bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Fast Colourimetric Assay for Lead Detection Using Label-Free Gold Nanoparticles (AuNPs)
Authors: Zhong Guowei , Liu Jinxia , Liu Xinyu
Published: April 2015

A sensitive colourimetric method for lead (PbII) detection is reported in this paper using a common tripeptide, glutathione (GSH), and label-free gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). A limit of detection of 6.0 ppb in water was achieved and the dynamic linear range was up to 500 ppb. Selectivity over fourteen potential interfering metal ions was tested and most of these metal ions do not interfere with the method.
Low Flow Liquid Calibration Setup
Authors: Platenkamp Tom , Sparreboom Wouter , Ratering Gijs , Katerberg Marcel , Lötters Joost
Published: April 2015

This article describes a primary calibration setup, and its uncertainty, for low flow liquid calibrations at Bronkhorst High-Tech. It will be used to calibrate reference flow meters from 1 to 200 g/h. By setting up an uncertainty budget for this setup, the calibration of the instruments can be compared to that of NMI’s (National Metrology Institutes). The uncertainty budget consists of mass, time and mass flow uncertainties/corrections that need to be taken in to account for determining the traceable mass flow. Tests results of different flow meters/actuators measured on the setup support the calculated uncertainty. By participating in an intercomparison with NMI’s the measurement and uncertainty of this setup is traceable to European NMI’s.
Invariant Observer-Based State Estimation for Micro-Aerial Vehicles in GPS-Denied Indoor Environments Using an RGB-D Camera and MEMS Inertial Sensors
Authors: Li Dachuan , Li Qing , Tang Liangwen , Yang Sheng , Cheng Nong , Song Jingyan
Published: April 2015

This paper presents a non-linear state observer-based integrated navigation scheme for estimating the attitude, position and velocity of micro aerial vehicles (MAV) operating in GPS-denied indoor environments, using the measurements from low-cost MEMS (micro electro-mechanical systems) inertial sensors and an RGB-D camera. A robust RGB-D visual odometry (VO) approach was developed to estimate the MAV’s relative motion by extracting and matching features captured by the RGB-D camera from the environment. The state observer of the RGB-D visual-aided inertial navigation was then designed based on the invariant observer theory for systems possessing symmetries. The motion estimates from the RGB-D VO were fused with inertial and magnetic measurements from the onboard MEMS sensors via the state observer, providing the MAV with accurate estimates of its full six degree-of-freedom states. Implementations on a quadrotor MAV and indoor flight test results demonstrate that the resulting state observer is effective in estimating the MAV’s states without relying on external navigation aids such as GPS. The properties of computational efficiency and simplicity in gain tuning make the proposed invariant observer-based navigation scheme appealing for actual MAV applications in indoor environments.
Photorelease of Pyridyl Esters in Organometallic Ru(II) Arene Complexes
Authors: Habtemariam Abraha , Garino Claudio , Ruggiero Emmanuel , Alonso-de Castro Silvia , Mareque-Rivas Juan , Salassa Luca
Published: April 2015

New Ru(II) arene complexes of formula [(η6-p-cym)Ru(N-N)(X)]2+ (where p-cym = para-cymene, N-N = 2,2'-bipyrimidine (bpm) or 2,2'-bipyridine (bpy) and X = m/p-COOMe-Py, 1–4) were synthesised and characterized, including the molecular structure of complexes [(η6-p-cym)Ru(bpy)(m-COOMe-Py)]2+ (3) and [(η6-p-cym)Ru(bpy) (p-COOMe-Py)]2+ (4) by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Complexes 1–4 are stable in the dark in aqueous solution over 48 h and photolysis studies indicate that they can photodissociate the monodentate m/p-COOMe-Py ligands selectively with yields lower than 1%. DFT and TD-DFT calculations (B3LYP/LanL2DZ/6-31G**) performed on singlet and triplet states pinpoint a low-energy triplet state as the reactive state responsible for the selective dissociation of the monodentate pyridyl ligands.
Investigation of a Quantitative Method for the Analysis of Chiral Monoterpenes in White Wine by HS-SPME-MDGC-MS of Different Wine Matrices
Authors: Song Mei , Xia Ying , Tomasino Elizabeth
Published: April 2015

A valid quantitative method for the analysis of chiral monoterpenes in white wine using head-space solid phase micro-extraction-MDGC-MS (HS-SPME-MDGC-MS) with stable isotope dilution analysis was established. Fifteen compounds: (S)-(−)-limonene, (R)-(+)-limonene, (+)-(2R,4S)-cis-rose oxide, (−)-(2S,4R)-cis-rose oxide, (−)-(2R,4R)-trans-rose oxide, (+)-(2S,4S)-cis-rose oxide, furanoid (+)-trans-linalool oxide, furanoid (−)-cis-linalool oxide, furanoid (−)-trans-linalool oxide, furanoid (+)-cis-linalool oxide, (−)-linalool, (+)-linalool, (−)-α-terpineol, (+)-α-terpineol and (R)-(+)-β-citronellol were quantified. Two calibration curves were plotted for different wine bases, with varying residual sugar content, and three calibration curves for each wine base were investigated during a single fiber’s lifetime. This was needed as both sugar content and fiber life impacted the quantification of the chiral terpenes. The chiral monoterpene content of six Pinot Gris wines and six Riesling wines was then analyzed using the verified method. ANOVA with Tukey multiple comparisons showed significant differences for each of the detected chiral compounds in all 12 wines. PCA score plots showed a clear separation between the Riesling and Pinot Gris wines. Riesling wines had greater number of chiral terpenes in comparison to Pinot Gris wines. Beyond total terpene content it is possible that the differences in chiral terpene content may be driving the aromatic differences in white wines.
Two Chinese Medical Master’s Students Aspiring to Publish Internationally: A Longitudinal Study of Legitimate Peripheral Participation in Their Communities of Practice
Authors: Luo Na
Published: April 2015

