bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for patients with stage I to III breast cancer in the United States
Authors: Mougalian Sarah S. , Soulos Pamela R. , Killelea Brigid K. , Lannin Donald R. , Abu‐Khalaf Maysa M. , DiGiovanna Michael P. , Sanft Tara B. , Pusztai Lajos , Gross Cary P. , Chagpar Anees B.
Published: April 2015

BACKGROUND

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is the standard of care for patients with locally advanced breast cancer and can yield clinical advantages in individuals with lower stage cancers as well. To the authors' knowledge, the extent and patterns of use of NAC remain unknown. The objective of the current study was to assess temporal trends in NAC use and to examine what clinical, demographic, and treatment site characteristics influence its use.

METHODS

Data from the National Cancer Data Base regarding 395,486 patients with stage I to stage III breast cancer who received adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the United States from 2003 through 2011 were analyzed. Chi‐square tests and logistic regression analyses were used to assess the association between NAC use and patient, tumor, and facility characteristics.

RESULTS

Overall, 17.4% of patients received NAC, including 4% of patients with stage I disease, 17.8% of patients with stage II disease, and 41.6% of patients with stage III disease. NAC use increased over time from 12.2% to 24.0%, particularly among patients with more advanced cancers. Rates increased from 12.9% to 39.3% in patients with stage IIIA, from 72.3% to 86.4% in patients with stage IIIB, and from 30.1% to 59.3% in patients with stage IIIC cancers. On multivariate analysis, patients aged <60 years, African American individuals, and those treated in academic centers were more likely to receive NAC. NAC use also varied by geographic region and was the highest in the West South Central region (21%) and lowest in the Midwest (15.2%).

CONCLUSIONS

Although NAC use increased between 2003 and 2011, <50% of all patients with stage III breast cancer were treated with NAC. Substantial regional and practice‐related variations exist. Cancer 2015;121:2544–2552. © 2015 American Cancer Society.
Phase 2 study of dovitinib in patients with metastatic or unresectable adenoid cystic carcinoma
Authors: Keam Bhumsuk , Kim Sung‐Bae , Shin Seong Hoon , Cho Byoung Chul , Lee Keun‐Wook , Kim Min Kyoung , Yun Hwan‐Jung , Lee Se‐Hoon , Yoon Dok Hyun , Bang Yung‐Jue
Published: April 2015

BACKGROUND

The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of dovitinib in patients with adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC).

METHODS

ACC patients with documented disease progression within the past 12 months were eligible. Patients received oral dovitinib (500 mg once daily for 5 consecutive days followed by a 2‐day rest every week) until disease progression or unacceptable toxicities. The primary endpoint was the probability of 4‐month progression‐free survival (PFS). Metabolic response was evaluated with positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) scans performed at the baseline and after 8 weeks of treatment.

RESULTS

Between September 2011 and April 2013, 32 patients with metastatic and/or unresectable ACC were enrolled in this prospective, multicenter trial. The 4‐month PFS probability was 80.4%, and the median PFS was 6.0 months (95% confidence interval, 4.4‐7.6 months). Tumor shrinkage was observed in 22 patients (68.8%), and 1 patient had a confirmed partial response. The disease control rate was 96.9%. Among 26 patients with PET/CT scans both before and after treatment (at 8 weeks), the metabolic activity of ACC was reduced in 13 patients (50.0%), and 5 patients (19.2%) achieved a metabolic partial response, which was defined as a ≥25% reduction in maximum standardized uptake values. Common grade 3 and 4 adverse events were asthenia (50.0%) and neutropenia (25.0%).

CONCLUSIONS

Dovitinib shows modest antitumor activity in the treatment of ACC. Cancer 2015;121:2612–2617. © 2015 American Cancer Society.
Development of Unimolecular Tetrakis(piperidin‐4‐ol) as a Ligand for Suzuki–Miyaura Cross‐Coupling Reactions: Synthesis of Incrustoporin and Preclamol
Authors: Nallasivam Jothi L. , Fernandes Rodney A.
Published: April 2015

A domino aza‐Cope/aza‐Prins cascade enabled the synthesis of a new class of 4‐hydroxypiperidine‐appended mono, bis, tris, and tetrakis unimolecular compounds that served as efficient ligands to catalyze Suzuki–Miyaura cross‐coupling reactions under aerobic conditions. Various biaryls, terphenyls, and heterocyclic biphenyls were obtained in good to excellent yields. The ligands were also capable of catalyzing the Heck–Mizoroki reaction. As an application, the Suzuki–Miyaura coupling reaction was used in the synthesis of incrustoporin, its analogs, and the drug molecule preclamol.
Does pain vary across the menstrual cycle? A review
Authors: Iacovides S. , Avidon I. , Baker F.C.
Published: April 2015

