bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Phase behavior of the polybutadiene–polystyrene diblock copolymer with the addition of the nonselective solvent dichlorobenzene in temperature and pressure fields
Authors: Abbas Basil , Schwahn Dietmar , Willner Lutz 
Published: July 2004

AbstractThermal composition fluctuations were measured in a polybutadiene–polystyrene diblock copolymer with small‐angle neutron scattering as a function of the temperature, pressure, and solvent content. The solvent was dichlorobenzene. In particular, we determined the phase diagram, the Flory–Huggins parameter, and the Ginzburg parameter. The two latter parameters were determined in terms of a theory by Fredrickson and Helfand from the susceptibility at an elevated temperature in the disordered regime. These parameters showed an overall linear decrease with pressure and a minimum at a 10% solvent content. The ordering temperature could be sufficiently well described by the theory of concentrated solutions. These results were consistent with corresponding experiments on a polybutadiene–polystyrene blend, for which the compensation of the free volume was observed by the solvent molecules. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 3179–3190, 2004
Validation of a questionnaire for self‐assessment of sexual function and vaginal changes after gynaecological cancer
Authors: Jensen Pernille T. , Klee Marianne C. , Thranov Ingrid , Groenvold Mogens 
Published: July 2004

AbstractThe Sexual function‐Vaginal changes Questionnaire (SVQ), was developed to investigate sexual and vaginal problems in gynaecological cancer patients. The instrument consists of 20 core items, measuring sexual interest, lubrication, orgasm, dyspareunia, vaginal dimensions, intimacy, sexual problems of partner, sexual activity, sexual satisfaction, and body image. Seven additional items assessing current levels of sexual and vaginal problems compared to pre‐diagnosis are intended to be used only once in longitudinal studies. The SVQ was validated in two ways: first, the comprehensibility of each item was investigated through combined quantitative and qualitative assessment of patient‐observer agreement in 75 gynaecological cancer patients, second, multitrait analyses and principal component analyses were applied to responses from 257 patients with cervical cancer to investigate the scale properties. The level of agreement between the patients' and the observer's ratings was high (median overall agreement 0.84, range 0.46–1.00; median kappa: 0.80, range 0.52–1.00). From the 10 items applicable to all patients, three scales were hypothesized: intimacy, sexual interest and global sexual satisfaction. For sexually active respondents an additional two scales were hypothesized: vaginal changes and sexual functioning. The psychometric analyses confirmed these scales. The internal consistency of the scales ranged 0.76–0.83 (Cronbach's alpha). The study supports the validity and reliability of the SVQ. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Interest in services among prostate cancer patients receiving androgen deprivation therapy
Authors: Shapiro Pamela J. , Coyne James C. , Kruus Linda K. , Palmer Steven C. , Vaughn David J. , Malkowicz S. Bruce 
Published: July 2004

AbstractTreatment side effects and decreased quality of life associated with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) suggest the need for supportive services for prostate cancer (PC) patients receiving ADT. Nonetheless, uptake of services is low, suggesting that PC patients' preferences are not being addressed. We examined interest in supportive services and predictors of interest among 118 PC patients receiving ADT. Overall interest in services was associated with lower quality of life (p=0.01). The majority of participants expressed interest in informational services (70%), with a minority (22%) expressing interest in psychosocial services. Interest in psychosocial services was associated with younger age (p=0.02), and shorter duration of ADT (p<0.04), but was unrelated to psychological distress or social support. Although most men (68%) reported that they would prefer not to take medication for depression, 75% would do so if advised by their physician. Overall, results suggest that PC patients on ADT prefer individualized informational support. Substantial interest (61%) in Oncolink, an internet‐based informational resource, suggests the Internet may provide an acceptable mode of service delivery. Health care providers should consider integrating increased informational support into routine care and, more generally, consider patient preferences in prioritizing and designing support services. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Longitudinal course of depression, fatigue, and quality of life in patients with high risk melanoma receiving adjuvant interferon
Authors: Trask Peter C. , Paterson Amber G. , Esper Peg , Pau Jason , Redman Bruce 
Published: July 2004

