bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Adult and Pediatric Medulloblastomas Are Genetically Distinct and Require Different Algorithms for Molecular Risk Stratification
Authors: Korshunov Andrey , Remke Marc , Werft Wiebke , Benner Axel , Ryzhova Marina , Witt Hendrik , Sturm Dominik , Wittmann Andrea , Schöttler Anna , Felsberg Jörg , Reifenberger Guido , Rutkowski Stefan , Scheurlen Wolfram , Kulozik Andreas E. , von Deimling Andreas , Lichter Peter , Pfister Stefan M.
Published: May 2010

Purpose

Medulloblastoma (MB) is the most common malignant brain tumor in children, whereas it rarely presents in adults. We aimed to identify genetic aberrations in 146 adult MBs to evaluate age-dependent differences in tumor biology and adapt age-specific risk stratification models.

Methods

As a screening set, we studied a cohort of 34 adult MBs by using array-based comparative genomic hybridization comparing molecular results with clinical data. DNA copy number aberrations identified as possible prognostic markers were validated in an independent cohort of 112 adult patients with MB by fluorescent in situ hybridization analysis. Results were compared with the data obtained from 404 pediatric patients with MB.

Results

CDK6 amplification, 10q loss, and 17q gain are the most powerful prognostic markers in adult MB. Whereas MYC/MYCN oncogene amplifications had a high prognostic value in pediatric MB, these aberrations were rarely observed in adult tumors. Surprisingly, adult MBs with 6q deletion and nuclear β-catenin activation did not share the excellent prognosis with their pediatric counterparts.

Conclusion

Adult MB is distinct from pediatric MB in terms of genomic aberrations and their impact on clinical outcomes. Therefore, adult MBs require age-specific risk stratification models. We propose a molecular staging system involving three distinct risk groups based on DNA copy number status of 10q and 17q.
Site and Timing of First Relapse in Stage III Melanoma Patients: Implications for Follow-Up Guidelines
Authors: Romano Emanuela , Scordo Michael , Dusza Stephen W. , Coit Daniel G. , Chapman Paul B.
Published: May 2010

Purpose

Stage III melanoma is associated with a high risk of relapse and mortality. Nevertheless, follow-up guidelines have largely been empirical rather than evidence-based.

Patients and Methods

Clinical records of stage III patients with no evidence of disease seen at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) between 1992 and 2004, who ultimately relapsed, were reviewed retrospectively to evaluate date of first relapse, time to first relapse, method of first relapse detection, and survival. We also determined overall 5-year relapse-free survival (RFS) of all stage III patients seen at MSKCC during this period.

Results

The overall 5-year RFS for stage IIIA, IIIB, and IIIIC patients was 63%, 32%, and 11%, respectively. Among relapsing patients, 340 had adequate follow-up to be evaluable for all parameters. Site of first relapse was local/in-transit (28%), regional nodal (21%), or systemic (51%). First relapses were detected by the patient or family, physician, or by screening radiologic tests in 47%, 21%, and 32% of patients, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that better overall survival was associated with younger age and first relapse being local/in-transit or nodal, asymptomatic, or resectable. For each substage, we estimated site-specific risk of first relapse.

Conclusion

Patients detected almost half of first relapses. Our data suggest that routine physical examinations beyond 3 years for stage IIIA, 2 years for stage IIIB, and 1 year for stage IIIC patients and radiologic imaging beyond 3 years for stages IIIA and IIIB and 2 years for stage IIIC patients would be expected to detect few first systemic relapses.
Reiterative Survival Analyses of Total Therapy 2 for Multiple Myeloma Elucidate Follow-Up Time Dependency of Prognostic Variables and Treatment Arms
Authors: Barlogie Bart , Anaissie Elias , van Rhee Frits , Shaughnessy John D. , Szymonifka Jackie , Hoering Antje , Petty Nathan , Crowley John
Published: May 2010

Purpose

In Total Therapy 2, after randomly assigning 323 patients with myeloma to thalidomide and 345 to a control arm, no difference was observed in overall survival, with a median follow-up of 42 months, although at 72 months, survival was superior on the thalidomide arm in the one third exhibiting cytogenetic abnormalities (CA). After further follow-up of 87 months, we examined, in reiterative analyses, the effect of increasing time intervals on clinical outcomes relevant to baseline prognostic variables and treatment randomization.

Patients and Methods

We investigated clinical trial end points as a function of increasing time intervals from protocol enrollment to determine consistencies of results by treatment and prognostic variables.

Results

The complete congruence of serial survival plots for both study arms combined attested to stable patient characteristics over the time of accrual and the quality of follow-up management. Presence of CA was associated with consistently inferior survival curves from year 3 onward. Although 80% of patients randomly assigned to thalidomide discontinued study drug after 2 years because of toxicity, its clinical benefit did not reach statistical significance until year 10. The relative ranking order in multivariate models of prognostic factors remained stable over time. Decline in initially high hazard ratio values of gene array–defined high risk is consistent with an initial crisis phase that is time limited.

