bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Absence of lymphangiogenesis and intratumoural lymph vessels in human metastatic breast cancer
Authors: Williams Cory SM , Leek Russell D , Robson Alistair M , Banerji Suneale , Prevo Remko , Harris Adrian L , Jackson David G 
Published: May 2003

AbstractEarly metastasis to lymph nodes is a frequent complication in human breast cancer. However, the extent to which this depends on lymphangiogenesis or on invasion of existing lymph vessels remains controversial. Although proliferating intratumoural lymphatics that promote nodal metastasis have been demonstrated in experimental breast tumours overexpressing VEGF‐C, it has yet to be determined whether the same phenomena occur in spontaneous human breast cancers. To address this important issue, the present study investigated the lymphatics in primary human breast carcinoma (75 cases of invasive ductal and lobular breast cancer) by quantitative immunohistochemical staining for the lymphatic endothelial hyaluronan receptor LYVE‐1, the blood vascular marker CD34, and the nuclear proliferation marker pKi67. None of the breast carcinomas was found to contain dividing lymph vessels, even in areas of active haemangiogenesis. Furthermore, the majority of non‐dividing lymph vessels were confined to the tumour periphery where their incidence was low and unrelated to tumour size, grade or nodal status; rather, their density was inversely correlated with tumour aggressiveness as assessed by macrophage density (p = 0.009), and blood microvessel density (p = 0.05, Spearman Rank), as well as with distance from the tumour edge. Finally, a proportion of the peritumoural lymphatics contained tumour emboli associated with hyaluronan, indicating a possible role for LYVE‐1/hyaluronan interactions in lymphatic invasion or metastasis. These results suggest that naturally occurring breast carcinomas invade and destroy lymph vessels rather than promoting their proliferation; that breast tumour lymphangiogenesis may not always occur at physiological VEGF‐C levels; and that nodal metastasis can proceed via pre‐existing lymphatics. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Resection versus Palliation: Treatment of Stage III and IVA Carcinomas of the Pancreas Employing Intraoperative Radiation
Authors: Okamoto Atsutake , Tsuruta Koji , Karasawa Katsuyuki , Miyanari Nobutomo , Matsumoto Gaku , Kamisawa Terumi , Egawa Naoto 
Published: May 2003

AbstractWhether advanced pancreatic carcinomas should be surgically removed has been a basic issue because performing an extended resection is futile if it has only a minimum impact on survival. The purpose of this study was to compare the results of pancreatic resection with those of a bypass operation for patients with stage III or IVA pancreatic carcinomas while applying intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT). The therapeutic outcomes of 132 patients who had received IORT for stage III or IVA carcinoma were analyzed retrospectively. The patients were divided into two groups: Group 1 included 68 patients with locally unresectable tumors who underwent a bypass operation; group 2 included 64 patients with resectable tumors who underwent pancreatic resection. Postoperative external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) was also delivered to 90 patients. Multivariate analysis indicated that strong independent predictors of increased survival were EBRT for group 1 (p < 0.0001) and R0 resection for group 2 (p = 0.017). Twenty patients who had been subjected to R0 resection showed the best survival, with a 3‐year survival rate of 45%. The survival of group 1 patients receiving EBRT (n = 47) nearly equaled that of group 2 patients undergoing R1 or R2 resection (n = 44) (p = 0.72); but group 1 patients with tumors ≤ 6 cm (n = 31) had a better survival rate than group 2 patients with tumors > 3 cm (n = 28) (p = 0.03). We concluded that postoperative EBRT is essential for improving the survival outcome, even after administering IORT. Patients with stage III lesions undergoing an R0 resection and receiving IORT demonstrated an excellent 3‐year survival. A bypass operation plus IORT in combination with EBRT is preferred over IORT used as an adjuvant to R1 or R2 resection.
Stripping Operation with Sclerotherapy for Primary Varicose Veins Due to Greater Saphenous Vein Reflux: Three‐year Results
Authors: Miyazaki Keiko , Nishibe Toshiya , Sata Fumihiro , Imai Takahiro , Kudo Fabio A. , Flores Jorge , Miyazaki Yasumasa J. , Yasuda Keishu 
Published: May 2003

