bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Novel wideband slot antenna having notch-band function for 2.4 GHz WLAN and UWB applications
Authors: Shagar Arumugam Chellamuthu , Wahidabanu Shaik Davood 
Published: April 2011

In this paper, the design, simulation, and fabrication of a novel printed rectangular slot antenna with a band-notched function suitable for 2.4 GHz wireless local area network (WLAN) and ultra-wideband (UWB) applications is presented and investigated. Two pairs of slits are introduced into the ground plane to realize band-notched function, by tuning the position, length, and width of which a suitable rejected frequency band can be obtained. To improve the impedance matching, a rectangular cut is also made in the ground plane so that the antenna can cover 2–12 GHz frequency range. According to the measured results, the proposed antenna has a large bandwidth totally satisfying the requirement of 2.4 GHz WLAN and UWB systems, while providing the required band-notch function from 5.1 to 5.9 GHz. The study of transfer function and time-domain characteristics also indicates the band-notched function of the antenna. The radiation patterns display nearly omni-directional performance and the antenna gain is stable except in the rejected frequency band (5.1–5.9 GHz). Moreover, group delays are within 1.5 ns except for the notch band. These features make it a promising candidate for UWB wireless applications. Details of this antenna are described, and the experimental results of the constructed prototype are given.
60 GHz WLAN applications and implementation aspects
Authors: Schulte Benedikt , Peter Michael , Felbecker Robert , Keusgen Wilhelm , Steffen Rainer , Schumacher Hermann , Hellfeld Marcus , Barghouthi Atheer , Krone Stefan , Guderian Falko , Fettweis Gerhard P. , Ziegler Volker 
Published: April 2011

Various wireless applications are currently under development for the unlicensed 60 GHz band. This paper describes three examples with different system requirements. The first two are point-to-multipoint wireless networks (in an airplane and in a car) and the third one is a short range point-to-point connection. Special requirements of the applications are a high number of users for the point-to-multipoint connection and a high data rate of 10 Gbit/s for the point-to-point connection system. Implementation aspects are pointed out, which are important to demonstrate the functionality of the system in a relevant environment and are key aspects to develop the related products. For example, integration aspects of the antenna into an airplane passenger seat and the receiver concept of the radio frequency-(RF) front-end to reducing the power consumption at ultrahigh data rates are described. Additionally, to determine the geometrical system architecture, ray-tracing simulations inside an aircraft and inside a car were performed.
Understanding the online therapeutic alliance through the eyes of adolescent service users
Authors: Hanley Terry 
Published: April 2011

AbstractAims: The therapeutic alliance is a concept that has received a great deal of attention within face‐to‐face counselling. Furthermore, links have been made between the creation of strong alliances and successful therapeutic outcomes. This study examines the therapeutic alliance when counselling services are offered online to young people. Method: Fifteen young people took part in online interviews (utilising synchronous and asynchronous methods), and Grounded Theory techniques were utilised to analyse the data. Findings: A core category of ‘Client‐Service Match’ and three subcategories pertinent to the individuals’ experiences of creating good quality relationships with the counsellors were identified: (1) initial engagement, (2) developing rapport, and (3) establishing control. Discussion: The themes elicited are all relevant to the matching process and viewed as a chronological process similar to face‐to‐face counselling. However, unlike face‐to‐face work, specific nuances related to the online work arise that counsellors should be mindful of, including the rationale behind each individual's choice to approach services online, their own computer‐mediated communication skills, technical hurdles, and the perceived ‘power’ of the counsellor.
Practice‐based supervision research: A network of researchers using a common toolkit
Authors: Wheeler Sue , Aveline Mark , Barkham Michael 
Published: April 2011

