bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The RosR transcription factor is required for gene expression dynamics in response to extreme oxidative stress in a hypersaline-adapted archaeon
Authors: Sharma Kriti , Gillum Nicholas , Boyd J Lomax , Schmid Amy
Published: July 2012

Background

Previous work has shown that the hypersaline-adapted archaeon, Halobacterium salinarum NRC-1, is highly resistant to oxidative stress caused by exposure to hydrogen peroxide, UV, and gamma radiation. Dynamic alteration of the gene regulatory network (GRN) has been implicated in such resistance. However, the molecular functions of transcription regulatory proteins involved in this response remain unknown.

Results

Here we have reanalyzed several existing GRN and systems biology datasets for H. salinarum to identify and characterize a novel winged helix-turn-helix transcription factor, VNG0258H, as a regulator required for reactive oxygen species resistance in this organism. This protein appears to be unique to the haloarchaea at the primary sequence level. High throughput quantitative growth assays in a deletion mutant strain implicate VNG0258H in extreme oxidative stress resistance. According to time course gene expression analyses, this transcription factor is required for the appropriate dynamic response of nearly 300 genes to reactive oxygen species damage from paraquat and hydrogen peroxide. These genes are predicted to function in repair of oxidative damage to proteins and DNA. In vivo DNA binding assays demonstrate that VNG0258H binds DNA to mediate gene regulation.

Conclusions

Together these results suggest that VNG0258H is a novel archaeal transcription factor that regulates gene expression to enable adaptation to the extremely oxidative, hypersaline niche of H. salinarum. We have therefore renamed VNG0258H as RosR, for
r
eactive
o
xygen
s
pecies
r
egulator.
The experiences of women of reproductive age regarding health-promoting behaviours: A qualitative study
Authors: Baheiraei Azam , Mirghafourvand Mojgan , Mohammadi Eesa , Charandabi Sakineh Mohammad-Alizadeh
Published: July 2012

Background

Health promotion is critical for community and family health. Health-promoting behaviours provide solutions for maintaining and promoting health. Although several studies have addressed the frequency and different types of health-promoting behaviours in women, little information is available about their experiences. This study aimed to explore the experiences of women of reproductive age regarding health-promoting behaviours.

Methods

In the present study, which was conducted in Tehran, Iran, 15 females, who were selected purposefully, participated in individual in-depth, semi-structured interviews. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed using conventional content analysis.

Results

Nine main categories were derived from the analysis, including establishing an appropriate eating pattern, establishing a balanced rest/activity pattern, spirituality, stress management, personal sensitivity and responsibility, establishing an appropriate pattern of social interactions, practicing safe and healthy recreations, feeling improvement in physical-functional health, and feeling improvement in emotional and psychological health. The first 7 categories represent the nature and types of real health-promoting behaviours in women of reproductive age, whereas the last 2 constitute feeling and understanding of the implementation of these behaviours.

Conclusion

The study findings show that the women experience improvement in physical-functional, emotional, and psychological health by implementing health-promoting behaviours. It is therefore necessary to introduce strategies in the context of the community culture for improving different aspects of health-promoting behaviours in women of reproductive age to maintain and improve their overall health.
Evaluation of a hospice rapid response community service: a controlled evaluation
Authors: Butler Claire , Holdsworth Laura M , Coulton Simon , Gage Heather
Published: July 2012

Background

While most people faced with a terminal illness would prefer to die at home, less than a third in England are enabled to do so with many dying in National Health Service hospitals. Patients are more likely to die at home if their carers receive professional support. Hospice rapid response teams, which provide specialist palliative care at home on a 24/7 on-call basis, are proposed as an effective way to help terminally ill patients die in their preferred place, usually at home. However, the effectiveness of rapid response teams has not been rigorously evaluated in terms of patient, carer and cost outcomes.

Methods/Design

The study is a pragmatic quasi-experimental controlled trial. The primary outcome for the quantitative evaluation for patients is dying in their preferred place of death. Carers’ quality of life will be evaluated using postal questionnaires sent at patient intake to the hospice service and eight months later. Carers’ perceptions of care received and the patient’s death will be assessed in one to one interviews at 6 to 8 months post bereavement. Service utilisation costs including the rapid response intervention will be compared to those of usual care.

Discussion

The study will contribute to the development of the evidence base on outcomes for patients and carers and costs of hospice rapid response teams operating in the community.

Trial registration: Current controlled trials ISRCTN32119670.
Impact of assimilable nitrogen availability in glucose uptake kinetics in Saccharomyces cerevisiae during alcoholic fermentation
Authors: Palma Margarida , Madeira Sara Cordeiro , Mendes-Ferreira Ana , Sá-Correia Isabel
Published: July 2012

Background

The expression and activity of the differentSaccharomyces cerevisiaehexose uptake systems (Hxt) and the kinetics of glucose uptake are considered essential to industrial alcoholic fermentation performance. However, the dynamics of glucose uptake kinetics during the different stages of fermentation, depending on glucose and nitrogen availability, is very poorly characterized. The objective of the present work was to examine thoroughly the alterations occurring in glucose uptake kinetics during alcoholic fermentation, by the wine strainS. cerevisiaePYCC 4072, of a synthetic grape juice basal medium with either a limiting or non-limiting initial nitrogen concentration and following nitrogen supplementation of the nitrogen-depleted sluggish fermentation.

