bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Pulmonary Hypertension in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
Authors: Rivera-Lebron Belinda N.
Published: February 2019

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a fatal lung disease with a variable natural history. Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is frequently found in patients with IPF and is associated with an almost 3-fold increase in the risk of death. Pulmonary hypoxic vasoconstriction plays an important role in the pathogenesis of PH in IPF (PH-IPF), although it has become clear that it is not the only mechanism involved. While invasive right heart catheterization is the gold standard modality of hemodynamic assessment, there has been increasing interest in noninvasive testing, such as Doppler echocardiogram, as complementary methods of assessing right ventricular function in these patients. While the expanding array of pharmacologic options for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension has engendered increased interest in the application of these therapies for PH-IPF, supportive evidence for benefit is lacking.
Pulmonary Endarterectomy: Assessment of Operability, Surgical Description, and Post-op Care
Authors: Poch David , Pretorius Victor
Published: February 2019

Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is defined as a mean pulmonary artery pressure ≥25 mm Hg and pulmonary artery wedge pressure ≤15 mm Hg in the presence of occlusive thrombi within the pulmonary arteries. Surgical pulmonary thromboendarterectomy (PTE) is considered the best treatment option for CTEPH.
PH Grand Rounds: Puzzling Etiology of Pulmonary Hypertension Resolved
Authors: Levine Deborah J. , Fenstad Eric R. , Bick Benjamin L. , Frantz Robert P.
Published: February 2019

Section editor's note: Welcome to a new section in Advances titled “Pulmonary Hypertension Grand Rounds” (PHGR), which we are introducing in this issue. With this addition, Advances offers a unique opportunity for trainees and junior faculty interested in pulmonary hypertension (PH). This section will highlight cases with literature reviews written by young clinicians and researchers in PH. PHGR was created to use patient cases to integrate individual clinical expertise with the best available evidence from the literature to enable the best decisions for patients. As with the rest of the journal, our audience continues to be physicians, researchers, nurses, students, residents, and fellows interested in both the care of individual patients and the advances in our field. We welcome comments about the section and inquiries regarding submitting a case for publication. Please direct inquiries to advancesgrandrounds@PHAssociation.org
Pulmonary Hypertension Care Centers: Hope for the Future From a Patient's and Caregiver's Perspectives
Authors: Ramirez Diane , D'Anna Laura Hoyt
Published: February 2019

In 1987, after three years of being treated aggressively for asthma and then a prolapsed mitral valve, I was finally diagnosed with primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH). I was told I would be lucky if I lived 2 years without having a heart/double lung transplant and that I didn't have much time to get my affairs in order. There were fewer than 200 patients in the United States at the time. There were no treatment centers, support groups, or even an advocacy group like the Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA). I struggled with the loneliness of this diagnosis and the lack of information available.
Right Ventricular Metabolism: A Brief Review
Authors: Han Yuchi , Singh Jasmeet
Published: February 2019

The primary function of the right ventricle (RV) is to receive systemic venous return and pump it into the normally low-pressure, highly distensible pulmonary arterial system.1 Compared to the left ventricle (LV), the RV is thinner with less mass, has 2 layers of muscles rather than 3, and has a bellow shape rather than an ellipsoid shape. Due to its typically low afterload, the metabolic demand for the RV is lower. The normal RV stroke work index is at 25% of the LV.2 Animal studies have shown that the right coronary artery flow is lower, the oxygen extraction is lower in the RV compared to the LV, and the mean RV myocardial oxygen consumption is less than half that of the LV.34 The study of myocardial metabolism has been dominated by studies of the LV metabolism until recently, with increasing recognition that RV performance affects patients' morbidity and mortality in patients with pulmonary hypertension5 and even in patients with left-sided heart failure.6
Prognostication in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension and Use of Current Risk Prediction Models
Authors: Agarwal Richa
Published: February 2019

Significant therapeutic advances in the field of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), increased awareness and diagnosis, and changing patient demographics in the contemporary era have facilitated the development of better prognostic tools for predicting survival. However, overall patient outcomes remain poor, and measurement of most prognostic factors still occurs at the time of initial PAH diagnosis or enrollment into clinical trials. Treatment of PAH patients requires an individualized approach based on disease severity and burden of risk factors to improve patient outcomes. This article will focus on the use of risk prediction models to map and target individual disease trajectories to avoid future morbid and mortal events.
Gender Difference Response of Male and Female Immunodeficiency Rats Treated with Tissue-specific Biomolecules
Authors: Fedulova Liliya V. , Basov Alexandr A. , Vasilevskaya Ekaterina R. , Dzhimak Stepan S.
Published: February 2019

Background:

The modern immunology is targeted to the detailed study of various immunopathological conditions at the molecular and cellular level, development of new methods for the prevention, diagnostics and treatment of contagious and non-contagious diseases of humans and animals.

Methods:

In the present work we took the rats with model of cyclophosphamide-induced immunodeficiency and studied the features of gender impact of the complex extract of immunocompetent organs (thymus, spleen and mesenteric lymph nodes) Sus scrofa and its separate fraction with molecular weight less than 30 kDa administered to male and female rats.

