bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Exogen hair characterization in human scalp
Authors: Van Neste Dominique , Leroy Thérèse , Conil Séverine
Published: March 2007

Background/aim: Classically, the hair cycle is described as a sequence of three successive phases: a hair‐growth phase named anagen, a regression phase or catagen and a resting phase or telogen. In rodents, it appears that the resting hair follicle population contains also a new phase that has been identified recently as the exogen phase of the hair cycle. This phase leads to the release of the telogen club and results in hair shedding. The aim of this paper is to propose a method that is applicable to humans and that is able to discriminate the two components of the resting hair population i.e. the telogen and the exogen hair follicles.

Methods: We used non‐invasive approaches to entrap exogen scalp hair into silicon‐based polymers. We also extracted growing and non‐growing hair with a calibrated dynamometer. We characterized differences between anagen, catagen, telogen and exogen root ends with histochemical stains and with the scanning electron microscope. Furthermore, we documented all known hair‐cycle stages with the contrast‐enhanced phototrichogram (CE‐PTG) technique.

Results: We demonstrated that anagen and telogen hair are firmly anchored to the hair follicle and that cohesion forces are correlated with hair thickness. On the contrary, exogen hair are passively retained within the hair follicle. Among the resting hair population, telogen clubs retain cellular elements of the outer root sheaths that are not found on exogen hair. The specificity of the new exogen collection method was documented with the simultaneous use of the CE‐PTG method: indeed anagen, catagen and telogen follicles remain unaffected by the exogen extraction procedure.

Conclusion: Exogen hair can be sampled specifically from the human scalp with a new non‐invasive method. Our data suggest that the casual levels of exogen hair, in normal individuals and under the present experimental conditions, are usually less than seven hair per cm2.
A new experimental method for measuring skin's natural tension
Authors: Jacquet Emmanuelle , Josse Gwendal , Khatyr Fouad , Garcin Camille
Published: March 2007

Purpose: The precise determination of skin's mechanical properties is still an open question. When performing an in vivo test, the piece of skin tested is not as well defined as it is in material testing. Moreover, the body zone and the body posture imply an initial stress on the skin. Consequently, a precise mechanical analysis needs a precise measurement of the natural skin tension.

Methods: A new method and the relative device are presented. It is based on an extensiometry test. Skin is tested not only in traction but also in compression. The tested skin sample is well defined and protected from surrounding effects by follower tabs. The size and shape of the device have been optimised by a finite element modelisation.

Results: The method was tested with elastomers pre‐tensioned at different loads. It is shown that the initial tension can be retrieved with good precision. Tests were then performed in vivo on the forearm for different arm positions. It is shown that initial tension could be only clearly determined for the highest skin tension, although the skin presented very different traction behaviour with different arm positions.

Conclusion: It is shown how body posture influences measurements. An innovative method for easily determining initial tension is presented. Nevertheless, further tests and device improvements are needed to apply this skin tension measurement for different body zones and body postures.
Skin lesion classification using relative color features
Authors: Cheng Yue (Iris) , Swamisai Ragavendar , Umbaugh Scott E. , Moss Randy H. , Stoecker William V. , Teegala Saritha , Srinivasan Subhashini K.
Published: March 2007

Background/purpose: Clinically, it is difficult to differentiate the early stage of malignant melanoma and certain benign skin lesions due to similarity in appearance. Our research uses image analysis of clinical skin images and relative color‐based pattern recognition techniques to enhance the images and improve differentiation of these lesions.

Methods: First, the relative color images were created from digitized photographic images. Then, they were segmented into objects and morphologically filtered. Next, the relative color features were extracted from the objects to form two different feature spaces; a lesion feature space and an object feature space. The two feature spaces serve as two data models to be analyzed to determine the best features. Finally, we used a statistical analysis model of relative color features, which better classifies the various types of skin lesions.

Results/conclusions: The best features found for differentiation of melanoma and benign skin lesions from this study are area, mean in the red and blue bands, standard deviation in the red and green bands, skewness in the green band, and entropy in the red band. With the relative color feature algorithm developed, the best results were obtained with a multi‐layer perceptron neural network model. This showed an overall classification success of 79%, with 70% of the benign lesions successfully classified, and 86% of malignant melanoma successfully classified.
A randomized, prospective study using the LPG® technique in treating radiation‐induced skin fibrosis: clinical and profilometric analysis
Authors: Bourgeois J. F. , Gourgou S. , Kramar A. , Lagarde J. M. , Guillot B.
Published: March 2007

Background/purpose: Cutaneous fibrosis is the quite mandatory sequela after a breast cancer treated by radiotherapy and it induces more or less important functional troubles. The LPG® technique is a technique of mechanical massage that allows skin mobilization by folding/unfolding. The aim of this study was to evaluate the changes on irradiated skin before and after LPG treatment by clinical and skin replica analysis.

