bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Mnemonic strategy training partially restores hippocampal activity in patients with mild cognitive impairment
Authors: Hampstead Benjamin M. , Stringer Anthony Y. , Stilla Randall F. , Giddens Michelle , Sathian K. 
Published: February 2012

AbstractLearning and memory deficits typify patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and are generally attributed to medial temporal lobe dysfunction. Although the hippocampus is perhaps the most commonly studied neuroanatomical structure in these patients, there have been few attempts to identify rehabilitative interventions that facilitate its functioning. Here, we present results from a randomized, controlled, single‐blind study in which patients with MCI and healthy elderly controls (HEC) were randomized to either three sessions of mnemonic strategy training (MS) or a matched‐exposure control group (XP). All participants underwent pre‐ and posttraining fMRI scanning as they encoded and retrieved object–location associations. For the current report, fMRI analyses were restricted to the hippocampus, as defined anatomically. Before training, MCI patients showed reduced hippocampal activity during both encoding and retrieval, relative to HEC. Following training, the MCI MS group demonstrated increased activity during both encoding and retrieval. There were significant differences between the MCI MS and MCI XP groups during retrieval, especially within the right hippocampus. Thus, MS facilitated hippocampal functioning in a partially restorative manner. We conclude that cognitive rehabilitation techniques may help mitigate hippocampal dysfunction in MCI patients. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Importance of electrostatic polarizability in calculating cysteine acidity constants and copper(I) binding energy of Bacillus subtilis CopZ
Authors: Click Timothy H. , Ponomarev Sergei Y. , Kaminski George A. 
Published: February 2012

AbstractCopZ is a copper chaperone from Bacillus subtilis. It is an important part of Cu(I) trafficking. We have calculated pKa values for the CXXC motif of this protein, which is responsible for the Cu(I) binding, and the Cu(I) binding constants. Polarizable and fixed‐charges formalisms were used, and solvation parameters for the both models have been refitted. We had to partially redevelop parameters for the protonated and deprotonated cysteine residues. We have discovered that the polarizable force field (PFF) is qualitatively superior and allows a uniformly better level of energetic results. The PFF pKa values for cysteine are within about 0.8–2.8 pH units of the experimental data, while the fixed‐charges OPLS formalism yields errors of up to tens of units. The PFF magnitude of the copper binding energy is about 10 kcal/mol or 50% higher than the experimental value, while the using the refitted OPLS parameters leads to an overall positive binding energy, thus predicting no thermodynamically stable complex. At the same time, the agreement of the polarizable S···Cu(I) distances with the experimental results is within 0.08 Å range, and the nonpolarizable calculations lead to an error of about 0.4 Å. Moreover, the accuracy of the PFF has been achieved without any explicit fitting to either pKa or CopZ···Cu(I) binding energies. We believe that this makes our polarizable technique a choice method in reproducing protein—copper binding and further supports the notion that explicit treatment of electrostatic polarization is crucial in many biologically relevant studies, especially ion binding and transport. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Nurse‐pharmacist collaboration on medication reconciliation prevents potential harm
Authors: Feldman Leonard S. , Costa Linda L. , Feroli E. Robert , Nelson Terry , Poe Stephanie S. , Frick Kevin D. , Efird Leigh E. , Miller Redonda G. 
Published: February 2012

