bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Interferon‐associated retinopathy during the treatment of chronic hepatitis C: a systematic review
Authors: Raza A. , Mittal S. , Sood G. K.
Published: August 2013

The incidence of retinopathy in patients with chronic hepatitis C treated with interferon‐based regimens has been variably reported in the literature. There is no consensus regarding ophthalmologic screening before and during treatment with interferon‐based therapy. To assess the incidence of retinopathy in patients with chronic hepatitis C being treated with interferon‐based regimens and estimate the rate of resolution. A systematic literature search was performed to locate all relevant publications. Pooled incidence of retinopathy was calculated in patients treated with interferon or pegylated interferon. We also estimated the rate of discontinuation of treatment and resolution after the treatment was stopped. A total of 21 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The overall incidence of retinopathy using random effect model was 27.7% (95% confidence interval [CI] 20.9–34.5%). The pooled incidence of retinopathy in 10 studies that only used pegylated interferon was 20.9% (95% CI: 11.6–29.8). The incidence of retinopathy with pegylated interferon in diabetic and hypertensive patients (high‐risk group) was 65.32% and 50.7%, respectively. This was significantly higher compared with the incidence of retinopathy (11.7%) in patients without these risk factors. Overall pooled estimate for the resolution of retinopathy was 87% (95% CI 75.7–98.4%). The rate of discontinuation of treatment was 6.3%. The incidence of retinopathy with pegylated interferon in patients without hypertension and diabetes is low, but the risk is higher in patients with diabetes and hypertension. Routine pretreatment fundoscopic screening may not be warranted in all patients and can be limited to the patients with these risk factors.
Signature whistles in free‐ranging populations of Indo‐Pacific bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops aduncus
Authors: Gridley Tess , Cockcroft Victor G. , Hawkins Elizabeth R. , Blewitt Michelle Lemon , Morisaka Tadamichi , Janik Vincent M.
Published: August 2013

Common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) use individually distinctive signature whistles which are highly stereotyped and function as contact calls. Here we investigate whether Indo‐Pacific bottlenose dolphins (T. aduncus) use signature whistles. The frequency trace of whistle contours recorded from three genetically distinct free‐ranging populations was extracted and sorted into whistle types of similar shape using automated categorization. A signature whistle identification method based on the temporal patterns in signature whistle sequences of T. truncatus was used to identify signature whistle types (SWTs). We then compared the degree of variability in SWTs for several whistle parameters to determine which parameters are likely to encode identity information. Additional recordings from two temporarily isolated T. aduncus made during natural entrapment events in 2008 and 2009 were analyzed for the occurrence of SWTs. All populations were found to produce SWTs; 34 SWTs were identified from recordings of free‐ranging T. aduncus and one SWT was prevalent in each recording of the two temporarily isolated individuals. Of the parameters considered, mean frequency and maximum frequency were the least variable and therefore most likely to reflect identity information encoded in frequency modulation patterns. Our results suggest that signature whistles are commonly used by T. aduncus.
Evidence for a diffusible factor that induces susceptibility in the Colletotrichum–maize disease interaction
Authors: Torres Maria F. , Cuadros Diego F. , Vaillancourt Lisa J.
Published: August 2013

Colletotrichum graminicola, the causal agent of maize anthracnose, is a hemibiotrophic fungus that initially infects living host cells via primary hyphae surrounded by a membrane. A nonpathogenic mutant disrupted in a gene encoding a component of the signal peptidase complex, and believed to be deficient in protein processing and secretion, regained pathogenicity when it was inoculated onto maize leaf sheaths close to the wild‐type fungus. Evidence is presented suggesting that the wild‐type produces a diffusible factor(s) that induces the localized susceptibility of host cells at the borders of expanding colonies, causing them to become receptive to biotrophic invasion. The induced susceptibility effect is limited to a distance of approximately eight cells from the edge of the wild‐type colony, is dosage dependent and is specific to C. graminicola.
Arabidopsis RopGEF4 and RopGEF10 are important for FERONIA‐mediated developmental but not environmental regulation of root hair growth
Authors: Huang Guo‐Qiang , Li En , Ge Fu‐Rong , Li Sha , Wang Qun , Zhang Chun‐Qing , Zhang Yan
Published: August 2013

We investigated a genetic pathway in root hair development in Arabidopsis thaliana, involving the receptor‐like kinase FERONIA (FER), two guanine nucleotide exchange factors for ROPs (RopGEF4 and RopGEF10), and the small GTPase Rho of plants (ROPs).

Loss‐ and gain‐of‐function analyses demonstrated distinct roles of RopGEF4 and RopGEF10 such that RopGEF4 is only important for root hair elongation, while RopGEF10 mainly contributes to root hair initiation. Domain dissection by truncation and domain‐swapping experiments indicated that their functional distinctions were mainly contributed by the noncatalytic domains.

Using fluorescent ratio imaging, we showed that functional loss of RopGEF4 and RopGEF10 additively reduced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Bimolecular fluorescence complementation experiments demonstrated that RopGEF4 and RopGEF10 had the same interaction specificity as ROPs, suggesting common downstream components.

