bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Development of retinoblastoma programs in Central America
Authors: Wilimas Judith A. , Wilson Matthew W. , Haik Barrett G. , Barnoya Margarita , Fu Ligia , Castellanos Mauricio , Bonilla Miguel , Phillips Blanca , Helveston Eugene M. , Luna‐Fineman Sandra , Ribeiro Raul , Rodriguez‐Galindo Carlos 
Published: March 2009

AbstractBackgroundRetinoblastoma, a curable eye tumor, is associated with poor survival in Central America (CA). To develop a retinoblastoma program in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, twinning initiatives were undertaken between local pediatric oncology centers, nonprofit foundations, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and the University of Tennessee Hamilton Eye Institute.ProcedureThe retinoblastoma program focused on developing early diagnosis programs in Honduras with national vaccination campaigns, developing treatment protocols suited to local conditions, building local networks of oncologists and ophthalmologists, training local healthcare providers, using modern donated equipment for diagnosis and treatment, and the ORBIS Cybersight consultation program and Internet meetings to further education and share expertise. Pediatric ophthalmologists and oncologists worked with foundations to treat patients locally with donated equipment and Internet consultations, or at the center in Guatemala.ResultsNumber of patients successfully treated increased after the program was introduced. For 2000–2003 and 2004–2007, patients abandoning/refusing treatment decreased in Guatemala from 20 of 95 (21%) to 14 of 123 (11%) and in Honduras from 13 of 37 (35%) to 7 of 37 (19%). Survival in El Salvador was good and abandonment/refusal low for both periods. Of 18 patients receiving focal therapy for advanced disease, 14 have single remaining eyes.ConclusionDevelopment of the program in CA has decreased abandonment/refusal and enabled ophthalmologists at local centers to use modern equipment to provide better treatment. This approach might serve as a guide for developing other multispecialty programs. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2009;53:42–46. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Outcome of patients with recurrent medulloblastoma or central nervous system germinoma treated with low dose continuous intravenous etoposide along with dose‐intensive chemotherapy followed by autologous hematopoietic stem cell rescue
Authors: Grodman Howard , Wolfe Lawrence , Kretschmar Cynthia 
Published: March 2009

AbstractBackgroundAdults and children with recurrent malignant central nervous system (CNS) tumors have a poor prognosis despite high dose chemotherapy with a conventional stem cell rescue regimen. In this study we evaluated the results of low dose, continuous infusion etoposide over 21 days added to a conventional high‐dose regimen of carboplatin and thiotepa in eight patients with relapsed pediatric CNS tumors.ProcedurePatients with high risk CNS tumors were treated with etoposide 25 mg/m2/day by continuous intravenous (IV) infusion from day −22 to day −2, carboplatin 667 mg/m2/dose IV (or area under the curve = 9 mg/ml/min according to the Calvert formula on days −8, −7, and −6, and thiotepa 300 mg/m2/dose IV on days −5, −4, and −3, followed by autologous hematopoietic stem cell rescue on day 0.ResultsEight adults and children, with a mean age of 12.9 years (age range 5.6–27.8 years), with relapsed primary CNS tumors (metastatic medulloblastoma (7), germinoma (1)), were enrolled. The mean survival post‐transplant was 4.8+ years, (range 8–160+ months). The 2‐ and 5‐year overall survival rates were 75% and 50% respectively. None of the survivors required additional salvage irradiation.ConclusionThe strategy of low dose chronic exposure to a topoisomerase inhibitor along with ablative carboplatin and thiotepa with stem cell rescue showed promising survival outcomes in these relapsed patients. This treatment strategy deserves further evaluation in a larger group of high‐risk or relapsed primary CNS tumors. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2009;53:33–36. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Male gonadal toxicity
Authors: Meistrich Marvin L. 
Published: March 2009

AbstractCancer treatment with chemotherapy or radiotherapy causes gonadal toxicity in male patients. The endpoint of most concern for future reproductive options is the induction of prolonged azoospermia, which may or may not be reversible. The immediate effects of therapy and its reversibility are most readily observed in post‐pubertal patients, but the same antineoplastic regimens given to prepubertal males can induce permanent azoospermia. The probability of permanent azoospermia is related to the specific agents used and their doses. The most damaging are alkylating agents (particularly chlorambucil, procarbazine, cyclophosphamide, melphalan, and busulfan), cisplatin and radiation to the region of the testicles. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2009;53:261–266. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Mechanical properties of high temperature cyanate ester/BMI blend composites
Authors: Ganesan Anuradha , Muthusamy Sarojadevi 
Published: March 2009