Reproductive hormones are implicated in moderating pain. Animal studies support both pronociceptive and antinociceptive actions of oestradiol and progesterone suggesting that the net effect of these hormones on pain is complex and likely depends on the interaction between hormones and the extent of fluctuation rather than absolute hormone levels. Several clinical pain conditions show variation in symptom severity across the menstrual cycle. Though, there is still no consensus on whether the menstrual cycle influences experimental pain sensitivity in healthy individuals. Comprehensive literature searches on clinical and experimental pain across the menstrual cycle, as well as gonadal hormones and pain were performed using the electronic databases PubMed, Google Scholar and the Cochrane Library. Full‐text manuscripts were reviewed for relevancy and reference lists were cross‐checked for additional relevant studies. Most of the more recent, well‐controlled studies show that menstrual cycle phase has no effect on the perception of pain in healthy, pain‐free women. Although recent studies investigating pain‐related brain activation have shown differential activation patterns across the menstrual cycle in regions involved with cognitive and motor function, even in the absence of a behavioural pain response, suggesting that cognitive pain and bodily awareness systems are sensitive to menstrual cycle phase. The interaction between the gonadal hormones and pain perception is intricate and not entirely understood. We suggest further investigations on the association between female reproductive hormones and pain sensitivity by exploring the interaction between clinical and experimental pain and the hormone changes that characterize puberty, post‐partum and the menopause transition.
Intensity measures for probabilistic assessment of non‐structural components acceleration demand
Authors: De Biasio Marco , Grange Stephane , Dufour Frederic , Allain Frederic , Petre‐Lazar Ilie
Published: April 2015

A fundamental issue in the framework of seismic probabilistic risk analysis is the choice of ground motion intensity measures (IMs). Based on the floor response spectrum method, the present contribution focuses on the ability of IMs to predict non‐structural components (NSCs) horizontal acceleration demand. A large panel of IMs is examined and a new IM, namely equipment relative average spectral acceleration (E‐ASAR), is proposed for the purpose of NSCs acceleration demand prediction. The IMs efficiency and sufficiency comparisons are based on (i) the use of a large dataset of recorded earthquake ground motions; (ii) numerical analyses performed on three‐dimensional numerical models, representing actual structural wall and frame buildings; and (iii) systematic statistical analysis of the results. From the comparative study, the herein introduced E‐ASAR shows high efficiency with respect to the estimation of maximum floor response spectra ordinates. Such efficiency is particularly remarkable in the case of structural wall buildings. Besides, the sufficiency and the simple formulation allowing the use of existing ground motion prediction models make the E‐ASAR a promising IMs for seismic probabilistic risk assessment. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The extracellular matrix compartment of neural stem and glial progenitor cells
Authors: Faissner Andreas , Reinhard Jacqueline
Published: April 2015

Neuroepithelial and radial GLIA stem cells generate the majority of the cellular constituents of the central nervous system. Following precisely timed phases of neurogenesis and gliogenesis the stem cells recede, with the exception of adult neural stem cells that persist in two generally accepted canonical neurogenic regions, the subventricular zone of the lateral ventricle and the subgranular zone in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. It is believed that adult stem cells reside in privileged stem cell niche environments that provide favorable conditions for self‐renewal and maintenance of this cellular compartment. Factors such as morphogens, cytokines, and growth factors influence the developmental pathway of neural stem/progenitor cells. By comparison, less is known about the regulatory roles of glycoproteins and proteoglycans of the extracellular matrix (ECM) and their receptors, although they represent important constituents of the micromolecular environment of the niche. Here, we summarize studies that indicate pivotal roles of the ECM micromilieu for the biology and instrumental use of glial stem and progenitor cells of the CNS. Advancing our understanding of structure‐function relationships, signaling motifs and complementary receptors and their signal transduction pathways will be of central importance for the application of these cell types in regenerative medicine. GLIA 2015;63:1330–1349
The role of cerebrovascular disease and the association between diabetes mellitus and dementia among aged medicare beneficiaries
Authors: Lu Z. Kevin , Li Minghui , Yuan Jing , Wu Jun
Published: April 2015

Objective

The aim of this study is to assess whether diabetes mellitus is associated with overall dementia and its subtypes (Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia) among the elderly and to identify the role of cerebrovascular disease in the association between diabetes and dementia.

Methods

In a retrospective cross‐sectional study, 5160 community‐dwelling and institutionalized Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 years or over without health maintenance organization enrollment from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey in 2010 were included. The International Classification of Diseases–9 codes were used to identify the outcome and independent variables from the Medicare claims. The key predictor was diabetes mellitus and the outcomes were overall dementia and its subtypes. Logistic regression was employed to assess the association between dementia and diabetes after adjusting for age, gender, race, education, income, smoking status, and Charlson Comorbidity Index.

Results

After adjusting for potential confounders, diabetes mellitus was significantly associated with overall dementia (odds ratio [OR] = 1.42; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.14–1.77), vascular dementia (OR = 1.29; 95% CI, 1.02–1.64), and Alzheimer's disease (OR = 1.51, 95% CI, 1.10–2.09). The OR decreased to 1.26 (95% CI, 1.01–1.58) for overall dementia, controlling for cerebrovascular disease. The associations between diabetes mellitus and vascular dementia (OR = 1.13, 95% CI, 0.89–1.44) and Alzheimer's disease (OR = 1.39, 95% CI, 1.00–1.92) were no longer statistically significant once cerebrovascular disease was controlled.

