bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Microscale evaluation of mechanical properties of friction stir welded A6061 aluminium alloy/304 stainless steel dissimilar lap joint
Authors: Ogura T , Nishida T , Tanaka Y , Nishida H , Yoshikawa S , Fujimoto M , Hirose A
Published: March 2013

Microscale evaluation of the mechanical properties of a friction stir welded A6061/SUS 304 grooved lap joint was performed using a microtensile test and transmission electron microscopy. The microtensile test revealed that ∼62% of the area along which the rotating tool passed the specimen was regarded as the bonded region and that the joint was fractured at the A6061 matrix owing to the formation of very thin interfacial reaction layers. Equiaxed aluminium grains were observed at the interface of the specimen after it was fractured, indicating that the interface deformed only slightly during the microtensile test. It should be noted that although the maximum tensile strength of the joint was approximately the same as that of the base alloy, the proof stress of the joint decreased with the dissolution of the β″ phase in the A6061 aluminium alloy.
Effect of unequal channel angular pressing on microstructure and mechanical properties of as cast Mg–5·8Zn–1·2Y–0·7Zr alloy
Authors: Luo X-P , Zhang M-G , Zhou J-Q
Published: March 2013

The microstructure and mechanical properties of Mg–5·8Zn–1·2Y–0·7Zr alloys before and after unequal channel angular pressing (UCAP) have been investigated in detail using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry and mechanical property testing. The SEM and optical microscopy showed that the grain size was refined more at lower UCAP temperatures. When squeezed below 300°C, the average grain size was refined from the initial 110 μm to below 1·5 μm; the tensile strength increased to 390 MPa, and the elongation to break was over 13%. The high mechanical properties could be attributed to the reduced grain size and the strengthening effects of broken secondary phase particles and fine precipitates formed as a result of the severe shear and plastic deformation during pressing at high temperature.
Fatigue crack propagation behaviour and corrosion resistance of Al–Zn–Mg–Cu–Ti(–Sn) alloys
Authors: Yan A , Chen L , Liu H S , Li X Q
Published: March 2013

The propagation of a fatigue crack in and the intergranular corrosion (IGC) behaviour of Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloys with and without the addition of Sn were tested, and the microstructures of these alloys were further analysed using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. It was found that the addition of Sn refines the solution aging grain size and reduces the width of the precipitation free zones, which results in reinforcement of the alloy's fatigue crack propagation resistance. In addition, discontinuous distribution of grain boundary precipitates in the Sn containing alloy directly leads to a higher IGC resistance.
Phase field simulation of morphology evolution and coarsening of γ′ intermetallic phase in Ni–Al alloy
Authors: Cheng X-L , Li Y-S , Zhang L , Zhu H
Published: March 2013

The morphology evolution and coarsening behaviour of γ′ (Ni3Al) phase in Ni–Al alloys were investigated by using the Cahn–Hilliard and Ginzberg–Laudan phase field equations, and the composition, order parameter and average particles size evolution coupling with the internal elastic strain were studied. Cubic γ′ phase was presented firstly and then the rectangle particles were formed by means of coarsening; the mechanisms of γ′ phase coarsening are Ostwald ripening or coalescence of neighbouring particles. The average particle size of γ′ phase increases rapidly at the initial stage, and it slows down at the coarsening dominated stage. The average particle size follows a cubic law of ‘Lifshitz–Slyozov’ encounter modified theory in the coarsening regime.
Depletion of Jak2V617F myeloproliferative neoplasm-propagating stem cells by interferon-α in a murine model of polycythemia vera
Authors: Mullally Ann , Bruedigam Claudia , Poveromo Luke , Heidel Florian H. , Purdon Amy , Vu Therese , Austin Rebecca , Heckl Dirk , Breyfogle Lawrence J. , Kuhn Catherine Paine , Kalaitzidis Demetrios , Armstrong Scott A. , Williams David A. , Hill Geoff R. , Ebert Benjamin L. , Lane Steven W.
Published: March 2013

Key Points

IFNα targets Jak2V617F MPN stem cells.
Advanced accident research system based on a medical and engineering data in the metropolitan area of Florence
Authors: Piantini Simone , Grassi David , Mangini Marco , Pierini Marco , Zagli Giovanni , Spina Rosario , Peris Adriano
Published: March 2013

Background

In the metropolitan area of Florence, 62% of major traumas involve powered two wheeler rider and pillion passengers, 10% cyclists, and 7% pedestrians. The urban and extra-urban areas are the most dangerous for the vulnerable road user. In-depth investigations are needed for assessing detailed information on road accidents. This type of study has been very limited in time frame in Italy, and completely absent in the Tuscan region.

Consequently a study called “In-depth Study of road Accident in FlorencE” (In-SAFE) has been initiated.

Methods

A network between the Department of Mechanics and Industrial Technologies (University of Florence) and the Intensive Care Unit of the Emergency Department (Careggi Teaching Hospital, Florence) was created with the aim of collecting information about the road accidents. The data collected includes: on-scene data, data coming from examination of the vehicles, kinematics and dynamic crash data, injuries, treatment, and injury mechanisms. Each injury is codified thorough the AIS score, localized by a three-dimensional human body model based on computer tomography slices, and the main scores are calculated. We then associate each injury with its cause and crash technical parameters. Finally, all the information is collected in the In-SAFE database.

