bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Clinical Response Rates From Interleukin-2 Therapy for Metastatic Melanoma Over 30 Years’ Experience: A Meta-Analysis of 3312 Patients
Authors: Bright Richard , Coventry Brendon J. , Eardley-Harris Nathan , Briggs Nancy
Published: November 2016

Interleukin-2 (IL-2), initially used in 1986, can induce clinical regression—complete responses (CR) and partial responses (PR) of metastatic malignant melanoma. IL-2 has been used alone or in combination, and in different dosage schedules, as an immunotherapeutic agent for melanoma treatment. This meta-analysis aimed to document and evaluate the spectrum of reported clinical response rates from the combined experience of almost 30 years of IL-2 clinical usage. Clinical trials using IL-2 for metastatic melanoma therapy that reported: dosage, combinations, study details, definitions and clinical CR, PR, and overall response (OR) rates were included. A meta-analysis was conducted using the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. In total, 34 studies met inclusion criteria, with 41 separate treatment arms. For all IL-2 treatment modalities collectively, the CR rate was 4.0% [95% confidence interval (CI), 2.8–5.3], PR 12.5% (95% CI, 10.1–15.0), and OR 19.7% (95% CI, 15.9–23.5). CR pre-1994 was 2.7% versus 6.1% post-1994. High and intermediate-IL-2 dosage showed no CR difference, while low-dose IL-2 showed a nonstatistical trend toward an increased CR rate. The highest CR rate resulted from IL-2 combined with vaccine at 5.0%. The meta-analysis showed that IL-2 immunotherapy for advanced metastatic melanoma delivered a CR rate of 4% (range, 0–23%) across nearly 30 years of clinical studies, with gradual improvement over time. The significance is that, contrary to popular belief, the data demonstrated that CR rates were similar for intermediate versus high-IL-2 dosing.
A Systematic Review of Completeness of Reporting in Randomized Controlled Trials in Dermatologic Surgery: Adherence to CONSORT 2010 Recommendations
Authors: Alam Murad , Rauf Mutahir , Ali Sana , Patel Parth , Schlessinger Daniel I. , Schaeffer Matthew R. , Yoo Simon S. , Minkis Kira , Jiang Shang I Brian , Maher Ian A. , Sobanko Joseph F. , Cartee Todd V. , Poon Emily
Published: November 2016

BACKGROUND

Randomized controlled trials are the gold standard for comparing safety and effectiveness of surgical interventions. Reporting guidelines are available for conveying the results of such trials.

OBJECTIVE

To assess adherence to standard reporting guidelines among randomized controlled trials in dermatologic surgery.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Systematic review. Data source was randomized controlled trials in the journal Dermatologic Surgery, per PubMed search, 1995 to 2014. Studies were appraised for the number of the 37 CONSORT 2010 Checklist criteria reported in each. Analysis included comparison of reporting across 4 consecutive periods.

RESULTS

Three hundred sixty-three studies were eligible. The mean number of items reported per study increased monotonically from 14.5 in 1995 to 1999 to 16.2 in 2002 to 2004, 17.7 in 2005 to 2009, and 18.0 in 2010 to 2014 (p < .0001). A limitation was that study procedures may have been performed without being reported.

CONCLUSION

Completeness of reporting in randomized controlled trials in dermatologic surgery has improved significantly during the preceding 2 decades. Some elements are still reported at lower rates.
Evaluation of Corneal Deformation Parameters Provided by the Corvis ST Tonometer After Trabeculectomy
Authors: Zong Yuan , Wu Na , Fu Zhixuan , Kong Xiangmei
Published: November 2016

Purpose:

The aims of this study were to evaluate how the corneal deformation parameters provided by the Corvis ST tonometer (CST) were influenced by pressure-lowering ocular surgery, and to determine the correlations of intraocular pressure (IOP) and axial length (AL) with CST corneal deformation parameters.

Methods:

This prospective 1-month study enrolled 22 subjects (22 eyes) who underwent trabeculectomy combined with mitomycin C. The corneal deformation parameters were measured using the CST. IOP was measured before and after surgery by a Goldmann applanation tonometer and the CST. The central corneal thickness and AL were also recorded. The correlations of the corneal deformation parameters with central corneal thickness, AL, and IOP changes were determined by linear regression analysis.

Results:

IOP decreased significantly after surgery. AL was significantly shorter at 1 week after surgery. There were significant changes in the CST parameters time 1, velocity 1, velocity 2, peak distance highest concavity, and deformation amplitude highest concavity at 1 week and 1 month after surgery and in time highest concavity at 1 week after surgery. The change in time 1 was significantly correlated with preoperative IOP and the IOP reductions, and was positively correlated with the decrease in AL at 1 week. The increase in velocity 1 was negatively correlated with preoperative IOP, and IOP reductions. The change in time highest concavity was negatively correlated with IOP before surgery and the decrease in IOP at 1 week.

