bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The influence of zinc(ii) on thioredoxin/glutathione disulfide exchange: QM/MM studies to explore how zinc(ii) accelerates exchange in higher dielectric environments
Authors: Kurian Roby , Bruce Mitchell R M , Bruce Alice E , Amar François G 
Published: May 2015

Abstract
QM/MM studies were performed to explore the energetics of exchange reactions of glutathione disulfide (GSSG) and the active site of thioredoxin [Cys32–Gly33–Pro34–Cys35] with and without zinc(ii), in vacuum and solvated models. The activation energy for exchange, in the absence of zinc, is 29.7 kcal mol−1 for the solvated model. This is 3.3 kcal mol−1 higher than the activation energy for exchange in the gas phase, due to ground state stabilization of the active site Cys-32 thiolate in a polar environment. In the presence of zinc, the activation energy for exchange is 4.9 kcal mol−1 lower than in the absence of zinc (solvated models). The decrease in activation energy is attributed to stabilization of the charge-separated transition state, which has a 4-centered, cyclic arrangement of Zn–S–S–S with an estimated dipole moment of 4.2 D. A difference of 4.9 kcal mol−1 in activation energy would translate to an increase in rate by a factor of about 4000 for zinc-assisted thiol-disulfide exchange. The calculations are consistent with previously reported experimental results, which indicate that metal-thiolate, disulfide exchange rates increase as a function of solvent dielectric. This trend is opposite to that observed for the influence of the dielectric environment on the rate of thiol-disulfide exchange in the absence of metal. The results suggest a dynamic role for zinc in thiol-disulfide exchange reactions, involving accessible cysteine sites on proteins, which may contribute to redox regulation and mechanistic pathways during oxidative stress.
Treatment of Cervicogenic Headache Concurrent With Cervical Stenosis by Anterior Cervical Decompression and Fusion
Authors: Liu Hong , Ploumis Avraam , Wang Shijun , Li Chunde , Li Hong 
Published: May 2015

Study Design:
Retrospective study.

Objective:
To report the efficacy of anterior cervical decompression and fusion surgery as treatment method for cervicogenic headache (CeH).

Summary of Background Data:
The exact diagnostic criteria and optimal treatment of CeH is still under investigation.

Methods:
A total of 34 consecutive patients (mean age 55.8 y) with CeH (in addition to cervical stenosis symptomatology) resistant to nonoperative treatment were treated by anterior cervical decompression and fusion from 1 up to 3 levels and were followed for at least 1 year. Clinical visual analog pain scale for headache, patient satisfaction index as well as radiographic examinations (flexion-extension radiographs and, when diagnosis of fusion status was uncertain, computed tomography) were documented for all patients at regular intervals. Statistical comparisons of outcome measures between different time points of examinations were performed.

Results:
All patients reported relief of their CeH with mean (range) visual analog pain scale scores as 8.1 (3–9), 2.4 (0–4), and 3.1 (0–5) preoperatively, at 2 months postoperatively, and at the final follow-up, respectively. There was a significant improvement (P<0.001) of visual analog pain scale score between before surgery and at 2 months postoperatively or at the last follow-up. Thirty patients (88%) reported satisfied with their treatment, whereas 4 patients (12%) were not satisfied with surgery. No major surgical complication was seen and only 1 patient had symptomless pseudoarthrosis.

Conclusions:
CeH when associated with cervical spinal stenosis of the subaxial spine can improve when stenosis is treated with anterior cervical discectomy and fusion.
Dose-Volume Predictors of Esophagitis After Thoracic Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy
Authors: Harder Eileen M. , Chen Zhe (Jay) , Park Henry S. , Mancini Brandon R. , Decker Roy H. 
Published: May 2015

Objectives:
Esophageal toxicity has become a major concern as stereotactic hypofractionated radiation therapy is increasingly utilized for central pulmonary tumors. Our purpose was to define esophageal dosimetric parameters that predict potentially dose-limiting toxicities.

Materials and Methods:
In total, 157 patients with a planning target volume ≤5 cm from the esophagus were selected from an institutional database. Toxicity was scored with the CTCAE v4.0. Esophageal D
max and Dv (dose D in Gy covering volume v in mL) in 0.5 mL increments were collected. Corresponding biologically effective dose (BED) was calculated for α/β=10,3 (BED10, BED3). Normal tissue complication probability was computed with conventionally fractionated radiotherapy parameters and equivalent dose in 2 Gy per fraction (EQD2). Dosimetric predictors were identified with multivariate logistic regression with a manual forward stepwise selection technique.

Results:
The grade≥2 esophagitis rate was 5.7%. BED10 to 1.5 mL was the best predictor of esophagitis. BED10 to 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, and 3.5 mL were also predictive but less strong. Results were similar when BED3 and physical dose were examined. Tumor-esophageal distance correlated with esophagitis (10.5% risk of≥grade 2 events with distance≤3.9 cm vs. 1.3% when>3.9 cm, P=0.016). BED10 to 1.5 mL correlated well with EQD2 normal tissue complication probability estimates.