Results

Patient mean age at the time of the accident was 34.6 years, and 80% were males. The ISS mean is 24.2 (SD 8.7) and the NISS mean is 33.6 (SD 10.5). The main road accident configurations are the “car-to-PTW” (25%) and “pedestrian run over” (17,9%). For the former, the main collision configuration is “head-on crash” (57%). Cyclists and PTW riders-and-pillions-passengers suffer serious injuries (AIS3+) mainly to the head and the thorax. The head (56.4%) and the lower extremities (12.7%) are the most frequently injured pedestrian body regions.

Conclusions

The aim of the project is to create an in-depth road accident study with special focus on the correlation between technical parameters and injuries. An in-depth investigation team was setup and is currently active in the metropolitan area of Florence.

Twenty-eight serious road accidents involving twenty-nine ICU patients are studied. PTW users, cyclist and pedestrians are the most frequently involved in metropolitan accidents.
Nutritional status among older residents with dementia in open versus special care units in municipal nursing homes: an observational study
Authors: Aukner Carine , Eide Helene Dahl , Iversen Per Ole
Published: March 2013

Background

Undernutrition is widespread among institutionalised elderly, and people suffering from dementia are at particularly high risk. Many elderly with dementia live in open units or in special care units in nursing homes. It is not known whether special care units have an effect on the nutritional status of the residents. The aim of this study was therefore to examine the nutritional status of residents with dementia in both open units and in special care units.

Methods

Among Oslo’s 29 municipal nursing homes, 21 participated with 358 residents with dementia or cognitive impairment, of which 46% lived in special care units. Nutritional status was assessed using the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool and anthropometry.

Results

We found no differences (p > 0.05) in risk of undernutrition, body mass index, mid-upper arm muscle circumference or triceps skinfold thickness between residents in open units and those in special care units. Residents in special care units were significantly younger and stronger when measured with a hand-grip test.

Conclusions

We found no difference in nutritional status between nursing home residents with dementia/cognitive impairment in open units versus in special care units.
Health-related quality of life and life satisfaction in colorectal cancer survivors: trajectories of adjustment
Authors: Dunn Jeff , Ng Shu Kay , Breitbart William , Aitken Joanne , Youl Pip , Baade Peter D , Chambers Suzanne K
Published: March 2013

Background

This longitudinal study describes the five year trajectories of health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) and life satisfaction in long term colorectal cancer survivors.

Patients and methods

A population-based sample of 1966 colorectal cancer survivors were surveyed at six time points from five months to five years post-diagnosis. Predictor variables were: socio-demographic variables, optimism; cancer threat appraisal; perceived social support. Quality of life was assessed with the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Colorectal (HR-QOL); and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Growth mixture models were applied to identify trajectory classes and their predictors.

Results

Distinct adjustment trajectories were identified for HR-QOL and life satisfaction. Lower optimism, poorer social support, a more negative cognitive appraisal, and younger age were associated with poorer life satisfaction, while survivors with less than 8 years of education had higher life satisfaction. This pattern was similar for overall HR-QOL except that educational level was not a significant predictor and later stage disease and female gender emerged as related to poorer outcomes. One in five survivors reported poorer constant HR-QOL (19.2%) and a small group had poor life satisfaction (7.2%); 26.2% reported constant high HR-QOL and 48.8% had high constant life satisfaction. Socioeconomic disadvantage and remoteness of residence uniquely predicted poorer outcomes in the colorectal cancer specific HR-QOL sub domain.

Conclusion

Although HR-QOL and subjective cognitive QOL share similar antecedents their trajectory patterns suggested they are distinct adjustment outcomes; with life satisfaction emerging as temporally stable phenomenon. Unique patterns of risk support suggest the need to account for heterogeneity in adjustment in longitudinal QOL studies with cancer survivors.
Approximating fixed points of α-nonexpansive mappings in uniformly convex Banach spaces and "Equation missing"spaces
Authors: Naraghirad Eskandar , Wong Ngai-Ching , Yao Jen-Chih
Published: March 2013

An existence theorem for a fixed point of anα-nonexpansive mapping of a nonempty bounded, closed and convex subset of a uniformly convex Banach space has been recently established by Aoyama and Kohsaka with a non-constructive argument. In this paper, we show that appropriate Ishikawa iterate algorithms ensure weak and strong convergence to a fixed point of such a mapping. Our theorems are also extended toCAT(0)spaces.

AMS Subject Classification:54E40, 54H25, 47H10, 37C25.
Recurrent acute pancreatitis and massive hemorrhagic ascites secondary to a duodenal duplication in a child: a case report
Authors: Yang Min , Li Ding-You , Zeng Yong-Mei , Chen Pei-Yu , Geng Lan-Lan , Gong Si-Tang
Published: March 2013

Introduction

Duodenal duplication is a rare congenital malformation and has been reported as a rare cause of recurrent acute pancreatitis. Hemorrhagic ascites has been reported in only one case of duodenal duplication.

