bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Radiofrequency Microtenotomy
Authors: Meknas Khaled , Odden-Miland Åshild , Mercer James B. , Castillejo Miguel , Johansen Oddmund 
Published: June 2008

Background Recalcitrant lateral epicondylitis (elbow tendinosis) is a common cause of elbow pain. There are many forms of treatment, none being superior. Hypothesis The main hypothesis tested in this study is that radiofrequency microtenotomy offers better results than the extensor tendon release and repair operation for elbow tendinosis, especially earlier recovery. Study Design Randomized controlled trial; Level of evidence, 1. Methods Twenty-four patients were randomized into 2 treatment groups, extensor tendon release and repair, and microtenotomy. Dynamic infrared thermography (DIRT) was employed as an objective method to verify the diagnosis as well as to document the outcome 3 months after the surgical procedure. Results Visual analog scale pain scores in the microtenotomy but not in the release group decreased significantly after 3 weeks. There was no statistically significant difference in pain scores between the 2 groups at 3, 6, and 12 weeks, and at 10 to 18 months. At 12 weeks, grip strength had improved significantly in the microtenotomy but not in the release group. The functional score was significantly increased in both groups. The DIRT group showed significant differences in epicondyle skin temperature between diseased and normal elbows both pre- and postoperatively. Abnormal DIRT images correlated well with elevated pain scores. Conclusions Radiofrequency microtenotomy provides a promising alternative to the release operation for elbow tendinosis. Dynamic infrared thermography provides a reliable, noninvasive, objective method for the diagnosis of elbow tendinosis, as well as for evaluation of the outcome following treatment.
Balancing science and community concerns in resource-limited settings: Project Accept in rural Zimbabwe
Authors: Chingono Alfred , Lane Tim , Chitumba Alexander , Kulich Michal , Morin Stephen 
Published: June 2008

Background: The methods and purposes of randomization are often poorly understood by participants in clinical trials. Individual misunderstandings can be compounded in community-based intervention trials, especially in research-naïve communities. Randomizing entire communities to intervention or control status risks creating the perception that control communities are being denied desirable services, ultimately undermining trust in the research process. Purpose: To develop a randomization scheme for an HIV prevention trial of a community-level intervention that would be credible to the communities involved while maintaining the scientific integrity of the intervention trial at a rural site in Zimbabwe. Methods: Project staff developed strong partnerships with community stakeholders and embedded randomization into the trial's community preparedness processes. Local idioms were used to explain the concept, purpose, and mechanics of randomization. Actual allocation of communities to intervention or control status took place at a public lottery conducted by local chiefs. Results: The Project obtained the endorsement of its randomization of eight rural communities by local political stakeholders and community members. Limitations: This case study may not generalize to other settings. Conclusions: By developing strong community partnerships, and communicating randomization through local idioms, community based intervention trials conducted in resource-poor environments can successfully mitigate risks inherent in randomizing communities to control status. Clinical Trials 2008; 5: 273—276. http://ctj.sagepub.com
Imputation methods for missing outcome data in meta-analysis of clinical trials
Authors: Higgins Julian PT , White Ian R , Wood Angela M 
Published: June 2008

Background: Missing outcome data from randomized trials lead to greater uncertainty and possible bias in estimating the effect of an experimental treatment. An intention-to-treat analysis should take account of all randomized participants even if they have missing observations. Purpose: To review and develop imputation methods for missing outcome data in meta-analysis of clinical trials with binary outcomes. Methods: We review some common strategies, such as simple imputation of positive or negative outcomes, and develop a general approach involving `informative missingness odds ratios' (IMORs). We describe several choices for weighting studies in the meta-analysis, and illustrate methods using a meta-analysis of trials of haloperidol for schizophrenia. Results: IMORs describe the relationship between the unknown risk among missing participants and the known risk among observed participants. They are allowed to differ between treatment groups and across trials. Application of IMORs and other methods to the haloperidol trials reveals the overall conclusion to be robust to different assumptions about the missing data. Limitations: The methods are based on summary data from each trial (number of observed positive outcomes, number of observed negative outcomes and number of missing outcomes) for each intervention group. This limits the options for analysis, and greater flexibility would be available with individual participant data. Conclusions: We propose that available reasons for missingness be used to determine appropriate IMORs. We also recommend a strategy for undertaking sensitivity analyses, in which the IMORs are varied over plausible ranges. Clinical Trials 2008; 5: 225—239. http://ctj.sagepub.com
Alternative methods to evaluate trial level surrogacy
Authors: Abrahantes Josè Cortiñas , Shkedy Ziv , Molenberghs Geert 
Published: June 2008

