bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Genetic variation in platelet integrin αIIbβ3 (GPIIb/IIIa) and the metastatic potential of renal cell carcinoma
Authors: KALLIO JUKKA P. , MIKKELSSON JUSSI , TAMMELA TEUVO L.J. , KARHUNEN PEKKA J. , KELLOKUMPU‐LEHTINEN PIRKKO 
Published: June 2006

OBJECTIVETo explore whether genetic polymorphisms in platelet receptors known to be associated with platelet activity have any association with haematogenous metastases in renal cell carcinoma (RCC), as platelets and their fibrinogen receptors may be central to haematogenous cancer spread, in addition to various adhesive proteins on both platelets and tumour cells on themselves.PATIENTS AND METHODSThe glycoprotein αIIbβ3 (GPIIb/IIIa) is the main fibrinogen receptor on platelets, with GPIb‐IX‐V and GPIa/IIa being the von Willebrand Factor and collagen receptors, respectively. In a cross‐sectional survey of 128 men treated for RCC (55 with disseminated disease and 73 with a local disease), they were genotyped using DNA extracted from freshly drawn blood, and central clinical data were recorded.RESULTSThe frequency of possessing the GPIIIaPlA2 allele among patients with metastatic RCC was 43.6%, and with local disease was 24.7% (P = 0.024). The frequencies of the different alleles of the GIB‐IX‐V, C3550T and GPIa/IIa C807T polymorphisms did not differ between the groups. In a stepwise logistic regression (metastatic vs local RCC) the PlA2 allele remained a significant risk factor, with an odds ratio of 2.7 (95% confidence interval, 1.1–6.5; P = 0.02).CONCLUSIONThe prothrombotic PlA2 allele of platelet fibrinogen receptor GPIIb/IIIa increased the risk of metastases in RCC in men.
Pathological changes of high‐grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia and prostate cancer after monotherapy with bicalutamide 150 mg
Authors: SCATTONI VINCENZO , MONTIRONI RODOLFO , MAZZUCCHELLI ROBERTA , FRESCHI MASSIMO , NAVA LUCIANO , LOSA ANDREA , TERRONE CARLO , SCARPA ROBERTO M. , MONTORSI FRANCESCO , PAPPAGALLO GIOVANNI , RIGATTI PATRIZIO 
Published: June 2006

OBJECTIVESTo evaluate the morphological changes induced by a 3‐month course of neoadjuvant bicalutamide 150 mg/day before radical prostatectomy (RP) on prostatic adenocarcinoma and high‐grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN).PATIENTS AND METHODSIn all, 90 patients with cT1–T2 prostate cancer and HGPIN on prostatic biopsy were randomized to receive bicalutamide (150 mg/day for 3 months) before RP, or to have immediate surgery. Surgical specimens were assessed for the histopathological features of cancer, HGPIN and benign epithelium in a blinded manner. The volumes of prostate cancer and HGPIN were evaluated using a stereological (i.e. grid) method.RESULTSCompared with the bicalutamide‐treated group, the ratio of stroma to epithelium, evaluated by visual microscopic assessment in the normal epithelium of the three prostate zones, was significantly lower in the control group, at 2.27 (sd 1.13), than in the treated group, at 1.87 (sd 0.72) (P = 0.048). The mean (sd) tumour volume was significantly lower in the bicalutamide‐treated than in the control group, at 0.914 (0.13) vs 1.47 (0.24) mL (P = 0.044). Similarly, the mean (sd) volume of HGPIN was significantly lower in the bicalutamide‐treated than in the control group, at 0.34 (0.06) vs 0.62 (0.07) mL (P = 0.003). At RP, specimen Gleason scores in the bicalutamide‐treated group were similar to those in the control group, and were no different from the biopsy Gleason scores.CONCLUSIONSInvolution and epithelial shrinkage of prostate cancer and HGPIN were evident after neoadjuvant treatment with bicalutamide 150 mg. There was no evidence of the emergence of higher‐grade cancer after treatment.
The relationship of ultrasensitive measurements of prostate‐specific antigen levels to prostate cancer recurrence after radical prostatectomy
Authors: TAYLOR JOHN A. , KOFF STACEY G. , DAUSER DEBORAH A. , McLEOD DAVID G. 
Published: June 2006