Case presentation

An 11-year-old Chinese girl presented with abdominal pain, hematemesis and dark stools. On admission, an abdominal examination revealed a moderately distended abdomen with diffuse tenderness. Biochemical investigations showed increased serum levels of amylase, lipase, and urine amylase. An abdominal computed tomography scan and magnetic resonance imaging scan revealed an enlarged and heterogeneous pancreas with poorly delineated borders. There was a cystic lesion measuring 25mm × 48mm × 28mm, located between the descending portion of her duodenum and the head of her pancreas. There were massive effusion signals in her abdominal cavity. An exploratory laparotomy was performed. A tubular cyst measuring 32mm × 52mm × 30mm was found in the second part of the duodenum, next to the head of her pancreas. The anterior wall of the duplication cyst was resected and anastomosis of the remaining cyst to the duodenum was performed for drainage. Histopathological examination of the excised cyst wall showed duodenal mucosa, submucosa and muscle coats, indicative of a duodenal duplication.

Conclusions

It is important to be aware of duodenal duplication when evaluating a patient with recurrent acute pancreatitis accompanied by massive hemorrhagic ascites.
Na,K-ATPase alpha isoforms at the blood-cerebrospinal fluid-trigeminal nerve and blood-retina interfaces in the rat
Authors: Arakaki Xianghong , McCleary Paige , Techy Matthew , Chiang Jiarong , Kuo Linus , Fonteh Alfred N , Armstrong Brian , Levy Dan , Harrington Michael G
Published: March 2013

Background

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sodium concentration increases during migraine attacks, and both CSF and vitreous humor sodium increase in the rat migraine model. The Na,K-ATPase is a probable source of these sodium fluxes. Since Na,K-ATPase isoforms have different locations and physiological roles, our objective was to establish which alpha isoforms are present at sites where sodium homeostasis is disrupted.

Methods

Specific Na,K-ATPase alpha isoforms were identified in rat tissues by immunohistochemistry at the blood-CSF barrier at the choroid plexus, at the blood-CSF-trigeminal barrier at the meninges, at the blood-retina barrier, and at the blood-aqueous barrier at the ciliary body. Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), occludin, or von Willibrand factor (vWF) were co-localized with Na,K-ATPase to identify trigeminal nociceptor fibers, tight junctions, and capillary endothelial cells respectively.

Results

The Na,K-ATPase alpha-2 isoform is located on capillaries and intensely at nociceptive trigeminal nerve fibers at the meningeal blood-CSF-trigeminal barrier. Alpha-1 and −3 are lightly expressed on the trigeminal nerve fibers but not at capillaries. Alpha-2 is expressed at the blood-retina barriers and, with alpha-1, at the ciliary body blood aqueous barrier. Intense apical membrane alpha-1 was associated with moderate cytoplasmic alpha-2 expression at the choroid plexus blood-CSF barrier.

Conclusion

Na,K-ATPase alpha isoforms are present at the meningeal, choroid plexus, and retinal barriers. Alpha-2 predominates at the capillary endothelial cells in the meninges and retinal ganglion cell layer.
HOXB13:IL17BR and molecular grade index and risk of breast cancer death among patients with lymph node-negative invasive disease
Authors: Habel Laurel A , Sakoda Lori C , Achacoso Ninah , Ma Xiao-Jun , Erlander Mark G , Sgroi Dennis C , Fehrenbacher Louis , Greenberg Deborah , Quesenberry Charles P
Published: March 2013

Introduction

Studies have shown that a two-gene ratio (HOXB13:IL17BR) and a five-gene (BUB1B, CENPA, NEK2, RACGAP1, RRM2) molecular grade index (MGI) are predictive of clinical outcomes among early-stage breast cancer patients. In an independent population of lymph node-negative breast cancer patients from a community hospital setting, we evaluated the performance of two risk classifiers that have been derived from these gene signatures combined, MGI+HOXB13:IL17BR and the Breast Cancer Index (BCI).

Methods

A case-control study was conducted among 4,964 Kaiser Permanente patients diagnosed with node-negative invasive breast cancer from 1985 to 1994 who did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy. For 191 cases (breast cancer deaths) and 417 matched controls, archived tumor tissues were available and analyzed for expression levels of the seven genes of interest and four normalization genes by RT-PCR. Logistic regression methods were used to estimate the relative risk (RR) and 10-year absolute risk of breast cancer death associated with prespecified risk categories for MGI+HOXB13:IL17BR and BCI.

Results

Both MGI+HOXB13:IL17BR and BCI classified over half of all ER-positive patients as low risk. The 10-year absolute risks of breast cancer death for ER-positive, tamoxifen-treated patients classified in the low-, intermediate-, and high-risk groups were 3.7% (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.9% to 5.4%), 5.9% (95% CI 3.0% to 8.6%), and 12.9% (95% CI 7.9% to 17.6%) by MGI+HOXB13:IL17BR and 3.5% (95% CI 1.9% to 5.1%), 7.0% (95% CI 3.8% to 10.1%), and 12.9% (95% CI 7.1% to 18.3%) by BCI. Those for ER-positive, tamoxifen-untreated patients were 5.7% (95% CI 4.0% to 7.4%), 13.8% (95% CI 8.4% to 18.9%), and 15.2% (95% CI 9.4% to 20.5%) by MGI+HOXB13:IL17BR and 5.1% (95% CI 3.6% to 6.6%), 18.6% (95% CI 10.8% to 25.7%), and 17.5% (95% CI 11.1% to 23.5%) by BCI. After adjusting for tumor size and grade, the RRs of breast cancer death comparing high- versus low-risk categories of both classifiers remained elevated but were attenuated for tamoxifen-treated and tamoxifen-untreated patients.

