bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Occurrence and Resistance of Pathogenic Bacteria Along the Tietê River Downstream of São Paulo in Brazil
Authors: Abraham Wolf‐Rainer , Macedo Alexandre José , Gomes Luiz Humberto , Tavares Flavio C. A. 
Published: September 2007

AbstractThe load of pathogenic bacteria, their fate and their dangerousness in the Tietê River were assessed along 100 km starting from the city of São Paulo, Brazil. The data were compared with those from two German rivers. High loads of pathogens were found in the Tietê River near the city of São Paulo (Escherichia coli O157:H7, Shigella flexneri, and Shigella boydii), which were absent 30 km downstream of São Paulo. The antibiotic resistances observed in the Tietê river were rather low and decreased after the major input in São Paulo to significantly lower levels about 30 km downstream. While the Brazilian isolates were more susceptible for ampicillin than the German ones, the reverse was observed for gentamycin. For optimal control of infections in humans critical areas where these bacteria survived longer and their elimination mechanisms should be identified as well as the extent and the origin of antibiotic resistance should be determined.
Sustainable Management of Electronic Waste (e‐Waste)
Authors: Herat Sunil 
Published: September 2007

AbstractElectronic waste or e‐waste is one of the fastest growing areas of the international waste stream and is increasing at a much higher rate than all other waste streams. Fast growing electronics industries arising from the demands of information and communication technologies around the world coupled with the rapid product obsolescence and lack of end‐of‐life management options, have all led to the unsustainable management of the waste stream. Computers are manufactured from over 1,000 materials, many of which are toxic, and they contribute significantly to the e‐waste stream, which is estimated to be ca. 20 to 50 million tonnes annually. Design for environment cleaner production, extended producer responsibility, standards and labeling, product stewardship, recycling and remanufacturing are some of the practices adopted by various countries around the world to deal with the e‐waste stream. An overview of these practices is presented and the manner in which they contribute to the sustainable management of e‐waste is discussed.
Exergetic and Sustainability Aspects of Green Energy Systems
Authors: Dincer Ibrahim 
Published: September 2007

AbstractThis paper discusses current environmental problems caused by energy utilization, energy‐use patterns, and the role of green (renewable) energy systems as one of the potential solutions to challenging environmental problems, particularly global warming. It also presents some key aspects of green energy systems in terms of energy, exergy, environmental impact, and sustainable development and their linkages. The results show that assessments of green energy processes and systems though exergy analysis are essential to increase efficiency and decrease environmental impact, and hence contribute to sustainable development.
A randomized controlled trial of the impact of targeted and tailored interventions on colorectal cancer screening
Authors: Myers Ronald E. , Sifri Randa , Hyslop Terry , Rosenthal Michael , Vernon Sally W. , Cocroft James , Wolf Thomas , Andrel Jocelyn , Wender Richard 
Published: September 2007

AbstractBACKGROUND.Colorectal cancer screening is underutilized. The objective of the current study was to determine whether targeted and tailored interventions can increase screening use.METHODS.A total of 1546 primary care practice patients completed a baseline telephone survey and were randomized to 4 study groups: control (387 patients), Standard Intervention (SI) (387 patients), Tailored Intervention (TI) (386 patients), or Tailored Intervention plus Phone (TIP) (386 patients). The control group received usual care throughout the study. The SI group received a targeted intervention by mail (ie, screening invitation letter, informational booklet, stool blood test, and reminder letter). The TI group received the targeted intervention with tailored “message pages.” The TIP group received the targeted intervention, tailored message pages, and a telephone reminder. Intervention group contacts were repeated 1 year later. Screening was assessed 24 months after randomization.RESULTS.Screening rates in study groups were 33% in the control group, 46% in the SI group, 44% in the TI group, and 48% in the TIP group. Screening was found to be significantly higher in all 3 intervention groups compared with the control group (odds ratio [OR] of 1.7 [95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.3–2.5], OR of 1.6 [95% CI, 1.2–2.1], and OR of 1.9 [95% CI, 1.4–2.6], respectively), but did not vary significantly across intervention groups. Multivariate analyses demonstrated that older age, education, past cancer screening, screening preference, response efficacy, social support and influence, and exposure to study interventions were positive predictors of screening. Having worries and concerns about screening was found to be a significant negative predictor.CONCLUSIONS.Targeted and tailored interventions were found to increase colorectal cancer screening use. However, additional research is needed to determine how to increase the effect of such interventions in primary care. Cancer 2007. © 2007 American Cancer Society.
Evolution of robotic radical prostatectomy
Authors: Badani Ketan K. , Kaul Sanjeev , Menon Mani 
Published: September 2007

