bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Relative Cultural Distance and Public Understanding of Science
Authors: Raza Gauhar , Singh Surjit , Shukla Rajesh
Published: November 2009

Public Understanding of Science is an area constituted by those scholars who essentially acquired expertise in various established academic disciplines and shifted their attention towards a few specific issues related to the science–society interface. The discipline though recognised as a legitimate area of research has not come out of all its teething problems associated with the formation of any new area.

The mainstay, during the first phase of its development was the attitudinal surveys conducted in various countries. The objectives of these surveys were to measure the extent of scientific knowledge, probe public attitude towards science or scientists, and at times simply to explore the level of confidence or lack of confidence that a common citizen had in science. These surveys gradually turned into an important and regular activity in many countries.

The debate that followed the first phase resulted in refinement of methodology, tools and the models of assessment of Public Understanding of Science. The PAUS group at NISTADS, India, has since 1989 worked on methodology suitable for carrying out surveys in developing countries. Subsequently, a culturally sensitive model for analysing the survey data was proposed by the group.

The present article in the first section gives details of the model designated here as the ‘cultural model of Public Understanding of Science’. The following sections, in detail, deal with the application of the model on data sets collected by two different organisations in India. The conclusions drawn confirm that the method of measuring cultural distance could be successfully applied to various data sets to draw meaningful inferences.
In Search of the Universal Dimensions of Public Perception of Science
Authors: Todorov Valery , Petkova Kristina , Bauer Martin W.
Published: November 2009

One possible way of solving the problem with the cross-cultural validity of the indicators of public understanding of science is analysis of the latent structure of sets of statements used in previous surveys. The factor analysis of eighteen statements from Eurobarometer 224 (2005) reveals three stable replicable latent dimensions—Evaluation, Efficacy and Control. The Efficacy dimension was replicated in the data of thirty-four countries participating in the survey. This dimension was not replicated only in Northern Ireland. The Control dimension was not replicated only in East Germany, Turkey and Norway. It is shown that the Evaluation and Efficacy dimension correlate and form new second-order dimension ‘Science is for others’ vs ‘Science is for us’.
Revealing financial accounting in Finland under five historical themes
Authors: Virtanen Aila
Published: November 2009

This article deals with the historical development of financial accounting in Finland from 1862 to 2005. The period starts with the publication of the first Finnish accounting textbook by August Lilius in 1862. The year 2005 marks another milestone: this was when all listed companies were obligated to prepare consolidated accounts according to IAS/ IFRS standards. The study applies a discourse analysis approach and presents Finnish financial accounting history under five discourses or themes, namely: entrepreneurship, academic, governance control, professional and financial market themes. Some of these have assumed more dominance over time while others have lost much of their former significance.
The development of cost accounting in Italy, c.1800 to c.1940
Authors: Antonelli Valerio , Boyns Trevor , Cerbioni Fabrizio
Published: November 2009

The relationship between literature/theory and practice in accounting is not well understood, especially in the area of cost accounting. This article examines the development of both the relevant literature/theory and cost accounting practice in Italy during the nineteenth century and the first four decades of the twentieth century. In this way, the article provides insights into aspects of accounting’s development, throwing light on alternative views such as the diffusionist and “multiple origins” theories, and helps to provide material for future comparative international accounting history research.
A study of men who pay for sex, based on the Norwegian National Sex Surveys
Authors: Schei Berit , Stigum Hein
Published: November 2009

Aims: To estimate the prevalence, time trends and factors associated with paid sex among men. Methods: Norwegian Sex Surveys using similar questions in 1992, 1997 and 2002 were analyzed using a cohort analysis and logistic regression. The questionnaires included demographic background, and several aspects of sexual behaviour. The following questions on paid sex were included: ‘‘Have you ever paid for sexual services?’’ ‘‘If yes, how many times?’’, ‘‘How old were you the first time?’’, ‘‘How old were you the last time?’’, and ‘‘Did you use a condom the last time?’’ Results: Of the 4,545 men who answered this question, 585 (12.9%) reported ever having paid for sex. There was a marked decline overall in reporting from 26.2% in the cohort born in 1927—34, to 5.9% in the cohort born in 1975—84 (p < 0.001). However, there was an increase in the last cohort after the age of around 23 years (p = 0.1). Having paid for sex was significantly associated with being single, being on a disability pension, early sexual debut and having multiple other sex partners; these men were less likely to use condoms when having sex with a cohabiting partner (p < 0.01) and more likely to have had a sexually transmitted infection (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Having paid for sex is associated with high risk sexual behaviour and represents a public health problem. Preventive measures should address men’s behaviour across social groups and marital status and explore the trend among younger men.
Technologies of the spirit
Authors: Eisenlohr Patrick
Published: November 2009

Users of contemporary media technology in religious settings often oscillate between immediacy in spiritual interaction and the increasing complexity and visibility of media technology as human artifacts. Drawing on approaches to mediation from philosophy and media theory, I examine Mauritian Muslims’ uses of sound reproduction in performing a devotional genre to show how theological assumptions about mediation shape the domestication of media technology in religious settings in different ways. A semiotic approach can throw new light on the dialectics of mediation and immediacy that frequently result in searches for technical solutions to bypass established forms of interacting with the divine.
Where thought belongs
Authors: Jackson Michael D.
Published: November 2009

