bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Hypophosphatemic rickets: pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment
Authors: Kulikova Kristina S. , Tiulpakov Anatoly N.
Published: July 2018

Hypophosphatemic rickets (HR) - a group of diseases characterized by the development of ricketic changes in bone tissue due to increased excretion of phosphorus from the body. This form of rickets is the most common among variants of genetically determined forms of disturbances in mineral metabolism. HR is an actual medical and social problem, requiring constant updating of knowledge of both endocrinologists and doctors of other profile. This is due to the fact that the clinical picture of HR has a significant heterogeneity and can manifest as severe deformations of the skeleton, delay in physical development, severe muscle hypotension, frequent fractures, tooth abscesses, which in some cases leads to disability of the patient and, accordingly, reduces the quality of life. Timely diagnosis and adequate therapy of HR is extremely important for preventing the development of severe complications. Currently, more than 10 candidate genes are known, the defects in which lead to the development of congenital forms of GFR. Genetic diagnostics of the HR is of great importance for determining the form of the HR, and for carrying out genetic counseling of families when planning pregnancy.
Knowledge Quality Effect on Process Based Management Effectiveness
Authors: Mustapha Ishamuddin , Md Nor Khalil , Ikbar Abd Wahab Mohd , Anwar Abu Bakar Fairul , Amran Mohd Daril Mohd , Awang Mazlan , Nordin Latipah
Published: July 2018

The objective of this study is to examine the effect of knowledge quality (KQ) on process-based management effectiveness (PBME). The knowledge quality for effective process-based management is an increasingly important issue to the business community. The current review conducted on research work in Knowledge Management and Quality Management Systems field has shown that there are deficiencies in the current research domain which, investigation on knowledge quality and its effect on process-based management was not an interest of previous researchers. The deficiencies shed light for future research that explores in details the effect of KQ on PBME. This issue has initiated interest amongst academicians to empirically examine the effect of knowledge quality on the process-based management effectiveness especially on the ISO9001:2008 certified organization. This study has found that KQ has significant direct effect with PBME in the certified ISO9001:2008 organization. This is indicated by the path coefficients and t-statistics of the relationship between KQ and PBME using PLS-SEM. The results is in line with the opinion derived from semi-structured interview conducted and also accords with earlier research which showed that the quality of knowledge can improve the performance of the processes. The evidence from this result suggests that organization should emphasize on the quality of knowledge to increase the process-based management effectiveness.
Patients Satisfaction Based on Corporate Entrepreneurship
Authors: Tri Ratnasaria Ririn , Prasetyo Ari , Kurniawati Masmira , Fajar Cahyono Eko
Published: July 2018

This research aim to determine what factors are included in the service excellence based on corporate entrepreneurship, whether these factors affect the patient satisfaction, and which factors that influencing dominantly to patient satisfaction. The research design of this study is exploratory quantitative approach, which is conducted in two stages. The first step, the research conducted by open-ended question to explore the perception of the 40 patients about the service excellence of the hospital, so it can be known the factors which include in service excellence based on corporate enterpreneurship can be developed in the improvement of health services at the Dr. Soetomo Hospital after the implementation of BPJS, then proceed with a structure close-ended question to 400 patient of Health-BPJS. The sampling technique was by purposive non-random sampling. The result of this study are, first, factors affecting patient satisfaction of Health-BPJS participant after get treatment at the government hospital (Dr. Soetomo Hospital and Hajj Public Hospital) formed by six factors. Factors that formed was named by the reliability factor, empathy factor, the factor means of support, administrative factors, service factors, and factors of hospital hygiene.  Second, indicators with the highest loading values obtained from the rotation calculation factors are indicators of X13 on the reliability factor is the health services infrastructure supported by sophisticated technology.
Economic Evaluation of Landscape Integrated Pest Management Programs in Banyumas Regency, Central Java, Indonesia
Authors: Perwitasari Hani , . Irham , Hartono Slamet , Hardyastuti Suhatmini
Published: July 2018

The massive use of chemicals in food production process has adversely affected the aspect of cost, ecology and health in particular. Landscape Integrated Pest Management (LIPM) Program is one of the technology applications targeted to minimize the chemicals. In Indonesia, there were only 6 regencies which applied LIPM, which included Banyumas regency. This study primarily aims at comparing production costs, productivity, revenue, profit and financial feasibility between LIPM and non-LIPM rice farms. The researchers collected primary and secondary data during the investigation. They purposively chose Pliken Village as the research object as it is the only village implementing LIPM. Meanwhile, sample was selected by random sampling methods involving LIPM and non- LIPM farmers with 30 respondents for each. Independent-samples T test was exerted to compare productivity, revenue, cost, profit and financial feasibility. The results indicate that productivity, revenue, profit and financial feasibility farming with LIPM were higher than the non-LIPM farming. Moreover, the production cost in the LIPM farming was lower than the production cost of the non-LIPM farming. The independent T-test pinpoints that the total revenue indicator and profit were significant. In other words, it may become reference to encourage farmers to apply Landscape Integrated Pest Management Program for sustainable agriculture
The Influence of Belief, Utility of Information, and Group Support on Selective Exposure to Pornography Among Teenagers in Jakarta, Indonesia
Authors: Hutagalung Inge
Published: July 2018

