bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Mitogen activated protein kinase kinase kinase 3 (MAP3K3/MEKK3) overexpression is an early event in esophageal tumorigenesis and is a predictor of poor disease prognosis
Authors: Hasan Raghibul , Sharma Rinu , Saraya Anoop , Chattopadhyay Tushar K , DattaGupta Siddartha , Walfish Paul G , Chauhan Shyam S , Ralhan Ranju 
Published: January 2014

Abstract

Background
Mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase3 (MAP3K3/MEKK3) was identified to be differentially expressed in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) using cDNA microarrays by our laboratory. Here in we determined the clinical significance of MEKK3 in ESCC.

Methods
Immunohistochemical analysis of MEKK3 expression was carried out in archived tissue sections from 93 ESCCs, 47 histologically normal and 61 dysplastic esophageal tissues and correlated with clinicopathological parameters and disease prognosis over up to 7.5 years for ESCC patients.

Results
MEKK3 expression was significantly increased in esophageal dysplasia and ESCC in comparison with normal mucosa (ptrend < 0.001). Kaplan Meier survival analysis showed significantly reduced median disease free survival median DFS = 10 months in patients with MEKK3 positive ESCCs compared to patients with no immunopositivity (median DFS = 19 months, p = 0.04). ESCC patients with MEKK3 positive and lymph node positive tumors had median DFS = 9 months, as compared to median DFS = 21 months in patients who did not show the alterations (p = 0.01). In multivariate Cox regression analysis, combination of MEKK3 overexpression and node positivity [p = 0.015, hazard ratio (HR) = 2.082, 95% CI = 1.154 - 3.756] emerged as important predictor of reduced disease free survival and poor prognosticator for ESCC patients.

Conclusions
Alterations in MEKK3 expression occur in early stages of development of ESCC and are sustained during disease progression; MEKK3 in combination with lymph node positivity has the potential to serve as adverse prognosticator in ESCC.
A review of life expectancy and infant mortality estimations for Australian Aboriginal people
Authors: Phillips Bronwen , Morrell Stephen , Taylor Richard , Daniels John 
Published: January 2014

Abstract

Background
Significant variation exists in published Aboriginal mortality and life expectancy (LE) estimates due to differing and evolving methodologies required to correct for inadequate recording of Aboriginality in death data, under-counting of Aboriginal people in population censuses, and unexplained growth in the Aboriginal population attributed to changes in the propensity of individuals to identify as Aboriginal at population censuses.
The objective of this paper is to analyse variation in reported Australian Aboriginal mortality in terms of LE and infant mortality rates (IMR), compared with all Australians.

Methods
Published data for Aboriginal LE and IMR were obtained and analysed for data quality and method of estimation. Trends in reported LE and IMR estimates were assessed and compared with those in the entire Australian population.

Results
LE estimates derived from different methodologies vary by as much as 7.2 years for the same comparison period. Indirect methods for estimating Aboriginal LE have produced LE estimates sensitive to small changes in underlying assumptions, some of which are subject to circular reasoning. Most indirect methods appear to under-estimate Aboriginal LE. Estimated LE gaps between Aboriginal people and the overall Australian population have varied between 11 and 20 years.
Latest mortality estimates, based on linking census and death data, are likely to over-estimate Aboriginal LE.
Temporal LE changes by each methodology indicate that Aboriginal LE has improved at rates similar to the Australian population overall. Consequently the gap in LE between Aboriginal people and the total Australian population appears to be unchanged since the early 1980s, and at the end of the first decade of the 21st century remains at least 11–12 years.
In contrast, focussing on the 1990–2010 period Aboriginal IMR declined steeply over 2001–08, from more than 12 to around 8 deaths per 1,000 live births, the same level as Australia overall in 1993–95. The IMR gap between Aboriginal people and the total Australian population, while still unacceptable, has declined considerably, from over 8 before 2000 to around 4 per 1,000 live births by 2008.

