April Issue Research Articles

Eurocorr 2009: 'Corrosion from the nanoscale to the plant' – part 5

Last year’s Eurocorr conference took place at the Acropolis Convention Centre in Nice from 6 to 10 September. The focus of the meeting was ‘Corrosion from the Nanoscale to the Plant’. The meeting attracted 800 delegates and over 360 papers and 200 posters were presented during the 25 sessions and workshops. Part 1 of the report, published in the December issue, covered the opening session and plenary lectures. Part 2, published in the February issue, reviewed technical sessions on automotive corrosion, corrosion of archaeological and heritage artefacts, organic coatings and cathodic protection and marine corrosion. Part 3, published in the April issue, reviewed technical sessions on inhibitors, oil and gas, polymeric materials, metallic and inorganic coatings and pretreatments. Part 4 published in the June issue reviewed corrosion and corrosion protection in drinking water systems, recent advances in surface analytical techniques and applications to corrosion research, simulation, modelling and life prediction, environmental sensitive fracture and corrosion mechanisms and methods. The fi nal part of the report reviews technical sessions on nuclear corrosion, including corrosion issues in future high temperature nuclear systems, microbial corrosion: biomolecules and biofi lms on surfaces – impact on the corrosion resistance and biotribocorrosion, corrosion by hot gases and combustion products, and corrosion of steel in concrete.

Evidence-Based Pain Management and Palliative Care in the April Issue 2010 of The Cochrane Library

ABSTRACTThe Cochrane Library of Systematic Reviews is published monthly online and in a DVD format four times a year. The April 2010 issue contains 6049 complete reviews, 1924 protocols for reviews in production, and 11887 one-page summaries of systematic reviews published in the general medical literature. In addition, there are citations of over 608,000 randomized controlled trials, and 12,700 cited papers in the Cochrane methodology register. The health technology assessment database contains over 7700 citations. This edition of the Library contains 91 new reviews, of which 9 have potential relevance for practitioners in pain and palliative medicine.

Classifying rock lithofacies using petrophysical data

This study automates a type-curve technique for estimating the rock pore-geometric factor (λ) from capillary pressure measurements. The pore-geometric factor is determined by matching the actual rock capillary pressure versus wetting-phase saturation (Pc–Sw) profile with that obtained from the Brooks and Corey model (1966 J. Irrigation Drainage Proc. Am. Soc. Civ. Eng. 61–88). The pore-geometric factor values are validated by comparing the actual measured rock permeability to the permeability values estimated using the Wyllie and Gardner model (1958 World Oil (April issue) 210–28). Petrophysical data for both carbonate and sandstone rocks, along with the pore-geometric factor derived from the type-curve matching, are used in a discriminant analysis for the purpose of developing a model for rock typing. The petrophysical parameters include rock porosity (), irreducible water saturation (Swi), permeability (k), the threshold capillary-entry-pressure (Pd), a pore-shape factor (β), and a flow-impedance parameter (n) which is a property that reflects the flow impedance caused by the irreducible wetting-phase saturation. The results of the discriminant analysis indicate that five of the parameters (, k, Pd, λ and n) are sufficient for classifying rocks according to two broad lithology classes: sandstones and carbonates. The analysis reveals the existence of a significant discriminant function that is mostly sensitive to the pore-geometric factor values (λ). A discriminant-analysis classification model that honours both static and dynamic petrophysical rock properties is, therefore, introduced. When tested on two distinct data sets, the discriminant-analysis model was able to predict the correct lithofacies for approximately 95% of the tested samples. A comprehensive database of the experimentally collected petrophysical properties of 215 carbonate and sandstone rocks is provided with this study.

