bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An online alcohol and risky sex prevention program for college students studying abroad: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Pedersen Eric R. , D’Amico Elizabeth J. , LaBrie Joseph W. , Farris Coreen , Klein David J. , Griffin Beth Ann
Published: August 2019

Background

This study protocol describes a proposed randomized controlled trial that builds upon a successful pilot intervention study to address problematic and dangerous drinking among young adult college students studying abroad in foreign environments. Despite universities and colleges citing alcohol misuse as the most concerning issue for their students abroad, most institutions offer no empirically-based prevention efforts tailored to this at-risk population. The proposed intervention attempts to fill a major gap for the nearly 333,000 students completing study abroad programs each year by using empirically-based and theoretically-informed risk and protective factors to correct misperceived peer drinking norms and promote cultural engagement abroad. In addition to preventing heavy and problematic drinking, the intervention seeks to prevent risky sexual behaviors (e.g., sex without a condom) and experience of sexual violence victimization, which are strikingly common among study abroad students and have the potential for lasting physical and psychological effects upon return home.

Methods/design

We will conduct a randomized controlled trial of an intervention with a sample of 1200 college students studying abroad from approximately 50 US universities and colleges. The brief, online intervention is text and video based and contains evidence-based components of personalized normative feedback to correct students’ misperceived drinking norms, content to promote engagement with the cultural experience abroad and address difficulties adjusting to life in the foreign environment, and tips and strategies to prevent risky sexual behaviors and sexual violence victimization abroad. Participants will complete online surveys at five time points (predeparture, first month abroad, last month abroad, 1-month post-return, and 3-months post-return) to assess for intervention effects on drinking behavior, drinking consequences, risky sex, and sexual violence outcomes. We will examine whether the mechanisms targeted by the intervention (changes in perceived norms, engagement in the cultural experience abroad) serve as mediators of intervention efficacy.

Discussion

The proposed study has the potential to fill an important gap in the research literature and provide empirical support for an online accessible, brief, and targeted approach that can easily be distributed to study abroad students to help prevent heavy alcohol use and sexual risk abroad.

Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT03928067
A study of the improvement of foam material sealing technology for wetsuits
Authors: Oh Heekyoung , Oh Kyung Wha , Park Soonjee
Published: August 2019

The purpose of this study is to propose the most suitable sewing method to produce wetsuits using neoprene fabric. To construct a sewing method sample using neoprene fabric, the samples were prepared using two thicknesses (1.5 t and 3 t) of neoprene fabric. Sewing techniques comprised 10 different methods. The respective seam strengths (KSK 0530) and water resistance (KSK ISO 811) of each sample were measured. The results from the tests conducted using 10 sewing methods revealed that the seam strength of 466.7 N was the highest in the prototype constructed using zigzag and flatlock stitches on 1.5 t. The other samples had seam strengths of approximately 400 N, except for that sewn with straight stitch (113.3 N). For 3 t, the sample sewn using zigzag and flatlock stitches with seam sealing (653.3 N) had the highest strength, and the remaining samples had seam strengths of approximately 630 N, except the sample sewn with straight stitch (164.6 N). Significant factors affecting the seam strength were fabric thickness and the sewing method. Meanwhile, glue and blind stitch with seam sealing had the highest value for water resistance: 414.4 mH2O for 1.5 t and 987.6 mH2O for 3 t. The lowest values were revealed in samples sewn with zigzag and flatlock stitch 14.4 mH2O for 1.5 t and overlock stitch 13.3 mH2O for 3 t. Significant factors affecting water resistance were whether seam sealing was attached and the sewing method used. The expected result of this study, which tests the properties of two neoprene fabric thicknesses with 10 sewing methods, is the suggestion of the most appropriate sewing method for use in the production of a wet suit.
Chromosomal Abnormalities and Prognosis in NPM1-Mutated Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Pooled Analysis of Individual Patient Data From Nine International Cohorts
Authors: Angenendt Linus , Röllig Christoph , Montesinos Pau , Martínez-Cuadrón David , Barragan Eva , García Raimundo , Botella Carmen , Martínez Pilar , Ravandi Farhad , Kadia Tapan , Kantarjian Hagop M. , Cortes Jorge , Juliusson Gunnar , Lazarevic Vladimir , Höglund Martin , Lehmann Sören , Recher Christian , Pigneux Arnaud , Bertoli Sarah , Dumas Pierre-Yves , Dombret Hervé , Preudhomme Claude , Micol Jean-Baptiste , Terré Christine , Ráčil Zdeněk , Novák Jan , Žák Pavel , Wei Andrew H. , Tiong Ing S. , Wall Meaghan , Estey Elihu , Shaw Carole , Exeler Rita , Wagenführ Lisa , Stölzel Friedrich , Thiede Christian , Stelljes Matthias , Lenz Georg , Mikesch Jan-Henrik , Serve Hubert , Ehninger Gerhard , Berdel Wolfgang E. , Kramer Michael , Krug Utz , Schliemann Christoph
Published: August 2019

PURPOSE

Nucleophosmin 1 ( NPM1) mutations are associated with a favorable prognosis in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) when an internal tandem duplication (ITD) in the fms-related tyrosine kinase 3 gene ( FLT3) is absent ( FLT3-ITDneg) or present with a low allelic ratio ( FLT3-ITDlow). The 2017 European LeukemiaNet guidelines assume this is true regardless of accompanying cytogenetic abnormalities. We investigated the validity of this assumption.

