bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Exploring Stigma in Low HIV Prevalence Settings in Rural West Bengal, India
Authors: Panda Samiran , Das Ranjan Sourav , Maruf S. K. Abdullahil , Pahari Sobha
Published: May 2014

This community-based concurrent mixed methods study identified specific cases of discrimination and explored HIV stigma. In-depth interviews were conducted with individuals experiencing discrimination, and a quantitative survey was conducted in the immediate neighborhood. Focus group discussions were held with opinion makers. Survey respondents not attending school and believing in mosquito-borne HIV transmission had twice the odds of having fear of contracting HIV through noninvasive contact. In contrast, correct knowledge of mother-to-child HIV transmission was associated with judgmental attitudes, and knowledge of the role of condoms in HIV prevention was associated with shame. Qualitative investigations corroborated these findings, documented the denial of rights of people living with HIV, and revealed that discrimination resulting from fear of contagion directed against women had a moral dimension. Thematic issues and communication strategies were identified and translated into an intervention development.
Estimation of optimal dynamic treatment regimes
Authors: Zhao Ying-Qi , Laber Eric B
Published: May 2014

Background

Recent advances in medical research suggest that the optimal treatment rules should be adaptive to patients over time. This has led to an increasing interest in studying dynamic treatment regime, a sequence of individualized treatment rules, one per stage of clinical intervention, which maps present patient information to a recommended treatment. There has been a recent surge of statistical work for estimating optimal dynamic treatment regimes from randomized and observational studies. The purpose of this article is to review recent methodological progress and applied issues associated with estimating optimal dynamic treatment regimes.

Methods

We discuss sequential multiple assignment randomized trials, a clinical trial design used to study treatment sequences. We use a common estimator of an optimal dynamic treatment regime that applies to sequential multiple assignment randomized trials data as a platform to discuss several practical and methodological issues.

Results

We provide a limited survey of practical issues associated with modeling sequential multiple assignment randomized trials data. We review some existing estimators of optimal dynamic treatment regimes and discuss practical issues associated with these methods including model building, missing data, statistical inference, and choosing an outcome when only non-responders are re-randomized. We mainly focus on the estimation and inference of dynamic treatment regimes using sequential multiple assignment randomized trials data. Dynamic treatment regimes can also be constructed from observational data, which may be easier to obtain in practice; however, care must be taken to account for potential confounding.
Accuracy of a Novel Noninvasive Transdermal Continuous Glucose Monitor in Critically Ill Patients
Authors: Saur Nicole M. , England Michael R. , Menzie Wayne , Melanson Ann Marie , Trieu My-Quyen , Berlin Jason , Hurley James , Krystyniak Keith , Kongable Gail L. , Nasraway Stanley A.
Published: May 2014

Background:

Stress hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia are associated with increased morbidity and mortality in the critically ill. Intermittent, random blood glucose (BG) measurements can miss episodes of hyper- and hypoglycemia. The purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of the Symphony® continuous glucose monitor (CGM) in critically ill cardiac surgery patients.

Methods:

Fifteen adult cardiac surgery patients were evaluated immediately postoperatively in the intensive care unit. Prelude® SkinPrep prepared the skin and a sensor was applied to 2 test sites on each subject to monitor interstitial fluid glucose. Reference BG was sampled at 30- to 60-minute intervals. The skin at the test sites was inspected for adverse effects. Accuracy of the retrospectively analyzed CGM data relative to reference BG values was determined using continuous glucose-error grid analysis (CG-EGA) and mean absolute relative difference (MARD).

Results:

Using 570 Symphony CGM glucose readings paired with reference BG measurements, CG-EGA showed that 99.6% of the readings were within zones A and B. BG measurements ranged from 73 to 251 mg/dL. The MARD was 12.3%. No adverse device effects were reported.

Conclusions:

The Symphony CGM system is able to safely, continuously, and noninvasively monitor glucose in the transdermal interstitial fluid of cardiac surgery intensive care unit patients with accuracy similar to that reported with other CGM systems. Future versions of the system will need real-time data analysis, fast warm-up, and less frequent calibrations to be used in the clinical setting.
Cross-sectional Survey and Retrospective Analysis of a Large Cohort of Adults With Type 1 Diabetes With Long-Term Continuous Subcutaneous Insulin Infusion Treatment
Authors: Joubert Michael , Morera Julia , Vicente Angel , Rod Anne , Parienti Jean-Jacques , Reznik Yves
Published: May 2014

Background:

Continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) is an established modality for intensive insulin treatment of type 1 diabetes (T1D), but long-term data concerning satisfaction, CSII function use, safety, and efficacy in real-life conditions are scarce.

Methods:

We analyzed a cohort of adult patients with T1D treated with CSII for more than 1 year in a single diabetes center. We performed a cross-sectional survey in 2010 (tolerance/satisfaction and behavior forms) and a retrospective analysis of medical records (including HbA1c level, hospitalization, and catheter infections). The primary objective was to assess long-term tolerance/satisfaction, and secondary objectives were safety and efficacy.

