bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Development and psychometric properties of the sleep problems and coping with sleep problem scales for pregnant women
Authors: Gokdemir Fulya , Yilmaz Tulay
Published: February 2023

Aims

The aim of this study is to develop a sleep problems scale and a coping with sleep problems scale for pregnant women and assess their reliability and validity.

Design

An empirical research quantitative design.

Review Methods

Self‐reported instruments were developed through (1) item generation, (2) preliminary item evaluation and (3) scale refining and evaluation. Item pools were created via literature review, opinions of experts and women with experience in pregnancy sleep. Content, construct and criterion validities were tested. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha, split‐half reliability and corrected item‐total correlation.

Data Sources

Data were collected between January 23 and July 22, 2020, at a hospital's obstetrics polyclinic. In the pilot and main study, 30 and 368 pregnant women (gestational age: 8–42 weeks) were included, respectively.

Results

The content validity index was >0.9 for each scale. Factor analysis showed 24 and 18 items in the two scales, both with four subdimensions. The corrected item‐total correlations were acceptable, and Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.883 and 0.799, respectively.

Conclusion

Both scales developed in this study are valid and reliable for the Turkish society.

Implications for the profession and/or patient care/global clinical community

This study's findings may prevent the lack of validated screening instruments to identify pregnancy‐specific sleep features.

Impact

We developed two scales to assess sleep problems in pregnant women. These were valid and reliable, can be routinely used by health professionals and may guide nurses and midwives in assessing and managing sleep problems during pregnancy.

Reporting Method

The study conforms to the COSMIN checklist.

Patient or Public Contribution

Data were collected during face‐to‐face surveys. Ten women contributed to the item pool generation, 30 pregnant women participated in the pilot study, and 368 antenatal service users participated in the main study.
Toward better diabetes care: Exploration and implementation
Authors: Sheu Wayne Huey‐Herng
Published: February 2023

Approximately 40 years ago, I was fortunate enough to step into the field of diabetes. When I had my fellowship training in the USA, I learned how to ask a good scientific question and conduct clinical research. With collaboration with my mentors, Prof. Gerald R Reaven and Prof. Ida Chen, we participated in many clinical trials. We established the Taiwan Diabetes Registry (TDR) to track long‐term changes in diabetes profiles. The ultimate purpose of medical research is to provide benefits to patients. Using electronic medical records and point‐of‐care glucometers, we reduced inpatients’ hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia greatly, which was also reflected by the reduction in hospital stays and readmission rates. With the advent of new technology and medications, we have to ponder where we are on the journey toward better diabetes care. We rigorously advocate diabetes care, hold many symposia and publish updated guidelines. We successfully hosted the congress of the 11th International Diabetes Federation Western Pacific Region & 8th Asian Association for the Study of Diabetes Scientific Meeting 2016 at Taipei, Taiwan. As the era of precision medicine is coming, Taiwan could be considered as one of the best places to run precision medicine. The Taiwan Precision Medicine Initiative has enrolled more than half a million residents, and is currently conducting genotyping and data analysis. In conclusion. I witnessed the early days of simple and few choices for diabetes management to the current various modalities in diabetes care. As these new technologies have become available, patients will always remain at the center of the care model with warmth and humility.
Larval development and poor trophic resource availability: Local adaptations and plasticity in a widespread amphibian species
Authors: Manenti Raoul , Kristensen Nadiah , Cogliati Paola , Barzaghi Benedetta , Melotto Andrea , Ficetola Gentile Francesco
Published: February 2023

Theory predicts that, in organisms with complex life cycles, if the earlier‐stage limiting factor induces weak later‐stage phenotypes, the development of the later‐stage trait should evolve to reduce carry‐over effects. Local adaptations could thus favour decoupling of later stages. However, decoupling is not always possible. In this study, we used a widespread amphibian, the European fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra), to assess the role of local adaptations to environmental stressful conditions experienced at the larval stage. We exposed 150 larvae from different altitudes to two conditions: rich food and poor food condition. Conditions in early life stages can affect an individual's traits, either as a direct effect or mediated through outcomes in successive life stages. To distinguish between effects of rearing conditions and local adaptation, we searched for a causal model. The causal model detected effects of both food treatment and population origin (altitude) on all life stages. Larvae reared under rich food condition metamorphosed earlier, had higher growth rates and reached smaller size at metamorphosis. Significant differences occurred between larvae of different origin: low‐altitude individuals performed poorly under the poor food treatment. Moreover, larvae from higher altitudes were slower with rich food and faster with poor food compared to those from lower altitudes. Our results underline that environmental conditions and local adaptation can interplay in determining the plasticity of larval stages, still adaptations can maximize the growth efficiency of early stages in oligotrophic environments, leading to divergent pathways across populations and environmental conditions.
Conserved noncoding sequences correlate with distant gene contacts in Arabidopsis and Brassica
Authors: Zhang Lei , Wu Jian , Liang Jianli , Lin Runmao , Sun Chao , Dai Qirui , Zhang Lupeng , Guo Huiling , Zhao Ranze , Wang Xiaowu
Published: February 2023

