bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Altern und Alter bei Pflanzen. Auch sie haben kein ewiges Leben
Authors: Krupinska Karin
Published: June 2007

Bei vielen Pflanzen ist die Alterung mit der sexuellen Reproduktion verbunden. Bei diesen als monokarpisch bezeichneten Pflanzen kommt es nach dem Fruchten zum Tod. Mehrjährige polykarpische Pflanzen, die mehrfach fruchten, bevor sie sterben, altern unabhängig von ihrer Reproduktion. Pflanzen unterschiedlichen Alters können sich in der Morphologie und im Stoffwechsel unterscheiden. Ältere Pflanzen haben eine niedrigere Stressresistenz und können reaktive Sauerstoffverbindungen schlechter entgiften als jüngere Pflanzen. Wie bei tierischen Organismen sind diese Sauerstoffverbindungen an der Alterung beteiligt. Sie wirken in hoher Konzentration toxisch und können in geringen Mengen Signalwirkung haben.
Stammzellen als Jungbrunnen? Tissue engineering
Authors: Lepperdinger Günter
Published: June 2007

Stammzellen sind in bestimmten Geweben dafür verantwortlich, dass verbrauchte durch frische Zellen ersetzt werden und so diese Gewebe erneuert werden. Blieben Stammzellen ewig jung oder würden sie während ihrer Tätigkeit keinen Schaden leiden, würden einzelne Körperteile des Organismus sehr lange und ohne Einschränkungen funktionstüchtig bleiben. Im Laufe eines Lebens nehmen aber auch Stammzellen Schaden und zeigen Ermüdungserscheinungen. Nicht zuletzt deshalb funktionieren bestimmte Organe und Körperteile im Alter nicht mehr optimal. Sollte es möglich sein, die Eigenschaften von Stammzellen in alternden Geweben zu unterstützen oder isolierte Stammzellen effizient zu aktivieren, wären neue medizinische Behandlungen denkbar. Darüber hinaus stellen solchermaßen optimierte Stammzellen eine potenzielle Alternative zu embryonalen Stammzellen für den Organersatz und für zelluläre Therapien dar.
Erpresserische Brutschmarotzer
Authors: Wendler Silke
Published: June 2007

Der Braunkopf‐Kuhstärling (Molothrus ater), ein in Nordamerika beheimateter Singvogel, ist ein Brutparasit, der häufig zu erpresserischen Methoden greift. Jeffrey Hoover und seine Arbeitsgruppe haben beobachtet, dass der Braunkopf‐Kuhstärling in gut der Hälfte der untersuchten Fälle die Nester des Zitronenwaldsängers (Protonotaria citrea) zerstört, wenn dieser die Aufzucht des fremden Nachwuchses verweigert.
Malariafieber: Hämozoin als DNA‐Fähre
Authors: Hille‐Rehfeld Annette
Published: June 2007

Das Krankheitsbild der Malaria ist durch wiederkehrende Fieberanfälle gekennzeichnet. Als auslösender Faktor wird bei der Erythrocytenlyse freigesetzte Plasmodien‐DNA diskutiert. Diese wird im Huckepackverfahren, gebunden an das Malariapigment Hämozoin, von Immunzellen aufgenommen und aktiviert die angeborene Immunantwort.
Peru: Vom Anchovis zum Fischfilet
Authors: Travezano Edgardo Enriquez , Kronberg Inge
Published: June 2007

Wie macht man aus grätenreichen, kleinen Fischen appetitliche, grätenfreie Fischfilets? Man verarbeitet die Grätenfische zu Fischmehl und füttert damit Luxusfische wie Lachs, Steinbutt und Aal. Für Peru ist der Fischmehlexport aus der Anchovisfischerei ein bedeutender Wirtschaftsfaktor. An den peruanischen Küsten machen sich inzwischen jedoch Umweltprobleme durch Überfischung und durch die Abwässer der Fischmehlindustrie bemerkbar.
Warum ist Lupus Erythematodes eine Frauenkrankheit?
Authors: Bein Gregor , Hackstein Holger
Published: June 2007

Der Systemische Lupus Erythematodes (SLE) ist eine chronisch entzündliche Autoimmunerkrankung, deren Entstehungsmechanismus ungeklärt ist. Eine rätselhafte Besonderheit dieser Erkrankung war, dass neun von zehn Betroffenen weiblich sind. Wissenschaftler des Nationalen Genomforschungsnetzes haben einen Signalweg entdeckt, der das häufige Auftreten des SLE bei Frauen erklären kann. Nach Aktivierung des Toll‐like Rezeptor 7 (TLR7)‐Signalweges ist die Interferon‐alpha Produktion bei Frauen im Vergleich zu Männern mehr als doppelt so hoch. Da Interferon‐alpha eine zentrale Rolle bei der SLE‐Entstehung spielt, ergeben sich neue Hinweise zur Pathogenese und Therapie der Erkrankung.
Hans Driesch begründete den Neovitalismus
Authors: Penzlin Heinz
Published: June 2007

Hans Driesch gehört zu den wenigen Biologen, die sowohl in ihrer Fachwissenschaft (Zoologie) als auch auf dem Gebiet der Philosophie Großes geleistet haben. Die von Driesch in der als “Neovitalismus” gekennzeichneten “Lehre von der Autonomie des Organischen” gegebenen Antworten auf die Grundfragen des Lebendigen finden heute zwar kaum noch Anhänger, aber dennoch sind die von ihm herausgearbeiteten Fragen und Probleme bis heute aktuell geblieben und werden wahrscheinlich erst im Rahmen einer noch auszuarbeitenden allgemeinen Theorie organisierter Systeme ihre befriedigende Antwort finden.
Randomized clinical trial of the influence of intraperitoneal local anaesthesia on pain after laparoscopic surgery
Authors: Palmes D , Röttgermann S , Classen C , Haier J , Horstmann R
Published: June 2007

Background

There is controversy about the effectiveness of intraperitoneal local anaesthesia (LA) in laparoscopic surgery. The aim of the present randomized clinical trial was to compare the analgesic effect of pre-emptive (preoperative) versus postoperative intraperitoneal LA in two different types of laparoscopic surgery.

