bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Identification of FOXM1‐induced epigenetic markers for head and neck squamous cell carcinomas
Authors: Hwang Sungjae , Mahadevan Swarna , Qadir Fatima , Hutchison Iain L. , Costea Daniela Elena , Neppelberg Evelyn , Liavaag Per Gunnar , Waseem Ahmad , Teh Muy‐Teck
Published: October 2013

BACKGROUND

Epigenetic reprogramming of the methylome has been implicated in all stages of cancer evolution. It is now well accepted that cancer cells exploit epigenetic reprogramming, a mechanism that regulates stem/progenitor cell renewal and differentiation, to promote cancer initiation and progression. The oncogene FOXM1 has been implicated in all major forms of human cancer.

METHODS

We have recently shown that aberrant upregulation of FOXM1 orchestrated a DNA methylation signature that mimics the cancer methylome landscape, from which we have identified a number of FOXM1‐induced epigenetic markers. Differential promoter methylation and gene expression in clinical specimens were measured using commercially available bisulfite conversion kits and absolute quantitative PCR, respectively.

RESULTS

Here, we investigated 8 FOXM1‐induced differentially methylated genes, SPCS1, FLNA, CHPF, GLT8D1, C6orf136, MGAT1, NDUFA10, and PAFAH1B3, using human head and neck tissue specimens donated by 2 geographically independent patient cohorts from Norway and the United Kingdom. Two genes (GLT8D1 and C6orf136) were found to be differentially expressed in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs). Using methylation‐specific quantitative PCR, we confirmed that the promoters of GLT8D1 and C6orf136 were hypo‐ and hypermethylated, respectively, in HNSCC tissues.

CONCLUSIONS

Given that epigenetic change precedes gene expression, methylation status of candidate genes identified from this study may represent a signature of premalignancy, rendering them potentially useful predictive biomarkers for precancer screening and/or therapeutic targets for cancer prevention. Cancer 2013;119:4249–4258. © 2013 American Cancer Society.
The cost implications of prostate cancer screening in the Medicare population
Authors: Ma Xiaomei , Wang Rong , Long Jessica B. , Ross Joseph S. , Soulos Pamela R. , Yu James B. , Makarov Danil V. , Gold Heather T. , Gross Cary P.
Published: October 2013

BACKGROUND

Recent debate about prostate‐specific antigen (PSA)‐based testing for prostate cancer screening among older men has rarely considered the cost of screening.

METHODS

A population‐based cohort of male Medicare beneficiaries aged 66 to 99 years, who had never been diagnosed with prostate cancer at the end of 2006 (n = 94,652), was assembled, and they were followed for 3 years to assess the cost of PSA screening and downstream procedures (biopsy, pathologic analysis, and hospitalization due to biopsy complications) at both the national and the hospital referral region (HRR) level.

RESULTS

Approximately 51.2% of men received PSA screening tests during the 3‐year period, with 2.9% undergoing biopsy. The annual expenditures on prostate cancer screening by the national fee‐for‐service Medicare program were $447 million in 2009 US dollars. The mean annual screening cost at the HRR level ranged from $17 to $62 per beneficiary. Downstream biopsy‐related procedures accounted for 72% of the overall screening costs and varied significantly across regions. Compared with men residing in HRRs that were in the lowest quartile for screening expenditures, men living in the highest HRR quartile were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer of any stage (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 1.20, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.07‐1.35) and localized cancer (IRR = 1.30, 95% CI = 1.15‐1.47). The IRR for regional/metastasized cancer was also elevated, although not statistically significant (IRR = 1.31, 95% CI = 0.81‐2.11).

CONCLUSIONS

Medicare prostate cancer screening–related expenditures are substantial, vary considerably across regions, and are positively associated with rates of cancer diagnosis. Cancer 2014;120:96–102. © 2013 American Cancer Society.
Development and validation of risk models and molecular diagnostics to permit personalized management of cancer
Authors: Pu Xia , Ye Yuanqing , Wu Xifeng
Published: October 2013

Despite the advances made in cancer management over the past few decades, improvements in cancer diagnosis and prognosis are still poor, highlighting the need for individualized strategies. Toward this goal, risk prediction models and molecular diagnostic tools have been developed, tailoring each step of risk assessment from diagnosis to treatment and clinical outcomes based on the individual's clinical, epidemiological, and molecular profiles. These approaches hold increasing promise for delivering a new paradigm to maximize the efficiency of cancer surveillance and efficacy of treatment. However, they require stringent study design, methodology development, comprehensive assessment of biomarkers and risk factors, and extensive validation to ensure their overall usefulness for clinical translation. In the current study, the authors conducted a systematic review using breast cancer as an example and provide general guidelines for risk prediction models and molecular diagnostic tools, including development, assessment, and validation. Cancer 2014;120:11–19. © 2013 American Cancer Society.
Body mass and smoking are modifiable risk factors for recurrent bladder cancer
Authors: Wyszynski Asaf , Tanyos Sam A. , Rees Judy R. , Marsit Carmen J. , Kelsey Karl T. , Schned Alan R. , Pendleton Eben M. , Celaya Maria O. , Zens Michael S. , Karagas Margaret R. , Andrew Angeline S.
Published: October 2013

BACKGROUND

In the Western world, bladder cancer is the fourth most common cancer in men and the eighth most common in women. Recurrences frequently occur, and continued surveillance is necessary to identify and treat recurrent tumors. Efforts to identify risk factors that are potentially modifiable to reduce the rate of recurrence are needed.