Adorno, Arendt, Badiou, Derrida, Heidegger and Rorty have variously called for radically new conceptions of philosophy, but none has made a case for turning from the historical and genealogical past to the anthropological present. Taking the view that thought cannot escape the impress of a thinker’s immediate situation, this article invokes the phenomenological notions of lifeworld and lebensphilosophie to explore the social spaces where thought arises and transpires. Beginning with Hannah Arendt’s conception of thinking as grounded in the vita activa rather than the vita contemplativa, it is suggested that ethnographic method provides a compelling way of realizing her vision of thought as inextricably political and tied to events — expressions of the power relations between human subjects, and between private and public realms.
Non-hegemonic globalizations
Authors: Ribeiro Gustavo Lins
Published: November 2009

Discussions on globalization tend to focus on processes commanded by powerful agents in a top-down perspective. In this article, I explore alter-native political and economic grassroots processes and agents as forms of non-hegemonic globalization. I analyze other political globalizations by considering the anti-globalization movement, and the alter-globalization initiatives represented by the World Social Forums. My arguments on economic globalization from below are based on the activities of ‘trader-tourists’, street vendors and markets of global gadgets or ‘pirated’ goods. I rely mostly on Brazilian and Paraguayan examples, but there are evidences of the existence of a veritable non-hegemonic world system. I want to call attention to other political and economic dynamics of globalization, a universe where the normative and repressive roles of nation-states are heavily bypassed.
Hope dies last
Authors: Zigon Jarrett
Published: November 2009

The concept of hope has, for the most part, been neglected by anthropologists. Recently, however, hope has been analyzed by two prominent anthropologists who view it either as a passive attitude or a future-oriented stance toward a good. My research in Moscow, Russia, suggests that hope is not so easily conceived. In this article I suggest that hope is more precisely understood as having two aspects: persevering hope as the temporal structure of unreflective being-in-the-world, and active hope as the temporal orientation of intentional and ethical action. In exploring the ways in which my interlocutors describe hope, I critically engage not only conceptions of hope as passive, but also those that view it as utopian. The majority of my Muscovite interlocutors simply hoped for what they called ‘a normal life’ consisting of, for example, a family, a career, and stability. I suggest that such hoping demystifies the common understanding of hope as both passive and utopian and makes it available to anthropologists as a concept for understanding everyday human practices.
John Rawls on Two Concepts of Rules
Authors: Cicourel Aaron V.
Published: November 2009

Over fifty years have passed since the publication of John Rawls’ paper ‘Two Concepts of Rules’ (1955). The paper remains a unique work. Rawls’ seminal ‘distinction between justifying a practice and justifying a particular action falling under it’ (1955: 3) provides us with a powerful analytic proposition that can have extensive theoretical and empirical consequences for the social sciences, as I seek to demonstrate below. In footnote 1 on page 3, Rawls states that ‘practice’ is a technical term that refers to ‘any form of activity specified by a system of rules which defines offices, roles, moves, penalties, defenses, and so on, and which gives the activity its structure. As examples one may think of games and rituals, trials and parliaments.’ Rawls’ philosophical objective was to defend utilitarianism vis-à-vis ‘punishment and the obligations to keep promises.’ The general idea was to provide a clearer understanding of a rule regardless of whether or not it is defensible. The notion of two conceptions of rules is central to his discussion. I ask: can Rawls’ unique analytical notion of two concepts of rules be clarified by empirical research in the social sciences? I present some recent data from a criminal justice case to illustrate the notion’s potential and limitations. The empirical circumstances are somewhat dramatic. The case involved an allegation of inter-racial sexual molestation and two counts of Grand Theft. The sexual molestation allegation is a theme at the heart of deep-seated cultural tensions between Caucasians and African Americans that can be traced back to initial importation of slaves from Africa. The inter-racial sexual molestation allegation was documented in detail by two law-enforcement agencies but was never pursued. Once major consequence of this decision was to render empirically problematic the issue of when a case is said to fall under a rule of law.
Constitutive Practices and Garfinkel’s Notion of Trust: Revisited
Authors: Watson Rod
Published: November 2009

This article is intended to reinstate, in at least a prefatory way, some ethnomethodological (EM) considerations concerning trust. The idea of constitutive practices — as it was taken up in Garfinkel’s sociology — turned on trust as a background condition for mutually intelligible action. Starting with a consideration of Garfinkel’s 1963 study of trust, the article critically considers some formal analytic alternates to his approach. The aspects of trust that are ‘elusive’ to the formal-analytic approach are shown to result from its allusive treatment by formal analysis. In Garfinkel’s hands trust is not elusive. The critique of formal analytic studies builds on Garfinkel’s writings and certain strands of analytic and ordinary language philosophy. These sources ground the author’s suggestion that the study of trust be taken up again, albeit along respecified analytic lines. Examples are given, both of an EM and conversation-analytic (CA) kind.
Community Radio in the West
Authors: Cammaerts Bart
Published: November 2009

