bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Myocardial function in patients with Shwachman–Diamond syndrome: Aspects to consider before stem cell transplantation
Authors: Toiviainen‐Salo Sanna , Pitkänen Olli , Holmström Miia , Koikkalainen Juha , Lötjönen Jyrki , Lauerma Kirsi , Taskinen Mervi , Savilahti Erkki , Smallhorn Jeffrey , Mäkitie Outi , Kivistö Sari
Published: July 2008

Background

Early studies have suggested increased risk of fatal cardiac complications in infants with Shwachman–Diamond syndrome (SDS), an inherited bone marrow failure syndrome. Patients undergoing stem cell transplantation (STC) have appeared susceptible to organ toxicity, including cardiac involvement.

Procedure

This study assessed anatomical and functional features of the heart in SDS. Eight patients (mean age 24.1 years, range 7–37 years, seven males) with SDS and confirmed SBDS mutations were prospectively assessed for cardiac anatomy, myocardial wall properties, and systolic and diastolic function. The study protocol included conventional echocardiography (n = 8) complemented by exercise Tissue‐Doppler echocardiography (n = 7), and by MRI (n = 6).

Results

No abnormalities in cardiac anatomy or function were observed in baseline clinical assessment, EKG, or conventional echocardiographic and MRI measurements. Myocardial structure and left ventricular (LV) mass were normal. The maximum isovolumic acceleration (IVA) value during exercise in Tissue‐Doppler was significantly lower (P < 0.001), and the right ventricular (RV) ejection fraction (P = 0.02) and peak filling rate (PFR, P = 0.008) at rest in MRI were higher in patients.

Conclusions

Children and young adults with SDS and mutations in SBDS had normal cardiac anatomy and myocardial structure. Subtle RV diastolic function alterations at rest and depressed LV contractility during exercise were observed. Further studies are warranted to evaluate the clinical importance of these findings. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2008;51:461–467. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Fucosylated haptoglobin is a novel marker for pancreatic cancer: Detailed analyses of oligosaccharide structures
Authors: Miyoshi Eiji , Nakano Miyako
Published: July 2008

Changes in oligosaccharide structures have been reported in certain types of malignant transformation and thus can be used as tumor markers in certain types of cancer. In the case of pancreatic cancer (PC) cell lines, a variety of fucosylated proteins are secreted into the conditioned media. To identify fucosylated proteins in the sera of patients with PC, we performed Western blot analysis using Aleuria Aurantia Lectin (AAL), which is specific for fucosylated structures. An approximately 40 kD protein was found to be highly fucosylated in PC and N‐terminal analysis revealed that it was the β chain of haptoglobin. While the appearance of fucosylated haptoglobin has been reported in other diseases such as hepatocellular carcinoma, liver cirrhosis, gastric cancer, and colorectal cancer, the incidence was significantly higher in the case of PC. Fucosylated haptoglobin was observed more frequently at the advanced stage of PC and disappeared after operation. Haptoglobin has four sites of N‐glycans and site‐directed oligosaccharide analysis invoving MS was performed. Site‐specific increases in fucosylation of bi‐antennary glycans of sites 2 and 4, and of tri‐antennary glycans of all sites were observed in PC, compared to in normal volunteers and chronic pancreatitis. Therefore, increases in fucosylation seem to be not due to inflamation, but cancer itself. Coculturing of a human hepatoma cell line, Hep3B, with PC cells‐induced production of fucosylated haptoglobin, suggesting that PC produces a factor that induces the production of fucosylated haptoglobin. On clinical investigation of 100 cases of colorectal cancer, cases in which it was located near the liver showed a higher positive rate of fucosylated haptoglobin, suggesting that the location of the cancer might also be an important factor for fucosylated haptoglobin if cancer tissues produce such inducible factors. Thus, fucosylated haptoglobin could become a novel tumor marker for PC and complicated mechanisms would be involved in its production.
Hepatocyte growth factor and Met in tumor biology and therapeutic approach with NK4
Authors: Matsumoto Kunio , Nakamura Takahiro , Sakai Katsuya , Nakamura Toshikazu
Published: July 2008

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and Met/HGF receptor tyrosine kinase play a role in the progression to invasive and metastatic cancers. A variety of cancer cells secrete molecules that enhance HGF expression in stromal fibroblasts, while fibroblast‐derived HGF, in turn, is a potent stimulator of the invasion of cancer cells. In addition to the ligand‐dependent activation, Met receptor activation is negatively regulated by cell–cell contact and Ser985 phosphorylation in the juxtamembrane of Met. The loss of intercellular junctions may facilitate an escape from the cell–cell contact‐dependent suppression of Met‐signaling. Significance of juxtamembrane mutations found in human cancers is assumed to be a loss‐of‐function in the negative regulation of Met. In attempts to block the malignant behavior of cancers, NK4 was isolated as a competitive antagonist against HGF–Met signaling. Independently on its HGF‐antagonist action, NK4 inhibited angiogenesis induced by vascular endothelial cell growth factor and basic fibroblast growth factor, as well as HGF. In experimental models of distinct types of cancers, NK4 inhibited Met activation and this was associated with inhibition of tumor invasion and metastasis. NK4 inhibited tumor angiogenesis, thereby suppressing angiogenesis‐dependent tumor growth. Cancer treatment with NK4 suppresses malignant tumors to be “static” in both tumor growth and spreading.
Evaluation of the serum N‐linked glycome for the diagnosis of cancer and chronic inflammation
Authors: Arnold James N. , Saldova Radka , Hamid Umi M. Abd , Rudd Pauline M.
Published: July 2008

