bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Do conceptualisations of health differ across social strata? A concept mapping study among lay people
Authors: Stronks Karien , Hoeymans Nancy , Haverkamp Beatrijs , den Hertog Frank R J , van Bon-Martens Marja J H , Galenkamp Henrike , Verweij Marcel , van Oers Hans A M 
Published: April 2018

ObjectivesThe legitimacy of policies that aim at tackling socioeconomic inequalities in health can be challenged if they do not reflect the conceptualisations of health that are valued in all strata. Therefore, this study analyses how different socioeconomic groups formulate their own answers regarding: what does health mean to you?DesignConcept mapping procedures were performed in three groups that differ in educational level. All procedures followed exactly the same design.SettingArea of the city of Utrecht, the Netherlands.ParticipantsLay persons with a lower, intermediate and higher educational level (±15/group).ResultsThe concept maps for the three groups consisted of nine, eight and seven clusters each, respectively. Four clusters occurred in all groups: absence of disease/disabilities, health-related behaviours, social life, attitude towards life. The content of some of these differed between groups, for example, behaviours were interpreted as having opportunities to behave healthily in the lower education group, and in terms of their impact on health in the higher education group. Other clusters appeared to be specific for particular groups, such as autonomy (intermediate/higher education group). Finally, ranking ranged from a higher ranking of the positively formulated aspects in the higher education group (eg, lust for life) to that of the negatively formulated aspects in the lower education group (eg, having no chronic disease).ConclusionOur results provide indications to suggest that people in lower socioeconomic groups are more likely to show a conceptualisation of health that refers to (1) the absence of health threats (vs positive aspects), (2) a person within his/her circumstances (vs quality of own body/mind), (3) the value of functional (vs hedonistic) notions and (4) an accepting (vs active) attitude towards life.
Automation of CT-based haemorrhagic stroke assessment for improved clinical outcomes: study protocol and design
Authors: Chinda Betty , Medvedev George , Siu William , Ester Martin , Arab Ali , Gu Tao , Moreno Sylvain , D’Arcy Ryan C N , Song Xiaowei 
Published: April 2018

IntroductionHaemorrhagic stroke is of significant healthcare concern due to its association with high mortality and lasting impact on the survivors’ quality of life. Treatment decisions and clinical outcomes depend strongly on the size, spread and location of the haematoma. Non-contrast CT (NCCT) is the primary neuroimaging modality for haematoma assessment in haemorrhagic stroke diagnosis. Current procedures do not allow convenient NCCT-based haemorrhage volume calculation in clinical settings, while research-based approaches are yet to be tested for clinical utility; there is a demonstrated need for developing effective solutions. The project under review investigates the development of an automatic NCCT-based haematoma computation tool in support of accurate quantification of haematoma volumes.Methods and analysisSeveral existing research methods for haematoma volume estimation are studied. Selected methods are tested using NCCT images of patients diagnosed with acute haemorrhagic stroke. For inter-rater and intrarater reliability evaluation, different raters will analyse haemorrhage volumes independently. The efficiency with respect to time of haematoma volume assessments will be examined to compare with the results from routine clinical evaluations and planimetry assessment that are known to be more accurate. The project will target the development of an enhanced solution by adapting existing methods and integrating machine learning algorithms. NCCT-based information of brain haemorrhage (eg, size, volume, location) and other relevant information (eg, age, sex, risk factor, comorbidities) will be used in relation to clinical outcomes with future project development. Validity and reliability of the solution will be examined for potential clinical utility.Ethics and disseminationThe project including procedures for deidentification of NCCT data has been ethically approved. The study involves secondary use of existing data and does not require new consent of participation. The team consists of clinical neuroimaging scientists, computing scientists and clinical professionals in neurology and neuroradiology and includes patient representatives. Research outputs will be disseminated following knowledge translation plans towards improving stroke patient care. Significant findings will be published in scientific journals. Anticipated deliverables include computer solutions for improved clinical assessment of haematoma using NCCT.
Metals in urine in relation to the prevalence of pre-diabetes, diabetes and atherosclerosis in rural India
Authors: Velmurugan Ganesan , Swaminathan Krishnan , Veerasekar Ganesh , Purnell Jonathan Q , Mohanraj Sundaresan , Dhivakar Mani , Avula Anil Kumar , Cherian Mathew , Palaniswami Nalla G , Alexander Thomas , Pradeep Thalappil 
Published: April 2018

