The affiliation of last author is incorrect. Kumarasamy Thangaraj is not affiliated with institution number 1, but with institution number 3, CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India.


The affiliation for the twentieth author was incorrect. Mary Carrington is not affiliated with #10 but with #12 Cancer and Inflammation Program, Laboratory of Experimental Immunology, SAIC-Frederick, Inc., NCI-Frederick, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America. The author’s affiliation to #18 is unaffected.


After publication of this work , we noteThe authors declare that they have no competing interests.HH, JK, RS, MH, AA, MB, WE, TC, AG, AK and MR conceived of the study and participated in its design and coordination. JK and HH made substantial contributions to conception and design of the manuscript as well as data acquisition. MH, MB, TC, AG have been involved in drafting the manuscript. RS and MR were involved in revising the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.


An affiliation for the sixth author is incorrect, and an affiliation for the sixth author is missing. Stefania Boccia is affiliated with the following institutions: Section of Hygiene, Institute of Public Health, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy; IRCCS San Raffaele Pisana, Rome, Italy.


Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins[Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins including Tropical Diseases (JVATiTD) with ISSN 1678–9199. The journal finally became online-only[Science Citation Index Expanded™[The nd Toxins, ISSN 01nd Toxins of UNESPnd Toxins. In 2003ine-only and was xpanded™ and ScopJVATiTD has been experiencing significant growth since 2006, in which year 52 articles were published with a rejection rate of 11.86%. The rejection rate has subsequently increased year after year, reaching 41.33% in 2012. The average elapsed time between submission and acceptance from 2007 to 2012 was 135, 139, 133, 88, 86 and 78 days; the respective elapsed time between acceptance and publication was: 196, 143, 170, 132, 95 and 84 days; the overall time between submission and publication was: 331, 282, 303, 220, 181 and 162 days.Thus, the elapsed time between submission and acceptance is shorter than the one between acceptance and publication. This analysis leads to the conclusion that the speed and visibility of publication have risen significantly in the last five years, given that the current average time between submission and publication is similar to that of journals with higher global impact, that is, only 162 days.As a consequence of these achievements, there has been a substantial increase in the submission of articles, especially after indexing of the journal in the Journal Citation Reports® (JCR). JVATiTDScience Citation Index ExpandedTM[Finally, a partnership with BioMed Central – The OpxpandedTM, e-DepotxpandedTM, CrossRexpandedTM, QuertlexpandedTM, SCIRUSxpandedTM and WebcxpandedTM.This partnership with BioMed Central will, beyond the shadow of a doubt, increase our impact factor and, consequently, improve our journal classification worldwide.The author declares no conflicts of interest.


Precipitation in Sahel was low during warm climate regimes. Spectra coherence of changes in precipitation in Sahel with ENSO was significant at p < 0.0001. ENSO and PDO are determinants of the seasonal, interannual, and interdecadal changes in occurrence of meningococcal meningitis. Public health management of epidemics of meningococcal meningitis should include forecast models of changes in ENSO to predict periods of low precipitation, which initiate occurrence.Meningococcal meningitis is a major public health problem that kills thousands annually in Africa, Europe, North, and South America. Occurrence is, however, highest during the dry seasons in Sahel Africa. Interannual changes in precipitation correlate with interannual changes in El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), while interdecadal changes in precipitation correlate with Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). The objective of the study was to determine if there is spectral coherence of seasonal, interannual, and interdecadal changes in occurrence of meningococcal meningitis in Sahel, Central, and East Africa with interannual and interdecadal changes of PDO and ENSO. Time series were fitted to occurrence of meningococcal meningitis in Sahel, Central, and East Africa, to indices of precipitation anomalies in the Sahel, and to indices of ENSO and PDO anomalies. Morlet wavelet was used to transform the time series to frequency-time domain. Wavelet spectra and coherence analyses were performed. Occurrence of meningococcal meningitis showed seasonal, interannual, and interdecadal changes. The magnitude of occurrence was higher during warm climate regime, and strong El Niños. Spectra coherence of interannual and interdecadal changes of ENSO and PDO with occurrence of meningococcal meningitis in Sahel, Central, and East Africa were significant at  Neisseria meningitidis, which is non-spore-forming, non-motile, gram-negative cocci. While headache, fever, nausea, and vomiting occur in meningococcal meningitis as in other febrile illnesses, shock, petechiae and purpuric skin rashes are its major characteristics , determine changes in precipitation in the Sahel , severalCountries in the Sahel are Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Mauritania, Mali, Benin, Burkina Fasso, Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, Tchad, Sudan, and Eritrea; countries in Central Africa are Burundi, Central African Republic, Rwanda, Angola, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sao Tome and Principe, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon; while countries in East Africa are Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, Comoros, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Seychelles, Mozambique, Madagascar, and Mauritius.http://ggweather.com/enso/oni.htm. Ranks of El Niño from 1871 to 1949 from http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/enso/mei.ext/rank.ext.html, and from 1950 to 2014 from http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/enso/mei/table.html. Pacific Decadal Oscillation Index was downloaded from the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean Arctic Oscillation websiteMultivariate El Niño-Southern Oscillation Index (MEI) data, which were computed from sea-level pressure, zonal and meridional components of the surface wind, sea surface temperature, surface air temperature, and total cloudiness fraction of the sky of the South Pacific Ocean  from 195Sahel precipitation data from 1900 to 2013 were obtained from the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean . The preMonthly data of occurrence of meningococcal meningitis cases in the Sahel, from 2006 to 2014, were obtained from World Health Organisation Weekly Meningococcal Meningitis Surveillance BulletinsTime series were fitted to indices of ENSO, PDO, and Sahel precipitation, and to occurrence of meningitis. Autocorrelation and partial autocorrelation tests, and lag plots were applied to exclude white noise and to inspect for seasonality. Stationarity was assessed using the unit root test. To determine month of peak occurrence of meningitis annually, the monthly data from 2006 to 2014 were rescaled to 0–1 values for each year, and plotted.ω0 is dimensionless frequency, and η is dimensionless time, was used to transform the time series. The continuous wavelet transform of time series δt was defined as the convolution of nx with the scaled and normalized wavelet (vZ (p) was the confidence level associated with probability p, and Wavelet methods which have been applied to epidemiological , 18, hum wavelet , 18. The wavelet , 18:D|Whase was , 18Rn2, but meningococcal meningitis did not Granger cause ENSO series (p > 0.05).Granger causality test showed that ENSO Granger caused meningococcal meningitis series (Pandemics or major epidemics of meningococcal meningitis occurred in 1905 in West Africa , in the Precipitation was above the mean from 1950 to 1970, during cool climate regime, but below the mean from 1972 to 1998 during warm climate regime (Figure p < 0.0001 (Figure p < 0.0001 (Figure Global spectra from 1945 to 2013 showed peaks at 1.0, 3.0, 6.0, 12.0, and 20 years for precipitation changes in Sahel, but at 3.0, 6.0, 12.0, and 20.0 years for ENSO (Figure This study shows periodic changes in occurrence of meningococcal meningitis and indices of ENSO and PDO. Periodic changes in occurrence of meningococcal meningitis have been observed in the USA , in UnitThe spectra of monthly time-series in Sahel, which show similar time-varying periodicities of 6 and 12 months with the spectra of ENSO, indicate that both variables share rhythms at similar timescales Figure . Strong In the past century cool climate regimes occurred from 1890 to 1924 and from 1947 to 1976, while warm climate regime occurred from 1925 to 1946, and from 1977 to 1998 . Time seWavelet analysis, which transforms time series to time-frequency domain, has shown the time-varying nature of PDO . During Cycles of occurrence of meningococcal meningitis in Sahel, Central, and East Africa show that El Niños were accompanied by high peaks of occurrence, while La Niñas were accompanied by low peaks of occurrence. Furthermore, phases of occurrence are right shifted relative to that of ENSO Figure . Thus, pPeriodicity of the ENSO, like the PDO, is time-varying. Periodicity of ENSO, which was 3–4 years from 1872 to 1910, was 5–7 years from 1911 to 1960, but 5 years from 1970 to 1992 . The perHistorical data showed that pandemics or major epidemics of meningococcal meningitis occurred in 1905 in Nigeria , in 1918Meningococci are commensals of the nasopharynx, but minority of strains cause invasive infection . The risCyclicity of meningococcal meningitis epidemics was correlated with sunspots cycles in Bulgaria in 2000  and in tENSO activity has been correlated with the monsoons . Since 1Since virulence of organism, innate immunity, carriage, overcrowding, and other risk factors were not controlled for in this study, the peaks of occurrence in the time series cannot be attributed to climate alone. Immunization, for example, is expected to contribute to reduction of number of potential cases. Although there are many potential confounding factors, the WHO has documented that these confounding factors are unlikely to consistently covary with ENSO in long time-series . Thus, tWavelet methods have been used to correlate ENSO activity with periodic epidemics of malaria in West Africa , choleraThe author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.


The author’s initial, TM, is missing from the funding statement. The correct funding statement is given below.This study was supported by a grant-in-aid for scientific research from the Japan society for the promotion of science; YF, HN, TM, MM. This study was supported by MEXT/JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers 23390057, 26293054, 25860061 and 22590160. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.


