bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Elasticity of ascending aorta and left ventricular myocardial functions in children with bicuspid aortic valve
Authors: Ekici Filiz , Uslu Diyar , Bozkurt Selen 
Published: August 2017

BackgroundThe aim of the study was to determine the aortic elasticity parameters (EPs) and myocardial function in children with bicuspid aortic valve (BAV). Additionally, we evaluated the effect of aortic leaflet phenotype (ALP) and aortic dilatation on elasticity parameters.MethodsSixty‐two children diagnosed with isolated BAV (mean age 9.3 years old; patient group) and 63 healthy children (control group) have been evaluated for this study. Patient group was divided into three age subgroups: between 0–6, 7–11 and 12–17 age intervals. Distensibility (DI) and stiffness index (SI) of ascending aorta were calculated by M‐mode echocardiographic data. The myocardial functions were evaluated by tissue Doppler echocardiography.ResultsPatient group exhibited significantly lower DI and higher SI than control group (SI: 3.8 ± 1.7 vs 2.4 ± 0.8, P < .0001). The aortic elasticity indexes in patient group with different age subgroups were different from those in control subgroups. Patient group had significantly lower E′ velocity at mitral lateral annulus and septum than control group (P < .017 and P < .001). There was no statistically significant correlation between E′ velocities and DI/SI values. We, however, found a weak correlation between septal E′ velocities and strain values (r = .255, P = .046). EP did not show statistically significant difference with regard to ALP and presence of aortic dilatation.ConclusionAbnormality of aortic elasticity and myocardial functions can be detected in children with BAV from infantile to adolescent. Myocardial functions are not related to SI and DI. We considered the possibility of intrinsic aortic wall abnormality in children with BAV.
Decreases in left atrial compliance during early‐stage exercise are related to exercise intolerance in asymptomatic significant mitral stenosis
Authors: Jung Mi‐Hyang , Jung Hae Ok , Lee Jung‐Won , Youn Ho‐Joong 
Published: August 2017

BackgroundDoppler‐driven net atrioventricular compliance (Cn), which represents left atrial (LA) compliance, is an important determinant of pulmonary hypertension in mitral stenosis (MS).HypothesisWe hypothesized that decreases in Cn during early‐stage exercise underlie exercise intolerance in patients with MS.MethodsThirty‐three asymptomatic patients with significant MS (valve area 1.24 ± 0.16 cm2) underwent resting and bicycle exercise echocardiography. LA compliance and conventional parameters were assessed at each workload. The patients were classified into two groups based on whether they developed dyspnea during exercise: an exercise‐intolerance group (n = 22) and an exercise‐tolerance group (n = 11). Moreover, “50 W” was defined as an early exercise stage.ResultsAlthough the groups had similar resting characteristics, there were striking differences in their echocardiographic parameters from the early stages of exercise. The relative Cn decrease at 50 W (expressed as a percentage of the resting Cn) was significantly greater in the exercise‐intolerance group (70.3 ± 15.4% vs 49.7 ± 9.7%, P < .001). The overall decrease in relative Cn was significantly greater in the exercise‐intolerance group (P = .0005). Furthermore, differences in the trends in this parameter were observed between the two groups (P < .0001 for interaction). Multivariate analysis revealed that the relative Cn decrease at 50 W was an independent predictor of exercise intolerance (adjusted OR 1.105, 95% CI 1.030–1.184) after adjustment for other conventional parameters.ConclusionsDecreases in Cn during early‐stage exercise are an important mechanism underlying exercise intolerance in MS.
High‐fidelity simulation in training dental students for medical life‐threatening emergency
Authors: Roy E. , Quinsat V. E. , Bazin O. , Lesclous P. , Lejus‐Bourdeau C. 
Published: August 2017