AbstractBACKGROUND:Medication reconciliation can prevent some adverse drug events (ADEs). Our prospective study explored whether an easily replicable nurse‐pharmacist led medication reconciliation process could efficiently and inexpensively prevent potential ADEs.METHODS:Nurses at a 1000 bed urban, tertiary care hospital developed the home medication list (HML) through patient interview. If a patient was not able to provide a written HML or recall medications, the nurses reviewed the electronic record along with other sources. The nurses then compared the HML to the patient's active inpatient medications and judged whether the discrepancies were intentional or potentially unintentional. This was repeated at discharge as well. If the prescriber changed the order when contacted about a potential unintentional discrepancy, it was categorized as unintentional and rated on a 1‐3 potential harm scale.RESULTS:The study included 563 patients. HML information gathering averaged 29 minutes. Two hundred twenty‐five patients (40%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 36%‐44%) had at least 1 unintended discrepancy on admission or discharge. One hundred sixty‐two of the 225 patients had an unintended discrepancy ranked 2 or 3 on the harm scale. It cost $113.64 to find 1 potentially harmful discrepancy. Based on the 2008 cost of an ADE, preventing 1 discrepancy in every 290 patient encounters would offset the intervention costs. We potentially averted 81 ADEs for every 290 patients.CONCLUSION:Potentially harmful medication discrepancies occurred frequently at both admission and discharge. A nurse‐pharmacist collaboration allowed many discrepancies to be reconciled before causing harm. The collaboration was efficient and cost‐effective, and the process potentially improves patient safety. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2012; © 2012 Society of Hospital Medicine
Cancer stem cells and their potential implications for the treatment of solid tumors
Authors: Grotenhuis B.A. , Wijnhoven B.P.L. , van Lanschot J.J.B. 
Published: February 2012

AbstractBackground and ObjectivesThere is increasing evidence that a variety of human cancers is maintained by a subset of cells, cancer stem cells (CSCs), which sustain tumor growth, underlie its malignant behavior, and possibly initiate distant metastases. The aim of this review is to evaluate the current evidence for the existence of CSCs and the implications on the present management and treatment of solid tumors.MethodsA retrospective review of the English‐language literature (1997–2010) concerning CSCs and their therapeutic implications was performed.ResultsCSCs are characterized by two main properties of normal stem cells: Self‐renewal and differentiation, which are best assayed by serial transplantation experiments in immunodeficient mice. Cell‐surface antigens that mark cell populations enriched for CSCs have been identified in various solid tumors. As such, the very existence of CSCs has vast clinical implications with regard to cancer treatment. The development of tailor‐made CSC‐targeted therapies (including therapies directed at these CSC‐specific surface markers, and reversal of the intrinsic resistance of CSCs to chemo‐ and radiotherapy) entails great promises. However, normal stem cell toxicity and treatment resistance have been recognized as serious problems.ConclusionThe growing evidence indicating that CSCs drive and maintain various types of solid human malignancies has important implications for the treatment of patients. However, over the years the development of CSC‐targeted therapies has faced a number of potential hurdles, which must be considered carefully in order to maximize the chance that such therapies will be successful. J. Surg. Oncol. 2012; 106:209–215. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Clinical relevance of induction triplet chemotherapy for esophageal cancer invading adjacent organs
Authors: Miyata Hiroshi , Yamasaki Makoto , Kurokawa Yukinori , Takiguchi Shuji , Nakajima Kiyokazu , Fujiwara Yoshiyuki , Mori Masaki , Doki Yuichiro 
Published: February 2012

AbstractBackground and ObjectivesThere is no consensus on treatment for esophageal cancer invading adjacent organs (T4), but induction multidrug chemotherapy may be a beneficial, especially when surgery is considered as adjuvant treatment.MethodsWe classified 169 patients with T4 esophageal cancer without distant metastasis into those undergoing chemotherapy using cisplatin and 5‐FU (CF) plus adriamycin or CF plus docetaxel (79 patients) and those undergoing chemoradiotherapy using CF (90 patients). For the former group, chemoradiation was subsequently applied when surgical resection was not indicated.ResultsThirty‐four patients in the chemotherapy group (43.0%) received chemoradiotherapy following chemotherapy. Although the response rate tended to be higher in the chemoradiotherapy group, there was no significant difference in the response rate between the groups (63.3% vs. 68.9%). Esophageal perforation during treatment was more frequent among the chemoradiotherapy group than the chemotherapy group (16.7% vs. 6.3%, P = 0.0379). The rate of surgical resection was consequently higher for the induction chemotherapy group compared to the chemoradiotherapy group (72.1% vs. 45.6%, P =0.0005).ConclusionsInduction triplet chemotherapy reduced esophageal perforation and increased the resectability of T4 esophageal cancers by combining second‐line chemoradiotherapy. This strategy might increase the chance of curative resection for patients with T4 esophageal cancer. J. Surg. Oncol. 2012; 106:441–447. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Whispering gallery microcavity lasers
Authors: He Lina , Özdemir Şahin Kaya , Yang Lan 
Published: February 2012

