bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Well-Control Procedures for Dual Gradient Drilling as Compared to Conventional Riser Drilling
Authors: Schubert J. J. , Juvkam-Wold H. C. , Choe J.
Published: January 2007

To meet the world's increasing demand for energy, petroleum-producing companies must search for oil and gas in increasingly hostile environments. One area showing great promise is in the deepwater areas of the US Gulf of Mexico. This is evidenced by increased lease sales and drilling activity that have occurred there within the recent years. As drilling moves into deeper waters, new technologies must be developed for safe and successful operations.

Around 1996, four projects were initiated to develop dual-gradient drilling (DGD) technology for use in water depths greater than 5,000 ft. The four projects are Shell Oil Co.'s project (Gonzalez 2000), the SubSea MudLift Drilling Joint Industry Project (Smith 2000) (SMD), the Deep Vision project (Sjoberg 2000), and Maurer Technology's Hollow Glass Spheres project (Maurer 2000). Several publications have discussed the advantages that DGD technology has over conventional deepwater drilling in ultradeepwaters (Gault 1996; Schubert 1999; Smith et al. 1999).

Although the advantages of the dual-gradient projects are well documented, there has been little published on one of the major concerns expressed by all four projects. That is, how does well control differ for Dual-Gradient Drilling as compared to conventional riser drilling (Schubert 1999; Juvkam-Wold and Schubert 2000; Weddle and Schubert 2000)? This paper reports on a comparison of the well-control aspects of DGD to those of conventional riser drilling. It is based on the work that the authors performed as part of the SMD project.
Serial Logic: Folklore and Difference in the Age of Feel-Good Multiculturalism
Authors: Lau Kimberly J.
Published: January 2007

The serialization of products and events appeals to consumer desires in ways that also influence folkloristic paradigms for sharing cultural knowledges and presenting cultural arts. This article seeks to identify the logic of serialization and to problematize its relationship to our marketing of folk practices in the social context of feel-good multiculturalism.
Digression and Insertion in a Belizean Folktale
Authors: Thomas Chad Ryan
Published: January 2007

In folk stories, digressions and insertions can embody information about the narrator’s storytelling strategy. A recently collected Belizean folktale demonstrates this. In a digression, the narrator leaves the narrative context. An insertion is where one part of the narrative intrudes on another. A digression may clarify the narrator’s job, provide commentary, or explain the story. An insertion may reinforce a point or increase suspense while elaborating on setting.
Go-between: The Roles of Native American Women and Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca in Southern Texas in the 16th Century
Authors: Wade Mariah
Published: January 2007

Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca’s Naufragios y Comentarios con Dos Cartas y Relación de Hernando de Ribera is unique because it is the first document about contact between Europeans and Native Americans in Texas, and it is the only document, for this area, in which the rules of the game were reversed and the colonizer became Other to those he came to colonize. This 1540s narrative is rich in cultural material about the native groups encountered and particularly the roles of Native American women.
Powwow Patter: Indian Emcee Discourse on Power and Identity
Authors: Gelo Daniel J.
Published: January 2007

Emcees of southern Plains Indian powwows are distinctive verbal artists and agents in the continuing negotiation of Indian identity. Their formal announcements and jovial patter construct an overtly "Indian" space and time while fostering discourse on ethnicity, a discourse that carries over into other settings through traditional transmission of the emcee’s jokes and observations. Examples are drawn from 15 years of fieldwork at Comanche, Kiowa, Pawnee, and Alabama-Coushatta events.
The Carriacou Mas’ as "Syncretic Artifact"
Authors: Fayer Joan M. , McMurray Joan F.
Published: January 2007

Competitive performances of speeches from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar at village crossroads by pairs of costumed men are part of the carnival celebrations in Carriacou. Poor or inaccurate recitations result in the whipping of one mas’ player by his opponent and a challenge for additional recitations by another player. These performances, which are similar to those that once existed on other Anglophone West Indian islands, combine English mummers, European carnival, and West African traditions.
The Uses of Folklore by the Franco Regime
Authors: Ortiz Carmen
Published: January 2007

The role that popular tradition, invented or "genuine" but presented from a privileged position, plays in nationalist political movements is well known. Similar to other totalitarian systems, the Spanish Francoist regime (1939-75) appropriated and misused folklore in various ways. In this article I survey several of these uses, such as the strengthening of political legitimacy—actually enforced through a coup and a bloody civil war—by resorting to some supposedly pristine, spiritual values of the Spanish people, as symbolized by the peasantry. Other uses of folklore were the practical exploitation of models, symbols, and characters of traditional poetry to present an epic image of Franco and his regime and the recourse to folk music presentations abroad with diplomatic and propagandistic purposes.
"Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do Unto You": Frederick Douglass’s Proverbial Struggle for Civil Rights
Authors: Mieder Wolfgang
Published: January 2007

As a deeply religious person, Frederick Douglass (1818-95) relied heavily on biblical proverbs to strengthen the social and moral statements in his debates, lectures, and writings. But while the biblical proverbs provided religious authority to Douglass’s deliberations, he was also very much aware of the social significance of folk proverbs in his fight against slavery and for civil rights. The proverbs function as authoritative and collective statements, and they serve as important social and moral messages. As such, proverbs show themselves to be traditional wisdom well suited to becoming verbal weapons in the fight for freedom, democracy, and civil rights.
Otomí Rituals and Celebrations: Crosses, Ancestors, and Resurrection
Authors: Correa Phyllis M.
Published: January 2007