In this article the legacy of struggle by community radio in the West is analysed from a comparative perspective. More specifically, the focus of this article is on Western media policies towards community radio. It is argued that while many community radio discourses, theories and policies are oriented towards developing countries and emerging democracies, community radio stations in the West are often forced to operate in the margins. Case studies on the US, the UK and Belgium are presented. Some influence of distinct regulatory paradigms can be observed, but overall in each of these countries community radio stations have a legacy of struggle for their existence and survival. This exposes the need to account for the distinct nature of community radio in (Western) regulatory regimes. A common thread in the cases being presented is the difficulty involved in (local) community radio legitimating its existence on the FM-band alongside commercial and public broadcasters. Unlike these, community radio movements have little lobbying power and are usually positioned as rogue and unprofessional actors within the broadcasting community. From a democratic perspective emphasizing the importance of participation and civic culture, Western media policies urgently need to create an enabling environment for participatory community radio initiatives.
Prevention of Overuse Injuries in Young Baseball Pitchers
Authors: Parks Eric D. , Ray Tracy R.
Published: November 2009

With millions of athletes participating in baseball in the United States annually, overuse injuries are common occurrences. Epidemiological studies, including surveys of orthopaedic surgeons, coaches, and athletes, indicate that injuries such as those to the ulnar collateral ligament are increasing in incidence. Many risk factors for throwing injuries have been proposed—including the immature skeleton, throwing mechanics, glenohumeral internal rotation deficit, pitch type, velocity, and counts—but little evidence is available to support the majority of these factors. Recent studies have shown that pitch volume and overuse are central factors that lead to shoulder and elbow injuries in the young throwing athlete. Pitching while fatigued and in spite of arm pain has also been implicated.
Myths Concerning Alpine Skiing Injuries
Authors: Johnson Robert J. , Ettlinger Carl F. , Shealy Jasper E.
Published: November 2009

There are many commonly discussed myths about ski safety that are propagated by industry, physicians, and skiers. Through a review of the literature concerning 12 such topics, this article demonstrates that the following are untrue: (1) Broken legs have been traded for blown-out knees. (2) If you know your DIN (a slang term for release indicator value), you can adjust your own bindings. (3) Toe and heel piece settings must be the same to function properly. (4) Formal ski instruction will make you safer. (5) Very short skis do not need release bindings. (6) Spending a lot of money on children’s equipment is not worth the cost. (7) Children need plenty of room in ski boots for their growing feet. (8) If you think you are going to fall, just relax. (9) Exercise can prevent skiing injuries. (10) Lower release settings can reduce the risk of anterior cruciate ligament injury. (11) Buying new ski equipment is safer than renting. (12) Skiing is among the most dangerous of activities. It is important for the skiing public, physicians, and all those interested in improving skiing safety to verify the measures they advocate. The statements analyzed here are simply untrue and have the potential to cause harm if taken as fact by those exposed to these unsupported opinions.
Participation in High-Impact Sports Predicts Bone Mineral Density in Senior Olympic Athletes
Authors: Leigey Daniel , Irrgang James , Francis Kimberly , Cohen Peter , Wright Vonda
Published: November 2009

Background:

Loss of bone mineral density (BMD) and resultant fractures increase with age in both sexes. Participation in resistance or high-impact sports is a known contributor to bone health in young athletes; however, little is known about the effect of participation in impact sports on bone density as people age.

Hypothesis:

To test the hypothesis that high-impact sport participation will predict BMD in senior athletes, this study evaluated 560 athletes during the 2005 National Senior Games (the Senior Olympics).

Study Design:

Cross-sectional methods. The athletes completed a detailed health history questionnaire and underwent calcaneal quantitative ultrasound to measure BMD. Athletes were classified as participating in high impact sports (basketball, road race [running], track and field, triathalon, and volleyball) or non-high-impact sports. Stepwise linear regression was used to determine the influence of high-impact sports on BMD.

Results:

On average, participants were 65.9 years old (range, 50 to 93). There were 298 women (53.2%) and 289 men (51.6%) who participated in high-impact sports. Average body mass index was 25.6 ± 3.9. The quantitative ultrasound-generated T scores, a quantitative measure of BMD, averaged 0.4 ± 1.3 and −0.1 ± 1.4 for the high-impact and non-high-impact groups, respectively. After age, sex, obesity, and use of osteoporosis medication were controlled, participation in high-impact sports was a significant predictor of BMD ( R2 change 3.2%, P < .001).

Conclusions:

This study represents the largest sample of BMD data in senior athletes to date. Senior participation in high-impact sports positively influenced bone health, even in the oldest athletes.

Clinical Relevance:

These data imply that high-impact exercise is a vital tool to maintain healthy BMD with active aging.
Sports-Related Wrist Injuries in Adults
Authors: Chen Neal C. , Jupiter Jesse B. , Jebson Peter J. L.
Published: November 2009

Background:

Wrist injuries are common in sports. Those who are involved in the care of athletes should be familiar with hand and wrist anatomy, common wrist injuries, and clinical examination; they should also know how to recognize emergent problems.

Level of Evidence:

Level V, expert opinion.
Cardiovascular Health, Part 1: Preparticipation Cardiovascular Screening
Authors: Gupta Sanjaya , Baman Timir , Day Sharlene M.
Published: November 2009

Context:

Identification of potentially fatal cardiac conditions in otherwise healthy athletes presents a major challenge to the sports medicine community. The requirements for preparticipation screening vary among countries and even from state to state within the United States. The mandated use of an electrocardiogram as a screening implement has provoked international controversy.

