Rice is an important staple crop throughout the world, but environmental stress like low-light conditions can negatively impact crop yield and quality. Using pot experiments and field experiments, we studied the effects of shading on starch pasting viscosity and starch content with six rice varieties for three years, using the Rapid Visco Analyser to measure starch pasting viscosity. Shading at different growth stages and in different rice varieties all affected the starch pasting characteristics of rice. The effects of shading on starch pasting viscosity at middle and later growth stages were greater than those at earlier stages. Shading enhanced breakdown but reduced hold viscosity and setback at tillering-elongation stage. Most pasting parameters changed significantly with shading after elongation stage. Furthermore, the responses of different varieties to shading differed markedly. The change scope of starch pasting viscosity in Dexiang 4103 was rather small after heading, while that in IIyou 498 and Gangyou 906 was small before heading. We observed clear tendencies in peak viscosity, breakdown, and pasting temperature of the five rice varieties with shading in 2010 and 2011. Correlation analysis indicated that the rice amylose content was negatively correlated with breakdown, but was positively correlated with setback. Based on our results, IIyou 498, Gangyou 906, and Dexiang 4103 had higher shade endurance, making these varieties most suitable for high-quality rice cultivation in low-light regions. Oryza sativa L.) is the staple food for over half of the global population −2 y−1 of annual solar radiation Rice  In plant photosynthesis, chlorophyll is the most important photosynthetic pigment, and shading also affected the chlorophyll content of plants. Shading altered light-use efficiency by increasing leaf chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and chlorophyll a+b, and decreasing chlorophyll a/b ratios Shading applied during developmental stages could reduce the plant dry matter accumulation and disturb the redistribution of photosynthetic products from vegetative organs into grains. Ultimately, this could affect total grain yield by reducing panicles, spikelets, filled grains, and grain weight To be successful staple crops, crops need to be resistant to varying growing conditions, providing consistent yield and quality under a range of environmental conditions. Starch pasting viscosity, which is tested using a Rapid Visco Analyser (RVA), has long been used in estimating the eating, cooking, and processing quality of rice The experiments were conducted on the farm of Sichuan Agricultural University in 2009–2011, Ya’an (29°58′N and 102°59′E), Sichuan Province, P. R. China, in a humid monsoon climate. The mean annual accumulated temperature is 6030.4°C, with rainfall of about 1798.6 mm and sunshine hours of about 944.0 h , 2. The 2O5, and 0.3 g K2O. After transplant, N was spilt-applied, 0.18 g pot−1 at mid-tillering and 0.12 g pot−1 at panicle initiation. K was applied 0.6 g pot−1 at panicle initiation.The results of preliminary experiment led to the selection of five rice varieties for the pot experiments in 2009: IIyou 498, Gangyou 188, Gangyou 527, Chuanxiang 9838, and Gangyou 906 . On May In Experiment 1, one-layer and two-layer white cotton yarn screens, which shaded about 53% and 73% of the full radiation, respectively, covered the top of Gangyou 906 at tillering-elongation stage , elongation-booting stage , booting-heading stage , and heading-maturity stage . In Experiment 2, we studied the responses to shading of starch pasting viscosity of II you 498, Gangyou 188, Gangyou 527, and Chuanxiang 9838 from tillering stage (23 May 2009) to elongation stage (from 30 June to 1 July 2009) and from booting stage (from 22 to 24 July 2009) to heading stage (from 9 to 13 August 2009), by covering with one-layer white cotton yarn screen, which shaded about 53% of the full radiation.2; IIyou 498, Gangyou 188, Gangyou 527, Chuanxiang 9838, and Dexiang 4103 were selected  to maturity (26 September 2010), and from heading (8 August 2011) to 30 d after heading (7 September 2011).On 20 May 2010 and 25 May 2011, fifty-day-old seedlings were transplanted at a spacing of 33.3 cm×20.0 cm, with two seedlings per hill using plot size of 14.00 mselected . FertiliThe shading screens were more than 2.0 m above the ground to ensure good ventilation and were large enough to fully cover the shaded plants. Plants without covers were set as controls (CK). The pot experiments were conducted using a randomized design, and all field experiments were in randomized block designs, with three replications. In the rice paddy field, we used a high-efficiency irrigation technique of damp irrigation before booting, rational irrigation during booting, and wetting-drying alternation irrigation after heading. Insects, weeds, and diseases were controlled when required. The water level of each pot was maintained at 1–2 cm in depth, and other rice management actions were similar to those used in the paddy field.At maturity, the seeds from the field experiments were randomly selected from five hills in the center of each block; seeds from the pot experiments were randomly selected from three pots with nine plants. All seeds were dried and stored at room temperature for about three months until the physicochemical properties became stable. Then the seeds were shelled, milled, ground to rice flour using CT410 , and sifted through a 0.5-mm screen.Starch pasting viscosity of milled rice flour was determined with the Rapid Visco Analyser using the Super-3, running with Thermal Cycle for Windows software , according to American Association of Cereal Chemists Standard Method 61-02.01 Starch pasting viscosities were described by six parameters: peak viscosity , hold viscosity , final viscosity , breakdown , setback , and pasting temperature (PaT) The starch contents of rice flour were determined by dual-wavelength spectrophotometry All data were analyzed using the two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the Fisher’s protected least significance difference (LSD) test at p = 0.05 and p = 0.01 We quantified the starch pasting parameters, PKV, HPV, CPV, SBV, BDV, and PaT, of rice at different growth stages , 6. The In Experiment 2, the variety, growth stage, and the interactions of these factors had highly significant (p<0.01) effects on all starch pasting parameters . At TE, During plant growth and development, environmental conditions could impact rice quality Shading at heading-maturity stage (after heading) could significantly decrease BDV of IIyou 498, Gangyou 188, and Chuanxiang 9838, and the rice viscosity was hard. Compared with other rice varieties, Gangyou 527 and Dexiang 4103 were less affected by shading, as their SBV and BDV had no significant differences among different treatments.The analysis of variance showed that the effect of variety during 30 d after heading was significant (p<0.01) for starch pasting parameters; light intensity also caused significant differences . The intThe shaded rice plants had higher chlorophyll content and larger leaf area before heading The experimental results in 2009–2011 showed that the effect of shading on starch pasting viscosity after heading (30 d after heading and heading-maturity stage) was stronger than that at booting-heading stage, elongation-booting stage, and tillering-elongation stage. Also, different rice cultivars exhibited different levels of sensitivity to shading treatment The starch pasting viscosity of rice flour, a pasting curve, is generated in a standard temperature program of “heat-hold-cool-hold” Starch was composed of two forms, amylose and amylopectin, and the amylose content had an effect in determining the physical and chemical properties of rice r = 0.899, r = 0.928, r = 0.846, and r = 0.747, respectively). A significant (p<0.01) negative correlation between BDV and amylose content (r = −0.817) was observed, since higher BDV and lower SBV and amylose content are indicative of good rice quality Cooked rice with high amylose content was rigid, while rice with low amylose content was relatively soft and sticky Heredity, environment, and the interactions of heredity and environment were combined to affect starch pasting viscosities and starch contents of different rice varieties. In our study, shading at earlier growth stages had less effect on starch than did shading at later growth stages. At later growth stages, shading resulted in decreased peak viscosity and breakdown, but increased pasting temperature. Furthermore, different rice varieties responded differently to shading. Gangyou 188, Gangyou 527, and Chuanxiang 9838 exhibited the greatest changes due to shading. IIyou 498 and Gangyou 906 had higher endurance to shading before heading, while Dexiang 4103 could maintain high quality when exposed to shade after heading. These differences in the shade endurance among rice varieties can offer a theoretical foundation for selecting and breeding shade-tolerant rice. Using this approach, rice quality would be enhanced by using reasonable cultivation technologies and selecting varieties with strong shade endurance in the low-light regions.Light illumination has complex effects on rice grain quality. Shading not only affects the filling rate, carbohydrate accumulation of grain, and dry matter transportation in stem-sheath, but it also affects starch synthase and related enzyme activities. Therefore, the relationship between key enzyme activity of starch and starch pasting characteristics, and the technique of rice breeding and cultivation to improve shade endurance require further investigation.


Both subclavian and axillary artery aneurysms should be promptly treated after diagnosis due to complications because the possibility of the aneurysm to rupture or to thrombose increases when the diameter of the aneurysm increases. Similarly, the possibility of aneurysm-related embolization and development of neurological complication increases.Eight patients that were operated on between February 1998 and December 2007 due to true aneurysms of the subclavian and axillary arteries were examined. Six of the patients (75%) were male. Median age was 58 (38-73). Two of these patients had subclavian and 6 of them had axillary artery aneurysms.One patient with subclavian artery aneurysm underwent resection of the aneurysm and subclavian-axillary bypass surgery with brachial embolectomy using a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) graft; whereas the other patient underwent resection of the aneurysm and subclavian-axillary bypass surgery with saphenous vein graft. In addition to resection of the aneurysm, three out of 6 patients with axillary artery aneurysm underwent saphenous vein graft interposition and remaining 3 underwent PTFE graft interposition. Moreover, one patient with acute ischemia underwent an additional brachial embolectomy.The surgical treatment of the axillary and subclavian artery aneurysms usually consists of resection of the aneurysm and interposition of a graft. Saphenous vein graft, PTFE or Dacron grafts are usually used as conduits. The established practice is choosing saphenous vein whenever possible. If saphenous vein is not available due to low quality, diameter mismatch or prior use of saphenous vein conduit ; then synthetic graft material is used. We used saphenous vein in 4 patients and PTFE graft in remaining 4.


