bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Serum Human Epidermal Growth Factor 2 Extracellular Domain as a Predictive Biomarker for Lapatinib Treatment Efficacy in Patients With Advanced Breast Cancer
Authors: Lee Chee Khoon , Davies Lucy , Gebski Val J. , Lord Sarah J. , Di Leo Angelo , Johnston Stephen , Geyer Charles , Cameron David , Press Michael F. , Ellis Catherine , Loi Sherene , Marschner Ian , Simes John , de Souza Paul
Published: January 2016

Purpose

We examined the prognostic and predictive value of serum human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2) extracellular domain (sHER2) in patients with advanced breast cancer treated with lapatinib using data from three randomized trials.

Patients and Methods

We analyzed sHER2 and tissue HER2 (tHER2) data from 1,902 patients (84%) who were randomly assigned to receive lapatinib or control in the trials EGF30001, EGF30008, and EGF100151. Cox regression analyses were performed to correlate both biomarkers with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS).

Results

Median sHER2 levels were 25.1 and 10.1 ng/mL in tHER2-amplified (tHER-positive) and nonamplified (tHER-negative) populations, respectively (r = 0.42 for sHER2-tHER2 correlation). Lapatinib had significant PFS benefit over control (hazard ratio [HR], 0.855; P = .004), but not OS (HR, 0.941; P = .33). Lapatinib PFS benefit is independently predicted by higher sHER2 values (HR per 10-ng/mL increase in sHER2: lapatinib-containing therapies, 1.009 v nonlapatinib-containing therapies, 1.044; Pinteraction < .001) and by positive tHER2 (HR [lapatinib v nonlapatinib]: tHER2 positive, 0.638 v tHER2 negative, 0.940; Pinteraction = .001). Within the tHER2-positive subpopulation (n = 515), higher sHER2 values still independently predicted lapatinib PFS benefit (HR per 10-ng/mL increase in sHER2: lapatinib-containing therapies, 1.017 v nonlapatinib-containing therapies, 1.041; Pinteraction = .008). In control arms (n = 936), higher sHER2 was associated with worse prognosis in multivariable analyses (PFS HR per 10 ng/mL: PFS, 1.024; P < .001; and OS, 1.018; P < .001).

Conclusion

Higher sHER2 predicts greater PFS benefit with lapatinib independent of tHER2 status. High sHER2 is also independently prognostic for worse survival in patients who received nonlapatinib-containing therapies. The predictive role of sHER2 for other anti-HER2 agents requires further research.
CD33 Expression and Its Association With Gemtuzumab Ozogamicin Response: Results From the Randomized Phase III Children’s Oncology Group Trial AAML0531
Authors: Pollard Jessica A. , Loken Michael , Gerbing Robert B. , Raimondi Susana C. , Hirsch Betsy A. , Aplenc Richard , Bernstein Irwin D. , Gamis Alan S. , Alonzo Todd A. , Meshinchi Soheil
Published: January 2016

Purpose

CD33 is variably expressed on acute myeloid leukemia (AML) blasts and is targeted by gemtuzumab ozogamicin (GO). GO has shown benefit in both adult and pediatric AML trials, yet limited data exist about whether GO response correlates with CD33 expression level.

Patients and Methods

CD33 expression levels were prospectively quantified by multidimensional flow cytometry in 825 patients enrolled in Children’s Oncology Group AAML0531 and correlated with response to GO.

Results

Patients with low CD33 expression (lowest quartile of expression [Q1]) had no benefit with the addition of GO to conventional chemotherapy (relapse risk [RR]: GO 36% v No-GO 34%, P = .731; event-free survival [EFS]: GO 53% v No-GO 58%, P = .456). However, patients with higher CD33 expression (Q2 to Q4) had significantly reduced RR (GO 32% v No-GO 49%, P < .001) and improved EFS (GO 53% v No-GO 41%, P = .005). This differential effect was observed in all risk groups. Specifically, low-risk (LR), intermediate-risk (IR), and high-risk (HR) patients with low CD33 expression had similar outcomes regardless of GO exposure, whereas the addition of GO to conventional chemotherapy resulted in a significant decrease in RR and disease-free survival (DFS) for patients with higher CD33 expression (LR RR, GO 13% v No-GO 35%, P = .001; LR DFS, GO 79% v No-GO 59%, P = .007; IR RR, GO 44% v No-GO 57%, P = .044; IR DFS, GO 51% v No-GO 40%, P = .078; HR RR, GO 40% v No-GO 73%, P = .016; HR DFS, GO 47% v No-GO 28%, P = .135).

Conclusion

We demonstrate that GO lacks clinical benefit in patients with low CD33 expression but significantly reduces RR and improves EFS in patients with high CD33 expression, which suggests a role for CD33-targeted therapeutics in subsets of pediatric AML.
Gemtuzumab Ozogamicin Versus Best Supportive Care in Older Patients With Newly Diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukemia Unsuitable for Intensive Chemotherapy: Results of the Randomized Phase III EORTC-GIMEMA AML-19 Trial
Authors: Amadori Sergio , Suciu Stefan , Selleslag Dominik , Aversa Franco , Gaidano Gianluca , Musso Maurizio , Annino Luciana , Venditti Adriano , Voso Maria Teresa , Mazzone Carla , Magro Domenico , De Fabritiis Paolo , Muus Petra , Alimena Giuliana , Mancini Marco , Hagemeijer Anne , Paoloni Francesca , Vignetti Marco , Fazi Paola , Meert Liv , Ramadan Safaa Mahmoud , Willemze Roel , de Witte Theo , Baron Frédéric
Published: January 2016

Purpose

To compare single-agent gemtuzumab ozogamicin (GO) with best supportive care (BSC) including hydroxyurea as first-line therapy in older patients with acute myeloid leukemia unsuitable for intensive chemotherapy.

