LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Plasma cytokine profiles in systemic sclerosis: associations with autoantibody subsets and clinical manifestations

INTRODUCTION
Systemic sclerosis (SSc) (scleroderma) is a complex autoimmune disease that clinically manifests as progressive fibrosis of the skin and internal organs. Anti-centromere antibodies (ACAs), anti-topoisomerase antibodies (ATAs), and anti-RNA polymerase III antibodies (ARAs) are three mutually exclusive SSc-associated autoantibodies that correlate with distinct clinical subsets characterized by extent of cutaneous involvement and pattern of organ involvement. The current report sought to determine whether plasma cytokine profiles differ in SSc patients grouped according to these SSc-associated autoantibody subsets.


METHODS
Plasma from 444 SSc patients and 216 healthy controls was obtained from the Scleroderma Family Registry and University of Texas Rheumatology Division. Patients were classified according to the presence of ACAs, ATAs, ARAs, or none of the above (antibody-negative). Levels of 13 cytokines were determined using multiplex assays.


RESULTS
Compared with females, healthy control males had higher plasma levels of IL-2 (P = 0.008), IL-5 (P = 0.01) and IL-8 (P = 0.01). In addition, in controls, IL-6 (P = 0.02) and IL-17 (P = 0.01) levels increased with advancing age. After adjusting for age and gender, SSc patients had higher circulating levels of TNFalpha (P < 0.0001), IL-6 (P < 0.0001), and IFNgamma (P = 0.05) and lower IL-17 (P = 0.0005) and IL-23 (P = 0.014). Additional analyses demonstrated that disease duration also influenced these cytokine profiles. IL-6 was elevated in ATA-positive and ARA-positive patients, but not in ACA-positive patients. IL-8 was uniquely increased in the ATA-positive subset while both ATA-positive and ACA-positive subsets had elevated IFNgamma and IL-10. IL-5 was only significantly increased in the ACA-positive subset. Lastly, patients with interstitial lung disease had elevated IL-6 and patients with pulmonary hypertension had elevated IL-6 and IL-13.


CONCLUSIONS
Plasma cytokine profiles differ in SSc patients based on the presence of SSc-associated autoantibodies. Plasma cytokine profiles in SSc patients may also be affected by disease duration and the pattern of internal organ involvement.
Run-time detection of hardware Trojans: The processor protection unit

Typical SOC designs use processors and therefore, trust in such processor cores is essential. The 2011 Embedded Systems Challenge (ESC 2011) [1] showed a wide range of possibilities to attack a processor through hardware Trojans. We propose an approach to detect suspicious behavior of a processor and thus assess if the processor is trustworthy or not. A countermeasure, called Processor Protection Unit (PPU) is presented focusing on its design to be particularly resilient against hardware Trojan insertion.
Epidemiology of injuries in hurling: a prospective study 2007–2011

OBJECTIVES
Hurling is a stick handling game which, although native to Ireland, has international reach and presence. The aim of this study was to report incidence and type of injuries incurred by elite male hurling players over five consecutive playing seasons.


DESIGN
Prospective cohort study.


SETTING
Male intercounty elite sports teams participating in the National GAA Injury Database, 2007-2011.


PARTICIPANTS
A total of 856 players in 25 county teams were enrolled.


PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOMES
Incidence, nature and mechanism of injury were recorded by team physicians or physiotherapists to a secure online data collection portal. Time-loss injury rates per 1000 training and match play hours were calculated and injury proportions were expressed.


RESULTS
In total 1030 injuries were registered, giving a rate of 1.2 injuries per player. These were sustained by 71% (n=608) of players. Injury incidence rate was 2.99 (95% CI 2.68 to 3.30) per 1000 training hours and 61.75 (56.75 to 66.75) per 1000 match hours. Direct player-to-player contact was recorded in 38.6% injuries, with sprinting (24.5%) and landing (13.7%) the next most commonly reported injury mechanisms. Median duration of time absent from training or games, where the player was able to return in the same season, was 12 days (range 2-127 days). The majority (68.3%) of injuries occurred in the lower limbs, with 18.6% in the upper limbs. The trunk and head/neck regions accounted for 8.6% and 4.1% injuries, respectively. The distribution of injury type was significantly different (p<0.001) between upper and lower extremities: fractures (upper 36.1%, lower 1.5%), muscle strain (upper 5.2%, lower 45.8%).