Methods: Twenty women, 43–55 years old, who had been treated from 6 to 16 months before, for breast cancer with a conservative surgery and radiotherapy, had been enrolled in the trial. They were divided into two groups after randomization: the first group was LPG treated three times a week for 1 month; the second group was only placed under medical supervision. The clinical criteria studied were systematically studied before (T0), at the end of treatment (T1) and 1 month after the end of treatment (T2): pain, itching, skin dryness, erythema, skin infiltration, feeling of tightness and of induration of the skin. Softening of the skin was assessed at T1 and T2. Cutaneous replica was performed on the internal upper 1/4 of each breast with silicone material before, after and 1 month later after the end of the treatment. After polymerization, the replica was stored and then blindly analyzed by image analysis software. The following parameters were systematically measured: average skin roughness, average of wrinkles' depth and residual length, wrinkle number and the space between them.

Results: Clinically, the LPG treatment induced a decrease of erythema (10% of the patients vs. 40% before treatment), a decrease of pain and pruritus (10% vs. 20% and 40%, respectively) and a decrease of the feeling of induration of the skin (10% of the patients vs. 70% before treatment). Furthermore, a skin‐softening sensation was noted by seven patients vs. one in the control group. Replica shows an increase of roughness and of furrow depth without any change in the residual length and an increase in the space between the wrinkles, whose number decreases.

Conclusion: This study confirms the impact of the clinical sequelae induced on skin after radiotherapy and shows improvement of the clinical signs after treatment by the LPG® technique. The latter induces changes of micro relief, suggesting a softening effect on the skin. These preliminary results have to be confirmed on a more important group of patients.
Network epidermolysis bullosa: molecular pathomechanisms and novel therapeutic approaches
Authors: Volz Andreas , Has Cristina , Schumann Hauke , Bruckner‐Tuderman Leena
Published: March 2007

In October 2003 the German network of excellence “Epidermolysis bullosa: molecular pathomechanisms and novel therapeutic approaches“ initiated its activities. The network partners are physicians and scientists working on epidermolysis bullosa (EB), basement membranes and structural proteins. The clinical partners and associated specialists improve interdisciplinary management of patients with EB and coordinate diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Efficient molecular diagnostics consisting of antigen mapping and mutation analysis is offered in specialized centers. Using a highly productive information technology infrastructure, a central internet‐based patient registry contains clinical,genetic and molecular data.The registry provides a platform for genotype‐phenotype studies, epidemiological investigations, and for the identification of patients for future molecular therapies. Mouse models of different EB subtypes help elucidate causal disease mechanisms. Further scientific projects aim at understanding the normal mechanisms of epidermal adhesion to basement membranes, and protein‐protein‐ and cell‐ligand interactions, and their physiological regulation. These results will provide a foundation for developing novel therapeutic approaches for the causal treatment of EB.
Natural history of invasive cutaneous melanoma in Styria, Austria 2001–2003
Authors: Richtig Erika , Gerger Armin , Berghold Andrea , Schwantzer Gerold , Ott Arthur , Kerl Helmut , Smolle Josef
Published: March 2007

Background: Rising melanoma incidences have created the need of assessment of epidemiological and clinical data.

Patients and methods: We investigated the natural history of invasive cutaneous melanoma in Styria, a province of Austria, in the years 2001–2003. 1082 patients, 511 men and 571 women, mean age 58.2 ± 16.7 years, were collected. Besides basic melanoma data, special histologic features such as regression structures, ulceration, microsatellites and vascular invasion were investigated. Furthermore, lymph node pathology in case of sentinel node biopsy and/or lymph node dissection was recorded.

Results: Mean annual incidence (crude rate) was 28.6 per 100,000 inhabitants, age standardized rate 24.5 per 100,000 (95 % CI 22.4–26.6). Cumulative risk (0– 74 years) was 1.92, lifetime risk 1 in 52. Superficial spreading melanoma was the most common type in both sexes, men on the trunk and women on the extremities. Only 11 % of all melanomas were in easily visible areas. Median tumor thickness was 0.75 mm, ranging between 0.2 and 50.0 mm. Sentinel node biopsy was performed in 158 melanomas (14.6 %),and was positive in 22 %.Primary therapeutic lymph node dissection was performed in 19 patients, showing metastases in 18 patients.

Conclusions: The investigation revealed an unclear high melanoma incidence for invasive melanomas in our province, requiring further investigation.
The Influence of Time Interval between Bleaching and Enamel Bonding
Authors: Da Silva Machado Jéfferson , Cândido Maria Salete Machado , Sundfeld Renato Herman , De Alexandre Rodrigo Sversut , Cardoso Jader Duarte , Sundefeld Maria Lúcia marçal mazza
Published: March 2007

Objectives:  The purpose of this study was to investigate the penetration of a conventional adhesive material into enamel bleached with 16% carbamide peroxide and 38% hydrogen peroxide using optical light microscopy.

Methods:  Extracted human teeth were randomly divided into eight experimental groups with six specimens each, according to the bleaching material and time interval after bleaching and before the bonding procedure. Groups were designated as follows: control group, restorations in unbleached teeth; restorations performed immediately after bleaching; restorations performed 7 days after bleaching; restorations performed 14 days after bleaching; and restorations performed 30 days after bleaching. The length of resin tags was measured with an Axiophot photomicroscope at 400× magnification for the calculation of the proportion of tags of study groups compared to the respective control groups. Analysis of variance was applied for comparison between groups; data were transformed into arcsine (p < 0.05).