Conclusion

Reporting potentially time-sensitive features as a part of clinical trial results will enable the critical reader to judge the robustness of prognostic factors and the time sensitivity of outcome predictors, with important implications for future trial designs.
Addition of Lomustine to Idarubicin and Cytarabine Improves the Outcome of Elderly Patients With De Novo Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Report From the GOELAMS
Authors: Pigneux Arnaud , Harousseau Jean-Luc , Witz Francis , Sauvezie Mathieu , Bene Marie-Christine , Luquet Isabelle , Hunault-Berger Mathilde , Recher Christian , Lioure Bruno , Himberlin Chantal , Escoffre-Barbe Martine , Berthou Christian , Lissandre Severine , Fegueux Nathalie , Cahn Jean-Yves , Jourdan Eric , Dreyfus François , Reiffers Josy , Milpied Noël , Ifrah Norbert
Published: May 2010

Purpose

No significant improvement in treatment outcome has been seen in elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) over the past 20 years. This retrospective analysis investigated the prognostic factors for complete remission (CR) and survival in older patients with AML.

Patients and Methods

The study involved 847 patients older than 60 years enrolled onto three trials carried out in France between 1995 and 2005. Induction therapy consisted of idarubicin (8 mg/m2, days 1 through 5) and cytarabine (100 mg/m2, days 1 through 7; group I, 339 patients) or the same drugs plus lomustine (200 mg/m2 orally on day 1; group II, 508 patients). Consolidation therapy consisted of anthracycline and cytarabine courses at lower doses, preceded or not by a first course of intermediate-dose cytarabine.

Results

The rate of CR was significantly higher in patients in group II compared with group I (68% v 58%; P = .002). The rate of toxic death was similar in the two groups. In multivariate analysis, two prognostic factors were linked to CR: nonadverse cytogenetic (P < .003) and addition of lomustine to induction chemotherapy (P = .002). Median overall survival was significantly improved in patients treated with lomustine (median and SE, 12.7 ± 2.2 months v 8.7 ± 2.7 months; P = .004). In multivariate analysis, five prognostic factors positively affected overall survival: addition of lomustine (P = .002), age ≤ 69 years (P < .001), Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status lower than 2 (P = .002), French-American-British subgroup 1/2 (P = .02), and nonadverse cytogenetic (P < .001).

Conclusion

Lomustine improves the rate of CR and survival in elderly patients with de novo AML when added to standard induction therapy.
Dose-Dense Doxorubicin and Cyclophosphamide Followed by Weekly Paclitaxel With Trastuzumab and Lapatinib in HER2/neu–Overexpressed/Amplified Breast Cancer Is Not Feasible Because of Excessive Diarrhea
Authors: Dang Chau , Lin Nancy , Moy Beverly , Come Steven , Sugarman Steven , Morris Patrick , Abbruzzi Alyson , Chen Carol , Steingart Richard , Patil Sujata , Norton Larry , Winer Eric , Hudis Clifford
Published: May 2010

Purpose

Dose-dense doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide (AC) followed by paclitaxel and trastuzumab (PT) is feasible. Lapatinib is effective in the treatment of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) –positive metastatic breast cancer. We conducted a pilot study of dose-dense AC followed by PT plus lapatinib (PTL) followed by trastuzumab plus lapatinib (TL).

Patients and Methods

Patients with stages I to III, HER2-positive breast cancer and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of ≥ 50% were enrolled. Treatment consisted of AC (60 mg/m2 and 600 mg/m2) for 4 cycles every 2 weeks (with pegfilgrastim 6 mg on day 2) followed by paclitaxel (80 mg/m2) for 12 doses weekly plus trastuzumab and lapatinib. Trastuzumab (4 mg/kg loading dose, then 2 mg/kg weekly during paclitaxel then 6 mg/kg every 3 weeks after paclitaxel) and lapatinib (1,000 mg daily) were given for 1 year. The primary end points were feasibility defined as ≥ 80% patients completing the PTL phase without a dose delay/reduction and a cardiac event rate of ≤ 4%.

Results

From March 2007 to April 2008, we enrolled 95 patients. Median age was 46 years (range, 28 to 73 years). At a median follow-up of 22 months, 92 were evaluable. Of the 92 patients, 41 patients (45%) withdrew for PTL-specific toxicities. Overall, 40 (43%) of 92 patients had lapatinib dose reductions, and 27 (29%) of 92 patients had grade 3 diarrhea. Three patients (3%) had congestive heart failure; three patients dropped out because of significant asymptomatic LVEF decline during PTL followed by TL.

Conclusion

Dose-dense AC followed by PTL and then followed by TL was not feasible because of a high rate of lapatinib dose reduction, mostly caused by unacceptable grade 3 diarrhea. Lapatinib (1,000 mg/d) was not feasible combined with weekly PT.
Integrated Molecular Genetic Profiling of Pediatric High-Grade Gliomas Reveals Key Differences With the Adult Disease
Authors: Paugh Barbara S. , Qu Chunxu , Jones Chris , Liu Zhaoli , Adamowicz-Brice Martyna , Zhang Junyuan , Bax Dorine A. , Coyle Beth , Barrow Jennifer , Hargrave Darren , Lowe James , Gajjar Amar , Zhao Wei , Broniscer Alberto , Ellison David W. , Grundy Richard G. , Baker Suzanne J.
Published: May 2010

Purpose

To define copy number alterations and gene expression signatures underlying pediatric high-grade glioma (HGG).

Patients and Methods

We conducted a high-resolution analysis of genomic imbalances in 78 de novo pediatric HGGs, including seven diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas, and 10 HGGs arising in children who received cranial irradiation for a previous cancer using single nucleotide polymorphism microarray analysis. Gene expression was analyzed with gene expression microarrays for 53 tumors. Results were compared with publicly available data from adult tumors.

