bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Dose and Duration of Opioid Use in Patients with Cancer and Noncancer Pain at an Outpatient Hospital Setting in Malaysia
Authors: Zin Che S. , Rahman Norny A. , Ismail Che R. , Choy Leong W.
Published: September 2016

Background

There are currently limited data available on the patterns of opioid prescribing in Malaysia. This study investigated the patterns of opioid prescribing and characterized the dosing and duration of opioid use in patients with noncancer and cancer pain.

Methods

This retrospective, cross‐sectional study was conducted at an outpatient hospital setting in Malaysia. All prescriptions for opioids (dihydrocodeine, fentanyl, morphine, and oxycodone) issued between January 2013 and December 2014 were examined. The number of prescriptions and patients, the distribution of mean daily dose, annual total days covered with opioids, and annual total opioid dose at the individual level were calculated and stratified by noncancer and cancer groups.

Results

A total of 1015 opioid prescriptions were prescribed for 347 patients from 2013 to 2014. Approximately 41.5% of patients (N = 144/347) and 58.5% (N = 203/347) were associated with noncancer and cancer diagnosis, respectively. Oxycodone (38.0%) was the highest prescribed primarily for the noncancer group. The majority of patients in both noncancer (74.3%) and cancer (60.4%) groups were receiving mean daily doses of < 50 mg morphine equivalents. The chronic use of opioids (> 90 days per year) was associated with 21.8% of patients in the noncancer group and 17.5% in the cancer group.

Conclusions

The finding from this study showed that 41.5% of opioid users at an outpatient hospital setting in Malaysia received opioids for noncancer pain and 21.8% of these users were using opioids for longer than 90 days. The average daily dose in the majority of patients in both groups of noncancer and cancer was modest.
Eye movement as a biomarker of schizophrenia: Using an integrated eye movement score
Authors: Morita Kentaro , Miura Kenichiro , Fujimoto Michiko , Yamamori Hidenaga , Yasuda Yuka , Iwase Masao , Kasai Kiyoto , Hashimoto Ryota
Published: September 2016

Aim

Studies have shown that eye movement abnormalities are possible neurophysiological biomarkers for schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to investigate the utility of eye movement abnormalities in identifying patients with schizophrenia from healthy controls.

Methods

Eighty‐five patients with schizophrenia and 252 healthy controls participated in this study. Eye movement measures were collected from free viewing, fixation stability, and smooth pursuit tests. In an objective and stepwise method, eye movement measures were extracted to create an integrated eye movement score.

Results

The discriminant analysis resulted in three eye movement measures; the scanpath length during the free viewing test, the horizontal position gain during the fast Lissajous paradigm of the smooth pursuit test, and the duration of fixations during the far distractor paradigm of the fixation stability test. An integrated score using these variables can distinguish patients with schizophrenia from healthy controls with 82% accuracy. The integrated score was correlated with Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale‐Third Edition full scale IQ, Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale scores, and chlorpromazine equivalents, with different correlation patterns in the three eye movement measures used. The discriminant analysis in subgroups matched for age, sex, years of education, and premorbid IQ revealed a sustained classification rate.

Conclusion

We established an integrated eye movement score with high classification accuracy between patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls, although there was a significant effect of medication. This study provides further evidence of the utility of eye movement abnormalities in schizophrenia pathology and treatment.
Identifying seedling and adult plant resistance of Chinese Brassica napus germplasm to Leptosphaeria maculans
Authors: Zhang X. , Peng G. , Parks P. , Hu B. , Li Q. , Jiang L. , Niu Y. , Huang S. , Fernando W. G. D.
Published: September 2016

Blackleg disease of canola/rapeseed (Brassica napus), caused by the devastating fungal pathogen Leptosphaeria maculans, can significantly influence B. napus production worldwide, except for China, where only the less aggressive L. biglobosa has been found associated with the disease. The aim of this study was to characterize both seedling resistance (major gene resistance, R gene resistance) and adult plant resistance (APR) from a collection of Chinese B. napus varieties/lines (accessions) to L. maculans. Evaluation of seedling resistance was carried out under a controlled environment, using 11 well‐characterized L. maculans isolates as differentials. The identification of APR was performed under multiple field environments in western Canada. R genes were detected in more than 40% of the accessions tested. Four specific R genes, Rlm1, Rlm2, Rlm3 and Rlm4 were identified, with Rlm3 and Rlm4 being the most common genes, while Rlm1 and Rlm2 were detected only occasionally. Results of field evaluation indicated significant variations among field locations as well as accessions; a large portion of the B. napus accessions, regardless of the resistance level observed at the seedling stage, showed high to moderate levels of APR under all environments tested. This study highlights that both R gene resistance and APR are present in Chinese B. napus germplasm and could be potential sources of resistance against blackleg caused by L. maculans if the pathogen ever becomes established in China.
Triggers for Preeclampsia Onset: a Case‐Crossover Study
Authors: Ford Jane B. , Schemann Kathrin , Patterson Jillian A. , Morris Jonathan , Herbert Robert D. , Roberts Christine L.
Published: September 2016

Background

Risk factors for preeclampsia are well established, whereas, the triggers associated with timing of preeclampsia onset are not. The aim of this study was to establish whether recent infection or other triggers were associated with timing of preeclampsia onset.

