bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Warfarin Bioavailability With Feeding Tubes and Enteral Formula
Authors: Klang Mark , Graham Dennis , McLymont Veronica
Published: May 2010

Background: Earlier literature showed reduced efficacy of warfarin when co‐administered with enteral nutrition formulas through feeding tubes. This study used an in vitro model for gastric administration of warfarin through a feeding tube to evaluate potential causes for reduced warfarin absorption when administered through feeding tubes. Methods: There were 2 phases of the study. The first phase used an artificial stomach model with or without the infusion of enteral nutrition formula. Warfarin was added to the contents either directly into the vessel or passed through a feeding tube. Warfarin tablet dissolution was compared to the injectable formulation, which served as a control. The second phase used chopped feeding tube material added to beakers containing warfarin in increasing amounts. Results: Warfarin injection and tablet formulations showed decreased solubility when combined with acid. The warfarin solubility was higher when enteral formula was added. Warfarin concentration dropped by 35% when the drug was passed through a feeding tube, as opposed to added directly to the flask. In the second study, the warfarin levels were lower in the beakers containing feeding tubes. Doubling the amount of warfarin added did not raise levels to that of the initial dissolved. Doubling the amount of feeding tube material further reduced the concentration dissolved. Conclusions: Feeding‐tube administration compromises the total amount of warfarin reaching patients. It appears, from this in vitro study, that the mechanism of the interaction of warfarin may be a result of direct binding to the feeding tube.
Timeline of Cellulitis and Late Development of Hydrothorax Induced by a Right‐Sided Central Venous Catheter
Authors: Westermann Sanne A. , Pahlplatz Paul V. M. , Brouwers Mark A. M.
Published: May 2010

We reported a case of 27‐year‐old woman who suffered a hydrothorax induced by a central venous catheter that had been placed to facilitate parenteral nutrition. The central venous catheter was inserted into the superior vena cava through the right subclavian vein. Chest radiograph after insertion revealed proper position of the tip. After a few days, the patient developed acute cellulitis of the right breast, and intravenous antibiotics were started. Four days later, 10 days after the insertion of the catheter, the patient suddenly developed dyspnea and tachycardia. Computed tomography scan of the chest showed massive pleural effusion in the right thorax and a mediastinal shift; the tip of the catheter had perforated the superior vena cava and was located in the right pleural space. Thoracic and subcutaneous drainage showed a fluid similar to parenteral nutrition. The continuous mechanical force of the catheter tip against the superior vena cava wall in combination with a hyperosmolar solution was considered to be the cause of the acute cellulitis and a delayed hydrothorax.
Effects of the ω‐6:ω‐3 Fatty Acid Ratio of Fat Emulsions on the Fatty Acid Composition in Cell Membranes and the Anti‐Inflammatory Action
Authors: Hagi Akifumi , Nakayama Mitsuo , Shinzaki Wataru , Haji Seiji , Ohyanagi Harumasa
Published: May 2010

Background: This study investigated the effects of parenterally administered fish oil (FO) on the fatty acid composition in rats to determine the optimal ω‐6:ω‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) ratio of fat emulsions to achieve an anti‐inflammatory effect. Methods: Male Sprague‐Dawley rats were infused a parenteral nutrition (PN) solution containing fat emulsions with different ω‐6:ω‐3 PUFA ratios. The fatty acid content of phospholipids in the membranes of splenocytes was analyzed by gas chromatography (experiment 1). In addition, the amounts of leukotriene (LT) B4 and LTB5 released from peritoneal polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) were measured by high‐performance liquid chromatography (experiment 2). Results: In experiment 1, after infusion of the fat emulsion containing FO, the ω‐3 PUFA content in cell membranes rose to 70% of the peak value on day 1 and nearly reached a plateau on day 3. The highest ratio of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) to arachidonic acid (AA) was achieved by administrating a PN solution with the smallest ω‐6:ω‐3 PUFA ratio. In experiment 2, a larger amount of LTB5 was released from Ca‐ionophore‐stimulated PMNs taken from rats given a larger quantity of FO. The ratio of LTB5:LTB4 released from PMNs correlated positively with the EPA:AA ratio in the membranous phospholipid and in serum. Conclusions: The ω‐3 PUFAs were readily incorporated into the cell membrane within 3 days of infusion with the fat emulsion. The EPA:AA ratio in membranous phospholipid in PMNs was positively correlated with the LTB5:LTB4 production ratio and was a good indicator of anti‐inflammatory effects.
Can Motherhood Earnings Losses Be Ever Regained? Evidence From Canada
Authors: Zhang Xuelin
Published: May 2010