Methods

Between July 2004 and January 2005, 133 consecutive patients scheduled to undergo laparoscopic fundoplication or hernia repair were randomly assigned to one of three treatments: placebo solution (50 ml 0·9 per cent saline) or LA (50 ml 0·5 per cent lidocaine) administered immediately after creation of the pneumoperitoneum, or LA (50 ml 0·5 per cent lidocaine) at the end of the operation. Analgesic requirements were analysed, and pain was assessed using a visual analogue scale (VAS) from 0 to 100 at 6, 12, 24 and 48 h after surgery.

Results

The duration of pneumoperitoneum (median 66 versus 46 min respectively; P < 0·001) and overall pain intensity (median VAS score 46·7 versus 6·5; P < 0·001) were higher for laparoscopic fundoplication than for hernia repair. Preoperative application of LA reduced abdominal pain (median 28·6 versus 74·9; P < 0·005), shoulder pain (median 24·3 versus 43·8; P = 0·004) and analgesic consumption (mean(s.d.) 11·1(5·0) versus 18·5(5·4) mg piritramide per 48 h; P = 0·002) after fundoplication, but had no analgesic effects after hernia repair.

Conclusion

Pre-emptive application of LA reduced postoperative pain and analgesic requirements after laparoscopic fundoplication.
Systematic review of the risk of developing a metachronous contralateral inguinal hernia in children
Authors: Ron O , Eaton S , Pierro A
Published: June 2007

Background

This study aims to establish the risk of developing a metachronous contralateral inguinal hernia (MCIH) following open repair of a unilateral inguinal hernia in children.

Methods

A systematic review was performed using a defined search strategy. Studies in which children undergoing open repair of a unilateral inguinal hernia without contralateral exploration and who were followed up for MCIH development were included.

Results

Of 5937 titles and abstracts screened, 154 full-text articles were identified for review; 49 papers were analysed with data on 22 846 children. The incidence of MCIH was 7·2 per cent overall, 6·9 per cent in boys and 7·3 per cent in girls (P = 0·381). Children with a left-sided inguinal hernia had a significantly higher risk of developing a MCIH than those with a right-sided hernia (10·2 versus 6·3 per cent respectively; P < 0·001).

Conclusion

Overall, in both boys and girls, 14 contralateral explorations are required to prevent one metachronous hernia. The risk of developing a MCIH appears unchanged in early childhood, with a slight reduction after 12 years of age. Children with a left-sided hernia have the greatest risk of developing a contralateral hernia, but ten explorations are still required to prevent one metachronous hernia. Most MCIHs occur in the first 5 years after unilateral inguinal hernia repair.
Cholesterol and serum albumin as risk factors for death in patients undergoing general surgery (Br J Surg 2007; 94: 369–375)
Authors: Fujita T
Published: June 2007

The Editors welcome topical correspondence from readers relating to articles published in the Journal. Responses should be sent electronically via the BJS website (www.bjs.co.uk). All letters will be reviewed and, if approved, appear on the website. A selection of these will be edited and published in the Journal. Letters must be no more than 250 words in length.
DGfM: Mauerwerk 3/2007
Authors: Rast Ronald
Published: June 2007

Mauerwerksbau verzeichnet 2006 ein deutliches Plus – für 2007 erneuter Einbruch befürchtet

DGfM‐Forschungsprojekt: Keller aus Mauerwerk

BFW unterstützt Anstrengungen zur energetischen Gebäudesanierung

Bundeskabinett macht Weg für Energieausweise frei

Befreiungsschlag durch Abschaffung der Erbschaftsteuer – Verwaltungskosten verschlingen größten Teil der Einnahmen

BSI: Riester‐Förderung für die Immobilie nicht weiter hinauszögern

Deutscher Mauerwerkskongress 2007

DGfM‐Newsletter: Bereich Markt; Bereich Technik; Aktuell; Termine
What is worse for your sex life: Starving, being depressed, or a new baby?
Authors: Carter Frances A. , Carter Janet D. , Luty Suzanne E. , Jordan Jennifer , McIntosh Virginia V.W. , Bartram Andrea F. , Mulder Roger T. , McKenzie Janice M. , Bulik Cynthia M.
Published: June 2007

Objective:

To compare the current sexual functioning of women in an intimate relationship with anorexia nervosa, with major depression, and in the postpartum period.

Method:

Complete data were available for 76 women who reported being in an intimate relationship (anorexia = 10; depression = 24; postpartum = 42). Sexual functioning was assessed using the Social Adjustment Scale (Weissman and Bothwell, Arch Gen Psychiatry, 33, 1111–1115, 1976).

