bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Influence of projection angle in sandblasting cleaning on detrictic stone materials in Architectural Heritage
Authors: Iglesias-Campos M. A. , García-Fortes S. , Prada-Perez J. L.
Published: May 2014

In this research, the influence of the angle in abrasive blasting cleaning is studied on Montjuïc sandstone with black crust. After analyzing the properties of the soiling and the material, and their possible influence on the treatment, different cleaning tests were made at four different angles, keeping the complementary parameters constant. Taking the restorer’s perspective as a starting point, and in order to fulfill the practical requirements of an intervention —time and cost reduction—, tests were evaluated with USB digital microscope, stereomicroscope with 3D visualization and measurement, and colorimeter. From the results it is established that angles close to 75° minimize surface alteration, reducing differential erosion in the binding phases of detritic materials usually caused by this treatment.
The Value of Adaption and Innovation as a Function of Diversity
Authors: Friedel Curtis
Published: May 2014

When one is asked to put a diverse team together to solve a particular problem, one often thinks of diversity as differences in ethnicity, gender, social economic status, and age. However, one variable not often considered is problem-solving style. Kirton's Adaption-Innovation (AI) theory explains how some people are more adaptive while others are more innovative in their style of solving problems. Because many of today's problems are complex, if not wicked, both more adaptive and more innovative individuals need to work together on teams to solve problems so that unintended consequences of problems may be anticipated. A case study is presented in this chapter providing evidence to suggest distinguishing characteristics of those who are more adaptive or more innovative may be misattributed to nationality or culture, despite evidence of independence between these variables. Finally, Kirton's AI theory is linked to the study of leadership.
Value Creation through Heterogeneous Cultural Team-Based Environments
Authors: Ozuem Wilson , Sarsby Nicole
Published: May 2014

Previous research has documented cultural heterogeneity within project teams, but still attention mainly centres on project managers who transfer internationally to manage teams of a different culture from their own, or more recently from those who manage virtual teams. Existing literature does not discuss the readiness to manage culturally diverse teams as a result of large-scale EU migration and wider immigration in the UK projectised environments. The objectives of this contribution are: 1) to investigate the factors that influence effective value creation in heterogeneous cultural environments, in both inter- and intra-organisational learning and knowledge creation in the UK project team-based environments, and 2) to illuminate issues of value creation in heterogeneous cultural environments in both public and private team-based project environments. This chapter adds to extant studies of organisational diversity and innovation by elucidating the overwhelming key aspects of cultural heterogeneity and thus explains how challenging it is to affect change in the prevailing praxis, ideas, and values in team-based management.
Cross-Cultural Adaptation Challenges to Management Innovation in Multinational Business Context
Authors: Chen Zhuojun Joyce
Published: May 2014

With economic development and globalization, many multinational enterprises have been established. Because of the cultural and economic context differences, traditional management strategies could not be effectively implemented in multinational companies. Therefore, management innovation is necessary for those companies to achieve business success. Various studies on multinational management seem focused on differences in business environments and cultures between countries and comparative management styles. However, few studies have paid attention to the process of cross-cultural adaptation and transformation through day-to-day practices in multinational enterprises. Therefore, based on the concept of management innovation and the integrative theory of cross-cultural adaptation, this chapter intends to begin building a model to explore management innovation in multinational enterprises from the perspective of cross-cultural adaptation. Qualitative data was collected from Chinese-owned multinational companies. The results support the model conceptually and provide suggestions for further studies.
Developing a Unified Framework and a Causal Model of Transformational Leadership, Empowerment, Innovation Support, and Organizational Innovation
Authors: Kasemsap Kijpokin
Published: May 2014

The research objective in the study described in this chapter was to develop a unified framework and a causal model of transformational leadership, empowerment, innovation support, and organizational innovation for leather company employees in Thailand. The chapter argues that dimensions of transformational leadership, empowerment, and innovation support have mediated positive effect on organizational innovation. Innovation support positively mediates the relationships between transformational leadership and organizational innovation and between empowerment and organizational innovation. Transformational leadership is positively correlated with empowerment. Furthermore, the author hopes that understanding the theoretical constructs of transformational leadership, empowerment, innovation support, and organizational innovation through the use of this framework and causal model will not only inform researchers of a better design for studying transformational leadership, empowerment, innovation support, and organizational innovation, but also assist in the understanding of intricate relationships between different factors.
Automated Ripeness Assessment System of Tomatoes Using PCA and SVM Techniques
Authors: El Hariri Esraa , El-Bendary Nashwa , Hassanien Aboul Ella , Badr Amr
Published: May 2014

