bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Sustainability practices of SMEs: the case of NZ
Authors: Lawrence S. R. , Collins E. , Pavlovich K. , Arunachalam M. 
Published: June 2006

AbstractWhile individually small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) may have small social, environmental and financial impacts, cumulatively their impact is significant. One of the fundamental questions is how a single economic entity, especially a small‐scale enterprise, can be engaged in the uptake of sustainability practices. This question is particularly pertinent to New Zealand, where 98% of enterprises are SMEs. In this paper questions are raised about the conventional models of ‘business ethics’ and accountability and their relevance to SMEs. The paper reports on actual practices and discusses the possibility of small enterprises having accountability for their social and environmental impacts. Ways of linking individual firm activities to sustainability, such as a communitarian model of accountability, are discussed and illustrated. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
Radiotherapy alone, versus radiotherapy with amifostine 3 times weekly, versus radiotherapy with amifostine 5 times weekly
Authors: Jellema Anke Petra , Slotman Ben J. , Muller Martin J. , Leemans C. Rene , Smeele Ludi E. , Hoekman Klaas , Aaronson Neil K. , Langendijk Johannes A. 
Published: June 2006

AbstractBACKGROUND.The main objective of this study was to investigate whether nondaily intravenous administration of amifostine was as effective as daily intravenous administration with regard to the reduction of the incidence of Grade 2 or greater xerostomia in patients with head and neck cancer.METHODS.Ninety‐one patients who received bilateral irradiation for head and neck cancer were included. Thirty patients received no amifostine (AMI‐0), 31 patients received amifostine at a dose of 200 mg/m2 3 times weekly (AMI‐3), and 30 patients received amifostine at a dose of 200 mg/m2 daily (5 times weekly) (AMI‐5). Acute and late xerostomia and quality of life (QOL) were assessed at baseline, 6 weeks later, and at 6‐month intervals from 6 months to 24 months postradiotherapy.RESULTS.Grade 2 or greater late xerostomia differed significantly at 6 months (AMI‐0 74% vs. AMI‐3 67% vs. AMI‐5 52%; P = .03), but not thereafter. During follow‐up, patient‐rated xerostomia deteriorated more in AMI‐0 patients (mean difference score:, 52 for AMI‐0 compared with 25 for AMI‐3, and 29 for AMI‐5; P = .01). Nausea and emesis were reported most frequently as side effect, but Grade 2 or greater toxicity was observed in only 4 patients. However, 28% of patients discontinued amifostine before the end of radiotherapy.CONCLUSIONS.Long‐term, patient‐rated xerostomia was less for the AMI‐3 and AMI‐5 groups through 2‐year follow‐up, but no difference was noted between the AMI‐3 and AMI‐5 groups. For late xerostomia according to the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group criteria, the same effect was observed at 6 months, but not thereafter. Cancer 2006. © 2006 American Cancer Society.
Long‐term effects of the treatment of polycythemia vera with recombinant interferon‐α
Authors: Silver Richard T. 
Published: June 2006

AbstractPatients with polycythemia vera (PV) are most often treated with phlebotomy‐only (PHL‐O) or phlebotomy plus hydroxyurea (PHL + HU). Such treatment is often unsatisfactory because of persistent susceptibility to thrombosis owing to inadequate control of abnormal erythropoiesis and thrombopoiesis. Recombinant interferon‐α (rIFNα) inhibits erythroid progenitors and affects megakaryocyte function and thus may be a more effective treatment, but reports of its use have been of relatively short duration. The long‐term use (median, 13 years) of rIFNα in 55 patients previously treated with PHL alone or with PHL + HU was studied. Data pertaining to the natural history of the disease were also examined. Patients achieved partial response of their disease by 6 months, and complete response by 1‐2 years (phlebotomy‐free, HCT ≤45%, platelets ≤600,000/μL); spleen size was reduced in 27 of 30 patients with prior splenomegaly. The initial dose of rIFNα was 1 mega unit 3 times a week (1 MU/tiw) for the majority of patients, with periodic dose increases as required and as tolerated. The maintenance dose, usually 3 MU/tiw, could be decreased after the second year of treatment in half the patients. Toxicity was acceptable. Disease‐free survival was marked by no thrombohemorrhagic complications reflecting both the effect of rIFNα and total patient care. Evidence is presented indicating that rIFNα effectively reduces PHL requirements, thrombocythemia, splenomegaly, and thrombohemorrhagic events. It is an effective drug for treating PV with acceptable toxicity. Cancer 2006. © 2006 American Cancer Society.
Impact of chemotherapy regimens prior to endocrine therapy
Authors: Buzdar Aman U. , Guastalla Jean‐Paul , Nabholtz Jean‐Marc , Cuzick Jack ,   on behalf of the ATAC Trialists' Group
Published: June 2006