Results

Significant differences in copy number alterations distinguish childhood and adult glioblastoma. PDGFRA was the predominant target of focal amplification in childhood HGG, including diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas, and gene expression analyses supported an important role for deregulated PDGFRα signaling in pediatric HGG. No IDH1 hotspot mutations were found in pediatric tumors, highlighting molecular differences with adult secondary glioblastoma. Pediatric and adult glioblastomas were clearly distinguished by frequent gain of chromosome 1q (30% v 9%, respectively) and lower frequency of chromosome 7 gain (13% v 74%, respectively) and 10q loss (35% v 80%, respectively). PDGFRA amplification and 1q gain occurred at significantly higher frequency in irradiation-induced tumors, suggesting that these are initiating events in childhood gliomagenesis. A subset of pediatric HGGs showed minimal copy number changes.

Conclusion

Integrated molecular profiling showed substantial differences in the molecular features underlying pediatric and adult HGG, indicating that findings in adult tumors cannot be simply extrapolated to younger patients. PDGFRα may be a useful target for pediatric HGG, including diffuse pontine gliomas.
Tirapazamine, Cisplatin, and Radiation Versus Cisplatin and Radiation for Advanced Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck (TROG 02.02, HeadSTART): A Phase III Trial of the Trans-Tasman Radiation Oncology Group
Authors: Rischin Danny , Peters Lester J. , O'Sullivan Brian , Giralt Jordi , Fisher Richard , Yuen Kally , Trotti Andy , Bernier Jacques , Bourhis Jean , Ringash Jolie , Henke Michael , Kenny Lizbeth
Published: May 2010

Purpose

Promising results in a randomized phase II trial with the hypoxic cytotoxin tirapazamine (TPZ) combined with cisplatin (CIS) and radiation led to this phase III trial.

Patients and Methods

Patients with previously untreated stage III or IV (excluding T1-2N1 and M1) squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity, oropharynx, hypopharynx, or larynx were randomly assigned to receive definitive radiotherapy (70 Gy in 7 weeks) concurrently with either CIS (100 mg/m2) on day 1 of weeks 1, 4, and 7 or CIS (75 mg/m2) plus TPZ (290 mg/m2/d) on day 1 of weeks 1, 4, and 7 and TPZ alone (160 mg/m2/d) on days 1, 3, and 5 of weeks 2 and 3 (TPZ/CIS). The primary end point was overall survival (OS). The planned sample size was 850, estimated to result in 334 deaths, which would provide 90% power to detect a difference in 2-year survival rates of 60% v 70% for CIS versus TPZ/CIS, respectively (hazard ratio = 0.69).

Results

Eight hundred sixty-one patients were accrued from 89 sites in 16 countries. In an intent-to-treat analysis, the 2-year OS rates were 65.7% for CIS and 66.2% for TPZ/CIS (TPZ/CIS – CIS: 95% CI, −5.9% to 6.9%). There were no significant differences in failure-free survival, time to locoregional failure, or quality of life as measured by Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy–Head and Neck.

Conclusions

We found no evidence that the addition of TPZ to chemoradiotherapy, in patients with advanced head and neck cancer not selected for the presence of hypoxia, improves OS.
Neratinib, an Irreversible Pan-ErbB Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor: Results of a Phase II Trial in Patients With Advanced Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer
Authors: Sequist Lecia V. , Besse Benjamin , Lynch Thomas J. , Miller Vincent A. , Wong Kwok K. , Gitlitz Barbara , Eaton Keith , Zacharchuk Charles , Freyman Amy , Powell Christine , Ananthakrishnan Revathi , Quinn Susan , Soria Jean-Charles
Published: May 2010

Purpose

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have had a significant impact on non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) outcomes, particularly for patients with EGFR mutations. Resistance emerges after 9 to 12 months, primarily mediated by the T790M resistance mutation. We studied neratinib, an irreversible pan-ErbB TKI that may overcome T790M.

Patients and Methods

Patients with advanced NSCLC underwent EGFR sequencing of available tumor tissue at enrollment. Those with ≥ 12 weeks of prior TKI therapy were placed in arm A if they were EGFR mutation positive or arm B if they were wild-type. Arm C included TKI-naïve patients with adenocarcinoma and light smoking histories (≤ 20 pack-years). All patients received daily oral neratinib, initially at 320 mg but subsequently reduced to 240 mg because of excessive diarrhea. The primary end point was objective response rate (RR).

Results

One-hundred sixty-seven patients were treated: 91 in arm A, 48 in arm B, and 28 in arm C. Diarrhea was the most common toxicity; grade 3 incidence was 50% at 320 mg but improved to 25% after dose reduction. The RR was 3% in arm A and zero in arms B and C. No patients with known T790M responded. Notably, three of four patients with an exon 18 G719X EGFR mutation had a partial response and the fourth had stable disease lasting 40 weeks.

