bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Gabapentin
Authors: Mersfelder Tracey L. , Nichols William H.
Published: January 2016

Objective: To identify case reports and studies regarding patients who abused, became dependent on, or experienced withdrawal from gabapentin. Data Sources: A PubMed literature search (1993 to October 2015) was performed using the search terms gabapentin, withdrawal, dependence, and addiction. Additional references were identified from a review of literature citations. Study Selection: All English-language case reports and studies were evaluated. Data Synthesis: A total of 18 case reports or case series were identified regarding addiction to or withdrawal from gabapentin. All the cases of addiction were in patients who had a previous history of alcohol, cocaine, or opioid abuse. On average, the patients were taking more than 3000 mg/d (600-8000 mg/d). Two surveys reported that the misuse of gabapentin was 1.1% in the general population and 22% in drug abuse treatment centers. Withdrawal, when reported, occurred within 12 hours to 7 days of discontinuation of the medication. Conclusion: There have been numerous documented cases of gabapentin abuse, dependence, and withdrawal. Even though gabapentin is sometimes considered as a treatment option for alcohol and substance abuse, it is important to monitor for drug-seeking behaviors. A history of alcohol or substance abuse appears to be an important part of a patient’s medical history when evaluating their risk for addiction and dependence behaviors. Health care providers need to be aware of this risk in their patients and monitor their patients for signs of abuse and dependence along with withdrawal symptoms.
Comparing the Treatment Algorithm and Complications for Patients Undergoing an Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion at a Physician-Owned Specialty Hospital and a University-Owned Tertiary Care Hospital
Authors: Schroeder Gregory D. , Kurd Mark F. , Kepler Christopher K. , Radcliff Kris E. , Rihn Jeffery A. , Anderson D. Greg , Hilibrand Alan S. , Vaccaro Alexander R.
Published: January 2016

The purpose of this case-control study is to compare the treatment algorithm and complication rate for patients who undergo an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion at a physician-owned specialty hospital to those who undergo surgery at a university-owned tertiary care hospital. Two controls were identified for 77 patients, and no differences in demographic data were identified. The median time between the onset of symptoms and surgery was shorter for patients who had surgery at the tertiary care center than for patients who had surgery at the specialty hospital (26.7 weeks vs 32.7 weeks, P = .0004). Furthermore, a higher percentage of patients who had surgery at the specialty hospital attempted nonoperative treatments than patients who underwent surgery at the tertiary care hospital.
“Trust Is Good, Control Is Better”
Authors: André Audrey , Depauw Sam , Martin Shane
Published: January 2016

Even though institutional design clearly shapes legislative processes and outputs, explanation of cross-national variation in how legislatures are organized remains elusive. Building on research that emphasizes the role of legislatures in enforcing coalition agreements, we provide new data on committee structures in thirty-one parliamentary democracies, demonstrating that where multiparty government is the norm, legislatures tend to develop strong committees that are structurally equipped to enable the governing parties to keep tabs on one another’s ministers. To probe the institutional argument further, we present a case study of committee reform in the Irish parliament. We demonstrate that institutional change within the Irish parliament is directly related to the shift from single-party to multiparty government and in particular to the desire of the smaller coalition party to be able to keep tabs on the larger party’s ministers. The paper aims to spark a deeper dialogue among party and legislative scholars in search of the micro-foundations of legislative organization.
An Unusual Case of Noninvasive Adenocarcinoma Arising in a Localized Adenomyoma of the Gallbladder and Review of Literature
Authors: Patel Smita , Slade Jamie , Jakate Shriram
Published: January 2016

Adenomyoma or adenomyomatosis (ADM) of the gallbladder generally carries little or no risk of malignant transformation. Rare cases of such malignant transformation are described in the literature only in segmental type of ADM and not in localized adenomyoma. We report a case of a 58-year-old asymptomatic woman found to have an incidental 3.3 × 3.2 × 2.3 cm well-circumscribed exophytic mass on surveillance ultrasound, originating from the fundus of the gallbladder and abutting the liver capsule. The patient underwent an open cholecystectomy with resection of the mass and underlying segment of the liver. The mass was discrete and well-circumscribed with a peripheral pseudocapsule. Histologically, it showed features typical of a benign adenomyoma with variably sized distended microcysts within fibromuscular stroma. Within the lesion, however, multiple small foci amounting to approximately 5% of the total lesion showed high-grade dysplasia or adenocarcinoma in situ. Apart from cytological distinctiveness, these foci were also selectively highlighted by positive immunostaining for p53 and higher Ki-67 reactivity. Away from this lesion, the gallbladder showed cholelithiasis, mild cholecystitis, and no additional adenomyoma. There was no invasion into the gallbladder mucosa or adjacent liver. This case is highly unusual since transformation to carcinoma is not previously described in a localized or discrete adenomyoma. In the short available follow-up (4 months to date), there is no evidence of recurrence or metastasis. The long-term prognosis is expected to be favorable due to lack of invasion and complete excision, even if there is no documented literature regarding its course.
Fibromatosis of the Sigmoid Colon With CTNNB1 (β-Catenin) Gene Mutation, Arising at the Site of Ileocolic Anastomosis for Resection of Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor
Authors: Thway Khin , Abou Sherif Sara , Riddell Angela M. , Mudan Satvinder
Published: January 2016

