bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Organizational Change and Development Through Quality Management in Higher Education Institutions
Authors: Leiber Theodor
Published: March 2019

Issues of theory and practice of systemic quality management (QM) and organizational change and development (OCD) in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are analyzed. It is argued that system-wide OCD in HEIs is typically driven by implementing QM systems. The basic characteristics of systemic QM and OCD and their interdependence are explicated. Practice-checked criteria for the implementation and evaluation of systemic QM/OCD are discussed. Based on this exemplary practice experience together with scholarly literature, a practice-used action research model of OCD is described. Furthermore, fundamental goals of systemic QM/OCD are put together, and success factors of QM-driven OCD are discussed including recommendations for change agents. Summarizing, systemic QM and related OCD in HEIs contribute to the rationalization of HEI governance because they enable the successful empirical practice of evidence-based organizational change and development (EBOCD) in the indispensable service of quality improvement.
Coaching for Change at Joseph Rowntree
Authors: Jahnke Ros
Published: March 2019

This case history provides insight into the internal coaching program at Joseph Rowntree Foundation/Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust (JRF/JRHT). It covers a period of seven years from an initial idea through its gradual evolution up to the present day. The program has been overseen throughout by a dedicated Head of Coaching, the case history author. JRF/JRHT is a not-for-profit charitable trust based in the UK and was founded in 1904 by the well-known philanthropist and confectioner, Joseph Rowntree.
Strength in Numbers?
Authors: D'Souza Barry Joseph
Published: March 2019

In response to environmental volatility, uncertainty, and change, seven not-for-profit organizations decided to join forces to deliver more efficient and effective solutions to deeply rooted social and educational challenges in the city of Birmingham, West Midlands, United Kingdom. From the perspective of the change agent, this reflective case history explores the processes involved in developing the network and the successes and challenges associated with its people and their ambitions for the future.
Introducing Predictive Policing Technologies (PPT)
Authors: Watt Peter , Boak George , Krlic Marija , Wilkinson Dawn Heather , Gold Jeff
Published: March 2019

This reflective case-history presents the findings of a 12-week pilot study of a collaborative organizational change project which oversaw the implementation of predictive policing technology (PPT) into a territorial police force in the North of England. Based on the first year of a two-year initiative, the reflections consider the impact on the future of the project and their potential future application and cultural embeddedness, beyond the organizational and time-bound specifics of this case.
Exploring Mentoring Program Efficacy Within the Context of EBOCD
Authors: Egan Toby , Clark Patrina M.
Published: March 2019

This reflective case history outlines an EBOCD study conducted in a large US-based Fortune 500 healthcare firm. A research team comprised of organizational leaders and university professors designed a naturally formed longitudinal experimental study that affirmed the positive impact of facilitated mentoring programs on employee attitudes, socialization, and performance. The study findings affirmed that it is not only the use of mentoring programs themselves that may yield more positive results but supports that differences in mentoring program design impacts employee outcomes, including retention. The team of company leaders and university professors worked effectively together to meaningfully inform extant and future mentoring and socialization research and practice.
Facilitating Continuous Improvement in Patient Care in a Dutch General Hospital
Authors: Boonen Marcel J. M. H. , Brekelmans Gerard , Jaspers Nancy Y.
Published: March 2019

The economization of care has infiltrated the political and private domain, accessibility versus economically efficient distribution of resources. The hospital had to adapt to these developments. Implementing principles did not lead to sustainable improvement. A more systemic approach was chosen to create more value to patient-care. Involved as a head nurse, the author describes this process of organizational change on the basis of a case history of an orthopedic ward in a hospital in the Netherlands.
The “Co-Creation-Wheel”
Authors: Ehlen Corry , Hennissen Paul
Published: March 2019

This case history reflects on a long-term change and development project in the Netherlands, undertaken in communities of practice (CoP) of 20-36 professional development schools for primary education. The initiators were 10 boards of groups of elementary schools and the University for Teacher Education for primary education. The project leader was Dr. Paul Hennissen, and Dr. Corry Ehlen of CoCreata Consulting and Research was invited as external consultant. For 8 years, several methods of in-service quality improvement were used to strengthen the self-management ability of teachers, teams, and head teachers. The case history especially demonstrates the application of “Co-Creation-Wheel” as a guiding tool in an innovation team. This instrument stimulates the individual CoP members and the CoP as a group to co-creative innovation. The digital tool of “Co-Creation-Wheel” proves to be suitable for a bigger number of participants. Complexities of the project and success factors are shown.
Manager Hopefulness When Seeking to Acquire Change Solutions
Authors: ten Have Wouter , Graamans Ernst , ten Have Steven
Published: March 2019

