bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
THE RACIAL STRESS OF MEMBERSHIP: DEVELOPMENT OF THE FACULTY INVENTORY OF RACIALIZED EXPERIENCES IN SCHOOLS
Authors: Coleman Sherry , Stevenson Howard C.
Published: May 2013

Research on the experience of faculty of color in predominately White independent schools (PWIS) is limited. This study explored faculty of varying racial backgrounds and their initiation of, interactions with, and stress reactions to racial conflicts within the school settings using an online survey. Several measures were developed according to the Racial/Ethnic Coping Appraisal and Socialization Theory (recast) model and administered to 339 faculty participants. Using factor analytic and correlational analyses, results from the highly reliable measures found that Black faculty show significantly less trust in schools to manage racial conflict, lower sense of school membership, greater racial stress, and more racial socialization than their White counterparts do. With reliable and valid measures on the racialized experiences of faculty in PWIS, future research can ask better questions on how much racial politics influence diversity initiatives, including faculty and student recruitment and retention, supportive racial and intellectual climate, and organizational mission and professional development. Implications for the development of racially relevant measures in schools are discussed.
The impact of extended longitudinal observation on the assessment of personality disorders
Authors: Pedersen G. , Karterud S. , Hummelen B. , Wilberg T.
Published: May 2013

Multiple sources of information are necessary for a valid assessment of personality disorders (PDs). This study investigates the impact of longitudinal observation. The sample comprised 1217 patients from 15 different treatment units. PDs were assessed at admission to treatment using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM‐IV Axis II Personality Disorders (SCID‐II) and additional clinical information (best estimate diagnosis). After approximately 18 weeks of treatment, the SCID‐II protocols were re‐examined at clinical conferences and the diagnostic status reassessed on the basis of longitudinal observations in multiple group situations (longitudinal, expert, all data principle). Using this procedure, 78% of the patients' diagnostic criteria sets were changed, and 32% of patients' diagnostic statuses were changed. Many (32%) patients who were evaluated initially as not having a PD received a PD diagnosis after re‐examination. The information provided by customary clinical assessment has important limitations, and longitudinal observation provides additional information that may change the diagnostic status in approximately one‐third of PD cases. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Identification, prioritization, and evaluation of glycoproteins for aggressive prostate cancer using quantitative glycoproteomics and antibody‐based assays on tissue specimens
Authors: Chen Jing , Xi Jiefeng , Tian Yuan , Bova George Steven , Zhang Hui
Published: May 2013

Prostate cancer is highly heterogeneous in nature; while the majority of cases are clinically insignificant, some cases are lethal. Currently, there are no reliable screening methods for aggressive prostate cancer. Since most established serum and urine biomarkers are glycoproteins secreted or leaked from the diseased tissue, the current study seeks to identify glycoprotein markers specific to aggressive prostate cancer using tissue specimens. With LC‐MS/MS glycoproteomic analysis, we identified 350 glycopeptides with 17 being altered in aggressive prostate cancer. ELISA assays were developed/purchased to evaluate four candidates, that is, cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP), periostin, membrane primary amine oxidase (VAP‐1), and cathepsin L, in independent tissue sets. In agreement with the proteomic analysis, we found that COMP and periostin expressions were significantly increased in aggressive prostate tumors while VAP‐1 expression was significantly decreased in aggressive tumor. In addition, the expression of these proteins in prostate metastases also follows the same pattern observed in the proteomic analysis. This study provides a workflow for biomarker discovery, prioritization, and evaluation of aggressive prostate cancer markers using tissue specimens. Our data suggest that increase in COMP and periostin and decrease in VAP‐1 expression in the prostate may be associated with aggressive prostate cancer.
Kinetic study on effect of novel cationic dimeric surfactants for the cleavage of carboxylate ester
Authors: Kumar Birendra , Tikariha Deepti , Ghosh Kallol K. , Barbero Nadia , Quagliotto Pierluigi
Published: May 2013

Kinetic study has been performed to understand the reactivity of novel cationic gemini surfactants viz. alkanediyl‐α,ω‐bis(hydroxyethylmethylhexadecylammonium bromide) C16‐s‐C16 MEA, 2Br− (where s = 4, 6) in the cleavage of p‐nitrophenyl benzoate (PNPB). Novel cationic gemini C16‐s‐C16 MEA, 2Br− surfactants are efficient in promoting PNPB cleavage in presence of butane 2,3‐dione monoximate and N‐phenylbenzohydroxamate ions. Model calculation revealed that the higher catalytic effect of ethanol moiety of gemini surfactants (C16H33N+ C2H4OH CH3 (CH2)S N+ C2H4OH CH3C16H33, 2Br−, s = 4, 6) is due to their higher binding capacity toward substrate. This is in line with finding that binding constants for novel series of cationic gemini surfactants are higher than conventional cationic gemini (C16H33N+(CH3)2(CH2)SN+(CH3)2C16H33, 2Br−, s = 10, 12), cetyldimethylethanolammonium bromide and zwitterionic surfactants, i.e. CnH2n+1N+Me2 (CH2)3 SO3− (n = 10; SB3‐10). The fitting of kinetic data was analyzed by the pseudophase model. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Assessing cancer patients' quality of life and coping mechanisms in Radiotherapy Department of the University College Hospital, Ibadan
Authors: Asuzu Chioma Christie , Elumelu Theresa Nchekube
Published: May 2013

Background

Cancer is often associated with a lot of pain and suffering. These suggest that coping with the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of cancer is a major life stressor that is capable of influencing patients' quality of life (QoL).

