bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Surgical management of unknown primary tumors metastatic to the spine
Authors: Aizenberg Michele R. , Fox Benjamin D. , Suki Dima , McCutcheon Ian E. , Rao Ganesh , Rhines Laurence D. 
Published: October 2011

Object
Patients presenting with spinal metastases from unknown primary tumors (UPTs) are rare. The authors reviewed their surgical experience to evaluate outcomes and identify predictors of survival in these patients.

Methods
This study is a retrospective analysis of patients undergoing surgery for metastatic spine disease from UPTs between June 1993 and February 2007 at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Results
Fifty-one patients undergoing 52 surgical procedures were identified. The median age at spine surgery was 60 years. The median survival from time of diagnosis was 15.8 months (95% CI 8.1–23.6) and it was 8.1 months (95% CI 1.6–14.7) from time of spine surgery. Postoperative neurological function (Frankel score) was the same or improved in 94% of patients. At presentation, 77% had extraspinal disease, which was associated with poorer survival (6.4 vs 18.1 months; p = 0.041). Multiple sites (vs a single site) of spine disease did not impact survival (12.7 vs 8.7 months; p = 0.50). Patients with noncervical spinal disease survived longer than those with cervical disease (11.8 vs 6.4 months, respectively; p = 0.029). Complete versus incomplete resection at index surgery had no impact on survival duration (p > 0.5) or local recurrence (p = 1.0). Identification of a primary cancer was achieved in 31% of patients.

Conclusions
This is the first reported surgical series of patients with an unknown source of spinal metastases. The authors found that multiple sites of spinal disease did not influence survival; however, the presence of extraspinal disease had a negative impact. The extent of resection had no effect on survival duration or local recurrence. With an overall median survival of 8.1 months following surgery, aggressive evaluation and treatment of patients with metastatic disease of the spine from an unknown primary source is warranted.
Dynamic Contour Tonometry and Goldmann Applanation Tonometry: Correlation with Intracameral Assessment of Intraocular Pressure
Authors: Riva Ivano , Quaranta Luciano , Russo Andrea , Katsanos Andreas , Rulli Eliana , Floriani Irene 
Published: October 2011

Purpose To compare intraocular pressure (IOP) measured using a dynamic contour tonometer (DCT) and a Goldmann applanation tonometer (GAT) with in vivo intracameral IOP, and establish the relationship between DCT, GAT and central corneal thickness (CCT) in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). Materials and Methods We examined 50 eyes of 50 patients with POAG scheduled for glaucoma or cataract surgery. Immediately before surgery, CCT, GAT and DCT IOP were assessed, after which manometry of the anterior chamber was performed. A Bland-Altman plot was used to test the agreement among the 3 measurements of IOP, and univariate and multivariate regression analyses were used to evaluate the effect of CCT on DCT and GAT. Results On average, the DCT readings were 4.0±1.6 mmHg higher than the GAT readings and 2.3±2.4 mmHg higher than the manometric readings; the GAT measurements were generally a mean 1.7±1.8 mmHg lower than the manometric readings. The CCT had an almost similar influence on DCT and GAT measurements (p=0.84). Conclusions The DCT-measured IOP was significantly higher than that measured by means of GAT and anterior chamber manometry. The DCT and GAT readings were both influenced by CCT to the same extent.
The Prevalence of Predisposing Deformity in Osteoarthritic Hip Joints
Authors: Klit Jakob , Gosvig Kasper , Jacobsen Steffen , Sonne-Holm Stig , Troelsen Anders 
Published: October 2011

