bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Protein Expression Profiles in Renal Cell Carcinoma: Staging, Prognosis, and Patient Selection for Clinical Trials
Authors: Lam John S. , Pantuck Allan J. , Belldegrun Arie S. , Figlin Robert A. 
Published: January 2007

Abstract
Attempts to predict survival in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) have traditionally relied on standard clinical variables, such as tumor-node-metastasis stage, histologic grade, and performance status. An accurate method for predicting patient survival is useful for patient counseling, planning follow-up, and selecting patients most likely to benefit from novel and established therapies. Furthermore, an improved prognostic system will allow for more accurate comparisons of clinical trials based on varying inclusion criteria. A large number of potential prognostic markers have recently been identified from methods based on gene arrays, which screen for differential expression of thousands of genes. The accepted method of clinical validation of novel markers is on formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded specimens using immunohistochemistry. The development of tissue microarrays as a high-throughput technique has allowed for thousands of different cores of pathologic tissue to be assessed simultaneously in a timely and cost-efficient manner. This technology has enabled the analysis of protein expression profiles on specimens to determine their potential clinical significance and role in RCC biology. This article reviews the protein expression profiles in RCC and their association with pathobiology, prognosis, and response to treatment as well as their role in serving as potential molecular targets for therapy of RCC.
Genomics of Renal Cell Cancer: The Biology Behind and the Therapy Ahead
Authors: Jones Jon , Libermann Towia A. 
Published: January 2007

AbstractRenal cell cancer (RCC) is the most lethal of the urological cancers and accounts for 3% of all adult malignancies. Despite numerous recent advances in diagnostic imaging, surgical therapy, and basic molecular understanding, many patients still experience metastatic disease. For metastatic disease patients, response rates to conventional therapies rarely exceed 15% to 25% and are associated with serious adverse effects. The recent development of novel targeted therapies based on the precise biological pathways deregulated in a particular patient has paved the way for individualized, targeted patient management. Nevertheless, to achieve this goal, it is important to delineate the molecular mechanisms underlying cancer development and progression. Genomic approaches have revolutionized the field of cancer research and have led to the rapid discovery of multiple, parallel disease hypotheses, which ultimately have to be validated in large cohorts of patients and in downstream biological experiments for translation into clinical applications. The variable course of RCC and, until recently, a paucity of therapeutic options in the event of metastasis have led to the search for diagnostic and prognostic markers. We and others have used transcriptional profiling to classify different subtypes of RCC and to identify subtype- and metastasis-specific gene signatures predictive for outcome. We discuss herein recent genomic approaches to RCC and the emerging biological pathways underlying RCC development and progression. We also speculate how genomics may affect drug development and the management of patients with RCC.
Cytoreductive Nephrectomy for Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma: Is It Still Imperative in the Era of Targeted Therapy?
Authors: Pantuck Allan J. , Belldegrun Arie S. , Figlin Robert A. 
Published: January 2007

Abstract
In the era before cytokine therapy, controversy existed about the need for cytoreductive nephrectomy in treating patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. In 1978, Dekernion showed that nephrectomy alone had no effect on survival. During this period, removal of the malignant kidney was confined to palliative therapy in some settings of metastatic RCC, such as pain related to the kidney mass, intractable hematuria, erythrocytosis, uncontrolled hypertension, or poorly controlled hypercalcemia. When interleukin-2 was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1992, the role of nephrectomy was reexamined. After a decade of controversy, two randomized controlled studies established that cytoreductive surgery has a role in properly selected patients and offers a survival advantage when done before cytokine therapy. Unfortunately, the mechanisms underlying this benefit remain poorly understood. Immunotherapy may work best when there is a small volume of cancer present, and removing a large primary tumor may prevent the seeding of additional metastases. Data have also suggested that primary tumors were capable of producing immunosuppressive compounds that might decrease the efficacy of immunotherapy. Another hypothesis suggested that removing the kidney altered the acid/base status of the patient to such an extent that the growth of the tumor was hindered. With the emergence in 2006 of two targeted agents for advanced renal cell carcinoma, the role of cytoreductive nephrectomy has reemerged as a source of controversy. Although evidence-based medical practice suggests a role for nephrectomy before the use of targeted agents, the arguments for and against this practice will be weighed.
Comparison of different delivery systems of DNA vaccination for the induction of protection against tuberculosis in mice and guinea pigs
Authors: de Paula Lúcia , Silva Célio L , Carlos Daniela , Matias-Peres Camila , Sorgi Carlos A , Soares Edson G , Souza Patrícia RM , Bladés Carlos RZ , Galleti Fábio CS , Bonato Vânia LD , Gonçalves Eduardo DC , Silva Érika VG , Faccioli Lúcia H 
Published: January 2007