Datura, family Solanaceae, consists of nine  species, originating from the New and Old World [After the publication of this work , it was ld World ”, “origi


Afterwards, 0.66 and 0.33 μCi ml−1L-[3H]glutamate were added to a final 100 μM concentration of glutamate for incubation with hippocampal and cortical samples, respectively.” This correction does not affect the scientific relevance of the results.In the subsection “Glutamate Uptake Assay,” the greek letter micro (symbol μ) was accidentally deleted twice probably due to software incompatibility. The correct sentence should read: “EZ was responsible for the design, acquisition, analysis, interpretation, drafting, and approval of the final version of the manuscript. VT, EK, MA, KZ, RA, and GH were responsible for acquisition, analysis, interpretation, and approval of the final version of the manuscript. AM, DS, and RM were responsible for interpretation, drafting, critical revision, and approval of the final version of the manuscript. LP was responsible for the design, interpretation, drafting, critical revision, and approval of the final version of the manuscript.This work was supported by the following Brazilian agencies and grants: National Counsel of Technological and Scientific Development (CNPq), CAPES, FAPERGS, Brazilian Institute of Neuroscience (IBNnet), FINEP, and National Institute of Science and Technology (INCT) – Excitotoxicity and Neuroprotection.The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.


The affiliation for the second author is incorrect. Lifah Sanudi is affiliated with REACH Trust, Lilongwe, Malawi, not with SINTEF Technology and Society, Oslo, Norway.The publisher apologizes for the error.


The microenvironment of malignant gliomas is described according to its definition in the literature. Beside tumor cells, a series of stromal cells  represents the cell component, whereas a complex network of molecular signaling represents the functional component. Its most evident expressions are perivascular and perinecrotic niches that are believed to be the site of tumor stem cells or progenitors in the tumor. Phenotypically, both niches are not easily recognizable; here, they are described together with a critical revision of their concept. As for perinecrotic niches, an alternative interpretation is given about their origin that regards the tumor stem cells as the residue of those that populated hyperproliferating areas in which necroses develop. This is based on the concept that the stem-like is a status and not a cell type, depending on the microenvironment that regulates a conversion of tumor non-stem cells and tumor stem cells through a cell reprogramming. It includes, therefore, many cell types, such as endothelial cells, microglia/macrophages, reactive astrocytes, fibroblasts, pericytes, immune cells, etc.,  and the etc.,  and defeetc., ,4.+ and CD133+ stem cells, which condition angiogenesis and tumor growth [Any regulation of tumor cells towards regression, such as necrosis, or progression, such as proliferation, invasion and angiogenesis, finds its main driver in the microenvironment that mainly expresses itself in the so-called niches ,4,5. As r growth , or as mr growth  or by sir growth . Positivr growth . C6 glior growth .PNN have been described to develop around circumscribed necroses where hypoxia and HIF-1/2  play a cvia nitric oxide and Notch activation [etc., [PVN are not merely repositories of stem cells , but thetivation ,6,15, whtivation . In PVN,tivation ,17,18,19tivation ,21,22,23n [etc., .in vitro neurosphere formation and xenographts [etc., as well as the intrinsic signaling such as Wnt/β-catenin, Bmi1, c-Myc, Oct4, OLIG2, Sonic Hedgehog (SHH), and Notch.Hypoxia, a mechanism of primary importance in the biology and aggressive behavior of malignant gliomas , is fundographts . Hypoxiaographts . GSCs arographts ,8. In thi.e., by transformation of the normal neural stem cells (NSCs) and progenitors in relation with the so-called glioma initiating cells (GICs), the concept of which is just mentioned here. In line with the old belief that cancer cells are similar to embryonic stem cells [i.e., from primitive neuroepithelial cells or NSCs [In the discussion of the tumor microenvironment, it is mandatory to consider the supposed origin of GSCs, em cells , it has em cells ,32, i.e. or NSCs . GICs sh or NSCs ,35,36, e or NSCs .i.e., on genotypic and phenotypic differences acquired during proliferation, migration, also by epigenetic mechanisms [Other possibilities are the origin of GSCs from oligodendroglial precursor cells (OPCs) or NG2 cells ,39,40,41chanisms ,50 and, i.e., PVN and PNN. Theoretically and conceptually, the niches have been very well-defined [From the neuropathological point of view, the concept of microenvironment in gliomas materializes in its main expression sites, -defined ,4,5, but-defined  or by fl-defined . One of -defined ,52. In a-defined .i.e., that necrosis is due to the imbalance between the high proliferation rate of hyperproliferating areas of the tumor and the low one of endothelial cells [As for PNN, we showed that, at variance with the activation of GSCs by hypoxia through HIF-1/2 ,8, the tal cells . Cell deIn conclusion, microenvironment by genetic and epigenetic mechanisms regulates the equilibrium between tumor stem cells and tumor non-stem cells so that the occurrence of GSCs would not imply the existence of a special type of cells, but it would be the consequence of an interplay that takes place in the microenvironment . This wo


Parkinson's disease (PD) is an example for a complex field of research, which is driven by the multifactorial etiology, the heterogeneity in phenotype and the variability in disease progression, as well as the presence of a long pre-diagnostic period, called prodromal PD, lasting up to decades  of the Joint Programme for Neurodegenerative Diseases (JPND), set out to develop an assessment battery that includes the most useful clinical, laboratory, and brain imaging assessments for  studies in PD.Based on the need for harmonized assessments of symptoms/markers in PD, the working group: We here describe the result of the process to find a way to harmonize assessments across studies and propose a modular set of biomarker assessments agreed upon by the group of experts who were included in the working group .As a first step, information about the design, markers, and assessments of 21 ongoing cohort studies in various phases of PD represented by members of the JPND working group were collected using a detailed questionnaire. These data served as a basis for the project. Detailed results have been reported previously in Lerche et al. . In a sebasic module , a minimum function and assessment module and several optional extension modules.Based on the analyses, the JPND BioLoC-PD working group suggests the following three-level modular assessment battery to be implemented in new and whenever possible ongoing longitudinal studies for PD Figure . The setbasic module is meant to be applied to all participants in longitudinal studies in PD. It may also be applied to existing registers and patients seen routinely in outpatient clinics irrespective of whether they are currently recruited for a longitudinal study. It may also be used for retrospective analyses or identification of potential eligible participants for future randomized controlled trials.The minimum module is suitable for all individuals participating in at risk, prodromal, and clinical longitudinal studies of PD. The functions of the minimum module are in a descending order (sorted by their use within the BioLoC-PD working group). Functions used in all  PD studies are at the beginning of each of the lists (in the minimum and extension modules). Modes of assessment of these symptoms are based on the frequency and applicability within studies . Each of the assessments suggested for the minimum module . In case of the imaging module the methods are in a descending order with the one on the top preferred by the BioLoC-PD consortium.The We propose, that each study should as a minimum requirement collect the data specified in the basic module. The basic module is valuable also for genetic or other non-clinical analyses. Once individuals are clinically examined, several motor and non-motor domains should be covered, as suggested in the minimum module which also comprises additional data about medical history. Finally, according to the main research aim of the study, different extension modules can be added.In general, we provide researchers with suggestions for specific assessment tools/scales to allow comparison across studies. For the cognition module, however, it is less important which assessments are used rather, it is important to take a minimum of two tests per domain for a sensitive and specific diagnosis of dementia and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) level II  Not all scales/questionnaires are available and validated in all languages. (ii) Study designs vary with regard to outcome variables which influences the choice of assessments. (iii) Some assessments require more resources than others , which also influenced the selection and composition of the selected assessment battery. (iv) Advances in knowledge about assessments and biomarkers have led to revision or expansion of assessments after the respective study was initiated. (v) Preference for a specific assessment based on previous experience of the individual researchers involved.With our proposed modular set of biomarker assessments, we propose a concept by which we hope to overcome the problem of data comparison due to lack of harmonization and set the stage for broad data sharing, joint data analyses and acceleration of biomarker research.SL, SH, GA, PB, SB, YBS, HB, BRB, DBu, RD, DG, GH, MH, MK, RK, ILS, WM, MM, BM, WO, BR, UW, KW, DBe substantial contributed to the conception and design of the work; SL, SH, DBe drafted the work; GA, PB, SB, YBS, HB, BRB, DBu, RD, DG, GH, MH, MK, RK, ILS, WM, MM, BM, WO, BR, UW, KW revised the work critically for important intellectual content; SL, SH, GA, PB, SB, YBS, HB, BRB, DBu, RD, DG, GH, MH, MK, RK, ILS, WM, MM, BM, WO, BR, UW, KW, DBe gave their final approval to the version to be published; SL, SH, GA, PB, SB, YBS, HB, BRB, DBu, RD, DG, GH, MH, MK, RK, ILS, WM, MM, BM, WO, BR, UW, KW, DBe agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work.The work was funded by the EU Joint Programme—Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND) program (BMBF No:01ED1410).The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.


Each September since 2004, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has observed National Preparedness Month. During September, FEMA and various local, state, and federal agencies encourage U.S. residents to become better prepared for emergencies and disasters. Approximately 3,000 organizations, including the American Red Cross, Citizen Corps, and CDC , are schOn this 10th anniversary of National Preparedness Month, CDC also is recognizing the first decade of activity of its Emergency Operations Center . Staffedhttp://www.cdc.gov/phpr.All persons can take important steps to prepare themselves, their families, and loved ones for a possible disaster. CDC has various tools and checklists to help everyone “be ready” at home, at places of work and worship, and within the larger community . Additio


This article was republished on August 7, 2014, to replace incorrectly changed characters in the byline, Competing Interests statement, Author Contributions, and Acknowledgments in the online version only. The publisher apologizes for the errors.