ObjectiveDiabetes and cardiovascular diseases are growing burdens in rural communities worldwide. We have observed a high prevalence of diabetes among rural farming communities in India and sought to evaluate the association of non-traditional risk factors, such as metals, with diabetes and other cardiometabolic risk factors in this community.MethodsAnthropometric measurements, chemistries and carotid intima-media thickness were determined in 865 participants of the Kovai Medical Center and Hospital-Nallampatti Non-Communicable Disease Study-I (KMCH-NNCD-I, 2015), a cross-sectional study conducted in a farming village in South India. Urinary metal levels were determined by inductively couped plasma-mass spectrometry analysis and corrected to urinary creatinine level. Statistical analyses were performed to study the association between urinary metal levels and clinical parameters.Results82.5% of the study population were involved in farming and high levels of toxic metals were detected in the synthetic fertilisers used in the study village. The prevalence of pre-diabetes, diabetes and atherosclerosis was 43.4%, 16.2% and 10.3%, respectively. On logistic regression analysis, no association of traditional risk factors such as body mass index, blood pressure and total cholesterol with disease conditions was observed, but urinary levels of metals such as arsenic, chromium, aluminium and zinc showed an association with diabetes, while arsenic and zinc showed an association with pre-diabetes and atherosclerosis.ConclusionsOur data suggest a probable role of metals in the aetiology of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases in rural communities. Identifying and eliminating the causes of increased levels of these environmental chemicals could have a beneficial impact on the burden of non-communicable diseases in rural population.
Reduction in tuberculosis incidence in the UK from 2011 to 2015: a population-based study
Authors: Thomas H Lucy , Harris Ross J , Muzyamba Morris C , Davidson Jennifer A , Lalor Maeve K , Campbell Colin N J , Anderson Sarah R , Zenner Dominik 
Published: April 2018

BackgroundFollowing nearly two decades of increasing tuberculosis in the UK, TB incidence decreased by 32% from 2011 to 2015. Explaining this reduction is crucial to informing ongoing TB control efforts.MethodsWe stratified TB cases notified in the UK and TB cases averted in the UK through pre-entry screening (PES) between 2011 and 2015 by country of birth and time since arrival. We used population estimates and migration data to establish denominators, and calculated incidence rate ratios (IRRs) between 2011 and 2015. We calculated the contribution of changing migrant population sizes, PES and changes in TB rates to the reduction in TB notifications.ResultsTB IRRs fell in all non-EU migrant and UK-born populations between 2011 and 2015 (0.61; 95%  CI 0.59 to 0.64 and 0.78; 0.73 to 0.83 respectively), with the greatest decrease in recent non-EU migrants (0.54; 0.48 to 0.61). 61.9% of the reduction in TB notifications was attributable to decreases in TB rates, 33.4% to a fall in the number of recent/mid-term non-EU migrants and 11.4% to PES. A small increase in notifications in EU-born migrants offset the reduction by 6.6%.ConclusionsLarge decreases in TB rates in almost all populations accounted for the majority of the reduction in TB notifications, providing evidence of the impact of recent interventions to improve UK TB control. The particularly large decrease in TB rates in recent non-EU migrants provides evidence of the effectiveness of screening interventions that target this population. These findings will inform ongoing improvements to TB control.
An Integral Technique to Evaluate Opening Mode Stress Intensity Factors for Embedded Planar Cracks of Arbitrary Shape
Authors: Khattab M.A.A. , Burns D.J. , Pick R.J. , Thompson J.C. 
Published: April 2018