AbstractAim: Given that various systematic reviews of supervision literature have revealed how little is known about supervision, that studies are not usually routed in practice, and that a multitude of diverse measures are used, the primary aim of this project was to support and encourage practitioner research related to supervision using a prescribed common set of instruments. Method: Funded by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), a Supervision Research Practice Network (SuPReNet) was established. A toolkit (a series of measures) that could be used routinely by practitioners was selected following the assembly of available measures of supervision and an assessment of them. Findings: The appraisal, conducted by the three authors, yielded five core measures, free for anyone to use, and accessible through the SuPReNet website. The measures are being piloted through a practice research network at a university counselling and psychotherapy research clinic where supervision data are being collected through a special module of CORE Net. Discussion: The potential yield from this initiative for practitioners, researchers, and the developing evidence‐base is discussed and a model proposed for the next generation of research on supervision.
Therapists’ and clients’ perceptions of routine outcome measurement in the NHS: A qualitative study
Authors: Unsworth Gisela , Cowie Helen , Green Anita 
Published: April 2011

AbstractPrimary objective: This is the first qualitative study that elicited the perceptions of both psychological therapists and their clients in the use of Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation with computer software (CORE‐Net), where instant visual feedback for session tracking was given on a computer screen in the therapy room at each therapy session. The study also examined how therapists viewed its potential value in supervision and provides suggestions for improving training. Research design: The study adopted a convenience sample of four therapists in a primary care counselling setting (PCC – General Practitioner referrals) who were experienced in using CORE‐Net, and five therapists in an NHS employee/occupational support counselling service (OH) who had just begun to use CORE‐Net for session tracking with 10 of their clients. Method: A qualitative methodology was used and interview data were collected from the therapists via focus groups; the clients were interviewed individually face to face. All data was analysed inductively. Findings: The study identified six overarching themes: (i) therapists were initially anxious and resistant; (ii) therapists adapt ‘creatively’; (iii) outcome measures help the client/therapist relationship; (iv) clients perceive visual measures as helpful; (v) CORE scores inform supervision; and (vi) proper and ongoing training/support of therapists is necessary. The main limitations are comparability of data and the generalisabilty of results. Conclusions: The implementation of routine outcome measurement (ROM) is a challenge but can be made easier with proper training and supervision. Clients appear happier than their therapists when routine outcome measurement is used.
Pre‐operative sildenafil and pulmonary endothelial‐related complications following cardiopulmonary bypass: a randomised trial in children undergoing cardiac surgery*
Authors: Vassalos A. , Peng E. , Young D. , Walker S. , Pollock J. , MacArthur K. , Lyall F. , Danton M. H. D. 
Published: April 2011

SummaryIn a randomised trial, we compared the effects of oral sildenafil (0.5 mg.kg−1) and placebo, administered the day before cardiac surgery, in 24 children. In sildenafil vs placebo patients, pre‐cardiopulmonary bypass median (IQR [range]) cyclic‐guanosine‐monophosphate was not significantly different (29.9 (2.1–208.1 [0.5–391.5]) vs 5.2 (0.3–54.6 [0–628.9]) pmol.ml−1, respectively). Post‐cardiopulmonary bypass, nitrate/nitrite levels were also not significantly different (0.7 (0–8.0 [0–142.8]) vs 0 (0–2.7 [0–52.7]) μM, respectively). Postoperatively, mean (SD) pulmonary vascular resistance (2.64 (2.28) vs 1.90 (1.12) WU.m−2, respectively and oxygenation index (5.29 (4.60) vs 3.38 (2.54), respectively) remained unchanged, whilst oxygen delivery (57.18 (21.24) vs 74.13 (35.46) ml.min−1.m−2, respectively) and bi‐ventricular systolic function (left ventricle 3.78 (0.94) vs 4.55 (1.08) cm.s−1, respectively; p = 0.002; right ventricle 6.93 (1.47) vs 8.09 (2.25) cm.s−1, respectively; p < 0.001) were significantly reduced in the sildenafil group. In this trial, pre‐operative sildenafil did not affect postoperative pulmonary vascular resistance. There was, however, a negative impact on ventricular function and oxygenation.
Function of the activated protein C (APC) autolysis loop in activated FVIII inactivation
Authors: Cramer Thomas J. , Gale Andrew J. 
Published: April 2011