Physical contact between genes distant on chromosomes is a potentially important way for genes to coordinate their expressions. To investigate the potential importance of distant contacts, we performed high‐throughput chromatin conformation capture (Hi‐C) experiments on leaf nuclei isolated from Brassica rapa and Brassica oleracea. We then combined our results with published Hi‐C data from Arabidopsis thaliana. We found that distant genes come into physical contact and do so preferentially between the proximal promoter of one gene and the downstream region of another gene. Genes with higher numbers of conserved noncoding sequences (CNSs) nearby were more likely to have contact with distant genes. With more CNSs came higher numbers of transcription factor binding sites and more histone modifications associated with the activity. In addition, for the genes we studied, distant contacting genes with CNSs were more likely to be transcriptionally coordinated. These observations suggest that CNSs may enrich active histone modifications and recruit transcription factors, correlating with distant contacts to ensure coordinated expression. This study advances our knowledge of gene contacts and provides insights into the relationship between CNSs and distant gene contacts in plants.
Evaluation of pro‐atherogenic lipid profile and high atherohenic indexes in patients with Behçet's disease: A case–control study
Authors: Acar Onur , Sarac Gulhan Aksoy , Rota Didem Dinçer , Aksoy Hakan
Published: February 2023

Background

Behçet's disease is a systemic auto‐immune and auto‐inflammatory chronic disease in which genetic and environmental factors play a role. Patients with Behçet's are at significant risk for developing many comorbidities, including cardiovascular diseases.

Aims

It was aimed to investigate the relationship between serum lipid parameters and atherogenic indexes to evaluate the cardiovascular risk status in patients with Behçet's disease.

Patients/Methods

This study was designed as a single‐center, retrospective case–control study. The study was conducted with 212 patients over 18 years of age, 106 in the case group and 106 in the control group.

Results

There was a significant difference in lipid values between the patients with Behçet's disease and the control group. While the serum triglyceride, total cholesterol, low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL‐C), and non‐high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (NHC) levels were significantly higher, the high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL‐C) level was low in patients with Behçet's disease. From atherogenic indexes, Atherogenic Index of Plasma (AIP) (0.03 ± 0.27 vs. −0.07 ± 0.23, p = 0.003), Castelli Risk Index I (CRI‐I) (4.24 ± 1.07 vs. 3.02 ± 0.96, p < 0.001), Castelli Risk Index II (CRI‐II) (2.65 ± 0.81 vs. 1.84 ± 0.59, p < 0.001) and Atherogenic Coefficient (AC) (3.24 ± 1.07 vs. 2.02 ± 0.96, p < 0.001) levels were significantly higher in patients with Behçet's disease.

Conclusion

Our study shows that patients with Behçet's have a higher pro‐atherogenic lipid profile and atherogenic indexes at high risk. Patients with Behçet's have an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases associated with atherosclerosis.
Safety and efficacy of superficial micro‐focused ultrasound with visualization for melasma in Asians: An uncontrolled pilot study
Authors: Lim Joyce Teng Ee
Published: February 2023

Background

The pathophysiology of melasma is multifactorial, resulting in treatment resistance and a high recurrence rate. Recent research suggests that focused ultrasound might treat melasma effectively.

Objectives

To investigate the efficacy and safety of superficial micro‐focused ultrasound with visualization (MFU‐V) for melasma in Asians.

Methods

Patients (n = 20) with mixed melasma on both cheeks received 2 MFU‐V treatments spaced 1 month apart. At monthly visits over 5 months, treatment efficacy and safety were evaluated. Standardized photographs were clinically assessed using the modified Melasma Area and Severity Index (mMASI), and 6‐point grading scales for melasma lightening and area of involvement. Patients provided pain, global aesthetic improvement scale (GAIS), and satisfaction assessments.

Results

In 40 cheeks, the mean mMASI score was significantly reduced from 13.2 at baseline to 2.4 at month 4, and 2.8 at month 5. Twenty‐nine cheeks (72.5%) showed lightening of melasma at month 4 that persisted until month 5, with improvements up to 75% compared to baseline. Melasma area decreased overall, with sites containing >30% melasma involvement decreasing from 55% to 20% by month 5, and none with 70%–89% involvement. Melasma lightening and area improved visibly in 40% and 20% of cheeks, respectively, as early as 1 month after index MFU‐V treatment. Improvements continued after the second treatment and persisted until study closure, correlating with patient GAIS and satisfaction scores. Procedure was well tolerated with only mild‐to‐moderate pain reported in 92.5% of treatments.

