bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Recepteur d'origine nantais (RON), more than a kinase: Role in castrate‐resistant prostate cancer
Authors: Batth Izhar Singh , Yun Huiyoung , Kumar Addankl P.
Published: July 2015

Prostate cancer (PCA) is the second leading cause of cancer‐related deaths in men in the United States. It is natural for a hormone‐driven malignancy such as prostate cancer that androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) would be the preferred treatment for clinical disease management. However, after initial treatment response a vast majority of patients develop metastatic castrate‐resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), which is fatal. While great headway has been made to understand the possible mechanisms that drive castrate‐resistant disease, a bonafide cure remains elusive. Reactivation of androgen receptor (AR) signaling partly contributes to the emergence of CRPC. Here we briefly examine some of the known mechanisms of AR reactivation including intratumoral synthesis of androgens, modulation of AR coregulators, and AR variants with constitutive activity as well as activation of receptor tyrosine kinases. We primarily focus on the emerging dual function of the receptor tyrosine kinase (recepteur d'origine nantais; RON) as a traditional tyrosine kinase and transcription factor. We further discuss activation of RON as an alternate mechanism in the development of CRPC and available therapeutic approaches for clinical management of CRPC by combined inhibition of RON and AR. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Sohlh2 inhibits human ovarian cancer cell invasion and metastasis by transcriptional inactivation of MMP9
Authors: Zhang Haiyu , Hao Chunyan , Wang Yang , Ji Shufang , Zhang Xiaoli , Zhang Wenfang , Zhao Qinghao , Sun Jinhao , Hao Jing
Published: July 2015

Identifying key mediators of cancer invasion and metastasis is crucial to the development of new and more effective therapies. We previously identified Sohlh2 as an important inhibitor of ovarian cancer cell proliferation. However, the function of Sohlh2 in cell migration and invasion remains unknown. In this paper, we report a novel Sohlh2 to MMP9 signaling pathway in the invasive ovarian cancer. Using immunohistochemistry staining, we revealed Sohlh2 expression was inversely correlated with the invasive human ovarian cancers. In vitro experiments, forced expression of Sohlh2 led to a significant reduction in cancer cell migration and invasion. Conversely, silencing of Sohlh2 enhanced ovarian cancer cell migration and invasion. Experiments using nude mice demonstrated that the ectopic Sohlh2 expression inhibited the HO8910 cell capability of the metastasis to the lungs and livers. Ectopic overexpression of Sohlh2 in the invasive HO8910 cells reduced the MMP9 expression, whereas Sohlh2 knockdown from the non‐invasive, SKOV3 cells increased the MMP9 expression. Promoter activation and binding analyses indicated that Sohlh2 repressed the MMP9 expression by directly acting on the MMP9 gene promoter. Inhibition of MMP9 dramatically blocked the Sohlh2 knockdown‐enhanced SKOV3 cell invasion, and ectopic expression of MMP9 compensated for the anti‐invasive activity of Sohlh2 in HO8910 cells. Overall, these results demonstrate for the first time that Sohlh2 functions as a tumor metastasis suppressor. Modulation of Sohlh2 expression has the potential to be a target for cancer therapy. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Oscillation criteria fornth‐order nonlinear delay differential equations with a middle term
Authors: Grace S. R. , Zafer A.
Published: July 2015

In this article, we establish some new criteria for the oscillation ofnth‐order nonlinear delay differential equations of the formurn:x-wiley:mma:media:mma3559:mma3559-math-0001provided that the second‐order equationurn:x-wiley:mma:media:mma3559:mma3559-math-0002is either nonoscillatory or oscillatory. Examples are given to illustrate the results. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
On normal families of meromorphic functions
Authors: Chen Wei , Hu Pei‐Chu , Tian Hong‐Gen
Published: July 2015

T. Qian In this paper, we prove two theorems on normal families of meromorphic functions, which improve a few of results from several authors. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Energy change to insertion of inclusions associated with a diffusive/convective steady‐state heat conduction problem
Authors: Novotny A. A. , Sales V.
Published: July 2015

The topological derivative concept has been successfully applied in many relevant physics and engineering problems. In particular, the topological asymptotic analysis has been fully developed for a wide range of problems modeled by partial differential equations. In this paper, the topological asymptotic analysis of the energy shape functional associated with a diffusive/convective steady‐state heat equation is developed. The topological derivative with respect to the nucleation of a circular inclusion is derived in its closed form with help of a non‐standard adjoint state. Finally, we provide the estimates for the remainders of the topological asymptotic expansion and perform a complete mathematical justification for the derived formulas. The obtained result is new and can be applied in the context of topology design of heat sinks, for instance. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Solution of Lane–Emden type equations using rational Bernoulli functions
Authors: Calvert Velinda , Mashayekhi Somayeh , Razzaghi Mohsen
Published: July 2015

In this paper, a numerical method for solving Lane‐Emden type equations, which are nonlinear ordinary differential equations on the semi‐infinite domain, is presented. The method is based upon the modified rational Bernoulli functions; these functions are first introduced. Operational matrices of derivative and product of modified rational Bernoulli functions are then given and are utilized to reduce the solution of the Lane‐Emden type equations to a system of algebraic equations. Illustrative examples are included to demonstrate the validity and applicability of the technique. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Improved black‐blood imaging using DANTE‐SPACE for simultaneous carotid and intracranial vessel wall evaluation
Authors: Xie Yibin , Yang Qi , Xie Guoxi , Pang Jianing , Fan Zhaoyang , Li Debiao
Published: July 2015

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to develop a three‐dimensional black blood imaging method for simultaneously evaluating the carotid and intracranial arterial vessel walls with high spatial resolution and excellent blood suppression with and without contrast enhancement.