This paper explores how two Chinese medical Master’s students’ international publication success/failure and their academic English learning outcomes were related to their agency and the social context in which they were embedded by using the notions of legitimate peripheral participation (LPP) and community of practice (CoP). While both students were highly motivated and similarly limited in English proficiency, their publication and academic English literacy learning outcomes vastly differed. Analysis via the lenses of LPP and CoP reveals that their differences in scholarly achievement in terms of international publication success and academic English learning outcomes can be convincingly explained by variation in the structure of the CoPs to which they belonged. Their respective CoPs determine their amount and quality of co-participation or mutual engagement with old-timers, particularly the master, which ultimately led to markedly different publication and academic English learning outcomes. Accordingly, I argue that institutions must consider the amount of mutual engagement senior researchers can afford to their research students when allocating advising responsibilities to professors.
Innovative Technologies for Terrestrial Remote Sensing
Authors: Aplin Paul , Boyd Doreen
Published: April 2015

Characterizing and monitoring terrestrial, or land, surface features, such as forests, deserts, and cities, are fundamental and continuing goals of Earth Observation (EO). EO imagery and related technologies are essential for increasing our scientific understanding of environmental processes, such as carbon capture and albedo change, and to manage and safeguard environmental resources, such as tropical forests, particularly over large areas or the entire globe. This measurement or observation of some property of the land surface is central to a wide range of scientific investigations and industrial operations, involving individuals and organizations from many different backgrounds and disciplines. However, the process of observing the land provides a unifying theme for these investigations, and in practice there is much consistency in the instruments used for observation and the techniques used to map and model the environmental phenomena of interest. There is therefore great potential benefit in exchanging technological knowledge and experience among the many and diverse members of the terrestrial EO community. [...]
Study of Multi-Armed Bandits for Energy Conservation in Cognitive Radio Sensor Networks
Authors: Zhang Juan , Jiang Hong , Huang Zhenhua , Chen Chunmei , Jiang Hesong
Published: April 2015

Technological advances have led to the emergence of wireless sensor nodes in wireless networks. Sensor nodes are usually battery powered and hence have strict energy constraints. As a result, energy conservation is very important in the wireless sensor network protocol design and the limited power resources are the biggest challenge in wireless network channels. Link adaptation techniques improve the link quality by adjusting medium access control (MAC) parameters such as frame size, data rate, and sleep time, thereby improving energy efficiency. In this paper we present an adaptive packet size strategy for energy efficient wireless sensor networks. The main goal is to reduce power consumption and extend the whole network life. In order to achieve this goal, the paper introduces the concept of a bounded MAB to find the optimal packet size to transfer by formulating different packet sizes for different arms under the channel condition. At the same time, in achieve fast convergence, we consider the bandwidth evaluation according to ACK. The experiment shows that the packet size is adaptive when the channel quality changes and our algorithm can obtain the optimal packet size. We observe that the MAB packet size adaptation scheme achieves the best energy efﬁciency across the whole simulation duration in comparison with the ﬁxed frame size scheme, the random packet size and the extended Kalman filter (EKF).
A mRNA-Responsive G-Quadruplex-Based Drug Release System
Authors: Yaku Hidenobu , Murashima Takashi , Miyoshi Daisuke , Sugimoto Naoki
Published: April 2015

G-quadruplex-based drug delivery carriers (GDDCs) were designed to capture and release a telomerase inhibitor in response to a target mRNA. Hybridization between a loop on the GDDC structure and the mRNA should cause the G-quadruplex structure of the GDDC to unfold and release the bound inhibitor, anionic copper(II) phthalocyanine (CuAPC). As a proof of concept, GDDCs were designed with a 10-30-mer loop, which can hybridize with a target sequence in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mRNA. Structural analysis using circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy showed that the GDDCs form a (3 + 1) type G-quadruplex structure in 100 mM KCl and 10 mM MgCl2 in the absence of the target RNA. Visible absorbance titration experiments showed that the GDDCs bind to CuAPC with Ka values of 1.5 × 105 to 5.9 × 105 M−1 (Kd values of 6.7 to 1.7 μM) at 25 °C, depending on the loop length. Fluorescence titration further showed that the G-quadruplex structure unfolds upon binding to the target RNA with Ka values above 1.0 × 108 M−1 (Kd values below 0.01 μM) at 25 °C. These results suggest the carrier can sense and bind to the target RNA, which should result in release of the bound drug. Finally, visible absorbance titration experiments demonstrated that the GDDC release CuAPC in response to the target RNA.
Stability of the Nine Sky Quality Meters in the Dutch Night Sky Brightness Monitoring Network
Authors: Den Outer Peter , Lolkema Dorien , Haaima Marty , Van der Hoff Rene , Spoelstra Henk , Schmidt Wim
Published: April 2015