Results:

There were 295 patients analyzed. After a median duration of CSII use of 5 years, overall satisfaction was high for about 90% of patients. Mean CSII-related discomfort scores were low for work, recreation, and sleep and moderate for sport and sexual activity (2.5 ± 1.9, 2.6 ± 1.8, 2.6 ± 2.1, 3.4 ± 2.3, and 4.0 ± 2.9 of 10, respectively). Despite a high level of diabetes education, only one third of patients were using advanced CSII functions. During long-term follow-up, the safety of CSII treatment was good; the hospitalization rate was 0.18 patients/year, and catheter infections were scarce. The HbA1c level dropped about −0.5% independently from CSII duration ( P < .05).

Conclusions:

In this adult cohort, satisfaction and tolerance, together with safety, of CSII were maintained at long-term follow up. The sole basic functions of CSII were currently used by patients. A 0.5% decrease in the HbA1c level was maintained during the study period.
Inter-channel Effects in Multichannel Travel Services
Authors: Aslanzadeh Marjan , Keating Byron William
Published: May 2014

Travel agents continue to offer traditional services, but as customers migrate to online sales channels, many traditional agencies have added their own online distribution channels. This study of the attitudes of 114 university students finds that excellence in offline service is associated with a favorable view of an agent’s online presence. Moderating this relationship is the effect of social presence (SP) on the website. That is, the respondents’ view of the website was improved by the availability of live chat or video chat interactions. The effect of SP also interacted with some respondents’ need for human interaction (NHI), although that effect was not strong. The study used a novel comic-strip format to depict the process of purchasing airline tickets and hotel accommodations with three treatments: offline, online with weak SP, and online with strong SP. The study compared the attitudes toward an agency’s online channel based on its in-person service quality, as moderated by the website’s SP and the respondents’ NHI.
Neurologic Complications in Infective Endocarditis
Authors: Morris Nicholas A. , Matiello Marcelo , Lyons Jennifer L. , Samuels Martin A.
Published: May 2014

Neurologic complications of infective endocarditis (IE) are common and frequently life threatening. Neurologic events are not always obvious. The prediction and management of neurologic complications of IE are not easily approached algorithmically, and the impact they have on timing and ability to surgically repair or replace the affected valve often requires a painstaking evaluation and joint effort across multiple medical disciplines in order to achieve the best possible outcome. Although specific recommendations are always tailored to the individual patient, there are some guiding principles that can be used to help direct the decision-making process. Herein, we review the pathophysiology, epidemiology, manifestations, and diagnosis of neurological complications of IE and further consider the impact they have on clinical decision making.
Investigating the Effect of Communication Skills Training for Married Women on Couples’ Intimacy and Quality of Life
Authors: Farbod Elnaz , Ghamari Mohammad , Majd Mojtaba Amiri
Published: May 2014

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of communication skills education for married women on couples’ intimacy and quality of life. The subjects of this study were married female students enrolled in the spring semester of 2011 at the Applied Sciences and Technology University (Tourism Unit) of Kerman in Iran, along with their husbands. Of the students who expressed interest in taking part in this study, 30 subjects were selected and randomly assigned to either an experimental or a control group. Subjects in the experimental group participated in a 12-session training for the improvement of communication skills in the context of marriage and family therapy. Comparison of these two groups indicated that communication skills training for married women can increase their intimacy and quality of life in their relationships with their husbands ( p < .01). This study further revealed that this sort of training programs could also increase the quality of life of the husbands in their relationships with their wives ( p < .01).
EcoCount
Authors: Allen Phillip P. , Sewell Neil
Published: May 2014

Techniques that analyze biological remains from sediment sequences for environmental reconstructions are well established and widely used. Yet, identifying, counting, and recording biological evidence such as pollen grains remain a highly skilled, demanding, and time-consuming task. Standard procedure requires the classification and recording of between 300 and 500 pollen grains from each representative sample. Recording the data from a pollen count requires significant effort and focused resources from the palynologist. However, when an adaptation to the recording procedure is utilized, efficiency and time economy improve. We describe EcoCount, which represents a development in environmental data recording procedure. EcoCount is a voice activated fully customizable digital count sheet that allows the investigator to continuously interact with a field of view during the data recording. Continuous viewing allows the palynologist the opportunity to remain engaged with the essential task, identification, for longer, making pollen counting more efficient and economical. EcoCount is a versatile software package that can be used to record a variety of environmental evidence and can be installed onto different computer platforms, making the adoption by users and laboratories simple and inexpensive. The user-friendly format of EcoCount allows any novice to be competent and functional in a very short time.
Evaluation of solidification cracking susceptibility of Fe–18Mn–0·6C steel welds
Authors: Yoo J. , Han K. , Park Y. , Choi J. , Lee C.
Published: May 2014

