bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Intraoperative indocyanine green angiography as a substitute for conventional angiography in the surgical management of spinal dural arteriovenous fistulae
Authors: Spiotta Alejandro M , Bain Mark , Moskowitz Shaye
Published: October 2010

Introduction

Spinal dural arteriovenous fistula (dAVF) is the most common vascular malformation of the spinal cord. We performed a prospective observational study of patients with spinal dAVF who were treated by microsurgical obliteration to determine whether intraoperative indocyanine green (ICG) angiograph provides supplemental flow-related data that change the surgical plan and whether the resolution afforded by ICG angiography may substitute for conventional postoperative spinal angiography.

Methods

Five patients over a 6-month period were included who were treated surgically with intraoperative intravenous administration of ICG. Direct microsurgical exploration was employed to identify the intradural fistulous connection and intravenous ICG was then injected to verify the identification of the lesion. Repeat ICG angiography was performed after the fistula had been obliterated using bipolar electrocautery. All patients underwent a spinal angiogram on postoperative day 1.

Results

In four patients, ICG angiography correlated reliably with preoperative catheter angiography and intraoperative direct visualization. For these cases, the ICG angiogram did not alter the surgical plan, and the fistulous connection was identified and successfully treated surgically. In a fifth case, exploratory surgery for a fistula was not convincing and the information provided by intraoperative ICG angiography guided management to proceed with a cord biopsy.

Conclusion

ICG angiography in the setting of surgical management of spinal dAVF is a simple and effective technique for intraoperative confirmation of the relevant lesion. Postresection ICG angiography reliably demonstrated technical success and may replace formal postoperative catheter angiography. Additionally, the surgical plan may be modified based on ICG angiography.
Non-occupational exposure to asbestos and malignant mesothelioma in the Italian National Registry of Mesotheliomas: Table 1
Authors: Mirabelli Dario , Cavone Domenica , Merler Enzo , Gennaro Valerio , Romanelli Antonio , Mensi Carolina , Chellini Elisabetta , Nicita Carmela , Marinaccio Alessandro , Magnani Corrado , Musti Marina
Published: October 2010

Background

Malignant mesotheliomas are strictly related to asbestos, but in a proportion of cases no exposure can be recalled. Published estimates of this proportion have important variations. Historical and geographical differences in the fraction of cancer due to any given exposure are to be expected, but incomplete identification of non-occupational exposures may have played a role.

Methods

To assess the role of non-occupational exposures in causing malignant mesotheliomas in Italy, the exposures of cases registered by the national mesothelioma registry (ReNaM) were examined. ReNaM started in 1993 in five regions and currently covers 98% of the Italian population. Information on occupational and non-occupational exposures of cases is collected whenever possible.

Results

From 1993 to 2001 ReNaM registered 5173 malignant mesothelioma cases, and exposures were assessed in 3552 of them. 144 and 150 cases with exposures limited to environmental (living in the neighbourhood of an industrial or natural source of asbestos) or familial (living with a person occupationally exposed to asbestos) circumstances, respectively, were identified, accounting for 8.3% of all cases.

Conclusions

Geographical variations in the proportion of cases due to non-occupational exposures may be explained by the past distribution of asbestos-using industries.
CODED STRUCTURED LIGHT STRIPE BOUNDARY LOCATION WITH SUB-PIXEL ACCURACY BASED ON WEIGHTED CENTROID METHOD
Authors: Chen Yanjun , Wang Kuanquan , Zuo Wangmeng , Wu Qiufeng
Published: October 2010

Sub-pixel accuracy stripe boundary location is essential for stripe coded structured light based 3D reconstruction. So far, the intersecting point method might be the most accurate for stripe boundary location. But in this method two groups of patterns have to be projected, where one group is normal and the other is inverse patterns. So the intersecting point method can not be used in several time- or resource-constrained applications because of its complexity of projection. In this paper, after a brief survey on several commonly used stripe boundary detection methods, an improved sub-pixel location scheme based on weighted centroid algorithm is proposed. In the proposed scheme, a green slit is first added between every stripe to avoid false detection and false rejection. Then, universal gravity-based edge detection and weighted centroid method are utilized for sub-pixel location. Compared with the intersecting point method, the proposed location scheme can achieve comparable detection accuracy with only half number of patterns projected.
VIGILANCE ANALYSIS BASED ON EEG SIGNALS: SEEKING FOR SUITABLE FEATURES
Authors: OUYANG TIAN , LU HONG-TAO , LU BAOLIANG
Published: October 2010

Electroencephalography (EEG) is considered a reliable indicator of a person's vigilance level. In this paper, we use EEG recordings to discriminate three vigilance states of a person, namely alert, drowsy, and sleep, while driving a car in a simulation environment. EEG signals are recorded and divided into five-second long trials. From these EEG trials, we extract feature vectors containing a large set of features. Random forest is used to rank the plenty of features and select the most important ones for later classification. After dimension reduction, sample vectors are trained and classified by Support Vector Machine (SVM). The proposed framework explores different methods of EEG signal processing to discover the most suitable features for a real-time vigilance monitoring system. We investigate and compare three different kinds of features which are based on Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT), Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT), and Fractal Dimension (FD), respectively. On datasets acquired from 5 subjects, our result shows the CWT-based features reveal the highest classification accuracy (may reach over 96%). The DWT and FD-based features are less time-consuming in computation, and also reveal good result of classification accuracy (over 90%).
EMOTIONAL STRESS RECOGNITION SYSTEM FOR AFFECTIVE COMPUTING BASED ON BIO-SIGNALS
Authors: Hosseini Seyyed Abed , Khalilzadeh Mohammad Ali , Changiz Sahar
Published: October 2010

