bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Reliability of pelvic floor muscle strength measurement in elderly incontinent women
Authors: Kerschan‐Schindl K. , Uher E. , Wiesinger G. , Kaider A. , Ebenbichler G. , Nicolakis P. , Kollmitzer J. , Preisinger E. , Fialka‐Moser V. 
Published: August 2002

AbstractPelvic floor muscles (PFM) play an important role in maintaining urinary continence with increasing age. Therefore, their contractile properties need to be evaluated. The aim of the study was to examine the reliability and correlation of simple techniques to measure PFM strength in elderly women with urinary incontinence. An interview was used to evaluate the ability to stop the urinary stream during micturition and to calculate the incontinence index. A pad test was applied to objectively evaluate the severity of the disease. Functional testing included a digital examination to measure the force and duration of one contraction, a perineometer measurement (Peritron) to assess maximal contraction force and contraction force of 5 s, and a cone‐retention test (Femcon) while walking for 1 min and during Valsalva's manoeuvre. This procedure was performed on three separate occasions within one week. The 37 participating women with a mean age of 62 ± 8 (mean ± SD) years had a severity index of 4.4 ± 2.6 and a urine loss of 9.5 ± 13.6 mg during the pad test. Sixteen women were able to completely stop the urinary stream during micturition. The digital examination showed no intratester variability. The perineometer measurement showed that the absolute difference in maximal contraction force and mean contraction force within 5 s was less than 5.3 mm Hg and 4.5 mm Hg, respectively, with a probability of 0.95. While walking and during Valsalva's manoeuvre, 19 and 20 women, respectively, held the same cone in place on all three occasions. The maximal contraction force and mean force during the 5‐s contraction correlated well with the ability to stop the urinary stream and the digital examination but only weakly with the cone‐retention tests. The reliability of PFM strength measurement is highest in the digital examination, followed by perineometer measurements, and then by vaginal cone tests. As PFM function is easy to assess, it should be routinely done in the assessment of urinary incontinence in elderly women. Neurourol. Urodynam. 21:42–47, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Heuristics for the multi‐resource generalized assignment problem
Authors: Mazzola Joseph B. , Wilcox Steven P. 
Published: August 2002

AbstractThe well‐known generalized assignment problem (GAP) involves the identification of a minimum‐cost assignment of tasks to agents when each agent is constrained by a resource in limited supply. The multi‐resource generalized assignment problem (MRGAP) is the generalization of the GAP in which there are a number of different potentially constraining resources associated with each agent. This paper explores heuristic procedures for the MRGAP. We first define a three‐phase heuristic which seeks to construct a feasible solution to MRGAP and then systematically attempts to improve the solution. We then propose a modification of the heuristic for the MRGAP defined previously by Gavish and Pirkul. The third procedure is a hybrid heuristic that combines the first two heuristics, thus capturing their relative strengths. We discuss extensive computational experience with the heuristics. The hybrid procedure is seen to be extremely effective in solving MRGAPs, generating feasible solutions to more than 99% of the test problems and consistently producing near‐optimal solutions. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 48: 468–483, 2001
Models for the design and analysis of a large package sort facility
Authors: McAree Paul , Bodin Lawrence , Ball Michael 
Published: August 2002

AbstractAt the sort facility in a large overnight package delivery operation, palletized loads are moved in a container (called an inbound ULD) from a plane to a bin, unloaded from the bin, and moved by forklift one item at a time from a bin to a rack. At the rack, each palletized load is loaded into a container (called an outbound ULD) and this outbound ULD is delivered to a plane for delivery to its final delivery airport. The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal design of this sort facility that acts as a hub in a hub‐and‐spoke system. For a given topology of the sort facility (a topology being the specification of the locations of the bins and the racks), a design of this sort facility is the assignment of inbound ULDs to bins and outbound ULDs to racks and the determination of the number of forklifts needed to carry out the sort. In this paper, the Bin and Rack Assignment Model (BRAM) is developed to perform this analysis; the objective of the BRAM is to minimize the daily operating and amortized capital cost of performing the sort. Since the BRAM is computationally difficult to solve, the BAM and RAM algorithm is developed to derive heuristic solutions to the BRAM. Several examples of the BAM and RAM algorithm are presented. A modification to the BAM and RAM algorithm for solving practical‐sized problems is then presented and future directions for this analysis are discussed. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Neuronal localization of the TNFα converting enzyme (TACE) in brain tissue and its correlation to amyloid plaques
Authors: Skovronsky Daniel M. , Fath Shannon , Lee Virginia M.‐Y. , Milla Marcos E. 
Published: August 2002

