bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effects of Simulated Heat Waves on Cardiovascular Functions in Senile Mice
Authors: Zhang Xiakun , Lu Jing , Zhang Shuyu , Wang Chunling , Wang Baojian , Guo Pinwen , Dong Lina
Published: August 2014

The mechanism of the effects of simulated heat waves on cardiovascular disease in senile mice was investigated. Heat waves were simulated in a TEM1880 meteorological environment simulation chamber, according to a heat wave that occurred in July 2001 in Nanjing, China. Eighteen senile mice were divided into control, heat wave, and heat wave BH4 groups, respectively. Mice in the heat wave and heat wave BH4 groups were exposed to simulated heat waves in the simulation chamber. The levels of ET-1, NO, HSP60, SOD, TNF, sICAM-1, and HIF-1α in each group of mice were measured after heat wave simulation. Results show that heat waves decreased SOD activity in the myocardial tissue of senile mice, increased NO, HSP60, TNF, sICAM-1, and HIF-1α levels, and slightly decreased ET-1 levels, BH4 can relieve the effects of heat waves on various biological indicators. After a comprehensive analysis of the experiments above, we draw the followings conclusions regarding the influence of heat waves on senile mice: excess HSP60 activated immune cells, and induced endothelial cells and macrophages to secrete large amounts of ICAM-1, TNF-α, and other inflammatory cytokines, it also activated the inflammation response in the body and damaged the coronary endothelial cell structure, which increased the permeability of blood vessel intima and decreased SOD activity in cardiac tissues. The oxidation of lipoproteins in the blood increased, and large amounts of cholesterol were generated. Cholesterol penetrated the intima and deposited on the blood vessel wall, forming atherosclerosis and leading to the occurrence of cardiovascular disease in senile mice. These results maybe are useful for studying the effects of heat waves on elderly humans, which we discussed in the discussion chapter.
Role of Serum Cholesterol and Statin Use in the Risk of Prostate Cancer Detection and Tumor Aggressiveness
Authors: Morote Juan , Celma Anna , Planas Jacques , Placer José , De Torres Inés , Olivan Mireia , Carles Juan , Reventós Jaume , Doll Andreas
Published: August 2014

The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between statin use along with serum cholesterol levels and prostate cancer (PCa) detection and aggressiveness. Statin users of three years or more and serum cholesterol levels (SC) were assessed in 2408 men scheduled for prostate biopsy. SC was classified as normal (NSC: <200 mg/dL) or high (HSC: >200 mg/dL). High-grade PCa (HGPCa) was considered if the Gleason score was greater than 7. Statin users comprised 30.9% of those studied. The PCa detection rate was 31.2% of men on statins and 37% of non-statin users (p < 0.006). The PCa detection rate was 26.3% in men with NSC and 40.6% in those with HSC (p < 0.001). In the subset of NSC men, the PCa rate was 26.5% for statin users and 26.2% for non-users (p = 0.939), while in men with HSC, the PCa rate was 36.4% for statin users and 42.0% for non-statin users (p = 0.063). The HGPCa rate was 41.8% for statin users and 32.5% for non-users (p = 0.012). NSC men had a 53.8% rate of HGPCa, while the rate was only 27.6% in HSC men (p < 0.001). NSC men on statins had an HGPCa rate of 70.2%, while non-statin users had a rate of 41.2% (p < 0.001). The HGPCa rate for HSC men on statins was 18.8%, while the rate was 30.0% (p = 0.011) for non-users. Logistic regression analysis suggested that serum cholesterol levels could serve as an independent predictor of PCa risk, OR 1.87 (95% CI 1.56–2.24) and HGPCa risk, OR 0.31 (95% CI 0.23–0.44), while statin usage could not. Statin treatment may prevent PCa detection through serum cholesterol-mediated mechanisms. A disturbing increase in the HGPCa rate was observed in statin users who normalized their serum cholesterol.
Gold Liquid Crystals in the XXI Century
Authors: Bardají Manuel
Published: August 2014

Since the first gold liquid crystal was described in 1986, much effort has been done to prepare new compounds bearing this property. The review deals with the last results obtained in this new century. Gold(I) has a strong affinity to give linear co-ordination and metal-metal interactions, which produce a rich supramolecular chemistry, and can promote the behavior as liquid crystal. Therefore, most liquid crystals are based on rod-like gold(I) compounds, while gold(III) liquid crystals are scarce. Calamitic and discotic mesogens have been reported, as well as chiral liquid crystals. Weak interactions such as H-bonds have also been used to obtain gold mesogens. Some of them exhibit additional properties, such as color, luminescence, and chirality. Luminescence has been reported, not only in the solid state or in solution, but also in the mesophase. This is relevant for applications in LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes), information storage, and sensors.
Crowdsourcing Sexual Objectification
Authors: Mathen Carissima
Published: August 2014

