bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Routing Optimization for Waste Management
Authors: Sahoo Surya , Kim Seongbae , Kim Byung-In , Kraas Bob , Popov Alexander
Published: February 2005

Waste Management (WM) obtains one third of its revenue from landfill disposals and two-thirds from waste-collection services. As most of the revenue comes from collecting trash, improving efficiency in operating the fleet improves the bottom line. After a flurry of acquisitions and a merger with USA Waste, WM found itself with a large fleet of vehicles whose routing, dispatching, maintenance, and management were decentralized. WM recognized that it could reduce operating costs by improving its use of assets. It contracted with the Institute of Information Technology to develop WasteRoute, a comprehensive route-management system that took into account WM's specific routing concerns and provided broad benefits. Initially, the target audience of the system was the dispatchers and indirectly the drivers. Sales and customer service also benefited because WasteRoute integrated the sales, customer service, and operations departments. The system reduced operating costs, provided better customer service, and determined appropriate prices. WM deployed WasteRoute across the nation beginning in March 2003. By the end of 2003, WM had 984 fewer routes, saving $18 million. It estimated that its savings for 2004 due to the reduction will be $44 million. As it extends the system to additional areas, it expects additional route reductions.
Improving Asset Management and Order Fulfillment at Deere & Company's C&CE Division
Authors: Troyer Loren , Smith James , Marshall Sean , Yaniv Elan , Tayur Sridhar , Barkman Martin , Kaya Alev , Liu Yong
Published: February 2005

In 2001, Deere's Commercial and Consumer Equipment (C&CE) Division, with growing sales of $3 billion, set out to improve its on-time delivery from plants to dealers and to reduce its inventory while maintaining customer service levels. C&CE used state-of-the-art inventory optimization techniques embedded in SmartOps' multistage inventory planning and optimization (MIPO) product to set trustworthy weekly inventory targets. C&CE used these targets, together with appropriate dealer incentives, to transform to a pull system and exceed its goals. With 2,500 dealers, 100 product families, and a 26-week planning horizon, Deere's application of multiechelon inventory optimization may be the largest example of applied stochastic inventory theory in practice in a multiagent environment. With the enterprise-wide system integration, Deere improved its factories' on-time shipments from 63 percent to 92 percent, while maintaining customer service levels at 90 percent. Between 2001 and 2003, Deere reduced or avoided inventory by $890 million, improving annual shareholder value added (SVA) by $107 million. By the end of 2004, the C&CE Division will exceed its goal in $1 billion of inventory reduction or avoidance, a year ahead of schedule.
Book Reviews
Authors: Lev Benjamin
Published: February 2005

The range of books reviewed is wide, covering theory and applications in operations research, statistics, management science, econometrics, mathematics, computers, and information systems (no software is reviewed). In addition, we include books in other fields that emphasize technical applications. Publishers who wish to have their books reviewed should send them to Professor Benjamin Lev. We list the books received; not all books received can be reviewed because space is limited. Those who would like to review books are urged to send me their names, addresses, and specific areas of expertise. We commission all reviews and do not accept unsolicited book reviews. Readers are encouraged to suggest books that might be reviewed or to ask publishers to send me copies of such books.

The authors or editors of the books reviewed in this issue are Emile Aarts, Jan Karel Lenstra, Rommert Dekker, Moritz Fleischmann, Karl Inderfurth, Luk N. Van Wassenhove, Gianpaolo Ghiani, Gilbert Laporte, Roberto Musmanno, Nikitas-Spiros Koutsoukis, Gautam Mitra, Panos M. Pardalos, and Victor Korotkikh.
Hongkong International Terminals Gains Elastic Capacity Using a Data-Intensive Decision-Support System
Authors: Murty Katta G. , Wan Yat-wah , Liu Jiyin , Tseng Mitchell M. , Leung Edmond , Lai Kam-Keung , Chiu Herman W. C.
Published: February 2005

As the flagship of Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH), Hongkong International Terminals (HIT) is the busiest container terminal on the planet. HIT receives over 10,000 trucks and 15 vessels a day, about six million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) a year. HIT makes hundreds of operational decisions a minute. HIT's terminal management system, the productivity plus program (3P), optimizes resources throughout the container yard using operations research/management science (OR/MS) techniques and algorithms. It manages such interrelated decisions as how to route container trucks in the yard, where to store arriving containers, how many quay cranes to use for each vessel, how many trucks to assign to each crane, how many yard cranes to assign to each container storage block, and when to schedule incoming trucks for container pickup. As the number of container terminals in Asia grows, competition has become price driven and service driven. HIT realized its future rests not only with moving boxes but with mastering the associated information. This meant developing a decision-support system (DSS) to provide superior and differentiated services by generating optimal decisions, one that is very robust under uncertain arrival times of trucks and vessels. In its 10 years of operation, the implementation of the DSS through 3P has helped HIT to become the world's most efficient and flexible terminal operator. HIT alone saves US$100 million per year. By optimizing internal truck use at its sister terminals, the HPH group saves an additional US$54 million per year.
From the Editor
Authors: Camm Jeffrey D.
Published: February 2005

