bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Consolidation and News Content: How Broadcast Ownership Policy Impacts Local Television News and the Public Interests
Authors: Smith Laura K. 
Published: December 2011

In 1999, the Federal Communications Commission changed the Local Television Ownership Rule, allowing a single company to own two television stations in the same media market. The new rules led to the creation of dozens of “duopolies” nationwide. This longitudinal case study analyzed the newscasts of one of the nation's first duopolies. The author sought to discover what kind of long-term impact ownership consolidation had on newscasts in Jacksonville, Florida. Using a quasi-experimental research design, the newscast content of two stations was compared when they were separately owned. After consolidation, content produced by the duopoly was compared with pre-consolidation newscasts. Sixty newscasts and 1,048 stories were analyzed to answer the question: Do the combined resources of two television stations translate into higher quality local coverage? Results were mixed. The study empirically measured diversity and localism - two factors critical in the examination of broadcasting in the public interest. Diversity was operationally defined as range of topics, topic of “lead” stories, and range of voices. Results show the duopoly significantly increased its coverage of local government, politics, construction and growth but decreased its coverage of public safety and non-dominant groups. A shift away from crime coverage was seen for lead stories. There was no significant increase in the number of local sources or the diversity of sources (women and minorities) appearing in news coverage. Localism was operationally defined as the amount of locally produced news, the geographic focus of coverage, the number of local reporters featured, and the amount of locally-produced enterprise reporting. Results show the number of stories and time dedicated to local news increased significantly after the duopoly was created. Allocation of reporters to news coverage did not increase. While the number of enterprise stories decreased, the amount of time dedicated to enterprise stories increased - a finding which has methodological implications for future researchers. Results indicate that economies of scale achieved through local television consolidation may translate to higher quality coverage in some content areas but not others. The findings contribute empirical evidence to the long-standing debate between public interest versus free market theorists. Implications for policy-makers are examined.
Osteoarthritis After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction
Authors: Shelbourne K. Donald , Freeman Heather , Gray Tinker 
Published: December 2011

Context: Several factors have been associated with the development of osteoarthritis after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction, yet little attention has been given to the association between range of motion (ROM) and osteoarthritis after ACL reconstruction. Several studies have shown a link between ROM loss and a higher incidence of osteoarthritis. Evidence Acquisition: A search was performed with PubMed (MEDLINE) for English-language level I-IV studies involving the long-term evaluation of ROM and osteoarthritis after ACL reconstruction. Keywords were osteoarthritis, anterior cruciate ligament, and range of motion. Results: Six studies considered whether ROM was a factor in association with osteoarthritis after ACL reconstruction: In 3 of these studies, an association was found between loss of knee motion and the development of osteoarthritis, while the other 3 studies failed to identify a significant association. Two studies identified an association between ROM loss and decreased subjective outcomes after ACL reconstruction. Conclusions: Previous studies have shown an association between loss of knee ROM and osteoarthritic changes on radiographs in the long term after ACL reconstruction. Loss of ROM and osteoarthritis are also associated with lower subjective scores. Other factors related to osteoarthritis, such as meniscal and articular cartilage status, cannot be modified, but through implementation of a directed rehabilitation program before and after ACL surgery, the achievement of full symmetric ROM can be promoted. More emphasis needs to be placed on careful and precise examination of knee ROM, as well as rehabilitation to achieve and maintain full symmetric ROM in the long term after ACL reconstruction.
MeInfoText 2.0: gene methylation and cancer relation extraction from biomedical literature
Authors: Fang Yu-Ching , Lai Po-Ting , Dai Hong-Jie , Hsu Wen-Lian 
Published: December 2011

Abstract

Background
DNA methylation is regarded as a potential biomarker in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The relations between aberrant gene methylation and cancer development have been identified by a number of recent scientific studies. In a previous work, we used co-occurrences to mine those associations and compiled the MeInfoText 1.0 database. To reduce the amount of manual curation and improve the accuracy of relation extraction, we have now developed MeInfoText 2.0, which uses a machine learning-based approach to extract gene methylation-cancer relations.

Description
Two maximum entropy models are trained to predict if aberrant gene methylation is related to any type of cancer mentioned in the literature. After evaluation based on 10-fold cross-validation, the average precision/recall rates of the two models are 94.7/90.1 and 91.8/90% respectively. MeInfoText 2.0 provides the gene methylation profiles of different types of human cancer. The extracted relations with maximum probability, evidence sentences, and specific gene information are also retrievable. The database is available at http://bws.iis.sinica.edu.tw:8081/MeInfoText2/.

