bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor, vascular endothelial growth factor and leptin levels in patients with a diagnosis of severe major depressive disorder with melancholic features
Authors: Kotan Zeynep , Sarandöl Emre , Kırhan Emine , Özkaya Güven , Kırlı SelcÇuk 
Published: February 2012

Objective: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and leptin have been hypothesized to be involved in the neurobiology of depression. The aim of this study was to investigate BDNF, VEGF and leptin levels in patients with severe melancholic depression. Methods: A total of 40 drug-free patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) with melancholic features and 40 healthy controls were included in the study. Demographic information, psychiatric evaluation and physical examination were documented for both groups. Serum BDNF, VEGF levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and leptin with radioimmunoassay methods. The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale were applied to the patients. Results: There were no significant differences in serum BDNF, VEGF and leptin levels between the patient and control groups. There was a negative correlation between BDNF levels and the number of depressive episodes. It was noted that VEGF levels decreased with increasing severity of depression. Conclusions: These findings suggest that BDNF levels might be associated with the recurrence of depression and VEGF levels might be a determinant of the severity of depression.
Increased plasma norepinephrine concentration in psychotic depression
Authors: Goekoop Jaap G. , de Winter Remco F.P. , Wolterbeek Ron , Van Kempen Godfried M.J. , Wiegant Victor M. 
Published: February 2012

Objective: We previously found psychotic depression (PSDEP) to have positively correlating plasma norepinephrine (NE) and vasopressin (AVP) concentrations. Since central noradrenergic activity and plasma NE concentration are highly correlated, this suggests an increased noradrenergic activation of the hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis. We hypothesize the increased release of NE in PSDEP to be an associated mechanism. Methods: To test this hypothesis we analyzed the relation between plasma NE and PSDEP in a comparison with non-psychotically depressed patients. Potentially confounding variables were, among others, melancholia and two better validated subcategories in the field of melancholia and endogenous depression, three global dimensions of psychopathology – Emotional Dysregulation, Retardation and Anxiety – smoking habit, and different types of psychotropic and particularly antidepressant treatment. The data from nine patients with PSDEP and 69 patients with non-PSDEP were reanalysed. Results: Analysis of covariance controlling for the effects of tricyclic antidepressant treatment (≥100 mg) and smoking habit showed that PSDEP had an increased concentration of plasma NE. The previously found correlation between plasma NE and AVP was still present after correcting for the effects of confounding variables. Conclusions: The results suggest an increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system in PSDEP that may act as a specific mechanism for increased vasopressinergic activation. This supports the view of PSDEP as a distinct subcategory of major depression.
Lifetime history of indoor tanning in young people: a retrospective assessment of initiation, persistence, and correlates
Authors: Lostritto Karen , Ferrucci Leah M , Cartmel Brenda , Leffell David J , Molinaro Annette M , Bale Allen E , Mayne Susan T 
Published: February 2012

AbstractBackgroundDespite educational and public health campaigns to convey the risks of indoor tanning, many individuals around the world continue to engage in this behavior. Few descriptive studies of indoor tanning have collected information pertaining to the lifetime history of indoor tanning, thereby limiting our ability to understand indoor tanning patterns and potentially target interventions for individuals who not only initiate, but continue to persistently engage in indoor tanning.MethodsIn-person interviews elicited detailed retrospective information on lifetime history of indoor tanning among white individuals (n = 401) under age 40 seen by a dermatologist for a minor benign skin condition. These individuals were controls in a case-control study of early-onset basal cell carcinoma. Outcomes of interest included ever indoor tanning in both males and females, as well as persistent indoor tanning in females - defined as females over age 31 who tanned indoors at least once in the last three or all four of four specified age periods (ages 11-15, 16-20, 21-30 and 31 or older). Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify sociodemographic and lifestyle correlates of ever and persistent indoor tanning in females.ResultsApproximately three-quarters (73.3%) of females and 38.3% of males ever tanned indoors, with a median age of initiation of 17.0 and 21.5, respectively. Among indoor tanners, 39.3% of females and 21.7% of males reported being burned while indoor tanning. Female ever indoor tanners were younger, had darker color eyes, and sunbathed more frequently than females who never tanned indoors. Using unique lifetime exposure data, 24.7% of female indoor tanners 31 and older persistently tanned indoors starting as teenagers. Female persistent indoor tanners drank significantly more alcohol, were less educated, had skin that tanned with prolonged sun exposure, and sunbathed outdoors more frequently than non-persistent tanners.ConclusionsIndoor tanning was strikingly common in this population, especially among females. Persistent indoor tanners had other high-risk behaviors (alcohol, sunbathing), suggesting that multi-faceted behavioral interventions aimed at health promotion/disease prevention may be needed in this population.
Wnt signaling pathways in urological cancers: past decades and still growing
Authors: Majid Shahana , Saini Sharanjot , Dahiya Rajvir 
Published: February 2012

