bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Планирование вариантов доставки товаров автомобильным транспортом в торговых распределительных сетях
Authors: Тюрин Алексей Юрьевич
Published: June 2015

В статье рассматриваются вопросы планирования вариантов доставки товаров автомобильным транспортом в торговых распределительных сетях. Приводится алгоритм планирования поставок, указываются особенности группировки потребителей по зонам обслуживания, устанавливается периодичность доставки товаров в эти зоны. На примере показывается эффективность использования эвристических методов построения маршрутов перевозок автотранспортом большой группе потребителей.
Determinan Penyaluran Kredit Konsumsi pada Bank Konvensional
Authors: Wibowo Hendro , - Sutrisno
Published: June 2015

The aim of this research is to investigate variables affected to con-sumption credit distribution to the consumersof conventional banks in Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta (DIY/Special Province of Yogyakarta); those variables includes Loan to Value(LTV), Third Party Funds (DPK), Non-Performing Loan (NPL), and inflation. The objects of this research are all conventional banks in DIY consist of 48 banks. The data usage is monthly data from 2010-2013 that was analyzed based on multiple linear regression. The findings show that LTV provide af-fects negative significantly towards distribution of consumption credit. Furthermore, DPK affects positive significantly towards credit distri-bution. NPL and inflation affect not significantly towards consumption credit.
An Analysis of Firms' Self-Reported Anticorruption Efforts
Authors: Healy Paul M. , Serafeim George
Published: June 2015

We use Transparency International's ratings of self-reported anticorruption efforts to analyze factors underlying the ratings. Our tests examine whether these disclosures reflect firms' real efforts to combat corruption or are cheap talk. We find that the ratings are related to enforcement and monitoring, country and industry corruption risk, and governance variables. Controlling for these effects and other ratings determinants, we find that firms with lower residual ratings have higher subsequent citations in corruption news events. They also report higher future sales growth and show a negative relation between profitability change and sales growth in high corruption geographic segments, but not in low corruption segments. The net effect on valuation from sales growth and changes in profitability is close to zero. The findings are robust to a number of sensitivity tests, including analysis of disclosures for a larger sample over multiple years. We conclude that, on average, firms' disclosures signal real efforts to combat corruption.
Arizona Microbrewery, Inc.: An Instructional Case on Management Decision Making
Authors: Samuels Janet A. , Sawers Kimberly M.
Published: June 2015

This case provides students with an opportunity to utilize cost volume profit (CVP) analysis tools in a contextually rich environment of a microbrewery. The case explores basic CVP concepts as well as decision making for constrained resources, make versus buy, and new product development. Further, the case requires quantitative analysis, understanding, and exploration of contextual issues as well as assessment of qualitative factors. While directed at graduate students (M.B.A. and E.M.B.A.) in a managerial accounting course, this case may also be suitable for undergraduate students with some minor modifications.
Crowdsourcing Tags in Accounting and Finance: Review, Analysis, and Emerging Issues
Authors: O'Leary Daniel E.
Published: June 2015

This paper examines the use of crowdsourcing informal and discretionary tags in accounting and finance. Crowd-provided tags employ short amounts of text to capture some characteristic(s) of documents, messages, financial information, and other objects. Increasingly, tagging is being used in systems for knowledge management, including facilitating search and categorization. The paper reviews previous research on tagging, summarizes accounting applications of crowdsourced tags, investigates problems associated with using crowdsourced tags in accounting, and generates a number of potential research issues. Empirical analysis of Delicious and Twitter data are used to illustrate some of the concepts associated with the emerging technology of crowdsourced tags in accounting and finance. Empirical analysis finds that users provide different tags for the same concept, potentially making it difficult to use tags for search purposes. In addition, users appear to generate redundant tags, with many tags simply capturing object title information.
State Ownership and Earnings Management around Initial Public Offerings: Evidence from China
Authors: Cheng C. S. Agnes , Wang Jing , Wei Steven X.
Published: June 2015

This study investigates earnings management by firms around their initial public offerings (IPOs) in domestic Chinese equity markets. Using a sample of 437 IPO firms, we find that Chinese firms tend to inflate earnings around their IPOs. We also show that state-owned enterprises (SOEs) manage earnings to a lesser degree than non-state-owned enterprises (NSOEs) do around IPOs. Furthermore, using path analysis, we find that two incentive factors, CEO shareholding and accessibility to bank loans, explain 48 percent of the correlation between state ownership and earnings management for IPO firms. In particular, accessibility to bank loans is a more important incentive factor that leads to less earnings management for SOEs than NSOEs.
Efficacy and Safety of Once-Weekly Dulaglutide Versus Insulin Glargine in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes on Metformin and Glimepiride (AWARD-2)
Authors: Giorgino Francesco , Benroubi Marian , Sun Jui-Hung , Zimmermann Alan G. , Pechtner Valeria
Published: June 2015

OBJECTIVE

This study compared the efficacy and safety of once-weekly dulaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist, with daily insulin glargine, both combined with maximally tolerated doses of metformin and glimepiride in patients with type 2 diabetes. The primary objective was noninferiority of dulaglutide 1.5 mg to glargine in the HbA1c change from baseline at 52 weeks.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

In this 78-week, open-label study, 810 patients were randomized to dulaglutide 1.5 mg, dulaglutide 0.75 mg, or glargine.