Within this case history, the authors identify and critically reflect upon the problems of commonly used “best practice” OCD-related perspectives and change management approaches that are sold to managers by many outside-management consultancy firms. These approaches are myopically copied from one organization to another based on their initial success, but often lead to the failure of many OCD initiatives. Based on their experiences as evidence-based change consultants in the Netherlands, the authors subsequently present the advantages and drawbacks of “best practice” change agency and argue the case for EBOCD.
Through the Gaze of Morbidity and Consumption
Authors: Handayani Bintang , Seraphin Hugues , Korstanje Maximiliano
Published: March 2019

The chapter theorizes the rise of dark tourism in Southeast destinations. This represents an unexplored segment for the specialized literature that devotes its efforts in studying Western study cases. There were two important findings. Firstly, and most importantly, dark tourism gives an ideological explanation to the Cold War that sometimes singles out the history of colonialism, the rise of the US as a superpower, and the interests of the Soviet Union. Essentially in consonance with Tzanelli, Sather Wagstaff, and Guidotti Hernandez, the authors hold the thesis that the heritage of dark tourism serves an ideological instrument of power, which is orchestrated by a ruling elite to promote a distorted version of history.
Behavioral Finance vs. Traditional Finance
Authors: KÖSEOĞLU SİNEM DERİNDERE
Published: March 2019

This chapter explored the development of behavioral finance theories from the traditional finance theories in detail. Traditional financial theory has assumed that investors are perfectly well-informed in making financial decisions for many years. However, the reality shows that these assumptions are not valid, especially over the last two decades. It is observed that investors exhibit irrational behaviors by acting with emotions even if they are well-informed. Because of the awareness of the importance human psychology in investment decisions, behavioral researchers have advanced their research in this direction. Thus, behavioral finance theories have been developed with this in mind.
Linking Personal Values to Investment Decisions Among Individual Shareholders in a Developing Economy
Authors: Agyemang Otuo Serebour
Published: March 2019

This chapter examines the link between personal values and investment decisions among individual shareholders in a developing economy. It contributes to the knowledge on behavioral finance and decision sciences that individual shareholders' personal values have influence on their investment decisions and the choice of companies they invest in. It employs a grounded theory approach. The chapter highlights that individual shareholders hold value priorities and that honesty, a comfortable life and family security play a significant role in their lives and their investment decisions and the kind of companies they make investment in. In addition, to the individual shareholders, there is a clear distinction between a comfortable life and a prosperous life in the sense that they are not incentivized more by the latter but the former in their investment decisions.
Chicken-Egg Dilemma for the Relationship Between Price and Volume in Borsa Istanbul
Authors: Çelik Sadullah , Koy Ayben
Published: March 2019

This chapter empirically examines the relationship between stock prices and stock volumes for Borsa Istanbul, the only stock exchange in Turkey. The price-volume debate has been a common focus in the literature as the chicken-egg dilemma probably since the financial markets started to operate in a competitive manner. This chapter employs Borsa Istanbul and also considers the sector indices of the market. The authors employ frequency domain causality analysis of Breitung and Candelon and wavelet coherence analysis of Grinsted et al. with comparisons of the results for each sector. The findings show that (1) it is hard to argue for the existence of a distinct pattern in an emerging stock market like Borsa Istanbul; (2) there are several periods that propose challenges like the increasing foreign share, foreign shocks transmitted to the domestic market, and local effects; and (3) speculation is an inherit part of stock markets; and it is not possible to get rid of but rather act timely to minimize the adverse consequences and to deter market-wide repercussions.
Does Parasocial Breakup Affect the Stock Market Returns?
Authors: Bozkurt İbrahim , Hatipoğlu Mercan
Published: March 2019

This chapter analyzes the impact of parasocial breakup on the stock returns in Borsa Istanbul as an emerging stock market. In this study, 129 Turkish TV series finales, broadcast between 2005 and 2015, are employed as a negative mood proxy. In line with the purpose of this chapter, GARCH-M model is used to obtain a more efficient parameter and alternative mood proxy dummies and other macroeconomic variables are incorporated into the analyses to examine the robustness of the effect of parasocial breakup on stock market returns. The analysis presents robust evidence that the negative mood increases the stock market returns. It also found that the effect of parasocial breakup on returns depends on the types of TV series and the channels they are broadcast on.
Emotional Finance Plays an Important Role in Investment Decisions
Authors: Keswani Sarika
Published: March 2019

Most of the investors focus on human emotions not expressed openly while making investment decisions. Emotions have a powerful position in making investment decisions. They drive human behavior that is consistent with economic predictions while making investments. Emotions play a significant role while making decisions on investments just like any other business decisions. Behavioral finance tries to combine behavioral and cognitive psychological theory with conventional economics and finance to provide justifications for why people make irrational financial decisions. The aim of this chapter is to understand whether emotional phases affect investors' decisions in different investment situations basing on levels of uncertainty. Positive emotions like self-confidence, challenge, and hope increase the decision-makers tendency to exaggerate the commitment, and negative emotions, namely embarrassment and strain, do not.
Comparative Analysis of Service Quality Perception Between Public Sector and Private Sector Banks of India
Authors: Tomar Deepika Singh , Tomar Rohit Singh
Published: March 2019