Methods

The delay alternating with nutation for tailored excitation (DANTE) preparation module was incorporated into three‐dimensional variable flip angle turbo spin echo (SPACE) sequence to improve blood signal suppression. Simulations and phantom studies were performed to quantify image contrast variations induced by DANTE. DANTE‐SPACE, SPACE, and two‐dimensional turbo spin echo were compared for apparent signal‐to‐noise ratio, contrast‐to‐noise ratio, and morphometric measurements in 14 healthy subjects. Preliminary clinical validation was performed in six symptomatic patients.

Results

Apparent residual luminal blood was observed in five (pre‐contrast) and nine (post‐contrast) subjects with SPACE and only two (post‐contrast) subjects with DANTE‐SPACE. DANTE‐SPACE showed 31% (pre‐contrast) and 100% (post‐contrast) improvement in wall‐to‐blood contrast‐to‐noise ratio over SPACE. Vessel wall area measured from SPACE was significantly larger than that from DANTE‐SPACE due to possible residual blood signal contamination. DANTE‐SPACE showed the potential to detect vessel wall dissection and identify plaque components in patients.

Conclusion

DANTE‐SPACE significantly improved arterial and venous blood suppression compared with SPACE. Simultaneous high‐resolution carotid and intracranial vessel wall imaging to potentially identify plaque components was feasible with a scan time under 6 min. Magn Reson Med 75:2286–2294, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Early stage radiation‐induced lung injury detected using hyperpolarized 129Xe Morphometry: Proof‐of‐concept demonstration in a rat model
Authors: Ouriadov Alexei , Fox Matthew , Hegarty Elaine , Parraga Grace , Wong Eugene , Santyr Giles E.
Published: July 2015

Purpose

Radiation‐induced lung injury (RILI) is still the major dose‐limiting toxicity related to lung cancer radiation therapy, and it is difficult to predict and detect patients who are at early risk of severe pneumonitis and fibrosis. The goal of this proof‐of‐concept preclinical demonstration was to investigate the potential of hyperpolarized 129Xe diffusion‐weighted MRI to detect the lung morphological changes associated with early stage RILI.

Methods

Hyperpolarized 129Xe MRI was performed using eight different diffusion sensitizations (0.0–115 s/cm2) in a small group of control rats (n = 4) and rats 2 wk after radiation exposure (n = 5). The diffusion‐weighted images were used to obtain morphological estimates of the pulmonary parenchyma including external radius (R), internal radius (r), alveolar sleeve depth (h), and mean airspace chord length (Lm). The histological mean linear intercept (MLI) were obtained for five control and five irradiated animals.

Results

Mean R, r, and Lm were both significantly different (P < 0.02) in the irradiated rats (74 ± 17 µm, 43 ± 12 µm, and 54 ± 17 µm, respectively) compared with the control rats (100 ± 12 µm, 67 ± 10 µm, and 79 ± 12 µm, respectively). Changes in measured Lm values were consistent with changes in MLI values observed by histology.

Conclusions

Hyperpolarized 129Xe MRI provides a way to detect and measure regional microanatomical changes in lung parenchyma in a preclinical model of RILI. Magn Reson Med 75:2421–2431, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Multi‐echo susceptibility‐weighted imaging and histology of open‐field blast‐induced traumatic brain injury in a rat model
Authors: Verma Sanjay Kumar , Kan Enci Mary , Lu Jia , Ng Kian Chye , Ling Eng Ang , Seramani Sankar , Kn Bhanu Prakash , Wong Yong Chiat , Tan Mui Hong , Velan S. Sendhil
Published: July 2015

Blast‐induced traumatic brain injury is on the rise, predominantly as a result of the use of improvised explosive devices, resulting in undesirable neuropsychological dysfunctions, as demonstrated in both animals and humans. This study investigated the effect of open‐field blast injury on the rat brain using multi‐echo, susceptibility‐weighted imaging (SWI). Multi‐echo SWI provided phase maps with better signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) and contrast‐to‐noise ratio (CNR), making it a sensitive technique for brain injury. Male Sprague‐Dawley rats were subjected to a survivable blast of 180 kPa. The visibility of blood vessels of varying sizes improved with multi‐echo SWI. Reduced signal intensity from major vessels post‐blast indicates increased deoxyhaemoglobin. Relative cerebral blood flow was computed from filtered phase SWI images using inferred changes in oxygen saturation from major blood vessels. Cerebral blood flow decreased significantly at day 3 and day 5 post‐blast compared with that pre‐blast. This was substantiated by the upregulation of β‐amyloid precursor protein (β‐APP), a marker of ischaemia, in the neuronal perikaya of the cerebral cortex, as observed by immunofluorescence, and in the cortical tissue by western blot analysis. Our findings indicate the presence of brain ischaemia in post‐blast acute phase of injury with possible recovery subsequently. Our results from cerebrovascular imaging, histology and staining provide an insight into the ischaemic state of the brain post‐blast and may be useful for prognosis and outcome. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Eneolithic Cattle Burials from Aljmaš‐Podunavlje and Osijek‐Retfala, Croatia
Authors: Pasarić M. , Trbojević Vukičević T.
Published: July 2015