Festinger’s (1) hypothesis cites belief as a variable that influences selective exposure. However, a review of other experts’ research proves that selective exposure is not only affected by the psychological aspect but by the message and the social aspect as well. In contrast to previous scholars who focused only on one variable, the researcher examines belief, utility of information, and group support simultaneously and integrates them into a model. The research design is a case study involving the use of pornographic information. This study’s subjects comprise 400 senior high school students in Jakarta, Indonesia. The relationships among the variables were tested by using structural equation modeling. The validity and reliability analyses utilized the LISREL 8.80 application. A questionnaire with a Likert-scale model was used as the data collection method. The structural test results show that the theoretical models for the three variables have a significant effect on selective exposure (t value ≥ 1.96). On the other hand, the findings also prove that communication in the context of selective information on pornography is divided into three levels. First, at the intrapersonal level, the individual holds on to his or her belief in selecting the information. Second, at the interpersonal or group level, the individual adjusts his or her belief to the existing reality (environment or social group). Third, at the mass communication level, the individual selects the information according to its utility, that is, to fulfill the need for information.
The Effect of Inquiry-Based Independent Worksheet Using ICT Towards Science Learning to Embody the Student's Creativity and Characters
Authors: Ratna Dewi Novi , Akhlis Isa , Nur Aini Fitria , Taufiq Muhamad
Published: July 2018

This research aimed to find the effect of inquiry-based independent worksheet toward the junior high school students' creativity, characters and concept understanding. Quasi-Experimental with a nonequivalent control group design was applied for this research. Creativity and characters data were obtained by using observation method while the concept knowledge was achieved by using test method. The result showed that the concept knowledge, creativity and character level of experiment class were higher than control class, which had confirmed through the t-test. The result of moment product correlation analysis showed that ICT gave the effect of 39.08% towards creativity level, 49.66% towards character level and 28.26% towards concept understanding in experiment class. The result showed that inquiry-based independent worksheet in science learning gave the influence towards concept understanding, creativity and character level of junior high school students. There are no reports on the advantages of an independent assignment sheet, inquiry-based learning and the use of ICT which come from different and separate researchers. Researchers had previously researched the application of science learning software development with inquiry-based cultural deviance solution to develop the character and creativity of learners.
Selecting the Affected Factors on Pavement Distress Problems Using Analytical Hierarchy Process [AHP]
Authors: Milad Abdalrhman , Ezlin Ahmed Basri Noor , K.Younes Mohammad , M.Abdelsalam Hassan. , Atiq Abdullah Bin O.K Rahmat Riza
Published: July 2018

This study describes the implementation of analytical hierarchy process [AHP] in pavement multi-criteria selection problem solving. The practice of expressing flexible pavement distress priority is widely accepted. However, an insistent demand exists for a technique that allows decision makers to determine their priorities, rational weights of the importance of pavement distress priority and the ranking of these factors. In this study, AHP is adopted in selecting the best level of distress in flexible pavements in Malaysia as an example of a tropical region. Knowledgeable and experienced experts in flexible pavement maintenance at jabatan kerja raya [JKR] and Kumpulan Ikram Sdn Bhd [IKRAM] were interviewed; as pairwise comparisons, their inputs were structured. Four criteria are set as follows: cracking, surface defects, surface deformations and patching and potholes. These criteria developed into a few other sub-criteria. Results show that cracking is the most significant factor [0.5500], followed by surface deformations [0.2300], patching and potholes [0.1600] and surface defects [0.0600]. Thus, cracking has the most significant distress among the four factors.
Applications of Thermoregulation Adaptive Technique of form in Nature into Architecture: A Review
Authors: Abdullah Amatalraof , Bin Said Ismail , Remaz Ossen Dilshan
Published: July 2018

In the last 20 years, biology has obviously been the source of countless, innovative solutions from nature in many discipline. Biomimetic is an interesting philosophy which hybrids multi-disciplinary sciences with biology.  Biomimetic design is currently one of the promising fields ranging from accessing to adaptive, sustainable and energy saving solutions for the architectural and environmental challenges. This paper underlines and reviews the recent state of the art biomimetic applications to architecture, in particular, thermoregulation strategies. The review design was based on project’s status that varies from executed projects, experimental models and design concepts.  The study shows that biomimicking thermoregulation strategies of the nature leads to a significant energy saving and indoor thermal comfort. It is also observed that some of the architectural researches in this regard do not exceed the stage of theoretical study due to the lack of sponsorship and funding. Although there is a number of levels in respect to mimicking adaptive notions from nature such as behavioral, physiological, and morphological, architects’ works are mostly confined to mimicking the functional performance of organism through its morphological configuration; physiological and morphological adaptation. The review shows that architects turn noticeably to nature’s solutions as the source of zero-waste system, saving energy and controlling thermal environment.
Designing Cham Font Unicode Standard and Cham Keyboard
Authors: Nhung Buon Krong Tuyet , Ngoc Sang Van , Bin Bilal Ali Mohamad
Published: July 2018

