bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Impact of Green Roof and Orientation on the Energy Performance of Buildings: A Case Study from Saudi Arabia
Authors: Khan Hassan , Asif Muhammad
Published: April 2017

Saudi Arabia is one of the largest countries in the Middle East region in terms of population, geographic area and scale of economy. It has a fast growing energy sector with over 76% of the total electricity being consumed in the building sector. Domestic buildings account for 51% of total electricity consumption. Predominantly due to hot climatic conditions, most of the energy consumption in buildings is attributed to the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) loads. In terms of supply mix, the country entirely relies on oil and gas to meet its energy requirements. The high growth in energy demand is imposing stringent energy, environmental and economic challenges for Saudi Arabia. The present work aims to explore prospects of energy saving in buildings through the application of green roof technology. With the help of ECOTECT modelling, the work examines the effectiveness of green roof on considering modern faculty homes built in the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals situated in the hot-humid climatic conditions of the Easter Province of the country. The same building has also been investigated for the hot-dry climate of Riyadh, the capital city. The work also examines the impact of orientations on the energy performance of buildings.
Interactive Blow and Burst of Giant Soap Bubbles
Authors: Kim Namjung , Park Kyoungju
Published: April 2017

Previous studies on virtual soap bubbles mainly focused on methods for visualizing the physical and geometrical properties of soap bubbles and paid little attention to the possible ways to enhance the interaction between the simulation and the user. In this paper, a user interaction-based giant soap bubble simulation system is proposed in which the free-form shape, size, and position of giant soap bubbles are determined by the user’s hand motions. Our method improves the controllability of soap bubble simulation by correcting the jerky hand trajectory and hand velocity to a smooth and gradual path. Our air flow transfer algorithm can produce detailed deformation and standing wave for soap film in real time. Our novel soap film bursting algorithm represents the process of the bursting phenomenon of soap-film and giant soap bubbles in a unified framework. The results of our experiment demonstrate that the system allows the user to experience the giant soap bubble blowing and bursting process in a virtual environment.
A Matter of Degree: Strength of Brain Asymmetry and Behaviour
Authors: Rogers Lesley J.
Published: April 2017

Research on a growing number of vertebrate species has shown that the left and right sides of the brain process information in different ways and that lateralized brain function is expressed in both specific and broad aspects of behaviour. This paper reviews the available evidence relating strength of lateralization to behavioural/cognitive performance. It begins by considering the relationship between limb preference and behaviour in humans and primates from the perspectives of direction and strength of lateralization. In birds, eye preference is used as a reflection of brain asymmetry and the strength of this asymmetry is associated with behaviour important for survival (e.g., visual discrimination of food from non-food and performance of two tasks in parallel). The same applies to studies on aquatic species, mainly fish but also tadpoles, in which strength of lateralization has been assessed as eye preferences or turning biases. Overall, the empirical evidence across vertebrate species points to the conclusion that stronger lateralization is advantageous in a wide range of contexts. Brief discussion of interhemispheric communication follows together with discussion of experiments that examined the effects of sectioning pathways connecting the left and right sides of the brain, or of preventing the development of these left-right connections. The conclusion reached is that degree of functional lateralization affects behaviour in quite similar ways across vertebrate species. Although the direction of lateralization is also important, in many situations strength of lateralization matters more. Finally, possible interactions between asymmetry in different sensory modalities is considered.
Review of Computational Methods on Brain Symmetric and Asymmetric Analysis from Neuroimaging Techniques
Authors: Kalavathi P. , Senthamilselvi M. , Prasath V.
Published: April 2017

The brain is the most complex organ in the human body and it is divided into two hemispheres—left and right. The left hemisphere is responsible for control of the right side of our body, whereas the right hemisphere is responsible for control of the left side of our body. Brain image segmentation from different neuroimaging modalities is one of the important parts of clinical diagnostic tools. Neuroimaging based digital imagery generally contain noise, inhomogeneity, aliasing artifacts, and orientational deviations. Therefore, accurate segmentation of brain images is a very difficult task. However, the development of accurate segmentation of brain images is very important and crucial for a correct diagnosis of any brain related diseases. One of the fundamental segmentation tasks is to identify and segment inter-hemispheric fissure/mid-sagittal planes, which separate the two hemispheres of the brain. Moreover, the symmetric/asymmetric analyses of left and right hemispheres of brain structures are important for radiologists to analyze diseases such as Alzheimer’s, autism, schizophrenia, lesions and epilepsy. Therefore, in this paper, we have analyzed the existing computational techniques used to find brain symmetric/asymmetric analysis in different neuroimaging techniques such as the magnetic resonance (MR), computed tomography (CT), positron emission tomography (PET), single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), which are utilized for detecting various brain related disorders.
Modification of the Mycotoxin Deoxynivalenol Using Microorganisms Isolated from Environmental Samples
Authors: Wilson Nina , McMaster Nicole , Gantulga Dash , Soyars Cara , McCormick Susan , Knott Ken , Senger Ryan , Schmale David
Published: April 2017

