bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
First Nation and Métis Youth Perspectives of Health
Authors: Sasakamoose JoLee , Scerbe Andrea , Wenaus Ila , Scandrett Amanda
Published: March 2016

This article describes an Indigenous and qualitative research project with 13 First Nation (FN) and Métis youth attending an Aboriginal youth health and wellness program located in the Canadian prairies. Our goal was to collaborate with the youth to co-create knowledge concerning their definitions of health using a convergence of Indigenous and qualitative methodologies. Independent but interconnected themes that emerged are discussed as related to neurodecolonization and the recovery of traditional practices and their contribution to youth resilience. The resilience of youth was reflected in these themes as well as their definitions of health. Our findings point to the importance of acknowledging and validating the role that neurodecolonization practices contribute to healing, both at individual and collective levels. Furthermore, we suggest recognizing resilience as well as viewing health holistically to more adequately understand and address the health-related concerns of FNs, Métis, and Inuit (FNMI) youth.
A performance model for the communication in fast multipole methods on high-performance computing platforms
Authors: Ibeid Huda , Yokota Rio , Keyes David
Published: March 2016

Exascale systems are predicted to have approximately 1 billion cores, assuming gigahertz cores. Limitations on affordable network topologies for distributed memory systems of such massive scale bring new challenges to the currently dominant parallel programing model. Currently, there are many efforts to evaluate the hardware and software bottlenecks of exascale designs. It is therefore of interest to model application performance and to understand what changes need to be made to ensure extrapolated scalability. The fast multipole method (FMM) was originally developed for accelerating N-body problems in astrophysics and molecular dynamics but has recently been extended to a wider range of problems. Its high arithmetic intensity combined with its linear complexity and asynchronous communication patterns make it a promising algorithm for exascale systems. In this paper, we discuss the challenges for FMM on current parallel computers and future exascale architectures, with a focus on internode communication. We focus on the communication part only; the efficiency of the computational kernels are beyond the scope of the present study. We develop a performance model that considers the communication patterns of the FMM and observe a good match between our model and the actual communication time on four high-performance computing (HPC) systems, when latency, bandwidth, network topology, and multicore penalties are all taken into account. To our knowledge, this is the first formal characterization of internode communication in FMM that validates the model against actual measurements of communication time. The ultimate communication model is predictive in an absolute sense; however, on complex systems, this objective is often out of reach or of a difficulty out of proportion to its benefit when there exists a simpler model that is inexpensive and sufficient to guide coding decisions leading to improved scaling. The current model provides such guidance.
Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Male Body Attitudes Scale (MBAS) among Spanish Adolescent Males
Authors: Sepúlveda Ana R. , Anastasiadou Dimitra , de Pellegrin Yolanda , Parks Melissa , Blanco Miriam , Garcia Pilar , Bustos Carla
Published: March 2016

The aim of this study was to examine the factor structure of the Male Body Attitudes Scale (MBAS) among a sample of 212 adolescent males by conducting a confirmatory factor analysis. The data revealed that while muscularity and low body fat factors were appropriate for the male sample, the height factor was not supported. The composite MBAS-Spanish version (MBAS-S) and its two factors had high internal consistency and were not significantly related to the traditionally used measure of body image (Eating Disorder Inventory–Body Dissatisfaction [BD]), confirming that this subscale only appears to evaluate female body concerns. Correlations with psychological well-being variables (anxiety, emotional regulation, and self-esteem) supported the concurrent validity of the instrument. These findings provide further evidence in support of the hypothesis that BD in males has been inappropriately evaluated by measures designed specifically for females. Despite the fact that our results did not replicate the original factorial structure of the instrument, the MBAS-S presents adequate psychometric properties and can be considered as a valuable assessment tool for BD among adolescent males.
Thermal conductivity of sandwich panels made with synthetic and vegetable fiber vacuum-infused honeycomb cores
Authors: Vitale Juan P , Francucci Gaston , Stocchi Ariel
Published: March 2016

Building, naval, and automotive industries have deep interest in eco-friendly, lightweight, stiff and strong materials. In addition, materials with low thermal conductivity are desirable in many applications where energy savings and thermal comfort are needed. In response to these requirements, sandwich panels were manufactured using glass and jute fiber composite skins bonded to different cores: balsa wood, Divinycell® and honeycombs. These honeycombs, as well as the skins, were manufactured by the vacuum infusion technique using polyester resin and jute, glass and carbon fiber fabrics. In this work, the thermal properties and density of the sandwich panels were measured and compared.
Can teledermatology be a useful diagnostic tool in dermatology practice in remote areas? An Egyptian experience with 600 patients
Authors: Saleh Nadia , Abdel Hay Rania , Hegazy Rehab , Hussein Marwa , Gomaa Dalia
Published: March 2016

Introduction

The paucity of studies evaluating teledermatology (TD) in developing countries was the impetus behind conducting this work. We aimed to evaluate the feasibility and reliability of TD in remote areas where medical facilities and consultant dermatologists are not available, through measurement of diagnostic concordance rates between face-to-face diagnosis and store-and-forward (SAF) TD diagnosis.