CONCLUSIONS
These data provide stable, multiannual data on injury patterns in hurling, identifying the most common injury problems. This is the first step in applying a systematic, theory-driven injury prevention model in the sport.
Impacts of unit-level nurse practice environment and burnout on nurse-reported outcomes: a multilevel modelling approach.

AIM
To investigate impacts of practice environment factors and burnout at the nursing unit level on job outcomes and nurse-assessed quality of care in acute hospital nurses.


BACKGROUND
Prior research has consistently demonstrated correlations between nurse practice environments and nurses' job satisfaction and health at work, but somewhat less evidence connects practice environments with patient outcomes. The relationship has also been more extensively documented using hospital-wide measures of environments as opposed to measures at the nursing unit level.


DESIGN
Survey.


METHOD
Data from a sample of 546 staff nurses from 42 units in four Belgian hospitals were analysed using a two-level (nursing unit and nurse) random intercept model. Linear and generalised linear mixed effects models were fitted including nurse practice environment dimensions measured with the Revised Nursing Work Index and burnout dimensions of the Maslach Burnout Inventory as independent variables and job outcome and nurse-assessed quality of care variables as dependent variables.


RESULTS
Significant unit-level associations were found between nurse practice environment and burnout dimensions and job satisfaction, turnover intentions and nurse-reported quality of care. Emotional exhaustion is a predictor of job satisfaction, nurse turnover intentions and assessed quality of care as well besides various nurse work practice environment dimensions. Nurses 'ratings of unit-level management and hospital-level management and organisational support had effects in opposite directions on assessments of quality of care at the unit; this suggests that nurses' perceptions of conditions on their nursing units relative to their perceptions of their institutions at large are potentially influential in their overall job experience.


CONCLUSION
Nursing unit variation of the nurse practice environment and feelings of burnout predicts job outcome and nurse-reported quality of care variables.


RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE
The team and environmental contexts of nursing practice play critical roles in the recruitment and retention of nurses, and as well as in the quality of care delivered. Widespread burnout as a nursing unit characteristic, reflecting a response to chronic organisational stressors, merits special attention from staff nurses, physicians, managers and leaders.
Combined effects of sleep quality and depression on quality of life in patients with type 2 diabetes

BACKGROUND
Poor sleep quality and depression negatively impact the health-related quality of life of patients with type 2 diabetes, but the combined effect of the two factors is unknown. This study aimed to assess the interactive effects of poor sleep quality and depression on the quality of life in patients with type 2 diabetes.


METHODS
Patients with type 2 diabetes (n = 944) completed the Diabetes Specificity Quality of Life scale (DSQL) and questionnaires on sleep quality and depression. The products of poor sleep quality and depression were added to the logistic regression model to evaluate their multiplicative interactions, which were expressed as the relative excess risk of interaction (RERI), the attributable proportion (AP) of interaction, and the synergy index (S).


RESULTS
Poor sleep quality and depressive symptoms both increased DSQL scores. The co-presence of poor sleep quality and depressive symptoms significantly reduced DSQL scores by a factor of 3.96 on biological interaction measures. The relative excess risk of interaction was 1.08. The combined effect of poor sleep quality and depressive symptoms was observed only in women.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with both depressive symptoms and poor sleep quality are at an increased risk of reduction in diabetes-related quality of life, and this risk is particularly high for women due to the interaction effect. Clinicians should screen for and treat sleep difficulties and depressive symptoms in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Child and maternal mortality during a period of conflict in Beira City, Mozambique.

BACKGROUND
Child mortality rates have been declining in most developing countries. We studied child and maternal mortality risk factors for child mortality in Beira city in July 1993, after a decade of conflict in Mozambique.