The main purpose of this research is to design and develop the Cham font for Unicode standard and Cham keyboard application. Research sample is divided into two groups and research instrument distributed into three forms of survey. The Cham font Unicode standard and the Cham keyboard (Chamkey) was developed using ADDIE model. This survey, the acceptance of Cham font, and Cham keyboard view by fifty-four respondents and the results showed that 100% respondents either agreed or strongly agreed with every statement. In order to evaluate Cham font typeface, we choose fifty-four participants include academics, experts and students to evaluate the typefaces of Cham font using two forms. All of them totally agreed that the typeface of Cham fonts were designed exactly for all alphanumeric Cham letters with the result for EFEO Cam Times is 99.12% and EFEO Cam Arial is 99.64%. Viewed by sixteen experts using Fuzzy Delphi for Cham keyboard application the results show that percentage of all items are 100%, more than what required (75%), the value of d for total construct is 0.08 (required d ≤ 0.2). Thus, it can be concluded that all sixteen experts have come to a consensus that the Cham keyboard is acceptable. In order to preserve and promote the cultural heritage as well as the language and Cham scripts of the United Nations Charter on Indigenous Peoples, we offer a solution for applying information technology in the issue of preserving the native language of the Cham in Vietnam. Hence, using technologies to design and develop for Cham fonts for Unicode standard and Cham keyboards application is not only theoretically significant but also practically significant.
Measuring Severity of Downtime Influence Factors to Naval Ship Operational Availability: A Delphi Study
Authors: Bin Abdul Wahid Al-Shafiq , Zamani Bin Ahmad Mohd , . Sunarsih , Najib Bin Abdul Ghani Yolhamid Mohd , Abu Ubaidah Amir Abu Zarim Mohamad , Binti Abdullah Aisha , Hanani Bt Ahmad Azlan Nur
Published: July 2018

Rapid development of shipbuilding and ship repair industry in recent years has been increasingly transforming the way organizations apply the long term strategic thinking of “cradle to grave” maintenance approach in order to maximize their growth in a dynamic marine industry. With increased ship complexity, size and revolutionary design, organizations strive to balance ideal maintenance philosophies against on-going efforts of cost reduction whilst maintaining high availability of vessels. Despite aspiration and efforts to improve the ship availability, the Royal Malaysian Navy [RMN] vessels which are currently maintained under the In Service Support [ISS] Contracts are hardly tackling the human and equipment related aspects due to limited knowledge and available data on ship Downtime Influence Factors [DIFs]. The current research carried out an explorative study across various engineering disciplines to generate RMN ship maintenance DIFs and their severity measures via a 3-Stage Modified Delphi approach. 30 Experts experienced in daily implementation of naval ship maintenance contracts were involved. In the first stage, Focus Group Discussions [FGDs] amongst Experts were conducted to produce the DIFs, followed by questionnaire distribution to measure the severity of the DIFs in the second stage. In the third stage, the Severe DIFs were confirmed and ranked based on a Risk Assessment method. The study revealed 50 DIFs to RMN ship availability and deduced the top 15 Severe DIFs pinpointing the key problem areas to prioritize efforts in improving RMN ship availability.
Political Culture of Coastal Society in the Hinterland Area of Batam CityThis research examines the political culture of coastal communities in the face of Simultaneous Regional Elections of 2015 in Batam City. The purpose of this research is to analyze the types of political culture and the participation of coastal society in political activities, especially elections, because there is no research that discusses the political culture of coastal society in particular. Research that discusses the political life of coastal society has not been discussed, especially how the role and views of society on political life and government. In fact, coastal society are groups that will be affected and feel the consequences of these political activities. This research uses qualitative method. The respondents are selected by purposive sampling technique and data obtained by observation and in-depth interview. The findings in this study indicate that the type of coastal society culture is included in the type of participant political culture, in which the level of participation society in Simultaneous Regional Elections of 2015 is quite high and their knowledge on political activity is sufficient. Keywords: Political Culture; Coastal Society; Participant Political Culture
Authors: Ayu Pratiwi Diah , Enita Puspita Sari Meri
Published: July 2018

This research examines the political culture of coastal communities in the face of Simultaneous Regional Elections of 2015 in Batam City. The purpose of this research is to analyze the types of political culture and the participation of coastal society in political activities, especially elections, because there is no research that discusses the political culture of coastal society in particular. Research that discusses the political life of coastal society has not been discussed, especially how the role and views of society on political life and government. In fact, coastal society are groups that will be affected and feel the consequences of these political activities. This research uses qualitative method. The respondents are selected by purposive sampling technique and data obtained by observation and in-depth interview. The findings in this study indicate that the type of coastal society culture is included in the type of participant political culture, in which the level of participation society in Simultaneous Regional Elections of 2015 is quite high and their knowledge on political activity is sufficient.
Malaysian People Financial Prosperity
Authors: Ismail Fadillah , Ismail Zuhaimy , Azhar Abd Hamid Mohd. , Mohamad Ismail , Abdul Kadir Adibah , Thukiman Kassim
Published: July 2018