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to assess the relationship between cancer patients' QoL dimensions and coping strategies in the Radiotherapy Department of the University College Hospital Ibadan, Nigeria.

Methods

Data were collected on clinic days from all available and consenting cancer patients who were receiving treatment at the radiotherapy department. Participants were informed of their right to decline to fill the questionnaires.

Result

In this study, 237 cancer patients participated. They had an age range of 15 to 95 years with a mean age of 49.91 years. There was significant inverse relationship between physical well‐being with behavioural disengagement, venting, planning and self‐blame (p < 0.05); social/family well‐being has significant linear relationship with active coping, emotional support, positive reframing, instrumental support, acceptance and religion (p < 0.05); emotional well‐being has significant inverse relationship with behavioural disengagement and self‐blame (p < 0.05); functional well‐being has significant linear relationship with active coping, instrumental support and acceptance (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

It is important to assess cancer patients for the kind of coping strategies they are adopting to use in coping with their cancer burden, thereby guiding against lower QoL due to negative coping strategies. Intervention programmes could be developed to help cancer patients adopt more positive and effective coping strategies to improve patients' QoL. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Graphical tools for model selection in generalized linear models
Authors: Murray K. , Heritier S. , Müller S.
Published: May 2013

Model selection techniques have existed for many years; however, to date, simple, clear and effective methods of visualising the model building process are sparse. This article describes graphical methods that assist in the selection of models and comparison of many different selection criteria. Specifically, we describe for logistic regression, how to visualize measures of description loss and of model complexity to facilitate the model selection dilemma. We advocate the use of the bootstrap to assess the stability of selected models and to enhance our graphical tools. We demonstrate which variables are important using variable inclusion plots and show that these can be invaluable plots for the model building process. We show with two case studies how these proposed tools are useful to learn more about important variables in the data and how these tools can assist the understanding of the model building process. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Research Workforce Diversity: The Case of Balancing National versus International Postdocs in US Biomedical Research
Authors: Ghaffarzadegan Navid , Hawley Joshua , Desai Anand
Published: May 2013

The US government has been increasingly supporting postdoctoral training in biomedical sciences to develop the domestic research workforce. However, current trends suggest that mostly international researchers benefit from the funding, many of whom might leave the USA after training. In this paper, we describe a model used to analyse the flow of national versus international researchers into and out of postdoctoral training. We calibrate our model in the case of the USA and successfully replicate the data. We use the model to conduct simulation‐based analyses of effects of different policies on the diversity of postdoctoral researchers. Our model shows that capping the duration of postdoctoral careers, a policy proposed previously, favours international postdoctoral researchers. The analysis suggests that the leverage point to help the growth of domestic research workforce is in the pregraduate education area, and many policies implemented at the postgraduate level have minimal or unintended effects on diversity. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Industrial Development Research by Systems Approach in NICs: The Case in Taiwan
Authors: Hsiao Chih‐Tung
Published: May 2013

Economic and industrial development issues are considerably complicated and dynamic, and many problems need to be solved by the integration of professional knowledge in different fields. The systems approach refers to analysing problems from the macroscopic perspective using systems thinking, and it has become an important method in the modern world. Many countries in Asia are newly industrialized, and systems engineering has played an important role. Although the systems approach is important, it seems that its application in social science field is still not so popular. This study used the evolution of system dynamics and industrial development research by systems thinking in Taiwan as an example to explore the phenomenon, in order to find the difficulty and future trend of the systems approach. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Investigating storage‐discharge relations in a lowland catchment using hydrograph fitting, recession analysis, and soil moisture data
Authors: Brauer C. C. , Teuling A. J. , Torfs P. J. J. F. , Uijlenhoet R.
Published: May 2013

The relation between storage and discharge is an essential characteristic of many rainfall‐runoff models. The simple dynamical systems approach, in which a rainfall‐runoff model is constructed from a single storage‐discharge relation, has been successfully applied to humid catchments. Here we investigate (1) if and when the less humid lowland Hupsel Brook catchment also behaves like a simple dynamical system by hydrograph fitting, and (2) if system parameters can be inferred from streamflow recession rates or more directly from soil moisture storage observations. Only 39% of the fitted monthly hydrographs yielded Nash‐Sutcliffe efficiencies above 0.5, from which we can conclude that the Hupsel Brook catchment does not always behave like a simple dynamical system. Model results were especially poor in summer, when evapotranspiration is high and the thick unsaturated zone attenuates the rainfall input. Using soil moisture data to obtain system parameters is not trivial, mainly because there is a discrepancy between local and catchment storage. Parameters obtained with direct storage‐discharge fitting led to a strong underestimation of the response of runoff to rainfall, while recession analysis leads to an overestimation.
Centrality and p
⊥ dependence of J/ψ suppression in proton-nucleus collisions from parton energy loss
Authors: Arleo François , Kolevatov Rodion , Peigné Stéphane , Rustamova Maryam
Published: May 2013

