bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Shear wave elastography imaging for detecting malignant lesions of the liver: a systematic review and pooled meta-analysis
Authors: Jiao Yang , Dong Fajin , Wang Hui , Zhang Lei , Xu Jinfeng , Zheng Jing , Fan Haibo , Gan Hanjing , Chen Lixin , Li Min 
Published: December 2016

Aim: To investigate the clinical utility of shear wave elastography (SWE) imaging in the identification of malignant and benign lesions of the liver lesions by conducting a meta-analysis. Material and methods: The Cochrane library, Embase and Pubmed were searched for relevant studies with publication data through February 2016. Studies evaluating the diagnostic accuracy of SWE in the identification of malignant and benign lesions of the liver using SWE technology were selected. The cytology, histology or clinical imaging was used as the reference standard. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic odds ratio, likelihood ratio, and the area under hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic curve (HSROC) were used to examine the diagnostic accuracy. Results: A total of 9 cohort studies involving 1046 liver lesions (malignant 679) from 968 patients were identified. All of the 9 studies were prospective studies. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, and diagnostic odds ratio of SWE in differentiating malignant and benign liver lesions were 82.2% (95% CI: 73.4–88.5), 80.2% (95% CI: 73.3–85.7), 4.159 (95% CI: 2.899–5.966), 0.222 (95% CI: 0.140–0.352), and 18.749 (95% CI: 8.746–40.195), respectively. The area under the HSROC curve was 87% (95% CI: 84–90). Conclusions: This meta-analysis indicates that SWE is useful in evaluating the stiffness of liver lesions and in differentiating between malignant and benign lesions. Due to the high sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic odds ratio, SWE can be considered as a useful complement to conventional ultrasonography.
Added value of two-dimensional shear wave elastography to ultrasonography for staging common femoral vein thrombi
Authors: Pan Fu-shun , Tian Wen-shuo , Luo Jia , Liu Ming , Liang Jin-yu , Xu Ming , Zheng Yan-ling , Xie Xiao-yan 
Published: December 2016

prove the performance for staging common femoral vein thrombi (CFVT). Material and methods: A total of 194 consecutive patients with CFVT who underwent US and 2D-SWE were enrolled. These patients were categorized into three groups according to CFVT duration: Stage A (≤14 days), Stage B (14 days to 6 months), and Stage C (≥6 months). The diagnostic performance was assessed by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Results: Among all US features, CFV diameter ratio of thrombosed leg to contralateral leg (CFVD_ratio) showed the highest AUC in predicting Stage A and Stage C (0.87 and 0.84, respectively). The diagnostic performance of 2D-SWE value of CFVT (CFVT_E) is comparable with that of CFVD_ratio for Stage A (AUC: 0.85, p=0.630), whereas inferior to that of CFVD_ratio for Stage C (AUC: 0.73, p=0.026). Combining CFVD_ratio with CFVT_E showed lower performance in predicting Stage A (AUC: 0.81, p=0.021) and Stage C (AUC: 0.67, p<0.0001) relative to CFVD_ratio alone. However, this combination increased the specificity from 80.3% to 92.7% (p<0.0001) without a significant reduction of sensitivity (from 77.2% to 70.2%, p=0.371) for predicting Stage A. Conclusions: Adding 2D-SWE to US did not improve the diagnostic performance for staging CFVT compared with US alone. However, the combination improved the specificity in predicting CFVT less than 14 days without loss of sensitivity.
Isokinetic Evaluation of the Hip Flexor and Extensor Muscles: A Systematic Review
Authors: Zapparoli Fabricio Yuri , Riberto Marcelo 
Published: December 2016