The following scientsts assisted the journal by reviewing manuscripts during the period October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2012. We gratefully acknowledge their critical evaluation and assistance in selecting articles for publication.


World Allergy Organization Journal  commences its seventh year of publication and second year as an open access journal. I write this editorial from two directions, leaving the post of Editor-in-Chief and assuming the presidency of the World Allergy Organization.This month the The challenges involved in running a newly established, modern journal have been many and in the end rewarding. Our transition from an electronic-only subscription journal to open access was achieved last year and led to listing in PubMed Central and PubMed, which is a critical goal for a journal looking to increase its impact and visibility. The process has gone smoothly with publisher BioMed Central, and I anticipate their continued excellent support of the next editorial team.WAO Journal.I am also pleased to welcome the next editorial team to the WAO Journal. Alessandro Fiocchi, MD, of Hospital Bambino Gesù in Rome, Vatican City, and Erika Jensen-Jarolim, MD, of Medical University Vienna and Messerli Research Institute, Austria, are taking over the editorial leadership of the Professor Fiocchi brings a wide range of clinical and translational research experience to the post of Editor-in-Chief. In addition, he has been an important contributor to a variety of published material on food allergy and clinical approaches to food allergy. His outstanding leadership on two important position papers, “World Allergy Organization (WAO) Diagnosis and Rationale for Action against Cow’s Milk Allergy (DRACMA) Guidelines”,  and “CliThe appointment of Professor Erika Jensen-Jarolim as Deputy Editor will contribute to the journal’s goal of including more basic science and translational work worldwide. This will be important to maintain and solidify the journal’s march to greater impact. She has served on the journal’s Editorial Board since its inception, and brings editorial experience from a variety of medical journals to her role. Professor Jensen-Jarolim’s research experience in immunology and pathophysiology complements the clinical and translational background of Professor Fiocchi.It was an honor to be Editor-in-Chief, following in the footsteps of giants in the field such as Alain de Weck, Gunnar Johansson, Allen Kaplan, and Johannes Ring. I hope I have maintained their standard of excellence, and I know that passing our leadership to the new team will result in the same quality we have been building.The Regional Associate Editors and Editorial Board members all have done an outstanding job to support the journal, and it is much appreciated.Special thanks to Managing Editor, Sofia Dorsano, for her unflagging efforts and ongoing excellent work.


We are often probing in the dark.Neuroscientists study the brain at many levels of organization - from single molecules to the entire brain. Over the past 30 odd years, advances in molecular biology, genetics and biophysical methods have revolutionized studies at the small scale - ion channels, synapses and subcellular compartments. At the other end, advances in macroscopic brain mapping have ignited a wave of studies at the large scale. However, the computations carried out by brains are best understood in terms of the collective behavior of neuronal populations. Although we have known the value of circuit-level analysis for some time now, limitations in experimental and analytical tools have been significant barriers for progress. Brains are made up of staggering numbers of neurons . Conversely, many experimental studies read like catalogues, offering little incentive to others wanting to integrate them into a bigger picture or a theory. By offering a mix of papers in a single locus, we aim to foster communication among theorists and experimentalists, and so catalyze cross-pollination.These new tools and techniques are poised to produce a torrent of new experimental results and theoretical insights. Neural Systems & Circuits is a fully open-access journal. Articles will be published online as soon as they are accepted, and it is anticipated that they will also be indexed in PubMed in due course. Besides research articles, we will publish reviews and opinion pieces. We hope to report, on occasion, dialogs between those with opposing points of view on important and controversial topics. Studies of disease that have particular emphasis on circuits are also welcome, as are technical advances. The diverse and expert editorial board will ensure excellence in the review process.Neural Systems & Circuits presents a selection of articles on different topics and aims to illustrate some of the topics we would like to include as the journal grows. As our understanding of the field changes, we expect the journal to grow to accommodate the latest advances. We are committed to making Neural Systems & Circuits a success, and sincerely hope that you will share our vision and will consider contributing to this new journal.This inaugural issue of


After viewing the virus through an electron microscope in 1974, Flewett et al. suggested the name rotavirus on the basis of the pathogen’s shape. The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses approved the name 4 years later.From the Latin Sources: Dorland’s illustrated medical dictionary. 31st edition. Philadelphia: Saunders, 2007; Flewett TH, Bryden AS, Davies H, Woode GN, Bridger JC, Derrick JM. Relation between viruses from acute gastroenteritis of children and newborn calves. Lancet. 1974;304:61–3.PubMed ; Matthews RE. Third report of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. Classification and nomenclature of viruses. Intervirology. 1979;12:129–296.PubMed


The most common complication of renal transplantation is allograft dysfunction, which in some cases leads to graft loss. The role of graft nephrectomy in the management of transplant failure is controversial. The procedure remains associated with a significant morbidity and also mortality. Our main purpose was the comparison between clinical and pathological diagnosis of graft nephrectomy.The documents of 88 patients who admitted for graft nephrectomy in Shariaty hospital for the last 25 years were reviewed. Slides of graft pathology were revised by an individual nephropathologist. Data was analyzed by SPSS 18 using ANOVA and Chi-square tests.The percentages of clinical diagnoses for the graft nephrectomy are: chronic rejection (38%), graft infection (26%), gross hematuria (10%), acute rejection (10%), accelerated rejection (8%), hyper-acute rejection (4%) and thrombosis of the renal artery (4). On the other hand, the pathological diagnoses are: necrosis concomitant with thrombosis (35%), only necrosis (26%) and 5 (3) concomitant with 4 (3) in 16% of cases that means severe interstitial atrophy and fibrosis adjacent with acute cellular rejection and intramural vasculitis.Pathology included necrosis in about half of the graft nephrectomized patients. If the panel reactivity test is negative preoperatively, and there is no absolute indication for the operation, one may abstain from graft nephrectomy to save the patient, the morbidity and even the mortality of the procedure. On the other hand, the advantages of leaving the graft in situ are erythropoietin production, hydroxylation of calcidiol and maintenance of some residual diuresis. The most common etiology for allograft failure after the first year is an incompletely understood clinicopathological component variously named chronic rejection, transplant nephropathy, chronic renal allograft dysfunction, transplant glomerulopathy or chronic renal allograft nephropathy , 2. The With a look up to the pathology ward of the Shariaty hospital all files of the patients underwent graft nephrectomy from 25 years ago were extracted. All the document of 88 graft nephrectomy patients who admitted to this hospital in the past 25 years were gathered. Incomplete documents were excluded. Then pathological slides were obtained and matched with Banff classification 2007 with a single nephropathologist. Thereafter, admission files were reviewed and clinical, radiological and laboratory reasons for graft nephrectomy were extracted and gathered using SPSS software version 18 and analyzed by ANOVA and chi-square tests. Differences with the P-value < 0.05 was considered significant.From 88 files, only 80 files were completed and slides for revision were available. Mean age was 41-year-old with the range of 9-59 years. 57% of patients were male and 43% were female. Duration of the renal transplantation to graft nephrectomy between males and females was not statistically significant  . 34% of graft biopsies before graft nephrectomy were inconclusive and only 64% was conclusive for diagnosis by the pathologist. 82% of patients hadn’t any history of ATN at the time of admission after renal transplantation and only 18% of patients were received at least one steroid pulse therapy at this time. Results of color Doppler ultrasonography in 10% of patients were rejection, in 20% were ATN, in 24% renal artery stenosis, in 30% renal vein thrombosis and in 16% were renal artery thrombosis. Between male and female these diagnoses were not significant. Isotope renography in about half of the patients represented ATN and in the other patients represented rejection; there was no significant difference between male and female. Clinical diagnosis before graft nephrectomy in 38% of patients were chronic rejection, 26% graft sepsis, 10% gross hematuria, 10% acute rejection, 8% accelerated rejection, 4% hyper-acute rejection and in 4% were renal arterial thrombosis. No meaningful difference observed between male and female. After revision of pathological slides by nephropathologist and matching with Banff classification 2007, 35% of cases pathological diagnosis were necrosis concomitant with thrombosis, 26% only thrombosis and in 16% 5 (3) concomitant with 4 (3), in 6% were 4 (3) concomitant with 6 and 4% 4 (2b) concomitant with 6; other diagnoses with same prevalence (1.6%) were necrosis concomitant with 2 (3), 4 (3), 2 (3) concomitant with 6, 6, ATN concomitant with thrombosis and 4 (3), 5 (3) concomitant with 4 (2b), 5 (3) concomitant with 2 (3) and in one patient pathology was normal. These diagnoses were not noticeable between male and female. In patients who underwent graft nephrectomy before two weeks most prevalent clinical diagnoses were hyper-acute rejection (46%), accelerated rejection (36%) and renal arterial thrombosis (18%). About patients who underwent graft nephrectomy between two weeks to three months most prevalent clinical diagnoses were acute rejection (50%), accelerated rejection (20%) and gross hematuria (20%), and for patients who underwent graft nephrectomy between three months to a year were acute rejection (43%), chronic rejection (29%) and gross hematuria (14%), for graft nephrectomy between 1-2 years these diagnoses were graft sepsis (50%) and chronic rejection (25%) and for more than two years were chronic rejection (50%), graft sepsis (29%) and gross hematuria (13%).The most prevalent pathological diagnosis before two weeks was necrosis concomitant with thrombosis (64%), between two weeks to three months were 5 (3) concomitant with 4 (3) (30%), between three months to a year was necrosis concomitant with thrombosis (43%), between one year to two year was necrosis concomitant with thrombosis (50%) and after two years was necrosis (30%) and necrosis concomitant with thrombosis (29%).In 60% of cases that clinical diagnoses were hyper-acute rejection, pathological diagnosis was necrosis concomitant with thrombosis, in 20% were 5 (3) concomitant with 4 (3) and in 20% was 4 (3). In 50% of cases that clinical diagnosis was accelerated rejection, pathological diagnosis was necrosis concomitant with thrombosis, in 33% was 4 (3) concomitant with 6 and in 17% was 5 (3) concomitant with 4 (3). In 33% of cases that clinical diagnoses were acute rejection, pathological diagnosis was necrosis concomitant with thrombosis, in 33% was 4 (3) concomitant with 6 and in 17% was only necrosis. In 26% of cases that clinical diagnosis was chronic rejection, pathological diagnosis was necrosis concomitant with thrombosis and in 33% was 4 (3) concomitant with 5 (3) so in 32% of cases that clinical diagnosis was graft sepsis, pathological diagnosis was necrosis concomitant with thrombosis and in 32% was only necrosis. In 40% of cases that clinical diagnosis was gross hematuria, pathological diagnosis was necrosis concomitant with thrombosis and in 40% was only necrosis but in 50% of cases that clinical diagnosis was renal artery thrombosis, pathological diagnosis was necrosis concomitant with thrombosis and in 50% were only necrosis  and 2.In this study, 50% of selected patients were male and half of them were female. Prevalence of ESRD causes between those were similar to other ESRD patients in population. Most of the graft nephrectomies (60%) were performed after two years following successful kidney transplantation. Most common reasons for graft nephrectomy were chronic rejection, graft sepsis and gross hematuria that were similar to other similar studies. Regardless of inconclusiveness of about one third of graft biopsies before graft nephrectomy, these patients were candidate for this procedure. Comparison of clinical and pathological results (that matches with Banff 2007 criteria) showed that in cases which graft nephrectomy was performed under two weeks from transplantation the most common clinical diagnosis was hyper-acute rejection and the most prevalent pathological diagnosis was necrosis concomitant with thrombosis; that justified this so in cases which graft nephrectomy was performed two weeks to three months from transplantation the most prevalent clinical diagnosis was acute rejection and the most prevalent pathological diagnosis was 5 (3) concomitant with 4 (3) ; that justified this. Comparison in cases that graft nephrectomy was performed under three months to a year from transplantation the most prevalent clinical diagnosis was acute rejection and the most prevalent pathological diagnosis was necrosis concomitant with thrombosis and in cases that graft nephrectomy was performed under a year to two years from transplantation the most prevalent clinical diagnosis was graft sepsis and the most prevalent pathological diagnosis was necrosis concomitant with thrombosis and in after two years most prevalent clinical diagnosis was chronic rejection then graft sepsis and most prevalent pathology was necrosis that justified them. According to our results in high percentages of patients ultimate pathologic diagnosis expressed T-cell mediated or antibody mediated rejection and not graft necrosis; maybe with change of immunosuppressive drugs or use of more potent drugs prevents graft loss and graft nephrectomy. In other percentages of patients ultimate graft pathology was necrosis; the surgeon did not perform graft nephrectomy if the tissue did not have any immunologic reactivity in recipient body (with check panel reactivity test), patient had not any symptoms and immunosuppressive drugs in the lowest level. In this category, patients could gain from advantages of leaving graft in situ. Zargar showed that frequency of graft nephrectomy was 4.8%  and in oIn some patient with kidney allograft loss, the graft could be salvageable with immunosuppressive therapy or other medical cares and surgeon can postpone and even revoke graft nephrectomy for the decline of morbidity and mortality. In other patients if graft asymptomatic and graft biopsy was shown necrosis, we can leave the graft in situ for use of its advantages.