AbstractPurpose: Treatment of malignant melanoma with interferon‐α has been associated with a variety of side effects ranging from fatigue to depression, and a concomitant impact on quality of life (QOL), in a variety of case reports and cross‐sectional clinical trials. Few, if any, studies have been conducted with the express purpose of assessing the longitudinal course of depression, fatigue, and QOL before and during interferon therapy.Description of study: The current study reports on 16 patients who were assessed at 6 points in time: baseline, post high dose, and 1, 2, 3, and 6 months post high dose treatment with interferon‐α with the Brief Symptom Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory, Revised Piper Fatigue Scale, and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy‐Biological Response Modifiers.Results: Results revealed consistent changes from baseline through 6 month assessment. Specifically, increased somatic complaints, depression, and fatigue were observed on the BSI, BDI, and RPFS, respectively. Additional reductions in QOL on the FACT‐BRM were also identified.Clinical implications: The findings suggest that IFN has a significant effect on QOL, but that it may be the somatic symptoms of fatigue that contribute to changes on measures of mood. Limiting the amount of fatigue and depression would appear to be significant if individuals are to successfully complete IFN therapy. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Repressive coping before and after diagnosis of breast cancer
Authors: Zachariae Robert , Jensen Anders Bonde , Pedersen Christina , Jørgensen Michael Martini , Christensen Søren , Lassesen Berit , Lehbrink Melsene 
Published: July 2004

AbstractObjective: The aim was to investigate to which extent emotional repression is a premorbid coping tendency of cancer patients and/or a coping response to the threat posed by a cancer diagnosis. The results of one previous study of breast cancer patients suggest the latter possibility, and our aim was to replicate and extend these findings.Methods: Of 646 women referred to mammographic examination for breast cancer, 71 women were diagnosed with primary breast cancer. Repressive coping, defined as having high scores on defensiveness (Marlowe–Crowne Social Desirability Scale) and low scores on anxiety (Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale), was measured (1) before, (2) 4 weeks after, and (3) 12 weeks after diagnosis. The women were not aware of their disease status before the examination, and there were no significant differences between groups in their perceived risk of having breast cancer.Results: Four weeks after diagnosis, increased repression (p<0.01) was found in the group of women diagnosed with breast cancer but not in women without cancer, with women with a breast cancer diagnosis being 1.5 times more likely to be repressive than women with cancer. There were no group differences in defensiveness, anxiety, or repression before diagnosis and 12 weeks after diagnosis. When controlling for repressive coping prior to diagnosis, age, and other demographic factors with a multiple, logistic regression, only cancer diagnosis (odds ratio: 2.39; p<0.05) and having biological children (odds ratio: 2.83; p< 0.02) emerged as significant predictors of repressive coping 4 weeks after diagnosis. Before diagnosis, only higher age predicted later diagnosis of breast cancer.Conclusion: Previously found higher repression in cancer patients vs. controls could be a response to the threat associated with cancer diagnosis and may not necessarily reflect premorbid differences. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Electronic spectra of [(CH3)2NH2]5Cd2CuCl11 crystals
Authors: Kapustianik V. , Batiuk A. , Czapla Z. , Podsiadła D. , Czupiński O. 
Published: July 2004

