bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
DEVELOPING AND ASSESSING AN IMMUNOCHROMATOGRAPHIC STRIP FOR DETECTING OSTEOARTHRITIS BASED ON URINE CARTILAGE OLIGOMERIC MATRIX PROTEINS
Authors: Kao Yu-Hsien , Wu Kun-Lieh , Tu Yuan-Kun , Chang Shwu Jen , Yang Chin Chang , Shen Chi-Yen , Hung Chih-Hsin , Kuo Shyh-Ming
Published: June 2014

An immunochromatographic strip was developed using a gold nanoparticle-conjugated monoclonal antibody to detect cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) in human urine. The monoclonal antibody anti-hCOMP produced from the hybridoma cell clone, hCOMP, is specific to osteoarthritis (OA), and polycolonal antibodies against COMP proteins were conjugated using a gold nanoparticle (approximately 40 nm) to enable detection. The preliminary test results of the proposed biomarker-prepared strip showed a positive correlation with those obtained using Western-blot assay to urinal COMP and exhibited a reliable detection range from 50 to 400 ng. The visual detection limit of the prepared test strip was 50 ng. The test results of OA patients showed consistent diagnostic agreement compared with clinical X-ray radiography. Thus, based on the detection of COMP from urine, the proposed immunoassay method is suitable for screening and noninvasively diagnosing OA.
What, Why, Who, When, and How of Software Requirements
Authors: Westfall Linda
Published: June 2014

If software requirements are not right, companies will not end up with the software they need. This chapter discusses the various levels and types of requirements that need to be defined, the benefits of having the right software requirements, the stakeholders of the software requirements and getting them involved in the process, requirements activities throughout the software development life cycle, and techniques for eliciting, analyzing, specifying, and validating software requirements.
Critical Issues in Requirements Engineering Education
Authors: Memon Rafia Naz , Ahmad Rodina , Salim Siti Salwah
Published: June 2014

Requirements Engineering (RE) is the most crucial process within software development projects. In order to prepare skilled requirements engineers, Requirements Engineering Education (REE) needs to be provided to students at the university level before they become software engineers and part of the workforce. However, RE is considered the most difficult subject within the software engineering curriculum for students to learn and for lecturers to teach due to its uncertain nature. This chapter examines the current and potential areas for research within REE. It first presents the current status of REE provided in universities and the REE problems reported in the literature that lead us to the potential research problems in REE. The REE teaching approaches proposed by researchers are then elaborated. The proposed approaches are mapped back to address the REE problems. The chapter closes with recommended directions for future REE research.
State-of-the Art Concepts and Future Directions in Modelling Coordination
Authors: Mansor Abdelhamid Abdelhadi , Kadir Wan Mohd Nasir Wan
Published: June 2014

Coordination is becoming an increasingly important paradigm for systems design and implementation. With multiple languages and models for coordination emerging, it is interesting to compare different models and understand their strengths and weaknesses find common semantic models and develop mappings between formalisms. This will help us to gain a deeper insight into coordination concepts and applications, and also to establish a set of features/criteria for defining and comparing coordination models. In this chapter, the authors present the current work on modelling coordination based on the coordination features. The findings show that software elements have three distinct types of coordination needs—technical, temporal, and process—and that these needs vary with the member's role; geographic distance has a negative effect on coordination, but is mitigated by shared knowledge of the team and presence awareness; and shared task knowledge is more important for coordination among collocated members. The authors articulate propositions for future research in this area based on the analysis.
Low-Overhead Development of Scalable Resource-Efficient Software Systems
Authors: Huang Wei-Chih , Knottenbelt William J.
Published: June 2014

As the variety of execution environments and application contexts increases exponentially, modern software is often repeatedly refactored to meet ever-changing non-functional requirements. Although programmer effort can be reduced through the use of standardised libraries, software adjustment for scalability, reliability, and performance remains a time-consuming and manual job that requires high levels of expertise. Previous research has proposed three broad classes of techniques to overcome these difficulties in specific application domains: probabilistic techniques, out of core storage, and parallelism. However, due to limited cross-pollination of knowledge between domains, the same or very similar techniques have been reinvented all over again, and the application of techniques still requires manual effort. This chapter introduces the vision of self-adaptive scalable resource-efficient software that is able to reconfigure itself with little other than programmer-specified Service-Level Objectives and a description of the resource constraints of the current execution environment. The approach is designed to be low-overhead from the programmer's perspective – indeed a naïve implementation should suffice. To illustrate the vision, the authors have implemented in C++ a prototype library of self-adaptive containers, which dynamically adjust themselves to meet non-functional requirements at run time and which automatically deploy mitigating techniques when resource limits are reached. The authors describe the architecture of the library and the functionality of each component, as well as the process of self-adaptation. They explore the potential of the library in the context of a case study, which shows that the library can allow a naïve program to accept large-scale input and become resource-aware with very little programmer overhead.
An Empirical Study of the Effect of Design Patterns on Class Structural Quality
Authors: Yu Liguo , Ramaswamy Srini
Published: June 2014