Methods

We used a case‐crossover design with preeclampsia cases serving as their own controls. Women with singleton pregnancies of ≥20 weeks gestation presenting at three hospitals were eligible for inclusion. Exposures to potential triggers were identified via guided questionnaire. Infective episodes included symptoms lasting >24 h. Preeclampsia was defined as hypertension (BP ≥140 mmHg and/or ≥90 mmHg) and proteinuria (protein/creatinine ratio ≥30 mg/mmol). Conditional logistic regression was used to compare the odds of exposure to potential triggers in the case windows (1–7 days preceding diagnosis of preeclampsia) and control windows (8–14 days prior to diagnosis); unadjusted odds ratios (ORs) are reported.

Results

Among 286 recruited women, 25 (8.7%) reported a new infection in the 7 days prior to preeclampsia onset and 21 (7.3%) in the 8–14 days prior. There was no significant association between onset of infection in the 7 days prior and preeclampsia diagnosis (OR 1.24, 95% CI 0.65, 2.34). Consumption of caffeine (OR 0.51, 95% CI 0.33, 0.77), spicy food (OR 0.49, 95% CI 0.30, 0.81), and alcohol (OR 0.26, 95% CI 0.10, 0.71) were strongly inversely associated with preeclampsia onset.

Conclusion

Recent infection does not appear to trigger preeclampsia. Decreased consumption of caffeine, spicy food, and alcohol may be prodromal markers. Such behaviours may be early markers of imminent preeclampsia.
Huia caspica gen. & comb. nov., a dinoflagellate species that recently crossed the marine‐freshwater boundary
Authors: Gu Haifeng , Mertens Kenneth N. , Liu Tingting
Published: September 2016

The dinoflagellate subfamily Diplopsalidoideae encompasses 11 genera whose plate patterns show a large diversity. In a recently published molecular phylogeny (Liu et al.
2015) some of these genera (e.g. Diplopsalis, Diplopelta) are polyphyletic, suggesting that further subdivision of these genera is needed. Here we established the cyst‐theca relationship of Diplopsalis caspica by incubating cysts collected from the East China Sea. Cells of D. caspica display a plate formula of Po, X, 3′, 1a, 6″, 3c+t, ?4s, 5″′, 1″″, characterized by a small, parallelogrammic anterior intercalary plate (1a) located in the middle of the dorsal part of the epitheca. The cysts are spherical and smooth‐walled with a theropylic archeopyle. In addition, we obtained four large subunit ribosomal DNA (LSU rDNA) sequences from the germinated motile cells by single‐cell polymerase chain reaction. Strains of D. caspica from the marine environment of the East China Sea differ at 0–2 positions of LSU rDNA sequences from that of lacustrine strains from NE China. In the molecular phylogeny, D. caspica was close to Lebouraia pusilla but distant from D. lenticula, the type species of Diplopsalis. Our results support the systematic importance of plate 1a, and therefore D. caspica was transferred to a new genus, Huia. The conservative LSU rDNA sequences in H. caspica suggest that the marine‐freshwater transition occurred recently.
Orthographic and phonological processing in developing readers revealed by ERPs
Authors: Eddy Marianna D. , Grainger Jonathan , Holcomb Phillip J. , Gabrieli John D. E.
Published: September 2016

The development of neurocognitive mechanisms in single word reading was studied in children ages 8–10 years using ERPs combined with priming manipulations aimed at dissociating orthographic and phonological processes. Transposed‐letter (TL) priming (barin–BRAIN vs. bosin–BRAIN) was used to assess orthographic processing, and pseudohomophone (PH) priming (brane–BRAIN vs. brant–BRAIN) was used to assess phonological processing. Children showed TL and PH priming effects on both the N250 and N400 ERP components, and the magnitude of TL priming correlated positively with reading ability, with better readers showing larger TL priming effects. Phonological priming, on the other hand, did not correlate with reading ability. The positive correlations between TL priming and reading ability in children points to a key role for flexible sublexical orthographic representations in reading development, in line with their hypothesized role in the efficient mapping of orthographic information onto semantic information in skilled readers.
Pupillary reactivity to negative stimuli prospectively predicts recurrence of major depressive disorder in women
Authors: Kudinova Anastacia Y. , Burkhouse Katie L. , Siegle Greg , Owens Max , Woody Mary L. , Gibb Brandon E.
Published: September 2016

There is a large body of research supporting the association between disrupted physiological reactivity to negative stimuli and depression. The present study aimed to examine whether physiological reactivity to emotional stimuli, assessed via pupil dilation, served as a biological marker of risk for depression recurrence among individuals who are known to be at a higher risk due to having previous history of depression. Participants were 57 women with a history of major depressive disorder (MDD). Pupil dilation to angry, happy, sad, and neutral faces was recorded. Participants' diagnoses and symptoms were assessed 24 months after the initial assessment. We found that women's pupillary reactivity to negative (sad or angry faces) but not positive stimuli prospectively predicted MDD recurrence. Additionally, we found that both hyper‐ and hypopupillary reactivity to angry faces predicted risk for MDD recurrence. These findings suggest that disrupted physiological response to negative stimuli indexed via pupillary dilation could serve as a physiological marker of MDD risk, thus presenting clinicians with a convenient and inexpensive method to predict which of the at‐risk women are more likely to experience depression recurrence.
A Call to Action—The Essential Role of Advocacy
Authors: Chávez Anna Maria
Published: September 2016

Editor's Note: The Perspectives featured in this issue of Public Administration Review were adapted from May 2016 commencement addresses: Anna Maria Chavez, the CEO of the Girl Scouts of the USA, spoke on the 12th at Arizona State University's College of Public Service and Community Solutions; Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Leader in the United States House of Representatives spoke on the 7th at New York University's Wagner School of Public Service; and Tommy Thompson, the former Governor of Wisconsin and Secretary of Health & Human Services, spoke on the 15th at the University of Wisconsin's La Follette School of Public Affairs.