The identification of serum biomarkers has lead to improvements in the detection and diagnosis of cancer, and combinations of these biomarkers have increased further their sensitivity and specificity. Glycosylation is the most common PTM of secreted proteins and the identification of novel serum glyco‐biomarkers has become a topic of increasing interest because the glycan processing pathways are frequently disturbed in cancer cells. A future goal is to combine current biomarkers with glyco‐biomarkers to yield further improvements. Well characterised N‐glycosylation changes in the serum glycome of cancer patients include changes in the levels of tri‐ and tetra‐antennary glycan structures, sialyl Lewis X epitopes and agalactosylated bi‐antennary glycans. Several of these glycosylated markers have been linked to chronic inflammatory diseases, promoting questions about the links between inflammation and cancer. In this review, the glycoproteins which display these glycan epitopes, the glycosyl transferases which can generate them, their potential functions and their use as biomarkers are evaluated.
Results and reliability of protein quantification for two‐dimensional gel electrophoresis strongly depend on the type of protein sample and the method employed
Authors: Weist Stephanie , Eravci Murat , Broedel Oliver , Fuxius Sandra , Eravci Selda , Baumgartner Andreas
Published: July 2008

We investigated the effects of tissue samples taken from rat brain on the reliability of three protein quantification kits: the Bradford assay, the 2‐D Quant Kit, and the EZQ Protein Quantitation Kit. All three assays measured significantly smaller amounts of protein after extraction than the reference values before extraction. Only small effects were seen in homogenates, but very pronounced differences in membrane‐enriched and highly lipophilic subcellular fractions. Researchers should evaluate which method of protein quantification is best qualified for their specific experimental design.
Modifications by Olmesartan medoxomil treatment of the platelet protein profile of moderate hypertensive patients
Authors: Sacristán Daniel , Marques María , Zamorano‐León José J , Luque Manuel , Armengol Juan , del Castillo Juan , Martín Javier , Delpón Eva , Ramos‐Mozo Priscila , de Prada Teresa P , Tamargo Juan , Barrientos Alberto , Macaya Carlos , López‐Farré Antonio
Published: July 2008

Olmesartan medoxomil is a new angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARB) which exhibits pleiotropic effects that are not fully understood. Our aims were: i) to determine the effect of Olmesartan medoxomil on blood pressure, lipid profile and renal functionality in moderately hypertensive patients with non‐controlled blood pressure, ii) to determine if Olmesartan medoxomil may exert anti‐inflammatory effects and modify the expression profile of platelet proteins. Thirteen moderate hypertensive patients with non‐controlled systolic blood pressure (SBP) and renal function classified as Kidney Disease Outcome Quality Initiative stage 2–3 were included. Patients were treated with Olmesartan medoxomil (20 mg/day) for 6 months. SBP, proteinuria and the plasma levels of cholesterol and low density lipoprotein (LDL)‐cholesterol were reduced after the treatment. Olmesartan medoxomil did not modify the circulating plasma levels of a number of proteins associated with inflammation, but reduced the expression level of different platelet proteins including tropomyosin‐β chain isotypes 3 and 4, serotransferrin isotypes 1 to 5, the leukocyte elastase inhibitor and the chloride intracellular channel‐protein isotype 1. The expression of the gelsolin precursor isotype 4 was increased in the platelets after the treatment. In summary, Olmesartan medoxomil reduced SBP, total and LDL‐cholesterol plasma levels and urinary protein excretion and induced changes in the expression of platelet proteins which may be related to some action of the drug at the megakaryocyte level.
Post‐transplant proteinuria associated with everolimus: Definition of main features with proteomics
Authors: Ghiggeri Gian Marco , Bruschi Maurizio , Musante Luca , Candiano Giovanni , Boccardi Claudia , Citti Lorenzo , Rastaldi Maria Pia , Mangraviti Salvatore , Rosso Giuseppina , Larti Aida , Rosati Alberto , Urbani Andrea , Gusmano Rosanna , Bertoni Elisabetta , Salvadori Maurizio
Published: July 2008

