bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Lung Cancer Chemoprevention with Celecoxib in Former Smokers
Authors: Mao Jenny T. , Roth Michael D. , Fishbein Michael C. , Aberle Denise R. , Zhang Zuo-Feng , Rao Jian Yu , Tashkin Donald P. , Goodglick Lee , Holmes E. Carmack , Cameron Robert B. , Dubinett Steven M. , Elashoff Robert , Szabo Eva , Elashoff David 
Published: July 2011

Abstract
Ample studies suggest that the cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2)/prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) pathway plays a pivotal role in carcinogenesis and that COX-2 inhibition may help prevent lung cancer. Therefore, we conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of the COX-2–selective inhibitor celecoxib (400 mg bid for 6 months) in former-smokers (age ≥ 45, ≥ 30 pack-years of smoking, ≥ 1 year of sustained abstinence from smoking). We assessed the impact of celecoxib on cellular and molecular events associated with lung cancer pathogenesis; the primary endpoint was bronchial Ki-67 labeling index (Ki-67 LI) after 6 months of treatment. Of 137 randomized subjects, 101 completed both baseline and 6-month bronchoscopies and were evaluable for the primary endpoint analysis. The beneficial effect on Ki-67 LI was greater in the celecoxib arm (versus placebo) in a mixed-effects analysis (P = 0.0006), and celecoxib significantly decreased Ki-67 LI by an average of 34%, whereas placebo increased Ki-67 LI by an average of 3.8% (P = 0.04; t test). In participants who crossed over to the other study arm at 6 months (all of whom had received 6 months of celecoxib at the end of a 12 months treatment period), the decreases in Ki-67 LI correlated with a reduction and/or resolution of lung nodules on computed tomography. Celecoxib significantly reduced plasma c-reactive protein and interleukin-6 mRNA and protein and increased 15(S)-hydroxy-eicosatetraenoic acid levels in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) samples. The baseline ratio of COX-2 to 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase mRNA in BAL cells was a significant predictive marker of Ki-67 response to celecoxib (P = 0.002). Our collective findings support the continued investigation of celecoxib for lung cancer chemoprevention in former smokers at a low risk of cardiovascular disease. Cancer Prev Res; 4(7); 984–93. ©2011 AACR.
Rapamycin and mTORC1 Inhibition in the Mouse: Skin Cancer Prevention
Authors: Athar Mohammad , Kopelovich Levy 
Published: July 2011

AbstractTherapeutic and preventive effects of rapamycin include reduced risk of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC). In this issue of the journal (beginning on page 1011), Checkley and colleagues report that rapamycin inhibits mTOR complex 1 in murine epidermis, thereby inhibiting tumor promotion mediated by tetradecanoyl phorbol-13 acetate in association with a strong anti-inflammatory effect. Rapamycin is an immunosuppressive drug for preventing graft rejection in organ transplant recipients and reduces the risk of NMSC and Kaposi's sarcoma in this population, albeit by mechanisms distinct from immunosuppression. Important future directions include identifying molecular predictors of rapamycin/rapalog sensitivity or resistance (potentially, for example, PI3K pathway alterations and KRAS mutations) and combined non-rapalog, mTOR-targeting approaches, all of which should increase efficacy and minimize toxicity. Cancer Prev Res; 4(7); 957–61. ©2011 AACR.
Incremental Prognostic Value of Cardiac Computed Tomography in Coronary Artery Disease Using CONFIRM
Authors: Chow Benjamin J.W. , Small Gary , Yam Yeung , Chen Li , Achenbach Stephan , Al-Mallah Mouaz , Berman Daniel S. , Budoff Matthew J. , Cademartiri Filippo , Callister Tracy Q. , Chang Hyuk-Jae , Cheng Victor , Chinnaiyan Kavitha M. , Delago Augustin , Dunning Allison , Hadamitzky Martin , Hausleiter Jörg , Kaufmann Philipp , Lin Fay , Maffei Erica , Raff Gilbert L. , Shaw Leslee J. , Villines Todd C. , Min James K. 
Published: July 2011

Background—
Large multicenter studies validating the prognostic value of coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) are lacking. We sought to confirm the independent and incremental prognostic value of coronary artery disease (CAD) severity measured using 64-slice CCTA over LVEF and clinical variables.

