bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Characterization of tumour‐infiltrating lymphocytes and apoptosis in colitis‐associated neoplasia: comparison with sporadic colorectal cancer
Authors: Michael‐Robinson JM , Pandeya N , Walsh MD , Biemer‐Huttmann A‐E , Eri RD , Buttenshaw RL , Lincoln D , Clouston AD , Jass JR , Radford‐Smith GL
Published: November 2005

The development of colorectal cancer is a major complication for patients with chronic idiopathic colitis. Colitis‐associated tumours tend to occur at a younger age and be more aggressive than sporadic colorectal cancers. While we have previously associated the presence of tumour‐infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and increased apoptosis in sporadic colorectal cancer with high‐level microsatellite instability and improved prognosis, little is known of the relationship between these variables in colitis‐associated colorectal cancer. The aim of this study was to correlate TILs and tumour cell apoptosis in colitis‐associated neoplasms stratified according to microsatellite instability. Twenty tumour and 11 dysplastic samples resected from 21 patients with long‐standing colitis were analysed for microsatellite instability at 10 microsatellite markers. TIL distribution (CD3, CD8) and function (granzyme B) were quantified by immunohistochemistry. Neoplastic cell apoptosis was assessed using the M30 CytoDEATH antibody. These findings were compared with 40 microsatellite stable (MSS) sporadic colorectal cancers previously evaluated for TILs and neoplastic apoptosis. Low‐level microsatellite instability was found in 1/20 colitis‐associated tumours. All other colitis‐associated lesions were designated MSS. CD3+ and CD8+ TIL counts were significantly higher in colitis‐associated lesions compared with MSS sporadic colorectal cancer (p < 0.0001, p = 0.001 respectively). Despite their higher TIL density, colitis‐associated tumours were more likely to present late (Dukes' stage C or D) (p = 0.02). Functionally, colitis‐associated TILs demonstrated significantly less granzyme B expression compared to sporadic cancers (p = 0.002). The level of tumour cell apoptosis was similar between the two groups (sporadic, 1.53%; colitis cancers, 1.45%). In conclusion, MSS colitis‐associated tumours have a higher prevalence of CD3+/CD8+ TILs but no associated increase in tumour cell killing by apoptosis. Unlike cytotoxic T cells in sporadic colorectal cancer, TILs do not appear to enhance the prognosis of colitis‐associated colorectal cancer. This may be related to an impairment of granzyme B expression within these lesions. Copyright © 2005 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Gangliosides promote platelet adhesion and facilitate neuroblastoma cell adhesion under dynamic conditions simulating blood flow
Authors: Jabbar Adnan A. , Kazarian Tamara , Hakobyan Narine , Valentino Leonard A.
Published: November 2005

Background

Aberrant gangliosides are produced and shed by some tumors into the extracellular milieu. Their concentration is related to disease progression in children with neuroblastoma and in experimental models. The mechanism for this tumor promoting effect is not known.

Purpose

Here, we investigated the effect of gangliosides on platelet and tumor cell adhesion under shear forces simulating venous and arterial flow.

Results

High shear force increased platelet adhesion 2.5‐fold compared to low force. Pre‐incubation of platelets with gangliosides increased adhesion at low shear to a level comparable to high shear alone. The addition of gangliosides to platelets perfused at high shear did not further increase adhesion. LAN1 neuroblastoma cells are adherent to collagen in static assays. No effect of either shear or gangliosides was observed on cell adhesion under dynamic conditions. However, when perfused in the presence of platelets, an increase in binding of tumor cells was observed at both shear forces compared to cells alone.

Conclusions

These results demonstrate that shear and gangliosides increase dynamic platelet adhesion to collagen. In addition, platelets facilitate tumor cell binding. Therefore, by acting as a mediator of platelet activation, gangliosides may promote blood borne metastasis by increasing platelet binding to the vessel wall and in turn facilitate tumor cell arrest in circulation. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Veno‐occlusive disease of the liver in a child after chemotherapy for brain tumor
Authors: Elli Murat , Güçlü Pınarlı Faruk , Daǧdemir Ayhan , Acar Sabri
Published: November 2005

Veno‐occlusive disease (VOD) of the liver is a life‐threatening state generally occurring as a complication of bone marrow transplantation or chemotherapy for Wilms' tumor. Veno‐occlusive disease after standard dose chemotherapy in malignancies other than Wilms' tumor is rare and only a few cases have been published in children. We report a 19 month‐old‐girl with medulloblastoma who experienced fatal VOD of liver after only one course of chemotherapy including carboplatin, vincristine and CCNU for medulloblastoma. As our knowledge, this is the first report of VOD after standard dose chemotherapy for brain tumor in childhood. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2006,46:521–523. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Long‐term follow‐up of childhood cancer survivors: Future directions for clinical care and research
Authors: Bhatia Smita , Meadows Anna T.
Published: November 2005