Results:

Significant differences were found among groups for the frequency of sex (p =.03) and problems with sex (p < .001), but not for enjoyment of sex (p = .55). In the previous 2 weeks, women with anorexia nervosa or major depression were more likely to have had sex than postpartum women, but were also more likely to have had sexual problems than postpartum women. Most women with anorexia nervosa, women with major depression, and postpartum women reported enjoying sex.

Conclusion:

Women with anorexia nervosa and women with major depression who are in an intimate relationship report a similar profile of current sexual functioning that is different from postpartum women both in the frequency of sexual encounters and in reported problems with sex. © 2007 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 2007.
Risk factors for binge‐eating disorders: An exploratory study
Authors: Striegel‐Moore Ruth H. , Dohm Faith‐Anne , Kraemer Helena C. , Schreiber George B. , Taylor C. Barr , Daniels Stephen R.
Published: June 2007

Objective:

This study examined a broad range of childhood risk factors for binge‐eating disorders (bulimia nervosa or binge eating disorder, BN/BED), utilizing data that had been collected prospectively in the 10‐year National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Growth and Health Study.

Method:

Forty‐five women with a history of BED/BN (with onset age > 14 and <20 years) and 1,515 women who did not have a history of an eating disorder were included.

Results:

Signal detection analysis indicated a single pathway that identified ∼13% of the BED/BN cases. The pathway was based on an elevated level of perceived stress prior to the age of 14.

Conclusion:

Our findings suggest that eating disorders may have multiple and complex etiologies. This is the first study to suggest that elevated levels of perceived stress may precede the onset of binge‐eating disorders. Whether this is a causal association remains a question. © 2007 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Sustainable liquid biofuels and their environmental impact
Authors: Granda Cesar B. , Zhu Li , Holtzapple Mark T.
Published: June 2007

In whatever measure liquid biofuels are produced, they avoid the use of politically and economically unstable petroleum. However, there has been much debate regarding their environmental impact and sustainability. Corn ethanol manufacturing uses large quantities of fossil fuels, which, although locally produced, create doubt on whether its continual use will bring any clear economic and environmental benefits. On the other hand, biodiesel, because it enjoys a simpler and thus efficient manufacturing process, shows more clarity as to the environmental benefits it provides, but its sustainability at a significant scale is not clear due to the low productivity of its crops. Brazil's ethanol industry, which is based on sugarcane, has shown that it is possible to be efficient, both environmentally and economically in the implementation of a biofuel infrastructure. Very akin to sugarcane ethanol technology is cellulosic ethanol. A cellulosic ethanol infrastructure can make use of crops that have higher productivities and lower environmental impact. In addition, the conversion process uses very little fossil fuels, which makes it even more sustainable and environmentally benign. This article describes the infrastructure necessary for the implementation of sustainable biofuels, discusses their projected benefits, their environmental impact, and the logistics needed for their sustainability. © 2007 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 2007
Evaluation of the seismic performance of a code‐conforming reinforced‐concrete frame building—from seismic hazard to collapse safety and economic losses
Authors: Goulet Christine A. , Haselton Curt B. , Mitrani‐Reiser Judith , Beck James L. , Deierlein Gregory G. , Porter Keith A. , Stewart Jonathan P.
Published: June 2007

A state‐of‐the‐art seismic performance assessment is illustrated through application to a reinforced‐concrete moment‐frame building designed per current (2003)
building code provisions. Performance is quantified in terms of economic losses and collapse safety. The assessment includes site‐specific seismic hazard analyses, nonlinear dynamic structural response simulations to collapse, damage analyses, and loss estimation. When selecting ground motion records for nonlinear dynamic analyses that are consistent with a target hazard level expressed in terms of a response spectral value at the building's fundamental period, it is important to consider the response spectral shape, especially when considering higher hazard levels. This was done through the parameter commonly denoted by ε. Neglecting these effects during record selection is shown to lead to a factor of 5–10 overestimation of mean annual collapse rate. Structural response simulations, which properly account for uncertainties in ground motions and structural modelling, indicate a 2–7% probability of collapse for buildings subjected to motions scaled to a hazard level equivalent to a 2% probability of exceedance in 50 years. The probabilities of component damage and the means and coefficients of variation of the repair costs are calculated using fragility functions and repair‐cost probability distributions. The calculated expected annual losses for various building design variants range from 0.6 to 1.1% of the replacement value, where the smaller losses are for above‐code design variants and the larger losses are for buildings designed with minimum‐code compliance. Sensitivity studies highlight the impact of key modelling assumptions on the accurate calculation of damage and the associated repair costs. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Adaptive resource allocation in OFDMA systems with fairness and QoS constraints
Authors: Chen Liang , Krongold Brian , Evans Jamie
Published: June 2007

This paper describes several practical and efficient adaptive subchannel, power and bit allocation algorithms for orthogonal frequency‐division multiple‐access (OFDMA) systems. Assuming perfect knowledge of channel state information (CSI) at the transmitter, we look at the problem of minimising the total power consumption while maintaining individual rate requirements and QoS constraints. An average signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) approximation is used to determine the allocation while substantially reducing the computational complexity. The proposed algorithms guarantee improvement through each iteration and converge quickly to stable suboptimal solutions. Numerical results and complexity analysis show that the proposed algorithms offer beneficial cost versus performance trade‐offs compared to existing approaches. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Tumor‐specific genetic expression profile of metastatic oral squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: Méndez Eduardo , Fan Wenhong , Choi Peter , Agoff S. Nicholas , Whipple Mark , Farwell D. Gregory , Futran Neal D. , Weymuller Ernest A. , Zhao Lue‐Ping , Chen Chu
Published: June 2007

Background.

