bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Elevated plasma levels of Th17-related cytokines are associated with increased risk of atrial fibrillation
Authors: Wu Na , Xu Bin , Liu Yuan , Chen Xinghua , Tang He , Wu Long , Xiang Ying , Zhang Mengxuan , Shu Maoqing , Song Zhiyuan , Li Yafei , Zhong Li 
Published: May 2016

AbstractWe performed a matched case-control study using a propensity score matching, to assess the association of Th17-related cytokines, including interleukin (IL) 17A (IL-17A), IL-17F, IL-21, IL-22 and IL-6, along with interferon-γ (IFN-γ), IL-10, IL-9 and IL-4, with the risk of AF. A total of 336 patients with AF were matched 1:1 with patients without AF. Plasma levels of cytokines were measured using Luminex xMAP assays. The plasma levels of all examined cytokines were significantly higher in AF patients than controls (P < 0.05) and these cytokines were highly correlated with each other (P < 0.01). A multivariate conditional logistic regression analysis showed that elevated plasma levels of IL-17A, IL-17F, IL-21, IL-22, IFN-γ, IL-10, IL-9 and IL-6 were significantly associated with AF risk independently of potential confounders. There were no significant differences in plasma levels of examined cytokines between paroxysmal and chronic AF patients. IL-17A, IL-21, IL-10 and IL-6 levels were positively correlated with left atrial diameter; IL-17F level was negatively correlated with left ventricle ejection fraction among AF patients (P < 0.05). Elevated plasma levels of Th17-related cytokines were independently associated with increased an risk of AF; hence, Th17-related cytokines may be involved in the pathogenesis of AF.
Cyp2aa9 regulates haematopoietic stem cell development in zebrafish
Authors: Chen Jingying , He Jianbo , Li Li , Yang Deqin , Luo Lingfei 
Published: May 2016

AbstractDefinitive haematopoiesis occurs during the lifetime of an individual, which continuously replenishes all blood and immune cells. During embryonic development, haematopoietic stem cell (HSC) formation is tightly controlled by growth factors, signalling molecules and transcription factors. But little is known about roles of the cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2 family member in the haematopoiesis. Here we report characterization and functional studies of Cyp2aa9, a novel zebrafish Cyp2 family member. And demonstrate that the cyp2aa9 is required for the HSC formation and homeostasis. Knockdown of cyp2aa9 by antisense morpholino oligos resulted the definitive HSC development is defective and the Wnt/β-catenin activity becomes reduced. The impaired HSC formation caused by cyp2aa9 morpholino can be rescued by administration of PGE2 through the cAMP/PKA pathway. Furthermore, the in vivo PGE2 level decreases in the cyp2aa9 morphants and none of the PGE2 precursors is able to rescue phenotypes in the Cyp2aa9-deficient embryos. Taken together, these data indicate that Cyp2aa9 is functional in the step of PGE2 synthesis from PGH2, thus promoting Wnt activation and definitive HSC development.
Damage mechanics based model for low-rise infilled RC frames incorporating neural networks
Authors: Abou El-Ftooh Khalid , Atta Ahmed , Seleemah Ayman Ahmed , Taher Salah El-Din Fahmy 
Published: May 2016

Purpose
– Separately, nonlinear finite element analysis, artificial neural networks (ANNs) and continuous damage mechanics (CDM) attracted many investigators to model masonry infilled frames. The purpose of this paper is to pursue four phases to develop a versatile model for partially and fully low-rise infilled RC frames using these tools.

Design/methodology/approach
– The first phase included the study of the behavior of 1,620 low-rise infilled reinforced concrete frames using macro-scale nonlinear pushover finite element analysis. The approach helped to explore the effects of imposing different masonry infill distributions for one of the typical models of school buildings in Egypt. The outputs of this phase were used in the second phase for the development of an ANN model where input neurons included number of stories, continuity conditions, frame geometry, infill distribution and properties of RC sections. The third phase included the employment of the notions of CDM on the structural scale. Monitoring frames’ stiffness degradation allowed for damage variables identification. In the fourth phase, the simpler equivalent static lateral load (ESLL) for elastic analysis was employed in conjunction with ANN and CDM to obtain the capacity curves for partially and fully low-rise infilled RC frames.

Findings
– The obtained capacity curves were compared with the nonlinear finite element results. The close agreement of all curves indicated how rigorous, yet simple, the suggested solution procedure is.

Social implications
– The study is concerned with an important type of service buildings. These are the school buildings of Egypt.

