LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Vacuum-assisted closure for complicated wounds in head and neck region after reconstruction.

OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study is to suggest that negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is an excellent alternative for managing complicated wounds after head and neck reconstruction.


SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA
Management of complicated wounds such as wound infection or persistent saliva leakage from poor wound healing with dead space is challenging in head and neck reconstruction. The NPWT is a useful device widely used in treating many complicated wounds. In this study, we applied this device on complicated wounds after head and neck reconstruction and share our experience and modifications.


METHODS
From January 2004 to December 2009, 13 male patients (mean age: 50.0 years) were included. Eleven patients were reconstructed with free flap transfer and the other two patients received a local flap for repair immediately after tumour ablation. Among them, 12 patients (92%) had complicated wounds with infection and one patient (8%) with partial loss of the free flap. Eight of these 13 patients (62%) had saliva leakage and fistula formation. For those who had a free flap transfer, the vacuum-assisted closure (VAC) system was applied with modifications to the complicated wound 2 weeks later, after better neo-vascularisation around the free flap. Watertight suturing on the mucosal side is needed to ensure air sealing and enhance wound healing acquired by the VAC system.


RESULTS
All wounds demonstrated adequate control of wound infection, quick obliteration of dead space and rapid growth of granulation tissue under the NPWT. Eleven patients (85%) had wound healing with secondary intention; one (8%) needed a further skin grafting; and one patient (8%) needed a free flap transfer due to partial flap loss in a severe wound infection even after the NPWT application. The average duration of the NPWT usage was 10.8 days (4-24 days); most of the wounds healed within 1 week after the NPWT application.


CONCLUSION
The NPWT is an excellent alternative for managing complicated wounds after head and neck reconstruction. It is safe and comfortable for the patient and provides good results in infection control, dead space obliteration and improvement of wound healing.
Gravity in Complex Hermitian Space-Time

A generalized theory unifying gravity with electromagnetism was proposed by Einstein in 1945. He considered a Hermitian metric on a real space-time. In this work we review Einstein's idea and generalize it further to consider gravity in a complex Hermitian space-time.
The effect of education in managing side effects in women receiving chemotherapy for treatment of breast cancer.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES
To determine the effectiveness of informational audiotapes on self-care behaviors, state anxiety, and use of self-care behaviors; to describe the occurrence and intensity of common side effects in patients with breast cancer.


DESIGN
Randomized clinical trial.


SETTING
Outpatient chemotherapy clinics operated by a university center in a rural area.


SAMPLE
70 women receiving their first treatment of chemotherapy.


METHODS
Subjects completed demographic data and the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety instrument (stai). The experimental group received two audiotapes. At one and three months, subjects completed the modified nail self-care diary and stai via telephone.


MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES
State anxiety, side-effect severity, and use and efficacy of self-care behaviors.


FINDINGS
The most frequent side effects were fatigue, nausea and vomiting, and taste change. The experimental group reported symptom improvements that were not found in the control group. The experimental group increased the use of recommended self-care behaviors, whereas the control group continued to use the same self-care behaviors without effectiveness. State anxiety for both groups diminished over time; however, anxiety in the control group was consistently higher.


CONCLUSIONS
Audiotapes are effective teaching tools. Self-care behaviors can be taught and can be effective in managing side effects. Anxiety was high in both groups, but the symptom decreased in the women who received audiotapes and telephone calls.


IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING
Constraints on nurses decrease the length of teaching time available, but audiotapes provide effective teaching and reinforcement of education. Anxiety in clinical environments interferes with patient learning. Teaching effective self-care behaviors enhances patients' independence, comfort, control, and quality of life.
Full and Partial Symmetries of Non-rigid Shapes

Symmetry and self-similarity are the cornerstone of Nature, exhibiting themselves through the shapes of natural creations and ubiquitous laws of physics. Since many natural objects are symmetric, the absence of symmetry can often be an indication of some anomaly or abnormal behavior. Therefore, detection of asymmetries is important in numerous practical applications, including crystallography, medical imaging, and face recognition, to mention a few. Conversely, the assumption of underlying shape symmetry can facilitate solutions to many problems in shape reconstruction and analysis. Traditionally, symmetries are described as extrinsic geometric properties of the shape. While being adequate for rigid shapes, such a description is inappropriate for non-rigid ones: extrinsic symmetry can be broken as a result of shape deformations, while its intrinsic symmetry is preserved. In this paper, we present a generalization of symmetries for non-rigid shapes and a numerical framework for their analysis, addressing the problems of full and partial exact and approximate symmetry detection and classification.
Top-Down Semantics of Fair Computations of Logic Programs

Abstract A successful SLD-derivation from a logic program has as result a positive assertion which is a logical implication of the program regarded as a theory of first-order logic. A finite and failed SLD-tree has as result a negation which is a logical implication of a certain theory which is a strengthened version of the program. In this paper we are concerned with a more general notion of result, one that is applicable to all SLD-derivations, independently of whether they continue on to success, to failure, or whether they are infinite. We discuss the application of our theorem to fair (in the sense of Lassez and Maher) infinite computations.
Injuries in elite and recreational snowboarders.

