bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Somatic mutations in the BRCA2 gene and high frequency of allelic loss of BRCA2 in sporadic male breast cancer
Authors: Kwiatkowska Eliza , Teresiak Marek , Breborowicz Danuta , Mackiewicz Andrzej 
Published: August 2002

AbstractBreast cancer occurs rarely in men and risk factors for the disease include germline mutations of the BRCA2 gene. High frequency of allelic loss at the BRCA2 locus has been reported in sporadic breast tumors, but somatic mutations of BRCA2 are very rare. Here we report the first case of somatic BRCA2 mutation in male breast cancer with demonstrated loss of heterozygosity. We analyzed a series of 27 archival samples from male breast cancer patients for BRCA2 mutations and loss of heterozygosity at BRCA2 locus. The mutation analysis of BRCA2 gene was performed using SSCA‐HA and sequencing methods. PCR was used to detect LOH at 3 highly polymorphic microsatellite markers spanning BRCA2 region on 13q by comparing the allelic pattern in matched tumor and blood DNA samples. In this study LOH at the BRCA2 locus was observed in 82.6% of informative cases, confirming previous observations on high frequency of LOH affecting the BRCA2 region in male breast cancer. We identified 5 somatic BRCA2 mutations in a set of 23 sporadic male breast cancers (21%). Two silent and 1 missense alterations were novel BRCA2 variants. Here we also report first somatic frameshift BRCA2 mutation in male breast cancer 8138del5. In 3 tumors with somatic BRCA2 alterations, 1 missense, 1 silent and frameshift LOH at chromosome 13q12‐13 were detected and losses involved a wild–type allele of BRCA2 gene. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Prospective cohort study of cigarette smoking and colorectal cancer risk in women
Authors: Terry Paul D. , Miller Anthony B. , Rohan Thomas E. 
Published: August 2002

AbstractEpidemiological studies have consistently found a positive association between cigarette smoking and risk of colorectal adenomas, so the absence of a clear association between smoking and colorectal cancer risk may seem paradoxical. However, if colorectal cancer develops only after an induction period of about 35 years, as has been proposed recently, then studies in which all subjects have fewer than about 35 years between smoking commencement and assessment of outcome would be unlikely to detect this association. Few studies have examined smoking of several decades' duration among women. Therefore, in the cohort study reported here, we used proportional hazards models to estimate hazard ratios relating cigarette smoking to colorectal cancer risk among 89,835 women aged 40–59 years at recruitment into the Canadian National Breast Screening Study, a randomized controlled trial of mammography screening for breast cancer. During an average 10.6 years of follow‐up (936,433 person‐years), a total of 527 women were diagnosed with incident colorectal cancer (363 colon and 164 rectal). We found that smoking was associated with increased risk of rectal cancer 30 years or more after commencement, and especially with smoking of 40 years' duration or longer (hazard ratio=3.14, 95% CI=1.33–7.42). There was little evidence for altered risk of colon cancer. These results, along with those of other recent studies, support the hypothesis that tobacco smoking is an initiator, rather than a promoter, of rectal cancer. However, the results do not support an association with colon cancer risk, even with smoking of very long duration and high intensity. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Post‐menopausal hormonal therapy and gallbladder cancer risk
Authors: Gallus Silvano , Negri Eva , Chatenoud Liliane , Bosetti Cristina , Franceschi Silvia , La Vecchia Carlo 
Published: August 2002

AbstractThe relation between post‐menopausal hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and gallbladder cancer was analyzed in women above age 45 years, using data of a case‐control study conducted in Italy between 1985 and 1997, on 31 incident, histologically confirmed cases and 3,702 controls in hospital for acute, non‐neoplastic conditions. The multivariate odds ratio (OR) was 3.2 (95% confidence interval: 1.1–9.3) for those who had ever used HRT and the OR tended to rise with longer duration. Although based on small numbers, due to the rarity of the disease, these findings provide the first direct epidemiological evidence of an association between HRT and gallbladder cancer. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
CT7 (MAGE‐C1) antigen expression in normal and neoplastic tissues
Authors: Jungbluth Achim A. , Chen Yao‐Tseng , Busam Klaus J. , Coplan Keren , Kolb Denise , Iversen Kristin , Williamson Barbara , van Landeghem Frank K.H. , Stockert Elisabeth , Old Lloyd J. 
Published: August 2002