Solidification cracking susceptibilities of high Mn steel welds were evaluated in the present study. A longitudinal Varestraint technique was utilised to assess the solidification cracking behaviours of the fusion zone. High Mn steel welds were more susceptible to solidification cracking than 304 and 202 austenitic stainless steel welds, however, they were less susceptible than 310S austenitic stainless steel welds. Extensive segregations of Mn and C took place at the dendritic and grain boundaries in the weld metal, and accordingly contributed to the increase of the hot cracking susceptibility of high Mn steel by the enlargement of solidification temperature range. Further, continuous γ-(Fe,Mn)3C eutectic phases formed at 1090°C along the grain boundary primarily resulted in the increase of solidification cracking sensitivity in high Mn steel.
HLA-haploidentical stem cell transplantation after removal of αβ+ T and B cells in children with nonmalignant disorders
Authors: Bertaina Alice , Merli Pietro , Rutella Sergio , Pagliara Daria , Bernardo Maria Ester , Masetti Riccardo , Pende Daniela , Falco Michela , Handgretinger Rupert , Moretta Francesca , Lucarelli Barbarella , Brescia Letizia P. , Li Pira Giuseppina , Testi Manuela , Cancrini Caterina , Kabbara Nabil , Carsetti Rita , Finocchi Andrea , Moretta Alessandro , Moretta Lorenzo , Locatelli Franco
Published: May 2014

Key Points

Removal of αβ+ T and CD19+ B cells is an effective strategy for successful HLA-haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The high probability of disease-free survival renders this transplant option attractive for any child with a nonmalignant disorder.
New insights into the spatiotemporal localization of prothrombinase in vivo
Authors: Ivanciu Lacramioara , Krishnaswamy Sriram , Camire Rodney M.
Published: May 2014

Key Points

Prothrombinase bound in the vicinity of vascular damage is distributed away from platelets and is largely found on activated endothelium. The activated endothelium plays an unexpectedly important role in supporting prothrombinase assembly and function at the site of damage.
Upregulation of the tight junction protein occludin: effects on ventilation-induced lung injury and mechanisms of action
Authors: Liu Mengjie , Gu Changping , Wang Yuelan
Published: May 2014

Background

Occludin, a tight junction protein, plays an important role in maintaining the integrity of the lung epithelial barrier; however, its role in ventilation-induced lung injury has not been explored. Here, we measured the expression of occludin with different tidal volumes. Our study indicated that the level of occludin was significantly decreased and alveolar permeability was increased owing to acute lung injury.

Methods

Thirty healthy Wistar rats (15 female, 15 male) weighing 250–300 g, were randomly divided into 5 groups (n = 6 in each group): a control group (group C), a low tidal volume group (group L), a low tidal volume + protein kinase C(PKC) inhibitor group (group L + P), a high tidal volume group (group H) and a high tidal volume + PKC inhibitor group (group H + P). Tracheas of rats in the control group underwent incision without any special treatment. The other four groups were mechanically ventilated for 4 h. The rats in groups L + P and H + P were treated with a PKC inhibitor (bisindolylmaleimide I, 0.12 mg/kg) by intramuscular injection 1 h before anesthesia. Rats were sacrificed after mechanical ventilation. Specimens of lung tissues were harvested. Lung pathological changes were observed using an optical microscope, and lung wet/dry weight ratio was measured. The occludin protein level was assayed by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting.

Results

HE staining and immunohistochemistry results showed that occludin was mainly located in alveolar epithelial cells and some alveolar endothelial cells. The lung injury and alveolar edema were more serious in high tidal volume groups than in low tidal volume groups. Occludin expression was reduced and PKC activation was increased in rats in the high tidal volume groups compared with rats in the low tidal volume groups. Rats that were pretreated with the PKC inhibitor had less pulmonary edema induced by the high tidal volume ventilation.

Conclusion

Mechanical ventilation can activate the PKC signaling pathway and tight junction proteins participate in this pathway. Up-regulation of occludin can reduce ventilation-induced lung injury.
Hydrothermal epitaxy and resultant properties of EuTiO3 films on SrTiO3(001) substrate
Authors: Lv Fengzhen , Zhang Jing , Gao Cunxu , Ma Li , Gao Daqiang , Zhou Shiming , Xue Desheng
Published: May 2014

We report a novel epitaxial growth of EuTiO3 films on SrTiO3(001) substrate by hydrothermal method. The morphological, structural, chemical, and magnetic properties of these epitaxial EuTiO3 films were examined by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution X-ray diffractometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and superconducting quantum interference device magnetometry, respectively. As-grown EuTiO3 films with a perovskite structure were found to show an out-of-plane lattice shrinkage and room-temperature ferromagnetism, possibly resulting from an existence of Eu3+. Postannealing at 1,000°C could reduce the amount of Eu3+, relax the out-of-plane lattice shrinkage, and impact the magnetic properties of the films.

PACS

81.10.Aj; 81.15.-z; 61.05.-a
Performance evaluation of a cooperative reputation system for vehicular delay-tolerant networks
Authors: Dias João AFF , Rodrigues Joel JPC , Shu Lei , Ullah Sana
Published: May 2014