One of the prime factors in ensuring a consistent marketing of crops is product quality, and the process of determining ripeness stages is a very important issue in the industry of (fruits and vegetables) production, since ripeness is the main quality indicator from the customers' perspective. To ensure optimum yield of high quality products, an objective and accurate ripeness assessment of agricultural crops is important. This chapter discusses the problem of determining different ripeness stages of tomato and presents a content-based image classification approach to automate the ripeness assessment process of tomato via examining and classifying the different ripeness stages as a solution for this problem. It introduces a survey about resent research work related to monitoring and classification of maturity stages for fruits/vegetables and provides the core concepts of color features, SVM, and PCA algorithms. Then it describes the proposed approach for solving the problem of determining different ripeness stages of tomatoes. The proposed approach consists of three phases, namely pre-processing, feature extraction, and classification phase. The classification process depends totally on color features (colored histogram and color moments), since the surface color of a tomato is the most important characteristic to observe ripeness. This approach uses Principal Components Analysis (PCA) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithms for feature extraction and classification, respectively.
An Efficient Color Image Encoding Scheme Based on Colorization
Authors: Semary Noura A.
Published: May 2014

Image colorization is a new image processing topic to recolor gray images to look as like the original color images as possible. Different methods have appeared in the literature to solve this problem, the way that leads to thinking about decolorization, eliminating the colors of color images to just small color keys, aid in the colorization process. Due to this idea, decolorization is considered as a color image encoding mechanism. In this chapter, the authors propose a new decolorization system depends on extracting the color seeds (Representative Pixels [RP]) using morphology operations. Different decolorization methods are studied and compared to the system results using different quality metrics.
Detecting Corner Features of Planar Objects
Authors: Sarfraz Muhammad
Published: May 2014

Corner points or features determine significant geometrical locations of the digital images. They provide important clues for shape representation and analysis. Corner points represent important features of an object that may be useful at subsequent levels of processing. If the corner points are identified properly, a shape can be represented in an efficient and compact way with sufficient accuracy in many shape analysis problem. This chapter reviews some well referred algorithms in the literature together with empirical study. Users can easily pick one that may prove to be superior from all aspects for their applications and requirements.
Self-Adaptive SoCs for Dependability
Authors: Guang Liang , Plosila Juha , Tenhunen Hannu
Published: May 2014

Dependability is a primary concern for emerging billion-transistor SoCs (Systems-on-Chip), especially when the constant technology scaling introduces an increasing rate of faults and errors. Considering the time-dependent device degradation (e.g. caused by aging and run-time voltage and temperature variations), self-adaptive circuits and architectures to improve dependability is promising and very likely inevitable. This chapter extensively surveys existing works on monitoring, decision-making, and reconfiguration addressing different dependability threats to Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) chips. Centralized, distributed, and hierarchical fault management, utilizing various redundancy schemes and exploiting logical or physical reconfiguration methods, are all examined. As future research directions, the challenge of integrating different error management schemes to account for multifold threats and the great promise of error resilient computing are identified. This chapter provides, for chip designers, much needed insights on applying a self-adaptive computing paradigm to approach dependability on error-prone, cost-sensitive SoCs.
Interference and Spoofing
Authors: Dovis Fabio , Musumeci Luciano , Linty Nicola , Pini Marco
Published: May 2014

This chapter deals with one of the major concerns for reliable use of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), providing a description of intentional and unintentional threats, such as interference, jamming, and spoofing. Despite the fact that these phenomena have been studied since the early stages of Global Positioning System (GPS), they were mainly addressed for military applications of GNSS. However, a wide range of recent civil applications related to user safety or featuring financial implications would be deeply affected by interfering or spoofing signals intentionally created. For such a reason, added value processing algorithms are being studied and designed in order to embed in the receiver an interference reporting capability so that they can monitor and possibly mitigate interference events.
Co-Modeling of Embedded Networks Using SystemC and SDL
Authors: Olenev Valentin , Lavrovskaya Irina , Morozkin Pavel , Rabin Alexey , Balandin Sergey , Gillet Michel
Published: May 2014

This chapter gives an overview of a modeling application in the general embedded systems design flow and presents two general approaches for the embedded networks simulation: network modeling and protocol stack modeling. The authors select two widely used modeling languages, which are SDL and SystemC. The analysis shows that both languages have a number of advantages that could be combined by the joint use of SystemC and SDL. Thus, the authors propose an approach for the SystemC and SDL co-modeling. This approach can be used in practice to perform protocol stack simulation as well as simulation of network operation. Therefore, the authors give examples of co-modeling practical applications.
We Don't Do Politics
Authors: Bishop Jonathan
Published: May 2014