Metastasis is the most important predictor of survival in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). We tested the hypothesis that there is a genetic expression profile associated with OSCC metastasis.

Methods.

We obtained samples from 6 OSCC node‐positive primary tumors and their matched metastatic lymph nodes, and 5 OSCC node‐negative primary tumors. Using laser capture microdissection, we isolated OSCC cells from metastatic lymph nodes and compared them with those from matched primary tumors and unmatched node‐negative primary tumors using Affymetrix Human Genome Focus arrays.

Results.

Comparison of tumor cells from the lymph nodes with those from the unmatched, node‐negative primary tumors revealed differential expression of 160 genes. Hierarchical clustering and principal component analysis using this 160‐gene set showed that the node‐negative samples were distinguishable from both, node‐positive primary tumors and tumors in the lymph nodes. Many of the expression changes found in the metastatic cells from the lymph nodes were also found in the node‐positive primary tumors. Immunohistochemical analysis for transglutaminase‐3 and keratin 16 confirmed the differential genetic expression for these genes.

Conclusion.

These preliminary results suggest that there may be a metastatic gene expression profile present in node‐positive primary OSCC. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 2007
Application of quantum topological molecular similarity descriptors in QSPR study of the O‐methylation of substituted phenols
Authors: Hemmateenejad Bahram , Mohajeri Afshan
Published: June 2007

The usefulness of a novel type of electronic descriptors called quantum topological molecular similarity (QTMS) indices for describing the quantitative effects of molecular electronic environments on the O‐methylation kinetic of substituted phenols has been investigated. QTMS theory produces for each molecule a matrix of descriptors, containing bond (or structure) information in one dimension and electronic effects in another dimension, instead of other methods producing a vector of descriptors for each molecule. A collection of chemometrics tools including principal component analysis (PCA), partial least squares (PLS), and genetic algorithms (GA) were used to model the structure‐kinetic data. PCA separated the bond and descriptor effects, and PLS modeled the effects of these parameters on the rate constant data, and GA selected the most relevant subset of variables. The model performances were validated by both cross‐validation and external validation. The results indicated that the proposed models could explain about 95% of variances in the rate constant data. The significant effects of variables on the reaction kinetic were identified by calculating variable important in projection (VIP). It was found that the rate constant of esterification of phenols is highly influenced by the electronic properties of the C2C1OH fragment of the parent molecule. Indeed, the C2X and C4X bonds (corresponding to ortho and para substituents) were found as highly influential parameters. All of the eight calculated QTMS indices were found significant however, λ1, λ2, λ3, ϵ, andK(r) were detected as highly influential parameters. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2008
A comparative study of some red‐ and blue‐shifted linear H‐bonded complexes of N2
Authors: McDowell Sean A. C.
Published: June 2007

Bond length changes, harmonic vibrational frequency shifts, and changes in the proton magnetic shielding of HX and HKrX (X = F, Cl) on complexation with N2to form the linear red‐shifted N2… HX and linear blue‐shifted N2… HKrX complexes were determined byab initiocomputations, with and without counterpoise correction, at the SCF and MP2(full) levels of theory using a 6‐311++G(2d,2p) basis set. The MP2 computations agree with predictions from a perturbation theory model involving the first and second derivatives of the interaction energy with respect to displacement of the HX and HKr bond lengths from their equilibrium values in the isolated monomers. The theoretical results agree qualitatively with the experimentally observed frequency shifts, with near quantitative agreement for N2… HKrCl. The characteristic downfield shift of the isotropic proton magnetic resonance in the red‐shifted complexes was obtained, but for the blue‐shifted complexes, the proton NMR shifts to higher fields. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2008
Algebraic multigrid Laplace solver for the extraction of capacitances of conductors in multi‐layer dielectrics
Authors: Sumant Prasad S. , Cangellaris Andreas C.
Published: June 2007

This paper describes the development of a robust multigrid, finite element‐based, Laplace solver for accurate capacitance extraction of conductors embedded in multi‐layer dielectric domains. An algebraic multigrid based on element interpolation is adopted and streamlined for the development of the proposed solver. In particular, a new, node‐based agglomeration scheme is proposed to speed up the process of agglomeration. Several attributes of this new method are investigated through the application of the Laplace solver to the calculation of the per‐unit‐length capacitance of configurations of parallel, uniform conductors embedded in multi‐layer dielectric substrates. These two‐dimensional configurations are commonly encountered as high‐speed interconnect structures for integrated electronic circuits. The proposed method is shown to be particularly robust and accurate for structures with very thin dielectric layers characterized by large variation in their electric permittivities. More specifically, it is demonstrated that for such geometries the proposed node‐based agglomeration systematically reduces the problem size and speeds up the iterative solution of the finite element matrix. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The stationary Boltzmann equation for a two‐component gas in the slab
Authors: Brull Stéphane
Published: June 2007

The stationary Boltzmann equation for hard forces in the context of a two‐component gas is considered in the slab. An
L1 existence theorem is proved when one component satisfies a given indata profile and the other component satisfies diffuse reflection at the boundaries. Weak
L1 compactness is extracted from the control of the entropy production term. Trace at the boundaries are also controlled. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A note on backward errors for Toeplitz systems
Authors: Liu Xinguo , Chen Chaoxian
Published: June 2007

