bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Diverted from the “Correct Vote”? Foreign Policy Influence on Electoral Behavior*
Authors: Martini Nicholas F. , Schutt Samuel 
Published: November 2018

ObjectiveWe consider the influence foreign policy issues and events can have on the voting calculations of individuals; specifically, how foreign policy influences the probability of “correct voting.”MethodWe use data from the 2004 American National Election Study along with a measure of “correct voting” from Richard Lau and David P. Redlawsk (1997, American Political Science Review, 91(3): 585–98) and Lau, Andersen, and Redlawsk (2008, American Journal of Political Science, 52(2): 395–411).ResultsOur results indicate that salient foreign policy issues viewed to be favorably handled by the incumbent have the potential to alter voting calculations to favor the incumbent. In the 2004 presidential election, individuals who should have voted for Kerry were more likely to vote incorrectly if terrorism was a salient issue. This pattern was not observed on another foreign policy issue: Iraq.ConclusionThis research further clarifies the strong link foreign policy can have with the electoral behavior of individuals. It speaks to the correct voting literature in expanding upon what elements can modify voter calculations. It also speaks to researchers in foreign policy and public opinion by expanding our understanding of the conditions for when foreign policy issues and voter behavior can be fused.
Time interval between antibody investigations among patients who demonstrate serial red cell antibody formation
Authors: Dinh Anh , Eliason Kent , Dzik Walter (Sunny) 
Published: November 2018

BACKGROUNDCurrent national standards for pretransfusion testing do not address the frequency or optimal time interval to repeat antibody identification testing for patients in whom antibodies have been previously detected.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODSA retrospective review was performed of patients with existing red blood cell (RBC) antibodies who subsequently developed new antibody specificities. Data were drawn from a single institution where the antibody investigation was repeated if the screen suggested a new antibody or if 14 days had elapsed since the previous investigation. Clinically insignificant or drug‐dependent antibodies were excluded. Among cases in which new antibodies were detected within 30 days of a previous sample that already demonstrated existing antibodies, the median and lower 95% confidence intervals for the number of days between the detection of the existing and new antibodies were determined.RESULTSOver a 9‐year period, among 2114 patients with more than 1 antibody, 699 (33%) had serially detected antibodies from separate samples. Among 152 patients whose subsequent antibody was detected within 30 days of the existing antibodies, the median time interval to detection of the new antibody was 13 days. The lower 95% confidence interval was 1 day. By Day 3, 18% of the new antibodies had already appeared.CONCLUSIONIn patients who form multiple antibodies, the serial emergence of clinically significant antibodies is common. In some patients, detection of a new specificity occurs in a sample drawn shortly after the sample that demonstrated the first antibody. These results have implications for the frequency of pretransfusion testing.
Diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging is a feasible method for characterizing regional lymph nodes in canine patients with head and neck disease
Authors: Stahle Jessica A. , Larson Martha M. , Rossmeisl John H. , Dervisis Nick , Neelis Dana 
Published: November 2018

AbstractIn dogs diagnosed with solid tumors, regional lymph node involvement or evidence of distant metastasis can predict worse prognoses and significantly decreased survival. Lymph node size alone has been shown to be insufficient as a predictor for the accurate clinical staging of some canine neoplasia. However, certain regional lymph nodes (including those of the oral cavity) are difficult to access for routine tissue sampling. Diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has demonstrated the ability to differentiate metastatic from inflammatory/benign lymph nodes in clinical studies with human cancer patients through the calculation of quantitative values of diffusion termed apparent diffusion coefficients (ADC). The objective of this prospective, exploratory study was to evaluate diffusion‐weighted MRI and ADC as potential methods for detecting metastatic lymph nodes in dogs with naturally occurring disease. We hypothesized that diffusion‐weighted MRI would identify significantly different ADC values between benign and metastatic lymph nodes in a group of canine patients with head or neck disease. Our study population consisted of eight client‐owned canine patients, with a total of 20 lymph nodes evaluated (six metastatic, 14 benign). Our results demonstrated that two of four observers identified a significant difference between the mean ADC values of the benign and metastatic lymph nodes. When data from all four observers were pooled, the difference between the mean apparent diffusion coefficients values of the benign and metastatic lymph nodes did not reach significance (P‐value = 0.0566). Findings indicated that diffusion‐weighted MRI is a feasible method for further characterizing enlarged lymph nodes in dogs with head and neck disease, however measured ADC values did not differ for benign vs. metastatic lymph nodes in this small sample of dogs.
Industries’ Requirements and Expectations of Graduates: A Revisit
Authors: C. Alih Nur Ashiquin , Md. Yusof Masdinah Alauyah , Abdul Raof Abdul Halim , Wan Zakaria Wan Zarina , Shamsudin Sarimah , Mohd Omar Noor Abidah , Ismail Fauziah , Jobil Johana 
Published: November 2018

