bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Consistency of Merger Decisions at the South African Competition Commission
Authors: Grimbeek Sunel , Koch Steve , Grimbeek Richard 
Published: June 2013

AbstractThe South African Competition Commission's merger decisions for fiscal year (FY) 2002 through FY2009 are analysed to empirically identify the factors historically influencing prohibition, conditional approval and unconditional approval, as well as the factors historically influencing whether merger applications are deemed non‐complex, complex or very complex. The focus of the analysis is on whether or not the historical process has remained consistent through time, and whether or not that process can be obviously linked to the provisions of the 1998 Competition Act. Initial results point to behaviour that is not consistent over the time period considered; however, those inconsistencies are removed, once additional measures of market contestibility, associated with the 1998 Competition Act are included in the analysis. The final results suggest that the commission is less likely to approve mergers that they link to markets that are less contestable. In addition to protecting competition, the commission is simultaneously protecting other public interests. Therefore, our research supports the hypothesis that the commission consistently applies its legislative remit.
Internal Migration of Blacks in South Africa: An Application of the Roy Model
Authors: Choe Chung , Chrite E. LaBrent 
Published: June 2013

AbstractThis study investigates the internal migration of black males in South Africa over the period after the formal end of Apartheid using the 1996 census data. The two issues of our primary interests are the following: (i) whether migration patterns of black individuals are consistent with the income‐maximising hypothesis as related to the destination choice; and (ii) whether the redistribution of human capital is detected in internal migration. The results from conditional logit regressions on choices among individuals in 318 districts show that individuals prefer districts with higher expected wages, conditional on other regional characteristics. In addition, there exist differing preferences on the share of population with post‐secondary education by individuals with commensurate educational attainments. Black individuals with post‐secondary education tend to migrate into areas with a higher share of population with post‐secondary education and vice versa, which confirms the divergence of human capital levels across districts.
Leucogranite intruding the South Tibetan Detachment in western Nepal: implications for exhumation models in the Himalayas
Authors: Carosi Rodolfo , Montomoli Chiara , Rubatto Daniela , Visonà Dario 
Published: June 2013

AbstractThe most popular models regarding the exhumation of the Greater Himalayan Sequence (GHS), such as extrusion, channel flow, critical taper and wedge extrusion, require prolonged activity of the two bounding shear zones and faults, the Main Central Thrust (MCT) and the South Tibetan Detachment (STD). We present the crystallization age of an undeformed leucogranite that intrudes both the GHS and the Tethyan Himalaya Sequence (THS). Zircon and monazite U‐Pb ages in the leucogranite give ages between 23 and 25 Ma constraining, at that time, the end of shearing along the STD. Our results limit the contemporaneous activity of the MCT and STD to a short period of time (~1–2 Ma) and thus argue against exhumation models requiring prolonged contemporaneous activity of the MCT and STD.
Rational points on singular intersections of quadrics
Authors: Browning T. D. , Munshi R. 
Published: June 2013

AbstractGiven an intersection of two quadrics $X\subset { \mathbb{P} }^{m- 1} $, with $m\geq 9$, the quantitative arithmetic of the set $X( \mathbb{Q} )$ is investigated under the assumption that the singular locus of $X$ consists of a pair of conjugate singular points defined over $ \mathbb{Q} (i)$.
An algorithm to calculate a collapsed arc dose matrix in volumetric modulated arc therapy
Authors: Arumugam Sankar , Xing Aitang , Jameson Michael , Holloway Lois 
Published: June 2013

