bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Pickling Waste as an Inexpensive Iron Source for Fenton Oxidation of Synthetic Dye Bath Waste
Authors: Shrivastava Seema , Rao Sumita Neti 
Published: September 2011

AbstractA simple, low cost, highly effective, and useful Fenton oxidation treatment of synthetic dye bath waste with pickling liquor as a source of iron (Fe2+ catalyst) is reported. Optimizations of contact time, Fe2+ and H2O2 doses are carried out. Oxidative de‐colorization and degradation of Reactive Blue 4 and Reactive Orange 16 was measured in terms of decrease in absorbance at their wavelength of maximum absorption (RB4, 599 nm; and RO16, 493 nm) and also as reduction in chemical oxygen demand (COD). Approximately, 62% COD was removed in 2 h at optimized doses of Fe2+ (8.95 mM) and H2O2 (61.8 mM) by using pickling waste as a source of Fe2+ catalyst. Similar performance efficiency was observed when neat FeSO4 was used as a source of Fe2+, indicating that pickling liquor can be a low cost source of Fe2+ to treat synthetic dye bath waste by Fenton method.
Statins amplify TLR‐induced responses in microglia via inhibition of cholesterol biosynthesis
Authors: Van Der Putten Céline , Kuipers Hedwich F. , Zuiderwijk‐Sick Ella A. , Van Straalen Linda , Kondova Ivanela , Van Den Elsen Peter J. , Bajramovic Jeffrey J. 
Published: September 2011

AbstractStatins inhibit the endogenous intracellular mevalonate pathway and exposure to statins affects innate and adaptive immune responses. Different statins are currently under evaluation as (co)therapy in neuro‐inflammatory diseases like multiple sclerosis. However, there are important discrepancies in the reported effects of statins on innate immune responses in different cell types. Studies to characterize such responses in clinically relevant primary cells are currently lacking. In this study, we investigated the effect of statins on Toll‐like receptor (TLR)‐induced responses of microglia, the resident macrophages of the central nervous system (CNS). Exposure of primary microglia from adult rhesus monkeys to different statins strongly amplified pro‐inflammatory cytokine protein and mRNA levels in response to myeloid differentiation primary response gene 88‐dependent TLR activation in particular. Rather than affecting nuclear facor‐κB activation levels, statin exposure affected stress‐activated protein/Jun‐amino‐terminal and p38 kinase signaling pathways. Mechanistic studies using specific pathway inhibitors and rescue experiments show that statin‐induced inhibition of cholesterol biosynthesis, rather than inhibition of isoprenylation, was mainly responsible for the amplified TLR responses. Additionally, microglia were more sensitive to statin‐mediated effects than bone marrow‐derived macrophages of the same donor. This correlated to lower intrinsic microglial expression levels of 3‐hydroxy‐3‐methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase, the enzyme targeted by statins. Amplification of TLR‐induced responses in microglia by statin exposure might contribute to the generation of a more pro‐inflammatory CNS microenvironment which can be of relevance for the pathogenesis of neuroinflammatory disorders. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A discretization method for the numerical solution of Dieudonné–Rashevsky type problems with application to edge detection within noisy image data
Authors: Franek Lucas , Franek Marzena , Maurer Helmut , Wagner Marcus 
Published: September 2011

SUMMARYThe present paper is concerned with the numerical solution of multidimensional control problems of Dieudonné–Rashevsky type by discretization methods and large‐scale optimization techniques. We prove first a convergence theorem wherein the difference of the minimal value and the objective values along a minimizing sequence is estimated by the mesh size of the underlying triangulations. Then we apply the proposed method to the problem of edge detection within raw image data. Instead of using an Ambrosio–Tortorelli type energy functional, we reformulate the problem as a multidimensional control problem. The edge detector can be built immediately from the control variables. The quality of our numerical results competes well with those obtained by applying variational techniques. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Reliability of Prayer‐based Self‐efficacy Scale to Assess Self‐confidence of Muslims with Low Back Pain
Authors: Al‐Obaidi Saud , Wall James C. , Mulekar Madhuri S. , Al‐Mutairie Rebecca 
Published: September 2011