These Perspectives reaffirm the highest principles of American public administration: that by and large, government is NOT the problem, and quite often indeed holds the solution; that effective and helpful public policy depends on informed expert opinion and research; and that those who enter public service should do so with a commitment to the notion that America best fulfills its promise when we seek the well‐being of all people, including the least fortunate.

We chose these messages from among a wealth of commencement speeches because while they come from leaders with quite different political views, background, and experience, taken together they offer a coherent and inspiring call to public service.

Dan Feldman, Perspective and Commentary Editor
Next Steps for Public Administration Theory and Practice: Looking Backward and Moving Forward
Authors: Perry James L.
Published: September 2016

Related Content: Lavertu (PAR November/December 2016)

Related Content: Christensen, Lægreid, and Rykkja (PAR November/December 2016)

Related Content: Yang (PAR November/December 2016)

Related Content: Downe, Cowell, and Morgan (PAR November/December 2016)

Related Content: Andersen, Boesen, and Pedersen (PAR November/December 2016)
Cystic ovaries and ovarian neoplasia in the female dog – a systematic review
Authors: Arlt SP , Haimerl P
Published: September 2016

Contents

Most common ovarian diseases appear to be cystic or ovarian tumours. These conditions may affect health, fertility or even the life of the animal. Literature related to ovarian cysts and neoplasia in dogs was assessed to summarize studies and case series on ovarian cysts and primary ovarian tumours in regard to epidemiologic, clinical and fertility aspects. Two research papers on histopathological examination of ovarian cysts could be identified. Seven research papers on ovarian tumours were also assessed, showing inconsistent results on the frequency of occurrence of different types of neoplasia. This might be due to different definitions of diseases and different diagnostic procedures. In conclusion, scarce research has been performed on ovarian diseases in the bitch in the last decades. Many publications are based on case reports. Most quality criteria of study methodology like blinding, randomization, sensitivity and specificity of test methods are not considered in papers on ovarian diseases. In the future, a multicentre data collection of cases could help to gather more data on the incidence, clinical relevance, treatment options and prognosis of ovarian diseases.
Overcoming challenges on using native seeds for restoration of megadiverse resource‐poor environments: a reply to Madsen et al.
Authors: Dayrell Roberta L. C. , Arruda André J. , Buisson Elise , Silveira Fernando A. O.
Published: September 2016

Madsen et al. (2016) reviewed several major limiting factors to establishment of seedlings in nonforest ecosystems (NFE), and proposed seed enhancement technologies to overcome these restoration barriers. However, biodiverse nutrient‐poor NFE present additional hurdles that preclude landscape‐scale seed‐based restoration and were not mentioned in their review. Here, we discuss issues related to native seed availability and provenance, and shortfalls in knowledge on seed quality testing and dormancy release that severely hamper restoration of degraded nutrient‐impoverished NFE. We present alternatives for overcoming these challenges and highlight the need for investments to find more practical and cost‐effective options for broad‐scale restoration.
Extensive and Intensive Margin Effects in Sample Selection Models: Racial Effects on Wages
Authors: Lee Myoung-jae
Published: September 2016

In sample selection models, a treatment can influence the observed outcome in two ways: by affecting the binary selection or participation decision and by affecting the latent outcome. The former is called the ‘extensive margin effect’, and the latter is called the ‘intensive margin effect’. Despite the popularity of these effects, however, the intensive margin effect does not have the traditional causal parameter interpretation because it is conditioned on the selecting or participating decision, which is a post-treatment variable possibly affected by the treatment. The paper presents a causal framework for sample selection models and introduces various subpopulation effects. It is difficult to separate such effects in general; however, in certain popular models (nearly parametric sample selection models, semiparametric ‘independence models’, semiparametric zero-censored models and ‘polynomial approximation’ models) with linear latent equations, they are separately identified and easily estimable with probit and least squares estimators. An empirical analysis is provided to illustrate these causal effects in sample selection models.
A Multistate Model for Correlated Interval-Censored Life History Data in Caries Research
Authors: Pak Daewoo , Li Chenxi , Todem David , Sohn Woosung
Published: September 2016

