bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Sex-Specific Biatrial Volumetric Measurements Obtained with Use of Multidetector Computed Tomography in Subjects with and without Coronary Artery Disease
Authors: Budoff Matthew J. , Pagali Sandeep R. , Hamirani Yasmin S. , Chen Andy , Cheu Gordon , Gao Yanlin , Li Dong , Mao SongShou 
Published: June 2014

Atrial volumetric measurement has proven clinical implications. Advances in cardiac imaging, notably the precision enabled by multidetector computed tomography (MDCT), herald the need for new criteria of what constitutes normal volumetric measurements. With use of 64-slice MDCT, we compared the atrial volumes in healthy individuals with those in individuals with coronary artery disease.
By means of manual segmentation, we measured biatrial volume in 686 participants who underwent retrospective electrocardiographic-gated MDCT angiographic evaluation. The study population included a control group of 203 persons with no cardiac abnormalities, and a study group of 483 patients with obstructive coronary artery disease. All variables were compared between men and women and between the groups.
We found a significant difference in left atrial end-systolic and end-diastolic volumes between men and women in the control group (P <0.05); however, right atrial volumes were similar. In comparison with the entire control group, the coronary artery disease group had significantly higher left atrial volume, significantly lower right atrial stroke volume, and significantly lower biatrial ejection fraction, except for left atrial ejection fraction in men. Right atrial volume and left atrial stroke volume were not significantly different. The results imply that a sex-specific reference value is necessary for left atrial volumetric evaluation, and that left atrial volume and biatrial ejection fraction (excluding left atrial ejection fraction in men) might be useful during diagnosis and prognosis in patients who have coronary artery disease.
Cardiac Sarcoidosis Presenting as Constrictive Pericarditis
Authors: Darda Saba , Zughaib Marcel E. , Alexander Patrick B. , Machado Christian E. , David Shukri W. , Saba Souheil 
Published: June 2014

In patients with cardiac sarcoidosis, the sarcoid granulomas usually involve the myocardium or endocardium. The disease typically presents as heart failure with ventricular arrhythmias, conduction disturbances, or both. Constrictive pericarditis has rarely been described in patients with sarcoidosis: we found only 2 reports of this association.
We report the case of a 57-year-old man who presented with clinical and hemodynamic features of constrictive pericarditis, of unclear cause. He was admitted for treatment of recurrent pleural effusion. After a complicated hospital course, he underwent pericardiectomy. His clinical and hemodynamic conditions improved substantially, and he was discharged from the hospital in good condition. The pathologic findings, the patient's clinical course, and his response to pericardiectomy led to our diagnosis of cardiac sarcoidosis presenting as constrictive pericarditis. In addition to the patient's case, we discuss the nature and diagnostic challenges of cardiac sarcoidosis. Increased awareness of this disease is necessary for its early detection, appropriate management, and potential cure.
Frozen Elephant Trunk Repair for Descending Thoracic Aortic Dissection in a Man with a Hostile Left Pleural Cavity
Authors: Kent William D.T. , Manjunath Adarsh , Malaisrie S. Chris 
Published: June 2014

The frozen elephant trunk procedure is a hybrid, single-staged alternative to conventional surgery for repairing diffuse pathologic conditions of the thoracic aorta. This approach is particularly advantageous in patients who have pathologic conditions of the left side of the chest, because the descending thoracic aorta can be repaired without entering a hostile pleural cavity.
We present the case of a 67-year-old man who had undergone repair of acute type A aortic dissection. He presented with aneurysmal dilation of the descending thoracic aorta secondary to chronic dissection, a large acute dissection of the proximal ascending aorta, and a large paraesophageal hernia that made him a poor candidate for conventional, 2-staged open aortic repair. We describe the hybrid frozen elephant trunk technique that we used to repair the aorta, and its broader advantages.
Complementarity and transition to modern economic growth
Authors: Jeong Hyeok , Kim Yong 
Published: June 2014

AbstractThe Thai Socio-Economic Survey suggests that new labor market entrants increasingly enter activities with high and positive productivity growth (modern sector), but continue to enter activities with low productivity growth (traditional sector). Workers appear to stick to their initial choice of entry between these two sectors throughout their work careers. We postulate that the transition from the traditional to modern sector is gradual because sector-specific work experience complements labor. We measure the technology
A classroom-based assessment method to test speaking skills in English for Specific Purposes
Authors: Alberola Colomar María Pilar 
Published: June 2014