Results:  The specimens of experimental groups, in which restorations were performed 7, 14, and 30 days after bleaching, showed better penetration of adhesive material into enamel than specimens restored immediately after bleaching. There was no statistically significant difference between the bleaching materials employed or in the interaction between bleaching agent and time interval.

Conclusions:  This suggests that a time interval of at least 7 days should be allowed between enamel bleaching and placement of adhesive bonding agents for accomplishment of composite resin restorations.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Establishment of adequate time after bleaching is fundamental to allow the normal penetration of a one‐bottle conventional adhesive onto the enamel surface.
Human delta‐lactoferrin is a transcription factor that enhances Skp1 (S‐phase kinase‐associated protein) gene expression
Authors: Mariller Christophe , Benaïssa Monique , Hardivillé Stephan , Breton Mathilde , Pradelle Guillaume , Mazurier Joël , Pierce Annick
Published: March 2007

Delta‐lactoferrin is a cytoplasmic lactoferrin isoform that can locate to the nucleus, provoking antiproliferative effects and cell cycle arrest in S phase. Using macroarrays, the expression of genes involved in the G1/S transition was examined. Among these, Skp1 showed 2–3‐fold increased expression at both the mRNA and protein levels. Skp1 (S‐phase kinase‐associated protein) belongs to the Skp1/Cullin‐1/F‐box ubiquitin ligase complex responsible for the ubiquitination of cellular regulators leading to their proteolysis. Skp1 overexpression was also found after delta‐lactoferrin transient transfection in other cell lines (HeLa, MDA‐MB‐231, HEK 293) at comparable levels. Analysis of the Skp1 promoter detected two sequences that were 90% identical to those previously known to interact with lactoferrin, the secretory isoform of delta‐lactoferrin (GGCACTGTAC‐S1Skp1, located at − 1067 bp, and TAGAAGTCAA‐S2Skp1, at − 646 bp). Both gel shift and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays demonstrated that delta‐lactoferrin interacts in vitro and in vivo specifically with these sequences. Reporter gene analysis confirmed that delta‐lactoferrin recognizes both sequences within the Skp1 promoter, with a higher activity on S1Skp1. Deletion of both sequences totally abolished delta‐lactoferrin transcriptional activity, identifying them as delta‐lactoferrin‐responsive elements. Delta‐lactoferrin enters the nucleus via a short bipartite RRSDTSLTWNSVKGKK(417–432) nuclear localization signal sequence, which was demonstrated to be functional using mutants. Our results show that delta‐lactoferrin binds to the Skp1 promoter at two different sites, and that these interactions lead to its transcriptional activation. By increasing Skp1 gene expression, delta‐lactoferrin may regulate cell cycle progression via control of the proteasomal degradation of S‐phase actors.
Learning to Support Children With Complex and Continuing Health Needs and Their Families
Authors: Farasat Helen , Hewitt‐Taylor Jaqui
Published: March 2007

PURPOSE.  This paper reports on the evaluation of a pilot placement for preregistration child health nursing students focused on supporting children with complex needs in their homes.

CONCLUSIONS.  This type of placement can be beneficial in enabling students to develop practical skills, attitudes, and values that will assist them to provide appropriate support for this client group. The pilot placement clarified some of the major organizational and practical issues that must be considered.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS.  Developing opportunities for preregistration nursing students to learn to support children with complex needs and their families is possible and potentially beneficial.
Family‐Centered Care
Authors: Chia‐Chen Chen Angela , Thompson Elaine Adams
Published: March 2007

Family‐Centered Care provides a forum for sharing information about basic components of caring for children and families, including respect, information sharing, collaboration, family‐to‐family support, and confidence building.
Risks of Lending and Liability of Lenders
Authors: Raffer Kunibert
Published: March 2007

Risk and liability change the initially stipulated terms of contracts, overruling their otherwise binding nature. Risk encourages careful assessment of debtors' abilities to service debts. Errors and negligence in assessment, and even external shocks, make creditors suffer losses. Disregarding one's duty of care or professional standards, or engaging in tortious or illegal behavior makes actors liable to compensate for any resulting damage—a necessary systemic element of the framework markets need to function well. Neither mechanism was allowed to work properly in sovereign lending.

This essay analyzes why risk and liability are necessary mechanisms of well-functioning markets, and discusses how risk can be handled. In the United States, inappropriate regulatory norms hindered providing against risk in the case of sovereign debt. The absence of liability—a market imperfection—has produced debts no decent legal system would recognize as legitimate domestic debt, thus aggravating the sovereign debt problem, and giving rise to concepts such as criminal, odious, and illegal debts. Discriminating sovereign debtors and disobeying the rule of law caused market distortions, resulting in not only grave damages to debtors, but also losses to creditors that the mechanisms risk and liability would have avoided. Finally, I briefly present proposals to repair these shortcomings in order to avoid the disasters of the past.
Making the Case for Jubilee: The Catholic Church and the Poor-Country Debt Movement
Authors: Donnelly Elizabeth A.
Published: March 2007