AbstractThe temperature evolution of Cu2+ ion environment in the solid solutions of ((CH3)2NH2)5Cd2CuCl11 is studied on the basis of absorption spectroscopy data. For the detailed analysis of experimental data the special program package Crys Tool 1.0 based on quantum‐mechanical models, first of all on the model of normalized spherical harmonics (NSH), has been employed. It has been found that similarly to the crystal of ((CH3)2NH2)5Cd3Cl11 (DMACC) the investigated solid solution contains tetragonally distorted octahedral metal–halogen complexes of two types and the degree of their distortion is changed considerably at the temperatures of phase transitions (PTs). The parameters of crystal field, angular overlap model, as well as the copper–chlorine distances, show continuous changes at T1 = 176 K that should be related to the second‐order transition, whereas the jump‐like anomalies of the spectral parameters at T2 = 115 K (on cooling) are characteristic of the first‐order PTs. Introduction of the copper ions into the structure of the host DMACC crystal induces the shifts of these PTs toward low temperatures by 3.5 and 5 K, respectively. The observed structural changes around T0 = 313 K are connected with a complex co‐operative effect involving weakening of the hydrogen bonds and modification of the Jahn–Teller distortion with temperature. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
The in vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of the essential oil and methanol extracts of Achillea biebersteini Afan. (Asteraceae)
Authors: Sökmen Atalay , Sökmen Münevver , Daferera Dimitra , Polissiou Moschos , Candan Ferda , Ünlü Mehmet , Akpulat H. Aşkın 
Published: July 2004

AbstractThe essential oil and methanol extracts from A. biebersteinii Afan. (Asteraceae) were evaluated for their antimicrobial and antioxidant activities in vitro. The oil showed stronger antimicrobial activity than the extracts. Their antioxidant features were also evaluated using diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), inhibition of superoxide and hydroxyl radicals and inhibition of the lipid peroxidation assays. Particularly, polar subfraction of the methanol extract showed antioxidant activity. The GC‐MS analysis of the oil has resulted in the identiﬁcation of 23 components; piperitone, eucalyptol, camphor, chrysanthenone and borneol were the main components. Antimicrobial activity tests carried out with the fractions of the oil showed that the activity was mainly observed in those containing eucalyptol and camphor, in particular, followed by borneol and piperitone. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Antifungal constituents of Clytostoma ramentaceum and Mansoa hirsuta
Authors: Rocha Alessandra Duarte , de Oliveira Alaíde Braga , de Souza Filho José Dias , Lombardi Júlio Antônio , Braga Fernão Castro 
Published: July 2004

AbstractEthanol extracts of Clytostoma ramentaceum Bur. & K. Schum and Mansoa hirsuta DC. (Bignoniaceae) inhibited the growth of standardized cultures of Aspergillus niger and Fusarium oxysporum, at concentrations of 400 µg and 500 µg, in bioautographic assays. The activity‐guided fractionation of C. ramentaceum extract afforded ursolic acid and 2‐(3′,4′‐dihydroxyphenyl) ethanol, both active against the test fungi (100 µg). These compounds are reported for the ﬁrst time in C. ramentaceum and were not detected in M. hirsuta extract, according to HPLC analysis. The bioguided study of M. hirsuta resulted in ﬁve active fractions (100 to 200 µg), whose GC‐MS analysis allowed us to identify 11 compounds, mostly alkanols and alkanodiols, that may be regarded as the antifungal constituents of M. hirsuta. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Biological screening of Nigella damascena for antimicrobial and molluscicidal activities
Authors: Fico G. , Panizzi L. , Flamini G. , Braca A. , Morelli I. , Tomè F. , Cioni P. L. 
Published: July 2004

AbstractThe essential oil, various extracts at different polarity, fractions, and pure compounds obtained from Nigella damascena plants and seeds were screened for biological activity. Antimicrobial tests showed the essential oil to be active only against Gram positive bacteria; among the extracts, the BuOH was active against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. Molluscicidal activity was absent. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Lepidium peruvianum chacon restores homeostasis impaired by restraint stress
Authors: López‐Fando A. , Gómez‐Serranillos M. P. , Iglesias I. , Lock O. , Upamayta U. P. , Carretero M. E. 
Published: July 2004