Conclusions

The association between diabetes mellitus and dementia is only partially mediated through cerebrovascular disease, suggesting that diabetes mellitus is associated independently with overall dementia among the elderly, but not with vascular dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Organizational Ambidexterity and the Hybrid Middle Manager: The Case of Patient Safety in UK Hospitals
Authors: Burgess Nicola , Strauss Karoline , Currie Graeme , Wood Geoffrey
Published: April 2015

This article focuses on knowledge management inUKhospitals as an area in which organizational ambidexterity (OA) is a necessary condition. In contrast to much of the literature onOAthat looks at senior managers, we focus on the role of “hybrid” middle managers, professional workers who hold managerial responsibilities, in ensuring that the quality of care delivered is at an optimum “safe” level for patients. We examine the influence of prevailing tensions and competing agendas characteristic of a professionalized, public‐sector context upon knowledge exploitation and exploration at the middle levels of the organization. Our study investigates how these tensions are experienced and reconciled at the individual level. We examine the contextual and personal circumstances that enable hybrid middle managers to forge workable compromises between exploration and exploitation to facilitateOA. We find that this process is contingent on professional legitimacy, social capital, and a holistic professional orientation. This has wider implications for human resource practice to support the discretion and motivation of hybrid middle managers to facilitateOAfor enduring performance and advancement of best practice. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Levodopa enhances explicit new‐word learning in healthy adults: a preliminary study
Authors: Shellshear Leanne , MacDonald Anna D. , Mahoney Jeffrey , Finch Emma , McMahon Katie , Silburn Peter , Nathan Pradeep J. , Copland David A.
Published: April 2015

Objective

While the role of dopamine in modulating executive function, working memory and associative learning has been established; its role in word learning and language processing more generally is not clear. This preliminary study investigated the impact of increased synaptic dopamine levels on new‐word learning ability in healthy young adults using an explicit learning paradigm.

Method

A double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, between‐groups design was used. Participants completed five learning sessions over 1 week with levodopa or placebo administered at each session (five doses, 100 mg). Each session involved a study phase followed by a test phase. Test phases involved recall and recognition tests of the new (non‐word) names previously paired with unfamiliar objects (half with semantic descriptions) during the study phase.

Results

The levodopa group showed superior recall accuracy for new words over five learning sessions compared with the placebo group and better recognition accuracy at a 1‐month follow‐up for words learnt with a semantic description.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that dopamine boosts initial lexical acquisition and enhances longer‐term consolidation of words learnt with semantic information, consistent with dopaminergic enhancement of semantic salience. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Nsc23925 prevents the development of paclitaxel resistance by inhibiting the introduction of P‐glycoprotein and enhancing apoptosis
Authors: Yang Xiaoqian , Shen Jacson , Gao Yan , Feng Yong , Guan Yichun , Zhang Zhan , Mankin Henry , Hornicek Francis J. , Duan Zhenfeng
Published: April 2015

Strategies to prevent the emergence of drug resistance will increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy treatment and prolong survival of women with ovarian cancer. The aim of our study is to determine the effects of NSC23925 on preventing the development of paclitaxel resistance in ovarian cancer both in cultured cells in vitro and in mouse xenograft models in vivo, and to further elucidate these underlying mechanisms. We first developed a paclitaxel‐resistant ovarian cancer cell line, and demonstrated that NSC23925 could prevent the introduction of paclitaxel resistance by specifically inhibiting the overexpression of P‐glycoprotein (Pgp) in vitro. The paclitaxel‐resistant ovarian cancer cells were then established in a mouse model by continuous paclitaxel treatment in combination with or without NSC23925 administration in the mice. The majority of mice continuously treated with paclitaxel alone eventually developed paclitaxel resistance with overexpression of Pgp and antiapoptotic proteins, whereas mice remained sensitivity to paclitaxel and displayed lower expression levels of Pgp and antiapoptotic proteins after administered continuously with combination of paclitaxel–NSC23925. Paclitaxel–NSC23925‐treated mice experienced significantly longer overall survival time than paclitaxel‐treated mice. Furthermore, the combination of paclitaxel and NSC23925 therapy did not induce obvious toxicity as measured by mice body weight changes, blood cell counts and histology of internal organs. Collectively, our observations provide evidence that NSC23925 in combination with paclitaxel may prevent the onset of Pgp or antiapoptotic‐mediated paclitaxel resistance, and improve the long‐term clinical outcome in patients with ovarian cancer.
Joint and independent effect of alcohol and tobacco use on the risk of subsequent cancer incidence among cancer survivors: A cohort study using cancer registries
Authors: Tabuchi Takahiro , Ozaki Koken , Ioka Akiko , Miyashiro Isao
Published: April 2015

