bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Determination of Solubility Parameters of Ibuprofen and Ibuprofen Lysinate
Authors: Kitak Teja , Dumičić Aleksandra , Planinšek Odon , Šibanc Rok , Srčič Stanko
Published: December 2015

In recent years there has been a growing interest in formulating solid dispersions, which purposes mainly include solubility enhancement, sustained drug release and taste masking. The most notable problem by these dispersions is drug-carrier (in)solubility. Here we focus on solubility parameters as a tool for predicting the solubility of a drug in certain carriers. Solubility parameters were determined in two different ways: solely by using calculation methods, and by experimental approaches. Six different calculation methods were applied in order to calculate the solubility parameters of the drug ibuprofen and several excipients. However, we were not able to do so in the case of ibuprofen lysinate, as calculation models for salts are still not defined. Therefore, the extended Hansen’s approach and inverse gas chromatography (IGC) were used for evaluating of solubility parameters for ibuprofen lysinate. The obtained values of the total solubility parameter did not differ much between the two methods: by the extended Hansen’s approach it was δt = 31.15 MPa0.5 and with IGC it was δt = 35.17 MPa0.5. However, the values of partial solubility parameters, i.e., δd, δp and δh, did differ from each other, what might be due to the complex behaviour of a salt in the presence of various solvents.
Composites of Polymer Hydrogels and Nanoparticulate Systems for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Applications
Authors: Zhao Fuli , Yao Dan , Guo Ruiwei , Deng Liandong , Dong Anjie , Zhang Jianhua
Published: December 2015

Due to their unique structures and properties, three-dimensional hydrogels and nanostructured particles have been widely studied and shown a very high potential for medical, therapeutic and diagnostic applications. However, hydrogels and nanoparticulate systems have respective disadvantages that limit their widespread applications. Recently, the incorporation of nanostructured fillers into hydrogels has been developed as an innovative means for the creation of novel materials with diverse functionality in order to meet new challenges. In this review, the fundamentals of hydrogels and nanoparticles (NPs) were briefly discussed, and then we comprehensively summarized recent advances in the design, synthesis, functionalization and application of nanocomposite hydrogels with enhanced mechanical, biological and physicochemical properties. Moreover, the current challenges and future opportunities for the use of these promising materials in the biomedical sector, especially the nanocomposite hydrogels produced from hydrogels and polymeric NPs, are discussed.
Maize Leaf Area Index Retrieval from Synthetic Quad Pol SAR Time Series Using the Water Cloud Model
Authors: Bériaux Emilie , Waldner François , Collienne François , Bogaert Patrick , Defourny Pierre
Published: December 2015

In order to monitor crop growth along the season with synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images, radiative transfer models were developed to retrieve key biophysical parameters, such as the Leaf Area Index (LAI). The semi-empirical water cloud model (WCM) can be used to estimate LAI values from SAR data and surface soil moisture information. Nevertheless, instability problems can occur during the model calibration, which subsequently reduce its transferability in both time and space. To avoid these ill-posed cases, three calibration methodologies are benchmarked in the present study. The accuracy of the retrieved LAI values for each methodology was analyzed, as well as the sensitivity of the signal to LAI for different soil moisture values. The sensitivity of the cross-polarization was highlighted especially for high LAI. The VV polarization was found sensitive for LAI values inferior to 2 m 2 /m 2 . Given the differential sensitivity of the C-band backscatter to maize canopies in each polarization, a Bayesian fusion of the LAI estimates in linear polarizations was developed. This fusion gives lower weights to estimates with a high uncertainty. This method systematically reduces the error and its associated variance. When considering all polarizations, the RMSE on LAI estimation decreased by 0.32 m 2 /m 2 , i.e., one fourth of the error value, as compared to the best estimation from a single polarization, and the associated uncertainty was reduced by a factor of two. Focusing on the two most sensitive polarizations to maize canopies (VV-HV), the error diminished by a third. This fusion framework shows thus a great potential to improve the accuracy and reliability of LAI retrieval of C-band quad-polarized data, as well as dual-polarized data, such as Sentinel-1.
Land Cover Mapping of a Tropical Region by Integrating Multi-Year Data into an Annual Time Series
Authors: Anaya Jesús , Colditz René , Valencia Germán
Published: December 2015

Generating annual land cover maps in the tropics based on optical data is challenging because of the large amount of invalid observations resulting from the presence of clouds and haze or high moisture content in the atmosphere. This study proposes a strategy to build an annual time series from multi-year data to fill data gaps. The approach was tested using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) vegetation index and spectral bands as input for land cover classification of Colombia. In a second step, selected ancillary variables, such as elevation, L-band Radar, and precipitation were added to improve overall accuracy. Decision-tree classification was used for assigning eleven land cover classes using the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) legend. Maps were assessed by their spatial confidence derived from the decision tree approach and conventional accuracy measures using reference data and statistics based on the error matrix. The multi-year data integration approach drastically decreased the area covered by invalid pixels. Overall accuracy of land cover maps significantly increased from 58.36% using only optical time series of 2011 filtered for low quality observations, to 68.79% when using data for 2011 ± 2 years. Adding elevation to the feature set resulted in 70.50% accuracy.
Passive Sensor Integration for Vehicle Self-Localization in Urban Traffic Environment
Authors: Gu Yanlei , Hsu Li-Ta , Kamijo Shunsuke
Published: December 2015

