bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Efficient way in early detection of malignant skin tumors by applying epiluminescence microscopy in skin screening
Authors: Nikolic Dejan , Nikolic Aleksandra , Stanimirovic Violeta , Granic Miroslav , Randjelovic Tomislav , Bilanovic Dragoljub
Published: February 2009

Screening is the identification of a preclinical disease by a relatively simple test. It is usually regarded as public health policy that is applied to population. The aim is to identify disease not recognized by the health services and the term preclinical refers rather to such an unrecognized disease than to clinical detectability or recognition. The majority of pigmented lesions of the skin can be diagnosed on the basis of clinical criteria, although there is an astonishing number of discrete pigmented lesions where the difference between melanocytic and non-melanocytic, benign and malignant lesions, melanoma and non-melanoma, is very hard or almost impossible to detect by a simple examination with the naked eye. With the use of the computer system for melanomoscopy and melanomography, Mole Max IITM, with digital epiluminescence microscopy, it is possible to see and record the changes on the skin that are located in the surface layer of the skin, as well as the changes that appear more deeply under the surface, on the border between the epidermis and the dermis, the place where melanocytes are placed. With such examination it is possible to differentiate benign from malignant lesions in the very early stage of the development. An early recognition of malignant alterations on the skin increases the chances of cure and total recovery to over 90%.
The physical basis of the fission wave reactor
Authors: Pavlovych Volodymyr , Khotyayintsev Volodymyr , Khotyayintseva Olena
Published: February 2009

The main idea of slow nuclear fission wave reactor is discussed and short review of the existing works is also presented. The aim of this paper is to clarify the physics of processes, which define the stationary wave of nuclear burning, and to develop the approaches determining the wave parameters. It is shown that the diffusion equation for fluence can be used to describe the stationary and non-stationary processes in the nuclear fission wave. Two conditions of stationary wave existence are first formulated in the paper. The rule of determination of wave velocity as the eigenvalue of boundary problem is also formulated.
An X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study of uranyl-chitosan interaction
Authors: Veleshko Alexander , Veleshko Irina , Teterin Anton , Maslakov Konstantin , Vukcevic Labud , Teterin Yury , Ivanov Kirill
Published: February 2009

An X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study of uranium sorption by spherically-granulated chitosan in sulphate solutions, as well as the study of the nature of the U(VI) - chitosan interaction was carried out in this work. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis showed that the uranyl - chitosan interaction results in the formation of complexes with aminogroup nitrogen, and possibly chitin ring oxygens and free hydroxyl groups in the equatorial plane. Under the UHV in the spectrometer chamber, the uranyl-amin and uranyl-hyroxide bonds were shown to break and tetravalent uranium compounds were shown to form on the sample surface. Hydroxyl groups were shown to evaporate. The calculated DG0 = -1,3 kJ/mol can be an evidence of several concurrent processes, some of which require energy, as well as of the formation of a surface chemical compound.
Modeling of germanium detector and its sourceless calibration
Authors: Steljic Milijana , Milosevic Miodrag , Belicev Petar
Published: February 2009

The paper describes the procedure of adapting a coaxial high-precision germanium detector to a device with numerical calibration. The procedure includes the determination of detector dimensions and establishing the corresponding model of the system. In order to achieve a successful calibration of the system without the usage of standard sources, Monte Carlo simulations were performed to determine its efficiency and pulse-height response function. A detailed Monte Carlo model was developed using the MCNP-5.0 code. The obtained results have indicated that this method represents a valuable tool for the quantitative uncertainty analysis of radiation spectrometers and gamma-ray detector calibration, thus minimizing the need for the deployment of radioactive sources.
Stability of the syntagmatic probability distributions
Authors: Dimitrijevic Strahinja , Kostic Aleksandar , Milin Petar
Published: February 2009

The aim of the present study is to establish criteria for the optimal size of a corpus that can provide stable conditional probabilities of morphological and/or syntagmatic types. The optimality of corpus size is defined in terms of the smallest sample that generates probability distribution equal to distribution derived from the large sample that generates stable probabilities. The latter distribution we refer to as 'target distribution'. In order to establish the above criteria we varied the sample size, the word sequence size (bigrams and trigrams), sampling procedure (randomly chosen words and continuous text) and position of the target word in a sequence. The obtained distributions of conditional probabilities derived from smaller samples have been correlated with target distributions. Sample size at which probability distribution reaches maximal correlation (r=1) with the target distribution was taken as being optimal. The research was done on Corpus of Serbian language. In case of bigrams the optimal sample size for random word selection is 65.000 words, and 281.000 words for trigrams. In contrast, continuous text sampling requires much larger samples to reach stability: 810.000 words for bigrams and 868.000 words for trigrams. The factors that caused these differences remain unclear and need additional empirical investigation.
Children do ask, but do not know how to do asking: Epi-pragmatic vs. meta-pragmatic skill
Authors: Budjevac Nevena , Andjelkovic Darinka , Savic Maja
Published: February 2009