In this paper, techniques are developed to handle the integrable singularities of the integral proposed by Burns and Oore for the estimation of opening mode stress intensity factors for embedded planar defects of arbitrary shape. The hybrid numerical-analytical integration techniques developed consider separately two crack front zones and one interior zone of the crack surface. Parameters are established for the sizing of the integration elements within each zone. Studies of elliptical defects with aspect ratios between 1 and 10 demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of this procedure for computing opening mode stress intensity factors. A simple method which compensates for the quadrature error associated with computationally inexpensive, coarse grids is outlined.
Ocean Wave Energy Conversion Devices Popular Today
Authors: Watts K.C. , Graham J.W. 
Published: April 2018

Wave energy is one source of alternate energy that has fascinated man’s imagination throughout history yet has alluded his ability to tap it economically for domestic use. Considerable interest in harnessing wave energy exists today in a number of parts of the world, prompted to a large extent by the oil crisis of 1973. This paper examines several wave energy devices which are currently being investigated in the United Kingdom, Japan, Norway and the U.S.A. Each is briefly examined in respect to its operating principles, efficiency, advantages, weaknesses and state of development. The devices discussed are: (1) the Kaimei, the floating ship off the coast of Japan; (2) Salter’s nodding duck with its gyroscopic reference frame; (3) the Lancaster flexible bag; (4) the SEA CLAM version of a flexible bag; (5) the NEL oscillating water column fixed rigidly to the ground; (6) the Vickers terminator and attenuator versions of the oscillating water column; (7) the Norwegian use of a “harbour” with an oscillating water column used to increase the device’s range of frequency response; (8) the latching buoy of Norway; and (9) the Bristol cylinder. Also presented are the studies at the Technical University of Nova Scotia of a two hinged floating raft, the DAM ATOLL of U.S.A. origin and a version of an oscillating water column device designed to increase its spectral response.
Numerical Simulation of Oscillations in a Continuous Optical Discharge
Authors: Makomaski A.H. 
Published: April 2018

A numerical method based on the assumptions of Forester and Emery is used to study the oscillatory behaviour of the plume and of the thermal wave associated with a point plasma, sustained by continuous optical discharge of a c.w. laser. Computations are carried out to simulate conditions in argon at 4 atm and initially at room temperature. The numerical results explain or confirm many experimental features and generally quantitative agreement with experiment is good. Application of Kimura’s stability theory to the plume suggests aerodynamic instability as the origin of the oscillations. As for flames, these oscillations are associated with waves analogous to the Tollmien-Schlichting waves in laminar boundary layers.
FLOW THROUGH A ROW OF CLOSELY-SPACED CIRCULAR CYLINDERS NORMAL TO A COLD WATER STREAM
Authors: LOCK G.S.H. , O’CALLAGHAN W.J. 
Published: April 2018

Flow near a row of parallel circular cylinders standing normal to a cross flow has been investigated experimentally. The cylinders spanned the height of the test section in a water tunnel in which the temperature was maintained close to the freezing point. Reynolds numbers, based on the mean bulk water velocity and the cylinder diameter, ranged between 3 x 103 and 3 x 104. The gap-diameter ratio g/D was set at five nominal values: 0.49, 0.20, 0.15, 0.10 and 0.06. For this range of conditions, static pressure readings were taken around the cylinder surfaces and at points well upstream and downstream of the cylinders. The overall static pressure change was converted into a pressure loss coefficient whose dependency on Reynolds number and gap-diameter ratio has been studied. The cylinder surface pressure profiles were used to determine flow behaviour in the gap region and in the wake. A critical transition at free stream Reynolds numbers much lower than that corresponding to a single cylinder was evident; a gap-diameter ratio near to 0.15 appeared to separate two different flow regimes. A cellular wake was often observed and found to be either metastable or bistable.
PSEUDO PROBABILISTIC APPROACH TO TEST ISOMORPHISM AMONG KINEMATIC CHAINS
Authors: Shubhashis S. , Choubey M. , Rao A.C. 
Published: April 2018