Design patterns are standardized solutions to commonly encountered problems using the object-oriented programming paradigm. Applying design patterns can speed up software development processes through the reuse of tested, proven templates, or development paradigms. Accordingly, design patterns have been widely used in software industry to build modern software programs. However, as different design patterns are introduced to solve different design problems, they are not necessarily superior to alternative solutions, with respect to all aspects of software design. One major concern is that the inappropriate use of design patterns may unnecessarily increase program complexity, such as class structural quality. Theoretical analysis of the effect of design patterns on software complexity has been widely performed. However, little work is reported to empirically study how design patterns might affect class structural quality. This chapter studies six components from five open-source Java projects and empirically investigates if design patterns can affect class structural quality. The chapter finds that pattern-involved classes are more complex than pattern-free classes and recommends the cautious use of design patterns to avoid unnecessary increases in class complexity and decrease in class structural quality.
Service Discovery Framework for Distributed Embedded Real-Time Systems
Authors: Zeshan Furkh , Mohamad Radziah , Ahmad Mohammad Nazir
Published: June 2014

Embedded systems are supporting the trend of moving away from centralised, high-cost products towards low-cost and high-volume products; yet, the non-functional constraints and the device heterogeneity can lead to system complexity. In this regard, Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) is the best methodology for developing a loosely coupled, dynamic, flexible, distributed, and cost-effective application. SOA relies heavily on services, and the Semantic Web, as the advanced form of the Web, handles the application complexity and heterogeneity with the help of ontology. With an ever-increasing number of similar Web services in UDDI, a functional description of Web services is not sufficient for the discovery process. It is also difficult to rank the similar services based on their functionality. Therefore, the Quality of Service (QoS) description of Web services plays an important role in ranking services within many similar functional services. Context-awareness has been widely studied in embedded and real-time systems and can also play an important role in service ranking as an additional set of criteria. In addition, it can enhance human-computer interaction with the help of ontologies in distributed and heterogeneous environments. In order to address the issues involved in ranking similar services based on the QoS and context-awareness, the authors propose a service discovery framework for distributed embedded real-time systems in this chapter. The proposed framework considers user priorities, QoS, and the context-awareness to enable the user to select the best service among many functional similar services.
A Model-Driven Solution for the Automatic Generation of Executable Code from Business Process Models
Authors: Fabra Javier , de Castro Valeria , Bollati Verónica Andrea , Álvarez Pedro , Marcos Esperanza
Published: June 2014

The business goals of an enterprise process are traced to business process models with the aim of being carried out during the execution stage. The automatic translation from these models to fully executable code that can be simulated and round-trip engineered is still an open challenge in the Business Process Management field. Model-driven Engineering has proposed a set of methodologies to solve the existing gap between business analysts and software developers, but the expected results have not been reached yet. In order to rise to this challenge, in this chapter the authors propose a solution based on the integration of three previous proposals: SOD-M, DENEB, and MeTAGeM. On the one hand, SOD-M is a model-driven method for the development of service-oriented systems. Business analysts can use SOD-M to transform their business goals into composition service models, a type of model that represents business processes. On the other hand, DENEB is a platform for the development and execution of flexible business processes, represented by means of workflow models. The authors' approach focuses on the automatic transformation of SOD-M models to DENEB workflow models, resulting in a business process that is coded by a class of high-level Petri-nets, and it is directly executable in DENEB. The model transformation process has been automated using the MeTAGeM tool, which automatically generates the set of ATL rules required to transform SOD-M models to DENEB workflows. Finally, the integration of the three proposals has been illustrated by means of a real system related to the management of medical images.
An Integrated Secure Software Engineering Approach for Functional, Collaborative, and Information Concerns
Authors: Pavlich-Mariscal J. A. , Berhe S. , Algarín A. De la Rosa , Demurjian S.
Published: June 2014

This chapter explores a secure software engineering approach that spans functional (object-oriented), collaborative (sharing), and information (Web modeling and exchange) concerns in support of role-based (RBAC), discretionary (DAC), and mandatory (MAC) access control. By extending UML with security diagrams for RBAC, DAC, and MAC, we are able to design an application with all of its concerns, and not defer security to a later time in the design process that could have significant impact and require potentially wide-ranging changes to a nearly completed design. Through its early inclusion in the software design process, security concerns can be part of the application design process, providing separate abstractions for security via new UML diagrams. From these new UML diagrams, it is then possible to generate security policies and enforcement code for RBAC, DAC, and MAC, which separates security from the application. This modeling and generation allows security changes to have less of an impact on an application. The end result is a secure software engineering approach within a UML context that is capable of modeling an application's functional, collaborative, and information concerns. This is explored in this chapter.
A Methodology for Model-Based Reliability Estimation
Authors: Isa Mohd Adham , Jawawi Dayang Norhayati Abang
Published: June 2014

