Standards Battles for Complex Systems: Empirical Research on the Home Network

Home networks combine components and technologies from the consumer electronics industry, the information technology industry, the telecommunications industry, and the home automation industry. Irrespective of the fact that the home network has been technically possible for many years, it has not become a practical reality. A major reason is the lack of generally accepted common standards. In this dissertation we develop a framework with which we can explain and predict which standard will have the highest chance of achieving dominance. We applied the framework to several standards battles and it appeared that it can be used to explain these standards battles better, when compared to existing frameworks in the literature. We applied a multi-attribute utility approach to standard selection and provide a first indication of weights for factors. Also, we have studied two factors in depth: the diversity in the network of actors that support a standard; and the flexibility of the standard. We provide a first indication that these variables influence standard dominance positively and reinforce each other

American political affiliation, 2003–43: a cohort component projection

The recent rise and stability in American party identification has focused interest on the long-term dynamics of party bases. Liberal commentators cite immigration and youth as forces which will produce a natural Democratic advantage in the future while conservative writers highlight the importance of high Republican fertility in securing Republican growth. These concerns foreground the neglect of demography within political science. This paper addresses this omission by conducting the first ever cohort component projection of American partisan populations to 2043 based on survey and census data. A number of scenarios are modeled, but, on current trends, we predict that American partisanship will shift much less than the nation’s ethnic composition because the parties’ age structures are similar. Still, our projections find that the Democrats gain two to three percentage points from the Republicans by 2043, mainly through immigration, though Republican fertility may redress the balance in the very long term

GATA transcription factors in testicular adrenal rest tumours

Testicular adrenal rest tumours (TARTs) are benign adrenal-like testicular tumours that frequently occur in male patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Recently, GATA transcription factors have been linked to the development of TARTs in mice. The aim of our study was to determine GATA expression in human TARTs and other steroidogenic tissues. We determined GATA expression in TARTs (n = 16), Leydig cell tumours (LCTs; n = 7), adrenal (foetal (n = 6) + adult (n = 10)) and testis (foetal (n = 13) + adult (n = 8)). We found testis-like GATA4, and adrenal-like GATA3 and GATA6 gene expressions by qPCR in human TARTs, indicating mixed testicular and adrenal characteristics of TARTs. Currently, no marker is available to discriminate TARTs from LCTs, leading to misdiagnosis and incorrect treatment. GATA3 and GATA6 mRNAs exhibited excellent discriminative power (area under the curve of 0.908 and 0.816, respectively), while immunohistochemistry did not. GATA genes contain several CREB-binding sites and incubation with 0.1 mM dibutyryl cAMP for 4 h stimulated GATA3, GATA4 and GATA6 expressions in a human foetal testis cell line (hs181.tes). Incubation of adrenocortical cells (H295RA) with ACTH, however, did not induce GATA expression in vitro Although ACTH did not dysregulate GATA expression in the only human ACTH-sensitive in vitro model available, our results do suggest that aberrant expression of GATA transcription factors in human TARTs might be involved in TART formation

The influence of thermo-chemotherapy on bladder tumours: an immunohistochemical analysis

To study the influence of microwave induced thermo-chemotherapy on high-grade urothelial cell carcinomas. Five groups of each three patients were formed of whom initial biopsies and cystectomy samples were collected. Patients were treated 2 days prior to cystectomy with mitomycin-C (group 1), hyperthermia (group 2) or thermo-chemotherapy (group 3). Group 4 patients had been treated with a cycle of six thermo-chemotherapy treatments prior to cystectomy and group 5 patients served as control (no treatment). Tumour samples were stained with Haematoxylin and Eosin, monoclonal antibody Ki-67 and the monoclonal antibody p53. In six out of the nine patients treated with hyperthermia a decrease in proliferation activity in the tumour was found. Seven out of nine patients treated with hyperthermia showed a decrease in p53 activity. A decrease in proliferation activity and p53 activity illustrate the potential role of thermo-chemotherapy as a promising intravesical treatment

Ethnic Differences in Leaving Home: Timing and Pathways

The dynamics of leaving home for youth from migrant families in the Netherlands are examined using individual administrative data on the 1977 and 1983 birth cohorts for the period 1999–2004. A competing-risks approach is applied to distinguish leaving home for union formation, to live independently, and to share with others. Migrant youth, and particularly Turkish and Moroccan youth, leave home at a significantly younger age than Dutch youth, given the relevant background variables. This is remarkable, given the older ages at which young people in the origin countries leave the parental home. The result may be seen as evidence of how the potential effects of cultural norms are counter-affected by other factors, such as the facilities of the welfare state and the awkward position of migrant youth between two cultures. Considering the pathways out of home, the analysis largely confirms the expected pattern: Turkish and Moroccan youth leave home more often for union formation and particularly marriage, while this pathway is of minor importance for Dutch youth at early ages