The trichothecene mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) is a common contaminant of wheat, barley, and maize. New strategies are needed to reduce or eliminate DON in feed and food products. Microorganisms from plant and soil samples collected in Blacksburg, VA, USA, were screened by incubation in a mineral salt media containing 100 μg/mL DON and analysis by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Two mixed cultures derived from soil samples consistently decreased DON levels in assays using DON as the sole carbon source. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis indicated that 3-keto-4-deoxynivalenol was the major by-product of DON. Via 16S rRNA sequencing, these mixed cultures, including mostly members of the genera Acinetobacter, Leadbetterella, and Gemmata, were revealed. Incubation of one of these mixed cultures with wheat samples naturally contaminated with 7.1 μg/mL DON indicated nearly complete conversion of DON to the less toxic 3-epimer-DON (3-epi-DON). Our work extends previous studies that have demonstrated the potential for bioprospecting for microorganisms from the environment to remediate or modify mycotoxins for commercial applications, such as the reduction of mycotoxins in fuel ethanol co-products.
Dynamic Assessment of Comprehensive Water Quality Considering the Release of Sediment Pollution
Authors: Wang Tianxiang , Xu Shiguo , Liu Jianwei
Published: April 2017

Comprehensive assessment of water quality is an important technological measure for water environmental management and protection. Previous assessment methods tend to ignore the influences of sediment pollutant release and dynamic change of the water boundary. In view of this, this paper explores a new method for comprehensive water quality assessment. Laboratory simulation experiments are conducted to analyze the influences of sediment pollutant release on water quality, and the results are taken as increments, coupled with original samples, to constitute a new set of evaluation samples. Dynamic and comprehensive water quality assessment methods are created based on a principal component analysis (PCA)/analytic hierarchy process (AHP)–variable fuzzy pattern recognition (VFPR) model and adopted to evaluate water quality. A geographic information system (GIS) is applied to visually display the results of water quality assessment and the change of the water boundary. This study takes Biliuhe Reservoir as an engineering example. The results show the change process of the water boundary, during which the water level is reduced from 63.10 m to 54.15 m. The reservoir water quality is fine, of which the water quality level (GB3838-2002) is between level 2 and level 3, and closer to level 2 taking no account of sediment pollutant release. The water quality of Biliuhe Reservoir, overall, is worse in summer and better in winter during the monitoring period. Meanwhile, the water quality shows the tendency of being better from upstream to downstream, and the water quality in the surface layer is better than that in the bottom layer. However, water quality is much closer, or even inferior, to level 3 when considering the release of nitrogen and phosphorus in sediments, and up to 42.7% of the original assessment results of the samples undergo changes. It is concluded that the proposed method is comparatively reasonable as it avoids neglecting sediment pollutant release in the water quality assessment, and the presentation of the evaluation results and change of the water boundary is intuitive with the application of GIS.
Daily Based Morgan–Morgan–Finney (DMMF) Model: A Spatially Distributed Conceptual Soil Erosion Model to Simulate Complex Soil Surface Configurations
Authors: Choi Kwanghun , Arnhold Sebastian , Huwe Bernd , Reineking Björn
Published: April 2017

In this paper, we present the Daily based Morgan–Morgan–Finney model. The main processes in this model are based on the Morgan–Morgan–Finney soil erosion model, and it is suitable for estimating surface runoff and sediment redistribution patterns in seasonal climate regions with complex surface configurations. We achieved temporal flexibility by utilizing daily time steps, which is suitable for regions with concentrated seasonal rainfall. We introduce the proportion of impervious surface cover as a parameter to reflect its impacts on soil erosion through blocking water infiltration and protecting the soil from detachment. Also, several equations and sequences of sub-processes are modified from the previous model to better represent physical processes. From the sensitivity analysis using the Sobol’ method, the DMMF model shows the rational response to the input parameters which is consistent with the result from the previous versions. To evaluate the model performance, we applied the model to two potato fields in South Korea that had complex surface configurations using plastic covered ridges at various temporal periods during the monsoon season. Our new model shows acceptable performance for runoff and the sediment loss estimation ( NSE ≥ 0.63 , | PBIAS | ≤ 17.00 , and RSR ≤ 0.57 ). Our findings demonstrate that the DMMF model is able to predict the surface runoff and sediment redistribution patterns for cropland with complex surface configurations.
Effects of Local Weather Variation on Water-Column Stratification and Hypoxia in the Western, Sandusky, and Central Basins of Lake Erie
Authors: Perello Melanie M. , Kane Douglas D. , Golnick Phoenix , Hughes Maya C. , Thomas Matt A. , Conroy Joseph D.
Published: April 2017

Hypoxia, low dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations (<2 mg/L), has been a major issue in Lake Erie for decades. While much emphasis has been placed on biological factors, particularly algal blooms, contributing to hypolimnetic oxygen depletion, there has been little focus on the role of weather. For this study, we monitored water temperature and DO concentrations at sites in the western, central, and Sandusky basins in Lake Erie during June and July 2010–2012. We then compared trends in stratification and DO concentrations to weather patterns during that period. We found that during those three years, there was significant variation in weather patterns, particularly decreased ice coverage and increased storm events in 2012. These weather patterns corresponded to 2012 having the warmest water temperatures, some of the lowest DO concentrations, and a deeper and thinner hypolimnion (especially in the central basin) than the previous years. We found a relationship between weather and hypoxia, providing further evidence for why these basins are susceptible to low DO conditions during summer months. The role of weather in hypoxia is another indication that the lake is vulnerable to effects of climate change and should be considered in management strategies.
Water Resources Management: Innovation and Challenges in a Changing World
Authors: Goonetilleke Ashantha , Vithanage Meththika
Published: April 2017