Patients and Methods

In this trial, patients at least 61 years old were centrally randomized (1:1) to receive either a single induction course of GO (6 mg/m2 on day 1 and 3 mg/m2 on day 8) or BSC. Patients who did not progress after GO induction could receive up to eight monthly infusions of the immunoconjugate at 2 mg/m2. Randomization was stratified by age, WHO performance score, CD33 expression status, and center. The primary end point was overall survival (OS) by intention-to-treat analysis.

Results

A total of 237 patients were randomly assigned (118 to GO and 119 to BSC). The median OS was 4.9 months (95% CI, 4.2 to 6.8 months) in the GO group and 3.6 months (95% CI, 2.6 to 4.2 months) in the BSC group (hazard ratio, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.53 to 0.90; P = .005); the 1-year OS rate was 24.3% with GO and 9.7% with BSC. The OS benefit with GO was consistent across most subgroups, and was especially apparent in patients with high CD33 expression status, in those with favorable/intermediate cytogenetic risk profile, and in women. Overall, complete remission (CR [complete remission] + CRi [CR with incomplete recovery of peripheral blood counts]) occurred in 30 of 111 (27%) GO recipients. The rates of serious adverse events (AEs) were similar in the two groups, and no excess mortality from AEs was observed with GO.

Conclusion

First-line monotherapy with low-dose GO, as compared with BSC, significantly improved OS in older patients with acute myeloid leukemia who were ineligible for intensive chemotherapy. No unexpected AEs were identified and toxicity was manageable.
Definitions, End Points, and Clinical Trial Designs for Non–Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer: Recommendations From the International Bladder Cancer Group
Authors: Kamat Ashish M. , Sylvester Richard J. , Böhle Andreas , Palou Joan , Lamm Donald L. , Brausi Maurizio , Soloway Mark , Persad Raj , Buckley Roger , Colombel Marc , Witjes J. Alfred
Published: January 2016

Purpose

To provide recommendations on appropriate clinical trial designs in non–muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) based on current literature and expert consensus of the International Bladder Cancer Group.

Methods

We reviewed published trials, guidelines, meta-analyses, and reviews and provided recommendations on eligibility criteria, baseline evaluations, end points, study designs, comparators, clinically meaningful magnitude of effect, and sample size.

Results

NMIBC trials must be designed to provide the most clinically relevant data for the specific risk category of interest (low, intermediate, or high). Specific eligibility criteria and baseline evaluations depend on the risk category being studied. For the population of patients for whom bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) has failed, the type of failure (BCG unresponsive, refractory, relapsing, or intolerant) should be clearly defined to make comparisons across trials feasible. Single-arm designs may be relevant for the BCG-unresponsive population. Here, a clinically meaningful initial complete response rate (for carcinoma in situ) or recurrence-free rate (for papillary tumors) of at least 50% at 6 months, 30% at 12 months, and 25% at 18 months is recommended. For other risk levels, randomized superiority trial designs are recommended; noninferiority trials are to be used sparingly given the large sample size required. Placebo control is considered unethical for all intermediate- and high-risk strata; therefore, control arms should comprise the current guideline-recommended standard of care for the respective risk level. In general, trials should use time to recurrence or recurrence-free survival as the primary end point and time to progression, toxicity, disease-specific survival, and overall survival as potential secondary end points. Realistic efficacy thresholds should be set to ensure that novel therapies receive due review by regulatory bodies.

Conclusion

The International Bladder Cancer Group has developed formal recommendations regarding definitions, end points, and clinical trial designs for NMIBC to encourage uniformity among studies in this disease.
Allogeneic T Cells That Express an Anti-CD19 Chimeric Antigen Receptor Induce Remissions of B-Cell Malignancies That Progress After Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem-Cell Transplantation Without Causing Graft-Versus-Host Disease
Authors: Brudno Jennifer N. , Somerville Robert P.T. , Shi Victoria , Rose Jeremy J. , Halverson David C. , Fowler Daniel H. , Gea-Banacloche Juan C. , Pavletic Steven Z. , Hickstein Dennis D. , Lu Tangying L. , Feldman Steven A. , Iwamoto Alexander T. , Kurlander Roger , Maric Irina , Goy Andre , Hansen Brenna G. , Wilder Jennifer S. , Blacklock-Schuver Bazetta , Hakim Frances T. , Rosenberg Steven A. , Gress Ronald E. , Kochenderfer James N.
Published: January 2016

Purpose

Progressive malignancy is the leading cause of death after allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (alloHSCT). After alloHSCT, B-cell malignancies often are treated with unmanipulated donor lymphocyte infusions (DLIs) from the transplant donor. DLIs frequently are not effective at eradicating malignancy and often cause graft-versus-host disease, a potentially lethal immune response against normal recipient tissues.

Methods

We conducted a clinical trial of allogeneic T cells genetically engineered to express a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) targeting the B-cell antigen CD19. Patients with B-cell malignancies that had progressed after alloHSCT received a single infusion of CAR T cells. No chemotherapy or other therapies were administered. The T cells were obtained from each recipient’s alloHSCT donor.

