bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Lindblom roller
Authors: Marchettini Paolo , Marangoni Claudio , Lacerenza Marco , Formaglio Fabio 
Published: June 2003

AbstractNeuropathic pain is caused by injury of the peripheral or central nervous system. The neurological examination of the sensory system in neuropathic pain patients guides the anatomical localization of the injury. Among the sensory modalities to be tested, priority should be given to those subserved by small peripheral sensory fibers or by the spinothalamic tract that most commonly are abnormal in neuropathic pain patients. Testing of cold and warm perception was traditionally carried out in the clinic using tubes filled with water at different temperatures, a cumbersome method that has limited the routine examination of these sensory modalities. The Lindblom roller offers a practical and effective method of readily testing temperature perception and is among the best available clinical tools for delineating the anatomical boundaries of a sensory abnormality. Routinely use of the Lindblom roller shall be standard bedside clinical assessment of neuropathic pain patients. To exemplify this statement we describe two patients affected by complex and fluctuating painful sensory abnormalities caused by an extradural mass compressing the spinal cord. The level of the injury was readily localized with a roller kept at room temperature.
An evaluation of the beta‐1 adrenergic receptor Arg389Gly polymorphism in individuals with heart failure: a MERIT‐HF sub‐study
Authors:   On behalf of the MERIT‐HF Study Group, White Hazel L. , de Boer Rudolf A. , Maqbool Azhar , Greenwood Darren , van Veldhuisen Dirk J. , Cuthbert Richard , Ball Stephen G. , Hall Alistair S. , Balmforth Anthony J. 
Published: June 2003

AbstractBackground:The Glycine389 variant of the beta‐1 adrenergic receptor (β1AR) generates markedly less cAMP when stimulated in vitro than the more prevalent Arginine389 variant.Aims:The aim of this MERIT‐HF sub‐study was to ascertain whether this Glycine389 variant favourably influences outcome in heart failure similar to that observed with beta‐blockers.Methods:We identified the genotype at amino acid 389 of the β1AR in 600 patients enrolled in the MERIT‐HF study (UK and Dutch participants). A risk‐ratio (RR) for each genotype was calculated using the combined endpoint of all cause mortality or hospitalisation (time to first event). A pharmacogenetic effect of this polymorphism was also sought by evaluating the effect of Metoprolol CR/XL on heart rate amongst the three genotypes.Results:The prevalence of the three genotypes was ArgArg 51.3%, ArgGly 40.2%, GlyGly 8.5%. The presence of the Gly allele was not associated with a significant benefit on the combined endpoint, RR=0.94; confidence intervals (CI), 0.69–1.29 (P=0.72). This is in contrast to the highly significant benefit of Metoprolol CR/XL observed in this sub‐study population, RR=0.60; CI, 0.44–0.83 (P=0.002). No effect of the polymorphism was observed on the magnitude of heart rate reduction attained by Metoprolol CR/XL.Conclusion:In contrast to the benefits of beta‐1 selective blockade, we have demonstrated that the Gly389 allele does not confer a significant mortality/morbidity benefit in heart failure patients. We have found no evidence of a pharmacogenetic effect of this biochemically functional polymorphism.
Toxicology analysis by means of the JSM-method
Authors: Blinova V. G. , Dobrynin D. A. , Finn V. K. , Kuznetsov S. O. , Pankratova E. S. 
Published: June 2003

Abstract
Motivation: A model for learning potential causes of toxicity from positive and negative examples and predicting toxicity for the dataset used in the Predictive Toxicology Challenge (PTC) is presented. The learning model assumes that the causes of toxicity can be given as substructures common to positive examples that are not substructures of negative examples. This assumption results in the choice of a learning model, called the JSM-method, and a language for representing chemical compounds, called the Fragmentary Code of Substructure Superposition (FCSS). By means of the latter, chemical compounds are represented as sets of substructures which are ‘biologically meaningful’ from the expert point of view.
Results: The chosen learning model and representation language show comparatively good performance for the PTC dataset: for three sex/species groups the predictions were ROC optimal, for one group the prediction was nearly optimal. The predictions tend to be conservative (few predictions and almost no errors), which can be explained by the specific features of the learning model.
Availability: by request to finn@viniti.ru; serge@viniti.ru, http://ki-www2.intellektik.informatik.tu-darmstadt.de/~jsm/QDA
Contact: serge@viniti.ru
* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Putting the Predictive Toxicology Challenge
into perspective: reflections on the results
Authors: Benigni Romualdo , Giuliani Alessandro 
Published: June 2003

