bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Structural Basis of Joint Instability as Cause for Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain and Its Successful Treatment with Regenerative Injection Therapy (Prolotherapy)
Authors: Hauser R.A. , Blakemore P.J. , Wang J. , Steilen D.
Published: September 2014

Joint dysfunctions and associated musculoskeletal pain are among the most common medical complaints presented to clinicians. Ligaments are collagenous fibrous structures that are primarily responsible for maintaining smooth joint motion, restraining excessive joint displacement, and providing stability across the joint. Ligaments also act as sensory organs for the joints and have significant input to pain sensation. When ligaments are subjected to forces beyond their normal range of motion, injury and failure occur, resulting in joint laxity (looseness or instability), and subsequent disruptions in the balance between joint mobility and joint stability. These dysfunctions can result in joint pain and the development of osteoarthritis. Several strategies have been employed over the years in attempts to improve joint instability from ligament injury; however, some of the standard therapeutic approaches (drugs, corticosteroid injections, and surgery) employed to address these problems have not been very effective because they often do not address the
underlying cause of the problems, and in fact can inhibit ligament healing and restoration. For these reasons, there is current and growing interest among patients and clinicians in prolotherapy, an alternative therapeutic modality that can reduce or eliminate pain by stimulating the natural regenerative processes in and around the joint to facilitate the restoration of degenerated ligaments and tendons to a healthy state, improving joint support, function and reducing pain. This review presents current evidence from clinical studies demonstrating that prolotherapy is a significant and effective alternative treatment modality for people with ligament-related injuries and resultant joint instability.
Fractal corrections of BaTiO3-ceramic sintering parameters
Authors: Mitic V.V. , Kocic Lj. , Paunovic V. , Pavlovic V.
Published: September 2014

Morphology of ceramics grains and pores as well as Brownian character of
particle dynamics inside ceramics specimen contributes to better
understanding of the sintering process. BaTiO3-ceramics, studied in this
paper, has light fractal form and it is emanated in three aspects. First, the
surface of grains, even in starting green body as well as distribution of
grains shows fractal behavior. Second, existence of pores and their
distribution follow the rules of fractal geometry. Third, movement of
particles inside viscous flow underlies the rule of Brownian motion, which is
essentially a fractal category. These three elements, each in its domain
influence sintering dynamics, and can be described by dimensionless
quantitative factors, ?s ?p and ?m, being normalized to the interval [0,1].
Following sintering process, the associate formulae of Frenkel, Scherer and
Mackenzie-Shuttleworth are shown from the angle of view of ceramics fractal
dimension changing that approaches to 3. Also, it is shown that the energy
balance is not violated after applying fractal correction to quasi
equilibrium of the energy emanating from surface area reduction ES and energy
adopted by viscous flow Ef .
GLP-1 Plays a Limited Role in Improved Glycemia Shortly After Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass: A Comparison With Intensive Lifestyle Modification
Authors: Vetter Marion L. , Wadden Thomas A. , Teff Karen L. , Khan Zahra F. , Carvajal Raymond , Ritter Scott , Moore Reneé H. , Chittams Jesse L. , Iagnocco Alex , Murayama Kenric , Korus Gary , Williams Noel N. , Rickels Michael R.
Published: September 2014

Rapid glycemic improvements following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) are frequently attributed to the enhanced GLP-1 response, but causality remains unclear. To determine the role of GLP-1 in improved glucose tolerance after surgery, we compared glucose and hormonal responses to a liquid meal test in 20 obese participants with type 2 diabetes mellitus who underwent RYGB or nonsurgical intensive lifestyle modification (ILM) (n = 10 per group) before and after equivalent short-term weight reduction. The GLP-1 receptor antagonist exendin(9–39)-amide (Ex-9) was administered, in random order and in double-blinded fashion, with saline during two separate visits after equivalent weight loss. Despite the markedly exaggerated GLP-1 response after RYGB, changes in postprandial glucose and insulin responses did not significantly differ between groups, and glucagon secretion was paradoxically augmented after RYGB. Hepatic insulin sensitivity also increased significantly after RYGB. With Ex-9, glucose tolerance deteriorated similarly from the saline condition in both groups, but postprandial insulin release was markedly attenuated after RYGB compared with ILM. GLP-1 exerts important insulinotropic effects after RYGB and ILM, but the enhanced incretin response plays a limited role in improved glycemia shortly after surgery. Instead, enhanced hepatic metabolism, independent of GLP-1 receptor activation, may be more important for early postsurgical glycemic improvements.
Preserved β-Cell Function in Type 1 Diabetes by Mesenchymal Stromal Cells
Authors: Carlsson Per-Ola , Schwarcz Erik , Korsgren Olle , Le Blanc Katarina
Published: September 2014

