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• Microdosimetric spectra is important for low energy proton through thin target. • Broad microdosimetric spectra introduces dosimetric uncertainty in the cell. • Dose estimation with average stopping power in cell improves reproducibility. • Both random and systematic error can be introduced in the cell survival curve. • Alpha and Beta uncertainties can be up to 10% and above 30% respectively. There is an increasing number of radiobiological experiments being conducted with low energy protons (less than 5 MeV) for radiobiological studies due to availability of sub-millimetre focused beam. However, low energy proton has broad microdosimetric spectra which can introduce dosimetric uncertainty. In this work, we quantify the impact of this dosimetric uncertainties on the cell survival curve and how it affects the estimation of the alpha and beta parameters in the LQ formalism. Monte Carlo simulation is used to generate the microdosimetric spectra in a micrometer-sized water sphere under proton irradiation. This is modelled using radiobiological experiment set-up at the Centre of Ion Beam Application (CIBA) in National University of Singapore. Our results show that the microdosimetric spectra can introduce both systematic and random shifts in dose and cell survival; this effect is most pronounced with low energy protons. The alpha and beta uncertainties can be up to 10% and above 30%, respectively for low energy protons passing through thin cell target (about 10 microns). These uncertainties are non-negligible and show that care must be taken in using the cell survival curve and its derived parameters for radiobiological models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract It is essential for surgical trainees to understand basic surgical principles, be able to demonstrate their competence in tissue dissection, have knowledge of surgical anatomy and to recognise variants which could make surgery more challenging. They must understand the principles of haemostasis and the safe use of energy sources. Excellent communication and team work are the cornerstones of performing safe and successful surgery. The basic principles of safe surgery and how they can be applied to minimise risk and optimise surgical outcomes will be briefly reviewed, and cases used to illustrate these points. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence of obesity has reached alarming proportions globally, and continues to rise in both developed and developing countries. Maternal obesity has become one of the most commonly occurring risk factors in obstetric practice. For the mother, obesity increases the risk of obstetric complications during the antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal period, as well as contributing to technical difficulties with fetal assessment. The offspring of obese mothers also have a higher rate of perinatal morbidity and an increased risk of long-term health problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reactions of [CpM(CO) 3 ] 2 (M = Cr ( 1 ), Mo ( 3 )) with Bz 2 S 2 have been investigated. 1 underwent a facile reaction at ambient temperature which led to the isolation of [CpCr(CO) 2 ]S ( 5 ), [CpCr(CO) 2 (SBz)] 2 ( 6 ) and [CpCr(SBz)] 2 S ( 7 ) in 28.8, 42.6 and 11.8% yield, respectively. A similar reaction at 110 °C with its congener, [CpCr(CO) 2 ] 2 (Cr Cr) ( 2 ) yielded only thermolytic products of 5 (40.3%) and Cp 4 Cr 4 S 4 ( 8 ) (10.6%). With the Mo analogue 3 , only the decarbonylated [CpMo(CO) 2 ] 2 (Mo Mo) ( 4 ) reacts at 70 °C to give an isomeric pair of trans syn and anti [CpMo(CO)(SBz)] 2 ( 9a & 9b ), [CpMo(SBz)(S)] 2 ( 10 ) and [CpMo(CO)(SBz)] 2 S ( 11 ) in 43.3, 34.1, 5.5 and 3.1% yield, respectively. A totally decarbonylated new complex of [CpMo(SBz) 2 ] 2 ( 12 ) was obtained in 33.2% yield from the co-thermolysis of Bz 2 S 2 with 9a at 110 °C. All products were fully characterized with NMR and IR spectroscopy and C, H analysis. The molecular structures of 7 , 9b and 12 have been elucidated by single crystal X-ray diffraction. Plausible mechanistic pathways leading to the formation of 7 , 9 and 12 were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We provide survey evidence of chartered accountants' perspectives on the proposed conceptual framework of the International Accounting Standards Board. Our survey obtains their views on the changes in the definitions of assets and liabilities, recognition criterion, and additional guidance in these areas, as well as issues relating to other comprehensive income, business model-based accounting, and choice of measurement basis. Our field evidence suggests broad consensus with respect to most of these changes. The areas that generate the most disagreement among our respondents relate to the removal of economic benefits in the proposed asset definition, the proposal to remove the minimum probability threshold from the asset recognition criterion, and the use of fair value as a measurement basis for certain difficult to measure assets. Overall, our results provide interesting insights regarding how chartered accountants view the proposed conceptual framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This review on the impact of obesity on reproductive health will concentrate on two key areas: infertility and heavy menstrual bleeding. The pathophysiology involved in these common problems is discussed. The management of infertility is discussed, in particular the management of anovulation associated with polycystic ovarian syndrome. There is also a focus on the surgical management of infertile obese women in the form of diagnostic laparoscopy, highlighting the key concerns and risks involved. Medical and surgical management of heavy menstrual bleeding is discussed including the many varied issues involved in hysterectomy of the obese woman. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The effect of phytochemical tannic acid on Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) three clinical strains was studied individually and in combination with western antibiotic fusidic acid. The two drugs were synergistic to each other and the combined effect of the two drugs could delay or prevent the occurrence of adaptive mutations in MRSA. The possible mechanism might be the phytochemical tannic acid could potentiate the effect of fusidic acid and/or acts alternative target that results in lysis of bacteria. In this study, it was found that the mutants result from the continuous exposure of sub-minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of fusidic acid revealed over active efflux pump as measured by ethidium bromide (EtBr) accumulation assay. However, the parent strains have no efflux pump activity. Therefore, it can be concluded that the strains which normally don’t have efflux activity can result in over activity of efflux pump if they are being exposed by sub-MIC concentrations of western antibiotic (fusidic acid). Efflux modulating activity of tannic acid was tested against the strains with over active efflux pump activity. It was noticed that EtBr accumulation was increased with over time when the adapted strains were being exposed by sub-MIC concentrations (0.3 and 0.6 MIC) of tannic acid, meaning that phytochemical tannic acid has efflux modulating activity against MRSA strains that results in decreased in MIC of partner drug and thus, preventing its adaptive mutation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Magnesium alloys possess unique advantages to be used as biodegradable implants for clinical applications. In this study, in vitro cells responses and degradation behaviors of magnesium alloy M1A in simulated body fluid (SBF) and albumin-containing SBF (A-SBF) were systematically investigated. Cell responses, in terms of Cell morphology and cell proliferation, imply that M1A possesses good viability for MG63 cells. The corrosion behaviors of M1A are strongly affected by the addition of albumin through the combined effects of adsorption and chelation. Electrochemical testing indicates that such an absorbed albumin layer makes M1A to be more noble with a smaller corrosion current. Corrosion rate monitored by hydrogen evolution rate suggests that the quickly adsorbed albumin serves as an effective protective layer, resulting in a much slower hydrogen release rate at initial stage. With increasing immersion time, a higher corrosion rate is observed since the chelation effect exerts more significant acceleration effects on the removal of the passivation layer. The corrosion mode evaluated by surface morphology of the samples changes from a nonuniform-anisotropic mode for M1A in SBF to a uniform-isotropic mode for M1A in A-SBF. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The study of arterial compliance is useful in understanding the geometrical and mechanical properties of a systemic arterial tree. Numerous mathematical models have shown their potential in relating the physical phenomena in the arterial tree to properties of the wall itself. However, limited model is available that describes the pulse transit time (PTT) oscillations of a sleeping child during tidal breathing and obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). Data from 20 children (17 male; aged ) whom were recruited for overnight polysomnography (PSG) were used. A modified windkessel model with related physiological parameters was utilised to describe PTT fluctuations due to the cardiovascular system during sleep. Verification with the recorded PSG data showed similar trends with the model for both types of respiratory events. For tidal breathing, undamped PTT oscillations of 3.89s were predicted by the model while actual data yielded a mean value of . Conversely, under-damping PTT responses were expected based on the model for OSA. The model estimated a Q factor of 4.23 and actual mean data were . Hence, the findings herein suggest that the proposed model has the potential to illustrate tidal breathing and OSA events in sleeping children. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Basel III Accord tightens capital adequacy requirements for banks by increasing the minimum Tier 1 regulatory capital threshold from 4 to 6 percent. It also emphasizes the need to improve timeliness of loan loss provisions. Using a sample of European banks, we examine the impact of this regulation on banks' discretionary loan loss provisioning behavior. Underscoring banks' increased incentives to report higher capital ratios, we observe a post-Basel III increase in banks' use of discretionary loan loss provisions (DLLPs) for capital management purposes and a corresponding reduction in the use of these provisions for income smoothing purposes. Moreover, we find that the timeliness of loan loss provisions has improved following Basel III. We also find that the post-Basel III increase in capital management behavior is greater for banks that do not face conflicting incentives when using DLLPs to improve Tier 1 versus total capital ratio. In contrast, the improvement in loan loss provisioning