bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Affective temperaments are associated with the white matter microstructure in healthy participants
Authors: Hatano Koji , Terao Takeshi , Hayashi Takuya , Hirakawa Hirofumi , Makino Mayu , Mizokami Yoshinori , Fujiki Minoru , Shimomura Tsuyoshi
Published: November 2018

Objectives

Five affective temperaments are regarded as potential precursors of bipolar disorder. These are depressive, cyclothymic, hyperthymic, irritable, and anxious temperaments. However, the neural substrates underlying these temperaments have not been identified. The aim of this study was to determine whether these temperaments are associated with specific neural substrates related to the brain white matter integrity in healthy participants.

Methods

We conducted a cross‐sectional neuroimaging study of 71 healthy participants (38 males and 33 females) with affective temperaments. All participants screened for past and present psychiatric disorders. The scores of the five affective temperaments were measured by the temperament scale of Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego‐autoquestionnaire. We analyzed the association between the fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) of the brain white matter and these affective temperaments using tract‐based spatial statistics (TBSS).

Results

The cyclothymic temperament score had a significant positive association with the FA and a significant negative association with the MD in the white matter in the right frontal part of brain. The hyperthymic temperament score was negatively associated with the MD in a wide area of the brain white matter. The anxious temperament score was positively associated with the FA in the bilateral frontal, temporal, and parietal regions of the brain white matter. The depressive and irritable temperament scores were not associated with either the FA or the MD.

Conclusion

The present findings suggest that cyclothymic, hyperthymic, and anxious temperaments are associated with brain white matter integrity in healthy participants.
Exact Inference on the Random-Effects Model for Meta-Analyses With Few Studies
Authors: Michael Haben , Thornton Suzanne , Xie Minge , Tian Lu
Published: November 2018

We describe an exact, unconditional, non-randomized procedure for producing confidence intervals for the grand mean in a normal-normal random effects meta-analysis. The procedure targets meta-analyses based on too few primary studies, , say, to allow for the conventional asymptotic estimators, e.g., DerSimonian and Laird (1986), or non-parametric resampling-based procedures, e.g., Liu et al. (2017). Meta-analyses with such few studies are common, with one recent sample of 22,453 heath-related meta-analyses finding a median of 3 primary studies per meta-analysis (Davey et al., 2011). Reliable and efficient inference procedures are therefore needed to address this setting. The coverage level of the resulting CI is guaranteed to be above the nominal level, up to Monte Carlo error, provided the meta-analysis contains more than 1 study and the model assumptions are met. After employing several techniques to accelerate computation, the new CI can be easily constructed on a personal computer. Simulations suggest that the proposed CI typically is not overly conservative. We illustrate the approach on several contrasting examples of meta-analyses investigating the effect of calcium intake on bone mineral density.
The Single-Index/Cox Mixture Cure Model
Authors: Amico Maïlis , Van Keilegom Ingrid , Legrand Catherine
Published: November 2018

In survival analysis, it often happens that a certain fraction of the subjects under study never experience the event of interest, that is, they are considered “cured.” In the presence of covariates, a common model for this type of data is the mixture cure model, which assumes that the population consists of two subpopulations, namely the cured and the non-cured ones, and it writes the survival function of the whole population given a set of covariates as a mixture of the survival function of the cured subjects (which equals one), and the survival function of the non-cured ones. In the literature, one usually assumes that the mixing probabilities follow a logistic model. This is, however, a strong modeling assumption, which might not be met in practice. Therefore, in order to have a flexible model which at the same time does not suffer from curse-of-dimensionality problems, we propose in this paper a single-index model for the mixing probabilities. For the survival function of the non-cured subjects we assume a Cox proportional hazards model. We estimate this model using a maximum likelihood approach. We also carry out a simulation study, in which we compare the estimators under the single-index model and under the logistic model for various model settings, and we apply the new model and estimation method on a breast cancer data set.
Composite Kernel Machine Regression Based on Likelihood Ratio Test for Joint Testing of Genetic and Gene–Environment Interaction Effect
Authors: Zhao Ni , Zhang Haoyu , Clark Jennifer J. , Maity Arnab , Wu Michael C.
Published: November 2018

Most common human diseases are a result from the combined effect of genes, the environmental factors, and their interactions such that including gene–environment (GE) interactions can improve power in gene mapping studies. The standard strategy is to test the SNPs, one-by-one, using a regression model that includes both the SNP effect and the GE interaction. However, the SNP-by-SNP approach has serious limitations, such as the inability to model epistatic SNP effects, biased estimation, and reduced power. Thus, in this article, we develop a kernel machine regression framework to model the overall genetic effect of a SNP-set, considering the possible GE interaction. Specifically, we use a composite kernel to specify the overall genetic effect via a nonparametric function andwe model additional covariates parametrically within the regression framework. The composite kernel is constructed as a weighted average of two kernels, one corresponding to the genetic main effect and one corresponding to the GE interaction effect. We propose a likelihood ratio test (LRT) and a restricted likelihood ratio test (RLRT) for statistical significance. We derive a Monte Carlo approach for the finite sample distributions of LRT and RLRT statistics. Extensive simulations and real data analysis show that our proposed method has correct type I error and can have higher power than score-based approaches under many situations.
Beyond accessing information: Claiming to understand in child social welfare interviews
Authors: Iversen Clara
Published: November 2018