SummaryActivated protein C (APC) binds to its substrates activated factor V (FVa) and activated factor VIII (FVIIIa) with a basic exosite that consists of loops 37, 60, 70 and the autolysis loop. These loops have a high density of basic residues, resulting in a positive charge on the surface of APC. Many of these residues are important in the interaction of APC with FVa and FVIIIa. The current study focused on the function of the autolysis loop in the interaction with FVIIIa. This loop was previously shown to interact with FVa, and it inhibits APC inactivation by plasma serpins. Charged residues of the autolysis loop were individually mutated to alanine and the activity of these mutants was assessed in functional FVIIIa inactivation assays. The autolysis loop was functionally important for FVIIIa inactivation. Mutation of R306, K311 and R314 each resulted in significantly reduced FVIIIa inactivation. The inactivating cleavages of FVIIIa at R336 and R562 were affected equally by the mutations. Protein S and FV stimulated cleavage at R562 more than cleavage at R336, independent of mutations in the autolysis loop. Together, these results confirmed that the autolysis loop plays a significant role as part of the basic exosite on APC in the interaction with FVIIIa.
Oral rush desensitization to egg: efficacy and safety
Authors: García Rodríguez R. , Urra J. M. , Feo‐Brito F. , Galindo P. A. , Borja J. , Gómez E. , Lara P. , Guerra F. 
Published: April 2011

SummaryBackground
Current management of egg allergy relies on egg elimination from the diet. It does not protect patients from reactions after accidental ingestion of the food and it has a negative influence on quality of life. To solve these problems, some desensitization protocols have been described that are safe and effective, but only one study of a rush regimen for egg with a small patient sample has been published.Objective
To evaluate the safety, efficacy and immunologic effects of an oral rush desensitization protocol for immediate egg allergy.Methods
Subjects aged 5 years or older with symptomatic IgE‐mediated allergy to hen's egg underwent a 5‐day oral tolerance induction regimen and were subsequently maintained on a regular egg intake. The variables studied were the reactions that occurred during the induction regimen and follow‐up and the duration of desensitization. Prick test weal size and egg white‐specific IgE and IgG concentrations were monitored.Results
Twenty‐three patients between 5 and 17 years of age entered the protocol. Twenty (86.9%) achieved the daily intake of a whole cooked egg, 14 of them within the scheduled 5 days. One abandoned the protocol and two were changed to a slower regimen because of repeated reactions. Allergic reactions were frequent but in general were mild. No severe reactions occurred. During follow‐up of at least 6 months, egg was well tolerated by all patients. Compared with baseline, skin prick test weal size and egg white‐sIgE levels had fallen at 3 months, although the differences were only significant at 6 months.Conclusions and Clinical Relevance
The rush protocol described is useful and safe for achieving tolerance to egg within a few days but it should always be performed in a highly supervised setting. A high proportion of patients allergic to egg can effectively be desensitized using the described schedule, with the advantage of shortening the time to become protected from reactions after inadvertent ingestion of egg, with no increase in the risk compared with the earlier reported slower protocols. Cite this as: R. García Rodríguez, J. M. Urra, F. Feo‐Brito, P. A. Galindo, J. Borja, E, Gómez, P. Lara and F. Guerra, Clinical & Experimental Allergy, 2011 (41) 1289–1296.
Revascularization by percutaneous transluminal angioplasty improved abruptly deteriorated ischaemic symptoms in cutaneous polyarteritis nodosa
Authors: Osada S. , Akiyama M. , Takasaki M. , Takagawa S. , Nakazawa K. , Murata S. , Sawada Y. , Kawana S. 
Published: April 2011

Summary
We report a patient with cutaneous polyarteritis nodosa, who had a 3-year history of recurrent leg and foot ulcers. Symptoms of ischaemia in the left foot, including severe pain, coldness, paraesthesia and violaceous discoloration, deteriorated abruptly, because of complete occlusion of the left anterior tibial artery. The occluded segment was revascularized by percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, resulting in a dramatic improvement in the ischaemic symptoms.
Salt diapirs without well defined boundaries – a feasibility study of semi‐automatic detection
Authors: Berthelot Angélique , Solberg Anne H. S. , Morisbak Erlend , Gelius Leiv‐J 
Published: April 2011