Introduction:Isokinetic dynamometry testing is a safe and reliable method accepted as the “gold standard” in the evaluation of muscle strength in the open kinetic chain. Isokinetic hip examinations face problems in the standardization of the position of the equipment axis, in the individual being examined, and in the adjustment of the lever arm and in stabilization strategies for the patients during the tests. Identification of the methodologic procedures with best reproducibility is also needed.Objective:To review the literature to evaluate the parameters used for the isokinetic evaluation of the hip flexor and extensor muscles and its reproducibility.Methods:This is a systematic literature review of the Cochrane, LILACS, PEDro, PubMed, and SciELO databases. The inclusion criteria were articles on the evaluation of hip flexor and/or extensor muscular strength with an isokinetic dynamometer and articles that analyzed the ICC or Pearson’s reproducibility. The information extracted was positioning of the patient; positioning of the dynamometer axis; positioning of the lever arm; angular speed; sample size, pathology; type of contraction; and ICC and Pearson’s results.Results:204 articles were found, from which 14 were selected that evaluated hip flexor and extensor muscles, involving 550 individuals who were submitted to an isokinetic hip evaluation. Five articles obtained the best result in reproducibility and had their methodology analyzed.Conclusion:To obtain better reproducibility of the isokinetic evaluation of the hip flexor and extensor muscles, the following recommendations must be followed: the individual must be positioned in the supine position and the dynamometer axis must be aligned with the greater trochanter of the femur. The positioning of the lever arm must be in the most distal region of the thigh possible. The angular speed used to analyze torque peak and muscle work was 60°/s, and to evaluate the muscle power it was 180°/s, with concentric and eccentric contractions being analyzed.
The Dynatron Solaris® Ultrasound Machine: Slower Heating Than Textbook Recommendations at 3 MHz, 1.0 W/cm2
Authors: Gange Kara N. , Kjellerson Michael C. , Berdan Christiane J. 
Published: December 2016

Context: Therapeutic ultrasound clinical parameters are provided in many modality textbooks based on research performed with the Omnisound brand. Literature exists to support variability in heating rates with different manufacturers. It is unknown if the Dynatron Solaris heats at rates consistent with textbook recommendations. Objective: Determine the rate of tissue-temperature increases in the medial triceps surae with the Dynatron Solaris® 708 ultrasound unit. Design: 3 × 13 repeated measures. Independent variables were tissue depth (1.0, 1.75, and 2.5 cm) and time (13 time periods throughout the treatment). Setting: Research laboratory. Participants: 30 healthy volunteers (female = 11, male = 19; age 21.30 ± 1.95 y; adipose thickness = 0.54 ± 0.15 cm). Intervention: Three thermocouples were inserted into the medial triceps surae at 1.0, 1.75, and 2.5-cm depths. A continuous 3-MHz, 1.0-W/cm2 for 20 minutes ultrasound treatment was performed with a Dynatron Solaris 708 machine. Main Outcome Measures: Intramuscular tissue-temperature increases at each depth throughout the 20-min treatment. Results: There was a significant main effect of depth (F2,52 = 29.76, P < 0.001) and time (F12,312 = 181.59, P < .001) and a significant interaction between times and depths (F24,624 = 15.49, P < .001). The 1.0-cm depth increased 4.22 ± 1.58°C in 6 min (0.70°C/min rate), the 1.75-cm depth increased 3.93 ± 1.94°C in 10 min (0.39°C/min rate), and the 2.5-cm depth increased 3.60 ± 1.86°C in 20 min (0.18°C/min rate). Conclusions: The rate of tissue-temperature increase varied at each depth and the 1.0-cm depth was the only rate similar to textbooks. Clinicians will not reach tissue-temperature goals using Omnisound textbook parameters on the Dynatron Solaris 708 at depths greater than 1.0 cm, which may affect clinicians, educators, and state-certification exams.
Patient-Reported Outcomes Following Platelet-Rich Plasma Injections in Treating Osteochondral Lesions of the Talus: A Critically Appraised Topic
Authors: Jazzo Samuel F. , Scribner Daniel , Shay Stephanie , Kim Kyung-Min 
Published: December 2016

Clinical Scenario: Osteochondral lesions (OCLs) of the talus can result from ankle sprains which are the most common injury in the physically active. Recently, platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has been used to develop an innovate treatment for OCLs of the talus. Clinical Question: Do PRP injections improve self-reported pain and ankle function in patients with OCL of the talus? Summary of Key Findings: 3 randomized controlled trials were included. One of the studies compared a single dose of PRP to a single dose of hyaluronic acid (HA) or saline when added as an adjunct to microfracture surgery. Another study compared a group receiving a single dose of PRP after microfracture surgery to a group that only received microfracture surgery. The last study compared a series of 3 PRP injections to a series of 3 HA injections. In all 3 studies PRP appeared to be more effective in pain and function outcomes than comparison treatments. The superior outcomes of PRP were demonstrated at times as short as 4 weeks and as long as 25 months. Clinical Bottom Line: There is moderate to strong evidence that PRP produces favorable, short-term, pain and function results compared to HA, saline, and/or microfracture surgery alone. Strength of Recommendation: Level 2.
Revaluation of the Samaropsis mendesii Rigby, 1972 from Paraná Basin lower Permian
Authors: Marques-de-Souza Juliane , Iannuzzi Roberto 
Published: December 2016