Information Seeking Behaviour (ISB) is becoming an interesting topic, especially with the advancement of the World Wide Web and technologically enhanced data collection techniques. Differences between generations, such as the Net Generation and Baby Boomers are becoming more and more evident. The Net Generation have shown they are enjoying more public policy participation than ever before through the use of the Internet. Finding an overall methodology that takes into account this generation is therefore a challenge. This chapter applies a heuristic framework to a number of research papers on the Net Generation and ISBs in order to critically analyse and evaluate the information within it in order to gain an insight into the most effective approach to ISB research. Through interpreting these research papers, this chapter attempts to gauge the scope and develop an understanding of ISB research in relation to the Net Generation and discover the most effective methodological approach for the emerging discipline.
Internet
Authors: Badouard Romain , Schafer Valérie
Published: May 2014

How has the Internet come about in Europe? How did the “network of networks” and ICTs become political stakes for EU Institutions? This chapter sheds light on facts, limits, and tensions of the building of a political union in the ICT regulation field. It analyses the role of various stakeholders, from technical experts to ordinary citizens, according to a historical approach structured around three key notions: appropriating, governing, and using the Internet. By studying a relatively long period (from the 1970s to the early 2010s) and by observing the Internet as a tool for both internal consolidation and for asserting the EU on the international stage, the authors map the main features and trends that structure the European relationship to the “network of networks.” They, thus, show that the Internet's political dimension encompasses numerous and heterogeneous issues in the European context.
Whose Voice is Heard? West Bank News Framing in Israeli Mainstream and Alternative News Websites
Authors: Sereno Keren
Published: May 2014

Alternative news Websites are a fascinating arena for studying the dynamics between politics, media, and activism. This chapter presents a comparison of news framing in Israeli mainstream news Websites versus Israeli alternative news Websites. To achieve this, 342 items which were published over the course of 14 months (November 2007-December 2008) in 8 Israeli media originations were coded. These items covered the demonstrations and direct actions against the Separation Fence near the Palestinian village of Ni'lin in which Israeli radical left activists took part. The items were coded by qualitative content analysis according to the principles of the Grounded Theory Method. The findings show considerable differences concerning the characters of quoted sources, media frames, coverage patterns, and linking strategies between the mainstream Websites (and print newspaper) and the alternative Websites. Out of those differences, 4 potential political functions that alternative news Websites can fulfill in radical political protests are identified: recruiting activists, consolidating a subversive political consciousness and strengthening the collective identity, building online network between colleague organizations, and distributing and storing controversial information. This research shows that in order to develop a deeper understanding of the role of new media in social protests, it is necessary to simultaneously rely on alternative media, theories, and studies in addition to the emerging knowledge regarding the characters and uses of the Internet in general.
Carbon Price Drivers
Authors: Chevallier Julien
Published: May 2014

Since the creation of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) in 2005, a burgeoning academic literature has emerged to identify the factors that shape the price of carbon, where one European Union Allowance is equal to one ton of CO2-equivalent emitted in the atmosphere. Thus, there is a need for an updated and thorough literature review on the state-of-the-art on topic that this paper aims to fulfill. Namely, the author considers the main econometric studies that have been recently published in the academic literature, which feature the influence of the following determinants to explain the variation of the price of carbon: institutional decisions; energy prices and weather events; macroeconomic and financial market shocks. The paper concludes with some directions for future research in this area.
A Study on Green Manufacturing in a Car Battery Manufacturing Plant
Authors: Ergün Sedef , Uludağ-Demirer Sibel , Kasap Suat
Published: May 2014

This study presents an environmental manufacturing system analysis for companies looking for the benefits of environmental management in achieving high productivity levels. When the relationship between environmental costs and manufacturing decisions is examined, it can be seen that the productivity of the company can be increased by adopting a methodology of an environmentally integrated manufacturing system analysis. This study presents such a methodology and the roadmap for generating environmentally friendly and economically favorable alternative waste management solutions is elaborated. The methodology combines data collection, operational analysis of the manufacturing processes, identification of wastes, and evaluation of waste reduction alternatives. The presented methodology is examined in a car battery manufacturing plant, which generates hazardous wastes composed of lead. It is aimed to decrease the wastes derived from the production so that the efficiency in raw materials usage is increased and the need for recycling the hazardous wastes is decreased.
Carbon as an Emerging Tool for Risk Management
Authors: Zoltáni Tenke A.
Published: May 2014

Since 2005, when the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) launched, green adoption in business and industry has been marred by fraudulent carbon credits, VAT swindlers and carbon cowboys, inefficiencies of a nascent market, and not least of all by legislative uncertainty. The disrepute afforded by these examples hindered low carbon growth and deterred emerging business models from adopting more carbon friendly practices. But, as this article argues, the shift toward liberal environmentalism has yielded a new generation of businesses seeking to incorporate carbon assets, emissions trading, and sustainability strategies across the value chain. Central to this shift is the notion of carbon as a tool for risk management in businesses, which occurred through the instrumentalisation of CO2 into a tradable asset. By utilising carbon as a financial instrument, businesses are able to manage project risk, market risk, and reputational risk more effectively. This article demonstrates this argument through industry examples and provides practical advice for businesses today.
A Wireless System for Secure Electronic Healthcare Records Management
Authors: Belsis Petros , Skourlas Christos , Gritzalis Stefanos
Published: May 2014