Results

Eight of 20 treated patients obtained remission, which included six complete remissions (CRs) and two partial remissions. The response rate was highest for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, with four of five patients obtaining minimal residual disease–negative CR. Responses also occurred in chronic lymphocytic leukemia and lymphoma. The longest ongoing CR was more than 30 months in a patient with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. New-onset acute graft-versus-host disease after CAR T-cell infusion developed in none of the patients. Toxicities included fever, tachycardia, and hypotension. Peak blood CAR T-cell levels were higher in patients who obtained remissions than in those who did not. Programmed cell death protein-1 expression was significantly elevated on CAR T cells after infusion. Presence of blood B cells before CAR T-cell infusion was associated with higher postinfusion CAR T-cell levels.

Conclusion

Allogeneic anti-CD19 CAR T cells can effectively treat B-cell malignancies that progress after alloHSCT. The findings point toward a future when antigen-specific T-cell therapies will play a central role in alloHSCT.
All Hormone-Producing Cell Types of the Pituitary Intermediate and Anterior Lobes Derive From Prop1-Expressing Progenitors
Authors: Davis Shannon W. , Keisler Jessica L. , Pérez-Millán María I. , Schade Vanessa , Camper Sally A.
Published: January 2016

Mutations in PROP1, the most common known cause of combined pituitary hormone deficiency in humans, can result in the progressive loss of all hormones of the pituitary anterior lobe. In mice, Prop1 mutations result in the failure to initiate transcription of Pou1f1 (also known as Pit1) and lack somatotropins, lactotropins, and thyrotropins. The basis for this species difference is unknown. We hypothesized that Prop1 is expressed in a progenitor cell that can develop into all anterior lobe cell types, and not just the somatotropes, thyrotropes, and lactotropes, which are collectively known as the PIT1 lineage. To test this idea, we produced a transgenic Prop1-cre mouse line and conducted lineage-tracing experiments of Prop1-expressing cells. The results reveal that all hormone-secreting cell types of both the anterior and intermediate lobes are descended from Prop1-expressing progenitors. The Prop1-cre mice also provide a valuable genetic reagent with a unique spatial and temporal expression for generating tissue-specific gene rearrangements early in pituitary gland development. We also determined that the minimal essential sequences for reliable Prop1 expression lie within 10 kilobases of the mouse gene and demonstrated that human PROP1 can substitute functionally for mouse Prop1. These studies enhance our understanding of the pathophysiology of disease in patients with PROP1 mutations.
Pareidolia in Neuroendocrinology: A Pituitary Macroadenoma Resembling “Big Bird”
Authors: de Herder Wouter W.
Published: January 2016

Context:

Pareidolia is the imagined perception of a pattern, where it does not actually exist, as faces.

Case Description:

A 49-year-old woman presented with a pituitary macroadenoma with supra- and parasellar expansion containing two hypodense areas and one hyperintense area. On the T1W magnetic resonance imaging picture, this macroadenoma closely resembled a famous character from a children's television series.

Conclusion:

The imaging-phenotype in this case demonstrates that pareidolia can also be observed in neuroendocrinology and neuroradiology.
The Rojava Experience: Possibilities and Challenges of Building a Democratic Life
Authors: Küçük Bülent , Özselçuk Ceren
Published: January 2016

This essay engages with the political possibilities and limits of the ethico-political horizon of the resistance in Rojava, which has been advanced and put into action under the general name of democratic autonomy. Following the shift of perspective that took place within the Kurdish liberation movement in the 1990s, we interpret democratic autonomy as a new methodology that weds decolonization and national liberation with a strong critique of the state form and patriarchal capitalist modernity. We then discuss autonomy and democracy as distinct yet related moments that articulate together local and universal dimensions, and we consider some ways in which these moments support or challenge one another.
Ire1 supports normal ER differentiation in developing Drosophila photoreceptors
Authors: Xu Zuyuan , Chikka Madhusudana Rao , Xia Hongai , Ready Donald F.
Published: January 2016

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) serves virtually all aspects of cell physiology and, by pathways that are incompletely understood, is dynamically remodeled to meet changing cell needs. Inositol-requiring enzyme 1 (Ire1), a conserved core protein of the unfolded protein response (UPR), participates in ER remodeling and is particularly required during the differentiation of cells devoted to intense secretory activity, so-called ‘professional’ secretory cells. Here, we characterize the role of Ire1 in ER differentiation in the developing Drosophila compound eye photoreceptors (R cells). As part of normal development, R cells take a turn as professional secretory cells with a massive secretory effort that builds the photosensitive membrane organelle, the rhabdomere. We find rough ER sheets proliferate as rhabdomere biogenesis culminates, and Ire1 is required for normal ER differentiation. Ire1 is active early in R cell development and is required in anticipation of peak biosynthesis. Without Ire1, the amount of rough ER sheets is strongly reduced and the extensive cortical ER network at the rhabdomere base, the subrhabdomere cisterna (SRC), fails. Instead, ER proliferates in persistent and ribosome-poor tubular tangles. A phase of Ire1 activity early in R cell development thus shapes dynamic ER.
Muscle structural assembly and functional consequences
Authors: Narici Marco , Franchi Martino , Maganaris Constantinos
Published: January 2016