Results:

The impact of gender differences and tissue-specific biomolecules (30 kDa fraction) on hematological parameters (leukocytes, erythrocytes, platelets), functional activity of immune system (IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, complement system, IgG, IgM), biochemical parameters of hepatocytes functioning (activity of ALP and LDG), carbohydrate metabolism (glucose) and lipid metabolism (triglycerides).

Conclusion:

Decrease of ALP activity is caused by inhibition of bile formation in a liver after introduction of cytostatic agent, and in contrast to complex extract, the administration of fraction 30 kDa allows improving bile production in male rats.
Comparison of Non-radiographic Axial Spondyloarthritis and Ankylosing Spondyltis from a Single Rheumatology Hospital in Morocco
Authors: Akasbi Nessrine , Nihad Siar , Sofia Zoukal , Khadija El Kohen , Taoufik Harzy
Published: February 2019

Background:

According to the new classification criteria developed by The Assessment
of SpondyloArthritis International Society, patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) can be
classified in 2 subgroups: Patients with radiographic axial spondyloarthritis: ankylosing spondylitis
patients (AS) and those with non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA).

Objective:

The aim of the present study is to describe and discuss the differences and similarities
between the two subgroups.

Patients and Methods:

A cross-sectional study was conducted in a single rheumatology hospital in
Morocco. These included patients diagnosed as having axial spondyloarthritis according to ASAS
criteria 2010, during a period of 6 years. The AS and the nr-axSpA subgroups were compared for
the various axSpA-related variables.

Results:

Of the 277 patients with a diagnosis of axial SpA who were included in this study, 160 had
AS and 117 had nr-axSpA. AS and nr-ax-SpA shared a similar age at diagnosis, similar prevalence
of low back pain, lumbar stiffness, extra-articular manifestations, BASDAI and BASFI. In the multivariate
analysis, AS patients were mainly male with cervical stiffness, enthesitis, coxitis and high
level of ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate). The females generally had a family history of SpA
and arthritis and were associated to the nr-axSpA form in the univariate analysis.

Conclusion:

This was the first study to characterise patients with AS and nr-axSpA in Morocco.
Consistent with other studies published, this study showed that patients with nr-axSpA and patients
with AS shared a comparable degree of disease burden.
Low-Dose Radiation Advances in Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography in the Diagnosis of Coronary Artery Disease
Authors: Richards Caryl E. , Obaid Daniel R.
Published: February 2019

Background:

Coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) is now widely used
in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease since it is a rapid, minimally invasive test with a diagnostic
accuracy comparable to coronary angiography. However, to meet demands for increasing
spatial and temporal resolution, higher x-ray radiation doses are required to circumvent the resulting
increase in image noise. Exposure to high doses of ionizing radiation with CT imaging is a major
health concern due to the potential risk of radiation-associated malignancy. Given its increasing
use, a number of dose saving algorithms have been implemented to CCTA to minimize radiation
exposure to “as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA)” without compromising diagnostic image
quality.

Objective:

The purpose of this review is to outline the most recent advances and current status of
dose saving techniques in CCTA.

Methods:

PubMed, Medline, EMBASE and Scholar databases were searched to identify feasibility
studies, clinical trials, and technology guidelines on the technical advances in CT scanner hardware
and reconstruction software.

Results:

Sub-millisievert (mSv) radiation doses have been reported for CCTA due to a combination
of strategies such as prospective electrocardiogram-gating, high-pitch helical acquisition, tube current
modulation, tube voltage reduction, heart rate reduction, and the most recent novel adaptive
iterative reconstruction algorithms.

Conclusion:

Advances in radiation dose reduction without loss of image quality justify the use of
CCTA as a non-invasive alternative to coronary catheterization in the diagnosis of coronary artery
disease.
Analysis of Hypoxiamir-Gene Regulatory Network Identifies Critical MiRNAs Influencing Cell-Cycle Regulation Under Hypoxic Conditions
Authors: Gupta Apoorv , Ragumani Sugadev , Sharma Yogendra Kumar , Ahmad Yasmin , Khurana Pankaj
Published: February 2019

Background:

Hypoxia is a pathophysiological condition which arises due to low oxygen concentration in conditions like cardiovascular diseases, inflammation, ascent to higher altitude, malignancies, deep sea diving, prenatal birth, etc. A number of microRNAs (miRNAs), Transcription Factors (TFs) and genes have been studied separately for their role in hypoxic adaptation and controlling cell-cycle progression and apoptosis during this stress.

Objective:

We hypothesize that miRNAs and TFs may act in conjunction to regulate a multitude of genes and play a crucial and combinatorial role during hypoxia-stress-responses and associated cellcycle control mechanisms.

Method:

We collected a comprehensive and non-redundant list of human hypoxia-responsive miRNAs (also known as hypoxiamiRs). Their experimentally validated gene-targets were retrieved from various databases and a comprehensive hypoxiamiR-gene regulatory network was built.

