LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
The Planning and Development of Green Public Places in Urban South Africa : A Child-Friendly Approach

The impact that urban green spaces have on sustainability and quality of life is phenomenal. This is also true for the local South African environment. However, in reality green spaces in urban environments are decreasing due to growing populations, increasing urbanization and development pressure. This further impacts on the provision of child-friendly spaces, a concept that is already limited in local context. Child-friendly spaces are described as environments in which people (children) feel intimately connected to, influencing the physical, social, emotional, and ecological health of individuals and communities. The benefits of providing such spaces for the youth are well documented in literature. This research therefore aimed to investigate the concept of childfriendly spaces and its applicability to the South African planning context, in order to guide the planning of such spaces for future communities and use. Child-friendly spaces in the urban environment of the city of Durban, was used as local case study, along with two international case studies namely Mullerpier public playground in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and Kadidjiny Park in Melville, Australia. The aim was to determine how these spaces were planned and developed and to identify tools that were used to accomplish the goal of providing successful child-friendly green spaces within urban areas. The need and significance of planning for such spaces was portrayed within the international case studies. It is confirmed that minimal provision is made for green space planning within the South African context, when there is reflected on the international examples. As a result international examples and disciples of providing child-friendly green spaces should direct planning guidelines within local context. The research concluded that childfriendly green spaces have a positive impact on the urban environment and assist in a child’s development and interaction with the natural environment. Regrettably, the planning of these childfriendly spaces is not given priority within current spatial plans, despite the proven benefits of such. Keywords—Built environment, child-friendly spaces, green spaces. public places, urban area. E. J. Cilliers is a Professor at the North West University, Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, Urban and Regional Planning, Potchestroom, 2531, South Africa (e-mail: juanee.cilliers@nwu.ac.za). Z. Goosen is a PhD student with the North West University, Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, Urban and Regional Planning, Potchestroom, 2531, South Africa (e-mail: goosenzhangoosen@gmail.com). This research (or parts thereof) was made possible by the financial contribution of the NRF (National Research Foundation) South Africa. The opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and therefore the NRF does not accept any liability in regard thereto.
Field and geochemical data bearing on the development of a mesozoic volcano-tectonic rift zone and back-arc basin in southernmost South America

Abstract A broad zone of dominantly subaerial silicic volcanism associated with regional extensional faulting developed in southern South America during the Middle Jurassic, contemporaneously with the initiation of plutonism along the present Pacific continental margin. Stratigraphic variations observed in cross sections through the silicic Jurassic volcanics along the Pacific margin of southernmost South America indicate that this region of the rift zone developed as volcanism continued during faulting, subsidence and marine innundation. A deep, fault-bounded submarine trough formed near the Pacific margin of the southern part of the volcano-tectonic rift zone during the Late Jurassic. Tholeiitic magma intruded within the trough formed the mafic portion of the floor of this down-faulted basin. During the Early Cretaceous this basin separated an active calc-alkaline volcanic arc, founded on a sliver of continental crust, from the then volcanically quiescent South American continent. Geochemical data suggest that the Jurassic silicic volcanics along the Pacific margin of the volcano-tectonic rift zone were derived by crustal anatexis. Mafic lavas and sills which occur within the silicic volcanics have geochemical affinities with both the tholeiitic basalts forming the ophiolitic lenses which are the remnants of the mafic part of the back-arc basin floor, and also the calc-alkaline rocks of the adjacent Patagonian batholith and their flanking lavas which represent the eroded late Mesozoic calc-alkaline volcanic arc. The source of these tholeiitic and calc-alkaline igneous rocks was partially melted upper mantle material. The igneous and tectonic processes responsible for the development of the volcano-tectonic rift zone and the subsequent back-arc basin are attributed to diapirism in the upper mantle beneath southern South America. The tectonic setting and sequence of igneous and tectonic events suggest that diapirism may have been initiated in response to subduction.
A Short-Form Functional Capacity Evaluation Predicts Time to Recovery but Not Sustained Return-to-Work