It is becoming increasingly evident that hip joint deformities may be major contributors to the development of osteoarthritis, and the term ‘idiopathic osteoarthritis’ may be inappropriate in many cases. Our study cohort was derived from the Copenhagen Osteoarthritis Sub-study, a cross sectional population-based database of 4151 individuals, all of whom had a standard anteroposterior weight-bearing pelvic radiograph taken. Hip joints were classified according to type and degree of deformity. We defined hip osteoarthritis by a minimum joint space width of ≤ 2mm. This cut-off has a significant relationship in both sexes with the clinical presentation. The study cohort which fulfilled these inclusion criteria consisted of 322 females (149 right hips and 173 left hips) and 162 males (77 right hips and 85 left hips) with osteoarthritis. We found an overall prevalence of predisposing hip deformities in females of 62.4% and in males of 78.9%. Minor and major deformities showed the same prevalence. Both sexes had a comparable prevalence of minor and major hip joint deformity, except for pistol grip deformity, which was more prevalent in men. We concluded that ‘idiopathic osteoarthritis’ is uncommon, and that even minor predisposing deformities are associated with hip osteoarthritis.
A Biomechanical Comparison of the Thrust Plate Prosthesis and a Stemmed Prosthesis
Authors: Karatosun Vasfi , Unver Bayram , Gultekin Alper , Gunal Izge 
Published: October 2011

The thrust plate prosthesis (TPP) is a neck preserving femoral component in total hip arthroplasty (THA) which may facilitate more precise biomechanical reconstruction of the hip. The purpose of this study was to compare the biomechanical results of the TPP with a conventional THA. We compared anteroposterior radiographs from 60 patients who had undergone cementless THA, with 44 who had undergone a TPP. We measured the hip centre of rotation, femoral offset, limb length, and neck-shaft angle. The horizontal hip centre of rotation, vertical femoral offset, limb length and neck-shaft angle measurements showed a significant difference (p<0.05) in both groups when compared with preoperative values. However, the vertical hip centre of rotation and horizontal femoral offset measurements were different only in TPP patients when compared with preoperative values (p<0.05). When both groups (TPP and THA) were compared only the horizontal hip centre of rotation displayed a significant difference (p=0.003) in favor of the THA. Therefore, we found no difference in restoring the biomechanics of the hip using the two methods, and only the horizontal hip centre of rotation restoration favoured the THA. Our findings indicate that the TPP does not produce more accurate restoration of leg length or offset. Reproduction of hip mechanics after TPP may not be as good as has been suggested.
Groin Pain following Hip Resurfacing: A Case-Control Study
Authors: Mcarthur John R. , Costa Matthew , Griffin Damian R. , Krikler Steven J. , Parsons Nicholas , Foguet Pedro R. 
Published: October 2011

We compared 47 patients with groin pain following hip resurfacing to a matched control group. Functional scores and plain radiographs were assessed along with measurement of whole blood cobalt and chromium by inductively coupled mass spectrometry. Symptomatic patients underwent ultrasound scan of the affected hip. Mean functional outcomes were poor in those with pain and good in the control group. Groin pain was associated with valgus stem positioning and lower neck:head ratio (relatively narrow neck) (p=0.03, p=0.04 respectively). We classified patients with groin pain into two groups: biological and mechanical. The biological group had soft tissue abnormalities on USS and higher levels of cobalt and chromium (p=0.04, p=0.05 respectively). The mechanical group had normal USS, lower metal ion levels and more retroverted femoral components (p=0.01).
A Single Center Study of Clinical Success in Radiocephalic Fistula Creation
Authors: Huseynova Khumar , Werneck Christiane , Pope Marc 
Published: October 2011

Purpose To compare standard methods (control) with a new protocol for radiocephalic fistula (RCF) creation involving ultrasound vein mapping by the surgeon in the operating room, ligation of cephalic vein branches in the lower forearm, and use of a tourniquet for the arteriovenous anastomosis. Methods This is a retrospective cohort study of patients who underwent radiocephalic fistula creation between April 2008 and March 2010 in a regional vascular center. Patients were identified retrospectively by reviewing hospital operating room and office billing records. The electronic charts of all patients were reviewed. The primary endpoint was functional RCF patency at last follow-up. Results A total of 118 patients underwent arteriovenous (AV) fistula creation by 3 surgeons during the two-year study period. Of these, 59 patients underwent RCF creation, 33 of whom were managed using the new protocol. The two groups were comparable, except for age (66 in the study group vs. 60 in the control group, P=.04). Tourniquet use shortened operative time from 48 to 36 minutes (P=.04). Functional patency was 82% vs 77% (P=.64). Conclusion The new protocol for RCF creation results in shorter operative times and high functional patency rates.
Fixed‐station monitoring of a harbour wall community: the utility of low‐cost photomosaics and scuba on hard‐substrata
Authors: Van Rein H. , Brown C. J. , Schoeman D. S. , Quinn R. , Breen J. 
Published: October 2011

