bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Transient Sensorineural Hearing Loss after Overuse of Portable Headphone Cassette Radios
Authors: Lee Phillip C. , Senders Craig W. , Gantz Bruce J. , Otto Steven R. 
Published: July 2017

Noise‐induced sensorineural hearing loss has been associated with Industry for many years. One conservative estimate suggests that 10 million Americans may have industry‐related, noise‐induced hearing loss. Acoustic trauma from any source, whether associated with work or recreations, is detrimental to hearing. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has set industrial standards for noise levels, with current standards limiting noise exposure to 95 dBA for 2 hours daily. To date, however, there are no recreational standards. Many portable headphone cassette radios produce peak outputs of more than 100 dBA. Temporary threshold shifts could result from listening levels near the maximum output. Permanent sensorineural loss may result with repeated exposure. A pilot study was conducted in which 16 volunteers listened to headphone sets for 3 hours at their usual maximum level. Six volunteers showed transient shifts of 10 dB, and one volunteer showed a transient shift of approximately 30 dB. These shifts returned to normal within 24 hours. As expected, transient shifts frequently occur with recreational use. Therefore, recreational warnings and standards should be established.
ABR Screening of High‐Risk Infants: Effects of Ambient Noise in the Neonatal Nursery
Authors: Richmond Kenneth H. , Konkle Dan F. , Potsic William P. 
Published: July 2017

This investigation examined ABR waveforms obtained at five signal intensities (20, 30, 40, 60, and 80 dB nHL) for adults and at three signal intensities (20, 40, and 80 dB nHL) for infants. ABR recordings were obtained in a quiet condition and repeated for three different intensity levels (40, 50, and 60 dBA) of background noise characteristic of a neonatal intensive care unit. The subjects were ten adults and ten infants whose ABRs were judged normal when measured at 20 dB nHL in the quiet condition. Results indicated that high levels of ambient noise (up to 60 dBA) did not influence either absolute wave V or interwave latencies measured for stimulus intensities of 60 and 80 dB nHL. ABR waveforms obtained at stimulus intensities often used for screening (i.e., 20, 30 or 40 dB nHL), however, were substantially altered for some subjects as a function of increasing levels of ambient noise. This observation was most apparent for the infant population and has important implications for the design of infant ABR screening programs.
Maxillary, Mandibular, and Hyoid Advancement: An Alternative to Tracheostomy in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome
Authors: Riley Robert W. , Powell Nelson B. , Guilleminault Christian , Nino‐Murcia German 
Published: July 2017

Nine patients with severe obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS)—for whom several therapeutic approaches, including palatopharyngoplasty, had failed—were treated with a combined maxillary, mandibular, and hyoid advancement. Objective evaluation—performed before and 4 to 18 months after surgery, using nocturnal polysomography—indicated that the OSAS had improved or had disappeared. This surgical approach is beneficial for specific cases of OSAS, which can be identified by mandatory presurgical tests.
A Study of Conflict in Northern Ireland: An Application of Metagame Theory
Authors: Alexander Joyce M. 
Published: July 2017

This paper summarizes a study of the conflict in Northern Ireland using the particular analytic technique of metagame theory known as the analysis of options. Four major alternative political structures were identified and the relative stability of each was analyzed. The alternatives were: (1) a United Ireland, (2) Dominion status or legislative independence for Northern Ireland, (3) Colonial status with a legislative Assembly subordinate to the British Government, and token representation at Westminster, (4) an integrated Parliament of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Alternatives (2) and (3) were evaluated with and without a Council of Ireland or other link with the Republic of Ireland. The results suggest the most stable structure would be Dominion status for Northern Ireland with constitutional guarantees for participation by minorities in the processes of government.
Burkina-Mali War: Is Nigeria Still a Regional Power
Authors: Johnson Segun 
Published: July 2017