AbstractThe great challenges for researchers working in the field of vaccinology are optimizing DNA vaccines for use in humans or large animals and creating effective single-dose vaccines using appropriated controlled delivery systems. Plasmid DNA encoding the heat-shock protein 65 (hsp65) (DNAhsp65) has been shown to induce protective and therapeutic immune responses in a murine model of tuberculosis (TB). Despite the success of naked DNAhsp65-based vaccine to protect mice against TB, it requires multiple doses of high amounts of DNA for effective immunization. In order to optimize this DNA vaccine and simplify the vaccination schedule, we coencapsulated DNAhsp65 and the adjuvant trehalose dimycolate (TDM) into biodegradable poly (DL-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) microspheres for a single dose administration. Moreover, a single-shot prime-boost vaccine formulation based on a mixture of two different PLGA microspheres, presenting faster and slower release of, respectively, DNAhsp65 and the recombinant hsp65 protein was also developed. These formulations were tested in mice as well as in guinea pigs by comparison with the efficacy and toxicity induced by the naked DNA preparation or BCG. The single-shot prime-boost formulation clearly presented good efficacy and diminished lung pathology in both mice and guinea pigs.
Cytologic findings in malignant myoepithelioma: a case report and review of the literature
Authors: Sauer Torill 
Published: January 2007

Background
Myoepithelioma of the breast is a rare tumor and the cytologic features have only been described in one previous report.

Case presentation
The present case comprises a 70 year old woman with a mammographic equivocal and ultrasonographic suspicious lesion. The aspirates were cellular and consisted mainly of single spindle or polymorphic, polygonal cells. The nuclei were generally large, ranging from 2 - > 5 × RBC. Most nuclei had a distinct medium-sized nucleolus. The nuclear outlines were irregular with buds and folds. The chromatin was granular. In the background there was abundant granular metachromatic ground substance and some metachromatic stromal fragments. A few mitotic figures were found. The cytologic diagnosis was suspicious for malignancy and a metaplastic carcinoma where only the non-epithelial component had been aspirated, or a non-epithelial lesion, was suggested.
Macroscopically the tumor was round, seemingly well circumscribed, firm and with a white cut surface. The lesion consisted of spindled and polygonal cells with distinct pleomorphism. There were 6–9 mitoses per high power field (HPF). The tumor infiltrated in the surrounding fatty tissue. On immunohistochemistry, tumor cells were positive for smooth muscle actin, keratin MNF 116 and vimentin. Desmin and S-100 were negative.
Ultrastructurally, there were abundant tonofilaments, including globular filamentous bodies and granulated endocytoplasmic reticulum with many dilated cisterns. The histologic diagnosis was malignant myoepithelioma.

Conclusion
The case mirrors completely the WHO definition and the previous cytological and histological descriptions of malignant myoepitheliomas in the literature which describe a spindle cell population with unequivocal nuclear atypia, metachromatic background substance and mitoses.
Depression and Smoking across 25 Years of the Normative Aging Study
Authors: Kinnunen Taru , Haukkala Ari , Korhonen Tellervo , Quiles Zandra N. , Spiro Avron , Garvey Arthur J. 
Published: January 2007

Objective: The majority of past findings indicate that smokers are more likely than non-smokers to report depressive symptoms and that depression may act as an impediment to smoking cessation. The aim of the present study is to examine the stability of the relationship between depressive symptoms and smoking status and to determine whether the presence of depressive symptoms predicts continued smoking. Methods: Subjects were initially healthy men (n=2208) from the Veterans Administration Normative Aging Study, an ongoing cohort of older men who have been re-assessed every 3–5 years for a period of 25 years. Depressive symptoms measures employed were the Cornell Medical Index, the MMPI-2 Content Depression Scale, and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. Results: Depression scores were higher among continuing smokers compared to never and former smokers and those who quit after entering the study. None of the three depressive symptoms measures were associated with decreased likelihood of smoking cessation. The change in MMPI-2 depression scores observed in a 4-year follow-up was the same among those who quit and those who remained smokers. Conclusions: Higher prevalence of depressive symptoms among male smokers is stable across time and is likely to contribute to higher morbidity and mortality among these smokers. However, presence of depressive symptoms did not have a significant impact on smoking cessation.
Nonparametric weighted symmetry tests
Authors: Abdous Belkacem , Ghoudi Kilani , Rémillard Bruno 
Published: January 2007

AbstractWeighted symmetry is an extension of the classical notion of symmetry in which the tails of a distribution are similar, up to a scaling factor. The authors develop test statistics of weighted symmetry based on empirical processes. The finite‐dimensional distributions of the proposed statistics are either non‐parametric or conditionally nonparametric, according as the parameters of weighted symmetry are known or estimated. Asymptotically, the distributions of the processes behave like Brownian bridges or motions, leading to familiar distributions for the proposed test statistics. The authors also establish the asymptotic normality of Hodges‐Lehmann type estimators based on a generalization of the Wilcoxon signed rank test. Furthermore, they propose density estimators in mat setting.
for misspecified regression models
Authors: Shi Peilin , Ye Jane J. , Zhou Julie 
Published: January 2007