The chapter deals with the study of customers' expectations as well as their perceptions for service quality in banking sector. Again, the study focuses on the influence of major demographic variables such as age, income, education, and occupation on customers' expectations and perceptions for service quality. Moreover, this research work has been carried out with the help of primary data collected through a survey of 300 retail banking customers (i.e., 150 ICICI Bank customers and 150 SBI customers of Agra region). In India, retail banking is one of the fastest growing industries. The present study has endeavored to examine the service quality aspects of the two leading banks in Agra region and will also help the other private and public sector banks and financial institutions to have a better understanding of customer needs and the booming opportunities in retail banking in India.
Determinants of Market Capitalization in India and Its Impact
Authors: Das Chandrika Prasad , Swain Rabindra Kumar
Published: March 2019

The purpose of this chapter is to study the determinants of market capitalization and to investigate the impact of determinants of market capitalization. This chapter uses secondary data from 2003-2016 relating to market capitalization, income per capita, stock market liquidity, etc. The study employed descriptive test and normality test to describe the basic features of data and their distribution. The multicollinearity test has also been used to check the interdependence among independent variables. Multiple regression statistics has been used to determine the impact of independent variables on dependent variable. The results show that there is a positive impact of determinants on development of stock market except political risk and inflation. The findings will help stock market authority, individuals, and companies to understand the factors that affect share prices.
Seven Traits of Personal Learning Environments for Designing Quality Online Learning Programs
Authors: Kennedy Jolie
Published: March 2019

This chapter reports on research findings that illustrate a system view of connectedness across personal, professional, and academic contexts with implications for designing quality online learning programs. Connected learners organically blur the line between formal and informal learning when they call on their social networks and engage in online learning systems towards goals in their personal, professional, and academic lives. The phenomenological study referenced in this chapter is framed by complexity theory and grounded in research on complex adaptive systems applied to educational contexts. Examples of lived experiences illustrate how being connected in a personal learning environment is experienced as immersion in a complex adaptive system. Implications and recommendations for quality online learning programs are discussed.
Medical Data Are Safe
Authors: Praveenkumar Padmapriya , Santhiyadevi R.  , Amirtharajan R.
Published: March 2019

In this internet era, transferring and preservation of medical diagnostic reports and images across the globe have become inevitable for the collaborative tele-diagnosis and tele-surgery. Consequently, it is of prime importance to protect it from unauthorized users and to confirm integrity and privacy of the user. Quantum image processing (QIP) paves a way by integrating security algorithms in protecting and safeguarding medical images. This chapter proposes a quantum-assisted encryption scheme by making use of quantum gates, chaotic maps, and hash function to provide reversibility, ergodicity, and integrity, respectively. The first step in any quantum-related image communication is the representation of the classical image into quantum. It has been carried out using novel enhanced quantum representation (NEQR) format, where it uses two entangled qubit sequences to hoard the location and its pixel values of an image. The second step is performing transformations like confusion, diffusion, and permutation to provide an uncorrelated encrypted image.
Optimization Techniques for the Multilevel Thresholding of the Medical Images
Authors: Kaur Taranjit , Saini Barjinder Singh , Gupta Savita
Published: March 2019

Multilevel thresholding is segmenting the image into several distinct regions. Medical data like magnetic resonance images (MRI) contain important clinical information that is crucial for diagnosis. Hence, automatic segregation of tissue constituents is of key interest to clinician. In the chapter, standard entropies (i.e., Kapur and Tsallis) are explored for thresholding of brain MR images. The optimal thresholds are obtained by the maximization of these entropies using the particle swarm optimization (PSO) and the BAT optimization approach. The techniques are implemented for the segregation of various tissue constituents (i.e., cerebral spinal fluid [CSF], white matter [WM], and gray matter [GM]) from simulated images obtained from the brain web database. The efficacy of the thresholding technique is evaluated by the Dice coefficient (Dice). The results demonstrate that Tsallis' entropy is superior to the Kapur's entropy for the segmentation CSF and WM. Moreover, entropy maximization using BAT algorithm attains a higher Dice in contrast to PSO.
Advancements in Data Security and Privacy Techniques Used in IoT-Based Hospital Applications
Authors: Tiwari Ankita , Tripathi Raghuvendra Pratap , Bhatia Dinesh
Published: March 2019