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to compare the recurrence‐free rates of stripping with varicectomy and stripping with sclerotherapy for the treatment of primary varicose veins due to greater saphenous vein insufficiency. This is a multicenter retrospective analysis of 186 patients and 220 limbs treated for primary varicose veins due to greater saphenous vein reflux from January 1996 to December 1997. The difference between the two groups was evaluated by the Χ2 test or t‐test. The recurrence‐free rates were estimated by the Kaplan‐Meier life‐table method. The mean follow‐up period was 3.2 ± 1.1 years. The clinical backgrounds of patients with varicectomy stripping and sclerotherapy stripping were not significantly different between the two groups. The overall recurrence‐free rates at 1 and 3 years were 97.0% and 91.4%, respectively. The recurrence‐free rates at 3 years were 93.5% for stripping with varicectomy and 88.6% for stripping with sclerotherapy. No statistical difference was found between the two groups. The recurrence rate after stripping with sclerotherapy was equivalent to that after stripping with varicectomy. Thus concurrent varicectomy can be replaced with sclerotherapy.
Surveillance of Surgical Site Infections: Decade of Experience at a Colombian Tertiary Care Center
Authors: Arias Cesar A. , Quintero Gustavo , Vanegas Blanca E. , Rico Clara Luz , Patiño Jose Felix 
Published: May 2003

AbstractA protocol for surveillance of surgical site infections (SSIs) was established in a tertiary care center in 1991 in Bogota, Colombia and followed for 10 years. Wounds were classified according to the Centers for Disease Control guidelines. The National Nosocomial Infection Surveillance and Study of the Efficacy of Nosocomial Infection Control scores for risk factors were included from June 1999. A total of 33,027 surgical procedures were followed by the surveillance team. The overall infection rate was 2.6%. Most surgical procedures (70.6%) were classified as clean; 25.3%, 3.8%, and 0.26% were classified as clean/contaminated, contaminated, and dirty, respectively. Infection rates according to wound classification were 1.28%, 3.9%, 15.4%, and 38.4% for clean, clean/contaminated, contaminated, and dirty procedures, respectively. Escherichia coli and coagulase‐negative staphylococci were the most frequently isolated microorganisms from SSI: 23.9% and 22.8% of isolates, respectively. A program of surveillance of SSIs has been successfully implemented in a country with limited resources and has maintained the infection rate within international standards.
Vascular Thoracic Outlet Syndrome
Authors: Davidovic Lazar B. , Kostic Dusan M. , Jakovljevic Nenad S. , Kuzmanovic Ilija L. , Simic Tijana M. 
Published: May 2003

AbstractThe surgical treatment of 30 cases of vascular thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) in 25 patients is presented. Patients included 17 women and 8 men with average age of 26.1 years. The causes of compression were cervical rib (n = 16), soft tissue anomalies (n = 12), and scar tissue after clavicle fracture (n = 2). Ten subclavian artery aneurysms containing intraluminal thrombus as well as one subclavian artery occlusion were found. All such cases had multiple distal arterial embolization. Presenting features of cases with arterial TOS included: hand ischemia (n = 11), transient ischemic attack (TIA) (n = 1), and claudication or vasomotor phenomena during the arm hyperabduction (n = 11). Two patients with venous TOS developed hand edema during arm hyperabduction, and five other patients had axillary‐subclavian venous thrombosis. In all cases decompressive procedures using a combined supraclavicular and infraclavicular approach were performed. Decompression was achieved by cervical rib excision (n = 12), combined cervical and first rib excision (n = 4), and first rib excision (n = 14). In all cases division of all soft tissue elements was also accomplished. Associated vascular procedures included resection and replacement of 10 subclavian artery aneurysms, one subclavian‐axillary and one axillary‐brachial bypass, as well as nine brachial embolectomies. All five cases with axillary‐subclavian vein thrombosis before decompression were treated with anticoagulant therapy. The mean follow‐up period was 3 years and 2 months (range 1 to 6 years). Two pleural entry injuries and two transient brachial plexus injuries were noted. All reconstructed arteries were patent during the follow‐up period. Complete resolution of symptoms with a return to full activity was noticed in all cases with arterial TOS and in two cases with venous TOS without axillary‐subclavian vein thrombosis. In cases with axillary‐subclavian vein thrombosis relief of symptoms was mild, and there were limitations on daily activity. Vascular TOS is seen less frequently than the neurogenic form; however, in most cases it requires surgical treatment. We prefer a combined supraclavicular and infraclavicular approach because it offers complete exposure of the subclavian artery, cervical and first ribs, and all soft tissue anomalies.
Current Management of Pectus Excavatum
Authors: Fonkalsrud Eric W. 
Published: May 2003