Conclusion:

CST is a good choice for measuring IOP, especially when aiming for normalization of IOP after glaucoma surgery.
Dietary intake mediates the relationship of body fat to pain
Authors: Emery Charles F. , Olson KayLoni L. , Bodine Andrew , Lee Victoria , Habash Diane L.
Published: November 2016

Prior studies have documented an association of obesity with chronic pain, but the mechanism explaining the association remains unknown. This study evaluated the degree to which dietary intake of foods with anti-inflammatory effects mediates the relationship of body fat to body pain. Ninety-eight community-residing healthy adults (60% women; mean age = 43.2 ± 15.3 years; range: 20-78 years) participated in a home-based study of home environment, food-related behaviors, health, and adiposity. During a 3-hour home visit evaluation, 3 measures of body fat were collected, including height and weight for calculation of body mass index (BMI). Participants also completed a 24-hour food recall interview and self-report measures of bodily pain (BP; BP subscale from the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36) and psychological distress (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale). Quality of dietary intake was rated using the Healthy Eating Index-2010. Mediation models were conducted with the PROCESS macro in SAS 9.3. Mean BMI was consistent with obesity (30.4 ± 7.8; range: 18.2-53.3), and BP values (73.2 ± 22.1; range: 0-100) and dietary intake quality (59.4 ± 15.5; range: 26.8-88.1) were consistent with population norms. Modeling in PROCESS revealed that Healthy Eating Index-2010 scores mediated the relationship between BMI and BP (b

indirect
= −0.34, 95% confidence interval = −0.68 to −0.13). The mediation model remained significant when controlling for biomechanical factors (arthritis/joint pain), medication use, psychological distress, age, and education, and models remained significant using the other 2 body fat measures. Thus, the data indicate that dietary intake of foods with anti-inflammatory effects mediates the relationship of body fat to body pain in healthy men and women.
Does brief chronic pain management education change opioid prescribing rates? A pragmatic trial in Australian early-career general practitioners
Authors: Holliday Simon Mark , Hayes Chris , Dunlop Adrian J. , Morgan Simon , Tapley Amanda , Henderson Kim M. , van Driel Mieke L. , Holliday Elizabeth G. , Ball Jean I. , Davey Andrew , Spike Neil Allan , McArthur Lawrence Andrew , Magin Parker John
Published: November 2016

We aimed to evaluate the effect of pain education on opioid prescribing by early-career general practitioners. A brief training workshop was delivered to general practice registrars of a single regional training provider. The workshop significantly reduced “hypothetical” opioid prescribing (in response to paper-based vignettes) in an earlier evaluation. The effect of the training on “actual” prescribing was evaluated using a nonequivalent control group design nested within the Registrar Clinical Encounters in Training (ReCEnT) cohort study: 4 other regional training providers were controls. In ReCEnT, registrars record detailed data (including prescribing) during 60 consecutive consultations, on 3 occasions. Analysis was at the level of individual problem managed, with the primary outcome factor being prescription of an opioid analgesic and the secondary outcome being opioid initiation. Between 2010 and 2015, 168,528 problems were recorded by 849 registrars. Of these, 71% were recorded by registrars in the nontraining group. Eighty-two percentages were before training. Opioid analgesics were prescribed in 4382 (2.5%, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.40-2.63) problems, with 1665 of these (0.97%, 95% CI: 0.91-1.04) representing a new prescription. There was no relationship between the training and total prescribing after training (interaction odds ratio: 1.01; 95% CI: 0.75-1.35;Pvalue 0.96). There was some evidence of a reduction in initial opioid prescriptions in the training group (interaction odds ratio: 0.74; 95% CI: 0.48-1.16;Pvalue 0.19). This brief training package failed to increase overall opioid cessation. The inconsistency of these actual prescribing results with “hypothetical” prescribing behavior suggests that reducing opioid prescribing in chronic noncancer pain requires more than changing knowledge and attitudes.
Sociodemographic disparities in chronic pain, based on 12-year longitudinal data
Authors: Grol-Prokopczyk Hanna
Published: November 2016

