bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Malware Detection by Static Checking and Dynamic Analysis of Executables
Authors: Vidyarthi Deepti , Choudhary S.P. , Rakshit Subrata , Kumar C.R.S.
Published: May 2017

The advanced malware continue to be a challenge in digital world that signature-based detection techniques fail to conquer. The malware use many anti-detection techniques to mutate. Thus no virus scanner can claim complete malware detection even for known malware. Static and dynamic analysis techniques focus upon different kinds of malware such as Evasive or Metamorphic malware. This paper proposes a comprehensive approach that combines static checking and dynamic analysis for malware detection. Static analysis is used to check the specific code characteristics. Dynamic analysis is used to analyze the runtime behavior of malware. The authors propose a framework for the automated analysis of an executable's behavior using text mining. Text mining of dynamic attributes identifies the important features for classifying the executable as benign and malware. The synergistic combination proposed in this paper allows detection of not only known variants of malware but even the obfuscated, packed and unknown malware variants and malware evasive to dynamic analysis.
Using a Vibrotactile Seat for Facilitating the Handover of Control during Automated Driving
Authors: Telpaz Ariel , Rhindress Brian , Zelman Ido , Tsimhoni Omer
Published: May 2017

Studies have found that drivers tend to neglect their surrounding traffic during automated driving. This may lead to a late and inefficient resumption of control in case of handover of the driving task to the driver. The authors evaluated the effectiveness of a vibrotactile seat displaying spatial information regarding vehicles approaching from behind to enhance the driver preparedness to the handover of control. A simulator experiment, involving 26 participants, showed that when drivers were required to regain control of the vehicle, having a vibrotactile seat improved speed and efficiency of reactions in scenarios requiring lane changing immediately following a handover. In addition, eye-tracking analysis showed that the participants had more systematic scan patterns of the mirrors in the first two seconds following the transition of control request. Interestingly, this effect exists in-spite of the finding that during automated driving mode, having a vibrotactile display led to fewer glances at the road.
Skyline
Authors: Alvarez Ignacio , Rumbel Laura
Published: May 2017

This paper describes the research and development process of an in-vehicle user experience using Skyline, an automotive prototyping platform created in Intel Labs to empower interaction designers and user experience researches to rapidly and iteratively develop and test in-vehicle user experience concepts. The paper describes the hardware and software components of Skyline in depth and how to configure them to suit individual researcher needs. The paper also presents a case study to exemplify the design making process that Skyline enables. From ideation to use-case creation, prototyping and validation through user assessment, the paper showcases the benefits of capturing early qualitative user feedback as support for rapid prototyping walking through a study titled Agency vs. Control and the associated interactions inside the cockpit. Ten defined use-cases are developed and integrated into a hero scenario in Skyline. High fidelity HMI concepts are tested and validated over the course of six months with feedback from a total of fifty users.
Investigating the Feasibility of Vehicle Telemetry Data as a Means of Predicting Driver Workload
Authors: Taylor Phillip , Griffiths Nathan , Bhalerao Abhir , Xu Zhou , Gelencser Adam , Popham Thomas
Published: May 2017

Driving is a safety critical task that requires a high level of attention from the driver. Although drivers have limited attentional resources, they often perform secondary tasks such as eating or using a mobile phone. When performing multiple tasks in the vehicle, the driver can become overloaded and the risk of a crash is increased. If a vehicle is aware that the driver is currently under high workload, the vehicle functionality can be changed in order to minimise any further demand. Traditionally, workload is measured using physiological sensors that require often intrusive and expensive equipment. Another approach may be to use vehicle telemetry data as a performance measure for workload. In this paper, the authors present the Warwick-JLR Driver Monitoring Dataset (DMD) and analyse it to investigate the feasibility of using vehicle telemetry data for determining the driver workload. They perform a statistical analysis of subjective ratings, physiological data, and vehicle telemetry data collected during a track study. A data mining methodology is then presented to build predictive models using this data, for the driver workload monitoring problem.
Customer Orientation Implementation Constructs in the Banking Sector
Authors: Eid Riyad , Abdelkader Ali Ahmed
Published: May 2017

To date, customer orientation (CO) implementation constructs have not been systematically investigated. Existing studies have derived their constructs from different perspectives. However, the literature lacks scientifically developed and tested constructs that make an integrative CO philosophy. Through a detailed analysis of the literature as well as adding new factors, this research identifies 8 constructs for integrated CO implementation. The importance of the proposed constructs was theoretically discussed and justified. Using a sample of 202 banks, the constructs are then tested and validated. The overall results from the empirical assessment were positive, thus reflecting the appropriateness of the proposed constructs. This study provides new theoretical grounds for studying the CO. It also supplies banks with a number of operative factors that may be essential if they are to remain competitive in the dynamic marketplace. It gives valuable information, which hopefully will help this business sector to implement CO.
Using Social Media to Inform and Engage Urban Dwellers in La Paz, Mexico
Authors: Basolo Victoria , Yerena Anaid
Published: May 2017