Conclusions:
BED to 1.5 mL was the strongest predictor of grade≥2 esophagitis (independent of α/β ratio) with a 10.6% toxicity risk when BED10>21.1 Gy (14.3 Gy in 3 fractions, 16.0 Gy in 5). The overall rate of severe toxicity is low, suggesting that higher doses may be tolerable.
Ipilimumab and Stereotactic Radiosurgery Versus Stereotactic Radiosurgery Alone for Newly Diagnosed Melanoma Brain Metastases
Authors: Patel Kirtesh R. , Shoukat Sana , Oliver Daniel E. , Chowdhary Mudit , Rizzo Monica , Lawson David H. , Khosa Faisal , Liu Yuan , Khan Mohammad K. 
Published: May 2015

Background:
We compared the safety and efficacy of ipilimumab and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) to SRS alone for newly diagnosed melanoma brain metastases (MBM).

Materials and Methods:
We reviewed records of newly diagnosed MBM patients treated with SRS from 2009 to 2013. The primary endpoint of overall survival (OS), and secondary endpoints of local control, distant intracranial failure, and radiation necrosis were compared using Kaplan-Meier method. Univariate and multivariate analysis were performed using the Cox proportional hazards method.

Results:
Fifty-four consecutive MBM patients were identified, with 20 (37.0%) receiving ipilimumab within 4 months of SRS. Ipilimumab-treated and non-ipilimumab–treated patients had similar baseline characteristics. No difference in symptomatic radiation necrosis or hemorrhage was identified between cohorts. Compared with patients in the nonipilimumab group, 1 year local control (71.4% vs. 92.3%, P=0.40) and intracranial control (12.7% vs. 29.1%, P=0.59) were also statistically similar. The ipilimumab cohort also had no difference in 1-year OS (37.1% vs. 38.5%, P=0.84). Patients administered ipilimumab within 14 days of SRS had higher 1-year (42.9%) and 2-year OS (42.9%) relative to ipilimumab delivered >14 days (33.8%, 16.9%) and SRS alone (38.5%, 25.7%) but these difference were not statistically significant. Univariate analysis and multivariate analysis both confirmed single brain metastasis, controlled primary, and active systemic disease as predictors for OS.

Conclusions:
Use of ipilimumab within 4 months of SRS seems to be safe, with no increase in radiation necrosis or hemorrhage; however, our retrospective institutional experience with this treatment regimen was not associated with improved outcomes.
Endoscopy Following Pediatric Intestinal Transplant
Authors: Yeh Joanna , Ngo Khiet D. , Wozniak Laura J. , Vargas Jorge H. , Marcus Elizabeth A. , McDiarmid Sue V. , Farmer Douglas G. , Venick Robert S. 
Published: May 2015

ABSTRACTObjectives:Biopsies remain the criterion standard in the diagnosis of intestinal transplant (ITx) rejection, and gastrointestinal endoscopy plays a pivotal role in patient management. Herein, we describe a single‐center 23‐year endoscopic experience in pediatric ITx recipients.Methods:A retrospective review of endoscopy and pathology reports of all ITx recipients <18 years old transplanted between 1991 and 2013 was performed with the aim of describing the procedural indications, findings, and complications.Results:A total of 1770 endoscopic procedures within 1014 sessions were performed. A combination of esophagogastroduodenoscopy and ileoscopy was the most common procedure (36%). Increased stool output (35%) and surveillance endoscopy (32%) were the most common indications. A total of 162 episodes of biopsy‐proven rejection were diagnosed. The first episode of rejection occurred at a median of 1 month after ITx. Of histology‐proven rejections, 45% had normal‐appearing endoscopies. The rate of procedural complications, including but not limited to bleeding and perforation, was 1.8%.Conclusions:Endoscopy with biopsy plays a significant role in the care of ITx recipients. Multiple procedures are required for graft surveillance, diagnosis of rejection, subsequent treatment, and follow‐up of therapy. The gross endoscopic appearance, particularly in mild to moderate acute cellular rejection, does not correlate well with histology. Complex anatomy, complication rates that are higher than patients with non‐ITx pediatric endoscopy, and timely histologic interpretation by experienced pathologists are reasons that these procedures should be performed at centers accustomed to caring for ITx recipients. The field would benefit from the development of a noninvasive biomarker to reliably and efficiently detect rejection.
A systematic review of Lean Six Sigma for the manufacturing industry
Authors: Albliwi Saja Ahmed , Antony Jiju , Lim Sarina Abdul halim 
Published: May 2015

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to explore the most common themes within Lean Six Sigma (LSS) in the manufacturing sector, and to identify any gaps in those themes that may be preventing users from getting the most benefit from their LSS strategy. This paper also identifies the gaps in current literature and develops an agenda for future research into LSS themes.