Conclusion

Among ER-positive, lymph node-negative patients not treated with adjuvant chemotherapy, MGI+HOXB13:IL17BR and BCI were associated with risk of breast cancer death. Both risk classifiers appeared to provide risk information beyond standard prognostic factors.
Toxoplasma gondii modulates the dynamics of human monocyte adhesion to vascular endothelium under fluidic shear stress
Authors: Harker Katherine S , Ueno Norikiyo , Wang Tingting , Bonhomme Cyrille , Liu Wendy , Lodoen Melissa B
Published: March 2013

Toxoplasma alters monocyte adhesion and integrin function, by reducing ligand-dependent clustering of LFA-1 and VLA-4.

Toxoplasma gondii actively infects circulating immune cells, including monocytes and DCs, and is thought to use these cells as Trojan horses for parasite dissemination. To investigate the interactions of T. gondii-infected human monocytes with vascular endothelium under conditions of shear stress, we developed a fluidic and time-lapse fluorescence microscopy system. Both uninfected and infected monocytes rolled, decelerated, and firmly adhered on TNF-α-activated endothelium. Interestingly, T. gondii-infected primary human monocytes and THP-1 cells exhibited altered adhesion dynamics compared with uninfected monocytes: infected cells rolled at significantly higher velocities (2.5- to 4.6-fold) and over greater distances (2.6- to 4.8-fold) than uninfected monocytes, before firmly adhering. During monocyte searching, 29–36% of infected monocytes compared with 0–11% of uninfected monocytes migrated >10 μm from the point where they initiated searching, and these “wandering” searches were predominantly in the direction of flow. As infected monocytes appeared delayed in their transition to firm adhesion, we examined the effects of infection on integrin expression and function. T. gondii did not affect the expression of LFA-1, VLA-4, or MAC-1 or the ability of Mn2+ to activate these integrins. However, T. gondii infection impaired LFA-1 and VLA-4 clustering and pseudopod extension in response to integrin ligands. Surprisingly, a single intracellular parasite was sufficient to mediate these effects. This research has established a system for studying pathogen modulation of human leukocyte adhesion under conditions of physiological shear stress and has revealed a previously unappreciated effect of T. gondii infection on ligand-dependent integrin clustering.
E-cadherin is required for the proper activation of the Lifr/Gp130 signaling pathway in mouse embryonic stem cells
Authors: del Valle Ignacio , Rudloff Stefan , Carles Annaick , Li Yong , Liszewska Ewa , Vogt Riana , Kemler Rolf
Published: March 2013

The leukemia inhibitory factor (Lif) signaling pathway is a crucial determinant for mouse embryonic stem (mES) cell self-renewal and pluripotency. One of the hallmarks of mES cells, their compact growth morphology, results from tight cell adhesion mediated through E-cadherin, β-catenin (Ctnnb1) and α-catenin with the actin cytoskeleton. β-catenin is also involved in canonical Wnt signaling, which has also been suggested to control mES cell stemness. Here, we analyze Ctnnb1-/- mES cells in which cell adhesion is preserved by an E-cadherin-α-catenin (Eα) fusion protein (Ctnnb1-/-Eα mES cells), and show that mimicking only the adhesive function of β-catenin is necessary and sufficient to maintain the mES cell state, making β-catenin/Wnt signaling obsolete in this process. Furthermore, we propose a role for E-cadherin in promoting the Lif signaling cascade, showing an association of E-cadherin with the Lifr-Gp130 receptor complex, which is most likely facilitated by the extracellular domain of E-cadherin. Without Eα, and thus without maintained cell adhesion, Ctnnb1-/- mES cells downregulate components of the Lif signaling pathway, such as Lifr, Gp130 and activated Stat3, as well as pluripotency-associated markers. From these observations, we hypothesize that the changes in gene expression accompanying the loss of pluripotency are a direct consequence of dysfunctional cell adhesion. Supporting this view, we find that the requirement for intact adhesion can be circumvented by the forced expression of constitutively active Stat3. In summary, we put forward a model in which mES cells can be propagated in culture in the absence of Ctnnb1, as long as E-cadherin-mediated cell adhesion is preserved.
Activation of conventional kinesin motors in clusters by shaw voltage-gated potassium channels
Authors: Barry Joshua , Xu Mingxuan , Gu Yuanzheng , Dangel Andrew W. , Jukkola Peter , Shrestha Chandra , Gu Chen
Published: March 2013

Conventional kinesin/KIF5 motor transports many different cargos to specific locations in neurons. How cargos regulate motor function remains unclear. Here, we report Kv3 (Shaw) voltage-gated K+ channel, the only known tetrameric KIF5-binding protein, clusters and activates KIF5 motors during axonal transport. Endogenous KIF5 often forms clusters along axons, raising a potential role of KIF5-binding proteins. Our biochemical assays reveal that the high-affinity multimeric binding between Kv3.1 T1 domain and KIF5B requires three basic residues in KIF5B tail. Kv3.1 T1 competes with the motor domain and microtubules, but not with kinesin light chain 1 (KLC1), for binding to KIF5B tail. Live-cell imaging assays show that four KIF5-binding proteins, Kv3.1, KLC1, and two synaptic proteins SNAP25 and VAMP2, differ in regulating KIF5B distribution. Only Kv3.1 markedly increases the frequency and motor number of KIF5B-YFP anterograde puncta. Deletion of Kv3.1 channels reduces KIF5 clusters in mouse cerebellar neurons. Therefore, clustering and activation of KIF5 motors by Kv3 regulate the motor number in carrier vesicles containing the channel proteins, contributing not only to the specificity of Kv3 channel transport, but also to the cargo-mediated regulation of motor function.
Does a species of Rickettsia play a role in the pathophysiology of Buerger's disease?
Authors: Fazeli Bahare , Ravari Hassan , Farzadnia Mahdi
Published: March 2013