Graduate employability has become more rigid nowadays whereby industries demand not only for graduates’ academic qualifications but also their ability to communicate in English. However, there is hardly any exit test instrument available in higher learning institutions that could gauge the graduates’ communicative competence before graduation. Thus, to address this matter, the Test of English for Communication Skills (UTM-TECS) was developed aims to provide potential employers with a more accurate measure of graduates’ readiness to function in the workplace. Given that the demand of English in the workplace is continuously changing through time, it is therefore important to ensure the assessment scale used to assess graduates’ oral competency takes into account the latest and up-dated requirements and expectations sought by industries. Hence, this study was conducted to investigate the current criteria that the industries adopt in recruiting new graduates. Besides that, the study also aims to compare the industries’ assessment criteria with the criteria used in the UTM-TECS scale. This study utilized interviews as the data collection method and eight Human Resource personnel from different firms in Johor Bahru and Kuala Lumpur were involved. The study reveals that academic degree is needed for screening purposes; i.e. to shortlist the potential employees. In addition to that, soft skills which comprise of communication skill especially the English language speaking skill, team work, attitude, professional image and critical thinking ability are amongst the criteria used to select graduates for employment. It was discovered that the criteria listed by the respondents were almost similar to the criteria found in the scale except for one criterion; attitude which is not present in the UTM-TECS assessment scale. The respondents also viewed professional image as the highest of importance as compared to the UTM-TECS assessment weightage. The findings from the study could be useful in re-validating the UTM-TECS oral interaction scale so as to ensure its quality and to improve it tobecome a better yardstick for graduates’ employability and marketability.
Related graphs of the conjugacy classes of a 3-generator 5-group
Authors: Mohd Noor Alia Husna , Sarmin Nor Haniza , Rahmat Hamisan 
Published: November 2018

The study on conjugacy class has started since 1968. A conjugacy class is defined as an equivalence class under the equivalence relation of being conjugate. In this research, let be a 3-generator 5-group and the scope of the graphs is a simple undirected graph. This paper focuses on the determination of the conjugacy classes of where the set omega is the subset of all commuting elements in the group. The elements of the group with order 5 are identified from the group presentation. The pair of elements are formed in the form of which is of size two where and commute. In addition, the results on conjugacy classes of are applied into graph theory. The determination of the set omega is important in the computation of conjugacy classes in order to find the generalized conjugacy class graph and orbit graph. The group action that is considered to compute the conjugacy classes is conjugation action. Based on the computation, the generalized conjugacy class graph and orbit graph turned out to be a complete graph.
Effect of putative probiont Enterococcus hirae on the hematological parameters of juvenile African catfish, Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) during pre- and post-challenge against Aeromonas hydrophila
Authors: Hamid Nur Hidayahanum , Mohd Daud Hassan , Srisapoome Prapansak , Abu Hassim Hasliza , Mohd Yusoff Md Sabri , Kayansamruaj Pattanapon , Hamdan Ruhil Hayati , Mohd Yusoff Siti Fairus , Abu Bakar Siti Nadia 
Published: November 2018