Little is known on both the composition and mechanism(s) of proteinuria associated with the use of mTOR inhibitors, in particular of Everolimus (E). We characterized urinary proteins utilizing an integrated proteomics approach (quantitative essays, 2‐DE, MALDI‐TOF, Western blot) in 48 renal transplant recipients who were alternatively treated with E (n = 31) or with enteric coated mycophenolic acid (EC‐MPA) (n = 17). Twelve E patients (39%) developed high (>3 g/day) or intermediate proteinuria (1–3 g) compared to four (23%) of the EC‐MPA group. Urinary proteins (p<0.001), β2 microglobulin (p<0.001) and α1microglobulin (p<0.025) were higher in E than in EC‐MPA, appeared more rapidly and were inversely correlated with the day of treatment. Proteomics showed a marked increase of all urinary components in E and EC‐MPA patients, major changes involving typical components of glomerular damage (albumin, α1‐Zn glycoprotein, α2HS glycoprotein, leucin‐richα2‐glycoprotein) and specific bio‐markers for E (clusters of α1‐antitrypsin fragments and monoclonal λ chains). Finally, inter‐α‐trypsin‐inhibitor heavy chain H4 precursor was decreased in E and EC‐MPA urine compared to normal urine. In conclusion, E induced massive and generalized proteinuria of mixed glomerular and tubular origin that was correlated with the start of treatment and reached a nephrotic range in few cases. Specific urinary markers reflect renal alterations related to the transplant or specific alterations associated with the drug.
Proteome profiling of vitreoretinal diseases by cluster analysis
Authors: Shitama Tomomi , Hayashi Hideyuki , Noge Sumiyo , Uchio Eiichi , Oshima Kenji , Haniu Hisao , Takemori Nobuaki , Komori Naoka , Matsumoto Hiroyuki
Published: July 2008

Vitreous samples collected in retinopathic surgeries have diverse properties, making proteomics analysis difficult. We report a cluster analysis to evade this difficulty. Vitreous and subretinal fluid samples were collected from 60 patients during surgical operation of non‐proliferative diabetic retinopathy, proliferative diabetic retinopathy, proliferative vitreoretinopathy, and rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. For controls, we collected vitreous fluid from patients of idiopathic macular hole, epiretinal, and from a healthy postmortem donor. Proteins from these samples were subjected to quantitative proteomics using two‐dimensional gel electrophoresis. We selected 105 proteins robustly expressed among ca. 400 protein spots and subjected them to permutation test. By using permutation test analysis we observed unique variations in the expression of some of these proteins in vitreoretinal diseases when compared to the control and to each other: (i) the levels of inflammation‐associated proteins such as alpha1‐antitrypsin, apolipoprotein A4, albumin, and transferrin were significantly higher in all four types of vitreoretinal diseases, and (ii) each vitreoretinal disease elevated a unique set of proteins, which can be interpreted based on the pathology of retinopathy. Our protocol will be effective for the study of protein expression in other types of clinical samples of diverse properties.
Proteomic analysis for human urinary proteins associated with arsenic intoxication
Authors: Tan Lia‐Beng , Chen Kow‐Tong , Tyan Yu‐Chang , Liao Pao‐Chi , Guo How‐Ran
Published: July 2008

Arsenic is widely distributed in nature and is mainly transported in the environment by water. Consumption of artesian well water with high levels of arsenic has been associated with genitourinary cancer, especially bladder transitional cell carcinoma (TCC). To search for biomarkers that are specific for arsenic associated with the diagnosis of bladder TCC, proteins in the urine of non‐cancer urological patients and patients with either bladder TCC or arsenic‐associated bladder TCC were systematically examined by HPLC ESI‐MS/MS. Urine specimens were collected by catheterization from patients and age‐ (within 5 years) and sex‐matched non‐cancer urological patients. A nano‐HPLC‐ESI‐MS/MS was used to generate proteome patterns from urine specimens obtained from patients with arsenic‐associated (n = 8) and non‐arsenic‐associated (n = 8) primary TCC and from sex‐ and age‐matched non‐cancer urological patients (n = 8). Three urinary proteins were found to have significantly altered levels in patients following chronic arsenic exposure. These proteins were a disintegrin and metalloprotease (ADAM) protein, a calpain9, and ring finger protein 20. The large‐scale identification of urinary proteomes using HPLC ESI‐MS/MS may serve as an ideal and efficient method to establish a panel of potential arsenic‐associated TCC biomarkers and may help elucidate the mechanisms involved in bladder cancer induced by chronic arsenic exposure.
Protein‐induced changes during the maturation process of human dendritic cells: A 2‐D DIGE approach
Authors: Ferreira Gabriela Bomfim , Overbergh Lut , van Etten Evelyne , Lage Kasper , D'Hertog Wannes , Hansen Daniel Aaen , Maris Michael , Moreau Yves , Workman Christopher T. , Waelkens Etienne , Mathieu Chantal
Published: July 2008

Dendritic cells (DCs) are unique antigen presenting cells, which upon maturation change from a specialized antigen‐capturing cell towards a professional antigen presenting cells. In this study, a 2‐D DIGE analysis of immature and mature DCs was performed, to identify proteins changing in expression upon maturation. The protein expression profile of immature and mature DCs, derived from CD14+ peripheral blood monocytes was investigated using two pH ranges (pH 4–7 and 6–9) (n = 4). Ninety one differentially expressed spots (p<0.01) were detected, from which we identified 74 spots (81.32%) corresponding to 41 different proteins. The proteins identified play a role in diverse processes, such as antigen processing/presentation, vesicle transport and cytoskeleton remodeling. In addition, a protein interaction network contained 29 (out of 41) proteins, suggesting that, although they functionally originate from distinct classes, these proteins are acting as a protein‐interactome. In conclusion, the proteins shown here to be altered in expression upon maturation are in line with the morphological and functional changes observed during the maturation process, providing a better understanding of the processes involved. This will open new avenues for investigating treatment regimens for immune‐associated disorders.
Proteomic profiling of the effect of prostate‐specific antigen on prostate cancer cells
Authors: Bindukumar B. , Schwartz Stanley , Aalinkeel Ravikumar , Mahajan Supriya , Lieberman Alicia , Chadha Kailash
Published: July 2008

BACKGROUND

Prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) is a well‐known biomarker for diagnosis and management of prostate cancer. PSA has been shown to have anti‐angiogenic activity. We used the emerging proteomic research technology to identify proteins in prostate cancer cells whose expression is regulated by enzymatically active PSA.