Recent advances in wireless computing and in the hardware of wireless devices has opened new directions in many domains; for example in the medical domain the medical personnel in hospitals is able to use wireless devices to gain ubiquitous access to medical related information. However the sensitivity of medical related data poses many challenges in the effort to securely manage these data. In this paper the authors present an agent based architecture for efficient management of medical data. The authors present the security choices and also provide experimental details about the flexibility of our approach.
Image Reconstruction Algorithm Based On PCA and WNN for ECT
Authors: Zhang Lifeng
Published: May 2014

Electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) technique is a new technique for two-phase flow measurement. ECT is a complex nonlinear problem. To solve the ill-posed image reconstruction problem, image reconstruction algorithm based on wavelet neural networks (WNN) was presented. The principal component analysis (PCA) method was used to reduce the dimension of the input vectors. The transfer functions of the neurons in the WNN were wavelet base functions which were determined by retract and translation factors. The input measurement data were obtained using the ECT simulation software developed by the author. BP algorithm was used to train the WNN, and self-adaptive learning rate and momentum coefficient were also used to accelerate the learning speed. Experimental results showed the image quality has been improved markedly, compared with the typical linear back projection (LBP) algorithm and Landweber iteration algorithm.
Towards a Sociology of Happiness: The Case of an Age Perspective on the Social Context of Well-Being
Authors: Kroll Christian
Published: May 2014

This article examines what can be the contribution of Sociology to the ‘new science of happiness’, and what can such happiness studies contribute to Sociology? It does so by presenting the example of a quantitative analysis of European Social Survey data for the UK on social capital and life satisfaction by age. It reveals heterogeneity in the relationship between social capital and SWB by age with, for instance, socialising being more strongly associated with SWB among younger and older people compared to a mid-age group. Using this analysis as a case study, the first aim is to illustrate how sociological theory can crucially enrich research on SWB by relating the under-theorised field to broader narratives. While a range of empirical findings on the correlates of subjectively reported happiness have been dutifully collected over decades, solid theory building has often been neglected. It is crucial, however, to draw the various pieces of evidence together in order to formulate viable theoretical frameworks. Sociology is a science rich in useful approaches for the study of well-being. Role-identity theory as well as socialisation theory allow us in this paper to develop testable hypotheses for well-being data and give the research field a much-needed grounding. At the same time, it is demonstrated in this article how analysing data on life satisfaction can deliver much needed empirical tests of and new perspectives on long-standing sociological theories. For instance, the unresolved debate about homo sociologicus and homo economicus as competing conceptions of man can gain new perspectives from data on SWB.
Towards a Developmental Understanding of Happiness
Authors: Jugureanu Alexandra , Hughes Jason , Hughes Kahryn
Published: May 2014

In this paper we centrally explore the ‘sociogenesis’ of the concept of happiness: the social processes by which it came to be a term appropriated by different practitioner communities - from policy makers to academics, from a burgeoning self-help industry to advocates of positive psychology. Our core focus is upon shifting historical understandings of the term and how these relate to more general social processes. Our aim in this paper is not to present a definitive history of happiness, but rather something of the overall direction of changes in dominant approaches to, and understandings of, happiness particularly within what we might broadly term ‘the human sciences’. Ultimately, we offer a series of tentative reflections upon the implications of a developmental approach to happiness for sociological analyses of this increasingly popular area of concern.
Happiness and Memory: Some Sociological Reflections
Authors: Hyman Laura
Published: May 2014

This article seeks to consider, in an exploratory fashion, the relationship between happiness and memory. Both of these areas of investigation are relative newcomers to sociology, and have rarely, if at all, been studied in tandem. The article draws upon data from qualitative interviews with British adults that formed part of an empirical study of people's experiences and perceptions of happiness. In doing so, it suggests that people identify their memories and reflections on the past as sources of happiness in two interrelated ways. Firstly, people - particularly those of an older generation - make sense of life in the past as happier than that of the present. This is the case with regard to society in general as well as to their personal lives specifically. The ‘past-situated social identities’ of older people are considered in relation to this. Secondly, adults of a range of ages understand reminiscing about the past as something from which happiness or pleasure could be gained. Life course transitions, and the way in which adults make sense of and live through these, are key in the way in which people express nostalgia for, or idealization of the past. Reconnecting with the past can be regarded as a ‘technology of the self’, or a technique that people perform on their own minds, in order to enable themselves to feel happier. The article ends with a consideration of the implications of this for the ways in which happiness is theorized sociologically.
In this World but Not of It: Midwives, Amish, and the Politics of Power
Authors: Jolly Natalie
Published: May 2014