Existing estimates of sociodemographic disparities in chronic pain in the United States are based on cross-sectional data, often treat pain as a binary construct, and rarely test for nonresponse or other types of bias. This study uses 7 biennial waves of national data from the Health and Retirement Study (1998-2010; n = 19,776) to describe long-term pain disparities among older (age 51+) American adults. It also investigates whether pain severity, reporting heterogeneity, survey nonresponse, and/or mortality selection might bias estimates of social disparities in pain. In the process, the article clarifies whether 2 unexpected patterns observed cross-sectionally—plateauing of pain above age 60, and lower pain among racial/ethnic minorities—are genuine or artefactual. Findings show high prevalence of chronic pain: 27.3% at baseline, increasing to 36.6% thereafter. Multivariate latent growth curve models reveal extremely large disparities in pain by sex, education, and wealth, which manifest primarily as differences in intercept. Net of these variables, there is no racial/ethnic minority disadvantage in pain scores, and indeed a black advantage vis-à-vis whites. Pain levels are predictive of subsequent death, even a decade in the future. No evidence of pain-related survey attrition is found, but surveys not accounting for pain severity and reporting heterogeneity are likely to underestimate socioeconomic disparities in pain. The lack of minority disadvantage (net of socioeconomic status) appears genuine. However, the age-related plateauing of pain observed cross-sectionally is not replicated longitudinally, and seems partially attributable to mortality selection, as well as to rising pain levels by birth cohort.
The Value of Detecting Asymptomatic Signs of Myocardial Ischemia in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease in Outpatient Cardiac Rehabilitation
Authors: Lounsbury Patricia , Elokda Ahmed S. , Bunning Jennifer M. , Arena Ross , Gordon Ellen E.I.
Published: November 2016

Background:

Electrocardiographic (ECG) monitored outpatient cardiac rehabilitation (OP-CR) is routinely performed following a variety of cardiovascular procedures and conditions.

Objective:

The aim of this study is to determine if diagnostic-quality ECG monitoring in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) during OP-CR is useful in identifying asymptomatic myocardial ischemia, resulting in change(s) in care or medical management.

Methods:

A retrospective analysis of ECG monitoring was done on all OP-CR patients diagnosed with CAD (n = 1213) from January 2000 through June 2013.

Results:

Nearly a quarter of the patients (24%; n = 288) displayed at least 1 mm of asymptomatic ST-segment depression at 80 milliseconds after the J-point during at least 1 session of OP-CR. Of these patients, 57% had medical management change(s) compared with 24% for those who did not show ECG changes suggesting ischemia (P < .0001). In patients with asymptomatic ischemia having medical management change(s), 84% resulted directly from OP-CR staff detection. Fewer patients diagnosed with myocardial infarction and coronary artery bypass graft surgery demonstrated ECG signs of ischemia, whereas more patients diagnosed with stable angina and percutaneous coronary interventions demonstrated ECG signs of ischemia.

Conclusion:

This study demonstrates that most patients with CAD showing asymptomatic ECG signs suggesting ischemia undergo medical management change(s) as a result of the finding. Diagnostic-quality ECG monitoring during OP-CR appears warranted in this population.
Darkened and Thickened Skin
Authors: Goddard Lindsey D. , Jacob Sharon E.
Published: November 2016

Teledermatology is a term to describe the provision of dermatologic medical services through telecommunication technology. In this modality, there is transfer of patient medical information electronically (including history and visual data) obtained in one location to a provider who is in another location (Roman & Jacob, 2015). The construct of the TeleDermViewPoint column is such that cases are presented in a standardized teledermatology reader format reflective of an actual teledermatology report. This is a case of brown, thickened skin.
Apolipoprotein CIII is a new player in diabetes
Authors: Juntti-Berggren Lisa , Berggren Per-Olof
Published: November 2016

Purpose of review

Type-1 and type-2 diabetes are diseases with an increasing number of patients and a complex, multifactorial pathogenesis. Apolipoprotein (apo) CIII is increased in both types of diabetes and interventions preventing the increase have effects on the development of diabetes.

Recent findings

ApoCIII affects intracellular Ca2+-handling by activating voltage-gated Ca2+-channels. ApoCIII is produced within the pancreatic islets and it increases in parallel with the development of insulin resistance and type-2 diabetes. Preventing the increase maintains a normal glucose tolerance as well as Ca2+-handling and no signs of inflammation can be seen in islets wherein the augmented local production of the apolipoprotein is absent.

ApoCIII has been found to interfere with both function and survival of the β-cell and thereby promote the development of diabetes. Increased levels of this apolipoprotein affects intracellular Ca2+-handling and insulin sensitivity, which finally results in impaired glucose homeostasis and diabetes. Interestingly, in a type-1 diabetes rat model lowering of apoCIII delays onset of diabetes. In type-2 diabetes insulin resistance within the pancreatic islets leads to a local increase in apoCIII that promotes inflammation and β-cell dysfunction. Hence, targeting apoCIII may constitute a novel pharmacological strategy to treat both type-1 and type-2 diabetes.
Labor Nurses' Views of Their Influence on Cesarean Birth
Authors: Simpson Kathleen Rice , Lyndon Audrey
Published: November 2016

Background:

As part of an ongoing study about nurse staffing during labor and birth sponsored by the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN), outcomes that may be linked to aspects of labor nursing were considered. The purpose of this study was to see if labor nurses felt they influenced whether a woman has a cesarean birth. These data were used to determine if cesarean birth should be included as an outcome measure in the multistate labor nurse staffing study.