Old findings on children's comprehension of ask and tell were subject to different interpretations reflecting progress in the field of language acquisition. We want to show that acquiring a particular skill does not necessarily include competence of its intentional control and use. Development of linguistic skills takes place at different levels starting from early spontaneous, implicit abilities to the level of meta-pragmatic reflexive knowledge that enables deliberate monitoring, planning, and practice. The present study was aimed at exploring two extreme points in development: early epi-pragmatic and late reflexive metapragmatic competence. The first part aims at finding the earliest instances of children spontaneous ability to pass ask-instructions, and the evidence is provided for the ages as early as 22 to 40 months (much earlier than recorded in the previous studies). The second part is experimental and focuses on children's ability to respond to ask- and tell-instructions in the context of a cancelled conversational rule (Gricean Maxim of Quantity) which requires deliberate monitoring and use. The results show that this meta-pragmatic reflexive ability becomes stable only at the age of 6 years.
Enhancing dual phase steel formability by diode laser heat treatment
Authors: Capello Edoardo , Previtali Barbara
Published: February 2009

This paper studies the effect of different typologies of surface treatment by diode laser on the local formability of dual phase steel. An analytical thermal model allowed the temperature and cooling rate curves to be predicted and used to select the process parameter conditions. Microhardness measurements, microstructure observations, mechanical tensile test, and Erichsen cup test allowed the positive effect of the heat treatment on dual phase steel formability to be quantified.
Microstructural analysis and oxidation protection behavior of Cr–Ni surface coatings of 347 stainless steel by rapid mirror scanning of a high power CO2 laser
Authors: Ramos-Grez Jorge A. , Bourell David L. , Govindaraju Madhav Rao
Published: February 2009

A surface coating technique that uses a 1 kW CO2 laser beam actuated by two high-speed raster-scanning mirrors was utilized to selectively consolidate predeposited powder coatings consisting of 50%Cr-50% Ni (wt %) over the surface of 347 austenitic stainless steel specimens. The oxidation resistance of the coated samples was evaluated by heating them in air at 750 °C for up to 300 h. The migration behavior of the coating elements was studied. Comprehensive characterization of the samples was performed using scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectrochemical analysis, and optical metallography. Surface protective coatings produced by this technique demonstrated a strong metallurgical bond with homogeneous dilution, low porosity, and uniform thickness. Metallographical analysis showed migration of coating species toward the bulk preferentially by means of grain boundary diffusion as a result of high-temperature exposure. Preliminary results from this study demonstrate that the surface modification by high-speed selective raster-scanning of a high-power laser beam is a versatile and expedient technique that could be used for applications that require large surface area coverage for oxidation protection.
Two-laser deflashing of heat sinks in integrated circuit packages
Authors: Song W. D. , Xie Q.
Published: February 2009

During the plastic packaging process, mold flash is usually formed on a heat sink. In order to keep efficient heat transfer from the integrated circuit device to the exterior environment, the mold flash must be removed from the heat sink surface. In this paper, we demonstrate that a Nd:YAG laser deflashing is only available to remove thin flash of a few micrometers from heat sinks and cannot remove thick flash without damage to the heat sink, both from experimental and numerical analysis. Based on optical and thermal properties of heat sink and mold flash materials, we develop a two-laser deflashing technique for thick flash removal. A CO2 laser is used to remove the top layer of thick flash followed by Nd:YAG laser at low laser fluence and pulse number, which is used to remove the remaining thin flash without damaging the heat sink.
Visualization of events inside kerfs during laser cutting of fusible metal
Authors: Yudin Peter , Kovalev Oleg
Published: February 2009

The subject of the research is mechanism of melt removal and striated roughness generation. Being the main obstacle limiting laser cutting process performance, these phenomena are widely discussed. Available theoretical descriptions are not conclusive, as they have nothing to be verified with. High temperatures and narrowness of the kerf severely limit visual access at a real facility. Observation will become possible if one wall of the kerf is made of glass. This possibility is utilized in present experiments, which reproduce the process at low temperatures. Rose’s alloy (melting at 96 °C) is cut by reduced power laser beam (below 300 W) and high-speed photographic recordings are done. The experiments are carried out for thick materials (10 and 20 mm) under cut. Examination of the video data brought out innovative views on the melt removal. The cutting front was noted to be upright. The striation structure was observed to be generated at a certain distance from the cutting front and without direct assistance of laser radiation. Adequacy of the model experiment to the real case was confirmed by direct comparison of surfaces and by analysis of similarity relations.
Potential and limits of chemical enhanced deep cutting of silicon with a coupled laser-liquid jet
Authors: Fell A. , Mayer K. , Hopman S. , Kray D.
Published: February 2009