Engaging residents in local affairs continues to be a challenge for cities around the world. Under a call for more open government, many cities have adopted web-based strategies, including social media, to inform, serve, and engage residents. Understanding the performance of social media to support transparent and participatory government through communication and engagement with citizens, especially by relatively early adopters in urbanized areas of developing countries, can inform theory, as well as practice. This article contains an analysis of social media communication for one government agency. The data are posts from the first 18 months of activity on a Facebook profile created and maintained by the municipal water agency of La Paz, Mexico. Consistent with previous work, the Facebook profile reflected relatively low usage, a propensity toward one-way provision of information by government, and limited interaction. However, by analyzing the content of each post and all interactions, the authors found the Facebook profile spurred citizen engagement in a collaborative effort mitigate a community problem.
A Social Media Content Based Location and Situation Analysis Model for Disaster Management
Authors: Nath Renya N. , Priya N. , Robin C.R. Rene
Published: May 2017

Social media has evolved as an inseparable entity in everybody's life. People make use of social media like Face book, twitter, etc. to express their feelings. That's the reason organizations make use of social media information to infer the behavior of its users. The recent ChennaiRains2015 followed by Chennai flood show the reachability of social media as most of the people have utilized it to convey their status and requirements. Many people have utilized the same social media to express their willingness for providing help (food, shelter, evacuation and medical) to the flood victims. Connecting such people to the needy in a timely manner can make the disaster management process more efficient. In this paper, the authors highlight, (1) the design of Apache Storm based real time analytics of twitter data for extracting location and status of flood affected areas and (2) the development of an optimized map connecting the volunteers (people ready to help flood victims) and the flood victims who have raised their requests via social media.
Web 2.0 Usage by Saudi Female Students for Information Sharing in Public Sector University a Pilot Study
Authors: Saeed Saqib , Gull Hina , Iqbal Sardar Zafar
Published: May 2017

In this paper the authors explore the usage of Web 2.0 by the Saudi female students for their information and knowledge sharing. The results are based on a survey conducted in one of the public sector universities in Saudi Arabia. Questionnaire is developed to get insight about the usage of social media by female students. The results highlighted that Web 2.0 applications are widely adopted by students for their academic collaboration and information sharing. This pilot study advocates for a more rigorous study to validate the findings across the country.
QSPR Models of β-dihydroagarofuran Derivatives
Authors: Ferreira da Cunha Elaine Fontes , Silva Daniela Rodrigues , Santos-Garcia Letícia , Assis Letícia Cristina , Maria de Assis Tamiris , Gajo Giovanna Cardoso , Ramalho Teodorico Castro
Published: May 2017

The use of chemical pesticides, although the most effective method for controlling insects, may in the long-term result in pest resistance development as well as it may impact on food quality, the environment and human health. Therefore, the botanical insecticides are interesting alternatives to minimize these undesirable effects, including a secondary metabolite in the Celastraceae family. Thus, a QSPR study was conducted for ß-dihidroagarofuran derivatives with pesticide properties in order to identify features that may improve the potency thereof. The best model obtained from alignment 3 showed values of Q2=0.657, R2=0.757, R2p=0672 and R2m(test)=0.509, indicating good predictive ability and statistical robustness. Moreover, the descriptors presented important pharmacophore groups for the development of new pesticides.
Multi-Objective Modeling of Herbicidal Activity from an Environmentally Friendly Perspective
Authors: Daré Joyce K , Barigye Stephen J , Freitas Matheus P.
Published: May 2017

Despite the attractiveness in weed management, herbicides can produce several hazardous effects due to their persistence in the environment. It is therefore important to strike a balance between the herbicidal activity and ecotoxicological profile. The aim of the present paper is to perform a multi-objective QSPR modeling of the bioactivity and soil sorption profile of a dataset of triazine derivatives, in order to gain understanding on the structural features favoring both high herbicidal activity and low soil sorption. To this end, the Photosynthetic Electron Transport (PET) inhibitory activity and the logKOC are selected, and a MIA-QSPR model is built for the pI50/log Koc ratio. The obtained model presented satisfactory performance evidenced by the calibration and validation parameters. Structural interpretation of the built model is performed using the recently implemented MIA-Plot tool, providing important guidelines on the structural moieties related with high pI50/logKOC ratio values as a desirable requirement in the development of high activity and eco-friendly triazines.
Predicting Degradation Half-life of Organophosphorus Pesticides in Soil Using Three-Dimensional Molecular Interaction Fields
Authors: Salahinejad Maryam , Zolfonoun Ehsan , Ghasemi Jahan B.
Published: May 2017