BACKGROUND
The relatively young sport of snowboarding exhibits high injury rates. The current efforts to characterise the injury pattern of snowboarders focus largely on the general snowboard population and upper extremity injuries, the most common injury site in snowboarders as a whole.


METHODS
In an effort to describe the current published information available on snowboarding injuries in the elite-level population, a literature search was performed and the articles related to snowboarding injuries were analysed. Additionally, the literature pertaining to biomechanical analyses of injury and injury prevention was included.


RESULTS
Studies rarely stratify the snowboarders by skill level, a classification which has a profound effect on the riding activities of snowboarders and the resultant injury patterns. Elite-level snowboarders are often injured when performing difficult manoeuvres at high velocities and with amplified levels of force to the lower limbs. Consequently, elite-level snowboarders suffer from injuries that are of higher severity and have decidedly greater lower extremity injury rates. Conversely, injuries to the upper extremities are decreased in the elite snowboarders. Furthermore, little has been published regarding the biomechanical analyses and injury prevention for the protection of the lower extremities in snowboarding.


CONCLUSIONS
Snowboarding continues to evolve as a sport. This includes a steady progression in the degree of difficulty of the manoeuvres conducted by athletes and an increase in the number of snowboarders attempting such manoeuvres. The injury patterns across the skill levels are markedly different, and it is imperative that the research directed towards understanding the disparate lower extremity injury pattern of elite-level snowboarders is increased.
Relationship between attachment styles and happiness in medical students

BACKGROUND
Attachment theory is one of the most important achievements of contemporary psychology. Role of medical students in the community health is important, so we need to know about the situation of happiness and attachment style in these students.


OBJECTIVES
This study was aimed to assess the relationship between medical students' attachment styles and demographic characteristics.


MATERIALS AND METHODS
This cross-sectional study was conducted on randomly selected students of Medical Sciences in Kurdistan University, in 2012. To collect data, Hazan and Shaver's attachment style measure and the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire were used. The results were analyzed using the SPSS software version 16 (IBM, Chicago IL, USA) and statistical analysis was performed via t-test, Chi-square test, and multiple regression tests.


RESULTS
Secure attachment style was the most common attachment style and the least common was ambivalent attachment style. Avoidant attachment style was more common among single persons than married people (P = 0.03). No significant relationship was observed between attachment style and gender and grade point average of the studied people. The mean happiness score of students was 62.71. In multivariate analysis, the variables of secure attachment style (P = 0.001), male gender (P = 0.005), and scholar achievement (P = 0.047) were associated with higher happiness score.


CONCLUSION
The most common attachment style was secure attachment style, which can be a positive prognostic factor in medical students, helping them to manage stress. Higher frequency of avoidant attachment style among single persons, compared with married people, is mainly due to their negative attitude toward others and failure to establish and maintain relationships with others.
Improved median filtering algorithm for the reduction of impulse noise in corrupted 2d greyscale images

supervision of the undersigned. All works consulted have been duly acknowledged in the references.(SUPERVISOR) DATE SIGNATURE iii CERTIFICATION I certify that this thesis has been assessed and all correction has been made in accordance with the comments made by the Examiners. iv DEDICATION This work is dedicated to my Late Parents Mr. and Mrs. John C. Weyori and my family for the diverse support they gave me throughout my postgraduate study. ABSTRACT Digital images are often corrupted by Impulse noise due to errors generated in noisy sensor, errors that occur in the process of converting signals from analog-to-digital and also errors that are generated in the communication channels. This error that occurs inevitably alters some of the pixels intensity while some of the pixels remain unchanged. In order to remove impulse noise and enhance the affected image quality, the median filter has been studied and a method based on an improved median filtering algorithm has been proposed. This method removes or effectively suppresses the impulse noise in the image whiles preserving the image edges information and enhancing the image quality. The proposed method is a spatial domain approach and uses the overlapping window to filter the signal based on the selection of an effective median per window. The approach chosen in this work is based on a functional level 2n +1 window that makes the selection of the normal median easier, since the number of elements in the window is odd. The median so chosen is confirmed as the effective median or, where the median is an impulse a more representative value is sought and used as the effective median. The improved median filtering algorithms uses the median switching technique to compute an effective median when the active median of the window is an impulse. The performance of the proposed effective median filter has been evaluated in MATLAB using a 3 × 3 fixed window for simulations on an image that has been subjected to various degrees of corruption with impulse noise. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm vis-à-vis the standard and adaptive median filtering algorithms, and others. The peak signal-to-noise ratios of the filtered image using the various filtering techniques are computed quantitatively, to show the effectiveness and efficiency of the method of this vi thesis. The peak signal-to-noise ratio has been used to compare the performance of the proposed median filtering algorithm with other digital …
The effect of stimulus frequency on the analgesic response to percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in patients with chronic low back pain.