Results

Independently of the initial concentration of the nitrogen source, glucose transport capacity is maximal during the early stages of fermentation and presumably sustained by the low-affinity and high-capacity glucose transporter Hxt1p. During nitrogen-limited sluggish fermentation, glucose uptake capacity was reduced to approximately 20% of its initial values (Vmax = 4.9 ± 0.8 compared to 21.9 ± 1.2 μmol h-110-8cells), being presumably sustained by the low-affinity glucose transporter Hxt3p (considering the calculatedKm = 39.2 ± 8.6 mM). The supplementation of the sluggish fermentation broth with ammonium led to the increase of glucose transport capacity associated to the expression of different glucose uptake systems with low and high affinities for glucose (Km = 58.2 ± 9.1 and 2.7 ± 0.4 mM). A biclustering analysis carried out using microarray data, previously obtained for this yeast strain transcriptional response to equivalent fermentation conditions, indicates that the activation of the expression of genes encoding the glucose transporters Hxt2p (during the transition period to active fermentation) and Hxt3p, Hxt4p, Hxt6p and Hxt7p (during the period of active fermentation) may have a major role in the recovery of glucose uptake rate following ammonium supplementation. These results suggest a general derepression of the glucose-repressible HXT genes and are consistent with the downregulation of Mig1p and Rgt1p.

Conclusions

Although reduced, glucose uptake rate during nitrogen-limited fermentation is not abrogated. Following ammonium supplementation, sluggish fermentation recovery is associated to the increase of glucose uptake capacity, related to thede novosynthesis of glucose transporters with different affinity for glucose and capacity, presumably of Hxt2p, Hxt3p, Hxt4p, Hxt6p and Hxt7p. This study is a contribution to the understanding of yeast response to different stages of alcoholic fermentation at the level of glucose uptake kinetics, in particular under nitrogen limitation or replenish, which is useful knowledge to guide fermentation practices.
Health-related quality of life in family members of patients with an advanced cancer diagnosis: A one-year prospective study
Authors: Sjolander Catarina , Rolander Bo , Järhult Johannes , Mårtensson Jan , Ahlstrom Gerd
Published: July 2012

Background

Receiving a cancer diagnosis affects family members as well as the person diagnosed. Family members often provide support for the sick person in daily life out of duty and love, and may not always think of their own vulnerability to illness. To individualise support for them, family members who are most at risk for becoming ill must be identified.

The aim of this study was to investigate health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in family members of patients with advanced lung or gastrointestinal cancer 3 to 15 months after diagnosis.

Methods

Data on mental and physical dimensions of HRQOL were collected from family members of these patients in this prospective quantitative study. Five assessments using the Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36) and EuroQol (EQ-5D) were conducted during a 1-year period starting 3 months after diagnosis. Thirty-six family members completed the study, i.e. participated in all five data collections.

Results

No statistically significant changes in physical or mental HRQOL within the study group appeared over the 1-year follow-up. Compared with norm-based scores, family members had significantly poorer mental HRQOL scores throughout the year as measured by the SF-36. Family members also scored statistically significantly worse on the EQ-5D VAS in all five assessments compared to the norm-based score. Findings showed that older family members and partners were at higher risk for decreased physical HRQOL throughout the 1-year period, and younger family members were at higher risk for poorer mental HRQOL.

Conclusions

It is well known that ill health is associated with poor HRQOL. By identifying family members with poor HRQOL, those at risk of ill health can be identified and supported. Future large-scale research that verifies our findings is needed before making recommendations for individualised support and creating interventions best tailored to family members at risk for illness.
Increased microRNA-155 expression in the serum and peripheral monocytes in chronic HCV infection
Authors: Bala Shashi , Tilahun Yaphet , Taha Odette , Alao Hawau , Kodys Karen , Catalano Donna , Szabo Gyongyi
Published: July 2012

Background

Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), a single stranded RNA virus, affects millions of people worldwide and leads to chronic infection characterized by chronic inflammation in the liver and in peripheral immune cells. Chronic liver inflammation leads to progressive liver damage. MicroRNAs (miRNA) regulate inflammation (miR-155, -146a and -125b) as well as hepatocyte function (miR-122).

Methods

Here we hypothesized that microRNAs are dysregulated in chronic HCV infection. We examined miRNAs in the circulation and in peripheral monocytes of patients with chronic HCV infection to evaluate if specific miRNA expression correlated with HCV infection.