This paper analyzes the criminal offence of the non-consensual distribution of intimate images (what some call “revenge porn”). Focussing on the debate currently underway in Canada, it notes that such an offence would fill a grey area in that country’s criminal law. Arguing, more broadly, that the criminal law has an important expressive function, the paper posits that the offence targets the same general type of wrongdoing—sexual objectification—that undergirds sexual assault. While not all objectification merits criminal sanction, the paper explains why the non-consensual distribution of intimate images does and why a specific offence is legitimate.
3-Cyano-4,6-diphenyl-2-(phenethylamino)pyridine
Authors: Zonouzi Afsaneh , Izakian Zakieh , Salehi Hasan , Abdi Khosrou , Ng Seik
Published: August 2014

Novel synthesis of a 2-amino-3-cyano-2,6-diphenyl pyridine by a one-pot multi-component reaction of 1,3-diphenylpropane-1,3-dione, malononitrile and phenethylamine in the presence of N-hydroxybenzamide and zinc chloride has been reported. The structure of the synthesized compound was assigned on the basis of its elemental analysis, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, IR and mass spectral data. X-ray structure analysis confirmed unambiguously the proposed structure. The photophysical properties (λAbs., λFlu.) in CH3OH, CH3CN, CH2Cl2 and the emission spectrum of the new compound in solution and in the solid state are reported.
The Mysterious Ways of ErbB2/HER2 Trafficking
Authors: Bertelsen Vibeke , Stang Espen
Published: August 2014

The EGFR- or ErbB-family of receptor tyrosine kinases consists of EGFR/ErbB1, ErbB2/HER2, ErbB3/HER3 and ErbB4/HER4. Receptor activation and downstream signaling are generally initiated upon ligand-induced receptor homo- or heterodimerization at the plasma membrane, and endocytosis and intracellular membrane transport are crucial for regulation of the signaling outcome. Among the receptors, ErbB2 is special in several ways. Unlike the others, ErbB2 has no known ligand, but is still the favored dimerization partner. Furthermore, while the other receptors are down-regulated either constitutively or upon ligand-binding, ErbB2 is resistant to down-regulation, and also inhibits down-regulation of its partner upon heterodimerization. The reason(s) why ErbB2 is resistant to down-regulation are the subject of debate. Contrary to other ErbB-proteins, mature ErbB2 needs Hsp90 as chaperone. Several data suggest that Hsp90 is an important regulator of factors like ErbB2 stability, dimerization and/or signaling. Hsp90 inhibitors induce degradation of ErbB2, but whether Hsp90 directly makes ErbB2 endocytosis resistant is unclear. Exposure to anti-ErbB2 antibodies can also induce down-regulation of ErbB2. Down-regulation induced by Hsp90 inhibitors or antibodies does at least partly involve internalization and endosomal sorting to lysosomes for degradation, but also retrograde trafficking to the nucleus has been reported. In this review, we will discuss different molecular mechanisms suggested to be important for making ErbB2 resistant to down-regulation, and review how membrane trafficking is involved when down-regulation and/or relocalization of ErbB2 is induced.
Crystallization of Supercooled Liquid Elements Induced by Superclusters Containing Magic Atom Numbers
Authors: Tournier Robert
Published: August 2014

A few experiments have detected icosahedral superclusters in undercooled liquids. These superclusters survive above the crystal melting temperature Tm because all their surface atoms have the same fusion heat as their core atoms, and are melted by liquid homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation in their core, depending on superheating time and temperature. They act as heterogeneous growth nuclei of crystallized phase at a temperature Tc of the undercooled melt. They contribute to the critical barrier reduction, which becomes smaller than that of crystals containing the same atom number n. After strong superheating, the undercooling rate is still limited because the nucleation of 13-atom superclusters always reduces this barrier, and increases Tc above a homogeneous nucleation temperature equal to Tm/3 in liquid elements. After weak superheating, the most stable superclusters containing n = 13, 55, 147, 309 and 561 atoms survive or melt and determine Tc during undercooling, depending on n and sample volume. The experimental nucleation temperatures Tc of 32 liquid elements and the supercluster melting temperatures are predicted with sample volumes varying by 18 orders of magnitude. The classical Gibbs free energy change is used, adding an enthalpy saving related to the Laplace pressure change associated with supercluster formation, which is quantified for n = 13 and 55.
Effect of Porosity and Concentration Polarization on Electrolyte Diffusive Transport Parameters through Ceramic Membranes with Similar Nanopore Size
Authors: Romero Virginia , Vega Victor , García Javier , Prida Victor , Hernando Blanca , Benavente Juana
Published: August 2014

Diffusive transport through nanoporous alumina membranes (NPAMs) produced by the two-step anodization method, with similar pore size but different porosity, is studied by analyzing membrane potential measured with NaCl solutions at different concentrations. Donnan exclusion of co-ions at the solution/membrane interface seem to exert a certain control on the diffusive transport of ions through NPAMs with low porosity, which might be reduced by coating the membrane surface with appropriated materials, as it is the case of SiO2. Our results also show the effect of concentration polarization at the membrane surface on ionic transport numbers (or diffusion coefficients) for low-porosity and high electrolyte affinity membranes, which could mask values of those characteristic electrochemical parameters.
Wild Mushroom Extracts as Inhibitors of Bacterial Biofilm Formation
Authors: Alves Maria , Ferreira Isabel , Lourenço Inês , Costa Eduardo , Martins Anabela , Pintado Manuela
Published: August 2014