Conclusion

Superficial MFU‐V is a safe and effective treatment for melasma.
Impact of Korea's Non‐regular Worker Protection Act on job satisfaction
Authors: Choi Koangsung , Choe Chung , Kim Yoo Bin
Published: February 2023

Exploiting the exogenous introduction of the Non‐regular Worker Protection Act on non‐regular workers, this paper examines the impact of this law's enactment on workers' job satisfaction. Using the Korea Labor and Income Panel Study, we apply a difference‐in‐differences method combined with propensity score matching to confirm the common trends assumption and construct a comparable control group. We investigate workers' job satisfaction in terms of the following categories: satisfaction with wages, satisfaction with job stability, satisfaction with working conditions, and overall satisfaction. Our results indicate positive effects of the Non‐regular Worker Protection Act on job satisfaction for all workers affected by the law, including those who converted from non‐regular employment to regular employment.
Towards establishing what linguists think the general public should know about language: Salient versus important issues in linguistics
Authors: Lehecka Tomas , Östman Jan‐Ola
Published: February 2023

In order to develop effective strategies of science communication and public outreach in linguistics, one needs to choose what topics to prioritise in such efforts. We carried out a global online survey study among experts in linguistics (n = 538) asking what they perceive as the most important facts about language that the general public should be aware of. We used two distinct methods to collect the respondents' opinions: open‐ended text responses and rating questions. In this paper, we compare the findings from the two tasks and we discuss the differences between them. Thus, the paper constitutes a methodologically‐laden commentary on the nature of linguists' opinions on what everyone should know about language. We argue that both open‐ended responses and rating questions provide valuable information about linguists' views, but from different perspectives. In particular, we see a need to distinguish between what issues are the most salient to linguists, and what issues are perceived as the most important. The aim of our study is to provide a starting point for a rich and methodologically diverse line of research—and, consequently, for an empirically‐based debate—on the public relevance of language‐related knowledge and the role of linguists as science communicators in disseminating that knowledge.
Convergence insufficiency symptom survey: A tool to evaluate convergence excess in young adults
Authors: Pang Yi , Gabriel Helen , Tan Qing‐Qing
Published: February 2023

Purpose

To determine the effectiveness of the Convergence Insufficiency Symptom Survey (CISS) in evaluating visual symptoms in young adults with convergence excess (CE).

Methods

A cross‐sectional study was performed based on a population of optometry students. Comprehensive binocular vision tests including cover test, near point of convergence, fusional vergence and accommodative amplitude, were performed. Participants were categorised into three groups: normal binocular vision (NBV), CE and CE + accommodative insufficiency (AI) (i.e., CE + AI). The CISS was administered to each participant. An analysis of variance with Bonferroni correction was performed to compare clinical measures among the three groups. A receiver‐operating characteristic (ROC) curve was constructed to evaluate the ability of CISS to differentiate CE from the NBV population.

Results

A total of 181 participants were enrolled, including 96 in the NBV group, 66 in the CE group and 19 in the CE + AI group. A significant difference in CISS score was detected between the three groups (p < 0.001). Post‐hoc tests showed significantly higher CISS scores in the CE group (16.7 ± 10.8) and the CE + AI group (19.7 ± 10.9) compared with the NBV group (12.2 ± 7.8) (p = 0.01 and p = 0.005, respectively), with no difference between the CE and the CE + AI groups (p = 0.52). The ROC curve showed the CISS poorly (but significantly) differentiated CE from NBV (area under the curve = 0.62, p = 0.01). The optimal cutoff value for a CISS score to differentiate CE was 16, with sensitivity and specificity of 52% and 72%, respectively.

Conclusions

Young adults with CE had significantly higher CISS scores than those with NBV. Although using the CISS solely for diagnosing CE is not recommended, it can be used to provide a measure of symptoms in individuals identified as having CE based on clinical measurements.
Light on perenniality: Para‐dormancy is based on ABA‐GA antagonism and endo‐dormancy on the shutdown of GA biosynthesis
Authors: Veerabagu Manikandan , van der Schoot Christiaan , Turečková Veronika , Tarkowská Danuše , Strnad Miroslav , Rinne Päivi L. H.
Published: February 2023

Perennial para‐ and endo‐dormancy are seasonally separate phenomena. Whereas para‐dormancy is the suppression of axillary buds (AXBs) by a growing shoot, endo‐dormancy is the short‐day elicited arrest of terminal and AXBs. In hybrid aspen (Populus tremula x P. tremuloides) compromising the apex releases para‐dormancy, whereas endo‐dormancy requires chilling. ABA and GA are implicated in both phenomena. To untangle their roles, we blocked ABA biosynthesis with fluridone (FD), which significantly reduced ABA levels, downregulated GA‐deactivation genes, upregulated the major GA3ox‐biosynthetic genes, and initiated branching. Comprehensive GA‐metabolite analyses suggested that FD treatment shifted GA production to the non‐13‐hydroxylation pathway, enhancing GA4 function. Applied ABA counteracted FD effects on GA metabolism and downregulated several GA3/4‐inducible α‐ and γ‐clade 1,3‐β‐glucanases that hydrolyze callose at plasmodesmata (PD), thereby enhancing PD‐callose accumulation. Remarkably, ABA‐deficient plants repressed GA4 biosynthesis and established endo‐dormancy like controls but showed increased stress sensitivity. Repression of GA4 biosynthesis involved short‐day induced DNA methylation events within the GA3ox2 promoter. In conclusion, the results cast new light on the roles of ABA and GA in dormancy cycling. In para‐dormancy, PD‐callose turnover is antagonized by ABA, whereas in short‐day conditions, lack of GA4 biosynthesis promotes callose deposition that is structurally persistent throughout endo‐dormancy.
Nurses’ perceptions of climate sensitive vector‐borne diseases: A scoping review
Authors: Vandenberg Shannon Y. , Chircop Andrea , Sedgwick Monique , Scott David
Published: February 2023