METHODS

We analyzed associations between karyotype and outcome in intensively treated patients with NPM1mut/ FLT3-ITDneg/low AML who were prospectively enrolled in registry databases from nine international study groups or treatment centers.

RESULTS

Among 2,426 patients with NPM1mut/ FLT3-ITDneg/low AML, 2,000 (82.4%) had a normal and 426 (17.6%) had an abnormal karyotype, including 329 patients (13.6%) with intermediate and 83 patients (3.4%) with adverse-risk chromosomal abnormalities. In patients with NPM1mut/ FLT3-ITDneg/low AML, adverse cytogenetics were associated with lower complete remission rates (87.7%, 86.0%, and 66.3% for normal, aberrant intermediate, and adverse karyotype, respectively; P < .001), inferior 5-year overall (52.4%, 44.8%, 19.5%, respectively; P < .001) and event-free survival (40.6%, 36.0%, 18.1%, respectively; P < .001), and a higher 5-year cumulative incidence of relapse (43.6%, 44.2%, 51.9%, respectively; P = .0012). These associations remained in multivariable mixed-effects regression analyses adjusted for known clinicopathologic risk factors ( P < .001 for all end points). In patients with adverse-risk chromosomal aberrations, we found no significant influence of the NPM1 mutational status on outcome.

CONCLUSION

Karyotype abnormalities are significantly associated with outcome in NPM1mut/ FLT3-ITDneg/low AML. When adverse-risk cytogenetics are present, patients with NPM1mut share the same unfavorable prognosis as patients with NPM1 wild type and should be classified and treated accordingly. Thus, cytogenetic risk predominates over molecular risk in NPM1mut/ FLT3-ITDneg/low AML.
Proton beam therapy for tumors of the upper abdomen
Authors: Raldow Ann , Lamb James , Hong Theodore
Published: August 2019

Proton radiotherapy has clear dosimetric advantages over photon radiotherapy. In contrast to photons, which are absorbed exponentially, protons have a finite range dependent on the initial proton energy. Protons therefore do not deposit dose beyond the tumor, resulting in great conformality, and offers the promise of dose escalation to increase tumor control while minimizing toxicity. In this review, we discuss the rationale for using proton radiotherapy in the treatment of upper abdominal tumors—hepatocellular carcinomas, cholangiocarcinomas and pancreatic cancers. We also review the clinical outcomes and technical challenges of using proton radiotherapy for the treatment of these malignancies. Finally, we discuss the ongoing clinical trials implementing proton radiotherapy for the treatment of primary liver and pancreatic tumors.
Preliminary assessment of the utilization of durian peel liquid smoke as a natural preservative for mackerel
Authors: Faisal Muhammad , Gani Asri , Mulana Farid
Published: August 2019

Background: Durian peel is a type of biomass waste that contains cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin. The pyrolysis of these compounds results in production of liquid smoke which can be used as a natural preservative to replace current synthetic preservatives. This research assessed the ability of liquid smoke produced during pyrolysis of durian peel to preserve fish.

Methods: Dry durian peel waste underwent batch reactor pyrolysis at 340°C and 380°C, resulting in production of liquid smoke (grade 3), charcoal, and tar. This liquid smoke was then distilled at 190°C to produce grade 1 liquid smoke, which was used to preserve mackerel. The preservation process was conducted by soaking the mackerel samples in liquid smoke at 0.5, 1, 2, and 3% concentration levels followed by observations every 6 hours. Tests to determine the total volatile base nitrogen (TVB-N) content, antibacterial quality of the liquid smoke and organoleptic quality of the fish were conducted in order to assess the preservation properties of the liquid smoke.

Results: Tests on the antibacterial effects showed that the liquid smoke inhibited the growth of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus on fish even at low concentrations. At 54 hours, the TVB-N values remained below 30 mg nitrogen/g, indicating that the fish was still safe for human consumption. Results from the organoleptic tests showed that the concentration of liquid smoke influenced the preservation effects.

Conclusions: At a concentration of 2–3%, the fish samples possessed acceptable flavor, taste, color and texture for up to 48 hours of soaking. However, the best conditions were obtained with a 3% concentration of liquid smoke (produced with 340°C pyrolysis), as the fish was still considered acceptable for up to 42 hours.
Schizophrenia liability shares common molecular genetic risk factors with sleep duration and nightmares in childhood
Authors: Reed Zoe E. , Jones Hannah J. , Hemani Gibran , Zammit Stanley , Davis Oliver S. P.
Published: August 2019

Background: Sleep abnormalities are common in schizophrenia, often appearing before psychosis onset; however, the mechanisms behind this are uncertain. We investigated whether genetic risk for schizophrenia is associated with sleep phenotypes.

Methods: We used data from 6,058 children and 2,302 mothers from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). We examined associations between a polygenic risk score for schizophrenia and sleep duration in both children and mothers, and nightmares in children, along with genetic covariances between these traits.

