bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
LE IM: Living Environment Information Modelling
Authors: Ginzburg Alexander
Published: August 2018

The article deals with the information models in construction. The models of different levels are reviewed: flat 2D drawings, 3D volume models, models including time indicators - 4D, models supplemented by financial indicators - 5D, models containing information on a wide range of resource and other indicators – N-D. The importance of an integrated approach to the formation of the information model of the building - BIM was noted. To date, BIM-technologies are used only at the design stage and partially at the construction stage. However, the greatest return can be obtained from the operational phase. The author proposes the introduction of the concept of an information model of the building life cycle - BLC IM. The analysis of the reasons predetermining the problems of mass introduction of BLC IM into construction practice is carried out. The contradictory nature of the interests of the participants in the construction process, the lack of common goals does not allow them to form and use a unified information model. The mathematical description of the information model of the building object is presented.
Determination of parameters of the bucket grab for excavation works
Authors: Tsipurskiy Ilya
Published: August 2018

The construction of underground structures in an urban environment is accompanied by the solution of a number of complex geotechnical problems, including those associated with the creation of a deep underground cavity and a volume of hundreds of thousands of cubic meters. For soils of different categories, the difficulty of developing strata lying at different depths, sometimes up to 50 meters, is utilized by cable grabs. The article is devoted to the possibility of preliminary determination of parameters of the bucket grab for excavation works. For this purposes, existing empirical dependencies and the similarity method are used, which allow choosing optimal parameters of the bucket for specific ground conditions. Analytical calculations showed that the discrepancy between the values of the geometric parameters obtained by each of the methods lies in the range of up to 13%, and the power parameters differ in the range up to 25%. The use of the obtained values of the required parameters, with the indicated discrepancies in their magnitudes, allows to determine the optimum values of any parameter of the bucket for concrete excavations in the development of the underground space of cities.
Technology of soil stabilization with cement-sand grouting mortar with optimal aggregate grading
Authors: Zhilkina Tatyana , Sychugov Stanislav , Gumeniuk Alexander , Mackevicius Rimantas , Turchin Vadim , Vasilev Vladimir , Zakirov Marat , Ilinsky Alexander
Published: August 2018

This article studies technological, physical and technical properties and corrosion resistance of cement-sand slurry. Comparative data of the strength of test samples made on mortars of equal mobility with a composition of 1:1 (C: S) using river sand with fineness moduli (Mf): 1.50; 1.35; 1.25, showed the best results in the latter case. The use of the "Mylonaft M1" plasticizer in the solution in an amount of 0.5 % of the mass of the cementing with sand with Mf = 1.25 allowed to keep the mobility of 200 mm at W/C ratio = 0.6 without loss of the mixture homogeneity. Investigation of the corrosion resistance of sample mortars with the introduction of 1 % Na2SO4 into it during the process of its preparation made it possible to achieve stability in aggressive sulfate media at low (T = 20 °C) and normal temperatures (T = 5 ° C). In order to mechanize the work on strengthening the loess soils with cementing slurry the traditional equipment used in the production (stationary solution station with a compressor and a pump) has been compared with the advanced mobile unit UNB-125 × 50 SO on the basis of KamAZ 363501.
Conceptual framework for managing the competitiveness of the entrepreneurial structures
Authors: Kunin Vladimir , Rumyantseva Anna , Tarutko Olga
Published: August 2018

The paper is devoted to the development of a methodological apparatus for ensuring competitiveness in the formulation of methods and algorithms for assessing competitiveness and its provision in conditions of economic instability. In particular, a method for assessing competitiveness, taking into account both the strategic positioning and operational effectiveness of entrepreneurial structures and their innovative potential, is proposed; the paper also describes the methodology for providing competitiveness and the algorithm for its managing. The findings allow developing specific recommendations for ensuring competitiveness and identifying the reserves for its improvement.
Systematization and analysis of approaches to assessing the competitiveness of business entities
Authors: Krivorotov Vadim , Tarasenko Aleksandr , Tikhanov Evgeniy , Chepur Petr , Gruchenkova Alesya
Published: August 2018

Assessment of competitiveness is an objective need of every business entity seeking to maintain or improve their own competitive position and make informed management decisions. The authors propose to classify the diversity of methods of assessment of the competitiveness of the enterprise through three main approaches: graphic, factor and value. In order to identify the advantages and disadvantages of each of the approaches described by the authors, the content of the main methods used in the study was analyzed. It is concluded that there is no universal tool for assessing the competitiveness of the enterprise, which is due to, on the one hand, the limited reliability and low estimates obtained by using matrix and product methods, and on the other hand, the complexity and cost of the estimates using existing multivariate models.
Wirkungen und Nebenwirkungen des Krankheitskonzepts „Homosexualität“
Authors: Mahler Lieselotte , Mundle Götz , Plöderl Martin
Published: August 2018