This paper investigates the relations between the structured backward error (SBE) and the partial structured backward error (P‐SBE), and the partial backward error (P‐BE) and the P‐SBE for a computed solution to general Toeplitz system. In particular, we show in some cases the P‐SBE for general Toeplitz system is usually a good estimate of the SBE. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Consistent micro–macro transitions at large objective strains in curvilinear convective coordinates
Authors: Grytz R. , Meschke G.
Published: June 2007

This paper presents a computational homogenization scheme that is of particular interest for problems formulated in curvilinear coordinates. The main goal of this contribution is to generalize the computational homogenization scheme to a formulation of micro–macro transitions in curvilinear convective coordinates, where different physical spaces are considered at the homogenized macro‐continuum and at the locally attached representative micro‐structures. The deformation and the coordinate system of the micro‐structure are assumed to be coupled with the local deformation and the local coordinate system at a corresponding point of the macro‐continuum. For the consistent formulation of micro–macro transitions, the operations scale‐up and scale‐down are introduced, considering the rotated representation of tensor variables at the different physical reference frames of micro‐ and macro‐structure. The second goal of this paper is to use objective strain measures like the Green–Lagrange strain tensor for the solution
of boundary value problems on the micro‐ and macro‐scale by providing the required transformations for the work‐conjugate stress, strain and tangent tensors into variables admissible for the considered micro–macro transitions and satisfying the averaging theorem. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Adaptive coupled arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian finite element and meshfree method for injection molding process
Authors: Li Xikui , Duan Qinglin , Han Xianhong , Sheng D. C.
Published: June 2007

This paper presents an adaptive method that couples the finite element (FE) method and the meshfree (MF) method in the arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) description for numerical simulation of injection molding processes. The ALE feature is used to accurately capture moving free surfaces of flow problems and, meanwhile, to alleviate mesh distortion and its influence on the accuracy and robustness of numerical solutions. Based on the continuous blending method, originally presented for properly imposing the essential boundary
conditions in MF methods, the coupled ALE FE and MF method is developed, to exploit the respective advantages of both FE and MF methods, but to avoid their respective weak points. The method features self‐adaptivity in view of the fact that moving free surfaces in an injection molding process are continuously advanced. The Pressure‐stabilized Fractional Step Algorithm, in which the modified version of the finite increment calculus process is extended to the coupled ALE FE and MF method, is used to solve incompressible Navier–Stokes equations governing the injected polymer flow, so that equal low‐order
u−p interpolations that violate the LBB condition can be effectively used. Numerical experiments demonstrate the significance and ability of the proposed method for numerical simulation of injection molding processes. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Papillary carcinoma of the thyroid: low expression of NCAM (CD56) is associated with downregulation of VEGF‐D production by tumour cells
Authors: Scarpino S , Di Napoli A , Melotti F , Talerico C , Cancrini A , Ruco L
Published: June 2007

The expression of NCAM was investigated in tissue sections of 61 cases of papillary carcinoma and in 14 lymph node metastases using immunohistochemistry. Tumour cells of 18 primary tumours were not stained, whereas in the remaining 43 cases, NCAM was expressed in less than 5% tumour cells. Similar results were obtained when NCAM expression was evaluated at the RNA level. Reduced expression of NCAM is an early event since 6/15 cases (40%) of micro‐carcinoma were NCAM‐negative. NCAM‐positive tumour cells were more often located at the invasion front of the tumour. It has been reported that NCAM expression may affect lymphangiogenesis. In tissue sections immunostained for podoplanin, it was found that lymphatic vessels were extremely rare inside the body of the tumour, and were mostly associated with foci of chronic inflammation and/or of reparative fibrosis. Lymphangiogenesis is sustained by VEGF‐C, VEGF‐D, and FGF2. Analysis of micro‐dissected samples of the tumour and of the paired normal thyroid tissue revealed that RNA transcripts for VEGF‐D were significantly less numerous in the tumour tissue (p = 0.001). The potential role of NCAM in tumour cell biology was investigated by silencing the NCAM gene in the TPC1 thyroid papillary carcinoma cell line. It was found that NCAM down‐regulation caused a significant reduction (p < 0.05) in the expression of both VEGF‐C and VEGF‐D mRNAs. In addition, NCAM‐silenced TPC‐1 cells were more adhesive to different extracellular matrix components, and were less efficient in cell migration (59% reduction; p < 0.05) and invasiveness (68% reduction). These latter results confirm that modifications of NCAM expression cause profound alterations in the adhesive and migratory properties of tumour cells, but are in apparent discrepancy with the observation that loss of NCAM is usually associated with increased tumour invasiveness in vivo. Copyright © 2007 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Predictive medicine: incipient reality or fata morgana?
Authors: Dietel M
Published: June 2007

The success of targeted therapy depends on reliable biomarkers that indicate the presence and accessibility of the target molecules with which the therapeutic drug will interact. In principle, this is independent of whether the drug is a small molecule, such as kinase inhibitors, or a therapeutic antibody, such as trastuzumab or cetuximab. The functional system of target–drug interaction is described as ‘predictive medicine’, one of the great hopes in the treatment of cancer. The major challenges are the precise prediction of the patient's individual prognosis, of the probability of metastases, and of individual therapeutic response. The questions, challenges, and possible answers related to this complex issue as well as the prerequisites for the development of more efficient and less toxic cancer therapy are discussed. Copyright © 2007 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Disruption of hedgehog signalling in ApoE − /− mice reduces plasma lipid levels, but increases atherosclerosis due to enhanced lipid uptake by macrophages
Authors: Beckers L , Heeneman S , Wang L , Burkly LC , Rousch MMJ , Davidson NO , Gijbels MJJ , de Winther MPJ , Daemen MJAP , Lutgens E
Published: June 2007

