bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Endovascular Aneurysm Management of a Gastroduodenal Artery Aneurysm in a Multipara Pregnant Woman
Authors: Grözinger Gerd , Heuschmid Martin , Herz Klaus , Balletshofer Bernd , Ketelsen Dominik , Claussen Claus , Brechtel Klaus
Published: May 2012

The authors describe a case of an intrapancreatic gastroduodenal artery aneurysm in a pregnant woman. Successful endovascular therapy was performed for the first time in a visceral artery aneurysm during pregnancy as a bailout solution. The attributive risk to the fetus from scattered radiation during endovascular treatment did not exceed a critical level.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Combined With Physiotherapy in Rehabilitation of Poststroke Hemiparesis
Authors: Seniów Joanna , Bilik Marta , Leśniak Marcin , Waldowski Konrad , Iwański Szczepan , Członkowska Anna
Published: May 2012

Background. Low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the contralesional primary motor cortex (M1) may improve recovery in patients with hemiparetic stroke. Objective. To evaluate the effectiveness of applying 1 Hz rTMS to the contralesional M1 in addition to physiotherapy during early rehabilitation for stroke patients with hand hemiparesis in a randomized, sham-controlled, double-blind study. Methods. Forty patients with moderate upper extremity hemiparesis were randomized to receive 3 weeks of motor training (45 minutes daily) preceded by 30 minutes of 1 Hz rTMS applied to the contralesional M1 or 30 minutes of sham rTMS. Functional assessment of the paretic hand using the Wolf Motor Function Test was performed before, immediately after, and 3 months after completing treatment. Results. No statistically significant differences were found between the experimental and the control group for hand function (Wolf Motor Function Test; P = .92) or the level of neurological deficit ( National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale [NIHSS]; P = .82) after treatment. Effect sizes for the experimental ( d = 0.5) and the control group ( d = 0.47) were small. Similar results were observed at the 3-month follow-up. Conclusions. The findings did not suggest that rTMS suppression of the contralesional motor cortex augments the effect of early neurorehabilitation for upper limb hemiparesis. Larger trials that stratify subjects based on residual motor function or physiological measures of excitation and inhibition may identify responders in the future.
Single-Incision Laparoscopic Hepaticojejunostomy Using Conventional Instruments for Neonates With Extrahepatic Biliary Cystic Lesions
Authors: Diao Mei , Li Long , Cheng Wei
Published: May 2012

Background. Single-incision laparoscopic surgery has been increasingly adopted in pediatric surgery. Nevertheless, its feasibility and safety in neonates with congenital biliary malformations is unclear. This study reports successful single-incision laparoscopic hepaticojejunostomy (SILH) for neonates with extrahepatic biliary cystic lesions. Methods. Ten neonates with extrahepatic biliary cystic lesions (choledochal cyst/correctable biliary atresia: 6/4) who underwent SILH between May 2011 and September 2011 were reviewed. Ultrasonography, upper gastrointestinal contrast studies, and laboratory tests were performed during the follow-up period. Results. Mean operative time, postoperative hospital stay, time to full feeding, and duration of drainage were comparable to our historic open-control groups of 15 neonates with choledochal cysts and 7 patients with correctable biliary atresia. Median follow-up duration was 6.0 months. They regularly took medical treatments during the follow-up periods. The jaundice subsided or liver function was normalized within 3 months postoperatively. So far, no mortality or morbidity of cholangitis, bile leak, anastomotic stenosis, and intrahepatic reflux were encountered. Conclusions. In experienced hands, SILH for neonates with extrahepatic biliary cystic lesions is feasible and safe. It provides a new alternative for neonatal hepatobiliary surgery.
Numerical and experimental study of the optical properties of venetian blinds
Authors: Gomes M. Glória , Rodrigues A. Moret , Bogas J. Alexandre
Published: May 2012

Shading devices are used to reflect direct sunlight, reduce glare and prevent overheating. A correctly designed shading system will strongly influence the entire building energy consumption, peak loads and indoor comfort. The use of the venetian blinds is particularly common due to its relatively low cost and high versatility. The present study focuses on the algorithms for calculating both short-wave (solar) and long-wave (infrared) transmittance, absorptance and reflectance of the venetian blinds. The model is based on the net radiation method, allows for different slat discretization schemes and is suitable for integration into the building energy simulation tools. Once the effective optical properties are computed, the system can be regarded as an additional layer in a multilayer glazing system. Computed blind solar transmittance has been compared with other numerical models and in situ experimental results. A general good agreement has been found, except in cases where incident radiation is mostly diffuse. In this study, the effect of different design parameters on effective optical properties of the venetian blinds is also investigated: (a) the sun profile angle, (b) the slat angle and (c) the venetian blind geometry. Moreover, the effect of the discretization of each slat is examined.
Interprofessional pain education: definitions, exemplars and future directions
Authors: Carr Eloise , Watt-Watson Judy
Published: May 2012

Summary points 1 – 6

1. The management of pain frequently requires healthcare professionals (HCPs) to work together; thus, educational preparation should afford them opportunities to learn about the management of pain together.

2. Survey data suggest that most HCPs’ curricula do not provide opportunities for learners to come together to learn about pain and understand their professional roles.