The present article investigates how people manage understanding of personal experiences in an institutional setting in which shared understanding of one party's experience can become an issue at stake: social welfare interviews with child victims of abuse. New recommendations on how to respond to child interviewees limit interviewers’ support to experiences of which they have direct access. Using conversation analysis and discursive psychology to examine cases in which interviewers respond to children's reports of experiences by claiming to understand, the current article shows that interviewers primarily use such claims after interviewees have indicated that the interviewer may not understand. By claiming to understand, interviewers orient to a difference between an interview requirement – not assuming they know the children's specific experiences – and their ability to interpret the children's situations. The study shows how interviewers use claims of understanding to distinguish themselves as understanding persons from their information‐eliciting approach as social welfare investigators. Findings contribute to social psychological research on how people manage challenges related to eliciting and recognizing experience in interaction. In particular, the study offers research on interviews with child victims of abuse a new angle on the tension between information elicitation and support.
Management of cytological material, pre‐analytical procedures and bio‐banking in effusion cytopathology
Authors: Engels Marianne , Michael Claire , Dobra Katalin , Hjerpe Anders , Fassina Ambrogio , Firat Pinar
Published: November 2018

Serous effusion fluid is one of the most commonly encountered specimens in routine cytopathology practice. It provides invaluable information about the patient and the clinical status; but to get the most of it, specimen handling and processing must be carried out properly. Cytomorphology is the basis of a successful analysis which should complemented by ancillary tests when needed. A wide spectrum of ancillary techniques ‐ ranging from immunocytochemistry and flow cytometry to different assays of molecular pathology ‐ can be applied to serous effusions. This article describes the acquisition and management of serous effusion fluids, methods for preservation and transportation, different techniques of cytopreparation, application of immunocytochemistry, flow cytometry, and fluorescence in‐situ hybridization (FISH), as well as DNA extraction for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and next generation sequencing (NGS). Principles of bio‐banking of effusion samples are also discussed which is getting more important in correlation with the developments in personalized medicine.
Challenges to mobilising resources for disaster recovery and reconstruction: perspectives of the Haitian diaspora
Authors: Sewordor Emefa , Esnard Ann‐Margaret , Sapat Alka , Schwartz Lorena
Published: November 2018

Diasporas and diaspora non‐governmental organisations (NGOs) are increasingly important as resource lifelines to their home countries, yet the resources that they mobilise, the types of challenges that they face, and their coping mechanisms are not well explored or understood in the context of disaster recovery. To fill this knowledge gap, this study employed an inductive qualitative methodological approach, using interviews to comprehend the role played by Haitian diaspora NGOs after the catastrophic earthquake in 2010. It found that resources take four common forms: event fundraisers; financial and material donations from supporters; remittances; and volunteer labour. Challenges include an overreliance on diaspora donors, competition among NGOs, and what is perceived as inequitable funding practices towards diaspora NGOs. The findings provide insights centred on better coordination among diaspora NGOs, as well as between diaspora NGOs and other local and international NGOs and local governments and international institutions, to ensure more efficient delivery of services to survivors.
Variation of vibrational communication signals in animals depends on trait duration
Authors: Eberhard Monika J. B. , Treschnak Dominique
Published: November 2018

In the recent years, vibrational communication signals have become more and more prominent in research—often, characteristics of signals are described for several closely related species or populations of the same species, using means and standard deviations. Phenotypic variation in vibratory communication signals can be measured and compared using the coefficient of variation, which is supposed to be independent of trait size. However, it has been shown that the coefficients of variation of acoustic (airborne sound) male courtship signals in insects and anurans increase with signal duration in accordance with a power law. To examine whether this pattern is also true for vibrational communication signals, we used original data for Mantophasmatodea and reviewed the literature for published data on arthropods, anurans and mammals. The relationship between trait variability and duration is surprisingly stable for all investigated biotremology data and similar to the relationships found for airborne sound courtship signals. This study adds towards our knowledge about a general pattern for temporal variability of communication signals.
Weather effects on birds of different size are mediated by long‐term climate and vegetation type in endangered temperate woodlands
Authors: Lindenmayer David B. , Lane Peter , Crane Mason , Florance Daniel , Foster Claire N. , Ikin Karen , Michael Damian , Sato Chloe F. , Scheele Ben C. , Westgate Martin J.
Published: November 2018