Purpose:The delivery of volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) is more complex than other conformal radiotherapy techniques. In this work, the authors present the feasibility of performing routine verification of VMAT delivery using a dose matrix measured by a gantry mounted 2D ion chamber array and corresponding dose matrix calculated by an inhouse developed algorithm.Methods:Pinnacle, v9.0, treatment planning system (TPS) was used in this study to generate VMAT plans for a 6 MV photon beam from an Elekta‐Synergy linear accelerator. An algorithm was developed and implemented with inhouse computer code to calculate the dose matrix resulting from a VMAT arc in a plane perpendicular to the beam at isocenter. The algorithm was validated using measurement of standard patterns and clinical VMAT plans with a 2D ion chamber array. The clinical VMAT plans were also validated using ArcCHECK measurements. The measured and calculated dose matrices were compared using gamma (γ) analysis with 3%/3 mm criteria and γ tolerance of 1.Results:The dose matrix comparison of standard patterns has shown excellent agreement with the meanγ pass rate 97.7 (σ = 0.4)%. The validation of clinical VMAT plans using the dose matrix predicted by the algorithm and the corresponding measured dose matrices also showed good agreement with the mean γ pass rate of 97.6 (σ = 1.6)%. The validation of clinical VMAT plans using ArcCHECK measurements showed a mean pass rate of 95.6 (σ = 1.8)%.Conclusions:The developed algorithm was shown to accurately predict the dose matrix, in a plane perpendicular to the beam, by considering all possible leaf trajectories in a VMAT delivery. This enables the verification of VMAT delivery using a 2D array detector mounted on a treatment head.
Tissue segmentation of head and neck CT images for treatment planning: A multiatlas approach combined with intensity modeling
Authors: Fortunati Valerio , Verhaart René F. , van der Lijn Fedde , Niessen Wiro J. , Veenland Jifke F. , Paulides Margarethus M. , van Walsum Theo 
Published: June 2013

Purpose:Hyperthermia treatment of head and neck tumors requires accurate treatment planning, based on 3D patient models that are derived from segmented 3D images. These segmentations are currently obtained by manual outlining of the relevant tissue regions, which is a tedious and time‐consuming procedure (∼8 h) limiting the clinical applicability of hyperthermia treatment. In this context, the authors present and evaluate an automatic segmentation algorithm for CT images of the head and neck.Methods:The proposed method combines anatomical information, based on atlas registration, with local intensity information in a graph cut framework. The method is evaluated with respect to ground truth manual delineation and compared with multiatlas‐based segmentation on a dataset of 18 labeled CT images using the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), the mean surface distance (MSD), and the Hausdorff surface distance (HSD) as evaluation measures. On a subset of 13 labeled images, the influence of different labelers on the method's accuracy is quantified and compared with the interobserver variability.Results:For the DSC, the proposed method performs significantly better for the segmentation of all the tissues, except brain stem and spinal cord. The MSD shows a significant improvement for optical nerve, eye vitreous humor, lens, and thyroid. For the HSD, the proposed method performs significantly better for eye vitreous humor and brainstem. The proposed method has a significantly better score for DSC, MSD, and HSD than the multiatlas‐based method for the eye vitreous humor. For the majority of the tissues (8/11) the segmentation accuracy of the proposed method is approaching the interobserver agreement. The authors' method showed better robustness to variations in atlas labeling compared with multiatlas segmentation. Moreover, the method improved the segmentation reproducibility compared with human observer's segmentations.Conclusions:In conclusion, the proposed framework provides in an accurate automatic segmentation of head and neck tissues in CT images for the generation of 3D patient models, which improves reproducibility, and substantially reduces labor involved in therapy planning.
The Us2 Gene Product of Herpes Simplex Virus 2 Is a Membrane-Associated Ubiquitin-Interacting Protein
Authors: Kang Ming-Hsi , Roy Bibhuti B. , Finnen Renée L. , Le Sage Valerie , Johnston Susan M. , Zhang Hui , Banfield Bruce W. 
Published: June 2013

ABSTRACT

The
Us2
gene encodes a tegument protein that is conserved in most members of the
Alphaherpesvirinae
. Previous studies on the pseudorabies virus (PRV) Us2 ortholog indicated that it is prenylated, associates with membranes, and spatially regulates the enzymatic activity of the MAP (mitogen-activated protein) kinase ERK (extracellular signal-related kinase) through direct binding and sequestration of ERK at the cytoplasmic face of the plasma membrane. Here we present an analysis of the herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) Us2 ortholog and demonstrate that, like PRV Us2, HSV-2 Us2 is a virion component and that, unlike PRV Us2, it does not interact with ERK in yeast two-hybrid assays. HSV-2 Us2 lacks prenylation signals and other canonical membrane-targeting motifs yet is tightly associated with detergent-insoluble membranes and localizes predominantly to recycling endosomes. Experiments to identify cellular proteins that facilitate HSV-2 Us2 membrane association were inconclusive; however, these studies led to the identification of HSV-2 Us2 as a ubiquitin-interacting protein, providing new insight into the functions of HSV-2 Us2.
Human Papillomavirus Type 58 Genome Variations and RNA Expression in Cervical Lesions
Authors: Li Yang , Wang Xiaohong , Ni Ting , Wang Fenfen , Lu Weiguo , Zhu Jun , Xie Xing , Zheng Zhi-Ming 
Published: June 2013