We further showed that the promoting effects of environmental cues such as exogenous auxin and phosphate limitation on root hair development depended on FER. However, although functional loss of RopGEF4 and RopGEF10 largely abolished FER‐induced ROS production, it did not compromise the responses to FER‐mediated environmental cues on root hair development. Our results demonstrated that RopGEF4 and RopGEF10 are genetic components in FER‐mediated, developmentally (but not environmentally) regulated, root hair growth.
Leaf‐herbivore attack reduces carbon reserves and regrowth from the roots via jasmonate and auxin signaling
Authors: Machado Ricardo A. R. , Ferrieri Abigail P. , Robert Christelle A. M. , Glauser Gaétan , Kallenbach Mario , Baldwin Ian T. , Erb Matthias
Published: August 2013

Herbivore attack leads to resource conflicts between plant defensive strategies. Photoassimilates are required for defensive compounds and carbon storage below ground and may therefore be depleted or enriched in the roots of herbivore‐defoliated plants. The potential role of belowground tissues as mediators of induced tolerance–defense trade‐offs is unknown.

We evaluated signaling and carbohydrate dynamics in the roots of Nicotiana attenuata following Manduca sexta attack. Experimental and natural genetic variability was exploited to link the observed metabolite patterns to plant tolerance and resistance.

Leaf‐herbivore attack decreased sugar and starch concentrations in the roots and reduced regrowth from the rootstock and flower production in the glasshouse and the field. Leaf‐derived jasmonates were identified as major regulators of this root‐mediated resource‐based trade‐off: lower jasmonate levels were associated with decreased defense, increased carbohydrate levels and improved regrowth from the rootstock. Application and transport inhibition experiments, in combination with silencing of the sucrose non‐fermenting (SNF) ‐related kinase GAL83, indicated that auxins may act as additional signals that regulate regrowth patterns.

In conclusion, our study shows that the ability to mobilize defenses has a hidden resource‐based cost below ground that constrains defoliation tolerance. Jasmonate‐ and auxin‐dependent mechanisms may lead to divergent defensive plant strategies against herbivores in nature.
Quantification of tomato and Arabidopsis mobile RNAs trafficking into the parasitic plant Cuscuta pentagona
Authors: LeBlanc Megan , Kim Gunjune , Patel Beneeta , Stromberg Verlyn , Westwood James
Published: August 2013

The cross‐species movement of mRNA from hosts to the parasitic plant Cuscuta pentagona has been reported previously, but has not been characterized quantitatively or with attention to uptake patterns and the fate of specific mRNAs.

Real‐time PCR and RNA‐Seq approaches were used to identify and characterize mobile transcripts from tomato and Arabidopsis hosts into C. pentagona.

Tomato transcripts of Gibberellic Acid Insensitive (SlGAI) and Cathepsin D Proteinase Inhibitor (SlPI) differed significantly in the rate of uptake into the parasite, but were then distributed over the length of the parasite shoot. When parasite shoots were detached from the hosts, the SlPI transcript concentrations in the parasite showed the greatest decrease within the first 8 h. Arabidopsis transcripts also varied in mobility into the parasite, and assay of specific regions of a Salt‐inducible Zinc Finger Protein (AtSZF1) transcript revealed distinct patterns of abundance in the parasite.

The uptake and distribution of host mRNAs into C. pentagona appears to vary among mRNAs, and perhaps even with the region of the mRNA under investigation. We propose that mRNAs traffic into the parasite via multiple routes, or that other mechanisms for selective uptake and mobility exist between host and parasite.
Beyond Balancing? China's Quest For Security and Power in East Asia
Authors: Lim Yves‐Heng
Published: August 2013

Observing the evolution of China's interaction with its international environment, Zhang Baijia argued that the advent of the Xinhai Revolution marked the beginning of China's participation in the modern interstate system. Becoming a more “normal” player after seven decades of foreign aggressions and encroachments, China could hardly have been more aware of the realist rule that, in an anarchic international environment, security can never be taken for granted. The lesson regarding the price of weakness had lasting consequences for China, and, by the end of the century, China had become, in Thomas Christensen's words, “the high church of realpolitik in the post‐Cold War world.”
Anxious and avoidant attachment styles and indicators of recovery in schizophrenia: Associations with self‐esteem and hope
Authors: Ringer Jamie M. , Buchanan Erin E. , Olesek Kyle , Lysaker Paul H.
Published: August 2013

Objectives

Having an insecure attachment style in schizophrenia has been linked to treatment response and symptom severity in schizophrenia. This study sought to further examine whether attachment style is related to subjective indicators of recovery including hope and self‐esteem, independent of symptom level and secondly, whether attachment style in schizophrenia differs from attachment style of persons facing adversity in the form of a prolonged non‐psychiatric medical illness.

Design

Participants were 52 men with schizophrenia, and 26 with HIV/AIDS who had no history of experiencing severe mental illness. These groups were compared in terms of their endorsement of attachment style.

Methods

All participants were administered the Experiences in Close Relationships measure of adult attachment style. The schizophrenia group was also given the Rosenberg Self‐Esteem Scale to assess self‐esteem, the Beck Hopelessness Scale as a measure of hope, and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, as an assessment of symptoms.

Results

Avoidant attachment in the schizophrenia group was linked with higher levels of hopelessness while anxious attachment was linked to lower levels of self‐esteem. The association between anxious attachment and self‐esteem persisted after controlling for severity of positive, negative, and depressive symptoms in a stepwise multiple regression analyses. Compared to the HIV/AIDS group, participants with schizophrenia had significantly higher levels of anxious attachment but not avoidant attachment style.

Conclusions

Attachment style may impact attainment of key subjective domains of recovery in schizophrenia such as self‐esteem, independent of symptom severity.

Practitioner points

If self‐esteem and/or hopelessness are identified as a focus of treatment, focusing on attachment style may be an important treatment component.

Therapist understanding of patients' attachment style may allow for a better understanding of resistance in the therapeutic relationship.