Objectives To evaluate the ability of a short-form FCE to predict future timely and sustained return-to-work. Methods A prospective cohort study was conducted using data collected during a cluster RCT. Subject performance on the items in the short-form FCE was compared to administrative recovery outcomes from a workers’ compensation database. Outcomes included days to claim closure, days to time loss benefit suspension and future recurrence (defined as re-opening a closed claim, restarting benefits, or filing a new claim for injury to the same body region). Analysis included multivariable Cox and logistic regression using a risk factor modeling strategy. Potential confounders included age, sex, injury duration, and job attachment status, among others. Results The sample included 147 compensation claimants with a variety of musculoskeletal injuries. Subjects who demonstrated job demand levels on all FCE items were more likely to have their claims closed (adjusted Hazard Ratio 5.52 (95% Confidence Interval 3.42–8.89), and benefits suspended (adjusted Hazard Ratio 5.45 (95% Confidence Interval 2.73–10.85) over the follow-up year. The proportion of variance explained by the FCE ranged from 18 to 27%. FCE performance was not significantly associated with future recurrence. Conclusion A short-form FCE appears to provide useful information for predicting time to recovery as measured through administrative outcomes, but not injury recurrence. The short-form FCE may be an efficient option for clinicians using FCE in the management of injured workers.
An open-label trial of tomoxetine in pediatric attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

OBJECTIVE
To collect pilot data assessing the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of tomoxetine, a nonstimulant norepinephrine enhancer, in pediatric attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).


METHODS
An open-label trial of tomoxetine in pediatric ADHD was conducted as part of a multisite clinical trial. Following a baseline assessment, an ascending dose titration was completed during 10 weekly visits.


RESULTS
Ten subjects were enrolled at baseline, with eight completing the study. Seven of the eight remaining subjects met efficacy criteria. Significant decreases in symptom severity ratings by parents and study investigators were found. The medication was well tolerated, with transient appetite suppression the most frequently reported side effect. However, subjects' weights remained stable across study visits.


DISCUSSION
These preliminary findings suggest that tomoxetine may hold promise as a treatment for pediatric ADHD.
The nitric oxide/cyclic GMP system at the supraspinal site is involved in the development of acute morphine antinociceptive tolerance.

The role of the supraspinal nitric oxide (NO)/cyclic GMP system in the development of acute morphine antinociceptive tolerance was investigated by use of the mouse 55 degrees C warm-water tail-flick test. A single intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) pretreatment of mice with morphine (3 nmol, 140 min before testing) produced an acute antinociceptive tolerance to subsequent i.c.v. doses of morphine, as demonstrated by a 120-fold rightward shift of the morphine dose-response curve. When co-administered with morphine (140 min before testing), the NO synthase inhibitors: N-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), 3-bromo-7-nitroindazole, 7-nitroindazole and NG-monomethyl-L-arginine, attenuated the development of morphine tolerance. All four NO synthase inhibitors completely blocked the rightward shift of the morphine dose-response curve caused by i.c.v. morphine pretreatment (3 nmol, 140 min before testing). This effect was partially antagonized by L-arginine, but not D-arginine, in a dose-dependent manner. Also, D-NAME did not block the development of tolerance. Like the NO synthase inhibitors, LY-83,583, a guanylyl cyclase inhibitor, blocked the development of tolerance, which suggests that NO acting through the cyclic GMP pathway is involved in the development of acute antinociceptive tolerance. The effects of increased NO production on acute morphine antinociceptive tolerance were also studied. When co-administered with morphine (140 min before testing), neither L-arginine (100 nmol) nor the NO donors, sodium nitroprusside (5 nmol) and isosorbide dinitrate (10 nmol), had any effect on the magnitude of morphine antinociceptive tolerance. These results suggest that NO, acting through the cyclic GMP pathway, mediates the development of acute antinociceptive tolerance, but that NO production does not alter the magnitude of antinociceptive tolerance.
Improved Dead-Beat Predictive DPC Strategy of Grid-Connected DC–AC Converters With Switching Loss Minimization and Delay Compensations