We propose a three-state frailty Markov model coupled with likelihood-based inference to analyse tooth level life course data in caries research. This analysis is challenging because of intraoral clustering, interval censoring, multiplicity of caries states and computational complexities. We also develop a Bayesian approach to predict future caries transition probabilities given observed life history data. Numerical experiments demonstrate that the methods proposed perform very well in finite samples with moderate sizes. The practical utility of the model is illustrated by using life course data from a unique longitudinal study of dental caries in young low income urban African-American children. In this analysis, we evaluate for any spatial symmetry in the mouth with respect to the life course of dental caries, and whether the same type of tooth has a similar decay process in boys and girls.
Bayesian Estimators for Small Area Models Shrinking Both Means and Variances
Authors: Sugasawa Shonosuke , Tamae Hiromasa , Kubokawa Tatsuya
Published: September 2016

For small area estimation of area‐level data, the Fay–Herriot model is extensively used as a model‐based method. In the Fay–Herriot model, it is conventionally assumed that the sampling variances are known, whereas estimators of sampling variances are used in practice. Thus, the settings of knowing sampling variances are unrealistic, and several methods are proposed to overcome this problem. In this paper, we assume the situation where the direct estimators of the sampling variances are available as well as the sample means. Using this information, we propose a Bayesian yet objective method producing shrinkage estimation of both means and variances in the Fay–Herriot model. We consider the hierarchical structure for the sampling variances, and we set uniform prior on model parameters to keep objectivity of the proposed model. For validity of the posterior inference, we show under mild conditions that the posterior distribution is proper and has finite variances. We investigate the numerical performance through simulation and empirical studies.
Strength and performance asymmetry during maximal velocity sprint running
Authors: Exell T. , Irwin G. , Gittoes M. , Kerwin D.
Published: September 2016

The aim of this study was to empirically examine the interaction of athlete‐specific kinematic kinetic and strength asymmetry in sprint running. Bilateral ground reaction force and kinematic data were collected during maximal velocity (mean = 9.05 m/s) sprinting for eight athletes. Bilateral ground reaction force data were also collected while the same athletes performed maximal effort squat jumps. Using novel composite asymmetry scores, interactions between kinematic and kinetic asymmetry were compared for the group of sprinters. Asymmetry was greater for kinematic variables than step characteristics, with largest respective values of 6.68% and 1.68%. Kinetic variables contained the largest asymmetry values, peaking at >90%. Asymmetry was present in all kinematic and kinetic variables analyzed during sprint trials. However, individual athlete asymmetry profiles were reported for sprint and jump trials. Athletes' sprint performance was not related to their overall asymmetry. Positive relationships were found between asymmetry in ankle work during sprint running and peak vertical force (r = 0.895) and power (r = 0.761) during jump trials, suggesting that the ankle joint may be key in regulating asymmetry in sprinting and highlighting the individual nature of asymmetry. The individual athlete asymmetry profiles and lack of relationship between asymmetry of limb strength and sprint performance suggest that athletes are not “limb dominant” and that strength imbalances are joint and task specific. Compensatory kinetic mechanisms may serve to reduce the effects of strength or biological asymmetry on the performance outcome of step velocity.
The Characteristics of Interpersonal Networks in Disaster Response*
Authors: Kenny Christopher , Weber Christopher , Bratton Kathleen
Published: September 2016

It is well established that discussion networks have meaningful consequences for a variety of sociopolitical attitudes and behavior. In this project, we explore how social structure shapes reactions to disaster; in particular, the 2010 BP oil spill. We address the questions of how networks are relied upon following community‐wide disaster, and to what extent these networks mirror social structures in other domains. To examine these questions, we analyze data that experimentally vary the commonly employed discussion “name‐generator” questions to see if oil spill discussants are fundamentally different from important matters discussants. Relative to “important matters” discussants, we find strong support for a specialist model in response to disaster; oil spill discussants tend to be less intimate, more knowledgeable, more active, and more talkative about the oil spill. Ultimately, this suggests a contextual basis for the formation of and reliance on discussion networks.
A novel HLA‐B allele, HLA‐B*15:399, identified in a Chinese individual
Authors: Yu H. , Ji X. , Liu Z. , Wang J. , Chen Q.
Published: September 2016

One nucleotide replacement in codon 41 of HLA‐B*15:02:01 results in a novel allele, HLA‐B*15:399.
Transformation of China's ‘World Factory’: Production Relocation and Export Evolution of the Electronics Firms
Authors: Yang Chun , He Canfei
Published: September 2016

Since 2000, particularly in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis, China's ‘world factory’ has undergone dramatic transformation in response to the changing business environment at global, national, local and firm levels. A rich body of literature has examined the spatial transformation of manufacturing firms from coastal to inland China, while little attention has been paid to the market shift engaged by export‐oriented firms, particularly from exports towards China's domestic market. Taking electronics industry as a case, this study examines the process and trajectories of production relocation and market rebalancing of electronics firms during the period of 1998 and 2009. Drawing upon the global production networks (GPNs) framework, particularly the evolutionary strategic coupling, decoupling and recoupling dynamics, the study argues that China's ‘world factory’ has been restructured through divergent decoupling of electronics production and exports from coastal regions, for example, the Pearl River Delta (PRD) on the one hand, and selective recoupling with a small number of cities in inland regions and Yangtze River Delta. The spatial expansion of electronics exports and changing ratio of exports to sales outputs among various provinces elucidates the emerging attempts at developing domestic market‐oriented production networks, yet with limited penetration to the domestic market. Through transition from structural coupling to selective recoupling, electronics firms like Foxconn, a Taiwan‐based contract manufacturer for global lead firms, for example, Apple, have strategically leveraged among diverse regional production networks in China. The findings of the study could enrich the developing literature of GPNs, particularly the dynamic strategic coupling, decoupling and recoupling in the evolution of regional production networks in the changing global economy.
Characterization of a caveolin‐1 mutation associated with both pulmonary arterial hypertension and congenital generalized lipodystrophy
Authors: Han Bing , Copeland Courtney A. , Kawano Yumeko , Rosenzweig Erika Berman , Austin Eric D. , Shahmirzadi Layla , Tang Sha , Raghunathan Krishnan , Chung Wendy K. , Kenworthy Anne K.
Published: September 2016

