Previous Manuscript Research Articles

Evaluation of spatiotemporal trends and predictive modeling of non-accidental trauma utilizing geographical information systems

BackgroundActs of violence can be considered random when viewed singularly, but are appreciable as patterns and clusters of an epidemic. Violence begets violence: it has been shown that people exposed to violence are more likely to harm themselves, their families, and members of the community. Our previous manuscript on this subject demonstrated distinct clusters of violent trauma, where each subtype appeared to have its own domain.MethodsThe location, date, time of day, and mechanism of injury of all non-accidental trauma patients from 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2013 were collected and analyzed. Kernel density analysis was used to identify areas of increased activity and these were compared by year. The areas identified were mapped by their latitude and longitude. The data for the year 2013 were used to determine the potential for the predictive value of the prior 5 years.ResultsDefinite trends can be observed in the temporal distribution of trauma, with a higher incidence of violent trauma occurring ...

Surgical Treatment of Extraesophageal Manifestations of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease.

To review the current literature on the role of antireflux surgery (ARS) for the treatment of extraesophageal manifestations of GERD. The extraesophageal manifestations of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) include chronic cough, laryngopharyngeal reflux, and asthma. They are responsible for significant morbidity in affected patients and a high economic burden on healthcare resources. We recently published a larger review on the symptoms, diagnosis, medical, and surgical treatment of the extraesophageal manifestations of GERD. Through our investigation, we found that the role of ARS for respiratory symptoms was unclear. Hence, we resorted through the data of our previous meta-analysis to compile a comprehensive and focused review on the role of ARS for respiratory symptoms. Using the archive of our previous meta-analysis, we selected studies extracted from the MEDLINE, Cochran, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Embase databases pertaining to the surgical treatment of extraesophageal manifestations of reflux (cough laryngopharyngeal reflux, and asthma). We applied a similar reporting methodology as was used in our previous manuscript and then hand searched the bibliographies of included studies yielding a total of 27 articles for review. We graded the level of evidence and classified recommendations by size of treatment effect per the American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines. Observational data indicated that syndromes of chronic cough, laryngopharyngeal reflux and asthma might improve after antireflux surgery only in highly selected patients-likely those with non-acid reflux-while those patients with objective markers of asthma severity do not. Because of the varied methods of diagnosis and surgical technique, non-comparative observational data may be unreliable. Additionally, our search found no randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing antireflux surgery to medical therapy in the treatment of cough or laryngopharyngeal reflux. One RCT compared medical treatment to antireflux surgery in patients with asthma, but medical treatment included high-dose H2 blockers instead of PPIs. Extraesophageal manifestations of GERD are common, costly, and difficult to treat. ARS might be effective in highly selected patients, especially in those whose extraesophageal manifestations are caused by non-acid reflux. The available data to date are generally of poor quality or outdated. Well-designed randomized controlled trials or large-scale observational cohort studies are urgently needed.

Identification of a non-native <em>Cynoscion</em> species (Perciformes: Sciaenidae) from the Gulf of Cádiz (southwestern Spain) and data on its current status

Cynoscion is a genus of fish in the family Sciaenidae from the Atlantic and Pacific American coasts that is important in recreational and commercial fisheries. Morphological analysis identifies a species inhabiting the Gulf of Cádiz (southern Spain) as the weakfish, Cynoscion regalis, a native of the northwest Atlantic. This finding is also confirmed by molecular identification using 16S and Cox1genes. Based on the examination of a previous manuscript, the assignation of this species to the spotted seatrout, Cynoscion nebulosus, is considered a misidentification. C. regalis has been reported in the area since 2011 and is now considered an established species that is distributed along the Guadalquivir River estuary and is a target of local artisanal fisheries. The pathway of introduction is unknown, but possible mechanisms are considered, of which ballast water seems to be the most plausible. A revision of non-native sciaenids also found in European waters is carried out. The ecological impact of weakfish on the local fish community is still unknown and should be object of future studies.