Improvement in survival after childhood cancer has resulted in a growing population of childhood cancer survivors, causing the healthcare community to focus on providing appropriate care to the survivors, and addressing issues related to the etiology and prevention of long‐term sequelae of cancer and its treatment. The overarching goal is to decrease the morbidity related to cancer treatment, and improve the overall quality of life, such that cancer survivors can successfully integrate back into society and lead productive lives. In order to achieve this goal, several issues need to be addressed, such as education of survivors and healthcare providers regarding the potential late effects; provision of standardized guidelines for appropriate follow‐up of the survivors in a setting that is feasible and practical for the cancer survivor; ongoing communication between the cancer center that provided acute care for the patient and the healthcare facility providing follow‐up care. Several challenges remain in addressing these issues, and will be the focus of this article. Pediatr Blood Cancer © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Electrocardiographic findings after 5‐HT3 receptor antagonists and chemotherapy in children with cancer
Authors: Pınarlı F. G. , Elli M. , Daǧdemir A. , Baysal K. , Acar S.
Published: November 2005

Background

The antiemetic efficacy of serotonin‐type 3 (5‐HT3) receptor antagonists has been found to be superior to older antiemetic drugs in cancer patients. Following the administration of these agents, changes in ECG parameters and increased or decreased heart rates have been demonstrated, but there is no sufficient data in children with cancer who are treated with cytotoxic agents. The objective of this study is to evaluate the ECG changes after administration of 5‐HT3 receptor antagonists and chemotherapeutic agents in children with cancer.

Procedure

Thirty‐eight patients with an age range between 2 and 19 years receiving chemotherapy for solid tumors were included in the study. The patients received 5‐HT3 receptor antagonists 30 min before antineoplastic agents in 83 chemotherapy days. Antiemetic therapy consisted of ondansetron in 43 and granisetron in 40 chemotherapy days. Twelve‐leads ECGs were obtained four times at the first day of each chemotherapy: just before 30, 90 min, and 24 hr after 5‐HT3 receptor antagonists were given. Rate, rhythm, PR interval, QRS duration, ST segment, the shortest (QTca) and the longest (QTcb) QTc intervals with QTc dispersion (QTcd) were all evaluated.

Results

We found a significant shortening of the PR interval and QRS complex durations in the granisetron group at 90th min and at 24th hr, respectively. Also, granisetron infusion caused a significant prolongation of the QTca interval at 90 min.

Conclusion

Although we observed minor ECG changes after 5‐HT3 receptor antagonists and chemotherapy, neither dangerous rhythm disturbances nor serious ECG changes were seen. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2006; 47:567–571. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Peroxidative stress and antioxidant enzymes in children with β‐thalassemia major
Authors: Naithani Rahul , Chandra Jagdish , Bhattacharjee Jayashree , Verma Priyanka , Narayan Shashi
Published: November 2005

Objective

Regular blood transfusions and secondary iron overload make thalassemic erythrocytes prone to peroxidative injury. Although some reports suggest endogenous free radical damage in thalassemia, there remains discrepancy in the status of antioxidant enzymes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the extent of lipid peroxidation and status of antioxidant enzyme in children with β‐thalassemia.

Methods

Fifty transfusion‐dependent β‐thalassemics were subjected to analysis of lipoperoxides as malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NOx), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) along with serum iron and ferritin, liver functions and uric acid. Plasma MDA was analyzed to indicate the oxidative parameters, whereas the erythrocyte SOD, GPx, and plasma NOx were measured to show the antioxidant status of the children. All these parameters in 30 non‐anemic healthy controls attending the child health promotion clinic of hospital were also studied.

Results

All the patients were iron overloaded. Markers of free radical injury such as MDA and antioxidant enzyme SOD and NOx levels were significantly elevated in thalassemic children while mean GPx levels were decreased in patients compared to controls (P < 0.001). All these markers significantly correlated with serum ferritin levels. There was no significant difference in levels of GSH measured but it correlated with serum iron levels.

Conclusion

Our study results suggest that iron overload causes peroxidative damage in β‐thalassemia and antioxidant systems try to compensate for reducing lipid peroxidation to lower tissue damage. Pediatr Blood Cancer © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Hyperbaric oxygen should not be used in the management of hemorrhagic cystitis in patients with Fanconi anemia
Authors: Al‐Seraihi A. , Ayas M.
Published: November 2005

Hemorrhagic cystitis (HC) is a common complication after stem cell transplantation (SCT) that occurs more frequently in patients with Fanconi anemia (FA) because of hypersensitivity of their cells to the agents used in the preparation for SCT (chemo and radiation). Many HC cases respond to therapy with hyperhydration and maintenance of adequate platelet counts, but refractory cases may require additional measures such as the use of prostaglandins, alum, or hyperbaric oxygen (HBO). We report here an unusual complication to HBO therapy in a FA patient consisting of generalized edema mimicking capillary leak syndrome but with no pulmonary edema or ascites. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2007;49:854–856. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Should children at risk for familial adenomatous polyposis be screened for hepatoblastoma and children with apparently sporadic hepatoblastoma be screened for APC germline mutations?
Authors: Aretz Stefan , Koch Arend , Uhlhaas Siegfried , Friedl Waltraut , Propping Peter , Schweinitz Dietrich von , Pietsch Torsten
Published: November 2005

Background

Hepatoblastoma (HB) is the most frequent liver tumor in childhood, occurring in the first few years of life. Surgery combined with chemotherapy has resulted in dramatic improvements in prognosis. However, even today, about one quarter of affected children do not survive the disease. Compared to the general population, the risk of HB is 750–7,500 times higher in children predisposed to familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), an autosomal‐dominant cancer predispostion syndrome caused by germline mutations in the tumor suppressor gene APC. Only limited data exist about the frequency of APC germline mutations in cases of apparently sporadic HB without a family history of FAP.