In recent years, reliability assessment is an essential process in system quality assessments. However, the best practice of software engineering for reliability analysis is not yet of its matured stage. The existing works are only capable to explicitly apply a small portion of reliability analysis in a standard software development process. In addition, an existing reliability assessment is based on an assumption provided by domain experts. This assumption is often exposed to errors. An effective reliability assessment should be based on reliability requirements that could be quantitatively estimated using metrics. The reliability requirements can be visualized using reliability model. However, existing reliability models are not expressive enough and do not provide consistence-modeling mechanism to allow developers to estimate reliability parameter values. Consequently, the reliability estimation using those parameters is usually oversimplified. With this situation, the inconsistency problem could happen between different estimation stages. In this chapter, a new Model-Based Reliability Estimation (MBRE) methodology is developed. The methodology consists of reliability model and reliability estimation model. The methodology provides a systematic way to estimate system reliability, emphasizing the reliability model for producing reliability parameters which will be used by the reliability estimation model. These models are built upon the timing properties, which is the primary input value for reliability assessment.
Code Clone Detection and Analysis in Open Source Applications
Authors: Mubarak-Ali Al-Fahim , Sulaiman Shahida , Syed-Mohamad Sharifah Mashita , Xing Zhenchang
Published: June 2014

Code clone is a portion of codes that contains some similarities in the same software regardless of changes made to the specific code such as removal of white spaces and comments, changes in code syntactic, and addition or removal of code. Over the years, many approaches and tools for code clone detection have been proposed. Most of these approaches and tools have managed to detect and analyze code clones that occur in large software. In this chapter, the authors aim to provide a comparative study on current state-of-the-art in code clone detection approaches and models together with their corresponding tools. They then perform an empirical evaluation on the selected code clone detection tool and organize the large amount of information in a more systematic way. The authors begin with explaining background concepts of code clone terminology. A comparison is done to find out strengths and weaknesses of existing approaches, models, and tools. Based on the comparison done, they then select a tool to be evaluated in two dimensions, which are the amount of detected clones and run time performance of the tool. The result of the study shows that there are various terminologies used for code clone. In addition, the empirical evaluation implies that the selected tool (enhanced generic pipeline model) gives a better code clone output and runtime performance as compared to its generic counterpart.
Building Defect Prediction Models in Practice
Authors: Ramler Rudolf , Himmelbauer Johannes , Natschläger Thomas
Published: June 2014

The information about which modules of a future version of a software system will be defect-prone is a valuable planning aid for quality managers and testers. Defect prediction promises to indicate these defect-prone modules. In this chapter, building a defect prediction model from data is characterized as an instance of a data-mining task, and key questions and consequences arising when establishing defect prediction in a large software development project are discussed. Special emphasis is put on discussions on how to choose a learning algorithm, select features from different data sources, deal with noise and data quality issues, as well as model evaluation for evolving systems. These discussions are accompanied by insights and experiences gained by projects on data mining and defect prediction in the context of large software systems conducted by the authors over the last couple of years. One of these projects has been selected to serve as an illustrative use case throughout the chapter.
Knowware-Based Software Engineering
Authors: Lu RuQian , Jin Zhi
Published: June 2014

The first part of this chapter reviews the origin of knowware-based software engineering. It originates from the authors' experiences in finding new techniques for knowledge-based software engineering while performing PROMIS, a continuing project series from the 1990s. The key point of PROMIS is to generate applications automatically by separating the development of domain knowledge from that of software architecture, with an important innovation of acquiring and summarizing domain knowledge automatically based on the pseudo-natural language understanding techniques. However, during PROMIS development, the authors did not find an appropriate form for the separated domain knowledge. The second part of the chapter briefly describes how the authors came to the concept of knowware. They stated that the essence of knowware is its capacity as a commercialized form of domain knowledge. It is also the third major component of IT after hardware and software. The third part of the chapter introduces the basic concepts of knowware and knowware engineering. Three life cycle models of knowware engineering and the design of corresponding knowware implementations are given. The fourth part of the chapter introduces object-oriented mixware engineering. In the fifth part of the chapter, two recent applications of knowware technique regarding smart room and Web search are reported. As a further development of PROMIS, the sixth part of the chapter discusses knowware-based redesign of its framework. In the seventh part of the chapter, the authors discuss automatic application generation and domain knowledge modeling on the J2EE platform, which combines techniques of PROMIS, knowware, and J2EE, and the development and deployment framework (i.e. PROMIS/KW**).
The Importance of Institution-Based Trust in Mobile Adoption with Online Shopping Applications
Authors: Amoroso Donald L.
Published: June 2014