ABSTRACT
Human papillomavirus type 58 (HPV58) is relatively prevalent in China and other Asian countries. In this study, the HPV58 genome in cervical lesions was decoded from five grade 2 or 3 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia lesion (CIN2/3) samples and five cervical cancer tissues using rolling-circle amplification of total cell DNA and deep sequencing and verified by whole-genome cloning and sequencing. HPV58 isolates from China feature a total of 52 nucleotide substitutions (0.66%) from the reference HPV58 sequence, which appear mainly in two regions, with 12 from nucleotides (nt) 3430 to 4136 covering the E2/E4/E5 open reading frames (ORFs) and 13 from nt 4621 to 5540 covering the L2 ORF; these could be grouped as HPV58 Chinese Zhejiang-1, -2, and -3 (CNZJ-1, -2, and -3) according to their sequence similarities and restriction enzyme digestion. Phylogenetically, CNZJ-3 is similar to the reference HPV58 sublineage A1 sequence. The other two are close to sublineage A2. Analysis of cervical lesion-derived RNA revealed abundant HPV58 early transcripts spliced at the E6 and E1/E2 ORFs, where two 5′ splice sites at nt 232 and nt 898 and two 3′ splice sites at nt 510 and nt 3355 can be identified. Thus, our study represents the first genome-wide analysis of HPV58 and its expression in cervical lesions.
The Receptor Binding Domain of the New Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Maps to a 231-Residue Region in the Spike Protein That Efficiently Elicits Neutralizing Antibodies
Authors: Mou Huihui , Raj V. Stalin , van Kuppeveld Frank J. M. , Rottier Peter J. M. , Haagmans Bart L. , Bosch Berend Jan 
Published: June 2013

ABSTRACT
The spike (S) protein of the recently emerged human Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) mediates infection by binding to the cellular receptor dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4). Here we mapped the receptor binding domain in the S protein to a 231-amino-acid fragment (residues 358 to 588) by evaluating the interaction of spike truncation variants with receptor-expressing cells and soluble DPP4. Antibodies to this domain—much less so those to the preceding N-terminal region—efficiently neutralize MERS-CoV infection.
Primary Human Leukocyte Subsets Differentially Express Vaccinia Virus Receptors Enriched in Lipid Rafts
Authors: Byrd Daniel , Amet Tohti , Hu Ningjie , Lan Jie , Hu Sishun , Yu Qigui 
Published: June 2013

ABSTRACTPoxviruses, including vaccinia virus (VV) and canarypox virus (ALVAC), do not indiscriminately infect all cell types of the primary human leukocytes (PHLs) that they encounter but instead demonstrate an extremely strong bias toward infection of monocytes and monocyte lineage cells. We studied the specific molecular events that determine the VV tropism for major PHL subsets including monocytes, B cells, neutrophils, NK cells, and T cells. We found that VV exhibited an extremely strong bias of cell surface protein-dependent binding to monocytes, B cells, and activated T cells to a similar degree and to neutrophils to a much lesser extent. Resting T cells and resting NK cells exhibited only trace amounts of VV binding. Activated T cells, however, became permissive to VV binding, infection, and replication, while activated NK cells still resisted VV binding. VV binding strongly colocalized with lipid rafts on the surfaces of all VV binding-susceptible PHL subsets, even when lipid rafts were relocated to cell uropods upon cell polarization. Immunosera raised against detergent-resistant membranes (DRMs) from monocytes or activated T cells, but not resting T cells, effectively cross-blocked VV binding to and infection of PHL subsets. CD29 and CD98, two lipid raft-associated membrane proteins that had been found to be important for VV entry into HeLa cells, had no effect on VV binding to and infection of primary activated T cells. Our data indicate that PHL subsets express VV protein receptors enriched in lipid rafts and that receptors are cross-presented on all susceptible PHLs.
Roles of p53 in Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Replication
Authors: Maruzuru Yuhei , Fujii Hikaru , Oyama Masaaki , Kozuka-Hata Hiroko , Kato Akihisa , Kawaguchi Yasushi 
Published: June 2013