Die Diagnose Homosexualität wurde 1973 aus der DSM- und 1991 aus der ICD- Klassifikation gestrichen. Trotz dieser formalen Entpathologisierung zeigen sich bis heute negative Auswirkungen des im 19. Jahrhundert entstandenen Krankheitskonzeptes „Homosexualität“, welche in diesem Artikel aufgezeigt werden. Dabei wird auch auf die Wechselwirkungen von gesellschaftlichen und medizinischen Prozessen eingegangen. Im ersten Abschnitt des Artikels wird ein weltweiter Überblick über die rechtliche und gesellschaftliche Situation von sexuellen Minderheiten, deren Bandbreite von Gleichstellung über Ausgrenzung bis hin zur Verfolgung reicht, gegeben. Um den Zusammenhang zwischen gesellschaftlicher Stigmatisierung und pathologisierenden Theorien zur Homosexualität zu vertiefen, wird ein historischer Umriss des medizinisch-gesellschaftlichen Diskurs gegeben. Es wird aufgezeigt, welche wissenschaftlichen und gesellschaftlichen Fortschritte die Entpatholgisierung von Homosexualität notwendig machten, aber auch wie schwierig eine konsequente und nachhaltige Wirkung dieser Entpathologisierung zu seien scheint. Zudem werden Effekte anhaltender medizinischer und gesellschaftlicher Stigmatisierung auf die Gesundheit von LGB- (lesbian, gay, bisexual) Menschen aufgezeigt. Dazu werden wissenschaftliche Modelle erläutert, die das erhöhte Risiko für psychische Erkrankungen bei LGB- Menschen als Folge von verschiedenen Formen von Stigmatisierungen empirisch gut erklären können. In einem Ausblick weisen wir auf die anhaltend prekäre Situation von sexuellen Minderheiten weltweit hin und betonen die Wichtigkeit entstigmatisierender Positionspapiere und Leitlinien wie 2013 durch den Weltärztebund (World Medical Association).
Continuing Medical Education in Neurology
Authors: Khazanova Darya , Safdieh Joseph
Published: August 2018

Continuing medical education (CME) is designed to keep physicians up-to-date on ever-changing practices and guidelines to provide patients with high quality care. CME is especially important in the field of neurology due to rapidly evolving knowledge and medical advances, and is a required element of maintenance of certification. CME itself has evolved from a passive, didactic approach to a learner-centered approach which utilizes new technologies, online learning, and simulations. CME improves knowledge, skills, and, to a lesser extent, patient outcomes, with multimodal, interactive interventions found to be most effective in teaching health care professionals. However, little data are available on CME in neurology. There is a significant gap in knowledge about CME interventions that work for neurologists. Rigorous education research, as well as making effective CME interventions more readily available to neurologists, is critical to optimize lifelong learning of physicians in the field of neurology.
Planning Education for Long-Term Retention: The Cognitive Science and Implementation of Retrieval Practice
Authors: Larsen Douglas
Published: August 2018

Educational systems are rarely designed for long-term retention of information. Strong evidence has emerged from cognitive psychology and applied education studies that repeated retrieval of information significantly improves retention compared to repeated studying. This effect likely emerges from the processes of memory consolidation and reconsolidation. Consolidation and reconsolidation are the means by which memories are organized into associational networks or schemas that are created and recreated as memories are formed and recalled. As educators implement retrieval practice, they should consider how various test formats lead to different degrees of schema activation. Repeated acts of retrieval provide opportunities for schemas to be updated and strengthened. Spacing of retrieval allows more consolidated schemas to be reactivated. Feedback provides metacognitive monitoring to ensure retrieval accuracy and can lead to shifts from ineffective to effective retrieval strategies. By using the principles of retrieval practice, educators can improve the likelihood that learners will retain information for longer periods of time.
Teaching the Neurological Examination in a Rapidly Evolving Clinical Climate
Authors: Hillis James , Milligan Tracey
Published: August 2018

The neurological examination remains the essence of neurology. It allows symptoms to be assessed, diagnoses to be made, and dynamic functions to be followed. Skill in the neurological examination has faced increasing challenges from the encroachment of diagnostic imaging, but has maintained its clinical utility. It has also encountered the battle for the precious time within a medical curriculum. This review considers how the neurological examination can best be taught into the future. It does so by considering factors related to the examination, the learner, the teacher, and the modern clinical environment.
A revision of Peronina Plate, 1893 (Gastropoda : Euthyneura : Onchidiidae) based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences, morphology and natural history
Authors: Goulding Tricia C. , Tan Shau Hwai , Tan Siong Kiat , Apte Deepak , Bhave Vishal , Narayana Sumantha , Salunkhe Rahul , Dayrat Benoît
Published: August 2018