Microorganisms can colonize a wide variety of medical devices, putting patients in risk for local and systemic infectious complications, including local-site infections, catheter-related bloodstream infections, and endocarditis. These microorganisms are able to grow adhered to almost every surface, forming architecturally complex communities termed biofilms. The use of natural products has been extremely successful in the discovery of new medicine, and mushrooms could be a source of natural antimicrobials. The present study reports the capacity of wild mushroom extracts to inhibit in vitro biofilm formation by multi-resistant bacteria. Four Gram-negative bacteria biofilm producers (Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter baumannii) isolated from urine were used to verify the activity of Russula delica, Fistulina hepatica, Mycena rosea, Leucopaxilus giganteus, and Lepista nuda extracts. The results obtained showed that all tested mushroom extracts presented some extent of inhibition of biofilm production. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the microorganism with the highest capacity of biofilm production, being also the most susceptible to the extracts inhibition capacity (equal or higher than 50%). Among the five tested extracts against E. coli, Leucopaxillus giganteus (47.8%) and Mycenas rosea (44.8%) presented the highest inhibition of biofilm formation. The extracts exhibiting the highest inhibitory effect upon P. mirabilis biofilm formation were Sarcodon imbricatus (45.4%) and Russula delica (53.1%). Acinetobacter baumannii was the microorganism with the lowest susceptibility to mushroom extracts inhibitory effect on biofilm production (highest inhibition—almost 29%, by Russula delica extract). This is a pioneer study since, as far as we know, there are no reports on the inhibition of biofilm production by the studied mushroom extracts and in particular against multi-resistant clinical isolates; nevertheless, other studies are required to elucidate the mechanism of action.
Urban Built-Up Area Extraction from Landsat TM/ETM+ Images Using Spectral Information and Multivariate Texture
Authors: Zhang Jun , Li Peijun , Wang Jinfei
Published: August 2014

Urban built-up area information is required by various applications. However, urban built-up area extraction using moderate resolution satellite data, such as Landsat series data, is still a challenging task due to significant intra-urban heterogeneity and spectral confusion with other land cover types. In this paper, a new method that combines spectral information and multivariate texture is proposed. The multivariate textures are separately extracted from multispectral data using a multivariate variogram with different distance measures, i.e., Euclidean, Mahalanobis and spectral angle distances. The multivariate textures and the spectral bands are then combined for urban built-up area extraction. Because the urban built-up area is the only target class, a one-class classifier, one-class support vector machine, is used. For comparison, the classical gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) is also used to extract image texture. The proposed method was evaluated using bi-temporal Landsat TM/ETM+ data of two megacity areas in China. Results demonstrated that the proposed method outperformed the use of spectral information alone and the joint use of the spectral information and the GLCM texture. In particular, the inclusion of multivariate variogram textures with spectral angle distance achieved the best results. The proposed method provides an effective way of extracting urban built-up areas from Landsat series images and could be applicable to other applications.
Estimating High Spatial Resolution Air Temperature for Regions with Limited in situ Data Using MODIS Products
Authors: Rhee Jinyoung , Im Jungho
Published: August 2014

The use of land surface temperature and vertical temperature profile data from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), to estimate high spatial resolution daily and monthly maximum and minimum 2 m above ground level (AGL) air temperatures for regions with limited in situ data was investigated. A diurnal air temperature change model was proposed to consider the differences between the MODIS overpass times and the times of daily maximum and minimum temperatures, resulting in the improvements of the estimation in terms of error values, especially for minimum air temperature. Both land surface temperature and vertical temperature profile data produced relatively high coefficient of determination values and small Mean Absolute Error (MAE) and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) values for air temperature estimation. The correction of the estimates using two gridded datasets, National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis and Climate Research Unit (CRU), was performed and the errors were reduced, especially for maximum air temperature. The correction of daily and monthly air temperature estimates using the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data, however, still produced relatively large error values compared to existing studies, while the correction of monthly air temperature estimates using the CRU data significantly reduced the errors; the MAE values for estimating monthly maximum air temperature range between 1.73 °C and 1.86 °C. Uncorrected land surface temperature generally performed better for estimating monthly minimum air temperature and the MAE values range from 1.18 °C to 1.89 °C. The suggested methodology on a monthly time scale may be applied in many data sparse areas to be used for regional environmental and agricultural studies that require high spatial resolution air temperature data.
A Mobile Virtual Butler to Bridge the Gap between Users and Ambient Assisted Living: A Smart Home Case Study
Authors: Costa Nuno , Domingues Patricio , Fdez-Riverola Florentino , Pereira António
Published: August 2014

