bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Quality of reporting in diabetes patient education research: 1954–1986
Authors: Brown Sharon A. 
Published: April 2007

AbstractThe quality of reported research representing a number of disciplines involved in diabetes patient education was investigated in this study. A rigorous literature search identified 47 studies reported between 1954 and 1986 that met inclusion criteria; 29 were published studies, 18 were unpublished. Quality of the research was measured by Duffy's Research Appraisal Checklist (RAC) and also by coding each study as to the number of threats to internal and external validity present. Overall quality as measured by the RAC ranged from 34 to 95 on a 100‐point scale. A statistically significant relationship was found between publication date of the research report and quality, indicating improvement in quality during recent years. Quality of published versus unpublished research reports was not found to differ significantly. Recommendations for improving methodological rigor of future studies include: (a) the use of more rigorous designs, particularly those involving control groups such as randomized clinical trials; (b) reporting of more complete data in research reports; and (c) monitoring of the quality of future studies.
A comparison of parental interactions with term and preterm infants
Authors: Harrison Margaret J. 
Published: April 2007

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to compare father interactions to mother interactions with term and preterm infants. A purposive sample of 59 two‐parent families with either a healthy term infant or a clinically normal preterm infant were recruited following the infant's birth. At 3 months, separate observations were made of each parent interacting with the infant during a teaching task in the home setting. As has been found in other research, mother‐infant interactions scores were less favorable for preterm dyads. In contrast, father‐infant interaction scores were less favorable for term dyads. The different pattern of interactions by the fathers was not explained by differences in paternal age, education, socioeconomic status, the father's current frequency of participation in child care or by infant gender.
Maternal employment following childbirth
Authors: Tulman Lorraine , Fawcett Jacqueline 
Published: April 2007

AbstractThis longitudinal study was an investigation of differences in demographic, health, psychosocial, and family variables, and in functional status for nonoccupational activities, between employed and nonemployed mothers for 6 months following childbirth. Variables associated with employed mothers' functional status in occupational activities also were examined. Fifty‐three (58%) of the 92 women in the sample were employed by 6 months postpartum. Although employed mothers performed more roles than nonemployed mothers, the two groups appeared more similar than different on the variables studied. In addition, functional status for occupational activities was positively related to parity and level of physical energy.
Mothers' and nurses' perceptions of infant care skills
Authors: Froman Robin D. , Owen Steven V. 
Published: April 2007

AbstractNew mothers' confidence in their infant care skills are important concerns for maternity nurses. In this study, correlates of mothers' self‐efficacy ratings on 52 infant care behaviors included in the Infant Care Scale were identified. Data on demographic variables and nurses' ratings of mothers' skill on five selected tasks were collected from 200 mothers and their nurses. Results from bivariate and multivariate analyses pointed to predictors of maternal feelings of efficacy and to discrepancies between mothers' and nurses' ratings. Maternal age, number of children, and nurses' ratings of mothers' skills were the strongest predictors of self‐efficacy for infant care. Mothers of male infants showed slightly lower efficacy perceptions than did mothers of females. Implications for assessing mothers' educational needs before discharge and focusing teaching efforts are discussed.
Bending electrostriction in polyurethane films doped with electron acceptors
Authors: Watanabe Masashi 
Published: April 2007

AbstractThe effect of electron acceptors as dopants on the bending electrostriction of polyurethane (PU) films was studied. The PU films (ca 0.3 mm thick) doped with 0.5 wt% 7,7,8,8‐tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) were bent by application of a 1 MV m−1 electric field. The bending deformation of the TCNQ‐doped film was more than 30 times greater than that of the undoped film. The current and the charge distribution in the films during the application of the field were also measured. Based on these measurements, the mechanism of the doping effect is discussed. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry
Conventional and RAFT radical copolymerizations of β‐pinene with N‐substituted maleimides
Authors: Wang Yi , Chen Qing , Liang Hui , Lu Jiang 
Published: April 2007