Abstract

The effects of parton energy loss and p
⊥-broadening in cold nuclear matter on the p
⊥ and centrality dependence, at various rapidities, of J/ψ suppression in p-A collisions are investigated. Calculations are systematically compared to E866 and PHENIX measurements. The very good agreement between the data and the theoretical expectations further supports p
⊥-broadening and the associated medium-induced parton energy loss as dominant effects in J/ψ suppression in high-energy p-A collisions. Predictions for J/ψ (and
$ \varUpsilon $
) suppression in p-Pb collisions at the LHC are given.
Reliability of Occupational Therapy Students Using the Figure-of-eight Technique of Measuring Hand Volume
Authors: Nadar Mohammad Shaban , Al-Kandari Dua'a , Taaqi Maqdad
Published: May 2013

Objective/Background

The figure-of-eight technique is a measure for hand volume that has been validated among experienced American clinicians and physical therapy students, but not among Middle Eastern occupational therapy students. The purpose of this study was to assess the intrarater and inter-rater reliability as well as concurrent validity of the figure-of-eight technique of measuring hand volume by 4th year (of a 5-year curriculum) occupational therapy students.

Methods

This study used a cross-sectional design of a single group with three-level repeated measures of five raters. Twenty-three healthy students participated in this study. Five raters (4th year occupational therapy students) performed three separate blinded figure-of-eight measurements of hand volume for each hand. Two independent examiners performed one volumetric measurement for each hand using a water volumeter. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were used to examine the intrarater and inter-rater reliabilities of figure-of-eight measurements. Pearson product-moment correlations were used to establish concurrent validity relative to the volumeter which is the gold standard.

Results

Intrarater reliability (ICC, 3k) ranged from .98 to .99 and the inter-rater reliability (ICC, 2k) was .99. The Pearson correlation coefficient for the concurrent validity was r = .929 (p < .001).

Conclusion

This study demonstrated that five occupational therapy students in the 4th year of a 5-year curriculum were reliable raters for hand volume using the figure-of-eight technique, after being trained and tested for competency. The students can use the figure-of-eight technique for systematically assessing hand volume with confidence in their clinical fieldwork.
The Halls Creek Way of Residential Child Care: Protecting Children is Everyone's Business
Authors: Hodgkins Kylie A. , Crawford Frances R. , Budiselik William R.
Published: May 2013

This paper describes the collaboration between an Aboriginal community and Western Australia's (WA) Department for Child Protection (DCP) in designing and operating a residential child care facility in a predominantly Aboriginal community. Research literature has established that the effective operation of child protection systems in remote Aboriginal communities requires practitioners and policy-makers to have awareness of local and extra-local cultural, historical and contemporary social factors in nurturing children. This ethnographic case study describes how a newspaper campaign heightened public and professional awareness of child abuse in the town of Halls Creek, in WA's Kimberley region. With its largely Aboriginal population, Halls Creek lacked the infrastructure to accommodate an inflow of regional people. Homelessness, neglect and poverty were widespread. Within a broader government and local response, DCP joined with community leaders to plan out of home care for children. Detailed are the importance and complexities of negotiating between universal standardised models of care and local input. Strategies for building positive relationships with children's family while strengthening both parenting capacity and community acceptance, and use of the facility are identified. Key to success was the development of a collaborative ‘third-space’ for threading together local and professional child protection knowledge.
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adults attending addiction treatment in Ireland: preliminary international ADHD in substance-use disorders prevalence study (IASP) results
Authors: Van Hout M. C. , Foley M.
Published: May 2013

Objectives

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neuro-behavioural disorder characterised by early onset of persistent inattention–disorganisation and hyperactivity–impulsivity. Symptoms causing significant impairment in psychosocial function commence in childhood and heighten the risk for early substance experimentation and potential development of substance-use disorders (SUD). The research aimed to estimate the occurrence of adult attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in new treatment cases of adults attending addiction treatment services.

Methods

The Adult ADHD Symptoms Rating Scale (ASRS) self-administered questionnaire was administered on entry and 2 weeks later for first admissions to inpatient and outpatient addiction treatment settings The ASRS is a validated and reliable 18-item self-report scale derived from the DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria for ADHD, comprising nine items on inattention and nine items on hyperactivity/impulsivity.

Results

A total of 47 new treatment cases took part in the study. The occurrence of ADHD among SUDs in this sample was 13% (n = 6). Four of the participants were being treated for Problem Poly Substance use, whereas two participants were being treated for Problem Drug use. None of the participants screening positive for ADHD were being treated for Problem Alcohol use. Of the positively screened cases, all were male, predominantly single and unemployed.