Congenital generalized lipodystrophy (CGL) and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) have recently been associated with mutations in the caveolin‐1 (
CAV1
) gene, which encodes the primary structural protein of caveolae. However, little is currently known about how these
CAV1
mutations impact caveolae formation or contribute to the development of disease. Here, we identify a heterozygous F160X
CAV1
mutation predicted to generate a C‐terminally truncated mutant protein in a patient with both PAH and CGL using whole exome sequencing, and characterize the properties of
CAV1
, caveolae‐associated proteins and caveolae in skin fibroblasts isolated from the patient. We show that morphologically defined caveolae are present in patient fibroblasts and that they function in mechanoprotection. However, they exhibited several notable defects, including enhanced accessibility of the C‐terminus of wild‐type CAV1 in caveolae, reduced colocalization of cavin‐1 with CAV1 and decreased stability of both 8S and 70S oligomeric CAV1 complexes that are necessary for caveolae formation. These results were verified independently in reconstituted CAV1
−/− mouse embryonic fibroblasts. These findings identify defects in caveolae that may serve as contributing factors to the development of PAH and CGL and broaden our knowledge of
CAV1 mutations associated with human disease.
Apparatuses of occupation: translocal social movements, states and the archipelagic spatialities of power
Authors: Davis Sasha
Published: September 2016

There has recently been an abundance of scholarly attention in geography to the assemblage‐like nature of contemporary social movements. While assemblage theory has rightly emphasised the performative, translocal, discursive‐material and affective aspects of social movements, less attention has been focused on the way these flexible assemblages territorialise power and attempt to order social activities in place. Through an analysis of contemporary anti‐militarisation protests in Okinawa, this paper interrogates how translocal social movements use direct action tactics such as the occupation of land and sea spaces to not only resist state power, but to produce their own governance over places. Driven by different globally circulating normative perspectives on the value of national security versus personal security, these social movements have engaged in contests with states over the construction of military facilities and the practice of military activities in local environments. Analysing Foucauldian and Deleuzean perspectives on governing apparatuses, this paper investigates the spatial practices of both Okinawan social movements and the American and Japanese governments to demonstrate how occupation functions as a tactic of political praxis for both state and non‐state actors.
Computation of Femoral Canine Morphometric Parameters in Three‐Dimensional Geometrical Models
Authors: Savio Gianpaolo , Baroni Teresa , Concheri Gianmaria , Baroni Ermenegildo , Meneghello Roberto , Longo Federico , Isola Maurizio
Published: September 2016

Objective

To define and validate a method for the measurement of 3‐dimensional (3D) morphometric parameters in polygonal mesh models of canine femora.

Study Design

Ex vivo/computerized model.

Sample Population

Sixteen femora from 8 medium to large‐breed canine cadavers (mean body weight 28.3 kg, mean age 5.3 years).

Methods

Femora were measured with a 3D scanner, obtaining 3D meshes. A computer‐aided design‐based (CAD) software tool was purposely developed, which allowed automatic calculation of morphometric parameters on a mesh model. Anatomic and mechanical lateral proximal femoral angles (aLPFA and mLPFA), anatomic and mechanical lateral distal femoral angles (aLDFA and mLDFA), femoral neck angle (FNA), femoral torsion angle (FTA), and femoral varus angle (FVA) were measured in 3D space. Angles were also measured onto projected planes and radiographic images.

Results

Mean (SD) femoral angles (degrees) measured in 3D space were: aLPFA 115.2 (3.9), mLPFA 105.5 (4.2), aLDFA 88.6 (4.5), mLDFA 93.4 (3.9), FNA 129.6 (4.3), FTA 45 (4.5), and FVA −1.4 (4.5). Onto projection planes, aLPFA was 103.7 (5.9), mLPFA 98.4 (5.3), aLDFA 88.3 (5.5), mLDFA 93.6 (4.2), FNA 132.1 (3.5), FTA 19.1 (5.7), and FVA −1.7 (5.5). With radiographic imaging, aLPFA was 109.6 (5.9), mLPFA 105.3 (5.2), aLDFA 92.6 (3.8), mLDFA 96.9 (2.9), FNA 120.2 (8.0), FTA 30.2 (5.7), and FVA 2.6 (3.8).