AbstractThe feasibility of the radical copolymerizations of β‐pinene with three N‐substituted maleimides, i.e. N‐phenylmaleimide (PhMI), N‐methylmaleimide (MeMI), and N‐ethylmaleimide (EtMI), was clarified for the first time. The copolymerization rates decreased in the order PhMI > MeMI > EtMI. A marked penultimate effect on the activity of the N‐substituted maleimide‐terminated radicals was found in these copolymerizations. The penultimate monomer reactivity ratios evaluated by the nonlinear method were r1 = 0.10, r′1 = 8.30, r2 = r′2 = 0 for PhMI–β‐pinene, r1 = 0.20, r′1 = 7.09, r2 = r′2 = 0 for MeMI–β‐pinene, and r1 = 0.16, r′1 = 6.50, r2 = r′2 = 0 for EtMI–β‐pinene. Furthermore, the possible controlled copolymerizations of β‐pinene and N‐substituted maleimides were then attempted via the reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) technique. In the presence of RAFT agent 1‐phenylethyl phenyldithioacetate, the copolymerization of β‐pinene with MeMI or EtMI was retarded severely. However, much smaller retardation was observed in the RAFT copolymerization of β‐pinene with PhMI, and, more importantly, the copolymerization exhibited typical features of a controlled system. The solvent effect on the RAFT copolymerization of β‐pinene and PhMI was also investigated using matrix‐assisted laser desorption ionization time‐of‐fight mass spectrometry (MALDI‐TOF‐MS) analysis. The results clearly indicated that copolymerization in tetrahydrofuran suffered from competitive transfer and termination side‐reactions arising from the solvent in spite of the presence of the RAFT agent. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry
Capturing and amplifying impurities from purified recombinant monoclonal antibodies via peptide library beads: A proteomic study
Authors: Antonioli Paolo , Fortis Fréderic , Guerrier Luc , Rinalducci Sara , Zolla Lello , Righetti Pier Giorgio , Boschetti Egisto 
Published: April 2007

AbstractCapture and amplification of low‐level contaminants in purified preparations of recombinant DNA products is described here in the case of mAb meant for human consumption. Such a process is based on treatment with a vastly heterogenous ligand library composed of hexapeptides bound to a polyhydroxymethacrylate resin. Upon this treatment, a protein solution is recovered with “normalized” relative concentration ratios, in which high‐abundance proteins are strongly reduced and rare proteins are highly concentrated. Upon 2‐D map analysis, the relatively few spots present in control monoclonals were seen to increase in number, reaching >100 visible polypeptide chains in the pI/Mr plane. Most of these newly emerged spots were subjected to MS analysis and were found to be composed mainly of three classes of proteins: those derived from proteins present in the culture broth (notably albumin and transferrin), fragments of the desired final product, covering Mr ranges from as low as 5 up to 45 kDa and some aggregates of light and heavy chains of Igs (mostly dimers and trimers). This ligand library thus appears to be a formidable tool for exploring and bringing to the limelight the “hidden proteome”.
Synthesis of poly(ester amide)s by the melt polycondensation of semiaromatic polyesters with ethanolamine and their characterization
Authors: Harashina Hatsuhiko , Nakane Toshio , Itoh Takahito 
Published: April 2007