Results

We found that monocytes from chronic HCV infected treatment-naïve (cHCV) but not treatment responder patients showed increased expression of miR-155, a positive regulator of TNFα, and had increased TNFα production compared to monocytes of normal controls. After LPS stimulation, miR-155 levels were higher in monocytes from cHCV patients compared to controls. MiR-125b, which has negative regulatory effects on inflammation, was decreased in cHCV monocytes compared to controls. Stimulation of normal monocytes with TLR4 and TLR8 ligands or HCV core, NS3 and NS5 recombinant proteins induced a robust increase in both miR-155 expression and TNFα production identifying potential mechanisms for in vivo induction of miR-155. Furthermore, we found increased serum miR-155 levels in HCV patients compared to controls. Serum miR-125b and miR-146a levels were also increased in HCV patients. Serum levels of miR-122 were elevated in cHCV patients and correlated with increased ALT and AST levels and serum miR-155 levels.

Conclusion

In conclusion, our novel data demonstrate that miR-155, a positive regulator of inflammation, is upregulated both in monocytes and in the serum of patients with chronic HCV infection. Our study suggests that HCV core, NS3, and NS5 proteins or TLR4 and TLR8 ligands can mediate increased miR-155 and TNFα production in chronic HCV infection. The positive correlation between serum miR-155 and miR-122 increase in cHCV may be an indicator of inflammation-induced hepatocyte damage.
Characterization of iNOS+ Neutrophil-like ring cell in tumor-bearing mice
Authors: Virtuoso Lauren P , Harden Jamie L , Sotomayor Paula , Sigurdson Wade J , Yoshimura Fuminobu , Egilmez Nejat K , Minev Boris , Kilinc Mehmet O
Published: July 2012

Background

Myeloid-derived Suppressor Cells (MDSC) have been identified as tumor-induced immature myeloid cells (IMC) with potent immune suppressive activity in cancer. Whereas strict phenotypic classification of MDSC has been challenging due to the highly heterogeneous nature of cell surface marker expression, use of functional markers such as Arginase and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) may represent a better categorization strategy. In this study we investigated whether iNOS could be utilized as a specific marker for the identification of a more informative homogenous MDSC subset.

Methods

Single-cell suspensions from tumors and other organs were prepared essentially by enzymatic digestion. Flow cytometric analysis was performed on a four-color flow cytometer. Morphology, intracellular structure and localization of iNOS+ ring cells in the tumor were determined by cytospin analysis, immunofluorescence microscopy and immunohistochemistry, respectively. For functional analysis, iNOS+ ring subset were sorted and tested in vitro cell culture experiments. Pharmacologic inhibition of iNOS was performed both in vivo and in vitro.

Results

The results showed that intracellular iNOS staining distinguished a granular iNOS+ SSChi CD11b+ Gr-1dim F4/80+ subset with ring-shaped nuclei (ring cells) among the CD11b
+
Gr-1+ cell populations found in tumors. The intensity of the ring cell infiltrate correlated with tumor size and these cells constituted the second major tumor-infiltrating leukocyte subset found in established tumors. Although phenotypic analysis demonstrated that ring cells shared characteristics with tumor-associated macrophages (TAM), morphological analysis revealed a neutrophil-like appearance as detected by cytospin and immunofluorescence microscopy analysis. The presence of distinct iNOS filled granule-like structures located next to the cell membrane suggested that iNOS was stored in pre-formed vesicles and available for rapid release upon activation. Tumor biopsies showed large areas with infiltrating ring cells primarily surrounding necrotic areas. Importantly, these cells significantly impaired CD8+ T-cell proliferation and induced apoptotic death. The intratumoral accumulation and suppressive activity of ring cells could be blocked through pharmacologic inhibition of iNOS, demonstrating the critical role of this enzyme in mediating both the differentiation and the activity of these cells.

Conclusions

In this study, iNOS expression was linked to a homogeneous subset; ring cells with a particular phenotype and immune suppressive function, in a common and well-established murine tumor model; 4T-1. Since the absence of a Gr-1 homolog in humans has made the identification of MDSC much more challenging, use of iNOS as a functional marker of MDSC may also have clinical importance.
Thermal diffusivity measurement of spherical gold nanofluids of different sizes/concentrations
Authors: López-Muñoz Gerardo A , Pescador-Rojas José A , Ortega-Lopez Jaime , Salazar Jaime Santoyo , Balderas-López J Abraham
Published: July 2012

In recent times, nanofluids have been studied by their thermal properties due to their variety of applications that range from photothermal therapy and radiofrequency hyperthermia (which have proven their potential use as coadjutants in these medical treatments for cancer diseases) to next-generation thermo-fluids. In this work, photoacoustic spectroscopy for a specific study of thermal diffusivity, as a function of particle size and concentration, on colloidal water-based gold nanofluids is reported. Gold nanoparticles were synthetized in the presence of hydroquinone through a seed-mediated growth with homogenous sizes and shapes in a range of 16 to 125 nm. The optical response, size and morphology of these nanoparticles were characterized using ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy, respectively. Thermal characterizations show a decrease in the thermal diffusivity ratio as the nanoparticle size is increased and an enhancement in thermal diffusivity ratio as nanoparticle concentration is added into the nanofluids. Compared with other techniques in the literature such as thermal lens and hot wire method, this photoacoustic technique shows an advantage in terms of precision, and with a small amount of sample required (500 μl), this technique might be suitable for the thermal diffusivity measurement of nanofluids. It is also a promising alternative to classical techniques.
Development of protein biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid for secondary progressive multiple sclerosis using selected reaction monitoring mass spectrometry (SRM-MS)
Authors: Jia Yan , Wu Tianxia , Jelinek Christine A , Bielekova Bibiana , Chang Linda , Newsome Scott , Gnanapavan Sharmilee , Giovannoni Gavin , Chen Dawn , Calabresi Peter A , Nath Avindra , Cotter Robert J
Published: July 2012