Results: Polygenic risk for schizophrenia was associated with increased risk of nightmares (OR=1.07, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.14, p=0.02) in children, and also with less sleep (β=-44.52, 95% CI: −88.98, −0.07; p=0.05). We observed a similar relationship with sleep duration in mothers, although evidence was much weaker (p=0.38). Finally, we found evidence of genetic covariance between schizophrenia risk and reduced sleep duration in children and mothers, and between schizophrenia risk and nightmares in children.

Conclusions: These molecular genetic results support recent findings from twin analysis that show genetic overlap between sleep disturbances and psychotic-like experiences. They also show, to our knowledge for the first time, a genetic correlation between schizophrenia liability and risk of nightmares in childhood.
Polygenic risk score for Alzheimer’s disease and trajectories of cardiometabolic risk factors in children
Authors: Korologou-Linden Roxanna , O'Keeffe Linda , Howe Laura D. , Davey-Smith George , Jones Hannah J. , Anderson Emma L. , Stergiakouli Evie
Published: August 2019

Introduction: Cardiometabolic factors are implicated in the aetiology of Alzheimer’s disease and may lie on the pathways linking genetic variants to Alzheimer’s disease across the life course. We examined whether polygenic risk scores (PRS) were associated with cardiometabolic health indicators through childhood and adolescence.

Methods: In 7,977 participants from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, we tested whether a PRS for Alzheimer’s disease was associated with trajectories of cardiometabolic risk factors. We examined trajectories for height at 1-18 years; lean and fat mass at 9-18 years; systolic and diastolic blood pressure at 7-18 years; glucose and C-reactive protein at 9-18 years; insulin at 10-18 years; and high and low-density lipoproteins and triglycerides birth at 18 years. We also examined birthweight and interleukin-6 (IL-6) at age 9 years and physical activity at ages 11, 12, and 15 years.

Results: No consistent associations were observed between the PRS excluding genetic variants in the apolipoprotein E gene region and cardiometabolic factors trajectories across childhood and adolescence.

Conclusions: We did not detect evidence to suggest that the PRS for Alzheimer’s disease acts through childhood and adolescent cardiometabolic risk factors. Further studies should examine whether these associations emerge later in adulthood when variation in cardiometabolic risk factors is likely to be greater.
Travel vaccine update for summer 2019: Part one
Authors: Umeed Margaret
Published: August 2019

Margaret Umeed explains what primary care nurses need to know when advising holidaymakers on health
Routes through Education into Employment as England Enters the 2020s
Authors: Roberts Ken
Published: August 2019

Throughout the 1980s and 90s there was international interest in the UK’s extensive experience (which began in the 1970s) with measures to alleviate youth unemployment. Today the UK attracts international attention on account of its low rates of youth unemployment and NEET, its (still) relatively rapid education-to-work transitions, and (according to the OECD) its sustainable system for funding mass higher education. This paper uses a transitions regime paradigm to overview the outcomes of 40 years of change in England’s lower and upper secondary education, government-supported training, welfare provisions, economy and labour markets. We see how government policies polarise schools and young people into those who are achieving and those who are failing. Then, as employers become more influential, young people are re-sorted into the employment classes that have been formed during 30 years of change in the economy and labour market. Most from the former achieving group are pulled into the centre, between the smaller numbers on the one side who are embarking on elite careers, and on the other those who become part of a precariat class.
Being a Saudi and Qatari Female Principal: Position Demands, Challenges, and Advice
Authors: Vogel Linda R. , Alhudithi Ahlam
Published: August 2019

This qualitative study examined what female principals in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, two historically male-dominated cultures who are actively implementing reforms to provide women with more leadership opportunities, reported as typical elements of their daily work. The study also examined the challenges that these female principals reported in their efforts to improve the learning environment in their schools and what advice they would give to women entering the field of school leadership. The themes that emerged from the data were used to construct a grounded theory of the daily responsibilities of Saudi and Qatari female principals, the challenges that faced in fulfilling those responsibilities, and how they advised women entering principal positions to prepare to respond to those challenges.
Freedom to Choose within Limits: Teacher Autonomy from the Perspectives of Basic School Teachers in Ghana
Authors: Dampson Dandy George , Apau Stephen Kwakye , Amuah Uriel
Published: August 2019

The study examined the level of autonomy among basic school teachers in the Central Region of Ghana and the effect of teacher demographic characteristics on the level of teacher autonomy. The explanatory sequential design was adopted. Using the systematic sampling technique, a total of 315 basic school teachers were sampled for the quantitative phase of the study whilst 12 teachers were sampled for the qualitative phase through the purposive sampling technique. Eighteen (18) items Likert-scale was adapted from Pearson and Hall and used for the quantitative phase. A semi-structured interview guide was designed to collect data to further elaborate the study’s key findings. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the quantitative data whilst the interview was analysed thematically. The study revealed that teachers in the Central Region of Ghana hold positive perceptions about their autonomy with the level of autonomy being moderate. It further established that teacher autonomy is affected by gender positively whilst age and teaching experience affects their level of autonomy negatively. Based on the findings, it is recommended that the Ghana Education Service (GES) and school heads should organize in-service programmes aimed at informing basic school teachers on the extent of autonomy that they have in the process of implementing the curriculum.
Standing and walking age in children with idiopathic clubfoot: French physiotherapy versus Ponseti method
Authors: Zanardi A. , Fortini V. , Abati C. N. , Bettuzzi C. , Salvatori G. , Prato E. , Di Giacinto S. , Lampasi M.
Published: August 2019