Objective

Nurses are well positioned to play an integral role in the mitigation of climate change and climate‐driven vector‐borne diseases, however, they lack awareness and knowledge about their role. The purpose of this scoping review was to map existing literature on nurses’ perceptions, knowledge, attitudes, and experiences with vector‐borne diseases, specifically Lyme disease and West Nile virus.

Design

A scoping review was conducted using Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) scoping review methodology. CINAHL, ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health Premium, MEDLINE, APA PsycINFO, ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, and Web of Science were searched for English‐language publications. The PRISMA‐ScR was used. After initial screening as per study protocol, a total of 33 items were reviewed independently by four reviewers.

Results

Thirty‐three articles, including seven sources from grey literature, met the criteria for this scoping review. Results were mapped according to the five domains of the Guidelines for Undergraduate Nursing Education on Climate‐Driven Vector‐Borne Diseases.

Conclusions

Findings from the review indicate that nurses play a role in climate‐related health effects and should be knowledgeable about vector‐borne diseases. However, scant literature exists on nurses’ knowledge, perceptions, attitudes toward vector‐borne diseases, and practice readiness, signifying a need for further research on this emerging topic.
Enhanced nodulation and phosphorus acquisition from sparingly‐soluble iron phosphate upon treatment with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in chickpea
Authors: Pang Jiayin , Ryan Megan H. , Wen Zhihui , Lambers Hans , Liu Yifei , Zhang Yi , Tueux Guillaume , Jenkins Sasha , Mickan Bede , Wong Wei San , Yong Jean Wan Hong , Siddique Kadambot H. M.
Published: February 2023

The coordination/trade‐off among below‐ground strategies for phosphorus (P) acquisition, including root morphology, carboxylate exudation and colonisation by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), is not well understood. This is the first study investigating the relationships between root nodulation, morphology, carboxylates and colonisation by an indigenous community of AMF under varying P levels and source. Two chickpea genotypes with contrasting amounts of rhizosheath carboxylates were grown in pots at six P levels (from 0 to 160 μg g−1) as KH2PO4 (KP, highly soluble) or FePO4 (FeP, sparingly soluble), with or without AMF (±AMF) treatment. Under both FeP and KP, the presence of AMF inhibited shoot growth and shoot branching, decreased total root length and specific root length, increased mean root diameter and root tissue density and reduced carboxylates. However, the role of AMF in acquiring P differed between the two P sources, with the enhanced P acquisition under FeP while not under KP. Co‐inoculation of AMF and rhizobia enhanced nodulation under FeP, but not under KP. Our results suggest that the effects of AMF on shoot branching were mediated by cytokinins as the reduced shoot branching in FeP40 and KP40 under +AMF relative to −AMF coincided with a decreased concentration of cytokinins in xylem sap for both genotypes.
Predictability and decomposability separately contribute to compositional processing of idiomatic language
Authors: Hubbard Ryan , Bulkes Nyssa , Lai Vicky Tzuyin
Published: February 2023

When reading, comprehenders construct a message‐level representation and integrate new information as it becomes available. Such compositional processing may differ for idioms, where the meanings of the individual words do not always relate to the figurative meaning. Here, we examined how predictability and idiom decomposability contribute to compositional processing. Participants' EEG was recorded while they read sentences containing idioms that varied in decomposability and phrase‐final word cloze probability, or their literal match (break the ice/slip on the ice) with little context prior to the phrase, along with adjective insertion conditions (break the freezing ice/slip on the freezing ice). Cloze probability modulated N400 amplitudes to critical words for both idiomatic and literal phrases, whereas P600 amplitudes only elicited by idiomatic phrases were also modulated. Phrases with adjective insertions reduced acceptability judgments, particularly for idioms, and led to N400 amplitude differences compared to critical words, but only for idioms. N400 differences were also found between idiomatic and literal contexts at the point of adjective insertion. Additionally, both cloze probability and decomposability modulated gamma band activity, with greater gamma activity for more predictable and less decomposable idioms, but at different times and with different scalp topographies, suggesting dissociable components of processing. These results support a hybrid model of processing in which multiple linguistic factors determine the type of processing engaged by the brain to comprehend non‐literal language. When prior context is minimal, compositional processing may still be engaged when reading idioms.
Visual supervision of large‐scope heat source factories based on knowledge graph
Authors: Lai Jianbo , Zhu Jun , Luo Niya , Zhang Yao , Zuo Li , Guo Yukun , You Jigang
Published: February 2023

