bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use by Pediatric Specialty Outpatients
Authors: Adams Denise , Dagenais Simon , Clifford Tammy , Baydala Lola , King W. James , Hervas-Malo Marilou , Moher David , Vohra Sunita
Published: January 2013

OBJECTIVE:

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use is high among children and youth with chronic illnesses. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence and patterns of CAM use in 10 subspecialty clinics in Canada and to compare CAM use between 2 geographically diverse locations.

METHODS:

This survey was carried out at 1 Children’s Hospital in western Canada (Edmonton) and 1 Children’s Hospital in central Canada (Ottawa). Questionnaires were completed by parents in either French or English.

RESULTS:

Although demographic characteristics of the 2 populations were similar, CAM use at the western hospital was 71% (n = 704) compared with 42% (n = 222) at the central hospital (P < .0001). Most respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they feel comfortable discussing CAM in their clinic. The most common CAM products currently used were multivitamins/minerals, herbal products, and homeopathic remedies. The most common CAM practices currently used were massage, chiropractic, relaxation, and aromatherapy. Eighty adverse effects were reported, and 55 (68.8%) of these were self-assessed as minor.

CONCLUSIONS:

Results of this study indicate that CAM use is high among pediatric specialty clinic outpatients and is much greater in the western than in the central hospital. Most respondents felt that their CAM use was helpful with few or no harms associated. Many patients, using CAM alongside their conventional medicines, are still not discussing their CAM use with their physicians and are increasing the likelihood for potential interactions and preventable harms.
Presleep Activities and Time of Sleep Onset in Children
Authors: Foley Louise S. , Maddison Ralph , Jiang Yannan , Marsh Samantha , Olds Timothy , Ridley Kate
Published: January 2013

OBJECTIVE:

Presleep activities have been implicated in the declining sleep duration of young people. A use-of-time approach may be used to describe the presleep period. The study aims were to describe the activities undertaken 90 minutes before sleep onset and to examine the association between activities and time of sleep onset in New Zealand young people.

METHODS:

Participants (N = 2017; 5–18 years) self-reported their time use as part of a national survey. All activities reported in the 90 minutes before sleep were extracted. The top 20 activities were grouped into 3 behavioral sets: screen sedentary time, nonscreen sedentary time, and self-care. An adjusted regression model was used to estimate presleep time spent in each behavioral set for 4 distinct categories of sleep onset (very early, early, late, or very late), and the differences between sleep onset categories were tested.

RESULTS:

In the entire sample, television watching was the most commonly reported activity, and screen sedentary time accounted for ∼30 minutes of the 90-minute presleep period. Participants with a later sleep onset had significantly greater engagement in screen time than those with an earlier sleep onset. Conversely, those with an earlier sleep onset spent significantly greater time in nonscreen sedentary activities and self-care.

CONCLUSIONS:

Screen sedentary time dominated the presleep period in this sample and was associated with a later sleep onset. The development of interventions to reduce screen-based behaviors in the presleep period may promote earlier sleep onset and ultimately improved sleep duration in young people.
Effectiveness of a Safe Routes to School Program in Preventing School-Aged Pedestrian Injury
Authors: DiMaggio Charles , Li Guohua
Published: January 2013

Background:

In 2005, the US Congress allocated $612 million for a national Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program to encourage walking and bicycling to schools. We analyzed motor vehicle crash data to assess the effectiveness of SRTS interventions in reducing school-aged pedestrian injury in New York City.

Methods:

Using geocoded motor vehicle crash data for 168 806 pedestrian injuries in New York City between 2001 and 2010, annual pedestrian injury rates per 10 000 population were calculated for different age groups and for census tracts with and without SRTS interventions during school-travel hours (defined as 7 am to 9 am and 2 pm to 4 pm, Monday through Friday during September through June).

Results:

During the study period, the annual rate of pedestrian injury decreased 33% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 30 to 36) among school-aged children (5- to 19-year-olds) and 14% (95% CI: 12 to 16) in other age groups. The annual rate of school-aged pedestrian injury during school-travel hours decreased 44% (95% CI: 17 to 65) from 8.0 injuries per 10 000 population in the preintervention period (2001–2008) to 4.4 injuries per 10 000 population in the postintervention period (2009–2010) in census tracts with SRTS interventions. The rate remained virtually unchanged in census tracts without SRTS interventions (0% [95% CI: –8 to 8]).

Conclusions:

Implementation of the SRTS program in New York City has contributed to a marked reduction in pedestrian injury in school-aged children.
Vaccination Site and Risk of Local Reactions in Children 1 Through 6 Years of Age
Authors: Jackson Lisa A. , Peterson Do , Nelson Jennifer C. , Marcy S. Michael , Naleway Allison L. , Nordin James D. , Donahue James G. , Hambidge Simon J. , Balsbaugh Carolyn , Baxter Roger , Marsh Tracey , Madziwa Lawrence , Weintraub Eric
Published: January 2013

OBJECTIVE:

Our objective was to assess whether the occurrence of medically attended local reactions to intramuscularly administered vaccines varies by injection site (arm versus thigh) in children 1 to 6 years of age.