The relationship between muscle structure and function has been a matter of investigation since the Renaissance period. Extensive use of anatomical dissections and the introduction of the scientific method enabled early scholars to lay the foundations of muscle physiology and biomechanics. Progression of knowledge in these disciplines led to the current understanding that muscle architecture, together with muscle fibre contractile properties, has a major influence on muscle mechanical properties. Recently, advances in laser diffraction, optical microendoscopy and ultrasonography have enabled in vivo investigations into the behaviour of human muscle fascicles and sarcomeres with varying joint angle and muscle contraction intensity. With these technologies it has become possible to identify the length region over which fascicles and sarcomeres develop maximum isometric force in vivo as well as the operating ranges of fascicles and sarcomeres during real-life activities such as walking. Also, greater insights into the remodelling of muscle architecture in response to overloading and unloading, and in ageing, have been obtained by the use of ultrasonography; these have led to the identification of clinical biomarkers of disuse atrophy and sarcopenia. Recent evidence also shows that the pattern of muscle hypertrophy in response to chronic loading is contraction-mode dependent (eccentric versus concentric), as similar gains in muscle mass, but through differing addition of sarcomeres in series and in parallel (as indirectly inferred from changes in fascicle length and pennation angle), have been found. These innovative observations prompted a new set of investigations into the molecular mechanisms regulating this contraction-specific muscle growth.
Seasonal and geographical variation in heat tolerance and evaporative cooling capacity in a passerine bird
Authors: Noakes Matthew J. , Wolf Blair O. , McKechnie Andrew E.
Published: January 2016

Intraspecific variation in avian thermoregulatory responses to heat stress has received little attention, despite increasing evidence that endothermic animals show considerable physiological variation among populations. We investigated seasonal (summer versus winter) variation in heat tolerance and evaporative cooling in an Afrotropical ploceid passerine, the white-browed sparrow-weaver (Plocepasser mahali;∼47 g) at three sites along a climatic gradient with more than 10 °C variation in mid-summer maximum air temperatures (Ta). We measured resting metabolic rate (RMR) and total evaporative water loss (TEWL) using open flow-through respirometry, and core body temperature (Tb) using passive integrated transponder tags. Sparrow-weavers were exposed to a ramped profile of progressively higher Ta between 30 °C – 52 °C to elicit maximum evaporative cooling capacity (n=10 per site per season); the maximum Ta birds tolerated before the onset of severe hyperthermia (Tb ≍ 44 °C) was considered their hyperthermia threshold Ta (HTTa). Our data reveal significant seasonal acclimatisation of heat tolerance, with a desert population of sparrow-weavers reaching significantly higher Ta in summer (49.5±1.4 °C; i.e., higher HTTa) than winter (46.8±0.9 °C), reflecting enhanced evaporative cooling during summer. Moreover, desert sparrow-weavers had significantly higher heat tolerance and evaporative cooling capacity during summer compared to populations from more mesic sites (HTTa=47.3±1.5 and 47.6±1.3 °C). A better understanding of the contributions of local adaptation versus phenotypic plasticity to intraspecific variation in avian heat tolerance and evaporative cooling capacity is needed for modelling species' responses to changing climates.
Proposals and Analysis of the Effects of Acoustic Corrections in a Modern Church
Authors: Gagliano Antonio , Nocera Francesco , Cicero Andrea , Gioia Mirko Cascio
Published: January 2016

It is rather common experience to observe that many contemporary churches, in contrast with the effort to achieve refined architectonic shapes and finishes, exhibit poor acoustic quality, such as high reverberation times and low speech intelligibility. The causes of such deficiencies are ordinarily generated by the smooth and hard surfaces of walls, floor and ceiling that focus most of sound energy in late reflections, diminishing the effectiveness of direct and early reflected sound.

Recently, the authors have been involved for analyzing the acoustic behavior of a modern church situated in Ragusa, (Italy), with the aim to individuate suitable interventions for improving the acoustic quality of that church.

Preliminarily, a measurement survey was conducted to evaluate the main acoustic indices proposed by ISO 3382 (T30, STI, EDT, C80, D50) and portray the current acoustic climate. After that, the Authors developed a simulation on a 3D model of the church, in order to calibrate the model comparing measured and simulated acoustic parameters.

The previously described activities are necessary for testing the reliability and accuracy of the prediction of the acoustic simulations. The subsequent step of the work consists in the choice of suitable interventions for the acoustic corrections; three different typologies of materials were evaluated. Globally, the acoustic corrections allow to obtain noteworthy improvements of the acoustic quality of the church, e.g. the T30 decrease from 7.3 to 2.5 s and the STI increase from 33% to 40%, at 1000 Hz.

Further, the influence of the variation of the audience presence was analyzed, finding out a strict correlation between occupancy percentage and the law of variation of T30. Finally, after the realizations of one of the suggested interventions of acoustic corrections, the Authors conducted a second survey to evaluate the effects of the refurbishment interventions on the acoustic climate. Since the obtained results do not match very well with the design previsions, some hypotheses that can justify such discrepancy are illustrated.
A Combined Experimental and Analytical Approach for the Simulation of the Sound Transmission Loss of Multilayer Glazing Systems
Authors: Ruggeri Paolo , Peron Fabio , Granzotto Nicola , Bonfiglio Paolo
Published: January 2016

In order to ensure acoustic comfort of living spaces, nowadays façade systems having high performance are required. Within such context the glazing systems play a key role in achieving high levels of sound insulation. The characteristics of sound insulation of such systems can be determined by analytical methods that make use of experimental characterizations of the physical and mechanical parameters of these systems.