METHODS

Cigarette smoking behavior and body mass index were investigated at diagnosis for associations with bladder cancer recurrence in a population‐based study of 726 patients with bladder cancer in New Hampshire, United States. Patients diagnosed with non–muscle invasive urothelial cell carcinoma were followed to ascertain long‐term prognosis. Analysis of time to recurrence was performed using multivariate Cox regression models.

RESULTS

Smokers experienced shorter time to recurrence (continuing smoker hazard ratio [HR] = 1.51, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.08‐2.13). Although being overweight (body mass index > 24.9 kg/m2) at diagnosis was not a strong independent factor (HR = 1.33, 95% CI = 0.94‐1.89), among continuing smokers, being overweight more than doubled the risk of recurrence compared to smokers of normal weight (HR = 2.67, 95% CI = 1.14‐6.28).

CONCLUSIONS

These observational results suggest that adiposity is a risk factor for bladder cancer recurrence, particularly among tobacco users. Future intervention studies are warranted to evaluate whether both smoking cessation and weight reduction strategies reduce bladder tumor recurrences. Cancer 2014;120:408–414. © 2013 American Cancer Society.
Mediators of the resistance and aerobic exercise intervention effect on physical and general health in men undergoing androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer
Authors: Buffart Laurien M. , Galvão Daniel A. , Chinapaw Mai J. , Brug Johannes , Taaffe Dennis R. , Spry Nigel , Joseph David , Newton Robert U.
Published: October 2013

BACKGROUND

The objective of the current study was to identify mediators of the effects of a combined resistance and aerobic exercise program on perceived physical and general health in men undergoing androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer.

METHODS

In total, 57 patients with prostate cancer undergoing androgen deprivation therapy were randomly assigned to 12 weeks of resistance and aerobic exercise or usual care. The outcome measures of physical and general health were assessed by standardized questionnaires. Linear regression analyses were conducted on the residual change scores of the variables. The mediating effects of fatigue, muscle strength, and functional performance on the intervention's effect on physical and general health were examined using the product of coefficients method. Bootstrapping was used to calculate the 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs).

RESULTS

The exercise intervention was found to significantly improve physical (beta, 5.03; 95% CI, 1.01‐9.04) and general health (beta, 12.89; 95% CI, 2.24‐23.54). Upper body muscle strength and walking speed significantly mediated the intervention effect on physical health (beta, 2.65; 95% CI, 0.64‐5.54), accounting for 53% of the total effect. Walking speed and fatigue were found to be mediators in the intervention effect on general health (beta, 7.52; 95% CI, 2.16‐16.92), accounting for 51% of the total effect.

CONCLUSIONS

The intervention effects on physical and general health were explained by different mediating mechanisms. Walking speed mediated the intervention effect on both physical and general health. The intervention effect on physical health was further mediated by upper body strength, whereas the effect on general health was mediated by fatigue. Cancer 2014;120:294–301. © 2013 American Cancer Society.
Trends in stage‐specific incidence rates for urothelial carcinoma of the bladder in the United States: 1988 to 2006
Authors: Nielsen Matthew E. , Smith Angela B. , Meyer Anne‐Marie , Kuo Tzy‐Mey , Tyree Seth , Kim William Y. , Milowsky Matthew I. , Pruthi Raj S. , Millikan Robert C.
Published: October 2013

BACKGROUND

Bladder cancer is notable for a striking heterogeneity of disease‐specific risks. Among the approximately 75% of incident cases found to be superficial to the muscularis propria at the time of presentation (non–muscle‐invasive bladder cancer), the risk of progression to the lethal phenotype of muscle‐invasive disease is strongly associated with stage and grade of disease. Given the suggestion of an increasing percentage of low‐risk cases in hospital‐based registry data in recent years, the authors hypothesized that population‐based data may reveal changes in the stage distribution of early‐stage cases.

METHODS

Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data were used to examine trends for the stage‐specific incidence of bladder cancer between 1988 and 2006, adjusted for age, race, and sex, using Joinpoint and nonparametric tests.