Conclusions

The ASRS screening instrument may be a useful tool to detect ADHD co-morbidity in SUD treatment-seeking cases. More research is needed to appropriately develop the SUD treatment pathways for adolescent and adult ADHD sufferers in Ireland.
Special Issue: Transitions for Students With Special Educational Needs
Authors: Forlin Chris
Published: May 2013

For learners with special educational needs (SEN) an area of particular challenge occurs frequently during transition times. There are a range of inter- and intra-school periods when major changeovers are required. Preparing to enter school, moving from primary to secondary schooling, and leaving school into postschool options are all very demanding times, especially for youngsters who have difficulty with changing routines. Moving between activities, subjects, teachers, classrooms, and year groups are also very demanding tasks for some students. This special issue of theAustralasian Journal of Special Educationincludes a series of papers that consider aspects of school transitions for learners with SEN. The papers address transitions between primary and secondary schools and into postschool options focusing on research and innovations for providing positive learning outcomes for learners with disabilities, learning difficulties, or with autism spectrum disorder from across the Asia-Pacific region.
Nonlinear magnetoacoustic waves in pair-ion plasma with dust impurity
Authors: RUAN SHI-SEN , MAN JIANG-HONG , WU SHAN , CHENG ZE
Published: May 2013

Nonlinear properties of magnetoacoustic waves are investigated in magnetized pair-ion plasmas with dust impurity. Three-fluid collisionless magneto-hydrodynamic model is considered and reductive perturbation method is employed to derive Korteweg-de Vries equation for magnetoacoustic solitary waves (MASWs). The effects of the charge number of dust particles, magnetic field intensity, and plasma number density are studied on MASWs. It is found that the variation of parameters causes significant changes in solitary structures. The present investigation may be useful to understand formation and propagation of MASW structures in dust pair-ion plasmas.
Global economic value of shark ecotourism: implications for conservation
Authors: Cisneros-Montemayor Andrés M. , Barnes-Mauthe Michele , Al-Abdulrazzak Dalal , Navarro-Holm Estrella , Sumaila U. Rashid
Published: May 2013

Amid declining shark populations because of overfishing, a burgeoning shark watching industry, already well established in some locations, generates benefits from shark protection. We compile reported economic benefits at shark watching locations and use a meta-analytical approach to estimate benefits at sites without available data. Results suggest that, globally, c. 590,000 shark watchers expend > USD 314 million per year, directly supporting 10,000 jobs. By comparison, the landed value of global shark fisheries is currently c. USD 630 million and has been in decline for most of the past decade. Based on current observed trends, numbers of shark watchers could more than double within the next 20 years, generating > USD 780 million in tourist expenditures around the world. This supports optimistic projections at new sites, including those in an increasing number of shark sanctuaries established primarily for shark conservation and enacted in recognition of the ecological and economic importance of living sharks.
Regressor-free prescribed performance robot tracking
Authors: Karayiannidis Y. , Doulgeri Z.
Published: May 2013

Fast and robust tracking against unknown disturbances is required in many modern complex robotic structures and applications, for which knowledge of the full exact nonlinear system is unreasonable to assume. This paper proposes a regressor-free nonlinear controller of low complexity which ensures prescribed performance position error tracking subject to unknown endogenous and exogenous bounded dynamics assuming that joint position and velocity measurements are available. It is theoretically shown and demonstrated by a simulation study that the proposed controller can guarantee tracking of the desired joint position trajectory witha prioridetermined accuracy, overshoot and speed of response. Preliminary experimental results to a simplified system are promising for validating the controller to more complex structures.
X-ray powder diffraction data for copper(II), bis[(2E)-3-methoxy-2-[(2,6-dimethylphenyl)imino]-4-[(2,6-dimethylphenyl)imino-κN]-3-pentanolato-κO] complex
Authors: Pažout R. , Maixner J. , Jones A.S. , Merna J.
Published: May 2013

X-ray powder diffraction data, unit-cell parameters, and space group for a new bis(β-diiminato) Cu(II) complex, C44H54CuN4O4, are reported [a = 8.683(3) Å, b = 11.216(3) Å, c = 11.753(4) Å, α = 66.27(3), β = 84.61(3), γ = 78.85(3), unit-cell volume V = 1027.77 Å3, Z = 1, and space group P-1]. All measured lines were indexed and are consistent with the P-1 space group. No detectable impurity was observed.
Molecular characterization of methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureusresistant to tigecycline and daptomycin isolated in a hospital in Brazil
Authors: DABUL A. N. G. , CAMARGO I. L. B. C.
Published: May 2013

