BRCA1 mutations in women attending clinics that evaluate the risk of breast cancer

BACKGROUND: To define the incidence of BRCA1 mutations among patients seen in clinics that evaluate the risk of breast cancer, we analyzed DNA samples from women seen in this setting and constructed probability tables to provide estimates of the likelihood of finding a BRCA1 mutation in individual families. METHODS: Clinical information, family histories, and blood for DNA analysis were obtained from 263 women with breast cancer. Conformation-sensitive gel electrophoresis and DNA sequencing were used to identify BRCA1 mutations. RESULTS: BRCA1 mutations were identified in 16 percent of women with a family history of breast cancer. Only 7 percent of women from families with a history of breast cancer but not ovarian cancer had BRCA1 mutations. The rates were higher among women from families with a history of both breast and ovarian cancer. Among family members, an average age of less than 55 years at the diagnosis of breast cancer, the presence of ovarian cancer, the presence of breast and ovarian cancer in the same woman, and Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry were all associated with an increased risk of detecting a BRCA1 mutation. No association was found between the presence of bilateral breast cancer or the number of breast cancers in a family and the detection of a BRCA1 mutation, or between the position of the mutation in the BRCA1 gene and the presence of ovarian cancer in a family. CONCLUSIONS: Among women with breast cancer and a family history of the disease, the percentage with BRCA1 coding-region mutations is less than the 45 percent predicted by genetic-linkage analysis. These results suggest that even in a referral clinic specializing in screening women from high-risk families, the majority of tests for BRCA1 mutations will be negative and therefore uninformative.     

Effect of gravity on visco-elastic surface waves in solids involving time rate of strain and stress of first order

The aim of the present paper is to study the effect of gravity on visco-elastic surface waves in solids. The wave velocity equations are deduced from Biot’s theory of initial stress on the assumption that gravity creates a type of initial stress — hydrostatic in nature. Resulting equations are used to investigate surface waves of the Rayleigh, Love and Stoneley types. Results are in good agreement with corresponding classical results when gravity and viscosity are neglected.     

Performance Optimizations for Deploying VoIP Services in Mesh Networks

In the recent past, there has been a tremendous increase in the popularity of VoIP services as a result of huge growth in broadband access. The same voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) service poses new challenges when deployed over a wireless mesh network, while enabling users to make voice calls using WiFi phones. Packet losses and delay due to interference in a multiple-hop mesh network with limited capacity can significantly degrade the end-to-end VoIP call quality. In this work, we discuss the basic requirements for efficient deployment of VoIP services over a mesh network. We present and evaluate practical optimizing techniques that can enhance the network capacity, maintain the VoIP quality and handle user mobility efficiently. Extensive experiments conducted on a real testbed and ns-2 provide insights into the performance issues and demonstrate the level of improvement that can be obtained by the proposed techniques. Specifically, we find that packet aggregation along with header compression can increase the number of supported VoIP calls in a multihop network by 2-3 times. The proposed fast path switching is highly effective in maintaining the VoIP quality. Our fast handoff scheme achieves almost negligible disruption during calls to roaming clients     

Characteristics of microstrip transmission lines withhigh-dielectric-constant substrates

An efficient numerical code is developed from a full-wave analysis in the Fourier transform domain to determine the characteristics of a single-strip or multistrip coplanar transmission line. Modes of both even and odd symmetries are included. The impedance of the transmission line is calculated using the power-current equivalent model. Coupling constants between the even and the odd modes are also calculated. Results are provided for a shielded two-strip coupled microstrip transmission line on high-dielectric-constant substrate such as lanthanum aluminate with applications to superconducting transmission lines     

Evaluation of hot hardness and creep of a 350 grade commercial maraging steel

The hardening response and the indentation creep of a 350 grade commercial maraging steel were evaluated using a hot hardness tester. The hardness versus temperature plot exhibited three distinct regions. Hardness response was noted between 500–800 K. The unusually high values of activation energy and stress exponent obtained during the creep experiment could be rationalized by a novel concept of introducing a back stress term in the indentation creep relation. The corrected value of the activation energy was found to be reasonably in agreement with the activation energy for diffusion of Ni in iron. Results are supplemented with microstructural observation.     

Aggregation dynamics of particles in a microchannel due to an applied magnetic field

Functionalized magnetic microspheres have promising applications in different microfluidic devices including MEMS-scale biosensors. These particles exhibit magnetic field-induced aggregation, which can be harnessed to achieve several practical tasks in microfluidic devices. For this, the particle aggregation needs to be well characterized. Herein, a numerical simulation and experimental validation of particle-chaining is presented. Simulations show that the particle aggregation time scales linearly with a group parameter. The predicted growth of one- two- and three-particle chains with time shows a similar trend as that found in the experiments. The results of the study could help predicting the performance of magnetic aggregate-based lab-on-a-chip devices.     

Fischer–Tropsch synthesis: Deactivation of promoted and unpromoted cobalt–alumina catalysts

The loss in activity of Pt-promoted and unpromoted 25 wt% Co–Al₂O₃ catalysts has been compared under identical conditions except for adjustment of the space velocity to give the same initial CO-conversion. Both catalysts underwent a 200 h period of rapid, initial decline in CO conversion and then a slower, linear decline during the next 1000 h. Pt-promotion did not alter the cobalt dispersion (or average particle size) from that of the unpromoted catalyst but did increase the amount of cobalt that was reduced. When compared not by time-on-stream, but by the moles of Co converted per unit weight of catalyst, both the Pt-promoted and unpromoted catalysts decline in activity at the same rate.     

Generating vegetation leaf area index Earth system data record from multiple sensors. Part 2: Implementation,analysis and validation

The evaluation of a new global monthly leaf area index (LAI) data set for the period July 1981 to December 2006 derived from AVHRR Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data is described. The physically based algorithm is detailed in the first of the two part series. Here, the implementation, production and evaluation of the data set are described. The data set is evaluated both by direct comparisons to ground data and indirectly through inter-comparisons with similar data sets. This indirect validation showed satisfactory agreement with existing LAI products, importantly MODIS, at a range of spatial scales, and significant correlations with key climate variables in areas where temperature and precipitation limit plant growth. The data set successfully reproduced well-documented spatio-temporal trends and inter-annual variations in vegetation activity in the northern latitudes and semi-arid tropics. Comparison with plot scale field measurements over homogeneous vegetation patches indicated a 7% underestimation when all major vegetation types are taken into account. The error in mean values obtained from distributions of AVHRR LAI and high-resolution field LAI maps for different biomes is within 0.5 LAI for six out of the ten selected sites. These validation exercises though limited by the amount of field data, and thus less than comprehensive, indicated satisfactory agreement between the LAI product and field measurements. Overall, the inter-comparison with short-term LAI data sets, evaluation of long term trends with known variations in climate variables, and validation with field measurements together build confidence in the utility of this new 26 year LAI record for long term vegetation monitoring and modeling studies.