Results:

Functional characterization and pathway enrichment of genes identified phospho-proteins as enriched nodes. The phospho-proteins which were localized both in the nucleus and cytoplasm and could potentially play important role as signaling molecules were selected; and further pathway enrichment revealed that most of them were involved in NFkB signaling. Topological analysis identified several critical hypoxiamiRs and network perturbations confirmed their importance in the network. Feed Forward Loops (FFLs) were identified in the subnetwork of enriched genes, miRNAs and TFs. Statistically significant FFLs consisted of four miRNAs (hsa-miR-182-5p, hsa- miR-146b-5p, hsa-miR-96, hsa-miR-20a) and three TFs (SMAD4, FOXO1, HIF1A) both regulating two genes (NFkB1A and CDKN1A).

Conclusion:

Detailed BioCarta pathway analysis identified that these miRNAs and TFs together play a critical and combinatorial role in regulating cell-cycle under hypoxia, by controlling mechanisms that activate cell-cycle checkpoint protein, CDKN1A. These modules work synergistically to regulate cell-proliferation, cell-growth, cell-differentiation and apoptosis during hypoxia. A detailed mechanistic molecular model of how these co-regulatory FFLs may regulate the cell-cycle transitions during hypoxic stress conditions is also put forth. These biomolecules may play a crucial and deterministic role in deciding the fate of the cell under hypoxic-stress.
Family Members’ Perspectives of Health Care System Interactions With Suicidal Patients and Responses to Suicides: Protocol for a Qualitative Research Study (Preprint)
Authors: Bryksa Erin , Shalaby Reham , Friesen Laura , Klingle Kirsten , Gaine Graham , Urichuk Liana , Surood Shireen , Agyapong Vincent
Published: February 2019

BACKGROUND

Suicide is a major cause of preventable death globally and a leading cause of death by injury in Canada. To support people who experience suicidal thoughts and behaviors and ultimately prevent people from dying by suicide, it is important to understand the individual and familial experiences with the health care system.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to explore how suicide victims, and their family members, interacted with the health care system.

METHODS

We will invite family members of 6 to 8 suicide victims to participate in the study by sharing their perspectives on both their relative’s as well as their own interactions with the health care system. Interviews will take place in-person and will be audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed thematically.

RESULTS

The results of the study are expected to be available in 12 months. We expect the results to shed light on the experiences of suicide victims and their family members with the health care system.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study results may inform practice, policy, and further research. They may shape how members of the health care system respond to people who are at risk of suicide and their families.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPOR

PRR1-10.2196/13797
The Effects of Motivation on EFL College Students’ Achievement
Authors: Alqurashi Fahad
Published: February 2019

The current study examined the motivation of 48 newly-admitted students at the English department of Umm Al-Qura University for the study and learning of English as a foreign language. The surveyed informants responded to a two-part questionnaire that measured their intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in an attempt to explore the problems that many students encounter during their college life that negatively affect their academic progress. Students’ responses revealed that they were highly motivated to learn the target language—which may indicate that there are other factors related to students’ underachievement. The study recommends that students’ motivation be reexamined at different stages during their enrollment in the BA program and that other aspects related to students’ achievement, such as language aptitude, cognitive style and memory, and other affective factors, such as attitudes and anxiety, be scrutinized. In addition, promoting students’ motivation is a key step towards improving classroom atmosphere and making learning more effective and persistent. Learners need to have positive relationships with teachers. Positive affirmations, constructive guidance, and encouraging words serve as a secure base to enhance their self-esteem, create a positive learning experience, and build constructive attitudes towards learning the target language.
CAPITALISMO E PROCESSOS DE INTEGRAÇÃO REGIONAL
Authors: Brandão Osório Luiz Felipe
Published: February 2019

O advento da década de 1990 trouxe ao sistema internacional um cenário de mudanças substanciais, as quais se refletiram fundamentalmente na expansão do direito e das organizações internacionais. Nesse panorama, aprofundaram-se as iniciativas de integração regional, cujo vetor prioritário, o econômico, conheceu um desenvolvimento institucional e normativo inédito. É, no entanto, nos anos 2000, no ápice desse período, que a experiência mais desenvolvida nesses moldes de integração, a União Europeia, entrará em uma espiral de crise sem precedentes. A explicação da contradição entre o aprofundamento formal e o ocaso econômico passará por uma visão materialista das relações internacionais, a qual focará na forma política internacional como elemento nodal para extrapolar a aparência e desnudar os recônditos da essência desse fenômeno social. Por isso, buscar-se-á nas raízes da consolidação do projeto comunitário pós-Maastricht, dentro da nova face do capitalismo, o pós-fordista, a elucidação das fraturas da integração regional em meio ao sistema internacional. É justamente o avanço na arquitetura formal capitalista que gesta a crise das experiências integracionistas mais desenvolvidas, como se comprova na mirada crítica sobre o arranjo comunitário.
El lenguaje y el pensamiento económico de Leopoldo Solís
Authors: Solís Leopoldo
Published: February 2019

