bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Composite distance metric integration by leveraging multiple experts' inputs and its application in patient similarity assessment
Authors: Wang Fei , Sun Jimeng , Ebadollahi Shahram 
Published: February 2012

AbstractIn the real world, it is common that different experts have different opinions on the same problem due to their different experience. How to come up with aconsistentdecision becomes a critical issue. As an example,patient similarity assessmentis an important task in the context of patient cohort identification for comparative effectiveness studies and clinical decision‐support applications. The goal is to derive clinically meaningful distance metric to measure the similarity between patients represented by their key clinical indicators. It is desirable to learn the distance metric based on experts' knowledge of clinical similarity among subjects. However, often different physicians have different understandings of patient similarity based on the specifics of the cases. The distance metric learned for each individual physician often leads to a limited view of the true underlying distance metric. The key challenge will be how to integrate the individual distance metrics obtained for a group of physicians into a globally consistent unified metric.To achieve this goal, we propose thecomposite distance integration(Comdi) approach in this paper. Comdi first constructs discriminative neighborhoods from each individual metrics, then it combines all discriminative information in those neighborhoods to learn a single optimal distance metric. We formulate Comdi as a quadratic optimization problem and propose an efficient alternating strategy to find the solution. Besides learning a globally consistent metric, Comdi provides an elegant way to share knowledge across multiple experts without sharing the underlying data, which lowers the risk of disclosing private data. Our experiments on several benchmark data sets show approximately 10% improvement in classification accuracy over baseline methods, which suggests that Comdi is an effective and general metric learning approach. We also demonstrate two case studies on applying Comdi to real‐world clinic data sets. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Statistical Analysis and Data Mining 5: 54–69, 2012
Lost audio packets steganography: the first practical evaluation
Authors: Mazurczyk Wojciech 
Published: February 2012

ABSTRACTThis paper presents first experimental results for an Internet Protocol (IP) telephony‐based steganographic method called lost audio packets steganography (LACK). This method utilises the fact that in typical multimedia communication protocols such as Real‐time Transport Protocol, excessively delayed packets are not used for the reconstruction of transmitted data at the receiver; that is, these packets are considered useless and discarded. The results presented in this paper were obtained on the basis of a functional LACK prototype and show the method's impact on the quality of voice transmission. Achievable steganographic bandwidth for the different IP telephony codecs is also calculated. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Multifrequency Imaging in the Intermittent Contact Mode of Atomic Force Microscopy: Beyond Phase Imaging
Authors: Guo Senli , Solares Santiago D. , Mochalin Vadym , Neitzel Ioannis , Gogotsi Yury , Kalinin Sergei V. , Jesse Stephen 
Published: February 2012

AbstractThe cantilever dynamics in single‐frequency scanning probe microscopy (SPM) are undefined due to having only two output variables, which leads to poorly understood image contrast. To address this shortcoming, generalized phase imaging scanning probe microscopy (GP‐SPM), based on broad band detection and multi‐eigenmode operation, is developed and demonstrated on diamond nanoparticles with different functionalization layers. It is shown that rich information on tip–surface interactions can be acquired by separating the response amplitude, instant resonance frequency, and quality factor. The obtained data allow high‐resolution imaging even in the ambient environment. By tuning the strength of tip–surface interaction, different surface functionalizations can be discerned.
Identifying Multiple Configurations of Complex Molecules on Metal Surfaces
Authors: Liu Qi , Du Shixuan , Zhang Yuyang , Jiang Nan , Shi Dongxia , Gao Hong‐Jun 
Published: February 2012

AbstractExperimental identification of molecular configurations in diffusion processes of large complex molecules has been a demanding topic in the field of molecular construction at solid surfaces. Such identification is needed in order to control the self‐assembly process and the properties and configurations of the resulting structures. This paper provides an overview of state‐of‐the‐art techniques for identification of molecular configurations in motion. First, a brief introduction to the conventional tools is presented, for example, low‐energy electron diffraction and IR/Raman spectroscopy. Second, currently used techniques, scanning probe microscopy, and its application in molecular configuration identification are reviewed. In the last part, a methodology combining time‐resolved tunneling spectroscopy and density functional theory calculation is reviewed in detail; this strategy has been successfully applied to two typical molecular systems, (t‐Bu)4‐ZnPc and FePc (where Pc is phthalocyanine), with molecular rotation and laterial diffusion on the Au(111) surface.
Hemocompatibility and Macrophage Response of Pristine and Functionalized Graphene
Authors: Sasidharan Abhilash , Panchakarla Leela S. , Sadanandan Aparna R. , Ashokan Anusha , Chandran Parwathy , Girish Chundayil Madathil , Menon Deepthy , Nair Shantikumar V. , Rao C. N. R. , Koyakutty Manzoor 
Published: February 2012