Probiotics have been widely known to have the ability to improve the immune system of livestock and aquatic animal. The present study was carried out to evaluate the effect of dietary supplementation of two probiotic isolates of Enterococcus faecium on hematological parameters of juvenile African catfish, Clarias gariepinus during pre- and post-challenge with aquatic pathogen, Aeromonas hydrophila. The probiotics were previously isolated from vegetable wastes (mung bean sprouts, Vigna radiate and cucumber, Cucumis sativus) which have been fermented for 7 days. The experimental fish (270 tails) with an average weight of 5.13 ± 1.03 g were distributed and divided randomly into i) control (30 tails), fed with commercial diet ii) E1 (30 tails), fed with diets supplemented with 108 CFU/ml of E. faecium isolated from fermented cucumber, iii) E2 (30 tails), fed with 108 CFU/ml of E. faecium isolated from fermented mung bean sprouts. The feeding trial was conducted for 50 days. All experimental groups were then challenged with A. hydrophila (1.5 × 106 CFU/mL) via intraperitoneal injection on day 51. Prior to challenge, blood samples were collected from five fish randomly selected from each group on the day 51 (pre-challenge). After 72 hours of post-challenge, blood samples were again collected from five fish from each groups. The hematological parameters such as total erythrocyte count (RBC), total leucocyte count (WBC), packed cell volume (PCV), hemoglobin (Hb), the derived blood indices of mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) were examined. Hematological profiles of pre- and post-challenge infected juvenile catfish were compared with the control groups. The RBC, Hb, WBC, PCV, MCV and MCHC of fish fed with probiotics showed higher significant difference (P<0.05) as compared to control groups during pre- and post-challenge of pathogen. The high level of RBC and WBC during pre- and post-challenge showed the capability of the probiotics to improve the immune response of juvenile African catfish and thus increased the fish disease resistance against A. hydrophila infection. The result suggested that E. faecium could be used effectively as a probiotic in aquaculture.
Blood–brain barrier permeability measured using dynamic contrast‐enhanced magnetic resonance imaging: a validation study
Authors: Varatharaj Aravinthan , Liljeroth Maria , Darekar Angela , Larsson Henrik B.W. , Galea Ian , Cramer Stig P. 
Published: November 2018

Key points
The blood–brain barrier (BBB) is an important and dynamic structure which contributes to homeostasis in the central nervous system.
BBB permeability changes occur in health and disease but measurement of BBB permeability in humans is not straightforward.
Dynamic contrast‐enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE‐MRI) can be used to model the movement of gadolinium contrast into the brain, expressed as the influx constant Ki.
Here evidence is provided that Ki as measured by DCE‐MRI behaves as expected for a marker of overall BBB leakage.
These results support the use of DCE‐MRI for in vivo studies of human BBB permeability in health and disease.
AbstractBlood–brain barrier (BBB) leakage can be measured using dynamic contrast‐enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE‐MRI) as the influx constant Ki. To validate this method we compared measured Ki with biological expectations, namely (1) higher Ki in healthy individual grey matter (GM) versus white matter (WM), (2) GM/WM cerebral blood volume (CBV) ratio close to the histologically established GM/WM vascular density ratio, (3) higher Ki in visibly enhancing multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions versus MS normal appearing white matter (NAWM), and (4) higher Ki in MS NAWM versus healthy individual NAWM. We recruited 13 healthy individuals and 12 patients with MS and performed whole‐brain 3D DCE‐MRI at 3 T. Ki and CBV were calculated using Patlak modelling for manual regions of interest (ROI) and segmented tissue masks. Ki was higher in control GM versus WM (P = 0.001). CBV was higher in GM versus WM (P = 0.005, mean ratio 1.9). Ki was higher in visibly enhancing MS lesions versus MS NAWM (P = 0.002), and in MS NAWM versus controls (P = 0.014). Bland–Altman analysis showed no significant difference between ROI and segmentation methods (P = 0.638) and an intra‐class correlation coefficient showed moderate single measure consistency (0.610). Ki behaves as expected for a compound marker of permeability and surface area. The GM/WM CBV ratio measured by this technique is in agreement with the literature. This adds evidence to the validity of Ki measured by DCE‐MRI as a marker of overall BBB leakage.
Integrated Steering and Braking Control System for Collision Avoidance by Using Virtual Repulsive Force Field Method
Authors: Yokoyama Atsushi , Raksincharoensak Pongsathorn , Yoshikawa Naoto 
Published: November 2018