We describe a case of intra-abdominal fibromatosis, which occurred in a 44-year-old woman who had a previous history of gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) of the sigmoid mesocolon, which was treated with imatinib and resection. A mass was detected at the site of ileocolic anastomosis of the previous small bowel resection and sigmoid colectomy, nearly 3 years later. Clinically, this was suspected to represent recurrent GIST and was excised, but histology and mutational analysis showed desmoid-type fibromatosis with a mutation in codon 41 of exon 3 of the CTNNB1 (β-catenin) gene. The occurrence of fibromatosis at the site of excision of GIST is very rare, but its recognition is important as the treatment of the two neoplasms differs significantly. As imaging cannot reliably distinguish between these 2 entities, histological diagnosis is crucial for correct clinical management.
Pathology and Genetics of Syndromic Gastric Polyps
Authors: Brosens Lodewijk A. A. , Wood Laura D. , Offerhaus G. Johan , Arnold Christina A. , Lam-Himlin Dora , Giardiello Francis M. , Montgomery Elizabeth A.
Published: January 2016

Gastric polyps are found in 1% to 4% of patients undergoing gastroscopy. The vast majority are sporadic, but some gastric polyps indicate an underlying syndrome. Gastric polyps can manifest in each of the gastrointestinal polyposis syndromes, including the recently described gastric adenocarcinoma and proximal polyposis of the stomach syndrome. In addition, gastric polyps occur in Lynch syndrome and in a few rare conditions that are not primarily gastrointestinal. While some of these syndromes are clearly associated with an increased risk of gastric cancer, others are not. Interestingly, even in disorders with a well-established risk of gastric cancer, the neoplastic potential and the precursor status of these gastric polyps are not always clear. Although rare, recognition of syndromic gastric polyps is important for individual patient management. These conditions also serve as important models to study gastric homeostasis and gastric tumorigenesis.
Urothelial Carcinoma With Villoglandular Differentiation
Authors: Mitra Suvradeep , Sundaram Archana K. , Gupta Kirti , Devana Sudheer Kumar
Published: January 2016

Urothelial neoplasms are the commonest neoplasms of the urinary bladder. Many variants of urothelial neoplasms have been described in the literature with diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic significance. We describe a rare case of urothelial neoplasm with villoglandular differentiation along with its immunohistochemical profile arising in an elderly male. Its poor prognosis signifies its need to be recognized.
Ivabradine
Authors: Chaudhary Rahul , Garg Jalaj , Krishnamoorthy Parasuram , Shah Neeraj , Lanier Gregg , Martinez Mathew W. , Freudenberger Ronald
Published: January 2016

Heart failure affects over 5 million people in the United States and carries a high rate of mortality. Ivabradine, a new agent has been added to the current medical options for managing heart failure. It is a selective funny current ( If) inhibitor in sinoatrial node and slows its firing rate, prolonging diastolic depolarization without a negative inotropic effect. Ivabradine was only recently approved by Food and Drug administration after the results of Systolic Heart Failure Treatment with the If Inhibitor Ivabradine (SHIFT) trial, for a reduction in rehospitalizations from chronic heart failure. This trial assessed patients with stable heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and a heart rate of at least 70 beats per minute at rest on maximally tolerated beta-blocker therapy and demonstrated statistically significant reduction in heart failure hospitalization and deaths. Additionally, ivabradine has been associated with reduced cardiac remodeling, reduced heart rate variability, improvement in exercise tolerance, improved heart failure class of New York Heart Association, and better quality of life. It has also been tried in other conditions, such as inappropriate sinus tachycardia and cardiogenic shock, and is currently in phase II trial for patients with newly diagnosed multiple organ dysfunction syndrome.
Adaptive type-2 fuzzy estimation of uncertainties in the control of electrically driven flexible-joint robots
Authors: Zirkohi Majid Moradi , Fateh Mohammad Mehdi
Published: January 2016