In this paper, we propose a new approach to classify emotional stress in the two main areas of the valance-arousal space by using bio-signals. Since electroencephalogram (EEG) is widely used in biomedical research, it is used as the main signal. We designed an efficient acquisition protocol to acquire the EEG and psychophysiological. Two specific areas of the valence-arousal emotional stress space are defined, corresponding to negatively excited and calm-neutral states. Qualitative and quantitative evaluation of psychophysiological signals have been used to select suitable segments of EEG signal for improving efficiency and performance of emotional stress recognition system. After pre-processing the EEG signals, wavelet coefficients and chaotic invariants like fractal dimension, correlation dimension and wavelet entropy were used to extract the features of the signal. So, by using independent-sample T-Test and Linear Discriminate Analysis (LDA), effective features are selected. The results show that, the average classification accuracy were 80.1% and 84.9% for two categories of emotional stress states using the LDA and Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifiers respectively. We achieved an improvement in accuracy, in compared to our previous studies in the similar field. Therefore, this new fusion link between EEG and psychophysiological signals are more robust in comparison to the separate signals.
FEATURE EXTRACTION OF BRAIN MRI BY STATIONARY WAVELET TRANSFORM AND ITS APPLICATIONS
Authors: ZHANG YUDONG , WANG SHUIHUA , HUO YUANKAI , WU LENAN , LIU AIJUN
Published: October 2010

Wavelet transform is widely used in feature extraction of magnetic resonance imaging. However, the traditional discrete wavelet transform (DWT) suffers from translation variant property, which may extract significantly different features from two images of the same subject with only slight movement. In order to solve this problem, this paper utilizes stationary wavelet transform (SWT) to extract features instead of DWT. Experiments on a normal brain MRI demonstrate that wavelet coefficients via SWT are superior to those via DWT, in terms of translation invariant property. In addition, we applied SWT to normal and abnormal brain classification. The results demonstrate that SWT-based classifier is more accurate than that of DWT.
Construction of 3D Realistic Purkinje System: A Locally Linear Embedding-Based Method
Authors: Li Jie , Wang Kuanquan , Zuo Wangmeng , Lu Weigang , Zhang Henggui
Published: October 2010

The geometry of canine ventricle with purkinje system provides the data basis for the simulation and analysis of the mechanisms of ventricular pathophysiology. The acquisition of the geometry of the purkinje system, however, is very challenging, and traditional construction approaches are mainly based on modeling using fractal geometry. In this paper, we propose a novel locally linear embedding (LLE)-based method to construct 3D anatomical purkinje system of the canine left ventricle (LV). First, we collect the 2D purkinje system data in a canine ventricle and extract the endocardial surface of the canine left ventricle from 3D canine ventricle. Then, LLE is used to map the 3D geometry of the endocardial surface to a 2D subspace, and the 2D purkinje system data is further embedded into this 2D subspace. Finally, LLE is adopted to map both the 3D geometry of the endocardial surface and the 2D purkinje system data back to the 3D space. An experiment is designed to verify the effectiveness of the LLE-based construction method. The proposed method approaches is promising in restoring realistic purkinje system of the left canine ventricle.
NEIGHBOR SUPPORT BASED SPEED FUNCTION FOR LEVEL SET METHOD
Authors: LIU XUESHU , OHTAKE YUTAKA , SUZUKI HIROMASA
Published: October 2010

With a different speed function, Level Set Method has been widely applied to many applications. Generally speaking, speed function may depend on many factors, such as curvature, normal direction. In this paper, we discuss a novel speed function which is only determined by neighbors' support. With enough support, zero level set can move or stop. Otherwise, it must wait for a moment before a decision to move or stop is made. In addition, an algorithm based on normal diffusion is proposed to smooth the zero level set, which can preserve the sharp feature and round corner at the same time. Experimentally, the proposed method has been successfully used for interested objection segmentation and mesh segmentation.
THE GENETIC CODE, HADAMARD MATRICES AND ALGEBRAIC BIOLOGY
Authors: HE MATTHEW , PETOUKHOV SERGEY
Published: October 2010

Algebraic theory of coding is one of modern fields of applications of algebra. This theory uses matrix algebra intensively. This paper is devoted to an application of Kronecker's matrix forms of presentations of the genetic code for algebraic analysis of a basic scheme of degeneracy of the genetic code. Similar matrix forms are utilized in the theory of signal processing and encoding. The Kronecker family of the genetic matrices is investigated, which is based on the genetic matrix [C A; U G], where C, A, U, G are the letters of the genetic alphabet. This matrix in the third Kronecker power is the (8*8)-matrix, which contains all 64 genetic triplets in a strict order with a natural binary numeration of the triplets by numbers from 0 to 63. Peculiarities of the basic scheme of degeneracy of the genetic code are reflected in the symmetrical black-and-white mosaic of this genetic (8*8)-matrix. This mosaic matrix is connected algorithmically with Hadamard matrices unexpectedly, which are famous in the theory of signal processing and encoding, spectral analysis, quantum mechanics and quantum computers. Furthermore, many kinds of cyclic permutations of genetic elements lead to reconstruction of initial Hadamard matrices into new Hadamard matrices unexpectedly. This demonstrates that matrix algebra is one of promising instruments and of adequate languages in bioinformatics and algebraic biology.
U–Pb zircon age of the Andaman ophiolite: implications for the beginning of subduction beneath the Andaman–Sumatra arc
Authors: Pedersen R.B. , Searle M.P. , Carter A. , Bandopadhyay P.C.
Published: October 2010