Jeffrey D. Camm begins his term as editor-in-chief of Interfaces.
Subgame-Perfection in Quitting Games with Perfect Information and Differential Equations
Authors: Solan Eilon
Published: February 2005

We introduce a new approach to studying subgame-perfect equilibrium payoffs in stochastic games: the differential equations approach. We apply our approach to quitting games with perfect information. Those are sequential games in which at every stage one of n players is chosen; each player is chosen with probability 1/n. The chosen player i decides whether to quit, in which case the game terminates and the terminal payoff is some vector ai ∈ Rn, or whether to continue, in which case the game continues to the next stage. If no player ever quits, the payoff is some vector a* ∈ Rn. We define a certain differential inclusion, prove that it has at least one solution, and prove that every vector on a solution of this differential inclusion is a subgame-perfect equilibrium payoff.
The Linear Complementarity Problem Under Asymptotic Analysis
Authors: Flores-Bazán Fabián , López Ruben
Published: February 2005

In this work we study the classical linear complementarity problem LCP by describing the asymptotic behavior of the approximate solutions to its variational inequality formulation. Thus, some properties satisfied by the directions which are limits of the normalized unbounded approximate solutions will be established. Based on this analysis, various equivalent conditions guaranteeing the existence of solutions to LCP are given. In particular, the sufficient condition of Gowda and Pang expressed in terms of the solutions to augmented linear complementarity problems is written in a way that is more easily verifiable. Our approach allows us to deal with García-matrices, semimonotone, copositive, q-pseudomonotone matrices among others, in a unified framework. Furthermore, we introduce a larger class of matrices for which many of the results (including a sensitivity one) due to Gowda and Pang are still valid. In addition, some conditions ensuring the boundedness of the solution set are also provided, and some estimates for the asymptotic cone of the solution set, for different classes of matrices, are given as well. Hence, the present approach sheds new light and offers an alternative to view classical results.
Sensitivity Analysis of Parameterized Variational Inequalities
Authors: Shapiro Alexander
Published: February 2005

In this paper we discuss local uniqueness, continuity, and differentiability properties of solutions of parameterized variational inequalities (generalized equations). To this end we use two types of techniques. One approach consists in formulating variational inequalities in a form of optimization problem based on regularized gap functions, and applying a general theory of perturbation analysis of parameterized optimization problems. Another approach is based on a theory of contingent (outer graphical) derivatives and some results about differentiability properties of metric projections.
Heavy-Traffic Limits for the G/H2*/n/mQueue
Authors: Whitt Ward
Published: February 2005

We establish heavy-traffic stochastic-process limits for queue-length, waiting-time and overflow stochastic processes in a class of G/GI/n/m queueing models with n servers and m extra waiting spaces. We let the arrival process be general, only requiring that it satisfy a functional central limit theorem. To capture the impact of the service-time distribution beyond its mean within a Markovian framework, we consider a special class of service-time distributions, denoted by H2*, which are mixtures of an exponential distribution with probability p and a unit point mass at 0 with probability 1−p. These service-time distributions exhibit relatively high variability, having squared coefficients of variation greater than or equal to one. As in Halfin and Whitt (1981, Heavy-traffic limits for queues with many exponential servers, Oper. Res. 29 567–588), Puhalskii and Reiman (2000, The multiclass GI/PH/N queue in the Halfin-Whitt regime. Adv. Appl. Probab. 32 564–595), and Garnett, Mandelbaum, and Reiman (2002. Designing a call center with impatient customers. Manufacturing Service Oper. Management, 4 208–227), we consider a sequence of queueing models indexed by the number of servers, n, and let n tend to infinity along with the traffic intensities Ρn so that √n (1 − Ρn) → β for −∞ < β < ∞. To treat finite waiting rooms, we let mn√n → κ for 0 < κ < ∞. With the special H2* service-time distribution, the limit processes are one-dimensional Markov processes, behaving like diffusion processes with different drift and diffusion functions in two different regions, above and below zero. We also establish a limit for the G/M/n/m+M model, having exponential customer abandonments.
Topological Conditions for Uniqueness of Equilibrium in Networks
Authors: Milchtaich Igal
Published: February 2005

Equilibrium flow in a physical network with a large number of users (e.g., transportation, communication, and computer networks) need not be unique if the costs of the network elements are not the same for all users. Such differences among users may arise if they are not equally affected by congestion or have different intrinsic preferences. Whether or not, for all assignments of strictly increasing cost functions, each user's equilibrium cost is the same in all Nash equilibria can be determined from the network topology. Specifically, this paper shows that in a two-terminal network, the equilibrium costs are always unique if and only if the network is one of several simple networks or consists of several such networks connected in series. The complementary class of all two-terminal networks with multiple equilibrium costs for some assignment of (user-specific) strictly increasing cost functions is similarly characterized by an embedded network of a particular simple type.
Routing Jobs to Servers with Deterministic Service Times
Authors: van der Laan Dinard
Published: February 2005