It is a great honor to assume the role of Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Epidemiology from Dr. Tomotaka Sobue. Under Dr. Sobue’s outstanding leadership, the average impact factor reached 2.113 in 2012, and the expansion of the Journal beyond its original base has continued to accelerate. Indeed, the Journal is now recognized as an international rather than a domestic journal, and manuscripts from abroad account for two-thirds of the total. On behalf of the Board, I wish to thank Dr. Sobue for his inspiring dedication and service.Like many journals, the Journal of Epidemiology has recently faced major challenges in the global publishing environment. One broad-reaching change has been the introduction of open access licensing. Our adoption of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY v3.0) for all papers allows authors to retain ownership of the copyright of their papers, but also allows anyone to download, reuse, copy, reprint, distribute, or modify the paper, provided they cite the original authors and source. The global change in policy towards open access for papers supported by research grants is unstoppable, and our decision to adopt this model is critical to the future of the journal.Second, the Editorial Board warmly welcomes the participation of five new associate editors from abroad, starting from 2014. We believe these new colleagues will contribute to the continuing globalization of the Journal.The editorial team seeks to maintain the Journal’s high international standards and will continue to publish original and review articles on a wide range of topics. Looking to the future, our goal is to establish the Journal as one of the leading journals in epidemiology. I warmly welcome the participation and support of every reader in attaining this goal.Manami Inoue, MD, PhDEditor-in-ChiefJournal of EpidemiologyProject ProfessorAXA Department of Health and Human SecurityGraduate School of MedicineThe University of Tokyo


Experimental and Applied Acarology (EAA), as per January 2012. I have used this opportunity to change and extend the Editorial Board and to broaden the scope of the journal by explicitly inviting papers in such fields as evolutionary biology, behavioural ecology, molecular biology and experimental evolution of mites and ticks, also focusing on all the ways in which they interact with other organisms . I realize I face a task with heavy responsibilities, even more so because the journal has built an excellent reputation. The number of submissions has increased with the years (e.g. 8% in 2010), the rejection rate has gone up (to 42% in 2010), the impact factor has risen (to 1.825 in 2010) and as a consequence the journal now ranks at position 16 out of all 83 journals in the field of Entomology. A salient feature of EAA is the space offered for special issues that provide reviews on various topics of particular relevance to Acarology. In my view the publication of special issues has to be stimulated, the rejection rate should increase and the time from submission to first decision should be reduced (66 days in 2010). Together with two Managing Editors, Dr Frans Jongejan for papers on ticks and Dr Jan Bruin for papers on mites, I am confident that we will be able to create an even stronger journal in years to come.I accepted the task to act as Editor-in-Chief for This editorial could not have been written at a more dramatic moment for EAA. On February 8, 2012 Professor Wim Helle, founding editor of EAA, is deceased. He had the vision and the initiative to start a journal in 1985 with a focus on experimental and applied biology of mites and ticks at a time where other acarological journals emphasized taxonomy and systematics. Dr Leo van der Geest has written an obituary. We will always remember Wim Helle as a scientist who made significant contributions to the genetics of mites . He not only created EAA, he also initiated the book series on World Crop Pests (with two volumes on spider mites and one on eriophyoid mites), and was among the first to establish the European Association of Acarologists (EURAAC).


In the article “Trends in Financial Barriers to Medical Care for Women Veterans, 2003–2004 and 2009–2010,” a sentence in the Acknowledgments was omitted. The additional sentence should read, “The authors thank Dr Diane C. Cowper Ripley for her review and Nichole Snyder for manuscript assistance.”http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2013/13_0071.htm.The correction was made to our website on November 6, 2013, and appears online at


World Allergy                    Organization Journal that are worth noting. Prof. Johannes Ring, who                led the Journal as Editor-in-Chief in the first critical year of the WAO                    Journal, has moved to the position of Executive Editor. In this                position, he will oversee issues related to Editorials that are published in the                    WAO Journal. As Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Ring skillfully handled                the transition from the prior Allergy and Clinical Immunology International                    Journal to the new online-only WAO Journal. Prof.                Ring's effort placed the Journal on the right track to achieve an advantageous                position in the pursuit of goals that have been set out for it by the World Allergy                Organization (WAO).Since the January 2009 posting, there have been changes at the             Editor-in-Chief responsibilities now reside with Dr. Lanny J. Rosenwasser. In                addition to the possibility of easier and immediate worldwide access, the other                major benefit of an online journal is the accelerated production process, allowing                monthly postings of accepted manuscripts. I am working with the editorial team not                only to further streamline the review process for submitted manuscripts but also to                continue to reduce production time so that quality manuscripts are made available to                readers as quickly as possible.            WAO Journal has been excellent and there are                a number of new initiatives I have planned for this year to maintain and extend this                excellence. To supplement the flow of unsolicited submissions, we will be publishing                reviews and papers under three separate content banners. We intend to publish a                review series entitled "Clinical Reviews in Allergy and Immunology" with specific                clinical relevance and practical measures that are critical for the practice of                allergy anywhere in the world. The papers within this series will examine issues of                drug and aspirin sensitivity, drug desensitization, natural history of allergic                diseases, asthma, atopic dermatitis, and environmental and socio-economic concerns                that impact the practice and delivery of care for allergic diseases and that have so                far not received the attention they deserve. This series will also provide a vehicle                to highlight newer approaches for the evaluation of disease and outcomes concerning                treatments and interventions, and keep abreast with evolving developments in                informatics, telemedicine, and web-based learning. Focusing on the practical and the                new, this series will aim to become indispensable to the clinical practitioner.The overall quality of             A second series of papers will be on "Basic and Clinical Translational Science in                Allergy and Immunology." These papers will address pathogenic mechanisms in allergic                diseases and examine new, cutting-edge information that extends our understanding of                pathogenesis and disease function. Technical advances  and the application of new paradigms and technologies influencing                our understanding of the pathogenesis of allergic disease will also be detailed                within this series. In keeping with its aim of capturing and discussing the latest                advances, this series will have papers on the new roles of cytokines, innate immune                system reactions, tissue remodeling, immunopharmacology, pharmacogenomics, and so                forth.             Complementing the practical and the latest will be a more personal series, "Notes of                Allergy Watchers," published within the editorial portion of the Journal. This                series will invite individuals from our field to share their varied experiences and                insights by submitting viewpoints and recollections concerning the science and                practice of allergy and immunology. These submissions will be encouraged to include                individual personal recollections and interpretation of important issues. The "Notes                of Allergy Watchers" will provide not only a look backward but also observations and                speculations concerning the science of our discipline and projections for potential                changes within our field in the future.            WAO Journal offers a great opportunity for exchange                of information and ideas among different regions of the world. But it is worth                remembering that we are all dedicated to the care of patients with allergic                diseases, and the WAO Journal is dedicated to promoting any                activity that enhances our capabilities in this area and extends new knowledge and                information.Not every posting will have a selection from each of these three banners, but it is                hoped that these will be ongoing series of great interest for the practice and                science of allergy and immunology and WAO members all over the world. The worldwide                platform of the