Ambient Intelligence promises to transform current spaces into electronic environments that are responsive, assistive and sensitive to human presence. Those electronic environments will be fully populated with dozens, hundreds or even thousands of connected devices that share information and thus become intelligent. That massive wave of electronic devices will also invade everyday objects, turning them into smart entities, keeping their native features and characteristics while seamlessly promoting them to a new class of thinking and reasoning everyday objects. Although there are strong expectations that most of the users’ needs can be fulfilled without their intervention, there are still situations where interaction is required. This paper presents work being done in the field of human-computer interaction, focusing on smart home environments, while being a part of a larger project called Aging Inside a Smart Home. This initiative arose as a way to deal with a large scourge of our country, where lots of elderly persons live alone in their homes, often with limited or no physical mobility. The project relies on the mobile agent computing paradigm in order to create a Virtual Butler that provides the interface between the elderly and the smart home infrastructure. The Virtual Butler is receptive to user questions, answering them according to the context and knowledge of the AISH. It is also capable of interacting with the user whenever it senses that something has gone wrong, notifying next of kin and/or medical services, etc. The Virtual Butler is aware of the user location and moves to the computing device which is closest to the user, in order to be always present. Its avatar can also run in handheld devices keeping its main functionality in order to track user when s/he goes out. According to the evaluation carried out, the Virtual Butler is assessed as a very interesting and loved digital friend, filling the gap between the user and the smart home. The evaluation also showed that the Virtual Butler concept can be easily ported to other types of possible smart and assistive environments like airports, hospitals, shopping malls, offices, etc.
Personal Norms of Sustainability and Farm Management Behavior
Authors: Olbrich Roland , Quaas Martin , Baumgärtner Stefan
Published: August 2014

We empirically study personal norms of sustainability, conceptualized according to the norm-activation theory and operationalized under the notion of strong ecological-economic sustainability. Our case study is commercial cattle farming in semi-arid rangelands of Namibia, a system that is subject to extensive degradation. Using survey data, we characterize farmers’ personal ecosystems and income norms, study their determinants, and analyze their impact on actual management based on the dual-preferences model. We find that ecosystem and income norms are heterogeneous across farmers and independent from each other. Furthermore, farmers with better environmental and financial farm conditions have more demanding norms. We find no evidence for a significant impact of norms on actual management, which provides an explanation for the observed degradation of the system.
A 100-m Fabry–Pérot Cavity with Automatic Alignment Controls for Long-Term Observations of Earth’s Strain
Authors: Takamori Akiteru , Araya Akito , Morii Wataru , Telada Souichi , Uchiyama Takashi , Ohashi Masatake
Published: August 2014

We have developed and built a highly accurate laser strainmeter for geophysical observations. It features the precise length measurement of a 100-m optical cavity with reference to a stable quantum standard. Unlike conventional laser strainmeters based on simple Michelson interferometers that require uninterrupted fringe counting to track the evolution of ground deformations, this instrument is able to determine the absolute length of a cavity at any given time. The instrument offers advantage in covering a variety of geophysical events, ranging from instantaneous earthquakes to crustal deformations associated with tectonic strain changes that persist over time. An automatic alignment control and an autonomous relocking system have been developed to realize stable performance and maximize observation times. It was installed in a deep underground site at the Kamioka mine in Japan, and an effective resolution of 2 × (10−8 − 10−7) m was achieved. The regular tidal deformations and co-seismic strain changes were in good agreement with those from a theoretical model and a co-located conventional laser strainmeter. Only the new instrument was able to record large strain steps caused by a nearby large earthquake because of its capability of absolute length determination.
CA 15.3 measurements for separating FDG PET/CT positive from negative findings in breast carcinoma recurrence
Authors: Kruse V. , Van de Wiele C. , Borms M. , Maes A. , Pottel H. , Sathekge M. , Cocquyt V.
Published: August 2014

In breast cancer CA 15.3 is considered the tumour marker of choice. CA 15.3 is directly related to the disease extent and to hormone status (estrogen receptor ER+/ ER-, progesterone receptor PR+/PR-). This study was designed to assess the impact of disease extent, hormone receptor and HER2-status, and circulating blood volume on the area-under the ROC-curve of CA 15.3 to separate FDG PET positive from negative findings. Patients, methods: We retrospectively evaluated 379 FDG PET/CT examinations performed in 80 patients with breast cancer. Blood volumes were derived using the formulas by Nadler and multiplied by their corresponding CA 15.3 measurement. Results: ROC-curve analysis revealed an AUC of 0.695 (p = 0.0001) for CA 15.3 to separate FDG PET positive from negative findings. AUC measurements to separate normal scan find-ings from loco-regional disease and meta- static disease were 0.527 (p = 0.587) and 0.732 (p = 0.0001), respectively. AUC measurements for CA 15.3 to separate positive from negative FDG PET findings, in ER+ and ER- patients, were respectively 0.772 (p = 0.0001) and 0.596 (p = 0.143). AUC measurements for CA 15.3 to separate positive from negative FDG PET findings, in PR+ and PR- patients, were respectively 0.675 (p = 0.0001) and 0.694 (p = 0.0001). In HER2-positive and -negative patients, the AUC measurements were respectively 0.594 (p = 0.178) and 0.701 (p = 0.0001) to separate positive from negative FDG PET findings. Conclusion: The AUC for CA 15.3 measurements to separate FDG PET positive from negative findings in breast cancer patients with suspected recurrence proved to be directly related to the extent of the recurrent disease and hormone receptor status and inversely related to HER2-status. Correcting CA 15.3 measurements for blood volumes did not impact the AUC.
Le Centre universitaire méditerranéen de Nice et les stratégies d'influence de l'Italie fasciste. Entre légitimations croisées et suspicions mutuelles
Authors: Dubois Jérémie
Published: August 2014