Background

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the central nervous system (CNS). It involves damage to the myelin sheath surrounding axons and to the axons themselves. MS most often presents with a series of relapses and remissions but then evolves over a variable period of time into a slowly progressive form of neurological dysfunction termed secondary progressive MS (SPMS). The reasons for this change in clinical presentation are unclear. The absence of a diagnostic marker means that there is a lag time of several years before the diagnosis of SPMS can be established. At the same time, understanding the mechanisms that underlie SPMS is critical to the development of rational therapies for this untreatable stage of the disease.

Results

Using high performance liquid chromatography-coupled mass spectrometry (HPLC); we have established a highly specific and sensitive selected reaction monitoring (SRM) assay. Our multiplexed SRM assay has facilitated the simultaneous detection of surrogate peptides originating from 26 proteins present in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Protein levels in CSF were generally ~200-fold lower than that in human sera. A limit of detection (LOD) was determined to be as low as one femtomol. We processed and analysed CSF samples from a total of 22 patients with SPMS, 7 patients with SPMS treated with lamotrigine, 12 patients with non-inflammatory neurological disorders (NIND) and 10 healthy controls (HC) for the levels of these 26 selected potential protein biomarkers. Our SRM data found one protein showing significant difference between SPMS and HC, three proteins differing between SPMS and NIND, two proteins between NIND and HC, and 11 protein biomarkers showing significant difference between a lamotrigine-treated and untreated SPMS group. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that these 26 proteins were correlated, and could be represented by four principal components. Overall, we established an efficient platform to develop and verify protein biomarkers in CSF, which can be easily adapted to other proteins of interest related to neurodegenerative diseases.

Conclusions

A highly specific and sensitive multiplex SRM-MS assay was established for development and verification of CSF protein biomarkers in SPMS. Five proteins were found to be expressed significantly differently between the three cohorts, SPMS, NIND and HC and 11 proteins associated with lamotrigine treatment, which we expect will further our current understanding of SPMS disease pathology and/or therapeutic intervention.
Fixed point theorems for a class of maps in normed Boolean vector spaces
Authors: Mishra Swaminath , Pant Rajendra , Murali Venkat
Published: July 2012

In this article, we obtain some fixed and common fixed point theorems for a class of maps on normed Boolean vector spaces satisfying the property (E.A) without using continuity. Our results extend and unify some known results.

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: Primary 06E30.
Pro-inflammatory genetic profile and familiarity of acute myocardial infarction
Authors: Ianni Manuela , Callegari Sergio , Rizzo Antonio , Pastori Paolo , Moruzzi Paolo , Corradi Domenico , Porcellini Elisa , Campo Gianluca , Ferrari Roberto , Ferrario Marco M , Bitonte Stefania , Carbone Ilaria , Licastro Federico
Published: July 2012

Background

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a multifactorial disease with a complex pathogenesis where lifestyle, individual genetic background and environmental risk factors are involved. Altered inflammatory responses are implicated in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and a premature AMI of parents is associated with an increased risk of the disease in their offspring (Offs). However, the genetic background of familiarity for AMI is still largely unknown. To understand which genes may predispose to increased risk of cardiovascular disease gene polymorphism of immune regulatory genes, and clinical events from the Offs of parents with an early AMI were investigated. Genetics data from Offs were compared with those obtained from healthy subjects and an independent cohort of patients with clinical sporadic AMI. Rates of clinical events during a 24 years follow up from Offs and from an independent Italian population survey were also evaluated.

Results

This study showed that a genetic signature consisting of the concomitant presence of the CC genotype of VEGF, the A allele of IL-10 and the A allele of IFN-γ was indeed present in the Offs population. In fact, the above genetic markers were more frequent in unaffected Offs (46.4%) and patients with sporadic AMI (31.8%) than in the CTR (17.3%) and the differences were highly statistically significant (Offs vs CTR: p = 0.0001, OR = 4.129; AMI vs CTR: p = 0.0001, OR = 2.224). During the 24-year follow-up, Offs with a positive familiarity in spite of a relatively young age showed an increased prevalence of diabetes, ischemic heart disease and stroke. These findings reinforce the notion that subjects with a familial history of AMI are at risk of an accelerated aging of cardiovascular system resulting in cardiovascular events.

