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Presents a study, which is carried out to recover valuable metals from the printed circuit boards of waste computers. Recycling of waste products to yield new computer; Effects of recycled-computers on their life expectancy.

Editorial. Discusses sustainable land management and its major threat, which is soil erosion. How erosion occurs; Effect of global change on the extent of erosion; Detailed information on the Global Change & Terrestrial Ecosystems (GCTE) Soil Erosion Network, a key component of the GCTE Core Project of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program.

Pathological neovascularization in retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) can cause visual impairment in preterm infants. Current ROP treatments which are not preventative and only address late neovascular ROP, are costly and can lead to severe complications. We showed that topical 0.1% dexamethasone eye drops administered prior to peak neovessel formation prevented neovascularization in five extremely preterm infants at high risk for ROP and suppressed neovascularization by 30% in mouse oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) modeling ROP. In contrast, in OIR, topical dexamethasone treatment before any neovessel formation had limited efficacy in preventing later neovascularization, while treatment after peak neovessel formation had a non-statistically significant trend to exacerbating disease. Optimally timed topical dexamethasone suppression of neovascularization in OIR was associated with increased retinal mitochondrial gene expression and decreased inflammatory marker expression, predominantly found in immune cells. Blocking mitochondrial ATP synthetase reversed the inhibitory effect of dexamethasone on neovascularization in OIR. This study provides new insights into topical steroid effects in retinal neovascularization and into mitochondrial function in phase II ROP, and suggests a simple clinical approach to prevent severe ROP., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest and Funding Disclosure All the other authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Enhancing primary care is one of the proposals put forward in the Healthcare Reform Consultation Document "Your Health, Your Life" issued in March 2008. In 2009, the Working Group on Primary Care, chaired by the Secretary for Food and Health, recommended the development of age-group and disease-specific primary care conceptual models and reference frameworks. Drawing on international experience and best evidence, the Task Force on Conceptual Model and Preventive Protocols of the Working Group on Primary Care has developed two reference frameworks for the management of two common chronic diseases in Hong Kong, namely diabetes and hypertension, in primary care settings. Adopting a population approach for the prevention and control of diabetes and hypertension across the life course, the reference frameworks aim to provide evidence-based and appropriate recommendations for the provision of continuing and comprehensive care for patients with chronic diseases in the community.

Diabetes has been evolving as a worldwide epidemic and constitutes one of the important global burdens of diseases. The reference framework for diabetes care has been produced by the Task Force on Conceptual Model and Preventive Protocols of the Working Group on Primary Care, so as to enhance the clinical care for diabetes patients. The guideline emphasises a comprehensive, coordinated approach with interdisciplinary collaboration between major primary care stakeholders throughout the life of the patient. It was developed by drawing on evidence from international literature with input from primary care physicians, as well as specialists including endocrinologists, doctors from public and private sectors, as well as representatives from patient groups. This article presents the latest updates on the management of diabetes, ranging from its epidemiology, patient education, prevention, early identification, complication monitoring, drug treatment, patient empowerment, and rehabilitation. It is anticipated that the adoption of this framework will contribute to better control of this chronic condition in the primary care setting.

Cost-of-illness studies determine the total financial burden of a disease by considering direct and indirect costs, including medication, diagnostics and surgery. Studies of resource use and costs associated with primary open-angle glaucoma have used varying methodologies. Most have focused on consumption of healthcare resources at various stages of disease to anticipate costs. The direct costs associated with the disease often continue to increase as glaucoma progresses from the earliest to most advanced stages. Determinations of the costs associated with glaucoma progression and prevention should also incorporate the chance of patient non-compliance with treatment. Since glaucoma severity most often correlates with increased costs, minimizing or halting visual field loss and increasing patient treatment compliance may all contribute to a reduction in the overall economic burden of glaucoma.

We have designed resequencing microarrays to test the performance of this platform when interrogating a large number of exons (164 total) from genes associated with cancer. To evaluate false positive and negative rates, dideoxy sequencing was done for 335,420 bases interrogated by the arrays. From the array data, calls could be made for approximately 97.5% of the bases, and false positive rates were very low with only a single mutation reported from the array dataset for which the corresponding dideoxy trace had a clean wildtype sequence. For the nucleotide positions where array calls were made, false negative rates were 1.41% for heterozygous mutations. All the homozygous mutations were detected, but 8.11% were erroneously reported as heterozygous changes from the reference sequence by the array analysis software. In addition, 20 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) samples were analyzed using the arrays, and both somatic and germline mutations were found. The most interesting findings were two MET mutations that have recently been implemented in NSCLC. Large scale MALDI-TOF genotyping indicated that one of these mutations (T1010I) might represent a true cancer-causing genotype, whereas the other (N375S) appears to be a common germline polymorphism.

The efficacy and tolerability of tazarotene 0.1% gel and tretinoin 0.1% microsponge gel were evaluated in a multicenter, double-blind, randomized, parallel-group study in patients with mild-to-moderate inflammatory facial acne vulgaris. A total of 169 patients were randomized to once-daily applications of one of these topical retinoids for 12 weeks. Both agents were associated with significant reductions from baseline in the noninflammatory and inflammatory lesion counts. Tazarotene treatment was associated with a significantly greater incidence of treatment success (defined as > or = 50% global improvement [67% vs 49%; P=.03]) and significantly greater reductions in overall disease severity (36% vs 26%; P=.02) and noninflammatory lesion count (60% vs 38% at week 12; P=.02) than tretinoin microsponge treatment. Both drugs were well tolerated, with mean levels of dryness, burning, pruritus, erythema, and peeling generally being no more than trace throughout the study. There were no clinically significant between-group differences in these measures of tolerability. Two patients in each group (2%) discontinued because of treatment-related adverse events. The mean amount of medication applied by the patients was 0.28 g per application with tazarotene and 0.41 g per application with tretinoin microsponge, resulting in cost-effectiveness ratios of $81.45 per treatment success with tazarotene and $108.24 per treatment success with tretinoin microsponge. Tazarotene was observed to have greater efficacy and comparable tolerability and to be a cost-effective alternative to tretinoin 0.1% microsponge gel.

The efficacy and tolerability of tazarotene 0.1% gel and adapalene 0.1% gel were compared in a multicenter, double-blind, randomized, parallel-group study in 145 patients with mild-to-moderate facial acne vulgaris. Both treatments were applied once daily in the evenings for up to 12 weeks. Compared with adapalene, treatment with tazarotene was associated with a significantly greater incidence of treatment success (> or = 50% global improvement) (78% vs 52%; P=.002) and significantly greater reductions in overall disease severity (P<.0001), noninflammatory lesion count (P<.0001), and inflammatory lesion count (P=.0002). In the early weeks of treatment, tazarotene was associated with transiently greater levels of burning, pruritus, erythema, and peeling compared with adapalene (P<.01). However, mean levels of these parameters were consistently less than mild in both treatment groups and, at the end of treatment, patients considered both treatments to be comparably well tolerated (the proportion of patients in each group who rated the comfort of their treated skin as comfortable or very comfortable was 76% with tazarotene and 69% with adapalene). Mean usage of study medication was 0.32 g per application of tazarotene and 0.42 g per application of adapalene, which resulted in cost-effectiveness ratios of $79.95 per treatment success for tazarotene and $107.88 per treatment success for adapalene. Sensitivity analyses suggest that these cost-effectiveness results are robust across a range of cost and efficacy assumptions. In conclusion, tazarotene 0.1% gel was more effective than adapalene 0.1% gel and was also a more cost-effective treatment option.