bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A technical note investigating the combination boiler market as a proxy for a simple thermal quality of service standard in heat interface units
Authors: Blackwell Huw 
Published: February 2019

Heat interface units used in district heating networks provide very similar services to those expected from domestic gas boilers. As heat interface units become more common, it is becoming clear that heat interface units are often oversized. This technical note aims to review and summarise the technical specification of equipment typically available from combination boiler (also known as combi boilers) manufacturers in the UK. This includes thermal outputs and flow rate limitations, particularly those associated with domestic hot water production. It is proposed for use as an equivalent typical minimum domestic hot water flow rate and maximum thermal power benchmark for domestic hot water production by heat interface units, which are utilised in the equivalent role in the communal and district heating market. The aim is to prevent extensive oversizing of heat interface units, thereby reducing capital costs, pipe sizes and improving efficiency on district and communal heating networks. Practical application: This technical note proposes a DHW quality of service standard based on a review of the UK heating system market (specifically the combination boiler market) and water consumption restrictions arising from Building Regulations. This may be used to define an equivalent maximum thermal power and minimum service flow rate when specifying heat interface units used in residential communal heating systems and district heating systems.
Application of second-generation Shikani optical stylet in critically ill patients undergoing cerebral aneurysm embolization
Authors: Liu Xicheng , Zhang Yaoxian , Liu Zhanli , Zhang Qiuli , Wu Wenyan , Zheng Zihao , Zhang Zhongjun 
Published: February 2019

Objective This study was performed to compare the clinical value of the second-generation Shikani optical stylet with that of the Macintosh laryngoscope for tracheal intubation of patients undergoing cerebral aneurysm embolization. Methods Thirty-six patients who underwent cerebral aneurysm embolization were included. The intubation time, intubation success rate, blood oxygen saturation, heart rate, systolic blood pressure (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were measured. Adverse reactions during tracheal intubation and the local tissue injury rate were recorded. Comparisons between the groups were performed with one-way analysis of variance. Results The heart rate, SBP, and DBP upon tracheal intubation and at 1 and 3 minutes were significantly higher in the Macintosh laryngoscope group than in the Shikani optical stylet group. The time to completion of tracheal intubation was significantly shorter and the tissue injury rate was significantly lower in the Shikani optimal stylet group than in the Macintosh laryngoscope group. Conclusions The second-generation Shikani optical stylet is a simple, safe, and reliable tool for tracheal intubation in critically ill patients undergoing cerebral aneurysm embolization.
Possible GoLytely-Associated Cardiac Arrest: A Case Report and Literature Review
Authors: Mo Yoonsun , Gandhi Shiv , Orsini Jose 
Published: February 2019

Purpose: To report a case of sudden cardiac arrest possibly associated with the administration of GoLytely® (polyethylene glycol 3350 and electrolytes). Summary: A 60-year-old male with a history of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, type 2 diabetes, and coronary artery disease presented to the emergency department with complaints of constipation and lower abdominal pain over the past week, and the inability to urinate over the past day. The patient had received GoLytely as treatment to alleviate symptoms of constipation and abdominal pain. However, several hours after administration of the bowel prep solution, the patient suffered an episode of cardiac arrest. After ruling out other possible etiologies, GoLytely was suspected as a possible cause of cardiac arrest. The patient had suffered an anoxic brain injury and remained intubated and unconscious until he eventually expired, 20 days after the event. Conclusion: Although GoLytely appears to be a safe agent with fewer side effects, clinicians need to be mindful of potential life-threatening adverse events following GoLytely administration and monitor patients closely during and after administration.
China’s Employment Contract Law: Does it deliver employment security?
Authors: Wang Fuxi , Gan Bernard , Cheng Yanyuan , Peng Lin , Feng Jiaojiao , Yang Liquian , Xi Yiheng 
Published: February 2019