In the context of monitoring abundance of artificial light at night, the year-to-year stability of Sky Quality Meters (SQMs) is investigated by analysing intercalibrations derived from two measurement campaigns that were held in 2011 and 2012. An intercalibration comprises a light sensitivity factor and an offset for each SQM. The campaigns were concerned with monitoring measurements, each lasting one month. Nine SQMs, together forming the Night Sky Brightness Monitoring network (MHN) in The Netherlands, were involved in both campaigns. The stability of the intercalibration of these instruments leads to a year-to-year uncertainty (standard deviation) of 5% in the measured median luminance occurring at the MHN monitoring locations. For the 10-percentiles and 90-percentiles, we find 8% and 4%, respectively. This means that, for urban and industrial areas, changes in the sky brightness larger than 5% become detectable. Rural and nature areas require an 8%–9% change of the median luminance to be detectable. The light sensitivety agrees within 8% for the whole group of SQMs.
Enhanced Sensitivity of Gas Sensor Based on Poly(3-hexylthiophene) Thin-Film Transistors for Disease Diagnosis and Environment Monitoring
Authors: Cavallari Marco , Izquierdo José , Braga Guilherme , Dirani Ely , Pereira-da-Silva Marcelo , Rodríguez Estrella , Fonseca Fernando
Published: April 2015

Electronic devices based on organic thin-film transistors (OTFT) have the potential to supply the demand for portable and low-cost gadgets, mainly as sensors for in situ disease diagnosis and environment monitoring. For that reason, poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) as the active layer in the widely-used bottom-gate/bottom-contact OTFT structure was deposited over highly-doped silicon substrates covered with thermally-grown oxide to detect vapor-phase compounds. A ten-fold organochloride and ammonia sensitivity compared to bare sensors corroborated the application of this semiconducting polymer in sensors. Furthermore, P3HT TFTs presented approximately three-order higher normalized sensitivity than any chemical sensor addressed herein. The results demonstrate that while TFTs respond linearly at the lowest concentration values herein, chemical sensors present such an operating regime mostly above 2000 ppm. Simultaneous alteration of charge carrier mobility and threshold voltage is responsible for pushing the detection limit down to units of ppm of ammonia, as well as tens of ppm of alcohol or ketones. Nevertheless, P3HT transistors and chemical sensors could compose an electronic nose operated at room temperature for a wide range concentration evaluation (1–10,000 ppm) of gaseous analytes. Targeted analytes include not only biomarkers for diseases, such as uremia, cirrhosis, lung cancer and diabetes, but also gases for environment monitoring in food, cosmetic and microelectronics industries.
“Como Arrancar una Planta”: Women’s Reflections about Influences of Im/Migration on Their Everyday Lives and Health in Mexico
Authors: Robertson Eva
Published: April 2015

The aim of this study is to analyze women’s reflections about how experiences of im/migration from rural to urban settings in Monterrey, Mexico, influence their everyday life experience and health and that of their families. The participants were eight women from heterogeneous indigenous backgrounds, one woman with a mestizo background, two health professionals, three persons from organizations supporting indigenous groups, and two researchers. I collected data from personal observations, documents, and interviews that I then analyzed with a critical ethnography methodology developed by Carspecken. The women emphasized that food habits were the first to be adapted to circumstances in an urban everyday life constrained by working conditions. Together with their experiences of discrimination and violence, urban living determines the challenges and the priorities of daily life. Urban life affects how they perceive and treat their own and their family’s health and wellbeing. Nevertheless, their sense of belonging and home remains in their communities of origin, and they strive to reach a balance in their lives and preserve a connection to their roots, motherhood, and traditional knowledge. However, the women handle their im/migration experiences in diverse ways depending on their own conditions and the structural forces limiting or allowing them to act in decisive life situations. Im/migration is not just a matter of choice; it is about survival and is influenced by social determinants and “structural vulnerability” that influences and/or limit human agency. These, together with an unsustainable economic situation, make migration the only option, a forced decision within households. Structural forces such as social injustice in welfare policies restrict human rights and rights for health. Social determinants of health can constrain decision making and frame choices concerning health and childbearing in everyday life.
Habitat Mapping of the Leopard Cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) in South Korea Using GIS
Authors: Lee Moung-Jin , Song Wonkyong , Lee Saro
Published: April 2015

The purpose of this study was to create maps of potentially sustainable leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) habitats for all of South Korea. The leopard cat, which is on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, is the only member of the Felidae family in Korea. To create habitat potential maps, we selected various environmental factors potentially affecting the species’ distribution from a spatial database derived from geographic information system (GIS) data: elevation, slope, distance from a forest stand, road, or drainage, timber type, age, and land cover. We analyzed the spatial relationships between the distribution of the leopard cat and the environmental factors using a frequency ratio model and a logistic regression model. We then overlaid these relationships to produce a habitat potential map with a species potential index (SPI) value. Of the total number of known leopard cat locations, we used 50% for mapping and the remaining 50% for model validation. Our models were relatively successful and showed a high level of accuracy during model validation with existing locations (frequency ratio model 82.15%; logistic regression model 81.48%). The maps can be used to manage and monitor the habitat of mammal species and top predators.
Genome Variability and Gene Content in Chordopoxviruses: Dependence on Microsatellites
Authors: Hatcher Eneida , Wang Chunlin , Lefkowitz Elliot
Published: April 2015