In this paper, I investigate the role of the non-Amish midwife in Amish society. Conventional research on the Amish has overlooked the role the midwife plays in the structure of the Amish community, given that midwives who serve the Amish are not members of the community they serve and are not themselves Amish. Despite their status as outsiders to Amish society, I draw on ethnographic data collected during a two-year study with a non-Amish midwife to argue that the non-Amish midwife provides Amish women and men access to knowledge about sex and sexuality, provides them resources such as books and condoms, and shapes the structure of Amish society through these channels. Her power is clearly demonstrated in her ability to broker access between the Amish and non-Amish worlds, and her fingerprints on the community she serves exist long after she has caught a baby. So while the non-Amish midwife has largely remained invisible when viewed from conventional analyses of Amish society, I suggest that her position on the margin between Amish and non-Amish society is worth considering. As an analytic category, this position ‘neither fully part of Amish society nor fully extricated from it’ has something to offer studies of community power within the field of Sociology and augment future studies of Amish society.
Parenting, Play and the Work-Family Interaction
Authors: Ba Stefano
Published: May 2014

This article explores the recreational time of parents with young children and the ways it can influence practices reconciling work and family. The aim is to examine the internal dynamics and the emotional side of family life vis-à-vis parents’ time structures. Children's organised and spontaneous activities have received scant attention in work-family studies and this lack of conceptual development around the quality of time use is unfortunate, if we take the work-family interaction to be more than the sum of strategies aiming at balancing both domains.

In this analytical framework special attention is then placed on play and on the activities parents set up with children during their recreational time. We find that especially play and loosely structured recreational time becomes important for parents because this time strongly characterises their home experience and through it they construct emotional bonds with their children. In this research, the concepts of ‘parent-initiated play’ will be introduced and used to find that play and activities with children are linked to asymmetric gender practices of care and bonding. The dual nature of parents’ time with children is considered crucial in understanding the construction of family life and the strains around the work-family interaction.
Flanking Gestures: Gender and Emotion in Fieldwork
Authors: Benz Terressa
Published: May 2014

Fieldwork is wrought with challenges and emotional obstacles. Techniques of dealing with these logistical challenges are well discussed in the literature; however, rarely are the emotions involved in fieldwork explored, nor are the specific techniques for dealing with this emotional fallout. In this paper, I explore not only the emotions of fieldwork, specifically as a woman in a male dominated research setting, but actual tactics for dealing with these feelings - tactics I call ‘flanking gestures.’ Flanking gestures are techniques that allow the researcher to blur and stretch their gender, which I suggest provides a certain amount of emotional relief in the field.
An Integrated Performance Management Model to Be Used By the Botswana Public Service Sector
Authors: Tshukudu Theophilus Tebetso
Published: May 2014

The call for improved performance by government ministries and departments is not a new phenomenon in both the developed and the developing countries. The Botswana public service experiences problems which hamper the country’s ability to be competitive. It is therefore important to investigate strategies used by the Botswana public service for the management in performance. Performance management entails formally guiding, directing, measuring, evaluating and rewarding employee effort, competencies and talent to achieve organisational and strategic objectives (Boselie 2010, p. 173). Performance management is also a combined effort between a supervisor and employee to achieve organisational goals. This study investigates the performance management strategies needed for the effective management of performance in the Botswana public service. Subsequently to review literature, the paper proposes a performance management strategic model for the effective facilitation of the of performance management system for the Botswana public. The proposed integrated model serves as a basis for drawing up a survey questionnaire to establish the extent to which supervisors, line and senior managers in the Botswana public service agree or disagree with the model. The questionnaire was sent to a random sample of supervisors, line and senior managers in the Botswana public service, in the Gaborone, Botswana. The empirical results obtained from the survey were analysed and interpreted. They indicated a strong concurrence with theoretical performance management strategies presented in the study. On the basis of the literature that was completed and on the basis of the results of the empirical study, a performance model for the effective implementation of performance management in the Botswana public service was developed. It must be noted that performance management should not be done in a mechanical manner, but should be understood as an essential tool in achieving the vision and mission of an organisation. Performance management also does not take place in a vacuum. It is essential that an organisational culture be analysed to see in which aspects it fosters or hinders effective performance. The organisational culture should be crafted and reinforced to create a high performance environment. Specific attention should be given to leadership, learning and the alignment of individual, team and organisational goals.
Steps Towards Scalable and Modularized Flight Software for Unmanned Aircraft Systems
Authors: Dauer Johann C. , Goormann Lukas , Torens Christoph
Published: May 2014

