bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effect of permanent magnetic field on the properties of static water and germination of cucumber seeds
Authors: Cheikh Olfa , Elaoud Anis , Amor Hamza Ben , Hozayn Mahmoud 
Published: February 2018

Water scarcity and concentration of salts in soils are currently considered as threats to human life. The degradation of
irrigation water quality is mainly due to overexploitation of natural resources, poor management and pollution.
However, these factors limit the development of agriculture. Although the method of treating water by a magnetic field
is a technique that has recently been introduced into different fields, including agriculture, it can be considered as a
solution to reduce the salinity problems of irrigation water. On the other hand, magnetized water is the water exposed
to magnetic rays which undergoes physical and chemical variations. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of
magnetic treatment the advantages of magnetically treated water on the rate of germination and the germinal faculty
of cucumber seeds. In addition, experiments were performed with two magnetic devices: A1 = 0.5 Tesla; A2 = 0.29 Tesla.
As a result, the application of a magnetic field influenced the parameters of the water, decreasing its pH. As well as, the
increase in germination rate and the seed capacity of cucumber seeds before seedling. Statistical analysis showed that
our experimental results are highly significant.

Keywords: Static magnetic field, Germination, Cucumber seeds
Technical expertise: Diagnostic and descaling solution of geothermal waters in arid zone
Authors: Elaoud Anis , Amor Hamza Ben , Amor Mohamed Ben 
Published: February 2018

In Tunisia, geothermal waters show problems of scaling and clogging of pipes and basins. Several chemicals are the
basis of anti-scaling solutions. Our expertise illustrates a simple and inexpensive technical solution by injecting 'STPP'
(Sodium tripolyphosphate) at a rate of 0.8 g / m3
.
Keywords: Scaling and clogging etc
Parent Involvement in Children Reading Development
Authors: Suryad Didik , . Yufiarti 
Published: February 2018

The research was aimed to develop home reading programs for parent to tutor the children learn to read at home. The
development procedure owed the work of Borg and Gall’s research and development model. Tryout and implementation
were conducted in a Kindergarten School in Bogor, Indonesia. The data was collected through observation, interview
and checklist. The product was considerably feasible referred to the judgments of five experienced kindergarten
teachers, three early childhood education and 15 parents participating in the implementation. It was concluded that
the model contributed to overcome the problem encountered by both parents and kindergarten teachers in how to help
children learn to read at home.
Keywords: Parent’s involvement, kindergarten reading program, research and development
Optimal Design Problems for the First p-Fractional Eigenvalue with Mixed Boundary Conditions
Authors: Fernández Bonder Julian , Rossi Julio D. , Spedaletti Juan F. 
Published: February 2018

Abstract
In this paper, we study an optimal shape design problem for the first eigenvalue of the fractional p-Laplacian with mixed boundary conditions. The optimization variable is the set where the Dirichlet condition is imposed (that is restricted to have measure equal to a prescribed quantity α). We show existence of an optimal design and analyze the asymptotic behavior when the fractional parameter s converges to 1, and thus obtain asymptotic bounds that are independent of α.
In vitro degradation of chitosan composite foams for biomedical applications and effect of bioactive glass as a crosslinker
Authors: Martins Talita , Moreira Cheisy D. F. , Costa-Júnior Ezequiel S. , Pereira Marivalda M. 
Published: February 2018

Abstract
In tissue engineering applications, 3D scaffolds with adequate structure and composition are required to provide durability that is compatiblewith the regeneration of native tissue. In the present study, the degradation of novel flexible 3D composite foams of chitosan (CH) combined with bioactive glass (BG)was evaluated, focusing on the role of BG as a physical crosslinker in the composites, and its effect on the degradation process. Highly porous CH/BG composite foams were obtained, and an elevated degradation temperature and lower degradation rate compared with pure chitosan were observed, probably as a result of greater intermolecular interaction between CH and BG. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) data suggest that hydrogen bonds were responsible for the physical crosslinking between CH and BG. The results confirm that CH/BG foams can combine controllable bioactivity and degradation behavior and, therefore, could be useful for tissue regeneration matrices.
Laboratory hemostasis: from biology to the bench
Authors: Lippi Giuseppe , Favaloro Emmanuel J. 
Published: February 2018