OBJECTIVETo evaluate ultrasensitive (US) measurements of prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) level in men with prostate cancer, and to correlate the findings with currently accepted values for PSA recurrence, as PSA is widely accepted as a surrogate marker for disease recurrence after treatment for prostate cancer, and although USPSA assays can detect minute quantities of PSA, the significance of this is unclear.PATIENTS AND METHODSIn all, 225 patients had a radical prostatectomy (RP) and were followed with USPSA measurements. PSA recurrence was defined as two or more consecutive increasing PSA values after RP of ≥ 0.200 ng/mL. This was deemed clinically significant if it was associated with adjuvant treatment with a repeated nadir PSA level, or a PSA level that continued to increase on watchful waiting. USPSA values were compared between patients who recurred and those who did not, to determine any association with PSA recurrence and clinical outcomes.RESULTSThere was a PSA recurrence in 21 patients; all had clinical evidence of recurrence. Although the difference in mean USPSA levels was statistically significant for those patients who did and did not recur, the overlap in values invalidated any clinical utility. However, an undetectable level achieved during the follow‐up appeared to confer a favourable prognosis.CONCLUSIONAfter RP patients might have PSA levels detectable by USPSA assays, i.e. <0.1 ng/mL. The amount of ‘background noise’ produced within this range precludes the ability to use this test as a clinical indicator of disease recurrence. However, undetectable levels appear to confer a favourable prognosis.
Influence of watercourse depth and width on dam‐building behaviour by Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber)
Authors: Hartman G. , Törnlöv S. 
Published: June 2006

AbstractDam‐building behaviour is a distinctive feature of beavers; yet they often occupy streams or sections of streams where they do not construct dams. This study was designed to determine how stream depth and stream width influence dam‐building behaviour. Stream depth and stream width were measured at 39 beaver lodges, which did not have dams associated with them and at 74 dams. The mean water depth at the lodges was 1.16 m (range=0.55–2.0 m), while the mean water depth at the dam sites was 0.36 m (range=0.10–0.85 m). The stream width was greater at lodge sites (mean=11.15 m, range=1.0–40 m) than at dam sites (mean=2.5 m, range=0.5–6.0 m) A discriminant analysis classified 93% of the sites correctly as either lodge or dam sites.
Genital variation within and between three closely related Euxoa moth species: testing the lock‐and‐key hypothesis
Authors: Mutanen M. , Kaitala A. , Mönkkönen M. 
Published: June 2006

AbstractGenital morphology shows peculiar patterns of variation among insect species. Traditionally, genital species specificity has been assumed to serve as a mechanical isolation system between species (the lock‐and‐key hypothesis). Most recent studies suggest, however, that such variation may also be because of sexual selection. These two hypotheses give different predictions on genital variation within and between species. We tested the lock‐and‐key hypothesis by morphometrically exploring variation and allometry in male genitalia in three closely related Euxoa moth species. Single genital characteristics usually show overlap between species. As a whole, internal genitalia distinguish species better than external genitalia. The size of genitalia is generally correlated with body size, but the relationship is strongly negatively allometric so that the size of internal genitalia increases least with body size. These findings support the lock‐and‐key hypothesis. Both external and internal male genitalia show morphometric variation both within and between species, but the variation is significantly smaller in external genitalia. As internal genitalia are assumed to work as ‘keys’ in moths, this finding does not support the predictions of the lock‐and‐key hypothesis. Therefore, we cannot unambiguously support or reject this hypothesis. Our results agree well with the sexual selection hypotheses, particularly, the one‐size‐fits‐all concept of the cryptic female choice hypothesis, which suggests stabilizing selection on genital size, but at the same time allows genital shape to vary relatively considerably.
Changes in Outlet Densities Affect Violence Rates
Authors: Gruenewald Paul J. , Remer Lillian 
Published: June 2006