During the first sitting of the fifth term of the 13th Malaysian Parliament, The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V pledged to reign in a just and fair manner by placing the well-being of the people and prosperity of the nation above all else.  Thus it becomes the task of the Malaysian Government which includes the financial prosperity of the people.  This paper aims at identifying the level of financial prosperity of Malaysian people.  It has been identified that financial prosperity is a major problems among Malaysians, a result obtained from a survey research with 2000 samples taken from the whole country which is in accordance with the standards set by the International Statistical Institute [ISI].  The data collected were analyzed using various statistical methods and one of the method used to determine the people financial prosperity or financial well-being is by using index, namely the Malaysian People Satisfaction Index [MPSI]. We categorized the financial prosperity into four levels, namely the poor income, moderate income, good income and excellent income. The survey results show that the level of financial prosperity for Malaysian people is 49.6% with a mean of 4.88 which is categorized as moderate income. Further analysis shows that there are significant differences between the respondents' demographic factors and the financial prosperity.  This shows that the government and relevant agencies need to play a more significant role to ensure the policies that are enacted can contribute to the well-being of the people.  It would just be very difficult for Malaysia to become a developed nation by 2020 if the status of financial prosperity or financial well-being of its people is still at moderate level income.
A comprehensive survey on content based image retrieval system and its application in medical domain
Authors: Srinivasa Reddy K , Anandan R , Kalaivani K , Swaminathan P
Published: July 2018

Content Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) is an important and widely used technique for retrieval of different kinds of images from large database. Collection of information in database are available in different formats such as text, image, graph, chart etc. Here, our focus is on information which is available in the form of images. Searching and retrieval of the image from a large amount of database is difficult problem because it uses the image visual information such as shape, text and color for indexing and representation of an image. For efficient CBIR system, there is a need to develop different kinds of retrieval methods using feature extraction, similarity matching etc. Text Based Image Retrieval systems are used in many hospitals, but for large databases these are inefficient. To solve this problem, CBIR systems are proposed to retrieve matching images from database using automated feature extraction method. At present, medical imaging field finds extensive growth in the generation and evaluation of various types of medical images which are high inconsistency, usually fused and the combination of various minor composition structures. For easy retrieval, need to be development of feature extraction and image classification methods. Different methods are used for different kinds of medical images. The Radiology department and Cardiology department are the largest producers of medical images and the patient abnormal images can be stored with the normal images. CBIR uses query image as input and it retrieves the images, which are similar to the query more efficiently and effectively. This paper provides a comprehensive Survey about CBIR system and its one of the major application in medical domain.
Predicting malignant and benign brain tumor using image processing
Authors: Saxena Rishabh , Johri Aakriti , Deep Vikas , Sharma Purushottam
Published: July 2018

Brain is the most important and versatile organ of the human body. One of the most deadly diseases that damage the brain is the accumulation of unwanted and deadly cells near the curvature of brain known as brain tumor. There are two types of brain tumor namely malignant and benign. Malignant is a cancerous tumor and benign is a non cancerous tumor. Primarily brain tumor grows in the brain tissue. The project uses MATLAB to develop a prediction system which uses original hospital brain MRI to predict the brain tumor. Project uses digital image processing to predict the brain tumor. The use of certain image mining algorithms helps in predicting the correct spot and area of brain tumor by image segmentation. The procedure starts with uploading MRI image of human brain, forward by the pre-processing of the image.
Odwołania do idei cykliczności w filmie „Wygnanie” Andrieja Zwiagincewa
Authors: Przybysz Anna Katarzyna
Published: July 2018

The aim of this article is to show how the idea of cyclicality functions in the artistic world of The Banishment, directed by Andrei Zvyagintsev. We try to show that this idea works in conjunction with biblical motifs, but is also visible in a broader mythical-anthropological context. This idea is inseparably linked with the motive of the border, which is floating by its nature. We also try to put emphasis on the Zvyagintsev’sartistic method.
Стилізація в українській і польській літературі постмодернізму
Authors: Kropyvko Irina
Published: July 2018

