bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Intraspecific variation of insertion/length of stamens in homostylous flowers of a new species and three other species of Borreria: an unusual case in Rubiaceae
Authors: Sobrado Sandra Virginia
Published: May 2015

Four species of Borreria subsection Latifoliae (Rubiaceae) present intrafloral variations in the insertion/length of stamens in homostylous flowers. Borreria heteranthera is described and illustrated as new species from the state of Pará, Brazil. The emended descriptions of Borreria hispida, B. semiamplexicaule and B. xanthophylla, with details on stamens morphology and insertion, are provided. The inclusion of B. xanthophylla in the subsection Latifoliae is proposed. Staminal arrangement, pollen grains and seed morphology of the four species are compared. A comparative table with ecological, palynological, and morphological features of each species is provided. In addition, Borreria semiamplexicaule is mentioned as a new record for the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil, and the lectotype of B. hispida is here designated.
Description of larva and puparium of Oplodontha rubrithorax (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) from the Oriental Region
Authors: NERUDOVÁ JANA , KOVAC DAMIR , TÓTHOVÁ ANDREA
Published: May 2015

This is the first description of larva and puparium of Oplodontha rubrithorax (Macquart, 1838) from the Oriental Region. Larvae were found at a hot spring in North Thailand. The morphological features and cuticular structures of the larva are documented by drawings and SEM micrographs and the main characters are compared with the European O. viridula (Fabricius, 1775), the only described larva of this genus. Differences between larvae of both species were only found in pubescence. The characteristic, somewhat dilated and slightly clavate hairs on the dorsal surface of the body segments of O. viridula larva are apparently lacking in the larva of O. rubrithorax.
A new species of Melobasina (Ulaikoilia Bílý & Kubáň) (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) from Sulawesi
Authors: LEVEY BRIAN
Published: May 2015

A new species Melobasina (Ulaikoilia) jennyae sp. n. (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) is described from Sulawesi, Indonesia. A key is provided to distinguish the new species from the other two known species.
The MATERHORN: Unraveling the Intricacies of Mountain Weather
Authors: Fernando H. J. S. , Pardyjak E. R. , Di Sabatino S. , Chow F. K. , De Wekker S. F. J. , Hoch S. W. , Hacker J. , Pace J. C. , Pratt T. , Pu Z. , Steenburgh W. J. , Whiteman C. D. , Wang Y. , Zajic D. , Balsley B. , Dimitrova R. , Emmitt G. D. , Higgins C. W. , Hunt J. C. R. , Knievel J. C. , Lawrence D. , Liu Y. , Nadeau D. F. , Kit E. , Blomquist B. W. , Conry P. , Coppersmith R. S. , Creegan E. , Felton M. , Grachev A. , Gunawardena N. , Hang C. , Hocut C. M. , Huynh G. , Jeglum M. E. , Jensen D. , Kulandaivelu V. , Lehner M. , Leo L. S. , Liberzon D. , Massey J. D. , McEnerney K. , Pal S. , Price T. , Sghiatti M. , Silver Z. , Thompson M. , Zhang H. , Zsedrovits T.
Published: May 2015

Emerging application areas such as air pollution in megacities, wind energy, urban security, and operation of unmanned aerial vehicles have intensified scientific and societal interest in mountain meteorology. To address scientific needs and help improve the prediction of mountain weather, the U.S. Department of Defense has funded a research effort—the Mountain Terrain Atmospheric Modeling and Observations (MATERHORN) Program—that draws the expertise of a multidisciplinary, multi-institutional, and multinational group of researchers. The program has four principal thrusts, encompassing modeling, experimental, technology, and parameterization components, directed at diagnosing model deficiencies and critical knowledge gaps, conducting experimental studies, and developing tools for model improvements. The access to the Granite Mountain Atmospheric Sciences Testbed of the U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground, as well as to a suite of conventional and novel high-end airborne and surface measurement platforms, has provided an unprecedented opportunity to investigate phenomena of time scales from a few seconds to a few days, covering spatial extents of tens of kilometers down to millimeters. This article provides an overview of the MATERHORN and a glimpse at its initial findings. Orographic forcing creates a multitude of time-dependent submesoscale phenomena that contribute to the variability of mountain weather at mesoscale. The nexus of predictions by mesoscale model ensembles and observations are described, identifying opportunities for further improvements in mountain weather forecasting.
Variational Assimilation of Cloud Liquid/Ice Water Path and Its Impact on NWP
Authors: Chen Yaodeng , Wang Hongli , Min Jinzhong , Huang Xiang-Yu , Minnis Patrick , Zhang Ruizhi , Haggerty Julie , Palikonda Rabindra
Published: May 2015