During its transition to a market economy, structural inequalities became increasingly apparent across China’s workforce, threatening social harmony. China’s 2008 Employment Contract Law, legislated amid policy debate, was intended to remedy these phenomena. We examine a crucial element of its remit: has its promotion of continuing contracts as against fixed-term employment contracts been effective? This is crucial for improving workers’ rights through secure employment. How have employers responded to this challenge to their prerogatives in terms of hiring and firing? We analysed data from 2007 and 2012 drawn from All-China Federation of Trade Unions surveys, which cover approximately 80,000 individuals. Using institutional theory, we discuss a variety of employer responses. We find that the Employment Contract Law has increased the likelihood of signing continuing contracts among migrant workers, employees in privately owned enterprises, and those with lower professional titles and who are short-term employees – all disadvantaged labour market categories previously. It has also significantly narrowed gaps regarding access to continuing contracts between these categories and matched advantaged ones. There is also evidence that some employers seek to avoid or sidestep compliance through cost-minimising worker engagement strategies. JEL Codes: J41, J53, K31
Effects of lateral circumflex femoral artery ligation on blood flow to the surrounding muscles in the direct anterior approach
Authors: Ishii Satohiro , Naito Masatoshi , Kinoshita Koichi , Ishimatsu Tetsuro , Akiho Shunsuke , Yamamoto Takuaki 
Published: February 2019

Background: The direct anterior approach to the hip joint enables the identification and ligation of the lateral circumflex femoral artery. However, the effect of lateral circumflex femoral artery ligation on blood flow to the muscles surrounding the hip remains unknown. This study clarified the changes in blood flow to the surrounding muscles following ascending branch ligation of this artery. Methods: We included 36 consecutive patients (8 male and 28 female) who underwent total hip arthroplasty via the direct anterior approach for hip osteoarthritis between April 2015 and July 2016. The intraoperative blood flow to the tensor fascia latae (TFL), vastus lateralis (VL), rectus femoris (RF), and subcutaneous tissue (control) was measured using a laser Doppler blood flow meter. Measurements were repeated after artery ligation and at the end of surgery. We compared the means (±SD) of these measurements at each location and time point. Results: The patients’ mean age was 64.2 ± 9.0 years, systolic and diastolic blood pressures were 92.8 ± 13.6 and 54.9 ± 9.1 mmHg, respectively, and body mass index was 23.1 ± 3.9 kg/m2. Hypertension was noted in 35.9% patients and dyslipidemia in 27.8%. The mean surgical duration was 101 (70–158) min. The preligation blood flow in TFL, VL, RF, and subcutaneous tissue was 3.91 ± 1.93, 5.15 ± 2.19, 4.51 ± 2.24, and 3.03 ± 0.99 mL/min/100 g, respectively. Conclusions: Blood flow to TFL significantly decreased post ligation and at the end of surgery. However, there was no change in blood flow to VL and RF.
Redundancy Is of No Good; Iatrogenic Hypervitaminosis D: A Rare Case of Persistent Vomiting Due to Hypercalcemia
Authors: Ghauri Muhammad Ishaq , Bareeqa Syeda Beenish , Riaz Amir , Kumar Ajeet 
Published: February 2019

Introduction: Iatrogenic or physician-induced hypervitaminosis D is a rare cause of persistent vomiting. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report on iatrogenic hypervitaminosis D presenting with persistent vomiting in Pakistan. Case Report: We report a rare case of continual vomiting for 15 days in a 48-year-old woman of Pakistani descent. She was a known case of diabetes mellitus for 8 years, which was well controlled at the time of presentation. Conclusions: The correct diagnosis of our patient was based on clinical suspicion, appropriate lab tests, and deliberation of the differential diagnosis. It is important to consider hypervitaminosis D as a cause of persistent vomiting if no other obvious is apparent.
Avoiding Alzheimer’s disease: The important causative role of divalent copper ingestion
Authors: Brewer George J 
Published: February 2019