METHODS
A community-based cluster sample survey of 4609 women of childbearing age was conducted. Indirect techniques were used to estimate child mortality ('children ever born' method and Preceding Birth Techniques (PBT) and maternal mortality (sisterhood method). Deaths among the most recent born child, born since July 1990, were classified as cases (n = 106), and two controls, matched by age and cluster, were selected per case.


RESULTS
Indirect estimates of the probability of dying from birth to age 5 (deaths before age 5 years, (5)q(0) per 1000) decreased from 246 in 1977/8 to 212 in 1988/9. The PBT estimate of 1990/91 was 154 (95 percent confidence interval [CI]: 124-184), but recent deaths may have been underreported. Lack of beds in the household (odds ratio [OR] = 2.0, 95 percent CI: 1.1-3.8), absence of the father (OR = 2.4, 95 percent CI : 1.2-4.8), low paternal educational level (OR = 2.1, 95 percent CI: 0.8-5.4), young maternal age (OR = 2.0, 95 percent CI: 1.0-3.7), self-reported maternal illness (OR = 2.4, 95 percent CI : 1.2-4.9), and home delivery of the child (OR = 2.3, 95 percent CI : 1.2-4.5) were associated with increased mortality, but the sensitivity of risk factors was low. Estimated maternal mortality was 410/100 000 live births with a reference date of 1982.


CONCLUSIONS
Child mortality decreased slowly over the 1980s in Beira despite poor living conditions caused by the indirect effects of the war. Coverage of health services increased over this period. The appropriateness of a risk approach to maternal-child-health care needs further evaluation.
Apatite Fission Track Thermochronology of Khibina Massif (Kola Peninsula, Russia): Implications for post-Devonian Tectonics of the NE Fennoscandia

Abstract The thermal history of the Kola Peninsula area of NE Fennoscandia remains almost fully unknown because of the absence of any thermochronological data such as apatite and/or zircon fission track or (U Th)/He ages. In order to fill this gap and to constrain the post-Devonian erosion and exhumation history of this region, we present the results of apatite fission track (AFT) dating of eleven samples selected from the cores taken from different depths of the northern part of the Khibina intrusive massif. The Rb Sr isochron age of this alkaline magmatic complex which is located at the center of Kola Peninsula is 368 + 6 Ma (Kramm and Kogarko, 1994). Samples were analyzed from depths between + 520 and − 950 m and yielded AFT ages between 290 and 268 Ma with an age uncertainty (1 σ ) of between ± 19 Ma (7%) and ± 42 Ma (15%). Mean track lengths (MTL) lie between 12.5 and 14.4 μm. Inverse time–temperature modeling was conducted on the age and track length data from seven samples of the Khibina massif. Thermal histories that best predict the measured data from three samples with the most reliable data show three stages: (1) 290–250 Ma—rapid cooling from > 110 °C to 70 °C/50 °C for lower/upper sample correspondingly; (2) 250–50 Ma—a stable temperature stage; (3) 50–0 Ma—slightly increased cooling rates down to modern temperatures. We propose that the first cooling stage is related to late-Hercynian orogenesis; the second cooling stage may be associated with tectonics accompanying with opening of Arctic oceanic basin. The obtained data show that geothermal gradient at the center of Kola Peninsula has remained close to the modern value of 20 °C/km for at least the last 250 Myr. AFT data show that the Khibina massif has been exhumed not more then 5–6 km in the last 290 Myr.
High SNR EMG Acquisition System for Biofeedback Applications

In this paper, we present the design and development of a simple, cost effective and low power surface EMG signal acquisition unit for a neuromuscular biofeedback system. The paper discusses the acquisition end signal chain, the synthesis of various blocks in the signal chain, wireless transmission of digitized data to a computer and realization of EMG monitoring system.
Grand average ERP-image plotting and statistics: A method for comparing variability in event-related single-trial EEG activities across subjects and conditions

BACKGROUD
With the advent of modern computing methods, modeling trial-to-trial variability in biophysical recordings including electroencephalography (EEG) has become of increasingly interest. Yet no widely used method exists for comparing variability in ordered collections of single-trial data epochs across conditions and subjects.


