bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A distributed evolutionary method to design scheduling policies for volunteer computing
Authors: Estrada Trilce , Fuentes Olac , Taufer Michela
Published: December 2008

Volunteer Computing (VC) is a paradigm that takes advantage of idle cycles from computing resources donated by volunteers and connected through the Internet to compute large-scale, loosely coupled simulations. A big challenge in VC projects is the scheduling of work-units across heterogeneous, volatile, and error-prone computers. The design of efficient scheduling policies for VC projects involves subjective and time-demanding tuning that is driven by knowledge of the project designer. VC projects are in need of a faster and project-independent method to automate the scheduling design.

To automatically generate a scheduling policy, we must explore the extremely large space of syntactically valid policies. Given the size of this search space, exhaustive search is not feasible. Thus in this paper we propose to solve the problem using an evolutionary method to automatically generate a set of scheduling policies that are project-independent, minimize errors, and maximize throughput in VC projects. Our method includes a genetic algorithm where the representation of individuals, the fitness function, and the genetic operators are specifically tailored to get effective policies in a short time. The effectiveness of our method is evaluated with SimBA, a Simulator of BOINC Applications. In contrast with manually designed scheduling policies that often perform well only for the specific project they were designed for and require months of tuning, our resulting scheduling policies provide better overall throughput across the different VC projects considered in this work and were generated by our method in a time window of one week.
African Theology of Reconstruction: The Painful Realities and Practical Options!
Authors: Gunda Masiiwa Ragies
Published: December 2008

Reconstruction theology in Africa has been the latest theological project coming out of Africa, beginning in 1990 it has gradually established itself and from 2003 a number of publications have come out on the subject. This paper seeks to make an addition to this growing list of publications. In this paper, I question the validity of the blame of external forces for all the woes that Africa is going through now. I instead propose that a functional reconstruction theology should primarily tackle the evil that we commit against ourselves. When we deal with this evil we have a likelihood of bringing African people into a proper unified group that can stand together against foreign elements. I also take issue with the selection of Nehemiah as the model upon which we can do our reconstruction theology. It is in this context that this paper suggests the prophet Amos over and above Jesus as the right model needed to confront the sort of problems we face as Africans. There is need for the church in Africa to undergo a reconstruction of its own after which the church can lead in the African reconstruction. This paper brings to the fore the painful realities of internally perpetrated evils, which are bigger than has been appreciated in many earlier contributions.
Immigration and Urban Schools
Authors: Ellen Ingrid Gould , O'Regan Katherine , Conger Dylan
Published: December 2008

The authors use a rich data set on New York City public elementary schools to explore how changes in immigrant representation have played out at the school level, providing a set of stylistic facts about the magnitude and nature of demographic changes in urban schools. They find that while the city experienced an overall increase in its immigrant representation over the 5 years studied, its elementary schools did not. Although the average school experienced little change during this period, a significant minority of schools saw sizable shifts. The change does not mirror the White flight and `tipping' associated with desegregation but rather suggests a tendency to stabilize, with declines in immigrant enrollments concentrated in schools with larger immigrant populations at the outset. The authors also find that changes in the immigrant shares influence the composition of the school's students, and that overall school demographic changes do not mirror grade-level changes within schools.
Obtaining Employment After Spinal Cord Injury: Relationship With Pre- and Postinjury Education
Authors: Krause James S. , Reed Karla S.
Published: December 2008

The authors identify the association of educational milestones obtained before and after spinal cord injury (SCI) with postinjury employment (PIE). Survey data were collected from 1,362 adults younger than 65, with traumatic SCI of at least 1 year duration who were not currently attending school. The sole outcome was obtaining PIE—whether the individual had worked at any time since SCI onset. Approximately 54% of eligible participants worked post-SCI. Logistic regression was used to identify the odds of employment as a function of the educational milestones while controlling for other characteristics.With the exception of a high school certificate, completing educational milestones after injury was associated with substantially higher odds of employment than when they were completed prior to injury. The results underscore the need for postinjury education, even among individuals who have extensive training and education at the time of injury.
Metadata interoperability in public sector information
Authors: Bountouri Lina , Papatheodorou Christos , Soulikias Vasilis , Stratis Mathios
Published: December 2008

Over recent years, there has been a worldwide growing need for interoperability among the systems that manage and reuse public sector information. This paper explores the documentation needs for public sector information and focuses on metadata interoperability issues. The research work studies a variety of public sector information metadata standards and guidelines internationally accepted and presents two methodologies to obtain interoperability. The first develops an application profile, while the second is based on the semantic integration approach and results in the creation of an ontology. The outcomes of the two approaches are compared under the prism of their scope and usage in terms of interoperability during the metadata integration process.
Comparing bibliometric country-by-country rankings derived from the Web of Science and Scopus: the effect of poorly cited journals in oncology
Authors: López-Illescas Carmen , de Moya Anegón Félix , Moed Henk F.
Published: December 2008

