bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Comprehensive Assessment Model for Critical Infrastructure Protection
Authors: Häyhtiö Markus , Zaerens Klaus
Published: January 2018

International business demands seamless service and IT-infrastructure throughout the entire supply chain. However, dependencies between different parts of this vulnerable ecosystem form a fragile web. Assessment of the financial effects of any abnormalities in any part of the network is demanded in order to protect this network in a financially viable way. Contractual environment between the actors in a supply chain, different business domains and functions requires a management model, which enables a network wide protection for critical infrastructure. In this paper authors introduce such a model. It can be used to assess financial differences between centralized and decentralized protection of critical infrastructure. As an end result of this assessment business resilience to unknown threats can be improved across the entire supply chain.
Influential Factors Affecting Materials Management in Construction Projects
Authors: Jusoh Zairra Mat , Kasim Narimah
Published: January 2018

Construction projects are more often than not plagued by poor performances such as delays, cost overrun, low productivity, construction wastes and compromised quality. Amongst the critical contributory factors of poor project performances, is the ineffectiveness of materials management occurring in the construction sites. Indeed, materials management is a very important component for construction projects. However, there are only limited numbers of research available regarding this topic. Thus, this research focuses its study on materials management, specifically in identifying the influential factors that affect materials management in the construction project activities. Literatures from books, journal articles and conference papers related to poor project performances and materials management have been reviewed. Consequently, this study sorted the salient influential factors and categorized them based on their specific group. Out of 47 factors identified, they are classified into 8 groups. They are (1) site condition; (2) planning and handling on site; (3) management; (4) materials; (5) supplier and manufacturer default; (6) transportation; (7) contractual; and (8) governmental interferences. In conclusion, this study contends that by identifying the influential factors affecting materials management, it will help construction players to avoid the occurrence of those factors and will minimize the negative impacts on the overall performance of construction projects. Hence, the handling-over of project will be according to schedule and not delayed by materials mismanagement.
The Book of Ruth and Song of Songs in the First Hebrew Translation of The Taming of the Shrew
Authors: Kahn Lily
Published: January 2018

This article investigates the earliest Hebrew rendition of a Shakespearean comedy, Judah Elkind’s מוסר סוררה musar sorera ‘The Education of the Rebellious Woman’ (The Taming of the Shrew), which was translated directly from the English source text and published in Berditchev in 1892. Elkind’s translation is the only comedy among a small group of pioneering Shakespeare renditions conducted in late nineteenthcentury Eastern Europe by adherents of the Jewish Enlightenment movement. It was rooted in a strongly ideological initiative to establish a modern European-style literature in Hebrew and reflecting Jewish cultural values at a time when the language was still primarily a written medium on the cusp of its large-scale revernacularisation in Palestine. The article examines the ways in which Elkind’s employment of a Judaising translation technique drawing heavily on romantic imagery from prominent biblical intertexts, particularly the Book of Ruth and the Song of Songs, affects the Petruchio and Katherine plotline in the target text. Elkind’s use of carefully selected biblical names for the main characters and his conscious insertion of biblical verses well known in Jewish tradition for their romantic connotations serve to transform Petruchio and Katherine into Peretz and Hoglah, the heroes of a distinctly Jewish love story which offers a unique and intriguing perspective on the translation of Shakespearean comedy.
The Reception of Galician Performances and (Re)translations of Shakespeare
Authors: Lorenzo-Modia María Jesús
Published: January 2018

This presentation will deal with the reception of performances, translations and retranslations of Shakespeare’s plays into the Galician language. As is well-known, Galician is a Romance language which historically shared a common origin with Portuguese in the Iberian Peninsula, and which had a different evolution due to political reasons, i.e. the independence of Portugal and the recentralization of Spain after a long partition with the so called Catholic monarchs. As a consequence, Galician ceased to be the language of power and culture as it was during the Middle Ages, and was spoken by peasants and the lower classes in private contexts for centuries. With the disappearance of Francoism in the 1970s, the revival of Galician and its use as a language of culture was felt as a key issue by the Galician intelligentsia and by the new autonomous government formed in 1981. In order to increase the number of speakers of the language and to give it cultural respectability, translations and performances of prominent playwrights, and particularly those by Shakespeare were considered instrumental. This article will analyse the use of Shakespeare’s plays as an instrument of gentrification of the Galician language, so that the association with Shakespeare would confer a marginalized language social respectability and prestige.
Thermally controlled femtosecond pulse shaping using metasurface based optical filters
Authors: Rahimi Eesa , Şendur Kürşat
Published: January 2018

Shaping of the temporal distribution of the ultrashort pulses, compensation of pulse deformations due to phase shift in transmission and amplification are of interest in various optical applications. To address these problems, in this study, we have demonstrated an ultra-thin reconfigurable localized surface plasmon (LSP) band-stop optical filter driven by insulator-metal phase transition of vanadium dioxide. A Joule heating mechanism is proposed to control the thermal phase transition of the material. The resulting permittivity variation of vanadium dioxide tailors spectral response of the transmitted pulse from the stack. Depending on how the pulse’s spectrum is located with respect to the resonance of the band-stop filter, the thin film stack can dynamically compress/expand the output pulse span up to 20% or shift its phase up to 360°. Multi-stacked filters have shown the ability to dynamically compensate input carrier frequency shifts and pulse span variations besides their higher span expansion rates.
Development of a biaxial stretching test machine and its applications
Authors: Egoshi Kentaro , Kanai Toshitaka , Tamura Kazuhiro
Published: January 2018

