bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Resolving Mechanisms of Competitive Fertilization Success in
Drosophila melanogaster
Authors: Manier Mollie K. , Belote John M. , Berben Kirstin S. , Novikov David , Stuart Will T. , Pitnick Scott
Published: March 2010

Battle of the Sperm

In insects, sperm from multiple matings are stored and retained, and are thought to compete for ova within a female's reproductive tract.

Manier
et al.

(p.
354
, published online 18 March) visualized sperm from fruit flies transgenically tagged with green or red fluorescent protein within the reproductive tracts of female flies. Sperm showed more mobility within the female storage organs than expected, with those from the most recent copulation displacing sperm from previous males; however, sperm viability remained consistent over long-term storage and each male's sperm was equally competitive in fertilizing the female's eggs.
The role of endobronchial ultrasound guided transbronchial needle aspiration cytology in the investigation of mediastinal lymphadenopathy and masses, the North Tees experience
Authors: Natu S , Hoffman J , Siddiqui M , Hobday C , Shrimankar J , Harrison R
Published: March 2010

Aim

To assess the diagnostic role of endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) guided transbronchial fine needle aspiration (TBNA) cytology, in the investigation of mediastinal lymphadenopathy and masses, with emphasis on pathology, criteria for adequacy, and use of liquid based cytology (LBC).

Methods

In January 2008, EBUS guided TBNA was introduced for the staging of lung cancers and for the investigation of unexplained mediastinal lymphadenopathy and masses. Initially, the material was processed conventionally. In May 2008, the laboratory procured the Cytyc T2000.

Results

250 specimens (229 patients) were included from January 2008 to August 2009. The overall inadequate rate was 12%; 16.6% with the conventional method, 17.2% when both conventional and LBC were used, and 9.8% with LBC. With the conventional method, an average of 7.5 slides and one cell block were received per case. With LBC, one slide and one cell block were used for diagnosis. In 72 cases (28.8%) the aspirate showed no evidence of malignancy. In 122 cases (48.8%), there was metastatic disease. In five cases (2%), a diagnosis of atypia, suspicious for non-small cell malignancy, was made. One case (0.4%) each of amyloidosis and mediastinal goitre, 3 cases (1.2%) of lymphoma, 14 cases (5.6%) of sarcoidosis and 1 case (0.4%) each of sarcoma and mesothelioma were seen.

Conclusions

EBUS guided TBNA, in our experience, is a reliable technique for staging of lung cancers, and investigation of unexplained mediastinal lymphadenopathy and masses. LBC reduces the number of slides from 7.5 per case to 1 slide, reducing time required for diagnosis.
Enabling multi-party 3D tele-immersive environments with
ViewCast
Authors: Yang Zhenyu , Wu Wanmin , Nahrstedt Klara , Kurillo Gregorij , Bajcsy Ruzena
Published: March 2010

Three-dimensional tele-immersive (3DTI) environments have great potential to promote collaborative work among geographically distributed users. However, most existing 3DTI systems only work with two sites due to the huge demand of resources and the lack of a simple yet powerful networking model to handle connectivity, scalability, and quality-of-service (QoS) guarantees.

In this article, we explore the design space from the angle of multi-stream management to enable multi-party 3DTI communication. Multiple correlated 3D video streams are employed to provide a comprehensive representation of the physical scene in each 3DTI environment, and are rendered together to establish a common cyberspace among all participating 3DTI environments. The existence of multi-stream correlation provides the unique opportunity for new approaches in QoS provisioning. Previous work mostly concentrated on compression and adaptation techniques on the per-stream basis while ignoring the application layer semantics and the coordination required among streams. We propose an innovative and generalized
ViewCast
model to coordinate the multi-stream content dissemination over an overlay network. ViewCast leverages view semantics in 3D free-viewpoint video systems to fill the gap between high-level user interest and low-level stream management. In ViewCast, only the view information is specified by the user/application, while the underlying control dynamically performs stream differentiation, selection, coordination, and dissemination. We present the details of ViewCast and evaluate it through both simulation and 3DTI sessions among tele-immersive environments residing in different institutes across the Internet2. Our experimental results demonstrate the implementation feasibility and performance enhancement of ViewCast in supporting multi-party 3DTI collaboration.
Detecting malicious nodes in peer-to-peer streaming by peer-based monitoring
Authors: Jin Xing , Chan S.-H. Gary
Published: March 2010

Current peer-to-peer (P2P) streaming systems often assume that nodes cooperate to upload and download data. However, in the open environment of the Internet, this is not necessarily true and there exist malicious nodes in the system. In this article, we study malicious actions of nodes that can be detected through peer-based monitoring. We require each node to monitor the data received and to periodically send monitoring messages about its neighbors to some trustworthy nodes. To efficiently store and search messages among multiple trustworthy nodes, we organize trustworthy nodes into a threaded binary tree. Trustworthy nodes also dynamically redistribute monitoring messages among themselves to achieve load balancing. Our simulation results show that this scheme can efficiently detect malicious nodes with high accuracy, and that the dynamic redistribution method can achieve good load balancing among trustworthy nodes.
Waiting-time prediction in scalable on-demand video streaming
Authors: Sarhan Nabil J. , Alsmirat Mohammad A. , Al-HADRUSI Musab
Published: March 2010