Drinking alcohol and smoking tobacco are major modifiable risk factors for cancer. However, little is known about whether these modifiable factors of cancer survivors are associated with subsequent primary cancer (SPC) incidence, regardless of the first cancer sites. 27,762 eligible cancer survivors diagnosed between 1985 and 2007 were investigated for SPC until the end of 2008, using hospital‐based and population‐based cancer registries. The association between drinking, smoking and combined drinking and smoking (interaction) at the time of the first cancer diagnosis and incidence of SPCs (i.e., all SPCs, alcohol‐related, smoking‐related and specific SPCs) was estimated by Poisson regression. Compared with never‐drinker/never‐smoker, the categories ever‐drinker/ever‐smoker, current‐drinker/current‐smoker and heavy‐drinker/heavy‐smoker had 43–108%, 51–126% and 167–299% higher risk for all, alcohol‐related and tobacco‐related SPCs, respectively. The interaction of drinking and smoking had significantly high incidence rate ratios (IRRs) for SPCs among ever‐drinker/ever‐smoker and current‐drinker/current‐smoker, although ever drinking did not show a significant risk. Ever‐drinker/ever‐smoker had also significantly higher IRRs for esophageal and lung SPCs than never‐drinker/never‐smoker. Among comprehensive cancer survivors, ever and current drinkers only had a SPC risk when combined with smoking, while ever and current smokers had a SPC risk regardless of drinking status. Heavy drinking and heavy smoking were considered to be independent additive SPC risk factors. To reduce SPC incidence, it may be necessary (i) to reduce or stop alcohol use, (ii) to stop tobacco smoking and (iii) dual users, especially heavy users, should be treated as a high‐risk population for behavioral‐change intervention.
Metabolomic analysis of prostate cancer risk in a prospective cohort: The alpha‐tocopherol, beta‐carotene cancer prevention (ATBC) study
Authors: Mondul Alison M. , Moore Steven C. , Weinstein Stephanie J. , Karoly Edward D. , Sampson Joshua N. , Albanes Demetrius
Published: April 2015

Despite decades of concerted epidemiological research, relatively little is known about the etiology of prostate cancer. As genome‐wide association studies have identified numerous genetic variants, so metabolomic profiling of blood and other tissues represents an agnostic, “broad‐spectrum” approach for examining potential metabolic biomarkers of prostate cancer risk. To this end, we conducted a prospective analysis of prostate cancer within the Alpha‐Tocopherol, Beta‐Carotene Cancer Prevention Study cohort based on 200 cases (100 aggressive) and 200 controls (age‐ and blood collection date‐matched) with fasting serum collected up to 20 years prior to case diagnoses. Ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography/mass spectroscopy and gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy identified 626 compounds detected in >95% of the men and the odds ratio per 1‐standard deviation increase in log‐metabolite levels and risk were estimated using conditional logistic regression. We observed strong inverse associations between energy and lipid metabolites and aggressive cancer (p = 0.018 and p = 0.041, respectively, for chemical class over‐representation). Inositol‐1‐phosphate showed the strongest association (OR = 0.56, 95% CI = 0.39–0.81, p = 0.002) and glycerophospholipids and fatty acids were heavily represented; e.g., oleoyl‐linoleoyl‐glycerophosphoinositol (OR = 0.64, p = 0.004), 1‐stearoylglycerophosphoglycerol (OR=0.65, p = 0.025), stearate (OR=0.65, p = 0.010) and docosadienoate (OR = 0.66, p = 0.014). Both alpha‐ketoglutarate and citrate were associated with aggressive disease risk (OR = 0.69, 95% CI = 0.51–0.94, p = 0.02; OR = 0.69, 95% CI = 0.50–0.95, p = 0.02), as were elevated thyroxine and trimethylamine oxide (OR = 1.65, 95% CI = 1.08–2.54, p = 0.021; and OR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.02–1.81, p = 0.039). Serum PSA adjustment did not alter the findings. Our data reveal several metabolomic leads that may have pathophysiological relevance to prostate carcinogenesis and should be examined through additional research.
Microtubule affinity‐regulating kinase 2 is associated with DNA damage response and cisplatin resistance in non‐small cell lung cancer
Authors: Hubaux Roland , Thu Kelsie L. , Vucic Emily A. , Pikor Larissa A. , Kung Sonia H.Y. , Martinez Victor D. , Mosslemi Mitra , Becker‐Santos Daiana D. , Gazdar Adi F. , Lam Stephen , Lam Wan L.
Published: April 2015

Microtubule affinity‐regulating kinases (MARKs) are involved in several cellular functions but few studies have correlated MARK kinase expression with cancer, and none have explored their role in lung cancer. In this study, we identified MARK2 as frequently disrupted by DNA hypomethylation and copy gain, resulting in concordant overexpression in independent lung tumor cohorts and we demonstrate a role for MARK2 in lung tumor biology. Manipulation of MARK2 in lung cell lines revealed its involvement in cell viability and anchorage‐independent growth. Analyses of both manipulated cell lines and clinical tumor specimens identified a potential role for MARK2 in cell cycle activation and DNA repair. Associations between MARK2 and the E2F, Myc/Max and NF‐κB pathways were identified by luciferase assays and in‐depth assessment of the NF‐κB pathway suggests a negative association between MARK2 expression and NF‐κB due to activation of non‐canonical NF‐κB signaling. Finally, we show that high MARK2 expression levels correlate with resistance to cisplatin, a standard first line chemotherapy for lung cancer. Collectively, our work supports a role for MARK2 in promoting malignant phenotypes of lung cancer and potentially modulating response to the DNA damaging chemotherapeutic, cisplatin.
Cell response to hydroxyapatite surface topography modulated by sintering temperature
Authors: Mealy Jacob , O'Kelly Kevin
Published: April 2015