RESULTS

The baseline mean ± SD HbA1c was 8.1 ± 1.0% (65.5 ± 10.8 mmol/mol). The least squares mean ± SE HbA1c change from baseline to the primary end point was −1.08 ± 0.06% (−11.8 ± 0.7 mmol/mol) for dulaglutide 1.5 mg, −0.76 ± 0.06% (−8.3 ± 0.7 mmol/mol) for dulaglutide 0.75 mg, and −0.63 ± 0.06% (−6.9 ± 0.7 mmol/mol) for glargine, with an end point mean ± SD dose of 29 ± 26 units (0.33 ± 0.24 units/kg), and a fasting plasma glucose (mean ± SD) of 118 ± 23 mg/dL from self-monitored plasma glucose. Statistical criteria for superiority were met with dulaglutide 1.5 mg and for noninferiority with dulaglutide 0.75 mg. More patients on dulaglutide 1.5 mg achieved HbA1c targets <7.0% (53 mmol/mol) versus glargine (P < 0.001). Body weight decreased with dulaglutide and increased with glargine. Total hypoglycemia rates were lower with dulaglutide; severe hypoglycemia was minimal. Increases in pancreatic enzymes were observed for dulaglutide. Incidence of nausea (15.4, 7.7, and 1.5%) and diarrhea (10.6, 9.2, and 5.7%) were more common with dulaglutide 1.5 mg and 0.75 mg than with glargine.

CONCLUSIONS

Once-weekly dulaglutide 1.5 mg, compared with daily insulin glargine without forced titration, demonstrated greater HbA1c reduction and weight loss, with a higher incidence of gastrointestinal adverse events and a lower risk of hypoglycemia.
Pathological response of cavernous malformations following radiosurgery
Authors: Shin Samuel S. , Murdoch Geoffrey , Hamilton Ronald L. , Faraji Amir H. , Kano Hideyuki , Zwagerman Nathan T. , Gardner Paul A. , Lunsford L. Dade , Friedlander Robert M.
Published: June 2015

OBJECT

Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is a therapeutic option for repeatedly hemorrhagic cavernous malformations (CMs) located in areas deemed to be high risk for resection. During the latency period of 2 or more years after SRS, recurrent hemorrhage remains a persistent risk until the obliterative process has finished. The pathological response to SRS has been studied in relatively few patients. The authors of the present study aimed to gain insight into the effect of SRS on CM and to propose possible mechanisms leading to recurrent hemorrhages following SRS.

METHODS

During a 13-year interval between 2001 and 2013, bleeding recurred in 9 patients with CMs that had been treated using Gamma Knife surgery at the authors' institution. Microsurgical removal was subsequently performed in 5 of these patients, who had recurrent hemorrhages between 4 months and 7 years after SRS. Specimens from 4 patients were available for analysis and used for this report.

RESULTS

Histopathological analysis demonstrated that vascular sclerosis develops as early as 4 months after SRS. In the samples from 2 to 7 years after SRS, sclerotic vessels were prominent, but there were also vessels with incomplete sclerosis as well as some foci of neovascularization.

CONCLUSIONS

Recurrent bleeding after SRS for CM could be related to incomplete sclerosis of the vessels, but neovascularization may also play a role.
High-fidelity virtual stenting: modeling of flow diverter deployment for hemodynamic characterization of complex intracranial aneurysms
Authors: Xiang Jianping , Damiano Robert J. , Lin Ning , Snyder Kenneth V. , Siddiqui Adnan H. , Levy Elad I. , Meng Hui
Published: June 2015

OBJECT

Flow diversion via Pipeline Embolization Device (PED) represents the most recent advancement in endovascular therapy of intracranial aneurysms. This exploratory study aims at a proof of concept for an advanced device-modeling tool in conjunction with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to evaluate flow modification effects by PED in actual, treated cases.

METHODS

The authors performed computational modeling of 3 PED-treated complex aneurysm cases. The patient in Case 1 had a fusiform vertebral aneurysm treated with a single PED. In Case 2 the patient had a giant internal carotid artery (ICA) aneurysm treated with 2 PEDs. Case 3 consisted of tandem ICA aneurysms (III-a and III-b) treated by a single PED. The authors’ recently developed high-fidelity virtual stenting (HiFiVS) technique was used to recapitulate the clinical deployment process of PEDs in silico for these 3 cases. Pretreatment and posttreatment aneurysmal hemodynamics studies performed using CFD simulation were analyzed. Changes in aneurysmal flow velocity, inflow rate, wall shear stress (WSS), and turnover time were calculated and compared with the clinical outcome.

RESULTS

In Case 1 (occluded within the first 3 months), the aneurysm had the most drastic flow reduction after PED placement; the aneurysmal average velocity, inflow rate, and average WSS were decreased by 76.3%, 82.5%, and 74.0%, respectively, whereas the turnover time was increased to 572.1% of its pretreatment value. In Case 2 (occluded at 6 months), aneurysmal average velocity, inflow rate, and average WSS were decreased by 39.4%, 38.6%, and 59.1%, respectively, and turnover time increased to 163.0%. In Case 3, Aneurysm III-a (occluded at 6 months) had a decrease by 38.0%, 28.4%, and 50.9% in average velocity, inflow rate, and average WSS, respectively, and turnover time increased to 139.6%, which was quite similar to Aneurysm II. Surprisingly, the adjacent Aneurysm III-b had more substantial flow reduction (a decrease by 77.7%, 53.0%, and 84.4% in average velocity, inflow rate, and average WSS, respectively, and an increase to 213.0% in turnover time) than Aneurysm III-a, which qualitatively agreed with angiographic observation at 3-month follow-up. However, Aneurysm III-b remained patent at both 6 months and 9 months. A closer examination of the vascular anatomy in Case 3 revealed blood draining to the ophthalmic artery off Aneurysm III-b, which may have prevented its complete thrombosis.