The risk of encountering new diseases is on the rise in medical centers globally. By employing advancements in medical sensors technology, new health monitoring programs are being developed for continuous monitoring of physiological parameters in patients. Since the stored medical data is personal health record of an individual, it requires delicate and secure handling. In wireless transmission networks, medical data is disposed of to avoid loss due to alteration, eavesdropping, etc. Hence, privacy and security of the medical data are the major considerations during wireless transfer through Medical Sensor Network of MSNs. This chapter delves upon understanding the working of a secure monitoring system wherein the data could be continuously observed with the support of MSNs. Process of sanctioning secure data to authorized users such as physician, clinician, or patient through the key provided to access the file are also explained. Comparative analysis of the encryption techniques such as paillier, RSA, and ELGamal has been included to make the reader aware in selecting a useful technique for a particular hospital application.
Modern Military Operations
Authors: Boshuijzen-van Burken Christine
Published: March 2019

Modern military operations are characterized by ubiquitous use of technology, in particular the use of information and communication technologies for real-time information sharing. The use of technology on the battlefield is assumed to improve decision making in military practice. By making use of a friendly fire incident in Afghanistan, namely the Sangin incident in 2011, the author highlights why moral decision making could be hampered by technology. This is partly due to the fact that information and communication technologies subtly connect sub-practices that exist within the broader military practice, thus potentially blurring normative structures. Blurring of normative structures can cause problems for moral decision making on the battlefield, because it is suddenly not clear who is responsible for the course of action.
Corporate Communication
Authors: van der Stoep Jan , Jansen Peter
Published: March 2019

In September 2015, it appeared that the Volkswagen Group had circumvented the rules for testing diesel car exhaust gases. Although the organization presents itself as eco-friendly, it used a “default device” for diesel cars to produce less CO2 during test situations. Due to this kind of scandal, corporate communication is often associated with greenwashing and the manipulation of minds. Using the normative practice approach, the authors introduce some basic distinctions that may help to come to a better understanding of what the specific duty and responsibility of communication professionals is. They argue that corporate communication stands or falls with public trust. Building confidence and public legitimation is the main task of communication professionals. Although communication is about the construction of a communal world, that does not mean that framing and strategic reasoning are not important. In order to bring in a legitimate point of view, one has to present this point of view in an impactful way. Communication professionals have to balance between the interests of the organization and the requirements of public legitimation. They also have to make convincingly clear how their personal biography and the narrative of the organization are interrelated.
Security Networks
Authors: van Steden Ronald , van Putten Robert , Hoogland Jan
Published: March 2019

Studies into organizational networks and governance tend to analyze professional behavior through the lens of rational (self)interest, resources, conflict, and power relations. However legitimate, this viewpoint overlooks the normative dimensions of networks. Therefore, in studying nodal security governance, the authors introduce the concept of “social practice,” which highlights the intrinsic normativity of what networked actors do. Social practices, they argue, deepen the theory of nodal governance by focusing more precise attention on the mentalities and value-laden characteristics of actors in highly complex settings. Drawing on this insight, the chapter presents a theoretical framework for analyzing social practices in nodal security governance, after which an empirical example concretizes our rather abstract line of reasoning.
Greek Parliamentary Discourse in the Years of the Economic Crisis
Authors: Frantzi Katerina T. , Georgalidou Marianthi , Giakoumakis Giorgos
Published: March 2019

The present chapter deals with impoliteness and aggression in a parliamentary discourse. It is a corpus-based study and the language material examined consists of the Minutes of all Plenary Sessions of the Hellenic Parliament for the years 2011 to 2016. Impoliteness in the Parliament is defined as offensive verbal behavior contextualized by temporary breakdowns of formal procedures, intense protests by immediate recipients, the House Speaker and fellow parliamentarians and even the walkout of the sittings of offended parties. Reactions such as the aforementioned ones serve as markers of the unacceptable use of linguistic forms perceived as abusive which exceed the limits of politic speech in contexts of expected political rivalry. Detailed analysis of excerpts of discourse addressed to politicians reveals linguistic items that can serve as markers of aggression and facilitate analysis via corpus linguistics technologies and the statistic processing of findings which in our case confirms a shift towards more aggressive forms of speech in the Greek parliament after 2011.
An Analysis of the Patterns of Code Switching in the Namibian Parliament
Authors: Iipinge Sussana , Makamani Rewai , Ashikuti Selma
Published: March 2019

This chapter examines patterns of code switching in the Namibian Parliament as represented in the volumes of parliamentary Hansards from 2015 to 2017. In this chapter, a sample of 10 issues of the Namibian parliamentary Hansards were selected. The selected Hansards constituted a representative purposive sample of the Hansards produced by the Parliament of the Republic of Namibia from 2015 to 2017. The selection of the Hansards to form part of the sample depended on the availability of hard copies of the selected issues. Using purposive sampling was important in choosing the right sample for the study as some Hansards had fewer instances of code switching than others. It was important to select those with high frequencies of code switching.
Gender Sensitivity in Parliamentary Discourse an Appraisal Approach
Authors: Khumalo Khanyile
Published: March 2019