3. Despite the growth of published evaluations of interprofessional education (IPE) and pain, the ability to draw firm conclusions has been hampered by the lack of methodological heterogeneity across studies.

4. New directions in IPE and pain include innovative pedagogical approaches, web-based learning, standardised patients and simulated learning.

5. Harnessing the political agenda can offer a valuable opportunity to raise the profile and prominence of pain education for HCPs.
Mannose receptor may be involved in small ruminant lentivirus pathogenesis
Authors: Crespo Helena , Jauregui Paula , Glaria Idoia , Sanjosé Leticia , Polledo Laura , García-Marín Juan F , Luján Lluís , de Andrés Damián , Amorena Beatriz , Reina Ramsés
Published: May 2012

Thirty-one sheep naturally infected with small ruminant lentiviruses (SRLV) of known genotype (A or B), and clinically affected with neurological disease, pneumonia or arthritis were used to analyse mannose receptor (MR) expression (transcript levels) and proviral load in virus target tissues (lung, mammary gland, CNS and carpal joints). Control sheep were SRLV-seropositive asymptomatic (n = 3), seronegative (n = 3) or with chronic listeriosis, pseudotuberculosis or parasitic cysts (n = 1 in each case). MR expression and proviral load increased with the severity of lesions in most analyzed organs of the SRLV infected sheep and was detected in the affected tissue involved in the corresponding clinical disease (CNS, lung and carpal joint in neurological disease, pneumonia and arthritis animal groups, respectively). The increased MR expression appeared to be SRLV specific and may have a role in lentiviral pathogenesis.
The ORF2 glycoprotein of hepatitis E virus inhibits cellular NF-κB activity by blocking ubiquitination mediated proteasomal degradation of IκBα in human hepatoma cells
Authors: Surjit Milan , Varshney Bhavna , Lal Sunil K
Published: May 2012

Background

Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) is a key transcription factor that plays a crucial role in host survival during infection by pathogens. Therefore, it has been a priority of many pathogens to manipulate the cellular NF-κB activity in order to create a favorable environment for their survival inside the host.

Results

We observed that heterologous expression of the open reading frame 2 (ORF2) protein in human hepatoma cells led to stabilization of the cellular I kappa B alpha (IκBα) pool, with a concomitant reduction in the nuclear localization of the p65 subunit of NF-κB and inhibition of NF-κB activity. Although basal or TPA induced phosphorylation of IκBα was not altered, its ubiquitination was markedly reduced in ORF2 expressing cells. Further analysis revealed that ORF2 protein could directly associate with the F-box protein, beta transducin repeat containing protein (βTRCP) and ORF2 over expression resulted in reduced association of IκBα with the SKP1 and CUL1 components of the SCFβTRCPcomplex. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay of the proximal promoter regions of MHC-I heavy chain and IL-8 genes using p65 antibody and LPS stimulated ORF2 expressing cell extract revealed decreased association of p65 with the above regions, indicating that ORF2 inhibited p65 binding at endogenous promoters.

Conclusions

In this report we suggest a mechanism by which ORF2 protein of HEV may inhibit host cell NF-κB activity during the course of a viral infection.
Segmentation of corpus callosum using diffusion tensor imaging: validation in patients with glioblastoma
Authors: Nazem-Zadeh Mohammad-Reza , Saksena Sona , Babajani-Fermi Abbas , Jiang Quan , Soltanian-Zadeh Hamid , Rosenblum Mark , Mikkelsen Tom , Jain Rajan
Published: May 2012

Background

This paper presents a three-dimensional (3D) method for segmenting corpus callosum in normal subjects and brain cancer patients with glioblastoma.

Methods

Nineteen patients with histologically confirmed treatment naïve glioblastoma and eleven normal control subjects underwent DTI on a 3T scanner. Based on the information inherent in diffusion tensors, a similarity measure was proposed and used in the proposed algorithm. In this algorithm, diffusion pattern of corpus callosum was used as prior information. Subsequently, corpus callosum was automatically divided into Witelson subdivisions. We simulated the potential rotation of corpus callosum under tumor pressure and studied the reproducibility of the proposed segmentation method in such cases.

Results

Dice coefficients, estimated to compare automatic and manual segmentation results for Witelson subdivisions, ranged from 94% to 98% for control subjects and from 81% to 95% for tumor patients, illustrating closeness of automatic and manual segmentations. Studying the effect of corpus callosum rotation by different Euler angles showed that although segmentation results were more sensitive to azimuth and elevation than skew, rotations caused by brain tumors do not have major effects on the segmentation results.

Conclusions

The proposed method and similarity measure segment corpus callosum by propagating a hyper-surface inside the structure (resulting in high sensitivity), without penetrating into neighboring fiber bundles (resulting in high specificity).
FLJ10540 is associated with tumor progression in nasopharyngeal carcinomas and contributes to nasopharyngeal cell proliferation, and metastasis via osteopontin/CD44 pathway
Authors: Chen Chang-Han , Shiu Li-Yen , Su Li-Jen , Huang Chi-Ying F , Huang Shun-Chen , Huang Chao-Cheng , Yin Yu-Fang , Wang Wei-Sheng , Tsai Hsin-Ting , Fang Fu-Min , Chuang Wan-Chu , Kang Hong-Chang , Hwang Chung-Feng
Published: May 2012

Background

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is well-known for its highly metastatic characteristics, but little is known of its molecular mechanisms. New biomarkers that predict clinical outcome, in particular the ability of the primary tumor to develop metastatic tumors are urgently needed. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of FLJ10540 in human NPC development.