Embryonic pathways are often re‐expressed in adult pathology. Here we investigated the role of the morphogen hedgehog (hh), which we found to be re‐expressed in atherosclerotic plaques. Male ApoE − /− mice were treated for 12 weeks with an anti‐hh antibody (5E1) or a control IgG (1E6) starting at the age of 6 or 18 weeks. Inhibition of hh signalling induced a significant increase in total plaque area in the aortic arch, a result of an increase (54% and 36%, respectively) in the area of advanced plaques (atheromata). In mice treated with anti‐hh, plaques contained large (18–35% > ctrl), lipid‐filled, sometimes multinucleated macrophage foam cells. Plasma cholesterol levels decreased after anti‐hh treatment. In bone marrow‐derived macrophages, foam cell formation was enhanced after inhibition of hh signalling. Anti‐hh treatment caused a 54–75% increase in early oxLDL uptake (10–240 min), which was scavenger receptor‐mediated. After 3–24 h of oxLDL incubation, intense Oil red O staining as well as increased amounts of cholesterol esters were present in these macrophages after anti‐hh treatment. Activation of the HH‐signalling cascade by recombinant Shh induced a decrease in oxLDL uptake. Here we show that the hh‐signalling pathway is one of the morphogenic pathways that regulate plasma lipid levels and atherosclerosis development and progression. Copyright © 2007 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The BCL6‐associated transcriptional co‐repressor, MTA3, is selectively expressed by germinal centre B cells and lymphomas of putative germinal centre derivation
Authors: Jaye DL , Iqbal J , Fujita N , Geigerman CM , Li S , Karanam S , Fu K , Weisenburger DD , Chan WC , Moreno CS , Wade PA
Published: June 2007

Metastasis‐associated protein 3 (MTA3) is a recently described cell‐type specific component of the Mi‐2‐NURD transcriptional co‐repressor complex that is expressed in breast epithelia and germinal centre B cells. In model B cell lines, MTA3 physically interacts with BCL6 and appears to be instrumental in maintenance of the germinal centre B cell transcriptional programme that precludes premature plasmacytic differentiation. Here, we report selective, in situ cell‐type specific expression of MTA3 among lymphoid cells largely confined to the germinal centre B cell compartment. Centroblasts display greater expression than smaller, less proliferative centrocytes, with undetectable expression in quiescent plasma cells. Among B cell neoplasms, germinal centre B cell‐like lymphomas likewise exhibit selective expression that generally escalates with increasing proliferative capacity. MTA3 protein expression was, in accord, highly predictive of the germinal centre B cell‐like gene expression profile for diffuse large B cell lymphomas. Lastly, relative repression of a subset of known BCL6 targets, including BLIMP1 and p27kip1, was highest in diffuse large B cell lymphomas that co‐expressed both MTA3 and BCL6 protein. Together, these novel data suggest a role for MTA3 in BCL6‐mediated lymphomagenesis in germinal centre B cell‐like neoplasms. Copyright © 2007 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Preparation of polymer‐grafted carbon black nanoparticles by surface‐initiated atom transfer radical polymerization
Authors: Yang Qiang , Wang Li , Xiang Wei‐dong , Zhou Jun‐feng , Tan Qiao‐hua
Published: June 2007

Pristine carbon black was oxidized with nitric acid to produce carboxyl group, and then the carboxyl group was consecutively treated with thionyl chloride and glycol to introduce hydroxyl group. The hydroxyl group on the carbon black surface was reacted with 2‐bromo‐2‐methylpropionyl bromide to anchor atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) initiator. The ATRP initiator on carbon black surface was verified by TGA, FTIR, EDS, and elemental analysis. Then, poly (methyl methacrylate) and polystyrene chains were respectively, grown from carbon black surface by surface‐initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI‐ATRP) using CuCl/2,2‐dipyridyl (bpy) as the catalyst/ligand combination at 110 °C in anisole. 1H NMR, TGA, TEM, AFM, DSC, and DLS were used to systemically characterize the polymer‐grafted carbon black nanoparticles. Dispersion experiments showed that the grafted carbon black nanoparticles had good solubilities in organic solvents such as THF, chloroform, dichloromethane, DMF, etc. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 3451–3459, 2007
Synthesis and characterization of 4‐arm star side‐chain liquid crystalline polymers containing azobenzene with different terminal substituents via ATRP
Authors: Tang Xinde , Gao Longcheng , Han Nianfeng , Fan Xinghe , Zhou Qifeng
Published: June 2007

4‐Arm star side‐chain liquid crystalline (LC) polymers containing azobenzene with different terminal substituents were synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). Tetrafunctional initiator prepared by the esterification between pentaerythritol and 2‐bromoisobutyryl bromide was utilized to initiate the polymerization of 6‐[4‐(4‐methoxyphenylazo)phenoxy]hexyl methacrylate (MMAzo) and 6‐[4‐(4‐ethoxyphenylazo)phenoxy]hexyl methacrylate (EMAzo), respectively. The 4‐arm star side‐chain LC polymer with p‐methoxyazobenzene moieties exhibits a smectic and a nematic phase, while that with p‐ethoxyazobenzene moieties shows only a nematic phase, which derives of different terminal substituents. The star polymers have similar LC behavior to the corresponding linear homopolymers, whereas transition temperatures decrease slightly. Both star polymers show photoresponsive isomerization under the irradiation with UV–vis light. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 3342–3348, 2007
Preparation of side‐on bisazobenzene‐containing homopolymers and block copolymers via ATRP and studies on their photoisomerization and photoalignment behaviors
Authors: Jin Ming , Lu Ran , Yang Qing Xin , Bao Chun Yan , Sheng Ren , Xu Ting Hua , Zhao YingYing
Published: June 2007