NEW METHOD
We have developed a method based on an ERP-image visualization tool in which potential, spectral power, or some other measure at each time point in a set of event-related single-trial data epochs are represented as color coded horizontal lines that are then stacked to form a 2-D colored image. Moving-window smoothing across trial epochs can make otherwise hidden event-related features in the data more perceptible. Stacking trials in different orders, for example ordered by subject reaction time, by context-related information such as inter-stimulus interval, or some other characteristic of the data (e.g., latency-window mean power or phase of some EEG source) can reveal aspects of the multifold complexities of trial-to-trial EEG data variability.


RESULTS
This study demonstrates new methods for computing and visualizing 'grand' ERP-image plots across subjects and for performing robust statistical testing on the resulting images. These methods have been implemented and made freely available in the EEGLAB signal-processing environment that we maintain and distribute.
QR code using invisible watermarking in frequency domain

Nowadays, commercial activities on the internet and media need to be protected by increasing of security, using the 2D Barcode with a digital watermark in security field. This paper proposes that QR Code (Quick Response Code) is embedded with an invisible watermark by using Discrete-Cosine-Transform, or DCT for an information hiding (secret information) within the group through the QR Code image with invisible watermark. The encoding process used the DCT to allow QR Code image to be broken up into different frequency bands using block DCT based method; comparison between mid-band coefficients then embed with the invisible watermarking information into the middle frequency bands. The watermark extraction system determines a watermark in the QR Code image by reverse the embedded process from the invisible watermark. This QR Code image with invisible watermark preserves an information hiding text in the QR Code image.
Simulation of tree shade impacts on residential energy use for space conditioning in Sacramento

-Tree shade reduces summer air conditioning demand and increases winter heating load by intercepting solar energy that would otherwise heat the shaded structure. We evaluate the magnitude of these effects here for 254 residential properties participating in a utility sponsored tree planting program in Sacramento, California. Tree and building characteristics and typical weather data are used to model hourly shading and energy used for space conditioning for each building for a period of one year. There were an average of 3.1 program trees per property which reduced annual and peak (8 h average from 1 to 9 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time) cooling energy use 153 kWh (7.1%) and 0.08 kW (2.3 %) per tree, respectively. Annual heating load increased 0.85 GJ (0.80 MBtu, 1.9%) per tree. Changes in cooling load were smaller, but percentage changes larger, for newer buildings. Averaged over all homes, annual cooling savings of $15.25 per tree were reduced by a heating penalty of $5.25 per tree, for net savings of $10.00 per tree from shade. We estimate an annual cooling penalty of $2.80 per tree and heating savings of $6.80 per tree from reduced wind speed, for a net savings of $4.00 per tree, and total annual savings of $14.00 per tree ($43.00 per property). Results are found to be consistent with previous simulations and the limited measurements available. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. Key word index: Air conditioning, tree planting, tree shade, urban forest.
iSports: A web-oriented expert system for talent identification in soccer

Nowadays soccer is the most practiced sport in the world and moves a multimillionaire market. Therefore, a club that is able to recruit and develop talented players to theirs fullest potential has a lot of advantages and economic benefits. However, in most clubs the players are selected through scouts and coaches recommendation, with predictive success based mostly on intuition than other objective criteria. In addition, it is known that talent development and identification is a multifactorial process involving many characteristics. To this end, this paper proposes the creation of performance indicators based on multivariate statistical analysis. Usual principal components and factor analysis are performed to construct physical, technical and general score and copula modeling is proposed to create the consistency index, which generalizes the Z score method. With these indicators, a web-oriented expert system for analyzing sport data in real time via R software is proposed as a powerful tool for talent identification in soccer. This system, the so called iSports, allows the monitoring and continuous comparison of athletes in a simple and efficient way, taking into account essentials aspects, as well as identifying candidate talented that have above the average performance, that is, who stand out from the studied population of soccer players. In order to promote and popularize the access of information and the statistical science applied in the sports context, the iSports system can be used in any training center of the country, impacting the increase of knowledge of the athletes in training phase at any school, city or region. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
The effects of medial ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction on Major League pitching performance.

