bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Atherosclerosis Pathophysiology and the Role of Novel Risk Factors: A Clinicobiochemical Perspective
Authors: Mallika V. , Goswami Binita , Rajappa Medha 
Published: November 2007

Atherosclerosis is the root cause of the biggest killer of the 21st century. Mechanisms contributing to atherogenesis are multiple and complex. A number of theories—including the role of dyslipidemia, hypercoagulability, oxidative stress, endothelial dysfunction, and inflammation and infection by certain pathogens—have been propounded from time to time explain this complex phenomenon. Recently it has been suggested that atherosclerosis is a multifactorial, multistep disease that involves chronic inflammation at every step, from initiation to progression, and that all the risk factors contribute to pathogenesis by aggravating the underlying inflammatory process. A better understanding of the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis will aid in devising pharmaceutical and lifestyle modifications for reducing mortality resulting from coronary artery disease (CAD). A comprehensive literature search was conducted using the Web sites of the National Library of Medicine (http:// www.ncbl.nlm.nih.gov/) and PubMed Central, the US National Library of Medicine's digital archive of life sciences literature (http:// www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/). The data were accessed from books and journals in which relevant articles in this field were published. The whole spectrum of coronary artery disease evolves through various events that lead to the formation and progression of atherosclerotic plaque and finally its complications. Atherosclerosis is the culprit behind coronary artery disease, cerebral vascular disease, and peripheral vascular disease. The pathogenic mechanisms are varied and complex. Of late, the role of lipoprotein (a), homocysteine, and inflammation and infection as prime culprits in pathogenesis of CAD is the subject of intense research and debate. The appreciation of the role of inflammation in atherosclerosis provides a mechanistic framework to understand the clinical benefits of newer therapeutic strategies, and a better understanding of pathogenesis aids in formulating preventive and therapeutic strategies in reducing mortality resulting from CAD. An in-depth knowledge of the various pathogenic mechanisms involved in atherosclerosis can help in substantiating the current existing knowledge about the CAD epidemic. This knowledge will help clinicians to better manage the disease, which affects Indians in its most severe form.
4-1BB regulates NKG2D costimulation in human cord blood CD8+ T cells
Authors: Kim Young-June , Han Myung-Kwan , Broxmeyer Hal E. 
Published: November 2007

AbstractLigation of NKG2D, a potent costimulatory receptor, can be either beneficial or detrimental to CD8+ cytotoxic T cell (CTL) responses. Factors for these diverse NKG2D effects remain elusive. In this study, we demonstrate that 4-1BB, another costimulatory receptor, is an essential regulator of NKG2D in CD8+ T cells. Costimulation of NKG2D caused down-modulation of NKG2D, but induced 4-1BB expression on the cell surface, even in the presence of TGF-β1, which inhibits 4-1BB expression. Resulting NKG2D−4-1BB+ cells were activated but still in an immature state with low cytotoxic activity. However, subsequent 4-1BB costimulation induced cytotoxic activity and restored down-modulated NKG2D. The cytotoxic activity and NKG2D expression induced by 4-1BB on NKG2D+4-1BB+ cells were refractory to TGF-β1 down-modulation. Such 4-1BB effects were enhanced by IL-12. In contrast, in the presence of IL-4, 4-1BB effects were abolished because IL-4 down-modulated NKG2D and 4-1BB expression in cooperation with TGF-β1, generating another CD8+ T-cell type lacking both NKG2D and 4-1BB. These NKG2D−4-1BB− cells were inert and unable to gain cytotoxic activity. Our results suggest that 4-1BB plays a critical role in protecting NKG2D from TGF-β1–mediated down-modulation. Co-expression of NKG2D and 4-1BB may represent an important biomarker for defining competency of tumor infiltrating CD8+ T cells.
Analysis of molecular inversion probe performance for allele copy number determination
Authors: Wang Yuker , Moorhead Martin , Karlin-Neumann George , Wang Nicholas J , Ireland James , Lin Steven , Chen Chunnuan , Heiser Laura M , Chin Koei , Esserman Laura , Gray Joe W , Spellman Paul T , Faham Malek 
Published: November 2007