AbstractThe tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐α converting enzyme (TACE) can cleave the cell‐surface ectodomain of the amyloid‐β precursor protein (APP), thus decreasing the generation of amyloid‐β (Aβ) by cultured non‐neuronal cells. While the amyloidogenic processing of APP in neurons is linked to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD), the expression of TACE in neurons has not yet been examined. Thus, we assessed TACE expression in a series of neuronal and non‐neuronal cell types by Western blots. We found that TACE was present in neurons and was only faintly detectable in lysates of astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, and microglial cells. Immunohistochemical analysis was used to determine the cellular localization of TACE in the human brain, and its expression was detected in distinct neuronal populations, including pyramidal neurons of the cerebral cortex and granular cell layer neurons in the hippocampus. Very low levels of TACE were seen in the cerebellum, with Purkinje cells at the granular‐molecular boundary staining faintly. Because TACE was localized predominantly in areas of the brain that are affected by amyloid plaques in AD, we examined its expression in a series of AD brains. We found that AD and control brains showed similar levels of TACE staining, as well as similar patterns of TACE expression. By double labeling for Aβ plaques and TACE, we found that TACE‐positive neurons often colocalized with amyloid plaques in AD brains. These observations support a neuronal role for TACE and suggest a mechanism for its involvement in AD pathogenesis as an antagonist of Aβ formation. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Neurobiol 49: 40–46, 2001
Conservation properties of a time FE method—part II: Time‐stepping schemes for non‐linear elastodynamics
Authors: Betsch P. , Steinmann P. 
Published: August 2002

AbstractIn the present paper one‐step implicit integration algorithms for non‐linear elastodynamics are developed. The discretization process rests on Galerkin methods in space and time. In particular, the continuous Galerkin method applied to the Hamiltonian formulation of semidiscrete non‐linear elastodynamics lies at the heart of the time‐stepping schemes. Algorithmic conservation of energy and angular momentum are shown to be closely related to quadrature formulas that are required for the calculation of time integrals. We newly introduce the ‘assumed strain method in time’ which enables the design of energy–momentum conserving schemes and which can be interpreted as temporal counterpart of the well‐established assumed strain method for finite elements in space. The numerical examples deal with quasi‐rigid motion as well as large‐strain motion. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The meshless standard and hypersingular boundary node methods—applications to error estimation and adaptivity in three‐dimensional problems
Authors: Chati Mandar K. , Paulino Glaucio H. , Mukherjee Subrata 
Published: August 2002

AbstractThe standard (singular) boundary node method (BNM) and the novel hypersingular boundary node method (HBNM) are employed for the usual and adaptive solutions of three‐dimensional potential and elasticity problems. These methods couple boundary integral equations with moving least‐squares interpolants while retaining the dimensionality advantage of the former and the meshless attribute of the latter. The ‘hypersingular residuals’, developed for error estimation in the mesh‐based collocation boundary element method (BEM) and symmetric Galerkin BEM by Paulino et al., are extended to the meshless BNM setting. A simple ‘a posteriori’ error estimation and an effective adaptive refinement procedure are presented. The implementation of all the techniques involved in this work are discussed, which includes aspects regarding parallel implementation of the BNM and HBNM codes. Several numerical examples are given and discussed in detail. Conclusions are inferred and relevant extensions of the methodology introduced in this work are provided. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A generalized orthotropic hyperelastic material model with application to incompressible shells
Authors: Itskov Mikhail 
Published: August 2002

