LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Reminiscence groups for people with dementia and their family carers: pragmatic eight-centre randomised trial of joint reminiscence and maintenance versus usual treatment: a protocol

BACKGROUND
The growing number of people with dementia, and the increasing cost of care, provides a major incentive to develop and test methods of supporting them in the community for longer. Most attention has been given to pharmacological interventions, but there is increasing recognition that psychosocial interventions may be equally effective, even preferable where medication has negative side-effects. Reminiscence groups, run by professionals and volunteers, which use photographs, recordings and other objects to trigger personal memories are probably the most popular therapeutic approach to working with people with dementia, but there is little evidence for their effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. The recent inclusion of family carers in groups with people with dementia, notably in our own pilot studies, has generated informal evidence that this joint approach improves relationships between people with dementia and their carers, and benefits both.


DESIGN AND METHODS
This multi-centre, pragmatic randomised controlled trial (RCT) to assess the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of joint reminiscence groups for people with dementia and their family care-givers has two parallel arms--an intervention group and a control group who receive care as usual. The intervention consists of joint reminiscence groups held weekly for twelve consecutive weeks, followed by monthly maintenance sessions for a further seven months.The primary outcome measures are the quality of life of people with dementia, as assessed by QoL-AD, and their care-givers' mental health as assessed by the GHQ-28. Secondary outcomes include: the autobiographical memories of people with dementia; the quality of the relationship between them and their care-givers; and the levels of depression and anxiety felt by them and their care-giver. Using a 5% significance level, comparison of 200 pairs attending joint reminiscence groups with 200 pairs receiving usual treatment will yield 80% power to detect a standardised difference of 0.38 in the QoL-AD rated by the person with dementia and 0.28 in the GHQ-28 or carer-rated QoL-AD. The trial will include a cost-effectiveness analysis from a public sector perspective.


DISCUSSION
Our Cochrane review (2005) on reminiscence therapy for people with dementia did not identify any rigorous trials or economic analyses in this field.


TRIAL REGISTRATION
ISRCTN42430123.
Extractive text summarization system to aid data extraction from full text in systematic review development

OBJECTIVES
Extracting data from publication reports is a standard process in systematic review (SR) development. However, the data extraction process still relies too much on manual effort which is slow, costly, and subject to human error. In this study, we developed a text summarization system aimed at enhancing productivity and reducing errors in the traditional data extraction process.


METHODS
We developed a computer system that used machine learning and natural language processing approaches to automatically generate summaries of full-text scientific publications. The summaries at the sentence and fragment levels were evaluated in finding common clinical SR data elements such as sample size, group size, and PICO values. We compared the computer-generated summaries with human written summaries (title and abstract) in terms of the presence of necessary information for the data extraction as presented in the Cochrane review's study characteristics tables.


RESULTS
At the sentence level, the computer-generated summaries covered more information than humans do for systematic reviews (recall 91.2% vs. 83.8%, p<0.001). They also had a better density of relevant sentences (precision 59% vs. 39%, p<0.001). At the fragment level, the ensemble approach combining rule-based, concept mapping, and dictionary-based methods performed better than individual methods alone, achieving an 84.7% F-measure.


CONCLUSION
Computer-generated summaries are potential alternative information sources for data extraction in systematic review development. Machine learning and natural language processing are promising approaches to the development of such an extractive summarization system.
Prototyping: is it a more creative way for shaping ideas

Prototyping is an important phase during development of innovative solutions. Iterative design process and testing prototypes with users may highly improve the final result. Design Thinking methodology developed in Silicon Valley is widely recognized and used in many successful companies as a method to foster creativity and innovation. The paper presents selected case studies from Polish universities, where Design Thinking and prototyping have been introduced.
FeaturePlugin: feature modeling plug-in for Eclipse

Feature modeling is a key technique used in product-line development to model commonalities and variabilities of product-line members. In this paper, we present FeaturePlugin, a feature modeling plug-in for Eclipse. The tool supports cardinality-based feature modeling, specialization of feature diagrams, and configuration based on feature diagrams.
Ripening of Clayey Dredged Sediments during Temporary Upland Disposal