High Diagnostic Performance of Short Magnetic Resonance Imaging Protocols for Prostate Cancer Detection in Biopsy-naive Men: The Next Step in Magnetic Resonance Imaging Accessibility

Background: To make magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) more accessible to men at risk of high-grade prostate cancer (PCa), there is a need for quicker, simpler, and less costly MRI protocols. Objective: To compare the diagnostic performance of monoplanar (“fast” biparametric MRI [bp-MRI]) and triplanar noncontrast bp-MRI with that of the current contrast-enhanced multiparametric MRI (mp-MRI) in the detection of high-grade PCa in biopsy-naïve men. Design, setting, and participants: A prospective, multireader, head-to-head study included 626 biopsy-naïve men, between February 2015 and February 2018. Intervention: Men underwent prebiopsy contrast-enhanced mp-MRI. Prior to biopsy, two blinded expert readers subsequently assessed “fast” bp-MRI, bp-MRI, and mp-MRI. Thereafter, systematic transrectal ultrasound-guided biopsies (SBs) were performed. Men with suspicious mp-MRI (Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System 3–5 lesions) also underwent MR-in-bore biopsy (MRGB). Outcome measurements and statistical analysis: Primary outcome was the diagnostic performance of each protocol for the detection of high-grade PCa. Secondary outcomes included the difference in biopsy avoidance, detection of low-grade PCa, acquisition times, decision curve analyses, inter-reader agreement, and direct costs. Results from combined MRGB and SB were used as the reference standard. High-grade PCa was defined as grade 2. Results and limitations: Sensitivity for high-grade PCa for all protocols was 95% (180/ 190; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 91–97%). Specificity was 65% (285/436; 95% CI: 61–70%) for “fast” bp-MRI and 69% (299/436; 95% CI: 64–73%) for bp-MRI and mp-MRI. With fast bp-MRI, 0.96% (6/626) more low-grade PCa was detected. Biopsy could be avoided in 47% for the fast bp-MRI and in 49% for the bp-MRI and mp-MRI protocols. Fast bp-MRI and bp-MRI can be performed in 8 and 13 min, respectively, instead of 16

Regulation of MYCN expression in human neuroblastoma cells

Contains fulltext : 81722.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: Amplification of the MYCN gene in neuroblastoma (NB) is associated with a poor prognosis. However, MYCN-amplification does not automatically result in higher expression of MYCN in children with NB. We hypothesized that the discrepancy between MYCN gene expression and prognosis in these children might be explained by the expression of either MYCN-opposite strand (MYCNOS) or the shortened MYCN-isoform (DeltaMYCN) that was recently identified in fetal tissues. Both MYCNOS and DeltaMYCN are potential inhibitors of MYCN either at the mRNA or at the protein level. METHODS: Expression of MYCN, MYCNOS and DeltaMYCN was measured in human NB tissues of different stages. Transcript levels were quantified using a real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction assay (QPCR). In addition, relative expression of these three transcripts was compared to the number of MYCN copies, which was determined by genomic real-time PCR (gQPCR). RESULTS: Both DeltaMYCN and MYCNOS are expressed in all NBs examined. In NBs with MYCN-amplification, these transcripts are significantly higher expressed. The ratio of MYCN:DeltaMYCN expression was identical in all tested NBs. This indicates that DeltaMYCN and MYCN are co-regulated, which suggests that DeltaMYCN is not a regulator of MYCN in NB. However, the ratio of MYCNOS:MYCN expression is directly correlated with NB disease stage (p = 0.007). In the more advanced NB stages and NBs with MYCN-amplification, relatively more MYCNOS is present as compared to MYCN. Expression of the antisense gene MYCNOS might be relevant to the progression of NB, potentially by directly inhibiting MYCN transcription by transcriptional interference at the DNA level. CONCLUSION: The MYCNOS:MYCN-ratio in NBs is significantly correlated with both MYCN-amplification and NB-stage. Our data indicate that in NB, MYCN expression levels might be influenced by MYCNOS but not by DeltaMYCN

Fertility, Living Arrangements, Care and Mobility

There are four main interconnecting themes around which the contributions in this book are based. This introductory chapter aims to establish the broad context for the chapters that follow by discussing each of the themes. It does so by setting these themes within the overarching demographic challenge of the twenty-first century – demographic ageing. Each chapter is introduced in the context of the specific theme to which it primarily relates and there is a summary of the data sets used by the contributors to illustrate the wide range of cross-sectional and longitudinal data analysed