Suddenly Burkina Faso and Mali were at war.‘Burkina was the aggressor***! No, it was Mali.!‘ And the attack and counter-attack continued. For the man on the street, Nigeria moved in barely four days after the war had started and that is good enough. For a student of West African states' foreign policy, that was a late more for Nigeria, more so when the hopes of Nigerians moves were dropped. For whatever the cause, Nigeria was expected to get the grasp of any crisis erupting in West Africa regardless of the countries involved—Francophones or Anglophones. Why? Authorities in the seventies had seen Nigeria in the subregion of West Africa as its “regional power.” John Ostheimer, in 1973, wrote that‘…Nigeria is now obviously the “giant of Africa” in a new sense. Nigeria… (is) the dominant power in the West Africa Region.’1 Colin Legum in the same year-wrote: Nigeria is Africa's most important country—in size of population and in resources—as well as in trained people. Properly developed and with a properly functioning political system-it could provide decisive leadership for the entire continent strong enough to consolidate a powerful organization embracing Anglophone and Francophone African States; militarily and economically strong enough to play a leading role in challenging the minority while regimes in Portuguese and Southern Africa and to provide more muscle for the OAU; and influential enough to strengthen the whole of Africa's relationships within the international community.2 In the same vein, and American paper in 1977 summed it up thus: ‘As the biggest, richest and most influential black African State, ‘Nigeria has an evident capacity to reduce the prospect of great power involvement in an African quarrel and and an evident self interest in doing so.3 But Nigeria did not react immediately to the Burkina-Mali crisis when it came into the open. Could it be that the impetus had gone or the ability had been reduced by internal problems? Attempts will be made to answer these important questions. For now, it is desirable to look at the remote and immediate causes of the border clash between the two warring states.
Indian Foreign Policy: A Geo-Political Perspective
Authors: Kohli Manorama 
Published: July 2017

Two of the most important geographical characteristics of India which are also the most critical both from the point of view of security and development are indeed the Himalayas in the north and the Indian Ocean in the South Strategically speaking they are perhaps the most enduring of all the determinants of our foreign policy, less susceptible to change by the physical phenomenon, but holding a great deal of political importance in the moulding of our strategic environment. Both of them have given India a distinct geographical and cultural identity through the ages and this has not been altered substantially even after the partition of 1947. The Indo-centric character of the region persists even after the emergence of a sovereign Pakistan and independent Bangaladesh. This however does not mean that both these regions have played an identical role in the formulation of our foreign policy perceptions or have been the focal centres of foreign policy planning. What is common about both these regions in the context of foreign policy is that the geo-political significance of both was not fully recognised and there was a certain amount of neglect or complacency which the policy makers exhibited, in the initiat stages after independence at any rate.
Performance Based Design of Training Programs with Moment to Moment Performance Measures
Authors: Connelly Edward 
Published: July 2017

Task performance can directly impact on unit/system effectiveness and also indirectly by limiting the performance of other tasks. When assessing the impact of candidate systems designs, training programs, changes in doctrine, MOS staffing etc., the total impact of task performance must be known. A method for calculating the total impact i.e., both direct and indirect effects, is described here in terms of the unit/system/task relationship. A Moment-to-Moment (MTM) performance measure provides an assessment of the performance of each system task during a mission. The assessment is the total (direct and indirect) impact of task performance on unit/system effectiveness, based on the unit/system measure of effectiveness (MOE). The task performance assessment is calculated by taking into account the performance coupling of each task with those of other tasks. With a MTM measure, task performance is assessed according to its total impact on unit/system effectiveness and not by considering the task to be performed in isolation. The MTM measure can be used to accomplish the following: select tasks for training, establish task performance measures and levels of acceptable performance; evaluate proposed training programs, equipment designs, and procedures; and design system test and evaluation strategies. The paper describes the method of developing MTM measures as applied to measures for maneuvering units.
Effects of Mass on Wrist Velocities and Accelerations
Authors: Shealy Jasper , Latko Wendi 
Published: July 2017