In the last decade, both scientific community and automotive industry enabled communications among vehicles in different kinds of scenarios proposing different vehicular architectures. Vehicular delay-tolerant networks (VDTNs) were proposed as a solution to overcome some of the issues found in other vehicular architectures, namely, in dispersed regions and emergency scenarios. Most of these issues arise from the unique characteristics of vehicular networks. Contrary to delay-tolerant networks (DTNs), VDTNs place the bundle layer under the network layer in order to simplify the layered architecture and enable communications in sparse regions characterized by long propagation delays, high error rates, and short contact durations. However, such characteristics turn contacts very important in order to exchange as much information as possible between nodes at every contact opportunity. One way to accomplish this goal is to enforce cooperation between network nodes. To promote cooperation among nodes, it is important that nodes share their own resources to deliver messages from others. This can be a very difficult task, if selfish nodes affect the performance of cooperative nodes. This paper studies the performance of a cooperative reputation system that detects, identify, and avoid communications with selfish nodes. Two scenarios were considered across all the experiments enforcing three different routing protocols (First Contact, Spray and Wait, and GeoSpray). For both scenarios, it was shown that reputation mechanisms that punish aggressively selfish nodes contribute to increase the overall network performance.
Nasal Application of Neuropeptide S Inhibits Arthritis Pain-Related Behaviors through an Action in the Amygdala
Authors: Medina Georgina , Ji Guangchen , Grégoire Stéphanie , Neugebauer Volker
Published: May 2014

Recently discovered neuropeptide S (NPS) has anxiolytic and pain-inhibiting effects in rodents. We showed previously that NPS increases synaptic inhibition of amygdala output to inhibit pain behaviors. The amygdala plays a key role in emotional-affective aspects of pain. Of clinical significance is that NPS can be applied nasally to exert anxiolytic effects in rodents. This study tested the novel hypothesis that nasal application of NPS can inhibit pain-related behaviors in an arthritis model through NPS receptors (NPSR) in the amygdala. Behaviors and electrophysiological activity of amygdala neurons were measured in adult male Sprague Dawley rats. Nasal application of NPS, but not saline, inhibited audible and ultrasonic vocalizations and had anxiolytic-like effects in the elevated plus-maze test in arthritic rats (kaolin/carrageenan knee joint arthritis model) but had no effect in normal rats. Stereotaxic application of a selective non-peptide NPSR antagonist (SHA68) into the amygdala by microdialysis reversed the inhibitory effects of NPS. NPS had no effect on hindlimb withdrawal thresholds. We showed previously that intra-amygdala application of an NPSR antagonist alone had no effect. Nasal application of NPS or stereotaxic application of NPS into the amygdala by microdialysis inhibited background and evoked activity of amygdala neurons in arthritic, but not normal, anesthetized rats. The inhibitory effect was blocked by a selective NPSR antagonist ([D-Cys(tBu)5]NPS). In conclusion, nasal application of NPS can inhibit emotional-affective, but not sensory, pain-related behaviors through an action in the amygdala. The beneficial effects of non-invasive NPS application may suggest translational potential.
Incentives and Organ Donation: What's (Really) Legal in Canada?
Authors: Caulfield Timothy , Nelson Erin , Goldfeldt Brice , Klarenbach Scott
Published: May 2014

Purpose of review:

To date, there has been little analysis of the degree to which emerging incentive initiatives are permissible under Canadian law. The purpose of this review is to examine the relevant law – including legislation and case law – in order to clarify the legality of existing proposed incentive schemes.

Sources of information:

Legislation and case law.

Findings:

Organ donation is governed by provincial legislation that, in general, bans the exchange of any “benefit” or any form of “valuable consideration” in return for an organ. As such, these laws are tremendously restrictive and could have significant implications for emerging and proposed procurement policy.

Implications:

Given the need for innovative, ethically appropriate policies to increase donation rates, we suggest that the time is right to rethink the potentially restrictive nature of Canada's organ donation laws.
C-X-C motif chemokine 12/C-X-C chemokine receptor type 7 signaling regulates breast cancer growth and metastasis by modulating the tumor microenvironment
Authors: Wani Nissar Ahmad , Nasser Mohd W , Ahirwar Dinesh K , Zhao Helong , Miao Zhenhua , Shilo Konstantin , Ganju Ramesh K
Published: May 2014

Introduction

Although C-X-C motif chemokine 12 (CXCL12) has been shown to bind to C-X-C chemokine receptor type 7 (CXCR7), the exact molecular mechanism regulations by CXCL12/CXCR7 axis in breast tumor growth and metastasis are not well understood. CXCR7 expression has been shown to be upregulated during pathological processes such as inflammation and cancer.

Methods

Breast cancer cell lines were genetically silenced or pharmacologically inhibited for CXCR7 and/or its downstream target signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3). 4T1 or 4T1 downregulated for CXCR7 and 4T1.2 breast cancer cell lines were injected in mammary gland of BALB/c mice to form tumors, and the molecular pathways regulating tumor growth and metastasis were assessed.

Results

In this study, we observed that CXCL12 enhances CXCR7-mediated breast cancer migration. Furthermore, genetic silencing or pharmacologic inhibition of CXCR7 reduced breast tumor growth and metastasis. Further elucidation of mechanisms revealed that CXCR7 mediates tumor growth and metastasis by activating proinflammatory STAT3 signaling and angiogenic markers. Furthermore, enhanced breast tumorigenicity and invasiveness were associated with macrophage infiltration. CXCR7 recruits tumor-promoting macrophages (M2) to the tumor site through regulation of the macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF)/macrophage colony-stimulating factor receptor (MCSF-R) signaling pathway. In addition, CXCR7 regulated breast cancer metastasis by enhancing expression of metalloproteinases (MMP-9, MMP-2) and vascular cell-adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1). We also observed that CXCR7 is highly expressed in invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) and metastatic breast tissue in human patient samples. In addition, high CXCR7 expression in tumors correlates with worse prognosis for both overall survival and lung metastasis-free survival in IDC patients.