METHODS:

This is a retrospective cohort study of children in the Vaccine Safety Datalink population from 2002 to 2009. Site of injection and the outcome of medically attended local reactions were identified from administrative data.

RESULTS:

The study cohort of 1.4 million children received 6.0 million intramuscular (IM) vaccines during the study period. The primary analyses evaluated the IM vaccines most commonly administered alone, which included inactivated influenza, hepatitis A, and diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccines. For inactivated influenza and hepatitis A vaccines, local reactions were relatively uncommon, and there was no difference in risk of these events with arm versus thigh injections. The rate of local reactions after DTaP vaccines was higher, and vaccination in the arm was associated with a significantly greater risk of this outcome compared with vaccination in the thigh, both for children 12 to 35 months (relative risk: 1.88 [95% confidence interval: 1.34–2.65]) and 3 to 6 years of age (relative risk: 1.41 [95% confidence interval: 0.84–2.34]), although this difference was not statistically significant in the older age group.

CONCLUSIONS:

Injection in the thigh is associated with a significantly lower risk of a medically attended local reaction to a DTaP vaccination among children 12 to 35 months of age, supporting current recommendations to administer IM vaccinations in the thigh for children younger than 3 years of age.
Polyamides based on the renewable monomer, 1,13-tridecane diamine I: synthesis and characterization of nylon 13,T
Authors: He Jie , Samanta Satyabrata , Selvakumar Sermadurai , Lattimer Jessica , Ulven Chad , Sibi Mukund , Bahr James , Chisholm Bret J.
Published: January 2013

Nylon 13,T was successfully synthesized, and its chemical composition, thermal properties, crystal structure and moisture absorption were characterized. Melting temperature and glass transition temperature were deter-mined to be 263 and 90°C, respectively, while the equilibrium melting temperature was determined to be 289°C. Characterization of the crystallization kinetics showed that nylon 13,T exhibits very fast crystallization compared with the industrially important nylons, nylon 6 and nylon 6,6. In addition, the moisture absorption of nylon 13,T was dramatically lower than nylon 6 and nylon 6,6, which is consistent with the much lower amide content of nylon 13,T. The crystal structure was determined to be pseudohexagonal.
Historical thermal regimes define limits to coral acclimatization
Authors: Howells Emily J. , Berkelmans Ray , van Oppen Madeleine J. H. , Willis Bette L. , Bay Line K.
Published: January 2013

Knowledge of the degree to which corals undergo physiological acclimatization or genetic adaptation in response to changes in their thermal environment is crucial to the success of coral reef conservation strategies. The potential of corals to acclimatize to temperatures exceeding historical thermal regimes was investigated by reciprocal transplantation of Acropora millepora colonies between the warm central and cool southern regions of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) for a duration of 14 months. Colony fragments retained at native sites remained healthy, whereas transplanted fragments, although healthy over initial months when temperatures remained within native thermal regimes, subsequently bleached and suffered mortality during seasonal temperature extremes. Corals hosting Symbiodinium D transplanted to the southern GBR bleached in winter and the majority suffered whole (40%; n = 20 colonies) or partial (50%) mortality at temperatures 1.1°C below their 15‐year native minimum. In contrast, corals hosting Symbiodinium C2 transplanted to the central GBR bleached in summer and suffered whole (50%; n = 10 colonies) or partial (42%) mortality at temperatures 2.5°C above their 15‐year native maximum. During summer bleaching, the dominant Symbiodinium type changed from C2 to D within corals transplanted to the central GBR. Corals transplanted to the cooler, southern GBR grew 74–80% slower than corals at their native site, and only 50% of surviving colonies reproduced, at least partially because of cold water bleaching of transplants. Despite the absence of any visual signs of stress, corals transplanted to the warmer, central GBR grew 52–59% more slowly than corals at their native site before the summer bleaching (i.e., from autumn to spring). Allocation of energy to initial acclimatization or reproduction may explain this pattern, as the majority (65%) of transplants reproduced one month earlier than portions of the same colonies retained at the southern native site. All parameters investigated (bleaching, mortality, Symbiodinium type fidelity, reproductive timing) demonstrated strong interactions between genotype and environment, indicating that the acclimatization potential of A. millepora populations may be limited by adaptation of the holobiont to native thermal regimes.
Regional climatic considerations for borderlands sustainability
Authors: Gutzler David S.
Published: January 2013