In the case presented in this article, an elderly resident from a rural community inundated by a large dam built in the late 1960s in central Mexico continues to celebrate a variety of rituals and ceremonies throughout the year. With his family and a few close friends, he venerates the community’s founding ancestors and sacred images in his home on the outskirts of San Miguel de Allende. As a result, despite the loss of the original community and the dispersal of its inhabitants, the traditions, values, and beliefs conforming to a general Mesoamerican pattern with a particular Otomí configuration--which emphasizes the worship of crosses, Saint Michael the Archangel, Saint James, the four cardinal directions and winds, sacrifice, military conquest, and the ancestors--are transmitted to the extended family members who reside together. The article proposes, therefore, that popular religion in Mexico, while retaining a central core of prehispanic elements and beliefs that forms the basis for its ideology and cosmology, is not necessarily conservative or static. It is continually created and re-created as traditions are transmitted both orally and through participation in rituals and ceremonies, while it simultaneously responds and adjusts to changes caused by external and internal factors that constantly restructure the relationships and patterns of participation of individuals and groups throughout the region.
Chinese Funerals in San Francisco Chinatown: American Chinese Expressions in Mortuary Ritual Performance
Authors: Crowder Linda Sun
Published: January 2007

The public performance of funeral rituals in San Francisco Chinatown is a viewing lens through which the cultural identity of this famous ethnic community and tourist attraction is exposed. While the varied range of mortuary performances reveals the heterogeneous composition of a multiethnic Chinese place, the majority of funerals are of a standard ritual type that identifies the self-image of Chinatown as being modernized, urban Chinese. Modified and formulated in the U.S. context, the Chinatown funeral is a hybrid composite of traditional Chinese and Western cultural and religious elements. Crafted and constituted by Chinatown, these syncretic, Americanized funerals are American Chinese cultural expressions of a localized Chinatown culture.
Food Gifts: Ritual Exchange and the Production of Excess Meaning
Authors: Shuman Amy
Published: January 2007

Food exchanges often produce excesses of meaning, and those excesses can be spaces for maintaining or renegotiating social relationships. The Jewish festival of Purim enacts symbolic inversions of everyday cultural practices that produce excesses of food and food exchanges that symbolically threaten religious, social, and interpersonal social categories. Building on theories of gift exchange, from Marcel Mauss to Annette Weiner, I explore the limits and capacities of reciprocity to negotiate social relationships.
Politics on the Pavement: Haitian Rara as a Traditionalizing Process
Authors: Largey Michael
Published: January 2007

Rara is a Haitian Lenten festival that features exuberant dancing and singing as well as strong connections to the Haitian traditional religion known as Vodou. This article examines Rara as a traditionalizing process that creates discursive space for lower-class Haitians to include themselves as agents in Haitian history and politics. By analyzing the products of Rara performances--song texts, street performances, and narratives about past Rara celebrations--in their complex social and historical contexts, it is possible to see Rara performances not merely as entertaining diversions but as shaping influences on Haitians’ understanding of their political reality.
"Authentic Audience" inP’ansori, a Korean Storytelling Tradition
Authors: Park Chan
Published: January 2007

In labor and in leisure, the concept of p’an is an imagined frame of wholehearted participation, where "performance" is sublimated as a processual ritual of "flow." P’ansori, a storytelling tradition of folk origin, is a p’an whereby performer and audience engage in a mutually reflexive communion of performance and reception. Removed from its cultural context and designated as "national treasure," its theater assumes a ritual of tradition making.
Fluctuating asymmetry and stress in a medieval Nubian population
Authors: DeLeon Valerie B.
Published: January 2007

Fluctuating asymmetry is commonly used as a bioindicator of developmental stress. This study addresses asymmetry under nutritional/systemic stress in the human craniofacial skeleton and its utility as an indicator of developmental instability. Crania from the diachronic Christian cemeteries at Kulubnarti (Sudanese Nubia) were chosen as a model for nutrition/systemic stress. Previous studies indicate that individuals from the Early Christian cemetery were subjected to greater developmental stress when compared with individuals from the Late Christian cemetery. Therefore, crania from the Early Christian cemetery should display a greater magnitude of fluctuating asymmetry than crania from the Late Christian cemetery. Thirty adult crania of comparable age and sex were selected from each population. Landmark coordinates were digitized in two separate trials and averaged to minimize error. Euclidean distance matrix analysis (EDMA) was used to measure and compare the magnitude of fluctuating asymmetry in each sample. Results indicate that crania from the Early Christian cemetery display greater amounts of fluctuating asymmetry than those from the Late Christian cemetery, as predicted. The degree of fluctuating asymmetry for each linear distance is highly correlated between the cemeteries, suggesting that all humans may share common patterns of fluctuating asymmetry in the skull. In contrast, there is little correlation between magnitude of fluctuating asymmetry and length of linear distance, between‐subject variability, or measurement error. These results support the hypothesis that poor nutrition/systemic stress increases developmental instability in the human skull and that increased fluctuating asymmetry constitutes morphological evidence of this stress. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Interfacial properties of highly oriented coextruded polypropylene tapes for the creation of recyclable all‐polypropylene composites
Authors: Alcock B. , Cabrera N. O. , Barkoula N.‐M. , Loos J. , Peijs T.
Published: January 2007