This article addresses the robustness of country-by-country rankings according to the number of published articles and their average citation impact in the field oncology. It compares rankings based on bibliometric indicators derived from the Web of Science (WoS) with those calculated from Scopus. It is found that the oncological journals in Scopus not covered by WoS tend to be nationally oriented journals, i.e. they mainly serve a national research community, and play as of yet a more peripheral role in the international journal communication system. In expanding the set of WoS journals with Scopus journals not indexed for WoS, the countries that profit most in terms of percentage of published documents tend to show a decline in their average citation rate. This paradoxical finding is further explained by mathematical—statistical considerations, and interpreted as a short term effect. The paper discusses its implications for the construction of bibliometric indicators.
What Do Public Values Mean for Public Action?
Authors: Davis Paul , West Karen
Published: December 2008

Public values are moving from a research concern to policy discourse and management practice. There are, though, different readings of what public values actually mean. Reflection suggests two distinct strands of thinking: a generative strand that sees public value emerging from processes of public debate; and an institutional interpretation that views public values as the attributes of government producers. Neither perspective seems to offer a persuasive account of how the public gains from strengthened public values. Key propositions on values are generated from comparison of influential texts. A provisional framework is presented of the values base of public institutions and the loosely coupled public propositions flowing from these values. Value propositions issue from different governing contexts, which are grouped into policy frames that then compete with other problem frames for citizens’ cognitive resources. Vital democratic commitments to pluralism require public values to be distributed in competition with other, respected, frames.
Analytic Reviews: Considerations in Caring for the Critically Ill Older Patient
Authors: Pisani Margaret A.
Published: December 2008

People over age 65 are the fastest growing segment of the population and account for 42% to 52% of the intensive care unit admissions in the United States. There are many physiologic changes that occur with aging which can impact on both the presentation and management of older patients with critical illness. Older patients have an increased risk for the development of sepsis, and age itself impacts on outcomes related to sepsis. Delirium is also very prevalent among older intensive care unit patients and is associated with adverse outcomes. While outcome studies suggest that chronologic age itself is not a risk factor for poor outcomes after adjusting for severity of illness, older patients clearly have physiologic changes which need to be considered when providing critical care. This article will review important physiologic changes of aging, as well as sepsis and delirium and outcomes of older ICU patients.
Gender Variation in Partner Abuse
Authors: Drumm René D. , Popescu Marciana , Riggs Matt L.
Published: December 2008

This study examines three areas of intimate partner violence in a conservative Christian denomination, noting gender differences in patterns of abuse among men and women. Specifically investigating patterns of victimization, the study identifies women as targets of intimate terrorism. Women who experienced escalating violence and sexual violence also reported emotional abuse, controlling behaviors, and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that are typical of intimate terrorism. Women who endured potentially lethal violence had the added associated action of calling the police or 911. Although factors that are associated with male victimization also feature controlling behaviors, the control is not associated with PTSD or associated fear behaviors that are typical of intimate terrorism.
Perceived Caregiver Burden in India
Authors: Gupta Rashmi , Rowe Nancy , Pillai Vijayan K.
Published: December 2008

The study presented here explores the influences of selected social and social psychological factors that are associated with perceived caregiver burden in a sample of 263 primary caregivers of the elderly in Allahabad City in northern India. The results indicate that although male caregivers' perceived burden depends only on the size of the role overload, female caregivers' perceived burden depends on the interrelationship between the size of the role overload and adherence to Asian cultural norms. Implications of the findings for social work are discussed.
The Influence of Topic Interest and Interactive Probing on Responses to Open-Ended Questions in Web Surveys
Authors: Holland Jennifer L. , Christian Leah Melani
Published: December 2008

Web surveys offer new opportunities for achieving high-quality responses to open-ended questions because the interactive nature of the web allows questions to be tailored to individual respondents. This article explores how respondents' level of interest in the topic of the question can influence whether they provide a response and the quality of their answers. In addition, we examine whether an interactive follow-up probe, asked after people submit their initial response to the open-ended question, can improve the quality of responses. We find that respondents' interest in the question topic significantly affects the responses to open-ended questions, and interactively probing responses to open-ended questions in web surveys can improve the quality of responses for some respondents, particularly for those very interested in the question topic. Nonresponse remains a significant problem for open-ended questions; we found high item nonresponse rates for the initial question and even higher nonresponse to the probe, especially for those less interested in the topic of the question. Consequently, interactive probing should only be used for a few key open-ended questions within a survey where high-quality responses are essential and may be more effective for respondents who are already motivated to provide a response.
Protecting Personhood and Achieving Quality of Life for Older Adults With Dementia in the U.S. Health Care System
Authors: Murray Louise M. , Boyd Suzanne
Published: December 2008

