bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
New aids for the non‐invasive prenatal diagnosis of achondroplasia: dysmorphic features, charts of fetal size and molecular confirmation using cell‐free fetal DNA in maternal plasma
Authors: Chitty L. S. , Griffin D. R. , Meaney C. , Barrett A. , Khalil A. , Pajkrt E. , Cole T. J. 
Published: November 2010

AbstractObjectivesTo improve the prenatal diagnosis of achondroplasia by constructing charts of fetal size, defining frequency of sonographic features and exploring the role of non‐invasive molecular diagnosis based on cell‐free fetal deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in maternal plasma.MethodsData on fetuses with a confirmed diagnosis of achondroplasia were obtained from our databases, records reviewed, sonographic features and measurements determined and charts of fetal size constructed using the LMS (lambda‐mu‐sigma) method and compared with charts used in normal pregnancies. Cases referred to our regional genetics laboratory for molecular diagnosis using cell‐free fetal DNA were identified and results reviewed.ResultsTwenty‐six cases were scanned in our unit. Fetal size charts showed that femur length was usually on or below the 3rd centile by 25 weeks' gestation, and always below the 3rd by 30 weeks. Head circumference was above the 50th centile, increasing to above the 95th when compared with normal for the majority of fetuses. The abdominal circumference was also increased but to a lesser extent. Commonly reported sonographic features were bowing of the femora, frontal bossing, short fingers, a small chest and polyhydramnios. Analysis of cell‐free fetal DNA in six pregnancies confirmed the presence of the c.1138G > A mutation in the FGRF3 gene in four cases with achondroplasia, but not the two subsequently found to be growth restricted.ConclusionsThese data should improve the accuracy of diagnosis of achondroplasia based on sonographic findings, and have implications for targeted molecular confirmation that can reliably and safely be carried out using cell‐free fetal DNA. Copyright © 2011 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Can orthopaedic clinicians learn to read skeletal bone age? An inter- and intra observer study between specialties
Authors: Rajan R. A. , Swindells M. G. , Metcalfe J. E. , Konstantoulakis C. 
Published: November 2010

Objective Determination of skeletal age is essential for predicting eventual leg length discrepancies and predicting the accurate timing for surgical intervention in order to correct any discrepancy. To our knowledge, there has not been an interdisciplinary comparison of the degree of agreement in determining skeletal bone age. Materials and methods We evaluated 30 left hand/wrist radiographs (children aged 16 months to 10 years 6 months) on two separate occasions between musculoskeletal paediatric radiologists, paediatric orthopaedic surgeons and a senior radiographer after appropriate training. Results All clinicians were able to reliably age patients with good intra- and interobserver agreement. Conclusion We suggest that following tuition, orthopaedic surgeons are able to reliably age patients from X-rays.
Regulatory mechanisms of intestinal folate uptake in a rat model of folate oversupplementation
Authors: Dev Som , Ahmad Wani Nissar , Kaur Jyotdeep 
Published: November 2010

Folic acid is essential for numerous biological functions, ranging from nucleotide biosynthesis to the remethylation of homocysteine. Folic acid is unable to cross the biological membranes by simple diffusion, so there exists a well-developed epithelial folate transport system for the regulation of normal folate homeostasis in the intestine. Any perturbances in the folate uptake system might lead to a state of folate deficiency, which in turn is strongly associated with the risk of various cancers, birth defects and CVD. Countries with obligatory folate fortification of food (USA and Canada) have documented a significant decrease in neural tube defects in newborns. However, the effect of folate oversupplementation on the intestinal absorption of folic acid has not been studied. We studied the process of folate transport and the expression of folate transporters in the rat intestine after folate oversupplementation. Rats were oversupplemented with tenfold the normal requirement of folic acid for periods of 10 and 60 d. Folate uptake in intestinal brush-border membrane vesicles followed saturable kinetics with pH optimum at 5·5. Acute, but not chronic, folate oversupplementation led to a significant down-regulation in intestinal folate uptake at acidic pH optima and was associated with a decrease inVmaxwithout any significant change in theKmof the folate uptake process. The decrease in folate uptake was also associated with the down-regulation in the protein levels of major folate transporters, proton-coupled folate transporter (PCFT) and reduced folate carrier (RFC), without altering their mRNA levels. Hence, it was concluded that acute folate oversupplementation results in a significant decrease in intestinal folate uptake by down-regulating the expressions of RFC and PCFT, via some post-transcriptional or translational mechanisms.
A comparison of self-evaluating state reporting systems
Authors: Kornblum Elisabeth 
Published: November 2010