The creation of highly oriented, coextruded polypropylene (PP) tapes allows the production of novel, wholly thermoplastic, recyclable “all‐polypropylene” (all‐PP) composites, which possess both a large temperature processing window (>30°C) and a high volume fraction of reinforcement phase (highly oriented PP tapes: >90%). This large processing window is achieved by using coextruded, highly drawn PP tapes. To achieve coherent all‐PP composites the interfacial characteristics following consolidation must be understood. This article investigates the interfacial characteristics of these coextruded tapes by using microcomposite models to create interfaces between tapes of varying draw ratios, drawing temperatures, skin/core ratios, and skin layer thicknesses. The tape drawing parameters are seen to control the interfacial properties in subsequent microcomposite models. The failure mode of these specimens, and hence bond strength, varies with consolidation temperature, and a model is proposed describing and explaining this behavior. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 104: 118–129, 2007
Effects of ozone treatment on the properties of raw and degummed tassar silk fabrics
Authors: Sargunamani D. , Selvakumar N.
Published: January 2007

Ozone is a powerful oxidizing agent and is widely used in various applications, which includes bleaching of cotton. Literature on the action of ozone on silk is almost not available. Therefore, an elaborate study was carried out to understand the effects of process parameters in the ozone treatment of raw and degummed tassar silk fabrics on their properties. The study was extended with a view to compare the ozone treatment with soap degumming and hydrogen peroxide treatment carried out on raw and degummed tassar silk fabrics, respectively. The treatment results in improvement in pliability of the fabric and reduction in color. Decrease in breaking strength, breaking elongation, and weight as well an increase in amino group content is also experienced by the material. The results obtained are substantiated with tyrosine content, scanning electron micrographs, and infrared spectroscopy of the treated materials. The effect of pH on the treatment is maximum upto pH 4 and then decreases. The treatment is more severe when the wet pickup used is 50% compared to 10 and 100%. With respect to treatment time, though the severity increases with time, it is maximum during the first 10 min of the treatment. Soap degumming of raw silk fabric results in little higher yellowness index and lesser loss in breaking strength and elongation and flexural rigidity compared to that of ozone‐treated material. There is not much of difference between ozone and hydrogen peroxide treatments of degummed silk fabric, except for the lesser yellowness index obtained in the latter case. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 104: 147–155, 2007
Thermal behaviors and flame‐retardancy of styrene–ethylene–butadiene–styrene–block copolymer containing various additives
Authors: Ishikawa Tomoyuki , Takasa Kenji , Yamashita Takehiko , Mizuno Kohshiroh , Takeda Kunihiko
Published: January 2007

The thermal behaviors and the flame‐retardancy of styrene–ethylene–butadiene–styrene–block copolymer containing various additives were studied. The combustion was measured by the Underwriter laboratory (UL) test and cone calorimeter test and thermogravimetric analysis and program‐mass spectroscopy were applied to analyze the thermal behaviors. The blend with halogen additives showed the best result in the UL test. However, the blend with red‐phosphorous was the best in the cone calorimeter test. As the styrene sequence in the copolymer tended to degradate at a lower temperature, the major scission products spouted out from the polymer surface originated from polystyrene. The shorter the ignition times of the blends with red‐phosphorous were, the lower the peak heat release rates were. It was an interesting phenomenon because it suggested that the chemical structure of the residue changed to more stable polymers. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 104: 156–161, 2007
Synthesis and characterization of TRITON™ X‐based surfactants with carboxylic or amino groups in the oxyethylene chain end
Authors: Lee Don‐Ik , Choi Jae‐Young , Lee Eun Sung , Ha Chang‐Suk , Han Myounghee , Bae Jin‐Young
Published: January 2007

This paper describes the synthesis and characterization of a series of TRITON™ X‐based surfactants with a predominantly alkyl phenol ethoxylate (APE) backbone and carboxylic or amino chain ends. Three carboxylic acid‐containing TRITON X (or APE)‐derivatives, [OPE2‐COOH], [OPE5‐COOH], and [OPE10‐COOH], were prepared from commercially available octyl phenol ethoxylate (OPE) of different oxyethylene units (i.e., n = 2, 5, and 10) and ethyl bromoacetate via a simple etherification reaction followed by saponification. Two amine‐containing TRITON X ‐derivatives, [NPE10‐NH2] and [NPE10‐imidazole], were prepared based on modifications of mesylate of nonyl phenol ethoxylate (NPE) of 10 oxyethylene units reacted with ammonia and imidazole, respectively. Depending on their composition and chain length of oxyethylene units used in the reaction, the surfactants show different thermal degradation behaviors. The carboxylic acid‐containing surfactants give no char at high temperatures under air condition. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 104: 162–170, 2007
Flexural, compression, chemical resistance, and morphology studies on granite powder‐filled epoxy and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene‐toughened epoxy matrices
Authors: Ramakrishna H. V. , Priya S. Padma , Rai S. K.
Published: January 2007