The evaluation method for a biaxially oriented film was developed using in-situ measurement during the stretching process. It can obtain basic data such as stress-strain curves, birefringence, light scattering, three dimensional refractive indexes and birefringence distribution. Stress and strain as functions of stretching speed and stretching temperature, as well as the deformation of spherulite of semi-crystalline polymer can be obtained by measuring the birefringence and light scattering during the biaxial stretching process with a small piece of polymer sample. The experimental results show the stress, retardation and three dimensional molecular orientations behavior during the simultaneous biaxial stretching and the sequential biaxial stretching process. Stretchability, thickness uniformity and spherulite size can be obtained simultaneously. In this paper, advantages and details of the newly developed system will be discussed with some experimental data.
Predictors of the Effectiveness of Management Accounting Function in Nigerian Firms
Authors: Oyewo Babajide
Published: January 2018

This study evaluated the influence of six contingent variables – firm size, age, sector, existence of management accounting department, affiliation to foreign entity and public-quotation status – on the effectiveness of management accounting function in Nigerian firms. Stratified random sampling technique was deployed to obtain the views of 131 Finance Officers with oversight role across major sectors of the Nigerian economy. Statistical tools used in analysis were descriptive statistics, factor-analysis, Kruskal Wallis Test and binary logistic regression. Whilst detecting that contextual variables such as size, age, sector, existence of management accounting department and public-quotation status significantly affect the effectiveness of the management accounting function, affiliation to foreign entity was found not to exert significant influence. The strongest predictor of the likelihood of operating a very effective management accounting function was the existence of management accounting department. Organisations are encouraged to have separate management accounting department because of additional benefits imbued by specialist management accounting skills.
Regional Economic Growth Disparities in Ukraine: Input-Output Analysis Approach
Authors: Hryhorkiv Vasyl , Verstiak Andrii , Verstiak Oksana , Hryhorkiv Mariia
Published: January 2018

Regional inequalities in economic growth had been observed within many countries and regions. This research emphasizes convergence/divergence technique for Ukrainian regions. As concepts of β- and σ-convergence obtained from cross-country growth models has been subjected to a number of criticisms and they do not embrace applied significance in studying regional inequalities in Ukraine, we have built improved technique of investigating disparities across Ukrainian regions. The method is based on the analysis of regional input-output tables and its aggregation. Adopted technique provides weighted aggregation (by prices) of regional input-output tables that allows analyzing the structure of total for each region across sectors (or kinds of economic activity). We showed that implementation of aggregated regional input-output tables in analysis of regional convergence and the usage of equilibrium (weighted) prices have many advantages. The main finding is that among regions of Ukraine there are reduction of disparities in structures of different kinds of economic activities.
Managing Operational Risk Related to Microfinance Lending Process using Fuzzy Inference System based on the FMEA Method: Moroccan Case Study
Authors: Alaoui Youssef Lamrani , Tkiouat Mohamed
Published: January 2018

Managing operational risk efficiently is a critical factor of microfinance institutions (MFIs) to get a financial and social return. The purpose of this paper is to identify, assess and prioritize the root causes of failure within the microfinance lending process (MLP) especially in Moroccan microfinance institutions. Considering the limitation of traditional failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) method in assessing and classifying risks, the methodology adopted in this study focuses on developing a fuzzy logic inference system (FLIS) based on (FMEA). This approach can take into account the subjectivity of risk indicators and the insufficiency of statistical data. The results show that the Moroccan MFIs need to focus more on customer relationship management and give more importance to their staff training, to clients screening as well as to their business analysis.
Evolving Importance of Securities Market to Ensure Economic Growth: Evidence from Armenia
Authors: Salnazaryan Ashot , Aramyan Haykaz
Published: January 2018

This research aims to reveal the importance of securities market in ensuring economic growth in Armenia. In order to make the research more substantial, we also examined the impact of other financial market segments, such as insurance market and credit market, on the economic growth. To estimate the relationship between financial market segments and economic growth, an empirical research was conducted using correlation and regression techniques. The research reveals that the most significant impact on the economic growth among Armenian financial market segments has the credit market of Armenia. There is no significant relationship between economic growth and insurance, as well as corporate securities market. It is pointed out in the research, that the evolving importance of the role of securities market in the economic growth is not yet demonstrated in Armenia, which, perhaps, results from the absence of interaction between securities market and economy in Armenia.
Modelling Environment Changes for Pricing Weather Derivatives
Authors: Kabaivanov Stanimir , Markovska Veneta
Published: January 2018