Rickettsia is an intracellular pathogen that attaches to vascular endothelial cell membranes and its genome integrates into the DNA of the host and thereby inhibits apoptosis of the endothelial cells. Rickettsia can infect the body following a flea/louse bite. Rickettsia was suggested as one etiology of Buerger's disease long ago. We report a patient with Buerger's disease for whom a left below-knee amputation was done. Twenty-five biopsies for DNA extraction were obtained from the arteries, veins and microvasculature of the amputated limb. Three samples were positive for Rickettsia. The finding may explain the proliferation of endothelial cells in the pathology of Buerger's disease, segmental nature of the disease, involving small- and medium-sized vessels, and the prevalence of Buerger's disease among the low socioeconomic class of the society. Understanding the infectious etiology of Buerger's disease would be invaluable, since early antibiotic therapy or even vaccination might have prevented the limb loss in the current and other cases of Buerger's disease. The authors suggest that paraffin blocks of Buerger's disease biopsies be investigated for Rickettsia infection, focusing specifically on the area of endothelial cell proliferation for DNA extraction. These results should be compared with other biopsies from a variety of other peripheral vascular diseases.
Free-floating thrombus of the carotid artery with a homozygous methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene mutation: a case report
Authors: Colak Necmettin , Nazli Yunus , Kosehan Dilek , Alpay Mehmet Fatih , Cakir Omer
Published: March 2013

Free-floating thrombus (FFT) of the carotid artery is a rare condition of currently unknown etiology. We describe a symptomatic patient with an FFT in the left common carotid artery. A duplex ultrasonography scan showed the presence of a mobile floating thrombus moving in cyclical motion with the cardiac cycles in the left common carotid artery. During emergency surgery, an FFT was seen at this location and removed. No underlying wall defect was seen at the time of surgery. In a genetic screening test, TT homozygous for the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T genetic polymorphisms was detected. The patient recovered uneventfully, with no neurogical events. Lifelong anticoagulant therapy was recommended. An aggressive surgical approach is recommended in the patient to prevent embolic episodes.
Salvage of infected vascular graft via ‘perivascular venous banding’ technique coupled with rectus abdominis myocutaneous muscle flap transposition
Authors: De Santis F , Brait C M Chaves , Caravelli G , Pompei S , Di Cintio V
Published: March 2013

This is the case of a severe Pseudomonas aeruginosa biological vascular graft infection, completely involving the perianastomotic tract of a femoro — femoral crossover bypass and resulting in repeated bleeding from the offended vessel wall. After the failure of a sartorious rotational muscle flap transposition into the infected groin wound, this ‘high-grade’ vascular graft infection was finally treated successfully by wrapping a great saphenous vein patch reinforcement circumferentially around the damaged biological vascular conduit and filling the infected wound with a rectus abdominis myocutaneous muscle flap transposition. The aim of this report is to illustrate this novel, to our knowledge, ‘perivascular venous banding’ technique and to evaluate the prospective of future testing of this surgical procedure. Starting from this singular case, we will also review the role of the rotational muscle flaps in the conservative management of major vascular graft infections.
Multiple episodes of arterial thrombosis in a young man with protein C deficiency: a case report
Authors: Cheng Yi-Chiao , Tsai Chien-Sung , Lin Yi-Chang , Kao Chih-Hong , Tsai Yi-Ting
Published: March 2013

A 23-year-old young adult, who had no previous illness, suffered from anterior wall acute myocardial infarction, right renal infarction and occlusion of the left distal brachial artery, popliteal artery, and tibioperoneal trunk artery within six months. He had a habit of smoking but denied a history of drug abuse. Protein C deficiency was diagnosed via the examination of a hypercoagulable panel. The investigation of the hypercoagulable state is essential in young adults with an unusual presentation of artery occlusion.
Infection of endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm stent graft after urosepsis: case report and review of the literature
Authors: Veger H T C , Joosten P Ph Hedeman , Thoma S R , Visser M J T
Published: March 2013

Infection of endovascular abdominal aneurysm stent grafts is an uncommon but known complication. Inoculation with bacteria of the endovascular abdominal aneurysm stent graft during the actual implantation, in the periprocedural hospitalization or later due to an aortoenteric fistula, has been described in the literature. We report a case of endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm stent graft infection occurring 40 months after implantation in a patient doing well up to an episode of urosepsis. In conclusion, we postulate that poor intraluminal healing of stent grafts, as observed in several explant studies, may result in a higher susceptibility to episodes of bacteremia than prosthetic vascular grafts inserted during open repair. We therefore consider the administration of prophylactic antibiotics in patients with endovascular stent grafts during periods with a likelihood of bacteremia.
Acute first onset of Ehlers–Danlos Syndrome type 4 with spontaneous rupture of posterior tibial artery pseudoaneurysm
Authors: Arici Vittorio , Corbetta Riccardo , Fossati Luca Germano , Odero Attilio
Published: March 2013

