bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Extended Benefit from Sequential Administration of Docetaxel after Standard Fluorouracil, Epirubicin, and Cyclophosphamide Regimen for Node-Positive Breast Cancer: The 8-Year Follow-Up Results of the UNICANCER-PACS01 Trial
Authors: Coudert Bruno , Asselain Bernard , Campone Mario , Spielmann Marc , Machiels Jean-Pascal , Pénault-Llorca Frédérique , Serin Daniel , Lévy Christelle , Romieu Gilles , Canon Jean-Luc , Orfeuvre Hubert , Piot Gilles , Petit Thierry , Jerusalem Guy , Audhuy Bruno , Veyret Corinne , Beauduin Marc , Eymard Jean-Christophe , Martin Anne-Laure , Roché Henri ,   UNICANCER Breast Group
Published: May 2012

Abstract

Purpose.
The initial report from the Programme Action Concertée Sein (PACS) PACS01 trial demonstrated a benefit at 5 years for disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) rates with the sequential administration of docetaxel after FEC100 (fluorouracil 500 mg/m2, epirubicin 100 mg/m2, and cyclophosphamide 500 mg/m2) for patients with node-positive, operable breast cancer. We evaluate here the impact of this regimen at 8 years.

Patients and Methods.
Between June 1997 and March 2000, a total of 1,999 patients (age &lt;65) with localized, resectable, non-pretreated, unilateral breast cancer were randomly assigned to receive either standard FEC100 for 6 cycles or 3 cycles of FEC100 followed by 3 cycles of 100 mg/m2 docetaxel (FEC-D), both given every 21 days. Radiotherapy was mandatory after conservative surgery and tamoxifen was given for 5 years to hormone receptor (HR)-positive patients. Five-year DFS was the trial's main endpoint. Updated 8-year survival data are presented.

Results.
With a median follow-up of 92.8 months, 639 patients experienced at least one event. A total number of 383 deaths were registered. Eight-year DFS rates were 65.8% with FEC alone and 70.2% with FEC-D. OS rates at 8 years were 78% with FEC alone and 83.2% with FEC-D. Cox regression analysis adjusted for age and number of positive nodes showed a 15% reduction in the relative risk of relapse and a 25% reduction in the relative risk of death in favor of FEC-D. Significant relative risk reductions were observed in the HR-positive, HER2-positive, and Ki67 ≥20% subpopulations.

Conclusion.
Benefits for DFS and OS rates with the sequential FEC-D regimen are fully confirmed at 8 years.
Autonomic Cardiac Regulation During Spontaneous Nocturnal Hypoglycemia in Patients With Type 1 Diabetes
Authors: Koivikko Minna L. , Tulppo Mikko P. , Kiviniemi Antti M. , Kallio Mika A. , Perkiömäki Juha S. , Salmela Pasi I. , Airaksinen K.E. Juhani , Huikuri Heikki V. 
Published: May 2012

OBJECTIVE
Experimental clamp studies have suggested that hypoglycemia evokes a reduction of cardiac vagal control in patients with type 1 diabetes. However, there are limited data on the influence of spontaneous nocturnal hypoglycemia on cardiac autonomic regulation.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
Adults with type 1 diabetes (n = 37) underwent continuous glucose monitoring via a subcutaneous sensor as well as recording of R-R interval or electrocardiogram for 3 nights. Heart rate (HR) variability was analyzed during periods of hypoglycemia (glucose &lt;3.5 mmol/L) (minimum length of 20 min) and a control nonhypoglycemic period (glucose &gt;3.9 mmol/L) of equal duration and at the same time of night.

RESULTS
The duration of hypoglycemic and control episodes (n = 18) ranged from 20 to 190 min (mean 71 min). HR (62 ± 7 vs. 63 ± 9 beats per min; P = 0.30) or the high-frequency component of HR power spectrum (2,002 ± 1,965 vs. 1,336 ± 1,506 ms2; P = 0.26) did not change during hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia resulted in a significant decrease in the low-frequency component of HR variability (2,134 ± 1,635 vs. 1,169 ± 1,029 ms2, respectively; P = 0.006). The decline in the glucose concentration displayed a significant positive correlation with the decrease of the low-frequency component of HR variability (r = 0.48; P = 0.04). The latter was closely related to an increase in muscle sympathetic nerve activity recorded in 10 subjects during controlled sympathetic activation.