Unmanned aircraft (UA) applications impose a variety of computing tasks on the on-board computer system. From a research perspective, it is often more convenient to evaluate algorithms on bigger aircraft as they are capable of lifting heavier loads and thus more powerful computational units. On the other hand, smaller systems are often less expensive and operation is less restricted in many countries. This paper thus presents a conceptual design for flight software that can be evaluated on the UA of convenient size. The integration effort required to transfer the algorithm to different sized UA is significantly reduced. This scalability is achieved by using exchangeable payload modules and a flexible process distribution on different processing units. The presented approach is discussed using the example of the flight software of a 14 kg unmanned helicopter and an equivalent of 1.5 kg. The proof of concept is shown by means of flight performance in a hardware-in-the-loop simulation.
Path-tracking Algorithm for Aircraft Fuel Tank Inspection Robots
Authors: Guochen Niu , Li Wang , Qingji Gao , Dandan Hu
Published: May 2014

A 3D path-tracking algorithm based on end-point approximation is proposed to implement the path traversal of robots designed to inspect aircraft fuel tanks. Kinematic models of single-joint segments and multiple-joint segments were created. First, each joint segment of the path was divided into many equal sections and the rotation angle was computed. The rotation angle was found for the plane determined by one divided point and the secondary terminal joint segment. Second, the shortest distance search strategy was used to calculate the bending angle of the joint segment. The main advantage of the algorithm was that only the terminal joint segment variables needed to be solved, the joint variables of other joint segments were copied from the adjacent front-end joint segment variables in turn. Finally, evaluation indexes of path tracking performance were proposed to evaluate the effect of the algorithm. Simulations of planar and space path tracking were carried out using MATLAB, and the effectiveness and stability of the tracking algorithm were verified.
Creation of 3-Dimensional Prostate Cancer Maps: Methodology and Clinical and Research Implications
Authors: Malone Shawn Christopher , Haridass Anoop , Nyiri Balasz , Croke Jennifer , Malone Colin , Breau Rodney H. , Morash Christopher , Avruch Leonard , Daneshmand Manijeh , Malone Kyle , Delatour Nicolas Roustan , Ahmed Ileyaz , Belanger Eric
Published: May 2014

Context.— The creation of 3-dimensional prostate cancer maps could assist with surgical intervention, radiotherapy treatment planning and for correlative pathology-imaging research.

Objectives.— To develop methodology for creating detailed, 3-dimensional, prostate cancer maps (3DPCM) of tumor location, extra prostatic extension sites, and positive margins and to assess the adequacy of current clinical target volumes for postoperative radiotherapy to the prostate using 3DPCM coregistered with preoperative magnetic resonance imaging.

Design.— Parallel slices of prostatectomy specimens were created with ProCUT, and 2-dimensional cancer maps were generated as line diagrams after microscopic examination of each slice. The 2-dimensional cancer maps were aligned and stacked to create a 3DPCM, which was coregistered with the preoperative magnetic resonance imaging scan. The map was exported to the radiotherapy planning system and was used to determine the areas at greater risk, which were then compared against the current Radiation Therapy Oncology Group guidelines for contouring postoperative clinical target volumes to assess the adequacy of coverage.

Results.— Twenty-eight patients with a mean age of 66 years (range, 52–73) underwent radical prostatectomy and postoperative radiotherapy. Seventeen patients (61%) received adjuvant radiotherapy for pT3 disease and/or positive margins, and the rest underwent salvage radiotherapy. Thirty-nine percent (11 of 28) of the patients had Gleason scores of 8 or 9. The contours based on the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group guidelines for postoperative radiotherapy resulted in inadequate coverage of extraprostatic extensions in 79% (22 of 28) and positive margins in 64% (18 of 28) of the cases.

Conclusions.— We have developed a methodology for creation of 3DPCM. Modification of the radiotherapy contours, based on the 3DPCM coregistered with pretreatment magnetic resonance imaging, covers the areas at high risk of recurrence. The 3DPCM could become an important clinical and research tool for urologists, pathologists, radiologists, and oncologists.
Sudden Cardiac Death Due to Coronary Artery Involvement by IgG4-Related Disease: A Rare, Serious Complication of a Rare Disease
Authors: Patel Nimesh R. , Anzalone Mary L. , Buja L. Maximilian , Elghetany M. Tarek
Published: May 2014