Species occurrence is influenced by a range of factors including habitat attributes, climate, weather, and human landscape modification. These drivers are likely to interact, but their effects are frequently quantified independently. Here, we report the results of a 13‐year study of temperate woodland birds in south‐eastern Australia to quantify how different‐sized birds respond to the interacting effects of: (a) short‐term weather (rainfall and temperature in the 12 months preceding our surveys), (b) long‐term climate (average rainfall and maximum and minimum temperatures over the period 1970–2014), and (c) broad structural forms of vegetation (old‐growth woodland, regrowth woodland, and restoration plantings). We uncovered significant interactions between bird body size, vegetation type, climate, and weather. High short‐term rainfall was associated with decreased occurrence of large birds in old‐growth and regrowth woodland, but not in restoration plantings. Conversely, small bird occurrence peaked in wet years, but this effect was most pronounced in locations with a history of high rainfall, and was actually reversed (peak occurrence in dry years) in restoration plantings in dry climates. The occurrence of small birds was depressed—and large birds elevated—in hot years, except in restoration plantings which supported few large birds under these circumstances. Our investigation suggests that different mechanisms may underpin contrasting responses of small and large birds to the interacting effects of climate, weather, and vegetation type. A diversity of vegetation cover is needed across a landscape to promote the occurrence of different‐sized bird species in agriculture‐dominated landscapes, particularly under variable weather conditions. Climate change is predicted to lead to widespread drying of our study region, and restoration plantings—especially currently climatically wet areas—may become critically important for conserving bird species, particularly small‐bodied taxa.
Singing Print, Reading Song: Navigating Voice and Writing in Herder's Volkslieder
Authors: Mondelli Peter
Published: November 2018

How can one read song? Reading is silent, introspective, and singular; singing is audible, performative, and plural. In his folksong collections, Johann Gottfried Herder acknowledges this dualism and favors song. Yet he asks his readers to navigate the divide nonetheless—to read song. This article seeks to understand the meaning of this apparent contradiction by investigating the evidence at the scene of reading to argue two points. First, that the social history of readers and reading can allow us to understand both the relationship between voice and writing in the late eighteenth century and, subsequently, illuminate why Herder put so much energy into a philosophic play with this boundary. Second, that the subsequent history of the folksong in the hands of later collectors and composers differs significantly from Herder's conception of the genre.
Robert Schumanns religiöser Nationalismus um 1848
Authors: Gassner Florian
Published: November 2018

Im Umkreis der Revolutionen von 1848/49 komponiert Robert Schumann zwei Liederkreise für Männerchor, die an die nationalliberalen Traditionen im Deutschland des frühen neunzehnten Jahrhunderts anknüpfen. DieDrei Freiheitsgesänge mit Harmoniemusik(1848, WoO 13–15) schlagen inhaltlich und musikalisch den Bogen vom Hurrapatriotismus der Befreiungskriege zur Begeisterung, mit der das Bürgertum die Märzaufstände begrüßte. DieDrei Gesänge für Männerchor(1847, op. 62), andererseits, evozieren mit ihrer Verschmelzung weltlicher und sakraler Traditionen den religiösen Nationalismus der Epoche. Die politische Stoßrichtung der Werke kommt jedoch bereits in der Wahl der Gattung zum Ausdruck: Zielgruppe sind in erster Linie die zeitgenössischen Männergesangsvereine, und damit eine der bedeutendsten Institutionen des politischen Vormärz.
The Representation of Female Power in Ethel Smyth's Der Wald (1902)
Authors: Lebiez Judith
Published: November 2018

Born 1858 in England, Ethel Smyth studied in Leipzig, composed six operas, took an active part in the women's suffrage movement and wrote ten books. The lead character of her second opera, Der Wald (1902), is a strong and sexually free woman portrayed as maleficent, which casts a negative light on female power. This article first introduces the context in which the opera was composed, before proposing a closer reading of the libretto with a view to assessing the respective weight of convention and subversion in Smyth's representation of femininity.
Against “Collective Caruso”: Male Vulnerability in Hanns Eisler's Early Choruses
Authors: Hart Heidi
Published: November 2018

Composer Hanns Eisler (1898–1962), best known for his collaborations with Bertolt Brecht, engaged with the German Männerchor tradition in complex ways in 1925. Having broken with his teacher Schoenberg and in the process of moving from Vienna to Berlin, Eisler fragmented and set three political poems by Heinrich Heine for male voices. These choruses satirize the nationalist bombast of right‐wing choirs in Weimar Germany (in forced male voices Eisler criticized as “collective Caruso”). At the same time, this music voices masculine vulnerability in a period of still only partly processed post‐World‐War‐I trauma. Particularly in the first chorus, “Tendenz,” extremes of vocal range combined with musical tropes such as the Baroque “step of sorrow” result in music that push the male voice to its limits and encode more collective mourning than ideological zeal. Where Eisler cuts Heine's more explicitly critical lines of text, the musical score voices what the words do not: rather than what Helmut Lethen has called the Weimar‐era culture of “coolness,” a collective voice emerges, both parodic and pained.
Viktor Ullmanns Der Kaiser von Atlantis oder Die Tod‐Verweigerung (1944) als Form utopischen Widerstands
Authors: Zancas Rosa Pérez
Published: November 2018