Ehlers–Danlos syndrome type 4, the vascular type, is a rare, life-threatening inherited disorder of the connective tissue. Affected patients are at risk of arterial, bowel and uterine rupture during pregnancy. Generally, this syndrome remains undiagnosed until a sudden, acute presentation with organ rupture, and results in premature death, even if the patients survive the first and second major complications. An early diagnosis with genetic assays can help to plan the best treatment, which is often challenging due to the frailty of the arterial tissue. We report on a 28-year-old lady who presented with spontaneous rupture of a pseudoaneurysm of the posterior tibial artery.
Argonaute2 expression is post-transcriptionally coupled to microRNA abundance
Authors: Martinez Natalia J. , Gregory Richard I.
Published: March 2013

Argonaute proteins are essential components of microRNA (miRNA)- and small interfering (siRNA)-mediated post-transcriptional gene-silencing pathways. In mammals, Argonaute2 (Ago2) is the catalytic center of the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) that recognizes and endonucleolytically cleaves messenger RNAs of complementary sequence. Although Ago2 is essential for RISC activity, the mechanisms regulating Argonaute protein expression are largely unknown. Here we report that Ago2 expression is dependent on miRNA abundance and that unloaded Ago2 protein is unstable. We observed a low level of Ago2 protein in Dicer- or DGCR8-deficent mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) that could be rescued by reintroduction of the respective cDNAs or by transfection of miRNAs or siRNAs. We found expression of Ago2 protein from a transgene to be similarly regulated, further supporting a post-transcriptional control mechanism. Inhibition of Hsc70/Hsp90 led to decreased Ago2 expression consistent with the reported role of this chaperone complex in RISC assembly. We furthermore found that the degradation of Ago2 was specifically blocked by inhibition of the lysosome, but not the proteasome. Our results illuminate a novel feedback mechanism that post-transcriptionally couples Ago2 protein levels with small RNA abundance with implications for RNA-interference (RNAi) and miRNA function.
Campylobacter jejuni genomes exhibit notable GC variation within housekeeping genes
Authors: Mohan Vathsala , Stevenson Mark
Published: March 2013

Campylobacter jejuni(C. jejuni) is a rapidly evolving bacterial species with massive genetic recombination potential to generate niche specific genotypes. Generally the housekeeping gene lineage has been evidenced to undergo lateral gene transfer and recombination quite frequently compared to the information processing gene lineage. During such exchanges, genetic amelioration takes place over time acquiring the host genomes’ molecular characteristics. In this study, fifty genes that comprised twenty five metabolic housekeeping lineage genes and twenty five information processing lineage genes from nineteenC. jejunigenomes were studied. These nineteen genomes included sevenC. jejuniisolates that belonged to the same genotype or multilocus sequence type ST-474 that were sequences in New Zealand. The genes from both lineages were tested for recombination and the guanine-cytosine (GC) variation. There was a positive correlation between the GC variance and the number of recombination events amongst the metabolic housekeeping genes. Genes that showed wider GC variance had a relatively high number of recombination events. In contrast, although recombination was evident in all of the informational genes, there was no correlation between the GC variance and recombination. The observation of a positive correlation between the GC variance and the recombination events in the metabolic housekeeping genes may reflect the recent events of exchange of DNA and the regions that are constantly dynamic to undergo recombination under certain circumstances. While in the case of informational genes, the demand of stringent homology between genes may be a limiting factor for the absence of such correlation, however, the sites that involved in recombination may also represent the hotspots of recombination in those genes.
To Personalize or Not to Personalize Online Purchase Interactions: Implications of Self-Selection by Retailers
Authors: Thirumalai Sriram , Sinha Kingshuk K.
Published: March 2013

Personalization technologies today enable retailers to tailor online purchase interactions to the individual preferences and needs of customers. With personalization being increasingly perceived as a source of competitive advantage, there is a growing trend toward pursuing technology-enabled personalization strategies in online retailing. However, the choice of a retailer whether or not to select into technology-enabled personalization and its implications for customer loyalty are at best ambiguous. This paper is an attempt to resolve this apparent ambiguity. Specifically, the paper conceptualizes retailer selection into technology-enabled personalization strategies relevant to two steps of an online purchase, namely, transaction personalization strategy and decision personalization strategy, based on the operating characteristics of a retailer. The implications of the retailers' self-selection into technology-enabled personalization strategies for customer loyalty are then empirically investigated with data collected from 422 retailers. Further, based on a counterfactual analysis, the paper reveals the implications of making a normatively incorrect decision with respect to personalization strategy. Contrary to popular belief, the results of this study indicate that personalization may not be uniformly beneficial in terms of customer loyalty to all retailers. Although a majority of retailers pursue transaction personalization and realize benefits by way of improved customer loyalty, we find that the choice of a retailer to pursue decision personalization is self-selected and dependent on idiosyncratic characteristics related to its operating context. Retailers that have relatively large-scale operations, provide greater variety and realize higher customer satisfaction with product selection, and that do not necessarily compete on price (i.e., realize lower customer satisfaction with prices relative to competing retailers) are more likely to pursue the decision personalization strategy. Although some retailers pursue decision personalization because they clearly stand to benefit from doing so, other retailers are better off not following suit. Theoretical contributions of the study, managerial implications of the study findings, limitations, and directions for future research are identified.
Research Commentary—Information in Digital, Economic, and Social Networks
Authors: Sundararajan Arun , Provost Foster , Oestreicher-Singer Gal , Aral Sinan
Published: March 2013