AbstractCT7 (MAGE‐C1) is a member of the cancer testis (CT) antigen family. The present study describes the generation of CT7‐33, a monoclonal antibody (MAb) to CT7, and the preliminary protein expression analysis of CT7 in normal tissues and in a limited number of neoplastic lesions. CT7‐33 was effective in frozen as well as formalin‐fixed, paraffin‐embedded tissues, and immunohistochemistry/reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) co‐typing demonstrated antibody specificity. CT7‐33 immunoreactivity in normal adult tissues is restricted to testicular germ cells. In neoplastic lesions, CT7‐33 immunostaining is confined to tumor cells, and the frequency of CT7 protein expression mostly parallels previous mRNA analyses. Whereas colorectal and renal cell carcinomas, as well as sarcomas, exhibit poor or no CT7‐33 staining, carcinomas of the mammary gland and ovary, nonsmall cell lung carcinoma and metastatic melanomas exhibit a high incidence of CT7 protein expression. However, as seen in previous analyses of other CT antigens, the expression pattern is mostly heterogeneous, and tumors with more than 50% of tumor staining are only infrequently encountered. In summary, our study presents a new serologic reagent for the analysis of CT7 on a protein level and confirms what is known with regard to the expression pattern of other CT antigens in tumors: frequent heterogeneity of antigen expression. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Wnt/β‐catenin signaling suppresses apoptosis in low serum medium and induces morphologic change in rodent fibroblasts
Authors: Ueda Yoshihide , Hijikata Makoto , Takagi Shinji , Takada Ritsuko , Takada Shinji , Chiba Tsutomu , Shimotohno Kunitada 
Published: August 2002

AbstractWnt/β‐catenin signaling plays important roles in tumorigenesis in certain tumors as well as during development. However, the mechanism of tumorigenesis mediated by this signaling remains to be elucidated. We investigated the response of rodent fibroblasts to activation of Wnt/β‐catenin signaling by treatment with conditioned medium containing soluble Wnt‐3a protein (W3a‐CM) and by expression of a constitutive active β‐catenin gene harbored by an adenovirus vector. W3a‐CM induced transcriptional activation of a β‐catenin/T‐cell factor (Tcf)‐responsive promoter in rodent fibroblasts such as NIH3T3, Rat‐1, Swiss3T3 and Balb3T3 cells. In these cells, an increase in saturation density and an inhibition of apoptosis and/or promotion of growth in low‐serum medium were induced by treatment with W3a‐CM. In Rat‐1 cells, morphologic changes were also induced. All these alterations were reversible. Moreover, the inhibition of apoptosis of NIH3T3 cells in low‐serum medium and the morphologic changes in Rat‐1 cells, but not the increase in saturation density, were also induced by ectopic expression of a constitutive active β‐catenin gene. These results suggested that activation of Wnt/β‐catenin signaling induces inhibition of apoptosis and morphologic changes in these cells. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Estimates of the world‐wide prevalence of cancer for 25 sites in the adult population
Authors: Pisani Paola , Bray Freddie , Parkin D. Maxwell 
Published: August 2002