Providing video streaming users with expected waiting times enhances their perceived quality-of-service (QoS) and encourages them to wait. In the absence of any waiting-time feedback, users are more likely to defect because of the uncertainty as to when their services will start. We analyze waiting-time predictability in scalable video streaming. We propose two prediction schemes and study their effectiveness when applied with various stream merging techniques and scheduling policies. The results demonstrate that the waiting time can be predicted accurately, especially when enhanced cost-based scheduling is applied. The combination of waiting-time prediction and cost-based scheduling leads to outstanding performance benefits.
Energy proportionality for storage
Authors: Guerra Jorge , Belluomini Wendy , Glider Joseph , Gupta Karan , Pucha Himabindu
Published: March 2010

This paper highlights the growing importance of storage energy consumption in a typical data center, and asserts that storage energy research should drive towards a vision of energy proportionality for achieving significant energy savings. Our analysis of real-world enterprise workloads shows a potential energy reduction of 40-75% using an ideally proportional system. We then present a preliminary analysis of appropriate techniques to achieve proportionality, chosen to match both application requirements and workload characteristics. Based on the techniques we have identified, we believe that energy proportionality is achievable in storage systems at a time scale that will make sense in real world environments.
FastAD
Authors: Stanton Paul T. , McKeown Benjamin , Burns Randal , Ateniese Giuseppe
Published: March 2010

We develop techniques that make authenticated directories efficient and scalable toward the goal of managing tens of billions of objects in a single directory. Internet storage services have already realized this scale: Amazon's S3 contained more than 52 billion objects as of April 2009 [1]. Our contributions include defining on-disk, block-oriented data structures and algorithms for authenticated directories that exceed memory capacity and optimizations that reduce the I/O required to insert and access entries in the directory.
Differential RAID
Authors: Kadav Asim , Balakrishnan Mahesh , Prabhakaran Vijayan , Malkhi Dahlia
Published: March 2010

Deployment of SSDs in enterprise settings is limited by the low erase cycles available on commodity devices. Redundancy solutions such as RAID can potentially be used to protect against the high Bit Error Rate (BER) of aging SSDs. Unfortunately, such solutions wear out redundant devices at similar rates, inducing correlated failures as arrays age in unison. We present Diff-RAID, a new RAID variant that distributes parity unevenly across SSDs to create age disparities within arrays. By doing so, Diff-RAID balances the high BER of old SSDs against the low BER of young SSDs. Diff-RAID provides much greater reliability for SSDs compared to RAID-4 and RAID-5 for the same space overhead, and offers a trade-off curve between throughput and reliability.
Visual and algorithmic tooling for system trace analysis
Authors: De Pauw Wim , Heisig Stephen
Published: March 2010

Despite advances in the application of automated statistical and machine learning techniques to system log and trace data there will always be a need for human analysis of machine traces, because trace information on unstable systems may be incomplete, or incorrect. In addition, false positives from automated analysis will not likely disappear, and remediation measures and candidate fix tests will need to be evaluated. We present Zinsight, a visual and analytic tool that supports performance analysts and debugging, using large event traces to understand complex systems. This tool enables analysts to quickly create and manipulate high-level structural representations linked with statistical analysis derived from the underlying event trace data. The original raw trace is annotated with module names and a domain specific database is incorporated to relate software functions to module names. Navigable sequence context graph views present automatically extracted execution flow patterns from arbitrarily definable sets of events and are linked to frequency, distribution, and response time views. The goal is to reduce the cognitive and computational load on the analyst while providing answers to the most natural questions in a problem determination session. We present a case study of the tool in use on field problems from the recently shipped (late 2008) IBM z10 mainframe. As a result of the industry trend toward higher parallelism and memory latency, many issues were encountered with legacy code. The tool was applied successfully to diagnose these problems.
Exploring the interplay of barrier function and leukocyte recruitment in intestinal inflammation by targeting fucosyltransferase VII and trefoil factor 3
Authors: Beck P. L. , Ihara E. , Hirota S. A. , MacDonald J. A. , Meng D. , Nanthakumar N. N. , Podolsky D. K. , Xavier R. J.
Published: March 2010

Intestinal mucosal integrity is dependent on epithelial function and a regulated immune response to injury. Fucosyltransferase VII (Fuc-TVII) is an essential enzyme required for the expression of the functional ligand for E- and P-selectin. Trefoil factor 3 (TFF3) is involved in both protecting the intestinal epithelium against injury as well as aiding in wound repair following injury. The aim of the present study was to assess the interplay between barrier function and leukocyte recruitment in intestinal inflammation. More specifically, we aimed to examine how targeted disruption of Fuc-TVII either in wild-type or TFF3−/−mice would alter their susceptibility to colonic injury. TFF3 and Fuc-TVII double-knockout mice (TFF3/Fuc-TVII−/−mice) were generated by mating TFF3−/−and Fuc-TVII−/−mice. Colitis was induced by administration of dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) (2.5% wt/vol) in the drinking water. Changes in baseline body weight, diarrhea, and fecal blood were assessed daily. Upon euthanasia, extents of colonic inflammation were assessed macroscopically, microscopically, and through quantification of myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity. Colonic lymphocyte subpopulations were assessed at 6 days after administration of DSS by flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry. No baseline intestinal inflammation was found in TFF3/Fuc-TVII−/−, TFF3−/−, Fuc-TVII−/−, or wild-type mice. Loss of Fuc-TVII resulted in a reduction in disease severity whereas TFF3−/−mice were markedly more susceptible to DSS-induced colitis. Remarkably, the loss of Fuc-TVII in TFF3−/−mice markedly decreased the severity of DSS-induced colitis as evidenced by reduced weight loss, diarrhea, decreased colonic MPO levels and improved survival. Furthermore, the loss of TFF3 resulted in increased severity of spontaneous colitis in IL-2/β-microglobulin-deficient mice. These studies highlight the importance of the interplay between factors involved in the innate immune response, mucosal barrier function, and genes involved in regulating leukocyte recruitment and other aspects of the immune response.
Inflammatory mediators in gastroesophageal reflux disease: impact on esophageal motility, fibrosis, and carcinogenesis
Authors: Rieder Florian , Biancani Piero , Harnett Karen , Yerian Lisa , Falk Gary W.
Published: March 2010