AbstractPhysiological hemostasis is an intricate biological system, where procoagulant and anticoagulant forces interplay and preserves blood fluidity when blood vessels are intact, or trigger clot formation to prevent excessive bleeding when blood vessels are injured. The modern model of hemostasis is divided into two principal phases. The first, defined as primary hemostasis, involves the platelet-vessel interplay, whilst the second, defined as secondary hemostasis, mainly involves coagulation factors, damaged cells and platelet surfaces, where the so-called coagulation cascade rapidly develops. The activation and amplification of the coagulation cascade is finely modulated by the activity of several physiological inhibitors. Once bleeding has been efficiently stopped by blood clot formation, dissolution of the thrombus is essential to restore vessel permeability. This process, known as fibrinolysis, also develops through coordinate action of a vast array of proteins and enzymes. An accurate diagnosis of hemostasis disturbance entails a multifaceted approach, encompassing family and personal history of hemostatic disorders, accurate collection of clinical signs and symptoms, integrated with laboratory hemostasis testing. Regarding laboratory testing, a reasonable approach entails classifying hemostasis testing according to cost, complexity and available clinical information. Laboratory workout may hence initiate with some rapid and inexpensive “screening” tests, characterized by high negative predictive value, then followed by second- or third-line analyses, specifically aimed to clarify the nature and severity of bleeding or thrombotic phenotype. This article aims to provide a general overview of the hemostatic process, and to provide some general suggestions to optimally facilitate laboratory hemostasis testing.
Consequences of Gossiping on Women Empowerment
Authors: Umer Shumaila , Othman Zaheruddin , Hassan Kalthum Bt Haji , Umer Rahila , Rehman Habib Ur 
Published: February 2018

Abstract
Gossip is prevalent and is widespread in human society. Gossip has been denigrated as ‘idle talk’, mostly among women based on ‘trifling or groundless rumour’. The nature and intensity of gossiping victimise women in society. Consequently, women bear serious threat to their well standardized lives. The study aims to understand the women’s experiences with gossiping as a barrier to empowerment. This is a qualitative study with inductive approach. Men and Women are selected as a informants for this study. The data were congregated through in-depth interviews. The results indicate that gossiping or fear of being gossiped is a strong social control in the social setup of Balochistan. This prevents women from being empowered. This paper is intended to be a contribution to exploiting the ideas of women about gossiping as an essential social control or barrier for empowering women.
The World Health Organization (WHO) versus The International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Group (IADPSG) diagnostic criteria of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and their associated maternal and neonatal outcomes
Authors: Basri Nurul Iftida , Mahdy Zaleha Abdullah , Ahmad Shuhaila , Abdul Karim Abdul Kadir , Shan Lim Pei , Abdul Manaf Mohd Rizal , Ismail Nor Azlin Mohd 
Published: February 2018

Abstract

Background
Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a common medical complication in pregnancy. The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence of GDM using the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria and the International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Group (IADPSG) criteria in our population. We further compared the incidence of adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes in women diagnosed with GDM using these criteria and determined whether the IADPSG criteria is suitable in our population.

Methods
This randomized controlled trial was conducted at our antenatal clinic involving 520 patients from 1st February 2015 until 30th September 2017. They were randomized into the WHO and the IADPSG groups. All eligible women underwent a standard oral glucose tolerance test with 75 g glucose, their fasting and 2 h post prandial glucose levels were taken. The primary outcome was the prevalence of GDM. The secondary outcomes were the incidence of primary cesarean section, gestational hypertension or preeclampsia, preterm delivery <37 weeks, fetal macrosomia, neonatal hypoglycemia and shoulder dystocia or birth injury.