To investigate gene loss in poxviruses belonging to the Chordopoxvirinae subfamily, we assessed the gene content of representative members of the subfamily, and determined whether individual genes present in each genome were intact, truncated, or fragmented. When nonintact genes were identified, the early stop mutations (ESMs) leading to gene truncation or fragmentation were analyzed. Of all the ESMs present in these poxvirus genomes, over 65% co-localized with microsatellites—simple sequence nucleotide repeats. On average, microsatellites comprise 24% of the nucleotide sequence of these poxvirus genomes. These simple repeats have been shown to exhibit high rates of variation, and represent a target for poxvirus protein variation, gene truncation, and reductive evolution.
A Phylogeographic Investigation of African Monkeypox
Authors: Nakazawa Yoshinori , Mauldin Matthew , Emerson Ginny , Reynolds Mary , Lash R. , Gao Jinxin , Zhao Hui , Li Yu , Muyembe Jean-Jacques , Kingebeni Placide , Wemakoy Okito , Malekani Jean , Karem Kevin , Damon Inger , Carroll Darin
Published: April 2015

Monkeypox is a zoonotic disease caused by a virus member of the genus Orthopoxvirus and is endemic to Central and Western African countries. Previous work has identified two geographically disjuct clades of monkeypox virus based on the analysis of a few genomes coupled with epidemiological and clinical analyses; however, environmental and geographic causes of this differentiation have not been explored. Here, we expand previous phylogenetic studies by analyzing a larger set of monkeypox virus genomes originating throughout Sub-Saharan Africa to identify possible biogeographic barriers associated with genetic differentiation; and projected ecological niche models onto environmental conditions at three periods in the past to explore the potential role of climate oscillations in the evolution of the two primary clades. Analyses supported the separation of the Congo Basin and West Africa clades; the Congo Basin clade shows much shorter branches, which likely indicate a more recent diversification of isolates within this clade. The area between the Sanaga and Cross Rivers divides the two clades and the Dahomey Gap seems to have also served as a barrier within the West African clade. Contraction of areas with suitable environments for monkeypox virus during the Last Glacial Maximum, suggests that the Congo Basin clade of monkeypox virus experienced a severe bottleneck and has since expanded its geographic range.
Evaluation of a distractor to increase joint space of the stifle joint in dogs: a cadaveric study
Authors: Devesa-Garcia V. , Urrutia P. G. , San Roman F. , Rodriguez-Quiros J. , Rovesti G. L.
Published: April 2015

Objective: To evaluate the technical feasibility and efficacy of a joint distraction technique to increase the stifle joint space and assess potential soft tissue damage due to the distraction.

Methods: Twenty stifle joints of twelve canine cadavers without evidence of disease were radiographically evaluated by medio-lateral, cranio-caudal and varus-valgus stressed projections. Joint distraction was applied with loads from 40 N up to 200 N, and the joint space achieved was measured on radiographic images. Distraction plus distension with saline was subsequently applied and measured. Varus-valgus stressed projections were repeated after distraction to evaluate a potential increase in joint laxity.

Results: Distraction produced a significant increase of the joint space for most of the evaluated loads. Distraction plus distension produced a significant increase for most of the loads compared to the distraction alone. No ensuing joint laxity could be inferred from the post-distraction radiographic evaluation.

Clinical significance: Stifle distraction produces an increase of the joint space, which is wider when intra-articular saline is injected. This may be potentially useful for improving joint structure visualization and facilitating arthroscopic procedures, thus reducing the potential for iatrogenic damage to intra articular structures. No soft tissue damage could be inferred by radiographic pre- and post-procedure comparison. Further clinical studies are required to evaluate potential neurovascular complications.
A Conceptual Model for Cloud Computing Adoption by SMEs in Australia
Authors: Senarathna Ishan , Warren Matthew , Yeoh William , Salzman Scott
Published: April 2015

Cloud Computing is an increasingly important worldwide development in business service provision. The business benefits of Cloud Computing usage include reduced IT overhead costs, greater flexibility of services, reduced TCO (Total Cost of Ownership), on-demand services, and improved productivity. As a result, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly adopting Cloud Computing technology because of these perceived benefits. The most economical deployment model in Cloud Computing is called the Public Cloud, which is especially suitable for SMEs because it provides almost immediate access to hardware resources and reduces their need to purchase an array of advanced hardware and software applications. The changes experienced in Cloud Computing adoption over the past decade are unprecedented and have raised important issues with regard to privacy, security, trust, and reliability. This chapter presents a conceptual model for Cloud Computing adoption by SMEs in Australia.
Analysis of Cloud Services on Business Processes in the Digitalization of the Consumer Product Industry
Authors: Riemann Ute
Published: April 2015

Nowadays, cloud computing is becoming popular within the business environment. Cloud services is not new, but the evolution of mobility, connectivity, and computing hardware has made it interesting for the business. Cloud services provides a way to increase the capacity or add capabilities dynamically without investing in new IT infrastructure, training new personnel, or licensing new software. Focusing on the consumer product goods (CPG) market with its mainly small and medium-sized companies, we see dramatic changes from the market demands, logistic challenges and price competition. The purpose of this chapter is therefore to present the positioning of cloud services in the CPG industry and to outline an approach that enables a typical company in the CPG industry to link the current capabilities of cloud services this to a business-process-driven evaluation approach to provide a transparency for the decision towards cloud services. The result of the business process investigation underlies assumptions and inductive conclusions.
An SNMP Based Traffic Characterisation Paradigm for Green-Aware Networks
Authors: Voderhobli Kiran
Published: April 2015