In this paper we consider the problem of routing deterministic arriving jobs to parallel servers with deterministic (distinct) service times, where we assume that the arrival rate of the jobs is equal to the total service capacity of the servers. Our goal is to find routing policies that minimize the long-run average waiting time of the arriving jobs. We give lower and upper bounds for the minimal long-run average waiting time, and we present results on the structure of optimal policies. We derive mathematical programming problems that can be solved to obtain optimal routing policies, and for a single queue we have results on routing according to a regular sequence to that queue. Finally, we discuss several algorithms to obtain within reasonable time good but generally not optimal deterministic routing policies.
Legalizing Moves: Salvadoran Immigrants' Struggle for U.S. Residency
Authors: Aneesh A.
Published: February 2005

Legalizing Moves: Salvadoran Immigrants' Struggle for U.S. Residency Susan Bibler Coutin (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press 2003)
Blood Politics: Race, Culture, and Identity in the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma
Authors: Bradley Matthew Timothy
Published: February 2005

Blood Politics: Race, Culture, and Identity in the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma Circe Sturm (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002)
Real Indians: Identity and the Survival of Native America
Authors: Russell Steve
Published: February 2005

Real Indians: Identity and the Survival of Native AmericaEva Marie Garroutte (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003)
Hear Me Out: A Statistic Speaks
Authors: Wilfong Lori G.
Published: February 2005

An educator tells the story of her experience as a beginning teacher, and describes how and why she left the classroom after two years to follow different directions within the field. Her story of professional growth, personal reflection, and self‐assessment suggests that, at least in her case, statistics about attrition rates for beginning teachers need re‐evaluation.
Excess of Loss Reinsurance and the Probability of Ruin in Finite Horizon
Authors: Centeno Maria de Lourdes
Published: February 2005

The upper bound provided by Lundberg's inequality can be improved for the probability of ruin in finite horizon, as Gerber (1979) has shown. This paper studies this upper bound as a function of the retention limit, for an excess of loss arrangement, and compares it with the probability of ruin.
On Stop-Loss Order and the Distortion Pricing Principle
Authors: Hürlimann Werner
Published: February 2005

A number of more or less well-known, but quite complex, characterizations of stop-loss order are reviewed and proved in an elementary way. Two recent proofs of the stop-loss order preserving property for the distortion pricing principle are invalidated through a simple counterexample. A new proof is presented. It is based on the important Hardy-Littlewood transform, which is known to characterize the stop-loss order by reduction to the usual stochastic order, and the dangerousness characterization of stop-loss order under a finite crossing condition. Finally, we complete and summarize the main properties of the distortion pricing principle.
On the Use of Equispaced Discrete Distributions
Authors: Walhin J.F. , Paris J.
Published: February 2005

The Kolmogorov distance is used to transform arithmetic severities into equispaced arithmetic severities in order to reduce the number of calculations when using algorithms like Panjer's formulae for compound distributions. An upper bound is given for the Kolmogorov distance between the true compound distribution and the transformed one. Advantages of the Kolmogorov distance and disadvantages of the total variation distance are discussed. When the bounds are too big, a Berry-Esseen result can be used. Then almost every case can be handled by the techniques described in this paper. Numerical examples show the interest of the methods.
Correction Note to Prediction of Outstanding Liabilities in Non-Life Insurance, AB 23, 95-115
Authors: Norberg Ragnar
Published: February 2005

1. In (4.17) a factor W is missing in the numerator of the expression in the middle.

2. The predictor of Xorns proposed in Paragraph 5B is not unbiased in general as a simple counterexample will show. The proposed reserve on an individual orns claim with past history T, U, V > υ′ = τ – T – U, {Y′(υ″); 0 ≤ υ″ ≤ υ′}, is

Suppose that Y = V and Y′(υ″) = Q(υ″/V)V, 0 ≤ υ″ ≤ V, where Q is a non-decreasing, deterministic function on [0,1] such that Q(0) = 0 and Q(1) = 1. In this case R = E[V∣T, U, V > Y′(υ′)] – Y′(υ′). If Q(s) > s for all s ∈ (0, 1), then Y′(υ′) = Q(υ′/V)V > υ′, hence
Estimating the Value of the Wincat Coupons of the Winterthur Insurance Convertible Bond: A Study of the Model Risk
Authors: Schmock Uwe
Published: February 2005

The three annual 2¼% interest coupons of the Winterthur Insurance convertible bond (face value Chf 4 700) will only be paid out if during their corresponding observation periods no major storm or hail storm on one single day damages at least 6 000 motor vehicles insured with Winterthur Insurance. Data for events, where storm or hail damaged more than 1 000 insured vehicles, are available for the last ten years. Using a constant-parameter model, the estimated discounted value of the three Wincat coupons together is Chf 263.29. A conservative evaluation, which accounts for the standard deviation of the estimate, gives a coupon value of Chf 238.25. However, fitting models which admit a trend or a change-point, leads to substantially higher knock-out probabilities of the coupons. The estimated discounted values of the coupons can drop below the above conservative value; a conservative evaluation as above leads to substantially lower values. Hence, already the model uncertainty is higher than the standard deviations of the used estimators. This shows the dominance of the model risk. Consistency, dispersion, robustness and sensitivity of the models are analysed by a simulation study.
Initial Selection and Cause of Disability for Individual Permanent Health Insurance
Authors: Gutiérrez-Delgado María Cristina , Korabinski Athol A.
Published: February 2005

