LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of Deadlock Recovery and Avoidance Mechanisms to Approach Message Dependent Deadlocks in On-chip Networks

With the transition from buses to on-chip networks in SoCs the problem of deadlocks in on-chip interconnects arises. Deadlocks can be caused by routing cycles in the network, or by message dependencies, even if the network itself is actually free of routing cycles. Two basic approaches to counter message dependent deadlocks exist: deadlock avoidance, which is most popular in NoCs, and deadlock recovery, which has until now only been used in parallel computer networks. Deadlock recovery promises low buffer space requirements and does not impose restrictions on connections between individual communication partners. For this study, we have adapted a deadlock recovery scheme for the use in NoCs and compared it to strict ordering as a representative of deadlock avoidance in terms of throughput and buffer space. The results show significant buffer space savings for deadlock recovery, however, at the cost of reduced data throughput.
Treatment of Osteoarthritis of the Knee with a Combination of Autologous Conditioned Serum and Physiotherapy: A Two-Year Observational Study

BACKGROUND
Autologous conditioned serum (ACS) is an autologous blood product that has shown efficacy against knee osteoarthritis (OA) in randomized controlled trials. However, there are few reports of its effectiveness in everyday practice. Here, we report clinical efficacy results from a two-year prospective observational study of patients with highly symptomatic knee OA who received ACS in conjunction with physiotherapy.


METHODS
118 patients with unilateral knee OA (Kellgren-Lawrence grades I-IV), who were candidates for surgery but instead chose conservative treatment, were treated with a combination of four intra-articular injections of ACS (2 mL each) once weekly over four weeks and subsequent physiotherapy applied 4 weeks after ACS injection. Main endpoints of the study were pain (Numeric Rating Scale [NRS]) assessed at 0, 3, 6, 12 and 24 months, and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) global score, assessed at 0 and 24 months. The effect size (Cohen's d) was calculated for pain and WOMAC outcomes, with effect sizes >0.8 considered large.


RESULTS
By 3 months, there were significant improvements in pain (NRS) from baseline (-63.0%, p<0.001), which were maintained over 24 months. Mean WOMAC global score was reduced at 24 months compared to baseline (-56.9%, p<0.001), as were WOMAC subscores of pain (-86.0%, p<0.001) and function (-51.3%, p<0.001). Effect sizes for pain (>5) and WOMAC improvement (8.0-13.6) were very large. Only one patient received total knee joint replacement during the study. Clinical improvement did not correlate with gender, age, Kellgren-Lawrence grade, or body mass index.


CONCLUSIONS
Treatment with ACS and physiotherapy produced a rapid decline in pain, which was sustained for the entire two years of the study. This was accompanied by a large improvement in WOMAC scores at two years. These results confirm that ACS combined with physiotherapy is an effective treatment for OA of the knee.
Challenges in Monocular Visual Odometry: Photometric Calibration, Motion Bias, and Rolling Shutter Effect

Monocular visual odometry (VO) and simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) have seen tremendous improvements in accuracy, robustness, and efficiency, and have gained increasing popularity over recent years. Nevertheless, not so many discussions have been carried out to reveal the influences of three very influential yet easily overlooked aspects, such as photometric calibration, motion bias, and rolling shutter effect. In this work, we evaluate these three aspects quantitatively on the state of the art of direct, feature-based, and semi-direct methods, providing the community with useful practical knowledge both for better applying existing methods and developing new algorithms of VO and SLAM. Conclusions (some of which are counterintuitive) are drawn with both technical and empirical analyses to all of our experiments. Possible improvements on existing methods are directed or proposed, such as a subpixel accuracy refinement of oriented fast and rotated brief (ORB)-SLAM, which boosts its performance.
Japanese High School Students' Motivation for Extensive L2 Reading.