Methods

A total of 600 patients with dermatological ailments who attended Abshway Hospital were recruited into the study, examined by an on-site dermatology resident, and offered a diagnosis. The clinical images and patients’ history were collected and transferred (through the Dropbox application) to two remote consultant dermatologists. The reliability of the three physicians’ agreement rates was assessed.

Results

Diagnostic agreement rates between the face-to-face dermatologist and the two teledermatologists were 86.7% and 87% respectively. Of the cases, 97% had complete or partial agreement and 81.3% of cases showed complete agreement between the three physicians. The reliability of the three physicians’ agreement rates was assessed statistically using Cohen’s kappa coefficient (κ) and this showed a range of 0.46–0.52.

Conclusion

This study might aid in enhancing the utilization of this tool in our country, especially in remote areas with a lack of a proper dermatological service. The simplicity and low cost of the adopted technique might facilitate its use over large sectors. It opens the door for gaining the benefit of this technology in other aspects such as teaching and monitoring health care providers.
Australian LGBTQ teachers, exclusionary spaces and points of interruption
Authors: Gray Emily M , Harris Anne , Jones Tiffany
Published: March 2016

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) teachers are a marginalised group that historically have been absent from research on sexuality and schooling. Rather, much research in the field has focused upon the experiences of same sex attracted and increasingly, gender diverse young people in schools, as well as the delivery of sexuality education. Up until recently, very little research has been carried out that explicitly addresses the experiences of LGBTQ teachers, particularly within the Australian context. This article focuses upon key issues arising from the semi-structured interviews that the Out/In Front team carried out as part of a pilot study that took place between April and July 2013 in the state of Victoria, Australia. We interviewed nine current or former teachers working within primary and secondary education across the public, Catholic and private sectors. This paper focuses upon the notion that LGBTQ teachers exist within a ‘space of exclusion’ that is dominated by discursive mechanisms that (re)produce heteronormativity. We also argue that the Victorian policy context – as well as increasing socio-political tolerance for LGBTQ people within Australia – enables LGBT teachers to interrupt the discursive frameworks within which their professional lives are situated.
Trans men's sexual narrative-practices: Introducing STS to trans and sexuality studies
Authors: Latham J R
Published: March 2016

Clinical expectations that trans people will be so filled with self-loathing that sexual interactions will be limited if possible at all fail to take into account the heterogeneous ways trans people experience their own bodies and sexualities. In this essay, I extend recent work in science and technology studies (STS) that attends to material practices by examining the work of narrative and argue for a new paradigm in situating trans sexualities. I analyse trans men's autobiographical stories to show some of the many ways that trans men make sense of themselves (and enact maleness) as sexual subjects. By focusing on how sex-gender is enacted and hangs together in narrative-practices, we can more fully understand and appreciate the realities of trans lives and the inadequacies of clinical diagnosis.
Who speaks the language of queer politics? Western knowledge, politico-cultural capital and belonging among urban queers in Turkey
Authors: Savcı Evren
Published: March 2016

Recent criticisms of queer movements have focused exclusively on homonormativity as defined by LGBT(I) politics’ relationship to the logic of neoliberalism in order to criticize the increasing depoliticization of these movements, and the normativities produced and upheld by them. In this article, based on ethnographic observations and interviews with activist and non-activist queers in İstanbul, Turkey, I show that class informs normativities through cultural capital beyond what gets circulated through neoliberal ideas of what is profitable, fundable, and respectable. I argue that queer critique must question whether ‘the political’ is a value by definition, and that we need to investigate what kinds of exclusions are produced under the sign of ‘being political.’
Simulation of indoor comfort level in a building cooled by a cooling tower–concrete core cooling system under hot–semiarid climatic conditions
Authors: Leo Samuel D. G. , Nagendra S. M. Shiva , Maiya M. P.
Published: March 2016

Concrete core cooling system is an energy efficient alternative to the conventional mechanical cooling system. It provides better comfort due to direct absorption of radiation load, low indoor air velocity, apt vertical temperature gradient and absence of noise. It can be operated at relatively higher water temperature, which facilitates the use of passive cooling strategies. In this study, a cooling tower, which is an ‘evaporative cooling system’, is preferred over other passive cooling options due to its better cooling performance in dry regions and its ability to operate all through the day. This paper presents the results of computational fluid dynamic analysis of a room cooled by concrete core cooling system supported by a cooling tower. The study reveals that for a typical hot–semiarid summer climatic condition in India, the system reduces the average indoor air temperature to a comfortable range of 23.5 to 28℃ from an uncomfortable range of 35.3 to 41℃ in a building without cooling. The average predicted percentage of dissatisfied falls from 99.7% in a building without cooling, to 37.3% if roof and floor of a building are cooled with concrete core cooling system and further to 6.3% if all surfaces are cooled with concrete core cooling system.
Epistemological decentring: At the root of a contemporary and situational anthropology
Authors: Agier Michel
Published: March 2016