Results
The prevalence of GDM in both groups were similar (37.9% vs. 38.6%). GDM women in the WHO group had a significantly higher incidence of gestational hypertension or preeclampsia (p = 0.004) and neonatal hypoglycemia (p = 0.042). In contrast, GDM women in the IADPSG group had a significantly higher incidence of fetal macrosomia (p = 0.027) and cesarean section (p = 0.012).

Conclusion
The IADPSG diagnostic criteria for GDM may not be suitable for use in our population as it resulted in women being diagnosed later and being undertreated, thus leading to adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes.
Generator Coherency Using Zolotarev Polynomial Based Filter Bank and Principal Component Analysis
Authors: Mandadi Kalyani , Kalyan Kumar B. 
Published: February 2018

AbstractA method is proposed to identify the generators participating in an inter-area mode and the coherent generators by analyzing the discrete signals from phasor measurement units (PMU). In the present work, Zolotarev polynomial based filter bank (ZPBFB) is adopted to decompose the measured signals into monocomponents for modal frequency and damping. ZPBFB is preferred due to the narrow bandwidth of 0.1 Hz and hence closely spaced modes can be distinguished. All the generator speed signals are analysed with ZPBFB to identify the generators participating in an inter-area mode. Principal component analysis (PCA) is widely used for clustering sampled data. It is proposed in the present work to apply PCA on the decomposed signals, obtained from ZPBFB, of those generators participating in an inter-area mode for generator coherency. The efficacy of the proposed method is demonstrated on IEEE two-area test system, 16-machine, 68-bus system and on real time signals recorded by wide area frequency measurement system (WAFMS) in India on November 30, 2011. The detailed simulation results are presented. The performance of the proposed method is compared with small signal stability analysis and wavelet phase difference (WPD) approach.
Effect of prenatal recommendations of Traditional Persian Medicine on obstetric outcomes: a randomized clinical trial
Authors: Keshavarz Mansoor , Kashanian Maryam , Bioos Soodabeh , Vazani Yasaman 
Published: February 2018

Abstract

Background
Traditional Persian Medicine (TPM) is an ancient medical system that provides suggestions to improve the health of mothers and children during pregnancy and labor. Persian physicians believed that these instructions made labor easier, safer, and less painful.

Methods
The present randomized clinical trial was conducted among women at 33–38 weeks of pregnancy in Tehran, Iran. TPM instructions consisted of diet, bathing, and application of oil from the 38th week of pregnancy to the onset of labor. The primary outcome was the duration of the active phase of labor.

Results
The mean duration of the active phase was 331.60 ± 151.48 min for the intervention group and 344.40 ± 271.46 min for the control groups, but it was not statistically significant. The active phase was significantly shorter in women who had better compliance (p=0.03). The need for oxytocin augmentation was 53.3% in the control group and 38.5% in the intervention group (p=0.17). The rate of perineal infection was 13% in the control group and 0% in the intervention group (p=0.11).

Conclusions
The active phase was not different in the intervention and control groups, but it was shorter in compliant women. It is possible that prolonged use of these recommendations in combination with a sitz baths and a larger sample size could result in more significant outcomes.
Behavior Analysis of Illegal Fishing in the Gulf of Mexico
Authors: Pala Ali , Zhang Jing , Zhuang Jun , Allen Nathan 
Published: February 2018