AbstractBACKGROUND.The 33‐month median follow‐up of the ATAC (anastrozole and tamoxifen, alone or in combination) trial showed a potential interaction between anastrozole and previous chemotherapy; however, this was much smaller at 47 months' median follow‐up. When the effects of different chemotherapy regimens were evaluated at that time, the apparent interaction was limited to patients who had received cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and 5‐fluorouracil (CMF).METHODS.In this retrospective analysis of 68‐month data, we investigated the impact of prior chemotherapy, including different chemotherapy regimens, on time to recurrence. The chemotherapy regimens were 1) CMF only; 2) anthracycline‐containing regimens (anthracycline or anthracycline and CMF); and 3) other chemotherapy regimens, including taxane‐containing combinations.RESULTS.No evidence was found for an interaction between prior chemotherapy and anastrozole (hazard ratio [HR] 0.89 vs. 0.74 for those with or without prior chemotherapy, respectively; P = .21 for interaction). For those with prior chemotherapy, the HR of anastrozole when compared with that of tamoxifen shifted from 0.98 (95% confidence intervals [CI], 0.76–1.28) at 47 months' median follow‐up to 0.89 (95% CI, 0.71–1.12) at 68 months' median follow‐up and was closer to the overall treatment effect (HR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.70–0.90). No differences according to type of chemotherapy were seen, and a benefit for anastrozole was also now apparent for patients receiving prior CMF (HR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.63–1.24).CONCLUSIONS.On the basis of the 5‐year Completed Treatment Analysis, the ATAC trial does not indicate that the relative treatment benefits of anastrozole differ significantly between patients who received prior chemotherapy and those who did not. Cancer 2006. © 2006 American Cancer Society.
Role of chemotherapy for patients with recurrent platinum‐resistant advanced epithelial ovarian cancer
Authors: Rocconi Rodney P. , Case Ashley S. , Straughn J. Michael , Estes Jacob M. , Partridge Edward E. 
Published: June 2006

AbstractBACKGROUND.Current chemotherapy in platinum‐resistant ovarian cancer patients has demonstrated minimal to no improvements in survival. Despite the lack of benefit, significant resources are utilized with such therapies. Therefore, the objective in the current study was to assess the cost‐effectiveness of salvage chemotherapy for patients with platinum‐resistant epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC).METHODS.A decision analysis model evaluated a hypothetical cohort of 4000 platinum‐resistant patients with recurrent EOC. Several chemotherapy strategies were analyzed: 1) best supportive care (BSC); 2) second‐line chemotherapy‐monotherapy; 3) second‐line chemotherapy‐combination therapy; 4) third‐line chemotherapy after disease progression on second‐line monotherapy; and 5) third‐line chemotherapy after disease progression on second‐line combination therapy. Sensitivity analyses were performed on all pertinent uncertainties.RESULTS.Using costs alone, BSC was the only definitive cost‐effective treatment for platinum‐resistant recurrent ovarian cancer patients, and second‐line monotherapy was a reasonable cost‐effective strategy with an incremental cost‐effectiveness ratio (ICER) of $64,104. The cost‐effectiveness ranged from $4,065 per month of overall survival (OS) for BSC to $12,927 for third‐line previous combination therapy. Compared with BSC, second‐line monotherapy gained an additional 3 months of OS, with a cost‐effectiveness of $4,703 per month of OS. Second‐line combination therapy and third‐line therapies exhibited unfavorable ICER.CONCLUSIONS.The current decision analysis was intended to be thought‐provoking and bring awareness to the high costs of subsequent chemotherapy with limited effectiveness in patients with recurrent platinum‐resistant EOC. Although actual patients may receive multiple lines of chemotherapy, from the perspective of costs alone this model using a hypothetical cohort demonstrated that best supportive care was the only cost‐effective strategy, with second‐line monotherapy appearing to be a reasonable cost‐effective strategy given current chemotherapeutic options. Cancer 2006. © 2006 American Cancer Society.
Additional axillary metastases and stage migration in breast cancer patients with micrometastases or submicrometastases in sentinel lymph nodes
Authors: van Rijk Maartje C. , Peterse Johannes L. , Nieweg Omgo E. , Oldenburg Hester S. A. , Rutgers Emiel J. Th. , Kroon Bin B. R. 
Published: June 2006