It's time to depolarise the unhelpful PSA‐testing debate and put into practice lessons from the two major international screening trials

TO THE EDITOR: When I looked at the cover of the 5 April issue of the MJA, I feared finding another article focused on discrediting the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test. Instead, I congratulate the authors, and the Journal, for presenting one of the rare balanced articles on this topic. Denham and colleagues called for an end to taking sides in the debate over PSA testing, and focused instead on helpful guidance. The problem is not whether PSA helps us find prostate cancer, but that we lack clinical tools for deciding which patients would benefit from aggressive treatment. However, the authors point out that there are two important tools that can help with this decision: low free to total PSA ratios, and rapid PSA doubling time (< 3 years). The PSA test is now one of the most sensitive, precise and highly standardised immunoassays in the clinical laboratory. The difficulty does not lie with the measurement but with its application. The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia, together with the Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand, recently produced a monograph that discussed the appropriate use of the PSA test. It emphasised using age-related cut-offs for PSA levels, the free to total PSA ratio, and the calculation of PSA doubling time as modern tools to achieve optimal benefit from the test. The Australian Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) was changed in May 2009 (following a suggestion from the Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand) to improve utilisation of free to total PSA ratios. The Box indicates the per capita request rates of PSA testing (MBS item number 66655) and free to total PSA ratios (MBS item number 66659) from May 2009 to February 2010. Consistent with Denham et al’s observation that there are regional differences in the attitudes to prostate cancer, there is a twofold variation in PSA requesting and a sevenfold difference in free to total PSA ratio requesting across the Australian states. Furthermore, the relationship between the two tests is, if anything, inverse, suggesting that increased use of PSA testing is less commonly followed up by modern tools such as free to total PSA ratio. As a chemical pathologist, the appropriate clinical use of the PSA test has been a careerlong concern of mine. Even though the discoverer of PSA has labelled the test a public health disaster, recent “case–controlled” studies using PSA in an outdated approach (without free to total PSA ratios or doubling times) have shown a marginal benefit for screening. The indiscriminate use of PSA testing can be helpful to some but disastrous for others. Modern PSA tools may significantly improve management beyond these marginal effects. As always, the value of medical investigations lies in how intelligently we use them.

Propylthiouracil-Induced Hepatotoxicity and Death. Hopefully, Never More

Propylthiouracil-Induced Hepatotoxicity and Death. Hopefully, Never More

Technology Focus: Reservoir Simulation (July 2010)

Technology Focus At the 2009 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in New Orleans, I discovered at the Editorial Committee meeting that this Reservoir Simulation feature led the league table in terms of numbers of papers to review. This is a great indicator of the dynamism and innovation going on in our discipline, even if it did also make a pretty daunting task for your reviewer! We, therefore, agreed to spin off a separate feature on History Matching, which appeared in the April issue of JPT: Go back and check it out if you missed it. Despite this, I still had a large number of papers to choose from. Developments in our discipline cover a wide frontier, ranging from the physics of shale-gas reservoirs, to many approaches for improving computational efficiency, through workflow approaches for keeping models up to date and consistent. The underlying aims can be summed up best on the one hand as the relentless pursuit of more-predictive models through better physics and accuracy of reservoir description, and on the other hand as trying to achieve this aim ever more efficiently in terms of engineering and computational resources. As I mentioned last year, optimization continues to be a major topic, not just in history matching but also in prediction workflows. This is hardly surprising: Making optimal reservoir-management decisions is the main reason for doing reservoir simulation. Applying automation to the task can reduce the drudgery involved in trying many scenarios manually. Some operators are working toward a vision of integrating simulation models into systems that make operational decisions automatically or semiautomatically. Other operators prefer to gain general insight from more-general representative models and then make their decisions relying on engineering judgment. Whichever approach you take, the pressure to make every well pay in the current downturn means that there is renewed interest in many companies in applying higher levels of engineering and science. The challenge to us as reservoir engineers is to ensure that increased sophistication of engineering remains relevant and contributes to better field-management decisions. Reservoir Simulation additional reading available at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org SPE 127853 • “Uncertainty Evaluation in Emerging Gas Projects in North Africa Using Geological Modeling, Reservoir Simulation, and Experimental Design” by M. Vicente, Repsol YPF, et al. SPE 125568 • “Ensuring Water-Saturation Consistency Between Static (Fine-Grid) and Dynamic (Upscaled) Models—A Case Study of the North Kuwait Jurassic Complex” by Kassem Ghorayeb, Schlumberger, et al. SPE 125559 • “Upscaling in Partially Fractured Oil Reservoirs Using Homogenization” by Hamidreza Salimi, SPE, Delft University of Technology, et al.

