bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The impacts of white‐tailed deer browsing and distance from the forest edge on soybean yield
Authors: Rogerson Joseph E. , Bowman Jacob L. , Tymkiw Elizabeth L. , Colligan Gregory M. , Vasilas Bruce L. 
Published: June 2014

ABSTRACTMany soybean (Glycine max) producers consider white‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) to be costly crop pests, and chemical repellants are an option for reducing deer damage. To cost‐effectively utilize repellants, it is crucial to know the spatial and temporal aspects of deer‐browsing patterns. During 2003–2006 in Delaware, USA, we investigated where and when browsing was most intense within crop fields and subsequently had the greatest effect on yield of soybeans at an estimated deer density of 21 deer/km2. We systematically placed plots (n = 1,340) at 10‐m intervals from the forest edge. We designed protection treatments to mimic the effect of chemical repellents. We systematically assigned types of protection treatments to plots and protected plots using fencing. Protection did not affect the yield of double‐crop soybeans in any year. In 2 years of the study (2003 and 2006), protection did not affect full‐season soybean yield. In the other 2 years (2004 and 2005), plots protected from deer browse yielded less than plots that were not protected. Yield tended to be the lowest in the first 20 m from the forest edge, but there was no interaction effect between deer browsing and distance from the forest edge for any year or crop type. We found that deer browsing increased yield, possibly because browsing increases branching of individual plants, and thus the number of bean pods. We also found that the distance from the forest edge affected yield, but independently of deer browsing. Deer damage to soybeans, at a deer density of 21 deer/km2, may be more of a perceptual issue and the use of a chemical repellant would not be justified. © 2014 The Wildlife Society.
Reconstruction of focal cartilage defects in the talus with miniarthrotomy and collagen matrix
Authors: Walther M. , Altenberger S. , Kriegelstein S. , Volkering C. , Röser A. 
Published: June 2014

Abstract

Surgical principal and objective
Treatment of focal cartilage defects (traumatic or osteochondrosis dissecans) of the talus using a collagen matrix. The goal is to stabilize the superclot formed after microfracturing to accommodate cartilage repair. The procedure can be carried out via miniarthrotomy, without medial malleolus osteotomy.

Indications
International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS) grade III and IV focal cartilage defects of the talus > 1.5 cm2.

Contraindications
Generalized osteoarthritis, inflammatory joint disease, gout, neuroarthropathy.

Surgical technique
Miniarthrotomy to open the ankle joint. Debridement of unstable cartilage and necrotic bone, curettage of cysts. Filling of the bone defects with autologous cancellous bone. Sealing of reconstructed bone with fibrin glue and attachment of a collagen matrix shaped to precisely fit the defect.

Postoperative regimen
Immobilization for 48 h. Partial weight bearing of 10 kg for 6 weeks, with continuous passive motion. Increasing weight bearing from 7 weeks onwards.

Results
Follow-up of at least 30 months in 14 patients showed improvement in the Score of the American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) from 50 to 89 points, with equal mobility on both sides of the upper ankle joint.
First 100 Laparoscopic Surgeries in a Predominantly Rural Nigerian Population: A Template for Future Growth
Authors: Ekwunife Christopher N. , Nwobe Ogechukwu 
Published: June 2014