Der Kaiser von Atlantis oder die Tod‐Verweigerung (1943/1944; Uraufführung Amsterdam 1975) ist eine Kammeroper des seit 1942 im „Ghetto“ Theresienstadt inhaftierten Komponisten Viktor Ullmann (1898–1944) nach einem Libretto von Peter Kien (1919–1944). Ullmann und Kien zählen zu den wichtigsten Repräsentanten des kulturellen Lebens in Theresienstadt und wurden 1944 ermordet. Bei Der Kaiser von Atlantis handelt es sich um eine Allegorie auf die Naziherrschaft und die bedrückenden Zustände im Lager. Im Mittelpunkt des Beitrages steht die künstlerische Aufforderung zu Widerstand in einem heterotopischen Raum, in dem das kulturelle Leben trotz einer enthumanisierten Gegenwart floriert. Diskutiert wird, wie Der Kaiser von Atlantis eine totalitäre Herrschaft zeigt, in der „alle gegen alle“ Krieg führen. In seiner Oper entwickelt Ullmann als Gegenmodell eine Utopie, in der der Tyrann durch die Unmöglichkeit zu sterben, durch Liebe und Ungehorsam gestürzt wird.
Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection among junior high school students in Grudziadz, Poland
Authors: Szaflarska‐Popławska Anna , Soroczyńska‐Wrzyszcz Anetta
Published: November 2018

Background

The purpose of the study was to assess the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection among the junior high school students in city Grudziądz, Poland.

Materials and methods

A prospective cross‐sectional study among second junior high school students was conducted from September 2008 to June 2015 during seven consecutive school years. The studied group was 3241 students 13‐17 years old. The 13C‐urea breath test (UBT) was administered to all participants for current H. pylori infection. Clinical, sociodemographic, and hygienic risk factors for H. pylori positivity were analyzed in children with positive and negative UBT.

Results

Urea breath test was performed and results were obtained for 3067 of 3241 children, including 723 children (23.6%) with positive result (group 1) and 2344 children (76.4%) with negative result (group 2). The prevalence of H. pylori infection was not different in subsequent seven school years (P = 0.06) and depending on the gender (P = 0.57). In group 1 the cough and in group 2 the epigastric discomfort occurred more frequent (P = 0.04 and P = 0.002, respectively). In multivariate analysis, factors positively associated with prevalence of H. pylori were age >16 years (OR = 2.556; 95%CI 1.293‐5.025), living in old town district (OR = 1.374; 95%CI 1.097‐1.723), consumption of raw vegetables (OR 1.305; 95%CI 1.038‐1.642) or unboiled water (OR = 1.444; 95%CI 1.138‐1.832) and using collective catering facilities (OR 1.338; 95%CI 1.039‐1.724). Having a cat was protective against H. pylori (OR 0.78; 95%CI 0.614‐0.991).

Conclusions

Over the past 10 years, the prevalence of H. pylori infection in Polish adolescents has decreased. H. pylori infection remains problem closely associated with socioeconomic and sanitary conditions. Our results are important to develop prevention strategies for H. pylori‐related diseases.
Helicobacter pylori infection and prevalence of stroke
Authors: Shindler‐Itskovitch Tali , Chodick Gabriel , Shalev Varda , Muhsen Khitam
Published: November 2018

Background

Helicobacter pylori causes peptic ulcer disease; however, conflicting evidence exists regarding its role in extragastric conditions. We aimed to examine associations of H pylori infection and peptic ulcer disease with stroke.

Methods

A cross‐sectional study was undertaken using data of 147 936 individuals aged 25‐95 years who underwent the urea breath test during 2002‐2012, based on the computerized database of the second largest health maintenance organization in Israel. Logistic regression models were fitted to control for potential confounders.

Results

Overall, 1397 (0.9%) patients had stroke and 76 965 (52.0%) had a H pylori positive test. The likelihood of prevalent stroke increased in relation to H pylori infection: adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.16 (95% confidence intervals [CI]: 1.04‐1.29), gastric ulcer: aOR 1.50 (95% CI: 1.18‐1.91), and duodenal ulcer: aOR 1.25 (95% CI: 1.07‐1.46).

Conclusions

The results support the premise that stroke may be associated with a history of H pylori infection.
Review of antimicrobial peptides with anti‐Helicobacter pylori activity
Authors: Neshani Alireza , Zare Hosna , Akbari Eidgahi Mohammad Reza , Hooshyar Chichaklu Amin , Movaqar Aref , Ghazvini Kiarash
Published: November 2018

Background

The emergence of antibiotic‐resistant Helicobacter pylori strains in recent years has increased the need for finding an alternative in the post‐antibiotic era. One of the fields being considered for this purpose is antimicrobial peptides. The aim of this review was to provide an obvious scheme from the studied anti‐H. pylori peptides and to investigate their common features.

Method

First, all of the antimicrobial peptides with their anti‐H. pylori effects have been proved up to September 2018 were selected and their information including structure, mechanism of action, and function was reviewed. To achieve this, three databases of PubMed, Scopus, and Web of science were used.

Results

A total of 9 groups containing 22 antimicrobial peptides were found with demonstrated anti‐H. pylori effects. The nine groups included pexiganan, tilapia piscidins, epinecidin‐1, cathelicidins, defensins, bicarinalin, odorranain‐HP, PGLa‐AM1, and bacteriocins. Most of the antimicrobial peptides, not all, had common features such as the ability to kill antibiotic‐resistant strains, having α‐helical structure, being cationic, with high positive charge and isoelectric point.