AbstractA new Schiff base functionalized dicyanate ester was synthesized and the monomer was characterized by FTIR, 1H‐NMR, 13C‐NMR and elemental analysis techniques. This prepared dicyanate ester with catalyst was then blended with BMI resin at different ratios by solution technique. The composites were made by impregnating the fibers with the blend solution followed by curing at various time‐temperature schedules. The mechanical properties of the blend composites were tested. The fiber volume fraction of the composites were found to be in the range 41 ± 3%. The mechanical properties such as tensile modulus (32–35 GPa), flexural modulus (56–59 GPa) and Mode I fracture toughness (GIC = 104–136 J/m2) and impact response (1,121–1,218 J/m) were found to increase with increasing cyanate ester content in the Cy/BMI blends. From the DMA study it was observed that as the cyanate content increases from 3 to 9% in the blend the tan δ value increases from 0.112 to 0.126 and the storage modulus decreases from 24,750 to 22,870 MPa indicating that the crosslink density of the blends decreases. The SEM analysis shows the absence of phase separation. Moisture absorption and chemical resistance of the blend composites increase with increasing cyanate content. POLYM. COMPOS., 2009. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers
Mechanical and tribological behaviors of PA66/PVDF blends filled with calcium sulphate whiskers
Authors: Wang Hong‐Gang , Mu Bo , Ren Jun‐Fang , Jian Ling‐Qi , Zhang Jun‐Yan , Yang Sheng‐Rong 
Published: March 2009

AbstractThe mechanical and tribological performance of the PA66/PVDF blends filled with various amount of calcium sulphate whiskers (CSW) was investigated. The whiskers improve the tensile and flexural performance of the PA66/PVDF blends. Meanwhile, the addition of CSW obviously decreases friction coefficient and improves the wear resistance of the blends. With the further increase of CSW, friction coefficient of the blends relatively keeps stable and the wear resistance of the blends slightly decreases. The PA66/PVDF blends filled with 5 wt% CSW exhibited the best anti‐wear ability. FTIR analysis shows that the chemical change has not occurred in the debris. XPS analysis shows that some tribo‐chemical reactions have occurred during friction process and produces some compounds such as FeF2, Fe2O3 on the transfer film surfaces. POLYM. COMPOS., 2009. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers
Drug use among children under 5 with respiratory illness and/or diarrhoea in a rural district of Vietnam
Authors: Hoan Le Thi , Chuc Nguyen Thi Kim , Ottosson Ellinor , Allebeck Peter 
Published: March 2009

AbstractObjectivesTo describe the pattern of drug use among the children with respiratory illnesses and/or diarrhoea; and to analyze the association between various socio‐economic factors and pattern of drug use.MethodsA population‐based survey of 4087 children under five was conducted within the framework of an epidemiological surveillance site in a rural district of Vietnam. Through interviewing mothers or caretakers, data on self‐reported illness, use of drugs, and use of health services during 2 weeks prior to the survey and other background information were collected.ResultsOut of 4087 children, 1836 children had respiratory illness and/or diarrhoea during 2 weeks before the interview and drugs were used in the majority of cases. Antibiotics (72.2%) and analgesics/antipyretics (53.5%) were the drugs most commonly reported. Corticosteroids were used in 11.6% of all cases. Among children with diarrhoea, Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) was used in 9.7%, while anti‐diarrhoea drugs were used in 36.1% of all cases. There was a significant association between the family's socio‐economic condition and use of corticosteroids, but to a lesser degree regarding other drugs. There was no significant association between pattern of drug use and type of health service consulted.ConclusionsThere are major problems about irrational drug use among children. The treatment guidelines for respiratory illness and diarrhoea are not followed. Urgent actions are needed and should target all actors in the field, mothers, doctors, pharmacy staff, and authorities in order to improve this situation. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Adverse events with use of antiepileptic drugs: a prescription and event symmetry analysis
Authors: Tsiropoulos Ioannis , Andersen Morten , Hallas Jesper 
Published: March 2009