The prudent management of water resources is essential for human and ecosystem well-being. As a result of ever escalating and competing demands, compounded by pollution and climate change-driven impacts, available freshwater resources are becoming increasingly stressed. This is further compounded by poor management practices and the unsustainable extraction of water. Consequently, many parts of the world, particularly urban areas, are facing water shortages. Therefore, water resources management requires a clear understanding of the ongoing challenges and innovative approaches. This Special Issue provides the platform for the dissemination of knowledge and best practices to strengthen the management of our precious water resources into the future.
Large Differences between Glaciers 3D Surface Extents and 2D Planar Areas in Central Tianshan
Authors: Wang Xianwei , Chen Huijiao , Chen Yaning
Published: April 2017

Most glaciers in China lie in high mountainous environments and have relatively large surface slopes. Common analyses consider glaciers’ projected areas (2D Area) in a two-dimensional plane, which are much smaller than glacier’s topographic surface extents (3D Area). The areal difference between 2D planar areas and 3D surface extents exceeds −5% when the glacier’s surface slope is larger than 18°. In this study, we establish a 3D model in the Muzart Glacier catchment using ASTER GDEM data. This model is used to quantify the areal difference between glaciers’ 2D planar areas and their 3D surface extents in various slope zones and elevation bands by using the second Chinese Glacier Inventory (CGI2). Finally, we analyze the 2D and 3D area shrinking rate between 2007 and 2013 in Central Tianshan using glaciers derived from Landsat images by an object-based classification approach. This approach shows an accuracy of 89% when it validates by comparison of glaciers derived from Landsat and high spatial resolution GeoEye images. The extracted glaciers in 2007 also have an agreement of 89% with CGI2 data in the Muzart Glacier catchment. The glaciers’ 3D area is 34.2% larger than their 2D area from CGI2 in the Muzart Glacier catchment and by 27.9% in the entire Central Tianshan. Most underestimation occurs in the elevation bands of 4000–5000 m above sea level (a.s.l.). The 3D glacier areas reduced by 30 and 115 km2 between 2007 and 2013 in the Muzart Glacier catchment and Central Tianshan, being 37.0% and 27.6% larger than their 2D areas reduction, respectively. The shrinking rates decrease with elevation increase.
Development of a Full Ice-cream Cone Model for Halo Coronal Mass Ejections
Authors: Na Hyeonock , Moon Y.-J. , Lee Harim
Published: April 2017

It is essential to determine three-dimensional parameters (e.g., radial speed, angular width, and source location) of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) for the space weather forecast. In this study, we investigate which cone type represents a halo CME morphology using 29 CMEs (12 Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)/Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) halo CMEs and 17 Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO)/Sun–Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation COR2 halo CMEs) from 2010 December to 2011 June. These CMEs are identified as halo CMEs by one spacecraft (SOHO or one of STEREO A and B) and limb ones by the other spacecraft (One of STEREO A and B or SOHO). From cone shape parameters of these CMEs, such as their front curvature, we find that the CME observational structures are much closer to a full ice-cream cone type than a shallow ice-cream cone type. Thus, we develop a full ice-cream cone model based on a new methodology that the full ice-cream cone consists of many flat cones with different heights and angular widths to estimate the three-dimensional parameters of the halo CMEs. This model is constructed by carrying out the following steps: (1) construct a cone for a given height and angular width, (2) project the cone onto the sky plane, (3) select points comprising the outer boundary, and (4) minimize the difference between the estimated projection speeds with the observed ones. By applying this model to 12 SOHO/LASCO halo CMEs, we find that 3D parameters from our method are similar to those from other stereoscopic methods (i.e., a triangulation method and a Graduated Cylindrical Shell model).
Prospective Assessment of Sleep Quality Before and After Primary Total Joint Replacement
Authors: Manning Blaine T. , Kearns Sean M. , Bohl Daniel D. , Edmiston Tori , Sporer Scott M. , Levine Brett R.
Published: April 2017