AbstractBACKGROUNDRobotic‐assisted radical prostatectomy (RAP) is the dominant minimally invasive surgical treatment for patients with localized prostate cancer. Only a few large series have been published to date, with few long‐term data available. The current study presents what to the authors' knowledge is the largest series of patients undergoing RAP with the longest follow‐up to data available to date. Using a continuous quality improvement initiative, several technical refinements were adopted, evaluating the impact of this on patient outcome.METHODSOver a 6‐year period, 2766 consecutive men underwent RAP at the study institution. Data were collected prospectively including demographic, surgical, oncologic, and functional outcomes with up to 5‐year follow‐up. The first 200 and most recent 200 patients were compared to determine the impact of experience and quality improvement for patients.RESULTSThe mean age of the patients was 60.2 years and the mean prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) level at time of diagnosis was 6.43 ng/mL; 42.4% and 64.2% of patients, respectively, had a biopsy and pathologic Gleason sum of ≥7. The mean surgical and console time was 154 minutes and 116 minutes, respectively. Estimated blood loss was 100 mL; 96.7% of patients were discharged within 24 hours of surgery. At a median follow‐up of 22 months, 7.3% of men had a PSA recurrence. The 5‐year actuarial biochemical free survival rate was 84%.CONCLUSIONSTo the authors' knowledge, the current study is the first report of 5‐year outcomes in men undergoing RAP. These data demonstrate that RAP can be performed with favorable outcomes while minimizing complications. As experience increases, further improvements in clinicopathologic and functional parameters are achieved. Cancer 2007;110:1951–8. © 2007 American Cancer Society.
Decision analysis using individual patient preferences to determine optimal treatment for localized prostate cancer
Authors: Sommers Benjamin D. , Beard Clair J. , D'Amico Anthony V. , Dahl Douglas , Kaplan Irving , Richie Jerome P. , Zeckhauser Richard J. 
Published: September 2007

AbstractBACKGROUNDSelecting treatment for clinically localized prostate cancer remains an ongoing challenge. Previous decision analyses focused on a hypothetical patient with average preferences, but preferences differ for clinically similar patients, implying that their optimal therapies may also differ.METHODSA decision model was constructed comparing 4 treatments for localized prostate cancer: 1) radical prostatectomy (RP); 2) external beam radiation (EB); 3) brachytherapy (BT); and 4) watchful waiting (WW). Published data were used regarding treatment success, side effects, and noncancer survival, and 156 men with prostate cancer were surveyed to elicit preferences in quality‐adjusted life years (QALYs). The clinical scenarios were determined (age, tumor grade, and prostate‐specific antigen [PSA]) for which variations in patient preferences led to different optimal treatments and those for which the optimal treatment was unaffected by preferences.RESULTSPatient preferences were critical in determining treatment for low‐risk cancers (Gleason score ≤6, PSA ≤10 ng/mL) and for patients aged 75 years and older. In younger patients with more aggressive tumors, RP and EB were always superior to WW or BT, regardless of preferences (average gain in quality‐adjusted life expectancy vs WW for a 60‐year‐old with a medium‐risk tumor = +1.4 years for RP and +1.7 for EB; for a high‐risk tumor = +2.1 years for RP and +2.4 for EB). BT was a reasonable option for low‐risk tumors at any age. WW was only reasonable for patients aged 70 and older with low‐risk tumors or those aged 80 years and older with medium‐risk tumors. Selecting treatment based on average preferences leads to suboptimal choices for 30% of patients.CONCLUSIONSThe optimal treatment for prostate cancer depends on both the clinical scenario (patient age and tumor aggressiveness) and the patient's preferences. Decision analyses taking individualized preferences into account may be a useful adjunct in clinical decision‐making. Cancer 2007. © 2007 American Cancer Society.
Nomogram use for the prediction of indolent prostate cancer
Authors: Roemeling Stijn , Roobol Monique J. , Kattan Michael W. , van der Kwast Theo H. , Steyerberg Ewout W. , Schröder Fritz H. 
Published: September 2007