AbstractLepidium peruvianum root has been traditionally utilized by native Peruvians, since before the time of the Incas, for both nutritional and putative medicinal purposes as an adaptogen and also to enhance fertility in humans and animals. The present research was conducted to evaluate the anti‐stress activity of the methanolic extract of Lepidium peruvianum. The drug is capable of attenuating or even eliminating variations in homeostasis produced by stress since it reduces or abolishes stress‐induced ulcers, elevated corticosterone levels, the reduction of glucose and the increase in the weight of adrenal glands produced by stress. It also eliminates the decrease in free fatty‐acids (FFA) in plasma produced by stress and we obtain a positive result in the forced‐swimming test. Thus, it did not appear to affect restraint stress‐induced immunosuppression. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Antiviral activity of the red marine alga Ceramium rubrum
Authors: Serkedjieva Julia 
Published: July 2004

AbstractAn extract from the red marine alga Ceramium rubrum (Huds.) Ag. from the Bulgarian Black Sea seacoast considerably inhibited the reproduction of inﬂuenza viruses type A and B in vitro and in ovo. The virus‐induced cytopathogenic effect (CPE), infectious virus yields and the production of hemagglutinin were all reduced at non‐toxic concentrations of the extract. The virus‐inhibitory effect was selective, dose‐related and strain‐speciﬁc; selectivity indices ranged 9.5–68.3. The inhibition affected adsorption as well as the intracellular stages of viral replication. The extract inhibited also the reproduction of herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 and type 2 in cell cultures. The preparation exhibited a strong HSV‐inactivating activity. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Evaluation of the gastric antiulcerogenic effects of Portulaca oleracea L. extracts in mice
Authors: Karimi Gholamreza , Hosseinzadeh Hossein , Ettehad Negin 
Published: July 2004

AbstractPortulaca oleracea is commonly used in Iranian folk medicine. The aqueous and ethanolic extracts were studied in mice for their ability to inhibit gastric lesions induced by HCl or absolute ethanol. In addition, their effects on gastric acid secretion were measured. Both extracts showed a dose‐dependent reduction in severity of ulcers. The highest dose of extracts exerted similar activity to sucralfate. The oral and intraperitoneal administration of extracts reduced the gastric acidity in pylorus‐ligated mice. These results suggest that Portulaca oleracea has gastroprotective action and validates its use in folk medicine for gastrointestinal diseases. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
SPC with Applications to Churn Management
Authors: Pettersson Magnus 
Published: July 2004

AbstractThe process of a customer replacing one provider of a service or merchandise for another is called a churn. In competitive business environments, such as telecommunications, insurance, banking, hotels and mail order, customers can easily leave one company—and they really do. Since the cost of recruiting new customers is higher than the cost of retaining them, it is crucial for companies in these trades to monitor their customer population in order to keep churn rates low. Statistical process control (SPC) methods are developed to cover the needs of monitoring industrial processes and intensive care patients. They are based on procedures where data are analysed automatically and on‐line. When results indicate that the process is out of control, an alarm alerts an engineer or physician, who can take corrective action in order to get the process back under control. This paper discusses the use of SPC methods as a means to enhance precision in detecting increasing churn rates. We show that SPC methods can give market analysts a powerful tool for tracking customer movements and churn. An early warning system (EWS), based on the same ideas as used in process industries, will give foresight and a longer time to react against churn, hence providing an advantage over competitors. In the examples discussed in this paper we monitor usage in order to detect decreasing volumes that indicate churn. Data were extracted from internal databases, and analysed and reported on‐line. We conclude that the potential improvement by using SPC methods in churn management is high. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Modelling Operational Losses: A Bayesian Approach
Authors: Giudici Paolo , Bilotta Annalisa 
Published: July 2004