AbstractWe have developed a new protocol for using molecular inversion probes to accurately and specifically measure allele copy number. The new protocol provides for significant improvements, including the reduction of input DNA (from 2 μg) by more than 25-fold (to 75 ng total genomic DNA), higher overall precision resulting in one order of magnitude lower false positive rate, and greater dynamic range with accurate absolute copy number up to 60 copies.
Some Determinants of Variations in Expenditure on Secondary Education
Authors: Jesson David , Gray John , Ranson Stewart , Jones Ben 
Published: November 2007

The claims of educational expenditure on the public purse are large and, until recently, have been growing. In a period of increased concern for accountability in the public sector it is not surprising to find attention increasingly directed to this rather neglected aspect of the education service.
Two recent publications by the Department of Education and Science, under the title ‘School Standards and Spending’ (DES, 1983, 1984), have addressed what has become the central issue in the current debate: ‘how do the examination results an LEA obtains relate to the spending it incurs on secondary education?’ Both bulletins analyse the examination results of the 96 LEAs in England, but find ‘no clear relationship between these and expenditure’. Other contributors to the debate have, however, been less cautious in their publications of findings which, while agreeing in general with the DES’s finding of ‘little or no relationship’ between examination results and spending, turn this into an attack on the very idea of variability in education expenditure unless it seen to be related to examination success. Thus in their book Standards in English schools Marks, Cox, et al. (1983) asserted that ‘more teachers and more money spent per pupil do not necessarily lead to better examination results’; whilst Lord (1984) claimed that ‘the more spending the worse were the results’.
The Languages of Role: Treasurers in UK Local Governments
Authors: Rosenberg D. 
Published: November 2007

‘Local policy makers for the most part act as if their localities were self contained. They perceive their environment as bounded though not of course as impermeable. It is for them a field of vision, expectation and action.’ (Young and Kramer, 1978).

The ‘assumptive worlds’ of local government strategic actors have been noted and recognised but rarely studied. Young has argued that the roots of these tactics to manage the interorganisational environment and the complementary local policy nexus are located in the local policy makers’ understanding of their local worlds and multiple realities (Young, 1977). This paper is an attempt to investigate particular aspects of the ‘assumptive worlds’ of Treasurers and their organisational relationships with politicians and Chief Officers. Empirical data taken from relatively unstructured interviews with Treasurers in a variety of local authorities will be selectively used to illustrate the multi faceted realities of such officers and the relationship this has to the emerging policy process. The language or languages of Treasurers are both pragmatic and symbolic — both levels will be noted.
Dunleavy is one of the very few political scientists to comment on the socialisation and role politics of Treasurers.
Measuring Performance: A New System for the National Health Service
Authors: Pollitt Christopher 
Published: November 2007

On 22nd September 1983 the Department of Health and Social Security issued the first national package of ‘performance indicators’ to the 14 Regional Health Authorities (RHAs) and 192 District Health Authorities (DHAs) which make up the National Health Service in England. Introducing this central government initiative, the junior minister said that it gave ‘local managers, for the first time, the facility to compare local performance with what is happening elsewhere in the NHS’ (Department of Health and Social Security 1983). The DHSS also set up a DHSS/NHS Joint Working Party on Performance Indicators, which at the time of writing has still to produce its recommendations for developing the present indicator set.
After only one year’s experience of the new system, any judgements must of necessity be tentative. This paper is based on correspondence with more than 100 of the 207 Regional and District Health Authorities (hereafter RHAs and DHAs), supplemented by a literature search and a dozen lengthy interviews with District Administrators and other officials with significant roles in the 1983 initiative.
Problems in Administering Community Policing: Some Lessons from Implementation Analysis
Authors: Gill Martin , Thrasher Michael 
Published: November 2007