METHODS

Differentially expressed proteins in PC‐3M cells treated with PSA were analyzed by 2D‐DIGE analysis and identified by HPLC–MS/MS and SEQUEST data mining. Biological network analysis was carried out using MetaCore integrated software designed for functional analysis of experimental data. Gene expression data for several regulated proteins were confirmed by real‐time, quantitative PCR.

RESULTS

A total of 41 proteins were significantly (P < 0.05) changed in abundance in PC‐3M cells in response to PSA treatment. Proteins from 26 gel‐spots were identified. Many of the down‐regulated proteins including N8 gene product long isoform, laminin receptor, vimentin, DJ‐1 and Hsp60 are known to be involved in tumor progression.

DISCUSSION

The relevance of the level of PSA in prostate tissue microenvironment and its relation to tumor progression has not been elucidated. PSA has been shown to down‐regulate several proteins that are known to have involvement in tumor progression. This suggests that normal physiological levels of PSA in prostate tissue microenvironment may be promoting non‐angiogenic environment and its down‐regulation may promote tumor growth. Prostate 68: 1531–1545, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Interatomic distances in pyrite‐structure disulfides – a case for ellipsoidal modeling of sulfur ions
Authors: Birkholz M. , Rudert R.
Published: July 2008

The geometry of crystalline bonding in pyrite‐structure disulfides MS2 is investigated for the M = Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu series. The decomposition of interatomic distances by the ionic radii approach is first shown to yield metal ion values rM inconsistent with state‐of‐the‐art data. The bonding geometry is subsequently analyzed by assuming sulfur ions to become ellipsoidally deformed in accordance with their crystallographic site symmetry. It is derived, how the S bonding coordination can be modeled by a polar radius r‖ in direction of the trigonal axis and an equatorial radius r⊥ perpendicular to it. Sulfur ions are found to compress along the symmetry axis yielding r⊥/r‖ ratios between 1.55 and 1.73 in the MnS2–CuS2 series and the additivity of the interatomic M–S distance from ion‐specific parameters is re‐established. A constant volume of VS = 0.0133 nm3 is consistently attained by sulfur ions in all MS2 investigated. Finally, the crystal electric field acting at sulfur sites is uncovered to determine the ion deformation ratio (r⊥–r‖/$ \root 3 \of {3V_{\rm S}/(4\pi)} $) with unexpected precision. These results imply that polarizable ions at polar lattice sites should appropriately be modeled by ellipsoids rather than by spheres. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Electroluminescence efficiency degradation of crystalline silicon solar cells after irradiation with protons in the energy range between 0.8 MeV and 65 MeV
Authors: Neitzert Heinz‐Christoph , Ferrara Manuela , Kunst Marinus , Denker Andrea , Kertész Zsófia , Limata Benedetta , Gialanella Lucio , Romano Mario
Published: July 2008

Standard crystalline silicon homojunction solar cells have been irradiated with high energy protons at variable energies between 0.8 MeV and 65 MeV. As one possible criterion for the evaluation of the radiation induced degradation, we compared the suppression of the bandgap electroluminescence at a wavelength around 1150 nm for the solar cells, irradiated at different energies. The lowest electroluminescence efficiency has been observed for an intermediate proton energy of 1.7 MeV. At this energy value, however, crystalline silicon solar cells are not homogeneously damaged, as shown by the defect profiles, calculated by the SRIM code. We propose therefore a irradiation at a higher energy in order to obtain a relative homogeneous defect profile. At 65 MeV the projected range of the protons in silicon is about 2 cm and we obtain a nearly constant defect distribution in the solar cell and the irradiation can be performed in air. Subsequently we compared the fluence dependence of the degradation of the solar cell parameters after 65 MeV irradiation with other material parameters, such as effective diffusion lengths, as calculated by the quantum yield spectra and the effective excess charge carrier lifetime, as measured on silicon wafers by the contactless TRMC‐technique. Similar degradation has been found for the short circuit current, solar cell efficiency and electroluminescence efficiency and a good agreement between diffusion length and excess charge carrier lifetime changes. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
A fullerene silirane derivative to improve the open circuit voltage in a polymer–fullerene solar cell: a theoretical study
Authors: Morvillo Pasquale , Bobeico Eugenia
Published: July 2008

In this letter quantum chemical calculations are performed on fullerene derivatives with varying reduction potentials, successfully used as electron acceptor in bulk heterojunction solar cells with the aim to investigate the energy levels of the frontier orbitals. We have successfully correlated the theoretical lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) levels of different fullerenes with the open circuit voltage of the photovoltaic device based on the polymer–fullerene blend. We have also proposed a new fullerene silirane derivative with a raised LUMO level useful to increase the open circuit voltage of a polymer solar cell. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Journeys into inquiry‐based elementary science: Literacy practices, questioning, and empirical study
Authors: Howes Elaine V. , Lim Miyoun , Campos Jaclyn
Published: July 2008