Granite powder is an inexpensive material that can reduce the overall cost of a composite if used as a filler in epoxy and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)‐toughened epoxy matrices. Epoxy and ABS‐toughened epoxy resins filled with granite powder were cast into sheets. To enhance the properties of these composites, granite powder was treated with triethoxymethyl silane coupling agent. Flexural properties, compression properties, chemical resistance, and morphology of these composites were studied. The filler used varied from 0 to 60 wt %. Composites consisting of ABS‐toughened epoxy with treated granite powder were found to be superior in mechanical properties to composites with treated and untreated granite powder. Composites with 50 wt % of granite powder was found to have maximum mechanical properties in all cases. All the three composites, i.e., untreated, treated and ABS toughened composites showed good resistance toward, acids, alkalis, and solvents. Treating granite powder with silane coupling agent enhances its mechanical properties and improves the interfacial bond between granite powder and the matrix. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 104: 171–177, 2007
Novel CO2 laser drawing of thermotropic liquid crystal polymer and poly(ethylene 2,6‐naphthalate) blend fibers
Authors: Kim Seong Yun , Kim Seong Hun , Kim Jun Young , Cho Hyun Hok
Published: January 2007

Thermotropic liquid crystal polymer (TLCP)/poly(ethylene 2,6‐naphthalate) (PEN) were prepared by a melt blending, and were melt spun by a spin‐draw process. In this study, we suggest novel drawing technology using the CO2 laser that can directly and uniformly heat up fiber inside to prevent the formation of ununiform structures in conventional heat drawing process. The properties of the heat/laser drawn TLCP/PEN blend fibers were superior to those of any other handled fibers, and were rather more excellent than those of TLCP/PEN blend fibers annealed at 135°C for 10 min. It was confirmed that the CO2 laser drawing made it possible to achieve the optimal drawing effect by draw ratio. The combined heating and CO2 laser‐drawing method has a great potential for industrial applications as a novel fiber‐drawing process, and it can also be applied continuously to conventional spin‐draw system. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 104: 205–211, 2007
Mathematical modeling of insulin sorption by ion‐exchange fiber
Authors: Medović Adela , Škundrić Petar , Pajić‐Lijaković Ivana , Kostić Mirjana
Published: January 2007

The objective of this study was to investigate the phenomenon and kinetics of insulin chemisorption by cation‐exchange acrylic fibers, as well as the development of theoretical modeling of the chemisorption process. Change of the insulin concentration in solution was determined by UV spectrophotometric method. The profile of insulin concentration in the fiber was determined by application of mathematical model. The developed mathematical model describes the chemisorption process using fractional kinetics equations of diffusion. Taking all the relevant conditions, regarding this experiment, into consideration, the coefficient of insulin diffusion into the fiber, overdamped effect parameter, as well as the concentration ratio parameter were determined by the mathematical model. Proposed modeling approach is useful for the description of transport dynamics in complex systems as polymer transport through the porous matrices, which are governed by anomalous diffusion. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 104: 253–260, 2007
Influence of enzymatic treatment on the properties of linen
Authors: Kan C. W. , Yuen C. W. M. , Jiang S. Q. , Tung W. S. , Cheng S. Y.
Published: January 2007

In this article, the effectiveness of cellulase treatment on linen was evaluated by means of phenol‐sulfuric acid method. This method was performed by determining sugar liberation in the treatment bath with the amount expressed in glucose equivalence. As compared with conventional method, the measurement of amount of sugar liberated gave a more reliable and accurate result than the weight loss method. It was found that although weight loss of cellulose became negligible when the treatment was done under agitation‐free condition, the amount of sugar liberated was still readily measurable. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 104: 286–289, 2007
Polyaniline encapsulated microporous polymer beads and their vapor and gas adsorption behavior
Authors: Deb Pramil C. , Rajput Lalit D. , Singh Pravin K.
Published: January 2007

Styrene‐maleic acid copolymer beads and styrene‐divinylbenzene beads were encapsulated with polyaniline by insitu oxidative polymerization of aniline. These beads both in unmodified and encapsulated forms were studied for their organic vapor and hydrogen adsorption behavior at 30°C and reduced pressure. Enhanced adsorption of hydrogen to the extent of 4.9 mass % was observed for encapsulated styrene‐maleic acid copolymer beads. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 104: 297–303, 2007
A. Asonuma, Y. Fang and R. Rousseau, ‘Reflections on the age distribution of Japanese scientists’. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology57(3) 2006, 342–346
Authors: Asonuma Akihiro , Fang Yong , Rousseau Ronald
Published: January 2007

The original article to which this Erratum refers was published in Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 57(3) 2006, 342–346.
Biochemical and structural features of a novel cyclodextrinase from cow rumen metagenome
Authors: Ferrer Manuel , Beloqui Ana , Golyshina Olga V. , Plou Francisco J. , Neef Alexander , Chernikova Tatyana N. , Fernández‐Arrojo Lucia , Ghazi Iraj , Ballesteros Antonio , Elborough Kieran , Timmis Kenneth N. , Golyshin Peter N.
Published: January 2007