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving systems are being enhanced to deal with various types of collision avoidance use-case scenarios. To handle those complicated scenarios, a unified two-dimensional planar motion control methodology assuming virtual repulsive force from obstacles is introduced, which is physically interpretable and comprehensible. The direction and magnitude of virtual repulsive force are determined considering the orientation of obstacle surface planes and the friction limit between tires and road surface respectively. Applying the concept of virtual repulsive force field, the collision avoidance path can be derived from geometrical relationship and the control activation points can be obtained as algebraic solutions.
By using a simple particle mass model, the formulation for path and control activation point is described. The simulation is conducted against not only in the case of a straight roadway but also in the case of a curve roadway. By designing feedforward and feedback controllers based on a two-wheel vehicle dynamics model, the effectiveness of the proposed method is verified and the feasibility of controller implementation for actual vehicle is also investigated.
Monitoring and Control of Workpiece Vibrations Using Proportional Hydraulic Clamping Mechanism
Authors: Yadav Manisha , Mohite Suhas 
Published: November 2018

Machining thin-walled components involves continuous decrease in mass and stiffness of the parts being machined, causing increase in vibrations and instability. This leads to undesirable machining errors in dimensional and form tolerances as well as surface finish which adversely affects the quality of machined parts.
To track and quantify the changing dynamic behaviour of Aluminum 6061-T6 workpiece, first, numerical simulations are carried out in ANSYS Workbench 18.2 to extract its modal properties. To validate this, off-line modal hammer tests are carried out on a number of semi-machined fixtured components, representing intermediate stages of machining. The results of the numerical simulations match well with the experimental measurements. With thinning of the walls from 6mm to 4.5mm the natural frequencies and damping ratios are found to drop by a factor of 1.5 and the magnification factor is found to rise by 25% signifying rise in the vibration levels. This obviously would reflect in enhanced vibrations of the workpiece when subjected to dynamic forces during machining. In this paper, this problem is addressed by deploying strain gauge bridge in the feedback and thereby regulating clamping pressure by proportional hydraulic clamping mechanism in an on-line mode. The method is found to compensate the vibration level by 40% and can be integrated in the design of a smart fixtures.
Analytical Study of a Piezoelectric Frequency Up-Conversion Harvester Under Sawtooth Wave Excitation
Authors: Onsorynezhad Saeed , Abedini Amin , Wang Fengxia 
Published: November 2018

In this work, an impact based frequency up-conversion mechanism is studied via discontinuous dynamics analysis. The mechanism consists of a moving stopper and a piezoelectric beam. The repeated free vibration of the piezoelectric beam achieved through the impaction between the stopper and the beam, With the stopper excited by a sawtooth wave. Due to the impact, the system contains complex discontinuous dynamics, hence to better understand the energy harvesting performance of the piezoelectric beam, we seek the simple periodic motions of the system. As the system parameter varies, the output voltage and power of the piezoelectric beam with periodic motions is obtained. These results were also compared with those obtained when the piezoelectric beam is directly subjected to the same sawtooth wave.
The piezoelectric beam was modeled as a mass-spring-damper system, and the linear piezoelectric constitutive equations have been used to obtain the lumped model of the piezoelectric beam. In this study, numerical solutions of the generated power and voltage were obtained via discontinuous dynamics analysis. When the excitation frequency is low, the effect of frequency-up-conversion is demonstrated by comparing the generated power of two cases: piezoelectric beam excited via impact and beam directly subject to the sawtooth wave. The stable and unstable periodic motions and bifurcation trees of the impact parameters are predicted analytically versus varying excitation frequency for period-1 and period-2.
Cluster endophthalmitis due to Stenotrophomonas maltophilia following intravitreal bevacizumab: outcomes of patients from North India
Authors: Agarwal Aniruddha Kishandutt , Aggarwal Kanika , Samanta Ramanuj , Angrup Archana , Biswal Manisha , Ray Pallab , Dogra Mohit , Katoch Deeksha , Bansal Reema , Singh Ramandeep , Dogra Mangat R , Gupta Vishali 
Published: November 2018