Abstract
Motivation: Chemical carcinogenicity is of primary interest, because it drives much of the current regulatory actions regarding new and existing chemicals, and its experimental determination involves time-consuming and expensive animal testing. Both academia and private companies are actively trying to develop SAR and QSAR models. This paper reviews the new Predictive Toxicology Challenge (PTC) results, by putting them into the context of previous attempts.
Results: A marked dependency of the prediction ability of the different algorithms on the training sets was observed, pointing to a still insufficient coverage of the chemical carcinogens ‘universe’. A theoretical treatment of the possible developments of the Artificial Intelligence approaches is sketched.
Contact: rbenigni@iss.it
* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Fast sequence clustering using a suffix array algorithm
Authors: Malde Ketil , Coward Eivind , Jonassen Inge 
Published: June 2003

Abstract
Motivation: Efficient clustering is important for handling the large amount of available EST sequences. Most contemporary methods are based on some kind of all-against-all comparison, resulting in a quadratic time complexity. A different approach is needed to keep up with the rapid growth of EST data.
Results: A new, fast EST clustering algorithm is presented. Sub-quadratic time complexity is achieved by using an algorithm based on suffix arrays. A prototype implementation has been developed and run on a benchmark data set. The produced clusterings are validated by comparing them to clusterings produced by other methods, and the results are quite promising.
Availability: The source code for the prototype implementation is available under a GPL license from http://www.ii.uib.no/~ketil/bio/
Contact: ketil@ii.uib.no
* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Pyranose oxidase identified as a member of the GMC
oxidoreductase family
Authors: Albrecht Mario , Lengauer Thomas 
Published: June 2003

Abstract
Fungal pyranose oxidase is a flavoenzyme whose preferred substrate among several monosaccharides is d-glucose. After a comprehensive analysis of conserved features in a structure-based multiple sequence alignment of homologous proteins, we could classify this enzyme into the GMC oxidoreductase family. The identified homology also suggests a three-dimensional protein structure similar to the functionally related glucose oxidase.
Contact: mario.albrecht@mpi-sb.mpg.de
* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
A comparison of parametric versus permutation
methods with applications to general and temporal
microarray gene expression data
Authors: Xu Ronghui , Li Xiaochun 
Published: June 2003

Abstract
Motivation: In analyses of microarray data with a design of different biological conditions, ranking genes by their differential‘ importance’ is often desired so that biologists can focus research on a small subset of genes that are most likely related to the experiment conditions. Permutation methods are often recommended and used, in place of their parametric counterparts, due to the small sample sizes of microarray experiments and possible non-normality of the data. The recommendations, however, are based on classical knowledge in the hypothesis test setting.
Results: We explore the relationship between hypothesis testing and gene ranking. We indicate that the permutation method does not provide a metric for the distance between two underlying distributions. In our simulation studies permutation methods tend to be equally or less accurate than parametric methods in ranking genes. This is partially due to the discreteness of the permutation distributions, as well as the non-metric property. In data analysis the variability in ranking genes can be assessed by bootstrap. It turns out that the variability is much lower for permutation than parametric methods, which agrees with the known robustness of permutation methods to individual outliers in the data.
Contact: rxu@jimmy.harvard.edu
* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Lack of NB1 GP (CD177/HNA-2a) gene transcription in NB1 GP- neutrophils from NB1 GP–expressing individuals and association of low expression with NB1 gene polymorphisms
Authors: Wolff Jens , Brendel Cornelia , Fink Ludger , Bohle Rainer M. , Kissel Karin , Bux Juergen 
Published: June 2003