AbstractPurposeTo assess adverse events with use of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) by the method of sequence symmetry analysis.MethodsWe used data from two population‐based sources in Funen County, Denmark (population 2006: 479 000); prescription data from Odense University Pharmacoepidemiological Database (OPED) for the period of 1 August 1990–31 December 2006, and diagnoses from the County Hospital register for the period of 1994–2006 to perform sequence symmetry analysis. The method assesses the distribution of disease entities and prescription of other drugs (ODs), before and after initiation of AED treatment, as asymmetry in these distributions may indicate adverse events of AED use. Crude and adjusted sequence ratios (ASRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated.ResultsWe identified 24 882 incident AED users during the study period. Analysis with predefined drugs and diagnoses detected known AED adverse events of unspecific (constipation, nausea) and specific character (hyponatraemia, osteoporosis). Unanticipated signals from analysis without any preselection of drugs and diagnoses were the association of topiramate with dopaminergic agents (ASR 10.4; 95%CI 1.5–448), of gabapentin with glaucoma (ASR 8.0; 95%CI 1.1–355) and of valproic acid with hypothyroidism (ASR 8.0; 95%CI 1.1–355).ConclusionsFew unsuspected adverse AED effects were recognized in our study. Sequence symmetry analysis is a feasible method of monitoring for adverse AED effects. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
An increased risk of road traffic accidents after prescriptions of lithium or valproate?
Authors: Bramness Jørgen G. , Skurtveit Svetlana , Neutel C. Ineke , Mørland Jørg , Engeland Anders 
Published: March 2009

AbstractObjectivesStudies have shown that lithium may cause psychomotor and cognitive impairment and impose an increased risk of traffic accidents. The antiepileptic drug valproate is also used as a mood stabilizer, but the impact on traffic safety has not been studied. The objective of the present study was to examine whether the use of lithium or valproate increased the risk of being involved in traffic accidents.MethodsBetween April 2004 and September 2006, information on prescriptions, road accidents and emigrations/deaths was obtained from three Norwegian population‐based registries. Data on people between the ages 18–70 (3.1 million) were linked. Exposure consisted of receiving prescriptions for either lithium or valproate. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) were calculated by comparing the incidence of motor vehicle accidents during time exposed with the incidence over the time not exposed. Lithium was studied separately from valproate.ResultsDuring the study period, 20 494 road accidents occurred including 36 while exposed to lithium and 31 while exposed to valproate. The overall accident risk was neither increased after having received prescriptions for lithium (SIR 1.3; 95%CI: 0.9–1.8), nor after having received a prescription for valproate (SIR 0.9; 0.6–1.3). The exception was a three‐fold increase in risk for younger female drivers exposed to lithium.ConclusionsWe found no increase in the traffic accident risk after being exposed to lithium or valproate, except for young female drivers on lithium. This may be because these drugs carry no increased risk or because patients exposed to these drugs refrain from driving. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Incidence rates of heart failure, stroke, and acute myocardial infarction among Type 2 diabetic patients using insulin glargine and other insulin
Authors: Juhaeri Juhaeri , Gao Shujun , Dai Wanju S. 
Published: March 2009

AbstractPurposeThe aim of this study was to compare incidence rates of heart failure, stroke, and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in Type 2 diabetic patients using different types of insulin.MethodsIncluded were patients with a diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes and at least one insulin prescription from May 2001 to July 2007. Incidence rate ratios (RRs) of heart failure, stroke, and AMI were estimated using Poisson regression with adjustment for age, gender, history of hypertension, dyslipidemia history, days supply, and duration of diabetes.ResultsIncidence rates of heart failure, stroke, and AMI in the insulin glargine group were 306.9 (95%CI: [278.9, 334.8]), 174.8 (95%CI: [153.7, 195.8]), and 105.2 (95%CI: [88.9, 121.5]) cases per 10 000 person–years, respectively. After adjustment for covariates, the incidence rates of CVD events in the insulin glargine were comparable to those in the other long/intermediate acting insulin group (reference), except for AMI, which tended to be lower in the insulin glargine group (RR = 0.81, 95%CI: [0.65, 1.02]). Using the same reference, the incidence rate of stroke was higher in patients taking rapid/short acting insulin, premixed insulin, or mixed use of insulin except insulin glargine (RR = 1.20, 95%CI: [1.04, 1.40]).ConclusionThis study suggested that insulin glargine use might be associated with a lower risk of AMI, compared to the other long/intermediate acting insulin use, and that insulin regimen of rapid/short acting insulin, premixed insulin, or mixed use of insulin except insulin glargine was associated with a higher risk of stroke using the same reference. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Self‐guided Langevin dynamics study of regulatory interactions in NtrC
Authors: Damjanović Ana , García‐Moreno E. Bertrand , Brooks Bernard R. 
Published: March 2009