AbstractBackgroundMinimal access surgery has revolutionized surgery practice. Its proven advantages, such as reduced postoperative pain, early return to unrestricted activities, and better cosmesis, have become important drivers for its rapid development. In sub‐Saharan Africa this development has been slow. The aim of the current study was to describe the challenges and outcomes of laparoscopic procedures in a public hospital that caters to a predominantly rural population.Material and methodsThe first 100 patients who underwent laparoscopic procedure in the Department of Surgery at Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, Nigeria were retrospectively analyzed. Data were retrieved from the medical records department as well as the surgical theater procedure register. The focus of the study was on patient demographics, indication for surgery, procedure performed, length of hospital stay, and morbidity and mortality data. Staff training was done locally and abroad.ResultsAltogether, 100 patients had laparoscopic surgery in our general surgery unit from September 2007 through July 2013. The ages of the patients was 5–75 years (median 36.5 years). The three main procedures were cholecystectomy (36 %), diagnostic laparoscopy (29 %), and appendectomy (21 %). The other operations performed included liver abscess drainage (7 %), adhesiolysis (3 %), hernia repair (1 %), and Heller’s myotomy (1 %). Four cases were converted to open surgery. There were no deaths. There were 14 grades I and II postoperative complications in nine patients.ConclusionsOur study suggests that basic laparoscopic procedures could be offered safely to our resource‐poor rural population. It is a platform on which we can hopefully introduce advanced laparoscopic surgical operations.
Evaluation of the Patient-Specific Functional Scale in hand Fractures and Dislocations
Authors: Novak Christine B. , Williams Marianne M. , Conaty Kathleen 
Published: June 2014

Background Generic upper extremity disability questionnaires utilize standardized items. The Patient-Specific Functional Scale (PSFS) allows the patient to identify specific self-reported items. This study evaluated the validity of the PSFS to assess outcome in patients with hand fractures or dislocations. Methods Adults with hand fractures or dislocations, who completed hand therapy between January 2012 and January 2013, were eligible for inclusion. At the initial and final assessment, each patient was asked to complete the PSFS. Each patient identified three items that were difficult or they were unable to perform, and the degree of difficulty was ranked from 0 to 10 (able to perform at pre-injury level). We excluded patients with an incomplete PSFS. Statistical analyses evaluated the relationships between the PSFS and the independent variables. Results There were 63 patients (37 men, 26 women); 21 of the 63 patients underwent surgery for fracture fixation. The mean duration of hand therapy treatment was 2.2±1.4 months. The mean PSFS scores were as follows: initial 3.2±2.2; final 8.1± 2.2. There was a significant improvement in PSFS scores from initial to final assessment ( p<0.001) and a moderate correlation ( r=0.3, p=0.02). There was no statistical difference in PSFS scores between men and women or surgery and no surgery. Conclusions In these patients with hand fractures or dislocations, the PSFS indicated significant improvement in function. Using items identified by the patient, the PSFS provides a valuable perspective of outcome and may be used in conjunction with generic disease-specific questionnaire for assessment of the upper extremity.
Dual role of cerebral blood flow in regional brain temperature control in the healthy newborn infant
Authors: Iwata Sachiko , Tachtsidis Ilias , Takashima Sachio , Matsuishi Toyojiro , Robertson Nicola J. , Iwata Osuke 
Published: June 2014

AbstractSmall shifts in brain temperature after hypoxia–ischaemia affect cell viability. The main determinants of brain temperature are cerebral metabolism, which contributes to local heat production, and brain perfusion, which removes heat. However, few studies have addressed the effect of cerebral metabolism and perfusion on regional brain temperature in human neonates because of the lack of non‐invasive cot‐side monitors. This study aimed (i) to determine non‐invasive monitoring tools of cerebral metabolism and perfusion by combining near‐infrared spectroscopy and echocardiography, and (ii) to investigate the dependence of brain temperature on cerebral metabolism and perfusion in unsedated newborn infants.Thirty‐two healthy newborn infants were recruited. They were studied with cerebral near‐infrared spectroscopy, echocardiography, and a zero‐heat flux tissue thermometer. A surrogate of cerebral blood flow (CBF) was measured using superior vena cava flow adjusted for cerebral volume (rSVC flow). The tissue oxygenation index, fractional oxygen extraction (FOE), and the cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen relative to rSVC flow (CMRO2 index) were also estimated.A greater rSVC flow was positively associated with higher brain temperatures, particularly for superficial structures. The CMRO2 index and rSVC flow were positively coupled. However, brain temperature was independent of FOE and the CMRO2 index. A cooler ambient temperature was associated with a greater temperature gradient between the scalp surface and the body core.Cerebral oxygen metabolism and perfusion were monitored in newborn infants without using tracers. In these healthy newborn infants, cerebral perfusion and ambient temperature were significant independent variables of brain temperature. CBF has primarily been associated with heat removal from the brain. However, our results suggest that CBF is likely to deliver heat specifically to the superficial brain. Further studies are required to assess the effect of cerebral metabolism and perfusion on regional brain temperature in low‐cardiac output conditions, fever, and with therapeutic hypothermia.
Changing the role of the traditional birth attendant in Somaliland
Authors: Pyone Thidar , Adaji Sunday , Madaj Barbara , Woldetsadik Tadesse , van den Broek Nynke 
Published: June 2014

