Numerous Papers (numerous + paper)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Comparison of the specificity and sensitivity of traditional methods for assessment of nephrotoxicity in the rat with metabonomic and proteomic methodologies

JOURNAL OF APPLIED TOXICOLOGY, Issue 4 2005
Andy Gibbs
Abstract There is currently a great deal of scientific interest and debate concerning the possible advantages that proteomic and metabonomic technologies might have over traditional biomarkers of toxicity (blood and urine chemistry, histopathology). Numerous papers have been published that make impressive claims concerning potential applications for these novel technologies, however there appears to be little hard evidence in the literature of their advantages over the traditional techniques for assessing toxicity. The aim of this review was to evaluate the relative sensitivity and specificity of proteomic and metabonomic techniques, compared with traditional techniques, for assessing xenobiotic-induced nephrotoxicity. A review of studies was performed where both one of the novel methods as well as traditional techniques were used for assessment of xenobiotic-induced nephrotoxicity. There was no consistent evidence from the literature that the novel methodologies were any more sensitive than the traditional methods for assessing nephrotoxicity. This could be due to the relatively small number of studies available for review (n = 13), the fact that generally these studies were not aimed at determining relative sensitivity or specificity and may not be the case with other target organs, such as the liver. However, it was clear that the novel methodologies were able to discriminate between the effects caused by different toxicants. There was evidence both that this discrimination was on the basis of different mechanisms of toxicity and on the basis of different locations of nephrotoxic lesion. A great deal of validation work is necessary before these techniques could gain full acceptance by regulatory authorities, and it is unclear whether their use in anything other than non-regulatory, mechanistic studies is likely to become widespread. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Matrix metalloproteinases, a disintegrin and metalloproteinases, and a disintegrin and metalloproteinases with thrombospondin motifs in non-neoplastic diseases

PATHOLOGY INTERNATIONAL, Issue 7 2010
Takayuki Shiomi
Cellular functions within tissues are strictly regulated by the tissue microenvironment which comprises extracellular matrix and extracellular matrix-deposited factors such as growth factors, cytokines and chemokines. These molecules are metabolized by matrix metalloproteinases (MMP), a disintegrin and metalloproteinases (ADAM) and ADAM with thrombospondin motifs (ADAMTS), which are members of the metzincin superfamily. They function in various pathological conditions of both neoplastic and non-neoplastic diseases by digesting different substrates under the control of tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMP) and reversion-inducing, cysteine-rich protein with Kazal motifs (RECK). In neoplastic diseases MMP play a central role in cancer cell invasion and metastases, and ADAM are also important to cancer cell proliferation and progression through the metabolism of growth factors and their receptors. Numerous papers have described the involvement of these metalloproteinases in non-neoplastic diseases in nearly every organ. In contrast to the numerous review articles on their roles in cancer cell proliferation and progression, there are very few articles discussing non-neoplastic diseases. This review therefore will focus on the properties of MMP, ADAM and ADAMTS and their implications for non-neoplastic diseases of the cardiovascular system, respiratory system, central nervous system, digestive system, renal system, wound healing and infection, and joints and muscular system. [source]


Long-term Reliability Prediction of 935 nm LEDs Using Failure Laws and Low Acceleration Factor Ageing Tests

QUALITY AND RELIABILITY ENGINEERING INTERNATIONAL, Issue 6 2005
Y. Deshayes
Abstract Numerous papers have already reported various results on electrical and optical performances of GaAs-based materials for optoelectronic applications. Other papers have proposed some methodologies for a classical estimation of reliability of GaAs compounds using life testing methods on a few thousand samples over 10,000 hours of testing. In contrast, fewer papers have studied the complete relation between degradation laws in relation to failure mechanisms and the estimation of lifetime distribution using accelerated ageing tests considering a short test duration, low acceleration factor and analytical extrapolation. In this paper, we report the results for commercial InGaAs/GaAs 935 nm packaged light emitting diodes (LEDs) using electrical and optical measurements versus ageing time. Cumulative failure distributions are calculated using degradation laws and process distribution data of optical power. A complete methodology is described proposing an accurate reliability model from experimental determination of the failure mechanisms (defect diffusion) for this technology. Electrical and optical characterizations are used with temperature dependence, short-duration accelerated tests (less than 1500 h) with an increase in bias current (up to 50%), a small number of samples (less than 20) and weak acceleration factors (up to 240). Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Under Performers and Over Achievers: A Quantile Regression Analysis of Growth