Conclusion

Antimicrobial peptides with anti‐H. pylori effects have the potential to replace the antibiotics, especially in the post‐antibiotic era, if a rapid and low‐cost production method would be found.
Interleukin10 gene promoter polymorphisms (rs1800896, rs1800871 and rs1800872) and haplotypes are associated with the activity of systemic lupus erythematosus and IL10 levels in an Iranian population
Authors: Mohammadi Saeed , Saghaeian Jazi Marie , Zare Ebrahimabad Mojtaba , Eghbalpour Farnaz , Abdolahi Nafiseh , Tabarraei Alijan , Yazdani Yaghoub
Published: November 2018

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease with unknown aetiology. According to the role of interleukin 10 (IL10) in SLE pathogenesis, the genetic alterations in its promoter region could be associated with elevated IL10 levels and exacerbated disease. Here, we investigated the association of genotype and haplotype frequencies of three IL10 gene promoter polymorphisms with susceptibility to SLE, IL10 plasma levels and disease activity of patients in an Iranian population. A total of 116 SLE patients and 131 healthy subjects were enrolled. The PCR‐RFLP technique was used to detect IL10 promoter genotypes at the positions of −1082 (G/A), −819 (C/T) and −592 (C/A) in association with IL10 plasma levels and SLEDAI scores. The GG genotype of −1082 polymorphism was associated with the increased risk of SLE [OR = 2.65, 95% CI (1.21–5.82), p‐value = 0.046]. The CC genotype in −819 region was associated with SLE susceptibility [OR = 3.38, 95% CI (1.26–9.07), p‐value = 0.034] and C allele was introduced as risk allele [OR = 1.86, 95% CI (1.15–3.01), p‐value = 0.009] in this region. IL10 plasma levels were overexpressed in CC genotype carriers of −592 SNP and decreased in AA genotype carriers of −1082. IL10 was also increased in SLE patients with CGT (−592/−1082/−819) haplotype. The SLEDAI score was higher among CC genotype carriers at the position of −592 and TT genotype carriers at the region of −819. SLEDAI was also elevated among patients with CGC (−592/−1082/−819) and CAC (p = 0.011) haplotypes. The present study suggests that the IL10 –819(C/T), −1082(G/A) and −592(C/A) polymorphisms and the haplotypes are associated with SLE susceptibility, increased disease activity and elevated IL10 levels. While this is the first time to report such an association in an Iranian population, further studies are needed to confirm these findings.
Moving Beyond Program to Population Impact: Toward a Universal Early Childhood System of Care
Authors: Goodman W. Benjamin , O'Donnell Karen , Murphy Robert A. , Dodge Kenneth A.
Published: November 2018

Families have clearly benefited from increased availability of evidence‐based intervention, including home‐visiting models and increased federal funding for programs benefiting parents and children. The goal of population‐level impact on the health and well‐being of infants and young children across entire communities, however, remains elusive. New approaches are needed to move beyond scaling of individual programs toward an integrated system of care in early childhood. To advance this goal, the current article provides a framework for developing an early childhood system of care that pairs a top‐down goal for the alignment of services with a bottom‐up goal of identifying and addressing needs of all families throughout early childhood. Further, we describe how universal newborn home visiting can be utilized to both support alignment of, and family entry into, an early childhood system of care with broad reach, high quality, and evidence of population impact for families and children.
Effectiveness of non‐pharmacological nursing interventions to improve the quality of life of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: A systematic review
Authors: Igai Yasuko
Published: November 2018

Aim

To evaluate whether non‐pharmacological nursing interventions improve the quality of life, including both physical and psychosocial states, for patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, compared to patients receiving the usual care visit or not receiving routine nursing.

Methods

A comprehensive search was conducted of the following electronic databases in English and Japanese: PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, The Cochrane Central Register Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), NPO Japan Medical Abstracts Society's Ichushi – Web database, National Institute of Informatics’ Scholarly and Academic Information Navigator (CiNii) database, Grants‐in‐Aid for Scientific Research (KAKEN) database, and Database of Health Labor Sciences Research Grants. The keywords were as follows: [interstitial lung disease], [interstitial pulmonary fibrosis], [idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis] AND [nurse OR nurses’ role OR nursing]. A search method was used based on the eligibility criteria without including words, such as “randomized controlled trial” (RCT). Three categories defined the search parameters: (i) patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; (ii) non‐pharmacological nursing interventions; and (iii) RCT.

Results

Three‐hundred‐and‐ninety‐four articles were reviewed. Two articles met all the eligibility criteria. The nursing interventions were “disease management program” and “community case conference,” both involving nurse specialists. The quality‐of‐life scores decreased after 6 weeks of intervention with the disease management program. The quality‐of‐life scores improved after 4 weeks of intervention with the community case conferences. The risk of bias for these two studies was high.