En su discurso de ingreso a la Academia Mexicana de la Lengua, Leopoldo Solís debate en torno a la relación de la economía y la lengua, llegando a la conclusión de que la lengua es un bien público, al igual que el dinero, pues son instituciones sociales que sirven de medio de comunicación, son propiedad de todos y utilizados por todos, y el uso e intercambio incrementa su valor. En este contexto, la importancia de la Academia Mexicana de la Lengua es grande, pues es la entidad que asegura su permanencia. También encuentra una relación entre la cultura y el lenguaje, explica el lenguaje como acumulación y transmisión de conocimiento. En la respuesta al discurso, Carlos Montemayor se aboca al tema de la traducción como una equivalencia de valores semánticos entre varios sistemas lingüísticos y culturales.
DIATHESIS MARKERS IN WOLIONESE LANGUAGE (PEMARKAH DIATESIS DALAM BAHASA WOLIO)
Authors: Mugrib Nuz Chairul , Wahyunianto Dian , Sumarlam Sumarlam
Published: February 2019

Wolionese language is the language spoken by the people in Bau-Bau, Southeast Sulawesi. The objective of this study is to describe active-passive voice of Wolionese that has not been widely studied. This study applied descriptive qualitative approachusing basic method, direct constituent division and advanced method form changing. The data were obtained by using cooperative method. The change of active sentence structure into passive sentence in Wolionese has its own pattern. Based on the data analysis of the active-passive voice of Wolionese, the result shows that Wolionese has specific markers attached in the verbs of the sentences to form or change from active voice to passive voice and vice versa. In the active voice, the markers found are ku-, ta-, u-, and a- that always be attached in the beginning of the verbs. They sometimes are also followed by -aka, -mo attached in the end of the verb. Meanwhile, in the passive voice there are also several markers found, they are -a, to- and i- that are attached in the end of the verb (-a) and in the beginning of the verb (to- and i-).
TECHNIQUES AND ACCURACY OF IDEATIONAL GRAMMATICAL METAPHOR TRANSLATION IN 'DIARY OF WIMPY KID' NOVELS
Authors: Arfianti Nur Indah , Nababan MR , Santosa Riyadi
Published: February 2019

The ideational grammatical metaphor is a phenomenon emerging in lexico-grammar which causes new variant construction that is different from its original meaning and grammatical class. This article aims at classifying the translation techiques applied in Jeff Kinneyâ€™s Diary of Wimpy Kid novels and also the impact of its application in translating ideational grammatical metaphor which deals with accuracy aspect in translation quality assessment. This research was classified as descriptive-qualitative research with embedded case study research and it used systemic functional linguistics as its approach.. content analysis and focus group discussion were used for obtaining data. The data consisted of linguistic, that is the words representing ideational grammatical metaphors, and translation data, i.e: the analyses of translation techniques and translation accuracy. The techniques were analyzed by using Molina & Albir (2002) theoryÂ  whereas the accuracy was assessed based on TQA modified by Nababan, Nuraeni & Sumardiono (2012). Research findings showed that there were eight different translation techniques used for translating ideational grammatical metaphor in the novels. In addition, this average score of translation quality assessment showed that ideational grammatical metaphors in SL have been translated accurately to TL.
Rozwój społeczny powiatów województwa mazowieckiego – kwantyfikacja i ocena
Authors: Siudek Tomasz , Drabarczyk Katarzyna , Zawojska Aldona
Published: February 2019

Głównym celem badań zaprezentowanych w artykule była ocena spójności powiatów województwa mazowieckiego pod względem rozwoju społecznego – jednego z trzech podstawowych wymiarów zrównoważonego rozwoju. Poziom rozwoju społecznego powiatów (jednostek terytorialnych NUTS 4) zmierzono przy wykorzystaniu autorskiego wskaźnika syntetycznego obejmującego 12 zmiennych diagnostycznych, z których w wyniku analizy czynnikowej wyodrębniono cztery obszary (czynniki): demografia, edukacja, ochrona zdrowia oraz sytuacja na lokalnym rynku pracy. Przedstawiono zróżnicowanie poziomu rozwoju w czasie i między powiatami. Z przeprowadzonych badań wynika, że w latach 2006–2015 najbardziej rozwinięte pod względem społecznym były miasta na prawach powiatów (Siedlce, Ostrołęka, Płock, Warszawa i Radom), a najmniej powiaty ziemskie z południowej i wschodniej (peryferyjnej) części województwa mazowieckiego (siedlecki, lipski i przysuski). Średni poziom rozwoju powiatów Mazowsza, mierzony wskaźnikiem syntetycznym, wykazał tendencję wzrostową, a dysproporcje między najbardziej i najmniej rozwiniętymi powiatami w tym czasie uległy zmniejszeniu.
Dywersyfikacja upraw jako element „zazielenienia” w krajach Unii Europejskiej – czy to właściwe rozwiązanie?
Authors: Krzyżanowski Julian
Published: February 2019