AbstractSemiaromatic poly(ester amide)s (PEAs) were synthesized by the melt polycondensation of ethanolamine (EA) derivatives with dimethyl terephthalate and ethylene glycol in the presence of tetrabutyl titanate as a catalyst, and their crystallization and thermal properties were investigated. The introduction of an amide group into a semiaromatic polyester such as poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) produced PEAs (EA‐modified PET polymers) with an increase in the melting point. However, these PEAs were found to decompose at a lower temperature than PET on the basis of TGA. Moreover, direct pyrolysis/mass spectrometry measurements suggested that an initial step of the thermal decomposition was a β‐CH hydrogen‐transfer reaction via asix‐member ring transition state at the ester–ethylene–amide unit, at which carbon–oxygen bond scission took place to yield carboxyl and N‐vinylamide end groups. Furthermore, molecular orbital calculations using trimer models bis[2‐[[4‐(methoxycarbonyl)benzoyl]oxy]ethyl]terephthalate, N‐[2‐[[4‐(methoxycarbonyl)benzoyl]oxy]ethyl]‐4‐[2‐[[4‐(methoxycarbonyl)benzoyl]oxy]ethyloxycarbonyl]benzamide, and N,N′‐bis[2‐[[4‐(methoxycarbonyl)benzoyl]oxy]ethyl]terephthalamide strongly supported the idea that the β‐CH hydrogen‐transfer reaction in the thermal decomposition of PEAs might occur more easily at the methylene group next to the amide group in an ester–ethylene–amide unit rather than at the methylene group next to the ester group in an ester–ethylene–ester unit. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 2184–2193, 2007
Experiments to identify the causes of spam
Authors: Ahmed Tanzila , Oppenheim Charles 
Published: April 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to show how spam is generated and what methods have been proposed to combat it.Design/methodology/approachAn experiment whereby a number of e‐mail accounts using different ISPs were set up and then checked for spam over a period of nine weeks. The results were compared to two pre‐existing e‐mail accounts. The types of spam received were classified into broad headings.FindingsFinancial spam was the biggest single type of spam received, with health‐related spam second. The growth in spam over time was noted, as was the volumes of spam received by different Internet Service Providers. The effects of using “obvious” names versus unusual ones in the e‐mail address were measured, as were those of using spam‐filtering software. In the former case, no significant differences were found, but filtering software certainly helped to reduce the volume of spam received. Active involvement in a pornographic site did not, surprisingly, greatly influence the amount of spam received. The biggest single factors affecting the volume of spam received are the length of time the e‐mail account has been active and the use, or non‐use of filtering software. It is by no means certain that responding to spam increases the volume of spam received.Research limitations/implicationsThe research was conducted over a relatively small time period and small number of accounts were examined.Practical implicationsMethods of combating spam and some urban myths about it are examined.Originality/valueTo those tasked with dealing with spam, the paper provides some ideas on the scale of the problem and how to address it.
The need for a library and information policy in Sierra Leone
Authors: Abdul Kargbo John 
Published: April 2007

PurposeTo argue for the development and implementation of a national library and information policy in Sierra Leone.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is an opinion piece discussing the current situation in the country and proposing a new model.FindingsThat Sierra Leone would greatly benefit from a national policy that could aid development in the post‐war period.Practical implicationsThe paper offers a model for the implementation of a national policy.Originality/valueThe paper is the first paper to argue for a national policy for Sierra Leone.
Review of the potential of a wireless MEMS microsystem for biomedical applications
Authors: Arshak A. , Arshak K. , Lyons G. , Waldron D. , Morris D. , Korostynska O. , Jafer E. 
Published: April 2007

PurposeTelemetry capsules have existed since the 1950s and were used to measure temperature, pH or pressure inside the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. It was hoped that these capsules would replace invasive techniques in the diagnosis of function disorders in the GI tract. However, problems such as signal loss and uncertainty of the pills position limited their use in a clinical setting. In this paper, a review of the capabilities of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) for the fabrication of a wireless pressure sensor microsystem is presented.Design/methodology/approachThe circuit requirements and methods of data transfer are examined. The available fabrication methods for MEMS sensors are also discussed and examples of wireless sensors are given. Finally, the drawbacks of using this technology are examined.FindingsMEMS for use in wireless monitoring of pressure in the GI tract have been investigated. It has been shown that capacitive pressure sensors are particularly suitable for this purpose. Sensors fabricated for wireless continuous monitoring of pressure have been reviewed. Great progress, especially using surface micromachining, has been made in recent years. However, despite these advances, some challenges remain.Originality/valueProvides a review of the capabilities of MEMS.
Librarianship as it is practised: a failure of intellect, imagination and initiative
Authors: Line Maurice B. 
Published: April 2007