AbstractBackgroundLow back pain (LBP) may challenge an individual's self‐confidence to perform usual daily activities such as Islamic daily prayer. Existing self‐efficacy scales may not be appropriate to assess individual's self‐confidence to perform Islamic prayers.ObjectiveThis study aimed to develop a scale to assess self‐confidence to prepare and perform Islamic prayer in the presence of LBP, the Islamic Prayer‐based Self‐efficacy Scale (IpbSeS), and to determine its consistency.MethodsThe IpbSeS consists of three parts: pre‐prayer preparation, getting to and from the mosque, and positions and movements during prayer. On a scale of 0 to 6, 0 indicates ‘not at all confident’ and 6 ‘fully confident’. Sixty individuals with LBP gave their responses on two different visits. Pain intensity was assessed by the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), and the pain intensity changes were assessed using a seven‐point global patient rating scale.Data analysisDescriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation coefficient, Wilcoxon test and t‐test were used in the analysis (alpha set at 0.05).ResultsVAS scores did not differ significantly between visits. No association was found between VAS and age (r = 0.039, p = 0.77) and between VAS and body mass index (BMI; r = 0.06, p = 0. 67). All 28 questions have consistent responses on two visits (0.75 ≤ r ≤ 0.99, p < 0.001 for all) indicating a very high reliability.ConclusionIpbSeS appears to be a reliable instrument to assess the self‐confidence of Muslims in the presence of LBP to pray. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Dynamic and risk measurement perspectives on bowman's risk‐return paradox for strategic management: An empirical study
Authors: Figenbaum Avi , Thomas Howard 
Published: September 2011

AbstractBowman's (1980, 1982) widely quoted papers have reported the existence of a risk‐return paradox for strategic management. In this paper the authors examine the dynamic behavior of the risk‐return relationship and analyze whether the risk‐return paradox is stable across time. The analysis involves tracking Bowman's so‐called negative association ratio across time. Using accounting measures of risk and return, it is demonstrated that while the paradox holds during the 1970s, the finding does not hold in the environment of the 1960s. Further, the paradox disappears if market‐based risk measures are used. Some implications for strategic management are then discussed and attention is directed towards the meaning of risk in the context of strategic management. In addition, possible explanations for this paradox are evaluated and directions for further research are suggested.
Research notes and communications: An exploratory approach to measuring perceptions of strategic decision process constructs
Authors: Fredrickson James W. 
Published: September 2011

AbstractTwo recent studies (Fredrickson, 1984; Fredrickson and Mitchell, 1984) used a new research method to obtain statistically verifiable measures of a strategic decision process construct. In this paper the method's underlying theory and assumptions are made explicit, its benefits and shortcomings are discussed, and possible extensions are suggested.
Strategy formulation processes: Differences in perceptions of strength and weaknesses indicators and environmental uncertainty by managerial level
Authors: Ireland R. Duane , Hitt Michael A. , Bettis Richard A. , De Porras Deborah Auld 
Published: September 2011

AbstractSome literature suggests that managers' perceptions of strengths and weaknesses indicators vary by management level. Differences likely result because of individuals' cognitive schemes, which include their cognitive biases. In turn, systematic errors may occur in managerial decisions. Results from the research reported herein support the notion that managers' perceptions of the indicators of a firm's strengths and weaknesses, and of environmental uncertainty, vary by managerial level. Differences in these perceptions were discovered to be more significant within each firm. Implications of these results are examined, including the impact on the deployment of firms' strategy formulation processes.
Acquisition strategy and the market position of acquiring firms
Authors: Hopkins H. Donald 
Published: September 2011

AbstractResearch suggests that firms which emphasize unrelated diversification through mergers and acquisitions are often located in unfavorable market positions, in terms of the attractiveness of their industries and their competitive positions within these industries. However, these previous research efforts have not established whether such positions will also be linked to firms using non‐conglomerate acquisition strategies. This study utilizes three acquisition strategies—conglomerate, technology‐related, and marketing‐related—to hypothesize differences in the market position of acquisitive firms. Results show that, while acquisitive growth is generally associated with a decline in market position, one particular acquisition strategy, the marketing‐related strategy, is associated with a distinctly superior position. Firms utilizing this strategy were found to be in more profitable industries and to have higher market shares in these industries.
Financial returns and strategic interaction: The case of instant photography
Authors: Bettis Richard A. , Weeks David 
Published: September 2011