To investigate factors that motivate Japanese high school students to read English extensively, I assessed 219 female high school students who participated in an extensive reading program for 1 academic year. The results showed that the 2 most influential factors were students’ intrinsic motivation for first language (L1) reading and second language (L2) reading. However, no positive relationship between L1 reading motivation and L2 reading motivation was observed. Follow-up interviews, conducted with 1/3 of the participants, illuminated aspects of the motivation that the quantitative data did not reveal. Several enthusiastic readers of Japanese were not motivated to read in English due to the gaps between their abilities to read in Japanese and in English. In contrast, the intrinsic motivation of enthusiastic readers of English was limited to L2 reading and did not extend to their L1 reading habits.
Evaluation of nurse's attitudes toward adult patients of size.

BACKGROUND
Obesity is a growing epidemic in the United States, with waistlines expanding (overweight) for almost 66% of the population (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2004). The attitude of society, which includes healthcare providers, toward people of size has traditionally been negative, regardless of their own gender, age, experience, and occupation. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether bariatric sensitivity training could improve nursing attitudes and beliefs toward adult obese patients and whether nurses' own body mass index (BMI) affected their attitude and belief scores.


METHODS
An on-line survey was conducted of nursing attitudes and beliefs regarding adult obese patients. The responses were compared between 1 hospital that offered bariatric sensitivity training and 1 that did not. The primary study measures were 2 scales that have been validated to assess weight bias: Attitudes Toward Obese Persons (ATOP) and Beliefs Against Obese Persons (BAOP). The primary outcome measures were the scores derived from the ATOP and BAOP scales.


RESULTS
Data were obtained from 332 on-line surveys, to which 266 nurses responded with complete data, 145 from hospital 1 (intervention) and 121 from hospital 2 (control). The mean ATOP scores for hospital 1 were modestly greater than those for hospital 2 (18.0 versus 16.1, P = .03). However, no differences were found between the 2 hospitals for the mean BAOP scores (67.1 versus 67.1, P = .86). No statistically significant differences were found between the 2 hospitals among the BMI groups for either ATOP or BAOP. Within each hospital, no statistically significant trend was found among the BMI groups for either ATOP or BAOP. The association of BMI with the overall ATOP (r = .13, P = .04) and BOAP (r = .12, P = .05) scores was very weak, although marginally significant. The association of the overall ATOP score with the BAOP score was weak, although significant (r = .26, P < .001).


CONCLUSION
Annual bariatric sensitivity training might improve nursing attitudes toward obese patients, but it does not improve nursing beliefs, regardless of the respondent's BMI.
A randomized trial comparing two low-intensity psychological interventions for distressed patients with cancer and their caregivers.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES
To compare the effectiveness of two low-intensity approaches for distressed patients with cancer and caregivers who had called cancer helplines seeking support. Baseline distress was hypothesized as a moderator of intervention effect.


DESIGN
Randomized trial.


SETTING
Community-based cancer helplines in Queensland and New South Wales, Australia.


SAMPLE
354 patients with cancer and 336 caregivers.


METHODS
Participants were randomized to either a single session of nurse-led self-management intervention or a five-session psychologist cognitive behavioral intervention delivered by telephone. Assessments were undertaken at baseline (preintervention) and at 3, 6, and 12 months.


MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES
Psychological and cancer-specific distress and post-traumatic growth.


FINDINGS
No significant moderation by baseline cancer-specific distress was noted. For low-education patients, only the psychologist intervention was associated with a significant drop in distress. For all other participants, distress decreased over time in both arms with small to large effect sizes (Cohen's ds = 0.05-0.82). Post-traumatic growth increased over time for all participants (Cohen's ds = 0.6-0.64).


CONCLUSIONS
Many distressed patients with cancer and their caregivers may benefit significantly from a single session of a nurse psychoeducation intervention that can be delivered remotely by telephone and supported by self-management materials. Research is needed to develop an algorithm that moves beyond the use of distress as the only indicator for referral to specialist psychological services. Survivors and caregivers with low education and low literacy may require more in-depth and targeted support.


IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING
Brief nurse psychoeducation and stress management for cancer survivors and caregivers should be considered as part of a tiered approach to psychosocial care.
Nitrogen pollution in the EU: Best management strategies, regulations, and science needs

Environmental effects of reactive nitrogen (Nr) are a result of intense anthropogenic activities.1 Thy are evident in different parts of the world. Proper treatment is, inter alia, a scale issue. With individual countries in mostof Europe too small for comprehensive coverage of all effects, regulation of pollution in Europe co-emerged with political inegration in general. In this article, we describe the most important frameworks of international regulation in Europe. We als discuss the interaction of such institutional setting with the scientific initiatives at the samelevel, and finaly assess how scientific results have been fed with some success into strategies to mitigate pollution levels.
Circumcision and genital dermatoses.

CONTEXT
It is well recognized that the presence of a foreskin predisposes to penile carcinoma and sexually transmitted infections. We have investigated the relationship between the presence or absence of the foreskin and penile dermatoses.


OBJECTIVE
To determine whether there is an association between circumcision and penile dermatoses.


DESIGN
A retrospective case control study of patients attending the department of dermatology with genital skin conditions.


SUBJECTS
The study population consisted of 357 male patients referred for diagnosis and management of genital skin disease. The control population consisted of 305 male patients without genital skin disease attending the general dermatology clinics over a 4-month period.


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
The relationship between circumcision and the presence or absence of skin disease involving the penis was investigated. The rate of circumcision in the general male dermatology population was determined.


RESULTS
The most common diagnoses were psoriasis (n = 94), penile infections (n = 58), lichen sclerosus (n = 52), lichen planus (n = 39), seborrheic dermatitis (n = 29), and Zoon balanitis (n = 27). Less common diagnoses included squamous cell carcinoma (n = 4), bowenoid papulosis (n = 3), and Bowen disease (n = 3). The age-adjusted odds ratio for all penile skin diseases associated with presence of the foreskin was 3.24 (95% confidence interval, 2.26-4.64). All patients with Zoon balanitis, bowenoid papulosis, and nonspecific balanoposthitis were uncircumcised. Lichen sclerosus was diagnosed in only 1 circumcised patient. Most patients with psoriasis, lichen planus, and seborrheic eczema (72%, 69%, and 72%, respectively) were uncircumcised at presentation. The majority of men with penile infections (84%) were uncircumcised.


CONCLUSIONS
Most cases of inflammatory dermatoses were diagnosed in uncircumcised men, suggesting that circumcision protects against inflammatory dermatoses. The presence of the foreskin may promote inflammation by a köebnerization phenomenon, or the presence of infectious agents, as yet unidentified, may induce inflammation. The data suggest that circumcision prevents or protects against common infective penile dermatoses.
Registered nurse job satisfaction and satisfaction with the professional practice model.

AIMS
This paper describes the initial assessment of job satisfaction and satisfaction with the professional practice environment of registered nurses working on units where a professional practice model was implemented and the relationship between these two variables.


BACKGROUND
The nursing shortage has been linked to overall job satisfaction and specifically to nurses' satisfaction with the professional practice environment. Initiatives to increase retention and recruitment and decrease turnover have been linked to work satisfaction among nurses.


METHODS
A descriptive, cross-sectional design was used with participants (N = 101) from four patient care units; this represented a 55% response rate.


RESULTS
The nurses were moderately satisfied with the professional practice environment but had overall low job satisfaction. There was a significant negative relationship between overall work satisfaction and satisfaction with the professional practice environment (P < 0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
The introduction of the professional practice model may have raised awareness of the components of job satisfaction that were not being met. Thus, the nurses may have become more knowledgeable about the potential needs in these areas.


IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT
Nurse managers and leaders must recognize that job satisfaction consists of many dimensions, and each of these dimensions is important to nurse retention. Implementation of a professional practice model may heighten awareness of the missing components within a practice environment and lead to decreased overall satisfaction. A broader understanding of characteristics associated with increased satisfaction may aid in development of organizational change necessary to retain and attract nurses.
Effect of counseling on quality of marital relationship of infertile couples: a randomized, controlled trial (RCT) study

Infertility is a major cause of marital problems and sexual dissatisfaction. This study was conducted to determine the effects of counseling on infertile couple’s marital relationship and sexual satisfaction. This study was performed as a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in which 100 infertile couples (200 participants) who visited Reproductive Health Research Center Tehran, Iran were randomly assigned into two groups: intervention (n = 50 couples, 50 wives and 50 husbands) and control (n = 50 couples, 50 wives and 50 husbands). Intervention was defined as three counseling sessions per week, each lasting 60–90 min. Counseling in the intervention group was conducted separately for each couple. Demographic characteristics and marital and sexual satisfaction were investigated using three questionnaires through interviews. The outcomes, including changes in marital satisfaction and sexual satisfaction, were compared between the two groups 3 months later. Based on the data collected 3 months after the intervention period, the mean scores of marital and sexual satisfaction in intervention and control groups for wives were 49.62 ± 11.09 versus 54.97 ± 12.64 (P = 0.036) and 36.00 ± 8.37 versus 40.04 ± 7.69 (P = 0.019), respectively. Respective scores for husbands were 45.48 ± 9.55 versus 50.08 ± 11.43 (P = 0.042) and 33.37 ± 7.09 versus 36.63 ± 6.52 (P = 0.025), respectively. It should be noted that higher scores in questionnaires inspecting marital and sexual satisfaction indicate lower satisfaction. Infertility counseling improves marital and sexual satisfaction in infertile couples.
Interleaved soft-switching buck converter with coupled inductors

This paper presents an interleaved soft-switching buck converter with coupled inductors to extend duty ratio for high step-down voltage applications. In the proposed converter, a single-capacitor turn-off snubber is introduced to limit rising rate of active switches to reduce turn-off loss. To handle the energy trapped in the leakage inductance of the coupled inductors, simple passive-clamp circuits are added to the proposed converter, which can effectively recycle the energy and suppress voltage spike. To highlight the merits of the proposed converter, its performance indexes, such as voltage gain function and component stresses, are analyzed and compared with those of the conventional interleaved buck converter. In this study, the prototype of the proposed converter, input voltage of 150-200 Vdc, output voltage of 12 Vdc, and full load power of 240 W has been implemented and verified, from which experimental results have shown that 85% conversion efficiency can be achieved at the full load condition.
Can computer assistance improve the clinical and functional scores in total knee arthroplasty?

BACKGROUND
Surgical navigation in TKA facilitates better alignment; however, it is unclear whether improved alignment alters clinical evolution and midterm and long-term complication rates.


QUESTIONS/PURPOSES
We determined the alignment differences between patients with standard, manual, jig-based TKAs and patients with navigation-based TKAs, and whether any differences would modify function, implant survival, and/or complications.


PATIENTS AND MATERIALS
We retrospectively reviewed 97 patients (100 TKAs) undergoing TKAs for minimal preoperative deformities. Fifty TKAs were performed with an image-free surgical navigation system and the other 50 with a standard technique. We compared femoral angle (FA), tibial angle (TA), and femorotibial angle (FTA) and determined whether any differences altered clinical or functional scores, as measured by the Knee Society Score (KSS), or complications. Seventy-three patients (75 TKAs) had a minimum followup of 8 years (mean, 8.3 years; range, 8-9.1 years).


RESULTS
All patients included in the surgical navigation group had a FTA between 177° and 182º. We found no differences in the KSS or implant survival between the two groups and no differences in complication rates, although more complications occurred in the standard technique group (seven compared with two in the surgical navigation group).


CONCLUSIONS
In the midterm, we found no difference in functional and clinical scores or implant survival between TKAs performed with and without the assistance of a navigation system.