SIRTing out the link between autophagy and ageing

Population-based studies of chronic kidney disease (CKD) paint a dismal picture. A recently conducted overview of 26 different studies of diverse populations concluded that the median prevalence of CKD was 7.2% in persons aged 30 years and older; in those aged 64 and older, the prevalence ranged from 23.4 to 35.8% [1]. In conglomerate, these data indicate not only the high prevalence of CKD in the general population but also emphasize the sharp increase in CKD among the ageing population—truly a major health care problem.

Eurocorr 2009: 'Corrosion from the nanoscale to the plant' – part 4

Last year’s Eurocorr conference took place at the Acropolis Convention Centre in Nice from 6 to 10 September. The focus of the meeting was ‘Corrosion from the Nanoscale to the Plant’. The meeting attracted 800 delegates and over 360 papers and 200 posters were presented during the 25 sessions and workshops. Part 1 of the report, published in the December issue, covered the opening session and plenary lectures. Part 2 of the report, published in the February issue, reviewed technical sessions on automotive corrosion, corrosion of archaeological and heritage artefacts, organic coatings and cathodic protection and marine corrosion. Part 3 of the report, published in the April issue, reviewed technical sessions on inhibitors, oil and gas, polymeric materials, metallic and inorganic coatings and pretreatments. Parts 4 and 5 will review the remaining technical sessions with corrosion and corrosion protection in drinking water systems, recent advances in surface analytical techniques and applications to corrosion research, simulation, modelling and life prediction, environmental sensitive fracture and corrosion mechanisms and methods covered in this report.

On laparoscopic photoplethysmography and pulse oximetry

Here we comment on the paper entitled "A novel laparoscopic pulse oximeter device. An easy, efficient and cost-effective way of detecting arterial structures." authored by Theodosopoulos et al., and recently published in the April issue of the Journal of Clinical Monitoring and Computing.

Virtual Colonography Detects Unsuspected Extraclonic Cancers

A study of >10,000 adults found that >1 in every 200 asymptomatic people screened with computed tomographic (CT) colonography, or virtual colonoscopy, had clinically unsuspected malignant cancer and more than half of cancers were extracolonic. The findings were published in the April issue of the journal Radiology. “We are finding that virtual colonoscopy screening actually identifies more unsuspected cancers outside of the colon than within it,” says lead author Perry J. Pickhardt, MD, professor of radiology and chief of GI Imaging, at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health. “As with asymptomatic colorectal cancers identified by virtual colonoscopy screening, these cancers are often detected at an early, curable stage.” In addition to the intended colorectal evaluation, CT colonography also provides for limited assessment of extracolonic structures, including the abdomen, pelvis, and lungs. Additional diagnostic imaging work-up for unsuspected extracolonic findings is performed in approximately 6% of cases, nearly half of which ultimately prove to be clinically relevant, the authors note. The researchers retrospectively determined the detection rates, clinical stages, and short-term patient survival for all unsuspected malignancies in an asymptomatic screening population. They reviewed the medical records of 10,286 adults (5,388 men and 4,898 women) with a mean age of 59.8 years who were evaluated at either the University of Wisconsin or the National Naval Medical Center. All of the adults had undergone colorectal cancer screening with virtual colonoscopy at the two centers between April 2004 and March 2008. The mean time for follow-up was 30.2 months. Unsuspected cancer was confirmed in 58 patients, including 33 women and 25 men. Invasive colorectal cancer was found in 22 patients, and extracolonic cancer was found in 36 patients. Cancers in 31 patients (53.4%) were stage 1 or localized cancers. Extracolonic malignancies included renal cell carcinoma (n = 11), lung cancer (n = 8), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (n = 6), or a variety of other tumors (n = 11). At the most recent clinical follow-up (mean, 30.0 months; range, 12–56), 3 patients (5.2%) had died of their cancer. “To our knowledge, none of the patients who presented with stage 1, stage 2 or localized disease at diagnosis has progressed to a higher stage,” Pickhardt says. “The fact that so many of the cancers in our study were localized or detected at an early stage appears to have positively affected survival.” See: Radiology 2010;255:1 orhttp://radiology.rsna.org/content/255/1/83.full.