The National Congress of Surgery, one of the annual events to which the surgeons in all the surgery units in Romania gather to share the experience and to learn from one another  took place this year, in Sinaia, the most beautiful mountain resort, during 21-24th of May 2014.  “Casino Sinaia” International Conference Center offered through the great hall (the Theater) and four other halls, a sumptuous background, elegant and, in the same time, a proper place for the event.  What should be mentioned is the fact that this Romanian traditional medical scientific event has taken place under the high patronage of His Excellency, Victor Ponta, Prime Minister of Romania.  The main Congress organizer was the Romanian Society of Surgery  in collaboration with the Academy of Medical Sciences, Romanian Association of Hepato-Biliopancreatic Surgery and Liver Transplantation, Romanian Association of Endoscopic Surgery and other Intervention Techniques, Romanian Society of Emergency Surgery and Traumathology, Romanian Society of Breast Surgery, Romanian Society of Thoracic Surgery, Romanian Society of Pediatric Surgery, Romanian Society of Medical Assistants in Romania, Romanian Students’ Society of Surgery.  What should be highlighted from the beginning is the high number of participants, surgeons from Romania and from abroad (over 1500) and over 300 students from all the universities in Romania, who successfully represented the Romanian Students’ Society of Surgery. Wednesday, the 21st of May 2014, was allocated to the eight pre-congress post university courses and, due to their importance and the special participation, we should shortly enumerate their content and the speakers, who are remarkable personalities in their field:  C1 – The surgical rectum anatomy; critical points in rectum surgery ;  C2 – Controversies in rectum surgery ; C3 – The minimally invasive rectum cancer surgery ; C4 – Causes of failure in the rectum cancer surgery ; C5 – The surgery of the breast cancer ; C6 – The multimodal treatment of breast cancer ; C7 – The reconstruction of the breast after mammectomy  –Allergan Symposium; C8 – RSEST - MUSEC European Course; Ultrasound in trauma and emergency ; What should also be mentioned is MUSEC European competence course, organized by the Romanian Society of Emergency Surgery and Traumatology - RSEST  “Ultrasound in trauma and emergency”, having prof. Mauro Zago, MD, from Bergamo responsible for the course and also the lecturers Andrea Cassamassima (Milano), Mateo Zarcani (Milano) and Mihai Păduraru (Tomelosso), all from Italy, a course to which subscriptions have been made a lot of time before, due to the limited number of participants given by the type of the workshop.  This year’s congress has guided itself on two main themes: “The complex treatment of rectum cancer” and “Breast cancer. Complex treatment. The reconstructive surgery of the breast”.  The scientific program was not limited only to these two themes and (due to the inherent monotony which appears in the monothematic congresses), has contained and varied also video laparoscopic surgery, hepato-biliopancreatic surgery, endocrine eso-gastric surgery.  Fully, over 500 papers were presented in the 5 halls of the congress which benefited from the necessary modern infrastructure.  The festive opening of the Congress took place on Thursday evening, the 24th of May, in the presence of the Ministry of Health, His Excellency Nicolae Bănicioiu , the mayor of Bucharest, prof. Sorin Oprescu, MD , prof. Florian Popa, MD , prof. Vasile Astărăstoaie, MD (president of the College of Physicians in Romania), prof. Mircea Beuran, MD (elected president of RSS), prof. Eugen Brătucu, MD . In their presentations, the members of the presidium have highlighted the difficulty of undertaking a medical and surgically correct and decent act for the patient, taking into account the crisis in the Romanian medical system, suggesting diverse solutions, among which, the one of Senator, prof. Florian Popa, MD, regarding the liberalization of the physician profession in Romania.  The way of development of the congress was based on novelty, according to a European model, less mini oral papers being selected, the other ones migrating to posters, the “state of the art” presentations and round tables having priority, with interdynamic development of the discussion themes, having the expected success.  The rectum surgery was one of the main themes of the congress and raised a special interest. The following sessions led by prof. Ştefan Georgescu, MD, prof. Traean Burcoş, MD, assoc. prof. Cătălin Vasilescu, prof. Lazăr Fulger, MD, prof. Adrian Magyar, MD, assoc. prof. Victor Strâmbu, MD, Cătălin Copăescu, MD, prof. Silviu Constantinoiu, MD  should be mentioned. The round tables on the same subject were mediated by prof. C. Copotoiu, MD, prof. Tr. Pătraşcu, MD, prof. V. Scripcariu, MD, assoc. prof. Dan Straja, MD, prof. Mircea Beuran, MD, as well as the one regarding radiochemotherapy in rectum cancer , or colonic surgery  and have been the most interesting for the participants.  The rectum minimally invasive surgery  has raised a special interest, like the other themes did, such as the total resection of the mesorectum, the anatomo-pathological examination of the resection part, the complications of rectum surgery. The sessions allocated to the breast surgery have completed the themes approached in the pre-congress courses  highlighting the ones led by prof. Eugen Târcoveanu MD, prof. Ştefan Neagu, MD, prof. Ion Aşchie, MD, assoc. prof. Iulian Brezean, prof. Alex. Irimie, MD, prof. M.R. Diaconescu, MD, prof. Dan Ungureanu, MD, prof. Cristian Lupaşcu, MD. Totally, there were 33 papers and “state of the art” conferences which approached the theme of breast cancer conservative surgery , sentinel limph node in breast cancer , multidisciplinary treatment of breast cancer , breast oncoplastic surgery, breast cancer surgery with liver metastases, prognosis of breast cancer, Volkman acute carcinomatous mastitis. The round tables have perfectly completed the theme of breast gland pathology:  - The oncologic surgery of the breast ;- The actual, diagnostic and therapeutic standards in breast gland cancer (Fl. Rădulescu); - The present coordinates in breast reconstruction after oncologic resections . Two sessions were allocated to hepato-biliopancreatic surgery, summing 26 papers, remarking the ones dedicated to liver tumors , pancreatic tumors , bilio bronchial fistulae (T. Ivanov), Klatskin tumors, liver resections , cephalic duodenopancreatectomy , pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors , liver transplant .  Pediatric surgery  discussed the disorders due to the migration of the testicle in children, hydatid cysts and the treatment of congenital diaphragmatic hernias in children.  The minimally invasive surgery, present mostly in ARCE symposium, has remarked, as usually, through the robotic surgery presentations (assoc. prof. Cătălin Vasilescu), „bridge to surgery” in colorectal cancer , minimally invasive surgery of the big hiatal hernias .  The thoracic surgery session, coordinated by prof. Ioan Cordoş, MD, discussed the minimally invasive thoracoscopic approach, emergency thoracotomy, complex resections of the aerodigestive tract, thymectomy and laparoscopic splanhnicectomy.  On Saturday, the 24th of May  continued with a session dedicated to gastric surgery , the papers from the “Sf. Maria” General and Esophageal Surgery Clinic being remarked , total gastrectomy versus subtotal gastrectomy , GIST (acad. N. Ghidiriu). The esophagus surgery session  discussed about high interest and technical problems: minimally invasive esophagectomy , therapeutic strategy in thoracic esophagus squamocellular , the treatment of malignant eso-bronchial fistula through a metallic stent expendably covered .  The endocrine surgery session  dealt with modern problems regarding parathyroidectomy, thyroidectomy and intraoperative monitorization of the recurrent nerve .  Last (but not least), the session “Surgery of the abdominal wall”  was very instructive.  This review of the congress papers would not be complete if we did not mention the session dedicated to the students’ papers, who were present in a high amount , and who presented papers elaborated in the students’ scientific circles in Romania and at the professors’ guidance. The video film session closed the last day of the congress papers.  What should be noticed is the high amount of students and medical assistants taking part in the event, as well as the value of the 264 posters. In the generous setting of the Casino in Sinaia, the medical devices and drugs companies had a functional exposing location.  On the occasion of the congress, an editorial event also took place in one of the breaks between the sessions, in the presence of a numerous public, physicians and students:  - The launching of the monography “Acute pancreatitis – clinical-paraclinical approach based on determinant factors” , a paper that makes a connection between Atlanta 1992 criteria and Bologna 2012 criteria. The short speeches of the authors of the two prefaces, prof. Florian Popa, MD, prof. Eugen Târcoveanu, MD, as well as the ones of two authors have highlighted the strong points of the paper, which is desired to be useful to all the physicians.  - In the same time, “Journal of Surgical Science” for the students and young physicians has been launched; it will appear in English at the initiative of Alexandra Bolocan, MD and şi Dan Nicolae Păduraru, MD, Honorary Editor – acad. Ioanel Sinescu, rector of “Carol Davila” University Press, Editor-in-Chief – prof. S. Constantinoiu, MD, Managing Editor prof. Florian Popa, MD, having an Editorial board made up of students and young physicians in Romania, as well as abroad. The magazine proposes to be the national sign of the students’ scientific circles from all the university centers. Moreover, it should be mentioned that these papers appeared in the generous space of “Carol Davila” University Press in Bucharest, General Manager, assoc. prof. dr. Victor Lorin Purcărea.  Moreover, the “Surgery Course for the 4-5th years of study” was elaborated by the professors in the 10th Surgery-Laboratory Department, where the Head of Department is prof. Mircea Beuran, MD.  In the RSS General Gathering, important modifications have taken place in the structure of the editorial board of the great magazine of the Romanian surgery, “Chirurgia”, the editor-in-chief becoming RSS executive president, validated in the congress, prof. Mircea Beuran, MD, and the editorial secretary being prof. Silviu Constantinoiu, MD, also elected president of RSS. Moreover, 7 vice-presidents of RSS have also been elected, the general secretary , the auditing committee and RSS Directory Committee.  We consider that from all points of view, the National Surgery Congress this year has been a real success, reiterating once more the force of the professional organization of the Romanian surgeons, the foreign guests arguing the value of the debates and the presentations, being impressed by the value of the Romanian surgery.  Prof. Silviu Constantinoiu, MD Director of the Excellency Center of Esophagus Surgery  Head of the General and Esophageal Surgery Clinic  “Sf. Maria” Clinical Hospital  “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest


Want was inadvertently missed in the original manuscript and we wish to add his name for contribution to ex vivo experiments while MT, DS, and MA assisted in extraction of oil. FA, MI analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript.MI, FA conceived and designed the experiments. MI, FA, GC performed the experiments. MW assisted in The affiliation/correspondence address of the Corresponding author had a minor error, which we hereby rectify. It was incorrectly written as:Department of Medical Laboratories Technology, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Taibah University, PO Box 344, Universities Road, Medina 30001, Saudi ArabiaThe correct version is:Department of Medical Laboratories Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Taibah University, PO Box 344, Universities Road, Medina 30001, Saudi ArabiaThe authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.


Dear Editor,A 41-year-old man with history of recurrent airways infection since his childhood, withchronic coughing and voice hoarseness for seven years. The patient was referred toundergo laryngotracheobronchoscopy that revealed the presence of whitish nodular lesionson the anterolateral walls of the trachea and at the most proximal portion of the mainbronchi, whose material was sent for histopathological analysis  and 1B. ,2. Association with several factors hasbeen reported, as follows: chronic infections; chemical or medicamentous agents;degenerative tissue alterations; calcium and phosphorus metabolism disorders; andamyloidosis,4.Tracheobronchopathia osteochondroplastica is a rare chronic benign disease, with maleprevalence , and predominantly manifesting between the fifth andseventh decades of life,2,5,6, and therefore, in most cases, thediagnosis is based on incidental findings at bronchoscopy performed to investigate otherdiagnoses or with therapeutic purposes, or even in series of necropsy. In cases of symptomatic disease, coughis the main finding, present in about 66% of cases.The disease is generally asymptomatic,8.Generally, laryngotracheobronchoscopy raises the diagnostic suspicion and the classicalfinding is the presence of whitish, smooth and hard nodules, typically on thecartilaginous walls of the tracheal rings and of the proximal portions of the primarybronchi on the basis of its findings, namely, thickening of the innersurface of the tracheal cartilage with irregular, sessile nodular lesions, eithercalcified or not, focal or diffuse, sparing the posterior (membranous) trachea andleading to luminal narrowing in the affected areas,5,6,8,9. CT is very sensitive to detect the typical calcification ofthe nodules, to define the extent and distribution of tracheobronchial stenosis, as wellas to characterize complications such as atelectasis, bronchiectasis, postobstructivepneumonia,10.The CT contributes to confirm the diagnosis,8.Histopathological analysis shows that nodules correspond to submucosal osteocartilaginousgrowths. There are variable combinations of fibrotic, cartilaginous, bone, hematopoietictissue and mineralized acellular protein matrix. The epithelium lining such nodules maybe normal, or present with inflammatory or meta-plastic appearance,5,8.Some authors consider that bronchoscopic and radiological findings are sufficient toestablish the diagnosis, particularly in cases where it is difficult to performbiopsy.The prognosis is good in most of cases and treatment only will be requested in case ofcomplications, principally tracheal and/or bronchial stenosis


Background: In order to provide effective care to patients suffering from chronic pain secondary to neurological diseases, health professionals must appraise the role of the psychosocial factors in the genesis and maintenance of this condition whilst considering how emotions and cognitions influence the course of treatment. Furthermore, it is important not only to recognize the psychological reactions to pain that are common to the various conditions, but also to evaluate how these syndromes differ with regards to the psychological factors that may be involved. As an extensive evaluation of these factors is still lacking, the Italian Consensus Conference on Pain in Neurorehabilitation (ICCPN) aimed to collate the evidence available across these topics.Objectives: To determine the psychological factors which are associated with or predictive of pain secondary to neurological conditions and to assess the influence of these aspects on the outcome of neurorehabilitation.Methods: Two reviews were performed. In the first, a PUBMED search of the studies assessing the association between psychological factors and pain or the predictive value of these aspects with respect to chronic pain was conducted. The included papers were then rated with regards to their methodological quality and recommendations were made accordingly. In the second study, the same methodology was used to collect the available evidence on the predictive role of psychological factors on the therapeutic response to pain treatments in the setting of neurorehabilitation.Results: The first literature search identified 1170 results and the final database included 189 articles. Factors such as depression, anxiety, pain catastrophizing, coping strategies, and cognitive functions were found to be associated with pain across the various conditions. However, there are differences between chronic musculoskeletal pain, migraine, neuropathy, and conditions associated with complex disability with regards to the psychological aspects that are involved. The second PUBMED search yielded 252 studies, which were all evaluated. Anxiety, depression, pain catastrophizing, coping strategies, and pain beliefs were found to be associated to different degrees with the outcomes of multidisciplinary programs, surgery, physical therapies, and psychological interventions. Finally, sense of presence was found to be related to the effectiveness of virtual reality as a distraction tool.Conclusions: Several psychological factors are associated with pain secondary to neurological conditions and should be acknowledged and addressed in order to effectively treat this condition. These factors also predict the therapeutic response to the neurorehabilitative interventions. Within neurorehabilitation programs, knowledge of the psychological factors associated with pain is crucial for its treatment. In fact, the differential impact of various pathologies on the patient as well as the way in which subjective features can affect the course of the disease and the treatment effectiveness are recognized as important factors that should be assessed in order to successfully treat pain conditions  is a multidisciplinary board formed in October 2012, aimed at creating the updated guidelines for the treatment of pain in the field of neurorehabilitation , the names of various disorders that are treated by neurorehabilitation services, the names of psychological factors and the following terms: moderator, mediator, prognostic factor, impact, predictor, outcome. The search identified 159 articles. An update conducted in May 2015 was restricted to the period from 2013 to 2015 and yielded another 93 articles. All these studies were included and were evaluated with the procedure previously outlined.anxiety sensitivity (autonomic anxiety linked to the activation of the body) and anxious perception of pain , University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy; Vittorio Schweiger, Department of Surgery, University of Verona, Verona, Italy; Giorgio Scivoletto, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy; Nicola Smania, Department of Neurological and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy; Claudio Solaro, Neurology Unit, ASL3, Genoa, Italy; Vincenza Spallone, Department of Systems Medicine, University Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy; Isabella Springhetti, Functional Recovery and Rehabilitation Unit, IRCCS Fondazione S. Maugeri, Pavia, Italy; Stefano Tamburin, Department of Neurological and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy; Cristina Tassorelli, C. Mondino National Institute of Neurology Foundation, IRCCS, Pavia, Italy, Department of Brain and Behavioural Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy; Michele Tinazzi, Department of Neurological and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy; Rossella Togni, Department of Clinical, Surgical, Diagnostic and Pediatric Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy; Monica Torre, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy; Riccardo Torta, Department of Oncology and Neuroscience, University of Turin, City Hospital Health and Science of the City of Turin, Turin, Turin, Italy; Marco Traballesi, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy; Marco Tramontano, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy; Andrea Truini, Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, University Sapienza, Rome, Italy; Valeria Tugnoli, Neurological Unit, University Hospital of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy; Andrea Turolla, Neurorehabilitation Department, Foundation IRCCS San Camillo Hospital, Venice, Italy; Gabriella Vallies, Department of Neurological and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy; Elisabetta Verzini, Department of Neurological and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy; Mario Vottero, Neuro-Urology Department, City Hospital Health and Science of the City of Turin, Turin, Italy; Paolo Zerbinati, Neuro- orthopaedic Program, Hand Surgery Department, Santa Maria Hospital MultiMedica, Castellanza, Italy.All authors listed, have made substantial, direct and intellectual contribution to the work, and approved it for publication.The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.


There are errors in the Funding section. The correct funding information is as follows:"Funding was provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81471771, 81271686, 81000628, 31000379. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.”