Conclusion

Neratinib had low activity in patients with prior benefit from TKIs and in TKI-naïve patients, potentially because of insufficient bioavailability from diarrhea-imposed dose limitation. Responses were seen in patients with the rare G719X EGFR mutation, highlighting the importance of obtaining comprehensive genetic information on trials of targeted agents.
Orientalism, Occidentalism, and Islamism: Keynote Address to “Orientalism and Fundamentalism in Islamic and Judaic Critique: A Conference Honoring Sadik Al-Azm”
Authors: Al-Azm Sadik J.
Published: May 2010

The phenomena of orientalism, occidentalism, and Islamism are at play in a variety of contexts today. This intervention, while not a systematic essay on the subject, presents a kind of collage of analyses, observations, criticisms, and commentaries dealing with several conventional and unconventional themes substantively related to these issues. Occidentalism, it is argued here, has taken various forms over the past few decades: the “Orientalism in Reverse” of Hasan Hanafi and his call for the establishment of a science of istighrab (occidentalism) in the Arab world; the retaliatory occidentalism of Adonis's “Manifesto of Modernity (or Modernism)” of 1980; the Talibanish occidentalism found in a work like The Spirit of Terrorism by Jean Baudrillard; and the benign and popular variety of occidentalism, which helps in some cases to reinforce shaken identities. Such discourses are examined in light of the recent publication of Ian Buruma and Avishai Margalit's Occidentalism and by way of a reassessment of the political intentions of Edward Said's Orientalism. The concluding section of the article is devoted to answering the question, what is Islamism? It is suggested that Islamism as ideology and practice since the mid-1970s can be said to have six defining characteristics: fundamentalism, revivalism, integralism, theocraticism, theonomism, and terrorism.
The Trafficking with Tanwir (Enlightenment)
Authors: Abaza Mona
Published: May 2010

This article looks at how the discourse of tanwir (enlightenment) has been used, appropriated, and recycled in multiple milieus ranging from state discourse and the secular intellectuals in the process of co-option by the state to the Islamists and the nationalists. Precisely when the government has been trying to sell for the Western “democratic” and free world an image of a civilized “enlightened” government, combating its “dark” opponents, it has itself reinvented practices of harshly disciplining the unruly. By promoting enlightenment from the top, the government attempts to promote the image of an enlightened authoritarian, but “somehow” democratic, state, since Egypt enjoys a multiparty system and there exist various opposition papers and magazines. The article draws attention to “government enlightenment” policies (tanwir hukumi) and focuses in particular on the recent statements on female Islamic attire by the minister of culture, Farouk Hosni, and the tempestuous political crisis that resulted. The portrayal of an “enlightened” artist-intellectual minister who has been counterimaged against the dark Islamists is discussed. The article highlights the dialectical, intricate relationship between the long authoritarian tradition of the state and the way the state co-opts the intellectuals to counterplay opposition.
From Immigrants to Supranational Transmigrants and Refugees: Jewish Migrants in New York and Berlin Before and After the Great War
Authors: Brinkmann Tobias
Published: May 2010

The article discusses the impact of World War I on Jewish migrants from Eastern Europe. In modern Jewish history the experience of immigration is almost synonymous with movement to and settlement in immigrant neighborhoods in the heart of big metropolitan cities, especially New York. After 1918, however, traditional immigration countries like the United States closed their gates for most Eastern and Southern Europeans, as well as migrants from Asia. The Jewish migration experience in the German capital Berlin highlights the transition from relatively free migration during the long nineteenth century to a state best described as permanent transit after 1918. Berlin only emerged as an important destination for Jewish migrants from farther east when immigration restrictions put New York and other American cities out of reach. The article focuses on a number of literary descriptions of Berlin as a point of passage, in particular by the Jewish writer Joseph Roth. In his widely published feuilleton articles, Roth described postwar Berlin as a transit city and a city in transition, as a melting pot of different times, visions, and peoples, not least Jews from Eastern Europe (like himself). The experience of Jewish migrants who did not really arrive anywhere fascinated Roth because of the relationship between the preservation of a “supranational” Diaspora identity in time and space with elements of mobility.
Displacement and Memory: Visual Narratives of al-Shatat in Michel Khleifi's Films
Authors: Telmissany May
Published: May 2010

Cinema has been for many diasporic communities the privileged site of self-representation and sometimes of idealistic (re)construction of homeland. Over the past thirty years, Palestinian cinema has constituted a site for negotiation and circulation of values and behaviors that have contributed to the creation and perpetuation of Palestinian cultural and national identity against the systematic denial of such an identity by the Israeli occupier.

I argue that the formation of a Palestinian identity has been and remains a continuous vital process rather than a final preshaped construct. However, the performative act of cultural identification has been more successful than the building of a national Palestinian state. Photography as well as cinema—fiction and documentary—has succeeded in establishing a recognizable cultural identity of the Palestinian people, while other discourses (political, ethnic, and religious) seem to have failed to achieve this goal. Diaspora becomes in this perspective a vehicle of change and a territory from which other forms of resistance emerge, including resistance to and critical dissociation from self-indulgent archaic value systems associated with ethnic, social, and historical identifications.

I analyze in this essay Palestinian-Belgian filmmaker Michel Khleifi's documentary and feature films as sites of a diasporic reconstruction of identity. I then focus on iconic representations of the face (the portrait and the close-up) and the landscape (the panoramic establishing shots), arguing that photographers and filmmakers alike have made extensive use of the face and the landscape in order to authenticate the Palestinian reality and fetishize—through remembrance and material replacements—the lost land of Palestine.
Memory and the Reconciliation of Diasporas: Cinematic Trace of Arab National Identity in the Film Forget Baghdad
Authors: Khouri Malek
Published: May 2010

Forget Baghdad: Jews and Arabs—the Iraqi Connection (2002), a film by the son of an Iraqi political exile living in Europe, was broadcast several times on prime-time television on the most popular Arab satellite television news channel, Al-Jazeera. As part of a budding new Arab cinema with an eye for accentuating a heterogeneous Arab identity, this émigré film was a turning point in its unequivocal focus on Jews as part of Arab national identity.