This paper develops a research model that examines online purchasing by consumers. A research model was built to focus on the role of trust and its impact on inertia, loyalty, satisfaction of online consumers. 1,896 consumers in the United States were surveyed using an instrument and structural equation model that yielded respectable reliability and validity. It was discovered that certain sub-constructs of trust play an important role in influencing consumers' behavioral intention toward online shopping. Both institution-based trust and structural assurances-based trust positively influence inertia and satisfaction. The data showed that greater levels of institution-based trust leads to greater levels of online shopping satisfaction using mobile devices. However, a person's perception of structural assurances-based trust does not significantly influence his/her loyalty toward shopping with an online vendor. This paper adds to the understanding of online purchasing. Future researchers can refine the model and instrument to further explain consumers' acceptance of mobile online shopping applications.
An Analysis of Public e-Procurement System
Authors: Rehan Mohammed
Published: June 2014

In today's global economy, organizations are focusing on customer oriented business models to use information technologies not only for suppliers and customers, but also for effective communication and collaboration with public agencies. This need quick exchange of related and current information in standard formats and publishing widely in the process by encouraging the provision of e-commerce with the application of Internet technologies in the supply chain. It can be applied to any type of governmental work, such as training, provision of justice, tax audits, budget execution, financial control, and also procurement for the purposes of this research. However all these needs to gain strong expertise and competence of technological and administrative talent are needed to make the government and suppliers together via the Internet. The aim of this research is to analyze the public e-Procurement process, current status & trends, introduce the evaluation processes and tools using the technique of SWOT analysis in the existing studies to provide empirical illustration of how this perspective would be used to give a sense of public e-procurement in action and it also aims to make a new sustainable reliable e-governmental model that includes change management, interdepartmental coordination, resolving the security and authentication for implementing public e-procurement in the frame of Turkish e-Government infrastructure and projects. In this context, a key objective is to develop Governmental policy regarding interactions with private and public sectors. In order to minimize information transformation initiatives, risks, and policy implementation should focus on promoting strengthening effective and affordable connectivity and interoperability.
Neuromonitoring Indications and Utility in the Intensive Care Unit
Authors: Harris Catherine
Published: June 2014

Information on the use of neuromonitoring in intensive care units is scattered but significant. Nurses who do not care for neurologically impaired patients on a daily basis may not have a strong understanding of the utility of various neuromonitoring techniques, why they are used, or how they are interpreted. Two main types of neuromonitoring that are frequently seen but poorly understood are reviewed here: transcranial Doppler sonography and electrophysiology. Information on these 2 techniques tends to be either superficial with limited applicability to the critical care setting or very technical. This review provides information about neuromonitoring to help guide critical care nurses providing care to neurologically impaired patients. (Critical Care Nurse. 2014;34[3]:30–40)
Nasogastric Tube Placement and Verification in Children: Review of the Current Literature
Authors: Irving Sharon Y. , Lyman Beth , Northington LaDonna , Bartlett Jacqueline A. , Kemper Carol ,   Novel Project Work Group
Published: June 2014

Placement of a nasogastric enteral access device (NG-EAD), often referred to as a nasogastric tube, is common practice and largely in the domain of nursing care. Most often an NG-EAD is placed at the bedside without radiographic assistance. Correct initial placement and ongoing location verification are the primary challenges surrounding NG-EAD use and have implications for patient safety. Although considered an innocuous procedure, placement of an NG-EAD carries risk of serious and potentially lethal complications. Despite acknowledgment that an abdominal radiograph is the gold standard, other methods of verifying placement location are widely used and have success rates from 80% to 85%. The long-standing challenges surrounding bedside placement of NG-EADs and a practice alert issued by the Child Health Patient Safety Organization on this issue were the stimuli for the conception of The New Opportunities for Verification of Enteral Tube Location Project sponsored by the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition. Its mission is to identify and promote best practices with the potential of technology development that will enable accurate determination of NG-EAD placement for both the inpatient and outpatient pediatric populations. This article presents the challenges of bedside NG-EAD placement and ongoing location verification in children through an overview of the current state of the science. It is important for all health care professionals to be knowledgeable about the current literature, to be vigilant for possible complications, and to avoid complacency with NG-EAD placement and ongoing verification of tube location.
Smartphone Applications: Potential Tools for Use in Preparing for CCRN Certification Examinations
Authors: Curran Claire
Published: June 2014