This research proposes an accurate vehicular positioning system which can achieve lane-level performance in urban canyons. Multiple passive sensors, which include Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers, onboard cameras and inertial sensors, are integrated in the proposed system. As the main source for the localization, the GNSS technique suffers from Non-Line-Of-Sight (NLOS) propagation and multipath effects in urban canyons. This paper proposes to employ a novel GNSS positioning technique in the integration. The employed GNSS technique reduces the multipath and NLOS effects by using the 3D building map. In addition, the inertial sensor can describe the vehicle motion, but has a drift problem as time increases. This paper develops vision-based lane detection, which is firstly used for controlling the drift of the inertial sensor. Moreover, the lane keeping and changing behaviors are extracted from the lane detection function, and further reduce the lateral positioning error in the proposed localization system. We evaluate the integrated localization system in the challenging city urban scenario. The experiments demonstrate the proposed method has sub-meter accuracy with respect to mean positioning error.
Camera Calibration for Water-Biota Research: The Projected Area of Vegetation
Authors: Wackrow Rene , Ferreira Edgar , Chandler Jim , Shiono Koji
Published: December 2015

Imaging systems have an indisputable role in revealing vegetation posture under diverse flow conditions, image sequences being generated with off the shelf digital cameras. Such sensors are cheap but introduce a range of distortion effects, a trait only marginally tackled in hydraulic studies focusing on water-vegetation dependencies. This paper aims to bridge this gap by presenting a simple calibration method to remove both camera lens distortion and refractive effects of water. The effectiveness of the method is illustrated using the variable projected area, computed for both simple and complex shaped objects. Results demonstrate the significance of correcting images using a combined lens distortion and refraction model, prior to determining projected areas and further data analysis. Use of this technique is expected to increase data reliability for future work on vegetated channels.
An Adaptive Channel Access Method for Dynamic Super Dense Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Lei Chunyang , Bie Hongxia , Fang Gengfa , Zhang Xuekun
Published: December 2015

Super dense and distributed wireless sensor networks have become very popular with the development of small cell technology, Internet of Things (IoT), Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications, Vehicular-to-Vehicular (V2V) communications and public safety networks. While densely deployed wireless networks provide one of the most important and sustainable solutions to improve the accuracy of sensing and spectral efficiency, a new channel access scheme needs to be designed to solve the channel congestion problem introduced by the high dynamics of competing nodes accessing the channel simultaneously. In this paper, we firstly analyzed the channel contention problem using a novel normalized channel contention analysis model which provides information on how to tune the contention window according to the state of channel contention. We then proposed an adaptive channel contention window tuning algorithm in which the contention window tuning rate is set dynamically based on the estimated channel contention level. Simulation results show that our proposed adaptive channel access algorithm based on fast contention window tuning can achieve more than 95 % of the theoretical optimal throughput and 0 . 97 of fairness index especially in dynamic and dense networks.
How Firms Can Get Ideas from Users for Sustainable Business Innovation
Authors: Cho Chanwoo , Lee Sungjoo
Published: December 2015

The importance of user information and user participation for seeking business opportunities has been widely acknowledged in a variety of industries. Therefore, this study aims to suggest a typology for user innovation models as a strategy for sustainable development and to investigate the characteristics of different types user innovation to encourage and support improved utilization of user innovation in firms. For this purpose, we began by collecting 435 relevant papers from the most-cited academic journals. Then, we developed a typology of user innovation models, which consist of four types including workshop-based, consortium-based, crowdsourcing-based and platform-based, and we investigated the characteristics of the suggested types in terms of applications and research trends. The analysis results reveal that each type has different characteristics and that there exist some research gaps in the user innovation field. Our results are expected to foster understanding of user innovation for guiding sustainable business development and provide useful information for both researchers and innovation mangers.
Membrane-Binding Mechanism of Clostridium perfringens Alpha-Toxin
Authors: Oda Masataka , Terao Yutaka , Sakurai Jun , Nagahama Masahiro
Published: December 2015

Clostridium perfringens alpha-toxin is a key mediator of gas gangrene, which is a life-threatening infection that manifests as fever, pain, edema, myonecrosis, and gas production. Alpha-toxin possesses phospholipase C and sphingomyelinase activities. The toxin is composed of an N-terminal domain (1–250 aa, N-domain), which is the catalytic site, and a C-terminal domain (251–370 aa, C-domain), which is the membrane-binding site. Immunization of mice with the C-domain of alpha-toxin prevents the gas gangrene caused by C. perfringens, whereas immunization with the N-domain has no effect. The central loop domain (55–93 aa), especially H….SW84Y85….G, plays an important role in the interaction with ganglioside GM1a. The toxin binds to lipid rafts in the presence of a GM1a/TrkA complex, and metabolites from phosphatidylcholine to diacylglycerol through the enzymatic activity of alpha-toxin itself. These membrane dynamics leads to the activation of endogenous PLCγ-1 via TrkA. In addition, treatment with alpha-toxin leads to the formation of diacylglycerol at membrane rafts in ganglioside-deficient DonQ cells; this in turn triggers endocytosis and cell death. This article summarizes the current the membrane-binding mechanism of alpha-toxin in detail.
Copper-catalysed asymmetric allylic alkylation of alkylzirconocenes to racemic 3,6-dihydro-2H-pyrans
Authors: Rideau Emeline , Fletcher Stephen P
Published: December 2015