A simple and strong model, based on an alignment independent three-dimensional quantitative- structure activity relationships (3D-QSAR), is developed for prediction of degradation half-life (DT50) of 47 organophosphorus pesticides in soil. Molecular descriptors derived from 3D molecular interaction fields (MIF) were calculated using the GRIND methodology. Fractional factorial design (FFD) applied to feature selection and modeling of the relationship between selected descriptors and DT50 data was achieved using partial least squares regression. Validation and reliability of the obtained model were checked by the prediction of external test set cross-validation and chance correlation. The value of the determination coefficient (R2) was 0.817 for leave-one-out cross-validation procedure. The R2 values for the training and test sets were 0.951 and 0.893 respectively. The obtained model confirmed that size and shape of the molecules as well as hydrophobic interactions are the main parameters influencing the degradation half-life of organophosphorus pesticides in soil.
Identification of Pharmacophore for Wild and T877A Mutant Androgen Receptor Antagonist
Authors: Selvaraj Divakar , Hariharan Sivaram , Muthiah Ramanathan
Published: May 2017

Androgen increases the proliferation of prostate cancer cells by activating the androgen receptor (AR). AR antagonists block the androgen mediated proliferation and are used to treat prostate cancer. Antagonist resistance occurs due to the expression of mutations in AR. One particular mutation, T877A, was frequently expressed in relapsed patients. Presently, there is no antagonist in the market without the problem of resistance developing over the period of treatment. A plausible reason for this shortcoming could be the lack of designing because of the unavailability of AR-crystal structure in antagonist bound conformation. Hence, 3D-QSAR becomes a major tool in identification of novel AR antagonists. Three models, ADDHRR.295, AHHRR.266, and AHRR.63 were designed for wild type, T877A mutant, and full (active at both wild and mutant types) AR antagonists respectively. There is a major difference in the angles and lengths of the pharmacophore site points among the 3D-QSAR models. The generated pharmacophore for full antagonists was then used for screening the SPECS database with filters for identifying hits.
Path Pendeccentric Connectivity Indices: Detour Matrix Based Molecular Descriptors for QSAR/QSPR Studies, Part 1
Authors: Khatri Naveen , Jangra Harish , Madan A. K.
Published: May 2017

In the present study, highly sensitive detour matrix based molecular descriptors (MDs) termed as path pendeccentric connectivity indices 1-4 as well as their topochemical variants have been conceptualized. Proposed MDs are unique because they simultaneously take into consideration the cyclicity, path pendenticity, path eccentricity and augmented adjacency of each vertex in a hydrogen depleted molecular structure. An in-house computer program was also developed to calculate values of proposed MDs. Proposed MDs were evaluated for degeneracy, discriminating power, sensitivity towards relative position of substituent(s) in cyclic structures, branching and correlation with existing MDs. Highly encouraging results offer proposed MDs a vast potential for similarity/dissimilarity studies, characterization of structures, combinatorial library design, lead identification/optimization, pharmacokinetic relationship studies and QSAR/QSPR/QSTR studies. Proposed MDs will also take due care of shape factor, relative position (s) and presence of hetero atoms in chemical structures.
Need of Six Sigma in Testing Laboratories
Authors: Sawalakhe Pranil Vijay , Deshmukh Sunil V. , Lakhe Ramesh R.
Published: May 2017

Six Sigma is a universal management approach implemented to companies like Motorola and General Electric. Acknowledging grand success in terms of global profitability and customer satisfaction in corporate world, Health care sector can also be benefited by the application of the same to achieve similar benefits in healthcare sector; Six Sigma is currently being spread in several laboratories around the world. Acknowledging this situation, few articles have been published in the peer-reviewed literature on this subject. The aim of this article is to clearly focus on different features of Six Sigma and its successful applications in testing laboratories, as well as to systematically review articles and books discussing Six Sigma strategy implementation in the laboratory field.
Network Traffic Intrusion Detection System Using Fuzzy Logic and Neural Network
Authors: Dixit Mrudul , Ukarande Rajashwini
Published: May 2017

Intrusion Detection System (IDS) are actively used to identify any unusual activities in a network. To improve the effectiveness of IDS, security experts have embedded their extensive knowledge with the use of fuzzy logic, neuro-fuzzy, neural network and other such AI techniques. This article presents an intrusion detection system in network based on fuzzy logic and neural network. The proposed system is evaluated using the KDD Cup 99 dataset. The fuzzy system detects the intrusion behavior of the network using the defined set of rules. Whereas neural network trains the network based on the input and uses the trained system to predict the output. The evaluation depicts the effectiveness of the selected method in terms of selection of attributes which gives high True Positive Rate and True Negative Rate, with good precision in attack detection.
The Social Networks of Cyberbullying on Twitter
Authors: Sterner Glenn , Felmlee Diane
Published: May 2017

This research applies a social network perspective to the issue of cyber aggression, or cyberbullying, on the social media platform Twitter. Cyber aggression is particularly problematic because of its potential for anonymity, and the ease with which so many others can join the harassment of victims. Utilizing a comparative case study methodology, the authors examined thousands of Tweets to explore the use of denigrating slurs and insults contained in public tweets that target an individual's gender, race, or sexual orientation. Findings indicate cyber aggression on Twitter to be extensive and often extremely offensive, with the potential for serious, deleterious consequences for its victims. The study examined a sample of 84 aggressive networks on Twitter and visualize several social networks of communication patterns that emanate from an initial, aggressive tweet. The authors identify six social roles that users can assume in the network, noting differences in these roles by demographic category. Serious ethical concerns pertain to this technological, social problem.
“Revenge Porn”
Authors: Goldsworthy Terry , Raj Matthew , Crowley Joseph
Published: May 2017

