bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Topical Sandalwood Oil for Common Warts
Authors: Haque Malika , Coury Daniel L.
Published: March 2017

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of sandalwood oil for cutaneous viral warts caused by human papillomavirus. Sandalwood oil was applied topically twice daily for 12 weeks to cutaneous warts on any area of the body. Data collected at each visit included measurement of wart size, photograph of the warts, and documentation of treatment compliance and any adverse reactions. Ten subjects were enrolled and received treatment. At the end of the study, 8 of 10 (80%) had complete resolution of all treated warts. The remaining 2 subjects had improvement rated as moderate (25% to >90%). There were no complaints of skin irritation, erythema, itching, peeling of skin or scarring, pain or discomfort, or other adverse events reported. Sandalwood oil appears to be effective in the painless treatment of cutaneous warts caused by human papillomavirus.
Impact of bedding volume on physiological and behavioural parameters in laboratory mice
Authors: Freymann Jennifer , Tsai Ping-Ping , Stelzer Helge D , Mischke Reinhard , Hackbarth Hansjoachim
Published: March 2017

The standard housing temperature in animal facilities is substantially below the lower critical temperature of mice. This does not only endanger animal welfare, it can also jeopardize scientific research as cold stress has a major impact on mouse physiology. There is some evidence that deep bedding, comparable to nesting material, can help mice to reduce heat loss. Whenever changes are applied to the cage environment, the potential impact on experimental results, including variation, needs to be assessed. An increased variation can result in a conflict between reduction and refinement, when more animals are needed for significance due to the housing design. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of different bedding volumes (0.5 L, 1.5 L and 6 L per type III cage) on mean values and coefficient of variation (CV) of physiological (pentobarbital sleeping time, blood and anatomical parameters) and behavioural parameters (open-field and novel object recognition tests) of group-housed female and male BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice. A larger bedding volume did not interfere with the CVs, but influenced mean values of organ weights and tail lengths. Mice housed on deeper bedding showed a significant reduction in adrenal, liver, kidney and heart weights as well as an increase in tail lengths; these anatomical changes are akin to warm adaptation, and were previously observed for mice housed under warmer environments. A larger bedding volume appears to be a sensible way to reduce cold stress for laboratory mice without increasing variation in experimental results.
Does Capitation Matter? Impacts on Access, Use, and Quality
Authors: Zuvekas Samuel H. , Hill Steven C.
Published: March 2017

Provider capitation may constrain costs, but it also may reduce access and quality of care. We examine the impacts of capitating the usual source of care of enrollees in health maintenance organizations (HMOs). We account for the endogeneity of capitation and other characteristics using generalized methods of moments (GMM) estimation on a sample from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey for 1996 and 1997. Being organized as a group/staff HMO generally has stronger impact on access and quality than capitation. Capitation by itself may increase access to consumers' usual sources of care, improve primary preventive care, and reduce coordination, but estimates with GMM were not statistically significant.
Using Encounter Data from Medicaid HMOs for Research and Monitoring
Authors: Sing Merrile
Published: March 2017

Complete encounter data from Medicaid HMOs are necessary to monitor patient access to care, compute risk-adjusted payments, and estimate savings from managed care. Encounter data from TennCare for 1996 and 1997 appear to be incomplete. This is the case despite state review of data quality, financial sanctions for Medicaid HMOs that appeared to be submitting incomplete data, and a preliminary assessment of encounter data for samples of two Medicaid enrollee subgroups suggesting that the encounter data might be reasonably complete. Although all states are required to submit Medicaid encounter data to the government, most states currently produce incomplete encounter data.
Attraction-Selection and Socialization of Work Values
Authors: Choi Yujin , Chung Il Hwan
Published: March 2017

This article advances the research investigating the process of sector choice (attraction-selection) and changes in work values (socialization) over time using panel data. We find little evidence that work values predict actual employment in public schools, but there are differences in changes of work values after entering into public organizations, compared with private organizations. Overall, the findings reveal that after employment, individuals became more likely to have stronger preferences for monetary and job security values. The results offer support for prior studies, demonstrating that work values could be a dynamic state.
Introduction to Armed Forces & Society
Authors: Moore Brenda L.
Published: March 2017

This Armed Forces & Society issue is on women in the contemporary armed forces in the United States and other nations to include the South African National Defense Force and the Australian Defense Force. This issue contains a collection of nine papers, each reviewing a current aspect of women serving in the military since the post–Vietnam War Era. There are also two review essays of Megan Mackenzie’s book, Beyond the Band of Brothers: The US Military and the Myth That Women Can’t Fight. An overview of changing laws and the expanding role of women in the military is provided in this introduction, as well as summaries of the nine articles, and comments on the two book reviews mentioned above.
Changes in the Self-Perceptions of Gifted Students who Participate in Rigorous Academic Programs
Authors: Olszewski Paula , Kulieke Marilynn J. , Willis Gordon B.
Published: March 2017