Postmodern styling of text in another language (work, genre, time) lacks the assessment direction and is used as a conceptual and stylistic device. The article aims to define the styling features as the art-techniqe in postmodern texts of Polish and Ukrainian writers. The specificity of styling them is connected with the appeal of authors to artistic and non-fiction genres as the sources of formal originality of their texts. Ukrainian and Polish literature show quantitative connection between the structural parts of the text as the manifestation of the impact of the beyond-subjective world of information systems on a literary work concept. Impersonality highlights the lackof creative writer’s invention to literary text composing and appears to create the narrative illusion of uniform electronic signals or stylization on a computer text. A text resembling music genres forms a specific rhythmic pattern of fragmented pieces through the use of graphical ways to display pauses. Graphic design and structuring of the text are included in its overall concept, which is driven by current trends, such as specific life of the postmodern man and the destruction of boundaries between different types of activities (information, literary and artistic performance). Styling as the “image technology” of postmodern literary text adjusts it to some readers' tastes and / or determines the originality of its formal concept to improve its “consumer” qualityin order to meet the demanding modern reader’s expectations. These examples represent only a part of the author's choices experimenting with the structure of the text and its design, which is rooted in our reality distorted by globalization processes.
Study of a retinal layer model to generate a spike waveform for a color deficient and strabismus individual
Authors: Rajalakshmi T. , Prince Shanthi
Published: July 2018

The physiological modeling of retinal layers to provide an insight into how the incoming image is converted into its equivalent spike train that can be decoded by the human brain is a key issue. Most of the retinal layer models concentrate mainly on image compression, edge detection and image reconstruction. A retinal layer model to generate spike waveform corresponding to the visual information is not covered much in the literature. The aim of this study was to develop a mathematical model of retinal layers that has complex neural structures, that can detect the incoming signal and transform the signal into the equivalent spike train. The proposed retinal layer model includes a photoreceptor, an outer plexiform (OPL), an inner plexiform (IPL) and ganglion cell layers exhibiting the properties of compression, luminance and spatial temporal filtering in the processing of visual information. The photoreceptor layer enhances the contrast visibility in the dark region and maintains the same in the bright regions. The OPL is modeled to enhance the contour of the image. The finer detail of the image is extracted by mathematically modeling the IPL. The ganglion cell layer is modeled using the Hodgkin-Huxley model to generate the spike train for the incoming information. The spike train was generated for color deficient individuals namely protanopia, deuteranopia, tritanopia and for individuals suffering from night blindness. Simulation results showed a spike train was generated only for a certain threshold stimulus value. The differences in spike pattern for a normal and visually impaired individual were studied. This may lead to a methodology for earlier diagnosis.
Retinal images benchmark for the detection of diabetic retinopathy and clinically significant macular edema (CSME)
Authors: Noor-ul-huda Muhammad , Tehsin Samabia , Ahmed Sairam , Niazi Fuad A.K. , Murtaza Zeerish
Published: July 2018

Diabetes mellitus is an enduring disease related with significant morbidity and mortality. The main pathogenesis behind this disease is its numerous micro- and macrovascular complications. In developing countries, diabetic retinopathy (DR) is one of the major sources of vision impairment in working age population. DR has been classified into two categories: proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR). NPDR is further classified into mild, moderate and severe, while PDR is further classified into early PDR, high risk PDR and advanced diabetic eye disease. DR is a disease caused due to high blood glucose levels which result in vision loss or permanent blindness. High-level advancements in the field of bio-medical image processing have speeded up the automated process of disease diagnoses and analysis. Much research has been conducted and computerized systems have been designed to detect and analyze retinal diseases through image processing. Similarly, a number of algorithms have been designed to detect and grade DR by analyzing different symptoms including microaneurysms, soft exudates, hard exudates, cotton wool spots, fibrotic bands, neovascularization on disc (NVD), neovascularization elsewhere (NVE), hemorrhages and tractional bands. The visual examination of the retina is a vital test to diagnose DR-related complications. However, all the DR computer-aided diagnostic systems require a standard dataset for the estimation of their efficiency, performance and accuracy. This research presents a benchmark for the evaluation of computer-based DR diagnostic systems. The existing DR benchmarks are small in size and do not cover all the DR stages and categories. The dataset contains 1445 high-quality fundus photographs of retinal images, acquired over 2 years from the records of the patients who presented to the Department of Ophthalmology, Holy Family Hospital, Rawalpindi. This benchmark provides an evaluation platform for medical image analysis researchers. Furthermore, it provides evaluation data for all the stages of DR.
Studies of North Carolina marine algae XIV: increased diversity of flattened offshore Gracilaria (Gracilariales, Rhodophyta) species revealed by DNA sequences of contemporary specimens and the G. mammillaris holotype
Authors: Hardesty Deanna M. , Freshwater D. Wilson
Published: July 2018

Gracilaria mammillaris has been the most common flattened Gracilaria reported from North Carolina offshore waters. Analyses of rbcL sequences from North Carolina specimens identified as G. mammillaris revealed that they were actually Gracilaria galatensis, Gracilaria hayi, Gracilaria isabellana, and Gracilaria occidentalis. Comparisons of contemporary Gracilaria rbcL sequences with a partial sequence from the G. mammillaris holotype indicated that G. mammillaris is most likely not present in North Carolina. Specimens from Venezuela and Brazil originally identified as Gracilaria curtissiae are G. mammillaris, and the currently designated G. mammillaris epitype represents a unique species described here as Gracilaria gurgelii sp. nov.
Morosphaeria muthupetensis sp. nov. (Morosphaeriaceae) from India: morphological characterization and multigene phylogenetic inference
Authors: Devadatha Bandarupalli , Sarma Vemuri Venkateswara , Jeewon Rajesh , Jones E.B. Gareth
Published: July 2018

