bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Noninvasive 1H/13C magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging of the intratumoral distribution of temozolomide
Authors: Kato Yoshinori , Okollie Baasil , Artemov Dmitri 
Published: February 2006

AbstractAmong the primary reasons for failure of anticancer chemotherapy are insufficient drug delivery to the tumor because of inadequate tumor vascularization and/or the antivascular effects of chemotherapy. Thus, determining the spatial intratumoral distribution of anticancer agents by noninvasive methods such as MRI/MRSI is important for monitoring cancer chemotherapy. We therefore studied the distribution of the 13C‐labeled anticancer agent temozolomide ([13C]TMZ) in MCF‐7 tumor‐bearing mice using 1H/13C MRSI. In phantom studies inverse 13C detection with heteronuclear multiple quantum coherence (HMQC) provided a 2.3‐fold gain in signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) over direct nuclear overhauser effect (NOE)‐enhanced 13C‐MRS. This enabled detection of [13C]TMZ in the micromolar range. Three‐dimensional (3D) maps of drug distribution with a nominal 2.5‐mm isotropic resolution were obtained following intraperitoneal administration of [13C]TMZ, for a total dose of 200 mg/kg. The status of the blood supply of tumors was assessed by gadolinium (Gd)‐enhanced dynamic MRI. Nonuniform distributions of the drug and the contrast agent were detected in the tumors. Although carbon‐13 MRSI has an inherently low sensitivity for detection, the novel technique described here demonstrates the feasibility of studying the delivery of 13C‐labeled drugs and contrast uptake during the course of chemotherapy. Magn Reson Med, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Comparison of MRI and positron emission tomography for measuring myocardial perfusion reserve in healthy humans
Authors: Pärkkä Jussi P. , Niemi Pekka , Saraste Antti , Koskenvuo Juha W. , Komu Markku , Oikonen Vesa , Toikka Jyri O. , Kiviniemi Tuomas O. , Knuuti Juhani , Sakuma Hajime , Hartiala Jaakko J. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractMyocardial perfusion reserve (MPR, defined as the ratio of the maximum myocardial blood flow (MBF) to the baseline) is an indicator of coronary artery disease and myocardial microvascular abnormalities. First‐pass contrast‐enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (CE‐MRI) using gadolinium (Gd)‐DTPA as a contrast agent (CA) has been used to assess MPR. Tracer kinetic models based on compartmental analysis of the CA uptake have been developed to provide quantitative measures of MBF by MRI. To study the accuracy of Gd‐DTPA first‐pass MRI and kinetic modeling for quantitative analysis of myocardial perfusion and MPR during dipyridamole infusion, we conducted a comparison with positron emission tomography (PET) in 18 healthy males (age = 40 ± 14 years). Five planes were acquired at every second heartbeat with a 1.5T scanner using a saturation recovery turboFLASH sequence. A perfusion‐related parameter, the unidirectional influx constant (Ki), was computed in three coronary artery territories. There was a significant correlation for both dipyridamole‐induced flow (0.70, P = 0.001) and MPR (0.48, P = 0.04) between MRI and PET. However, we noticed that MRI provided lower MPR values compared to PET (2.5 ± 1.0 vs. 4.3 ± 1.8). We conclude that MRI supplemented with tracer kinetic modeling can be used to quantify myocardial perfusion. Magn Reson Med, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy
Authors: Tawil Rabi , Van Der Maarel Silvère M. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractFacioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is a dominantly inherited disorder with an initially restricted pattern of weakness. Early involvement of the facial and scapular stabilizer muscles results in a distinctive clinical presentation. Progression is descending, with subsequent involvement of either the distal anterior leg or hip‐girdle muscles. There is wide variability in age at onset, disease severity, and side‐to‐side symmetry, which is evident even within affected members of the same family. Although FSHD is considered a relatively benign dystrophy by some, as many as 20% of patients eventually become wheelchair‐bound. Associated nonskeletal muscle manifestations include high‐frequency hearing loss as well as retinal telangiectasias, both of which are rarely symptomatic. The causal genetic lesion in FSHD was described over a decade ago, raising hope that knowledge about its molecular and cellular pathophysiology was soon to follow. In the vast majority of cases, FSHD results from a heterozygous partial deletion of a critical number of repetitive elements (D4Z4) on chromosome 4q35; yet, to date, no causal gene has been identified. The accumulating evidence points to a complex, perhaps unique, molecular genetic mechanism. The absence of detectable expressed sequences from D4Z4, the association of FSHD‐causing 4q35 deletions with a specific distal genomic sequence (4qA allele), altered DNA methylation patterns on 4q35, as well as other direct and indirect evidence point to epigenetic mechanisms. As a consequence, partial deletion of D4Z4 results in a (local) chromatin change and ultimately results in the loss of appropriate control of gene expression. There is at present no effective treatment for FSHD. A better understanding of the underlying pathophysiology is needed to design targeted interventions. Despite these limitations, however, two randomized controlled clinical trials have been conducted on FSHD. These trials, along with a previous natural history study, have helped to better define outcome measures for future trials in FSHD as well as other dystrophies. Muscle Nerve, 2006
Variations of the prize‐collecting Steiner tree problem
Authors: Chapovska Olena , Punnen Abraham P. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractThe prize‐collecting Steiner tree problem is well known to be NP‐hard. We consider seven variations of this problem generalizing several well‐studied bottleneck and minsum problems with feasible solutions as trees of a graph. Four of these problems are shown to be solvable in O(m+n log n) time and the remaining are shown to be NP‐hard where n is the number of nodes and m is the number of edges in the underlying graph. For one of these polynomially solvable cases, we also provide an O(m) algorithm generalizing and unifying known linear time algorithms for the bottleneck spanning tree problem, bottleneck s−t path problem, and bottleneck Steiner tree problem. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. NETWORKS, Vol. 47(4), 199–205 2006
The role of earnings and financial risk in distributional analyses of Social Security reform measures
Authors: Hungerford Thomas L. 
Published: March 2006