Recent advances in smartphone technology now allow clinicians to use commercially produced applications when studying for nursing certification examinations. The quality of currently available CCRN review applications varies in this first generation of products. Most are limited to multiple-choice practice questions, although a few have additional elements such as study guides and reference charts. Weaknesses found in the applications evaluated include poorly written and edited content, questions limited to rote memorization rather than application and analysis of knowledge, and content too basic or outside the scope of experienced critical care nursing practice. A list of important factors for consumers to consider before purchase is provided.
Ecological constraints and distribution of the primitive and enigmatic endemic Mexican butterflyBaronia brevicornis(Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)
Authors: Legal Luc , Dorado Oscar , Machkour-M’Rabet Salima , Leberger Roxanne , Albre Jérôme , Mariano Nestor A. , Gers Charles
Published: June 2014

Baronia brevicornisSalvin (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) is one of the most enigmatic butterflies in the world and possibly represents the most ancient lineage among the superfamily Papilionoidea. Its geographic distribution is remote from that of all its potential close relatives and many of its biological and ecological characteristics are unique among the suborder Rhopalocera. One of its particularities is that the occurrence plots of this species seem to be independent, each representing individual populations, despite the fact that the host plant:Acacia cochliacanthaHumboldt and Bonpland ex Willdenow (Fabaceae), is one of the most common Mexican Fabaceae species. Our results show that noB. brevicornispopulations occur if the host plant does not cover at least two-thirds of the locality. Even in the most favourable zones, the landscape occupancy of the butterfly does not exceed 2.5% of the available habitat even when its host plant covers 50% of the area. The average density of adults was 840 individuals/ha in favourable habitats, frequently on areas of around 3 ha, below of 1400 m. Using the BIOMOD2 package and the largest available set of abiotic conditions for Mexico implemented in the WorldClim database, we propose a revised potential distribution and discuss the results of our model with field occurrence data. Evolutionary and conservation issues are discussed in the light of our results.
In-well monitoring for Deepwater Wells - Operator's View
Authors: Patni Sandeep , Dria Dennis
Published: June 2014

The high cost of subsea intervention makes in-well monitoring its greatest value. Even if interventions are possible it may not be at optimal well condition with the traditional technology. There also will be SIMOPS and operation issues. Real time in-well monitoring can be done at full well rates to operate well at maximum safe rates and thus lead to higher recovery. Acquiring key reservoir productivity and continuity data early can decrease risk for subsequent well decisions and help in development decisions. In-well monitoring will provide flow rates by sand layer, provide gas breakthrough and water breakthrough information and pinpoint exact location. All this information to engineers can help in decreasing production deferment from these producing wells. In case of injectors, warm back data helps in identifying zones where maximum water is getting injected and may identify out of zone injection.

However significant challenges remain in selection, qualification and deployment of these technologies in deepwater subsea wells. The paper will provide an operator's view point covering some of the key challenges below:All components must be rigorously qualified to meet the stringent safety and operational requirements. The subsea tree interface between the tree and tubing hanger and between the lower upper completion creates a significant technical challenge. While there are potential solutions, dispersed capability in supplier base creates an integration challenge.The scope is further challenged by implementing across diverse reservoirs, flow and production characterization, completion type and enormous integration across various product groups.There is no point deploying state of the art advanced sensing if the resulting data is not easily accessible and interpreted. Especially in the subsea environment where costs are high, the entire value chain (hardware, data management and interpretation) needs to be in place to bring value.Resolution, accuracy and sampling time are interrelated and we are not able to achieve all with the current technology at the desired depth and offset distances. For certain operation such as planned well shut-in, buildups and press temperature analysis we need higher sampling rate which are easily and remotely configurableOperator needs to overcome internal hurdles – various functional teams (wells, subsea, IT) have to work together; this requires significant effort in terms of working the interfaces, integration and ultimately moving towards standardization.

In-well monitoring can improve quality of surveillance in subsea wells enabling low cost, non intrusive, well and reservoir surveillance provided the industry overcomes the technical challenges/gaps and improves the reliability of the system.
Development and Characterization of Smart Cement for Real Time Monitoring of Ultra-Deepwater Oil Well Cementing Applications
Authors: Vipulanandan C. , Krishnamoorti R. , Saravanan R. , Liu J. , Qu Q. , Narvaez G. , Hughes Baker , Richardson D. A. , Pappas J. M.
Published: June 2014

For a successful cementing operation, it is critical to determine the flowing of cement slurry between the casing and formation, depth of the circulation losses and fluid loss, setting of cement in place and performance of the cement after hardening. Recent case studies on cementing failures have clearly identified some of these issues that resulted in various types of delays in the cementing operations. At present there is no technology available to monitor cementing operations in real time from the time of placement through the borehole service life. Also, there is no reliable method to determine the length of the competent cement supporting the casing.