The call for gender equality has taken the world by storm in all facets of life. This study explores four gender-themed parliamentary debates for appraisal and evaluative language. The study was prompted by the increasing importance of parliaments in today's world and the role they play in shaping decisions that affect society. The appraisal theory has been used to analyze the evaluative language that was used by parliamentarians in gender themed parliamentary debates with the aim of finding out if members of parliament conform to the dictates of these instruments or if the appraisal and evaluative resources they use render them as gender sensitive or not. The corpus of the study has been four gender-themed parliamentary debates which were taken from the national assembly Hansard of 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016, respectively. The study has concluded that there are mixed views in parliament with regards to gender equality and this is reflected in the presentations by the different speakers. Some members of parliament are gender sensitive while some are still insensitive.
Prediction of Heart Disease Using Random Forest and Rough Set Based Feature Selection
Authors: Yekkala Indu , Dixit Sunanda
Published: March 2019

Data is generated by the medical industry. Often this data is of very complex nature—electronic records, handwritten scripts, etc.—since it is generated from multiple sources. Due to the Complexity and sheer volume of this data necessitates techniques that can extract insight from this data in a quick and efficient way. These insights not only diagnose the diseases but also predict and can prevent disease. One such use of these techniques is cardiovascular diseases. Heart disease or coronary artery disease (CAD) is one of the major causes of death all over the world. Comprehensive research using single data mining techniques have not resulted in an acceptable accuracy. Further research is being carried out on the effectiveness of hybridizing more than one technique for increasing accuracy in the diagnosis of heart disease. In this article, the authors worked on heart stalog dataset collected from the UCI repository, used the Random Forest algorithm and Feature Selection using rough sets to accurately predict the occurrence of heart disease
Epidemiology of Cardiac Surgery and the Cardiac Surgical Patient
Authors: Katz Jason Neil , Sawey Edward J.
Published: March 2019

While the timeline has been relatively abbreviated, there has been significant evolution in the field of cardiac surgery. These changes have been driven by a combination of operative innovation, changing patient demographics, and novel critical care resources, all of which have allowed today's surgeons to treat a myriad of conditions among increasingly higher risk patient cohorts. At the same time, this has forced providers to expand their clinical skill sets, embrace multidisciplinary collaboration, enhance postoperative care, and intensify the rigor by which outcomes and quality are being measured. In spite of this increasing complexity, however, mortality in cardiac surgery continues to improve. In this chapter, we highlight key historical events and describe an unprecedented trajectory and evolution in care practices that have helped shape modern cardiac surgery. We also make an appeal for additional research efforts which are needed to ensure sustained and innovative growth.
Cardiac Remodeling Under Hyperoxic Conditions
Authors: Panguluri Siva Kumar
Published: March 2019

Cardiovascular complications and arrhythmias account for high mortality in cardiopulmonary patients in intensive care unites (ICU) and critical care unites. Patients in ICU are often administered with 100% oxygen for treatment with many diseases. According to American Heart Association (AHA), more than 2200 deaths related to cardiac failure are reported every day with an average of 1 in every 39 seconds. Cardiomyopathy is also reported in many diseased conditions including acute lung injury, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and cancer. Recent studies indicate that hyperoxia induces cardiac injury due to dysfunctional lung and compromised pulmonary functioning. The exact mechanism of cardiovascular complications in ICU/ critical care remains unknown. This review will discuss the effect of hyeproxia on cardiac remodeling with more emphasis on ventricular and electrical remodeling. Understanding the exact mechanism of hyperoxia induced cardiomyopathy is not only important to understand the disease development and progression but also open new avenues for targeted therapy.
Evolving Concepts for Use of Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering for Cardiac Regeneration
Authors: Sarvepalli Jahnavi , Santhakumar Rajalakshmi , Verma Rama Shanker
Published: March 2019

The incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in adults are increasing worldwide with impaired repair mechanisms, leading to tissue and organ failure. With the current advancements, life expectancy has improved and has led to search for new treatment strategies that improves tissue regeneration. Recently, stem cell therapy and tissue engineering has captured the attention of clinicians, scientists, and patients as alternative treatment options. The overall clinical experience of these suggests that they can be safely used in the right clinical setting. Ultimately, large outcome trials will have to be conducted to assess their efficacy. Clinical trials have to be carefully designed and patient safety must remain the key concern. At the same time, continued basic research is required to understand the underlying mechanism of cell-based therapies and cell tissue interactions. This chapter reviews the evolving paradigm of stem cell therapy and tissue engineering approaches for clinical application and explores its implications.
Resource Management and Scheduling for Big Data Applications in Cloud Computing Environments
Authors: Islam Muhammed Tawfiqul , Buyya Rajkumar
Published: March 2019