AbstractBACKGROUND.In patients with breast cancer, micrometastases and submicrometastases are increasingly found in sentinel nodes when step sectioning and/or immunohistochemical staining are applied. The aims of the current study were to investigate the incidence of micro‐ and submicrometastases in the sentinel node, to estimate the risk of additional metastases in the remaining axillary lymph nodes, and to consider implications for staging and treatment.METHODS.A total of 2150 breast cancer patients who had undergone axillary sentinel node biopsy between 1999 and 2004 were retrospectively evaluated.RESULTS.In all, 649 patients (30%) had a tumor‐positive axillary sentinel node. Of these 649 patients, 148 had (23%) micrometastases and 105 (16%) submicrometastases. Of the 148 patients with micrometastases, 106 underwent axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) and additional metastases were found in 20 patients (19%). Sixteen (15%) had macrometastases and were upstaged. The other 4 patients had additional micrometastases. Seven of the 106 patients (7%) received additional systemic treatment based on the findings in the axillary lymph nodes. Fifty‐four of the 105 patients with submicrometastases underwent ALND. Two (4%) of them had additional macrometastases and were upstaged and 2 had additional micrometastases. None received additional treatment based on the ALND findings.CONCLUSIONS.Of the involved sentinel nodes, 23% contained micrometastases and 16% submicrometastases. Additional macrometastases were found in 15% and 4%, respectively, and treatment was altered in 7%. Based on these findings, offering additional treatment of the axilla is suggested in patients with micrometastases, but refraining from ALND in patients with submicrometastases in their sentinel node. Cancer 2006. © 2006 American Cancer Society.
Single‐Molecule Dynamic Triangulation
Authors: Plakhotnik Taras 
Published: June 2006

AbstractA proposal for using single molecules as nanoprobes capable of detecting the trajectory of an elementary charge is discussed in detail. Presented numerical simulations prove that this single‐molecule technique allows determination of a three‐dimensional single‐electron displacement within a few seconds with an accuracy better than 0.006 nm. Surprisingly, this significantly exceeds the accuracy with which the probe molecule itself can be localized (given the same measuring time) by means of single‐molecule microscopy. It is also shown that the optimal concentration of probe molecules in the vicinity of the electron (i.e. the concentration which provides the best accuracy of the inferred electron displacement) is of the order of 10−5 m.
Subpopulations of motor and sensory neurons respond differently to brain‐derived neurotrophic factor depending on the presence of the skeletal muscle
Authors: Geddes Allison J. , Angka Heather E. , Davies Kimberley A. , Kablar Boris 
Published: June 2006

AbstractThe aim of our study was to assess the ability of brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) to rescue motor and sensory neurons from programmed cell death. It is clearly demonstrated that the administration of a single injection of a putative neurotrophic factor to mouse embryos in utero on embryonic day (E) 14.5 is sufficient to significantly reduce the death of motor neurons when assessed on E18.5. However, the trophic requirements of somatic neurons have not been unequivocally determined in a mammalian species in vivo. Indeed, the unexpectedly high numbers of surviving neurons observed in neurotrophin and tyrosine kinase receptor knockout mice are probably the consequence of functional redundancy between the neurotrophins and their receptors. We studied spinal cord and facial motor nucleus neurons and proprioceptive neurons in the dorsal root ganglion and mesencephalic nucleus. The action of BDNF was assessed in wild‐type fetuses to gain insight into its ability to rescue neurons from naturally occurring programmed cell death. In addition, we used Myf5−/−:MyoD−/− embryos, which completely lack skeletal musculature, to assess the ability of BDNF to rescue neurons from excessively occurring programmed cell death. We found that BDNF differentially rescued neurons from naturally vs. excessively occurring cell death and that its ability to do so varied among neuronal subpopulations. Developmental Dynamics 235:2175–2184, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Sema3D and Sema7A have distinct expression patterns in chick embryonic development
Authors: Bao Zheng‐Zheng , Jin Zhe 
Published: June 2006

