50,678 research outputs found
The construction of Karen Karnak: The multi-author-function
No full textThis thesis is situated within the comparatively recent developments of Web 2.0 and the emergence of interactive WikiMedia, and explores the mode of authorship within a Read/Write culture compared to that of a Read/Only tradition. The hypothesis of this study is that the role of the audience has become merged with the author, and as such, represents new functions and attributes, distinct from a more conventional concept of authorship, in which the roles of audience and author are more separate. Read/Write and participatory culture, as defined by this study, is focused on collaboration, and includes the influences of D.I.Y. culture, Open-Source practices and the production of text by multiple authors. Multi-authorship presents a re-thinking of several concepts which support the notion of the individual author, since the focus of multi-authorship is not on attribution and ownership of a finished text, but on the continued malleability of a text. Modes of multi-authorship, demonstrated in the use of the pseudonyms Alan Smithee and Karen Eliot, represent declarative authors whose names signify multiple origins, whilst concurrently indicating a distinct body of work. The function of these names form an important context to this study, since primary research involves the construction of an experimental mode of multi-authorship utilising WikiMedia technology and the interaction of thirty nine participants, who are invited to create a body of work under the collective pseudonym Karen Karnak. The data generated by this experiment is analysed using aspects of Michel Foucault's author-function to identify and determine power structures inherent in the WikiMedia context. The interplay of power structures, including concepts such as identity, ownership and the body of work, affect the resulting mode of authorship and contribute to the construction of Karen Karnak, suggesting further areas of research into the emerging multi-author
Zum Ansehen: "Wohin treibt der Arabische Frühling?"
No full textAm 4. März war Geisteswissenschaft im Dialog in Berlin. Dort diskutierten Prof. Dr. Kai Hafez, Georges Khalil, Prof. Dr. Stefan Leder und Prof. Dr. Friederike Pannewick mit der freien Journalistin Karin Schädler über die Zukunft des Arabischen Frühlings. Wir wünschen viel Spaß beim Ansehen! Geisteswissenschaft im Dialog: Wohin treibt der Arabische Frühling? from maxweberstiftung on Vimeo. Foto: Deutsche Fotothek | CC BY-SA 3.0 D
A phase II study of epirubicin, cisplatin and capecitabine combination chemotherapy in patients with metastatic or advanced gastric cancer
No full textObjectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antitumor activity and safety of an epirubicin, cisplatin, and capecitabine (ECX) combination in patients with metastatic or advanced gastric cancer. Patients and Methods: Patients with metastatic or advanced measurable gastric adenocarcinoma received ECX combination chemotherapy. Epirubicin 50 mg/m(2) and cisplatin 60 mg/m(2) were administered on day 1 by intravenous injection. Capecitabine 1,000 mg/m(2) twice daily was administered orally on day 1-14. The cycle was repeated every 3 weeks. Results: Fifty-four patients were enrolled in this study. Fifty patients were assessable for responses and 53 for toxicity. A total of 250 cycles were administered. The overall best response rate by intent-to-treat analysis was 59% including 52% partial responses and 7% complete responses. Median response duration and time to progression was 5.8 and 6 months, respectively. Median survival for all patients was 9.6 months (95% Cl, 8.7-10.5 months). The most common grade 3/4 hematological adverse event was neutropenia in 31% (76 cycles) including febrile neutropenia in 4.8% (11 cycles). Non-hematological toxicity was generally mild and reversible. Grade 3/4 nausea, vomiting and stomatitis occurred in 8, 9, and 8% of the patients, respectively. Hand-foot skin reactions developed in 51% of patients, but most were self-limited. Grade 3 occurred in only 4%. One patient died of neutropenic sepsis. Conclusions: ECX combination regimen showed high anti-tumor activity with a tolerable toxicity pattern as a front-line chemotherapy for patients with metastatic or advanced gastric cancer. Copyright (C) 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel.N
DOC-2/hDab-2 inhibits ILK activity and induces anoikis in breast cancer cells through an Akt-independent pathway