Upper Extremity Cumulative Trauma Disorders (UECTD) have been linked to risk factors such as frequency, forcefulness, posture and time for rest/recovery. More recently, wrist and forearm movement velocities and accelerations have been identified as significant correlates to UECTD in industrial tasks. In earlier work with biomechanical analysis of Sign Language Interpreting (SLI), we found that SLI involves frequencies, velocities and accelerations of wrist and forearm motions that greatly exceed those noted as UECTD high risk jobs. A primary difference between the workers in the industrial studies and our studies of SLI is that industrial workers typically hold objects in their hands, while in SLI, the hand is empty. In SLI, we have found the maximum velocities and accelerations reach as much as 70 to 80% of the maximum possible values. This study looks at the effect of holding graduated masses on the maximum velocities and accelerations for the wrist joint for the flexion/extension and radial/ulnar deviation and forearm pronation/supination motions. Five subjects were used. Each subject repeated a maximum voluntary motion three times in each configuration, starting from a stationary neutral position, with the forearm held stationary for the wrist movements. Four different masses were used (9.5 125, 250 and 500 grams) to assess the effect of mass. Each mass was a cylinder of the same external dimensions. As a control, a hollow cardboard tube (9.5 grams) was used to measure the velocity and acceleration for essentially a no-load condition. Thus the hand was always in the same grip configuration. The results show that for the masses and hand-grip configurations used, the effect of the masses was not statistically significant for forearm pronation/supination, but was for wrist movements. The effect was greatest for flexion/extension, with about a 20% decline in velocity and acceleration at 500 grams versus the 9.5 gram weight.
Shape and Placement of Faucet Handles for the Elderly
Authors: Meindl Beverly A. , Freivalds Andris 
Published: July 2017

The ‘modern’ bathroom is an area which poses considerable barriers to the elderly, specifically a mismatch between the shape and the placement of faucet handles and their physiological capabilities. Fifteen residents of a retirement facility, with a mean age of 79.9 years, exerted their maximum turning torques in a randomized fully-crossed design incorporating the following factors: two positions (low-21 inches and high-42 inches), two angles (45° and 90°) and three types of handles (acrylic, star, and lever). Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) of the data indicated that the type of handle and the position, along with the covariates: age, gender and subject height, were significant at p<.05. Angle and the covariates: weight and arthritis were not significant, most likely because weight is correlated with height and arthritis with age. The second order interactions of handle-angle and position-angle were also significant at p<.05. The lever handle was clearly superior with average torques produced being 50% greater than those from the acrylic and star handles. Torque levels on the acrylic handle and the star handle were very similar, with the acrylic handle slightly superior in the 45°-angled position and the star handle being slightly better in the 90°-angled position. Overall, the 45°-low position resulted in the lowest torques, while the 45° high position resulted in the highest torques. Age had a profound effect, with torque values decreasing an average of 10% over the 15 year age span of the subjects. Based on the study, it is recommended that plumbing systems with both high (42 inches) and low (21 inches) faucets with lever handles be installed where ever possible.
Test Methods in Safety Standards - Application of Human Factors Data -
Authors: Hoefnagels René , Schoone-Harmsen Marian 
Published: July 2017

Safety standards for consumer products can offer an important contribution to accident reduction. This paper describes how effective testing methods for safety requirements, which are part of a safety standard, may be developed. In order to be effective, testing methods for the evaluation of products on aspects of safety must be valid, reproducible, and efficient. Various forms of testing methods are discussed with regard to their effectiveness. The development of testing methods for trapping hazards, which can be applied to all kinds of products, is described in a case study. For this purpose, a number of accident scenarios have been drawn from data on trapping hazards. In each scenario a testing method is described, and criteria based on human factors data is added. Accident scenarios have proved to be an extremely useful link between accident data and the simulation of performance on which a testing method can be based. Because human factors data is usually gathered for other purposes, implementation of this data in safety standards must be done with great caution. We recommend the use of man-models in testing methods for optimal results. Furthermore, we recommend the verification of test conditions and criteria by user trials or panel tests.
Effects of Using a Diagnostic Rule-Based Expert System Developed for the Nuclear Industry
Authors: Endestad Tor , Holmstroem Conny B.O. , Volden Frode S. 
Published: July 2017