There is no dearth of methods to test isomorphism amongst kinematic chains. Search for a computationally easier, logically simple and unique method is still on. Present work is in quest of a reliable test to detect isomorphism among kinematic chains. Work presented here is more versatile as it incorporates more features of the kinematic chain which were not included earlier such as number and type of links, their relative dispositions in the kinematic chain, nature of adjacent links etc. The method proposed is based on the concept of pseudo-probability (pseudo means it appears to be, but not exactly. The approach does not follow in-toto the principles of probability and considerable liberty has been taken in interpreting the word probability hence the word pseudo is used along with the probability schemes). Using the resemblance of different coloured balls in an urn for the number and type of links in a kinematic chain, a matrix (named P-Matrix) representing the kinematic chain in totality is generated. For the sake of comparison a numerical scheme named, pseudo probability scheme, P-Scheme, is developed from the above P-Matrix and is used for testing isomorphism. In fact the method is more powerful in the sense that each row of the proposed P-Matrix is capable of representing the respective kinematic chain distinctly and can be used to compare the kinematic chains with same link assortments, uniquely. The proposed method, besides possessing the potential of testing the isomorphism among simple-joint, single degree of freedom kinematic chains is also capable of multi degrees of freedom and multiple-joint kinematic chains.
NUMERICAL ASSESSMENT AND OPTIMAL ALLOCATION PLAN FOR PLANT NOISE CONTROL
Authors: Lan Tian-Syung 
Published: April 2018

Inadequate noise simulation, identification, and strategy often cause dreadful plant layout. This unacceptable abatement results in the tremendous cost and inefficiency of noise reduction. To minimize the influence of machine noise along the plant boundary, the advances of optimal allocation planning and appropriate noise abatement on machine are then progressed in this paper. By using a sixteen-station sound monitoring system and the gradient numerical method - EPFM (Exterior Penalty Function Method), the numerical assessment is thus achieved, accordingly. Introducing the optimal design data of equipment’s locations and noise reduction value into the ENM (Environmental Noise Model), a commercial sound simulation package, the predicted noise contour map of the plant is moreover accomplished. The noise check of noise map along plant’s boundary is then furthermore approached to confirm the accuracy and acceptance of the numerical result. Noise control is important and essential in the process plant, where the noise level is restricted by both Occupational Safety & Health Act (OSHA) and local noise regulation. In this paper; we (1) develop a mathematical model for economic plant noise control system, (2) give the proper allocation, (3) simulate the acoustic distribution within the plant, and (4) compare noise levels with local noise regulations. The numerical technique in both adjusting the optimal allocations and searching for the best noise reduction to the machine is fully demonstrated; thereafter, the verification of plant’s noise is attained using ENM. With the simulated results, it is shown that this paper absolutely provides an approachable method, which is very effective, economical and applicable in plant’s noise control with profound insight.
Pressure effect on the structural, phonon, elastic and thermodynamic properties of L12phase RH3TA: First-principles calculations
Authors: Wang Leini , Jian Zhang , Ning Wei 
Published: April 2018

The phonon, elastic and thermodynamic properties of L12phase Rh3Ta have been investigated by the density functional theory (DFT) approach combined with the quasi-harmonic approximation model. The results of the phonon band structure show that L12phase Rh3Ta possesses dynamical stability in the pressure range from 0–80 GPa due to the absence of imaginary frequencies. The pressure dependences with the elastic constants C[Formula: see text], shear modulus G, bulk modulus B, Young’s modulus Y, Poisson’s ratio and B/G ratio have been analyzed. The results of the elastic properties studies show that L12phase Rh3Ta compound is mechanically stable and possesses a higher hardness, improved ductility and plasticity under higher pressures. The pressure and temperature relationship of the thermodynamic properties, such as the Debye temperature [Formula: see text], heat capacity C[Formula: see text], thermal expansion coefficient [Formula: see text] and the Grüneisen parameter [Formula: see text] are predicted by the quasi-harmonic Debye model in a wide pressure (0–80 GPa) and temperature (0–750 K) ranges.
Miocene UHT granulites from Seram, eastern Indonesia: a geochronological–REE study of zircon, monazite and garnet
Authors: Pownall J. M. , Armstrong R. A. , Williams I. S. , Thirlwall M. F. , Manning C. J. , Hall R. 
Published: April 2018