No full textDOC-2/hDab-2 was identified due to the loss of its expression in primary ovarian cancer cells. It is believed that loss of DOC-2/hDab-2 expression is one of the early events of ovarian malignancy. These results suggest a function of DOC-2/hDab-2 as a tumor suppressor. However, it is not clear how DOC-2/hDab-2 negatively regulates cancer cell growth. In this report, we demonstrate that DOC-2/hDab-2 expression in breast cancer cells resulted in sensitivity to suspension-induced cell death (anoikis). This event was associated with the down-regulation of the integrin-linked kinase (ILK) activity. Since ILK is a key factor in regulating the cellular signaling in responding to the extracellular signals through adhesion molecules like integrins, our results indicate that DOC-2/hDab-2 may prevent tumor growth and invasion by modulating the anti-apoptotic ILK pathway.Y
First-line chemotherapy with irinotecan plus capecitabine for advanced colorectal cancer
No full textObjective: The aim of this study was to evaluate efficacy and safety of the combination chemotherapy with irinotecan plus capecitabine in patients with advanced colorectal adenocarcinoma. Methods: Patients with histologically proven advanced colorectal adenocarcinoma received a first-line chemotherapy with irinotecan 240 mg/ m(2) on day 1 and capecitabine 2,000 mg/m(2)/day as an intermittent regimen of 2 weeks of treatment followed by a 1-week rest. Treatment was repeated every 3 weeks. Results: Thirty-nine patients were registered, and 36 were assessable for responses. Sixteen objective responses (44%) were observed with a median response duration of 6.9 months. Stable disease was documented in 14 cases (39%). The median time to progression was 6.7 months. The median overall survival was not reached at the time of analysis, and the 1-year survival rate was 67%. Two patients died: 1 due to sepsis not complicating myelosuppression, and 1 patient, known as a hepatitis B virus carrier prior to chemotherapy, died of hepatic failure, the cause of which was not clinically verified. Frequently encountered therapy-related events were leukopenia and gastrointestinal side effects including diarrhea. Severe hand-and-foot syndrome was observed in only 1 patient. Conclusions: The combination chemotherapy of irinotecan and capecitabine is an active and tolerable regimen for advanced colorectal adenocarcinoma, but the observed deaths suggest a future randomized trial that requires a cautious patient selection. Copyright (C) 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel.N
Language Change and SA-OT: The case of sentential negation
No full textSimulated Annealing for Optimality Theory (SA-OT) updates Optimality Theory by adding a model of performance to a theory of linguistic competence. Our aim is to show that SA-OT can contribute to language change simulations. Performance "errors" are considered to be one of the causes of variation and change. We have chosen to model the evolution of sentential negation (SN). The descriptive background adopts Jespersen's Cycle, according to which the evolution of sentential negation follows three main stages (1. pre-verbal, 2. discontinuous, and 3. post-verbal). Therefore, we advance a novel model for SN, based on SA-OT. It reproduces the three pure and the two observed mixed stages, whereas it correctly predicts the lack of an intermediate stage between 3 and 1. The success of the approach corroborates the computational, performance-based approach to the data. Finally, we employ the iterated learning paradigm to reproduce historical changes in a "simulated corpus study". This enterprise turns out to be more difficult than one would naively believe.Appeared open access as: Computational Linguistics in the Netherlands Journal (CLIN), vol. 1 (2011), pp. 21-40, and is available at http://www.clinjournal.org/sites/default/files/Lopopolo.pdfA. Lopopolo and Biró, T., “Language Change and SA-OT. The case of sentential negation”, Computational Linguistics in the Netherlands Journal, vol. 1, pp. 21-40, 2011.Peer Reviewe
Geteiltes Erbe? Koloniales Wissen in Geschichte und Gegenwart
No full textAm 26. September 2017 um 18:00 Uhr wird unsere nächste Veranstaltung von Geisteswissenschaft im Dialog im Großen Hörsaal des Museums für Völkerkunde in Hamburg stattfinden. Dazu laden wir herzlich ein! Das ehemalige Reichskolonialehrendenkmal in Bremen, das 1989 zu einem Antikolonialdenkmal umgewidmet wurde.Foto: Matthias Süßen, Bearbeitung durch die Redaktion, CC BY-SA 3.0. Das Zeitalter der Kolonialreiche ist Vergangenheit, die noch nicht vergangen ist. Auch in Deutschland nicht, wo in den..