Regional climate and its variability pose severe challenges to sustainability of ecosystems and human habitability in the U.S./Mexico border region. The region is semiarid, located far from oceanic sources of evaporated water. Its latitudinal position near the descending branch of the global atmospheric Hadley circulation means that cold season precipitation totals are suppressed relative to the average latitude of the winter storm track to the north. Furthermore, tree ring histories of climate variability demonstrate that the region is prone to shifts in the storm track that lead to very pronounced decadal variations in precipitation, which are manifested regionally as swings between severe droughts and pluvial periods. The El Niño‐Southern Oscillation in tropical Pacific Ocean temperature forces shorter term (year‐to‐year) shifts in the storm track. The border region is strongly affected by ongoing and projected century‐scale climate change, probably derived in large part from human‐caused increases in greenhouse gases. There is a very strong regional warming trend in recent temperature data, continued into the future in greenhouse gas‐forced model simulations of climate change. The warming trend modifies natural drought/pluvial precipitation fluctuations by enhancing evaporative losses and decreasing snowpack in mountainous regions to the north. These changes lead to projections of significantly diminished stream flow and drier surface conditions, thereby shifting the regional climate system farther toward aridity.
Temperature Measurement in the Preterm and Term Neonate: A Review of the Literature
Authors: Smith Jacqueline , Alcock Gary , Usher Kim
Published: January 2013

The maintenance of a constant body temperature is important to all humans but even more so for newborn babies (neonates), especially those born pre-term. Because accurate measurement of body temperature is an important component of thermoregulation management in the neonate, a review of the literature was undertaken to determine the most appropriate method and site of temperature measurement in both the preterm and term neonate. The available evidence indicates that the axilla remains the most common place for temperature measurement.
Improvements in Teamwork During Neonatal Resuscitation After Interprofessional TeamSTEPPS Training
Authors: Sawyer Taylor , Laubach Vickie Ann , Hudak Joseph , Yamamura Kelli , Pocrnich Amber
Published: January 2013

Purpose:To determine the impact of interprofessional Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (TeamSTEPPS) training on teamwork skills during neonatal resuscitation

Design:Teams of physicians, nurses, and respiratory therapists participated in TeamSTEPPS training that included simulation with an event-based approach. During the simulations, scripted medication order and performance errors were used to test teamwork skills. Measures of teamwork skills were obtained before and after the training using a prospective pretest–posttest design.

Sample:Forty-two physicians, nurses, and respiratory therapists

Main Outcome Variable:Teamwork skills

Result:Significant improvements in teamwork skills were seen in team structure, leadership, situation monitoring, mutual support, and communication (p<.001). Challenges by nurses to a scripted medication order error doubled from 38 percent before the training to 77 percent after the training. The odds of a nurse challenging an incorrect medication dose from an attending neonatologist improved significantly. Detection and correction of inadequate chest compressions increased from 61.5 to 84.6 percent after the training.
Risk of Necrotizing Enterocolitis and Feeding Interventions for Preterm Infants With Abnormal Umbilical Artery Doppler
Authors: Geary Erin
Published: January 2013

Infants exposed to absent or reversed end-diastolic flow (AREDF) in utero may be at an increased risk of developing necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). This article reviews placental function and the development of AREDF. Studies examining the relationship between AREDF and NEC are reviewed, yet research remains inconclusive regarding this relationship. Recent studies reveal that early minimal enteral feeding does not increase the incidence of NEC in infants with AREDF. Initiation and advancement of enteral feedings should be monitored closely in this subset of the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) population.
On the Proposed Changes to the Credibility Gap in Industry-Supported Biomedical Research: A Critical Evaluation
Authors: McHenry Leemon , Jureidini Jon
Published: January 2013

A task force of pharmaceutical industry employees and medical journal editors propose 10 recommendations to address the problem of erosion of confidence in the reporting of the results of industry-sponsored clinical trials. These recommendations would not restore credibility to industry-sponsored biomedical research. A radical solution is required that severs the relationship between the industry and the journals and restores the integrity of the medical literature.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, a Novel Hypothesis: Social Networking and Electronic Isolation in the War Zone
Authors: Barrett Clark C.
Published: January 2013

Despite the best efforts of the U.S. military, incidents of suicide and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) within the ranks continue unabated. This article examines the impact of self-imposed technological isolation as a potential contributor to this problem.
Chemical and Immunochemical Characterization of Polysaccharides of Sasa Veitchii Leaves
Authors: Tsuboi Masamichi , Takeshita Kazuo , Kanamori Masato , Umemura Kazuyuki , Ogawa Kazutoshi , Akachi Natsuko , Yoshida Mia , Ohno Naohito
Published: January 2013

