bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Association between breast cancer and allostatic load by race: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999–2008
Authors: Parente Victoria , Hale Lauren , Palermo Tia 
Published: January 2012

AbstractBackgroundBreast cancer and its treatment introduce numerous physiologic, psychological, social, and economic stressors to a woman with the diagnosis. Allostatic load, a composite score of biomarkers representing physiologic dysregulation, may serve as a measure of the biological burden of breast cancer. This study investigates the association between breast cancer and allostatic load scores by comparing allostatic load scores in those with a history of breast cancer to those without, stratified by race.MethodsBlack and white women aged 35 to 85 were analyzed using the data from NHANES 1999–2008 (n = 4875 women, of which 188 women had a history of breast cancer). Stratified by race, we ran multivariate analyses with history of breast cancer as a predictor for elevated allostatic load while adjusting for other potentially confounding variables.ResultsAlthough a history of breast cancer was not associated with elevated allostatic load in white women, it was significantly associated with elevated allostatic load in black women after adjusting for age, income, education, insurance type, smoking status, alcohol intake, and physical activity [Odds Ratio (OR) 2.08 (95%CI 1.02, 4.22)]. Furthermore, an interaction between black and having a history of breast cancer was found to be significant in predicting elevated allostatic load scores after adjusting for demographic, behavioral, and comorbidity characteristics.ConclusionsThese results suggest that the biological toll of breast cancer may be greater in black women than white women. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Identification and removal of nitroxide spin label contaminant: Impact on PRE studies of α‐helical membrane proteins in detergent
Authors: Kroncke Brett M. , Columbus Linda 
Published: January 2012

AbstractNMR paramagnetic relaxation enhancement (PRE) provides long‐range distance constraints (∼15–25 Å) that can be critical to determining overall protein topology, especially where long‐range NOE information is unavailable such as in the case of larger proteins that require deuteration. However, several challenges currently limit the use of NMR PRE for α‐helical membrane proteins. One challenge is the nonspecific association of the nitroxide spin label to the protein‐detergent complex that can result in spurious PRE derived distance restraints. The effect of the nitroxide spin label contaminant is evaluated and quantified and a robust method for the removal of the contaminant is provided to advance the application of PRE restraints to membrane protein NMR structure determination.
Bydureon: long‐acting exenatide for once‐weekly injection
Authors: Ballav Chitrabhanu , Gough Stephen 
Published: January 2012

AbstractBydureon is a long‐acting formulation of exenatide administered as a once‐weekly injection. The authors present the clinical data relating to its efficacy and adverse effects compared with twice‐daily exenatide and other treatments used in type 2 diabetes and discuss its potential role in management. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Interface Ltd
Schottky barrier and interface chemistry for Ni contacted to Al0.8Ga0.2N grown on c‐oriented AlN single crystal substrates
Authors: Tweedie James , Collazo Ramón , Rice Anthony , Mita Seiji , Xie Jinqiao , Akouala Rajiv‐Christer , Sitar Zlatko 
Published: January 2012

AbstractWe demonstrate electronic sequential tunneling transport through the ground‐state subbands of GaN/Al0.15Ga0.85N quantum cascade structures grown on free‐standing GaN substrates. A pronounced transition from a high‐ to a low‐resistance state is observed as the applied voltage is increased. The measured current‐voltage characteristics are found to vary with temperature, structure design, and polarity of the applied bias, in a way that is fully consistent with theoretical expectations. The dominant transport mechanism is determined to be scattering‐assisted tunneling (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Effect of post‐gate RTA on leakage current (Ioff) in GaN MOSHEMTs
Authors: Huang Tongde , Wong Ka Ming , Li Ming , Zhu Xueliang , Lau Kei May 
Published: January 2012