P53 in malignant glioma: 20 years later and still much to learn

p53, as a key and common mutagenic target in the development of malignant glioma, was initially brought to the attention of the neuro-oncology community more than 20 years ago (Nature 1989;342:705–708). As of March 3, 2010, a PubMed search for articles containing glioma and p53 in the title or abstract yielded 1647 hits. Clearly, p53 has and continues to hold our interest as we persevere to understand its many roles in glioma development and biology. Due to the numerous cellular processes that are directly or indirectly influenced by p53 function, it often seems that the more we learn about p53, the more we appreciate how much remains to be learned. The incompleteness of our understanding is suggested in the titles of two articles published in the current (Geng et al1) and April (Kim et al2) issues of Neuro-Oncology. It is noteworthy that these two studies, conducted independently by teams of investigators in different countries and continents, each address GBM's response to the quinoline derivative chloroquine, and each approaches GBM's chloroquine response from a p53 perspective. However, the conclusions of these studies are surprisingly distinct, as indicated by their titles. In the former (Kim et al2), established GBM cell lines were tested, in the presence and absence of endogenous p53 knockdown, for their apoptotic response to chloroquine. GBM cells expressing wild-type p53 underwent decreased chloroquine-induced apoptosis when treated in a p53-depleted state. In the latter investigation, for which some of the same cell lines were used as in the former study and in which cell lines were treated with chloroquine at similar concentrations, the opposite was concluded: that cellular p53 status was not a key determinant of chloroquine-induced cell death. These distinct conclusions may be associated with the time frames of the experiments: the former involving an analysis of effects over periods as long as 7 days and showing a time-dependent increase in the extent of chloriquine anti-tumor activity in GBM with wild-type vs. mutant p53 and the latter involving an analysis of chloroquine's effects at a single time point: 1 day. Potentially, the combined results of these reports indicate that short-term, p53-independent chloroquine anti-tumor effects exist through influence on autophagic response (Geng et al1), whereas long-term cellular response to treatment with chloroquine is p53 dependent through influence on caspase-mediated apoptosis. Regardless of whether this or alternative hypotheses help explain the basis for the different interpretations of GBM p53 status and response to chloroquine, these studies share a common theme of being p53 centric with respect to interpretation and serve to highlight our continuing fascination with this tumor suppressor gene and its protein product.