A novel enzyme, RA.04, belonging to the α‐amylase family was obtained after expression of metagenomic DNA from rumen fluid (Ferrer et al.: Environ. Microbiol. 2005, 7, 1996–2010). The purified RA.04 has a tetrameric structure (280 kDa) and exhibited maximum activity (5000 U/mg protein) at 70°C and was active within an unusually broad pH range from 5.5 to 9.0. It maintained 80% activity at pH 5.0 and 9.5 and 75°C. The enzyme hydrolyzed α‐D‐(1,4) bonds 13‐fold faster than α‐D‐(1,6) bonds to yield maltose and glucose as the main products, and it exhibited transglycosylation activity. Its preferred substrates, in the descending order, were maltooligosaccharides (C3–C7), cyclomaltoheptaose (β‐CD), cyclomaltohexaose (α‐CD), cyclomaltooctaose (γ‐CD), soluble starch, amylose, pullulan and amylopectin. The biochemical properties and amino acid sequence alignments suggested that this enzyme is a cyclomaltodextrinase. However, despite the similarity in the catalytic module (with Glu359 and Asp331 being the catalytic nucleophile and substrate‐binding residues, respectively), the enzyme bears a shorter N‐terminal domain that may keep the active site more accessible for both starch and pullulan, compared to the other known CDases. Moreover, RA.04 lacks the well‐conserved N‐terminal Trp responsible for the substrate preference typical of CDases/MAases/PNases, suggesting a new residue is implicated in the preference for cyclic maltooligosaccharides. This study has demonstrated the usefulness of a metagenomic approach to gain novel debranching enzymes, important for the bread/food industries, from microbial environments with a high rate of plant polymer turnover, exemplified by the cow rumen.
Directed evolution of glucose oxidase from Aspergillus niger for ferrocenemethanol‐mediated electron transfer
Authors: Zhu Ziwei , Wang Mian , Gautam Amit , Nazor Jovana , Momeu Carmen , Prodanovic Radivoje , Schwaneberg Ulrich
Published: January 2007

A directed evolution protocol was developed for glucose oxidase (GOx) from Aspergillus niger that mimics applications conditions and employs a well‐known mediator, oxidized ferrocenemethanol, in a medium throughput screen (96‐well plate format). Upon reduction, oxidized ferrocenemethanol shows a color change from blue to pale yellow that can be recorded at 625 nm. Under optimized screening conditions, a CV of less than 20% was achieved in 96‐well microtiter plates. For validating the screening system, two mutant libraries of GOx were generated by standard error‐prone PCR conditions (0.04 mM MnCl2) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae was employed as host for secreted GOx expression. Two screening of ∼2000 GOx mutants yielded a double mutant (T30S I94V) with improved pH and thermal resistance. Thermal resistance at a residual activity of 50% was increased from 58°C (wild type, WT) to 62°C (T30S I94V) and pH stability was improved at basic pH (pH 8–11). Km for glucose remained nearly unchanged (20.8 mM WT; 21.3 mM T30S I94V) and kcat increased (69.5/s WT; 137.7/s T30S I94V).
Design and analysis of a long‐term live‐cell imaging chamber for tracking cellular dynamics within cultured human islets of Langerhans
Authors: Moogk Duane , Hanley Stephen , Ramunas John , Blaylock April , Skorepova Jana , Rosenberg Lawrence , Jervis Eric
Published: January 2007

A means of expanding islet cell mass is urgently needed to supplement the limited availability of donor islets of Langerhans for transplant. Live cell imaging of human islets in culture has the potential to identify the specific cells and processes involved in islet expansion. A novel imaging chamber was developed to facilitate long‐term three‐dimensional imaging of human islets during transformation. Islets have been induced to transform into duct‐like epithelial cystic structures and revert back to glucose responsive endocrine cells under appropriate conditions (Jamal et al. Cell Death Differ. 2005 12:702–712). Here we aim to further our understanding by characterizing the process at a single cell level over time—essentially constructing a high resolution recorded history of each cell and its progeny during transformation and reversion. The imaging chamber enables high resolution imaging of three‐dimensional islets while maintaining the structure of the islet cells and intercellular matrix components. A mathematical model was developed to validate the imaging chamber design by determining the required chamber dimensions to avoid introduction of oxygen and nutrient transport limitations. Human islets were embedded in collagen in the imaging chamber and differential interference contrast time course images were obtained at 3 min intervals. Immunofluorescent imaging confirmed that islet phenotype was maintained for at least 5 days during imaging. Analysis of the time courses confirms our ability to identify and track individual cells over time and to observe cell death and phenotype transformation in isolated human islets. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2007; 97: 1138–1147. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A Phosphinate‐Based Red Fluorescent Probe for Imaging the Superoxide Radical Anion Generated by RAW264.7 Macrophages
Authors: Xu Kehua , Liu Xia , Tang Bo
Published: January 2007

4′,9′‐Bis(diphenylphosphinyl)naphthofluorescein (PNF‐1) has been designed and synthesized as a highly selective, sensitive, cell‐permeable, red fluorescent probe for detecting O2.− in biological systems. The design strategy for the probe is based on the nucleophilic mechanism of O2.− to mediate deprotection of the probe to naphthofluorescein, the emission spectrum of which is just in the spectral region of low background fluorescence interference in biological systems. Upon treatment with O2.−, the probe exhibits a strong fluorescence response and high selectivity for O2.−, rather than other reactive oxygen species or biological compounds. A linear calibration curve for PNF‐1 showed a detection limit of 0.1 nM O2.−. This new type of fluorescent probe allows nanomolar changes in O2.− concentrations in living cells to be detected by confocal microscopy.
Ligand Influence on Connectivity and Processing: Magnetic Crystals Based on Metalloceniums and Films of TCNE‐Based Magnets (TCNE=Tetracyanoethylene)
Authors: de Caro Dominique , Faulmann Christophe , Valade Lydie
Published: January 2007