AbstractBACKGROUNDScreening for prostate cancer has resulted in an increased incidence‐to‐mortality ratio. Not all cancers deserve immediate treatment. It has therefore become more important to be able to identify those cases of screen‐detected prostate cancer most likely to show indolent behavior.METHODSThe Kattan‐nomogram for the prediction of indolent prostate cancer was validated and recalibrated for use in a screening setting. The recalibrated nomogram was used to calculate the number of men who were predicted to have indolent cancer in a screen‐detected cohort from the European Randomized study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC), section Rotterdam.RESULTSOf 1629 cancers detected in 2 subsequent screening rounds 825 were suitable for nomogram use. The remainder were very unlikely to have indolent cancer. A total of 485 men (485 of 825 = 59%) were predicted to have indolent cancer, which is 30% (485 of 1629) of all screen‐detected cases. Cancers found at repeated screening after 4 years had a higher probability of indolent cancer than cases from the prevalence screening (44% vs 23%; P < .001).CONCLUSIONSThe current nomogram can identify substantial groups of screen‐detected cancers that are likely indolent and can therefore be considered for active surveillance. Cancer 2007. © 2007 American Cancer Society.
Palliative whole‐brain radiotherapy fractionation: Convenience versus cognition?
Authors: Lutz Stephen 
Published: September 2007

Although the acute side effects of radiotherapy are influenced by total dose and length of the treatment course, the late effects on the central nervous system may be more pronounced with a larger daily fraction size. Nevertheless, palliative care physicians are calling for shorter treatment courses for their patients who will not likely live long enough to experience the consequences of those late effects.See also pages 000–000.
Evaluation of 2 whole‐brain radiotherapy schedules and prognostic factors for brain metastases in breast cancer patients
Authors: Rades Dirk , Lohynska Radka , Veninga Theo , Stalpers Lukas J. A. , Schild Steven E. 
Published: September 2007

AbstractBACKGROUNDThe majority of breast cancer patients with brain metastases receive whole‐brain radiotherapy (WBRT) and have a survival of only a few months. A short WBRT regimen would be preferable if it provides survival that is similar to that achieved with longer programs. This retrospective study compared survival and local control within the brain resulting from short‐course WBRT with longer programs in 207 breast cancer patients.METHODSSixty‐nine patients treated with 5 fractions of 4 grays (Gy) each given within 5 days were compared with 138 patients treated with 10 fractions of 3 Gy each given over 2 weeks or 20 fractions of 2 Gy each given over 4 weeks. Six additional potential prognostic factors were investigated: age, Karnofsky performance score (KPS), number of brain metastases, the presence of extracranial metastases, interval from tumor diagnosis to WBRT, and recursive partitioning analysis (RPA) class.RESULTSOn univariate analysis, the WBRT regimen was not found to be associated with survival (P = .254) or local control (P = .397). Improved survival was associated with a KPS >70 (P < .001), single brain metastasis (P = .023), the absence of extracranial metastases (P < .001), and lower RPA class (P < .001). On multivariate analysis, which was performed without RPA class because this is a confounding variable, KPS (relative risk [RR] of 4.00; P < .001) and the presence of extracranial metastases (RR of 1.54; P = .024) maintained statistical significance. On univariate analysis, local control was associated with KPS (P < .001) and RPA class (P < .001). On multivariate analysis, local control was found to be associated with a KPS >70 (RR of 5.75; P < .001).CONCLUSIONSShort‐course WBRT with 5 fractions of 4 Gy each resulted in survival and local control that were similar to longer programs in breast cancer patients with brain metastases. The dose of 5 fractions of 4 Gy each appears preferable for the majority of these patients because it is less time consuming and more convenient. (See editorial on pages 000–000, this issue.) Cancer 2007. © 2007 American Cancer Society.
Tunneling enhanced by web page content block partition for focused crawling
Authors: Peng Tao , Zhang Changli , Zuo Wanli 
Published: September 2007