We report the molecular characterization of methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus(MRSA) with resistance to tigecycline and to daptomycin isolated from intensive-care-unit patients in Brazil over a 6-month period. Thirty-six isolates (25 from infection sites, 11 from nasal sites) recovered from 23 patients who presented with MRSA infection during this period were characterized by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, multilocus sequence typing, staphylococcal cassette chromosomemec(SCCmec) typing, and antimicrobial susceptibility profiling. Ten isolates from six patients and two isolates from different patients were resistant to tigecycline and daptomycin, respectively. Eight pulsotypes were identified and one, type A, accounted for 21 isolates from 12 patients; type A isolates were SCCmecII as were a further nine isolates of other pulsotypes. All but four of the total isolates were sequence type (ST) 5 or ST105 and classified as clonal complex (CC) 5; the historically prevalent lineage in Brazil, ST239-SCCmecIII, was identified in only three patients. Tigecycline-resistant strains were all ST105-SCCmecII and two patients were nasally colonized by strains of the same pulsotype found in infection sites. Two ST5-SCCmecII were daptomycin resistant after 48 h incubation. The origin and mechanism of these resistant strains remains unknown and further studies are warranted to determine whether such clones are becoming endemic in Brazilian hospitals and to assess their impact on infection control practice.
Very fast-germinating seeds of desert species are cryptoviparous-like
Authors: Liu Kun , Baskin Jerry M. , Baskin Carol C. , Du Guozhen
Published: May 2013

From previously published studies we have learned that very fast-germinating species have some characteristics in common with cryptoviviparous species: (1) little or no endosperm/perisperm; (2) embryos fully developed and chlorophyllous at seed maturity; and (3) very fast germination, independent of temperature. Thus, we propose that these very fast-germinating seeds are ‘cryptoviviparous-like′.
An Initial Evaluation of the Clinical and Fitness for Work Outcomes of a Military Group Behavioural Activation Programme
Authors: Wesson Matthew , Whybrow Dean , Gould Matthew , Greenberg Neil
Published: May 2013

Background: Behavioural Activation (BA) is an evidence-based psychological treatment for depression based on behavioural theory. However, in common with other talking therapies, there is limited evidence about occupational factors related to treatment. This is an important gap in the research given the emphasis placed on employment considerations in recent service initiatives. Aim: A service evaluation to investigate the clinical and fitness to work outcomes of a group BA programme for serving military personnel. Method: 46 patients experiencing moderate to severe depression attended a 12-session Military Behavioural Activation and Rehabilitation Course (MBARC). The primary outcomes were the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), a self-report measure of depression and the patient's medical employability category. Results: Clinical and statistically significant changes were found on the PHQ-9 between pre-course and 3-month follow-up. Pretreatment 3 patients (6.5%) were psychologically fit to deploy on full operational duties in their primary role; this increased to 25 (56.8%) and 29 (65.9%) at 3 and 6-months respectively. Conclusion: Preliminary findings suggest that MBARC is a clinically and occupationally effective treatment for depression in military personnel. Further research is required to identify if BA delivered in a group setting would be effective in non-military settings and whether treatment benefits are maintained in the longer term.
The Influence of Cognitive Reserve on Strategy Selection in Normal Aging
Authors: Barulli Daniel J. , Rakitin Brian C. , Lemaire Patrick , Stern Yaakov
Published: May 2013

Cognitive reserve (CR) has been proposed as a latent variable that can account for the frequent discrepancy between an individual's underlying level of brain pathology and their observed clinical outcome. A possible behavioral manifestation of CR is best strategy choice. Older adults have been shown to choose sub-optimal strategies for performing various tasks. The present study attempted to investigate whether greater levels of CR could predict greater strategy selection, particularly in older adults. A computational estimation task was administered to 20 healthy young adults (mean age = 24.7 ± 3.6; 20–31 years) and 18 healthy older adults (68.2 ± 4.5; 62–77 years) wherein participants needed to estimate the product of two two-digit numbers by using one of two strategies. The results revealed an effect of age group on strategy choice and supported the hypothesis that CR is associated with increased strategy selection abilities. (JINS, 2013, 19, 1–4)
A NOTE ON UNCERTAINTY IN SAVINGS DECISIONS: CAN A NAÏVE STRATEGY BE OPTIMAL?
Authors: Gomes Fábio Augusto Reis
Published: May 2013

This paper analyzes the process of decision-making on consumption in a two-period consumption setting, assuming the return on savings is uncertain in the sense of Knight [Risk, Uncertainty, and Profit. Boston: Houghton Mifflin (1921)]. The results imply that a naïve strategy to save zero is optimal for a continuum of income values. Under the Permanent Income Hypothesis, consumption equals current income only when current income is equal to permanent income. Indeed Campbell and Mankiw [in Olivier Blanchard and Stanley Fischer (eds.),NBER Macroeconomics Annual, pp. 185–214. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press (1989)] assumed that consumers who spend their total income are only following a simple rule of thumb. However, the naïve strategy obtained casts doubt on their interpretation.
A comparison of the nutritional quality of organic and conventional ready-to-eat breakfast cereals based on NuVal scores
Authors: Woodbury Nancy J , George Valerie A
Published: May 2013

Objective

To identify whether there were differences in nutritional quality between organic and conventional ready-to-eat breakfast cereals of similar types, based on NuVal scores.