This paper focuses on modelling environment changes in a way that allows to price weather derivatives in a flexible and efficient way. Applications and importance of climate and weather contracts extends beyond financial markets and hedging as they can be used as complementary tools for risk assessment. In addition, option-based approach toward resource management can offer very special insights on rare-events and allow to reuse derivative pricing methods to improve natural resources management. To demonstrate this general concept, we use Monte Carlo and stochastic modelling of temperatures to evaluate weather options. Research results are accompanied by R and Python code.
The Effect of Matching on Firm Earnings Components
Authors: Cho Joong-Seok , Park Hyung Ju
Published: January 2018

Using a sample of all U.S. firms listed on the U.S. major stock exchanges for the period covering 1988 through 2014, we investigate the relation between firm earnings components and matching. Following the methodology of Hui et al. (2016), we decompose earnings into industry-wide and firm-specific earnings. Then, we partition them into cash flows and accruals, four earnings components. As our matching measure, we use the correlation between revenues and expenses over the five-year rolling period. We investigate how matching affects the persistence of each earnings component and our results indicate that matching enhances the persistence of earnings components. Furthermore, our study shows that the effect is more outstanding on firm-specific accruals, which are more prone to the management discretion, than cash flows.
Assessment of sorption properties and kinetic reaction of phosphorus reactive material to limit diffuse pollution
Authors: Bus Agnieszka
Published: January 2018

Assessment of sorption properties and kinetic reaction of phosphorus reactive material to limit diffuse pollution. Polonite® is an effective reactive material (manufactured from opoka rock) for removing phosphorus from aqueous solutions. In conducted experiments, Polonite® of grain size of 2–5 mm was used as a potential reactive material which can be used as a filter fulfillment to reduce phosphorus diffuse pollution from agriculture areas. Kinetic and equilibrium studies (performed as a batch experiment) were carried out as a function of time to evaluate the sorption properties of the material. The obtained results show that Polonite® effectively removes such contamination. All tested concentrations (0.998, 5.213, 10.965 mg P-PO4·L−1) are characterized by a better fit to pseudo-second kinetic order. The Langmuir isotherm the best reflects the mechanism of adsorption process in case of Polonite® and based on the isotherm, calculated maximum adsorption capacity equals 96.58 mg P-PO4·g−1.
Differences Across Levels in the Language of Agency and Ability in Rating Scales for Large-Scale Second Language Writing Assessments
Authors: Anderson Salena Sampson
Published: January 2018

While large-scale language and writing assessments benefit from a wealth of literature on the reliability and validity of specific tests and rating procedures, there is comparatively less literature that explores the specific language of second language writing rubrics. This paper provides an analysis of the language of performance descriptors for the public versions of the TOEFL and IELTS writing assessment rubrics, with a focus on linguistic agency encoded by agentive verbs and language of ability encoded by modal verbs can and cannot. While the IELTS rubrics feature more agentive verbs than the TOEFL rubrics, both pairs of rubrics feature uneven syntax across the band or score descriptors with either more agentive verbs for the highest scores, more nominalization for the lowest scores, or language of ability exclusively in the lowest scores. These patterns mirror similar patterns in the language of college-level classroom-based writing rubrics, but they differ from patterns seen in performance descriptors for some large-scale admissions tests. It is argued that the lack of syntactic congruity across performance descriptors in the IELTS and TOEFL rubrics may reflect a bias in how actual student performances at different levels are characterized.
Regional Variation in Jespersen’s Cycle in Early Middle English
Authors: Walkden George , Morrison Donald Alasdair
Published: January 2018

In this paper we investigate the place of origin of the change from Jespersen’s Cycle stage II – bipartitene+not– to stage III,notalone. We use the LAEME corpus to investigate the dialectal distribution in more detail, finding that the change must have begun in Northern and Eastern England. A strong effect of region and time period can be clearly observed, with certain linguistic factors also playing a role. We attribute the early onset of the change to contact with Scandinavian: North Germanic is known to have undergone Jespersen’s Cycle earlier in its history, and the geographical distribution of early English stage III fits neatly with the earlier boundaries of the Danelaw.
Bad Boys Meet the Swan of Avon: A Re-Visioning of Hamlet in Sons of Anarchy
Authors: Burzyńska Katarzyna
Published: January 2018

This article investigates the intersections between Shakespeare’s Hamlet and a popular TV series Sons of Anarchy (SOA), loosely based on the Shakespearean original. The crime drama series revolves around an outlaw motorcycle club that literally “rules” a fictional town in California like an old royal family with its own brutal dynastic power squabbles and dark family secrets. The club is governed by an unscrupulous President Clay and an equally violent, though more conflicted, Vice President Jax Teller, the son of the late President, who had died in mysterious circumstances. In the article I argue that the popularity of the series lies not in its graphic scenes of violence, over-the-top Harley chases, and sex intrigues, but rather in its Shakespearean and Renaissance structure. SOA, dubbed as “Hamlet on Harleys”1, is an appropriation rather than an adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragedy, which makes it a truly transmedial phenomenon. The article investigates a fascinating blend of seemingly marginal elements of modern American culture and the canonical British tragedy. It also addresses the connections between the lifestyles of the so called outlaw MC clubs and the early modern family structure as presented in Hamlet, focusing on the issues of power and gender relations.
Comparison of Different Stall Conditions in Axial Flow Compressor Using Analytic Wavelet Transform
Authors: Arshad Ali , Qiushi Li
Published: January 2018