Background and Goal. In the Netherlands about 40 million m3 of sediment has to be dredged annually for both maintenance and environmental reasons. Temporary upland disposal is the most widely adopted alternative for dredged sediments worldwide. For good management of temporary disposal sites, knowledge is needed on the processes controlling the behavior of the sediments during disposal. Therefore, a review of the literature was made to get an integrated overview about processes that take place during temporary disposal. Ripening. After disposal of clayey sediments, the following spontaneous dewatering processes can be distinguished: sedimentation, consolidation, and ripening. Sedimentation and consolidation are relatively fast processes, whereas ripening can take up to several years. In a remediation perspective, the ripening of sediments is the most important dewatering process. Ripening, which may be subdivided into physical, chemical, and biological ripening, transforms sediment into soil. Physical ripening is the irreversible loss of water and results in the formation of soil prisms separated by shrinkage cracks. Continuing water loss causes a breaking up of the prisms into aggregates. The aggregates produced by this ongoing desiccation process usually remain quite large (>50 mm) and can only be further broken down by weathering processes like wetting and drying or by tillage. As a result of the aeration caused by physical ripening, also chemical and biological ripening take place. Chemical ripening can be defined as the changes in chemical composition due to oxidation reactions and leaching of soluble substances. Biological ripening is the result of the activity of all kinds of soil fauna and flora that develop as a result of aeration, including both the larger and the microscopic forms of life. Decomposition and mineralization of soil organic matter caused by micro-organisms can be seen as the most important aspect of biological ripening. Many interactions exist between the different ripening processes. Conclusions and Outlook. Oxygenation of the dredged sediment is improved as a result of the natural ripening processes: the airfilled porosity increases, the aggregate size decreases, and the initially high respiration rates caused by chemical and biological ripening decreases. Therefore, conditions in the disposal site become more favorable for aerobic biodegradation of organic pollutants like Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) and mineral oil. It is concluded that the naturally occurring process of ripening can be used as a bioremediation technique. Ripening in an upland disposal site is an off-site technique, and therefore, the process could be enhanced by means of technological interference. However, it is concluded that the knowledge currently available about upland disposal is not sufficient to distinguish critical process steps during the ripening and bioremediation of PAH and mineral oil polluted sediments because of the complex relationships between the different ripening processes and bioremediation.
Hexahedral mesh re-parameterization from aligned base-complex

Recently, generating a high quality all-hex mesh of a given volume has gained much attention. However, little, if any, effort has been put into the optimization of the hex-mesh structure, which is equally important to the local element quality of a hex-mesh that may influence the performance and accuracy of subsequent computations. In this paper, we present a first and complete pipeline to optimize the global structure of a hex-mesh. Specifically, we first extract the base-complex of a hex-mesh and study the misalignments among its singularities by adapting the previously introduced hexahedral sheets to the base-complex. Second, we identify the valid removal base-complex sheets from the base-complex that contain misaligned singularities. We then propose an effective algorithm to remove these valid removal sheets in order. Finally, we present a structure-aware optimization strategy to improve the geometric quality of the resulting hex-mesh after fixing the misalignments. Our experimental results demonstrate that our pipeline can significantly reduce the number of components of a variety of hex-meshes generated by state-of-the-art methods, while maintaining high geometric quality.
Design and architecture of a series elastic snake robot

This paper details the design and architecture of a series elastic actuated snake robot, the SEA Snake. The robot consists of a series chain of 1-DOF modules that are capable of torque, velocity and position control. Additionally, each module includes a high-speed Ethernet communications bus, internal IMU, modular electro-mechanical interface, and ARM based on-board control electronics.
How to Cope with the Spectrum of SPECTRUM

The specification language Spectrum [BFG+93] melts a wide range of concepts into a single language frame: three-valued first-order logic, polymorphism, type classes, higher-order functions, infinite objects. The desire of identifying and relating sub-languages satisfying certain constraints given by syntactical and pragmatic considerations appears.
Etanercept, infliximab, and leflunomide in established rheumatoid arthritis: clinical experience using a structured follow up programme in southern Sweden.

OBJECTIVE
To explore the feasibility of prospectively monitoring treatment efficacy and tolerability of infliximab, etanercept, and leflunomide over a two year period in patients with established rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in clinical practice using a structured protocol.


METHODS
All patients with RA at seven centres in southern Sweden, for whom at least two disease modifying antirheumatic drugs, including methotrexate, had failed or not been tolerated, who started treatment with either infliximab, etanercept, or leflunomide were included. They were evaluated at predefined times using a standardised protocol including items required for evaluating response to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) or EULAR criteria. All adverse events were recorded using World Health Organisation terminology. Concomitant treatment and survival while receiving a drug were recorded.


RESULTS
During the study 166 patients were treated with etanercept, 135 with infliximab, and 103 with leflunomide. Treatment response as determined by the ACR and EULAR response criteria was similar for the tumour necrosis factor (TNF) blockers. The TNF blockers performed significantly better than leflunomide both as determined by the response criteria and by survival on drug analysis. Thus 79% and 75% continued to receive etanercept or infliximab compared with 22% of patients who started leflunomide after 20 months. The spectrum of side effects did not differ from those previously reported in the clinical trials. The initial two year experience of a protocol for postmarketing surveillance of etanercept, infliximab, and leflunomide shows that a structured protocol with central data handling can be used in clinical practice for documenting the performance of newly introduced drugs.