A hot water extract of Sasa veitchii is a health-promoting food in general use. To analyze the structure and function of the polysaccharide fraction of the extract, a macromolecular fraction was obtained by dialysis (HMF) and two polysaccharide fractions (NPS and APS) were separated by DEAE-Sephadex chromatography. HMF strongly reacted with human sera and immunoglobulin preparations. All of the IgM, IgG, and IgA classes of antibodies were reacted with HMF. Comparing the reactivity of NPS and APS, NPS showed significantly stronger reactivity to the sera. From physicochemical analysis, their molecular weights are 20,000 and 8,000, respectively. Sugar analyses of the acid hydrolysates indicated rhamnose, arabinose, xylose, mannose, glucose, and galactose in the molar ratio of 1.0 : 2.3 : 1.5 : 3.8 : 0.6 : 5.3 for NPS and 1.0 : 3.0 : 2.6 : 0.8 : 6.3 : 3.0 for APS, and suggested major differences in the ratio of hexoses. APS also contained 2.6% galacturonic acid. Methylation analyses suggested that 1) both NPS and APS have a highly branched structure, 2) only NPS contains galactofuranose residue at the non-reducing terminal. Partial acid hydrolysis of HMF and subsequent dialysis recovered a high molecular weight fraction, but the resulting product had significantly low immunochemical reactivity. Considering the physicochemical and immunochemical analyses, the major epitope structure of NPS was suggested to be galactofuranose residues. Immunochemical reactivity of the polysaccharide is a key molecular mechanism for the health promoting activity of S. veitchii.
Two-Stage Equilibrium Travel Demand Model for Sketch Planning
Authors: Xie Chi , Kockelman Kara M.
Published: January 2013

This paper describes a two-stage equilibrium travel demand model. The unique feature of this model is that it takes time-of-day traffic counts instead of land use and demographic data as inputs to derive spatial and temporal travel demand patterns. The first stage of the model is a trip matrix estimator based on traffic count; the second stage is an elastic-demand network flow estimator, which recognizes latent demand shifts while performing mode split, time-of-day split, and traffic assignment in a multilevel equilibration. The main purpose of this paper is to describe model development, algorithm design, and software implementation experiences. An example application illustrates how the model is used to evaluate multiclass, multimode, and multiperiod network flow patterns for sketch planning purposes.
Estimating Transborder Trips Integrating Binational Communities as Single Transportation System: Learning from Binational Model for El Paso, Texas–Ciudad Juarez, Mexico
Authors: Bujanda Arturo , Aldrete Rafael , Navarro Ulises
Published: January 2013

This research presents the application of the TRANUS integrated land use and travel demand modeling software to estimate transborder origin–destination (O-D) pairs by developing a travel demand model (TDM) that integrates the two border communities in a binational conurbation into a single transportation and economic system. Commercial and personal ties generate a tremendous amount of transborder traffic within binational conurbations along the U.S.–Mexican border. With so much interaction, individual transportation networks from each country become a single transportation system connected through the ports of entry. Conventionally, each side of the border is modeled separately or through the use of external zones—the area is not treated as a single, interconnected system. This research presents a methodology to estimate transborder O-D pairs and traffic flows with TRANUS. The case study of a binational TDM covering the El Paso, Texas–Ciudad Juarez, Mexico conurbation is presented. Results demonstrate encouraging findings from using TRANUS to estimate transborder O-D pairs for private trips. Furthermore, the methodology developed can be replicated in any conurbation along the U.S.–Mexican border with a relatively limited data collection effort. Although traditional TDMs require extensive and expensive household surveys, which are difficult to conduct in binational settings, this research shows that it is possible to generate a reasonably reliable set of binational O-D matrices at a significantly lower cost and time investment by using TRANUS.
Analysis of Urban Travel Times: Hazard-Based Approach to Random Parameters
Authors: Anastasopoulos Panagiotis C. , Haddock John E. , Karlaftis Matthew G. , Mannering Fred L.
Published: January 2013

The traditional approach to the analysis of urban travel includes a detailed and complex modeling system that considers activity and trip generation (including time-of-day of trip) and destination, mode, and route choices. Although the insights that one can gain from such a comprehensive approach are undeniable, a more simplistic approach that focuses on travel time alone (which by its nature implicitly includes the complex decision making related to destination, route, activity, and time-of-day choices) can also provide valuable information for policy makers on the determinants of congestion, the behavior and destination choices of travelers, and so on. However, in such an approach, the unobserved heterogeneity that is introduced by simplifying a complex decision-making process must be addressed. In this paper, the determinants of travel time to destination for an urban area are studied while unobserved heterogeneity is explicitly accounted for with hazard-based duration models with random parameters. With an extensive geocoded trip data set from Athens, Greece, time-to-destination model estimation results indicate that travel time duration is affected significantly by a number of factors, such as sociodemographic and trip characteristics, travel mode, frequency of trip, and time of day of the trip. In addition, the effect of many of these factors was found to vary across the population and thus underscore the need for a random-parameters formulation in the study of urban travel times with this approach.
Within-Day Replanning of Exceptional Events
Authors: Dobler Christoph , Kowald Matthias , Rieser-Schüssler Nadine , Axhausen Kay W.
Published: January 2013

