Functional recovery after operative treatment of femoral neck fractures in an institutionalized elderly population

Agreement that hip fracture is best treated surgically stems from the fact that early mobilization of the patient reduces morbidity and mortality. This concept was tested in 54 elderly, institutionalized patients with femoral neck fractures who were operatively treated. The patients were reviewed within 12 months after being injured. Their average age was 81.2 years, and 94% of the patients were women. Seventy-five percent of the study population had neurological disease or heart disease and were thus limited in their motivation or ability to participate in a rehabilitation program. Only 16.7% of the patients regained their overall functional ability and only 12.9% returned to their pre-injury, ambulatory status. The therapeutic concept should be reviewed and the conservative approach be given serious consideration.     

A linearisation method for non-linear singular boundary value problems

This paper presents a novel numerical approach for the solution of a class of nonlinear singular boundary value problems arising in physiology. The approach is based on a new application of the successive linearisation method (SLM). Three illustrative examples are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. The new approach is found to give accurate results comparable to results in the literature found using existing numerical methods.     

Generalized Linear Quadratic Gaussian Techniques for the Wind Benchmark Problem

This paper presents a comprehensive study of the stage-3 benchmark problem for response control of wind-excited tall buildings based on the linear quadratic gaussian (LQG) approach, and on its generalization, the k-cost-cumulant control method. For control design, the original nodal building model is first transformed into balanced modal space. The Hankel singular values (HSVs) and the power spectral density of the wind disturbances are calculated; and, based on them, a reduced-order model is derived by keeping the first six low-frequency modes. A balanced LQG (BLQG) controller is then determined by adopting the HSVs as a basis to choose the design weights. The main results of the paper are that the BLQG control design is able to come within 5–10% of the performance of the sample LQG controller supplied with the benchmark, but with control actions on the order of one-third less than the sample LQG, and with stability improvement features of a substantial nature over the range of stiffness perturbations specified in the benchmark. Finally, if the low authority BLQG controller is regarded as a one-cost-cumulant design, then with the appropriate use of the second-cost cumulant, the latter methodology is able to demonstrate how higher-authority controllers can give certain improvements in performance, but at the expense of significant investment in control action.     

Isolation and Properties of Starch from Wild Yam from Zimbabwe

Wild Yam (Dioscorea dumetorum) was collected during the wet as well as dry season in the bush of Zimbabwe. Starch from its tubers was isolated in behavioral conditions and properties were determined such as size of granules, content of water, amylose, phosphorus, proteins and lipids, characteristics of gelation of its gels and thermal properties (TG, DTG, DTA).     

Application and validation of a clean-up tandem assay column for screening ochratoxin A in cocoa powder.

A rapid antibody-based assay for the detection of ochratoxin A in cocoa powder is described, involving sequential clean-up and visual detection of the toxin ("clean-up tandem assay column"). The screening test was developed to have a cut-off level of 2 microg kg(-1) and was shown to have false positive and false negative rates of 10 and 2%, respectively. Analysis of six samples can be carried out in the field in approximately 30 min by untrained workers. Using the proposed rapid screening test, 10 retail cocoa powders were found to contain no detectable levels of ochratoxin A (<2 microg kg(-1)). These samples were also found to be negative (<2 microg kg(-1)) when analysed using an LC-MS/MS method.     

MHD mixed convective radiative flow of Eyring‐Powell fluid over an oscillatory stretching sheet using bivariate spectral method on overlapping grids

The bivariate spectral quasilinearization method (BSQLM) on overlapping grids is presented and applied in the analysis of unsteady magnetohydrodynamic mixed convection flow of Eyring‐Powell fluid over an oscillatory stretching sheet embedded in a non‐Darcy porous medium with nonlinear radiative heat flux and variable thermophysical properties. The fluid properties, namely the fluid viscosity, thermal conductivity, and mass diffusivity, are assumed to vary with temperature. It is assumed that the first‐order chemical reaction with heat generation/absorption takes place in the flow. The flow domain is subject to uniform transverse magnetic field perpendicular to the stretching surface. The transformed flow equations are solved numerically using BSQLM on overlapping grids. The convergence properties and accuracy of the method are assessed. The proposed method is computationally efficient, and it gives stable and highly accurate results after few iterations and using few grid points in each subinterval. The improved accuracy rests upon the use of the overlapping grid, which produces sparse coefficient matrices that are easy to invert and have small condition numbers. The effects of physical parameters on the flow fields, local skin friction, the Nusselt number, and the Sherwood number are exhibited through graphs and tables. Amongst other findings, we found that the amplitude of the fluid flow along with flow characteristics may efficiently improve through the utilization of variable fluid viscosity. Heat and mass transportation processes enhance with the inclusion of nonlinear radiative heat flux, temperature‐dependent thermal conductivity, and mass diffusion coefficient, whereas they diminish with the increase in the local inertia coefficient. The current flow analysis can be useful in various engineering applications including paper production, polymer solution, glass blowing, extrusion of thermal system manufacturing process, and heat transportation enhancement.     