Helping persons with schizophrenia to recognize and change how they tend to relate to others may promote gains in subjective elements of recovery.
Development and validation of the Japanese version of the Athens Insomnia Scale
Authors: Okajima Isa , Nakajima Shun , Kobayashi Mina , Inoue Yuichi
Published: August 2013

Aim

The aim of this study was to develop and validate a Japanese version of the Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS‐J).

Methods

The AIS‐J was created using a back‐translation design. A total of 477 outpatients with chronic insomnia and 163 individuals from the general community were recruited. Participants were asked to complete the AIS‐J along with two other insomnia scales – Japanese versions of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and the Insomnia Severity Index.

Results

The AIS‐J consisted of a two‐factor structure: ‘nocturnal sleep problem’ (items 1–5) and ‘daytime dysfunction’ (items 6–8). Internal consistencycoefficients ranged from 0.78 to 0.88. Correlations between the AIS‐J and the aforementioned authorized scales were 0.81 and 0.85, respectively. Scores on the AIS‐J were significantly higher for the insomnia group than for the control group. The AIS‐J cut‐off value for identifying pathological insomnia was estimated at 6 points or more, and the AIS‐J‐nocturnal cut‐off value was estimated at 4 points or more.

Conclusions

The AIS‐J has sufficient validity and diagnostic utility.
Constrictive pericarditis developed after childhood repair of ventricular septal defect
Authors: Saiki Hirofumi , Masutani Satoshi , Tamura Masanori , Senzaki Hideaki
Published: August 2013

The patient was an 18‐year‐old man who had undergone surgical closure of ventricular septal defect at the age of 2 years. The patient was urgently hospitalized due to syncope after longstanding uneventful postoperative course, and diagnosed with atrial flutter. Echocardiography showed poor ventricular motion and markedly dilated both atriums. After termination of atrial flutter, ventricular motion improved remarkably; however, there was little improvement in heart failure. Although we suspected constrictive pericarditis, calcification observed on computed tomography was too localized to fully explain the cause of severe diastolic dysfunction. Based on the waveform of mitral annular tissue Doppler imaging, we were strongly convinced of the underlying physiology of constrictive pericarditis. Pericardial decortications markedly improved heart failure symptoms. This case emphasizes that constrictive pericarditis could be a life‐threatening complication in the remote phase after congenital heart surgery. It also emphasizes the importance of functional assessment by echocardiography to identify the cause–effect relation between imaging and clinical symptoms.
Escherichia coli brain abscess in a twin pair associated with TLR4 gene mutation
Authors: Erdemir Aydin , Kahramaner Zelal , Cosar Hese , Turkoglu Ebru , Sutcuoglu Sumer , Uygun Dilara Kocacik , Yegin Olcay , Berdeli Afig , Ozer Esra Arun
Published: August 2013

Brain abscesses are uncommon complications of bacterial meningitis or sepsis in neonates and infants. The causative pathogens of brain abscess in newborns are various. Of those, Escherichia coli is rarely seen as a pathogen in brain abscess at this age. Herein we reported brain abscesses in twin infants caused by E. coli sepsis. Interestingly, genetic analysis identified heterozygous Toll‐like receptor 4 (TLR4) gene mutation in the twins. Because TLR plays an important role in the natural response to bacterial products and initiates specific immune response against these pathogens, this may explain the development of brain abscess in the present case.
Neonatal pneumoperitoneum and meconium‐stained peritoneal fluid of uncertain cause
Authors: Oh Jung Wha , Lim Gye‐Yeon , Chung Jae Hee , Kim So‐Young
Published: August 2013

A 2‐day‐old male infant was referred to hospital because he was continually moaning. Massive pneumoperitoneum was observed on plain radiographs on the day of admission. This case is unique in that the massive pneumoperitoneum with meconium‐stained peritoneal fluid was not associated with any evidence of bowel perforation seen on laparotomy.
Alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma after treatment of osteosarcoma
Authors: Kasahara Yasushi , Iwabuchi Haruko , Takachi Takayuki , Hosokai Ryosuke , Yoshida Sakiko , Imamura Masaru , Watanabe Akihiro , Umezu Hajime , Hotta Tetsuo , Ogose Akira , Imai Chihaya
Published: August 2013

Secondary rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) after treatment of osteosarcoma (OS) is rare. Reported here is the case of a metachronous RMS in the nasal cavity, developing 12 years after successful treatment of non‐metastatic OS. The patient was diagnosed as having OS of the femur at 2 years of age. Chemotherapy for OS included doxorubicin (cumulative dose, 488 mg/m2). No radiotherapy was given. There was no family history suggestive of cancer predisposition syndrome. At 14 years of age, alveolar RMS was diagnosed on histopathology. PAX3‐FKHR fusion transcripts were detected on reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction. Germline TP53 mutation was not seen on standard DNA sequencing. The occurrence of secondary sarcomas, in the Children's Cancer Survivor study conducted in North America, has been associated with high cumulative doses of anthracyclines, which may also have played a role in the development of RMS in the present case. In the future, novel molecular technologies might uncover genetic cancer predisposition in patients with metachronous cancers.
Childhood pheochromocytoma in a survivor of central primitive neuroectodermal tumor
Authors: Nakano Yoshiko , Fujimaru Rika , Ishii Keiichi , Sakamoto Hiroaki , Inoue Takeshi , Sako Masahiro , Yamada Hiroshi
Published: August 2013