AbstractIntroductionAny dental surgeon may be faced with a critical life‐threatening emergency situation. In our university, all students in dentistry receive a standard course on emergency first aid. The aim of this prospective, comparative, single‐centre study was to determine whether additional training on a high‐fidelity patient simulator would improve student performance.MethodsAfter approval by an Ethical Committee and written informed consent, the students of the Simulation group (n=42) had full‐scale high‐fidelity training on a patient simulator SimMan 3G™ (3 hours by six students). They participated in pairs in two scenarios (airway obstruction, seizures, allergies, vasovagal syncope, asthma, chest pain). The first scenario was simple, and the second was a progression to cardiac arrest. Three months later, the Simulation group and the Control group (n=42) participated in a test session with two scenarios. The primary end point was the score at the test session (with a standardised scoring grill, direct observation and audio‐video recording). Data were median and 25%‐75% percentiles.ResultsHigh‐fidelity training strongly improved the score on the test obtained by the students of the Simulation group (146 [134‐154]) which was much higher (P<.0001) than in the Control group (77 [67‐85]). Technical as well as non‐technical skills components of the scores were improved. In addition, performances of the Simulation group were increased between the training and the test. Simulation session was very positively assessed by the students.ConclusionsThe results support the systematic introduction of training to critical life‐threatening emergency situations on high‐fidelity patient simulators the dentistry curriculum. The impact on clinical practice in the dental office remains to be assessed.
Integrated planning for education and development
Authors: Persaud Amlata 
Published: August 2017

AbstractThis article addresses the issue of integrated planning for education in a post‐2015 international development paradigm. It argues that there has been a growth in the opportunity space for education stakeholders at both global and local levels to pay greater attention to the links between education and other development sectors. It uses a boundary‐spanning policy framework to present an analysis of this trend, pointing to political, economic and social factors that have intersected to create a conducive environment for consideration of integrated approaches. It proposes three ‘dimensions’ of integration, namely, horizontal integration of the education sector with other development sectors such as health and social protection; vertical integration across national and sub‐national levels; and lateral integration of state and non‐state actors. The article focuses on horizontal integration and draws on the theoretical literature on collaborative management to highlight the contextual, personal, structural and technical factors that can present risks and challenges to policy makers and practitioners in implementing integrated approaches in the education sector.
Interests without history? Some difficulties for a negative Aristotelianism
Authors: O'Connor Brian 
Published: August 2017

AbstractThis paper focuses on 3 features of Freyenhagen's Aristotelian version of Adorno. (a) It challenges the strict negativism Freyenhagen finds in Adorno. If we have morally relevant interests in ourselves, it is implicit that we have a standard by which to understand what is both good and bad for us (our interests). Because strict negativism operates without reference to what is good, it seems to be detached from real interests too. Torture, it is argued, is, among other things, a violation of those interests. (b) Freyenhagen identifies the “impulse” in Adorno as an untutored yet moral reaction to morally demanding situations. The plausibility of this primitivism and its compatibility with Adorno's general worries about immediacy are considered. (c) The disruptive character of Adorno's version of the categorical imperative, its willingness to complicate action through wholesale reflection on the norms of what we are committing ourselves to, is set in contrast with Freyenhagen's Aristotelian claim that certain notions, such as “humanity,” cannot be intelligibly questioned.
Pharmacokinetic variability of valproate in women of childbearing age
Authors: Johannessen Landmark Cecilie , Burns Margrete Larsen , Baftiu Arton , Farmen Anette Huuse , Lossius Morten I. , Johannessen Svein I. , Tomson Torbjörn 
Published: August 2017

