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OBJECTIVE: Caveolin-1 plays critical roles in regulating signal transduction and cholesterol trafficking in cells. However, the relationship between caveolin-1 and stroke remains less reported. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, we reviewed information from seventeen studies to get the qualitative evidence of the influence of the caveolin-1 on stroke and collected data from three of the seventeen studies to conduct meta-analysis. The original studies classified participants into two groups with stroke group and control group, respectively. The random- effect model was used in the meta-analysis with the standardized mean difference (SMD) as the measure indicator. RESULTS: Our data showed that the SMD (95% confidence intervals, CIs) between the control group and the stroke group was -0.5449 [-2.3344, 1.0000]. For the subgroup analysis, The SMD (95% confidence intervals, CIs) between the control group and the ischemic stroke group was -1.4589 [-5.0129, 2.0951], and between the control group and the hemorrhagic stroke group was 0.3438 [-0.4140, 1.1017]. CONCLUSIONS: Although the differences are not statistically significant between the two groups, the high level of caveolin-1 are associated with the stroke, which may remedy the stroke. Besides, an opposite result was observed for the association of the caveolin-1 on the ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke. To confirm this association, further studies are necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the electromagnetic field of a horizontal infinitely long magnetic line source over the dielectric-coated earth is treated analytically, and the complete approximate solution for the radiated field under the far-field conditions is outlined. The total field is composed of four modes: the direct wave, the ideal reflected wave or image wave, the trapped surface wave, and the lateral wave. In particular, the complete analytical formulas are obtained for both the trapped surface wave and the lateral wave. The trapped surface wave is determined by the sum of residues of the poles. When the infinitely long magnetic line source or the observation point is away from the planar surface of the dielectric-coated earth, the trapped surface wave decreases exponentially with height, and the total field is determined primarily by the lateral wave. When the conductivity of the earth is large, and both the infinitely long magnetic line source and the observation point are on or close to the air-dielectric boundary, the total field is determined primarily by the trapped surface wave. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AimsAcute haemorrhagic conjunctivitis (AHC) is a highly contagious conjunctivitis associated with enteroviruses. Coxsackie A-24 variant (CA-24v) and enterovirus-70 (EV-70) are the two major causative agents. During October 2007, an epidemic of AHC occurred in Taiwan, affecting more than 11 000 people. The aim of this study was to determine the aetiological agent associated with the outbreak in patients diagnosed with AHC and treated at the Cathay General Hospital, Taipei (CGHT) and Cathay General Hospital Sijhih (CGHS), Taiwan during October 2007.MethodsVirus isolates were obtained from six patients (four from CGHS and two from CGH), and a total of seven specimens (one throat and one rectal, and five eye swabs) were collected. The specimens were inoculated onto the MRC-5 cell lines. The viral isolation was confirmed by performing real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA).ResultsThe conjunctival, throat, and rectal swabs collected in this study were all tested positive for a variant of CA-24. All seven viral isolates were characterized as a variant of CA-24 and confirmed by IFA and real-time RT-PCR.ConclusionsThe findings suggest that the outbreak of AHC that occurred during October 2007 in the northern area of Taiwan was caused by a variant of coxsackie A-24. Further phylogenic analysis is underway to further classify this CA-24v strain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nitrogen (N) emissions to the atmosphere and are thereby N deposition to forest ecosystems increasing rapidly in Southeast Asia, but little is known about the fate and effects elevated N deposition in warm and humid forests. Here we report the concen trations and fluxes of dissolved inorganic (DIN) and organic N (DON) in precipitation, throughfall, surface runoff and soil solution for three subtropical forests in a region of South China under high air pollution, to investigate how deposited N is processed and examined the importance of DON in N budget. The precipitation DIN input was 32- 34 kgNha-1 yr-1. An additional input of 18 kgNha-1 yr-1 as DON was measured in 2005, which to our knowledge is the highest DON flux ever measured in precipitation. Dry deposition was of minor importance at the site. A canopy uptake of DIN was indicated in two young conifer dominated forests (72-85% of DIN input reached the floor in throughfall), whereas no uptake occurred in an old-growth broadleaf forest. The DON fluxes in throughfall of all forest were similar to that of precipitation. In the young forests DIN was further retained in the soil, but 41-63% of precipitation DIN was still leached. Additionally, about half of the DON input was retained in these for sts. The N retention in the two young aggrading forests (21-28 kgNha-1 yr-1) was in accordance with estimates of N accumulation in biomass and litter accretion. In the old-growth forest, no N retention occurred, but rather a net loss of 8-16 kgNha-1 yr-1 from the soil was estimated. In total up to 60 kgNha-1 yr-1 was leached, indicating that this forest was completely N saturated and could not retain additional anthropogenic N inputs. We found that the majority of DIN deposition and DIN leaching simultaneously occurred in the rainy season (March to August) and monthly DIN concentrations and fluxes in leaching were positively related to those in throughfall in all three forests, implying that part of the N leaching was hydrological driven by the abundant precipitation in the monsoon climate at the site. Our results suggest that long-term high N deposition has caused elevated N leaching in all studied forest types although most pronounced in the old-growth forest where wood increment was negligible or even negative. N availabilityeven exceeded the biotic N demand in the young aggrading forests, albeit intensive rain in the growing season is likely to enhance N leaching in these forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PurposeTo determine the association between hospital and surgeon volume with the incidence of postoperative endophthalmitis.MethodsA prospective cohort study was conducted to analyse the national health insurance claims data of those patients receiving cataract surgery in 2000 in Taiwan. A total of 108 705 patients who received cataract surgery by 1004 surgeons at 494 hospitals were followed to the end of 2002. Stepwise Cox regression was used to analyse the effects of hospital and surgeon volume of cataract surgery on postoperative endophthalmitis after adjustment for patient's age, gender, education, ophthalmic comorbidities, general comorbidities, and surgical factors including operative methods, different types of intraocular lenses, and surgeon's age.ResultsThe 2-year incidence of postoperative endophthalmitis at high-volume hospitals (0.90%) was lower than low-volume hospitals (1.16%). The incidence of postoperative endophthalmitis by high-volume surgeons (0.59%) was lower than those by middle-high-volume (0.73%), middle-low-volume (0.80%), or low-volume surgeons (1.16%). After controlling for case mix, the risk of postoperative endophthalmitis of the low-volume hospitals (hazard ratio (HR)=1.39) was higher than that of the high-volume hospitals. The risk of postoperative endophthalmitis of low-volume surgeons (HR=1.67) was higher than that of the high-volume surgeons.ConclusionsThe provider volume (hospital and surgeon volume) is associated with the risk of postoperative endophthalmitis. The patients who receive cataract surgery at low-volume hospitals or by low-volume surgeons have significantly higher risk of postoperative endophthalmitis than at high-volume hospitals or by high-volume surgeons. Provider volume can be considered in further postoperative endophthalmitis study as a risk factor.Eye (2006) 20, 900–907. doi:10.1038/sj.eye.6702045; published online 19 August 2005 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Traditional forensic identification relies on forensic experts to manually extract information and provide identification opinions based on medicine, biology and other fields of knowledge combined with personal work experience, which is not only time-consuming and require great effort, but also affected by subjective factors that are difficult to overcome. In the era of big data, the booming development of artificial intelligence brings new ideas to forensic medicine. In recent years, forensic researchers at home and abroad have conducted many studies based on artificial intelligence technology, such as face recognition, age and gender identification, DNA analysis, postmortem interval estimation, injury and cause of death identification, showing the feasibility and advantages of using artificial intelligence technology to solve forensic identification problems. As a new means of technology that has adapted to the development of the times, artificial intelligence has brought new vitality to forensic medicine, but at the same time also some new challenges. How to deal with these challenges scientifically and form a new mode of 'artificial intelligence plus forensic medicine' with artificial intelligence and forensic medicine developing collaboratively is a new direction for the development of forensic medicine in the era of big data., Competing Interests: The authors of this article and the planning committee members and staff have no relevant financial relationships with commercial interests to disclose., (Copyright© by the Editorial Department of Journal of Forensic Medicine.)

Abstract: Objective To explore the genetic background and structure of Urumqi Mongolians, the previously developed 39-AIM-InDels panel for ancestry inference was utilized in the present study. Methods The blood samples of 145 unrelated healthy Urumqi Mongolian individuals were collected and genotyped. The compositions of ancestry information of Urumqi Mongolians were studied with 17 different populations from three continents （East Asia, Europe and Africa） as reference populations. Then, multiple population genetics and bioinformatics analysis methods were applied, the Fst and DA values between matched populations were compared and analyzed, PCA analysis was performed and a phylogenetic tree was constructed. The proportions of ancestry information components of Urumqi Mongolians were analyzed with Structure software, etc. Results The ancestry information components of Urumqi Mongolian group in different intercontinental populations accounted for 89%, 7%, and 3% of East Asian, European, and African populations, respectively. Compared with other intercontinental populations, Urumqi Mongolian group and East Asian populations have lower Fst and DA values, and they were in the same cluster in PCA analysis as well. In a phylogenetic tree, the Urumqi Mongolian group was in the same branch as East Asian populations. Conclusion Urumqi Mongolian group had relatively close genetic relationships with East Asian populations, and the proportion of its East Asian ancestry was about 89%., Competing Interests: The authors of this article and the planning committee members and staff have no relevant financial relationships with commercial interests to disclose., (Copyright© by the Editorial Department of Journal of Forensic Medicine.)

We investigated the delta(15)N profile of N (extractable NH(4)(+), NO(3)(-), and organic N (EON)) in the soil of a N-saturated subtropical forest. The order of delta(15)N in the soil was EON > NH(4)(+) > NO(3)(-). Although the delta(15)N of EON had been expected to be similar to that of bulk soil N, it was higher than that of bulk soil N by 5 per thousand. The difference in delta(15)N between bulk soil N and EON (Delta(15)N(bulk-EON)) was correlated significantly with the soil C/N ratio. This correlation implies that carbon availability, which determines the balance between N assimilation and dissimilation of soil microbes, is responsible for the high delta(15)N of EON, as in the case of soil microbial biomass delta(15)N. A thorough delta(15)N survey of available N (NH(4)(+), NO(3)(-), and EON) in the soil profiles from the organic layer to 100 cm depth revealed that the delta(15)N of the available N forms did not fully overlap with the delta(15)N of plants. This mismatch in delta(15)N between that of available N and that of plants reflects apparent isotopic fractionation during N uptake by plants, emphasizing the high N availability in this N-saturated forest., (Copyright 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)