This paper presents an improved dead-beat predictive direct power control (DPC) strategy for grid-connected dc-ac converters. In order to minimize switching losses and to alleviate power oscillations, a new voltage vectors' sequence is proposed for the predictive DPC strategy based on the angular location of the required converter voltage vector rather than the grid voltage vector. Thus, low-order harmonics in ac currents and periodic oscillations in the reactive power are removed with the feature of minimum switching losses kept. Further, in order to reduce steady-state errors of active and reactive powers, compensation methods are proposed in practical systems for both power errors and angular shifts caused by sampling delays. Experimental results on a 1.5 kW grid-connected dc-ac converter are provided to validate the feasibility of the proposed voltage vectors' sequence and compensation methods for the predictive DPC strategy.
Neural Block Sampling

Efficient Monte Carlo inference often requires manual construction of model-specific proposals. We propose an approach to automated proposal construction by training neural networks to provide fast approximations to block Gibbs conditionals. The learned proposals generalize to occurrences of common structural motifs both within a given model and across models, allowing for the construction of a library of learned inference primitives that can accelerate inference on unseen models with no model-specific training required.
Smart Classroom - An Intelligent Environment for Tele-education

The Smart Classroom project explores the challenges and potentials of the Intelligent Environment as a new human-computer interaction paradigm. By constructing an intelligent classroom for tele-education, we try to provide teachers the same experiences as in an ordinary classroom when giving teleeducation lessons. The Smart Classroom could actively observe, listen and serve the teachers, and teachers can write on a wall-size media-board just by their hands, or use speeches and gestures to conduct the class discussion involving of the distant students. This paper discusses the advantages and main underlying technologies of this system.
Mobile Cloud Computing Environment as a Support for Mobile Learning

This paper presents a new model of mobile distance learning system (MDL) in an extended mobile cloud c omputing environment (MCC) by using High Performance Computi ng (HPC) Cluster Infrastructure, as well as some exist ing videoconferencing technologies enriched with mobile and wireless devices. This MCC model can be applied eve rywhere where there is need of fast and intensive computing and analysis of huge amount of data, such as modeling o f 3D graphics visualization and animation in ecology, gl obal climate solutions, financial risks, healthcare and medical learning, decoding genome projects, etc. After the MCC model presentation, the experimental system architecture will be provided, as well as its possibilities, with partic ular reference to mobile learning environment and its potential isues. In this architecture the mobile device may optionally use t he open source e-learning course management system platform Moodle, to access the learning material and the rel vant data that needs to be transferred to the HPC Cluster Inf rastructure for further computing. In order to provide higher q uality of presenting the learning material, the Cisco WebEx a pplication will be used to test the distance learning in both fixed and mobile environment. Then, a Quality of Experience ( QoE) evaluation of such mobile distance learning system will be provided. Finally, it will be concluded that this MCC model that incorporates HPC Cluster Infrastructure can be applied anywhere where there is need of fast and intensive computing and analysis of huge amount of data which cannot be performed by a conventional PC, Laptop or Mobile Device. Keywords-Cloud Computing (CC); Distance Learning (DL); Mobile Cloud Computing (MCC); Mobile Distance Learning (MDL); High Performance Computing (HPC) Cluster.
Characteristics of patients with chronic pain accessing treatment with medical cannabis in Washington State.

OBJECTIVES
This study was conducted to better understand the characteristics of chronic pain patients seeking treatment with medicinal cannabis (MC).


DESIGN
Retrospective chart reviews of 139 patients (87 males, median age 47 years; 52 females, median age 48 years); all were legally qualified for MC use in Washington State.


SETTING
Regional pain clinic staffed by university faculty.


PARTICIPANTS



INCLUSION CRITERIA
age 18 years and older; having legally accessed MC treatment, with valid documentation in their medical records. All data were de-identified.