Increased mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) activity on hydroxyapatite (HA) bone tissue engineering scaffolds will improve their viability in diffusion‐based in vivo environments and is therefore highly desirable. This work focused on modulating the sintered HA surface topography with a view to increasing cell activity; this was achieved by varying the sintering temperature of the HA substrates. Cells were cultured on the substrates for periods of up to 19 days and displayed a huge variation in viability. MSC metabolic activity was measured using a resazurin sodium salt assay and revealed that surfaces sintered from 1250 to 1350°C significantly outperformed their lower temperature counterparts from day one (p ≤ 0.05). Surfaces sintered at 1300°C induced 57% more cell activity than the control at day 16. No significant activity was observed on surfaces sintered below 1200°C. It is suggested that this is due to the granular morphology produced at these temperatures providing insufficient contact area for cell attachment. In addition, we propose the average surface wavelength as a more quantitative surface descriptor than those readily found in the literature. The wavelengths of the substrates presented here were highly correlated with cell activity (R2 = 0.9019); with a wavelength of 2.675 µm on the 1300°C surface inducing the highest cell response. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 103A: 3533–3538, 2015.
Shape and surface effects on the cytotoxicity of nanoparticles: Gold nanospheres versus gold nanostars
Authors: Favi Pelagie Marlene , Gao Ming , Johana Sepúlveda Arango Liuda , Ospina Sandra Patricia , Morales Mariana , Pavon Juan Jose , Webster Thomas Jay
Published: April 2015

Gold nanoparticles are materials with unique optical properties that have made them very attractive for numerous biomedical applications. With the increasing discovery of techniques to synthesize novel nanoparticles such as star‐shaped gold nanoparticles for biomedical applications, the safety and performance of these new nanomaterials must be systematically assessed before use. In this study, gold nanostars (AuNSTs) with multibranched surface structures were synthesized, and their influence on the cytotoxicity of human skin fibroblasts and rat fat pad endothelial cells (RFPECs) were assessed and compared with that of gold nanospheres (AuNSPs) with unbranched surfaces. Results showed that the AuNSPs with diameters of approximately 61.46 nm showed greater toxicity with fibroblast cells and RFPECs compared with the synthesized AuNSTs with diameters of approximately 33.69 nm. The AuNSPs were lethal at concentrations of 40 μg/mL for both cell lines, whereas the AuNSTs were less toxic at higher concentrations (400 μg/mL). The calculated IC50 (50% inhibitory concentration) values of the AuNSPs exposed to fibroblast cells were greater at 1 and 4 days of culture (26.4 and 27.7 μg/mL, respectively) compared with the RFPECs (13.6 and 13.8 μg/mL, respectively), indicating that the AuNSPs have a greater toxicity to endothelial cells. It was proposed that possible factors that could be promoting the reduced toxicity effects of the AuNSTs to fibroblast cells and RFPECs, compared with the AuNSPs may be size, surface chemistry, and shape of the gold nanoparticles. The reduced cell toxicity observed with the AuNSTs suggests that AuNSTs may be a promising material for use in biomedical applications. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 103A: 3449–3462, 2015.
M&A Due Diligence: How to Uncover Corruption
Authors: Byington J. Ralph , McGee Jo Ann
Published: April 2015

Corporate balance sheets in the United States currently show an excess of cash. And to make earnings‐conscious shareholders happy, many corporate managers will funnel that cash into more merger‐and‐acquisition (M&A) activity. But M&A is never without risk, warn the authors of this article. And they caution managers that their M&A due diligence should not overlook the existence of possible corruption and bribery in an acquired company. The authors also include a handy checklist to help corporate managers find possible problems when examining a target company. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Key Points of Failure for IT Project Business Cases
Authors: Iijima Timothy
Published: April 2015

Large IT projects at companies generally underperform expectations—they either are delivered late, come in over budget, or fail to deliver their expected benefits. Studies reveal that there is no single driving factor for these failures, and no single “magic bullet” solution. But are many projects doomed from the start to underperform expectations—because the expectations were inappropriately set?

This article focuses on this key element—the setting of expectations in the form of a formal business case. The author discusses five key points of failure in IT business cases, why they occur, and how they can be avoided. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Comparison of different QT interval correction methods for heart rate and QT beat‐to‐beat method in a thorough QT study of triple monoamine reuptake inhibitor BMS‐820836
Authors: Zheng Ming , Burt David , Chan Wai , Hawthorne Dara , Gasior Maciej , Bhagwagar Zubin , Keswani Sanjay , AbuTarif Malaz , Bertz Richard
Published: April 2015

As BMS‐820836 causes dose‐dependent heart rate increases, QTcI, QTcF, QTcB, and QT beat‐to‐beat methods were compared in this thorough QT study in healthy subjects. Two parallel groups of subjects (n = 60 per group) received 2 mg (maximum therapeutic) or 4 mg (supratherapeutic) of BMS‐820836 once daily for 14 days with uptitration. Another 60 subjects received encapsulated moxifloxacin (400 mg) or matching placebo in a nested‐crossover study design. Compared with QTcF and QTcB, baseline QTcI had the smallest and near‐zero Pearson correlation coefficient with heart rate (0.0938), which supported the choice of QTcI as the primary electrocardiographic end point. BMS‐820836 was not associated with prolongation of the QT interval at the doses tested; however, ΔΔQTbtb showed the smallest deviation from 0 milliseconds compared with ΔΔQTcI and ΔΔQTcF. The ΔΔQTbtb results appeared to be more consistent with the very low likelihood of any effect on the QT interval by BMS‐820836 based on the wide margin (>400×) of the in vitro hERG IC50and free plasma concentration. Further, this is the first published study that used the nested‐crossover design and QTbtb analysis in a thorough QT study. Assay sensitivity was confirmed with encapsulated moxifloxacin.
Synthesis and Bioassay of Dihydropyrano[3,2‐b]chromenediones
Authors: Chereddy Syama Sundar , Nemallapudi Bakthavatchala Reddy , Balam Satheesh Krishna , Soora Harinath Jaya Prakash , Chinthaparthi Radha Rani , Cirandur Suresh Reddy
Published: April 2015