Analysis of the cloud components in numerical weather prediction models using advanced data assimilation techniques has been a prime topic in recent years. In this research, the variational data assimilation (DA) system for the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model (WRFDA) is further developed to assimilate satellite cloud products that will produce the cloud liquid water and ice water analysis. Observation operators for the cloud liquid water path and cloud ice water path are developed and incorporated into the WRFDA system. The updated system is tested by assimilating cloud liquid water path and cloud ice water path observations from Global Geostationary Gridded Cloud Products at NASA. To assess the impact of cloud liquid/ice water path data assimilation on short-term regional numerical weather prediction (NWP), 3-hourly cycling data assimilation and forecast experiments with and without the use of the cloud liquid/ice water paths are conducted. It is shown that assimilating cloud liquid/ice water paths increases the accuracy of temperature, humidity, and wind analyses at model levels between 300 and 150 hPa after 5 cycles (15 h). It is also shown that assimilating cloud liquid/ice water paths significantly reduces forecast errors in temperature and wind at model levels between 300 and 150 hPa. The precipitation forecast skills are improved as well. One reason that leads to the improved analysis and forecast is that the 3-hourly rapid update cycle carries over the impact of cloud information from the previous cycles spun up by the WRF Model.
The Effect of Atmospheric Forcing Resolution on Delivery of Ocean Heat to the Antarctic Floating Ice Shelves*,+
Authors: Dinniman Michael S. , Klinck John M. , Bai Le-Sheng , Bromwich David H. , Hines Keith M. , Holland David M.
Published: May 2015

Oceanic melting at the base of the floating Antarctic ice shelves is now thought to be a more significant cause of mass loss for the Antarctic ice sheet than iceberg calving. In this study, a 10-km horizontal-resolution circum-Antarctic ocean–sea ice–ice shelf model [based on the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS)] is used to study the delivery of ocean heat to the base of the ice shelves. The atmospheric forcing comes from the ERA-Interim reanalysis (~80-km resolution) and from simulations using the polar-optimized Weather Research and Forecasting Model (30-km resolution), where the upper atmosphere was relaxed to the ERA-Interim reanalysis. The modeled total basal ice shelf melt is low compared to observational estimates but increases by 14% with the higher-resolution winds and just 3% with both the higher-resolution winds and atmospheric surface temperatures. The higher-resolution winds lead to more heat being delivered to the ice shelf cavities from the adjacent ocean and an increase in the efficiency of heat transfer between the water and the ice. The higher-resolution winds also lead to changes in the heat delivered from the open ocean to the continental shelves as well as changes in the heat lost to the atmosphere over the shelves, and the sign of these changes varies regionally. Addition of the higher-resolution temperatures to the winds results in lowering, primarily during summer, the wind-driven increase in heat advected into the ice shelf cavities due to colder summer air temperatures near the coast.
Extended-Range Forecasts of Areal-Averaged Rainfall over Saudi Arabia
Authors: Tippett Michael K. , Almazroui Mansour , Kang In-Sik
Published: May 2015

The climate of Saudi Arabia is arid–semiarid with infrequent but sometimes intense rainfall, which can cause flooding. Interannual and intraseasonal precipitation variability in the region is related to ENSO and MJO tropical convection. The predictability of these tropical signals gives some expectation of skillful extended-range rainfall forecasts in the region. Here, the extent to which this predictability is realizable in the Climate Forecast System (CFS), version 2, a state-of-the-art coupled global ocean–atmosphere model, is assessed. While there are deficiencies in the forecast climatology likely related to orography and resolution, as well as lead-dependent biases, CFS represents the climatology of the region reasonably well. Forecasts of the areal average of rainfall over Saudi Arabia show that the CFS captures some features of a spring 2013 heavy rainfall event up to 10 days in advance and a transition from dry to wet conditions up to 20 days in advance. Analysis of a 12-yr (1999–2010) reforecast dataset shows that the CFS can skillfully predict the rainfall amount, the number of days exceeding a threshold, and the probability of heavy rainfall occurrence for forecast windows ranging from 1 to 30 days. While the probability forecasts show good discrimination, they are overconfident. Logistic regression based on the ensemble mean value improves forecast skill and reliability. Forecast probabilities have a clear relation with the MJO phase in the wet season, providing a physical basis for the observed forecast skill.
Social work, climate change and global cooperation
Authors: Alston Margaret
Published: May 2015

Climate change and environmental disasters are destabilising communities across the world. In a challenging address to the 18th Conference of the Parties (COP) in Doha in 2012, the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon urged the global community to respond with conscientious foresight. This article discusses how social work might respond to this challenge. It outlines the social implications, social work theorists’ reconceptualisation of the environmental space as a domain of practice and ways that the global social work community can act to address these significant global challenges.
Climate change, water and gender: Impact and adaptation in North-Eastern Hills of India
Authors: Singh Nandita , Singh Om Prakash
Published: May 2015

Water resources in India are projected to face severe climate-induced stress. In the North-Eastern Hill region, where lifestyles are closely connected to nature, this holds great implications for human development. While scientific knowledge regarding climate change and water is growing at global and regional scales, an equally diverse body of knowledge on the human dimensions of the same at local levels is weak. This article attempts to bridge this knowledge gap by presenting micro-level evidence on the gendered impact of increasing water stress and the innovative gendered local adaptive strategies in this region. It urges for the need to re-think on adaptation planning, basing it on local templates for greater sustainability.
Climate change adaptation in low-resource countries: Insights gained from an eco-social work and feminist gerontological lens
Authors: Kwan Crystal , Walsh Christine A
Published: May 2015