This study examines earnings losses associated with motherhood using longitudinal administrative Canadian data. Contrary to the endogenous motherhood hypothesis, the author found no dips in earnings for women during their prechildbirth years. Although the results show that earnings losses incurred by mothers in the year of childbirth and the year thereafter were substantial, it was found that these earnings losses declined over the postchildbirth years, and for mothers who returned to their prechildbirth employers, the earnings recovery process was rapid, indicating that firm-specific human capital might play an important role.
Optimal Filtering for Non-parametric Observation Models: Applications to Localization and SLAM
Authors: Blanco Jose-Luis , González Javier , Fernández-Madrigal Juan-Antonio
Published: May 2010

In this work we address the problem of optimal Bayesian filtering for dynamic systems with observation models that cannot be approximated properly as any parameterized distribution. In the context of mobile robots this problem arises in localization and simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) with occupancy grid maps. The lack of a parameterized observation model for these maps forces a sample-based representation, commonly through Monte Carlo methods for sequential filtering, also called particle filters. Our work is grounded on the demonstrated existence of an optimal proposal distribution for particle filters. However, this optimal distribution is not directly applicable to systems with non-parametric models. By integrating ideas from previous works on adaptive sample size, auxiliary particle filters, and rejection sampling, we derive a new particle filter algorithm that enables the usage of the optimal proposal to estimate the true posterior density of a non-parametric dynamic system. This new filter is better suited, both theoretically and in practice, than previous approximate methods for indoor and outdoor localization and SLAM, as confirmed by experiments with real robots.
Object Detection and Tracking for Autonomous Navigation in Dynamic Environments
Authors: Ess Andreas , Schindler Konrad , Leibe Bastian , Van Gool Luc
Published: May 2010

We address the problem of vision-based navigation in busy inner-city locations, using a stereo rig mounted on a mobile platform. In this scenario semantic information becomes important: rather than modeling moving objects as arbitrary obstacles, they should be categorized and tracked in order to predict their future behavior. To this end, we combine classical geometric world mapping with object category detection and tracking. Object-category-specific detectors serve to find instances of the most important object classes (in our case pedestrians and cars). Based on these detections, multi-object tracking recovers the objects’ trajectories, thereby making it possible to predict their future locations, and to employ dynamic path planning. The approach is evaluated on challenging, realistic video sequences recorded at busy inner-city locations.
Fatal Cowpox Virus Infection in Captive Banded Mongooses (Mungos mungo)
Authors: Schmiedeknecht G. , Eickmann M. , Köhler K. , Herden C. E. , Kolesnikova L. , Förster C. , Burkhardt E. H. , König M. , Thiel M. , Reinacher M.
Published: May 2010

Cowpox virus infections have been described in various domestic and exotic animal species. This report is the first on an outbreak of fatal generalized cowpox virus infection among captive banded mongooses ( Mungos mungo, suborder Feliformia). All animals of a colony of 8 mongooses showed a fulminant course of disease. The whole population died (n=7) or was euthanized (n=1) within 11 days. Postmortem examinations were performed on 4 animals. All animals showed extensive necrotizing inflammation of retropharyngeal lymph nodes, typical poxviral skin lesions, and multiple necrotic foci in liver and spleen. Three animals exhibited an ulcerating stomatitis. Pulmonary lesions, a common feature of fatal cowpox virus infections in other feliform species, were not obvious. Histopathologically, characteristic cytoplasmic inclusion bodies were detected in all affected organs but the spleen. Based on transmission electron microscopy and cell culture, Orthopoxvirus was identified as the etiology. The virus was further characterized by polymerase chain reaction and sequence analysis, identifying it as cowpox virus. A survey in the habitat suggests wild brown rats ( Rattus norvegicus) as the most likely source of infection.
Spontaneous Unilateral Brainstem Infarction in Swiss Mice
Authors: Southard T. , Brayton C. F.
Published: May 2010

Spontaneous vestibular syndrome in mice, characterized clinically by head tilt, circling or rolling, can be caused by otitis media, arteritis or central nervous system lesions. Postmortem examination of eleven non-inbred Swiss mice submitted for necropsy due to acute onset of vestibular signs revealed lesions consistent with brainstem infarction. The lesions were characterized by unilateral, well-demarcated areas of necrosis, malacia, and gliosis, with variable amounts of hemorrhage, in the lateral aspect of the medulla and caudal pons. The affected area included the medial, lateral and superior vestibular nuclei, the facial nucleus and the spinal trigeminal nucleus. While vestibular disease secondary to otitis media, periarteritis, and central nervous system neoplasia has been reported in many mouse strains, these unilateral brainstem infarctions were only seen in Swiss mice. These lesions share features with Wallenberg's Lateral Medullary Syndrome, the most common type of brainstem infarct in humans.
Rural Drug Users: Factors Associated With Substance Abuse Treatment Utilization
Authors: Oser Carrie B. , Leukefeld Carl G. , Staton Tindall Michele , Garrity Thomas F. , Carlson Robert G. , Falck Russel , Jichuan Wang  , Booth Brenda M.
Published: May 2010