AbstractEffect of post‐gate rapid thermal annealing (RTA) on GaN metal‐oxide semiconductor high electron mobility transistors (MOSHEMTs) performance has been investigated. For devices with 1‐µm gate length and 10‐µm gate width, a significant reduction of Iofffrom 10‐4 to 10‐6 mA/mm (at Vgs = ‐8 V, Vd= 6 V) was observed after post‐gate RTA at 600 °C, indicating an excellent ON/OFF drain current ratio (Ion/Ioff) up to 108. The reduction of Ioffis mainly dominated by the decreased reverse‐biased gate leakage current, as indicated by the strong dependence of Ion/Ioff on reverse‐biased gate leakage current. The reduced gate leakage after post‐gate RTA probably stems from the increased gate barrier height as a result of gate metal reaction with Al2O3. The degradation in pulse I‐V characteristics may be due to defect formation in devices during post‐gate RTA at 600 °C. Nearly complete recovery was achieved by further post‐gate RTA at 400 °C for 10 minutes. (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Growth of InGaN nanowires on a (111)Si substrate by RF‐MBE
Authors: Tabata Takuya , Paek Jihyun , Honda Yoshio , Yamaguchi Masahito , Amano Hiroshi 
Published: January 2012

AbstractWe have grown InGaN nanowires (NWs) on a (111)Si substrate directly by radio‐frequency plasma‐assisted molecular beam epitaxy (RF‐MBE), and investigated their In compositional distribution by energy dispersive x‐ray spectroscopy (EDX). The In composition line profiles of InGaN NWs measured by EDX are different at each position in the InGaN NWs, and In is most easily incorporated into the top of NWs. The In composition at the top of the NWs depends on the growth temperature and the In flux ratio. However, the In compositions at other positions is not dependent on these factors. Thus, these results might be due to the limited diffusion of In atoms from the top of the NWs towards the NWs/Si interface. (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Greatly improved crystal quality of non‐polar GaN grown on a‐plane GaN nano‐rod template obtained using self‐organised nano‐masks
Authors: Gong Y. , Xing K. , Bai J. , Wang T. 
Published: January 2012

AbstractWe have developed a simple and effective approach for growth of a‐plane GaN with massively improved crystal quality on a‐plane GaN nanorod template on sapphire. The a‐plane GaN nanorod template is fabricated using self‐organised nickel nano‐masks. X‐ray diffraction rocking curves, measured along both symmetrical and asymmetrical directions, show a massive reduction in full width at half maximum (FWHM), meaning a significant reduction in dislocation density. These are all among best reports although our overgrown layer is only 4‐5 μm, much less than those using any other overgrowth technique. The threading dislocation density has been reduced down to 2.5×108 cm‐2 from typical 9×109 cm‐2 for the a‐plane GaN template on sapphire. The scanning electron microscope measurements show that two kinds of voids have been observed in the cross‐sectional image, which form during the coalescence process of the overgrowth. Taking the advantage of the SiO2 remaining on the top of the nano‐rods, theoretically all dislocations could be effectively blocked. Photoluminescence (PL) measurements have been performed, showing a strong band‐edge emission, which cannot be observed in the a‐plane GaN template on sapphire (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
In‐situ void formation technique using an AlN shell structure grown on GaN stripes on Si(111) and c‐plane sapphire substrates
Authors: Mitsunari Tadashi , Tanikawa Tomoyuki , Honda Yoshio , Yamaguchi Masahito , Amano Hiroshi 
Published: January 2012

AbstractWe proposed an in‐situ void formation technique using high‐temperature AlN growth on GaN stripes in order to reduce residual stress. Microcracks were observed during the growth of AlN; the GaN stripes then sublimated from the microcracks while keeping the AlN shell, resulting in void formation in the AlN shell structure. After GaN regrowth on this AlN shell structure, we successfully coalesced the GaN stripes to form a smooth, thick GaN layer having voids at the GaN/substrate interface. Raman spectroscopy confirmed that the residual tensile stress was decreased. The thermal stress decreased owing to the separation between the GaN layer and a foreign substrate. (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Accelerating and parallelizing minimizations in ensemble and deterministic variational assimilations
Authors: Desroziers Gérald , Berre Loïk 
Published: January 2012

