bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Medical Record Summary for Computer Operation
Authors: Gordon B. L.
Published: March 2018

Key items of the source medical record are valuable in computing, notably when presented in a wellordered summary. These designations are preferred to complete coverage and narration. The computer file includes patient identification, reasons for the consultation, findings, treatment, outcome and successive episodes and/or observations; academic diagnoses are desirable if/when proved. Descriptors or nouns and qualifiers or adjectives constitute the computer vocabulary for key items, e.g., paincliest-precordium-sudden-severe-radiation-chin, ECG inverted T wave. Random numbers are useful to attain maximum simplicity and specificity of the input for filing, handling, timely communication and subsequent classification.
A Practical Device for the Application of a Diagnostic or Prognostic Function
Authors: Lubsen J. , Pool J. , van der Does E.
Published: March 2018

The application of a diagnostic or prognostic Multiple Logistic Function (MLF) in medical practice may, depending on the complexity of the model, require considerable arithmetic. Various methods for the elimination of such arithmetic, e.g. sets of tables or nomograms, have been proposed. An alternative method of eliminating the necessary arithmetic is described here. It is based on the principle of the familiar slide-rule. As an example, the design of a slide-rule for the evaluation of a diagnostic model for acute myocardial infarction is described. The slide-rule method allows for the evaluation of logistic models with complex linear combinations in the exponent. Adequate devices can be produced at low cost.
Alternativen zum klassischen Histogramm
Authors: Victor N.
Published: March 2018

Als Alternativen — insbesondere innerhalb von Computerprogrammen — zum klassischen Histogramm werden verschiedene Methoden der nichtparametrischen Dichteschätzungen vorgeschlagen; besonders geeignet erscheint eine Modifikation der Kern-Methoden: die Verwendung variabler Kerne. Für jede der Methoden wird auf die Einflüsse einer Diskretisierung der Daten eingegangen.
Identification and Transformation of Terminal Morphemes in Medical English Part II
Authors: Pacak M. G. , Pratt A. W.
Published: March 2018

This paper describes an automated procedure for the identification and subsequent transformation of nominal forms into the corresponding adjectival forms, participles into nominal forms, and a method for adjectivization of certain Greek and Latin phrases in medical language. The paper is an extension of our previous report which dealt with transforms of adjectives into nouns and nouns plural into nouns singular in medical English. It is a part of the information retrieval system for processing of pathology data which was developed at the Division of Computer Research and Technology, National Institutes of Health.
Preparation of Cervix and Corpus Carcinoma Patient Records for Computer Evaluation
Authors: Hájsxár L. , Németh G. , Naszály A. , Takácsi-Nagy L.
Published: March 2018

Collection and presentation of data for retrospective computer evaluation of 5,279 cervix carcinoma and 1,366 corpus carcinoma cases treated at the Institute of Oncoradiology, Budapest from 1946 to 1972 is reported on. The work took two years and made the databank handling of the cases studied possible. Reorganization of the hospital patient recording system in compliance with the established coding principles and use of special record forms, on which entries can be directly coded, is recommended.
Die Versorgungslandschaft in der Psychoonkologie
Authors: Hornemann B. , Bruns G. , Petermann-Meyer A. , Singer S.
Published: March 2018

Gegenstand und Ziel: Ziel dieser Arbeit ist die Darstellung der aktuellen Versorgungsstrukturen für Krebs-Patienten mit psychosozialen Belastungen. Methoden: Literaturrecherche für die Versorgungssektoren (stationär, ambulant, sektorenübergreifend) und Einholung von Expertenwissen. Ergebnisse: Psychoonkologische Versorgung steht in allen Versorgungsbereichen für die Patienten, ihre Angehörigen und Hinterbliebenen zur Verfügung, jedoch nicht immer flächendeckend. Vor allem im ambulanten Bereich und im ländlichen Raum gibt es noch erhebliche Versorgungslücken. Die Arbeit der Krebsberatungsstellen ist durch mangelnde Regelfinanzierung nicht sichergestellt. Im stationären Bereich können Leistungen zwar dokumentiert werden, sind jedoch auch nicht erlösrelevant, sodass die Versorgung nur über das freiwillige Zertifizierungssystem gesichert ist. Eine wichtige Hürde zur Inanspruchnahme besteht darin, dass Patienten nicht über die vorhandenen Angebote informiert sind. Sie wünschen sich häufig, dass ihr Arzt ihnen empfiehlt, dass sie Unterstützung in Anspruch nehmen sollten und ihnen sagt, wohin sie sich wenden können. Schlussfolgerungen: Die Versorgungssituation könnte noch weiter verbessert werden durch die Sicherstellung der Finanzierung und durch bessere Informierung der Patienten. Ärzte können ihren Patienten helfen, indem sie konkrete Empfehlungen zur Inanspruchnahme von psychoonkologischen Angeboten aussprechen.
Finding Medical Resources on the Internet
Authors: Li Yu-Chuan
Published: March 2018