The Andaman ophiolites form the basement of the Andaman Islands, which is a part of the outer forearc that links the Indo-Burma accretionary complex to the north with the Java–Sumatra trench–arc system to the SE. Upper mantle harzburgite and dunite are overlain by a cumulate peridotite–gabbro complex, high-level intrusive rocks and a tholeiitic volcanic series. The upper crust in the South Andaman ophiolite shows also a prominent andesite–dacite volcanic suite, suggesting arc volcanism built onto ocean crust. U–Pb zircon dating of a trondhjemitic rock from Chiriya Tapu in South Andaman Island using laser ablation inductively coupled mass spectrometry reveals an age of crustal formation of 95 ± 2 Ma. The trondhjemites have geochemistry comparable with that of plagiogranites associated with ophiolite complexes, and ε
Nd
values around +7 further confirm that they are derived from depleted mantle melts. Basaltic pillow lava and basaltic dykes that cut the trondhjemites have mid-ocean ridge basalt-like trace-element geochemistry. The new data show that the Andaman volcanic arc was built on Cenomanian ophiolite–oceanic crust and that subduction was initiated at this time along Tethys, at least from Cyprus through Oman to the Andaman Islands.
Late Cambrian–Ordovician northeastern Gondwanan terranes in the basement of the Apuseni Mountains, Romania
Authors: Balintoni I. , Balica C. , Ducea M.N. , Zaharia L. , Chen Fukun , Cliveţi M. , Hann H.P. , Li Li-Qiu , Ghergari L.
Published: October 2010

The pre-Alpine basement of the Apuseni Mountains (Romanian Carpathians) comprises three terranes: Someş, Baia de Arieş and Biharia. Metaigneous rocks within these terranes record Late Cambrian–Ordovician U–Pb zircon crystallization ages. Two samples from an orthogneiss layer in the Someş terrane yielded an age of 459.8 ± 2.7 Ma. In the Baia de Arieş terrane, an augen gneiss yielded an age of 470.8 ± 3.8 Ma, a porphyroid yielded an age of 467.8 ± 3.8 Ma and two metagranites yielded ages of 467.8 ± 4.7 Ma and 467.1 ± 3.9 Ma, respectively. Three samples from a metagranitoid outcrop located in the lower part of the Biharia terrane yielded an age of 495.0 ± 2.1 Ma. Three other samples from a metabasite layer situated lithostratigraphically several hundred metres above the metagranitoid yielded an age of 477.8 ± 3.2 Ma. Detrital U/Pb zircon ages from a paragneiss interlayered within the Baia de Arieş terrane scatter between 548 and 3518 Ma. Detrital zircon ages together with the inherited ages recorded by magmatic zircon populations suggest a northeastern Gondwanan provenance for the Someş, Baia de Arieş and Biharia terranes, adjacent to the Arabian–Nubian Shield. Lead loss in some zircons is interpreted to have taken place during the Variscan orogeny.

Supplementary material:

Coordinates for samples from the Apuseni Mountains, Palaeozoic palaeogeographical models of Gondwana, Laurentia and Baltica to the formation of Pangaea, sample preparation and analytical procedures, sample description, and age measurements of zircon grains are available at
http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18425
.
Protolith heterogeneity as a factor controlling the feedback between deformation, metamorphism and melting in a granulite-hosted gold deposit
Authors: McGee Ben , Giles David , Kelsey David E. , Collins Alan S.
Published: October 2010

Structures and alteration associated with mineralizing, pre-anatectic hydrothermal alteration at the Challenger gold mine in South Australia strongly influenced and preferentially focused subsequent metamorphism, partial melting and deformation. This event resulted in efficient deformation-enhanced melt extraction from the host rocks immediately adjacent to mineralization, leaving restitic garnet, cordierite, K-feldspar rich mineral assemblages. Progressive reintegration of silicate melt into the highly restitic proximal gneiss bulk composition, using mineral equilibrium modelling in the system NCKFMASHTO, indicates that hydrothermal alteration stabilized a higher proportion of hydrous minerals leading to increased fertility and thus melting in the proximal gneiss. Further modelling at lower temperatures provides an insight into mineral assemblages that may have been associated with mineralization. Temperature–composition modelling provides evidence that composite gold–sulphide melts were armoured by quartz and as such were immobile during peak metamorphism. At Challenger, melt permeability of the mineralized zones was enhanced via the formation of a structural fabric, folding, boudinage, fracturing and the formation of shear zones. Giving consideration to the relationships and orientations of these structures, a model for preferential deformation and melt migration within the mineralized shear zone under transpression is developed, where melt is essentially pumped out of the system parallel to the maximum principal elongation direction.
Reconstruction of Jurassic (Bathonian) palaeosalinity using stable isotopes and faunal associations
Authors: Price Gregory D. , Teece Christie
Published: October 2010