AbstractObjectiveTo explore the feasibility of changing the role of the traditional birth attendant (TBA) to act as birth companion and promoter of skilled birth attendance.MethodsBetween 2008 and 2012, 75 TBAs received 3 days of training and were paid US $5 for each patient brought to any of five healthcare facilities in Maroodi Jeex, Somaliland. Health facilities were upgraded (infrastructure, drugs and equipment, staff training, and incentivization). Eight key informant interviews (KIIs) and 10 focus group discussions (FGDs) involving 32 TBAs and 32 mothers were conducted. A framework approach was used for analysis.ResultsTBAs adopted their new role easily; instead of conducting home births and referring women to a facility only at onset of complications, they accompanied or referred mothers to a nearby facility for delivery, prenatal care, or postnatal care. Both TBAs and mothers accepted this new role, resulting in increased deliveries at health facilities. Facilitating factors included the creation of an enabling environment at the health facility, acceptance of the TBA by health facility staff, and monetary incentivization.ConclusionChanging the role of the TBA to support facility‐based delivery is feasible and acceptable. Further research is needed to see whether this is replicable and can be scaled‐up.
Ultrasonographic findings in the ovine udder during involution
Authors: Petridis Ioannis G , Gouletsou Pagona G , Barbagianni Marianna S , Amiridis George S , Brozos Christos , Valasi Irene , Fthenakis George C 
Published: June 2014

The objective of the study was to record, by means of ultrasonographic examination, changes occurring in the udder of ewes during involution and to compare differences between progressive or abrupt udder drying-off. In group A ewes, udder drying-off took place progressively during a period of 22 d; ewes were milked twice daily for the last time on day(D) 0; then, they were hand-milked once daily for a week (D1–D7), which was followed by another week during which ewes were hand-milked once every 2 d (D9, D11, D13), followed by a third week during which ewes were hand-milked once every 3 d (D16, D19, D22). In group B ewes, the procedure took place abruptly; ewes were milked twice daily for the last time on D0 and no milking was carried out after that. B-mode and Doppler ultrasonographic examination of the udder of all ewes was performed throughout the drying-off procedure. Appropriate data management and analysis were performed. Progressive changes of the various parameters evaluated throughout the study period were significant in both groups (P<0·005). Gray-scale results of mammary parenchyma progressively decreased during the study and differed significantly between group A and group B (P=0·049). A temporary increase in cistern volume was evident after cessation of lactation, but differences were not significant between the two groups (P>0·3). Diameter of the external pudendal artery progressively decreased during the study and differed significantly between the two groups (P=0·037). Both resistance index and pulsatility index progressively increased throughout the study period in both groups; for both parameters, differences between the two groups were significant (P<0·0005). B-mode ultrasonographic examination indicated differences in remodelling of the extracellular matrix in relation to the procedure for udder drying-off. Volume of the gland cistern did not appear to be affected by the procedure for udder drying-off. Doppler ultrasonographic examination confirmed that blood flow during initiated involution was lower than during a progressive procedure for drying-off.
Craniofacial anthropometry in newborns of Sikkimese origin
Authors: Sinha P , Tamang B K , Chakraborty S 
Published: June 2014