Teaching literacy in inquiry‐based science‐teaching settings has recently become a focus of research in science education. Because professional scientists' uses of reading, writing, and speaking are foundational to their work, as well as to nonscientists' comprehension of it , it follows that literacy practices should also be central to science teaching. Science as a vehicle through which to develop literacy skills is an attractive alternative that some teachers choose in order to include science in their curriculum. In this paper, we present descriptions of three elementary teachers' efforts to teach literacy practices through science. Our descriptions, through which we illustrate a range of ways in which teachers link science and literacy instruction, are grounded in these teachers' accounts and our observations of their teaching. We end with a comparison of these teachers' approaches, and draw from this analysis considerations for implementing literacy instruction in elementary science education. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed 93: 189–217, 2009
Security impacts on establishing MPLS/BGP VPNs
Authors: Alawieh Basel , Ahmed Rana E. , Mouftah Hussein T.
Published: July 2008

Multi‐protocol label switching (MPLS) is considered as the future routing technology of the Internet. Service providers with MPLS‐enabled core infrastructure benefits from the capabilities of this promising protocol to offer incremental value‐added services to their end clients. Virtual private network (VPN) is among many of the services provided by MPLS. Security is not guaranteed with VPN implementation, but it is implied, that is, the users expect to receive a secure connection. Two security concerns of importance for VPNs are customer edge (CE) and provider edge (PE) security. The customer edge is the connection from the customer site to the provider's site. PE is the connection between two providers' site. In this paper, we describe testbed experiences and procedures to study security issues in provider edge MPLS/BGP VPN networks. First, we investigate security constraints in configuring a BGP/MPLS VPNs where the provider's core transport infrastructure supports MPLS. Secondly, we consider the use of GRE tunnel with IPsec in the case where no MPLS support exists in provider's infrastructure. We present the performance results on establishing a secure VPN between two PEs in terms of protocol packet overhead and latency. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Analysis of thermal parameters and factors acting on thermal conduction of low‐k films
Authors: Sato Shigeo , Okamura Takao , Ye Jiping
Published: July 2008

The thermal properties of a silicon oxide‐based low‐k film and a thermally oxidized silicon film were investigated using the 3‐omega and laser thermo‐reflectance (LTR) methods. Thermal conductivity and effusivity were successfully estimated by the 3‐omega and LTR methods, respectively. It was confirmed that the combination of thermal effusivity and conductivity can successfully provide the heat capacity and thermal diffusivity of the films. The thermal parameters thus obtained suggested that the lower thermal conductivity of the examined low‐k film comes mainly from the rather low level of thermal diffusivity. Based on an analysis of the X‐ray diffraction profiles of the films, it was found that the low thermal diffusivity of the low‐k film can be attributed to the discontinuity of the network structure of their clusters. The heat resistance at the interface between the film and Si substrate was also evaluated. We found that the low‐k film exhibited, interestingly, negative interfacial heat resistance, although interfacial heat resistance should have a positive value in general. In order to determine the origin of the negative interfacial heat resistance, the interface state of the films was analyzed in detail on the basis of X‐ray reflectivity (XRR) measurements. The XRR results showed clearly that a thin, high‐density layer was present at the interface of the low‐k films. This high‐density layer presumably promoted heat flow to the substrate, resulting in the apparent negative interfacial heat resistance. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
AES and XPS investigations of molybdenum‐sulfur‐iodine‐based nanowire‐type material
Authors: Mandrino Djordje , Vrbanic Daniel , Jenko Monika , Mihailovic Dragan , Pejovnik Stane
Published: July 2008

Nanowire‐type materials produced by single‐step synthesis were investigated by XPS and HR AES. A sufficient quantity of these materials was produced for the XPS analyses. AES analyses at selected spots or along selected lines on the surface of the bundles of the material were also performed. HR AES measurements on bundles of different thicknesses were performed and compared. All the types of spectroscopy measurements were quantified, especially with respect to the Mo, S, and I. The Mo : S : I stoichiometries thus determined, deviated from the nominal value. It was also found that the stoichiometry is approximately constant along an individual nanowire bundle, but less so from one bundle to another. However, it was not possible to show conclusively that the diameter of the bundle influences the stoichiometry. The stoichiometry obtained from XPS measurements differs significantly from the one obtained from the AES measurement as well as from the nominal one. A possible explanation for the differences in the stoichiometries measured by AES, XPS, and the nominal values is the influence of the AES analysis on the sample and the interaction between the characteristics of XPS technique and the sample structure. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Inter‐diffusion effects in as‐deposited Al/Ni polycrystalline multi‐layers
Authors: Salou M. , Rioual S. , Ben Youssef J. , Dekadjevi D. T. , Pogossian S. P. , Jonnard P. , Le Guen K. , Gamblin G. , Rouvellou B.
Published: July 2008

Al/Ni multi‐layers, deposited by magnetron sputtering at room temperature have been studied by complementary techniques; XPS, sputter depth profiling, electron‐induced X‐ray emission spectroscopy (XES) and X‐ray diffraction (XRD). XPS depth profile technique evidenced an atomic diffusion dominated by Ni atoms. Moreover, the Ni diffusion results in the formation of an amorphous phase with a stoichiometry close to the Al3Ni aluminide. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Simultaneous study of interfacial tension, surface tension, and viscosity of few surfactant solutions with survismeter
Authors: Singh Man
Published: July 2008