Objective: As the numbers of persons diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias increase, many questions arise pertaining to the quality of life of those diagnosed and the health care system as it relates to the provision of quality care for this population. This article examines the health disparities among older adults with dementia, emphasizing the protection of personhood and quality of life, along with a review of the barriers to health care access and utilization of persons living with dementia. Method: This literature review utilized electronic databases and other documents. Results: The findings suggest that while progress has been realized toward protecting personhood and achieving an improved quality of life among older adults with dementia in the U.S. health care system challenges still exist. Discussion: The implications of current and future public policy, avenues for further research, and strategies by which the health care community may better serve persons with dementia are outlined.
Reassessing the concept of a medialization of science: a story from the “book of life”
Authors: Rödder Simone
Published: December 2008

The changing relationship between science and the mass media has been characterized in theory as a medialization of science. This paper argues that the concept of medialization should be further focused by differentiating two dimensions, an increasing media attention for scientific issues on the one hand and an increasing orientation of science towards the media on the other hand. This allows for observing changes with regard to science and the media separately. The concept is then supported empirically for the field of human genome research. British and German print media coverage of the final phase of the human genome sequencing has been studied using a quantitative content analysis. Triggered by its far-reaching implications, its “Big Science” nature and the competition of publicly and privately funded scientists to finish the first drafts of the human genome, human genome research is indicative of the medialization of science. It is therefore likely that the rationalities of the media system gain an influence on the research field or even beyond it.
Stem cells and the embryo: biorhetoric and scientism in Congressional debate
Authors: Lynch John
Published: December 2008

Opposition to embryonic stem (ES) cell research in the United States has focused on the status of the embryo and used discursive strategies based on the rhetorical figure of the “public fetus” created in abortion debates. The public fetus is an example of biorhetoric, and the biorhetorical component of it is intensified because political and scientific-technical developments render the extension of it to the ES cell debate problematic. This essay examines the development of debates about life, conception and the status of the fetus/embryo in Congressional hearings. Arguments from both sides focus on definitions of “the embryo,” and ultimately transform the biorhetorical appeal into a form of scientism.
Attributions in Virtual Groups
Authors: Bazarova Natalya N. , Walther Joseph B.
Published: December 2008

Communication technology facilitates group interaction among members who collaborate from disparate locations, but dispersion among locations may trigger biased attributions for remote members' behaviors. Despite the frequent discussion of attributions in virtual groups, empirical verification of the relationships between distance and attributions has been lacking. This experiment focuses on several specific factors that affect attribution patterns: (a) how geographic collocation and distribution highlight perceived similarity or dissimilarity of partners' situational constraints, and (b) how perceived variations in the quality of partners' performances affect causal judgments about their behaviors. Procedures employed groups using asynchronous computer conferencing in a decision-making task over a 2-week period. Group members were collocated, distributed, or geographically mixed. Dispositional attributions were greater in collocated groups than in distributed groups. Situational attributions differed as a result of an interaction between collocation/distribution and whether there was greater or lesser variation in the behavioral performances of group members.
Medication Reconciliation in Hospice: A Pilot Study
Authors: Kemp Leonette O. , Narula Priyanka , McPherson Mary Lynn , Zuckerman Ilene
Published: December 2008

Background: The Joint Commission required implementation of medication reconciliation processes by January 2006. Medication reconciliation is the practice of acquiring an accurate medication history at each transitional point of care. Potential for errors increases with inaccurate medication histories. This study determined the extent of medication reconciliation errors in hospice.

Methods: Patients were enrolled from 2 hospices in Maryland (January 2007). An initial medication history was completed by the nurse on hospice admission. The pharmacist did another medication history within 5 days of admission and compared the medication histories. All differences were reported as medication discrepancies.

Results: There were 504 medication discrepancies. Medication omissions occurred most commonly. All patients had at least 1 medication discrepancy (average 8.7 per patient). Overall, 190 drug interactions were identified; most were moderately severe. Conclusion: Terminal patients often use numerous medications increasing the risk of medication errors. Accurate medication histories reduce errors and potential for harm.
Engagement of Health Plans and Employers in Addressing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care
Authors: Rosenthal Meredith B. , Landon Bruce E. , Normand Sharon-Lise T. , Ahmad Thaniyyah S. , Epstein Arnold M.
Published: December 2008

Disparities in access to and quality of health care along racial and ethnic lines are an important national problem. Health care purchasers and payers have a potentially important role to play in alleviating this problem. Using national surveys of 609 employers and 252 health plans with HMO products in 41 U.S. markets, we examined awareness of racial and ethnic disparities in health care access and quality, perceptions of employer and health plan role in addressing disparities, and reported efforts to measure and reduce disparities. Our findings suggest that most health plans and many employers are aware of the existence of substantial disparities and that health plans, but not employers, have taken steps to examine and influence patterns of care by race and ethnicity among their members.
Sharing Race, the Personal, and the Political From Multiple Social Locations at an HBCU
Authors: Gubrium Aline C. , Mazhani Tjazha
Published: December 2008