This paper suggests an emendation to the diagnosis of Samaropsis mendesii Rigby, 1972 (Rio Bonito Formation, Santa Catarina State, Paraná Basin) on the basis of which the Samaropsis gigas Marques-de-Souza et Iannuzzi 2007 comes to be considered a junior synonym of this species. Adding the specimens previously considered as S. gigas from the Rio Grande do Sul State, the stratigraphic range of S. mendesii is extended to the uppermost portion of the Itararé Group. Also, we provide a comparative analysis with the closest Indian species Otofeista milleri (Feistmantel) Pant et al. (1985) (Karharbari beds). The comparison of the S. mendesii with the Indian material pointed to a strong morphometric correspondence between both, highlighting the potentiality of the use of this seed form in stratigraphic correlations due to the peculiarity of the morphology and the abundance of these seeds in Cisuralian (Sakmarian-Artinskian) strata of Gondwana.
THE EXPANDING SYLLABARY OF HONG KONG CANTONESE
Authors: Bauer Robert S. 
Published: December 2016

L'EXPANSION DU SYLLABAIRE DU CANTONAIS DE HONGKONGA partir de ses propres observations et de données recueillies dans la littérature, l'auteur dresse une liste des emprunts anglais en cantonais ayant pour résultat la création de syllabes qui jusque là n'existaient pas en cantonais. Trois types de nouvelles syllabes sont distingués: cellles creéés par recombinaison d'initiales et de finales déjà existantes; celles ayant une finale inédite; et celles violant en apparence la phonotactique cantonaise, comprenant deux consonnes labiales, ou ayant pour initiate un groupe muta + liquida. Les syllabes de ce dernier groupe sont en fait conformes à la phonotactique de vieux mots cantonais appartenant aux couches lexicales les moins littéraires: onomatopées etc. Ces syllabes, comme celles des deux premiers groupes forment des combinaisons segmentales autorisées par la phonotactique cantonaise, et dont l'inexistance était accidentelle.
The Exceptionally Warm Winter of 2015/16 in Alaska
Authors: Walsh John E. , Bieniek Peter A. , Brettschneider Brian , Euskirchen Eugénie S. , Lader Rick , Thoman Richard L. 
Published: December 2016

Abstract
Alaska experienced record-setting warmth during the 2015/16 cold season (October–April). Statewide average temperatures exceeded the period-of-record mean by more than 4°C over the 7-month cold season and by more than 6°C over the 4-month late-winter period, January–April. The record warmth raises two questions: 1) Why was Alaska so warm during the 2015/16 cold season? 2) At what point in the future might this warmth become typical if greenhouse warming continues? On the basis of circulation analogs computed from sea level pressure and 850-hPa geopotential height fields, the atmospheric circulation explains less than half of the anomalous warmth. The warming signal forced by greenhouse gases in climate models accounts for about 1°C of the anomalous warmth. A factor that is consistent with the seasonal and spatial patterns of the warmth is the anomalous surface state. The surface anomalies include 1) above-normal ocean surface temperatures and below-normal sea ice coverage in the surrounding seas from which air advects into Alaska and 2) the deficient snowpack over Alaska itself. The location of the maximum of anomalous warmth over Alaska and the late-winter–early-spring increase of the anomalous warmth unexplained by the atmospheric circulation implicates snow cover and its albedo effect, which is supported by observational measurements in the boreal forest and tundra biomes. Climate model simulations indicate that warmth of this magnitude will become the norm by the 2050s if greenhouse gas emissions follow their present scenario.
A Lagrangian Climatology of Wintertime Cold Air Outbreaks in the Irminger and Nordic Seas and Their Role in Shaping Air–Sea Heat Fluxes
Authors: Papritz Lukas , Spengler Thomas 
Published: December 2016