Peronina Plate, 1893 is a genus of onchidiids that live on the mud in mangrove forests. Peronina can be identified in the field by the lung opening at the margin between the ventral hyponotum and the dorsal notum, and by the distinctive scalloped notum edge. This genus was previously known only from the holotype of the type species, Peronina alta Plate, 1893, from eastern India. Onchidium tenerum Stoliczka, 1869 is moved to Peronina and applies to the same species as Peronina alta. Peronina species are described using an integrative approach (natural history, comparative anatomy and DNA sequences). Mitochondrial COI and 16S sequences and nuclear ITS2 and 28S sequences are used to independently test species boundaries. Mitochondrial sequences yielded three units separated by a large barcode gap, but nuclear sequences yielded two units. Because these two units are congruent with differences in the male copulatory apparatus, they are accepted as species. Explanations for highly divergent COI haplotypes within one species are discussed. Peronina tenera (Stoliczka, 1869) is distributed in the Bay of Bengal and the Strait of Malacca, while P. zulfigari Goulding & Dayrat, sp. nov. is endemic to the Strait of Malacca. The two species differ internally but are cryptic externally.
Impact of postburn jhum agriculture on soil carbon pools in the north-eastern Himalayan region of India
Authors: Lungmuana  , Choudhury B. U. , Saha Saurav , Singh S. B. , Das Anup , Buragohain Juri , Dayal V. , Singh A. R. , Boopathi T. , Dutta S. K.
Published: August 2018

Land-use change, particularly soil organic carbon (SOC) loss induced by shifting cultivation (jhum) is a common land degradation issue in the hilly tracts of the humid tropics. The SOC concentration comprises different pools (labile and recalcitrant fractions), and each fraction responds to temporal dynamics of adopted management practices at varying magnitudes, such as deforestation followed by cultivation. However, information on the variation of different SOC pools due to cultural practices of vegetation burning and postburn agricultural practices (crop production) associated with shifting cultivation remains inadequate. In the present investigation, we examined the effect of burning and postburning cultivation on SOC pools across different forest fallow periods at Kolasib district, Mizoram state of the north-eastern Himalayan Region of India. Results revealed increase in the soil C stocks and total organic carbon (TOC) due to the increase in the length of fallow periods ranging from 3 to 23 years. The TOC decreased significantly compared with antecedent concentrations before vegetation burning. This was mostly attributed to the reduction in contribution of active pools (very labile and labile) to TOC from 69% to 60%. However, contribution of passive pools (less labile and nonlabile) to TOC concentration increased from 31% to 40%. Postburn cultivation also resulted in reduction of TOC as well as considerable variation in the proportion of different SOC pools to TOC concentration. Among the different pools of SOC, the very labile C pool was most sensitive to land-use change induced by shifting cultivation (phytomass burning and postburn cultivation). The labile SOC pools can act as a sensitive indicator for devising suitable location specific management practices for restoration of soil health through SOC dynamics in degraded jhum lands in hilly ecosystems.
On the importance of accounting for nuclear quantum effects in ab initio calibrated force fields in biological simulations
Authors: Pereyaslavets Leonid , Kurnikov Igor , Kamath Ganesh , Butin Oleg , Illarionov Alexey , Leontyev Igor , Olevanov Michael , Levitt Michael , Kornberg Roger D. , Fain Boris
Published: August 2018

Significance

In molecular modeling the motion of nuclei, especially hydrogen, cannot be described using the laws of classical mechanics. The importance of nuclear quantum effects has long been appreciated by the ab initio molecular dynamics and by the water simulation communities. However, the vast majority of simulations of biological systems performed at ambient conditions treat atomic motion classically. Even in the new-generation force fields parameterized from quantum mechanics these effects are thought to be minor compared with other inaccuracies at room temperature and pressure. We show that a force field in excellent agreement with quantum mechanical energies and forces will not produce acceptably inaccurate predictions at ambient conditions unless the nuclear motion and interaction are accounted for in the simulation.
Intradural and Extradural Ligation of a Left Dural Arteriovenous Fistula of the Sigmoid Sinus Using a Retrosigmoid Approach: 3-Dimensional Operative Video
Authors: Rubio Roberto Rodriguez , Vigo Vera , Bonaventura Rina Di , Abla Adib A
Published: August 2018

Dural arteriovenous fistulas (dAVFs) are acquired dural shunts between an artery and a vein without parenchymal nidus. DAVFs represent 10%-15% of intracranial arteriovenous malformations, and their manifestations vary from asymptomatic to devastating intracranial hemorrhage.
1
They are classified according to their drainage and presence/absence of cortical venous reflux (CVR).
2

,

3
The junction between transverse and sigmoid sinus (SS) is the most common location, and their treatment in case of CVR can involve the sacrifice of the sinus. DAVF occlusion may be achieved with both endovascular and surgical technique and frequently with combined techniques.

This video demonstrates the management of a left dAVF of the SS in a 54-yr-old male with recent onset of diplopia and imbalance with venous congestion seen in the left cerebellum on T2 sequence MRI. Angiography revealed a Borden grade 2, Cognard grade IIa + b left SS dAVF supplied by the jugular and hypoglossal branches of the neuromeningeal trunk with retrograde filling of the partially thrombosed SS and drainage to the superior petrosal sinus and multiple cerebellar veins. Endovascular repair was not feasible due to high risk of postoperative cranial neuropathy. The patient consented to surgery.