Sleep disruption is a common, yet rarely addressed, complaint among patients who have undergone total joint arthroplasty (TJA). This study assessed sleep quality before and after primary TJA. A total of 105 patients who underwent primary total hip arthroplasty (THA) or total knee arthroplasty (TKA) prospectively completed questionnaires during the preoperative, early postoperative, and late postoperative periods. The survey included the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, current sleeping habits, and patient perspectives of sleep quality and duration. In the early postoperative period (4.7±2.0 weeks), patients reported significant increases in sleep disturbance as denoted by increased length of time to fall asleep (
P
=.006) and mean nightly awakenings (
P
=.002) compared with the preoperative baseline. At late postoperative follow-up (40.8±19.5 weeks), patients' sleep quality subsequently improved above the preoperative baseline. Approximately 40% of patients tried a new sleeping method postoperatively, the most common being new pillow placement. No significant differences in pre- or postoperative sleeping trends were noted between THA and TKA patients. These findings suggest transient sleep disturbance is common in the early postoperative period, with subsequent improvement by 10-month follow-up after a primary TJA. Given the growing importance of patient satisfaction in health care systems, orthopedic surgeons must manage patients' expectations while working with them to optimize sleep quality after TJA. A multimodal approach with preoperative counseling, early postoperative sleep modifications, and possibly preemptive use of medications may improve transient sleep disturbance among TJA patients. [
Orthopedics.
2017; 40(4):e636–e640.]
Use of Corticosteroids in the Treatment of Patients With Diabetic Macular Edema Who Have a Suboptimal Response to Anti-VEGF: Recommendations of an Expert Panel
Authors: Regillo Carl D. , Callanan David G. , Do Diana V. , Fine Howard F. , Holekamp Nancy M. , Kuppermann Baruch D. , Singer Michael A. , Singh Rishi P.
Published: April 2017

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE:

Guidance on the use of corticosteroids in the treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME) is lacking. This study aimed to develop a clinically recommended treatment paradigm for DME with emphasis on the role of corticosteroids.

PATIENTS AND METHODS:

An expert panel of nine retinal specialists in the United States developed consensus recommendations for DME treatment through a modified Delphi process.

RESULTS:

The panelists typically use intravitreal injections of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) antagonists as first-line treatment of DME and switch patients with an inadequate response to anti-VEGF therapy (failure of best-corrected visual acuity to improve to 20/40 or better because of edema after three to six monthly injections, or a less-than-50% reduction in excess macular thickness after three to four monthly injections) to intravitreal corticosteroid treatment.

CONCLUSION:

Intravitreal corticosteroids have a potentially useful role in the treatment of patients with DME who have an inadequate response to intravitreal anti-VEGF therapy.

[
Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina.
2017;48:291–301.]
Low Fluence Photodynamic Therapy Versus Graded Subthreshold Transpupillary Thermotherapy for Chronic Central Serous Chorioretinopathy: Results From a Prospective Study
Authors: Manayath George J. , Karandikar Smita S. , Narendran Siddharth , Kumarswamy Karan A. , Saravanan VR , Morris Rodney J. , Venkatapathy Narendran
Published: April 2017

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE:

The authors compare low fluence photodynamic therapy (PDT) against graded subthreshold transpupillary thermotherapy (TTT) for chronic central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC).

PATIENTS AND METHODS:

Forty-two eyes of 42 patients with chronic CSC were included in this prospective, nonrandomized, interventional trial. All patients were offered PDT as an initial intervention. If they declined PDT, TTT was offered.

RESULTS:

Twenty patients underwent PDT and 22 underwent TTT. The difference in best-corrected visual acuity between the TTT and PDT groups at baseline and at 6 months after treatment was not significant (
P
= .728). The mean foveal thickness decreased significantly in both groups (
P
= .001). However, patients in the TTT group required more treatments (
P
= .013) and longer time for resolution of the CSC (
P
= .013).

CONCLUSIONS:

Both PDT and TTT may be equally effective in the treatment of chronic CSC. Graded subthreshold TTT may be a cost-effective and safe alternative for PDT.

[
Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina.
2017;48:334–338.]
DNA damage by lipid peroxidation products: implications in cancer, inflammation and autoimmunity
Authors: Gentile Fabrizio , Arcaro Alessia , Pizzimenti Stefania , Daga Martina , Cetrangolo Giovanni Paolo , Dianzani Chiara , Lepore Alessio , Graf Maria , Ames Paul R. J. , Barrera Giuseppina
Published: April 2017

Oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation (LPO) induced by inflammation, excess metal storage and excess caloric intake cause generalized DNA damage, producing genotoxic and mutagenic effects. The consequent deregulation of cell homeostasis is implicated in the pathogenesis of a number of malignancies and degenerative diseases. Reactive aldehydes produced by LPO, such as malondialdehyde, acrolein, crotonaldehyde and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal, react with DNA bases, generating promutagenic exocyclic DNA adducts, which likely contribute to the mutagenic and carcinogenic effects associated with oxidative stress-induced LPO. However, reactive aldehydes, when added to tumor cells, can exert an anticancerous effect. They act, analogously to other chemotherapeutic drugs, by forming DNA adducts and, in this way, they drive the tumor cells toward apoptosis. The aldehyde-DNA adducts, which can be observed during inflammation, play an important role by inducing epigenetic changes which, in turn, can modulate the inflammatory process.