Methods and Results—
A large international multicenter registry (CONFIRM Registry) was queried, and CCTA patients with LVEF data on CCTA were screened. Patients with a history of myocardial infarction, coronary revascularization, or cardiac transplantation were excluded. The National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel III risk was calculated for each patient, and CCTA was evaluated for CAD severity (normal, nonobstructive, non–high-risk, or high-risk CAD) and LVEF <50%. Patients were followed for an end point of all-cause mortality; 27 125 patients underwent CCTA at 12 participating centers, with a total of 14 064 patients meeting the analysis criteria. Follow-up was available for 13 966 (99.3%) patients (mean follow-up of 22.5 months; 95% confidence interval, 22.3 to 22.7 months). All-cause mortality (271 deaths) occurred in 0.65% of patients without coronary atherosclerosis, 1.99% of patients with nonobstructive CAD, 2.90% of patients with non–high-risk CAD, and 4.95% for patients with high-risk CAD. Multivariable analysis confirmed that LVEF <50% (hazard ratio, 2.74; 95% confidence interval, 2.12 to 3.51) and CAD severity (hazard ratio,1.58; 95% confidence interval, 1.42 to 1.76) were predictors of all-cause mortality, and CAD severity had incremental value over LVEF and clinical variables.

Conclusions—
Our results demonstrate that CCTA measures of CAD severity and LVEF have independent prognostic value. Incorporation of CAD severity provides incremental value for predicting all-cause death over routine clinical predictors and LVEF in patients with suspected obstructive CAD.
Global Variation in the Relative Burden of Stroke and Ischemic Heart Disease
Authors: Kim Anthony S. , Johnston S. Claiborne 
Published: July 2011

Background—
Although stroke and ischemic heart disease (IHD) have several well-established risk factors in common, the extent of global variation in the relative burdens of these forms of vascular disease and reasons for any observed variation are poorly understood.

Methods and Results—

We analyzed mortality and disability-adjusted life-year loss rates from stroke and IHD, as well as national estimates of vascular risk factors that have been developed by the World Health Organization Burden of Disease Program. National income data were derived from World Bank estimates. We used linear regression for univariable analysis and the Cuzick test for trends. Among 192 World Health Organization member countries, stroke mortality rates exceeded IHD rates in 74 countries (39%), and stroke disability-adjusted life-year loss rates exceeded IHD rates in 62 countries (32%). Stroke mortality ranged from 12.7% higher to 27.2% lower than IHD, and stroke disability-adjusted life-year loss rates ranged from 6.2% higher to 10.2% lower than IHD. Stroke burden was disproportionately higher in China, Africa, and South America, whereas IHD burden was higher in the Middle East, North America, Australia, and much of Europe. Lower national income was associated with higher relative mortality (
P
<0.001) and burden of disease (
P
=0.001) from stroke. Diabetes mellitus prevalence and mean serum cholesterol were each associated with greater relative burdens from IHD even after adjustment for national income.

Conclusions—
There is substantial global variation in the relative burden of stroke compared with IHD. The disproportionate burden from stroke for many lower-income countries suggests that distinct interventions may be required.
Neural Dissociation of Number from Letter Recognition and Its Relationship to Parietal Numerical Processing
Authors: Park Joonkoo , Hebrank Andrew , Polk Thad A. , Park Denise C. 
Published: July 2011