AbstractThe authors propose minimax robust designs for regression models whose response function is possibly misspecified. These designs, which minimize the maximum of the mean squared error matrix, can control the bias caused by model misspecification and provide the desired efficiency through one parameter. The authors call on a nonsmooth optimization technique to derive these designs analytically. Their results extend those of Heo, Schmuland & Wiens (2001). The authors also discuss several examples for approximately polynomial regression.
An affine‐invariant multivariate sign test for cluster correlated data
Authors: Larocque Denis 
Published: January 2007

AbstractThe author presents a multivariate location model for cluster correlated observations. He proposes an affine‐invariant multivariate sign statistic for testing the value of the location parameter. His statistic is an adaptation of that proposed by Randles (2000). The author shows, under very mild conditions, that his test statistic is asymptotically distributed as a chi‐squared random variable under the null hypothesis. In particular, the test can be used for skewed populations. In the context of a general multivariate normal model, the author obtains values of his test's Pitman asymptotic efficiency relative to another test based on the overall average. He shows that there is an improvement in the relative performance of the new test as soon as intra‐cluster correlation is present Even in the univariate case, the new test can be very competitive for Gaussian data. Furthermore, the statistic is easy to compute, even for large dimensional data. The author shows through simulations that his test performs well compared to the average‐based test. He illustrates its use with real data.
A geometric approach to transdimensional markov chain monte carlo
Authors: Petris Giovanni , Tardella Luca 
Published: January 2007

AbstractThe authors present theoretical results that show how one can simulate a mixture distribution whose components live in subspaces of different dimension by reformulating the problem in such a way that observations may be drawn from an auxiliary continuous distribution on the largest subspace and then transformed in an appropriate fashion. Motivated by the importance of enlarging the set of available Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) techniques, the authors show how their results can be fruitfully employed in problems such as model selection (or averaging) of nested models, or regeneration of Markov chains for evaluating standard deviations of estimated expectations derived from MCMC simulations.
A new class of multivariate skew distributions with applications to bayesian regression models
Authors: Sahu Sujit K. , Dey Dipak K. , Branco Márcia D. 
Published: January 2007

AbstractAbstract: The authors develop a new class of distributions by introducing skewness in multivariate elliptically symmetric distributions. The class, which is obtained by using transformation and conditioning, contains many standard families including the multivariate skew‐normal and t distributions. The authors obtain analytical forms of the densities and study distributional properties. They give practical applications in Bayesian regression models and results on the existence of the posterior distributions and moments under improper priors for the regression coefficients. They illustrate their methods using practical examples.
Inequalities between expected marginal log‐likelihoods, with implications for likelihood‐based model complexity and comparison measures
Authors: Trevisani Matilde , Gelfand Alan E. 
Published: January 2007

AbstractA multi‐level model allows the possibility of marginalization across levels in different ways, yielding more than one possible marginal likelihood. Since log‐likelihoods are often used in classical model comparison, the question to ask is which likelihood should be chosen for a given model. The authors employ a Bayesian framework to shed some light on qualitative comparison of the likelihoods associated with a given model. They connect these results to related issues of the effective number of parameters, penalty function, and consistent definition of a likelihood‐based model choice criterion. In particular, with a two‐stage model they show that, very generally, regardless of hyperprior specification or how much data is collected or what the realized values are, a priori, the first‐stage likelihood is expected to be smaller than the marginal likelihood. A posteriori, these expectations are reversed and the disparities worsen with increasing sample size and with increasing number of model levels.
Insight into the Role of Oxidation in the Thermally Induced Green Band in Fluorene‐Based Systems
Authors: Grisorio R. , Suranna G. P. , Mastrorilli P. , Nobile C. F. 
Published: January 2007

AbstractThe causes of the spectral instability of poly[9,9‐dioctylfluoren‐2,7‐diyl‐co‐2′,7′‐spiro(cyclohexane‐1,9′‐fluorene)] during thermal annealing in air, which leads to a green photoluminescence (PL) emission band, are investigated. The Igreen/Iblue ratio evolution (I = intensity) is found to be independent of the amount of monoalkylfluorene defects, despite the fact that their presence might be regarded as a trigger for the radical process leading to polymer degradation in the presence of a trace amount of metal catalyst. Furthermore, the absence of a correlation between the degree of oxidation of the material and the Igreen/Iblue ratio indicates that the spatial disposition of fluorenones formed during the thermal degradation of the material, rather than their amount, is to be strictly related to the Igreen/Iblue ratio. The evidenced formation of fluorenone agglomerates, which could be considered the cause for the consistent increase in the Igreen/Iblue ratio during a thermal oxidation of a polyfluorene, confirms that the radical mechanism can also involve dialkylfluorene systems. Finally, the higher resistance to thermal degradation shown by spirocyclohexane fluorene units with respect to dioctylfluorene ones allows the synthesis of new, spectrally stable, fluorene‐based copolymers.
Optical Power Limiters Based on Colorless Di‐, Oligo‐, and Polymetallaynes: Highly Transparent Materials for Eye Protection Devices
Authors: Zhou G.‐J. , Wong W.‐Y. , Ye C. , Lin Z. 
Published: January 2007