Since the late 1970s, an increasingly global coalition of churches and nongovernmental organizations has pressed for reduction if not outright cancellation of the foreign debt of highly indebted poor countries, because of its deleterious impact on poor people. The movement achieved limited yet substantial success in the Jubilee 2000 campaign. In it, the movement invoked a biblical prescription of periodic debt relief to urge the international community to mark the millennium by recognizing a period of “jubilee” for heavily indebted poor countries, in which government debts would be cancelled and freed up resources used to alleviate poverty. The Catholic Church made a crucial contribution to the movement, through the involvement of its personnel, justice and peace offices, social service agencies, academic and research institutions, national bishops’ conferences, Vatican agencies, and Pope John Paul II. The essay traces the moral arguments the church made for debt relief, with a particular focus on two influential statements: those of the Vatican's Pontifical Justice and Peace Commission in 1987, and the U.S. Catholic bishops’ conference in 1989. By stimulating discussion of the ethics of debt among senior policymakers, the church's efforts strengthened the legitimacy of the claim that excessive debt servicing was unjust. Zambia is offered as a case study of church and coalition efforts to press not only for debt cancellation, but also for measures to ensure that freed-up resources be used effectively for poverty reduction, and that debtor governments contract new debt in a transparent manner.
Argentina, the Church, and the Debt
Authors: Trebat Thomas J.
Published: March 2007

The Argentine debt crisis of 2001–2002 and its aftermath are examined in the light of the moral framework of Catholic social teaching on the debt problems of poor countries. The author, a former practitioner in emerging-markets finance, seeks to bring together and interpret the church's teaching (which was mostly worked out in the 1980s) in the particular economic and social circumstances of Argentina in the early 2000s. The key question is how closely the outcome of the debt crisis in Argentina conformed to what social justice, in the Church's interpretation, would have required. The main conclusion is that the resolution of the crisis was broadly consistent with that teaching. The crisis was managed with pragmatism rooted in shared (by debtor and creditors) concerns for social justice—more so than had been possible in the earlier Latin American debt crises in the 1980s, which the author had also witnessed. For that, many factors are responsible, including the emergence of civil society in Argentina and changes in the system of emerging markets finance. The author argues, however, that the moral framework of the Catholic Church on matters of international debt may deserve some of the credit.
NEW TYPES OF INTERACTIONS BASED ON VARIABLE SEPARATION SOLUTIONS VIA THE GENERAL PROJECTIVE RICCATI EQUATION METHOD
Authors: DAI CHAO-QING , ZHANG JIE-FANG
Published: March 2007

In this paper, first, the general projective Riccati equation method (PREM) is applied to derive variable separation solutions of (2 + 1)-dimensional systems. By further studying, we find that these variable separation solutions obtained by PREM, which seem independent, actually depend on each other. A common formula with some arbitrary functions is obtained to describe suitable physical quantities for some (2 + 1)-dimensional models such as the generalized Nizhnik–Novikov–Veselov system, Broer–Kaup–Kupershmidt equation, dispersive long wave system, Boiti–Leon–Pempinelli model, generalized Burgers model, generalized Ablowitz–Kaup–Newell–Segur system and Maccari equation. The universal formula in Tang, Lou, and Zhang [2] can be simplified to the common formula in the present paper. Second, this method is successfully generalized to (1 + 1)-dimensional systems, such as coupled integrable dispersionless equations, shallow water wave equation, Boiti system and negative KdV model, and is able to obtain another common formula to describe suitable physical fields or potentials of these (1 + 1)-dimensional models, which is similar to the one in (2 + 1)-dimensional systems. Finally, based on the common formula for (2 + 1)-dimensional systems and by selecting appropriate multivalued functions, elastic and inelastic interactions among special dromion, special peakon, foldon and semi-foldon are investigated. Furthermore, the explicit phase shifts for all the local excitations offered by the common formula have been given, and are applied to these novel interactions in detail.
POSTBUCKLING OF PRESSURE-LOADED PIEZOLAMINATED CYLINDRICAL SHELLS WITH TEMPERATURE DEPENDENT PROPERTIES
Authors: SHEN HUI-SHEN , XIANG Y.
Published: March 2007

A postbuckling analysis is presented for a shear deformable laminated cylindrical shell with piezoelectric actuators subjected to lateral or hydrostatic pressure combined with electric and thermal loads. The material properties are assumed to be dependent on the temperature. The governing equations are based on higher-order shear deformation shell theory with a von Kármán-Donnell-type of kinematic nonlinearity. The nonlinear prebuckling deformations and initial geometric imperfections of the shell are both taken into account. A singular perturbation technique is employed to determine the buckling pressure and postbuckling equilibrium paths. The numerical illustrations concern the postbuckling behavior of pressure-loaded, perfect and imperfect, cross-ply laminated cylindrical shells with fully covered or embedded piezoelectric actuators under different sets of thermal and electric loading conditions. The results reveal that the temperature rise has a significant effect on the buckling pressure and postbuckling behavior of piezolaminated cylindrical shells when the temperature-dependent properties are taken into account, but it only has a very small effect under temperature-independent case. In contrast, the control voltage has a small effect on the buckling pressure and postbuckling behavior of piezolaminated cylindrical shells.
Phosphorylation of Akt (Ser473) Predicts Poor Clinical Outcome in Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Cancer
Authors: Yu Ziwei , Weinberger Paul M. , Sasaki Clarence , Egleston Brian L. , Speier William F. , Haffty Bruce , Kowalski Diane , Camp Robert , Rimm David , Vairaktaris Eleftherios , Burtness Barbara , Psyrri Amanda
Published: March 2007

Background: Several lines of laboratory evidence support a role of persistent activation of Akt pathway in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) progression. Loss of phosphatase PTEN is one of the proposed mechanisms of Akt activation. We sought to determine the prognostic significance of Akt activation in a cohort of patients with OSCC as well as the association between phosphorylated (activated) Akt and PTEN levels.

