bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Performance Analysis of WiFi Hotspot Network in Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka
Authors: Nonum E. O. , Otasowie P. O.
Published: March 2017

This work centres on the study of campus wifi hotspot networks in Nigeria universities, using the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka as a case study. A Campus Wide Area Network (CWN) provides a means of communication and collaboration in data intensive environments. These are vital key factors to building a strong knowledge culture and facilitating collaborative research for any educational institution. Network stumbler (Wifi Network Analyzer) and Iperf were installed on different laptop computers in the respective Access Points (AP) while being monitored from a dedicated server running on Mikrotik and wireshark. This was used in collecting useful data needed for the characterisation of the UNIZIK wifi hotspot network in terms of Received signal strength index (RSSI), Data throughput and latency/network delay. The AP distance from user is carefully measured with a meter tape. Performance analysis carried out on this university wifi hotspots shows that the network offers a delay of 0.1545s by default that increases by a factor of 0.001s; a data throughput of 37.30Mbps that decreases by a factor of 0.25Mbps for any user added to the network. Also, that an RSSI of -35.438dBm was obtained at the AP base station which decreases by a factor of 0.4925dBm for any 1m distance away from the APand finally that a traditional hotspot networks based on IEEE 802.11 series lacks integrated intelligence for services convergence, QoS performance and in most cases suffers from interoperability problem
Valid Signature Detection and Verification for Security of Individual Person
Authors: Sharma Varun , Singh Narpat
Published: March 2017

In the recent research work, the handwritten signature is a suitable field to detection of valid signature from different environment such online signature and offline signature. In early research work, a lot of unauthorized person put the signature and theft the data in illegal manner from organization or industries. So we have to need identify, the right person on the basis of various parameters that can be detected. In this paper, we have proposed two methods namely LDA and Neural Network for the offline signature from the scan signature image. For efficient research, we have focused the comparative analysis in terms of FRR, SSIM, MSE, and PSNR. These parameters are compared with the early work and the recent work. Our proposed work is more effective and provides the suitable result through our method which leads to existing work. Our method will help to find legal signature of authorized use for security and avoid illegal work.
A Survey Paper on Security in Cloud Computing: A Bibliographic Analysis
Authors: Shah Krutika K. , Vadiya Vahida U. , Jhaveri Rutvij H.
Published: March 2017

Cloud Computing uses a network of remote servers hosted on the internet to store, manage and process data, rather than a local server or a personal computer. Cloud computing provides services on demand. In the recent time, Cloud Computing is highly demanded service because of the advantages like high computing power, less cost of services, high performance, scalability, reliability, accessibility as well as availability. To understand cloud security, there are referred high level publisher’s papers. For this review total 122 research paper of security issues in cloud computing till May 2016. For this paper included studied graphical and systematic review of various research work carried out on cloud computing. These findings show that the research in Cloud Computing received more attention over the past few years. There are referred high level publisher’s paper for better understanding about the security issues in cloud computing. This analysis would provide insights for researches, students, publishers, experts to study current research trend in cloud computing, helps to peoples for any issues about cloud computing.
Hepatic Activation of the FAM3C-HSF1-CaM Pathway Attenuates Hyperglycemia of Obese Diabetic Mice
Authors: Chen Zhenzhen , Ding Liwei , Yang Weili , Wang Junpei , Chen Liming , Chang Yongsheng , Geng Bin , Cui Qinghua , Guan Youfei , Yang Jichun
Published: March 2017

FAM3C is a member of the family with sequence similarity 3 (FAM3) gene family, and this study determined its role and mechanism in regulation of hepatic glucose/lipid metabolism. In obese diabetic mice, FAM3C expression was reduced in the liver, and hepatic FAM3C restoration improved insulin resistance, hyperglycemia, and fatty liver. FAM3C overexpression increased the expression of heat shock factor 1 (HSF1), calmodulin (CaM), and phosphorylated protein kinase B (Akt) and reduced that of gluconeogenic and lipogenic genes in diabetic mouse livers with the suppression of gluconeogenesis and lipid deposition. In cultured hepatocytes, FAM3C overexpression upregulated HSF1 expression, which elevated CaM protein level by inducing CALM1 transcription to activate Akt in a Ca2+- and insulin-independent manner. Furthermore, FAM3C overexpression promoted nuclear exclusion of FOXO1 and repressed gluconeogenic gene expression and gluconeogenesis in a CaM-dependent manner in hepatocytes. Hepatic HSF1 overexpression activated the CaM-Akt pathway to repress gluconeogenic and lipogenic gene expression and improve hyperglycemia and fatty liver in obese diabetic mice. In conclusion, the FAM3C-HSF1-CaM-Akt pathway plays important roles in regulating glucose and lipid metabolism in hepatocytes independent of insulin and calcium. Restoring hepatic FAM3C expression is beneficial for the management of type 2 diabetes and fatty liver.
Evaluation of Some Pesticide Residues in Fruits import by High Performance Liquid Chromatography
Authors: Salman Lamees M. A. , Ahmed Iyad Abdul-Muhsan
Published: March 2017

