Efficacy and Patient-Reported Outcomes of a New Mometasone Cream Treating Atopic Eczema

This double-blind controlled phase II study was conducted to compare a newly developed formulation of mometasone furoate with a water content of 33% (Monovo (R) Cream) and with a smooth consistency versus the commercially available fatty cream of mometasone furoate (Ecural (R) Fettcreme) in terms of efficacy, cosmetic properties, and patients' acceptance. In 20 patients with mild to moderate atopic eczema, the preparations were tested intraindividually in a randomized mode and in two comparable lesion areas. Both preparations were equally effective and well tolerated. Due to improved cosmetic properties, the new formulation was preferred by the patients when asked for preferential use. Quality of life could be improved by treating with both preparations. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Base

A new integration algorithm for ordinary differential equations based on continued fraction approximations

A new integration algorithm is found, and an implementation is compared with other programmed algorithms. The new algorithm is a step by step procedure for solving the initial value problem in ordinary differential equations. It is designed to approximate poles of small integer order in the solutions of the differential equations by continued fractions obtained by manipulating the sums of truncated Taylor series expansions. The new method is compared with the Gragg- Bulirsch-Stoer, and the Taylor series method. The Taylor series method and the new method are shown to be superior in speed and accuracy, while the new method is shown to be most superior when the solution is required near a singularity. The new method can finally be seen to pass automatically through singularities where all the other methods which are discussed will have failed

Environmental Injustice: Evidence and Economic Implications

Some economic analyses find evidence of environmental injustice--minorities and/or low-income persons are exposed to environmental dangers (locally undesirable land uses, or LULUs) more than their non-minority or more affluent counterparts. Such inefficient allocations result from a violation of perfect property rights. This paper does not determine efficient levels of various environmental dangers, but rather examines and compares several studies in an effort to find a consensus among researchers. No consensus emerges, as differences in research techniques prevent consistent results from being found. Future research must have well-defined methodologies before it can be effectively used by policy makers

Database independent Migration of Objects into an Object-Relational Database

This paper reports on the CERN-based WISDOM project which is studying the serialisation and deserialisation of data to/from an object database (objectivity) and ORACLE 9i.Comment: 26 pages, 18 figures; CMS CERN Conference Report cr02_01

Risk Assessment Using Two Different Diagnostic Tools: Metabolic Syndrome and Cardiovascular Risk Score (SCORE) - Data from a Weight Reduction Intervention Study

Objective: Risk score models and the diagnosis of a metabolic syndrome are useful for cardiovascular (CV) risk prediction. The identification of individuals with high CV and metabolic risk is essential to provide appropriate prevention and therapy. The present study aims at clarifying whether these indicators are altered by a weight reduction programme. Additionally, which diagnostic tool has a better predictive value is examined. Method: One hundred and twenty overweight and obese subjects aged 30 60 years were included in a 12-week weight reduction programme. The CV risk was assessed by means of German multiple-used risk charts (SCORE) at baseline and at the end of the trial. Furthermore, the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome (three out of five risk factors) was quantified. Results: The initial prevalence of the metabolic syndrome was 63.3% (n = 76) and decreased to 41.7% (n = 50) by the end of the intervention. The SCORE also decreased significantly after twelve weeks (p 5%) was comparatively low (t0: 7.4%, n = 7; t12: 5.3%, n = 5). Conclusion: The weight reduction concept was applicable to improve the CV risk SCORE and decrease the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome. The CV 10-year risk calculated using German risk charts (SCORE) probably underestimated the risk of CV diseases in this collective. In this case, the diagnosis of a metabolic syndrome is more meaningful than risk SCORE calculations

TBC of the thoracic wall with fistulisation through the breast

A 53-year-old North African woman presented with a longstanding history of ulcerations of the right breast. Physical examination showed (Fig. 1 subfigure) an ulcer of 1.5 cm in the outer inferior quadrant, another smaller areolar ulcer and a discharging sinus tract in the inframammary sulcus. Apart from female genital mutilation, her past medical history was negative. Laboratory work up was essentially normal, culture of the ulcers were taken. Mammography showed infra-areolar skin retraction, associated with irregular, high density distortion of the breast tissue. Ultrasound (Fig. 1) revealed communicating sinus tracts coming from an intercostal mass with central necrosis. Mobile internal echoes were suggestive for abscess formation and a truecut biopsy was taken. An important granulomatous inflammatory pattern and fibrosis were found. Axillary lymphadenopathy was present

XML for Domain Viewpoints

Within research institutions like CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) there are often disparate databases (different in format, type and structure) that users need to access in a domain-specific manner. Users may want to access a simple unit of information without having to understand detail of the underlying schema or they may want to access the same information from several different sources. It is neither desirable nor feasible to require users to have knowledge of these schemas. Instead it would be advantageous if a user could query these sources using his or her own domain models and abstractions of the data. This paper describes the basis of an XML (eXtended Markup Language) framework that provides this functionality and is currently being developed at CERN. The goal of the first prototype was to explore the possibilities of XML for data integration and model management. It shows how XML can be used to integrate data sources. The framework is not only applicable to CERN data sources but other environments too.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, conference report from SCI'2001 Multiconference on Systemics & Informatics, Florid

Dynamic wetting with two competing adsorbates

We study the dynamic properties of a model for wetting with two competing adsorbates on a planar substrate. The two species of particles have identical properties and repel each other. Starting with a flat interface one observes the formation of homogeneous droplets of the respective type separated by nonwet regions where the interface remains pinned. The wet phase is characterized by slow coarsening of competing droplets. Moreover, in 2+1 dimensions an additional line of continuous phase transition emerges in the bound phase, which separates an unordered phase from an ordered one. The symmetry under interchange of the particle types is spontaneously broken in this region and finite systems exhibit two metastable states, each dominated by one of the species. The critical properties of this transition are analyzed by numeric simulations.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figures, final version published in PR

Recombinational DNA Repair in Cancer and Normal Cells: The Challenge of Functional Analysis

A major goal of current cancer research is to understand the functional consequences of mutations in recombinational DNA repair genes. The introduction of artificial recombination substrates into living cells has evolved into a powerful tool to perform functional analysis of DNA double strand break (DSB) repair. Here, we review the principles and practice of current plasmid assays with regard to the two major DSB repair pathways, homologous recombination and nonhomologous end-joining. A spectrum of assay types is available to assess repair in a wide variety of cell lines. However, several technical challenges still need to be overcome. Understanding the alterations of DSB repair in cancers will ultimately provide a rational basis for drug design that may selectively sensitize tumor cells to ionizing radiation and chemotherapy, thereby achieving therapeutic gain