Background: The evaluation and validation of surrogate endpoints have been extensively studied in the last decade. Prentice [1] and Freedman, Graubard and Schatzkin [2] laid the foundations for the evaluation of surrogate endpoints in randomized clinical trials. Later, Buyse et al. [5] proposed a meta-analytic methodology, producing different methods for different settings, which was further studied by Alonso and Molenberghs [9], in their unifying approach based on information theory. Purpose: In this article, we focus our attention on the trial-level surrogacy and propose alternative procedures to evaluate such surrogacy measure, which do not pre-specify the type of association. A promising correction based on cross-validation is investigated. As well as the construction of confidence intervals for this measure. Methods: In order to avoid making assumption about the type of relationship between the treatment effects and its distribution, a collection of alternative methods, based on regression trees, bagging, random forests, and support vector machines, combined with bootstrap-based confidence interval and, should one wish, in conjunction with a cross-validation based correction, will be proposed and applied. We apply the various strategies to data from three clinical studies: in opthalmology, in advanced colorectal cancer, and in schizophrenia. Results: The results obtained for the three case studies are compared; they indicate that using random forest or bagging models produces larger estimated values for the surrogacy measure, which are in general stabler and the confidence interval narrower than linear regression and support vector regression. For the advanced colorectal cancer studies, we even found the trial-level surrogacy is considerably different from what has been reported. Limitations: In general the alternative methods are more computationally demanding, and specially the calculation of the confidence intervals, require more computational time that the delta-method counterpart. Conclusions: First, more flexible modeling techniques can be used, allowing for other type of association. Second, when no cross-validation-based correction is applied, overly optimistic trial-level surrogacy estimates will be found, thus cross-validation is highly recommendable. Third, the use of the delta method to calculate confidence intervals is not recommendable since it makes assumptions valid only in very large samples. It may also produce range-violating limits. We therefore recommend alternatives: bootstrap methods in general. Also, the information-theoretic approach produces comparable results with the bagging and random forest approaches, when cross-validation correction is applied. It is also important to observe that, even for the case in which the linear model might be a good option too, bagging methods perform well too, and their confidence intervals were more narrow. Clinical Trials 2008; 5: 194—208. http://ctj.sagepub.com
Absence of SKP2 expression attenuates BCR-ABL–induced myeloproliferative disease
Authors: Agarwal Anupriya , Bumm Thomas G. P. , Corbin Amie S. , O'Hare Thomas , Loriaux Marc , VanDyke Jonathan , Willis Stephanie G. , Deininger Jutta , Nakayama Keiichi I. , Druker Brian J. , Deininger Michael W. 
Published: June 2008

Abstract
BCR-ABL is proposed to impair cell-cycle control by disabling p27, a tumor suppressor that inhibits cyclin-dependent kinases. We show that in cell lines p27 expression is inversely correlated with expression of SKP2, the F-box protein of SCFSKP2 (SKP1/Cul1/F-box), the E3 ubiquitin ligase that promotes proteasomal degradation of p27. Inhibition of BCR-ABL kinase causes G1 arrest, down-regulation of SKP2, and accumulation of p27. Ectopic expression of wild-type SKP2, but not a mutant unable to recognize p27, partially rescues cell-cycle progression. A similar regulation pattern is seen in cell lines transformed by FLT3-ITD, JAK2V617F, and TEL-PDGFRβ, suggesting that the SKP2/p27 conduit may be a universal target for leukemogenic tyrosine kinases. Mice that received transplants of BCR-ABL–infected SKP2−/− marrow developed a myeloproliferative syndrome but survival was significantly prolonged compared with recipients of BCR-ABL-expressing SKP2+/+ marrow. SKP2−/− leukemic cells demonstrated higher levels of nuclear p27 than SKP2+/+ counterparts, suggesting that the attenuation of leukemogenesis depends on increased p27 expression. Our data identify SKP2 as a crucial mediator of BCR-ABL–induced leukemogenesis and provide the first in vivo evidence that SKP2 promotes oncogenesis. Hence, stabilization of p27 by inhibiting its recognition by SCFSKP2 may be therapeutically useful.
Clinical and in vitro resistance to bexarotene in adult T-cell leukemia: loss of RXR-α receptor
Authors: Lin Julie H. , Kim Ellen J. , Bansal Anand , Seykora John , Richardson Stephen K. , Cha Xian-Yuan , Zafar Sarosh , Nasta Sunita , Wysocka Maria , Benoit Bernice , Rook Alain H. , Fakharzadeh Steven S. 
Published: June 2008