The purpose of this study is to use a modified version of Andersen’s Behavioral Model of Health Services Use to identify the correlates of the number of substance abuse treatment episodes received by rural drug users. Data were collected from face-to-face interviews with 711 drug users in rural areas of Ohio, Arkansas, and Kentucky. Descriptive analyses examine rural drug users’ substance use histories and retrospective substance abuse treatment service utilization patterns. A negative binomial regression model indicated that selected predisposing, historical health, and enabling factors were significantly associated with the utilization of substance abuse treatment among rural drug users. Despite high levels of recent and lifetime self-reported substance use among these rural drug users, treatment services were underutilized. Future studies are needed to examine the impact of the health care system and characteristics of the external environment associated with rural substance abuse treatment in order to increase utilization among drug users.
Representation of Female Offender Types Within the Pathways Model of Assault
Authors: Chambers Jemma C. , Ward Tony , Eccleston Lynne , Brown Mark
Published: May 2010

Research into the heterogeneity of female violent offending is sparse, even though females constitute a growing part of the prisoner population. There is evidence that the majority of female violent offenders display over-controlled traits related to uncharacteristic offending. This hypothesis was explored through a multivariate model, the Pathways Model of Assault, with interview data from 17 female assault offenders. Five different offence types were displayed, reflecting the same offence styles as male offenders. However, only two participants displayed an over-controlled offence type. Qualitative differences within the data suggested that offender rehabilitation should be tailored specifically for different gender needs in addition to the needs suggested by the different offence types.
Calcitonin gene-related peptide triggers migraine-like attacks in patients with migraine with aura
Authors: Hansen Jakob Møller , Hauge Anne Werner , Olesen Jes , Ashina Messoud
Published: May 2010

Introduction: Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is a key molecule in migraine pathogenesis. Intravenous CGRP infusion triggers delayed migraine-like attacks in patients with migraine without aura (MO). In contrast to patients with MO, in prior studies patients with familial hemiplegic migraine (FHM) did not report more migraine-like attacks compared to controls. Whether CGRP triggers migraine in patients with typical (non-hemiplegic) migraine with aura is (MA) unknown. In the present study we examined the migraine inducing effect of CGRP infusion in patients suffering from MA and healthy controls.

Methods: Fourteen patients suffering exclusively from migraine with typical aura (MA) and 11 healthy volunteers received a continuous intravenous infusion of 1.5 µg/min CGRP over 20 minutes. Headache and other migraine symptoms were scored every 10 minutes for one hour and self recorded hourly thereafter and until 13 hours post-infusion.

Results: CGRP infusion induced significantly more delayed headaches in MA patients (12 out of 14) than in controls (2 out of 11) ( p = 0.001). Furthermore, significantly more MA patients (57%; 8 out of 14) fulfilled criteria for an experimentally induced migraine attack after CGRP than controls (0%; 0 out of 11) ( P = 0.003). Four patients (28%) reported aura symptoms after CGRP infusion.

Conclusion: CGRP triggered migraine-like attacks without aura in patients suffering exclusively from MA. It also triggered a typical aura in 28% of the patients. These data indicate similar neurobiological pathways responsible for triggering migraine headache in MA and MO patients, and suggest differences between MA/MO and FHM.
“She Works Hard for the Money”: Drag Queens and the Management of Their Contradictory Status of Celebrity and Marginality
Authors: Berkowitz Dana , Liska Belgrave Linda
Published: May 2010

This article reports an ethnographic study of drag queens who perform in Miami Beach. Drag queens are marginalized, both economically and socially. However, drag enables some gay men to emphasize and manipulate aspects of femininity for the means of earning attention and income and garnering situational power. Grounding their empirical findings in symbolic interaction, identity, and performance theories, the authors argue that drag queens employ nuanced strategies to negotiate their contradictory status of admired yet alienated performers. The authors use observational and in-depth interview data to explore how participants experience, cope with, and challenge their social marginality. The authors then detail the rewards of drag, focusing on the allure of the transformation, situational power, and income. A subjective understanding of drag reveals that although marginalization is a serious issue, the rewards of drag can be empowering. The authors argue that identity work emerges as a link between marginalization and rewards.
Intimacy, Time, and Scarcity: Drug-Involved Women Account for Secretly Withholding Financial Capital in Violent Intimate Relationships
Authors: Rajah Valli
Published: May 2010