Methods

A bioinformatics approach was used to explore the potentially important regulatory genes involved in the growth/metastasis control of NPC. FLJ10540 was chosen for this study. Two co-expression strategies from NPC microarray were employed to identify the relationship between FLJ10540 and osteopontin. Quantitative-RT-PCR, immunoblotting, and immunohistochemistry analysis were used to investigate the mRNA and protein expression profiles of FLJ10540 and osteopontin in the normal and NPC tissues to confirm microarray results. TW01 and Hone1 NPC cells with overexpression FLJ10540 or siRNA to repress endogenous FLJ10540 were generated by stable transfection to further elucidate the molecular mechanisms of FLJ10540-elicited cell growth and metastasis under osteopontin stimulation.

Results

We found that osteopontin expression exhibited a positive correlation with FLJ10540 in NPC microarray. We also demonstrated comprehensively that FLJ10540 and osteopontin were not only overexpressed in NPC specimens, but also significantly correlated with advanced tumor and lymph node-metastasis stages, and had a poor 5-year survival rate, respectively. Stimulation of NPC parental cells with osteopontin results in an increase in FLJ10540 mRNA and protein expressions. Functionally, FLJ10540 transfectant alone, or stimulated with osteopontin, exhibited fast growth and increased metastasis as compared to vehicle control with or without osteopontin stimulation. Conversely, knockdown of FLJ10540 by siRNA results in the suppression of NPC cell growth and motility. Treatment with anti-CD44 antibodies in NPC parental cells not only resulted in a decrease of FLJ10540 protein, but also affected the abilities of FLJ10540-elicited cell growth and motility in osteopontin stimulated-NPC cells.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that FLJ10540 may be critical regulator of disease progression in NPC, and the underlying mechanism may involve in the osteopontin/CD44 pathway.
Cryopreservation of human vascular umbilical cord cells under good manufacturing practice conditions for future cell banks
Authors: Polchow Bianca , Kebbel Kati , Schmiedeknecht Gerno , Reichardt Anne , Henrich Wolfgang , Hetzer Roland , Lueders Cora
Published: May 2012

Background

In vitro fabricated tissue engineered vascular constructs could provide an alternative to conventional substitutes. A crucial factor for tissue engineering of vascular constructs is an appropriate cell source. Vascular cells from the human umbilical cord can be directly isolated and cryopreserved until needed. Currently no cell bank for human vascular cells is available. Therefore, the establishment of a future human vascular cell bank conforming to good manufacturing practice (GMP) conditions is desirable for therapeutic applications such as tissue engineered cardiovascular constructs.

Materials and methods

A fundamental step was the adaption of conventional research and development starting materials to GMP compliant starting materials. Human umbilical cord artery derived cells (HUCAC) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were isolated, cultivated, cryopreserved (short- and long-term) directly after primary culture and recultivated subsequently. Cell viability, expression of cellular markers and proliferation potential of fresh and cryopreserved cells were studied using trypan blue staining, flow cytometry analysis, immunofluorescence staining and proliferation assays. Statistical analyses were performed using Student’s t-test.

Results

Sufficient numbers of isolated cells with acceptable viabilities and homogenous expression of cellular markers confirmed that the isolation procedure was successful using GMP compliant starting materials. The influence of cryopreservation was marginal, because cryopreserved cells mostly maintain phenotypic and functional characteristics similar to those of fresh cells. Phenotypic studies revealed that fresh cultivated and cryopreserved HUCAC were positive for alpha smooth muscle actin, CD90, CD105, CD73, CD29, CD44, CD166 and negative for smoothelin. HUVEC expressed CD31, CD146, CD105 and CD144 but not alpha smooth muscle actin. Functional analysis demonstrated acceptable viability and sufficient proliferation properties of cryopreserved HUCAC and HUVEC.

Conclusion

Adaptation of cell isolation, cultivation and cryopreservation to GMP compliant starting materials was successful. Cryopreservation did not influence cell properties with lasting impact, confirming that the application of vascular cells from the human umbilical cord is feasible for cell banking. A specific cellular marker expression profile was established for HUCAC and HUVEC using flow cytometry analysis, applicable as a GMP compliant quality control. Use of these cells for the future fabrication of advanced therapy medicinal products GMP conditions are required by the regulatory authority.
A novel image de-noising method based on spherical coordinates system
Authors: Zhang Degan , Kang Xuejing , Wang Jinghui
Published: May 2012