Purpose

A mild delay in gross motor milestones and walking age has been reported in infants with clubfoot. The influence of different treatments on motor development has been poorly investigated. Some parents and physical therapists express concern that the Ponseti method (PM) and its constraints (abduction brace, casts) would affect development more than the French physical therapy method (FM) due to greater immobilization and lesser stimulation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate achievement of three motor milestones (pull-to-standing, cruising and independent walking) in two groups of clubfoot patients treated at two experienced institutes respectively with the PM and FM.

Methods

In all, 52 consecutive infants (full-term at birth, mean age at beginning of treatment 24.3 days (sd 10), mean Dimeglio score 12 (sd 3.4)) were prospectively enrolled (26 patients per centre) and followed up to walking age recording milestones.

Results

The two groups were not different in terms of age at the beginning of treatment (p = 0.067) and rate of tenotomy. Age at tenotomy was significantly lower in the PM group (p = 0.000). Severity (p = 0.004) and number of bilateral cases (p = 0.012) were higher in the PM group. A non-significant difference was found for age of achievement of pull-to-standing (p = 0.109), cruising (p = 0.253) and independent ambulation (p = 0.349) between the two groups. Overall, milestones were achieved approximately two months later than normal population. Sex, severity, laterality and need of tenotomy were not found to significantly influence milestones.

Conclusion

Our results confirmed that infants with clubfoot are expected to have a minimum delay in motor development. Infants treated with the PM and those treated with the FM did not show significant differences in gross motor milestones achievement at walking age.

Level of Evidence

Level II – Prospective comparative therapeutic studies
Building trust and sharing power for co-creation in Aboriginal health research: a stakeholder interview study
Authors: Sherriff Simone Louise , Miller Hilary , Tong Allison , Williamson Anna , Muthayya Sumithra , Redman Sally , Bailey Sandra , Eades Sandra , Haynes Abby
Published: August 2019

Background

Historically, Aboriginal health research in Australia has been non-participatory, misrepresentative, and has produced few measurable improvements to community health. The Study of Environment on Aboriginal Resilience and Child Health (SEARCH) was established to co-create and co-translate research. Over the past decade, SEARCH has built a sustainable partnership across policy, research, clinical and Aboriginal community sectors which has resulted in improvements in Aboriginal health through enhanced services, policies and programmes.

Aims and objectives

This study describes the critical success factors behind SEARCH, focusing on how SEARCH was established, and continues to build trusting co-creative relationships. It also explores some continuing challenges and considers how the partnership might be strengthened.

Methods

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 stakeholders, purposively selected to obtain maximum diversity of roles and perspectives. Interview questions explored concepts that informed the development of SEARCH such as trust, transparency, leadership, governance, reciprocity and empowerment. Data was analysed thematically and written up using the qualitative description approach.

Findings and discussion

Nine critical success factors were identified: shared power; strong credible leadership; shared vision, shared goals; willingness to take risks; connecting across cultures; empowering the community; valuing local Aboriginal knowledge; ongoing investment and collaboration; and adaptability. While each of these factors has areas for ongoing improvement, this case example demonstrates that co-creation and co-translation of research in Aboriginal health is achievable and, indeed, necessary to improve health outcomes.
Plurilinguisme dans l’oeuvre de Katalin Molnár
Authors: Ori Julia
Published: August 2019

Katalin Molnár, of Hungarian origin and exiled to France since 1979, wrote approximately half of her works in Hungarian and the other in French. Nevertheless, these languages are not so clearly separated in her texts as this symmetry might suggest. The author plays very often with language and languages by creating multilingual works. Close to Hungarian and French avant-garde groups, she therefore ‘used’ her translingualism as a source of innovation leading to multilingualism. This article studies how this happens, by the analysis of different manifestations of language diversity in Molnár’s works: code-switching or intra- and interphrastic language change – in particular the insertions and cases of alternation – and the different types of language interference (the influence of one language on another without change of language): grammatical, lexical and cultural.
New media coming to Kapkoi
Authors: Gustafsson Jessica
Published: August 2019

This article, by partly adopting a historical perspective, examines the introduction of new media in a Kenyan rural village, Kapkoi, and how it changes the communication ecology in the village. Further it explores how people in Kapkoi use and ascribe meaning to media. The article argues that categories such as gender, age and financial situation influence people’s access to and use of media and demonstrates how media use can simultaneously reinforce and challenge power structures. Moreover, it highlights the clear digital divide between rural areas and urban centres, and yet suggests that the introduction of new media is partly owing to the connection between the urban and the rural and that media and communications technologies sustain and increase the connectedness of the local.
It’s my choice: The effects of moral decision-making on narrative game engagement
Authors: Ferchaud Arienne , Beth Oliver Mary
Published: August 2019