In this review, we point out that developed countries are undergoing an epidemic of Alzheimer’s disease, not shared by undeveloped countries. We also point out that this epidemic is new, developing during the 20th century. This suggests that an environmental change occurring in the 20th century in developed countries is causing the epidemic. The author hypothesizes that the environmental change causing the epidemic of Alzheimer’s disease is ingestion of divalent copper. The hypothesis is based on data indicating that food copper is primarily monovalent copper, and humans evolved safe ways of channeling monovalent copper, but not divalent copper. Humans were not exposed to divalent copper until the 20th century, due to the use of copper plumbing and supplement pills containing copper, and that exposure, which occurs in developed countries, does not occur in undeveloped countries. Data in support of the hypothesis show that tiny amounts of divalent copper added to drinking water of Alzheimer’s disease animal models greatly enhance Alzheimer’s disease, and ingestion of copper (which is always divalent copper)-containing supplement pills by humans is quite toxic to cognition. Impact statement The work described in this review is very important to scientists working on Alzheimer’s disease (AD) because it reveals a cause for the explosive epidemic of this disease. It is also important to the public because it provides a method to avoid this newly revealed cause, and thereby avoid AD. The field is advanced because this review reveals new information about the mechanism of AD pathogenesis, namely copper, and specifically divalent copper, toxicity is important. New information about divalent copper toxicity in the brain affecting cognition is revealed. The field is impacted strongly because, in view of the frustrations that have occurred in treatment developed, now most AD can be prevented. This means the suffering of the patient, the prolonged and difficult care required by caregivers, and the enormous expenditures for this one disease, can now be avoided.
Incidence of inflammatory bowel disease by race and ethnicity in a population-based inception cohort from 1970 through 2010
Authors: Aniwan Satimai , Harmsen W. Scott , Tremaine William J. , Loftus Edward V. 
Published: February 2019

Background: Although inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has been more predominant in white populations, an increasing incidence of IBD in nonwhites has been reported. We sought to evaluate the incidence rates and temporal trends of IBD by race and ethnicity. Methods: The resources of the Rochester Epidemiologic Project were used to identify 814 county residents newly diagnosed with IBD from 1970 through 2010. Race was categorized into whites and nonwhites. Ethnicity was categorized into Hispanic and non-Hispanic. Incidence rates were estimated and adjusted for age and sex to the 2010 United States (US) population. Trends in incidence rates were evaluated by Poisson regression. Results: The adjusted annual incidence rate of IBD for whites was 21.6 cases per 100,000 person-years [95% confidence interval (CI), 20.0–23.1] and for nonwhites it was 13 per 100,000 (95% CI, 8.3–17.5). The incidence rates for whites and nonwhites increased by 39% and 134%, respectively, from 1970 through 2010. The adjusted annual incidence rate of IBD for Hispanics was 15 cases per 100,000 person-years (95% CI, 6.3–23.6) and for non-Hispanics was 20 per 100,000 (95% CI, 18.5–21.6). The incidence rate for Hispanics decreased by 56%, while the rate for non-Hispanics increased by 33%, from 1985 through 2010. In a Poisson regression, white race ( p < 0.0001), a later year of diagnosis ( p < 0.001), male sex ( p < 0.001) and younger age ( p = 0.009) were significantly associated with a higher incidence rate of IBD. Conclusions: There were significant racial and ethnic differences in the incidence and temporal trends of IBD over the last four decades in this US population-based cohort.
The Structural Reforms of the Chinese Statistical System
Authors: Moser Günter 
Published: February 2019

The Structural Reforms of the Chinese Statistical System The quality of statistical data covering the economic and social development of the People's Republic of China has been questioned by international and national data users for years. The reasons for this doubt lie mainly in the structure of the Chinese system of statistics. Two parallel systems exist which operate largely autonomously: the national system of statistics and the sectoral system of statistics. In the area of the national statistical system, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has the authority to order and collect statistics. This competence lies with the ministries and authorities below the ministerial level. This article describes and analyses these structures, the resulting problems, and the reform measures taken to date. It also aims to provide a better understanding of the statistical data about the People's Republic of China and to enable an assessment of them within a changing structural context. In conclusion, approaches to further reforms will be provided based on the author's long-standing experience in cooperation projects with the official Chinese statistics agencies.
Vietnamese Civic Organisations: Supporters of or Obstacles to Further Democratisation? Results from an Empirical Survey
Authors: Wischermann Jörg , Cuong Bui The , Phuong Dang Thi Viet 
Published: February 2019