Abstract
The human neutrophil NB1 glycoprotein (NB1 GP, HNA-2a, CD177) has gained clinical importance for being involved in pulmonary transfusion reactions and immune neutropenias. The NB1 GP shows the unique feature of being expressed only on a neutrophil subpopulation. Recently, we identified splicing defects responsible for an NB1 GP deficiency. In this study, we have investigated the molecular basis of the heterogeneous expression of NB1 GP by separating the 2 neutrophil subpopulations using immunofluorescence followed by single-cell picking or by fluorescence-activated cell sorter. We found a lack of NB1 mRNA in the NB1 GP- cells that remained constant even after granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) administration. Comparing the cDNA sequences of donors with a large (&gt; 60%) and those with a small (&lt; 40%) NB1 GP–expressing subpopulation, we found 6 polymorphisms. Of the 6, 3 were significantly associated with a small NB1 GP–expressing subpopulation, indicating a genetic basis for NB1 GP nonexpression.
A simple method to predict response to immunosuppressive therapy in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome
Authors: Saunthararajah Yogen , Nakamura Ryotaro , Wesley Robert , Wang Qiong J. , Barrett A. John 
Published: June 2003

Abstract
Immunosuppression with antithymocyte globulin (ATG) or cyclosporine (CSA) can be used to treat the cytopenia associated with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Previously, we identified HLA-DR15, younger age, and shorter duration of red cell transfusion dependence as pretreatment variables that correlate significantly with a response. Using these pretreatment variables we have devised a simple method to prospectively identify patients with low or high probabilities of response to immunosuppression. The ability of this system to predict response was confirmed in a separate cohort of 23 patients with MDS treated with immunosuppression.
Interface between authorship, industry and science in the domain of therapeutics
Authors: Healy David , Cattell Dinah 
Published: June 2003

BackgroundChanges in the character of medical authorship.AimsTo compare the impact of industry-linked and non-industry linked articles.MethodWe compared articles on sertraline being coordinated by a medical writing agency with articles not coordinated in this way. We calculated numbers of Medline-listed articles per author, journal impactfactors, literature profiles and citation rates of both sets of articles.ResultsNon-agency-linked articles on sertraline had an average of 2.95 authors per article, a mean length of 3.4 pages, a mean Medline listing of 37 articles per author (95% CI 27–47) and a mean literature profile of 283 per article (95% CI 130–435). Agency-linked articles on sertraline had an average of 6.6 authors per article, a mean length of 10.7 pages, a mean Medline listing of 70 articles per author (95% CI 62–79) and a mean literature profile of 1839 per article (95% CI 1076-2602). The citation rate for agency articles was 20.2 (95% CI 13.4–27.0) and for non-agency articles it was 3.7 (95% CI 3.3–8.1).ConclusionsThe literature profiles and citation rates of industry-linked and non-industry-linked articles differ. The emerging style of authorship in industry-linked articles can deliver good-quality articles, but it raises concerns for the scientific base of therapeutics.
Molecular Tumor Markers in the Blood: Early Prediction of Disease Outcome in Melanoma Patients Treated With a Melanoma Vaccine
Authors: Wascher Robert A. , Morton Donald L. , Kuo Christine , Elashoff Robert M. , Wang He-Jing , Gerami Mehri , Hoon Dave S.B. 
Published: June 2003

Purpose: Patients with American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage III melanoma are at high risk of recurrence and death. We hypothesized that a multiple-marker reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (MM-RT-PCR) blood assay could predict, early in the course of therapy, those patients destined to experience treatment failure with a melanoma vaccine (MV) previously shown to improve survival in a phase II clinical trial. Patients and Methods: After complete surgical resection, prospectively collected cryopreserved peripheral-blood lymphocyte specimens (n = 90) from the serial bleeds of 30 patients with AJCC stage III melanoma were studied by MM-RT-PCR, using the markers tyrosinase, melanoma antigen recognized by T cells-1 (MART-1), and universal melanoma antigen gene-A (uMAG-A). All patients were enrolled in a phase II MV trial during the period of blood draws, and were selected for this study in a blinded fashion. Median duration of clinical follow-up was 74 months for the 13 survivors and 11 months for the 17 nonsurvivors. Results: The presence of at least one melanoma-specific RT-PCR marker was associated with an increased risk of disease recurrence (risk rate, 3.12; P = .02) and decreased risk of survival (relative rate, 2.62; P = .0496) by multivariate analysis. Conclusion: MM-RT-PCR of the blood provided early prediction of subsequent disease recurrence and death in clinically disease-free AJCC stage III melanoma patients enrolled in a MV phase II trial. On the basis of the results of this pilot study, the MM-RT-PCR blood assay should be considered as a clinically important monitoring tool for assessing patient response to adjuvant therapy, and in the surveillance of clinically disease-free patients for the earliest signs of recurrence.
Randomized Phase II Study of Temozolomide Given Every 8 Hours or Daily With Either Interferon Alfa-2b or Thalidomide in Metastatic Malignant Melanoma
Authors: Danson S. , Lorigan P. , Arance A. , Clamp A. , Ranson M. , Hodgetts J. , Lomax L. , Ashcroft L. , Thatcher N. , Middleton M.R. 
Published: June 2003