Ytterbium perfluorooctanoate [Yb(PFO)3] is found to be an efficient catalyst for the microwave‐irradiated synthesis of dihydropyrano[3,2‐b]chromenediones by the one‐pot condensation of kojic acid, aldehydes, and 1,3‐dicarbonyl compound under solvent‐free conditions. This approach offers many advantages, such as excellent product yields in short reaction time, solvent‐free conditions, easy isolation of products, low catalyst loading, reusability of the catalyst, and the absence of volatile and hazardous emissions. The preliminary antimicrobial results of in vitro biological studies showed that most of the newly synthesized compounds display a moderate inhibitory activity against bacteria and fungi. The complete characterization of synthesized compounds and bioassay results are provided.
Effect of heavy metals on acdS gene expression in Herbaspirillium sp. GW103 isolated from rhizosphere soil
Authors: Loganathan Praburaman , Myung Hyun , Muthusamy Govarthanan , Lee Kui‐Jae , Seralathan Kamala‐Kannan , Oh Byung‐Taek
Published: April 2015

This study aimed to understand the influence of heavy metals on 1‐aminocyclopropane‐1‐carboxylate deaminase activity (ACCD) and acdS gene expression in Herbaspirillium sp. GW103. The GW103 strain ACCD activity decreased in cells grown in a medium supplemented with Pb and As, whereas cells grown in medium supplemented with Cu showed increase in enzyme activity. The GW103 strain produced 262.2 ± 6.17 μmol of α‐ketobutyrate per milligram of protein per hour during ACC deamination at 25 °C after 24 h incubation. Using a PCR approach, an acdS coding‐gene of 1.06 kbp was amplified in isolate GW103, showing 92% identity with Herbaspirillum seropedicae SmR1 acdS gene. Real time quantitative polymerase chain reaction results indicate that the acdS expression rate was increased (7.1‐fold) in the presence of Cu, whereas it decreased (0.2‐ and 0.1‐fold) in the presence of As and Pb.
Study of casting from IN100 nickel‐based superalloy using quantitative metallography and analytical electron miroscopy
Authors: Szczotok A.
Published: April 2015

The polycrystalline cast IN100 superalloy was selected for this investigation. It is characterized by dendritic segregation. The major phases which are present in the IN100 superalloy are the ordered γ′ (Ni3Al‐type) phase together with a disordered solid‐solution γ matrix, and carbides. Additionally, a structural element occurs in the microstructure: colonies of (γ + γ′) eutectic.

The main purpose of this work was to report on the following steps of the IN100 superalloy investigation: specimen preparation with microstructure revealing, image acquisition, computer‐aided image analysis with detection of the investigated areas and their measurements. The volume fractions and chemical compositions of the phases were assessed using conventional metallographic and analytical electron microscopy techniques.
Analogy between flexible abrasive waterjet technology and traditional chip – machining technology
Authors: Valíček J. , Harničárová M. , Müllerová J. , Kušnerová M.
Published: April 2015

The submitted paper deals with the analytical processing of an analogy between the mechanical operating characteristic of a flexible disintegration tool and that of a rigid disintegration tool in cut surface generation and in chip formation. The roughness of cut surfaces is used here as an important characteristic both the types of tools. It enters as a necessary variable into newly derived equations enabling the theoretical calculation of parameters of a flexible cut and chip. Furthermore, it is utilized in the design of technological parameters, and a method to check and condition the regulation of the machining process in practice.
Experimental investigation and finite element modelling of a new high damping metallic material
Authors: Schmidt A. , Shivaswamy A. , Gaul L.
Published: April 2015

The properties of a high damping metallic material are investigated experimentally and a plausible finite element (FE) representation based on the results is deduced. The material consists of hollow, bonded aluminium spheres filled with ceramic particles. The damping mainly occurs due to dissipation via particle interaction. Consequently, one has to model the damping in such a way that shearing contributes only a little to the energy dissipation and the damping properties are orthotropic while the material stiffness is isotropic. Using the model of constant hysteresis for frequency‐domain calculations, the complex stiffness matrix is constructed from the real‐valued isotropic stiffness matrix, and the complex‐valued orthotropic damping matrix. Since the finite element code used only offers the possibility of the damping matrix of an element being proportional to its stiffness, two superimposed finite element models are utilized, one representing the material's stiffness the other it's damping properties. The material parameters are obtained from an experimental modal analysis (EMA) on three samples of the material. The modelling approach is verified on a single hexahedral element and a simulation of the experimental modal analysis. Finally, a sandwich frame structure consisting of the damping material sandwiched between two aluminium frames is investigated by means of an EMA and a respective finite element modal analysis which makes use of the aforementioned modelling approach. A comparison of the results is given in terms of eigenfrequencies and the corresponding modal damping measures.
The Diet of Three Medieval Individuals from Caravate (Varese, Italy). Combined Results of ICP‐MS Analysis of Trace Elements and Phytolith Analysis Conducted on Their Dental Calculus
Authors: Lazzati A. M. B. , Levrini L. , Rampazzi L. , Dossi C. , Castelletti L. , Licata M. , Corti C.
Published: April 2015