Digital technologies have made networks ubiquitous. A growing body of research is examining these networks to gain a better understanding of how firms interact with their consumers, how people interact with each other, and how current and future digital artifacts will continue to alter business and society. The increasing availability of massive networked data has led to several streams of inquiry across fields as diverse as computer science, economics, information systems, marketing, physics, and sociology. Each of these research streams asks questions that at their core involve “information in networks”—its distribution, its diffusion, its inferential value, and its influence on social and economic outcomes. We suggest a broad direction for research into social and economic networks. Our analysis describes four kinds of investigation that seem most promising. The first studies how information technologies create and reveal networks whose connections represent social and economic relationships. The second examines the content that flows through networks and its economic, social, and organizational implications. A third develops theories and methods to understand and utilize the rich predictive information contained in networked data. A final area of inquiry focuses on network dynamics and how information technology affects network evolution. We conclude by discussing several important cross-cutting issues with implications for all four research streams, which must be addressed if the ensuing research is to be both rigorous and relevant. We also describe how these directions of inquiry are interconnected: results and ideas will pollinate across them, leading to a new cumulative research tradition.
External Risk Measures and Basel Accords
Authors: Kou Steven , Peng Xianhua , Heyde Chris C.
Published: March 2013

Choosing a proper external risk measure is of great regulatory importance, as exemplified in the Basel II and Basel III Accords, which use value-at-risk with scenario analysis as the risk measures for setting capital requirements. We argue that a good external risk measure should be robust with respect to model misspecification and small changes in the data. A new class of data-based risk measures called natural risk statistics is proposed to incorporate robustness. Natural risk statistics are characterized by a new set of axioms. They include the Basel II and III risk measures and a subclass of robust risk measures as special cases; therefore, they provide a theoretical framework for understanding and, if necessary, extending the Basel Accords.
Learning Cycle Length Through Finite Automata
Authors: Peretz Ron
Published: March 2013

We study the space-and-time automaton-complexity of two related problems concerning the cycle length of a periodic stream of input bits. One problem is to find the exact cycle length of a periodic stream of input bits provided that the cycle length is bounded by a known parameter n. The other problem is to find a large number k that divides the cycle length. By “large” we mean that there is an unbounded increasing function f(n), such that either k is greater than f(n) or k is the exact cycle length.

Our main results include that finding a large divisor of the cycle length can be solved in deterministic linear TIME and sub-linear SPACE, whereas finding the exact cycle length cannot be solved in deterministic TIME × SPACE smaller than a constant times n squared. Results involving probabilistic automata and applications to rate-distortion theory and repeated games are also discussed.
REVIEWS
Authors: Díaz Eva , Bridges Steven L. , Loeffler Frances , Jackson Georgina , Balsom Erika , Roberdeau Wood
Published: March 2013

TOOTH FOR AN EYE: A CHOROGRAPHY OF VIOLENCE IN ORLEANS PARISH, DEBORAH LUSTER (2011) Santa Fe, NM: Twin Palms Publishers, 64 pp., 29 illustrations ISBN: 1931885966, h/bk, $75

‘PROJECT CABRINI GREEN’, BY JAN TICHY, 28 MARCH–29 APRIL 2011, CHICAGO, IL, USA

THE
BEST OF ALL POSSIBLE WORLDS: FILIP GILISSEN’S IT’S ALL DOWNHILL FROM HERE ON, A 2011 SINT-LUKAS BRUSSELS UNIVERSITY COMMISSION, AND OTHER RECENT WORKS

‘MAKING THINGS PUBLIC: ATMOSPHERES OF DEMOCRACY’ 20 March–7 August 2005, Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie
(ZKM), Karlsruhe, Germany

ALSO A BOOK MAKING THINGS PUBLIC: ATMOSPHERES OF DEMOCRACY, BRUNO LATOUR AND PETER WEIBEL, (2005) Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1072 pp., 550 coloured illustrations ISBN 9780262122795 (hardback), currently out of print

GARETH LONG, ‘WHO INVENTED THE DESK?’
THE APARTMENT, VANCOUVER, 4 SEPTEMBER 2010 – 1 MARCH 2011; ARTIST’S TEXT; ONGOING PUBLIC WORKSHOPS AT VARIOUS LOCATIONS; ONGOING SERIES OF ARTIST’S PUBLICATIONS

GOING PUBLIC, BORIS GROYS, (2010) New York: Sternberg Press, 168 pp., ISBN 9781934105306, paperback, £10.95
Living for the other half: Slum specials on reality TV
Authors: Mehta Rijuta
Published: March 2013