Conclusions
Regardless of estimation method used, mortality and LE gaps between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people are substantial, but remain difficult to estimate accurately.
The structure of fractional spaces generated by a two-dimensional elliptic differential operator and its applications
Authors: Ashyralyev Allaberen , Akturk Sema , Sozen Yasar 
Published: January 2014

Abstract
We consider the two-dimensional differential operator

A
u
(

x
1

,

x
2

)
=
−

a
11

(

x
1

,

x
2

)

u

x
1

x
1

(

x
1

,

x
2

)
−

a
22

(

x
1

,

x
2

)

u

x
2

x
2

(

x
1

,

x
2

)
+
σ
u
(

x
1

,

x
2

)

defined on functions on the half-plane

Ω
=

R
+

×
R

with the boundary conditions

u
(
0
,

x
2

)
=
0

,

x
2

∈
R

, where

a

i
i

(

x
1

,

x
2

)

,

i
=
1
,
2

, are continuously differentiable and satisfy the uniform ellipticity condition

a
11
2

(

x
1

,

x
2

)
+

a
22
2

(

x
1

,

x
2

)
≥
δ
>
0

,

σ
>
0

. The structure of the fractional spaces

E
α

(
A
,

C
β

(
Ω
)
)

generated by the operator A is investigated. The positivity of A in Hölder spaces is established. In applications, theorems on well-posedness in a Hölder space of elliptic problems are obtained.

MSC: 35J25, 47E05, 34B27.
A 2D graphical representation of the sequences of DNA based on triplets and its application
Authors: Zou Sai , Wang Lei , Wang Junfeng 
Published: January 2014

Abstract
In this paper, we first present a new concept of ‘weight’ for 64 triplets and define a different weight for each kind of triplet. Then, we give a novel 2D graphical representation for DNA sequences, which can transform a DNA sequence into a plot set to facilitate quantitative comparisons of DNA sequences. Thereafter, associating with a newly designed measure of similarity, we introduce a novel approach to make similarities/dissimilarities analysis of DNA sequences. Finally, the applications in similarities/dissimilarities analysis of the complete coding sequences of β-globin genes of 11 species illustrate the utilities of our newly proposed method.
Comparison of lignin derivatives as substrates for laccase-catalyzed scavenging of oxygen in coatings and films
Authors: Johansson Kristin , Gillgren Thomas , Winestrand Sandra , Järnström Lars , Jönsson Leif J 
Published: January 2014

Abstract

Background
Lignin derivatives are phenylpropanoid biopolymers derived from pulping and biorefinery processes. The possibility to utilize lignin derivatives from different types of processes in advanced enzyme-catalyzed oxygen-scavenging systems intended for active packaging was explored. Laccase-catalyzed oxidation of alkali lignin (LA), hydrolytic lignin (LH), organosolv lignin (LO), and lignosulfonates (LS) was compared using oxygen-scavenging coatings and films in liquid and gas phase systems.

Results
When coatings containing lignin derivatives and laccase were immersed in a buffered aqueous solution, the oxygen-scavenging capability increased in the order LO < LH < LA < LS. Experiments with coatings containing laccase and LO, LH or LA incubated in oxygen-containing gas in air-tight chambers and at a relative humidity (RH) of 100% showed that paperboard coated with LO and laccase reduced the oxygen content from 1.0% to 0.4% during a four-day period, which was far better than the results obtained with LA or LH. LO-containing coatings incubated at 92% RH also displayed activity, with a decrease in oxygen from 1.0% to 0.7% during a four-day period. The oxygen scavenging was not related to the content of free phenolic hydroxyl groups, which increased in the order LO < LS < LH < LA. LO and LS were selected for further studies and films containing starch, clay, glycerol, laccase and LO or LS were characterized using gel permeation chromatograpy, dynamic mechanical analysis, and wet stability.

Conclusions
The investigation shows that different lignin derivatives exhibit widely different properties as a part of active coatings and films. Results indicate that LS and LO were most suitable for the application studied and differences between them were attributed to a higher degree of laccase-catalyzed cross-linking of LS than of LO. Inclusion in active-packaging systems offers a new way to utilize some types of lignin derivatives from biorefining processes.
Excess body mass index loss predicts metabolic syndrome remission after gastric bypass
Authors: Nora Mário , Guimarães Marta , Almeida Rui , Martins Paulo , Gonçalves Gil , Santos Mariana , Morais Tiago , Freitas Cláudia , Monteiro Mariana P 
Published: January 2014

Abstract

Background
Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a condition associated with obesity that identifies individuals with increased cardiovascular risk. Gastric bypass improves several MS components, such as glucose, lipid metabolism and hypertension. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of long-limb gastric bypass on the remission of MS criteria associated with morbid obesity.

Methods
Obese patients who met the “harmonized” criteria for MS (n = 153) that underwent laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB) with a long biliopancreatic limb were prospectively evaluated with regards to body weight, body mass index (BMI), percentage of excess BMI lost (% EBMIL), fasting glucose, blood pressure and lipid profile up to 36 months after surgery.