AbstractThe Social Security Trustees project that the Social Security program faces longterm financing difficulties. Several proposals that have been offered to shore‐up the finances of the Social Security program would create individual retirement accounts funded with part of the payroll tax. The authors of many of these proposals claim that future beneficiaries will be better off under their new system than under the current system. This study examines the consequences of differing earnings patterns and year‐to‐year differences in asset returns have for Social Security retired worker benefits in three Social Security reform proposals. Incorporating both actual earnings histories and variation in asset returns shows that none of the three individual account plans can always deliver benefits that are higher than payable current‐law benefits. © 2006 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management
Does a more centralized urban form raise housing prices?
Authors: Wassmer Robert W. , Baass Michelle C. 
Published: March 2006

AbstractThis paper examines the relationship between various quantitative measures of urban centralization and urban housing prices through the use of a 2000 data set from the 452 Census designated urbanized areas in the United States. An empirical study of this type is necessary because: (1) the theoretical influence of creating more centralized urban areas—or what many would consider less “sprawl”—on what people pay for housing is indeterminate, (2) now popular “Smart Growth” policies advocate more centralized urban areas, and (3) some have argued that a cost of this centralization is an increase in the price of homes. After controlling for differences across United States urbanized areas in residents' economic status and demographics, number and type of households, climate, household growth, nonresidential land uses, and the structural characteristics of houses, we find that a more centralized area exhibits a lower median home value and percentage of homes in an upper‐end price category. Therefore, we offer no evidence to support the contention that a successful effort to further centralize an urban area raises the price of homes in that urban area. © 2006 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management
Total activin A in maternal blood as a marker of preterm delivery in low‐risk asymptomatic patients
Authors: Farina Antonio , Lambert‐Messerlian Geralyn M. , Canick Jacob A. , Banzola Irina , Carletti Angela , Concu Manuela , Tempesta Annalisa , Gabrielli Sandro , Morano Danila , Rizzo Nicola 
Published: February 2006