This study was aimed to evaluate the relative contributions of spectral and temporal information to Korean phoneme recognition and to compare them with those to English phoneme recognition. Eleven normal-hearing Korean-speaking listeners participated in the study. Korean phonemes, including 18 consonants in a /Ca/ format and 17 vowels in a /hVd/ format, were processed through a noise vocoder. The spectral information was controlled by varying the number of channels  whereas the temporal information was controlled by varying the lowpass cutoff frequency of the envelope extractor (1 to 512 Hz in octave steps). A total of 80 vocoder conditions (8 numbers of channels × 10 lowpass cutoff frequencies) were presented to listeners for phoneme recognition. While vowel recognition depended on the spectral cues predominantly, a tradeoff between the spectral and temporal information was evident for consonant recognition. The overall consonant recognition was dramatically lower than that of English consonant recognition under similar vocoder conditions. The complexity of the Korean consonant repertoire, the three-way distinction of stops in particular, hinders recognition of vocoder-processed phonemes. In vocoder processing  or acousMany studies have examined the minimal requirement of spectral information or temporal information for English speech recognition. A general consensus today is that the number of spectral channels required for speech recognition depends on the speech materials. Simple sentences in quiet conditions require only 3 to 4 channels of spectral information for recognition whereas more complex materials (in noise conditions) require 30 or more channels for an equivalent level of performance , 3, 5–9.The studies of relative contributions of spectral and temporal cues in English speech recognition have been extended to lexical tone recognition of Mandarin Chinese , 8. The Other than English and Mandarin Chinese, no studies have been done in a different language to confirm or to examine the relative contributions of spectral and temporal information for speech recognition. Korean, spoken by approximately 80 million people, is a nontonal language that is used in the Korean peninsula and in the northeast region of China. In Korean, the consonant inventory includes 22 phonemes and the vowel inventory includes 8 monophthongal phonemes and 12 diphthongs . CompareGiven that there exist such apparent differences in the phonetic inventory between Korean and English and that no studies have been done to examine the spectral and temporal cues for phoneme recognition in Korean, it is important to compare the relative contributions of spectral and temporal information in phoneme recognition of Korean to those of English. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relative contributions of spectral and temporal information to Korean phoneme recognition. The findings, if consistent with those in English, will enable us to extrapolate results from English to other languages. On the other hand, if the findings from the present study indicate discrepancies in the relative contributions of temporal and spectral information between the two languages, it will caution such extrapolations of results from English to other languages and will provide guidance in designing clinical rehabilitation strategies more specifically to Korean.Eleven normal-hearing native-Korean-speaking listeners  ages 19 to 26 years old participated in this study. The pure-tone thresholds of each ear of the subjects were < 20 dB HL for octave frequencies between 250 and 8000 Hz. During screening with unprocessed speech materials, consonant and vowel recognition scores were > 90% correct for all subjects. The use of human subjects in the present study was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Seoul National University Hospital. Written informed consent was obtained from all study participants prior to the experiment.h, p*, ʧ, ʧh, ʧ*, t, th, t*, k, kh, k*, m, n, l, s, s*, h/. Note that Korean consonant /ŋ/ is not used in initial position and the other three approximants /w, j, ɰ/ are often used in diphthongs. Therefore, those four consonants were not used in the consonant stimulus set.Eighteen consonants presented in a /Ca/ context each produced by one male and one female talker were included in the consonant stimulus set: ba, pa, ppa, ja, cha, jja, da, ta, tta, ga, ka, kka, ma, na, la, sa, ssa, and ha. The corresponding International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbols for the consonants are /p, pSeventeen vowels presented in a /hVd/ context each produced by one male and female talker were included in the vowel stimulus set: had, hid, heod, haed, heud, hod, hud, hyeod, hyad, hwad, hyod, hwod, hwid, hyaed, huid, hwaed, and hyud. Note that the stop at the final position in /hVd/ structure is plain and unreleased. The corresponding IPA symbols for the vowels are /a, i, ʌ, ɛ, ɯ, o, u, jʌ, ja, wa, jo, wʌ, wi, jɛ, ɯi, wɛ, ju/. Because /ɥi/, /e/, and /je/ are phonetically similar to /wi/, /ɛ/, and /jɛ/, respectively, these three vowels  were not included in the stimulus set. All speech tokens were recorded in a sound booth with a high-quality microphone . The sampling rate was 44,100 Hz and quantization was set at 16 bits. Individual tokens were isolated and stored in a wave format in a computer hard disk for further processing.f = 165.4 (100.06x − 1), where f is frequency and x is the distance (mm) from the apex of the cochlea ).S1 TableEach Excel sheet contains data from one subject (N = 11). The first column represents talkers with 1 coded for the female and 2 coded for the male talker. Columns 2 and 3 are stimuli and responses with values from 1 to 18 representing ba, cha, da, ga, ha, ja, jja, ka, kka, ma, na, pa, ppa, ra, sa, ssa, ta, and tta, respectively. Column 4 presents the test conditions with number of channels and lowpass cutoff frequency labeled.(XLS)Click here for additional data file.S2 TableEach Excel sheet contains data from one subject (N = 11). The first column represents talkers with 1 coded for the female and 2 coded for the male talker. Column 2 and 3 are stimuli and responses with values from 1 to 17 representing had, hid, heod, haed, heud, hod, hud, hyeod, hyad, hwad, hyod, hwod, hwid, hyaed, huid, hwaed, and hyud, respectively.(XLS)Click here for additional data file.


EANA 2013 took place from the 22nd to the 25th July 2013 in the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of the University of Szczecin. It was the 13th workshop organized by EANA (European Astrobiology Network Association), an annual event which is hosted in one of the member countries and is recognized to be the most important happening in the astrobiological calendar in Europe.www.astrobiology.pl/eana) started its activity in 2001 with the aim of bringing together European researchers interested in astrobiology programmes and stimulating their collaboration across the borders of different scientific disciplines. Particular attention is directed to introducing young scientists to this interdisciplinary field of studies and to disseminating the results of astrobiological research to its relevant beneficiaries as well as to students and the general public. EANA is a network of 19 European nations active in astrobiology: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands and United Kingdom. Astrobiology groups in Brazil, China, Japan, Mexico and USA are associated members.EANA (web page: The inauguration of EANA was announced during the First European Workshop on Astrobiology co-organized together with European Space Agency (ESA) at the ESRIN (European Space Research Institute) in Frascati  in spring 2001. Since then the astrobiology community in Europe has steadily increased year after year and the regular succession of EANA’s workshops has measured the pace of the research developments in astrobiology. The previous editions of the European Workshop on Astrobiology have been held in the following places:EANA 2001: May 21–23, 2001, Frascati, ItalyEANA 2002: September 16−19, 2002, Graz, AustriaEANA 2003: November 18–20, 2003, Madrid, SpainEANA 2004: November 22–25, 2004, Milton Keynes, United KingdomEANA 2005: October 10–12, 2005, Budapest, HungaryEANA 2006: October 16–18, 2006, Lyon, FranceEANA 2007: October 22–24, 2007, Turku, FinlandEANA 2008: September 1–3, 2008, Neuchâtel, SwitzerlandEANA 2009: October 12–14, 2009, Brussels, BelgiumEANA 2010: September 6–8, 2010, Pushchino, RussiaEANA 2011: July 11–14, 2011, Köln, GermanyEANA 2012: October 15–17, 2012, Stockholm, SwedenThe next Workshop will take place in Edinburgh, United Kingdom, October 13–16, 2014.Poland is an EANA member since 2003. On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Poland’s presence in EANA, the annual EANA workshop was hosted in this country. The Polish astrobiology is represented by CASA* (Centre for Advanced Studies in Astrobiology and Related Topics), which since 2007 is formally organized as a consortium of five Founding Institutions: the Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center (CAMK) of the Polish Academy of Science (PAS) in Warsaw, the Space Research Center (CBK) of PAS in Warsaw, the Institute of Paleobiology of PAS in Warsaw, the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń and the University of Szczecin. The Headquarters of CASA* is the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of the University of Szczecin. The main goals of the Centre are to stimulate, perform and coordinate interdisciplinary research in astrobiology in Poland; to develop advanced technologies and to promote their commercial exploitation; to promote the collaboration on astrobiological topics of Polish research teams with other countries in Europe; to train the next generation of astrobiology researchers and to increase the public awareness for science. EANA 2013 has been a very good opportunity to promote astrobiology in Poland.http://eana13.astrobiologia.pl/) was held in the building of the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of the University of Szczecin near to the beautiful Kasprowicz Park and the historical City Hall. The list of main topics of the meeting is provided below:Astrochemistry, interstellar medium;Astrophysics, protoplanetary discs and planets;Planetary habitability and exploration;Macromolecules and models of prebiotic molecules;Origin and evolution of life, extremophiles;Rocks, fossils and meteorites;Space technology, medicine and industry;Miscellaneous subjects in astrobiology.The 13th EANA Workshop on Astrobiology . [image courtesy of Jerzy Giedrys]The Scientific Organising Committee was composed by the following scientists: André Brack, CNRS (France), Axel Brandenburg, NORDITA (Sweden), Charles Cockell, University of Edinburgh (UK), Pascale Ehrenfreund, SPI (USA), Franco Ferrari, CASA*, University of Szczecin (Poland), David Field, Aarhus University (Denmark), Beda Hofmann, Natural History Museum, Bern (Switzerland), Gerda Horneck, DLR Cologne (Germany), Natalia B. Gontareva, St.Petersburg State Polytechnical University (Russia), Zbigniew Kłos, SRC, PAS, Warsaw (Poland), Józef Kaźmierczak, IP, PAS, Warsaw (Poland), Kirsi Lehto, University of Turku (Finland), Jacek Krełowski, NCU Toruń (Poland), Helmut Lammer, IWF (Austria), Nigel Mason, Open University (UK), Christian Muller, B.USOC (Belgium), Juan Pérez-Mercader, Origins of Life Initiative, Harvard University (USA), Petra Rettberg, DLR Cologne (Germany), Heike Rauer, TU Berlin and DLR Berlin (Germany), Györgyi Rontó, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest (Hungary), Alessandra Rotundi, University of Naples “Parthenope” , François Raulin, University of Paris 12 and 7 (France), Helga Stan-Lotter, University of Salzburg (Austria), Ewa Szuszkiewicz CASA*, University of Szczecin (Poland), Jorge Vago, ESA (The Netherlands), Frances Westall, CNRS, Orléans (France).To EANA 2013 gathered 118 participants coming from 25 countries . During 10 scientific sessions as many as 49 talks have been delivered, including 12 keynote lectures. Every evening was dedicated to poster viewing. In total 50 posters were presented. Following the tradition, a student contest was organized for the best students’ oral and poster contributions. This year the prize was given to Jan Frösler from the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany. Furthermore, awards were made to the eight best posters. During EANA 2013 also a special prize of CASA* for the best talks of young scientists has been assigned to René Heller  and Rafał Wieczorek . The scientific contributions to this conference have been collected in this Issue of “Origin of Life and Evolution of Biospheres”. We are very grateful to Alan Schwartz for making this happen.Several interesting events have been associated with EANA 2013, namely the Public Lecture “Our cosmic genealogy” given by the outstanding Polish astrophysicist prof. Michał Różyczka from CAMK, the presentation of BRITE-PL - the first Polish Science Satellite performed by the Project Manager Tomasz Zawistowski from CBK and the field trip to the The “Morasko Meteorite” Reserve. The conference dinner included some elements of the molecular cuisine.The Local Organizing Committee would like to thank for support EANA, ESA, the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the Polish Astronomical Society, the Committee for Space Research, the Springer publisher, the University of Szczecin, the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of the University of Szczecin and CASA*. Partial support from the Marshal of the Westpomeranian Voivodeship is also gratefully acknowledged.Picture of the participants in EANA 2013 made in front of the conference venue, the building of the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of the University of Szczecin. [image courtesy of Jerzy Giedrys].