AbstractThe purpose of this paper is to examine the use of shareholder returns to study the impact of complex strategic interactions that involve a sequence of moves by competing firms. The paper seeks to begin to build a bridge between the capital asset pricing model of modern financial theory and competitive strategy. Competition in instant photography is used as an example. Results demonstrate how shareholder returns and changes in market risk(β)can be associated with both overall strategies and specific competitive moves.
Strategy, strategy‐making, and performance in a business game
Authors: Segev Eli 
Published: September 2011

AbstractIn a recent study, Segev (1987) examined the relationships among strategy, strategy‐making, and performance, focusing on the connection between two important typologies: Miles and Snow's (1978) concept of strategic types and Mintzberg's (1973) concept of strategy‐making modes. The findings of that study clearly indicated links between the two, and partially supported propositions asserting the effects of the strategy/stategy‐making fit on organizational performance. In the current study a business game served as the vehicle for examining this tripartite relationship. The two typologies were applied to the firms' in the game, and then an inquiry was made into the relationships between them. An hypothesis regarding the effect of fit on performance was tested, and the findings compared with previously reported empirical results.
Breast implants: the good, the bad and the ugly. Can nanotechnology improve implants?
Authors: Puskas Judit E. , Luebbers Matthew T. 
Published: September 2011

AbstractThis advanced review will discuss the history of implants used in breast reconstruction and augmentation, the most frequently performed plastic surgery today. Currently, only silicone rubber‐based silica nanocomposite implants are available in the United States. The most prevalent issues involving breast implants include capsular contracture, gel bleed, implant rupture, and infection. In the past, studies have also been reported which linked breast implants to increased incidence of systemic diseases such as autoimmune disease, various forms of cancer, and psychological disease. The goal of this review is to survey the literature from the perspective of material science. It is also largely unnoticed that nanotechnology is involved: the silicone rubber shell is reinforced with nanosilica so implants appear to be homogeneous and crystal clear. We are hoping that this review will contribute to a better understanding of the controversial issues and motivate material scientists and medical doctors to work together to develop alternatives based on new nanotechnology for the women who opt for a device made of synthetic materials. WIREs Nanomed Nanobiotechnol 2012, 4:153–168. doi: 10.1002/wnan.164This article is categorized under:

Implantable Materials and Surgical Technologies > Nanomaterials and Implants
Implantable Materials and Surgical Technologies > Nanotechnology in Tissue Repair and Replacement
Unsupervised detection of genes of influence in lung cancer using biological networks
Authors: Goldenberg Anna , Mostafavi Sara , Quon Gerald , Boutros Paul C. , Morris Quaid D. 
Published: September 2011

Abstract
Motivation: Lung cancer is often discovered long after its onset, making identifying genes important in its initiation and progression a challenge. By the time the tumors are discovered, we only observe the final sum of changes of the few genes that initiated cancer and thousands of genes that they have influenced. Gene interactions and heterogeneity of samples make it difficult to identify genes consistent between different cohorts. Using gene and gene–product interaction networks, we propose a principled approach to identify a small subset of genes whose network neighbors exhibit consistently high expression change (in cancerous tissue versus normal) regardless of their own expression. We hypothesize that these genes can shed light on the larger scale perturbations in the overall landscape of expression levels.
Results: We benchmark our method on simulated data, and show that we can recover a true gene list in noisy measurement data. We then apply our method to four non-small cell lung cancer and two pancreatic cancer cohorts, finding several genes that are consistent within all cohorts of the same cancer type.
Conclusion: Our model is flexible, robust and identifies gene sets that are more consistent across cohorts than several other approaches. Additionally, our method can be applied on a per-patient basis not requiring large cohorts of patients to find genes of influence. Our approach is generally applicable to gene expression studies where the goal is to identify a small set of influential genes that may in turn explain the much larger set of genome-wide expression changes.
Availability: The code is available at http://morrislab.med.utoronto.ca/~anna/cannet.zip
Contact: anna.goldenberg@utoronto.ca
Supplementary Information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Lower confidence bounds for prediction accuracy in high dimensions via AROHIL Monte Carlo
Authors: Dobbin Kevin K. , Cooke Stephanie 
Published: September 2011