Purpose: Temozolomide is an imidazotetrazine with a mechanism of action similar to dacarbazine and equivalent activity in melanoma. It is well tolerated and is a candidate for combination chemotherapy and schedule manipulation. In this study, we combined temozolomide with interferon alfa-2b and, separately, with thalidomide, and we administered temozolomide alone in a compressed schedule. The objectives of this randomized phase II, two-center study were to determine response rates, overall survival, and tolerability of the regimens in patients with advanced metastatic melanoma. Patients and Methods: One hundred eighty-one patients with metastatic melanoma were randomly assigned to receive up to six 4-weekly cycles consisting of temozolomide 200 mg/m2 every 8 hours for five doses, or temozolomide 200 mg/m2 daily for days 1 to 5 plus interferon alfa-2b 5 MU (million International Units) subcutaneously three times a week, or temozolomide 150 mg/m2 (increased after one cycle to 200 mg/m2) daily on days 1 to 5 plus thalidomide 100 mg daily days 1 to 28. Results: The treatment arms were well balanced for known prognostic factors. Median survival was 5.3 months for 8-hourly temozolomide, 7.7 months for temozolomide/interferon, and 7.3 months for temozolomide/thalidomide; and 1-year survivals were 18%, 26%, and 24%, respectively. Response or disease stabilization occurred in 20% of patients (95% confidence interval [CI], 10% to 33%) given 8-hourly temozolomide, 21% (95% CI, 12% to 33%) given temozolomide/interferon, and 25% (95% CI, 15% to 38%) given temozolomide/thalidomide. Grade 3 or 4 nonhematologic toxicities were similar in each arm except for infection, which was more frequent with 8-hourly temozolomide. There were fewer instances of grade 3 or 4 myelotoxicity with temozolomide/thalidomide. Conclusion: Of the three regimens tested, the combination of temozolomide and thalidomide seems the most promising for future study.
Lipase-catalyzed Enantioselective Acylation in a Halogen Free Ionic Liquid Solvent System
Authors: Itoh Toshiyuki , Ouchi Nozomi , Hayase Shuichi , Nishimura Yoshihito 
Published: June 2003

Abstract
Lipase-catalyzed enantioselective transesterification was demonstrated using several types of imidazolium alkyl sulfate as a reaction medium. The desired optically pure acetate was successfully obtained under the conditions used, although reaction rate was inferior to that in imidazolium tetrafluoroborate.
Synthesis and applied properties of carboxymethyl cornstarch
Authors: Xiaodong Zhang , Xin Liu , Wenying Li 
Published: June 2003

AbstractIn this article, carboxymethyl starch (CMS) with a high degree of substitution (0.91) and a high viscosity was synthesized by optimized reaction conditions, and its structure and surface morphology were analyzed by IR spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The results of this application study show that CMS exhibited excellent printing behavior. CMS could substitute for 60% sodium alginate when it was used as a thickening agent in the printing paste of reactive dyes; therefore, the cost was greatly reduced. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 89: 3016–3020, 2003
Notch sensitivity of polycarbonate and toughened polycarbonate
Authors: Cho Kilwon , Yang JaeHo , Il Byung , Chan Kang , Park Eon 
Published: June 2003