Asymmetric allylic alkylation is a powerful reaction that allows the enantioselective formation of C–C bonds. Here we describe the asymmetric alkylation of alkylzirconium species to racemic 3,6-dihydro-2H-pyrans. Two systems were examined: 3-chloro-3,6-dihydro-2H-pyran using linear optimization (45–93% ee, up to 33% yield, 5 examples) and 3,6-dihydro-2H-pyran-3-yl diethyl phosphate with the assistance of a design of experiments statistical approach (83% ee, 12% yield). 1H NMR spectroscopy was used to gain insight into the reaction mechanisms.
Las alamedas en la España Moderna. Interpretación histórica de un espacio urbano
Authors: Fernández Chaves Manuel F.
Published: December 2015

El presente trabajo constituye una síntesis historiográfica sobre el origen y el significado histórico y urbanístico que representa el surgimiento y difusión de las alamedas en la España moderna. En él se realiza un exhaustivo recorrido bibliográfico sobre las alamedas más importantes, prestando especial atención a las causas de su creación y la evolución que fueron experimentando a lo largo del periodo de estudio.
Conformación y características de las alamedas y paseos en ciudades de Hispanoamérica
Authors: Luque Azcona Emilio José
Published: December 2015

Este artículo analiza las características de varias alamedas de ciudades de Hispanoamérica, especialmente durante las últimas décadas del siglo XVIII, en el contexto de las políticas urbanas aplicadas por los Borbones y la primera mitad del siglo XIX. En una primera parte del trabajo se tratan aspectos relacionados con la creación y las características físicas de estos espacios, todo ello en el marco de la configuración de una nueva concepción de ciudad como consecuencia de las ideas ilustradas. En la segunda se pone especial relieve en los usos cotidianos que el público que las frecuentaba hacía de ellos, tratando de encontrar paralelismo o diferencias entre ciudades de distintas regiones americanas.
Applying Lean Production and Six Sigma in Global Operations
Authors: Kasemsap Kijpokin
Published: December 2015

This chapter aims to apply the Lean Production and Six Sigma in global operations, thus describing the theoretical and practical overviews of Lean Production; Lean Production in sustainable operations; Lean Production in human resource management; Lean Production in health care; Lean Production and environmental management; Lean product development; Lean Management and sustainability; Six Sigma; Six Sigma, learning, and knowledge management; Six Sigma in health care; Six Sigma in service industry; Lean Six Sigma; and the significance of Lean Production and Six Sigma in global operations. The creation of Lean Production and Six Sigma is crucial for modern organizations that seek to serve suppliers and customers, increase business performance, strengthen competitiveness, and acquire regular progress in global operations. The chapter argues that applying Lean Production and Six Sigma has the potential to enhance organizational performance and achieve strategic goals in global operations.
Reverse Logistics in the Electronics Waste Industry
Authors: Ayvaz Berk , Görener Ali
Published: December 2015

Recently, due to the rapid world population growth, decreasing of natural resources and raw materials, increasing environmental awareness, interesting for wasting raw materials, using produced products more efficiently, and reusing of sources is rapidly increasing. Nowadays, reverse logistics as an important business strategy for profitable and sustainability is becoming important. The effective implementation of reverse logistics gives companies a competitive advantage in sectors. Due to mentioned reasons firms intend to incorporate reverse logistics activities such as the recovery, remanufacturing, recycling or disposal. Reverse logistics has become increasingly important as a profitable and sustainable business strategy. Therefore, more and more manufacturers have adapted the practice of recovering value from returned products and integrate product recovery activities into their processes. The electronic industry is one of the fastest growing manufacturing industries and the main purpose of this chapter is to explore the opportunities for waste returns within this sector.
An Empirical Review of Long Term Electricity Demand Forecasts for Turkey
Authors: Odabasi Attila , Tiryaki C. Sani
Published: December 2015

Energy consumption has been increasing steadily in Turkey due to growing population, industrialization and increasing living standards. Considering the fact that energy infrastructure projects are of the immense cost and/or creates long term dependencies on imported energy resources, inaccurate planning may cause significant demand-resource mismatches and considerable financial consequences in the long term. Unrealistic elaboration of energy structures and inaccurate political decisions can create structural problems in long-term energy planning and sustainable development of the economy. This study shows how actual figures deviate from official forecasts and present reliability of other techniques used by academia. Possible reasons for forecast models to produce inaccurate results which naturally lead to incorrect policy implementations are also discussed.
Design and Development of a Multi-Agent E-Learning System
Authors: Kristensen Terje , Dyngeland Marius
Published: December 2015

In this paper the authors present the design and software development of an E-learning system based on a multi-agent (MAS) architecture. The multi-agent architecture is established on the client-server model. The MAS architecture is combined with the Dynamic Content Manager (DCM) model of E-learning developed at Bergen University College, Norway. The authors first present the quality requirements of the system before they describe the architectural decisions taken. They then evaluate and discuss the benefits of using a multi-agent architecture. Finally, the MAS architecture is compared with a pure service-oriented architecture (SOA) to observe that a MAS architecture has a lot of the same qualities as this architecture, in addition to some new ones.
Realizing the NOSHAPE MAS Organizational Model
Authors: Abbas Hosny Ahmed
Published: December 2015