SummaryThe purpose was to investigate pharmacokinetic variability of valproic acid (VPA) in women of childbearing age by therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) data to elucidate the variable relationship between dose and serum concentrations with the ultimate aim of facilitating safer use of VPA. Anonymized retrospective data from the TDM database (2006–2015) at the National Center for Epilepsy in Norway were used. Trough total concentrations of VPA at assumed steady state in women aged 14–46 years were analyzed. Data from 643 nonpregnant women of childbearing age (mean age = 27 years) were included. Mean dose and serum concentration of VPA were 968 (standard deviation [SD] = 453) mg/day and 411 (SD = 138) μmol/L, respectively, and 59% used polytherapy. The pharmacokinetic variability in serum concentration/dose (C/D) ratios between women was extensive. For doses <700 mg/day (n = 202; 32%; 150–625 mg/day), mean serum concentration was 336 μmol/L and variability in C/D ratio was 10‐fold. The variability decreased with increasing dose to eightfold (≥700 to <1,500 mg/day, n = 358) and fourfold (≥1,500 mg/day, n = 96). This study demonstrates the extensive pharmacokinetic variability of VPA among women of childbearing age, which is most pronounced at low doses. In future studies, serum concentrations of VPA, rather than dosage, should be used as a guide for exposure of VPA and possible risks of teratogenicity to evaluate safety aspects of VPA in women.
Uterine adenocarcinoma in Quarter Horse mare
Authors: Lopez C. , Ciccarelli M. , Gold J. R. , Tibary A. 
Published: August 2017

SummaryUterine adenocarcinoma was diagnosed in a 16‐year‐old Quarter Horse mare that presented for fever, stranguria, anorexia and a history of weight loss. A mass at the level of the cervix and uterine body was identified by transrectal palpation. Biopsy of the cervix revealed an antemortem diagnosis of adenocarcinoma. Thoracic ultrasonography revealed multiple areas of consolidation in the lung, and comet tail artefact along the entire pleural surface. Post‐mortem examination confirmed the endometrial adenocarcinoma with metastasis to urinary bladder, ureters, lungs, tracheobronchial lymph nodes and bone marrow.
Microscopic damage evolution during very‐high‐cycle fatigue (VHCF) of tempered martensitic steel
Authors: Krupp U. , Giertler A. , Koschella K. 
Published: August 2017

AbstractDimensioning with high‐strength steels relies on the knowledge of Wöhler‐type S/N data and the assumption that no failure occurs for load levels below the fatigue limit for applications where the number of load cycles exceeds 107. Very‐high‐cycle fatigue (VHCF) experiments applied to a 0.5C‐1.0Cr‐Mo tempered steel (German designation: 50CrMo4) revealed surface crack initiation at prior austenite grain boundaries in medium strength condition (37HRC) and internal crack initiation at nonmetallic inclusions at high strength condition (57HRC). Despite the formation of small cracks during cycling up to 109 cycles, it seems that these are nonpropagating cracks in the case of the medium strength condition and therefore a real fatigue limit exists. Application of automated electron back‐scatter diffraction (EBSD) within the shallow‐notched area of electro‐polished fatigue specimens had shown that prior austenite grain boundaries act as effective obstacles to crack propagation. High‐resolution thermography during cycling of the specimens allowed the identification of local plasticity, which led to crack initiation at a later stage of the fatigue life. It was found that Cr segregation rows play a decisive role in the crack initiation process. By means of high‐resolution electron microscopy in combination with focused ion beam milling (FIB), evolution of cyclic plasticity and crack initiation was correlated with the material's microstructure. The results are discussed in terms of the completely different crack initiation mechanisms of medium and high strength variants of the same steel. EBSD microstructure and crack propagation data are used to adapt a numerical modeling tool to predict microcrack propagation in the VHCF regime.
Fatigue analysis of railway wheel using a multiaxial strain‐based critical‐plane index
Authors: Kiani M. , Fry G.T. 
Published: August 2017

AbstractA fatigue damage model to assess the development of subsurface fatigue cracks in railway wheels is presented in this paper. A 3‐dimensional finite element model (FEM) is constructed to simulate repeated cycles of contact loading between a railway wheel and a rail. The computational approach includes a hard‐contact over‐closure relationship and an elastoplastic material model with isotropic and kinematic hardening.Results from the simulation are used in a multiaxial critical‐plane fatigue damage analysis. The employed strain‐based critical‐plane fatigue damage approach is based on Fatemi‐Socie fatigue index that takes into account the non‐proportional and out‐of‐phase nature of the multiaxial state of stress occurs when a railway wheel rolls on a rail. It predicts fatigue‐induced micro‐crack nucleation at a depth of about 3.7 mm beneath the wheel tread, as well as the crack plane growth orientation which indicates the possible failure pattern. Additionally, the influence of various factors such as contribution of normal stresses, higher wheel load, and material model have been investigated.
“Bad Neighborhood” and Internet Adoption in Poor Countries: What is behind the Persistent Digital Gap?
Authors: Dohse Dirk , Lim Cheng Yee 
Published: August 2017