The pathogenic role of the adducts formed by the products of LPO with biological macromolecules in the breaking of immunological tolerance to self antigens and in the development of autoimmunity has been supported by a wealth of evidence. The instrumental role of the adducts of reactive LPO products with self protein antigens in the sensitization of autoreactive cells to the respective unmodified proteins and in the intermolecular spreading of the autoimmune responses to aldehyde-modified and native DNA is well documented. In contrast, further investigation is required in order to establish whether the formation of adducts of LPO products with DNA might incite substantial immune responsivity and might be instrumental for the spreading of the immunological responses from aldehyde-modified DNA to native DNA and similarly modified, unmodified and/or structurally analogous self protein antigens, thus leading to autoimmunity.
Las universidades jesuitas y la ciencia después de la restauración de la Compañía de Jesús (1814-2014)
Authors: Udías Vallina Agustín
Published: April 2017

Los jesuitas, siguiendo la tradición desde su fundación en la labor educacional, después de su restauración en 1814, fundaron por todo el mundo una red de universidades que hoy cuenta con unas 130. La mayoría de estas universidades cuentan con departamentos de ciencias en los que jesuitas y colaboradores seglares han realizado y continúan realizando en el presente una importante labor científica. En muchas de estas universidades y en algunos colegios se crearon observatorios dedicados a astronomía, meteorología, geofísica y sismología, cuya labor científica floreció sobre todo entre 1824 y 1980. De esta forma los jesuitas continúan su presencia en distintos campos de las ciencias naturales que habían comenzado desde su fundación. Esta peculiar tradición científica de los jesuitas se explica por su propia espiritualidad ignaciana, que busca encontrar a Dios en todas las cosas, en la unión del trabajo y la oración y la preferencia por el trabajo en las fronteras. Esta espiritualidad sigue estando presente hoy detrás del trabajo científico en las universidades jesuitas, tanto en los jesuitas mismos como en sus colaboradores seglares.
Achievable or Ambitious?
Authors: Nam Taewoo
Published: April 2017

Government 3.0 emerged as a new paradigm of the government workings in Korea. The previous administration's (2013–2017) strong pledge for public sector reform through the Government 3.0 initiative envisions a transparent, competent, and service-oriented government. The paper, with comparison of the Government 3.0 initiative with Government 2.0 as a precedent paradigm and national initiatives of other countries, discusses what kind of challenges the initiative faces and how the government could overcome the challenges. Government 3.0 seems like a policy package of diverse programs. Novel is how the policy package is labeled rather than what the substance is. The initiative delivers normative messages to public employees. Prioritizing quantitative transparency may cause such a side effect as extra tasks of public employees and failure in guaranteeing information security and accuracy. Since a policy package differs and varies with the administration and political parties, what the initiative sheds light on may not last long after the presidential term.
Moderator Effects of Proactive Knowledge Transfer Among Knowledge Transfer Usefulness, Management, and Innovation
Authors: Chen Hsiao-Ming , Yuan Yu-Hsi , Wu Chia-Huei , Dai Chien-Yun
Published: April 2017

The purpose of this study was trying to explore the influence and relationship between knowledge transfer usefulness, management, initiative, and innovation. The instrument was constructed through literature review and related research scales. Total 26 items were retrieved from related study and modified dependent on exports' recommendations. Total 1,012 valid data were collected based on judgment sampling. The Cronbach's a of instrument was ranged from .878 to .948. The construction validity test was passed. The analysis result shows that knowledge management play strong partial mediator role between knowledge transfer usefulness and knowledge innovation, meanwhile, knowledge transfer usefulness was also the important predictor to knowledge innovation. Hence, the proactive knowledge transfer has moderation effects between knowledge management and knowledge innovation. The research model was established and some conclusions and suggestions were discussed base on the research findings.
Understanding Knowledge Sharing in an Organization
Authors: Twum-Darko Michael , Harker Lee-Anne Lesley
Published: April 2017

This paper set out to propose the actor-network theory (ANT) as a lens through which to understand and interpret the sociotechnical knowledge sharing challenges in organisations. The methodology for this study was developed within the context of ANT by adopting its ideals and principles. The findings demonstrate that using the concept of the Moments of Translation as a lens to study this phenomenon is indeed a novel way of investigating the reason why there is still difficulty with sharing and managing knowledge. This perspective is proposed to transform the way that knowledge sharing factors are perceived. By utilising a normative approach, this research looked at how knowledge sharing as an ideal can be achieved when taking into account the existing constraints within an organisation. A general framework is proposed to guide the formation of a network of aligned interest for knowledge sharing.
Using Data Mining Techniques with Open Source Software to Evaluate the Various Factors Affecting Academic Performance
Authors: Hanandeh Feras , Al-Shannag Majdi Y. , Alkhaffaf Maha Mahdi
Published: April 2017

This research paper studies the different factors that could affect the Faculty of Information Technology students' accumulative averages at Jordanian Universities, by verifying the students' information, background and academic records. It also has the objective to reveal how this information will affect the students to obtain high grades in their courses. The information of the students is extracted from the students' records and its attributes are formulated as a huge database. Then, a free open source software (WEKA) which supports data mining tools and techniques are used to decide which attribute(s) will affect the students' accumulative averages. It was found that the most important factor affects the students' accumulative averages, is the student acceptance type. A decision tree model and rules are also built to determine how the students can get high grades in their courses. The overall accuracy of the model was 46.8% which is an accepted rate.
A Location-Context Awareness Mobile Services Collaborative Recommendation Algorithm Based on User Behavior Prediction
Authors: Xin Mingjun , Zhang Yanhui , Li Shunxiang , Zhou Liyuan , Li Weimin
Published: April 2017

