bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effect of absorbable membranes on sandwich bone augmentation
Authors: Park Sang‐Hoon , Lee Kwang‐won , Oh Tae‐Ju , Misch Carl E. , Shotwell Jeffrey , Wang Hom‐Lay 
Published: October 2007

AbstractObjectives: This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of barrier membranes on sandwich bone augmentation (SBA) for the treatment of implant dehiscence defects.Material and methods: Twenty‐six implant‐associated buccal dehiscence defects in 22 patients were treated according to the SBA concept – mineralized human cancellous allograft (inner layer), mineralized human cortical allograft (outer layer) and coverage with barrier membrane. The defects were randomly assigned to the bovine collagen membrane (BME) group; acellular dermal matrix (ADM) group; and no membrane group. Measurements at baseline and 6 months re‐entry included defect height (DH: from smooth–rough junction to the most apical part of the defect), defect width (DW: at the widest part of the defect), and horizontal defect depth (HDD: at three locations – smooth–rough junction, middle, and most apical portion of the defect). All measurements were taken from a reference stent. Statistical analyses were performed for comparison of intra‐ and inter‐group comparisons.Results: All implants placed were successfully osseointegrated. DH at baseline for three groups were not significantly different (P=0.858). Mean % DH reductions for ADM, BME, and control groups at 6 months were 73.9±17.6%, 68.1±30.1%, and 63.6±23.9%, respectively, with no significant difference among the groups (P=0.686). Mean horizontal bone gain, however, was significantly greater for membrane groups (1.7 mm for ADM, 1.6 mm for BME) compared with control group (1 mm) (P=0.044). Implant exposure resulted in significant reduction in total height gain (79.1±14.3% vs. 57±23.5%, P=0.021).Conclusions: Within the limit of this study, it is concluded that SBA technique achieved predictable clinical outcomes. The addition of absorbable membranes enhanced bone gain in thickness compared with membrane‐treated sites.
Quality of oral health services in residential care: towards an evaluation framework
Authors: Pruksapong Mutana , MacEntee Michael I. 
Published: October 2007

Background:  There is widespread neglect of oral healthcare, and uncertainty about how best to organise and evaluate the impact of oral health services in long‐term care (LTC) facilities. Consequently, there is need for an evaluation framework to improve and account for the quality of oral healthcare in the facilities.Objectives:  This paper: (i) identifies basic concepts of quality of care and evaluation in healthcare; (ii) reviews the methods used to evaluate the operation and effectiveness of oral healthcare in LTC facilities and (iii) recommends change to assure oral health‐related quality and accountability for frail elders.Method:  A literature review provided insights to the theoretical basis and practical applications for assessing the quality of healthcare relevant to oral healthcare for frail elders.Results:  Oral health‐related programmes in LTC facilities could be improved by using a combination of quality assurance and health programme evaluation that: (i) engages everyone involved; (ii) seeks multiple attributes of quality; (iii) evaluates the structure, process or activities, and outcome of the oral health programme; (iv) uses formative and summative methods to provide both quantitative and qualitative evidence of care and (v) transfers new knowledge for appropriate consideration and action.Conclusions:  This theoretical framework can be applied in dentistry in LTC to provide an assessment model specific to oral healthcare for frail elders in residential care.
A prospective study on elderly patients with facial fractures in a developing country
Authors: Royan Stephen Joseph , Hamid Abdul Latif , Kovilpillai Ferdinand Jesudian , Junid Nooral Zeila , Mustafa Wan Mahadzir Wan 
Published: October 2007

Background:  This paper describes the incidence, aetiology, treatment and complications of facial fractures seen among the elderly in a developing country.Methods:  A prospective study evaluated 85 patients over 60 years of age who were diagnosed with facial fractures over a period of 12 months in 23 public hospitals nationwide.Results:  The elderly accounted for 4.5% of the total number of patients seen with facial fractures during the study period. Elderly men outnumbered women by a ratio of 4.31:1. Of the elderly patients, 35.3% had at least one medical condition, the commonest of which was hypertension. Road traffic accidents were the main cause of injury. The fractures were treated in only 26.2% of cases. Complications were uncommon.Conclusions:  With a low incidence, and conservative treatment often being practised, the healthcare burden of treating facial fractures among the elderly in Malaysia is at present still low.
Relationship between sampling intensity and precision for estimating damage to maize caused by rodents
Authors: MULUNGU Loth S. , MAKUNDI Rhodes H. , MASSAWE Apia W. , LEIRS Herwig 
Published: October 2007