In this article, a novel image de-noising method is proposed. This method is based on spherical coordinates system. First, spherical transform is re-defined in wavelet domain, and the properties of the spherical transform in wavelet domain are listed. Then, a new adaptive threshold in spherical coordinate system is presented. It has been proved based on Besov space norm theory. After that, a novel curve shrinkage function is proposed to overcome the limitation of the traditional shrinkage functions. The new function can reach and exceed the true value and enhance the edge of the image. Finally, the multi-scale product in wavelet domain is introduced to spherical coordinates system. This article names the multi-scale product in spherical coordinates system as Multi-Scale Norm Product. The experimental results compared the improved algorithm with other methods from the peak signal-to-noise ratio, mean square error, and running time. The results indicate that improved algorithm is simple and effective.
RASSF1C modulates the expression of a stem cell renewal gene, PIWIL1
Authors: Reeves Mark E , Baldwin Melissa L , Aragon Robert , Baldwin Scott , Chen Shin-Tai , Li Xinmin , Mohan Subburaman , Amaar Yousef G
Published: May 2012

Background

RASSF1A and RASSF1C are two major isoforms encoded by the Ras association domain family 1 (RASSF1) gene through alternative promoter selection and mRNA splicing. RASSF1A is a well established tumor suppressor gene. Unlike RASSF1A, RASSF1C appears to have growth promoting actions in lung cancer. In this article, we report on the identification of novel RASSF1C target genes in non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods

Over-expression and siRNA techniques were used to alter RASSF1C expression in human lung cancer cells, and Affymetrix-microarray study was conducted using NCI-H1299 cells over-expressing RASSF1C to identify RASSF1C target genes.

Results

The microarray study intriguingly shows that RASSF1C modulates the expression of a number of genes that are involved in cancer development, cell growth and proliferation, cell death, and cell cycle. We have validated the expression of some target genes using qRT-PCR. We demonstrate that RASSF1C over-expression increases, and silencing of RASSF1C decreases, the expression of PIWIL1 gene in NSCLC cells using qRT-PCR, immunostaining, and Western blot analysis. We also show that RASSF1C over-expression induces phosphorylation of ERK1/2 in lung cancer cells, and inhibition of the MEK-ERK1/2 pathway suppresses the expression of PIWIL1 gene expression, suggesting that RASSF1C may exert its activities on some target genes such as PIWIL1 through the activation of the MEK-ERK1/2 pathway. Also, PIWIL1 expression is elevated in lung cancer cell lines compared to normal lung epithelial cells.

Conclusions

Taken together, our findings provide significant data to propose a model for investigating the role of RASSF1C/PIWIL1 proteins in initiation and progression of lung cancer.
Interspecies differences in membrane-associated protease activities of thyrocytes and their relevance for thyroid cancer studies
Authors: Fröhlich Eleonore , Maier Elke , Wahl Richard
Published: May 2012

Background

To understand the role of proteases involved in human thyroid cancer progression and tissue invasion, thyrocytes from other species could potentially be used provided their characteristics are similar. It is not known whether dipeptidyl peptidase IV and aminopeptidase N activities, which are overexpressed in human thyroid cancer, are, as in human, also absent in normal thyrocytes of other species, making them suitable models for studies on the regulation of these proteases.

Methods

To assess the role of these proteases, activity was measured in thyroid tissue of human, mouse, rat, porcine, bovine and ovine origin. The lysosomal protease, dipeptidyl peptidase II, was used for comparison.

Results

Murine, rat, ovine, bovine and human thyrocytes all lacked dipeptidyl peptidase IV and aminopeptidase N activity, but porcine thyrocytes were found to possess both. In contrast, lysosomal dipeptidyl peptidase II was strongly expressed in all species. These activity patterns were maintained in cultured cells. Cultured porcine thyrocytes formed follicles with typical morphology upon stimulation with TSH but differed from human thyrocytes in their response to thiamazole.

Conclusions

These species differences in the expression of dipeptidyl peptidase IV and aminopeptidase N, indicate that porcine thyrocytes cannot be considered appropriate for the study of proteases in human cancer development.
Using an expiratory resistor, arterial pulse pressure variations predict fluid responsiveness during spontaneous breathing: an experimental porcine study
Authors: Dahl Michael K , Vistisen Simon T , Koefoed-Nielsen Jacob , Larsson Anders
Published: May 2012

Introduction

Fluid responsiveness prediction is difficult in spontaneously breathing patients. Because the swings in intrathoracic pressure are minor during spontaneous breathing, dynamic parameters like pulse pressure variation (PPV) and systolic pressure variation (SPV) are usually small. We hypothesized that during spontaneous breathing, inspiratory and/or expiratory resistors could induce high arterial pressure variations at hypovolemia and low variations at normovolemia and hypervolemia. Furthermore, we hypothesized that SPV and PPV could predict fluid responsiveness under these conditions.

Methods

Eight prone, anesthetized and spontaneously breathing pigs (20 to 25 kg) were subjected to a sequence of 30% hypovolemia, normovolemia, and 20% and 40% hypervolemia. At each volemic level, the pigs breathed in a randomized order either through an inspiratory and/or an expiratory threshold resistor (7.5 cmH2O) or only through the tracheal tube without any resistor. Hemodynamic and respiratory variables were measured during the breathing modes. Fluid responsiveness was defined as a 15% increase in stroke volume (ΔSV) following fluid loading.