Background: Previous assessments of empirical relationships between alcohol outlets and rates of interpersonal violence have been conducted using cross‐sectional spatial data, data collected across small geographic units such as Census Tracts and zip codes. These assessments demonstrate that the availability of alcohol, measured by the number and types of alcohol outlets, is related to violence. These analyses have examined many potential confounds of the outlets–violence connection (i.e., population and place characteristics) and statistically corrected for biases that arise in analyses of spatial data. The current study contributes the first observation of longitudinal relationships between alcohol outlets and violence.Method: The study examined longitudinal data from 581 consistently defined zip code areas represented in the California Index Locations Database, a geographic information system that coordinates population and ecological data with spatial attributes for areas across the state. Six years of data were collected on features of local populations (e.g., household size) and places (e.g., retail markets) thought to be related to 1 measure of violence (i.e., hospital discharges related to violent assaults). Assault rates were related to changes in population and place characteristics using random effects models with controls for spatial autocorrelation (n×t= 3,486 observations). Changes in population and place characteristics of bordering (spatial lagged) areas were also considered.Results: Lower median household income and greater percentages of minorities (African American, Hispanic, and Asian) were related to increased rates of violence. Ten percent increases in numbers of off‐premise outlets and bars were related to 1.67 and 2.06% increases in violence rates across local and lagged spatial areas. Every 6 outlets accounted for 1 additional violent assault that resulted in at least 1 overnight stay at hospital. These effects increased with larger male populations, doubling with every 3% increase in percent males.Conclusion: Assault rates were most strongly related to median household incomes and minority populations within zip code areas. Controlling for changes in assault rates related to these measures, greater numbers of licensed alcohol retail establishments, especially bars and off‐premise outlets, were related to rates of assault. Failures to regulate the growth in numbers of bars will increase rates of violence, especially in urban areas.
Large-Eddy Simulations of Trade Wind Cumuli: Investigation of Aerosol Indirect Effects
Authors: Xue Huiwen , Feingold Graham 
Published: June 2006

Abstract
The effects of aerosol on warm trade cumulus clouds are investigated using a large-eddy simulation with size-resolved cloud microphysics. It is shown that, as expected, increases in aerosols cause a reduction in precipitation and an increase in the cloud-averaged liquid water path (LWP). However, for the case under study, cloud fraction, cloud size, cloud-top height, and depth decrease in response to increasing aerosol concentration, contrary to accepted hypotheses associated with the second aerosol indirect effect. It is found that the complex responses of clouds to aerosols are determined by competing effects of precipitation and droplet evaporation associated with entrainment. As aerosol concentration increases, precipitation suppression tends to maintain the clouds and lead to higher cloud LWP, whereas cloud droplets become smaller and evaporate more readily, which tends to dissipate the clouds and leads to lower cloud fraction, cloud size, and depth. An additional set of experiments with higher surface latent heat flux, and hence higher LWP and drizzle rate, was also performed. Changes in cloud properties due to aerosols have the same trends as in the base runs, although the magnitudes of the changes are larger. Evidence for significant stabilization (or destabilization) of the subcloud layer due to drizzle is not found, mainly because drizzling clouds cover only a small fraction of the domain. It is suggested that cloud fraction may only increase with increasing aerosol loading for larger clouds that are less susceptible to entrainment and evaporation. Finally, it is noted that at any given aerosol concentration the dynamical variability in bulk cloud parameters such as LWP tends to be larger than the aerosol-induced changes in these parameters, indicating that the second aerosol indirect effect may be hard to measure in this cloud type. The variability in cloud optical depth is, however, dominated by changes in aerosol, rather than dynamics.
Oncogenic NRAS rapidly and efficiently induces CMML- and AML-like diseases in mice
Authors: Parikh Chaitali , Subrahmanyam Ramesh , Ren Ruibao 
Published: June 2006