One of the biggest challenges for HIV vaccine design is identifying conserved HLA Class I- and Class II-restricted epitopes that would impart substantial fitness cost to the virus, thereby controlling or preventing infection. Here, we set out to develop an epitope-driven, DNA-prime/pseudoprotein-boost HIV vaccine (GAIA vaccine) composed of such epitopes.Analysis was performed in 2003 on 10,803 HIV-1 sequences, and again in 2009, on an expanded set of 43,822 sequences. These were searched for conserved 9-10-mer segments with the EpiMatrix suite of immunoinformatic algorithms. From the most highly conserved (>5% isolates) or top 1,000 scoring 9-mers, HLA Class I binding sequences and Class II immunogenic consensus sequences (ICS) were identified for vaccine design. Validation was performed in Thailand, the USA, and Mali via in vitro binding and IFN-γ ELISpot assays, using HIV-infected donor peripheral blood. HLA transgenic mice were immunized in DNA-prime/peptide-boost vaccine studies including these epitopes.Epitopes selected as described are more broadly conserved than those selected for other epitope-based vaccines . Antigenicity of 98% of ICS epitopes and Class I epitopes  was confirmed in HIV-infected subjects. Fifteen ICS peptides and 12 A2 peptides were confirmed in both Mali and the USA. Sixteen A3 peptides were confirmed weighting sequences for conservation and immunogenicity (as determined by EpiMatrix score), in vitro binding, and positive ELISpot responses. Epitope immunogenicity was validated in HLA transgenic mouse immunization studies.The GAIA vaccine approach is an effective means of triaging HIV epitope sequences to identify the most immunogenic and conserved epitope candidates across HLA allotypes. HLA transgenic mouse studies showed prototype DNA vaccines including these epitopes to be immunogenic, suggesting the epitope-rich GAIA vaccine would induce greater immunogenicity than other DNA/viral vector prime-boost vaccines in humans.


Acinetobacter infections have increased due to having multiple drug resistance and increasing of incidence among nosocomial infection. Importance of high mortality rate of this infections is once more increased due to scantiness of choosing antibiotics of treatment and difficulty of isolation.Mortality rate of Acinetobacter spp which were identified in intensive care units (ICUs) and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of them have been investigated in this study.Distribution of Acinetobacter infections which were isolated in ten ICUs of GMMA in 2011 have been investigated retrospectively.Acinetobacter strains were isolated from samples of 64 patients who were hospitalized in ICUs. Acinetobacter infections have became two times in five patients. 21 of patients were female, 43 of them were male and average age was 61,09±24,16 (2-91) years. Distributions of Acinetobacter infectious of ICUs were investigated and the most infectious  were occured at medical ICU followed by anesthesia recovery unit, burn unit , ICU of general surgery unit, ICU of neurology unit , respectively. The avarage of interval between hospitalization date and devolopment time of infectious was 27,78±40,02 (3-282) days and it varies according to the different ICUs Bloodstream infection was the most common infection, followed by urinary tract infection, pneumonia , skin and soft tissue infections , respectively. The most common species was A. baumanni  and A. calcoaceticus  was the second. When antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of isolated acinetobacter spp were investigated, susceptibility rates were determined as 100% to colistin, 27,2% to tigecycline, 25% to amikacin, 19,1% to gentamicin, 18,4% to cotrimoxazole, 5,1% to ciprofloxacin, 4,4% to piperacillin-tazobactam, 3,3% to aztreonam, 3,2% to cefotaxime, 3,1% to ceftazidime, 1,4% to imipenem and meropenem.69 Acinetobacter infections are increasing corralated with the number of beds in ICUs. Isolation of infected patients and obeying the rules of universal contact isolation of health care personnel are important. Resistance rate of tigecycline was increased in short time after tigecycline began usage.Number of None declared


Dementia is fast emerging as a huge public health challenge in the developing world. We need to prepare ourselves to face this crisis. We must know more about various aspects of dementia and its management. Better understanding of dementia in developing countries is also likely to provide valuable new information on risk factors, genetics, and potential new treatments. That is why we chose “Dementia” as the theme.We are pleased to present a supplement of Indian Journal of Psychiatry (IJP) on Dementia. Dementia being a neglected area in our country - both concerning the research and service, there are many invited articles from abroad. We hope this will act as an impetus to further the cause of dementia. A special issue on a specific topic and on this scale is first in the history of IJP. We have tried to get articles from many people who have contributed to the knowledge base. Most of them responded wholeheartedly and well in time. We are delighted to acknowledge their help and support. We remain deeply indebted to them.We look forward to your feed back. Please send in your comments, criticisms and suggestions.Yours sincerelyT. S. S. Rao,Editor, Indian Journal of PsychiatryK. S. Shaji,Guest Editor, Indian Journal of Psychiatry supplement on Dementia


In the published articleCorrespondence to: Ji-Min ZhangEmail: jimin0820@163.comThe authors and the journal apologize for the error and for any confusion it may have caused.


Journal of Diabetes & Metabolic Disorders (JDMD) is launched with the hope of contributing to the efforts made to reach this goal.The high prevalence and great burden of diabetes and metabolic disorders are part of a growing problem of chronic disease predominance in the contemporary society. The World Health Organization has identified diabetes to be globally “epidemic”, and points out the need to increase awareness of this status . The chrhttp://www.jdmdonline.com/about/edboard) and, after acceptance, will be immediately published online, and soon after indexed in PubMed.JDMD is the continuation of our previous publication, the Iranian Journal of Diabetes and Lipid Disorders, an electronic-only journal that published a total of 63 articles between 2008 and 2011. JDMD is owned by the Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Institute (EMRI), a center of excellence and a World Health Organization (WHO) collaborator in the prevention, diagnosis and management of Diabetes and Osteoporosis. EMRI is affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences which is the first and most outstanding academic medical center at national level. The journal will cover a broad range of subjects related to endocrinology such as clinical and epidemiological studies on metabolic diseases and their complications, as well as novel and emerging therapeutics and related basic sciences studies, to name a few specific subjects. Two particular topics, namely “Aging” and “Interdisciplinary Research” are intended to be the subjects of special issues. Like its predecessor, JDMD is a peer-reviewed journal and, after acceptance, articles will be immediately published online, and soon after indexed in PubMed. All articles submitted to JDMD will be peer reviewed by our Editorial Board (The aim of the changes made to the journal is to move to a more dynamic scheme of publication, which will be more in line with the current modes of scientific communication and spread of health-related information. With the wide dissemination of new communication technologies, and the trend toward “open science”, methods are debated to make the best from new models of data publishing . As an oA multidisciplinary approach to endocrinology problems has been a central paradigm in the research activities of EMRI during the past seventeen years; the same spirit is intended to be present in the journal, which will propose a variety of themes. We rely on the distinguished scientists that form the Editorial Board to ensure the quality of published articles in these diverse subjects.Journal of Diabetes & Metabolic Disorders in order to promote it towards becoming one of the top journals in its field.Finally, a journal’s success and impact depends directly on the publication of the hard work of researchers in the field. As such, we would welcome you to submit your research to


There was an error in the Funding statement. http://www.973.gov.cn/AreaAppl.aspx], National Water Pollution Control and Management Technology Major Project (2012ZX07101-010) [http://nwpcp.mep.gov.cn/] and State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology (2011FBZ07) [http://eastlake.ihb.ac.cn/]. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.The correct statement is: This study was jointly supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) (2008CB418101) [