The rotating stall inception data analysis using Analytic Wavelet Transform (AWT) in a low-speed axial compressor was presented in the authors’ previous studies [1], [2]. These studies focused on the detection of instability inception in an axial flow compressor when it enters into the instability regime due to the modal type of stall perturbation. In this paper, the effectiveness of AWT is further studied by applying it under different testing conditions. In order to examine the results of AWT on highly sampled data, at first, the stall data were acquired at a high sampling frequency and the results were compared with the conventional filtered signals. Secondly, the AWT analysis of stall data was carried out for the condition when compressor experienced a spike type rotating stall disturbance. The stall inception information obtained from the AWT analysis was then compared with the commonly used stall detection techniques. The results show that AWT is equally beneficial for the diagnostic of compressor instability regardless of the data sampling rate and represents an outstanding ability to detect stall disturbance irrespective of the type of stall precursor, i.e. the modal wave or spike.
Integrated Positioning System With Restricted Access to Navigation Satellite Signals
Authors: Kondratiuk Vasyl , Kovalevskiy Eduard , Ilnytska Svitlana
Published: January 2018

Global satellite navigation system (GNSS) is by far the most cost-effective outdoor positioning technology currently available and used for many types of applications. In some cases a user may face difficult conditions, like restricted access to the navigation satellites due to natural or man-made phenomena. This paper presents an idea of an integrated positioning system capable of functioning under limited visibility conditions of navigation satellites. The system includes a digital antenna array, channels for converting radio navigation signals, a phase difference meter, a gyro platform with 3 gyros, an altimeter and a special calculator. With the help of mathematical modeling, the accuracy characteristics of the system are investigated by determining the coordinates of the carrier under conditions of a small number of available satellite signals.
Fatigue Monitoring Tool for Airline Operators (FMT)
Authors: Gislason Sigurdur Hrafn , Bogdane Ruta , Vasiļevska-Nesbita Inese
Published: January 2018

A Fatigue Monitoring Tool (FMT) model was constructed for an operational airline in order to manage the fatigue levels of their crews in accordance with Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS) practices. This article describes the implementation of the Fatigue Monitoring Tool model and the airline’s aims to put the recent scientific findings on aviation fatigue into practical use. The model consists of proxy points allotted to various duties and rest periods.
Narrative structures in Korean folktales: A comparative analysis of Korean and English versions
Authors: Song Sooho
Published: January 2018

A narrative is a sequence of connected events arranged by a narrator. Folktales are a genre of narrative stories that every cultural community possesses. They have spread through verbal storytelling rather than written formal texts and reflect cultural beliefs, cultural identity, traditions and social customs. In this paper, I comparatively analyse the narrative structure of two versions of Korean folktale stories: the original Korean version and their English versions rewritten by American writers. The results of the analysis reveal that a modification in narrative structure occurs during the process of trans-creating folktales into a different language to appeal to a target audience that has a different cultural background. The results of my analysis show that the story schemata of folktale stories and story patterns vary between cultures, reflecting the different cultural orientation of each audience.
Intermittent Cooling During Judo Training in a Warm/Humid Environment Reduces Autonomic and Hormonal Impact
Authors: Carballeira Eduardo , Morales José , Fukuda David H. , Granada María L. , Carratalá-Deval Vicente , López Díaz de Durana Alfonso , Stout Jeffrey R.
Published: January 2018

Carballeira, E, Morales, J, Fukuda, DH, Granada, ML, Carratalá-Deval, V, López Díaz de Durana, A, and Stout, JR. Intermittent cooling during Judo training in a warm/humid environment reduces autonomic and hormonal impact. J Strength Cond Res 33(8): 2241–2250, 2019—The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of superficial cooling on physiological responses while training in a warm, humid environment during an international Judo training camp. Sixteen judokas (8 women and 8 men) participated in the experiment. Four high-level women and 4 men were randomly assigned to wear a cooling vest (vest group [VG]) during the recovery periods within a training session (i.e., 8 bouts of 5-minute fighting with 5-minute rest) and up to 10 minutes after the session, whereas the remaining athletes in the control group (CG) trained without the use of any cooling aids. No differences between groups were reported in well-being before the session or in perceived fatigue after the session. The temperature was increased after the training session (p = 0.02) without significant differences between groups; however, CG demonstrated a moderate effect size (ES = 0.95, 90% confidence interval [CI] = 0.09–1.82; probability of superiority [PS] = 74.9%) in contrast to the small effect for VG (ES = 0.28, 90% CI = −0.55 to 1.11; PS = 57.9%). There were time × group interactions for heart rate variability (lnRMSSD) (p = 0.006; VG vs. CG, PS = 79.0%) and the dehydroepiandrosterone-cortisol ratio (DHEA/C ratio) (p = 0.04; VG vs. CG, PS = 99.9%). Vest group preserved the cardiac autonomic control (p > = 0.05; ES = −0.06, 90% CI = −0.88 to 0.76; PS = 51.7%) compared with the large decrement of CG (p < 0.05; ES = −1.18, 90% CI = −2.07 to −0.29; PS = 74.9%). Furthermore, VG showed an increase of DHEA/C (p = 0.002) from presession to postsession based on a moderate decrease of cortisol (p > = 0.05; ES = −0.67, 90% CI = −1.52 to 0.17; PS = 68.2%) with a concomitant small increase of DHEA (p > = 0.05; ES = 0.46, 90% CI = −0.38 to 1.29; PS = 62.7%). Conversely, the CG showed a moderate effect for increased DHEA and a small effect for increased cortisol after training. No significant interactions or main effects were shown for isometric handgrip values. Cooling vests diminished the cardiovascular strain and hormonal impact of the Judo training session in high-level athletes and may be considered for recovery purposes during exercise in warm/humid environments.
Investigation on Flexural Strength and Stiffness of Pervious Concrete for Pavement Applications
Authors: Chandrappa Anush K. , Biligiri Krishna Prapoorna
Published: January 2018