Research focusing on policing is a relatively new phenomenon. Studies purporting to discuss the role of police in society (Alderson 1979; Banton 1973; Cain 1973; Holdaway 1979 and 1983; Whitaker 1979) have pursued that objective without adequately discussing what the term means. Even within the police force itself there remains dispute over the definition of policing (Jones 1980) and since the Police Act of 1829 there has been little examination of the concept. Studies of the community, however, are well documented but the problem here is that the numerous definitions (Hillary 1955) have caused Stacey (1969) to consider it ‘a non concept’ and Halsey to argue that community, ‘has so many meanings as to be meaningless’ (Halsey 1978, p. 149). Ironically, two such vague concepts as community and policing have been used as a descriptive term for one style of policing in modern British society.
This vagueness appears to have affected research on community policing. The literature has tended to analyse various community policing schemes (Brown 1982; Moore and Brown 1981; Schaffer 1980) without either starting with, or arriving at, a precise definition of the concept.
Implementation of Social Goals in Labour Market Policy: The Case of Black Youth, Equal Opportunities and the Youth Training Scheme
Authors: Means Robin , Burton Paul , Davies Tom , Fenton Steve 
Published: November 2007

The research reported briefly in this article attempted to explore further the relationship between the implementation of social goals in employment policy, the operation of segmentation in the labour market, and the fate of members of so-called ‘ethnic minorities’ in the labour market.
Previous research had suggested that social goals in labour market policy were very difficult to defend against the power of economic efficiency criteria, which seemed to penetrate the implementation apparatus at all stages. These efficiency criteria appeared to express themselves in a set of values about people in the labour market, shared by employers, labour market agencies, and even workers themselves. The values, which could change as the structure of the labour market changed, justified workers’ relative position and chances in the labour market, and worked through a series of changing stereotypes, related to achievement, to gender, to age, to race and so on.
This process appeared to underpin the structure which have been identified in labour market literature as ‘segments', which are constantly changing as restructuring continues, but which can be crudely represented as dividing labour forces up into those who achieve relatively high rewards, and those who achieve relatively low rewards.
The State at one Remove: Examples of Agency Arrangements and Regulatory Powers in Social Policy
Authors: Bolderson Helen 
Published: November 2007

A major boundary change took place in social policy when Statutory Sick Pay replaced Sickness Benefit. When proposed in 1980, it met with much resistance from interest groups but since its introduction in 1983, relatively little attention has been paid to it. This paper argues that there are implications which need to be examined when a shift takes place from welfare state provision to welfare society provision in which the emphasis is on an interlocking of public and private sector arrangements.
There are numerous ways in which the State and private sectors operate either separately or together in the provision of welfare. They range from those in which the State has a monopoly, as is the case for example in supplementary benefits, to those in which it is dominant but co-exists with a separate private sector, as in the case of the National Health Service or education, to those where there are partnership arrangements as for example, between State and occupational pensions, through to those where State provision is devolved to other agencies or where the role of the State is to regulate private provision.
The Politics of Transportation and Disposal: hazardous and nuclear waste issues in Colorado, US.
Authors: Kirby Andrew , Jacob Gerald 
Published: November 2007

In August 1985, a leakage of aldicarb oxime affected approximately 150 residents living within a ten mile radius of a Union Carbide plant located in Institute, West Virginia. The moderately hazardous chemical is used in the manufacture of methyl isocyanate, which leaked from another Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India in December 1984, killing over 2,500 people. Subsequent studies have revealed that MIC also leaked from the West Virginia plant on 28 occasions between 1980 and 1984. The most recent leakage follows attempts to improve the factory’s safety record and emergency procedures; these notwithstanding, it is reported that there still exist five separate emergency preparedness plans covering the plant, to be administered by different local, state and federal authorities, and the plant itself (Makris, 1985).
The Bhopal disaster has indicated the full extent to which toxic products can destroy the health or lives of individuals who find themselves in proximity to a chemical accident. Although studies have indicated that many respondents are typically more concerned by nuclear issues (Macgill, 1983), there is little question that products like dioxins pose a serious threat to large number of workers, those who live in affected areas, and those who use the highways or live in proximity to routes being used by chemical manufacturers.
Adrenomedullin Blood Concentrations in Infants Subjected to Cardiopulmonary Bypass: Correlation with Monitoring Parameters and Prediction of Poor Neurological Outcome
Authors: Florio Pasquale , Abella Raul , Marinoni Emanuela , Di Iorio Romolo , Letizia Claudio , Meli Marco , de la Torre Teresa , Petraglia Felice , Cazzaniga Alessandro , Giamberti Alessandro , Frigiola Alessandro , Gazzolo Diego 
Published: November 2007