AbstractIn this study we aimed to determine the relationship between sampling intensity and precision for estimating rodent damage. We used the systematic row sampling technique to provide data to achieve precision and accuracy in estimations of rodent damage in maize fields at the planting and seedling stages. The actual rodent damage to maize in 15 fields, each 0.5 ha in size, in Morogoro, Tanzania, was established at the seedling stage. These data were used to simulate the sampling intensities that would provide precision and accuracy. The variations between estimates were plotted against the sampling intervals. The results of this study show that the relationship between average standardized variances and sampling intervals is linear. The heterogeneous distribution of damage in some plots caused variations in the accuracy of the estimates between plots, but a sampling interval of five rows consistently produced estimates with a variance of less than 10%. We provide a standard curve that will allow a decision to be made on the sampling intensity as a function of required precision using the systematic row sampling technique in maize fields.
Linking behavior, life history and food supply with the population dynamics of white‐footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus)
Authors: VESSEY Stephen H. , VESSEY Kristin B. 
Published: October 2007

AbstractIn this paper we review and integrate key aspects of behavioral and life history traits, food supply and population dynamics of the white‐footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus), a species that is abundant and widely distributed across much of eastern North America. Results are based largely on a 33‐year mark‐and‐recapture study in a forest fragment in northwest Ohio, USA. Behavioral plasticity in such reproductive traits as mating system and parental care allows this species to adjust quickly to changing environments. The species has a relatively “fast” life history, with rapid attainment of sexual maturity and high fecundity in the face of high mortality rates. Maximal reproductive effort early in life enables a rapid population response. Food supply, in the form of mast, determines the size of the reproducing population in early spring, which, in turn, influences the size of the late summer peak population. The peak population size is also affected by short‐term weather events possibly acting via the food supply. The effects of weather and food on population growth are in part mediated through competition, including defense of space and suppression of reproduction. The inelasticity of female territories appears to set an upper limit to population density.
Farmers' knowledge, attitudes, and practices with respect to rodent management in the upland and lowland farming systems of the Lao People's Democratic Republic
Authors: BROWN Peter R. , KHAMPHOUKEO Khamouane 
Published: October 2007

AbstractRodents are a serious constraint to poor farmers in the upland and lowland farming systems of the Lao People's Democratic Republic and have been described as the pest they have least control over. To better understand these problems a baseline survey of farmers was conducted to assess their knowledge, attitudes, and practices with respect to rodent management. A structured survey was conducted in 12 villages across Luang Namtha, Luang Prabang, and Houaphan provinces. Twenty farmers from each village were interviewed (a total of 240 farmers). Farmers noted that the main factor limiting production was pests (70%), with rats identified as the most important pest (98%). The mean yield loss was estimated at 19% (range 0–100%). Trapping and rodenticides were commonly used by farmers. Farmers believed that it was important to control rats and believed that rats could only be controlled if farmers worked together. However, 65% of farmers conducted rodent control by themselves, and 92% of farmers believed that rodenticides were harmful to the environment. The main constraints identified were the high cost of some control methods and the need to get farmers to work together as a community.
Rodent community structure in tropical forests in south Vietnam: comparative ecology of two dominant species and implications for conservation
Authors: KUZNETSOV German V. , FILATOVA Tatiana N. 
Published: October 2007