This paper examines changes in the self-concepts of gifted students over the course of an intensive summer program. Two groups of academically gifted junior high students participated in two separate kinds of summer programs. They completed a differentiated self-concept measure prior to the beginning of the program, on the first day of the program and on the last day. Data analysis focused on whether patterns of change replicate across the two programs. Students showed a decline in academic self-competence over time and a transitory decline in social acceptance. Physical and athletic competence became more positive over the course of the program. Differences were found for males and females. These findings suggest that programs influence different dimensions of student self-concept.
The Law concerning Public Education of Gifted Students
Authors: Zirkel Perry A. , Stevens Paul L.
Published: March 2017

It is estimated that there are as many as 2.5-3.0 million school-age children in the nation who are gifted.1 The number of such children participating in special public educational programs is approximately 1.2 million.2 Definitions of giftedness and commitments to publicly funded special programs for gifted students vary widely.

Reflecting our federal structure for education, some of the legal development have arisen on the national level but the primary scene of activity relating to the law of gifted education is at the state level. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the legal activity on the federal and state levels. This increasing activity has been largely neglected in legal books and periodicals to date.
Teaching applied politics: From employability to political imaginary
Authors: Bacon Edwin
Published: March 2017

The growth of applied politics teaching in recent years is often conflated by academics, institutions, and professional associations with the employability agenda increasingly promoted by government. Many academics – politics faculty to the fore – object to the imposition of neo-liberal values on universities, the commodification of higher education, and a focus on employability in their teaching. These developments, coupled with a sense that the teaching of practical politics lacks intellectual rigour, undermine the growth of applied politics courses and programmes. There is, however, no reason why applied politics teaching must embrace neo-liberal norms. Nor is the alternative the introduction, as has happened in a few institutions, of courses teaching the practice of radical activism. Norms and values in applied politics can come from students, producing content and knowledge as they develop skills and approaches to practical politics. Applied politics itself represents a bridge between political science and political life beyond the university and serves the needs of students across the ‘careerist-activist’ spectrum. Far from being intellectually light, a values-focused approach to applied politics has a pedagogical depth beyond that offered in much of the current politics curriculum. It offers a pedagogy not just of information but of formation and transformation.
Processes of entrepreneurial leadership: Co-acting creativity and direction in the emergence of new SME ventures
Authors: Sklaveniti Chrysavgi
Published: March 2017

This article offers a novel theoretical conception about processes of entrepreneurial leadership in the emergence of a new small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) venture. It draws on shifts in relational connections among venture participants to conceptualize entrepreneurial leadership through processes of creativity and direction. These processes demonstrate that the co-action of venture participants makes up entrepreneurial leadership and drives the new venture forward. This allows to understand the emergence of a new venture from a lived perspective, flowing from relational processes under which the establishment of the organization is (re)constructed relationally and is made eligible to participants in its narrow and broader societal surroundings.
A systematic review of the effectiveness of palliative interventions to treat rectal tenesmus in cancer
Authors: Ní Laoire Áine , Fettes Lucy , Murtagh Fliss EM
Published: March 2017

Background:

Rectal tenesmus is a distressing symptom in patients with advanced cancer and challenging to treat. There is lack of consensus on the appropriate management of tenesmus in this patient population.

Aim:

To identify and examine the effectiveness of interventions to palliate rectal tenesmus caused by advanced cancer when surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy are no longer treatment options.

Design:

A systematic review of the literature following standard systematic review methodology and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidance.

Data sources:

A comprehensive search of the electronic databases MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library was conducted from date of inception to April 2016. PubMed ‘related articles’ search, grey literature search and hand-searches of the bibliographies of relevant papers and textbooks were also performed. Non-cancer patients were excluded. Any studies involving surgery or radiotherapy to treat tenesmus were excluded. Studies involving interventions to treat pelvic pain syndromes without specific outcome measures on severity of tenesmus were excluded. The quality of the studies was assessed using a National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence–recommended quality assessment tool.

Results:

From 861 studies, 9 met full criteria and were selected. All were case series investigating the use of pharmacological interventions (diltiazem, nifedipine, methadone, mexiletine hydrochloride, lidocaine and bupivacaine), anaesthetic interventions (lumbar sympathectomy, neurolytic superior hypogastric plexus block), and endoscopic laser interventions. The included studies showed substantial heterogeneity, and therefore, a meta-analysis was not feasible.