In this study well cement was modified to have better sensing properties, smart cement, so that its behavior can be monitored at various stages of construction and during the service life of wells. A series of experiments evaluated well cement behavior with and without modifications in order to identify the most reliable sensing properties that can also be relatively easily monitored. During the initial setting the electrical resistivity changed with time based on the type and amount of additives used in the cement. During curing initial resistivity reduced by about 10 percent to reach a minimum resistance, and maximum change in resistance within the first 24 hours of curing varied from 50 to 300 percent depending on the additive. A new quantification concept has been developed to characterize cement curing based on electrical resistivity changes in the in the first 24 hours. When cement was modified with less than 0.1 percent of conductive additives, the piezoresistive behavior of the hardened smart cement was substantially improved without affecting the cement rheological and setting properties. For modified smart cement the resistivity change at peak stress was about 400 times higher than the change in the strain.
The African traditional religious landscape: An examination of the role of traditional leaders in the fight against HIV and AIDS in Chipinge, Zimbabwe
Authors: Marashe Joel
Published: June 2014

This study examines the role of traditional leaders, as custodians of culture, in the fight against infection with the HI virus and the AIDS pandemic in the Chipinge District of Zimbabwe. The research aims to assess traditional leaders� knowledge of HIV and AIDS and its causes. It also examines some traditional practices to determine whether they expose people to HIV and AIDS, and it evaluates the traditional leaders� roles in curbing the pandemic. From a phenomenological standpoint � and grounded in the African traditional religious landscape � the study uses a survey research design. A convenient sample of 18 participants for the study consisted of 3 chiefs and 5 headmen who completed a questionnaire as well as 5 village heads and 5 elders who were interviewed and involved in four focus-group discussions (FGDs) that provided a variety of insightful information. The study identifies promiscuity as a major cause of HIV infection in communities. The results show that traditional leaders discourage barika and kuputsa as being harmful traditional marriage practices. Furthermore, the study indicates that traditional leaders encourage behavioural change amongst the youth and adults alike to curb the spread of HIV and that the pandemic could possibly be contained if government fully empowered the traditional leaders. The research has value in attempting to minimise the spread of HIV if communities discontinue harmful cultural practices. Therefore, donor agencies involved in intervention projects concerning the HIV and AIDS pandemic and government should work closely with traditional leaders who wield considerable power in areas under their jurisdiction to arrest the spread of the HIV and AIDS pandemic in the Chipinge district in Zimbabwe.
A study to correlate histopathology, biochemical marker and immunohistochemical expression of sex-steroid receptors in prostatic growth
Authors: Naskar Sukla , Kundu Soumya Kanti , Bhattacharyya Nirmal Kumar , Bhattacharyya Pranab Kumar , Kundu Anup Kumar
Published: June 2014

Prostate gland is a fibromusculoglandular structure situated at the neck of urinary bladder. So, enlargement or growth of prostate due to nodular hyperplasia (NHP) or prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) or adenocarcinoma may give rise to bladder outlet obstruction. Malignant growth i.e., PIN or adenocarcinoma cases are associated with increased blood level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and increased expression of different sex-steroid receptors because the growth is dependent on the interactions of androgen, progesterone and estrogen. The aim of our study is to correlate the histopathology, PSA levels and expression of different sex-steroid receptors by immunohistochemistry in different prostatic growth lesions. Among the total 50 cases received, inclusive of transurethral resection of prostate (TURP), transrectal ultrasound-guided biopsy and radical prostatectomy, 34 cases were diagnosed as NHP, 4 cases as PIN and 12 cases as adenocarcinoma histopathologically. Serum PSA values above 10 ng/ml were seen in 2 cases of PIN and 11 cases of adenocarcinoma and none of NHP. Estrogen receptor (ER) () expressions were negative in all cases. Progesterone receptor (PR) expressions were strongly positive in 35% cases of both NHP and adenocarcinoma, whereas androgen receptor (AR) expressions were strong among all cases of adenocarcinoma and only in four cases of NHP. By observing these findings it can be suggested that antiandrogen and antiprogesterone therapy simultaneously will do better than antiandrogen alone in treating prostatic growth lesions.
Interobserver variation is a significant limitation in the diagnosis of Burkitt lymphoma
Authors: Rane Swapnil Ulhas , Shet Tanuja , Sridhar Epari , Bhele Sanica , Gaikwad Vaishali , Agale Shubhangi , Shinde Sweety , Prabhat Daksha , Fernandes Gwendolyn , Hastak Meenal , Tampi Chandralekha , Narurkar Swati , Patel Keyuri , Madiwale Chitra , Shah Ketki , Shah Laxmi , Sawaimoon Satyakam , Lad Purnima
Published: June 2014