Conclusion

These observations reveal that CXCR7 enhances breast cancer growth and metastasis via a novel pathway by modulating the tumor microenvironment. These findings identify CXCR7-mediated STAT3 activation and modulation of the tumor microenvironment as novel regulation of breast cancer growth and metastasis. These studies indicate that new strategies using CXCR7 inhibitors could be developed for antimetastatic therapy.
Serum cystatin C predicts vancomycin trough levels better than serum creatinine in hospitalized patients: a cohort study
Authors: Frazee Erin N , Rule Andrew D , Herrmann Sandra M , Kashani Kianoush B , Leung Nelson , Virk Abinash , Voskoboev Nikolay , Lieske John C
Published: May 2014

Introduction

Serum cystatin C can improve glomerular filtration rate (GFR) estimation over creatinine alone, but whether this translates into clinically relevant improvements in drug dosing is unclear.

Methods

This prospective cohort study enrolled adults receiving scheduled intravenous vancomycin while hospitalized at the Mayo Clinic in 2012. Vancomycin dosing was based on weight, serum creatinine with the Cockcroft-Gault equation, and clinical judgment. Cystatin C was later assayed from the stored serum used for the creatinine-based dosing. Vancomycin trough prediction models were developed by using factors available at therapy initiation. Residuals from each model were used to predict the proportion of patients who would have achieved the target trough with the model compared with that observed with usual care.

Results

Of 173 patients enrolled, only 35 (20%) had a trough vancomycin level within their target range (10 to 15 mg/L or 15 to 20 mg/L). Cystatin C-inclusive models better predicted vancomycin troughs than models based upon serum creatinine alone, although both were an improvement over usual care. The optimal model used estimated GFR by the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaborative (CKD-EPI) creatinine-cystatin C equation (R
2
 = 0.580). This model is expected to yield 54% (95% confidence interval 45% to 61%) target trough attainment (P <0.001 compared with the 20% with usual care).

Conclusions

Vancomycin dosing based on standard care with Cockcroft-Gault creatinine clearance yielded poor trough achievement. The developed dosing model with estimated GFR from CKD-EPIcreatinine-cystatin C could yield a 2.5-fold increase in target trough achievement compared with current clinical practice. Although this study is promising, prospective validation of this or similar cystatin C-inclusive dosing models is warranted.
Peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) with [177Lu-DOTA0,Tyr3]octreotate in combination with RAD001 treatment: further investigations on tumor metastasis and response in the rat pancreatic CA20948 tumor model
Authors: Bison Sander M , Pool Stefan E , Koelewijn Stuart J , van der Graaf Linda M , Groen Harald C , Melis Marleen , de Jong Marion
Published: May 2014

Background

Previously, we reported on the unexpected development of distant metastases in the subcutaneous rat pancreas CA20948 tumor model after 4.5 weeks of treatment with RAD001-only or in combination with [177Lu-DOTA0,Tyr3]octreotate (177Lu-DOTATATE) (Cancer Res. 73:12-8, 2013). Moreover, the combination therapy was less effective compared to177Lu-DOTATATE-only. In the current study, we address the following questions: (1) Why was the combination therapy less effective? Is177Lu-DOTATATE tumor uptake affected by pretreatment with RAD001? (2) Could sudden cessation of RAD001 therapy cause the development of distant metastases? (3) Is177Lu-DOTATATE an effective treatment option for these metastases?

Methods

Lewis rats (HanHsd or SsNHsd substrain with a slight difference in immune response) bearing subcutaneous CA20948 tumors were treated with either 125 or 275 MBq177Lu-DOTATATE, RAD001, or their combination. RAD001 was given twice a week for 4.5 or 12 weeks, whereas177Lu-DOTATATE was given as a single injection. When combined, RAD001 was started either 3 days prior to or 3 days post administration of177Lu-DOTATATE. SPECT/CT was performed to quantify177Lu-DOTATATE tumor uptake. Where indicated, primary tumors were surgically removed when tumor size is >6,000 mm3to enable monitoring for possible metastasis. If metastases were suspected, an111In-DTPA-octreotide SPECT/CT scan was performed. Seven rats with metastases were treated with 400 MBq177Lu-DOTATATE.

Results

Lu-DOTATATE tumor uptake was not significantly affected by RAD001 pretreatment. The occurrence of metastases after RAD001 treatment was not dose dependent in the dose range tested, nor was it related to the duration of RAD001 treatment. In the experiment in which the LEW/SsNsd substrain was used, only 12.5% of RAD001-treated rats showed complete response (CR), compared to 50% tumor regression in the control group. Re-treatment with a high dose of177Lu-DOTATATE resulted in CR in only two out of seven animals.