The preparation of a series of novel homopolymers and copolymers containing bisazobenzene chromophores with side‐on structure in the side chains via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) were presented. UV–vis spectra of the thin films of these polymers under irradiation of 488 nm Ar+ laser suggested that the photoisomerization of the bisazobenzene chromophores happened mainly on one of the two azo groups in the bisazobenzene chromophores with similar probability due to their side‐on structure. Good photoalignment behaviors of these polymers were proved by photoinduced birefringence measurements because side‐on structure permitted the two azo groups in the bisazobenzene chromophores both participated in the trans–cis–trans photoisomerization cycles equally to induce the whole chromophore reorientation. Furthermore, the reorientation axis located at the middle of chromophore decreased the sweep volume during photoalignment. The impetus for this study was to evaluate the photoisomerization and photoalignment process of side‐on bisazobenzene‐containing polymers and to find possible applications in the photosensitive devices. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 3460–3472, 2007
White electroluminescence from a single polyfluorene containing bis‐DCM units
Authors: Kyu Lee Sang , Jung Byung‐Jun , Ahn Taek , Kwan Jung Young , Lee Jeong‐Ik , Kang In‐Nam , Lee Jonghee , Park Jong‐Hwa , Ku Shim Hong
Published: June 2007

A series of fluorene‐based copolymers composed of blue‐ and orange‐light‐emitting comonomers were synthesized through palladium‐catalyzed Suzuki coupling reactions. 9,9‐Dihexylfluorene and 2‐(2,6‐bis‐{2‐[1‐(9,9‐dihexyl‐9H‐fluoren‐2‐yl)‐1,2,3,4‐tetrahydroquinolin‐6‐yl]‐vinyl}‐pyran‐4‐ylidene)‐malononitrile (DCMF) were used as the blue‐ and orange‐light‐emitting chromophores, respectively. The resulting single polymers exhibited simultaneous blue (423/450 nm) and orange (580–600 nm) emissions from these two chromophores. By adjusting the fluorene and DCMF contents, white light emission could be obtained from a single polymer; a device with an ITO/PEDOT:PSS/polymer/Ca/Al configuration was found to exhibit pure white electroluminescence with Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.33, 0.31), a maximum brightness of 1180 cd/m2, and a current efficiency of 0.60 cd/A. Furthermore, the white light emission of this device was found to be very stable with respect to variation of the driving voltage. The CIE coordinates of the device were (0.32, 0.29), (0.32, 0.29), and (0.33, 0.31) for driving voltages of 7, 8, and 10 V, respectively. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 3380–3390, 2007
Pd (II)‐catalyzed vinyl addition polymerization of novel functionalized norbornene bearing dimethyl carboxylate groups
Authors: Liu Binyuan , Li Yang , Shin Boo‐Gyo , Yoon Do Yeung , Kim IL , Zhang Li , Yan Weidong
Published: June 2007

Three novel functionalized polynorbornenes (PNB) with pendant dimethyl carboxylate group (carboxylates—acetate, propionate, and butyrate) are synthesized as a vinyl‐type with a palladium (II) catalyst in high yield. The effects of size of substitutents, molar ratio of monomer to catalyst, solvent polarity, reaction time, and temperature on the polymerization of exo‐norbornene dimethyl propionate were systematically investigated. The low molar ratio and temperature, as well as high polarity of solvent, and long reaction time, are favorable for the enhancement of the monomer conversion, especially, the solvent have an obvious effect on the catalyst activity. The resulting poly(cis‐norbornene‐exo‐2,3‐dimethyl carboxylates) (PNB‐dimethyl carboxylates) show good solubility in common organic solvent and high thermal stability up to 360 °C. The glass transition temperature was detected by DMA at 331, 324, and 318 °C for acetate, propionate, and butyrate, respectively. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 3391–3399, 2007
Crosslinkable polyurethane bearing a methacrylate structure in the side chain
Authors: Ochiai Bungo , Sato Shin‐Ich , Endo Takeshi
Published: June 2007

A polyurethane bearing methacrylate groups through urethane linkages was prepared by the addition of 2‐methacryloyloxyethyl isocyanate to the hydroxyl groups in poly(hydroxyurethane) prepared by the polyaddition of a bifunctional cyclic carbonate with 1,12‐diaminododecane. The urethanization proceeded quantitatively in the presence of a catalytic amount of di‐n‐butyltin dilaurate at an ambient temperature, whereas a crosslinked product was obtained from the reaction at 60 °C. The resulting linear polyurethane, bearing a methacrylate structure, was thermally crosslinkable. Its radical copolymerization with vinyl‐type monomers afforded the corresponding crosslinked polymers, whose low glass transition temperatures suggested the flexibility of the polymer chains in the crosslinked product. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 3400–3407, 2007
Comparison of ground and excited state polarizabilities of thiophene, cyclopentadiene, and fulvene oligomers and their cyano substituted derivatives—Ab initio study
Authors: Ferdous Sultana , Lagowski Jolanta B.
Published: June 2007