This paper presents a novel decentralized tracking control system of electrically driven flexible-joint robots by adaptive type-2 fuzzy estimation and compensation of uncertainties. Owing to using voltage control strategy, the proposed control approach has important advantages over the torque control approaches in terms of being free from manipulator dynamics, computationally simple and decoupled. The design includes two interior loops: the inner loop controls the motor position while the outer loop controls the joint angle of the robot. An adaptive proportional–integral–derivative controller governs the outer loop, whereas a robust nonlinear controller supported by estimation of uncertainty is employed for the inner loop. More specifically, the main contribution of the paper arises from this fact that the proposed control method uses the interval Type-2 Fuzzy Logic systems for estimation of uncertainty. This is the main difference between this paper and those published in literature. One advantage of the proposed approach is that it uses available feedbacks as an important advantage from a practical point of view. The method is verified by stability analysis and its effectiveness is demonstrated by simulations. The direct method of Lyapunov is utilized for stability analysis of the proposed approach. The case of study is the tracking control of a three-joint articulated flexible-joint robot driven by permanent magnet DC motors. Simulation results show the superior robustness of the type-2 fuzzy system to Type-1 fuzzy system.
Experimental validation of the Kalman-type filters for online and real-time state and input estimation
Authors: Azam Saeed Eftekhar , Chatzi Eleni , Papadimitriou Costas , Smyth Andrew
Published: January 2016

In this study, a novel dual implementation of the Kalman filter proposed by Eftekhar Azam et al. (2014, 2015) is experimentally validated for simultaneous estimation of the states and input of structural systems. By means of numerical simulations, it has been shown that the proposed method outperforms existing techniques in terms of robustness and accuracy for the estimated displacement and velocity time histories. Herein, dynamic response measurements, in the form of displacement and acceleration time histories from a small-scale laboratory building structure excited at the base by a shake table, are considered for evaluating the performance of the proposed Dual Kalman filter and in order to compare this with available alternatives, such as the augmented Kalman filter (Lourens et al., 2012b) and the Gillijn De Moore filter (GDF) (2007b). The suggested Bayesian approach requires the availability of a physical model of the system in addition to output-only measurements from limited degrees of freedom. Two categories of such physical models are herein studied to evaluate the effect of model error on the filter performances; the first, is a model that comprises identified modal parameters, i.e., natural frequencies, mode shapes, modal damping ratios and modal participation factors; the second, is a model that is extracted from a recently developed subspace identification procedure, namely the transformed stochastic subspace identification method. The results are encouraging for the further use of the dual Kalman filter and its available alternatives for addressing the important problems of full response reconstruction and fatigue estimation in the entire body of linear structures, using a limited number of output-only vibration measurements.
Topology optimization of continuum structures with uncertain-but-bounded parameters for maximum non-probabilistic reliability of frequency requirement
Authors: Xu Bin , Zhao Lei , Min Xie Yi , Jiang Jiesheng
Published: January 2016

A method for the non-probabilistic reliability optimization on frequency of continuum structures with uncertain-but-bounded parameters is proposed. The objective function is to maximize the non-probabilistic reliability index of frequency requirement.The corresponding bi-level optimization model is built, where the constraints are applied on the material volume in the outer loop and the limit state equation in the inner loop. The non-probabilistic reliability index of frequency requirement is derived by the analytical method for the continuum structure with the uncertain elastic module and mass density. Further, the sensitivity of the non-probabilistic reliability index with respect to the design variables is analyzed. The topology optimization in the outer loop is performed by a bi-directional evolutionary structural optimization (BESO) method, where the numerical techniques and the optimization procedure of BESO method are presented. Numerical results show that the proposed BESO method is efficient, and convergent optimal solutions can be achieved for a variety of optimization problems on frequency non-probabilistic reliability of continuum structures.
A new gradient based step size controlled inverse eigen sensitivity algorithm for identification of material and boundary parameters of plates
Authors: Goni Sk Abdul , Mondal Subhajit , Chakraborty Sushanta
Published: January 2016

The dynamic performance of any structure is function of existing material properties and boundary stiffness parameters which may deteriorate or become more flexible due to prolonged use. These parameters are estimated inversely through optimization of a suitable objective function. The gradient based optimization methods are preferred due to their faster convergence from a set of initial guess points, but suffers mostly from lack of reliable methodology to select appropriate step sizes. Arbitrary selection of step sizes may sometimes work well, depending upon the judgment of the user, but is case specific. The present work describes the estimation of existing material properties and boundary stiffness of isotropic and orthotropic plates from measured frequencies and mode shapes using a new gradient based step size controlled inverse eigensensitivity algorithm. The method takes a strategy that the step sizes automatically become smaller when the change in gradient of objective function is having a high value and similarly, takes larger steps when the gradient is remaining fairly constants in subsequent iterations. The results obtained from the investigations are encouraging, as some convergences could be achieved by this new adaptive step size control only, whereas methods adopting arbitrary or no step size control diverged.
Seismic performance of ribbed bracing system in passive control of structures
Authors: Arzeytoon Ali , Golafshani Ali Akbar , Toufigh Vahab , Mohammadi Hossein
Published: January 2016