ABSTRACT

In marine temperate waters, the diverse epibenthic communities of hard substrata require robust, efficient, high‐resolution methods to better understand community dynamics and biological processes, such as growth, recruitment and mortality that drive changes within communities.
The epibenthic community of a harbour wall was monitored from fixed stations over three seasons in 2009 to evaluate the utility of a high‐resolution photomosaic method. The community was described by visually estimating cover and abundance of taxa within the photomosaics. In addition, areas occupied by the solitary cup coral Caryophyllia smithii, the encrusting sponge Hymeniacidon perleve, and the red macroalga Plocamium cartilagineum were digitized and their seasonal growth, recruitment and mortality estimated over the study period.
Significant changes occurred to the community in every season. The fewest number of taxa and the lowest total taxa cover was observed in the winter. In the spring, there was significant growth of red macroalgae, brown macroalgae, and ascidian taxa. In the summer there was significant growth of green macroalgae and turf taxa, while red macroalgae experienced photoinhibition, and ascidians significantly declined in abundance.

The photomosaics enabled the extraction of data at a high taxonomic resolution, reduced the effects of water‐column turbidity, and through digitization, enabled estimation of the seasonal growth, recruitment, and mortality of C. smithii, H. perleve and P. cartilagineum. However, the spring and summer canopies of macroalgae and turf obscured the detection of many understory taxa, and thus, limited the accuracy of understorey assessments. Provided the limitations of photomosaics are recognized, the method demonstrated in this study has many potential benefits of advantage for fixed‐station monitoring studies in temperate waters.
Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Production of Climate Neutral Energy Carriers by Photosynthesis and Disproportionation of Biomass Components
Authors: Ringpfeil Manfred 
Published: October 2011

AbstractDer Klimawandel muss durch Einführung eines neuen, auf erneuerbaren Energien und Stoffen beruhenden Energieversorgungssystems abgeschwächt werden. Brückentechnologien sollen helfen, die gestellten Ziele zu erreichen. Eine von ihnen ist der progressive Verschnitt von Erdgas mit Biomethan. Ausgangsstoff für Biomethan ist das Kohlendioxid der aktuellen Atmosphäre. Die Photosynthese konzentriert den Kohlenstoff in der entstehenden Biomasse. Eine weitere Konzentrierung wird durch mikrobielle Disproportionierung zu Biomethan und Kohlendioxid erreicht. Biomethan kann ohne jeden Nachteil mit Erdgas gemischt werden und bewirkt eine höhere klimatische Verträglichkeit der Mischungen.
Thermal Use of Biomass and Residual Materials in Germany
Authors: Gaderer Matthias , Spliethoff Hartmut 
Published: October 2011

AbstractEin Überblick zum Stand der Technik wird gegeben und neue Entwicklungen auf dem Gebiet der thermischen Nutzung der Biomasse vorgestellt. Die thermische Nutzung von Biomasse in Deutschland ist eine wesentliche Säule der Bereitstellung von erneuerbaren Energien. Der Primärenergiebedarf und die Potenziale der Biomasse in Deutschland werden dargestellt und mit anderen Regionen verglichen. Es ist ersichtlich, dass eine deutliche Steigerung der Biomassenutzung durch begrenzte Ressourcen limitiert ist. Mit neuen Verfahren zur Biomasseaufbereitung, wie der Torrefizierung und der Hydrothermalen Karbonisierung können weitere biogene Reststoffe zur Nutzung durch Verbrennung und Vergasung erschlossen werden. Dargestellt werden daher der Stand der Verbrennungs‐ und Vergasungsverfahren und aktuelle Entwicklungen auf dem Gebiet der Synthesegasherstellung.
New Prodrugs of the Antiprotozoal Drug Pentamidine
Authors: Kotthaus Joscha , Kotthaus Jürke , Schade Dennis , Schwering Ulrike , Hungeling Helen , Müller‐Fielitz Helge , Raasch Walter , Clement Bernd 
Published: October 2011