AbstractPectus excavatum (PE) is one of the most common anomalies of childhood. It occurs in approximately 1 in every 400 births, with males afflicted 5 times more often than females. PE is usually recognized in infancy, becomes much more severe during adolescent growth years, and remains constant throughout adult life. Symptoms are infrequent during early childhood, but become increasingly severe during adolescent years with easy fatigability, dyspnea with mild exertion, decreased endurance, pain in the anterior chest, and tachycardia. The heart is deviated into the left chest to varying degrees causing reduction in stroke volume and cardiac output. Pulmonary expansion is confined, causing a restrictive defect. Repair is recommended for patients who are symptomatic and who have a markedly elevated pectus severity index as determined by chest X‐ray or computed tomography scan. Repair using the highly modified Ravitch technique is usually performed after the age of 8 years. The optimal age for repair is between 12 and 16 years. Repair can be performed on adults with similar good results. Recent modifications in the Ravitch technique remove minimal cartilage and routinely use a temporary internal support bar for 6 months. Operation rarely takes more than 3 hours, and hospitalization rarely exceeds 3 days. Pain is mild and complications are rare, with 97% of patients experiencing a good to excellent result. The new minimally invasive Nuss repair avoids cartilage resection and takes less operating time, but is associated with more severe pain, longer hospitalization and a higher complication rate, with the bar remaining for 2 or more years. This technique is less applicable to older patients and those with asymmetric deformities. Long‐term follow‐up will be necessary to determine which operation may be best for any specific patient.
Hybrid structures and improving forecasting and scheduling in project management
Authors: Pollack‐Johnson Bruce 
Published: May 2003

AbstractIn many areas of managerial decision‐making and analysis, there are classical dichotomies, such as subjective versus objective forecasting methods, short‐range versus long‐range forecasting, heuristic versus optimization algorithms, and logic programming versus functional programming. This article describes some hybrid concepts and techniques that attempt to synthesize the strengths and minimize the weaknesses of seemingly incompatible classical approaches to problems that are central to project management and scheduling and to operations management in general.
Internal auctions for the efficient sourcing of intermediate products
Authors: Bushnell James B. , Oren Shmuel S. 
Published: May 2003

AbstractWe examine the problem of setting production levels and selecting an internal supplier for a vital intermediate product. These decisions are being made in a decentralized environment involving internal suppliers that are profit centers with private cost information. Our analysis centers on the use of multi‐dimensional auctions for facilitating communication between divisions and for implementing efficiency goals. We demonstrate analytically what the efficiency goals of the purchasing division should be and characterize necessary conditions of the auction process for implementing those efficiency goals.
The impact of capacity expansion on the market value of the firm
Authors: Hendricks Kevin B. , Singhal Vinod R. , Wiedman Christine I. 
Published: May 2003