AbstractGraphene and its derivatives are being proposed for several important biomedical applications including drug delivery, gene delivery, contrast imaging, and anticancer therapy. Most of these applications demand intravenous injection of graphene and hence evaluation of its hemocompatibility is an essential prerequisite. Herein, both pristine and functionalized graphene are extensively characterized for their interactions with murine macrophage RAW 264.7 cells and human primary blood components. Detailed analyses of the potential uptake by macrophages, effects on its metabolic activity, membrane integrity, induction of reactive oxygen stress, hemolysis, platelet activation, platelet aggregation, coagulation cascade, cytokine induction, immune cell activation, and immune cell suppression are performed using optimized protocols for nanotoxicity evaluation. Electron microscopy, confocal Raman spectral mapping, and confocal fluorescence imaging studies show active interaction of both the graphene systems with macrophage cells, and the reactive oxygen species mediated toxicity effects of hydrophobic pristine samples are significantly reduced by surface functionalization. In the case of hemocompatibility, both types of graphene show excellent compatibility with red blood cells, platelets, and plasma coagulation pathways, and minimal alteration in the cytokine expression by human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Further, both samples do not cause any premature immune cell activation or suppression up to a relatively high concentration of 75 μg mL−1 after 72 h of incubation under in vitro conditions. This study clearly suggests that the observed toxicity effects of pristine graphene towards macrophage cells can be easily averted by surface functionalization and both the systems show excellent hemocompatibility.
Linking genome to epigenome
Authors: Yuan Guo‐Cheng 
Published: February 2012

AbstractRecent epigenomic studies have identified significant differences between developmental stages and cell types. While the importance of epigenetic regulation has been increasingly recognized, it remains unclear how the global epigenetic patterns are established and maintained. Here I review a number of recent studies with the emphasis on the role of the genomic sequence in shaping the epigenetic landscape. These studies strongly suggest that the sequence information is important not just for controlling target specificity but for orchestrating the diversity of epigenetic patterns among different cell types. The epigenome is maintained by the complex network of a large number of interactions. Integrative approaches are needed to gain insights into these networks. WIREs Syst Biol Med 2012. doi: 10.1002/wsbm.1165This article is categorized under:

Analytical and Computational Methods > Computational Methods
Laboratory Methods and Technologies > Genetic/Genomic Methods
Biological Mechanisms > Regulatory Biology
Prognostic Factors for Traumatic Bowel Injuries: Killing Time
Authors: Faria Gil R. , Almeida Ana Beatriz , Moreira Herculano , Barbosa Elisabete , Correia‐da‐Silva Pedro , Costa‐Maia José 
Published: February 2012

AbstractBackgroundIntestinal rupture/perforation after abdominal trauma is a rare complication, but it is related to significant morbidity and mortality. Our objective is to identify determinants of prognosis in patients surgically treated for a bowel injury (small bowel and colon) after abdominal trauma.MethodsThe present study is a retrospective analysis of 102 patients seen at our hospital during a 10‐year period in whom laparotomy for traumatic bowel injury was performed. Predictors for morbidity and mortality were assessed in univariate and multivariate analysis models.ResultsMean age at diagnosis was 40 years, and most patients were male. There was a slight preponderance of blunt abdominal trauma, and the most frequent mechanism of injury was motor vehicle accident. In 75% of patients there was a small bowel lesion, and the colon was affected in 47%. There was no statistical relation between stoma construction and mortality, but an increase in morbidity was ultimately dependent on the severity of the underlying trauma. The univariate determinants of mortality were the new injury severity score (NISS) and American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) scores, the presence of blunt trauma and multiple intestinal or extra‐abdominal lesions, and the elapsed time to surgery. The occurrence of postoperative complications was related to all these factors, as well as to tachycardia, hypotension, and bleeding. In multivariate analysis ASA score (p = 0.015), NISS (p = 0.002), time to surgery (p = 0.007), and presence of colonic lesions (p = 0.02) were identified as independent prognostic factors for postoperative morbidity.ConclusionsThe only modifiable determinant of morbidity seems to be the time to surgery. Only an expeditious evaluation and diagnosis and prompt surgical intervention can improve the prognosis of these patients.
Current Status of Pylorus‐Preserving Gastrectomy for the Treatment of Gastric Cancer: A Questionnaire Survey and Review of Literatures
Authors: Shibata Chikashi , Saijo Fumito , Kakyo Masayuki , Kinouchi Makoto , Tanaka Naoki , Sasaki Iwao , Aikou Takashi ,   The Society for the Study of Postoperative Morbidity After Gastrectomy
Published: February 2012