Geste des Bretuns en alexandrins, ou, Harley Brut. Édition critique par Beatrice Barbieri

The substantial fragments of an Anglo-Norman Brut in London, BL, MS Harley 1605a1 (its Merlin prophecies also preserved in Lincoln, Cathedral Library 104, and London, BL, MS Add. 45103) have long stood in need of an edition. Hitherto, only the prophecies and the fifth fragment of the Brut have been edited. In her Introduction, Beatrice Barbieri provides excellent codicological descriptions of the manuscripts before proceeding to analyse carefully the complex of translations and adaptations of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae into medieval insular French. She establishes the precise version of the Historia used by the anonymous author of what she now calls the Geste des Bretuns, a title that reflects the nature of the text better than the traditional ‘Harley Brut’. Barbieri then goes on to examine the stylistic features of the work, which situate it interestingly in the orbit of the chanson de geste. The use of parallel laisses, clichés, and formulaic expressions all lend an epic air to the 3449 surviving alexandrines, which probably constitute about a quarter of the original text. Given the early date of the Geste (second half of the twelfth century, probably after 1170), the alexandrines may be considered precocious. Another noticeable feature of the Geste is its increased emphasis on Arthur’s standing through modifications and additions to the narrative of events during his reign, the purpose of which may be to elevate Arthur to the status of Alexander. The hermetic and obscure nature of the Merlin prophecies rendered them difficult to translate, although they were still considered interesting, and perhaps enigmatic, enough to circulate separately in the Lincoln and Additional manuscripts. Barbieri’s introductory matter includes the usual sections on previous editions, manuscript relations, language and versification, and explanation of editorial principles. The text itself is impeccably edited, with rejected readings and variants at the foot of the page (where they should be) and an asterisk indicating the presence of a note after the text. A glossary, bibliography, and indices of proper names and places complete the volume. It is not clear why the bibliography has been placed between the glossary and the two indices rather than at the end of the Introduction. Despite the relative brevity of the surviving witnesses, the Geste des Bretuns assumes a significant place in the tradition of the vernacular Brut. Specialists in Anglo-Norman and Arthurian literature will welcome this addition to the corpus of accessible texts. They will also be grateful that this interesting work has benefited from the attention of someone well trained in the Italian philological tradition. Rumours of the death of editing may have been exaggerated, but our university authorities and those who presume to evaluate research still need reminding that critical editions can make serious and worthwhile contributions to scholarship.

2016 update of the PRIDE database and its related tools.

The PRoteomics IDEntifications (PRIDE) database is one of the world-leading data repositories of mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics data. Since the beginning of 2014, PRIDE Archive (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/pride/archive/) is the new PRIDE archival system, replacing the original PRIDE database. Here we summarize the developments in PRIDE resources and related tools since the previous update manuscript in the Database Issue in 2013. PRIDE Archive constitutes a complete redevelopment of the original PRIDE, comprising a new storage backend, data submission system and web interface, among other components. PRIDE Archive supports the most-widely used PSI (Proteomics Standards Initiative) data standard formats (mzML and mzIdentML) and implements the data requirements and guidelines of the ProteomeXchange Consortium. The wide adoption of ProteomeXchange within the community has triggered an unprecedented increase in the number of submitted data sets (around 150 data sets per month). We outline some statistics on the current PRIDE Archive data contents. We also report on the status of the PRIDE related stand-alone tools: PRIDE Inspector, PRIDE Converter 2 and the ProteomeXchange submission tool. Finally, we will give a brief update on the resources under development 'PRIDE Cluster' and 'PRIDE Proteomes', which provide a complementary view and quality-scored information of the peptide and protein identification data available in PRIDE Archive.

Unusual anatomical origins of the coronary arteries in C57BL/6 mice. Are they strain-specific?