Abstract
Motivation: Implementation and development of statistical methods for high-dimensional data often require high-dimensional Monte Carlo simulations. Simulations are used to assess performance, evaluate robustness, and in some cases for implementation of algorithms. But simulation in high dimensions is often very complex, cumbersome and slow. As a result, performance evaluations are often limited, robustness minimally investigated and dissemination impeded by implementation challenges. This article presents a method for converting complex, slow high-dimensional Monte Carlo simulations into simpler, faster lower dimensional simulations.
Results: We implement the method by converting a previous Monte Carlo algorithm into this novel Monte Carlo, which we call AROHIL Monte Carlo. AROHIL Monte Carlo is shown to exactly or closely match pure Monte Carlo results in a number of examples. It is shown that computing time can be reduced by several orders of magnitude. The confidence bound method implemented using AROHIL outperforms the pure Monte Carlo method. Finally, the utility of the method is shown by application to a number of real microarray datasets.
Availability: The R computer program for forming confidence bounds is freely available for download at the URL http://dobbinke.myweb.uga.edu/RprogramAROHILloweraccuracybound.txt.
Contact: dobbinke@uga.edu
Supplementary Information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Fast filtering for RNA homology search
Authors: Kolbe Diana L. , Eddy Sean R. 
Published: September 2011

Abstract
Motivation: Homology search for RNAs can use secondary structure information to increase power by modeling base pairs, as in covariance models, but the resulting computational costs are high. Typical acceleration strategies rely on at least one filtering stage using sequence-only search.
Results: Here we present the multi-segment CYK (MSCYK) filter, which implements a heuristic of ungapped structural alignment for RNA homology search. Compared to gapped alignment, this approximation has lower computation time requirements (O(N4) reduced to O(N3)), and space requirements (O(N3) reduced to O(N2)). A vector-parallel implementation of this method gives up to 100-fold speed-up; vector-parallel implementations of standard gapped alignment at two levels of precision give 3- and 6-fold speed-ups. These approaches are combined to create a filtering pipeline that scores RNA secondary structure at all stages, with results that are synergistic with existing methods.
Availability: http://selab.janelia.org/publications.html#KolbeEddy11
Contact: eddys@janelia.hhmi.org
Molecular cloning and characterization of the STAT gene in Hyphantria cunea haemocytes
Authors: Kim H. J. , Kwon Y. M. , Kim Y. I. , Lee I. H. , Jin B. R. , Han Y. S. , Cheon H. M. , Kang Y. J. , Seo S. J. 
Published: September 2011

AbstractA new insect member of the signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) family of transcription factors, Hyphantria cunea STAT (HcSTAT), was cloned from the lepidopteran H. cunea. The domain involved in DNA interaction and the Src homology 2 (SH2) domain were well conserved. During all developmental stages, the gene was expressed at a low level in the haemocytes, fat body cells, midgut, epidermis and Malpighian tubules. The haemocytes and Malpighian tubules showed transcriptional activation of HcSTAT upon Gram‐negative and Gram‐positive bacterial challenges. These challenges increased the induction and nuclear translocation of the HcSTAT protein that recognizes a STAT target site in H. cunea haemocytes. In vivo treatment with sodium orthovanadate translocated HcSTAT to the haemocyte nucleus. This study shows the involvement of the haemocyte Janus kinase/STAT pathway after microbial infection in lepidopteran insects.
Functional analysis of the integration host factor site of the σ54Pu promoter of Pseudomonas putida by in vivo UV imprinting
Authors: Valls Marc , Silva‐Rocha Rafael , Cases Ildefonso , Muñoz Amalia , de Lorenzo Víctor 
Published: September 2011