To what extent can anthropology still help us to understand the world around us at a time when this world is characterized by processes of political and economic multipolarity, and the decolonization of knowledge? The political questioning of cultural decentring is an opportunity for anthropology to build a new epistemological conception of decentring. Against and beyond cultural relativism, ethnicism or ontological perspectivism, the issue is knowing how to decentre in any situation, ‘here and now’, from oneself as much as from each ‘we’, searching for tangible and intangible limits, and making those borders places of observation and understanding of increasingly more cosmopolitan social and cultural lives. I develop and propose this new conception in three stages. The first contextual stage highlights the importance of border situations and the necessity to account for them in order to tackle globalization as an observable social fact, beyond and against frozen representations of Others’ cultures and identities. The second stage explores the possibility of a post-culturalist decentring. In this reflection I turn to philosophy, from Rousseau to Foucault and Agamben, to find cues for an epistemological conception of decentring. In the last part I emphasize the understanding of situations, and rehabilitate reflexive ethnography and the situational inductive approach as the foundations of contemporary anthropology.
Transiting with the environment: An exploration of tourist re-orientations as collaborative practice
Authors: Barry Kaya
Published: March 2016

Tourists undertake a process of re-orientation that is particular to each destination and respond to encounters with new and unfamiliar environments. Certain destinations, such as those with unique landscapes, nature or ecological environments, induce a socio-cultural imaginary that primes tourists for what kind of experience they might consume. Large, immersive landscapes and climates congeal with expectations of what each destination requires in order to navigate through it. Common bearings of distance and scale are skewed as tourists are positioned within immersive conditions that constitute the environmental surround. In such moments, idealised and preconceived tourist experiences contrast with the actual events unfolding and heightened sensory awareness intensifies the subtle and collaborative negotiations. Utilising my own first-person experiences while transiting within Nepal and Iceland, I reflect on moments where tourists re-orient with the environment in collaborative ways. I argue that by repositioning our individual expectations of tourist experiences in favour of transitions with the environment, potential arises for new co-consumptive and collaborative practices.
Experiencing the enchantment of place and mobility
Authors: Ole Bærenholdt Jørgen
Published: March 2016

Experiences of place and mobility play central roles not only in what was traditionally understood as tourism but also in the broader practices of travelling and visiting sites and sights. On the one hand, such experiences are performed to an extent where it is difficult to isolate the sites and movements experienced per se, since visitors and travellers take part in ‘doing’ places and mobility. On the other, experience sites and routes stand out with specific traces and characteristics affording some – and not other – experiences. This article discusses conceptual understandings that may help to better analyse what it takes to perform tourist sites. Following a discussion of Walter Benjamin’s way of understanding experiences as Erlebnisse, I suggest that ideas about multiplicity and absence–presence in Actor–Network Theory can develop new insights into how place and mobility are experienced in several layers of reality. To better understand experiences taking place in intersections between realities, J.R.R. Tolkien’s concept of how real enchantment produces a Secondary World suggests that we see fantasy as real, and this proposition is compared to Georg Simmel’s more modernist suggestion that experiences ( Erlebnisse) are practised as living adventures, where intersecting worlds are not apart from each other. These practices are performed in restless mobilities among places, where the connections and hints between place and mobility are central in making absence–presence tensions produce experiences. Finally, the article discusses how the analysis of experience is related to the professional, experimental work of building a tourist attraction, exemplified by the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde.
Review of gestational diabetes mellitus effects on vascular structure and function
Authors: Jensen Louise A , Chik Constance L , Ryan Edmond A
Published: March 2016

Vascular dysfunction has been described in women with a history of gestational diabetes mellitus. Furthermore, previous gestational diabetes mellitus increases the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes mellitus, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Factors contributing to vascular changes remain uncertain. The aim of this review was to summarize vascular structure and function changes found to occur in women with previous gestational diabetes mellitus and to identify factors that contribute to vascular dysfunction. A systematic search of electronic databases yielded 15 publications from 1998 to March 2014 that met the inclusion criteria. Our review confirmed that previous gestational diabetes mellitus contributes to vascular dysfunction, and the most consistent risk factor associated with previous gestational diabetes mellitus and vascular dysfunction was elevated body mass index. Heterogeneity existed across studies in determining the relationship of glycaemic levels and insulin resistance to vascular dysfunction.
The New Materialism in Qualitative Inquiry
Authors: Hein Serge F.
Published: March 2016

The “new materialism” and “new empiricism” have recently emerged as an important movement in qualitative inquiry. In discussions of the new materialism and new empiricism in the qualitative literature, Deleuze’s work is regularly presented alongside that of theorists who are directly associated with the movement. I focus on the work of Barad, who is arguably the most prominent figure in the new materialism, and examine the extent to which her philosophy is compatible with that of Deleuze. I show that their ontologies differ fundamentally and are therefore incommensurable: Deleuze’s is a philosophy of immanence and difference, whereas Barad’s is a philosophy of transcendence and identity. Both theorists also use some of the same terms, but the meaning that they assign to each of these terms differs fundamentally. Deleuze’s immanence-based conception of matter is incommensurable with Barad’s transcendence-based conception of matter. Their ontologies/philosophies also have distinctly different implications for qualitative inquiry.
Structural Disadvantage and Latino Violent Offending
Authors: Painter-Davis Noah , Harris Casey T.
Published: March 2016