Ab Initio study of the ground and excited state polarizabilities of thiophene, fulvene, and cyclopentadiene based conducting oligomers and their cyano derivatives have been performed using the restricted Hartree–Fock (RHF) and the configuration interaction singles (CIS) approaches, respectively, with 3‐21G* basis set. For comparison purposes, for some small oligomers (monomers and dimers), higher basis sets (6‐31G*, 6‐31+G*, aug‐cc‐pVTZ) were also employed in the computations of polarizabilities. The trends in polarizability as a function of oligomer length were investigated. For all systems, the RHF polarizability increases as n1.2–1.3 as n gets larger and the CIS polarizability increases as n1.4–1.6 for n less than seven or eight rings and then increases approximately linearly with n for larger n. For the thiophene based systems the dependence of the polarizability on bond length alternation (BLA) along the backbone of the oligomers was also investigated using the RHF, density functional (DFT), and CIS theories (with 3‐21G* basis set). For thiophene dimer, we also performed RHF/aug‐cc‐pVTZ calculations of polarizabilities versus BLA. We found that the polarizability is largest when BLA is near zero (for both ground and excited states), which correlates with the lowest excitation energy. Comparison with experimental results has been made where possible. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 1983–1995, 2007
Water vapor sorption and diffusion in sulfonated aromatic polyamides
Authors: Vicente María S. , Gottifredi Juan C. , de la Campa José G. , Lozano Angel E. , Abajo Javier de
Published: June 2007

In this contribution polyamides with different sulfonation degrees were directly synthesized from a combination of sulfonated and nonsulfonated diamines and isophthaloyl chloride. They were then used as dense membranes to study water sorption and mass transport properties. The polymers were characterized by their inherent viscosity and by spectroscopic methods, and the water vapor unsteady sorption phenomena were studied using a gravimetric technique. The effect of sulfonation substitution concentration in these polymers produces very interesting and original results in a number of properties such as the ionic exchange capacity, water equilibrium sorption and diffusivity. Obtained results are discussed and explained in the light of existing theories. Sorption behavior for polymers with a low sulfonation degree, up to 30%, can be explained with Langmuir equation. With larger substitution degree (40 and 60%) an additional mechanism must be assumed to explain sorption data. Assuming the presence of two phases helps to explain the observed diffusivity results. The mass transport mechanism is assumed to be Fickian. When water activity is low diffusivity systematically decreases as the degree of sulfonation increases. However, as water activity increases less sulfonated and nonsulfonated (PA0, PA20 and PA30) behave completely different from PA40 and PA60. The first group of polymers shows a tendency to decrease the rate of diffusion as water activity increases while the second group shows the opposite behavior, with a maximum in diffusivity at intermediate water activities. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 2007–2014, 2007
Inverse gas chromatographic characterization of triblock copolymer of polystyrene–poly(ethylene oxide)–polystyrene
Authors: Zou Qi‐Chao , Wu Li‐Min
Published: June 2007

The thermodynamic properties of triblock copolymer of polystyrene–poly (ethylene oxide)–polystyrene (PS‐b‐PEO‐b‐PS) were investigated by means of inverse gas chromatography (IGC) using 15 different kinds of solvents as the probes. Some thermodynamic parameters, such as specific retention volume, molar heats of sorption, weight fraction activity coefficient, Flory‐Huggins interaction parameter, partial molar heats of mixing and solubility parameter were obtained to judge the interactions between PS‐b‐PEO‐b‐PS polymers and solvents and the solubility of the polymers in these solvents. It was found that increasing PEO content in PS‐b‐PEO‐b‐PS resulted in the increase in the solubility of PS‐b‐PEO‐b‐PS in alkanes and acetates solvents, but the solubility in alcohols had no change, and more PEO content in polymer caused a small decrease in the solubility parameter of PS‐b‐PEO‐b‐PS polymer, © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 2015–2022, 2007
Effects of elastomer on morphology, flammability and rheological properties of HIPS/PS‐encapsulated Mg(OH)2 composites
Authors: Chang Suqin , Xie Tingxiu , Yang Guisheng
Published: June 2007

The effects of elastomer type on morphology, flammability and rheological properties of high‐impact polystyrene/Mg(OH)2 based on encapsulated by polystyrene have been investigated. The ternary composites characterized by cone calorimetry, horizontal burning rate, limiting oxygen index (LOI), rheology and SEM. Morphology was controlled using poly[styrene‐b‐(ethylene‐co‐butylene)‐b‐styrene] triblock copolymer (SEBS) or the corresponding maleinated SEBS (SEBS‐g‐MA). As revealed by SEM observations, composites of HIPS/SEBS/Mg(OH)2 exhibit separation of the filler and elastomer and good adhesion between SEBS and the filler, whereas composites of HIPS/SEBS‐g‐MA/Mg(OH)2 exhibit encapsulation of the filler by SEBS‐g‐MA. The flame retardant and rheological properties of ternary composites were strongly dependent on microstructure. The rheological test showed that the composites with encapsulation structure exhibit a stronger solid‐like response at low frequency than those of the composites with separate dispersion structure. The combustion tests showed that the composites with encapsulation structure showed higher flame retardant properties than those of separate dispersion structure at optimum use level of SEBS‐g‐MA. However, with the increase of the content of SEBS‐g‐MA, the flame retardancy of the composite declined somewhat which can be explained that the SEBS‐g‐MA coating acts as a heat and mass transfer barrier due to the formation of encapsulation structure. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 2023–2030, 2007