Results
Before surgery, patients had a BMI of 44.3 ± 0.5 kg/m2; 66% were under anti-diabetic treatment; 78.4% were under anti-hypertensive treatment and 44.3% were under anti-dyslipidemic treatment. After a mean follow-up time of 2.4 ± 0.1 years, MS remission rates were 32.7% at 6 months, 69.7% at 12 months, 63.4% at 24 months, and 59.2% at 36 months; when only 32.9%, 43.4% and 15.8% of patients were still under anti-diabetic, anti-hypertensive and anti-dyslipidemic treatment, respectively. The %EBMIL and BMI were the parameters that showed the highest accuracy to predict the MS remission at all-time points after the surgery.

Conclusions
Long limb gastric bypass in obese patients results in significant and sustained weight loss which predicts a high remission rate of MS and allows the discontinuation of drug therapy for several metabolic disturbances in most patients.
The effects of olanzapine on genome-wide DNA methylation in the hippocampus and cerebellum
Authors: Melka Melkaye G , Laufer Benjamin I , McDonald Patrick , Castellani Christina A , Rajakumar Nagalingam , O’Reilly Richard , Singh Shiva M 
Published: January 2014

Abstract

Background
The mechanism of action of olanzapine in treating schizophrenia is not clear. This research reports the effects of a therapeutic equivalent treatment of olanzapine on DNA methylation in a rat model in vivo.
Genome-wide DNA methylation was assessed using a MeDIP-chip analysis. All methylated DNA immunoprecipitation (MeDIP), sample labelling, hybridization and processing were performed by Arraystar Inc (Rockville, MD, USA). The identified gene promoters showing significant alterations to DNA methylation were then subjected to Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (Ingenuity System Inc, CA, USA).

Results
The results show that olanzapine causes an increase in methylation in 1,140, 1,294 and 1,313 genes and a decrease in methylation in 633, 565 and 532 genes in the hippocampus, cerebellum and liver, respectively. Most genes affected are tissue specific. Only 41 affected genes (approximately 3%) showed an increase and no gene showed a decrease in methylation in all three tissues. Further, the two brain regions shared 123 affected genes (approximately 10%). The affected genes are enriched in pathways affecting dopamine signalling, molecular transport, nervous system development and functions in the hippocampus; ephrin receptor signalling and synaptic long-term potentiation in the cerebellum; and tissue morphology, cellular assembly and organization in the liver. Also, the affected genes included those previously implicated in psychosis.

Conclusions
The known functions of affected genes suggest that the observed epigenetic changes may underlie the amelioration of symptoms as well as accounting for certain adverse effects including the metabolic syndrome. The results give insights into the mechanism of action of olanzapine, therapeutic effects and the side effects of antipsychotics.
Timing of rabbit antithymocyte globulin induction therapy in kidney transplantation: an observational cohort study
Authors: Harrison Jennifer J , Hamandi Bassem , Li Yanhong , Famure Olusegun , Kim S Joseph 
Published: January 2014

Abstract

Background
Literature on the timing of rabbit antithymocyte globulin (rATG) induction and its effects on kidney transplant outcomes is limited. The manufacturer recommends that the first dose be given intra-operatively, however this may present clinical practice risks and challenges. Our objective was to assess the impact of the timing of the first dose of rATG on kidney transplant outcomes.

Methods
Incident kidney transplant recipients (KTR) from January 2002 to December 2009 receiving the first dose of rATG post-operatively (Post, n = 353) or before reperfusion (Pre, n = 124) were evaluated. Outcomes assessed included eGFR at 1-year, delta eGFR (12 versus 1 month), and incidence of biopsy-proven acute rejection, graft loss, death, and a composite of the time-to-event outcomes. The impact of timing on outcomes was adjusted for potential confounders and assessed using linear and Cox regression models.

Results
Among 435 KTR surviving with function to 12 months post-transplant, there was no significant difference in mean estimated glomerular filtration rate or eGFR (55.0 versus 56.7 mL/min, P = 0.46) and delta eGFR (1.8 versus 0.3 mL/min, P = 0.40) in Post versus Pre groups, respectively. At a median follow-up of 3 years, the composite endpoint (time to first biopsy-proven acute rejection, graft loss, or death) was similar by timing group (adjusted HR = 0.94; 95% CI: 0.58, 1.53, P = 0.81) in the total study population.