With the creation of the state of Israel, allusion to Jews as part of the Arab social mosaic increasingly became a taboo in Arab cinema. While various Arab films occasionally challenged this taboo, particularly over the past thirty years, Forget Baghdad essentially brought forward an original approximation of the topic. It inadvertently entwined Arab émigrés (both Jewish and Muslim) from different Arab diasporas, analogous geographic origins, and multiple displacement fluxes.

Through a collage of interviews, still photographs, old newspapers documents, and a rich array of archival film footage, Forget Baghdad interweaves a dialectic between three Arab diasporas. The first is that of four Arab Jews living with their families in Israel; the second is that of Ella Shohat, a film and cultural studies scholar of an Israeli Iraqi Arab origin who now lives in the United States; and the third is that of the filmmaker himself as the son of an Iraqi Arab Communist exiled in Europe.

This essay looks at how the film takes a cinematic journey through various diasporas through time; through memory; through the relationship of the past, the present, and the future; through continuity and rupture; and through the personal to the historical. The essay then surveys how the intricate structure of the film, the circularity of its form, and the boldness of its syntax result in creating a cinematic disquisition about a heterogeneous Arab national identity tested in the homeland by arbitrary postcolonial border, ethnic, racial, and religious divides and reconciled in exile by the reality of alienation and displacement.
The Concept of Double Diaspora in Sami Michael's Refuge and Naim Kattan's Farewell, Babylon
Authors: Schwartz Stephanie Tara
Published: May 2010

Drawing on Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari's philosophy of the concept, James Clifford's theory of diaspora, and Ella Shohat's work on Mizrahim, this essay examines the problematic relationships among nations, territory, and sensations of belonging. First, double diaspora is developed as a concept by which to think through conflicted affiliations to multiple homelands created through the dispersion of Jewish ethnicities, emphasizing the movement through territory as an infinite process. Second, this concept is explored through the literature of two diasporic Arab Jewish writers, Sami Michael and Naim Kattan.
Edward Said: Writing in Exile
Authors: Ayyash Mark Muhannad
Published: May 2010

In reading Edward Said, particularly works such as Out of Place and Reflections on Exile and Other Essays, one is left wondering about the peculiar position that Said, the “exile,” holds in relation to writing. In this essay, I examine this relation by following and exploring the figure of exile that permeates Said's many writings. The heart of Said's peculiarity, as I see it, stems from a seemingly simple question: can we say that Said is writing in exile? What is that “in” that is posited before the word exile? How can the experience of exile, that never-ending experience of being shut out, follow an “in”?

By following the figure of exile, rather than delimit it from the outset, the essay aims to complicate our understanding of the manner in which different lines of thought (from Foucault to Palestinian politics) appear in Said's work. I argue that questions and complexes of freedom and limits, which are seen here though an ethos of exilic walking, are central to any such understanding.
Young Protest: The Idea of Merit in Commercial Hindi Cinema
Authors: Chandra Nandini
Published: May 2010

This article depicts the closing of the distance between a rational public sphere and popular Hindi cinema in view of a spurt of youth-related Hindi films in the 2000s, especially Rang de basanti (2006). Rang de basanti is taken as the starting point for a discussion of the idea of politics deployed in and through Hindi cinema. The film provides an eclectic mishmash of Gandhian satyagraha and revolutionary rhetoric, a combination that resonates ironically within a neoliberal educational imagination. The media-orchestrated response of the avowedly apolitical, but staunchly antireservationist, upper-caste students' group Youth for Equality (YFE), which emerged as a direct offshoot of the film, definitely echoes this. However, the YFE's investment in academic capital and merit has deep roots in the discredited popular Hindi cinema of yore. This essay argues that the YFE's overture to politics flows from a dawning realization that the mainstream political sphere no longer shares its concept of merit, since a new political consensus about reservations is now apparent even in the most Brahmanic and right-wing of established political parties. The essay then attempts to come to terms with how the YFE class goes about adjusting to the new playing field of cultural politics. Finally, it tries to place the role of education and student politics in a broad historical perspective, exposing the links of the contemporary public sphere to a more privatized and subterranean location in Bombay films.
Movie-Ng the Public Sphere: The Public Life of a South African Film
Authors: Modisane Litheko
Published: May 2010

This essay examines the public life of the South African film Mapantsula (1988), an overtly antiapartheid engagé film about a petty gangster in the context of the 1980s political unrest in South African townships, from the moment of the film's inception to the history of its circulation. The essay puts emphasis on critical public engagements of the film across a long range of time and varying contexts. It tracks the manner in which the film, produced in an antiapartheid context, continues to invite different kinds of engagement in a postrepressive regime era and proposes that only by considering film as a text that circulates over time can we fully appreciate its nature and status in the public sphere. Accumulating events in the past public life of the film add to the critical potency of the film in its later public life. The essay seeks to provide new ways in thinking about film and the public sphere in Africa in particular and the world in general.
Contact sensitization in patients with lower extremity dermatitis in the South Moravian region, Czech Republic
Authors: Nečas M , Dastychová E
Published: May 2010

Objectives

The aim of the study was to determine the frequency of contact sensitization in patients with lower extremity dermatitis.