AbstractRodents were sampled using the capture‐mark‐recapture technique along transects in disturbed and undisturbed tropical forest in Cat Tien National Park in south Vietnam. The transects comprised two strata: traps were placed on the ground and in the canopy 2–12 m above the ground. At the main transect, which was 1500 m long and located in undisturbed forest, a total of 438 rodents (173 squirrels and 265 murids) of 12 different species (one Scuridae sp.; 11 Muridae spp.) were marked between January 2005 and January 2006. At this study site and at another undisturbed tropical forest site in the same area, two species dominated: the rat Maxomys surifer (Miller, 1900) and the squirrel Callosciurus flavimanus (Geoffroy, 1831). During the study period we observed no significant difference between the average abundances of the two species (4.67 ± 0.86 and 3.1 ± 0.85 individuals per 100 trap nights, respectively) or between the average proportions of resident squirrels and rats (60.0 ± 24.1 and 62.5 ± 11.5, respectively). The number of squirrels that were permanent residents (i.e. dwelling in the same habitat for 1 year) was eightfold the number of rats that were permanent residents. In addition, there was some synchrony in the daily capture dynamics of squirrels and of rats. We observed no significant difference in the total abundance of small mammals between the arboreal and ground strata. At two disturbed tropical forest sites in the same area, however, no such balance between squirrels and rats was observed, and the density of C. flavimanus was very low. We suggest that the relationship between these two dominant species can act as an indicator of the integrity of tropical forest ecosystems in south Vietnam.
A Potential Link from Damage Diagnostics to Health Prognostics of Composites through Built-in Sensors
Authors: Chang Fu-Kuo , Markmiller Johannes F. C. , Ihn Jeong-Beom , Cheng Kok Yen 
Published: October 2007

Abstract
This paper explores the potential of integration of damage diagnostics based on built-in sensors with a progressive failure modeling for monitoring and prediction of composite structures, from damage initiation to final failure while they are in service. A piezobased structural health monitoring system was utilized to monitor the damage initiation based on acoustic signals and to detect its growth based on ultrasonic waves generated by the piezoelectric sensors. Utilizing a damage index and an imaging algorithm, damage initiation and damage extent were estimated, respectively. A finite element code (ABAQUS) based on a progressive failure analysis was adopted to simulate damage initiation and propagation in composites under a given loading condition. The numerical data and the diagnostic images were compared to x-ray pictures of a test coupon to verify the results. The results of the study strongly indicate that damage diagnostics and health prognostics could potentially be integrated to produce a powerful tool for managing the operation of composite structures in service.
The Activation of Natural Killer Cell Effector Functions by Cetuximab-Coated, Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor–Positive Tumor Cells is Enhanced By Cytokines
Authors: Roda Julie M. , Joshi Trupti , Butchar Jonathan P. , McAlees Jaclyn W. , Lehman Amy , Tridandapani Susheela , Carson William E. 
Published: October 2007

Abstract
Purpose: Natural killer (NK) cells express an activating Fc receptor (FcγRIIIa) that mediates antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and production of immune modulatory cytokines in response to antibody-coated targets. Cetuximab is a therapeutic monoclonal antibody directed against the HER1 antigen. We hypothesized that the NK cell response to cetuximab-coated tumor cells could be enhanced by the administration of NK cell–stimulatory cytokines.
Experimental Design: Human NK cells stimulated with cetuximab-coated tumor cells and interleukin-2 (IL-2), IL-12, or IL-21 were assessed for ADCC and secretion of IFN-γ and T cell–recruiting chemokines. IL-21 and cetuximab were given to nude mice bearing HER1-positive xenografts.
Results: Stimulation of human NK cells with cetuximab-coated tumor cells and IL-2, IL-12, or IL-21 resulted in 3-fold to 10-fold higher IFN-γ production than was observed with either agent alone. NK cell–derived IFN-γ significantly enhanced monocyte ADCC against cetuximab-coated tumor cells. Costimulated NK cells also secreted elevated levels of chemokines (IL-8, macrophage inflammatory protein-1α, and RANTES) that could direct the migration of naive and activated T cells. IL-2, IL-12, and IL-21 enhanced NK cell ADCC against tumor cells treated with cetuximab. The combination of cetuximab, trastuzumab (an anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody), and IL-21 mediated greater NK cell cytokine secretion and ADCC than any agent alone. Furthermore, administration of IL-21 enhanced the effects of cetuximab in a murine tumor model.
Conclusions: These results show that cetuximab-mediated NK cell activity can be significantly enhanced in the presence of NK cell–stimulatory cytokines. These factors, therefore, may be effective adjuvants to administer, in combination with cetuximab, to patients with HER1-positive malignancies.
fMRI Activity Patterns in Human LOC Carry Information about Object Exemplars within Category
Authors: Eger Evelyn , Ashburner John , Haynes John-Dylan , Dolan Raymond J. , Rees Geraint 
Published: October 2007