CONCLUSIONS

This proof-of-concept study demonstrates that HiFiVS modeling of flow diverter deployment enables detailed characterization of hemodynamic alteration by PED placement. Posttreatment aneurysmal flow reduction may be correlated with aneurysm occlusion outcome. However, predicting aneurysm treatment outcome by flow diverters also requires consideration of other factors, including vascular anatomy.
Reducing surgical site infections following craniotomy: examination of the use of topical vancomycin
Authors: Abdullah Kalil G. , Attiah Mark A. , Olsen Andrew S. , Richardson Andrew , Lucas Timothy H.
Published: June 2015

OBJECT

Although the use of topical vancomycin has been shown to be safe and effective for reducing postoperative infection rates in patients after spine surgery, its use in cranial wounds has not been studied systematically. The authors hypothesized that topical vancomycin, applied in powder form directly to the subgaleal space during closure, would reduce cranial wound infection rates.

METHODS

A cohort of 150 consecutive patients who underwent craniotomy was studied retrospectively. Seventy-five patients received 1 g of vancomycin powder applied in the subgaleal space at the time of closure. This group was compared with 75 matched-control patients who were accrued over the same time interval and did not receive vancomycin. The primary outcome measure was the presence of surgical site infection within 3 months. Secondary outcome measures included tissue pH from a subgaleal drain and vancomycin levels from the subgaleal space and serum.

RESULTS

Vancomycin was associated with significantly fewer surgical site infections (1 of 75) than was standard antibiotic prophylaxis alone (5 of 75; p < 0.05). Cultures were positive for typical skin flora species. As expected, local measured vancomycin concentrations peaked immediately after surgery (mean ± SD 499 ± 37 μg/ml) and gradually decreased over 12 hours. Vancomycin in the circulating serum remained undetectable. Subgaleal topical vancomycin was associated with a lower incidence of surgical site infections after craniotomy. The authors attribute this reduction in the infection rate to local vancomycin concentrations well above the minimum inhibitory concentration for antimicrobial efficacy.

CONCLUSIONS

Topical vancomycin is safe and effective for reducing surgical site infections after craniotomy. These data support the need for a prospective randomized examination of topical vancomycin in the setting of cranial surgery.
Spreading of multiple Listeria monocytogenes abscesses via central nervous system fiber tracts: case report
Authors: Bojanowski Michel W. , Seizeur Romuald , Effendi Khaled , Bourgouin Patrick , Magro Elsa , Letourneau-Guillon Laurent
Published: June 2015

Animal studies have shown that Listeria monocytogenes can probably access the brain through a peripheral intraneural route, and it has been suggested that a similar process may occur in humans. However, thus far, its spreading through the central nervous system (CNS) has not been completely elucidated. The authors present a case of multiple L. monocytogenes cerebral abscesses characterized by a pattern of distribution that suggested spread along white matter fiber tracts and reviewed the literature to identify other cases for analysis. They elected to include only those cases with 3 or more cerebral abscesses to make sure that the distribution was not random, but rather followed a pattern. In addition, they included those cases with abscesses in both the brainstem and the cerebral hemispheres, but excluded cases in which abscesses were located solely in the brainstem.

Of 77 cases of L. monocytogenes CNS abscesses found in the literature, 17 involved multiple abscesses. Of those, 6 were excluded for lack of imaging and 3 because they involved only the brainstem. Of the 8 remaining cases from the literature, one was a case of bilateral abscesses that did not follow a fiber tract; another was also bilateral, but with lesions appearing to follow fiber tracts on one side; and in the remaining 6, to which the authors added their own case for a total of 7, all the abscesses were located exclusively in the same hemisphere and distributed along white matter fiber tracts.

The findings suggest that after entering the CNS, L. monocytogenes travels within the axons, resulting in a characteristic pattern of distribution of multiple abscesses along the white matter fiber tracts in the brain. This report is the first description suggesting intraaxonal CNS spread of L. monocytogenes infection in humans following its entry into the brain. This distinct pattern is clearly seen on imaging and its recognition may be valuable in the diagnosis of listeriosis. This finding may allow for earlier diagnosis, which may improve outcome.
A preliminary investigation into concurrent aerobic and resistance training in youth runners
Authors: Bluett Kelly A. , Croix Mark B.A. De Ste , Lloyd Rhodri S.
Published: June 2015

BACKGROUND: Studies in adults have shown benefits in endurance performance by combining aerobic and resistance training. However, whether concurrent strength and aerobic training is beneficial in children remains to be identified.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a 10 week aerobic training programme compared to a concurrent aerobic and resistance training programme on leg strength, fat free mass (%FFM), forced vital capacity (FVC) and 3 km-running performance in youth athletes.

METHODS: Twelve trained youth competitive runners were pair matched into either an aerobic (AT) or concurrent (CT) training group based on maturational status and initial 3 km-running performance. The aerobic training consisted of continuous and interval training twice weekly for all participants. The CT group additionally performed resistance training twice weekly.

RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences between groups for any parameters pre-training. Significant correlations were found between 3 km-running performance and leg strength, FVC and %FFM. No significant interaction or main effects for any of the key outcome variables were found. There was however, a 38 s group difference in 3 km-running time post intervention indicating some interference of the resistance training on ERP.

CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that concurrent endurance and resistance training should be avoided in trained youth athletes.
Reproducibility and validity of the PowerCal device for estimating power output during sprints in well-trained cyclists
Authors: Costa Vitor P. , Guglielmo Luiz Guilherme A. , Paton Carl D.
Published: June 2015

BACKGROUND: The PowerCal device purports to effectively estimate power output (PO) using an algorithm computed from the HR response recorded during exercise.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the reproducibility and validity of PO estimation using the PowerCal during sprints.

METHODS: Ten well-trained male cyclists (maximal oxygen uptake-62.7 ± 5.9 ml ⋅ kg-1⋅ min-1) performed four separate experimental trials over a two-week period. Cyclists completed an incremental exercise test until volitional exhaustion followed by three maximal sprint sessions on separate days. Each sprint session consisted of 3 repeated maximal-effort sprints (15, 30, and 45 s) formatted with an effort/recovery duration ratio of 1:5.

RESULTS: Peak power output (PPO) and mean power output (MPO) of the PowerCal showed high within-subject variation (6.7 to 21.5%) and low to high intra-class coefficient of correlation (ICC = 0.39 to 0.85). Furthermore, the PPO from PowerCal was underestimated by 6.6 to 13.9% and the MPO by 14.9 to 27.6% when compared to the Velotron. Furthermore, the data exhibited high bias (32 W to 129 W) and large confidence limits (-236 to 315 W) between the PO derived from the Powercal and the Velotron.

CONCLUSION: We do not recommend competitive cyclists or sport scientists to use the PowerCal if reliable and valid PO information is required during maximal sprints.
A large number of short sprints is required to avoid practice based improvement effect during the assessment of cycling peak power
Authors: Pekünlü Ekim
Published: June 2015

BACKGROUND: Practice based improvement (PBI) should be minimized in studies associated with evaluation and interpretation of tests intended for measuring cycling peak power (PP).

OBJECTIVE: To assess the required number of 5-second Wingate All-out Test (5 s WAT) trials to obtain a stabilized PP in a single test session and to find out whether a single session is enough to avoid any PBI.

METHODS: Twenty-four well-trained male athletes (PP: 14.2 ± 1.6 W ⋅ kg - 1) participated in two testing sessions separated by 5-8 days. In each session, participants performed nine 5 s WAT trials. The highest PP in the first ``n'' trials (1 ≤ n ≤ 9) was regarded as the representative PP.

RESULTS: Only eight participants (≈ 33.3%) reached their real PP in the first five trials both in the first and second session. No statistically significant difference was found in the highest PP between sessions (p = 0.35, Hedge's d = -0.07, difference of 1.04%). Therefore, a single familiarization session including extensive number of short sprints seemed to be sufficient for avoiding the effect of PBI on PP. Based on comparison of mean values, sequential estimation procedure, and number of participants having performance improvement greater than the smallest worthwhile change score, ≥ 5 trials were required in both sessions to have a stabilized PP.

CONCLUSIONS: Trainers and researchers should use ≥ 5 trials of 5-second sprints to assess accurate cycling PP of their athletes/participants whether they are familiarized with short cycling sprints or not.
Impact-induced soft-tissue vibrations associate with muscle activation in human landing movements: An accelerometry and EMG evaluation
Authors: Fu Weijie , Wang Xi , Liu Yu
Published: June 2015

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have not used neurophysiological methodology to explore the damping effects on induced soft-tissue vibrations and muscle responses.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the changes in activation of the musculoskeletal system in response to soft-tissue vibrations with different applied compression conditions in a drop-jump landing task.

METHODS: Twelve trained male participants were instructed to perform drop-jump landings in compression shorts (CS) and regular shorts without compression (control condition, CC). Soft-tissue vibrations and EMG amplitudes of the leg within 50 ms before and after touchdown were collected synchronously.

RESULTS: Peak acceleration of the thigh muscles was significantly lower in CS than in CC during landings from 45 or 60 cm and 30 cm heights(p < 0.05), respectively. However, the damping coefficient was higher in CS than in CC at the thigh muscles during landings from 60 cm height (p < 0.05). Significant decrease in EMG amplitude of the rectus femoris and biceps femoris muscles was also observed in CS (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION: Externally induced soft-tissue vibration damping was associated with a decrease in muscular activity of the rectus femoris and biceps femoris muscles during drop-jump landings from different heights.
A passively safe cable driven upper limb rehabilitation exoskeleton
Authors: Chen Yanyan , Fan Jizhuang , Zhu Yanhe , Zhao Jie , Cai Hegao
Published: June 2015

BACKGROUND: When using upper limb exoskeletons that assist the movement of physically weak people, safety should be the most important index.

OBJECTIVE: In this paper, a passively safe, cable-driven upper limb exoskeleton with parallel actuated joints, which perfectly mimics human motions, is proposed.