Conclusion

There was limited evidence of non‐pharmacological nursing interventions improving the quality of life of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
Bursts of periodontal destruction and remission, percolation phase shifts, and chaos
Authors: Cohen M. E.
Published: November 2018

Bursts of periodontal destruction are modelled as percolation‐driven phase shift events. Percolation theory, though widely used to study the flow of liquids through porous nonliving materials (e.g., soils and rocks), can be applied to bacterial or toxicological penetration of living tissue in only an approximate sense. However, it seems necessary that some mechanism, fundamentally similar to the percolation phase shift, is required to adequately account for bursts. Percolation theory is therefore offered as a framework for considering such events. A principal finding of percolation theory is the existence of percolation thresholds, such that when P, the independent probability that a subregion is susceptible to an invading substance, is above the threshold, the region will percolate or allow flow through, and when P is below the threshold the region will not percolate. This instantaneous transition, from a structure that will permit percolation to one that will not, is described as a phase shift. In addition, the value of P is postulated to depend on multiple factors which might constitute a chaotic system. The nonproportionality of a percolation phase shift and the nonpredictability of any specific chaotic event suggest that reliable burst predictors may, in theory, not be possible at the level of the individual site.
The challenges of detecting progress in generic competencies in the clinical setting
Authors: Dory Valérie , Gomez‐Garibello Carlos , Cruess Richard , Cruess Sylvia , Cummings Beth‐Ann , Young Meredith
Published: November 2018

Context

Competency‐based medical education has spurred the implementation of longitudinal workplace‐based assessment (WBA) programmes to track learners’ development of competencies. These hinge on the appropriate use of assessment instruments by assessors. This study aimed to validate our assessment programme and specifically to explore whether assessors’ beliefs and behaviours rendered the detection of progress possible.

Methods

We implemented a longitudinal WBA programme in the third year of a primarily rotation‐based clerkship. The programme used the professionalism mini‐evaluation exercise (P‐MEX) to detect progress in generic competencies. We used mixed methods: a retrospective psychometric examination of student assessment data in one academic year, and a prospective focus group and interview study of assessors’ beliefs and reported behaviours related to the assessment.

Results

We analysed 1662 assessment forms for 186 students. We conducted interviews and focus groups with 21 assessors from different professions and disciplines. Scores were excellent from the outset (3.5–3.7/4), with no meaningful increase across blocks (average overall scores: 3.6 in block 1 versus 3.7 in blocks 2 and 3; F = 8.310, d.f. 2, p < 0.001). The main source of variance was the forms (47%) and only 1% of variance was attributable to students, which led to low generalisability across forms (Eρ2 = 0.18). Assessors reported using multiple observations to produce their assessments and were reluctant to harm students by consigning anything negative to writing. They justified the use of a consistent benchmark across time by citing the basic nature of the form or a belief that the ‘competencies’ assessed were in fact fixed attributes that were unlikely to change.

Conclusions

Assessors may purposefully deviate from instructions in order to meet their ethical standards of good assessment. Furthermore, generic competencies may be viewed as intrinsic and fixed rather than as learnable. Implementing a longitudinal WBA programme is complex and requires careful consideration of assessors’ beliefs and values.
Thinking in new and deeper ways about clinical reasoning
Authors: Krupat Edward
Published: November 2018

Krupat encourages us to think more deeply about diagnostic reasoning by arguing that doing so might involve understanding how physicians collect information, not just how they process it.
Campanula baskilensis sp. nov. (Campanulaceae), a new chasmophyte from Turkey with unusual capsule dehiscence
Authors: Behçet Lütfi , İlçim Ahmet
Published: November 2018

A new species discovered in Turkey, Campanula baskilensis Behçet sp. nov. (Campanulaceae), is described as a species confined to B7 Elazığ, Baskil in east Anatolia. It grows as a chasmophyte on calcareous rocks. The diagnostic morphological characteristics of C. yildirimlii and C. oligosperma, including palynological and seed epidermal characters as observed by SEM, are discussed and notes on the ecology and conservation status of the new species are presented. A distribution map of the new and related species is also provided. The most unusual feature of C. baskilensis is the opening mechanism of its capsule which has 10 valves that split from the base to near the apex of the capsule.
The redundancy of positivism as a paradigm for nursing research
Authors: Corry Margarita , Porter Sam , McKenna Hugh
Published: November 2018

New nursing researchers are faced with a smorgasbord of competing methodologies. Sometimes, they are encouraged to adopt the research paradigms beloved of their senior colleagues. This is a problem if those paradigms are no longer of contemporary methodological relevance. The aim of this paper was to provide clarity about current research paradigms. It seeks to interrogate the continuing viability of positivism as a guiding paradigm for nursing research. It does this by critically analysing the methodological literature. Five major paradigms are addressed: the positivist; the interpretivist/constructivist; the transformative; the realist; and the postpositivist. Acceptance of interpretivist, transformative or realist approaches necessarily entails wholesale rejection of positivism, while acceptance of postpositivism involves its partial rejection. Postpositivism has superseded positivism as the guiding paradigm of the scientific method. The incorporation in randomized controlled trials of postpositivist assumptions indicates that even on the methodological territory that it once claimed as its own, positivism has been rendered redundant as an appropriate paradigm for contemporary nursing research.
Escape mapping to achieve bidirectional block: A case series
Authors: Gabriels James , Beldner Stuart , Donnelly Joseph , Willner Jonathan , Epstein Laurence M. , Patel Apoor
Published: November 2018

Escape mapping is a novel technique that can be used to locate sites of persistent conduction and achieve exit block during an atrial fibrillation ablation. This method allows for mapping solely with the ablation catheter in the left atrium by annotating to a catheter in the coronary sinus. We illustrate the utility escape mapping during an atrial fibrillation ablation where entrance block is achieved without exit block. We further expand upon this technique by describing the first reported case of escape mapping being used to achieve bidirectional block during an atrial flutter ablation.
Prevalence of dental trauma in individuals with special needs participating in local Special Olympics games
Authors: Dagon Nurit , Blumer Sigalit , Peretz Benjamin , Ratson Tal
Published: November 2018

Objectives

The Special Olympics Special Smiles (SOSS) Program provides oral health screening and data collection for athletes with intellectual disabilities who participate in Special Olympics events.