Procedure

In our sample of 1,166 German FAP families, all known cases of HB were registered. In addition, 50 patients with apparently sporadic HB were examined for APC germline mutations.

Results

In the FAP families, seven unrelated cases of HB are documented; three had been detected at an advanced stage. In patients with apparently sporadic HB, germline mutations in the APC gene were identified in 10%.

Conclusions

These data raise the issue of the appropriate screening for HB in children of FAP patients. To date, the efficiency of surveillance for HB is unclear. In Beckwith–Wiedemann syndrome (BWS), recent studies suggest an earlier detection of both Wilms tumor and HB by frequent screening. We discuss the rationale and implications of a screening program; besides the examination procedure itself, screening for HB in children of FAP patients would have important consequences for the policy of predictive testing in FAP. In a substantial fraction of sporadic HB, the disease is obviously the first manifestation of a de novo FAP. These patients should be identified by routine APC mutation screening and undergo colorectal surveillance thereafter. Pediatric Blood Cancer 2006;47:811–818. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Anaesthetic outcome and predictive risk factors in children with mediastinal tumours
Authors: Ng A. , Bennett J. , Bromley P. , Davies P. , Morland B.
Published: November 2005

Purpose

The aims were to identify and test the significance of specific factors associated with risks for anaesthesia in children with mediastinal tumours.

Patients and Method

Clinical information was retrospectively collected from the records of 63 children presented with mediastinal tumour (1964–2002) in a regional Paediatric Oncology centre and correlated with the type and outcome of anaesthesia, using non‐parametric analyses.

Results

Thirteen patients had local anaesthesia or sedation for diagnostic procedures and none developed any complication. Fifty children received general anaesthesia (GA) for diagnostic investigations or tumour resection. Two patients were excluded from the analysis because of treatment prior to GA. Problems with intubation, ventilation and cardiovascular collapse were encountered in 7 of 48 (15%) patients and this resulted in tracheostomy in one patient and death in 2 other cases. When compared with the 41 uncomplicated cases, the presence of at least 3 respiratory symptoms/signs, tracheal and vascular compression, and infection significantly increased the risk of GA. Of these, tracheal compression remained the strongest predictive factor.

Conclusions

Decision to postpone GA should be considered if all these risk factors (tracheal compression, vascular compression, the presence of at least three respiratory symptoms/signs) are present in the same patient. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2007;48:160–164. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome in children with cancer
Authors: Morris E. Brannon , Laningham Fred H. , Sandlund John T. , Khan Raja B.
Published: November 2005

Purpose

To identify predisposing factors, radiologic features, and clinical outcome of posterior reversible leucoencephalopathy (PRES) in children receiving cancer treatment.

Methods

We identified 11 patients (7 female) who had radiological and clinical features consistent with PRES and were treated for cancer at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital between January 1995 and January 2005. Clinical and radiographic data were abstracted from their records.

Results

The average age at the time of PRES onset was 10.4 years. Primary diagnoses were acute leukemia (n = 8), non‐Hodgkin lymphoma (n = 2), and Ewing sarcoma (n = 1). PRES occurred in 8 patients during the induction phase of treatment, and all 11 patients had hypertension (5 chronically). Seizure activity was proximate to cytarabine and tacrolimus administration in three patients and further seizures occurred with re‐administration of these medications in two patients. Coagulation and chemistry studies were normal. Concurrent brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated T2 signal abnormalities in all 11 patients, restricted diffusion in 4, and hemorrhage in 3. Follow‐up MRI showed chronic changes consistent with a previous hemorrhage in three and evidence of prior parenchymal ischemia in one. Three patients developed epilepsy and remain on chronic anticonvulsant therapy.

Conclusions

PRES is an increasingly recognized complication of pediatric cancer treatment. Risk factors for PRES in pediatric cancer patients include hypertension (not necessarily acute), remission induction chemotherapy, and administration of tacrolimus. MR images often show atypical findings, some of which are irreversible. A significant number of patients develop epilepsy despite clinical and radiographic evidence of recovery. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2007;48:152–159. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Pulmonary function testing and pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis
Authors: Bernstrand Cecilia , Cederlund Kerstin , Henter Jan‐Inge
Published: November 2005