AbstractPentamidine is an effective antimicrobial agent that is approved for the treatment of African trypanosomiasis but suffers from poor oral bioavailability and central nervous system (CNS) penetration. This work deals with the development and systematic characterisation of new prodrugs of pentamidine. For this reason, numerous prodrugs that use different prodrug principles were synthesised and examined in vitro and in vivo. Another objective of the study was the determination of permeability of the different pentamidine prodrugs. While some of the prodrug principles applied in this study are known, such as the conversion of the amidine functions into amidoximes or the O‐alkylation of amidoximes with a carboxymethyl residue, others were developed more recently and are described here for the first time. These newly developed methods aim to increase the affinity of the prodrug for the transporters and mediate an active uptake via carrier systems by conjugation of amidoximes with compounds that improve the overall solubility of the prodrug. The different principles chosen resulted in several pentamidine prodrugs with various advantages. The objective of this investigation was the systematic characterisation and evaluation of eight pentamidine prodrugs in order to identify the most appropriate strategy to improve the properties of the parent drug. For this reason, all prodrugs were examined with respect to their solubility, stability, enzymatic activation, distribution, CNS delivery, and oral bioavailability. The results of this work have allowed reliable conclusions to be drawn regarding the best prodrug principle for the antiprotozoal drug pentamidine.
Jump‐start cloud: efficient deployment framework for large‐scale cloud applications
Authors: Wu Xiaoxin , Shen Zhiming , Wu Ryan , Lin Yunfeng 
Published: October 2011

SUMMARYReducing the time that a user has to occupy resources for completing cloud tasks can improve cloud efficiency and lower user cost. Such a time, called cloud time, consists of cloud deployment time and application running time. In this work, we design Jump‐start cloud, under which an efficient cloud deployment scheme is proposed for minimizing cloud time. It is especially beneficial to minimize cloud time for clouds serving multimedia applications, as they occupy much more significant cloud resources, such as disk I/O and networking bandwidth and computational costs in processing or transcoding multimedia contents. In particular, we have implemented virtual machine cloning based on disk image sharing for fast virtual machine and application deployment. For applications with heavy disk visits, the post‐deployment QoS may suffer from image sharing, and consequently, application running time will increase. To solve this problem, different image distribution schemes have been designed. We test Jump‐start cloud through a Hadoop‐based benchmark and MapReduce applications. Experiment studies show that our design saves application installation time and, meanwhile, keeps application running time reasonably low, thus makes cloud time shorter. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Security‐aware scheduling model for computational grid
Authors: Kashyap Rekha , Vidyarthi Deo Prakash 
Published: October 2011

SUMMARYGrid applications with stringent security requirements introduce challenging concerns because the schedule devised by nonsecurity‐aware scheduling algorithms may suffer in scheduling security constraints tasks. To make security‐aware scheduling, estimation and quantification of security overhead is necessary. The proposed model quantifies security, in the form of security levels, on the basis of the negotiated cipher suite between task and the grid‐node and incorporates it into existing heuristics MinMin and MaxMin to make it security‐aware MinMin(SA) and MaxMin(SA). It also proposes SPMaxMin (Security Prioritized MinMin) and its comparison with three heuristics MinMin(SA), MaxMin(SA), and SPMinMin on heterogeneous grid/task environment. Extensive computer simulation results reveal that the performance of the various heuristics varies with the variation in computational and security heterogeneity. Its analysis over nine heterogeneous grid/task workload situations indicates that an algorithm that performs better for one workload degrades in another. It is conspicuous that for a particular workload one algorithm gives better makespan while another gives better response time. Finally, a security‐aware scheduling model is proposed, which adapts itself to the dynamic nature of the grid and picks the best suited algorithm among the four analyzed heuristics on the basis of job characteristics, grid characteristics, and desired performance metric. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Scheduling streaming applications on a complex multicore platform
Authors: David Tudor , Jacquelin Mathias , Marchal Loris 
Published: October 2011