A left retrosigmoid craniotomy was performed to achieve intradural ligation of the fistula at the dural edge along the inferior aspect of the tentorium. After drainage occlusion and cauterization of the transmastoid extradural feeders (via mastoidectomy), the SS was entirely exposed and clipped to prevent any further retrograde arteriovenous shunting. The postoperative course was without complication and angiography showed complete occlusion of the dAVF.
Cumulative Effects of Smoking and Diabetes Mellitus on Corneal Endothelial Cell Parameters
Authors: Cankurtaran Veysel , Tekin Kemal
Published: August 2018

Purpose:

To compare the corneal endothelial morphometric properties and central corneal thickness (CCT) values in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) and age-matched healthy subjects and to determine whether smoking increases the effects of DM on these corneal parameters.

Methods:

This prospective study included patients with type 2 DM and their age-matched controls. The smoking history of all participants was evaluated. Corneal endothelial cell properties including endothelial cell density (ECD), average cell area (AVG), coefficient of variation of cell area (CV), and percentage of hexagonal cells (HEX) were obtained using a noncontact specular microscope. Consequently, CCT was measured using an ultrasound pachymeter.

Results:

This research analyzed 153 subjects in the DM group and 146 subjects in the control group. There were no statistically significant differences in the age, sex, and smoking status of the participants in 2 groups (P > 0.05). The corneal endothelial cell measurements including ECD, AVG, CV, and HEX did not show any statistically significant differences between these groups (P > 0.05). However, CCT of patients with DM was statistically significantly thicker than that of the controls (P = 0.005). The ECD values of the smokers with DM (2435 ± 325 cells/mm2) were statistically significantly lower than those of nonsmoker healthy subjects (2559 ± 279 cells/mm2
P = 0.008). However, the AVG, CV, HEX, and CCT values of the smokers with DM were not statistically significantly different compared with nonsmoker healthy subjects (P > 0.05).

Conclusions:

Although neither only DM nor only smoking has a statistically significant effect on corneal endothelial morphometric properties, coexistence of DM and smoking causes a significant decrease in ECD.
Preventing Postoperative Atypical Mycobacterial Infection
Authors: Zhan Senmiao , Hoang Amber , Escaravage George K. , Oester Alan E.
Published: August 2018

Purpose:

To report a recent outbreak of atypical mycobacterial infection following upper eyelid surgery and the results of a prevention protocol that was successfully instituted to dramatically reduce the infection rate.

Methods:

This is a multicenter retrospective nonrandomized comparative interventional case series. A chart review of 7 patients who developed atypical mycobacterium infection after undergoing blepharoplasty was conducted. Preventative intervention included exchanging ice compresses for reusable gel packs and substituting tap water with bottled or distilled water for facial cleaning during postoperative care. The main outcome measure was disease incidence.

Results:

Of the 368 patients who underwent upper eyelid blepharoplasty and/or blepharoptosis repair from December 2014 to May 2015, 7 people developed cutaneous atypical mycobacterium infection with an incidence of 1.9%. Eighty-six percent of patients received clarithromycin as part of their treatment with average treatment length of 2.8 months. Debridement was performed in 71% of the patients. Biopsy was performed in all patients, and all had histopathology showing granulomatous inflammation. A prevention protocol was developed to reduce potential inoculation in the immediate postoperative period, which successfully reduced the infection rate from 1.9% to 0.06% (p = 0.019).

Conclusions:

Atypical mycobacterium infection, although rare, should be considered as a possible diagnosis in a blepharoplasty patient with delayed development of nodular lesions. Long-term clarithromycin therapy and debridement have shown good outcomes for these patients; however, the best treatment for any infection is prevention. This study provides the first evidence based approach within the ophthalmic literature for reducing the mycobacterium infection rate in blepharoplasty patients.
Digit Symbol Substitution Test
Authors: Jaeger Judith
Published: August 2018

Purpose/Background

Development of the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST) was initiated over a century ago as an experimental tool to understand human associative learning. Its clinical utility, owing to its brevity and high discriminant validity, was first recognized in the 1940s, and now the DSST is among the most commonly used tests in clinical neuropsychology.

Methods

Specific studies and articles were reviewed to illustrate what the test measures, to evaluate its sensitivity to change, and to discuss its use in clinical practice.

Results

The DSST is a valid and sensitive measure of cognitive dysfunction impacted by many domains. Performance on the DSST correlates with real-world functional outcomes (eg, the ability to accomplish everyday tasks) and recovery from functional disability in a range of psychiatric conditions including schizophrenia and major depressive disorder. Importantly, the DSST has been demonstrated to be sensitive to changes in cognitive functioning in patients with major depressive disorder and offers promise as a clinical decision-making tool for monitoring treatment effects in this and other disorders affecting cognition.