Nowadays, location based services (LBS) has become one of the most popular applications with the rapid development of mobile Internet technology. More and more research is focused on discovering the required services among massive information according to the personalized behavior. In this paper, a collaborative filtering (CF) recommendation algorithm is presented based on the Location-aware Hidden Markov Model (LHMM). This approach includes three main stages. First, it clusters users by making a pattern similarity calculation of their historical check-in data. Then, it establishes the location-aware transfer matrix so as to get the next most similar service. Furthermore, it integrates the generated LHMM, user's score and interest migration into the traditional CF algorithm so as to generate a final recommendation list. The LHMM-based CF algorithm mixes the geographic factors and personalized behavior and experimental results show that it outperforms the state-of-the-art algorithms on both precision and recall.
bpCMon
Authors: Gong Ping , Knuplesch David , Feng Zaiwen , Jiang Jianmin
Published: April 2017

Business processes compliance monitoring checks whether running business processes comply with involved compliance rules. Business processes in modern enterprise are rarely supported by a single and centralized workflow system, but instead implemented over different applications (e.g., CRM, ERP, WfMS, and legacy systems). The running data (i.e., event) about process executions are scattered across these applications. Under such circumstance, understanding the compliance of running processes entails the compliance monitoring enabling to correlate events from different applications and even different process instances. This paper introduces a framework named as bpCMon for business process compliance monitoring. bpCMon consists of an expressive compliance rule language ECL and a rule system ERS. ECL is a pattern-based formal language for specifying compliance rules of multiple process perspectives, and also allows for describing event-correlation conditions. ERS, generated from compliance rules in ECL, in turn plays as a compliance monitor enabling to correlate events efficiently by means of an indexing structure created from event-correlation conditions. The applicability of bpCMon is demonstrated by experiments on real-world data sets, and the efficiency of bpCMon is illustrated by comparing with related approaches. Overall, bpCMon enables business process compliance monitoring to meet real-world requirements.
Nutritional value of sorghum silages
Authors: Moura Marielly Maria Almeida , Pires Daniel Ananias de Assis , Costa Renê Ferreira , Tolentino Daniella Cangussú , Rigueira João Paulo Sampaio , Sales Eleuza Clarete Junqueira de
Published: April 2017

This study aimed to evaluate the nutritional characteristics and quality of silages of five sorghum genotypes, namely: Volumax, AG2005E, Qualimax, BRS610 and AG2501. The study was conducted at the Experimental Farm Unimontes, in the municipality of Janaúba, state of Minas Gerais. The treatments were distributed in a randomized block design with four replicates. Data were tested by analysis of variance andmeans were compared by Scott-Knott test at a significance level of 5%. The pH values ranged from 3.93 and 4.10. Genotypes differed in all studied nutritional characteristics (p < 0.05). For the acid detergent fiber, differences were detected between the genotypes, AG2501 (35.66%), Volumax (34.89%), AG2005E (34.53%), Qualimax (32.39%) and BRS610 (33.60%). The high participation of lignin was verifiedin all genotypes except for Volumax (4.14%). All silages were within the recommended range 50-65% for in vitro dry matter digestibility and classified as having good quality, however only the AG2005E genotype met nitrogen requirements for microbial fermentation, with 7.06% crude protein.
Cheese and milk quality of F1 Holstein x Zebu cows fed different levels of banana peel
Authors: Melo Marco Túlio Parrela de , Rocha Júnior Vicente Ribeiro , Caldeira Luciana Albuquerque , Pimentel Paulo Roberto Silveira , Reis Sidnei Tavares dos , Jesus Diego Lucas Soares de
Published: April 2017

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of the inclusion of different levels of sun-dried banana peel in the diet for crossbred cows on the quality of Minas fresh cheese and milk. Diets consisted of 0, 15, 30, 45 and 60% replacement of sorghum silage with banana peel. Ten cows were assigned to two 5 x 5 Latin squares experimental design. Milk samples were taken from each cow and analyzed for composition. Milk was pasteurized for the production of Minas fresh cheese, which was weighed to determine the yield and analyzed for texture, physical and chemical characteristics and consumer acceptance test. Milk urea nitrogen had a quadratic effect with minimum point at 43.76% replacement of silage with banana peel. The remaining items evaluated in the composition of milk and cheese and the consumer acceptance test were not influenced by diets with banana peel. The replacement of up to 60% sorghum silage with banana peel is a viable alternative because it causes no alteration in physical and chemical composition of milk and Minas fresh cheese, as well as consumer acceptance.
The role of nutraceuticals and phytotherapy in the management of urinary tract infections: What we need to know?
Authors: Cai Tommaso , Tamanini Irene , Kulchavenya Ekaterina , Perepanova Tamara , Köves Béla , Wagenlehner Florian M.E. , Tandogdu Zafer , Bonkat Gernot , Bartoletti Riccardo , Bjerklund Johansen Truls E.
Published: April 2017

Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) are amongst the most common infectious diseases and carry a significant impact on patient quality of life and health care costs. Despite that, there is no well-established recommendation for a “standard” prophylactic antibiotic management to prevent UTI recurrences. The majority of patients undergoes long-term antibiotic treatment that severely impairs the normal microbiota and increases the risk of development of multidrugresistant microorganisms. In this scenario, the use of phytotherapy to both alleviate symptoms related to UTI and decrease the rate of symptomatic recurrences is an attractive alternative. Several recently published papers report conflicting findings and cannot give confident recommendations for the everyday clinical practice. A new approach to the management of patients with recurrent UTI might be to use nutraceuticals or phytotherapy after an accurate assessment of the patient`s risk factors. No single compound or mixture has been identified so far as the best preventive approach in patients with recurrent UTI. We reviewed our non-antibiotic approach to the management of recurrent UTI patients in order to clarify the evidence-base for the commonly used substances, understand their pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in order to tailor the best way to improve patient’s quality of life and reduce the rate of antibiotic resistance. Lack of a gold-standard recommendation and the risk of increasing antibiotic resistance is the reason why we need alternatives to antibiotics in the management of urinary tract infections (UTIs). A tailored approach according to bacterial characteristics and the patient risk factors profile is a promising option.
Influence of secondary diagnoses in the development of urinary incontinence after radical prostatectomy
Authors: Padilla-Fernández Bárbara , Virseda-Rodríguez Álvaro Julio , Valverde-Martínez Lauro Sebastián , Pereira Bruno Jorge , Coelho Hugo , Santos-Antunes Maria Tatiana , Montesino-Semper Manuel , Müller-Arteaga Carlos , Álvarez-Ossorio-Fernández José Luis , Migliorini Filippo , Lorenzo-Gómez Ana , García-Cenador María Begoña , Antúnez-Plaza Patricia , Silva-Abuín Juan Miguel , Lorenzo-Gómez María Fernanda
Published: April 2017

Objective: To study whether there are factors related to secondary diagnoses (SDg) present in patients with prostate cancer that influence the development of urinary incontinence after radical prostatectomy (RP). Materials and methods: A retrospective multicenter observational study was performed reviewing the medical records of 430 men who underwent RP due to organ-confined prostate cancer in 9 different hospitals. Two study groups were distinguished: Group A (GA): Patients without urinary incontinence after RP; Group B (GB): patients with any degree of post-surgical urinary incontinence. Results: Average age at surgery was 63.42 years (range 45-73). 258 patients were continent after surgery and 172 patients complaint of any degree of incontinence after RP. A higher percentage of healthy patients was found in group A (continent after surgery) than in group B (p = 0.001). The most common SDg prior to surgery were hypertension, lower urinary tract symptoms, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus and erectile dysfunction, but none did show a greater trend towards post-surgical incontinence. Conclusions: A better health status prior to surgery is associated to a lower incidence of new-onset urinary incontinence after radical prostatectomy. However, no correlation was found between the most common medical disorders and the development of post-surgical urinary incontinence.
Blue light cystoscopy with hexylaminolevulinate: Our 7 years experience
Authors: Lacetera Vito , Cantoro Ubaldo , Montesi Lorenzo , Cantoro Daniele , Cervelli Bernardo , Cicetti Antonio , Gabrielloni Giuliana , Milella Domenico , Montesi Michele , Morcellini Roberto , Parri Gianni , Recanatini Emilio , Beatrici Valerio
Published: April 2017

Aim: The objective of the present study is to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of hexylaminolevulinate (HAL) blue light cystoscopy compared with standard white light cystoscopy (WLC) in daily practice. Materials and methods: An observational, comparative, controlled (within patient) study was carried out at our Center. 61 consecutive patients with suspected or confirmed bladder cancer were recruited for the study from January 2008 until January 2015. Patients with suspected bladder cancer (positive cytology with negative WLC) or history of previous high-grade NMIBC or CIS were included in the study. Biopsies/resection of each positive lesion/suspicious areas were always taken after the bladder was inspected under WLC and BLC. Diagnoses of bladder tumor or CIS were considered as positive results, and the presence of normal urothelium in the biopsy specimen as negative result. Results: 61 BLC were performed. 15/61 (24.5%) with suspected initial diagnosis of NMIBC and 46/61 (75.5%) with a history of high-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). We performed a total of 173 biopsies/TURBT of suspicious areas: 129 positive only to the BLC and 44 both positive to WLC and BLC. 84/173 biopsies/TURBT were positive for cancer. All 84 NMIBC were positive to the BLC, while 35/84 were positive to the WLC with a sensitivity of BLC and WLC respectively of 100% and 41.7%. Sensitivity of WLC for highgrade NMIBC and CIS was 34.1% and 39% respectively while sensitivity of BLC for high-grade NMIBC and CIS was 100%. The specificity of the WLC was 79.9% compared to 48.5% of the BLC. The positive predictive value of BLC and WLC were respectively 48% (95% CI: 0.447-0.523) and 79% (95% CI: 0.856-0.734). Conclusions: Our data confirm those reported in the literature: BLC increases the detection rate of NMIBC particularly in high risk patients (history of CIS or high grade). BLC is a powerful diagnostic tool in the diagnosis of bladder cancer if malignancy is suspected (positive urine cytology) and if conventional WLC is negative.
Blood platelet activity in men with vasculogenic erectile dysfunction
Authors: Bayraktar Zeki , Albayrak Selami
Published: April 2017