Conclusion

Our data suggest that selected genes with immune regulatory functions are part of the complex genetic background contributing to familiarity for cardiovascular diseases. This inflammatory genetic profile, along with classical cardiovascular risk factors, may be used for better defining individual risk of AMI in unaffected subjects.
Event-related brain potentials that distinguish false memory for events that occurred only seconds in the past
Authors: Chen Hong , Voss Joel L , Guo Chunyan
Published: July 2012

Background

False memory often involves retrieving events from the distant past that did not actually happen. However, recent evidence obtained using the Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm for eliciting false memory experiences suggests that individuals can falsely believe that events occurred mere seconds in the past when they in fact did not. Subjects in these experiments endorsed unstudied critical lure words as having been studied, despite the fact that word lists were studied just moments before. We identified event-related brain potential (ERP) correlates of this experience, and included a repetition priming manipulation to better assess the functional significance of these ERPs.

Methods

Behavioral and ERP data were collected from 21 Capital Normal University students using a short-term DRM task.

Results

Two categories of effects were identified that distinguished true from false short-term memory: (1) early semantic priming effects from 300 to 500 ms and (2) later retrieval and retrieval-monitoring effects after 500 ms. The repetition priming manipulation had distinct influences on these effects, consistent with their differential associations with semantic priming versus episodic retrieval.

Conclusion

Characterization of ERPs related to semantic priming and episodic retrieval provides important information regarding the mechanisms of short-term false memory. In contrast, most studies examining false memory in standard long-delay DRM paradigms identify ERP effects related only to retrieval monitoring. These findings highlight the neural processing involved in illusions of memory after very brief delays and highlight the role of semantic processing in short-term false memory.
Nanoparticles and cars - analysis of potential sources
Authors: Uibel Stefanie , Takemura Masaya , Mueller Daniel , Quarcoo David , Klingelhoefer Doris , Groneberg David A
Published: July 2012

Urban health is potentially affected by particle emissions. The potential toxicity of nanoparticles is heavily debated and there is an enormous global increase in research activity in this field. In this respect, it is commonly accepted that nanoparticles may also be generated in processes occurring while driving vehicles. So far, a variety of studies addressed traffic-related particulate matter emissions, but only few studies focused on potential nanoparticles.

Therefore, the present study analyzed the literature with regard to nanoparticles and cars. It can be stated that, to date, only a limited amount of research has been conducted in this area and more studies are needed to 1) address kind and sources of nanoparticles within automobiles and to 2) analyse whether there are health effects caused by these nanoparticles.
Current state of the art in laparoscopic colorectal surgery for cancer: Update on the multi-centric international trials
Authors: Lee Jennifer K , Delaney Conor P , Lipman Jeremy M
Published: July 2012

Laparoscopic colectomy is now widely applied to cases of malignancy, supported by early data from several large randomized controlled trials. Long-term follow-up is now available from those trials, supporting equivalency of cancer-free and overall survival for open and laparoscopic resections. This promising data has inspired further exploration of other applications of laparoscopic techniques, including use of single incision laparoscopy. This article reviews recent reports of long-term data for colorectal cancer resection from four randomized, prospective international trials.
Neurological status in paediatric upper limb injuries in the emergency department – current practice
Authors: Robertson James S , Marsh Andrew G , Huntley James S
Published: July 2012

Background

In upper limb injuries it is important to assess associated neurological injury. The aim of this study was to assess the initial (Emergency Department (ED)) documentation of neurological status in paediatric patients presenting with upper limb injuries.

Findings

Case notes of paediatric patients admitted to the orthopaedic ward with upper limb injuries were retrospectively collected over a three month period. Initial ED documentation was recorded and case notes examined for any neurological deficit on admission. Of the 121 patients, 107 (88.4%) of case notes had some form of neurological documentation. The remaining case notes (n = 14, 11.6%) had no mention of neurological examination. There were 10 (8.2%) patients with pre-operative neurological deficits identified; none of these had been previously identified by the ED.

Conclusion

There are failings of neurological documentation on the part of ED staff. It is likely that these reflect a knowledge deficit in the examination of the injured upper limb in paediatric patients.
A case series of low dose bevacizumab and chemotherapy in heavily pretreated patients with epithelial ovarian cancer
Authors: Defferrari Carlotta , Campora Sara , D'Amico Mauro , Piccardo Arnoldo , Biscaldi Ennio , Rosselli Daniela , Pasa Ambra , Puntoni Matteo , Gozza Alberto , Gennari Alessandra , Zanardi Silvia , Lionetto Rita , Bandelloni Michela , DeCensi Andrea
Published: July 2012

Background

The addition of bevacizumab to standard chemotherapy prolongs progression free survival in the first line treatment of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), but its cost/effectiveness is debated. We assessed the safety and activity of a lower dose of bevacizumab in pretreated advanced stage EOC.