Dynamic reorganization of multi-agent systems (MAS) is currently an interesting and active research area. New emerging concepts such as self-organization and emergence are also getting great focus by MAS research community because of their captivating benefits for engineering complex large-scale MAS applications. Dynamic reorganization is considered as an effective way for building adaptive MAS. This paper provides an operational view of the conceptually proposed NOSHAPE dynamic organizational model for dynamically reorganized multi-agent systems (Abbas, 2014). The operational view concerns possible design decisions, implementation issues, and suggested usage of the NOSHAPE model for practically engineering real life applications. This paper also identifies the possible solutions to be applied throughout the system design to resolve these concerns.
Editors of Monaldi Archives for Chest Disease - Cardiac Series
Authors: Colivicchi Furio , Fattirolli Francesco
Published: December 2015

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Ultrasounds in cardiology: democratic but appropriate use!
Authors: Trambaiolo Paolo
Published: December 2015

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ATHerosclerosis of the lower extremIties as a liNKed comorbidity in Patients Admitted for carDiac rehabilitation (THINKPAD): rationale, design, and study group
Authors: Ambrosetti Marco , Diaco Tommaso , Febo Oreste , Calisi Pasqualina , Favretto Giuseppe , Carlon Roberto , Temporelli Pier Luigi
Published: December 2015

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a frequent comorbidity among patients entering cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programmes and an important source of disability and impaired prognosis. The prevalence of PAD across the wide range of conditions for CR is poorly understood, as far as its impact on drug optimization and intervention delivered. The “ATHerosclerosis of the lower extremIties as a liNKed comorbidity in Patients Admitted for carDiac rehabilitation” (THINKPAD) study was carried out by the Italian Association for Cardiovascular Prevention, Rehabilitation and Epidemiology (GICR-IACPR) in order to explore PAD both as a comorbidity and a primary indication at the entry of CR. The study was a retrospective case series. In the study period (from May 1, 2012 to June 30, 2012), data on consecutive patients discharged from 17 CR units in Northern Italy were collected. Web-based electronic case report forms (e-CRF), accessible in a dedicated section of the IACPR website (www.iacpr.it), were used for data entry, and data were transferred via web to a central database. The data collection instrument was designed with a multiple choice format, with jump menus or select boxes and obligatory items. A sample size of 1,300 subjects is expected, with first data available by the end of 2012.
Endothelial dysfunction in type 2 diabetic patients with normal coronary arteries. A peripheral arterial tonometry study
Authors: Ruggiero Donatella , Savarese Gianluigi , Formisano Roberto , Bologna Ada , Mattiello Giacomo , Pirozzi Elisabetta , Gambardella Francesco , Lo Iudice Francesco , Petraglia Laura , Vitagliano Alice , Casaretti Laura , Della Ratta Giuseppe Luca , Mosca Susanna , Perrone Filardi Pasquale
Published: December 2015

Aim: to evaluate endothelial function (EF) in diabetic and non-diabetic patients without CAD by peripheral artery tonometry (PAT) technique. Methods: a cohort of 94 patients (55 men and 39 postmenopausal women; mean age 63±9 years) undergoing coronary angiography was divided into 2 groups: 58 patients with DM and (group 1) and 36 patients without DM. Endothelial dysfunction (ED) was assessed by digital pulse amplitude, using a fingertip peripheral arterial tonometry (PAT). As a measure of ED, reactive hyperemia index (RHI) was calculated as the ratio of the digital pulse volume during reactive hyperemia following 5 min ischemia and its basal value. Results: prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors was similar between the two groups. RHI values were significantly lower in diabetic patients compared to non-diabetics (1.72±0.34 vs 2.00±0.44; p<0.005) and they correlated with levels of glycosylated hemoglobin (p=0.05; r=-0.266). Conclusion: despite similar level of other risk factors, EF was much more impaired in diabetic patients than in non-diabetics. These evidences further support the impact of DM on cardiovascular risk.
The Italian Network for Heart Failure five years after the publication of the Italian “Consensus conference on the management of heart failure”
Authors: Scardovi Angela Beatrice , De Maria Renata , De Feo Stefania , Petruzzi Maria Ausilia , Camerini Alberto , Cipriani Manlio , Di Tano Giuseppe , Feola Mauro , Iacovoni Attilio , Pulignano Giovanni , Russo Giulia , Misuraca Gianfranco
Published: December 2015

In the year 2006 the Italian Association of Hospital Cardiologists (ANMCO) promoted a Consensus Conference among professional Scientific Societies in order to redefine the role and core responsibilities of each health professionals involved in heart failure management in a novel integrated network. Five years later, a questionnaire has been proposed to each Italian Regional President of the Association, in order to assess the implementation of the proposed management strategies in the different clinical scenarios of the Italian Regions. Although the Document utilization is not homogeneous through Italy, it is still considered a valuable tool of work.
Castlemanâ€™s Disease presenting as a pleural mass in the thoracic cavity
Authors: Sulu E. , Akbay Ã–zlem Makbule , Ã–ngel Esra Akkutuk , Aksoy F. , Bektemur G. , Takir Huriye Berk , Yilmaz A.
Published: December 2015