The Bathonian is an interval from which salinity-controlled benthic faunas are particularly well known. This study examines Late Bathonian faunas from Dorset, UK, from the Wattonensis Beds (Fuller's Earth), of known marine origin, the overlying Elongata Beds, and the Boueti Bed marking the base of the Forest Marble. δ
18
O values of belemnites (
Belemnopsis
) from the Wattonensis Beds range from −1.4 to −0.7‰ and carbon isotope values range from −2.3 to −0.5‰ VPDB. Isotope values of well-preserved
Rhynchonella
from the Wattonensis Beds range from −2.4 to −1.3‰ for oxygen and −1.1 to 0.6‰ VPDB for carbon. The δ
18
O data suggest high palaeotemperatures (possibly up to 28 °C). A similar spread of data is derived from brachiopods (
Goniorhynchia boueti
) from the Boueti Bed. Given the marine origin of the Wattonensis Beds and overlap of data, the reduced faunal diversity of the Boueti Bed is considered unlikely to be the result of reduced salinity. Brachiopods therefore should not be regarded more sceptically as evidence for fully marine conditions, as has been suggested. The oysters (
Praeexogyra hebridica elongata
) and brachiopods (
Rhynchonella
) from the Elongata Beds have isotope values that also imply fully marine conditions and are interpreted as being indicative of slightly cooler conditions.
Northern England Serpukhovian (early Namurian) farfield responses to southern hemisphere glaciation
Authors: Stephenson M.H. , Angiolini L. , Cózar P. , Jadoul F. , Leng M.J. , Millward D. , Chenery S.
Published: October 2010

During the Serpukhovian (early Namurian) icehouse conditions were initiated in the southern hemisphere. However, nearfield evidence is inconsistent: glaciation appears to have started in limited areas of eastern Australia in the earliest Serpukhovian, followed by a long interglacial, whereas data from South America and Tibet suggest glaciation throughout the Serpukhovian. New farfield data from the Woodland, Throckley and Rowlands Gill boreholes in northern England allow this inconsistency to be addressed. δ
18
O from well-preserved late Serpukhovian (late Pendleian to early Arnsbergian) Woodland brachiopods vary between −3.4 and −6.3‰, and δ
13
C varies between −2.0 and +3.2‰, suggesting a δ
18
O seawater (
w
) value of around −1.8‰ VSMOW, and therefore an absence of widespread ice-caps. The organic carbon δ
13
C upward increasing trend in the Throckley borehole (Serpukhovian to Bashkirian;
c
. −24 to
c
. −22‰) and the Rowlands Gill borehole (Serpukhovian;
c
. −24 to
c
. −23‰) suggests large-scale burial of organic material, probably in burgeoning lycophyte-dominated coal forest, implying a fall in
p
CO
2
.
p
CO
2
reduction appears not to have caused large-scale glaciation until the early Bashkirian, but a scenario of coalescing upland ice-caps through the Serpukhovian with a background of decreasing
p
CO
2
appears to be similar to the process that initiated Cenozoic Antarctic glaciation.
MARGIN
Authors: Thomas Lini T. , Valluri Satyanarayana R. , Karlapalem Kamalakar
Published: October 2010

The exponential number of possible subgraphs makes the problem of frequent subgraph mining a challenge. The set of maximal frequent subgraphs is much smaller to that of the set of frequent subgraphs providing ample scope for pruning. MARGIN is a maximal subgraph mining algorithm that moves among promising nodes of the search space along the “border” of the infrequent and frequent subgraphs. This drastically reduces the number of candidate patterns in the search space. The proof of correctness of the algorithm is presented. Experimental results validate the efficiency and utility of the technique proposed.
BISC
Authors: Chen Jinlin , Xiao Keli
Published: October 2010

The performance of a depth-first frequent itemset (FI) miming algorithm is closely related to the total number of recursions. In previous approaches this is mainly decided by the total number of FIs, which results in poor performance when a large number of FIs are involved. To solve this problem, a three-strategy adaptive algorithm, bitmap itemset support counting (BISC), is presented. The core strategy, BISC1, is used in the innermost steps of the recursion. For a database
D
with only
s
frequent items, a depth-first approach need up to
s
levels of recursions to detect all the FIs (up to 2

s

). BISC1 completely replaces these recursions with a special summation that directly calculates the supports of all the possible 2

s

candidate itemsets. With BISC1 the run-time is entirely independent of the database after one database scan, and the per-candidate cost is only
s
. To offset the exponential growth of cost (both time and space) with BISC1 as
s
increases, a second strategy, BISC2, is introduced to effectively double the acceptable range of
s
. BISC2 divides an itemset into prefix and suffix and improves the performance by pruning all the itemsets with infrequent prefixes. If the total number of frequent items in
D
is high, the classic database projection strategy is used. In this case for the first
s
items a single run of BISC (1 or 2) is applied. For each of the remaining items, a projected database is created and the mining process proceeds recursively. To achieve optimal performance, BISC adaptively decides which strategy to use based on the dataset and minimum support. Experiments show that BISC outperforms previous approaches in all the datasets tested. Even though this does not guarantee that BISC will always perform the best, the result is impressive given the fact that most existing algorithms are only efficient in some types of datasets. The memory usage of BISC is also comparable to those of other algorithms.
Multilabel dimensionality reduction via dependence maximization
Authors: Zhang Yin , Zhou Zhi-Hua
Published: October 2010