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the platelet activity in patients with vasculogenic erectile dysfunction (ED). Materials and methods: The total blood count, including hemoglobin (Hgb), white blood cell (WBC), red blood cell (RBC), platelet (PLT) and mean platelet volume (MPV) parameters were measured in the patient (n = 70) and control groups (n = 50). Results: The average age was 48.1 ± 11.7 and 47.6 ± 12.3 in the patient and control groups (p = 0.8217), respectively. MPV was higher in the patient group and there was a statistically significant difference between two groups (11.27 ± 0.56 and 9.8 ± 0.91, p < 0.0001). PLT counts were lower in the patient group but there was not a statistically significant difference (196.23 ± 37.01 and 209.07 ± 36.71, p = 0.0626). In terms of haemoglobin, WBC and RBC values, there was no difference in the patient and control groups. Conclusions: Finding high MPV, which reflects the platelet activity, in the patient group shows that platelets also have a role in the VED etiopathogenesis. In the case of the confirmation of this result with additional studies, the efficiency of anti-platelet therapy in the vasculogenic ED should also be researched.
Looking through a Social Lens: Conceptualising Social Aspects of Knowledge Management for Global Health Practitioners
Authors: Limaye Rupali J. , Sullivan Tara M. , Dalessandro Scott , Jenkins Ann Hendrix
Published: April 2017

Knowledge management plays a critical role in global health. Global health practitioners require knowledge in every aspect of their jobs, and in resource-scarce contexts, practitioners must be able to rely on a knowledge management system to access the latest research and practice to ensure the highest quality of care. However, we suggest that there is a gap in the way knowledge management is primarily utilized in global health, namely, the systematic incorporation of human and social factors. In this paper, we briefly outline the evolution of knowledge management and then propose a conceptualization of knowledge management that incorporates human and social factors for use within a global health context. Our conceptualization of social knowledge management recognizes the importance of social capital, social learning, social software and platforms, and social networks, all within the context of a larger social system and driven by social benefit. We then outline the limitations and discuss future directions of our conceptualization, and suggest how this new conceptualization is essential for any global health practitioner in the business of managing knowledge.
Assessment of obesity and hepatic late adverse effects in the Egyptian survivors of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia: single center study
Authors: El-Rashedy Farida , El-Hawy Mahmoud Ahmed , El Hefnawy Sally , Mohammed Mona
Published: April 2017

BACKGROUND: Childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) with current cure rates reaching 80% emphasizes the necessity to determine treatment related long-term effects. The aim of this study is to estimate the prevalence of overweight, obesity and hepatic late adverse effects in a cohort of ALL survivors treated at the Hematology and Oncology Unit, Pediatrics Department, Menoufia University, Egypt.METHODS: In this case control study, height, weight and body mass index (BMI) were assessed for 35 pediatric ALL survivors and 15 healthy children. These parameters were plotted on the growth and WHO standard deviation charts for both males and females. Overweight and obesity were defined by BMI > 85th and 95th percentile respectively. Laboratory investigations were done in the form of iron profile, liver enzymes, total and direct bilirubin levels, serum urea &creatinine and detection of hepatitis C virus antibodies by ELISA.RESULTS: The weight and BMI were significantly higher in the survivors than controls (P value =0.002 and 0.039 respectively). ALT, total & direct bilirubin, serum ferritin and transferrin saturation were significantly higher in the survivors than the controls (P value = 0.03, 0.036, 0.044, 0.006 and 0.03 respectively). Ten (28.6%) of survivors had hepatitis C antibodies with none (0%) of controls (P value =0.02)CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric ALL survivors are at increased risk of overweight/obesity, hepatic dysfunction in the form of elevated liver enzymes, bilirubin levels and C viral hepatitis. Screening of those survivors for such complications should be considered.Key words: ALL- Survivors – Obesity- Liver.
Solution of optimal power flow using evolutionary-based algorithms
Authors: Khamees Amr K. , El-Rafei Ahmed , Badra N.M. , Abdelaziz Almoataz Y.
Published: April 2017

This paper applies two reliable and efficient evolutionary-based methods named Shuffled Frog Leaping Algorithm (SFLA) and Grey Wolf Optimizer (GWO) to solve Optimal Power Flow (OPF) problem. OPF is one of the essential functions of electrical power generation control and operation. It aims to estimate the optimal settings of real generator output power, bus voltage, reactive power compensation devices, and transformer tap setting. The objective function of OPF is to minimize total production cost while maintaining the power system operation within its security limit constrains. SFLA and GWO are meta-heuristic evolutionary-based methods. SFLA mimics the frogs’ behavior while searching for food. GWO mimics the grey wolfs behavior while hunting for prey. These methods are simulated and tested on the standard IEEE 30-bus and 57-bus test systems. Moreover, the performances of the applied algorithms are analyzed and compared with each other as well as with other existing optimization techniques. The obtained results show the strengths of the two applied methods and the superiority of them in comparison to the other methods.Keywords: Optimal power flow, Shuffled Frog Leaping, Memeplex, Grey Wolf Optimizer