Design

The current descriptive study analysed NuVal scores for 829 ready-to-eat breakfast cereals and eighteen different cereal types. ANOVA was used to compare the mean NuVal scores of 723 conventional cereals with those of 106 organic cereals.

Setting

Ready-to-eat breakfast cereals (n 829) with NuVal scores.

Subjects

Not applicable.

Results

There was no significant difference in NuVal scores between conventional (mean 28·4 (sd 13·4)) and organic (mean 30·6 (sd 13·2)) cereal types.

Conclusions

Consumers who choose the organic version of a ready-to-eat breakfast cereal believing that nutritional quality is superior may not be making a valid assumption. Public health nutrition educators must help consumers understand that organic cereals are not necessarily more nutritious and their consumption could result in excessive intake of undesirable nutrients, such as fat, sugar and sodium.
The advance of research governance in psychiatry: one step forward, two steps back
Authors: Leeson V. C. , Tyrer P.
Published: May 2013

Purpose.

To investigate the reasons behind difficulties in recruiting patients to randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in psychiatry and to examine a database of RCTs for differences between studies in mental health and other specialities.

Methods.

A discussion of recent changes in research governance in the UK and Europe followed by an examination of the database of all trials supported by the Health Technology Assessment programme of the National Institute of Health Research in the UK between 1993 and 2007 to determine if three different measures, (i) time between grant approval and study start date, (ii) percentage of additional time given to extend recruitment and (iii) percentage of planned recruitment achieved, changed over the time period studied and differed between mental health, cancer and other medical disciplines.

Findings.

Despite attempts in the UK to accelerate the process of clinical trials in recent years, there was a significant increase in the extension time for trials to be completed (p = 0.038) and the percentage of planned recruitment to mental health studies (71%) was significantly less than for cancer (90.3%) and other studies (86.1%) (p = 0.032).

These results suggest that, despite the priority afforded to the advancement of RCTs in healthcare, such studies are encountering increasing difficulty in recruiting to time and target. We suggest that this difficulty can be attributed, at least in part, to the excessively byzantine regulation and governance processes for health research in the UK, and unnecessary bureaucracy in the current National Health Service system. Mental health studies appear particularly vulnerable to delay and better systems to facilitate recruitment are required urgently for the evidence base to be improved and facilitate new cost-effective interventions.
Acute regulation of pancreatic islet microcirculation and glycaemia by telmisartan and ramipril: discordant effects between normal and Type 2 diabetic rats
Authors: Olverling Anna , Huang Zhen , Nyström Thomas , Sjöholm Åke
Published: May 2013

Diabetic patients are often treated with an ACEi (angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor) or angiotensin receptor antagonist against hypertension or albuminuria. These drugs also have a positive impact on glucose tolerance, but the mechanism for this remains elusive. Hypothesizing a positive non-additive effect, we studied whether the angiotensin receptor antagonist telmisartan or the ACEi ramipril acutely influence insulin secretion and glycaemia in vivo in healthy and Type 2 diabetic rats through effects on islet blood perfusion. Telmisartan and ramipril were injected intravenously into anaesthetized non-diabetic Wistar rats or Type 2 diabetic GK (Goto–Kakizaki) rats. In non-diabetic Wistar rats, neither whole PBF (pancreatic blood flow) nor IBF (islet blood flow) were significantly influenced by telmisartan and ramipril, alone or in combination. Renal blood flow was enhanced significantly by telmisartan and ramipril when used in combination, whereas ABF (adrenal blood flow) was not affected by any of the drugs. Telmisartan and ramipril both significantly increased serum insulin levels, but did not influence glycaemia. In Type 2 diabetic GK rats, both whole PBF and IBF were significantly decreased by telmisartan and ramipril, but only when used in combination. Renal blood flow was enhanced significantly by telmisartan and ramipril alone, but not when used in combination, whereas ABF was not affected by any of the drugs. Telmisartan and ramipril both significantly decreased serum insulin levels, and non-additively elevated blood glucose levels. In conclusion, the present study suggests that a local pancreatic RAS (renin–angiotensin system), sensitive to acute administration of telmisartan and ramipril, controls pancreatic IBF and insulin secretion and thereby has an impact on glucose tolerance. Our findings indicate unexpected significant differences in the effects of these agents on islet microcirculation, in vivo insulin secretion and glycaemia between healthy and Type 2 diabetic rats.
Nez bouché et bouche ouverte : le point de vue de l’ORL
Authors: Leboulanger Nicolas
Published: May 2013