Molecular materials built from coordination complexes exhibit properties that can be explained through intermolecular electronic interactions driven by the ligand moieties. The nature of the ligand in the precursor molecules governs the connectivity of the magnetic phases and the possibility of producing them by using a gas‐phase process. Metallocenium, metal bisdithiolate materials, and solvated and solvent‐free [M(tcne)2] (tcne=tetracyanoethylene) magnets illustrate such features.
Early discontinuation of tamoxifen
Authors: Barron Thomas I. , Connolly Róisín , Bennett Kathleen , Feely John , Kennedy M. John
Published: January 2007

BACKGROUND.

Five years of treatment provides the optimum duration of tamoxifen therapy for the prevention of breast cancer recurrence and mortality. Durations of adjuvant tamoxifen therapy less than 5 years are associated with poorer outcomes for breast cancer patients. The purpose of the study was to assess rates of tamoxifen nonpersistence (early discontinuation) in women aged 35 years or older using prescription refill data from a national prescribing database.

METHODS.

A cohort of 2816 women commencing tamoxifen as initial hormonal therapy was identified between January 2001 and January 2004. The cumulative tamoxifen persistence rate was calculated for these women and the relation between nonpersistence and clinical and demographic variables assessed.

RESULTS.

Within 1 year of commencing treatment the cumulative tamoxifen nonpersistence rate was 22.1%. This is twice the rate of treatment discontinuation observed in other studies by this time. By the end of follow‐up at 3.5 years, the cumulative nonpersistence rate had increased to 35.2%. Determinants of nonpersistence identified included age and a history of antidepressant use.

CONCLUSIONS.

The rate of nonpersistence with tamoxifen therapy is higher than previously reported. This study demonstrates that persistence with tamoxifen cannot be assumed and raises concerns about persistence with other oral hormonal therapies for breast cancer and oral antineoplastics in general. Oncologists need to identify those at risk of nonpersistence and develop strategies to combat this barrier to treatment success. Cancer 2007. © 2007 American Cancer Society.
Delay aware reliable transport in wireless sensor networks
Authors: Gungor Vehbi C. , Akan Özgür B.
Published: January 2007

Wireless sensor networks (WSN) are event‐based systems that rely on the collective effort of several sensor nodes. Reliable event detection at the sink is based on collective information provided by the sensor nodes and not on any individual sensor data. Hence, conventional end‐to‐end reliability definitions and solutions are inapplicable in the WSN regime and would only lead to a waste of scarce sensor resources. Moreover, the reliability objective of WSN must be achieved within a certain real‐time delay bound posed by the application. Therefore, the WSN paradigm necessitates a collective delay‐constrained event‐to‐sink reliability notion rather than the traditional end‐to‐end reliability approaches. To the best of our knowledge, there is no transport protocol solution which addresses both reliability and real‐time delay bound requirements of WSN simultaneously.

In this paper, the delay aware reliable transport (DART) protocol is presented for WSN. The objective of the DART protocol is to timely and reliably transport event features from the sensor field to the sink with minimum energy consumption. In this regard, the DART protocol simultaneously addresses congestion control and timely event transport reliability objectives in WSN. In addition to its efficient congestion detection and control algorithms, it incorporates the time critical event first (TCEF) scheduling mechanism to meet the application‐specific delay bounds at the sink node. Importantly, the algorithms of the DART protocol mainly run on resource rich sink node, with minimal functionality required at resource constrained sensor nodes. Furthermore, the DART protocol can accommodate multiple concurrent event occurrences in a wireless sensor field. Performance evaluation via simulation experiments show that the DART protocol achieves high performance in terms of real‐time communication requirements, reliable event detection and energy consumption in WSN. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Intrachromosomal amplification of chromosome 21 (iAMP21) may arise from a breakage–fusion–bridge cycle
Authors: Robinson Hazel M. , Harrison Christine J. , Moorman Anthony V. , Chudoba Ilse , Strefford Jonathan C.
Published: January 2007

Intrachromosomal amplification of chromosome 21 (iAMP21), involving amplification of the RUNX1 gene and duplication of chromosome 21, dup(21q), defines a new cytogenetic subgroup in B‐lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) with a poor prognosis. Characterization of this abnormality has become vital to ensure that the most accurate detection method is used. We have previously defined common regions of amplification and deletion of chromosome 21 in these patients, although the level and extent of amplification within the amplicon was highly variable. This study, using interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with chromosome 21 locus specific probes, substantiated these findings in a large series of patients and confirmed that the amplicon always included RUNX1. Thus, FISH with probes directed to the RUNX1 gene remains the most reliable detection method. Metaphase FISH, supported by G‐ and multiple color chromosomal banding (mBAND) revealed the patient specific morphology and genetic profile of the dup(21q) chromosomes, as well as the complexity of the intrachromosomal changes giving rise to them. These findings suggested that iAMP21 had arisen from a breakage–fusion–bridge cycle: a mechanism previously described in tumors, which we report for the first time in ALL. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Mutation and expression analyses of the MET and CDKN2A genes in rhabdomyosarcoma with emphasis on MET overexpression
Authors: Chen Yuyan , Takita Junko , Mizuguchi Masashi , Tanaka Kiyoshi , Ida Kohmei , Koh Katsuyoshi , Igarashi Takashi , Hanada Ryoji , Tanaka Yukichi , Park Myoung‐Ja , Hayashi Yasuhide
Published: January 2007

Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft‐tissue sarcoma of childhood. The simultaneous loss of Ink4a/Arf function and disruption of Met signaling in Ink4a/Arf−/− mice transgenic for hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF) induces RMS with extremely high penetrance and short latency. To address the roles of MET and CDKN2A (p16INK4A/p14ARF) in human RMS, we performed mutational analyses in 39 samples of RMS by PCR‐SSCP. No mutations were detected in exons 14–21 of MET whereas a nonsense mutation at codon 80 of p16INK4A was identified in an alveolar RMS cell line. We also quantified the relative expression levels and DNA copy numbers of these genes in seven cell lines and 17 fresh tumors by real‐time quantitative PCR. Expression of MET was detected in all samples; however, more than 10‐fold difference was found in the samples with higher or lower expression level, despite a normal DNA copy number. The protein expression level was consistent with that of mRNA, and in cell lines with a higher expression level, MET was constitutively activated. Notably, the expression level of MET was significantly higher in patients who died (P = 0.02), in patients with stage IV (P = 0.04), as well as in patients with PAX3‐FKHR chimeric transcript (P = 0.04). On the other hand, reduced or absent expression of p16INK4A and/or p14ARF showed no significant correlation with the clinicopathological parameters, except for the age at diagnosis. Our data suggest that MET plays a role in the progression of RMS. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Gene dosage alterations revealed by cDNA microarray analysis in cervical cancer: Identification of candidate amplified and overexpressed genes
Authors: Narayan Gopeshwar , Bourdon Veronique , Chaganti Seeta , Arias‐Pulido Hugo , Nandula Subhadra V. , Rao Pulivarthi H. , Gissmann Lutz , Dürst Matthias , Schneider Achim , Pothuri Bhavana , Mansukhani Mahesh , Basso Katia , Chaganti R. S. K. , Murty Vundavalli V.
Published: January 2007

Cervical cancer (CC) cells exhibit complex karyotypic alterations, which is consistent with deregulation of numerous critical genes in its formation and progression. To characterize this karyotypic complexity at the molecular level, we used cDNA array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) to analyze 29 CC cases and identified a number of over represented and deleted genes. The aCGH analysis revealed at least 17 recurrent amplicons and six common regions of deletions. These regions contain several known tumor‐associated genes, such as those involved in transcription, apoptosis, cytoskeletal remodeling, ion‐transport, drug metabolism, and immune response. Using the fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) approach we demonstrated the presence of high‐level amplifications at the 8q24.3, 11q22.2, and 20q13 regions in CC cell lines. To identify amplification‐associated genes that correspond to focal amplicons, we examined one or more genes in each of the 17 amplicons by Affymetrix U133A expression arrays and semiquantitative reverse‐transcription PCR (RT‐PCR) in 31 CC tumors. This analysis exhibited frequent and robust upregulated expression in CC relative to normal cervix for genes EPHB2 (1p36), CDCA8 (1p34.3), AIM2 (1q22‐23), RFC4, MUC4, and HRASLS (3q27‐29), SKP2 (5p12‐13), CENTD3 (5q31.3), PTK2, RECQL4 (8q24), MMP1 and MMP13 (11q22.2), AKT1 (14q32.3), ABCC3 (17q21‐22), SMARCA4 (19p13.3) LIG1 (19q13.3), UBE2C (20q13.1), SMC1L1 (Xp11), KIF4A (Xq12), TMSNB (Xq22), and CSAG2 (Xq28). Thus, the gene dosage and expression profiles generated here have enabled the identification of focal amplicons characteristic for the CC genome and facilitated the validation of relevant genes in these amplicons. These data, thus, form an important step toward the identification of biologically relevant genes in CC pathogenesis. This article contains Supplementary Material available at http://www.interscience.wiley.com/jpages/1045‐2257/suppmat. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
In search of a corrected prescription drug Elasticity estimate: a meta‐regression approach
Authors: Gemmill Marin C. , Costa‐Font Joan , McGuire Alistair
Published: January 2007

An understanding of the relationship between cost sharing and drug consumption depends on consistent and unbiased price elasticity estimates. However, there is wide heterogeneity among studies, which constrains the applicability of elasticity estimates for empirical purposes and policy simulation. This paper attempts to provide a corrected measure of the drug price elasticity by employing meta‐regression analysis (MRA). The results indicate that the elasticity estimates are significantly different from zero, and the corrected elasticity is −0.209 when the results are made robust to heteroskedasticity and clustering of observations. Elasticity values are higher when the study was published in an economic journal, when the study employed a greater number of observations, and when the study used aggregate data. Elasticity estimates are lower when the institutional setting was a tax‐based health insurance system. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Do health expenditures ‘catch‐up’? Evidence from OECD countries
Authors: Narayan Paresh Kumar
Published: January 2007