ABSTRACTA self-evaluating state reporting system is a method for implementing international agreements. A self-evaluating state report provides information on the operation and implementation of a treaty regime. Self-evaluating means that a state monitors its own execution of an international agreement in its territory. The information may be submitted to an international institution with a supervisory role or to a technical secretariat.The key tasks of a supervisory international organization are: collecting information and data, receiving reports on treaty implementation by States, facilitating independent monitoring and inspection, and acting as a forum for reviewing the performance of states or the negotiation of further measures and regulations. Such bodies may acquire law-enforcement and law-making functions.This report describes the self-evaluating state reporting systems of the United Nations human rights conventions, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the International Labour Organisation, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the World Intellectual Property Organization, the disarmament treaties and the environment treaties.There are several characteristics of determining importance for the functioning of a reporting system. In short, these are: the sensitivity of the subject of a treaty; the economic value of the subject; the specificity of the subject; the popularity of the subject in the media; secretarial support; the flexibility of the reporting procedure; a permanent body to which to report; the quality and efficient functioning of the supervisory body; follow-up; admission to an international instrument and the existence of a national monitoring body or procedure.It should be noted that the allocation of sufficient human and financial resources will be essential to the effectiveness of a reporting system.
Trends in Fragmentation Weapons
Authors: Prokosch Eric 
Published: November 2010

In its issue of July 1975, the International Review reprinted the substance of a circular letter sent to all governments inviting them to participate in the second session of the Conference of Government Experts on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons at Lugano, 28 January to 26 February 1976.The letter gave the programme of the Conference, which will deal with incendiary weapons, small-calibre projectiles, delayed-action and treacherous weapons, blast and fragmentation weapons and other new weapons, continuing the work on conventional weapons which might cause unnecessary suffering or have indiscriminate effects.
A new step forward in international law: Prohibitions or restrictions on the use of certain conventional weapons
Authors: Sandoz Yves 
Published: November 2010

On 10 October 1980, the “United Nations Conference on Prohibitions or Restrictions of Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May be Deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to have Indiscriminate Effects” ended with the adoption by consensus of the following instruments:– Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons,– Protocol on Non-Detectable Fragments (Protocol I),– Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby-Traps and Other Devices (Protocol II),– Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Incendiary Weapons (Protocol III).
Predicting cross-cultural patterns in sex-biased parental investment and attachment
Authors: Quinlan Robert J. 
Published: November 2010

AbstractIf parenting behavior influences attachment, then parental investment (PI) theory can predict sex differences and distributions of attachment styles across cultures. Trivers-Willard, local resource competition, and local resource enhancement models make distinct predictions for sex-biased parental responsiveness relevant to attachment. Parental investment and attachment probably vary across cultures in relation to “local fitness currencies” for status, wealth, and well-being.
Tower systems for linearly repetitive Delone sets
Authors: ALISTE-PRIETO JOSÉ , CORONEL DANIEL 
Published: November 2010

AbstractIn this paper we study linearly repetitive Delone sets and prove, following the work of Bellissard, Benedetti and Gambaudo, that the hull of a linearly repetitive Delone set admits a properly nested sequence of box decompositions (tower system) with strictly positive and uniformly bounded (in size and norm) transition matrices. This generalizes a result of Durand for linearly recurrent symbolic systems. Furthermore, we apply this result to give a new proof of a classic estimation of Lagarias and Pleasants on the rate of convergence of patch frequencies.
Probiotics as prevention of radiation-induced diarrhoea
Authors: Timko Jaroslav 
Published: November 2010

AbstractAim: To assess the efficacy of a probiotic preparation on the prevention of radiation-induced diarrhoea in cancer patients.Methods: Group of 42 radio-oncology patients who had undergone adjuvant post-operative radiation therapy (RT) after abdominal and pelvic cancer were randomised to receive either the probiotic preparation “5” Strain Dophilus (twice per day; L-Group), or the preparation Hylak Tropfen Forte (40 drops, three times per day; H-Group). Supplementation started on the first day and lasted until the end of RT. Efficacy endpoints were the incidence and the severity of the radiation-induced diarrhoea. All patients received a paper form in which they recorded monitored parameters on a daily basis during RT.Results: The mean daily number of bowel movements during the whole period was 4.16 in the L-Group and 2.52 in the H-Group; 62.5% of patients in L-Group and 81% in H-Group had a mean daily number of bowel movements of ≤4/day. Abdominal pain was recorded in 25% of the patients in L-Group and 22% of the patients in H-Group. Blood in the bowel movement was found in one patient from H-Group (9 days). Of patients in L-Group, 27% required diphenoxylate treatment during pelvic radiotherapy, compared with 55% in H-Group. Of patients from L-Group, 9% required antibiotics administration, compared with 25% in H-Group.Conclusion: We concluded that the prophylactic probiotic therapy produced a highly favourable benefit/risk ratio. Supplementation with the probiotic preparation is an easy and safe approach to protect cancer patients from the risk of radiation-induced diarrhoea and carry out improvement in their quality of life.
Soviet Studies, National Security and the Production of “Useful” Knowledge
Authors: Hanson Stephen E. 
Published: November 2010