Mobilization kinetics of CD34(+) cells in association with modulation of CD44 and CD31 expression during continuous intravenous administration of G-CSF in normal donors
No full textThe aim of the present study is to evaluate the kinetics of CD34(+) cells and investigate the potential modulation of CD44 and CD31 expression on CD34(+) cells during continuous i.v. administration of G-CSF, thus to elucidate the possible mechanism of peripheral blood progenitor cell (PBPC) mobilization. Fifteen healthy donors were enrolled in this study. G-CSF (10 mu g/kg/day) was administered for four consecutive days through continuous 24-h i.v. infusion. For measurement of complete blood counts, CD34(+) cell levels and their expression of CD44 and CD31, PB sampling was performed immediately before the administration of G-CSP (steady-state) and after 4, 8, 24, 48, 72, 96, and 120 h of G-CSF administration. The percentage and absolute number of CD34(+) cells significantly increased at day 3 (0.55 +/- 0.09%, 51.12 +/- 24.83 x 10(3)/ml) and day 4 (0.47 +/- 0.09%, 46.66 +/- 24.93 x 103/ml), compared to the steady-state level (0.06 +/- 0.09%, 2.03 +/- 5.69 x 103/ml). At day 3 to day 5 following the onset of G-CSF administration, a strong decrease of CD44 and CD31 expression was observed on mobilized CD34(+) cells compared to controls: the relative fluorescence intensity of CD44 and CD31 was, respectively, 50%-70% and 40%-90% lower than that of controls. We conclude that continuous i.v. administration of G-CSF apparently results in more rapid mobilization of CD34(+) cells, and downregulation of CD44 and CD31 on CD34(+) cells is likely to be involved in the mobilization of PBPC after treatment with G-CSF.N
Inhibition of breast cancer growth in vivo by antiangiogenesis gene therapy with adenovirus-mediated antisense-VEGF
No full textIncreased expression of VEGF in several types of tumours has been shown to correlate with poor prognosis. We used a replication-deficient adenoviral vector containing antisense VEGF cDNA (Ad5CMV-alpha VEGF) to down-regulate VEGF expression and increase the efficiency of delivery of the antisense sequence in the human breast cancer cell line MDA231-MB. Transfection of these cells with Ad5CMV-alpha VEGF in vitro reduced secreted levels of VEGF protein without affecting cell growth. Moreover, injection of the Ad5CMV-alpha VEGF vector into intramammary xenografts of these cells established in nude mice inhibited tumour growth and reduced the amount of VEGF protein and the density of microvessels in those tumours relative to tumours treated with the control vector Ad5(dl312). Our results showed that antisense VEGF(165) cDNA was efficiently delivered in vivo via an adenoviral vector and that this treatment significantly inhibited the growth of established experimental breast tumours. The Ad5CMV-alpha VEGF vector may be useful in targeting the tumour vasculature in the treatment of breast cancer. (C) 2001 Cancer Research Campaign.Y
Distinct patterns of apoptosis in association with modulation of CD44 induced by thrombopoietin and granulocyte-colony stimulating factor during ex vivo expansion of human cord blood CD34(+) cells
No full textThe insufficient number of haemopoietic stem cells (HSCs) In cord blood (CB) is the major potential limitation to widespread use of CB for marrow replacement. Cytokine-mediated ex vivo expansion has been proposed as a means of increasing the number of CB HSCs for transplantation. However, the biology of CB HSCs during cytokine-mediated ex vivo expansion; such as apoptosis or expression of adhesion molecules, has not yet been elucidated. We have investigated the patterns of apoptosis and CD44 expression on human CB CD34(+) cells during ex, vivo expansion. CD34(+) cells isolated from human CB were cultured in a stroma-free liquid culture system with thrombopoietin (TPO), flt3-ligand (FL), stem cell factor (SCF), and/or granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF). During the culture, for up to 5 weeks, apoptosis was measured by staining with 7-amino-actinomycin D (7-AAD) along with concurrent immunophenotyping of CD34 and CD44 with three-colour flow cytometry. Ln the cultures with TPO, an apoptotic fraction with down-regulated CD44 appeared from the fourth day up to the second week. G-CSF also induced apoptosis but in a different manner; the apoptotic fraction without down-regulation of CD44 appeared unremittingly for up to 5 weeks. FL did not induce apoptosis or down-regulation of CD44. These findings show that apoptosis is indeed involved in the regulation of CB CD34(+) cells in ex vivo expansion and the patterns of apoptosis are dependent on the type of cytokines used. The distinct patterns of apoptosis suggest different mechanisms of TPO and G-CSF in inducing apoptosis, which still remains to be elucidated.Y
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