CONCLUSIONS
Spontaneous nocturnal hypoglycemia in patients with type 1 diabetes results in a reduction of the low-frequency component of HR, which is best explained by excessive sympathetic activation without a concomitant withdrawal of vagal outflow.
Metal-metabolomics of microalga Chlorella sorokiniana growing in selenium- and iodine-enriched media
Authors: Gómez-Jacinto Veronica , García-Barrera Tamara , Garbayo-Nores Ines , Vilchez-Lobato Carlos , Gómez-Ariza José-Luis 
Published: May 2012

AbstractThe microalga Chlorella sorokiniana has been used to accumulate selenium and iodine from culture media enriched with these elements as a first stage in the production of supplemented foods. The microalgal colony was grown in a conventional culture medium containing iodine (KI) at concentrations in the range of 150–4000 μg mL−1. Similar experiments were performed with selenium (SeO42−) at concentrations in the range of 20–500 μg mL−1. The concentration of iodine and selenium in the culture medium was analytically monitored daily and the viability of the colony was checked by biomass concentration measurement and by evaluation of the total content of chlorophyll and carotenoids. In addition, photosynthetic activity and the number of cells were also monitored. Iodine accumulation in the algal biomass increased rapidly with time and reached a steady state after 4 h of exposure. With Se exposure the colony viability decreased, although the culture grew well with concentrations of the element of 50 μg mL−1 in the culture medium; this experiment produced Se-enrichment in the alga (3 μg g−1) within 100 h. Sequential extraction of an algal pellet was performed in order to separate Se compounds according to their affinity with the following solvents: hot water to recover low molecular mass Se species, enzymatic extraction with driselase for species associated with the cell wall, sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) for water insoluble selenoproteins and, finally, enzymolysis with lipase and pronase that release and fragment residual selenoproteinsproducing compounds with low molecular mass. Size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) coupled with an ICP-MS detector showed the preponderance of Se-containing molecules with low molecular mass, possibly seleno-amino acids. Only a peak of low intensity located at 10 min was observed in the SDS extract that could be associated with a protein with molecular mass of 67 kDa. Finally, analysis of the aqueous extract of alga by reverse-phase chromatography with inductively-coupled plasma mass-spectrometry (RPC-ICP-MS) detection revealed the presence of selenocysteine (SeCys2), selenomethylselenocysteine (SeMetSeCys), selenomethionine (SeMet), and Se(VI), particularly the last two species.
Production of Geotrichum candidum polygalacturonases via solid state fermentation on grape pomace
Authors: Illková Kateřina , Zemková Zuzana , Flodrová Dana , Jäger Jakub , Benkovská Dagmar , Omelková Jiřina , Vadkertiová Renáta , Bobáľová Janette , Stratilová Eva 
Published: May 2012

AbstractGeotrichum candidum CCY 16-1-29 (teleomorph Galactomyces geotrichum) is able to grow and produce polygalacturonase of remarkable activities on pectin or grape pomace as a sole carbon source. The highest activities of extracellular enzymes were found on the third and the seventh day of cultivation. After extraction and precipitation, polygalacturonases produced in these cultivation periods were characterized. Production of multiple forms of polygalacturonase was observed in both cultivation periods. Two major forms, polygalacturonase with random action pattern (endo-PGase, EC 3.2.1.15) and oligogalacturonate hydrolase (exoPGase, exopolygalacturonase preferring oligogalacturonides as substrates), as well as numerous minor forms were detected by IEF-PAGE using the print technique detection. EndoPGase was identified by mass spectrometry. The major forms have similar isoelectric points (below pH 6.0) and pH optima (4.6 and 4.8, respectively). pH optimum of 4.6 was associated with exoPGase and that of 4.8 with endoPGase. Both enzymes were stable after freeze-drying and storage at 4°C. EndoPGase had molecular mass of about 29 kDa (36 kDa by SDS-PAGE) as determined by gel filtration, temperature optimum of about 45°C and it was stable only below 35°C. Molecular mass of exoPGase was about 50 kDa, its temperature optimum was about 60°C, and it was stable to 60°C. Optimal substrate for exoPGase was a pentamer, for endoPGase it was a pectate. Values of K m for optimal substrate reached the values of 11.4 × 10−5 M for for exoPGase and 6.6 × 10−5 M for endoPGase. Pectin methylesterase as another pectolytic enzyme was also identified by mass spectrometry.
Optimized K-means (OKM) clustering algorithm for image segmentation
Authors: Siddiqui F. , Mat Isa N. 
Published: May 2012