ABSTRACTPrestack depth imaging of seismic data in complex areas such as salt structures requires extensive velocity model updating. In many cases, salt boundaries can be difficult to identify due to lack of seismic reflectivity. Traditional amplitude based segmentation methods do not properly tackle this problem, resulting in extensive manual editing. This paper presents a selection of seismic attributes that can reveal texture differences between the salt diapirs and the surrounding geology as opposed to amplitude‐sensitive attributes that are used in case of well defined boundaries. The approach consists of first extracting selected texture attributes, then using these attributes to train a classifier to estimate the probability that each pixel in the data set belongs to one of the following classes: near‐horizontal layering, highly‐dipping areas and the inside of the salt that appears more like a low amplitude area with small variations in texture. To find the border between the inside of the salt and the highly‐dipping surroundings, the posterior probability of the class salt is input to a graph‐cut algorithm that produces a smooth, continuous border. An in‐line seismic section and a timeslice from a 3D North Sea data set were employed to test the proposed approach. Comparisons between the automatically segmented salt contours and the corresponding contours as provided by an experienced interpreter showed a high degree of similarity.
Mechanical compaction and ultrasonic velocity of sands with different texture and mineralogical composition
Authors: Fawad Manzar , Mondol Nazmul Haque , Jahren Jens , Bjørlykke Knut 
Published: April 2011

ABSTRACTThis study presents the results of experimental compaction while measuring ultrasonic velocities of sands with different grain size, shape, sorting and mineralogy. Uniaxial mechanical compaction tests up to a maximum of 50 MPa effective stress were performed on 29 dry sand aggregates derived from eight different sands to measure the rock properties.A good agreement was found between the Gassmann saturated bulk moduli of dry and brine saturated tests of selected sands. Sand samples with poor sorting showed low initial porosity while sands with high grain angularity had high initial porosity. The sand compaction tests showed that at a given stress well‐sorted, coarse‐grained sands were more compressible and had higher velocities (Vp and Vs) than fine‐grained sands when the mineralogy was similar. This can be attributed to grain crushing, where coarser grains lead to high compressibility and large grain‐to‐grain contact areas result in high velocities. At medium to high stresses the angular coarse to medium grained sands (both sorted sands and un‐sorted whole sands) showed high compaction and velocities (Vp and Vs). The small grain‐to‐grain contact areas promote higher deformation at grain contacts, more crushing and increased porosity loss resulting in high velocities. Compaction and velocities (Vp and Vs) increased with decreasing sorting in sands. However, at the same porosity, the velocities in whole sands were slightly lower than in the well‐sorted sands indicating the presence of loose smaller grains in‐between the framework grains. Quartz‐poor sands (containing less than 55% quartz) showed higher velocities (Vp and Vs) compared to that of quartz‐rich sands. This could be the result of sintering and enlargement of grain contacts of ductile mineral grains in the quartz‐poor sands increasing the effective bulk and shear stiffness. Tests both from wet measurements and Gassmann brine substitution showed a decreasing Vp/Vs ratio with increasing effective stress. The quartz‐rich sands separated out towards the higher side of the Vp/Vs range.The Gassmann brine substituted Vp and Vs plotted against effective stress provide a measure of the expected velocity range to be found in these and similar sands during mechanical compaction. Deviations of actual well log data from experimental data may indicate uplift, the presence of hydrocarbon, overpressure and/or cementation. Data from this study may help to model velocity‐depth trends and to improve the characterization of reservoir sands from well log data in a low temperature (<80–100o C) zone where compaction of sands is mostly mechanical.
Marine electromagnetic inverse solution appraisal and uncertainty using model‐derived basis functions and sparse geometric sampling
Authors: Tompkins Michael J. , Fernández Martínez Juan Luis , Fernández Muñiz Zulima 
Published: April 2011