LEVEL OF EVIDENCE
Level II, therapeutic study. See the Guidelines online for a complete description of levels of evidence.
The Virtual Enterprise

In this chapter, the concept of the virtual enterprise is developed. A motivating case at the beginning points to dilemma that acting manufacturing managers are facing. For the conditions of unpredictable change and dynamic markets the concept of the virtual enterprise is characterized, first, as a business model to create business value, second, as an operational model to co-operate temporarily and third, as an organizational model of restructuring. The concept of the virtual enterprise, then, is structured in three elements that form a coupled system, first, the business value that drives the change, second, the virtual operation that is temporarily configured to capture the value, and finally the network, that provides the platform for rapid restructuring. Contemporary manufacturing practices are placed in the context of the virtual enterprise to synthesize the development towards the enterprise of the global information society.
Circulating endothelial progenitor cells in patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis.

BACKGROUND/AIMS
Bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are believed to contribute to endothelial repair after vascular damage. To investigate the potential for microvascular repair in patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), we conducted a cross-sectional study determining the number of circulating EPCs in patients with AAV, chronic uremia, atherosclerosis, and in healthy volunteers.


METHODS
The number of circulating EPCs was determined by colony-forming assay in 41 patients with AAV, 15 hemodialysis patients (without vasculitis), 13 patients with peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD), and 25 healthy controls.


RESULTS
Patients with AAV had a significantly lower number of CFU-Hill than healthy subjects (median 0.3 vs. 19.5 CFU-Hill/ml blood, p < 0.0001), but not than patients on hemodialysis or with PAOD. Neither institution of treatment nor entering remission increased the number of EPCs in AAV patients. The number of EPCs did not correlate with markers of disease activity. AAV patients with glomerular filtration rate <15 ml/min had an even lower number of circulating EPCs than patients with better preserved renal function (median 0.05 vs. 1.2 CFU-Hill/ml, p = 0.015) and patients with anti-MPO positivity had a trend towards a higher number of EPCs than patients with anti-PR3 antibodies (median 3.1 vs. 0.18 CFU-Hill/ml, p = 0.06).


CONCLUSION
Patients with AAV have a significant and persistent deficiency of circulating EPCs. A low number of EPCs could reflect an impaired mechanism of vascular repair and may contribute to repeated relapses in these patients.
ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction treated by radial or femoral approach in a multicenter randomized clinical trial: the STEMI-RADIAL trial.

OBJECTIVES
This study sought to compare radial and femoral approaches in patients presenting with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) by high-volume operators experienced in both access sites.


BACKGROUND
The exact clinical benefit of the radial compared to the femoral approach remains controversial.


METHODS
STEMI-RADIAL (ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction treated by RADIAL or femoral approach) was a randomized, multicenter trial. A total of 707 patients referred for STEMI <12 h of symptom onset were randomized in 4 high-volume radial centers. The primary endpoint was the cumulative incidence of major bleeding and vascular access site complications at 30 days. The rate of net adverse clinical events (NACE) was defined as a composite of death, myocardial infarction, stroke, and major bleeding/vascular complications. Access site crossover, contrast volume, duration of intensive care stay, and death at 6 months were secondary endpoints.


RESULTS
The primary endpoint occurred in 1.4% of the radial group (n = 348) and 7.2% of the femoral group (n = 359; p = 0.0001). The NACE rate was 4.6% versus 11.0% (p = 0.0028), respectively. Crossover from radial to femoral approach was 3.7%. Intensive care stay (2.5 ± 1.7 days vs. 3.0 ± 2.9 days, p = 0.0038) as well as contrast utilization (170 ± 71 ml vs. 182 ± 60 ml, p = 0.01) were significantly reduced in the radial group. Mortality in the radial and femoral groups was 2.3% versus 3.1% (p = 0.64) at 30 days and 2.3% versus 3.6% (p = 0.31) at 6 months, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
In patients with STEMI undergoing primary PCI by operators experienced in both access sites, the radial approach was associated with significantly lower incidence of major bleeding and access site complications and superior net clinical benefit. These findings support the use of the radial approach in primary PCI as first choice after proper training. (Trial Comparing Radial and Femoral Approach in Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention [PCI] [STEMI-RADIAL]; NCT01136187).