RESULTS

The adjusted incidence rate of papillary noninvasive (Ta) predominantly low grade (77%) disease was found to increase from 5.52 to 9.09 per 100,000 population (P < .0001), with an average annual percentage change of +3.3. Over the same period, concomitant, albeit smaller, decreases were observed for flat in situ (Tis) and lamina propria‐invasive (T1) disease (2.57 to 1.19 and 6.65 to 4.61 per 100,000 population [both P < .0001]; average annual percent change of −5.0 and −1.6, respectively). The trend was most dramatic among patients in the oldest age strata, suggesting a previously unappreciated cohort phenomenon.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of the current study should motivate further epidemiological investigations of differential associations of genetic and environmental factors with different bladder cancer phenotypes as well as further scrutiny of clinical practice guideline recommendations for the growing subgroup of predominantly older patients with lower‐risk disease. Cancer 2014;120:86–95. © 2013 American Cancer Society.
Racial parities in outcomes after radiotherapy for head and neck cancer
Authors: Liu Gene‐Fu F. , Ranck Mark C. , Solanki Abhishek A. , Cao Hongyuan , Kolokythas Antonia , Wenig Barry L. , Chen Lucy , Ard Stephanie , Weichselbaum Ralph R. , Halpern Howard , Spiotto Michael T.
Published: October 2013

BACKGROUND

Although black patients experience worse outcomes after treatment for squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (HNSCC), these conclusions were based on populations in which blacks comprised a minority of patients. The objective of the current study was to determine the impact of race on outcomes in patients with HNSCC who received radiotherapy at an institution in which blacks comprised the majority of patients.

METHODS

In this retrospective cohort study, the authors reviewed 366 black patients and 236 white patients who had nonmetastatic HNSCC for which they received radiotherapy between 1990 and 2012. The primary study outcome measures were locoregional control, freedom from distant metastasis, progression‐free survival, and overall survival.

RESULTS

The median follow‐up was 18.3 months for all patients. The 2‐year locoregional control rate was 71.9% for black patients compared with 64.2% for white patients (hazard ratio, 0.72; P = .03). There was no difference between blacks and whites regarding 2‐year freedom from distant metastasis, progression‐free survival, or overall survival. Among the patients who had stage III through IVB disease, blacks and whites had similar outcomes. On multivariate analysis, race was not statistically significant for locoregional control, freedom from distant metastasis, progression‐free survival, or overall survival. Despite these similar outcomes, black patients had worse socioeconomic factors and increased comorbidities but had similar treatment compliance compared with white patients.

CONCLUSIONS

With more adverse prognostic factors, black patients experienced oncologic outcomes similar to the outcomes of white patients after receiving radiotherapy for HNSCC. The current data suggest that centers that treat large percentages of minority patients who receive radiotherapy for HNSCCs may overcome existing health care disparities through improved treatment compliance. Cancer 2014;120:244–252. © 2013 American Cancer Society.
Hepatocyte nuclear factor‐1β is not a specific marker of clear cell carcinoma in serous effusions
Authors: Davidson Ben
Published: October 2013

BACKGROUND

The transcription factor hepatocyte nuclear factor‐1β (HNF1β) has been reported to be a specific clear cell carcinoma marker, but its role in the diagnosis of serous effusions is largely unexplored. The objective of this study was to assess the diagnostic role of 2 commercial antibodies against HNF1β in effusion specimens.

METHODS

Effusions (n = 101), consisting of 43 ovarian adenocarcinomas (26 serous, 14 clear cell, 3 endometrioid), 37 nonovarian adenocarcinomas, 10 malignant mesotheliomas, 2 nonepithelial cancers, and 9 reactive specimens, were immunostained using antibodies from Santa Cruz Biotechnology Inc (Santa Cruz, Calif) and Atlas Antibodies AB (Stockholm, Sweden).

RESULTS

Use of the Santa Cruz antibody was associated with cytoplasmic or background staining in some specimens, whereas distinct staining with minimal background was observed using the Atlas antibody. The Santa Cruz antibody performed better in differentiating clear cell carcinoma from serous ovarian carcinoma and breast carcinoma, whereas staining was consistently negative in benign and malignant mesotheliomas using both antibodies. Distinct nuclear expression of HNF1β was observed in lung and gastrointestinal carcinomas, most often using the Atlas antibody.

CONCLUSIONS

The HNF1β antibody from Atlas performed better than its counterpart from Santa Cruz in terms of staining quality, but was less specific for clear cell carcinoma. Although HNF1β may be of diagnostic value in differentiating clear cell from serous carcinoma in cases with proven genital origin, the role of this marker is questionable in the differential diagnosis between the former tumors and adenocarcinomas of other origin, particularly in the setting of metastasis from an unknown primary tumor. Cancer (Cancer Cytopathol) 2014;122:153–8. © 2013 American Cancer Society.
Label‐retaining, quiescent globose basal cells are found in the olfactory epithelium
Authors: Jang Woochan , Chen Xueyan , Flis Daniel , Harris Margaret , Schwob James E.
Published: October 2013