Methods

Between the years 2001 and 2007, the authors investigated 462 patients (mean age 49.1 years, 196 men and 266 women) with the eczema/dermatitis localized on their lower extremities, including feet. The patients were investigated with epicutaneous tests of the European Standard Series and also with other special patch tests.

Results

The most frequent allergens were balsam of Peru, 44/462 (9.5%); wool alcohols, 41/462 (8.9%); nickel sulphate, 39/462 (8.4%); propolis, 35/462 (7.6%); fragrance mix, 34 (7.4%) and colophony, 29/462 (6.3%).

Conclusions

In patients with lower extremity dermatitis the frequency of contact sensitization is still high, and therefore investigation with epicutaneous tests should belong to the routine dermatological diagnostic procedure in these patients.
Post ambulatory phlebectomy: chronic peripheral lymphocoele
Authors: Elvy M
Published: May 2010

Objectives

Peripheral lymphocoele is a recognized complication after various forms of surgery. This is a case report of a calf lymphocoele after surgery for varicose veins by ambulatory phlebectomy.

Method

The reported incidence, pathology and possible treatment methods are discussed.

Conclusion

Phlebectomy practitioners need to be aware of the possibility of this complication.
Conventional surgery and endovenous laser ablation of recurrent varicose veins of the small saphenous vein: a retrospective clinical comparison and assessment of patient satisfaction
Authors: van Groenendael L , Flinkenflögel L , van der Vliet J A , Roovers E A , van Sterkenburg S M M , Reijnen M M P J
Published: May 2010

Objectives

Recurrences of varicosities of the small saphenous vein (SSV) are common. Surgical reintervention is associated with increased complication rates. The aim of the study was to assess the feasibility of endovenous laser ablation (EVLA) in recurrent varicose veins of the SSV and to compare this technique with surgical reintervention.

Methods

All case files of patients treated for SSV varicosities between May 2006 and October 2008 were evaluated and recurrences were selected. Demographics, duplex findings, clinical, aetiological, anatomical and pathological classification, perioperative and follow-up data were all registered. Additionally, a questionnaire focusing on patient satisfaction was taken.

Results

Two hundred and eighty-one patients were treated for varicosities of the SSV, of which 42 were for recurrences. Twenty-six of these were treated with EVLA, all under local anaesthesia, and 16 were surgically treated. Most surgically treated patients were treated under regional anaesthesia (88%). Technical success was achieved in 94% of surgically treated patients and in all EVLA-treated patients. Complications in both groups were mostly minor and self-limiting. Sural nerve neuralgia appeared to be more frequent in the surgically treated group (20% versus 9%). After correction for length of follow-up, the incidence of rerecurrences was not statistically significant between groups.

Conclusion

EVLA is feasible in patients with recurrent varicose veins of the SSV with possibly a lower incidence of sural nerve injury. Patient satisfaction is high for both treatment modalities. Studies with larger samples are indicated to confirm these observations.
The superficial venous system of the lower extremity: new nomenclature
Authors: Kachlik D , Pechacek V , Baca V , Musil V
Published: May 2010

The phlebology in the area of lower limbs is the only medical field in which the terminological needs of clinicians were met. Ten years ago, the latest revision of the Latin anatomical nomenclature, Terminologia Anatomica (TA), was issued. But almost none of the chapters reflected the clinicians' need to be a relevant theoretical base for correct diagnostics and appropriate treatment. In 2001, during the 14th World Congress of the International Union of Phlebology, a consensus document (under the auspices of Federative International Committee on Anatomical Terminology and International Federation of Associations of Anatomists) was laid to expand the nomenclature of the lower extremity venous system. Some terms have been changed and several new have been added, corresponding to their clinical significance and anatomical positions. Sixteen new terms have been added in both Latin and English languages in the chapter concerning the superficial veins of the lower limb. This consensus document will be incorporated into the next version of the TA. The international anatomical nomenclature serves as a communication base for research, diagnostic, therapy and information exchange in phlebological sciences.
The use and abuse of hypothesis tests: how to present P values
Authors: Smith C J , Fox Z V
Published: May 2010

This overview highlights some of the key issues involved in performing and interpreting hypothesis tests. We describe the general approach taken in performing a hypothesis test with a focus on how to state the null and alternative hypothesis, and why two-sided tests are usually more appropriate than one-sided tests.