As in every other segment of the Internet, the amount of health-care information has increased exponentially in the past five years. Research-oriented, clinical. oriented and education-oriented medical resources have been built on the Internet by companies and institutions. Thousands of major medical web sites are currently serving millions of documents on the Internet, which are likely to double in the next 20 months. While the Internet is becoming the largest medical information repository, it is necessary that health-care professionals know efficient ways to find what they want in the vast field of medical information. This paper discusses the categorization, searching mechanisms and the impact of medical resources on the Internet.
Building a Sustainable Health System
Authors: Hovenga E. J. S , Coiera E.
Published: March 2018

To conduct a basic sustainability analysis of health systems, and explore models for conceptualising and creating sustainable organizations, based upon the experiences of the environmental sciences and organisational theory. To explore the role of information technologies in assisting health organizations become sustainable enterprises.

A review of recent literature into sustainable systems and an analysis and extension of the literature to the specific case of healthcare.

Many if not all health systems around the globe face dual challenges of increasing demands and diminishing resources, which are ultimately unsustainable. Four physical system conditions which are pre-requisites for sustainability of systems – that materials should not be extracted, accumulate or be depleted faster than they can be managed, and that systems should fundamentally meet human needs apply equally to healthcare. For healthcare, in addition to physical material and energy, resources include people, and data, information and knowledge. Further, healthcare is an open system that needs to be sufficiently adaptive to changes if it is to sustain. Information and communication technologies are crucial tools to enable any large and complex modern enterprise to model, measure and then manage business processes. Technologies like organisational simulation, the electronic health record, and decision support are essential tools for sustainable health services. Applied inappropriately however, IT can itself create unsustainable conditions, for example through the accumulation of legacy systems, a situation that adherence to technical standards should mitigate.

It is crucial that our nations undertake a formal sustainability analysis of their health systems, to identify where the most pressing challenges are. In concert, there needs to be a long term process of exploring innovative designs for health services that improve the sustainability of the system as a whole, and there needs to be a will to implement the health system policies, infrastructure and services to ensure that in 20 years time we do have a healthy health system.
Medical Informatics in Morocco: Casablanca Medical Informatics Laboratory
Authors: Diouny S. , Balar K. , Othmani M. Bennani
Published: March 2018

In 2005, Medical Informatics Laboratory (CMIL) became an independent research unit within the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy of Casablanca. CMIL is currently run by three persons (a university professor, a data processing specialist and a pedagogical assistant). The objectives of CMIL are to promote research and develop quality in the field of biomedical data processing and health, and integrate new technologies into medical education and biostatistics. It has four units: Telehealth Unit, Network Unit, Biostatistics Unit, Medical data processing Unit.

The present article seeks to give a comprehensive account of Casablanca Medical informatics laboratory (CMIL) activities. For ease of exposition, the article consists of four sections: Section I discusses the background of CMIL; section II is devoted to educational activities; section III addresses professional activities; and section IV lists projects that CMIL is involved in.

Since its creation, CMIL has been involved in a number of national and international projects, which have a bearing on Telemedicine applications, E-learning skills and data management in medical studies in Morocco.

It is our belief that the skills and knowledge gained in the past few years would certainly enrich our research activities, and improve the situation of research in Medical informatics in Morocco.
Research and Education for Biomedical Informatics at Tokyo Medical and Dental University
Authors: Nakaya Jun , Tanaka Hiroshi
Published: March 2018

Based on a basic concept of “Systems Life Science: understanding life and disease as a unified system”, we move forward in research, empirical implementation, and making contributions to healthcare policy.

We integrate bioinformatics and medical informatics for identifying critical issues in biological science and solving medical challenges with a concept of “Systems Life Science” which consists of “Systems Evolutionary Biology” for basic science, “Systems Pathology” for clinical sciences, and an empirical medical informatics for future medicine.

Our laboratory is an integrated laboratory consisting of a computational biology group in the School of Biomedical Sciences (SBS), a bioinformatics group in the Medical Research Institute (MRI), and a medical informatics group in the Information Center for Medical Sciences (ICMS) with a philosophy of “Empirical Systems Life Science”.

Based on the philosophy of “Empirical Systems Life Science”, we continue to forward our research, education, systems implementations, and international standardization efforts. We believe that this approach will become a fundamental and effective way to uncover many of the secrets of life processes, and to help/solve complex issues for future medicine in this post genomic era with exceedingly rapidly growing amounts of -omics data and knowledge.
Board Certified Physicians in Health Informatics A European Precedent for Professional Recognition
Authors: Beguin Cl. , Mélot Ch. , Gillet P. , France F.H.
Published: March 2018

Objective:
To document the official recognition of a new specialty in health informatics in one European country, because a similar legal process may lead to professional equivalence for physicians in all member countries of the European Union and elsewhere.

Method:
In Belgium, a Ministerial Decree in 2001 established criteria for the certification of Physician Specialist in Health Data Manage- ment. Such recognition of a new competence is a natural comple- ment to a University Master’s degree and can have a major influence on the salary scale and on professional recognition and develop- ment in public and private sectors.

