bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Eradication of Methicillin-ResistantStaphylococcus AureusFrom a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit by Active Surveillance and Aggressive Infection Control Measures
Authors: Khoury Jad , Jones Marilyn , Grim Autumn , Dunne Wm. Michael , Fraser Vicky 
Published: April 2006

AbstractObjectives:To describe an outbreak of hospital-acquired MRSA in a NICU and to identify the risk factors for, outcomes of, and interventions that eliminated it.Setting:An 18-bed, level III-IV NICU in a community hospital.Methods:Interventions to control MRSA included active surveillance, aggressive contact isolation, and cohorting and decolonization of infants and HCWs with MRSA. A case–control study was performed to compare infants with and without MRSA.Results:A cluster of 6 cases of MRSA infection between September and October 2001 represented an increased attack rate of 21.2% compared with 5.3% in the previous months. Active surveillance identified unsuspected MRSA colonization in 6 (21.4%) of 28 patients and 6 (5.5%) of 110 HCWs screened. They were all successfully decolonized. There was an increased risk of MRSA colonization and infection among infants with low birth weight or younger gestational age. Multiple gestation was associated with an increased risk of colonization (OR, 37.5; CI95, 3.9–363.1) and infection (OR, 5.36; CI95, 1.37–20.96). Gavage feeding (OR, 10.33; CI95, 1.28–83.37) and intubation (OR, 5.97; CI95, 1.22–29.31) were associated with increased risk of infection. Infants with MRSA infection had a significantly longer hospital stay than infants without MRSA (51.83 vs 21.46 days;P= .003). Rep-PCR withmectyping and PVL analysis confirmed the presence of a single common strain of hospital-acquired MRSA.Conclusion:Active surveillance, aggressive implementation of contact isolation, cohorting, and decolonization effectively eradicated MRSA from the NICU for 2½ years following the outbreak. (Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2005;26:616-621)
Spatial and Temporal Analysis ofClostridium difficileInfection in Patients at a Pediatric Hospital in California
Authors: Rexach Carmen E. , Tang-Feldman Yajarayma J. , Cohen Stuart H. 
Published: April 2006

AbstractObjective:To examine the usefulness of temporal and spatial analysis in identifying nosocomial transmission ofClostridium difficileamong pediatric patients hospitalized on four wards at The Children's Hospital of Central California from September 8,1998, to January 16,1999.Design:Stool specimens obtained from the clinical microbiology laboratory during the study period were tested by culture and latex agglutination forC. difficile.Polymerase chain reaction was used to identify toxin genes. Isolates obtained were mapped to a grid for each ward and were analyzed using the Knox test. Results were compared with DNA fingerprints generated by arbitrarily primed polymerase chain reaction.Results:Total occupancy of these 4 wards was 438 during the study period. Stool specimens were available for 256 (58%) of these patients, yielding 67C. difficileisolates and generating 2,211 case pairs for analysis by the Knox test. After stratification by toxin status, 5 clustered pairs of toxigenic isolates were identified on 1 of the wards by this method. Fingerprint analysis identified 4 clusters with indistinguishable banding patterns on 2 of the 4 wards. Two of the identified clusters were toxigenic and 2 were nontoxigenic. None of these clusters corresponded to clusters identified by the Knox test.Conclusions:The Knox test is an ineffective method for identifying cases resulting from nosocomial transmission ofC. difficilein a pediatric setting due to the persistence ofC. difficilespores and the unique environment of a pediatric hospital. Molecular analysis remains the most effective method.
A Cluster of Hepatitis C Virus Infections Associated With Ozone-Enriched Transfusion of Autologous Blood in Rome, Italy
Authors: Faustini Annunziata , Capobianchi Maria R. , Martinelli Mauro , Abbate Isabella , Cappiello Giuseppina , Perucci Carlo A 
Published: April 2006