METHODS: Compared with the existing upper limb exoskeletons which are mostly designed only considering the realization of functional properties, and having poor wearabity, a passively safe prototype for motion assistance based on human anatomy structure has been developed in our design. This design is based on the prior exoskeleton structure with the adoption of a gravity balanced device.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The gravity balanced mechanism was confirmed in theory and simulation, showing it has a positive effect on balance.
An induction heating device using planar coil with high amplitude alternating magnetic fields for magnetic hyperthermia
Authors: Wu Zuhe , Zhuo Zihang , Cai Dongyang , Wu Jian'an , Wang Jie , Tang Jintian
Published: June 2015

BACKGROUND: Induction heating devices using the induction coil and magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) are the way that the magnetic hyperthermia is heading.

OBJECTIVE: To facilitate the induction heating of in vivo magnetic nanoparticles in hyperthermia experiments on large animals.

METHODS: An induction heating device using a planar coil was designed with a magnetic field frequency of 328 kHz. The coil's magnetic field distribution and the device's induction heating performance on different concentrations of magnetic nanoparticles were measured.

RESULTS: The alternating magnetic field produced in the axis position 165 mm away from the coil center is 40 Gs in amplitude; magnetic nanoparticles with a concentration higher than 80 mg. mL-1 can be heated up rapidly.

CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate that the device can be applied not only to in vitro and in small animal experiments of magnetic hyperthermia using MNPs, but also in large animal experiments.
Novel ``crowbar effect'' approach to improve success rate of recanalization of coronary chronic total occlusions
Authors: Liu Ruifang , Xu Fangxing , Liu Tongku
Published: June 2015

BACKGROUND: Coronary chronic total occlusions (CTO) are the most challenging lesions to treat percutaneously. Thus, consistent efforts are made to develop new approaches to treat CTO.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the key points of a novel ``crowbar effect'' approach to improve the success rate of recanalization of CTOs.

METHODS: One hundred and fifty-seven patients with CTO were treated with PCI using the regular antegrade guide wire approach. Of them, 36 patients (22.9%) showed that while the first guide wire was inserted into the CTO lesions, a small balloon had difficulty passing through the CTO lesions. For those patients, the new crowbar effect technique was used to allow the balloon to pass through the lesions.

RESULTS: The coronary CTO vessels in 35 patients (97.2%) were completely opened. Coronary perforation occurred in 5 patients (13.8%). This perforation was properly treated and did not lead to serious complications.

CONCLUSION: The crowbar effect technique proved successful as an alternative antegrade method for opening CTO. The procedure of this novel method is easy to accomplish and success rates are high.
Psychophysiological classification and experiment study for spontaneous EEG based on two novel mental tasks
Authors: Wang Hui , Song Aiguo , Li Bowei , Xu Baoguo , Li Yangming
Published: June 2015

BACKGROUND: Study of imagination offers a perfect setting for study of a large variety of states of consciousness.

OBJECTIVE: Here, we studied the characteristics of two electroencephalographic (EEG) patterns evoked by two different imaginary tasks and evaluated the binary classification performance.

METHODS: Fifteen individuals (11 male and 4 female, age range of 22 to 33) participated in five sessions of 32-channel EEG recordings. Only by analyzing the subjects' output EEG signals from the central parieto-occipital region of PZ electrode, under the circumstances of consciousness of relaxation-meditation or tension-imagination, we carried out the experiment of feature extraction for spontaneous EEG, as the subjects were blindfolded but asked to open their eyes all the same. The Hilbert-Huang Transform (HHT) was utilized to obtain the Hilbert time-frequency amplitude spectrum, and then with the feature vector set extracted, a two-class Fisher linear discriminant analysis classifier was trained for classification of data epochs of those two tasks.

RESULTS: The overall result was that about 90% (± 5%) of the epochs could be correctly classified to their originating task.

CONCLUSION: This study not only brings new opportunities for consciousness studies, but also provides a new classification paradigm for achieving control of robots based on the brain-computer interface (BCI).
Comparative analysis for evaluating the traceability of interventional devices using blood vessel phantom models made of PVA-H or silicone
Authors: Yu Chang-Ho , Kwon Tae-Kyu , Park Chan Hee , Ohta Makoto , Kim Sung Hoon
Published: June 2015

OBJECTIVE: In this paper, we investigated the parameters with effective traceability to assess the mechanical properties of interventional devices.

METHODS: In our evaluation system, a box-shaped poly (vinyl alcohol) hydrogel (PVA-H) and silicone were prepared with realistic geometry, and the measurement and evaluation of traceability were carried out on devices using load hand force. The phantom models had a total of five curve pathways to reach the aneurysm sac.

RESULTS: Traceability depends on the performance of the interventional devices in order to pass through the curved part of the model simulation track. The traceability of the guide wire was found to be much better than that of the balloon and stent loading catheter, as it reached the aneurysm sac in both phantom models.

CONCLUSIONS: Observation using the video record is another advantage of our system, because the high transparency of the materials with silicone and PVA-H can allow visualization of the inside of an artery.
Simulation and experimental research on micro-channel for detecting cell status in bio-artificial liver
Authors: Wu Changzhe , Cao Yue , Huo Xiaolin , Li Ming
Published: June 2015

BACKGROUND: Bioartificial liver support system (BALSS) based on culturing hepatocytes is an important research field for the treatment of acute liver failure. It is necessary to monitor the state of liver cell functions during the treatment of BALSS in order to guide clinical treatment.