Methods:

Focus groups were used to explore the role of labor nurses and cesarean birth. Participants were attending the AWHONN national convention in 2015. Two open-ended questions were asked: 1) Do labor nurses influence whether a woman has a cesarean? 2) What specific things do you do as a labor nurse to help a woman avoid a cesarean?

Results:

Two focus groups were held (n = 15 and n = 9). Nurses overwhelmingly agreed nursing care can influence mode of birth. They described multiple strategies routinely used to help a woman avoid a cesarean, which were categorized into three main themes: support, advocacy, and interactions with physicians. Support was emotional, informational, and physical. Advocacy involved advocating for women and helping women advocate for themselves. Nurses tried to focus on positive aspects of labor progress when communicating with physicians. Descriptions of interactions with some physicians implied less than optimal teamwork and lack of collaboration.

Conclusion:

Labor nurses are likely influential in whether some women have a cesarean. They reported consistently taking an active role to help women avoid a cesarean. Promoting vaginal birth as appropriate to the clinical situation was a high priority. Trust, partnership, and respect for roles and responsibilities of each discipline were not evident in some of the clinical situations nurses described.
Introducing Allergenic Food into Infants' Diets
Authors: Larson Katelin , McLaughlin Jessica , Stonehouse Mallory , Young Brittany , Haglund Kristin
Published: November 2016

Purpose:

The purpose of this systematic review was to explore the association between timing of introduction of potentially allergenic foods to infants and development of food allergies.

Methods:

CINAHL, Medline, PubMed, Science Direct, and Web of Science were searched using the terms solid food, complementary food, or infant feeding combined with allergy or hypersensitivity for articles published in English in 2000 or later. Inclusion criteria were 1) primary research articles with 2) a focus on association between introduction of complementary foods including potentially allergenic foods into diets of infants less than 12 months of age and development of food allergies. Articles were excluded if they were 1) not primary research, 2) about complementary foods only (without specificity of allergenic foods), or 3) on allergic conditions other than food allergy (such as asthma or eczema).

Results:

The initial literature search yielded 533 articles; 14 articles met inclusion criteria. Level of evidence of each study was determined with the SORT criteria. Results found that delayed introduction of solid foods in general and allergenic foods in particular was not associated with decreased risk for allergic diseases among high and low-risk infants. Later introduction was associated with increased risk for allergy development.

Clinical Implications:

For infants at low risk for development of food allergies, providers should advise caregivers to introduce potentially allergenic foods with other solid foods between 4 and 6 months of age when children show an interest in eating solids. Infants at high risk for peanut allergy, should be evaluated by an allergy specialist prior to introduction of peanuts and work with providers to create an individualized plan for introduction of peanuts and other allergenic foods as needed.
Cushing Syndrome in Carney Complex
Authors: Lowe Kathleen M. , Young William F. , Lyssikatos Charalampos , Stratakis Constantine A. , Carney J. Aidan
Published: November 2016

Carney complex (CNC) is a rare dominantly inherited multiorgan tumoral disorder that includes Cushing syndrome (CS). To establish the Mayo Clinic experience with the CS component, including its clinical, laboratory, and pathologic findings, we performed a retrospective search of the patient and pathologic databases of Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, for patients with CNC and clinical or laboratory findings of CS. Thirty-seven patients with CNC were identified. Twenty-nine had clinical, pathologic, or laboratory evidence of an adrenocortical disorder. Seventeen had classic CS; 15 underwent bilateral, subtotal, or partial unilateral adrenalectomy, and 2 had no treatment. Pathologically, the glands were normal sized or slightly enlarged with multiple small (1 to 4 mm), brown, black, and yellow micronodules (primary pigmented nodular adrenocortical disease; PPNAD). Three glands each had a mass: a 2 cm adenoma, a 1.5 cm macronodule, and an unencapsulated 1.8 cm myelolipoma. Fourteen of the patients were alive at follow-up, and 3 were deceased; 2 of the latter had PPNAD at autopsy, and the third had PPNAD at surgery. Twelve patients without clinical features of classic CS had abnormal adrenocortical testing results; none developed classic CS during follow-up (mean, 10 y). Autopsy findings in 1 showed bilateral vacuolated cell cortical hyperplasia.
Do infants retain the statistics of a statistical learning experience? Insights from a developmental cognitive neuroscience perspective
Authors: Gómez Rebecca L.
Published: November 2016