Autor zajmuje się problematyką dywersyfikacji upraw w krajach Unii Europejskiej. Wprowadzanie kilku rodzajów roślin jest częścią „zazielenienia” – systemu praktyk korzystnego dla środowiska i klimatu, obowiązkowego w obecnej perspektywie finansowej. Mimo konieczności stosowania dywersyfikacji na 75% powierzchni gruntów ornych, zobowiązanie to nie ma wpływu zarówno na alokację ziemi pod różne przeznaczenia, jak i na całkowity potencjał produkcji. Oznacza to, że rolnicy do tej pory samoistnie stosowali dywersyfikację. Uważa się, że poprawia ona ochronę gleby, ale według części ekonomistów środki przeznaczone na różnicowanie upraw mogłyby być lepiej wykorzystane. Należy bowiem sądzić, że środki na dywersyfikację są głównie elementem legitymizacji płatności bezpośrednich.
Zyxin expression levels in non-small cell lung cancer patients
Authors: Ilic Dejan , Rancic Milan , Stoimenov-Jevtovic Tatjana , Petrovic Veljko , Petrovic Marina
Published: February 2019

Background/Aim. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Early detection represents one of the most promising approaches to reduce lung cancer mortality. Zyxin (ZYX) is a member of the focal adhesion protein family, recently identified as a potential early diagnostic marker for NSCLC. The aim of this study was to evaluate ZYX expression levels in NSCLC patients and compare its serum expression profiles between early and advanced clinical stages, different histological subtypes and histological grades. Methods. Blood samples were obtained from 90 patients diagnosed with NSCLC in all clinical stages and 30 patients without the clinical and radiological findings and previous history of malignancy. For the quantitative determination of human ZYX concentrations in the serum we used enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assay (ELISA). Results. ZYX exhibited higher serum levels in NSCLC patients as compared to the control samples with exceptionally significant difference (p = 0.00). The ROC curve demonstrated a high specificity with AUC = 0.912. There were no statistically significant differences in the ZYX values between two most common NSCLC types, adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma (p = 0.758). There were no statistically significant differences in the ZYX values among different clinical stages (p = 0.518). Only 3 patients had well-differentiated tumor, and no useful data may be extracted from their samples. There were no statistically significant differences in the ZYX values between patients with moderately differentiated tumor and poorly differentiated tumor (p = 0.48). Conclusion. We found that ZYX was overexpressed in NSCLC, but its expression level was not closely correlated with the tumor size and advanced tumor, node, metastasis (TNM) stage. Our results suggest that ZYX has potential to be an early diagnostic plasma-based tumor marker for NSCLC with the same importance for both adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.
Marketing and Membership
Authors: Barrows Clayton , Robinson Michael
Published: February 2019

Students will often hear that membership is the lifeblood of clubs. This simply means that without members, clubs would cease to exist. This is true for both not-for-profit and for-profit clubs. The focus of this chapter is on membership, that is, who are the members and why do they join; and marketing, that is club activities directed at retaining existing members and recruiting prospective members. The reason that we are combining a discussion of marketing with one of membership, is because it is hard to separate the two functions in clubs. When we use the word ‘marketing’, we are referring to marketing to members, either current or prospective. At one time, marketing was not within managers’ lexicon. However, as we have alluded to several times, clubs must be much more outwardly focused now than they were a generation ago. We will talk more about marketing, but let’s first examine why members join clubs.
Trends in Clubs
Authors: Barrows Clayton , Robinson Michael
Published: February 2019

As we explain to our students, clubs have changed more in the last 10 years than they did in the previous 100 years. While this is perhaps a slight exaggeration, it is close to the truth. For many years, while the economy, legal environment, and demographics were all in their favour, clubs were able to continue managing their organizations as they have always done. Then, as their members grew older (and less active), new tax laws came into play, the economy weakened, and new generations with different needs emerged, clubs either changed of their own accord or were forced to change. When discussing changes in clubs, it is helpful to explore the trends that are occurring.
Study on Capabilities of Different Segmentation Algorithms in Detecting and Reducing Brain Tumor Size in Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Effective Telemedicine Services
Authors: Popoola Jide Julius , Godson Thompson Emeka , Olasoji Yekeen Olajide , Adu Michael Rotimi
Published: February 2019

Over the past decade, different image segmentation algorithms have been developed and employed in segmenting or analyzing brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans in the clinical applications for the detection of brain tumor. However, accurate detection, compression and transmission of brain tumor data remain parts of the challenging tasks militating against brain tumor telemedicine services due to the complex nature of brain tumor MRI scans. In overcoming this challenge, five different brain tumor segmentation algorithms were developed for this study. The algorithms were developed using MATLAB scripts. The developed algorithms were evaluated using patients’ data retrieved from Mayfield website. The result of the comparative performance compression rate efficiency evaluation test carried out shows that the developed hybrid threshold-watershed segmentation algorithm outperforms others in terms of compression efficiency. The result implies that the usage of the developed hybrid threshold-watershed segmentation algorithm in transmitting brain tumor patients’ data transmission over wireless communication system will require limited bandwidth resource.
TEETH PREPERATION FOR ELECTRON SPINNING RESONANCE (ESR) DATING METHOD
Authors: Ferdianto Anton
Published: February 2019