As a result of limited resources and economic development acting as dual bottleneck constraints, optimizing industrial layout structures has been a general trend in heavy industry. The visual supervision of heat source factories based on integrated multidimensional information is important for optimizing an industrial layout. Based on Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) I‐band 375‐m active fire product (VNP14IMG) data, point of interest data, enterprise attribute information and other data, combined with clustering regression, knowledge graphs (KGs), 3D geographic information systems, and other technical methods, the temporal and spatial variations in China's heat source industries are macroscopically analyzed, and a visual supervision platform for heat source industries with functions such as visualization, time‐series analysis, and knowledge discovery is established. The results show that: (1) overall, heat source factories exhibit a spatial pattern of dense in the east and sparse in the west, and the number of industrial heat source objects and the number of industrial fire hotspots decreased from 2013 to 2021, with rates of decline of 22.0 and 27.3%, respectively; (2) the enterprise KG, which contains basic enterprise information, dynamic enterprise risk information and enterprise equity structure information, can provide users with accurate and reliable enterprise knowledge; and (3) the remote sensing monitoring information platform for heat source factories performs well in terms of the discovery and management of heat source factories at large scale. In general, the platform constructed in this study can support the rapid monitoring and positioning of industrial heat sources over large areas to improve supervision in terms of finding problems and preventing risks and to provide a necessary reference for optimizing industrial spatial patterns and environmental governance.
Impact of COVID‐19 on abdominal organ transplantation: A bibliometric analysis
Authors: Rawashdeh Badi , AlRyalat Saif Aldeen , Abuassi Mohammad , Syaj Sebawe , Jeyyab Mohammad Abu , Pearson Terra , Kim Joohyun
Published: February 2023

Background

Abdominal solid organ transplant (SOT) programs have been hit hard by the COVID‐19 pandemic, which was officially declared as such on March 11, 2020. Over two years, the tightening and softening of limitations in response to the “waves” of infection and COVID‐19 fluctuations have provided distinct issues for waitlisted patients, transplant recipients, and transplant organizations.

Method

We searched Scopus using the terms “transplant” and “transplantation,” and organ‐related phrases like “intestin*,” “liver,” “kidney,” “hepatic,” “renal,” and “pancrea*,” as well as COVID‐19 terms such as “COVID‐19,” “coronavirus,” and “SARS‐CoV‐2.” We included articles, reviews, conference papers, letters, notes, editorials, brief surveys, book chapters, and errata and studied nations, institutions, authors, journals, keywords, and articles. VOSviewer 1.6.18 and Excel were used to create tables and figures.

Results

We included 1,251 of 1,256 studies. Among them, 289 (23.1%), 489 (39.1%), and 473 (37.8%) papers were published in 2020, 2021, and 2022, with mean (SD) citations of 30.3 (53.3), 14.3 (26.8), and 4.79 (6.38), respectively. Compared to other abdominal organs, the field of kidney transplants had the highest number of articles describing the impact of COVID‐19. The United States contributed the most articles, and the American Journal of Transplantation published the most articles.

Conclusion

To our knowledge, this is the first bibliometric investigation of the impact of COVID‐19 on SOT. This report provides an overview of the research conducted on SOT and COVID‐19. There is potential for this bibliometric analysis to serve as a beneficial and practical resource for ongoing and future research.

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On automorphisms and splittings of special groups
Authors: Fioravanti Elia
Published: February 2023

We initiate the study of outer automorphism groups of special groups $G$, in the Haglund–Wise sense. We show that $\operatorname {Out}(G)$ is infinite if and only if $G$ splits over a co-abelian subgroup of a centraliser and there exists an infinite-order ‘generalised Dehn twist’. Similarly, the coarse-median preserving subgroup $\operatorname {Out}_{\rm cmp}(G)$ is infinite if and only if $G$ splits over an actual centraliser and there exists an infinite-order coarse-median-preserving generalised Dehn twist. The proof is based on constructing and analysing non-small, stable $G$-actions on $\mathbb {R}$-trees whose arc-stabilisers are centralisers or closely related subgroups. Interestingly, tripod-stabilisers can be arbitrary centralisers, and thus are large subgroups of $G$. As a result of independent interest, we determine when generalised Dehn twists associated to splittings of $G$ preserve the coarse median structure.
Perceptions of fatigue and neuromuscular measures of performance fatigability during prolonged low‐intensity elbow flexions
Authors: Marzouk Monica , McKeown Daniel J. , Borg David N. , Headrick Jonathon , Kavanagh Justin J.
Published: February 2023