AbstractThis article presents and analyses a classroom-based assessment method to test students' speaking skills in a variety of professional settings in tourism. The assessment system has been implemented in the Communication in English for Tourism course, as part of the Tourism Management degree programme, at Florida Universitaria (affiliated to the University of Valencia). Based on our ESP teaching experience, we have noticed a need to design an assessment procedure that would enable us gather several samples of students' speaking competencies throughout the course. An extended process that involved research and meetings with colleagues and students led to the development of the assessment method in question, which can be described as a multimodal communicative approach to testing, organized as continuous assessment, and fully related to the course syllabus. To enhance validity and reliability, we have opted to create an assessment procedure based on a combination of testing formats, rating criteria and rating scales. The procedure involves two testers and the overall grade is based on the results obtained in seven tests. The article reviews contributions to the assessment of speaking abilities, presents our testing procedure, describes its implementation, discusses its advantages and disadvantages, and concludes by analysing its washback effect and pedagogical implications.
Using exemption examinations to assess Finnish business students' non-formal and informal learning of ESP: a pilot study
Authors: Tuomainen Satu 
Published: June 2014

AbstractIn recent years Finnish university language centres have increasingly developed procedures for assessing and recognising the skills in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) that students acquire in various non-formal and informal learning environments. This article describes the procedures developed by the University of Eastern Finland Language Centre to assess business students' non-formal and informal learning of ESP language and communication skills. The examinations are held every semester for students seeking exemption from the ESP courses that form part of their undergraduate degree in business and economics. In the examinations the students' skills and abilities are tested using the same criteria and methods as in the courses from which exemption is sought.The article also describes how business students perceive the exemption examination process as a means to recognising and assessing their non-formally and informally acquired ESP language and communication skills. Applying a mixed methods research design, the data presented was elicited from business students who participated in the ESP exemption examinations at the University of Eastern Finland Language Centre in the autumn semester 2012. The results of this pilot study indicate that the students regard the exemption examination process as their preferred means of demonstrating prior learning of ESP, and consider the pre-examination guidance and information provided by the teachers and the self-assessment instructions functional and sufficient. These findings encourage the further development of the ESP exemption examination system at the University of Eastern Finland Language Centre.
Piloting a polychotomous partial-credit scoring procedure in a multiple-choice test
Authors: Tsopanoglou Antonios , Ypsilandis George S. , Mouti Anna 
Published: June 2014

AbstractMultiple-choice (MC) tests are frequently used to measure language competence because they are quick, economical and straightforward to score. While degrees of correctness have been investigated for partially correct responses in combined-response MC tests, degrees of incorrectness in distractors and the role they play in determining the test-taker's final score remain comparatively unexplored. This pilot study examines degrees of incorrectness in MC test items and their potential impact on the overall
Investigating language assessment literacy: Collaboration between assessment specialists and Canadian university admissions officers
Authors: Baker Beverly A. , Tsushima Rika , Wang Shujiao 
Published: June 2014

AbstractThere are increasing numbers of non-native English speaking applicants to Canadian universities (AUCC 2008a, 2010), which are committed to promoting linguistic and cultural diversity (AUCC 2008b). One result of this trend is that university admissions officers, as gatekeepers, are faced with a growing and potentially confusing array of language test scores when making their decisions. These admissions decision makers need a certain amount of language assessment literacy (LAL) to enable them to make use of these language test scores effectively and ethically (O’Loughlin 2011, 2013). This article reports on the first phase of a project designed to address this challenge. The project involves the collaboration of assessment professionals and admissions officers across Canada in determining the LAL base needed for users of language test scores in university admissions decision-making.This first phase of research consisted of a survey with university admissions officers across Canada, inquiring about their knowledge, beliefs, and levels of confidence in making use of language test scores in decision-making. Results have begun to reveal the nature of the LAL needed for these users, and have suggested the most appropriate content for later informational workshops with admissions officers (Phase 2 of the project). While some evidence of misunderstanding was identified, respondents demonstrate awareness of concepts related to validity in language assessment, albeit without making use of the conventional language of the field.
Testing intercultural competence in (International) English: Some basic questions and suggested answers
Authors: Camerer Rudi 
Published: June 2014

AbstractThe testing of intercultural competence has long been regarded as the field of psychometric test procedures, which claim to analyse an individual's personality by specifying and quantifying personality traits with the help of self-answer questionnaires and the statistical evaluation of these. The underlying assumption is that what is analysed and described as a candidate's personality can be treated as an indicator of that same person's practical performance in intercultural encounters. From the point of view of a test constructor for language competence, all intercultural tests of this type raise basic questions concerning their construct and predictive validity.Against this background, this article firstly examines the shortcomings of personality-based tests of intercultural competence. Secondly, based on relevant parts of the CEFR as well as on the work of numerous contributors to the international debate, a practicable construct of intercultural communicative competence is suggested. Special attention is paid to the concept of politeness in intercultural encounters and the role of English as a lingua franca (ELF). Thirdly, a basic outline of a criterion-based test of intercultural competence in English is provided. The test procedures on which this article draws have been extensively piloted and are part of a training package including test specifications, course materials and teacher-training material.
Weakly complex homogeneous spaces
Authors: Moroianu Andrei , Semmelmann Uwe 
Published: June 2014

Abstract.