AbstractObjective:To describe an outbreak of hepatitis C virus (HCV).Design:Retrospective cohort study.Setting:Outpatient department of a hospital in Rome, Italy.Patients:All 42 patients exposed to ozone therapy by autohemotherapy or intramuscular injection from January to June 2001.Methods:Epidemiologic investigation, serologic analysis, and virus genotyping.Results:Thirty-one (74%) of the patients agreed to participate in the study. Three (9.7%) had symptoms of HCV infection. This incidence rate was higher than the rate of 1.4 per 100,000 per year in the regional population. Six patients were positive for HCV antibodies and HCV RNA for a prevalence rate of 19.4%, which was much higher than the estimate of 0.9% in the population. Virus genotype lb was found in two case-patients (one symptomatic) and 2c in four case-patients (two symptomatic), one of whom was known to have an HCV infection since 1986 and could have been the source of infection. The infected patients were all being exposed to ozone-enriched transfusions of autologous blood. Although the specific mode of transmission between patients was not detected, transmission probably occurred during one of the three busiest therapeutic sessions in the 6-month period.Conclusions:Transmission of HCV infection may occur during medical procedures with limited bleeding. Standard precautions must be applied in any healthcare setting; restricting the number of individuals treated during each therapeutic session could be an effective way of avoiding accidental transmission of infection.
StrAl: progressive alignment of non-coding RNA using base pairing probability vectors in quadratic time
Authors: Dalli Deniz , Wilm Andreas , Mainz Indra , Steger Gerhard 
Published: April 2006

Abstract
Motivation: Alignment of RNA has a wide range of applications, for example in phylogeny inference, consensus structure prediction and homology searches. Yet aligning structural or non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) correctly is notoriously difficult as these RNA sequences may evolve by compensatory mutations, which maintain base pairing but destroy sequence homology. Ideally, alignment programs would take RNA structure into account. The Sankoff algorithm for the simultaneous solution of RNA structure prediction and RNA sequence alignment was proposed 20 years ago but suffers from its exponential complexity. A number of programs implement lightweight versions of the Sankoff algorithm by restricting its application to a limited type of structure and/or only pairwise alignment. Thus, despite recent advances, the proper alignment of multiple structural RNA sequences remains a problem.
Results: Here we present StrAl, a heuristic method for alignment of ncRNA that reduces sequence–structure alignment to a two-dimensional problem similar to standard multiple sequence alignment. The scoring function takes into account sequence similarity as well as up- and downstream pairing probability. To test the robustness of the algorithm and the performance of the program, we scored alignments produced by StrAl against a large set of published reference alignments. The quality of alignments predicted by StrAl is far better than that obtained by standard sequence alignment programs, especially when sequence homologies drop below ∼65%; nevertheless StrAl’s runtime is comparable to that of ClustalW.
Availability: StrAl is implemented in C. Source code (under GNU public license) as well as a precompiled Debian package can be downloaded at
Contact: stral@biophys.uni-duesseldorf.de
Supplementary information: Supplementary data available at Bioinformatics online.
CANCELLATION LAW AND UNIQUE FACTORIZATION THEOREM FOR STRING OPERATIONS
Authors: TONIEN DONGVU 
Published: April 2006

Recently, Hoit introduced arithmetic on blocks, which extends the binary string operation by Jacobs and Keane. A string of elements from the Abelian additive group of residues modulo m, (Zm, ⊕), is called an m-block. The set of m-blocks together with Hoit's new product operation form an interesting algebraic structure where associative law and cancellation law hold. A weaker form of unique factorization and criteria for two indecomposable blocks to commute are also proved. In this paper, we extend Hoit's results by replacing the Abelian group (Zm, ⊕) by an arbitrary monoid (A, ◦). The set of strings built up from the alphabet A is denoted by String(A). We extend the operation ◦ on the alphabet set A to the string set String(A). We show that (String(A), ◦) is a monoid if and only if (A, ◦) is a monoid. When (A, ◦) is a group, we prove that stronger versions of a cancellation law and unique factorization hold for (String(A), ◦). A general criterion for two irreducible strings to commute is also presented.
Transformation of Late Passage Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I Receptor Null Mouse Embryo Fibroblasts by SV40 T Antigen
Authors: Spence Susan L. , Shaffer Arthur L. , Staudt Louis M. , Amde Sewit , Manney Sutana , Terry Cheryl , Weisz Keith , Nissley Peter 
Published: April 2006