This article examines the transvaluation of urban poverty in neo-liberal India through a reading of Endemol’s reality television show The Big Switch (Season One, UTV Bindass, 2009). Formatted as Survivor for Indian D-list celebrities and Extreme Makeover for Mumbai’s slum
dwellers, who were then teamed together in a simulated slum, the show promised to make one out of ten ‘slumdogs’ a millionaire. Paying attention to the quick fix that reality television provides to the shortage of living space, I frame my critique of the Switch House within what
A. Appadurai calls Mumbai’s Great Housing Dream and what Michel Foucault has defined as heterotopia. I propose that The Big Switch (Hitesh Bhatia, 2009), as it stages the fantasy of millionairedom and celebrityhood for all, becomes a symptom of the antagonisms between global corporate
formalism and the informal street economy at the heart of the illegal slum city. I situate the television text within the larger history of the Indian television industry, as well as the current turn towards ‘slum culture’ in global reality-based television programming, especially
through shows like Famous, Rich, and In the Slums (Joyce Trozzo, 2011) and Slumdog Secret Millionaire (Rod Williams, 2010). Building on the media urbanism theory of Ravi Sundaram, I also suggest that a material analysis of the TV set in the slum is important in articulating the specificities
of slum citizenship and spectatorship. I argue that slum tourism (and its visual capture in photography, cinema and television) is not only an archive of the ephemeral kinetic city but of an illegal yet necessary dwelling in constant threat of demolition, whose moment of exhibition to the
world cannot be separated from the moment of its destruction by that world.
‘Aadat Se Majboor’/‘Helpless by Habit’: Metrosexual masculinity in contemporary Bollywood
Authors: Gehlawat Ajay
Published: March 2013

This article considers the growth of neo-liberal culture in India through the advent of metrosexuality in contemporary, Bombay-based popular Hindi cinema, aka Bollywood. If, by the end of the twentieth century, the iconic ‘angry young man’ of 1970s popular Hindi cinema had
been replaced by the ‘creative young man’, the first decade of the twenty-first century witnessed the emergence of the metrosexual male protagonist – one largely defined by his physical fitness, grooming and cosmopolitanism. This article explores the ways in which such a
masculinity is ‘packaged’ in several recent films. In particular, these films appear to signal to their audience a certain postmodern savviness about the artifice of such masculinity, as well as its commercial underpinnings in marketing global consumer culture. Such metrosexualization,
this article concludes, has now gone one step further with the emergence of the con man protagonist, reworking earlier models of urban Indian masculinity towards an increasingly neo-liberal aestheticization and promotion of individual enterprise, sexual and ethical decadence, and sculpted
physiques.
‘What an Idea Sirji!’: Intersections of neo-liberal subjectivities and development discourses in Idea Cellular ads
Authors: Mukherjee Rahul
Published: March 2013

The Idea Cellular ad campaign has included advertisements dealing with themes ranging from participative democracy and education for all to ending caste wars and controlling population. I examine the ads for their tendency to posit technology as a solution to solving socio-political
problems and in turn idealizing a neo-liberal subject who, aided by technology, can be a unit all into itself. These ads may then be seen to operate as ‘technologies of subjectivity’, with the cell phone network enabling the ‘self-activating capacities’ of the neo-liberal
subject. Specifically, I analyse how the ads mix the discourses of inclusive development and neo-liberal reform by reconfiguring the relationship between the state, corporations and the consumer-citizen. Furthermore, I unravel the creative tensions the ads negotiate while forging individual
desires and responsibilities into collective goals by exploring how their construction of neo-liberal subjectivities exists in multi-layered processual relations with brand management strategies, development narratives, technological affordances of cell phones and advertising cultures in India.
Base of the pyramid (BOP) as a source of innovation: Experiences of companies in the Kenyan mobile sector
Authors: Linna Paula
Published: March 2013

Mobile innovations have been seen as one of the success stories of ‘base of the pyramid’ (BOP) business models. Nevertheless, deeper analysis of their commercial scalability has been lacking. This article focuses on the Information and Telecommunications (ICT) and mobile
boom in Kenya, which is a major economic driver in the whole country. The article describes how social needs are seen as a basis for innovating technological solutions and what strategies are used to make them commercially viable. The article is based on empirical data on the Kenyan mobile
industry where companies are designing socially oriented technological innovations for low-end consumers. This research contributes to the ongoing discussion on successful BOP entrepreneurial models and innovations.
Enhancing higher education students’ employability: A Spanish case study
Authors: Oria Beatriz
Published: March 2013

Pedagogical research on higher education during the last decade has been mainly concerned with fostering an educational model in accordance with the recommendations of the Bologna Declaration of 1999. However, despite the remarkable progress that has been made so far, the students’
future employability is still seriously curtailed by an excessively theoretical and/or content-based training, which does not cater effectively for the development of transversal skills. The aim of this article is to report the results of a pilot experience carried out at the University of
Zaragoza (Spain), in the joint programme in Law and Business Administration and Management. The goal of this project was to enhance students’ employability by supplementing the subject’s syllabus with complementary activities and tasks meant to improve some of the competencies
and skills promulgated by the European Space for Higher Education, thus improving the students’ chances in today’s competitive labour market, while at the same time enhancing the quality standards of the Degree.
The role of innovation intermediaries in promoting the triple helix system in MNC-dominated industries in Thailand: the case of hard disk drive and automotive sectors
Authors: Nakwa Karantarat , Zawdie Girma
Published: March 2013

This article looks into the roles innovation intermediaries play to enhance triple helix-based innovation in Thailand from the vantage point of two multinational-dominated industries, namely, the hard disk drive and automotive industries. Innovation intermediaries generally play three
important roles: a sponsoring role of making and transmitting policy across all triple helix actors; a brokering role of connecting triple helix actors at strategic levels; and a boundary-spanning role of providing technical services to all triple helix actors. Comparison of the two case studies
showed the sponsoring role intermediary organizations play to be crucial for the respective industries for them to be able to engage in triple helix relationship.