AbstractIn the present paper a new orthotropic hyperelastic constitutive model is proposed which can be applied to the numerical simulation of a wide range of anisotropic materials and particularly biological soft tissues. The model represents a non‐linear extension of the orthotropic St. Venant–Kirchhoff material and is described in each principal material direction by an arbitrary isotropic tensor function coupled with the corresponding structural tensor. In the special case of isotropy this constitutive formulation reduces to the Valanis–Landel hypothesis and may therefore be considered as its generalization to the case of orthotropy. Constitutive relations and tangent moduli of the model are expressed in terms of eigenvalue bases of the right Cauchy–Green tensor C and obtained for the case of distinct and coinciding eigenvalues as well. For the analysis of shells the model is then coupled with a six (five in incompressible case) parametric shell kinematics able to deal with large strains as well as finite rotations. The application of the developed finite shell element is finally illustrated by a number of numerical examples. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
An unconditionally stable alternating direction implicit scheme for the two space dimensional linear hyperbolic equation
Authors: Mohanty R. K. , Jain M. K. 
Published: August 2002

AbstractWe report a new unconditionally stable implicit alternating direction implicit (ADI) scheme of O(k2 + h2) for the difference solution of linear hyperbolic equation utt + 2αut + β2u = uxx + uyy + f(x, y, t), αβ ≥ 0, 0 < x, y < 1, t > 0 subject to appropriate initial and Dirichlet boundary conditions, where α > 0 and β ≥ 0 are real numbers. The resulting system of algebraic equations is solved by split method. Numerical results are provided to demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the method. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 17: 684–688, 2001
In‐plane birefringence and elongation behavior of uniaxially drawn aromatic polyimide films
Authors: Ando Shinji , Sawada Takashi , Sasaki Shigekuni 
Published: August 2002

AbstractSix kinds of aromatic poly(amic acid) films, the precursor of polyimides, were uniaxially drawn by constant loads during thermal curing with varying the final curing temperature and the load. The in‐plane birefringence (Δn) generated by uniaxial orientation of polyimide molecules in the film plane was investigated in relation with their molecular structures and the elongation behavior of polyimide films. The polyimides derived from pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA) showed much larger values of Δn than the polyimides derived from dianhydrides having rotatable diphenyl linkages. The Δn of the former polyimides increases with increasing the final curing temperature and the elongation between the most shrunken and the most elongated states during curing. In particular, the polyimides having rod‐like structures show the largest value of Δn. In contrast, the latter polyimides take maximal values of Δn at much lower temperatures. The introduction of hexafluroisopropiridene (C(CF3)2) group into the main chain effectively lowers the values of Δn. This result can be related to the inherent low polarizability anisotropy and the decreased molecular packing constant that are characteristic of highly fluorinated groups. These experimental results are qualitatively explained by the calculations of polarizability anisotropies of model compounds using FPT‐MNDO‐PM3 theory. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Synthesis and characterization of poly(styrene‐maleic anhydride)‐montmorillonite nanocomposite
Authors: Salahuddin N. , Akelah A. 
Published: August 2002

AbstractPoly(styrene‐maleic anhydride)‐montmorillonite nanocomposites were prepared by intercalation of layered montmorillonite with the polymer ions. Synthetic approaches including polymerization and phosphonium salt formation have been used for polymer intercalation and dispersion of the host layers in the polymer matrix. The ratio of the mineral in the composites ranged 30–50%. Wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD) disclosed that the d(001) spacing between the internal lamellar surface were only expanding to about 13 and 15 Å according to the type of phosphonium salt suggesting packing of polymer molecules between the layers. Examination of these materials by scanning and transmission electron microscopy showed spherical nano size particles of average diameter, 350 nm. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
One Step Purification of Corilagin and Ellagic Acid from Phyllanthus urinaria using High‐Speed Countercurrent Chromatography
Authors: Jikai Liu , Yue Huang , Henkel Thomas , Weber Karlheinz 
Published: August 2002