The retention of endogenous insulin secretion in type 1 diabetes is an attractive clinical goal, which opens possibilities for long-term restoration of glucose metabolism. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) constitute, based on animal studies, a promising interventional strategy for the disease. This prospective clinical study describes the translation of this cellular intervention strategy to patients with recent-onset type 1 diabetes. Twenty adult patients with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes were enrolled and randomized to MSC treatment or to the control group. Residual β-cell function was analyzed as C-peptide concentrations in blood in response to a mixed-meal tolerance test (MMTT) at 1-year follow-up. In contrast to the patients in the control arm, who showed loss in both C-peptide peak values and C-peptide when calculated as area under the curve during the 1st year, these responses were preserved or even increased in the MSC-treated patients. Importantly, no side effects of MSC treatment were observed. We conclude that autologous MSC treatment in new-onset type 1 diabetes constitutes a safe and promising strategy to intervene in disease progression and preserve β-cell function.
Fundamental study of CO2- and fiber laser cutting of steel plates with high speed visualization technique
Authors: Ermolaev Grigory V. , Yudin Petr V. , Briand Francis , Zaitsev Alexandr V. , Kovalev Oleg B.
Published: September 2014

Modified trim cut method with low level of invasion into the process is developed for visualization of laser cutting process. The method consists in high speed filming via transparent plate which slides with respect to the metal to allow visual access and simultaneously serves as the second missing wall of the kerf. The method is suitable for visualization in conditions equivalent to industrial cutting process in a wide range of plate thicknesses. High speed recordings are done for cutting of mild steel with oxygen and stainless steel with nitrogen. The effect of radiation wave length on the surface quality is studied by comparison of CO2 and fiber laser processing. The obtained results suggest that in case of oxygen assisted cutting, the combustion effects dominate on the surface quality and the effect of the radiation wavelength is moderate. In contrast, inert-gas-assisted cutting visualization reveals very high sensitivity to hydrodynamics of the melt flow which is strongly dependent on the radiation wavelength.
Lean Manufacturing Effects in a Serbian Confectionery Company – Case Study
Authors: Djekic Ilija , Zivanovic Dragan , Dragojlovic Sladjana , Dragovic Radoslava
Published: September 2014

Background and Purpose: The objective of this paper was to evaluate effects of implementing lean manufacturing in a Serbian confectionery production company during a period of 24 months, emphasizing observed benefits and constrains. Company ‘case study’ is a leading confectionery producer in Serbia with annual production of more than 25,000 t.

Methodology/Approach: The research method was case study. The approach in implementing lean manufacturing was structured in five phases, as follows: (i) training, (ii) analysis of lean wastes on one technological line, (iii) choice of lean tools to be implemented in the factory, (iv) implementation of lean tools in production and maintenance, (v) development of continual improvement sector and further deployment of lean tools.

Results: Lean manufacturing tools implemented in the production process were visual control and single minute exchange of dies (SMED). Maintenance process implemented 5S with total productive maintenance (TPM) and problem solving sessions being the tools implemented in both processes. During the observed period, results of these tools showed the following: visual control tables initiated 61 improvement memos out of which 39% were fully implemented; a total of 2284 minor problems had been recorded, with over 95% of issues revealed in due time; total SMED time decreased for 7.6%; 19 problem solving sessions were initiated with 58% of solving effectiveness, and the remaining converted to on-going projects. In maintenance 5S improved from 29.9 to 60.3; overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) indicator increased from 87.9% to 92.3%; mean time between failure (MTBF) increased for 16.4%. Conclusion: As a result of all activities, 20 in-house trainings and 2 ‘kaizen’ events including motivational training have been initiated with 54 documents being revised and improved in order to contribute to more efficient processes.
Practical Applications of Quality Tools in Polish Manufacturing Companies
Authors: Starzyńska Beata
Published: September 2014

Background and Purpose: Modern companies have found themselves in a situation where the ability for the dynamic adaptation to the changing market conditions is a key competitive advantage. Therefore they are continually searching for intensive ways of improvement of their processes and products. The basis for the implementation of such strategy is the efficient use of information resources. In quality management, appropriate tools and techniques equip decision-makers with information, necessary to take: correction, corrective, preventive, and finally – improvement actions.

Design/Methodology/Approach: The paper presents the results of the survey, conducted on a representative sample of manufacturing companies in Great Poland (region of Poland). The main goal of the survey was to ascertain, from the quality assurance perspective, what kind of problems, at which stage of production process are the most frequent and what kind of quality tools and techniques are used by practitioners for their solutions. Furthermore, the respondents evaluated the importance of appearing problems as well as the effectiveness of used tools.

Results: The results of the survey show that quality tools are most frequently implemented at the manufacturing phase of the production process, then at the production set-up stage and measurement phase. On the manufacturing phase example it was shown, which of the tools included in the survey, are effectively used for problem solutions, concerning the process inputs, process performance and management of the processes.

Conclusion: The obtained results allow contradicting the thesis spreading quality tools universality. In the context of production process stages, some of them are oriented towards selected phases and, such as, may be effectively used by practitioners.
An Application of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Sensitivity Analysis for Maintenance Policy Selection
Authors: Maletič Damjan , Maletič Matjaž , Lovrenčić Viktor , Al-Najjar Basim , Gomišček Boštjan
Published: September 2014

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to apply an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) for the evaluation/selection of maintenance policy.