Fossil bones and teeth usually are very common archeological findings. At many sites these remains, such as bones bearing cut marks, may provide unequivocal evidence for human occupation. Hence bones and teeth provide the ideal targets for directly dating of archeological levels. Combined ESR/U-series dating of fossil teeth has been increasingly used in geochronological research over the past three decades. Results prove that it can be potentially applied to the sites in different geological contexts (fluvial/lacustrine or karstic environments) over a timescale of 304-206 years. But to perform this dating method, there’s a step that we need to prepare and do. This article try to explain the procedure how we prepare teeth step by step until it’s ready to be measure.
The effect of superior peer's job-focused impression management on knowledge hiding
Authors: Lee NaRa , Park DongGun , Chung HyunSun
Published: February 2019

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of superior peer's job-focused impression management on knowledge hiding behavior and the mediating role of malicious envy to coworkers. In addition, this study examined the moderating role of employee's negative reciprocity in the relationship between malicious envy and knowledge hiding. The results from 350 participants provided evidence that (a) superior peer's job-focused impression management was negatively related to employee's malicious envy, (b) malicious envy was negatively related to employee's knowledge hiding behavior, (c) malicious envy partially mediated the relationship between superior peer's job-focused impression management and knowledge hiding, (d) employee's negative reciprocity moderated the relationship between malicious envy and knowledge hiding. Based on these results, theoretical and practical implication, limitations, and direction for future research were discussed.
MELARAS PIANO DENGAN SISTEM EQUAL-TEMPERED
Authors: Musmal Musmal
Published: February 2019

This article theoretically discusses some basic techniques for tuning the piano through the equal-tempered system. Based on long experience as a piano tuner, the author believe that this methodological steps of tuning technique can be mastered by anyone through intensive tuning excercises.Keywords: Piano, equal tempered, tuning technique.
STRUKTUR DAN ESTETIKA ANGGUK PUTRI “SRI LESTARI” DI DUSUN PRIPIH KULON PROGO
Authors: Suryati Suryati
Published: February 2019

The angguk is one among many types ofthe selawatan genre, it is an Indonesian traditional Islamic liturgical music. While the selawatan is normally perfomed by a group of men, the angguk includes a group of female dancers as the accompaniment to the selawatan musicians. This additional accompaniment accommodates the transformation form, from music to perfoming art. This study focuses on the analysis of structure and aesthetics of the performance ofthe “Sri Lestari” female angguk group in the Pripih village,at Kulon Progo district. The art was performed by young female dancers who were dressed in colorful costumesto attract the attention of audience. This study concludes that the performing art has been influenced by other type of the selawatan elements, such as the dolalak, which originated from Purworejo, Central Java. The angguk music which is very simple and monotous as the result of subsequent repetition with only little variations, is the verse reading effect of the pantun, which is a typical of traditional letter’s vocal arts. Whilethe pantun characterizes general musical structure, the instrumentation, rhythmic, and the tempo of the music, gives the essence of aesthetic meaning toward the genre. The dance has been used to enhance the performing aesthetics to invite the attention of the audience.Keywords: Angguk, selawatan, aesthetics.
Assessment of wind heeling lever determined through CFD against the current naval stability standards
Authors: Alderton J N
Published: February 2019

Naval stability standards consider the impact of a number of different external factors, one of which is the effect of heeling caused by wind. With relatively large superstructures the wind heeling moment can be relatively significant but despite its potential impact, at present the calculation to determine the wind heeling moment is relatively simplistic. With increasing fidelity within computational tools, in particular Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), it questions whether the current standards are still considered fit for purpose or whether a more time consuming but comprehensive analysis should be used. This paper discusses work conducted by QinetiQ on behalf of the UK MoD, to explore this area. The work firstly benchmarks wind heeling moment derived by different CFD methods against existing model wind tunnel test results for a heeled patrol boat. The benchmarking compares the level of accuracy of the numerical tools and explores the impact of changing different parameters within the analysis. Following the benchmarking at model scale, CFD is used to calculate the wind heeling force on two ships at full scale.  The two selected ships represent very different types of hullform and ship particulars.  The results from the CFD analysis are then compared to the results determined using current naval standard wind heeling criteria. This paper discusses the different CFD methodology applied, the results from the benchmarking, the comparison between the CFD results and those determined by applying the current naval standard criteria and the implications on the applicability of a CFD analysis rather than the current criteria.
Enabling Lean Manning through Automation
Authors: Chilcott J , Kennedy N
Published: February 2019