Two single bovine burials and one mixed animal burial (containing bovine and canid skeletal remains) have been unearthed at two Baden culture sites, Aljmaš‐Podunavlje and Osijek‐Retfala located in Eastern Croatia. Zooarchaeological analysis attributed the faunal remains to domesticated cattle (Bos taurus) and in one case a dog (Canis familiaris). Almost complete and articulated skeletons of subadult or adult cows were found in all three examined features, while pit 59/60 from Aljmaš also contained a skull belonging to an adult‐domesticated cattle and a skeleton of a very young dog, 2–3 months old. All of the skeletons are well preserved and display no evidence of carcass processing indicating that the animals were buried intentionally. Consideration of the positions in which these animals were interred and their relationship with nearby deposits enables discussion of potential animal burial strategies and possible connections with certain ritual practices in which cows and in one case a dog played important roles. The described burials represent the southernmost known distribution of the rite discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Prevalence of antibiotic use: a comparison across various European health care data sources
Authors: Brauer Ruth , Ruigómez Ana , Downey Gerry , Bate Andrew , Garcia Rodriguez Luis Alberto , Huerta Consuelo , Gil Miguel , de Abajo Francisco , Requena Gema , Alvarez Yolanda , Slattery Jim , de Groot Mark , Souverein Patrick , Hesse Ulrik , Rottenkolber Marietta , Schmiedl Sven , de Vries Frank , Tepie Maurille Feudjo , Schlienger Raymond , Smeeth Liam , Douglas Ian , Reynolds Robert , Klungel Olaf
Published: July 2015

Purpose

There is widespread concern about increases in antibiotic use, but comparative data from different European countries on rates of use are lacking. This study was designed to measure and understand the variation in antibiotic utilization across five European countries.

Methods

Seven European healthcare databases with access to primary care data from Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK were used to measure and compare the point and 1‐year‐period prevalence of antibiotic use between 2004 and 2009. Descriptive analyses were stratified by gender, age and type of antibiotic. Separate analyses were performed to measure the most common underlying indications leading to the prescription of an antibiotic.

Results

The average yearly period prevalence of antibiotic use varied from 15 (Netherlands) to 30 (Spain) users per 100 patients. A higher prevalence of antibiotic use by female patients, the very young (0–9 years) and old (80+ years), was observed in all databases. The lowest point prevalence was recorded in June and September and ranged from 0.51 (Netherlands) to 1.47 (UK) per 100 patients per day. Twelve percent (Netherlands) to forty‐nine (Spain) percent of all users were diagnosed with a respiratory tract infection, and the most common type of antibiotic prescribed were penicillin.

Conclusion

Using identical methodology in seven EU databases to assess antibiotic use allowed us to compare drug usage patterns across Europe. Our results contribute quantitatively to the true understanding of similarities and differences in the use of antibiotic agents in different EU countries. © 2015 The Authors. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
‘I didn't even know boys could get the vaccine’: Parents' reasons for human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination decision making for their sons
Authors: Perez Samara , Shapiro Gilla K. , Brown Christopher A. , Dube Eve , Ogilvie Gina , Rosberger Zeev
Published: July 2015

Objective

The study's objective was to examine parents' reasons for their decision to vaccinate their 9–16‐year‐old sons with the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.

Methods

Using the precaution adoption process model (PAPM), parents were classified according to one of six stages of decision making: unaware, unengaged, undecided, decided not to vaccinate, decided to vaccinate, or vaccinated. Parents responded to an open‐ended question: ‘What would influence your decision to have your son vaccinated or not against HPV?’

Results

Three thousand one hundred and seventeen parents provided 2,874 interpretable narrative responses that were coded using thematic content analyses. The majority of parents were in the earlier precaution adoption process model stages, that is, unaware that the HPV vaccine could be given to boys (57.0%), unengaged (20.9%), or undecided (9.1%). Needing more information, vaccine cost, risks associated with vaccination, and wanting a doctor's recommendation influenced these earlier‐staged parents' decisions. Parents who decided not to vaccinate their sons (6.8%) reported their decision was due to the risks, insufficient research, lack of confidence in vaccines, and/or no need for the vaccine (as their sons are not sexually active and/or too young). Parents who had decided to vaccinate their sons (5.0%) or who had vaccinated their sons (1.1%) reported that their decisions were based on protecting their sons' health and preventing disease.

Conclusion

There are important differences in the factors that influence parents' decision depending on where they are along the decision‐making trajectory. Assuring that parents are well informed about the importance of male vaccination, reducing vaccine cost, accurately communicating vaccine safety, and improving patient–provider communication may augment vaccine coverage and prevent HPV‐associated cancers in Canada. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Menadione Sodium Bisulphite (MSB) enhances the resistance response of tomato, leading to repel mollusc pests
Authors: Carrillo‐Perdomo Estefanía , Jiménez‐Arias David , Aller Ángel , Borges Andrés A
Published: July 2015

BACKGROUND

Snails and slugs are terrestrial gastropods representing an important biotic stress that adversely affects crop yields. These pests are typically controlled with molluscicides, which produce pollution and toxicity and further induce the evolution of resistance mechanisms, making pest management even more challenging. In our work, we have assessed the efficacy of two different plant defence activators, menadione sodium bisulphite (MSB) and 1,2,3‐benzothiadiazole‐7‐thiocarboxylic acid S‐methyl ester (BTH), as inducers of resistance mechanisms of the model plant for defence, Solanum lycopersicum, against the generalist mollusc Theba grasseti (Helicidae). The study was designed to test the feeding behaviour and choice of snails, and also to analyse the expression profile of different genes specifically involved in defence against herbivores and wounds.