Sustainability in pervious concrete paving mixtures is obtained through interconnected macropore structure that allows heat and mass transfer efficiently. Compressive strength and permeability characteristics of pervious concrete have been extensively investigated in the past. However, the flexural behavior of pervious concrete, which is an important mode of loading observed in the field, is still a conjecture. Furthermore, flexural strength and flexural stiffness are the basic design inputs to determine the pavement slab thickness. With this as the background, the objective of this study was to investigate the behavior of pervious concrete in flexure and propose predictive models to estimate flexural properties that form the key inputs for thickness design. Beam specimens from 15 pervious concrete mixtures with 3 replicates per mix type comprising different mix variables were prepared and tested for flexural properties in a closed-loop servo-controlled hydraulic testing facility. Flexural strength and stiffness were found to be in the range of 1.5–3.2 MPa and 8,000–15,000 MPa, respectively. The mixtures consisting of smaller sized aggregates depicted large energy absorption abilities compared to larger sized aggregates, which seemed to be more brittle in nature. The predictive models based on the basic properties were rational with fair to good correlations: 0.65 ≤ R2adj ≤ 0.80. The models could be comfortably used in future to estimate flexural properties of pervious concrete in conjunction with the existing rigid pavement design methods that are envisaged to assist in arriving at rational thicknesses of pervious concrete slabs for field applications.
An Estimate of the Financial Cost of Peatland Restoration in Indonesia
Authors: Hansson Amanda , Dargusch Paul
Published: January 2018

The peat forests of Indonesia have experienced extensive deforestation and degradation over recent decades. High demand for Indonesian timber and plantation development has driven large-scale draining and clearing of peat forest, resulting in extensive fires and smoke haze problems across the region. These fires caused more than 100,000 premature deaths in 2015 alone, increased the pressure on several already threatened species, and placed Indonesia among the top greenhouse gas emitting countries globally. In response, the Indonesian government has launched an initiative to restore more than 2 million ha of peatland between now and 2020. Although there is a substantial body of academic literature that deals with technical aspects of tropical peatland restoration, little is published on the costs of tropical peatland restoration activities. In this study, we examine the case of peatland restoration in the provinces of Kalimantan, Sumatra, and Papua in Indonesia, and propose a restoration activity classification scheme based on fire, drainage, and logging history of peatland areas. We use this scheme to identify the restoration activity needs of different areas and then develop a preliminary gross financial cost estimate for the restoration activities proposed under the national 2-million-ha peatland restoration initiative. We find that it is likely to cost more than US$4.6 billion to complete the national 2-million-ha restoration initiative, which is substantially more than the funds currently allocated to the challenge across Indonesian and international donor budgets.
EDC IMPACT: Is exposure during pregnancy to acetaminophen/paracetamol disrupting female reproductive development?
Authors: Arendrup Frederic Schrøder , Mazaud-Guittot Severine , Jégou Bernard , Kristensen David Møbjerg
Published: January 2018

Concern has been raised over chemical-induced disruption of ovary development during fetal life resulting in long-lasting consequences only manifesting themselves much later during adulthood. A growing body of evidence suggests that prenatal exposure to the mild analgesic acetaminophen/paracetamol can cause such a scenario. Therefore, in this review, we discuss three recent reports that collectively indicate that prenatal exposure in a period of 13.5 dayspost coitumin both rats and mouse can result in reduced female reproductive health. The combined data show that the exposure results in the reduction of primordial follicles, irregular menstrual cycle, premature absence ofcorpus luteum, as well as reduced fertility, resembling premature ovarian insufficiency syndrome in humans that is linked to premature menopause. This could especially affect the Western parts of the world, where the age for childbirth is continuously being increased and acetaminophen is recommended during pregnancy for pain and fever. We therefore highlight an urgent need for more studies to verify these data including both experimental and epidemiological approaches.
Unintended Side Effects of Transformation Are Very Rare in Cryptococcus neoformans
Authors: Friedman Ryan Z , Gish Stacey R , Brown Holly , Brier Lindsey , Howard Nicole , Doering Tamara L , Brent Michael R
Published: January 2018