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is one of the most common problems in clinical practice today. It is widely believed that functional and structural abnormalities of the gastroesophageal junction as well as an abnormal exposure to gastroduodenal contents are the main contributors to its pathogenesis. Novel findings of the inflammatory process in GERD suggest a far more complex process involving multifaceted inflammatory mechanisms. This review summarizes knowledge about the expression of inflammatory mediators in GERD and their potential cellular sources and provides an integrated concept of disease pathogenesis. In addition we evaluate the contribution of inflammatory mediators to well-known complications of GERD, namely motility abnormalities, fibrosis, and carcinogenesis. Novel findings regarding the pathophysiology of esophageal inflammation should enhance our understanding of GERD and its complications and provide new treatment insights.
Fuel selection and cycling endurance performance with ingestion of [13C]glucose: evidence for a carbohydrate dose response
Authors: Smith JohnEric W. , Zachwieja Jeffrey J. , Péronnet François , Passe Dennis H. , Massicotte Denis , Lavoie Carole , Pascoe David D.
Published: March 2010

Endurance performance and fuel selection while ingesting glucose (15, 30, and 60 g/h) was studied in 12 cyclists during a 2-h constant-load ride [∼77% peak O2 uptake] followed by a 20-km time trial. Total fat and carbohydrate (CHO) oxidation and oxidation of exogenous glucose, plasma glucose, glucose released from the liver, and muscle glycogen were computed using indirect respiratory calorimetry and tracer techniques. Relative to placebo (210 ± 36 W), glucose ingestion increased the time trial mean power output (%improvement, 90% confidence limits: 7.4, 1.4 to 13.4 for 15 g/h; 8.3, 1.4 to 15.2 for 30 g/h; and 10.7, 1.8 to 19.6 for 60 g/h glucose ingested; effect size = 0.46). With 60 g/h glucose, mean power was 2.3, 0.4 to 4.2% higher, and 3.1, 0.5 to 5.7% higher than with 30 and 15 g/h, respectively, suggesting a relationship between the dose of glucose ingested and improvements in endurance performance. Exogenous glucose oxidation increased with ingestion rate (0.17 ± 0.04, 0.33 ± 0.04, and 0.52 ± 0.09 g/min for 15, 30, and 60 g/h glucose), but endogenous CHO oxidation was reduced only with 30 and 60 g/h due to the progressive inhibition of glucose released from the liver (probably related to higher plasma insulin concentration) with increasing ingestion rate without evidence for muscle glycogen sparing. Thus ingestion of glucose at low rates improved cycling time trial performance in a dose-dependent manner. This was associated with a small increase in CHO oxidation without any reduction in muscle glycogen utilization.
Spatial Learning and Expression Patterns of PP1 mRNA in Mouse Hippocampus
Authors: Haege S. , Galetzka D. , Zechner U. , Haaf T. , Gamerdinger M. , Behl C. , Hiemke C. , Schmitt U.
Published: March 2010

Background: Synaptic plasticity is believed to be the major cellular basis for learning and memory. Protein phosphorylation is a key process involved in changes in the efficacy of neurotransmission. In long-term changes synaptic plasticity is followed by structural plasticity and protein de novo synthesis. Such mechanisms are believed to build the basis of hippocampal learning and memory investigated in the Morris water maze (MWM) task. To examine the role of dephosphorylation during that model for spatial learning, we analyzed protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) expression in the hippocampus of mice at various stages of the task and in two groups with different learning abilities. Methods: Mice were trained for 4 days with four trials each day in the MWM. For gene expression hippocampi were prepared 1, 6 and 24 h after the last trial of each day. PP1 and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) mRNA levels were determined by quantitative real-time PCR. Results: The task requirements themselves affected expression levels of both PP1 and BDNF. In contrast to BDNF, PP1 was differentially expressed during learning. Poorly and well performing mice differed significantly. When performance was poor the expression level of PP1 was higher. Conclusion: Present results add further in vivo evidence that not only phosphorylation but also dephosphorylation is a major mechanism involved in learning and memory. Therefore, inhibition of hippocampal phosphatase activity might improve learning and memory.
Mean Platelet Volume in the Early Phase of Acute Ischemic Stroke Is Not Associated with Severity or Functional Outcome
Authors: Ntaios George , Gurer Ozgur , Faouzi Mohamed , Aubert Carole , Michel Patrik
Published: March 2010