AbstractThe Wnt signaling pathway is involved in a wide range of embryonic patterning events and maintenance of homeostasis in adult tissues. The pathological role of the Wnt pathway has emerged from studies showing a high frequency of specific human cancers associated with mutations that constitutively activate the transcriptional response of these pathways. Constitutive activation of the Wnt signaling pathway is a common feature of solid tumors and contributes to tumor development, progression and metastasis in various cancers. In this review, the Wnt pathway will be covered from the perspective of urological cancers with emphasis placed on the recent published literature. Regulation of the Wnt signaling pathway by microRNAs (miRNA), small RNA sequences that modify gene expression profiles will also be discussed. An improved understanding of the basic genetics and biology of Wnt signaling pathway will provide insights into the development of novel chemopreventive and therapeutic strategies for urological cancers.
Granular cell tumor presenting as a tongue nodule: two case reports
Authors: Sena Costa Nivea Cristina , Bertini Fernanda , Carvalho Yasmin Rodarte , Almeida Janete Dias , Rodrigues Cavalcante Ana Sueli 
Published: February 2012

Abstract

Introduction
Granular cell tumor is an uncommon neoplasm that can occur in any part of the body, including the orofacial region. The tumor is usually benign, but there are reports of cases in which the tumor shows a locally aggressive behavior, malignancy, and distant metastases. The most widely accepted hypothesis is that granular cell tumor arises from the altered metabolism of Schwann cells. The tumor is typically asymptomatic and appears as a nodule that does not exceed 3 cm.

Case presentation
In case 1, a 26-year-old Caucasian man was seen at the Oral Medicine out-patient clinic of the São José dos Campos Dental School, Universidade Estadual Paulista, with a 'small blister on the tongue', which he had noted approximately three years ago. The nodule was located on the dorsum of the tongue, measured about 1.5 cm in diameter, and was not tender to palpation. Treatment consisted of an excisional biopsy performed on the basis of the diagnostic hypothesis of granular cell tumor, which was confirmed by microscopic analysis. In case 2, a 31-year-old Caucasian woman attended the out-patient clinic of the São José dos Campos Dental School, Universidade Estadual Paulista, with a five-year history of a 'painful lump on the tongue'. Intra-oral examination revealed the presence of a nodular lesion measuring approximately 0.8 cm in diameter, which was located deep in the submucosa of the right lateral margin of the tongue. Treatment consisted of an excisional biopsy performed on the basis of the differential diagnosis of neurofibroma and granular cell tumor. Microscopic analysis defined the final diagnosis of granular cell tumor.

Conclusions
Granular cell tumor is an uncommon tumor that must be carefully diagnosed and treated correctly.
Assessment of Transparent Conducting Zinc Oxide as a Tunneling Contact to p-GaN
Authors: Musunuru S. , Kumbham V. , Justice J. , Lee K. , Korakakis D. , Hornak L. A. 
Published: February 2012

ABSTRACTUse of aluminum alloyed zinc oxide (AZO) as a transparent contact to p-GaN has received significant attention for GaN/InGaN light emitting diodes applications. Reports show that AZO as deposited on p-GaN forms a Schottky contact given the large work-function difference between AZO and p-GaN [1]. However, utilization of a thin nickel layer inserted between the AZO and p-GaN can result in an ohmic contact [2], given that Ni forms an ohmic contact to p-GaN upon annealing. Here, we undertake simulation studies of this AZO/Ni interface as a function of Nickel layer. Simulation studies of the transport mechanism in this contact indicate the likelihood of a tunneling junction at the AZO/Ni interface, thus the entire AZO/Ni forming an ohmic contact to p-GaN. Potential to better control injected current density uniformity utilizing such a contact structure is also discussed.
Mechanical Behavior of Ion-Irradiated Fe-Cr alloys Investigated by Spherical Indentation
Authors: Hardie Christopher D. , Roberts Steve G. , Bushby Andrew J. 
Published: February 2012

ABSTRACTFe12%Cr was irradiated with 2MeV and 0.5MeV Fe+ ions at 320°C, to create a layer with a mean level of displacement damage of 6.18dpa to a depth of ∼800nm. Spherical indentation, with a nominal tip radius of 10μm, was used to investigate the mechanical properties of the damage layer. Indents produced with loads of 2mN, 3mN, 5mN and 10mN were cross-sectioned and fabricated into TEM foils using an in situ lift-out technique in a dual beam FIB-SEM microscope. The extent of the plastic zone beneath the indent was observed in the TEM for each indentation. The indentation results were analysed so as to give an indentation stress-strain curve, in which strain softening was found to occur beyond the yield point. At loads up to 3mN the plastic zone remained entirely within the damage layer, implying strain-softening of the damaged material. At higher indentation loads the plastic zone was observed to extend into the softer un-irradiated substrate, giving rise to a further fall in flow stress with increasing strain.
Measuring Residual Stress on the Nanometer Scale - Novel Tools for Fundamental and Applied Research
Authors: Wehrspohn R. B. , Krause M. , Schriever C. 
Published: February 2012