Pheochromocytoma and central nervous system primitive neuroectodermal tumor are both neural crest‐derived tumors. The former is usually benign and develops mainly in adulthood and the latter brain tumor mainly occurs in childhood and has a poor prognosis. We report a case of a 15‐year‐old boy who developed pheochromocytoma after more than 10 years of complete remission of central primitive neuroectodermal tumor. Thus far, there have been no reports of childhood cancer survivors who developed pheochromocytoma. This quite rare occurrence of two tumors in a single patient may imply some unidentified linkage or common genetic background.
Olive oil enema in a pre‐term infant with milk curd syndrome
Authors: Watanabe Toshihiko , Takahashi Masataka , Amari Shoichiro , Ohno Michinobu , Sato Kaori , Tanaka Hideaki , Miyasaka Mikiko , Fuchimoto Yasushi , Ito Yushi , Kanamori Yutaka
Published: August 2013

Milk curd syndrome was first reported in the 1960s, but was gradually forgotten because of its low incidence thereafter. This condition in pre‐term infants has been reported over the last decade and has again attracted neonatologists' attention. The present report describes a pre‐term infant with milk curd syndrome. Abdominal distension was evident 14 days after the start of feeding with fortified expressed milk. Abdominal X‐ray showed multiple intraluminal masses surrounded by a halo of air, and ultrasound indicated hyperechoic masses. Along with that history and the appearance of fecal impaction, the diagnosis of milk curd syndrome was confirmed. This baby was treated with olive oil enemas and successive colonic lavage for 3 days, and the symptoms were relieved. Olive oil enema, which softens hard stools and induces smooth movement of these stools, may be an effective and safe first‐line treatment in pre‐term infants with milk curd syndrome.
Obstructed hemivagina and ipsilateral renal agenesis with intestinal malrotation
Authors: Morino Masaaki , Hoshino Masaya , Musha Ikuma
Published: August 2013

The combination of uterus didelphys, obstructed hemivagina, and ipsilateral renal agenesis represents a rare congenital anomaly called Herlyn‐Werner‐Wunderlich syndrome (HWWS) or obstructed hemivagina and ipsilateral renal anomaly (OHVIRA) syndrome. Several anomalies have recently been reported to be associated with this syndrome.

The present patient with HHWS had multiple anomalies: intestinal non‐rotation, anomalies of the large vessels of the abdomen including duplication of the inferior vena cava and a high‐riding aortic bifurcation, and hypodontia. Hypodontia has never been reported in a patient with HWWS. The patient underwent a preventative Ladd's procedure and vaginal reconstruction. To prevent serious complications from concomitant anomalies such as intestinal malrotation, a patient with HWWS should be evaluated in detail for associated malformations.
Use of pumpless extracorporeal lung assist as rescue therapy in adolescent with cystic fibrosis
Authors: Yalındağ‐Öztürk Nilüfer , Vuran Can , Karakoç Fazilet , Ersu Refika
Published: August 2013

There is abundant evidence that artificial ventilation can aggravate pre‐existing lung disease, which may contribute to morbidity and mortality. This is especially true for patients with air leakages. This case report describes the use of a pumpless extracorporeal lung assist as a rescue therapy to provide time to heal during the mechanical ventilation of a 16‐year‐old with cystic fibrosis who could not be managed via conventional means.
Intentional forgetting reduces the semantic processing of to‐be‐forgotten items: An ERP study of item‐method directed forgetting
Authors: Lin Wen‐Jing , Kuo Yu‐Ching , Liu Tzu‐Ling , Han Yi‐Jhong , Cheng Shih‐Kuen
Published: August 2013

In two ERP experiments, we examined whether active inhibition is involved in intentional forgetting. Both experiments consisted of a nondirected‐forgetting (nDF) and a directed‐forgetting (DF) block. Participants were sequentially presented with a prime, an R/F (remember/forget) cue, and a target. Participants made lexical decisions to both the primes and targets (Experiment 1) or only to the targets (Experiment 2). They were also instructed to remember or to forget the primes in response to the R/F cues in the DF block but to ignore these cues in the nDF block. The N400 semantic priming effect was observed when comparing the ERPs elicited by semantically unrelated and related targets in the DF block. In comparison to the nDF block, the N400 effect was greatly reduced for targets preceded by F cues in the DF block. These findings suggest that semantic processing is reduced by the instruction to forget and active inhibition is involved in intentional forgetting.
A CENTURY OF THE EVOLUTION OF THE URBAN SYSTEM IN BRAZIL
Authors: Matlaba Valente J. , Holmes Mark J. , McCann Philip , Poot Jacques
Published: August 2013

In this paper, we study the hitherto unexplored evolution of the size distribution of 185 functionally defined urban areas in Brazil between 1907 and 2008. We apply the traditional power law and the Gabaix–Ibragimov improved estimation method. We find that the power parameter of the size distribution of the 100 largest urban areas increases towards unity, that is, the rank‐size rule. Seventeen thousand and twenty cointegration tests of pairwise non‐stationary growth paths of cities point to evidence of a common stochastic trend that strengthens throughout the century. Thus, while Zipf's law and Gibrat's law did not formally hold in Brazil's past, these laws are becoming steadily more appropriate descriptions of Brazil's increasingly unequal size distribution of cities.
Why Has the Fraction of Nonstandard Workers Increased? A Case Study of Japan
Authors: Asano Hirokatsu , Ito Takahiro , Kawaguchi Daiji
Published: August 2013