THE ECONOMIC RECORD, Issue 248 2004
Raul A. Barreto
Numerous papers have searched for empirical linkages between long run economic growth and a myriad of economic, socio-political and environmental factors. Most of these studies use ordinary least-squares regression or panel regression analysis on a sample of countries and therefore consider the behaviour of growth around the mean of the conditional distribution. We extend the literature by using quantile regression to analyse long-term growth at a variety of points in the conditional distribution. By using this approach, we identify the determinants of growth for under performing countries relative to those for over achieving countries. [source]


An annotated bibliography of GRASP,Part II: Applications

INTERNATIONAL TRANSACTIONS IN OPERATIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 2 2009
Paola Festa
Abstract A greedy randomized adaptive search procedure (GRASP) is a metaheuristic for combinatorial optimization. It is a multi-start or iterative process, in which each GRASP iteration consists of two phases, a construction phase, in which a feasible solution is produced, and a local search phase, in which a local optimum in the neighborhood of the constructed solution is sought. Since 1989, numerous papers on the basic aspects of GRASP, as well as enhancements to the basic metaheuristic, have appeared in the literature. GRASP has been applied to a wide range of combinatorial optimization problems, ranging from scheduling and routing to drawing and turbine balancing. This is the second of two papers with an annotated bibliography of the GRASP literature from 1989 to 2008. In the companion paper, algorithmic aspects of GRASP are surveyed. In this paper, we cover the literature where GRASP is applied to scheduling, routing, logic, partitioning, location, graph theory, assignment, manufacturing, transportation, telecommunications, biology and related fields, automatic drawing, power systems, and VLSI design. [source]


An annotated bibliography of GRASP , Part I: Algorithms

INTERNATIONAL TRANSACTIONS IN OPERATIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 1 2009
Paola Festa
Abstract A greedy randomized adaptive search procedure (GRASP) is a metaheuristic for combinatorial optimization. It is a multi-start or iterative process, in which each GRASP iteration consists of two phases, a construction phase, in which a feasible solution is produced, and a local search phase, in which a local optimum in the neighborhood of the constructed solution is sought. Since 1989, numerous papers on the basic aspects of GRASP, as well as enhancements to the basic metaheuristic have appeared in the literature. GRASP has been applied to a wide range of combinatorial optimization problems, ranging from scheduling and routing to drawing and turbine balancing. This is the first of two papers with an annotated bibliography of the GRASP literature from 1989 to 2008. This paper covers algorithmic aspects of GRASP. [source]


High Pressure Processing , a Database of Kinetic Information

CHEMIE-INGENIEUR-TECHNIK (CIT), Issue 8 2008
R. Buckow
Abstract Hydrostatic high pressure technology is relatively new to food industry and is more and more considered as an alternative to traditional preservation methods like heat processing. The inactivation of bacteria, spores, viruses and enzymes has been demonstrated in numerous papers, and various schemes for modelling the experimental inactivation data have been suggested. Although there are similarities to heat inactivation kinetics it is generally agreed that the heat process safety assessment with its typical indicator organisms cannot simply be transferred to high pressure treatment. In this paper a database is introduced which aims at the comparison of published kinetic high pressure inactivation data by using suitable mathematical modelling tools. For the sake of clarity, the functional associations of pressure, temperature and exposure time is presented by means of pressure-temperature diagrams (pT -diagrams), which show pressure-temperature combinations yielding to a desired reaction (e.g. inactivation) rate constant. Thus, the database software was particularly designed to enable the user to call up pressure-temperature dependent function equations for a number of micro-organisms, enzymes and food constituents and to visualize them in pT -diagrams for predetermined treatment times or as kinetics under predetermined p - T conditions. In addition, the database also features a simple calculator tool which allows the user to make an entry in three of the four process conditions (pressure level, temperature level, inactivation level, dwell time) and calculate the remaining forth process condition. The database is accessible through the internet and is continuously updated on the basis of the most recent publications and own experimental data. [source]