In this article, a novel passive control system, ribbed bracing system (RBS), has been proposed to deal with the buckling problem. RBS is a bracing system with a simple mechanism that can be installed in braces as a supplemental part. The behavior of RBS is similar to that of conventional braces under tensile loading. However, under compressive force, it endures an insignificant force and prevents the braces from buckling through length reduction. In addition, seismic damage is concentrated in the bracing system of the structures equipped with RBS, decreasing the dissipated hysteretic energy in other structural members. There are two different mechanisms for RBS: 1) completely-closed RBS (CC-RBS) and 2) self-centering RBS (SC-RBS). The concept and mechanics of RBS have been verified by the results obtained from cyclic testing and numerical analysis of RBS specimens. In this research, after describing the mechanical configuration of RBS, nonlinear time history analysis has been conducted on 3-story and 6-story concentrically braced frames subjected to different seismic intensity levels, design basis earthquakes (DBE), and maximum considered earthquakes (MCE). The analyses have been performed on different types of bracing systems as follows: SC-RBS, CC-RBS, and Buckling Restrained Braces (BRB). The results show that SC-RBS frames have negligible residual story drifts, and maximum displacement in CC-RBS is slightly lower than that of BRB. Additionally, distribution of input energy into the structure was considered and showed that RBS frames demonstrate a high hysteretic energy dissipation, which results in lower demands in other structural elements.
The Ambivalences of Becoming a Professor in Neoliberal Academia
Authors: Brunila Kristiina
Published: January 2016

The article is a mode of drifting of experiences of an academically young critical scholar, a woman who recently became a tenure track professor of social justice and equality in education in a Nordic “model country of equality.” The concept of experience in this article is not used in the sense of individuals having experiences; rather, it is about an academic subject, a young academic professor, who constitutes herself and is constituted as an experiencing subject. She wanted to write about the process of seeing what framed her seeing. As a critical scholar, she wanted to understand more about how we come to think of, and recognize, particular statements and affects as belonging to certain discourses, and how we maintain but also challenge and change these discourses.
Mo(ve)ments, Encounters, Repetitions
Authors: Guttorm Hanna Ellen , Löytönen Teija , Anttila Eeva , Valkeemäki Anita
Published: January 2016

This article illustrates and invites into a shared (ad)venture and process of collaborative inquiry inspired by taking the concepts of “becoming” and “thisness” both seriously and joyfully. Collaborative and embodied research practices between four academics in the intersection of arts, education, and artistic/post qualitative research affect the multiple processes of knowing: What and how we come to know, what we ask, and how we approach our work and each other, and others in the academia. In this process/article, we wonder, how material and immaterial encounters entangle with/in writing, how subjectivities become smooth(er), and how knowing turns toward open-ended movements.
Reflexivity Beyond Regulations
Authors: von Unger Hella
Published: January 2016

Research ethics are an integral part of the research process and are not limited to institutionalized regulatory procedures. While there is no standard formula for ethical reflexivity and practice, the question arises as to how research ethics can be taught as part of a curriculum for qualitative research. The approach taken here is one of learning by doing. Sociology students were trained to pursue a research question and reflect on ethical aspects of their experiences. Their research projects explored the meaning of a trial against a neo-Nazi group in Munich, Germany. In teams, the students conducted qualitative interviews on how members of local communities viewed the trial. The students’ questions and learning experiences regarding research ethics are analyzed. Key topics of discussion include informed consent, researcher subjectivity, and the de/merits of ethics codes and guidelines. Recommendations are drawn for teaching research ethics in qualitative methods training in the future.
Please Don’t Use the Restraints
Authors: Rowe Desireé D.
Published: January 2016

The end of the story is all you care about. So, let’s get that out of the way first. Penelope Jane was born on March 23rd. She was healthy. The trauma of that day still resonates within my body, called into being through subsequent visits to the hospital and a review of my own medical records from that day. A life-threatening fever and 9 hours of pushing led to a powerfully negative birth experience, one that I am consistently told to just forget. After she had a weeklong stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), I have a healthy daughter. In this article, I use auto/archeology as a tool to examine my own medical records and the affective traces of my experience in the hospital to call into question Halberstam’s advocacy of forgetting as queer resistance to dominant cultural logics. While Halberstam explains that “forgetting allows for a release from the weight of the past and the menace of the future” I hold tightly to my memories of that day. This article marks the disconnects between an advocacy of forgetting and my own failure of childbirth and offers a new perspective that embraces the queer potentiality of remembering trauma.
The Bus to Mansfield
Authors: Katovich Michael A.
Published: January 2016

The author provides a description of a day in jail, beginning just after midnight in early December and ending about 20 hours later. The day involved many interactions with cell mates, especially eight of whom would eventually take the bus to the Mansfield prison. Among other functions, the prison serves as the designated holding place for those charged to post bail. The author’s metaphorical journey from one arrested to one identified as The Professor among his cohort of fellow prisoners leads into a literal journey on the bus to Mansfield. The prisoners imagined the bus, early on, as a horrific representation of their incarceration. Eventually, however, the bus became a symbol of change from the stagnation of place.
The Survivor Master Narrative in Sexual Assault
Authors: Muldoon Shane D. , Taylor S. Caroline , Norma Caroline
Published: January 2016