Pesticide residues have been found in various fruits and vegetables.  This study collected 24 samples and reported a method based on High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). For determination of pesticide residues used in Some fruits which were collected from different markets of Baghdad city to make) 24)  samples from (peel , core, mixture) for each type of fruits markets as:  Oranges( Egypt , Africa), Pomegranate ( Egypt), Mango ( Kenya ), Pears (China),  Plum fruits ( Africa ) , Kiwi (Turkey ) .That detective of ( 5 ) different  pesticides (diazinon,  malathion, chlorpyrifos ,parathion  and cypermethrin). The results were detected of multi-residues of  pesticides on the fruit in ( peel , core , mixture ) may be in the limit of Maximum residue limits(MRL) or higher of it   . The pesticides detected that exceeding the limits are: cypermethrin  in Kiwi (peel, core and mixture)at(0.204,0.038, 0.537), in pomegranate detected in (peel and mixture) at (0.509,0.189) mg/kg , Diazinon detccted in Egyptian orange in (peel ,core and mixture) at (0.031,0.207, 0.099) mg/kg . Malathion and Parathion was not detected at any type of fruits and  that results was compared with codex of FAO/WHO(2013). That data is important to monitor residues in food and to fill gaps in current knowledge would be helpful in assessing human exposure risks from ingestion of contaminated Fruits Imported to our country.
Comparison the Antibacterial Activity of Vitamin D2 and D3
Authors: Khelkal Intesar N.
Published: March 2017

An attempt has been made to determine the antimicrobial activity of vitamin D; D3 & D2 against clinical bacterial isolates as well as perform a comparative analytical study between the effects of both forms of vitamin. The ability of vitamin D (both D2 ergocalciferol& D3 cholecalciferol )  to  inhibit bacterial growth of some clinical isolates have been tested . Forty - three pathogenic bacterial isolates (Gr+ ,Gr- ) have been identified  from fifty - five specimen  was collected from  different sources ; 24 urine, 17 sputum , 9 blood , 5 skin at Al-Kindey hospital for a period of two months . Antibiotic sensitivity was carried out towards 12 different antibiotic discs. The most resistant isolates have been chosen to be tested in the study. Two bacterial suspensions of the selected isolates have been prepared; the first was adjusted to McFarland standard No. 0.5 (1 ×10 8 CFU /mL); the second = 1×1010 CFU /mL. Three concentrations of both vitamins have been prepared; 50,000, 70,000 and 90,000 IU/mL as well as the control ( solvent only ). Antibacterial activity has been examined by using agar diffusion (pore plating method) to determine the most effective concentration among the three concentrations of the two forms of vitamin D. Results were suggesting the important role of vitamin D specially D3 as antibacterial agent .The third concentration (90,000) IU/mL was causing the largest inhibition zone with all tested isolates even with the high turbidity culture (1010CFU/mL) ,followed by the second one (70,000) IU/mL, the lower inhibitor concentration was (50,000) IU/mL. Significant differences have been appeared among the measurements of the diameters of inhibition zones towards three vitamin concentrations when compared one to another and to control.
Counting the Number of Disconnected Labeled Graphs of Order Five without Paralel Edges
Authors: Wamiliana Wamiliana , Amanto Amanto , Tumpi Nagari Grita
Published: March 2017

Abstract— Given a graph G(V,E) with n vertices and m edges, where every vertex is labeled, there are a lot of possible graphs that can be constructed, either connected graphs or disconnected, simple or not simple. A graph G(V,E) is called as a connected graph if there exists at least one path between every pair of vertices in G, and otherwise, G is disconnected. A graph G is called as a labeled graph if every node/vertex and or every edge is labeled. In this research, we are concerning about a graph where every vertex is labeled. Parallel edges are two edges or more which have the same end points. In this research we found that the number of disconnected labeled graph without parallel edges for  and  can be obtained with the following formula: {{.    is the number of disconnected labeled graph without parallel edges for  and . Keywords—  counting graph, labeled graph, disconnected, parallel edges
Status report - The Public Health and Planning 101 project: strengthening collaborations between the public health and planning professions
Authors: Mahendra Ahalya , Vo Tin , Einstoss Candice , Weppler Jason , Gillen Pauline , Ryan Loretta , Haley Kevin
Published: March 2017

The Public Health and Planning 101 project aimed to increase cross-disciplinary knowledge among public health and planning professionals involved in the land use planning process. The multi-disciplinary project team administered an online survey in 2012 to Ontario public health and planning professionals in order to identify learning needs related to the built environment that would inform the development of the education module. The survey asked about built environment work, experience with collaborations, barriers faced working with the other profession, and learning needs. Most survey respondents agreed that both professions should be working together on the built environment, although only half indicated they actually were. The survey findings revealed the need for an education module to help public health and planning professionals collaborate in the land use planning process in Ontario, and to help inform policy related to healthy built environments.
Big news in a small country—developing independent public interest journalism in NZ
Authors: Griffin Peter
Published: March 2017