AbstractThis paper presents the optimized K-means (OKM) algorithm that can homogenously segment an image into regions of interest with the capability of avoiding the dead centre and trapped centre at local minima phenomena. Despite the fact that the previous improvements of the conventional K-means (KM) algorithm could significantly reduce or avoid the former problem, the latter problem could only be avoided by those algorithms, if an appropriate initial value is assigned to all clusters. In this study the modification on the hard membership concept as employed by the conventional KM algorithm is considered. As the process of a pixel is assigned to its associate cluster, if the pixel has equal distance to two or more adjacent cluster centres, the pixel will be assigned to the cluster with null (e. g., no members) or to the cluster with a lower fitness value. The qualitative and quantitative analyses have been performed to investigate the robustness of the proposed algorithm. It is concluded that from the experimental results, the new approach is effective to avoid dead centre and trapped centre at local minima which leads to producing better and more homogenous segmented images.
Influence of the Brownian movement on the motion of nanoand micro-particles in the inhomogeneous optical field
Authors: Zenkova C. , Gorsky M. , Soltys I. , Angelsky P. 
Published: May 2012

AbstractThe motion of light scattering particles of the Mie and Rayleigh micro- and nano-range type in the inhomogeneously-polarized optical field, with allowance made for the Brownian movement, is analysed in the paper. The spatial modulation of polarization in the observation plane determines the spatial modulation of the volume energy density. That is why the velocity and the resulting optical force, which cause the motion of the testing particles, change according to the degree of coherence of the interacting fields. The influence of the forces which arise in the viscous medium and cause the Brownian movement upon the mechanisms of manipulating and trapping testing particles by the optical field is studied.
Dispersion management in soft glass all-solid photonic crystal fibres
Authors: Buczynski R. , Pniewski J. , Pysz D. , Stepien R. , Kasztelanic R. , Kujawa I. , Filipkowski A. , Waddie A. , Taghizadeh M. 
Published: May 2012

AbstractThe development of all-solid photonic crystal fibres for nonlinear optics is an alternative approach to air-glass solid core photonic crystal fibres. The use of soft glasses ensures a high refractive index contrast (> 0.1) and a high nonlinear coefficient of the fibres. We report on the dispersion management capabilities in all-solid photonic crystal fibres taking into account four thermally matched glasses which can be jointly processed using the stack-and-draw fibre technique. We present structures with over 450 nm broadband flat normal dispersion and ultra-flat near zero anomalous dispersion below 5 ps/nm/km over 300 nm dedicated to supercontinuum generation with 1540 nm laser sources. The development of an all-solid photonic crystal fibre made of F2 and NC21 glasses is presented. The fibre is used to demonstrate supercontinuum generation in the range of 730–870 nm (150 nm) with flatness below 5 dB.
Chromophore Poling in Thin Films of Organic Glasses. 2. Two-Electrode Corona Discharge Setup
Authors: Vilitis O. , Muzikante I. , Rutkis M. , Vembris A. 
Published: May 2012

Chromophore Poling in Thin Films of Organic Glasses. 2. Two-Electrode Corona Discharge Setup
In Part 1 of the article we provided description of the corona discharge physics and overview of the methods used for corona poling in thin organic films. Subsequent sections describe comparatively simple technical methods for poling the organic nonlinear optical polymers using a two-electrode (point-to-plate or wire-to-plate) technique. The polarization build-up was studied by the DC positive corona method for poling the nonlinear optical (NLO) polymers. The experimental setup provides the corona discharge current from 0.5 μA up to 3 μA by applying 3 kV - 12 kV voltage to the corona electrode and makes possible selection among the types of corona electrodes (needle, multi-needle, wire, etc.). The results of experimental testing of the poling setup show that at fixed optimal operational parameters of poling - the sample orientation temperature and the discharge current - the corona charging of polymeric materials can successfully be performed applying the two-electrode technique. To study the dynamics of both poling and charge transport processes the three-electrode charging system - a corona triode - should be applied.
Evaluation of Multimedia Applications in a Cluster-Oriented Environment
Authors: Czarnul Paweł , Dziubich Tomasz , Krawczyk Henryk 
Published: May 2012