AbstractThe specification of a correct background‐error covariance matrix is a key issue in data assimilation schemes. The Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) aims at providing simulations of analysis and background errors and then gives a way to determine this background‐error covariance matrix. The EnKF can be transposed to variational ensemble assimilation, where a set of perturbed variational analyses are performed. In this case, however, there is an evident important additional cost associated with the use of multiple minimizations. The aim of the paper is to investigate different techniques to reduce the cost of the multiple minimizations that have to be performed.In particular, the use is investigated of a preconditioning technique based on Ritz eigenpairs resulting from a first minimization performed by a combined Lanczos/conjugate‐gradient algorithm. The possibility is also studied of improving the starting point of a new perturbed solution, with Lanczos vectors issued from a single prior unperturbed or perturbed minimization. This appears to provide a first significant reduction in the cost of the new minimization.Finally, a new approach is proposed to generalize the previous idea to the use of multiple sets of Lanczos vectors issued from an ensemble of perturbed assimilations. The application of this procedure to a simplified analysis problem shows encouraging results, as it appears to be a possible way for reducing the global cost of an ensemble variational assimilation. Moreover, this seems to provide an efficient strategy for parallelizing such an ensemble variational assimilation but also the deterministic variational assimilation itself. Copyright © 2012 Royal Meteorological Society
Effect of soft‐storey mechanism caused by infill elimination on displacement demand in nonlinear static procedure using coefficient method
Authors: Alinouri Hossein , Danesh Fakhrodin Ahmadi , Beheshti‐Aval Seyed Bahram 
Published: January 2012

SUMMARYIn recent earthquakes, many buildings have been damaged due to the soft‐storey mechanism failure. The seismic design codes for buildings do not contain enough criteria to predict the real displacement of such buildings. This paper focuses on evaluating the nonlinear displacement of buildings that fail in soft‐storey mechanism form. Results show that the nonlinear static procedure with coefficient method, which is described in Chapter 3 of ASCE/SEI 41‐06, does not have sufficient accuracy for estimation of structure displacement demand in such buildings. In this paper, the coefficient methodology is used for evaluating the target displacement for 5‐storey, 8‐storey and 15‐storey special moment resisting steel frames. For this purpose, dynamic nonlinear time‐history analysis has been applied for the mentioned structures having a soft‐storey mechanism failure form. The numerical results of storey displacement and interstorey drift were compared with those values obtained from the coefficient method described in Chapter 3 of ASCE/SEI 41‐06. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Differential effects of three professional development models on teacher knowledge and student achievement in elementary science
Authors: Heller Joan I. , Daehler Kirsten R. , Wong Nicole , Shinohara Mayumi , Miratrix Luke W. 
Published: January 2012

AbstractTo identify links among professional development, teacher knowledge, practice, and student achievement, researchers have called for study designs that allow causal inferences and that examine relationships among features of interventions and multiple outcomes. In a randomized experiment implemented in six states with over 270 elementary teachers and 7,000 students, this project compared three related but systematically varied teacher interventions—Teaching Cases, Looking at Student Work, and Metacognitive Analysis—along with no‐treatment controls. The three courses contained identical science content components, but differed in the ways they incorporated analysis of learner thinking and of teaching, making it possible to measure effects of these features on teacher and student outcomes. Interventions were delivered by staff developers trained to lead the teacher courses in their regions. Each course improved teachers' and students' scores on selected‐response science tests well beyond those of controls, and effects were maintained a year later. Student achievement also improved significantly for English language learners in both the study year and follow‐up, and treatment effects did not differ based on sex or race/ethnicity. However, only Teaching Cases and Looking at Student Work courses improved the accuracy and completeness of students' written justifications of test answers in the follow‐up, and only Teaching Cases had sustained effects on teachers' written justifications. Thus, the content component in common across the three courses had powerful effects on teachers' and students' ability to choose correct test answers, but their ability to explain why answers were correct only improved when the professional development incorporated analysis of student conceptual understandings and implications for instruction; metacognitive analysis of teachers' own learning did not improve student justifications either year. Findings suggest investing in professional development that integrates content learning with analysis of student learning and teaching rather than advanced content or teacher metacognition alone. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 333–362, 2012
A new traffic congestion prediction model for advanced traveler information and management systems
Authors: Marfia Gustavo , Roccetti Marco , Amoroso Alessandro 
Published: January 2012