In this work a combined experimental and analytical approach for sound transmission loss prediction of glazing systems is presented. In particular, the mechanical properties of monolithic and multilayer glasses with viscoelastic interlayer made of polyvinyl butyral (PVB) are measured using resonance curve method of flexural waves on glass beams with different boundary conditions. In order to achieve reliable input mechanical data (Young's modulus and loss factor), tested beams are characterized in free-free and elastic constraints boundary conditions, respectively. The elastic constrain boundary conditions are realized following the same specifications of ISO Standard 10140 series for larger panels.

Starting from the proposed mechanical characterization, the diffuse field sound transmission loss of glass panels has been predicted through an analytical model for solid elastic layers. Results from the above-mentioned procedure are compared with laboratory measurements. From the analysis it will be shown a better accuracy in determining the sound transmission loss of panels when the elastic constrain boundary conditions are applied to the representative beams.
Part Summary of the Project ‘Speakers' Comfort’: Teachers' Voice Use in Teaching Environments
Authors: Lyberg-Åhlander Viveka , Rydell Roland , Löfqvist Anders , Pelegrin-García David , Brunskog Jonas
Published: January 2016

Classroom acoustics not always take the speaker's comfort into consideration. The purpose of the presented papers was to investigate voice use, vocal behavior and prevalence of voice problems in Swedish teaching staff. Ratings of features in the work-environment on voice use were explored in n = 487 teachers. Based on their answers the respondents were split into two groups: teachers with self-assessed voice problems and voice-healthy teachers. Teachers with voice problems and were matched to a voice-healthy colleague from the same school and were investigated and compared for clinical findings and for vocal behavior. Acoustic properties of their teaching environments were measured. Teachers with voice-problems were more affected by any loading factor in the work-environment and were more aware of the room acoustics. Differences between the groups were found during field-measurements, while there were no differences in the findings from the clinical examinations of the larynx and voice. Voice problems seem to emerge in the interplay with and use of the classroom acoustics.
Αποτύπωση των δράσεων του Υπουργείου Παιδείας αναφορικά με την προστασία της πολιτισμικής ετερότητας στον χώρο της Α'βάθμιας κ Β'βάθμιας Εκπαίδευσης. Μια ποιοτική μελέτη θεματικής ανάλυσης των ετήσιων εκθέσεων του Υπουργείου Παιδείας προς την Εθ
Authors: Καρανικόλα Ζωή , Πίτσου Χαρίκλεια
Published: January 2016

Η πολιτισμική ετερότητα αποτελεί ένα πρόβλημα που απασχολεί τα τελευταία χρόνια την ελληνική πολιτεία. Η περίοδος 1996-2011 χαρακτηρίζεται από έναν σημαντικό αριθμό νόμων, προεδρικών διαταγμάτων, εγκυκλίων και υπουργικών αποφάσεων αναφορικά με την επίσημη προσπάθεια της ελληνικής πολιτείας να διαχειριστεί την πολιτισμική ετερότητα στην Πρωτοβάθμια και Δευτεροβάθμια Εκπαίδευση. Ιδιαίτερη έμφαση δίνεται στην εκπαίδευση των αλλοδαπών μαθητών, βασικοί στόχοι της οποίας είναι από τη μια η ενεργός ένταξή τους και από την άλλη η μείωση της σχολικής διαρροής.

Πιο συγκεκριμένα, το παρόν άρθρο παρουσιάζει μια ποιοτική ανάλυση των ετήσιων εκθέσεων του Υπουργείου Παιδείας προς την Εθνική Επιτροπή για τα Δικαιώματα του Ανθρώπου (ΕΕΔΑ) από το 2002-2011, προκειμένου να αποτυπωθούν οι δράσεις του Υπουργείου Παιδείας σχετικά με την προστασία της πολιτισμικής ετερότητας. Αξίζει να σημειωθεί ότι η ανάλυση περιορίζεται στο περιεχόμενο των εκθέσεων του Υπουργείου Παιδείας κι όχι στο αν εφαρμόστηκαν και πώς στο πεδίο της Πρωτοβάθμιας και Δευτεροβάθμιας Εκπαίδευσης.

Τα αποτελέσματα της ερευνητικής αυτής προσπάθειας έδειξαν ότι η διαχείριση της πολιτισμικής ετερότητας έγκειται στην ύπαρξη ενός νομοθετικού πλαισίου που καθορίζει την ίδρυση και λειτουργία Διαπολιτισμικών Σχολείων, Τάξεων Υποδοχής, Φροντιστηριακών Τμημάτων, Τάξεων Υποδοχής Ζωνών Εκπαιδευτικής Προτεραιότητας, Ενισχυτικών Φροντιστηριακών Τμημάτων Ζωνών Εκπαιδευτικής Προτεραιότητας και Ξένων Σχολείων, στην εφαρμογή ποικίλων εκπαιδευτικών προγραμμάτων και στη συγγραφή Αναλυτικών Προγραμμάτων και Σχολικών Εγχειριδίων.
Εκπαίδευση και πόλεμος: η περίπτωση του εκπαιδευτικού προβλήματος στην πόλη των Ιωαννίνων κατά τα έτη 1940 έως 1949
Authors: Giannakou Maria
Published: January 2016