Conclusions
Timing of rATG had no appreciable impact on clinically relevant endpoints in this study cohort. These results support consideration of more flexible timing of the first dose of rATG induction in KTR.
Changing diagnostic practices: autism spectrum disorder
Authors: Woodbury-Smith Marc 
Published: January 2014

SummaryIn medical practice it is crucial that symptom descriptions are as precise and objective as possible, which psychiatry attempts to achieve through its psychopathological lexicon. The term ‘autism spectrum disorder’ has now entered psychiatric nosology, but the symptom definitions on which it is based are not robust, potentially making reliable and valid diagnoses a problem. This is further compounded by the spectral nature of the disorder and its lack of clear diagnostic boundaries. To overcome this, there is a need for a psychopathological lexicon of 'social cognition’ and a classification system that splits rather than lumps disorders with core difficulties in social interaction.
Epigenetic traces of childhood maltreatment in peripheral blood: a new strategy to explore gene–environment interactions
Authors: Uher Rudolf , Weaver Ian C. G. 
Published: January 2014

SummaryMaltreatment in childhood affects mental health over the life course. New research shows that early life experiences alter the genome in a way that can be measured in peripheral blood samples decades later. These findings suggest a new strategy for exploring gene–environment interactions and open opportunities for translational epigenomic research.
Book Reviews
Authors: Marcus Millicent , Bertellini Giorgio , Barra Luca , Brizio-Skov Flavia , Hipkins Danielle , Botta Anna , Cavallo Tiziana 
Published: January 2014

Abstract
Landscape and Memory in Post-Fascist Italian Film: Cinema Year Zero, Giuliana Minghelli (2013) London and New York: Routledge Advances in Film Studies, 251 pp., ISBN: 13 978-0-415-66108-9, h/bk, $125
Cinema e Risorgimento. Visioni e re-visioni. Da La presa di Roma a Noi credevamo, Fulvio Orsitto (ed.) (2012) Manziana, Rome: Vecchiarelli Editore, 361 pp., ISBN: 978-88-8247-314-3, p/bk, €30.00
Crossmedia Innovations: Texts, Markets, Institutions, Indrek Ibrus and Carlos A. Scolari (eds) (2012) Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 320 pp., ISBN: 9783631622285, p/bk, £22.40/$36.95
Ercole, il Divo – Dall’ antica Grecia al cinema italiano degli anni Sessanta, Maria Elena D’Amelio (2012) Serravalle, Repubblica di San Marino: AIEP Editore, 194 pp., p/bk, €20.00
Cinema e scritture femminili: Letterate italiane fra la pagina e lo schermo, Lucia Cardone and Sara Filipelli (eds) (2011) Rome: Iacobelli, 236 pp., ISBN: 978-88-6252-163-5, p/bk, €14.90
Visions of Struggle in Women’s Filmmaking in the Mediterranean, Flavia Laviosa (ed.) (Foreword by Laura Mulvey) (2010) New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 256 pp., ISBN: 978-0-230-61736-0, p/bk, $95.00; ebook, ISBN: 978-0-230-10520-1
I nostri eroi. La funzione bardica della televisione, Giovanni Bechelloni (2010) Napoli: Liguori Editore, 179 pp., ISBN: 9788820748920, p/bk, €16.50
Events Reports
Authors: Bertozzi Eddie , Cecere Michele 
Published: January 2014

Abstract
70th Venice International Film Festival: Italian Cinema Expanded, Venice, 28 August–7 September 2013
A report of the Historicanti performance Contadini si nasce, briganti si muore, ma i poveri restano in viaggio/You can be born a peasant, die as a robber, but the poor remain on the road
Italian film-makers in China and changing cultural perceptions: Comparing Chung Kuo – China (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1972) and La stella che non c’è/The Missing Star (Gianni Amelio, 2006)
Authors: Bona Stefano 
Published: January 2014

Abstract
This article compares the representation of China in two Italian films shot in country, namely Chung Kuo – China (Antonioni, 1972) and La stella che non c’è/The Missing Star (Amelio, 2006). In the intervening 30-odd years changes have occurred to the Italian perception of China. Specifically, this perception appears to have shifted from a widespread fascination for Maoism, to a negativity linked to the ongoing economic changes caused by globalization that saw a redistribution of wealth and power, and in which Italy and China appeared to symbolize the two extremes on the scale of a reversed power relationship. The two films are analysed on the basis of three assumptions. The first being that until the nineteenth century the encounter between the West and China was mainly one sided, with Italy being the first western culture to approach China. The second that Italian directors were among the first westerners to make full length films in the People’s Republic of China. The third that film-makers are intellectuals influenced by the historical period in which they film. This analysis will revolve on a historical contextualization, a discussion of meaningful film sequences, and the implications emerging from a comparison of the two films.
The possibility of Chineseness: Negotiating Chinese identity in Shun Li and the Poet and The Arrival of Wang
Authors: Bertozzi Eddie 
Published: January 2014