Results

Stroke volume was significantly lower at hypovolemia compared with normovolemia, but no differences were found between normovolemia and 20% or 40% hypervolemia. Compared with breathing through no resistor, SPV was magnified by all resistors at hypovolemia whereas there were no changes at normovolemia and hypervolemia. PPV was magnified by the inspiratory resistor and the combined inspiratory and expiratory resistor. Regression analysis of SPV or PPV versus ΔSV showed the highest R2 (0.83 for SPV and 0.52 for PPV) when the expiratory resistor was applied. The corresponding sensitivity and specificity for prediction of fluid responsiveness were 100% and 100%, respectively, for SPV and 100% and 81%, respectively, for PPV.

Conclusions

Inspiratory and/or expiratory threshold resistors magnified SPV and PPV in spontaneously breathing pigs during hypovolemia. Using the expiratory resistor SPV and PPV predicted fluid responsiveness with good sensitivity and specificity.
Rapid development of intestinal cell damage following severe trauma: a prospective observational cohort study
Authors: de Haan Jacco J , Lubbers Tim , Derikx Joep P , Relja Borna , Henrich Dirk , Greve Jan-Willem , Marzi Ingo , Buurman Wim A
Published: May 2012

Introduction

Loss of intestinal integrity has been implicated as an important contributor to the development of excessive inflammation following severe trauma. Thus far, clinical data concerning the occurrence and significance of intestinal damage after trauma remain scarce. This study investigates whether early intestinal epithelial cell damage occurs in trauma patients and, if present, whether such cell injury is related to shock, injury severity and the subsequent inflammatory response.

Methods

Prospective observational cohort study in 96 adult trauma patients. Upon arrival at the emergency room (ER) plasma levels of intestinal fatty acid binding protein (i-FABP), a specific marker for damage of differentiated enterocytes, were measured. Factors that potentially influence the development of intestinal cell damage after trauma were determined, including the presence of shock and the extent of abdominal trauma and general injury severity. Furthermore, early plasma levels of i-FABP were related to inflammatory markers interleukin-6 (IL-6), procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP).

Results

Upon arrival at the ER, plasma i-FABP levels were increased compared with healthy volunteers, especially in the presence of shock (P < 0.01). The elevation of i-FABP was related to the extent of abdominal trauma as well as general injury severity (P < 0.05). Circulatory i-FABP concentrations at ER correlated positively with IL-6 and PCT levels at the first day (r2 = 0.19; P < 0.01 and r2 = 0.36; P < 0.001 respectively) and CRP concentrations at the second day after trauma (r2 = 0.25; P < 0.01).

Conclusions

This study reveals early presence of intestinal epithelial cell damage in trauma patients. The extent of intestinal damage is associated with the presence of shock and injury severity. Early intestinal damage precedes and is related to the subsequent developing inflammatory response.
Confronting Regimes of Legality in Sanctuary City/Ciudad Santuario, 1989 – 2009
Authors: Schreiber Rebecca M.
Published: May 2012

Sanctuary City/Ciudad Santuario, 1989–2009 was a collaboration between artist Sergio De La Torre and a group of student artists that was exhibited in a gallery in San Francisco's Mission District. The exhibit focused on issues of safety and security for Latino migrants in the context of the post-9/11 US national security agenda. As opposed to making migrants “visible” to the state, the artists used aesthetic strategies that brought attention to federal laws that construct undocumented migrants as “illegal.” Positioning Sanctuary City/Ciudad Santuario within the Mission District enabled these artists to address Latino viewers in the neighborhood and, through the projections of text from migrants' testimonies, to claim public space and challenge both city and federal agents' surveillance of Latinos. The artists occupied these spaces as a form of “counterspectacle,” a means to amplify the practices of state surveillance as well as to illuminate the disjuncture between local and national law regarding the status of undocumented migrants.
Imagined Conversations and Activist Lineages
Authors: Plaster Joey
Published: May 2012

The lives of today's queer homeless youth share remarkable similarities to those of the queer homeless youth in the 1960s, but the historical and political context, especially as it relates to popular understandings of homosexuality, has shifted considerably. Since the 1960s, the United States has witnessed a transition from rhetoric linking homosexuality with economic degeneracy and crime to a new, “modern” articulation of the economically productive homosexual citizen. This transition is reflected in historical narratives of gay progress that trace a monolithic community from the ghetto to respectable citizenship, essentially rendering retrograde the lives of today's homeless youth. By connecting homeless youth with a history stretching back half a century, one in which young people mobilized to confront the poverty and stigma they experienced on the streets of San Francisco, the Vanguard Revisited project sought to enlist today's queer homeless youth in documenting the past—indeed, to enter into conversation with that history and to position themselves as part of that lineage.
When the Erotic Becomes Illicit
Authors: Austin Jill , Brier Jennifer , Herczeg-Konecny Jessica , Parsons Anne
Published: May 2012

Museums often embody the public sphere, central sites where the display of sexual materials becomes a stage for debates over how and when the erotic is illicit. This essay explores how one mainstream museum struggled with these questions while mounting an exhibition on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) history in Chicago. Debates appeared over displaying sexually explicit materials in the gallery, and whether the exhibit would encourage visitors, particularly youth, to become sexually nonnormative or promiscuous. The museum embarked on a process of sharing authority with visitors to help navigate questions around displaying the illicit, which posed both opportunities and challenges. While the visitor panels supported the museum's process of making LGBT sexuality nonnormative, they also served to reinforce some sexual practices as being illicit. Ultimately, the exhibition opened up conversations about LGBT history and how LGBT people and practices have been defined as illicit and have at the same time resisted such labels.
A spuriously ‘normal’ haemoglobin A1c result
Authors: Lo Vanessa Man Har , Ma Edmond Shiu Kwan , Chau Elaine Mo Chee , So Jason Chi Chiu
Published: May 2012