Evaluation of Multimedia Applications in a Cluster-Oriented Environment
In the age of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Web and the Internet have changed significantly the way applications are developed, deployed and used. One of recent trends is modern design of web-applications based on SOA. This process is based on the composition of existing web services into a single scenario from the point of view of a particular user or client. This allows IT companies to shorten the product-time to market process. On the other hand, it raises questions about the quality of the application, trade-offs between quality factors and attributes and measurements of these. Services are usually hosted and executed in an environment managed by its provider that assures the quality attributes such as availability or throughput. Therefore, in this paper an attempt has been made to perform quality measurements towards the creation of efficient, dependable and user-oriented Web applications. First, the process of designing service-based applications is described. Next, metrics for subsequent measurements of efficiency, dependability and usability of distributed applications are presented. These metrics will assess the efforts and trade-offs in a Web-based application development. As examples, we describe a pair of multimedia applications which we have developed in our department and executed in a cluster-based environment. One of them runs in the BeesyCluster middleware and the second one in the Kaskada platform. For these applications we present results of measurements and conclude about relations between quality attributes in the presented application development model. This knowledge can be used to reason about such relations for new similar applications and be used in rapid and quality development of the latter.
Diagnosis of Incipient Faults in Nonlinear Analog Circuits
Authors: Deng Yong , Shi Yibing , Zhang Wei 
Published: May 2012

Diagnosis of Incipient Faults in Nonlinear Analog Circuits
Considering the problem to diagnose incipient faults in nonlinear analog circuits, a novel approach based on fractional correlation is proposed and the application of the subband Volterra series is used in this paper. Firstly, the subband Volterra series is calculated from the input and output sequences of the circuit under test (CUT). Then the fractional correlation functions between the fault-free case and the incipient faulty cases of the CUT are derived. Using the feature vectors extracted from the fractional correlation functions, the hidden Markov model (HMM) is trained. Finally, the well-trained HMM is used to accomplish the incipient fault diagnosis. The simulations illustrate the proposed method and show its effectiveness in the incipient fault recognition capability.
Mobile Navigation System for Visually Impaired Users in the Urban Environment
Authors: Kamiński Łukasz , Bruniecki Krzysztof 
Published: May 2012

Mobile Navigation System for Visually Impaired Users in the Urban EnvironmentThis paper describes the prototype version of a mobile application supporting independent movement of the blind. Its objective is to improve the quality of life of visually impaired people, providing them with navigational assistance in urban areas. The authors present the most important modules of the application. The module for precise positioning using DGPS data from the ASG-EUPOS network as well as enhancements of positioning in urban areas, based on the fusion with other types of data sources, are presented. The devices, tools and software for the acquisition and maintenance of dedicated spatial data are also described. The module responsible for navigation with a focus on an algorithms' quality and complexity, as well as the user interface dedicated for the blind are discussed. The system's main advantages over existing solutions are emphasized, current results are described, and plans for future work briefly outlined.
Validation of Services Supporting Healthcare Standards Conformance
Authors: Górski Janusz , Jarzębowicz Aleksander , Miler Jakub 
Published: May 2012

Validation of Services Supporting Healthcare Standards ConformanceThe paper presents the results of experimental validation of a set of innovative software services supporting processes of achieving, assessing and maintaining conformance with standards and regulations. The study involved several hospitals implementing the Accreditation Standard promoted by the Polish Ministry of Health. First we introduce NOR-STA services that implement the TRUST-IT methodology of argument management. Then we describe and justify a set of metrics aiming at assessment of the effectiveness and efficiency of the services. Next we present values of the metrics that were built from the data collected. The paper concludes with giving the interpretation and discussing the results of the measurements with respect to the objectives of the validation experiment.
Tolerance to water stress in boron-deficient tea (Camellia sinensis) plants
Authors: Hajiboland Roghieh , Bastani Soodabe 
Published: May 2012

