The Southwestern Adriatic Margin (SAM) shows evidence of widespread failure events that generated slide scars up to 10 km wide and extensive slide deposits with run out distances greater than 50 km. Chirp-sonar profiles, side-scan sonar mosaics, multibeam bathymetry and sediment cores document that the entire slope area underwent repeated failures along a stretch of 150 km and that masstranspor...

Introduction Natural Killer Cell activity has traditionally been assessed by detecting the lysis of tumor cells in The Chromium Release assay. This classic assay relies on radioactive labels, is laborious, and requires substantial quantities of patient blood. Moreover the Chromium Release assay provides low signal to noise ratios. We have developed an assay that can visualize individual target ...

BACKGROUND Overweight and obesity are associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes. Limited evidence exists regarding the effect of excess weight on years lived with and without diabetes. We aimed to determine the association of overweight and obesity with the number of years lived with and without diabetes in a middle-aged and elderly population. METHODS AND FINDINGS The study included ...

Extensive tissue remodeling mediated by matrix metalloproteases (MMPs) is an important part of cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate whether serum biomarkers reflecting MMP-mediated degradation of type I collagen (C1M), type IV collagen (C4M) and citrullinated vimentin (VICM) were predictive of cancer-specific mortality. Between 1999 and 2001, 5855 Danish postmenopausal women partici...

Background: Naturally occurring radioactivity is a root cause of human exposure to harmful radiation. The occupational exposure hazard due to natural radionuclides occurring in drilling wastes is especially important in this regard. In this study the concentration of radionuclides namely 232Th, 226Ra and 40K were assessed in soil samples that were taken from various oil drilling areas. Methodol...

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident in Japan triggered by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and resulting tsunami on March 11, 2011 caused the month-long discharge of radioactive materials into the atmosphere. It is urgent to assess the radiological dose to the public resulting from this release, using both environmental monitoring data and computer simulation based on atmospheric dispe...

Over the past few decades there has been some discussion concerning the increase of the natural background radiation originated by coal-fired power plants, due to the uranium and thorium content present in combustion ashes. The radioactive decay products of uranium and thorium, such as radium, radon, polonium, bismuth and lead, are also released in addition to a significant amount of 40K. Since...

BACKGROUND There is an association between cryptogenic stroke and patent foramen ovale (PFO). The optimal treatment strategy for secondary prevention remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to analyze aggregate data examining the safety and efficacy of transcatheter device closure versus standard medical therapy in patients with PFO and cryptogenic stroke. METHODS A search of published...

Introduction: Nuclear accidents release large quantities of radioactive materials into the environment. Iodine-131 and cesium-137 are two radionuclides released during nuclear accident, which can pose the greatest cancer risks. These radionuclides can be moved to other areas through rain and wind. The aim of this study was to develop efficient and economical biological...