We report a case of spuriously ‘normal’ haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) result due to misidentification of HbG Taipei as HbAo by the Variant II built-in retention time algorithm. The defect was circumvented effectively by the implementation of a chromatographic system specific internal quality control mechanism for peak identity verification. HbA1c and estimated average glucose results were corrected from 4.7% to 8.2%, and 4.9 to 10.5 mmol/L, respectively. The results were consistent with the patient's concurrent and previous fasting blood glucose concentrations and existence of diabetes mellitus dermopathy, indicating poor glycaemic control. A review of currently available analytical systems showed that other than mass spectrometry, HbA1c measurements by these systems were generally affected by the presence of haemoglobin variants. The same haemoglobin variant may affect different analytical systems differently, resulting in the deviation of HbA1c results from the true value to different extents. Including the analytical principle of HbA1c measurement in the laboratory report can avoid inappropriate comparison of results obtained by different analytical systems. Moreover, since individual haemoglobinopathy may affect the degree of glucose binding to haemoglobin in a different way, this uncertainty limits the general application of same decision cut-off of established guidelines for glycaemic control monitoring. Adoption of an individualized monitoring system based on the critical difference or reference change value of HbA1c can be considered.
Estimating Primary Demand for Substitutable Products from Sales Transaction Data
Authors: Vulcano Gustavo , van Ryzin Garrett , Ratliff Richard
Published: May 2012

We propose a method for estimating substitute and lost demand when only sales and product availability data are observable, not all products are displayed in all periods (e.g., due to stockouts or availability controls), and the seller knows its aggregate market share. The model combines a multinomial logit (MNL) choice model with a nonhomogeneous Poisson model of arrivals over multiple periods. Our key idea is to view the problem in terms of primary (or first-choice) demand; that is, the demand that would have been observed if all products had been available in all periods. We then apply the expectation-maximization (EM) method to this model, and we treat the observed demand as an incomplete observation of primary demand. This leads to an efficient, iterative procedure for estimating the parameters of the model. All limit points of the procedure are provably stationary points of the incomplete data log-likelihood function. Every iteration of the algorithm consists of simple, closed-form calculations. We illustrate the effectiveness of the procedure on simulated data and two industry data sets.
Piecewise Linear Multicriteria Programs: The Continuous Case and Its Discontinuous Generalization
Authors: Fang Ya Ping , Meng Kaiwen , Yang Xiao Qi
Published: May 2012

In this paper we study piecewise linear multicriteria programs, that is, multicriteria programs with either a continuous or discontinuous piecewise linear objective function and a polyhedron set constraint. We obtain an algebraic representation of a semi-closed polyhedron and apply it to show that the image of a semi-closed polyhedron under a continuous linear function is always one semi-closed polyhedron. We establish that the (weak) Pareto solution/point set of a piecewise linear multicriteria program is the union of finitely many semi-closed polyhedra. We propose an algorithm for finding the Pareto point set of a continuous piecewise linear bi-criteria program and generalize it to the discontinuous case. We apply our algorithm to solve the discontinuous bi-criteria portfolio selection problem with an l∞ risk measure and transaction costs and show that this algorithm can be improved by using an ideal point strategy.
Belief Propagation for Min-Cost Network Flow: Convergence and Correctness
Authors: Gamarnik David , Shah Devavrat , Wei Yehua
Published: May 2012

Distributed, iterative algorithms operating with minimal data structure while performing little computation per iteration are popularly known as message passing in the recent literature. Belief propagation (BP), a prototypical message-passing algorithm, has gained a lot of attention across disciplines, including communications, statistics, signal processing, and machine learning as an attractive, scalable, general-purpose heuristic for a wide class of optimization and statistical inference problems. Despite its empirical success, the theoretical understanding of BP is far from complete.

With the goal of advancing the state of art of our understanding of BP, we study the performance of BP in the context of the capacitated minimum-cost network flow problem—a cornerstone in the development of the theory of polynomial-time algorithms for optimization problems and widely used in the practice of operations research. As the main result of this paper, we prove that BP converges to the optimal solution in pseudopolynomial time, provided that the optimal solution of the underlying network flow problem instance is unique and the problem parameters are integral. We further provide a simple modification of the BP to obtain a fully polynomial-time randomized approximation scheme (FPRAS) without requiring uniqueness of the optimal solution. This is the first instance where BP is proved to have fully polynomial running time. Our results thus provide a theoretical justification for the viability of BP as an attractive method to solve an important class of optimization problems.
A Diffusion Regime with Nondegenerate Slowdown
Authors: Atar Rami
Published: May 2012