AbstractHigh‐speed countercurrent chromatography (HSCCC) has been successfully applied to the preparative separation of corilagin and ellagic acid in one step from the Chinese medicinal plant Phyllanthus urinaria L. by use of direct and successive injections of a crude methanolic extract. Some aspects concerning the practical use of this technique in the described application are considered. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Diagnosing diabetes mellitus in clinical practice: is fasting plasma glucose a good initial test?*
Authors: Gatling W. , Begley J.P. 
Published: August 2002

AbstractAims.To investigate the sensitivity of using fasting plasma glucose as the first line test to diagnose diabetes mellitus by comparison of established 1985 WHO diagnostic criteria with use of a fasting plasma glucose of ≥7 mmol/L as recommended by the ADA and endorsed by WHO.Method.Retrospective analysis of 1864 oral glucose tolerance tests undertaken in patients with a clinical suspicion of diabetes.Results.Using an FPG of ≥7 mmol/L alone resulted in a 17.4% reduction in the prevalence of DM when compared with 1985 WHO criteria and a 8.7% reduction in the prevalence of any abnormality of glucose tolerance. Overall concordance between the two methods of assessment was 68.9%. Of those classified as abnormal by WHO, 257/990 (26.0%) (75/592 (12.2%) DM and 185/378 (46.5%) IGT), would be reclassified as normal if only FPG were measured. 667 (35.8% of those tested) could be diagnosed as diabetic if either an FPG≥7 mmol/L or a 2 h PP level ≥11.1 mmol/L were considered, of whom 178 (26.7%) would be missed if only FPG were considered. Of those diagnosed as diabetic on the basis of an FPG ≥7 mmol/L, 96 (19.6%) had a 2 hour glucose concentration <11.1 mmol/L. Using a reduced cut‐off level to prompt further investigation with an OGTT improved sensitivity though at the expense of specificity and with the requirement for an increasing number of OGTTs.Conclusion.In people where there is a clinical suspicion of diabetes, using fasting plasma glucose alone for diagnosis will miss a significant number with abnormal glucose tolerance. Until long term outcome data are available, diabetes should not be excluded without a measure of either a post‐prandial glucose level or OGTT. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Vaccine Safety Datalink project
Authors: DeStefano Frank ,   The Vaccine Safety Datalink Research Group
Published: August 2002

AbstractThe Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) is a collaborative project between the National Immunization Program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and several large health maintenance organizations (HMOs) in the United States. The project began in 1990 with the primary purpose of rigorously evaluating concerns about the safety of vaccines. Computerized data on vaccination, medical outcome (e.g. hospital discharge, outpatient visits, emergency room visits, and deaths), and covariate data (e.g. birth certificates and census) are prospectively collected at multiple HMOs (initially four) and linked under joint protocol for analyses. Approximately 6 million people (2% of the US population) are members of HMOs participating in the VSD. The VSD has proven to be a valuable resource that has provided important information on a number of vaccine safety issues. The databases and infrastructure created for the VSD have also provided opportunities to address other immunization questions including vaccination coverage and cost‐effectiveness. In a recent investigation of intussusception following rotavirus vaccination, the VSD methodology was expanded to include 10 managed care organizations. A cohort study was conducted that allowed estimation of incidence rates of intussusception and attributable risks associated with rotavirus vaccine. Published in 2001 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Safety of anthrax vaccine: a review by the Anthrax Vaccine Expert Committee (AVEC) of adverse events reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)
Authors: Sever John L. , Brenner Alan I. , Gale Arnold D. , Lyle Jerry M. , Moulton Lawrence H. , West David J. 
Published: August 2002