Aim

This study evaluated the prevalence and severity of dental trauma among Special Olympics athletes with intellectual disabilities who participated in the 2016 Israeli Special Olympics games.

Methods

A free voluntary dental examination was offered to all participating athletes. The examination was performed by volunteer dentists who completed a standard SOSS examination form, which included questions on oral health status and evidence of dental trauma in the anterior teeth. The dental traumas were categorized by a modified clinical version of the Ellis classification for dental traumas, and they were combined into three main categories according to their severity. Chi‐square analysis was used to find differences between gender and age in regard to the prevalence of dental trauma.

Results

The sample consisted of 249 athletes with intellectual disabilities aged 10‐65 years (mean 29.2 ± 11.24). The prevalence of dental trauma was 27.3%, of which 9.64% were categorized as mild and 17.67% as severe. Most of the traumas (94%) involved the maxillary incisors.

Conclusions

The relatively high prevalence of dental trauma in special needs athletes revealed by this study's findings supports the need for using preventive measures, such as mouth guards, during sport activities.
Characteristics, Performance of Blend CA/SPEEK Ultrafiltration Membranes Prepared by Phase Inversion Method using PEG 600 as an Additive
Authors: Arthanareeswaran G. , Anatharaman N. , Raajenthiren M.
Published: November 2018

Flat sheet asymmetric polymeric membranes is prepared by phase inversion method from homogeneous solution of 17.5 wt% cellulose acetate (CA) and sulfonated poly ether ether ketone (SPEEK) with polar solvent of N, N’– dimethylformamide (DMF). The different concentration of polyethylene glycol is used as the polymeric additives in the CA/SPEEK casting solution. The effects of polyethylene glycol 600 (PEG 600) concentration on the structure and performance of CA/SPEEK ultrafiltration membranes were investigated in more detail. The optimal preparation conditions were: 17.5 wt% total polymer composition, 65/35 wt% CA/SPEEK blend composition and 10 wt% PEG 600. The permeation performances of the membranes were evaluated in terms of pure water flux, equilibrium water content, hydraulic permeability, and solute rejection. The morphology and structure of the resulting membranes were observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). CA/SPEEK membranes with higher concentration of 10 wt% PEG have higher PWF and equilibrium water content due to high porosity. With increase in PEG concentration from 0 to 10 wt%, the PWF increases from 129 to 259 lm–2h–1 in 65/35 wt% of CA/SPEEK as blend. When increasing concentration of PEG is substituted for SPEEK in proportion to form a homogeneous blend, the membrane hydraulic resistance reduces from 9.2 to 2.9 kPa/l.m–2.h–1for blend membranes with 0 to 10 wt % PEG 600 at 95/5 wt % CA/SPEEK composition. Solution of proteins of different molecular weight was used to study the permeation performance of prepared membranes using a batch membrane cell of 400 ml capacity.
Emulsion Liquid Membrane Extraction of Turquoise Blue Reactive Dye–Study on Membrane Breakage and Swelling
Authors: Othman N. , Zailani S. N. , Mili N.
Published: November 2018

Reactive dyes are the principal dyes used in batik industry in Malaysia. From the environmental point of view the dyes should be removed from wastewater because they are toxic in nature. Therefore, the removal and recovery of dyes from batik industry wastewater is absolute necessity in order to save raw materials and to protect environment from hazardous compounds. An experiment was carried out using emulsion liquid membrane (ELM) process in batch system to study the extraction behaviour of Turquoise Blue which is commonly used in batik industry. Several parameters have been studied such as carrier and surfactant/emulsifier concentrations, stripping agent and extraction time. The liquid membrane was formulated using kerosene as diluent, SPAN 80 as emulsifier and tri-dodecylamine (TDA) as a carrier. Hydrodynamic condition to generate extraction process was at 1:3 treat ratio and 250 rpm stirring speed for 10 minutes while the emulsification was done at 12000 rpm for 5 minutes using homogenizer. The result obtained shows that, more than 70% of Turquoise Blue was extracted at favourable condition of 0.07 M TDA, 7% (w/v) SPAN 80 and 0.5 M Thiourea in 1 M NaOH.
Investigating Membrane Material and Morphology for Development of Lateral Flow Biosensor
Authors: Shaimi R. , Ahmad A. L. , Low S. C.
Published: November 2018