AbstractBackground:Head and face dimensions vary according to race and geographical zone. Hereditary factors also greatly affect the size and shape of the head. There are important medical applications of craniofacial data specific to different racial and ethnic groups.Methods:Various cranial and facial anthropometric parameters were assessed in singleton, healthy, full-term newborns of Sikkimese origin in a tertiary care hospital in Sikkim, India. The data were then analysed to determine statistically significant differences between sexes.Results:Forty-five newborns were included in the study. Both male and female newborns were observed to be hyperbrachycephalic and hyperleptoprosopic. The only significant difference between the sexes was in commissural length, which was observed to be greater in male newborns.Conclusion:Craniofacial parameters in Sikkimese newborns vary in comparison with those of other newborns from around the world. Larger studies are needed in order to reveal sex-related variations. Similar studies on various racial groups in North-East India are needed to establish standards for populations with East Asian features.
Hiding strategies for a mobile robot in hostile obstacle strewn environments
Authors: Marzouqi Mohamed. S. , Jarvis R. A. 
Published: June 2014

SUMMARYA robot working in a hostile environment should be equipped with the necessary risk-avoidance intelligence to survive and accomplish an assigned mission. Covert robotics is a relatively new field in which covert navigation abilities are developed for robots to carry out a mission with minimal potential observation from known or unknown vantage points, with occluding obstacles as the only means of maintaining covertness. The ability to ‘hide’ in order to minimize the risk of being detected is the focus of this paper. A number of strategies are presented that deal with various assumptions about the environment and the hostile observers' locations. The hiding strategies presented for different cases ensure choosing a proper hiding point while taking into account the risk of the chosen path to it.
Multi-objective optimal design based kineto-elastostatic performance for thedeltaparallel mechanism
Authors: Bounab Belkacem 
Published: June 2014

SUMMARYThis paper addresses the dimensional-synthesis-based kineto-elastostatic performance optimization of thedeltaparallel mechanism. For the manipulator studied here, the main consideration for the optimization criteria is to find the maximum regular workspace where the robotdeltamust posses high stiffness and dexterity. The dexterity is a kinetostatic quality measure that is related to joint's stiffness and control accuracy. In this study, we use the Castigliano's energetic theorem for modeling the elastostatic behavior of thedeltaparallel robot, which can be evaluated by the mechanism's response to external applied wrench under static equilibrium. In the proposed formulation of the design problem, global structure's stiffness and global dexterity are considered together for the simultaneous optimization. Therefore, we formulate the design problem as a multi-objective optimization one and, we use evolutionary genetic algorithms to find all possible trade-offs among multiple cost functions that conflict with each other. The proposed design procedure is developed through the implementation of thedeltarobot and, numerical results show the effectiveness of the proposed design method to enhancing kineto-elastostatic performance of the studied manipulator's structure.
EFFECTIVENESS OF WEARABLE DEFIBRILLATORS: SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND QUALITY OF EVIDENCE
Authors: Uyei Jennifer , Braithwaite R. Scott 
Published: June 2014

Objectives: The objectives of this systematic literature review were to identify all published literature on wearable defibrillators, assess the wearable defibrillator's efficacy and effectiveness in general and among specific patient groups, including post-myocardial infarction, post coronary artery bypass grafting or percutaneous coronary intervention, non-ischemic cardiomyopathy, and ischemic cardiomyopathy, and to evaluate the quality of evidence.Methods: The search and synthesis was informed by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement, and the quality of evidence was evaluated using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation and the Newcastle Ottawa Scale.Results: A total of thirty-six articles and conference abstracts from thirty-three studies were included in the review. It appears that wearable defibrillator use compared with no defibrillator use reduces the chance of ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation (VT/VF) associated deaths by an absolute risk reduction of approximately 1 percent, achieved by averting approximately 4/5th of all VT/VF associated deaths. The quality of evidence was low to very low quality, such that our confidence in the reported estimates is weak.Conclusions: To validate beneficial results, further investigation using robust study designs conducted by independent researchers is warranted.
“A Joyous Star-Spangled-Bannerism”: Emma Juch, Opera in English Translation, and the American Cultural Landscape in the Gilded Age
Authors: TURNER KRISTEN M. 
Published: June 2014