This paper explains the secular increase of nonstandard workers in Japan, whose share of employment increased from 17 to 34% between 1986 and 2008. Changes in labor force and industrial compositions account for one quarter of the increase of nonstandard workers. Product‐demand fluctuation and the introduction of information and communication technologies increased firms' usage of nonstandard workers, but its quantitative effects are limited. The increase of nonstandard workers was concentrated among new entrants to the labor market, male workers of younger cohorts, and female workers of all cohorts, suggesting that the declining importance of the long‐term employment relationship is a major cause for the increase of nonstandard workers.
A retrospective analysis of the efficacy of Oncept vaccine for the adjunct treatment of canine oral malignant melanoma
Authors: Ottnod J. M. , Smedley R. C. , Walshaw R. , Hauptman J. G. , Kiupel M. , Obradovich J. E.
Published: August 2013

Oral malignant melanoma (OMM) in the dog is often locally aggressive with a high metastatic potential and there are few treatment options that have been demonstrated to improve outcome of this disease. The purpose of this study was to determine whether adjunctive treatment with the Oncept melanoma vaccine affected the outcome of dogs with OMM that had achieved loco‐regional cancer control. Medical records from 45 dogs that presented to the Animal Cancer and Imaging Center were reviewed, including 30 dogs with stage II and III disease. Dogs that received the vaccine did not achieve a greater progression‐free survival, disease‐free interval or median survival time than dogs that did not receive the vaccine.
Characterization of acetolactate synthase from sulfonylurea herbicide‐resistant Schoenoplectus juncoides
Authors: Yamato Seiji , Sada Yoshinao , Ikeda Hajime
Published: August 2013

Ten accessions of sulfonylurea‐resistant Schoenoplectus juncoides were collected from paddy fields in Japan. In order to characterize acetolactate synthase from sulfonylurea‐resistant S. juncoides, acetolactate synthase amino acid substitutions, whole‐plant growth inhibition and acetolactate synthase enzyme inhibition were examined. Schoenoplectus juncoides has two acetolactate synthase genes (ALS1 and ALS2). The sulfonylurea‐resistant accessions harbored amino acid substitutions at Pro197 or Trp574 in either ALS1 or ALS2 (the amino acid number is standardized to the Arabidopsis thaliana sequence). The whole plants of all the sulfonylurea‐resistant accessions showed resistance to imazosulfuron. The resistance level depended on the altered amino acid residues in acetolactate synthase. The acetolactate synthase enzyme that was partially purified from all the sulfonylurea‐resistant accessions was less sensitive to imazosulfuron, compared to the susceptible accession, suggesting that the resistance is related to the altered acetolactate synthase enzyme. In addition, the concentration–response inhibition of acetolactate synthase activity by imazosulfuron in the sulfonylurea‐resistant accessions was remarkably different with the presence of an amino acid substitution in either ALS1 or ALS2. Furthermore, the concentration–response inhibition of acetolactate synthase activity in the sulfonylurea‐resistant accessions with a P197S, P197T or W574L mutation showed a double‐sigmoid curve. The regression analysis of enzyme inhibition suggested that the abundance ratio of ALS1 to ALS2 enzymes was approximately 70:30%, with a range of ±15%. Taken together, these results suggest that the resistance of sulfonylurea‐resistant accessions of S. juncoides is related to altered acetolactate synthase in either ALS1 or ALS2, although the abundance of the altered acetolactate synthase in the plants is different among the sulfonylurea‐resistant accessions.
Very fast-opening UHV gate valve
Authors: Sonderegger Kurt , Dür Michael , Buthig Joachim , Pantazis Sarantis , Jousten Karl
Published: August 2013

Very fast-opening gate valves offer the possibility to study fast processes in vacuum. For a dynamic vacuum primary standard where the pressure shall be reduced from 100 to 100 Pa in a well-defined manner within 1 s, a very fast-opening DN40 gate valve was developed. The opening time was investigated by a high-speed camera with 10 000 f/s for a differential pressure across the valve of 100 kPa to vacuum and zero differential pressure at two different absolute pressures. In all cases the area opening time of the full diameter was about 4.6 ms.
Investigation of arsenic and antimony capping layers, and half cycle reactions during atomic layer deposition of Al2O3 on GaSb(100)
Authors: Zhernokletov Dmitry M. , Dong Hong , Brennan Barry , Kim Jiyoung , Wallace Robert M. , Yakimov Michael , Tokranov Vadim , Oktyabrsky Serge
Published: August 2013

In-situ monochromatic x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, low energy electron diffraction, ion scattering spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy are used to examine the GaSb(100) surfaces grown by molecular beam epitaxy after thermal desorption of a protective As or Sb layer and subsequent atomic layer deposition (ALD) of Al2O3. An antimony protective layer is found to be more favorable compared to an arsenic capping layer as it prevents As alloys from forming with the GaSb substrate. The evolution of oxide free GaSb/Al2O3 interface is investigated by “half-cycle” ALD reactions of trimethyl aluminum and deionized water.
Estimating peak skin and eye lens dose from neuroperfusion examinations: Use of Monte Carlo based simulations and comparisons to CTDIvol, AAPM Report No. 111, and ImPACT dosimetry tool values
Authors: Zhang Di , Cagnon Chris H. , Villablanca J. Pablo , McCollough Cynthia H. , Cody Dianna D. , Zankl Maria , Demarco John J. , McNitt‐Gray Michael F.
Published: August 2013

Purpose:

CT neuroperfusion examinations are capable of delivering high radiation dose to the skin or lens of the eyes of a patient and can possibly cause deterministic radiation injury. The purpose of this study is to: (a) estimate peak skin dose and eye lens dose from CT neuroperfusion examinations based on several voxelized adult patient models of different head size and (b) investigate how well those doses can be approximated by some commonly used CT dose metrics or tools, such as CTDIvol, American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) Report No. 111 style peak dose measurements, and the ImPACT organ dose calculator spreadsheet.

