV are summarized and compared with results from other experiments and theoretical models. Results for identified particles are presented and fit with a blast-wave model. Different anisotropic flow analysis methods are compared and nonflow effects are extracted from the data. For v(2), scaling with the number of constituent quarks and parton coalescence are discussed. For v(4), scaling with v(2)(2) and quark coalescence are discussed.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors proposed a new model for assessing the effects of the servicescape on quality perception based on SERVQUAL, which considers the special role of the servicecape (or what is called "tangibles" in SERV-QUAL) by taking into account that the service-cape elements act as search qualities, while the other dimensions represent experience or credence qualities.
Abstract: Purpose – Although numerous articles emphasize the importance of the servicescape (the physical facilities of a service company), the effect of the servicescape on quality perception has been inadequately captured by previous empirical research. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the servicescape on perceived quality in a more comprehensive way.Design/methodology/approach – The article proposes a new model for assessing the effects of the servicescape on quality perception based on SERVQUAL. The model considers the special role of the servicescape (or what is called “tangibles” in SERVQUAL) by taking into account that the servicescape elements act as search qualities, while the other SERVQUAL dimensions represent experience or credence qualities. In doing so, the model captures direct and indirect influences of the servicescape. Additionally, a more comprehensive scale for the servicescape is suggested, which exceeds the mostly tangible aspects of the physical environment covered in the...