Multilabel learning deals with data associated with multiple labels simultaneously. Like other data mining and machine learning tasks, multilabel learning also suffers from thecurse of dimensionality. Dimensionality reduction has been studied for many years, however, multilabel dimensionality reduction remains almost untouched. In this article, we propose a multilabel dimensionality reduction method, MDDM, with two kinds of projection strategies, attempting to project the original data into a lower-dimensional feature space maximizing the dependence between the original feature description and the associated class labels. Based on the Hilbert-Schmidt Independence Criterion, we derive a eigen-decomposition problem which enables the dimensionality reduction process to be efficient. Experiments validate the performance of MDDM.
Virtual protocol stack for WSN simulators
Authors: Cho Yookun , Jung Jinman
Published: October 2010

In the most recent years, many kinds of simulation packages have been developed for wireless sensor networks. Network developers, engineers, and researchers are frequently using the network simulators for evaluating performance and efficiency of their network protocols. However, the existing wireless network simulators have some drawbacks such as difficulties in programming, lenthy compile time, hard to understand simulator engine, and their reliability issues. In this paper, we present the
Virtual Protocol Stack (VPS)
for wireless network simulators. The
VPS
provides two important features; 1) a unified programming interface for developing network protocols, and 2) separation of simulator engine and the network protocols. By using the
VPS
, developers no longer concern about understanding different simulator engines. By doing so, developers can share their network protocol modules with each other. We implemented and adapted
VPS
on existing well-known simulation packages, and we observed that
VPS
well adapted to the different wireless network simulators.
Fraud detection in reputation systems in e-markets using logistic regression and stepwise optimization
Authors: Maranzato Rafael , Pereira Adriano , Neubert Marden , do Lago Alair Pereira
Published: October 2010

Reputation is the opinion of the public toward a person, a group of people, or an organization. Reputation systems are particularly important in e-markets, where they help buyers to decide whether to purchase a product or not. Since a higher reputation means more profit, some users try to deceive such systems to increase their reputation. E-markets should protect their reputation systems from attacks in order to maintain a sound environment. This work addresses the task of finding attempts to deceive reputation systems in e-markets. Our goal is to generate a list of users (sellers) ranked by the probability of fraud. Firstly we describe characteristics related to transactions that may indicate frauds evidence and they are expanded to the sellers. We describe results of a simple approach that ranks sellers by counting characteristics of fraud. Then we incorporate characteristics that cannot be used by the counting approach, and we apply logistic regression to both, improved and not improved. We use real data from a large Brazilian e-market to train and evaluate our methods and the improved set with logistic regression performs better, specially when we apply stepwise optimization. We validate our results with specialists of fraud detection in this market place. In the end, we increase by 112% the number of identified fraudsters against the reputation system. In terms of ranking, we reach 93% of average precision after specialists' review in the list that uses Logistic Regression and Stepwise optimization. We also detect 55% of fraudsters with a precision of 100%.
A tool for rapid development of WS-BPEL applications
Authors: Cesari Luca , Pugliese Rosario , Tiezzi Francesco
Published: October 2010

WS-BPEL is imposing itself as a standard for orchestration of web services. However, there are still some well-known difficulties that make programming in WS-BPEL a tricky task. In this paper, we present
BliteC
, a software tool we have developed for supporting a rapid and easy development of WS-BPEL applications.
BliteC
translates service orchestrations written in
Blite
, a formal language inspired to but simpler than WS-BPEL, into readily executable WS-BPEL programs. We illustrate our approach by means of a few practical programming examples.
Regulation of Mammalian Autophagy in Physiology and Pathophysiology
Authors: Ravikumar Brinda , Sarkar Sovan , Davies Janet E. , Futter Marie , Garcia-Arencibia Moises , Green-Thompson Zeyn W. , Jimenez-Sanchez Maria , Korolchuk Viktor I. , Lichtenberg Maike , Luo Shouqing , Massey Dunecan C. O. , Menzies Fiona M. , Moreau Kevin , Narayanan Usha , Renna Maurizio , Siddiqi Farah H. , Underwood Benjamin R. , Winslow Ashley R. , Rubinsztein David C.
Published: October 2010

(Macro)autophagy is a bulk degradation process that mediates the clearance of long-lived proteins and organelles. Autophagy is initiated by double-membraned structures, which engulf portions of cytoplasm. The resulting autophagosomes ultimately fuse with lysosomes, where their contents are degraded. Although the term autophagy was first used in 1963, the field has witnessed dramatic growth in the last 5 years, partly as a consequence of the discovery of key components of its cellular machinery. In this review we focus on mammalian autophagy, and we give an overview of the understanding of its machinery and the signaling cascades that regulate it. As recent studies have also shown that autophagy is critical in a range of normal human physiological processes, and defective autophagy is associated with diverse diseases, including neurodegeneration, lysosomal storage diseases, cancers, and Crohn's disease, we discuss the roles of autophagy in health and disease, while trying to critically evaluate if the coincidence between autophagy and these conditions is causal or an epiphenomenon. Finally, we consider the possibility of autophagy upregulation as a therapeutic approach for various conditions.
Mammalian Krüppel-Like Factors in Health and Diseases
Authors: McConnell Beth B. , Yang Vincent W.
Published: October 2010