Know Your Enemy: The Rise and Fall of America's Soviet Experts. By David C. Engerman. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. 480p. $34.95.Know Your Enemy is a sociology of knowledge of the rise of post–World War II Russian and Soviet Studies, written by intellectual historian David C. Engerman. While it is not a work of political science, it offers an important historical analysis of a foundational episode in the history of the political science discipline. It is an account of the evolution of a specific field—Soviet Studies—but it is more than this, because this particular field was at the heart of the development of post–World War II area studies in general, and the intellectual and political engagements linked to the evolution of area studies were crucial to the development of modern political and social science. This symposium thus brings together scholars of Soviet Studies, contemporary post-Soviet Russian politics, comparative politics and international relations more generally, and the history of the discipline, to reflect on this book. While participants were asked to critically evaluate the book's analysis, they were also asked to comment more generally on the rise (and fall?) of area studies, and the history of political science more broadly. The issues raised by the book relate to the history and evolution of the current discipline, but also bear upon its future. For in response to post–Cold War crises (many connected to the discourse of the “war on terror”), there have been new calls for security-related area research made by such institutions as the Department of Defense (the Minerva Program, administered by the National Science Foundation), the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the Department of Education (in connection with Title VI funding of area studies). What does the history of Soviet Studies tell us about these recent developments, and about how individual political scientists and indeed the institutions of professional political science should respond to them?—Jeffrey C. Isaac, Editor
Soviet Studies, National Security and the Production of “Useful” Knowledge
Authors: Dawisha Karen L. 
Published: November 2010

Know Your Enemy: The Rise and Fall of America's Soviet Experts. By David C. Engerman. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. 480p. $34.95.Know Your Enemy is a sociology of knowledge of the rise of post–World War II Russian and Soviet Studies, written by intellectual historian David C. Engerman. While it is not a work of political science, it offers an important historical analysis of a foundational episode in the history of the political science discipline. It is an account of the evolution of a specific field—Soviet Studies—but it is more than this, because this particular field was at the heart of the development of post–World War II area studies in general, and the intellectual and political engagements linked to the evolution of area studies were crucial to the development of modern political and social science. This symposium thus brings together scholars of Soviet Studies, contemporary post-Soviet Russian politics, comparative politics and international relations more generally, and the history of the discipline, to reflect on this book. While participants were asked to critically evaluate the book's analysis, they were also asked to comment more generally on the rise (and fall?) of area studies, and the history of political science more broadly. The issues raised by the book relate to the history and evolution of the current discipline, but also bear upon its future. For in response to post–Cold War crises (many connected to the discourse of the “war on terror”), there have been new calls for security-related area research made by such institutions as the Department of Defense (the Minerva Program, administered by the National Science Foundation), the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the Department of Education (in connection with Title VI funding of area studies). What does the history of Soviet Studies tell us about these recent developments, and about how individual political scientists and indeed the institutions of professional political science should respond to them?—Jeffrey C. Isaac, Editor
Soviet Studies, National Security and the Production of “Useful” Knowledge
Authors: Kennedy Michael D. 
Published: November 2010