Conclusion

Less effective anti-tumor effects after the combination of RAD001 + 177Lu-DOTATATE could not be explained by reduced177Lu-DOTATATE tumor uptake after RAD001. Our current data support RAD001-induced immune suppression as the reason for this observation. No evidence was found that cessation of RAD001 treatment caused development of metastases. Metastases appeared to be less sensitive to177Lu-DOTATATE treatment than primary tumors.
Study of inter- and intra-observer reproducibility in the interpretation of [18F]choline PET/CT examinations in patients suffering from biochemically recurrent prostate cancer following curative treatment
Authors: Pegard Clothilde , Gallazzini-Crépin Céline , Giai Joris , Dubreuil Julien , Caoduro Cécile , Desruet Marie-Dominique , Roux Julie , Calizzano Alex , Fagret Daniel , Lamesa Chloé , Boulahdour Hatem , Vuillez Jean-Philippe
Published: May 2014

Background

The aim of this study was to investigate the reproducibility of intra- and inter-observer interpretation of [18F]choline positron emission tomography/computed tomography examinations in patients suffering from biochemically recurrent prostate cancer following curative treatment.

Methods

A total of 60 patients with biochemical recurrence after curative treatment were included in this bicentric study. The interpretations were based on a systematic analysis of several anatomic regions and all the four nuclear medicine physicians used identical result consoles. The examinations were interpreted with no knowledge of the patients' clinical context. Two months later, a second interpretation of all these examinations was performed using the same method, in random order.

Results

To evaluate local recurrences, when the prostate is in place, the results showed moderate inter- and intra-observer reproducibility: concordance of all 4 physicians has a Fleiss' kappa coefficient of 0.553 with a confidence interval of (0.425 to 0.693). For patients who had had a prostatectomy, there was excellent concordance for the negative examinations. For the lymphatic basin, inter- and intra-observer reproducibility was excellent with a Fleiss' kappa coefficient of 0.892 with a confidence interval of (0.788 to 0.975). The lymphatic sub-group analysis was also good. For the lymphatic groups in the right or left hemi-pelves, all Fleiss' kappa and Cohen's kappa coefficients are varying from 0.760 to 1 with narrow confidence intervals from (0.536 to 0.984) to (1 to 1) in favour of good/excellent inter-observer reproducibility. To evaluate bone metastasis, inter-observer reproducibility was good with a Fleiss' kappa coefficient of 0.703 and a confidence interval of (0.407 to 0.881).

Conclusion

Our study is at time the only one on the reproducibility of interpretation of [18F]choline positron emission tomography/computed tomography examinations, which is a key examination for the treatment of patients suffering biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer. Interpretation of the [18F]choline positron emission tomography/computed tomography examination is not so useful at prostate level in patients not previously treated with prostatectomy but has a great interest on patients treated by prostatectomy. It showed good concordance in the interpretation of sub-diaphragmatic lymphatic recurrences as well as in bone metastasis.
Comparison of mechanical properties of beta-titanium wires between leveled and unleveled brackets: an in vitro study
Authors: Insabralde Natalia Martins , Poletti Thaís , Conti Ana Cláudia , Oltramari-Navarro Paula Vanessa , Lopes Murilo B , Flores-Mir Carlos , de Almeida Marcio Rodrigues
Published: May 2014

Background

The objective of this study is to evaluate the force-deflection behavior of beta-titanium alloy wires between two leveled and unleveled bracket alignment scenarios using a three-point bending test.

Methods

Six groups of ten beta-titanium alloy wire segments (0.017 × 0.025-in. diameter) of different manufacturers (Orthometric, Ortho Organizers, GAC, Morelli, and Ormco) were used. Both brackets were bonded to an acrylic jig with a 10-mm interbracket distance. A 1-mm deflection test in two hypothetical conditions (with aligned brackets and by simulating a 2-mm horizontal displacement of the brackets) was explored. Forces of activation and deactivation of the wires during both tests were compared by an analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests followed by a Tukey test.

Results

A statistically significant difference was found in the force-deflection behavior between some of the wires in both simulated in vitro conditions. For the leveled-type alignment scenario, the differences between wires were up to 70 g (range 110 to 179 g). For the unleveled-type alignment scenario, these differences were up to 65 g (range 111 to 175 g).

Conclusions

The study showed some significant differences in forces generated during activation and deactivation among the five types of beta-titanium wires tested. In comparing leveled and unleveled brackets during activation, only Orthometric Beta Flexy and Ormco Beta-titanium were different between them.
Alexander and After: Browning Culture, Natural Method, and National Education, 1889-1914
Authors: Murray Heather
Published: May 2014

W. J. Alexander, trained at London and Johns Hopkins and appointed in 1889 by the University of Toronto as one of the first dedicated professors of English literature in Canada, was well positioned to direct the new discipline of English literary studies across the country and at all educational levels, and he did so for many decades. Less known are his early work as a Browning scholar and his attempt to steer readers of Browning in a “poetical” direction based on close textual study. The history of Alexander’s 1889 Introduction to the Poetry of Robert Browning provides a point of entry into the complex world of Browning readership in the months surrounding the poet’s death. The theorization of “difficulty” first developed in the Introduction underpinned Alexander’s continuing pedagogical work and his efforts to install literary study at the center of the new Dominion’s educational mandate.
The Browning Society in US Public Literary Culture
Authors: Glazener Nancy
Published: May 2014