The vertebrate olfactory epithelium (OE) is known for its ability to renew itself throughout life as well as to reconstitute after injury. Although this remarkable capacity demonstrates the persistence of stem cells and multipotent progenitor cells, their nature in the OE remains undefined and controversial, as both horizontal basal cells (HBCs) and globose basal cells (GBCs) have features in common with each other and with stem cells in other tissues. Here, we investigate whether some among the population of GBCs satisfy a key feature of stem cells, i.e., mitotic quiescence with retention of thymidine analogue label and activation by injury. Accordingly, we demonstrate that some GBCs express p27Kip1, a member of the Kip/Cip family of cyclin‐dependent kinase inhibitors. In addition, some GBCs retain bromodeoxyuridine or ethynyldeoxyuridine for an extended period when the pulse is administered in neonates followed by a 1‐month chase. Their identity as GBCs was confirmed by electron microscopy. All spared GBCs express Ki‐67 in the methyl bromide (MeBr)‐lesioned OE initially after lesion, indicating that the label‐retaining (LR) GBCs are activated in response to injury. LR‐GBCs reappear during the acute recovery period following MeBr exposure, as demonstrated with 2‐ or 4‐week chase periods after labeling. Taken together, our data demonstrate the existence of LR‐GBCs that are seemingly activated in response to epithelial injury and then re‐established after the initial phase of recovery is completed. In this regard, some among the GBCs satisfy a common criterion for functioning like stem cells. J. Comp. Neurol. 522:731–749, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Functional anatomy of the fiddler crab compound eye (Uca vomeris: Ocypodidae, Brachyura, Decapoda)
Authors: Alkaladi Ali , Zeil Jochen
Published: October 2013

We describe the structural organization of the ommatidium in the compound eye of the fiddler crab, Uca vomeris, at both the light‐ and the electron‐microscopy levels. We pay particular attention to the organization of the optical system, the retinular cells, the rhabdom, and of pigment cells. Although the fiddler crab compound eye is of the apposition type, typical for Brachyuran crabs, we identify a number of novel, functionally relevant aspects of ommatidial organization that have not previously been described. The flat corneal facet lenses provide the main focusing power and therefore must contain a gradient of refractive index. Each ommatidium has the typical set of eight retinular cells, with a distal retinular cell R8 lying close to the proximal tip of the crystalline cone. R8 is shaped into four lobes, which are separated by proximal extensions of the four crystalline cone cells and of distal extensions of retinular cells R1–R7. The microvilli in the R8 rhabdom are not aligned in a uniform direction, while the microvilli of the main rhabdom show the typical crustacean pattern of alternating bands of horizontally (R3, R4, R7) and vertically aligned microvilli (R1, R2, R5, R6). We describe in detail the distribution and structural properties of screening pigment granules in the two types of pigment cells and in the retinular cells in the equatorial eye. We discuss the functional significance of this fine‐structural organization of the fiddler crab compound eye in relation to visual processing and visual ecology. J. Comp. Neurol. 522:1264–1283, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Natural and lesion‐induced decrease in cell proliferation in the medial nucleus of the trapezoid body during hearing development
Authors: Saliu Aminat , Adise Shana , Xian Sandy , Kudelska Kamila , Rodríguez‐Contreras Adrián
Published: October 2013

The functional interactions between neurons and glial cells that are important for nervous system function are presumably established during development from the activity of progenitor cells. In this study we examined proliferation of progenitor cells in the medial nucleus of the trapezoid body (MNTB) located in the rat auditory brainstem. We performed DNA synthesis labeling experiments to demonstrate changes in cell proliferation activity during postnatal stages of development. An increase in cell proliferation correlated with MNTB growth and the presence of S100β‐positive astrocytes among MNTB neurons. In additional experiments we analyzed the fate of newly born cells. At perinatal ages, newly born cells colabeled with the astrocyte marker S100β in higher numbers than when cells were generated at postnatal day 6. Furthermore, we identified newly born cells that were colabeled with caspase‐3 immunohistochemistry and performed comparative experiments to demonstrate that there is a natural decrease in cell proliferation activity during postnatal development in rats, mice, gerbils, and ferrets. Lastly, we found that there is a stronger decrease in MNTB cell proliferation after performing bilateral lesions of the auditory periphery in rats. Altogether, these results identify important stages in the development of astrocytes in the MNTB and provide evidence that the proliferative activity of the progenitor cells is developmentally regulated. We propose that the developmental reduction in cell proliferation may reflect coordinated signaling between the auditory brainstem and the auditory periphery. J. Comp. Neurol. 522:971–985, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Evaluating the predictive value of doublecortin as a marker for adult neurogenesis in canaries (Serinus canaria)
Authors: Vellema Michiel , Hertel Moritz , Urbanus Susan L. , Van der Linden Annemie , Gahr Manfred
Published: October 2013