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) measures of performance fatigability and commonly used scales that quantify perceptions of fatigue during exercise. Twenty healthy participants (age 23 ± 3 years, 10 female) performed 10 submaximal isometric elbow flexions at 20% maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) for 2 min, separated by 45 s of rest. Biceps brachii muscle electromyography and elbow flexion torque responses to single‐pulse TMS were obtained at the end of each contraction to assess central factors of performance fatigability. A rating of perceived exertion (RPE) scale, Omnibus Resistance scale, Likert scale, Rating of Fatigue scale and a visual analogue scale (VAS) were used to assess perceptions of fatigue at the end of each contraction. The RPE (root mean square error (RMSE) = 0.144) and Rating of Fatigue (RMSE = 0.145) scales were the best predictors of decline in MVC torque, whereas the Likert (RMSE= 0.266) and RPE (RMSE= 0.268) scales were the best predictors of electromyographic amplitude. Although the Likert (RMSE = 7.6) and Rating of Fatigue (RMSE = 7.6) scales were the best predictors of voluntary muscle activation of any scale, the number of contractions performed during the protocol was a better predictor (RMSE = 7.3). The ability of the scales to predict TMS measures of performance fatigability were in general similar. Interestingly, the number of contractions performed was a better predictor of TMS measures than the scales themselves.
Noise Reduction in Cabin Airplanes
Authors: Bassett Preston R. , Zand Stephen J.
Published: February 2023

Any new form of transportation generally brings some new sort of nuisance to the persons using it. Air transportation, the newest and fastest form of travel, is no exception, and the chief deterrent to air travel is the noise to which the passengers are subjected. As it is impossible to discuss any physical phenomena without having measuring units and methods of securing them, a description of the decibel scale as well as a discussion of the commonly used noisemeter is given, including a description of a most inexpensive, simple, and yet very reliable tuning-fork method.
Utility of Variable-Displacement Oil-Pressure Pumps for Hot-Pressing in Plywood Operations
Authors: Benedek Elek K.
Published: February 2023

Variable-displacement pumps or generators form the primary part of a complete hydraulic energy transformer, the secondary part of which is a hydraulic motor. Hydraulic transformers of fluid drives are becoming more and more useful for all kinds of modern production machinery, such as presses, machine tools, automotive engines, cranes, etc., because of certain advantages offered along the line of the modern power-transmission problems. The flow of chemical energy occurs in the form of a fuel and air compound, into an internal-combustion engine, where it will be transformed to thermal and partly mechanical energy. The mechanical energy flows further in periodic impulses to the crankshaft of the engine in the form of a mechanical direct-current energy, where through the flywheel of the shaft it will be somewhat smoothed out, so that in a mechanical-electrical energy transformer it will be transformed to direct-current or alternating-current energy. These currents finally reach the electromotor of the shop, which operates the drive shafts of mechanical or hydraulic energy transmission apparatus, transmission-belt shafts, gear transmissions of machine tools, electromotors of press pumps, etc.
Allowable Working Stresses Under Impact
Authors: Davidenkoff N. N.
Published: February 2023

This paper discusses the nature of failure under impact, and indicates how the factor of safety under these conditions is determined by the properties of the material employed.
Performance of Two 101,000-Sq-Ft Surface Condensers
Authors: Landis J. N. , Tucker S. A.
Published: February 2023

The results of tests of two 101,000-sq-ft single-pass condensers in the Hudson Avenue Station of the Brooklyn Edison Company are summarized, and the design features are briefly described. The steam-flow path of the Worthington condenser is through an effectively shallow tube bank of the folded-layer type, having deep inlet lanes to facilitate the passage of steam with minimum pressure drop. The entire tube bank is contained in a practically cylindrical shell. In the Ingersoll-Rand unit the generally heart-shaped shell maintains with a decreasing volume of steam an active flow over all tubes. Bypass lanes around the top sections of tubes allow part of the steam to reach the lower tube banks without passing through the top section. The Worthington air cooler is placed internal to the shell as being the most convenient location and involving the least costly construction. The Ingersoll-Rand design uses an external air cooler to provide a more efficient design of flow areas. Reheating is provided for in the condensate circuits of both units, the Worthington using a contact-type reheating hotwell integral with the condenser and the Ingersoll-Rand having a 1600-sq-ft-surface closed reheater after the condensate pump, supplied with steam from one of the top bypass belts. Steam-flow control, air removal, and circulating systems are compared.
Some Observations on Spins
Authors: Gwinn J. M.
Published: February 2023

Spins may be divided into two classes, controlled and uncontrolled. In the controlled spin there is immediate response to control, while in the uncontrolled spin the response occurs some time later or even not at all after the controls have been moved. The problem is to avoid the accidental controlled or uncontrolled spins and to make the uncontrolled spin controllable. The author has made many observations of uncontrolled spins. The flights were carried on over a period of three years and show to a limited extent the independent effect of wing loading, center-of-gravity position, tail-surface plan form, tail-surface airfoil section, control-surface throw, and wing airfoil. The author indicates a number of conclusions from these observations, the first one of which is that wing loading is one of the major factors in uncontrolled spins.
Leaving-Velocity and Exhaust Loss in Steam Turbines
Authors: Robinson Ernest L.
Published: February 2023

This paper gives an exposition of the various items which go to make up the leaving velocity and exhaust loss of a steam turbine. The importance of this loss and the rapidity with which it increases at high loads cause it to be a determining influence in fixing the economic rating of a machine. The several elements necessary for an analysis are each evaluated in a fairly direct, although sometimes approximate, manner. More detailed and precise estimates might be made but are beyond the intent of this paper.

