A different perspective on conspicuity related motorcycle crashes

The most common type of conflict in which a motorcyclist is injured or killed is a collision between a motorcycle and a car, often in priority situations. Many studies on motorcycle safety focus on the question why car drivers fail to give priority and on the poor conspicuity of motorcycles. The concept of ‘looked-but-failed-to-see’ crashes is a recurring item. On the other hand, it is not entirely unexpected that motorcycles have many conflicts with cars; there simply are so many cars on the road. This paper tries to unravel whether – acknowledging the differences in exposure – car drivers indeed fail to yield for motorcycles more often than for other cars. For this purpose we compared the causes of crashes on intersections (e.g. failing to give priority, speeding, etc.) between different crash types (car–motorcycle or car–car). In addition, we compared the crash causes of dual drivers (i.e. car drivers who also have their motorcycle licence) with regular car drivers. Our crash analysis suggests that car drivers do not fail to give priority to motorcycles relatively more often than to another car when this car/motorcycle approaches from a perpendicular angle. There is only one priority situation where motorcycles seem to be at a disadvantage compared to cars. This is when a car makes a left turn, and fails to give priority to an oncoming motorcycle. This specific crash scenario occurs more often when the oncoming vehicle is a motorcycle than when it is a car. We did not find a significant difference between dual drivers and regular car drivers in how often they give priority to motorcycles compared to cars.     

Effect of Cue Exposure, Urge to Smoke, and Nicotine Deprivation on Cognitive Performance in Smokers.

The primary aim of this investigation was to test the hypothesis that the urge to smoke interferes directly with cognitive performance. Fifty-four smokers were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: (a) ad lib, (b) deprived, or (c) nicotine patch. Participants rated their urge to smoke on continuous visual analogue scales. Cognitive performance was determined by measuring reaction times (RTs) on a Sternberg task. The deprived group reported a higher urge and had longer RTs than the ad lib group when exposed to smoking-related cues. However, the nicotine patch group reported a higher urge in the absence of longer RTs. The results indicated that nicotine deprivation affects cognitive performance and that the urge to smoke only partially mediated RTs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Flavour release from rehydrated French beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) influenced by composition and volume of artificial saliva

Influence of saliva composition and volume on flavour release from rehydrated French beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) was studied in three types of mouth model systems; dynamic headspace (DH), dynamic headspace and mastication (DHM) and a purge-and-trap (PT) model system. Volatile compounds were analysed by gas chromatography, using flame ionization detection (FID), mass spectrometry and sniffing port detection. Areas of FID peaks were largest in the PT system, followed by those of the DHM and DH systems, respectively. Saliva composition as well as volume influenced the release of volatile compounds from rehydrated French beans. Generally, FID data showed a decrease in release by the saliva component mucin, because of interactions between volatile compounds and protein, and an increase in release by its α-amylase, probably due to degradation of inclusion complexes of starch. The decrease in flavour release by the enlarged saliva volume was evaluated by a model study. Sniffing patterns of odour active compounds were barely influenced by either saliva composition or volume.     

Tuning the Cell Adhesion on Biofunctionalized Nanoporous Organic Frameworks

The ability to control the structure and surface chemistry of biomaterials on a molecular level is crucial for optimizing their performance. Here, a novel type of nanoporous organic framework that is suited for the fabrication of thin films is described. These surface‐grafted gels (SURGELs) are prepared and functionalized using two orthogonal, metal‐free click chemistries. The SURGELs are shown to be cytocompatible and to efficiently mediate adhesion of osteoblast‐like cells. This process can be further enhanced by surface modification. In addition, the use of light‐triggered reactions in combination with photomasks allows a patterned functionalization of the substrates. The potential to vary and exactly adjust the parameters within the SURGEL polymer network (including porosity and exact network topology on the nanometer scale as well as addressable functional groups) combined with the ability to functionalize their surfaces with any clickable biomolecule of choice in any desired pattern allow the targeted design of novel SURGEL‐based biomaterials for applications in nanomedicine, tissue engineering scaffolds, wound dressing,and medical implants.     