Evidence acquisition:

Part 1 of this review highlights the current guidelines and controversies surrounding cardiovascular screening, with a focus on the diagnostic challenges associated with identifying athletes with inheritable cardiomyopathies. Data sources were limited to peer-reviewed publications from 1984 to the present.

Results:

Preparticipation screening should include at least a history and a physical examination for all athletes, whereas use of an electrocardiogram is still controversial. Diagnosis of inherited cardiomyopathies presents unique challenges, particularly in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, where many features can mimic those found in the “athlete’s heart.”

Conclusions:

Recognizing cardiac conditions in athletes that can predispose them to sudden cardiac death or other adverse outcomes is of vital importance, as is the appropriate exclusion of these athletes from competition. Further studies are needed to determine the most efficient and cost-effective means of screening and to increase the sensitivity and specificity of diagnostic testing for inheritable cardiovascular diseases.
Improved ability of biological and previous caries multimarkers to predict caries disease as revealed by multivariate PLS modelling
Authors: Nordlund Åke , Johansson Ingegerd , Källestål Carina , Ericson Thorild , Sjöström Michael , Strömberg Nicklas
Published: November 2009

Background

Dental caries is a chronic disease with plaque bacteria, diet and saliva modifying disease activity. Here we have used the PLS method to evaluate a multiplicity of such biological variables (n = 88) for ability to predict caries in a cross-sectional (baseline caries) and prospective (2-year caries development) setting.

Methods

Multivariate PLS modelling was used to associate the many biological variables with caries recorded in thirty 14-year-old children by measuring the numbers of incipient and manifest caries lesions at all surfaces.

Results

A wide but shallow gliding scale of one fifth caries promoting or protecting, and four fifths non-influential, variables occurred. The influential markers behaved in the order of plaque bacteria > diet > saliva, with previously known plaque bacteria/diet markers and a set of new protective diet markers. A differential variable patterning appeared for new versus progressing lesions. The influential biological multimarkers (n = 18) predicted baseline caries better (ROC area 0.96) than five markers (0.92) and a single lactobacilli marker (0.7) with sensitivity/specificity of 1.87, 1.78 and 1.13 at 1/3 of the subjects diagnosed sick, respectively. Moreover, biological multimarkers (n = 18) explained 2-year caries increment slightly better than reported before but predicted it poorly (ROC area 0.76). By contrast, multimarkers based on previous caries predicted alone (ROC area 0.88), or together with biological multimarkers (0.94), increment well with a sensitivity/specificity of 1.74 at 1/3 of the subjects diagnosed sick.

Conclusion

Multimarkers behave better than single-to-five markers but future multimarker strategies will require systematic searches for improved saliva and plaque bacteria markers.
Dual energy x-ray absorptiometry analysis contributes to the prediction of hip osteoarthritis progression
Authors: Castaño Betancourt Martha C , Van der Linden Jacqueline C , Rivadeneira Fernando , Rozendaal Rianne M , Bierma Zeinstra Sita M , Weinans Harrie , Waarsing Jan H
Published: November 2009

Introduction

To determine if structural bone parameters obtained from dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) contribute to the prediction of progression of hip osteoarthritis (OA) and to test if the difference between the most affected (OA) hip and the contralateral hip adds to this prediction.

Methods

The study group involves a prospective cohort of 189 patients that met the American College of Rheumatology (ARC) classification criteria for hip osteoarthritis. Progression was defined as 20% joint space narrowing or total hip replacement within a two years follow up. Software was developed to calculate geometrical aspects and bone mineral density (BMD) in different regions of interest of the proximal femur. Logistic regression was used to test if Kellgren and Lawrence (K-L) scores and DXA parameters can predict progression of OA. Models were compared using -2log likelihood tests, R2 Nagelkerke and areas under the Receiver Operator Characteristic curves, assessed using 10-fold cross validation.

Results

The model that included the DXA variables was significantly better in predicting hip OA progression than the model with K-L score of the affected side alone (P < 0.01). The addition of the differences in DXA parameters between the most affected and contralateral hip in the superior part of the femoral head, trochanteric and intertrochanteric area further improved the prediction of progression (P < 0.05). K-L score of the affected side was still the most significant single variable in the models.

Conclusions

DXA parameters can significantly contribute to the prediction of progression in patients with hip osteoarthritis. The analysis of the DXA differences between the hips of the patient represents a small but significant contribution to this prediction. These analyses show the importance of bone density changes in the etiology of OA.
Analysis of PTEN, BRAF, and EGFR Status in Determining Benefit From Cetuximab Therapy in Wild-Type KRAS Metastatic Colon Cancer
Authors: Laurent-Puig Pierre , Cayre Anne , Manceau Gilles , Buc Emmanuel , Bachet Jean-Baptiste , Lecomte Thierry , Rougier Philippe , Lievre Astrid , Landi Bruno , Boige Valérie , Ducreux Michel , Ychou Marc , Bibeau Fréderic , Bouché Olivier , Reid Julia , Stone Steven , Penault-Llorca Frédérique
Published: November 2009

Purpose

The occurrence of KRAS mutation is predictive of nonresponse and shorter survival in patients treated by anti–epidermal growth factor receptor (anti-EGFR) antibody for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), leading the European Medicine Agency to limit its use to patients with wild-type KRAS tumors. However, only half of these patients will benefit from treatment, suggesting the need to identify additional biomarkers for cetuximab-based treatment efficacy.