Abstract
Background: Brain injury is a major adverse event after cardiac surgery, especially when extracorporeal circuits are used. We evaluated whether cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) affects cerebrovascular resistance and plasma concentrations of adrenomedullin (AM), a vasoactive peptide regulating cerebral blood flow.
Methods: We evaluated 50 infants (age &lt;1 year) with congenital heart defects, matched according to a 2-year follow-up; 40 infants had no overt neurological injury, and 10 had brain damage. Blood samples were taken before surgery, during surgery before CPB, at the end of CPB, at the end of surgery, and at 12 h after surgery. Neurological outcome was evaluated before surgery, on postoperative day 7, and 2 years after surgery. We measured AM concentrations and used Doppler velocimetry to measure middle cerebral artery (MCA) pulsatility index (PI).
Results: The highest MCA PI values and lowest AM concentrations occurred at the end of CPB and of the surgical procedure. Infants who developed abnormal neurologic sequelae had significantly (P &lt;0.001 for both) higher MCA PI values and lower AM concentrations than patients with normal neurologic outcome at the end of CPB and after surgery. As single markers for predicting neurological abnormalities, AM (cutoff: 17.4 ng/L) achieved a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 73.0% and MCA PI (cutoff value: 1.8) a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 56.8%.
Conclusions: AM concentrations and MCA PI patterns change during CPB, mainly in infants with brain damage, and may be useful for early identification of infants at risk for brain damage.
SELDI-TOF MS Whole Serum Proteomic Profiling with IMAC Surface Does Not Reliably Detect Prostate Cancer
Authors: McLerran Dale , Grizzle William E , Feng Ziding , Thompson Ian M , Bigbee William L , Cazares Lisa H , Chan Daniel W , Dahlgren Jackie , Diaz Jose , Kagan Jacob , Lin Daniel W , Malik Gunjan , Oelschlager Denise , Partin Alan , Randolph Timothy W , Sokoll Lori , Srivastava Shiv , Srivastava Sudhir , Thornquist Mark , Troyer Dean , Wright George L , Zhang Zhen , Zhu Liu , Semmes O John 
Published: November 2007

AbstractBackground: The analysis of bodily fluids using SELDI-TOF MS has been reported to identify signatures of spectral peaks that can be used to differentiate patients with a specific disease from normal or control patients. This report is the 2nd of 2 companion articles describing a validation study of a SELDI-TOF MS approach with IMAC surface sample processing to identify prostatic adenocarcinoma.Methods: We sought to derive a decision algorithm for classification of prostate cancer from SELDI-TOF MS spectral data from a new retrospective sample cohort of 400 specimens. This new cohort was selected to minimize possible confounders identified in the previous study described in the companion paper.Results: The resulting new classifier failed to separate patients with prostate cancer from biopsy-negative controls; nor did it separate patients with prostate cancer with Gleason scores &lt;7 from those with Gleason scores ≥7.Conclusions: In this, the 2nd stage of our planned validation process, the SELDI-TOF MS–based protein expression profiling approach did not perform well enough to advance to the 3rd (prospective study) stage. We conclude that the results from our previous studies—in which differentiation between prostate cancer and noncancer was demonstrated—are not generalizable. Earlier study samples likely had biases in sample selection that upon removal, as in the present study, resulted in inability of the technique to discriminate cancer from noncancer cases.
Variability of Serial Lipoprotein-Associated Phospholipase A2 Measurements in Post–Myocardial Infarction Patients: Results from the AIRGENE Study Center Augsburg
Authors: Khuseyinova Natalie , Greven Sonja , Rückerl Regina , Trischler Gerlinde , Loewel Hannelore , Peters Annette , Koenig Wolfgang 
Published: November 2007