Immunoglobulin G4–related disease (IgG4-RD) is a systemic disorder characterized by multiorgan fibrosis with IgG4-producing plasma cells, increased IgG4 serum concentration, and responsiveness to steroid therapy. Involvement of the pancreas, salivary glands, orbit, aorta, and other sites has been well documented in the literature; however, there have been limited reports of cases involving the coronary arteries. We report the case of a 53-year-old Hispanic man who was brought to the emergency center and diagnosed with sudden cardiac death. Autopsy was subsequently performed, revealing multiorgan involvement by IgG4-RD, including involvement of the coronary arteries. The inflammation and fibrosis, in combination with concomitant atherosclerotic disease, resulted in severe stenosis of the coronary arteries. Two of the coronary arteries were further occluded by thrombosis. These factors led to cardiac hypoperfusion, myocardial infarction and, ultimately, sudden cardiac death. Fatal involvement of the coronary arteries has not been previously reported, raising a new concern for a severe complication of IgG4-RD.
The Molecular Genetics of Inflammatory, Autoimmune, and Infectious Diseases of the Sinonasal Tract: A Review
Authors: Montone Kathleen T.
Published: May 2014

Context.— The sinonasal tract is frequently affected by a variety of nonneoplastic inflammatory disease processes that are often multifactorial in their etiology but commonly have a molecular genetic component.

Objective.— To review the molecular genetics of a variety of nonneoplastic inflammatory diseases of the sinonasal tract.

Data Sources.— Inflammatory lesions of the sinonasal tract can be divided into 3 main categories: (1) chronic rhinosinusitis, (2) infectious diseases, and (3) autoimmune diseases/vasculitides. The molecular diagnosis and pathways of a variety of these inflammatory lesions are currently being elucidated and will shed light on disease pathogenesis and treatment.

Conclusions.— The sinonasal tract is frequently affected by inflammatory lesions that arise through complex interactions of environmental, infectious, and genetic factors. Because these lesions are all inflammatory in nature, the molecular pathology surrounding them is most commonly due to upregulation and down-regulation of genes that affect inflammatory responses and immune regulation.
Breast Implant–Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma: Review of a Distinct Clinicopathologic Entity
Authors: Xu Jie , Wei Shi
Published: May 2014

Primary breast anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) is rare but is more commonly seen in patients with implants; fewer than 50 cases of breast implant–associated ALCL have been reported in the English language literature. Breast implant–associated ALCL is not a disease of the breast parenchyma, but instead is a disease of the fibrous capsule surrounding the implant. The patients usually present with an effusion around the implant and, rarely, with a solid mass. Morphologically, the neoplastic cells are large, epithelioid, and pleomorphic, with abundant cytoplasm, vesicular irregular nuclei, and frequent mitoses. Occasional “hallmark” cells may be present. The lesional cells typically show strong and diffuse immunoreactivity for CD30 and often express T-cell markers, cytotoxic-associated antigens, and epithelial membrane antigen. Almost all reported cases are negative for anaplastic lymphoma kinase. Molecular genetic analyses have demonstrated T-cell receptor gene rearrangements. The differential diagnosis essentially includes poorly differentiated carcinoma, other lymphomas, and chronic inflammation. Once a diagnosis of lymphoma is established, it is important to exclude systemic anaplastic lymphoma kinase–negative ALCL involving the breast, primary cutaneous ALCL, and other CD30+ lymphoproliferative disorders. The patients with effusion-associated ALCL often have an indolent course and excellent prognosis, responding well to excision of the fibrous capsule around the implant (capsulectomy) and implant removal. In contrast, patients who present with a distinct mass may have a more aggressive course and poor prognosis, requiring chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy.
Fatal Spontaneous Clostridium septicum Gas Gangrene: A Possible Association With Iatrogenic Gastric Acid Suppression
Authors: Wu Yiru E. , Baras Alexander , Cornish Toby , Riedel Stefan , Burton Elizabeth C.
Published: May 2014

The long-term use of proton pump inhibitors has been linked to an increased risk for the development of gastric polyps, hip fractures, pneumonia, and Clostridium difficile colitis. There is evidence that chronic acid suppression from long-term use of proton pump inhibitors poses some risk for the development of C difficile–associated diarrhea by decreasing the elimination of pathogenic microbes before reaching the lower gastrointestinal tract. Here we present a case of a 51-year-old woman with a recent history of abdominal pain and fever who presented to the emergency department with rapidly progressive spontaneous necrotizing fasciitis and gas gangrene and died within hours of presentation. Postmortem examination confirmed spreading tissue gas gangrene and myonecrosis. In addition, multiple intestinal ulcers containing Clostridium septicum were present at autopsy. This case illustrates a possible association between proton pump inhibitor therapy and fatal C septicum infection.
β-Globin Gene Sequencing of Hemoglobin Austin Revises the Historically Reported Electrophoretic Migration Pattern
Authors: Racsa Lori D. , Luu Hung S. , Park Jason Y. , Mitui Midori , Timmons Charles F.
Published: May 2014

Context.—Hemoglobin (Hb) Austin was defined in 1977, using amino acid sequencing of samples from 3 unrelated Mexican-Americans, as a substitution of serine for arginine at position 40 of the β-globin chain (Arg40Ser). Its electrophoretic migration on both cellulose acetate (pH 8.4) and citrate agar (pH 6.2) was reported between Hb F and Hb A, and this description persists in reference literature.