Le Centre universitaire méditerranéen de Nice (CUM), créé en 1933 sous l’égide de l’université d’Aix-Marseille a entretenu des liens ambivalents avec l’Italie fasciste. Son administrateur, l’écrivain Paul Valéry, et son directeur, Maurice Mignon, n’ont cessé de solliciter de Rome l’envoi de spécialistes de la langue et de la culture italiennes. Le ministère des Affaires étrangères italien a d’abord préféré charger le comité niçois de la Société Dante Alighieri de représenter l’Italie et l’italien au CUM. Mais alors que les relations franco-italiennes se détériorent, la « chaire d’italien » longtemps réclamée devint stratégique pour l’Italie. Rome accepte de financer à partir de 1938 un « lecteur d’italien » au CUM, moins dans un but universitaire que dans une stratégie d’irrédentisme.
Les communications aériennes entre l'Espagne et Cuba à l'épreuve de la crise des missiles (octobre 1962-février 1963)
Authors: Moralès Étienne
Published: August 2014

Cet article vise à expliquer la suspension des vols d’ Iberia à La Havane entre octobre 1962 et février 1963 et à décrire les effets de l’absence de transports entre l’Espagne et Cuba sur les relations entre ces deux pays. Nous montrons que si le gouvernement cubain ferma l’aéroport de La Havane puis le rouvrit dans le contexte de la crise des missiles, la décision fondamentale de suspension a été prise par Franco, pour satisfaire à une réclamation du Département d’État des États-Unis après le vol du 17 novembre 1962 à La Havane. La suspension de cette connexion aérienne entrava la sortie de la valise diplomatique espagnole de Cuba et restreignit le commerce hispano-cubain à l’époque de Noël, tandis que la reprise des vols entraîna une reconfiguration des réseaux d’émigration de Cuba : Madrid devint alors en une voie importante pour gagner les États-Unis.
La « fabrique de l'ennemi » en système totalitaire. Le cas syrien (1946-2014)
Authors: Cimino Matthieu
Published: August 2014

À travers l’étude de deux moments révolutionnaires de l’histoire syrienne (1979-1982 et 2011-2014), cet article propose une analyse comparative des processus de « construction de l’ennemi » en milieu autoritaire. Le « système Assad », depuis la prise de pouvoir par Hafez en 1970, fonde sa stratégie de survie sur l’invention et l’entretien systématiques d’une altérité concurrente, à combattre. Cette figure de l’ennemi, protéiforme et évolutive, constitue l’un des déterminants majeurs de la politique étrangère syrienne, et demeure aujourd’hui au cœur de la répression contre-révolutionnaire engagée en mars 2011. En s’appuyant sur un corpus d’entretiens semi-directifs et sur la compilation systématique des archives des journaux Al Baath et Tishrin , cet article s’intéresse tout particulièrement aux exemples comparés des représentations syriennes de l’État d’Israël et des mouvements salafis-jihadis type Al-Qaïda .
A Cross-Layer QoE-Based Approach for Event-Based Multi-Tier Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks
Authors: Rosário Denis , Zhao Zhongliang , Braun Torsten , Cerqueira Eduardo
Published: August 2014

Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks (WMSNs) are attracting attention from both academic and industrial environments due to the rapid development of low-cost multimedia sensors. With the enhancement of the multimedia content captured by multimedia devices, WMSNs play an important role in pervasive and ubiquitous systems. The multimedia content in these networks has the potential to enhance the level of collected information, by enlarging the range of coverage, and enabling multi-view support. In the case of WMSN applications, the multi-tier network architecture has proved to be more beneficial than single-tier architecture in terms of energy-efficiency, scalability, functionality and reliability. In this context, a multimedia event detection application is a promising application for multi-tier WMSNs, where the lower-tier nodes detect an event occurrence by means of scalar measurements, and the higher-tier nodes will be woken up to send real-time video flows from the event area. The transmission of multimedia content requires a certain quality level from the user's perspective, while energy consumption and network overhead should be minimized. Among the existing mechanisms for improving video transmissions, application-level Forward Error Correction (FEC) is regarded as a suitable solution to improve video quality level from the user´s standpoint. In this work, the authors propose an adaptive cross-layer approach, which includes a Quality of Experience (QoE)-aware FEC mechanism for WMSNs by generating redundant packets, based on frame importance from user's experience. Additionally, the aothors introduce a multi-tier routing protocol to select the best route to transmit multimedia data. According to the simulation results, the proposed cross-layer approach achieved high video quality level with reduced transmission of redundant packets, which will bring many benefits to a resource-constrained system.
Quality Function Deployment in Higher Education
Authors: Agrawal Tinu , Sharma Jitendra
Published: August 2014