In this paper, we examine the ‘catch‐up’ hypothesis, that is, whether or not per capita health expenditures of the UK, Canada, Japan, Switzerland, and Spain converge to the per capita health expenditures of the USA over the period 1960–2000. We propose a framework to examine convergence of health expenditures and use recent developments in unit root testing, namely the Lagrange multiplier univariate and panel approaches that allow for at most two structural breaks. Our main finding is that while univariate and panel tests that do not incorporate structural breaks fail to find evidence of convergence, univariate and panel LM tests that allow for structural breaks find strong evidence of convergence of per capita health expenditures of the UK, Canada, Japan, Switzerland, and Spain to that of the USA. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The effects of income, education and age on health
Authors: Kiuila Olga , Mieszkowski Peter
Published: January 2007

We use the core interviews of the US Health Interview Survey for the years 1987–1994, to study the effects of socioeconomic status (SES) on mortality and self‐reported health. We find, consistent with previous studies, that the relationship between mortality and indicators such as education and income diminishes with age. We consider new explanations for this result and conclude that general biological deterioration at old age is probably the principal one. One important piece of evidence for this conclusion is the finding that there is no relationship at all between mortality and SES for people whose self‐reported health status at baseline is either fair or poor. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Activity‐based financing of health care––experiences from Sweden
Authors: Kastberg Gustaf , Siverbo Sven
Published: January 2007

The market‐inspired control models that go under the name of New Public Management (NPM) are no longer being debated in the arena of public health care as they once were, although there are still very clear signs of NPM in many countries. One manifestation of NPM in health care is activity‐based financing. The first purpose of this paper is to describe what impacts activity‐based financing has had in Sweden's public health service. The second purpose is to explain why the application of the payment model has been gradually changed. The basis for the paper comprises research done on activity‐based financing. The review of the development within Swedish health care regarding activity‐based financing shows that effects appear. But it also becomes evident that the models often are adjusted and that the adjustments, for example the introduction of a production ceiling, changes the effects. The fundamental dilemma appears to be finding a balance between production efficiency and total cost control. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
LIF‐immobilized nonwoven polyester fabrics for cultivation of murine embryonic stem cells
Authors: Çetinkaya Gaye , Türkoğlu Hilal , Arat Sezen , Odaman Hande , Onur Mehmet A. , Gümüşderelioğlu Menemşe , Tümer Aşkın
Published: January 2007

Embryonic stem (ES) cells have a great interest for tissue engineering because of their pluripotent nature and proliferative capacity. The objective of this study is to constitute a synthetic microenvironment to support the in vitro propagation of murine ES cells in an undifferentiated state. That is why we used a three‐dimensional matrix, nonwoven polyester fabric (NWPF), which was formed from poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) fibers. NWPF discs were partially hydrolyzed, and then the carboxyl groups were coupled with leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) in the presence of water‐soluble carbodiimide. The effectiveness of immobilization process was checked with ATR‐FTIR spectroscopy, fluorimetry, and cell culture studies. ES cell colony morphology, alkaline phosphatase (AP) activity, stage‐specific embryonic antigen‐1 (SSEA‐1) immunoreactivity, and SEM analysis following a 72–96‐h culture period upon hydrolyzed and LIF‐immobilized surfaces were assessed to determine the pluripotent status of ES cells. Results revealed that LIF was active in immobilized form; undifferentiated colonies had not only a significant AP and SSEA‐1 immunoreactivity, but also a higher undifferentiated colony ratio on LIF‐immobilized surfaces than that of hydrolyzed surfaces. The immobilized LIF protein might be a good model to provide a feeder‐free system, but the physical properties of the scaffold is more convenient for differentiation studies. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res, 2007.
TLR3 signaling in a hepatoma cell line is skewed towards apoptosis
Authors: Khvalevsky Elina , Rivkin Ludmila , Rachmilewitz Jacob , Galun Eithan , Giladi Hilla
Published: January 2007

Toll‐like receptors (TLRs) recognize pathogen‐associated molecular patterns (PAMPS) leading to the activation of the innate immune response and subsequently to the shaping of the adaptive immune response. Of the known human TLRs, TLR3, 7, 8, and 9 were shown to recognize nucleic acid ligands. TLR3 signaling is induced by double‐stranded (ds)RNA, a molecular signature of viruses, and is mediated by the TRIF (TIR domain‐containing adaptor‐inducing IFNβ) adaptor molecule. Thus, TLR3 plays an important role in the host response to viral infections. The liver is constantly exposed to a large variety of foreign substances, including pathogens such as HBV (hepatitis B virus) and HCV (hepatitis C virus), which frequently establish persistent liver infections. In this work, we investigated the expression and signaling pathway of TLR3 in different hepatoma cell lines. We show that hepatocyte lineage cells express relatively low levels of TLR3 mRNA. TLR3 signaling in HEK293 cells (human embryonic kidney cells) activated NF‐κB and IRF3 (interferon regulatory factor 3) and induced IFNβ (interferon β) promoter expression, which are known to lead to pro‐inflammatory cytokine secretion. In Huh7 cells, there was only a short‐term IRF3 activation, and a very low level of IFNβ expression. In HepG2 cells on the other hand, while no induction of pro‐inflammatory factors was observed, signaling by TLR3 was skewed towards the induction of apoptosis. These results indicate preferential induction of the apoptotic pathway over the cytokine induction pathway by TLR3 signaling in hepatocellular carcinoma cells with potential implications for therapeutic strategies. J. Cell. Biochem. 100: 1301–1312, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.