A long-standing finding in criminology is that structural disadvantage is a robust predictor of violence. Aligned with this finding is the racial invariance thesis, which states that the causes of violence are similar across racial/ethnic groups and that, in particular, disadvantage should be associated with higher rates of violence for all groups. Yet, a growing body of research on the Latino paradox challenges this assumption in finding that disadvantage has muted effects on Latino violence compared to other groups, while related literature qualifies this by suggesting that Latino experiences with violence qualitatively differ depending on the destination types in which Latinos settle. As such, the goal of this study is to reassess the Latino paradox in context of new patterns of Latino settlement. Highlighting differences in “contexts of reception,” we evaluate whether the relationship between disadvantage and Latino violence varies between established and emerging Latino destinations. Using 2001–2004 arrest data from a multistate database, we find that structural disadvantage is positively associated with Latino homicide and that this relationship is consistent across both emerging and established locales. Additionally, we find the relationship between disadvantage and homicide to be invariant across racial/ethnic groups regardless of the context of reception.
Examining the Relationship between Turnover Intention of Nurses with Job Satisfaction, Affective, Occupational, and Group Commitments: Study in Private Hospitals
Authors: Dasgupta Prasanjit
Published: March 2016

High turnover of nurses is detrimental to patients’ well-being and costly to the organizations. Study was conducted in private hospitals considering their high rate of nurse attrition. Research has indicated that Job satisfaction and commitments to the organization, occupation, and group influenced the turnover of the employees in several countries. Some studies have also shown interrelationships between job satisfaction and commitments. India is culturally different from those countries and cultural variation plays a significant role in job satisfaction and these commitments.

The study showed that job satisfaction, affective commitment, and occupational commitment of nurses negatively relate to their turnover intentions, although no significant relationship between group commitments and turnover intentions was established. Job satisfaction and group commitment significantly relate to affective commitments and group commitment relate to job satisfaction of the nurses. Affective commitments mediate in the relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intention of nurses. Relationship between occupational commitment with that of job satisfaction, affective and group commitments was not found significant. This research may help health-care managers to devise suitable plan for retention of nurses.
An Interpretation of Nurse–Patient Relationships in Inpatient Psychiatry
Authors: Thibeault Catherine
Published: March 2016

Nurses who work in acute inpatient psychiatry, where lengths of stay are increasingly shortened, struggle to establish therapeutic nurse–patient relationships. The purpose of this inquiry was to illuminate the nature of relationships between inpatient psychiatric mental health (PMH) nurses and their patients. The author used semistructured interviews and nonparticipant observation in an interpretive phenomenological inquiry. The data consisted of texts that were transcribed from narratives and observations. The meanings that were generated led to the uncovering of patterns of commonality, or themes. Of the themes uncovered, the theme of mindful approach highlighted PMH nurses as engaging with patients in distress, strategically creating encounters to establish a basis for ongoing therapeutic work. The PMH nurse–patient relationship in acute inpatient psychiatry continues to be under pressure, but nurses still carefully construct relational approaches in response to patient distress, and patients in these settings experience these approaches as meaningful to their recovery.
Complement factor H and susceptibility to major depressive disorder in Han Chinese
Authors: Zhang Chen , Zhang Deng-Feng , Wu Zhi-Guo , Peng Dai-Hui , Chen Jun , Ni Jianliang , Tang Wenxin , Xu Lin , Yao Yong-Gang , Fang Yi-Ru
Published: March 2016

Background

Accumulating evidence suggests that altered immunity contributes to the development of major depressive disorder (MDD).

Aims

To examine whether complement factor H (CFH), a regulator of activation of the alternative pathway of the complement cascade, confers susceptibility to MDD.

Method

Expression analyses were tested in 53 unmedicated people with MDD and 55 healthy controls. A two-stage genetic association analysis was performed in 3323 Han Chinese with or without MDD. Potential associations betweenCFHsingle nucleotide polymorphisms and age at MDD onset were evaluated.

Results

CFHlevels were significantly lower in the MDD group at both protein and mRNA levels (P= 0.009 andP= 0.014 respectively). A regulatory variant in theCFHgene, rs1061170, showed statistically significant genotypic and allelic differences between the MDD and control groups (genotypicP= 0.0005, allelicP= 0.0001). Kaplan–Meier survival analysis showed that age at onset of MDD was significantly associated with theCallele of rs1061170 (log rank statistic χ2= 6.82,P= 0.009). TheC-allele carriers had a younger age at onset of MDD (22.2 years, s.d. = 4.0) than those without theCallele (23.6 years, s.d. = 4.3).

Conclusions

CFHis likely to play an important role in the development of MDD. rs1061170 has an important effect on age at onset of MDD in Han Chinese and may therefore be related to early pathogenesis of MDD, although further study is needed.
Patient characteristics as a moderator of posttraumatic stress disorder treatment outcome: combining symptom burden and strengths
Authors: Cloitre Marylene , Petkova Eva , Su Zhe , Weiss Brandon J.
Published: March 2016

Background

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) psychotherapy research has failed to identify patient characteristics that consistently predict differential outcome.