Research on the intimate relationships of drug-involved women has characterized these women either as passive victims of male violence and exploitation or as instrumental actors who maintain intimate relationships merely for the financial benefits they provide. This dichotomous depiction fails to capture the complexity of women’s accounts of such intimate relationships. Drawing on in-depth interviews with a group of poor, inner-city, largely African American and Puerto Rican women with a history of drug addiction and violent intimate relationships, this article looks at the accounts women offer for secretly withholding financial capital from their partners. Taking a constructionist approach, it demonstrates that women account for their practices within a normative context of gender relations by withholding capital to address the changing financial needs of the couple over time. In so doing, women provide themselves with a needed sense of order and continuity, what Anthony Giddens calls ontological security. This article adds to our understanding of how drug-involved women’s changing orientations to time may impact their constructions of their intimate relations. Implications for future research are discussed.
Re-Creating New Orleans: Driving Development Through Creativity
Authors: Liu Cathy Yang , Kolenda Ric , Fitzpatrick Grady , Todd Tim N.
Published: May 2010

The purpose of this article is to consider the promotion of the entertainment industries as a means to economic redevelopment in post-Katrina New Orleans. A comparative study is conducted with three other cities in the Southeast: Atlanta, Georgia; Austin, Texas; and Wilmington, North Carolina. The study begins by laying a theoretical foundation for such an approach, looking at creative class and human capital theories in particular. After providing a brief background of New Orleans, the authors review current economic development strategies for the region. New Orleans’ existing strength in the creative media cluster is acknowledged and alternative strategies are discussed in terms of firm-centered and people-centered approaches. The article closes with a number of specific policy implications for the city, including entertainment industry cluster development, improved quality of life for residents, and an enhanced business climate. Possible implications for other cities are also discussed.
Modeling the Impact of Taxes and Transfers on Child Poverty in South Africa
Authors: Wilkinson Kate
Published: May 2010

The research described here shows how microsimulation modeling can be used to analyze the impact of tax and transfer policy on the situation of children in South Africa. Given that the government has made explicit legislative commitments to children and that poverty rates are highest for households containing children, it might be expected that children would be a priority in policy reforms. The microsimulation model South African Microsimulation Model (SAMOD) is used to simulate certain policy reforms announced in the 2008 budget, and implemented during 2008, and explore the impact of these reforms on children and other age groups across the income distribution. A budget-neutral policy reform is also considered to determine the extent to which policy could do more to support children without adversely affecting other poor groups.
Florence Nightingale
Authors: Dossey Barbara M.
Published: May 2010

This article casts new and refreshing light on Florence Nightingale’s life and work by examining her personality type. Using the theory-based Myers—Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), the author examines Nightingale’s personality type and reveals that she was an introverted-intuitive-thinking-judging type. The merit of using the MBTI is that it allows us to more clearly understand three major areas of Nightingale’s life that have been partially unacknowledged or misunderstood: her spiritual development as a practicing mystic, her management of her chronic illness to maintain her prodigious work output, and her chosen strategies to transform her visionary ideas into new health care and social realities.
Florence Nightingale
Authors: Dossey Barbara M.
Published: May 2010

Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) received a clear and profoundly moving Call to serve God at the age of 16. Through a lifetime of hard work and discipline, she became a practicing mystic in the Western tradition, thereby becoming an instrument of God’s love, which was the primarily source of her great energy and the fabled “Nightingale power.” To understand the life and work of this legendary healer, who forever changed human consciousness, the role of women, and nursing and public health systems in the middle of the 19th century, it is necessary to understand her motivation and inspiration. This article will discuss her life and work in the context of her mystical practice and to show the parallels between her life and the lives of three recognized women mystics. In her epic Crimean war mission (1854-1856) of leading and directing women nurses in the army hospital at Scutari, Turkey, Florence Nightingale burst into world consciousness as a spiritual beacon of hope and compassion for all who suffered. Her historic breakthrough achievement—pioneering the modern administrative role of nurse superintendent with measurable outcomes supported by irrefutable data—in the face of incredible adversity was merely the cornerstone of her life work.
Reflections on Transformational Leadership
Authors: Goertz Koerner JoEllen
Published: May 2010

As the health care field moves into the 21st century, the discipline is moving into new forms of service and leadership. This article presents a view of Nightingale as a transformational leader from the vantage point of personality and from inspired commitment to social action. Values, beliefs, and the changing roles of nursing leadership in creation of new order are examined along with skills and capacities necessary to accomplish the task at hand.
Florence Nightingale
Authors: McDonald Lynn
Published: May 2010

Nightingale’s passionate commitment to statistics was based on her faith in a god of order, who created a world that ran by law. God’s laws could be known through research, as a result of which suitable interventions to better the world could be applied. Statistics were a vital component in her holistic approach to health care as a system. They served both to indicate serious problems and to assist in policy making, and then again to monitor the effects of the new policies. She pioneered the use of evaluative statistics and saw reforms achieved as a result of her advocacy. This article explores three key aspects selected from Nightingale’s more than 40 years of applied statistical work: her adaptation of Quetelet’s methodological foundations, the use of statistics in monitoring public health care systems, and her pioneering study of maternal mortality in childbirth.
Florence Nightingale
Authors: Selanders Louise C.
Published: May 2010