Abstract
The visual recognition of letters dissociates from the recognition of numbers at both the behavioral and neural level. In this article, using fMRI, we investigate whether the visual recognition of numbers dissociates from letters, thereby establishing a double dissociation. In Experiment 1, participants viewed strings of consonants and Arabic numerals. We found that letters activated the left midfusiform and inferior temporal gyri more than numbers, replicating previous studies, whereas numbers activated a right lateral occipital area more than letters at the group level. Because the distinction between letters and numbers is culturally defined and relatively arbitrary, this double dissociation provides some of the strongest evidence to date that a neural dissociation can emerge as a result of experience. We then investigated a potential source of the observed neural dissociation. Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that lateralization of visual number recognition depends on lateralization of higher-order numerical processing. In Experiment 2, the same participants performed addition, subtraction, and counting on arrays of nonsymbolic stimuli varying in numerosity, which produced neural activity in and around the intraparietal sulcus, a region associated with higher-order numerical processing. We found that individual differences in the lateralization of number activity in visual cortex could be explained by individual differences in the lateralization of numerical processing in parietal cortex, suggesting a functional relationship between the two regions. Together, these results demonstrate a neural double dissociation between letter and number recognition and suggest that higher-level numerical processing in parietal cortex may influence the neural organization of number processing in visual cortex.
Clouds Associated with the Madden–Julian Oscillation: A New Perspective from CloudSat
Authors: Riley Emily M. , Mapes Brian E. , Tulich Stefan N. 
Published: July 2011

Abstract
The evolution of total cloud cover and cloud types is composited across the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) using CloudSat data for June 2006–May 2010. Two approaches are used to define MJO phases: 1) the local phase is determined at each longitude and time from filtered outgoing longwave radiation, and 2) the global phase is defined using a popular real-time multivariate MJO (RMM) index, which assigns the tropics to an MJO phase each day.
In terms of local phase, CloudSat results show a familiar evolution of cloud type predominance: in the growing stages shallow clouds coexist with deep, intense, but narrow convective systems. Widespread cloud coverage and rainfall appear during the active phases, becoming more anvil dominated with time, and finally suppressed conditions return. Results are compared to the convectively coupled Kelvin wave, which has a similar life cycle to the MJO. Convection in the MJO tends to be modulated more by moisture variations compared to the Kelvin wave.
In terms of global phases, wide deep precipitating, anvil, cumulus congestus, and altocumulus types exhibit similar eastward propagation from the Indian Ocean to the central Pacific, while the narrow deep precipitating type only propagates to the Maritime Continent. These propagating types also show coherent Western Hemisphere signals. Generally, negative Western Hemisphere anomalies occur when anomalies are positive over the Indian Ocean.
In both approaches, sampling leads to pictorial renderings of actual clouds across MJO phases. These mosaics provide an objective representation of the cloud field that was unavailable before CloudSat and serve as a reminder to the complex nature of the MJO’s multiscale features.
A Mechanisms-Based Approach to Detecting Recent Anthropogenic Hydroclimate Change*
Authors: Seager Richard , Naik Naomi 
Published: July 2011

AbstractBoth naturally occurring La Niña events and model-projected anthropogenic-driven global warming are associated with widespread drying in the subtropics to midlatitudes. Models suggest anthropogenic drying should already be underway but climate variability on interannual to multidecadal time scales can easily obscure any emerging trend, making it hard to assess the validity of the simulated forced change. Here, the authors address this problem by using model simulations and the twentieth-century reanalysis to distinguish between natural variability of, and radiatively forced change in, hydroclimate on the basis of the mechanisms of variations in the three-dimensional moisture budget that drive variations in precipitation minus evaporation (P − E). Natural variability of P − E is dominated by the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle and is “dynamics dominated” in that the associated global P − E anomalies are primarily driven by changes in circulation. This is quite well reproduced in the multimodel mean of 15 models used in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report (IPCC AR4)/Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 3 (CMIP3). In contrast, radiatively forced P − E change is “thermodynamics mediated” in that the rise in specific humidity leads to intensified patterns of moisture transport and P − E. But, as for ENSO, the poleward shift of the storm tracks and mean meridional circulation cells also contribute to changes in P − E. However, La Niña and radiatively forced changes in the zonal mean flow are distinct in the tropics. These distinctions are applied to the post-1979 record of P − E in the twentieth-century reanalysis. ENSO-related variations strongly influence the observed P − E trend since 1979, but removal of this influence leaves an emerging pattern of P − E change consistent with the predictions of the IPCC AR4/CMIP3 models over this period together with, to some extent, consistent contributions from dynamical and thermodynamical mechanisms and consistent changes in the zonal mean circulation. The forced trends are currently weak compared to those caused by internal variability.
Shelf Impact on Buoyant Coastal Current Instabilities
Authors: Pennel Romain , Stegner Alexandre , Béranger Karine 
Published: July 2011