Conclusion:

From this review, we identified a significant gap in research into the palliation of rectal tenesmus. A multimodal approach may be necessary due to the complexity of the pathophysiology of tenesmus. Future research should focus on randomised controlled trials of drug therapies whose potential effectiveness is suggested by case series.
Estimation of construction and demolition waste using waste generation rates in Chennai, India
Authors: Ram VG , Kalidindi Satyanarayana N
Published: March 2017

A large amount of construction and demolition waste is being generated owing to rapid urbanisation in Indian cities. A reliable estimate of construction and demolition waste generation is essential to create awareness about this stream of solid waste among the government bodies in India. However, the required data to estimate construction and demolition waste generation in India are unavailable or not explicitly documented. This study proposed an approach to estimate construction and demolition waste generation using waste generation rates and demonstrated it by estimating construction and demolition waste generation in Chennai city. The demolition waste generation rates of primary materials were determined through regression analysis using waste generation data from 45 case studies. Materials, such as wood, electrical wires, doors, windows and reinforcement steel, were found to be salvaged and sold on the secondary market. Concrete and masonry debris were dumped in either landfills or unauthorised places. The total quantity of construction and demolition debris generated in Chennai city in 2013 was estimated to be 1.14 million tonnes. The proportion of masonry debris was found to be 76% of the total quantity of demolition debris. Construction and demolition debris forms about 36% of the total solid waste generated in Chennai city. A gross underestimation of construction and demolition waste generation in some earlier studies in India has also been shown. The methodology proposed could be utilised by government bodies, policymakers and researchers to generate reliable estimates of construction and demolition waste in other developing countries facing similar challenges of limited data availability.
If It’s Difficult to Pronounce, It Might Not Be Risky: The Effect of Fluency on Judgment of Risk Does Not Generalize to New Stimuli
Authors: Bahník Štěpán , Vranka Marek A.
Published: March 2017

Processing fluency is used as a basis for various types of judgment. For example, previous research has shown that people judge food additives with names that are more difficult to pronounce (i.e., that are disfluent) to be more harmful. We explored the possibility that the association between disfluency and perceived harmfulness might be in the opposite direction for some categories of stimuli. Although we found some support for this hypothesis, an improved analysis and further studies indicated that the effect was strongly dependent on the stimuli used. We then used stimulus sampling and showed that the original association between fluency and perceived safety was not replicable with the newly constructed stimuli. We found the association between fluency and perceived safety using the newly constructed stimuli in a final study, but only when pronounceability was confounded with word length. The results cast doubt on generalizability of the association between pronounceability and perceived safety and underscore the importance of treating stimulus as a random factor.
Cosmogenic 10Be surface exposure dating of ‘Little Ice Age’ glacial events in the Mount Jaggang area, central Tibet
Authors: Dong Guocheng , Zhou Weijian , Yi Chaolu , Zhang Li , Li Ming , Fu Yunchong , Zhang Qian
Published: March 2017

The timing and extent of ‘Little Ice Age’ (LIA) glacial advances on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) are critical for understanding climate during the past millennium. However, the lack of LIA chronologies in central Tibet makes it difficult to fully understand the nature of LIA throughout the TP. In this study, two presumed LIA moraines in the east of Mount Jaggang, Xainza range, the central TP, were examined and dated using 10Be surface exposure dating. Eight boulders from the two moraines yielded apparent 10Be exposure-ages ranging from 41 ± 31 to 529 ± 130 years. These 10Be exposure-ages indicate that glaciers advanced at least once in the Mount Jaggang area during the LIA. A relatively extensive glacial advance occurred around 267 ± 36 years, a relatively humid period as indicated by proxy data from lake sediments in the central TP. A glacial standstill might have occurred around 151 ± 36 years. The two LIA glacial events are comparable with those across the TP. However, much more efforts should be made on dating of LIA moraines in the Mount Jaggang area to elucidate the relationships between glacial advances and climate changes during the LIA.
Size changes in wild and domestic pig populations between 10,000 and 800 cal. BC in the Iberian Peninsula: Evaluation of natural versus social impacts in animal populations during the first domestication stages
Authors: Navarrete Belda Vanessa , Saña Seguí Maria
Published: March 2017

In the early-Holocene, animal domestication processes entailed important changes to the subsistence strategies of Neolithic populations. Among the first domestic species, pigs played a key role as they soon came to be one of the main sources of meat. Several methodological approaches have been followed in archaeology to differentiate between wild and domestic forms in the faunal remains found at early Neolithic sites. Among these, biometry is essential. The biometric analysis applied to a significant sample of Sus domesticus and Sus scrofa remains from 53 sites in the Iberian Peninsula dated between 10,000 and 800 cal. BC reveals differential dynamics between the wild and domestic forms resulting from changes in the climate during that time and the increasingly systematic selective pressure of husbandry. Whereas the wild animals increased in size, the inverse tendency is documented in the domestic population, which gradually decreased in size after the early Neolithic. The point of greatest divergence is seen in the Bronze Age. Significant differences are also documented in different geographic areas, which corroborates the influence of climate on the physical characteristics of wild populations. The range of variability in each population also differs chronologically as it is relatively greater in the Neolithic, which may be connected with the existence of different ways of adopting and breeding domestic pig among the first Neolithic communities, some of which may have involved continuous cross-breeding between the two populations. The results are an initial point of reference for the classification of archaeological remains of prehistoric pig in the Iberian Peninsula, a key area for the study of the dynamics of neolithisation.
Social and Emotional Psychological Factors Associated With Subjective Well-Being: A Comparison of Turkish and California Adolescents
Authors: Telef Bülent Baki , Furlong Michael J.
Published: March 2017