We present investigations on a new technology with which to cut wafers from a silicon ingot, i.e., the laser chemical processing (LCP), formerly known as laser chemical etching. A coupled laser-liquid jet is used to combine chemical and thermal processes for silicon ablation. We developed a numerical model to simulate heat transport and phase changes due to laser irradiation. Experiments with water and KOH solution as liquid media were performed. The results are discussed and compared with the simulations. It is shown that problems with the transport and redeposition of the thermally removed silicon in the groove are the reasons for the hitherto limited cutting depth. The potential of chemicals for in situ etching of the removed silicon are discussed in detail. The result of our work is the selection of suitable chemical systems; namely, the perflourinated carbon compounds with dissolved chlorine as the etch medium. The LCP process thus developed promises to cut very narrow and deep grooves and thus have the potential of a wafering application.
Laser cutting ceramics using an unstable fracture technique
Authors: Tsai Chwan-Huei , Shiu Jian-Shiun
Published: February 2009

This study proposes a new laser cutting method that uses the unstable fracture technique. In this method, a diamond blade is used to scribe a groove along the desired cutting path in an alumina substrate. A defocused CO2 laser is applied to the substrate surface. As the laser moves a short distance, a short crack is generated through the edge of the substrate. When the laser direction is reversed, a great thermal stress is induced at the crack tip, causing the substrate to break along the scribed line. The acoustic emission signals produced during the fracture process were obtained to analyze the crack growth phenomenon. SEM photographs of the breaking surface were obtained to analyze the cutting quality. The relationship between the laser scanning speed and groove depth is discussed based on findings from the experimental results. The stress analyses via ANSYS were performed to characterize these complicated phenomena. It was found that the laser-cutting surface was free of micro-cracks and the surface quality was much better than that from mechanical breaking.
Bi-Se-Te mineralization from Úhorná (Spišsko Gemerské Rudohorie Mts., Słovakia): A preliminary report
Authors: Pršek Jaroslav , Peterec Dušan
Published: February 2009

Bi-Se-Te mineralization from Úhorná (Spišsko Gemerské Rudohorie Mts., Słovakia): A preliminary report

An unusual association of Se minerals was studied. Se enters into the structures of sulphosalts - into bournonite, jamesonite and tintinaite at concentrations up to 0.10, 0.38 and 1.11 apfu, respectively. However, Se and Te, together with Bi, also form discrete minerals such as tetradymite, laitakarite, ikunolite and hedleyite. Members of the laitakarite-ikunolite solid solution display a wide range of anion substitution from the nearly Se-free (0.10 apfu) end member to the S-poor (0.42 apfu) end member. Their contents of Te are low. Accompanying tetrahedrite does not contain Se or Te.
Adopting Open-Source Software Applications in U.S. Higher Education: A Cross-Disciplinary Review of the Literature
Authors: van Rooij Shahron Williams
Published: February 2009

Higher Education institutions in the United States are considering Open Source software applications such as the Moodle and Sakai course management systems and the Kuali financial system to build integrated learning environments that serve both academic and administrative needs. Open Source is presumed to be more flexible and less costly than commercial software. This article reviews the literature from the fields of Software Engineering and Education to determine the state of the current body of knowledge around the key drivers of Open Source adoption. The author discusses gaps in the literature and identifies opportunities for more rigorous research to measure the effectiveness of Open Source software in creating a balance between sound pedagogy and business efficiencies.
How to Teach Pet Loss to Veterinary Students
Authors: Cohen Susan Phillips
Published: February 2009

This paper covers the history of teaching pet loss, the skills new veterinarians should know, suggestions for who might teach those skills, and a sample curriculum. In the last 25 years, the veterinary profession has become more aware of the needs of clients who have lost pets and more skilled at meeting those needs. To maximize the ability of practitioners to handle pet loss, veterinary colleges and teaching hospitals can prepare students to do four things: explain a bad medical situation, assess the client, help a client to make a good decision, and support a client through their loss. These skills can and should be taught by a variety of experts, including veterinary faculty and practitioners, mental health professionals, clients, and peers.
Veterinary Students' Attitudes toward the Assessment of Clinical Reasoning Using Extended Matching Questions
Authors: Tomlin Jane L. , Pead Matthew J. , May Stephen A.
Published: February 2009

For the purposes of assessment, clinical expertise has been broken down into three broad components: scientific and clinical knowledge, clinical reasoning, and practical or technical skills. This structure can be used to define the tools used for assessment of clinical students. Knowledge can be assessed through a variety of written formats, and skills through various practical assessments, including the objective structured clinical examination. The assessment of clinical reasoning is more of a challenge, and, partly in order to address this challenge, the Royal Veterinary College recently introduced veterinary clinical-scenario-based extended matching questions. A questionnaire was used to collect students’ perceptions of the new format. Surprisingly, this questionnaire also delivered important insights into the students’ understanding of the process of clinical reasoning itself that could be crucial in future curriculum design. Despite a theory course that introduced students to the nature of expertise and the importance of pattern recognition to experienced clinicians, some final-year students could not recognize this approach as relevant to them and objected to the way in which some of the questions were driving them to think. This may relate to the variety of methods of case management that students observe during their practical experience and the different attitudes of clinicians to the way students work up cases. Overall, the students perceived this question type as an appropriate way to test clinical reasoning and as relevant to the experience they had gained during their clinical rotations, both within the college and in veterinary practices outside it.
Vertically Integrated Educational Collaboration between a College of Veterinary Medicine and a Non-profit Animal Shelter
Authors: Snowden Karen , Bice Kathryn , Craig Tom , Howe Lisa , Jarrett Melissa , Jeter Elizabeth , Kochevar Deborah , Simpson R. Bruce , Stickney Mark , Wesp Ashley , Wolf Alice M. , Zoran Debra
Published: February 2009