AbstractIn health services planning, in addition to the basic measures of disease occurrence incidence and mortality, other indexes expressing the demand of care are also required to develop strategies for service provision. One of these is prevalence of the disease, which measures the absolute number, and relative proportion in the population, of individuals affected by the disease and that require some form of medical attention. For most cancer sites, cases surviving 5 years from diagnosis experience thereafter the same survival as the general population, so most of the workload is therefore due to medical acts within these first 5 years. This article reports world‐wide estimates of 1‐, 2–3‐ and 4–5‐year point prevalence in 1990 in the population aged 15 years or over, and hence describes the number of cancer cases diagnosed between 1986 and 1990 who were still alive at the end of 1990. These estimates of prevalence at 1, 2–3 and 4–5 years are applicable to the evaluation of initial treatment, clinical follow‐up and point of cure, respectively, for the majority of cancers. We describe the computational procedure and data sources utilised to obtain these figures and compare them with data published by 2 cancer registries. The highest prevalence of cancer is in North America with 1.5% of the population affected and diagnosed in the previous 5 years (about 0.5% of the population in years 4–5 and 2–3 of follow‐up and 0.4% within the first year of diagnosis). This corresponds to over 3.2 million individuals. Western Europe and Australia and New Zealand show very similar percentages with 1.2% and 1.1% of the population affected (about 3.9 and 0.2 million cases respectively). Japan and Eastern Europe form the next batch with 1.0% and 0.7%, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean (overall prevalence of 0.4%), and all remaining regions are around 0.2%. Cancer prevalence in developed countries is very similar in men and women, 1.1% of the sex‐specific population, while in developing countries the prevalence is some 25% greater in women than men, reflecting a preponderance of cancer sites with poor survival such as liver, oesophagus and stomach in males. The magnitude of disease incidence is the primary determinant of crude prevalence of cases diagnosed within 1 year so that differences by region mainly reflect variation in risk. In the long‐term period however different demographic patterns with long‐life expectancy in high‐income countries determine a higher prevalence in these areas even for relatively uncommon cancer sites such as the cervix. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Hyaluronidase gene profiling and role of HYAL‐1 overexpression in an orthotopic model of prostate cancer
Authors: Patel Sonal , Turner Paul R. , Stubberfield Colin , Barry Eleanor , Rohlff Christian R. , Stamps Alasdair , Tyson Kerry , Terrett Jon , Box Gary , Eccles Suzanne , Page Martin J. 
Published: August 2002

AbstractThe mRNA levels of hyal‐1, hyal‐2, LUCA3 and PH20, the 4 hyaluronidases with demonstrated endoglucosaminidase activity, were extensively profiled in normal and tumor tissues and cell lines, using dot blot analysis and quantitative PCR. In normal tissues, hyal‐1, hyal‐2 and LUCA3 all showed unique patterns of mRNA expression, but were generally of widespread distribution, whereas PH20 mRNA was restricted to testes. In a small set of breast tumor samples, no elevations in hyal‐1, hyal‐2 or LUCA3 mRNA were seen. Hyaluronidase activity measured by a novel assay or zymography was also not elevated in sera from a number of breast cancer patients, compared to sera from normal volunteers. In ex vivo xenograft tumor cell lines, however, hyal‐1 or hyal‐2 mRNA levels were frequently elevated, whereas LUCA3 was only infrequently elevated and PH20 not at all. Two cell lines were engineered to overexpress hyal‐1: a breast cancer line (CAL51) and a prostate cancer line (PC3M). Although the in vitro properties of the hyal‐1 overexpressing cell lines were indistinguishable from the parental cells, the orthotopic growth of hyal‐1 expressing PC3M cells in nu/nu mice resulted in significantly increased numbers of metastases, supportive of a role for hyal‐1 in extravasation and metastatic tumor formation in this model of prostate cancer. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Settled People Don't Move: On Life Course and (Im‐)Mobility in Sweden
Authors: Fischer Peter A. , Malmberg Gunnar 
Published: August 2002