Statistical structure abounds in language. Human infants show a striking capacity for using statistical learning (SL) to extract regularities in their linguistic environments, a process thought to bootstrap their knowledge of language. Critically, studies of SL test infants in the minutes immediately following familiarization, but long-term retention unfolds over hours and days, with almost no work investigating retention of SL. This creates a critical gap in the literature given that we know little about how single or multiple SL experiences translate into permanent knowledge. Furthermore, different memory systems with vastly different encoding and retention profiles emerge at different points in development, with the underlying memory system dictating the fidelity of the memory trace hours later. I describe the scant literature on retention of SL, the learning and retention properties of memory systems as they apply to SL, and the development of these memory systems. I propose that different memory systems support retention of SL in infant and adult learners, suggesting an explanation for the slow pace of natural language acquisition in infancy. I discuss the implications of developing memory systems for SL and suggest that we exercise caution in extrapolating from adult to infant properties of SL.

This article is part of the themed issue ‘New frontiers for statistical learning in the cognitive sciences’.
Real-world visual statistics and infants' first-learned object names
Authors: Clerkin Elizabeth M. , Hart Elizabeth , Rehg James M. , Yu Chen , Smith Linda B.
Published: November 2016

We offer a new solution to the unsolved problem of how infants break into word learning based on the visual statistics of everyday infant-perspective scenes. Images from head camera video captured by 8 1/2 to 10 1/2 month-old infants at 147 at-home mealtime events were analysed for the objects in view. The images were found to be highly cluttered with many different objects in view. However, the frequency distribution of object categories was extremely right skewed such that a very small set of objects was pervasively present—a fact that may substantially reduce the problem of referential ambiguity. The statistical structure of objects in these infant egocentric scenes differs markedly from that in the training sets used in computational models and in experiments on statistical word-referent learning. Therefore, the results also indicate a need to re-examine current explanations of how infants break into word learning.

This article is part of the themed issue ‘New frontiers for statistical learning in the cognitive sciences’.
What's statistical about learning? Insights from modelling statistical learning as a set of memory processes
Authors: Thiessen Erik D.
Published: November 2016

Statistical learning has been studied in a variety of different tasks, including word segmentation, object identification, category learning, artificial grammar learning and serial reaction time tasks (e.g. Saffran
et al.
1996
Science
274
, 1926–1928; Orban
et al.
2008
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
105
, 2745–2750; Thiessen & Yee 2010
Child Development
81
, 1287–1303; Saffran 2002
Journal of Memory and Language
47
, 172–196; Misyak & Christiansen 2012
Language Learning
62
, 302–331). The difference among these tasks raises questions about whether they all depend on the same kinds of underlying processes and computations, or whether they are tapping into different underlying mechanisms. Prior theoretical approaches to statistical learning have often tried to explain or model learning in a single task. However, in many cases these approaches appear inadequate to explain performance in multiple tasks. For example, explaining word segmentation via the computation of sequential statistics (such as transitional probability) provides little insight into the nature of sensitivity to regularities among simultaneously presented features. In this article, we will present a formal computational approach that we believe is a good candidate to provide a unifying framework to explore and explain learning in a wide variety of statistical learning tasks. This framework suggests that statistical learning arises from a set of processes that are inherent in memory systems, including activation, interference, integration of information and forgetting (e.g. Perruchet & Vinter 1998
Journal of Memory and Language
39
, 246–263; Thiessen
et al.
2013
Psychological Bulletin
139
, 792–814). From this perspective, statistical learning does not involve explicit computation of statistics, but rather the extraction of elements of the input into memory traces, and subsequent integration across those memory traces that emphasize consistent information (Thiessen and Pavlik 2013
Cognitive Science
37
, 310–343).

This article is part of the themed issue ‘New frontiers for statistical learning in the cognitive sciences'.
The multi-component nature of statistical learning
Authors: Arciuli Joanne
Published: November 2016

The central argument presented in this paper is that statistical learning (SL) is an ability comprised of multiple components that operate largely implicitly. Components relating to the stimulus encoding, retention and abstraction required for SL may include, but are not limited to, certain types of attention, processing speed and memory. It is likely that individuals vary in terms of the efficiency of these underlying components, and in patterns of connectivity among these components, and that SL tasks differ from one another in how they draw on certain underlying components more than others. This theoretical framework is of value because it can assist in gaining a clearer understanding of how SL is linked with individual differences in complex mental activities such as language processing. Variability in language processing across individuals is of central concern to researchers interested in child development, including those interested in neurodevelopmental disorders where language can be affected such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This paper discusses the link between SL and individual differences in language processing in the context of age-related changes in SL during infancy and childhood, and whether SL is affected in ASD. Viewing SL as a multi-component ability may help to explain divergent findings from previous empirical research in these areas and guide the design of future studies.