As pared-down newsrooms across the United States increasingly gener­ate content for pay-walled online platforms, some of the country’s best journalists are instead joining public interest start-ups in the hope of pur­suing the type of investigative journalism projects the mainstream media is increasingly struggling to fund. The likes of Propublica, the Center for Public Integrity and the International Consortium of Investigative Journal­ists have found a viable niche in the US media ecosystem, one built on innovation, collaboration, and philanthropic support. Could the success of these foundations be mirrored in a small country like New Zealand, where the media faces the same resourcing pressure but little philanthropic money goes into media-related ventures? This article is based on the author’s Fulbright Harkness Fellowship-funded research trip to the US, visiting the organisations mentioned above and others, and suggests that while the US model of public interest journalism is unlikely to work in New Zealand, aspects of it coupled with clever use of technology and crowdfunding platforms could be harnessed to create a viable nationally focused public interest journalism venture.
REVIEW: Inequality should be worrying Key
Authors: Hope Wayne
Published: March 2017

Book review of: Inequality: A New Zealand Crisis, by Max Rushbrooke (ed), Wellington: Bridget Williams, 2013, 279pp. ISBN 9781927131510.This book follows international publications, such as Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickets’ Spirit Level (2009) and Joseph Stiglitz’s The Price of Inequality (2012). After 30 plus years of neo-liberal ideology mainstream social scientists and non-doctrinaire economists had reached a consensus; increasing inequality had worsened social problems without improving economic growth or development. Some well-off people were even prepared to support progressive taxes and increased social provision for the purposes of social cohesion. It was thus hard to sustain an ethical defence of neo-liberal policy programmes. Max Rashbrooke’s introduction to this edited collection notes that New Zealand is a special case. From the mid-1980s to the mid-2000s the rich-poor gap widened faster than in any other developed country (p. 1). Various authors consider the nature, causes and consequences of this development over 15 chapters. Interspersed between them are 14 unique viewpoints on wealth and poverty in New Zealand. A range of graphs, figures and tables give empirical weight to the view that inequality is structurally entrenched and socially damaging
Editorial: Meltdowns and militarisation
Authors: Robie David
Published: March 2017

During the Pacific Science Inter-Congress in Fiji in July 2013, an integrated symposium on ‘Oceans and Nations: “Failed” states and the environment’ in the Pacific, was hosted at the University of the South Pacific. The brainchild of USP’s Dr Mohit Prasad and professors Victor Bascara, Keith Comacho and Elizabeth DeLoughrey of the University of California at Los Angeles, this drew its inspiration from another conference at Laucala Bay some two years earlier. The 2010 Oceans, Islands and Skies Symposium (OIS), with papers published in a special edition of the USP literary journal Dreadlocks (Prasad, 2010-11) in 2012, had established the disruption to the traditionally organic and fluid nature of relations between artists, writers and performers in the Pacific by the contemporary crisis of the environment. A follow-up Oceans and Nations Symposium explored relations between impacts on the environment, and crisis in political and related development, among the emerging nation-states of the Pacific.Cover cartoon from Rod Emmerson, New Zealand Herald.
Review: A riveting media chronicle of giving voice to the voiceless
Authors: Thussu Daya Kishan
Published: March 2017

Review of: Don’t Spoil My Beautiful Face: Media, Mayhem and Human Rights in the Pacific, by David Robie. Foreword by Kalafi Moala. Auckland: Little Island Press in association with the Pacific Media Centre. 2014, 362 pp. ISBN 978-1877484-25-4Most journalists work to earn a decent living. Some join the profession to rub shoulders with the rich and famous, benefitting from close proximity to the powers that be. David Robie, the doyen of journalism in the South Pacific region, has pursued a different type of journalism, as this book attests. An exceptional individual, apart from being an award-winning journalist, a prolific author and a committed journalism educator, Robie has set new standards of journalism practice and politics in a part of the globe which receives scant coverage in the international media. During the early 1990s, as associate editor of the London-based and now defunct Gemini News Service, a ‘Third World-oriented’ news features service, this reviewer had the privilege to work with Robie, who regularly contributed thoughtful, well-researched but never preachy articles and commentaries from the South Pacific region, which were circulated among the agency’s more than 100 newspapers around the world.
Review: A PNG media era when development mattered
Authors: MacWilliam Scott
Published: March 2017

Review of: Press, Politics and People in Papua New Guinea 1950-1975, by Philip Cass. Auckland: Unitec e-Press, 2014, 205pp. ISBN 978-1-927214-09-1Press, Politics and People should be required reading for people who are concerned with the history and current trajectory of Papua New Guinea. It is also a book with much to offer for university courses in journalism, history and social science methodology. Philip Cass shows in considerable detail how to research and write a detailed study about an important topic by employing a wide range of research methods, including interviews, content analysis of newspapers, analysing academic and popular literature, and engaging in archival searches. Significantly, he does not waste any time ‘interrogating the Other’, but sustains several arguments about the place of the press during a critical moment when major change was in the air for the people of Papua New Guinea.
Review: A foretaste of TV’s future
Authors: Manning Peter
Published: March 2017