In political science and in development cooperation, civic organisations (COs) under authoritarian rule are usually seen as supporters of processes that move towards democratisation. However, these organisations are sometimes criticised for their support of those in power. Within this context, critics refer to the fact that many COs have, for example, authoritarian intra-organisational structures. This characteristic clearly limits their potential to be supporters of democratisation processes. In this paper, we proceed from the assumption that Vietnamese COs can be both supporters of democracy and organisations that help to maintain authoritarian rule; they can sometimes even be both at the same time. COs are “polyvalent” (Kößler). More concretely, what COs are and which role(s) they play in the political system is mainly but not exclusively dependent on the impact the state has on them, and is at the same time dependent on the effects that those organisations have on the state. The results from an empirical survey, supported by the German Research Council (2013–2016) and carried out as a co-operation between the Institute of Asian Studies/GIGA Hamburg and the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, suggest the following: ▪ Most Vietnamese COs are hierarchically structured, if not organised in an authoritarian way. They are not “schools of democracy”, in the sense of Tocqueville. ▪ Most Vietnamese COs that have engaged in the welfare provision sector, either willingly or unwillingly, have helped to foster the foundations of authoritarianism. ▪ In the field of economic policies, the COs invited by the state to participate in and contribute to the formulation of policies do help, overall, to secure existing power structures, even though these organisations also help change various economic policies and even though their activities produce some democracy-promoting effects. ▪ In the policy field of gender equality, women's rights, and rights of sexual minorities, the mass organisation Vietnam Women's Union supports the state's respective discourse. Some NGOs active in this policy field are doing both: They support and criticise the state's discourse on gender norms and the rights of sexual minorities. In the conclusion, we answer the question of which Vietnamese COs can be seen as supporters of further democratisation and which can be classified as obstacles.
The Strategic Vision behind Vietnam's International Trade Integration
Authors: Deprez Sophie 
Published: February 2019

This paper evaluates the positioning of Vietnam in international trade. It addresses the key question of how Vietnam uses its participation in international trade agreements as a tool to ensure and advance national interest and security through increased economic power. The paper first examines how Vietnam participates in the international integration of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), and then looks at the importance for Vietnam to be outward-looking; that is, to participate in trade agreements outside the South-East Asian region. Finally, I examine how reforms required under international trade agreements push Vietnam into domestic economic reforms. My conclusion is that the political elite of Vietnam has identified trade, export-oriented growth and international economic integration as international policy preferences and has used international trade integration as a strategic instrument to maximise these national priorities within the regional and international trade system. Therefore, Vietnam has a very strategic view on international trade integration and uses it as an instrument to ensure its national interest and security through increased economic power. Through careful selection of trade agreements, Vietnam aims to position itself in a strategically advantageous position vis-à-vis other economies of the AEC, to ensure continued economic growth through preferential access to key markets and to push through some of the more difficult and sensitive domestic economic reforms, using its commitments under external trade agreements as a lock-in mechanism.
Performance and Usability of Three Systems for Continuous Glucose Monitoring in Direct Comparison
Authors: Freckmann Guido , Link Manuela , Kamecke Ulrike , Haug Cornelia , Baumgartner Bernhard , Weitgasser Raimund 
Published: February 2019