Although generally recognized as the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale has been criticized for her apparent lack of support of women’s issues, including suffrage. This article examines the primary and supporting literature surrounding this topic. Findings indicate that Nightingale developed a complex set of beliefs that supported women as individuals rather than from a gender perspective. She did, in fact, support the concept of women’s suffrage but did not give it priority. Victorian women suffered from lack of legal status, education, financial independence, and support from either the family or church as social institutions. Therefore, Nightingale’s conception of nursing as a secular, educated profession cannot be overemphasized as a benchmark in the developing importance of women in the social system.
Workplace Bullying in Health Care Affects the Meaning of Work
Authors: MacIntosh Judith , Wuest Judith , Gray Marilyn Merritt , Cronkhite Marcella
Published: May 2010

Our purpose in this grounded theory study was to explore the impact of workplace bullying (WPB) on women working in health care. We analyzed interviews with 21 women, professionals and nonprofessionals. The women experienced a change in their meaning of work (MOW) when they had experienced WPB, and they addressed this change through a process we called the shifting meaning of work. This process has three stages. The first, developing insight, involves recognizing causes of changed MOW as external. In the second stage, resisting, women defend against changed MOW by sustaining acceptable MOW and work performances, and by confronting causes. In the final stage, rebuilding, women try to adapt and modify approaches to work by coming to terms, adjusting work attitudes, and investing in self. We identified implications of this process for managing health and work issues with women, health care providers, and employers.
Meanings of Feeling Well for Women With Multiple Sclerosis
Authors: Olsson Malin , Skär Lisa , Söderberg Siv
Published: May 2010

In research concerning multiple sclerosis (MS), the factors that impact on people’s well-being and quality of life have been studied, but little has been written about what it means to feel well for women with MS. Therefore, in this study our aim was to describe meanings of feeling well for women with MS. We interviewed 15 women with MS, and a phenomenological hermeneutic interpretation was utilized to analyze the interviews. Through this study it can be understood that finding a pace where daily life goes on means that women with MS feel well when the illness is kept in check and is not the dominant experience. The findings of this study can be used to confirm women’s experiences of feeling well, despite living with the consequences of MS. Health care professionals will find the results of this study useful when they reflect on and formulate the care of women with MS when attempting to support the latter’s desire to feel well in their daily lives.
Social and Cultural Meanings of Self-Rated Health: Arab Immigrants in the United States
Authors: Abdulrahim Sawsan , Ajrouch Kristine
Published: May 2010

Self-rated health (SRH) is used as an outcome measure in a vast number of epidemiologic studies, yet conceptual research into what the variable captures among diverse ethnic and immigrant groups remains limited. Utilizing data from 46 in-depth interviews among adult Arab immigrants in the United States, we examined the general criteria used to explain an SRH selection and the culturally embedded rationales individuals employ to construct meanings of health. Our findings showed that SRH is determined by two main criteria: presence/absence of health conditions and psychological well-being. In-depth analyses further revealed that Arab immigrants employ culturally embedded rationales to move away from extremes and project a view of good health as a state of balance and poor health as a state of imbalance. Our study adds to the limited conceptual knowledge on the meanings of subjective health evaluations among immigrants, and the findings suggest that exploring rationales provides richer information than focusing on criteria alone.
Young Children’s Decisions to Include Peers With Physical Disabilities in Play
Authors: Diamond Karen E. , Hong Soo-Young
Published: May 2010

The authors examined factors related to preschool children’s reasoning about including a hypothetical peer with a physical disability in different play activities. They hypothesized that children’s inclusion decisions would be influenced by features of the physical environment, attention to issues of fairness and equity, and individual child characteristics. Participants comprised 72 children enrolled in inclusive preschool classrooms. Children’s ideas about inclusion and their inclusion decisions were gathered in response to vignettes reflecting experiences that children are likely to encounter in preschool. The authors found that children were significantly more likely to say that they would include a child with a physical disability in an activity requiring few motor skills. Children’s inclusion decisions were also significantly associated with their developing theory-of-mind skills and with prompts that encouraged them to consider issues of fairness and equity when making a decision. These results suggest that adaptations of planned activities that promote participation by reducing motor demands for all children, along with attention to issues of fairness and equity of opportunity, may be effective classroomwide interventions to support inclusion of children with disabilities in play activities with peers.
Collaborative Design Processes for Authentic Preservice Music Teacher Observations
Authors: Walls Kimberly C. , Samuels Sue
Published: May 2010