This chapter presents software architectures of the big data processing platforms. It also provides in-depth knowledge on resource management techniques involved while deploying big data processing systems in the cloud environment. It starts from the very basics and gradually introduce the core components of resource management which are divided into multiple layers. It covers the state-of-art practices and researches done in SLA-based resource management with a specific focus on the job scheduling mechanisms.
A Cloud-Based Patient Health Monitoring System Using the Internet of Things
Authors: Murugan R.
Published: March 2019

To conquer medical carelessness, a novel framework will be created on the grounds that daily medicinal services are essential. This framework conveys equipment, and Android application, the pulse, temperature of body, dampness rate are detected by the sensor in equipment. There is a Raspberry pi over which this detected information is transferred. The system dependent on internet of things (IOT) is utilized for remotely getting to information. With the end goal to get to the information universally, IOT used to keep all refreshed data on pages, a great opportunity to put information on mists. There is an Android-based application that can get to information from server through wi-fi to give us a chance to see the detected information. On the off chance that any of the anomalies are discovered, those must be settled, so it will send message to tolerant and individual specialists.
Statistical Modelling and Analysis of the Computer-Simulated Datasets
Authors: Harshvardhan M. , Ranjan Pritam
Published: March 2019

Over the last two decades, the science has come a long way from relying on only physical experiments and observations to experimentation using computer simulators. This chapter focuses on the modelling and analysis of data arising from computer simulators. It turns out that traditional statistical metamodels are often not very useful for analyzing such datasets. For deterministic computer simulators, the realizations of Gaussian process (GP) models are commonly used for fitting a surrogate statistical metamodel of the simulator output. The chapter starts with a quick review of the standard GP-based statistical surrogate model. The chapter also emphasizes on the numerical instability due to near-singularity of the spatial correlation structure in the GP model fitting process. The authors also present a few generalizations of the GP model, reviews methods, and algorithms specifically developed for analyzing big data obtained from computer model runs, and reviews the popular analysis goals of such computer experiments. A few real-life computer simulators are also briefly outlined here.
História do currículo do curso de Pedagogia da UNESP de Araraquara (1959-2006)
Authors: Mariano André Luiz Sena
Published: March 2019

Este texto, na tentativa de trazer contribuições para a compreensão do curso de Pedagogia, debruça-se sobre a história do curso oferecido pela Faculdade de Ciências e Letras da UNESP de Araraquara, focalizando suas estruturas curriculares. Para tanto, são analisadas as nomenclaturas que compuseram os currículos do curso em suas cinco versões (1959, 1969, 1979, 2000 e 2006), tentando explicar sua configuração à luz dos pressupostos do materialismo cultural, proposto pelo galês Raymond Williams (1921-1988). Nesse sentido, o texto procura mostrar, considerando suas limitações, algumas tensões postas durante os processos de mudança dos currículos, bem como as formas como esses processos se conectam à história do curso de Pedagogia no Brasil; para tanto, se vale, por exemplo, das tensões postas entre a formação do especialista da área educacional e o professor. Finaliza advogando que, além das discussões atinentes à própria configuração do campo científico a ausência de um conhecimento especificamente pedagógico (que aqui passa a ser denominado de conhecimento dominante) pode ser um fator explicativo para as inúmeras crises que marcam a história do curso de pedagogia no Brasil.
Idiopathic granulomatous mastitis
Authors: Lavanya S. , Raviraj S.
Published: March 2019

37 year old, mother of two, presented with clinically and radiologically suspicious (malignant) left breast lump of 3 months duration. Even though FNAC revealed predominant inflammatory cells as the lump was highly suspicious it was decided to go for Wide Local Excision and the histopathology report revealed Idiopathic Granulomatous Mastitis. She is being followed up in surgical clinic without a relapse yet.
A rare clinical presentation of TB
Authors: Anomilan M. A. , Vaikunthan T. , Rajendra S.
Published: March 2019

Tuberculosis (TB) is a multi-organ disease. The most common manifestation is a pulmonary disease, but involvement of the gastrointestinal tract is not uncommon with the ileocaecal region being the commonest site. But ileal perforation due to tuberculosis is a rare manifestation. Here, we report a case of ileal tuberculosis presenting as perforated viscus while on treatment for genitourinary tuberculosis. Though, perforation of ileal tuberculosis is rare, it should be considered as a possibility when patients present with features of perforated viscus, particularly in patients who are diagnosed or suspected of tuberculosis.
Does surgeon experience influence the amount of radiation exposure during orthopedic procedures? A systematic review
Authors: Malik Azeem Tariq , Rai Hamid Hussain , Lakdawala Riaz Hussain , Noordin Shahryar
Published: March 2019