This chapter describes a novel approach to study network patterns in a data centre with the aim of reducing power consumed. Cloud infrastructures rely on numerous networked devices in data-centers to provide virtualization and sharing of resources. Network traffic is one of the key contributors to power consumption. Numerous techniques to develop power-aware data-centers have been proposed in the recent years. Virtualization management is based on many critical decisions including work-load, utilization, location of physical resources etc. This chapter takes a unique network management angle to greening a data center. It describes how Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) has a great potential to characterize traffic which can then feed into decisions for management of virtualized entities.
Secure Deduplication with Encrypted Data for Cloud Storage
Authors: Puzio Pasquale , Molva Refik , Önen Melek , Loureiro Sergio
Published: April 2015

With the continuous increase of the number of users and the size of their data, data deduplication becomes a necessity for cloud storage providers. By storing a unique copy of duplicate data, cloud providers greatly reduce their storage and data transfer costs. The advantages of deduplication unfortunately come with a high cost in terms of new security and privacy challenges. In this chapter we propose ClouDedup, a secure and efficient storage service which assures block-level deduplication and data confidentiality at the same time. Although ClouDedup is based on convergent encryption, it remains secure thanks to the definition of a component that implements an additional encryption operation. Furthermore, as the requirement for deduplication at block-level raises an issue with respect to key management, we suggest to include a new component in order to implement the key management for each block together with the actual deduplication operation. In this chapter we show how we have implemented the proposed architecture, the challenges we have met and our solutions to these challenges.
Two new species of Paralimna Loew, 1862 from Sierra Leone (Insecta, Diptera, Ephydridae)
Authors: Raffone Gianni
Published: April 2015

Two new species of Paralimna Loew, 1862 from Sierra Leone are described: Paralimna (Phaiosterna) grisea n. sp. is related  to Paralimna (Phaiosterna) bicolor (Macquart, 1851), from which it differs in having the face grayish, with a brown longitudinal, central stripe, 1 conspicuously clearer gray longitudinal medial stripe on the acrostichal area, the hindtibia with 3 anterodorsal setae and for the morphology of male terminalia. P. paralimna subinvisa n. sp. is related to Paralimna (Paralimna) invisa Soika, 1956, from which it differs in having the parafacial with 2 developed setae, the gena-to-eye ratio 0.25-0.26, the stripes of the scutum of equal width, the costal-vein ratio 0.62-0.64, the M-vein ratio 0.44-0.45 and for the morphology of male terminalia.
Vasoplegic syndrome: A challenge to anaesthetic management
Authors: Hazarika Amarjyoti , Singh Gyaninder , Malik Vishwas , Bithal Parmod
Published: April 2015

Perioperative hypotension is a well-recognized and relatively common problem during surgery. Vasoplegic syndrome is one such condition which is characterized by severe persistent hypotension with normal to high cardiac output and low systemic resistance. It is commonly seen in patients undergoing cardiac surgery on cardiopulmonary bypass. However, this syndrome has also been reported in off pump surgeries. Management of intraoperative hypotension may be challenging for an anaesthesiologist, if it does not respond or poorly respond to conventional therapy. We report the management of a hypertensive patient posted for spine surgery in prone position, who developed severe hypotension under anaesthesia refractory to treatment.
Appointment Template Redesign in a Women’s Health Clinic Using Clinical Constraints to Improve Service Quality and Efficiency
Authors: Verduzco S. , Huang Y.
Published: April 2015

Background: Patient wait time is a critical element of access to care that has long been recognized as a major problem in modern outpatient health care delivery systems. It impacts patient and medical staff productivity, stress, quality and efficiency of medical care, as well as health-care cost and availability.

Objectives: This study was conducted in a Women’s Health Clinic. The objective was to improve clinic service quality by redesigning patient appointment template using the clinical constraints.

Methods: The proposed scheduling template consisted of two key elements: the redesign of appointment types and the determination of the length of time slots using defined constraints. The reclassification technique was used for the redesign of appointment visit types to capture service variation for scheduling purposes. Then, the appointment length was determined by incorporating clinic constraints or goals, such as patient wait time, physician idle time, overtime, finish time, lunch hours, when the last appointment was scheduled, and the desired number of appointment slots, to converge the optimal length of appointment slots for each visit type.

Results: The redesigned template was implemented and the results indicated a 73% reduction in average patient waiting from the reported 40 to 11 minutes. The patient no-show rate was reduced by 4% from 24% to 20%. The morning section on average finished about 11:50 am. The clinic day was finished around 4:45 pm. Provider average idle time was estimated to be about 5 minutes, which can be used for charting/documenting patients.

Conclusions: This study provided an alternative method of redesigning appointment scheduling templates using only the clinical constraints rather than the traditional way that required an objective function. This paper also documented the employed methods step by step in a real clinic setting. The implementation results concluded a significant improvement on patient wait time and no-show rate.