Results:
Teaching and training programmes in Belgium were adapted according to the Decree. Ninety-seven physicians were certi- fied in the French community and 72 in the Flemish community be- tween 2002 and 2009, with a prerequisite of this title for engage- ment in several official and private positions, and a salary increase.

Discussion
In other countries, recognition of a specific competence in health informatics remains, at best, a voluntary registration proc- ess and University programs vary widely. The implications of this Decree, with recognition of Physician Specialist in Health Data Man- agement as a special competence, rather than a medical specialty, are discussed. The extension of such recognition to health profes- sions other than physicians is not yet envisaged.

Conclusion:
Although the title “Physician Specialist in Health Data Management” may appear rather old fashioned, recognition of this competence in a European Union country is a first step to help its diffusion to other countries.
Looking for the Evidence: Value of Health Informatics. Editorial
Authors: Séroussi B. , Jaulent M.-C. , Lehmann C.U.
Published: March 2018

Objectives: To provide an editorial introduction to the 2013 IMIA Yearbook of Medical Informatics with an overview of its contents and contributors.

Methods: A brief overview of the main theme, and an outline of the purposes, contents, format, and acknowledgment of contributions.

Results: Health information technology (HIT) is currently widely implemented to improve healthcare quality and patient safety while reducing costs. Although these benefits are expected and largely advertised, the evidence for these benefits is still missing. Unintended consequences are often reported and some applications have been shown to be wasteful, harmful, and even fatal. Evidence-based health informatics has been defined as “the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence when making decisions about the introduction and operation of information technology in a given health care setting”. The 2013 issue of the IMIA Yearbook highlights important contributions about the significant challenges that arise from the assessment of HIT solutions. Progress towards evidence-based health informatics is identified to elicit what works, what doesn't work, and why. In an environment where resources are limited, budgets lower than in past years, and the need to improve care is becoming ever more pressing, focusing on this topic should guide institutions and providers in the implementation of the best health information technology.

Conclusion: This overview of progress and current challenges across the spectrum of the discipline shows many great examples of evidence that have been gathered on the effectiveness of HIT. However, evidence remains limited and a significant work should be conducted to improve the development, testing, and implementation of HIT applications.
Trends on Integrating Technologies for Mobile and Personalized Care
Authors: Jaulent M.-C. , Bricon-Souf N.
Published: March 2018

Objectives: Summarize current excellent research and trends in the field of Health and Clinical Management.

Method: Synopsis of the articles selected for the IMIA Yearbook 2013.

Results: Five papers from international peer-reviewed journals have been selected for the section of Health and Clinical Management.

Conclusions: The selected articles illustrate current research regarding the Health and Clinical Management and showed that it is impacted by the importance of personalizing the care and integrating the use of mobile and connected technologies.
Evolution of Human Factors Research and Studies of Health Information Technologies: The Role of Patient Safety
Authors: Borycki E. , Carayon P. , Jaspers M.W.M. , Pelayo S. , Beuscart-Zéphir M.C.
Published: March 2018

Objectives: The objective of this survey paper is to present and explain the impact of recent regulations and patient safety initiatives (EU, US and Canada) on Human Factors (HF) /Usability studies and research focusing on Health Information Technology (HIT).

Methods: The authors have selected the most prominent of these recent regulations and initiatives, which rely on validated HF and usability methods and concepts and aim at enhancing the specific process of identification and prevention of technology-induced errors throughout the lifecycle of HIT.

Results: The analysis highlights several points of consensus: 1) safety initiatives or regulations applicable to Medical Devices (MD) tend to extend to HIT, 2) Usability is considered a fundamental dimension of HIT safety, 3) HF/Usability methods and the overall Human Centred Design (HCD) approach are considered efficient solutions to ensure the design of safe and usable HIT. However, it appears that MD manufacturers, and a fortiori HIT designers and developers are still far from being able to routinely apply HCD to their products

Discussion and conclusion: On the research side, we need to analyze manufacturers' difficulties with the application of the HCD process and imposed standards. For each given category of HIT, we need to identify the fundamental usability dimensions and design principles likely to impact patient safety independently of workplace settings or organizations. These should be described in terms of usability flaws, corresponding usage problems experienced by users and related outcomes. This approach requires good quality and well structured reporting of Human Factors / Usability research studies on HIT.
Sensor, Signal, and Imaging Informatics: Evidence-Based Health Informatics
Authors: Moreau-Gaudry A. , Voros S.
Published: March 2018

Objectives: This synopsis presents a selection for the IMIA (International Medical Informatics Association) Yearbook 2013 of excellent research in the broad field of Sensor, Signal, and Imaging Informatics published in the year 2012.

Methods: We performed a systematic initial selection and a double blind peer review process to find the best papers in this domain published in 2012, from the PubMed and Web of Science databases. A set of MeSH keywords provided by experts was used.