AbstractThe complexity of web information environments and multiple‐topic web pages are negative factors significantly affecting the performance of focused crawling. A highly relevant region in a web page may be obscured because of low overall relevance of that page. Segmenting the web pages into smaller units will significantly improve the performance. Conquering and traversing irrelevant page to reach a relevant one (tunneling) can improve the effectiveness of focused crawling by expanding its reach. This paper presents a heuristic‐based method to enhance focused crawling performance. The method uses a Document Object Model (DOM)‐based page partition algorithm to segment a web page into content blocks with a hierarchical structure and investigates how to take advantage of block‐level evidence to enhance focused crawling by tunneling. Page segmentation can transform an uninteresting multi‐topic web page into several single topic context blocks and some of which may be interesting. Accordingly, focused crawler can pursue the interesting content blocks to retrieve the relevant pages. Experimental results indicate that this approach outperforms Breadth‐First, Best‐First and Link‐context algorithm both in harvest rate, target recall and target length. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
LSI and PCB unified noise analysis CAD system
Authors: Sato Toshiro , Orihara Hiroyuki , Fujimori Shogo , Tosaka Masaki , Inoue Atsuki 
Published: September 2007

AbstractAccompanying the faster operating frequencies of digital devices and the lower voltages for the operating voltages of LSIs, the problems clearly are longer development times and increased costs caused by noise problems such as voltage ground bounce noise, simultaneous switching noise, and EMI in devices constructed from LSIs, PKGs, SIPs, and PCBs. We have constructed a CAD system capable of creating the designs of optimum noise measures by applying the LSI and PCB unified large‐scale analysis to all of the design stages from the upstream design stage to the verification stage after completion of the design. Therefore, the creation of design patches as the result of noise problems could be eliminated. In this paper, we discuss the features of this system, application examples, and the effects. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electron Comm Jpn Pt 2, 90(10): 23–31, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ecjb.20335
Transmission characteristics of wireless baseband transmission under multipath environments using real‐valued signal analysis
Authors: Kitagawa Jun‐Ichi , Taniguchi Tetsuki , Karasawa Yoshio 
Published: September 2007

AbstractDiscussed here are real‐valued signal analysis and wireless baseband transmission, a system for transmitting baseband signals directly from an antenna, and transmission characteristics under a multipath environment. The field of wireless transmission generally handles band signals in which information rides on a carrier wave, and therefore signal analysis is not the direct analysis of real high‐frequency signals (real‐valued signals) and is performed with a system expressed using complex numbers, called an equivalent baseband system. However, wireless baseband transmission is based on a transmission system which does not use carrier waves and cannot be handled with an equivalent baseband system. Consequently, it is necessary to have a system of real‐valued signal analysis for handling baseband signals, which are real‐valued signals, without additional processing. The BER (bit error rate) was used as the standard for evaluating transmission characteristics under a multipath environment of wireless baseband transmission using measured channel characteristics with that algorithm. With a computer, the BER characteristics were found by varying the reflection coefficient, number of delay symbols, the ratio of direct wave power and reflected wave power, and the number of reflected waves. As a result, it was clear that the dominant factor in a multipath environment is the ratio of direct wave power and reflected wave power. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electron Comm Jpn Pt 2, 90(10): 9–22, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ecjb.20347
Proposal on human detection systems using UHF‐band TV receiving waves
Authors: Nishi Masahiro , Kawaguchi Tatsuro , Takahashi Shigeru , Yoshida Teruaki 
Published: September 2007