Background: Previous studies reported an increase of mean platelet volume (MPV) in patients with acute ischemic stroke. However, its correlation with stroke severity has not been investigated. Moreover, studies on the association of MPV with functional outcome yielded inconsistent results. Methods: We included all consecutive ischemic stroke patients admitted to CHUV (Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois) Neurology Service within 24 h after stroke onset who had MPV measured on admission. The association of MPV with stroke severity (NIHSS score at admission and at 24 h) and outcome (Rankin Scale score at 3 and 12 months) was analyzed in univariate analysis. The χ2 test was performed to compare the frequency of minor strokes (NIHSS score ≤4) and good functional outcome (Rankin Scale score ≤2) across MPV quartiles. The ANOVA test was used to compare MPV between stroke subtypes according to the TOAST classification. Student’s two-tailed unpaired t test was performed to compare MPV between lacunar and nonlacunar strokes. MPV was generated at admission by the Sysmex XE-2100 automated cell counter (Sysmex Corporation, Kobe, Japan) from EDTA blood samples. Results: There was no significant difference in the frequency of minor strokes (p = 0.46) and good functional outcome (p = 0.06) across MPV quartiles. MPV was not associated with stroke severity or outcome in univariate analysis. There was no significant difference in MPV between stroke subtypes according to the TOAST classification (p = 0.173) or between lacunar and nonlacunar strokes (10.50 ± 0.91 vs. 10.40 ± 0.81 fl, p = 0.322). Conclusions: MPV, assessed within 24 h after ischemic stroke onset, is not associated with stroke severity or functional outcome.
Difference in Infarct Volume and Patterns between Cardioembolism and Internal Carotid Artery Disease: Focus on the Degree of Cardioembolic Risk and Carotid Stenosis
Authors: Jung Jin-Man , Kwon Sun U. , Lee Jae-Hong , Kang Dong-Wha
Published: March 2010

Background and Objective: Infarct volume and patterns may vary according to the stroke subtype. Within each stroke subtype, however, it is not clear if the infarct volume and patterns are affected by the risk of cardioembolism (CE) and the degree of arterial stenosis. Patients and Methods: We included consecutive patients with acute symptomatic ischemic lesions on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) performed within 48 h of symptom onset who had CE or internal carotid artery disease (ICAD). CE was divided into high-risk and medium-risk groups, and ICAD was divided into ICA occlusion (ICAO) and ICA stenosis (ICAS ≧50%) groups. DWI lesion patterns were classified as single versus multiple, and as large territorial versus perforating artery (large ≧2 cm, small <2 cm) versus pial artery versus border zone infarct. Infarct volumes and National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores were obtained. Results: Of the 167 patients included, 120 had CE (98 high-risk, 22 medium-risk) and 47 had ICAD (25 ICAO, 22 ICAS). The infarct volume was largest in the high-risk CE group, followed by the ICAO group. The infarct volumes in the medium-risk CE and ICAS groups were similar. Infarct volumes correlated with NIHSS scores. Single and large territorial infarcts were more common in the high-risk CE group, while multiple lesions as well as pial and border zone infarcts were more frequent in the ICAD subgroups. The lesion patterns of the medium-risk CE and ICAD groups were relatively similar. Conclusions: CE and ICAD have heterogeneous radiologic characteristics depending on the risk of embolism and the degree of carotid stenosis.
Novel Hemostatic Factor Levels and Risk of Ischemic Stroke: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study
Authors: Suri M. Fareed K. , Yamagishi Kazumasa , Aleksic Nena , Hannan Peter J. , Folsom Aaron R.
Published: March 2010

Background and Objective: The role of hemostatic factor levels in cerebral infarction remains uncertain. We studied the association of levels of several under-studied hemostatic factors with ischemic stroke in a population-based cohort. Methods: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study includes 15,792 individuals aged 45–54 years at intake. Hemostatic factors II, V, IX, X, XI, XII, plasminogen and α2-antiplasmin were measured on frozen citrate plasma samples from 1990 to 1992. A case-cohort design was used, including all incident ischemic strokes (n = 89) over a median of 7.5 years and a stratified cohort random sample (n = 412). To determine the association of hemostatic factors with incident ischemic stroke, we computed hazard ratios (HRs) using multivariate proportional hazard regression analyses adjusted for demographic and other cardiovascular risk factors. Results: The cohort random sample had a mean age (SD) of 56.9 (5.4) years and 42% were men. The age-, sex- and race-adjusted HRs for highest versus lowest quartiles were: factor XI (2.74, 95% CI 1.42–5.29), factor IX (1.92, 95% CI 0.99–3.73), and α2-antiplasmin (2.24, 95% CI 1.16–4.33). Correspondingly, the HRs of ischemic stroke per SD increment of factors XI, IX, and α2-antiplasmin were 1.64, 1.46 and 1.52, respectively (all p < 0.05). After multivariate adjustment including other clinical variables, the standardized HR remained significant for factor XI (1.50, 95% CI 1.10–2.05), but no other factor. Conclusion: A greater level of factor XI was associated with an increased risk of ischemic stroke. Higher factor XI levels might help identify patients at elevated ischemic stroke risk.
Carnitine Deficiency Aggravates Cyclophosphamide-Induced Cardiotoxicity in Rats
Authors: Fatani Amal G. , Darweesh Amal Q. , Rizwan Lubna , Aleisa Abdulaziz M. , Al-Shabanah Othman A. , Sayed-Ahmed Mohamed M.
Published: March 2010