ABSTRACT

p53 is a critical factor in the cellular response to a broad range of stress factors through its ability to regulate various cellular pathways. In this study, tandem affinity purification of transiently expressed herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) regulatory protein ICP22 coupled with mass spectrometry-based proteomics technology and subsequent analyses showed that ICP22 interacted with p53 in HSV-1-infected cells. In p53
−/−
cells, replication of wild-type HSV-1 was reduced compared to that in parental p53
+/+
cells, indicating that p53 had a positive effect on HSV-1 replication. In contrast, the levels of viral replication of an ICP22-null mutant virus were similar in both p53
−/−
and p53
+/+
cells. At 2 h postinfection, the level of expression of ICP27, an essential viral regulatory protein, in p53
−/−
cells infected with wild-type HSV-1 or the ICP22-null mutant virus was lower than in p53
+/+
cells. In contrast, at 18 h postinfection, the level of expression of ICP0, a critical viral regulatory protein, in p53
−/−
cells infected with the ICP22-null mutant virus was higher than in p53
+/+
cells, although the levels of ICP0 expression in p53
−/−
and p53
+/+
cells infected with wild-type HSV-1 were almost identical. These results suggested that p53 overall promoted HSV-1 replication and that p53 played both positive and negative roles in HSV-1 replication: upregulating ICP27 expression very early in infection and downregulating ICP0 expression later in infection, which was antagonized by ICP22.
The effect of dabigatran on the activated partial thromboplastin time and thrombin time as determined by the Hemoclot thrombin inhibitor assay in patient plasma samples
Authors: Butler Jenny , Malan Erica , Chunilal Sanjeev , Tran Huyen , Hapgood Greg 
Published: June 2013

SummaryDabigatran is an oral direct thrombin inhibitor that does not require routine laboratory monitoring. However, an assessment of its anticoagulant effect in certain clinical settings is desirable. We examined the relationship between dabigatran levels, as determined by the Hemoclot thrombin inhibitor assay (HTI), the thrombin time (TT) and the activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) using different reagents. We describe these parameters with the clinical outcomes of patients receiving dabigatran. Seventy-five plasma samples from 47 patients were analysed. The HTI assay was established to measure dabigatran level. aPTTs were performed using TriniCLOT aPTT S reagent (TC) and three additional aPTT reagents. From linear regression lines, we established the aPTT ranges corresponding to the therapeutic drug levels for dabigatran (90–180 ng/ml). The aPTT demonstrated a modest correlation with the dabigatran level (r= 0.80) but the correlation became less reliable at higher dabigatran levels. The therapeutic aPTT ranges for reagents were clinically and statistically different compared with our reference reagent (46–54 s (TC) vs 51–60 s (SP), 54–64 s (SS) and 61–71 s (Actin FS) (p<0.05)). The TT was sensitive to the presence of dabigatran with a level of 60 ng/ml resulting in a TT > 300 s. In conclusion, the aPTT demonstrated a modest correlation with the dabigatran level and was less responsive with supra-therapeutic levels. aPTT reagents differed in their responsiveness, suggesting individual laboratories must determine their own therapeutic range for their aPTT reagent. The TT is too sensitive to quantify dabigatran levels, but a normal TT suggests minimal or no plasma dabigatran.
A New Risk Scheme to Predict Ischemic Stroke and Other Thromboembolism in Atrial Fibrillation: The ATRIA Study Stroke Risk Score
Authors: Singer Daniel E. , Chang Yuchiao , Borowsky Leila H. , Fang Margaret C. , Pomernacki Niela K. , Udaltsova Natalia , Reynolds Kristi , Go Alan S. 
Published: June 2013

Background

More accurate and reliable stroke risk prediction tools are needed to optimize anticoagulation decision making in patients with atrial fibrillation (
AF
). We developed a new
AF
stroke prediction model using the original
A
nticoagulation and
R
isk
F
actors in
A
trial
F
ibrillation (
ATRIA
)
AF
cohort and externally validated the score in a separate, contemporary, community‐based inception
AF
cohort,
ATRIA
–
C
ardiovascular
R
esearch
N
etwork (
CVRN
) cohort.