This article is based on data drawn from 90 Victoria Police operational files covering the period 2004-2008. Several thematic responses by sexual assault survivors are described as forming a master narrative of “identity shock.” It is argued that the “minor/serious” sexual assault legal distinction is meaningless to survivors and conceals a shared felt experience. It is also argued that sexual assault is fundamentally a “public issue” of betrayal of citizen trust—not just a collection of “private troubles”—and that effective resolutions require more than individualized therapeutic and criminal justice measures.
Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve Analysis of Screening Tools for Bipolar Disorder Comorbid With ADHD in Schoolchildren
Authors: Cordeiro Mara L. , Farias Antonio C. , Whybrow Peter C. , Felden Erico P. G. , Cunha Alexandre , da Veiga Vilmar , Benko Cássia R. , McCracken James T.
Published: January 2016

Objective: We compared Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL)-AAA (Attention Problems, Aggressive Behavior, and Anxious/Depressed) and Parent–Young Mania Rating Scale (P-YMRS) profiles in Brazilian children with ADHD, pediatric-onset bipolar disorder (PBD), and PBD + ADHD. Method: Following analyses of variance or Kruskal–Wallis tests with multiple-comparison Least Significant Difference (LSD) or Dunn’s Tests, thresholds were determined by Mann–Whitney U Tests and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) plots. Results: Relative to ADHD, PBD and PBD + ADHD groups scored higher on the Anxious/Depressed, Thought Problems, Rule-Breaking, and Aggressive Behavior subscales and Conduct/Delinquency Diagnostic Scale of the CBCL; all three had similar attention problems. The PBD and PBD + ADHD groups scored higher than the ADHD and healthy control (HC) groups on all CBCL problem scales. The AAA-profile ROC had good diagnostic prediction of PBD + ADHD. PBD and PBD-ADHD were associated with (similarly) elevated P-YMRS scores. Conclusion: The CBCL-PBD and P-YMRS can be used to screen for manic behavior and assist in differential diagnosis.
Cardiac Arrest in a Heart Transplant Patient Receiving Dexmedetomidine During Cardiac Catheterization
Authors: Schwartz Lawrence Israel , Miyamoto Shelley D. , Stenquist Scott , Twite Mark David
Published: January 2016

Dexmedetomidine is an α-2 agonist with a sedative and cardiopulmonary profile that makes it an attractive anesthetic in pediatric cardiac patients. Cardiac transplant patients may suffer from acute cellular rejection of the cardiac conduction system and, therefore, are at an increased risk of the electrophysiological effect of dexmedetomidine. We present such a patient who had a cardiac arrest while receiving dexmedetomidine during cardiac catheterization. Because acute cellular rejection of the cardiac conduction system is difficult to diagnose, dexmedetomidine should be used with caution in pediatric heart transplant patients.
Challenging Argatroban Management of a Child on Extracorporeal Support and Subsequent Heart Transplant
Authors: Latham Gregory J. , Jefferis Kirk Christa , Falconer Amy , Dickey Renee , Albers Erin L. , McMullan David Michael
Published: January 2016

A 6-year-old child developed heparin-induced thrombocytopenia while on extracorporeal life support. Hours after a difficult transition from heparin to argatroban for anticoagulation therapy, the child underwent heart transplantation. Intraoperative management was plagued with circuit thrombus formation while on cardiopulmonary bypass and subsequent massive hemorrhage after bypass. We review the child’s anticoagulation management, clinical challenges encountered, and review current literature related to the use of argatroban in pediatric cardiac surgery.
Dividends and Investment
Authors: Mathur Aparna , Rao Nirupama S. , Strain Michael R. , Veuger Stan A.
Published: January 2016

This article investigates the relationship between dividend payouts and corporate investment. We find significant heterogeneity in the relationship across firms—heterogeneity that helps reconcile competing results in the literature. Drawing on financial filing data from Compustat, we first broadly replicate the statistically significant negative relationship estimated by Auerbach and Hassett. We show that this relationship does not hold if the variation is restricted to within-firm only. Our null results suggest a relatively precise zero estimate for the mean firm. Next, we investigate heterogeneity in the relationship between dividends and investment. Using quantile regression methods, we find that this negative relationship is concentrated at the top of dividends distribution: only firms from the seventieth percentile and above exhibit a strongly negative relationship, and it is these firms that drive the negative estimates of pooled ordinary least square regressions reported in prior work.
Frontline Service Employee Compliance With Customer Special Requests
Authors: Beatty Sharon E. , Ogilvie Jessica , Northington William Magnus , Harrison Mary P. , Holloway Betsy Bugg , Wang Sijun
Published: January 2016