Abstract
Illegal fishing activities in the Gulf of Mexico pose a threat to the US national security, as well as damage to the economy. The US Coast Guard (USCG) estimates over 1100 incursions by Mexican fisherman into US regulated waters in the Gulf of Mexico annually. Fishermen enter the water borders to catch red snapper, which is one of the Gulf of Mexico’s signature and most valuable fish. There are a number of academic contributions which have sought to improve the understanding of the problem of illegal fishing, and to try to generate better solutions. In this study, we investigate the relationship between illegal fishing activities and environmental factors with one-year of historical sight, weather, and moon phase data. Descriptive analysis provides some interesting insights such as sight patterns depending on wave height, moon phase, and hours of a day. Also, we develop logistic regression models that shows wave height is negatively correlated with sight occurrences for all sight types. In addition, we oversample the data and develop two pre diction models using logistic regression and k-nearest neighbor algorithm and compare prediction accuracies. The results show that k-nearest neighbor algorithm performs better in most of the cases.
The zlog value as a basis for the standardization of laboratory results
Authors: Hoffmann Georg , Klawonn Frank , Lichtinghagen Ralf , Orth Matthias 
Published: February 2018

Abstract

Background:
With regard to the German E-Health Law of 2016, the German Society for Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (DGKL) has been invited to develop a standard procedure for the storage and transmission of laboratory results. We suggest the commonly used z-transformation.

Methods:
This method evaluates by how many standard deviations (SDs) a given result deviates from the mean of the respective reference population. We confirm with real data that laboratory results of healthy individuals can be adjusted to a normal distribution by logarithmic transformation.

Results:
Thus, knowing the lower and upper reference limits LL and UL, one can transform any result x into a zlog value using the following equation:

zlog
=

(log(x)
–
(log(LL)
+
log(UL))/2)·3
.92/(log(UL)

–

log(LL))

$\eqalign{

{\rm{zlog}} = & {\rm{(log(x)}}-{\rm{(log(LL)}} + {\rm{log(UL))/2)\cdot3}}{\rm{.92/(log(UL)}} \cr

-{\bf{ }}{\rm{log(LL))}} \cr} $

The result can easily be interpreted, as its reference interval (RI) is –1.96 to +1.96 by default, and very low or high results yield zlog values around –5 and +5, respectively. For intuitive data presentation, the zlog values may be transformed into a continuous color scale, e.g. from blue via white to orange.
Using the inverse function, any zlog value can then be translated into the theoretical result of an analytical method with another RI:

(1)

x
=

LL

0.5
−
zlog
/
3.92

⋅

UL

0.5
+
zlog
/
3.92

$${\rm{x}} = {\rm{L}}{{\rm{L}}^{0.5 - {\rm{zlog}}/3.92}} \cdot {\rm{U}}{{\rm{L}}^{0.5 + {\rm{zlog}}/3.92}}$$

Conclusions:
Our standardization proposal can easily be put into practice and may effectively contribute to data quality and patient safety in the frame of the German E-health law. We suggest for the future that laboratories should provide the zlog value in addition to the original result, and that the data transmission protocols (e.g. HL7, LDT) should contain a special field for this additional value.
A review of the status of the Western polecatMustela putorius: a neglected and declining species?
Authors: Croose Elizabeth , Duckworth J.W. , Ruette Sandrine , Skumatov Dmitry V. , Kolesnikov Vyacheslav V. , Saveljev Alexander P. 
Published: February 2018

AbstractThe Western polecatMustela putoriushas a widespread European distribution and is currently listed as Least Concern by theIUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Reports are increasing of polecat population declines in several countries, although a paucity of data means population trends are poorly understood. This paper reviews and summarises information on the polecat’s status and range-wide population trends. Information and opinion were gathered for 34 countries, from individuals and organisations studying polecats and from reviewing the literature and national Red Lists. Where trends were identified, the polecat population is known or suspected to be declining in 20 countries, reported to be stable in five countries, stable or increasing in one country, and increasing in two countries. For many countries, data are so limited in quantity or spatial scale, or at risk of bias, that trends could not be identified or confidence in trend assessments is low. The main drivers of polecat decline are poorly understood, but might include habitat degradation; changes in prey availability; competition with invasive carnivores; poisoning; conflict with human interests; harvesting and killing of polecats; and hybridisation. Robust survey methods and systematic monitoring programmes are urgently needed to gather up-to-date data on polecat population trends across the species’ range.
Advocacy under Xi: NPO Strategies to Influence Policy Change
Authors: Teets Jessica , Almen Oscar 
Published: February 2018