Climate change research requires integrative and collaborative research from multiple disciplines because of its complexity and sizeable consequences. Eco-social work has an important role to play. Relatively new, scholarship on eco-social work is growing and identifying ways in which the discipline’s unique values, theories, perspectives and practices can contribute to this body of research. The aim of this article is twofold: (a) to contribute to this emerging scholarship by identifying climate change adaptation as an area of research for international social work and (b) to examine the utility of applying an integrated theoretical lens of eco-social work and feminist gerontology within this area.
Do non-governmental organisations’ socio-economic and training programmes improve disaster prevention capacity of their beneficiaries?
Authors: Khan Mohammad Aktaruzzaman , Ali Anees Janee
Published: May 2015

This study examines the relationship between non-governmental organisations’ (NGOs) socio-economic and training programmes and their beneficiaries’ coping capacity during natural disasters. NGOs are the most active force supporting community welfare programmes in dealing with vulnerable clients during disasters. This study utilises both qualitative and quantitative techniques based on multi-staged stratified sampling using multiple regression analysis. The results indicate that NGOs’ training reaction significantly improves their clients’ disaster prevention capacity. This finding implies that NGOs should put greater emphasis on socio-economic programmes as well as training programmes.
Vulnerability and resiliency: How climate disasters activate latent social assets
Authors: Vo Charity Samantha
Published: May 2015

Tropical storm Nicole and hurricane Tomas exposed the economic, political, and environmental vulnerability of Mesa Sur, a coffee-farming community in southern Costa Rica, yet also revealed latent assets. In the face of climatic adversity, the community organized and, thus, exhibited its social adaptive capacity and amplified its resiliency. Community members’ engagement with the state resulted in short-term assistance from the state as well as long-term plans for collaborative and integrated rural development. Data were gathered via a case study approach that involved interviews, participant observation, secondary literature, and media reports.
Analysis of notched woven composites and fiber metal laminates with previous fatigue damage
Authors: Rubio-González C , Velasco F , Martínez J
Published: May 2015

Fiber metal laminates are hybrid materials consisting of alternating layers of thin metallic sheets and fiber reinforced epoxy prepregs. In this work, the fatigue damage effect on the residual strength, stiffness, and strain field in woven carbon-reinforced aluminum laminates with a circular open hole is studied. The strain fields were obtained by means of a noncontact optical deformation measuring system and then used to determine the normal stress distribution around the open hole. A squared pattern is observed in the strain mapping of the specimens with previous fatigue damage that disturbed the stress profile. The experimental stress profiles were compared with finite element modeling and an analytic solution; clear agreement is observed on this comparison for fatigue damage free specimens, except near the hole edge due to stress redistribution. Previous fatigue damage reduces residual strength and stiffness of notched woven composite samples and fiber metal laminates; it was also observed that notched fiber laminates are more fatigue tolerant than the base composite material. It is important to note that the fatigue loading caused not only damage such as matrix cracking and delamination, but also a weave style strain/stress redistribution along the warp direction.
Fabrication and characterization of poly(ɛ-caprolactone) coated silicate and borate-based bioactive glass composite scaffolds
Authors: Deliormanlı Aylin M
Published: May 2015

In this study, silicate 13-93 and borate based 13-93B3 bioactive glass scaffolds with high porosity and interconnected pore structure (pore size 100–500 µm) were prepared by foam replication method. In order to improve the mechanical properties, the scaffolds were coated and infiltrated with a poly(ɛ-caprolactone) (PCL) solution at different concentrations (5, 10, and 20 wt%). Results revealed that the mechanical properties of the scaffolds were significantly improved by the PCL coating. The addition of 10% PCL coating led to approximately 10-fold increase of compressive strength in comparison with noncoated scaffolds. The bioactivity of scaffolds upon immersion in simulated body fluid was maintained in the PCL-coated scaffolds at all concentrations; however, a decrease in the formation rate and amount of crystalline hydroxyapatite was observed as the PCL concentration was increased in the coating layer. Degradation rate of the borate-based bioactive glass scaffolds was tailored by the PCL coating. It is concluded that the fabricated bioactive composite scaffolds represent promising candidates for bone tissue engineering applications.
Race-Ethnicity, Poverty, Urban Stressors, and Telomere Length in a Detroit Community-based Sample
Authors: Geronimus Arline T. , Pearson Jay A. , Linnenbringer Erin , Schulz Amy J. , Reyes Angela G. , Epel Elissa S. , Lin Jue , Blackburn Elizabeth H.
Published: May 2015

Residents of distressed urban areas suffer early aging-related disease and excess mortality. Using a community-based participatory research approach in a collaboration between social researchers and cellular biologists, we collected a unique data set of 239 black, white, or Mexican adults from a stratified, multistage probability sample of three Detroit neighborhoods. We drew venous blood and measured telomere length (TL), an indicator of stress-mediated biological aging, linking respondents’ TL to their community survey responses. We regressed TL on socioeconomic, psychosocial, neighborhood, and behavioral stressors, hypothesizing and finding an interaction between poverty and racial-ethnic group. Poor whites had shorter TL than nonpoor whites; poor and nonpoor blacks had equivalent TL; and poor Mexicans had longer TL than nonpoor Mexicans. Findings suggest unobserved heterogeneity bias is an important threat to the validity of estimates of TL differences by race-ethnicity. They point to health impacts of social identity as contingent, the products of structurally rooted biopsychosocial processes.
Day case hemithyroidectomy is safe and feasible: experience in Scotland
Authors: de Boisanger Louis , Blackwell Nicky , Magos Tiarnan , Adamson Richard , Hilmi Omar
Published: May 2015

Background and aims

We aimed to analyse the safety and feasibility of day case hemithyroidectomy.