Currently, a range of criminal offences are perpetrated online. In addition to the commission of traditional offences, such as fraud, stalking, and domestic violence, new phenomena have emerged to warrant attention from the media, government, and communities. The phenomenon colloquially referred to as ‘revenge porn' stands as one of the greater threats to public morality. To date, legislative responses to circumscribe revenge porn, both internationally and in Australia, have been sporadic and disjunctive. This article critically examines the impact and prevalence of revenge porn and provides a critical analysis of the civil and criminal responses to its commission. It concludes by arguing that addressing the challenges associated with investigating such offences, and educating about the dangers of revenge porn have to some extent been overlooked in the rush to legislate and create new offences. The article highlights that existing legislation may provide adequate protection.
Cyberbullying and Traditional Bullying
Authors: Myers Zachary R. , Swearer Susan M. , Martin Meredith J. , Palacios Raul
Published: May 2017

This study sought to advance the authors' understanding of the relationship between traditional bullying (i.e., verbal and physical) and cyberbullying. Data were collected from 1,182 participants, ages 13 to 25 (M = 19.66; SD = 3.03) from 75 different countries via an on-line, world-wide survey. Results found that participants experienced both in-person bullying and cyberbullying (i.e., poly-victimization). Additionally, bisexual, pansexual, or queer participants reported more frequent cyberbullying victimization when compared to both heterosexual and gay or lesbian participants. Sexual minority participants also reported victimization through significantly more electronic sources. Specifically, gay and lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, and queer participants reported higher numbers of victimization modalities when compared to heterosexual participants. Results from this study expand the authors' awareness of the poly-victimization experiences of youth and young adults and fill in important gaps in understanding these experiences for diverse sexual orientations and gender identities.
A Smart System for Twitter Corpus Collection, Management and Visualization
Authors: Brogueira Gaspar , Batista Fernando , Carvalho Joao P
Published: May 2017

Social networks have become popular and are now becoming an alternate mean of communication, used to share information on various topics, ranging from politics or sports to simple aspects of everyday life. Twitter messages (tweets) are shared in real time and are essentially public, making them a useful source of information for areas such as tourism, marketing, health, and safety. This paper describes an information system that involves the creation and storage of a corpus of tweets, written in European Portuguese and published within the Portuguese territory. The system also involves a REST API that allows access to the stored information, and a web-based dashboard that makes it possible to analyze and visualize indicators concerning the stored data.
Examining IT Governance through Diffusion of Innovations
Authors: Batyashe Thami N. , Iyamu Tiko
Published: May 2017

There are many best practices frameworks and international standards such as CobiT (Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology), ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) TOGAF, and ISO/IEC 38500:2015 which are available in the industry. Conversely, the growing use of frameworks and standards has its own challenges and difficulties. Organisations find it very challenging to tailor standards and frameworks to suit their specific requirements. Another challenge for organisations is how to choose a framework/s that best suits their organisational needs. Some of the organisations either select inappropriate frameworks or adopt more than one framework. Such decisions have not helped matters, but have instead increased the complexities, which have an impact on IT's time to respond to organisational needs, time to market, as well competitiveness, which it is expected to support and enable. This study therefore examines the factors which influence and drives organisation to the confused state, in the selection and implementation of IT governance frameworks. To contextualise the study, a telecommunication company in South Africa was used as a case. The diffusion of innovation theory was employed as lens, in the analysis of the qualitative data. Based on the findings, which include knowledge sharing, environmental assessment, organisational culture, communicative approach and training, a framework was developed. The framework is intended to guide an organisation in the selection and deployment of IT governance framework, in terms of understanding the influencing factors.
Regional Corporate Culture, Motivation and Technology Impacts on Performance of Quality Certified Firms
Authors: Banerjee Probir Kumar , Isa Che Ruhana , Zainuddin Suria
Published: May 2017

Prior research provides inconclusive evidence of the link between quality certification and firm performance. This research revisits the issue in the context of Malaysia where employers find it difficult to motivate employees due to corporate culture. Tenets of the motivation theory, stakeholder theory and Business/IT alignment form the theoretical basis for this investigation. Contrary to expectations, Malaysian quality certified firms showed high operational performance, attributed primarily to the qualities of aligned IT systems and business processes driven by high internal motivation of IT stakeholders. Business stakeholders had high external motivation focused on exploitation of the ISO logo, which had insignificant impact on operational performance but had significant influence on business performance. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Knowledge Dissemination and Exchange of the Newly Created Knowledge
Authors: Mahaliyanaarachchi Rohana P
Published: May 2017