The article entitled “Aplastic Anemia Associated with Oral Terbinafine: A Case Report and Review of the Literature”, written by Kantarcıoğlu et al. and published in a recent issue of your journal, was quite interesting . Here weIn the assessment of 425 cases by van der Klauw et al., the most common causes of drug-related agranulocytosis or neutropenia were, in order, dipyrone, mianserin, sulfasalazine, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, penicillins, cimetidine, thiouracil groups, and phenylbutazone . W,2. W1,2]


Reason for Corrigendum:The authors, Jeanne A. Rasoamananjara and Louise H. Ralimanana were inadvertently missed in the original manuscript and we wish to add their names for contribution to this work. All authors have agreed to this modification.The authors apologize for this oversight. This error does not change the scientific conclusions of the article in any way.The original article has been updated.ABZ, MH, CS, JM, VG, RWR, SNR, JCR, GR, ROA, RHR, SER, LHR, BR, PG, MCM, JAR, SRA and HD approved the content of Corrigendum.The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.


Torosaurus latus is an uncommon and contentious taxon of chasmosaurine ceratopsid known from several upper Maastrichtian units in western North America. We describe a partial parietal of To. latus from the Hell Creek Formation of Montana. Although the specimen’s ontogenetic maturity means that it cannot inform the ongoing debate over whether To. latus is the old adult form of the contemporary Triceratops, the specimen is one of the best-preserved To. latus parietals and supplements previous descriptions. Torosaurus latus [Triceratops, which is known from dozens of skulls [Torosaurus latus is extremely rare.us latus  is a chaus latus . Comparef skulls , 4, ToroTorosaurus latus from the Hell Creek Formation of Montana. The specimen consists of an incomplete parietal and was discovered in 2009 in Garfield County by David Lukens of the Eastern Missouri Society for Paleontology. It was collected from an overbank clay in the middle part of the upper third of the Hell Creek Formation [Here, we describe a new specimen, ESU 2009–6, of ormation . ESU 200Torosaurus latus is not a distinct taxon, but rather represents the old adult form of Triceratops [Triceratops, Torosaurus latus represents a rare morphology, and the description of an additional specimen will be highly beneficial. The specimen will be referred to as Torosaurus latus in this paper for ease of communication, with the caveat that To. latus remains a problematic entity.Recently, it has been proposed that ceratops , 6, 7; hceratops –10. The ANSP, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, USA; EM, Eastend Museum, Eastend, Saskatchewan, Canada; ESU, Emporia State University, Emporia, KS, USA; GP, Glenrock Paleontological Museum, Glenrock, WY, USA; MOR, Museum of the Rockies, Bozeman, MT, USA; MPM, Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee, WI, USA; SMM, Science Museum of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA; YPM, Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, New Haven, CT, USA.Torosaurus latus  [Measurements of ESU 2009–6 are provided in the supplementary information . ESU 200Torosaurus latus  [The caudal parietal bar is rostrocaudally broad and gently convex along its caudolateral margin, indicating that the complete parietal would have had a rounded shape , similarTorosaurus latus is a derived member of the ceratopsid subclade Chasmosaurinae according to recent phylogenetic analyses that have treated it as a taxon distinct from Triceratops [Torosaurus, To. utahensis from the North Horn Formation of Utah [To. latus. Sampson et al. [Torosaurus including To. latus and To. utahensis, while Longrich [To. utahensis (as “Triceratops utahensis”) to form a clade with Triceratops horridus and Tr. prorsus. The taxonomy and phylogeny of these Maastrichtian chasmosaurines will continue to be refined as additional specimens and new closely related taxa Click here for additional data file.


Dr. Timothy Blanche is not included in the author byline. He should be listed as the ninth author and affiliated with the Allen Institute for Brain Science, 551 N 34th St, Seattle, WA, 98103, United States of America. The contributions of this author are as follows: Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools, conceived and designed the experiments.