Review of: Australian Television News: New forms, functions, and futures, by Stephen Harrington, Bristol & Chicago: Intellect Press, 2013. 195pp, ISBN 9781841507170This is a deliberately provocative book designed to address what the author sees as the main tropes of journalism studies and to redefine TV news journalism in a new digital age. It is built on three Australian programme case studies – the Network Seven morning show Sunrise, the Network Ten late evening conversational The Panel and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s comedic The Chaser’s War on Everything.
'Team Australia': Reviewing Australian nationalism
Authors: Rajkhowa Arjun
Published: March 2017

This essay reviews different notions about and approaches to nationalism in Australia in the year 2014 as seen through media commentary generated by the incumbent conservative Coalition government’s declaration of new anti-terror initiatives (September-October 2014) and Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s use of the metaphor ‘Team Australia’. The aim is to shed light on divergent understandings of the place of nationalism in contemporary Australian politics and society. Nationalism can be both a means of engendering electoral and political affiliation and a more diffuse sentiment that pervades broader community ties in ways that go beyond mediated mobilisation. Multiculturalism as a trope, construct and category of political analysis serves as a useful context within which competing claims of national identity and nationalism may be examined. Multiculturalism is a well-embedded notion in Australia. However, continuing conflicts and international events constantly re-inflect understandings of nationalism and national unity against the backdrop of Australian multiculturalism. This essay surveys approaches to Abbott’s declarations and poses queries for future research on discourse and nationalism in Australia.
Journalism Plus? The resurgence of creative documentary
Authors: Goldson Annie
Published: March 2017

Over the past two decades, opportunities for ‘creative documentary’ on television may have diminished, but other distribution options for innovative and engaged films have opened up. A resurgence of cinematic documentary is attracting substantial numbers of viewers who, bored or disillusioned by television’s shift to reality programming, are prepared to pay for theatre tickets, while online subscription services such as Netflix and Amazon now stream and fund high-quality documentary. Increasing numbers of filmmakers are self-distributing their works online. A significant percentage of these films, freed from the constraints of broadcast television, take up political challenges because, as Michael Chanan says, documentary has ‘politics in its genes’ (2008, p. 16). In fact, as mainstream news and current affairs becomes increasingly tabloid, it could be argued that documentary is assuming the role of investigative journalism or, to use Laura Poitras’ description, documentary functions as ‘Journalism Plus’. This article, at times drawing on my own film practice, attempts to explore these shifts and developments, locating documentary at a time of institutional transformation.Image: He Toki Huna: SAS Quick Reaction Force in Kabul post a suicide bombing in February 2010. Photo by Lionel de Coninck
Review: Pacific insights into the Rainbow Warrior legacy
Authors: Sergel Michael
Published: March 2017

Sergel, Michael. (2015). Pacific insights into the Rainbow Warrior legacy. Pacific Journalism Review, 21(2): 189-191. Review of Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage of the Rainbow Warrior, by David Robie. [30th Anniversary Ed.] Auckland: Little Island Press, 2015, 194 pp. ISBN 978-1-877484-28-5The 1985 bombing of the Rainbow Warrior is often remembered as the deadly consequence of a small Pacific nation taking a defiant stance against nuclear testing by major powers. Thirty years on, the updated edition of David Robie’s Eyes of Fire moves beyond the David and Goliath narrative that puts New Zealand at the centre of the story. Prime Minister David Lange called the bombing a ‘sordid act of international statebacked terrorism’ and an ‘unprecedented affront to sovereignty’ (p. 128). Months earlier, he had defended New Zealand’s anti-nuclear position at the Oxford Union. Years later, he said the lack of international support had only strenthened the country’s resolve (Young, 2005). But Robie reminds us the bombing was far more than a key date on New Zealand’s political timeline. The former British fishing trawler had been part of missions to stop whalers, sealers and nuclear warships in Scotland, Ireland, France, Spain, the United States and Peru. It had even been at the centre of a diplomatic Cold War clash during a visit to Siberia.Eyes Of Fire: 30 Years On Little Island Press microsite about the book
Watching this space, West Papua
Authors: Blades Johnny
Published: March 2017

COMMENTARY: President Joko Widodo’s announcement in May 2015 that Indonesia would allow foreign journalists to have access to West Papua was widely, but cautiously, welcomed. Some journalists decided to have another attempt at getting into this region, long cordoned off to outside access. The labyrinthine process of applying for a journalist visa was a warning that change does not happen overnight for West Papua media freedom. On the ground, it is a risky business for a journalist covering West Papua. Local independent journalists, especially, face regular threats. The attackers are empowered by the knowledge that there is no formal accountability processes over intimidation and the murder of journalists or media workers. However, there appears to be a genuine hope that President Jokowi’s term in office represents a small window of opportunity for improvement for Papua. The handling of journalists and media freedom in West Papua is very much a test case for this. Watch this space.
Review: Merdeka: Media and the case for Papuan civil resistance
Authors: Robie David
Published: March 2017