Quality has always been a key concern for product and service operations. Decades have been spent in research for quality measurement and enhancement techniques. Various models have time and again been proposed by researchers around the globe. Inspite of the constant rigor in the study of this concept, very few tools devised and defined by researchers and academicians have been successfully put to practice. The underlying phenomena in service quality measurement are indeed complex to understand, interpret and measure. Through this paper the authors intend to present the developments of one such quality tool which has the ability to generate creative and novel solutions is Quality Function Deployment (QFD). This paper presents a detailed literature review on the topic and application of QFD in higher education. This literature review is based on publications and web sources.
Performance Evaluation of Different Cost Functions in Motion Vector Estimation
Authors: Acharjee Suvojit , Chakraborty Sayan , Karaa Wahiba Ben Abdessalem , Azar Ahmad Taher , Dey Nilanjan
Published: August 2014

Video is an important medium in terms of information sharing in this present era. The tremendous growth of video use can be seen in the traditional multimedia application as well as in many other applications like medical videos, surveillance video etc. Raw video data is usually large in size, which demands for video compression. In different video compressing schemes, motion vector is a very important step to remove the temporal redundancy. A frame is first divided into small blocks and then motion vector for each block is computed. The difference between two blocks is evaluated by different cost functions (i.e. mean absolute difference (MAD), mean square error (MSE) etc).In this paper the performance of different cost functions was evaluated and also the most suitable cost function for motion vector estimation was found.
Grid-Based Fuzzy Processing for Parallel Learning the Document Similarities
Authors: Hidri Minyar Sassi , Ksouri Sonia Alouane , Barkaoui Kamel
Published: August 2014

Document co-clustering methods allow to efficiently capture high-order similarities between objects described by rows and columns of a data matrix. In Alouane et al. (2013), a method for simultaneous computation of similarity matrices between objects (documents or sentences) and between descriptors (sentences or words), each one being built on the other one, according to a fuzzy triadic model based on the three-partite graph. Because of the development of the Web and the high availability of storage spaces, documents become more accessible. This makes the fuzzy computing very expensive. In the present case, the development of fuzzification algorithms of fuzzification requires the integration of a deployment platform with the required processing power. The choice of a grid architecture seems to be an appropriate answer to our needs since it allows us to distribute the processing over all the machines of the platform, thus creating the illusion of a virtual computer able to solve important computing problems which require very long run times in a single machine environment. The authors propose to enhance similarity by upstream and downstream parallel processing. The first deploys the fuzzy linear model in a Grid environment. The second deals with multi-view datasets while introducing different architectures by using several instances of a fuzzy triadic similarity algorithm.
From User Requirements to Querying of Fuzzy Summaries
Authors: Sougui Ines Benali , Hidri Minyar Sassi , Touzi Amel Grissa
Published: August 2014

With the huge amount and the evolution of fuzzy data, the necessity to work with synthetic views became a challenge for many databases (DB) community researchers. Data summarization techniques are now considered as accurate tools to handle huge DB, in particular when precise data are not needed. Formal approaches have been proposed making possible the generation of an hierarchy of summaries from DB. The challenges arise on the question of how querying these fuzzy views according user requirements. In this work, we propose to handle with these challenges by query repairing and substitution. Two process were studied, the first process is used by modifying query while using the best fuzzy summaries which have the most near answers. The second one is applied to generate all substitution queries over the fuzzy summaries' hierarchy. This would be not only expensive but also unjustified for the part of the search hierarchy nodes.
Ankle Dorsiflexion Among Healthy Men With Different Qualities of Lower Extremity Movement
Authors: Rabin Alon , Kozol Zvi , Spitzer Elad , Finestone Aharon
Published: August 2014

Context:

Lower extremity movement patterns have been implicated as a risk factor for various knee disorders. Ankle-dorsiflexion (DF) range of motion (ROM) has previously been associated with a faulty movement pattern among healthy female participants.

Objective:

To determine the association between ankle DF ROM and the quality of lower extremity movement during the lateral step-down test among healthy male participants.

Design:

Cross-sectional study.

Setting:

Training facility of the Israel Defense Forces.

Patients or Other Participants:

Fifty-five healthy male Israeli military recruits (age = 19.7 ± 1.1 years, height = 175.4 ± 6.4 cm, mass = 72.0 ± 7.6 kg).

Intervention(s):

Dorsiflexion ROM was measured in weight-bearing and non–weight-bearing conditions using a fluid-filled inclinometer and a universal goniometer, respectively. Lower extremity movement pattern was assessed visually using the lateral step-down test and classified categorically as good or moderate. All measurements were performed bilaterally.

Main Outcome Measure(s):

Weight-bearing and non–weight-bearing DF ROM were more limited among participants with moderate quality of movement than in those with good quality of movement on the dominant side (P = .01 and P = .02 for weight-bearing and non–weight-bearing DF, respectively). Non–weight-bearing DF demonstrated a trend toward a decreased range among participants with moderate compared with participants with good quality of movement on the nondominant side (P = .03 [adjusted P = .025]). Weight-bearing DF was not different between participants with good and moderate movement patterns on the nondominant side (P = .10). Weight-bearing and non–weight-bearing ankle DF ROM correlated significantly with the quality of movement on both sides (P < .01 and P < .05 on the dominant and nondominant side, respectively).