A 61-year-old non-smoking Turkish woman presented with chest pain for 10 months. Computed tomography of the chest revealed a solitary, relatively well circumscribed, heterogeneous mass of 4 x 6 cm diameter in left posteriorlateral hemithorax. On thoracotomy, an extraparanchymal mass destructing the ribs was determined. Mass excision and partial chest wall resection were performed. On histopathologic examination, this mass showed features of the hyaline vascular type of Castlemanâ€™s Disease.
Giant thoracic aorta aneurysm causing airway and esophagus stenosis
Authors: Inzirillo F. , Giorgetta G. , Tiberi S. , Della Pona C.
Published: December 2015

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Airway inflammation in healthy smokers
Authors: Di Stefano A. , Vallese D. , Pitruzzella A. , Zanini A. , Spanevello A. , Balbi B.
Published: December 2015

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To use or not to use corticosteroids for pneumonia? A clinicianâ€™s perspective
Authors: Confalonieri M. , Kodric M. , Santagiuliana M. , Longo C. , Biolo M. , Cifaldi R. , Torregiani C. , Jevnikar M.
Published: December 2015

The use of corticosteroids in the management of pneumonia is still a controversial issue. The physicians in daily clinical practice often use corticosteroids in patients with pneumonia for different reasons all over the world. As an example of real life is the frequent use of corticosteroids to treat patients with pneumonia due to H1N1 pandemic influenza in spite of WHOâ€™ statements that clearly discouraged this therapy. In fact, the literature up to august 2012 reported a total of 6,650 patients with pneumonia due to H1N1 virus infection (of whom 2,515 were ICU patients): corticosteroids were used with various dose regimen in 2404 patients (37.8%). The attitude of international guidelines on pneumonia in using steroids do not help the clinician to clearly choice when and how to treat pneumonia with steroids. However, stress doses of corticosteroids are suggested by some major guidelines on community-acquired pneumonia in case of severe episodes with sepsis. To date, there are 10 randomised controlled trials assessing the effectiveness of corticosteroids for community-acquired pneumonia globally involving 1090 participants . Most of the trials adopted stress doses of glucorticoids for 4-7 days. The evidence from these trials taken separately is weak due to limitations of the studies themselves, but a Cochrane review and a systematic review found benefit using prolonged low doses of glucocorticoids in severe community-acquired pneumonia. Moreover, such a strategy decreases vasopressor dependency and appears to be safe. Nevertheless, larger trials with more patients and clinically important end-points were claimed to provide robust evidence. Finally, infection surveillance is critical in patients treated with corticosteroids, and to prevent the rebound phenomenon, the drug should be weaned slowly.
Induced sputum: not only for research but also for better patient management in asthma and COPD
Authors: Louis R.
Published: December 2015

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The role of noninvasive methods in assessing airway inflammation and structural changes in asthma and COPD
Authors: Ahmad Dar K. , Shahid M. , Mubeen A. , Bhargava R. , Ahmad Z. , Ahmad I. , Islam N.
Published: December 2015

Aim. The aim of our study was to assess the role of non-invasive methods in assessing airway inflammation and structural changes in asthma and COPD. Methods. The study was conducted on patients attending outpatient and inpatient department of TB and Chest Diseases and Department of Pathology at our hospital from January 2006 to August 2007. 50 asthmatic and 46 COPD patients were selected. A detailed history and clinical examination, routine laboratory investigations, pulmonary function testing, Chest X-ray PA and lateral view, HRCT Thorax, biochemical and cellular analysis of sputum was carried out in all cases. Quality control and procedures of pulmomary function test were performed according to the European Respiratory Society guidelines. Results. Bronchial wall thickening, bronchiectasis and air trapping correlated well with disease severity in asthmatics while all abnormal HRCT finding correlate well with disease severity in COPD patients. The levels of MMP-9 and TIMP-1 increased significantly with increasing disease severity in both asthmatic and COPD groups. The MMP-9/TIMP-1 ratio decreased with increasing disease severity in both groups. The major source of MMP-9 in human lungs is macrophages, neutrophils and eosinophils. Macrophages and neutrophils were also the source of TIMP-1. Conclusion. Asthma and COPD are characterised by an imbalance between MMP-9 and TIMP-1. COPD patients showed a higher prevalence of HRCT findings which correlate with their lower MMP-1/TIMP-1 ratio than asthmatics supporting fact that the destruction and fibrosis of alveolar walls are more prominent in COPD. MMP-9/TIMP-1 ratio is associated with magnitude of HRCT findings in asthma and COPD and suggests that level of these markers reflect the extent of structural changes of airway.
Combined Pulmonary Fibrosis and Emphysema in a welder
Authors: Roshan R. , Gupta M. , Kulshrestha R. , Menon B. , Chhabra S.K.
Published: December 2015

Combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema (CPFE) syndrome is an uncommon entity characterised by emphysema of the upper lobes and diffuse fibrosis of the lower lobes and carries a bad prognosis with the onset of pulmonary hypertension. Lung involvement due to exposures suffered by welders is generally considered benign though, rarely, a diffuse interstitial fibrotic disease has been reported. CPFE syndrome has however never been reported in welders. A 65-year-old man, welder by occupation and an ex-smoker, presented with progressive exertional dyspnoea associated with dry cough noticed for the last four months. On examination, there was mild tachypnea, clubbing and bilateral basal velcro crepitations on chest auscultation. Lung function test revealed mild mixed ventilatory impairment with severe diffusion defect. HRCT chest showed bilateral upper lobe emphysema and diffuse interstitial fibrosis in the lower lobes. Transbronchial lung biopsy revealed interstitial fibrosis, chronic inflammation and iron deposits. A diagnosis of combined pulmonary fibrosis with emphysema (CPFE) with interstitial pulmonary siderofibrosis (IPS) was established. A review of literature did not show any other report of a similar nature.
Detection of a possible case of Pulmonary Tumour Thromboembolism by endobronchial ultrasound
Authors: Dhillon S.S. , Berim I.G. , Khushalani N. , Gannon J.
Published: December 2015

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Petrology of the gneisses of Cumberland Sound, Baffin Island, Northwest Territories
Authors: Riley G C
Published: December 2015

The petrology and petrography of the complex of Precambrian metamorphic and igneous rocks of Cumberland Sound have been investigated. Optical studies of over 400 samples were made and chemical X-ray and spectrographic analyses were obtained. The rocks are
distributed into five orderly arranged metamorphic zones. Pyroxene-bearing, granitic-looking, predominantly massive rocks, classified as charnockites are believed to have been formed by plutonic metamorphism of rocks of high metamorphic facies. They exhibit the highest grade of metamorphism. Rocks
in the second zone, called granulites, are divided into five varieties that are all produced by metamorphism under conditions of the granulites facies. Pyroxene-amphibole gneisses are intermediate in composition and metamorphic grade between the granulites and the amphibole-bearing rocks.
Epidote-bearing rocks exhibit the lowest grade of metamorphism. Mineral assemblages in aluminum-rich layers were used to help to define the metamorphic facies of the rock groups in which they are found. Differences in optical properties of potash feldspar, perthite, pyroxeneamphibole and titan
ium-bearing minerals were recognized in each zone and are related to changes in temperature and pressure. Charnockites probably formed at 650° to 750°C; granulites at 600° to 675 °C; and pyroxene-amphibole rocks at 500° to 600°C. It is suggested that the type of potash
feldspar and perthite is directly related to the grade of metamorphism. Amphibole and biotite are shown to be stable in charnockites and granulites, and cordierite is not considered alien to the granulite facies
Alkaline rocks and niobium deposits near Nemegos, Ontario
Authors: Hodder R W
Published: December 2015

A ring complex of alkaline rocks with carbonate rock and magnetite apatite bodies lies within the gneisses of the Timiskaming sub province of the Canadian Shield near Nemegos, northern Ontario. The complex consists of three concentric rings of alkaline rock: an
outer ring 3 miles in diameter and composed of coarse nepheline syenite; a middle ring of foliated malignite, and ijolite traversed by magnetite veins, and including an arcuate body of carbon ate rock ; and an inner ring of coarse nepheline syenite. Contacts between nepheline syenite and ma lignite
and the foliation in the ma lignite dip nearly vertically. Bodies of carbonate rock and magnetite-apatite dip steeply towards the centre of the complex. Lamprophyre dykes cut all rocks and clip at low angles away from the centre of the complex. The gneiss surrounding the outer ring of nepheline
syenite shows evidence of contact alteration. Of economic interest is magnetite and pyrochlore. From chemical and petrographic studies and field evidence it is concluded that magma of nepheline syenite composition occupied steeply clipping ring-type fractures. Aqueous solutions rich in calcium,
carbon dioxide, iron, fluorine, phosphate and iridium percolated into the wall rocks. These solutions are thought to have been de rived directly from the parent magma of the nephelinc syenite. Alt e rat ion of the gneiss outside the complex involved pyroxenization and desalination to form a rock
with minerals characteristic of the igneous alkaline rocks. A septum of gneiss between the outer and inner rings of nepheline syenite was highly altered by percolating solutions to form a layer of malignite. Solutions of similar composition alt red nepheline syenite to ijolite long fractures
occupied by magnetite veins and deposited in co ne-sheet fractures the minerals of the magnetite-apatite rock and of the carbonate roc k.
Mineralogy and paragenesis of lead-zinc-copper ores of the Bathurst - Newcastle District, New Brunswick
Authors: Roy S
Published: December 2015

Two types of base metal sulphide deposits occur in the Bathurst-Newcastle district. One type, north of a prominent fault zone locally called the Rocky Brook-M ill stream 'break·, consists of veins cutting folded Silurian argillites and slates, and Devonian
intrusive porphyry stocks. The other type, south of the 'break" consists of massive sulphide lenses localized mainly in drag-folds and in favourable synclinal folds in Ordovician meta-volcanic and sedimentary rocks. The hypogene sulphide minerals in both the vein-type deposits north of the break and
the massive, banded replacement deposits south of the break are the same, although the sulphides in the former deposits are coarse grained, where as those in the latter deposits are fine g rained. The genera li zed paragenetic sequence of the sulphides in both types of deposits is: pyrite.
arsenopyrite , sphalerite, pyrrhotite, galena, tetrahedrite, and chalcopyrite. Many of the massive sulphide deposits have well-developed gossans, and have secondary enriched zones that contain supergene covellite and chalcocite. Other supergene minerals include anglesite, minor amounts of
freibergite and abundant marcasite. In the vein depos its, the gossan zone and the zo ne of supergene mineralization are very thin and in some deposits practically absent. The only abundant supergene mineral in these deposits is marcasite.
Palaeomagnetism of the Monteregian Hills, southeastern Quebec
Authors: Larochelle A
Published: December 2015