Received wisdom in the field of fungal biology holds that the process of editing a genome by transformation and homologous recombination is inherently mutagenic. However, that belief is based on circumstantial evidence. We provide the first direct measurement of the effects of transformation on a fungal genome by sequencing the genomes of 29 transformants and 30 untransformed controls with high coverage. Contrary to the received wisdom, our results show that transformation of DNA segments flanked by long targeting sequences, followed by homologous recombination and selection for a drug marker, is extremely safe. If a transformation deletes a gene, that may create selective pressure for a few compensatory mutations, but even when we deleted a gene, we found fewer than two point mutations per deletion strain, on average. We also tested these strains for changes in gene expression and found only a few genes that were consistently differentially expressed between the wild type and strains modified by genomic insertion of a drug resistance marker. As part of our report, we provide the assembled genome sequence of the commonly used laboratory strain Cryptococcus neoformans var. grubii strain KN99α.
The Chromatin Remodeler Isw1 Prevents CAG Repeat Expansions During Transcription inSaccharomyces cerevisiae
Authors: Koch Melissa R , House Nealia C M , Cosetta Casey M , Jong Robyn M , Salomon Christelle G , Joyce Cailin E , Philips Elliot A , Su Xiaofeng A , Freudenreich Catherine H
Published: January 2018

CAG/CTG trinucleotide repeat expansions cause several degenerative neurological and muscular diseases. Koch et al. show that the chromatin remodeling...

CAG/CTG trinucleotide repeats are unstable sequences that are difficult to replicate, repair, and transcribe due to their structure-forming nature. CAG repeats strongly position nucleosomes; however, little is known about the chromatin remodeling needed to prevent repeat instability. In a Saccharomyces cerevisiae model system with CAG repeats carried on a YAC, we discovered that the chromatin remodeler Isw1 is required to prevent CAG repeat expansions during transcription. CAG repeat expansions in the absence of Isw1 were dependent on both transcription-coupled repair (TCR) and base-excision repair (BER). Furthermore, isw1∆ mutants are sensitive to methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) and exhibit synergistic MMS sensitivity when combined with BER or TCR pathway mutants. We conclude that CAG expansions in the isw1∆ mutant occur during a transcription-coupled excision repair process that involves both TCR and BER pathways. We observed increased RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) occupancy at the CAG repeat when transcription of the repeat was induced, but RNAPII binding did not change in isw1∆ mutants, ruling out a role for Isw1 remodeling in RNAPII progression. However, nucleosome occupancy over a transcribed CAG tract was altered in isw1∆ mutants. Based on the known role of Isw1 in the reestablishment of nucleosomal spacing after transcription, we suggest that a defect in this function allows DNA structures to form within repetitive DNA tracts, resulting in inappropriate excision repair and repeat-length changes. These results establish a new function for Isw1 in directly maintaining the chromatin structure at the CAG repeat, thereby limiting expansions that can occur during transcription-coupled excision repair.
Atrioventricular conduction defect associated with severe hyponatremia
Authors: Karabag Turgut , Kalayci Belma , Sayin Muhammet Rasit , Erten Turgay
Published: January 2018

Hyponatremia is the most common electrolyte disorder among hospitalized patients and in the clinical setting. Patients with hyponatremia may develop a variety of symptoms, primarily neurological and gastrointestinal. Hyponatremia is more frequently encountered in patients with an underlying heart disease, particularly in the elderly. We hereby present a case of complete atrioventricular block in an elderly patient who had undergone aortic valve replacement and had been using thiazide. Complete atrioventricular block improved after sodium replacement therapy and no other cause of electrolyte disorder was documented.
Risk for Severe Pulmonary Tuberculosis among Alcoholics and Diabetics
Authors: J Balachandran , B Sreekumar
Published: January 2018

Tuberculosis is a major public health problem. Some patients present with minimal lesions where as others present with advanced lesions. Patients with advanced or severe disease have high morbidity and mortality. Their infectiousness is also high. This is a Case control study to identify the strength of associations between two important factors, namely alcoholism and diabetes mellitus, and severity of disease. There were 80 cases and 80 controls. Cases were patients with severe disease and controls were patients with minimal disease. Severity of tuberculosis was assessed by chest radiographic criteria as per American Thoracic Society recommendation. The study was done over a period of 18 months. Both inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied in the selection of cases and controls. 46.25% of cases and 23.75% of controls were alcoholic. 15% of cases were suffering from diabetes mellitus whereas only 5% of controls were diabetic. Univariate analysis showed that both alcoholism and diabetes mellitus were significant risk factors. When the confounding effect of age was also taken into account, diabetes mellitus was not found to be a significant risk factor in causing severe pulmonary tuberculosis. Therefore preventive measures may be targeted to alcoholics for the early identification of severe pulmonary tuberculosis.
A Study On Effect Of Sleep Duration On Spo2 And Pulse Rate In College Students Of Angamaly, Kerala
Authors: Sai Sailesh Kumar , Padmanabha Padmanabha , Abraham Jobby , Angel Jose , J.K Mukkadan
Published: January 2018