We investigate the influence of initial selection (the impact of underwriting during the early years of a policy's life) on individual Permanent Health Insurance claim inceptions. In Gutiérrez-Delgado (1999) a decreasing trend was found. In this paper we include the effect of cause of disability and fit a generalized linear model in order to gain a greater understanding of the phenomenon. Both effects, policy duration and cause of disability, are found to have a significant effect on the number of claims. We describe their influence using factors that collect the information available through the fitted model. Results from both factors suggest that the grouping of diseases selected for the research helps to explain partially our earlier results. In addition there is some evidence of moral hazard in mental disorders and musculoskeletal diseases which also contributes to the understanding of the negative trend found.
Vocabulary Learning and Recall of Iranian Elementary EFL Learners in Audiolingual and Total Physical Response Methods
Authors: Kiany G. Reza , Salimi Esmaeel Ali , Afshari Heshmatollah
Published: February 2005

This research aimed at studying the efficacy of Audiolingual and Total Physical Response (TPR) methods in helping the Iranian Elementary EFL learners learn and recall new vocabulary items. In the Audiolingual method new vocabulary is taught through repetition, mimicry, and memorization (Richards & Rodgers, 1986), while in TPR this is done through synchronization of the new vocabulary items with the learners’ body movements (Asher, 1965 & 1977). Sixty elementary male students participated in this study in two groups of 30. Both groups took the Nelson test, a vocabulary test, and recall test at the beginning of the research program. T- test analyses revealed no significant differences between the two groups in any of the three tests. One group (exp 1) received its vocabulary lessons in the Audiolingual method and the other group (exp 2) did this in TPR. The students covered six units of the book “Headway, Elementary” in 15 sessions. After the treatment, they took the same vocabulary and recall tests they had taken at the outset of the study. T-tests on the data gathered from the two groups on pre-tests and post-tests of vocabulary and recall revealed significant differences between the two groups after the treatment. These analyses showed that the subjects who received their vocabulary lessons in TPR out-performed those who received their vocabulary lessons in the Audiolingual method, both in vocabulary learning and vocabulary recall.
Poz‐itively transformational: Sex workers and HIV/AIDS education
Authors: Hill Robert J.
Published: February 2005

HIV and AIDS are complex events that offer numerous opportunities for adult education. However, mainstream education on this issue has often not been relevant to a number of subpopulations, including sex workers. This chapter explores sources and content of HIV/AIDS education in the sex work industry (including art and the Internet) and suggests possibilities to theorize a convention‐defying adult education—one that is poz‐itively transformational.
Marginalized, not marginal: Adult education's unique contribution to the fight against HIV/AIDS
Authors: Egan John P.
Published: February 2005

As the North American HIV/AIDS epidemic enters its third decade, marginalized communities remain disproportionately vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. What contributions has adult education made so far—and how might it play an increased role in the future?
Modeling of calcium oxalate and amorphous silica composite fouling
Authors: Yu Hong , Sheikholeslami Roya , Doherty William O. S.
Published: February 2005

An analytical model has been used to describe the composite scale formation of calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM) and amorphous silica (SiO2) in sugar solutions. The model incorporated the effects of the liquid bulk subcooling and deposition consolidation process arising from microlayer evaporation under subcooled nucleate flow boiling. The proposed model was shown to provide a better fit to the COMSiO2 composite fouling data than models considering only particulate fouling or silica deposition over a range of process thermal hydraulic parameters which included surface temperature, fluid velocity and bulk subcooling. For a better description of the composite fouling process in sugar factory, it is suggested that the effects of solution pH and composition on composite fouling be considered in future work. © 2005 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2005
Analysis of structural change in keratin fibers resulting from chemical treatments using Raman spectroscopy
Authors: Kuzuhara Akio
Published: February 2005

In order to investigate the influence of chemical treatments (reduction, heating, and oxidation) on keratin fibers, the structure of virgin white human hair resulting from a permanent hair straightening process at various depths of cross‐sectional samples was directly analyzed without isolating the cuticle and cortex, using Raman spectroscopy. The band shape of the cuticle was different from that of the cortex, and the cuticle had a more amorphous structure, compared with the cortex. The SS band intensity existing in the hair surface remarkably decreased, while the SS band intensity in the hair center was not changed by performing the reduction process. In the case of heating the keratin fibers after the reduction process, this tendency was unchanged. On the other hand, the amide III (unordered) band intensity in the cortex region increased, indicating that proteins existing throughout the cortex region caused a change to the random coil form. Moreover, approximately 95% of the disconnected SS groups were clearly reconnected by performing the oxidation process after heating (the degree of reconnection of SS groups was about 90%, in the case of oxidizing after reduction). From these experiments, we concluded that the heat treatment process in the permanent hair straightening treatment caused the randomization of proteins existing throughout the cortex region, thereby contributing to the acceleration of the reconnection of SS groups during the oxidation process. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers 77: 335–344, 2005
Generation of peptides by human erythrocytes: Facts and artifacts
Authors: Ivanov Vadim T. , Karelin Andrei A. , Yatskin Oleg N.
Published: February 2005