Methods and results

We reviewed all hemithyroidectomies led by two surgeons across two sites between 2010 and the end of 2013. Patients were divided into ‘planned inpatient’ or ‘planned day case’.

Results

Day of discharge, conversion to inpatient procedure, intraoperative and postoperative complications and postoperative presentations or readmission to hospital were analysed. Age, gender, American Society of Anaesthesiologists score and indication for surgery were also recorded. One-hundred and eighty hemithyroidectomy cases were analysed, 35 (19.5%) were planned as inpatient procedures. Of the remaining 145 (80.5%) planned day case: 106 (73.1%) were successfully discharged on the same day and 39 (26.9%) were not; 11 (7.6%) were converted to inpatient procedures perioperatively; 8 (5.5%) had additional procedures; 6 (4.1%) had wound infections; 7 (4.8%) presented to ER; 1 (0.7%) of which required readmission to hospital for a reason unrelated to the surgery. None had laryngeal nerve palsy, compressive haematoma or symptomatic hypocalcaemia.

Conclusion

This study showed that hemithyroidectomy by experienced surgeons can be performed safely as a day surgery. No ‘planned day case patients’ in this study developed laryngeal nerve palsy, compressive haematoma or symptomatic hypocalcaemia.
Depression
Authors: Hung Ching-I , Liu Chia-Yih , Fu Tsai-Sheng
Published: May 2015

Objective

The study aimed to compare the associations of pain indices, depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms with disability among outpatients with chronic low back pain (CLBP).

Method

Consecutive orthopedics outpatients with CLBP in a medical center were enrolled. The Oswestry Disability Index and physical functioning and role limitations-physical of the Short-Form 36 were used as disability indices. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Depression and Somatic Symptoms Scale were employed. Pain intensity was rated using a visual analogue scale. Multiple linear regressions were used to determine the impacts of these independent factors related to disability.

Results

Among 225 participants (122 male, 103 female) with CLBP, patients with major depressive disorder and associated leg symptoms of CLBP had higher disability indices. A tendency was noted that depression (HADS-depression) had the highest correlation to the three disability indices, followed by pain intensity, anxiety, and somatic symptoms. After controlling for demographic variables, HADS-depression explained the highest variance of disability, followed by pain intensity.

Conclusion

Depression was the most powerful factor associated with disability of CLBP among depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms. Depression should be evaluated when investigating disability among patients with CLBP.
Increased serum prolactin in borderline personality disorder
Authors: Atmaca Murad , Korkmaz Sevda , Ustundag Bilal , Ozkan Yusuf
Published: May 2015

Although there is an important interaction between serotonergic system, prolactin and suicidal behavior, and impulsivity, no investigation examined the prolactin values in borderline personality disorder in which suicidal behavior and impulsivity are core symptom dimensions. In this context, in the present investigation, we planned to measure serum prolactin levels in the patients with borderline personality disorder. The study comprised 15 patients with borderline personality disorder and 15 healthy controls. Prolactin values were measured in both patients and control subjects. The patients had abnormally higher mean value of prolactin compared to those of healthy controls (48.66 ± 36.48 mg/dl for patients vs. 15.20 ± 7.81 mg/dl for healthy controls). There was no correlation between prolactin values and any demographic variables for both the patients and control subjects. In conclusion, our present results suggest that prolactin values increased in the patients with borderline personality disorder and are required to be replicated by more comprehensive and detailed further studies to decipher the exact roles of prolactin increase.
Effects of Women’s Football Broadcastings on Viewers’ Moods and Judgments
Authors: Schramm Holger , Knoll Johannes
Published: May 2015

The objective of this article is to improve the understanding of mood and judgment effects evoked by major televised sport events like national football matches. According to disposition theory of sport spectatorship, viewers’ affective experiences, specifically their moods, are assumed to be affected by the outcomes of the matches they watch. This study tests whether these mood effects depend on viewers’ team identification as well as viewers’ sex. Moreover, past research has indicated that mood changes as effects of sport viewing could influence viewers’ subsequent judgments in line with feeling-as-information theory. Based on this line of arguments, a quasi-experimental pre-post-test study with 180 participants was conducted to assess the moods and judgments (self-confidence, evaluation of the economic situation, government satisfaction) of viewers before and after a win and a defeat of the German national football team during the 2011 women’s FIFA World Cup. The results support disposition theory of sport spectatorship as well as feeling-as-information theory and give new insights into the moderating role of team identification and sex.
Hospital and Surgeon Adherence to Pediatric Tonsillectomy Guidelines Regarding Perioperative Dexamethasone and Antibiotic Administration
Authors: Padia Reema , Olsen Griffin , Henrichsen Jake , Bullock Griffin , Gale Craig , Stoddard Gregory , Ott Mark , Srivastava Rajendu , Meier Jeremy D.
Published: May 2015