ABSTRACTWe summarize, for marine electromagnetic inverse problems, a newly developed inverse solution appraisal and non‐linear uncertainty estimation method based on parameter reduction techniques and efficient posterior model space sampling. This method uses model compression methods to decorrelate parameters in an inverse solution and represent all feasible posterior models as linear combinations of a small number of model‐derived basis vectors and corresponding coefficients. This allows us to reduce the posterior sampling problem by orders of magnitude. We further contract this reduced‐dimensional posterior space by confining all acceptable models to a set of bounds mapped from our original parameter space. As a final step to increase efficiency, we implement a geometric sampling scheme that we use to approximate our restricted posterior by generating feasible models on adaptive, optimally‐sparse grids. The sampled equi‐feasible models are accepted according to a data misfit threshold and constitute an optimally‐sparse representation of the restricted posterior model space. Although very efficient, our method imposes a bias in the posterior space by truncating the basis expansion during the model reduction step. To investigate this, we compare two types of fast and scalable bases, the discrete cosine transform and singular value decomposition. We demonstrate that while the choice of base does influence the type of models sampled and the model rejection rates, the posterior statistics are generally compatible between the methods providing confidence in the uncertainty estimations. For the marine electromagnetic problem, we show that a representative ensemble of equivalent inverse solutions can be generated for realistically‐sized inverse problems and that solution appraisal and uncertainty inference follow directly from ensemble statistics.
Seismic prediction of geological structures ahead of the tunnel using tunnel surface waves
Authors: Jetschny Stefan , Bohlen Thomas , Kurzmann André 
Published: April 2011

ABSTRACTIn order to keep up with the economic and safety demands of modern tunnel construction projects, especially in urban areas, there is a need to detect safety threats in real time while the construction is advancing. Tunnel prediction methods accompanying the drilling process can help to correlate and update a priori information on expected geological structures with their actual spatial location or even existence ahead of the tunnel face. We recently presented a seismic prediction approach using tunnel surface waves, which has already proven its potential during field surveys. However, common tunnel seismic data interpretation, regardless of the prediction method, requires human interaction. Either a specially trained field technician have to be present at the construction site or the data has to be uploaded to an office for further interpretation. In this work we present a simple but stable approach to automatically detect major geological structures ahead of the tunnel face. We focus on the accurate determination of the distance of fault zones or lithological boundaries from the tunnel face without any a priori information. By 3D seismic finite difference modelling we simulated a synthetic tunnel seismic survey that includes typical features encountered in tunnel construction. The developed prediction sequence was tested on these data and later successfully applied to two different tunnel data sets acquired at the Gotthard Base Tunnel (Switzerland) and during the construction of the ‘Neuer Schlüchterner Tunnel’ close to Fulda (Germany).
Ethical challenges in nursing emergency practice
Authors: Langeland Kari , Sørlie Venke 
Published: April 2011

Aim. The aim of this study is to illuminate nurses’ experiences of being in ethically difficult situations in an emergency ward.Background. Nurses working in emergency practice are frequently faced with ethical issues and challenges in their work. Many studies have been conducted concerning ethical challenges, but no empirical studies related to ethics in emergency wards in Norway have been carried out.Design. A qualitative interview study was conducted.Method. Five registered nurses were interviewed about their experiences in an emergency ward in a hospital in Norway. The concept of ethically difficult situations was not defined that the question was left open for the respondents themselves to define what they experienced as ethically difficult. A phenomenological hermeneutical method was used.Results. The most salient point revealed by the study is the enormous difficulty associated with the prioritisation of tasks and the attendant sense of responsibility which this entailed, particularly in the case of nurses in charge. The narratives reveal the vulnerability of the nurses in ethically challenging situations.Conclusions. Despite the pressure of responsibility for their patients, the nurses enjoy a sense of satisfaction in their work. Those recognising the ethical dimension in their own professional practice are unable to hide behind others and thus evade their share of the responsibility.Relevance to clinical practice. Nurses with similar experiences may find the results credible recognising the descriptions or interpretations and seeing them in relation to similar situations. Nurses working on medical and surgical wards, in nursing homes and community care may also feel a great responsibility, difficulties in prioritising and a lack of time for the patients.