As a researcher, it is important to plan how you are going to disseminate and share newly created knowledge by research at the initial stage of your research project. There will be no use or value of your research project, even though it is a very prominent one scientifically, if you fail to disseminate and share the newly created knowledge properly. Therefore, any researcher must pay high attention and give priority to the way of dissemination of newly created knowledge through a research project. According to the Canadian Institutions of Health Research, dissemination processes and approaches should be informed by high-quality context of specific evidence, user driven knowledge, ways to measure success and plan to evaluate the impact of the chosen approach. Also it is important to consider what the message is about, who the audience is, who the messenger is, what the best dissemination method is and what the expected outcome is. Knowledge transfer (KT) is to comprehend a very broad range of activities therefore, to support mutually beneficial collaborations between universities and research institutes, business world and the people of the communities. Further, KT is all about the transfer of tangible and intellectual property, expertise, learning and skills between academia and rest of the community. Therefore, knowledge dissemination means to make the knowledge accessible and usable. In such context, the importance of research journals is towards its major role of knowledge dissemination, especially among the academia, research personals, and in some occasions, the business community and policy makers. The Journal of Agricultural Sciences has been popular among the academia and research personal during the past decade and it has fulfilled its major role of knowledge dissemination. Further, knowledge diffusion can be defined as the adaptation and application of knowledge documented in scientific publications such as science journals, conference proceedings, monographs, etc and patents. It is apparent that this kind of knowledge diffusion is mainly done by research and academic journals. At present, the JAS has been included in more than 35 journal databases including AGRICOLA, AGORA, Cabi Abstracts, TEEL and DOAJ. It shows a wider acceptance of JAS by international citations and journal databases. This is an indicator for our progress in journal quality during past years. Many personages have stood behind this success. The honour must be extended therefore, to Dr. Chandrika Dissanayake - Coordinating Editor of JAS, Mr Prasad C. Iddamalgoda, Ms Sioux Cumming and Andy Nobes of SLJOL, all the authors, reviewers and members of the editorial committee.
Climate Change Induced Adaptation Strategies by Paddy Farmers: Special Emphasis on Socio Economic Insights
Authors: Herath H. M. L. , Thirumarpan Krishnal
Published: May 2017

Climate change is inevitable and will continue into next century. Since the agricultural sector in Sri Lanka is most vulnerable to climate change, a thorough understanding of adaptive measures is important for formulating effective policy decisions. This study provides an overview of the status of climate change and adaptation in the paddy sector in Anuradhapura District. Proportionate sampling was done and total of 100 households were studied. 36% of the farmers had the education up to tertiary level. 72% of respondents heard the term “climate change”. The relative importance of adaptation strategies to climate change was analyzed and found that increased use by insuring farm against risk was ranked first and thus most important, among farmers’ adaptive strategies to climate change. Use of supplementary reservoir for water storage, shift to shorter cycle crop varieties and planting improved rice varieties were identified as the second-ranked adaptation strategy. The shifting of harvesting period was ranked as the last one.The shifting of harvesting period was ranked as the last one. T test results showed a significant difference (p<0.01) in the total amount paddy production among those who had chosen to use traditional and cultural knowledge and those who didn’t choose. It is recommended that government must ensure that a climate change sensitive program is established in paddy cultivation that can be effective in future climate change scenarios.
Understanding Depletion Induced Like-Charge Attraction from Self-Consistent Field Model
Authors: Liu Pei , Ma Manman , Xu Zhenli
Published: May 2017

The interaction force between likely charged particles/surfaces is usually repulsive due to the Coulomb interaction. However, the counterintuitive like-charge attraction in electrolytes has been frequently observed in experiments, which has been theoretically debated for a long time. It is widely known that the mean field Poisson-Boltzmann theory cannot explain and predict this anomalous feature since it ignores many-body properties. In this paper, we develop efficient algorithm and perform the force calculation between two interfaces using a set of self-consistent equations which properly takes into account the electrostatic correlation and the dielectric-boundary effects. By solving the equations and calculating the pressure with the Debye-charging process, we show that the self-consistent equations could be used to study the attraction between like-charge surfaces from weak-coupling to mediate-coupling regimes, and that the attraction is due to the electrostatics-driven entropic force which is significantly enhanced by the dielectric depletion of mobile ions. A systematic investigation shows that the interaction forces can be tuned by material permittivity, ionic size and valence, and salt concentration, and that the like-charge attraction exists only for specific regime of these parameters.
PyCFTBoot: A Flexible Interface for the Conformal Bootstrap
Authors: Behan Connor
Published: May 2017

We introduce PyCFTBoot, a wrapper designed to reduce the barrier to entry in conformal bootstrap calculations that require semidefinite programming. Symengine and SDPB are used for the most intensive symbolic and numerical steps respectively. After reviewing the built-in algorithms for conformal blocks, we explain how to use the code through a number of examples that verify past results. As an application, we show that the multi-correlator bootstrap still appears to single out the Wilson-Fisher fixed points as special theories in dimensions between 3 and 4 despite the recent proof that they violate unitarity.
Lagrangian Mesh Model with Regridding for Planar Poiseuille Flow
Authors: Zhuo Jingxuan , Cortez Ricardo , Dillon Robert
Published: May 2017

Many biological settings involve complex fluids that have non-Newtonian mechanical responses that arise from suspended microstructures. In contrast, Newtonian fluids are liquids or mixtures of a simple molecular structure that exhibit a linear relationship between the shear stress and the rate of deformation. In modeling complex fluids, the extra stress from the non-Newtonian contribution must be included in the governing equations.