 Η πόλη των Ιωαννίνων βρίσκεται στο βόρειο-δυτικό τμήμα της Ελλάδας, όπου τα χρόνια 1940-44, βρισκόταν υπό την κατοχή των δυνάμεων του Άξονα και διαδοχικά επηρεάστηκε από τον Εμφύλιο Πόλεμο (1946-49). Το άρθρο εξετάζει τις επιδράσεις του Δευτέρου Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου και του Εμφυλίου πολέμου στην εκπαίδευση στα Ιωάννινα. Εντός αυτού του πλαισίου, η έρευνα εστιάζει στη γενική λειτουργία των σχολείων, κυρίως στη φοίτηση των μαθητών και στην επίδραση της καθημερινότητας του πολέμου στη ζωή των μαθητών. Η μέθοδος της ιστορικής έρευνας που χρησιμοποιείται είναι η ποιοτική ανάλυση εντός του πλαισίου της μικρο-ιστορίας όπου τα δεδομένα προσφέρουν την ιστορία του ευρύτερου κοινωνικού πλαισίου, ενώ προσδίδουν την αίσθηση του προσωπικού χαρακτήρα στη μελέτη του παρελθόντος.  Η έρευνα αποκαλύπτει τις διαστάσεις ενός άδικου πολέμου στην κοινωνία και την εκπαίδευση και τα μακροχρόνια αποτελέσματά του.
Strong morphological defects in conditional Arabidopsis abp1 knock-down mutants generated in absence of functional ABP1 protein
Authors: Michalko Jaroslav , Glanc Matouš , Perrot-Rechenmann Catherine , Friml Jiří
Published: January 2016

The Auxin Binding Protein 1 (ABP1) is one of the most studied proteins in plants. Since decades ago, it has been the prime receptor candidate for the plant hormone auxin with a plethora of described functions in auxin signaling and development. The developmental importance of ABP1 has recently been questioned by identification of Arabidopsis thaliana abp1 knock-out alleles that show no obvious phenotypes under normal growth conditions. In this study, we examined the contradiction between the normal growth and development of the abp1 knock-outs and the strong morphological defects observed in three different ethanol-inducible abp1 knock-down mutants (abp1-AS, SS12K, SS12S). By analyzing segregating populations of abp1 knock-out vs. abp1 knock-down crosses we show that the strong morphological defects that were believed to be the result of conditional down-regulation of ABP1 can be reproduced also in the absence of the functional ABP1 protein. This data suggests that the phenotypes in abp1 knock-down lines are due to the off-target effects and asks for further reflections on the biological function of ABP1 or alternative explanations for the missing phenotypic defects in the abp1 loss-of-function alleles.
Accounting (Financial) Misstatements: Cause and Effect
Authors: Михеев  , Mikheev M.
Published: January 2016

Th e article reviews actual issues of reliability of accounting and reporting, reveals basic terms associated with

misstatements in accounting and accounting (fi nancial) statements.
Metro Meals on Wheels Treasure Valley Employs a Low-Cost Routing Tool to Improve Deliveries
Authors: Manikas Andrew S. , Kroes James R. , Gattiker Thomas F.
Published: January 2016

In this paper, we discuss a project in which we develop a spreadsheet-based system that interfaces with a no-fee driving-directions application programming interface to quickly and accurately build a travel-time and distance matrix, and then rapidly determine near-optimal delivery-route schedules using a modified genetic algorithm. To the best of our knowledge, the method we used to create the travel matrix had not been studied previously. The tool was tested and refined in a humanitarian setting—a local branch of the Meals on Wheels Association of America (now Meals on Wheels America), an organization that combats hunger and poverty by providing food to individuals who are in need. The tool, which is currently being utilized by Metro Meals on Wheels Treasure Valley, has substantially reduced the time required to plan deliveries and has also reduced the delivery driving times by approximately 15 percent.
Bereavement support for children and families
Authors: Potts Shirley
Published: January 2016

Shirley Potts from Child Bereavement UK suggests that, in an era of health improvement and ill-health prevention, bereavement support should be a prime consideration for both parents and children
The eRedbook: Enabling digital transformation in health care
Authors: Gibson Kenny
Published: January 2016

The Personal Child Health Record (PCHR or ‘Red Book’) is used for recording a child's health and development from ages 0–5 and is unique as a citizen-owned record that follows a child through health, care and education. It engages parents in the health of their children and flows data between services and organisations in different locations. The digital version of the PCHR, the ‘eRedbook’, will be field tested at NHS Trusts in the London region in 2016. This article will discuss the background, features and benefits of the digital version and provide an insight into the plans for London.
Celebrating the positive: Partnership working in a cleft lip service
Authors: Matthews Jackie
Published: January 2016

This article follows a family's journey through the diagnosis of a cleft lip, with a focus on the benefits of antenatal health visits, health visitor input, partnership working and one baby girl's resilience in the face of adversity.
The parental contribution to the parent/health visitor relationship
Authors: Bidmead Christine , Cowley Sarah , Grocott Patricia
Published: January 2016

This paper reports the qualitative methods used and the findings that inform a theoretical framework suitable for measuring parent/health visitor (HV) relationships. Focusing on the parental contribution to the parent/HV relationship, the qualities and skills identified by health visitors and parents during stimulated recall processes are presented. These findings are discussed in the context of existing research.
Beyond radicalism and resignation: the competing logics for public participation in policy decisions
Authors: Dean Rikki John
Published: January 2016