AbstractObjectivesTo retrospectively evaluate whether increased serum levels of total activin A (t‐activin A) are found in women who subsequently experience preterm delivery (PTD).MethodsData on maternal serum t‐activin A concentrations were available from a total of 84 singleton pregnant women and included 14 PTD pregnancies, each matched for gestational age and length of freezer storage, with 5 control pregnancies having term delivery (TD). Analyte values were expressed as multiple(s) of the control median.ResultsThe median t‐activin A for controls and cases was 1.00 ± 0.45 and 1.27 ± 0.53 MoM, respectively. Univariate analysis of the MoM values was performed using the Kaplan‐Meier algorithm. Differences in the rate of delivery using a t‐activin A MoM cut‐off of ≥1 SD (equivalent to 1.26 MoM) were analysed using the log rank test. The cumulative rate of PTD (<37 weeks) was significantly higher for women with t‐activin A concentrations ≥1.26 MoM than those with t‐activin A concentrations below this cut‐off (40% vs.. 10%, p‐value = 0.0218 log rank test).ConclusionsT‐activin A concentration is higher in women who will develop PTD in a low‐risk population. T‐activin A values are inversely proportional to the time elapsed from blood test to delivery. Prospective studies would determine the precise discriminability of this marker for PTD and the best week for performing the blood test, allowing for a proper calculation of the detection rate and a positive predictive value. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Abnormal abdominal situs: what and how should we look for?
Authors: Salomon Laurent J. , Baumann Clarisse , Delezoide Anne‐Lise , Oury Jean‐François , Pariente Danièle , Sebag Guy , Garel Catherine 
Published: February 2006

AbstractBackgroundPrenatal management of abnormal abdominal situs is challenging since prognosis is highly variable depending on the associated malformations.MethodsThe authors report on two cases of ambiguous abdominal situs. Prenatal management included specialized ultrasound examination of fetal anatomy and heart, amniocentesis for determination of the fetal karyotype and fetal abdominal MR.ResultsIn both cases, abnormal situs was associated with other abdominal anomalies such as azygous continuation, biliary atresia, bowel obstruction and polysplenia. Fetal MR was a useful additional tool in the assessment of fetal abdominal anatomy in both cases.ConclusionsOn the basis of these reports, the literature is reviewed and a prenatal management scheme is proposed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Prenatal diagnosis of a large de novo terminal deletion of chromosome 11q
Authors: Bœhm D. , Laccone F. , Burfeind P. , Herold S. , Schubert C. , Zoll B. , Männer J. , Pauer H. U. , Bartels I. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractObjectiveTo describe the prenatal phenotype of the 11q deletion syndrome (Jacobsen syndrome) and present the molecular characterization of the deletion in the case presented.CaseUltrasound at 18 and 20 weeks of gestation, on a 34‐year‐old woman who presented for amniocentesis, revealed slow movements, oligohydramnios and dilatation of the cerebral ventricles in the fetus. Maternal and paternal ages were 34 and 38 years, respectively.ResultsPrenatal karyotyping of cultured amniotic fluid cells revealed an 11q terminal deletion, 46,XX,del(11)(q23) (Jacobsen syndrome). Real‐time quantitative PCR analysis was used to identify and map the breakpoint physically to a 45‐kb region located 14.5 Mb from the 11q telomere. Polymorphic DNA marker analysis showed that DNA sequences on the paternally derived chromosome are deleted.At autopsy, facial dysmorphism without major malformations was recorded. Examination of the internal organs disclosed the following abnormalities: a Meckels' diverticulum of 4‐mm length, adhesion between the gall bladder and the transverse colon, and bilaterally bilobed lungs without further situs anomalies.ConclusionOur case demonstrates significant phenotypic variability of Jacobsen syndrome at midtrimester pregnancy; the syndrome may be manifested at this stage only by mild to moderate ventriculomegaly of the brain. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Methods for evaluation of medication adherence and persistence using automated databases
Authors: Andrade Susan E. , Kahler Kristijan H. , Frech Feride , Chan K. Arnold 
Published: March 2006