PurposeTo study features, management and outcomes of cluster endophthalmitis following intravitreal bevacizumab (BCZ) injection in North India.MethodsIn this retrospective study, 28 patients (23 men) (mean age of 59.07±13 years) who received intravitreal injection of BCZ were included. Demographic details, best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), clinical features, microbiological findings and management of patients who developed endophthalmitis after injection of contaminated BCZ injections were reviewed. The organism isolated was Stenotrophomonas maltophilia.ResultsAll patients suffered from painful diminution of vision within 24–48 hours. Of the 28 eyes, 12 had lid and corneal oedema, raised intraocular pressure (IOP) (difference between mean preinjection and postinjection IOP: 4.42 mm Hg; p=0.005) and toxic anterior segment syndrome-like picture. 16 eyes presented with clear cornea, severe vitritis and poor media clarity. Among these, three eyes showed posterior hypopyon. Seventeen eyes underwent primary pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) and intravitreal vancomycin+ceftazidime based on severity of inflammation. Eleven eyes underwent primary tap and inject. Among these, four eyes required PPV due to persistent inflammation. Eleven eyes showed positive staining for Gram-negative bacilli. Seven eyes were culture positive for S. maltophilia. Mean preinjection BCVA was 0.77±0.48. The first recorded postinjection BCVA was 2.52±0.82. BCVA (at 1 month) improved to 0.88±0.66.ConclusionsS. maltophilia can be found contaminating hospital surfaces and water supply. Early PPV, prompt intravitreal antibiotics and close communication with microbiologists greatly aided in salvaging all eyes from our cohort. Majority of the patients recovered their preinjection BCVA and IOP and achieved quiescence of inflammation.
Effect of family practice contract services on the quality of primary care in Guangzhou, China: a cross-sectional study using PCAT-AE
Authors: Li Lina , Zhong Chenwen , Mei Jie , Liang Yuan , Li Li , Kuang Li 
Published: November 2018

ObjectiveCurrent healthcare reform in China has an overall goal of strengthening primary care and establishing a family practice system based on contract services. The objective of this study was to determine whether contracting a general practitioner (GP) could improve quality of primary care.DesignA cross-sectional study using two-stage sampling conducted from June to September 2014. Propensity score matching (PSM) was employed to control for confounding between patients with and without contracted GP.SettingThree community health centres in Guangzhou, China.Participants698 patients aged 18–89 years.Main outcome measuresThe quality of primary care was measured using a validated Chinese version of primary care assessment tool (PCAT). Eight domains are included (first contact utilisation, accessibility, continuity, comprehensiveness, coordination, family-centredness, community orientation and cultural competence from patient’s perceptions).ResultsA total of 692 effective samples were included for data analysis. After PSM, 94 pairs of patients were matched between the patients with and without contracted GPs. The total PCAT score, continuity (3.12 vs 2.68, p<0.01), comprehensiveness (2.31 vs 2.04, p<0.01) and family-centredness (2.11 vs 1.79, p<0.01) were higher in patients who contracted GPs than those did not. However, the domains of first contact utilisation (2.74 vs 2.87, p=0.14) and coordination (1.76 vs 1.93, p<0.05) were lower among patients contracted with GPs than in those who did not.ConclusionOur findings demonstrated that patients who had a contracted GP tend to experience higher quality of primary care. Our study provided evidence for health policies aiming to promote the implementation of family practice contract services. Our results also highlight further emphases on the features of primary care, first contact services and coordination services in particular.