OBJECTIVE: To design a micro-channel chip to achieve flash mixing for timely detection of liver cell status in bioreactors and improving liver cells growth environment to ensure the efficacy of the bio-artificial liver support system.

METHODS: Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and Urea are chosen as detection indicators to reflect the degree of liver cell injury and the detoxification function. A diamond tandem structure micro-channel is designed and optimized to achieve the efficient mixing of serum and ALT or Urea reagent.

RESULTS: The simulation and experimental results show that the diamond tandem structure micro-channel can significantly improve the mixing efficiency and meet the online detecting requirements.

CONCLUSION: The easily controllable diamond tandem structure micro-channel combines the advantages of active and passive mixer and can effectively mix the serum and ALT or Urea reagent. It lays the foundation for online monitoring of liver cells and will help to improve the viability of liver cell in the bioreactor.
Driver fatigue detection based on eye state
Authors: Lin Lizong , Huang Chao , Ni Xiaopeng , Wang Jiawen , Zhang Hao , Li Xiao , Qian Zhiqin
Published: June 2015

BACKGROUND: Nowadays, more and more traffic accidents occur because of driver fatigue.

OBJECTIVE: In order to reduce and prevent it, in this study, a calculation method using PERCLOS (percentage of eye closure time) parameter characteristics based on machine vision was developed. It determined whether a driver's eyes were in a fatigue state according to the PERCLOS value.

METHODS: The overall workflow solutions included face detection and tracking, detection and location of the human eye, human eye tracking, eye state recognition, and driver fatigue testing. The key aspects of the detection system incorporated the detection and location of human eyes and driver fatigue testing. The simplified method of measuring the PERCLOS value of the driver was to calculate the ratio of the eyes being open and closed with the total number of frames for a given period.

RESULTS: If the eyes were closed more than the set threshold in the total number of frames, the system would alert the driver.

CONCLUSION: Through many experiments, it was shown that besides the simple detection algorithm, the rapid computing speed, and the high detection and recognition accuracies of the system, the system was demonstrated to be in accord with the real-time requirements of a driver fatigue detection system.
A new optical technique to monitor joint motion using position sensitive detector
Authors: Jung Gu-In , Park Byung Kyu , Kim Ji-Sun , Lee Tae-Hee , Choi Ju-Hyeon , Oh Han-Byeol , Kim A-Hee , Goh Bong-Jun , Kim Ji-Won , Lee Ki Sung , Jun Jae-Hoon
Published: June 2015

BACKGROUND: Evaluation of joint movements is essential to choose an appropriate rehabilitation protocol for a patient.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to suggest an alternative optical technique for measurement of joint angle which is convenient, inexpensive, and can be operated in real time.

METHODS: According to the principle of the triangulation method, position sensitive detector (PSD) converts reflected light signals into distance-related voltages. Various parameters were investigated to increase detection range and resolution of joint angle measurements.

RESULTS: The accuracy of the suggested optical sensor was verified by comparing with a commercial goniometer and 3D motion capture system.

CONCLUSIONS: This method can be applied to monitor recovery progress for the patient in rehabilitation and sport science.
The detection of crackles based on mathematical morphology in spectrogram analysis
Authors: Zhang Kexin , Wang Xuefeng , Han Fangfang , Zhao Hong
Published: June 2015

BACKGROUND: Crackles are very common abnormal breath sounds in the lung and can be used to diagnose pulmonary diseases.

OBJECTIVE: In this study, a method is proposed for the detection of adventitious transient sounds from normal breath sounds.

METHODS: This method automatically recognizes crackles based on the extraction and analysis of spectral information from digitally recorded lung sounds. Various mathematical morphology feature sets were extracted through wavelet spectrogram analysis on pulmonary signals. In order to evaluate the effects of different wavelets types on crackle detection, different wavelets were tested.

RESULTS: The results showed that the proposed method achieved an 86% accuracy in the detection of crackles.

CONCLUSIONS: The spectrograms of the crackles in the lung exhibit irregular ellipse image features. For lung sound analysis, this is a useful feature that can be used for the immediate recognition and analysis of crackles.
Multiple fuzzy c-means clustering algorithm in medical diagnosis
Authors: Wu Yanping , Duan Huilong , Du Shufeng
Published: June 2015

BACKGROUND: In recent years, the use of the fuzzy c-means(FCM) clustering techniques in medical diagnosis has steadily increased, because of its effectiveness in recognizing systems in the medical database to help medical experts diagnosing diseases. However, its performance is highly dependent on the randomly initialized cluster centroids which may allow the diagnosis to be trapped into the problem of the local optimum.

OBJECTIVE: This paper proposes a multiple fuzzy c-means (MFCM) algorithm for medical diagnosis.

METHODS: The new method optimizes the initial optimizing cluster centers by comparing the Euclidean distance between patient data. Further, this paper assigns a set of weights to the features of a certain disease to equalize their difference influence as a substitute for data normalization.

RESULTS: The performance of proposed MFCM algorithm was demonstrated through dividing complex primary headache data into Migraine, Tension-Type Headache (TTH), Trigeminal Autonomic Cephalalgias (TACs) and other primary headache disorders. In addition the superiority of MFCM algorithm was proven by comparing analytical results with other state-of-the-art clustering methods.