Abstract
The oral rexinoid bexarotene (Targretin) is widely used for treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCL). We recently reported the first case of adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) that responded rapidly to combination therapy of bexarotene and interferon (IFN)-α2b with complete clinical response. We demonstrated that bexarotene induced apoptosis of the patient's malignant peripheral blood T-cells in vitro. However, our patient developed skin and nodal relapse 180 days after starting treatment. We now demonstrate that his peripheral blood malignant T cells became resistant to bexarotene-induced apoptosis. We investigated potential mechanisms that may cause aberrations in the retinoid X receptor (RXR) subunits, RXR-α and RXR-β, to account for these findings. Sequence analysis did not reveal acquisition of mutations in the genes encoding RXR-α and RXR-β by resistant cells. We assessed RXR-α and RXR-β expression by Western blot analysis and found that resistant cells had significantly decreased RXR-α expression compared with pretherapy bexarotene-sensitive cells. Our findings indicate that reduced expression of the RXR-α receptor subunit may represent a mechanism for resistance to bexarotene in T-cell malignancies.
Endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene polymorphisms and cardiovascular damage in hypertensive subjects: an Italian case-control study
Authors: Colomba Daniela , Duro Giovanni , Corrao Salvatore , Argano Christiano , Di Chiara Tiziana , Nuzzo Domenico , Pizzo Federica , Parrinello Gaspare , Scaglione Rosario , Licata Giuseppe 
Published: June 2008

Abstract

Background
Nitric oxide (NO) synthesized by endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) plays an important role in regulation of endothelial function and in the control of blood pressure. However, the results from some studies on the association between three clinically relevant eNOS gene polymorphisms (G894T, T786C and intron 4b/a) and essential hypertension are unclear. We designed a case-control study to evaluate the influence of eNOS polymorphisms on target organ damage in 127 hypertensives and 67 normotensives. Clinical evaluation, biochemical parameters, Urinary Albumin Excretion (UAE) and echocardiogram were performed to characterize target organ damage. eNOS polymorphism were recognized by PCR method.

Results
The distribution of eNOS genotypes was similar in hypertensives and normotensives but 4aa was present in the 2.5% of hypertensives and completely absent in normotensives. Subjects with 4bb, G894T, and T786C genotypes showed an increased prevalence of target organ damage. Moreover prevalence of G894T and introne 4 variants was significantly higher in hypertensives than in normotensives both with cardiovascular damage. Logistic regression analysis didn't show any association between eNOS polymorphisms, Body Mass Index (BMI), hypertension, gender and cardiovascular damage. Only the age (OR 1.11; IC 95% 1.06–1.18) was predictive of cardiovascular damage in our population.

Conclusion
Our results seem to indicate a lack of association with eNOS variants and cardiovascular damage onset.
Erythropoietin and Granulocyte-Colony Stimulating Factor Treatment Associated With Improved Survival in Myelodysplastic Syndrome
Authors: Jädersten Martin , Malcovati Luca , Dybedal Ingunn , Giovanni Della Porta Matteo , Invernizzi Rosangela , Montgomery Scott M. , Pascutto Cristiana , Porwit Anna , Cazzola Mario , Hellström-Lindberg Eva 
Published: June 2008