Abstract
Under the Hu-Wen administration, scholars analyzed how political opportunity structures (POS) affect the policy influence of NPOs in China, and found that the opportunity structure was relatively more open, especially for NPOs using personal connections. In this article, we focus on changes in the opportunity structure since Xi Jinping came to power after 2012, and find that the more closed political climate has had important consequences for NPO policy advocacy. We identify three strategies that NPOs have used to advocate, such as using the law, media framing, and establishing expert status. While these strategies are not novel, we argue that the weighting has shifted in terms of what leads to success.
Dropping on the Edge: Flexibility and Traffic Confirmation in Onion Routing Protocols
Authors: Rochet Florentin , Pereira Olivier 
Published: February 2018

AbstractThe design of Tor includes a feature that is common to most distributed systems: the protocol is flexible. In particular, the Tor protocol requires nodes to ignore messages that are not understood, in order to guarantee the compatibility with future protocol versions. This paper shows how to exploit this flexibility by proposing two new active attacks: one against onion services and the other against Tor clients.Our attack against onion services is a new low-cost side-channel guard discovery attack that makes it possible to retrieve the entry node used by an onion service in one day, without injecting any relay in the network. This attack uses the possibility to send dummy cells that are silently dropped by onion services, in accordance with the flexible protocol design, and the possibility to observe those cells by inspecting public bandwidth measurements, which act as a side channel.Our attack against Tor clients, called the dropmark attack, is an efficient 1-bit conveying active attack that correlates flows. Simulations performed in Shadow show that the attack succeeds with an overwhelming probability and with no noticeable impact on user performance.Finally, we open the discussion regarding a trade-off between flexibility and security in anonymous communication systems, based on what we learned within the scope of our attacks.
Möbius: Trustless Tumbling for Transaction Privacy
Authors: Meiklejohn Sarah , Mercer Rebekah 
Published: February 2018

AbstractCryptocurrencies allow users to securely transfer money without relying on a trusted intermediary, and the transparency of their underlying ledgers also enables public verifiability. This openness, however, comes at a cost to privacy, as even though the pseudonyms users go by are not linked to their real-world identities, all movement of money among these pseudonyms is traceable. In this paper, we present Möbius, an Ethereum-basedtumblerormixing service. Möbius achieves strong notions of anonymity, as even malicious senders cannot identify which pseudonyms belong to the recipients to whom they sent money, and is able to resist denial-of-service attacks. It also achieves a much lower off-chain communication complexity than all existing tumblers, with senders and recipients needing to send only two initial messages in order to engage in an arbitrary number of transactions.
Family and fertility: does kin help influence women’s fertility, and how does this vary worldwide?
Authors: Sear Rebecca 
Published: February 2018

AbstractDespite the tendency of some academic disciplines to assume that the nuclear family is normative, the family takes a number of different forms cross-culturally. Regardless of family form, family members typically cooperate in raising children. Intergenerational help (from grandparents to parents and children), for example, is a cross-cultural universal. Such cooperation means that the availability of kin may be one salient factor in deciding whether and when to have children. Here I consider the evidence for whether the availability of kin does influence fertility, and whether these relationships vary cross-culturally. I find evidence from middle and lower income populations that the presence of kin does increase fertility, and that these relationships are plausibly driven by cooperation between family members. In higher income contexts, associations between kin and fertility are mixed, and appear particularly sensitive to how kin availability and support is measured. There is some evidence that certain measures of support from kin (such as emotional support or help with childcare) increases the likelihood of subsequent births, but kin support is not always positively associated with fertility. Family matters for fertility, then, though these relationships may be complex and context-specific. Policy needs to take this diversity into account, and should not focus exclusively on the nuclear family model, nor neglect the roles other family members play in reproductive decisions.