Methods: Using a novel system of in situ quantitative protein expression analysis (AQUA), we studied the protein expression levels of phosphorylated Akt (p-Akt) and PTEN on a tissue microarray. The array included 79 OSCCs with a mean follow-up of 36 months.

Results: Patients with tumors expressing low tumor p-Akt levels had lower 5-year local recurrence rates (5% versus 38%). Additionally, these patients had improved 5-year overall survival rates (45% versus 27%). This survival effect was likely due to disease recurrence, as there was no difference in death without recurrence between low- and high-expressing groups. In adjusted analysis, tumor p-Akt expression was a strong predictor of local recurrence. A significant inverse relationship was found between nuclear p-Akt and nuclear PTEN: Tumors with high nuclear p-Akt had low nuclear PTEN and vice versa.

Conclusions: Akt activation in OSCC is associated with adverse patient outcome, indicating that Akt is a promising molecular target in OSCC. PTEN loss may be one of the mechanisms of Akt activation in OSCC. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007;16(3):553–8)
Benign Breast Biopsy Diagnosis and Subsequent Risk of Breast Cancer
Authors: Ashbeck Erin L. , Rosenberg Robert D. , Stauber Patricia M. , Key Charles R.
Published: March 2007

Background: We examine benign breast biopsy diagnoses as reported by community pathologists in New Mexico and investigate associations with future breast cancer development.

Methods: Using data collected between 1992 and 2000 by the New Mexico Mammography Project and cancer data through 2003 from the New Mexico Tumor Registry, we calculated breast cancer rates following 14,602 benign breast biopsies for women ages 30 to 89 years. For comparison, we also calculated the breast cancer rate following 215,283 normal screening mammograms. Hazard ratios (HR) are presented.

Results: We identified 480 subsequent breast cancer diagnoses among 14,602 women with benign breast biopsies and 4,402 breast cancer diagnoses among 215,283 women with mammograms assigned a “negative” or “benign finding” assessment. Histologic diagnoses in absence of atypia had an age-adjusted HR of 1.95 [95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.77-2.15]. Among low-risk histologic diagnoses, the strongest associations with subsequent breast cancer development included adenosis, apocrine metaplasia, calcifications, and ductal hyperplasia. Fibroadenoma, inflammation, and cysts did not exhibit an association with breast cancer development. Women with low-risk diagnoses and breast tissue characterized as fatty or with scattered densities had a HR of 2.09 (95% CI, 1.68-2.60), whereas women with low-risk histologic diagnoses and dense breasts had a HR of 3.36 (95% CI, 2.83-3.99).

Conclusions: The observed breast cancer occurrence contributes to evidence of increased risk following benign biopsy. The risk associated with histologic diagnoses in absence of atypia was twice the risk experienced by women with normal mammogram evaluations and may be modified by breast density. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007;16(3):467–72)
Validity of Self-Reports of Return for Routine Repeat Screening in an Ovarian Cancer Screening Program
Authors: Lykins Emily L.B. , Pavlik Edward L. , Andrykowski Michael A.
Published: March 2007

Cancer screening research relies on reliable and valid measurement of cancer screening behavior. Self-reports of screening constitute a cost-effective approach to measuring screening behavior; however, demonstration of suitable validity of these self-reports is critical. We evaluated the validity of self-report of return for repeat, routine, annual transvaginal sonography (TVS) screening for ovarian cancer. Participants (n = 535) in a university-based ovarian cancer screening program for asymptomatic, average risk women completed a telephone interview 18 months following an initial, baseline TVS screening test. Self-reports of return for a repeat, routine ovarian cancer screening test since baseline were obtained and compared with objective records of repeat screening from the screening program database. Overall agreement of self-reports and objective records of ovarian cancer screening was 97.57% (κ = 0.94). Sensitivity was 0.98, specificity was 0.96, positive predictive value was 0.98, and negative predictive value was 0.96. The month of last screening was accurately identified by 80% of participants. It was concluded the validity of self-reports of TVS screening for ovarian cancer is very high and may even exceed the validity of self-reports of participation in breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening over similar recall periods. Consequently, self-reports of TVS screening may serve as a cost-effective substitute for more objective methods of assessing TVS screening behavior. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007;16(3):490–3)
Statin Use and Breast Cancer Risk in a Large Population-Based Setting
Authors: Boudreau Denise M. , Yu Onchee , Miglioretti Diana L. , Buist Diana S.M. , Heckbert Susan R. , Daling Janet R.
Published: March 2007

Background: Mechanistic studies suggest that 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl CoA inhibitors (statins) reduce the risk of breast cancer. Observational studies offer mixed results.

Methods: To evaluate the relation between statin use and breast cancer risk, we conducted a cohort study among women ages 45 to 89 years within an integrated health care delivery system. Information on statin use and covariates were obtained from automated databases. We identified breast cancer cases through the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registry. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate the hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for invasive breast cancer among statin users compared with nonusers.