Reduced manning has long been an aspiration for navies, due to manpower shortages and a desire to reduce through life costs, whilst the requirements for mission capable, effective and flexible vessels have continued to grow with the evolution of military operations.  The challenge for industry is to provide a naval platform with increased capability and agility, whilst embracing sufficient automation to support a reduced complement.   An Integrated Platform Management System can provide the answer to many of the challenges posed by a lean manned platform.  However, to fully exploit the benefits of such a system, the operator characteristics and supporting technology must be fully considered.  In terms of Integrated Platform Management System design, a truly distributed architecture, extensive system integration, intuitive alarms and warning policies, and the inclusion of remote alarm panels with paging systems, can all help to tackle the reduced manning challenge.  As technology evolves so will the ability to optimize ships’ operations and develop new ways of achieving mission objectives whilst addressing the reduced manning challenge.  There are a number of themes currently driving innovation in the maritime market, such as remote support initiatives, most prevalent in the commercial maritime sector.  Furthermore, the adoption of intelligent systems, such as smart valves, can offer significant benefits against the background of ever reducing manning levels.
Lighting Future Naval Ships – Mission Optimized and Human Centric
Authors: Langer G G , Launert N T
Published: February 2019

Progress in lighting technology comes in waves: As the LED is emerging as the winner from the current wave, the digital transformation is pushing the limits of technical possibilities of lighting once more, as it gives access to more degrees of freedom in lighting. Advances over the last decade have significantly expanded the scope of lighting technology: ‘Intelligent Lighting’ yields several new opportunities. Through the advantageous properties of LEDs electric light will be a carrier for optical wireless communication. It finally will provide its users the lost qualities of a natural dynamic light environment as a surrogate of sunlight with all its stimulating effects, thus a ‘Human Centric Lighting’ addressing the biological needs of a ship’s crew with limited access to daylight, increasing their well-being, health and performance on the job.
QEC IPMS the Technical Challenge
Authors: McKelvie J , Lakey P
Published: February 2019

The task of scaling up a well-established Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS) to meet the requirements of the largest warship ever constructed for the UK Navy has provided a diverse set of challenges. Designing a control system for a constantly evolving ship design was never going to be a straightforward task, especially with the complexity of the Queen Elizabeth Class (QEC) aircraft carrier and the design intent of reducing crew size by automation. Adopting a development cycle suitably capable of providing resilience to the dynamic nature of the ships development would always be a significant risk. Some of the challenges were evident from the outset, such as the system requiring a multitude of external interfaces supporting a variety of communication protocols. The most demanding of these being the Electrical Power Control and Management System (EPCAMS), which requires the transfer of almost 10,000 signals. Whilst other challenges manifested themselves in unexpected ways such as the engagement with ships staff in the early stages of design, providing an excellent means to create solutions best suited to meet the expectations and ergonomic requirements of the end user. Also providing conflicting opinions of individuals resulting in a minefield of requirements to process in order to arrive at the best engineering solution. This paper explores the most significant challenges and the processes put in place to mitigate against the risk that they provide. Analysis of these processes and procedures allowed us to establish a well-defined set of lessons learnt that can be used to optimise and improve the development cycle for future projects. Many of these processes targeted the de-risking of the solution via testing, simulation and the engagement of the operator. Early de-risking workshops helped identify bugs early on in the design, the use of test rigs and simulators provided continued assurance and the development of automated test tools for testing both hardware and software proved invaluable. The use of a shore-based training facility provided early exposure to the operators, whilst also providing continued confidence in the system’s capabilities. All of these contributed to the consistent deployment of software to the ship despite an increasingly demanding schedule.
Kömür hazırlama tesis artıklarının koagülasyon ile susuzlandırılmasında farklı koagülant tiplerinin etkisinin araştırılması
Authors: ESKİBALCI Mehmet Faruk , ÖZKAN Mehmet Furkan
Published: February 2019

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6489-2229Bu çalışmada, kömür hazırlama tesis atık sularının koagülasyon ile çöktürülmesinde farklı tip koagülantların çöktürme verimi üzerindeki etkisi araştırılmış ve elde edilen sonuçlar birbirleriyle mukayese edilerek en uygun koagülant tipi belirlenmeye çalışılmıştır.  Koagülasyon testlerinde koagülant tipi ve miktarı, ortam pH’sı, karıştırma süresi ve hızı gibi parametreler test edilmiştir.  Her bir deney sonrası süspansiyonun türbiditesi ölçülerek koagülasyon verimleri hesaplanmıştır.  Demir sülfat, alüminyum sülfat ve demir klorür ile yapılan koagülasyon deneylerinden elde edilen sonuçlara göre koagülasyon verimlerinin sırasıyla; %67.21, %88.71 ve %94 olduğu tespit edilmiştir.  Deneyler sırasında koagülantların tüketim miktarlarından yola çıkarak işlem maliyetleri de tespit edilmiştir.  Tüm bu sonuçlar ışığında demir klorürün diğer koagülantlara göre daha verimli ve ekonomik olduğu belirlenmiştir. 
The effect of remuneration committees, directorsâ€™ shareholding and institutional ownership on the remuneration of directors in the top 100 companies in South Africa
Authors: Scholtz H E , Engelbrecht W A
Published: February 2019