RESULTS

Our data suggest that, through the downregulation of the terpene volatile genes and the production of proteinase inhibitors, treated MSB plants may be less apparent to herbivores that use herbivore‐induced plant volatiles for host location. By contrast, BTH was not effective in the treatment of the pest, probably owing to an antagonistic effect derived from the induction of both salicylic‐acid‐dependent and jasmonic‐acid‐dependent pathways.

CONCLUSIONS

This information is crucial to determine the genetic basis of the choice of terrestrial gastropod herbivores in tomato, providing valuable insight into how the plant defence activators could control herbivore pests in plants. Our work not only reports for the first time the interaction between tomato and a mollusc pest but also presents the action of two plant defence inductors that seems to produce opposed responses by inducing resistance mechanisms through different defence pathways. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry
On the predictability of extremes: Does the butterfly effect ever decrease?
Authors: Sterk A. E. , Stephenson D. B. , Holland M. P. , Mylne K. R.
Published: July 2015

This study investigates whether or not predictability always decreases for more extreme events. Predictability is measured by the Mean Squared Error (MSE), estimated here from the difference of pairs of ensemble forecasts, conditioned on one of the forecast variables (the ‘pseudo‐observation’) exceeding a threshold.

Using an exchangeable linear regression model for pairs of forecast variables, we show that the MSE can be decomposed into the sum of three terms: a threshold‐independent constant, a mean term that always increases with threshold, and a variance term that can either increase, decrease, or stay constant with threshold. Using the generalised Pareto distribution to model wind speed excesses over a threshold, we show that MSE always increases with threshold at sufficiently high threshold. However, MSE can be a decreasing function of threshold at lower thresholds but only if the forecasts have finite upper bounds.

The methods are illustrated by application to daily wind speed forecasts for London made using the 24 member Met Office Global and Regional Ensemble Prediction System from 1 January 2009 to 31 May 2011. For this example, the mean term increases faster than the variance term decreases with increasing threshold, and so predictability decreases for more extreme events.
Modeling diurnal hormone profiles by hierarchical state space models
Authors: Liu Ziyue , Guo Wensheng
Published: July 2015

Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) diurnal patterns contain both smooth circadian rhythms and pulsatile activities. How to evaluate and compare them between different groups is a challenging statistical task. In particular, we are interested in testing (1) whether the smooth ACTH circadian rhythms in chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia patients differ from those in healthy controls and (2) whether the patterns of pulsatile activities are different. In this paper, a hierarchical state space model is proposed to extract these signals from noisy observations. The smooth circadian rhythms shared by a group of subjects are modeled by periodic smoothing splines. The subject level pulsatile activities are modeled by autoregressive processes. A functional random effect is adopted at the pair level to account for the matched pair design. Parameters are estimated by maximizing the marginal likelihood. Signals are extracted as posterior means. Computationally efficient Kalman filter algorithms are adopted for implementation. Application of the proposed model reveals that the smooth circadian rhythms are similar in the two groups but the pulsatile activities in patients are weaker than those in the healthy controls. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Ultra‐light Hierarchical Graphene Electrode for Binder‐Free Supercapacitors and Lithium‐Ion Battery Anodes
Authors: Zuo Zicheng , Kim Tae Young , Kholmanov Iskandar , Li Huifeng , Chou Harry , Li Yuliang
Published: July 2015

A mild and environmental‐friendly method is developed for fabricating a 3D interconnected graphene electrode with large‐scale continuity. Such material has interlayer pores between reduced graphene oxide nanosheets and in‐plane pores. Hence, a specific surface area up to 835 m2 g−1 and a high powder conductivity up to 400 S m−1 are achieved. For electrochemical applications, the interlayer pores can serve as “ion‐buffering reservoirs” while in‐plane ones act as “channels” for shortening the mass cross‐plane diffusion length, reducing the ion response time, and prevent the interlayer restacking. As binder‐free supercapacitor electrode, it delivers a specific capacitance up to 169 F g−1 with surface‐normalized capacitance close to 21 μF cm−2 (intrinsic capacitance) and power density up to 7.5 kW kg−1, in 6 m KOH aqueous electrolyte. In the case of lithium‐ion battery anode, it shows remarkable advantages in terms of the initiate reversible Coulombic efficiency (61.3%), high specific capacity (932 mAh g−1 at 100 mA g−1), and robust long‐term retention (93.5% after 600 cycles at 2000 mAh g−1).
Pediatric Surgical Care in a Dutch Military Hospital in Afghanistan
Authors: Idenburg Floris J. , van Dongen Thijs T. C. F. , Tan Edward C. T. H. , Hamming Jaap H. , Leenen Luke P. H. , Hoencamp Rigo
Published: July 2015

Background

From August 2006–August 2010, as part of the ISAF mission, the Armed Forces of the Netherlands deployed a role 2 enhanced Medical Treatment Facility (R2E‐MTF) to Uruzgan province, Afghanistan. Although from the principle doctrine not considered a primary task, care was delivered to civilians, including many children. Humanitarian aid accounted for a substantial part of the workload, necessitating medical, infrastructural, and logistical adaptations. Particularly pediatric care demanded specific expertise and equipment. In our pre‐deployment preparations this aspect had been undervalued. Because these experiences could be influential in future mission planning, we analyzed our data and compared them with international reports.