Results: Among 92,788 women studied from 1990 to 2004, median follow-up time was 6.4 years, and 2,707 breast cancer cases were identified. During the study period, 7.4% of women used statins for at least 1 year, and the median duration of use was 3.1 years. We found no difference in breast cancer risk among statin users (HR, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.88-1.29) compared with nonusers. Risk of breast cancer did not differ by duration of use (1-2.9, 3-4.9, or ≥5 years) or hydrophobic statin use. We found a suggestive increased risk of breast cancer among statin users of ≥5 years (HR, 1.27; 95% CI, 0.89-1.81 for any statins and HR, 1.47; 95% CI, 0.89-2.44 for hydrophobic statins) and of estrogen receptor–negative tumors with increasing duration of statin use (1-2.9 years: HR, 1.33; 95% CI, 0.64-2.77; 3-4.9 years: HR, 1.68; 95% CI, 0.72-3.92; ≥5 years: HR, 1.81; 95% CI, 0.75-4.36).

Conclusion: This study does not support an association between statin use and breast cancer risk. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007;16(3):416–21)
Pairwise Combinations of Estrogen Metabolism Genotypes in Postmenopausal Breast Cancer Etiology
Authors: Rebbeck Timothy R. , Troxel Andrea B. , Walker Amy H. , Panossian Saarene , Gallagher Stephen , Shatalova Ekaterina G. , Blanchard Rebecca , Norman Sandra , Bunin Greta , DeMichele Angela , Berlin Michelle , Schinnar Rita , Berlin Jesse A. , Strom Brian L.
Published: March 2007

Estrogen exposures have been associated with breast cancer risk, and genes involved in estrogen metabolism have been reported to mediate that risk. Our goal was to better understand whether combinations of candidate estrogen metabolism genotypes are associated with breast cancer etiology. A population-based case-control study in three counties of the Philadelphia Metropolitan area was undertaken. We evaluated seven main effects and 21 first-order interactions in African Americans and European Americans for genotypes at COMT, CYP1A1, CYP1A2, CYP1B1, CYP3A4, SULT1A1, and SULT1E1 in 878 breast cancer cases and 1,409 matched random digit–dialed controls. In European Americans, we observed main effect associations of genotypes containing any CYP1A1*2C (odds ratio, 1.71; 95% confidence interval, 1.09-2.67) and breast cancer. No significant main effects were observed in African Americans. Three significant first-order interactions were observed. In European Americans, interactions between SULT1A1*2 and CYP1A1*2C genotypes (Pinteraction < 0.001) and between SULT1E1 and CYP1A2*1F genotypes were observed (Pinteraction = 0.006). In African Americans, an interaction between SULT1A1*2 and CYP1B1*4 was observed (Pinteraction = 0.041). We applied the false-positive report probability approach, which suggested that these associations were noteworthy; however, we cannot rule out the possibility that chance led to these associations. Pending future confirmation of these results, our data suggest that breast cancer etiology in both European American and African American postmenopausal women may involve the interaction of a gene responsible for the generation of catecholestrogens with a gene involved in estrogen and catecholestrogen sulfation. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007;16(3):444–50)
Ovarian Cancer Risk and Polymorphisms Involved in Estrogen Catabolism
Authors: Holt Sarah K. , Rossing Mary Anne , Malone Kathleen E. , Schwartz Stephen M. , Weiss Noel S. , Chen Chu
Published: March 2007

Polymorphisms within genes responsible for estrogen catabolism could alter cellular levels of genotoxic 4-hydroxylated catechol estrogens and antiangiogenic 2-methoxyestradiol, thus influencing risk of developing ovarian cancer. We carried out a population-based case-control study of 310 epithelial ovarian cancer cases and 585 controls in African-American and Caucasian women ages 35 to 54 years from Seattle, Atlanta, and Detroit metropolitan areas. Subjects were interviewed and genotyped for CYP1A1 m1, m2, m3, and m4; CYP1B1 Arg48Gly, Ala119Ser, Val432Leu, and Asn453Ser; COMT Val158Met; UGT1A1 A(TA)nTAA; and SULT1A1 Arg213His polymorphisms. Unconditional logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (OR). Haplotypes were inferred and analyzed using models based on expectation-maximization with progressive ligation and Bayesian coalescence theory. CYP1B1 Leu432 carriers were at increased risk of ovarian cancer, with an adjusted OR of 1.5 (95% confidence interval, 1.1-2.3) compared with Val432 homozygotes. The most common CYP1B1 haplotype was Arg48-Ala119-Val432-Asn453. All other haplotypes with frequencies >5% contained the Leu432 allele. In diplotype analyses, relative to women homozygous for Arg48-Ala119-Val432-Asn453, women with diplotypes containing at least one Leu432 allele had adjusted ORs ranging from 1.3 to 2.2. Among women homozygous for COMT Met158, carriers of CYP1B1 Leu432 had a 2.6-fold increase in risk relative to CYP1B1 Val432 homozygotes (95% confidence interval, 1.1-5.9). This latter result is opposite in direction from a similar analysis conducted by other investigators in a different study population. No association of ovarian cancer risk was observed with any of the other polymorphisms examined, either alone or in combination. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007;16(3):481–9)
Vitamin D and Reduced Risk of Breast Cancer: A Population-Based Case-Control Study
Authors: Knight Julia A. , Lesosky Maia , Barnett Heidi , Raboud Janet M. , Vieth Reinhold
Published: March 2007

Background: Vitamin D, antiproliferative and proapoptotic in breast cancer cell lines, can reduce the development of mammary tumors in carcinogen-exposed rats. Current evidence in humans is limited with some suggestion that vitamin D–related factors may reduce the risk of breast cancer. We conducted a population-based case-control study to assess the evidence for a relationship between sources of vitamin D and breast cancer risk.