Methods

We treated 15 patients, mostly with platinum resistant EOC, who had received a median of four prior cytotoxic regimens, with bevacizumab 5–7.5 mg/kg q21 days in combination with either carboplatin (n = 8), oral cyclofosfamide (n = 5) or weekly paclitaxel (n = 2). Bevacizumab was administered until disease progression. Tumor response was assessed by CA125 and fusion 18 F-FDG PET/contrast enhanced CT.

Results

The median number of bevacizumab cycles was 21 (range 3–59). The median baseline CA125 was 272 U/ml and decreased to 15.2 U/ml at nadir. Tumor response was 4 complete response (CR) (26.7%) and 7 partial response (PR) (46.7%) by chemotherapy (CT), with an overall response rate of 73.4% (95% CI, 51.0 – 95.8) according to Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors (RECIST), and 6 CR (40%) and 4 PR (26.7%) by PET, for an overall metabolic response rate of 67% (95%CI, 42.8 – 90.6) according to PET Response Criteria in Solid Tumors (PERCIST). Median progression free survival (PFS) was 21 months and median overall survival (OS) was 24 months. Grade 3 adverse events related to bevacizumab were hypertension (n = 2), proteinuria (n = 1) and epistaxis (n = 5). Treatment was delayed in five patients for nasal bleeding or uncontrolled hypertension.

Conclusions

Low-dose bevacizumab and chemotherapy was well tolerated and active in a heavily pretreated population of advanced EOC. Further studies should assess the activity of low dose bevacizumab in EOC.
Towards a “4I” approach to personalized healthcare
Authors: Payne Philip R O , Marsh Clay B
Published: July 2012

Personalized healthcare holds the promise of ensuring that every patient receives optimal wellness promotion and clinical care based upon his or her unique and multi‐factorial phenotype, informed by the most up‐to‐date and contextually relevant science. However, achieving this vision requires the management, analysis, and delivery of complex data, information, and knowledge. While there are well‐established frameworks that serve to inform the pursuit of basic science, clinical, and translational research in support of the operationalization of the personalized healthcare paradigm, equivalent constructs that may enable biomedical informatics innovation and practice aligned with such objectives are noticeably sparse. In response to this gap in knowledge, we propose such a framework for the advancement of biomedical informatics in order to address the fundamental information needs of the personalized healthcare domain. This framework, which we refer to as a “4I” approach, emphasizes the pursuit of research and practice that is information‐centric, integrative, interactive, and innovative.
Programmed Violence: On the Object of Media Studies
Authors: Dotzler Bernhard J.
Published: July 2012

Each “new technology” inflicts “new violence” on its subjects. Following Marshall McLuhan's argument, this article outlines a theoretical frame for thinking about the relationship between violence and the media. Focusing on Stanley Milgram's experiment mentioned by McLuhan in his essay “The Violence of the Media,” it argues that violence not only is conveyed or represented by that medium but resides in the medium itself. Media add violence to our already violent culture not only by their content but by the very fact of their facticity. This raises the political question of the positioning of subjects toward, as well as by, the media and the epistemological question of what the object of media studies is.
Fertility Travel: The Commodification of Human Reproduction
Authors: Kroløkke Charlotte , Foss Karen A. , Pant Saumya
Published: July 2012

Assisted reproduction in a global world produces not only new babies and new parents but also new citizens and raises new bioethical concerns (e.g., Campbell 2007; Franklin 2001; Thompson 2005). This essay outlines an interdisciplinary theoretical perspective in understanding how fertility travel and transnational reproduction unfold from the perspectives of the different actors involved. Three theoretical pairs—care and engineering, reproscapes and reproflows, and gifts and commodities—are suggested as theoretical frameworks for understanding transnationalized reproduction. The authors conclude that reproductive movements and fragmentary bodies confront legal and administrative systems in interesting and often highly complex ways.
Reproductive Exile in Global Dubai: South Asian Stories
Authors: Inhorn Marcia C.
Published: July 2012

As India becomes the center for global commercial surrogacy, infertile Indians themselves may be forced to seek assisted reproductive technology (ART) services elsewhere. The inability of Indian couples to access affordable, high-quality services in their home country may force them to become reproductive tourists—a phenomenon defined in this article as “reproductive exile.” Reproductive exile bespeaks the “forced” nature of fertility travel, when infertile couples must leave their home country in order to access safe, effective, affordable, and legal infertility care. Their choice to use ARTs to produce a child is voluntary, but their travel abroad is not. Furthermore, the term exile takes on additional meanings in the South Asian context. South Asian laborers, both poor and middle-class, may feel forced to leave home in order to secure a living wage, send home remittances, save for their futures, and accrue enough money to access ART services. For many South Asians, Dubai is now the global hub for both labor migration and reproductive exile, owing to the long history of South Asian–Arab Gulf transnationalism, as well as Dubai's reputation for specializing in all manner of “high-tech” services. In this article, reproductive exile to global Dubai will be explored, along with three South Asian stories highlighting infertile couples' dreams of making a test-tube baby.
From India with Love: Troublesome Citizens of Fertility Travel
Authors: Kroløkke Charlotte
Published: July 2012