Conclusion

The proposed method gives reliable and consistent information about 3D bone conformation. Results are obtained automatically and depend only on femur morphology, avoiding any operator‐related bias. Angles in 3D space are different from those measured with standard radiographic methods, mainly due to the different definition of femoral axes.
Reduced translocation is involved in resistance to glyphosate and paraquat in Conyza bonariensis and Conyza canadensis from California
Authors: Moretti M L , Hanson B D
Published: September 2016

Resistance to glyphosate and paraquat has evolved in some populations of Conyza spp. from California, USA. This study evaluated whether herbicide absorption and translocation were involved in the mechanism of resistance to both herbicides. Three lines of each species were used: glyphosate‐paraquat‐susceptible (GPS), glyphosate‐resistant (GR) and glyphosate‐paraquat‐resistant (GPR). Radiolabelled herbicide was applied to a fully expanded leaf, and absorption and movement out of the treated leaf were monitored for up to 24 h for paraquat and 72 h for glyphosate. Plants treated with paraquat were incubated in darkness for the first 16 h and then subjected to light conditions. More glyphosate was absorbed in C. bonariensis (52.9–58.3%) compared with C. canadensis (28.5–37.6%), but no differences in absorption were observed among lines within a species. However, in both species, the GR and GPR lines translocated less glyphosate out of the treated leaf when compared with their respective GPS lines. Paraquat absorption was similar among lines and across species (71.3–77.6%). Only a fraction of paraquat was translocated in the GPR lines (3% or less) when compared with their respective GPS or GR lines (20% or more) in both species. Taken together, these results indicate that reduced translocation is involved in the mechanism of resistance to glyphosate and paraquat in C. bonariensis and C. canadensis.
Phylogenomic subsampling: a brief review
Authors: Edwards Scott V.
Published: September 2016

Phylogenomic subsampling is a method for studying the stability of phylogenetic analyses by taking random or ordered subsamples of loci and comparing phylogenetic analyses of those subsamples. The method is made possible by the large number of loci made available by application of next‐generation sequencing methods to phylogenetic questions. My laboratory has used phylogenomic subsampling to investigate the consistency and stability of various methods of phylogenetic analysis of multilocus data sets, including the so‐called species tree methods, which use the multispecies coalescent as a framework for interpreting gene tree heterogeneity. I was inspired to focus on this method for this symposium volume because my Harvard colleague Gonzalo Giribet had independently been using phylogenomic subsampling to explore various questions in invertebrate phylogenomics. Phylogenomic subsampling has many useful applications in phylogenomics, yet when reporting the particulars of the results of such analyses, care should be taken to focus primarily on discrepancies that achieve a high level of support by the bootstrap or other methods. Using a recently published example, I show that the methods used to summarize the results of a subsampling experiment, such as the threshold for reporting support for one or another tree or clade, can influence the perceived success or failure of concatenation or species tree methods. Single‐ versus double‐bootstrapping is also shown to produce different subsampling results. I suggest guidelines for analysing and reporting the results of phylogenomic subsampling and suggest that it should become a routine part of phylogenetic analysis in the next‐generation era.
Added value of metabarcoding combined with microscopy for evolutionary studies of mammals
Authors: Haarsma Anne‐Jifke , Siepel Henk , Gravendeel Barbara
Published: September 2016

Metabarcoding – taxon identification from complex mixtures using a standard DNA region – is increasingly used in evolutionary studies. With this method, it is not only possible to delimit species or collect indirect observational data but also to determine diets. Caveats such as false negatives and skewed abundances can be overcome when metabarcoding is combined with traditional methods such as microscopy. Such a combined approach can help deducing why some species went extinct or became endangered whereas others evolved into new lineages. This review will focus on the added value of metabarcoding when combined with traditional methods for evolutionary studies of mammals.
Genomics and the animal tree of life: conflicts and future prospects
Authors: Giribet Gonzalo
Published: September 2016

Providing consistent resolution for the animal tree of life is a major goal of animal systematists and a desire of every zoologist. Towards this goal, many major nodes have been successfully resolved. However, some major controversies and poorly resolved deep nodes still remain. Here, I discuss some of these controversies (e.g. whether Ctenophora or Porifera is sister group to all other animals), clarify others (e.g. the position of Xenacoelomorpha) and identify major clades that still require resolution. But most importantly, a discussion about the possible conflict in some of these nodes and the relation to the nature of phylogenomic data are provided by exploring the meaning of total support in phylogenomic analyses, highlighting cases in which a data set can provide total support for contradictory nodes. Finally, our efforts should focus on generating genomic data for key candidate taxa, such as the large disparity of undescribed placozoans, which may in the end add to the current data quantity, the quality of data needed to resolve the base of the animal tree.
A molecular phylogenetic framework for the subfamily Ocenebrinae (Gastropoda, Muricidae)
Authors: Barco Andrea , Herbert Gregory , Houart Roland , Fassio Giulia , Oliverio Marco
Published: September 2016

The Ocenebrinae is a subfamily of marine predatory gastropods known as oyster and mussel drills. Their current phylogenetic framework is traditionally based on shell and radular characters, but a consensus on relationships among genera is still lacking. We investigated the molecular phylogeny of Ocenebrinae using 50 species and DNA data from one nuclear (28S) and two mitochondrial (COI and 16S) genes, the largest data set so far assembled for this subfamily. We found support for the monophyly of the Ocenebrinae, and species were divided into four major lineages. Within groups, genera had similar geographic distributions, suggesting that except in a few cases, species diversification within clades occurred without range expansions. We discuss the phylogenetic distribution of a labral tooth and a sealed siphonal canal, two characteristic ocenebrine features. We also show that Ocinebrina species in the north‐eastern Pacific are not monophyletic with north‐eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean species, and that the Ocinebrina edwardsii species complex belongs to Ocenebra.
Citizens’ Satisfaction on Land Titling Policy and Regularization in Ogun State, Nigeria
Authors: Oyedeji Joseph Oyewale , Sodiya Abiodun Kazeem
Published: September 2016