ABSTRACTThe increase of wasted time and pollution due to vehicular traffic has paved the way to many different countermeasures, ranging from the enforcement of congestion tolls to the commercialization of vehicles powered by low‐emission hybrid engines. Advanced traveler information systems (ATISs), which are capable of supplying updated traffic information to all those citizens that are driving through city roads, represent a prominent approach to combat vehicular congestion. In brief, ATISs are concerned with collecting, processing, and disseminating traffic information, providing data that can be profitably exploited by an on‐board navigation system to compute the most convenient route to a given destination. Indeed, their role becomes progressively more relevant as their accuracy and reliability increases, thus encouraging more and more people to utilize them while driving. With this in mind, we devised a new congestion detection model that accurately estimates and forecasts the short‐term congestion state of a road without requiring any prior knowledge regarding any of its parameters. Such model can be easily integrated within an ATIS and usefully applied to any given road. The efficacy of our model is here proved through the results of several experiments, which witness the validity of our approach. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Transcriptional activity of Hyacinthus orientalis L. female gametophyte cells before and after fertilization
Authors: Niedojadło Katarzyna , Pięciński Szymon , Smoliński Dariusz Jan , Bednarska-Kozakiewicz Elżbieta 
Published: January 2012

Abstract
We characterized three phases of Hyacinthus orientalis L. embryo sac development, in which the transcriptional activity of the cells differed using immunolocalization of incorporated 5′-bromouracil, the total RNA polymerase II pool and the hypo- (initiation) and hyperphosphorylated (elongation) forms of RNA Pol II. The first stage, which lasts from the multinuclear stage to cellularization, is a period of high transcriptional activity, probably related to the maturation of female gametophyte cells. The second stage, encompassing the period of embryo sac maturity and the progamic phase, involves the transcriptional silencing of cells that will soon undergo fusion with male gametes. During this period in the hyacinth egg cell, there are almost no newly formed transcripts, and only a small pool of RNA Pol II is present in the nucleus. The transcriptional activity of the central cell is only slightly higher than that observed in the egg cell. The post-fertilization stage is related to the transcriptional activation of the zygote and the primary endosperm cell. The rapid increase in the pool of newly formed transcripts in these cells is accompanied by an increase in the pool of RNA Pol II, and the pattern of enzyme distribution in the zygote nucleus is similar to that observed in the somatic cells of the ovule. Our data, together with the earlier results of Pięciński et al. (2008), indicate post-fertilization synthesis and the maturation of numerous mRNA transcripts, suggesting that fertilization in H. orientalis induces the activation of the zygote and endosperm genomes.
EPA guidance on the quality of mental health services
Authors: Gaebel W. , Becker T. , Janssen B. , Munk-Jorgensen P. , Musalek M. , Rössler W. , Sommerlad K. , Tansella M. , Thornicroft G. , Zielasek J. 
Published: January 2012

AbstractThe main aim of this guidance of the European Psychiatric Association is to provide evidence-based recommendations on the quality of mental health services in Europe. The recommendations were derived from a systematic search of the best available evidence in the scientific literature, supplemented by information from documents retrieved upon reviewing the identified articles. While most recommendations could be based on empirical studies (although of varying quality), some had to be based on expert opinion alone, but were deemed necessary as well. Another limitation was that the wide variety of service models and service traditions for the mentally ill worldwide often made generalisations difficult. In spite of these limitations, we arrived at 30 recommendations covering structure, process and outcome quality both on a generic and a setting-specific level. Operationalisations for each recommendation with measures to be considered as denominators and numerators are given as well to suggest quality indicators for future benchmarking across European countries. Further pan-European research will need to show whether the implementation of this guidance will lead to improved quality of mental healthcare, and may help to develop useful country-specific cutoffs for the suggested quality indicators.
Convergent and Discriminant Validity of a Naturalistic Observational Assessment of Children's Hand Skills
Authors: Chien Chi-Wen , Brown Ted , McDonald Rachael , Rodger Sylvia 
Published: January 2012