AbstractThe synthesis, characterization, and photophysics of a series of solution‐processable and tractable di‐, oligo‐, and polymetallaynes of some group 10–12 transition metals are presented. Most of these materials are colorless with very good optical transparencies in the visible spectral region and exhibit excellent optical power limiting (OPL) for nanosecond laser pulse. Their OPL responses outweigh those of the state‐of‐the‐art reverse saturable absorption dyes such as C60, metalloporphyrins, and metallophthalocyanines that are all associated with very poor optical transparencies. On the basis of the results from photophysical studies and theoretical calculations, both the absorption of triplet and intramolecular charge‐transfer states can contribute to the enhancement of the OPL properties for these materials. Electronic influence of the type, spatial arrangement, and geometry of metal groups on the optical transparency/nonlinearity optimization is evaluated and discussed in detail. The positive contribution of transition metal ions to the OPL of these compounds generally follows the order: Pt > Au > Hg > Pd. The optical‐limiting thresholds for these polymetallaynes can be as low as 0.07 J cm–2 at 92 % linear transmittance and these highly transparent materials manifest very impressive figure of merit σex/σo values (up to 22.48), which are remarkably higher than those of the benchmark C60 and metal phthalocyanine complexes. The present work demonstrates an attractive approach to developing materials offering superior OPL/optical transparency trade‐offs and these metallopolyynes are thus very promising candidates for use in practical OPL devices for the protection of human eyes and other delicate optical sensors.
Methods of metal release assessment in soil water at anoxic sites
Authors: Schuwirth Nele , Hofmann Thilo 
Published: January 2007

AbstractMetal mobility at contaminated sites can be assessed by soil water investigations or by leaching tests. Leaching tests are usually carried out in open contact with the atmosphere disregarding possible changes of redox conditions. This can affect the original metal speciation and distribution, particularly when anoxic samples are investigated. In this study, the applicability of common leaching tests (the German S4 test (S4), ammonium nitrate extraction (AmmN), and saturation soil extraction (SSE)) is tested for the assessment of zinc release from sulfide‐bearing flotation residues of a former ore mine. Results are compared to soil solution samples obtained by centrifugation and suction cups. The influence of sample storage on S4 leaching test results is investigated in a long‐term study to assess oxidation kinetics. Within the first 200 days the release of zinc increases with a slope of 0.1 mmol kg–1 d–1 or 6.0 mg kg–1 d–1, respectively. Since oxidation of the sulfide‐bearing samples leads to a significant overestimation of metal release, a feasible modification for the conduction of leaching tests for anoxic material is proposed where oxidation is prevented efficiently. The modified SSE is found to be the only of the tested leaching procedures, which can be recommended for the assessment of current soil water concentrations at anoxic sites if direct investigation of the soil water is impossible due to technical reasons.
Higher effectiveness of photoinactivation of bacterial spores, UV resistant vegetative bacteria and mold spores with 222 nm compared to 254 nm wavelength
Authors: Clauß Marcus 
Published: January 2007

AbstractEleven selected species of vegetative bacteria, bacteria spores and mold spores were irradiated with different doses of UV radiation of a 222 nm krypton‐chloride excimer lamp and a 254 nm mercury lamp under laboratory conditions. Then the inactivation curves were determined. The necessary UV fluences for a respective reduction were higher for the excimer lamp for the tested vegetative bacteria of Bacillus cereus, Arthrobacter nicotinovorans, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and slightly higher for the spores of Streptomyces griseus and Clostridium pasteurianum. However, less than 250 J/m2 UV fluence with 222 nm was sufficient for a 4‐log reduction, depending on the species. On the other hand, the UV fluences for the 254 nm mercury lamp were much higher for the bacterial spores of Bacillus cereus, Thermoactinomyces griseus and the bacteria of Deinococcus radiodurans and slightly higher for the mold spores of Aspergillus niger and Penicillium expansum. The results show that especially the germs with a higher UV resistance and those with more effective repair mechanisms can be inactivated more efficiently by the 222 nm excimer lamp. This may be due to the fact that low UV fluence mainly affects radiation sensitive microorganisms by DNA damage whereas at higher UV fluence (various) mechanisms of protein damage can presumably be held responsible for inactivation.