This study examined the relations between core psychological self-schemas and the subjective well-being (SWB) of Turkish and California (United States) adolescents. The participants were 2,242 high school students (1,123 from Turkey and 1,119 from California). Core psychological self-schemas were measured with the Social and Emotional Health Survey–Secondary (SEHS-S) and SWB was measured by the combination of the Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (SLSS; cognitive component) and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule for Children (PANAS-C; affective component). Significant, small effect size differences were found for self-awareness, persistence, family coherence, and behavioral self-control, favoring the Turkish adolescents, and for school support, empathy, and SWB, favoring the California adolescents. Positive associations were found between the social and emotional health self-schemas and SWB for adolescents in both cultures. Multiple regression analyses indicated that self-efficacy, self-awareness, family coherence, and zest were significant predictors of SWB for both the Turkish and California samples. For the California sample only, peer support, gratitude, and optimism were significant predictors. The findings are discussed in the context of individualist and collectivist cultures.
Adjuvant Therapy for Incremental Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Reduction With Ezetimibe
Authors: Fernández-Liz Eladio , Barceló M Estrella , Bendahan Gladys , Roch Maria , Vallès Joan-Antoni
Published: March 2017

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the major cause of premature death in developing countries, even though CVD mortality has fallen considerably over recent decades in many countries. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol is an important cause of coronary heart disease. Ezetimibe is a nonstatin agent that was approved in 2003 as an adjunctive therapy in combination with statins because of its ability to decrease plasma cholesterol levels. However, during a period of 12 years, this drug has been used without evidence of any positive effect in terms of morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this review is to briefly discuss the data that seem pertinent regarding the role of ezetimibe in therapy. The precise role of ezetimibe relative to other lipid-lowering drugs is unclear. Similar reductions in LDL cholesterol can often be achieved simply by maximizing the dose of statins. Ezetimibe plus atorvastatin also produced a greater reduction in serum C-reactive protein than atorvastatin alone.
Innovation in the Tourism Sector: Results from a Pilot Study in the Balearic Islands
Authors: Jacob Marta , Tintoré Joaquín , Aguiló Eugeni , Bravo Alfonso , Mulet Juan
Published: March 2017

This paper provides empirical evidence on innovation in various tourism firms in the Balearic Islands. The main results from this pilot study are as follows. Innovation is common in Balearic tourism firms, especially in the lodging and accommodation sector. Process, delivery and organizational changes are the most frequent forms of innovation. Non-technological innovation is common, especially in the lodging and accommodation sector. Technological innovation relates mainly to information and communication technologies. Firms usually become involved in the design and development of the technologies needed to introduce an innovation. The major impacts of innovation are an improved company image, enhanced profitability and increased customer satisfaction. The most important objectives in firms' innovation strategies are satisfying customer needs, increasing and maintaining market share, gaining competitive edge and improving service quality. The lack of skilled personnel and a resistance to change within the firm are the major obstacles to the introduction of innovations. After discussing these various findings, the authors provide methodological recommendations for the Community Innovation Survey (CIS) with regard to the tourism sector.
Psychological factors addressed in cognitive behaviour therapy for paediatric functional abdominal pain: Which are most important to target?
Authors: van der Veek Shelley MC , de Haan Else , Derkx HHF , Benninga Marc A , Boer Frits
Published: March 2017

The effectiveness of cognitive behaviour therapy for paediatric functional abdominal pain leaves room for improvement. We studied which factors addressed in cognitive behaviour therapy relate most strongly to the physical and psychological functioning of children with functional abdominal pain and are thus most important to target. Questionnaires were filled out by 117 children with functional abdominal pain and their parents. Multiple regression analyses showed that children’s passive coping and parental and children’s positive cognitions relate to child functioning. Negative cognitions and parental solicitous behaviour were unrelated to child functioning. Cognitive behaviour therapy for functional abdominal pain may benefit most from changing children’s passive coping and promoting positive cognitions.
Model updating of suspended-dome using artificial neural networks
Authors: Guo Jiamin , Zhao Xiaoxu , Guo Junhua , Yuan Xingfei , Dong Shilin , Xiong Zhixin
Published: March 2017