Previously reported data on peptide composition of human erythrocyte lysate were obtained under conditions that did not exclude proteolytic degradation of hemoglobin in the process of peptide isolation. Comparative chromatographic analysis of the diluted erythrocyte lysate incubated in acidic conditions with or without proteolytic enzyme inhibitors showed that several peptides earlier identified as intraerythrocyte ones in fact result from hemoglobin degradation by erythrocyte acidic protease(s) during incubation of the lysate. A rational scheme excluding postlysis proteolysis was developed for isolation of peptide fraction. Further analysis resulted in determination of structure and content of about 50 endogenous intraerythrocyte hemoglobin fragments. A primary endopeptidase splitting of α‐ and β‐globin chains followed by consecutive exopeptidase trimming of primary fragments is suggested as a degradation mechanism. The intraerythrocyte peptides were shown to differ from peptides excreted by the erythrocytes to the extracellular medium in the primary culture. It was also found that intraerythrocyte peptides cannot play the role of precursors of hemoglobin fragments present in tissue extracts. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers (Pept Sci), 2005
Does the anesthetic 2,2,2‐trifluoroethanol interact with bovine serum albumin by direct binding or by solvent‐mediated effects? A calorimetric and spectroscopic investigation
Authors: Banerjee Tuhina , Kishore Nand
Published: February 2005

Thermal unfolding of bovine serum albumin (BSA) has been studied in the presence of 2,2,2‐trifluoroethanol (TFE) using high‐sensitivity microdifferential scanning calorimetry. Quantitative thermodynamic parameters accompanying the thermal transitions have been evaluated. TFE is observed to be a stabilizer or a destabilizer of the folded state of BSA depending on the pH. CD spectroscopy revealed an increase in the α‐helical content of BSA and a decrease in the tertiary structure in the presence of increasing molalities of TFE. Isothermal titration calorimetric results do not indicate appreciable binding of the TFE molecules to BSA. TFE quenches the steady‐state tryptophan fluorescence of BSA only at higher molalities and there is no effect on the tryptophan fluorescence at lower molalities. The calorimetric and spectroscopic results obtained in this work suggest that solvent‐mediated effects dominate the interaction of TFE with BSA and the binding component may be very weak. Since the binding component is very weak, one of the possibilities of anesthetic action of TFE molecules on the actual targets may be through perturbation of the structural and dynamic properties of the lipid bilayer so that the function of crucial but unspecified membrane proteins is affected. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers 78: 78–86, 2005
Randomized clinical trial comparing oral nifedipine with lateral anal sphincterotomy and tailored sphincterotomy in the treatment of chronic anal fissure
Authors: Ho K-S , Ho Y-H
Published: February 2005

Background

The conventional treatment of chronic anal fissure is lateral sphincterotomy (LAS). The alternative options of tailored sphincterotomy (TS) and ‘chemical sphincterotomy’ using medication such as nifedipine have recently become available.

Methods

A prospective randomized trial was conducted to compare LAS with TS and oral nifedipine. The main endpoints were fissure healing, symptom relief, recurrence and continence.

Results

One hundred and thirty-two patients were treated and followed up for 4 months. LAS was significantly more effective than TS in providing pain relief (P = 0·004) and better patient satisfaction (P = 0·020) at 4 weeks. Surgery (LAS and TS) was associated with significantly better fissure healing rates (both P < 0·001 at 16 weeks) and less recurrence (both P = 0·003) than nifedipine. There were substantial problems with compliance in the nifedipine group (17 of 41 patients), related to side-effects and slow healing. There were no differences in continence between the three treatment groups.

Conclusion

LAS was most effective in providing pain relief and allowing rapid fissure healing, with minimal recurrence and no increased risk of incontinence, in patients with good anal sphincter function.
Patterns of local disease failure and outcome after salvage surgery in patients with anal cancer
Authors: Renehan A G , Saunders M P , Schofield P F , O'Dwyer S T
Published: February 2005

Background

Salvage surgery for anal cancer is usually reserved for local disease failure, but issues relating to the prediction of local failure and surgical outcome are ill defined.

Methods

Between 1988 and 2000, 254 patients with non-metastatic anal epidermoid carcinoma were treated at a regional cancer centre with radiotherapy (n = 127) or chemoradiotherapy (n = 127).

Results

There were 99 local disease failures (39·0 per cent), all but five occurring within 3 years of initial treatment. Increasing age (P < 0·001, Cox model), total radiation dose (P = 0·004) and tumour stage (P = 0·010) were independent predictors of local failure. The overall 3- and 5-year survival rates after local disease failure were 46 and 29 per cent; the corresponding rates after salvage surgery (73 patients) were 55 and 40 per cent. A positive resection margin was the strongest negative predictor of survival after salvage surgery (P = 0·008, log rank test). Of 52 patients treated before the routine consideration of primary plastic reconstruction, delayed perineal wound healing occurred in 22 (42 per cent).