AbstractThe paper investigates the determinants of Internet adoption in poor countries, focusing on the role of macro‐geographic location (neighborhood). It is argued that neighboring countries are interconnected by various kinds of spillovers, including knowledge spillovers as well as spillovers of norms and attitudes that affect individual adoption behavior. The empirical findings support the view that Internet adoption is affected by adoption rates in neighboring countries, even when controlling for a wide range of covariates. Addressing potential endogeneity concerns using an instrumental variable approach moreover suggests these relationships to be causal. The findings imply that international policies to support Internet adoption in poor countries might be more effective if they target groups of neighboring countries rather than single countries in order to better exploit spillovers between neighboring countries.
What's new in dermoscopy of Bowen's disease: two new dermoscopic signs and its differential diagnosis
Authors: Yang Yi , Lin Jingrong , Fang Shifeng , Han Shixin , Song Zhiqi 
Published: August 2017

AbstractBackgroundClinical and dermoscopic features of Bowen's disease (BD) show great diversity. Some lesions of BD are often difficult to be differentiated from seborrheic keratosis, actinic keratosis, lichen planus‐like keratosis, etc. It is necessary to fully describe the dermoscopic features of the disease, considering differential diagnosis.ObjectiveTo describe the dermoscopic feautres of Bowen's disease and summarize the dermoscopic differential diagnosis of the disease.Patients and methodsAltogether 146 lesions with a histopathological diagnosis of Bowen's disease were consecutively included in this study. All the lesions were imaged with dermoscopy and analyzed for dermoscopic features.ResultsA total of 146 lesions were analyzed. The dermoscopic features most frequently observed in our series of lesions were scales (78.8%), glomerular vessels (69.2%), yellow crusts (56.8%), focal hemorrhage (55.5%), focal/multifocal hypopigmentation (44.5%), and linear irregular vessels (42.5%). Besides, we found two new dermoscopic signs in BD: the double‐edge sign (30.1%) and the clusters of brown structureless areas (38.4%).ConclusionBowen's disease presents a variety of dermoscopic features. The recognition of two new dermoscopic signs of BD and fully understanding its dermoscopic features will help us in differential diagnosis.
What Leads To Shared Attention? Maternal Cues and Infant Responses During Object Play
Authors: Deák Gedeon O. , Krasno Anna M. , Jasso Hector , Triesch Jochen 
Published: August 2017

Attention sharing provides an important context for infant learning, but it is not fully understood how infants respond to parents’ isolated or combined actions to shift from nonsharing to attention‐sharing states. To investigate this, we recorded unscripted toy‐play interactions of infants (3 to 11 months old, N = 35) and mothers at home, and coded attention‐related behaviors. These included infants’ and mothers’ visual fixations, and mothers’ attention‐directing actions including gaze shifts, pointing gestures, object manipulations, verbalizations, and object sounds. In addition, dyadic attention was continuously classified into one of seven states of shared or nonshared attention. Results showed that mothers usually produced a combination of attention‐directing cues within the 7 sec. before infants shifted their attention to match the mother's focus. Mothers’ cue combinations usually included object manipulation and either a gaze shift or a verbalization. Infants seldom looked at mothers’ faces and followed a very small proportion of isolated gaze shifts or pointing gestures. However, infants frequently shifted attention to watch mothers manipulate objects. The results indicate that during toy play, combinations of maternal attention‐specifying actions selectively elicit infants’ attention following.
Qualitative evaluation of a physical activity health promotion programme for people with intellectual disabilities in a group home setting
Authors: Dixon‐Ibarra A , Driver S , Nery‐Hurwit M , VanVolkenburg H 
Published: August 2017