This article is part of the themed issue ‘New frontiers for statistical learning in the cognitive sciences’.
New single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in homologous recombination repair genes detected by microarray analysis in Polish breast cancer patients
Authors: Romanowicz Hanna , Strapagiel Dominik , Słomka Marcin , Sobalska-Kwapis Marta , Kępka Ewa , Siewierska-Górska Anna , Zadrożny Marek , Smolarz Beata
Published: November 2016

Purpose of the study:

Breast cancer is the most common cause of malignancy mortality in women worldwide. This study aimed at localising homologous recombination repair (HR) genes and their chromosomal loci and correlating their nucleotide variants with susceptibility to breast cancer. In this study authors analysed the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in homologous recombination repair genes and the incidence of breast cancer in the population of Polish women.

Methods:

Blood samples from 94 breast cancer patients were analysed as test group. Individuals were recruited into the study at the Department of Oncological Surgery and Breast Diseases of the Institute of the Polish Mother’s Memorial Hospital in Lodz, Poland. Healthy controls (n=500) were obtained from the Biobank Laboratory, Department of Molecular Biophysics, University of Lodz. Then, DNA of breast cancer patients was compared with one of disease-free women. The test was supported by microarray analysis.

Results:

Statistically significant correlations were identified between breast cancer and 3 not described previously single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of homologous recombination repair genesBRCA1andBRCA2: rs59004709, rs4986852 and rs1799950.

Conclusions:

Further studies on larger groups are warranted to support the hypothesis of correlation between the above-mentioned genetic variants and breast cancer risk.
Aquabis(2,2′-bipyridine-κ2N,N′)chloridonickel(II) chloride chloroform monosolvate hemihydrate
Authors: Vasileiadou Eugenia , Angaridis Panagiotis A. , Raptis Raphael G. , Mathivathanan Logesh
Published: November 2016

The title solvated salt, [NiCl(C10H8N2)2(H2O)]Cl·CHCl3·0.5H2O, contains a mononuclear NiIIcomplex cation with 2,2′-bipyridine, chloride and aqua ligands forming a slightly distorted ClN4O octahedral coordination set. The charge of the cation is balanced by a chloride anion. In the crystal, half a water molecule and a chloroform solvent molecule are present per formula unit. Individual components are held together by O—H...Cl hydrogen bonding and π–π interactions.
3-[2-(9H-Carbazol-9-yl)ethyl]-4-phenyl-1H-1,2,4-triazole-5(4H)-thione dimethyl sulfoxide monosolvate
Authors: Mohamed Shaaban K. , Mague Joel T. , Akkurt Mehmet , El-Emary Talaat I. , Albayati Mustafa R.
Published: November 2016

In the title compound, C22H18N4S·C2H6OS, the central triazolethione ring is inclined to the carbazole ring system by 13.97 (18)° and to the phenyl ring by 66.4 (1)°. The lattice solvent, dimethyl sulfoxide, is strongly hydrogen bonded to the triazolethione ring. In the crystal, the main molecules form columns parallel to theaaxis, with the solvent molecules located between the columns. C—H...S hydrogen bonds and C—H...π(ring) interactions link adjacent columns. The crystal studied was refined as a two-component twin, with a fractional contribution to the minor domain of 0.0742 (14).
Alcohol dependence: the case of small Mauritius
Authors: K. Sobhee Sanjeev , Tandrayen-Ragoobur Verena , Kasseeah Harshana , Gopaul Asrani
Published: November 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the drinking behaviour of alcohol dependents in the small island economy Mauritius, which is characterised by different cultures and ethnic groups. The drinking culture of Mauritius as a nation has dramatically changed over recent decades.

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis is based on a survey carried out on 300 alcohol dependents in different regions across the island in 2012. Information on alcohol consumption is derived from data obtained on the different types of drink consumed, their drinking preferences and habits, combined with information from the respondents on their alcohol intake. Alcohol-dependent individuals in this study are defined as those people who drink every day, drink in the morning before work and also drink during their working hours. Furthermore, they may also drink to get drunk and may encounter alcohol-related health problems.

Findings

The results first reveal that there is a gender gap in alcohol consumption with men being more dependent on alcoholic beverages on a daily basis, in the morning and at work. Second, the paper innovates by focussing on the most vulnerable segment of the population, that is those working in the informal sector. There is evidence that operating in the informal sector or being self-employed enhances the probability of the individual to become alcohol dependent through daily intake and consumption at the workplace. Informality is characterised by low wages, poor working conditions and high vulnerability which makes alcohol an escape avenue from financial difficulties. Consumption of other substances is also entwined with alcohol intake.