A previous manuscript [Fernández B, etal. (2008) J Anat 212, 12] reported on the unusual coronary artery patterns in mice belonging to the C57BL/6 strain. The aim here was to elucidate whether this pattern is unique to C57BL/6 mice or appears in other laboratory mouse strains and in wild-living mice. Stereomicroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, light microscopy and a corrosion cast technique were used to examine 597 adult mice belonging to three inbred strains (C57BL/6, Balb/c, DBA/2), three outbred stocks (CD1, OF1, NMRI) two hybrid lines (129sv × BL/6, CD2F1) and wild mice. It was shown that lock-like ostium is an exclusive trait of C57BL/6 mice, whereas left septal artery, accessory ostium, high take-off, intramural course and solitary ostium in aorta are all present in the different laboratory strains and wild mice included in the present study. However, each mouse population shows a specific incidence of these coronary conditions. Several clinically relevant human coronary artery anomalies are present in healthy mice from different strains that may serve as animal models for humans. These results should be taken into consideration in research concerning the murine coronary system, especially in coronary artery occlusion experiments and in studies on cardiovascular developmental biology using murine mutant lines.

Instructional Vignettes in Publication and Journalism Ethics in Radiology Research: Assessment via a Survey of Radiology Trainees

The aim of the present study was to assess the potential usefulness of written instructional vignettes relating to publication and journalism ethics in radiology via a survey of radiology trainees. A literature review was conducted to guide the development of vignettes, each describing a scenario relating to an ethical issue in research and publication, with subsequent commentary on the underlying ethical issue and potential approaches to its handling. Radiology trainees at a single institution were surveyed regarding the vignettes' perceived usefulness. A total of 21 vignettes were prepared, addressing institutional review board and human subjects protection, authorship issues, usage of previous work, manuscript review, and other miscellaneous topics. Of the solicited trainees, 24.7% (16/65) completed the survey. On average among the vignettes, 94.0% of the participants found the vignette helpful; 19.9 received prior formal instruction on the issue during medical training; 40.0% received prior informal guidance from a research mentor; and 42.0% indicated that the issue had arisen in their own or a peer's prior research experience. The most common previously experienced specific issue was authorship order (93.8%). Free-text responses were largely favorable regarding the value of the vignettes, although also indicated numerous challenges in properly handling the ethical issues: impact of hierarchy, pressure to publish, internal politics, reluctance to conduct sensitive conversations with colleagues, and variability in journal and professional society policies. Radiology trainees overall found the vignettes helpful, addressing commonly encountered topics for which formal and informal guidance were otherwise lacking. The vignettes are publicly available through the Association of University Radiologists (AUR) website and may foster greater insights by investigators into ethical aspects of the publication and journalism process, thus contributing to higher quality radiology research.

2016 update of the PRIDE database and its related tools.

The PRoteomics IDEntifications (PRIDE) database is one of the world-leading data repositories of mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics data. Since the beginning of 2014, PRIDE Archive (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/pride/archive/) is the new PRIDE archival system, replacing the original PRIDE database. Here we summarize the developments in PRIDE resources and related tools since the previous update manuscript in the Database Issue in 2013. PRIDE Archive constitutes a complete redevelopment of the original PRIDE, comprising a new storage backend, data submission system and web interface, among other components. PRIDE Archive supports the most-widely used PSI (Proteomics Standards Initiative) data standard formats (mzML and mzIdentML) and implements the data requirements and guidelines of the ProteomeXchange Consortium. The wide adoption of ProteomeXchange within the community has triggered an unprecedented increase in the number of submitted data sets (around 150 data sets per month). We outline some statistics on the current PRIDE Archive data contents. We also report on the status of the PRIDE related stand-alone tools: PRIDE Inspector, PRIDE Converter 2 and the ProteomeXchange submission tool. Finally, we will give a brief update on the resources under development ‘PRIDE Cluster’ and ‘PRIDE Proteomes’, which provide a complementary view and quality-scored information of the peptide and protein identification data available in PRIDE Archive.

Multiscale seamless‐domain method for linear elastic analysis of heterogeneous materials