Aline Gubrium, a young White woman teaching Introduction To Comparative Women's Studies at a historically Black women's college, and Tjazha Mazhani, a young Black woman who has taken Gubrium's course, enact a play—about their multiple positions and perspectives (in terms of race/ethnicity, gender, age, and rank) in the pedagogical process of teaching about forms of power and oppression. Black feminist Audre Lorde's work, which was taught and read in the course, resonates throughout, providing both direction and inspiration for the developing dialogue.
Multiple Perspectives on Assault: The 360-Degree Interview
Authors: Lanza Marilyn Lewis , Zeiss Robert A. , Rierdan Jill
Published: December 2008

Workplace violence is common in health care settings. The authors review various models of this violence that have developed over time. From a linear model, understanding progressed to an interactional and then to a contextual model of assault that examines interactions of the aggressor, victim, and the environment. To date, there has not been a satisfactory research methodology to explore the complexities of the contextual model. This article proposes the 360-degree evaluation as an appropriate methodology for examination of multiple perspectives on assault. The 360-degree model allows comparison of perspectives of the assailant, victim, victim's peers, and victim's supervisor. J Am Psychiatr Nurses Assoc, 2009; 14(6), 413-420.
Conceptualizing Compensatory Responses: Implications for Treatment and Research
Authors: Fisher Elaine M. , Wineman N. Margaret
Published: December 2008

Many scientists approach the discovery and application of knowledge of physiological processes from a reductionistic paradigm. A reductionistic approach focuses on treating one or a few key disease-related variables but overlooks the interaction of systems and their dependency on one another to produce homeostasis. The purposes of this article are to examine the current paradigm underlying treatment and its effect on patient outcome and to present an alternative perspective for understanding the body's compensatory responses and their implications for treatment and research. Chaos theory and nonlinear methods are presented as possible ways to conceptualize and explore the complex integration of physiological patterns in response to disease, aging, and treatment.
LGBT Career Development
Authors: Gedro Julie
Published: December 2008

The problem and the solution. Although the field of human resource development (HRD) has begun to focus on career development (CD) theories, there is a paucity of exploration of the particular and unique career considerations faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people.This article explores issues uniquely related to LGBT career development. This article provides some insights about LGBT career development, analyzing the factors that distinguish LGBT career development from heterosexual career development, to sensitize HRD practitioners and to help them understand the career development considerations of LGBT people. By becoming aware of and sensitive to the issues faced by LGBT people, HRD practitioners can address their needs and help create inclusive and welcoming environments for them.Additionally, sensitive and educated HRD practitioners can help organizations identify the ways in which their practices reinforce LGBT invisibility, and disrupt hetero-sexist career development practices.
The Life and Times of John Beard, DSc (1858-1924)
Authors: Moss Ralph W.
Published: December 2008

The British developmental biologist John Beard, DSc (1858-1924) is little remembered today. Yet, he made outstanding contributions to the life sciences. Beard deserves to be included among the leading biologists of the late 19th and early 20th century. He has been hailed as a forerunner of the present-day theory of the cancer stem cell (CSC). He was the first to point to the parallels between cancer and the trophoblastic cells that envelop and nourish the embryo, characterizing cancer as “irresponsible trophoblast.” He pointed out that the initiation of fetal pancreatic function coincided with a reduction in the invasiveness of trophoblast, which otherwise might progress to clinical cancer (ie, choriocarcinoma). Based on the above propositions, he recommended the therapeutic use of pancreatic enzymes in treating cancer and other diseases. This therapy created a worldwide controversy, and although rejected in his day, persists in the world of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) today.
IFN-γ, IL-4 and IL-13 modulate responsiveness of human airway smooth muscle cells to IL-13
Authors: Moynihan Barry J , Tolloczko Barbara , Bassam Souad El , Ferraro Pascale , Michoud Marie-Claire , Martin James G , Laberge Sophie
Published: December 2008

Background

IL-13 is a critical mediator of allergic asthma and associated airway hyperresponsiveness. IL-13 acts through a receptor complex comprised of IL-13Rα1 and IL-4Rα subunits with subsequent activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 (STAT6). The IL-13Rα2 receptor may act as a decoy receptor. In human airway smooth muscle (HASM) cells, IL-13 enhances cellular proliferation, calcium responses to agonists and induces eotaxin production. We investigated the effects of pre-treatment with IL-4, IL-13 and IFN-γ on the responses of HASM cells to IL-13.

Methods

Cultured HASM were examined for expression of IL-13 receptor subunits using polymerase chain reaction, immunofluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. Effects of cytokine pre-treatment on IL-13-induced cell responses were assessed by looking at STAT6 phosphorylation using Western blot, eotaxin secretion and calcium responses to histamine.