Typical software used in the simulation of traffic behavior focuses on scenarios describing common situations, such as an ordinary working day without remarkable incidents. To simulate such scenarios, iterative approaches are used. They assume that the people simulated adapt to previous iterations’ results. Such iterative approaches produce meaningful results for various scenarios only when typical, repetitive situations are modeled. However, a scenario may also contain incidents that occur randomly, and thus substantially increase a model's complexity. In such scenarios, an iterative approach would produce illogical and even erroneous results. Within-day replanning is an attempt to handle such scenarios. This paper describes problems that arise when an iterative simulation approach is applied to a scenario with exceptional events. The within-day replanning technique is introduced and implemented in the multiagent transport simulation framework, allowing simulated agents to replan the routes between their activities while they are traveling. By doing this, agents can take current traffic conditions into account, an important requirement for scenarios containing unpredictable incidents such as road accidents. The implementation capability is demonstrated by conducting experiments in which capacities of several arterial roads in the city center of Zurich, Switzerland, are reduced as the result of an exceptional event. It is demonstrated that agents affected by those events are able to reduce their travel times if they replan their routes by using within-day replanning.
Modifiable Attribute Cell Problem and Solution Method for Population Synthesis in Land Use Microsimulation
Authors: Otani Noriko , Sugiki Nao , Vichiensan Varameth , Miyamoto Kazuaki
Published: January 2013

Land use microsimulation requires the preparation of a set of microdata for the base year. Most existing procedures used for the synthesis of population data are based on the iterative proportional fitting method, in which the number of individuals in each cell of the cross-classification table is estimated. Such a procedure is referred to as the cell-based approach in this study. The approach is based on predefined categories of individuals. Originally, however, these individuals have continuous attributes. Therefore, a different type of categorization would yield a different classification table, which would change the end results of the analysis. In this paper, this phenomenon is referred to as the modifiable attribute cell problem (MACP). It is similar to the modifiable area unit problem that arises when spatial data are aggregated into zones. This paper addresses MACP and proposes a method to determine the best combination of the categories. The solution of MACP is considered to be the minimization of the number of cells in a table with respect to the key output variable that has been defined and used as an evaluation criterion. Because of the computational difficulty resulting from the combination explosion, symbiotic evolution, which is a kind of genetic algorithm, is used. Finally, a case study is presented for the Sapporo metropolitan area of Japan.
Dependence-Preserving Approach to Synthesizing Household Characteristics
Authors: Kao Shih-Chieh , Kim Hoe Kyoung , Liu Cheng , Cui Xiaohui , Bhaduri Budhendra L.
Published: January 2013

One effective approach to study day-to-day traveler behavior is through the activity-based traffic demand model, in which all travelers are treated as individual agents and interact under a computation-intensive framework. Nevertheless, because of high survey costs, low response rate, and privacy concerns, detailed household and personal characteristics are usually unavailable. Various population synthesizers were therefore proposed to reconstruct a methodologically rigorous estimate of household characteristics from different surveys. For instance, the iterative proportional fitting (IPF) algorithm is used to synthesize the full population from the public use microdata sample (PUMS) and Census Summary File 3 (SF3) in the popular activity-based traffic demand model, TRANSIMS. However, some fundamental limitations of IPF (e.g., zero cells in the contingency table as a result of small sample size) have drawn sufficient attention and resulted in the development of enhanced IPF algorithms and other strategies. This paper proposes a copula-based method to synthesize household characteristics that preserves marginal distributions and dependence structure between variables. The proposed method is tested for the state of Iowa, and the results are compared with the IPF approach of TRANSIMS. The synthesized households resulted in the same local SF3 statistics at each block group. But having similar inter-variable correlations as described in the PUMS suggest the applicability of the copula-based approach. Because marginal distributions and dependence structure can be faithfully preserved, the proposed method could be a suitable alternative to synthesize realistic agent characteristics for further activity-based traffic demand modeling.
Pyrolysis Kinetics of Physical Components of Wood and Wood-Polymers Using Isoconversion Method
Authors: Jin Wenjia , Singh Kaushlendra , Zondlo John
Published: January 2013

Two hardwood species, namely red oak and yellow-poplar, were separated into their bark, sapwood and heartwood components. The samples were tested for calorific value, specific gravity, proximate analysis, mineral composition, chemical composition, ultimate analysis, and thermo-chemical decomposition behavior. In addition, the thermo-chemical decomposition behaviors of cellulose, xylan, and lignin polymers were also tested. Thermo-chemical decomposition behavior was assessed using a thermo-gravimetric (TGA) system by heating the sample from 50 °C to 700 °C at the heating rates of 10, 30 and 50 °C/min under nitrogen. The activation energy was calculated for various fractional conversion values using the isoconversion method. The results showed that char yields of lignin, cellulose and xylan were 41.43%, 4.45% and 1.89%, respectively, at the end of pyrolysis. Furthermore, cellulose, xylan and lignin decomposed dramatically in the temperature range of 320 °C to 360 °C, 150 °C to 230 °C and 100 °C to 410 °C, respectively, with decomposition peaks occurring at 340 °C, 200 °C and 340 °C, respectively. In addition, the maximum activation energy for cellulose was 381 kJ/mol at 360 °C and for xylan it was 348 kJ/mol at 210 °C.
PRDM Proteins: Molecular Mechanisms in Signal Transduction and Transcriptional Regulation
Authors: Di Zazzo Erika , De Rosa Caterina , Abbondanza Ciro , Moncharmont Bruno
Published: January 2013