The College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (CVMBS) at Texas A&M University (TAMU) has developed a multifaceted program in partnership with the Brazos Animal Shelter to provide teaching opportunities with shelter animals during all four years of the professional curriculum. In the first three semesters of the professional program, students working in small groups spend two hours per semester at the shelter performing physical examinations, administering vaccinations and anthelmintics, completing heartworm or FeLV/FIV testing, and performing simple medical treatments. In an expanded fourth-year program, groups of six students spend 16 contact hours at the shelter during two-week rotations, completing similar tasks. Through this program, each student practices animal-handling skills and routine procedures on an average of 150 to 200 dogs and cats. In addition, during third- and fourth-year surgery courses, student teams spay or neuter an average of 12 to 18 dogs or cats each week. More than 800 animals are spayed/neutered annually through this program, and each student directly participates in 12 to 15 spay/neuter survival surgeries. The program represents a creative approach to veterinary training that conscientiously uses animal resources in a positive fashion. We believe that this is a successful partnership between a state-supported veterinary college and a non-profit shelter that benefits both agencies. We encourage other veterinary colleges to explore similar partnership opportunities to provide optimal training for professional students while using animal resources efficiently.
Wait Times for Publicly Funded Outpatient and Community Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy Services: Implications for the Increasing Number of Persons with Chronic Conditions in Ontario, Canada
Authors: Passalent Laura A. , Landry Michel D. , Cott Cheryl A.
Published: February 2009

Background: Timely access to publicly funded health services has emerged as a priority policy issue across the continuum of care from hospitals to the home and community sector. The purpose of this study was to examine wait lists and wait times for publicly funded outpatient and community occupational therapy (OT) and physical therapy (PT) services.

Methods: A mailed self-administered questionnaire was sent in December 2005 to all publicly funded sites across Ontario that deliver outpatient or community OT or PT services (N = 374). Descriptive statistics were used to describe the study sample and to examine wait lists and wait times by setting and client condition.

Results: Overall response rate was 57.2% (n = 214). More than 10,000 people were reported to be waiting for OT or PT services across Ontario. Of these, 16% (n = 1,664) were waiting for OT and 84% (n = 8,842) for PT. Of those waiting for OT, 59% had chronic conditions and half were waiting for home care rehabilitation services. Of those waiting for PT, 73% had chronic conditions and 81% were waiting at hospital outpatient departments.

Conclusions: Individuals with chronic conditions experience excessive wait times for outpatient and community OT and PT services in Ontario, particularly if they are waiting for services in hospital outpatient departments.
Carotid Duplex Ultrasound Findings in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease (CAD)-A Study in 50 Cases
Authors: Bari M Saiful , Das Prabir K , Ali Atahar , Alam SA Nurul , Ali Mahboob , Islam M Nazrul , Rahman Sufia , Rahman Fazlur
Published: February 2009

Fifty patients with coronary artery disease admitted to the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), Dhaka were screened for presence of carotid atherosclerosis by duplex ultrasound study during the period of July 98 to Aug 99. Out of 50 patients 34 patients (68%) had carotid lesions and normal carotids found in 16 patients (32%). Age range of patients with and without carotid lesions were 56 ± 5.39 yrs and 47± 7.91 yrs respectively. Out of 34 patients, 30 were male (88.24%) and 4 were female (11.76%). Twenty nine patients (85.29%) were smokers, 22 patients (64.7%) were hypertensive and 9 patients (26.47%) were diabetic. Dyslipidaemia was found in 16 patients (47.06%) and a history of transient ischaemic attack (TIA) was found in 10 patients (29.41%). A coexistent CAD on coronary angiography (CAG) was found in 31 patients (91.17%).

(University Heart Journal 2007; 3 : 63-64)
Effects of hyperuricemia on perinatal outcome in hypertensive disorder of pregnancy
Authors: Hosna Asma Ul , Bhuiyan AKM Mohiuddin , E-Ferdous Noor , Ahmed Md Khurshed , Siddique Md Abu , Salman Mohammad , Begum Sultana Razia , Rahman Md Mukhlesur , Ahsan Md Razib
Published: February 2009