Originality/value
– The paper presents a combination of four phases that include FE analysis, ANNs, ESLL, and CDM to obtain the capacity curves for partially and fully low-rise infilled RC frames. Such a combination of approaches in tackling a practical problem related to service buildings is innovative and deserves research interest.
Parallel computations in nonlinear solid mechanics using adaptive finite element and meshless methods
Authors: Ullah Zahur , Coombs Will , Augarde C 
Published: May 2016

Purpose
– A variety of meshless methods have been developed in the last 20 years with an intention to solve practical engineering problems, but are limited to small academic problems due to associated high computational cost as compared to the standard finite element methods (FEM). The purpose of this paper is to develop an efficient and accurate algorithms based on meshless methods for the solution of problems involving both material and geometrical nonlinearities.

Design/methodology/approach
– A parallel two-dimensional linear elastic computer code is presented for a maximum entropy basis functions based meshless method. The two-dimensional algorithm is subsequently extended to three-dimensional adaptive nonlinear and three-dimensional parallel nonlinear adaptively coupled finite element, meshless method cases. The Prandtl-Reuss constitutive model is used to model elasto-plasticity and total Lagrangian formulations are used to model finite deformation. Furthermore, Zienkiewicz and Zhu and Chung and Belytschko error estimation procedure are used in the FE and meshless regions of the problem domain, respectively. The message passing interface library and open-source software packages, METIS and MUltifrontal Massively Parallel Solver are used for the high performance computation.

Findings
– Numerical examples are given to demonstrate the correct implementation and performance of the parallel algorithms. The agreement between the numerical and analytical results in the case of linear elastic example is excellent. For the nonlinear problems load-displacement curve are compared with the reference FEM and found in a very good agreement. As compared to the FEM, no volumetric locking was observed in the case of meshless method. Furthermore, it is shown that increasing the number of processors up to a given number improve the performance of parallel algorithms in term of simulation time, speedup and efficiency.

Originality/value
– Problems involving both material and geometrical nonlinearities are of practical importance in many engineering applications, e.g. geomechanics, metal forming and biomechanics. A family of parallel algorithms has been developed in this paper for these problems using adaptively coupled finite element, meshless method (based on maximum entropy basis functions) for distributed memory computer architectures.
Thermo-physiological properties of 3D spacer knitted fabrics
Authors: Mishra Rajesh , Veerakumar Arumugam , Militky Jiri 
Published: May 2016

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to investigate effect of material properties in 3D knitted fabrics on thermo-physiological comfort.

Design/methodology/approach
– In the present study six different spacer fabrics were developed. Among these six fabrics, it was classified into two groups for convenient analysis of results, the first group has been developed using polyester/polypropylene blend with three different proportion and second group with polyester/polypropylene/lycra blend having another three different composition. As a spacer yarn, three different types of 88 dtex polyester monofilament yarn and polyester multifilament yarns (167 dtex and 14.5 tex) were used and 14.5 tex polypropylene and 44 dtex lycra multifilament yarns were also used for the face and back side of the spacer fabrics (Table I). These fabrics were developed in Syntax Pvt Ltd Czech Republic.

Findings
– The main influence on the water vapour permeability of warp knitted spacer fabrics is the kind of raw material, i.e. fibre wetting and wicking. Also there is no correlation between air permeability and water vapour permeability. It is found that both air permeability and thermal conductivity are closely related to the fabric density. It is also found that the fabric characteristics of spacer fabric show a very significant effect on the air permeability, thermal conductivity and mechanical properties of spacer fabric. Therefore, selection of spacer fabric for winter clothing according to its fabric characteristics.

Practical implications
– The main objective of the present study is to produce spacer knitted 3D fabrics suitable for defined climatic conditions to be used as clothing or in sports goods.

Originality/value
– New 3D knitted spacer fabrics can be produced with improved comfort properties.
Do Bangladeshi migrants favourably self-select and sort across destinations?
Authors: Shamsuddin Mrittika 
Published: May 2016

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether migrants from Bangladesh choose the destination that offers them the highest earnings and whether the relative stock of the skilled migrants in a destination increases with the earnings differences between the skilled and the unskilled.

Design/methodology/approach
– Using a nationally representative sample of both stayers and migrants from Bangladesh to all destinations and correcting for self-selection bias in earnings using a semi-parametric method developed by Dahl (2002), the author tests whether selection and sorting of Bangladeshi migrants depend on cross-country differences in the rewards to skills as suggested by the Roy (1951) model of comparative advantage.

Findings
– Migrants from Bangladesh not only choose the destinations that offer the highest earnings but also the destination that offers the highest earnings relative to the skill level of the migrants.

Research limitations/implications
– Due to the unavailability of data on recruiting agencies, we cannot investigate the role played by recruiting agencies in the migrant’s decision.