Conclusions:

Ankle DF ROM was associated with quality of movement among healthy male participants. The association seemed weaker in males than in females.
Head-Impact Mechanisms in Men's and Women's Collegiate Ice Hockey
Authors: Wilcox Bethany J. , Machan Jason T. , Beckwith Jonathan G. , Greenwald Richard M. , Burmeister Emily , Crisco Joseph J.
Published: August 2014

Context:

Concussion injury rates in men's and women's ice hockey are reported to be among the highest of all collegiate sports. Quantification of the frequency of head impacts and the magnitude of head acceleration as a function of the different impact mechanisms (eg, head contact with the ice) that occur in ice hockey could provide a better understanding of this high injury rate.

Objective:

To quantify and compare the per-game frequency and magnitude of head impacts associated with various impact mechanisms in men's and women's collegiate ice hockey players.

Design:

Cohort study.

Setting:

Collegiate ice hockey rink.

Patients or Other Participants:

Twenty-three men and 31 women from 2 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I ice hockey teams.

Main Outcome Measure(s):

We analyzed magnitude and frequency (per game) of head impacts per player among impact mechanisms and between sexes using generalized mixed linear models and generalized estimating equations to account for repeated measures within players.

Intervention(s):

Participants wore helmets instrumented with accelerometers to allow us to collect biomechanical measures of head impacts sustained during play. Video footage from 53 games was synchronized with the biomechanical data. Head impacts were classified into 8 categories: contact with another player; the ice, boards or glass, stick, puck, or goal; indirect contact; and contact from celebrating.

Results:

For men and women, contact with another player was the most frequent impact mechanism, and contact with the ice generated the greatest-magnitude head accelerations. The men had higher per-game frequencies of head impacts from contact with another player and contact with the boards than did the women (P < .001), and these impacts were greater in peak rotational acceleration (P = .027).

Conclusions:

Identifying the impact mechanisms in collegiate ice hockey that result in frequent and high-magnitude head impacts will provide us with data that may improve our understanding of the high rate of concussion in the sport and inform injury-prevention strategies.
Demythologising social cohesion: Towards a practical theological vision
Authors: De Beer Stephanus F.
Published: August 2014

This article considers the topical issue of social cohesion. It seeks to demythologise the issuebringing it into critical conversation with eight related categories. It proposes that a vision ofa socially cohesive society should employ all eight categories as parallel and complementarystrategies. Secondly, it proposes a practical theological vision of social cohesion that will notonly embrace these eight categories but will root itself in a spirituality of the table, informedby a vision of the oikos of God, seeking shalom in the oikos and doing so through four strategicmoments of engagement.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article indicates that socialcohesion requires an integrated approach of different strategies, not competing butcomplementing each other. Social cohesion requires interdisciplinary, intradisciplinary andtransdisciplinary research and action. For example, exploring ways in which land redistributioninhibits or contributes to social cohesion requires multiple stakeholders and disciplinesdiscerning together. The proposed practical theological vision implies new categories to beincluded in curricula and practical theological discourse for it to contribute meaningfully notonly to the current debate but also to practices fostering a socially cohesive society.
Enhancing ecological consciousness through liturgical acts of doxology and lament
Authors: De Klerk Barend J.
Published: August 2014

The last few decades have been a time of growing interest and concern about our environment. The extinction of plant and animal species, the pollution of our water supply and the depletion of critical resources have generated a new consciousness about our biosphere. The liturgy of the church must seriously engage with the ecological perspective, and the entire life, worship and praxis of the church should include an ecological dimension and vision. Two very powerful elements in enhancing worshippers� ecological consciousness are praise or doxology and the important counterpart of doxology, namely song and prayer of lament as well as confession of guilt. This means that believers celebrate the inalienable beauty and dignity of all living kind and bear witness to God�s manifold creation. Believers are also to bear witness to creation�s groaning as the ground suffers from deforestation, mountain-top removal, toxic dumping and rising temperatures. Comfort and new possibilities for rectifying the ecological crisis may develop from grief and lament. The liturgical witness will be that God�s newness will break the cycles of self-destruction and make new life possible.
Perspectives on preaching (in building up missional churches)
Authors: Nel Malan
Published: August 2014

Preaching is considered to be a core ministry in building up local congregations. Within the Reformed tradition this is even truer. The researcher has, over years, tried to discern certain core �qualities� of preachers and principles for preaching that will accomplish building local congregations into missional units. Assuming that preachers are serious about leading congregations towards true missionality, the article attempted to focus on a few of these core criteria for both preacher and preaching. In doing so, the article drew mainly on the wisdom of well-known preachers in the USA, wisdom that will be used to guide the researcher�s future empirical study of preaching in the South African context. Prof. M�ller, who is honoured in this Festschrift, wrote his DD thesis on preaching and I hope that this will reconnect his current work to his original research.
Development of alternative interpretations: The story of an orphaned boy affected by HIV and AIDS and father abandonment
Authors: Meyer Juanita
Published: August 2014