The purpose of this study was to detect elevated uric acid level in maternal blood, presumably due to decrease renal urate excretion, for early detection of hypertensive disorder in pregnancy. This study showed that serum uric acid was significantly elevated in all cases of preeclampsia. The present study showed that serum uric acid levels were significantly elevated in eclampsia as compared with the levels in pregnancies complicated by hypertension (p < 0.05). The level of uric acid above 4.5 mg/dl is indicative of preeclamptic process and in such cases; the subjects deserve careful and close clinical follow up. Increasing higher concentration of uric acid i.e. 5.7 mg/dl, 6.3mg/dl, and 6.72mg/dl was observed in pregnancy with chronic hypertension, preeclampsia and eclampsia respectively. These results showed that serum uric acid could be used as a sensitive indicator of severity of preeclampsia. Out of 100 cases, there were 20 preterm baby and others such as stillbirth and IUD. So, these entire abnormal fetal outcomes were in the hyperuricaemic group and 5.37 times higher as compared to low serum uric acid group. Mean birth weight of preeclampsia and eclampsia were 2.31kg and 2.30kg respectively compared with 2.5kg in chronic hypertension group. Â Â  doi:10.3329/uhj.v4i2.2074 University Heart Journal Vol. 4 No. 2 July 2008 p.36-40
Analysis and Evaluation of EHR Approaches
Authors: Pharow P. , Blobel B.
Published: February 2009

Objectives: EHR systems are core applications in any eHealth/pHealth environment and represent basic services for health telematics platforms. Standards Developing Organizations as well as national programs define EHR architectures as well as related design, implementation, and deployment processes. Claiming to meet the challenge for semantic interoperability and to offer a sustainable pathway, the resulting documents and specifications are sometimes controversial and even inconsistent.

Methods: Based on long-term experiences from national and international EHR projects, inputs from related academic groups, and active involvement at CEN, ISO, HL7, an analysis and evaluation study has been performed. Using the Generic Component Model (GCM) reference architecture, the characteristics for advanced and sustainable EHR architectures have been investigated. The dimensions of such an architectural reference model have been described, including basic principles of the underlying formal logical framework.

Results: Strengths and weaknesses of the different standards, specifications, and approaches have been studied and summarized. Migration pathways for re-using and harmonizing the available materials as well as for formally defining standards development roadmaps can be derived.

Conclusions: For providing interoperable and sustainable EHR systems, an EHR architecture reflecting all paradigms of the GCM is absolutely necessary. The resulting EHR solution represents a services architecture of distributed components. The development process shall be completely model-driven and tool-based with formalized specifications of all domains’ aspects.
Automatic Acquisition of Synonym Resources and Assessment of their Impact on the Enhanced Search in EHRs
Authors: Varoutas P.-C. , Rizand P. , Livartowski A. , Hamon T. , Grabar N.
Published: February 2009

Objective: Currently, the use of natural language processing (NLP) approaches in order to improve search and exploration of electronic health records (EHRs) within healthcare information systems is not a common practice. One reason for this is the lack of suitable lexical resources. Indeed, in order to support such tasks, various types of such resources need to be collected or acquired (i.e., morphological, orthographic, synonymous).

Methods: We propose a novel method for the acquisition of synonymy resources. This method is language-independent and relies on existence of structured terminologies. It enables to decipher hidden synonymy relations between simple words and terms on the basis of their syntactic analysis and exploitation of their compositionality.

Results: Applied to series of synonym terms from the French subset of the UMLS, the method shows 99% precision. The overlap between thus inferred terms and the existing sparse resources of synonyms is very low. In order to better integrate these resources in an EHR search system, we analyzed a sample of clinical queries submitted by healthcare professionals.

Conclusions: Observation of clinical queries shows that they make a very little use of the query expansion function, and, whenever they do, synonymy relations are rarely involved.
Consent-based Access to Core EHR Information
Authors: Berntsen K. E. , Heimly V.
Published: February 2009

Objective: Lack of access to updated drug information is a challenge for healthcare providers in Norway. Drug charts are updated in separate EHR systems but exchange of drug information between them is lacking. In order to provide ready access to updated medication information, a project for consent-based access to a core EHR has been established.

Methods: End users have developed requirements for additions to the medication modules in the EHR systems in cooperation with vendors, researchers and standardization workers. The modules are then implemented by the vendors, tested in the usability lab, and finally tested by the national testing and approval service before implementation. An ethnographic study, with focus on future users and their interaction with other actors regarding medicines and medication, has included semi-/unstructured interviews with the involved organizational units.

Results: The core EHR uses the EHR kept by the patient’s regular GP as the main source of information. A server-based solution has been chosen in order to keep the core EHR accessible outside the GP’s regular work hours. The core EHR is being tested, and the EHR-vendors are implementing additions to their systems in order to facilitate communication with the core EHR. All major EHR-system vendors in Norway participate in the project.

Conclusions: The core EHR provides a generic basis that may be used as a pilot for a national patient summary. Examples of a wider use of the core EHR can be: shared individual plans to support continuity of care, summary of the patient’s contacts with health providers in different organizations, and core EHR information such as important diagnoses, allergies and contact information. Extensive electronic cooperation and communication requires that all partners adjust their documentation practices to fit with other actors’ needs. The implementation effects on future work practices will be followed by researchers.
Definitions and Qualifiers in SNOMED CT
Authors: Cornet R.
Published: February 2009

Objectives: An important feature of SNOMED CT is post-coordination, which is enabled by the SNOMED CT representation specifying whether a relationship is a defining or a qualifier relationship. In this paper the use of qualifier relationships in SNOMED CT is analyzed, as well as the extent to which qualifiers interact with defining relationships, so that pre-coordinated concepts can also be post-coordinated.