Participation – like justice or freedom – is a term that can be constructed in multiple ways. However, existing typologies of participation pay little attention to the alternative logics for public participation in policy decisions: either they assume one particular normative bias or categorise by institutional design features without reference to the broader ideology that informs the use of these designs. This paper outlines an alternative approach that connects the variety in participatory practices to competing theories of democracy and public administration. It identifies four archetypes of participation: knowledge transfer; collective decision-making; choice and voice; and arbitration and oversight.
Anno 1790: Dressing a Swedish crime series
Authors: Ulfsdotter Boel
Published: January 2016

Anno 1790 (2011) is Sweden’s first attempt at a post-heritage, hybridized TV drama production. It is set during the increasingly troubled and gloomy last years of Gustav III’s reign, in the aftermath of the glorious heyday of the 1770s. The series has an obvious noir character that is displayed on all levels of image and narrative, bringing to mind the mood reflected in recent, internationally successful contemporary Swedish and Danish crime series such as Forbrydelsen/The Killing (2009) and Bron/The Bridge (2011), commonly known as ‘Nordic noir’ productions. The ready availability of an impressive eighteenth-century material culture, in combination with its historically exciting but altogether under-exploited final decade, provide a perfect setting for a Swedish noir, post-heritage quality production. The article revolves around the significance of the costumes worn by the main characters in Anno 1790, which seem to suggest that the costume design for such a series needs additional inspiration from other sources than dress history to properly remediate the narrative and its characters, compared to a traditional heritage production. The author shows that both contemporary fashion and haute couture are natural sources of inspiration for this type of ‘post-heritage costume’.
‘That Medieval Eastern-European Shtetl Family of Yours’: Negotiating Jewishness in Aline Kominsky Crumb’s Need More Love (2007)
Authors: Precup Mihaela
Published: January 2016

This article focuses on several representations of Jewishness from American underground cartoonist Aline Kominsky Crumb’s memoir Need More Love (2007) and several more recent publications. In her work, Kominsky Crumb makes repeated references to almost every stereotypical aspect of the Jewish American middle-class community in which she was raised, from the accent to the clothes, social mannerisms, and even preferred type of plastic surgery. In conversation with Federica Clementi, Riv Ellen-Prell, and others, I read the comics collected in Need More Love in conjunction with several of the author’s photographs in order to revisit the debate on the dynamic between comics and photography as modes of self-representation. I argue that, by narrowing down the potential of comics to what the medium can do as caricature, Kominsky Crumb connects to a long tradition of social satire and self-disparaging humour. However, by including photographs of herself in her work, she not only pays tribute to the more traditional norms of life-writing, but also invites an interpretation of her cartoon self as a masquerade of Jewish femininity staged upon a body whose vulnerability complicates the binary logic of the stereotype.
‘Mixing It Up’: An interview with Ariel Schrag
Authors: Greenbaum Andrea
Published: January 2016

Ariel Schrag’s 2014 lecture at the University of Chicago’s Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality, entitled, ‘How to write anything’, is emblematic of the artist herself. She is remarkably skilled in all genres, deftly moving from illustrating and writing acclaimed graphic novels like Awkward and Definition (2008), Potential (2008) and Likewise (2009), editing Stuck in the Middle (2007), writing television scripts for the L-Word and How to Make It in America, and composing her latest creation, her first novel, Adam (2014). In the following Skype interview, conducted with Andrea Greenbaum on 9 December 2014, Ariel Schrag explores Jewish identity, artistic habits, and getting ‘lucky’.
#Just Braying
Authors: Pearlman Corinne
Published: January 2016

An exhibition celebrating donkeys in the Negev makes a cartoonist wonder whose home it really is.
Identity and Conflict: Cultural Heritage, Reconstruction and National Identity in Kosovo
Authors: Morel Anne-Françoise
Published: January 2016

The year 1989 marked the six hundredth anniversary of the defeat of the Christian Prince of Serbia, Lazard I, at the hands of the Ottoman Empire in the “Valley of the Blackbirds,” Kosovo. On June 28, 1989, the very day of the battle’s anniversary, thousands of Serbs gathered on the presumed historic battle field bearing nationalistic symbols and honoring the Serbian martyrs buried in Orthodox churches across the territory. They were there to hear a speech delivered by Slobodan Milosevic in which the then-president of the Socialist Republic of Serbia revived Lazard’s mythic battle and martyrdom. It was a symbolic act aimed at establishing a version of history that saw Kosovo as part of the Serbian nation. It marked the commencement of a violent process of subjugation that culminated in genocide. Fully integrated into the complex web of tragic violence that was to ensue was the targeting and destruction of the region’s architectural and cultural heritage. As with the peoples of the region, this heritage crossed geopolitical “boundaries.”

Through the fluctuations of history, Kosovo’s heritage had already become subject to divergent temporal, geographical, physical and even symbolical forces. During the war it was to become a focal point of clashes between these forces and, as Anthony D. Smith argues with regard to cultural heritage more generally, it would be seen as “a legacy belonging to the past of ‘the other,’” which, in times of conflict, opponents try “to damage or even deny.” Today, the scars of this conflict, its damage and its denial are still evident. However, there are initiatives that are now seeking to use heritage – architectural and otherwise – as a way of fostering respect and dialogue between the cultures still reeling from the effects of the conflict. Having been seen as an originating factor in the conflict and made into a target for attack during the war, heritage is now seen as a facilitator for peacekeeping. As is to be expected, this is a complex, polemic, fraught and contested process.
No Longer and Not Yet
Authors: Hollis Edward
Published: January 2016

The forest of Kilmahew, around twenty miles west of Glasgow, conceals an architectural cautionary tale. In the 1960’s, the landscape was radically transformed by a building. St Peter’s seminary was built to house around a hundred catholic novices. Its plan and section, the work of the architects Gillespie Kidd and Coia, were a rigorous statement of the modernist maxim that form follows function. But within a decade, there were not enough priests to fill it; and St Peter’s became a form without a function. That was 1987, and since then it has resisted numerous attempts to provide it with a new one: designed as closely as it was to a specific programme, the building remains empty, and derelict. It is no longer what it used to be, and not yet what it can be. The caution is simple: design a building programmatically, and you’ll end up with a ruin.