In video games, complicated stories which can branch in multiple ways are possible, giving the player a great sense of control over the story. This study’s purpose was to determine how choice and morality interact to affect narrative engagement. For this, a 2 (choice vs. no choice) × 2 (moral vs. immoral) experiment was conducted utilizing a modified version of a Fallout: New Vegas to examine the role of moral choice. Results indicated that very few individuals preferred the bad option when given a choice, with most participants choosing good actions. Thus, the bad by choice condition was dropped, resulting in three conditions: good by choice, good by force and bad by force. Although there were no significant differences found between conditions on transportation or parasocial interaction, the study revealed significant differences for identification such that those who committed more moral actions identified less with the main character. Additionally, those who chose good actions felt more moral than those who were forced to commit good actions. Implications of these findings are discussed.
Relationship between accounting information systems implementation and corporate governance of rural banks in Indonesia
Authors: Rachmawati Rima
Published: August 2019

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between accounting information systems implementation and the governance of rural banks (bank perkreditan rakyat/BPR). Specifically, this study examines the effect of bookkeeping systems, financial reporting, budgeting systems, and IFRS for SMEs implementation on good corporate governance of rural banks.   PLS-SEM wasemployed for data analysis to 145 rural banks registered in Regional Owned Bank Association of Central Java Indonesia. The results of data analysis found that bookkeeping systems, financial reporting and budgeting systems implemetation positively affectgood corporate governance of rural banks, while IFRS for SMEs implementation was not significantly affectgood corporate governance of rural banks.
Novel heterozygous NFKB1 mutation—variable penetrance in a family cohort
Authors: Mandola Amarilla B. , Merico Daniele , Sharfe Nigel
Published: August 2019

Background: Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) is a term used to define a heterogeneous group of patients who commonly have hypogammaglobulinemia and variable degrees of modest T cell dysfunction. Recent advances made in next generation sequencing technologies have accelerated the identification of CVID disease-causing genes, including NFKB1, a component of the nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) pathway.

Objective: We sought to identify the genetic defect in a 3-generation family of patients with CVID who presented with cytopenias, eczema, and recurrent sinopulmonary infections.

Methods: Whole exome sequencing and Sanger confirmation was performed, and a combination of molecular and cellular techniques used to assess the variant impact on B and T cell function.

Results: A novel heterozygous frameshift mutation in NFKB1, encoding the transcriptional regulator protein p50/p105, was identified. This resulted in c.1584dupG (p.M528fs). We demonstrate that c.1584dupG is a loss-of-function variant, responsible for reduced p105/p50 protein expression in affected individuals as well as variable increased CD21low B cell numbers.

Conclusion: This novel mutation affecting NFKB1 causes a CVID phenotype with variable clinical manifestations. Given the wide spectrum of age in this kindred, this may reflect diversity of phenotype expression, or more probably, age-related expression of typical features.

Statement of novelty: We report here a novel loss-of-function frameshift mutation in NFKB1.
Clinical application of presepsin as diagnostic biomarker of infection: overview and updates
Authors: Galliera Emanuela , Massaccesi Luca , de Vecchi Elena , Banfi Giuseppe , Romanelli Massimiliano M. Corsi
Published: August 2019

The appropriate identification of bacterial infection is the basis for effective treatment and control of infective disease. Among this context, an emerging biomarker of infection is presepsin (PSP), recently described as early marker of different infections. PSP secretion has been shown to be associated with monocyte phagocytosis and plasmatic levels of PSP increase in response to bacterial infection and decrease after antibiotic treatment, therefore it can be considered a marker of activation of immune cell response towards an invading pathogen. Different methods have been developed to measure PSP and this review will briefly describe the different clinical fields of application of PSP, ranging from intensive care to neonatal infection, to orthopedic and pulmonary infection as well as fungal infections and cardiovascular infections.
Finite Difference Approximation of a Generalized Time-Fractional Telegraph Equation
Authors: Delić Aleksandra , Jovanović Boško S. , Živanović Sandra
Published: August 2019

We consider a class of a generalized time-fractional telegraph equations.
The existence of a weak solution of the corresponding initial-boundary value problem has been proved.
A finite difference scheme approximating the problem is proposed, and its stability is proved.
An estimate for the rate of convergence, in special discrete energetic Sobolev’s norm, is obtained.
The theoretical results are confirmed by numerical examples.
Routine coagulation testing in Vacutainer® Citrate Plus tubes filled at minimum or optimal volume
Authors: Balboni Fiamma , Barbui Stefania , Gallo Marco , Berardi Margherita , Vezzosi Marco , Lippi Giuseppe
Published: August 2019

Background

Filling of citrate tubes with appropriate amount of blood is essential for obtaining reliable results of coagulation testing. This study aimed to verify whether results of routine coagulation tests are comparable when the new Becton Dickinson Vacutainer® Citrate Plus tubes are filled at minimum or optimal volume.