L) of the lung can be divided into two components: the diffusing capacity of the alveolar membrane (Dm) and the pulmonary capillary volume (Vc). DL is traditionally measured using a single-breath method, involving inhalation of carbon monoxide, and a breath hold of 8–10 seconds . This method does not easily allow calculation of Dm and Vc. An alternative single-breath method , involving simultaneous inhalation of carbon monoxide and nitric oxide, and traditionally a shorter breath hold, allows calculation of Dm and Vc and the DL,NO/DL,CO ratio in a single respiratory maneuver. The clinical utility of Dm, Vc, and DL,NO/DL,CO in the pediatric age range is currently unknown but also restricted by lack of reference values.The diffusing capacity  statistical method.DL,CO,NO and 297 of DL,CO, respectively. Reference equations were established for the outcomes of DL,CO,NO and DL,CO, including the calculated values: Vc, Dm, and the DL,NO/DL,CO ratio.A total of 326 children were eligible for diffusing capacity measurements, resulting in 312 measurements of DThese reference values are based on the largest sample of children to date and may provide a basis for future studies of their clinical utility in differentiating between alterations in the pulmonary circulation and changes in the alveolar membrane in pediatric patients. L). DL for an inhaled gas reactive with hemoglobin is the flow of that gas from the alveoli to the blood for a unit difference in pressure. DL can be divided into two components: the diffusing capacity of the pulmonary membrane (Dm) and the chemical reaction of the gas binding to the blood. The latter is determined by the specific conductance of blood for a given gas, Θ, and the capillary volume of the lung (Vc).The transfer factor of the lung for a gas, is often called the diffusing capacity of the lung (DL of carbon monoxide (CO) using a breath-hold of 10 seconds  is the most frequently used method with the current ATS/ERS methodological guidelines The single-breath method was first introduced in 1915 L,CO,10s, which required arterial samples and two respiratory maneuvers at two different oxygen tensions L,CO,NO) of determining Vc and Dm involving simultaneous inhalation of CO and nitric oxide (NO). Both CO and NO transfer are diffusion limited, but NO has approximately twice the physical diffusivity of CO, and the affinity to hemoglobin for NO (ΘNO) is approximately 250 times greater ΘNO was previously assumed infinitely great ΘNO. The consequence of the use of a finite value for NO blood conductance is that DL,NO appears equally dependent on Dm and Vc as DL,CO is mainly dependent on Vc. In 1957, Roughton and Forster proposed a method of calculating Dm and Vc, using DΘgas), but no consensus currently exists about the true value of ΘCO.The calculation of Dm and Vc involves the resistance of the red blood cell to gas transfer  L,NO/DL,CO ratio) LΘNO has been determined, new interpretations of the ratio will be necessary.With the previous assumption of an infinite value of L,CO,NO requires a single respiratory maneuver and allows simultaneous determination of DL,CO, DL,NO, as well as calculation of DL,NO/DL,CO, Dm, and Vc. In addition, DL,CO,NO generally involves a shorter breath-hold due to the fast disappearance of NO L,CO,NO,5s). Reference equations for these outcomes of DL,CO,NO,5s in children are scarce. A study involving 50 children over 8 years of age has been published L,CO,10sDetermination of Vc and Dm using DL,CO,NO,5s and DL,CO,10s are two distinctly separate methods, with multiple methodological differences.Despite similarities in the performed respiratory maneuver DL,CO,NO,5s including Dm, Vc, and the DL,NO/DL,CO ratio, in healthy children. Since no consensus guidelines exist for DL,CO,NO,5s and previous data is limited, contemporary measurement of the frequently used DL,CO,10s was performed to allow assessment of correlation between these two substantially different techniques and to assess whether they could be used interchangeably, although, knowing for a fact, that significant methodological differences exist. The resulting measurements of DL,CO,10s allowed establishment of reference equations and comparison with existing published reference equations for DL,CO,10s. Some of the results of this study have been previously reported in the form of an abstract The primary goal of this study was to calculate reference equations for the outcomes of DThe regional ethics committee of Copenhagen (“De Videnskabsetiske Komiteer i Region Hovedstaden”) approved the project, and all subjects and/or their parents provided written, informed consent .In this cross-sectional, single-center study, healthy children and adolescents aged between 5 and 17 years were recruited from December 2011 to August 2012 from a private combined elementary and high school in Copenhagen, a public elementary school in rural Denmark, and among the healthy siblings of patients, and the children of staff at the Danish Pediatric Pulmonary Service. Prior to participation, the children (>15 years) or their parents were asked to fill out a health questionnaire covering gestational age, previous or current pulmonary disease, atopic illness, allergies, and any additional diseases the child had had, as well as current and previous medications.1/FVC below the age- and weight-specific lower limit according to recent data All participants were non-smokers, had two parents of European descent, and had no current pulmonary or cardiac disease, including any upper or lower respiratory infection 2 weeks prior to the measurements. Any use of bronchodilators, and in particular, use in the day previous to participation, was considered an exclusion criterion. Furthermore, we excluded participants with FEVHeight and weight were measured without shoes to the nearest 0.1 cm and 100 grams, respectively, using standard stadiometers  and scales. Age was calculated by difference between date of birth and participation date, and was recorded to decimal accuracy.L,COHemoglobin concentration was measured by a finger stick blood sample test  in all participants unless the child refused. Correction for hemoglobin concentration is not imperative in healthy children, as variations within the normal range do not significantly affect DL,CO,NO,5s, and DL,CO,10s were performed using the Jaeger Masterscreen PFT pro . Two identical sets of equipment were used at the three locations: one was used at the two participating schools and the other at the Danish Pediatric Pulmonary Service. Two experienced technicians performed all of the measurements. For most participants, spirometry and measurements of diffusing capacity were performed in a single sitting, but occasionally it required two sittings due to weariness with decreasing ability to perform technically acceptable measurements, especially with the younger children. If a participant was not able to make technically acceptable measurements in all three pulmonary function tests during the first sitting, they were invited back a second time. Spirometry always preceded the diffusing capacity measurements; DL,CO,NO,5s and DL,CO,10s were performed in a random order except in the youngest children, in whom DL,CO,NO,5s was measured first because it was the primary goal of this study.Spirometry, DParticipants breathed through a single-use mouthpiece with a built-in bacterial/viral filter  connected to the pneumotachograph.L,CO,NO,5s and DL,CO,10s are performed with a identical respiratory maneuver, with the exception of breath-hold time, but it is important to clarify that they are two distinctly separate methods, contained within one equipment setup, with differences in test gasses, gas analyzers and sampling techniques.Participants were instructed to breathe normally. Following two to three normal breaths, participants performed a deep expiration and then a complete and fast inspiration. Following a breath-hold, a complete and smooth expiration was performed. As stated in the introduction DL,CO,NO,5s, and DL,CO,10s.See Quality control was performed separately for the two methods. Having unacceptable measurements for one method did not exclude the participant from attempting to perform the other method. The average of two acceptable tests for each method was reported and included in data analysis.L,CO,NO,5s and DL,CO,10s. For children with a VC <1.5 L we reduced the discard volume to 500 ml We required at least 4 minutes between each measurement, to allow adequate elimination of the test gases. Discard and sample volume were each 600 ml in both DL,CO,NO,5s and DL,CO,10sBreath-holding time was calculated using the Jones and Mead method for both DL,CO,NO,5s and DL,CO,10s  was 130 ml, and the anatomical dead space  was calculated according to Cotes formula from 1993 as VD, an = 2.2 ml/kg The instrument dead space for both DA) was calculated using the following formula:gas is the inspiratory fraction of inert gas  and FAgas is the alveolar fraction of inert gas. VIN is the inspiratory volume.Alveolar volume  were corrected for hemoglobin concentration when available. DL,NO and the diffusing capacity for NO per unit of VA  were not corrected for hemoglobin concentration All measurements were performed at sea level. DL,CO,NO5s and DL,CO,10s were performed according to current ATS/ERS guidelines IN/FVC) >80% as sufficient, in contrast to a ratio >85%. The vital capacity (VC) was not measured in our subjects, but FVC acquired during spirometry was assumed to be equivalent to the VC, as FVC has been shown to not differ significantly from VC in healthy subjects DL,CO,10s and DL,CO,NO,5s result in the measurement of DL,CO, VA, and KCO. In addition, DL,CO,NO,5s produces measurements of DL,NO, KNO, and allows calculation of Dm, Vc, and DL,NO/DL,CO(5s). To differentiate between the two methods, DL,CO,10s outcomes are denoted with “10s” and DL,CO,NO,5s outcomes with “5s” in this paper, e.g., VA,10s for VA measured using DL,CO,10s.Both DL,CO,10s method before start of the study and after completion of the study in both sets of equipment, and were found in accordance with ATS/ERS standards. A quality control report on both sets of equipment is provided in Supporting Information.  Biological quality control of measurements using both DL,CO,10s and DL,CO,NO,5s in addition to assessments of volumes demonstrated high levels of repeatability within subjects, between session and between equipment setups during the entire study period.Volume and gas calibration and biological quality control was performed daily prior to the measurements. Calibration syringes were tested for volume accuracy and were in accordance with ATS/ERS standards ΘCO value at pH 7.4 was used 2 was set at 100 mmHg. Using the standard hemoglobin concentrations, 1/ΘCO was found to be 1.71 for females and for males <15 years of age, and 1.86 for males >15 years of age.Roughton and Forsters' 1/NO/DmCO ratio (α) of 1.97 ΘNO. Recently a finite value of ΘNO has been accepted as more accurate, and was therefore used in this study. The finite value of ΘNO leads to the following equations:A DmL,CO,NO,5s were considered to be DL,CO,5s, KCO,5s, VA,5s, DL,NO, KNO, and the calculated outcomes DL,NO/DL,CO,5s, and Vc, Dm for the finite value of ΘNO. Primary outcomes for DL,CO,10s were DL,CO,10s, KCO,10s, and VA,10s. Reference equations were established using Generalized Additive Models for Location Scale and Shape (GAMLSS) with extended capabilities compared to the simpler, generalized linear models. The GAMLSS regression analysis allows the median or mean value (mu), the variability (sigma), and the skewness (nu) of the outcome variable to change with the explanatory variables. Possible distributions for the GAMLSS models were normal distribution (linear regression with mu and sigma), gamma distribution (mu and sigma), or the Box-Cox Cole and Green (BCCG) distribution . The latter is suitable for skewed data.The primary outcomes for Dmu, sigma, and nu were age, sex, height, and cube of height, as well as any two-way interaction between these variables for mu. Goodness of fit was assessed by ‘worm plots’ and Q statistics IN/FVC between 80% and 85%) were included after evaluating the influence and leverage of the resulting data points in ordinary linear regression analysis http://www.r-project.org) including the GAMLSS package.Stepwise model selection was carried out using the Generalized Akaike Information Criterion (GAIC). Possible explanatory variables in the selection of Figure S1 for the age distribution.See L,CO,10s was evaluated using a paired t-test (p = 0.62) and a Bland-Altman plot (mean difference = 0.06). See Conformity between the two sets of equipment for DReference equations, as well as the sigma for all outcomes, are presented in L,CO,5s,, KCO,5s, DLCO,10s, KCO,10s, and DL,NO/DL,CO,5s, reference equations were produced for both hemoglobin-corrected and non-corrected values. Vc and Dm were calculated based on the finite value of ΘNO.For DExample of calculation:L,CO,5s is:L,CO,5s of:The reference equation for DL,NO/DL,CO,5s ratio as a function of height, we saw that the ratio increased with height for the youngest participants and reached a plateau around age 14 , DL,CO,10s, and VIN,10s. Including the mean of two measurements, not complying with ATS/ERS guidelines did not alter the reference equations .Young children were less likely to meet the guideline requiring less than 10% variation between two measurements of DIN/FVC between 80% and 85% should be excluded .Using the same procedure as described for the repeatability of measurements, we found little evidence that observations of VL,CO,5s and DL,CO,10s, as the resulting data points were not highly influential, and excluding them did not alter the Z-scores. Therefore, including them in the data analysis was acceptable.The influence of a given data point, such as an outlier, cannot be evaluated using residuals or Z-scores, as highly influential points will force the regression line close to it, resulting in a small residual and Z-score. We found little evidence that participants who deviated from ATS/ERS guidelines should be excluded from the estimation of reference equations for DL,CO,10s was significantly higher than DL,CO,5s (paired t-test p<0.0001) but as expected, DL,CO,10s and DL,CO,5s were strongly correlated . Similarly, using the Passing Bablok regression, we found a systematic difference, as well as a proportional difference  reflects both Dm and ΘCOL,CO primarily reflects Vc. With increasing height DL,NO will increase relatively more than DL,CO leading to the DL,NO/DL,CO,5s reaching a plateau around 140 cm.We have shown that both Vc and Dm increase with height and 9. AL,NO/DL,CO,5s in younger and smaller children may be due to a greater rate of capillary growth compared to lung surface growth or to a relatively thicker membrane in the young. As height increases with age, a compensatory relatively larger increase in Dm would result in an increasing ratio. Alveolarization has been shown to continue through out childhood and adolescence L,NO/DL,CO,5s ratio.The lower DL,CO,10s were slightly higher than existing, published reference values. One possible reason for this difference is that the present study population included children with both parents of European descent, whereas Koopman et al. included children with only one parent of European descent L in adults are small, but well established The reference values calculated in the present study for DOur results stress the importance of creating reference equations specific for a single population, or at least validating existing reference equations prior to implementing them in a laboratory setting.L,CO,10s was to secure a meaningful correlation to the much more scarcely described DL,CO,NO,5s technique, we secondarily wished to compare DL,CO measured by the two techniques. As expected we found a significant, systematic difference between DL,CO,5s and DL,CO,10s. The difference in DL,CO can be caused by a number of factors, as the two methods vary in a number of ways. See A and a resulting difference in DL,CO as DLCO = KCOA. Second, the sample method varies, with a physical gas sample being collected in the case of DL,CO,NO,5s, whereas a virtual sample was constructed from flow and gas concentration signals in the case of DL,CO,10s. Finally, we speculate if the difference in the kinetics of NO and CO in binding with hemoglobin may play a roll.Although the primary purpose of measuring DL,CO,10s focusing on varying breath-hold times, keeping all other factors constant, have shown that breath-hold time alone, influences KCO, leading to a decreased DL,CO with an increased breath-hold time L,CO.Older studies on DL,CO measured using DL,CO,NO,5s and DL,CO,10s cannot be used interchangeably for monitoring pulmonary disease. More research is required to determine how the mentioned factors combine to influence DL,CO. A given value of DL,CO can only be evaluated using reference equations produced with the same methodology and breath-hold time as recently confirmed In summary, the two methods vary in a number of ways and DL,CO,NO,5s and DL,CO,10s, resulting in a maximum of 12 tests in a single sitting. Repeating measurements of DL,CO,10s leads to an accumulation of CO in the blood, creating CO backpressure and decreasing DL,CO. However, recent work by Zavorsky showed that up to 12 tests can be performed in adults without significantly lowering the DL,CO. Furthermore, in regards to DL,CO,NO,5s, up to 22 repetitions does not lead to a decrease in DL,NOThe participants performed two or three tests, and rarely up to six repetitions of both DMeasuring lung function in this age group requires extra time and effort, but it is feasible. Most of the young children were able to perform the measurements according to ATS/ERS guidelines, but some had greater variability between measurements than normally accepted. This difference was partially due to the limited attention span of the children, who were not always able to perform repeated tests if the first two measurements did not comply with the ATS/ERS standard of a maximum 10% difference between measurements. We included measurements with greater variability, as they did not affect the estimated reference equations. Accepting greater variation in children makes sense if the alternative is to discard measurements completely.IN/VC ≧85% for adults. The recommendation is based on DLCO10s measured in a large group of adults, where 72%, 86%, and 92% of the participants were able to achieve a VIN/VC ratio of 90%, 85%, and 80%, respectively. Therefore, the recommended ratio, i.e., 85%, is a relatively arbitrary value and the guidelines state that VIN/VC <85% may still have clinical utility The ATS/ERS guidelines recommend an acceptance criterion of VAlthough most of our participants were able to inhale to more than 85% of FVC, some were not, despite multiple attempts and prompting and otherwise performing an adequate maneuver.IN/FVC >80% and reference equations only including VIN/FVC >85%.We found no differences between reference equations including measurements with VL,CO,NO,5s and DL,CO,10s would be relevant.In summary, we accepted measurements that did not meet ATS/ERS quality criteria because these measurements had no effect on the resulting equations. In the future, specific pediatric guidelines for both DL,CO,10s corresponded well to recently published equations, in particular those of Koopmans et al. The primary strength of this study is the large and acceptable age distribution of healthy children and adolescents from varying demographic backgrounds. Furthermore, this study was completed in two laboratory setups with identical equipment, as described in the online supplement. The same two technicians performed all measurements, resulting in a high level of repeatability and a systematic approach. In addition, we included children as young as 5 years of age, expanding our ability to adequately evaluate advanced pulmonary function in this age group. Finally, our calculated reference equations for DIn hindsight, it would have been beneficial to include a “young adult” group, 18–22 years old, in this study, as it would open up the possibility of bridging reference equations to include children, adolescents, young adults, and adults.L,CO. These include the steady state method, particularly suitable for infants or anaesthetized patients, or the rebreathing and intrabreath method, that both require cooperation, but can be performed in patients with lower lung volumes L,CO,NO.For the youngest children with a VC<1.5 liters, we reduced the discard volume to 500 ml. If the VC is even lower, as in the case of disease, this method may not be suitable. Multiple other techniques exist for DL,CO,5s, DL,NO, and the calculated outcomes DL,NO/DL,CO,5s, Vc, and Dm measured by DL,CO,NO,5s in healthy children and adults, of European descent. These equations are based on a large population with a broad age range, including children as young as 5 years of age. We expect that the present reference equations can be applied to similar populations throughout Europe, Australia and North America.This study is the first to create pediatric reference equations for the outcomes DL,NO/DL,CO,5s will lead to improved diagnostic evaluation and provide a monitoring tool for the treatment of children presenting with diffuse interstitial lung disease, whether it is a pure alveolocapillary membrane disturbance or pulmonary micro vascular disease. In particular, we believe that the DL,NO/DL,CO,5s ratio has great potential, as it is independent of the assumptions and models used to calculate Vc and Dm, that may be easily questionable. However, the clinical utility of Vc, Dm, and DL,NO/DL,CO,5s still needs to be evaluated in future studies. We acknowledge that multicenter studies are required for external validation of these results. We invite researchers to compare their results, in children with well known pathological features of the lung, with the results of this study. This will achieve increased understanding of the physiological meaning of the described measurements and their application in the early detection and monitoring of diseases.We hope that having reliable reference equations for Dm, Vc, and DFigure S1Age and gender distribution of participants.(TIFF)Click here for additional data file.Figure S2Quality control. Participants with more than 10% difference between two independent measurements of DL,CO,5s were evaluated, as this is in contrast to ATS/ERS guidelines.(TIFF)Click here for additional data file.Figure S3Quality control. Participants with more than 10% difference between two independent measurements of inspiratory volume  were evaluated, as this is in contrast to ATS/ERS guidelines.(TIFF)Click here for additional data file.Figure S4Quality control. Participants with more than 10% difference between two independent measurements of DL,CO,10s were evaluated, as this is in contrast to ATS/ERS guidelines.(TIFF)Click here for additional data file.Figure S5Quality control. Participants with more than 10% difference between two independent measurements of inspiratory volume VIN,10s were evaluated, as this is in contrast to ATS/ERS guidelines.(TIFF)Click here for additional data file.Figure S6Quality control. Measurements of VIN,5s/FVC between 80% and 85% were evaluated as ATS/ERS requires values >85%.(TIFF)Click here for additional data file.Figure S7Quality control. Measurements of VIN,10s/FVC between 80% and 85% were evaluated as ATS/ERS requires values >85%.(TIFF)Click here for additional data file.Appendix S1Age distribution.(DOCX)Click here for additional data file.Appendix S2Excel worksheet.(XLSX)Click here for additional data file.