SummaryA multiscale numerical technique, termed the seamless‐domain method (SDM), is applied to linear elastic problems. The SDM consists of two steps. The first step is a microscopic analysis of the local simulated domain to construct interpolation functions for discretizing governing equations. This allows an SDM solution to represent a structure consisting of heterogeneous microstructure(s) without homogenization. The second step is a macroscopic analysis of a seamless global (entire) domain that has only coarse‐grained points and does not need a mesh or grid. The special functions obtained in the first step are used in interpolating the dependent‐variable distribution in the global domain. Additionally, the SDM can enhance analytical precision and resolution when analyzing both homogeneous and heterogeneous fields. Our previous manuscript gave numerical examples of the application of the method to scalar temperature fields. To investigate the feasibility of the analysis of vector fields, the SDM technique is applied in linear elastic analysis of heterogeneous materials in the present study. The SDM's global models with only a few hundred points gave shear locking‐free and hourglass‐free solutions at the same level of accuracy as solutions obtained from conventional finite element analysis using hundreds of thousands of node points or more. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Mechanical responses and deformation mechanisms of an AZ31 Mg alloy sheet under dynamic and simple shear deformations

The mechanical responses and deformation mechanisms of AZ31 Mg alloy sheets were studied under dynamic (tension and compression) and simple shear deformations along different in-plane loading directions. This paper is a continuation of the author’s previous manuscript (Khan et al., 2011) on the quasi-static responses and texture evolution of AZ31 Mg alloy sheets. The strain-hardening rate (dσ/dε) of specimens under in-plane dynamic compression at room temperature showed a strong strain-rate dependency when deformation entered the dynamic region. The electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD) technique was used to conduct texture analysis on each specimen after simple shear deformation under a quasi-static load (100s−1) at 150°C and after dynamic compression under a strain rate of 1500s−1 at RT and 150°C. Loading direction during simple shear deformation did not significantly affect either the texture evolution or the twinning evolution. Deformation temperature during dynamic compression affected both the texture evolution and the twinning evolution only slightly, but it significantly affected the kernel average misorientation (KAM) distribution in deformed grains. A visco-plastic self-consistent (VPSC) polycrystal model was successfully used to simulate the mechanical responses and the evolution of the initial texture in an AZ31 Mg alloy sheet during simple shear deformation and dynamic compression.

Collision-induced dissociation of fatty acid [M - 2H + Na]- ions: charge-directed fragmentation and assignment of double bond position.

The collision-induced dissociation (CID) of cationic fatty acid-metal ion complexes has been extensively studied and, in general, provides rich structural information. In particular, charge-remote fragmentation processes are commonly observed allowing the assignment of double bond position. In a previous manuscript, we presented two methods to doubly deprotonate polyunsaturated fatty acids to form anionic fatty acid-sodium ion complexes, referred to as [M - 2H + Na] (-) ions. In the current manuscript, the CID behavior of these [M - 2H + Na] (-) ions is investigated for the first time. Significantly, we also present a deuterium-labeling experiment, which excludes the possibility that deprotonation occurs predominately at the α-carbon in the formation of fatty acid [M - H + NaF](-) ions. This supports our original proposal where deprotonation occurs at the bis-allylic positions of polyunsaturated fatty acids. CID spectra of polyunsaturated fatty acid [M - 2H + Na](-) ions display abundant product ions arising from acyl chain cleavages. Through the examination of fatty acid isomers, it is demonstrated that double bond position may be unequivocally determined for methylene-interrupted polyunsaturated fatty acids with three or more carbon-carbon double bonds. In addition, CID of [M - 2H + Na](-) ions was applied to 18:3 isomers of Nannochloropsis oculata and three isomers were tentatively identified: ∆(9,12,15)18:3, ∆(6,9,12)18:3, and ∆(5,8,11)18:3. We propose that structurally-informative product ions are formed via charge-driven fragmentation processes at the site of the resonance-stabilized carbanion as opposed to charge-remote fragmentation processes, which could be inferred if deprotonation occurred predominately at the α-carbon.

Julia Boffey Manuscript and Print in London, c. 1475-1530Manuscript and Print in London, c. 1475–1530. Julia Boffey. London: British Library, 2012. Pp. vi+246.

<i>Julia Boffey</i> Manuscript and Print in London, c. 1475-1530<i>Manuscript and Print in London, c. 1475–1530</i>. Julia Boffey. London: British Library, 2012. Pp. vi+246.