Patients and Methods

We retrospectively collected tumors from 173 patients with mCRC. All but one patient received a cetuximab-based regimen as second-line or greater therapy. KRAS and BRAF status were assessed by allelic discrimination. EGFR amplification was assessed by chromogenic in situ hybridization and fluorescent in situ hybridization, and the expression of PTEN was assessed by immunochemistry.

Results

In patients with KRAS wild-type tumors (n = 116), BRAF mutations (n = 5) were weakly associated with lack of response (P = .063) but were strongly associated with shorter progression-free survival (P < .001) and shorter overall survival (OS; P < .001). A high EGFR polysomy or an EGFR amplification was found in 17.7% of the patients and was associated with response (P = .015). PTEN null expression was found in 19.9% of the patients and was associated with shorter OS (P = .013). In multivariate analysis, BRAF mutation and PTEN expression status were associated with OS.

Conclusion

BRAF status, EGFR amplification, and cytoplasmic expression of PTEN were associated with outcome measures in KRAS wild-type patients treated with a cetuximab-based regimen. Subsequent studies in clinical trial cohorts will be required to confirm the clinical utility of these markers.
Randomized Phase III Trial of Gemcitabine-Based Chemotherapy With In Situ RRM1 and ERCC1 Protein Levels for Response Prediction in Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer
Authors: Reynolds Craig , Obasaju Coleman , Schell Michael J. , Li Xueli , Zheng Zhong , Boulware David , Caton John R. , DeMarco Linda C. , O'Rourke Mark A. , Shaw Wright Gail , Boehm Kristi A. , Asmar Lina , Bromund Jane , Peng Guangbin , Monberg Matthew J. , Bepler Gerold
Published: November 2009

Purpose

We evaluated the efficacy of gemcitabine versus gemcitabine and carboplatin in patients with advanced non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and a performance status (PS) of 2 and assessed if tumoral RRM1 and ERCC1 protein levels are predictive of response to therapy.

Patients and Methods

A randomized phase III trial was conducted in community-based oncology practices. Tumor specimens were collected a priori and shipped to a single laboratory for blinded determination of in situ RRM1 and ERCC1 protein expression levels by an automated quantitative immunofluorescent-based technology.

Results

One hundred seventy patients were randomly assigned. Overall median survival was 5.1 months for gemcitabine and 6.7 months for gemcitabine and carboplatin (P = .24). RRM1 (range, 5.3 to 105.6; median, 34.1) and ERCC1 (range, 5.2 to 131.3; median, 34.7) values were significantly and inversely correlated with disease response (r = −0.41; P = .001 for RRM1; r = −0.39; P = .003 for ERCC1; ie, response was better for patients with low levels of expression). A model for response prediction that included RRM1, ERCC1, and treatment arm, was highly predictive of the treatment response observed (P = .0005). We did not find statistically significant associations between survival and RRM1 or ERCC1 levels.

Conclusion

Single-agent chemotherapy remains the standard of care for patients with advanced NSCLC and poor PS. Quantitative analysis of RRM1 and ERCC1 protein expression in routinely collected tumor specimens in community oncology practices is predictive of response to gemcitabine and gemcitabine and carboplatin therapy. Oncologists should consider including in situ expression analysis for these proteins into their therapeutic decisions.
Phase II Study of Preoperative Gefitinib in Clinical Stage I Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer
Authors: Lara-Guerra Humberto , Waddell Thomas K. , Salvarrey Maria A. , Joshua Anthony M. , Chung Catherine T. , Paul Narinder , Boerner Scott , Sakurada Akira , Ludkovski Olga , Ma Clement , Squire Jeremy , Liu Geoffrey , Shepherd Frances A. , Tsao Ming-Sound , Leighl Natasha B.
Published: November 2009

Purpose

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have proven efficacy in advanced non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Their role in early-stage NSCLC has not been established. Our purpose was to explore the use of preoperative gefitinib in clinical stage I NSCLC to assess tumor response, toxicity, and clinical and molecular predictors of response.

Patients and Methods

Patients received gefitinib 250 mg/d for up to 28 days, followed by mediastinoscopy and surgical resection in an open-label, single-arm study. Tumor response was evaluated by Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors. Blood samples and tumor biopsies were collected and analyzed for transforming growth factor α level, EGFR protein expression, EGFR gene copy number, and EGFR (exon 19 to 21) and KRAS mutations.

Results

Thirty-six patients completed preoperative treatment (median duration, 28 days; range, 27 to 30 days). Median follow-up time is 2.1 years (range, 0.86 to 3.46 years). Three patients experienced grade 3 toxicities (rash, diarrhea, and elevated ALT). Tumors demonstrated EGFR-positive protein expression in 83%, high gene copy number in 59%, EGFR mutations in 17%, and KRAS mutations in 17%. Tumor shrinkage was more frequent among women and nonsmokers. Partial response was seen in four patients (11%), and disease progression was seen in three patients (9%). The strongest predictor of response was EGFR mutation.