Robert Browning had a powerful following in the United States among readers who came of age during and after the Civil War, but caricatures of the Browning Society have obscured the terms on which he was admired. For many of those readers, a taste for Browning marked a generational divide. The difficulty and startling effects of Browning’s poetry distinguished him from poets whose reputations had been made before the war—poets admired by the parents and teachers of these readers. Although he was valued specifically for being his readers’ contemporary, interpreting the difficulties of modern life to modern readers, admiration for Browning was modeled on admiration for Shakespeare, which combined philological caretaking with idealizing investments. Browning’s poetry, because of its syntactical difficulty and dense allusions, in similar fashion merited patient study, and it attracted readers who believed that it offered fuel for social transformation.
Coming Back for Seconds: Professing English Literature in British Universities, 1880-1914
Authors: Dingley Robert
Published: May 2014

Historians of the institutionalized study of English literature tend to treat the British professoriate during the subject’s “growth and consolidation” phase in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as a colorful miscellany of disparate and transitional figures who failed to establish coherent protocols or boundaries for the emerging discipline. This article contests that view by examining synoptically the careers of several key players in the promotion and development of university English studies: John Churton Collins, W. P. Ker, Arthur Quiller-Couch, Walter Raleigh, and George Saintsbury. By treating these “movers and shakers” as a loosely affiliated group whose career trajectories broadly conform to Pierre Bourdieu’s characterization of “losers who win,” the article elicits a number of shared attitudes and aspirations and suggests that, at a time when narrowly conceived definitions of “English” and, indeed, of “discipline” are under increasing question, the achievements and ambitions of the early professoriate may be overdue for revaluation.
T. H. Green and the Modern Novel: English at Oxford
Authors: Dale Leigh
Published: May 2014

Nobody wants an embarrassing ancestor. What to do, then, with the Victorians in writing the history of the teaching of English in universities? Many have solved this problem by mounting arguments that propel the reader swiftly past the second half of the century—“nothing to see here, folks”—en route from Romanticism to Leavisism and New Criticism, with a quick nod to Matthew Arnold. This essay works against this habit, introducing and analyzing the intellectual legacy of the idealist philosopher T. H. Green, whose life and work inspired generations of liberal-thinking students and colleagues in the humanities in Britain and its colonies during the last two decades of the nineteenth century and the first two of the twentieth. But the decline in idealism’s credibility and visibility has led to its erasure from histories of the discipline of English. In considering Green and his intellectual circle, which included Algernon Swinburne, Walter Pater, and John Addington Symonds, the essay opens up the sometimes surprising ways in which intellectually innovative discussions about literature might occur within the walls of the university, albeit outside the strictures of the curriculum.
The Shelley Society, Literary Lectures, and the Global Circulation of English Literature and Scholarly Practice
Authors: Dunstan Angela
Published: May 2014

This essay examines the contribution of the Shelley Society to the rise of English studies in the late nineteenth century. It reconstructs what “studying English literature” signified outside the university at the time, offering a parallel history to the well-documented institutional account of the evolution of English studies. This essay builds and tests the theory that literary societies were agents for disseminating not only literature but scholarly practice, spreading productive debate about curricula, relevance, and the public benefit of literature over the English-speaking world. It also explores how literary societies publicly negotiated the controversial conception of English literature as a legitimate subject for scholarly pursuit, how they built the case for vernacular literature’s capacity to be studied “scientifically,” and how they then exported these ideas—and texts—across the globe.
NATO’s Problematic Partnerships in the MENA Region
Authors: Reichborn-Kjennerud Erik
Published: May 2014

This essay analyzes how the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is likely to address the new security environment in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. It investigates how factors internal and external to the alliance shape the possibilities and limits for its ambition to strengthen and develop its regional partnerships in order to enhance security and stability there. NATO’s ambitions are likely to be hampered by competing priorities within the alliance, as the as the members are increasingly facing diverging interests and financial austerity as well as domestic political change and regional rivalries in the MENA region.
Al Qaeda’s Post-bin Laden Resurgence: The Paradox of Resilience and Failure
Authors: Celso Anthony N.
Published: May 2014

The Barack Obama administration’s May 2013 assessment of al Qaeda’s weakness and fracturing in the post-bin Laden era has been greeted with indignation by both liberals and conservatives. They believe al Qaeda is stronger than ever in the wake of the Arab Spring. These critics, however, misunderstand the network’s dysfunctional direction. Al Qaeda’s “resurgence” is likely to lead to its failure. The argument proceeds on four levels: (1) the dramatic growth of the al Qaeda network masks its internal weakness and organizational splintering; (2) the Arab Spring has led to a burst of al Qaeda activism that is likely to undermine its jihadist cause; (3) al Qaeda’s fragmentation and its multiple trajectories in the post-9/11 era violate bin Laden’s original intent and are beyond al Qaeda Central’s direction; and (4) the dysfunctional nature of al Qaeda’s ideology and its excessive reliance on takfiri violence is paradoxically a source of both persistence and failure.
Strategic Depth: A Neo-Ottomanist Interpretation of Turkish Eurasianism
Authors: Tüysüzoğlu Göktürk
Published: May 2014