Context: The pathology of classic Burkitt lymphoma (BL) remains a challenge despite being a well-defined entity, in view of the significant overlap with atypical BL and B-cell lymphoma intermediate between DLBL (diffuse large B cell lymphoma) and BL. They are difficult to be segregated in resource-limited setups which lack molecular testing facilities. This is further affected by interobserver variability and experience of the reporting pathologist. Aims: The aim of our study was to quantitate variability among a group of pathologists with an interest in lymphomas (albeit with variable levels of experience) and quantitate the benefit of joint discussions as a tool to increase accuracy and reduce interobserver variability of pathologists, in the diagnosis of BL in a resource-limited setup. Materials and Methods: A set of 25 non-Hodgkin lymphoma cases in which a diagnosis of BL was entertained were circulated to 14 participating pathologist within the Mumbai lymphoma study group. A proforma recorded the morphologic and immunohistochemical features perceived during the initial independent diagnosis followed by a consensus meeting for discussion on morphology and additional information pertinent to the case. Statistical analysis and Results: The concordance was poor for independent diagnosis among all the pathologists with kappa statistics (±SE) of 0.168 (±0.018). Expert lymphoma pathologists had the highest (albeit only fair) concordance (kappa = 0.373 ± 0.071) and general pathologists the lowest concordance (kappa = 0.138 ± 0.035). Concordance for morphological diagnosis was highest among expert lymphoma pathologists (kappa = 0.356 ± 0.127). Revision of diagnoses after consensus meeting was highest for B-cell lymphoma intermediate between DLB and BL. To conclude, interobserver variation is a significant problem in BL in the post WHO 2008 classification era. Experience with a larger number of cases and joint discussion exercises such as the one we conducted are needed as they represent a simple and effective way of improving diagnostic accuracy of pathologists working in a resource-limited setup.
A randomized study to compare sequential chemoradiotherapy with concurrent chemoradiotherapy for unresectable locally advanced esophageal cancer
Authors: Gupta Arunima , Roy Somnath , Majumdar Anup , Hazra Avijit , Mallik Chandrani
Published: June 2014

Background: Chemotherapy combined with radiotherapy can improve outcome in locally advanced esophageal cancer. Aim: This study aimed to compare efficacy and toxicity between concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) and sequential chemoradiotherapy (SCRT) in unresectable, locally advanced, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESSC). Materials and Methods: Forty-one patients with unresectable, locally advanced ESCC were randomized into two arms. In the CCRT arm (Arm A), 17 patients received 50.4 Gy at 1.8 Gy per fraction over 5.6 weeks along with concurrent cisplatin (75 mg m -2 intravenously on day 1 and 5-fluorouracil (1000 mg m -2 continuous intravenous infusion on days 1-4 ; starting on the first day of irradiation and given after 28 days. In the SCRT arm (Arm B), 20 patients received two cycles of chemotherapy, using the same schedule, followed by radiotherapy fractionated in a similar manner. The endpoints were tumor response, acute and late toxicities, and disease-free survival. Results: With a median follow up of 12.5 months, the complete response rate was 82.4% in Arm A and 35% in Arm B (P = 0.003). Statistically significant differences in frequencies of acute skin toxicity (P = 0.016), gastrointestinal toxicity (P = 0.005) and late radiation pneumonitis (P = 0.002) were found, with greater in the CCRT arm. A modest but non-significant difference was observed in median time to recurrence among complete responders in the two arms (Arm A 13 months and Arm B 15.5 months, P = 0.167) and there was also no significant difference between the Kaplan Meier survival plots (P = 0.641) of disease-free survival. Conclusions: Compared to sequential chemoradiotherapy, concurrent chemoradiotherapy can significantly improve local control rate but with greater risk of adverse reactions.
Impact of dental considerations on the quality of life of oral cancer patients
Authors: Thanvi Jaishree , Bumb Dipika
Published: June 2014

Aim: To evaluate the significance of pre-treatment dental care in oral cancer patients and to assess its impact on the quality of life of these patients. Materials and Methods: The sample size included 50 oral cancer patients who were visiting to a palliative care unit at Jaipur. Assessment was based on thorough case history, complete dental examination. Quality of life was estimated by W.H.O quality of life questionnaire. Result: On analysis, patients of age group 50-59 avoided to prophylactic dental treatment before cancer treatment and therapy. Seventy-eight percent patients experienced worst quality of life after the treatment as a result of dental complications. Out of those 78%, only 2% of patients took preventive dental treatments before the cancer therapy. Conclusion: Dental negligence is still a major cause of worsening of post treatment quality of life of an individual. Therefore, the treating oncologist should always take these considerations seriously to provide quality treatment to the patient.
Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome in pediatric acute leukemia: Case series and literature review
Authors: Appachu M Appachu , Purohit Samit , Lakshmaiah K.C. , Aruna B.S. Kumari , Appaji L
Published: June 2014

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is a neurotoxic state coupled with a unique radio imaging appearance. We describe this rare, mostly reversible condition in five cases undergoing similar treatment under preset protocol (MCP-841) for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) at our centre. Hypertension is a well-known adverse effect of high-dose corticosteroid therapy primarily mediated by its effects on the mineralocorticoid receptor especially in pediatric population and we hypothesize that this may be the etiology of PRES in two of these patients.
Tongue trail to kidney
Authors: Khobragade Krunal Harishchandra , Bakshi Ganesh K. , Prakash Gagan , Menon Santosh
Published: June 2014