Five years ago the Pacific Media Centre and Pacific Media Watch published a ‘state of media freedom report’—the first such documentation in the Pacific region—and the most devastating section was about West Papua (Perrottet & Robie, 2011, 2012). The harrowing account of human rights violations and abuses of freedom of speech by the Indonesian military and security forces eclipsed comparable reports from the Pacific, including Fiji which was at the time a cause célèbre for free press champions. The theme of this report echoed many articles I have written over the years highlighting the ‘black’ or ‘blind spot’ demonstrated by New Zealand media neglect of covering West Papua and the self-determination cause (see Robie, 2011). Since then much has changed.
Review: Seymour Hersh—behind the man and the muckraker myths
Authors: Ellmers Steve
Published: March 2017

Review of: Seymour Hersh: Scoop Artist, by Robert Miraldi. Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 2013, 415pp. ISBN 978-1-61234-475-1.After winning acclaim for his depiction of yellow press icon Charles Edward Russell, award-winning journalist and academic Robert Miraldi examines the legacy of another mythical investigative reporter and obsessive ‘muckracker’. His biography of the chameleon-like and elusive Seymour Hersh employs the same formidable forensic skills his subject is renowned for, but to dig into the one topic Hersh is genuinely uncomfortable discussing. From his initial coverage of My Lai through to his work on Abu Grahib, Hersh’s career has seen him reach the highest pinnacles of journalism, while also causing the kind of controversy and polarisation which would have destroyed the reputations of lesser mortals.
Review: The realities of authoritarian media in China
Authors: Cass Philip
Published: March 2017

Review of: Stockman, D. (2012). Media Commercialization and Authoritarian Rule in China. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-01844-0 China can no longer be called Communist. It is an authoritarian state in which a party that likes to call itself Communist maintains a firm grip on the country. However much the party and the corrupt party princelings enjoy the benefits of capitalism (and let us be frank that it is a distinctively 19th century robber baron style of capitalism), the government usemethods of media control that have not changed since Mao took power in 1959. Censorship has always been part of the regime, but Mao and his direct successors were always clever enough to give the masses a chance to let off steam now and then through such projects as the Hundred Flowers campaign and the Democracy Wall movement.
REVIEW: Can democracy and citizenship be reclaimed?
Authors: Trenwith Lynne A
Published: March 2017

Citizenship. Etienne Balibar. Cambridge: Polity Press. 2015. ISBN-13:978-0-7456-821-9 (pb)IN LIGHT of recent world events, Pacific Island democracy issues and various articles exploring the concept that democracy is under threat, leading philosopher Étienne Balibar’s book Citizenship is a timely publication. The book is a collection of seven lectures, many printed as individual essays, first published as a collection in the original 2012 Italian edition.
REVIEW: Decimation of a Tongan island by slaver’s trickery
Authors: Horowitz Michael
Published: March 2017

The Stolen Island: Searching for 'Ata, by Scott Hamilton. Wellington: Bridget Williams Books, 2016. 112pp. ISBN 978-0-947518-11-0.LOCATED even further south than temperate Noumea, Tonga’s tiny island of ‘Ata might have become the jewel of the kingdom’s burgeoning tourist industry. Imagine a Tongan resort that would not only be mild in winter, but pleasant in summer.
NOTED: Becoming a journalist in Nordic countries
Authors: Cass Philip Leslie
Published: March 2017

Becoming a Journalist, by Jan Fredrik Hovden, Gunnar Nygren and Henrika Zilliascus-Tikkanen (eds.). Goteburg: Nordicom, University of Goteborg.2016. 334pp. ISBN 978-1-91-87957-34-5PUBLISHED through the Nordicom centre in Göteborg (Gothenburg), this study of journalism education in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland provides a comprehensive analysis of how future journalists are trained in Scandinavian universities
Cervical Traction for Managing Neck Pain: A Survey of Physical Therapists in the United States
Authors: Madson Timothy J. , Hollman John H.
Published: March 2017

Study Design

Cross-sectional survey.

Objective

To examine the use of traction by physical therapists for patients with neck pain, including how and when traction is used, the delivery modes and parameters, supplemental interventions, and influence of professional demographics on usage.

Background

Systematic reviews provide little support for traction in managing neck pain. While traction usage among physical therapists in other countries has been described, usage in the United States has not been examined.

Methods

A random sample of 4000 Orthopaedic Section members of the American Physical Therapy Association were surveyed. Associations among respondents' professional demographics and survey responses were explored with chi-square analyses (α = .05).

Results

The response rate was 25.5% (n = 1001); 76.6% (n = 767) of respondents reported using traction, and 93.1% reported that they would use traction for a patient presenting with signs of nerve root compression. Common delivery modes included manual methods (92.3%) and mechanical traction tables (88.3%). Using traction is often supplemented with other interventions (exercise, postural education, joint mobilization). A higher proportion of physical therapists with American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties orthopaedic certification reported using traction (88.6%) than did those without specialty certification (73.0%).