Implications/Conclusions

The DSST is sensitive to the presence of cognitive dysfunction as well as to change in cognitive function across a wide range of clinical populations but has low specificity to determine exactly which cognitive domain has been affected. However, the DSST offers a practical and effective method to monitor cognitive functions over time in clinical practice.
p75 Neurotrophin Receptor Regulates the Timing of the Maturation of Cortical Parvalbumin Cell Connectivity and Promotes Ocular Dominance Plasticity in Adult Visual Cortex
Authors: Baho Elie , Chattopadhyaya Bidisha , Lavertu-Jolin Marisol , Mazziotti Raffaele , Awad Patricia N , Chehrazi Pegah , Groleau Marianne , Jahannault-Talignani Celine , Sanon Nathalie T. , Vaucher Elvire , Ango Fabrice , Pizzorusso Tommaso , Baroncelli Laura , Cristo Graziella Di
Published: August 2018

By virtue of their extensive axonal arborisation and perisomatic synaptic targeting, cortical inhibitory Parvalbumin (PV) cells strongly regulate principal cell output and plasticity. An interesting aspect of PV cell connectivity is its prolonged maturation time course, which is completed only by end of adolescence. The p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) regulates a wide range of cellular function, including apoptosis, neuronal process remodeling and synaptic plasticity, however its role on cortical circuit development is still not well understood, mainly because localizing p75NTR expression with cellular and temporal resolution has, so far, been challenging.

Using RNAscope and a modified version of the Proximity Ligation Assay (PLA), we show that p75NTR mRNA and protein are expressed in cortical PV cells in the postnatal and adult brain. Further, p75NTR expression in PV cells decreases between postnatal day (P)14 and P26, at a time when PV cell synapse numbers increase dramatically. Conditional knockout of p75NTR in single PV neurons in cortical organotypic cultures and in PV cell networks in vivo leads to precocious formation of PV cell perisomatic innervation and perineural nets around PV cell somata, suggesting that p75NTR expression controls the timing of the maturation of PV cell connectivity in the adolescent cortex.

Remarkably, we found that p75NTR is still expressed, albeit at low level, in PV cells in adult cortex. Interestingly, activation of p75NTR onto PV cells in adult visual cortex in vivo is sufficient to destabilize their connectivity and to reintroduce juvenile-like cortical plasticity following monocular deprivation. Altogether, our results show that p75NTR activation dynamically regulates PV cell connectivity, and represents a novel tool to foster brain plasticity in adults.
Existing host range mutations constrain further emergence of RNA viruses
Authors: Zhao Lele , Pasricha Mansha Seth , Stemate Dragos , Crespo-Bellido Alvin , Gagnon Jacqueline , Duffy Siobain
Published: August 2018

RNA viruses are capable of rapid host shifting, typically due to a point mutation that confers expanded host range. As additional point mutations are necessary for further expansions, epistasis among host range mutations can potentially affect the mutational neighborhood and frequency of niche expansion. We mapped the mutational neighborhood of host range expansion using three genotypes of the dsRNA bacteriophage phi6 (wildtype and two isogenic host range mutants) on the novel hostPseudomonas syringaepv.atrofaciens(PA). Sanger sequencing of fifty PA mutant clones for each genotype and population Illumina sequencing both revealed the same high frequency mutations allowing infection of PA. Wildtype phi6 had at least nine different ways of mutating to enter the novel host, eight of which are in p3 (host attachment protein gene), and 13/50 clones had unchanged p3 genes. However, the two isogenic mutants had dramatically restricted neighborhoods: only one or two mutations, all in p3. Deep sequencing revealed that wildtype clones without mutations in p3 likely had changes in p12 (morphogenic protein), a region that was not polymorphic for the two isogenic host range mutants. Sanger sequencing confirmed that 10/13 of the wildtype phi6 clones had nonsynonymous mutations in p12 and two others had point mutations in p9 and p5 – none of these genes had previously been associated with host range expansion in phi6. We demonstrate, for the first time, epistatic constraint in an RNA virus due to host range mutations themselves, which has implications for models of serial host range expansion.

Importance

RNA viruses mutate rapidly and frequently expand their host ranges to infect novel hosts, leading to serial host shifts. Using an RNA bacteriophage model system (Pseudomonasphage phi6), we studied the impact of pre-existing host range mutations on another host range expansion. Results from both clonal Sanger and Illumina sequencing show extant host range mutations dramatically narrow the neighborhood of potential host range mutations compared to wildtype phi6. This research suggests that serial host shifting viruses may follow a small number of molecular paths to enter additional novel hosts. We also identified new genes involved in phi6 host range expansion, expanding our knowledge of this important model system in experimental evolution.
Market power and returns to scale in farm-value share determination
Authors: Ma Ling , Nuetah Alexander , Wang Xiuqing
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of market power and returns to scale in the determination of farm-value share.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper utilizes the equilibrium displacement model to investigate the role of market power and returns to scale in the determination of farm-value share. Contrary to the current literature, the paper incorporates oligopoly power, oligopsony power and non-constant return to scale into one generalized model, which systematically enables us investigate the impacts of market power on the determination and changes of farm-value share.