Abstract
Activating mutations in RAS, predominantly NRAS, are common in myeloid malignancies. Previous studies in animal models have shown that oncogenic NRAS is unable to induce myeloid malignancies effectively, and it was suggested that oncogenic NRAS might only act as a secondary mutation in leukemogenesis. In this study, we examined the leukemogenicity of NRAS using an improved mouse bone marrow transduction and transplantation model. We found that oncogenic NRAS rapidly and efficiently induced chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML)– or acute myeloid leukemia (AML)– like disease in mice, indicating that mutated NRAS can function as an initiating oncogene in the induction of myeloid malignancies. In addition to CMML and AML, we found that NRAS induced mastocytosis in mice. This result indicates that activation of the RAS pathway also plays an important role in the pathogenesis of mastocytosis. The mouse model for NRAS leukemogenesis established here provides a system for further studying the molecular mechanisms in the pathogenesis of myeloid malignancies and for testing relevant therapies.
Investigating the role of small, acid-soluble spore proteins (SASPs) in the resistance of Clostridium perfringens spores to heat
Authors: Raju Deepa , Waters Michael , Setlow Peter , Sarker Mahfuzur R 
Published: June 2006

Abstract

Background

Clostridium perfringens type A food poisoning is caused by enterotoxigenic C. perfringens type A isolates that typically possess high spore heat-resistance. The molecular basis for C. perfringens spore heat-resistance remains unknown. In the current study, we investigated the role of small, acid-soluble spore proteins (SASPs) in heat-resistance of spores produced by C. perfringens food poisoning isolates.

Results
Our current study demonstrated the presence of all three SASP-encoding genes (ssp1, 2 and 3) in five surveyed C. perfringens clinical food poisoning isolates. β-Glucuronidase assay showed that these ssp genes are expressed specifically during sporulation. Consistent with these expression results, our study also demonstrated the production of SASPs by C. perfringens food poisoning isolates. When the heat sensitivities of spores produced by a ssp3 knock-out mutant of a C. perfringens food poisoning isolate was compared with that of spores of the wild-type strain, spores of the ssp3 mutant were found to exhibit a lower decimal reduction value (D value) at 100°C than exhibited by the spores of wild-type strain. This effect was restored by complementing the ssp3 mutant with a recombinant plasmid carrying wild-type ssp3, suggesting that the observed differences in D values between spores of wild-type versus ssp3 mutant was due to the specific inactivation of ssp3. Furthermore, our DNA protection assay demonstrated that C. perfringens SASPs can protect DNA from DNase I digestion.

Conclusion
The results from our current study provide evidences that SASPs produced by C. perfringens food poisoning isolates play a role in protecting their spores from heat-damage, which is highly significant and relevant from a food safety perspective. Further detailed studies on mechanism of action of SASPs from C. perfringens should help in understanding the mechanism of protection of C. perfringens spores from heat-damage.
Comparison of adjuvant and neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the management of advanced ovarian cancer: a retrospective study of 574 patients
Authors: Inciura Arturas , Simavicius Andrius , Juozaityte Elona , Kurtinaitis Juozas , Nadisauskiene Ruta , Svedas Eimantas , Kajenas Skirmantas 
Published: June 2006

Abstract

Background
There is a lack of clinical data on the validity of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the treatment of ovarian cancer. The aim of this study was to compare the impact of the adjuvant and neoadjuvant chemotherapy regimens on the clinical outcomes in patients with advanced ovarian cancer.

Methods
We performed a retrospective analysis of 574 patients with advanced ovarian cancer admitted to four Lithuanian oncogynaecology departments during 1993–2000. The conventional combined treatment of cytoreductive surgery and platinum-based chemotherapy was applied to both the group that underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy (n = 213) and to the control group (n = 361). The selection criterion for neoadjuvant chemotherapy was large extent of the disease. Overall and progression-free survival rates and survival medians were calculated using life tables and the Kaplan-Meier method.

Results
There was no difference in median overall survival between stage III patients treated with adjuvant chemotherapy and neoadjuvant chemotherapy (25.9 months vs. 29.3 months, p = 0.2508) and stage IV patients (15.4 months vs. 14.9 months, p = 0.6108). Similarly, there was no difference in median progression-free survival between stage III patients treated with adjuvant chemotherapy and neoadjuvant chemotherapy (15.7 months vs. 17.5 months, p = 0.1299) and stage IV patients (8.7 months vs. 8.2 months, p = 0.1817). There was no difference in the rate of the optimal cytoreductive surgery between patients who underwent the neoadjuvant chemotherapy and patients primarily treated with surgery (n = 134, 63% vs. n = 242, 67%, respectively).