Doublecortin (DCX) is an important microtubule‐associated protein involved in the migration of young neurons into the cortical layers of the brain during early human development. The continued expression of DCX in brain areas with protracted neuron recruitment has promoted this endogenous protein as a popular indirect tool to monitor adult neurogenesis in a variety of species. However, little is known about its possible involvement in other cellular processes and a thorough validation of DCX as a quantitative measure for neurogenesis is generally lacking. Here we investigated the relationship between DCX expression and neuron recruitment in the brains of adult canaries (Serinus canaria), a species well‐known for its adult neurogenesis. We examined the age and functional state of DCX‐labeled cells by using mitotic and neuron‐specific markers, retrograde tracings, and immediate early gene colocalizations. Although DCX expression was high in brain areas implicated in adult neurogenesis, DCX‐expressing neurons were also abundant in regions that do not recruit new neurons. Moreover, DCX expression was observed in adult, active neurons, differentiated projection neurons, and birth‐dated neurons of up to 1 year of age. Season and testosterone treatment affected DCX expression in two song control nuclei, HVC and Area X, but did not correlate with known patterns of neuron recruitment. Together, these results demonstrate that DCX expression is not exclusive to young migrating neurons, and does not predict neuron recruitment equally throughout the canary brain. Therefore, DCX labeling needs careful validation for each brain region separately in each species analyzed when used to quantify adult neurogenesis. J. Comp. Neurol. 522:1299–1315, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Marginal Density Expansions for Diffusions and Stochastic Volatility II: Applications
Authors: Deuschel J. D. , Friz P. K. , Jacquier A. , Violante S.
Published: October 2013

In Part I (Comm. Pure Appl. Math., 67 (2014), no. 1, 40–82) we discussed density expansions for multidimensional diffusions (X1,…,Xd), at fixed time T and projected to their first l coordinates in the small‐noise regime. Global conditions were found that replace the well‐known “not‐in‐cut‐locus” condition known from heat kernel asymptotics. In the present paper we discuss financial applications; these include tail and implied volatility asymptotics in some correlated stochastic volatility models. In particular, we solve a problem left open by A. Gulisashvili and E. M. Stein. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Approaching the Internet of things (IoT): a modelling, analysis and abstraction framework
Authors: Ikram Ahsan , Anjum Ashiq , Hill Richard , Antonopoulos Nick , Liu Lu , Sotiriadis Stelios
Published: October 2013

The evolution of communication protocols, sensory hardware, mobile and pervasive devices, alongside social and cyber‐physical networks, has made the Internet of things (IoT) an interesting concept with inherent complexities as it is realised. Such complexities range from addressing mechanisms to information management and from communication protocols to presentation and interaction within the IoT. Although existing Internet and communication models can be extended to provide the basis for realising IoT, they may not be sufficiently capable to handle the new paradigms that IoT introduces, such as social communities, smart spaces, privacy and personalisation of devices and information, modelling and reasoning. With interaction models in IoT moving from the orthodox service consumption model, towards an interactive conversational model, nature‐inspired computational models appear to be candidate representations. Specifically, this research contests that the reactive and interactive nature of IoT makes chemical reaction‐inspired approaches particularly well suited to such requirements. This paper presents a chemical reaction‐inspired computational model using the concepts of graphs and reflection, which attempts to address the complexities associated with the visualisation, modelling, interaction, analysis and abstraction of information in the IoT. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Tridiagonalization of a dense symmetric matrix on multiple GPUs and its application to symmetric eigenvalue problems
Authors: Yamazaki Ichitaro , Dong Tingxing , Solcà Raffaele , Tomov Stanimire , Dongarra Jack , Schulthess Thomas
Published: October 2013

For software to fully exploit the computing power of emerging heterogeneous computers, not only must the required computational kernels be optimized for the specific hardware architectures but also an effective scheduling scheme is needed to utilize the available heterogeneous computational units and to hide the communication between them. As a case study, we develop a static scheduling scheme for the tridiagonalization of a symmetric dense matrix on multicore CPUs with multiple graphics processing units (GPUs) on a single compute node. We then parallelize and optimize the Basic Linear Algebra Subroutines (BLAS)‐2 symmetric matrix‐vector multiplication, and the BLAS‐3 low rank symmetric matrix updates on the GPUs. We demonstrate the good scalability of these multi‐GPU BLAS kernels and the effectiveness of our scheduling scheme on twelve Intel Xeon processors and three NVIDIA GPUs. We then integrate our hybrid CPU‐GPU kernel into computational kernels at higher‐levels of software stacks, that is, a shared‐memory dense eigensolver and a distributed‐memory sparse eigensolver. Our experimental results show that our kernels greatly improve the performance of these higher‐level kernels, not only reducing the solution time but also enabling the solution of larger‐scale problems. Because such symmetric eigenvalue problems arise in many scientific and engineering simulations, our kernels could potentially lead to new scientific discoveries. Furthermore, these dense linear algebra algorithms present algorithmic characteristics that can be found in other algorithms. Hence, they are not only important computational kernels on their own but also useful testbeds to study the performance of the emerging computers and the effects of the various optimization techniques. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Atmospheric Chemistry and Environmental Assessment of Inhalational Fluroxene
Authors: Bravo Iván , Rodríguez Ana , Rodríguez Diana , Diaz‐de‐Mera Yolanda , Notario Alberto , Aranda Alfonso
Published: October 2013