During verification of trait differences, HCR rats ran six times farther and three times longer prior to exhaustion than LCR rats. Running to exhaustion significantly increased c-Fos mRNA activation of several brain areas in HCR, but LCR failed to show significant elevations of c-Fos mRNA at exhaustion in the majority of areas examined compared to acutely run controls. Results from these studies suggest that there are differences in central c-Fos mRNA expression, and potential brain activation patterns, between HCR and LCR rats during treadmill running to exhaustion and these differences could be involved in the variation in inherent running capacity between lines.In order to further understand the genetic basis for variation in inherent (untrained) exercise capacity, we examined the brains of 32 male rats selectively bred for high or low running capacity . The aim was to characterize the activation patterns of brain regions potentially involved in differences in inherent running capacity between HCR and LCR. Using quantitative  In the last few decades, exercise physiologists have turned to animal models to supplement the ongoing research on the genetic basis for differences in inherent (untrained) exercise capacity in humans. By controling the environmental conditions with which animals are housed, researchers are better able to isolate potential “exercise genes” that may contribute to differences in inherent running capacity. To date, most of the research in exercise genomics in animals has focused on cardiac and skeletal muscle adaptations In 1996, a large-scale selective breeding program in rats was initiated to create divergent lines of inherent running capacity to serve as substrate to help understand the genetic basis for the variation in maximal running capacity The aim of the current experiment was to identify brain regions potentially involved in the variation in inherent running capacity between HCR and LCR rats from generation 19 during treadmill running to exhaustion. Although Rhodes et al. (2003) have defined markers of neuronal brain activity that differ between control line mice and mice selectively bred for increased voluntary wheel running activity As part of standard protocol, treadmill tests were performed at week 11 to verify trait differences in inherent exercise capacity between HCR and LCR. Consistent with previous reports These patterns were consistent with the second set of treadmill tests performed at week 30. By week 30, LCR were still significantly heavier than HCR. HCR weighed 294±8 grams, whereas LCR weighed 521±11 grams . At this time point, HCR ran a maximum distance of 1149±66 meters, whereas LCR ran a maximum distance of 205±26 meters  = 197; p<0.0001]). Similar to week 11, HCR ran significantly longer to exhaustion compared to LCR at week 30. HCR ran a maximum duration of 51±2 minutes while LCR ran a maximum duration of 15±1.5 minutes  = 278; p<0.0001]). In the current study, 16 of the 25 brain areas examined demonstrated significant differences in c-Fos mRNA expression across groups based on one-way ANOVA analyses. Within these brain areas, F-PLSD post hoc analyses were performed and the individual post hoc results are reported below and presented in Brain c-Fos mRNA levels were assessed in HCR and LCR groups run to exhaustion. As indicated in In order to compare the brain areas activated by an equal duration of treadmill running between lines, c-Fos mRNA levels were assessed in HCR and LCR after 15 minutes of running. It should be kept in mind, however, that after 15 minutes of running LCR rats had reached exhaustion , while tIn contrast, Significant positive correlations (R>0.5) were found between the levels of c-Fos mRNA and distance run during the treadmill tests in HCR rats in 15 of the brain areas examined: Acb, Arc, CA3, Cg1, CPU, IL, LS, M1, M2, PrL, PVN, S1, PAG, LC, OLV. A significant negative correlation was found between c-Fos mRNA levels and distance run in HCR in the RPa. In LCR rats, a significant positive correlation for c-Fos mRNA and distance run was found in the IL and PrL. See The aim of the current experiment was to characterize the activation patterns of brain regions potentially involved in differences in inherent (untrained) running capacity between HCR and LCR. Using c-Fos mRNA as a marker of neuronal activation, we examined the brains of HCR and LCR rats during a single bout of acute treadmill running or during treadmill running to exhaustion. During the treadmill testing at week 30, HCR rats ran 562% farther and 338% longer to exhaustion than LCR rats. Running to exhaustion significantly increased c-Fos mRNA activation of several brain areas in HCR, but LCR failed to show significant elevations of c-Fos mRNA in the majority of areas examined at exhaustion compared to acutely run controls. Results from these studies suggest that there are differences in central c-Fos mRNA expression, and possibly brain activation patterns, between HCR and LCR rats during treadmill running to exhaustion, and these differences may contribute to the variation in inherent running capacity between lines.In both HCR and LCR, running to exhaustion significantly increased activation of certain brain areas involved in motor control and motivation. These areas include the CPU  axis by stress or physical exertion ultimately leads to the release of the hormone corticosterone by the adrenal cortex. Once released, corticosterone increases the mobilization of fat and glycogen stores during exercise As hypothesized, HCR run to exhaustion had significant elevations in c-Fos mRNA expression in the PVN and plasma corticosterone levels compared to LCR rats and acutely run HCR controls, suggesting that the HPA axis in these rats is indeed activated. Furthermore, given that the HPA axis is subject to modulation by a variety of brain areas, an increase in activation of afferents to the PVN could also stimulate the release of corticosterone and enhance inherent running capacity in HCR. Consistent with this idea, HCR also demonstrated higher c-Fos mRNA expression in the LC and LS, two major afferents of the PVN The increased activation of stress and arousal circuits in HCR rats might also suggest that HCR rats find treadmill running to exhaustion more psychologically stressful than their LCR counterparts. We argue against this scenario as previous behavioral data in these animals has demonstrated that HCR rats exhibit less anxiety-like behavior in response to restraint stress We also analyzed relative levels of c-Fos mRNA expression between HCR run to exhaustion and their acutely run treadmill controls. Running to exhaustion significantly elevated activation of several brain areas in HCR compared to acutely run controls. These areas included those involved in motor control , analgesia , and stress and arousal circuits , further confirming our hypothesis that activation of these areas may be involved in the mechanisms by which HCR have enhanced inherent running capacity during treadmill running to exhaustion.Because HCR ran six times longer and three times farther to exhaustion than LCR prior to sacrifice, one could argue that the increase in c-Fos mRNA expression observed in HCR rats was due to enhanced stimulation of these brain areas produced by treadmill running to exhaustion by itself, and was not due to differences in brain activation patterns produced by artificial selection. Indeed, the dynamics of c-Fos mRNA expression are sensitive to the duration of stimulation reduced inherent running capacity compared to HCR. When examining c-Fos mRNA expression between animals run to exhaustion and their acutely run treadmill controls, LCR show very little change in c-Fos mRNA across brain areas compared to HCR. The lack of major difference in c-Fos mRNA levels, and potential brain activation patterns, in LCR implies that exercise capacity limiting systems are different in LCR than HCR when treadmill running to exhaustion.In addition to the potential mechanisms by which HCR have enhanced inherent running capacity, here we propose several different mechanisms by which LCR have We propose that activation of the OLV may be one brain area responsible for the reduced inherent running capacity observed in LCR. The OLV is a major afferent of the cerebellum that coordinates the temporal firing of muscles during movement It is also possible that a reduction in activation of serotonergic neurons in the RMg or RPa may be involved in the reduced inherent running capacity in LCR. As stated earlier, activation of serotonergic neurons in the RMg produces analgesia through inhibition of nociceptive neurons in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord 2max) The lack of major difference in relative c-Fos mRNA levels between LCR run to exhaustion and their acute run controls also implies that central mechanisms may not be the limiting factor in LCR rats during treadmill running to exhaustion. Rather, it is possible that peripheral factors in LCR may account for the reduced inherent running capacity observed in LCR rats. In addition to being heavier than their HCR counterparts, LCR rats score high on several cardiovascular risk factors associated with the metabolic syndrome such as elevated blood pressure, insulin resistance, and higher visceral adiposity, plasma triglycerides, and plasma free fatty acids These results help to identify potential brain areas involved in the variation in inherent (untrained) running capacity between HCR and LCR during treadmill running to exhaustion. HCR animals demonstrate increased c-Fos mRNA activation of central pain analgesic and stress/arousal circuits during treadmill running to exhaustion, which may contribute to their enhanced inherent running capacity, compared to LCR animals. In contrast, LCR rats may have lower inherent running capacity than their HCR counterparts due to over-activation of c-Fos mRNA in the OLV and/or reduced c-Fos mRNA in caudal serotonergic systems. This study demonstrates a central architecture that can explain at least part of the difference for exhaustion between HCR and LCR.The development of LCR and HCR rat-lines has been described previously All animal procedures were carried out in strict accordance with the recommendations for the Care and use of Laboratory Animals of the National Institutes of Health. The protocol was approved by the University of Michigan Committee on Use and Care of Animals . All efforts were made to minimize suffering of the animals.The protocol for estimation of inherent running capacity required two weeks and was started when the rats were 11 weeks old. During the first week, each rat was initiated to a motorized treadmill  over a 5-day period. The first two days of treadmill exposure consisted of simply placing each rat on the belt that was moving at a velocity of 10 meters per minute (m/min) (15° slope) and picking the rat up and moving it forward if it started to slide off the back of the belt. On days 3–5, the speed of the treadmill belt was gradually increased up to 15 m/min, and failure to run caused the rat to slide off the moving belt and into a 15 cm×15 cm electric shock grid for about 1.5 seconds and then moved forward onto the moving belt. This process was repeated until each rat learned to run to avoid the mild shock. The goal of the first week was to expose each rat to sufficient treadmill exposure until the animals were able to run 5 minutes at 10 m/min on a 15° slope. This amount of treadmill exposure is below that required to produce significant change in running capacity During the second week, each rat was tested once/day for 5 days at a constant slope of 15° and an initial velocity of 10 m/min. Treadmill velocity was increased by 1 m/min every 2 minutes until each rat had run to exhaustion. Exhaustion was operationally defined as the third time a rat could no longer keep pace with the speed of the treadmill belt and remained on an electric shock grid for 2 seconds rather than running. Extreme care was taken to ensure that HCR and LCR animals received the same amount of encouragement during running to exhaustion in the form of tapping on the treadmill or time spent on the shockers.At 30 weeks of age , each rat was re-tested on a treadmill as described above for varying durations of exercise. Eight LCR and 8 HCR rats were run to exhaustion . In addition, two control groups were tested on the treadmills. In the first control group, eight LCR rats were run to 50% of LCR time to exhaustion (7.5 minutes). The purpose of the first control group was to include a group of LCR rats that were subject to acute treadmill exposure and would eliminate any handling confounds. In the second control group, eight HCR rats were time-matched to the LCR time to exhaustion (15 minutes). The purpose of the second HCR group was two-fold. First, this HCR group would serve as a time-matched control to LCR, with the onset of running and sacrifice time being matched. This matching would allow for direct comparison of c-Fos mRNA levels between HCR and LCR. Second, this HCR group would serve as an acute exercised control to HCR rats run to exhaustion. A non-exercise control group could not be included in this experiment since our output measure, c-Fos mRNA, is dependent on stimulus activation.Thirty minutes post-treadmill running, when the accumulation of mRNA levels has reached its peak in situ hybridization as described previously Brain slices (10 µm thick) were thaw-mounted directly onto polylysine-coated slides and stored at –80°C until processing for single-labeled radioactive Computer-assisted optical densitometry was used to analyze c-Fos mRNA levels. Brain section images were captured digitally , and the relative optical density of the x-ray film was determined using Scion Image Version 4.0. A macro was written that enabled signal above background to be determined automatically. For each section, a background sample was taken over an area of white matter, and the signal threshold was calculated as mean gray value of background +3.5 standard deviations. The section was automatically density-sliced at this value, so that only pixels with gray values above these criteria were included in the analysis. Results are expressed as mean integrated density, which reflects both the signal intensity and the number of pixels above assigned background . Each subject's mean integrated density of a particular cRNA probe at a given level represents the average of three slices chosen for analysis. Care was taken to ensure that equivalent areas were analyzed between animals.Plasma was assayed for corticosterone with an Enzyme ImmunoAssay kit from Assay Design, Inc. . All samples were diluted 1:50 and assayed per kit instructions.Group differences in body weight, treadmill speed, time, distance, corticosterone, and c-Fos mRNA levels were analyzed with one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests using the StatView data analysis and presentation system . Fisher protected least significant difference (F-PLSD) post hoc analysis was performed when required. Correlational analyses were performed between the levels of c-Fos mRNA and distance run during treadmill tests at week 30. In all analyses, an alpha level of p<0.05 was used to determine statistical significance.