All lesions great and small, part 2. Diagnostic cytology in veterinary medicine

This is the second in a two‐part review of diagnostic cytopathology in veterinary medicine. As in human medicine, cytopathology is a minimally invasive, rapid, and cost‐effective diagnostic modality with broad utilization. In this second part, the diagnostic applications of cytology in respiratory, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, endocrine, ocular, and central nervous system tissues are discussed with a section describing fluid analysis in veterinary medicine. As noted in the previous manuscript, which characterized the cytology of the skin/subcutis, musculoskeletal, and lymphoid tissues, the interpretation of veterinary cytology samples must be undertaken with extensive knowledge of the breadth of animal species, including familiarity with the frequency and clinical progression of diseases, both of which can be influenced by species, breed, and husbandry conditions. Similar to part one, this review focuses on the most common domestic companion animal species (dog, cat, and horse) and highlights lesions that are either unique to veterinary species or have relevant correlates in people. The cytologic features and biological behavior of similar lesions are compared, and selected mechanisms of disease and ancillary diagnostics are reviewed when appropriate. Supporting figures illustrate a subset of lesions. While not an exhaustive archive of veterinary cytology, the goal is to give cytopathologists working in human medicine a general impression of correlates and unique entities in veterinary practice. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2014;42:544–552. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Is there any difference in aortic wall quality between patients with bicuspid aortic valve stenosis and those with bicuspid aortic valve insufficiency?

We read with a great interest the manuscript by Benedik et al. [1] published in the recent issue of European Journal of CardioThoracic Surgery. Benedik et al. should be congratulated for prospectively addressing the issue of proximal aortic disease in aortic valve stenosis vs aortic valve insufficiency in a reasonable number of consecutively enrolled patients. The background of this study is of great interest and absolutely well-taken, as patients with aortic valve insufficiency have been repeatedly demonstrated to be at higher risk of late aortic events after isolated aortic valve replacement (AVR) surgery [2]. The findings of this study are in line with the previous reports and support once again common surgical observation that, in terms of aortopathy, aortic valve insufficiency is a different clinical entity when compared with valve stenosis. However, we would like to focus our comment on the bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) entity. The authors addressed this issue in their previous manuscript [3] and were unable to find any difference in the aortic wall cohesion between patients with tricuspid aortic valve (TAV) and those with BAV disease. Results from their previous study [3] may explain the fact that the authors did not split their study population into TAV and BAV cohorts in their current series [1]. However, aortic valve stenosis was the predominant valve pathology in the majority of patients in both (i.e. TAV and BAV) cohorts in their comparative analysis [3] and barely 9 (5%) patients with BAV insufficiency were included. Our recent data strongly suggest that aortopathy in BAV stenosis is predominantly of haemodynamic origin and has a comparable clinical course as an aortopathy in TAV stenosis [4]. However, BAV is a heterogeneous disorder [5] and patients with an isolated BAV insufficiency (so-called root phenotype) may have a completely distinct form of aortopathy that may follow a different clinical course after AVR surgery [6]. Therefore, the results from comparative analysis of aortopathy between patients with BAV and those with TAV stenosis may not be generalizable to the whole BAV population. As the recent study [1] includes a reasonable number of patients with aortic valve insufficiency and a significant proportion of them are presumably bicuspid (i.e. share the typical features of root phenotype), differential analysis of BAV and TAV aortopathy in the stenosis and insufficiency subgroups would be very welcoming. Potentially, this supplemental analysis would be a nice contribution to the controversial area of BAV-associated aortopathy.

Benthic fluxes of dissolved organic nitrogen in the lower St. Lawrence estuary and implications for selective organic matter degradation