Methodology/Approach: The paper adopts a case study approach of selecting most appropriate maintenance policy in the case of Slovenian paper mill company. Several steps of the AHP method are used in order to structure the decision-making process. Five possible alternatives are considered: failure based maintenance, preventive maintenance, total productive maintenance, reliability centered maintenance and total quality maintenance.

Findings: This paper proposes a framework for maintenance policy selection based on the AHP methodology. The framework was applied to select the most appropriate maintenance policy in a paper mill company. The results suggest that total quality maintenance is the most suitable concept for a paper machine. By performing a sensitivity analysis, it was revealed that the final outcome remained stable in all cases when the weights of the main criteria were increased for 25 percent.

Originality/value: The paper contributes to the literature by providing a framework for decision-making process regarding the maintenance policy selection. In addition, this paper utilizes an exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) chart for performing a consistency test. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis also presents an important implication of this study.
Toward More Joyful Learning
Authors: Conklin Hilary G.
Published: September 2014

Recent efforts to define qualities of effective teaching practice have done little to capture the role of play, imagination, and creativity in classroom teaching. Drawing on theories of play and data from a two-year case study that included classroom observations, interviews, artifact collection, and surveys, the author examines the ways in which elements of play were present across the practice of eight novice middle grades teachers. Building on examples of play in these classrooms, the author proposes adding the dimension of play to frameworks of middle grades teaching—a dimension that encompasses young adolescents’ engagement in classroom work that involves choice and self-direction, imaginative creations, and a nonstressed state of interest and joy.
Route Choice Modeling Using GPS-Based Travel Surveys
Authors: Dhakar Nagendra S. , Srinivasan Sivaramakrishnan
Published: September 2014

The extensive use of GPS-based travel surveys in the past few years now allows vehicle movements to be traced and, thus, data on the actual routes chosen for various trips to be collected. However, efforts on the empirical modeling of route choices through the use of GPS traces are still limited. In this context, the broad focus of this research was to combine data from a large-scale GPS-based travel survey and geographic information system-based roadway network databases to develop models for route choice. Data from GPS streams for 1,913 trips were used in this analysis. Three models that considered choice set sizes of five, 10, and 15 alternatives were built. The estimation results indicated statistically significant and intuitively reasonable effects of free-flow travel time, left turns, right turns, intersections, and circuity on the attractiveness of different route alternatives. Furthermore, the sensitivity to these factors was found to vary on the basis of trip (purpose, time of day, and day of the week) and traveler (gender, age, and length of stay at the current home) characteristics.
Long-Term Potential to Reduce Emissions from International Shipping by Adoption of Best Energy-Efficiency Practices
Authors: Wang Haifeng , Lutsey Nicholas
Published: September 2014

Maritime shipping is highly fuel-efficient, but its sheer volume and rapid growth make it a major source of carbon emissions. Industry and governments seek to reduce the energy use and carbon footprint of shipping. Yet the reasons for the variation in shipping efficiency observed in the world fleet's embrace of best technical and operational practices to increase efficiency remain unexplained. The research reported in this paper offers a novel analysis that connected 2011 in-use fleet characteristics, first-ever global satellite data on ship movement, and technical literature on ship efficiency technology to assess the long-term prospects of increased shipping efficiency. This study also investigated how each ship characteristic influenced the efficiency of the shipping fleet. A ship stock turnover model was developed to track technical and operational efficiency practices in ships independently. The findings indicated that industry-leading ships were about twice as efficient as industry laggards across major ship types. If the available technical and in-use practices of the low-carbon industry leaders of today were fully embraced, the potential would exist to reduce carbon dioxide in absolute terms by more than 300 million metric tonnes by 2040, even while business-as-usual freight movement doubled. On the basis of the data in this assessment, the potential exists to develop a tool for shippers to quantify, evaluate, and compare their supply chain carbon footprints in a manner that does not rely on more aggregated fleet-average simplifications. The methodology, data, and findings of this study should benefit industry as it looks for ways to reduce energy consumption; researchers, who are examining ship operation; and policy makers, who want to curb the climate impact of international shipping.
Data Fusion of Maritime Incident Databases with Dempster–Shafer Theory
Authors: Li Yi-Zhou , Hu Hao , Huang Dao-Zheng
Published: September 2014

Although a huge amount of information is available in all kinds of marine safety databases, only a small part can be used directly. The disorganized information from different sources leads to a mixture of format and definition. In the work reported in this paper, the Dempster–Shafer theory (DST) of evidence was applied to combine evidence (i.e., a piece of information that supports a claim) from different sources. The method is regarded as a generalization of the Bayesian theory and can avoid two difficulties in classical probability theory: handling the conflicting information and assigning prior probabilities. The work of data fusion was demonstrated first by a decision fusion problem that involved the reconciliation of contradictory expert reports. The DST can provide a decision maker with a comprehensive result through the combination of different experts’ opinions. Second, fusion was conducted of two representative maritime incident databases: that of the Global Integrated Shipping Information System and that of the International Chamber of Commerce. Although the records in the databases had some defects (e.g., disorder, error, contradiction), the DST was able to work effectively and calculate an uncertainty interval of incident.
Probability Analysis of Vessel Collisions and Groundings in Southeast Texas Waterways
Authors: Wu Xing , Rahman M. Hafizur , Zaloom Victor
Published: September 2014