Conclusion
The previous version, MeInfoText, was developed by using association rules, whereas MeInfoText 2.0 is based on a new framework that combines machine learning, dictionary lookup and pattern matching for epigenetics information extraction. The results of experiments show that MeInfoText 2.0 outperforms existing tools in many respects. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that uses a hybrid approach to extract gene methylation-cancer relations. It is also the first attempt to develop a gene methylation and cancer relation corpus.
A remarkably stable TipE gene cluster: evolution of insect Para sodium channel auxiliary subunits
Authors: Li Jia , Waterhouse Robert M , Zdobnov Evgeny M 
Published: December 2011

AbstractBackgroundFirst identified in fruit flies with temperature-sensitive paralysis phenotypes, theDrosophila melanogaster TipElocus encodes four voltage-gated sodium (NaV) channel auxiliary subunits. This cluster ofTipE-like genes on chromosome 3L, and a fifth family member on chromosome 3R, are important for the optional expression and functionality of the Para NaVchannel but appear quite distinct from auxiliary subunits in vertebrates. Here, we exploited available arthropod genomic resources to trace the origin ofTipE-like genes by mapping their evolutionary histories and examining their genomic architectures.ResultsWe identified a remarkably conserved synteny block ofTipE-like orthologues with well-maintained local gene arrangements from 21 insect species. Homologues in the water flea,Daphnia pulex, suggest an ancestral pancrustacean repertoire of fourTipE-like genes; a subsequent gene duplication may have generated functional redundancy allowing gene losses in the silk moth and mosquitoes. Intronic nesting of the insectTipEgene cluster probably occurred following the divergence from crustaceans, but in the flour beetle and silk moth genomes the clusters apparently escaped from nesting. Across Pancrustacea,TipEgene family members have experienced intronic nesting, escape from nesting, retrotransposition, translocation, and gene loss events while generally maintaining their local gene neighbourhoods.D. melanogaster TipE-like genes exhibit coordinated spatial and temporal regulation of expression distinct from their host gene but well-correlated with their regulatory target, the Para NaVchannel, suggesting that functional constraints may preserve theTipEgene cluster. We identified homology between TipE-like NaVchannel regulators and vertebrate Slo-beta auxiliary subunits of big-conductance calcium-activated potassium (BKCa) channels, which suggests that ion channel regulatory partners have evolved distinct lineage-specific characteristics.ConclusionsTipE-like genes form a remarkably conserved genomic cluster across all examined insect genomes. This study reveals likely structural and functional constraints on the genomic evolution of insectTipEgene family members maintained in synteny over hundreds of millions of years of evolution. The likely common origin of these NaVchannel regulators with BKCaauxiliary subunits highlights the evolutionary plasticity of ion channel regulatory mechanisms.
Adverse trends of cardiovascular risk factors among low risk populations (1983-1994) - a cohort study of workers and farmers in Guangzhou, China
Authors: Liu Xiaoqing , Mai Jinzhuang , Rao Xuxu , Zhuo Qiling , Guo Chengye , Gao Xiangmin , Wu Yong , Deng Mulan , Lin Shuguang 
Published: December 2011

Abstract

Background
The levels and trends of cardiovascular risk factors vary greatly throughout China. We examine 10-year trends of cardiovascular risk factors (1983-1994) and the factors related to these trends among low-risk cohorts of workers and farmers in Guangzhou, China.

Methods
This is a cohort study of 3,131 workers and 3,493 farmers aged 25-64 years at baseline with 10 years of follow-up. We performed a longitudinal analysis to account for the aging of the cohorts and the repeated measures of the same individual.

Results
At baseline the prevalence of overweight (including obese) ranged from 1.0% to 11.8%, hypertension ranged from 3.8% to 10.5%, and mean serum total cholesterol (TC) ranged from 155.4 mg/dl to 187.2 mg/dl. Although prevalence of smoking declined, blood pressure levels and body mass index (BMI) increased significantly, and lipid profiles changed unfavorably during the 10-year follow-ups. The prevalence of hypertension increased from 5.0 percentage points (female farmers) to 12.3 percentage points (male farmers). Mean TC increased significantly (e.g., +22.8 mg/dl and +17.0 mg/dl in male and female farmers, respectively). In the longitudinal data analyses, increase in BMI was associated with increase in blood pressure levels and TC. Significant adverse trends of risk factors persisted after adjustment for aging, education, BMI, smoking, and alcohol intake.

Conclusion
Urgent action is needed to prevent and reverse the unhealthy trends occurring among these low risk Chinese workers and farmers.
Healthcare costs in patients with metastatic lung cancer receiving chemotherapy
Authors: Vera-Llonch Montserrat , Weycker Derek , Glass Andrew , Gao Sue , Borker Rohit , Barber Beth , Oster Gerry 
Published: December 2011

Abstract

Background
To characterize healthcare resource utilization and costs in patients with metastatic lung cancer receiving chemotherapy in the US.