Conclusion

In the management of anal cancer, local disease failure is a major clinical problem requiring early detection followed by radical surgery, often accompanied by plastic reconstruction. By implication, these factors favour the centralization of treatment for this uncommon cancer to a multidisciplinary oncology team.
Anal intraepithelial neoplasia
Authors: Abbasakoor F , Boulos P B
Published: February 2005

Background

Anal intraepithelial neoplasia (AIN) is believed to be a precursor of anal squamous cell cancer and its incidence is rising in high-risk groups, particularly those infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The natural history of AIN is unclear and management strategies are lacking.

Methods

This review is based on a literature search (Medline and PubMed) with manual cross-referencing of all articles related to AIN.

Results and conclusions

The aetiology of AIN is intricately linked with human papilloma viruses. The pathological processes involved in the progression of AIN are becoming clearer but the natural history, particularly the rate of progression to invasive cancer, remains unknown. There is no standard management for AIN and this is mainly due to difficulties in both diagnosis and treatment. A variety of treatment options have been tried with varying success. Surgery is associated with significant recurrence, particularly in HIV-positive patients. Non surgical approaches with imiquimod, photodynamic therapy and vaccination are appealing, and further work is required. Long-term follow-up of these patients is essential until the natural history of AIN becomes clearer.
The Montagues and the Capulets
Authors: Goble Carole , Wroe Chris
Published: February 2005

Prologue

Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Genomics, where we lay our scene, (One, comforted by its logic's rigour, Claims ontology for the realm of pure, The other, with blessed scientist's vigour, Acts hastily on models that endure), From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, When ‘being’ drives a fly‐man to blaspheme. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, Researchers to unlock the book of life; Whole misadventured piteous overthrows, Can with their work bury their clans' strife. The fruitful passage of their GO‐mark'd love, And the continuance of their studies sage, Which, united, yield ontologies undreamed‐of, Is now the hour's traffic of our stage; The which if you with patient ears attend, What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Overview and utilization of the NCI Thesaurus
Authors: Fragoso Gilberto , de Coronado Sherri , Haber Margaret , Hartel Frank , Wright Larry
Published: February 2005

The NCI Thesaurus is a reference terminology covering areas of basic and clinical science, built with the goal of facilitating translational research in cancer. It contains nearly 110 000 terms in approximately 36 000 concepts, partitioned in 20 sub‐domains, which include diseases, drugs, anatomy, genes, gene products, techniques, and biological processes, among others, all with a cancer‐centric focus in content, and originally designed to support coding activities across the National Cancer Institute. Each concept represents a unit of meaning and contains a number of annotations, such as synonyms and preferred name, as well as annotations such as textual definitions and optional references to external authorities. In addition, concepts are modelled with description logic (DL) and defined by their relationships to other concepts; there are currently approximately 90 types of named relations declared in the terminology. The NCI Thesaurus is produced by the Enterprise Vocabulary Services project, a collaborative effort between the NCI Center for Bioinformatics and the NCI Office of Communications, and is part of the caCORE infrastructure stack (http://ncicb.nci.nih.gov/NCICB/core). It can be accessed programmatically through the open caBIO API and browsed via the web (http://nciterms.nci.nih.gov). A history of editing changes is also accessible through the API. In addition, the Thesaurus is available for download in various file formats, including OWL, the web ontology language, to facilitate its utilization by others. Published in 2005 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Sequence Ontology annotation guide
Authors: Eilbeck Karen , Lewis Suzanna E.
Published: February 2005

This Sequence Ontology (SO) aims to unify the way in which we describe sequence annotations, by providing a controlled vocabulary of terms and the relationships between them. Using SO terms to label the parts of sequence annotations greatly facilitates downstream analyses of their contents, as it ensures that annotations produced by different groups conform to a single standard. This greatly facilitates analyses of annotation contents and characteristics, e.g. comparisons of UTRs, alternative splicing, etc. Because SO also specifies the relationships between features, e.g. part_of, kind_of, annotations described with SO terms are also better substrates for validation and visualization software.

This document provides a step‐by‐step guide to producing a SO compliant file describing a sequence annotation. We illustrate this by using an annotated gene as an example. First we show where the terms needed to describe the gene's features are located in SO and their relationships to one another. We then show line by line how to format the file to construct a SO compliant annotation of this gene. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Standardization initiatives in the (eco)toxicogenomics domain: a review
Authors: Sansone Susanna Assunta , Morrison Norman , Rocca‐Serra Philippe , Fostel Jennifer
Published: February 2005

The purpose of this document is to provide readers with a resource of different ongoing standardization efforts within the ‘omics’ (genomic, proteomics, metabolomics) and related communities, with particular focus on toxicological and environmental applications. The review includes initiatives within the research community as well as in the regulatory arena. It addresses data management issues (format and reporting structures for the exchange of information) and database interoperability, highlighting key objectives, target audience and participants. A considerable amount of work still needs to be done and, ideally, collaboration should be optimized and duplication and incompatibility should be avoided where possible. The consequence of failing to deliver data standards is an escalation in the burden and cost of data management tasks. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Syntheses of Seven‐Membered Rings: Ruthenium‐Catalyzed Intramolecular [5+2] Cycloadditions
Authors: Trost Barry M. , Shen Hong C. , Horne Daniel B. , Toste F. Dean , Steinmetz Bernhard G. , Koradin Christopher
Published: February 2005