Findings

The results imply that market power as well as non-constant returns to scale is central to the understanding of farm-value share. These, in turn, indicate that ignoring the impacts of market power and degree of return to scale may overestimate or underestimate the impacts of exogenous shocks on changes in farm-value share.

Originality/value

Thus, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no literature has examined the co-existence of oligopsony power, oligopoly power as well as non-constant return to scale in farm-value share determination. This paper therefore tries to fill this gap.
A framework for ad hoc information management for the building design process
Authors: Jacob Jeevan , Varghese Koshy
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The building design processes today are complex, involving many disciplines and issues like collaboration, concurrency and collocation. Several studies have focused on understanding and modeling formal information exchange in these processes. Few past studies have also identified the importance of informal information exchanges in the design process and proposed passive solutions for facilitating this exchange. The purpose of this paper is to term the informal information as ad hoc information and explores if components of ad hoc information exchanges can be actively managed.

Design/methodology/approach

An MDM-based framework integrating product, process and people dependencies is proposed and a prototype platform to implement this framework is developed. The demonstration on the usage of this platform to identify information paths during collaboration and hence manage ad hoc information exchanges is presented through an example problem.

Findings

Based on the effectiveness of the prototype platform in identifying information paths for design queries, it is concluded that the proposed framework is useful for actively managing some components of ad hoc information exchange.

Originality/value

This research enables the design manager/participants to make a more informed decision on requesting and releasing design information.
Contemporary young motherhood: experiences of hostility
Authors: Fearnley Barry
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the hostility many young women who are also mothers experience within their everyday lives.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper will draw on qualitative research, incorporating a narrative approach, to illustrate the hostility many young mothers experience on a daily basis. The research design included a focus group, semi-structure interviews and participant observations.

Findings

The paper reports the findings of a study that explored the experiences of young women who are also mothers. The author presents the findings that indicate that many young women, who are also young mothers, experience hostile reactions and interactions as part of their everyday lives.

Research limitations/implications

The small sample size means that this study cannot be generalised, but it does contribute to the growing body of qualitative evidence in relation to young mothers.

Practical implications

The findings suggest that there needs to be more recognition and acknowledgement of the hostility young women experience. Such hostility could have deleterious consequences on the young women, their parenting ability and also on the children.

Originality/value

This paper documents the experiences of young women who are also mothers and how they experience hostility as a daily occurrence. The hostility ranged from verbal to non-verbal and how they felt they were being treated, inferences about their sexuality to stereotyping.
Topical evolution patterns and temporal trends of microblogs on public health emergencies
Authors: An Lu , Yu Chuanming , Lin Xia , Du Tingyao , Zhou Liqin , Li Gang
Published: August 2018

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify salient topic categories and outline their evolution patterns and temporal trends in microblogs on a public health emergency across different stages. Comparisons were also examined to reveal the similarities and differences between those patterns and trends on microblog platforms of different languages and from different nations.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 459,266 microblog entries about the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014 on Twitter and Weibo were collected for nine months after the inception of the outbreak. Topics were detected by the latent Dirichlet allocation model and classified into several categories. The daily tweets were analyzed with the self-organizing map technique and labeled with the most salient topics. The investigated time span was divided into three stages, and the most salient topic categories were identified for each stage.

Findings

In total, 14 salient topic categories were identified in microblogs about the Ebola outbreak and were summarized as increasing, decreasing, fluctuating or ephemeral types. The topical evolution patterns of microblogs and temporal trends for topic categories vary on different microblog platforms. Twitter users were keen on the dynamics of the Ebola outbreak, such as status description, secondary events and so forth, while Weibo users focused on background knowledge of Ebola and precautions.

Originality/value

This study revealed evolution patterns and temporal trends of microblog topics on a public health emergency. The findings can help administrators of public health emergencies and microblog communities work together to better satisfy information needs and physical demands by the public when public health emergencies are in progress.
Why Symmetry may not be the Answer to the UK's Constitutional Unsettlement: A Response to Bruce Ackerman
Authors: Kenny Michael
Published: August 2018

In this reply Michael Kenny identifies the distinctiveness of Ackerman's characterisation of Britishness and the case he makes for constitutional reform. But he queries the remedies that he advances and, in particular, the attempt to address the problem of asymmetry through a system of regional government in England. Kenny argues instead that any adequate approach to reform in this area needs to grasp the decline of existing forms of territorial statecraft in the UK and the specific character of, and underlying motivations for, the increasing sense of democratic self‐assertion among the English.
Bedside external ventricular drain placement for haemorrhagic stroke patients with brain herniation and acute hydrocephalus: A case series
Authors: Woo Peter Y.M. , Yip Ada S.M. , Mak Calvin H.K. , Wong Alain K.S. , Wong Hoi‐Tung , Chan Kwong‐Yau , Kwok John C.K.
Published: August 2018

Aim

External ventricular drainage (EVD) for patients with acute hydrocephalus is a potentially life‐saving neurosurgical procedure that can be quickly performed at the bedside, but is rarely carried out in Hong Kong.