Abstract
There is evidence that the insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) receptor is required for transformation by a variety of viral and cellular oncogenes in a mouse embryo fibroblast model. To further investigate the IGF-I receptor signaling pathways that are required for the permissive effect of the receptor on transformation by SV40 T antigen, we established three independent fibroblast cell lines each from wild-type and IGF-I receptor null embryos (R−). We transfected the wild-type and R− cell lines with an SV40 T antigen plasmid and selected three clones from each cell line that expressed T antigen. As in previous reports, none of the cloned R− cell lines expressing T antigen were transformed as measured by the ability to form large colonies in soft agar. However, with further passage, all three T antigen–expressing clones from one of the R− cell lines (R−3) formed large colonies in soft agar and the transformation of these T antigen–expressing clones was confirmed by tumorigenesis experiments in immunodeficient mice. DNA microarray analysis comparing gene expression between early passage and late passage R−3/T antigen clones showed, among other changes, an increase in the expression of ErbB-3 mRNA in the late passage clones. Also, the expression of ErbB-3 protein was dramatically increased in the late passage R−3/T antigen clones. We conclude that late passage IGF-I receptor null mouse embryo fibroblasts can be transformed by SV40 T antigen, and that ErbB-3 may play a role in permitting transformation by T antigen. (Cancer Res 2006; 66(8): 4233-9)
Methylation of theIL-12Rβ2Gene as Novel Tumor Escape Mechanism for Pediatric B-Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Cells
Authors: Airoldi Irma , Cocco Claudia , Di Carlo Emma , Disarò Silvia , Ognio Emanuela , Basso Giuseppe , Pistoia Vito 
Published: April 2006

AbstractPrevious studies have shown that the interleukin-12 receptor β2 (IL-12Rβ2) gene is expressed in normal naive, germinal center and memory B cells but not in their malignant counterparts. The aim of this study was to investigate (i) whether the IL-12Rβ2 gene is silenced in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) cells, and (ii) what the functional implications of such silencing for tumor growth are. Here, we show that although mature B cells expressed both chains of the IL-12R, normal pro-B and pre-B cells failed to express the IL-12Rβ2 chain. Similarly, primary tumor cells from pediatric pro-B, early pre-B, and pre-B ALL (30 cases) did not express the IL-12Rβ2 chain. IL-12Rβ2 gene silencing in B-ALL was found to depend on methylation of a CpG island in exon 1. Such methylation was not detected in normal early B cells that when differentiated into mature B cells expressed the IL-12Rβ2 gene. Detection of IL-12Rβ2 mRNA and protein in the tumorigenic 697 pre-B-ALL cell line allowed to perform functional experiments in severe combined immunodeficient/nonobese diabetic mice receiving 697 cells with or without human recombinant IL-12 (hrIL-12). hrIL-12 administration reduced tumor growth and metastasis through antiproliferative and proapoptotic rather than antiangiogenic, activities.In conclusion, epigenetic silencing of the IL-12Rβ2 gene represents a novel mechanism of tumor escape for B-ALL cells. (Cancer Res 2006; 66(8): 3978-80)
Bone Morphogenetic Protein 7 Protects Prostate Cancer Cells from Stress-Induced Apoptosis via Both Smad and c-Jun NH2-Terminal Kinase Pathways
Authors: Yang Shangxin , Lim Minyoung , Pham Linda K. , Kendall Stephen E. , Reddi A. Hari , Altieri Dario C. , Roy-Burman Pradip 
Published: April 2006

Abstract
We reported earlier that exposure to exogenous bone morphogenetic protein 7 (BMP7) could strongly inhibit serum starvation–induced apoptosis to C4-2B cell line, a variant of the LNCaP human prostate cancer cell line with propensity for bone metastasis. Whereas serum starvation suppressed the expression of survivin, a member of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein family, its expression was sustained in the presence of BMP7. In this study, we present evidence that BMP7 exposure up-regulated survivin promoter activity, an effect that was associated with activation of Smad, and could be repressed by dominant-negative Smad5. Additionally, serum starvation–induced suppression of c-jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) activity in C4-2B cells could be mostly restored by BMP7, and a JNK inhibitor could counteract the antiapoptotic effect of BMP7, without a significant effect on the level of survivin expression. Thus, we identified JNK pathway as another signaling mode for the antiapoptotic function of BMP7. To test the effect of endogenous up-regulation of BMP7, we genetically modulated the C4-2B cell line to overexpress BMP7 protein. Not only was this altered cell line resistant to serum starvation–induced apoptosis but it also exhibited patterns of Smad activation, survivin up-regulation, and JNK activation similar to those of the parental C4-2B cells exposed to exogenous BMP7. Consistent with these in vitro findings of BMP7 action, we acquired correlative results of Smad activation, survivin expression, and JNK activation in the progression of prostate cancer in the conditional Pten deletion mouse model, in which we first obtained the evidence of BMP7 overexpression. (Cancer Res 2006; 66(8): 4285-90)
Chiral Recognition of α-Amino Acid Derivatives by a Steroidal Crown Ether at the Air-Water Interface
Authors: Kawabata Hirosuke , Shinkai Seiji 
Published: April 2006