Results

IL-13Rα1, IL-4Rα and IL-13Rα2 subunits were expressed on HASM cells. IL-13 induced phosphorylation of STAT6 which reached a maximum by 30 minutes. Pre-treatment with IL-4, IL-13 and, to a lesser degree, IFN-γ reduced peak STAT6 phosphorylation in response to IL-13. IL-13, but not IFN-γ, pre-treatment abrogated IL-13-induced eotaxin secretion. Pre-treatment with IL-4 or IL-13 abrogated IL-13-induced augmentation of the calcium transient evoked by histamine. Cytokine pre-treatment did not affect expression of IL-13Rα1 and IL-4Rα but increased expression of IL-13Rα2. An anti-IL-13Rα2 neutralizing antibody did not prevent the cytokine pre-treatment effects on STAT6 phosphorylation. Cytokine pre-treatment increased SOCS-1, but not SOCS-3, mRNA expression which was not associated with significant increases in protein expression.

Conclusion

Pre-treatment with IL-4 and IL-13, but not IFN-γ, induced desensitization of the HASM cells to IL-13 as measured by eotaxin secretion and calcium transients to histamine. The mechanism of IL-4 and IL-13 induced desensitization does not appear to involve either downregulation of receptor expression or induction of the IL-13Rα2 or the SOCS proteins.
Biomphalaria glabrata transcriptome: cDNA microarray profiling identifies resistant- and susceptible-specific gene expression in haemocytes from snail strains exposed to Schistosoma mansoni
Authors: Lockyer Anne E , Spinks Jenny , Kane Richard A , Hoffmann Karl F , Fitzpatrick Jennifer M , Rollinson David , Noble Leslie R , Jones Catherine S
Published: December 2008

Background

Biomphalaria glabrata is an intermediate snail host for Schistosoma mansoni, one of the important schistosomes infecting man. B. glabrata/S. mansoni provides a useful model system for investigating the intimate interactions between host and parasite. Examining differential gene expression between S. mansoni-exposed schistosome-resistant and susceptible snail lines will identify genes and pathways that may be involved in snail defences.

Results

We have developed a 2053 element cDNA microarray for B. glabrata containing clones from ORESTES (Open Reading frame ESTs) libraries, suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) libraries and clones identified in previous expression studies. Snail haemocyte RNA, extracted from parasite-challenged resistant and susceptible snails, 2 to 24 h post-exposure to S. mansoni, was hybridized to the custom made cDNA microarray and 98 differentially expressed genes or gene clusters were identified, 94 resistant-associated and 4 susceptible-associated. Quantitative PCR analysis verified the cDNA microarray results for representative transcripts. Differentially expressed genes were annotated and clustered using gene ontology (GO) terminology and Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis. 61% of the identified differentially expressed genes have no known function including the 4 susceptible strain-specific transcripts. Resistant strain-specific expression of genes implicated in innate immunity of invertebrates was identified, including hydrolytic enzymes such as cathepsin L, a cysteine proteinase involved in lysis of phagocytosed particles; metabolic enzymes such as ornithine decarboxylase, the rate-limiting enzyme in the production of polyamines, important in inflammation and infection processes, as well as scavenging damaging free radicals produced during production of reactive oxygen species; stress response genes such as HSP70; proteins involved in signalling, such as importin 7 and copine 1, cytoplasmic intermediate filament (IF) protein and transcription enzymes such as elongation factor 1α and EF-2.

Conclusion

Production of the first cDNA microarray for profiling gene expression in B. glabrata provides a foundation for expanding our understanding of pathways and genes involved in the snail internal defence system (IDS). We demonstrate resistant strain-specific expression of genes potentially associated with the snail IDS, ranging from signalling and inflammation responses through to lysis of proteinacous products (encapsulated sporocysts or phagocytosed parasite components) and processing/degradation of these targeted products by ubiquitination.
Quantification of SLIT-ROBO transcripts in hepatocellular carcinoma reveals two groups of genes with coordinate expression
Authors: Avci Mehmet Ender , Konu Ozlen , Yagci Tamer
Published: December 2008

Background

SLIT-ROBO families of proteins mediate axon pathfinding and their expression is not solely confined to nervous system. Aberrant expression of SLIT-ROBO genes was repeatedly shown in a wide variety of cancers, yet data about their collective behavior in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is missing. Hence, we quantified SLIT-ROBO transcripts in HCC cell lines, and in normal and tumor tissues from liver.

Methods

Expression of SLIT-ROBO family members was quantified by real-time qRT-PCR in 14 HCC cell lines, 8 normal and 35 tumor tissues from the liver. ANOVA and Pearson's correlation analyses were performed in R environment, and different clinicopathological subgroups were pairwise compared in Minitab. Gene expression matrices of cell lines and tissues were analyzed by Mantel's association test.