Methods: Women with newly diagnosed invasive breast cancer were identified from the Ontario Cancer Registry. Women without breast cancer were identified through randomly selected residential telephone numbers. Telephone interviews were completed for 972 cases and 1,135 controls. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for vitamin D–related variables were estimated using unconditional logistic regression with adjustment for potential confounders.

Results: Reduced breast cancer risks were associated with increasing sun exposure from ages 10 to 19 (e.g., OR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.50-0.85 for the highest quartile of outdoor activities versus the lowest; P for trend = 0.0006). Reduced risk was also associated with cod liver oil use (OR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.62-0.92) and increasing milk consumption (OR, 0.62 95% CI 0.45-0.86 for ≥10 glasses per week versus none; P for trend = 0.0004). There was weaker evidence for associations from ages 20 to 29 and no evidence for ages 45 to 54.

Conclusion: We found strong evidence to support the hypothesis that vitamin D could help prevent breast cancer. However, our results suggest that exposure earlier in life, particularly during breast development, maybe most relevant. These results should be confirmed. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007;16(3):422–9)
The Common Variant rs1447295 on Chromosome 8q24 and Prostate Cancer Risk: Results from an Australian Population-Based Case-Control Study
Authors: Severi Gianluca , Hayes Vanessa M. , Padilla Emma J.D. , English Dallas R. , Southey Melissa C. , Sutherland Robert L. , Hopper John L. , Giles Graham G.
Published: March 2007

A recent study from deCode reported an association between common variants in the region 8q24 and prostate cancer risk. The strongest association was found with the single nucleotide polymorphism rs1447295. We genotyped 821 prostate cancer cases and 732 population controls for rs1447295 to test the association between this common variant and prostate cancer risk, and examine whether this association depends on Gleason score. Our case-control study confirmed the association between rs1447295 and prostate cancer risk (P = 0.0005). The odds ratio (OR) for prostate cancer was 1.52 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.20-1.93] for carriers of any A allele compared with noncarriers. The OR for Gleason score 5 to 6 prostate cancer (1.48; 95% CI, 1.13-1.95) was similar to the OR for Gleason score 7 to 10 prostate cancer (1.58; 95% CI, 1.18-2.11, P for heterogeneity = 0.7). We conclude that the A allele of rs1447295 is associated with a higher risk of prostate cancer regardless of tumor aggressiveness, suggesting that such a variant, or a variant in linkage disequilibrium with it, plays a role early in prostate carcinogenesis. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007;16(3):610–2)
Overweight and Obese Perimenopausal and Postmenopausal Women Exhibit Increased Abnormal Mammary Epithelial Cytology
Authors: Seewaldt Victoria L. , Goldenberg Vanessa , Jones Lee W. , Peace Charlotte , Broadwater Gloria , Scott Victoria , Bean Gregory R. , Wilke Lee Gravit , Zalles Carola M. , Demark-Wahnefried Wendy
Published: March 2007

High body mass index (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2) is associated with increased postmenopausal breast cancer incidence and mortality. However, few studies have explored associations between BMI and direct measures on target tissue. Epithelial cytology was assessed in 62 high-risk perimenopausal and postmenopausal women using random periareolar fine needle aspiration. Masood cytology index scores were significantly higher among women with BMIs ≥25 kg/m2 than in women with BMIs <25 kg/m2 (13.9 ± 0.42 versus 12.7 ± 0.29 kg/m2; P = 0.017). Overweight or obese women also had significantly higher random periareolar fine needle aspiration epithelial cell counts compared with those who were normal weight (1,230 ± 272 versus 521 ± 185; P = 0.028). These data suggest that overweight in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women is associated with direct cytologic abnormalities within the breast. Further research is needed to confirm these findings and to determine if this potential biomarker is responsive to changes in body weight resulting from diet and/or exercise interventions. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007;16(3):613–6)
Direct Inhibition of Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I Receptor Kinase Activity by (−)−Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate Regulates Cell Transformation
Authors: Li Ming , He Zhiwei , Ermakova Svetlana , Zheng Duo , Tang Faqing , Cho Yong-Yeon , Zhu Feng , Ma Wei-Ya , Sham Yuk , Rogozin Evgeny A. , Bode Ann M. , Cao Ya , Dong Zigang
Published: March 2007