Social implications
– Policy-makers in both the sending and destination countries need to know how migrants choose their destinations in order to formulate effective and welfare-enhancing migration policies.

Originality/value
– This paper is the first to study how skill composition and earnings shape migration from Bangladesh using micro-level data. It is also the first to study sorting behavior of migrants from any South Asian countries.
The incidence and wage effects of overeducation using the vertical and horizontal mismatch in skills
Authors: Pecoraro Marco 
Published: May 2016

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to propose an improved concept of educational mismatch that combines a statistical measure of over- and undereducation with the worker’s self-assessment of skill utilization. The novelty of this measurement approach consists in identifying the vertical and horizontal nature of skills mismatch, that is, a mismatch in which skills are either over/underutilized or not utilized.Design/methodology/approach– Cross-sectional data from the Swiss Household Panel survey for the years 1999 and 2004 are used to determine the true extent of educational mismatch among workers. Moroever, different versions of the Duncan and Hoffman wage equation are estimated depending on whether basic or alternative measures of educational mismatch are included.Findings– The empirical analyses provide the following results: first, at least two-third of the statistically defined overeducated workers perceive their skills as adequate for the job they hold and are then apparently overeducated; second, overeducated workers whose skills are not related to the job do not receive any payoff to years of surplus education; and third, apparently overeducated workers have similar wage returns compared to others with the same schooling level but who are statistically matched. All in all, these findings confirm that most of those overeducated according to the statistical measure have unobserved skills that allow them to work in a job for which they are well-matched.Originality/value– The paper indicates the need to consider both vertical and horizontal skill mismatches when measuring educational mismatch in the labour market. In that way, it is possible to account for worker heterogeneity in skills whose omission may generate biased estimates of the incidence and wage effects of over- and undereducation.
Preservice teachers’ professional identity development and the role of mentor teachers
Authors: Izadinia Mahsa 
Published: May 2016

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine changes in eight preservice teachers’ professional identity and the factors contributing to such changes during a four-week block practicum.Design/methodology/approach– A qualitative case study design was used and the data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with preservice teachers and their mentors, reflective journals and observation checklists. Thematic analysis was used to interpret the data.Findings– The findings showed high levels of confidence and development of teacher voice by the end of their four-week block practicum. The findings also suggested that positive mentoring relationships contributed to changes in the preservice teachers’ teacher identity.Research limitations/implications– Despite focussing on a relatively small number of preservice secondary teachers during the first four-week practicum of a single teacher education program at a Western Australian University, this research highlights the need to maintain constructive mentoring relationships with preservice teachers to provide positive influences on their professional identity. In order to facilitate this, preservice teacher education programs should provide thorough training for mentor teachers.Originality/value– This work highlighted the crucial role of mentor teachers in creating positive impacts on preservice teachers’ professional identity, such as development of their confidence and teacher voice. This paper provides useful insights for researchers, mentor teachers, and preservice teacher education policy developers.
Performance of adaptive np-chart with estimated parameter
Authors: Hashemian S. Mohammad , Noorossana Rassoul , Keyvandarian Ali , Shekary A. Maryam 
Published: May 2016

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to compare the performances of np-VP control chart with estimated parameter to the np-VP control chart with known parameter using average time-to-signal (ATS), standard deviation of the time-to-signal (SDTS), and average number of observations to signal (ANOS) as performance measures.

Design/methodology/approach
– The approach used in this study is probabilistic in which the expected values of performance measures are calculated using probabilities of different estimators used to estimate process parameter.

Findings
– Numerical results indicate different performances for the np-VP control chart in known and estimated parameter cases. It is obvious that when process parameter is not known and is estimated using Phase I data, the chart does not perform as user expects. To tackle this issue, optimal Phase I estimation scenarios are recommended to obtain the best performance from the chart in the parameter estimation case in terms of performance measures.

Practical implications
– This research adds to the body of knowledge in quality control of process monitoring systems. This paper may be of particular interest to practitioners of quality systems in factories where products are monitored to reduce the number of defectives and np chart parameter needs to be estimated.