Conclusion

Preoperative window therapy with gefitinib is a safe and feasible regimen in early NSCLC and provides a trial design that may better inform predictors of treatment response or sensitivity.
Effect of Epoetin Alfa on Survival and Cancer Treatment–Related Anemia and Fatigue in Patients Receiving Radical Radiotherapy With Curative Intent for Head and Neck Cancer
Authors: Hoskin Peter J. , Robinson Martin , Slevin Nicholas , Morgan David , Harrington Kevin , Gaffney Christopher
Published: November 2009

Purpose

To evaluate the effect of epoetin alfa on local disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS), and cancer treatment–related anemia and fatigue in patients with head and neck cancer receiving radical radiotherapy with curative intent.

Patients and Methods

Patients (N = 301) with hemoglobin (Hb) less than 15 g/dL were randomly assigned in a ratio of 1:1 to receive radiotherapy plus epoetin alfa (10,000 U subcutaneously [SC] three times weekly if baseline Hb was < 12.5 g/dL; 4,000 U SC three times weekly if baseline Hb ≥ 12.5 g/dL) or radiotherapy alone. Hb levels were monitored weekly. The primary end point was local DFS, defined as the time from random assignment to local disease recurrence or death. Secondary efficacy end points included OS, local tumor response, and local tumor control. Patients were followed at 1, 4, 8, and 12 weeks postradiotherapy and annually for 5 years. Cancer treatment–related anemia and fatigue were evaluated with the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Anemia and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Head and Neck. Adverse events were recorded up to 12 weeks postradiotherapy.

Results

Hb levels increased from baseline with epoetin alfa. The median duration of local DFS was not statistically different between groups (observation, 35.42 months; epoetin alfa, 31.47 months; hazard ratio, 1.04; 95% CI, 0.77 to 1.41). Groups did not significantly differ in DFS, OS, tumor outcomes, or cancer treatment–related anemia or fatigue. No new or unexpected adverse events were observed.

Conclusion

Addition of epoetin alfa to radical radiotherapy did not affect survival, tumor outcomes, anemia, or fatigue positively or negatively in patients with head and neck cancer.
KRAS and BRAF Mutations in Advanced Colorectal Cancer Are Associated With Poor Prognosis but Do Not Preclude Benefit From Oxaliplatin or Irinotecan: Results From the MRC FOCUS Trial
Authors: Richman Susan D. , Seymour Matthew T. , Chambers Philip , Elliott Faye , Daly Catherine L. , Meade Angela M. , Taylor Graham , Barrett Jennifer H. , Quirke Philip
Published: November 2009

Purpose

Activating mutation of the KRAS oncogene is an established predictive biomarker for resistance to anti–epidermal growth factor receptor (anti-EGFR) therapies in advanced colorectal cancer (aCRC). We wanted to determine whether KRAS and/or BRAF mutation is also a predictive biomarker for other aCRC therapies.

Patients and Methods

The Medical Research Council Fluorouracil, Oxaliplatin and Irinotecan: Use and Sequencing (MRC FOCUS) trial compared treatment sequences including first-line fluorouracil (FU), FU/irinotecan or FU/oxaliplatin in aCRC. Tumor blocks were obtained from 711 consenting patients. DNA was extracted and KRAS codons 12, 13, and 61 and BRAF codon 600 were assessed by pyrosequencing. Mutation (mut) status was assessed first as a prognostic factor and then as a predictive biomarker for the benefit of adding irinotecan or oxaliplatin to FU. The association of BRAF-mut with loss of MLH1 was assessed by immunohistochemistry.

Results

Three hundred eight (43.3%) of 711 patients had KRAS-mut and 56 (7.9%) of 711 had BRAF-mut. Mutation of KRAS, BRAF, or both was present in 360 (50.6%) of 711 patients. Mutation in either KRAS or BRAF was a poor prognostic factor for overall survival (OS; hazard ratio [HR], 1.40; 95% CI, 1.20 to 1.65; P < .0001) but had minimal impact on progression-free survival (PFS; HR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.00 to 1.36; P = .05). Mutation status did not affect the impact of irinotecan or oxaliplatin on PFS or OS. BRAF-mut was weakly associated with loss of MLH1 staining (P = .012).

Conclusion

KRAS/BRAF mutation is associated with poor prognosis but is not a predictive biomarker for irinotecan or oxaliplatin. There is no evidence that patients with KRAS/BRAF mutated tumors are less likely to benefit from these standard chemotherapy agents.
Phase II Clinical Trial of a Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor–Encoding, Second-Generation Oncolytic Herpesvirus in Patients With Unresectable Metastatic Melanoma
Authors: Senzer Neil N. , Kaufman Howard L. , Amatruda Thomas , Nemunaitis Mike , Reid Tony , Daniels Gregory , Gonzalez Rene , Glaspy John , Whitman Eric , Harrington Kevin , Goldsweig Howard , Marshall Tracey , Love Colin , Coffin Robert , Nemunaitis John J.
Published: November 2009

Purpose

Treatment options for metastatic melanoma are limited. We conducted this phase II trial to assess the efficacy of JS1/34.5-/47-/granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in stages IIIc and IV disease.