Abstract
The lateral occipital complex (LOC) is a set of areas in the human occipito-temporal cortex responding to objects as opposed to low-level control stimuli. Conventional functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) analysis methods based on regional averages could not detect signals discriminative of different types of objects in this region. Here, we examined fMRI signals using multivariate pattern recognition (support vector classification) to systematically explore the nature of object-related information available in fine-grained activity patterns in the LOC. Distributed fMRI signals from the LOC allowed for above-chance discrimination not only of the category but also of within-category exemplars of everyday man-made objects, and such exemplar-specific information generalized across changes in stimulus size and viewpoint, particularly in posterior subregions. Object identity could also be predicted from responses of the early visual cortex, even significantly across the changes in size and viewpoint used here. However, a dissociation was observed between these two regions of interest in the degree of discrimination for objects relative to size: In the early visual cortex, two different sizes of the same object were even better discriminated than two different objects (in accordance with measures of pixelwise stimulus similarity), whereas the opposite was true in the LOC. These findings provide the first evidence that direct evoked fMRI activity patterns in the LOC can be different for individual object exemplars (within a single category). We propose that pattern recognition methods as used here may provide an alternative approach to study mechanisms of neuronal representation based on aspects of the fMRI response independent of those assessed in adaptation paradigms.
A Supposed Contradiction about Emotion-Arousal in Aristotle's Rhetoric
Authors: Dow Jamie 
Published: October 2007

AbstractAristotle, in the Rhetoric, appears to claim both that emotion-arousal has no place in the essential core of rhetorical expertise and that it has an extremely important place as one of three technical kinds of proof. This paper offers an account of how this apparent contradiction can be resolved. The resolution stems from a new understanding of what Rhetoric I.1 refers to – not emotions, but set-piece rhetorical devices aimed at manipulating emotions, which do not depend on the facts of the case in which they are deployed. This understanding is supported by showing how it fits with evidence for how rhetoric was actually taught in the fifth and fourth centuries BCE, in particular by rasymachus and Gorgias. The proposed interpretation fits well with Aristotle's overall view of the nature of rhetoric, the structure of rhetorical speeches, and what is and is not relevant to the pragma, the issue of the case at hand.
Minorities Within Minority: The Contribution of Lutheranism to the Richness of Inter-Ethnic Living Together in Transylvania (Romania)
Authors: Nagy Dorottya 
Published: October 2007

AbstractThis paper is a follow-up to a presentation given at the study-day 'Religion and Ethnicity in Transylvania' on the 17th of October 2006, organized by the section Kerkinactie of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands and Centrum IIMO (University of Utrecht). The article aims to present the positions and the functions of Lutheranism in the contemporary Transylvanian society. It formulates the thesis that Lutheranism in Transylvania has the potential for offering a major theological forum where inter-ethnic living together could be evaluated and explored with a responsibility and mission for the people of Transylvania which considers ethnic diversity not as maius malum but as maius bonum.
Estimating genealogies from linked marker data: a Bayesian approach
Authors: Gasbarra Dario , Pirinen Matti , Sillanpää Mikko J , Arjas Elja 
Published: October 2007

Abstract

Background
Answers to several fundamental questions in statistical genetics would ideally require knowledge of the ancestral pedigree and of the gene flow therein. A few examples of such questions are haplotype estimation, relatedness and relationship estimation, gene mapping by combining pedigree and linkage disequilibrium information, and estimation of population structure.