The Sabine–Neches Waterway (SNWW) connects the Texas ports of Beaumont, Port Arthur, and Orange with the Gulf of Mexico. The SNWW can be divided into three navigation routes, although they share some channels. The first route is the waterway from the Neches River, north of the port of Beaumont, to the port of Port Arthur, and then to the Gulf of Mexico. The second route is a part of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW), west of Port Arthur, which extends east of the port of Orange. The third route is from the port of Orange to the Gulf of Mexico. The SNWW plays an important role in its support of the economic growth of southeast Texas. Safe navigation in narrow waterways is one of the most important concerns of maritime authorities and researchers, while collisions and groundings are two of the most common kinds of vessel accidents. In the study reported here, the grounding and collision analysis toolbox was employed to analyze the probabilities of collisions and groundings in multiple segments along the SNWW. The impacts of vessel traffic on the probabilities of collisions and groundings were studied, respectively. The high-risk zones of potential collisions or groundings were identified in the SNWW.
'Gas' a Popular Term but it may not be Gastric Ulcer
Authors: Islam MM Shahin-Ul
Published: September 2014

Abstract not available DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/fmcj.v8i2.20279 Faridpur Med. Coll. J. 2013;8(2): 48
Early Outcome of Laparoscopic Abdominoperineal Resection, Our Experience in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University
Authors: Jalal Mohammed Tanvir , Sheikh Shahadot Hossain , Rahman Md Rayhanur , Noman Mesbah Uddin , Leena Jesmin Akhter , Rahaman Mahabub , Jannat Syeda Nur-E , Hasan Ahmed Sami-Al , Ahmed Dewan Saifuddin
Published: September 2014

Anorectal malignancies that require abdominoperineal resection (APR) is very common. Laparoscopic APR can be a better option. Laparoscopic APR has been seldom studied. This study aims to evaluate perioperative and early postoperative outcomes of laparoscopic APRs performed for the treatment of ano-rectal carcinomas. Patients operated for ano-rectal carcinoma between June 2011 to June 2013 in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) were observed. Demographics, tumor and procedure-related parameters, perioperative results, early postoperative outcomes and survival were observed. Total 22 patients were under went laparoscopic APR. Male: Female ratio was 15:7 (68.18%: 31.82%). Age range was from 30-65 years with a mean age of 36.55 years. Mean operation time was 165 minutes and mean post-operative hospital stay was 6.8 days. Overall complication rate was 45.45%. Laparoscopic APR is a safe, effective and technically feasible procedure. It can be a better operative procedure than open APR. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/fmcj.v8i2.20281 Faridpur Med. Coll. J. 2013;8(2): 53-55
Different Types of Breast Lump in Relation to Different Age Groups
Authors: Sadik ABM Zafar , Hasan Md Mahmudul , Haque Nur-E-Zannat Afroza , Ahmed Farid Uddin , Kabir Md Zahidul
Published: September 2014

This prospective observational study was carried out in the inpatient and outpatient department of surgery at Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital, Bogra, during the period of 01.07.2008 to 31.12.2008 with a view to find out the incidence of breast carcinoma, fibroadenoma or other pathology in different age group. A total 130 patients with palpable breast lump were included in the study. Age of the patients was between 11 to 70 years. In most of the patients with breast lump Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology and biopsy were done. Sometimes ultrasonography, mammography and other routine investigations were also done. Among the study population 53.85% had benign lesions, Breast carcinoma accounted for 46.15% cases, fibroadenoma for 40.76% and fibroadenosis were in 10% cases. Fibroadenoma was common in second and third decade, while carcinoma of breast was common in third and fourth decade in this study. Here we attempted to find out the age incidence of breast lump and its correlation with clinical features, FNAC findings and histopathological report to improve the accuracy of diagnosis and management of breast disease. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/fmcj.v8i2.20369 Faridpur Med. Coll. J. 2013;8(2): 56-58
Pattern of Drug Abuse among Patients in Some Selected Addiction Rehabilitation Centers in Dhaka City
Authors: Riya Sayeda , Rahman Mahfuzar , Sadeque Md Zafor , Kabir Asma , Umar Badar Uddin
Published: September 2014