CONCLUSIONS
Efficacy data for the TNF blockers comply with results in clinical trials, whereas leflunomide appeared to perform worse than in clinical trials. Prolonged monitoring is required to identify possible rare side effects.
Energy-Efficient Beaconless Geographic Routing in Wireless Sensor Networks

Geographic routing is an attractive localized routing scheme for wireless sensor networks (WSNs) due to its desirable scalability and efficiency. Maintaining neighborhood information for packet forwarding can achieve a high efficiency in geographic routing, but may not be appropriate for WSNs in highly dynamic scenarios where network topology changes frequently due to nodes mobility and availability. We propose a novel online routing scheme, called Energy-efficient Beaconless Geographic Routing (EBGR), which can provide loop-free, fully stateless, energy-efficient sensor-to-sink routing at a low communication overhead without the help of prior neighborhood knowledge. In EBGR, each node first calculates its ideal next-hop relay position on the straight line toward the sink based on the energy-optimal forwarding distance, and each forwarder selects the neighbor closest to its ideal next-hop relay position as the next-hop relay using the Request-To-Send/Clear-To-Send (RTS/CTS) handshaking mechanism. We establish the lower and upper bounds on hop count and the upper bound on energy consumption under EBGR for sensor-to-sink routing, assuming no packet loss and no failures in greedy forwarding. Moreover, we demonstrate that the expected total energy consumption along a route toward the sink under EBGR approaches to the lower bound with the increase of node deployment density. We also extend EBGR to lossy sensor networks to provide energy-efficient routing in the presence of unreliable communication links. Simulation results show that our scheme significantly outperforms existing protocols in wireless sensor networks with highly dynamic network topologies.
Automated telephone calls improved completion of fecal occult blood testing.

BACKGROUND
Although colorectal cancer (CRC) prognosis is improved by early diagnosis, screening rates remain low.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the effect of an automated telephone intervention on completion of fecal occult blood testing (FOBT).


RESEARCH DESIGN
In this randomized controlled trial conducted at Kaiser Permanente Northwest, a not-for-profit health maintenance organization, 5905 eligible patients aged 51 to 80, at average risk for CRC and due for CRC screening, were randomly assigned to an automated telephone intervention (n = 2943) or usual care (UC; n = 2962). The intervention group received up to three 1-minute automated telephone calls that provided a description and health benefits of FOBT. During the call, patients could request that an FOBT kit be mailed to their home. Those who requested but did not return the cards received an automated reminder call. Cox proportional hazard method was used to determine the independent effect of automated telephone calls on completion of an FOBT, after adjusting for age, sex, and prior CRC screening.


RESULTS
By 6 months after call initiation, 22.5% in the intervention and 16.0% in UC had completed an FOBT. Those in the intervention group were significantly more likely to complete an FOBT (hazard ratio, 1.31; 95% confidence interval, 1.10-1.56) compared with UC. Older patients (aged 71-80 vs. aged 51-60) were also more likely to complete FOBT (hazard ratio, 1.48; 95% confidence interval, 1.07-2.04).


CONCLUSIONS
Automated telephone calls increased completion of FOBT. Further research is needed to evaluate automated telephone interventions among diverse populations and in other clinical settings.
The lipid treatment assessment project (L-TAP): a multicenter survey to evaluate the percentages of dyslipidemic patients receiving lipid-lowering therapy and achieving low-density lipoprotein cholesterol goals.

OBJECTIVE
To determine the percentage of patients in the multicenter Lipid Treatment Assessment Project receiving lipid-lowering therapy who are achieving low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) goals as defined by National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) guidelines.


METHODS
Adult patients with dyslipidemia, who had been receiving the same lipid-lowering therapy for at least 3 months, were assessed at investigation sites. Lipid levels were determined once in each patient at the time of enrollment. The primary end point was the success rate, defined as the proportion of patients who achieved their LDL-C target level as specified by NCEP guidelines.


RESULTS
A total of 4888 patients from 5 regions of the United States were studied. Of these, 23% had fewer than 2 risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD) and no evidence of CHD (low-risk group), 47% had 2 or more risk factors and no evidence of CHD (high-risk group), and 30% had established CHD. Overall, only 38% of patients achieved NCEP-specified LDL-C target levels; success rates were 68% among low-risk patients, 37% among high-risk patents, and 18% among patients with CHD. Drug therapy was significantly (P< or =.001) more effective than nondrug therapy in all patient risk groups. However, many patients treated with lipid-lowering drugs did not achieve LDL-C target levels.


CONCLUSIONS
Large proportions of dyslipidemic patients receiving lipid-lowering therapy are not achieving NCEP LDL-C target levels. These findings indicate that more aggressive treatment of dyslipidemia is needed to attain goals established by NCEP guidelines.
Provider training and experience for people living with HIV/AIDS.

BACKGROUND
The complexity of HIV/AIDS raises challenges for the effective delivery of care. It is important to ensure that the expertise and experience of care providers is of high quality. Training and experience of HIV/AIDS providers may impact not only individual patient outcomes but increasingly on health care costs as well.