This experiment, conducted at the OECD Halden Reactor Project, Halden, Norway in the spring 1991, aimed to assess the effect on nuclear power plant operators diagnostic behaviour when using a rule based diagnostic expert system. The rule based expert system used in the experiment is called DISKET (Diagnosis System Using Knowledge Engineering Technique) and was originally developed by the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI). The experiment was performed in the Halden man-machine laboratory using a full scope pressurized water reactor simulator. Operator performance in terms of quality of diagnosis is improved by the use of DISKET. The use of the DISKET system also influences operators problem solving behaviour. The main difference between the two experimental conditions can be characterised as while the DISKET users during the diagnosis process are following a strategy which is direct and narrowed, the non-DISKET users are using a much broader and less focused search when trying to diagnose a disturbance.
Subjects in Human Factors: Just who are They?
Authors: Moroney William F. , Reising Jack 
Published: July 2017

Humans are the “raison d'etre” for human factors, yet what do we really know about the characteristics of those who serve as our subjects and on whom our science is built? What do we need to know? This article addresses issues related to subject selection and data reporting, provides some recommendations, and hopefully raises some questions. Our subjects, as volunteers, differ from the population they are drawn from in many ways, specifically individuals volunteer as a function of the type of experiment. Volunteers have a greater sense of personal responsibility than non-volunteers. They tend to be higher in the need for social approval, and more social than non-volunteers. Volunteers for experiments involving risk taking score significantly higher in risk taking/arousal seeking, and are less anxious than non-volunteers. They are also less authoritarian and less conforming than non-volunteers. Finally, volunteers tend to be better educated than non-volunteers. Articles, which reported findings on human subjects and were published in Human Factors (N=84) or Ergonomics (N=64) between August 1989 and April 1991, were reviewed. Forty percent of the Human Factor articles did not provide sufficient detail for the reader to determine if the subjects were fulfilling a course requirement, paid or unpaid. Our literature seems to be based on individuals between 18 and 30 years of age. In the issues of Human Factors, which were reviewed, among those articles reporting data derived from subjects, the gender of 42 percent of the subjects could not be determined from the article. In 27 percent of the human factor articles demographic data were not reported. It is recommended that authors provide additional information on the characteristics of their subjects, so that researchers and practitioners alike can develop an informed opinion about the applicability/ limitations of the findings. As a minimum, details on age (mean, SD, median and range), gender, and specific demographics should be reported.
Developing Effective Clinical Practice: ‘Making it Harder to do it Wrong, Making it Easier to do it Right’
Authors: Duncanson V , Heath T 
Published: July 2017

Clinical governance has elicited much debate among healthcare professionals. One of the most pressing issues concerns how clinical governance can be effectively implemented (Pratt et al, 2002). This paper describes how one Trust ‘made it happen’ by using a quality improvement programme. The recently published epic guidelines (Pratt et al, 2001) created an opportunity to examine the practice of short-term urinary catheter management. The best available evidence, as stated in the guidelines, was used to inform the initiative throughout, resulting in changes being made that improved practice, knowledge and materials management systems.
Restoration of Dynamic Stability in Early Osteoarthritis of the Carpometacarpal Joint of the Thumb
Authors: Taylor Joanne 
Published: July 2017