Differences between the practical suspended-dome and the corresponding numerical model are inevitable. To reduce the existing discrepancy, model updating of a suspended-dome was investigated using the back-propagation network in the article. The article first proposed a method to increase the prediction precision of back-propagation network: reducing the range of the training data for the back-propagation network according to the previous prediction results continuously. Then, some parameters that can be measured are updated by the corresponding measured values directly, and other parameters that cannot be directly measured are updated by the corresponding prediction values from back-propagation network. The results indicate that the updated model can predict the experimental model perfectly, and back-propagation network is effective and accurate to predict the given parameters that cannot be described by an algorithm. The results also confirm that the proposed method to increase the prediction precision of back-propagation network is valid.
A study on microbiological contamination on air quality in hospitals in Egypt
Authors: Osman ME , Ibrahim HY , Yousef FA , Elnasr AA Abo , Saeed Y , Hameed AA Abdel
Published: March 2017

This study aims to evaluate airborne environmental bacteria (environmental origin), mesophilic bacteria (human related bacteria) and fungi at governmental (GH) and private (PH) hospitals, in addition to assess sink drain biofilms and dust accumulated on air conditioning filters and floor surfaces to determine if they constitute potential sources of airborne microbial biodiversity. Samples were collected from intensive care unit (ICU), operating theatre (OT), admission department (AD) and outdoor for comparison. Airborne bacteria and fungi were collected using an Andersen two-stage impactor sampler which divides particles into fine (≤8 µm) and coarse (≥8 µm) size ranges. Airborne environmental bacteria, mesophilic bacteria and fungi concentrations, were respectively in the range of 0.0–2638; 0.0–1654.9 and 11.7–566.5 CFU/m3 indoors and 155–32436; 11.7–5554 and 35–664 CFU/m3 outdoors. Bacillus atrophaeus was commonly isolated in all locations. However, Alloiococcus otitis was only found at the GH and Bacillus licheniformis at the PH. Aspergillus and Penicillium were the common fungal types in the air state and dust. Dust was accumulated on air conditioning filters and floor surfaces and these would constitute important sources of airborne bacteria and fungi inside these hospitals.
Integration of geometry and analysis for the study of liquid sloshing in railroad vehicle dynamics
Authors: Shi Huailong , Wang Liang , Nicolsen Brynne , Shabana Ahmed A
Published: March 2017

A new continuum-based liquid sloshing approach that accounts for the effect of complex fluid and tank-car geometry on railroad vehicle dynamics is developed in this investigation. A unified geometry/analysis mesh is used from the outset to examine the effect of liquid sloshing on railroad vehicle dynamics during curve negotiation and during the application of electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) brakes that produce braking forces uniformly and simultaneously across all cars. Using a non-modal approach, the geometry of the tank-car and fluid is accurately defined, a continuum-based fluid constitutive model is employed, and a fluid-tank contact algorithm is developed. The liquid sloshing model is integrated with a three-dimensional multibody system (MBS) railroad vehicle algorithm which accounts for the nonlinear wheel/rail contact. The three-dimensional wheel/rail contact force formulation used in this study accounts for the longitudinal, lateral, and spin creep forces that influence the vehicle stability. In order to examine the effect of the liquid sloshing on the railroad vehicle dynamics during curve negotiation, a general and precise definition of the outward inertia force is defined, and in order to correctly capture the fluid and tank-car geometry, the absolute nodal coordinate formulation (ANCF) is used. The balance speed and centrifugal effects in the case of tank-car partially filled with liquid are studied and compared with the equivalent rigid body model in curve negotiation and braking scenarios. In particular, the results obtained in the case of the ECP brake application of two freight car model are compared with the results obtained when using conventional braking. The traction analysis shows that liquid sloshing has a significant effect on the load distribution between the front and rear trucks. A larger coupler force develops when using conventional braking compared with ECP braking, and the liquid sloshing contributes to amplifying the coupler force in the ECP braking case compared to the equivalent rigid body model which does not capture the fluid nonlinear inertia effects. Furthermore, the results obtained in this study show that liquid sloshing can exacerbate the unbalance effects when the rail vehicle negotiates a curve at a velocity higher than the balance speed.
Friend, foe, or both? A retrospective exploration of sibling relationships in elite youth sport
Authors: Nelson Kendra , Strachan Leisha
Published: March 2017

With the abundance of literature focusing on parental influence in sport, it is important to identify family dynamics that extend beyond parents to include siblings. In this study, sibling influence was explored through retrospective interviews with former elite youth female athletes (N = 4) and their sibling (n = 4) of the same sex who participated in the same sport. The purpose was to discover how siblings influence high performance sport participation. Two categories emerged from the data: positive experiences participating in the same sport (e.g. growth of relationship, development of understanding) and negative experiences participating in the same sport (e.g. sibling competition, emotional response). The participants’ descriptions coincide with observational learning and both deidentification and divergence processes. The data adds to the probable sibling experiences proposed in the Developmental Model of Sport Participation and provides insight on managing sibling relations in sport. Implications and practical applications of these findings are discussed.
Non-constrained implant arthroplasty for the distal radioulnar joint
Authors: Adams B. D. , Gaffey J. L.
Published: March 2017