OBJECTIVES
The objective of this review is to assess the effects of provider training and experience on people living with HIV/AIDS on the following outcomes: immunological (ie. viral load, CD4 count), medical (ie. mortality, proportion on antiretrovirals), psychosocial (ie. quality of life measures) and economic outcomes (ie health care costs).


SEARCH STRATEGY
We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Dissertation Abstracts International (DAI), CINAHL, HealthStar, PsycInfo, PsycLit, Social Sciences Abstracts, and Sociological Abstracts from January 1, 1980 through May 29, 2009.  Electronic searches were performed for abstracts from major international AIDS conferences. Reference lists from pertinent articles, books and review articles were retrieved and reviewed.


SELECTION CRITERIA
Randomized controlled trials (RCTs), controlled clinical trials, cohort, case control, cross-sectional studies and controlled before and after designs that examined the qualifications/training and patient volume of HIV/AIDS care of providers caring for persons known to be infected with HIV/AIDS were included.


DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
At least two authors independently assessed trial quality and extracted data. Study authors were contacted for further information as required. Assessment of confounding factors was undertaken independently by two reviewers.


MAIN RESULTS
A total of four studies (one randomized controlled trial, three non- randomized studies) involving 8488 people living with HIV/AIDS were included. The main findings of this review demonstrated a trend to improved outcomes when treated by a provider with more training/expertise in HIV/AIDS care in the outpatient (clinic) setting. Due to the heterogeneity of the included studies, we could not perform a meta-analysis. We present a descriptive review of the results.


AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
The results demonstrate improved medical outcomes when treated by a provider with more training/expertise in HIV/AIDS care in the outpatient (clinic) setting. Since all of these studies were conducted in North America, this does not address any issues regarding the level of training/expertise required by providers working in countries with more limited resources. Practitioners who do not consider themselves 'experts' in HIV/AIDS care and care for few of these patients need to seriously consider this review which demonstrates a trend towards worse patient outcomes when receiving care by those with low caseloads/training in HIV/AIDS care.
Localization Using Visual Odometry and a Single Downward-Pointing Camera

Stereo imaging is a technique commonly employed for vision-based navigation. For such applications, two images are acquired from different vantage points and then compared using transformations to extract depth information. The technique is commonly used in robotics for obstacle avoidance or for Simultaneous Localization And Mapping, (SLAM). Yet, the process requires a number of image processing steps and therefore tends to be CPU-intensive, which limits the real-time data rate and use in power-limited applications. Evaluated here is a technique where a monocular camera is used for vision-based odometry. In this work, an optical flow technique with feature recognition is performed to generate odometry measurements. The visual odometry sensor measurements are intended to be used as control inputs or measurements in a sensor fusion algorithm using low-cost MEMS based inertial sensors to provide improved localization information. Presented here are visual odometry results which demonstrate the challenges associated with using ground-pointing cameras for visual odometry. The focus is for rover-based robotic applications for localization within GPS-denied environments. Localization Using Visual Odometry and a Single Downward-Pointing Camera Aaron J. Swank National Aeronautics and Space Administration Glenn Research Center Cleveland, Ohio 44135 NASA/TM—2012-216043 1
Fuzzy Relatives of the CLARANS Algorithm With Application to Text Clustering

This paper introduces new algorithms (Fuzzy relative of the CLARANS algorithm FCLARANS and Fuzzy c Medoids based on randomized search FCMRANS) for fuzzy clustering of relational data. Unlike existing fuzzy c-medoids algorithm (FCMdd) in which the within cluster dissimilarity of each cluster is minimized in each iteration by recomputing new medoids given current memberships, FCLARANS minimizes the same objective function minimized by FCMdd by changing current medoids in such away that that the sum of the within cluster dissimilarities is minimized. Computing new medoids may be effected by noise because outliers may join the computation of medoids while the choice of medoids in FCLARANS is dictated by the location of a predominant fraction of points inside a cluster and, therefore, it is less sensitive to the presence of outliers. In FCMRANS the step of computing new medoids in FCMdd is modified to be based on randomized search. Furthermore, a new initialization procedure is developed that add randomness to the initialization procedure used with FCMdd. Both FCLARANS and FCMRANS are compared with the robust and linearized version of fuzzy c-medoids (RFCMdd). Experimental results with different samples of the Reuter-21578, Newsgroups (20NG) and generated datasets with noise show that FCLARANS is more robust than both RFCMdd and FCMRANS. Finally, both FCMRANS and FCLARANS are more efficient and their outputs are almost the same as that of RFCMdd in terms of classification rate. Keywords—Data Mining, Fuzzy Clustering, Relational Clustering, Medoid-Based Clustering, Cluster Analysis, Unsupervised Learning.