Methods:

Monte Carlo simulation methods were used to estimate peak skin and eye lens dose on voxelized patient models, including GSF's Irene, Frank, Donna, and Golem, on four scanners from the major manufacturers at the widest collimation under all available tube potentials. Doses were reported on a per 100 mAs basis. CTDIvol measurements for a 16 cm CTDI phantom, AAPM Report No. 111 style peak dose measurements, and ImPACT calculations were performed for available scanners at all tube potentials. These were then compared with results from Monte Carlo simulations.

Results:

The dose variations across the different voxelized patient models were small. Dependent on the tube potential and scanner and patient model, CTDIvol values overestimated peak skin dose by 26%–65%, and overestimated eye lens dose by 33%–106%, when compared to Monte Carlo simulations. AAPM Report No. 111 style measurements were much closer to peak skin estimates ranging from a 14% underestimate to a 33% overestimate, and with eye lens dose estimates ranging from a 9% underestimate to a 66% overestimate. The ImPACT spreadsheet overestimated eye lens dose by 2%–82% relative to voxelized model simulations.

Conclusions:

CTDIvol consistently overestimates dose to eye lens and skin. The ImPACT tool also overestimated dose to eye lenses. As such they are still useful as a conservative predictor of dose for CT neuroperfusion studies. AAPM Report No. 111 style measurements are a better predictor of both peak skin and eye lens dose than CTDIvol and ImPACT for the patient models used in this study. It should be remembered that both the AAPM Report No. 111 peak dose metric and CTDIvol dose metric are dose indices and were not intended to represent actual organ doses.
Multiatlas‐based segmentation with preregistration atlas selection
Authors: Langerak Thomas R. , Berendsen Floris F. , Van der Heide Uulke A. , Kotte Alexis N. T. J. , Pluim Josien P. W.
Published: August 2013

Purpose:

Automatic, atlas‐based segmentation of medical images benefits from using multiple atlases, mainly in terms of robustness. However, a large disadvantage of using multiple atlases is the large computation time that is involved in registering atlas images to the target image. This paper aims to reduce the computation load of multiatlas‐based segmentation by heuristically selecting atlases before registration.

Methods:

To be able to select atlases, pairwise registrations are performed for all atlas combinations. Based on the results of these registrations, atlases are clustered, such that each cluster contains atlas that registers well to each other. This can all be done in a preprocessing step. Then, the representatives of each cluster are registered to the target image. The quality of the result of this registration is estimated for each of the representatives and used to decide which clusters to fully register to the target image. Finally, the segmentations of the registered images are combined into a single segmentation in a label fusion procedure.

Results:

The authors perform multiatlas segmentation once with postregistration atlas selection and once with the proposed preregistration method, using a set of 182 segmented atlases of prostate cancer patients. The authors performed the full set of 182 leave‐one‐out experiments and in each experiment compared the result of the atlas‐based segmentation procedure to the known segmentation of the atlas that was chosen as a target image. The results show that preregistration atlas selection is slightly less accurate than postregistration atlas selection, but this is not statistically significant.

Conclusions:

Based on the results the authors conclude that the proposed method is able to reduce the number of atlases that have to be registered to the target image with 80% on average, without compromising segmentation accuracy.
Joint surface reconstruction and 4D deformation estimation from sparse data and prior knowledge for marker‐less Respiratory motion tracking
Authors: Berkels Benjamin , Bauer Sebastian , Ettl Svenja , Arold Oliver , Hornegger Joachim , Rumpf Martin
Published: August 2013

Purpose:

The intraprocedural tracking of respiratory motion has the potential to substantially improve image‐guided diagnosis and interventions. The authors have developed a sparse‐to‐dense registration approach that is capable of recovering the patient's external 3D body surface and estimating a 4D (3D + time) surface motion field from sparse sampling data and patient‐specific prior shape knowledge.

Methods:

The system utilizes an emerging marker‐less and laser‐based active triangulation (AT) sensor that delivers sparse but highly accurate 3D measurements in real‐time. These sparse position measurements are registered with a dense reference surface extracted from planning data. Thereby a dense displacement field is recovered, which describes the spatio‐temporal 4D deformation of the complete patient body surface, depending on the type and state of respiration. It yields both a reconstruction of the instantaneous patient shape and a high‐dimensional respiratory surrogate for respiratory motion tracking. The method is validated on a 4D CT respiration phantom and evaluated on both real data from an AT prototype and synthetic data sampled from dense surface scans acquired with a structured‐light scanner.

Results:

In the experiments, the authors estimated surface motion fields with the proposed algorithm on 256 datasets from 16 subjects and in different respiration states, achieving a mean surface reconstruction accuracy of ±0.23 mm with respect to ground truth data—down from a mean initial surface mismatch of 5.66 mm. The 95th percentile of the local residual mesh‐to‐mesh distance after registration did not exceed 1.17 mm for any subject. On average, the total runtime of our proof of concept CPU implementation is 2.3 s per frame, outperforming related work substantially.