The present study was undertaken with an objective to observe the effect of sleep duration on spo2 and pulse rate in males and females and to create awareness among the general population to improve the quality of life. The present study has been performed at Little Flower Medical Research Centre, Angamaly, Kerala, India. A total of two hundred and twenty two healthy male and female college students, with mean age 18.55 ± 0.94 were participated voluntarily in the medical camp comprising 110 males and 112 females. Two investigators of our study recorded Spo2 and pulse rate by using pulse oximeter from the students at the same time. The participants were grouped into two groups, those who sleep more than seven hours and those who sleep for less than seven hours and their spo2 pulse rate were compared. The analysis of data was done by SPSS 20.0. Independent sample t test is used for data analysis. Spo2 is equal in both the groups. However pulse rate is slightly lower in the students who sleep less than seven hours. However this is not statistically significant (P value 0.372). Our study suggests that Pulse rate is slightly lower in the students whose sleep duration is less. No significant change is observed in spo2 in our study. Hence this study merits to continue with higher sample size.
Glomerulonephritis In Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
Authors: Mohan Das M.K. , Sanjeev Sanjeev
Published: January 2018

Glomerulonephritis is also known as glomerular nephritis (GN) or glomerular disease. It is a disease of the kidney, characterized by inflammation of the glomeruli. The present study was undertaken with the objectives to explore the incidence and clinical profile of non diabetic renal disease in type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, to observe renal histology, to identify nature of glomerular disease, to identify the Prognostic factors and to observe the response to specific treatment. The Present study was conducted in June 1, 2001 to Dec 31, 2004 at Medical College Thiruvananthapuram. Twenty four patients with mean age of 51 were included in the study. Male and female ratio is 13:11. Mean duration of the patients suffering with diabetes mellitus is 8 years. Mean duration of the patients suffering with hypertension is 5 years. All patients had non nephrotic range proteinuria with a maximum of 2.8gms. Total number of patients are divided into five groups. We have observed thirteen patients with diabetes mellitus and glomerular disease with or without tubulo inerstitial nephritis. Five patients with diabetes mellitus and glomerular disease only. Four patients with diabetes mellitus only. One patient with diabetes mellitus with tubulo inerstitial nephritis. One patient with glomerular disease and tubulo inerstitial nephritis. Eleven patients were died. In the present study the relation between the variables is not statistically significant. Hence we suggest to carry out the study further with higher sample size to explore the relation well.
Prevalence Of Urinary Tract Infection In Febrile Children Less Than Five Years Of Age
Authors: Somaiah G , Mohinuddin Siddique Ashraf , Gupte Suaraj , Kiran Sai , Kumar B Raj , Ram P Jaya
Published: January 2018

The aim of the present study was to diagnose the urinary tract infection in febrile children and to assess the validity of microscopic urine analysis and urine culture in the diagnosis of UTI. It is a prospective study conducted in a tertiary care hospital. 370 children were included in the study, data related to age, sex, nutritional status, socioeconomic status and predisposing risk factors like urethral instrumentation, bowel habits etc, were noted. A thorough physical examination with relevant investigations was carried out in all patients. Routine blood counts, urine analysis was done and those showing pus cells >5 per HPF in centrifuged urine sample were taken as study group and urine culture sensitivity was done in them. A total of 370 febrile children were included in the study, out of 370 patients in study 165 were males and 205 were females with M: F ratio 1:1.2 and majority of them i.e.64.8% were <2years. In our study out of 370 children 48 children showed significant pyuria(12.9%) of pyuric cases 26% showed significant bacterial growth making an overall prevalence of 3.5%.Among culture positive UTI'S 76% were <2years of age with a overall prevalence of 4.1% in children <2years and 7%in children <1year.
In Vitro Antifungal Susceptibility Of Griseofulvin, Fluconazole, Itraconazole And Terbinafine Against Clinical Isolates Of Trichophyton Rubrum And Trichophyton Mentagrophytes
Authors: Reddy K R , Reddy S Ram
Published: January 2018