AbstractNotch sensitivity, the effect of a notch radius on the impact behavior of polycarbonate and rubber‐toughened polycarbonate, is investigated by using a model based on the slip‐lines field theory. Impact strength, determined by the Charpy impact test, was found to increase drastically with an increasing notch radius for pure polycarbonate, whereas the increase of impact strength with increased notch radius was not as extreme for rubber‐toughened polycarbonate. These results indicate that the inclusion of rubber particles reduces notch sensitivity. An examination of fracture surfaces reveals that cracks were initiated by internal crazing at some distance from the notch tip for specimens with blunt notches. For pure polycarbonate, the impact strength is found to have a linear relationship with the square of the notch radius, which is in good agreement with that predicted by the proposed model. However, for rubber‐toughened polycarbonate, the linear relationship broke down as the notch radius increased due to the enhanced toughening effect. The proposed model can be applied to clearly explain the notch sensitivity of ductile polymers which exhibit large plastic yielding around the notch tip. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 89: 3115–3121, 2003
Central regulation of thyroidal status in a teleost fish: Nutrient stimulation of T4 secretion and negative feedback of T3
Authors: Leiner Kevin A. , Mackenzie Duncan S. 
Published: June 2003

AbstractSeveral experiments were conducted to investigate the dynamics of central regulation of thyroid function in the red drum, Sciaenops ocellatus, by manipulating a well‐characterized circadian rhythm of T4 secretion. In the first experiment, red drum were reared under either a long (16L:8D) or short (8L:16D) photoperiod and fed at the same time relative to dawn. The same feeding time under different photoperiods maintained the same phase relationship between T4 cycles under each photoperiod. This suggests that the circadian clock that determines when the hypothalamus‐pituitary‐thyroid (HPT) axis is activated is comprised of a feeding‐entrained oscillator and a light‐entrained oscillator that interact to determine the phase of the T4 rhythm. Additionally, the amplitude of the main T4 peak of the cycle was inversely related to the frequency of feeding, while the duration of the main T4 peak was directly related to feeding frequency under a long photoperiod. Feeding time appears to modify the diurnal profile of circulating T4 by stimulating post‐prandial T4 secretion that subsequently results in negative feedback on the HPT axis to regulate thyroidal status. In following experiments, red drum immersed in T3, in lieu of a meal at a specific time that would diminish the main T4 peak, exhibited a dose‐dependent decline in amplitude of the T4 cycle. This demonstrates that T3 can exert negative feedback on the HPT axis of red drum to maintain appropriate thyroid hormone concentrations. These data are consistent with a dynamic and physiologically important central component of the regulation of thyroid function in fish. J. Exp. Zool. 298A:32–43, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Miniature microstrip patch antenna loaded with a space‐filling transmission line based on the fractal Hilbert curve
Authors: Gala D. , Soler J. , Puente C. , Borja C. , Anguera J. 
Published: June 2003

AbstractA novel miniature antenna loaded with a space‐filling shaped transmission line is presented. Return loss and antenna gain results are compared with a traditional square patch. Experimental results show that the antenna presents an electrical area 18 times less than the square patch. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 38: 311–312, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.11046
Sry and Sox9 expression during canine gonadal sex determination assayed by quantitative reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction
Authors: Meyers‐Wallen V.N. 
Published: June 2003

AbstractTestis induction is associated with gonadal Sry and Sox9 expression in mammals, and with Sox9 expression in vertebrates where Sry is absent. In mammals, Sry might initiate testis induction by upregulating Sox9 expression; however, direct evidence supporting this hypothesis is lacking. Models of Sry‐negative XX sex reversal (XXSR), in which testes develop in the absence of Sry, could provide the link between Sry and Sox9 in testis induction. To define the stages at which testis determination occurs in the canine model, Sry and Sox9 expression were measured in normal urogenital ridges (UGR) and gonads by quantitative reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (qRT‐PCR). Testicular Sry expression rose continuously during canine developmental ages comparable to human carnegie stages (CS) 16–18, with maximal expression at CS 18. Sox9 was expressed in both male and female canine UGR up to CS 17, at which time testis expression became tenfold greater than in the ovary. Although Sox9 was detected by qRT‐PCR in ovaries and mesonephroi of both sexes, expression was detected only in canine testes by whole mount in situ hybridization (WMISH). The timing of Sry and Sox9 expression is consistent with a role in testis determination: Sry expression begins at CS 16 in testes, followed by upregulation of Sox9 expression at CS 17. The quantity and temporal and spatial patterns of Sry and Sox9 expression in normal canine gonads are similar to those in humans, sheep, and pigs. These studies should provide the basis for understanding the mechanism of testis induction in the canine model of Sry‐negative XXSR. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 65: 373–381, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.