Conclusion

Most respondents reported that their use of cervical traction was consistent with proposed criteria that identify patients who are likely to benefit. They use various traction delivery modes/parameters within comprehensive plans of care incorporating multiple interventions. Professional demographics (clinical specialist credentialing) were associated with traction usage. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2017;47(3):200–208. Epub 30 Oct 2016. doi:10.2519/jospt.2017.6914
A double blinded randomized study on safety and efficacy between ultra sound guided and palpatory methods of axillary brachial plexus block for forearm surgeries
Authors: Gupta Amar Nath , Das Kamala Kanta
Published: March 2017

Background: Regional anaesthesia like brachial plexus blocks are increasingly practiced now a day’s for forearm surgery. A major limitation of brachial plexus block which may lead to unplanned general anesthesia is inconsistent block. Conventional nerve localization techniques which rely on surface anatomical landmarks may not provide satisfactory anesthesia. Aims and Objectives: In recent years, real time ultrasound guidance has been introduced as an aid to nerve localization. This study was planned to test the hypothesis that the quality of the axillary brachial plexus blockade guided by ultrasound was better than those using surface anatomical landmarks and produced fewer adverse effects and overall success in cases of forearm surgeries.Materials and Methods: After obtaining institutional ethics committee approval and written informed consent, 100 patients of American Society of Anesthesiologists grade I or II scheduled for forearm surgeries were included in the study and were randomly allocated into two groups. The brachial plexus blockade via axillary approach guided by ultrasound and traditional nerve localization techniques which rely on surface anatomical landmarks, patient report of paresthesia, and/or elicitation of a motor response by mechanical nerve stimulator or electric nerve stimulation with single-injection method was carried out in the two groups of patients respectively.Results: The patients (n=100) predominantly female (55%) with comparable demographic profile found to have statistically insignificant changes in the mean pulse rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate changes and oxygen saturation of hemoglobin during the surgical operations. Overall block success rate, blockade of each individual target nerve was better and procedural hazards were less in the ultrasound guided group.Conclusion: Real time ultra sound guided axillary nerve block is better than traditional palpable method with lesser adverse outcome.Asian Journal of Medical Sciences Vol.8(2) 2017 69-75
Gender differences in awareness of diabetes mellitus among the rural population
Authors: Kumar Iyshwarya Udaya , Murthy Jaya Prakash , Upadya Ujwal , Venkatesh Mahesh
Published: March 2017

Background: Diabetes Mellitus is a chronic disorder, which is becoming rapidly epidemic in India.There are many complications occur due to uncontrolled diabetes mellitus.The outcome of diabetes depends mainly on the patient’s self-management like health-related behavior, which is based on his or her knowledge. Awareness on diabetes mellitus is still a lacunae among the Indian population.Aims and Objective: To determine the knowledge regarding awareness of diabetes like the risk factors, symptoms, complications and the management among the males and females in rural population.Materials and Methods: It is a cross sectional study conducted at the tertiary care center in rural Bangalore. A structured questionnaire was used and 300 adults were assessed on their knowledge regarding the awareness of diabetes.Result: Out of 300 adults, 159 adults (53%) had a history of diabetes. There was no gender difference observed regarding the awareness, nor the education played a role. There was significant difference observed in knowledge of diabetes Mellitus among the diabetics with respect to renal complications (p <0.013), symptoms like blurring of vision (p < 0.043) and burning feet (p < 0.009).Conclusion: Both the diabetic and non-diabetic groups had very low awareness regarding diabetes and associated risk factors. Both Males and females awareness levels were poor. Proper Diabetic education programme will help in raising public awareness of the disease.Asian Journal of Medical Sciences Vol.8(2) 2017 44-49
Hepatic amyloidosis - primary AL type, sub nephrotic proteinuria and budd chairi syndrome – A nugget
Authors: Narayanan Arun Kumar , Balan Satish , Patil Sandeep , Murlidharan Praveen , Nair Ajith Krishnan , Usman Shabeerali Thudikkodan , Sarojam Manoj Krishnan , Pillai Venogopal Bhaskaran , Pisharody Ramdas
Published: March 2017

We describe a case of 62-year-old gentleman presenting with abdominal pain associated with loss of weight, nocturia, oedema of feet, constipation, altered sleep rhythm and dyspepsia. On evaluation he had hepatomegaly with raised alkaline phosphatase and raised GGT levels with normal transaminases and bilirubin. On imaging he had diffuse enlargement of liver with heterogeneous contrast uptake in liver. His viral marker and autoimmune markers were negative. Liver biopsy depicted deposition of amorphous eosinophilic substance within the sinusoids which revealed apple green birefringence on polarizing microscopy after Congo red staining; Congophilia persisted even after treating with KMnO4. Abdominal fat pad was negative for amyloid deposit. Cardiac evaluation was unremarkable and renal evaluation showed Subnephrotic proteinuria and microhematuria. Serum and urine immunofixation electrophoresis showed positive kappa, lambda and gamma globulin. Immunoperoxidase staining for serum amyloid associated protein for secondary amyloidosis was negative from liver biopsy. Here we report a case of primary hepatic amyloidosis that presented with features of hepatic vein obstruction. The association of Budd-Chiari's syndrome, with amyloidosis may be related to the increased risk of thrombosis observed in the latter disease also due to loss of anticoagulants due to significant proteinuria. Patient could not be treated either with chemotherapy or with surgery. We lost him for progressive liver failure.Asian Journal of Medical Sciences Vol.8(2) 2017 97-100
Parotid oncocytoma: diagnostic vs surgical dilemma
Authors: Thapa Suman , Parajuli R. , Limbu T. , Bhandari R.
Published: March 2017