This study was done to find the pattern of drug abuse and its associated factors among the patients admitted in addiction rehabilitation centers. This descriptive cross sectional study was conducted among 150 drug addicted patients at the central drug addiction cure center at Tejgaon, Dhaka. Data were collected with a pre tested structured questionnaire. The study was conducted under the department of community medicine, National Institute of Preventive and Social Medicine (NIPSOM), Mohakhali, Dhaka during March to May 2008. Among the 150 respondents, males constituted 87%, females 12.7%. Most of the respondents (49.3%) were in the age group twenty five to thirty five years. Ninety two percent (92%) of respondents were Muslims, 78.62% urban dwellers, 14.0% from rural areas and 7.33% came from nearby slums. Literacy rate of drug abusers was 81.3%. 33.3% were unemployed, mean family monthly income was ten thousand taka. Drug of initiation was ganja/cannabis in 48.0% and finally addicted to heroin. Inhalation was the route of choice (56.6%), oral route 30.9% and intravenous drug users (IDU's) 12.5% were remarkable. Peer pressure was a major contributing factor 55.5% for drug initiation. Black market (illegal spot) 77.3% was mainly the source of procurement of drug. Mean duration of drug intake was 4.2 years. Significant association was found between male sex and drug intake (p<0.05), and between age group 25-35 years and drug intake (P< 0.05). Drug dependence is highly prevalent among educated people. Familial confliction and peer pressure lead to different drug abuse. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/fmcj.v8i2.20371 Faridpur Med. Coll. J. 2013;8(2): 63-66
"Nonunion of Adult Humerus Fracture" - Management Using the Ilizarov External Fixator.
Authors: Das Dilip Kumar , Paul Arun Kanti , Datta Dulal Chandra , Biswas Debashis , Ahmed SK Abdul Momen , Hashem Muhammud Abu
Published: September 2014

Humeral shaft fractures occur about three percent of all fractures in adults. A very high union rate is achieved with non-operative treatment, however when nonunion occurs conservative approach or after operative management they are often very difficult to treat, and often requires multiple procedures to achieve union. Even with multiple procedures, true pseudoarthrosis have only a 59% union rate. The aim of this study was to find out the results of such complicated cases treating with Ilizarov's external fixator. We conducted a prospective study of eleven patients with nonunion humeral shaft fracture in adult wherein the outcome of the treatment was analyzed. In our series we achieved union in all of the cases with a mean of 29.1 weeks with negligible complications like pin tract infections and in one case refracture occur due to forceful manipulation. So it can be concluded that Ilizarov's method is an excellent option for the treatment of nonunion of diaphyseal fracture of the humerus. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/fmcj.v8i2.20372 Faridpur Med. Coll. J. 2013;8(2): 67-72
Epidemiological Pattern of Renal Insufficiency among the Patients of Nephrology Unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Authors: Haq Md Nazmul , Raaman Latifur , Miah Md Zohirul Islam , Gazi Easin Ali , Baroi Shukti Catherine
Published: September 2014

A hospital based descriptive cross sectional study was conducted at Nephrology unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) to see the association between epidemiological pattern of renal insufficiency with sociodemographic factors, kidney related factors and others factors. Sources of data include patient interviews, diagnosis cards and case records. Respondents were categorized to their CKD stage according to their estimated GFR on Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD). The sample comprised 150 patients suffering from CKD with male and female ratio being 1.5:1, mean age of the population was 47 years (SD ± 14.5), 47.3% of the respondents had history of streptococcal throat infection and 10% had previous kidney disease Renal Replacement Therapy (RRT) was the commonly advised therapy for CKD indicating very late diagnosis of CKD. Total 49.3% had smoking habit while 60.7% was on regular physical exercise and 49.3% took extra salt on their dietary habit, 52.7% were diabetic and 78.7% were hypertensive and 40% had both diabetes and hypertension. Total 76.6% were in stage-5 of CKD where 60.7% of them used NSAID with 54.0% within normal range of BMI. There is statistically significant difference with stage of renal insufficiency and history of streptococcal throat infection (p=0.00) and therapy advised for CKD (P-0.01). Worldwide, CKD is becoming a common disease in the general population. It requires early, accurate and improved detction and mangemnt of diabetes and hypertension, the major contributors to CKD. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/fmcj.v8i2.20391 Faridpur Med. Coll. J. 2013;8(2): 80-84
Treating Asthma in Pregnancy - An Update
Authors: Barman Rakhal Chandra , Alam Md Towhid , Islam MM Shahin-Ul , Hossain Ahmed Manadir , Ahmed SK Abdul Momen , Fattah Sk Abdul , Ali Md Yusuf
Published: September 2014

Asthma is one of the most common chronic medical conditions affecting the lungs during pregnancy. At any given time, up to 8% pregnant women have asthma. During pregnancy, asthma not only affects the woman, but it can also cut back on the oxygen to fetus. But this does not mean that having asthma will make pregnancy more difficult or dangerous to fetus. Pregnant women who have asthma that is properly controlled generally have normal pregnancies with little or no increased risk to pregnant women or their developing babies. Currently available national guidelines for the treatment of asthma during pregnancy emphasize the objective measurement of control, patient education, motivation, caution and medication adherence. The article reviews the available literature highlighting the appropriate selection of medications in the treatment of asthma during pregnancy, and to identify those factors which may influence the asthma care provider's ability to successfully manage this condition, and also illustrate that maintaining asthma control with long term medications in pregnancy is safer than the risk of uncontrolled asthma or untreated exacerbations for both the mother and the fetus. Women's drug treatment during pregnancy should be regularly assessed in the light of asthma control criteria. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/fmcj.v8i2.20392 Faridpur Med. Coll. J. 2013;8(2): 85-91
Kikuchi's Disease: A Case Report
Authors: Rahman Md Shafiq-Ur , Muktadir Golam , Ahmed SK Abdul Momen
Published: September 2014