Results: Current research in the field of sensor signal and imaging informatics is based on innovative sensors from which relevant information (signal and imaging) can be acquired and integrated into workflow based or patient based models. This rich environment can help the medical staff in carrying out more optimal care. The demonstration of the added value of such innovations is more and more performed through evidence-based evaluations.

Conclusions: The best paper selection of articles on sensors, signal, and imaging informatics illustrates the wide spectrum covered by this field in 2012, and the attention paid to evaluations.
Personal Health and Consumer Informatics
Authors: Gibbons M. C.
Published: March 2018

Objectives: The rapid evolution in the world-wide use of Social Media tools suggests the emergence of a global phenomenon that may have implications in the Personal Health and Consumer Health Informatics domains. However the impact of these tools on health outcomes is not known. The goal of this research was to review the randomized controlled trial (RCT) evidence of the impact of health oriented Social Media informatics tools on health outcomes.

Methods: Evaluations of Social Media consumer health tools were systematically reviewed. Research was limited to studies published in the English language, published in Medline, published in the calendar year 2012 and limited to studies that utilized a RCT methodological design.

Results and Conclusions: Two high quality Randomized Controlled Trials among over 600 articles published in Medline were identified. These studies indicate that Social Media interventions may be able to significantly improve pain control among patients with chronic pain and enhance weight loss maintenance among individuals attempting to lose weight. Significantly more research needs to be done to confirm these early findings, evaluate additional health outcomes and further evaluate emerging health oriented Social Media interventions. Chronic pain and weight control have both socially oriented determinants. These studies suggest that understanding the social component of a disease may ultimately provide novel therapeutic targets and socio-clinical interventional strategies.
Bringing Genome Tests into Clinical Practice
Authors: Sarkar I.N.
Published: March 2018

Objective: To provide a review of recent progress in the use of genomic data in clinical contexts.

Method: Survey of key articles selected from the previous year (2012).

Result: Two major themes emerged as areas of focus in 2012: (1) integration of genomic data into electronic health records; and (2) determining the clinical utility of genomic tests.

Conclusion: Significant advances are being made towards the integration of genomic data such that they may useful for clinical decision making. While the short term advances will likely still be seen in clinically valid genotype-phenotype research, there have been promising advances towards developing genomic tests that may be of clinical utility in the near future.
Information Technology for Clinical, Translational and Comparative Effectiveness Research
Authors: Choquet R. , Daniel C.
Published: March 2018

Objectives: To summarize advances of excellent current research in the new emerging field of Clinical Research Informatics.

Method: Synopsis of four key articles selected for the IMIA Yearbook 2013. The selection was performed by querying PubMed and Web of Science with predefined keywords. From the original set of 590 papers, a first subset of 461 articles which was in the scope of Clinical Research Informatics was refined into a second subset of 79 relevant articles from which 15 articles were retained for peer-review.

Results: The four selected articles exemplify current research efforts conducted in the areas of data representation and management in clinical trials, secondary use of EHR data for clinical research, information technology platforms for translational and comparative effectiveness research and implementation of privacy control.

Conclusions: The selected articles not only illustrate how innovative information technology supports classically organized randomized controlled trials but also demonstrate that the long promised benefits of electronic health care data for research are becoming a reality through concrete platforms and projects.
Medical Decision Support and Medical Informatics Education: Roots, Methods and Applications in Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic
Authors: Zvárová Jana
Published: March 2018

The paper describes the history of medical informatics in Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic. It focuses on the topics of medical informatics education and decision support methods and systems. Several conferences held in Czechoslovakia and in the Czech Republic organized in cooperation with IMIA or EFMI are described. Support of European Union and Czech agencies in several European and national projects focused on medical informatics topics highly contributed to medical informatics development in Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic and to the establishment of the European Center for Medical Informatics, Statistics and Epidemiology as the joint workplace of Charles University in Prague and Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic in 1994.
Leitlinie: Lipödem der Beine
Authors: Wienert V. , Földi E. , Schmeller W. , Rabe E.
Published: March 2018

Leitlinien sind systematisch erarbeitete Empfehlungen, um Kliniker und Praktiker bei Entscheidungen über die angemessene Patientenversorgung im Rahmen spezifischer klinischer Umstände zu unterstützen. Leitlinien gelten für so genannte Standard-situationen. Sie berücksichtigen aktuelle, zu den entsprechenden Fragestellungen verfüg-bare wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse.