The Krüppel-like factor (KLF) family of transcription factors regulates diverse biological processes that include proliferation, differentiation, growth, development, survival, and responses to external stress. Seventeen mammalian KLFs have been identified, and numerous studies have been published that describe their basic biology and contribution to human diseases. KLF proteins have received much attention because of their involvement in the development and homeostasis of numerous organ systems. KLFs are critical regulators of physiological systems that include the cardiovascular, digestive, respiratory, hematological, and immune systems and are involved in disorders such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and inflammatory conditions. Furthermore, KLFs play an important role in reprogramming somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells and maintaining the pluripotent state of embryonic stem cells. As research on KLF proteins progresses, additional KLF functions and associations with disease are likely to be discovered. Here, we review the current knowledge of KLF proteins and describe common attributes of their biochemical and physiological functions and their pathophysiological roles.
An Assessment of the Efficiency of Dust Regional Modelling to Predict Saharan Dust Transport Episodes
Authors: Papanastasiou D. K. , Poupkou A. , Katragkou E. , Amiridis V. , Melas D. , Mihalopoulos N. , Basart S. , Pérez C. , Baldasano J. M.
Published: October 2010

Aerosol levels at Mediterranean Basin are significantly affected by desert dust that is eroded in North Africa and is transported northwards. This study aims to assess the performance of the Dust REgional Atmospheric Model (BSC‐DREAM8b) in the prediction of dust outbreaks near the surface in Eastern Mediterranean. For this purpose, model PM10 predictions covering a 7‐year period and PM10 observations at five surface monitoring sites in Greece are used. A quantitative criterion is set to select the significant dust outbreaks defined as those when the predicted PM10 surface concentration exceeds 12 μg/m3. The analysis reveals that significant dust transport is usually observed for 1–3 consecutive days. Dust outbreak seasons are spring and summer, while some events are also forecasted in autumn. The seasonal variability of dust transport events is different at Finokalia, where the majority of events are observed in spring and winter. Dust contributes by 19–25% to the near surface observed PM10 levels, which can be increased to more than 50 μg/m3 during dust outbreaks, inducing violations of the air quality standards. Dust regional modeling can be regarded as a useful tool for air quality managers when assessing compliance with air quality limit values.
Endosonography-Guided Biliary Drainage with One-Step Placement of a Newly Developed Fully Covered Metal Stent Followed by Duodenal Stenting for Pancreatic Head Cancer
Authors: Ito Kei , Fujita Naotaka , Noda Yutaka , Kobayashi Go , Obana Takashi , Horaguchi Jun , Koshita Shinsuke , Kanno Yoshihide , Ogawa Takahisa , Kato Yuhei , Yamashita Yasunobu
Published: October 2010

An 83-year-old man was admitted to our department, presenting with jaundice, fever, and nausea. CT revealed a pancreatic head tumor with duodenal invasion. Endoscopic transpapillary biliary drainage was unsuccessful due to stenosis at the second portion of the duodenum and tumor invasion to the papilla of Vater. Using a convex linear array echoendoscope, a fully-covered metal stent was placed across the puncture tract to bridge the duodenum and the bile duct. After improvement of jaundice, a duodenal metal stent was placed across the stricture of the duodenum. No procedure-related complications occurred. Neither migration nor obstruction of the two stents was observed during the three months followup period.
Combination of ESBD using a fully covered metal stent and duodenal stenting is a feasible technique and possibly a less invasive treatment option for malignant biliary and duodenal obstruction compared to surgery.
Newly Developed Fully Covered Metal Stent for Unresectable Malignant Biliary Stricture
Authors: Ito Kei , Fujita Naotaka , Noda Yutaka , Kobayashi Go , Obana Takashi , Horaguchi Jun , Koshita Shinsuke , Kanno Yoshihide , Ogawa Takahisa , Kato Yuhei , Yamashita Yasunobu
Published: October 2010

We herein report two patients with unresectable malignant biliary stricture who underwent stenting with a newly developed fully-covered metal stent. In the first case of lower-middle bile duct cancer, a stent was placed through the stenosis. In the second case of middle bile duct stricture due to lymph node metastases from gallbladder cancer, a stent was placed in the bile duct across the stenosis. No procedure-related complications were observed. Unevenness of the outer surface and a low shortening ratio are expected to lessen the occurrence of complications characteristic of covered metal stents such as stent migration and bile duct kinking.
High Blood Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio Is an Indicator of Poor Prognosis in Malignant Mesothelioma Patients Undergoing Systemic Therapy
Authors: Kao Steven C.H. , Pavlakis Nick , Harvie Rozelle , Vardy Janette L. , Boyer Michael J. , van Zandwijk Nico , Clarke Stephen J.
Published: October 2010

Purpose: Asbestos-induced chronic inflammation is implicated in the pathogenesis of malignant mesothelioma (MM). We have investigated blood neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), an index of systemic inflammation, as a prognostic factor in MM patients.

Experimental Design: Patients with MM who had systemic therapy at participating institutes were studied. Potential prognostic factors such as age, gender, performance status, histologic subtype, and baseline laboratory parameters, including NLR, were analyzed. Overall survival from commencement of therapy was determined by the Kaplan–Meier method. Multivariate analyses using Cox Regression model were performed with significant factors (P ≤ 0.05) to determine their independent effect.