Results

Genewise hierarchical clustering revealed two subgroups with coordinate expression pattern in both the HCC cell lines and tissues: ROBO1, ROBO2, SLIT1 in one cluster, and ROBO4, SLIT2, SLIT3 in the other, respectively. Moreover, SLIT-ROBO expression predicted AFP-dependent subgrouping of HCC cell lines, but not that of liver tissues. ROBO1 and ROBO2 were significantly up-regulated, whereas SLIT3 was significantly down-regulated in cell lines with high-AFP background. When compared to normal liver tissue, ROBO1 was found to be significantly overexpressed, while ROBO4 was down-regulated in HCC. We also observed that ROBO1 and SLIT2 differentiated histopathological subgroups of liver tissues depending on both tumor staging and differentiation status. However, ROBO4 could discriminate poorly differentiated HCC from other subgroups.

Conclusion

The present study is the first in comprehensive and quantitative evaluation of SLIT-ROBO family gene expression in HCC, and suggests that the expression of SLIT-ROBO genes is regulated in hepatocarcinogenesis. Our results implicate that SLIT-ROBO transcription profile is bi-modular in nature, and that each module shows intrinsic variability. We also provide quantitative evidence for potential use of ROBO1, ROBO4 and SLIT2 for prediction of tumor stage and differentiation status.
mRNA expression of the DNA replication-initiation proteins in epithelial dysplasia and squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue
Authors: Li Jian-na , Feng Chong-jin , Lu Yong-jun , Li Hui-jun , Tu Zheng , Liao Gui-qing , Liang Chun
Published: December 2008

Background

The tongue squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) are characterized by high mitotic activity, and early detection is desirable. Overexpression of the DNA replication-initiation proteins has been associated with dysplasia and malignancy. Our aim was to determine whether these proteins are useful biomarkers for assessing the development of tongue SCC.

Methods

We analyzed the mRNA expression of CDC6, CDT1, MCM2 and CDC45 in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded benign and malignant tongue tissues using quantitative real-time PCR followed by statistical analysis.

Results

We found that the expression levels are significantly higher in malignant SCC than mild precancerous epithelial dysplasia, and the expression levels in general increase with increasing grade of precancerous lesions from mild, moderate to severe epithelial dysplasia. CDC6 and CDC45 expression is dependent of the dysplasia grade and lymph node status. CDT1 expression is higher in severe dysplasia than in mild and moderate dysplasia. MCM2 expression is dependent of the dysplasia grade, lymph node status and clinical stage. The expression of the four genes is independent of tumor size or histological grade. A simple linear regression analysis revealed a linear increase in the mRNA levels of the four genes from the mild to severe dysplasia and SCC. A strong association was established between CDC6 and CDT1, and between MCM2 and CDC45 expression. The nonparametric receiver operating characteristic analysis suggested that MCM2 and CDC45 had a higher accuracy than CDC6 and CDT1 for distinguishing dysplasia from tongue SCC.

Conclusion

These proteins can be used as biomarkers to distinguish precancerous dysplasia from SCC and are useful for early detection and diagnosis of SCC as an adjunct to clinicopathological parameters.
The effect of time-to-surgery on outcome in elderly patients with proximal femoral fractures
Authors: Smektala Rüdiger , Endres Heinz G , Dasch Burkhard , Maier Christoph , Trampisch Hans J , Bonnaire Felix , Pientka Ludger
Published: December 2008

Background

Whether reducing time-to-surgery for elderly patients suffering from hip fracture results in better outcomes remains subject to controversial debates.

Methods

As part of a prospective observational study conducted between January 2002 and September 2003 on hip-fracture patients from 268 acute-care hospitals all over Germany, we investigated the relationship of time-to-surgery with frequency of post-operative complications and one-year mortality in elderly patients (age ≥65) with isolated proximal femoral fracture (femoral neck fracture or pertrochanteric femoral fracture). Patients with short (≤12 h), medium (> 12 h to ≤36 h) and long (> 36 h) times-to-surgery, counting from the time of the fracture event, were compared for patient characteristics, operative procedures, post-operative complications and one-year mortality.

Results

Hospital data were available for 2916 hip-fracture patients (mean age (SD) in years: 82.1 (7.4), median age: 82; 79.7% women). Comparison of groups with short (n = 802), medium (n = 1191) and long (n = 923) time-to-surgery revealed statistically significant differences in a few patient characteristics (age, American Society of Anesthesiologists ratings classification and type of admission) and in operative procedures (total hip endoprosthesis, hemi-endoprosthetic implants, other osteosynthetic procedures). However, comparison of these same groups for frequency of postoperative complications revealed only some non-significant associations with certain complications such as post-operative bleeding requiring treatment (early surgery patients) and urinary tract infections (delayed surgery patients). Both unadjusted rates of one-year all-cause mortality (between 18.1% and 20.5%), and the multivariate-adjusted hazard ratios (HR for time-to-surgery: 1.04; p = 0.55) showed no association between mortality and time-to-surgery.