Patients and Methods

Treatment involved intratumoral injection of up to 4 mL of 106 pfu/mL of JS1/34.5-/47-/GM-CSF followed 3 weeks later by up to 4 mL of 108 pfu/mL every 2 weeks for up to 24 treatments. Clinical activity (by RECIST [Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors]), survival, and safety parameters were monitored.

Results

Fifty patients (stages IIIc, n = 10; IVM1a, n = 16; IVM1b, n = 4; IVM1c, n = 20) received a median of six injection sets; 74% of patients had received one or more nonsurgical prior therapies for active disease, including dacarbazine/temozolomide or interleukin-2 (IL-2). Adverse effects were limited primarily to transient flu-like symptoms. The overall response rate by RECIST was 26% (complete response [CR], n = 8; partial response [PR], n = 5), and regression of both injected and distant (including visceral) lesions occurred. Ninety-two percent of the responses had been maintained for 7 to 31 months. Ten additional patients had stable disease (SD) for greater than 3 months, and two additional patients had surgical CR. On an extension protocol, two patients subsequently achieved CR by 24 months (one previously PR, one previously SD), and one achieved surgical CR (previously PR). Overall survival was 58% at 1 year and 52% at 24 months.

Conclusion

The 26% response rate, with durability in both injected and uninjected lesions including visceral sites, together with the survival rates, are evidence of systemic effectiveness. This effectiveness, combined with a limited toxicity profile, warrants additional evaluation of JS1/34.5-/47-/GM-CSF in metastatic melanoma. A US Food and Drug Administration–approved phase III investigation is underway.
Two Dots Over a Vowel
Authors: Bök Christian
Published: November 2009

Current writers among the avant-garde have begun to subvert the romantic bastions of sublime creativity and eminent authorship by adopting both piracy and parody as sovereign, aesthetic values. Such exponents of what critics have now dubbed “conceptual literature” disavow the lyrical mandate of self-conscious self-assertion in order to explore the readymade potential of the “uncreative.” They resort to a diverse variety of antiexpressive, antidiscursive strategies (including the use of forced rules, random words, copied texts, boring ideas, and even cyborg tools), doing so in order to erase any artistic evidence of “lyric style.” Such writers call into question the concepts of both “intentionality” and “expressiveness” in literature. They constrain the cognitive functions of the self on behalf of other aesthetic functions in the text (be these functions automatic, mannerist, or aleatoric in their conceptualization). Such writers have thereby expanded the concept of writing beyond the formal limits of any expressive intentions, doing so in order to conceive of, hitherto, inconceivable preconditions for the act of writing itself.
Versus Seamlessness: Architectonics of Pseudocomplicity in Tan Lin's Ambient Poetics
Authors: Scappettone Jennifer
Published: November 2009

This article examines the critical ruptures and dilutions of a contemporary “ambient poetic”—a tendency in sonic, visual, and textual arts to aspire toward an atmospheric condition—through analysis of Tan Lin's verse architectonics across book and digital media. Setting the assertions of Lin's works against his multigeneric poetry's effects, the essay tests their seeming complicity with a late-capitalist ambience that Rem Koolhaas has identified as “Junkspace”: seamless and stupefying coagulation of the disjointed landscape left over by modernization. Lin's boring or “relaxing,” absorptive reading environments aim to dampen the shocks associated with both modernist fractures and postmodern counter-absorptive verse, canceling themselves out as they release the reader/spectator into a state of distraction. However, their reception by a reader trained to forge connections and to follow narrative trajectories produces a more disquieting condition. The seam of the book in BlipSoak01, the lacunae between flashing terms onscreen in “Dub Version V.01,” the page enjoined to have turned before one's arrival in the volume Seven Controlled Vocabularies and Obituary compel readers to link the texts' feeds and bits, grappling in turn with what is missing from them. Those immersed in Lin's hyperdemocratically sampled lines and narrative emanations find themselves falling adrift of the dictates of outmoded form; as such, their inattention is experienced as historically subject—the outcome of annihilated figures and grounds.
Poetry Animal
Authors: Skinner Jonathan
Published: November 2009

For William Carlos Williams, poetry was a war machine, a “small (or large) machine made of words.” If the war is a human war on other species, do poetry machines become poetry animals? Can we read Christopher Dewdney's “Permugenesis,” Marianne Moore's “An Octopus,” or Francis Ponge's “Notes Toward a Shell” as recombinant textual animals? Attention to intimate form locates structures of feeling in procedures that distribute agency. Jonathan Skinner's warbler poems (“Magnolia,” “Northern Parula,” “Myrtle”) compose with field-based constraints to make poetry an instrument of perception and interspecies research, a “singing with,” not just about or like, the nonhuman animal. The infrahuman sounds of Lila Zemborain's jellyfish (“Mauve Sea Orchids”) or the revolving phonemes of Emily Dickinson's hummingbird (“A route of evanescence”) organize perception and citation along indeterminate somatic pathways, where deep listening operates a reading machine. Faced with an age of extinction, remembering Cecilia Vicuña's and Antonin Artaud's call for a poetics of volatile agency and of bodily change, let us write island preserves of animality into the subject.