Citation: Huang Y, Verduzco S. Appointment Template Redesign in a Women’s Health Clinic Using Clinical Constraints to Improve Service Quality and Efficiency. Appl Clin Inf 2015; 6: 271–287

http://dx.doi.org/10.4338/ACI-2014-10-RA-0094
Quantitative assessment of atmospheric emissions of toxic heavy metals from anthropogenic sources in China: historical trend, spatial variation distribution, uncertainties and control policies
Authors: Tian H. Z. , Zhu C. Y. , Gao J. J. , Cheng K. , Hao J. M. , Wang K. , Hua S. B. , Wang Y. , Zhou J. R.
Published: April 2015

Abstract. Anthropogenic atmospheric emissions of typical toxic heavy metals have received worldwide concerns due to their adverse effects on human health and the ecosystem. By determining the best available representation of time-varying emission factors with S-shape curves, we established the multiyear comprehensive atmospheric emission inventories of 12 typical toxic heavy metals (Hg, As, Se, Pb, Cd, Cr, Ni, Sb, Mn, Co, Cu and Zn) from primary anthropogenic activities in China for the period of 1949–2012 for the first time. Further, we allocated the annual emissions of these heavy metals in 2010 at a high spatial resolution of 0.5° × 0.5° grid with ArcGIS methodology and surrogate indexes, such as regional population and gross domestic product (GDP). Our results show that the historical emissions of Hg, As, Se, Cd, Cr, Ni, Sb, Mn, Co, Cu and Zn during the period of 1949–2012, have been increased by about 22–128 times at an annual average growth rate of 5.1–8.0%, amounting to about 79 570 t in 2012. Nonferrous metal smelting, coal combustion of industrial boilers, brake and tyre wear, and ferrous metals smelting represent the dominant sources for Hg / Cd, As / Se / Pb / Cr / Ni / Mn / Co, Sb / Cu, and Zn, respectively. In terms of spatial variation, the majority of emissions were concentrated in relatively developed regions, especially for the northern, eastern and southern coastal regions. In addition, because of the flourishing nonferrous metals smelting industry, several southwestern and central-southern provinces play a prominent role in some specific toxic heavy metals emissions, like Hg in Guizhou and As in Yunnan. Finally, integrated countermeasures are proposed to minimize the final toxic heavy metals discharge on accounting of the current and future demand of energy-saving and pollution reduction in China.
Accuracy and precision of 14C-based source apportionment of organic and elemental carbon in aerosols using the Swiss_4S protocol
Authors: Mouteva G. O. , Fahrni S. M. , Santos G. M. , Randerson J. T. , Zhang Y. L. , Szidat S. , Czimczik C. I.
Published: April 2015

Abstract. Aerosol source apportionment remains a critical challenge for understanding the transport and aging of aerosols, as well as for developing successful air pollution mitigation strategies. The contributions of fossil and non-fossil sources to organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) in carbonaceous aerosols can be quantified by measuring the radiocarbon (14C) content of each carbon fraction. However, the use of 14C in studying OC and EC has been limited by technical challenges related to the physical separation of the two fractions and small sample sizes. There is no common procedure for OC/EC 14C analysis, and uncertainty studies have largely focused on the precision of yields. Here, we quantified the uncertainty in 14C measurement of aerosols associated with the isolation and analysis of each carbon fraction with the Swiss_4S thermal-optical analysis (TOA) protocol. We used an OC/EC analyzer (Sunset Laboratory Inc., OR, USA) coupled to vacuum line to separate the two components. Each fraction was thermally desorbed and converted to carbon dioxide (CO2) in pure oxygen (O2). On average 91% of the evolving CO2 was then cryogenically trapped on the vacuum line, reduced to filamentous graphite, and measured for its 14C content via accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). To test the accuracy of our set-up, we quantified the total amount of extraneous carbon introduced during the TOA sample processing and graphitization as the sum of modern and fossil (14C-depleted) carbon introduced during the analysis of fossil reference materials (adipic acid for OC and coal for EC) and contemporary standards (oxalic acid for OC and rice char for EC) as a function of sample size. We further tested our methodology by analyzing five ambient airborne particulate matter (PM2.5) samples with a range of OC and EC concentrations and 14C contents in an interlaboratory comparison. The total modern and fossil carbon blanks of our set-up were 0.8 ± 0.4 and 0.67 ± 0.34 μg C, respectively, based on multiple measurements of ultra-small samples. The Swiss_4S protocol and the cryo-trapping contributed 0.37 ± 0.18 μg of modern carbon and 0.13 ± 0.07 μg of fossil carbon to the estimated blanks, with consistent estimates obtained for the two laboratories. There was no difference in the background correction between the OC and EC fractions. Our set-up allowed us to efficiently isolate and trap each carbon fraction with the Swiss_4S protocol and to perform 14C analysis of ultra-small OC and EC samples with high accuracy and low 14C blanks.
Spatial mapping of ground-based observations of total ozone
Authors: Chang K.-L. , Guillas S. , Fioletov V. E.
Published: April 2015