In a long‐term single‐center follow‐up (median 16‐years), we studied high‐resolution computed tomography (HRCT) and pulmonary function testing (PFT) in pulmonary LCH. Diffusing capacity corrected for alveolar volume (K(CO)) and total lung capacity (TLC) were significantly decreased (P = 0.016 and P = 0.030, respectively) in patients with extensive HRCT abnormalities. Patients with late stage disease on HRCT had increased forced expiratory volume (FEV1.0)(P = 0.037) and vital capacity (VC)(P = 0.036). Disease monitoring is important in pulmonary LCH, and since PFT with diffusing capacity provides a measurement of the current lung function, it may be a valuable tool in monitoring pulmonary LCH, and a good complement to imaging. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2007;49:323–328. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Analysing duration of episodes of pharmacological care: an example of antidepressant use in Danish general practice
Authors: Gichangi Anthony , Andersen Morten , Kragstrup Jakob , Vach Werner
Published: November 2005

Analysing duration of treatment episodes has become a standard task in many pharmacoepidemiological studies. However, such analyses are often carried out in a rather simplistic manner and more subtle issues are often ignored. In this paper, methods of analysing duration treatment episodes beyond simple analyses allowing investigation of the risk for certain events over time are demonstrated. In particular, the use of cumulative incidence functions, cause‐specific hazard functions, hazard rate models and expected mortality in analysing duration of episodes is presented. We used these statistical techniques in analysing the early treatment history of patients who started a regular treatment with antidepressant drugs in the primary health care sector in Denmark. We have extracted some important features: The risk of discontinuing and switching treatment was very high around 10 weeks after starting treatment. After discontinuing the first treatment period, many patients soon started a second treatment period depending on the duration of the first treatment period with highest risk around 10 weeks. The mortality rate among the patients in treatment was about three times higher than the expected mortality. The risk of dying immediately after stopping treatment was about twice the expected mortality. The analysis suggests that: (1) there is a critical period for a first discontinuing, switching and restarting treatment around 10 weeks, (2) the GPs prescribing habits have more influence on the patterns than patient or drug characteristics, (3) over time Danish GPs tend to prolong the duration of first treatment period and avoid longer treatment breaks. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Protein design simulations suggest that side‐chain conformational entropy is not a strong determinant of amino acid environmental preferences
Authors: Hu Xiaozhen , Kuhlman Brian
Published: November 2005

Loss of side‐chain conformational entropy is an important force opposing protein folding and the relative preferences of the amino acids for being buried or solvent exposed may be partially determined by which amino acids lose more side‐chain entropy when placed in the core of a protein. To investigate these preferences, we have incorporated explicit modeling of side‐chain entropy into the protein design algorithm, RosettaDesign. In the standard version of the program, the energy of a particular sequence for a fixed backbone depends only on the lowest energy side‐chain conformations that can be identified for that sequence. In the new model, the free energy of a single amino acid sequence is calculated by evaluating the average energy and entropy of an ensemble of structures generated by Monte Carlo sampling of amino acid side‐chain conformations. To evaluate the impact of including explicit side‐chain entropy, sequences were designed for 110 native protein backbones with and without the entropy model. In general, the differences between the two sets of sequences are modest, with the largest changes being observed for the longer amino acids: methionine and arginine. Overall, the identity between the designed sequences and the native sequences does not increase with the addition of entropy, unlike what is observed when other key terms are added to the model (hydrogen bonding, Lennard‐Jones energies, and solvation energies). These results suggest that side‐chain conformational entropy has a relatively small role in determining the preferred amino acid at each residue position in a protein. Proteins 2006. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Fe(CO)4 flexible as a two‐level system avoided conical intersection
Authors: Apostolova E. S.
Published: November 2005

This article reports new square‐planar Fe(CO)4 D4h structures that are optimized, using the Hartree–Fock (HF) approach, and multiconfiguration self‐consistent field (MCSCF) theory in active space [2b2g2ega1ga2u]8, and which energy increased in sequence: 3B2g TS < 1A1g TS < 1A1g GS. A triple ζ valence basis set supplemented with 4f for Fe and 3d for C and O polarization shells [TZV (DF)] was used. At the HF/TZV (DF) level, 1A1g TS and 3B2g TS (3B2g TS energetically more favorable), there are transition states of tetrahedral inversion (defining stereochemical flexibility of Fe(CO)4) between known equivalent 1A1 and 3B2 Jahn–Teller distorted tetrahedron C2v structures with activation energy at ∼0.96 kcal/mol according to the experimental data. 1A1g TS differs from 1A1g GS in electronic configuration by occupation of a1g and a2u MOs. At the MCSCF/ TZV (DF) level, 1A1g TS and 1A1g GS are optimized as near‐pure states in different potential energy surfaces (PES) avoided conical intersection with near‐equal interatomic distances, and define electronic flexibility of Fe(CO)4. Estimation of the energy separation in a two‐level system that avoids a conical intersection from vibrational spectrum is based on the effective Hamiltonian of the perturbation theory. The energy gap between two square‐planar Fe(CO)4 D4h 1A1g TS < 1A1g GS is 0.27 kcal/mol. The energy gap between 1A1g GS and 1A1 is 1.28 kcal/mol. It is possible to observe 3B2, 1A1 and 1A1g GS separately in the course of the experiment. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2006
Severe dilated cardiomyopathy and quadriceps myopathy due to lamin A/C gene mutation: A phenotypic study
Authors: Charniot Jean‐Christophe , Desnos Michel , Zerhouni Khaled , Bonnefont‐Rousselot Dominique , Albertini Jean‐Paul , Salama Jeffrey Zaketto , Bassez Guillaume , Komajda Michel , Artigou Jean‐Yves
Published: November 2005

This study reports a family affected by a new phenotype associated with dilated cardiomyopathy and quadriceps myopathy.