ABSTRACTIn the present paper, strain measurements based on second harmonic generation (SHG) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) is demonstrated via two illustrative applications. While SHG gains access to strains in buried interfaces, EBSD can be used to measure strains in crystalline thin films with high spatial resolution on the order of tens of nanometers and high surface sensitivity. In addition, target preparation using low-voltage ion beam milling is demonstrated, gaining access to unstrained sample positions in strained silicon on insulator (sSOI) systems which are necessary for common “pattern-shift” methodologies.
Poor Oral Health and Coronary Artery Disease: A Case‐Control Study
Authors: Ashraf Javed , Hussain Bokhari Syed Akhtar , Manzoor Sobia , Khan Ayyaz Ali 
Published: February 2012

Background: There is insufficient research on the relationship of oral health and coronary artery disease (CAD) from developing countries, such as Pakistan. This study observes the status of oral health in the CAD population.Methods: A case‐control study was conducted on 145 cases and 145 controls. Otherwise healthy patients with CAD (cases) and individuals free from previous/current history of CAD (controls), having ≥14 remaining teeth, were examined for oral health status through missing teeth, plaque index (PI), and community periodontal index (CPI). Student t test, χ2 test, and multivariate regression analysis were applied at significance level of 95% (P ≤0.05) to compare study parameters between cases and controls.Results: A significant difference between cases and controls was observed in this study sample with respect to missing teeth (P = 0.027) and periodontal parameters of PI and CPI (P <0.001). Cases were observed with significantly higher scores of PI (2 and 3) and CPI (3 and 4) compared with controls. Prevalence of periodontal parameters was observed to be higher in cases than controls at subgroup‐level (sex and age group) analysis. A significant odds ratio (OR), unadjusted, between CAD and periodontal indicators of PI (mild to severe plaque/no plaque: OR = 5.04, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 2.24 to 11.36) and CPI (healthy/poor periodontal status: OR = 4.59, 95% CI = 1.81 to 11.61) scores was noted; cases were at odds of 1.20 (95% CI = 0.93 to 15.68, P = 0.017) for having poor oral health after adjusting age, sex, and education.Conclusion: Poor oral health was significantly associated with CAD in this study sample matched for sociodemographic characteristics.
Effect of Dwell Time on the Mental Health of US Military Personnel With Multiple Combat Tours
Authors: MacGregor Andrew J. , Han Peggy P. , Dougherty Amber L. , Galarneau Michael R. 
Published: February 2012

Objective. We investigated the association of the length of time spent at home between deployments, or dwell time, with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health disorders. Methods. We included US Marine Corps personnel identified from military deployment records who deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom once (n = 49 328) or twice (n = 16 376). New-onset mental health diagnoses from military medical databases were included. We calculated the ratio of dwell-to-deployment time (DDR) as the length of time between deployments divided by the length of the first deployment. Results. Marines with 2 deployments had higher rates of PTSD than did those with 1 deployment (2.1% versus 1.2%; P < .001). A DDR representing longer dwell times at home relative to first deployment length was associated with reduced odds of PTSD (odds ratio [OR] = 0.47; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.32, 0.70), PTSD with other mental health disorder (OR = 0.56; 95% CI = 0.33, 0.94), and other mental health disorders (OR = 0.62; 95% CI = 0.51, 0.75). Conclusions. Longer dwell times may reduce postdeployment risk of PTSD and other mental health disorders. Future research should focus on the role of dwell time in adverse health outcomes.
The Effect of Corporate Governance on Auditor-Client Realignments
Authors: Cassell Cory A. , Giroux Gary A. , Myers Linda A. , Omer Thomas C. 
Published: February 2012

SUMMARY
Events leading up to the implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) increased the public's focus on corporate governance and increased regulatory scrutiny of corporate governance mechanisms. These events also contributed to a massive restructuring in the audit market that resulted in the transfer of a large number of clients from Big N to non-Big N audit firms. We extend prior research examining the determinants of auditor-client realignments by investigating the effect of corporate governance on downward (i.e., from Big N to non-Big N auditors) switching activity. We develop a corporate governance index comprised of governance characteristics that we expect auditors to find more desirable in their clients (specifically, board and audit committee independence, diligence, and expertise). The results suggest that Big N auditors consider client corporate governance mechanisms when making client portfolio decisions. Specifically, downward auditor-client realignments are more likely for clients that score lower on our corporate governance index. However, the influence of audit committee-related corporate governance components on downward auditor-client realignments decreased post-SOX. The reduced effect of audit committee-related corporate governance components is consistent with what would be expected if the audit committee-related rules imposed by SOX reduced the variation in audit committee quality across clients.
Data Availability: The data used are publicly available from the sources cited in the text.
Publication Benchmarking Data Based on Faculty Promoted at the Top 75 U.S. Accounting Research Institutions
Authors: Glover Steven M. , Prawitt Douglas F. , Summers Scott L. , Wood David A. 
Published: February 2012