AbstractPurposeThis study was designed to investigate the current status of pylorus‐preserving gastrectomy (PPG) for the treatment of gastric cancer by sending a questionnaire to institutions in Japan.MethodsThe questionnaire was prepared and sent to 930 institutions approved by the Japanese Society of Gastroenterological Surgery. Questions were the indications for PPG, preservation of the vagus nerves and the infra‐pyloric artery, whether suprapyloric lymph nodes are dissected, distance between the pylorus and the gastrogastrostomy, and the advantages and disadvantages of PPG.ResultsResponses were obtained from 345 institutions (37.1%). In 148 institutions, PPG was included in the choices of operations for gastric cancer and indicated for patients with tumors no deeper than the submucosal layer for differentiated‐type carcinoma, or for tumors limited to the mucosa even in poorly differentiated types in 105 institutions. The vagus was preserved in 73.5%, the infrapyloric artery was preserved in 49.4%, and the dissection of suprapyloric lymph nodes were partly performed in 56.2%. The distance between gastrogastrostomy and the pyloric ring was 3–3.9 cm in 43.4% and 2–2.9 cm in 39%. Layer‐to‐layer anastomosis was the most representative technique for gastrogastrostomy. The advantages of PPG with decreased incidence of dumping syndrome and remnant gastritis were quoted in 130 and 82 institutions, respectively. Delayed gastric emptying was considered as the most frequent disadvantage of PPG, as quoted by 111 institutions.ConclusionsThese results indicate that standard technique in PPG includes the preservation of the vagus and infrapyloric artery, in part dissection of suprapyloric lymph nodes, and layer‐to‐layer anastomosis for reconstruction. The optimal length of the antral cuff is still controversial.
Aurora kinase inhibitors: Progress towards the clinic
Authors: Kollareddy Madhu , Zheleva Daniella , Dzubak Petr , Brahmkshatriya Pathik Subhashchandra , Lepsik Martin , Hajduch Marian 
Published: February 2012

SummaryThe Aurora kinases (serine/threonine kinases) were discovered in 1995 during studies of mutant alleles associated with abnormal spindle pole formation inDrosophila melanogaster.They soon became the focus of much attention because of their importance in human biology and association with cancer. Aurora kinases are essential for cell division and are primarily active during mitosis. Following their identification as potential targets for cancer chemotherapy, many Aurora kinase inhibitors have been discovered, and are currently under development. The binding modes of Aurora kinase inhibitors to Aurora kinases share specific hydrogen bonds between the inhibitor core and the back bone of the kinase hinge region, while others parts of the molecules may point to different parts of the active site via noncovalent interactions. Currently there are about 30 Aurora kinase inhibitors in different stages of pre-clinical and clinical development. This review summarizes the characteristics and status of Aurora kinase inhibitors in preclinical, Phase I, and Phase II clinical studies, with particular emphasis on the mechanisms of action and resistance to these promising anticancer agents. We also discuss the validity of Aurora kinases as oncology targets, on/off-target toxicities, and other important aspects of overall clinical performance and future of Aurora kinase inhibitors.
Ovariectomy in the developing rat decelerates cortical spreading depression in adult brain
Authors: Accioly Noranege Epifânio , Benevides Regina de Deus Lira , Costa Belmira Lara da Silveira Andrade da , Guedes Rubem Carlos Araujo 
Published: February 2012