Learning to Read, Reading to Learn

![Figure][1] CREDIT: ALEXEY CHUVARKOV/GETTY IMAGES How often have you had your eyes pass over a text, only to realize some time later that you absorbed nothing of it? Or spent an hour listening at a seminar, only to walk away unclear about what the most important advance was? Is this entirely your fault, or is the design of the text or the seminar partly to blame? In this special issue, we have collected a variety of articles that focus on literacy in science. The term represents two angles of the problem: knowing what science has discovered and being able to communicate in the language of science. And the value is twofold, as well: Good literacy skills make it easier to learn science, but science topics can also be used to teach literacy skills that will translate well to other subjects. As Snow points out (p. [450][2]), the language used in science is different from the language used in everyday conversation. The focus on details, the exclusion of ambiguous interpretations, and the complexity of the vocabulary all present the reader with challenges different from those found in fictional texts. But as van den Broek discusses (p. [453][3]), strategies taken by the writer or speaker can help the novice through the language barrier. Webb (p. [448][4]) discusses the kinds of supports that are helpful when the language of school is not the native language of the students. Krajcik and Sutherland (p. [456][5]) analyze how scientific texts are best used in a classroom setting and how to design curricula that support life-long science literacy skills. Taking the view that not all literacy is about writing, Osborne (p. [463][6]) discusses how argumentation skills are critical for understanding why some ideas are wrong and others right. Pearson and colleagues (p. [459][7]) describe the integration of literacy and science training through professional development for teachers, innovative curricula, and enhanced classroom materials. And research reported by Taylor et al. (p. [512][8]) analyzes how both genetics and the teachers available affect a child's literacy skills. In the Education Forum, Schleicher (p. [433][9]) discusses how literacy skills required for participation in increasingly sophisticated societies have evolved and how meaningful international assessments can be conducted. In the 20 and 27 April issues, Science Signaling presents a set of Teaching Resources by Thatcher, each of which is a pair of short animations of a canonical signaling pathway; student-authored Journal Clubs cover topics ranging from signaling in cells of the immune system to signaling in plants. Science is about generating and interpreting data. But it is also about communicating facts, ideas, and hypotheses. Scientists write, speak, debate, visualize, listen, and read about their specialties daily. For students unfamiliar with the language or style of science, the deceptively simple act of communication can be a barrier to understanding or becoming involved with the science. [1]: pending:yes [2]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1182597 [3]: /lookup/volpage/328/453?iss=5977 [4]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1182596 [5]: /lookup/volpage/328/456?iss=5977 [6]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1183944 [7]: /lookup/volpage/328/459?iss=5977 [8]: /lookup/volpage/328/512?iss=5977 [9]: /lookup/volpage/328/433?iss=5977

From the Editors

From the Editors

GEOPHYSICS BRIGHT SPOTS

Welcome, if you are new; welcome back, if you are not. If you read our last column, you may recognize that we have changed the Bright Spots format a bit, making it a bit more casual and conversational, a bit less formal. We leave the formal where it must be, the articles in GEOPHYSICS. This month's column highlights some, but certainly not all, of the bright spots in the March–April issue. As always, consider this column your invitation to make the time to give the GEOPHYSICS articles their due.

Selected Abstracts from the April Issue of the Journal of Vascular Surgery

Selected Abstracts from the April Issue of the Journal of Vascular Surgery

Communication in farm animal practice 1. Farmer‐vet relationships

Farm animal practice continues to evolve and, more and more, the role of the farm animal vet is that of a communicator of knowledge. Herd health planning and advisory work...

Intraoperative neurophysiology is here to stay

The 2010 February and April issues of Child’s Nervous System offer to the readers two very timely focus sessions in the field of “neuromonitoring”. This was the topic of a symposium held in Cape Town in October 2008—as a satellite event of the 36th Meeting of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery—aimed to cover the various techniques available to neurosurgeons for keeping under control the brain and the spinal cord, both in the operating room and the intensive care unit. What emerged from that symposium is presented in these focus sessions, where international experts in traumatic brain injury (see the Editorial of Dr. Figaji in the February issue of Child’s Nervous System) and intraoperative neurophysiology address the aspects of these disciplines relevant to pediatric neurosurgery.

Coming in the Next Issue

A preview of some of the articles that will be published in the April issue.

Javnost—The Public, Journal of the European Institute for Communication and Culture

With its first 2009 (April) issue, Javnost—The Public, journal of the European Institute for Communication and Culture enters its 16th year of existence. The quarterly—the flagship of the Institute—was established in 1994 as an interdisciplinary journal in the social sciences to address problems of the public sphere on international and interdisciplinary levels, to stimulate the development of theory and research in the field, and to help understand and bridge the differences between cultures. In its early period, the journal specifically aimed at bridging gaps between the Western and Eastern, post-communist scholarship. Since its very beginning, Javnost—The Public was not only designed as a quality peerreviewed journal in its field, but also as clearly international in scope and direction.

To Our Readers: An Experiment in Education

To Our Readers: An Experiment in Education