AbstractThis paper empirically investigates the impact of capacity expansion decisions on the market value of the firm. Event study methodology is used to estimate the abnormal change in stock prices around capacity expansion decision announcements. On the day of the announcement, the magnitude of the price change is abnormally high, evidenced by a significantly positive mean standardized square of the abnormal change (Beaver's U‐statistic). We also analyze factors that we could affect the direction and magnitude of the abnormal change in the stock prices. We find that the change in price on the day of the announcement is positively and significantly related to the real growth rate of the industry, and negatively and significantly related to the variability of demand. A negative relationship between the price change and industry capacity utilization is also found which can have important implications for companies which follow the wait‐and‐see approach to capacity expansion decisions. We also find management ownership to be a significant predictor in explaining stock price changes around these announcements.
Flexibility as process mobility: The management of plant capabilities for quick response manufacturing
Authors: Upton David M. 
Published: May 2003

AbstractThis paper examines the relationship between one form of manufacturing flexibility ‐ operational mobility (or the ability to change quickly between products) ‐ and structure, infrastructure and managerial policy at the plant level. Using data from a broader study aimed at exploring the general sources of manufacturing flexibility, the paper provides evidence of the strength of the links between manufacturing flexibility and such factors as scale, technology vintage, computer integration and workforce management. There has been little empirical work on this subject, partly as a result of the difficulties of defining and measuring flexibility. The type of flexibility explored in this paper is specifically the capability of a plant to change between process states quickly.I find that most of the variance in flexibility across plants can be explained by a combination of structural factors, such as the scale of the plant; infrastructural factors, such as the length of service of the operators; and measures of managerial emphasis, such as the perceived importance of making quick changeovers. Of these factors, I find that the scale of a plant does not strongly inhibit its flexibility and that computer integration is either insignificant or detrimental to the flexibility of a plant. Workforce characteristics are also important determinants of flexibility, and the results suggest that less experienced operators may be more flexible in their ability to make certain types of change quickly between products. A strong determinant of the flexibility of a plant is the extent to which operators perceive managers to have emphasized the importance of various performance dimensions.Finally, I show that different forms of flexibility are not necessarily related to each other. This emphasizes the importance of identifying precisely the particular type of flexibility that is to be developed when building manufacturing capabilities.
Coordination in operations: A taxonomy
Authors: Whang Seungjin 
Published: May 2003

AbstractThis paper proposes a taxonomy of coordination study in operations. Its point of departure is the assumption that coordination study in operations always involves a “system” which can be a mathematical model, a software system, a business process or a game. A system is the unit of analysis in the taxonomy. In the taxonomy, systems are first divided into three categories depending on the type of coordination ‐ coordination within operations, cross‐functional coordination and inter‐organizational coordination. Systems are further divided depending on how people in the organization behave, i.e., the perspective of organization. We propose three alternative perspectives of organization ‐ single‐person perspective, team perspective, and nexus‐of‐contract perspective of organization. Through a series of examples, we describe nine subcategories of systems.
The operating impact of parts commonality
Authors: Vakharia Asoo J. , Parmenter David A. , Sanchez Susan M. 
Published: May 2003

AbstractThis paper investigates the impact of between‐ and within‐product parts commonality on the workload of a manufacturing firm using an MRP system. More specifically, we investigate the impact of several operational factors and their interactions with part commonality. We develop and validate a large simulation of an MRP system and integrate the generation of planned order releases with workload estimation on the shop floor. The results indicate that increasing parts commonality has positive effects in terms of average shop load but does lead to greater variability in terms of loadings as well as increasing system disruption. Further, we also find that the number of work centers significantly impacts the shop floor effects of commonality. Hence, although an increase in parts commonality results in less design effort and increased standardization, the negative effects of increasing commonality often appear on the shop floor level. This points to a need for the effective management of parts commonality by assessing the tradeoff between strategic “benefits” and operational “costs”.
The systematic position ofEquus hydruntinus,an extinct species of Pleistocene equid☆
Authors: Burke Ariane , Eisenmann Vera , Ambler Graeme K. 
Published: May 2003