This essay inquires into how motherhood and citizenship are reinvented and performatively negotiated in cases of transnational surrogacy. One transnational surrogacy case reveals the workings of cultural and biological fundamentalism both. The case illustrates how transnational surrogacy produces troublesome new citizens and illegitimate mothers. Theoretically, the essay engages performance studies and feminist scholarship on the cyborg to conclude that new reproductive technology, most notably practices such as transnational surrogacy, reconceptualizes both citizenship and motherhood.
Reflections on the Faculty of General Dental Practice (UK) at 20 years
Authors: Scott Julian , Lowndes Peter , Farrell Shelagh , Santini Ario
Published: July 2012

This paper presents the reflections of four colleagues who were instrumental in the foundation of the then Faculty of General Dental Practitioners (UK) in 1992. All four subsequently became members of the first Board of Faculty, of whom one became the second Dean of the Faculty and one became the first editor of Primary Dental Care. Two are members of the current Board.

They were asked to reflect on six questions, which were:

1. What were the original hopes at the inception of the Faculty 20 years ago?

2. Have these hopes and expectations that you had 20 years ago been realised?

3. If the original aspirations have been met, what factors made this possible?

4. If some aspirations have not been realised, why?

5. What trends will shape dentistry in the next 20 years?

6. Where would you like to see the Faculty in 20 years’ time?
Challenges to Oral Healthcare for Older People in Domiciliary Settings in the Next 20 Years: A General Dental Practitioner's Perspective
Authors: Sullivan Joseph
Published: July 2012

This ‘In my opinion’ paper has been written by a general dental practitioner who, prior to his recent retirement, had a particular interest in the provision of domiciliary oral healthcare. The paper describes the rapid rise in the number of elderly people with mental illness and the increasingly dentate older population who pose new challenges for dentists and carers. It considers the different types of care homes for the elderly, challenges, barriers to care and the provision of care in homes for the elderly and those with dementia. It goes on to reflect on the need for training carers, the role of technicians, and costs. It suggests that there is a need to review treatment planning for those in the early stages of mental illness and improve the availability of domiciliary care. There is a need also to review training and support for carers in the maintenance of oral health. Its final suggestion is that all of these issues are pressing and will become more so over the next 20 years as the population ages.
A Patient's View of Dentistry 20 Years Ago, Now, and in 20 Years’ Time
Authors: Hill Matthew J Campbell
Published: July 2012

The expectations that 2012 Britain has of its healthcare system is a far cry from Aneurin Bevan's 1948 vision of a National Health Service (NHS) as he opened Park Hospital in Manchester. Originally designed to treat diseases of poverty and emergency, the modern NHS now spends much of its time dealing with diseases of excess: smoking, eating, drinking, and vanity.
The Great Debate
Authors: Batchelor Paul
Published: July 2012

It is usual to hold debates with a live audience. However, they can be held via the written word. Indeed, Letters to the Editor and responses are in many ways a debate. Specialist lists were introduced by the General Dental Council in 1997 and have been discussed ever since. This discussion will doubtless continue for many years. Two longstanding Faculty members have strong views on the topic. They were therefore invited to conduct a written debate to mark the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Faculty.
Welcome relief or indecent subsidy? The implications of wage top-up schemes
Authors: Dean Hartley
Published: July 2012

A key policy response to the downward pressure on wages of the lowest-paid workers in the developed economies of the capitalist world has been the introduction of meanstested cash transfer schemes by which to top up low wages. Findings from a study of the experiences of the beneficiaries of a particular scheme (the United Kingdom’s Working Tax Credit) suggest that, although schemes may serve to relieve the poverty of low-paid workers and their families, the extent to which they promote the accessibility of ‘decent work’ is ambiguous.
Business, regulation and welfare politics in liberal capitalism
Authors: Meyer Traute , Bridgen Paul
Published: July 2012

Concerted support from business organisations for increased state welfare provision is unexpected in liberal capitalism, but in Britain this occurred prior to recent major reforms of pensions. Using Mares’ micro-theory of employer behaviour and studies of public/private mixes, this article shows that three umbrella organisations of employers and insurers supported higher state pensions because incremental state regulation of non-state provision over many decades and threats about even greater compulsion in the private sector had significantly reduced company control while increasing their costs. As a result, a higher state pension appeared more attractive to all business actors than further regulation of the private sphere. On this basis, we suggest that state regulation should be incorporated more firmly into theories of institutional development and interest formation in liberal regimes.
Co-governance or meta-bureaucracy? Perspectives of local governance ‘partnership’ in England and Scotland
Authors: Fenwick John , Miller Karen Johnston , McTavish Duncan
Published: July 2012