Objectives

To (1) determine adherence to American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery Foundation guidelines for pediatric tonsillectomy recommending routine administration of perioperative dexamethasone and against routine antibiotic administration among surgeons and hospitals in a multihospital network and (2) evaluate the impact of adherence on the risk of complications.

Study Design

Case series with chart review.

Setting

Multihospital network.

Subjects and Methods

A case series of 15,950 children aged 1 to 18 years undergoing same‐day surgery adenotonsillectomy (T&A) within a multihospital network from 2008 to 2014 was reviewed to determine whether dexamethasone and/or antibiotics were given in the hospital. The frequency of dexamethasone and antibiotic administration was compared among surgeons and hospitals in the years before and after the guidelines were published. The frequency of complications was compared in adhering vs nonadhering surgeons.

Results

The study cohort included 15,950 children undergoing T&A at 19 hospitals by 74 surgeons. Of the patients before guideline publication, 98.4% (n = 7432) received dexamethasone compared with 98.9% of subjects after guideline publication (n = 8518). In total, 16.1% received antibiotics before the guidelines compared with 13.8% after. Prior to the guidelines, 27 of 74 surgeons (36%) routinely gave antibiotics. After the guidelines were published, 19 surgeons (26%) continued to give antibiotics more than 50% of the time. There was no difference in complication visits between adhering and nonadhering surgeons.

Conclusions

Most hospitals and surgeons administered perioperative dexamethasone routinely. While the overall frequency of antibiotic administration decreased after the guidelines were published, a significant percentage of surgeons continued to give antibiotics routinely, suggesting the need for improved dissemination and implementation of guidelines to promote adherence.
Efficacy of Spinal Needle Aspiration in Patients with Epiglottic Abscess
Authors: Lee Young Chan , Lee Jung‐Woo , Park Gi Cheol , Eun Young Gyu
Published: May 2015

Objective/Hypothesis

To evaluate the efficacy of spinal needle aspiration for symptom improvement in awake patients with epiglottic abscess (EA).

Study Design

Prospective randomized controlled study.

Setting

Tertiary center.

Subjects and Methods

Twenty‐two patients who were diagnosed with EA were randomly allocated to group A (needle aspiration and antibiotics) or group B (antibiotics only). Patients’ characteristics, laryngoscopic findings of epiglottic swelling and arytenoid swelling by scope classification, and initial laboratory findings were analyzed. Needle aspiration was done under local anesthesia in awake patients using an 18‐gauge spinal needle and indirect laryngoscope. Changes in the following symptoms during hospital stay were assessed: sore throat, hoarseness, dyspnea, odynophagia, and dysphagia.

Results

Eleven patients were treated with needle aspiration and antibiotics, and 11 patients were treated with antibiotics only. There was no statistically significant difference between the 2 groups regarding age, sex, white blood cell count, C‐reactive protein, presenting clinical symptoms, abscess size, and scope classification at time of diagnosis. Patients in both groups had significant improvement in all clinical symptoms. While there were no between‐group differences in improvement for any of the symptoms, the length of hospitalization was significantly lower in group A (4.0 ± 1.9 days) than in group B (5.7 ± 1.2 days) (P =. 037).

Conclusion

We did not find any significant additional benefit of needle aspiration for the treatment of EA, with the exception that needle aspiration reduced the length of hospitalization. Further proof with a large‐scale study is needed.
Endoscopic stenting for double bronco-pleural fistula after lobectomy
Authors: Cusumano Giacomo , Terminella Alberto , Vasta Ignazio , Riscica Lizzio Carmelo , Bellofiore Salvatore , Saita Salvatore
Published: May 2015

Bronchial fistula is one of the most serious complications after pulmonary resection. It presents a challenge in terms of treatment, with a high risk of perioperative mortality. We describe a patient who underwent a right upper lobectomy and systematic hilar-mediastinal lymphadenectomy for lung adenocarcinoma complicated by 2 bronchopleural fistulas. The lesions were sited at the upper lobar stump and the pars membranacea of the intermediate bronchus. The patient was successfully treated by placement of an endobronchial prosthesis (initially a self-expanding prosthesis and subsequently, a Dumon prosthesis) and a pleural chest drain, to avoid a potential right pneumonectomy.
NR2 antibody is associated with quality of life in aortic valve replacement
Authors: Kidher Emaddin , Jarral Omar A , Harling Leanne , Anderson Jon R , Chukwuemeka Andrew , Ashrafian Hutan , Evans Paul C , Athanasiou Thanos
Published: May 2015

Background

The relationship between the potential brain injury biomarker N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antibody and quality of life has never been assessed.