Leitlinien bedürfen einer ständigen Überprüfung und eventuell der Änderung auf Basis des wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnisstandes und der Praktikabilität in der täglichen Praxis. Durch die Leitlinien soll die ärztliche Methodenfreiheit nicht eingeschränkt werden. Ihre Beachtung garantiert nicht in jedem Fall den diagnostischen und therapeutischen Erfolg. Leitlinien erheben keinen Anspruch auf Vollständigkeit. Die Entschei-dung über die Angemessenheit der zu ergreifenden Maßnahmen trifft der Arzt oder die Ärztin unter Berücksichtigung der individuellen Problematik.
Leitlinie: Sklerosierungsbehandlung der Varikose
Authors: Rabe E. , Pannier F. , Gerlach H. , Breu F. X. , Guggenbichler S. , Wollmann J. C.
Published: March 2018

Leitlinien sind systematisch erarbeitete Empfehlungen, um den Kliniker und den Praktiker bei Entscheidungen über die angemessene Versorgung der Patienten im Rahmen spezifischer klinischer Umstände zu unterstützen.

Leitlinien gelten für „Standardsituationen“ und berücksichtigen die aktuellen, zu den entsprechenden Fragestellungen zur Verfügung stehenden, wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnisse. Leitlinien bedürfen der ständigen Überprüfung und eventuell der Änderung auf dem Boden des wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnisstandes und der Praktikabilität in der täglichen Praxis. Durch die Leitlinien soll die Methodenfreiheit des Arztes nicht eingeschränkt werden. Ihre Beachtung garantiert nicht in jedem Fall den diagnostischen und therapeutischen Erfolg. Leitlinien erheben keinen Anspruch auf Vollständigkeit. Die Entscheidung über die Angemessenheit der zu ergreifenden Maßnahmen trifft der Arzt unter Berücksichtigung der individuellen Problematik.
Using Personal Handheld Computing Devices for Personalizing Healthcare
Authors: Maeder A. , Meher S. , Mars M. , Hartvigsen G. , Kuthiala A. , Gogia S. B.
Published: March 2018

Telehealth has an increasing role in future healthcare. This paper seeks to define and understand recent advances in provision of tele-healthcare through use of personal handheld computing devices, and suggests how such personalized solutions offer further opportunities for progress.

We considered the current status of personal handheld computing devices for personalizing healthcare, through review of examples in the literature and web sources.

We have identified the following four generic roles for personal handheld computing devices in personalized healthcare: educational, social networking and games, monitoring with notifications/reminders, and online/offline tele-consultations. We discuss examples of these in two settings: healthcare facilities and patient home.

Advances in latest handheld computing devices have made tele-healthcare more personalized and increasingly possible even in the absence of the care provider.
Toward Patient-Centered, Personalized and Personal Decision Support and Knowledge Management: A Survey
Authors: Leong T.-Y.
Published: March 2018

This paper summarizes there cent trends and highlights the challenges and opportunities in decision support and knowledge management for patient-centered, personalized, and personal healthcare.

The discussions are based on a broad survey of related references, focusing on the most recent publications. Major advances are examined in the areas of i) shared decision making paradigms, ii) continuity of care infrastructures and architectures, iii) human factors and system design approaches, iv) knowledge management innovations, and v) practical deployment and change considerations.

Many important initiatives, projects, and plans with promising results have been identified. The common themes focus on supporting the individual patients who are playing an increasing central role in their own care decision processes. New collaborative decision making paradigms and information infrastructure sare required to ensure effective continuity of care. Human factors and usability are crucial for the successful development and deployment of the relevant systems, tools, and aids. Advances in personalized medicine can be achieved through integrating genomic, phenotypic and other biological, individual, and population level information, and gaining useful insights from building and analyzing biological and other models at multiple levels of abstraction. Therefore, new Information and Communication Technologies and evaluation approaches are needed to effectively manage the scale and complexity of biomedical and health information, and adapt to the changing nature of clinical decision support.

Recent research in decision support andknowledge management combines heterogeneous information and personal data to provide cost-effective, calibrated, personalized support in shared decision making at the point of care. Current and emerging efforts concentrate on developing or extendingconventional paradigms, techniques, systems,and architectures for the newpredictive, preemptive, and participatory healthcare model for patient-centered, personalized medicine. There is also an increasing emphasis on managing complexity with changing care models, processes, and settings.
Anhaltende Wirksamkeit von Pembrolizumab nach Therapieende
Authors: Arnheim Katharina
Published: March 2018

Das Melanom war der erste solide Tumor, bei dem die Effektivität von Checkpoint-Inhibitoren belegt wurde. Mittlerweile gibt es Langzeitdaten, die die Wirksamkeit selbst nach Absetzen von Pembrolizumab belegen. In den auf dem ASCO 2017 vorgestellten Studien erwies sich auch die Kombination aus BRAF- und MEK-Inhibitor als langfristig effektiv.
Reaction enthalpy from the binding of multivalent cations to anionic polyelectrolytes in dilute solutions
Authors: Hansch Markus , Kaub Hans Peter , Deck Sascha , Carl Nico , Huber Klaus
Published: March 2018