Abstract. The distribution of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) and carbon (DOC) in sediment porewaters was determined at nine locations along the St. Lawrence estuary and in the gulf of St. Lawrence. In a previous manuscript (Alkhatib et al., 2012a), we have shown that this study area is characterized by gradients in the sedimentary particulate organic matter (POM) reactivity, bottom water oxygen concentrations, and benthic respiration rates. Based on the porewater profiles, we estimated the benthic diffusive fluxes of DON and DOC in the same area. Our results show that DON fluxed out of the sediments at significant rates (110 to 430 μmol m−2 d−1). DON fluxes were positively correlated with sedimentary POM reactivity and varied inversely with sediment oxygen exposure time (OET), suggesting direct links between POM quality, aerobic remineralization and the release of DON to the water column. DON fluxes were on the order of 30 to 64% of the total benthic inorganic fixed N loss due to denitrification, and often exceeded the diffusive nitrate fluxes into the sediments. Hence they represented a large fraction of the total benthic N exchange, a result that is particularly important in light of the fact that DON fluxes are usually not accounted for in estuarine and coastal zone nutrient budgets. In contrast to DON, DOC fluxes out of the sediments did not show any significant spatial variation along the Laurentian Channel (LC) between the estuary and the gulf (2100 ± 100 μmol m−2 d−1). The molar C / N ratio of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in porewater and the overlying bottom water varied significantly along the transect, with lowest C / N in the lower estuary (5–6) and highest C / N (&gt; 10) in the gulf. Large differences between the C / N ratios of porewater DOM and POM are mainly attributed to a combination of selective POM hydrolysis and elemental fractionation during subsequent DOM mineralization, but selective adsorption of DOM to mineral phases could not be excluded as a potential C / N fractionating process. The extent of this C- versus N- element partitioning seems to be linked to POM reactivity and redox conditions in the sediment porewaters. Our results thus highlight the variable effects selective organic matter (OM) preservation can have on bulk sedimentary C / N ratios, decoupling the primary source C / N signatures from those in sedimentary paleoenvironmental archives. Our study further underscores that the role of estuarine sediments as efficient sinks of bioavailable nitrogen is strongly influenced by the release of DON during early diagenetic reactions, and that DON fluxes from continental margin sediments represent an important internal source of N to the ocean.

Characterization of cross‐linked gelatin nanoparticles by electrophoretic techniques in the liquid and the gas phase

Biodegradable nanoparticles (NPs) and hence e.g. NPs prepared from glutaraldehyde crosslinked gelatin (gelatin NPs) are lately receiving increased attention in various fields like pharmaceutical technology and nutraceutics as biocompatible carriers for hardly water soluble drugs, molecules intended for sustained release or targeted transport. However, in vivo application of such materials requires a thoroughly characterization of corresponding particles. In a previous manuscript we demonstrated the applicability of chip electrophoresis for the separation of gelatin NPs from NP building blocks. Following our previous results we intensified our efforts in the characterization of gelatin NPs by electrophoresis in the liquid (capillary and chip format) and the gas phase (gas phase electrophoretic mobility molecular analysis, GEMMA). In doing so, we demonstrated differences between nominally comparable (from the concentration of initially employed material for crosslinking) gelatin NP preparation batches concerning (i) the amount of obtained NPs, (ii) the degree of NP crosslinking, (iii) the amount of NP building blocks present within samples and (iv) the electrophoretic mobility diameter of NPs. Differences were even more pronounced when NP preparations from batches with different content of initially employed gelatin were compared. Additionally, we compared three setups for the removal of low molecular weight components from samples after fluorescence labeling of NPs. In overall, the combination of the three employed analytical methods for gelatin NP characterization - CE in the capillary and the chip format as well as GEMMA - allows a more thoroughly characterization of NP containing samples.

Note: Transient negative ions as initiators of oxygen fixation in &amp;lt;20 eV electron-irradiated DNA

This note represents a significant addition to our previous manuscript [N. Mirsaleh-Kohan, A. D. Bass, P. Cloutier, S. Massey, and L. Sanche, J. Chem. Phys. 136, 235104 (2012)] where we demonstrated that enhancements in the electron stimulated desorption yields of O− and OH− from O2 exposed DNA samples were due to the reactions of O2 with electron-induced damage sites within the DNA. Here, we investigate the attachment of O2 to electron-irradiated DNA as a function of electron energy and find a local maximum for O2 attachment to DNA at ∼11.4 eV. This reaction is likely initiated by the production of transient negative ions that dissociate to form RCHx−1• radicals. This work is thus relevant to our understanding of how O2 modulates radiation induced damage in cellular DNA and upon the question of the radio-sensitization of cells during, for example, radiotherapy.