Background: This study examined, for the first time, the involvement of carnitine deficiency in cardiotoxicity, particularly cyclophosphamide (CP)-induced cardiomyopathy, as well as effects of carnitine supplementation with propionyl-L-carnitine (PLC) on cardiotoxicity. Methods: An animal model of carnitine deficiency was developed in rats treated with D-carnitine (DC)-mildronate (MD). Adult male Wistar albino rats were assigned to one of six treatment groups: the first three groups were injected intraperitoneally with normal saline, PLC (250 mg/kg/day), and DC (250 mg/kg/day) combined with MD (200 mg/kg/day), respectively, for 10 successive days. In groups 4–6, the same doses of normal saline, PLC and DC-MD were injected, respectively, during the 5 successive days before and after a single dose of CP (200 mg/kg). On day 6 after CP treatment, 24-hour urine was collected, then animals were sacrificed, and serum as well as hearts were isolated. Results: CP caused a significant increase in serum creatine phosphokinase isoenzyme (CK-MB), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), urinary carnitine excretion and clearance and intramitochondrial acetyl-CoA/CoA-SH, and a significant decrease in serum free carnitine, total carnitine and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) contents in cardiac tissue. In the carnitine-depleted rats, CP induced dramatic increases in CK-MB and LDH levels, carnitine clearance and intramitochondrial acetyl-CoA/CoA-SH, as well as progressive reduction in total carnitine and ATP in cardiac tissues. Interestingly, PLC supplementation completely reversed the biochemical and histopathological changes induced by CP to the control values. Conclusion: (1) Carnitine deficiency is a risk factor which is involved in CP-related cardiomyopathy; (2) serum and urinary carnitine levels should be monitored and viewed as indices of CP-induced multiple organ toxicity, and (3) carnitine supplementation, using PLC, prevents the development of CP-induced cardiotoxicity.
Isolation and Characterization of 5α-Pregnane-3, 20-dione and Progesterone in Peripheral Blood of Pregnant Women
Authors: Milewich Leon , Gomez-Sanchez Celso , Madden James D. , MacDonald Paul C.
Published: March 2010

5Α-Pregnane-3,20-dione and progesterone were isolated from a pregnancy plasma pool and were identified by using a combination of chromatographic techniques and mass spectrometry. Antibodies to progesterone were obtained in rabbits by immunization with progesterone-1Α-carboxyethyl-thioether-thyroglobulin. The raised antibodies were of high affinity and one of them cross-reacted (137%) with 5Α-pregnane-3,20-dione. This property was used to develop radioimmunoassays for measuring circulating levels of both progesterone and 5Α-pregnane-3,20-dione in pregnancy plasma. The levels of both progesterone and 5Α-pregnane-3,20-dione increase throughout pregnancy, but a highly significant increase is observed only after the 32nd week of gestation.
Peripheral Artery Disease Is Associated With a High CD163/TWEAK Plasma Ratio
Authors: Moreno Juan A. , Dejouvencel Tiphaine , Labreuche Julien , Smadja David M. , Dussiot Michaël , Martin-Ventura José L. , Egido Jesús , Gaussem Pascale , Emmerich Joseph , Michel Jean-Baptiste , Blanco-Colio Luis M. , Meilhac Olivier
Published: March 2010

Objective—

In addition to its role in the clearance of haptoglobin-hemoglobin (Hp-Hb) complexes, CD163 is a macrophage scavenger receptor for tumor necrosis factor–like weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK). We recently reported that the CD163/TWEAK plasma ratio could be a potential biomarker of atherothrombosis in asymptomatic subjects. In this study, we assessed soluble TWEAK (sTWEAK) and soluble CD163 (sCD163) plasma levels in white males with peripheral artery disease (PAD) and in atherothrombotic femoral plaques to evaluate their relationship with disease. We also analyzed whether Hp-Hb complexes could compete for CD163-mediated TWEAK uptake.

Methods and Results—

Patients with PAD (n=155) showed a trend toward lower sTWEAK (median [interquartile range]: 134 [110–204] versus 147 [119–205] pg/mL;
P
=0.067) and higher sCD163 (median [interquartile range]: 367 [269–506] versus 288 [234–369] ng/mL;
P
<0.001) plasma concentrations than age-matched controls (n=251). sCD163 and sTWEAK plasma levels were negatively correlated in both patients and controls. After stratification according to the severity of disease, sCD163/sTWEAK ratio was significantly increased in patients with more severe disease relative to the other groups (
P
=0.049). Analysis of conditioned medium obtained from cultured human atherothrombotic femoral plaque samples (n=36) and healthy aortas (n=14) revealed that high amounts of sCD163 were released by the atherothrombotic tissue, whereas sTWEAK presented the opposite trend (
P
<0.05). Finally, we report a potential association between CD163 shedding and oxidative stress.

Conclusion—

Our results suggest that the sCD163/sTWEAK plasma ratio may be associated with atherothrombosis burden in PAD. We hypothesize that an imbalance between TWEAK and CD163 could reflect the progression of atherothrombosis.
Impaired Development of Atherosclerosis in
Abcg1
−/−
Apoe
−/−
Mice
Authors: Tarling Elizabeth J. , Bojanic Dragana D. , Tangirala Rajendra K. , Wang Xuping , Lovgren-Sandblom Anita , Lusis Aldons J. , Bjorkhem Ingemar , Edwards Peter A.
Published: March 2010

Objective—

To generate
Abcg1
−/−
Apoe
−/−
mice to understand the mechanism and cell types involved in changes in atherosclerosis after loss of ABCG1.