Smog chamber/gas chromatography techniques are used to investigate the atmospheric degradation of fluroxene, an anesthetic, through oxidation with OH and Cl radicals at 298 K and under atmospheric pressure of N2 or air. The measured rate constants (k) are: k(fluroxene+OH.)=(2.96±0.61)×10−11 and k(fluroxene+Cl.)=(1.62±0.19)×10−10 cm3 molecule−1 s−1. The only product detected after the oxidation of fluroxene with OH radicals is 2,2,2‐trifluoroethyl formate (79 % and 83 % molar yield in the absence and presence of NOx, respectively). However, after oxidation with Cl radicals, the detected products are 2,2,2‐trifluoroethyl formate (78 %), 2,2,2‐trifluoroethyl‐1‐chloroacetate (5 %), and chloroacetaldehyde (4 %), in the absence of NOx, and 2,2,2‐trifluoroethyl formate (93 %), 2,2,2‐trifluoroethyl‐1‐chloroacetate (6 %), and chloroacetaldehyde (5 %), in the presence of NOx. The results indicate that, both in the absence and presence of NOx, the main fate of fluroxene is the addition of the oxidant to the double bond and, once the alkoxy radical is formed, the main decomposition pathway is by means of degradation. Moreover, it is expected that 2,2,2‐trifluoroethyl formate is the only oxidation product able to actively contribute to climate change. To successfully assess the contribution of fluroxene to global warming, we measure the infrared spectra of fluroxene and 2,2,2‐trifluoroethyl formate, and calculate the radiative efficiencies (REs) to be 0.27 and 0.28 W m−2 ppbv−1, respectively. In addition, the cumulative effect owing to the formation of 2,2,2‐trifluoroethyl formate is investigated, and the direct, indirect, and net global‐warming potentials are calculated by using the REs and lifetimes of fluroxene and 2,2,2‐trifluoroethyl formate.
Morphological Phase Diagram of Biocatalytically Active Ceria Nanostructures as a Function of Processing Variables and Their Properties
Authors: Sakthivel Tamilselvan , Das Soumen , Kumar Amit , Reid David L. , Gupta Ankur , Sayle Dean C. , Seal Sudipta
Published: October 2013

We rationalize how fluorite‐structured CeO2, which is crystallographically isotropic, can grow anisotropically (without templates) to form nanoparticles, rods, and cubes. In particular, single‐crystalline and monodispersed cubic CeO2 nanoparticles, nanorods, and nanocubes have been selectively synthesized by a very simple, efficient, and economical hydrothermal process using different NaOH concentrations, and Ce(NO3)3 as the cerium precursor. High‐resolution transmission electron microscopy reveals nanomaterials with differently exposed crystal planes: {111} and {100} for nanoparticles, {110} and {100} for nanorods, and {100} for nanocubes. During the preparation of the CeO2 nanomaterials, the formation of intermediate anisotropic Ce(OH)3 species under basic conditions and their conversion into CeO2 at higher temperature are key factors responsible for the shape evolution. Atomistic computer simulations were used to help rationalize how the synthetic conditions impact upon the morphology of the nanomaterial. The synthesized CeO2 nanoparticles and nanorods demonstrate higher catalase mimetic activities than the nanocubes.
An exploration of social identity: The geography and politics of news‐sharing communities in twitter
Authors: HerdaĞdelen AmaÇ , Zuo Wenyun , Gard‐Murray Alexander , Bar‐Yam Yaneer
Published: October 2013

The importance of collective social action in current events is manifest in the Arab Spring and Occupy movements. Electronic social media have become a pervasive channel for social interactions, and a basis of collective social response to information. The study of social media can reveal how individual actions combine to become the collective dynamics of society. Characterizing the groups that form spontaneously may reveal both how individuals self‐identify and how they will act together. Here we map the social, political, and geographical properties of news‐sharing communities on Twitter, a popular microblogging platform. We track user‐generated messages that contain links to New York Times online articles and we label users according to the topic of the links they share, their geographic location, and their self‐descriptive keywords. When users are clustered based on who follows whom in Twitter, we find social groups separate by whether they are interested in local (NY), national (US) or global (cosmopolitan) issues. The national group subdivides into liberal, conservative and other, the latter being a diverse but mostly business oriented group with sports, arts, and other splinters. The national political groups are based across the US but are distinct from the national group that is broadly interested in a variety of topics. A person who is cosmopolitan associates with others who are cosmopolitan, and a US liberal/conservative associates with others who are US liberal/conservative, creating separated social groups with those identities. The existence of “citizens” of local, national, and cosmopolitan communities is a basis for dialog and action at each of these levels of societal organization. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 19: 10–20, 2013
Deffuant model with general opinion distributions: First impression and critical confidence bound
Authors: Shang Yilun
Published: October 2013

In the Deffuant model for social influence, pairs of adjacent agents interact at a constant rate and mix up their opinions (represented by continuous variables) only if the distance between opinions is short according to a threshold. We derive a critical threshold for the Deffuant model on
, above which the opinions converge toward the average value of the initial opinion distribution with probability one, provided the initial distribution has a finite second order moment. We demonstrate our theoretical results by performing extensive numerical simulations on some continuous probability distributions including uniform, Beta, power‐law and normal distributions. Noticed is a clear differentiation of convergence rate that unimodal opinions (regardless of being biased or not) achieve consensus much faster than even or polarized opinions. Hereby, the emergence of a single mainstream view is a prominent feature giving rise to fast consensus in public opinion formation and social contagious behavior. Finally, we discuss the Deffuant model on an infinite Cayley tree, through which general network architectures might be factored in. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 19: 38–49, 2013
Patterns of Change in Different Phases of Outpatient Psychotherapy: A Stage‐Sequential Pattern Analysis of Change in Session Reports
Authors: Rubel Julian , Lutz Wolfgang , Schulte Dietmar
Published: October 2013