Purpose To assess the effect of erythropoietin (EPO) plus granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) treatment on survival and leukemic transformation in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Patients and Methods We compared the long-term outcome of patients with MDS treated with EPO plus G-CSF (n = 121) with untreated patients (n = 237) with MDS using multivariate Cox regression with delayed entry, for the first time adjusting for all major prognostic variables (WHO classification, karyotype, cytopenias, level of transfusion-need, age, and sex). Results The erythroid response rate to EPO plus G-CSF was 39%, and the median response duration 23 months (range, 3 to 116+). In the multivariate analysis, treatment was associated with improved overall survival (hazard ratio, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.44 to 0.83; P = .002). Interestingly, this positive association was primarily observed in patients requiring fewer than 2 units of RBCs per month. Treatment was not linked to the rate of acute myeloid leukemia in any defined subgroup, including patients with an increase of marrow blasts or an unfavorable karyotype. Conclusion The inherent risk of leukemic evolution in MDS makes the current investigation highly relevant, in light of the recent reports of potential negative effects of EPO treatment on outcome in patients with cancer. We conclude that treatment of anemia in MDS with EPO plus G-CSF may have a positive impact on outcome in patients with no or low transfusion need, while not affecting the risk of leukemic transformation.
Impact of Rituximab and/or High-Dose Therapy With Autotransplant at Time of Relapse in Patients With Follicular Lymphoma: A GELA Study
Authors: Sebban Catherine , Brice Pauline , Delarue Richard , Haioun Corinne , Souleau Bertrand , Mounier Nicolas , Brousse Nicole , Feugier Pierre , Tilly Hervé , Solal-Céligny Philippe , Coiffier Bertrand 
Published: June 2008

Purpose The treatment of patients with follicular lymphoma has changed with the introduction of high-dose therapy (HDT) with autologous stem-cell transplant then with rituximab. The effect of these two strategies on the outcome of relapsing patients with follicular lymphoma has never been compared. Patients and Methods We analyzed two cohorts of patients treated in two successive randomized studies with the same treatment, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, teniposide, and prednisolone plus interferon, to evaluate the role of rituximab and HDT in salvage therapy after first disease progression or relapse. Results Of the 364 patients included in these two studies, 254 progressed or relapsed and constitute the population of this analysis. Among them, 98 had been treated with HDT, including 33 of them after rituximab-containing salvage regimen, and 69 with rituximab alone or combined with chemotherapy but without HDT. Patients’ characteristics at diagnosis were similar in all subgroups. If event-free survival was identical for patients treated within Groupe d'Etude des Lymphomes Folliculaires (GELF) -86 or GELF-94 studies, overall survival was longer in GELF-94 study. HDT was associated with a statistically significant benefit in terms of event-free survival from relapse and survival after relapse (SAR). Rituximab was associated with a greater benefit than HDT for these two end points. When both treatments were combined, patients treated with rituximab-containing salvage regimen followed by HDT had 5-year SAR more than 90%. Conclusion In follicular lymphoma, for patients treated with first-line chemotherapy the combination of a salvage regimen containing rituximab with or without HDT leads to a dramatic improvement of long-term outcome.
Synthesis of Hierarchically Meso-/Macroporous Titanium Tetraphosphonate Materials with Large Adsorption Capacity of Heavy Metal Ions
Authors: Zhang Xue-Jun , Ma Tian-Yi , Yuan Zhong-Yong 
Published: June 2008

Abstract
Macroporous titanium tetraphosphonate materials with intraframework ethylenediamine groups and hierarchical mesostructure in the walls were synthesized by a simple surfactant-free process with the use of sodium salt of ethylenediamine-N,N,N′,N′-tetrakis(methylenephosphonic acid), possessing large capacity for heavy metal ion adsorption with a preference sequence of Cd2+ &lt; Cu2+ &lt; Pb2+.
Preparation of Superhydrophilic Mesoporous Silica Thin Films Containing Single-site Photocatalyst (Ti, V, Cr, Mo, and W oxide moieties)
Authors: Horiuchi Yu , Mori Kohsuke , Nishiyama Norikazu , Yamashita Hiromi 
Published: June 2008

Abstract
Using a sol–gel/spin-coating method, transparent mesoporous silica thin films containing single-site photocatalyst (Ti, V, Cr, Mo, and W oxide moieties) (Me-MSTFs) could be prepared on quartz plates. All Me-MSTFs have exhibited strong hydrophilic surface properties even before UV-light irradiation and showed photoinduced superhydrophilic properties after UV-light irradiation. Among examined samples, the W-MSTF showed the highest hydrophilicity.
The Pursuit of Art and Pleasure in the Secret Grotto of Wilhelm V of Bavaria
Authors: Maxwell Susan 
Published: June 2008

