bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Removal of polychlorinated naphthalenes by desulfurization and emissions of polychlorinated naphthalenes from sintering plant
Authors: Wang Mengjing , Liu Wenbin , Hou Meifang , Li Qianqian , Han Ying , Liu Guorui , Li Haifeng , Liao Xiao , Chen Xuebin , Zheng Minghui 
Published: May 2016

AbstractThe sintering flue gas samples were collected at the inlets and outlets of the desulfurization systems to evaluate the influence of the systems on PCNs emission concentrations, profiles, and emission factors. The PCNs concentrations at the inlets and outlets were 27888–153672 pg m−3 and 11988–42245 pg m−3,respectively. Desulfurization systems showed excellent removal for PCNs, and the removal efficiencies of PCNs increase with increasing chlorination level. Lower chlorinated homologs are more sensitive to the desulfurization process than higher ones. High levels of PCNs were also detected in the gypsum (11600–29720 pg g−1) and fly ash samples (4946–64172 pg g−1). The annual total emissions of PCNs released to flue gas and gypsum from the sintering plants were about 394 kg, 48.5% of which was in gypsum. The surface area of the fly ash samples increased significantly from the first to the fourth stage of the series-connected electrostatic precipitator, accompanying obvious rising of concentration of PCNs in the fly ash samples.
Bulk development and stringent selection of microsatellite markers in the western flower thrips Frankliniella occidentalis
Authors: Cao Li-Jun , Li Ze-Min , Wang Ze-Hua , Zhu Liang , Gong Ya-Jun , Chen Min , Wei Shu-Jun 
Published: May 2016

AbstractRecent improvements in next-generation sequencing technologies have enabled investigation of microsatellites on a genome-wide scale. Faced with a huge amount of candidates, the use of appropriate marker selection criteria is crucial. Here, we used the western flower thrips Frankliniella occidentalis for an empirical microsatellite survey and validation; 132,251 candidate microsatellites were identified, 92,102 of which were perfect. Dinucleotides were the most abundant category, while (AG)n was the most abundant motif. Sixty primer pairs were designed and validated in two natural populations, of which 30 loci were polymorphic, stable, and repeatable, but not all in Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) and linkage equilibrium. Four marker panels were constructed to understand effect of marker selection on population genetic analyses: (i) only accept loci with single nucleotide insertions (SNI); (ii) only accept the most polymorphic loci (MP); (iii) only accept loci that did not deviate from HWE, did not show SNIs, and had unambiguous peaks (SS) and (iv) all developed markers (ALL). Although the MP panel resulted in microsatellites of highest genetic diversity followed by the SNI, the SS performed best in individual assignment. Our study proposes stringent criteria for selection of microsatellites from a large-scale number of genomic candidates for population genetic studies.
The long noncoding RNA CASC2 functions as a competing endogenous RNA by sponging miR-18a in colorectal cancer
Authors: Huang Guanli , Wu Xiaoli , Li Shi , Xu Xiaoqun , Zhu Hua , Chen Xiangjian 
Published: May 2016

AbstractRecent evidence highlights the crucial regulatory roles of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNA) in tumor biology. In colorectal cancer (CRC), the expression of several lncRNAs is dysregulated and play essential roles in CRC tumorigenesis. However, the potential biological roles and regulatory mechanisms of the novel human lncRNA, CASC2 (cancer susceptibility candidate 2), in tumor biology are poorly understood. In this study, CASC2 expression was significantly decreased in CRC tissues and CRC cell lines, and decreased expression was significantly more frequent in patients with advanced tumor-node-metastasis stage disease (TNM III and IV) (P = 0.028). Further functional experiments indicate that CASC2 could directly upregulate PIAS3 expression by functioning as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) for miR-18a. This interactions leads to the de-repression of genes downstream of STAT3 and consequentially inhibition of CRC cell proliferation and tumor growth in vitro and in vivo by extending the G0/G1-S phase transition. Taken together, these observations suggest CASC2 as a ceRNA plays an important role in CRC pathogenesis and may serve as a potential target for cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Evaluation of plan quality assurance models for prostate cancer patients based on fully automatically generated Pareto-optimal treatment plans
Authors: Wang Yibing , Breedveld Sebastiaan , Heijmen Ben , Petit Steven F 
Published: May 2016