In this study we compare Lagrangian mesh and Oldroyd-B formulations of fluid-structure interaction in an immersed boundary framework. The start-up phase of planar Poiseuille flow between two parallel plates is used as a test case for the fluid models. For Newtonian and Oldroyd-B fluids there exist analytical solutions which are used in the comparison of simulation and theoretical results. The Lagrangian mesh results are compared with Oldroyd-B using comparable parameters. A regridding algorithm is introduced for the Lagrangian mesh model. We show that the Lagrangian mesh model simulations with regridding produce results in close agreement with the Oldfoyd-B model.
A Numerical Analysis of the Weak Galerkin Method for the Helmholtz Equation with High Wave Number
Authors: Du Yu , Zhang Zhimin
Published: May 2017

We study the error analysis of the weak Galerkin finite element method in [24, 38] (WG-FEM) for the Helmholtz problem with large wave number in two and three dimensions. Using a modified duality argument proposed by Zhu and Wu, we obtain the pre-asymptotic error estimates of the WG-FEM. In particular, the error estimates with explicit dependence on the wave numberkare derived. This shows that the pollution error in the brokenH1-norm is bounded byunder mesh conditionk7/2h2≤C0or (kh)2+k(kh)p+1≤C0, which coincides with the phase error of the finite element method obtained by existent dispersion analyses. Herehis the mesh size,pis the order of the approximation space andC0is a constant independent ofkandh. Furthermore, numerical tests are provided to verify the theoretical findings and to illustrate the great capability of the WG-FEM in reducing the pollution effect.
Study on Mass Transports in Evolution of Separation Bubbles Using LCSs and Lobe Dynamics
Authors: Cao Shengli , Wang Wei , Zhang Jiazhong , Liu Yan
Published: May 2017

The lobe dynamics andmass transport between separation bubble and main flow in flow over airfoil are studied in detail, using Lagrangian coherent structures (LCSs), in order to understand the nature of evolution of the separation bubble. For this problem, the transient flow over NACA0012 airfoil with low Reynolds number is simulated numerically by characteristic based split (CBS) scheme, in combination with dual time stepping. Then, LCSs and lobe dynamics are introduced and developed to investigate themass transport between separation bubble and main flow, from viewpoint of nonlinear dynamics. The results show that stable manifolds and unstable manifolds could be tangled with each other as time evolution, and the lobes are formed periodically to induce mass transport between main flow and separation bubble, with dynamic behaviors. Moreover, the evolution of the separation bubble depends essentially on the mass transport which is induced by lobes, ensuing energy and momentum transfers. As the results, it can be drawn that the dynamics of flow separation could be studied using LCSs and lobe dynamics, and could be controlled feasibly if an appropriate control is applied to the upstream boundary layer with high momentum.
A rare cause of anaemia in an older patient with fractured neck of femur
Authors: Kar S , Mallick A , Aung T
Published: May 2017

Delayed splenic rupture is a rare but well recognised clinical phenomenon with significant morbidity and mortality. We describe an 84-year-old woman with persistent unexplained anaemia requiring transfusion following a fractured neck of femur. One month after hemiarthroplasty, she collapsed and became haemodynamically unstable with profound anaemia. Computed tomography of the abdomen revealed splenic haematoma with haemoperitoneum, with splenic rupture confirmed at the post-mortem examination. This case demonstrates the difficulty in diagnosing delayed splenic rupture in older people with non-specific symptoms, and the need for both comprehensive trauma assessment and a high index of clinical suspicion in patients with persistent anaemia after trauma.
Experience of Intraoperative Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve monitoring in a Single Center-normative Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve Electromyographic Data
Authors: Parameswaran Rajeev , Soh Gilbert , Lee James Wai Kit , Boon Oh Han , Boon Tan Wee , Yuan Ngiam Kee
Published: May 2017

Introduction

Injury to the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) remains a significant morbidity during thyroid and parathyroid surgery. The aim of this study is to elucidate normative RLN electromyographic (EMG) parameters.

Materials and methods

This is a retrospective cohort study of patients who underwent Intraoperative neuromonitoring during thyroid and parathyroid surgery from February 2014 to March 2015. The inomed C2 NerveMonitor was used. We recorded the stimulation current, amplitude, and latency of the RLN before and after nerve dissection. We also observed the number of patients who had hoarse voice after surgery.

Results

A total of 46 patients (14 male, 32 female) averaging 51 years old in age (20-77 years) were analyzed. The most commonly performed surgical procedure was total thyroidectomy (53.2%).

The median stimulation current for both the right and left RLN was 0.500 mA. The median amplitude for the left RLN was 1.060 mV and greater than that for the right RLN (0.930 mV) (p = 0.30). The median latency for the right RLN and left RLN was 2.40 ms with no difference between the sides. (p = 0.58).