AbstractPurposeOur aim was to perform a systematic review of the methods currently being used to assess adherence and persistence in pharmacoepidemiological and pharmacoeconomic studies using automated databases.MethodsA MEDLINE search of English language literature was performed to identify studies published between January 1, 1980 and March 31, 2004 that evaluated adherence, compliance, persistence, switching, or discontinuations of medications using automated dispensing data (pharmacy records). Two study investigators independently reviewed the abstracts and articles to determine relevant studies according to specified criteria.ResultsA total of 136 articles met the criteria for evaluation. The types of measures of adherence and persistence commonly reported include the medication possession ratio and related measures of medication availability (77 studies), discontinuation/continuation (58 studies), switching (34 studies), medication gaps (13 studies), refill compliance (7 studies), and retentiveness/turbulence (4 studies). Specific issues considered include the assessment of exposed time to drug therapy and specification of the follow‐up period.ConclusionsThe terminology, definitions, and methods to determine adherence and persistence differ greatly in the published literature. The appropriateness and choice of the specific measure employed should be determined by the overall goals of the study, as well as the relative advantages and limitations of the measures. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The extracellular proteome of Bacillus licheniformis grown in different media and under different nutrient starvation conditions
Authors: Voigt Birgit , Schweder Thomas , Sibbald Mark J. J. B. , Albrecht Dirk , Ehrenreich Armin , Bernhardt Jörg , Feesche Jörg , Maurer Karl‐Heinz , Gottschalk Gerhard , van Dijl Jan Maarten , Hecker Michael 
Published: March 2006

AbstractNo abstracts.
Formation of honeycomb‐structured, porous films via breath figures with different polymer architectures
Authors: Stenzel Martina H. , Barner‐Kowollik C. , Davis Thomas P. 
Published: March 2006

AbstractHoneycomb‐structured, porous films with pore sizes ranging from 200 nm to 7 μm were prepared with breath figures. The regularity of the hexagonal array and the pore size was influenced by the polymer architecture and the casting conditions. A nanoscaled suborder next to the microarray was obtained with amphiphilic block copolymers. These films were shown to be suitable as surfaces for cell growth. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 2363–2375, 2006
Poly(arylene thioether) synthesis via nitro‐displacement reaction
Authors: In Insik , Kim Sang Youl 
Published: March 2006

AbstractHigh molecular weight poly(arylene thioether)s containing trifluoromethyl groups were prepared through the aromatic nucleophilic nitro‐displacement reaction of a dinitro monomer with aromatic dithiols. The high reactivity of the monomer, 4,4′‐dinitro‐3,3′‐bis(trifluoromethyl)biphenyl(1), activated by o‐trifluoromethyl groups and complete exclusion of oxygen was critical for the successful polymerization without any disulfide formation. The resulting trifluoromethylated poly(arylene thioether)s (P1 and P2) were amorphous, dissolved in common organic solvents, and showed superior thermal properties compared to commercial poly(phenylene sulfide). © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 2440–2447, 2006
Synthesis and optical and electroluminescent properties of novel conjugated polyelectrolytes and their neutral precursors derived from fluorene and benzoselenadiazole
Authors: Huang Fei , Hou Lintao , Shen Huilin , Yang Renqiang , Hou Qiong , Cao Yong 
Published: March 2006

AbstractNovel copolymers derived from amino‐functionalized fluorene‐ and selenium‐containing heterocycles [2,1,3‐benzoselenadiazole (BSeD)] were synthesized by the palladium‐catalyzed Suzuki coupling method. Their quaternized salt polyelectrolytes of corresponding compositions were obtained by a postpolymerization treatment. The resulting copolymers were soluble in polar solvents. An efficient energy transfer due to exciton trapping on the BSeD sites was observed. Devices from such copolymers emitted orange‐red light peaked at 560–610 nm. All the polymers showed good device performance with high‐work‐function metal Al as a cathode without the use of an additional electron‐injection layer and are promising candidates for polymer light‐emitting diode applications. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 2521–2532, 2006
Effect of the polymer matrix on the formation of silver nanoparticles in polymer–silver salt complex membranes
Authors: Kim Jong Hak , Min Byoung Ryul , Won Jongok , Kang Yong Soo 
Published: February 2006