BACKGROUND
Medial ulnar collateral ligament (MUCL) reconstruction is commonly performed on Major League Baseball (MLB) pitchers. Previous studies have reported that most pitchers return to presurgical statistical performance levels after MUCL reconstruction.


METHODS
Pitching performance data--specifically, earned run average (ERA), walks and hits per inning pitched (WHIP), winning percentage, and innings pitched--were acquired for 168 MLB pitchers who had undergone MUCL reconstruction. These data were averaged over the 3 years before surgery and the 3 years after surgery and also acquired from 178 age-matched, uninjured MLB pitchers.


RESULTS
Of the pitchers who had MUCL reconstruction surgery, 87% returned to MLB pitching. However, compared with presurgical data, pitching performance declined in terms of ERA (P = .001), WHIP (P = .011), and innings pitched (P = .026). Pitching performance also declined in the season before the surgery compared with previous years (ERA, P = .014; WHIP, P = .036; innings pitched, P < .001; winning percentage, P = .004). Compared with age-matched control pitchers, the MUCL reconstruction pitchers had significantly more major league experience at the same age (P < .001).


CONCLUSION
MUCL reconstruction allows most players to return to pitching at the major league level. However, after MUCL reconstruction, there is a statistically significant decline in pitching performance. There appears to be a statistically significant decline in pitching performance the year before reconstructive surgery, and this decline is also a risk factor for requiring surgery. In addition, there is an increased risk of MUCL reconstruction for pitchers who enter the major leagues at a younger age.
ScienceDirect Contemporary Issues in Business , Management and Education 2013 Selection of orthogonal investment portfolio using Evolino RNN trading model

Investing in financial market require the reliable predicting of expecting returns, assessment of risk and reliability. Principle of portfolio orthogonality was using to reduce the risk of the investment. An artificial intelligence system may reveal new opportunities for using this principle. Prediction of recurrent neural networks ensemble is stochastically informative distribution, which is helpful for portfolio selection. Shape and parameters of distribution influence decision making in currency market. Assessment of portfolio riskiness, finding most orthogonal elements of portfolio, influence better results for trading in real market. © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Contemporary Issues in Business, Management and Education conference.
Killing Ideals and Adding Reals

The relationship between killing ideals and adding reals by forcings is analysed. ?0. Introduction. In [Z] I have introduced a new class of forcing notions designed to kill a given a-ideal on col, that is, to add a countable collection of sets in the ideal whose union is the whole coi, all of this without collapsing co1. The ideals for which such a task can be performed were essentially classified, however interesting questions remained. Among them, it was not clear whether new reals do or do not have to be added. In this paper I address this question for normal ideals. Forcings for killing ideals are defined for which the mechanism of adding reals can be closely analysed. FACT 1. Suppose S C co1 is a stationary costationary set and the ideal NS r CO1 \ S is saturated and there is a measurable cardinal. Then any forcing killing the ideal NS [ S has to add a real. This was proved in [Z]. It turns out that in the situation from Fact 1 a special kind of a new real is obtained-one that increases the boldface ordinal c51. No explicit construction of such a real was known before. This paper provides contrasting results. FACT 2. Suppose S c co1 is a stationary costationary set and 0,,,, \S holds. Then there is aforcing killing the ideal NS [ S and adding no reals. FACT 3. It is possible to kill normal ideals without disturbing unbounded or dominating sequences of reals of length coi and similar objects. In order to specify the meaning of the word "similar" in the previous Fact, I define a notion of generic stability in Section 2. The techniques of the paper leave the case of nonnormal a-ideals wide open. The notation used in the paper follows the set theoretical standard of [J]. We only consider ideals containing all singletons. ?1. Not adding reals. I will start by defining a variant of the forcing notions used in [Z]. Let 3 be a normal ideal on coi. The forcing P(3) is defined as the set of all nonempty trees T of finite sequences of sets in the ideal such that Received June 10, 1998; revised October 26, 1998. 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification. 03E40. Author's research is partially supported by grant AV OR 201/97/0216. ? 2000, Association for Symbolic Logic 0022-4812/00/6502-0015/$1.90