PurposeTo highlight some fundamental weaknesses in the library profession internationally, including an inability to analyse problems, imagine new solutions and press for change. Specific weaknesses highlighted are the approach to resource sharing, the construction of bibliographic records and the identification of items for conservation.Design/methodology/approachA critical assessment of the state of librarianship from the angle of an experienced librarian.FindingsThat much more analytical thinking, imagination and initiative are needed.Research implicationsThat more data collection and rigorous research need to be done.Originality/valueThis paper was given in 1983; it is useful to consider how much has changed since then in the areas of identified weakness.
The play's the thing: using interactive drama in leadership development
Authors: Steed Robert 
Published: April 2007

PurposeThis paper was written to help practitioners in the field of arts‐based learning understand the impact that training with its roots in theatre can have and has had on business executives – and the causes of that impact.Design/methodology/approachThe paper was developed by examining the 17‐year experience of Performance Plus… in delivering theatre‐based training to a wide range of large US businesses. It examines the way that drama can affect people in the audience and then, more particularly, how theatre based training affected the behaviors and actions of key management participants. The article then connected those results to the work of philosopher E.F. Schumacher and social scientist Daniel Goleman.FindingsThe fundamental conclusion of the paper is that drama is an extremely effective tool for helping people learn skills and behaviors they can apply in the everyday routine of business.Originality/valueBecause so little has been written about theatre‐based training, the primary value of this paper is to open readers’ eyes to a new and powerful way to train business executive – and to outlines a few of the many ways that approach can be taken to ensure that management participants in training programs are actively involved and engaged in the programs being presented and as a result embrace the learning from the program in a lasting way.
Not by technology alone: sustaining winning strategies
Authors: Olson Eric G. 
Published: April 2007

PurposeBusiness leaders can apply key messages as early as today to begin aligning business operations with business strategy to strengthen sustainability. Principles can be applied at all levels in any organization, from the entire enterprise down to discreet product or service offerings. The article emphasizes that the enablers of profitable operations over long periods of time will be internally integrated and networked across industries.Design/methodology/approachChallenges with sustainability in many existing strategies are explained, and case studies that illustrate both success and failure are described to illustrate key principles. Once the viewpoints are developed and supported with specific cases and research findings, actionable recommendations are made in a prescription for change.FindingsAchieving sustainable profitability and growth is increasingly difficult for many companies because of shorter product lifecycles, eroding intellectual property advantages, and other growing complexities from the broader business environment. When operations are integrated with business strategy, forces align to sustain profitability and the strategy is more difficult to imitate or leap‐frog. Organizational competencies, cross‐industry capabilities and stakeholder integration all play a role in integrated operations.Originality/valueThe importance of integrating operational capabilities with business strategy is explained and the rewards are articulated using real‐world cases, research and industry‐accepted practices. The prescription set forth for change is evident in some of the world's most successful companies that have successfully sustained profitability and growth. Enterprises that integrate their operations with strategy both across functions and throughout entire product lifecycles will increasingly be rewarded by investors, applauded by customers, and envied by competitors.
Identification of broadband passive macromodels for electromagnetic structures
Authors: de Magistris M. , De Tommasi L. 
Published: April 2007

PurposeThe paper aims to present an overview of techniques for the identification in the frequency domain of reduced order models for distributed passive electromagnetic structures.Design/methodology/approachMost known approaches proposed in different application contexts are described within a unified framework.FindingsA passive reduced order model of an unshielded twisted pair is fully developed with the combination of vector fitting algorithm and the passivity enforcement via Hamiltonian perturbation.Originality/valueA state‐of‐the‐art picture of the frequency domain identification and passivity enforcement techniques is given, and a test case of actual interest fully analysed.
Comparative analysis between modern heuristics and hybrid algorithms
Authors: Riganti Fulginei Francesco , Salvini Alessandro 
Published: April 2007