This article elaborated specifically on the research journey in arriving at the development of an alternative narrative, which points beyond the local community, with reference to a broader study which aimed at addressing uncertainties about the type and nature of the relationship between HIV and AIDS and adolescent male orphans affected by this disease and all its aspects, such as poverty, exposure to crime and stigmatisation and lack in parental figures, more specifically the lack of the father figure. Subsequently, this study aimed at dissecting the orphan�s life experiences in the midst of HIV and AIDS and how these experiences will influence his sexual and power relations with women and his role as future father and husband, in the absence of a father figure. The researcher wanted to explore ways in which these past and future narratives influence or affect the male orphan�s view of and relationship with God and assess whether it is it just this view of and relationship with God that influence and affect his relationship with his past narrative and writing of his future narratives. This article described and explained the research process as it utilised the epistemological viewpoints of a postfoundational notion of practical theology and the methodological tools of the seven movements of a postfoundational practical theology. With the use of the metaphor of Tree of Life and the David narrative, the researcher journeyed with the co-researchers (i.e. the children who took part in this research) in the construction of a preferred alternative narrative, which, in turn, functions as a guiding metaphor, for aspiring to the future and living their lives in a preferred and satisfying manner. This article concluded with an alternative narrative as developed by one of the co-researchers, as an example of how these theoretical viewpoints can be used in praxis in developing alternative narratives which frees the persons from the constraints of a problem-saturated narrative, with special reference and acknowledgement to Professor Julian M�ller, who introduced the researcher to the world of possibilities.
Laparoscopic Treatment of Gallstone Ileus
Authors: Bircan Huseyin Y. , Koc Bora , Ozcelik Umit , Kemik Ozgur , Demirag Alp
Published: August 2014

Gallstone ileus is a rare complication of cholelithiasis that has high morbidity and mortality. An intestinal obstruction can be caused by migration of a large gallstone through a biliary enteric fistula or by impaction within the intestinal tract. In this study, we present the case of an 81-year-old woman with a mechanical bowel obstruction by a gallstone that was treated by laparoscopy.
On the Bound of the C* Exponential Length
Authors: Pan Qingfei , Wang Kun
Published: August 2014

Let X be a compact Hausdorff space. In this paper, we give an example to show that there is u ∊⊗ C(X) Mn with det(u(x)) = 1 for all x ∊ X and u ~h 1 such that the C* exponential length of u (denoted by ~h cel(u)) cannot be controlled by π. Moreover, in simple inductive limit C*-algebras, similar examples also exist.
Vers une Médecine de l’Information
Authors: Courty Daniel
Published: August 2014

D’un regard épistémologique porté sur les pratiques médicales issues des travaux de Paul Nogier, il ressort une grande valeur novatrice desservie par le manque partiel d’un langage de référence en accord avec la physique moderne. L’analyse identifie des traits structuraux qui déterminent l’auriculomédecine, comme méthode d’évaluation des champs biophysiques. Sous cet angle qui montre l’importance des propriétés de « l’espace périsomatique », s’ouvre un avenir potentiel aux investigations déjà riches d’observations faites jusqu’à ce jour, de sorte que la « médecine de l’Information » devient réalité.
Effect of EHR User Interface Changes on Internal Prescription Discrepancies
Authors: Sawarkar A. , Dementieva Y.A. , Breydo E. , Ramelson H. , Turchin A.
Published: August 2014

Objective: To determine whether specific design interventions (changes in the user interface (UI)) of an electronic health record (EHR) medication module are associated with an increase or decrease in the incidence of contradictions between the structured and narrative components of electronic prescriptions (internal prescription discrepancies).

Materials and Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of 960,000 randomly selected electronic prescriptions generated in a single EHR between 01/2004 and 12/2011. Internal prescription discrepancies were identified using a validated natural language processing tool with recall of 76% and precision of 84%. A multivariable autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model was used to evaluate the effect of five UI changes in the EHR medication module on incidence of internal prescription discrepancies.

Results: Over the study period 175,725 (18.4%) prescriptions were found to have internal discrepancies. The highest rate of prescription discrepancies was observed in March 2006 (22.5%) and the lowest in March 2009 (15.0%).

Addition of „as directed“ option to the  dropdown decreased prescription discrepancies by 195 / month (p = 0.0004). An non-interruptive alert that reminded providers to ensure that structured and narrative components did not contradict each other decreased prescription discrepancies by 145 / month (p = 0.03). Addition of a „Renew / Sign“ button to the Medication module (a negative control) did not have an effect in prescription discrepancies.

Conclusions: Several UI changes in the electronic medication module were effective in reducing the incidence of internal prescription discrepancies. Further research is needed to identify interventions that can completely eliminate this type of prescription error and their effects on patient outcomes.

Citation: Turchin A, Sawarkar A, Dementieva YA, Breydo E, Ramelson H. Effect of EHR user interface changes on internal prescription discrepancies. Appl Clin Inf 2014; 5: 708–720

http://dx.doi.org/10.4338/ACI-2014-03-RA-0023