Dilute solutions of sodium poly(styrene sulfonate) (NaPSS) in the presence of Al3+, Ca2+, and Ba2+ were analysed by means of isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) in order to investigate the heat effect of bond formation between those cations and the anionic SO3− residues of NaPSS. The selection of the cations was guided by the solution behavior of the corresponding PSS salts from a preceding study [M. Hansch et al., J. Chem. Phys. 148(1), 014901 (2018)], where bonds between Ba2+ and anionic PSS showed an increasing solubility with decreasing temperature and Al3+ exhibited the inverse trend. Unlike to Al3+ and Ba2+, Ca2+ is expected to behave as a purely electrostatically interacting bivalent cation and was thus included in the present study. Results from ITC satisfactorily succeeded to explain the temperature-dependent solution behavior of the salts with Al3+ and Ba2+ and confirmed the non-specific behavior of Ca2+. Additional ITC experiments with salts of Ca2+ and Ba2+ and sodium poly(acrylate) complemented the results on PSS by data from a chemically different polyanion. Availability of these joint sets of polyanion-cation combinations not only offers the chance to identify common features and subtle differences in the solution behavior of polyelectrolytes in the presence of multi-valent cations but also points to a new class of responsive materials.
Inline motion and hydrodynamic interaction of 2D particles in a viscoplastic fluid
Authors: Chaparian Emad , Wachs Anthony , Frigaard Ian A.
Published: March 2018

In Stokes flow of a particle settling within a bath of viscoplastic fluid, a critical resistive force must be overcome in order for the particle to move. This leads to a critical ratio of the buoyancy stress to the yield stress: the critical yield number. This translates geometrically to an envelope around the particle in the limit of zero flow that contains both the particle and encapsulated unyielded fluid. Such unyielded envelopes and critical yield numbers are becoming well understood in our previous studies for single (2D) particles as well as the means of calculating. Here we address the case of having multiple particles, which introduces interesting new phenomena. First, plug regions can appear between the particles and connect them together, depending on the proximity and yield number. This can change the yielding behaviour since the combination forms a larger (and heavier) “particle.” Moreover, small particles (that cannot move alone) can be pulled/pushed by larger particles or assembly of particles. Increasing the number of particles leads to interesting chain dynamics, including breaking and reforming.
Multiple solutions for a class of fractional (p, q)–Laplacian system in RN
Authors: Chen Caisheng , Bao Jinfeng , Song Hongxue
Published: March 2018

In this work, the symmetric mountain pass lemma is employed to establish the existence of infinitely many solutions to the fractional (p, q)-Laplacian system: (−Δ)psu+V1(x)|u|p−2u=α−1Fu(x,u,v)+λb1(x)|u|m−2u and (−Δ)qsv+V2(x)|v|q−2v=α−1Fv(x,u,v)+μb2(x)|v|k−2v in RN, where (−Δ)ps and (−Δ)qs are the fractional p and q-Laplacian operators, respectively, and 0 < s < 1 < q ≤ p, sp < N, p<m≤α<qs*=qNN−qs,q<k≤α<qs*. The function F(x,u,v)∈C1(RN×R2) satisfies the condition (A4) below.
Deconstructing the redox cascade: what role do microbial exudates (flavins) play?
Authors: Markelova Ekaterina , Parsons Christopher T. , Couture Raoul-Marie , Smeaton Christina M. , Madé Benoit , Charlet Laurent , Van Cappellen Philippe
Published: March 2018

Environmental contextRedox potential is a controlling variable in aquatic chemistry. Through time series data, we show that microbial exudates released by bacteria may control trends in redox potential observed in natural waters. In particular, electron transfer between these exudates and the electrode could explain the values measured in the presence of abundant oxidants such as oxygen and nitrate. AbstractRedox electrodes are commonly used to measure redox potentials (EH) of natural waters. The recorded EH values are usually interpreted in terms of the dominant inorganic redox couples. To further advance the interpretation of measured EH distributions along temporal and spatial redox gradients, we performed a series of reactor experiments in which oxidising and reducing conditions were alternated by switching between sparging with air and N2. Starting from a simple electrolyte solution and ending with a complex biogeochemical system, common groundwater solutes, metabolic substrates (NO3− and C3H5O3−), bacteria (Shewanella oneidensis MR-1) and goethite (α-FeOOH(s)) were tested by increasing the system complexity with each subsequent experiment. This systematic approach yielded a redox cascade ranging from +500 to −350 mV (pH ~7.4). The highest and lowest EH values registered by the platinum (Pt) electrode agreed with Nernstian redox potentials predicted for the O2/H2O2 and FeOOH/Fe2+(aq) couples respectively. Electrode poisoning by the organic pH buffer (MOPS) and addition of bacteria to the aerated solutions resulted in marked decreases in measured EH values. The latter effect is attributed to the release of flavins by Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 to the medium. As expected, equilibrium with the non-electroactive NO3−/NO2−/NH4+ redox couples could not account for the EH values recorded during dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA). However, the observed EH range for DNRA coincided with that bracketed by EH values measured in separate abiotic solutions containing either the oxidised (+324 ± 29 mV) or reduced (−229 ± 40 mV) forms of flavins. The results therefore suggest that the Pt electrode detected the presence of the electroactive flavins, even at submicromolar concentrations. In particular, flavins help explain the fairly low EH values measured in the presence of strong oxidants, such as O2 and NO3−.
Anti-neutrino Cross Sections for Neon and Deuterium
Authors: Signal AI , Thomas AW
Published: March 2018