PRDM (PRDI-BF1 and RIZ homology domain containing) protein family members are characterized by the presence of a PR domain and a variable number of Zn-finger repeats. Experimental evidence has shown that the PRDM proteins play an important role in gene expression regulation, modifying the chromatin structure either directly, through the intrinsic methyltransferase activity, or indirectly through the recruitment of chromatin remodeling complexes. PRDM proteins have a dual action: they mediate the effect induced by different cell signals like steroid hormones and control the expression of growth factors. PRDM proteins therefore have a pivotal role in the transduction of signals that control cell proliferation and differentiation and consequently neoplastic transformation. In this review, we describe pathways in which PRDM proteins are involved and the molecular mechanism of their transcriptional regulation.
Physical Activity and Brain Function in Older Adults at Increased Risk for Alzheimer’s Disease
Authors: Smith J. , Nielson Kristy , Woodard John , Seidenberg Michael , Rao Stephen
Published: January 2013

Leisure-time physical activity (PA) and exercise training are known to help maintain cognitive function in healthy older adults. However, relatively little is known about the effects of PA on cognitive function or brain function in those at increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease through the presence of the apolipoproteinE epsilon4 (APOE-ε4) allele, diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or the presence of metabolic disease. Here, we examine the question of whether PA and exercise interventions may differentially impact cognitive trajectory, clinical outcomes, and brain structure and function among individuals at the greatest risk for AD. The literature suggests that the protective effects of PA on risk for future dementia appear to be larger in those at increased genetic risk for AD. Exercise training is also effective at helping to promote stable cognitive function in MCI patients, and greater cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with greater brain volume in early-stage AD patients. In APOE-ε4 allele carriers compared to non-carriers, greater levels of PA may be more effective in reducing amyloid burden and are associated with greater activation of semantic memory-related neural circuits. A greater research emphasis should be placed on randomized clinical trials for exercise, with clinical, behavioral, and neuroimaging outcomes in people at increased risk for AD.
Functional Assessment of Pharmacological Telomerase Activators in Human T Cells
Authors: Molgora Brenda , Bateman Riley , Sweeney Greg , Finger Danielle , Dimler Taylor , Effros Rita , Valenzuela Hector
Published: January 2013

Telomeres are structures at the ends of chromosomes that shorten during cell division and eventually signal an irreversible state of growth arrest known as cellular senescence. To delay this cellular aging, human T cells, which are critical in the immune control over infections and cancer, activate the enzyme telomerase, which binds and extends the telomeres. Several different extracts from the Astragalus membranaceus root have been documented to activate telomerase activity in human T cells. The objective of this research was to compare two extracts from Astragalus membranaceus, TA-65 and HTA, for their effects on both telomerase and proliferative activity of human CD4 and CD8 T cells. Our results demonstrate that, TA-65 increased telomerase activity significantly (1.3 to 3.3-fold relative to controls) in T cell cultures from six donors tested, whereas HTA only increased telomerase levels in two out of six donors. We also demonstrate that TA-65 activates telomerase by a MAPK- specific pathway. Finally, we determine that during a three-day culture period, only the T cells treated with the TA-65 extract showed a statistically significant increase in proliferative activity. Our results underscore the importance of comparing multiple telomerase activators within the same experiment, and of including functional assays in addition to measuring telomerase activity.
Soluble Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (sHER2) as a Potential Risk Assessment, Screening, and Diagnostic Biomarker of Lung Adenocarcinoma
Authors: Cosentino-Boehm Abby , Lafky Jacqueline , Greenwood Tammy , Kimbler Kimberly , Buenafe Marites , Wang Yuxia , Branscum Adam , Yang Ping , Maihle Nita , Baron Andre
Published: January 2013

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States. Here, we evaluated the potential clinical utility of soluble human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (sHER2) for the risk assessment, screening, and diagnosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) using an unmatched case-control study design. Serum sHER2 concentrations were measured by immunoassay in 244 primary NSCLC cases and 218 healthy controls. Wilcoxon rank-sum tests, logistic regression models, and receiver operating characteristic plots were used to assess whether sHER2 is associated with lung cancer. Median serum sHER2 concentrations are higher in patients with adenocarcinoma than squamous cell carcinoma regardless of gender, and sHER2 is a weak, independent biomarker of adenocarcinoma, but not of squamous cell carcinoma, adjusted for age and gender. The age-adjusted relative risk (odds) of adenocarcinoma is 3.95 (95% CI: 1.22, 12.81) and 7.93 (95% CI: 2.26, 27.82) greater for women and men with high sHER2 concentrations (≥6.60 ng/mL) vs. low sHER2 concentrations (≤1.85 ng/mL), respectively. When adjusted for each other, sHER2, age, and gender discern healthy controls from patients with primary adenocarcinomas of the lung with 85.9% accuracy. We conclude that even though serum sHER2 is not a strong, stand-alone discriminatory biomarker of adenocarcinoma, sHER2 may be a useful, independent covariate in multivariate risk assessment, screening, and diagnostic models of lung cancer.
Ten Years’ Experience with an E-Learning Lecture Series on Cancer Biology and Pharmacology
Authors: Efferth Thomas
Published: January 2013