Conclusions:

In external beam radiation therapy, the approach holds potential for patient monitoring during treatment using the reconstructed surface, and for motion‐compensated dose delivery using the estimated 4D surface motion field in combination with external‐internal correlation models.
HDR brachytherapy of rectal cancer using a novel grooved‐shielding applicator design
Authors: Webster Matthew J. , Devic Slobodan , Vuong Te , Han Dae Yup , Scanderbeg Dan , Choi Dongju , Song Bongyong , Song William Y.
Published: August 2013

Purpose:

The aim of this work was to design a novel high‐dose rate (HDR) (192Ir) brachytherapy applicator for treatment of rectal carcinomas that uses tungsten shielding for possibly improved dosimetric results over commercial brachytherapy applicator(s).

Methods:

A set of 15 single‐depth applicators and one dual‐depth applicator were designed and simulated using Monte Carlo (MCNPX). All applicators simulated were high‐density tungsten alloy cylinders, 16‐mm in diameter, and 60‐mm long, with longitudinal grooves within which an192Ir source can be placed. The single‐depth designs varied regarding the number and depth of these grooves, ranging from 8 to 16 and 1‐mm to 3‐mm, respectively. The dual‐depth design had ten channels, each of which had two depths at which the source could be placed. Optimized treatment plans were generated for each design on data from 13 treated patients (36 fractions) with asymmetrical clinical target volumes (CTVs). All results were compared against the clinically treated plans which used intracavitary mold applicator (ICMA), as well as a recently designed, highly automated, and collimated intensity modulation device named dynamic modulated brachytherapy (DMBT) device.

Results:

All applicator designs outperformed the ICMA in every calculated dosimetric criteria, except the total dwell times (∼30% increase). There were clear, but relative, tradeoffs regarding both the number of channels and the depth of each channel. Overall, the 12‐channel, 1‐mm depth, and 14‐channel 2‐mm depth designs had the best results of the simpler designs, sparing the healthy rectal tissues the most while achieving comparable CTV coverage with the dose heterogeneity index and lateral spill doses improving by over 10% and the contralateral healthy rectum dose dropping over 30% compared to ICMA. The ten‐channel dual‐depth design outperformed each single‐depth design, yielding the best coverage and sparing.

Conclusions:

New grooved tungsten HDR‐brachytherapy devices have been designed and simulated. The results of this work attest to the capability of these new, highly anisotropic, intelligently shielded applicators to limit dose to healthy tissues while maintaining a conformal prescription dose to the CTV.
Paraganglioma of urinary bladder
Authors: Malik Azhar Ali , Afandi Bachar , Jamil Gohar , Akhter Syed M J
Published: August 2013

Paraganglioma of the urinary bladder is extremely rare. In this report of a young man, hypertensive crisis and ventricular arrhythmia was provoked during cystoscopic evaluation of a bladder mass. A diagnosis of pheochromocytoma was considered following detection of high serum and urinary catecholamine levels. A preoperative meta-iodobenzylguanidine scan was, however, negative. The bladder mass was surgically removed following initiation of antihypertensive therapy. Pathological confirmation of extraadrenal pheochromocytoma was established. During a serial follow-up, serum and urine catecholamine levels were persistently elevated. This was explained by abnormalities on fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography scan, which were considered to represent a metastatic malignant neuroendocrine tumour. The patient is on palliative chemotherapy for malignant paraganglioma. This case highlights variable presentation of pheochromocytoma, importance of having a high index of clinical suspicion for early recognition and prompt management and serious adverse consequence of a delayed diagnosis.
ON LAGRANGIAN EMBEDDINGS OF PARALLELIZABLE MANIFOLDS
Authors: KASUYA NAOHIKO , YOSHIYASU TORU
Published: August 2013

We prove that for any closed parallelizable n-manifold Mn, if the dimension n ≠ 7, or if n = 7 and the Kervaire semi-characteristic χ½(M7) is zero, then Mn can be embedded in the Euclidean space ℝ2n with a certain symplectic structure as a Lagrangian submanifold. By the results of Gromov and Fukaya, our result gives rise to symplectic structures of ℝ2n(n ≥ 3) which are not conformally equivalent to open domains in standard ones.
SEIBERG–WITTEN EQUATIONS ON SURFACES OF LOGARITHMIC GENERAL TYPE
Authors: DI CERBO LUCA FABRIZIO
Published: August 2013

We study the Seiberg–Witten (SW) equations on surfaces of logarithmic general type. First, we show how to construct irreducible solutions of the SW equations for any metric which is "asymptotic" to a Poincaré type metric at infinity. Then we compute a lower bound for the L2-norm of scalar curvature on these spaces and give non-existence results for Einstein metrics on blow-ups.
A REMARK ON PRIME DIVISORS OF PARTITION FUNCTIONS
Authors: POLLACK PAUL
Published: August 2013

Schinzel showed that the set of primes that divide some value of the classical partition function is infinite. For a wide class of sets 𝒜, we prove an analogous result for the function p𝒜(n) that counts partitions of n into terms belonging to 𝒜.
ALGEBRAIC CYCLES AND TATE CLASSES ON HILBERT MODULAR VARIETIES
Authors: GETZ JAYCE R. , HAHN HEEKYOUNG
Published: August 2013

Let E/ℚ be a totally real number field that is Galois over ℚ, and let π be a cuspidal, nondihedral automorphic representation of GL 2(𝔸E) that is in the lowest weight discrete series at every real place of E. The representation π cuts out a "motive" M ét (π∞) from the ℓ-adic middle degree intersection cohomology of an appropriate Hilbert modular variety. If ℓ is sufficiently large in a sense that depends on π we compute the dimension of the space of Tate classes in M ét (π∞). Moreover if the space of Tate classes on this motive over all finite abelian extensions k/E is at most of rank one as a Hecke module, we prove that the space of Tate classes in M ét (π∞) is spanned by algebraic cycles.
INTERFACES BETWEEN CARBON NANOTUBES AND NICKEL NANOPARTICLES IN CARBON NANOTUBES
Authors: LIU BAI , LIU LIRUI
Published: August 2013