A variety of surgical techniques are used to treat the arthritic distal radioulnar joint, which is influenced by aetiology and previous procedures. Four types of ulnar head arthroplasty exist: total ulnar head, partial ulnar head, unlinked total distal radioulnar joint, and linked distal radioulnar joint. Although long-term outcome studies are sparse, short-term clinical and biomechanical studies have shown encouraging results, leading to expanded indications. Based on our experience and a literature review, patients are advised that pain is improved but minor pain is common after strenuous activity. Ulnar neck resorption is common, however, implant loosening is rare. Sigmoid notch erosion is concerning, but appears to stabilize and not affect outcome. A partial ulnar head replacement that retains bony architecture and soft tissue restraints may have benefit over a total ulnar head in appropriate patients. If appropriate selection criteria are met, ulnar head replacement typically produces reliable results, with low revision.
On the relationship between force reduction, loading rate and energy absorption in athletics tracks
Authors: Andena Luca , Ciancio Antonio , Briatico-Vangosa Francesco , Mariani Stefano , Pavan Andrea
Published: March 2017

In this work, finite element simulations of typical sports surfaces were performed to evaluate parameters, such as the loading rate and the energy absorbed by the surface, in relation to its characteristics (surface structure and material properties). Hence, possible relations between these quantities and the standard parameters used to characterize the shock absorbing characteristics of the athletics track (in particular, its force reduction) were investigated. The samples selected for this study were two common athletics tracks and a sheet of natural rubber. They were first characterized by quasi-static compression tests; their mechanical properties were extrapolated to the strain rate of interest and their dependence on the level of deformation was modelled with hyperelastic constitutive equations. Numerical simulations were carried out for varying sample thicknesses to understand the influence of track geometry on force reduction, loading rate and stored energy. A very good correlation was found between force reduction and the other relevant parameters, with the exception of the loading rate at the beginning of the impact.
Singing for Cages
Authors: Souto Wedson Medeiros Silva , Torres Mauro Aparecido Ribeiro , Sousa Breno Fernando Cunha Freitas , Lima Katyelle Gonçalves Guimarães Carvalho , Vieira Lorena Tupinambá Serra , Pereira Glauco Alves , Guzzi Anderson , Silva Mateus Vieira , Pralon Bruno Gabriel Nunes
Published: March 2017

Illegal bird-keeping and pet trade are some of the major threats to Neotropical birds. The aim of the present study was to detail aspects of the use and trade of wild Passeriformes as pets in an ecotonal zone of Caatinga-Cerrado domains in middle-north of Brazil, a western subregion of northeastern (NE) Brazil which also is a road hub interconnecting this region to the Amazon and other Brazilian areas. Information on the use of avifauna was obtained through semistructured interviews with 61 bird-keepers or trappers and investigations in the municipal market of Floriano, Piauí State. Our results reveal that at least 39 passerine species are targeted as pets in surveyed areas. Based on Use-Value (UV) index, the main recorded species were Sporophila lineola, Charitospiza eucosma, Sporophila nigricollis, Sporophila plumbea, Paroaria dominicana, Sicalis flaveola, Gnorimopsar chopi, Sicalis columbiana, Mimus saturninus, and Turdus rufiventris. In general, younger respondents (<30 years old) trapping more species than older persons (≥50 years old), as well as trappers engaged in wild pet trade explored a higher species richness by respondents. The regional bird market chain was typically performed outside municipal market of Floriano and facilitated by popularization of technological improvements (motorcycles, smartphones, and social media). New strategies urgently need to be developed to improve bird conservation, including establishment and maintenance of environmental education programs, media campaigns and development of a well-monitored system for captive breeding, and reproduction of wild birds exploited as pets.
Assessing Risk of Disease Progression and Pharmacological Management of Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease
Authors: Soroka Steven , Alam Ahsan , Bevilacqua Micheli , Girard Louis-Philippe , Komenda Paul , Loertscher Rolf , McFarlane Philip , Pandeya Sanjaya , Tam Paul , Bichet Daniel G.
Published: March 2017

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is the most common inherited renal disorder worldwide. The disease is characterized by renal cysts and progressive renal failure due to progressive enlargement of cysts and renal fibrosis. An estimated 45% to 70% of patients with ADPKD progress to end-stage renal disease by age 65 years. Although both targeted and nontargeted therapies have been tested in patients with ADPKD, tolvaptan is currently the only pharmacological therapy approved in Canada for the treatment of ADPKD. The purpose of this consensus recommendation is to develop an evidence-informed recommendation for the optimal management of adult patients with ADPKD. This document focuses on the role of genetic testing, the role of renal imaging, predicting the risk of disease progression, and pharmacological treatment options for ADPKD. These areas of focus were derived from 2 national surveys that were disseminated to nephrologists and patients with ADPKD with the aim of identifying unmet needs in the management of ADPKD in Canada. Specific recommendations are provided for the treatment of ADPKD with tolvaptan.
A simple finite-difference scheme for handling topography with the second-order wave equation
Authors: Mulder W. A.
Published: March 2017