Land title is the designation of an official certificate indicating the name of the individual in whom such ownership is vested. Thus any illegal acquisition of land lacks legal status, then land title regularization will be necessary. When designing and implementing land regularization, the citizen’s opinion is not usually taken into consideration. This study fills this gap by taking statistically representative samples of the opinion of home owners in Ogun State, Nigeria on their level of satisfaction with the latest land regularization policy of Ogun State government. We adopted a purposive sample technique, and we administered a Questionnaire survey to property owners in the study area. Data gathered were analyzed using descriptive method of statistics and the level of satisfaction of the respondents was evaluated based on relevant criteria adopting a 4 point Likert scale. We found that that none of the respondents acquired their through a formal source and none of the have the statutory certificate of occupancy for their land.   We also measured the level of satisfaction of the respondents and we found that the property owners dissatisfied with the extent of high-handedness of the staff of the regularization agency and the level of transparency of the scheme. It was also found that home owners mostly dissatisfied with the amount paid for the application and the procedure for processing title documents. It is very important for the government to address dissatisfaction of the citizens with the scheme and to subsequently include sampling opinion of citizen’s level of satisfaction as an integral part of land regularization policies.
THE PHYSICAL AND RHEOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF MODIFIED ASPHALT BINDER WITH TITANIUM DIOXIDE R15
Authors: Buhari Rosnawati , Ling Chong Ai , Abdullah Mohd Ezree , Abu Bakar Siti Khatijah , Mohd Kamarudin Nurul Hidayah , Shamsudin Mustafa Kamal , Ahmad Mohd Khairul , Puteh Saifullizam
Published: September 2016

The objectives of this study include determine the physical and rheological properties of the modified asphalt and also to examine the effectiveness of TiO2 in lowering the viscosity of the asphalt compared to control asphalt. Nano-titanium dioxide R15 of 2%, 4%, 6%, 8% and 10% by weight of asphalt has been incorporated into unaged 80/100 asphalt mix in order to improvise its performance. The asphalt modified and control were examine using penetration test, softening point test, storage stability test, dynamic shear rheometer test (DSR), rotational viscosity (RV) and rolling thin film oven test (RTFO). As a conclusion, the decrease in compaction and mixing temperature of modified asphalt compared to original asphalt shows an improvement in the viscosity of the asphalt. Through DSR, the nano-TiO2 modified asphalt does not degrade the performance grade when compared to control asphalt, where the values of complex modulus, G* does not differ much from each other for each of the concentration. This indicates that the modified asphalt is as competent as the original binder in resisting rutting at high temperature.
GEOLOGICAL STUDY AND MINING PLAN IMPORTANCE FOR MITIGATING ALKALI SILICA REACTION IN AGGREGATE QUARRY OPERATION
Authors: Mohamad Edy Tonnizam , Murlidhara Bhatawdekar Ramesh , Alel Mohd Nur Asmawisham Bin , Armaghani Danial Jahed
Published: September 2016

More than 80 million tonnes of construction aggregate are produced in Peninsular Malaysia. Majority of construction aggregate are produced from granite. Developing regions of Johor Bahru, Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Selangar utilize granite aggregates. Normally it is considered aggregates as non-alkali reactive. Geological study can identify various rock types, geological structures, and reactive minerals which contribute to Alkali Silica Reaction (ASR). Deformed granites formed through faulting results in reduction of quartz grain size. Microcrystalline quartz and phyllosilicates are found in granites in contact with country rocks. Secondary reactive minerals such as chalcedony and opal may be found in granite. Alkali Silica reaction is slow chemical reaction in concrete due to reactive silica minerals in aggregates, alkalis in cement and moisture. For long term durable concrete, it is essential to identify potential alkali silica reactive aggregates. Lack of identifying reactive aggregates may result spalling, cracking in concrete and ultimately ASR can result in hazard to concrete structure. This paper deals with geological study of any aggregate quarry to identify rock type and geological structures with laboratory test â€“petrographic analysis and bar mortar test can identify type of aggregates being produced. Mine plan with Surpac software can be developed for systematic working for aggregate quarry to meet construction aggregate demand.
REFLECTIVITY OF ELECTROMAGNETIC (EM) WAVE IN SHALLOW GROUND PENETRATING RADAR (GPR) SURVEY
Authors: Ismail Nur Azwin , Mohd Muztaza Nordiana , Saad Rosli
Published: September 2016

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is a geophysical method that is widely used in geophysical surveys, civil engineering applications, archaeological studies and locating underground utilities or hidden objects. It works by sending electromagnetic (EM) wave into the ground by transmitter and recording the returning signals by receiver. The returning signals bring information about the materials and changes in material parameters at different depths. The changes in dielectric properties (ï¥) of two adjacent media result in EM wave reflections. In this study, several types of materials with different dielectric properties (ï¥) are used in order to identify the reflectivity of the EM wave. Results prove that the larger the dielectric contrast, the higher the reflection coefficient thus the stronger the reflection.
EMPIRICAL STRENGTH ENVELOPE FOR SHALE
Authors: Mohd Amin Mohd For , Mat Yusof Nurâ€˜Ain , Abdullah Rini Asnida
Published: September 2016