Abstract
4′-(Cholesteryloxycarbonyl)benzo-18-crown-6 forms a stable monolayer at the air-water interface and the π-A isotherms respond to α-amino acid derivatives in an asymmetric manner. This is a novel amino acid sensing system using a monolayer assembly.
Methyl Methacrylate Homopolymerization and Copolymerization with Styrene by Rare Earth Catalyst in Ionic Liquids
Authors: Xiong Yubing , Ni Xufeng , Fan Lin , Shen Zhiquan 
Published: April 2006

Abstract
Methyl methacrylate homopolymerization and copolymerization with styrene catalyzed by rare earth coordination catalysts were carried out in ionic liquids for the first time. It was found that the polymerization rate of MMA and molecular weight of PMMA were higher in ionic liquids than in toluene or in bulk under the same conditions. Both random and block copolymers of MMA with St could be prepared in ionic liquids. The copolymers were characterized by GPC, NMR, and IR measurements. Ionic liquids can be recycled and reused.
Influence of a Single Amide Group on the Redox Function of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Cytochrome c551
Authors: Takahashi Yo-ta , Takayama Shin-ichi J , Mikami Shin-ichi , Mita Hajime , Sambongi Yoshihiro , Yamamoto Yasuhiko 
Published: April 2006

Abstract
The influence of a single amide group located in the heme active site of Pseudomonas aeruginosa cytochrome c551 on its redox potential (E°′) has been characterized through amino acid substitution of Asn64 with Gln or Ala. The E°′ variation of ca. 60 mV among the proteins is attributed mainly to the alteration of the thermodynamic stability of the oxidized protein by the dipole and hydrogen-bonding ability of the amide group.
Monomeric Dispersion of Covalently Attached Pyrene Chromophores in Silylated Graphite Oxide
Authors: Matsuo Yoshiaki , Fukutsuka Tomokazu , Sugie Yosohiro 
Published: April 2006

Abstract
Pyrenecarboxaldehyde was covalently attached to the layer of silylated graphite oxide. Pyrene chromophore was almost monomerically dispersed in the resulting material with lower pyrene contents, because the aggregation of them was prevented by alkyl chains of silylated graphite oxide.
Proportional Representation in Prewar Poland
Authors: Groth Alexander J. 
Published: April 2006

Institutions can frequently play crucial roles in the political process. Rarely has this been more true than in Poland immediately after World War I, and rarely has a great political party made a more substantial mistake than did the Polish National Democrats and their allies in backing the establishment of proportional representation. It was largely because of this ill-fated electoral device that the Nationalist Right failed to win control of the first and second parliaments in renascent Poland. Coincidentally, no government based on the support of one reasonably homogeneous group could be formed until 1930, and then the conduct of the 1930 election rendered the results highly suspect.Proportional representation was first employed in Poland in the elections to the Constituent Sejm of 1919. The electoral law was promulgated in November, 1918, by Premier Jędrzej Moraczewski, whose action then could only be described as reflecting full national consensus.
The Philosophy of Conrad Celtis, German Arch-Humanist1
Authors: Spitz Lewis W. 
Published: April 2006

Mortuus ille quidem sed longum vivus in aevumColloquitur doctis per sua scripta viris—Epitaphium Celtis ab ipso compositumIf mental discipline and capacity for sustained thought are essential attributes of a formal philosopher, then Conrad Celtis, whom D. F. Strauss christened “the German arch-humanist,” was far from being one. On the big questions Celtis' thinking was protean and inconclusive. He showed a grand indifference to the need for consistency. In a remarkable way he combined Platonic mysticism with an Aristotelian view of nature. He savagely attacked the church, its clergy, and dogma, yet performed his religious duties as though no trace of doubt marred the serenity of a simple faith. He lead an openly immoral life, if not so successfully as he boasted, and at the end turned to the comforts of a pious death. In a very real way these contradictions were not his alone, but less obviously those of his whole generation.
A Bronze Statuette of Zeus in the Museum at Saint-Germain
Authors: Reinach Salomon 
Published: April 2006