Originality/value
– The originality of this paper lies within the context in which an adaptive np control chart is studied and the process parameter unlike previous studies is assumed unknown. Although other types of control charts have been studied when process parameter is unknown but this is the first time that adaptive np chart performance with estimated process parameter is studied.
Promises kept? A meta-analysis of gang membership prevention programs
Authors: Wong Jennifer S. , Gravel Jason , Bouchard Martin , Descormiers Karine , Morselli Carlo 
Published: May 2016

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to synthesize the effects of gang prevention programs on gang membership.Design/methodology/approach– The authors conducted a systematic literature review across 19 bibliographic databases and a meta-analysis of the effectiveness of these strategies.Findings– The database search resulted in 3,850 hits. Of the 162 studies that were screened in full, six involved a prevention program with outcomes commensurate for meta-analysis. Pooled log odds ratios indicate a significant, positive effect of gang prevention programs at reducing gang membership; however, sensitivity analysis demonstrates that the results are driven by the effects of a single study.Originality/value– Despite the small sample size, the current study presents the best available evidence regarding the effectiveness of gang membership prevention programs. There is a critical need in the field of gang control for rigorous evaluation of prevention strategies.
Problematising qualitative research in organisations
Authors: Hayes Liz , Hopkinson Clare , Taylor Alan Gordon 
Published: May 2016

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the authors’ multiple subjectivities, in research and in practice which are ever shifting in context with each other. The authors present richness of understanding which can be revealed when researchers eschew consensus, certainty and easy solutions. The authors aim to show that plurality of ontological and epistemological approaches combined with diversity in understanding and subjective experience is necessary in qualitative research in organisations.Design/methodology/approach– The authors take a playful and incomplete narrative approach in their critical reflection on the subjectivities being silenced or ignored in organisations and in academia. The authors present an unsettling and ambiguous read but the aim is to question the formulaic, linear, simplistic solutions and structures evident in organisations and academia that silence uncertainty, emotions, voice and creativity through standardisation and the rhetoric of collaboration for performance enhancement. This process the authors have termed philosophical violence.Findings– The authors identify philosophical violence as a dominant theme in qualitative research, in organisational practice and within academia. In contrast, the authors’ embodied subjectivities preclude the reaching agreement or consensus too quickly, or indeed, at all. The authors’ embodied struggles add to the understanding of ambiguity, difference, critical reflexivity and understanding, providing richness and accommodating diversity and paradox in the inquiries in the organisations.Originality/value– The authors show the struggles as hopeful and the non-collaborative collaboration as a resource from which the authors can individually and jointly develop new understandings of working and thus survive the philosophical violence found in organisations and in research. Honouring subjectivities is essential for rich qualitative research in organisations.
Performance of the Pediatric Glasgow Coma Scale Score in the Evaluation of Children With Blunt Head Trauma
Authors: Borgialli Dominic A. , Mahajan Prashant , Hoyle John D. , Powell Elizabeth C. , Nadel Frances M. , Tunik Michael G. , Foerster Adele , Dong Lydia , Miskin Michelle , Dayan Peter S. , Holmes James F. , Kuppermann Nathan ,   the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN)
Published: May 2016

AbstractObjectiveThe objective was to compare the accuracy of the pediatric Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score in preverbal children to the standard GCS score in older children for identifying those with traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) after blunt head trauma.MethodsThis was a planned secondary analysis of a large prospective observational multicenter cohort study of children with blunt head trauma. Clinical data were recorded onto case report forms before computed tomography (CT) results or clinical outcomes were known. The total and component GCS scores were assigned by the physician at initial emergency department evaluation. The pediatric GCS was used for children <2 years old and the standard GCS for those ≥2 years old. Outcomes were TBI visible on CT and clinically important TBI (ciTBI), defined as death from TBI, neurosurgery, intubation for more than 24 hours for the head injury, or hospitalization for 2 or more nights for the head injury in association with TBI on CT. We compared the areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves between age cohorts for the association of GCS and the TBI outcomes.ResultsWe enrolled 42,041 patients, of whom 10,499 (25.0%) were <2 years old. Among patients <2 years, 313/3,329 (9.4%, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 8.4% to 10.4%) of those imaged had TBIs on CT and 146/10,499 (1.4%, 95% CI = 1.2% to 1.6%) had ciTBIs. In patients ≥2 years, 773/11,977 (6.5%, 95% CI = 6.0% to 6.9%) of those imaged had TBIs on CT and 572/31,542 (1.8%, 95% CI = 1.7% to 2.0%) had ciTBIs. For the pediatric GCS in children <2 years old, the area under the ROC curve was 0.61 (95% CI = 0.59 to 0.64) for TBI on CT and 0.77 (95% CI = 0.73 to 0.81) for ciTBI. For the standard GCS in older children, the area under the ROC curve was 0.71 (95% CI = 0.70 to 0.73) for TBI on CT scan and 0.81 (95% CI = 0.79 to 0.83) for ciTBI.ConclusionsThe pediatric GCS for preverbal children was somewhat less accurate than the standard GCS for older children in identifying those with TBI on CT. However, the pediatric GCS for preverbal children and the standard GCS for older children were equally accurate for identifying ciTBI.