Patients and Methods

The present study is a retrospective review of eight adult patients who underwent bedside EVD from 1 January 2010 to 31 March 2018 at Hong Kong's public neurosurgical centres. Disease aetiology, neurological presentation, radiological findings, procedure‐related complications and functional outcomes were reviewed.

Results

The mean age was 56 years, with a median presenting Glasgow Coma Score of 3/15 with half having at least one fixed dilated pupil. All were treated at a single neurosurgical centre. Five patients had haemorrhagic stroke (63 per cent) with aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage. After bedside EVD, five patients were stable enough to attempt further definitive surgery. All catheters were placed accurately achieving Kakarla grade I, and there were no procedure‐related complications. Three patients survived (38 per cent), with one having a mild disability (modified Rankin score of 2) at 1 year after stroke.

Conclusion

Our experience indicates that bedside EVD is a feasible life‐saving procedure that can be performed in selected rapidly deteriorating haemorrhagic stroke patients with brain herniation in our locality.
Concurrent and Coplanar Forces that Are in Equilibrium
Authors: Goh Ker Liang
Published: August 2018

If a body is in equilibrium under the action of three non-parallel coplanar forces, the forces must be concurrent, that is, must meet at a single point. Specific examples are provided here to illustrate the validity of this statement by the use of free-body diagrams as well as during the discussion of equilibrium and moments. These cases are usually not presented in contemporary textbooks; hence, it is our intention to provide examples to help in visualizing the concept. A discussion about four coplanar forces is included.
Coupled pendulums on a clothesline
Authors: Thees Michael , Becker Sebastian , Rexigel Eva , Cullman Nils , Kuhn Jochen
Published: August 2018

The importance of coupled oscillations for natural and engineering sciences is undisputed. But due to the complex processes behind the phenomena, its educational arrangement remains challenging.
Prevalence of Participating in Physical Activity From 2 Korean Surveillance Systems: KNHANES and KCHS
Authors: Park JooYong , Shin Aesun , Lee Miyoung , Choi Jaesung , Song Minkyo , Kim Yeonjung , Lee Jong-koo , Kang Daehee , Choi Ji-Yeob
Published: August 2018

Background: This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and trends of participation in physical activity (PA) in Korean adults. Methods: The Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES; 2009–2013) and the Korea Community Health Survey (KCHS; 2009–2013) were used to estimate the prevalence of PA. Age standardization was performed using population projections for Korea in 2005 as a standard population. Trends of the prevalence from 2009 to 2013 were assessed by joinpoint regression analysis. Results: The age-standardized prevalence for achieving the recommended level of PA was 63.0% in KNHANES and 64.5% in KCHS for men, and 53.7% in KNHANES and 56.3% in KCHS for women. Decreasing trends were observed for the prevalence of achieving the recommended level of PA in the KNHANES and KCHS; however, only the trend for women in KNHANES was statistically significant. Conclusions: Approximately, 60% of adults participate in the recommended level of PA in Korea. The survey design and characteristics should be considered when interpreting the prevalence of PA from different databases.
Histopathology of Bordetella pertussis in the Baboon Model
Authors: Zimmerman Lindsey I. , Papin James F. , Warfel Jason , Wolf Roman F. , Kosanke Stanley D. , Merkel Tod J.
Published: August 2018

Pertussis is a severe respiratory disease caused by
Bordetella pertussis
. The classic symptoms of pertussis include paroxysmal coughing with an inspiratory whoop, posttussive vomiting, cyanosis, and persistent coryzal symptoms.
Periodic Variation of Mutation Rates in Bacterial Genomes Associated with Replication Timing
Authors: Dillon Marcus M. , Sung Way , Lynch Michael , Cooper Vaughn S.
Published: August 2018

The causes and consequences of spatiotemporal variation in mutation rates remain to be explored in nearly all organisms. Here we examine relationships between local mutation rates and replication timing in three bacterial species whose genomes have multiple chromosomes:
Vibrio fischeri
,
Vibrio cholerae
, and
Burkholderia cenocepacia
. Following five mutation accumulation experiments with these bacteria conducted in the near absence of natural selection, the genomes of clones from each lineage were sequenced and analyzed to identify variation in mutation rates and spectra. In lineages lacking mismatch repair, base substitution mutation rates vary in a mirrored wave-like pattern on opposing replichores of the large chromosomes of
V. fischeri
and
V. cholerae
, where concurrently replicated regions experience similar base substitution mutation rates. The base substitution mutation rates on the small chromosome are less variable in both species but occur at similar rates to those in the concurrently replicated regions of the large chromosome. Neither nucleotide composition nor frequency of nucleotide motifs differed among regions experiencing high and low base substitution rates, which along with the inferred ~800-kb wave period suggests that the source of the periodicity is not sequence specific but rather a systematic process related to the cell cycle. These results support the notion that base substitution mutation rates are likely to vary systematically across many bacterial genomes, which exposes certain genes to elevated deleterious mutational load.