We study a diffusion regime—earlier considered by Gurvich, Mandelbaum, Shaikhet, and Whitt in the case of the M/M/N queue which may be regarded in a sense that we make precise, as a midpoint between two well-known heavy traffic diffusion regimes, the conventional and the quality and efficiency driven regimes. Unlike the other two, this regime, which we call the nondegenerate slowdown regime, enjoys the property that delay and service time are of the same order of magnitude, a property that is often desirable from a modeling viewpoint. Our main result is that in the case of heterogeneous exponential multiserver systems, this regime gives rise to new limit processes for the sojourn time. In particular, the joint limit law of the delay and service time processes is identified as a reflected Brownian motion and an independent process, whose marginal is a size-biased mixture of exponentials. Our results also motivate the formulation and study of new diffusion control problems based on sojourn time cost.
Technical Note—On the Quasiconcavity of Lost-Sales Inventory Models with Fixed Costs
Authors: Li Qing , Yu Peiwen
Published: May 2012

We show that under a set of conditions, both the maximal profit function and the objective function in several lost-sales inventory models with fixed costs are quasiconcave. Not only is the quasiconcavity property useful computationally, it also leads to a sharper characterization of the optimal policies. Neither the proof of the quasiconcavity property itself nor the proof of the optimal policies by using the property requires the machinery of K-concavity or any of its K-related extensions, and hence they are intuitively appealing.
Lagrangian Duality and Branch-and-Bound Algorithms for Optimal Power Flow
Authors: Phan Dzung T.
Published: May 2012

This paper investigates a Lagrangian dual problem for solving the optimal power flow problem in rectangular form that arises from power system analysis. If strong duality does not hold for the dual, we propose two classes of branch-and-bound algorithms that guarantee to solve the problem to optimality. The lower bound for the objective function is obtained by the Lagrangian duality, whereas the feasible set subdivision is based on the rectangular or ellipsoidal bisection. The numerical experiments are reported to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms. We note that no duality gap is observed for any of our test problems.
Tocilizumab for the Treatment of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis
Authors: Decelle Kendra , Horton Evan R
Published: May 2012

OBJECTIVE:

To evaluate the pharmacology, clinical efficacy, safety, and role of tocilizumab for the treatment of juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

DATA SOURCES:

A literature search via MEDLINE through PubMed (1970-December 2011) and International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (1970-December 2011) was performed to identify clinical trials and review articles. The key search terms tocilizumab, anti-interleukin 6, and juvenile idiopathic arthritis were used, with several combinations of terms. Bibliographies of selected articles were examined to identify additional references, and ongoing trials were identified through a review of www.clinicaltrials.gov .

STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION:

Articles were limited to those published in English and studies in humans. Studies included in the review examined pediatric data in systemic and polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Background information was obtained through reviews of literature on a wide variety of autoimmune disease states in both adult and pediatric populations.

DATA SYNTHESIS:

Tocilizumab is Food and Drug Administration–approved for use in patients aged 2 years and older with systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Tocilizumab was superior to placebo in triggering a symptomatic response during Phase 2 and 3 clinical trials. Tocilizumab was determined to be safe, with only a small number of serious adverse drug events occurring within studies.

CONCLUSIONS:

Tocilizumab provides expansion of the available options for the treatment of systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis, specifically in patients who have not responded to conventional therapies. Tocilizumab is relatively well tolerated and has proven efficacy for up to 52 weeks. Further studies are warranted to determine its utility as a first-line option for systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis as well as its role within the treatment of polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
Cannabinoid Type-1 Receptor Reduces Pain and Neurotoxicity Produced by Chemotherapy
Authors: Khasabova Iryna A. , Khasabov Sergey , Paz Justin , Harding-Rose Catherine , Simone Donald A. , Seybold Virginia S.
Published: May 2012

Painful peripheral neuropathy is a dose-limiting complication of chemotherapy. Cisplatin produces a cumulative toxic effect on peripheral nerves, and 30–40% of cancer patients receiving this agent experience pain. By modeling cisplatin-induced hyperalgesia in mice with daily injections of cisplatin (1 mg/kg, i.p.) for 7 d, we investigated the anti-hyperalgesic effects of anandamide (AEA) and cyclohexylcarbamic acid 3′-carbamoyl-biphenyl-3-yl ester (URB597), an inhibitor of AEA hydrolysis. Cisplatin-induced mechanical and heat hyperalgesia were accompanied by a decrease in the level of AEA in plantar paw skin. No changes in motor activity were observed after seven injections of cisplatin. Intraplantar injection of AEA (10 μg/10 μl) or URB597 (9 μg/10 μl) transiently attenuated hyperalgesia through activation of peripheral CB1receptors. Co-injections of URB597 (0.3 mg/kg daily, i.p.) with cisplatin decreased and delayed the development of mechanical and heat hyperalgesia. The effect of URB597 was mediated by CB1receptors since AM281 (0.33 mg/kg daily, i.p.) blocked the effect of URB597. Co-injection of URB597 also normalized the cisplatin-induced decrease in conduction velocity of Aα/Aβ-fibers and reduced the increase of ATF-3 and TRPV1 immunoreactivity in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. Since DRGs are a primary site of toxicity by cisplatin, effects of cisplatin were studied on cultured DRG neurons. Incubation of DRG neurons with cisplatin (4 μg/ml) for 24 h decreased the total length of neurites. URB597 (100 nm) attenuated these changes through activation of CB1receptors. Collectively, these results suggest that pharmacological facilitation of AEA signaling is a promising strategy for attenuating cisplatin-associated sensory neuropathy.
Calcium-Dependent But Action Potential-Independent BCM-Like Metaplasticity in the Hippocampus
Authors: Hulme Sarah R. , Jones Owen D. , Ireland David R. , Abraham Wickliffe C.
Published: May 2012