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) filled with metals can be used in capacitors, sensors, rechargeable batteries, and so on. Their interface significantly affects the properties of the composites. Here, we show that three kinds of interfaces between crystalline Ni and CNTs exist, namely, ordered, distorted, and disordered. They presented lattice states of Ni atoms near the interface, whereas the (111) Ni plane was parallel to the CNTs' surface and appeared apart in a smaller or bigger angle. The coherent face-centered cubic (f.c.c)/hexagonal close-packed structure (h.c.p) boundary was formed between the crystalline Ni and CNTs at the ordered interface, in which the match was (111) Ni //(0001) Carbon . We suggested a dislocation model for the coherent interface. The model explained why the angle between (200) Ni and the CNTs' inner surface was 52.9° rather than the theoretical value of 54.75°. The [Formula: see text] dislocation was formed to fit the coherent relationship. Thus, Ni lattice shrinkage occurred. Further study indicated that the formation mechanism of crystalline Ni in CNTs was through heterogeneous nucleation on the inner wall surface and growth of the crystal nucleus.
Advances in Understanding Begomovirus Satellites
Authors: Zhou Xueping
Published: August 2013

Begomoviruses are numerous and geographically widespread viruses that cause devastating diseases in many crops. Monopartite begomoviruses are frequently associated with betasatellites or alphasatellites. Both betasatellite and alphasatellite DNA genomes are approximately half the size of begomovirus DNA genomes. Betasatellites are essential for induction of typical disease symptoms. The βC1 genes encoded by the betasatellites have important roles in symptom induction, in suppression of transcriptional and posttranscriptional gene silencing, and they can affect jasmonic acid responsive genes. Host plants of begomoviruses have evolved diverse innate defense mechanisms against the βC1 protein to counter these challenges. Alphasatellites have been identified mainly in monopartite begomoviruses that associate with betasatellites and have no known contributions to pathogenesis of begomovirus-betasatellite disease complexes. Applications of current molecular tools are facilitating viral diagnosis and the discovery of novel species of geminiviruses and satellite DNAs and are also advancing our understanding of the global diversity and evolution of satellite DNAs.
Vitamin D Status in Patients Operated for Primary Hyperparathyroidism: Comparison of Patients from Southern and Northern Europe
Authors: Nordenström Erik , Sitges-Serra Antonio , Sancho Joan J. , Thier Mark , Almquist Martin
Published: August 2013

Aim. The interaction between vitamin D deficiency and primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is not fully understood. The aim of this study was to investigate whether patients with PHPT from Spain and Sweden differed in vitamin D status and PHPT disease activity before and after surgery.Methods. We compared two cohorts of postmenopausal women from Spain(n=126)and Sweden(n=128)that had first-time surgery for sporadic, uniglandular PHPT. Biochemical variables reflecting bone metabolism and disease activity, including levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D3(25(OH)D) and bone mineral density, BMD, were measured pre- and one year postoperatively.Results. Median preoperative 25(OH)D levels were lower, and adenoma weight, PTH, and urinary calcium levels were higher in the Spanish cohort. The Spanish patients had higher preoperative levels of PTH (13.5 versus 11.0 pmol/L,P<0.001), urinary calcium (7.3 versus 4.1 mmol/L,P<0.001), and heavier adenomas (620 versus 500 g,P<0.001). The mean increase in BMD was higher in patients from Spain and in patients with vitamin D deficiency one year after surgery.Conclusion. Postmenopasual women with PHPT from Spain had a more advanced disease and lower vitamin 25(OH)D levels. Improvement in bone density one year after surgery was higher in patients with preoperative vitamin D deficiency.
Inhibitory Effect of the Hexane Fraction of the Ethanolic Extract of the Fruits ofPterodon pubescensBenth in Acute and Chronic Inflammation
Authors: Hoscheid Jaqueline , Bersani-Amado Ciomar Aparecida , da Rocha Bruno Ambrósio , Outuki Priscila Miyuki , Pereira da Silva Maria Angélica Raffaini Cóvas , Froehlich Diego Lacir , Cardoso Mara Lane Carvalho
Published: August 2013

Fruits ofPterodon pubescensBenth have been used traditionally for the treatment of rheumatism, sore throat, and respiratory disorders, and also as anti-inflammatory, analgesic, depurative, tonic, and hypoglycemic agent. The study was aimed at evaluating the anti-inflammatory activity of the hexane fraction of an ethanolic extract ofP. pubescensfruits. The oil fromP. pubescensfruits was extracted with ethanol and partitioned with hexane. The anti-inflammatory activity was measured with increasing doses of the hexane fraction (FHPp) by using a carrageenan-induced rat model of pleurisy and a rat model of complete Freund's adjuvant-induced arthritis by using an FHPp dose of 250 mg/kg for 21 days. Treatment with an FHPp resulted in anti-inflammatory activity in both models. The results of biochemical, hematological, and histological analyses indicated a significant decrease in glucose, cholesterol, and triglycerides levels (18.32%, 34.20%, and 41.70%, resp.) and reduction in the numbers of total leukocytes and mononuclear cells. The FHPp dose of 1000 mg/kg induced no changes in behavioral parameters, and no animal died. The results of this study extend the findings of previous reports that have shown that administration of extracts and fractions obtained from species of the genusPterodonexhibits anti-inflammatory activity and lacks toxicity.