ABSTRACT

The presence of topography poses a challenge for seismic modeling with finite-difference codes. The representation of topography by means of an air layer or vacuum often leads to a substantial loss of numerical accuracy. A suitable modification of the finite-difference weights near the free surface can decrease that error. An existing approach requires extrapolation of interior solution values to the exterior while using the boundary condition at the free surface. However, schemes of this type occasionally become unstable and may be impossible to implement with highly irregular topography. One-dimensional extrapolation along coordinate lines results in a simple and efficient scheme. The stability of the 1D scheme is improved by ignoring the interior point nearest to the boundary during extrapolation in case its distance to the boundary is less than half a grid spacing. The generalization of the 1D scheme to more than one dimension requires a modification if the boundary intersects the finite-difference stencil on both sides of the central evaluation point and if there are not enough interior points to build the finite-difference stencil. Examples for the 2D constant-density acoustic case with a fourth-order finite-difference scheme demonstrate the method’s capability. Because the 1D assumption is not valid in two dimensions if the boundary does not follow grid lines, the formal numerical accuracy is not always obtained, but the method can handle highly irregular topography.
Ground-penetrating radar antenna orientation effects on temperate mountain glaciers
Authors: Langhammer Lisbeth , Rabenstein Lasse , Bauder Andreas , Maurer Hansruedi
Published: March 2017

Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) surveys on glaciers are generally restricted to a single pair of bistatic dipole antennas orientated either parallel or perpendicular to the surveying direction. Extensive helicopter-borne and ground-based GPR investigations on the Glacier d’Otemma, Switzerland, demonstrated that the detectability of the ice-bedrock interface varies substantially with dipole orientation. We recorded several across and along profiles using two different commercial GPR systems operated with 15, 25, 50, and 70 MHz antennas. Dipole alignments parallel to the glacier flow generated considerably stronger and more coherent bedrock reflections compared with a perpendicular dipole setup. We observed the behavior for all the systems and antenna frequencies that we used. To help explain these findings, we performed 3D numerical modeling using the open source software gprMax. Simulations with 20 MHz transmitting and receiving dipoles indicated that the changes of the bedrock reflection amplitude are primarily governed by the bedrock topography. Scattering and intrinsic attenuation may also influence the amplitudes of the bedrock reflections, but these effects seem to be much less pronounced. Evidently, to increase the GPR bedrock reflection quality, dipole antennas should be orientated parallel to the glacier flow direction on a glacier confined to a valley. Because the directional dependence is a first-order effect, it is advisable to perform multicomponent surveys when the general shape of the bedrock topography is unknown. The multicomponent setup preferably consists of two sets of dipole antennas, each in broadside configuration and the sets being orthogonal to each other.
From migration to inversion velocity analysis
Authors: Chauris Hervé , Cocher Emmanuel
Published: March 2017

Migration velocity analysis (MVA) is a technique defined in the image domain to determine the background velocity model controlling the kinematics of wave propagation. In the presence of discontinuous interfaces, the velocity gradient used to iteratively update the velocity model exhibits spurious oscillations. For more stable results, we replace the migration part by an inversion scheme. By definition, migration is the adjoint of the Born modeling operator, whereas inversion is its asymptotic inverse. We have developed new expressions in 1D and 2D cases based on two-way wave-equation operators. The objective function measures the quality of the images obtained by inversion in the extended domain depending on the subsurface offset. In terms of implementation, the new approach is very similar to classic MVA. A 1D analysis found that oscillatory terms around the interface positions can be removed by multiplying the inversion result with the velocity at a specific power before evaluating the objective function. Several 2D synthetic data sets are discussed through the computation of the gradient needed to update the model parameters. Even for discontinuous reflectivity models, the new approach provides results without artificial oscillations. The model update corresponds to a gradient of an existing objective function, which was not the case for the horizontal contraction approach proposed as an alternative to deal with gradient artifacts. It also correctly handles low-velocity anomalies, contrary to the horizontal contraction approach. Inversion velocity analysis offers new perspectives for the applicability of image-domain velocity analysis.
An effective-medium model for P-wave velocities of saturated, unconsolidated saline permafrost
Authors: Dou Shan , Nakagawa Seiji , Dreger Douglas , Ajo-Franklin Jonathan
Published: March 2017

To better understand the relationship between P-wave velocities and ice content in saturated, unconsolidated saline permafrost, we constructed an effective-medium model based upon ultrasonic P-wave data that were obtained from earlier laboratory studies. The model uses a two-end-member mixing approach in which an ice-filled, fully frozen end member and a water-filled, fully unfrozen end member are mixed together to form the effective medium of partially frozen sediments. This mixing approach has two key advantages: (1) It does not require parameter tuning of the mixing ratios, and (2) it inherently assumes mixed pore-scale distributions of ice that consist of frame-strengthening (i.e., cementing and/or load-bearing) ice and pore-filling ice. The model-predicted P-wave velocities agree well with our laboratory data, demonstrating the effectiveness of the model for quantitatively inferring ice content from P-wave velocities. The modeling workflow is simple and is largely free of calibration parameters — attributes that ease its application in interpreting field data sets.
Teaching with the Fbi's Science for the People File
Authors: Chard Daniel S.
Published: March 2017

