The biodiversity-productivity relationship (BPR) is foundational to our understanding of the global extinction crisis and its impacts on ecosystem functioning. Understanding BPR is critical for the accurate valuation and effective conservation of biodiversity. Using ground-sourced data from 777,126 permanent plots, spanning 44 countries and most terrestrial biomes, we reveal a globally consistent positive concave-down BPR, showing that continued biodiversity loss would result in an accelerating decline in forest productivity worldwide. The value of biodiversity in maintaining commercial forest productivity alone—US$166 billion to 490 billion per year according to our estimation—is more than twice what it would cost to implement effective global conservation. This highlights the need for a worldwide reassessment of biodiversity values, forest management strategies, and conservation priorities. (Résumé d'auteur

Background/Aims-The characteristics of pepsinogen screening for gastric cancer were investigated to establish a suitable cut oV point for identifying gastric cancer, using endoscopic diagnosis as the yardstick. Subjects/Methods-Serum pepsinogen concentrations were measured in 5113 subjects who were also screened for gastric cancer by endoscopy. The cut oV point for pepsinogen was determined using receiver operator characteristics curves. Results-The most suitable cut oV point was a pepsinogen I concentration of less than 70 ng/ml and a ratio of pepsinogen I to pepsinogen II of less than 3.0. Using this cut oV point, the sensitivity and specificity of pepsinogen screening for gastric cancer were 84.6% and 73.5% respectively. All cases of gastric cancer in patients with severe atrophic gastritis were detected. However, two of four cases of gastric cancer in patients with mild atrophic gastritis were overlooked. In subjects with mild atrophic gastritis, when gastric cancer arises within the fundic gland region, the size of the lesion determines whether it is possible to detect cancer by serum pepsinogen screening. Conclusion-Pepsinogen screening has many advantages, including its suitability for combination with other screening methods because it is simple and inexpensive. (Gut 1999;44:693-697)

c-erb-2 amplification and overexpression are currently attracting a great deal of attention because a new adjuvant therapy using an antibody against the c-erbB-2 gene product, trastuzumab (Herceptin; Genentech, Inc., South San Francisco, CA), has proved effective in treating breast cancer with amplification and/or overexpression of c-erbB-2. Aberrations of c-erbB-2 have also been detected in ovarian, endometrial and gastric carcinomas at varied frequencies. Amplification of the c-erbB-2 locus (17q12-q21.32), overexpression of c-erbB-2 protein (p185) and serum levels of soluble c-erbB-2 protein fragments (p105) were examined in gastric cancer patients using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), immunohistochemistry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), respectively. Overexpression of c-erbB-2 protein was found in 29 (8.2%) of the 352 gastric carcinomas analyzed. In FISH analysis, all tumors with 3؉ immunostaining and 1 of 5 tumors with 2؉ staining showed high-level amplification of c-erbB-2. Pre-operative serum p105 was quantified in serum specimens from 129 patients with gastric cancer and 28 patients with benign diseases. There were no significant differences in the serum p105 levels among 11 patients with c-erbB-2-overexpressing carcinomas, 118 patients with c-erbB-2 non-overexpressing carcinomas and 28 controls, although a single case of gastric carcinoma overexpressing c-erbB-2 with extensive liver metastasis had a higher level than the cut-off value. The mechanisms of overexpression of p185 and highlevel amplification of c-erbB-2 in gastric adenocarcinomas seem similar to those well-established in breast cancers. Patients having gastric adenocarcinoma with c-erbB-2 amplification are potential candidates for a new adjuvant therapy using humanized monoclonal antibody.

These results suggest an association between gallstone or polyp of the gallbladder and increased risk of malignancy, implying that an etiological association may also exist.

, S. 2010. Effects of training for inexperienced surveyors on data quality of tree diameter and height measurements. Silva Fennica 44(4): 657-667.Due to the large number of sample plots and variables to be measured, inexperienced surveyors are expected to take field measurements in National Forest Inventories (NFIs). However, very little information exists on the data quality that can be expected from inexperienced surveyors given different levels of training. We evaluated the quality of data produced by inexperienced undergraduate students when measuring the most fundamental variables: tree diameter using a diameter tape and height using an ultrasonic Vertex III hypsometer. We found that a single training session on how to use the instruments and how to reduce measurement errors was insufficient for inexperienced surveyors to achieve measurement quality objectives (MQOs). Providing a single feedback of control team measurements significantly improved data quality, except in the measurements of tree height of broad-leaved trees, but additional feedback did not contribute to further improvement. We propose that field training courses for inexperienced surveyors incorporate a one-day exercise with feedback instruction.