In 1857, J. F. Boudon de Saint-Amans published in Agen an illustrated octavo Essai sur les antiquités de Lot-et-Garonne. On page 198 of that work the bronze figure which we here reproduce (plate XIII) is thus described:“Petite statue de Jupiter en bronze trouvée à Saint-Côme près d'Aiguillon. On ne saurait voir en ce genre rien de plus parfait que cette figurine … Cette petite statue, haute de 6 pouces, dont les yeux et les extrémités du pénis sont en or, appartient à M. le vicomte de Vivens, membre du Conseil général du departement de Lot-et-Garonne.”On plate 22 there is a very poor outline engraving which, not knowing then the original, I caused to be reproduced in the Répertoire de la statuaire, vol. ii (1898), p. 10, no. 2.Three years later, in July 1901, the statuette, then belonging to the Marquis de Poyen, at Barry near Clairac (Lot-et-Garonne), was offered for sale to the national museums. I secured it for Saint-Germain at the low price of 1,250 francs (£50) and now publish it for the first time in a manner worthy of its interest and excellence.
Yugoslavia's National Minorities Under Communism
Authors: Shoup Paul 
Published: April 2006

The Yugoslav nationalities question has always been a source of fascination for Western scholars. Inevitably, discussion has centered on the differences between the major Slav nationalities—the Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Macedonians, and Montenegrins. Less attention has been paid to the problem of the national minorities, although this issue has bedeviled the Yugoslav state since its formation in 1918. Minorities make up approximately a fifth of the Yugoslav population. In times of peace they have been the object of discrimination and exploitation. In times of crisis, the minorities have been the greatest single threat to the internal security of the Yugoslav state.Over the years since 1918, four nationalities have proven particularly troublesome for the Yugoslavs: the Albanians, Hungarians, Germans, and Italians. The majority of the Albanians live in the autonomous oblast of Kosovo-Metohija (Kosmet) and are Moslem, belonging to the northern, Gheg, Albanian clan.
Lenin and Inessa Armand
Authors: Wolfe Bertram D. 
Published: April 2006

In 1924, immediately after Lenin died, the Central Committee of his party called upon all who had a shred of writing from his hand to deposit it in the party's archives. The holders hastened to comply. All his letters were ostensibly published in three substantial volumes, supplemented by items in a number of “Miscellany” (Sbornik) volumes, Not one letter to or from Inessa Armand appeared in that flood of Leniniana.On February 27, 1939, Krupskaia died. Four months after her death, Bolshevik (No. 13, July, 1939) published the first of two letters from Lenin to Inessa on the “woman question.” The letters were not so much an expression of Lenin's views as a comment on Inessa Armand's. Planning in the course of her Bolshevik work with “working women” to write a brochure addressed to them, Inessa had dutifully submitted her outline to Lenin.
The Pentathlon of the Greeks
Authors: Gardner Percy 
Published: April 2006

Tisamenus having been told by the priestess at Delphi that he should win five most illustrious contests, began at once, as Herodotus tells us, to train for the Olympian pentathlon, supposing that to that alone she could refer. From this we may judge that the pentathlon was in high favour among the Greeks. And not without reason, for whereas, as Socrates complained, ‘running long distances makes the legs thick and the shoulders meagre, and boxing makes the shoulders sturdy and the legs feeble,’ the practice of the pentathlon, on the contrary, developed all parts of the body in fair proportion. Hence it was in high honour among the Spartans, who set their faces against dishonouring and disfiguring contests, such as boxing and the pancration. Hence the pentathli were in all Greek states the models of physical beauty and vigour. And the great physician Galen remarks that the pentathlon is the most perfect of exercises, and also called κατασκευή, the training par excellence.Among German archaeologists the pentathlon has aroused considerable interest. Böckh and Hermann devoted much attention to its explanation, and each of them, as well as Dissen and several other writers, drew up a scheme of the contest. In more recent times Dr. Pinder has published a work of more than a hundred pages in length on the subject.