AbstractThis study analyses the impact on mobility of social ties, life‐course events and local insider advantages. Empirical analyses are based on a comprehensive data‐set covering all movers between the 108 local labour market regions in Sweden in 1994. The empirical investigation is based on individual micro‐data from the TOPSWING database, covering the whole Swedish population. The distribution of major events over the life course in the Swedish population is shown. Furthermore, partial effects of regional economic conditions, individual socio‐economic conditions, family ties, life‐course events, and duration of residence on the probability of staying in a local labour market are estimated using a probit model. The study reveals that age‐specific migration propensities are influenced by a variety of conditions. The analysis lends support for the hypothesis that ties to work and family are major determinants of (im‐)mobility and that the distribution of various life projects influences the age‐specific migration pattern. Furthermore, we see a strong general effect of the previous duration of stay in a place of residence and workplace on the probability of staying, and we regard this as strong empirical evidence of what we call location‐specific insider advantages. People who are, in different ways, deeply settled in a geographical area are very likely to be immobile and to remain residents of that region. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
An analytic simplification for the reconstruction problem of electrical impedance tomography
Authors: Belward Catherine , Howes Tony , Forbes Lawrence K. 
Published: August 2002

AbstractThis paper introduces a new reconstruction algorithm for electrical impedance tomography. The algorithm assumes that there are two separate regions of conductivity. These regions are represented as eccentric circles. This new algorithm then solves for the location of the eccentric circles. Due to the simple geometry of the forward problem, an analytic technique using conformal mapping and separation of variables has been employed. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol 12, 9–15, 2002
Development and specification of a service agreement and operational rules for La Khe irrigation system, Ha Dong, Vietnam
Authors: Turral Hugh , Malano Hector , Viet Chien Nguyen 
Published: August 2002

AbstractThe paper describes the process development of a level of service specification for the La Khe irrigation system in Vietnam, with the application of computer simulation, flow monitoring and institutional reform. It shows that technical innovation and institutional development need to go hand in hand, and that effective modernisation of irrigation systems requires a good understanding of existing management and infrastructure constraints. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Application of a genetic algorithm for water allocation in an irrigation system1
Authors: Wardlaw Robin , Bhaktikul Kampanad 
Published: August 2002

AbstractIrrigation is the largest use of fresh water globally, and improved management of water within irrigation systems is essential if scarce resources are to be used to their maximum benefit and used in an equitable manner. The management of water allocation in large irrigation systems is important, as even a small improvement in operation may lead to significant benefits.An optimisation approach based on genetic algorithms (GAs) is described for real time allocation of irrigation water supplies. Appropriate objective functions for the water allocation problem have been derived previously and solved using quadratic programming (QP). This paper describes work on the development of a GA for the water allocation problem. The GA approach is very flexible, and is easily set up for a wide range of linear and non‐linear objective functions.This paper presents the development of a GA for the irrigation water allocation problem and investigates the sensitivity of the approach to different formulations. The GA approach can provide solutions that are similar to those produced by QP. It is, however, sensitive to string length, and has difficulty in meeting closed nodal water balance constraints. It is concluded that the GA approach offers no advantage over the QP for the water allocation problem. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Clustering technique for risk classification and prediction of claim costs in the automobile insurance industry
Authors: Yeo Ai Cheo , Smith Kate A. , Willis Robert J. , Brooks Malcolm 
Published: August 2002

AbstractThis paper considers the problem of predicting claim costs in the automobile insurance industry. The first stage involves classifying policy holders according to their perceived risk, followed by modelling the claim costs within each risk group. Two methods are compared for the risk classification stage: a data‐driven approach based on hierarchical clustering, and a previously published heuristic method that groups policy holders according to pre‐defined factors. Regression is used to model the expected claim costs within a risk group. A case study is presented utilizing real data, and both risk classification methods are compared according to a variety of accuracy measures. The results of the case study show the benefits of employing a data‐driven approach. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Effects of caffeine on locomotor activity of horses: determination of the no‐effect threshold
Authors: Queiroz‐Neto A. , Zamur G. , Carregaro A. B. , Mataqueiro M. I. , Salvadori M. C. , Azevedo C. P. , Harkins J. D. , Tobin T. 
Published: August 2002