SUMMARYIn this paper, we consider the problem of scheduling streaming applications described by complex task graphs on a heterogeneous multicore platform, the IBM QS 22 platform, embedding two STI Cell Broadband Engine processor. We first derive a complete computation and communication model of the platform on the basis of comprehensive benchmarks. Then we use this model to express the problem of maximizing the throughput of a streaming application on this platform. Although the problem is proven NP‐complete, we present an optimal solution based on mixed linear programming. We also propose simpler scheduling heuristics to compute mapping of the application task graph on the platform. We then come back to the platform and propose a scheduling software to deploy streaming applications on this platform. This allows us to thoroughly test our scheduling strategies on the real platform. We thus show that we are able to achieve a good speed‐up either with the mixed linear programming solution or using involved scheduling heuristics. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
An adaptive parallel execution strategy for cloud‐based scientific workflows
Authors: de Oliveira Daniel , Ogasawara Eduardo , Ocaña Kary , Baião Fernanda , Mattoso Marta 
Published: October 2011

SUMMARYMany of the existing large‐scale scientific experiments modeled as scientific workflows are compute‐intensive. Some scientific workflow management systems already explore parallel techniques, such as parameter sweep and data fragmentation, to improve performance. In those systems, computing resources are used to accomplish many computational tasks in high performance environments, such as multiprocessor machines or clusters. Meanwhile, cloud computing provides scalable and elastic resources that can be instantiated on demand during the course of a scientific experiment, without requiring its users to acquire expensive infrastructure or to configure many pieces of software. In fact, because of these advantages some scientists have already adopted the cloud model in their scientific experiments. However, this model also raises many challenges. When scientists are executing scientific workflows that require parallelism, it is hard to decide a priori the amount of resources to use and how long they will be needed because the allocation of these resources is elastic and based on demand. In addition, scientists have to manage new aspects such as initialization of virtual machines and impact of data staging. SciCumulus is a middleware that manages the parallel execution of scientific workflows in cloud environments. In this paper, we introduce an adaptive approach for executing parallel scientific workflows in the cloud. This approach adapts itself according to the availability of resources during workflow execution. It checks the available computational power and dynamically tunes the workflow activity size to achieve better performance. Experimental evaluation showed the benefits of parallelizing scientific workflows using the adaptive approach of SciCumulus, which presented an increase of performance up to 47.1%. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
ZVS DC/DC converter with series half‐bridge legs for high voltage application
Authors: Chien C. H. , Wang Y. H. 
Published: October 2011

SUMMARYThis paper presents a new DC/DC converter with series half‐bridge legs for high voltage application. Two half‐bridge legs connected in series and two split capacitors are used in the proposed circuit to limit the voltage stress of each active switch at one‐half of input voltage. Thus, active switches with low voltage stress can be used at high DC bus application. In the proposed converter, two circuit modules are operated with an interleaved pulse‐width modulation scheme to reduce the input and output ripple currents and to achieve load current sharing. In each circuit module, two resonant tanks are operated with phase‐shift one‐half of switching cycle such that the frequency of the input current is twice the frequency of the resonant inductor current. Based on the resonant behavior, all MOSFETs are turned on at zero voltage switching with the wide ranges of input voltage and load conditions. The rectifier diodes can be turned off at zero current switching if the switching frequency is less than the series resonant frequency. Thus, the switching losses on power semiconductors are reduced. The proposed converter can be applied for high input voltage applications such as three‐phase 380‐V utility system. Finally, experiments based on a laboratory prototype with 960‐W rated power are provided to demonstrate the performance of proposed converter. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Hybrid mesh adaptation applied to industrial numerical combustion
Authors: Sirois Y. , McKenty F. , Gravel L. , Guibault F. 
Published: October 2011

SUMMARYThis paper presents an anisotropic mesh adaptation method applied to industrial combustion problems. The method is based on a measure of the distance between two Riemannian metrics called metric non‐conformity. This measure, which can be used to build a cost function to adapt meshes comprising several types of mesh elements, provides the basis for a generic mesh adaptation approach applicable to various types of physical problems governed by partial differential equations. The approach is shown to be applicable to industrial combustion problems, through the specification of a target metric computed as the intersection of several Hessian matrices reconstructed from the main variables of the governing equations. Numerical results show that the approach is cost effective in that it can drastically improve the prediction of temperature and species distributions in the flame region of a combustor while reducing computational cost. The results can be used as a basis for pollutant prediction models. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.