From approximately April 1970 to March 1974, the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted surveillance on the American radical science activist organization Science for the People (SftP). In this essay, the author reflects on his experiences teaching with documents from the FBI's SftP file. The essay also outlines possibilities for further use of declassified FBI documents on SftP in courses on science activism, 1960s-era social movements, the FBI, policing, and state surveillance.
An evolutionary solution of terrestrial isopods to cope with low atmospheric oxygen levels
Authors: Horváthová Terézia , Antoł Andrzej , Czarnoleski Marcin , Kozłowski Jan , Bauchinger Ulf
Published: March 2017

The evolution of current terrestrial life was founded by major waves of land invasion coinciding with high atmospheric oxygen content. These waves were followed by periods with substantially reduced oxygen concentration and accompanied by evolution of novel traits. Reproduction and development are limiting factors for evolutionary water-land transitions, and brood care has likely facilitated land invasion. Peracarid crustaceans provide parental care for their offspring by brooding the early stages within the motherly pouch, marsupium. Terrestrial isopod progeny begins ontogenetic development within the marsupium in water, but conclude development within the marsupium in air. Our results for progeny growth until hatching from the marsupium provide evidence for the limiting effects of oxygen concentration and for a potentially adaptive solution. Inclusion of air within the marsupium compensates for initially constrained growth in water through catch-up growth, and it may explain how terrestrial isopods adapted to short- and long-term changes in oxygen concentration.
Microprocessor dynamics shows co- and post-transcriptional processing of pri-miRNAs
Authors: Louloupi Annita , Ntini Evgenia , Liz Julia , Ørom Ulf Andersson
Published: March 2017

miRNAs are small regulatory RNAs involved in the regulation of translation of target transcripts. miRNA biogenesis is a multistep process starting with the cleavage of the primary miRNA transcript in the nucleus by the Microprocessor complex. Endogenous processing of pri-miRNAs is challenging to study and the in vivo kinetics of this process is not known. Here, we present a method for determining the processing kinetics of pri-miRNAs within intact cells over time, using a pulse-chase approach to label transcribed RNA during 15 min, and follow the processing within a 1-hour window after labeling with bromouridine. We show that pri-miRNAs exhibit different processing kinetics ranging from fast over intermediate to slow processing, and we provide evidence that pri-miRNA processing can occur both cotranscriptionally and post-transcriptionally.
PROBLEMS OF FOOD SAFETY OF RUSSIA IN THE GLOBALIZED ECONOMY
Authors: Батталова  , Battalova Alina , Кундакчян  , Kundakchyan Rezeda
Published: March 2017

Food safety takes an increasingly prominent place in the study of social and economic, political, environmental and other scientific fields. This means, that food security problem is not only relevant, but also a complex and multi-faceted and multi-layered.
MAIN DIRECTIONS OF IMPROVING FINANCIAL LITERACY IN RUSSIA
Authors: Дмитриева  , Dmitrieva Olga
Published: March 2017

Improving the financial literacy of Russian citizens is among the priority areas of implementation of the state policy. In this regard, efforts are ongoing. Bank of Russia, various foundations and educational institutions independently implement their own programs aimed at improving financial literacy. Ministry of Finance, together with a number of federal executive authorities and with the participation of the World Bank is developing a program to improve financial literacy. Currently in 10 regions of the Russian Federation: The Republic of Tatarstan, Altai, Krasnodar, Stavropol regions, Arkhangelsk region, Saratov region, Tomsk region, Kaliningrad region, Volgograd region, the city of Moscow is implementing the project «Promotion of the level of financial literacy and the development of financial Education in the Russian Federation». One of the key aspects of the project is the implementation of regional programs to improve the financial literacy of students in schools and universities, as well as adults in low- and middle-income countries. It is being developed in parallel the information Internet portal on financial literacy. Improving financial literacy is essential for building and developing the country´s economy as a whole. Unlocking the potential of the Russian financial market, strengthening its investment function is essential for the flow of funds into the domestic economy.
DEVELOPMENT OF HALF-FINISHED PRODUCTION IN RUSSIA
Authors: Шакота  , Shakota Yuliya , Кенийз  , Keniyz Nadezhda
Published: March 2017

The paper discusses the results of a study on the Russian market of half-finished products. Market of refrigerated half-finished meat products is actively developing in the major cities, mostly in chain stores, which operate their own shops to produce it. Market participants note, that consumers are buying more refrigerated half-finished products by weight, as evidenced by the analysis of the range of meat products in retail trade for 2014.