AbstractWhispering gallery mode (WGM) optical microresonators have attracted intense interests in the past decades. The combination of high quality factors (Q) and small mode volumes of modes in WGM resonators significantly enhances the light‐matter interactions, making them excellent cavities for achieving low threshold and narrow linewidth lasers. In this Review, the progress in WGM microcavity lasers is summarized, and the laser performance considering resonator geometries and materials as well as lasing mechanisms is discussed. Label‐free detection using WGM resonators has emerged as highly sensitive detection schemes. However, the resolution is mainly limited by the cavity Q factor which determines the mode linewidth. Microcavity lasers, due to their narrow laser spectral width, could greatly improve the detection resolution. Some recent developments in sensing using microcavity lasers are discussed.
Tilted fiber Bragg grating sensors
Authors: Albert Jacques , Shao Li‐Yang , Caucheteur Christophe 
Published: February 2012

AbstractOptical fiber gratings have developed into a mature technology with a wide range of applications in various areas, including physical sensing for temperature, strain, acoustic waves and pressure. All of these applications rely on the perturbation of the period or refractive index of a grating inscribed in the fiber core as a transducing mechanism between a quantity to be measured and the optical spectral response of the fiber grating. This paper presents a relatively recent variant of the fiber grating concept, whereby a small tilt of the grating fringes causes coupling of the optical power from the core mode into a multitude of cladding modes, each with its own wavevector and mode field shape. The main consequence of doing so is that the differential response of the modes can then be used to multiply the sensing modalities available for a single fiber grating and also to increase the sensor resolution by taking advantage of the large amount of data available. In particular, the temperature cross‐sensitivity and power source fluctuation noise inherent in all fiber grating designs can be completely eliminated by referencing all the spectral measurements to the wavelength and power level of the core mode back‐reflection. The mode resonances have a quality factor of 105, and they can be observed in reflection or transmission. A thorough review of experimental and theoretical results will show that tilted fiber Bragg gratings can be used for high resolution refractometry, surface plasmon resonance applications, and multiparameter physical sensing (strain, vibration, curvature, and temperature).
Multidimensional Analytical Techniques for Studying the Thermo‐Oxidative Degradation of Impact Poly(propylene)
Authors: Pasch Harald , de Goede Elana , Mallon Peter 
Published: February 2012

AbstractSummary: Impact poly(propylene) copolymers (ICPP) are complex polymer systems containing various types of ethylene‐propylene copolymers as well as the majority poly(propylene) phase. In this study, multidimensional analytical techniques are applied to study the thermo‐oxidative degradation of these complex materials. The combination of size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and FTIR via an LC‐transform interface allows for the identification and tracking of the low molecular weight oxidized products. The degradation has a significant effect on the crystallisability of the material. DSC analysis shows that as the degradation proceeds, there is a significant decrease in the onset of the melt endotherm as well as the development of a double melt peak and peak broadening. Preparative Temperature Rising Elution Fractionation (TREF) is used to isolate the various fractions according to crystallisability during the polymer degradation. TREF‐SEC and TREF‐(SEC‐FTIR) allows for the isolation and identification of the polymer fractions undergoing oxidative degradation. It is shown that these multidimensional analytical techniques using crystallisability in the first dimensional fractionation provide more information on the mechanism and process of oxidative degradation than traditional bulk analysis methods.
Critical Role of Spherulite Structure on Behavior of Stabilizers in Poly(propylene) Stabilization
Authors: Taniike Toshiaki , Umemori Masaki , Kobayashi Fumihiro , Terano Minoru 
Published: February 2012