BackgroundThere is a lack of health promotion programming designed to change the physical activity environment of the group home setting. The Menu‐Choice programme assists staff in creating physical activity goals alongside residents with intellectual disabilities and provides strategies to incorporate activity into the group home schedule. The purpose of this study was to complete a process evaluation of Menu‐Choice utilizing qualitative methods.MethodsTwelve participants, who completed a 10‐week pilot intervention (n = 7 staff, mean age 42; n = 5 residents, mean age 52), participated in face‐to‐face interviews. Participants represented five group home sites involved in the intervention.ResultsMeta‐themes included: (i) Programme training, (ii) Programme implementation, (iii) Programme physical activity, (iv) Programme barriers, (v) Programme facilitators and (vi) Programme feedback.ConclusionsChanges in programme training and simplified programme materials are needed to accommodate identified barriers for implementation. The importance of obtaining increased agency support and policy change is highlighted.
Role of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring for the management of hypertension in Asian populations
Authors: Hoshide Satoshi , Cheng Hao‐Min , Huang Qifang , Park Sungha , Park Chang‐Gyu , Chen Chen‐Huan , Wang Ji‐Gwang , Kario Kazuomi ,   the Characteristics On the ManagEment of Hypertension in Asia – Morning Hypertension Discussion Group (COME Asia MHDG)
Published: August 2017

AbstractOut‐of‐clinic blood pressure (BP) measurement, eg, ambulatory BP monitoring, has a strong association with target organ damage and is a powerful predictor of cardiovascular events compared with clinic BP measurement. Ambulatory BP monitoring can detect masked hypertension or various BP parameters in addition to average 24‐hour BP level. Short‐term BP variability assessed by standard deviation or average real variability, diminished nocturnal BP fall, nocturnal hypertension, and morning BP surge assessed by ambulatory BP monitoring have all been associated with target organ damage and cardiovascular prognosis. Recently, the authors compared the degree of sleep‐trough morning BP surge between a group of Japanese and a group of Western European untreated patients with hypertension and found that sleep‐trough morning BP surge in Japanese persons was significantly higher than that in Europeans. Although Asian persons have been known to have a higher incidence of stroke than heart disease, the difference in characteristics of BP indices assessed by ambulatory BP monitoring might be the cause of racial differences in stroke incidence between Asian and Western populations. This review focuses on Asian characteristics for the management of hypertension using ambulatory BP monitoring.
Relatively weak inbreeding depression in selfing but also in outcrossing populations of North American Arabidopsis lyrata
Authors: Carleial S. , van Kleunen M. , Stift M. 
Published: August 2017

AbstractHermaphroditic plants can potentially self‐fertilize, but most possess adaptations that promote outcrossing. However, evolutionary transitions to higher selfing rates are frequent. Selfing comes with a transmission advantage over outcrossing, but self‐progeny may suffer from inbreeding depression, which forms the main barrier to the evolution of higher selfing rates. Here, we assessed inbreeding depression in the North American herb Arabidopsis lyrata, which is normally self‐incompatible, with a low frequency of self‐compatible plants. However, a few populations have become fixed for self‐compatibility and have high selfing rates. Under greenhouse conditions, we estimated mean inbreeding depression per seed (based on cumulative vegetative performance calculated as the product of germination, survival and aboveground biomass) to be 0.34 for six outcrossing populations, and 0.26 for five selfing populations. Exposing plants to drought and inducing defences with jasmonic acid did not magnify these estimates. For outcrossing populations, however, inbreeding depression per seed may underestimate true levels of inbreeding depression, because self‐incompatible plants showed strong reductions in seed set after (enforced) selfing. Inbreeding‐depression estimates incorporating seed set averaged 0.63 for outcrossing populations (compared to 0.30 for selfing populations). However, this is likely an overestimate because exposing plants to 5% CO2 to circumvent self‐incompatibility to produce selfed seed might leave residual effects of self‐incompatibility that contribute to reduced seed set. Nevertheless, our estimates of inbreeding depression were clearly lower than previous estimates based on the same performance traits in outcrossing European populations of A. lyrata, which may help explain why selfing could evolve in North American A. lyrata.