Les pathologies obstructives des voies aériennes supérieures de l’enfant sont fréquentes et très largement dominées par l’hypertrophie des amygdales et des végétations adénoïdes et, dans une moindre mesure, par celle des cornets inférieurs. Une indication d’adéno-amygdalectomie se base sur des critères cliniques, éventuellement complétés dans certains cas par une polysomnographie; cette intervention ne doit pas être réalisée systématiquement en cas d’hypertrophie amygdalienne, même en cas de ronflement simple ou si un traitement orthodontique est envisagé. L’éventuelle participation d’une l’hypertrophie turbinale ou d’une déviation septale doit également être prise en compte.
Reconstruction orthodontique par greffe osseuse et autotransplantation après un accident de la route
Authors: Mimura Hiroshi , Fukuyo Shinho
Published: May 2013

Cet article décrit la reconstruction par greffe osseuse, autotransplantation et traitement orthodontique effectuée sur une patiente ayant perdu l’ensemble du secteur alvéolaire antérieur à la suite d’un accident de voiture. Du fait de la perte des six dents antérieures maxillaires et de l’os alvéolaire attenant, cette patiente présentait un décalage de classe III squelettique sévère. Une greffe osseuse au niveau du secteur alvéolaire détruit puis l’autotransplantation des premières prémolaires mandibulaires a permis de restaurer l’occlusion et le profil. À la fin du traitement orthodontique, les prémolaires transplantées ont été recontourées puis restaurées en incisives centrales à l’aide de composite. Une bonne occlusion et une amélioration esthétique ont ainsi été obtenues. Le traitement orthodontique démontre son utilité dans le cadre d’une reconstruction occlusale post-traumatique; l’autotransplantation est une option particulièrement adaptée pour ces patients.
Measurement of the Soret coefficients for a ternary hydrocarbon mixture in low gravity environment
Authors: Ahadi Amirhossein , Varenbergh S. Van , Saghir M. Ziad
Published: May 2013

While the Soret coefficients of binary mixtures have been widely measured in the past, here we report the first measurement of the Soret coefficient of a ternary mixture in a low gravity environment on board the International Space Station. The sample was contained in a 10 mm × 10 mm × 5 mm (w, l, h) cell and was monitored by means of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer at two wavelengths. The analyzed sample was a mixture of tetrahydronaphthalene, isobutylbenzene, and dodecane at the weight fraction of 0.1/0.8/0.1. While the lateral walls of the cell did not possess complete thermal isolation, the separation of the components in the central region of the cavity was comparable to purely diffusive behavior. The same experimental parameters have been monitored in Run7 and Run12 of the Selectable Optical Diagnostics Instrument-Diffusion and Soret Coefficient experiment in order to verify the accuracy of the setup. The similarity of the results demonstrates the repeatability of thermodiffusion experiments in a microgravity environment. There was nearly equal separation of the tetrahydronaphthalene and isobutylbenzene components in opposite directions, while dodecane experienced a weak separation in the same direction as isobutylbenzene. Finally, Fourier image processing and calculations of the transient separation of the components were used to analyze the heat transfer in the system and to measure the Soret coefficients for this ternary mixture. The successful measurements shown in this work can serve as the standard for ground experiments and for numerical modeling of hydrocarbon mixtures.
Hardening transition in a one-dimensional model for ferrogels
Authors: Annunziata Mario Alberto , Menzel Andreas M. , Löwen Hartmut
Published: May 2013

We introduce and investigate a coarse-grained model for quasi one-dimensional ferrogels. In our description the magnetic particles are represented by hard spheres with a magnetic dipole moment in their centers. Harmonic springs connecting these spheres mimic the presence of a cross-linked polymer matrix. A special emphasis is put on the coupling of the dipolar orientations to the elastic deformations of the matrix, where a memory effect of the orientations is included. Although the particles are displaced along one spatial direction only, the system already shows rich behavior: as a function of the magnetic dipole moment, we find a phase transition between “soft-elastic” states with finite interparticle separation and finite compressive elastic modulus on the one hand, and “hardened” states with touching particles and therefore diverging compressive elastic modulus on the other hand. Corresponding phase diagrams are derived neglecting thermal fluctuations of the magnetic particles. In addition, we consider a situation in which a spatially homogeneous magnetization is initially imprinted into the material. Depending on the strength of the magneto-mechanical coupling between the dipole orientations and the elastic deformations, the system then relaxes to a uniaxially ferromagnetic, an antiferromagnetic, or a spiral state of magnetization to minimize its energy. One purpose of our work is to provide a largely analytically solvable approach that can provide a benchmark to test future descriptions of higher complexity. From an applied point of view, our results could be exploited, for example, for the construction of novel damping devices of tunable shock absorbance.
Crystalline and amorphous structure of astrophysical ices
Authors: Strazzulla G.
Published: May 2013

The structure of water and other ices strongly depends on the temperature at which they formed, e.g., by vapor deposition. It is amorphous if ices are formed at low temperature (e.g., 10–30 K for water ice), or crystalline if the deposition temperature is higher (140–150 K). Ices have a “polycrystalline” structure at intermediate temperatures. The crystalline structure of ices can be damaged up to a complete amorphization by processes such as those due to energetic ion bombardment. Here, I describe some experimental results obtained by ion irradiation of water and ammonia ices, two species particularly relevant in astrophysics. The results are discussed in the light of the relevance they have in astronomical environments where the actual structure of the ices depends on a competition between energetic processing that induce amorphization and thermal annealing that favors the transition towards more ordered structures.
Effects of jet/vortex interaction on contrail formation in supersaturated conditions
Authors: Paoli R. , Nybelen L. , Picot J. , Cariolle D.
Published: May 2013