Methods

We measured serum N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antibody levels preoperatively in patients undergoing aortic valve replacement. Quality of life was scored using the Short Form-36 and European Quality of Life 5-Dimensions questionnaires pre- and postoperatively. We analyzed the antibody levels as a continuous variable and as a dichotomous variable with 1.8 ng mL−1 as the cutoff.

Results

Fifty-two patients (15 females) with a mean age of 71 ± 8.4 years were recruited for this study. Forty-eight (92%) patients attended the follow-up visit (405 ± 161 days). No mortality or severe neurological event was recorded. In both quality-of-life instruments, the low antibody level group ( n = 35) had significantly better scores than the high antibody level group ( n = 17) preoperatively. Postoperatively, the scores for both groups improved; however, the low antibody level group continued to score significantly better in most of the physical and mental health domains ( p = 0.04 to <0.001). Multiple regression analyses revealed that antibody level and the 1.8 ng mL−1 cutoff were independently related to quality of life (pre- and postoperatively).

Conclusions

Higher N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antibody levels in aortic valve replacement patients are independently related to poorer quality of life pre- and postoperatively.
Sharma’s clamp for sequential coronary artery grafting
Authors: Sharma Ashok Kumar , Siddiqi Mohammad Salman , Sabti Hilal Al
Published: May 2015

Sequential coronary artery grafting is a common procedure. Holding the graft in the correct alignment and orientation in a limited pericardial space and taking a suture at the correct place on the graft is difficult. Graft slippage from the assistant can be distracting to the surgeon, unnecessarily increasing the anastomosis time and also affecting graft patency due to improperly placed sutures. We describe a simple device (Sharma’s clamp) for graft holding and stabilization for sequential bypass grafting in coronary artery bypass surgery.
A play-based programme (Pillars of Society) to foster social skills of high-ability and average ability Primary-one students in Hong Kong
Authors: Liu Sylvia , Yuen Mantak , Rao Nirmala
Published: May 2015

This paper describes a social skills programme implemented to enhance the social competence of Primary-one students in order to ensure a smooth adjustment after transition from kindergarten to a formal school learning environment. The participants were 122 students (64 boys and 58 girls; mean age 6.17 years, SD = 0.29 years) newly enrolled in a Hong Kong primary school. The intervention involved 60 minutes of contact per week for 8 weeks, and focused on playing interactive group games led by trained parent volunteers. Raven’s (1980) Standard Progressive Matrices were used to identify high-ability and average-ability students. In order to assess the programme’s impact on social competence, parents and teachers completed the Early School Behavior Rating Scale. Results indicated that students in the programme made significantly greater progress than a comparison group of Primary-one students who did not go through the intervention. High-ability students showed significant improvements in social competence, sustained over time in both home and school settings. Students of average ability exhibited positive improvements in social competence in school, but this did not always transfer to home. Boys improved their social competence and narrowed the gender difference with girls. Implications for school intervention are discussed.
Anthropogenesis: Origins and Endings in the Anthropocene
Authors: Yusoff Kathryn
Published: May 2015

If the Anthropocene represents a new epoch of thought, it also represents a new form of materiality and historicity for the human as strata and stratigrapher of the geologic record. This collision of human and inhuman histories in the strata is a new formation of subjectivity within a geologic horizon that redefines temporal, material, and spatial orders of the human (and thus nature). I argue that the Anthropocene contains within it a form of Anthropogenesis – a new origin story and ontics for man – that radically rewrites material modes of differentiation and concepts of life, from predominantly biopolitical notions of life toward an understanding of life’s geophysical origination (geontics). Here, I use the term Anthropogenesis to suggest that two things explicitly happen in the nomination of the Anthropocene: 1) the production of a mythic Anthropos as geologic world-maker/destroyer of worlds, and 2) a material, evolutionary narrative that re-imagines human origins and endings within a geologic rather than an exclusively biological context. In contrast to the homogeneous geomorphizing of the Anthropocene, I suggest that socializing the strata needs a more nuanced notion of ‘geologic life’ that challenges the construction of the Anthropocene as an undifferentiated social stratification.
Michel Foucault and the Forces of Civil Society
Authors: Villadsen Kaspar
Published: May 2015

Michel Foucault has been presented as a unequivocal defender of civil society. He was particularly sensitive to diversity and marginality, aligned with local activism and bottom-up politics. This article re-assesses this view by demonstrating that despite his political militancy, Foucault never viewed civil society as an inherently progressive force. It traces Foucault’s struggle against his own enthusiasm for anti-institutional and anti-rationalist political movements. Inventing the notion of ‘transactional reality’, Foucault escaped the choice between naturalism and ideology critique, presenting civil society as a ‘reality that does not exist’ but still has real effects. This new reality holds contradictory potentials. When articulated by political eschatology, civil society supports prophecies of the end of politics in a final accord where contradictions dissolve and the community absorbs the state. Neoliberal notions of civil society promise, on Foucault’s account, a more open-ended milieu of subject formation.
Injury Risk Estimation Expertise
Authors: Petushek Erich J. , Cokely Edward T. , Ward Paul , Durocher John J. , Wallace Sean J. , Myer Gregory D.
Published: May 2015

Background:

Available methods for screening anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury risk are effective but limited in application as they generally rely on expensive and time-consuming biomechanical movement analysis. A potentially efficient alternative to biomechanical screening is skilled movement analysis via visual inspection (ie, having experts estimate injury risk factors based on observations of athletes’ movements).