AbstractThe brain of mammals is one important target organ for the action of gonadal steroids and, when occurring during development, this hormonal influence may result in important repercussion on the brain electrophysiological properties at adulthood, some of which depending on the brain excitability. Here we have characterized in early‐ovariectomized adult rats the brain ability to propagate the excitability‐related phenomenon known as cortical spreading depression (CSD), as an index of the cerebral electrophysiological effects of the early‐induced absence of the ovarian hormones. Wistar female rat pups (7‐day old) underwent bilateral ovariectomy (Ovx group; n = 21) or Sham surgery (Sham group; n = 22), or no surgery (Naive group; n = 22). When the pups became adult (90–130 days), they were submitted to the recording of CSD (electrocorticogram and slow DC‐voltage variation) in two points of the cortical surface during 4 h. Compared with both Naïve and Sham controls, bilateral ovariectomy early in life resulted in significantly higher body weights (from days 50–65 onwards) and severely reduced uterus weights at adulthood. Furthermore, in the Ovx animals the amplitudes and durations of the DC‐potential changes of CSD were higher, and the CSD propagation velocities were reduced. Another group of rats ovariectomized in adulthood did not present such CSD alterations. It is concluded that ovariectomy during brain development is causally associated with the CSD changes in the adult brain, indicating a long‐lasting effect, which we suggest as being related to the long‐term suppression of the action of the ovarian hormones on brain excitability.
Showers, Sweating and Suing: Legionnaires’ Disease and ‘New’ Infections in Britain, 1977–90
Authors: MacFarlane John T. , Worboys Michael 
Published: February 2012

AbstractLegionnaires’ disease is now routinely discussed as an ‘emerging infectious disease’ (EID) and is said to be one of the earliest such diseases to be recognised. It first appeared in 1976 and its cause was identified in 1977, the same year that Ebola fever, Hantaan virus and Campylobacter jejuni arrived. The designation of Legionnaires’ disease as an EID was retrospective; it was not and could not be otherwise as the category only gained currency in the early 1990s. In this article we reflect on the changing medical understanding and social profile of Legionnaires’ disease in the decade or so from its recognition to the creation of EIDs, especially its ambivalent position between public health and clinical medicine. However, we question any simple opposition, between public health experts who approached Legionnaires’ disease as a new and worrying environmental threat that could be prevented, and clinicians who saw it as another cause of pneumonia that could be managed by improved diagnosis and treatment. We argue that in the British context of public spending cuts and the reform of public health, the category of ‘new’ diseases, in which Legionnaires’ disease was central, was mobilised ahead of the EID lobby of the early 1990s, by interested groups in medicine to defend infectious diseases services.
Operationalising salience: definite article reduction in the North of England
Authors: RÁCZ PÉTER 
Published: February 2012

Definite article reduction (DAR) is a dialectal variable confined to the North of England. In DAR dialects, the standard article alternates with a reduced one, which is mostly realised as a glottal stop and sometimes as a voiceless fricative before vowels. DAR is a salient sociolinguistic marker in the sense of Labov (1972) and Trudgill (1986). This article argues that its salience is derived from its status as a good boundary marker that listeners can utilise in order to segment the speech stream.Salience is the property of a variable which makes it cognitively or perceptually prominent both for speakers of the dialect and for speakers of other dialects. DAR is a salient marker inasmuch as it shows variation and style shifting, can be an identity marker, and has long been recognised by layperson and linguist alike as a typical feature of Northern speech.It will be argued that DAR is salient since it is a good word-boundary marker. The reduced article constitutes domains of low transitional probability, which listeners exploit to segment the speech signal. It has been recognised that word segmentation plays a major role in speech processing and that listeners use statistical inferences (besides other kinds of information) to locate word boundaries. The conclusion is that the salience of DAR can be derived from its distributions, as these distributions result in the variable's perceptual prominence.
Relationship of frontal D2/3 binding potentials to cognition: a study of antipsychotic-naive schizophrenia patients
Authors: Fagerlund Birgitte , Pinborg Lars H. , Mortensen Erik Lykke , Friberg Lars , Baaré William F. C. , Gade Anders , Svarer Claus , Glenthøj Birte Y. 
Published: February 2012