Methods and Results—

ABCG1 is highly expressed in macrophages and endothelial cells, 2 cell types that play important roles in the development of atherosclerosis.
Abcg1
−/−
Apoe
−/−
and
Apoe
−/−
mice and recipient
Apoe
−/−
mice that had undergone transplantation with bone marrow from
Apoe
−/−
or
Abcg1
−/−
Apoe
−/−
mice were fed a Western diet for 12 or 16 weeks before quantification of atherosclerotic lesions. These studies demonstrated that loss of ABCG1 from all tissues, or from only hematopoietic cells, was associated with significantly smaller lesions that contained increased numbers of TUNEL- and cleaved caspase 3–positive apoptotic
Abcg1
−/−
macrophages. We also identified specific oxysterols that accumulate in the brains and macrophages of the
Abcg1
−/−
Apoe
−/−
mice. These oxysterols promoted apoptosis and altered the expression of proapoptotic genes when added to macrophages in vitro.

Conclusion—

Loss of ABCG1 from all tissues or from only hematopoietic cells results in smaller atherosclerotic lesions populated with increased apoptotic macrophages, by processes independent of ApoE. Specific oxysterols identified in tissues of
Abcg1
−/−
Apoe
−/−
mice may be critical because they induce macrophage apoptosis and the expression of proapoptotic genes.
ABCD
2
Score Predicts Severity Rather Than Risk of Early Recurrent Events After Transient Ischemic Attack
Authors: Chandratheva Arvind , Geraghty Olivia C. , Luengo-Fernandez Ramon , Rothwell Peter M.
Published: March 2010

Background and Purpose—

The ABCD
2
score predicts the early risk of stroke after transient ischemic attack (TIA). However, data on the severity of recurrent events would also be useful. Do patients with high scores also have more severe early recurrent strokes, perhaps further justifying hospital admission? Do patients with low scores have a low early risk of recurrent TIA as well as recurrent stroke?

Methods—

We completed a prospective, population-based study in Oxfordshire, England, of 500 consecutive patients presenting with TIA from April 1, 2002, by using multiple methods of case ascertainment (Oxford Vascular Study). Recurrent TIA, minor stroke, and major stroke (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score >3 at the time of first assessment) were identified by face-to-face follow-up. Predictive value was expressed as the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve.

Results—

Of 500 patients with TIA, 55 had a recurrent TIA (11.0%; 95% CI, 8.3% to 13.7%) and 50 had a recurrent stroke (10.0%; 95% CI, 7.5% to 12.0%) within 7 days. The ABCD
2
score was highly predictive of major recurrent stroke (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve=0.80; 95% CI, 0.72 to 0.87,
P
<0.0001), weakly predictive of minor stroke (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve=0.57; 95% CI, 0.43 to 0.71,
P
=0.26), and inversely related to risk of recurrent TIA (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve=0.37; 95% CI, 0.29 to 0.44,
P
=0.001) (overall heterogeneity,
P
<0.0001). The score predicted stroke-related disability, length of stay for recurrent stroke, and hence, overall acute hospital care costs.

Conclusions—

The ABCD
2
score predicts severity of recurrent events after TIA, high scores being associated with major recurrent stroke and low scores with high rates of recurrent TIA. These findings have implications for cost-benefit analyses of policies on hospital admission for patients with high scores and for the advice given to patients with low scores.
Excess Body Weight and Incidence of Stroke
Authors: Strazzullo Pasquale , D'Elia Lanfranco , Cairella Giulia , Garbagnati Francesca , Cappuccio Francesco P. , Scalfi Luca
Published: March 2010

Background and Purpose—

A systematic review of the prospective studies addressing the relationship of overweight and obesity to major stroke subtypes is lacking. We evaluated the occurrence of a graded association between overweight, obesity, and incidence of ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke by a meta-analysis of cohort studies.

Methods—

A search of online databases and relevant reviews was performed. Inclusion criteria were original article in English, prospective study design, follow-up ≥4 years, indication of number of subjects exposed, and number of events across body mass index categories. Crude unadjusted relative risk (RR) and 95% CI were calculated for each study for overweight or obese compared with normal-weight categories. Log-transformed values and SE were used to calculate the pooled RR with random effects models; publication bias was checked. Additional analyses were performed using the multivariate estimates of risk reported in the individual studies.

Results—

Twenty-five studies were included, with 2 274 961 participants and 30 757 events. RR for ischemic stroke was 1.22 (95% CI, 1.05–1.41) for overweight and 1.64 (95% CI, 1.36–1.99) for obesity, whereas RR for hemorrhagic stroke was 1.01 (95% CI, 0.88–1.17) and 1.24 (95% CI, 0.99–1.54), respectively. Subgroup and meta-regression analyses ruled out gender, population average age, body mass index and blood pressure, year of recruitment, year of study publication, and length of follow-up as significant sources of heterogeneity. The additional analyses relying on the published multivariate estimates of risk provided qualitatively similar results.