Abstract

The island of Seram, eastern Indonesia, incorporates Miocene ultrahigh-temperature (UHT; >900°C) garnet–sillimanite granulites that formed by extensional exhumation of hot mantle rocks behind the rolling-back Banda Arc. UHT metamorphic conditions are supported by new Zr-in-rutile thermometry results and the Miocene age of the UHT event is confirmed by closely-matched heavy rare earth element (HREE) abundances between garnet and
c.
16 Ma zircon. Monazites also record identical U–Pb ages, within uncertainty. However, these geochronometers do not date peak UHT metamorphism; instead, they date retrograde, garnet-consuming (Zr- and rare earth element (REE)-liberating) reactions that produced the granulites’ post-peak cordierite + spinel reaction microstructures. Zircons shielded within garnet did not crystallize
c.
16 Ma rims and so were unaffected by the entire UHT event. Miocene UHT metamorphism overprinted a Late Triassic–Early Jurassic upper-amphibolite facies event that grew garnet cores and 216–173 Ma zircon. In the Miocene, these garnet cores were overgrown by peritectic garnet rims during UHT metamorphism, with some rutiles recording
c.
900°C Zr-in-rutile temperatures. Garnet Lu–Hf ages of 138 Ma – produced by core–rim mixing – demonstrate that a component of Hf
4+
produced since
c.
200 Ma was retained through the
c.
16 Ma UHT event. Accordingly, UHT conditions must have been very short-lived and exhumation of the granulite complex very rapid.
Ursodeoxycholic acid protects against intestinal barrier breakdown by promoting enterocyte migration via EGFR- and COX-2-dependent mechanisms
Authors: Golden Jamie M. , Escobar Oswaldo H. , Nguyen Michelle V. L. , Mallicote Michael U. , Kavarian Patil , Frey Mark R. , Gayer Christopher P. 
Published: April 2018

The intestinal barrier is often disrupted in disease states, and intestinal barrier failure leads to sepsis. Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is a bile acid that may protect the intestinal barrier. We hypothesized that UDCA would protect the intestinal epithelium in injury models. To test this hypothesis, we utilized an in vitro wound-healing assay and a mouse model of intestinal barrier injury. We found that UDCA stimulates intestinal epithelial cell migration in vitro, and this migration was blocked by inhibition of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), or ERK. Furthermore, UDCA stimulated both COX-2 induction and EGFR phosphorylation. In vivo UDCA protected the intestinal barrier from LPS-induced injury as measured by FITC dextran leakage into the serum. Using 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine and 5-ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine injections, we found that UDCA stimulated intestinal epithelial cell migration in these animals. These effects were blocked with either administration of Rofecoxib, a COX-2 inhibitor, or in EGFR-dominant negative Velvet mice, wherein UDCA had no effect on LPS-induced injury. Finally, we found increased COX-2 and phosphorylated ERK levels in LPS animals also treated with UDCA. Taken together, these data suggest that UDCA can stimulate intestinal epithelial cell migration and protect against acute intestinal injury via an EGFR- and COX-2-dependent mechanism. UDCA may be an effective treatment to prevent the early onset of gut-origin sepsis. NEW & NOTEWORTHY In this study, we show that the secondary bile acid ursodeoxycholic acid stimulates intestinal epithelial cell migration after cellular injury and also protects the intestinal barrier in an acute rodent injury model, neither of which has been previously reported. These effects are dependent on epidermal growth factor receptor activation and downstream cyclooxygenase 2 upregulation in the small intestine. This provides a potential treatment for acute, gut-origin sepsis as seen in diseases such as necrotizing enterocolitis.