Conclusion
There was no difference in progression-free or overall survival and in the rate of optimal cytoreductive surgery between the neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy groups despite the fact that patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy had a more extensive disease. Multivariate analysis failed to prove that neoadjuvant chemotherapy could be considered as an independent prognostic factor for survival, and the findings need to be investigated in the future prospective randomised studies.
Secondary structure spatial conformation footprint: a novel method for fast protein structure comparison and classification
Authors: Zotenko Elena , O'Leary Dianne P , Przytycka Teresa M 
Published: June 2006

Abstract

Background
Recently a new class of methods for fast protein structure comparison has emerged. We call the methods in this class projection methods as they rely on a mapping of protein structure into a high-dimensional vector space. Once the mapping is done, the structure comparison is reduced to distance computation between corresponding vectors. As structural similarity is approximated by distance between projections, the success of any projection method depends on how well its mapping function is able to capture the salient features of protein structure. There is no agreement on what constitutes a good projection technique and the three currently known projection methods utilize very different approaches to the mapping construction, both in terms of what structural elements are included and how this information is integrated to produce a vector representation.

Results
In this paper we propose a novel projection method that uses secondary structure information to produce the mapping. First, a diverse set of spatial arrangements of triplets of secondary structure elements, a set of structural models, is automatically selected. Then, each protein structure is mapped into a high-dimensional vector of "counts" or footprint, where each count corresponds to the number of times a given structural model is observed in the structure, weighted by the precision with which the model is reproduced. We perform the first comprehensive evaluation of our method together with all other currently known projection methods.

Conclusion
The results of our evaluation suggest that the type of structural information used by a projection method affects the ability of the method to detect structural similarity. In particular, our method that uses the spatial conformations of triplets of secondary structure elements outperforms other methods in most of the tests.
Factors affecting the formation of fingering in water‐assisted injection‐molded thermoplastics
Authors: Liu Shih‐Jung , Lin Shih‐Po 
Published: June 2006

AbstractWater‐assisted injection‐molding technology has received extensive attention in recent years, due to the lightweight of plastic parts, relatively low‐resin cost per part, faster cycle time, and flexibility in the design and manufacture. However, there are still some unsolved problems that confound the overall success of this technology. One of these is the water “fingering” phenomenon, in which the water bubbles penetrate outside designed water channels and form finger‐shape branches. This study has investigated the effects of various processing parameters on the formation of fingering in water‐assisted injection‐molded thermoplastic parts. Both amorphous and semicrystalline polymers were used to mold the parts. The influence of water channel geometry, including aspect ratio and fillet geometry, on the fingering was also investigated. It was found that water‐assisted injection‐molded amorphous materials gave less fingering, while molded semicrystalline parts gave more fingering when compared to those molded by gas‐assisted injection molding. For the water channels used in this study, the channels with a rib on the top produced parts with the least water fingering. Water fingering in molded parts decreases with the height‐to‐thickness ratio of the channels. The water pressure, water injection delay time and short‐shot size were found to be the principal parameters affecting the formation of water fingering. In addition, a numerical simulation based on the transient heat conduction model was also carried out to help better explain the mechanism for the formation of fingering in water‐assisted injection‐molded thermoplastics. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Adv Polym Techn 25: 98–108, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/adv.20062
Processing of PEMFC membranes by extrusion: Part 1. Sulfonated polysulfone in acid form
Authors: Bébin Philippe , Galiano Hervé 
Published: June 2006

AbstractSulfonated polysulfone (sPSU) was considered as an alternative material for low‐temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell. The possibility of manufacturing sPSU films by a continuous extrusion process is examined. The use of a plasticizer (polyethyleneglycol, PEG) is essential to decrease the glass transition temperature of the material in order to make it processable in the melt state. However, the acidic character of sPSU induces significant degradation of the sPSU/PEG mixtures even at low temperatures (120°C), necessitating the use of high amounts of PEG to perform the extrusion of sPSU film. In these experiments, 30–40% of plasticizer had to be used to successfully produce a film, but a high level of porosity was produced in the membrane after removing the PEG. Although porosity significantly improves the proton conductivity of the membranes, in a fuel cell, the fuel crossover also increases as a result. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Adv Polym Techn 25: 121–126, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/adv.20066