Methods

This is a retrospective, descriptive study. Using the hospital’s electronic database, all pediatric cases, defined as patients <17 years of age, who were admitted between August 2006 and August 2010 to the Dutch R2E‐MTF at Multinational Base Tarin Kowt (MBTK), Urzugan, Afghanistan were analyzed.

Results

Of the 2736 admissions, 415 (15.2 %) were pediatric. The majority (80.9 %, 336/415) of these admissions were for surgical, often trauma‐related, pathology and required 610 surgical procedures, being 26 % of all procedures. Mean length of stay was 3.1 days. The male to female ratio was 70:30. Girls were significantly younger of age than boys. In‐hospital mortality was 5.3 %.

Conclusion

Pediatric patients made up a considerable part of the workload at the Dutch R2E‐MTF in Uruzgan, Afghanistan. This is in line with other reports from the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, but used definitions in reported series are inconsistent, making comparisons difficult. Our findings stress the need for a comprehensive, prospective, and coalition‐wide patient registry with uniformly applied criteria. Civilian disaster and military operational planners should incorporate reported patient statistics in manning documents, future courses, training manuals, logistic planning, and doctrines, because pediatric care is a reality that cannot be ignored.
5‐ and 10‐km mesh datasets of agricultural land use based on governmental statistics for 1970–2005
Authors: Osawa Takeshi , Kadoya Taku , Kohyama Kazunori
Published: July 2015

Land use data serve as an essential part of large‐scale ecological research, such as landscape ecology and macroecological studies. For agricultural fields in Japan, existing time series statistical records can be used to convert map data according to a map of municipality units. In this data paper, we determined the areas of agricultural land use in Japan from 1970 to 2005, excluding small islands, at spatial resolutions of 5‐ and 10‐km mesh grid units, which are often referred to as the Five‐fold Mesh and Japanese Second‐order Mesh, respectively. The elements considered included total farmland, paddy fields, dry farmland, and orchards. In 2005, we included abandoned agricultural areas because the related data were available in the agricultural statistical records. The source data came from the Census for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Japan. The Datum was the Japanese Geodetic Datum 2000 (JGD2000). All of the datasets have open data licenses under the rules of the Creative Commons CC‐BY 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode).
Linking Item Response Model Parameters
Authors: van der Linden Wim J. , Barrett Michelle D.
Published: July 2015

With a few exceptions, the problem of linking item response model parameters from different item calibrations has been conceptualized as an instance of the problem of test equating scores on different test forms. This paper argues, however, that the use of item response models does not require any test score equating. Instead, it involves the necessity of parameter linking due to a fundamental problem inherent in the formal nature of these models—their general lack of identifiability. More specifically, item response model parameters need to be linked to adjust for the different effects of the identifiability restrictions used in separate item calibrations. Our main theorems characterize the formal nature of these linking functions for monotone, continuous response models, derive their specific shapes for different parameterizations of the 3PL model, and show how to identify them from the parameter values of the common items or persons in different linking designs.
Identifiability of Diagnostic Classification Models
Authors: Xu Gongjun , Zhang Stephanie
Published: July 2015

Diagnostic classification models (DCMs) are important statistical tools in cognitive diagnosis. In this paper, we consider the issue of their identifiability. In particular, we focus on one basic and popular model, the DINA model. We propose sufficient and necessary conditions under which the model parameters are identifiable from the data. The consequences, in terms of the consistency of parameter estimates, of fulfilling or failing to fulfill these conditions are illustrated via simulation. The results can be easily extended to the DINO model through the duality of the DINA and DINO models. Moreover, the proposed theoretical framework could be applied to study the identifiability issue of other DCMs.
Modeling and Testing Differential Item Functioning in Unidimensional Binary Item Response Models with a Single Continuous Covariate: A Functional Data Analysis Approach
Authors: Liu Yang , Magnus Brooke E. , Thissen David
Published: July 2015

Differential item functioning (DIF), referring to between-group variation in item characteristics above and beyond the group-level disparity in the latent variable of interest, has long been regarded as an important item-level diagnostic. The presence of DIF impairs the fit of the single-group item response model being used, and calls for either model modification or item deletion in practice, depending on the mode of analysis. Methods for testing DIF with continuous covariates, rather than categorical grouping variables, have been developed; however, they are restrictive in parametric forms, and thus are not sufficiently flexible to describe complex interaction among latent variables and covariates. In the current study, we formulate the probability of endorsing each test item as a general bivariate function of a unidimensional latent trait and a single covariate, which is then approximated by a two-dimensional smoothing spline. The accuracy and precision of the proposed procedure is evaluated via Monte Carlo simulations. If anchor items are available, we proposed an extended model that simultaneously estimates item characteristic functions (ICFs) for anchor items, ICFs conditional on the covariate for non-anchor items, and the latent variable density conditional on the covariate—all using regression splines. A permutation DIF test is developed, and its performance is compared to the conventional parametric approach in a simulation study. We also illustrate the proposed semiparametric DIF testing procedure with an empirical example.
Lower-Dose Mepivacaine plus Fentanyl May Improve Spinal Anesthesia for Knee Arthroscopy
Authors: Kahn Richard L. , Cheng Jennifer , Bae James J. , Fields Kara , Muller John G. , MacGillivray John D. , Rose Howard A. , Williams Riley J. , YaDeau Jacques T.
Published: July 2015

Background

Previous work indicates that 30 mg isobaric mepivacaine 1.5% plus 10 μg fentanyl produces reliable anesthesia for knee arthroscopy with a more rapid recovery profile than 45 mg mepivacaine.