Oncocytomas are rare benign tumors of salivary gland origin, most often seen involving the parotid gland. They should be considered as a possible diagnosis in elderly patients with slow growing, nontender and mobile parotid swelling. We report here a middle aged female with left parotid swelling that was misdiagnosed on fine needle aspiration cytology and confirmed with histopathology report. Rarity of the disease with frequent cytologic overlaps and interpreter’s inexperience account for the majority of aspiration cytology pitfalls. Therefore, aspiration cytology alone may be misguiding at times, leading to surgical over-correction and further potential complications. The ever-changing trends of mucoepidermoid carcinoma (pre-operative, fine needle aspiration cytology), pleomorphic adenoma (intraoperative) and oncocytoma (post-operative, histopathology) have created diagnostic dilemma, confusion and challenged the surgical rationale. In cases with discrepancy between clinical, cytological and pathological reports, diagnostic as well as surgical dilemma exists wherein a thorough diagnostic re-assessment and a proper surgical revision is warranted.
Exploring Record Keeping, Clinical Reasoning, and Practice Context: Peer Assessment Findings from the Perspective of Situational Competence
Authors: O'Donovan Mary Jane , Campbell Fiona , Norman Kathleen E.
Published: March 2017

Purpose: The College of Physiotherapists of Ontario developed its peer practice assessment (PA) process on the basis of the statutory requirements for quality assurance. We previously reported outcomes from physiotherapists who had two PAs. The aims of the current research were to identify areas of sub-optimal performance on the assessments and explore any associations with the physiotherapists' practice context. Methods: We examined scores from the PAs of all physiotherapists who had two unrelated PAs between 2004 and 2012 (n=117), and we examined assessment reports for those who had specific patterns of sub-optimal outcomes (n=22). We conducted qualitative content analysis on the assessment reports to identify areas deemed to need improvement and the contexts in which the physiotherapists practised. Comparisons of proportions were carried out using Fisher's exact test. Results: The most common area of sub-optimal scores was record keeping, followed by clinical reasoning as assessed by means of chart-stimulated recall. Record-keeping deficits were related to either clinical care or administrative requirements (e.g., documenting patient consent in the manner required by law). At the second PA, record-keeping deficits were predominantly administrative. Physiotherapists with sub-optimal outcomes disproportionately worked in private practice contexts (p=0.026). Conclusions: Ontario physiotherapists generally maintain high-quality practice. Regulatory bodies may consider developing support strategies for meeting professional standards that take practice context into account.
Use of Calorimetry to Measure Ice-Melting Capacity
Authors: Nilssen Kine , Klein-Paste Alex , Wåhlin Johan , Delapaz Michele Ann
Published: March 2017

The ability to melt snow and ice is an important feature of any deicing chemical or product. This ability is called the “melting capacity” and is defined as the grams of melted ice per gram of deicer. A product’s melting capacity determines its applicability for use in snow and ice control. The standard procedures in the United States for measuring melting capacity are SHRP H-205.1 for solid chemicals and H-205.2 for liquid chemicals. However, these test methods have proved to be inadequately accurate for research purposes. There is a growing need to develop improved procedures as more deicing products are released on the market. This paper describes how calorimetry, which measures the heat changes that occur during a process, may be used to measure melting capacity. A calorimeter was custom made for the research described in this paper. The calorimeter required minimal mechanical handling and had high-precision temperature control that excluded the most extreme causes of measurement errors in previously developed test methods. Liquid sodium chloride was tested and compared with the calculated melting capacity. The calorimeter produced accurate results. Tests were also performed on magnesium chloride; the results demonstrated that magnesium chloride had a higher melting capacity than sodium chloride.
Investigating Safety Effectiveness of Wyoming Snow Fence Installations Along a Rural Mountainous Freeway
Authors: Peel Thomas , Ahmed Mohamed , Ohara Noriaki
Published: March 2017