Aims

To identify patient characteristics associated with differential outcome via a statistically generated composite moderator among women with childhood abuse-related PTSD in a randomised controlled trial comparing exposure therapy, skills training and their combination.

Method

Six baseline patient characteristics were combined in a composite moderator of treatment effects for PTSD symptoms across the three treatment conditions through a 6-month follow-up.

Results

The optimal moderator was the combined burden of all symptoms and emotion regulation strength. Those with high moderator scores, reflecting high symptom load relative to emotion regulation, did least well in exposure, moderately well in skills and best in the combination.

Conclusions

A clinically meaningful moderator, which combines patient symptom burden and strengths, was identified. Assessment at follow-up may provide a more accurate indicator of variability in outcome than that obtained immediately post-treatment.
Protocol investigating the clinical outcomes and
cost-effectiveness of cognitive–behavioural therapy delivered remotely for
unscheduled care users with health anxiety: randomised controlled
trial
Authors: Patel Shireen , Malins Sam , Guo Boliang , James Marilyn , Kai Joe , Kaylor-Hughes Catherine , Rowley Emma , Simpson Jayne , Smart David , Stubley Michelle , Tyrer Helen , Morriss Richard
Published: March 2016

Background

Health anxiety and medically unexplained symptoms cost the National
Health Service (NHS) an estimated £3 billion per year in unnecessary
costs with little evidence of patient benefit. Effective treatment is
rarely taken up due to issues such as stigma or previous negative
experiences with mental health services. An approach to overcome this
might be to offer remotely delivered psychological therapy, which can be
just as effective as face-to-face therapy and may be more accessible and
suitable.

Aims

To investigate the clinical outcomes and cost-effectiveness of remotely
delivered cognitive–behavioural therapy (CBT) to people with high health
anxiety repeatedly accessing unscheduled care (trial registration:
NCT02298036).

Method

A multicentre randomised controlled trial (RCT) will be undertaken in
primary and secondary care providers of unscheduled care across the East
Midlands. One hundred and forty-four eligible participants will be
equally randomised to receive either remote CBT (6–12 sessions) or
treatment as usual (TAU). Two doctoral research studies will investigate
the barriers and facilitators to delivering the intervention and the
factors contributing to the optimisation of therapeutic outcome.

Results

This trial will be the first to test the clinical outcomes and
cost-effectiveness of remotely delivered CBT for the treatment of high
health anxiety.

Conclusions

The findings will enable an understanding as to how this intervention
might fit into a wider care pathway to enhance patient experience of
care.
Peripubertal Stress With Social Support Promotes Resilience in the Face of Aging
Authors: Morrison Kathleen E. , Narasimhan Sneha , Fein Ethan , Bale Tracy L.
Published: March 2016

The peripubertal period of development is a sensitive window, during which adverse experiences can increase the risk for presentation of cognitive and affective dysfunction throughout the lifespan, especially in women. However, such experiences in the context of a supportive social environment can actually ameliorate this risk, suggesting that resilience can be programmed in early life. Affective disorders and cognitive deficits commonly emerge during aging, with many women reporting increased difficulty with prefrontal cortex (PFC)-dependent executive functions. We have developed a mouse model to examine the interaction between peripubertal experience and age-related changes in cognition and stress regulation. Female mice were exposed to peripubertal chronic stress, during which they were either individually housed or housed with social interaction. One year after this stress experience, mice were examined in tasks to access their cognitive ability and flexibility in stress reactive measures. In a test of spatial memory acquisition and reversal learning where aged females normally display a decreased performance, the females that had experienced stress with social interaction a year earlier showed improved performance in reversal learning, a measure of cognitive flexibility. Because peripuberty is a time of major PFC maturation, we performed transcriptomic and biochemical analysis of the aged PFC, in which long-term changes in microRNA expression and in myelin proteins were found. These data suggest that stress in the context of social support experienced over the pubertal window can promote epigenetic reprogramming in the brain to increase the resilience to age-related cognitive decline in females.
The role of myosin 1c and myosin 1b in surfactant exocytosis
Authors: Kittelberger Nadine , Breunig Markus , Martin René , Knölker Hans-Joachim , Miklavc Pika
Published: March 2016