We complete our recent classification (2011) of compact inner symmetric spaces with weakly complex tangent bundle
by filling up a case which was left open, and extend this classification
to the larger category of compact homogeneous spaces with positive Euler characteristic. We show that
a simply connected compact equal rank homogeneous space has weakly complex tangent bundle if and only
if it is a product of compact equal rank homogeneous spaces which either carry an invariant almost complex structure
(and are classified by Hermann (1955)), or have stably trivial tangent bundle (and are classified by
Singhof and Wemmer (1986)), or belong to an explicit list of weakly complex spaces which have neither
stably trivial tangent bundle, nor carry invariant almost complex structures.
On orbit spaces of representations of compact Lie groups
Authors: Gorodski Claudio , Lytchak Alexander 
Published: June 2014

Abstract.

We investigate orthogonal representations of compact Lie groups from the
point of view of their quotient spaces, considered as metric spaces. We study metric spaces which are simultaneously quotients of
different representations and investigate properties of the corresponding
representations. We obtain some structural results and apply them
to study irreducible representations of small copolarity. As an important tool, we classify all irreducible
representations of connected groups with cohomogeneity four or five.
On Frege’s ‘Modes of Presentation’ in Signs
Authors: Solomonick Abraham 
Published: June 2014

Abstract
Gottlob Frege introduced a new dimension to the characterization of signs - that of ‘mode of presentation’. The same referent may be represented by different signs and in different manners, revealing it with dissimilar depth and profundity. The mode of presentation varies due to the fact that the same denoted object changes in the course of time and under alternating circumstances, but also because people designating it have unequal means for doing so. Herein I undertake to explicate these facts as they occur in semiotic reality.
Trailblazers Paving the Way to Semioethics
Authors: Ponzio Augusto , Petrilli Susan 
Published: June 2014

Abstract
Like the Roman divinity Janus, Western semiotics has two faces, one turned towards Europe including the Tartu-Moscow tradition, now renominated the Tartu-Moscow-Bloomington tradition, and the other turned towards semiotics in the United States. Semiotics today ensues from different phases of development across the twentieth century - from “communication (code) semiotics”, to “signification semiotics” to “interpretation (significance) semiotics”. In this paper we draw attention to some of the authors who have most inspired our research on sign, language, and communication, influencing its development in the direction of “semioethics” in a global semiotic framework. Fundamental concepts addressed here include metaphor, abduction, iconicity, homology, as that between linguistic and nonlinguistic work, otherness, singularity and responsibility, eventness and participative understanding.
Steeping in Traditional Chinese Philosophy
Authors: Lingling Peng 
Published: June 2014

Abstract
This article investigates the design structure of ancient Decorative Chinese Calligraphy, an art form that is steeped in traditional Chinese philosophy, and explores the relationship between calligraphic form and its denotation. Three design characteristics are distinguished: “circle heaven and square earth”, “being symmetrical or balanced”, and “in harmony with myriad things”. Examples of Decorative Chinese Calligraphy are analyzed from the epistemological, semiotic, aesthetic, and cultural perspective of ancient Chinese culture.
The Reception of Tartu Semiotics in China
Authors: Chang Han-liang , Han Lei , Wu Shuo-yu Charlotte 
Published: June 2014

Abstract
This essay traces the reception of Tartu semiotics in the Chinesespeaking world, including Mainland China and Taiwan. Our preliminary survey covers materials of three main categories: (1) research projects, (2) postgraduate degree theses, and (3) publications in Chinese and other languages. A number of common features in cross-cultural reception are identified, such as the temporal gap in theory travelling, the role of a third language mediating source and target languages, the phenomenon of negative influence, and the political interference with the introduction and reception of foreign cultural products. Because of its predominant interest in the dynamics of culture as sign system and inter-systemic dialogue, Tartu Semiotics is becoming increasingly attractive to the growing Chinese semiotic community.
Synthesis of nanostructured MgO powders with photoluminescence by plasma-intensified pyrohydrolysis process of bischofite from brine
Authors: Zhang Haibao , Cao Tengfei , Cheng Yi 
Published: June 2014