Knowledge about typical change patterns of psychotherapy patients can help to improve treatment guidelines for psychological disorders. Recent studies showed that it is possible to identify several patient subgroups with regard to their early change pattern. However, although focusing on the early phase of treatment, change patterns in later stages have hardly been investigated yet. In this study, Growth Mixture Modelling was used to identify latent change classes in different phases of therapy in a naturalistic sample of 1229 psychotherapy outpatients. Furthermore, this paper inquired into the relation between the change patterns in different phases as well as their predictive power for therapy length and outcome. Results revealed different change patterns for the three investigated phases. While in an early treatment phase, (sessions one–six) five different change patterns could be identified: the number of change classes decreased considerably over time, resulting in three patterns in the second (sessions 7–12) and two in the third phase (sessions 13–18). In each phase, by far, the biggest class showed a pattern of good progress with small/no further improvements. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Key Practitioner Messages

Most change in patients' progress estimates took place in an early phase of the treatment and levelled out on a relatively high level in later phases of the treatment.

Substantial improvements were still present in later phases of the treatment but occurred less frequent than in early stages.

Continuous outcome monitoring and feedback systems should integrate progress measures to monitor patients progress especially in the early phase of the treatment and feed the so gained information back to therapists.
‘I Divide Life into Different Dimensions, one Mental and one Physical, to be Able to Handle Life, you Know?’ Subjective Accounts of the Content of Psychotic Symptoms
Authors: Strand Jennifer , Olin Elisabeth , Tidefors Inga
Published: October 2013

Background

Previous research indicates that the content of psychotic symptoms is of significant importance for the individual who experiences them. However, there are limitations concerning the use of self‐report instruments for capturing experiences that are of highly personal nature. The aim of this study was to provide a deeper understanding of how individuals with psychosis make sense of the content of their psychotic symptoms.

Method

Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 12 individuals, some of whom were experiencing active symptoms and some of whom had experienced symptoms within the last 12 months. The interviews explored the individuals' understanding of psychotic symptoms in terms of the content and the possible meaning of the content. All participants were patients at a unit specializing in psychosis. The study applied interpretive phenomenological analyses to highlight the subjective understanding of the content of psychotic symptoms.

Results

Interpersonal experiences were a consistent theme in participants' understanding of the content of their psychotic symptoms. Grandiose content was understood as being related to lack of relationships and helplessness, whereas harassing content was related to experiences of being abused. Commanding content was linked to emotional consequences of intrusive relationships and to distressing life events. Supportive content was viewed as a substitute for real‐life persons.

Conclusions

These results support previous findings suggesting that the content of psychotic symptoms is related to interpersonal experiences. The study highlights the importance of validating the patient's own knowledge and interpretations of symptoms. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Key Practitioner Message

All participants related a meaning to the content of their psychotic symptoms.

The participants generally linked the content of their symptoms to an absence of relationships or to relationships that were described as abusive or intrusive.

Participants who described the symptom content as helpful did not express a wish to be rid of these symptoms.

The interpersonal references for explaining symptoms support the use of therapeutic interventions that understand psychotic symptoms as reflections of real‐life experiences and relationships.
Low temperature synthesis of spindle‐like ZnO nanostructures under microwave irradiation
Authors: Ji Zhenyuan , Sun Jiquan , Shen Xiaoping , Zhu Guoxing
Published: October 2013

A simple and general microwave route is developed to synthesize nanostructured ZnO using Zn(acac)2·H2O (acac = acetylacetonate) as a single source precursor. The reaction time has a great influence on the morphology of the ZnO nanostructures and an interesting spindle‐like nanostructure is obtained. The microstructure and morphology of the synthesized materials are investigated by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), field‐emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED). It is found that all of them with hexagonal wurtzite phase are of single crystalline structure in nature. Ultraviolet–visible (UV‐vis) absorption spectra of these ZnO nanostructures are investigated and a possible formation mechanism for the spindle‐like ZnO nanostructures is also proposed.
Stability of Amorphous Silica–Alumina in Hot Liquid Water
Authors: Hahn Maximilian W. , Copeland John R. , van Pelt Adam H. , Sievers Carsten
Published: October 2013