Originality/value

The authors focus on the characteristics and behaviour of alcohol-dependent individuals in a small pluriethnic changing society.
Attaining fairness in construction cost consultancy pricing services
Authors: Owusu-Manu De-Graft , John Edwards David , Adesi Michael , Badu Edward , Love Peter E.D.
Published: November 2016

Purpose

Price fairness is important amongst construction and engineering consultants because a perceived lack of it engenders unwillingness to pay amongst clients. This can create contractual disputes that negatively impact upon a consultant’s ability to generate sufficient revenue to ensure business continuity and survival. With this in mind, this research aims to analyse the pricing measurement forces needed to attain pricing fairness within a Ghanaian construction cost consultancy practice. Specific objectives are to identify the key variables responsible for price fairness within cost consultant services and to establish any interrelationships between them.

Design/methodology/approach

This study leans towards the positivist methodological tradition by adopting a quantitative approach. A survey questionnaire was distributed to a random sample of 79 construction cost consultancies, drawn from a population of 372, who were registered with the Ghana Institution of Surveyors. Hypotheses developed from the literature review were then tested on data collected.

Findings

The analysis revealed that fairness of construction cost consultancy services pricing is significantly related to value and affordability, pricing objectives, pricing strategies, taxes and international trade and its effects on inputs for construction cost consultancy services.

Originality/value

The paper advances knowledge by providing a basis for the consideration of pricing forces in the valuing of construction cost consultancy services which hitherto has not been the case.
What is engineering education for? Listening to the voices of some Spanish building engineers
Authors: Fuentes-Del-Burgo Joaquín , Navarro-Astor Elena
Published: November 2016

Purpose

Aristotle’s concepts of “episteme”, “techne” and “phronesis” are used to understand the relevance of the education that Spanish building engineers receive to their subsequent work as construction site managers. This paper aims to clarify the role of educational factors as they influence any disparities that building engineers who are working as site managers may feel. More specifically, the objectives are to explore the satisfactions and dissatisfactions they experience in doing their job; to describe the ways they find to cope with educational deficiencies; and to gather their suggestions for improving building engineering education.

Design/methodology/approach

Using an interpretive approach within the qualitative paradigm, this study draws on data obtained from semi-structured interviews with a sample of 34 building engineers working as site managers in Castilla-La Mancha (Spain).

Findings

According to the site managers themselves, Spanish universities mainly teach Aristotle’s episteme (abstract knowledge and general principles) and some techne (applied, technical knowledge and skills), which fall short of the expectations placed upon them by their employers.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the chosen research approach, the sample size is relatively small and results may lack generalisability.

Practical implications

The results have practical implication for building engineering curriculum design related to the enhancement of building engineers employability and job satisfaction.

Originality/value

The existing literature offers insight into job-educational mismatches of different occupations in different countries, drawing on survey questionnaires. There is, however, a gap in respect of Spain and the job of the construction site manager. This paper goes some way towards filling that gap, reporting on the experiences of some higher education “customers”: Spanish building engineers working as site managers.
An integrated approach to assessing the sustainability of buildings
Authors: Hassan Osama A.B.
Published: November 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to advance a model that relates the criteria of sustainable development with the construction engineering of buildings. Moreover, a method to evaluate the building sustainability is suggested.

Design/methodology/approach

The method is based on calculating the weighted expected utility function of a building with respect to composite indicator.

Findings

Based on this integrated approach, a tentative index to evaluate the sustainability of buildings is proposed.

Research limitations/implications

The study is limited to the assessment of the sustainable development of the built environment.

Practical implications

The feasibility of assessing the sustainability of a building using the sustainable index of buildings (SIB) is that it permits the decision-makers to study the potential improvement in the sustainable development of buildings in the long and short run. Moreover, the role of benchmarking in improving the sustainability performance of buildings is discussed in view of the suggested method.

Social implications

The present method is practical and easy to use for ranking building (or a part of a building) according to the sustainable performance.

Originality/value

New methodology based on integrating the value-focused thinking together with the composite indicators is used to evaluate the sustainable development.
Publication rate of presentation abstracts presented at the Canadian Health Libraries Association (CHLA/ABSC) annual meetings from 2004-2009
Authors: Shaw Christine E. , Szwajcer Andrea L.
Published: November 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine the publication rate of Canadian health sciences librarians, post-conference presentation. Discover barriers that prevent librarians from taking conference presentation to full publication. Assess the metrics available to librarians for scholarly output measurement by examining metrics, traditional and altmetrics, of articles resulting from conference presentation.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey using FluidSurveys was distributed via e-mail to authors of poster and papers presentation presented at Canadian Health Libraries Association/Association des bibliothèques de la santé du Canada conferences from 2004 to 2009. A literature search for articles matching presentations in National Library of Medicine’s PubMed, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature and Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts was conducted to determine publication rate. Metrics of retrieved articles were gathered and analyzed to gage scholarly output of Canadian health sciences librarians.