CONCLUSIONS: This MFCM method has shown a new application in medical diagnosis.
Photomechanical effect on Type I collagen using pulsed diode laser
Authors: Jung Gu-In , Kim Ji-Sun , Lee Tae-Hee , Choi Ju-Hyeon , Oh Han-Byeol , Kim A-Hee , Kim Jun-Sik , Park Jong-Rak , Chung Soon-Cheol , Yeom Dong-Il , Kim Hyung-Sik , Jun Jae-Hoon
Published: June 2015

BACKGROUND: As the most abundant protein in human tissues, the use of collagen is essential in the fields of biological science and medicine.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to investigate the mechanical effect of pulsed laser irradiation on collagen tissue.

METHODS: With various laser parameters such as peak power, pulse width, and repetition rate, the induced stresses on samples were measured and analyzed. Monte Carlo simulation was performed to investigate the effect of laser parameters on the collagen sample.

RESULTS: The results indicated that the magnitude of mechanical stress could be controlled by various laser parameters.

CONCLUSIONS: This study can be used in biostimulation for therapy and mechanoreceptor stimulation for tactile application.
Remotely controlled biking is associated with improved adherence to prescribed cycling speed
Authors: Jeong In Cheol , Finkelstein Joseph
Published: June 2015

BACKGROUND: Individuals with mobility impairment may benefit from passive exercise mode which can be subsequently enhanced by an active exercise program. However, it is unclear which exercise mode promotes higher adherence to prescribed exercise intensity.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this project was to compare adherence to prescribed speed during passive and active cycling exercise.

METHODS: We used cross-over study design in which subjects followed the same cycling intensity prescription for passive and active exercise modes in a random sequence. Coefficient of variation (CV) and speed differences were used to estimate extent of deviation from the prescribed trajectory.

RESULTS: CV varied from 5.2% to 20.4% for the active mode and from 2.8% to 4.5% for the passive mode respectively. Though the CV differences did not reach statistical significance, analysis of cycling speed adherence of 120-second periods showed significantly higher cycling adherence during passive mode for each target cycling speed.

CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicated that the passive mode may promote exercise safety and efficacy by helping patients who have safety concerns such as the frail elderly, patients with cardiovascular conditions or people with other contraindications for excessive exertion during exercise, in following the optimal intensity trajectory prescribed by their provider.
Acute appendicitis diagnosis using artificial neural networks
Authors: Park Sung Yun , Kim Sung Min
Published: June 2015

BACKGROUND: Artificial neural networks is one of pattern analyzer method which are rapidly applied on a bio-medical field.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this research was to propose an appendicitis diagnosis system using artificial neural networks (ANNs).

METHODS: Data from 801 patients of the university hospital in Dongguk were used to construct artificial neural networks for diagnosing appendicitis and acute appendicitis. A radial basis function neural network structure (RBF), a multilayer neural network structure (MLNN), and a probabilistic neural network structure (PNN) were used for artificial neural network models. The Alvarado clinical scoring system was used for comparison with the ANNs.

RESULTS: The accuracy of the RBF, PNN, MLNN, and Alvarado was 99.80%, 99.41%, 97.84%, and 72.19%, respectively. The area under ROC (receiver operating characteristic) curve of RBF, PNN, MLNN, and Alvarado was 0.998, 0.993, 0.985, and 0.633, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: The proposed models using ANNs for diagnosing appendicitis showed good performances, and were significantly better than the Alvarado clinical scoring system (p < 0.001). With cooperation among facilities, the accuracy for diagnosing this serious health condition can be improved.
Recruitment of the ventral and dorsal streams in statistical graph comprehension: An fMRI study
Authors: Li Mi , Lu Shengfu , Zhong Ning
Published: June 2015

BACKGROUND: Although many previous studies have focused on statistical graph comprehension in cognitive psychology, there is no consensus among them.

OBJECTIVE: Brain neuroimaging studies on the statistical graph comprehension are useful to account for the cognitive mechanism of interpreting statistical graphic information.

METHODS: The present study used two experimental conditions, a statistical graph (SG) and a statistical graph with text (SGT), and one control condition, a text (ST), where the ST task was a verbal description of the information from the SG, and when the SGT is a mixed graph + textual description. We used fMRI to investigate the brain activity of 36 normal subjects while they passively viewed the statistical information presented in visual forms as SG, ST or SGT.

RESULTS: The results showed that compared with the control tasks, both SG and SGT consistently activated ventral and dorsal streams and that compared with SGT, SG significantly activated the ventral stream but not the dorsal stream.

CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the portions of the ventral and dorsal streams related to object recognition are commonly involved in statistical graph comprehension. These findings provide neuroimaging evidence for the cognitive processing of statistical graphs.
Symbolic representation based on trend features for biomedical data classification
Authors: Yin Hong , Yang Shuqiang , Zhu Xiaoqian , Ma Shaodong , Chen Liqian
Published: June 2015

BACKGROUND: The widespread access to portable medical devices or new personal devices is boosting the amount of biomedical data. These devices provide a growing massive data that far exceeds the analytical ability of a professional doctor. The computer-assisted analysis of biomedical data has become an essential tool in medicine diagnosis.

OBJECTIVE: Due to the advantages of discrete, noise elimination and dimensionality reduction, symbolic representation of biomedical data has attracted great interest. The symbolization results provide efficiently performing at data mining, such as pattern discovery, anomaly detection and association rules mining, so we want to use the method to improving the biomedical data classification.