Objective/Background This study sought to investigate the convergent and discriminant validity of a new naturalistic observational Assessment of Children's Hand Skills (ACHS) in children with and without disabilities. Methods The participants were 134 children aged 2–-12 years in Taiwan, and 70 had known disabilities. Outcome measures included the ACHS, one daily living skills questionnaire, and three instruments related to hand skills. Discriminant validity was assessed by comparing the ACHS scores between children with and without disabilities. Convergent validity was examined using a correlation analysis between the ACHS and daily living and hand skills measures. Results Children with disabilities had significantly lower ACHS scores than typically developing children. The ACHS correlated moderately to highly with the daily living skills questionnaire and demonstrated a varied range of correlations with the three related instruments. Conclusion Preliminary evidence for the convergent and discriminant validity of the ACHS was established. The findings indicate that the ACHS can be used with confidence in measuring and differentiating children's hand skill performance in real-life contexts.
Analysis of case management programs for patients with dementia: A systematic review
Authors: Somme Dominique , Trouve Hélène , Dramé Moustapha , Gagnon Dominique , Couturier Yves , Saint‐Jean Olivier 
Published: January 2012

AbstractBackgroundPeople suffering from dementia are particularly vulnerable to the gaps between the health and social service systems. Case management is a professional field that seeks to fill in these gaps and remedy this fragmentation.MethodsWe report the results of a systematic literature review of the impact of case management programs on clinical outcomes and the utilization of resources by persons with dementia. We focused on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and attempted to identify the factors that might contribute to greater program efficacy. Because the evaluation methods in these studies varied, we used the effect size method to estimate the magnitude of the statistically significant effects reported.ResultsOur search strategy identified 17 references relating to six RCTs. Four of these six RCTs reported moderately statistically significant effects (effect size, 0.2–0.8) on their primary end point: the clinical outcome in three and resource utilization in one. Two of the RCTs reported weak or no effects (effect size, <0.2) on their primary end point. Because of the wide variety of the end points used, an overall effect size could not be calculated. Parameters that appear to be related to greater case management efficacy are the integration level between the health and social service organizations and the intensity of the case management.ConclusionsIntegration and case management intensity seem to determine the magnitude of the clinical effects in this new professional field. Further studies are needed to clarify the economic impact.
Bewegungsförderung und Gesundheit im Alter Gunnar Geuter
Authors: Geuter Gunnar 
Published: January 2012

Einleitung
„Ich sollte mich mehr bewegen“ so oder ähnlich antworten Menschen häufig auf die Frage, wie sie ihre Gesundheit verbessern können. Das Wissen über den positiven Zusammenhang regelmäßiger körperlicher Aktivität mit der Gesundheit zählt zum Allgemeingut eines großen Teils der Bevölkerung und ist auch in der Wissenschaft auf einer breiten Evidenzbasis abgesichert (Geuter und Hollederer, i.E.a; LIGA.NRW, 2011a; zusammenfassend: USDHHS, 2008). Gerade für ältere Menschen ist regelmäßige gesundheitswirksame körperliche Aktivität ein zentraler Faktor für den Erhalt und die Förderung der Gesundheit und der Alltagskompetenzen.
Francis Bacon and the ‘vexations of art’: experimentation as intervention
Authors: MERCHANT CAROLYN 
Published: January 2012

AbstractFrancis Bacon's concept of the ‘vexations of art’ (vexationes artium) entailed experimentation as an intervention into nature for the purpose of extracting its secrets. Although the standard edition of Bacon's works by Spedding, Ellis and Heath and the new Oxford edition by Graham Rees translate the phrasevexationes artiumas the ‘vexations of art’, a significant number of scholars, translators and editors from the seventeenth century to the present have read Bacon's Latin as the ‘torment’ or ‘tortures of art’. Here I discuss these latter interpretations and speculate on the reasons for their association of the term with experimentation. While it may not be possible to say with certainty what Bacon meant by ‘vexation’, the context of his thought, the rich set of metaphors on which he drew and the interpretations of dozens of scholars over four centuries would seem to favour assigning a robust, interventionist meaning tovexare.