Methods
Using data from a large private multi-payer health insurance claims database (2000-2006), we identified all patients beginning chemotherapy for metastatic lung cancer. Healthcare resource use (inpatient, outpatient, medications) and costs were tallied over time from date of therapy initiation ("index date") to date of disenrollment from the health plan (in most instances, presumably due to death) or the end of the study period, whichever occurred first. Healthcare utilization and costs were characterized using Kaplan-Meier sample average methods.

Results
The study population consisted of 4068 patients; mean (SD) age was 65 (11) years. Over a median follow-up of 334 days, study subjects averaged 1.5 hospital admissions, 8.9 total inpatient days, and 69 physician office and hospital outpatient visits. Mean (95% CI) cumulative total healthcare costs were $125,849 ($120,228, $131,231). Costs of outpatient medical services and inpatient care constituted 34% and 20% of total healthcare costs, respectively; corresponding estimates for outpatient chemotherapy and other medication were 22% and 24%.

Conclusion
Our study sheds additional light on the burden of metastatic lung cancer among patients receiving chemotherapy, in terms of total cost thru end of life as well as component costs by setting and type of service, and may be useful in informing medical resource allocation in this patient population.
Do diabetes and depressed mood affect associations between obesity and quality of life in postmenopause? Results of the KORA-F3 Augsburg population study
Authors: Heidelberg Daniela A , Holle Rolf , Lacruz Maria E , Ladwig Karl-Heinz , von Lengerke Thomas 
Published: December 2011

Abstract

Background
To assess associations of obesity with health-related quality of life (HRQL) in postmenopausal women, and whether depressed mood and diabetes moderate these associations.

Methods
Survey of 983 postmenopausal women aged 35-74, general population, Augsburg region/Germany, 2004/2005. Body weight/height and waist/hip circumference were assessed anthropometrically and classified via BMI ≥ 30 as obese, and WHR ≥ 0.85 as abdominally obese (vs. not). Depressed mood was assessed by the Depression and Exhaustion-(DEEX-)scale, diabetes and postmenopausal status by self-report/medication, and HRQL by the SF-12.

Results
General linear models revealed negative associations of obesity and abdominal obesity with physical but not mental HRQL. Both forms of excess weight were associated with diabetes but not depressed mood. Moderation depended on the HRQL-domain in question. In non-diabetic women, depressed mood was found to amplify obesity-associated impairment in physical HRQL (mean "obese"-"non-obese" difference given depressed mood: -6.4, p < .001; among those without depressed mood: -2.5, p = .003). Reduced mental HRQL tended to be associated with obesity in diabetic women (mean "obese"-"non-obese" difference: -4.5, p = .073), independent of depressed mood. No interactions pertained to abdominal obesity.

Conclusions
In postmenopausal women, depressed mood may amplify the negative impact of obesity on physical HRQL, while diabetes may be a precondition for some degree of obesity-related impairments in mental HRQL.
Is there any relationship between physical activity level and patterns, and physical performance in children?
Authors: Blaes Aurélie , Baquet Georges , Fabre Claudine , Van Praagh Emmanuel , Berthoin Serge 
Published: December 2011

Abstract

Background
It is often assumed that physical activity (PA) and physical performance during childhood and adolescence are beneficial for health during adulthood, but a positive relationship between PA and physical performance has not been precisely clarified in children. The lack or the weakness of the relationships between PA and physical performance could be due to the measure of PA. If the use of accelerometry is considered as an objective and common measure of PA, the real patterns of children's habitual PA must be reflected. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the levels and patterns of PA assessed with high frequency accelerometry and physical performance in young children.

Methods
Eighty-six boys and 101 girls aged 6-12 years participated in this study. Physical activity was measured over a 7-day period, using a 5-s epoch. Physical performance was assessed by means of EUROFIT tests (anthropometrics, standing broad jump, the 10 × 5 meter shuttle run, the sit-and-reach, the handgrip, the number of sit-ups in 30 seconds, the 20-meter shuttle run).

Results
No relationship was found between PA and physical performance. In boys only, body fatness was negatively associated with vigorous PA (r = -0.38, p < 0.001) and very high PA (r = -0.35, p < 0.01), in contrast to light PA (r = 0.28, p < 0.01), which was positively related to body fatness.