Surfaces and interfaces are receptive valuable significant property of chemical molecules due to their potential to develop several phenomena in a self‐controlled mechanism. Science of surfaces is vast and is being used industrially since time immemorial. Their accurate and simultaneous estimation is necessary; therefore, the survismeter was used for measuring them along with viscosity. Individually tensiometers, X‐ray reflective microscope, and viscometers are used for surface tension, interfacial tension, and viscosity, respectively. These devices are sophisticated, expensive, and individually consume much time and resources with poor reproducibility in measurements. Survismeter is an alternative device for similar measurements together with higher accuracies and reproducibility. It works on a principle of capillary flow and pressure gradient (PG) inside liquid‐holding and air‐filled bulbs. Several liquids have been used for study with ± 0.01 mN/m, ± 0.01 mN/m and ± 1 × 10−5 N s/m2 accuracies in respective data. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Study on imidazolium‐based ionic liquids with scanning atom probe and Knudsen effusion mass spectrometry
Authors: Tolstogouzov A. , Bardi U. , Nishikawa O. , Taniguchi M.
Published: July 2008

Scanning atom probe (SAP) and Knudsen effusion mass spectrometry (KEMS) were used to investigate several imidazolium‐based ionic liquids (ILs) of the form [R][Tf2N], where [R] can be one of the three cations—[emim], [bmim], and [hmim], and [Tf2N] is the anion of N(SO2CF3)2. In the case of SAP, it was found that only a cupola‐shaped tip allows measuring the proper mass spectra. The dominant peak at m/q of 69 was identified mainly with CF3+ ions generated via decomposition of the [Tf2N] anions. Neither parent molecular ions nor intact anions were detected in our experiments with both techniques applied. At the same time, the peaks of the complete cations were found to be the most intense mass species via thermal evaporation of ILs. It is very likely that in KEMS the fragmentation of evaporated molecules occurred under the electron impact (EI) ionization while in the SAP experiments ILs dissociated into the fragments directly during the pulsed field evaporation/ionization. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Coronary heart disease and depression: getting evidence into clinical practice
Authors: Reddy Prasuna , Dunbar James A , Morgan Mark A J , O'Neil Adrienne
Published: July 2008

Clinical guidelines based on systematic reviews of the evidence recommend identification and treatment of patients with coronary heart disease and depression. The evidence shows that depression is an independent risk factor for heart disease, and when present after an acute coronary event, is a predictor of poor prognosis. This paper will describe our experience of getting that evidence into practice using change management based on mapping the processes of the patient's journey through the healthcare system. This allowed identification of the points in the journey where screening and intervention could take place. Cardiac rehabilitation is the intervention point for acute presentation, and primary care has the role in long term follow up of risk factors including depression. Overall, comorbid depression is best managed within a system of collaborative care based on chronic disease management principles. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Psychometric evaluation of perceived stress scale for Turkish university students
Authors: Örücü Müge Çelik , Demir Ayhan
Published: July 2008

The purpose of the study was to investigate the applicability of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) to a Turkish sample. PSS (Cohen, Kamarck, & Mermelstein, 1983) is a general appraisal instrument that measures the degree to which situations in one's life are appraised as stressful. Five hundred and eight freshman students at the Middle East Technical University at the age of 16–29 filled in the Turkish translation of the PSS. The alpha coefficient for the Turkish version of PSS was found as 0.84, and PSS correlated 0.61 with the General Health Questionnaire. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of the PSS showed that the scale consisted of two factors: Perceived Helplessness factor and Perceived Self‐efficacy. In general, the data indicated that the PSS provides a reliable and valid measure of perceived stress for a Turkish sample. The findings provide useful information for researchers and practitioners wishing to adapt foreign psychological tests to different cultures, especially in relation to the assessment of university students. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Correlates of language impairment in children with galactosaemia
Authors: Potter N. L. , Lazarus J.‐A. C. , Johnson J. M. , Steiner R. D. , Shriberg L. D.
Published: July 2008

Purpose

This study describes risk factors associated with language impairment in children with classic galactosaemia.

Method

Thirty‐three 4–16‐year‐old participants with classic galactosaemia and a history of speech sound disorders completed a battery of cognitive and language measures and their parents completed a family history questionnaire.

Results

Nine of the sixteen (56%) participants with typical cognitive development and 15 of the 17 (88%) with borderline‐low cognitive development had language impairments. Participants with typical cognitive development more often had an expressive language disorder, whereas those with borderline‐low cognitive development more often had a mixed receptive‐expressive language disorder. Participants with Q188R/Q188R genotypes had increased risk for both cognitive and language impairments. The IQs of younger siblings who did not consume milk postnatally were 10–56 points higher than the IQs of their older siblings with galactosaemia who had consumed milk postnatally. However, 4 of 5 younger siblings who were lactose‐restricted from birth had language impairments. Typically‐reported risk factors for language disorder, including parental history of speech/learning problems and low parental education level, were not significantly associated with cognitive or language impairments in the present sample of children with galactosaemia.