Methods and Results

The derivation
ATRIA
cohort consisted of 10 927 patients with nonvalvular
AF
contributing 32 609 person‐years off warfarin and 685 thromboembolic events (
TE
s). The external validation
ATRIA
‐
CVRN
cohort included 25 306
AF
patients contributing 26 263 person‐years off warfarin and 496
TE
s. Cox models identified 8 variables, age, prior stroke, female sex, diabetes mellitus, heart failure, hypertension, proteinuria, and
eGFR
<45 mL/min per 1.73 m
2
or end‐stage renal disease, plus an age×prior stroke interaction term for the final model. Point scores were assigned proportional to model coefficients. The c‐index in the
ATRIA
cohort was 0.73 (95%
CI
, 0.71 to 0.75), increasing to 0.76 (95%
CI
, 0.74 to 0.79) when only severe events were considered. In the
ATRIA
‐
CVRN
, c‐indexes were 0.70 (95%
CI
, 0.67 to 0.72) and 0.75 (95%
CI
, 0.72 to 0.78) for all events and severe events, respectively. The C‐index was greater and net reclassification improvement positive comparing the
ATRIA
score with the
CHADS
2
or CHA
2
DS
2
‐VASc scores.

Conclusions

The
ATRIA
stroke risk score performed better than existing risk scores, was validated successfully, and showed improvement in predicting severe events, which is of greatest concern. The
ATRIA
score should improve the antithrombotic decision for patients with
AF
and should provide a secure foundation for the addition of biomarkers in future prognostic models.
Nuns fret not…
Authors: Kovitz Kasper 
Published: June 2013

Abstract
Nun's Fret Not is a photomontage project that tells the story of a nun who, following an epiphany, embarks with her convent on becoming a “missionary artist” through a study-by-mail artist's course, and her subsequent disillusionment. A continuation of the work begun in icehouse in 2010, it re-contextualizes Kovitz's previous art work into a meta-narrative that examines recurrent themes in his art practice: artist and audience, success and obscurity, art market and art education, dominant cultures and subcultures. All characters in this project share the same face– the face of Litmus– an alter ego Kovitz made for his work based on an FBI shooting target. In the next installment of this project the nun will undergo a sex change and become a capitalist…
An in vitro model of Mycobacterium lepraeinduced granuloma formation
Authors: Wang Hongsheng , Maeda Yumi , Fukutomi Yasuo , Makino Masahiko 
Published: June 2013

AbstractBackgroundLeprosy is a contagious and chronic systemic granulomatous disease caused byMycobacterium leprae. In the pathogenesis of leprosy, granulomas play a key role, however, the mechanisms of the formation and maintenance ofM. lepraegranulomas are still not clearly understood.MethodsTo better understand the molecular physiology ofM. lepraegranulomas and the interaction between the bacilli and human host cells, we developed anin vitromodel of human granulomas, which mimicked the in vivo granulomas of leprosy. Macrophages were differentiated from human monocytes, and infected withM. leprae, and then cultured with autologous human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs).ResultsRobust granuloma-like aggregates were obtained only when theM. lepraeinfected macrophages were co-cultured with PBMCs. Histological examination showedM. lepraewithin the cytoplasmic center of the multinucleated giant cells, and these bacilli were metabolically active. Macrophages of both M1 and M2 types co-existed in the granuloma like aggregates. There was a strong relationship between the formation of granulomas and changes in the expression levels of cell surface antigens on macrophages, cytokine production and the macrophage polarization. The viability ofM. lepraeisolated from granulomas indicated that the formation of host cell aggregates benefited the host, but the bacilli also remained metabolically active.ConclusionsA simplein vitromodel of humanM. lepraegranulomas was established using human monocyte-derived macrophages and PBMCs. This system may be useful to unravel the mechanisms of disease progression, and subsequently develop methods to control leprosy.