Development of membrane for bio–sensing applications, such as the detection of pathogens in drinking water for epidemics control has a huge global impact especially for public health. Membrane that applied in the bio–sensing devices should fulfill requirements such as high binding ability, fast lateral wicking time and low background staining. This paper explores the selection of membranes, including Nitrocellulose membrane (NC), Cellulose Acetate membrane (CA), Polyvinylidene Fluoride membrane (PVDF) and Nylon membrane for the detection of pathogens in water in the most efficient and rapid way. Membrane modification using glutaraldehyde enable the achieved of higher sensitivity of protein binding. Experimental findings (FTIR, porosity, membrane’s binding ability and lateral wicking time) verified the most suitable membrane for bio-sensing application. Among the tested membranes, NC appeared as the most suitable lateral flow membrane as its performances of high protein binding ability and fast lateral wicking time. Throughout this study, we showed the correlation of membrane’s material and morphology to its performances for pathogens detection in drinking water.
Influence of Solvent Exchange Drying Method on Mixed Matrix Membrane for Gas Separation
Authors: Ahmad A. L. , Jawad Z. A. , Low S. C. , Zein S. H. S.
Published: November 2018

The improvement of the CO2 separation efficiency from flue gases has been identified as a high-priority research area, to reduce the total energy cost of sequestration technologies in coal-fired power plant. Among the separationtechniques, membrane technology, in particular mixed matrix membrane (MMM) appeared as the most attractive module due to its high separation capabilities (inorganic fillers) and economical processing materials (polymeric membrane). In this study, MMM was synthesized from cellulose acetate polymer with functionalized multi walled carbon nanotubes served as the inorganic fillers by wet phase inversion. Both vacuum drying and ethanol-hexane exchange drying methods were compared to investigate their influence on the MMM morphologies and properties. Experimental findings (FESEM, AFM and ATR-FTIR) showed that the ethanol–hexane exchange drying was an appropriate method to minimize morphology change of MMM, whereas the vacuum drying caused the greatestshrinkage to MMM structure. The CO2 permeance results supported the proposed solvent exchange mechanism where MMM with solvent exchange drying showed to have improved in their mechanical strength and betterpermeance of (733.90-741.67) GPU compared to the vacuum drying (18.72-18.44) GPU within pressure range of 1 to 3 bars.
Recent Progress in Reverse Osmosis (RO) Science and Technology
Authors: Ismail A. F. , Khulbe K. C. , Matsuura T.
Published: November 2018

While writing a book on reverse osmosis, it was realized that there had been remarkable progress in recent years in reverse osmosis science and technology. This is a brief summary in which many aspects of RO are discussed, including membrane material and membrane fabrication, membrane characterization, membrane transport, RO module, RO system design, economics, membrane fouling, RO applications and RO/NF membranes for nonaqueous system.
Membrane Based Enthalpy Heat Exchanger Performance in HVAC System
Authors: Nasif M. S. , Morrison G. L. , Behnia M.
Published: November 2018

The performance of a membrane based heat exchanger utilizing porous paper as the heat and moisture transfer media used in ventilation energy recovery systems is presented. A mathematical model was developed and validated against the experimental results. This model can be used for design aide to predict the effectiveness of the heat exchanger. Furthermore, system analysis of an air conditioner shows an increase in the coefficient of performance and cooling capacity when paper heat exchanger is used, especially in a climate similar to the weather in Malaysia and Darwin.
Radiation-induced Grafting of Styrene onto Polyethylene Films for Preparation of Cation Exchange Membranes: Effect of Crosslinking+
Authors: Nasef M. M. , Saidi H. , Yahaya A. H.
Published: November 2018

Crosslinked cation exchange membranes bearing sulfonic acid groups (PE-g-PSSA/DVB) were prepared by radiationinduced grafting of styrene/divinylbenzene (DVB) mixtures onto low density polyethylene (PE) films followed by sulfonation reactions. The effect of addition of DVB (2 and 4%) on the grafting behavior and the physico-chemical properties of the membranes such as ion exchange capacity, swelling and ionic conductivity were evaluated incorrelation with grafting yield (Y%). The structural and thermal properties of the membranes were also studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), respectively. Crosslinking with DVB was found to considerably affect the properties of the membranes in a way that reduces the swelling properties and enhances the chemical stability. The ion conductivity of the crosslinked membranes recorded a level of 10–2 S/cm at sufficient grafting yield (28%) despite the reduction caused by the formation of crosslinking structure. The results of this work suggest that membranes prepared in this study are potential alternatives for various electrochemical applications.
Membrane Separation as a Cleaner Processing Technology for Natural Raw Rubber Processing
Authors: Devaraj V. , Zairossani M. N. , Pretibaa S.
Published: November 2018

Natural rubber (NR) processing had long been a process utilizing a lot of water, discharging effluent with high organic load, creating waste and malodour. In the wake of global consciousness about environment and the scarcity of water, the NR processing, raw as well as rubber product manufacturing need to be reengineered and made environmentally and economically viable. In view of this, Malaysian Rubber Board (MRB) created a paradigm shift in raw rubber processing by investigating the use of membrane separation technology to overcome some of its pertinent problems. This paper outlines the use of membrane separation technology as an alternative method to promote cleaner processing and to extract useful biochemical as a value–added product. References were made to the current R&D projects as well as give an overview of the projects that could be undertaken in the near future so as to make NR industry to be environmentally friendly and economically viable and to achieve a zero discharge through the application of membrane separation technology.