AbstractSummary: We found that the spherulite structure of polypropylene (PP) significantly influences the stability of PP by affecting the behavior of stabilizers. Smaller spherulites resulted in more homogeneous dispersion of stabilizers and their slower release into air, so as to elongate the lifetime of PP. Moreover, chemically and physically weak spherulite boundaries were selectively oxidized in the presence of stabilizers. The significance to control higher order structures on the stabilization of PP is reported.
High Temperature Thermal Gradient Interaction Chromatography (HT‐TGIC) for Microstructure Analysis of Polyolefins
Authors: Cong Rongjuan , deGroot A. Willem , Parrott Al , Yau Wallace , Hazlitt Lonnie , Brown Ray , Cheatham Michael , Miller Matthew D. , Zhou Zhe 
Published: February 2012

AbstractSummary: High temperature thermal gradient interaction chromatography (HT‐TGIC) is a newly developed technique to analyze comonomer distributions in polyolefins. This paper documents the key differences between crystallization elution fractionation (CEF) and HT‐TGIC, and the advantages of using multiple detectors in HT‐TGIC to provide comprehensive microstructure characterization. A demonstration of the technique using a specifically designed blend, provides comprehensive data in less than 1.5 hours of analysis time by HT‐TGIC. This paper also reports that HT‐TGIC has excellent short term repeatability.
Advanced Characterization of Propylene‐Based Copolymers and Olefin Block Copolymers
Authors: Shan Colin Li Pi , Miller Matt , Lee Dean , Zhou Zhe 
Published: February 2012

AbstractSummary: The newly developed interactive separation of polyolefins by high temperature liquid chromatography (HTLC) provides new information about the chemical composition distribution of polyolefin elastomers. The technique has the advantage of being quantitative in its separation, and has high resolution for the separation of polyolefins by their chemical composition without influence by cocrystallization. Chemical composition distributions can be determined for individual polymers and blends which contain the full range of comonomer typically present in polyethylene and poylypropylene homopolymers, semi‐crystalline copolymers, and amorphous copolymers. HTLC analysis in combination with the other fractionation techniques, such as DSC, TREF, NMR, and xylene fractionation, can be used to estimate the amount of olefin block copolymer present in a block composite produced by chain shuttling catalysis.
A case study of missed approach of aircraft due to tailwind associated with thunderstorms
Authors: Tse S. M. , Chan P. W. , Wong W. K. 
Published: February 2012

ABSTRACTTwo aircraft had to conduct missed approaches in the overnight period of 8–9 September 2010 due to intense thunderstorm activity at the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA). The missed approach event is studied in detail in this paper using the available flight data and other meteorological measurements. It appeared that the missed approaches were attributable to strong tailwind associated with the downdraft of the thunderstorm. Timely wind shear/microburst alerts had been provided to the pilots in this case based on the measurements from a Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) and ground‐based anemometer measurements at HKIA. The nowcasting and forecasting aspects for such an event are also discussed. The Aviation Thunderstorm Nowcasting System (ATNS) developed by the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) is found to provide adequate nowcasting of thunderstorm activity for this particular case and the aviation weather forecasters could be alerted of such intense convective weather at the airport more than half an hour ahead. On the forecasting side, the mesoscale meteorological model used by HKO may provide an indication of the strong tailwind associated with the thunderstorm at 6–7 h ahead, though the exact timing of the tailwind at the airport may be delayed by a couple of hours compared with the actual situation. Using the model the downdraft of the thunderstorm in this event is examined in detail.
Describing seasonal variability in the distribution of daily effective temperatures for 1985–2009 compared to 1904–1984 for De Bilt, Holland
Authors: Underwood F. M. 
Published: February 2012