UNLABELLED
Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most common medical problems in our society. Increasingly, patients are turning to nonpharmacologic analgesic therapies such as percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (PENS). We designed this sham-controlled study to compare the effect of three different frequencies of electrical stimulation on the analgesic response to PENS therapy. Sixty-eight consenting patients with LBP secondary to degenerative lumbar disc disease were treated with PENS therapy at 4 Hz, alternating 15 Hz and 30 Hz (15/30 Hz), and 100 Hz, as well as sham-PENS (0 Hz), according to a randomized, cross-over study design. Each treatment was administered for a period of 30 min three times per week for 2 wk. The pre- and posttreatment assessments included the health status survey short form and visual analog scales for pain, physical activity, and quality of sleep. After receiving all four treatments, patients completed a global assessment questionnaire. The sham-PENS treatments failed to produce changes in the degree of pain, physical activity, sleep quality, or daily intake of oral analgesic medications. In contrast, 4-Hz, 15/30-Hz, and 100-Hz stimulation all produced significant decreases in the severity of pain, increases in physical activity, improvements in the quality of sleep, and decreases in oral analgesic requirements (P < 0.01). Of the three frequencies, 15/30 Hz was the most effective in decreasing pain, increasing physical activity, and improving the quality of sleep (P < 0.05). In the global assessment, 40% of the patients reported that 15/30 Hz was the most desirable therapy, and it was also more effective in improving the patient's sense of well-being. We conclude that the frequency of electrical stimulation is an important determinant of the analgesic response to PENS therapy. Alternating stimulation at 15-Hz and 30-Hz frequencies was more effective than either 4 Hz or 100 Hz in improving outcome measures in patients with LBP.


IMPLICATIONS
The frequency of electrical stimulation seems to be an important determinant of the analgesic efficacy of percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation. Mixed low- and high-frequency stimulation was more effective than either low or high frequencies alone in the treatment of patients with low back pain.
A practical transistor-level dual threshold voltage assignment methodology

Leakage power has become one of the most critical design concerns for the system-level chip designer. Multi-threshold techniques have been used to reduce runtime leakage power without sacrificing performance. In this paper we present an effective and scalable transistor-level V/sub th/ assignment approach and show leakage reduction over standard cell-level V/sub th/ assignment. The main disadvantage of transistor-level V/sub th/ assignment is increased cell library size and characterization effort. In comparison to previous approaches, our approach yields better solution quality, requires smaller cell library, is more accurate in considering the impact of V/sub th/ assignment on propagation delay, slew (transition delay) and capacitance, and is significantly faster.
Predicting successful 24-hr quit attempt in a smoking cessation intervention.

INTRODUCTION
The factors that influence the initial phase of quitting smoking have been understudied. Although maintenance of change is the ultimate test of the efficacy of treatment, maintenance is a nonissue for those who fail to manage even brief periods of abstinence. We examined factors associated with smokers' ability to achieve a targeted 24-hr quit during a smoking cessation program. As a comparison, we also examine whether predictors of an initial quit are different from factors that predict smoking abstinence at 52-week follow-up.


METHODS
Using baseline data from a randomized clinical trial to examine the efficacy of selegiline for cigarette smoking cessation (n = 280), we conducted univariate analyses (analysis of variance or chi-square) to determine statistically significant predictors of a successful quit attempt (SQA) versus unsuccessful quit attempt. Multiple logistic regression was performed with significant predictors from the univariate analyses to determine main effects and interactions in a multivariate model. The same factors and analyses were used to examine predictors of 52-week point prevalence abstinence.


RESULTS
Lower nicotine dependence (modified Fagerström Tolerance Questionnaire [mFTQ]), higher Behavioral Inhibition System score, and lower baseline heart rate were predictive of SQA in both the univariate and the multivariate models. Gender was the only predictor of 52-week smoking abstinence.


CONCLUSIONS
Predictors of initial induction of change were not predictors of abstinence at the 1-year follow-up, suggesting that different factors mediate the different subprocesses of behavior change. Knowledge of these pretreatment factors that moderate a SQA could help clinicians target smokers who need more intensive therapy during the initial induction of cessation.
Sequential design of decentralized controllers

Abst rac t -A procedure for sequential design of decentralized controllers for linear systems is presented. It is shown how to include a simple estimate of the effect of closing subsequent loops into the design problem for the loop which is to be closed. In the examples the robust performance in terms of the structured singular value is used as the measure of control performance, but the procedure may be applied also for other performance measures.
Botulinum toxin treatment of synkinesia and hyperlacrimation after facial palsy.