timeliness is greater for banks that are less likely to engage in capital management due to these conflicting incentives. Our findings suggest that Basel III has significantly altered banks' discretionary loan loss provisioning behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Ginseng is a famous herb in traditional Chinese medicine. Herbs like ginseng have traditionally been authenticated by morphological and histological means, but it is difficult to identify these herbs nowadays since they look morphologically similar. The quality of food and pharmaceutical products is important for ensuring efficacy and consumer safety. Although several studies have stated that these traditional methods of authenticating ginseng are now hardly reliable, there have been little or no studies which have documented the reliability of such approaches. We report in this study a case of misidentification of ginsengs based on traditional methods of authentication via morphology, and the ability of using infrared spectroscopy and principal component analysis as a rapid form of quality surveillance by discriminating this error. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Auscultation, the act of listening to the sounds of internal organs, is a valuable medical diagnostic tool. Auscultation methods provide the information about a vast variety of internal body sounds originated by various organs such as heart, lungs, bowel, vascular disorders, etc. In this study, a cardiac sound registration system has been designed incorporating functions such as heart signals segmentation, classification and characterization for automated identification and ease of interpretation by the users. Considering a synergy with the domain of speech analysis, the authors introduced Mel-frequency cepstral coefficient (MFCC) to extract representative features and develop hidden Markov model (HMM) for signal classification. This system was applied to 1381 data sets of real and simulated, normal and abnormal domains. Classification rates for normal and abnormal heart sounds were found to be 95.7% for continuous murmurs, 96.25% for systolic murmurs and 90% for diastolic murmurs by a probabilistic comparison approach. This implies a high potential for the system as a diagnostic aid for primary health-care sectors. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Quality assurance of ginseng is important since many ginseng products sold today are in various formulations, and it is difficult to identify them by morphological means such as physical appearance, smell, or even taste. Different chemical constituents in herbs like ginseng tend to exhibit characteristic infrared fingerprints. We have established a simple and rapid protocol based on infrared wavelengths and principal component analysis for the identification and categorization of ginseng, and called it the 2-6PC rule. The advantage of this protocol is that it is able to provide rapid identification of natural products since it avoids tedious extraction or purification procedures. Our results show that this protocol was not only able to discriminate raw ginseng roots, but also different types of ginsengs in three commercial ginseng products. The potential of the novel 2-6PC rule as a rapid quality surveillance tool in the authentication of ginseng and its products is definitely appealing. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objective: To compare an adjustable anchored single incision mini-sling (SIMS-Ajust) vs tension-free vaginal tape-obturator (TVT-O) in the management of female stress urinary incontinence (SUI) with a minimum of 1-year follow-up. Methods: We conducted a multicenter prospective randomized control trial (RCT) performed in 6 United Kingdom centers in the period between October 2009 and October 2011. Women were randomized to either SIMS-Ajust (C. R. Bard) performed under local anesthesia or TVT-O (Ethicon Inc.) performed under general anesthesia. Women completed validated symptom-severity and quality of life (QOL) questionnaires preoperatively and at 1 year. In addition, women completed the Patient Global Impression of Improvement (PGI-I) and underwent the Cough Stress Test (CST) at 1 year. The primary outcome at 12 months was the patient-reported success rate. Secondary outcomes included objective cure, reoperation rate, impact on women's urinary symptoms, QOL, and sexual function. Data was analyzed using SPSS-19 with significance level set at 5%. Results: One hundred thirty-seven women were randomized into 2 groups: the SIMS-Ajust group (n = 69) and the TVT-O group (n = 68). At 1 year, there were no significant differences in the patient-reported success rate (odds ratio [OR] 0.895, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.344-2.330, P = 1.000), objectives success rate (OR 0.929, 95% CI 0.382-2.258, P = 1.00), and reoperation rates (OR 0.591, 95% CI 0.136-2.576, P = .721) between the SIMS-Ajust and the TVT-O groups, respectively. A comparable number of women reported cure/improvement of urgency (P = .658), significant improvement in QOL (P = .190), and sexual function (P = .699) in both groups. Conclusion: Adjustable-anchored SIMS (Ajust) is associated with comparable patient-reported and objective success rates when compared to standard midurethral sling (SMUS, TVT-O) at a minimum of 1-year follow-up. The results should be interpreted with caution due to the relatively small cohort size. Long-term follow-up of this RCT is required to ascertain the durability of these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]