ABSTRACTThis paper proposes a method for describing the distribution of observed temperatures on any day of the year such that the distribution and summary statistics of interest derived from the distribution vary smoothly through the year. The method removes the noise inherent in calculating summary statistics directly from the data thus easing comparisons of distributions and summary statistics between different periods. The method is demonstrated using daily effective temperatures (DET) derived from observations of temperature and wind speed at De Bilt, Holland. Distributions and summary statistics are obtained from 1985 to 2009 and compared to the period 1904–1984. A two‐stage process first obtains parameters of a theoretical probability distribution, in this case the generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution, which describes the distribution of DET on any day of the year. Second, linear models describe seasonal variation in the parameters. Model predictions provide parameters of the GEV distribution, and therefore summary statistics, that vary smoothly through the year. There is evidence of an increasing mean temperature, a decrease in the variability in temperatures mainly in the winter and more positive skew, more warm days, in the summer. In the winter, the 2% point, the value below which 2% of observations are expected to fall, has risen by 1.2 °C, in the summer the 98% point has risen by 0.8 °C. Medians have risen by 1.1 and 0.9 °C in winter and summer, respectively. The method can be used to describe distributions of future climate projections and other climate variables. Further extensions to the methodology are suggested.
Diffuse instabilities with transition to localization in loose granular materials
Authors: Wan Richard , Pinheiro Mauricio , Daouadji Ali , Jrad Mohamad , Darve Félix 
Published: February 2012

SUMMARYThis paper is concerned with diffuse and other ensuing failure modes in geomaterials when tested under homogeneous states of shearing in various loading programs and drainage conditions. Material instability is indeed the basic property that accounts for the instability of an initially homogeneous deformation field leading to diffuse failure and strain localization in geomaterials. The former is normally characterized by a runaway type of failure accompanied with a sudden and violent collapse of the material in the absence of any localization phenomena. Against this backdrop, we present a brief overview of material instability in elastoplastic solids where one finds a rich source of theoretical concepts including bifurcation, strain localization, diffuse failure and second‐order work, as well as a considerable body of experiments. Some compelling laboratory experimental studies of material instability with focus to diffuse failure are then presented and interpreted based on the second‐order work. Finally, various material instability analyses using an elastoplastic constitutive and a general finite element analysis of the above‐mentioned laboratory experimental tests are presented as a boundary value problem. It is shown that instability can be captured from otherwise uniform stress, density and hydraulic states, whereas uniform deviatoric loads are being applied on the external boundaries of a specimen. Although the numerical simulations reproduce well the laboratory experimental results, they also highlight the hierarchy of failure modes where localization phenomena emerge in the post‐bifurcation regime as a result of a degradation of homogeneity starting from a diffuse mode signalled by a zero second‐order work. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Long‐term hygrothermal response of perforated GFRP plates with/without application of constant external loading
Authors: Eslami Shiva , Taheri‐Behrooz Fathollah , Taheri Farid 
Published: February 2012

AbstractThe use of glass fiber‐reinforced polymer (GFRP) composites is increasingly being considered in various applications where the composite is subjected to harsh hot and humid conditions. Although information on the performance of GFRP under hot and humid conditions is available, the characteristics and the response of perforated GFRP under such conditions have not been fully explored. In this article, the response of perforated GFRP plates subject to hot and humid environment is examined. The applicability and accuracy of Fick's model for establishing the amount of moisture absorption by such composites is examined, and an improved model is proposed. The article also demonstrates the influence of constant external loading on such perforated GFRP while undergoing conditioning in a hot and humid environment. Moreover, since the strength and stiffness of composites can be significantly affected by harsh environments, the degradation in the strength and stiffness of the perforated GFRP as a function of time is established. A new model is proposed wherein degradation of the strength of such perforated composites may be established as a function of time and geometric entities. The model can also account for the influence of the applied loading. POLYM. COMPOS. 2012. © 2012 Society of Plastics Engineers