Objectives.—To review the clinical features and redefine the diagnostic characteristics of Hb Austin.

Design.—Eight samples from 6 unrelated individuals and 2 siblings, all with Hispanic surnames, were submitted for abnormal Hb identification between June 2010 and September 2011. High-performance liquid chromatography, isoelectric focusing (IEF), citrate agar electrophoresis, and bidirectional DNA sequencing of the entire β-globin gene were performed.

Results.—DNA sequencing confirmed all 8 individuals to be heterozygous for Hb Austin (Arg40Ser). Retention time on high-performance liquid chromatography and migration on citrate agar electrophoresis were consistent with that identification. Migration on IEF, however, was not between Hb F and Hb A, as predicted from the report of cellulose acetate electrophoresis. By IEF, Hb Austin migrated anodal to (“faster than”) Hb A.

Conclusions.—Hemoglobin Austin (Arg40Ser) appears on IEF as a “fast,” anodally migrating, Hb variant, just as would be expected from its amino acid substitution. The cited historic report is, at best, not applicable to IEF and is probably erroneous. Our observation of 8 cases in 16 months suggests that this variant may be relatively common in some Hispanic populations, making its recognition important. Furthermore, gene sequencing is proving itself a powerful and reliable tool for definitive identification of Hb variants.
Touch Preparations for the Intraoperative Evaluation of Sentinel Lymph Nodes After Neoadjuvant Therapy Have High False-Negative Rates in Patients With Breast Cancer
Authors: Elliott Robin M. , Shenk Robert R. , Thompson Cheryl L. , Gilmore Hannah L.
Published: May 2014

Context.— The use of a touch preparation for intraoperative sentinel lymph node diagnosis has become a preferred method of many pathologists because of its reported high sensitivity and rapid turnaround time. However, after neoadjuvant chemotherapy many lymph nodes have significant treatment-related changes that may affect the diagnostic accuracy of the intraoperative evaluation.

Objective.— To determine the accuracy of touch preparation for the intraoperative diagnosis of metastatic breast carcinoma in the neoadjuvant setting.

Design.— We reviewed retrospectively the results of intraoperative evaluations for 148 different sentinel lymph nodes from 63 patients who had undergone neoadjuvant chemotherapy for invasive breast cancer at our institution. The intraoperative touch preparation results were compared with the final pathology reports in conjunction with relevant clinical data.

Results.— Use of touch preparation for the evaluation of sentinel lymph nodes intraoperatively after neoadjuvant therapy was associated with a low sensitivity of 38.6% (95% confidence interval [CI], 24.4–54.5) but high specificity of 100% (95% CI, 96.5–100). There was no difference in sensitivity rates between cytopathologists and noncytopathologists in this cohort (P = .40). Patients with invasive lobular carcinoma and those who had a clinically positive axilla before the initiation of neoadjuvant therapy were the most likely to have a false-negative result at surgery.

Conclusions.— Intraoperative touch preparations should not be used alone for the evaluation of sentinel lymph nodes in the setting of neoadjuvant therapy for breast cancer because of low overall sensitivity.
Cryptosporidium outbreaks associated with swimming pools
Authors: Lam Steven , Sivaramalingam Bhairavi , Gangodawilage Harshani
Published: May 2014

Acute gastrointestinal illness is a common and preventable public health issue. Exposure to recreational water, such as in swimming pools, is a risk factor for acute gastrointestinal illness. Serious outbreaks of water-borne diseases in Canada are rare but can pose a significant threat to human health. Cryptosporidium is one of the most common infectious agents causing pool-related outbreaks. Pool fouling, lack of education and training, inadequate pool structures, and lack of disinfection equipment have been linked to outbreaks of Cryptosporidium. To minimize the burden of swimming pool related outbreaks, interventions should include pool structure alterations, increased surveillance and reporting of swimming pool associated diseases, and public education regarding the risk of swimming pool infections.
Bacterial and fungal contamination in the library setting: a growing concern?
Authors: Hempel Megan , Rakhra Vaneet , Rothwell Alison , Song Duri
Published: May 2014

With an increased number of media reports indicating pathogenic contamination of books, there is a need to investigate the potential for library environments as a source for vectors that transmit infectious disease. Review of current literature indicates the presence of bacterial and fungal pathogens in library air, books, and surfaces. Many of the pathogens found have been associated with severe respiratory illness and skin infections. Although the presence of pathogenic microorganisms has been confirmed by many studies, there is currently no regulation in place for the inspection of library environments. Further studies exploring the health of workers and library users, coupled with guidelines and legislation, can contribute greatly to the health of the public and occupational health of public libraries worldwide.