Drifting and blowing snow is a problematic and dangerous aspect of Interstate travel in the state of Wyoming. The control of snow and the maintenance of roadways is an essential and significant task for many state and local agencies. Many significant factors—such as vehicle control, surface conditions, and visibility—can be affected by hazardous winter weather. In areas such as the inspected 19-mi section of Interstate 80, snow fences have become a common and practical method of mitigating the problems caused by large quantities of snow near or on the traveled way. Wyoming deals with a high rate of adverse weather–related crashes during the winter season. Naive before–after analyses of snow fence installations have historically indicated a slight decrease in such crashes. In this study, the safety effectiveness of snow fence installations was investigated; more rigorous quantitative-based approaches were used and included a before–after analysis with empirical Bayes—in which Wyoming-specific safety performance functions were used—and odds ratio analyses. Crash modification factors were estimated for various crash types and severity levels. The results from this study indicate that the installation of snow fences contributes to a significant increase in the safety effectiveness of Interstate use during the winter. Specifically, it was found that during adverse weather conditions, snow fences decreased total crashes and fatal and injury crashes by about 25% and 62%, respectively.
Interiority and government of the child
Authors: Newberry Jan
Published: March 2017

Early childhood education and care programs in Indonesia developed rapidly in the aftermath of the 2006 earthquake centered south of Yogyakarta. The newly empowered self-directed learner at the center of these programs seemed to follow from the emergence of another child in this devastated landscape: the traumatized child in need of healing. The appearance of these images of childhood along with Indonesia’s neoliberal democratization reiterates the long-standing relationship between childhood and rule. Grounded in long-term ethnographic work in the Yogyakarta area, this article traces a conceptual link between the shift to transparent and accountable good governance in post-Suharto Indonesia and the desire to produce a newly transparent childhood ready for intervention. The generative power of history, trauma, and the interior self is contrasted with risk management, nongovernmental governance, and the exteriorization of self and state to challenge the unquestioned good of empowerment and transparency.
Neutrality in foreign aid
Authors: Drążkiewicz Elżbieta
Published: March 2017

Since the late 1990s, researchers have been predicting that the era of neutrality
in aid politics is coming to an end and that foreign organizations will have
to take a more engaged stance. Yet while the boundaries between humanitarianism
and development are fading, in some cases the neutrality norm is actually expanding
rather than giving way to an engaged paradigm. Recognizing that the principles
of neutrality and independence have different meanings for different actors
and that they are applied in various ways, this article examines how the humanitarian
developers—small NGOs operating in Jonglei State in South Sudan—use these
paradigms. The article shows that their specific variant of neutrality is not so much
a pragmatic tool enabling operations in difficult settings, but instead is a structural
form of identity. In this variation, neutrality is not about the absence of a political
stance, but about standing apart from social structures and social immunity.
Anthropology at the dawn of apartheid
Authors: Niehaus Isak
Published: March 2017

In this article, I focus on different strategies of anthropological engagement
with government and potential funders. I do so by considering the diverse
nature of Alfred Radcliffe-Brown and Bronislaw Malinowski’s encounters with
South African authorities, between 1919 and 1934. I suggest that Radcliffe-Brown
saw South Africa as an integrated society in which segregation was impossible, and
advocated the sympathetic scientific understanding of cultural difference within
this context. By contrast, Malinowski was committed to a romantic vision of holistic
cultures, collaborated directly with colonial authorities, and argued for a policy
of effective cultural and territorial segregation. The strategies had important longterm
consequences and costs, calculable only from the privileged vantage point of
history.
Peripheral nervous system injury after high-dose single-fraction image-guided stereotactic radiosurgery for spine tumors
Authors: Stubblefield Michael D. , Ibanez Katarzyna , Riedel Elyn R. , Barzilai Ori , Laufer Ilya , Lis Eric , Yamada Yoshiya , Bilsky Mark H.
Published: March 2017

OBJECTIVE

The object of this study was to determine the percentage of high-dose (1800–2600 cGy) single-fraction stereotactic radiosurgery (SF-SRS) treatments to the spine that result in peripheral nervous system (PNS) injury.

METHODS

All patients treated with SF-SRS for primary or metastatic spine tumors between January 2004 and May 2013 and referred to the Rehabilitation Medicine Service for evaluation and treatment of neuromuscular, musculoskeletal, or functional impairments or pain were retrospectively identified.

RESULTS

Five hundred fifty-seven SF-SRS treatments in 447 patients resulted in 14 PNS injuries in 13 patients. All injures resulted from SF-SRS delivered to the cervical or lumbosacral spine at 2400 cGy. The overall percentage of SF-SRS treatments resulting in PNS injury was 2.5%, increasing to 4.5% when the thoracic spine was excluded from analysis. The median time to symptom onset following SF-SRS was 10 months (range 4–32 months). The plexus (cervical, brachial, and/or lumbosacral) was affected clinically and/or electrophysiologically in 12 (86%) of 14 cases, the nerve root in 2 (14%) of 14, and both in 6 (43%) of 14 cases. All patients experienced pain and most (93%) developed weakness. Peripheral nervous system injuries were CTCAE Grade 1 in 14% of cases, 2 in 64%, and 3 in 21%. No dose relationship between SF-SRS dose and PNS injury was detected.

CONCLUSIONS

Single-fraction SRS to the spine can result in PNS injury with major implications for function and quality of life.