In life sciences, the internet is an indispensable medium for research, but has not yet realized its full potential for teaching. The concept of e-learning has been developed over the past decades for undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate programs. We set up an e-learning lecture on cancer biology and pharmacology that was first offered in 2003 to students of Molecular Biotechnology at the University of Heidelberg and to students of Pharmacy at the University of Mainz, Germany. The present paper recapitulates the first decade of experiences with this e-learning lecture from both the students’ and the teachers’ perspectives. A total of 317 students during the past 10 years participated in a survey. In general, the students enjoyed the possibilities that self-controlled learning offers. E-learning interested them as a novel educational method. They felt quite comfortable listening to the material despite the interdisciplinary nature of the lectures, which included molecular biological, pharmacological and medical aspects of cancer biology and pharmacology. This lecture was the first e-learning experience for the majority of students, and their impressions were generally positive. The students not only indicated that they would like to continue with e-learning, but also would recommend e-learning to other students. Remarkably, the majority of students would like to see more e-learning offered in their present curricula. They indicated interest in mixed forms of traditional learning and e-learning (“blended learning”), although it is recognized that face-to-face contact between teachers and students is critical. Overall, many students would consider e-learning for further and continuing education after graduation.
Handbook of RF, Microwave, and Millimeter-Wave Components. Edited by Leonid A. Belov, Sergey M. Smolskiy and Victor N. Kochemasov, Artech House, 2012; 504 pages. Price: £119.00, ISBN 978-1-60807-209-5
Authors: Lin Shu-Kun
Published: January 2013

This unique and comprehensive resource offers you a detailed treatment of the operations principles, key parameters, and specific characteristics of active and passive RF, microwave, and millimeter-wave components. The book covers both linear and nonlinear components that are used in a wide range of application areas, from communications and information sciences, to avionics, space, and military engineering.
Sustainability of the Biorefinery Industry for Fuel Production
Authors: Caldeira-Pires Armando , Da Luz Sandra , Palma-Rojas Silvia , Rodrigues Thiago , Silverio Vanessa , Vilela Frederico , Barbosa Paulo , Alves Ana
Published: January 2013

Biofuels have been extensively explored and applied in the Brazilian market. In Brazil, ethanol and biodiesel are produced on an industrial scale. Ethanol is commercialized and used in engines in both the hydrated form (96% °GL) and the anhydrous form, mixed with gasoline at a proportion of up to 25% by volume. In turn, biodiesel is blended with diesel in a proportion of 5% by volume. Thus, the goal of the use of biofuels is to contribute to the mitigation of greenhouse gases and other pollutants emitted into the atmosphere during burning. This article describes some recent developments in the characterization of the environmental and economic impacts of the production of these biofuels from different biomass sources. On this regard, this review presents results of life-cycle assessments (LCAs), life-cycle cost assessments (LCCAs) and Structural Path Analysis (SPA), this last one depicting a sectorial perspective rather than LCA process level data approaches. The results showed that the inclusion of biofuels in transportation activities can lead to the mitigation of the environmental impacts of certain activities, such as emissions of greenhouse gases. However, greater attention must be paid to the improvement of agricultural management to decrease fuel, fertilizer and herbicide consumption.
The Clean Privacy Ecosystem of the Future Internet
Authors: Fritsch Lothar
Published: January 2013

This article speculates on the future of privacy and electronic identities on the Internet. Based on a short review of security models and the development of privacy-enhancing technology, privacy and electronic identities will be discussed as parts of a larger context—an ecosystem of personal information and electronic identities. The article argues for an ecosystem view of personal information and electronic identities, as both personal information and identity information are basic required input for many applications. Therefore, for both application owners and users, a functioning ecosystem of personal information and electronic identification is important. For the future of the Internet, high-quality information and controlled circulation of such information is therefore argued as decisive for the value of future Internet applications.
Transfer of Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria Between Intermingled Ecological Niches: The Interface Between Humans, Animals and the Environment
Authors: Da Costa Paulo , Loureiro Luís , Matos Augusto
Published: January 2013

The use of antimicrobial agents has been claimed to be the driving force for the emergence and spread of microbial resistance. However, several studies have reported the presence of multidrug-resistant bacteria in populations exposed to low levels of antimicrobial drugs or even never exposed. For many pathogens, especially those organisms for which asymptomatic colonization typically precedes infection (e.g., Enterococcus spp. and Escherichia coli), the selective effects of antimicrobial use can only be understood if we considerer all biological and environmental pathways which enable these bacteria, and the genes they carry, to spread between different biomes. This ecological framework provides an essential perspective for formulating antimicrobial use policies, precisely because it encompasses the root causes of these problems rather than merely their consequences.
Folate-Equipped Nanolipoplexes Mediated Efficient Gene Transfer into Human Epithelial Cells
Authors: Mornet Emmanuel , Carmoy Nathalie , Lainé Céline , Lemiègre Loïc , Le Gall Tony , Laurent Isabelle , Marianowski Remi , Férec Claude , Lehn Pierre , Benvegnu Thierry , Montier Tristan
Published: January 2013