Methods:

29 family members underwent a physical and neurological examination, including an electromyogram and biopsy of muscle abnormalities. A cardiac examination was performed in all subjects.

Results:

The family pedigree (n=72) demonstrated that transmission was autosomal dominant. Eleven subjects had cardiac involvement, only four had quadriceps muscle involvement. Cardiac impairment preceded neurological involvement. The mean age for neurological involvement was 44±0.8 years (range 43–45) and cardiac involvement was 37±7.9 years (range: 24–45). Cardiac involvement consisted of: hypokinetic dilated cardiomyopathy (64%); atrial fibrillation (100%); ventricular arrhythmias (64%); impaired conduction with bundle branch or complete atrio ventricular block (73%). Four patients required pacemakers and anti arrhythmic therapies. Four patients died: two of refractory heart failure and two of sudden death; two patients were resuscitated following cardiac arrest. Three patients required a prophylactic implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD). Muscle morphological abnormalities were characterized by a variable number of fibers with rimmed vacuoles. The quadriceps deteriorated progressively without impairment of other muscles. Genotypic study showed a lamin A/C gene mutation.

Conclusions:

This family was affected by a new phenotype composed of an autosomal dominant severe dilated cardiomyopathy with conduction defects or arrhythmias and quadriceps myopathy. Cardiac abnormalities preceded neuromuscular disorders and defined the prognosis of this disease.
ASB proteins interact with Cullin5 and Rbx2 to form E3 ubiquitin ligase complexes
Authors: Kohroki Junya , Nishiyama Takehiro , Nakamura Takaaki , Masuho Yasuhiko
Published: November 2005

The ankyrin repeat and SOCS box (ASB) family is composed of 18 proteins from ASB1 to ASB18 and belongs to the suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS) box protein superfamily. ASB2 was recently shown to interact with a certain Cul–Rbx module to form an E3 ubiquitin (Ub) ligase complex, but the functional composition of the ASB‐containing E3 Ub ligase complexes remains to be characterized. Here, we show that ASB proteins interact with Cul5–Rbx2 but neither Cul2 nor Rbx1 in cells. Mutational analysis revealed that the highly conserved amino acid sequences of the BC box and Cul5 box in the SOCS box of ASB proteins were essential for the interaction with Cul5–Rbx2. Although ASB proteins show slight divergences from the consensus sequences of the BC box and Cul5 box, all five tested ASB proteins bound to Cul5–Rbx2. Furthermore, all three tested ASB complexes containing Cul5–Rbx2 were found to have E3 Ub ligase activity. These findings suggest that the ASB family proteins interact with Cul5–Rbx2 to form E3 Ub ligases and play significant roles via a ubiquitination‐mediated pathway.
A genome‐wide expression profile and system‐level integration of nuclear factor kappa B regulated genes reveals fundamental metabolic adaptations during cell growth and survival
Authors: Andela Valentine B. , Schwarz Edward M. , O'Keefe Regis J. , Puzas Edward J. , Rosenblatt Joseph D. , Rosier Randy N.
Published: November 2005

A murine lung alveolar carcinoma cell line (WT‐Line 1) and its equally tumorigenic but non‐malignant derivative transduced with a dominant negative inhibitor of NF‐κB (mI‐κB‐Line 1), were profiled on the Affymetrix® 19 000 gene array platform. Two differentially expressed gene clusters were identified and integrated into a functional model. The downregulation of anti‐oxidant defenses, in mI‐κB‐Line 1 cells, correlates with high levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and ROS damage to cellular macromolecules while the upregulation of metabolic nuclear receptors correlates with an adaptive/survival response, which involves a shift in energy metabolism toward β‐oxidative respiration. Accordingly, mI‐κB‐Line 1 cells are markedly sensitized to pharmacologic inhibition of β‐oxidative respiration. These findings are indicative of compensatory changes that could undermine anti‐cancer therapies targeting NF‐κB.
Identification of the novel evolutionary conserved obstructor multigene family in invertebrates
Authors: Behr Matthias , Hoch Michael
Published: November 2005

Insects have evolved chitin‐containing structures such as the cuticle or peritrophic membranes that serve to protect their bodies against the hostile environment. The specific mechanisms by which these structures are produced, are mostly unknown. We have identified a novel multigene family, the obstructor family, which encodes ten putatively secreted chitin‐binding proteins that are characterized by a stereotype arrangement of a N‐terminal signaling peptide and 3 chitin‐binding‐domains. Gene expression studies in Drosophila melanogaster embryos demonstrate that obstructor family members are expressed in cuticle forming tissues. Using computational and phylogenetic analysis, we show that obstructor genes represent an evolutionary conserved multigene family in invertebrates.
Nitric oxide mediates anti‐inflammatory action of extracorporeal shock waves
Authors: Ciampa Anna R. , de Prati Alessandra Carcereri , Amelio Ernesto , Cavalieri Elisabetta , Persichini Tiziana , Colasanti Marco , Musci Giovanni , Marlinghaus Ernst , Suzuki Hisanori , Mariotto Sofia
Published: November 2005