Findings

A publication rate of 31.5 percent was determined by literature search. Time restriction was the most common reported reason for not publishing. The altmetric analysis included 71 articles, of which 52 percent had at least one value in various metrics, with Mendeley counts being the most common value represented.

Research limitations/implications

Not all survey respondents may be library science professionals, so that survey findings may not be generalizable to the Canadian health librarian profession. While every effort was made to find and confirm publications related to conference presentations, the reported publication rate may be either an over estimate or under estimate of the true rate. Current altmetric science is very dynamic and evolving.

Originality/value

This study provides a baseline publication rate, identifies barriers librarians face to publication and provides a glimpse into the state of metrics available to Canadian librarians for evaluation of their scholarly output.
User feedback as a management tool in academic libraries: a review
Authors: Porat Lynne
Published: November 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a selective review of current research and practice on user feedback in academic libraries. By dividing user feedback studies into four categories: Library as Place, Navigation, Satisfaction, and User Experience, it aims to provide a framework for academic libraries embarking on a process of systematic user feedback.

Design/methodology/approach

By reviewing the literature on user feedback activities undertaken by several academic libraries, this paper offers insights into how users experience library services, collections, and space.

Findings

User feedback activities, particularly concerning noise and seating, are widespread in academic libraries.

Practical implications

The studies reviewed in this paper may be replicated by other libraries and used as a tool for managerial decision making.

Originality/value

The review is valuable for its analysis of the recent contributions to user feedback practice, as well as its description of the different methodologies employed and changes implemented.
Changes in posttraumatic stress disorders symptoms during and after therapeutic community drug and alcohol treatment
Authors: Perryman Cassandra , Dingle Genevieve , Clark David
Published: November 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the changes in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology during treatment in a drug and alcohol therapeutic community.

Design/methodology/approach

A repeated measures design was employed that looked at PTSD, depression, anxiety, and stress at a pre- and post-timepoint. A second sample was then evaluated at time of program completion to seven months post-treatment.

Findings

PTSD symptomatology significantly decreased in individuals who had undertaken treatment, and continued to decline post-treatment. This finding was irrespective of any PTSD-specific treatment.

Research limitations/implications

PTSD specific treatment is not necessary to lower the symptomatology. Furthermore, this provides evidence that PTSD and substance use disorders are so highly intertwined that the comorbidity can almost be considered a single, diagnosis.

Originality/value

This is a partial replication of previous research which had not previously been replicated. This research also adds to the limited research which looks at PTSD from the perspective of drug and alcohol rehabilitation.
A novel committee selection mechanism for combining classifiers to detect unsolicited emails
Authors: Trivedi Shrawan Kumar , Dey Shubhamoy
Published: November 2016

Purpose

The email is an important medium for sharing information rapidly. However, spam, being a nuisance in such communication, motivates the building of a robust filtering system with high classification accuracy and good sensitivity towards false positives. In that context, this paper aims to present a combined classifier technique using a committee selection mechanism where the main objective is to identify a set of classifiers so that their individual decisions can be combined by a committee selection procedure for accurate detection of spam.

Design/methodology/approach

For training and testing of the relevant machine learning classifiers, text mining approaches are used in this research. Three data sets (Enron, SpamAssassin and LingSpam) have been used to test the classifiers. Initially, pre-processing is performed to extract the features associated with the email files. In the next step, the extracted features are taken through a dimensionality reduction method where non-informative features are removed. Subsequently, an informative feature subset is selected using genetic feature search. Thereafter, the proposed classifiers are tested on those informative features and the results compared with those of other classifiers.

Findings

For building the proposed combined classifier, three different studies have been performed. The first study identifies the effect of boosting algorithms on two probabilistic classifiers: Bayesian and Naïve Bayes. In that study, AdaBoost has been found to be the best algorithm for performance boosting. The second study was on the effect of different Kernel functions on support vector machine (SVM) classifier, where SVM with normalized polynomial (NP) kernel was observed to be the best. The last study was on combining classifiers with committee selection where the committee members were the best classifiers identified by the first study i.e. Bayesian and Naïve bays with AdaBoost, and the committee president was selected from the second study i.e. SVM with NP kernel. Results show that combining of the identified classifiers to form a committee machine gives excellent performance accuracy with a low false positive rate.

Research limitations/implications

This research is focused on the classification of email spams written in English language. Only body (text) parts of the emails have been used. Image spam has not been included in this work. We have restricted our work to only emails messages. None of the other types of messages like short message service or multi-media messaging service were a part of this study.

Practical implications

This research proposes a method of dealing with the issues and challenges faced by internet service providers and organizations that use email. The proposed model provides not only better classification accuracy but also a low false positive rate.

Originality/value

The proposed combined classifier is a novel classifier designed for accurate classification of email spam.