Methods

The study population consisted of 133 patients (40 on oral anticoagulant therapy), who had blood collected for routine coagulation testing. Two sequential Vacutainer® Citrate Plus tubes of the same type and lot were drawn. The first tube was collected after a butterfly needle was inserted into the vein, so that the air in the tubing was aspirated into the tube before blood (minimum fill volume), whilst the second was drawn at optimal fill volume. Experiments were repeated using 2.7-mL (n = 86) and 1.8-mL (n = 47) tubes.

Results

Prothrombin time (PT) and fibrinogen values were slightly but significantly decreased in tubes with minimum than in those with optimal fill volume. The activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) was slightly prolonged in tubes with minimum than in those with optimal fill volume, but the difference was not statistically significant. An identical trend was noted in separate analyses for the 2.7-mL and 1.8-mL tubes. Spearman’s correlations between the two fill volumes were always >0.94 and bias was always within the quality specifications.

Conclusions

Blood drawing into Vacutainer® Citrate Plus tubes at minimum fill volume does not clinically bias routine coagulation testing.
New speakers of Irish: shifting boundaries across time and space
Authors: O'Rourke Bernadette , Walsh John
Published: August 2019

While traditional Irish-speaking communities continue to decline, the number of second-language speakers outside of the Gaeltacht has increased. Of the more than one and half million speakers of Irish just over 66,000 now live in one of the officially designated Gaeltacht areas. While “new speakers” can be seen to play an important role in the future of the language, this role is sometimes undermined by discourses which idealise the notion of the traditional Gaeltacht speaker. Such discourses can be used to deny them “authenticity” as “real” or “legitimate” speakers, sometimes leading to struggles over language ownership. Concerns about linguistic purity are often voiced in both academic and public discourse, with the more hybridized forms of Irish developed amongst “new speakers” often criticised. This article looks at the extent to which such discourses are being internalised by new speakers of Irish and whether or not they are constructing an identity as a distinct social and linguistic group based on what it means to be an Irish speaker in the twenty first century.
Bridging Cultural Gaps: My Voice
Authors: Cheng Lirong Lilly
Published: August 2019

My goal in this article is to share my experiences as an academic in an institution of higher education in the United States. To a large measure, I provide insight into a world that contains multiple complexities for those who have come from a different shore. These experiences were based on my not, at first, understanding the prevailing cultural rules of the new context, with some experiences being humorous and others less so. This article presents lessons that were learned over the years that have allowed me to continue to strengthen my understanding of myself as a stranger from a different shore.
Network Neutrality Through the Lens of Network Economics
Authors: Stocker Volker , Knieps Guenter
Published: August 2019

Network neutrality for the Internet has been a fiercely debated topic for more than 15 years. Arguably spurred by recent regulatory actions in the US and the tremendous ecosystem evolution as characterized by the emergence and growing importance of global cloud platforms as well as the Internet of Things, the debate has recently seen a resurgence. This paper describes the origins and development of the regulatory stance towards network neutrality in the US and the EU. Against the background of the diverse evolutionary forces that shape the ecosystem, we examine network neutrality regulation through the lens of network economics. In doing so, we describe a series of challenges and misconceptions associated with current regulations and expound the requirement for a market-driven understanding of network neutrality.
Knowledge of Parents about Bruxism in their Children
Authors: Calıskan DDS, PhD Secil , Delikan DDS, MDs Ebru , Ozcan-Kucuk DDS, MDs Ayse
Published: August 2019

Objective: Bruxism is a jaw muscle activity disorder characterized by clenching or grinding of the teeth and can be seen in both children and adults. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the parental knowledge about bruxism in children. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 265 parents whose children were attended at University of Mersin pediatric dentistry and oral and maxillofacial surgery clinics. Children’s ages varied from 6 months to 16 years old. A 20-questioned questionnaire was used to collect the data. IBM SPSS Statistics 22 for statistical analysis (SPSS IBM, Turkey) program was used for the analysis. Results: A total of 265 parents (159 were female and 106 were male) participated in the study. The majority of the parents were between the ages of 31-40 (60.8%). The rate of clenching and grinding of teeth during sleep (21.5%) was higher than the rate when they were awake (7.2%). The ratio of the parents seeking treatment for their children because of this harmful habit was very low (3.8%). The majortiy of parents  (37.7%) reported that they seek help from dentists. The participants believed that bruxism was associated with dental problems (33.6%) and emotional factors (32.8%). A significant difference was found between the educational background of the parents and the ability to define bruxism. Conclusion: Parents had inadequate knowledge about bruxism in children and this was mostly related to the educational background of the parents.
IMPACT OF THE ADDITION OF BARLEY FLOUR ON INDICATORS OF BREAD FROM A MIXTURE OF WHITE WHEAT AND RYE FLOUR
Authors: Pavlova Tatjana , Zlatev Zlatin
Published: August 2019