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has the propensity to metastasize to any organ in the body. Tongue metastases from RCC is very rare with most of them being metachronous in nature. We present a rare case where patient presented with a tongue lesion leading to a diagnosis of RCC. Surgery is the preferred modality of treatment for tongue metastases.
Gefitinib-induced skin ulceration in metastatic adenocarcinoma lung
Authors: Sathyanarayanan Vishwanath , Lokesh Kadabur Nagendrappa , Channaviriappa Lakshmaiah Kuntejowdahalli , Jacob Linu Abraham
Published: June 2014

We report a case of gefitinib-induced skin ulceration in a 50-year-old female with metastatic adenocarcinoma of lung who developed this adverse effect 2 weeks following initiation of gefitinib at a dose of 250 mg/day. The ulcer improved with stopping gefitinib for 2 weeks and also addition of topical steroids and antibiotics. We are reporting this case to create awareness among treating oncologists of this adverse effect and also prompt interruption of therapy and topical steroids/antibiotics is useful to treat this adverse event.
Vismodegib: The Proof of Concept in Basal Cell Carcinoma
Authors: Berrada Narjiss , Lkhoyali Siham , Mrabti Hind , Errihani Hassan
Published: June 2014

Although basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common cancer worldwide, its metastatic dissemination is exceptional. Before 2012, we had a few treatment options available for metastatic or locally advanced cases. Management of these patients was complicated due to the lack of scientific data, the deterioration of a patient's general status, the patient's advanced age, and the presence of multiple comorbidities. The hedgehog signaling pathway is dysregulated in BCC. The exploration of this signaling pathway yielded to a major milestone in the treatment of advanced BCC. Vismodegib (GDC-0449), an oral small-molecule agent that targets the Hedgehog signaling pathway, demonstrates high levels of activity in clinical trials. It was approved in January 2012 for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic BCC. Vismodegib confirms, once again, the interest in exploring the signal transduction pathways in cancers.
Gestão do conhecimento para tomada de decisão: um estudo de caso na Empresa Júnior
Authors: Magalhães Thiago Gonçalves , Dalmau Marcos Baptista Lopez , Souza Irineu Manoel de
Published: June 2014

O conhecimento é o recurso primordial para as organizações no processo de tomada de decisão nos dias atuais, dessa forma, a gestão do conhecimento é uma ferramenta de grande importância para a criação e a retenção do conhecimento nas organizações, essencial para subsidiar o processo decisório. Entretanto a grande maioria das empresas, especialmente as pequenas e médias, ainda não possuem um processo de gestão do conhecimento formalizado, mas possuem algumas práticas que também apoiam de forma positiva o processo decisório. A Ação Júnior Consultoria Socioeconômicas, empresa Júnior do Centro Sócio Econômico da UFSC não possui um processo de gestão do conhecimento estruturado, mas possui diversas práticas nas quais a diretoria executiva se subsidia para a tomada de decisão na empresa, dessa maneira o objetivo do trabalho foi averiguar como as praticas de gestão de conhecimento na empresa dão suporte para o processo decisório.  A pesquisa se caracteriza como qualitativa, descritiva e aplicada. Foram realizadas entrevistas com os membros da diretoria executiva com o intuito de levantar as práticas de gestão do conhecimento e posteriormente entender como subsidiam o processo de tomada de decisão. Como resultado pode-se perceber que a empresa possui diversas práticas de gestão do conhecimento e que são de grande importância para no processo decisório, no entanto se faz necessário uma melhor estruturação, formalização e acompanhamento dessas práticas e no tratamento dos conhecimentos gerados pelas mesmas.
Análise Envoltória de Dados (DEA): uma proposta para avaliação de desempenho de unidades acadêmicas de uma universidade
Authors: Giacomello Cintia Paese , De Oliveira Ronald Lopes
Published: June 2014

Este artigo apresenta uma aplicação da Análise Envoltória de Dados para avaliar unidades de ensino da Universidade de Caxias do Sul. Esta técnica analisa a produtividade (ou eficiência) de Unidades Tomadoras de Decisão através das melhores práticas, sugerindo uma classificação e indicações de variáveis que devam ser melhoradas. Foram utilizadas sete variáveis de caráter financeiro, sendo quatro de entrada e três de saída para 20 unidades. Os resultados permitiram classificar as unidades pelo grau de eficiência, formando três grupos. Para o grupo das unidades de baixa eficiência foram apresentados os valores que cada variável deveria alcançar, bem como as unidades eficientes que poderiam servir de benchmark.