Review of the indirect citations paradigm: theory and practice of the assessment of papers,authors and journals

The family of indicators presented in this paper includes indices created by taking into account not only the direct but also the indirect impact of citations and references. Three types of citation graphs are presented, namely, the Paper-Citation graph, the Author-Citation graph and the Journal-Citation graph, along with different methods for constructing them. In addition, the concept of generations of citations is examined in detail, again by presenting various methods for defining them found in the literature. Finally, a number of indirect indicators for papers, authors and journals are discussed, which among others, include PageRank, CiteRank, indirect h-index and the EigenFactor score.     

Critical power two wheeler driving patterns at the emergence of an incident

The paper proposes a methodology based on Bayesian Networks for identifying the power two wheeler (PTW) driving patterns that arise at the emergence of a critical incident based on high resolution driving data (100 Hz) from a naturalistic PTW driving experiment. The proposed methodology aims at identifying the prevailing PTW drivers’ actions at the beginning and during critical incidents and associating the critical incidents to specific PTW driving patterns. Results using data from one PTW driver reveal three prevailing driving actions for describing the onset of an incident and an equal number of actions that a PTW driver executes during the course of an incident to avoid a crash. Furthermore, the proposed methodology efficiently relates the observed sets of actions with different types of incidents occurring during overtaking or due to the interactions of the rider with moving or stationary obstacles and the opposing traffic. The observed interrelations define several driving patterns that are characterized by different initial actions, as well as by different likelihood of sequential actions during the incident. The proposed modeling may have significant implications to the efficient and less time consuming analysis of the naturalist data, as well as to the development of custom made PTW driver assistance systems.     

Development of a silk and collagen fiber scaffold for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

The objective of this study was to determine a silk-collagen fiber ratio for an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction composite scaffold device. Composite fiber scaffolds with silk volumes ≥14 % and collagen volume <86 % demonstrated comparable or greater initial ultimate tensile stress relative to the human ACL. Silk scaffolds implanted subcutaneously and intraarticularly in rabbits demonstrated an 84 and 92 % reduction in strength with a 26 and 22 % reduction in volume after 8 weeks, respectively. The mechanical degradation findings of this preliminary study suggest that a composite scaffold with an initial UTS value of at least 129 MPa, or roughly a 48:52 silk to collagen volume ratio meets the minimal mechanical requirements necessary to proceed to a functional ACL reconstruction study in vivo.     

Rapid Methods for Frying Oil Quality Determination: Evaluation with Respect to Legislation Criteria

This work focuses on the evaluation of commercially available rapid methods for determining frying oil quality. Five rapid methods differing in principle were selected: FOM320 (Ebro), PCT120 (3M), LRSM (3M), Fritest (Merck) and Viscofrit (Viscofrit). The performance of the methods was examined by use of 184 oil samples produced by controlled frying experiments. Twelve series of frying experiments (45 batches each) were performed in which the oil type (palm, sunflower and olive) and the food type (potatoes, zucchini and minced beef meat) varied. Control thermal oxidation experiments with the same oil types were also performed. Results of the rapid methods were compared to results of analytical methods determining legislation criteria. Namely, the total polar compounds and total polymer compounds were determined using High Pressure Size Exclusion Chromatography with and without prior separation of the polar fraction. Furthermore, determination of the free fatty acid concentration, acidity, viscosity and level of oxidation of the oils using UV spectroscopy were carried out. Principal component analysis and linear regression analysis were used in order to assess the obtained results. Comparison of the results of the rapid methods with the analytical ones showed differences in most examined cases. For many of the examined rapid methods the agreement of the results versus those of analytical methods depended on the food-oil combination used in the frying experiments.     

Malic acid: A novel processing aid for thermoplastic starch/poly(butylene adipate‐co‐terephthalate) compounding and blown film extrusion

The processing of polysaccharide‐based polymer compounds represents a major challenge because these materials behave considerably different compared to their petro‐based counterparts. Especially in the manufacture of thermoplastic starch (TPS)–polyester films by means of blown film extrusion, an increase in the natural material proportion generally leads to processing difficulties. In addition, higher TPS contents adversely affect mechanical material characteristics. The present study focuses on the effect of malic acid (MA) on processing parameters and on the quality of TPS/poly(butylene adipate‐co‐terephthalate) films. The MA enantiomers d (+) and l (–) as well as the racemate were applied at various concentrations (0.2, 0.4, and 0.8 wt %). Results indicate that the addition of racemic MA at concentrations of 0.2% and 0.4% significantly improved the processibility of TPS. Simultaneously, positive effects such as improved ductility and water sorption characteristics were found. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134, 45539.     

International variation in clinical injury incidence: exploring the performance of indicators based on health care, anatomical and outcome criteria

OBJECTIVE: To analyse international variation in clinical injury incidence, and explore the performance of different injury indicators in cross-country comparisons. METHODS: Hospital discharge data of seven European countries (Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, England and Wales) were analysed. We tested existing and newly developed indicators based on (a) health care use, (b) anatomical criteria, or (c) expected health outcome: admissions excluding day-cases (a), hospital stay 4+ (a) and 7+ days (a), (serious) long-bone fractures (b), selected radiological verifiable fractures 'SRVFs' (b), and indicators based on international (Global Burden of Disease) and Dutch disability weights). Assessment criteria were reduction in incidence variation and length of stay in hospital, and the association between incidence and mortality rates. RESULTS: Indicators based on health care use led to increased variation in incidence rates. Long bone fractures and SRVFs, and both indicators based on injuries with moderate to high disability showed similar variation in clinical incidence compared to the crude rates, smaller variation in median length of stay in hospital and a good association with mortality rates. CONCLUSION: No perfect or near perfect indicators of clinical injury incidence exist. For international comparisons, indicators based on disability weights, SRVFs and long bone fractures may be sensible indicators to use, in the absence of a direct measure of anatomical severity.     

Simultaneous detection of pH changes and histamine release from oxyntic glands in isolated stomach

Real-time simultaneous detection of changes in pH and levels of histamine over the oxyntic glands of guinea pig stomach have been investigated. An iridium oxide pH microelectrode was used in a potentiometric mode to record the pH decrease associated with acid secretion when the sensor approached the isolated tissue. A boron-doped diamond (BDD) microelectrode was used in an amperometric mode to detect histamine when the electrode was placed over the tissue. Both sensors provided stable and reproducible responses that were qualitatively consistent with the signaling mechanism for acid secretion at the stomach. Simultaneous measurements in the presence of pharmacological treatments produced significant variations in the signals obtained by both sensors. As the H2 receptor antagonist cimetidine was perfused to the tissue, histamine levels increased that produced an increase in the signal of the BDD electrode whereas the pH sensor recorded a decrease in acid secretion as expected. Addition of acetylcholine (ACh) stimulated additional acid secretion detected with the pH microelectrode whereas the BDD sensor recorded the histamine levels decreasing significantly. This result shows that the primary influence of ACh is directly on the parietal cell receptors rather then the ECL cell receptors of the oxyntic glands. These results highlight the power of this simultaneous detection technique in the monitoring and diagnosis of physiological significant signaling mechanisms and pathways.