AbstractPurposeTo assess the safety of a licensed anthrax vaccine given to nearly 400 000 US military personnel, reports of adverse events (AEs) submitted to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) were reviewed and evaluated medically.MethodsThe Anthrax Vaccine Expert Committee (AVEC), a civilian panel of private‐sector physicians and other scientists, reviewed 602 VAERS reports using a Delphic approach (structured expert consensus) to assess the causal relationship between vaccination and the reported AEs and sought to identify unexpected patterns in the occurrence of medically important events. Reports were entered into a database and used to profile AEs with respect to person, type/location, relative frequency, severity/impact, concomitant illness or receipt of other drugs or vaccines, and vaccine lot.ResultsNearly half the reports noted a local injection‐site AE, with more than one‐third of these involving a moderate to large degree of inflammation. Six events qualified as serious AEs (SAEs), and all were judged to be certain consequences of vaccination. Three‐quarters of the reports cited a systemic AE (most common: flu‐like symptoms, malaise, rash, arthralgia, headache), but only six individual medically important events were judged possibly or probably due to vaccine (aggravation of spondyloarthropathy (2), anaphylactoid reaction, arthritis (2), bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia)ConclusionsSince some cases of local inflammation involved distal paresthesia, AVEC recommends giving subcutaneous injections of AVA over the inferior deltoid instead of the triceps to avoid compression injury to the ulnar nerve. At this time, ongoing evaluation of VAERS reports does not suggest a high frequency or unusual pattern of serious or other medically important AEs. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Microwave dielectric relaxation and molecular dynamics in binary mixtures of poly(propylene glycol) 2000 and poly(ethylene glycol)s of varying molecular weight in dilute solution
Authors: Sengwa R J , Chaudhary Rakhee 
Published: August 2002

AbstractMolecular dynamics of binary mixtures of poly(propylene glycol) (PPG) and poly(ethylene glycol)s (PEGs) of varying molecular weight due to molecular interactions, chain coiling and elongation in dilute solution under various conditions, ie varying number of monomer units of PEG, method of mixing of polymers and solvent environment, has been explored using microwave dielectric relaxation times. The average relaxation time τo, relaxation time corresponding to segmental motion τ1 and group rotations τ2, of a series of binary mixtures of poly(propylene glycol) 2000 and poly(ethylene glycol) of varying molecular weight (ie PPG 2000 + PEG 200, PPG 2000 + PEG 300, PPG 2000 + PEG 400, and PPG 2000 + PEG 600 mixed by equal volume in the pure liquid states, and PPG 2000 + PEG 1500, PPG 2000 + PEG 4000 and PPG 2000 + PEG 6000 mixed equal weights in solvent) have been determined in dilute solution in benzene and carbon tetrachloride at 10.10 GHz and 35 °C. A comparison of the results of these binary systems of highly associating molecules shows that the molecular dynamics corresponding to rotation of a molecule as a whole and segmental motion in dilute solutions are governed by the solvent density when the solutes are mixed in their pure liquid state. Furthermore, the molecular motion is independent of solvent environment when the polymers are added separately in the solvent for the preparation of binary mixtures. It has also been observed that there is a systematic elongation of the dynamic network of the species formed during mixing of pure liquid polymers in lighter environment of solvent with increasing PEG monomer units, while the elongation behaviour of the same species in the heavier environment of carbon tetrachloride solvent is in contrast to the elongation behaviour of the polymeric species formed in pure PEG. The role of rotating methyl side‐groups in the PPG molecular chain has been discussed in term of the breaking and reforming of hydrogen bonds in complex polymeric species for the segmental motion. In all these mixtures, the relaxation time corresponding to group rotations is independent of the solvent environment and constituents of the binary mixtures. The effect of chain flexibility and coiling in these binary mixtures is discussed by comparing the relaxation times of the mixtures with their individual relaxation times in dilute solutions measured earlier in this laboratory.© 2001 Society of Chemical Industry