Conclusion

Although this study found a trend toward more frequent post-operative complications in the longest time-to-surgery group, there was no effect of time-to-surgery on mortality. Shorter time-to-surgery may be associated with somewhat lower rates of post-operative complications such as decubitus ulcers, urinary tract infections, thromboses, pneumonia and cardiovascular events, and with somewhat higher rates of others such as post-operative bleeding or implant complications.
A case of radiation-induced sternal malignant fibrous histiocytoma treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgical resection
Authors: Kocer Bulent , Gulbahar Gultekin , Erdogan Bulent , Budakoglu Burcin , Erekul Selim , Dural Koray , Sakinci Unal
Published: December 2008

Background

Primary sternal malignant fibrous histiyocytoma (MFH) is highly rare. Effective treatment modality is surgical resection with wide margins. However, to date, the effects of radiotherapy or chemotherapy has not been clearly defined.

Case presentation

Herein, we aimed to present a 50-year old female patient with MFH occurred in the radiotherapy field who had had surgical procedure for breast cancer 19 years ago and had followed by radiotherapy. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was applied for MFH due to cardiac and mediastinal vascular invasion. Wide resection was carried out for the mass after having been decreased in size following neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Conclusion

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was an effective method. In planning the surgical resection, the size of the tumor before chemotherapy should be considered as the initial size and surgical margins should be determined accordingly.
Posttranslational regulation of Fas ligand function
Authors: Voss Matthias , Lettau Marcus , Paulsen Maren , Janssen Ottmar
Published: December 2008

The TNF superfamily member Fas ligand acts as a prototypic death factor. Due to its ability to induce apoptosis in Fas (APO-1, CD95) expressing cells, Fas ligand participates in essential effector functions of the immune system. It is involved in natural killer cell- and T cell-mediated cytotoxicity, the establishment of immune privilege, and in termination of immune responses by induction of activation-induced cell death. In addition, Fas ligand-positive tumours may evade immune surveillance by killing Fas-positive tumour-infiltrating cells. Given these strong cytotoxic capabilities of Fas ligand, it is obvious that its function has to be strictly regulated to avoid uncontrolled damage. In hematopoietic cells, the death factor is stored in secretory lysosomes and is mobilised to the immunological synapse only upon activation. The selective sorting to and the release from this specific lysosomal compartment requires interactions of the Fas ligand cytosolic moiety, which mediates binding to various adapter proteins involved in trafficking and cytoskeletal reorganisation. In addition, Fas ligand surface expression is further regulated by posttranslational ectodomain shedding and subsequent regulated intramembrane proteolysis, releasing a soluble ectodomain cytokine into the extracellular space and an N-terminal fragment with a potential role in intracellular signalling processes. Moreover, other posttranslational modifications of the cytosolic domain, including phosphorylation and ubiquitylation, have been described to affect various aspects of Fas ligand biology. Since FasL is regarded as a potential target for immunotherapy, the further characterisation of its biological regulation and function will be of great importance for the development and evaluation of future therapeutic strategies.
Prognostic factors of survival time after hematopoietic stem cell transplant in acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients: Cox proportional hazard versus accelerated failure time models
Authors: Sayehmiri Kourosh , Eshraghian Mohammad R , Mohammad Kazem , Alimoghaddam Kamran , Foroushani Abbas Rahimi , Zeraati Hojjat , Golestan Banafsheh , Ghavamzadeh Ardeshir
Published: December 2008

Background

The aim of this study is to evaluate the prognostic factors of overall survival (OS) after haematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) patients using accelerated failure time (AFT), Cox proportional hazard (PH), and Cox time-varying coefficient models.

Methods

206 patients were enrolled after HSCH in Shariati Hospital between 1993 and 2007. There was evidence of marked departures from the proportional hazards assumption with two prognostic factors, relapse and chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) (P < .001). Performance among AFT and Cox's models was assessed using explained variation and goodness of fit methods. Discrimination among the exponential, Weibull, generalized gamma (GG), log-logistic, and lognormal distributions was done using maximum likelihood and Akaike information criteria.

Results

The 5-year OS was 52% (95%CI: 47.3–56.7). Peak mortality hazard occurred at months 6–7 after HSCT followed by a decreasing trend. In univariate analysis, the data was better fitted by GG distribution than by other distributions. Univariate analysis using GG distribution showed a positive association between OS with acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) (P = .021), no relapse (P < .001), cGVHD (P < .001), neutrophil recovery (P < .001) and platelet recovery (P < .001). Based on Cox PH models; however cGVHD and relapse were the predictive factors of OS (P < .001). Multivariate analysis indicated that, OS is related to relapse (P < .001) and platelet recovery (P = .037), where predictive power of Weibull AFT models was superior to Cox PH model and Cox with time-varying coefficient (R2 = 0.46 for AFT, R2 = .21 for Cox PH and R2 = .34 for Cox time-varying coefficient). Cox-Snell residual shows Weibull AFT fitted to data better than other distributions in multivariate analysis.