IMPORTANCE
That mutation rates vary within bacterial genomes is well known, but the detailed study of these biases has been made possible only recently with contemporary sequencing methods. We applied these methods to understand how bacterial genomes with multiple chromosomes, like those of
Vibrio
and
Burkholderia
, might experience heterogeneous mutation rates because of their unusual replication and the greater genetic diversity found on smaller chromosomes. This study captured thousands of mutations and revealed wave-like rate variation that is synchronized with replication timing and not explained by sequence context. The scale of this rate variation over hundreds of kilobases of DNA strongly suggests that a temporally regulated cellular process may generate wave-like variation in mutation risk. These findings add to our understanding of how mutation risk is distributed across bacterial and likely also eukaryotic genomes, owing to their highly conserved replication and repair machinery.
Detection ofChlamydia trachomatisandNeisseria gonorrhoeaewith the cobas CT/NG v2.0 test: performance compared with the BD ProbeTec CT Qxand GC Qxamplified DNA and Aptima AC2 assays
Authors: Nye Melinda B , Osiecki John , Lewinski Michael , Liesenfeld Oliver , Young Stephen , Taylor Stephanie N , Lillis Rebecca A , Body Barbara A , Eisenhut Carol , Hook III Edward W , Van Der Pol Barbara
Published: August 2018

Objectives

Infections due toChlamydia trachomatis(CT) andNeisseria gonorrhoeae(NG) are among the most common bacterial sexually transmitted infections worldwide, most of which are asymptomatic. Detection of infection using a variety of specimen types in symptomatic and asymptomatic subjects is important to effectively combat CT/NG infections. The performance of the cobas CT/NG v2.0 test was assessed for urogenital swabs, urine and cervical cytology samples collected in PreservCyt Solution from 5266 symptomatic and asymptomatic women (including 202 who were pregnant), and urine from 738 men.

Methods

Sensitivity and specificity were estimated compared with a patient infected status determined using two US Food and Drug Administration–cleared nucleic acid amplification tests.

Results

Among 6004 participants, 487 CT (8.1%) and 159 NG (2.6%) infections were identified. Sensitivity estimates for CT for women ranged from 91.2% to 97.6% depending on specimen type, and the estimate for male urine specimens was 98.4%. Specificity for CT ranged from 99.2% to 99.7%. Sensitivity estimates for NG ranged from 95.6% to 100.0% for women, and the estimate for men was 100.0%. Specificity for NG ranged from 99.3% to 100.0%.

Conclusions

The cobas CT/NG v2.0 test performs well using urogenital swabs, urine and cervical samples collected in PreservCyt solution.
Corporate Sustainability Initiatives in Gender Equality: Organizational Practices Fostering Inclusiveness at Work in an Emerging-Market Context
Authors: Gülsoy Tanses , Ustabaş Ayfer
Published: August 2018

The objective of this paper is to explore through in-depth interviews the reasons why diversity management initiatives targeting women is an important strategic management issue for companies. Interviewed are the human resource managers of two of Turkey’s leading business groups: a manager from the HR department of one of Turkey’s largest banks and the deputy general manager of a non-governmental organization. The evidence suggests that these firms exercise carefully honed policies aimed at fostering gender equality and to that end engage in a variety of activities targeting various human resource functions. Their motives appear to be to reinforce their corporate image, enhance employee satisfaction, and reap such anticipated rewards as greater productivity and increased innovation capability. The importance of company leadership is underlined as an antecedent to the adoption of gender-equality focussed diversity management. The study may have important implications for building sustainable corporate brands, especially in the emerging-market context.
Community engaged research projects for undergraduates
Authors: Medero Julie
Published: August 2018

A commitment to providing research opportunities for undergraduates has been a key element in Harvey Mudd's efforts to increase the diversity of our computer science student body [1]. Including students in problems outside of the classroom helps them develop identities as computer scientists, while providing those opportunities early on in students' careers, can help welcome new students to the field [14]. But many first-year undergraduate students don't have a lot of previous experience, so it can be difficult to find research positions where they can make substantial technical contributions. Student-driven, community-engaged data analysis projects offer an opportunity to engage those students.
X-l
ap
Authors: Reif Stefan , Schmidt Andreas , Hönig Timo , Herfet Thorsten , Schröder-Preikschat Wolfgang
Published: August 2018

Networked control applications for cyber-physical networks demand predictable and reliable real-time communication. Applications of this domain have to cooperate with network protocols, the operating system, and the hardware to improve safety properties and increase resource efficiency. In consequence, a cross-layer approach is necessary for the design and holistic optimisation of cyber-physical systems and networks. This paper presents X-L
ap
, a cross-layer, inter-host timing analysis tool tailored to the needs of real-time communication. We use X-L
ap
to evaluate the timing behaviour of a reliable real-time communication protocol. Our analysis identifies parts of the protocol which are responsible for unwanted jitter. To system designers, X-L
ap
provides useful support for the design and evaluation of networked real-time systems.