As companies struggle to deliver excellent service, many find they need to understand and plan for a diverse array of customer requests. Some requests are unexpected and require employees to go beyond their usual job duties. These requests may be classified as special requests. Knowing how and when to comply with these requests is critical to the firm and the employee, given that failing to comply could negatively affect customer satisfaction, while complying may produce unwanted consequences for the firm. We use grounded theory and content analysis of critical incident special requests from frontline employees to develop a framework and classification scheme that categorizes customer special requests and employee assessments of these requests. Customer special requests were classified into four types of customer deficiencies—physical resources, knowledge, financial, and time. Employee assessments were categorized as positive compliance factors (motivations and ability) or deterrents to compliance, including policy or legal, potential risk, and lack of resources. These findings contribute to theory, as they represent the first effort to categorize customer special requests and employee responses to them. Companies need to be better informed about the types of requests employees receive so that employees can make the most appropriate decisions.
Free vibration analysis of fiber-reinforced polymer honeycomb sandwich beams with a refined sandwich beam theory
Authors: Cheng Shi , Qiao Pizhong , Chen Fangliang , Fan Wei , Zhu Zhende
Published: January 2016

Free vibration of a fiber-reinforced polymer honeycomb sandwich beam with sinusoidal core configuration is studied based on a refined sandwich beam theory. Using a micro/macromechanics approach for face laminates and a mechanics of material approach for honeycomb core, the equivalent elastic properties of face laminates and honeycomb core are obtained. A free vibration model based on the refined sandwich beam theory is formulated using the Hamilton's variational principle. Analytical solutions for a cantilevered sandwich beam are obtained by the Ritz method. Experimental results conducted on the fiber-reinforced polymer honeycomb sandwich beams with different lengths are applied to validate the proposed analytical solutions. As a comparison and further verification, the analytical solutions based on the Timoshenko beam theory and high-order beam theory are also presented. The analytical solutions in term of natural frequencies are compared with the numerical simulation results as well. Good agreements among various comparisons demonstrate the accuracy and capability of the refined sandwich beam theory and its potentials in design applications and health monitoring of fiber-reinforced polymer honeycomb sandwich beams.
Cardiovascular Reactivity in Patients With Major Depressive Disorder With High- or Low-Level Depressive Symptoms
Authors: Wang Mei-Yeh , Chiu Chen-Huan , Lee Hsin-Chien , Su Chien-Tien , Tsai Pei-Shan
Published: January 2016

Depression increases the risk of adverse cardiac events. Cardiovascular reactivity is defined as the pattern of cardiovascular responses to mental stress. An altered pattern of cardiovascular reactivity is an indicator of subsequent cardiovascular disease. Because depression and adverse cardiac events may have a dose-dependent association, this study examined the differences in cardiovascular reactivity to mental stress between patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) with high depression levels and those with low depression levels. Moreover, autonomic nervous system regulation is a highly plausible biological mechanism for the pattern of cardiovascular reactivity to mental stress. The association between cardiovascular reactivity and parameters of heart rate variability (HRV), an index for quantifying autonomic nervous system activity modulation, was thus examined. This study included 88 patients with MDD. HRV was measured before stress induction. The Stroop Color and Word Test and mirror star-tracing task were used to induce mental stress. We observed no significant association between depressive symptom level and any of the cardiovascular reactivity parameters. Cardiovascular reactivity to mental stress was comparable between patients with MDD with high-level depressive symptoms and those with low-level depressive symptoms. After adjusting for confounding variables, the high-frequency domain of HRV was found to be an independent predictor of the magnitude of heart rate reactivity (β = −.33, p = .002). In conclusion, the magnitude of cardiovascular reactivity may be independent of depression severity in patients with MDD. The autonomic regulation of cardiovascular responses to mental stress primarily influences heart rate reactivity in patients with MDD.
Characterizing the Intestinal Microbiome in Infantile Colic
Authors: Dubois Nancy E. , Gregory Katherine E.
Published: January 2016

Approximately 20% of newborns will develop symptoms of infantile colic starting around 2 weeks of age. While health care providers have a greater understanding of the impact that inconsolable crying has on family dynamics, maternal–infant bonding, and health care resources, opportunities for study still exist in the area of intestinal microbiome research. Advances in molecular technologies utilizing 16S ribosomal RNA and ribosomal DNA created the opportunity for researchers to index the intestinal microbial composition to better understand its association with infantile colic. This integrative review provides a synopsis of the findings from five recent studies that utilized nonculture-based approaches to characterize the intestinal microbiome of infants with colic. Articles were identified through PubMed, CINAHL, and Google Scholar using the search terms colic, crying, fussiness, microbiome, and microbiota. The general aim of the research studies was to better understand the potential association of intestinal dysbiosis with the development of colic symptoms. The research found that infants who expressed symptoms of colic were colonized with significantly higher levels of Proteobacteria and exhibited lower bacterial diversity when compared to their unaffected counterparts. Additionally, colonization levels of Actinobacteria Bifidobacterium and Firmicute Lactobacilli were inversely related to the amount of crying and fussiness in newborns. The observed association of an imbalanced colonization of the intestines by noncommensal bacteria with the expression of infantile colic symptoms warrants further exploration.
Information agents and cultural differences as determinants of country’s reputation and its subsequent effects on tourism prospects of a country in sustained crises
Authors: Yousaf Salman , Samreen Nida
Published: January 2016