Abstract
IMRT planning with commercial Treatment Planning Systems (TPSs) is a trial-and-error process. Consequently, the quality of treatment plans may not be consistent among patients, planners and institutions. Recently, different plan quality assurance (QA) models have been proposed, that could flag and guide improvement of suboptimal treatment plans. However, the performance of these models was validated using plans that were created using the conventional trail-and-error treatment planning process. Consequently, it is challenging to assess and compare quantitatively the accuracy of different treatment planning QA models. Therefore, we created a golden standard dataset of consistently planned Pareto-optimal IMRT plans for 115 prostate patients. Next, the dataset was used to assess the performance of a treatment planning QA model that uses the overlap volume histogram (OVH).
115 prostate IMRT plans were fully automatically planned using our in-house developed TPS Erasmus-iCycle. An existing OVH model was trained on the plans of 58 of the patients. Next it was applied to predict DVHs of the rectum, bladder and anus of the remaining 57 patients. The predictions were compared with the achieved values of the golden standard plans for the rectum D
mean, V
65, and V
75, and D
mean of the anus and the bladder.
For the rectum, the prediction errors (predicted–achieved) were only  −0.2  ±  0.9 Gy (mean  ±  1 SD) for D
mean,−1.0  ±  1.6% for V
65, and  −0.4  ±  1.1% for V
75. For D
mean of the anus and the bladder, the prediction error was 0.1  ±  1.6 Gy and 4.8  ±  4.1 Gy, respectively. Increasing the training cohort to 114 patients only led to minor improvements.
A dataset of consistently planned Pareto-optimal prostate IMRT plans was generated. This dataset can be used to train new, and validate and compare existing treatment planning QA models, and has been made publicly available. The OVH model was highly accurate in predicting rectum and anus DVHs. For the bladder, larger prediction errors were observed.
Identification and quantification of influent factors in perceived quality of the e-service provided by a university
Authors: Menezes Liziane Silva , Sellitto Miguel Afonso , Librelato Tatiane Pereira , Borchardt Miriam , Pereira Giancarlo Medeiros 
Published: May 2016

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to develop a multiple item scale for measuring perceived quality in e-service provided by a university.Design/methodology/approach– The authors used a two-step methodology: a qualitative part to identify relevant dimensions and indicators in e-service and a numerical survey to assess preferences and evaluations of 252 users, regarding indicators of e-service quality, as well as a global degree of satisfaction with the overall e-service. Multivariate and structural techniques helped extracting guidelines for improving perceived quality.Findings– The authors refined a scale by factor analysis, remaining five dimensions and 15 items. The five dimensions are: trust, convenience, responsivity, empathy and personalization. The authors found out that trust, responsivity and empathy, at a 0.01 level, are directly related with the overall satisfaction with e-service.Research limitations/implications– Specific results are not generalizable to others universities, but the method can be replicated in others e-service providers. For continuity, the authors recommend multicriterial methods for prioritizing indicators. For confirmatory analysis, the authors suggest a new survey with a larger sample, aggregating new indicators by more qualitative research.Practical implications– The method can help universities to evaluate and eventually reformulate their strategies in dealing with e-services users.Originality/value– The paper helps clarify how to structure and organize indicators related to e-service perceived quality and how to identify those activities that can help managers to improve it.
Business process management: a maturity assessment of Saudi Arabian organizations
Authors: AlShathry Omar 
Published: May 2016

Purpose
– Business Process Management (BPM) has become increasingly common among organizations in different industries. There is very limited research on the application of BPM in the MENA region and particularly in Saudi Arabia. The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical maturity assessment for selected Saudi Arabian organizations from broad range of industries. Findings showed that there is notable variability of BPM perception within the functional groups of the sample organizations. Organizations with holistic business strategy and resilient change management procedures showed more adherence to BPM practices than those with functionally driven or ad-hoc BPM initiatives.

Design/methodology/approach
– In this empirical study, structured interviews were undertaken with selected business functions owners from ten Saudi organizations. All selected organizations resides in the city of Riyadh with most of them having local and regional branches. The selection of the organization followed non-probability sampling technique whereby the selected organizations were those seemed easy to access and showed willingness to participate in the research. The sample organizations included different types of businesses in different industries. Even though the purpose of the study is not applicable to a particular industry type or sector, variety of business domains and variability in organizations size were considered in the selection process. Table 1 shows an overview of the organization business sector.

Findings
– This research investigates the current status of BPM implementation among Saudi Arabian organizations. Although there is positive favour towards BPM concepts among Saudi organizations, it seems that the practical understanding of BPM is yet to be matured. One of the noticed findings from the survey is the apparent sharp disjoint between information technology (IT) and business strategy. This segregation, from a BPM perspective, created two variants of BPM understanding; a business variant related to designing and managing business operations, and the IT one which focusses on configuring and installing BPM systems. There is a lack of a holistic view of business processes and its associated activities within an organization. Most surveyed organizations have either no clear business strategy or it is too complicated the thing that make it difficult to integrate it with BPM initiatives. Some organizations have no defined process owners for their main core business processes neither there are measurable goals for their performance. Their main BPM endeavour is mainly focused on the process activities rather than the process output and performance.