This article assesses the nature of partnerships through the research site of local governance in England and Scotland, engaging a range of debates and literature around governance and meta-governance. The research used secondary data of local authority partnership working in England and Scotland as well as primary qualitative data from participant observation and interviews with senior officials of local authorities and partner organisations. There is little to suggest that English and Scottish practices are significantly at variance and the article advances an argument of meta-bureaucracy to describe partnerships’ activities: that is to say, partnerships do not represent a growth of autonomous networks and governance arrangements but rather an extension of bureaucratic controls. State actors remain preeminent within increasingly formalised systems of ‘partnership’.
Balancing life with glycoconjugates: Monitoring unfolded protein response-mediated anti-angiogenic action of tunicamycin by Raman spectroscopy
Authors: Longas Maria O. , Kotapati Ashok , Prasad Kilari PVRK , Banerjee Aditi , Santiago Jesus , Baksi Krishna , Banerjee Dipak K.
Published: July 2012

Asparagine-linked protein glycosylation is a hallmark for glycoprotein structure and function. Its impairment by tunicamycin [a competitive inhibitor of N-acetylglucos-aminyl 1-phosphate transferase (GPT)] has been known to inhibit neo-vascularization (i.e., angiogenesis) in humanized breast tumor due to an induction of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-mediated unfolded protein response (UPR). The studies presented here demonstrate that (i) tunicamycin inhibits capillary endothelial cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner; (ii) treated cells are incapable of forming colonies upon its withdrawal; and (iii) tunicamycin treatment causes nuclear fragmentation. Tunicamycin-induced ER stress-mediated UPR event in these cells was studied with the aid of Raman spectroscopy, in particular, the interpretation of bands at 1672, 1684, and 1694 cm–1, which are characteristics of proteins and originate from C=O stretching vibrations of mono-substituted amides. In tunicamycin-treated cells, these bands decreased in area as follows: at 1672 cm–1 by 41.85 % at 3 h and 55.39 % at 12 h; at 1684 cm–1 by 20.63 % at 3 h and 40.08 % at 12 h; and also at 1994 cm–1 by 33.33 % at 3 h and 32.92 % at 12 h, respectively. Thus, in the presence of tunicamycin, newly synthesized protein chains fail to arrange properly into their final secondary and/or tertiary structures, and the random coils they form had undergone further degradation.
Radioactive decay data: powerful aids in medical diagnosis and therapy, analytical science and other applications
Authors: Nichols A. L.
Published: July 2012

Decay data are commonly used to characterise and quantify radioactive material, and provide an important means of understanding the properties and structure of the nucleus. Experimental measurement techniques are reviewed, with the emphasis placed on recent developments that represent a potential quantum leap in advancing our knowledge, particularly by means of γ-ray spectroscopy. A select number of internationally-accepted decay-data evaluations and compilations are also discussed in terms of their contents. Both energy and non-energy related applications require the input of well-defined decay data, and such activities have been reviewed. Various important decay-data issues are assessed, and note taken of any significant requirements for better quantified data.
Inorganic chemistry in nuclear imaging and radiotherapy: current and future directions
Authors: Carroll V. , Demoin D.W. , Hoffman T.J. , Jurisson S.S.
Published: July 2012

Radiometals play an important role in diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals. This field of radiochemistry is multidisciplinary, involving radiometal production, separation of the radiometal from its target, chelate design for complexing the radiometal in a biologically stable environment, specific targeting of the radiometal to its in vivo site, and nuclear imaging and/or radiotherapy applications of the resultant radiopharmaceutical. The critical importance of inorganic chemistry in the design and application of radiometal-containing imaging and therapy agents is described from a historical perspective to future directions.
Chemistry of superheavy elements
Authors: Schädel M.
Published: July 2012

The chemistry of superheavy elements - or transactinides from their position in the Periodic Table - is summarized. After giving an overview over historical developments, nuclear aspects about synthesis of neutron-rich isotopes of these elements, produced in hot-fusion reactions, and their nuclear decay properties are briefly mentioned. Specific requirements to cope with the one-atom-at-a-time situation in automated chemical separations and recent developments in aqueous-phase and gas-phase chemistry are presented. Exciting, current developments, first applications, and future prospects of chemical separations behind physical recoil separators (“pre-separator”) are discussed in detail. The status of our current knowledge about the chemistry of rutherfordium (Rf, element 104), dubnium (Db, element 105), seaborgium (Sg, element 106), bohrium (Bh, element 107), hassium (Hs, element 108), copernicium (Cn, element 112), and element 114 is discussed from an experimental point of view. Recent results are emphasized and compared with empirical extrapolations and with fully-relativistic theoretical calculations, especially also under the aspect of the architecture of the Periodic Table.
The present and future of medical radionuclide production
Authors: Qaim S. M.
Published: July 2012

Medical radionuclide production technology is well established. Both reactors and cyclotrons are utilized for production; the positron emitters, however, are produced exclusively using cyclotrons. A brief survey of the production methods of most commonly used diagnostic and therapeutic radionuclides is given. The emerging radionuclides are considered in more detail. They comprise novel positron emitters and therapeutic radionuclides emitting low-range electrons and α-particles. The possible alternative production routes of a few established radionuclides, like68Ga and99mTc, are discussed. The status of standardisation of production data of the commonly used as well as of some emerging radionuclides is briefly mentioned. Some notions on anticipated future trends in the production and application of radionuclides are considered.