Methods: The July 2007 release of SNOMED CT was imported into a database. Analyses were performed by querying this database.

Results: Qualifier relationships occur in 10 out of 61 types of attribute relationships, and it is shown that generally pre-coordinated concepts cannot be constructed by applying post-coordination using qualifier relationships. Most of the qualifier relationships have generic target concepts, making it possible to construct concepts which are not clinically sensible. A logic-based representation is proposed to overcome the drawbacks of the current model.

Conclusions: Defining and qualifier relationships both enable post-coordination in SNOMED CT. Introducing qualifiers for more types of relationships, and using qualifier relationships with more specific target concepts will further improve post-coordination in SNOMED CT.
Bibliometric phenomenon of Tamil Publications in Sri Lanka in 2005
Authors: Maheshwaran R
Published: February 2009

Bibliometric analyses have been carried out in various fields. There has been no Bibliometric Study done on Tamil literature. This study evaluates the usefulness of bibilometric application for the analysis of Sri Lankan Tamil Publications in the year 2005 only. This paper discusses the necessity of preparing a detailed bibliometric analysis of Sri Lankan Publications or analysis of same nature and prepares comprehensive complete bibliographical accounts of Sri Lankan Tamil Publications. It tries to provide an account on authors, publishers, geographical area of publishers and editor in Tamil literary field. This study also evaluates the length, size, price and pagination of published Tamil publications in Sri Lanka. This study will urge the Tamils scholars and researchers or Post graduate students to start analyse of Bibliometric study on Tamil literature in Sri Lanka. A total number of 65 authors have produced 77 Tamil publications which have been taken for this analysis. Out of 91 publications, 15% are edited publications. Most of the publications 40% is published in Colombo and the Traditional Tamil cities - Jaffna and Batticalo contributed 11% and 9% to the publishing field respectively. Most of the Muslim origin publications were published in the Eastern Provincial Region amounting to 15% and the Upcountry area contributed to the Tamil Publication with 16%. 15% of the publications are brought about by the authors. Only 08% publications were published by departmental or government funds. Two private publishers published 04% of the publications each. Out of 91 publications printed in year 2005, 6% were published in length size of 21 cm and 29% in 22 cm. There are 14 editors in 2005 and all editors edited only one publication each. 40 of publication in Tamil literature 18 % in religious and 10 in social science. Key words: Bibliometric Analysis, Tamil Publications, Geographical Area, Publishers, Authors   doi: 10.4038/jula.v11i0.321 Journal of the University Librarians Association of Sri Lanka (Vol. 11) 2007 p.2-36
Some affected variables of information needs occurrence of an information seeker: a comprehensive hypothetical model
Authors: Karunanayeke KGDA , Nagata Haruki
Published: February 2009

Affected variables of information needs occurrence of an information seeker which discussed in this paper are an important research area of the user studies. This paper is drawn on literary reviews focusing, in particularly the information needs concepts, theories, and its affected variables which explored the cognitive metaphors and methods. Even though researchers reviewed a range of several existing published pieces of literature on the target topic, the main objective of this paper is to discuss the key concepts of information needs from different angles to unify the concept of information needs through a new dimension while designing a very comprehensive hypothetical model of information needs occurrences. This paper found that information needs occurrences happen through a complex process of involving the individual's insufficient knowledge structure. The complexity arose due to two kind of basic variables such as cognitive and socio variables. The problem of insufficient knowledge became apparent when a variety of void areas were identified in the current state of knowledge. These voids were identified through cognitive environment. The cognitive variables were found as a set of features which expresses the individual's knowledge identity and capacity. This paper suggests that some specific cognitive factors such as skill factors, knowledge factors and psychological statuses of the overall intellectual power which affected with the insufficient needs. In this context, different avenues of information needs occurrences were discussed in order to identify the nature of the needs and the characteristics involved with that process. Key words: Information needs, Information needs occurrence, Information seeking, Information seeking models   doi: 10.4038/jula.v11i0.323 Journal of the University Librarians Association of Sri Lanka (Vol. 11) 2007 p.50-78
A study on the user needs in sciences and medicine in the library of Universiti Brunei Darussalam: with a view to improving its services
Authors: Perera PASH
Published: February 2009