Background: To be able to compare continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems, they have to be worn in parallel by the same subjects. This study evaluated the performance and usability of three different CGM systems in direct comparison. Method: In this open, prospective study at two sites, 54 patients with diabetes wore three CGM systems each (Dexcom G5™ Mobile CGM system [DG5], Guardian™ Connect system [GC], and a Roche CGM system [RCGM]) in parallel for 6 or 7 days in a mixed inpatient and outpatient setting. Capillary comparison measurements were performed using a self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) system. During study site visits, glucose excursions were induced. Performance of the systems was evaluated by calculating mean absolute relative differences (MARD, calculated as absolute differences for glucose concentrations <100 mg/dL and as relative differences for glucose concentrations ≥100 mg/dL), and mean relative differences (MRD, bias) between CGM and SMBG results. In addition, usability of the systems was assessed. Results: Overall MARD was 10.1 ± 2.1 for DG5, 11.5 ± 4.2 for GC, and 11.9 ± 5.6 for RCGM. Performance improved in all systems after the first day of use. All systems showed >99% of values within zones A and B of the consensus error grid. Overall, all CGM systems showed a small negative bias compared to SMBG. Usability of the systems differed regarding patch adhesion rate, failure rate, and patient rating. Most patients preferred GC, but in general all systems were rated positively. Conclusion: All three CGM systems showed similar overall accuracy in this direct comparison, but small differences were observed with regard to specific glucose ranges and usability aspects.
Observations of Activity Levels in a Purpose-Built, Inpatient, Rehabilitation Facility
Authors: Scrivener Katharine , Pocovi Natasha , Jones Taryn , Dean Bridget , Gallagher Shaun , Henrisson Wesley , Thorburn Michael , Dean Catherine 
Published: February 2019

Background: Effective rehabilitation should include high levels of physical activity. The impact of the environmental design on activity levels has had minimal consideration. Purpose: This study investigates activity levels of inpatients undergoing rehabilitation in a new rehabilitation facility with innovative design and multidisciplinary care, comparing weekday and weekend activity levels, as well as changes over a 12-month period. Method: An observational study reporting participants’ location, people present, body position, and activity type on 2 weekdays and 1 weekend day using behavior mapping techniques. Fifteen participants were observed in a mixed rehabilitation unit with neurological, orthopedic, and other health conditions. Results: Results were calculated as the proportion of observations participants spent in each location, position, and performing activities (physical, cognitive, social), and time spent alone and inactive. On average, participants were engaged in activity for 86% (standard deviation [ SD] = 9) of the day, with physical activity accounting for 51% ( SD = 11), cognitive activity 28% ( SD = 10), and social activity 42% ( SD = 16). There was more physical activity (mean difference [ MD] 8% absolute, confidence interval [CI] = [4, 12], p < .01) and less social activity ( MD −6% absolute, CI [−11, −1], p = .02) on weekdays compared to weekends. Overall, participants were alone and inactive for 12% ( SD = 9) of the day. Participants observed in 2016 displayed similar results to those observed in 2015. Conclusion: High levels of activity were achieved in this facility that underwent environmental redesign, construction of new facilities, and implementation of evidence-based strategies.
Drug repositioning in pulmonary arterial hypertension: challenges and opportunities
Authors: Grinnan Daniel , Trankle Cory , Andruska Adam , Bloom Bruce , Spiekerkoetter Edda 
Published: February 2019

Despite many advances in medical therapy for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) over the past 20 years, long‐term survival is still poor. Novel therapies which target the underlying pathology of PAH and which could be added to current vasodilatory therapies to halt disease progression and potentially reverse pulmonary vascular remodeling are highly sought after. Given the high attrition rates, substantial costs, and slow pace of new drug development, repositioning of “old” drugs is increasingly becoming an attractive path to identify novel treatment options, especially for a rare disease such as PAH.We here summarize the limitations of current PAH therapy, the general concept of repurposing and repositioning, success stories of approved repositioned drugs in PAH as well as novel repositioned drugs that show promise in preclinical models of pulmonary hypertension (PH) and are currently tested in clinical trials. We furthermore discuss various data‐driven as well as experimental approaches currently used to identify repurposed drug candidates and review challenges for the “repositioning community” with regards to funding and patent and regulatory considerations, and to illustrate opportunities for collaborative solutions for drug repositioning relevant to PAH.