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Records were scored for multiple indicators, including time since initial MC authorization, qualifying condition(s), McGill Pain score, functional status, use of other analgesic modalities, including opioids, and patterns of use over time.


RESULTS
Of 139 patients, 15 (11 percent) had prior authorizations for MC before seeking care in this clinic. The sample contained 236.4 patient-years of authorized MC use. Time of authorized use ranged from 11 days to 8.31 years (median of 1.12 years). Most patients were male (63 percent) yet female patients averaged 0.18 years longer authorized use. There were no other gender-specific trends or factors. Most patients (n = 123, 88 percent) had more than one pain syndrome present. Myofascial pain syndrome was the most common diagnosis (n = 114, 82 percent), followed by neuropathic pain (n = 89, 64 percent), discogenic back pain (n = 72, 51.7 percent), and osteoarthritis (n = 37, 26.6 percent). Other diagnoses included diabetic neuropathy, central pain syndrome, phantom pain, spinal cord injury, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV neuropathy, visceral pain, and malignant pain. In 51 (37 percent) patients, there were documented instances of major hurdles related to accessing MC, including prior physicians unwilling to authorize use, legal problems related to MC use, and difficulties in finding an affordable and consistent supply of MC.


CONCLUSIONS
Data indicate that males and females access MC at approximately the same rate, with similar median authorization times. Although the majority of patient records documented significant symptom alleviation with MC, major treatment access and delivery barriers remain.
Efficacy and safety of the single-capsule combination of fluticasone/formoterol in patients with persistent asthma: a non-inferiority trial*


OBJECTIVE
Fluticasone and formoterol are effective in the treatment of asthma. When a corticosteroid alone fails to control asthma, combination therapy is the treatment of choice. The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of formulations containing budesonide/formoterol (BUD/FOR), fluticasone alone (FLU), and the single-capsule combination of fluticasone/formoterol (FLU/FOR) on lung function in patients with mild-to-moderate persistent asthma.


METHODS
This was a randomized, multicenter, open phase III trial conducted in Brazil. The primary efficacy analysis was the assessment of non-inferiority between FLU/FOR and BUD/FOR combinations regarding FEV1 (in L) at the final visit. The secondary analyses were PEF, level of asthma control, serum cortisol levels, frequency of adverse events, adherence to treatment, and appropriate inhaler use.


RESULTS
We randomized 243 patients to three groups: FLU/FOR (n = 79), BUD/FOR (n = 83), and FLU (n = 81). In terms of the mean FEV1 after 12 weeks of treatment, the difference between the FLU/FOR and BUD/FOR groups was 0.22 L (95% CI: -0.06 to 0.49), whereas the difference between the FLU/FOR and FLU groups was 0.26 L (95% CI: -0.002 to 0.52). Non-inferiority was demonstrated by the difference between the lower limits of the two 95% CIs (-0.06 vs. -0.002). The level of asthma control and PEF were significantly greater in the FLU/FOR and BUD/FOR groups than in the FLU group. There were no significant differences among the groups regarding patient adherence, patient inhaler use, or safety profile of the formulations.


CONCLUSIONS
The single-capsule combination of FLU/FOR showed non-inferiority to the BUD/FOR and FLU formulations regarding efficacy and safety, making it a new treatment option for persistent asthma.
Optical Proximity Correction with Hierarchical Bayes Model

Optical proximity correction (OPC) is one of the most important techniques in today’s optical lithography-based manufacturing process. Although the most widely used model-based OPC is expected to achieve highly accurate correction, it is also known to be extremely time-consuming. This paper proposes a regression model for OPC using a hierarchical Bayes model (HBM). The goal of the regression model is to reduce the number of iterations in model-based OPC. Our approach utilizes a Bayes inference technique to learn the optimal parameters from given data. All parameters are estimated by the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method. Experimental results show that utilizing HBM can achieve a better solution than other conventional models, e.g., linear regression-based model, or nonlinear regression-based model. In addition, our regression results can be used as the starting point of conventional model-based OPC, through which we are able to overcome the runtime bottleneck. © 2016 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) [DOI: 10.1117/1.JMM.15.2.021009]
Bacterially induced mineralization of calcium carbonate in terrestrial environments