Results: A total of 173 MM patients undergoing systemic therapy including 119 patients receiving first-line therapy and 54 patients receiving second- or third-line therapy were included in this retrospective evaluation. Forty-two percent of patients had an elevated NLR at baseline. The following variables were predictive of survival: female gender (P = 0.044), epithelioid histologic subtype (P < 0.001), baseline white blood cell count less than 8.3 × 109/L (P = 0.008), baseline platelet count 400 × 109/L or less (P = 0.05), and NLR of 5 or less (P < 0.001). After multivariate analysis, histologic epithelioid subtype [hazard ratio (HR) = 2.0; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.3–2.9; P = 0.001], and NLR less than 5 (HR = 2.7; 95% CI = 1.8–3.9; P < 0.001) remained independent predictors. The 1-year survival rate was 60% versus 26%, whereas the 2-year survival rate was 34% versus 10% for NLR less than 5 and 5 or greater, respectively. In the separate analyses of chemotherapy-naive and previously treated patient groups, NLR was an independent predictor of survival in both groups.

Conclusion: Our results indicate that NLR is an independent predictor of survival for patients with MM undergoing systemic therapy. Clin Cancer Res; 16(23); 5805–13. ©2010 AACR.
Erweiterte serologische Verträglichkeitstestung in Geltechnik
Authors: Kluge A. , Roelcke D.
Published: October 2010

Expanded serological compatibility tests were carried out as follows: major compatibility test (with plasma): NaCl, antiglobulin technique (AGT), bromelin; antibody screening test (AST, with plasma): NaCl, AGT, papain; AB control test of the blood units (erythrocytes); AB, RhD control test of the recipient’s erythrocytes; autocontrol in bromelin; autocontrol in AGT; CDE control of the blood units (erythrocytes) in Rhesus-negative transfusions. As a result of a reduced need of materials and an increased sensitivity, the gel technique is superior to the tube technique. Cases at risk are recognized in good time by means of the AST within the compatibility testing. When unexpected intraoperative additional transfusions are necessary, blood units can be safely delivered and transfused without waiting for cross-matching when there is a negative AST result. The need for cross-matched blood units on hand can therefore be minimized. This procedure is a step in the direction of Type & Screen, which is compatible with the current German standards. Starting the compatibility tests initially at 37 °C avoids cold agglutinations irrelevant for transfusion. The incubation at various temperatures, which is possible with the same material when using the tube technique, is not necessary. We have solved the problem of fibrin in plasma with short-time defibrination. Because of the known advantages the gel technique was able to supersede the compatibility testing in tubes which we have carried out in the above-mentioned combination since 1978.
Improved Outcomes With Early Collaborative Care of Ambulatory Heart Failure Patients Discharged From the Emergency Department
Authors: Lee Douglas S. , Stukel Thérèse A. , Austin Peter C. , Alter David A. , Schull Michael J. , You John J. , Chong Alice , Henry David , Tu Jack V.
Published: October 2010

Background—

The type of outpatient physician care after an emergency department visit for heart failure may affect patients' outcomes.

Methods and Results—

Using the National Ambulatory Care Reporting System, we examined the care and outcomes of heart failure patients who visited and were discharged from the emergency department in Ontario, Canada (April 2004 to March 2007). Early collaborative care by a cardiologist and primary care (PC) physician within 30 days after discharge was compared with PC alone. Care for 10 599 patients (age, 74.9±11.9 years; 50.2% male) was provided by PC alone (n=6596), cardiologist alone (n=535), or concurrently by both cardiologist and PC (n=1478); 1990 did not visit a physician. Collaborative care patients were more likely to undergo assessment of left ventricular function (57.4% versus 28.7%), noninvasive stress testing (20.1% versus 7.8%), and cardiac catheterization (11.6% versus 2.7%) compared with PC. Drug prescriptions (patients ≥65 years of age) demonstrated higher use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (58.8% versus 54.6%), angiotensin receptor blockers (22.7% versus 18.1%), β-adrenoceptor antagonists (63.4% versus 48.0%), loop diuretics (84.2% versus 79.6%), metolazone (4.8% versus 3.4%), and spironolactone (19.8% versus 12.7%) within 100 days after emergency department discharge for collaborative care compared with PC. In a propensity-matched model, mortality was lower with PC compared with no physician visit (hazard ratio, 0.75; 95% confidence interval, 0.64 to 0.87;
P
<0.001). Collaborative care reduced mortality compared with PC (hazard ratio, 0.79; 95% confidence interval, 0.63 to 1.00;
P
=0.045). Sole cardiology care conferred a trend to increased mortality (hazard ratio, 1.41 versus collaborative care; 95% confidence interval, 0.98 to 2.03;
P
=0.067).