Kikuchi's disease is also known as histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis. Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease (KFD) or histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis, is a rare benign, self-limiting cervical lymphadenitis of unknown etiology. It predominantly affects young women and can closely mimic infective and immunological disorders. Recognition of this condition is crucial, specially because it can easily be mistaken for tuberculosis, lymphoma, or even adenocarcinoma. We report an 18 years old girl who presented with fever and cervical lymphadenopathy. She had multiple enlarged cervical lymphadenopathy. Examination of other systems was normal. Laboratory investigations were also normal. Fine needle aspiration cytology of the cervical node was not done. The patient took a course of oral antibiotics. Since the patient did not respond, lymph node biopsy was done and the histological features suggested the diagnosis of Kikuchi's disease. The Patient was treated symptomatically and complete remission occurred in few weeks. Although the incidence of Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease is rare, clinicians should be aware of this condition as early recognition of the disease will minimize potentially harmful and unnecessary evaluations and treatments. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/fmcj.v8i2.20395 Faridpur Med. Coll. J. 2013;8(2): 96-98
Formation of CuxAu1−x phases by cold homogenization of Au/Cu nanocrystalline thin films
Authors: Tynkova Alona , Katona Gabor L , Langer Gabor A , Sidorenko Sergey I , Voloshko Svetlana M , Beke Dezso L
Published: September 2014

It is shown, by using depth profiling with a secondary neutral mass spectrometer and structure investigations by XRD and TEM, that at low temperatures, at which the bulk diffusion is frozen, a complete homogenization can take place in the Cu/Au thin film system, which leads to formation of intermetallic phases. Different compounds can be formed depending on the initial thickness ratio. The process starts with grain boundary interdiffusion, which is followed by a formation of reaction layers at the grain boundaries that leads to the motion of the newly formed interfaces perpendicular to the grain boundary plane. Finally, the homogenization finishes when all the pure components have been consumed. The process is asymmetric: It is faster in the Au layer. In Au(25nm)/Cu(50nm) samples the final state is the ordered AuCu3 phase. Decrease of the film thicknesses, as expected, results in the acceleration of the process. It is also illustrated that changing the thickness ratio either a mixture of Cu-rich AuCu and AuCu3 phases (in Au(25nm)/Cu(25nm) sample), or a mixture of disordered Cu- as well as Au-rich solid solutions (in Au(25nm)/Cu(12nm) sample) can be produced. By using a simple model the interface velocity in both the Cu and Au layers were estimated from the linear increase of the average composition and its value is about two orders of magnitude larger in Au (ca. 10−11 m/s) than in Cu (ca. 10−13 m/s).
Repeatability, Reproducibility, and Agreement Between Three Different Scheimpflug Systems in Measuring Corneal and Anterior Segment Biometry
Authors: Hernández-Camarena Julio C. , Chirinos-Saldaña Patricia , Navas Alejandro , Ramirez-Miranda Arturo , de la Mota Angie , Jimenez-Corona Aida , Graue-Hernández Enrique O.
Published: September 2014

PURPOSE:

To assess the reliability of three different Scheimpflug systems and their agreement.

METHODS:

Eighty-four eyes of 42 patients were examined with three Scheimpflug devices: the Galilei G2 Dual Scheimpflug Analyzer (Ziemer Ophthalmic Systems AG, Port, Switzerland), Pentacam HR system (Oculus Optikgeräte GmbH, Wetzlar, Germany), and Sirius 3D imaging system (Costruzione Strumenti Oftalmici, Florence, Italy). The central corneal thickness, maximum anterior and posterior corneal elevation, anterior radius of curvature, total higher-order aberrations, and anterior chamber depth were evaluated. Repeatability and reproducibility were evaluated using coefficients of variation and intraclass correlation coefficients. Interdevice agreement was assessed by Bland–Altman comparison analysis.

RESULTS:

The three Scheimpflug systems had excellent repeatability for central corneal thickness, anterior radius of curvature, and anterior chamber depth (coefficients of variation being less than 1%). Repeatability for anterior and posterior corneal evaluation was good for the Pentacam HR and Galilei G2 (coefficients of variation < 10%) and excellent for the Sirius 3D (coefficients of variation = 0). Reproducibility was excellent in the three devices, (intraclass correlation coefficient of more than 0.9). Interdevice agreement was excellent (
P
> .05) for anterior radius of curvature, central corneal thickness, and anterior chamber depth, but was poor (
P
< .05) for corneal elevation and higher-order aberrations.