METHODS: In this paper, we introduce a novel symbolic representation method, called Trend Feature Symbolic Approximation (TFSA).

RESULTS: The TFSA focuses on retaining most of the original series' trend features, and it also very suitable for subsequent mining work, such as association rules mining.

CONCLUSION: The TFSA provides the lower bounding guarantee and the experimental results show that comparing with some existing methods, its classification accuracy is improved.
Grain yield, nutrient balance and economics of T. Aman rice cultivation as influenced by nutrients management
Authors: Jahan MAH S , Sarkar MAR , Barma NCD , Mondal MNA , Ferdousi MNS
Published: June 2015

A field experiment was conducted at Regional Wheat Research Centre of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Joydebpur, Gazipur, Bangladesh during 2007 and 2008. The objectives were to find out the optimum nutrient management practice for grain yield, nutrient balance and economics of T. Aman rice. Twelve nutrient management treatments (with and without CRI) were tested in RCBD with 3 replications. Treatments were T1=HYG (0-80-16- 44-12-2-0), T2=MYG (0-56-12-32-8-1.5-0), T3=IPNS (5000-65-13-32-9-2-0), T4=STB (0-68-15-37-11-2-0), T5=FP (0-39-7-12-0-0-0), T6=CON (0-0-0-0-0-0- 0), T7=HYG+CRI(Crop residue incorporation), T8=MYG+CRI, T9=IPNS+CRI, T10=STB+CRI, T11=FP+CRI, T12=CON+CRI kg ha-1 CDNPKSZnB for T. Aman rice. On an average, maximum grain yield of T. Aman rice was obtained from STB+CRI (5.24 t ha-1) followed by IPNS+CRI (5.13 t ha-1), STB (5.12 t ha-1), IPNS (5.03 t ha-1), HYG+CRI (4.50t ha-1) and HYG (4.41 t ha-1). Numerically but not statistically higher yield and yield contributing parameters were noticed in CRI plots than without CRI. Except N and K remaining nutrient balance like P S Zn and B were found positive in case of HYG, MYG, IPNS and STB along with or without CRI nutrient managements while FP and CON (Control) showed negative balance. The maximum BCR was observed in STB (3.25) followed by STB+CRI (3.14) and IPNS (2.98) and similar trend was observed in MBCR.Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 40(1): 17-34, March 2015
Effect of nitrogen level and leaf cutting frequency on foliage and seed yields of coriander
Authors: Moniruzzaman M , Rahman MM
Published: June 2015

A field experiment was conducted at BSMRAU farm, Gazipur to evaluate the effects of four nitrogen levels (0, 40, 80 and 120 kg/ha) and four levels of leaf cutting ( no cutting, one cutting at 30 DAS), two cuttings at 30 & 45 DAS and three cuttings at 30, 45 & 60 DAS ) on three genotypes of coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) (CS001, CS002 and CS003). The genotype CS003 produced the highest foliage yield (8.92 t/ha) and the genotype CS001 gave the highest seed yield (0.93 t/ha). The maximum foliage and seed yields were obtained from the N application at 80 kg N/ha. The maximum foliage yield (11.21 t/ha) was recorded with the three cuttings, but the highest seed yield was noted with the one cutting (1.06 t/ha). The 80 kg N/ha coupled with three cuttings gave the top most foliage yield while the same rate accompanied with one cutting gave the top most seed yield for all genotypes.Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 40(1): 53-60, March 2015
Seed yield, nutrient balance and economics of mungbean cultivation as influenced by different nutrients management under AEZ-28
Authors: Jahan MAH S , Sarkar MAR , Barma NCD , Mondal MNA , Ferdousi MNS
Published: June 2015

A field experiment was conducted at Regional Wheat Research Centre of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Joydebpur, Gazipur, Bangladesh for 2 consecutive years during 2007 and 2008 to find out the optimum nutrient management practice for seed yield, nutrient balance and economics of mungbean. Twelve nutrient management treatments were tested in RCBD with 3 replications. Treatments were without CRI T1=HYG (0-24-40-48-24-3-1.2), T2=MYG (0-20-36-40-20-2-1), T3=IPNS (5000-9-37-36-21-3-1.2), T4=STB (0- 20-36-40-22-2-1), T5=FP (0-6-5-4-0-0-0), T6=CON (0-0-0-0-0-0-0) and with CRI T7=HYG+CRI, T8=MYG+CRI, T9=IPNS+CRI, T10=STB+CRI, T11=FP+CRI, T12=CON+CRI kg ha-1 CDNPKSZnB for mungbean. The maximum seed yield of mungbean was obtained from STB+CRI (1.57 t ha-1) followed by IPNS+CRI (1.54 t ha-1), STB (1.54 t ha-1), IPNS (1.52 t ha-1), HYG+CRI (1.44 t ha-1) and HYG (1.41 t ha-1) in 2007. Similar trend was found in 2008. Numerically higher yield and yield contributing parameters were noticed in CRI plots than without CRI. N and K balance were found negative in all the treatments. P, S, Zn and B balance were found positive in case of HYG, MYG, IPNS and STB along with or without CRI nutrient managements. While in case of FP and CON, the balance was shown almost negative. The maximum gross return and margin was obtained from STB+CRI followed by STB. Slightly higher BCR (3.00) was recorded from STB followed by STB+CRI (2.91).Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 40(1): 77-93, March 2015