AbstractWhen polymer–silver salt complex membranes were exposed to UV irradiation, the separation performances of both the permeance and selectivity for propylene–propane decreased, which was primarily attributed to the reduction of the silver ions in the membranes to silver nanoparticles. Here, the effect of the polymer matrix on the formation of silver nanoparticles in the polymer–silver salt complex membranes was investigated. This effect was assessed for the complexes of two kinds of silver salts (AgBF4 and AgCF3SO3) with several polymeric ligands containing three different carbonyl groups, including poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) with an amide group, poly(vinyl methyl ketone) (PVMK) with a ketone group, and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) with an ester group. UV–vis spectra and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images clearly indicated that the reduction rate of the silver ions has the following order in the various polymer matrices: PVP > PVMK > PMMA, whereas the size and the distribution of the nanoparticles exhibited the reverse order. The tendency to form silver nanoparticles was explained in terms of the differences between the comparative strengths of the interactions of the silver ions with the different carbonyl oxygens in the matrices, as well as that of the silver ions with counteranions, which was characterized by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and FT‐Raman spectroscopy. It was concluded that when the concentration of free silver ions was low due to weak polymer–silver ion and strong silver ion–anion interactions, as found with PMMA, the reduction rate of silver ions to silver nanoparticles was slow. Therefore, the PMMA–silver complex membranes were less sensitive to decreases in separation performance upon UV irradiation than compared to the PVP membranes. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 1168–1178, 2006
PET/SiO2 nanocomposites prepared by cryomilling
Authors: Zhu Y. G. , Li Z. Q. , Zhang D. , Tanimoto T. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractThe mixed powders of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and SiO2 has been subjected to cryomilling. The evolution of microstructure with time was characterized using scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, field emission scanning electron microscope, and laser diffraction particle size analyzer. It was shown that, upon cryomilling for 10 h, SiO2 nano particles were well deconglomerated into single particles (∼30 nm) that get homogeneously dispersed in PET matrix. The resulted PET/SiO2 primary particles were flake‐shaped with a size of 400 nm. These primary composite particles agglomerated to form secondary composite particles with an average size about 7.6 μm. A three‐stage model was purposed for the formation mechanism of the nanocomposite structures induced by cryomilling. Our evidences suggest that cryomilling is a capable and promising technique for the production of polymer/inorganic nanocomposites. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 1161–1167, 2006
Chemical compound navigator: A web‐based chem‐BLAST, chemical taxonomy‐based search engine for browsing compounds
Authors: Prasanna M.D. , Vondrasek Jiri , Wlodawer Alexander , Rodriguez H. , Bhat T. N. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractA novel technique to annotate, query, and analyze chemical compounds has been developed and is illustrated by using the inhibitor data on HIV protease‐inhibitor complexes. In this method, all chemical compounds are annotated in terms of standard chemical structural fragments. These standard fragments are defined by using criteria, such as chemical classification; structural, chemical, or functional groups; and commercial, scientific or common names or synonyms. These fragments are then organized into a data tree based on their chemical substructures. Search engines have been developed to use this data tree to enable query on inhibitors of HIV protease (http://xpdb.nist.gov/hivsdb/hivsdb.html). These search engines use a new novel technique, Chemical Block Layered Alignment of Substructure Technique (Chem‐BLAST) to search on the fragments of an inhibitor to look for its chemical structural neighbors. This novel technique to annotate and query compounds lays the foundation for the use of the Semantic Web concept on chemical compounds to allow end users to group, sort, and search structural neighbors accurately and efficiently. During annotation, it enables the attachment of “meaning” (i.e., semantics) to data in a manner that far exceeds the current practice of associating “metadata” with data by creating a knowledge base (or ontology) associated with compounds. Intended users of the technique are the research community and pharmaceutical industry, for which it will provide a new tool to better identify novel chemical structural neighbors to aid drug discovery. Proteins 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.