Conclusions

Children with galactosaemia and speech disorders have a 4–6 times greater risk for language impairment than children with early speech disorders of unknown origin. Early dietary lactose may increase the risk for cognitive and language impairments; however, the lack of significant associations of language impairment with days of milk consumption, and other familial and educational risk factors, is consistent with prenatal causation.
Ceramide inhibits CCN2 expression in fibroblasts
Authors: Kennedy Laura , Parapuram Sunil , Greenspoon Jill , Leask Andrew
Published: July 2008

Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF, CCN2) is induced in response to TGFβ in fibroblasts. In this report, we show that C2 ceramide reduced the ability of TGFβ to induce CCN2 protein, mRNA and promoter activity in fibroblasts. C2 ceramide reduced the ability of TGFβ to induce the generic Smad responsive promoter/reporter construct SBE‐luciferase. These results suggest that C2 ceramide reduces the action of TGFβ in fibroblasts via Smad antagonism.
“Each for All and All for Each”: The Liberal Statesmanship of Frederick Douglass
Authors: Buccola Nicholas
Published: July 2008

Most scholars agree that Frederick Douglass was a liberal—he was committed to individual rights, toleration, limited government, and self-reliance. Wilson Carey McWilliams deviated from this view by suggesting that Douglass's experience as a slave led him to appreciate human interdependence and reject liberalism in favor of fraternal communitarianism. In this essay, Douglass's response to the problem of slavery is examined in order to demonstrate that both the liberal and the fraternal readings are correct. Douglass's aims were undoubtedly liberal, but he thought these aims could only be realized in a community of individuals who felt strong obligations to one another. As a statesman, Douglass was confronted with the challenge of convincing free people that they ought to care about those who are enslaved. My aim here is to explore how he met that challenge and with what consequences for how we think about liberal statesmanship.
Editorial
Authors: Bayro-Corrochano Eduardo
Published: July 2008

Robotic sensing is a relatively new field of activity compared with the design and control of robot mechanisms. In both areas the role of geometry is natural and necessary for the development of devices, their control and use in challenging environments. At the very beginning odometry, tactile and touch sensors dominated robot sensing. More recently, due to the fall in the price of laser devices, they have become more attractive to the community. On the other hand, progress in photogrametry, particularly during the nineties as the n-view geometry in projective geometry matured, boot-strapped the use of computer vision as an extra powerful sensor technique for robot guidance. Cameras were used in monocular or stereoscopic fashion, catadioptric systems for ominidirectional vision, fish-eye cameras and camera networks made the use of computer vision even more diverse. Researchers started to combine sensors for 2D and 3D sensing by fusing sensor data in a projective framework. Thanks to the continuous progress in mechatronics, the low prices of fast computers and increasing accuracy of sensor systems, one can build a robot to perceive its surroundings, reconstruct, plan and ultimately act intelligently. In these perception-action systems there is of course, the urgent need for a geometric stochastic framework to deal with uncertainty in the sensing, planning and action in a robust manner. Here geometry can play a central role for the representation and computing in higher dimensions using projective geometry and differential geometry on Lie groups manifolds with a pseudo Euclidean metric. Let us review briefly the developments towards modern geometry that have been often overlooked by the robotic researchers and practitioners.
Do we need the ‘archaeology of Europe’?
Authors: Kristiansen Kristian
Published: July 2008

Is there anything coherently ‘European’ about a European archaeology – or rather, about the ‘archaeology of Europe’ – or is it simply a modern political construct with no meaning in the ancient past? This paper analyses European archaeology through a historical perspective, tracing developments in the areas of archaeological conservation (heritage), thinking (theory/interpretations) and publication and teaching. It critically examines a perceived trend in archaeology from a national towards a European framework, and concludes instead that local and regional frameworks have become stronger in all three areas. To move forward, we should use our understanding of the relationship between ideology, politics and archaeology to promote a research agenda that actively contributes to the formation of critical knowledge about the conditions for heritage and research in contemporary society. There is scope for an archaeology that addresses fundamental historical problems and long-term histories of the various geographically and culturally interlinked regions of Europe.
Europe and its ‘Kossinna Province’
Authors: Ascherson Neal
Published: July 2008

This is an admirable, valuable piece of thinking and conceptualizing, but cramped – in my view – by the geographical boundaries which Kristiansen has set around his subject.
Can the ‘archaeology of Europe’ survive postprocessual euroscepticism?
Authors: O'Keeffe Tadhg
Published: July 2008

In the title of his paper Professor Kristiansen poses a question that turns out to be affirmatively rhetorical. One could surely be forgiven for reading the title and thinking that this eminent European and europeanist prehistorian had lobbed his own grenade of doubt into a discipline which, despite occasional protestations, has long assumed Europe to be a real place, a legitimate geographical context. In truth, it is not really a surprise that Professor Kristiansen asserts that we need to be more European, not less, in our thinking, but what is a surprise (to me, anyway) is the pathway he lays down towards that conclusion. His observations about the relationship between heritage/conservation issues on the one hand, and the shift from positivism to postprocessualism in archaeological theory on the other, are certainly thought-provoking, as are the results of his survey of linguistic and citation trends in recent archaeological literature, but have they a natural home in this particular argument? If yes, is his argument in favour of a greater ‘European-ness’ of enquiry the natural outcome of invoking them?
How are we Europeans? At the crossroads of discourse and practice
Authors: Sørensen Marie Louise Stig
Published: July 2008