Teeth are in close contact with foodstuffs: phenomena such as caries and wear of the crowns are precious keys to gather information on diet and cooking techniques.

Phytoliths are granules of hydrated amorphous silica, which are deposited in the oral cavity while chewing fruit and vegetables and incorporated into dental calculus during its formation. In diet investigation, different plants may therefore be related to specific phytolith shapes.

Analysis of chemical trace elements, incorporated in dental calculus from ingested food and replacing small percentages of calcium in normal processes of resorption and redeposition, can further enrich the research on ancient diet.

The aim of our work was to set up an analytical protocol, focalised on phytoliths and the inorganic elemental composition of dental calculus, on samples coming from medieval skeletons excavated in Caravate (Varese, Italy). The inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry analytical technique proved to be particularly suitable for such studies.

The results suggested a diet based both on the consumption of carbohydrates (dicotyledons and monocotyledons such as the Poaceae, also known as Gramineae; and Coniferae) and on proteins, mostly derived from fish. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Preparation and thermal properties of bio‐based gallic acid epoxy/carbon nanotubes composites by cationic ring‐opening reaction
Authors: Hou Guixiang , Li Na , Han Hongzhe , Run Mingtao , Gao Jungang
Published: April 2015

In order to prepare the bio‐based polymeric materials, a gallic acid epoxy resin (GA‐ER) is synthesized by using biodegradable gallic acid, and the nanocomposites of GA‐ER/glycidyl methacrylate (GMA)/multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were prepared by dual hybrid cationic ring‐opening reaction. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results show that the curing reaction temperature of the nanocomposites is between 150 and 225°C. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results suggest that MWCNTs are homodispersing in the GA‐ER/GMA matrix when the MWCNTs content is not more than 1.0 wt%. The glass transition temperature of the nanocomposite with 0.5 wt% MWCNTs is 9.3°C higher than that of pure resin system. The initial thermal degradation temperature and degradation activation energies Ea of the nanocomposite with 1.0 wt% MWCNTs is 10°C and 68.6 kJ/mol higher than that the pure resin system, respectively. POLYM. COMPOS., 37:3093–3102, 2016. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers
Antecedents and Consequences of Mimicry: A Naturalistic Interaction Approach
Authors: Kurzius Elena , Borkenau Peter
Published: April 2015

Mimicking, that is showing the same nonverbal behaviour as one's interaction partner, is related to trait Affiliation, but there are no previous investigations on its relations to broader concepts of personality. In this study, personality was assessed in terms of the Big Five and the two interpersonal dimensions Affiliation and Dominance. Dyads of unacquainted participants completed a task, several of their behaviours being coded every 10 s. Moreover, the interactants were instructed either to cooperate or to compete, and their performance and liking were measured. Using multilevel modelling, mimicry coefficients were estimated (Level 1) and predicted from personality (Level 2) and the situational context (Level 3). In addition, performance and being liked were predicted from mimicry and the context. Mimicry turned out to be widespread, being predicted by personality traits for some behaviours. In turn, mimicry predicted performance and being liked, some of these effects also depending on the context. Copyright © 2015 European Association of Personality Psychology
Distress, delay of gratification and preference for palliative care in men with prostate cancer
Authors: Gerhart James , Asvat Yasmin , Lattie Emily , O'Mahony Sean , Duberstein Paul , Hoerger Michael
Published: April 2015

Background

Patient‐centered cancer care standards include routine psychosocial distress screening and referral for supportive care services. Although many cancer patients report psychosocial distress that could be alleviated by supportive services including palliative care, patients often decline such services for reasons that are poorly understood. Research on decision‐making suggests that during periods of acute distress, individuals have more difficulty prioritizing long‐term over immediate gains. Thus, distressed cancer patients may prioritize immediate gains (e.g., avoidance of palliative care discussions in the moment) over longer‐term gains (e.g., improved quality of life in the future).

Method

This study investigated the associations between psychosocial distress, difficulties with delay of gratification (tendency to prioritize short‐term over longer‐term gains), and preference for palliative care in a sample of 212 men with a history of prostate cancer (94% white men and 27% advanced stage, age M = 62, SD = 8). It was hypothesized that psychosocial distress would be associated with lower preferences for palliative care, and this association would be explained, in part, by difficulty delaying gratification. Self‐report measures included the depression anxiety stress scales, delay of gratification inventory, and ratings on an item assessing preferences for palliative care.

Results

Consistent with the hypothesis, mediation models confirmed that the association of psychosocial distress with lower preference for palliative care was mediated by delay of gratification.