Dear Colleagues:I am pleased to announce that the official 2010 impact factor for the Journal of Epidemiology is 2.110. Our journal placed 50th among the 140 journals in the category of Public, Environmental & Occupational Health and top in the Asia-Pacific region. The proportion of self-citation was only 9%, which indicates that ours is a sound and promising journal in epidemiology. The 10 most frequently cited papers in the Journal of Epidemiology in 2008 and 2009 are shown below.The average time between submission and first response is 27 days. For this achievement, I sincerely thank the editorial committee members and reviewers for their outstanding efforts.Epidemiology—Scientific Wisdom and Perspectives from East and West, which are written by leading epidemiologists from Asian and Western countries.In addition to our regular review articles, we have begun publishing a new series of joint review articles in various research fields, Our editorial team looks forward to receiving new high-quality submissions from around the world in a broad range of topics in epidemiology. In this way, our journal can continue to advance research in basic and clinical science, public health science, and health policy.Cordially,Hiroyasu Iso, MD, PhD, MPHEditor-in-ChiefJournal of EpidemiologyProfessor of Public HealthOsaka University Graduate School of Medicine


For the sixth time in a row, the Netherlands Heart Journal (NHJ), the official journal of the Netherlands Society of Cardiology (NVVC), awarded the Durrer Prize to the best two articles published in the year 2011.In 2006, it was thought appropriate to set up a special publication prize to stimulate the submission of original articles to NHJ. Two articles per year are selected, one more basically oriented, and one with a mainly clinical focus.The publication prize carries the name of one of the fathers of Dutch Cardiology, Prof. Dr. Dirk Durrer , who performed pioneering work in the field of electrical activation of the heart in the 1960s.From a total of more than 30 original articles published in NHJ in 2011, we selected as best basic article: Invasive coronary imaging in animal models of atherosclerosis, by Van Ditzhuijzen et al. from Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam and ICIN, Utrecht [As best clinical article we selected: Percutaneous renal denervation for the treatment of resistant essential hypertension: the first Dutch experience, by Voskuil et al. from University Medical Center Utrecht .At the annual spring meeting of the NVVC, held in Noordwijkerhout on 12 April, the first authors of both articles received a nice little statue of an owl  and an educational grant provided by the NVVC. We would like to congratulate the authors with their awards, and we thank them for sending their excellent work to NHJ.


Two years have passed since I assumed the position of Editor-in-Chief (EIC). When I began, my predecessor had done a great deal of superlative work for the journal, indeed so much that it seemed almost impossible for me to advance the Journal further. I decided to focus my efforts on establishing an editorial system that would not be dependent on the talents of any particular EIC.®). In addition, all accepted manuscripts are now systematically copyedited. Finally, the editorial board, which consists of the 18 associate editors and the production manager, now meets regularly. These changes allow the Journal to function somewhat more independently of the EIC, and ensure continuity when the Editor changes. Of course, the success of this system owes much to the considerable efforts of all the members of the editorial board.In October 2008, the editorial board introduced an online submission system (Manuscript CentralTo further develop and improve our editorial system, we need to balance the need for high-quality research articles with our desire to offer the chance of publication to authors working in varying research contexts around the world, and it is my belief that article acceptance should not depend solely on the application of strict criteria for publication. However, whatever the system used to evaluate submissions, the merit of our Journal absolutely depends on the depth and quality of the comments made by reviewers, most of whom are members of the Japan Epidemiological Association. The editorial board gratefully acknowledges their efforts and looks forward to further contributions from them.The editorial board recognizes that each submitted article is the fruit of authors’ painstaking research, and we maintain the greatest respect for them throughout the editorial process. At the same time, the Journal is aware of the risks of scholarly misconduct, which include fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism. We have therefore decided to introduce the CrossCheck software program—which compares submitted manuscripts with those already published—to identify instances of plagiarism. This system is not foolproof, however, so we will continue to improve editorial oversight using our human and technological resources.Tomotaka Sobue, MD, MPHEditor-in-Chief, Journal of Epidemiology


After finishing his primary education at the Manchester Central High School, he served at the University College of North Wales (UCNW) in Bangor, but soon realized that he was interested not so much in plants but rather in animal reproduction and got himself transferred to the Department of Zoology, receiving his B.Sc. in 1951 from UCNW. In 1962, the same institution offered him the degree of D.Sc. After working for 1 year at the California Institute of Technology, he got a 5-year position at the National Institute for Medical Research in London. He then studied at the Institute of Animal Genetics, University of Edinburgh, and received his Ph.D. in 1955. In 1963, he joined Cambridge University. In 1968, he attended a lecture at the Royal Society of Medicine in London given by Patrick Steptoe, a gynecologist, describing laparoscopy, a surgical technique that could give access to the ovaries, enabling the retrieval of eggs in order to be fertilized in vitro. Their collaboration started in 1968 and 10 years later, Louise Brown was born. By 1968, he was able to achieve fertilization of the human egg in the laboratory and started to collaborate with Patrick Steptoe. Edwards and Steptoe established the Bourn Hall Clinic in Cambridge, the world’s first center for IVF therapy. Steptoe was its medical director until his death in 1988 and Edwards was its head of research until his retirement. Gynecologists and cell biologists from all around the world trained at Bourn Hall, where the methods of IVF were continuously refined. Edwards developed human culture media to allow the fertilization and early embryo culture while Steptoe used laparoscopy to recover oocytes from patients with tubal infertility. The birth of Louise Brown, the first “test-tube baby,” in July 1978 heralded the beginning of a new field of medicine.Robert Edwards was a founder member of ESHRE and became the Society’s first chairman in 1985. The following year, under his drive and direction, ESHRE published the first issue of its journal, Human Reproduction, with him as an Editor, a role he continued for 15 years.Professor Edwards also founded the journal, “Reproductive Bio Medicine Online” in 2000 and published it independently for 10 years. Having developed it and ensured its place among the leading journals in the field of Reproductive Medicine, he began handing over the reins for the journal in 2009, becoming Editor Emeritus of RBM Online. In 2010, Elsevier became the Publisher of this journal.The smiles on the face of millions of childless couples worldwide are proof enough of the importance of the discovery of IVF. The artificial reproduction techniques fraternity will unanimously agree that this Nobel prize is well deserved for the courageous breakthrough in infertility, which has now spread from Bourn Hall, UK, to every nook and corner of the world.ISAR offers its heartfelt congratulations to Professor Edwards on this most distinguished recognition of his achievements in medicine.