Here, we show that extracorporeal shock waves (ESW), at a low energy density value, quickly increase neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) activity and basal nitric oxide (NO) production in the rat glioma cell line C6. In addition, the treatment of C6 cells with ESW reverts the decrease of nNOS activity and NO production induced by a mixture of lipopolysaccharides (LPS), interferon‐γ (IFN‐γ) plus tumour necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α). Finally, ESW treatment efficiently downregulates NF‐κB activation and NF‐κB‐dependent gene expression, including inducible NOS and TNF‐α. The present report suggests a possible molecular mechanism of the anti‐inflammatory action of ESW treatment.
Modified Dorsal Rotation Advancement Flap for Release of the Thumb Web Space
Authors: GHANI H. ABDEL
Published: November 2005

The dorsal rotational advancement flap described by Buck-Gramcko in 1998 is a good local flap for release of the thumb index web space. This paper describes a modification which broadens the apex of the flap and increases its length. This modification provides a long wide flap which releases the thumb index web space with suture lines far beyond the web. In addition, it provides a release of the palmar skin even when very tight in severe narrowing of the web. It is suitable for release of thumb–index syndactyly, severe narrowing of the web in thumb hypoplasia and congenital clasped thumb.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY: PARALLEL CHOICE OF LAW RULES
Authors: Lipstein K.
Published: November 2005

IN a previous article it was contended that for the purpose of the conflict of laws the structure of immaterial property law (which term is used here to include patents and the like) is exceptional. Due to its privileged character accorded by the sovereign local authority it is territorial in the dual sense that such laws are strictly confined in their operation to their country of origin and that within that territory the application of foreign immaterial property law is excluded by its inherent limitation. In English and Commonwealth law this insight was concealed until recently by the assertion that the courts could only exercise jurisdiction in respect of claims based on their own national intellectual property law. Jurisdiction was thus functionally linked to the exclusive sphere of the applicable law.
SECTIONS 459–461 COMPANIES ACT 1985 IN FLUX: THE FUTURE OF SHAREHOLDER PROTECTION
Authors: Payne Jennifer
Published: November 2005

SECTIONS 459–461 of the Companies Act 1985 are at the forefront of the remedies available to protect minority shareholders from oppression. The danger is that companies will be run exclusively in the interests of the controlling shareholders, and that the interests of the minority shareholders will be ignored, or at least not fully recognised. These sections provide general protection from oppression for minority shareholders. They are drafted in deliberately wide terms.
RACIAL BIAS AND THE ENGLISH CRIMINAL TRIAL JURY
Authors: Daly Gillian , Pattenden Rosemary
Published: November 2005

IN the 2001 census, nine per cent of the population of England and Wales were not classified as white. Racial tensions undeniably exist and it is probable that amongst the individuals randomly selected from the electoral roll to serve as jurors there will be some with race-related prejudices. By this we mean the inclination to prejudge others using pejorative stereotypes based on perceptions of “race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin”.
Introduction: Workers and Socialist States in Postwar Central and Eastern Europe
Authors: Pittaway Mark
Published: November 2005

The essays in this special issue by Jack R. Friedman, Sándor Horváth, Peter Heumos, and Eszter Zsófia Tóth, reflect a growing interest in the social history of industrial labor and industrial communities in postwar Central and Eastern Europe. While they approach their subjects in different ways and employing distinct methodologies, the essays suggest how the history of the working class and its relationship to postwar socialist state formation across the region might be rethought. They illustrate how the protracted construction and consolidation of socialist states in the region was negotiated on an everyday level by working-class citizens, and that this was a dynamic process in which state projects interacted with a variety of working-class cultures, that were in turn segmented by notions of gender, skill, generation, and occupation. The essays all demonstrate, in their different ways, how working-class Eastern Europeans were not simply acted upon by the operation of dictatorial state power, but played a role in state formation across the region. This role was characterized by an ambiguous relationship between workers and those in power who sought legitimacy by claiming that their states represented the interests of the “working class.” Yet the policies those in power pursued often confronted working-class communities directly in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Romania, as these essays suggest. This produced a complex relationship characterized by consent, accommodation and conflict that varied from locality to locality, state to state, and from period to period.
Furtive Selves: Proletarian Contradictions, Self-Presentation, and the Party in 1950s Romania
Authors: Friedman Jack R.
Published: November 2005

This paper examines the special challenges faced by working-class people in writing convincing autobiographical self-presentations for membership to the Romanian Workers' Party during the early 1950s. Special attention is paid to the nature of the verification process [verificare] required for existing and new members of the Party. I argue that the experience of one's self as always-already proletarian made the process of writing one's autobiography particularly difficult given the Party's desire for a narrative that stressed conversion to a proletarian identity.
State Socialism, Egalitarianism, Collectivism: On the Social Context of Socialist Work Movements in Czechoslovak Industrial and Mining Enterprises, 1945–1965
Authors: Heumos Peter
Published: November 2005