This study stresses the role of specific bacterial outer structures (such as glycocalix and parietal polymers) on calcium carbonate crystallization in terrestrial environments. The aim is to compare calcium carbonate crystals obtained in bacterial cultures with those obtained during abiotically mediated synthesis to show implications of exopolysaccharides and amino acids in the mineralogy and morphology of calcium carbonate crystals produced by living bacteria. This is done using various amounts of purified exopolysaccharide (xanthan EPS) and L-amino acids with a range of acidities. Amino acids and increasing xanthan content enhance sphere formation in calcite and vaterite. Regarding calcite, the morphology of crystals evolves from rhombohedral to needle shape. This evolution is characterized by stretching along the c axis as the amino acid changes from glutamine to aspartic acid and as the medium is progressively enriched in EPS. Regarding vaterite, the spherulitic habit is preserved throughout the morphological sequence and starts with spheres formed by the agglomeration of short needles, which are produced in a xanthan-free medium with glutamine. Monocrystals forming spheres increase in size as xanthan is added and the acidity of amino acids (glutamic and aspartic acids) is increased. At high xanthan concentrations, amino acids, and mainly aspartic and glutamic acids, induce vaterite precipitation. The role of the carboxyl group is also probably critical because bacterial outer structures associated with peptidoglycan commonly contain carboxyl groups. This role, combined with the results presented here, clearly demonstrate the influence of bacterial outer structure composition on the morphology and mineralogy of bacterially induced calcium carbonate. This point should not be neglected in the interpretation of calcite cements and carbonate accumulations in terrestrial environments.
Geometric Accuracy Validation for ZY-3 Satellite Imagery

The ZiYuan-3 surveying satellite (ZY-3) is a high-precision civilian satellite imaging sensor. Since its launch on January 9, 2012, it has been in operation for one and a half years. Although the initial postlaunch ZY-3 geometric accuracy was verified during an in-orbit operation period, on-orbit calibration was still necessary from time to time. This on-orbit calibration has vastly improved the location accuracy in planimetry for ZY-3 panchromatic images. This letter briefly describes the principle of on-orbit calibration and production processes of sensor-corrected products. Furthermore, block adjustment based on a rational function model test showed planimetric and vertical accuracy values of 10 m and 5 m, respectively, without ground control points (GCPs). The accuracy values improved to 3 m and 2 m, respectively, with a few GCPs. The statistics results are from ten different regions with independent checkpoints (ICPs). All accuracy values are the root-mean-square error of ICPs. Therefore, ZY-3 can be used for the generation of cartographic maps at the 1 : 50 000 scale and for revision and updates of 1 : 25 000 scale maps. Compared with other mainstream high-resolution satellite images of the same ground resolution, ZY-3's geometric accuracy is almost the same and sometimes even better.
Detecting students' perception style by using games

Knowing students' learning styles allows us to improve their experience in an educational environment. Particularly, the perception style is one of the most important dimensions of the learning styles since it describes the way students perceive the world as well as the kind of learning content they prefer. Several approaches to detect students' perception style according to Felder's model have been proposed. However, these approaches exhibit several limitations that make their implementation di cult. Thus, we propose a novel approach to detect the perception style of a student by analyzing his/her interaction with games, namely puzzle games. To carry out this detection, we track how students play a puzzle game and extract information about this interaction. Then, we train a Naive Bayes Classi er to infer the students' perception style by using the information extracted. We have evaluated our proposed approach with 47 Computer Engineering students. Experimental results showed that the perception style was successfully predicted through the use of games, with an accuracy of 85%. Finally, we conclude that games are a promising environment where the students' perception style can be detected.