The Bienenstock, Cooper and Munro (BCM) computational model, which incorporates a metaplastic sliding threshold for LTP induction, accounts well for experience-dependent changes in synaptic plasticity in the visual cortex. BCM-like metaplasticity over a shorter timescale has also been observed in the hippocampus, thus providing a tractable experimental preparation for testing specific predictions of the model. Here, using extracellular and intracellular electrophysiological recordings from acute rat hippocampal slices, we tested the critical BCM predictions (1) that high levels of synaptic activation will induce a metaplastic state that spreads across dendritic compartments, and (2) that postsynaptic cell-firing is the critical trigger for inducing that state. In support of the first premise, high-frequency priming stimulation inhibited subsequent long-term potentiation and facilitated subsequent long-term depression at synapses quiescent during priming, including those located in a dendritic compartment different to that of the primed pathway. These effects were not dependent on changes in synaptic inhibition or NMDA/metabotropic glutamate receptor function. However, in contrast to the BCM prediction, somatic action potentials during priming were neither necessary nor sufficient to induce the metaplasticity effect. Instead, in broad agreement with derivatives of the BCM model, calcium as released from intracellular stores and triggered by M1 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor activation was critical for altering subsequent synaptic plasticity. These results indicate that synaptic plasticity in stratum radiatum of CA1 can be homeostatically regulated by the cell-wide history of synaptic activity through a calcium-dependent but action potential-independent mechanism.
Maladaptive Dendritic Spine Remodeling Contributes to Diabetic Neuropathic Pain
Authors: Tan Andrew M. , Samad Omar A. , Fischer Tanya Z. , Zhao Peng , Persson Anna-Karin , Waxman Stephen G.
Published: May 2012

Diabetic neuropathic pain imposes a huge burden on individuals and society, and represents a major public health problem. Despite aggressive efforts, diabetic neuropathic pain is generally refractory to available clinical treatments. A structure–function link between maladaptive dendritic spine plasticity and pain has been demonstrated previously in CNS and PNS injury models of neuropathic pain. Here, we reasoned that if dendritic spine remodeling contributes to diabetic neuropathic pain, then (1) the presence of malformed spines should coincide with the development of pain, and (2) disrupting maladaptive spine structure should reduce chronic pain. To determine whether dendritic spine remodeling contributes to neuropathic pain in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats, we analyzed dendritic spine morphology and electrophysiological and behavioral signs of neuropathic pain. Our results show changes in dendritic spine shape, distribution, and shape on wide-dynamic-range (WDR) neurons within lamina IV–V of the dorsal horn in diabetes. These diabetes-induced changes were accompanied by WDR neuron hyperexcitability and decreased pain thresholds at 4 weeks. Treatment with NSC23766 (N6-[2-[[4-(diethylamino)-1-methylbutyl]amino]-6-methyl-4-pyrimidinyl]-2-methyl-4,6-quinolinediamine trihydrochloride), a Rac1-specific inhibitor known to interfere with spine plasticity, decreased the presence of malformed spines in diabetes, attenuated neuronal hyperresponsiveness to peripheral stimuli, reduced spontaneous firing activity from WDR neurons, and improved nociceptive mechanical pain thresholds. At 1 week after STZ injection, animals with hyperglycemia with no evidence of pain had few or no changes in spine morphology. These results demonstrate that diabetes-induced maladaptive dendritic spine remodeling has a mechanistic role in neuropathic pain. Molecular pathways that control spine morphogenesis and plasticity may be promising future targets for treatment.
Susceptibility to PTSD-Like Behavior Is Mediated by Corticotropin-Releasing Factor Receptor Type 2 Levels in the Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis
Authors: Lebow Maya , Neufeld-Cohen Adi , Kuperman Yael , Tsoory Michael , Gil Shosh , Chen Alon
Published: May 2012

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating disease, which affects 8–10% of the population exposed to traumatic events. The factors that make certain individuals susceptible to PTSD and others resilient are currently unknown. Corticotropin-releasing factor receptor type 2 (CRFR2) has been implicated in mediating stress coping mechanisms. Here, we use a physiological PTSD-like animal model and an in-depth battery of tests that reflect the symptomology of PTSD to separate mice into subpopulations of “PTSD-like” and “Resilient” phenotypes. PTSD-like mice are hypervigilant, hyperalert, insomniac, have impaired attention and risk assessment, as well as accompanying attenuated corticosterone levels. Intriguingly, PTSD-like mice show long-term robust upregulation of BNST-CRFR2 mRNA levels, and BNST-CRFR2-specific lentiviral knockdown reduces susceptibility to PTSD-like behavior. Additionally, using a BNST mRNA expression array, PTSD-like mice exhibit a general transcriptional attenuation profile, which was associated with upregulation of the BNST-deacetylation enzyme, HDAC5. We suggest PTSD to be a disease of maladaptive coping.