Abstract
Nanostructured MgO powders were synthesized by an ultra-high temperature pyrohydrolysis process of bischofite (MgCl2·6H2 O) in a radio frequency (RF) induction thermal plasma system. The structure, morphology and optical properties were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Raman spectroscopy. The results showed that MgO nanopowders with two different morphologies were fabricated: near spherical MgO nanoparticles with size in the range of 20∼40 nm and 1D nanobelts with a width of about 100 nm. The photoluminescence (PL) studies showed that both of these two kinds of nanostructured MgO powders exhibited a strong ultraviolet-green PL emission under the excitation of 325 nm He-Ne laser.
Effects of vitamin E combined with antioxidants on wood flour/polypropylene composites during accelerated weathering
Authors: Peng Yao , Liu Ru , Cao Jinzhen , Guo Xi 
Published: June 2014

Abstract
The aim of this research was to investigate the influence of different antioxidant systems containing vitamin E (VE) and antioxidant 168 (AO) on the photodegradation of wood flour/polypropylene (WF/PP) composites, as well as to provide insight into the processes taking place in these systems during weathering. Five groups of composites were treated in a QUV accelerated weathering tester for a total of 960 h. The surface color and the flexural properties of the weathered samples were tested. Additionally, the weathered surface was characterized by SEM, ATR-FTIR, and XPS. The results were: (1) composites with VE and AO showed less loss of flexural strength and modulus, as well as less color fading and fewer cracks on weathered surfaces than surfaces without antioxidants; (2) AO reacted with hydroperoxide and quinones and showed a synergistic effect with VE to further improve the anti-weathering ability of the composites; (3) 0.2% VE and 1.0% AO was the optimal formulation, yielding the best anti-weathering properties among all.
Health care providers and adolescents’ perspectives towards adolescents’ health education needs: a need assessment based on comparative approach
Authors: Shahhosseini Zohreh , Abedian Kobra 
Published: June 2014

Abstract
Aim: Health care providers have considerable influence on adolescents’ health promotion. Thus, it is important to focus on the views of this group as one of the most reliable sources in the evaluation of teenagers’ health needs. The aim of this study was to compare the attitudes of Iranian health care providers and adolescents towards the latter’s health education needs.
Materials and methods: A quantitative cross-sectional survey, including 72 health care providers and 402 female students from 14 high schools in northern Iran, was carried out in 2011. Topics in a self-administrated questionnaire covered the participants’ perspectives towards the educational health needs of adolescents in a five-point Likert scale.
Results: Findings revealed from health care providers’ views indicate that the highest mean score was assigned to “Education about prevention of sexual high risk behavior”, which was significantly different from adolescents’ perspective (t=8.42, p<0.05). Results showed that health care providers and adolescents both emphasized on the mothers’ role as the most reliable source of adolescents’ education (t=1.85, p>0.05).
Conclusion: Provision of health education programs for adolescents, which are based on integration of health care providers’ perspectives and the adolescents’ views, are essential in meeting adolescents’ educational health needs.
Study of menstrual patterns in adolescent girls with disabilities in a residential institution
Authors: Joshi Ganesh Arun , Joshi Prajakta Ganesh 
Published: June 2014

Abstract
Background: The gynecological health needs of girls with disabilities is an issue related to their rights as individuals.
Objective: The objective of this study is to describe the menstrual pattern of girls with disabilities. Materials and methods: A descriptive study was undertaken on thirty girls with different types of disabilities in a residential institution. The diagnosis, type of disability, secondary sexual characters, age at menarche, menstrual pattern and practice of menstrual hygiene was noted.
Results: The girls with intellectual disabilities had later age of menarche, irregular cycles and more behaviour problems. The girls with hearing impairment and locomotor disabilities had normal menstrual pattern. The girl with low vision had earlier menarche and regularized cycles. Girls with normal intelligence and mild intellectual disabilities were independent in maintaining menstrual hygiene. The menstrual disorders are managed conservatively in accordance with latest guidelines.
Conclusion: Onset of menarche is towards the extremes of normal age range in girls with intellectual disabilities or visual impairment but not in girls with hearing impairments or locomotor disabilities. Girls with disabilities have potential for independent menstrual care. Menstrual disorders were managed conservatively.
A New Advanced Topology of Stacked Multicell Inverter
Authors: Banaei Mohamad R. , Oskuee M. R. Jannati , Kazemi F. Mohajel 
Published: June 2014

Abstract
In this paper, a new advanced topology of stacked multicell inverter is proposed which is generally suitable for high number of steps associated with a low number of switches. Compared with traditional flying capacitor multicell and stacked multicell (SM) inverters, doubling the number of output voltage levels and the RMS value, ameliorating the output voltage frequency spectrum, decreasing the number and rating of components, stored energy and rating of flying capacitors are available with the proposed inverter. These improvements are achieved by adding only four low-frequency switches to the traditional SM inverter’s structure. The suggested topology is simulated using MATLAB/SIMULINK software, and simulation results are presented to indicate well-performance of the novel converter. In addition, the experimental results of proposed topology prototype have been presented to validate its practicability.