The change in Turkish foreign policy in the twenty-first century’s second decade has its origin in the approach referred to by Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu as Strategic Depth. Because it aims to give Turkey status as a Eurasian power, this approach has been described as neo-Ottomanism, referencing the geographic extent of the Ottoman Empire. Because of its intrinsic pragmatism and the geographical region that is its focus, Strategic Depth has been influenced by Eurasianist thought in Russia. But the Strategic Depth approach differs from Russian Eurasianist ideas because it refuses to place itself in conflict with Western civilization and instead positions Turkey as a bridge between Western and Muslim civilizations. To this extent, Strategic Depth may be described as a conservative interpretation of Turkish Eurasianism.
The Cultural Roots of Corruption in Greece
Authors: Danopoulos Constantine P.
Published: May 2014

Despite periods of growth, modern Greece is no stranger to severe and prolonged economic crises. Analyses of Greece’s current economic crisis have stayed clear of the seminal importance of culture as a key variable responsible for widespread and persistent corruption that has deprived the country of a viable and sound economic foundation. This essay seeks to fill the void by concentrating of the cultural roots of corruption and the sources and factors that generate, nurture, and maintain high levels of corruption in the Greek setting. Borrowing from anthropological literature, the essay utilizes nine cultural dimensions of corruption: uncertainty avoidance, future orientation, institutional/societal collectivism, individual/in-group collectivism, human orientation, performance orientation, power distance, assertiveness, and gender egalitarianism.
Tail Asymptotics of the Stationary Distribution of a Two-Dimensional Reflecting Random Walk with Unbounded Upward Jumps
Authors: Kobayashi Masahiro , Miyazawa Masakiyo
Published: May 2014

We consider a two-dimensional reflecting random walk on the nonnegative integer quadrant. This random walk is assumed to be skip free in the direction to the boundary of the quadrant, but may have unbounded jumps in the opposite direction, which are referred to as upward jumps. We are interested in the tail asymptotic behavior of its stationary distribution, provided it exists. Assuming that the upward jump size distributions have light tails, we find the rough tail asymptotics of the marginal stationary distributions in all directions. This generalizes the corresponding results for the skip-free reflecting random walk in Miyazawa (2009). We exemplify these results for a two-node queueing network with exogenous batch arrivals.
Strong Local Survival of Branching Random Walks is Not Monotone
Authors: Bertacchi Daniela , Zucca Fabio
Published: May 2014

In this paper we study the strong local survival property for discrete-time and continuous-time branching random walks. We study this property by means of an infinite-dimensional generating functionGand a maximum principle which, we prove, is satisfied by every fixed point ofG. We give results for the existence of a strong local survival regime and we prove that, unlike local and global survival, in continuous time, strong local survival is not a monotone property in the general case (though it is monotone if the branching random walk is quasitransitive). We provide an example of an irreducible branching random walk where the strong local property depends on the starting site of the process. By means of other counterexamples, we show that the existence of a pure global phase is not equivalent to nonamenability of the process, and that even an irreducible branching random walk with the same branching law at each site may exhibit nonstrong local survival. Finally, we show that the generating function of an irreducible branching random walk can have more than two fixed points; this disproves a previously known result.
Stochastic Modeling of Density-Dependent Diploid Populations and the Extinction Vortex
Authors: Coron Camille
Published: May 2014

We model and study the genetic evolution and conservation of a population of diploid hermaphroditic organisms, evolving continuously in time and subject to resource competition. In the absence of mutations, the population follows a three-type, nonlinear birth-and-death process, in which birth rates are designed to integrate Mendelian reproduction. We are interested in the long-term genetic behavior of the population (adaptive dynamics), and in particular we compute the fixation probability of a slightly nonneutral allele in the absence of mutations, which involves finding the unique subpolynomial solution of a nonlinear three-dimensional recurrence relationship. This equation is simplified to a one-dimensional relationship which is proved to admit exactly one bounded solution. Adding rare mutations and rescaling time, we study the successive mutation fixations in the population, which are given by the jumps of a limiting Markov process on the genotypes space. At this time scale, we prove that the fixation rate of deleterious mutations increases with the number of already fixed mutations, which creates a vicious circle called the extinction vortex.
Statistical Inference for Max-Stable Processes by Conditioning on Extreme Events
Authors: Engelke Sebastian , Malinowski Alexander , Oesting Marco , Schlather Martin
Published: May 2014

In this paper we provide the basis for new methods of inference for max-stable processes ξ on general spaces that admit a certain incremental representation, which, in important cases, has a much simpler structure than the max-stable process itself. A corresponding peaks-over-threshold approach will incorporate all single events that are extreme in some sense and will therefore rely on a substantially larger amount of data in comparison to estimation procedures based on block maxima. Conditioning a process η in the max-domain of attraction of ξ on being extremal, several convergence results for the increments of η are proved. In a similar way, the shape functions of mixed moving maxima (M3) processes can be extracted from suitably conditioned single events η. Connecting the two approaches, transformation formulae for processes that admit both an incremental and an M3 representation are identified.