Design/methodology/approach
– The following research is based on a review of 37 papers that were published on LSS in the top journals in the field and other specialist journals, from 2000 to 2013.

Findings
– Many issues have emerged in this paper and important themes have cited which are: benefits, motivation factors, limitations and impeding factors. The analysis of 19 case studies in the manufacturing sector has resulted in significant benefits cited in this paper. However, many gaps and limitations need to be explored in future research as there have been little written on LSS as a holistic strategy for business improvement.

Practical implications
– It is important for practitioners to be aware of LSS benefits, limitations and impeding factors before starting the LSS implementation process. Hence, this paper could provide valuable insights to practitioners.

Originality/value
– This paper is based on a comprehensive literature review which gives an opportunity to LSS researchers to understand some common themes within LSS in depth. In addition, highlighting many gaps in the current literature and developing an agenda for future research, will save time and effort for readers looking to research topics within LSS.
Adding service means adding knowledge: an inductive single-case study
Authors: Leoni Luna 
Published: May 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to explore how knowledge management systems can support the adoption of the servitization strategy in a manufacturing firm.Design/methodology/approach– In order to reach the paper aim, an inductive single-case study has been adopted. The analysis focuses on the IBM Corporation.Findings– In spite of the paucity of studies that simultaneously address both servitization and knowledge management topics, the case study findings show five connections points between the two streams of research, proving not only that they are closely connected to each other, but also how the adoption of a good knowledge management system can facilitate the implementation of a servitization strategy.Research limitations/implications– As far as the adoption of a single-case study is concerned, this could create biases that can affect the final product in terms of reliability, validity, and generalizability. However, as stated by Erickson (1986), the general lies in the particular and, as argued by Flyvbjerg (2006), the strength of a single example is underestimated in its contribution to scientific progress. Thus, even though this paper is based on a single-case study, it is reasonable to believe that it could be considered as a representative case of companies of the time and its findings sufficiently generalizable.Practical implications– Case study findings could guide managers towards understanding if their knowledge management tools and practices are appropriate, or if they need to be modified in order to successfully implement the servitization strategy adopted.Originality/value– This study represents the first attempt to fill the paucity of studies contemporaneously addressing both servitization and knowledge management topics, and could be used as a pilot case for future research works.
Toward an inclusive understanding of technology intelligence: a literature review
Authors: Safdari Ranjbar Mostafa , Tavakoli Gholam Reza 
Published: May 2015

Purpose
– The aim of this paper is to promote the authors' understanding of technology intelligence by responding to two questions: What is technology intelligence? How is it accomplished?

Design/methodology/approach
– To respond to the two main questions about technology intelligence in this paper, the authors have studied relevant academic, peer-reviewed journals and books using the literature databases of Google Scholar, Sciencedirect, Inderscience, Wiley and Emerald Insight. They have used few selection criteria to choose papers and books for inclusion in their study.

Findings
– Enhancing the authors' understanding of the technology intelligence concept by responding to the two main questions (What is technology intelligence? How is it accomplished?), classifying the main studies in the field of technology intelligence and several practical and theoretical implications are the findings in this paper.

Practical implications
– A number of practical implications related to technology intelligence structure, process, methods, tools and players are suggested to managers of organizations and companies to improve their technology-related planning processes and decision-making.

Originality/value
– Despite the considerable level of consensus on the necessity of precise scanning and monitoring technological changes and trends, there is still limited understanding of the technology intelligence concept. This paper intends to enhance the authors' understanding of technology intelligence by responding to two questions: What is technology intelligence? And how is it accomplished?
Improving screening for diabetes in cystic fibrosis
Authors: Abdulhamid Ibrahim , Guglani Lokesh , Bouren Jennifer , Moltz Kathleen C 
Published: May 2015

Purpose
– Annual screening for cystic fibrosis-related-diabetes (CFRD) using oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) is recommended, but national testing rates are low. The purpose of this paper is to implement the quality improvement (QI) initiative to improve cystic fibrosis (CF) annual screening rates among patients at one CF center.

Design/methodology/approach
– To improve screening for CFRD at the CF Center, the authors used the Dartmouth Microsystem Improvement Ramp method and formed a collaborative working group. A process map was created to outline the steps and a fishbone analysis was performed to identify barriers and to utilize resources for implementing new interventions.

Findings
– Prior to these interventions, 21 percent of eligible patients had completed annual screening and after the intervention, it rose to 72 percent. The initial completion rate with the first prescription was only 50 percent, but it improved steadily to 54/75 (72 percent) in response to reminder letters sent six weeks after the initial script was given.