The effects of the interaction between a model of aircraft trailing vortex and engine jets on the formation of a contrail in supersaturated ambient air are studied using Eulerian-Lagrangian two-phase flows large-eddy simulations. The three-dimensional structure of the contrail, the mean flow properties, and the statistical correlations between ice and water vapor are analyzed for different jet and vortex parameters and different soot particle numbers. The interaction is characterized by the entrainment of the jets by the trailing vortex. In the four-engines case, particles exhausting the outboard jets are exposed to local higher supersaturation due to the temperature drop in the low-pressure vortex core region. The soot particle number affects both the structure and the global characteristics of the contrail. The increase in soot loading results in stronger vapor depletion – which leads to larger ice production – and to smaller ice particles for a given amount of vapor exhaust. The fraction of activated particles decreases with soot loading because of the increased competition for the vapor available for condensation. Of particular interest is the interaction between the jet/vortex turbulence and ice microphysics (activation, condensation, particle size distribution, and optical depth). It is found that the characteristic timescales of mixing and condensation can be of the same order in the jet regime. For the present high ambient supersaturation conditions, the competition between the entrainment of humid ambient air and vapor depletion plays an important role in determining the initial growth of the contrail and the spatial and size distributions of ice particles.
Electron scattering from gas phase cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II): Quantum analysis of resonance dynamics
Authors: Carey Ralph , Lucchese Robert R. , Gianturco F. A.
Published: May 2013

We present scattering calculations of electron collisions with the platinum-containing compound cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (CDDP), commonly known as cisplatin, between 0.5 eV and 6 eV, and the corresponding isolated Pt atom from 0.1 eV to 10 eV. We find evidence of resonances in e−–CDDP scattering, using an ab initio description of the target. We computed scattering matrix elements from equations incorporating exchange and polarization effects through the use of the static-exchange plus density functional correlation potential. Additionally, we made use of a purely local adiabatic model potential that allows Siegert eigenstates to be calculated, thereby allowing inspection of the possible resonant scattering wave functions. The total cross section for electron scattering from (5d10) 1S Pt displays a large magnitude, monotonic decay from the initial collision energies, with no apparent resonance scattering features in any scattering symmetry. By contrast, the e−–CDDP scattering cross section shows a small feature near 3.8 eV, which results from a narrow, well localized resonance of b2 symmetry. These findings are then related to the possible electron-mediated mechanism of the action of CDDP on DNA replication as suggested by recent experiments.
Effect of compressibility in bubble formation in closed systems
Authors: Glavatskiy K. S. , Reguera D. , Bedeaux D.
Published: May 2013

We analyze the stability of small bubbles in a closed system with fixed volume, temperature, and number of molecules. We show that there exists a minimum stable size of a bubble. Thus there exists a range of densities where no stable bubbles are allowed and the system has a homogeneous density which is lower than the coexistence density of the liquid. This becomes possible due to the finite liquid compressibility. Capillary analysis within the developed “modified bubble” model illustrates that the existence of the minimum bubble size is associated to the compressibility and it is not possible when the liquid is strictly incompressible. This finding is expected to have very important implications in cavitation and boiling.
Compact cryogenically cooled Ti:Sapphire dual multi-kilohertz amplifiers for synchrotron radiation ultra-fast x-ray applications
Authors: Feng J. , Nasiatka J. , Hertlein M. , Rude B. , Padmore H.
Published: May 2013

A titanium-doped sapphire regenerative dual-amplifier array operating at multi-kHz repetition rates has been developed for synchrotron radiation ultra-fast x-ray applications. The thermal lensing of the crystal in the amplifiers is virtually eliminated by cryogenic cooling of the laser crystal. The output energy of the amplifiers is measured to be greater than 2.6 mJ and the pulse length was compressed to less than 70 fs. The output laser mode is a near perfect Gaussian TEM00 with an M2 factor of 1.02. The performance of the amplifier system is in excellent agreement with theoretical calculation.
Inverse scattering problems for the Landau-Lifschitz equations
Authors: Shin Jaemin
Published: May 2013

In this article we consider inverse scattering problems for the Landau-Lifschitz equations with isotropy and anisotropy of the easy-axis type. We introduce a transformation between the inverse scattering problems for the Landau-Lifschitz equations and for Zakharov-Shabat system under certain regularity assumptions on the coefficients. As a consequence, we obtain the uniqueness for the inverse scattering problems for the Landau-Lifschitz equations without bound state information under certain conditions. We also provide counterexamples of non-uniqueness for the Landau-Lifschitz inverse scattering problems in the case of discontinuous coefficients. An efficient numerical algorithm based on this transformation and a splitting method is developed and illustrated with an example.