Purpose:

To develop a brief, valid psychometric assessment of ACL injury risk factor estimation skill: the ACL Injury Risk Estimation Quiz (ACL-IQ).

Study Design:

Cohort study (diagnosis); Level of evidence, 3.

Methods:

A total of 660 individuals participated in various stages of the study, including athletes, physicians, physical therapists, athletic trainers, exercise science researchers/students, and members of the general public in the United States. The ACL-IQ was fully computerized and made available online ( www.ACL-IQ.org ). Item sampling/reduction, reliability analysis, cross-validation, and convergent/discriminant validity analyses were conducted to refine the efficiency and validity of the assessment.

Results:

Psychometric optimization techniques identified a short (mean time, 2 min 24 s), robust, 5-item assessment with high reliability (test-retest: r = 0.90) and high test sensitivity (average difference of exercise science professionals vs general population: Cohen d = 2). Exercise science professionals and individuals from the general population scored 74% and 53% correct, respectively. Convergent and discriminant validity was demonstrated. Scores on the ACL-IQ were best predicted by ACL knowledge and specific judgment strategies (ie, cue use) and were largely unrelated to domain-general spatial/decision-making ability, personality, or other demographic variables. Overall, 23% of the total sample (40% of exercise science professionals; 6% of general population) performed better than or equal to the ACL nomogram.

Conclusion:

This study presents the results of a systematic approach to assess individual differences in ACL injury risk factor estimation skill; the assessment approach is efficient (ie, it can be completed in <3 min) and psychometrically robust. The results provide evidence that some individuals have the ability to visually estimate ACL injury risk factors more accurately than other instrument-based ACL risk estimation methods (ie, ACL nomogram). The ACL-IQ provides the foundation for assessing the efficacy of observational ACL injury risk factor assessment (ie, does simple skilled visual inspection reduce ACL injuries?). The ACL-IQ can also be used to increase our understanding of the perceptual-cognitive mechanisms underlying injury risk assessment expertise, which can be leveraged to accelerate learning and improve performance.
Venezuela, Human Rights and Participatory Democracy
Authors: Bean Anderson M.
Published: May 2015

This paper explores the dynamic between the Venezuelan state, which has committed itself to a discourse on grassroots political participation, and civil society, which has responded to this call in ways that often exceed and challenge the expectations of the government. The Bolivarian process has raised Venezuelan’s expectations of the state, and its very success depends on both the actions of grassroots activists and the Chavista government. By analyzing the case of Venezuela I make three arguments concerning human rights. First, although human rights in recent years have more often than not served as a hegemonic tool of the West, they can have emancipatory potential, especially when used by social movements, as effective agents of social change. Second, in order for human rights to serve an emancipatory or counter-hegemonic function, they must be radicalized and transformed. Movements from below must drive the reconceptualization of human rights rather than powerful governments, international institutions and other top-down entities. My third argument is that the conception of the state as the sole violator of human rights or as the guarantor of human rights is a false dichotomy. While the state can be a violator of human rights, when pressured from below the state can protect its citizens from human rights abuses.
Synthesis, characterization, curing, and thermal properties of bifunctional phenol-based polybenzoxazines
Authors: Sudha  , Sarojadevi
Published: May 2015

A series of benzoxazine compounds have been prepared from bifunctional phenol with formaldehyde and various aryl amines like aniline, 2-toluidine, and 2-amino pyridine. Bifunctional phenol was prepared by reacting ethylene diamine and 4-hydroxy benzaldehyde, and the molecular compositions of the precursors and monomers are characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectral techniques. The polymerization behavior of the monomer was monitored by differential scanning calorimetry and FTIR spectroscopy. The benzoxazine monomers were cured at 100, 140, 180, 200, and 240°C for 2 h. The obtained materials exhibit high char yield than the corresponding bisphenol-A-based polybenzoxazines (PBzs). The 2-amino pyridine-based PBz (PBz3) shows high char yield of 68% and thermal stability with 10% weight loss temperature of 420°C. Glass transition temperature, storage modulus, and cross-link density of the PBz resins were given by dynamic mechanical analysis. Limiting oxygen index values of 2-amino pyridine-based PBz indicate good flame-retardant properties.
Analysis of derailment criteria
Authors: Kuo Chen-Ming , Lin Chih-Chiang
Published: May 2015