Results
We present a probabilistic method for genealogy reconstruction. Starting with a group of genotyped individuals from some population isolate, we explore the state space of their possible ancestral histories under our Bayesian model by using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling techniques. The main contribution of our work is the development of sampling algorithms in the resulting vast state space with highly dependent variables. The main drawback is the computational complexity that limits the time horizon within which explicit reconstructions can be carried out in practice.

Conclusion
The estimates for IBD (identity-by-descent) and haplotype distributions are tested in several settings using simulated data. The results appear to be promising for a further development of the method.
Wee1 kinase alters cyclin E/Cdk2 and promotes apoptosis during the early embryonic development of Xenopus laevis
Authors: Wroble Brian N , Finkielstein Carla V , Sible Jill C 
Published: October 2007

Abstract

Background
The cell cycles of the Xenopus laevis embryo undergo extensive remodeling beginning at the midblastula transition (MBT) of early development. Cell divisions 2–12 consist of rapid cleavages without gap phases or cell cycle checkpoints. Some remodeling events depend upon a critical nucleo-cytoplasmic ratio, whereas others rely on a maternal timer controlled by cyclin E/Cdk2 activity. One key event that occurs at the MBT is the degradation of maternal Wee1, a negative regulator of cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk) activity.

Results
In order to assess the effect of Wee1 on embryonic cell cycle remodeling, Wee1 mRNA was injected into one-cell stage embryos. Overexpression of Wee1 caused cell cycle delay and tyrosine phosphorylation of Cdks prior to the MBT. Furthermore, overexpression of Wee1 disrupted key developmental events that normally occur at the MBT such as the degradation of Cdc25A, cyclin E, and Wee1. Overexpression of Wee1 also resulted in post-MBT apoptosis, tyrosine phosphorylation of Cdks and persistence of cyclin E/Cdk2 activity. To determine whether Cdk2 was required specifically for the survival of the embryo, the cyclin E/Cdk2 inhibitor, Δ34-Xic1, was injected in embryos and also shown to induce apoptosis.

Conclusion
Taken together, these data suggest that Wee1 triggers apoptosis through the disruption of the cyclin E/Cdk2 timer. In contrast to Wee1 and Δ34-Xic1, altering Cdks by expression of Chk1 and Chk2 kinases blocks rather than promotes apoptosis and causes premature degradation of Cdc25A. Collectively, these data implicate Cdc25A as a key player in the developmentally regulated program of apoptosis in X. laevis embryos.
Nilotinib treatment in mouse models of P190 Bcr/Abl lymphoblastic leukemia
Authors: Kaur Pavinder , Feldhahn Niklas , Zhang Bin , Trageser Daniel , Müschen Markus , Pertz Veerle , Groffen John , Heisterkamp Nora 
Published: October 2007

Abstract

Background
Ph-positive leukemias are caused by the aberrant fusion of the BCR and ABL genes. Nilotinib is a selective Bcr/Abl tyrosine kinase inhibitor related to imatinib, which is widely used to treat chronic myelogenous leukemia. Because Ph-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia only responds transiently to imatinib therapy, we have used mouse models to test the efficacy of nilotinib against lymphoblastic leukemia caused by the P190 form of Bcr/Abl.

Results
After transplant of 10,000 highly malignant leukemic cells into compatible recipients, untreated mice succumbed to leukemia within 21 days, whereas mice treated with 75 mg/kg nilotinib survived significantly longer. We examined cells from mice that developed leukemia while under treatment for Bcr/Abl kinase domain point mutations but these were not detected. In addition, culture of such cells ex vivo showed that they were as sensitive as the parental cell line to nilotinib but that the presence of stromal support allowed resistant cells to grow out. Nilotinib also exhibited impressive anti-leukemia activity in P190 Bcr/Abl transgenic mice that had developed overt leukemia/lymphoma masses and that otherwise would have been expected to die within 7 days. Visible lymphoma masses disappeared within six days of treatment and leukemic cell numbers in peripheral blood were significantly reduced. Treated mice survived more than 30 days.

Conclusion
These results show that nilotinib has very impressive anti-leukemia activity but that lymphoblastic leukemia cells can become unresponsive to it both in vitro and in vivo through mechanisms that appear to be Bcr/Abl independent.