Post dissection, the right RLN amplitude remained identical whereasthe left RLN amplitude decreased. Latencies of both RLNs decreased although the difference was not significant. Nature of pathology and site of surgery did not influence RLN latency and amplitude. No patients had hoarse voice.

Conclusion

This study highlights the normative EMG parameters for bilateral RLN nerve stimulation in an Asian population. No significant difference was noted in both pre- and postdissection RLN EMG parameters.

How to cite this article

Soh G, Lee JWK, Boon OH, Boon TW, Parameswaran R, Yuan NK. Experience of Intraoperative Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve monitoring in a Single Centernormative Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve Electromyographic Data. World J Endoc Surg 2017;9(1):1-6.
The CaPTHUS Scoring Model revisited: Applicability from a UK Cohort with Primary Hyperparathyroidism
Authors: Scott-Coombes David M , James Tobias W , Stechman Michael J
Published: May 2017

Introduction

Focused parathyroidectomy for primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) in patients with a single positive localizing scan may have an unacceptably high recurrence rate unless intraoperative parathyroid hormone (ioPTH) is used. The CaPTHUS score was previously developed to predict singlegland disease in such instances. We evaluated the accuracy of this model in a cohort of patients with pHPT in the UK.

Materials and methods

CaPTHUS scores were calculated from prospectively collected data on consecutive patients undergoing surgery for pHPT [(1 point each for: Preoperative calcium ≥3 mmol/L; PTH ≥2 times upper limit; ultrasound (1 point) and sestamibi (1 point) positive for single enlarged gland; concordant positive scans]. Diagnosis of single or multigland disease was confirmed on pathology.

Results

From June 2007 to October 2011, 324 patients (251 female, median age 66, 10.89) underwent surgery for pHPT guided with ioPTH. Single-gland pathology was observed in 291 (89.8%) patients and multi-gland disease seen in 33 (10.2%). In single-gland disease patients, significantly higher preoperative calcium (p = 0.030) and PTH levels (p = 0.033) were seen with sensitivities of 65.6% for ultrasound and 66.0% for sestamibi scanning. A CaPTHUS score ≥3 was seen in 51.2% of all patients with a positive predictive value (PPV) for single-gland disease of 99.4%.

Conclusion

A CaPTHUS score ≥3 was accurate at predicting single-gland disease in >50% of patients with pHPT, providing a similar PPV and reducing the need for ioPTH implementation in this population. However, recent conflicting literature suggests the CaPTHUS score may not be universally applicable, local audit is recommended before implementation.

How to cite this article

James TW, Stechman MJ, Scott- Coombes DM. The CaPTHUS Scoring Model revisited: Applicability from a UK Cohort with Primary Hyperparathyroidism. World J Endoc Surg 2017;9(1):7-12.
Transection of Sternocleidomastoid for Selective Neck Dissection in Recurrent Papillary Thyroid Cancers
Authors: Chekavar Aromal , Bothra Sapana , Rashid Mohammed , Vema Ashok Kumar
Published: May 2017

The surgical treatment of papillary thyroid carcinoma is the most frequent procedure in endocrine oncologic practice for endocrine surgeons. With the advent of positron emission tomography scan, many of these patients who had previous surgery in the form of total thyroidectomy with neck dissection present with recurrent nodal metastasis which is the cause of thyroglobulin increase. Reoperative surgery is fraught with increased incidence of complications mainly the internal jugular vein injury and nerve injuries. In this scenario, good exposure helps in avoiding these injuries, and also helps the surgeon. We describe the exposure of the posterior triangle by the division of sternocleidomastoid superiorly off the mastoid tip and retracting the muscle downward and suturing it back at the end of the procedure.

How to cite this article

Mayilvaganan S, Bothra S, Rashid M, Chekavar A, Vema AK, Agarwal A. Transection of Sternocleidomastoid for Selective Neck Dissection in Recurrent Papillary Thyroid Cancers. World J Endoc Surg 2017;9(1):32-34.
Sonography of the Pelvic Infection
Authors: Serrano-González Lucía , Martinez-Moya María , Platero-Mihi María , Bajo-Arenas José , Perez-Medina Tirso
Published: May 2017

The sonographic diagnosis of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is a challenge for the sonographer. Sonographic diagnosis is possible when tube enlarges and liquid accumulates inside the fallopian tube, a sign that can be detected with vaginal probes. As the disease progresses, more complex images are found depending on the enlarging of the adnexa and the accumulation of necrotic material. Sonography allows a sensitive diagnostic suspicion in the case of women with clinical and epidemiologic criteria for PID.