AbstractBy RT‐PCR, we isolated a partial cDNA clone for the chick Semaphorin7A (Sema7A) gene. We further analyzed its expression patterns and compared them with those of the Sema3D gene, in chick embryonic development. Sema3D and Sema7A appeared to be expressed in distinct cell populations. In mesoderm‐derived structures, Sema7A expression was detected in the newly formed somites, whereas Sema3D expression was found in the notochord. In ectoderm‐derived tissues, Sema3D is expressed broadly in the surface ectoderm, lens and nasal placodes. Sema3D is also expressed in the developing nervous system including diencephalon, dorsal neural tube, optical and otic vesicles. In the limb bud, Sema3D expression was found throughout the ectoderm excluding the apical ectoderm ridge (AER), where Sema7A is concentrated. Although both genes appeared to be expressed in the migrating neural crest cells, Sema3D expression is limited to neural crest cells migrating out of the midbrain/hindbrain regions, while Sema7A expression is widespread in both cranial and trunk neural crest cells. Developmental Dynamics 235:2282–2289, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Composition of the concrete, absolute, headspace and essential oil of the flowers of Michelia champaca Linn.
Authors: Rout Prasant K. , Naik S. N. , Rao Y. R. 
Published: June 2006

AbstractExtraction of fresh flowers of Michelia champaca L. with pentane afforded the concrete in 1.5 ± 0.05% yield. Precipitating the waxes from the concrete with methanol gave absolute (80%). Distillation of the flowers in a Clevenger‐type apparatus furnished the essential oil in 0.03% yield. The chemical composition of the concrete, absolute and essential oil were determined by GC and GC–MS and compared. The headspace volatile composition of flowers while still attached to the branch of the tree and after plucking was determined by solid phase micro‐extraction on PDMS fibre and these results are also presented. Interestingly, the concrete and absolute contained a much smaller amount of sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, which constitute more than 60% in the headspace. Most of the esters present in the concrete and absolute are not present in the essential oil, which on the other hand contains several monoterpene hydrocarbons not isolated from the pentane extract. The sesquiterpenes detected in the headspace are present in the essential oil. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Contrasting multi‐site genotypic distributions among discordant quantitative phenotypes: the APOA1/C3/A4/A5 gene cluster and cardiovascular disease risk factors
Authors: Payseur Bret A. , Clark Andrew G. , Hixson James , Boerwinkle Eric , Sing Charles F. 
Published: June 2006

AbstractMost tests of association between DNA sequence variation and quantitative phenotypes in samples of randomly chosen individuals rely on specification of genotypic strata followed by comparison of phenotypes across these strata. This strategy often succeeds when phenotypic differences are caused by one or two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) among the surveyed markers. However, when multiple‐SNP haplotypes account for observed phenotypic variation, identification of the best partitioning requires examination of an inordinate number of SNP combinations. An alternative approach is to rank individuals by their phenotypic measures and ask whether attributes of the genotypic variation show a non‐random distribution along this phenotypic ranking. One simple version of this strategy selects the top and bottom tails of the distribution, and then tests whether genotypes from these two samples are drawn from a single population. This framework does not require the recovery of phased haplotypes and allows contrasts between large numbers of sites at once. We use a method based on this approach to identify associations between plasma triglyceride level, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and multi‐site genotypes located in the APOA1/C3/A4/A5 cluster of apolipoprotein genes in unrelated individuals (1,071 African‐American females, 780 African‐American males, 1,036 European‐American females, and 930 European‐American males) sampled from four US cities as part of the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study. Method performance is investigated using simulations that model genealogical variation and different genetic architectures. Results indicate that this multi‐site test can identify genotype‐phenotype associations with reasonable power, including those generated by some simple epistatic models. Genet. Epidemiol. 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Stratified false discovery control for large‐scale hypothesis testing with application to genome‐wide association studies
Authors: Sun Lei , Craiu Radu V. , Paterson Andrew D. , Bull Shelley B. 
Published: June 2006