Questions/Purposes

This randomized controlled trial compared plain mepivacaine to three reduced doses of mepivacaine with 10 μg fentanyl for spinal anesthesia.

Methods

Following written informed consent, subjects undergoing outpatient knee arthroscopy were prospectively randomized into one of four groups: mepivacaine 37.5 mg (M37.5); mepivacaine 30 mg plus fentanyl 10 μg (M30/F10); mepivacaine 27 mg plus fentanyl 10 μg (M27/F10); and mepivacaine 24 mg plus fentanyl 10 μg (M24/F10). The spinal was evaluated by the blinded anesthetist and surgeon. In the post-anesthesia care unit, sensory and motor block resolution was assessed. Subjects rated their satisfaction with the overall experience.

Results

Group M30/F10 ( n = 6) had two “fair” anesthetics, and group M27/F10 ( n = 10) had one “fair” and one “inadequate” anesthetic. Both groups were eliminated from further enrollment per study protocol. The recovery profiles showed little difference between groups M37.5 and M30/F10, except for motor block resolution (median (25th percentile, 75th percentile): 171 (135, 195) and 128 (120, 135), respectively). Groups M27/F10 and M24/F10 demonstrated recovery profiles that were faster than group M37.5. Patient satisfaction was 10/10 for all groups.

Conclusions

Adding fentanyl 10 μg to a lower dose of mepivacaine 1.5% can lead to quicker recovery profiles. However, this advantage of a quicker recovery must be weighed against the likelihood of an incomplete anesthetic.
Co‐evolutionary constraints of globular proteins correlate with their folding rates
Authors: Mallik Saurav , Kundu Sudip
Published: July 2015

Folding rates (ln
kf
) of globular proteins correlate with their biophysical properties, but relationship between ln
kf
and patterns of sequence evolution remains elusive. We introduce ‘relative co‐evolution order’ (rCEO) as length‐normalized average primary chain separation of co‐evolving pairs (CEPs), which negatively correlates with ln
kf
. In addition to pairs in native 3D contact, indirectly connected and structurally remote CEPs probably also play critical roles in protein folding. Correlation between rCEO and ln
kf
is stronger in multi‐state proteins than two‐state proteins, contrasting the case of contact order (co), where stronger correlation is found in two‐state proteins. Finally, rCEO, co and ln
kf
are fitted into a 3D linear correlation.
Long-term survival after high-dose chemotherapy with autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation in metastatic breast cancer
Authors: Hamilton Betty Ky , Rybicki Lisa , Abounader Donna , Andresen Steven , Kalaycio Matt , Sobecks Ronald , Pohlman Brad , Hanna Rabi , Dean Robert , Liu Hien , Hill Brian , Bolwell Brian , Copelan Edward
Published: July 2015

OBJECTIVE/BACKGROUND:

The most common indication for high-dose chemotherapy (HDC) and autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (AHCT) in the 1990s was breast cancer. Several randomized trials and a more recent meta-analysis failed to show a survival benefit for AHCT in metastatic breast cancer (MBC); however, they demonstrated a better-than-expected 10-year to 15-year survival in 5-15% of patients. We thus evaluated the long-term results of treatment with HDC and AHCT in MBC at our institution.

METHODS:

From 1984 to 2000, 285 patients underwent AHCT for MBC. The patient characteristics were collected through the Cleveland Clinic, United Transplant Database. A retrospective review of the medical records of the long-term surviving breast-cancer patients treated with HDC and AHCT was conducted.

RESULTS:

With a median follow-up of 169 months, 34 (12%) remain alive. Of the 251 patients who died, 218 (87%) died of metastatic disease. A comparison by age (<50 years and >50 years) and hormonal status did not demonstrate any differences in relapse (p = .33 and p = .32, respectively) or survival (p = .13 and p = .42). Of the 34 long-term survivors, sufficient data were available on 28 patients, and further evaluation revealed that the majority had a primary or locally recurrent oligometastatic disease.

CONCLUSION:

This retrospective evaluation of patients who underwent AHCT for MBC demonstrates longterm survival in a small subset of patients, primarily those with primary or recurrent oligometastatic disease. Oligometastatic breast cancer is a distinct entity within MBC, which may be curable with multimodality therapy. We thus conclude there remains no overall-survival benefit to HDC in MBC.
Epidemiological and mycological characteristics of candidemia in patients with hematological malignancies attending a tertiary-care center in India
Authors: Dewan Eshani , Biswas Debasis , Kakati Barnali , Verma SK , Kotwal Aarti , Oberoi Aroma
Published: July 2015

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:

We undertook the present study to ascertain the contributing risk factors and explore the epidemiological and mycological characteristics of opportunistic candidemia among patients with hematological malignancies.