Actin and actin-associated proteins have a pivotal effect on regulated exocytosis in secretory cells and influence pre-fusion as well as post-fusion stages of exocytosis. Actin polymerization on secretory granules during the post-fusion phase (formation of an actin coat) is especially important in cells with large secretory vesicles or poorly soluble secretions. Alveolar type II (ATII) cells secrete hydrophobic lipo-protein surfactant, which does not easily diffuse from fused vesicles. Previous work showed that compression of actin coat is necessary for surfactant extrusion. Here, we investigate the role of class 1 myosins as possible linkers between actin and membranes during exocytosis. Live-cell microscopy showed translocation of fluorescently labeled myosin 1b and myosin 1c to the secretory vesicle membrane after fusion. Myosin 1c translocation was dependent on its pleckstrin homology domain. Expression of myosin 1b and myosin 1c constructs influenced vesicle compression rate, whereas only the inhibition of myosin 1c reduced exocytosis. These findings suggest that class 1 myosins participate in several stages of ATII cell exocytosis and link actin coats to the secretory vesicle membrane to influence vesicle compression.
Near Infrared Spectroscopy in Wildlife and Biodiversity
Authors: Vance Carrie K. , Tolleson Doug R. , Kinoshita Kodzue , Rodriguez Jaime , Foley William J.
Published: March 2016

Near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has been used to answer a wide variety of questions in wildlife and biodiversity research. Whereas agricultural systems and manufacturing seek to limit variation in production systems, wildlife and biodiversity research must embrace it. Variation amongst individuals is the material on which natural selection operates and NIR spectroscopy provides a means to catalogue this variation and to use it in broader ecological and evolutionary analyses and for practical conservation outcomes. In this review we describe how NIR spectroscopy has been applied in wildlife and biodiversity research to obtain data that we could not obtain otherwise. Here we describe a range of applications for which NIR spectroscopy has been applied to questions in taxonomy, physiology, habitat evaluation and population monitoring and highlight new approaches that will allow NIR spectroscopy to be used more widely in wildlife and ecological studies.
An evaluation of a novel alternating mattress and cushion technology
Authors: Chamanga Edwin , Butcher Ann
Published: March 2016

Pressure ulcer prevention and management remain a challenge across all health-care settings, and the incidence and prevalence of pressure ulcers in nursing homes and residential homes continues to remain unknown. The use of suitable support surfaces has been found to be beneficial in the prevention and management of pressure ulcers. Carrying out a holistic assessment of the patient and recording the patient's at-risk score would help the clinician to determine the most suitable pressure-relieving surface for the patient. The clinician's clinical experience and judgment are also important. The Domus Auto (by APEX) mattress system and Dynamic Seat Cushion (by APEX) are effective dynamic, support surfaces in the prevention and management of pressure ulceration. They meet the recommendations by both national and international guidelines; they also partly fulfil the SSKIN bundle. From a four-week evaluation carried out in a nursing home, it has been demonstrated that, together with regular assessments and repositioning of the patients, these devices are useful tools in preventing patients' risk of tissue damage and improving the patients' quality of life.
A Study on the Relationship between Teacher Self Efficacy and Burnout
Authors: Savaş Ahmet Cezmi , Bozgeyik Yunus , Eser İsmail
Published: March 2016

The major purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between teacher self efficacy and burnout. In order to collect the related data, “Maslach Burnout Inventory” and “Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale” were used. The sample of the study consisted of 163 randomly chosen teachers who worked in various primary and secondary state schools in 2014-2015 academic year. The results of the data analysis put forward that there was significant, medium and negative correlation between teacher self efficacy and burnout levels of the participants. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis results, which were run to assess the relationship between the two variables better, indicated that teacher self efficacy predicted burnout negatively. In the light of these findings and other related studies several suggestions were made.
The Relationship Between Mobile Phone Use, Metacognitive Awareness and Academic Achievement
Authors: Dos Bulent
Published: March 2016

Mobile phones are getting smarter and the usage through university students becoming more popular. University students using mobile phones for talking, for texting message, for Internet search, for listening music, watching videos, playing games, using social media etc... Mobile phones are not accessory any more, they are integrated like our clothes. There are studies examining the effects of using mobile phones frequently. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between mobile phone usage, satisfaction with life, academic achievement and metacognitive awareness. Metacognitive awareness inventory used to measure the awareness. Total GPA was used to measure the academic achievement and the mobile phone using time, the number of text messaging and callings are used for indicating the mobile phone usage. 250 total university students attended voluntarily to the study. The study carried out in private university in the southeast region of Turkey. The results indicated the usage of mobile phones are very frequent through university students. Many of the students are using mobile phones heavily. There was a positive relationship between mobile phone usage and academic achievement, also between mobile phone usage and metacognitive awareness.
The effect of diversity management on teachers’ organizational identification and turnover intention
Farklılıkların yönetiminin öğretmenlerin örgütsel özdeşleşmesine ve işten ayrılma niyetine etkisi
Authors: Kurtulmuş Mehmet , Karabıyık Hüseyin
Published: March 2016