How to cite this article

Platero-Mihi M, Martinez-Moya M, Serrano-González L, Bajo-Arenas J, Perez-Medina T. Sonography of the Pelvic Infection. Donald School J Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 2017;11(1):59-68.
Behaviour and performance of suckling gilts and their piglets in single housing with different fixation times
Authors: Wassmuth Ralf , Biestmann Christoph , Janssen Heiko
Published: May 2017

Abstract. The objective was to evaluate suckling performance and behaviour traits of gilts and piglets in two different single-housing farrowing systems under practical conditions. Performance data of 70 crossbred gilts and their 842 piglets were collected. The behavioural observation included 17 gilts and 211 piglets. Gilts of the control group (full-time crating, FTC) were fixed during farrowing and suckling (Pro Dromi® 1), and in the experimental group (short-time crating, STC) gilts were fixed for 6 days postpartum (p.p.) only (Pro Dromi® 1.5). Six farrowing crates were included in each group, and six replications were carried out. Performance data were collected and gilts' and piglets' behaviour was observed with 10 min scan samples and categorized by standing, walking (only in STC), sitting and lying (side and belly). The management and the housing systems were in accordance with the Tierschutz-Nutztierhaltungsverordnung (TierSchNutztV, 2017). No significant (p  >  0.05) differences between FTC and STC were found in piglets born alive (13.2 and 13.9, respectively), loss of piglets (1.4 and 1.55, respectively) and weaned piglets including cross-fostering (12.0 and 12.4, respectively). Piglet loss due to crushing was 0.6 (FTC) and 0.64 (STC), with no significant difference (p  >  0.05). Overall, 82.5 % of all piglets killed due to crushing were lost from farrowing to day 2 p.p. The daily gain of STC piglets was significantly higher than that of FTC piglets (205 g vs. 199 g, respectively; p  <  0.05) during the suckling period (3 weeks). Concerning gilts' behaviour, significant differences (p  ≤  0.05) were found in sitting duration only (FTC 5.8 % and STC 4.0 %, respectively). FTC piglets spent more time lying, sitting and standing (7.4 % vs. 4.4 %, 0.5 % vs. 0.4 %, 9.6 % vs. 8.4 %, respectively; p  ≤  0.05). The reason could be the higher acceptance of the piglet nest in STC. It was possible to conclude that gilts' welfare was improved by STC compared to FTC, and farrowing crates with loose single housing did not lead to higher piglet loss in the suckling period. An earlier end of the fixation period of the gilt at day 2 or 3 p.p. should be tested.
(Dis)Assembling policy pipelines: unpacking the work of management consultants at public meetings
Authors: Hurl Chris
Published: May 2017

Abstract. Confronting growing fiscal deficits in the wake of the 2008 economic crisis, local governments around the world have often commissioned outside experts – such as policy gurus, management consultants, and transnational professional service firms – to undertake services delivery reviews as a means of making tough decisions, identifying the areas of government spending that are most expendable and setting priorities for cutbacks. This paper draws from the recent literature on trans-urban policy pipelines in studying the role of service delivery reviews in thickening relations of knowledge production between city regions (McCann and Ward, 2011, 2013; Prince, 2012). Taking the encounter with Toronto's 2011 Core Service Review as a starting place, it sets out to examine the textually mediated practices through which policy knowledge is generated. Drawing from Allen and Cochrane's (2010) topological approach, it highlights how management consultants make use of evaluative texts, lifting out and folding in knowledge and ideas from other places to make their presence felt. However, while these texts are presented as a pure lens of cost savings, the work of rendering the city of Toronto commensurate with other distant places is often based on fragile and tenuous connections. Hence, against assumptions that these texts facilitate the foreclosure of possible utterances that can be made, I also explore the public meeting as a site for investigating alternative ways of knowing the city, providing a window onto the way in which oppositional registers of the city are themselves generated through translocal practices.
Rating Agencies, Self-Fulfilling Prophecy and Multiple Equilibria? An Empirical Model of the European Sovereign Debt Crisis 2009-2011
Authors: Gartner Manfred , Griesbach Bjorn
Published: May 2017

We explore whether governments may have faced scenarios of self-fulfilling prophecy and multiple equilibria during Europe’s sovereign debt crisis. To this end, we estimate the effect of interest rates and other macroeconomic variables on sovereign debt ratings, and of ratings on interest rates. We detect a nonlinear effect of ratings on interest rates which is strong enough to permit multiple equilibria. The good equilibrium is stable, ratings are excellent and interest rates are low. A second unstable equilibrium marks a threshold beyond which the country slides towards an insolvency trap. Coefficient estimates suggest that countries should stay well within the A segment of the rating scale in order to remain safe from being driven towards default.
The Suddener World: Photography and Ineffable Rhetoric
Authors: Ingraham Chris
Published: May 2017

The spread of mobile technologies and social media have contributed to making snapshot photography an ordinary part of everyday life. As snapshots become more omnipresent, asking why we take so many photos becomes less exigent than asking what might stop us from doing so. Drawing on insights from affect theory, new materialism, and studies of visual rhetoric, this article argues that deterrents to snapping pictures arise not only from the range of human rhetorics or “laws” that influence our actions or inactions, but also from a dynamic tangle of extrahuman factors, ineffable though this influence may be. Speculating about the implications of these extrahuman deterrents for how we understand rhetoric, I suggest that the ineffable enchantment of certain encounters exhibits a worldly rhetoricity in itself, one that conditions the possibility of—and sometimes prevents—the anthropogenic symbolic actions we are more accustomed to recognizing as rhetorical.