AbstractMultiple self‐guided Langevin dynamics (SGLD) simulations were performed to examine structural and dynamical properties of the receiver domain of nitrogen regulatory protein C (NtrCr). SGLD and MD simulations of the phosphorylated active form structure suggest a mostly stable but broad structural ensemble of this protein. The finite difference Poisson–Boltzmann calculations of the pKa values of the active site residues suggest an increase in the pKa of His‐84 on phosphorylation of Asp‐54. In SGLD simulations of the phosphorylated active form with charged His‐84, the average position of the regulatory helix α4 is found closer to the starting structure than in simulations with the neutral His‐84. To model the transition pathway, the phosphate group was removed from the simulations. After 7 ns of simulations, the regulatory helix α4 was found approximately halfway between positions in the NMR structures of the active and inactive forms. Removal of the phosphate group stimulated loss of helix α4, suggesting that the pathway of conformational transition may involve partial unfolding mechanism. The study illustrates the potential utility of the SGLD method in studies of the coupling between ligand binding and conformational transitions. Proteins 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Pressure study on the semiconductor–metal transition in a quantum well
Authors: Nithiananthi P. , Jayakumar K. 
Published: March 2009

AbstractThe effect of Γ–X band crossing due to the applied hydrostatic pressure on the semiconductor–metal transition in a quasi‐two‐dimensional system like GaAs/Alx Ga1–x As quantum well has been shown through the drastic change in diamagnetic susceptibility of donors at critical concentration in the effective mass approximation using the variational principle. The nonparabolicity of the conduction band has been taken into account in the calculation. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
A person‐focused analysis of resilience resources and coping in patients with diabetes
Authors: Yi‐Frazier Joyce P. , Smith Ronald E. , Vitaliano Peter P. , Yi Jean C. , Mai Scarlett , Hillman Matthew , Weinger Katie 
Published: March 2009

AbstractThis study investigated the resilience resources and coping profiles of patients with diabetes. A total of 145 patients with diabetes completed a questionnaire packet including two measurements of coping (COPE and Coping Styles Questionnaires) and personal resources. Glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) was also assessed. Resilience was defined by a factor score derived from measures of self‐esteem, self‐efficacy, self‐mastery and optimism. All of the maladaptive coping subscales were negatively associated with resilience (r's range from −0.34 to −0.56, all p values are <0.001). Of the adaptive coping subscales, only acceptance, emotional support and pragmatism were positively associated with resilience. The upper, middle and lower tertiles of the resilience factor were identified, and the coping profiles of these groups differed significantly, with low‐resilience patients favouring maladaptive strategies much more than those with high‐ or moderate‐resilience resources do. Resilience groups did not differ in HbA1c levels; correlation coefficients of the coping subscales with HbA1c were explored. This study demonstrates a link between maladaptive coping and low resilience, suggesting that resilience impacts one's ability to manage the difficult treatment and lifestyle requirements of diabetes. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Thermal Modulation of Nanomotor Movement
Authors: Balasubramanian Shankar , Kagan Daniel , Manesh Kalayil Manian , Calvo‐Marzal Percy , Flechsig Gerd‐Uwe , Wang Joseph 
Published: March 2009