Recent anti-neutrino experiments have shown a marked difference in the quantity RA(x) = (duVn/dx)/(duiiP/dx) between deuterium and neon. It has been suggested that this difference may be related to an effect discovered by the European Muon Collaboration (EMC). We test several popular and apparently successful explanations of the EMC effect against the data. We find that none of the models examined can explain the observations.
Nonlinear Instability of Ion-Cyclotron Whistlers in the Ionosphere
Authors: Chakraborty B , Sur AK , Paul SN
Published: March 2018

We provide a theoretical investigation on the nonlinear instability of ion-cyclotron whistlers in the ionosphere. The threshold power of the unstable electromagnetic wave, the total attenuation and the generated magnetic field are calculated for a proton whistler. Finally, the variation of different ionospheric parameters due to nonlinear effects in the medium are shown both numerically and graphically. Possible applications of this investigation to space plasmas are also pointed out.
Electron Outflow in Axisymmetric Pulsar Magnetospheres. II
Authors: Burman RR
Published: March 2018

Tn the axisymmetric pulsar magnetosphere model of Mestel et al. (1985), electrons, following injection with non-negligible speeds from the stellar surface, flow with moderate acceleration, and with poloidal motion that is closely tied to poloidal magnetic field lines, before reaching a limiting surface, near which rapid acceleration occurs. The present paper continues an analysis of flows which either encounter the limiting surface beyond the light cylinder (between the cones of zero axial magnetic field), or do not meet it at all. The formalism introduced by Mestel et aL for the description of the outflow is applied in an extended version which fully incorporates Yo, the emission Lorentz factor of the particles. This treatment removes the singularity of Yo at the stellar poles that occurred in the earlier work: because of a nonuniformity in taking the limit of nonrelativistic injection, full incorporation of Yo acts to keep it finite.
Emulsion patterns in the wake of a liquid–liquid phase separation front
Authors: Moerman Pepijn G. , Hohenberg Pierre C. , Vanden-Eijnden Eric , Brujic Jasna
Published: March 2018

Significance

Liquid–liquid phase separation plays an important role in diverse processes, such as the organization of cellular subcompartments, the encapsulation of active agents, or the synthesis of complex emulsions. Demixing liquids usually leads to spinodal-type patterns with no characteristic length scale. Here we show that phase separation in the wake of an immiscibility front can give macroscopic patterns in which a particular length scale is arrested. These patterns are reminiscent of Turing patterns in driven systems but occur by a different mechanism in which the speed of the immiscibility front controls their spacing. This offers a general route toward self-organization with programmable features. Here we tune the spacing of patterns in “Russian-doll” emulsions as well as stripes in rectangular capillaries.
Analysis of oscillatory rocking curve by dynamical diffraction in protein crystals
Authors: Suzuki Ryo , Koizumi Haruhiko , Hirano Keiichi , Kumasaka Takashi , Kojima Kenichi , Tachibana Masaru
Published: March 2018

Significance

The observation of dynamical diffraction in protein crystals is an interesting topic because dynamical diffraction typically occurs in high-quality crystals such as those of silicon. However, to our knowledge, a report of protein crystals showing clear dynamical diffraction does not exist. Here, we present an observation of the oscillatory profile of rocking curves for protein crystals such as glucose isomerase. The oscillatory profiles are in good agreement with those predicted using the dynamical theory of diffraction. It is demonstrated that dynamical diffraction occurs in protein crystals as well. These results indicate the need for a dynamical diffraction model in protein-crystal structure analysis and model refinement that, to our knowledge, has never been used in conventional structural analysis.
Dynamic and shared sense‐making in large‐scale curriculum reform in school districts
Authors: Pyhältö Kirsi , Pietarinen Janne , Soini Tiina
Published: March 2018

Shared sense‐making is suggested to be key for curriculum reform. Shared sense‐making entails constructing a collective understanding of the meaning for reform, its significance and its implications for schools, through dialogue and negotiation across the levels of the educational system. This study explored changes in hands‐on strategies of shared sense‐making, and ways of orchestrating curriculum reform work in the districts in Finland, following the introduction of new national curriculum policy. Longitudinal focus group interview data collected from curriculum coordinating groups during the reform work was utilised. The data were qualitatively content analysed. The two sets of shared sense‐making strategies were identified in this study, including those strategies utilised by the groups in building their understanding of what the reform is all about, and those concerning the reform orchestration. The strategies employed evolved from simple to more complex, during the progression of curriculum work. Results also showed that the coordinating groups were well aware of their high autonomy and resulting responsibility in orchestrating the district‐level curriculum work. However, the advance in shared sense‐making strategies employed by the groups indicated that they were highly committed to constructing collective understanding about the reform, its significance and implications for schools through dialogue and negotiation with practitioners.
Division on Ice: Shared Space and Civility in Belfast
Authors: Lepp Eric
Published: March 2018