The purpose of this action research study was to transform the classroom culture from one of observation viewed as obligation to observation viewed as a powerful learning tool. At two universities, preservice music teachers collaborated to create teaching observation instruments. Through class discussions, investigation, and creation of teaching observation formats, rating scales, and categories for evaluation, including musical teaching skills, an environment was created in which the preservice teachers became an integral part of the observation process. Analysis of instructor journals, class assignments, and interviews with supervising teachers and preservice teachers showed that students at both sites expressed increased enthusiasm and commitment to the observation process and greater insight into evaluating teaching. Findings from this study indicate that involving preservice music teachers in a collaborative environment can increase their appreciation for the observation process.
A Use of Subjective Clustering to Support Affinity Diagram Results in Customer Needs Analysis
Authors: Takai Shun , Ishii Kosuke
Published: May 2010

Analysis of customer needs is a critical first step in successful product development. Customer needs analysis typically consists of interviewing potential customers to understand their needs, grouping similar needs to identify representative needs, and asking customers to evaluate relative importance of the representative needs. Using the importance data, customers may be grouped according to the priorities they place on representative needs. This article compares two approaches for identifying representative needs — affinity diagram (AD) and subjective clustering (SC) — and presents a use of SC to support grouping results obtained from AD. The application of both AD and SC in identifying representative needs is demonstrated using the customer need analysis of the next generation particle accelerator.
Anesthetics and the Developing Brain
Authors: Yudkowitz Francine S.
Published: May 2010

In the past decade, concern has been raised about the safety of anesthetic agents on the developing brain. Animal studies have shown an increase in apoptosis in the developing brain when exposed to N-methyl-D-asparate receptor blockers and/or gamma-aminobutyric acid receptor agonists that is related to the dose and duration of anesthetic agents. Whether these studies can be extrapolated to humans is being investigated. The Food and Drug Administration in 2007 convened an advisory committee to look at this issue. They found that the animal data available were inadequate to extrapolate to humans and determined that human studies were necessary. Human studies are underway but the challenge they face is how to delineate the effects of anesthesia from those of the underlying medical condition and surgery itself. At this time, we must continue to make decisions based on the known risks and benefits of anesthetics and apply it on an individual basis.
Performance and Scalability Evaluation of ‘Big Memory’ on Blue Gene Linux
Authors: Yoshii Kazutomo , Iskra Kamil , Naik Harish , Beckman Pete , Broekema P. Chris
Published: May 2010

We address memory performance issues observed in Blue Gene Linux and discuss the design and implementation of ‘Big Memory’——an alternative, transparent memory space introduced to eliminate the memory performance issues. We evaluate the performance of Big Memory using custom memory benchmarks, NAS Parallel Benchmarks, and the Parallel Ocean Program, at a scale of up to 4,096 nodes. We find that Big Memory successfully resolves the performance issues normally encountered in Blue Gene Linux. For the ocean simulation program, we even find that Linux with Big Memory provides better scalability than does the lightweight compute node kernel designed solely for high-performance applications. Originally intended exclusively for compute node tasks, our new memory subsystem dramatically improves the performance of certain I/O node applications as well. We demonstrate this performance using the central processor of the LOw Frequency ARray radio telescope as an example.
Exploiting Latent I/O Asynchrony in Petascale Science Applications
Authors: Widener Patrick , Wolf Matthew , Abbasi Hasan , McManus Scott , Payne Mary , Barrick Matthew , Pulikottil Jack , Bridges Patrick , Schwan Karsten
Published: May 2010

We present a collection of techniques for exploiting latent I/O asynchrony which can substantially improve performance in data-intensive parallel applications. Latent asynchrony refers to an application’s tolerance for decoupling ancillary operations from its core computation, and is a property of HPC codes not fully explored by current HPC I/O systems. Decoupling operations such as buffering and staging, reorganization, and format conversion in space and in time from core codes can shorten I/O phases, preserving valuable MPP compute cycles. We describe in this paper DataTaps, IOgraphs, and Metabots, three tools which allow HPC developers to implement decoupled I/O operations. Using these tools, asynchrony can be exploited by data generators which overlap computation with communication, and by data consumers that perform data conversion and reorganization out-of-band and on-demand. In the context of a data-intensive fusion simulation, we show that exploiting latent asynchrony through decoupling of operations can provide significant performance benefits.
Concern-Focused Evaluation for Ambiguous and Conflicting Policies: An Approach From the Environmental Field
Authors: Mermet Laurent , Billé Raphaël , Leroy Maya
Published: May 2010

Environment and sustainable development show how policies are becoming ever more complex and ambiguous. This trend calls for new evaluation approaches. They need to be more clearly focused on specific, explicit concerns. They must be driven by a strategic concept of use to overcome the vulnerability to manipulation of many integrative, essentially procedural, approaches to policy making and evaluation. This article presents a conceptual framework for such evaluations and a four-step approach: defining the focal concern; developing criteria and synthesizing observations on the extent to which the focal concern is met; identifying and assessing all policies contributing to this outcome; and complementing this with the evaluation of policies specifically aimed at meeting the focal concern. Examples are taken essentially from wetland-related policies in France and Senegal. The article discusses how this approach tackles some crucial issues in evaluation research and practice and advocates closer connections between evaluation and critical research on policies.
Design Procedure for Web Core Sandwich Panels for Residential Roofs
Authors: Briscoe Casey R. , Mantell Susan C. , Davidson Jane H. , Okazaki Taichiro
Published: May 2010