The current study aims to examine the influence of information agents and cultural differences in reputation building of Pakistan and its subsequent effects on tourism prospects of the country. The data were collected from foreign and local students studying in Chinese and Malaysian universities. The results determined that the perceptions attributed to Pakistan vary considerably around the world, with more favorable views in China, Middle East, and Africa and the least affirmative views in Europe and North America. The media and the Pakistani diaspora had statistically significant but a diametrical relationship with Pakistan’s reputation. Pakistani diaspora are playing an instrumental role in cultivating a favorable reputation of Pakistan, as affirmative impressions of Pakistan were determined in the foreign audience through them. On the other hand, the perceptions constituted through media have a strong negative influence on the reputation of Pakistan. Lastly, social appeal, cultural appeal, and physical appeal of Pakistan are optimistically received and influence the people’s intention to visit Pakistan, but Pakistan has a very low leadership appeal, which does not allow it to communicate an appealing vision of the country to the world. For policy makers and academicians, it is recommended that a reality-induced framework would work best for countries suffering from sustained crises instead of an advertising-led marketing model of country branding. Thus, the present study bears theoretical and practical relevance by adding to the branding theory of countries in crisis.
The future of hotels
Authors: Lub Xander D , Rijnders René , Caceres Laura Niño , Bosman Jeroen
Published: January 2016

This article explores the use of design thinking as a method to develop scenario for the future of hotels. Using a Dutch case study, this article shows how a new concept for hotels – the Lifestyle Hub – was created using design thinking as methodology. The Lifestyle Hub concept provides ingredients to hotel owners as well as public policymakers to help understand how future guests may expect to make use of individually tailored hospitable facilities in destinations around the world. Moreover, design thinking allows researchers and businesses to generate highly differentiated customer-centred, experience-based business concepts, thus adding to the toolkit of futures researchers. We conclude that design thinking provides new insights for hospitality and tourism and presents a valuable alternative to current future scenarios approaches.
End-user acceptance of a cloud-based teledentistry system and Android phone app for remote screening for oral diseases
Authors: Estai Mohamed , Kanagasingam Yogesan , Xiao Di , Vignarajan Janardhan , Bunt Stuart , Kruger Estie , Tennant Marc
Published: January 2016

Objective

This study aimed to evaluate users’ acceptance of a teledentistry model utilizing a smartphone camera used for dental caries screening and to identify a number of areas for improvement of the system.

Methods

A store-and-forward telemedicine platform “Remote-I” was developed to assist in the screening of oral diseases using an image acquisition Android app operated by 17 teledental assistants. A total of 485 images (five images per case) were directly transmitted from the Android app to the server. A panel of five dental practitioners (graders) assessed the images and reported their diagnosis. A user acceptance survey was sent to the graders and smartphone users following completion of the screening program.

Results

Of the 22 surveys sent out, 20 (91%) were completed. Generally, users showed optimism towards the use of the teledentistry system, and strongly positively assessed items on content and service quality. The majority of graders took less than 15 min to read the images while phone users took 5–10 min to complete the dental photography using the Android app. This study identified a number of factors that are essential for improving the current system, such as optimization of smartphone camera features, the format of the server, and the orientation of images and using oral retractors during photography.

Conclusions

Users appear to be generally satisfied with the proposed teledentistry model. However, they have specific concerns to address, many of which could be resolved through more effective training, coordination between sites and upgrading the current system.
Measuring what matters to patients: Using goal content to inform measure choice and development
Authors: Jacob Jenna , Edbrooke-Childs Julian , Law Duncan , Wolpert Miranda
Published: January 2016

Introduction:

Personalised care requires personalised outcomes and ways of feeding back clinically useful information to clinicians and practitioners, but it is not clear how to best personalise outcome measurement and feedback using existing standardised outcome measures.

Method:

The constant comparison method of grounded theory was used to compare goal themes derived from goals set at the outset of therapy for 180 children aged between 4 and 17 years, visiting eight child and adolescent mental health services, to existing standardised outcome measures used as part of common national datasets.

Results:

In all, 20 out of 27 goal themes corresponded to items on at least one commonly used outcome measure.

Discussion:

Consideration of goal themes helped to identify potential relevant outcome measures. However, there were several goal themes that were not captured by items on standardised outcome measures. These seemed to be related to existential factors such as understanding, thinking about oneself and future planning.