Abstract
The effects of boron (B) deficiency and water stress were studied in tea plants (Camellia sinensis [L.] O. Kuntze) grown in growth chambers in perlite irrigated with a nutrient solution. Dry matter production was reduced significantly by both low B supply and water stress. Shoot-root translocation of B declined in water-stressed plants. In addition, the re-translocation of B was impaired under drought, which was reflected in a significantly lower ratio of B content of young to old leaves in both B-deficient and B-sufficient plants. Leaf photochemical parameters were negatively influenced by B deficiency and water stress in the old but not in the young leaves. Although B-deficient plants were more conservative in relation to water loss following elevated stomatal limitation, their water potential was lower than in B-sufficient plants irrespective of the watering regime. Under the combined effects of B deficiency and water stress, the reduction in the CO2 assimilation rate was more prominent than that under a single stress factor. The reduction of the net assimilation rate (A) in B-deficient plants due to water stress and in water-stressed plants due to low B supply were not accompanied by significant changes in the stomatal conductance, suggesting an involvement of non-stomatal factors. The activity of antioxidant enzymes and proline content increased under B deficiency and water stress conditions. Our results suggested that, in young leaves that have been developed under water stress, an acclimation to water stress conditions occurred that was well reflected in their more stable photochemistry, water relations and an efficient antioxidant defence system compared with the older leaves.
Deconstructing the Conservancy Map: Hxaro, N!ore, and Rhizomes in the Kalahari
Authors: Vermeylen Saskia , Davies Gemma , van der Horst Dan 
Published: May 2012

To stand a chance of reclaiming their pre-colonial rights, indigenous peoples often have to deploy the tools and logic of the colonial state. Through a case study of community conservancy in Namibia, we demonstrate that the same holds for the practice of participatory mapping. We engage with J.B. Harley's deconstruction of maps and use our ethnographic data to reveal the silences and lies inherent in the rigid cartographic representations of conservancy maps. The indigenous peoples in our case study are the San, who have been marginalized and displaced from their land. We highlight how these people, once perceived by the colonialists as “rootless,” do have strong relational connections across the landscape. We argue that the practice of counter-mapping, along with its critique, is incomplete without full attention to the silences of the map and the relational rhizomes (across boundaries) of the peoples involved.
A brief review of Professor Jean-Paul Brodeur’s discussion of private security in Chapter 8 of his book, The Policing Web
Authors: Stenning Philip 
Published: May 2012

Dans cette contribution, je me penche sur la manière dont Jean-Paul Brodeur aborde le sujet de la sécurité privée dans le huitième chapitre de son livre, The Policing Web. J’estime que ce livre représente la première tentative « sérieuse » par un chercheur spécialisé dans les questions policières de développer une « théorie du policing » qui intègre le phénomène moderne de la sécurité privée et « plurielle ». Cet objectif n’est toutefois pas complètement atteint dans le livre, pour des raisons que Jean-Paul Brodeur expose lui-même à ses lecteurs. J’examine son argumentaire sur les difficultés d’obtenir une définition consensuelle de la « sécurité privée », l’importance qu’il accordait à l’étude de l’évolution des technologies de sécurité et leurs implications pour sa théorie du policing, ainsi que sur sa qualification de la sécurité privée comme une modalité de la haute police. Selon moi, ses réflexions représentent une contribution significative à la littérature et nous incitent à combler le déficit de connaissances au sujet de la sécurité privée au XXIe siècle.
Pten Loss in CD4 T Cells Enhances Their Helper Function but Does Not Lead to Autoimmunity or Lymphoma
Authors: Soond Dalya R. , Garçon Fabien , Patton Daniel T. , Rolf Julia , Turner Martin , Scudamore Cheryl , Garden Oliver A. , Okkenhaug Klaus 
Published: May 2012

Abstract
PTEN, one of the most commonly mutated or lost tumor suppressors in human cancers, antagonizes signaling by the PI3K pathway. Mice with thymocyte-specific deletion of Pten rapidly develop peripheral lymphomas and autoimmunity, which may be caused by failed negative selection of thymocytes or from dysregulation of postthymic T cells. We induced conditional deletion of Pten from CD4 Th cells using a Cre knocked into the Tnfrsf4 (OX40) locus to generate OX40CrePtenf mice. Pten-deficient Th cells proliferated more and produced greater concentrations of cytokines. The OX40CrePtenf mice had a general increase in the number of lymphocytes in the lymph nodes, but not in the spleen. When transferred into wild-type (WT) mice, Pten-deficient Th cells enhanced anti-Listeria responses and the clearance of tumors under conditions in which WT T cells had no effect. Moreover, inflammatory responses were exaggerated and resolved later in OX40CrePtenf mice than in WT mice. However, in contrast with models of thymocyte-specific Pten deletion, lymphomas and autoimmunity were not observed, even in older OX40CrePtenf mice. Hence loss of Pten enhances Th cell function without obvious deleterious effects.