We describe best practice techniques in performing and presenting the results of hypothesis tests. We recommend that, alongside any p-values, authors should also present estimates of the size of any treatment effects and their confidence intervals. Furthermore, they should specify the exact p-value rather than using terms such as 'NS' or the commonly used asterix notation. We discuss other pitfalls that are encountered at the analysis stage such as the use of repeated observations on individuals, the use of multiple tests on the data and the erroneous use of parametric tests when data are not normally distributed and vice versa. We highlight these points using two different examples: one looking at the use of compression stockings for preventing the occurrence of DVT on long-haul flights and a second hypothetical study comparing laser versus surgery techniques for the removal of varicose veins.
Structural Estimation of the Effect of Out-of-Stocks
Authors: Musalem Andrés , Olivares Marcelo , Bradlow Eric T. , Terwiesch Christian , Corsten Daniel
Published: May 2010

We develop a structural demand model that endogenously captures the effect of out-of-stocks on customer choice by simulating a time-varying set of available alternatives. Our estimation method uses store-level data on sales and partial information on product availability. Our model allows for flexible substitution patterns, which are based on utility maximization principles and can accommodate categorical and continuous product characteristics. The methodology can be applied to data from multiple markets and in categories with a relatively large number of alternatives, slow-moving products, and frequent out-of-stocks (unlike many existing approaches). In addition, we illustrate how the model can be used to assist the decisions of a store manager in two ways. First, we show how to quantify the lost sales induced by out-of-stock products. Second, we provide insights on the financial consequences of out-of-stocks and suggest price promotion policies that can be used to help mitigate their negative economic impact, which run counter to simple commonly used heuristics.
Workplace Peers and Entrepreneurship
Authors: Nanda Ramana , Sørensen Jesper B.
Published: May 2010

We examine whether the likelihood of entrepreneurial activity is related to the prior career experiences of an individual's coworkers, using a unique matched employer–employee panel data set. We argue that coworkers can increase the likelihood that an individual will perceive entrepreneurial opportunities as well as increase his or her motivation to pursue those opportunities. We find that an individual is more likely to become an entrepreneur if his or her coworkers have been entrepreneurs before. Peer influences also appear to be substitutes for other sources of entrepreneurial influence: we find that peer influences are strongest for those who have less exposure to entrepreneurship in other aspects of their lives.
Comparison of donor properties of N-heterocyclic carbenes and N-donors containing the 1H-pyridin-(2E)-ylidene motif
Authors: Slattery John , Thatcher Robert J. , Shi Qi , Douthwaite Richard E.
Published: May 2010

IR spectroscopic and X-ray structural data of rhodium and palladium complexes of N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) and 1H-pyridin-(2E)-ylidene (PYE) ligands indicate that both ligand classes exhibit similar electron-donating properties. However, catalytic application of palladium PYE complexes appears to be limited by PYE ligand loss. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations show that the Pd–CNHC σ-bond is very low-lying in energy (HOMO-14 and 15, ca. –11 eV) and a π-backbonding contribution is also present, whereas the Pd-NPYE σ-bond is comparatively high-lying (HOMO-9 and 10, ca. –8 eV) and the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO)–lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) gap is also significantly less (4.0 vs. 5.6 eV). Essentially, electronegativity differences between Pd, C, and N render the Pd–N bond much more polarized and susceptible to electrophilic and nucleophilic attack and hence ligand substitution.
The Netherlands Twin Register Biobank: A Resource for Genetic Epidemiological Studies
Authors: Willemsen Gonneke , de Geus Eco J. C. , Bartels Meike , van Beijsterveldt C. E. M. Toos , Brooks Andy I. , Estourgie-van Burk G. Frederique , Fugman Douglas A. , Hoekstra Chantal , Hottenga Jouke-Jan , Kluft Kees , Meijer Piet , Montgomery Grant W. , Rizzu Patrizia , Sondervan David , Smit August B. , Spijker Sabine , Suchiman H. Eka D. , Tischfield Jay A. , Lehner Thomas , Slagboom P. Eline , Boomsma Dorret I.
Published: May 2010

In 2004 the Netherlands Twin Register (NTR) started a large scale biological sample collection in twin families to create a resource for genetic studies on health, lifestyle and personality. Between January 2004 and July 2008, adult participants from NTR research projects were invited into the study. During a home visit between 7:00 and 10:00 am, fasting blood and morning urine samples were collected. Fertile women were bled on day 2–4 of the menstrual cycle, or in their pill-free week. Biological samples were collected for DNA isolation, gene expression studies, creation of cell lines and for biomarker assessment. At the time of blood sampling, additional phenotypic information concerning health, medication use, body composition and smoking was collected. Of the participants contacted, 69% participated. Blood and urine samples were collected in 9,530 participants (63% female, average age 44.4 (SD 15.5) years) from 3,477 families. Lipid profile, glucose, insulin, HbA1c, haematology, CRP, fibrinogen, liver enzymes and creatinine have been assessed. Longitudinal survey data on health, personality and lifestyle are currently available for 90% of all participants. Genome-wide SNP data are available for 3,524 participants, with additional genotyping ongoing. The NTR biobank, combined with the extensive phenotypic information available within the NTR, provides a valuable resource for the study of genetic determinants of individual differences in mental and physical health. It offers opportunities for DNA-based and gene expression studies as well as for future metabolomic and proteomic projects.
Topologies of the Conditional Ancestral Trees and Full-Likelihood-Based Inference in the General Coalescent Tree Framework
Authors: Sargsyan Ori
Published: May 2010

The general coalescent tree framework is a family of models for determining ancestries among random samples of DNA sequences at a nonrecombining locus. The ancestral models included in this framework can be derived under various evolutionary scenarios. Here, a computationally tractable full-likelihood-based inference method for neutral polymorphisms is presented, using the general coalescent tree framework and the infinite-sites model for mutations in DNA sequences. First, an exact sampling scheme is developed to determine the topologies of conditional ancestral trees. However, this scheme has some computational limitations and to overcome these limitations a second scheme based on importance sampling is provided. Next, these schemes are combined with Monte Carlo integrations to estimate the likelihood of full polymorphism data, the ages of mutations in the sample, and the time of the most recent common ancestor. In addition, this article shows how to apply this method for estimating the likelihood of neutral polymorphism data in a sample of DNA sequences completely linked to a mutant allele of interest. This method is illustrated using the data in a sample of DNA sequences at the APOE gene locus.
Graph-Based Data Selection for the Construction of Genomic Prediction Models
Authors: Maenhout Steven , De Baets Bernard , Haesaert Geert
Published: May 2010