Insulin-like growth factor-I receptor (IGF-IR) has been implicated in cancer pathophysiology. Furthermore, impairment of IGF-IR signaling in various cancer cell lines caused inhibition of the transformed phenotype as determined by the inhibition of colony formation in soft agar and the inhibition of tumor formation in athymic nude mice. Thus, the IGF-IR might be an attractive target for cancer prevention. We showed that the tea polyphenol, (−)−epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), is a small-molecule inhibitor of IGF-IR activity (IC50 of 14 μmol/L). EGCG abrogated anchorage-independent growth induced by IGF-IR overexpression and also prevented human breast and cervical cancer cell phenotype expression through inhibition of IGF-IR downstream signaling. Our findings are the first to show that the IGF-IR is a novel binding protein of EGCG and thus may help explain the chemopreventive effect of EGCG on cancer development. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007;16(3):598–605)
Infectious Agents as Causes of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
Authors: Engels Eric A.
Published: March 2007

Among exposures presently viewed as possible etiologic factors in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), infections are close to being regarded as established causes. Infectious agents causing NHL can be classified, according to mechanism, into three broad groups. First, some viruses can directly transform lymphocytes. Lymphocyte-transforming viruses include Epstein Barr virus (linked to Burkitt's lymphoma, NHLs in immunosuppressed individuals, and extranodal natural killer/T-cell NHL), human herpesvirus 8 (primary effusion lymphoma), and human T lymphotropic virus type I (adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma). Second, human immunodeficiency virus is unique in causing profound depletion of CD4+ T lymphocytes, leading to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and an associated high risk for some NHL subtypes. Third, recent evidence suggests that some infections increase NHL risk through chronic immune stimulation. These infections include hepatitis C virus as well as certain bacteria that cause chronic site-specific inflammation and seem to increase risk for localized mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue NHLs. Establishing that an infectious agent causes NHL depends on showing that the agent is present in persons with NHL as well as laboratory experiments elucidating the mechanisms involved. Only epidemiologic studies can provide evidence that infection is actually a risk factor by showing that infection is more frequent in NHL cases than in controls. Given the range of mechanisms by which infections could plausibly cause NHL and our growing molecular understanding of this malignancy, this field of research deserves continued attention. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007;16(3):401–4)
Altered Immunity as a Risk Factor for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
Authors: Grulich Andrew E. , Vajdic Claire M. , Cozen Wendy
Published: March 2007

This review examines the association between disorders of immunity, including immune deficiency, atopy, and autoimmune disease, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Immune deficiency is one of the strongest known risk factors for NHL. Risk is increased whether the immune deficiency is congenital, iatrogenic, or acquired. Risk of NHL increases with degree of immune deficiency, and there is no evidence of a threshold. In the profoundly immune deficient, NHL is frequently caused by infection with the ubiquitous EBV. Whether mild, subclinical immune deficiency is related to increased NHL risk is unknown. There is inconsistent evidence that atopic conditions, such as asthma, hayfever, and eczema, characterized by an immune response that is skewed toward Th2, are associated with a decreased risk of NHL. These data come mainly from case-control studies. Concern has been expressed that the association may be due to reverse causality if early symptoms of NHL include a lessening of atopic manifestations. Case-control and cohort studies of people with autoimmune conditions have generally shown that rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosis, and Sjogren's disease are associated with increased NHL risk. It seems to be the intensity of the inflammatory disease rather than its treatment which is related to increased risk of NHL. The study of altered immunity as a cause of NHL in case-control studies is limited by the fact that development of NHL in itself leads to altered immunity. Cohort studies of the role of altered immunity should be a top priority in epidemiologic studies of NHL etiology. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007;16(3):405–8)
Attaining Efficiency in City School Systems
Authors: Bachman Frank P.
Published: March 2007

Efficiency in education implies standards of efficiency and detailed knowledge of the results achieved.
By Samuel O. Dunn
Authors: Faire Modified Laissez
Published: March 2007

The real economist's utopia is now and forever laissez faire, in the sense not at all of inactive government, but of a scheme of policy eliminating all interference of all "politics" or the power strategy and rivalry of special interests in the fields of business and of government with the orderly, effi cient functioning, in the common interest of all, of the system of purely economic activities.
Bureaucratic Sabotage
Authors: Brecht Arnold
Published: March 2007

No bureaucracy can hope to make such a people as this do or undergo anything they do not like. —John Stuart Mill, on the United States.
Corporation Support
Authors: Compton Wilson
Published: March 2007

Financial aid by business corporations to the colleges and universities is sound business policy. It is an opportunity for them, as well as a responsibility. It is not a charity but an investment in their own future. Its basic legality has been settled by the courts. It should be handled separately from their ordinary con tributions and donations. It should be based on policy determined at their high est levels of authority; and should be regarded as a continuing function of their business management. Business concerns should accept a reasonable share of financial aid to higher education but not exclusive support. They should pick the institutions with care and then keep "hands off" their internal affairs.
Co-ordinating and Extending Federal Assistance
Authors: Peterson Val
Published: March 2007

As a result of the Federal Disaster Act of 1950, the national govern ment can now provide disaster aid to states in the most effective way, co-ordinat ing, through the Federal Civil Defense Administration, the activities of all perti nent federal authorities. The prerequisites and the procedure which set this machinery into operation are described, and a graphic example of how the sys tem works is given in a story of the floods of August 1955, which caused the governors of several northeastern states to call for federal assistance and brought forth the combined efforts of six federal departments and four other federal agencies.—Ed.