Abstract. Total column ozone variations estimated using ground-based stations provide important independent source of information in addition to satellite-based estimates. This estimation has been vigorously challenged by data inhomogeneity in time and by the irregularity of the spatial distribution of stations, as well as by interruptions in observation records. Furthermore, some stations have calibration issues and thus observations may drift. In this paper we compare the spatial interpolation of ozone levels using the novel stochastic partial differential equation (SPDE) approach with kriging. We show how these new spatial predictions are more accurate, less uncertain and more robust. We construct long-term zonal means to investigate the robustness against the absence of measurements at some stations as well as instruments drifts. We conclude that time series analyzes can benefit from the SPDE approach compared to kriging when stations are missing, but the positive impact of the technique is less pronounced in the case of drifts.
Swath-altimetry measurements of the main stem Amazon River: measurement errors and hydraulic implications
Authors: Wilson M. D. , Durand M. , Jung H. C. , Alsdorf D.
Published: April 2015

Abstract. The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission, scheduled for launch in 2020, will provide a step-change improvement in the measurement of terrestrial surface-water storage and dynamics. In particular, it will provide the first, routine two-dimensional measurements of water-surface elevations. In this paper, we aimed to (i) characterise and illustrate in two dimensions the errors which may be found in SWOT swath measurements of terrestrial surface water, (ii) simulate the spatio-temporal sampling scheme of SWOT for the Amazon, and (iii) assess the impact of each of these on estimates of water-surface slope and river discharge which may be obtained from SWOT imagery. We based our analysis on a virtual mission for a ~260 km reach of the central Amazon (Solimões) River, using a hydraulic model to provide water-surface elevations according to SWOT spatio-temporal sampling to which errors were added based on a two-dimensional height error spectrum derived from the SWOT design requirements. We thereby obtained water-surface elevation measurements for the Amazon main stem as may be observed by SWOT. Using these measurements, we derived estimates of river slope and discharge and compared them to those obtained directly from the hydraulic model. We found that cross-channel and along-reach averaging of SWOT measurements using reach lengths greater than 4 km for the Solimões and 7.5 km for Purus reduced the effect of systematic height errors, enabling discharge to be reproduced accurately from the water height, assuming known bathymetry and friction. Using cross-sectional averaging and 20 km reach lengths, results show Nash–Sutcliffe model efficiency values of 0.99 for the Solimões and 0.88 for the Purus, with 2.6 and 19.1 % average overall error in discharge, respectively. We extend the results to other rivers worldwide and infer that SWOT-derived discharge estimates may be more accurate for rivers with larger channel widths (permitting a greater level of cross-sectional averaging and the use of shorter reach lengths) and higher water-surface slopes (reducing the proportional impact of slope errors on discharge calculation).
Diagnostic Challenges in a Young Woman with Endometriosis: The Value of Excision
Authors: Donnelly Laura , Yeung Patrick
Published: April 2015

Objective

The aim of this report is to highlight the value of excision when treating and diagnosing endometriosis, as well as present an unusual case of concomitant endometriosis and pelvic malignancy in a young female.

Case Report

In a university hospital referral center, a 24-year-old nulligravid woman with suspected endometriosis had been treated unsuccessfully with empiric therapy for several years. Interventions were preoperative cyclic and continuous combined oral contraceptive pills and a NuvaRing for 2 years. Diagnosis was completed by laparoscopy and histologic evaluation. Surgical debulking by gynecology oncologist was followed by chemotherapy. The main outcome measure was definitive diagnosis via histology.

Results

Histologic diagnosis of endometriosis and concomitant pelvic malignancy with successful surgical excision of both.

Conclusions

When evaluating a patient with chronic pelvic pain, it is necessary to have a high degree of suspicion for endometriosis. Early surgical and histologic evaluation is imperative for definitive diagnosis. An added benefit of histologic diagnosis is the opportunity to assess for malignancy.
Deep Infiltrating Endometriosis Treatment with Dienogest: A Pilot Study
Authors: Yela Daniela Angerame , Kajikawa Patricia , Donati Laura , Cursino Kleber , Giraldo Helena , Benetti-Pinto Cristina Laguna
Published: April 2015

Background

The aim of this study was to evaluate treatment with dienogest in women with deep infiltrating endometriosis (DIE).

Methods

A prospective cohort study was conducted at the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics in the University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil. The study included 16 women with DIE and pain which was not responsive to treatment with other progestins, who were treated with dienogest, and who attend a tertiary university hospital in 2013. Scores for pain complaints, quality of life, sexuality and extent of endometriotic lesions were evaluated before and 6 months after treatment. Statistical methods included the Wilcoxon matched-pairs test, which was used for the analysis of the quantitative data, and the relationship between them was tested by the Spearman correlation index.

Results

Women were a mean 36 ± 6.2 years old and reported onset of painful symptoms at a mean 29.9 ± 8.6 years of age. A significant reduction in dysmenorrhea, acyclic pelvic pain, dyspareunia and defecation pain was reported after treatment. There was no significant change in the assessment of quality of life or the Female Sexual Function Index. Intestinal lesions, which had an initial 3.4 ± 4.2 cc average size, decreased to 1.6 ± 1.8 cc, but this reduction was not statistically significant. The most common side effects were headaches and acne.