Abstract
Background: Of the numerous emerging biomarkers for coronary heart disease (CHD), lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2), an enzyme involved in lipid metabolism and inflammatory pathways, seems to be a promising candidate. Implementation of Lp-PLA2 measurement into clinical practice, however, requires data on the reliability of such measurements.
Methods: We measured Lp-PLA2 concentrations by ELISA in blood samples drawn from 200 post–myocardial infarction patients (39–76 years) at 6 monthly intervals between May 2003 and February 2004, for a total of 1143 samples. We estimated analytical, within-individual, and between-individual variation, the critical difference, and the intraclass correlation coefficient of reliability (ICC) to assess the reliability of serial Lp-PLA2 measurements.
Results: The mean (SD) plasma Lp-PLA2 concentration for the study participants was 188.7 (41.8) μg/L, with no significant difference between men and women. The analytical CV for Lp-PLA2 was 4.4%, the within-individual biological CV was 15%, and the between-individual CV was 22%. The ICC was 0.66. An important part of the total variation in plasma Lp-PLA2 concentration was explained by the between-individual variation (as a percentage of the total variance, 66.1%), whereas the within-individual variance was 31.3%. The analytical variance was as low as 2.6%.
Conclusions: Between-individual variation in Lp-PLA2 concentration was substantially greater than within-individual variation. In general, our data demonstrate considerable stability and good reproducibility of serial Lp-PLA2 measurements, results that compared favorably with those for the more commonly measured lipid markers.
Statistical Evaluation of Prognostic versus Diagnostic Models: Beyond the ROC Curve
Authors: Cook Nancy R 
Published: November 2007

Abstract
Background: Diagnostic and prognostic or predictive models serve different purposes. Whereas diagnostic models are usually used for classification, prognostic models incorporate the dimension of time, adding a stochastic element.
Content: The ROC curve is typically used to evaluate clinical utility for both diagnostic and prognostic models. This curve assesses how well a test or model discriminates, or separates individuals into two classes, such as diseased and nondiseased. A strong risk predictor, such as lipids for cardiovascular disease, may have limited impact on the area under the curve, called the AUC or c-statistic, even if it alters predicted values. Calibration, measuring whether predicted probabilities agree with observed proportions, is another component of model accuracy important to assess. Reclassification can directly compare the clinical impact of two models by determining how many individuals would be reclassified into clinically relevant risk strata. For example, adding high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and family history to prediction models for cardiovascular disease using traditional risk factors moves approximately 30% of those at intermediate risk levels, such as 5%–10% or 10%–20% 10-year risk, into higher or lower risk categories, despite little change in the c-statistic. A calibration statistic can asses how well the new predicted values agree with those observed in the cross-classified data.
Summary: Although it is useful for classification, evaluation of prognostic models should not rely solely on the ROC curve, but should assess both discrimination and calibration. Risk reclassification can aid in comparing the clinical impact of two models on risk for the individual, as well as the population.
Extreme gravitational lensing in vicinity of Schwarzschild-de Sitter black holes
Authors: Bakala Pavel , Čermák Petr , Hledík Stanislav , Stuchlík Zdeněk , Truparová Kamila 
Published: November 2007

AbstractWe have developed a realistic, fully general relativistic computer code to simulate optical projection in a strong, spherically symmetric gravitational field. The standard theoretical analysis of optical projection for an observer in the vicinity of a Schwarzschild black hole is extended to black hole spacetimes with a repulsive cosmological constant, i.e, Schwarzschild-de Sitterspacetimes. Influence of the cosmological constant is investigated for static observers and observers radially free-falling from the static radius. Simulations include effects of the gravitational lensing, multiple images, Doppler and gravitational frequency shift, as well as the intensity amplification. The code generates images of the sky for the static observer and a movie simulations of the changing sky for the radially free-falling observer. Techniques of parallel programming are applied to get a high performance and a fast run of the BHC simulation code.