Investigations on antifungal drug susceptibility were carried out on 90 clinical isolates of Trichophyton rubrum, and Trichophyton mentagrophytes with four antifungal drugs, namely griseofulvin, fluconazole, itraconazole and terbinafine as suggested by National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) M27–A (1997) document by broth macrodilution method to standardize in vitro antifungal susceptibility testing and to find out the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of the drugs. In this study, terbinafine was found to be the most efficient drug for all isolates. Terbinafine had the lowest MIC range of 0.001 g/ml to 0.09 g/ml and MIC50 was low at 0.005 g/ml and MIC90 was also low at 0.04 g/ml against T.rubrum; and MIC range of 0.001μg/ml to 0.19μg/ml with a MIC50 of 0.01μg/ml and MIC90 at 0.09μg/ml against T.mentagrophytes. Itraconazole showed antifungal activity superior to that of fluconazole, with a MIC range of 0.04g/ml to 1.56g/ml, with MIC50 at 0.19μg/ml and MIC90 at 1.56g/ml against T.rubrum; and MIC range of 0.04μg/ml to 1.56μg/ml, with MIC50 at 0.19μg/ml and MIC90 at 0.78μg/ml against T.mentagrophytes. Griseofulvin appears to be still a potent drug for management of dermatophytoses. Griseofulvin had a MIC range of 0.15g/ml to 5.07 g/ml with MIC50 at1.26 g/ml and MIC90 at 2.53 g/ml against T.rubrum; and MIC range of 0.31μg/ml to 5.07μg/ml with MIC50 at 1.26μg/ml and MIC90 at 2.53μg/ml against T.mentagrophytes. Fluconazole showed a high MIC range of 0.19 g/ml to 50 g/ml and MIC50 was high at 1.56g/ml and MIC90 was also high at 12.5 g/ml against T.rubrum; and a high MIC range of 0.09μg/ml to 25.0μg/ml, with MIC50 at 1.56μg/ml and MIC90 at 12.5μg/ml towards T.mentagrophytes. The technique was found to be easy to perform and reliable with consistent results.
A Study Of Comprehensive Management Of Distal End Humerus Fractures In Adults
Authors: Gupta S.K.Venkatesh , Kumar K Mahendra , Reddy G.Veera , Avinash K Sachin , Charyulu N. CH. Venugopala , Kumar V Vizia
Published: January 2018

In young adults, most distal humerus fractures occur from high-energy trauma like Sidesweep injuries, motor vehicle accidents, falls from height and gunshot wounds. In elderly persons with more osteoporotic bone; most of these injuries occur from falls. Evolution of management of these fractures have revolutionized over time. Management of distal end of humerus fractures pose a challenge to treating orthopedic surgeon. Choice of implant depends of fracture anatomy and circumstances. In the present study we evaluate modes of management of distal end of humerus fractures in adults. Thirty six cases of fracture of distal humerus in adults were treated both conservatively and surgically and fixed using various implants in Mamata General Hospital, Khammam from October 2010 to October 2012. The Objectives of the study are to analyze the various methods of management of distal humeral fractures in adults. Most of the cases were males with age ranging between 18 to 65 years. By mayo elbow performance scoring system out of 36 patients, 14 patients (38.9%) had excellent results, 11 patients (30.6%) had good results, 4 patients (11.1%) had fair results and 7 patients (19.4%) had poor results. Reconstruction plates and cannulated cancellous screws offer excellent results in distal humeral fractures in adults.Open reduction and internal fixation with reconstruction plate and cancellous screws can be considered as the treatment of choice. With this method, proper length of the distal humerus, opposition, articular congruency, axial alignment, rotational alignment and stability with good range of motion of elbow can be restored. Hence, Reconstruction plates and cannulated cancellous screws can be considered as first line of management.
A Complete Review Article on ABC of Blood Groups
Authors: Singh A Purna , S Rathod Shivanand , K Kodumuru Praveen , JM Desai , Nagose Vaishali
Published: January 2018

ABO and Rh blood group systems are the most important blood grouping systems from clinical aspect. Determination of blood group is important for blood transfusion therapy, medico-legal purposes, organ transplantation, settlement of paternity disputes etc. Nearly 25 types of blood groups are present. ABO incompatibility between mother and fetus may produce infertility or hemolytic disease of the new born, and persons of certain blood groups have an increased susceptibility to peptic ulcer or gastric cancer. The purpose of this review is to summarize the concepts and origin of ABO and other blood groups systems and Chemistry of Blood group specificity (Glycoproteins found in body fluids).
Race, Preoperative Risk Factors, and Death After Surgery
Authors: Akbilgic Oguz , Langham Max Raymond , Davis Robert Lowell
Published: January 2018

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:

African American children are more than twice as likely to die after surgery compared with white children. In this study, we evaluated whether risk factors for death after surgery differ for African American and white children, and we also assessed whether race-specific risk stratification models perform better than non–race-specific models.

METHODS:

The National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Pediatric Participant Use Data File contains clinical data on operations performed on children at participating institutions in the United States. Variables predictive of death within 30 days of surgery were analyzed for differences in prevalence and strength of association with death for both African American and white children. Classification tree and network analysis were used.

RESULTS:

Network analyses revealed that the prevalence of preoperative risk factors associated with death after surgery was significantly higher for African American than for white children. In addition, many of the risk factors associated with death after surgery carried a higher risk when they occurred in African American children. Race-specific risk models provided high accuracy, with a specificity of 94% and a sensitivity of 83% for African American children and a specificity of 96% and a sensitivity of 77% for white children, and yet these 2 models were significantly different from each other.

CONCLUSIONS:

Race-specific models predict outcomes after surgery more accurately compared with non–race-specific models. Identification of race-specific modifiable risk factors may help reduce racial disparities in surgery outcome.