At the Round Table discussion in Zadar different understandings of what the phrase ‘a European archaeology/an archaeology of Europe’ stands for were brought to the table, so to speak. Several nuances may be discerned, and within these there were differences that could lead to substantially different claims. The proposition may thus refer to the question of whether a European archaeology as a distinct practice of interpretation (and presentation) exists – in essence this is an epistemological question: do we think and argue in a distinctly European way? The phrase was simultaneously used to refer to whether there is an archaeology of Europe solely based on it being a geographical region; Philip Kohl's response to the precirculated paper by Kristian Kristiansen was largely concerned with the legitimacy of this claim. Finally, another important point of departure was whether the claim was seen to refer to coherence in terms of prehistoric cultures, i.e. is the ‘European’ in our work a direct response to characteristics and qualities of the past that we study? Surely these understandings overlap and fuse but it is nonetheless important to appreciate that the proposition under debate may be understood to refer to different matters.
ENERGY OF GLOBAL FRAMES
Authors: BRITO FABIANO G. B. , CHACÓN PABLO M.
Published: July 2008

The energy of a unit vector field X on a closed Riemannian manifold M is defined as the energy of the section into T1M determined by X. For odd-dimensional spheres, the energy functional has an infimum for each dimension 2k+1 which is not attained by any non-singular vector field for k>1. For k=1, Hopf vector fields are the unique minima. In this paper we show that for any closed Riemannian manifold, the energy of a frame defined on the manifold, possibly except on a finite subset, admits a lower bound in terms of the total scalar curvature of the manifold. In particular, for odd-dimensional spheres this lower bound is attained by a family of frames defined on the sphere minus one point and consisting of vector fields parallel along geodesics.
TRANSVERSAL HARMONIC THEORY FOR TRANSVERSALLY SYMPLECTIC FLOWS
Authors: PAK HONG KYUNG
Published: July 2008

We develop the transversal harmonic theory for a transversally symplectic flow on a manifold and establish the transversal hard Lefschetz theorem. Our main results extend the cases for a contact manifold (H. Kitahara and H. K. Pak, ‘A note on harmonic forms on a compact manifold’, Kyungpook Math. J.43 (2003), 1–10) and for an almost cosymplectic manifold (R. Ibanez, ‘Harmonic cohomology classes of almost cosymplectic manifolds’, Michigan Math. J.44 (1997), 183–199). For the point foliation these are the results obtained by Brylinski (‘A differential complex for Poisson manifold’, J. Differential Geom.28 (1988), 93–114), Haller (‘Harmonic cohomology of symplectic manifolds’, Adv. Math.180 (2003), 87–103), Mathieu (‘Harmonic cohomology classes of symplectic manifolds’, Comment. Math. Helv.70 (1995), 1–9) and Yan (‘Hodge structure on symplectic manifolds’, Adv. Math.120 (1996), 143–154).
THE SPECTRAL TYPE OF SUMS OF OPERATORS ON NON-HILBERTIAN BANACH LATTICES
Authors: DOUST IAN , LANCIEN GILLES
Published: July 2008

T. A. Gillespie showed that on a Hilbert space the sum of a well-bounded operator and a commuting real scalar-type spectral operator is well-bounded. A longstanding question asked whether this might still hold true for operators on Lp spaces for $1\less p\less \infty $. We show here that this conjecture is false. Indeed for a large class of reflexive spaces, the above property characterizes Hilbert space.
REGULARITY OF A PARABOLIC EQUATION SOLUTION IN A NONSMOOTH AND UNBOUNDED DOMAIN
Authors: SADALLAH BOUBAKER-KHALED
Published: July 2008

This work is concerned with the problemposed in the domainwhich is not necessary rectangular, and withOur goal is to find some conditions on the coefficientcand the functions ( φi)i=1,2such that the solution of this problem belongs to the Sobolev space
THREE-FORMS AND ALMOST COMPLEX STRUCTURES ON SIX-DIMENSIONAL MANIFOLDS
Authors: PANÁK MARTIN , VANŽURA JIŘÍ
Published: July 2008

This paper deals with 3-forms on six-dimensional manifolds, the first dimension where the classification of 3-forms is not trivial. It includes three classes of multisymplectic 3-forms. We study the class which is closely related to almost complex structures.
WAR, SOLDIER AND NATION IN 1950s JAPAN
Authors: Wilson Sandra
Published: July 2008

The 1950s in Japan are usually considered to be marked by pacifism or a “victim consciousness” related to World War II, together with a rejection of war and of the military. Yet attention to the popular press and other sources designed to reflect and appeal to a mass audience, rather than magazines carrying debates among intellectuals, shows that throughout the 1950s the recent war was a much more dynamic issue than typically has been recognized, and that former soldiers were far from universally reviled. Connections with the war, in turn, remained an integral part of the evolving sense of nation in Japan. This article examines the vitality of the war as a major and direct theme in political, social and cultural discourse in the 1950s, focusing on soldiers' involvement in politics, issues relating to Class B and C war criminals, films about the war, and the emergence of a new cultural hero in the form of Kaji, the soldier who is the central figure in the novel and film The Human Condition.