Executive directorsâ€™ remuneration of leading South African companies often attracts the attention of the press, shareholders and unions. The research on which this article is based investigated whether executive directorsâ€™ remuneration of the Top 100 companies listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) is influenced by the implementation of certain corrective corporate governance measures. The remuneration of executive directors was regressed on a number of firm and corporate governance characteristics to determine whether these characteristics have an influence on executive directors â€™remuneration. It was found that corporate governance reforms relating to institutional ownership, the number of non-executive directors on the remuneration committee, shareholder voting on the remuneration policy and the number of remuneration committee meetings act as an effective governance tool to protect shareholdersâ€™ interests with regard to some of the elements of executive directorsâ€™ remuneration.
For banks, fair value adjustments do influence dividend policy
Authors: De Jager Phillip
Published: February 2019

5Most researchers who investigate the interplay between fair value accounting (FVA) and the financial crisis look at the time period during the crisis. This paper investigates a potential role for FVA prior to the crisis: If FVA led to increased accounting profits with the recognition of transitory gains through profit and loss during the boom, and if those increased profits provided the rationale for increased dividends, then bank capital became riskier prior to the crisis, and this would have made the system more prone to failure. A study by Goncharov and Van Triest (2011) found no empirical support for an increase in dividends in response to unrealised positive fair value adjustments to income. In contrast, when the setting is limited to only South African banks, this paper finds that South African banks did pay dividends from unrealised transitory gains. This finding is based on a combination of three strands of evidence: a panel regression of the annual dividends declared by the large South African universal banks that showed that those banks probably ignored the unrealised nature of FVA profits when dividends were determined; monthly data from the total South African bank system in a co-integrated regression that showed that unrealised fair value profits from the banking book raised the average level of bank profits materially; and simple descriptive statistics on distributions that showed that South African banks distributed a greater proportion of profits during the critical period of 2004 to 2008 when unrealised fair value profits from the banking book raised the level of bank profits. The finding that South African banks did pay dividends from unrealised transitory gains was also confirmed by bank representatives and the post-financial crisis disclosure of one of the South African banks.
Job insecurity, organisational commitment and work engagement among staff in an open distance learning institution
Authors: Moshoeu A N , Geldenhuys D J
Published: February 2019

The objective of this study was to explore the relationship between job insecurity, organisational commitment and work engagement among staff in an open distance learning institution. The research was conducted through computer-aided telephone interviews and self-completion techniques. A cross-sectional survey design was conducted among 260 employees in an open distance learning institution. The measuring instruments included the job insecurity scale, organisational commitment questionnaire and Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. The results demonstrated statistically significant relationships between job insecurity and organisational commitment, and between job insecurity and work engagement. A practically significant relationship between variables was also determined; however, the effect was too small to yield a practically significant relationship between the variables. The results revealed that a component of job insecurity (likelihood of loss of job features), together with a component of work engagement (vigour), explains 25% of the total variation of organisational commitment and that the remaining 75% was attributed to factors beyond the scope of this study. This study demonstrated that employees would not always reduce their commitment and work effort when confronted with uncertainty as suggested by several studies. Nevertheless, it could be assumed that the survey participants fear being unemployed and feel trapped because of a lack of alternative employment opportunities.
Motives of circus attendees in South Africa: The case of Cirque du Soleil Dralion
Authors: Kruger M , Saayman M
Published: February 2019

The purpose of this research was to determine the motives of attendees to Cirque du Soleilâ€™s Dralion production in a developing country. The results revealed five key motives, namely uniqueness, enchantment and aesthetics, fun and entertainment, socialisation and social status and act affiliation. Clustering based on these motives revealed three distinct clusters namely Enthusiasts, Novices and Observers. These clusters show that attendees are not homogeneous in terms of their socio-demographic and behavioural profiles. While the Enthusiasts and Observers displayed similar characteristics to other clusters found in previous research, this research made a clear contribution in identifying Novices as a new emerging segment and suggesting the implications of retaining and expanding this market. The findings of this research can greatly assist marketers of these types of production to expand interest in the arts and increase accessibility to a larger audience.
An investigation into design concepts, design methods and stability criteria of salt caverns
Authors: Habibi Rahim
Published: February 2019

Salt rock has been used as hast rock to storing hydrocarbons and disposing nuclear wastes because of its low permeability. On other hand it deforms under even low deviatoric stress which threatens the structural stability of salt caverns. Rock mechanical stability is one of important stages in salt cavern’s design and construction, though mechanical factors (such as nonlinear behavior of rock salt), thermal factors (such as temperature changes during injection and production) and hydraulic factors (such as salt permeability and viscosity of stored material) affect on short term and long term behavior of salt cavern. Various criteria and methods have been investigated for salt cavern’s design and stability analysis. In this paper, by taking into account the importance of structural stability of salt cavern, the general behavior of rock salt and salt cavern are given. It reviews the various design concepts and methods and, in the following, stability criteria including stress-based and damage-based are also discussed. It is assigned that the RD stability criterion is more comprehensive than others.