This paper presents a part of the study that was carried out in the library of University Brunei Darussalam to assess the user needs in Sciences and Medicine. The main focus in this paper has been on the part of the study relating to services of the library. The targeted users were undergraduates, postgraduates and academic staff of the Faculty of Science and Institute of Medicine. Survey method included interviews and a hardcopy questionnaire that was administered during the first semester of 2005/2006. Data obtained through the questionnaire were coded and subjected to ANOVA, Descriptive statistics and Cross-tabulation using SPSS Version 12. Findings revealed that the users who participated in the survey, while showing their satisfaction in some aspects, expressed concern about several other issues relating to the library services.   doi: 10.4038/jula.v11i0.324 Journal of the University Librarians Association of Sri Lanka (Vol. 11) 2007 p.79-97
Library and Information Sciences Research Literature in Sri Lanka: A Bibliometric Study
Authors: Gunasekera Chamani
Published: February 2009

This paper presents a bibliometric study of US research literature emanating from Sri Lanka over 141 articles from the two LIS journals for the period from 1997 to 2007. Data collected from the two journals namely Journal of University Librarian's Association (JULA) and the Sri Lanka Library Review were analyzed to examine the type of US research, areas of LIS research and research strategies and data collection methods used by the LIS researchers in Sri Lanka. This paper also attempts to present an analysis of the authorship pattern, author productivity and prominent contributors, citation pattern, length of papers, language wise and year wise distribution of articles, growth and direction of LIS research papers over a period of ten years. The study is quantitative oriented and longitudinal in character. Sri Lanka LIS research output seems to concentrate in the area of "LIS Activities" and "Information Seeking". Some of other important findings are most articles (94%) are single authored, author productivity is not in agreement with the Lotka's Law. There is no definite growth pattern or positive growth in the area of LIS research in the country. English is the most widely used language. Average citation per article was 9 while average length of an article was 12. Key Words: Bibliometrics, Library and Information science, US Literature, LIS Research and Development    doi: 10.4038/jula.v12i0.327 Journal of the University Librarians Association of Sri Lanka (Vol. 12) 2008 p.17-46
Access to Electronic Information: Challenges and Initiatives
Authors: Jayasuriya Sumana
Published: February 2009

Managing and providing access to electronic information is one of the major challenges faced by the university librarians. The article presents a brief overview of the changes which are taking place in the information environment due to technological developments, and the impact these changes have had on scholarly communication. It also points out the key issues i.e.organizational, managerial, technical, infrastructure, financial, archiving, and user issues faced by university librarians when providing access to electronic information. It concludes by summarizing the initiatives taken by Sri Lankan universities in this regard. Keywords: Electronic information; academic libraries; university libraries, Sri Lanka  doi: 10.4038/jula.v12i0.330   Journal of the University Librarians Association of Sri Lanka (Vol. 12) 2008 p.85-106
Use of online journals and databases: a case study based University of Moratuwa
Authors: Punchihewa CND , Jayasuriya Sumana
Published: February 2009

The objective of this case study was to explore the use of online databases, user perception towards online databases, user satisfaction with facilities provided by the library for using online resources. The participants of the user survey were dawn from four categories of the University; academic staff members, postgraduate students, undergraduate students and students of Institute of Technology - University of Moratuwa (ITUM). Total of 400 participants were selected for the survey. Analysis confirmed that frequency of use of electronic databases have been restricted only to few data bases (Blackwell Synergy, Science Direct and Wiley Inter Science). Relatively a lesser usage level was observed for the online journals compared to print journals. User groups have satisfied with the programmes conducted for promoting online resources. They have highlighted different areas that should be improved by the library. Providing printing facility and offering remote access facility were main requests of the users. Academic members and postgraduate students had higher online resource usage than the undergraduate students and ITUM students. The major problems examined within the study included, lack of computer and Internet facilities, lack of awareness to electronic resources provided by the library, ineffective communication channels, and irrelevancy of articles in the provided databases and inefficient support of the library. Key Words: Online databases, Information retrieval, Electronic journals, Electronic Media, User Survey, Information Searches    doi: 10.4038/jula.v12i0.332   Journal of the University Librarians Association of Sri Lanka (Vol. 12) 2008 p.124-149
Spiders and Scorpions (Arachnida: Araneae, Scorpiones) of the Nylsvley Nature Reserve, South Africa
Authors: Dippenaar-Schoeman Ansie S. , Van den Berg Annette , Prendini Lorenzo
Published: February 2009

Among other activities, the South African National Survey of Arachnida (SANSA) aims to survey the biodiversity of arachnids in protected areas of South Africa. The study presented here documents the diversity of spiders and scorpions collected from the Nylsvley Nature Reserve (NNR), South Africa over a 30-year period. The spider fauna of NNR contains 175 species (7.5% of the total recorded in South Africa), in 131 genera and 37 families. Thomisidae is the most diverse spider family in the reserve, with 33 species (18.9% of the total), followed by Salticidae, with 20 species (11.4%), and Araneidae, with 18 species (10.3%). The majority of species (125) are wandering spiders (71.4%), whereas 50 species (28.6%) build webs. Wandering grounddwelling spiders comprise 52 species, whereas 73 wandering species have been collected from the vegetation. A total of 158 species are new records for the reserve and Oxyopes tuberculatus Lessert, 1915 is newly recorded for South Africa. Six spider species may be new to science. The scorpion fauna of NNR comprises five species (5% of the total recorded in South Africa) in three genera and two families. Buthidae are more diverse in the reserve, with four species and two genera represented. The scorpion fauna of the reserve includes two fossorial and three epigeic species, representing five ecomorphotypes: semi-zpsammophilous, pelophilous, lithophilous, corticolous and lapidicolous. Five additional scorpion species may be recorded if the reserve is sampled more intensively using appropriate techniques.
Coexistence of an unbalanced chromosomal rearrangement and spinal muscular atrophy in an infant with multiple congenital anomalies
Authors: Ben‐Shachar Shay , Bidwa Bhattacharjee M. , Potocki Lorraine , Lalani Seema R.
Published: February 2009