A novel species of Morosphaeria, Morosphaeria muthupetensis, saprobic on intertidal mangrove wood of Rhizophora mucronata from Muthupet mangroves on Kaveri River Delta, Tamil Nadu along the East coast of India, is described in this paper. Morosphaeria muthupetensis is characterized by large sub-globose to lenticular ascomata; long cylindrical to clavate, short pedicellate asci; small, fusiform to ellipsoidal ascospores with acute ends when compared to other Morosphaeria species. A multigene phylogeny obtained from a combined nuclear large subunit, small subunit, internal transcribed spacers rDNA and translation elongation factor 1-alpha sequence analysis revealed that M. muthupetensis is phylogenetically distinct and nested in between Morosphaeria velatispora and Morosphaeria ramunculicola and all these species constitute a strongly supported monophyletic clade sister to the genus Helicascus. Detailed descriptions and illustrations of M. muthupetensis are presented and compared with other Morosphaeria species.
Solieria incurvata (Solieriaceae, Rhodophyta), a new species from Venezuela based on morpho-anatomical and molecular evidence
Authors: Núñez Resendiz María Luisa , Ardito Sonia , León-Tejera Hilda , Dreckmann Kurt M. , Sentíes Abel
Published: July 2018

Solieria incurvata from Puerto Escondido, Estado Falcon, Venezuela, is described as a new species based on morpho-anatomical and molecular data. Morphologically S. incurvata differs from other Solieria species, with which it shares its distributional range, by its narrow branches that become gradually constricted toward their bases, by possessing acute and incurved apices, and by its branching pattern and anatomical morphometrics. On the basis of COI-5P and rbcL sequences, the new species forms an independent lineage that clearly belongs in the Solieria clade of the Solieriaceae.
Baseline hepcidin measurement in the differential diagnosis of anaemia for elderly patients and its correlation with the increment of transferrin saturation following an oral iron absorption test
Authors: Wolff Fleur , De Breucker Sandra , Pepersack Thierry , Compté Nathalie , Mélot Christian , Gulbis Béatrice , Cotton Frédéric
Published: July 2018

Background

Anaemia is often multifactorial in the elderly, with a frequent association between iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) and anaemia of chronic disease (ACD). The primary objective of our study was to investigate whether baseline hepcidin measurement could be useful for identifying iron deficiency (ID) in anaemic elderly patients. The secondary objective was to assess whether baseline hepcidin concentrations correlated with the relative increase of transferrin saturation (TS) after an oral iron absorption test (OIAT).

Methods

Blood samples were collected between 7:30 am and 10:00 am in 328 geriatric outpatients, 102 underwent the OIAT. Types of anaemia were classified according biochemical and clinical criteria. TS and hepcidin were measured at baseline and 4 h after the iron dose. The ability of baseline hepcidin measurement to highlight ID in elderly anaemic patients was assessed using a receiver operator curve (ROC) analysis. Correlations between baseline hepcidin levels and the increment of TS following the OIAT were investigated using the Spearman coefficient.

Results

Among 328 included patients, 78 (23.8%) suffered from anaemia; 13 (4.0%), 19 (5.8%), 27 (8.2%) and 19 (5.8%) patients fulfilled criteria for IDA, IDA/ACD, ACD and unexplained anaemia, respectively. By multivariable analysis, creatinine, C-reactive protein, ferritin, Delta TS and Delta hepcidin were independently associated with baseline hepcidin concentrations. The area under the ROC curve (95% confidence interval) was 0.900 (0.830–0.970) for baseline hepcidin measurement. Baseline hepcidin levels correlated negatively with the relative increase in TS with a Spearman coefficient of −0.742.

Conclusions

Baseline hepcidin levels could be a useful tool to identify ID in anaemic elderly patients and may predict acute iron response following OIAT.
Evaluating structural crashworthiness and progressive failure of double hull tanker under accidental grounding: bottom raking case
Authors: Prabowo Aditya Rio , Cho Hyun Jin , Lee Seung Geon , Baek Seung Jun , Byeon Jung Hoon , Bae Dong Myung , Sohn Jung Min , Harsritanto Bangun IR
Published: July 2018

Remarkable consequences of maritime accident can be various, including structural damage, loss of life and marine pollution. During an accidental phenomenon, such as ship grounding, the amount of oil spillage indicates casualties’ extent of surrounding sea water. Effort to provide protection for sea environment against such event has been conducted actively by developing navigational instruments, and passively using structural development and assessment. The accidental grounding is, however, a very complicated process with high sensitivity to given factors during its occurrence. Variety in ship type, location, obstruction etc. affected by advance improvement in naval technology, invites sustainable analysis for structural crashworthiness and failure to produce evaluation data.