AbstractSoprano Emma Juch (1860–1939), famous in the 1880s and 1890s, combined singing in concerts and festivals with a short English-language operatic career. Because Juch exemplifies a typical prima donna of the late nineteenth century, her life provides a perspective on the American cultural landscape that a focus on star performers cannot capture. Like all female singers, she had to negotiate between competing stereotypes about divas and the nineteenth-century distrust of women who led public lives. In response to these pressures, she constructed an image of a vigorous American singer who nevertheless understood her expected role in society. During the Gilded Age, opera's place in American culture was changing. Foreign-language opera became increasingly associated with wealth, the highest performance quality, and sometimes even cultural and moral uplift, whereas English-language opera suggested popular entertainment for the middle class and mediocre performance standards. The American Opera Company and Juch's own Emma Juch English Grand Opera Company attempted to fight against these assumptions and center opera in English performed by native singers as an important component of a distinctly American musical tradition. She was unsuccessful, however, and Juch's career, which began with great promise, lost momentum after her opera troupe folded and she slid into obscurity.
Ochratoxin A induced early hepatotoxicity: new mechanistic insights from microRNA, mRNA and proteomic profiling studies
Authors: Qi Xiaozhe , Yang Xuan , Chen Siyuan , He Xiaoyun , Dweep Harsh , Guo Mingzhang , Cheng Wen-Hsing , Xu Wentao , Luo Yunbo , Gretz Norbert , Dai Qiu , Huang Kunlun 
Published: June 2014

AbstractThe mycotoxin ochratoxin A (OTA) is found widely in agricultural commodities. OTA can induce various toxicities. In this study, rats were gavaged with OTA for different weeks. Then, the expression of microRNAs, mRNAs and proteins were measured in the rat livers treated with OTA for 13 weeks. Our sequencing data suggests that the medial and the high doses of OTA exert different effects on livers. Five distinctive pathways were induced after OTA treatment as collectively demonstrated at miRNA, mRNA and protein levels. Two (primary bile acid biosynthesis and metabolism of xenobiotics by cytochrome P450) are directly associated with liver damage, whereas the remaining pathways (arginine and proline metabolism, cysteine and methionine metabolism and PPAR signaling pathway) cause metabolic disease. This study reveals OTA-induced early hepatotoxicity for the first time by combining multi-omics methods. The novel metabolic pathways may contribute to the pathogenesis of metabolic diseases later in life.
High-pressure polymorphs of ZnCO3: Evolutionary crystal structure prediction
Authors: Bouibes A. , Zaoui A. 
Published: June 2014

AbstractThe high-pressure behavior of zinc carbonate ZnCO3has been investigated using universal structure prediction method together with the density functional theory. In order to explore all possible structures under pressure, separate calculations at high pressure are done here with increasing number of formula units in the unit cell. Two pressures induced phase transitions were considered. The first one occurs at 78 GPa and the second one at 121 GPa. The most stable ZnCO3at ambient condition corresponds to the space group R-3c (phase I), which is in favorable agreement with experiment. The structure with C2/m space group (phase II) becomes stable between 78 GPa and 121 GPa. Finally, the structure with the space group P212121(phase III) becomes the most stable when the pressure achieves 121 GPa. Some mechanical properties of R-3c structure were –additionally- calculated and compared with the experimental and previous theoretical data. The resulting behaviors support our findings and confirm the obtained phase transition. Besides, from the analysis of the electronic charge density it comes that at 78 GPa, new bond between oxygen and zinc is formed, what is likely the main cause behind the phase transition.