AbstractPalaeolithic people commonly huntedEquus hydruntinus,an extinct species of equid whose cursorial body proportions suggest an adaptation to semi-arid conditions. Despite the frequency with which it is encountered in fossil deposits, only partial cranial remains have been reported until now. As a result, the systematic affiliation of the species remains a subject of controversy. Two nearly completeE. hydruntinuscrania are presented here for the first time. These skulls show thatE. hydruntinusis a distinct species, more closely related to the hemiones (Asiatic asses) than to any other equid. This suggests that the social organisation ofE. hydruntinusfollowed one of two known equid sociotypes: resource defense territoriality.
Integrated design and new product success
Authors: Ettlie John E. 
Published: May 2003

AbstractDo integrated approaches to design promote the commercial success of new products? Data from 126 U.S. manufacturers were used to test five hypotheses in a structural model of integrated design approaches which go beyond concurrent engineering. New product success was significantly associated with market need understanding which incorporates information, significantly, from integrated design into new product development. Integrated design was found to be significantly associated with early‐mover strategy, benchmarking best practices and, to a lesser extent, customized or proprietary hardware‐software systems.
Comparison of neuropathic pain induced by the application of normal and mechanically compressed nucleus pulposus to lumbar nerve roots in the rat
Authors: Kawakami Mamoru , Hashizume Hiroshi , Nishi Hideto , Matsumoto Takuji , Tamaki Tetsuya , Kuribayashi Koichi 
Published: May 2003

AbstractWe studied whether applying nucleus pulposus tissue, obtained from tail intervertebral discs that had been subjected to chronic mechanical compression, to the lumbar nerve roots produces hyperalgesia, which is thought to be a pain‐related behavior in the rat. An Ilizarov‐type apparatus was used for immobilization and chronically applied compression of the rat tail for eight weeks. Three weeks after application of extracted nucleus pulposus tissue on the lumbar nerve roots, motor function, sensitivity to noxious mechanical stimuli was measured. Eight weeks after application of the apparatus, the instrumented vertebrae were resected and sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin to evaluate degeneration of the intervertebral disc. Mechanical hyperalgesia observed in rats treated with the compressed nucleus pulposus tissue was greater and of longer duration than in the rats treated with normal and non‐compressed discs. The nucleus pulposus in the instrumented vertebrae showed some histological degeneration. In conclusion, chronic mechanical compression of nucleus pulposus, which resulted in degeneration to some extent, enhanced mechanical hyperalgesia, which was induced by application of nucleus pulposus on the nerve root in the rat. Degenerative intervertebral discs might induce more significant pain than normal intervertebral discs.© 2002 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Tendon cells produce gelatinases in response to type I collagen attachment
Authors: Ritty Timothy M. , Herzog Jeremy 
Published: May 2003

AbstractCells that carry out wound healing must be able to perform catabolic as well as anabolic functions. As the tendon is a tissue rich in extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, we hypothesized that cells which participate in tendon healing should be able to produce proteases that would allow the remodeling of such a tissue. To this end, we assessed the ability of endotenon cells isolated from canine flexor digitorum profundus tendon and from surrounding parietal sheath to produce the gelatinases MMP‐2 and MMP‐9. Endotenon and sheath cells cultured in vitro on polystyrene produced small amounts of MMP‐2 and MMP‐9 was not detectable. When cultured on polystyrene coated with type I collagen, the cells upregulated MMP‐2 production and MMP‐9 production was induced. No other ECM protein elicited this response nor did other cell lines respond in this way after attachment to type I collagen. The two gelatinases were identified by immunological methods, ability to bind gelatin, size, metal ion requirement, serine protease inhibitor insensitivity, and APMA activation. For cells grown on collagen‐coated plastic, gelatinase upregulation was proportional to the amount of ligand present until saturation was reached. For any group of fresh tendon cells, MMP‐2 and MMP‐9 upregulation was greater in a three dimensional collagen gel than the highest response from the same group under two dimensional culture conditions. Attachment of the cells to type I collagen increased the ratio of active to inactive MMP‐2. Dexamethasone inhibited the upregulation of both MMP‐2 and MMP‐9. These results show that ECM proteins can influence both the production and the state of activation of these matrix metalloproteinases.© 2002 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.