Multiple angiodysplastic lesions of the colon--a therapeutic challenge

Colonic angiodysplasia is one of the most frequent causes of recurrent lower gastrointestinal tract bleeding, mainly in the elderly. In 50% of patients multiple angiodysplastic lesions were reported when they were the cause of rectal bleeding. Bleeding from angiodysplasia is more severe and less responsive to treatment in those with coagulation disorders. A 74-year-old woman with an artificial mitral valve who was treated with coumadine is reported. A few years after operation she began to develop severe recurrent rectal bleeding because of multiple angiodysplastic lesions along the right colon, proven by colonoscopy. She was frequently hospitalized for blood transfusions; endoscopic treatment was not feasible and the surgical risk of colectomy was very high. Treatment with estrogen and progesterone significantly decreased recurrent episodes of bleeding.     

Testing the capabilities of the new WorldView-3 space-borne sensor’s red-edge spectral band in discriminating and mapping complex grassland management treatments

The majority of grasslands are overused and poorly managed, globally. The overuse of these grasslands has resulted in the adoption of numerous management treatments as interventions for optimizing their productivity. However, there are limited comprehensive frameworks and objective precedents for monitoring these grasslands and rangelands. In that regard, understanding the effect of such rangeland management treatments on grassland productivity is, therefore, a critical step towards their effective conservation and sustainable management. This study sought to test the capabilities of the WorldView-3 (WV-3) satellite data derivatives in characterizing grasslands administered with different rangeland management treatments (i.e. mowing, grazing, burning, fertilizer application, and control: no-treatment), using discriminant analysis. We compared the accuracies obtained based on WV-3 standard visible and near-infrared bands and vegetation indices (VIs), excluding and including the red-edge. Results illustrate that incorporating the strategically positioned red-edge band improves the classification accuracy of the four different rangeland management treatments from 65% to 70%. Furthermore, the overall accuracy was 73% when standard VIs were used and it increased to 78% when the red-edge VIs were added to standard VIs. Other than the red-edge derivatives, the results of this study showed that the yellow, red, NIR-1, and NIR-2 bands were the most influential. The utility of fine spatial resolution sensors such as the newly launched WV-3, with strategically positioned bands (red-edge), could offer detailed information essential for the sustainable management of grasslands.     

Survey of Fusarium moniliforme (F. verticillioides) and production of fumonisin B1 in cereal grains and oilseeds in Zimbabwe.

In a national survey carried out in 1995 and 1996, the distribution of Fusarium moniliforme (= F. verticillioides) and fumonisin B1 (FB1) levels in cereals and oilseeds from Zimbabwe were analyzed. The results of this study showed that the incidence of F. moniliforme and other Fusarium species and levels of FB1 generally decreased from regions with high rainfall and annual moderate temperatures to low rainfall regions. There was no Fusarium contamination and FB1 was not detected in sunflowers and soybeans. The incidence of F. moniliforme and its metabolite exhibited a substrate preference with high incidences of Fusarium species and high FB1 levels being recorded for maize followed by wheat, rapoko and sorghum.     

Structural equation models of sexual harassment: Longitudinal explorations and cross-sectional generalizations.

Sexual harassment and its corresponding outcomes develop and change over time, yet research on this issue has been limited primarily to cross-sectional data. In this article, longitudinal models of harassment were proposed and empirically evaluated via structural equations modeling using data from 217 women who responded to a computerized questionnaire in 1994 and again in 1996. Results indicate that sexual harassment influences both proximal and distal work-related variables (e.g., job satisfaction, work withdrawal, job withdrawal) and psychological outcomes (e.g., life satisfaction, psychological well-being, distress). In addition, a replication of the L. F. Fitzgerald, F. Drasgow, C. L. Hulin, M. J. Gelfand, and V. J. Magley (1997) model of harassment was supported. This research was an initial attempt to develop integrated models of the dynamic effects of sexual harassment over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)