AbstractThis paper proposes a new type of indoor human detection system using UHF‐band TV receiving waves (below referred to as “UHF‐TV waves”). Due to the use of TV broadcasting waves as radio transmission sources, the proposed systems need no transmitter; the systems are composed only of receiving systems, including a receiving antenna and a receiver. The proposed systems can detect the presence or absence of humans in a room, based on the principle that the received levels fluctuate due to multipath fading or shadowing with human presence. It is noteworthy that the proposed systems utilize the indoor multipath radio propagations of broadcasting waves to detect the human presence. In order to investigate the capabilities of human detection systems using UHF‐TV waves, we measured the received levels of UHF‐TV waves in a room with or without human presence. Our proposed systems were able to detect a human presence by using an appropriate threshold of the received level fluctuation. The monitoring time of only 7 seconds allows 100% detection probability in the proposed detection system. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electron Comm Jpn Pt 2, 90(10): 32–39, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ecjb.20378
Multiple target detection for stepped multiple‐frequency interrupted CW radar
Authors: Inaba Takayuki 
Published: September 2007

AbstractThis paper proposes a multiple target detection system using stepped multiple frequency ICW (Interrupted Continuous Wave) radar. The proposed system can obtain a short observation time compared to a conventional up/down sweep FMCW (Frequency‐Modulated Continuous Wave) system or a two‐frequency CW system with less computational complexity than a two‐dimensional super‐resolution system by using a new transmission frequency sequence intended for short‐range targets and a single‐dimension super‐resolution system that preprocesses a target velocity detection process through the use of an ordinary Fourier transformation. In addition, the proposed system can obtain a desired target range and velocity resolution with a transmission frequency bandwidth less than a pulse compression system or an FMCW system. The proposed system can also avoid pairing malfunctions which lead to problems with FMCW systems. Range separation of multiple equal‐velocity targets, a principal problem in two‐frequency CW systems, can also be obtained. Computer simulations show that as a radar system, the proposed system is expected to improve the above‐mentioned problems of conventional radar systems at practical input SN values. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electron Comm Jpn Pt 2, 90(10): 49–59, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ecjb.20388
Enhanced hybrid ARQ techniques for MC‐CDMA
Authors: Miyoshi Kenichi , Matsumoto Atsushi , Wengerter Christian , Uesugi Mitsuru , Homma Koichi 
Published: September 2007

AbstractThis paper considers a system in which hybrid ARQ (HARQ) is applied to multicarrier CDMA (MC‐CDMA), which is investigated as a wireless access method for the fourth‐generation mobile communication system. A method of improving the packet error rate and the system throughput performance by rearrangement of the data mapping in retransmission is discussed. Two methods of data mapping in retransmission are considered, namely, constellation rearrangement, in which the bit mapping of the multilevel modulation is rearranged for each retransmission, and spreading code rearrangement, in which the combination of the employed spreading codes is rearranged for each retransmission. The constellation rearrangement is a method which was proposed by the authors and standardized as an international specification in the downlink high‐speed packet transmission system (3GPP HSDPA) in the third‐generation mobile communication system. It is a method in which the signal point arrangement (constellation) of the multilevel modulation is rearranged and transmitted in each retransmission. This paper is the first to introduce and evaluate the constellation rearrangement in MC‐CDMA. Spreading code rearrangement is a method newly proposed in this paper, in which the combination of the spreading codes used to spread the signal is rearranged and transmitted in each retransmission. As a result of computer simulation, improvements in the packet error rate and the system throughput are verified. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electron Comm Jpn Pt 2, 90(10): 60–72, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience. wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ecjb.20389