AbstractThe Grottenhof is a small garden surrounded by painted loggias in the Munich Residence, a palace that served as the seat of the Wittelsbach Dukes of Bavaria beginning in the sixteenth century. Completed between 1582 and 1589, the garden contains an elaborate grottoed fountain, sculpture, and paintings based on Ovid’sMetamorphoses. The pictorial program of the painted loggias combines images of mythological ardor with illusionistic interlopers from everyday court life who make punning references to the pursuit of love. The sources for the garden can be found in Italian and French prototypes, yet the program of decorations creates a variety of associations that were unique to the patron, Duke Wilhelm V of Bavaria. The material and subject matter also reflect contemporary theories about art, nature, and the ordering of knowledge that informed the earliest cabinets of curiosities, where collections of art and natural objects were brought together in the so-calledKunstkammer. The garden was meant to engage all of the senses in a sanctuary that stimulated sensual thoughts while provoking broader contemplation about creativity and art.
Ideal Men: Masculinity and Decline in Seventeenth-Century Spain*
Authors: Lehfeldt Elizabeth A. 
Published: June 2008

AbstractThis article examines how the experience and critique of their country’s decline led Spaniards to craft a distinct discourse of masculinity in the seventeenth century. As they self-consciously examined Spain’s crisis and offered political and economic solutions, these same writers also offered a scathing critique of standards of masculinity. Using the figure of the ideal nobleman as a case study, the article examines how moralists,arbitristas, and hagiographers constructed a dynamic code of manhood linked to questions of productivity, male chastity, and military performance. Further, it argues that this discourse was ultimately nostalgic and failed to adapt itself to the circumstances of the seventeenth century.
Preaching Magnificence in Renaissance Florence*
Authors: Howard Peter 
Published: June 2008

AbstractThe magnificence with which the Florentine Renaissance is synonymous derived its power from a virtue elucidated and disseminated by influential preachers as early as the 1420s. Most notably, Sant’ Antonino Pierozzi O.P. — preacher, reformer, confidant of Cosimo de’ Medici, and eventually the city’s archbishop — drew on and creatively adapted the language of Aquinas and others to forge a public theology of magnificence apposite to the needs of his city and consonant with its republican values. This was well before the mid-1450s and the treatise of Timoteo Maffei which thus far has been the focus of scholarly attention.
Printing Ritual: The Performance of Community in Christopher Plantin’s La Joyeuse & Magnifique Entrée de Monseigneur Francoys … d’Anjou*
Authors: Peters Emily J. 
Published: June 2008

AbstractPrinted commemorations of Renaissance pageantry have been used as important sources of knowledge about the people and circumstances surrounding key political events, with less attention paid to the internal structure and original function of the printed works themselves. This essay explores a particular commemorative book and its illustrations as a case study of the collaborative construction of civic identity in the sixteenth-century Netherlands. It considers the growing conception of print as a space for communal definition and political diplomacy, functioning not as a replacement for civic ritual, but an analog to it.
The Critical in Design (Part One)
Authors: Dilnot Clive 
Published: June 2008

<disp-quote>

What could be a criticality in design? What could be a form of resistance in design? Is design a catalyst between art and capital and therefore always subjected to its role of functioning? Does design need a kind of external experimental space? </disp-quote>
<disp-quote>

Questions presented to the Ph.D.-Design list-serve in December 2007 under the title Criticality in Design The Blind Spot by Kaja Gretinger, a design researcher at Jan Van Eyck Akadmie, Masstricht </disp-quote>
The paper concerns the critical in design
which is examined under three headings: structurally, as an internal aspect of the processes of designing; economically, in terms of the internal collusion between (weak) design and the strength, persistence and lure of market forces and private interests; historically, in terms of the emergence
of a situationthe artificial becoming the horizon and medium of our existencethat now marks our times as one where design takes on new critical dimensions, above all in relation to securing and creating the conditions that can support a humane sustainable global futures.