With an increasing use of intraoperative fluoroscopy in operating rooms worldwide, the topic of radiation exposure has become a major concern among hospital staff, doctors and patients alike. Since fluoroscopy has become an integral part in orthopedic intraoperative management, we sought to identify whether surgeon grade or experience plays a role in the amount of radiation used and consequently exposed. We performed a systematic review examining the association between surgeon experience and radiation exposure using primary outcome measures (radiation dose and total screening time/fluoroscopy time). To be included in the review, the study population had to compare varying surgeon experience levels and their effect on the primary outcomes. A total of eighteen studies were included in the review. The studies were a mix of prospective and retrospective studies with low to moderate quality as evaluated by the MINORs criteria. Studies were variable in defining surgeon experience levels and in the type of operations being performed. Majority of the studies showed that inexperienced surgeons/trainees had a higher total fluoroscopy time and a higher mean radiation exposure as compared to experienced surgeons. We conclude that higher surgeon experience significantly reduces usage of fluoroscopy and the consequent radiation exposure in orthopedic procedures. Introduction of strict radiation guidelines involving limited usage of fluoroscopy and supervision of trainees may be beneficial in controlling radiation exposure in the future.
Transcranial motor-evoked potentials for prediction of postoperative neurologic and motor deficit following surgery for thoracolumbar scoliosis
Authors: Miller Samuel M. , Donegan Sean W. , Voigt Niesha , Eltorai Adam E.M. , Daniels Alan H. , Shetty Teena , Nguyen Joseph , Machan Jason T.
Published: March 2019

Transcranial motor-evoked potentials (TcMEPs) are used to monitor the descending motor pathway during scoliosis surgery. By comparing potentials before and after correction, surgeons may prevent postoperative functional loss in distal muscles. There is currently no consensus as to which muscles should be monitored. The purpose of this study is to determine the least invasive monitoring protocol with the best localization of potential neurologic deficit. A retrospective review of 125 patients with TcMEP monitoring during surgery for thoracolumbar scoliosis between 2008 and 2015 was conducted. 18 patients had postoperative neurologic consult due to deficit. The remaining 107 patients were a consecutive cohort without postoperative neurologic consult. TcMEPs were recorded from vastus lateralis (VL), tibialis anterior (TA), peroneus longus (PL), adductor hallucis (AH) and abductor pollicis brevis (APB) bilaterally. The effectiveness of each muscle combination was evaluated independently and then compared to other combinations using Akaike Information Criterion (AIC). Monitoring of VL, TA, PL, and AH yielded sensitivity of 77.8% and specificity of 92.5% (AIC=66.7). Monitoring of TA, PL and AH yielded sensitivity of 77.8% and specificity of 94.4% (AIC=62.4). Monitoring of VL, TA and PL yielded sensitivity of 72.2% and specificity of 93.5% (AIC=70.1). Monitoring of TA and PL yielded sensitivity of 72.2% and specificity of 96.3% (AIC=63.9). TcMEP monitoring of TA, PL, and AH provided the highest sensitivity and specificity and best predictive power for postoperative lower extremity weakness.
Clostridium sordelli as a cause of gas gangrene in a trauma patient
Authors: Bajpai Vijeta , Govindaswamy Aishwarya , Agrawal Sonu Kumari , Malhotra Rajesh , Mathur Purva
Published: March 2019

Gas gangrene is a necrotic infection of the skin and soft tissue that is associated with high mortality and often necessitating amputation to control the infection. Clostridial myonecrosis is most often cause of gas gangrene and usually present in settings of trauma, surgery, malignancy, and other underlying immunocompromised conditions. The most common causative organism of clostridial myonecrosis is Clostridium perfringens followed by Clostridium septicum. Here, we are reporting an unusual case report of posttraumatic gas gangrene caused by Clostridium sordelli.
Serological evidence of human leptospirosis in patients with acute undifferentiated febrile illness from Uttarakhand, India: A pilot study
Authors: Bhatia Mohit , Kumar Pradeep , Gupta Pratima , Gupta Puneet Kumar , Dhar Minakshi , Kalita Deepjyoti
Published: March 2019

CONTEXT: To the best of our knowledge, there are no reports of serological evidence of human leptospirosis from Uttarakhand state in India.

AIMS: The aim of this study was to screen for serological evidence of leptospirosis in patients with acute undifferentiated febrile illness at a tertiary care teaching hospital in Uttarakhand.

SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A pilot study was conducted from March to November 2017.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Fifty-three adult patients who presented in Medicine outpatient Department with a history of fever of ≥7 up to 14 days duration with or without other associated symptoms such as a headache, rashes, myalgia, arthralgia, and conjunctival suffusion were enrolled in the study using convenience sampling technique. Blood samples of these patients were collected and subjected to peripheral smear examination for malaria parasites, dengue immunoglobulin M (IgM) immunochromatographic card test, IgM Typhidot, Leptospira and Scrub typhus IgM ELISA, respectively. Aerobic blood culture was performed in 24 cases. Relevant clinico-epidemiological details were obtained as per the pro forma formulated in accordance with the modified Faine’s criteria.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Descriptive statistics.