Understanding the climatological characteristics of marine cold air outbreaks (CAOs) is of critical importance to constrain the processes determining the heat flux forcing of the high-latitude oceans. In this study, a comprehensive multidecadal climatology of wintertime CAO air masses is presented for the Irminger Sea and Nordic seas. To investigate the origin, transport pathways, and thermodynamic evolution of CAO air masses, a novel methodology based on kinematic trajectories is introduced. The major conclusions are as follows: (i) The most intense CAOs occur as a result of Arctic outflows following Greenland’s eastern coast from the Fram Strait southward and west of Novaya Zemlya. Weak CAOs also originate in flow across the SST gradient associated with the Arctic Front separating the Greenland and Iceland Seas from the Norwegian Sea. A substantial fraction of Irminger CAO air masses originate in the Canadian Arctic and overflow southern Greenland. (ii) CAOs account for 60%–80% of the wintertime oceanic heat loss associated with few intense CAOs west of Svalbard and in the Greenland, Iceland, and Barents Seas and frequent weak CAOs in the Norwegian and Irminger Seas. (iii) The amount of sensible heat extracted by CAO air masses is set by their intensity and their pathway over the underlying SST distribution, whereas the amount of latent heat is additionally capped by the SST. (iv) Among all CAO air masses, those in the Greenland and Iceland Seas extract the most sensible heat from the ocean and undergo the most intense diabatic warming. Irminger Sea CAO air masses experience only moderate diabatic warming but pick up more moisture than the other CAO air masses.
Impact of Tidal Mixing on Water Mass Transformation and Circulation in the South China Sea
Authors: Wang Xiaowei , Liu Zhiyu , Peng Shiqiu 
Published: December 2016

AbstractUsing a high-resolution regional ocean model, the impact of tidal mixing on water mass transformation and circulation in the South China Sea (SCS) is investigated through a set of numerical experiments with different configurations of tide-induced diapycnal diffusivity. The results show that including tidal mixing in both the Luzon Strait (LS) and SCS has significant impact on the LS transport and the intermediate–deep layer circulation in the SCS Basin. Analysis of the density field indicates that tidal mixing in both the LS and SCS are essential for sustaining a consistent density gradient and thus a persistent outward-directed baroclinic pressure gradient both between the western Pacific and LS and between the LS and SCS Basin, so as to maintain the strong deep-water transport through the LS. Further analysis of water mass properties suggests that tidal mixing in the deep SCS would strengthen the horizontal density gradient, intensify the basin-scale cyclonic circulation, induce more vigorous overturning, as well as generate the subbasin-scale eddies in the abyssal SCS. The results imply that tidal mixing in both the LS and SCS plays a key dynamic role in controlling water mass properties and deep circulation features in the SCS and thus need to be deliberately parameterized in ocean circulation models for this region.
KINEMATICS OF MOVEMENT OF GEAR ROTATIONAL WORKING UNIT
Authors: Хамитов  , Khamitov Radik , Абдрахманов  , Abdrakhmanov Rinat , Булгариев  , Bulgariev Gumar , Калимуллин  , Kalimullin Marat 
Published: December 2016

One of the promising working units for pre-sowing soil preparation, in particular, for pre-sowing soil cultivation for potatoes, are still the disk tillage.
Studies of a number of authors determined, that the disc units with continuous cutting edge are more energy intensive, less resistant to running and sensitive to changes in the load and working units with a serrated cutting edge has significant advantages. However, not all gear working units are able to perform advanced agronomic requirements.
The rational parameters of developed by the working units, can only be determined on the basis of a study of the process of its interaction with the soil, but in relation to working units with a serrated cutting edge, this question is poorly understood. Working unit movement with respect to the adopted reference system, can be regarded as fully qualified only, when we know the movement of its each points in the same frame of reference.
Therefore, the disk working unit is considered a with the teeth, the cutting edge of which is made by a logarithmic spiral curve, providing moving cutting of soil and plant remains in motion, and the back edge is in a straight line, connecting the toe of each tooth with the center of the disk.
As a result of calculations, based and the equations of motion for an arbitrary point of the cutting edge of a tooth of a flat disk of the working unit, which allows to build a trajectory in space, determine the velocity and acceleration of the blade points at any given time.
A way forward: Process mapping and the delivery of mental health services
Authors: McIntosh Bryan , Breen Liz , West Sue 
Published: December 2016