The Ru‐catalyzed intramolecular [5+2] cycloaddition of cyclopropylenynes is investigated with respect to the regio‐ and diastereoselectivity as well as the functional group compatibility of the reaction. Evidence for the mechanism as occurring through a ruthenacyclopentene intermediate is elucidated from 1) the study of the diastereoselectivity of the cycloaddition; 2) the effect of variation of substituents on the regioselectivity of cyclopropyl bond cleavage in 1,2‐trans‐ and 1,2‐cis‐disubstituted cyclopropanes and 3) examples that clearly do not involve ruthenacyclohexene as intermediates as products still incorporate the cyclopropyl moiety. The scope and limitations of the Ru‐catalyzed cycloaddition are discussed and compared with the Rh‐catalyzed reaction. The potential power of this methodology towards natural product total synthesis is demonstrated by the formation of several polycyclic systems with the chosen reaction conditions and readily available cyclopropylenyne substrates.
Stereoselective Synthesis of cis‐p‐Menth‐8‐ene‐1,7‐diol, cis‐p‐Menthane‐1,7‐diol, and cis‐p‐Menthane‐1,7,8‐triol
Authors: Kobler Christoph , Effenberger Franz
Published: February 2005

The natural products cis‐p‐menthane‐1,7‐diol (cis‐IV), cis‐p‐menth‐8‐ene‐1,7‐diol (cis‐I) and cis‐p‐menthane‐1,7,8‐triol (cis‐II) are obtained starting from the corresponding cis‐cyanohydrins, cis‐2 and cis‐7, respectively, by chemical transformation of the cyano into the hydroxymethyl group. The key step of the synthesis is the very high cis‐selectivity (≥ 96 %) of the MeHNL‐catalyzed HCN addition to 4‐alkylcyclohexanones. From 4‐isopropylcyclohexanone (1) the cyanohydrin cis‐2 and from 4‐(1‐methylvinyl)cyclohexanone (6) the cyanohydrin cis‐7 result almost quantitatively. Regioselective hydroxylation of cis‐I affords the triol cis‐II. X‐ray crystal structure determinations of the final products confirm their cis‐configuration.
Estimated impact of the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial on population mortality
Authors: Unger Joseph M. , Thompson Ian M. , LeBlanc Michael , Crowley John J. , Goodman Phyllis J. , Ford Leslie G. , Coltman Charles A.
Published: February 2005

BACKGROUND

The potential public health impact of the recently completed Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT) is debated. The results indicated that the period prevalence of prostate cancer was reduced by 24.8% due to finasteride, whereas an increase in the rate of high‐grade tumors (Gleason score 8–10) among men who were diagnosed with cancer also was found (5.0% in the PCPT placebo arm vs. 11.9% in the PCPT finasteride arm). Whether the increased Gleason score was valid or was a histologic artifact is under investigation.

METHODS

The authors estimated the number of person‐years saved assuming a 24.8% reduction in the incidence of prostate cancer for 5 years among United States males age ≥ 55 years. Scenarios for different proportions of patients with high‐grade Gleason scores also were considered.

RESULTS

With a 24.8% reduction in the number of men with newly diagnosed prostate cancer, the authors estimated that 316,760 person‐years would be saved due to finasteride in the United States. An absolute increase of 6.9% in the proportion of men with high‐grade tumors in the United States cancer population (corresponding to the difference between the rates on the placebo and finasteride arms of the PCPT) would reduce the number of person‐years saved to 262,567. For each absolute increase of 5% in the proportion of patients with high‐grade tumors, the number of person‐years saved would be reduced by approximately 39,000.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of the PCPT may have a major impact on population mortality from prostate cancer if they are applied clinically. The potential detrimental effects of an increased rate of patients who have prostate cancer with high‐grade Gleason scores would be outweighed by a reduction in incidence. Cancer 2005. © 2005 American Cancer Society.
Osteosarcoma of the pelvis in children and young adults: The St. Jude Children's Research Hospital experience
Authors: Saab Raya , Rao Bhaskar N. , Rodriguez‐Galindo Carlos , Billups Catherine A. , Fortenberry Tamra N. , Daw Najat C.
Published: February 2005

BACKGROUND

Pelvic osteosarcomas are difficult to resect. The authors reviewed their institution's experience with patients who had such tumors to characterize the patients' clinical findings and to assess the impact of surgical resection on outcome.

METHODS

A review was conducted of the records from patients with pelvic osteosarcoma who were treated at the authors' institution between January, 1970 and March, 2004.