Conclusions

Dienogest can be used for clinical pain control in DIE.
Evaluating CA125 and VAS Pain Modifications following Gnrh Analog to Exclude Superficial Endometriosis as Cause of Chronic Pelvic Pain
Authors: Venturella Roberta , Sacchinelli Angela , Rania Erika , Lico Daniela , Di Cello Annalisa , Rocca Morena Luigia , Mocciaro Rita , Zullo Fulvio , Morelli Michele
Published: April 2015

Background

The study aim was to assess the reliability in the diagnosis of superficial endometriosis of the combined evaluation of 2 parameters: modifications of serum CA125 and VAS pain score following 1 dose of GnRH analog (GnRH-a).

Methods

Women with chronic pelvic pain (CPP) were managed by GnRH-a administration and diagnostic laparoscopy. Serum CA125 and VAS pain score were assessed for each patient at the early follicular phase and 2 months after the administration of 11.25 mg GnRH-a. Following laparoscopy, subjects were grouped into groups A (72 women with endometriosis) and B (46 women without endometriosis). A multivariate model for CA125 and VAS reduction and for the combination of the 2 markers was calculated using logistic regression and diagnostic performance was evaluated as the AUC of ROC curve. Main outcome measure was the accuracy of the modifications of serum CA125 levels and VAS score following GnRH-a, in patients with histological diagnosis of superficial endometriosis.

Results

At baseline, both groups showed similar CA125 levels and VAS scores. Two months after GnRH-a, a significant reduction (delta [Δ]) in CA125 levels and VAS pain score was observed in group A only. AUCs for ΔCA125, ΔVAS score and for combination of these 2 deltas were 0.90, 0.83 and 0.97, respectively.

Conclusions

The assessment of serum CA125 and VAS pain score following GnRH-a demonstrates good reliability to exclude superficial endometriosis in patients with CPP. The response to GnRH-a administration in these women could therefore be employed as an ex juvantibus criterion for endometriosis diagnosis.
Association between Let-7 microRNA-Binding-Site Polymorphism in the KRAS 3'UTR and Endometriosis: A Replication Study and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Pagliardini Luca , Vanni Valeria S. , Papaleo Enrico , Corti Laura , Candiani Massimo , Vigano’ Paola
Published: April 2015

Background

Endometriosis is inherited as a complex genetic trait, and the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs61764370 within the KRAS gene on chromosome subband 12p12.1 has been proposed as a potential candidate gene. By disrupting a binding site for microinterference RNA (miRNA) let-7, the rs61764370 SNP variation site may increase activation of KRAS and favor disease development. Conflicting evidence, however, has emerged on the association between the rs61764370 SNP and endometriosis. Due to the potential implications of this issue for the diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis, we sought to replicate the sequencing of the KRAS rs61764370 SNP in a population of cases and controls and to perform a meta-analysis encompassing all currently available studies as well as our novel replication.

Methods

We sought to replicate for the first time the sequencing of KRAS rs61764370 SNP in a highly selected population of 86 cases of women with laparoscopically proven endometriosis and 72 healthy controls, and to perform a meta-analysis encompassing currently available studies and including affected subjects (n = 2,225) and controls (n = 1,923).

Results

The rs61764370 minor allele was observed in 12 of 86 women with endometriosis (14.0%) and in 15 of 72 controls (20.8%) (odds ratio [OR] = 0.76, 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.36-1.60, p = 0.48). The meta-analysis failed to identify any significant association (OR = 1.03, 95% CI, 0.89-1.20, p = 0.67, phet = 0.46).

Conclusions

KRAS variation site rs61764370 is unlikely related to disease development, and other loci with potential implications for diagnosis or treatment for endometriosis should be identified.
PROPORÇÃO DE BACTÉRIAS MULTIRRESISTENTES DE UM HOSPITAL PÚBLICO SUL-BRASILEIRO
Authors: Almeida Bernardo Montesanti Machado , Breda Giovanni L , Silva Monica Gomes
Published: April 2015

Introdução: O conhecimento da epidemiologia de bactérias em instituições hospitalares é de fundamental importância para guiar o tratamento empírico das infecções relacionadas aos cuidados de saúde. Objetivos: Analisar o perfil de sensibilidade das culturas realizadas em diferentes sítios dos principais patógenos multirresistentes no Hospital de Clínicas-UFPR, Curitiba, Brasil. Metodologia: Os dados foram analisados a partir da planilha de culturas do Serviço de Controle de Infecção Hospitalar (SCIH) do Hospital de Clínicas. Resultados: Foram analisadas 2312 amostras. Das 304 amostras de S. aureus, MRSA representou 18,4%. Dos isolados de Enterococcus sp, 48,1% eram VRE, em sua maioria representado pelo E. faecium. Porém a proporção de VRE em hemoculturas foi de 9,5%. De 731 amostras de Enterobactérias, 41% eram resistentes ao cefepima. Klebsiella pneumoniae foi a que apresentou maior proporção de cepas resistentes ao cefepima (65,9%) entre as Enterobactérias. As amostras de Acinetobacter baumannii apresentaram altas taxas de resistência à ampicilina-sulbactam (89,2%) e aos carbapenêmicos (90,3%). Dos antimicrobianos avaliados, o que apresentou melhor cobertura para os isolados de Pseudomonas aeruginosa foi a ceftazidima (79,2%). Conclusão: A proporção de MRSA foi menor do que a de outros hospitais brasileiros. A alta prevalência de Enterobactérias e de gram negativos não fermentadores de glicose resistentes confirmam a tendência nacional e latino-americana, com proporções maiores que a de hospitais norte americanos e europeus.