The loss in question occurs in the exhaust hood between the last wheel exit and the exhaust flange to the condenser. It is made up both of kinetic energy loss and of pressure loss through the hood and each effect varies with load and with location around the wheel annulus. Moisture is allowed for; supersaturation neglected.

The total loss may be expressed in Btu per pound flow to condenser or as a per cent of adiabatic heat drop or preferably as a per cent of total energy theoretically available for conversion to switchboard power.

With a particular exhaust operating at fixed steam conditions, the leaving velocity and exhaust loss increases roughly as the square of the load (parabolic rule).

With a particular exhaust passing a fixed flow, increasing the total available energy in the higher stages of the turbine by improved steam conditions correspondingly reduces the percentage loss in the exhaust (hyperbolic rule).

With a fixed percentage loss in a particular exhaust the power may be increased by improved steam conditions as the 3/2-power of the total available energy by increasing the flow to the condenser.

Base-load operation justifies more liberal exhaust areas than peak-load service but in the ultimate the heat-rate-load curve is the characteristic which is of most importance to the operator and second only to the reliability of performance.
Laws of Elastic Behavior in Metals: Summary Report on Experimental Program at Union College by A.S.M.E. Special Research Committee on Mechanical Springs
Authors: Sayre M. F.
Published: February 2023

To aid in rational spring design and in other problems of design where resilience or deflection are important matters, a general picture may be advisedly drawn of various phases of elastic behavior in metals, which deviates widely from the simple explanation given by Hooke’s law. For rough computation these deviations need not be considered, but where loads are high enough so that an accurate knowledge either of stresses or of deflections is required, or where an accurate theoretical knowledge is desired, they cannot be ignored. The statement given below, which in places is necessarily more or less theoretical, summarizes this picture. It emphasizes particularly those various factors which have been brought out in the work carried on at Union College for the past few years under the auspices of the A.S.M.E. Special Research Committee on Mechanical Springs. Accompanying tables give numerical values of these various effects for a range of different metals.
Plastic Behavior in the Light of Creep and Elastic Recovery Phenomena
Authors: Sayre M. F.
Published: February 2023

This paper briefly describes various phases of creep and elastic recovery in metals and offers a new theory of the mechanism by which these phenomena may be brought about. This explanation may also, in some measure, apply to the larger problem of plastic flow in metals in general.

No clear-cut differentiation seems to exist between the creep effects which occur below the elastic limit and the larger plastic yield occurring at higher stresses. One apparently merges gradually into the other.

The amount of creep and hysteresis seems to be definitely related to the temperature of the metal and to its state of internal stress. Any satisfactory theory of the mechanism of plastic flow must explain these facts and must also account for the elastic recovery effects, the time lag in initial creep, and the presence of continuity in metal even after slippage has extended from one crystal into a second differently oriented crystal.

The author suggests several hypotheses to explain these and his explanation seems to agree reasonably well with the facts observed from accurate measurements made at Union College, as well as with observations made by others. Various theoretical reasons also support these hypotheses.
Effect of Skewing and Pole Spacing on Magnetic Noise in Electrical Machinery
Authors: Mikina S. J.
Published: February 2023

The operation of rotating electrical machinery over a wide range of speeds often leads to the emission of intense magnetic hum due to resonant vibration of the machine frame at some speeds in the running range. The probability of establishing a condition of resonance at least at one machine speed is quite high due to the fact that the machine frame is capable of vibrating in a relatively large number of normal modes of vibration, any one of which may be excited under certain conditions. It is shown that in cases where the electromagnetic disturbances arise from periodic variation of magnetic reluctance between the poles and a slotted armature it is possible to reduce the resultant exciting force on a frame to zero by suitable disposition of the field poles with respect to the armature or vice versa, having regard both to the relative shapes of the poles and the slots and to the magnitude of the pole pitch.
Calibration of Rounded-Approach Orifices
Authors: Downie Smith J. F.
Published: February 2023

This paper records in graphical form the results obtained in calibrating several rounded-approach orifices with water and oil. It also describes the arrangement of the apparatus and the method of procedure followed in making the tests.
Further Experiments on the Variation of the Maximum-Lift Coefficient With Turbulence and Reynolds’ Number
Authors: Millikan Clark B.
Published: February 2023

The experimental work presented in this paper represents an extension of the earlier results published by the author in conjunction with Dr. A. L. Klein. The earlier investigation dealt only with the N.A.C.A. 2412 airfoil, while the new tests employed a thick propeller section and a thickened Clark Y wing whose maximum thickness was 18 per cent of the chord. All three airfoils were also investigated with simple, split-trailing-edge flaps whose chord was 25 per cent of the wing chord and which were deflected 45 deg down from the under surface of the wing. The measurements were made at various Reynolds’ numbers and with varying degrees of turbulence produced artificially by a grid of small rods placed different distances upstream from the model.