DESIGN AND SETTINGS:

Observational cross-sectional study in a tertiary care center.

PATIENTS AND METHODS:

Consecutive patients with hematological malignancies reporting to the collaborating medical and pediatric units with a febrile episode were recruited and screened for candidemia by blood culture. Recovered Candida isolates were speciated and antifungal susceptibility testing was performed as per Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guideline (CLSI) guidelines M44-A. Further analysis was done for potential risk factors and compared between culture positive and negative patients.

RESULTS:

Of 150 patients recruited, the majority (n = 27) were between 51 and 60 years and the male to female ratio was 1.63:1. Fifteen patients (10%) were culture positive. The culture positivity was significantly higher in acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) than in non-ALL patients (p = 0.03). There was significant association of candidaemia with leucopenia, chemotherapeutic drugs, corticosteroids and presence of indwelling devices. Duration of disease (p = 0.032) and duration of hospitalization (p = 0.003) were significantly prolonged in culture positive patients. C. tropicalis was the commonest isolate (46.67%), with non- Candida albicans outnumbering C. albicans in all categories of hematological malignancies (2.75:1). All isolates of C. albicans were uniformly sensitive to all the azoles, but only 50% were sensitive to amphotericin B and none to nystatin and flucytosine.

CONCLUSIONS:

This observational study identifies ALL and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) as the forms of hematological malignancy predominantly associated with candidemia; specifies risk factors and chemotherapeutic agents predisposing patients towards its occurrence; reports a preponderance of C. tropicalis among the causative agents and finds voriconazole to be the most effective antifungal agent against the recovered isolates. This information could assist in tailoring prophylactic and therapeutic antifungal practices for this infection, according to local epidemiological and mycological characteristics.
Primary plasmacytoma involving mediastinal lymph nodes
Authors: Salem Karma Z. , Nishihori Taiga , Kharfan-Dabaja Mohamed A. , Horna Pedro , Alsina Melissa
Published: July 2015

Plasmacytomas could involve any organ, and at times might pose a diagnostic challenge when the site of involvement is unusual, or if the presentation is similar to other diseases. Wedescribe a 48-year-old man presenting with worsening shortness of breath and chest discomfort with radiologic evidence of mediastinal enlargement, mimicking a lymphoma with mediastinal involvement. An excisional biopsy of a mediastinal lymph node showed a plasma-cell infiltrate strongly positive for CD138, with a flow-cytometry analysis showing a population of lambda-restricted neoplastic plasma cells. He failed to respond to 50 Gy involved-field radiotherapy, but achieved a partial response to combination chemotherapy. He underwent high-dose chemotherapy with melphalan (200 mg/m2) followed by lenalidomide maintenance, and is in complete remission 18 months postautografting. This case illustrates a unique and rare presentation of primary lymph-node plasmacytomas involving the mediastinum potentially mistaken as lymphoid malignancy. Clinicians should be aware of the plasma-cell origin of the mediastinal neoplastic process.
Efficacy of ablation at the anteroseptal line for the treatment of perimitral flutter
Authors: Abi‐Saleh Bernard , Skouri Hadi , Cantillon Daniel J. , Fowler Jeffery , Wazni Oussama , Tchou Patrick , Saliba Walid
Published: July 2015

Background

Left atrial flutter following atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation is increasingly common and difficult to treat. We evaluated the safety and efficacy of ablation of the anteroseptal line connecting the right superior pulmonary vein (RSPV) to the anteroseptal mitral annulus (MA) for the treatment of perimitral flutter (PMF).

Methods

We systematically studied patients who were previously treated with AF ablation and who presented to the electrophysiology laboratory with atrial tachyarrhythmias between January 2000 and July 2010. The diagnosis of PMF was confirmed by activation mapping and/or entrainment. After re‐isolation of any recovered pulmonary vein, a linear radiofrequency (RF) ablation was performed on the line that connected the RSPV to the anteroseptal MA. In this analysis, we included only patients who were treated with an anteroseptal line for their PMF.

Results

Ablation was performed at the anteroseptal line in 27 PMF patients (63±13 years; 9 women) who had undergone prior ablation for paroxysmal (n=3) or persistent (n=24) AF, using electroanatomic activation mapping (70% CARTO, 30% NavX). The anteroseptal ablation line was effective in 22/27 (81.5%) patients in the acute‐care setting. Termination of AF to sinus rhythm occurred in 15/22 (68.2%) patients, and 7/22 (31.8%) patients' AF converted to another right or left atrial flutter. At the 6‐month follow‐up, 20% of patients demonstrated recurrent left atrial tachyarrhythmia. Only one patient required repeat ablation, and the remaining patients' condition was controlled with antiarrhythmic medications. No major procedural complications or heart block occurred.

Conclusion

Ablation at the left atrial anteroseptal line is safe and efficacious for the treatment of PMF. Unlike ablation at the traditional mitral isthmus line, ablation at the left atrial anteroseptal line does not require ablation in the coronary sinus.
Mental practice: a simple tool to enhance team-based trauma resuscitation
Authors: Lorello Gianni R. , Hicks Christopher M. , Ahmed Sana-Ara , Unger Zoe , Chandra Deven , Hayter Megan A.
Published: July 2015

Introduction

Effective trauma resuscitation requires the coordinated efforts of an interdisciplinary team. Mental practice (MP) is defined as the mental rehearsal of activity in the absence of gross muscular movements and has been demonstrated to enhance acquiring technical and procedural skills. The role of MP to promote nontechnical, team-based skills for trauma has yet to be investigated.