The influence of the addition of barley flour on indicators of bread from a mixture of white wheat and rye flour was tested. It has been found that the ratio of 30% white wheat and 70% rye flour is suitable for a control sample to which barley flour is added, because at this ratio there are high values of the conductivity indicators, Total dissolved solids, Oxidation-reduction potential, and the pH is neutral. It has been shown that the 30% added barley flour to a mixture of wheat and rye flour has no significant influence on the appearance and color of the bread and improves its organoleptic characteristics. The results of the study show that good results are obtained in studies based on VIS spectral data because the major part of the properties tested for flour, dough and bread are visible properties that can be analyzed in the visible spectrum of the reflected light. Spectral indexes obtained in the 620 nm range were found to be a suitable tool for the analysis of rye-wheat bread with added barley flour.
Gli Augustales a Viminacium (Mesia superiore). Le testimonianze epigrafiche ed iconografiche
Authors: Pilipović Sanja
Published: August 2019

This research focuses on the monuments of the Augustales from Viminacium in the province of Upper Moesia. Five monuments are considered: four funerary steles and one dedication made to an emperor. Drawing upon epigraphic and iconographic sources, this paper aims to discover the origin and social status of the Augustales in Viminacium and the nature of their relationship to the ruling class of the city.
Traditions and innovation in fine metalwork in the Middle Danube region in the second half of the 5th and the early 6th centuries A.D. Once more on the 'Szarvas' brooch group: new finds, new hypotheses
Authors: Tóth Ágnes B.
Published: August 2019

The aim of this paper is to examine a group of brooches whose numbers have been increasing in recent years to determine their origins, their relationship to each other and their role in the fine metalwork, goldsmith practice of the period. These brooches and pairs of brooches were found in ten sites scattered across a large geographic area (Szarvas, La-Rue-Saint-Pierre, Bernhardsthal, Uppåkra, Narona, Hemmingen, 'Italy', Collegno, Domoszló, Nagyvárad). The artefacts share common features that can aid in determining the areas of production for objects within the group. We can confidently date them to the second half of the 5thand the early 6thcenturies A.D. and examine their role in the development of the so-called Thuringian-type brooches. Furthermore, they allow us to investigate changes in female attire and shed light on the relationships between the Middle Danube region and Southern Sweden (Skåne).
New record of the rare Gonatopus mariae Martins, Lara, Perioto & Olmi, 2015 (Hymenoptera, Dryinidae) for the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil
Authors: Martins André Luis
Published: August 2019

Gonatopus mariae Martins, Lara, Perioto & Olmi, 2015, described from the state of São Paulo, is recorded for the first time in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil, representing the first record of the genus and species from the state. The specimen was collected with a Malaise Dossel trap and deposited at the Entomological Collection of the Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (Brazil). A diagnosis and illustration of this species are presented  demonstrating morphological variation of the type material. A distribution map is also provided. Gonatopus mariae is a rare species and its distribution is probably restricted to the southeastern region of Brazil.
Pendekatan Aksiologis Pendidikan Islam dalam Perspektif Islam dan Barat
Authors: H. M. Fazlurrahman
Published: August 2019

Pendekatan aksiologis dalam pendidikan Islam merupakan diskursus yang masih sangat penting dan relevan hingga saat ini. Seluruh proses kependidikan Islam, baik yang di dalamnya melibatkan aspek kurikulum, pembelajaran, tenaga kependidikan, kesiswaan, manajemen kelembagaan, dan seterusnya, mempunyai satu muara atau hilir yang sama, yaitu mendukung ketercapaian aksiologis dalam pendidikan Islam. Kemudian, menjadi menarik pula untuk dibahas, sebenarnya apa keterkaitan antara tujuan pendidikan Islam dan Nasional sudah selaras atau malah terjadi tumpang-tindih. Diharapkan dalam pemaparan kajian ini dapat dengan jelas menyampaikan pokok permasalahan pada tujuan pendidikan Islam. Sehingga memiliki aksiologi pendidikan yang aplikatif bagi pendidikan Islam secara nasional. Metode yang digunakan oleh peneliti adalah kajian pustaka (library research), dimana membandingkan konsep-konsep yang terdapat dalam literatur dengan penelitian. Adapun hasilnya, filsafat tujuan pendidikan Islam di tanah air masih memiliki kelemahan mendasar dalam menghadirkan rumusan tujuan sebagai bagian dari teori pengetahuan. Selain itu, masih banyaknya tujuan pendidikan yang sifatnya sulit untuk digapai atau belum aplikatif. Maka dapat disimpulkan bahwa para penulis filsafat pendidikan Islam telah mempunyai kesadaran akademis bahwa, teori tujuan mestinya harus dirumuskan terlebih dahulu sebelum merumuskan tujuan pendidikan Islam dari perspektif kajian filsafat. Sayangnya, kesadaran tersebut tidak direalisasikan oleh mereka dan tidak digunakan sebagai panduan untuk merumuskan tujuan pendidikan Islam secara sistematis dan komprehensif.
Pendidikan Islam dalam Perspektif Masyarakat Petani Madura
Authors: Usman Usman
Published: August 2019

This article explores perspectives of peasant community in Pamekasan Regency Madura regarding Islamic education as constructed reality. The peasants consider the obligatory of pursuing such education for their children’s Islamic morality in their future. They put first priority in the Islamic education rather than hustling about what profession their children are going to have. This indicates that social construction in a community has uniqueness for the development of child education in every phase. Findings show that spiritual-based parenting, environment positive attitude, and community acceptance to the children develop concept of self, which has implication to the development of children Islamic morality.
Multi-Scale 3D Convolution Network for Video Based Person Re-Identification
Authors: Li Jianing , Zhang Shiliang , Huang Tiejun
Published: August 2019