Panelized construction of residential buildings is gaining popularity due to the architectural and energy efficiency benefits that can be achieved. An important challenge to the design of panel structures for buildings is the balance between long-term structural performance and the thermal insulating requirement. In this study, foam core and web core panels are designed for residential roofs. Both panels are comprised of two face sheets and an insulating foam core. In the web core panel, thin metal webs that connect the face sheets are added to improve panel shear stiffness and enable longer spans. A design procedure is developed that considers R-value, panel deflection, core shear failure, bearing failure, and buckling of the face sheets and webs. The buckling model includes the ability of the foam core stiffness to restrain the buckling deformation. Panel designs are presented that provide R-5.3 m2 K/W for roof loads of 1500, 2000, and 3000 N/m2, corresponding to climate zones in the US. It is demonstrated that the web core panel can be designed for these structural and thermal requirements with unsupported span lengths as long as 7 m, while span lengths for foam core panels are limited to 4 m. Web shear buckling and R-value are the two performance criteria that limit panel span length and depth.
First language attrition in foreign accent perception
Authors: Major Roy C.
Published: May 2010

This study investigates first language attrition in perception of a foreign accent in one’s native language. Although studies of first language attrition abound, there are very few studies on L1 attrition in perception of adults. Furthermore, there is apparently no research dealing with L1 attrition in foreign accent identification. The present study is perhaps the first to investigate this issue, which has implications for both L1 and L2 attrition in perception. The study compares accent ratings of four different groups rating native and nonnative Brazilian Portuguese. The four listener groups comprised (a) Brazilian Portuguese listeners in Brazil, (b) Brazilian Portuguese listeners in the USA, (c) American English listeners in Brazil with Portuguese experience, and (d) American English listeners in the USA with Portuguese experience. There was no apparent attrition in the ability to distinguish between native and nonnative speakers, and in fact all four groups could distinguish between native and nonnative speakers. However, other aspects suggest attrition because the ratings of the Brazilian listeners in the USA were different from the Brazilian listeners in Brazil. In addition, there were slight differences between the American listeners in the USA and those in Brazil.
Comfort Zone of Air Speeds and Temperatures for Air-conditioned Environment in the Subtropical Hong Kong
Authors: Fong K.F. , Chow T.T. , Li C.
Published: May 2010

In a centralised HVAC system, the refrigeration system would consume less energy if the chilled water supply temperature could be elevated. The room air temperature could be raised, but the thermal comfort could be maintained by increasing the air speed without annoyance. In order to study the influence of acclimatisation in a subtropical climate and expectation of an air-conditioned environment for people in Hong Kong, a thermal comfort survey was carried out. In this study, 203 human subjects aged 19—50 participated. A thermal sensation model was then developed, and a 90% comfort zone for the air speeds at different temperatures established. The results of this study were also compared with the comfort zone derived by the predicted mean vote (PMV). It was found that the PMV model did not give an effective reflection of the thermal sensation reported by people in Hong Kong.
Uncertainty Analysis in Mould Spore Transportation and its Application in an Existing Building
Authors: Hyeun Jun Moon
Published: May 2010

Indoor mould spore concentrations can be predicted by using a mathematical model that accounts for the mechanisms of spore transportation in a building with a mechanical ventilation system. The developed model considers the parameters related to a ventilation system and cleaning activity, and calculates indoor spore concentration, indoor/outdoor ratio, and the amount of deposited spores on interior surfaces in each building case. To get a more realistic outcome, an uncertainty analysis is conducted in the model by considering uncertainties associated with the parameters. The analysis results provide the distribution of spore concentrations as a function of time and give possible ranges of outcome with probability. Thus, a more realistic evaluation is available with the mathematical model. In addition, the identification of dominant parameters that have a major influence on spore transportation is performed using an appropriate parameter screening technique. Based on the identified dominant parameters, recommendations can be made to maintain lower indoor spore concentrations in a specific building case. Application of the spore transportation model under uncertainty in an existing building is described in the paper.
The Cultural Complex and Transformative Learning Environments
Authors: Gozawa Joanne
Published: May 2010

An enhanced pedagogy, informed by the contemporary Jungian idea of the cultural complex, may help reveal the invisible cultural prohibitions in transformative learning environments. In this article, transformative learning as individual knowledge and capacity building is questioned. Proposed, is an enhanced pedagogy, informed by the contemporary Jungian idea of the cultural complex, which may help to reveal the invisible cultural prohibitions in transformative learning environments.
Sharing Ike
Authors: Niekamp Ray
Published: May 2010