The Monteregian Hills, a series of seven plugs of basic rocks intruding Paleozoic sediments, lie roughly along a curved line extending about 50 miles eastward from Montreal, Quebec. Airborne magnetometer surveys indicate negative anomalies over parts of most of
the hills, although strong positive anomalies generally delineate the borders of the intrusive bodies. Attempts to correlate the negative anomalies with the topography of the hills or with petrological boundaries within the igneous masses were fruitless. Remnant magnetization measurements were
carried out for a suite of oriented specimens collected from the igneous cores of most of the hills and from the nearby altered sediments. The unstable component of viscous magnetization was removed from the rocks by the slowly decreasing alternating field technique of 'magnetic washing'. After this
treatment, the direction of the remnant magnetic moment in the rocks was found to be slightly different from that of the present earth's field or diametrically opposite to it. The cause of the stable reverse polarization was investigated with the aid of polished sections and Curie point
determinations. It was concluded from these results and from the reverse polarization of the altered sediments collected near the igneous contacts that the reverse polarity of parts of the igneous bodies is related to reversals of the former geomagnetic dipole field rather than to a self- reversal
mechanism inherent in the rocks. A comparison of the position of the geomagnetic pole for the period during which the rocks were formed with those derived from well-dated sedimentary and volcanic rocks collected elsewhere in North America suggests that the basic rocks of the Monteregian Hills were
intruded during the Jurassic or later. This result is in agreement with the K /Ar datings of the Monteregian Hills intrusions.
Groundwater resources of Fannystelle area, Manitoba
Authors: Charron J E , Blackadar R G
Published: December 2015

The Fannystelle area lies 10 miles west of Winnipeg, Manitoba, and covers 1,090 square miles. No bedrock outcrops within the map-area. Seventy-five per cent of the area has no known groundwater sources of potable water. Shallow wells-dug or driven about J 5
feet-supply most of the potable water that is available for farm needs. Deep wells drilled about 110 feet into confined aquifers in bedrock have yields of about 5,000 gallons an hour, but the water is too saline to be potable. Three shallow unconfined aquifers and two deep confined aquifers were
recognized, and small sandy aquifers occur on the inside of stream meanders that form part of the flood plain of Assiniboine River. In the Fannystelle area, discoveries of new aquifers with large yields of potable water are unlikely.
Geology of Clearwater Lake, New Quebec
Authors: Kranck S H , Sinclair G W
Published: December 2015

Clearwater Lake in New Quebec consists or two circular depressions 19 miles and J 6 miles in diameter located on a highland of Precambrian granitic gneiss east of Richmond Gulf. Geological evidence suggests that the lake is of volcanic-tectonic origin. Having
formed by collapse of the earth's crust long circular fractures. A ring of islands concentric with the shore of the larger basin is composed of dacitic lava and volcanic breccia's made up of granite fragments in iron oxide cement. The structure of the islands suggests that they represent volcanoes,
and were formed by extrusion o[ Java a long a circular fracture probably concurrently with caldera collapse. Caldera collapse occurred at a time when this part of the Shield was covered with Palaeozoic limestone since block of this limestone were found in the volcanic breccia. The small drainage
basin and the amount of glass in the volcanic rocks suggest the subsidence occurred in Tertiary time.
Devonian miospores from the Ghost River formation, Alberta
Authors: McGregor D C
Published: December 2015

Thirteen forms of miospores are described from the type section of the Ghost River Formation of western Alberta: four are new species, three have previously been described, and the remainder are not given species designation. The assemblage as a whole does not
resemble any published microfiora, but the most abundant species, R etusotri/etes greggsii n. sp., is similar to certain unpublished forms of upper Givetian to lower Frasnian age. Botanical relationships of the spores are considered, and the possible affiliation of R . greggsii with Svalbardia is
discussed.
Stromatolites in the Denault Formation, Marion Lake, Coast of Labrador, Newfoundland
Authors: Donaldson J A
Published: December 2015

Stromatolitic dolomite composes more than 45 per cent of the Denault Formation south of the northwest arm of Marion Lake, Coast of Labrador, Newfoundland. The Denault Formation, Proterozoic in age, occurs within the Labrador Geosyncline ('Labrador Trough'). Six
distinct stromatolite forms are recognized, and five zones of stromatolites may be correlated in sections more than 2 miles apart. A descriptive, non-biologic classification is introduced, and possible origins for stromatolites are considered. Comparison with modern algal structures suggests that
both sediment-binding and carbonate-precipitating algae contributed to the formation of the Denault stromatolites
On non-round points of the boundary of the numerical range and an application to non-selfadjoint Schrödinger operators
Authors: Hansmann Marcel
Published: December 2015

We show that non-round boundary points of the numerical range of an unbounded operator (i.e. points where the boundary has infinite curvature) are contained in the spectrum of the operator. Moreover, we show that non-round boundary points, which are not corner points, lie in the essential spectrum. is generalizes results of Hübner, Farid, Spitkovsky and Salinas and Velasco for the case of bounded operators.