This paper proposes a two-stream convolution network to extract spatial and temporal cues for video based person ReIdentification (ReID). A temporal stream in this network is constructed by inserting several Multi-scale 3D (M3D) convolution layers into a 2D CNN network. The resulting M3D convolution network introduces a fraction of parameters into the 2D CNN, but gains the ability of multi-scale temporal feature learning. With this compact architecture, M3D convolution network is also more efficient and easier to optimize than existing 3D convolution networks. The temporal stream further involves Residual Attention Layers (RAL) to refine the temporal features. By jointly learning spatial-temporal attention masks in a residual manner, RAL identifies the discriminative spatial regions and temporal cues. The other stream in our network is implemented with a 2D CNN for spatial feature extraction. The spatial and temporal features from two streams are finally fused for the video based person ReID. Evaluations on three widely used benchmarks datasets, i.e.,MARS, PRID2011, and iLIDS-VID demonstrate the substantial advantages of our method over existing 3D convolution networks and state-of-art methods.
Meta Learning for Image Captioning
Authors: Li Nannan , Chen Zhenzhong , Liu Shan
Published: August 2019

Reinforcement learning (RL) has shown its advantages in image captioning by optimizing the non-differentiable metric directly in the reward learning process. However, due to the reward hacking problem in RL, maximizing reward may not lead to better quality of the caption, especially from the aspects of propositional content and distinctiveness. In this work, we propose to use a new learning method, meta learning, to utilize supervision from the ground truth whilst optimizing the reward function in RL. To improve the propositional content and the distinctiveness of the generated captions, the proposed model provides the global optimal solution by taking different gradient steps towards the supervision task and the reinforcement task, simultaneously. Experimental results on MS COCO validate the effectiveness of our approach when compared with the state-of-the-art methods.
Visual-Semantic Graph Reasoning for Pedestrian Attribute Recognition
Authors: Li Qiaozhe , Zhao Xin , He Ran , Huang Kaiqi
Published: August 2019

Pedestrian attribute recognition in surveillance is a challenging task due to poor image quality, significant appearance variations and diverse spatial distribution of different attributes. This paper treats pedestrian attribute recognition as a sequential attribute prediction problem and proposes a novel visual-semantic graph reasoning framework to address this problem. Our framework contains a spatial graph and a directed semantic graph. By performing reasoning using the Graph Convolutional Network (GCN), one graph captures spatial relations between regions and the other learns potential semantic relations between attributes. An end-to-end architecture is presented to perform mutual embedding between these two graphs to guide the relational learning for each other. We verify the proposed framework on three large scale pedestrian attribute datasets including PETA, RAP, and PA100k. Experiments show superiority of the proposed method over state-of-the-art methods and effectiveness of our joint GCN structures for sequential attribute prediction.
Learning Object Context for Dense Captioning
Authors: Li Xiangyang , Jiang Shuqiang , Han Jungong
Published: August 2019

Dense captioning is a challenging task which not only detects visual elements in images but also generates natural language sentences to describe them. Previous approaches do not leverage object information in images for this task. However, objects provide valuable cues to help predict the locations of caption regions as caption regions often highly overlap with objects (i.e. caption regions are usually parts of objects or combinations of them). Meanwhile, objects also provide important information for describing a target caption region as the corresponding description not only depicts its properties, but also involves its interactions with objects in the image. In this work, we propose a novel scheme with an object context encoding Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network to automatically learn complementary object context for each caption region, transferring knowledge from objects to caption regions. All contextual objects are arranged as a sequence and progressively fed into the context encoding module to obtain context features. Then both the learned object context features and region features are used to predict the bounding box offsets and generate the descriptions. The context learning procedure is in conjunction with the optimization of both location prediction and caption generation, thus enabling the object context encoding LSTM to capture and aggregate useful object context. Experiments on benchmark datasets demonstrate the superiority of our proposed approach over the state-of-the-art methods.
Robust Estimation of Similarity Transformation for Visual Object Tracking
Authors: Li Yang , Zhu Jianke , Hoi Steven C.H. , Song Wenjie , Wang Zhefeng , Liu Hantang
Published: August 2019

Most of existing correlation filter-based tracking approaches only estimate simple axis-aligned bounding boxes, and very few of them is capable of recovering the underlying similarity transformation. To tackle this challenging problem, in this paper, we propose a new correlation filter-based tracker with a novel robust estimation of similarity transformation on the large displacements. In order to efficiently search in such a large 4-DoF space in real-time, we formulate the problem into two 2-DoF sub-problems and apply an efficient Block Coordinates Descent solver to optimize the estimation result. Specifically, we employ an efficient phase correlation scheme to deal with both scale and rotation changes simultaneously in log-polar coordinates. Moreover, a variant of correlation filter is used to predict the translational motion individually. Our experimental results demonstrate that the proposed tracker achieves very promising prediction performance compared with the state-of-the-art visual object tracking methods while still retaining the advantages of high efficiency and simplicity in conventional correlation filter-based tracking methods.