Rail transportation systems include high-speed rail, rapid mass transit systems, rail freight, and light-rail transit systems are generally wheel-on-rail systems. Thus, the evaluation of the risk of a derailment is a critically important issue; consequently, researchers have endeavored to identify and evaluate an effective derailment criterion. Nadal’s quotient has been widely adopted in the assessment of the risk of a derailment. Although recent studies have sometimes criticized that criterion, it still serves as the basis of new criteria and regulations. This article seeks to investigate the problems associated with various derailment criteria, to point out their features and deficiencies, and then to theoretically illustrate their differences. It has been found that the Weinstock criterion does not correctly consider the tread contact wheel, with the revised Weinstock criteria being proposed to correct that problem. Furthermore, a new criterion has been developed that solely considers the horizontal component of the tangential force at the contact point. The new criterion was compared with the wheel load reduction criterion and other criteria to justify the derailment assessments.
Physiological outflow boundary conditions methodology for small arteries with multiple outlets: A patient-specific hepatic artery haemodynamics case study
Authors: Aramburu Jorge , Antón Raúl , Bernal Nebai , Rivas Alejandro , Ramos Juan Carlos , Sangro Bruno , Bilbao José Ignacio
Published: May 2015

Physiological outflow boundary conditions are necessary to carry out computational fluid dynamics simulations that reliably represent the blood flow through arteries. When dealing with complex three-dimensional trees of small arteries, and therefore with multiple outlets, the robustness and speed of convergence are also important. This study derives physiological outflow boundary conditions for cases in which the physiological values at those outlets are not known (neither in vivo measurements nor literature-based values are available) and in which the tree exhibits symmetry to some extent. The inputs of the methodology are the three-dimensional domain and the flow rate waveform and the systolic and diastolic pressures at the inlet. The derived physiological outflow boundary conditions, which are a physiological pressure waveform for each outlet, are based on the results of a zero-dimensional model simulation. The methodology assumes symmetrical branching and is able to tackle the flow distribution problem when the domain outlets are at branches with a different number of upstream bifurcations. The methodology is applied to a group of patient-specific arteries in the liver. The methodology is considered to be valid because the pulsatile computational fluid dynamics simulation with the inflow flow rate waveform (input of the methodology) and the derived outflow boundary conditions lead to physiological results, that is, the resulting systolic and diastolic pressures at the inlet match the inputs of the methodology, and the flow split is also physiological.
Long-term postpartum adherence to antiretroviral drugs among women in Latin America
Authors: Kreitchmann Regis , Coelho Debora Fernandes , Kakehasi Fabiana Maria , Hofer Cristina Barroso , Read Jennifer S , Losso Marcelo , Haberer Jessica E , Siberry George K , Harris D Robert , Yu Qilu
Published: May 2015

Antiretroviral adherence in the postpartum period is crucial for maternal health and decreasing the risk of mother-to-child HIV transmission and transmission to sexual partners. Self-reported antiretroviral adherence was examined between 6- to 12-weeks and 30 months postpartum among 270 HIV-infected women enrolled in a prospective cohort study from 2008 to 2010 at multiple sites in Latin America. Adherence data were collected at each study visit to quantify the proportion of prescribed antiretrovirals taken during the previous three days, assess the timing of the last missed dose, and identify predictors of adherence. Mean adherence rates were 89.5% at 6–12 weeks and 92.4% at 30 months; the proportions with perfect adherence were 80.3% and 83.6%, respectively. The overall trend for perfect adherence was not significant ( p = 0.71). In adjusted regression modelling, younger age was associated with an increased probability of non-perfect adherence at 18 and 24 months postpartum. Other factors associated with increased probability of non-perfect adherence were higher parity, current use of alcohol and tobacco, and more advanced HIV disease. Women with perfect adherence had lower viral loads. Interventions for alcohol and tobacco use cessation, and support for young women and those with advanced HIV disease should be considered to improve postpartum adherence.
Five years’ real-life experience with raltegravir in a large HIV centre
Authors: van Halsema Clare , Whitfield Thomas , Lin Naomi , Ashton Kathryn , Torkington Adele , Ustianowski Andrew
Published: May 2015

Raltegravir was the first licensed integrase inhibitor. Real-life experience is informative and complements trial data. We therefore evaluated raltegravir use in adults in a large HIV treatment centre. From pharmacy and departmental HIV database records, we identified all adults taking ≥1 dose of raltegravir from first availability to the end of November 2012. Data were collected using a standardised case report form. Two hundred and fifteen individuals provided 502 patient-years (median 2.6 years/person) of raltegravir use. Of 215 individuals, 166 (77%) were male, median age 43 years; 189 (88%) were antiretroviral therapy (ART)-experienced and 26 (12%) ART-naive, with median baseline CD4 counts of 324 and 54 cells/µL, respectively. Of ten individuals using once-daily raltegravir, four, with good adherence remained virologically suppressed after a median 28 months, four stopped against medical advice, one stopped to simplify and one failed virologically. In hepatitis co-infection, 35 individuals (92 patient-years) took raltegravir without evidence of hepatotoxicity. Six women started raltegravir during pregnancy for intensification (5/6) or switch for tolerability without complications. Of ten individuals stopping raltegravir after virological failure, 2/4 with successful sequencing showed resistance. Raltegravir appears safe and effective, without evidence of toxicity above that in published trials, including in pregnancy and co-infections. Once-daily dosing seems effective where adherence is good.