Since recombinant viral vectors have been associated with serious side effects, such as immunogenicity and oncogenicity, synthetic delivery systems represent a realistic alternative for achieving efficacy in gene therapy. A major challenge for non-viral nanocarriers is the optimization of transgene expression in the targeted cells. This goal can be achieved by fine-tuning the chemical carriers and the adding specific motifs to promote cellular penetration. Our study focuses on the development of novel folate-based complexes that contain varying quantities of folate motifs. After controlling for their physical properties, neutral folate-modified lipid formulations were compared in vitro to lipoplexes leading to comparable expression levels. In addition, no cytotoxicity was detected, unlike what was observed in the cationic controls. Mechanistically, the delivery of the transgene appeared to be, in part, due to endocytosis mediated by folate receptor targeting. This mechanism was further validated by the observation that adding free folate into the medium decreased luciferase expression by 50%. In vivo transfection with the folate-modified MM18 lipid, containing the highest amount of FA-PEG570-diether co-lipid (w:w; 90:10), at a neutral charge ratio, gave luciferase transgene expression. These studies indicate that modification of lipids with folate residues could enhance non-toxic, cell-specific gene delivery.
Role of RNA Interference (RNAi) in the Moss Physcomitrella patens
Authors: Arif Muhammad , Frank Wolfgang , Khraiwesh Basel
Published: January 2013

RNA interference (RNAi) is a mechanism that regulates genes by either transcriptional (TGS) or posttranscriptional gene silencing (PTGS), required for genome maintenance and proper development of an organism. Small non-coding RNAs are the key players in RNAi and have been intensively studied in eukaryotes. In plants, several classes of small RNAs with specific sizes and dedicated functions have evolved. The major classes of small RNAs include microRNAs (miRNAs) and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), which differ in their biogenesis. miRNAs are synthesized from a short hairpin structure while siRNAs are derived from long double-stranded RNAs (dsRNA). Both miRNA and siRNAs control the expression of cognate target RNAs by binding to reverse complementary sequences mediating cleavage or translational inhibition of the target RNA. They also act on the DNA and cause epigenetic changes such as DNA methylation and histone modifications. In the last years, the analysis of plant RNAi pathways was extended to the bryophyte Physcomitrella patens, a non-flowering, non-vascular ancient land plant that diverged from the lineage of seed plants approximately 450 million years ago. Based on a number of characteristic features and its phylogenetic key position in land plant evolution P. patens emerged as a plant model species to address basic as well as applied topics in plant biology. Here we summarize the current knowledge on the role of RNAi in P. patens that shows functional overlap with RNAi pathways from seed plants, and also unique features specific to this species.
Aqueous Self-Sorting in Extended Supramolecular Aggregates
Authors: Rest Christina , Mayoral María , Fernández Gustavo
Published: January 2013

Self-organization and self-sorting processes are responsible for the regulation and control of the vast majority of biological processes that eventually sustain life on our planet. Attempts to unveil the complexity of these systems have been devoted to the investigation of the binding processes between artificial molecules, complexes or aggregates within multicomponent mixtures, which has facilitated the emergence of the field of self-sorting in the last decade. Since, artificial systems involving discrete supramolecular structures, extended supramolecular aggregates or gel-phase materials in organic solvents or—to a lesser extent—in water have been investigated. In this review, we have collected diverse strategies employed in recent years to construct extended supramolecular aggregates in water upon self-sorting of small synthetic molecules. We have made particular emphasis on co-assembly processes in binary mixtures leading to supramolecular structures of remarkable complexity and the influence of different external variables such as solvent and concentration to direct recognition or discrimination processes between these species. The comprehension of such recognition phenomena will be crucial for the organization and evolution of complex matter.
RUNX1: A MicroRNA Hub in Normal and Malignant Hematopoiesis
Authors: Rossetti Stefano , Sacchi Nicoletta
Published: January 2013

Hematopoietic development is orchestrated by gene regulatory networks that progressively induce lineage-specific transcriptional programs. To guarantee the appropriate level of complexity, flexibility, and robustness, these networks rely on transcriptional and post-transcriptional circuits involving both transcription factors (TFs) and microRNAs (miRNAs). The focus of this review is on RUNX1 (AML1), a master hematopoietic transcription factor which is at the center of miRNA circuits necessary for both embryonic and post-natal hematopoiesis. Interference with components of these circuits can perturb RUNX1-controlled coding and non-coding transcriptional programs in leukemia.