The erosion of mountain belts controls their topographic and structural evolution and is the main source of sediment delivered to the oceans. Mountain erosion rates have been estimated from current relief and precipitation, but a more complete evaluation of the controls on erosion rates requires detailed measurements across a range of timescales. Here we report erosion rates in the Taiwan mountains estimated from modern river sediment loads, Holocene river incision and thermochronometry on a million-year scale. Estimated erosion rates within the actively deforming mountains are high (3-6 mm yr(-1)) on all timescales, but the pattern of erosion has changed over time in response to the migration of localized tectonic deformation. Modern, decadal-scale erosion rates correlate with historical seismicity and storm-driven runoff variability. The highest erosion rates are found where rapid deformation, high storm frequency and weak substrates coincide, despite low topographic relief.

International audienceLateral erosion in bedrock rivers is an important control on the shape of channel crosssections, and the coupling of channels and hillslopes. Recent observations link lateral erosionto the variability of flow. We propose two mechanisms to explain this. One is based on changing shear stress distributions within the channel with varying flood level, the other on the competition between cover and tool effects in fluvial bedrock erosion. We assess these processes for the Liwu River, Taiwan, and conclude that cover and tool effects dominate the partitioning of lateral and vertical erosion in this case

This study aimed to elucidate the relationship of type 2 diabetes, other known risk factors, and primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in countries with a high prevalence of hepatitis infection. We followed a prospective cohort of 54,979 subjects who participated in the Keelung Community-Based Integrated Screening program between 1999 and 2002. A total of 5,732 subjects with type 2 diabetes cases were identified at enrollment on the basis of fasting blood glucose level, and a total of 138 confirmed HCC cases were identified either through two-stage liver cancer screening or linkage with the National Cancer Registry. The independent effect of type 2 diabetes on the incidence of HCC and the interaction between type 2 diabetes and hepatitis infection or lipids profile were assessed using the Cox proportional hazards regression model. After controlling for age, sex, hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), smoking, and alcohol consumption, the association between type 2 diabetes and incidence of HCC (excluding 33 prevalent cases identified at enrollment) was modified by HCV status and cholesterol level.

BACKGROUND.In western countries, the Kirsten ras oncogene homolog gene (KRAS) mutation rate is high in patients with nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC), especially in those with adenocarcinoma (30%‐50%), but the epidermal growth factor receptor gene (EGFR) mutation rate is very low (3%‐8%). In addition, KRAS mutations reportedly were associated with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR‐TKI) resistance. In Taiwan, high EGFR mutation rates associated with high EGFR‐TKI response rates in patients with NSCLC have been reported; however, KRAS mutation data are limited and have not been correlated with TKI response.METHODS.KRAS mutation analysis was performed on 237 NSCLC specimens, and the results were correlated with clinicopathologic features. All but 2 tumors also underwent EGFR mutation analysis.RESULTS.KRAS mutations were identified in only 9 of 237 patients (3.80%). Five patients were women who were nonsmokers, and 4 patients were men who were ever‐smokers. The mutation rate was 5.03% in patients with adenocarcinoma (8 of 159 patients) and 1.56% in patients with squamous cell carcinoma (1 of 64 patients). Four mutations were G12V, 3 mutations were G12D, 1 mutation was L19F, and 1 was the duplication insertion mutation dupT50_M72. In contrast, EGFR mutations were detected in 96 of 235 patients (40.8%) and in 90 of 157 adenocarcinomas (57.3%). None of the KRAS mutations coexisted with EGFR mutations. KRAS mutations were not associated significantly with any clinicopathologic characteristics, including smoking status. Among the 53 patients who had received TKI monotreatment, only 1 patient had a KRAS mutation and had progressive disease.CONCLUSIONS.The KRAS mutation rate was too low to play a significant role in TKI resistance or tumorigenesis among Taiwanese patients with NSCLC, which was the complete reverse of the results reported in western countries. Cancer 2008. © 2008 American Cancer Society.

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