Conclusions

Findings suggest that distressed prostate cancer patients may benefit from additional support managing the emotional aspects of medical decisions and weighing immediate versus delayed outcomes. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Influence of hydrophobic residues on the activity of the antimicrobial peptide magainin 2 and its synergy with PGLa
Authors: Strandberg Erik , Zerweck Jonathan , Horn Diana , Pritz Günther , Berditsch Marina , Bürck Jochen , Wadhwani Parvesh , Ulrich Anne S.
Published: April 2015

Magainin 2 (MAG2) and PGLa are two related antimicrobial peptides found in the skin of the African frog Xenopus laevis with a pronounced synergistic activity, which act by permeabilizing bacterial membranes. To probe the influence of hydrophobic peptide–lipid and peptide–peptide interactions on the antimicrobial activity and on synergy, the sequence of MAG2 was modified by replacing single amino acids either with a small alanine or with the stiff and bulky hydrophobic 3‐(trifluoromethyl)‐L‐bicyclopent‐[1.1.1]‐1‐ylglycine side chain. The minimum inhibitory concentration of 14 MAG2 analogs was strongly influenced by these single substitutions: the antimicrobial activity was consistently improved when the hydrophobicity was increased on the hydrophobic face of the amphiphilic helix, while the activity decreased when the hydrophobicity was reduced. The synergy with PGLa, on the other hand, was rather insensitive to mutations of hydrophobic residues. It thus seems that the antimicrobial effect of MAG2 on its own depends strongly on the hydrophobicity of the peptide, while the synergy with PGLa does not depend on the overall hydrophobicity of MAG2. Copyright © 2015 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Variable range hopping conductivity at low temperatures in CuGaS2 single crystals
Authors: Abdullayev N. A. , Aliquliyeva Kh. V. , Qasimoglu I. , Kerimova T. G. , Mamedova I. A.
Published: April 2015

Charge transport mechanism in the CuGaS2 single crystals in a wide temperature range 4.3‐300 K are investigated. In the high temperature range 100‐300 K, the electrical conductivity is predominantly provided by thermally excited impurity charge carriers in the allowed energy band. The activation energy for impurity charge carriers in this temperature range is equal to 12 meV. In the low temperature range (T < 100 K), the electrical conductivity occurs through charge carrier hopping between localized states lying in a narrow energy band near the Fermi level (so called Mott conductivity). The density of localized states near the Fermi level, the width of the optimum energy band of localized levels, concentration of localized states and the average carrier‐hopping distances are estimated for different temperatures. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Long‐term Mapping Techniques for Ship Hull Inspection and Surveillance using an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle
Authors: Ozog Paul , Carlevaris‐Bianco Nicholas , Kim Ayoung , Eustice Ryan M.
Published: April 2015

This paper reports on a system for an autonomous underwater vehicle to perform in situ, multiple session hull inspection using long‐term simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM). Our method assumes very little a priori knowledge, and it does not require the aid of acoustic beacons for navigation, which is a typical mode of navigation in this type of application. Our system combines recent techniques in underwater saliency‐informed visual SLAM and a method for representing the ship hull surface as a collection of many locally planar surface features. This methodology produces accurate maps that can be constructed in real‐time on consumer‐grade computing hardware. A single‐session SLAM result is initially used as a prior map for later sessions, where the robot automatically merges the multiple surveys into a common hull‐relative reference frame. To perform the relocalization step, we use a particle filter that leverages the locally planar representation of the ship hull surface, and a fast visual descriptor matching algorithm. Finally, we apply the recently developed graph sparsification tool, generic linear constraints, as a way to manage the computational complexity of the SLAM system as the robot accumulates information across multiple sessions. We show results for 20 SLAM sessions for two large vessels over the course of days, months, and even up to three years, with a total path length of approximately 10.2 km.
Survival prediction and variable selection with simultaneous shrinkage and grouping priors
Authors: Lee Kyu Ha , Chakraborty Sounak , Sun Jianguo
Published: April 2015

The presented work is motivated by the need of reliably estimating and predicting the survival rates for individuals diagnosed with cancer, when gene expression profiles are available for identifying molecular risks factors for cancer. The regression analysis of such data is challenged by three characteristics of data: (i) time‐to‐event outcome, (ii) high‐dimensional covariate space, and (iii) a group structure of genes. One strategy to simultaneously deal with all three of the aforementioned challenges is to build a penalized regression model using special penalty functions such as elastic net, fused lasso, and group lasso. To our knowledge, existing methods are sparse or non‐existent, however, when a Bayesian estimation/inference is the goal for the penalized regression models. In this article, we propose a Bayesian semi‐parametric framework for the regression analysis of gene expression data with survival outcomes. Our proposed Bayesian methods permit researchers to take advantage of numerous benefits including the ability to incorporate substantive prior information, the straightforward and automated quantification of uncertainty in prediction, and the prescriptive nature of computation. The performance of our proposed models for variable selection and prediction is thoroughly investigated through simulation studies, where we consider four scenarios based on different underlying group structures of covariates and covariate effects. The results generally show the satisfactory variable selection capability and predictability of our methods. Finally, we apply our proposed framework to three different gene expression data sets. We developed an efficient Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm for the implementation of our proposed framework and provided an easy‐to‐use R package.