Starch is the most important carbohydrate in plant storage tissues. Multiple isozymes in at least four enzyme classes are involved in starch biosynthesis. Some of these isozymes are thought to interact and form complexes for efficient starch biosynthesis. Of these enzyme classes, starch synthases (SSs) and branching enzymes (BEs) play particularly central roles.ss1/be1 and ss1L/be2b) between SSI  and BEI or BEIIb (major BEs in developing rice endosperm) to explore the relationships among these isozymes. The seed weight of ss1/be1 was comparable to that of wild type, although most ss1/be2b seeds were sterile and no double recessive plants were obtained. The seed weight of the double recessive mutant line ss1L/be2b, derived from the leaky ss1 mutant (ss1L) and be2b, was higher than that of the single be2b mutant. Analyses of the chain-length distribution of amylopectin in ss1/be1 endosperm revealed additive effects of SSI and BEI on amylopectin structure. Chain-length analysis indicated that the BEIIb deficiency significantly reduced the ratio of short chains in amylopectin of ss1L/be2b. The amylose content of endosperm starch of ss1/be1 and ss1L/be2b was almost the same as that of wild type, whereas the endosperm starch of be2b contained more amylose than did that of wild type. SSI, BEI, and BEIIb deficiency also affected the extent of binding of other isozymes to starch granules.We generated double mutant lines (be2b was because of reduced amylopectin biosynthesis; however, the lower SSI activity in this background may have enhanced amylopectin biosynthesis as a result of a correction of imbalance between the branching and elongation found in the single mutant. The fact that a deficiency of SSI, BEI, or BEIIb affected the affinity of other starch biosynthetic isozymes for the starch granule implies that there is a close interaction among SSI, BEI and BEIIb during amylopectin biosynthesis in rice endosperm.Analysis of the chain-length distribution in amylopectin of the double mutant lines showed that SSI and BEI or BEIIb primarily function independently, and branching by BEIIb is followed by SSI chain elongation. The increased amylose content in  The amylopectin and amylose content strongly affect the physical and chemical properties of starch. At least four classes of enzymes are involved in starch biosynthesis: ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (AGPase), starch synthase (SS), starch branching enzyme (BE), and starch debranching enzyme (DBE)  and a plastic pestle. The homogenate was incubated with a rotator  at 37°C for 2 h. The homogenate was centrifuged at 20,000 2, 50 mM 2-mercaptoethanol, and 12.5% (v/v) glycerol] to obtain the SP fraction. The resulting pellet after centrifugation at 20,000 g for 10 min at 4°C was extracted with SDS solution  to obtain the LBP fraction. The TBP fraction was extracted from the pellet after boiling with SDS solution for 7 min as described in a previous report [The amounts of total proteins were normalized to the same intensity of general protein bands on SDS-PAGE gel stained with CBB, and used for immunoblotting. SP and LBP fractions were prepared from developing and mature endosperm as follows: seeds were ground in extraction buffer [50 mM imidazole-HCl (pH 7.4), 8 mM MgClNative-PAGE/activity staining of DBE and BE was performed as previously described ,26. The et al.[Native-PAGE/SS activity staining was performed on 7.5% (w/v) acrylamide slab gels containing 0.8% (w/v) oyster glycogen , according to Nishi et al., with thWe conducted immunoblotting analyses for four extracts  as previously described . We used2, 5 mM DTT). The reaction was carried out at 30°C for 20 min and terminated by boiling. The samples were diluted with 350 μL water and then centrifuged. Then, 10 μL 10 mM NADP+ was added to a 500 μL aliquot of the supernatant. After addition of 0.2 U phosphoglucomutase and 1 U glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase, the absorbance at 340 nm was measured using a spectrophotometer. The amount of NADPH was calculated using the extinction coefficient 6.22 mmol-1 cm2.AGPase activity was quantified as described in a previous report . Solubleet al.[Starch was extracted from mature rice endosperms to assess the amylopectin chain-length distribution as described by Fujita et al.. The chaet al.,33 usingGel filtration chromatography of starches and amylopectin was performed as previously described ,28 usingAAC: Apparent amylose content; ADP: Adenosine diphosphate; BE: Branching enzyme; DAF: Days after flowering; DBE: Debranching enzyme; DP: Degree of polymerization; DTT: Dithiothreitol; ELC: Extra-long chain; Fr: Fraction; GBSSI: Granule-bound starch synthase I; Glc: Glucose; LBP: Loosely-bound protein; PAGE: Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis; SDS: Sodium dodecyl sulfate; SP: Soluble protein; SS: Starch synthase; TBP: Tightly-bound protein.The authors declare that they have no competing interests.NA performed seed weight measurements, native-PAGE/activity staining, immunoblotting, gel filtration, and chain-length distribution analyses. HA and HY assisted with gel filtration and chain-length distribution analyses. NFO performed starch content measurements. RI assisted with screening of double recessive mutant lines. NC measured AGPase activity and helped to summarize data and write the manuscript. YN helped to write the manuscript. NF performed crosses between single mutant lines, wrote the manuscript, and planned, supervised, and coordinated the project. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.


The objectives set whilPositron emission tomography - An overview by Shukla AK and Kumar Utham” which appeared in issue No. 1 and the least viewed have been the synopses of papers presented at AMPICON-2006 published in issue No. 3. Even the articles of issue No. 4  appears to have attracted more viewers than the synopses of the 127 poster presentations of AMPICON-2006. This may have some bearing on the varying quality of the material and is a point of further retrospection for the editorial board of JMP.The online publication of the first issue of volume 31 (2006) was delayed a bit  but the publication of the subsequent issues (quarterly publication) could catch up and all the four issues planned for the year became available before the end of 2006. This appears to be a record in itself. About the readership of JMP, as per the number of visitors recorded on the site, at the time of writing of this editorial, the journal has been viewed by more than 70000 viewers. This phenomenal growth in the readership not only enabled in achieving the goals set for the journal but also helped considerably in meeting the aims and objectives of the Association of Medical Physicists of India (AMPI) viz, to promote the application of physics to medical and biological sciences, to encourage research and development and education in the field of MEDICAL PHYSICS, to provide a forum for persons engaged or interested in the field of MEDICAL PHYSICS and to disseminate worldwide information in this field. Some of the articles published in JMP have been viewed as much as 1400 times. Till date, the most viewed article of volume 31 has been a review article entitled “The highlights of the analysis of the performance of the journal during the year 2006 are presented in JMP continues to share the responsibility within the editorial board members as much as possible. However, the workload could not be shared, as equally as planned, among the 22 members of the board due to the other preoccupations of some of the members. Help of the experts from outside the editorial board in refereeing the manuscripts was found very valuable. In view of this, a reorganization and expansion of the editorial board became inevitable. A need to enlarge the scope was also recognized and features like “NEWS” and “BOOK REVIEW” were considered to be included. A few amendments in the instructions to authors are also made and these may be noted through this issue. The policy of refereeing continues to provide the authors critical comments to improve the manuscripts as much as possible and to minimize the rejection of good work for the lack of the art of presentation. However, the manuscripts dealing with contents beyond the scope of this journal, insufficient matter, no originality, inaccurate data and ideas with basic flaws have to be rejected.With the committed cooperation of the publisher and the members of the editorial board, the future of JMP appears bright. I look forward to valuable suggestions and scientific contributions from the medical physics community to help us in our joint effort to accelerate this vehicle of communication to climb new heights.