Exome Enrichment and SOLiD Sequencing of Formalin Fixed Paraffin Embedded (FFPE) Prostate Cancer Tissue

Next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have revolutionized cancer research allowing the comprehensive study of cancer using high throughput deep sequencing methodologies. These methods detect genomic alterations, nucleotide substitutions, insertions, deletions and copy number alterations. SOLiD (Sequencing by Oligonucleotide Ligation and Detection, Life Technologies) is a promising technology generating billions of 50 bp sequencing reads. This robust technique, successfully applied in gene identification, might be helpful in detecting novel genes associated with cancer initiation and progression using formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue. This study's aim was to compare the validity of whole exome sequencing of fresh-frozen vs. FFPE tumor tissue by normalization to normal prostatic FFPE tissue, obtained from the same patient. One primary fresh-frozen sample, corresponding FFPE prostate cancer sample and matched adjacent normal prostatic tissue was subjected to exome sequencing. The sequenced reads were mapped and compared. Our study was the first to show comparable exome sequencing results between FFPE and corresponding fresh-frozen cancer tissues using SOLiD sequencing. A prior study has been conducted comparing the validity of sequencing of FFPE vs. fresh frozen samples using other NGS platforms. Our validation further proves that FFPE material is a reliable source of material for whole exome sequencing.     

Fingerprinting of fatty acid composition for the verification of the identity of organic eggs

Organic products (such as organic eggs) usually have a higher price than the corresponding conventional products. This makes organic products susceptible to fraud. Administrative controls are conducted to detect this type of frauds. However, an analytical verification of the organic identity of food products would be very useful in this respect. It is unlikely that there is a single compound, or a few compounds, that differ sufficiently between organic and conventional eggs to be used as a marker of organic identity. Instead, fingerprinting of the organic products (that is to say, analyzing a wide range of compounds instead of only a few) might be used as a tool for their verification. Here, we have used the fatty acid composition of egg yolks as a fingerprint to verify the organic identity of eggs. From the fingerprints, chemometric models were built which predict the identity of eggs (organic or conventional) with high success rates.     

Photodegradation of poly(neopentyl terephthalate)

In this paper we investigate the mechanism of photodegradation in simulated sun light (in a SUNTEST XXL+) of a polyester based on terephthalic units (poly(neopentyl terephthalate); PNT). The mechanisms of degradation were studied with MALDI-ToF MS, ATR-FTIR and SEC.     

Efficacy of a Topical Wound Agent Methanesulfonic Acid and Dimethylsulfoxide on In Vitro Biofilms

A topical desiccating wound agent containing methanesulfonic acid, dimethylsulfoxide and amorphous silica was evaluated in three in vitro models for its efficacy against biofilms produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC-15442) and Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC-6538). The in vitro biofilm models used were; the MBEC Assay^®, Centre for Disease Control (CDC) Biofilm Reactor^® and a Semi-solid biofilm model. A 30-s exposure of a topical wound desiccating agent was used in each model. A complete eradication of viable cells was demonstrated in all models for both strains (p < 0.0001). Imaging with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was performed where possible. All three models demonstrated complete eradication of viable cells with a 30 s application of a topical wound desiccating agent.     

ESR1 Methylation Measured in Cell-Free DNA to Evaluate Endocrine Resistance in Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients

ESR1 methylation was proposed as mechanism for endocrine resistance in metastatic breast cancer patients. To evaluate its potential as a minimally invasive biomarker, we investigated the feasibility of measuring ESR1 methylation in cell-free DNA (cfDNA) and its association with endocrine resistance. First, we provided evidence that demethylation in vitro restores ER expression. Subsequently, we found that ESR1 methylation in cfDNA was not enriched in endocrine-resistant versus endocrine-sensitive patients. Interestingly, we found a correlation between ESR1 methylation and age. Publicly available data confirm an age-related increase in ESR1 methylation in leukocytes, confounding the determination of the ESR1 methylation status of tumors using cfDNA.