AbstractCaffeine is the legal stimulant consumed most extensively by the human world population and may be found eventually in the urine and/or blood of race horses. The fact that caffeine is in foods led us to determine the highest no‐effect dose (HNED) of caffeine on the spontaneous locomotor activity of horses and then to quantify this substance in urine until it disappeared. We built two behavioural stalls equipped with juxtaposed photoelectric sensors that emit infrared beams that divide the stall into nine sectors in a ‘tic‐tac‐toe’ fashion. Each time a beam was interrupted by a leg of the horse, a pulse was generated; the pulses were counted at 5‐min intervals and stored by a microcomputer. Environmental effects were minimized by installing exhaust fans producing white noise that obscured outside sounds. One‐way observation windows prevented the animals from seeing outside. The sensors were turned on 45 min before drug administration (saline control or caffeine). The animals were observed for up to 8 h after i.v. administration of 2.0, 2.5, 3.0 or 5.0 mg caffeine kg−1. The HNED of caffeine for stimulation of the spontaneous locomotor activity of horses was 2.0 mg kg−1. The quantification of caffeine in urine and plasma samples was done by gradient HPLC with UV detection. The no‐effect threshold should not be greater than 2.0 μg caffeine ml−1 plasma or 5.0 μg caffeine ml−1 urine. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Determination of the highest no‐effect dose (HNED) and of the elimination pattern for cocaine in horses
Authors: Queiroz‐Neto A. , Zamur G. , Lacerda‐Neto J. C. , Tobin T. 
Published: August 2002

AbstractCocaine is one of the most widespread illegal stimulants utilized by the human population throughout the world. The aim of this study was to establish the highest no‐effect dose (HNED) of cocaine on the spontaneous locomotor activity (SLA) of horses in a behavior chamber, and thereby to determine the maximal acceptable threshold of the urinary drug concentration in horses. Twelve English thoroughbred mares received 0.02, 0.03, 0.04, 0.08 or 0.12 mg kg−1 cocaine i.v. or saline solution (control). It was noted that doses above 0.04 mg kg−1 induced a significant increase in SLA (P < 0.05, Tukey's test). No significant increase in SLA was seen in the mares that received 0.03 mg kg−1, but the animals showed important behavioral changes that did not occur after the 0.02 mg kg−1 dose. It was concluded that the HNED of cocaine for horses in a behavior chamber is 0.02 mg kg−1. After injection of this dose in five horses, urine samples were collected at predetermined intervals through vesical catheterization. The concentrations of cocaine, norcocaine, benzoylecgonine and ecgonine methyl ester were quantified by liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. Cocaine and norcocaine concentrations remained consistently below the level of detection. Benzoylecgonine reached a mean (± SEM) maximum concentration of 531.9 ± 168.7 ng ml−1 after 4 h, whereas ecgonine methyl ester peaked 2 h after injection at a concentration of 97.2 ± 26.5 ng ml−1. The maximum admissible concentration for cocaine and/or metabolites in the urine of horses is difficult to establish unequivocally because of the substantial individual variation in the drug elimination pattern observed in horses, which can be inferred by the large standard error of the means obtained. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Depleted uranium—the growing concern
Authors: Abu‐Qare Aqel W. , Abou‐Donia Mohamed B. 
Published: August 2002

AbstractRecently, several studies have reported on the health and environmental consequences of the use of depleted uranium. Depleted uranium is a heavy metal that is also radioactive. It is commonly used in missiles as a counterweight because of its very high density (1.6 times more than lead). Immediate health risks associated with exposure to depleted uranium include kidney and respiratory problems, with conditions such as kidney stones, chronic cough and severe dermatitis. Long‐term risks include lung and bone cancer. Several published reports implicated exposure to depleted uranium in kidney damage, mutagenicity, cancer, inhibition of bone, neurological deficits, significant decrease in the pregnancy rate in mice and adverse effects on the reproductive and central nervous systems. Acute poisoning with depleted uranium elicited renal failure that could lead to death. The environmental consequences of its residue will be felt for thousands of years. It is inhaled and passed through the skin and eyes, transferred through the placenta into the fetus, distributed into tissues and eliminated in urine. The use of depleted uranium during the Gulf and Kosovo Wars and the crash of a Boeing airplane carrying depleted uranium in Amsterdam in 1992 were implicated in a health concern related to exposure to depleted uranium. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.