We apply our results to non-selfadjoint Schrödinger operators, showing that in this case the boundary of the numerical range can be non-round only at points where it hits the essential spectrum.
Two-term Szegő theorem for generalised anti-Wick operators
Authors: Oldfield James P.
Published: December 2015

This article concerns the asymptotics of pseudodifferential operators whose Weyl symbol is the convolution of a discontinuous function dilated by a large scaling parameter with a smooth function of constant scale. These operators include as a special case generalised anti-Wick operators, also known as Gabor–Toeplitz operators, with smooth windows and dilated discontinuous symbol. The main result is a two-term Szegő theorem, that is, the asymptotics of the trace of a function of the operator. A special case of this is the asymptotic terms of the eigenvalue counting function. In both cases, previously only the first term in the asymptotic expansion was known explicitly.
Уточнение теоремы Гольдберга об оценке типа при уточненном порядке целой функции целого порядка
Authors: Myshakov Fedor Sergeevich , Popov Anton Yur'evich
Published: December 2015

Найдено неулучшаемое второе слагаемое в теореме Гольдберга об асимптотической оценке сверху логарифма максимума модуля целой функции целого порядка.
Библиография: 9 названий.
Интегральные неравенства в областях гиперболического типа и их применения
Authors: Avkhadiev Farit Gabidinovich
Published: December 2015

Доказаны новые интегральные неравенства типа неравенств Харди для финитных функций в произвольных плоских областях гиперболического типа. Изучены их специальные случаи для областей с равномерно совершенными границами и рассмотрены некоторые применения. В доказательствах существенно используются базовые уравнения и формулы для гиперболической метрики, а также восходящие к Тейхмюллеру модульные характеристики областей.
Библиография: 20 названий.
Abdominal Wall Injuries at the Elite Level in Australian Male Professional Cricketers
Authors: Humphries David , Orchard John , Kountouris Alex
Published: December 2015

Background

Injuries to the abdominal wall, particularly muscular injuries, are relatively common in professional cricketers. The Cricket Australia injury database holds data on these injuries over a 20 years span.

Methods

This study is a combination of (1) a descriptive outline of the parameters associated with side strains and abdominal wall injuries in elite male cricketers, based on deidentified data extraction from the Cricket Australia database from 1995 to 1996 and 2014 to 2015; (2) multivariate regression analysis of risk factors for abdominal wall strains, taking into account the risk factors of player position, player age and previous abdominal wall injury history.

Results

There were 183 injuries recorded over a 20 years period at Australian state or national player level. Significant risk factors in logistic regression analysis were: being a Pace Bowler RR 10.0 (95% CI 3.1—32.1) and being 24 years old or younger RR 3.4 (95% CI 1.7—6.8). Surprisingly, there was only minimal risk increase, not reaching statistical significance, for recent injury in the same season (p = 0.18) and no association at all with past injury in previous season (p = 0.99).

Discussion

The internal oblique muscle is reported the most commonly injured component of the abdominal wall, the injuries are overwhelmingly sustained by pace bowlers and the peak incidence of the injury is in the early part of the cricket season. Younger fast bowlers are more likely to be injured than older ones. A history of abdominal wall strain in either the recent or distant past does not increase or decrease future risk of strain, which is in contrast to other muscle strains.

How to cite this article

Humphries D, Orchard J, Kountouris A. Abdominal Wall Injuries at the Elite Level in Australian Male Professional Cricketers. J Postgrad Med Edu Res 2015;49(4): 155-158.
Epidemiology of Orthopedic Injuries in Indian Cricket: A Prospective One Year Observational Study
Authors: Aggarwal Sameer , Dhillon Mandeep S , Soni Ritesh K , Dhillon Himmat , Prabhakar Sharad
Published: December 2015

Introduction

The understanding of cricket related injuries is still in its infancy in India with very limited surveillance data published from the subcontinent.

Objective

This is a prospective observational study on the epidemiology of orthopedic injuries in Indian cricket players.

Materials and methods

This study included cricketers of an elite North Indian cricket team. The study covered a period of 1 year, comprising one playing season and one off season. The player types were categorized by Orchard's injury definitions, and the term ‘All Rounder’ was introduced.

Results

Ninety-five male players who fulfilled inclusion criteria sustained 48 significant and 12 insignificant injuries. Injury incidence documented by us (3.27 per 10,000 hours of play) was significantly lower than Australian figures (24.2 injuries/10,000 playing hours). These players did not have any ‘off day’ from the game, leading to limited rest, which was different from international standards. Bowlers sustained the most severe injuries, specifically of the lower limb, while fielders had increased risk of sustaining upper limb injury. Fast bowlers had increased risk of sustaining back trauma. Injuries were also sustained during practice and due to poor ground conditions.

Conclusion

Orchard's internationally accepted definitions of cricket injury need to be modified for the Indian scenario, where ‘off days’ are not observed, and many injuries which keep players from the game occur in unsupervised practice. This may influence overall incidence and prevalence rates.

How to cite this article

Dhillon MS, Soni RK, Aggarwal S, Dhillon H, Prabhakar S. Epidemiology of Orthopedic Injuries in Indian Cricket: A Prospective One Year Observational Study. J Postgrad Med Edu Res 2015;49(4):168-172.