Methods

We randomized anaesthesiology, emergency medicine, and surgery residents to two-member teams randomly assigned to either an MP or control group. The MP group engaged in 20 minutes of MP, and the control group received 20 minutes of Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) training. All teams then participated in a high-fidelity simulated adult trauma resuscitation and received debriefing on communication, leadership, and teamwork. Two blinded raters independently scored video recordings of the simulated resuscitations using the Mayo High Performance Teamwork Scale (MHPTS), a validated team-based behavioural rating scale. The Mann-Whitney U-test was used to assess for between-group differences.

Results

Seventy-eight residents provided informed written consent and were recruited. The MP group outperformed the control group with significant effect on teamwork behaviour as assessed using the MHPTS: r=0.67, p<0.01.

Conclusions

MP leads to improvement in team-based skills compared to traditional simulation-based trauma instruction. We feel that MP may be a useful and inexpensive tool for improving nontechnical skills instruction effectiveness for team-based trauma care.
Thirty years of referrals to a community mental health service
Authors: Douglas L. , Feeney L.
Published: July 2015

Objectives

In recent decades mental health services have become increasingly community based and multidisciplinary. However, it is unclear if referrals have changed over this period. The aim of this study was to compare referrals to a community mental health service over a 30-year period.

Method

New referrals to a community mental health service were randomly sampled from 4 time points over a 30-year period, 1983, 1993, 2003 and 2013, using a mental health information system. Original referral letters were retrieved and anonymised. Referrals were compared with regard to referral sources, demographics, reason for referral, psychotherapy requests, urgency, risk concerns and subsequent hospital admission.

Results

There was a 20-fold increase in the number of new referrals between 1983 and 2013. Over the 30 years there was a significant decrease in the proportion of referrals expressing concern about psychosis, but an increase in the proportion that were deemed urgent and which were concerned with suicidal risk. Referrals in 2013 were longer and more likely to contain requests for psychotherapy.

Conclusions

The work of community mental health teams is increasingly concerned with emotional crises. Although services are now more multidisciplinary, they have not been adequately resourced to meet these changing demands.
Weakly nonlinear stability analysis of polymer fibre spinning
Authors: Gupta Karan , Chokshi Paresh
Published: July 2015

The extensional flow of a polymeric fluid during the fibre spinning process is studied for finite-amplitude stability behaviour. The spinning flow is assumed to be inertialess and isothermal. The nonlinear extensional rheology of the polymer is described with the help of the eXtended Pom-Pom (XXP) model, which is known to exhibit a significant strain hardening effect necessary for fibre spinning applications. The linear stability analysis predicts an instability known as draw resonance when the draw ratio, $\mathit{DR}$, defined as the ratio of the velocities at the two ends of the fibre in the air gap, exceeds a certain critical value, $\mathit{DR}_{c}$. The critical draw ratio $\mathit{DR}_{c}$ depends on the fluid elasticity represented by the Deborah number, $\mathit{De}={\it\lambda}v_{0}/L$, the ratio of the polymer relaxation time to the flow time scale, thus constructing a stability diagram in the $\mathit{DR}_{c}$–$\mathit{De}$ plane. Here, ${\it\lambda}$ is the characteristic relaxation time of the polymer, $v_{0}$ is the extrudate velocity through the die exit and $L$ is the length of the air gap for the spinning flow. In the present study, we carry out a weakly nonlinear stability analysis to examine the dynamics of the disturbance amplitude in the vicinity of the transition point. The analysis reveals the nature of the bifurcation at the transition point and constructs a finite-amplitude manifold providing insight into the draw resonance phenomena. The effect of the fluid elasticity on the nature of the bifurcation and the finite-amplitude branch is examined, and the findings are correlated to the extensional rheological behaviour of the polymer fluid. For flows at small Deborah number, the Landau constant, which captures the role of nonlinearities, is found to be negative, indicating supercritical Hopf bifurcation at the transition point. In the linearly unstable region, the equilibrium amplitude of the disturbance is estimated and shows a limit cycle behaviour. As the fluid elasticity is increased, initially the equilibrium amplitude is found to decrease below its Newtonian value, reaching the lowest value for $\mathit{De}$ when the strain hardening effect is maximum. With further increase in elasticity, the material undergoes strain softening behaviour which leads to an increase in the equilibrium amplitude of the oscillations in the fibre cross-section area, indicating a destabilizing effect of elasticity in this regime. Interestingly, at a certain high Deborah number, the bifurcation crosses over from supercritical to subcritical nature. In the subcritical regime, a threshold amplitude branch is constructed from the amplitude equation.
Trade and society on the south-east African coast in the later first millennium AD: the case of Chibuene
Authors: Sinclair Paul , Ekblom Anneli , Wood Marilee
Published: July 2015

The south-east coast of Africa in the later first millennium was busy with boats and the movement of goods from across the Indian Ocean to the interior. The landing places were crucial mediators in this process, in Africa as elsewhere. Investigations at the beach site of Chibuene show that a local community was supplying imported beads to such interior sites as Schroda, with the consequent emergence there of hierarchical power structures.