CONCLUSIONS:

Reliability was good to excellent in the three devices for all measured variables. Interdevice agreement analysis suggests that measurements for anterior radius of curvature, central corneal thickness, and anterior chamber depth, but not for maximum anterior and posterior corneal elevation and total higher-order aberrations, from the Sirius 3D and Galilei G2 can be interchangeable with the Pentacam HR.

[
J Refract Surg.
2014;30(9):616–621.]
The Prevalence of Noise-Induced Occupational Hearing Loss in Dentistry Personnel
Authors: Khaimook Wandee , Suksamae Puwanai , Choosong Thitiworn , Chayarpham Satit , Tantisarasart Ratchada
Published: September 2014

Occupational hearing loss is the second most common health problem in the industrialized world. Dental personnel exposed to occupational noise may experience hearing loss. This article compares the prevalence of hearing loss in the general population to that of dental personnel exposed to noise during work hours and identifies risk factors for hearing loss among workers at a dental school. This prospective study included 76 dental personnel on the faculty of dentistry at a major university in Asia who were exposed to noise and 76 individuals in a control group. Nearly 16% of the study group and 21% of the control group had lost hearing, a nonsignificant difference ( p = .09). Hearing loss was significantly related to work tenure longer than 15 years and age older than 40 years ( p < .001).
Kitchen Safety in Hospitals
Authors: Ercan Aydan , Kiziltan Gul
Published: September 2014

This study was designed to identify the practices and knowledge of food handlers about workplace safety in hospital kitchens (four on-premises and eight off-premises) in Istanbul. A kitchen safety knowledge questionnaire was administered and a kitchen safety checklist was completed by dietitians. The mean total scores of the on-premise and off-premise hospital kitchens were 32.7 ± 8.73 and 37.0 ± 9.87, respectively. The mean scores for the items about machinery tools, electricity, gas, and fire were lower in off-premise than on-premise hospital kitchen workers. The kitchen safety knowledge questionnaire had five subsections; 43.7% of the food handlers achieved a perfect score. Significant differences were found in the knowledge of food handlers working in both settings about preventing slips and falls ( p < .05). Significant relationships were found between marital status, education level, and kitchen safety knowledge of the food handlers ( p < .05).
Relating Corporate Social Responsibility and Employee Engagement
Authors: Gao Jennifer H.
Published: September 2014

Previous research suggested that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is positively related to organization's attractiveness to potential employees. This paper tries to explore the effective dimensions of CSR on employee engagement and the mediating factors that lay between the two constructs. The author proposes that CSR has a direct impact on employee engagement, and that perceived organizational support (POS) and Chinese values mediate this relationship, so CSR may also contribute indirectly to employee engagement. Results support the hypotheses, as the relationship between CSR and employee engagement is fully mediated by POS and Chinese values. Implications to theory and practice, with limitations and future research are presented.
Youth Entrepreneurship in Indian Scenario
Authors: Baporikar Neeta
Published: September 2014

Governments and local communities across the world have recognized that key to building prosperity and stimulate regional growth is fostering entrepreneurship among their people especially youth. Youth entrepreneurship has become a topic of interest for research scholars and also a subject of major concern for the Government. While youth entrepreneurship is an under-explored field, the main factor for its growing attention is the increased number of unemployed young people. Furthermore entrepreneurship is seen as a channel for the talents of many highly educated young people to explore their potential and cash their business acumen. By 2015, World Bank estimates that there will be about 3 billion youths less than 25 years old and a big portion of that will be in India. Many young people cannot find employment. This has become particularly acute since the education explosion in early 2000's and onset of the financial crisis in 2008. These outcomes are both inefficient and inequitable. Evidence shows that the unemployed are unhappier, more likely to experience a range of health issues, and face difficulties in integrating back into the labour market place (Bell & Blanchflower, 2009). For young people, the effects of unemployment may be particularly scarring. Evidence suggests that a spell of youth unemployment increases the likelihood of poorer wages and unemployment in later life (Blanchflower & Oswald, 1998). Such outcomes also have pronounced social costs. It represents a loss of potential output and leads to increased costs to the taxpayer apart from causing social disruptions. One potential way of integrating young people into the global economy is to increase youth entrepreneurship1. The objective of this research paper is simple - to understand youth entrepreneurship and its role with focus on Indian scenario.
Cognitive Evaluation of Spatial Formalisms
Authors: Wallgrün Jan Oliver , Yang Jinlong , Klippel Alexander
Published: September 2014