SummaryThe integration host factor (IHF) of Pseudomonas putida connects cell growth to transcriptional activity of distinct promoters. The IHF site of the σ54 promoter Pu of the TOL (m‐xylene biodegradation) plasmid pWW0 of P. putida has been examined to define experimentally a relationship between occupation of the promoter by this factor, the biological activity of the protein and the tolerance of the target site to single‐base changes through the bound DNA core sequence. The use of an in vivo high‐intensity UV imprinting procedure to examine such an occupation of Pu by IHF allowed inspection of the interplay between the factor and cognate site variants under the physiologically relevant conditions of monocopy gene dosage. The resulting data were merged in a structural model for establishing key features of the IHF–DNA interaction. A functional consensus for first‐order IHF binding was instrumental for a genome‐wide survey of sequences with potential regulatory value. This search revealed that very few, if any, of the maximum 330 sites within intergenic regions were placed in locations controlling expression of central metabolic genes. It thus seems that the IHF regulon of P. putida has a degree of functional specialization that is not evenly distributed through all gene categories.
Meta‐analysis of the studies of bleeding complications of platelets pathogen‐reduced with the Intercept system
Authors: Vamvakas E. C. 
Published: September 2011

Background  The eligibility criteria of a previously reported meta‐analysis (Transfusion 2011;51:1058–1071) of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of pathogen reduction of platelets in patients with hypoproliferative thrombocytopenia were modified to examine the impact on the findings of: (1) inclusion of a (previously excluded) RCT; (2) restriction of eligibility to RCTs of the Intercept (amotosalen‐HCl/ultraviolet‐A‐light) system; and (3) differences in the methods used to assess bleeding complications.Materials and Methods  Five RCTs comparing the risk of all, clinically significant (grades 2 through 4) and/or severe (grades 3 and 4) bleeding complications between recipients of platelets treated with Intercept vs. standard unmanipulated platelets were included. Odds ratios (ORs) of bleeding complications of similar severity recorded during similar periods of observation were calculated across all studies and across homogeneous subsets of studies by random‐effects methods.Results  Treatment with Intercept increased all bleeding complications when four RCTs meeting the eligibility criteria of the previous meta‐analysis were integrated, but not across all the five currently available studies [summary OR = 1·24; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0·79–1·93]. Clinically significant bleeding complications increased when the results of the SPRINT RCT were based on the expanded safety analysis (summary OR = 1·52; 95% CI, 1·09–2·12) – but not the initial report (summary OR = 1·30; 95% CI, 0·54–3·14) – of that study.Conclusions  Treatment with Intercept may increase the risk of all and clinically significant (albeit not severe) bleeding complications in RCTs maintaining a platelet count of ≥10 × 109 or ≥20 × 109/l through increased platelet transfusions.
Towards candidate genes affecting body fatness at the SSC7 QTL by expression analyses
Authors: Gondret F. , Riquet J. , Tacher S. , Demars J. , Sanchez M.P. , Billon Y. , Robic A. , Bidanel J.P. , Milan D. 
Published: September 2011

SummaryA quantitative trait locus (QTL) affecting fatness in a way opposite to expectations based on breed means was mapped to swine chromosome 7 (SSC7) using crosses between Large White (LW) and Meishan (MS) founders. Defining the molecular fatness trait more explicitly would allow deducing positional candidate genes, for which expression differences must be analysed in experimental populations. First, mRNA levels of genes representing sequential steps in adipogenesis or involved in lipid metabolism were studied in backfat of pigs having homozygous LWQTL7/LWQTL7 or heterozygous LWQTL7/MSQTL7 alleles and considered at two ages. mRNA level of DLK1 expressed in preadipocytes was greater in MSQTL7/LWQTL7 pigs than in homozygous pigs at 28 days. Transcript abundances of CEBPA involved in differentiation, the prolipogenic FASN gene and the adipocyte‐specific marker FABP4 were lower in MSQTL7/LWQTL7 pigs compared with LWQTL7/LWQTL7 pigs at 150 days. Because these results suggest a lag time in terminal differentiation associated with the MS allele, seven genes in the QTL interval were deduced as promising candidates for the QTL effect by bioinformatics analysis. Among them, PPARD and CDKN1A had lower expression levels in MSQTL7/LWQTL7 pigs at both ages. Genotype‐related differences were observed in mRNA levels of PPARD target genes involved in cell differentiation (FZD7) or fatty acid oxidation (ACADL and ACOX1) at 150 days. These results re‐evaluate the potential of PPARD to explain part of variation in pig adiposity.