Contributions” series, dedicated to disseminating systematics research on the Noctuoidea, Geometroidea, and other macro-moth groups. Previous volumes were published in May 2009 , March 2010 , November 2011 , February 2013  and June 2014  , two species from the western United States , and two new genera . All updates and corrections to the Check List of North American Noctuoidea (In the current volume, eight authors contributed six manuscripts on North American taxa in the ctuoidea  since th


Each day, on average, two construction workers die in the United States . In 2010CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has engaged the construction sector through a government/labor/management partnership, representing state and federal government agencies, professional organizations, trade associations, labor organizations, and private industry. The goal, in part, is to develop a national campaign aimed at construction contractors, onsite supervisors, and workers to address and reduce falls, fall-related injuries, and fall-related fatalities among construction workers. On Workers’ Memorial Day, April 28, 2013, a national information and media campaign will be launched again through this partnership.


The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health convened a Working Group on the Microbiome in Cardiovascular, Pulmonary and Hematologic Health and Diseases from June 25, 2014, to June 26, 2014. The Working Group’s central goal was to define what major microbiome research areas warranted additional study in the context of heart, lung, and blood (HLB) diseases. The Working Group identified studies of the human virome a key priority. FindIn addition to the outcome of the Working Group described above, the NHLBI Strategic Visioning, an ongoing process dedicated to shape scientific priorities for the Institute and guide future funding strategies over the next decade, identified virome research as an area for further focus. To help address this need, NHLBI developed an initiative to support studies that evaluate how the human virome interacts with its host and the molecular and physiological mechanisms that govern those interactions. The funding opportunity announcement (FOA), RFA-HL-17-002, entitled, “The Role of the Human Virome in Heart, Lung, and Blood Health and Resilience (R61/R33),” was published on October 5, 2016, with the receipt date of June 24, 2016, or for AIDS Applications: August 9, 2016, and will award grants in fiscal year 2017 . It is hAIDS, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; CVD, cardiovascular disease; FOA, funding opportunity announcement; HBV, hepatitis B virus; HGV, hepatitis G virus; HIV, human immunodeficiency virus; HLB, heart, lung, and blood; HMP, the NIH Human Microbiome Project; HSC, hematopoietic stem cell; HSCT, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation; IBD, inflammatory bowel disease; NHLBI, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; NIH, National Institutes of Health