Conclusions—

Overweight and obesity are associated with progressively increasing risk of ischemic stroke, at least in part, independently from age, lifestyle, and other cardiovascular risk factors.
Reforming the Work to Combat Long-Term Homelessness in Sweden
Authors: Löfstrand Cecilia Hansen
Published: March 2010

Examining recent strategies to combat long-term homelessness, the article looks at two social policy reforms implemented in a Swedish municipality. The first of these involved dismantling of the existing hostel system and its replacement with the ‘housing staircase’ model. The second meant the end of the housing staircase model and the engagement of private for-profit companies in the municipal special-housing service provision. By incorporating the new actors within its homeless policy framework, however, the municipality has merely adjusted its approach to accommodate a practice already followed on the ground to legitimize an existing situation. The reforms resulted in revisions to official policy and organizational structures, while actual practices remained unaffected. As a result, little has changed in the situation of the long-term homeless. Regardless of the type of service supplier (municipal, for profit or non-profit), measures to counteract homelessness in Sweden have remained dependent on a general premise equating homelessness with addiction, mental illness and deviance more broadly. Alternatives based on access to regular housing are not even debated, despite the success such approaches have had elsewhere.
Sickness Absence among Immigrants in Norway, 1992—2003
Authors: Dahl Svenn-Åge , Hansen Hans-Tore , Olsen Karen M.
Published: March 2010

Utilizing register panel data (1992—2003), in this article we study long-term sickness absence among immigrants and ethnic Norwegians ( n = 200,022). The data contain detailed information on socio-economic background, labour market participation and social insurance benefits for all individuals aged between 16 and 67 years residing in Norway. We present four main findings: (1) There is no difference in sickness absence between ethnic Norwegians and immigrants from the other Nordic countries, Western and Eastern Europe after controlling for demographic, socio-economic and labour market factors; (2) the sickness absence rates are higher among individuals from Asia (men and women) and Africa (men), and lower among men from North America and Oceania compared with ethnic Norwegians; (3) second-generation immigrants share the same level of sickness absence as ethnic Norwegians; (4) residence time has a curve-linear effect (reversed U-shape) on sickness absence for most immigrant groups. We discuss the findings in relation to the reason for emigrating, health risks related to immigration, social exclusion and norms towards sickness absence.
LGB of Color and White Individuals’ Perceptions of Heterosexist Stigma, Internalized Homophobia, and Outness: Comparisons of Levels and Links
Authors: Moradi Bonnie , Wiseman Marcie C. , DeBlaere Cirleen , Goodman Melinda B. , Sarkees Anthony , Brewster Melanie E. , Huang Yu-Ping
Published: March 2010

Conceptual discussions about LGB people of color suggest that, compared with White LGB individuals, LGB people of color may be exposed to greater levels of heterosexist stigma and its deleterious correlates (greater risk) or may be more resilient to such stigma (resilience). This study tested tenets of these two perspectives with a sample of 178 LGB persons, about 50% of whom identified as White and 50% as people of color. Findings suggested similarities between LGB people of color and White LGB individuals in levels of perceived heterosexist stigma, internalized homophobia, and comfort with disclosure of sexual orientation and in relations of heterosexist stigma with sexual orientation disclosure variables. But, compared with data for White LGB participants, data for LGB people of color suggested lower levels of outness and a weaker relation between perceived heterosexist stigma and internalized homophobia. Implications of these findings for further research and practice are discussed.
Reaction to the Special Issue on Centralizing the Experiences of LGB People of Color in Counseling Psychology
Authors: Zea Maria Cecilia
Published: March 2010

This reaction article comments on the Major Contribution “Centralizing the Experiences of LGB People of Color in Counseling Psychology.” The content analysis of the published literature on lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people of color from 1998 to 2007 provides much-needed information that will help psychologists set future research agendas and move the field forward. The methodological issues associated with doing research on LGB and transgender people of color raise important issues to be considered from the inception of research questions to dissemination of findings. Respondent-driven sampling is proposed as an additional recruitment method for working with LGB people of color. The empirical contribution “LGB of Color and White Individuals’ Perceptions of Heterosexist Stigma, Internalized Homophobia, and Outness” succeeded at addressing several limitations uncovered in the content analysis of research on LGB people of color. This special issue was successful in accomplishing its main goal, centralizing the experiences of LGB people of color.
Reversed Direction of Worker Rotation in Worsted Carding
Authors: Atkinson Ken
Published: March 2010

The effect of reversing the direction of rotation of workers on the swift of a worsted card was studied in a trial that included processing to top. Experimental conditions studied were worker draft (three levels), doffer draft (two levels), and wool type (two levels). Production rate was held constant throughout at values typical for worsted carding, ~1 gsm production fiber density on the swift and standard topmaking procedures were used after carding. The results showed that the only effect of reversing the direction of rotation identified was increased fiber breakage and noil at the lowest opening roller draft (0.4 %). A tracer fiber study failed to identify any effect of the direction of worker rotation on the fiber structure of the card web. The reason for the increased fiber breakage with reversed direction of rotation at very low draft was thought to be the increased loading in the nip due to the trailing ends of the fibers. The implications of reversing worker rotation for roller carding in general are briefly considered.
Comparison of Dyeing Behavior between Hollow and Standard Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate) Fibers
Authors: Topal Omer , Kanik Mehmet , Altun Sule
Published: March 2010

The dyeing behavior of hollow poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET) fibers was investigated by comparison with standard PET fibers. Three different disperse dyes were used to dye both hollow and standard polyester fabrics. The effects of the molecular size of the disperse dye, dye concentration, dyeing temperature, absorbance and reflectance values, brightness index, color strength ( K/ S value), and wash fastness properties were evaluated. Although the absorbance values of the fibers were almost equal for both fibers, the color strength values of hollow fibers were lower than those of standard fibers. The reflectance values and brightness indexes of hollow fibers were found to be higher than those of standard fibers. The wash fastness values of the fibers dyed with the same dyeing recipe were observed to be similar.
A Parametric Model of Fiber Transfer from Swift to Doffer
Authors: Atkinson Ken
Published: March 2010