Reply to the letter by Yang et al. RE: acute myeloid leukemia associated with FGFR1 abnormalities

We would like to thank for Yang and his colleagues’ insightful comments on our work. In our previous manuscript, we described three cases of 8p11 myeloproliferative syndrome (EMS) that initially presented as acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Two of these—t(8;13)(p11.2;q12) and t(8;9)(p11.2;q33)—were cytogenetically identified, but one with variant inv(8)(p11.2q13)was detected only by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) [1]. A number of other EMS cases presenting as AML have been reported, and new therapeutic strategies are being introduced [2–4]. Many EMS cases are initially recognized by conventional cytogenetics. FISH can confirm the majority of EMS and determine submicroscopic deletions, but in a few cases did not detect the rearrangement [5]. Identification and characterization of fusion genes are clinically important to the understanding of disease pathogenesis and selection of the monitoring method [3]. FISH using home-brew probes and 50 rapid amplification of cDNA end PCR with sequences analysis have been used [6, 7]. Long-distance PCR and long-distance inverse PCR were introduced in a previous report as diagnostic tools capable of identifying the corresponding partner genes of FGFR1 [8]. Clearly, international collaborative studies, including distinct ethnic entities, aimed at elucidating poorly understood aspects of EMS such as incidence, clinical and laboratory manifestation, genetic aberrations including submicroscopic deletion and their association with pathogenesis and prognosis, are warranted. References

Response letter regarding the interpretation of gene expression data

This is a response letter to Verna E's comments regarding our previous manuscript published last year in the World Journal of Gastroenterology entitled "Relationship between LYVE-1, VEGFR-3 and CD44 gene expressions and lymphatic metastasis in gastric cancer", which evaluated the relationship between these expression levels and clinicopathological parameters (Ozmen F et al, World J Gastroenterology 2011; 17: 3220-3228). The mean values for lymphatic vessel endothelial hyaluronan receptor-1, CD44 and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-3 expression (represented as 2(-ΔΔCt)) were 1.13, 1.24 and 1.17, respectively, suggesting an increase in gene expression in tumor tissue compared to normal tissue. Despite the increase in gene expression in the cancer tissues (2(-ΔΔCt) > 1), only some of the results reached statistical significance, which was thoroughly discussed in our paper. In the present letter, we report that his comments are flawed and result in confusion. Therefore, we herein provide more explanation regarding gene expression in gastric cancer. We hope that this letter will address Verna E's misunderstandings.

Hints on Getting Your Manuscript Published in the Journal of Food Science

I cannot imagine that anyone ever submits a manuscript with the thought that there is a high probability of it being rejected. Therefore, it comes as a surprise and disappointment to authors when their manuscripts are rejected. Here are a few points to consider that will help your manuscript move smoothly through the publication process. Review the Aim and Scope of the journal and specific sections to assure your manuscript fits. Being rejected due to “outside of the Aim and Scope” is not an evaluation of the scientific validity of the manuscript, but rather that the topic does not conform to the focused areas of the journal. Make a strong case in your introduction for your manuscript being a “unique contribution”. Claims based on a particular set of variables not being previously tested (say, pH) are usually not enough for an original contribution. Moreover, remember that if you claim that “there has been very little work done on sweet potato protein” that all the editor/reviewer has to do is search “sweet potato protein” in one of many search engines to check the validity of that claim. Several times I have seen this happen only to have the reviewer point out 10 to 20 relevant manuscripts published in the past few years. Recommend a set of reviewers that have clear credentials in the research area but are not your local colleagues or co-authors on a previous manuscript. One of the biggest challenges for any editor is to find reviewers who can provide a comprehensive and fair review within a reasonable time frame. Consider yourself becoming a reviewer that fits that description! Once the reviews are in and you have revised your manuscript, make it easy for the editor to see how you have responded to every comment. Revised manuscripts that make it very easy for the editor to determine if the revised manuscript is acceptable have: 1) a list of all comments, your responses to comments and where to find changes in the manuscript and 2) changes marked by red font. In other words, make it as easy as possible for the editor to understand how you addressed the comments. There are no set of rules that, if followed, would guarantee acceptance of a manuscript. However, conforming to the above recommendations should increase the probability of success. Speaking of probability, do not forget the appropriate statistics when needed!