Poetry animals are “thoughts on things,” like the plumage of Lorine Niedecker's “Mergansers,” that “fold unfold / above the river beds.” In voicing the meandering pitches of Maggie O'Sullivan's “Starlings,” do we undergo kinship with animals? Poetry animals lose sight of teleology and move with periodic, inhuman intensities, allowing foreign organizations into the sphere of the human nervous system. To locate their “animalady,” poets might become reading and writing machines, to deconstruct the singular animal and listen as human animals.
Disabled Texts and the Threat of Hannah Weiner
Authors: McSweeney Joyelle
Published: November 2009

This paper considers Hannah Weiner's collage practice as a species of bricolage in keeping with early twentieth-century practitioners such as Tzara and Schwitters. In operating in this disparaged modality and refusing the closure of conventional able-bodied texts, Weiner's work may thus be construed as a “disabled text.”
Grammar Trouble
Authors: Reed Brian
Published: November 2009

In recent years, scholars have begun declaring obsolete the old post-World War II opposition in U.S. poetry between avant-garde and mainstream poetics. This article responds that the celebrated new “hybrid style” in fact represents a new normative consensus against which future avant-gardes will define themselves. After examining a typical “hybrid” poem, the essay proceeds to discuss Craig Dworkin's Parse (2008), a sample of twenty-first century “conceptual poetics.” Dworkin suggests that the U.S. avant-garde, in its next phase, will aggressively target educational methods and institutions as part of a larger radical challenge to the contemporary routinization of intellectual labor.
SOFT INDEX (OF repeating PLACES, PEOPLE, AND WORKS)
Authors: Lin Tan
Published: November 2009

A “SOFT INDEX (OF repeating PLACES, PEOPLE, AND WORKS)” comprises, hors-texte, a generic document, where the generic is understood to be a frequency of the unpublishable. As anecdote, it forms one of the unwritten limits (i.e., poetry) to the published, on a spectrum that includes an author, bibliographic and textual materials, biographical details, and the scholarly apparatus of a journal, including page references and index. See boundary 2. All poetry herein is the apparatus (ambience) of an index to its publication, i.e., all poetry is generic in its [publishable or unpublishable] outcomes/affects.
Crystal Structure and Luminescent Properties of Green Phosphor Ba3Y2(SiO4)3:Eu2+ for LED Applications
Authors: Ye Xinyu , Fang Ying , Tong Zhifang , Liao Chunfa , Zhong Shengwen , Zhuang Weidong
Published: November 2009

We have developed a new silicate-based phosphor Ba3Y2(SiO4)3:Eu2+ without using expensive raw materials. The host crystal structure was firstly indexed as an orthorhombic-type instead of garnet-type. The phosphor absorbs near-ultraviolet light around 365 nm and emits green light with a peak at about 505 nm, which results from the 5d–4f transition of the Eu2+. The optimum concentration of Eu2+ activator is 4 mol % relative to the Ba2+ content in the Ba3Y2(SiO4)3 host. It is a promising candidate for application in LEDs as a green-emitting color converter.
Recent Progress in the Chemistry of Quintuple Bonds
Authors: Tsai Yi-Chou , Chang Chih-Chieh
Published: November 2009

This article was retracted. Please see the retraction notice.
Covalent Attachment of Pyrene onto the Layer Surfaces of Silylated Magadiite at a High Concentration without Aggregation
Authors: Matsuo Yoshiaki , Nakajima Kazuki , Sugie Yosohiro
Published: November 2009

Magadiite containing covalently attached pyrene chromophores at a high concentration was prepared by the reaction between silylated magadiite possessing amino groups and 1-pyrenebutanoic acid succinimidyl ester. The monomeric pyrene content without aggregation reached a very high value of 0.57 pyrene/nm2 in the nanosheet state.
Insertion of Arynes into Carbon–Chlorine Bonds of Chlorotriazines
Authors: Yoshida Hiroto , Mimura Yasuhiro , Ohshita Joji
Published: November 2009

A variety of chlorotriazines were found to undergo insertion of arynes at their carbon–chlorine bonds, leading to formation of triarylated triazines in a straightforward manner.
Investigation of Silver Oxidation Behavior under Active Oxygen Processing Utilizing the Quartz Crystal Microbalance Method
Authors: Matsumoto Hiroyuki , Matsuoka Mikihiko , Yoshino Kiyoshi , Iwasaki Tatsuyuki , Kinoshita Shinobu , Noda Kazutoshi , Iwamori Satoru
Published: November 2009

We have been investigating the mechanism of surface oxidation on thin silver film under ultraviolet lamp processing to achieve high-resolution active oxygen monitoring utilizing a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). In this study, real-time silver oxidation behavior was measured by the QCM. The oxidation mechanism is discussed here based on the results of surface analyses by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM).
Fabrication of Au Fine Structures of Nanoparticles by Anodization of Purple Gold (AuAl2)
Authors: Nishio Kazuyuki , Kondo Toshiaki , Masuda Hideki
Published: November 2009

The anodization of purple gold (AuAl2) in oxalic acid at low voltage (5 V) generated uniformly sized Au nanoparticles on the substrate. The surface of the sample showed a characteristic color after the anodization, which originated from the localized surface plasmon (LSP) of Au nanoparticles. The samples with Au nanoparticles could be applied as a substrate for the measurement of surface-enhanced Raman scattering of molecules.