AbstractThe exposure of banks to operational risk has increased in recent years. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (known as Basel II) has established a capital charge to cover operational risks other than credit and market risk. According to the advanced methods defined in ‘The New Basel Capital Accord’ to quantify the capital charge, in this paper we present an advanced measurement approach based on a Bayesian network model that estimates an internal measure of risk of the bank. One of the main problems faced when measuring the operational risk is the scarcity of loss data. The methodology proposed solves this critical point because it allows a coherent integration, via Bayes' theorem, of different sources of information, such as internal and external data, and the opinions of ‘experts’ (process owners) about the frequency and the severity of each loss event. Furthermore, the model corrects the losses distribution by considering the eventual relations between different nodes of the network that represent the losses of each combination of business line/event type/bank/process and the effectiveness of the corresponding internal and external controls. The operational risk capital charge is quantified by multiplying the value at risk (VaR) per event, a percentile of the losses distribution determined, by an estimate of the number of losses that may occur in a given period. Furthermore, it becomes possible to monitor the effectiveness of the internal and external system controls in place at the bank. The methodology we present has been experimented as a pilot project in one of the most important Italian banking groups, Monte dei Paschi di Siena. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Six Sigma in a Dutch Hospital: Does It Work in the Nursing Department?
Authors: van den Heuvel Jaap , Does Ronald J. M. M. , Vermaat M. B. (Thijs) 
Published: July 2004

AbstractThe Red Cross Hospital is a medium‐sized general hospital with 385 beds, located in Beverwijk, The Netherlands. It also has a freestanding National Burn Care Centre. The Red Cross Hospital was the first hospital in The Netherlands with a quality system based on ISO 9000. At the end of 2001 the hospital started implementing Six Sigma. The process began with Executive Training for management and Green Belt (GB) training for 16 middle managers and other staff. Seven GB projects were started in the areas of accounts receivable, patient logistics, invoicing, medication, temporary workers, and length of stay in hospital. In February 2003 the final review of the first group was done and savings appeared to be three times higher than estimated beforehand. At present (May 2004) the fourth group of Green Belts has been trained. In this paper we briefly explain that Six Sigma was the next logical step in the quality approach of the hospital. We also discuss how it was implemented and we describe some case studies in the nursing departments. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Black Belt Types
Authors: Caulcutt Roland 
Published: July 2004

AbstractAn essential component of the Six Sigma approach to business improvement, is the training of employees for the role of process improvement specialist. These people usually have the words ‘Black Belt’ in their job title. Their role varies from company to company, but it invariably involves extensive use of statistical techniques. We suggest that some of the time devoted to statistics training could usefully be spent considering the human dynamics of improvement projects. More specifically we explore the benefits for Black Belts of understanding personality types. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A Multi‐scale Approach to Functional Signature Analysis for Product End‐of‐life Management
Authors: Di Bucchianico A. , Figarella T. , Hulsken G. , Jansen M. H. , Wynn H. P. 
Published: July 2004

AbstractNowadays, electronic products tend to be economically outdated before their technical end of life has been reached. The ability to analyze and predict the (remaining) technical life of a product would make it possible either to re‐use sub‐assemblies in the manufacturing process of new products, or to design products for which the technical and economical life match. This requires models to predict and monitor performance degradation profiles. In this paper we report on designed experiments to obtain such models. We show how wavelet analysis can be used to extract features from electrical signals. These features are analyzed using Analysis of Variance in order to establish relations between these features and performance degradation. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Experimentation with Randomization Restrictions: Targeting Practical Implementation
Authors: Simpson James R. , Kowalski Scott M. , Landman Drew 
Published: July 2004

AbstractRandomization, one of the fundamental principles of statistically designed experiments, is not always easy to implement in practice. In fact, many industrial settings involve factors of interest that are difficult to change, requiring some modification to a completely randomized test sequence. Practical issues associated with restricted randomization commonly arise regarding design efficiencies, design requirements for error estimation, overall ease of software‐assisted analysis, required replication, tests for nonlinearity, and sequential testing plans. The purpose of this paper is to deal directly with these roadblocks to efficient and effective experimentation under randomization restrictions. The general approach involves modifying standard split‐plot designs with appropriate augmentation followed by a two‐stage model building method using a standard general linear model framework. An alternative procedure for analyzing two‐level factorial split‐plot designs is provided for commonly occurring situations involving more than one hard‐to‐change factor. The proposed methods were developed and implemented in conducting experiments for wind tunnel applications. These tests serve as case studies for the paper. We also suggest possible methods for limiting the replication required for estimating whole plot error. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.