Originality/value
– This is the first research paper that provides empirical research on the status of BPM in the MENA region and particularly in Saudi Arabia.
Process improvement for professionalizing non-profit organizations: BPM approach
Authors: Haddad Carolina Resende , Ayala Diego Hernando Florez , Uriona Maldonado Mauricio , Forcellini Fernando Antônio , Lezana Álvaro Guillermo Rojas 
Published: May 2016

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to present a proposal for process improvement at the Department of Social Responsibility of a Colombian process-based organization, called CAJASAN. The department has four main processes: Foniñez (children fund), Fosfec (unemployment fund), Project Management and International Cooperation and Network Management and Alliances. The objective of this paper is to suggest an improvement in these processes through BPM application.

Design/methodology/approach
– The authors followed the BPM method proposed by Dumas et al. (2013) for process improvement composed by process identification; process discovery; process analysis; process redesign; process implementation and process monitoring and controlling. The authors modeled the processes by using the software Bizagi®.

Findings
– The actual processes work in an independent way and with no communication. Moreover, the department experiences short-term problems solutions and process inefficiency. It was possible to suggest changes in three out of four processes.

Practical implications
– Implementing BPM in non-profit organizations (NPO) addresses many of the current management challenges faced by such organizations. NPO’s researchers and practitioners should take BPM as a potential way to help in professionalizing them.

Originality/value
– The authors bring an original case study about a Colombian NPO. As a process-oriented organization, the authors use BPM as a management tool to solve many challenges that the company faces nowadays.
Tensile test simulation of high-carbon steel by discrete element method
Authors: Chen Guangming , Schott Dingena L. , Lodewijks Gabriel 
Published: May 2016

Purpose
– The tensile test is one of the fundamental experiments used to evaluate material properties. Simulating a tensile test can be a replacement of experiments to determine mechanical parameters of a continuous material. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach
– This research uses a new approach to model a tensile test of a high-carbon steel on the basis of discrete element method (DEM). In this research, the tensile test specimen was created by using a DEM packing theory. The particle-particle bond model was used to establish the internal forces of the tensile test specimen. The particle-particle bond model was first tested by performing two-particle tensile test, then was adopted to simulate tensile tests of the high-carbon steel by using 3,678 particles.

Findings
– This research has successfully revealed the relationships between the DEM parameters and mechanical parameters by modelling a tensile test. The parametric study demonstrates that the particle physical radius, particle contact radius and bond disc radius can significantly influence ultimate stress and Young’s modulus of the specimen, whereas they slightly impact elongation at fracture. Increasing the normal and shear stiffness, the critical normal and shear stiffness can enable the increase of ultimate stress, however, up to maximum values.

Research limitations/implications
– To improve the particle-particle bond model to simulate a tensile test for high-carbon steel, the damping factors for compensating energy loss from transition of particle motions and failure of bonds are required.

Practical implications
– This work reinforces the knowledge of applying DEM to model continuous materials.

Originality/value
– This research illustrates a new approach to model a tensile test of a high-carbon steel on the basis of DEM.
Forearm test for disposable antibacterial foot sweat pads
Authors: Kaplan Sibel , Aslan Selcuk 
Published: May 2016

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to obtain thermal sensations arise during skin-antibacterial modified foot sweat pad contact by subjective forearm test carried out on 14 males.

Design/methodology/approach
– Sweat pads were designed for the foot and topsheet layers, constituting of polypropylene (PP) or polylactic acid (PLA) nonwoven fabrics, were modified by herbal antibacterial agents (cinnamaldehyde, geraniol, phenylethyl alcohol). Antibacterial agents were applied directly or within polymers which prepared by three different polymerization methods. Dry and wet pads (including water 50 percent of absorption capacity) were placed on the forearms of the subjects for a constant period under controlled environmental conditions. Liquid absorption and transfer characteristics of the topsheet layers were measured by standard methods (drop, absorption capacity, wetback tests) and moisture management tester parameters. Subjective coolness and dampness sensations arise during first touch of the pads were gathered and results were discussed according to liquid absorption and transfer characteristics of the sweat pads which differ according to topsheet fabrics and different antibacterial treatments.

Findings
– The paper showed that, direct or polymerization-based antibacterial applications created significantly different coolness and dampness sensations when compared with raw PP and PLA fabrics. Significant relationships were obtained between coolness sensation and both dampness sensation and absorption capacity results.