A parametric model of fiber transfer to a doffer, based on the geometry of the system and physical models of fiber transfer, was developed to describe the efficiency with which doffers collect fiber from the high-speed carding roller. Doffer speed, normalized to that of the cylinder, was adopted as the variable and parameters, such as wire height, pitch, width, and fiber-layer thickness on the cylinder, were introduced to describe the process of fiber transfer. The equation for doffer efficiency developed by this procedure was tested by fitting it to data on hauteur and noil from a worsted-carding trial employing a range of drafts and production rates. The calculated efficiency of the doffer for these trials was found to lie in the range 0.15—0.25. The effects of changes in the dimensions of the card wire and layer thickness were predicted by changing the values of the parameters.
Near Infrared Measurement of Cotton Fiber Micronaire by Portable Near Infrared Instrumentation
Authors: Rodgers James , Fortier Chanel , Montalvo Joseph , Xiaoliang Cui  , Sho Yeung Kang  , Martin Vikki
Published: March 2010

In the U.S.A., cotton is classed (primary quality parameters) by the Uster ® High Volume Instrument (HVI), which must be maintained under tightly controlled laboratory environmental conditions. Improved and fast response quality measurement systems and tools are needed to rapidly assess the quality of cotton. One key area of emphasis and need is the development and implementation of new fast-response quality measurements that can be used not only in the laboratory but which also can be adapted to field and at-line quality measurements. A program was implemented to determine the ability of portable near-infrared (NIR) instrumentation to monitor critical fiber properties of cotton samples in the laboratory, at-line, and in the field, with initial emphasis on the laboratory measurement of cotton fiber micronaire. Micronaire is a key cotton property, and it is an indicator of the fiber’s maturity and fineness. Distinct NIR spectral differences between samples with varying micronaire were observed. A comparative evaluation was performed to determine optimum instrumental conditions for laboratory cotton micronaire measurements. The comparative evaluation established that the optimum instrumental conditions for laboratory measurements of micronaire was obtained with the use of a glass-covered sampling port and increased instrumental gain, with high R2 values, low residuals, and with ≤ 12% outliers. For a NIR measurement with potential for multiple simultaneous analyses and non-laboratory measurements, the micronaire measurement was fast (< 3 min per sample) and easy to perform. The rapid and accurate laboratory measurement of cotton fiber micronaire with portable NIR instrumentation was demonstrated.
Some Properties of Antimicrobial Coated Knitted Textile Material Evaluation
Authors: Asanović Koviljka , Mihailović Tatjana , Škundrić Petar , Simović Ljiljana
Published: March 2010

The aim of this work was to investigate the antimicrobial activity of knitted fabric intended for medical purposes as well as the influence of antimicrobial treatment on the compression work, volume resistivity, water sorption. and water retention of the examined material. Polyamide/elastane plain jersey knitted fabric was treated with a polymer matrix of chitosan gel in which either gentamicin sulfate or autochthonous essential oil of Picea abies was incorporated as an active substance. The treated fabrics showed a wide range of antimicrobial activity on microorganisms ( Staphilococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella and Candida albicans ) and therefore may have various medical applications. However, antimicrobial treatment changed the mechanical and physical-hygienic properties of the knitted fabric. The antimicrobial coatings decreased the total, elastic and irreversible compression work, water sorption, and volume resistivity, and increased the water retention of the fabrics. Antimicrobial treatment with chitosan and gentamicin sulfate produced a knitted fabric with good antimicrobial properties. However, if good mechanical and physical-hygienic properties are required, antimicrobial treatment with chitosan and essential oil of Picea abies has the advantage over treatment with gentamicin sulfate.
Enzymatic Treatments to Improve the Dyeability of Linen Fabrics: Optimization and Empirical Modeling using Experimental Design Techniques
Authors: Gouveia Isabel Cristina , Dias Liliana P. , Fiadeiro José Miguel , Queiroz João António
Published: March 2010

Dyeing faults in linen fabrics are common owing to the presence of residual lignin and pectin. Their elimination is carried out, most commonly, using alkaline methods that can damage fibers. Here we report a new enzymatic pretreatment that is more selective and ecological. Accordingly, three enzymes were tested in several concentration combinations: Viscozyme L, a carbohydrate-enzyme; Pectinex Ultra S-PL, a pectolytic enzyme; and NovoSample NS51003, a laccase from Aspergillus sp. Runs were settled by a three-factor Central Composite Design. Afterwards, the samples were dyed using a direct dye (CI Direct Blue 86) to evaluate the dyeability of the treated fabrics. The lightness variation (Δ L) and color differences (Δ E) were selected as the design responses and were analyzed using the response surface methodology. The phloroglucinol assay was applied to confirm the lignin degradation. Moreover, the results showed that a one-step enzymatic treatment using the three selected enzymes lead to a higher dye uptake (Δ L = —2.20) and lower color differences (Δ E = 0.64), compared with the non-treated sample (control: Δ L = 0 and Δ E = 2.732), using a cocktail of the three enzymes in a proportion of 3.9 ml/l of Viscozyme L, 2.34 ml/l of Pectinex Ultra SPL and 4.35ml/l of NS51003 laccase. Under these conditions the linen fabrics showed an important improvement in color uniformity after dyeing with the selected direct dye.