This article examines the social history of socialist work movements in Czechoslovakia during the first two decades of the Communist regime in the country. These movements were attempts to increase industrial productivity and to transform preexisting working-class culture. Not only did they founder on the chaotic operation of the bureaucratic planned economy and the endemic shortages it brought in train, they also foundered on the realities of labor relations in Czechoslovak enterprises. These were marked by the continuity of tensions inherited from the immediate postwar years that persisted into the Communist era, and the strength of egalitarian values among Czechoslovakia's working class.
The Jewish Labor Committee, American Labor, and the Rescue of European Socialists, 1934–1941
Authors: Collomp Catherine
Published: November 2005

The Jewish Labor Committee (JLC), founded in New York in 1934, was the vanguard of American labor's anti-Nazi and antifascist activism. The JLC grew out of the Jewish labor movement in the US. In 1940–1941, it achieved the rescue of hundreds of European labor and social-democratic party leaders trapped in France by the invading German army or in Lithuania by the Soviet army. Among these persons were some of the foremost leaders of the Labour and Socialist International and of the International Federation of Trade Unions. Many others were Polish Bundists, the JLC's founders' original political family, doubly exposed to Nazi brutality by their Jewish identity and social-democratic positions. This event is the focal point from which American labor's international solidarity for the labor victims of Nazism and fascism can be observed. In addition, the connection between the JLC and the Emergency Rescue Committee whose agent, Varian Fry, rescued artists and intellectuals, is also established in the paper.
Carol Poore,The Bonds of Labor: German Journeys to the Working World, 1890–1990. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2000. 298 pp. $39.95 cloth.
Authors: Maynes Mary Jo
Published: November 2005

Approaches to the history of class relations in Germany as elsewhere have changed dramatically over the past two decades or so. Historical class analysis, which once pointed to the clear significance of class as a social marker, a cultural and political identity, in short, as a force of history, has became dulled in the wake of the collapse of socialism, the decline of organized labor, and the intellectual challenges associated with postmodernism, feminism, and race theory. As one student remarked in a recent seminar on the history and historiography of class relations in Europe, class has become the unexamined third pillar of the race, class, gender triad. Historians do not deny the significance of class relations; it has just that figuring out how to theorize and document the history of class is much more complicated than it used to be.
Golfo Alexopoulos,Stalin's Outcasts: Aliens, Citizens, and the Soviet State, 1926–1936. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2003. xi + 243 pp. $39.95 cloth.
Authors: Bernstein Laurie
Published: November 2005

Golfo Alexopoulos begins her first chapter by analyzing a 1917 Soviet poster titled “Autocratic Structure.” At the top of a stratified pyramid is Russia's tsar, whose fur-trimmed cloak is draped around four layers of oppressors: the priests; the judges and bureaucrats; the police; and the landowning and bourgeois elite. Holding everyone up with their toil at the bottom of the pyramid are the workers and peasants. All but that last stratum were expected to disappear under the proletarian dictatorship because members of the exploiting classes, the former people, would stand outside the embrace of revolutionary society. The 1918 constitution of the Russian Republic codified their outsider status, specifying that they could not vote, receive public assistance, or work in the civil service or military. They also languished on the lowest rung of the Soviet ladder when it came to securing housing, jobs, and ration cards, and, by the decade's end, became candidates for exile and forced labor. Through her examination of Stalin's outcasts, Alexopoulos demonstrates that the meanings of social class and, by extension, citizenship, shifted in response to policies and historical circumstances. In other words, notions of what constituted a Soviet citizen evolved in tandem with the changing definitions of who was to be excluded from the polity.
Gary Gereffi, David Spener, and Jennifer Bair,Free Trade and Uneven Development: The North American Apparel Industry After Nafta. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2002. 426 pp. $27.95 paper.
Authors: Millberg Will
Published: November 2005

As textile and apparel production has been at the center of almost every major episode of industrialization since the sixteenth century, so too has it been a vanguard sector in the process of deindustrialization experienced by advanced capitalist countries beginning in the twentieth century. Thus it is no surprise that this sector would play a fascinating role in the world's first postcolonial effort at economic integration between two countries at vastly different levels of economic development. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), implemented in 1994, was expected to speed the two already ongoing trends of a rising apparel sector in Mexico and a steadily declining sector in the United States. US apparel firms would be expected to be an important contributor to Ross Perot's infamous “sucking sound” of jobs moving from the US to Mexico.
James D. Rose,Duquesne and the Rise of Steel Unionism. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2001. xi + 284 pp. $42.50.
Authors: Bucki Cecelia
Published: November 2005

Back to the shop floor! This book is a welcome addition to the literature of American labor in the mid-twentieth century. Through meticulous analysis of steel workers at the workplace in Duquesne, Pennsylvania, James D. Rose explains the emergence and eventual victory of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee (SWOC), a part of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), in all its complexity. In doing so, he reveals the inadequacy of Lizabeth Cohen's culture of unity as well as Staughton Lynd's militant alternative unionism to explain the labor history of the 1930s. In addition, he reintroduces the idea that the federal government's role in industrial relations was crucial to the success of the CIO.
A modelling analysis of pertussis transmission and vaccination in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Authors: LUZ P. M. , CODEÇO C. T. , WERNECK G. L. , STRUCHINER C. J.
Published: November 2005