AbstractMotion control is essential for various applications of man‐made nanomachines. The ability to control and regulate the movement of catalytic nanowire motors is illustrated by applying short heat pulses that allow the motors to be accelerated or slowed down. The accelerated motion observed during the heat pulses is attributed primarily to the thermal activation of the redox reactions of the H2O2 fuel at the Pt and Au segments and to the decreased viscosity of the aqueous medium at elevated temperatures. The thermally modulated motion during repetitive temperature on/off cycles is highly reversible and fast, with speeds of 14 and 45 µm s−1 at 25 and 65 °C, respectively. A wide range of speeds can be generated by tailoring the temperature to yield a linear speed–temperature dependence. Through the use of nickel‐containing nanomotors, the ability to combine the thermally regulated motion of catalytic nanomotors with magnetic guidance is also demonstrated. Such on‐demand control of the movement of nanowire motors holds great promise for complex operations of future manmade nanomachines and for creating more sophisticated nanomotors.
Cytotoxicity and Immunological Response of Gold and Silver Nanoparticles of Different Sizes
Authors: Yen Hung‐Jen , Hsu Shan‐hui , Tsai Ching‐Lin 
Published: March 2009

AbstractThe immunological response of macrophages to physically produced pure Au and Ag nanoparticles (NPs) (in three different sizes) is investigated in vitro. The treatment of either type of NP at ≥10 ppm dramatically decreases the population and increases the size of the macrophages. Both NPs enter the cells but only AuNPs (especially those with smaller diamter) up‐regulate the expressions of proinflammatory genes interlukin‐1 (IL‐1), interlukin‐6 (IL‐6), and tumor necrosis factor (TNF‐α). Transmission electron microscopy images show that AuNPs and AgNPs are both trapped in vesicles in the cytoplasma, but only AuNPs are organized into a circular pattern. It is speculated that part of the negatively charged AuNPs might adsorb serum protein and enter cells via the more complicated endocytotic pathway, which results in higher cytotoxicity and immunological response of AuNPs as compared to AgNPS.
QoS aware admission and power control for cognitive radio cellular networks
Authors: Xiang Jie , Zhang Yan , Skeie Tor , He Jianhua 
Published: March 2009

AbstractIn cognitive radio cellular networks (CogCell), the secondary users (SUs) are allowed to access the channels licensed to the primary users (PUs) including Primary Transmitters (PTs) and Primary Receivers (PRs), only if the interference to the PRs is less than the predefined threshold, and the quality of service (QoS) requirements of PTs are guaranteed. In addition, different SUs may require different levels of QoS, and pay differently depending on the provided QoS. The network operator achieves different secondary revenues by admitting SUs in different QoS levels. The problem we address in this paper is to maximize the total secondary revenue relative to the interference constraints on PRs, and QoS requirements for both PTs and SUs. We formulate this optimization problem, and propose a power control scheme for both PTs and SUs. Then, we introduce three solutions including an exact solution using dynamic programming, a greedy heuristic algorithm, and a minimal signal‐interference‐plus‐noise‐ratio (SINR) removal algorithm. Based on these algorithms, we propose three QoS aware admission and power control (QAPC) schemes, one optimal solution called QAPC‐dynamic, and two approximate solutions called QAPC‐greedy and QAPC‐minimal SINR removal algorithm (MSRA), respectively. Numerical results show that QAPC‐dynamic always achieves the highest secondary revenue while QAPC‐MSRA gives the lowest secondary revenue. Since the time complexity of QAPC‐dynamic is much higher than the other two schemes, QAPC‐greedy is recommended considering the trade‐off between the computation complexity and performance gain. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Collaborative spreading for the downlink of overloaded CDMA
Authors: Ali Falah H. , Shakya Indu 
Published: March 2009

AbstractA new scheme called ‘Collaborative Spreading’ is proposed for the downlink of CDMA to allow the sharing of the same spreading sequence by more than one user. In particular, it addresses the problem of user overloading and maintain the use of the same set of available orthogonal sequences and simple receiver structure. In this scheme, a total ofKusers are divided intoGgroups each containingTusers which are collaboratively coded to form uniquely decodable composite codewords. These codewords are spread using a single sequence to perform the CDMA function between the groups. At the receiver, a low complexity maximum likelihood (ML) joint detection and decoding is carried out over a small set of allowed composite codewords to recover the desired user's data. Theoretical and simulation performance analysis of the bit error rate (BER) and user capacity are presented in different channel conditions. It is shown that the proposed collaborative spreading is a simple and very effective means for extending the user capacity at the cost of a modest degradation in BER performance compared with non‐overloaded fully orthogonal CDMA. It can achieve higher signal‐to‐interference plus noise ratio (SINR) and higher overloading ratio compared with Orthogonal CDMA/Orthogonal CDMA schemes and other group orthogonal CDMA schemes. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.