Shortly after KTx (3–6 h), uNGAL values were higher in DGF recipients  and rose further in following days, contrasting with prompt function recipients. Day-1 uNGAL levels accurately predicted DGF (AUC-ROC = 0.93), with a performance higher than serum creatinine (AUC-ROC = 0.76), and similar to cystatin C (AUC-ROC = 0.95). Multivariable analyses revealed that uNGAL levels at days 4 and 7 were strongly associated with one-year serum creatinine. Urinary NGAL is an early marker of graft injury and is independently associated with dialysis requirement within one week after KTx and one-year graft function. Urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (uNGAL) has been suggested as potential early marker of delayed graft function (DGF) following kidney transplantation (KTx). We conducted a prospective study in 40 consecutive KTx recipients to evaluate serial changes of uNGAL within the first week after KTx and assess its performance in predicting DGF  and graft function throughout first year. Urine samples were collected on post-KTx days 0, 1, 2, 4, and 7. Linear mixed and multivariable regression models, receiver-operating characteristic (ROC), and areas under ROC curves were used. At all-time points, mean uNGAL levels were significantly higher in patients developing DGF ( Delayed graft function (DGF) is an important complication of kidney transplantation (KTx) that adversely affects allograft survival. Despite substantial improvements in the field of KTx, the incidence of DGF is rising with the growing practice of accepting expanded criteria donors to increase transplantation rates –6. DelayReliable biomarkers enabling early discrimination of DGF in KTx are lacking, which impairs timely therapeutic interventions. Traditionally, acute graft dysfunction is diagnosed by measuring serum creatinine, but this parameter is an unreliable indicator of kidney function during an episode of acute injury . One of evaluate longitudinal changes of uNGAL levels over the first week after KTx and identify factors associated with these changes;assess the performance of uNGAL in predicting DGF ;appraise the long-term prognostic value of uNGAL measured within one week posttransplantation on kidney allograft function, evaluated by one-year serum creatinine.In order to support the usefulness of uNGAL as a reliable marker of graft injury and to clarify the role of this promising biomarker in the prediction of kidney function beyond the first week after transplant, we conducted a prospective study toConsecutive patients with end-stage renal disease, undergoing living or deceased KTx at Centro Hospitalar do Porto, from December 2010 to May 2011 were prospectively enrolled. Recruitment excluded patients less than 18 years old and those who required a combined pancreas or liver KTx. After transplant, patients with primary graft failure related to surgical causes were excluded. This study was approved by Institutional Review Board of Centro Hospitalar do Porto. Each participant provided written informed consent before enrolment.Urine samples for NGAL determination were collected 3 to 6 h after surgery (uNGAL0 or baseline); on the following morning, nearly 8 to 12 h after graft reperfusion (uNGAL1 or first day); and then at second (uNGAL2), fourth (uNGAL4), and seventh days (uNGAL7), for a total of five samples for each patient. The same laboratory technician, who was blinded to patient information, performed uNGAL measurements using a two-step chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay on a standardized clinical platform .Serum creatinine levels were determined preoperatively, daily until hospital discharge, and at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after transplantation to evaluate later graft function. Serum creatinine measurements were performed by Jaffé method (Roche Diagnostics). Cystatin C was measured with a particle enhanced immunonephelometric method (Siemens Diagnostics) at the same time points as uNGAL, except for baseline.Delayed graft function was defined, according to United Network for Organ Sharing, as the requirement for dialysis within the first seven days after KTx, due to an absence or irrelevant improvement in graft function. Complementarily, graft function was considered “prompt” (non-DGF) if no dialysis was required during the first week after transplantation.Acute Rejection was defined as either biopsy-proven rejection or antirejection treatment without biopsy.Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR) was calculated using the Rule's refitted MDRD formula  versus 1.3 mg/dL [IQR: 1.0–1.5], The correlation between uNGAL collected in the first week after KTx and serum creatinine at one year was explored. Except for uNGAL collected within the first 24 h after transplantation, uNGAL levels were positively correlated with serum creatinine evaluated at time of discharge, and also at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months. Likewise, uNGAL levels at days 2, 4, and 7 were inversely correlated with eGFR at 6 and 12 months (data not shown).The prognostic value of early uNGAL values on long-term allograft function (one year after KTx) was tested by multivariable analysis. In multivariable linear regression models for serum creatinine at 12 months, uNGAL measured on the fourth and seventh days were independently associated with one-year graft function, adjusting for established variables that usually affect graft function, including acute rejection episodes and rehospitalizations that occurred during the first posttransplant year .The major finding of this study is that uNGAL is a promising biomarker for allograft dysfunction that can be easily and noninvasively assayed in the early posttransplant period. We prospectively evaluated uNGAL in a cohort of 40 kidney allograft recipients during the first posttransplant week. At all measured time points, uNGAL levels were consistently higher in patients who developed DGF, including the earliest levels obtained from the first urine sample collected approximately 3 to 6 h after transplant surgery. At this time, clinical diagnosis of DGF is yet not possible, but a simple and noninvasive test can already recognize kidney dysfunction and stratify patients according to likelihood of requiring posttransplant dialysis.It would be ideal to diagnose graft dysfunction with an early and highly sensitive biologic marker of renal tubular injury. One of the most promising markers is NGAL, and our findings provide further information for the use of uNGAL as a diagnostic and prognostic tool for DGF. According to our estimation, uNGAL values shortly after transplant surgery will be much higher in patients who went on to develop DGF and will rise further in the following days. In contrast, patients with prompt function will have lower levels, which decrease consistently along the week. The kinetics of changes in these recipients compared to those who presented DGF is quite different. It seems that, not only the baseline levels, but also the pattern of uNGAL longitudinal changes can reflect graft dysfunction.The association between higher NGAL levels and DGF after KTx has been previously published , 24, 25.To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report that used linear mixed analysis in describing longitudinal changes of uNGAL in the first week following KTx. Multiple observations of a variable on a particular patient are likely to be positively correlated, so they should not be treated as independent measurements. Although models that take this design into consideration are more complicated, they are also more specific and powerful since they permit the study of changes over time. Linear mixed analysis not only permits to model individual changes over time, but also is able to distinguish within-subject from between-subject sources of variation .In accordance with previously published data –22, 24, We report a superior performance of uNGAL level for predicting DGF over serum creatinine measured at the same time. Urinary NGAL measured at the first day predicted DGF with an AUC-ROC of 0.93, which is markedly better than an AUC-ROC = 0.76 shown by serum creatinine measured in the same day, and also than an AUC-ROC = 0.83 obtained from creatinine reduction ratio from first to second day, but quite similar to cystatin C (0.95), a marker considered more accurately to detect changes in renal function –35. FurtBesides DGF, the other factors that significantly influenced uNGAL levels were previous time on dialysis, recipient's age at time of transplantation and cold ischemia time. These three variables were positively correlated with uNGAL values. Mishra and coworkers  have shoAs other studies , 26, 37,Our study has several strengths. First, it is a prospective-cohort design study. Second, we measured uNGAL at several time points within the first posttransplant week, and not at one single point. Longitudinal studies have the advantage of providing detailed information about how a marker changes over time; however the studies present some statistical complexities, since the customary assumption that all observations are independent usually does not hold. And this was the third strength of our study: the use of longitudinal methods to handle the serial changes of uNGAL. A fourth strength was the technical determination that we have chosen to measure NGAL. We used a commercially available kit for uNGAL determination (Abbott Architect NGAL), which is simple to implement in routine practice and it is considered one of the best methods for detecting acute kidney injury .Similarly to other authors , 22, we Similar to other areas in medicine, in kidney transplantation early diagnosis and timely intervention will improve outcomes. Ischemic injury of the renal allograft is a critical early insult that increases the risk of acute tubular necrosis and long-term graft loss. If DGF could be detected in the early hours after surgical procedure, maybe a tailored and more individualized intervention could be achieved. Perioperative fluid management must ensure the restoration and maintenance of the intravascular volume, in order to obtain an appropriate graft function. Aggressive hydration has been recognized to be effective in avoiding DGF, but fluid overload may also precipice the need of dialysis with the risk of hipovolemia and consequent renal ischemia. Early identification of DGF patients could allow to be more judicious and to modify postoperative fluid management in favor of maintaining just adequate filling pressures to maintain adequate intravascular volume and prevent fluid overload . RegardiSeveral studies were done in renal transplantation to identify early biomarkers for the diagnosis of DGF. However, there is still no routine application of any of these markers in clinical transplantation. The present study clearly support that uNGAL represents an early marker of graft injury and is strongly associated with dialysis-based diagnosis of DGF and one-year graft function. Other studies are necessary to clarify the genesis and sources of plasma and urinary NGAL and validate the accuracy of uNGAL as a diagnostic marker of renal graft injury and predictor for DGF in assorted centres, across different practices and sets of variables.


Biological Procedures Online has been blessed by the support of highly-qualified peer reviewers, and the Editor-in-Chief, Shulin Li, and staff of the journal would like to show their appreciation by thanking the following for their invaluable assistance with review of manuscripts for the journal in Volume 15 (2013).A peer-reviewed journal would not survive without the generous time and insightful comments of the reviewers, whose efforts often go unrecognized.  Maqusood AhamedSaudi ArabiaJoel BumgardnerUnited States of AmericaWim DHaezeUnited States of AmericaMarxa FigueiredoUnited States of AmericaMichael GeorgeUnited States of AmericaYan GuoUnited States of AmericaRonald JacksonUnited KingdomShisheng LiUnited States of AmericaBolin LiuUnited States of AmericaQI LiuUnited States of AmericaMauro ProvincialiItalyTetsuo ShibuyaJapanDebbal Sidi MohammedAlgeriaTodd StedefordUnited States of AmericaHong-Bo XieAustraliaJianhua YangUnited States of AmericaShaomian YaoUnited States of AmericaLiangfang ZhangUnited States of America


The remaining ARFIMA  models add to the ARMA models a fractional integration parameter d. As laid-out by the author, given a genuine fractal series, ARFIMA models should present a better fit than ARMA counterparts. Based on this logic, Stadnitski  and  model once, and six times for the ARFIMA  model. BIC favored the ARMA  and  model and the ARFIMA  model once, and the ARFIMA  model seven times. Given that “the smallest AIC or BIC indicates the best model,” the d parameter was estimated for the best fitting models . Next, the 10 surrogate series were analyzed using DFA (converted to d), to allow for a comparison between the ARFIMA and monofractal methodologiesAIC and BIC for nine possible ARMA models and nine ARFIMA models were calculated  model, and concluded that ARFIMA methods were less biased and more precise than, and therefore superior to, monofractal estimators. Here, spectral surrogates were constructed, and ARFIMA and DFA estimates were compared to the original target parameters. Here, the ARFIMA methodology was more biased than monofractal estimators. So how should one go about this discrepancy?This conclusion is discrepant to Stadnitski's conclusion. Stadnitski simulated a short-memory ARIMA  model and a long-memory ARFIMA (1, Accuracy concerns aside, it may be concluded that the issue raised by Stadnitski is in fact a theoretical, rather than a statistical one. By realizing that “goodness-of-fit alone cannot serve up counterexamples that falsify theories” Gilden, , p. 1463That is, although often implicit, there must exist specific ontological intuitions that motivate researchers to fit ARFIMA models. As it stands, however, this inherent theoretical motivation is still to take up the challenge against theoretical predictions corroborated by fractal perspectives (see Diniz et al.,


Current Neuropharmacology enters its 12th volume after having increased the number of issues to six per year. This reflectsthe increasing number of quality papers that are received for publication. In addition to providing the opportunity for morepapers to be published, it also allows for a more rapid publication schedule. All of these are features of a thriving journal, but athriving journal would not be possible without the dedicated efforts throughout the year of authors, Editorial Board members,Special Guest Editors, anonymous reviewers, and of course the efforts of Bentham Science Publishers. My thanks go out to allof you. Current Neuropharmacology is reflected in the content of the presentissue of the journal which contains a wide range of topical reviews. Subjects covered are the Therapeutic Strategies forAlzheimer’s Disease ; Purinergic Signaling and Long-Term Potentiation ; Pregabalin inNeuropathic Pain ; Ketamine as an Antidepressant (Hasselmann); Ionotropic Glutamate Receptors in ChildhoodNeurodevelopmental Disorders . The journal continues to offer an excellent vehicle for the publication of novelreviews and hypotheses. The diversity and high standard of work published in