Conclusions—

Early collaborative heart failure care was associated with increased use of drug therapies and cardiovascular diagnostic tests and better outcomes compared with PC alone.
Suppression of the Nitric Oxide Pathway in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Patients Receiving Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor–Signaling Inhibitors
Authors: Robinson Emily S. , Khankin Eliyahu V. , Choueiri Toni K. , Dhawan Mallika S. , Rogers Miranda J. , Karumanchi S. Ananth , Humphreys Benjamin D.
Published: October 2010

Therapies that target the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pathway cause hypertension, but the mechanism remains unknown. This cross-sectional study tested the hypothesis that VEGF inhibition causes hypertension by suppressing VEGF-mediated vasodilatory pathways. Urine was collected from 80 patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma from 2002 to 2009, 40 at baseline and 40 while on VEGF inhibitors. Measured urinary biomarkers include albumin, metabolites of the nitric oxide (NO) pathway and its downstream effector cGMP, and prostaglandin pathway biomarkers prostaglandin E2, 6-keto prostaglandin F1α, and cAMP, all normalized to urinary creatinine. The mean age in both groups was 61.8 years, 76% were men, and urinary albumin was higher in patients receiving VEGF inhibitors (median: 18.4 versus 4.6 mg/g;
P
=0.009). cGMP/creatinine was suppressed in patients on VEGF inhibitors (0.28 versus 0.39 pmol/μg;
P
=0.01), with a trend toward suppression of nitrate/creatinine (0.46 versus 0.62 μmol/mg;
P
=0.09). Both comparisons were strengthened when patients on bevacizumab were excluded, and only those receiving small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors were analyzed (cGMP/creatinine:
P
=0.003; nitrate/creatinine:
P
=0.01). Prostaglandin E2, 6-keto prostaglandin F1α, and cAMP did not differ between groups. These results suggest that hypertension induced by VEGF inhibitors is mediated by suppression of NO production. Prospective studies are needed to explore whether these biomarkers may be useful predictors of efficacy in patients receiving VEGF-targeted therapies.
Biogeochemistry of Carbon in the Amazonian Floodplains over a 2000-km Reach: Insights from a Process-Based Model
Authors: Bustillo Vincent , Luiz Victoria Reynaldo , Sousa de Moura Jose Mauro , Victoria Daniel de Castro , Andrade Toledo Andre Marcondes , Colicchio Erich
Published: October 2010

The influence of Amazonian floodplains on the hydrological, sedimentary, and biogeochemical river budget was investigated over a 2000-km reach. A process-based model relying on the closure of chemical fluxes and isotopic signals was implemented. On average for the whole studied reach, the overall fluxes of carbon associated with mineralization and aquatic photosynthesis were estimated to 35.7 and 15.3 Tg C yr−1, respectively. Almost 57% of the carbon sequestrated by photosynthesis comes from aerial sources (flooded forest); the remaining 43% resulted from aquatic sources (várzea grasses and phytoplankton). The process rates substantially fluctuate over the annual cycle, depending particularly on the extension of flooded area and on the river–floodplain connectivity. As the river level declines, the drastic decrease of turbidity and the lower supply of carbon substrates promote autotrophy to the detriment of heterotrophy, leading to substantial changes of pH and gaseous equilibria in the river water. The main consequences are (i) the side-chain oxidation of dissolved organic matter leading to the concomitant rises of the carbon to nitrogen atomic ratio and nitrate contents and (ii) the sorption of hydrophobic humic acids, which fractionate 13C and thus lead to 13C-depleted particulate organic matter (fine fraction) compared to remaining dissolved organic matter. As the river flow rises, the heterotrophy prevails over autotrophy and this tends to attenuate the chemical signature imprinted by the latter. The significant contribution of aerial autochthonous sources to the budget of carbon indicates that the fluxes of mineralization are sustained by the net primary production of river corridors. The variable extension of submerged areas defines the proportions of CO2 exported by the river and released to the atmosphere. The rate of CO2 outgassing on the studied reach (18.8 Tg C yr−1) represents about 50% of the incoming dissolved inorganic carbon flux. The rate of methane emission is estimated as 2.2 Tg C yr−1 and that of denitrification is estimated as 0.87 Tg N yr−1, representing 1.5 times the flux of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) exported by the Amazon River at the station of Óbidos (0.64 Tg N yr−1).
Lagrangian Coherent Structure Analysis of Terminal Winds Detected by Lidar. Part I: Turbulence Structures
Authors: Tang Wenbo , Chan Pak Wai , Haller George
Published: October 2010

The accurate real-time detection of turbulent airflow patterns near airports is important for safety and comfort in commercial aviation. In this paper, a method is developed to identify Lagrangian coherent structures (LCS) from horizontal lidar scans at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) in China. LCS are distinguished frame-independent material structures that create localized attraction, repulsion, or high shear of nearby trajectories in the flow. As such, they are the fundamental structures behind airflow patterns such as updrafts, downdrafts, and wind shear. Based on a recently developed finite-domain–finite-time Lyapunov exponent (FDFTLE) algorithm from Tang et al. and on new Lagrangian diagnostics presented in this paper that are pertinent to the extracted FDFTLE ridges, the authors differentiate LCS extracted from lidar data. It is found that these LCS derived from horizontal lidar scans compare well to convergence and divergence suggested by vertical slice scans. At HKIA, horizontal scans are predominant: they cover much bigger azimuthal ranges as compared with only two azimuthal angles from the vertical scans. LCS extracted from horizontal scans are thus advantageous in providing organizing turbulence structures over the entire observational domain as compared with a single line along the vertical scan direction. In Part II of this study, the authors will analyze the evolution of LCS and their impacts on landing aircraft based on recorded flight data.