Originality/value
– Forearm test is normally applied on standard fabrics but in this study, it was applied on a disposable product which is used within foot clothing system.
Increasing washing performance of wet-spun fibers
Authors: Akdere Musa , Schriever Sascha , Seide Gunnar , Gries Thomas 
Published: May 2016

Purpose
– The wet-spinning process is very important for the development and production of new lightweight design materials. The washing process is determined as one of the most cost-expensive part of wet spinning. The purpose of this paper is to show the development of a new washing concept. It proposes to increase the washing performance by decreasing fiber-fiber-interfaces during the washing process.

Design/methodology/approach
– For this purpose, conventional washing concepts are investigated by means of simulations and experiments to obtain process knowledge. Computational fluid dynamics simulation and particle image velocimetry measurements are used to investigate the process.

Findings
– The overall deficit in conventional washing methods is the large number of fiber-fiber-interfaces, which inhibit the solvent transport out of the compact fiber bundle. Therefore, a new washing concept with included water nozzles is developed. Based on the simulations and observations it is found that the arrangement of the nozzles has direct influence on the fanning of the fiber bundle.

Originality/value
– With increased fanning of the fiber bundle a more efficient solvent transport is expected. The developed washing box is a prosperous concept to achieve a higher washing performance during the wet-spinning process. The variable design of the washing box makes it possible to test different nozzle configurations and designs. In this paper the two most promising nozzle arrangements are shown and compared to each other.
Reducing environmental impact in air jet weaving technology
Authors: Grassi Corrado , Schröter Achim , Gloy Yves Simon , Gries Thomas 
Published: May 2016

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to deal with the energy efficiency of textile weaving machines. Increasing energy costs and environmental impact are a challenge for textile manufacturers as well as for the developers of textile production machines. As example, air jet weaving is the most productive but also most energy consuming weaving method.

Design/methodology/approach
– A method based on energy efficiency considered as the main requirements in the design phase has been developed at the Institut für Textiltechnik der RWTH Aachen University (ITA), Aachen, Germany, in order to improve energy efficiency of air-jet weaving machines. Technological developments are always concerned about low energy costs, low environmental impact, high productivity and constant product quality. The high degree of energy consumption of the method can be ascribed to the high need of compressed air required by the relay nozzles during the weft insertion process.

Findings
– The relay nozzles of the air-jet weaving technology consume up to 80 percent of the air required by the weft insertion process. At ITA a new nozzle concept was developed. The developed geometry is a so called high-volume-low-pressure nozzle, based on convergent nozzle aerodynamic theory.

Originality/value
– By employing such new concept of relay nozzles within the weft insertion process, energy savings are possible up to 30 percent.
Systematic review of pertussis immunisation among Asians
Authors: Pal Moneeta , Goodyear-Smith Felicity , Exeter Daniel 
Published: May 2016

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the literature on pertussis immunisations among the Asian population.

Design/methodology/approach
– A systematic review was carried out using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The review performed searches using the keywords: immun*, vaccine* AND whooping cough or Bordetella pertussis OR B pertussis AND Asia*. The search was conducted on four electronic databases, namely, Medline, CINAHL, Embase and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

Findings
– In total, 13 studies of relevance were included in the review after screening 206 articles. The studies were categorised into three literature sections which were: epidemiology of pertussis, vaccine effectiveness studies in Asia and strategies aimed to increase uptake of immunisations against pertussis.

Research limitations/implications
– Due to financial constraints, the authors only had access to articles published in the English language and full text articles which may limit the generalisability of the review.

Originality/value
– The review is useful in providing insight into the general trends of pertussis immunisations among Asians and in aiding future research in this area.
Healthcare injustice in patients with sickle cell disease
Authors: Ezenwa Miriam O , Patil Crystal , Shi Kevin , Molokie Robert E 
Published: May 2016

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to detail experiences that sickle cell disease (SCD) patients associate with healthcare justice and injustice in pain control.

Design/methodology/approach
– A content analysis study of open-ended comments written by 31 participants who completed a 20-item healthcare injustice questionnaire-revised twice: once in reference to experiences with doctors and once in reference to experiences with nurses.

Findings
– Participants’ mean age was 33±10 years; most were African-Americans and women. Themes showed: the four domains of healthcare justice were represented in patients’ comments; examples of justice and injustice were provided; specific incidents and interactions with healthcare providers were memorable to patients; and setting was a factor important to healthcare experiences because expectations about services vary by setting.

Research limitations/implications
– Patients were self-selected. Future work will include qualitative interviews and focus groups to uncover more details about how patients experience healthcare injustice.

Practical implications
– Additional training is needed for SCD providers and about proper management of sickle cell pain; educational modules are also needed that address areas of healthcare injustice by patients.

Originality/value
– The authors are the first to report how patients define healthcare justice and injustice. Specific details about memorable SCD patient-provider interactions and pain control are described.