This work aims to perform an assessment on double hull tanker subjected accidental grounding with oceanic seabed as the obstruction. Fundamental concept of bottom raking is used to design grounding scenario using numerical experiment. Non-Linear Finite Element Method (NLFEM) is deployed to idealise tanker structure and obstruction geometry. The selected crashworthiness criteria in grounding are summarised to provide structural prediction in moment double hull members are experiencing crushing process. Influence of geometrical parameters’ variation to progressive failure is presented with contribution of double bottom members to structural behaviour in final part. Result data of the current work can be a reasonable reference to understanding double bottom performance in grounding, especially in raking case. Insight of such accidental phenomenon is very useful in further effort to minimise grounding consequences.
Morphology and micromechanics of liquid rubber toughened epoxies
Authors: Gunwant Dheeraj , Sah Prakash L. , Zaidi M.G.H.
Published: July 2018

In the present work, a diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA)-based epoxy resin was modified with the help of a liquid rubber (LR) obtained from the pyrolysis of rubber. Tensile tests on samples of rubber modified epoxy resins (REs) containing varying rubber volume fractions (RVF) were conducted to obtain their tensile properties. Fractographic analysis of fractured samples using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) revealed the presence of phase separated rubber zones characterized by microvoids, distributed uniformly in the epoxy domain. Young’s modulus and yield strength of REs were observed to drop with RVF. A three-dimensional (3D) finite element model was employed to predict the elastic properties and stress distributions in REs. Various stress distributions and their dependence on the properties of rubber were examined in detail through the model. The effect of rubber properties on bulk elastic properties of the REs were also studied. Lastly, the effective stress-strain relationship was predicted with the help of an elastic-plastic analysis. Predicted results showed coherence with experimental results.
Geotourism in an urban space?
Authors: Chylińska Dagmara , Kołodziejczyk Krzysztof
Published: July 2018

Geotourism is usually connected with two types of landscapes: natural and cultural, however in the second case these are usually industrial or post-industrial landscapes, where the subjects of tourists’ interest are mainly various relicts of mining (e.g. open pits, waste dumps, quarries). Although it is changing, urban landscapes or – more generally – landscapes of human settlements are not so often perceived as a place of geotourism development. We try to analyze reasons why such areas have a great potential to develop this type of tourism, illustrating them by selected case studies from Poland and the Czech Republic. We want to prove that geotourism in a city or a town can be understood as part of urban tourism not only in its traditional meaning (as all kinds of tourism located in such landscapes), but also as an important element of travels undertaken in order to search and experience a genius loci of a city.
A critical examination of perceptual learning styles in English language teaching
Authors: Lethaby Carol , Mayne Russell
Published: July 2018

This article critically reviews the concept of learning styles, particularly the notion of perceptual, that is, visual, auditory and kinaesthetic (VAK), styles. We look at problems with the definition and terminology used to describe VAK learning styles, arguing that they have yet to be shown to be consistent and measurable attributes. We review the history of VAK, present literature on the topic in language teaching and other educational fields and scrutinize the scientific, psychological and educational concerns with the use of VAK learning styles in the classroom, asserting that much of the popularity assigned to the notion of VAK learning styles is based on the false assumption that teaching to a learner’s sensory learning preference will enhance achievement. We conclude with some brief suggestions for alternative pedagogical interventions in language teaching which do have strong empirical backing as well as a call to the language teaching profession to look to other fields, such as neuroscience and cognitive science to guard against classroom practices that have no scientific basis.
Decentralized decision making in adaptive multi-robot teams
Authors: Geihs Kurt , Witsch Andreas
Published: July 2018

We present our decision support middleware PROViDE that facilitates decentralized decision making in multi-robot teams operating in highly dynamic environments with potentially unreliable communication channels and noisy sensors. Achieving an adaptive team behavior in such an environment is a challenge because the specific conditions require a fully decentralized decision process. The design of PROViDE borrows inspiration from human decision making processes. PROViDE supports replication of proposals, conflict resolution, and final team-decision making. For each of these steps a choice of methods is offered to the developer to provide flexibility for different application requirements and characteristics of execution environments. PROViDE is integrated into a comprehensive modeling framework for multi-robot systems. The main contributions of this paper are twofold: For the development of adaptive multi-robot teams we discuss requirements for a middleware that supports decentralized decision making in dynamic and adverse environments, and we demonstrate the effective and coherent integration of a set of domain-dependent decision support protocols into a middleware framework.
An intelligent decision support system for readmission prediction in healthcare
Authors: Eigner Isabella , Bodendorf Freimut
Published: July 2018

Readmission prediction in hospitals is a highly complex task involving multiple risk factors that can vary among different disease groups. We address this issue by implementing multiple cross-validated classification models within an intelligent CDSS to enhance patient discharge management. Depending on the diagnosis, the system selects and applies the appropriate model and visualises the prediction results. In addition, the cost and reimbursement development for each episode are determined. The architecture of the CDSS and the integration of the prediction models are presented in this paper.
Predictive analytics for data driven decision support in health and care
Authors: Hayn Dieter , Veeranki Sai , Kropf Martin , Eggerth Alphons , Kreiner Karl , Kramer Diether , Schreier Günter
Published: July 2018