Conclusion:

This presents a powerful framework for how clinicians can use goals to help select a standardised outcome measure (where this is helpful) in addition to the use of a goal-based outcome measure and personalise choices. There may be areas not captured by standardised outcome measures that may be important for children and young people and which may only be currently captured in goal measurement. There is an indication that we may not be measuring what is important to children and young people. We may need to develop or look for new measures that capture these areas.
Alcohol Brief Intervention in a university setting: A small-scale experimental study
Authors: McClatchey Kirstie , Boyce Mandy , Dombrowski Stephan U
Published: January 2016

Alcohol misuse among university students is commonplace. This study aimed to assess whether Alcohol Brief Intervention would be effective in reducing hazardous alcohol consumption in students compared to an alcohol information leaflet. Participants ( n = 125) assessed as higher risk drinkers using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test Consumption were randomly assigned to receive an Alcohol Brief Intervention ( n = 67) or an information leaflet ( n = 58), with 82 (66%) completing a follow-up assessment. Alcohol consumption ( F(1, 80) = 14.52, p < 0.001) and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test Consumption scores ( F(1, 80) = 23.63, p < 0.001) significantly decreased in both groups post-intervention; however, the groups did not significantly differ. Further research is recommended.
Effectiveness of Mindfulness-based interventions on physiological and psychological complications in adults with diabetes: A systematic review
Authors: Noordali Farhan , Cumming Jennifer , Thompson Janice L
Published: January 2016

This systematic review aimed to examine the effectiveness of Mindfulness-based interventions in reducing diabetes-related physiological and psychological symptoms in adults with types 1 and 2 diabetes. Five databases were systematically searched. A total of 11 studies satisfied the inclusion criteria. Mindfulness-based intervention effectiveness for physiological outcomes (glycaemic control and blood pressure) was mixed. Mindfulness-based interventions appear to have psychological benefits reducing depression, anxiety and distress symptoms across several studies. Studies’ short-term follow-up periods may not allow sufficient time to observe physiological changes or illustrate Mindfulness-based interventions’ potential long-term efficacy. More long-term studies that include a consistent, standardised set of outcome measures are required.
Computation on continuous grain refinement in AA1050 aluminum during repetitive tube expansion and shrinking technique
Authors: Jafarzadeh H , Abrinia K
Published: January 2016

The microstructure evolution during recently developed severe plastic deformation method named repetitive tube expansion and shrinking of commercially pure AA1050 aluminum tubes has been studied in this paper. The behavior of the material under repetitive tube expansion and shrinking including grain size and dislocation density was simulated using the finite element method. The continuous dynamic recrystallization of AA1050 during severe plastic deformation was considered as the main grain refinement mechanism in micromechanical constitutive model. Also, the flow stress of material in macroscopic scale is related to microstructure quantities. This is in contrast to the previous approaches in finite element method simulations of severe plastic deformation methods where the microstructure parameters such as grain size were not considered at all. The grain size and dislocation density data were obtained during the simulation of the first and second half-cycles of repetitive tube expansion and shrinking, and good agreement with experimental data was observed. The finite element method simulated grain refinement behavior is consistent with the experimentally obtained results, where the rapid decrease of the grain size occurred during the first half-cycle and slowed down from the second half-cycle onwards. Calculations indicated a uniform distribution of grain size and dislocation density along the tube length but a non-uniform distribution along the tube thickness. The distribution characteristics of grain size, dislocation density, hardness, and effective plastic strain were consistent with each other.
How the European debt crisis reshaped national political space: The case of Greece
Authors: Katsanidou Alexia , Otjes Simon
Published: January 2016

Where some authors saw a limited impact of Europeanisation on national party politics, others proposed that in addition to the pre-existing economic left-right dimension a separate European Union dimension structures the national political space. This article looks at the Greek bail-out during the European sovereign debt crisis to examine how Europeanisation can change the national political space. The bail-out came with memoranda that set the main lines of Greek economic policy for the coming years. Accepting these policies was connected with remaining in the Eurozone. This restructured the political space: the economic and European integration form one dimension. A second relevant dimension focuses on cultural issues. The economic/European dimension is a stronger predictor of vote choice than the cultural dimension.
Human resource management in hospitality firms in Egypt: Does size matter?
Authors: Sobaih Abu Elnasr E
Published: January 2016

Small hospitality firms are very important to the Egyptian economy because of their potential contributions to economic growth and job creation. However, there is a paucity research about small hospitality firms in developing countries, i.e. Egypt. This research bridges a gap in knowledge and investigates human resource management practices in small versus large hospitality firms in Egypt. A pretested questionnaire was self-administered to workers in four groups of hospitality firms: large chain, large independent, small chain, and small independent. The results showed that chain hospitality firms are more likely to practice formal and appropriate human resource management in comparison to other independent firms regardless their size. The results showed that there are statistical significant differences within small firms and also within large firms. Small hospitality firms are not homogenous and recognizing the level of heterogeneity within these firms, will lead to better understanding human resource management practices in these firms. Policy makers in Egypt should pay serious attention to small hospitality firms. Failure to this will impact negatively on the hospitality industry and ultimately on tourism development, which is critical to the Egyptian economy.