Abstract
The impact of shelf slope on the linear stability of buoyant coastal currents and on the nonlinear formation of coastal meanders and eddies is investigated. The authors consider a simplified two-layer stratification in cylindrical geometry where a buoyant surface current flows along the coast above a denser water, with a flat bottom or steep shelves. Simulations were performed using the Nucleus for European Modelling of the Ocean (NEMO) ocean global circulation model. The initial state of these simulations was defined according to laboratory experiments performed in the same configuration. Comparisons between laboratory and numerical results highlight the role of momentum diffusion and of the initial perturbations amplitude. The authors’ results confirm that the topographic parameter To (ratio between the shelf slope and the isopycnal slope of the current) is the relevant parameter to quantify the shelf impact on the linear and nonlinear dynamics of the surface current. When the evolution of the buoyant coastal current is controlled by the baroclinic instability, the increase of To yields a selection of smaller unstable wavelengths and a decrease of the unstable growth rates. For finite values of To, a complete stabilization of the surface current can be reached. The typical radius of the first eddies generated by the coastal current is set by the linear stage of the baroclinic instability. However, secondary nonlinear processes may lead to larger or smaller structures. The authors exhibit a new dynamical sequence, leading to the formation of submesoscale cyclonic eddies over a steep shelf by splitting of mesoscale eddies. These cyclonic eddies trap and transport water masses and may play an important role in the cross-shelf exchanges.
Subkilometer Simulation of a Torrential-Rain-Producing Mesoscale Convective System in East China. Part I: Model Verification and Convective Organization
Authors: Zhang Man , Zhang Da-Lin 
Published: July 2011

Abstract
A nocturnal torrential-rain-producing mesoscale convective system (MCS) occurring during the mei-yu season of July 2003 in east China is studied using conventional observations, surface mesoanalysis, satellite and radar data, and a 24-h multinested model simulation with the finest grid spacing of 444 m. Observational analyses reveal the presence of several larger-scale conditions that were favorable for the development of the MCS, including mei-yu frontal lifting, moderate cold advection aloft and a moist monsoonal flow below, and an elongated old cold dome left behind by a previously dissipated MCS.
Results show that the model could reproduce the evolution of the dissipating MCS and its associated cold outflows, the triggering of three separate convective storms over the remnant cold dome and the subsequent organization into a large MCS, and the convective generation of an intense surface meso-high and meso-β-scale radar reflectivity morphologies. In particular, the model reproduces the passage of several heavy-rain-producing convective bands at the leading convective line and the trailing stratiform region, leading to the torrential rainfall at nearly the right location. However, many of the above features are poorly simulated or missed when the finest model grid uses either 1.33- or 4-km grid spacing. Results indicate the important roles of isentropic lifting of moist monsoonal air over the cold dome in triggering deep convection, a low-level jet within an elevated moist layer in maintaining conditional instability, and the repeated formation and movement of convective cells along the same path in producing the torrential rainfall.
Updating Short-Term Probabilistic Weather Forecasts of Continuous Variables Using Recent Observations
Authors: Nipen Thomas N. , West Greg , Stull Roland B. 
Published: July 2011