Know Your Enemy: The Rise and Fall of America's Soviet Experts. By David C. Engerman. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. 480p. $34.95.Know Your Enemy is a sociology of knowledge of the rise of post–World War II Russian and Soviet Studies, written by intellectual historian David C. Engerman. While it is not a work of political science, it offers an important historical analysis of a foundational episode in the history of the political science discipline. It is an account of the evolution of a specific field—Soviet Studies—but it is more than this, because this particular field was at the heart of the development of post–World War II area studies in general, and the intellectual and political engagements linked to the evolution of area studies were crucial to the development of modern political and social science. This symposium thus brings together scholars of Soviet Studies, contemporary post-Soviet Russian politics, comparative politics and international relations more generally, and the history of the discipline, to reflect on this book. While participants were asked to critically evaluate the book's analysis, they were also asked to comment more generally on the rise (and fall?) of area studies, and the history of political science more broadly. The issues raised by the book relate to the history and evolution of the current discipline, but also bear upon its future. For in response to post–Cold War crises (many connected to the discourse of the “war on terror”), there have been new calls for security-related area research made by such institutions as the Department of Defense (the Minerva Program, administered by the National Science Foundation), the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the Department of Education (in connection with Title VI funding of area studies). What does the history of Soviet Studies tell us about these recent developments, and about how individual political scientists and indeed the institutions of professional political science should respond to them?—Jeffrey C. Isaac, Editor
Mechanistic Approaches To The Prevention Of Mutation And Cancer
Authors: De Flora Silvio 
Published: November 2010

AbstractCancer and other mutation-related diseases can be prevented at three levels: primary prevention, which is addressed to healthy individuals in order to prevent occurrence of the disease; secondary prevention, which is addressed to early stage patients in order to prevent progression of the disease; and tertiary prevention, which is addressed to patients after therapy in order to prevent relapses of the disease. Although the most obvious approach to prevention is to minimize exposures to recognized risk factors, a complementary strategy is represented by chemoprevention, using dietary and pharmacological agents that reinforce the host defence machinery. Since 1988, I proposed detailed classifications of mechanisms of inhibitors of mutagenesis and carcinogenesis. They may apply not only to cancer but also to other degenerative diseases that have replaced infectious diseases as the leading causes of death in the population. In fact, certain mechanisms, such as damage to nuclear DNA and mtDNA, oxidative stress, chronic inflammation, signal transduction alterations and epigenetic changes may be involved in the pathogenesis of different diseases. Studies performed in our laboratory have shown that certain genomic alterations that are usually investigated in cancer research may also be detected in other chronic diseases, such as atherosclerosis, degenerative heart diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, neurological disorders, eye diseases, skin ageing, and alopecia. Similar alterations were investigated in critical periods of life, such as birth and ageing. The nucleotide alterations occurring at birth in the lung render the newborn particularly vulnerable to the action of environmental agents. In fact, we demonstrated that cigarette smoke becomes a potent carcinogen in mice when exposure starts at birth and continues early in life. We investigated a number of chemopreventive agents by evaluating modulation of intermediate biomarkers and carcinogenicity. An optimal agent should not excessively alter the physiological patterns of gene expression, microRNA and proteome profiles, but at the same time it should be effective in inhibiting alterations induced by mutagens and carcinogens. It should be noted that most chemopreventive agents possess pleiotropic properties. The knowledge of mechanisms can be exploited to combine different agents working with complementary mechanisms. Like the therapy of important diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, AIDS, etc., uses combinations of drugs, combined chemoprevention is a quite promising strategy. Although a large number of agents are potentially able to prevent cancer, we are in search of tools to predict, hopefully in the single individual, their efficacy and safety in humans.
In silico investigation of intracranial blast mitigation with relevance to military traumatic brain injury
Authors: Nyein Michelle K. , Jason Amanda M. , Yu Li , Pita Claudio M. , Joannopoulos John D. , Moore David F. , Radovitzky Raul A. 
Published: November 2010

Blast-induced traumatic brain injury is the most prevalent military injury in Iraq and Afghanistan, yet little is known about the mechanical effects of blasts on the human head, and still less is known about how personal protective equipment affects the brain’s response to blasts. In this study we investigated the effect of the Advanced Combat Helmet (ACH) and a conceptual face shield on the propagation of stress waves within the brain tissue following blast events. We used a sophisticated computational framework for simulating coupled fluid–solid dynamic interactions and a three-dimensional biofidelic finite element model of the human head and intracranial contents combined with a detailed model of the ACH and a conceptual face shield. Simulations were conducted in which the unhelmeted head, head with helmet, and head with helmet and face shield were exposed to a frontal blast wave with incident overpressure of 10 atm. Direct transmission of stress waves into the intracranial cavity was observed in the unprotected head and head with helmet simulations. Compared to the unhelmeted head, the head with helmet experienced slight mitigation of intracranial stresses. This suggests that the existing ACH does not significantly contribute to mitigating blast effects, but does not worsen them either. By contrast, the helmet and face shield combination impeded direct transmission of stress waves to the face, resulting in a delay in the transmission of stresses to the intracranial cavity and lower intracranial stresses. This suggests a possible strategy for mitigating blast waves often associated with military concussion.