RESULTS: The study population consisted of 50.94% of males and 49.06% of females with a mean age ± standard deviation of 34.2 ± 15.2 years. Fifty febrile patients had additional symptoms of which myalgia was the most common (81.1%) followed by arthralgia (22.6%). Peripheral smears of all patients were negative for malaria parasites. Dengue and Typhidot IgM positivity was observed in two and eight patients, respectively. Six and five patients were tested positive by leptospira and scrub typhus IgM ELISA, respectively. Salmonella Typhi was isolated from blood sample of only one patient. Serum samples of two patients showed dual positivity. All six leptospira seropositive patients satisfied modified Faine’s criteria.

CONCLUSIONS: Leptospirosis is a seemingly unexplored infection in Uttarakhand and should be considered as a differential diagnosis in patients with acute undifferentiated febrile illness.
Clinical profile and determinants of short-term outcome of acute kidney injury: A hospital-based prospective study from Northeastern India
Authors: Bhattacharya Prasanta Kumar , Roy Akash , Jamil Md. , Barman Bhupen , Murti Subrahmanya V. , Marak Patrick R.
Published: March 2019

CONTEXT: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is an outcome of multiple etiologies and is mostly reversible. Data on its incidence and outcome, particularly from India, are limited.

AIMS: To study the etiology, clinical profile, and short-term prognosis in AKI.

SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A hospital-based prospective observational study on AKI.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Seventy-five AKI patients diagnosed by Acute Kidney Injury network criteria were selected. Patients with preexisting chronic kidney disease were excluded.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Data were compiled using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 17. Regression analysis was done for determining the association of various variables for mortality. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

RESULTS: The mean age of patients was 41.09 ± 16.17 years with a male:female ratio of 1.42:1. Comorbidities were present in 37.3%, with diabetes mellitus (10.6%) and chronic liver disease (10.6%) being the most common. Fever was the most common (40%) presenting symptom, followed by oliguria (25.8%). Infection was the most common cause of AKI (56%), with sepsis in 26.7% followed by acute gastroenteritis in 17.3%. Pneumonia was the primary focus in 50% of cases with sepsis. Mean serum creatinine and urea at admission were 2.37 ± 0.90 and 92.44 ± 39.67 mg/dl, respectively. Serum creatinine rose progressively to 2.96 ± 1.18 and 3.26 ± 1.56 mg/dl at 24 and 48 h, respectively, since hospitalization. Majority of the cases (73.3%) were nonoliguric. Hemodialysis was necessary in 24% of cases. Mean hospital stay was 8.16 days. In-hospital mortality was 24%. Among survivors, 92.9% had complete renal recovery on discharge. Sepsis, need for hemodialysis, urea >100 mg/dl, and peak serum creatinine >3 mg/dl were contributors to mortality (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS: Infections, especially sepsis, were the most common cause of AKI. Hemodialysis was required in one-quarter of the patients. Sepsis, need for hemodialysis, and high creatinine were associated with a significantly higher mortality.
Evaluation of loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay for detection of scrub typhus in patients with acute febrile illness presenting to a Tertiary Care Center in Puducherry, India
Authors: Karthikeyan Patricia Anitha , Hoti Sugeerappa Laxmanappa , Kanungo Reba
Published: March 2019

PURPOSE: Scrub typhus an acute febrile illness has diverse clinical manifestations, which overlap with other febrile illnesses. Due to this reason, it is misdiagnosed, leading to inappropriate treatment, sometimes resulting in fatality. Thus, accurate diagnosis of scrub typhus is important for appropriate treatment. This study evaluated the loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay as a diagnostic test for scrub typhus among patients with fever.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 50 cases of acute febrile illness clinically resembling scrub typhus, with or without an eschar, or cases of pyrexia of unknown origin were included in the study. Blood samples collected from these cases were subjected to detection of IgM antibodies to Orientia tsutsugamushi by ELISA, conventional groEL polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and the LAMP assay.

RESULTS: Twelve cases had fever for less than a week, and two had fever for more than 3 weeks. IgM antibodies to O. tsutsugamushi were detected in 37 out of 50 samples (74%). LAMP assay was positive in 33 samples (66%). groEL gene-based PCR detected 35 (70%) samples as positive. Two samples negative by LAMP assay were positive by this PCR. Twenty samples collected from patients with dengue, typhoid, and malaria tested by the LAMP assay were negative, indicating its good specificity. LAMP assay and the conventional groEL-based PCR could detect 72.7% and 74.3% of the samples, respectively before the 10th day after onset of fever, whereas IgM ELISA could detect only 40.5% of the 37 samples.

CONCLUSION: This study suggests that LAMP assay could be a useful diagnostic test for detecting scrub typhus in the acute phase of the illness and a cheaper alternative to other molecular methods in resource poor settings.