Abstract
A statistical postprocessing method for improving probabilistic forecasts of continuous weather variables, given recent observations, is presented. The method updates an existing probabilistic forecast by incorporating observations reported in the intermediary time since model initialization. As such, this method provides updated short-range probabilistic forecasts at an extremely low computational cost. The method models the time sequence of cumulative distribution function (CDF) values corresponding to the observation as a first-order Markov process. Verifying CDF values are highly correlated in time, and their changes in time are modeled probabilistically by a transition function. The effect of the method is that the spread of the probabilistic forecasts for the first few hours after an observation has been made is considerably narrower than the original forecast. The updated probability distributions widen back toward the original forecast for forecast times far in the future as the effect of the recent observation diminishes. The method is tested on probabilistic forecasts produced by an operational ensemble forecasting system. The method improves the ignorance score and the continuous ranked probability score of the probabilistic forecasts significantly for the first few hours after an observation has been made. The mean absolute error of the median of the probability distribution is also shown to be improved.
Casting, taping or stretching after botulinum toxin type A for spastic equinus foot: a single-blind randomized trial on adult stroke patients
Authors: Carda Stefano , Invernizzi Marco , Baricich Alessio , Cisari Carlo 
Published: July 2011

Objective: To investigate the effect of different adjunctive treatments after botulinum toxin type A. Design: Single-blind, randomized trial, with three-month follow-up. Setting: Secondary rehabilitative care. Subjects: Convenience sample of 69 chronic hemiplegic adult patients with spastic equinus foot. Interventions: Following botulinum toxin type A injection at the plantar flexors, patients were randomly assigned to three groups and treated with either taping, casting or stretching for one week, and with stretching and gait training for the next week. Outcome measures: Modified Ashworth Scale at plantar flexors, passive range of motion at the ankle, six-minute walking test, 10-metre walking test, Functional Ambulation Categories, ankle dorsiflexor strength were evaluated before treatment ( t0) at 20 days ( t1) and 90 days ( t2) after treatment. Results: At t1 only the taping and casting groups showed significant improvements in Modified Ashworth Scale, six-minute walking test, 10-metre walking test and passive range of motion ( P < 0.02). At t2, while the results were maintained in the casting group, only six-minute walking test and Modified Ashworth Scale were still significantly improved in the taping group. Ankle dorsiflexor strength and Functional Ambulation Categories did not change in any of the groups at any time. At t2 the casting group performed better than the taping and stretching groups at Modified Ashworth Scale and passive range of motion, and better than the stretching group at six-minute walking test ( P < 0.02). Conclusions: Combining botulinum toxin type A to the ankle plantar flexors with casting or taping gives better and longer lasting results than with stretching alone.
Physiological regulation of extracellular matrix collagen and elastin in the arterial wall of rats by noradrenergic tone and angiotensin II
Authors: Dab Houcine , Kacem Kamel , Hachani Rafik , Dhaouadi Nadra , Hodroj Wassim , Sakly Mohsen , Randon Jacques , Bricca Giampiero 
Published: July 2011

The interactions between the effects of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and angiotensin II (ANG II) on vascular extracellular matrix (ECM) synthesis were determined in rats. The mRNA and protein content of collagen I, collagen III and elastin in the abdominal aorta (AA) and femoral artery (FA) was investigated in Wistar–Kyoto rats treated for 5 weeks with guanethidine, a sympathoplegic, losartan, an ANG II AT1 receptor (AT1R) blocker, or both. The effects of noradrenaline (NE) and ANG II on collagen III and elastin mRNA, and the receptor involved, were tested in cultured vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) in vitro. Guanethidine increased collagen types I and III and decreased elastin, while losartan had an opposite effect, although without effect on collagen III. The combination of treatments abrogated changes induced by simple treatment with collagen I and elastin, but increased collagen III mRNA in AA and not in FA. NE stimulated collagen III mRNA via β receptors and elastin via α1 and α2 receptors. ANG II stimulated collagen III but inhibited elastin mRNA via AT1R. Overall, SNS and ANG II exert opposite and antagonistic effects on major components of ECM in the vascular wall. This may be of relevance for the choice of a therapeutic strategy in vascular diseases.