In Northern Ireland the Good Friday Agreement brought with it top-down political and social approaches to construct and increase intergroup contact and shared spaces in an effort to reconcile divided Nationalist and Unionist communities. In the period following the peace agreement, the Belfast Giants ice hockey team was established, and its games have become one of the most attended spectator activities in Belfast, trending away from the tribalism, single-space, single-class, and single-gender dynamics of modern sport in Northern Ireland. This article utilises the setting of the Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) Arena, home of the Giants, to demonstrate normalisation of interactions occurring between supporters who are willing to purchase a ticket beside someone to whom they are politically opposed. This sport and its supporters choose to enjoy the experience of the hockey game, rather than be caught in the politicised attachment of meaning expected of shared space, offering a challenge to the reconciliation-centric assumptions in post-peace agreement Belfast.
‘Toys for Reconciliation’: A Grassroots Peacebuilding Initiative in Bucaramanga, Colombia
Authors: Anctil Avoine Priscyll , Bolívar Durán José Fabián
Published: March 2018

In a grassroots effort to counter the institutional and state-centred narratives on disarmament, demobilisation, and reintegration (DDR) processes conceptualised by the Integrated DDR Standards of the United Nations, the NGO Corporación Descontamina has organised local projects around what it has identified as significant problems in previous work carried out in a Bucaramanga men's jail where ex-paramilitaries and ex-guerrilleros live together. In fact, two main problems have been observed: the socioeconomic and emotional situation of the ex-combatants, preventing their reintegration, and the social stigmatisation surrounding their return to civil society. As such, drawing upon decolonial theory, the objective of this article is to present the peacebuilding project ‘Toys for Reconciliation’ that was developed by Corporación Descontamina with the aim of advancing reconciliation in the context of the Colombian armed conflict.
A comprehensive evaluation of alignment software for reduced representation bisulfite sequencing data
Authors: Sun Xiwei , Han Yi , Zhou Liyuan , Chen Enguo , Lu Bingjian , Liu Yong , Pan Xiaoqing , Cowley Allen W , Liang Mingyu , Wu Qingbiao , Lu Yan , Liu Pengyuan
Published: March 2018

Motivation

The rapid development of next-generation sequencing technology provides an opportunity to study genome-wide DNA methylation at single-base resolution. However, depletion of unmethylated cytosines brings challenges for aligning bisulfite-converted sequencing reads to a large reference. Software tools for aligning methylation reads have not yet been comprehensively evaluated, especially for the widely used reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS) that involves enrichment for CpG islands (CGIs).

Results

We specially developed a simulator, RRBSsim, for benchmarking analysis of RRBS data. We performed extensive comparison of seven mapping algorithms for methylation analysis in both real and simulated RRBS data. Eighteen lung tumors and matched adjacent tissues were sequenced by the RRBS protocols. Our empirical evaluation found that methylation results were less consistent between software tools for CpG sites with low sequencing depth, medium methylation level, on CGI shores or gene body. These observations were further confirmed by simulations that indicated software tools generally had lower recall of detecting these vulnerable CpG sites and lower precision of estimating methylation levels in these CpG sites. Among the software tools tested, bwa-meth and BS-Seeker2 (bowtie2) are currently our preferred aligners for RRBS data in terms of recall, precision and speed. Existing aligners cannot efficiently handle moderately methylated CpG sites and those CpG sites on CGI shores or gene body. Interpretation of methylation results from these vulnerable CpG sites should be treated with caution. Our study reveals several important features inherent in methylation data, and RRBSsim provides guidance to advance sequence-based methylation data analysis and methodological development.

Availability and implementation

RRBSsim is a simulator for benchmarking analysis of RRBS data and its source code is available at https://github.com/xwBio/RRBSsim or https://github.com/xwBio/Docker-RRBSsim.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
iterClust: a statistical framework for iterative clustering analysis
Authors: Ding Hongxu , Wang Wanxin , Califano Andrea
Published: March 2018

Motivation

In a scenario where populations A, B1 and B2 (subpopulations of B) exist, pronounced differences between A and B may mask subtle differences between B1 and B2.

Results

Here we present iterClust, an iterative clustering framework, which can separate more pronounced differences (e.g. A and B) in starting iterations, followed by relatively subtle differences (e.g. B1 and B2), providing a comprehensive clustering trajectory.

Availability and implementation

iterClust is implemented as a Bioconductor R package.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Young Workers and Age Discrimination: Tensions and Conflicts
Authors: Blackham Alysia
Published: March 2018

Young workers occupy a particularly vulnerable position in the contemporary labour market. While this may partly be attributable to structural trends, it is also related to age discrimination, which is embedded in labour law and organisational practices. Age discrimination against younger workers raises many of the same tensions as age discrimination against older workers. This article therefore calls for a reconsideration of how we frame and conceive age discrimination law.