The carpometacarpal joint of the thumb (CMCJ) is one of the most common joints in the body to be affected by osteoarthritis. The effects of associated degenerative changes include pain and loss of pinch grip function. Surgery appears to be the most commonly described treatment for osteoarthritis of the CMCJ. A number of thenar muscles have been identified as dynamic stabilisers of the joint. Evidence suggests that specific exercise aimed at restoring dynamic stability would offer an effective form of conservative management for early osteoarthritis of the CMCJ, having the potential to delay or reduce the need for surgical intervention.
Comparison of Registered and Reported Outcomes in Randomized Clinical Trials Published in Anesthesiology Journals
Authors: Jones Philip M. , Chow Jeffrey T. Y. , Arango Miguel F. , Fridfinnson Jason A. , Gai Nan , Lam Kevin , Turkstra Timothy P. 
Published: July 2017

BACKGROUND:
Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) provide high-quality evidence for clinical decision-making. Trial registration is one of the many tools used to improve the reporting of RCTs by reducing publication bias and selective outcome reporting bias. The purpose of our study is to examine whether RCTs published in the top 6 general anesthesiology journals were adequately registered and whether the reported primary and secondary outcomes corresponded to the originally registered outcomes.

METHODS:
Following a prespecified protocol, an electronic database was used to systematically screen and extract data from RCTs published in the top 6 general anesthesiology journals by impact factor (Anaesthesia, Anesthesia & Analgesia, Anesthesiology, British Journal of Anaesthesia, Canadian Journal of Anesthesia, and European Journal of Anaesthesiology) during the years 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2015. A manual search of each journal’s Table of Contents was performed (in duplicate) to identify eligible RCTs. An adequately registered trial was defined as being registered in a publicly available trials registry before the first patient being enrolled with an unambiguously defined primary outcome. For adequately registered trials, the outcomes registered in the trial registry were compared with the outcomes reported in the article, with outcome discrepancies documented and analyzed by the type of discrepancy.

RESULTS:
During the 4 years studied, there were 860 RCTs identified, with 102 RCTs determined to be adequately registered (12%). The proportion of adequately registered trials increased over time, with 38% of RCTs being adequately registered in 2015. The most common reason in 2015 for inadequate registration was registering the RCT after the first patient had already been enrolled. Among adequately registered trials, 92% had at least 1 primary or secondary outcome discrepancy. In 2015, 42% of RCTs had at least 1 primary outcome discrepancy, while 90% of RCTs had at least 1 secondary outcome discrepancy.

CONCLUSIONS:
Despite trial registration being an accepted best practice, RCTs published in anesthesiology journals have a high rate of inadequate registration. While mandating trial registration has increased the proportion of adequately registered trials over time, there is still an unacceptably high proportion of inadequately registered RCTs. Among adequately registered trials, there are high rates of discrepancies between registered and reported outcomes, suggesting a need to compare a published RCT with its trial registry entry to be able to fully assess the quality of the study. If clinicians base their decisions on evidence distorted by primary outcome switching, patient care could be negatively affected.
Raising awareness of sickle cell disease for healthcare assistant practice: Nigerian perspectives
Authors: Arije-Bosun Stella Foluke , Hayes Catherine 
Published: July 2017

Raising awareness of sickle cell disease for healthcare assistants (HCAs) is important if they are to understand not only key aspects of the condition, but also if they are to communicate effectively with people and their families and carers who may be in the midst of acute illness or its potentially devastating aftermath. Sickle cell disorder (SCD) is a life-threatening genetic disorder due to abnormal haemoglobin. The condition is most prevalent in Africa. More than 10%-40% of African people carry sickle cell trait (SCT), leading to an estimated sickle cell prevalence of at least 2%. Nigeria has the largest population of people with SCD in the world. More than 25% of Nigerians are healthy carriers of SCT. Couples where both have SCT face a high likelihood of passing on the condition to their children. This explains why more than 150 000 babies with SCD are born in Nigeria every year. Having a working knowledge of the nature of the condition and its implications is useful for HCAs who may be working in areas of the UK with high percentages of Nigerian families in local communities, such as the south east of England. This article provides a holistic insight for HCAs into the condition and key considerations for everyday clinical practice when working with individuals or their families.