AbstractThe multiplicity problem has become increasingly important in genetic studies as the capacity for high‐throughput genotyping has increased. The control of False Discovery Rate (FDR) (Benjamini and Hochberg. [1995] J. R. Stat. Soc. Ser. B 57:289–300) has been adopted to address the problems of false positive control and low power inherent in high‐volume genome‐wide linkage and association studies. In many genetic studies, there is often a natural stratification of the m hypotheses to be tested. Given the FDR framework and the presence of such stratification, we investigate the performance of a stratified false discovery control approach (i.e. control or estimate FDR separately for each stratum) and compare it to the aggregated method (i.e. consider all hypotheses in a single stratum). Under the fixed rejection region framework (i.e. reject all hypotheses with unadjusted p‐values less than a pre‐specified level and then estimate FDR), we demonstrate that the aggregated FDR is a weighted average of the stratum‐specific FDRs. Under the fixed FDR framework (i.e. reject as many hypotheses as possible and meanwhile control FDR at a pre‐specified level), we specify a condition necessary for the expected total number of true positives under the stratified FDR method to be equal to or greater than that obtained from the aggregated FDR method. Application to a recent Genome‐Wide Association (GWA) study by Maraganore et al. ([2005] Am. J. Hum. Genet. 77:685–693) illustrates the potential advantages of control or estimation of FDR by stratum. Our analyses also show that controlling FDR at a low rate, e.g. 5% or 10%, may not be feasible for some GWA studies. Genet. Epidemiol. 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Particle beam radiotherapy for head and neck tumors: Radiobiological basis and clinical experience
Authors: Jereczek‐Fossa Barbara Alicja , Krengli Marco , Orecchia Roberto 
Published: June 2006

AbstractBackground.Head and neck tumors are often located near critical organs, making it impossible to deliver a dose of conventional radiotherapy high enough to eradicate the disease. Our aim was to review the potential benefits and available clinical experience of particle beam therapy (hadrontherapy) in the treatment of these tumors.Methods.A review of the literature was carried out through a MEDLINE search (publications between 1980 and 2005).Results.A review of the available clinical data shows that particle beam therapy can offer several radiobiological and physical advantages over conventional photon radiotherapy: improved dose distribution permits dose escalation within the target and optimal sparing of normal tissue. Preclinical and clinical studies suggest that there may be benefits to using hadrontherapy for tumors characterized by poor radiosensitivity and critical location. At present, the most used hadrons are protons and, as yet on an experimental basis, carbon ions. It is now well accepted that there are certain indications for using proton therapy for skull base tumors (chordoma and chondrosarcoma), paranasal sinus carcinomas, selected nasopharyngeal tumors, and neutron/ion therapy for salivary gland carcinomas (in particular, adenoid cystic tumors). Its viability in other cases, such as locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma, melanoma, soft tissue sarcoma, and bone sarcoma, is still under investigation.Conclusions.Hadrontherapy can be beneficial in the treatment of tumors characterized by poor radiosensitivity and critical location. Further clinical and radiobiological studies are warranted for improved selection of patient population. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 2006
Photoinduced Formation of Reactive Oxygen Species from the Acid Form of 6‐(Hydroxymethyl)pterin in Aqueous Solution
Authors: Thomas Andrés H. , Cabrerizo Romina , Vignoni Mariana , Erra‐Balsells Rosa , Cabrerizo Franco M. , Capparelli Alberto L. 
Published: June 2006

AbstractThe photochemistry of 6‐(hydroxymethyl)pterin (HPT; 1) in aqueous solution (pH 5–6) was investigated by irradiation at 350 nm at room temperature. The photochemical reactions of the acidic form 1a were followed by UV/VIS spectrophotometry, thin‐layer chromatography (TLC), high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and enzymatic methods for the determination of the superoxide anion radical (O$\rm{_2^{ \bullet - } }$) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). When 1a is exposed to UV‐A radiation, the intermediates 4 and 4′ are formed reacting with O2 to yield 6‐formylpterin (FPT; 5) and 6‐carboxypterin (CPT; 6) under formation of O$\rm{_2^{ \bullet - } }$ and H2O2 (Scheme 3). The quantum yields of the disappearance of HPT (1a) and of the formation of the photoproducts 5 and 6 were determined. HPT was investigated for its efficiency in singlet‐oxygen (1O2) production in acidic aqueous solution. The corresponding quantum yield of 1O2 production (ΦΔ) was 0.15 ± 0.02, as measured by the 1O2 luminescence in the near‐IR (1270 nm) upon continuous excitation of the sensitizer. However, 1O2 does not participate in the actual photooxidation of HPT (1a) to FPT (5) and CPT (6).