PurposeThe purpose of the present paper is to show a comparative analysis of classical and modern heuristics such as genetic algorithms, simulated annealing, particle swarm optimization and bacterial chemotaxis, when they are applied to electrical engineering problems.Design/methodology/approachHybrid algorithms (HAs) obtained by a synergy between the previous listed heuristics, with the eventual addiction of the Tabu Search, have also been compared with the single heuristic performances.FindingsEmpirically, a different sensitivity for initial values has been observed by changing type of heuristics. The comparative analysis has then been performed for two kind of problems depending on the dimension of the solution space to be inspected. All the proposed comparative analyses are referred to two corresponding different cases: Preisach hysteresis model identification (high dimension solution space) and load‐flow optimization in power systems (low dimension solution space).Originality/valueThe originality of the paper is to verify the performances of classical, modern and hybrid heuristics for electrical engineering applications by varying the heuristic typology and by varying the typology of the optimization problem. An original procedure to design a HA is also presented.
Electromagnetic inspection of concrete rebars
Authors: de Magistris M. , Morozov M. , Rubinacci G. , Tamburrino A. , Ventre S. 
Published: April 2007

PurposeThe paper aims to apply an innovative inversion method to the problem of imaging (location, direction and size) of concrete rebars by means of eddy current measurements.Design/methodology/approachAn accurate numerical model of the probe‐rebar interaction, including eddy currents and skin effect, is considered. The inverse problem is approached with a very efficient inversion procedure previously introduced in a different context.FindingsA critical analysis of the issues to be considered for the quantitative imaging of rebars is given, and the possibility of relevant simplifications in the numerical model outlined, allowing the development of an accurate and computationally efficient method.Originality/valueThe proposed formulation is applied for the first time to the problem of rebars imaging. Experimental tests have been carried out to validate the numerical model and its underlying hypothesis.
Optimal design of single‐phase induction motor using particle swarm optimization
Authors: Subramanian S. , Bhuvaneswari R. 
Published: April 2007

PurposeThis paper aims to employ particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique for optimum design of single‐phase induction motor (SPIM) on the basis of maximizing the efficiency of the motor simultaneously satisfying a set of performance constraints.Design/methodology/approachThe design problem of a SPIM is presented as a nonlinear optimization problem on the basis of maximizing the efficiency of the motor. A set of performance constraints are imposed in the optimization procedure. Particle swarm optimization technique is used as an optimization tool for obtaining the motor dimensions corresponding to maximum efficiency. Incorporation of PSO as a derivative free optimization technique in solving SPIM optimum design problem significantly relieves the assumptions imposed on the optimized objective function.FindingsThis approach has been applied to two sample motors and the results are compared with the evolutionary programming (EP) results. It is observed that the proposed approach is effective and robust.Originality/valueThe fields of application of SPIMs are expanding day by day. The emphasis on energy conservation demands an improvement of the efficiency of single‐phase induction motors. Hence, the design optimization of these motors with efficiency as objective function assumes great importance.
VHDL‐AMS based genetic optimisation of fuzzy logic controllers
Authors: Wang L. , Kazmierski T.J. 
Published: April 2007

PurposeThis paper presents a VHDL‐AMS based genetic optimisation methodology for fuzzy logic controllers (FLCs) used in complex automotive systems and modelled in mixed physical domains. A case study applying this novel method to an active suspension system has been investigated to obtain a new type of fuzzy logic membership function with irregular shapes optimised for best performance.Design/methodology/approachThe geometrical shapes of the fuzzy logic membership functions are irregular and optimised using a genetic algorithm (GA). In this optimisation technique, VHDL‐AMS is used not only for the modelling and simulation of the FLC and its underlying active suspension system but also for the implementation of a parallel GA directly in the system testbench.FindingsSimulation results show that the proposed FLC has superior performance in all test cases to that of existing FLCs that use regular‐shape, triangular or trapezoidal membership functions.Research limitationsThe test of the FLC has only been done in the simulation stage, no physical prototype has been made.Originality/valueThis paper proposes a novel way of improving the FLC's performance and a new application area for VHDL‐AMS.