Conclusion

We concluded that AFT distributions can be a useful tool for recognizing prognostic factors of OS in acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients.
Cilengitide induces cellular detachment and apoptosis in endothelial and glioma cells mediated by inhibition of FAK/src/AKT pathway
Authors: Oliveira-Ferrer Leticia , Hauschild Jessica , Fiedler Walter , Bokemeyer Carsten , Nippgen Johannes , Celik Ilhan , Schuch Gunter
Published: December 2008

Background

The antiangiogenic agent cilengitide disrupts integrin binding to the extracellular matrix leading to apoptosis of activated endothelial cells. Integrins are also widely expressed in malignant glioma and integrin inhibitors may directly target tumor cells in this disease. Aim of the current study was to investigate effects of cilengitide on endothelial and glioma cells on molecular and cellular levels.

Results

Cilengitide caused dose-dependent detachment of endothelial cells from cell culture dishes. Proliferation of endothelial cells was significantly inhibited while the proportion of apoptotic cells was increased. Incubation of integrin-expressing glioma cells with cilengitide caused rounding and detachment after 24 hours as observed with endothelial cells. Cilengitide inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis in glioma cells with methylated MGMT promotor when given alone or in combination with temozolomide. In endothelial as well as glioma cells cilengitide inhibited phosphorylation of FAK, Src and Akt. Assembly of cytoskeleton and tight junctions was heavily disturbed in both cell types.

Conclusion

Cilengitide inhibits integrin-dependent signaling, causes disassembly of cytoskeleton, cellular detachment and induction of apoptosis in endothelial and glioma cells thereby explaining the profound activity of integrin inhibitors in gliomas. The combination of cilengitide with temozolomide exerted additive effects in glioma cells as observed clinically.
Redo aortic valve replacement after partial upper sternotomy (hemisternotomy) in a patient with idiopathic thrombocytopenia: a case report
Authors: Fatayer Hiba , Griffin Steven , Protopapas Aristotle D
Published: December 2008

Background

We present a case of redo aortic valve replacement in a patient with thrombocytopenia. The initial operation was performed through limited access transverse sternotomy. This is the first report of this kind in the literature.

Case presentation

A 62 year old Caucasian male farmer with thrombocytopenia had uneventful redo aortic valve replacement when the first xenograft failed after 9 years, the transverse upper hemisternotomy in the first operation appearing to facilitate the redo complete sternotomy.

Conclusion

With this only case of redo aortic valve replacement in our practice of 90 hemisternotomies over 10 years we present for consideration the use of a tissue valve in a complex relatively young patient.
What is a seismic reflector like?
Authors: Favretto-Cristini Nathalie , Cristini Paul , de Bazelaire Eric
Published: December 2008

The spatial region that is in the vicinity of an interface and actually affects the interface response, and hence the reflected wavefield, is of particular interest for the characterization of reflectors from a seismic viewpoint. This region is represented by a volume of integration of medium properties above and below the interface whose maximum lateral extent corresponds to the lateral extent of the interface Fresnel zone, and whose maximum vertical extent is equal to a thickness we evaluate approximately for subcritical incidence angles for a plane interface as well as for curved interfaces of anticline and syncline type. The maximum vertical extent might be larger than the seismic wavelengths for subcritical incidence angles close to the critical angle and for a strong impedance contrast at the interface. Although the part of the reflector volume lying below the interface and affecting traveltime measurements actually is smaller than described in previous studies, the whole part of the reflector volume that affects the amplitude of the reflected wavefield is larger than estimates in previous studies, which considered only the spatial region below the interface. For a syncline (respectively, an anticline), it is larger (respectively, smaller) than described for a plane interface. In addition to providing more physical insights into the wave reflection process, this study might have significant implications for seismic interpretation using amplitude-variation-with-angle methodologies.
Fire following Earthquake—Reviewing the State-of-the-Art of Modeling
Authors: Lee Selina , Davidson Rachel , Ohnishi Norihito , Scawthorn Charles
Published: December 2008

Models for estimating the effects of fire following earthquake (FFE) are reviewed, including comparisons of available ignition and spread/suppression models. While researchers have been modeling FFEs for more than 50 years, there has been a notable burst of research since 2000. In particular, borrowing from other fire modeling fields and taking advantage of improved computational power and data, there is a new trend towards physics-based rather than strictly empirical spread models; and towards employing different simulation techniques, such as cellular automata, rather than assuming fires spread in an elliptical shape. Past achievements include identification of the factors affecting FFE, documentation of historical events, and years of FFE model use by practitioners. Opportunities for future advances include continued development of physics-based spread models; better treatment of slope, water and transportation system functionality, and suppression by fire departments; and more validation and sensitivity analyses.