The authors present four human behavioral experiments to address the question of intuitive granularities in fundamental spatial relations as they can be found in formal spatial calculi. These calculi focus on invariant characteristics under certain (especially topological) transformations. Of particular interest to this article is the concept of two spatially extended entities overlapping each other. The overlap concept has been extensively treated in Galton's mode of overlap calculus (Galton, 1998). In the first two experiments, the authors used a category construction task to calibrate this calculus against behavioral data and found that participants adopted a very coarse view on the concept of overlap and distinguished only between three general relations: proper part, overlap, and non-overlap. In the following two experiments, the authors changed the instructions to explicitly address the possibility that humans could be swayed to adopt a more detailed level of granularity, that is, the authors encouraged them to create as many meaningful groups as possible. The results show that the three relations identified in the first two experiments (overlap, non-overlap, and proper part) are very robust and a natural level of granularity across all four experiments. However, the results also reveal that contextual factors gain more influence at finer levels of granularity.
Analysis Of Cognitive Load For Bilingual Subjects
Authors: Subbaraj Pravin Kumar , Anandan Kavitha , Balasubramanian Geethanjali , Veezhinathan Mahesh
Published: September 2014

Cognitive measures are directed to assess the load of working memory while performing different tasks. Excessive load on working memory hinders learning or performance of individuals. Lexile measure is the current tool used in assessing the difficulty levels of text reading in English language. Studies on correlating the cognitive load with EEG for classifying tasks based on Lexile measures have been performed for native English speakers. In this work, an attempt has been made to analyze the scope of Lexile measure for assessing the cognitive load of normal subjects. The protocol included reading and recall of texts with different Lexile complexities followed by resting phases. For increasing Lexile level complexities, a considerable increase in cognitive processing was noticed during task phase. Further, an increase in beta power was noticed at the central region indicating active information processing and decision making. Relative theta power (R?=0.11) was significant (p=0.022) in low Lexile level material and gradually decreased as the difficulty level of the tasks increased. Relative theta power was found to be decreasing as the complexity level of the text material increased and was found to dominate in both mid frontal and mid parietal regions during the recall phase. During test phase an increase in alpha power was observed at parietal region reflecting active information processing. This was evident from the highly significant (p=0.022), relative alpha power (Ra =0.036) for recall of high complexity Lexile material compared to medium (Ra=0.005) and low (Ra=0.005) level materials. Thus, it is seen that this study could be more effective in analyzing the cognitive load of subjects with different working memory efficiency. Also, while performing analysis on instructional material design based on cognitive load of different subjects, such procedures seem to be more significant.
Generating Semantic Annotation of Video for Organizing and Searching Traffic Resources
Authors: Xu Zheng , Zhi Fenglin , Liang Chen , Mei Lin , Luo Xiangfeng
Published: September 2014

Image and video resources play an important role in traffic events analysis. With the rapid growth of the video surveillance devices, large number of image and video resources is increasing being created. It is crucial to explore, share, reuse, and link these multimedia resources for better organizing traffic events. Most of the video resources are currently annotated in an isolated way, which means that they lack semantic connections. Thus, providing the facilities for annotating these video resources is highly demanded. These facilities create the semantic connections among video resources and allow their metadata to be understood globally. Adopting semantic technologies, this paper introduces a video annotation platform. The platform enables user to semantically annotate video resources using vocabularies defined by traffic events ontologies. Moreover, the platform provides the search interface of annotated video resources. The result of initial development demonstrates the benefits of applying semantic technologies in the aspects of reusability, scalability and extensibility.
Novel Resource Allocation Algorithm for Energy-Efficient Cloud Computing in Heterogeneous Environment
Authors: Lin Wei-Wei , Tan Liang , Wang James Z.
Published: September 2014

Energy efficiency is one of the most important design considerations for a cloud data center. Recent approaches to the energy-efficient resource management for data centers usually model the problem as a bin packing problem with the goal of minimizing the number of physical machines (PMs) employed. However, minimizing the number of PMs may not necessarily minimize the energy consumption in a heterogeneous cloud environment. To address the problem, this paper models the resource allocation problem in a heterogeneous cloud data center as a constraint satisfaction problem (CSP). By solving this constraint satisfaction problem, an optimal resource allocation scheme, which includes a virtual machine provision algorithm and a virtual machine packing algorithm, is designed to minimize the energy consumption in a virtualized heterogeneous cloud data center. Performance studies show that this proposed new scheme outperforms the existing bin-packing based approaches in terms of energy consumption in heterogeneous cloud data centers.
Streamlining Cloud Management Automation by Unifying the Invocation of Scripts and Services Based on TOSCA
Authors: Wettinger Johannes , Binz Tobias , Breitenbücher Uwe , Kopp Oliver , Leymann Frank
Published: September 2014

Today, there is a huge variety of script-centric approaches, APIs, and tools available to implement automated provisioning, deployment, and management of applications in the Cloud. The automation of all these aspects is key for reducing costs. However, most of these approaches are script-centric and provide proprietary solutions employing different invocation mechanisms, interfaces, and state models. Moreover, most Cloud providers offer proprietary APIs to be used for provisioning and management purposes. Consequently, it is hard to create deployment and management plans that integrate multiple of these approaches. The goal of our work is to come up with an approach for unifying the invocation of scripts and services without handling each proprietary interface separately. A prototype realizes the presented approach in a standards-based manner using the Topology and Orchestration Specification for Cloud Applications (TOSCA).