Conclusion
In 6- to- 12 year- old children, the more active children were not the fittest. Our results also underline the need for uniformity in approach to measurement of PA, body composition and health-related fitness between studies.
Expression of the Epigenetic factor BORIS (CTCFL) in the Human Genome
Authors: de Necochea-Campion Rosalia , Ghochikyan Anahit , Josephs Steven F , Zacharias Shelly , Woods Erik , Karimi-Busheri Feridoun , Alexandrescu Doru T , Chen Chien-Shing , Agadjanyan Michael G , Carrier Ewa 
Published: December 2011

Abstract
BORIS, or CTCFL, the so called Brother of the Regulator of Imprinted Sites because of the extensive homology in the central DNA binding region of the protein to the related regulator, CTCF, is expressed in early gametogenesis and in multiple cancers but not in differentiated somatic cells. Thus it is a member of the cancer testes antigen group (CTAs). Since BORIS and CTCF target common DNA binding sites, these proteins function on two levels, the first level is their regulation via the methylation context of the DNA target site and the second level is their distinct and different epigenetic associations due to differences in the non-homologous termini of the proteins. The regulation on both of these levels is extensive and complex and the sphere of influence of each of these proteins is associated with vastly different cellular signaling processes. On the level of gene expression, BORIS has three known promoters and multiple spliced mRNAs which adds another level of complexity to this intriguing regulator. BORIS expression is observed in the majority of cancer tissues and cell lines analyzed up to today. The expression profile and essential role of BORIS in cancer make this molecule very attractive target for cancer immunotherapy. This review summarizes what is known about BORIS regarding its expression, structure, and function and then presents some theoretical considerations with respect to its genome wide influence and its potential for use as a vaccine for cancer immunotherapy.
Raman enhancement of rhodamine adsorbed on Ag nanoparticles self-assembled into nanowire-like arrays
Authors: Panagopoulou Marianthi , Pantiskos Nikolaos , Photopoulos Panos , Tang Jun , Tsoukalas Dimitris , Raptis Yannis S 
Published: December 2011

Abstract
This work reports on Raman scattering of rhodamine (R6G) molecules absorbed on either randomly distributed or grating-like arrays of approximately 8-nm Ag nanoparticles developed by inert gas aggregation. Optimal growth and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) parameters have been obtained for the randomly distributed nanoparticles, while effects related to the aging of the silver nanoparticles were studied. Grating-like arrays of nanoparticles have been fabricated using line arrays templates formed either by fracture-induced structuring or by standard lithographic techniques. Grating structures fabricated by both methods exhibit an enhancement of the SERS signal, in comparison to the corresponding signal from randomly distributed Ag nanoparticles, as well as a preferential enhancement in the areas of the sharp features, and a dependence on the polarization direction of the incident exciting laser beam, with respect to the orientation of the gratings structuring. The observed spectroscopic features are consistent with a line-arrangement of hot-spots due to the self- alignment of metallic nanoparticles, induced by the grating-like templates.
Viral and cellular requirements for the budding of Feline Endogenous Retrovirus RD-114
Authors: Fukuma Aiko , Abe Masumi , Urata Shuzo , Yoshikawa Rokusuke , Morikawa Yuko , Miyazawa Takayuki , Yasuda Jiro 
Published: December 2011

Abstract

Background
RD-114 virus is a feline endogenous retrovirus and produced as infectious viruses in some feline cell lines. Recently, we reported the contamination of an infectious RD-114 virus in a proportion of live attenuated vaccines for dogs and cats. It is very difficult to completely knock out the RD-114 proviruses from cells, as endogenous retroviruses are usually integrated multiply into the host genome. However, it may be possible to reduce the risk of contamination of RD-114 virus by regulating the viral release from cells.

Results
In this study, to understand the molecular mechanism of RD-114 virus budding, we attempted to identify the viral and cellular requirements for RD-114 virus budding. Analyses of RD-114 L-domain mutants showed that the PPPY sequence in the pp15 region of Gag plays a critical role in RD-114 virus release as viral L-domain. Furthermore, we investigated the cellular factors required for RD-114 virus budding. We demonstrated that RD-114 virus release was inhibited by overexpression of dominant negative mutants of Vps4A, Vps4B, and WWP2.

Conclusions
These results strongly suggest that RD-114 budding utilizes the cellular multivesicular body sorting pathway similar to many other retroviruses.
Heart rate variability analysis in sheep affected by transmissible spongiform encephalopathies
Authors: Konold Timm , Bone Gemma E 
Published: December 2011

Abstract

Background
The function of the autonomic nervous system can be assessed by determining heart rate variability (HRV), which is impaired in some brainstem diseases in humans. Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) in sheep are diseases characterised by accumulation of disease-associated prion protein in the brainstem, including nuclei of the parasympathetic nervous system. This study was undertaken to assess whether analysis of HRV can be used as an aid in the diagnosis of TSEs in clinically affected, naturally or experimentally infected sheep.

Findings
When HRV indices were compared between 41 clinical TSE cases (18 sheep infected with scrapie and 23 sheep infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy), 11 control sheep and six sheep reported as scrapie suspects or dosed with BSE brain homogenate, which were not confirmed as TSE cases by postmortem tests, no significant differences were found between the groups. Median heart rate was significantly different but only when sheep were grouped by gender: it was higher in female TSE cases than in control sheep and higher in female than castrated male ovine classical BSE cases.

Conclusions
HRV analysis was not useful as a diagnostic aid for TSEs of sheep.