The purpose of this research is to determine whether diversity management predicts teachers’ organizational identification and turnover intention level or not. The research carried out with survey model. 326 teachers who are in charge at official high schools in Diyarbakır in 2014-2015 school year constituted the sample of the study. The data of research were collected with diversity management, organizational identification and turnover intention scales. In the research, it was understood that teachers’ perceptions regarding diversity management and their organizational identification levels didn’t differ significantly but their turnover intention levels differed significantly according to gender variable. That teachers’ perceptions concerning diversity management and their organizational identification and turnover intention levels didn’t differ significantly according to union membership variable was understood. Besides, that diversity management variable predicted organizational identification and turnover intention variables significantly was seen. ÖzetBu araştırmanın amacı, farklılıkların yönetiminin öğretmenlerin örgütsel özdeşleşme ve işten ayrılma niyeti düzeyini yordayıp yordamadığını belirlemektir. Araştırma tarama modeliyle gerçekleştirilmiştir. Araştırmanın örneklemini 2014-2015 eğitim öğretim yılında Diyarbakır İli resmi liselerde görevli 326 öğretmen oluşturmaktadır. Araştırmanın verileri farklılıkların yönetimi, örgütsel özdeşleşme ve işten ayrılma niyeti ölçekleri ile toplanmıştır. Araştırmada, cinsiyet değişkenine göre öğretmenlerin farklılıkların yönetimine ilişkin algıları ile örgütsel özdeşleşme düzeylerinin anlamlı bir şekilde farklılaşmadığı; ancak, işten ayrılma niyeti düzeyinin anlamlı bir şekilde farklılaştığı anlaşılmaktadır. Sendika üyeliği değişkenine göre öğretmenlerin farklılıkların yönetimine ilişkin algıları ile örgütsel özdeşleşme ve işten ayrılma niyeti düzeylerinin anlamlı bir şekilde farklılaşmadığı anlaşılmaktadır. Ayrıca, farklılıkların yönetimi değişkenin örgütsel özdeşleşme değişkeni ile işten ayrılma niyeti değişkenini anlamlı bir şekilde yordadığı görülmektedir.
Iron(II) modified natural zeolites for hexavalent chromium removal from contaminated water
Authors: Lofù Antonio , Mastrorilli Piero , Dell’Anna Maria Michela , Mali Matilda , Sisto Raffaello , Vignola Rodolfo
Published: March 2016

Three different types of Fe(II)-modified natural zeolites were tested as supports in continuous-flow columns for the treatment of Cr(VI) contaminated water. The natural zeolites chosen as support were commercially available Zeosand (80% clinoptilolite), ATZ (79% phillipsite/chabazite), and ZS-55RW (90% Chabazite). All the examined modified zeolites turned out active for hexavalent chromium abatement, lowering its concentration below the European regulation level, even at relatively high flow rates (40 mL/h, linear velocity 15 cm/h). Zeosand, having a broader pH range of stability, was found to be the best one in terms of both Fe(II) uptake (0.54 wt%) and Cr removal (90 mg Cr/Kg zeolite).
Prediction of Reverberant Properties of Enclosures via a Method Employing a Modal Representation of the Room Impulse Response
Authors: Meissner Mirosław
Published: March 2016

A theoretical method has been presented to describe sound decay in enclosures and simulate the room impulse response (RIR) employed for prediction of the indoor reverberation characteristics. The method was based on a solution of wave equation with the form of a series whose time-decaying components represent responses of acoustic modes to an impulse sound source. For small sound absorption on room walls this solution was found by means of the method of variation of parameters. A decay function was computed via the time-reverse integration of the squared RIR. Computer simulations carried out for a rectangular enclosure have proved that the RIR function reproduces the structure of a sound field in the initial stage of sound decay sufficiently well. They have also shown that band-limitedness of the RIR has evident influence on the shape of the decay function and predicted decay times.
The Effect of Sonication on Acoustic Properties of Biogenic Ferroparticle Suspension
Authors: Józefczak Arkadiusz , Hornowski Tomasz , Król Anita , Molčan Matúš , Leszczyński Błażej , Timko Milan
Published: March 2016

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION) synthesised chemically usually need the modification of the particle surface. Other natural sources of magnetic particles are various magnetotactic bacteria. Magnetosomes isolated from magnetotactic bacteria are organelles consisting of magnetite (Fe3O4) or greigite (Fe3S4) crystals enclosed by a biological membrane. Magnetotactic bacteria produce their magnetic particles in chains. The process of isolation of magnetosome chains from the body of bacteria consists of a series of cycles of centrifugation and magnetic decantation. Using a high-energy ultrasound it is possible to break the magnetosome chains into individual nanoparticles – magnetosomes. This study presents the effect of sonication of magnetosome suspension on their acoustic properties, that is speed and attenuation of the sound. Acoustic propagation parameters are measured using ultrasonic spectroscopy based on FFT spectral analysis of the received pulses. The speed and attenuation of ultrasonic waves in magnetosome suspensions are analysed as a function of frequency, temperature, magnetic field intensity, and the angle between the direction of the wave and the direction of the field.
Serum protein S100 as marker of postoperative delirium after off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery: secondary analysis of two prospective randomized controlled trials
Authors: Al Tmimi Layth , Van de Velde Marc , Meyns Bart , Meuris Bart , Sergeant Paul , Milisen Koen , Pottel Hans , Poesen Koen , Rex Steffen
Published: March 2016

Background:

To investigate the predictive value of S100 (biochemical marker of neuroglial injury) for the occurrence of postoperative delirium (POD) in patients undergoing off-pump coronary artery bypass (OPCAB)-surgery.