The experimental results with the new sections tested differ in many particulars from the earlier results with the 2412 section. A qualitative explanation of these differences is given in the light of the theory of Dr. Th. von Karman and the author.

It is concluded that, although this theory is satisfactory for a certain class of airfoils, it cannot be applied to certain other less conventional types. It appears that there exists at present no satisfactory method of predicting the nature of the dependence of CLmax on Reynolds’ number and turbulence for an arbitrary airfoil section.
Manufacture of Large Seamless Steel Tubes by the Tschulenk Forge-Rolling Process
Authors: Herschmann Arthur J. , Tschulenk Leopold
Published: February 2023

In this paper the authors present a new technique for the manufacture of seamless steel tubes and other hollow steel bodies with diameters from 20 to 60 in. or even greater, lengths up to 60 ft., and wall thicknesses from approximately ⅝ in. up to almost any thickness that may be required. Except in very special instances such tubes or vessels would be completed from the original hollow steel block in a single pass without previous forging of the ingot and without the necessity of subsequent tooling. Both the design of the mill and the details of its operations are described, and in conclusion the authors deal briefly with the manufacturing economies which may reasonably be expected.
Air Flow in Fan-Discharge Ducts
Authors: Marks Lionel S.
Published: February 2023

This paper is concerned with an examination of possible causes of the discrepancies which are sometimes found between pitot-tube measurements and nozzle measurements of the volume of air flowing in a fan-discharge duct. Among the conclusions reached are the following: (1) Air pulsations may cause a small error; (2) Incorrect location of the outermost pitot-tube station results in an error of at least 0.6 per cent; (3) pitot-tube errors and non-axial flow are the principal sources of error.

This paper also gives the characteristics of various pitot tubes, shows that non-axial flow exists in the discharge from single-inlet-centrifugal and propeller-type fans and indicates that this discrepancy can be eliminated by the use of egg-crate straighteners which it recommends for adoption in standard test practise. It is indicated, too, that the present standard length of test discharge duct can be halved without loss of accuracy and the friction coefficient omitted.

It is recommended by the author, as a result of the study covered by this paper, that for test purposes the term “velocity head” should be redefined and that a more precise specification for the pitot tube should be adopted.
Ten Years of Stoker Development at Hudson Avenue
Authors: Driscoll John M. , Sperr W. H.
Published: February 2023

Hudson Avenue Station is a stoker-fired generating station of 770,000-kw rated capacity. The station was started in 1922 with 14-retort underfeed stokers of 355 sq ft projected grate and ashpit area and completed in 1932 with an installation of 15-retort stokers of 694 sq ft projected grate and ashpit area. Development of the rated station capacity requires that the latter installation of stokers burn coal at the rate of about 65 lb per sq ft per hr, using eastern semi-bituminous coal of about 14,000 Btu per lb as fired. On test, coal was burned at the rate of 75 lb per sq ft per hr for 48 consecutive hours, at a steam-generating-unit efficiency of 77 per cent.

The development of the various stoker units, of which there are five different types, is described and illustrated in this paper. This station was the location of the development by the Westinghouse Company of the first “link-grate” stoker, which was successfully applied here in a 15-retort design having a projected grate and ashpit area of 524 sq ft.

The 1932 installation of American Engineering Company’s Taylor stokers is equipped with manual zoned-air control, which divides the air supplied to the grate section into 69 separately controlled zones. These stokers are the longest single-ended underfeed stokers on record, measuring 26 ft 7 in. from front furnace wall to the rear of ashpit.

The various steps in the development of the underfeed stokers to obtain the desired capacities are described, and an apparent limitation in capacity of a purely underfeed stoker of any considerable length is discussed.

This paper discusses also the unburned-gas losses and the cinder losses in the heat balance of a boiler-stoker test. The cinder loss attains considerable magnitude in stoker operation at high-burning rates, and loss data are given for a number of stoker tests at coal-burning rates up to 75 lb per sq ft per hr.

The extent of improvement in efficiency in stoker operation over the period of ten years due to stoker design and associated equipment is discussed from the standpoint of the installations in this particular station, efficiency data being given in curve form for the various stoker installations.

It is the hope of the authors in presenting this paper that it will serve steam-plant designers as a basis of facts on efficiency and capacity possibilities of large stoker-fired installations in the present state of the art.

A companion paper by Messrs. Hardie and Cooper, of the Brooklyn Edison Company, entitled “The Test Performance of Hudson Avenue’s Most Recent Steam Generating Units” presents test data and describes the test procedure and methods.