Abstract
Discussions on Chinese identity in cinema have been usually undertaken by considering Chinese-language films directed by Chinese directors. However, the increasing relevance of transnational practices displacing the signs of Chineseness beyond the nation state has challenged previous theoretical paradigms. Pushing this argument a little further, how can we address Chineseness in non-Chinese films dealing with Chinese-related topics and characters? Two Italian films represent an interesting case in point. Io sono Li/Shun Li and the Poet (2011) by Andrea Segre narrates the friendship between a Chinese bartender and a local fisherman within the close environment of the Venetian Lagoon. L’arrivo di Wang/The Arrival of Wang (2011) by Antonio and Marco Manetti, is a sci-fi movie about an Italian Chinese-language interpreter who is assigned an urgent job: translating a mysterious Chinese-speaking ‘subject’ who turns out to be an extraterrestrial alien. By conducting close-readings of the two films, the article attempts to address multiple questions: what kind of Chineseness is articulated in these films? How is Chinese identity negotiated in the creative process? Is this Chineseness only an other-ized construct, or can it critically provide a relevant description of Chinese identity?
Spaces and bodies: The legacy of Italian cinema in contemporary Chinese film-making
Authors: Pollacchi Elena 
Published: January 2014

Abstract
Italian neorealist films have had a strong impact on Chinese cinema since the founding of the PRC in 1949. Chinese directors of the 1980s and 1990s have looked at the works of Italian neorealist directors with renewed interest and Jia Zhangke’s early films have come to epitomize the lasting imprint of Italian Neorealism in China. This article investigates the influence of Italian neorealist tradition (and beyond) on Chinese film-makers whose careers started after the turn of the century and whose works share a concern for the interplay of individuals and their surroundings. The essay also argues that space has a hermeneutic role for understanding the influence of Neorealism on certain recent Chinese narrative and documentary films. In line with the perception of an increasingly fragmented society, the impact of Italian directors on contemporary Chinese film-makers such as Liu Shu, Li Ruijun and Wang Bing emerges as an on-going process of re-appropriation rather than the lasting imprint of master teaching. While textual or stylistic references may not always be immediately apparent, the influence of Italian directors on contemporary Chinese film-making becomes clearer after some close analyses of certain Chinese films in conjunction with an examination of the directors’ own observations.
Pediatric Discharge Content: A Multisite Assessment of Physician Preferences and Experiences
Authors: Coghlin Daniel T. , Leyenaar JoAnna K. , Shen Mark , Bergert Lora , Engel Richard , Hershey Daniel , Mallory Leah , Rassbach Caroline , Woehrlen Tess , Cooperberg David 
Published: January 2014

Background and Objectives:
Professional medical societies endorse prompt, consistent discharge communication to primary care providers (PCPs) on discharge. However, evidence is limited about what clinical elements to communicate. Our main goal was to identify and compare the clinical elements considered by PCPs and pediatric hospitalists to be essential to communicate to PCPs within 2 days of pediatric hospital discharge. A secondary goal was to describe experiences of the PCPs and pediatric hospitalists regarding sending and receiving discharge information.

Methods:
A survey of physician preferences and experiences regarding discharge communication was sent to 320 PCPs who refer patients to 16 hospitals, with an analogous survey sent to 147 hospitalists. Descriptive statistics were calculated, and χ2 analyses were performed.

Results:
A total of 201 PCPs (63%) and 71 hospitalists (48%) responded to the survey. Seven clinical elements were reported as essential by &gt;75% of both PCPs and hospitalists: dates of admission and discharge; discharge diagnoses; brief hospital course; discharge medications; immunizations given during hospitalization; pending laboratory or test results; and follow-up appointments. PCPs reported reliably receiving discharge communication significantly less often than hospitalists reported sending it (71.8% vs 85.1%; P &lt; .01), and PCPs considered this communication to be complete significantly less often than hospitalists did (64.9% vs 79.1%; P &lt; .01).

Conclusions:
We identified 7 core clinical elements that PCPs and hospitalists consider essential in discharge communication. Consistently and promptly communicating at least these core elements after discharge may enhance PCP satisfaction and patient-level outcomes. Reported rates of transmission and receipt of this information were suboptimal and should be targeted for improvement.