Due to an ever-increasing amount of data generated in healthcare each day, healthcare professionals are more and more challenged with information. Predictive models based on machine learning algorithms can help to quickly identify patterns in clinical data. Requirements for data driven decision support systems for health and care (DS4H) are similar in many ways to applications in other domains. However, there are also various challenges which are specific to health and care settings. The present paper describes a) healthcare specific requirements for DS4H and b) how they were addressed in our Predictive Analytics Toolset for Health and care (PATH). PATH supports the following process: objective definition, data cleaning and pre-processing, feature engineering, evaluation, result visualization, interpretation and validation and deployment. The current state of the toolset already allows the user to switch between the various involved levels, i. e. raw data (ECG), pre-processed data (averaged heartbeat), extracted features (QT time), built models (to classify the ECG into a certain rhythm abnormality class) and outcome evaluation (e. g. a false positive case) and to assess the relevance of a given feature in the currently evaluated model as a whole and for the individual decision. This allows us to gain insights as a basis for improvements in the various steps from raw data to decisions.
Decision making support in security forces command centers at open air music festivals: Localization of resources and sharing information
Authors: Köfler Armin , Pammer-Schindler Viktoria , Almer Alexander , Schnabel Thomas
Published: July 2018

We describe a case study on decision making in command centers of security forces at major open air music festivals. Our goal was to assess current modus operandi and to identify design implications. We have carried out two expert interviews, two field observations and four group discussions with experts based on a fully functional prototype as IT artifact to concretize discussions. Key insights are that in this case localization of relevant resources is the most important aspect of situation awareness, and that state of current knowledge needs to be clearly shared within the command center.
Performance Evaluation of Different Optical Amplifiers in Spectrum Sliced Free Space Optical Link
Authors: Thakur Aditi , Nagpal Shaina
Published: July 2018

Free space optics (FSO) is well-competent and premier technology to cater the high speed services in different geographical areas such as hilly areas and inter building network. In this paper, we successfully demonstrated the spectrum sliced wavelength division multiplexed FSO system. In order to make system bandwidth efficient, frequency spacing of 75 GHz is taken among the wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) channels. Carrier spectrum broadening is achieved for spectrum slicing through the nonlinearity called self-phase modulation. Moreover, requirement of multiple laser sources is eliminated. However, in conventional WDM systems, n numbers of lasers are needed to generate n WDM channels. To strengthen the signal in this FSO system, three optical amplifiers are scrutinized such as erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA), semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) and Raman amplifier in terms of Q-factor and bit error rate (BER). Results revealed that EDFA is best amplifier in proposed SS-WDM-FSO system.
The effect of 17 years of increased salt iodization on the prevalence and nature of goiter in Croatian schoolchildren
Authors: Vučinić Maja , Kušec Vesna , Dundović Sandra , Ille Jasenka , Dumić Miroslav
Published: July 2018

Background

High goiter prevalence caused by iodine deficiency (medium content 5.6 mg potassium iodide [KI]/kg of salt, median urine iodine concentration [UIC] 68 μg/L) in Croatia was observed in 1991 and 1995 when salt was iodized with 10 mg KI/kg. A new regulation introduced in 1996, specified 25 mg KI/kg of salt resulting in an increase of median UIC to 248 μg/L. Afterwards, goiter prevalence was only assessed in two small studies.

Methods

In this study, we investigated the prevalence and etiology of goiter in 3594 schoolchildren 17 years after an increase in salt iodization in Croatia. Thyroid size was determined by palpation in 1777 girls and 1817 boys aged 10–18 years. In goitrous children, a thyroid ultrasound and thyroid-stimulating hormone, free thyroxine (fT4), free triiodothyronine (fT3), thyroid peroxidase (TPO) and thyroglobulin (TG) antibody measurements were performed.

Results

Goiter was found in 32 children (0.89% vs. 2.8% in 1991, p<0.00001 and 27% in 1995, p<0.00001), simple goiter (SG) in 18/32 (56%) goitrous children vs. 126/152 (82.8%) in 1991 p<0.00001, autoimmune thyroiditis (AT) in 13/32 (40.6%) vs. 19/152 (12.5%) in 1991 p<0.0009, nodules in four: two cysts, toxic adenoma and carcinoma (in 1991 two adenomas and one cyst), Graves’ disease was not found (four in 1991). Subclinical hypothyroidism was found in three children. Thyroid disease was diagnosed in four of 32 children before the investigation. Increased iodine supply decreased goiter prevalence and SG/AT ratio in goitrous patients.

Conclusions

As thyroid abnormalities were found in 0.89% of children and some required treatment, thyroid examination is important in apparently healthy children regardless of sufficient iodization.