RESULTS

Among 442 patients with osteosarcoma, 19 patients (4%) had high‐grade tumors arising in the pelvic bones, including the ilium in 15 patients, the pubis in 2 patients, and the sacrum in 2 patients. The median patient age at diagnosis was 16.8 years. Four tumors were secondary to radiation therapy. Five patients had metastases in the lung (n = 4 patients) or bone (n = 1 patient) at diagnosis. Ten tumors were chondroblastic. The median greatest tumor dimension for the 13 tumors with known size was 10 cm. Ten patients had unresectable pelvic tumors, and 9 patients underwent hemipelvectomy (2 internal and 7 external); complete resection with negative margins was achieved in 5 patients. Four patients survived, including one patient who survived with disease. Of the three patients who survived disease‐free, one patient underwent complete resection, one patient underwent incomplete resection (nonviable tumor at the soft tissue margin) with a good response to chemotherapy, and one patient with a sacral tumor underwent radiotherapy only for local control. Of the 9 patients who underwent resection, 7 experienced disease recurrence (n = 5 patients) or progression (n = 2 patients) at distant sites and died. All patients with metastatic disease at diagnosis died.

CONCLUSIONS

Pelvic osteosarcomas often were large and unresectable. A high propensity for metastasis contributed to the poor outcome of patients with pelvic osteosarcoma. New therapeutic approaches are needed. Cancer 2005. © 2005 American Cancer Society.
Are seeds suitable for flow cytometric estimation of plant genome size?
Authors: Sliwinska Elwira , Zielinska Elzbieta , Jedrzejczyk Iwona
Published: February 2005

Background

Nuclear DNA content in plants is commonly estimated using flow cytometry (FCM). Plant material suitable for FCM measurement should contain the majority of its cells arrested in the G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle. Usually young, rapidly growing leaves are used for analysis. However, in some cases seeds would be more convenient because they can be easily transported and analyzed without the delays and additional costs required to raise seedlings. Using seeds would be particularly suitable for species that contain leaf cytosol compounds affecting fluorochrome accessibility to the DNA. Therefore, the usefulness of seeds or their specific tissues for FCM genome size estimation was investigated, and the results are presented here.

Methods

The genome size of six plant species was determined by FCM using intercalating fluorochrome propidium iodide for staining isolated nuclei. Young leaves and different seed tissues were used as experimental material. Pisum sativum cv. Set (2C = 9.11 pg) was used as an internal standard. For isolation of nuclei from species containing compounds that interfere with propidium iodide intercalation and/or fluorescence, buffers were used supplemented with reductants.

Results

For Anethum graveolens, Beta vulgaris, and Zea mays, cytometrically estimated genome size was the same in seeds and leaves. For Helianthus annuus, different values for DNA amounts in seeds and in leaves were obtained when using all but one of four nuclei isolation buffers. For Brassica napus var. oleifera, none of the applied nuclei isolation buffers eliminated differences in genome size determined in the seeds and leaves.

Conclusions

The genome size of species that do not contain compounds that influence fluorochrome accessibility appears to be the same when estimated using specific seed tissues and young leaves. Seeds can be more suitable than leaves, especially for species containing staining inhibitors in the leaf cytosol. Thus, use of seeds for FCM nuclear DNA content estimation is recommended, although for some species a specific seed tissue (usually the radicle) should be used. Protocols for preparation of samples from endospermic and endospermless seeds have been developed. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Segregation of arterial and venous markers in subpopulations of blood islands before vessel formation
Authors: Herzog Yael , Guttmann‐Raviv Noga , Neufeld Gera
Published: February 2005

The neuropilin‐1 (np1) and the neuropilin‐2 (np2) receptors bind vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and class‐3 semaphorins. They form complexes with VEGF tyrosine‐kinase receptors or alternatively with type‐A plexins to transduce respective VEGF or semaphorin signals. We have compared the expression patterns of np1, np2, plexin‐A1, and plexin‐A2 in the emerging vasculature of chick embryos. Double in situ hybridization reveals that six‐somite embryos contain intermingled extraembryonic blood island (BI) subpopulations that express np1 or np2 as well as a BI subpopulation that coexpresses both neuropilins. In 13‐somite embryos, which already contain an extraembryonic vascular plexus, the expression of np1 and np2 is segregated between the arterial and venous parts of the plexus, despite the absence of blood flow. However, the arterial marker ephrin‐B2 was not yet expressed in the plexus at this stage. In 26‐somite embryos, which possess a functional vascular system, np1 and np2 are differentially expressed in arteries and veins as previously reported. At this stage, posterior BIs expressing np2 appear to undergo fusion to form the posterior sinus vein and its tributaries, suggesting that the venous identity of these veins may be established before their formation. The neuropilin coreceptor plexin‐A2 was expressed in extraembryonic veins but not in extraembryonic arteries. In contrast, within the embryo, plexin‐A2 expression was observed in the dorsal aorta as well as in the cardinal vein. Semaphorin‐3F (s3f), an np2 ligand, bound to np2‐expressing cells in 26‐somite embryos regardless of the presence or absence of plexin‐A1 or plexin‐A2. Of interest, even though s3f binds to np1 in vitro, np1‐expressing arteries fail to bind s3f in whole‐mount binding experiments. Developmental Dynamics 232:1047–1055, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.