ABSTRACT
The primary purpose of this study is to update the Glover et al. (2006) publication benchmarking study by providing benchmarking statistics of faculty promoted to associate and/or full professor from 2004 to 2009. We also extend Glover et al. (2006) by examining new benchmarking metrics and by investigating publication productivity differences between studies. Our results indicate that, on average, faculty promoted from 2004 to 2009 had more publications in leading accounting journals at the time of promotion than faculty promoted from 1995 to 2003. We explore possible explanations for the increase in publication productivity. We find that increases in the time to promotion, number of total published journal articles, and number of co-authors can explain some, but not all of the observed increase in publication productivity. Finally, we find that publication records at the time of promotion are similar between public and private institutions within similar university publication productivity portfolios.
Data Availability: Data used in this paper are available from the authors upon request.
Low temperature synthesis of CuGeO3nanoflowers from n-heptane solvent
Authors: Pei L. Z. , Yang Y. , Yang L. J. , Tao X. X. , Fan C. G. , Yuan C. Z. , Zhang Q.-F. 
Published: February 2012

AbstractCuGeO3nanoflowers have been synthesized by solvothermal treatment of GeO2and Cu(CH3COO)2· H2O in n-heptane solvent without using any surfactants. The influence of temperature and reaction time on the formation of the CuGeO3nanoflowers has been analyzed. The room temperature photoluminescence spectrum of the CuGeO3nanoflowers has also been investigated. The synthesized nanoflowers are composed of orthorhombic phase, based on X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy characterizations. The temperature and reaction time have important roles in the formation and size of the CuGeO3nanoflowers. The room temperature photoluminescence spectrum of the CuGeO3nanoflowers demonstrates strong blue light emission centered at 421 nm and 488 nm and a poor green light emission centered at 530 nm and 543 nm, suggesting that the CuGeO3nanoflowers have good optical properties.
The role of polymethylhydrosiloxane in the sol-gel synthesis of high surface area porous silicon carbide
Authors: Wang Dong-Hua , Fu Xin , Jin Guo-Qiang , Guo Xiang-Yun 
Published: February 2012

Abstract
High surface area porous silicon carbide was synthesized via a modified sol-gel method. In the sol-gel method, furfuryl alcohol and tetraethoxysilane were used respectively as carbon and silicon precursors, polymethylhydrosiloxane (PMHS) was employed as a pore-adjusting agent for preparing a carbonaceous silica xerogel. SiC was obtained by the carbothermal reduction of the carbonaceous silica xerogel at 1 300 °C in argon flow and then purified by removing excess silica, carbon and other impurities. Depending on the amount of PMHS added in the sol-gel process, the SiC products are found to have high specific surface area ranging from 120 to 167 m2 g−1 and pore volume ranging from 0.49 to 1.01 cm3 g−1. It is therefore suggested that PMHS enhances the production of mesoporous pores in the SiC products.
Effect of Ce content on the microstructure of semisolid Mg-10Al alloy
Authors: Zhang Liang , Zhang Tao , Cao Zhan-Yi , Liu Yong-Bing 
Published: February 2012

Abstract
Mg-10Al-xCe (x = 0 – 1.0 wt.%) alloys were prepared using metal mould casting, and the effects of Ce content on the microstructures of semisolid Mg-10Al alloys produced via isothermal heat treatment were investigated. The results show that the solid particles in the semisolid Mg-10Al alloy without Ce addition are smaller and more spherical than those in the alloys with Ce addition. Furthermore, among the semisolid Mg-10Al-0.25Ce, Mg-10Al-0.5Ce and Mg-10Al-1.0Ce alloys, the best rheological parameters are obtained for the 0.5 % Ce containing alloy. The optimum isothermal temperature and time for Mg-10Al-0.5Ce alloy are 560 °C and 20 min, respectively. The main phases in the as-cast alloys are α-Mg, β-Mg17Al12 and Al4Ce. The formation of Al4Ce phases decreases the content of β-Mg17Al12, and these Al-Ce phases at the grain boundaries restrict grain growth. Furthermore, the addition of Ce decreases the undercooling in front of the α-Mg tip which makes the α-Mg dendrites more developed. These microstructure changes with Ce addition in the as-cast state greatly influence the transformation of semisolid microstructure during isothermal heat treatment.