Efficient genomic selection in animals or crops requires the accurate prediction of the agronomic performance of individuals from their high-density molecular marker profiles. Using a training data set that contains the genotypic and phenotypic information of a large number of individuals, each marker or marker allele is associated with an estimated effect on the trait under study. These estimated marker effects are subsequently used for making predictions on individuals for which no phenotypic records are available. As most plant and animal breeding programs are currently still phenotype driven, the continuously expanding collection of phenotypic records can only be used to construct a genomic prediction model if a dense molecular marker fingerprint is available for each phenotyped individual. However, as the genotyping budget is generally limited, the genomic prediction model can only be constructed using a subset of the tested individuals and possibly a genome-covering subset of the molecular markers. In this article, we demonstrate how an optimal selection of individuals can be made with respect to the quality of their available phenotypic data. We also demonstrate how the total number of molecular markers can be reduced while a maximum genome coverage is ensured. The third selection problem we tackle is specific to the construction of a genomic prediction model for a hybrid breeding program where only molecular marker fingerprints of the homozygous parents are available. We show how to identify the set of parental inbred lines of a predefined size that has produced the highest number of progeny. These three selection approaches are put into practice in a simulation study where we demonstrate how the trade-off between sample size and sample quality affects the prediction accuracy of genomic prediction models for hybrid maize.
Extensive Loss of RNA Editing Sites in Rapidly Evolving Silene Mitochondrial Genomes: Selectionvs. Retroprocessing as the Driving Force
Authors: Sloan Daniel B , MacQueen Alice H , Alverson Andrew J , Palmer Jeffrey D , Taylor Douglas R
Published: May 2010

Theoretical arguments suggest that mutation rates influence the proliferation and maintenance of RNA editing. We identified RNA editing sites in five species within the angiosperm genus Silene that exhibit highly divergent mitochondrial mutation rates. We found that mutational acceleration has been associated with rapid loss of mitochondrial editing sites. In contrast, we did not find a significant difference in the frequency of editing in chloroplast genes, which lack the mutation rate variation observed in the mitochondrial genome. As found in other angiosperms, the rate of substitution at RNA editing sites in Silene greatly exceeds the rate at synonymous sites, a pattern that has previously been interpreted as evidence for selection against RNA editing. Alternatively, we suggest that editing sites may experience higher rates of C-to-T mutation than other portions of the genome. Such a pattern could be caused by gene conversion with reverse-transcribed mRNA (i.e., retroprocessing). If so, the genomic distribution of RNA editing site losses in Silene suggests that such conversions must be occurring at a local scale such that only one or two editing sites are affected at a time. Because preferential substitution at editing sites appears to occur in angiosperms regardless of the mutation rate, we conclude that mitochondrial rate accelerations within Silene have “fast-forwarded” a preexisting pattern but have not fundamentally changed the evolutionary forces acting on RNA editing sites.
Allele-Specific Suppressors of lin-1(R175Opal) Identify Functions of MOC-3 and DPH-3 in tRNA Modification Complexes in Caenorhabditis elegans
Authors: Kim Sunhong , Johnson Wade , Chen Changchun , Sewell Aileen K , Byström Anders S , Han Min
Published: May 2010

The elongator (ELP) complex consisting of Elp1-6p has been indicated to play roles in multiple cellular processes. In yeast, the ELP complex has been shown to genetically interact with Uba4p/Urm1p and Kti11-13p for a function in tRNA modification. Through a Caenorhabditis elegans genetic suppressor screen and positional cloning, we discovered that loss-of-function mutations of moc-3 and dph-3, orthologs of the yeast UBA4 and KTI11, respectively, effectively suppress the Multivulva (Muv) phenotype of the lin-1(e1275, R175Opal) mutation. These mutations do not suppress the Muv phenotype caused by other lin-1 alleles or by gain-of-function alleles of ras or raf that act upstream of lin-1. The suppression can also be reverted by RNA interference of lin-1. Furthermore, we showed that dph-3(lf) also suppressed the defect of lin-1(e1275) in promoting the expression of a downstream target (egl-17). These results indicate that suppression by the moc-3 and dph-3 mutations is due to the elevated activity of lin-1(e1275) itself rather than the altered activity of a factor downstream of lin-1. We further showed that loss-of-function mutations of urm-1 and elpc-1-4, the worm counterparts of URM1 and ELP complex components in yeast, also suppressed lin-1(e1275). We also confirmed that moc-3(lf) and dph-3(lf) have defects in tRNA modifications as do the mutants of their yeast orthologs. These results, together with the observation of a likely readthrough product from a lin-1(e1275)∷gfp fusion transgene indicate that the aberrant tRNA modification led to failed recognition of a premature stop codon in lin-1(e1275). Our genetic data suggest that the functional interaction of moc-3/urm-1 and dph-3 with the ELP complex is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism involved in tRNA functions that are important for accurate translation.