Abstract
Studies of in vivo dopamine receptors in schizophrenia have mostly focused on D2 receptors in striatal areas or on D1 receptors in cortex. No previous study has examined the correlation between cortical dopamine D2/3 receptor binding potentials and cognition in schizophrenia patients. The objective was to examine this relation in the frontal cortex in first-episode, drug-naive schizophrenia patients. Based on preclinical and pharmacological evidence, we specifically expected to find a relation between D2/3 receptor binding potentials and set shifting. This was a cross-sectional, case-control study using single-photon emission computerized tomography with the D2/3-receptor ligand [123I]epidepride, co-registered with structural magnetic resonance imaging and correlated to cognitive measures. Participants were 24 antipsychotic-naive, first-episode schizophrenia patients and 20 healthy controls matched for gender and age. For patients, a significant linear correlation between D2/3 BPND and set shifting was found, while significant quadratic associations were observed for verbal fluency, planning and attention. For controls, the only significant association with D2/3 BPND was a quadratic partial correlation for set shifting. The main findings indicated a relation between D2/3 receptor binding in the frontal cortex and set shifting, planning and attention, but also support a differential involvement of cortical dopamine D2/3 receptor binding in at least some cognitive functions, perhaps particularly attention, in schizophrenia patients compared to healthy people. The results suggest that cortical D2/3 receptor function may be more involved in some cognitive functions (i.e. attention, fluency and planning) in patients with schizophrenia than in healthy people, suggesting that information processing in schizophrenia may be characterized by lower signal:noise ratios.
Wenn Therapien vorzeitig scheitern
Authors: Cinkaya Fatima , Schindler Amrei , Hiller Wolfgang 
Published: February 2012

Zusammenfassung. Theoretischer Hintergrund: Zu Abbrüchen ambulanter Psychotherapien fehlen gesicherte Erkenntnisse über Häufigkeit, Auftretensmerkmale und Risikofaktoren. Fragestellung: Diese Studie untersucht soziodemografische und klinische Merkmale von Abbrechern im Routinebetrieb einer verhaltenstherapeutischen Hochschulambulanz. Methode: Wir klassifizierten 1391 konsekutive Patienten als Completer sowie qualitätsrelevante und qualitätsneutrale Abbrecher. Ergebnisse: Die Gesamtabbruchrate lag bei 24,6% und 14,1% der Abbrüche waren qualitätsrelevant. 56,1% erfolgten innerhalb der ersten 20 Sitzungen. Häufigster Grund war mit 28,1% eine unzureichende Veränderungsmotivation. Am häufigsten brachen Patienten mit Borderline-Persönlichkeitsstörungen (30,2%) und anderen Persönlichkeitsstörungen (25,0%) ab. Weitere Prädiktoren waren erhöhte Psychopathologie (r = 0,18), geringe Therapiemotivation (r = –0,15) und geringe Erfolgserwartung (r = 0,13). Die Vorhersagekraft aller Variablen war jedoch klein. Diskussion: Für Therapieabbrüche ließen sich in dieser naturalistischen Stichprobe zwar einige Risikofaktoren identifizieren, deren Vorhersagekraft jedoch aufgrund kleiner Effektstärken nicht überschätzt werden sollte. Die Suche nach weiteren und bedeutsameren Risikofaktoren sollte weitergehen.
A note on trapped Gerstner waves
Authors: Weber Jan Erik H. 
Published: February 2012

The progressive Gerstner wave is studied theoretically in a rotating inviscid ocean when the bottom has a constant slope. Exact solutions are found in Lagrangian coordinates without applying the hydrostatic assumption for the pressure. For waves propagating with the coast to the right in the Northern Hemisphere, trapped Gerstner wave solutions are found for slope angles β with respect to the horizontal in the range 0 < β ≤ π/2. In particular, the Stokes edge wave transforms into the deep‐water coastal Kelvin wave in the vertical wall limit β = π/2. It is shown that standing waves obtained by superposition of oppositely traveling Gerstner wave trains in the nonrotating case are not exact solutions of the Lagrangian equations. This is discussed in relation to observed beach features and runup patterns.