Practical implications
– Close tracking and reminder letters can improve adherence with annual OGTT screening for CFRD among CF patients, with special emphasis on high-risk patients.

Originality/value
– There should be a special emphasis on screening for CFRD in high-risk CF patients (those with low BMI or higher age). This QI initiative brought about several operational changes in the annual OGTT screening process that have now become the standard operating procedure at the center.
A memetic algorithm based on hyper-heuristics for examination timetabling problems
Authors: Lei Yu , Gong Maoguo , Jiao Licheng , Zuo Yi 
Published: May 2015

Purpose
– The examination timetabling problem is an NP-hard problem. A large number of approaches for this problem are developed to find more appropriate search strategies. Hyper-heuristic is a kind of representative methods. In hyper-heuristic, the high-level search is executed to construct heuristic lists by traditional methods (such as Tabu search, variable neighborhoods and so on). The purpose of this paper is to apply the evolutionary strategy instead of traditional methods for high-level search to improve the capability of global search.

Design/methodology/approach
– This paper combines hyper-heuristic with evolutionary strategy to solve examination timetabling problems. First, four graph coloring heuristics are employed to construct heuristic lists. Within the evolutionary algorithm framework, the iterative initialization is utilized to improve the number of feasible solutions in the population; meanwhile, the crossover and mutation operators are applied to find potential heuristic lists in the heuristic space (high-level search). At last, two local search methods are combined to optimize the feasible solutions in the solution space (low-level search).

Findings
– Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach obtains competitive results and outperforms the compared approaches on some benchmark instances.

Originality/value
– The contribution of this paper is the development of a framework which combines evolutionary algorithm and hyper-heuristic for examination timetabling problems.
Enhancing university teaching and learning through mentoring
Authors: Pleschová Gabriela , McAlpine Lynn 
Published: May 2015

Purpose
– Mentoring has been increasingly used in educational development to facilitate transfer of knowledge from programs for higher education teachers to their pedagogic practice. However, studies are missing which would critically assess the outcomes of mentoring in programs for university teachers. The purpose of this paper is to systematically review existing research on mentoring in the context of educational development in higher education.

Design/methodology/approach
– Using a careful search strategy, 17 relevant scholarly sources were selected and analyzed to document the results of mentoring at individual, departmental and institutional levels.

Findings
– Among the striking findings was the lack of clarity or definition surrounding mentoring and similar terms, coaching and tutoring and the lack of methodological rigour in many studies. However, those methodologically more advanced studies suggest that mentoring can become a valuable component of educational development programs. As reported by previous research, mentoring can: enhance university teachers’ cognitive abilities, beliefs and attitudes; improve the effectiveness of teaching; increase teachers’ capability to research teaching and learning; enhance mentoring skills; and improve the overall teaching climate at universities.

Practical implications
– Categorization of different types of outcomes of mentoring in educational development can help the practitioners engaged in introducing or re-designing educational development programs with a mentoring element.

Originality/value
– This is the first systematic review of the studies discussing the process, value and outcomes of teacher mentoring to improve pedagogical practice at the university level.
Caring relationships and efficient social care provision
Authors: Hollinrake Sue , Thomas Will 
Published: May 2015

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to understand the nature of support that helps older people continue living in their own homes for as long as they wish to.Design/methodology/approach– The research made use of a participatory approach in which service users, service providers and commissioners were involved in the design of the approach in addition to contributing to the research as participants in their own right.Findings– This paper presents analysis from the research which focuses on the importance of caring relationships for providing a support mechanism. The authors question whether budget cuts and efficiency drives within statutory care providers preclude the notion of caring relationships.Practical implications– The authors suggest, in the light of the evidence presented, that statutory service providers should acknowledge the role that caring relationships play in providing support for older people. Whilst budget cuts make providing support for caring relationships more challenging, the authors suggest that there is scope for delivering services and support in ways which promote the types of interactions which better support older people living independently.Originality/value– The analysis presented here provides a distinctive, timely and thoughtful insight into support for older people at a time when public sector budgets are under increasing pressure.
Payment by results: the materialist reconstruction of criminal justice
Authors: Whitehead Philip 
Published: May 2015

Purpose– The criminal justice system in England and Wales is being reconstructed on a new operating platform of which Payment by Results (PbR) is the material signifier. This critical historic transformation is occurring during a period of radical economic disruption and political restructuring after 2007-2008. PbR signals the deeper penetration of the core principles of capitalism into the body of the state and its welfare and criminal justice system. Conceptually a Lacanian-Žižekian framework is put to work to theorise these important transformations. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approach– The design and methodology of this research paper utilises open sources and documentary materials on the development of PbR, in its application primarily to the criminal justice system.Findings– There is evidence that PbR, located within the wider context of capitalist reconstruction, is radically transforming the delivery of criminal justice services.Originality/value– This is the first critical analysis of PbR located within the context of late modern capitalism.