OBJECTIVES
To investigate the effects of injection of botulinum toxin type A (BTX A) into the orbicularis oculi muscle and lacrimal gland in patients with aberrant regeneration after facial palsy (facial synkinesias and hyperlacrimation).


METHODS
The effect of the toxin injection (on average 75 mouse units of BTX A) into the orbicularis oculi muscle on facial synkinesias was assessed on a five point (0 to 4) scale in 10 patients with aberrant regeneration of facial nerve fibres after a peripheral facial nerve palsy. Six patients underwent a videographic control, which was assessed by a blinded independent investigator. In two patients with hyperlacrimation an extra dose of botulinum toxin (on average 20 mouse units BTX A) was injected into the lacrimal gland and the effect was assessed using the Schirmer test and on a three point scale.


RESULTS
Botulinum toxin type A had a good to excellent (grades 3 and 4) effect over an average of six months after 91% of injections. In 9% the injections had a moderate (grade 2) effect. Patients with hyperlacrimation showed a nearly complete recovery. There were no systemic side effects but focal side effects due to a temporary weakness of the orbicularis oculi muscle were not uncommon.


CONCLUSIONS
Botulinum toxin type A is the treatment of choice in motor and autonomic effects of aberrant regeneration of facial nerve after a peripheral palsy. The required dose is similar to or slightly lower than the dose usually recommended for hemifacial spasm.
Local implantation of autologous mononuclear cells from bone marrow and peripheral blood for treatment of ischaemic digits in patients with connective tissue diseases.

OBJECTIVE
CD34-positive bone marrow mononuclear cells (MNCs) have been successfully used for regeneration of small arteries in Buerger's disease. The objective of this study is to examine the angiogenetic potential of autologous MNCs from bone marrow and peripheral blood implanted into the ischaemic digits from patients with connective tissue diseases.


METHODS
Three patients with systemic sclerosis, two with mixed connective tissue disease, and one with CREST syndrome were enrolled who had painful ischaemic digits with necrosis refractory to several vasodilators including intravenous prostaglandins. MNCs obtained from 7 ml/kg bone marrow blood and 400 ml peripheral blood were implanted into 20 different sites in palms and/or soles. The study was performed open-labelled.


RESULTS
Pain in the numeric rating scale improved remarkably up to 1 month after implantation of bone marrow or peripheral MNCs to the same extent, although no significant differences were found in transcutaneous oxygen pressure and thermogram before and after the implantation. Bone marrow MNCs increased blood flow of the hand determined by intra-arterial digital subtraction angiography, while peripheral MNCs did not.


CONCLUSIONS
Implantation of autologous MNCs from peripheral and bone marrow into the ischaemic digits was so effective in pain-relief and more clinical trials would be warranted to see whether this could be a new treatment modality for angiogenesis in connective tissue diseases as in Buerger's disease.
Mean-field homogenization of multi-phase thermo-elastic composites : a general framework and its validation

This paper deals with mean-field Eshelby-based homogenization techniques for multi-phase composites and focuses on three subjects which in our opinion deserved more attention than they did in the existing literature. Firstly, for two-phase composites, that is when in a given representative volume element all the inclusions have the same material properties, aspect ratio and orientation, an interpolative double inclusion model gives perhaps the best predictions to date for a wide range of volume fractions and stiffness contrasts. Secondly, for multi-phase composites (including two-phase composites with non-aligned inclusions as a special case), direct homogenization schemes might lead to a non-symmetric overall stiffness tensor, while a two-step homogenization procedure gives physically acceptable results. Thirdly, a general procedure allows to formulate the thermo-elastic version of any homogenization model defined by its isothermal strain concentration tensors. For all three subjects, the theory is presented in detail and validated against experimental data or finite element results for numerous composite systems. 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Chip formation, cutting forces, and tool wear in turning of Zr-based bulk metallic glass

The chip light emission and morphology, cutting forces, surface roughness, and tool wear in turning of Zr-based bulk metallic glass (BMG) material are investigated. Machining results are compared with those of aluminum 6061-T6 and AISI 304 stainless steel under the same cutting conditions. This study demonstrates that the high cutting speeds and tools with low thermal conductivity and rake angle activate the light emission and chip oxidation in BMG machining. For the BMG chip without light emission, serrated chip formation with adiabatic shear band and void formation is observed. The cutting force analysis further correlates the chip oxidation and specific cutting energy and shows the significant reduction of cutting forces for machining BMG at high cutting speeds. The machined surface of BMG has better surface roughness than that of the other two work materials. Some tool wear features, including the welding of chip to the tool tip and chipping of the polycrystalline cubic boron nitride (PCBN) tool edge, are reported for turning of BMG. This study concludes that BMG can be machined with good surface roughness using conventional cutting tools. # 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.