Herein, the hydrothermal stability of amorphous silica–alumina (ASA) is investigated under conditions relevant for the catalytic conversion of biomass, namely in liquid water at 200 °C. The hydrothermal stability of ASA is much higher than that of pure silica or alumina. Interestingly, the synthetic procedure used plays a major role in its resultant stability: ASA prepared by cogelation (CG) lost its microporous structure, owing to hydrolysis of the siloxane bonds, but the resulting mesoporous material still had a considerable surface area. ASA prepared by deposition precipitation (DP) contained a silicon‐rich core and an aluminum‐rich shell. In hot liquid water, the latter structure was transformed into a layer of amorphous boehmite, which protected the particle from further hydrolysis. The surface area showed relatively minor changes during the transformation. Independent of the synthetic method used, the ASAs retained a considerable concentration of acid sites. The concentration of acid sites qualitatively followed the changes in surface area, but the changes were less pronounced. The performance of different ASAs for the hydrolysis of cellobiose into glucose is compared.
Field‐free, sheathless cell focusing in exponentially expanding hydrophoretic channels for microflow cytometry
Authors: Song Seungjeong , Choi Sungyoung
Published: October 2013

Cell focusing into a narrow stream is an essential step prior to counting and sorting cells in microfluidic devices for flow cytometry and cell sorting applications. Hydrodynamic focusing techniques, however, rely on the need for large volumes of sheath liquid and complex mechanical setup for flow control, preventing miniaturization of the systems. Although microfluidic methods based on active or passive particle control offer sheathless and efficient focusing, they often accompany fabrication complexities or bulky external setups, and operate in a certain range of flow rates. We present here a microfluidic device to focus cells into a narrow stream. The device employs hydrophoresis to guide cells by locally patterned slanted grooves, and channel expansion to improve focusing efficiency and produce a narrow stream of cells. This device principle allows easy improvement of focusing efficiency by adding more expansion steps. Adjusting channel expansion also ensures successful cell focusing without defocusing by inertial effects even at high Reynolds numbers. Using this device, we successfully produced a narrow stream of cells having size variation of >11% in a coefficient of variation (CV), achieving a narrow cell stream with a focusing variation below CV of 3.0%. © 2013 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry
Spectrum defragmentation in flexgrid optical networks using a genetic algorithm
Authors: Ju Weiguo , Huang Shanguo , Xu ZhenZhen , Zhang Jie , Gu Wanyi
Published: October 2013

Flexgrid optical networking is an attractive solution for efficiently matching allocated bandwidth with link demand but suffers from inevitable spectrum fragmentation. Spectrum fragmentation impairs network performance and results in high blocking rate and low spectrum utilization efficiency. Therefore, an optimization mechanism handling spectrum fragmentation is of vital importance in flexgrid optical networks. In this paper, we propose a genetic algorithm for solving the spectrum fragmentation problem with the objective of compacting occupation of the spectrum in flexgrid optical networks. A string of lightpaths are coded as the chromosome. The spectrum fusion degree and fragment fusion degree are introduced as the fitness functions to conduct the evolution in genetic algorithm, which can also be used to assess the degree of spectrum fragmentation in the network. As a result, the genetic algorithm provides a lightpath reconfiguration map, which identifies the candidate lightpaths to be reallocated, their reconfiguration sequence, and new locations. The proposed algorithm is compared with commonly used approaches under different network conditions. Simulation results demonstrate the ability of the proposed algorithm to efficiently solve the problem of spectrum defragmentation in flexgrid optical networks. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Dismissing child attachment and discordance for subjective and neuroendocrine responses to vulnerability
Authors: Borelli Jessica L. , West Jessica L. , Weekes Nicole Y. , Crowley Michael J.
Published: October 2013

Emerging evidence suggests that as with adults, dismissing children underreport their psychological distress relative to physiological indicators of their experience (startle response, neural signals). In this report, we extend these observations to neuroendocrine reactivity. One hundred and six 8–12‐year‐old children completed the Child Attachment Interview and a computer‐based paradigm comprised of vignettes reflecting vulnerability in interpersonal contexts. Dismissing children's cortisol responses remained comparable from pre‐to‐post paradigm, while secure children's cortisol responses decreased from pre‐to‐post paradigm. Furthermore, compared to secure children, dismissing children reported less distress than their cortisol response would suggest. Implications for dismissing children's coping and self‐regulation are discussed. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 56: 584–591, 2014.
Effects of ethanol on social approach and 50 kHz ultrasonic vocalization production in adolescent male Sprague‐Dawley rats
Authors: Willey Amanda R. , Spear Linda P.
Published: October 2013

Low doses of ethanol have been shown to facilitate social behavior in adolescent rats. The present study sought to investigate whether this ethanol effect is associated with increases in the incentive salience of social stimuli when assessed via approach behavior toward a peer (separated from the experimental animal by a mesh barrier) and 50 kHz ultrasonic vocalization (USV) production in that context. A 0.5 g/kg ethanol dose was found to increase social approach/investigation of adolescent male Sprague‐Dawley rats during the first 5 min of the 10 min test whereas 50 kHz USV production was elevated by 0.25 g/kg during the last 5 min of testing. 50 kHz USV production and social approach were generally not correlated, indicating a clear dissociation between these measures. This is the first study to demonstrate that ethanol‐induced social facilitation in adolescents is associated with an ethanol‐induced increase in the incentive salience of social stimuli. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 56: 857–863, 2014.