Project description:In this paper, an empirical review of 64 teen tobacco use cessation studies is provided. Examined include program contents, delivery modalities, number of contacts, and expected quit rates. In addition, means of recruitment and retention of smokers in programming are discussed. Also, promising contemporary methods of teen smoking cessation are examined, including use of pharmacologic adjuncts, electronic technology, and cigarette price increases (and no smoking policy). Conclusions are made regarding implications for developing and implementing teen tobacco use cessation programs.
Project description:The Nucleic Acids Research online Molecular Biology Database Collection is a public repository that lists more than 1000 databases described in this and previous Nucleic Acids Research annual database issues, as well as a selection of molecular biology databases described in other journals. All databases included in this Collection are freely available to the public. The 2008 update includes 1078 databases, 110 more than the previous one. The links to more than 80 databases have been updated and 25 obsolete databases have been removed from the list. The complete database list and summaries are available online at the Nucleic Acids Research web site, http://nar.oxfordjournals.org/.
Project description:The tumour-node metastasis (TNM) classification system is anatomically based. We investigated whether the addition of simple physiological variables, age and body mass index (BMI), would affect survival curves, i.e. a composite anatomical and physiological staging system. We retrospectively analysed a prospectively validated thoracic surgery database (n = 1981). Cox multivariate analysis was performed to determine possible significant factors. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were constructed with combined anatomical and physiological factors. Cox multivariate analysis revealed age (P < 0.001) and BMI (P = 0.01) as significant factors affecting survival. Receiver operating curve analysis determined cut-off levels for age of 67 and BMI of 27.6. A composite anatomical and physiological survival curve based on TNM for BMI > 27.6 and age < 67 was produced. Age and BMI criteria resulted in significantly different survival curves, for stage I (P < 0.0001) and stage II (P = 0.0032), but not for stage III (P = 0.06). Neural network analysis confirmed the importance of BMI and age above cancer stage with regard to long-term survival. Combining age < 67, BMI > 27.6 and TNM anatomical classification results in very different estimated survival curves from the usual TNM system. Patients from stages I, II and III may have survival equivalent to a stage higher or lower depending on their age and BMI.
Project description:Phospho.ELM is a manually curated database of eukaryotic phosphorylation sites. The resource includes data collected from published literature as well as high-throughput data sets. The current release of Phospho.ELM (version 7.0, July 2007) contains 4078 phospho-protein sequences covering 12 025 phospho-serine, 2362 phospho-threonine and 2083 phospho-tyrosine sites. The entries provide information about the phosphorylated proteins and the exact position of known phosphorylated instances, the kinases responsible for the modification (where known) and links to bibliographic references. The database entries have hyperlinks to easily access further information from UniProt, PubMed, SMART, ELM, MSD as well as links to the protein interaction databases MINT and STRING. A new BLAST search tool, complementary to retrieval by keyword and UniProt accession number, allows users to submit a protein query (by sequence or UniProt accession) to search against the curated data set of phosphorylated peptides. Phospho.ELM is available on line at: http://phospho.elm.eu.org.
Project description:The Rice Annotation Project Database (RAP-DB) was created to provide the genome sequence assembly of the International Rice Genome Sequencing Project (IRGSP), manually curated annotation of the sequence, and other genomics information that could be useful for comprehensive understanding of the rice biology. Since the last publication of the RAP-DB, the IRGSP genome has been revised and reassembled. In addition, a large number of rice-expressed sequence tags have been released, and functional genomics resources have been produced worldwide. Thus, we have thoroughly updated our genome annotation by manual curation of all the functional descriptions of rice genes. The latest version of the RAP-DB contains a variety of annotation data as follows: clone positions, structures and functions of 31 439 genes validated by cDNAs, RNA genes detected by massively parallel signature sequencing (MPSS) technology and sequence similarity, flanking sequences of mutant lines, transposable elements, etc. Other annotation data such as Gnomon can be displayed along with those of RAP for comparison. We have also developed a new keyword search system to allow the user to access useful information. The RAP-DB is available at: http://rapdb.dna.affrc.go.jp/ and http://rapdb.lab.nig.ac.jp/.
Project description:For early-stage lung cancer, the treatment of choice is surgery. In patients who are not surgical candidates or are unwilling to undergo surgery, radiotherapy is the principal treatment option. Here, we review stereotactic body radiotherapy, a technique that has produced quite promising results in such patients and should be the treatment of choice, if available. We also present the major indications, technical aspects, results, and special situations related to the technique.
Project description:Immunohistochemistry is a widely available technique that is less challenging and can provide clinically meaningful results quickly and cost-efficiently in comparison with other techniques. In addition, immunohistochemistry allows for the evaluation of cellular localization of proteins in the context of tumor structure. In an era of precision medicine, pathologists are required to classify lung cancer into specific subtypes and assess biomarkers relevant to molecular-targeted therapies. This review summarizes the hot topics of immunohistochemistry in lung cancer, including (i) adenocarcinoma vs squamous cell carcinoma; (ii) neuroendocrine markers; (iii) ALK, ROS1, and EGFR; (iv) PD-L1 (CD274); (v) lung carcinoma vs malignant mesothelioma; and (vi) NUT carcinoma. Major pitfalls in evaluating immunohistochemical results are also described.