Pertussis is an infectious respiratory disease for which mass vaccination is an effective preventive strategy. In many developed countries, where high vaccination coverage has been maintained for approximately 50 years, re-emergence of the disease has been observed in all age groups. In the municipality of Rio de Janeiro (RJ), where vaccination started in the 1980s, surveillance data show no sign of disease re-emergence. We developed a mathematical model that incorporates the major demographic aspects of a large urban centre in a developing nation, in addition to the most important epidemiological aspects of disease transmission. Parameter values were estimated based on RJ demographic and vaccine coverage data. Overall, all vaccination strategies determined a major decrease (over 95% decrease when compared to the pre-vaccine era) in the incidence of primary infections (occurring in individuals who have never been immunized through infection or vaccine). On the other hand, the strategies (a) three doses at age 2–11 months, (b) three doses plus booster at age 12–23 months, (c) three doses plus booster at age 4–5 years, and (d) three doses plus both boosters, differently affected the incidence of secondary infections (occurring in previously infected/vaccinated individuals). Given that the immunity against pertussis wanes with time and that the infectious agent has not been eliminated from the population, it is expected that pertussis will continue to be a problem in RJ. Actually, since immunity acquired from vaccine wanes faster than disease-acquired immunity and the possibility of natural boosters has decreased with mass vaccination, an increase in the incidence of secondary infections among older age groups is expected (and predicted by the model). Possible explanations as to why this dynamics is not captured by the RJ surveillance system are discussed. A poorly effective surveillance system and a lack of awareness regarding loss of immunity and the possibility of pertussis infection in older age groups are among them. Finally, we bring attention to the need of (i) field studies for the measurement of pertussis incidence in adolescents and adults; (ii) better understanding of the transmission dynamics currently occurring in RJ, and (iii) re-evaluation of vaccination strategies with the possible introduction of acellular vaccines for the vaccination of older individuals.
Serological evidence of West Nile Virus (WNV) in mammalian species in Turkey
Authors: OZKUL A. , YILDIRIM Y. , PINAR D. , AKCALI A. , YILMAZ V. , COLAK D.
Published: November 2005

In this study, the sera collected from a variety of mammalian species (ass-mules, cat, cattle, dog, horse, human and sheep) in 10 representative provinces of Turkey, were surveyed for the presence of neutralizing antibodies to West Nile virus (WNV). Overall, 1 of 40 (2·5%) ass-mules, 4 of 100 (4%) cattle, 43 of 114 (37·7%) dogs, 35 of 259 (13·5%) horses, 18 of 88 (20·4%) humans and 1 of 100 (1%) sheep, tested positive for WNV-neutralizing antibodies. The results indicate that a wide range of mammals are exposed to a West Nile-related virus and this could contribute to the long-term survival of this virus in the absence of overt disease.
Exposure to school children as a risk factor in a community outbreak of hepatitis A in young adults: a case control study
Authors: ROBERTS R. J. , PALMER S. R.
Published: November 2005

To investigate risk factors during a community outbreak of hepatitis A we carried out a case- control study of 35 cases and 49 matched controls using an interviewer-administered questionnaire on clinical history, travel, household details including domestic toilet facilities, infectious contacts, and food history. Of 99 cases notified in the city during the outbreak year, 50 (51%) were young adults age 15–34 years. Hepatitis A infection was independently associated with household contact with a case (P=0·0005), and sharing a household with children in primary school (OR 3·4, 95% CI 1·2–9·5, P=0·008) with risk increasing with number of primary-school pupils in the household (χ2 for linear trend 6·47, P=0·01). We concluded that in a population with a low prevalence of hepatitis A, adults who live in the same household as primary-school-age children are at increased risk of acquiring the infection during community outbreaks.
The effect of mass influenza immunization in children on the morbidity of the unvaccinated elderly
Authors: GHENDON Y. Z. , KAIRA A. N. , ELSHINA G. A.
Published: November 2005

The objectives of these studies were to analyse the effect of mass influenza immunization in children on the morbidity of unvaccinated non-institutionalized elderly during an influenza epidemic. A mass vaccination campaign with vaccine was conducted in children aged 3–6 years attending kindergartens (57·4% of 6374) and aged 7–17 years attending schools (72% of 34 237) in two communities of the Moscow region. The clinical effectiveness of vaccination was 60·9% for kindergartens and 68·8% for schools. There were 3·4 times fewer episodes of influenza-like illnesses and 1·7–2·6 fewer episodes in all seven diseases which are possible complications of influenza out of the 10 evaluated diseases in 158 451 unvaccinated non-institutionalized elderly people during the influenza epidemic compared with the control communities. The differences were found to be statistically significant. Mass vaccination of children attending child institutions brought about a significant reduction of both influenza-like illnesses in children and influenza-associated illnesses in unvaccinated non-institutionalized elderly persons living in the home setting.