Introduction: This paper demonstrates the practical application of process mapping principles as a model for evaluating NHS improvement. The NHS improvement in question was the merger of three crisis resolution teams within an NHS trust in 2012. The aims were to improve overall operational efficiency and enhance multidisciplinary working to meet operational targets. This paper examined changes following the merger to capture the effects of service improvement and the reality of the patient journey. Methods: A pooled cross-sectional approach, using six years of aggregated hospital data, was taken. To achieve operational efficiency, a process map of referrals, readmissions, length of stay and waiting times for crisis resolution team assessments was examined. Prevalence of clinical referral rates and disease classification before and after the merger were compared. Conclusion: Between 1 April 2009 and 30 March 2015, length of stay and readmissions for patients to crisis resolution team rates reduced. Operational sustainability and capacity was enhanced through the redistribution of clinical human resources. Multidisciplinary skill mix (e.g. through improved team composition) also improved.
“A True Prophet”? Speculation in Victorian Sensory Physiology and George Eliot’s “The Lifted Veil”
Authors: Kennedy Meegan 
Published: December 2016

Meegan Kennedy, “‘A True Prophet’? Speculation in Victorian Sensory Physiology and George Eliot’s ‘The Lifted Veil’” (pp. 369–403)
George Eliot’s novella “The Lifted Veil” (1859) is often considered an outlier in Eliot’s realist corpus, perhaps due to its focus on controversial theories of mind (phrenology, animal magnetism) and physical medicine (blood transfusion, human experiment, reanimation). The story draws on a tradition of Gothic medicine long recognized in the romantic novel but less acknowledged in histories of clinical medicine. As this essay shows, however, mid-Victorian clinicians and researchers accepted speculative cases of hyperaesthesia, prevision, and telepathy as a path for skeptical neurological inquiry. The textbooks of physicians like John Hughes Bennett, William Carpenter, John Elliotson, Henry Holland, and Forbes Winslow codified a range of sensational phenomena, circulating cases like Latimer’s and considering both natural and supernatural explanations for them. The events in “The Lifted Veil” are thus more realistic than they may appear; and the story extends rather than interrupts the trace of science in Eliot’s early fiction. In Latimer’s story, Eliot plays with the boundaries of Victorian physiology, neurology, and cardiology and expands our view of what both Victorian science and realism accommodate. “The Lifted Veil” performs and invites the same dual movement that mid-Victorian scientists were developing, a two-step of speculation and skepticism. As in Eliot’s other work, the analogy with scientific inquiry grounds the story’s moral, aesthetic, and epistemological concerns about human knowledge. Finally, these oddities of Victorian nerve physiology paradoxically allow Eliot to make a familiar realist argument, for this sensational story celebrates ordinary life as rare and valuable.
Finite element analysis of a solar collector plate using two plate geometries
Authors: Medina Carril Diego Manuel , Carrillo Baeza José Gonzalo , Dominguez Maldonado Ruben , Aviles Cetina Francis 
Published: December 2016

The thermal behavior of an absorber plate in a solar collector is investigated using finite element analysis. The thermal behavior and efficiency of two absorber plate geometries are studied, using a typical solar collector with a rectangular profile as reference, and a proposed absorber plate with curved geometry. An analysis of the most important parameters involved in the design of the absorber plate was carried out, indicating that the curved geometry of the absorber plate yields an average efficiency ~25% higher than the conventional rectangular geometry. The results suggest that a curved profile made of materials such as aluminum with thermal conductivity higher than 200W/m°C, plate thickness of the order of 2-3mm and with a large density of tubes per unit area of the collector´s plate greatly benefits the thermal efficiency of the solar collector.
Impact of human resources on wine supply chain flexibility, quality, and economic performance
Authors: García-Alcaraz Jorge Luis , Adarme-Jaimes Wilson , Blanco-Fernández Julio 
Published: December 2016

This article assesses the impact of human resources skills on production quality, flexibility, and economic performance of La Rioja’s wine supply chain. These four elements were integrated as latent variables composed of 15 observed variables and associated through six hypotheses. Data were gathered from 64 wineries located in La Rioja, Spain, and hypotheses were validated in a structural equation model using WarpPLS v.5 software. Results indicate that human resources skills have a positive direct impact on SC flexibility and quality, but not on economic performance; however, these variables are indirectly associated through SC quality and SC flexibility.