Unbalanced chromosomal abnormalities are frequent and account for about 10% of all chromosomal abnormalities identified in live births. Diagnosis of a coinherited neuromuscular genetic disorder in these individuals is often challenging based on the severity and variability of the phenotype resulting from the genomic imbalance. Herein, we report on a 4‐month‐old male with multiple congenital anomalies, craniosynostosis, dysmorphic features, and hypotonia. Karyotype analysis revealed an abnormal male karyotype: 46,XY,der(3)(3;7)(p25;q36), with partial monosomy of 3pter and partial trisomy of 7qter. The targeted array‐based comparative genomic hybridization (array‐CGH) validated the cytogenetic abnormality, with further elucidation of trisomy of the Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) locus on chromosome 7. Based on the severity of hypotonia in this infant, molecular analysis for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) was performed and the common homozygous deletion of exon 7 in the survival of motor neuron 1 gene (SMN1) was identified. This case demonstrates the challenges in diagnoses of coexisting genetic disorders in infants with neuromuscular disease. A high index of suspicion in such cases is essential for appropriate case management and family risk assessment. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A novel approach for the kinetic and mechanistic modeling of acid‐catalyzed degradation of polymers
Authors: Lin Y.‐H. , Yang M.‐H.
Published: February 2009

A new approach is presented that combines kinetic and mechanistic considerations which take into account chemical reactions and catalyst deactivation in the modeling of the catalytic degradation of polymers. Though acid‐catalyzed hydrocarbon cracking reactions involve a large number of compounds, reactions and catalyst deactivation and are very complex, the model gives a good representation of experimental results from the degradation of polypropylene over fluidized acidic catalysts. This model provides the benefits of product selectivity for the chemical composition, such as alkanes, alkenes, aromatics and coke, in relation to the effect of structurally different polymer feeds, and the performance of the catalyst used. It is an improvement of the currently available empirical ‘lumping’ techniques which usually are severely restricted in terms of product definitions. Copyright © 2009 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Anticorrosive properties of epoxy resin coatings cured by aniline/p‐phenylenediamine copolymer
Authors: Yao Bin , Wang Gengchao , Li Xingwei , Zhang Zhiping
Published: February 2009

Aniline/p‐phenylenediamine copolymer [poly(ANI‐co‐p‐PDA)] was prepared by chemical oxidative polymerization. FTIR and 1H‐NMR analysis indicate that the poly(ANI‐co‐p‐PDA) is oligomer with end‐capped amino groups, which can cure epoxy resin. The anticorrosion performance of carbon steel (CS) samples coated by epoxy resin coating cured with poly(ANI‐co‐p‐PDA) and epoxy resin coating cured with triethylenetetramine exposed to 5 wt % NaCl and 0.1 mol/L HCl aqueous solution is studied by the potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The results show that the CS coated by epoxy resin coating cured with poly (ANI‐co‐p‐PDA) has more excellent corrosion protection than that of epoxy resin coating cured with triethylenetetramine. Raman spectroscopy analysis indicates that the surface of CS coated by epoxy resin coating cured with poly(ANI‐co‐p‐PDA) forms passive layer, which is composed of α‐Fe2O3. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009
Structure and properties of composite antibacterial PET fibers
Authors: Shuhua Wang , Wensheng Hou , Liqiao Wei , Jinming Dai , Husheng Jia , Xuguang Liu , Bingshe Xu
Published: February 2009

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) had been compounded with antibacterial materials for preparing antibacterial masterbatch using a twin‐screw extruder. Composite antibacterial PET fibers were prepared using the antibacterial masterbatch and pure PET resin by high‐speed melt‐spinning device, with spinning rate 3500 m/min. The antibacterial PET fibers of 5 wt % antibacterial materials were very effective against tested germs, with antibacterial ratios more than 90%, and had well mechanical properties. Scanning electron microscopy micrograph shows that antibacterial materials have been well dispersed in PET matrix. Microstructure of composite antibacterial fibers was studied by X‐ray diffraction, and the nucleating effect of antibacterial materials in the cooling crystallization process of PET was confirmed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Result of thermogravimetry (TG) result shows that the addition of antibacterial materials accelerated the degradation of PET. The aged properties of antibacterial fibers were evaluated. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009