This author has been involved since the Venice Biennale of 2010 with a new proposal for St Peter’s led by the Glasgow arts collective NVA (Nacionale Vitae Activa). We have no images of what it will look like, or when it will be ready. St Peter’s isn’t going to be restored any time soon. Instead, we propose to leave the building perpetually incomplete – both ruin and building site. It’s a model of what all buildings should be: they are, in environmental terms, expensive. We shouldn’t be building more of them, but rather, exploiting and transforming the ones we already have, again and again. St Peter’s was originally designed to teach moral lessons, but now it presents a different ethical challenge. This article will narrate NVA’s proposals, and set them in the context of the modernist ethics they question, arguing for a different discourse, of suspension in time – in being no longer and not yet.
Framing the Real: Lefèbvre and Neo-Realist Cinematic Space as Practice
Authors: Brancaleone David
Published: January 2016

In 1945 Roberto Rossellini’s Neo-realist Rome, Open City set in motion an approach to cinema and its representation of real life – and by extension real spaces – that was to have international significance in film theory and practice. However, the re-use of the real spaces of the city, and elsewhere, as film sets in Neo-realist film offered (and offers) more than an influential aesthetic and set of cinematic theories. Through Neo-realism, it can be argued that we gain access to a cinematic relational and multidimensional space that is not made from built sets, but by filming the built environment. On the one hand, this space allows us to “notice” the contradictions around us in our cities and, by extension, the societies that have produced those cities, while on the other, allows us to see the spatial practices operative in the production and maintenance of those contradictions.

In setting out a template for understanding the spatial practices of Neo-realism through the work of Henri Lefèbvre, this paper opens its films, and those produced today in its wake, to a spatio-political reading of contemporary relevance. We will suggest that the rupturing of divisions between real spaces and the spaces of film locations, as well the blurring of the difference between real life and performed actions for the camera that underlies much of the central importance of Neo-realism, echoes the arguments of Lefèbvre with regard the social production of space. In doing so, we will suggest that film potentially had, and still has, a vital role to play in a critique of contemporary capitalist spatial practices.
The Assessment of Romanian Customers’ Level of Satisfaction with Pharmaceutical Providers
Authors: Călin Cherecheş Marius , Paula Timofe Mara , Ovidiu Oniga
Published: January 2016

The aim of the current study is to assess the level of satisfaction towards pharmaceutical services among Romanian customers. Moreover, we were interested in building the socio-demographical profile of a Romanian satisfied customer. The study has a transversal design and uses a quantitative approach. Data was collected at the national level in June 2012 by using Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI) and resulted in 1,478 valid questionnaires. Descriptive statistics were performed in order to properly present the sample of interest according to socio-demographic characteristics, as well as general attitudes towards pharmaceutical market. According to our analysis, only half of the respondents have a favorite pharmacy (50,4%). Regarding their level of satisfaction, the majority of respondents (53%) declared themselves as being quite satisfied with the pharmacy that they usually collaborate with, whereas 42% of respondents are very satisfied with their favorite pharmacies. According to our analysis, the most satisfied customer has the following socio-demographic characteristics: female (N=351), aged between 56 and 70 years old (N=259), having high school as the highest level of education (N=184), living in an urban area (N=343), having a monthly income of 501-1000 RON (N=217), married (N=396), having no chronic disease (N=312), having a family composed of two members (N=185). Customer’s satisfaction represents a personal evaluation on the pharmaceutical services and providers and is an essential part of the quality of health care. Therefore, it is vital to assess the customer’s expectation and satisfaction in order to ensure the success of the pharmaceutical company.
Risk Management in Clinical Laboratory: from Theory to Practice
Authors: Eliza David Remona , Minodora Dobreanu
Published: January 2016

Clinical laboratory tests ensure approximately 70% of the medical decisions, so that the time until the release of the results and its accuracy are critical for the diagnosis and the efficiency of the treatment [1]. Risk management involves both the anticipation of what could happen erroneous and the assessment of errors’ frequency as well as the consequences or the severity of the effects caused by it, and finally to decide what can be done in order to reduce the risk to an acceptable clinical level. For this reason, organizations should not see the risk management as a compliance issue, but as an integral part of the decision-making process. EP23-A is a guideline of CLSI that introduces the risk management principles in the clinical laboratory and encourages the laboratories to develop plans of risk management which are addressed to the risks of each laboratory. EP18-A2 proposes 2 techniques for identifying and controlling the errors in the laboratory: FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) and FRACAS (Failure Reporting, Analysis and Corrective Action System). The European Committee of Experts and Management of Safety and Quality in Health Care proposed to use the quality indicators to identify the critical stages of each process, thus being possible to assess continuously the medical processes with the aim of identifying the errors when they occur. This review summarizes the principles of the risk management in the clinical laboratory, thus it can achieve its aims to report valid, accurate and reliable test results