Citizen journalists shot video of Hurricane Ike as it moved through the Caribbean, Texas, and the midsection of the United States in September, 2008. This study is a content analysis of 239 videos shot during Hurricane Ike and contributed to iReport, a citizen journalism site run by CNN and YouTube. It looks at the quality of the videos and the information provided by citizen journalists. The study finds that most of the videos are of poor quality, and that citizen journalists do little of the work expected of journalists. They provide little information with their videos and generally do not even reveal their own names. However, the study concludes that the viewing public is now willing to accept poor quality video, and even mainstream media will use video that does not meet professional standards if the picture is compelling enough.
First report of phase 2 study of dasatinib with hyper-CVAD for the frontline treatment of patients with Philadelphia chromosome–positive (Ph+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia
Authors: Ravandi Farhad , O'Brien Susan , Thomas Deborah , Faderl Stefan , Jones Dan , Garris Rebecca , Dara Samuel , Jorgensen Jeffrey , Kebriaei Partow , Champlin Richard , Borthakur Gautam , Burger Jan , Ferrajoli Alessandra , Garcia-Manero Guillermo , Wierda William , Cortes Jorge , Kantarjian Hagop
Published: May 2010

The combination of cytotoxic chemotherapy and imatinib has improved the outcome for patients with Philadelphia chromosome–positive (Ph+) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Dasatinib has significant clinical activity in patients with imatinib resistance. We examined the efficacy and safety of combining chemotherapy with dasatinib for patients with Ph+ ALL. Newly diagnosed patients received dasatinib 50 mg by mouth twice per day (or 100 mg daily) for the first 14 days of each of 8 cycles of alternating hyper-CVAD, and high-dose cytarabine and methotrexate. Patients in complete remission received maintenance daily dasatinib and monthly vincristine and prednisone for 2 years, followed by dasatinib indefinitely. Thirty-five patients with untreated Ph+ ALL with a median age of 53 years (range, 21-79 years) were treated; 33 patients (94%) achieved complete remission. Two patients died of infections before response assessment. Grade 3 and 4 adverse events included hemorrhage and pleural and pericardial effusions. With a median follow-up of 14 months (range, 4-37 months), the median disease-free survival and median overall survival have not been reached, with an estimated 2-year survival of 64%. The combination of chemotherapy with dasatinib is effective in achieving long-term remissions in patients with newly diagnosed Ph+ ALL. This study was registered at www.ClinicalTrials.gov as NCT00390793.
Kidney disease associated with plasma cell dyscrasias
Authors: Heher Eliot C. , Goes Nelson B. , Spitzer Thomas R. , Raje Noopur S. , Humphreys Benjamin D. , Anderson Kenneth C. , Richardson Paul G.
Published: May 2010

Plasma cell dyscrasias are frequently encountered malignancies often associated with kidney disease through the production of monoclonal immunoglobulin (Ig). Paraproteins can cause a remarkably diverse set of pathologic patterns in the kidney and recent progress has been made in explaining the molecular mechanisms of paraprotein-mediated kidney injury. Other recent advances in the field include the introduction of an assay for free light chains and the use of novel antiplasma cell agents that can reverse renal failure in some cases. The role of stem cell transplantation, plasma exchange, and kidney transplantation in the management of patients with paraprotein-related kidney disease continues to evolve.
Genome-wide estimation of firing efficiencies of origins of DNA replication from time-course copy number variation data
Authors: Luo Huaien , Li Juntao , Eshaghi Majid , Liu Jianhua , Karuturi R Krishna Murthy
Published: May 2010

Background

DNA replication is a fundamental biological process during S phase of cell division. It is initiated from several hundreds of origins along whole chromosome with different firing efficiencies (or frequency of usage). Direct measurement of origin firing efficiency by techniques such as DNA combing are time-consuming and lack the ability to measure all origins. Recent genome-wide study of DNA replication approximated origin firing efficiency by indirectly measuring other quantities related to replication. However, these approximation methods do not reflect properties of origin firing and may lead to inappropriate estimations.

Results

In this paper, we develop a probabilistic model - Spanned Firing Time Model (SFTM) to characterize DNA replication process. The proposed model reflects current understandings about DNA replication. Origins in an individual cell may initiate replication randomly within a time window, but the population average exhibits a temporal program with some origins replicated early and the others late. By estimating DNA origin firing time and fork moving velocity from genome-wide time-course S-phase copy number variation data, we could estimate firing efficiency of all origins. The estimated firing efficiency is correlated well with the previous studies in fission and budding yeasts.

Conclusions

The new probabilistic model enables sensitive identification of origins as well as genome-wide estimation of origin firing efficiency. We have successfully estimated firing efficiencies of all origins in S.cerevisiae, S.pombe and human chromosomes 21 and 22.