Methods:

We enrolled 92 patients older than 18 years undergoing elective OPCAB-surgery. Serum-levels of S100 were determined at baseline (BL), end of surgery (EOS) and on the first postoperative day (PD1). Postoperatively, all-patients were evaluated daily until PD5 for the presence of POD using the confusion assessment method (CAM) or the confusion assessment method for the intensive care unit (CAM-ICU) for patients in the intensive care unit (ICU).

Results:

The overall incidence of POD was 21%. S100-values on PD1 significantly predicted the occurrence of POD during the later hospital stay [area under the curve (AUC)=0.724 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.619–0.814); p=0.0001] with an optimal cut-off level of 123 pg mL−1 (sensitivity 100%, specificity 44%). Below this value, the absence of POD was predicted correctly in 43.66% of patients without POD [negative predictive value (NPV) of 100% (95%CI: 88.8%–100.0%) – positive predictive value of 29.8% (95%CI: 18.4%–43.4%) and likelihood ratio (LR) of the negative result of 0.0].

Conclusions:

S100-levels <123 pg mL−1 measured on PD1 reliably rule out the development of POD after elective OPCAB-surgery. This finding warrants testing whether S100-levels could be used for a risk stratification of cardiac surgical patients and for the initiation of preventive measures against POD in patients with high postoperative S100-levels.
Progress in pharmacogenetics: consortiums and new strategies
Authors: Maroñas Olalla , Latorre Ana , Dopazo Joaquín , Pirmohamed Munir , Rodríguez-Antona Cristina , Siest Gérard , Carracedo Ángel , LLerena Adrián
Published: March 2016

Pharmacogenetics (PGx), as a field dedicated to achieving the goal of personalized medicine (PM), is devoted to the study of genes involved in inter-individual response to drugs. Due to its nature, PGx requires access to large samples; therefore, in order to progress, the formation of collaborative consortia seems to be crucial. Some examples of this collective effort are the European Society of Pharmacogenomics and personalized Therapy and the Ibero-American network of Pharmacogenetics. As an emerging field, one of the major challenges that PGx faces is translating their discoveries from research bench to bedside. The development of genomic high-throughput technologies is generating a revolution and offers the possibility of producing vast amounts of genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms for each patient. Moreover, there is a need of identifying and replicating associations of new biomarkers, and, in addition, a greater effort must be invested in developing regulatory organizations to accomplish a correct standardization. In this review, we outline the current progress in PGx using examples to highlight both the importance of polymorphisms and the research strategies for their detection. These concepts need to be applied together with a proper dissemination of knowledge to improve clinician and patient understanding, in a multidisciplinary team-based approach.
Printed Notched Antenna with Long Meandered Line for Eight-Band LTE/GSM/UMTS Wireless USB Dongle Operation
Authors: Zhang Y. H. , Sun S. C. , Ban Y. L. , Tang X. H.
Published: March 2016

This paper presents a planar notched antenna with a long meandered line for wireless USB dongle applications. The printed notched structure is used as additional resonators to generate multiple bands operation for covering GSM1800/1900/UMTS2100/LTE2300/2500 bands. In addition, with the help of the long meandered line via hole to ground, a lower resonant mode is sufficiently generated at around 770 MHz and forms a wider lower operating bandwidth (LTE700/GSM850/900). Briefly printed on a 0.8 mm thick FR4 dielectric substrate of size 20×70 mm² and electrically connected (via hole) to the ground plane of the USB dongle, the proposed antenna can provide a wide operating bandwidth (3:1 VSWR) of larger than 120 % centered at 2,000 MHz, allowing it to cover 698–960 and 1,710–2,690 MHz bands. The proposed antenna also can be attached to laptop computer by the USB interface. Detailed design considerations of the proposed antenna are described, and obtained experimental and simulation results are also presented and discussed in this paper.
Design of Compact Penta-Band and Hexa-Band Microstrip Antennas
Authors: Srivastava Kunal , Kumar Ashwani , Kanaujia Binod K.
Published: March 2016

This paper presents the design of two multi-band microstrip antennas. The antenna-1 gives Penta-Band and antenna-2 gives Hexa-band in the WLAN band. The frequency bands of the antenna-1 are Bluetooth 2.47 GHz (2.43 GHz–2.54 GHz), WiMax band 3.73 GHz (3.71 GHz–3.77 GHz), WLAN 5.1 GHz (4.99 GHz–5.13 GHz), upper WLAN 6.36 GHz (6.29 GHz–6.43 GHz), C band band 7.42 GHz (7.32 GHz–7.50 GHz) and the antenna-2 are WLAN band 2.6 GHz (2.56 GHz–2.63 GHz), 3.0 GHz (2.94 GHz–3.05 GHz), WiMax band 3.4 GHz (3.34 GHz–3.55 GHz), 4.85 GHz (4.81 GHz–4.92 GHz), WLAN 5.3 GHz (5.27 GHz–5.34 GHz) and upper WLAN 6.88 GHz. Both the antennas are fabricated and their measured results are presented to validate the simulated results. Proposed antennas have compact sizes and good radiation performances.