Effectively, strength envelope describes behavior of rock when subjected to common stresses in construction, i.e. compressive, triaxial and tensile stresses. This study is aimed at investigating the strength envelope for shale, a sedimentary rock obtained from dam project site in Baram, Sarawak. Series of triaxial compression tests were carried out to obtain the strength envelope for the rock samples. For verification of failure criterion, uniaxial compression and Brazilian tests were also conducted on the rock samples. Results from the relevant tests were analysed using RocData software to obtain the strength envelope. Subsequently, Mohr-Coulomb and Hoek-Brown failure criterion are used to determine failure envelop for the rock samples. Based on the failure envelopes and the related strengths (i.e. compressive and tensile strength), suitability of both approach, in defining strength envelope for shale, is verified. The study shows that for highly laminated sedimentary rock like shale, Hoek-Brown criterion gave a more representative failure behaviour. The failure envelope clearly shown all the strength limits when the rock is subjected to triaxial, uniaxial and tensile stress, which is not clearly shown in the Mohr-Coulomb criterion. Therefore, Hoek-Brown criterion is a more appropriate method for describing strength envelope, as it able to show the limiting stresses when rock samples are subjected to common stresses in construction.
AN IMPROVEMENT IN SUPPORT VECTOR MACHINE CLASSIFICATION MODEL USING GREY RELATIONAL ANALYSIS FOR CANCER DIAGNOSIS
Authors: Sallehuddin Roselina , Sy Ahmad Ubaidillah Sh Hafizah , Mohd Zain Azlan , Alwee Razana , Mohamed Radzi Nor Haizan
Published: September 2016

To further improve the accuracy of classifier for cancer diagnosis, a hybrid model called GRA-SVM which comprises Support Vector Machine classifier and filter feature selection Grey Relational Analysis is proposed and tested against Wisconsin Breast Cancer Dataset (WBCD) and BUPA Disorder Dataset. The performance of GRA-SVM is compared to SVM’s in terms of accuracy, sensitivity, specificity and Area under Curve (AUC). The experimental results reveal that GRA-SVM improves the SVM accuracy of about 0.48% by using only two features for the WBCD dataset. For BUPA dataset, GRA-SVM improves the SVM accuracy of about 0.97% by using four features. Besides improving the accuracy performance, GRA-SVM also produces a ranking scheme that provides information about the priority of each feature. Therefore, based on the benefits gained, GRA-SVM is recommended as a new approach to obtain a better and more accurate result for cancer diagnosis.
A CATEGORY CLASSIFICATION ALGORITHM FOR INDONESIAN AND MALAY NEWS DOCUMENTS
Authors: Jaafar Jafreezal , Indra Zul , Zamin Nurshuhaini
Published: September 2016

Text classification (TC) provides a better way to organize information since it allows better understanding and interpretation of the content. It deals with the assignment of labels into a group of similar textual document. However, TC research for Asian language documents is relatively limited compared to English documents and even lesser particularly for news articles. Apart from that, TC research to classify textual documents in similar morphology such Indonesian and Malay is still scarce. Hence, the aim of this study is to develop an integrated generic TC algorithm which is able to identify the language and then classify the category for identified news documents. Furthermore, top-n feature selection method is utilized to improve TC performance and to overcome the online news corpora classification challenges: rapid data growth of online news documents, and the high computational time. Experiments were conducted using 280 Indonesian and 280 Malay online news documents from the year 2014 – 2015. The classification method is proven to produce a good result with accuracy rate of up to 95.63% for language identification, and 97.5%% for category classification. While the category classifier works optimally on n = 60%, with an average of 35 seconds computational time. This highlights that the integrated generic TC has advantage over manual classification, and is suitable for Indonesian and Malay news classification.
PARALLEL COMPUTING OF NUMERICAL SCHEMES AND BIG DATA ANALYTIC FOR SOLVING REAL LIFE APPLICATIONS
Authors: Alias Norma , Yeni Suhari Nadia Nofri , Saipan Saipol Hafizah Farhah , Dahawi Abdullah Aysh , Mohd Saidi Masyitah , Hamlan Hazidatul Akma , Che Teh Che Rahim
Published: September 2016

This paper proposed the several real life applications for big data analytic using parallel computing software. Some parallel computing software under consideration are Parallel Virtual Machine, MATLAB Distributed Computing Server and Compute Unified Device Architecture to simulate the big data problems. The parallel computing is able to overcome the poor performance at the runtime, speedup and efficiency of programming in sequential computing. The mathematical models for the big data analytic are based on partial differential equations and obtained the large sparse matrices from discretization and development of the linear equation system. Iterative numerical schemes are used to solve the problems. Thus, the process of computational problems are summarized in parallel algorithm. Therefore, the parallel algorithm development is based on domain decomposition of problems and the architecture of difference parallel computing software. The parallel performance evaluations for distributed and shared memory architecture are investigated in terms of speedup, efficiency, effectiveness and temporal performance.