LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Bilingualism does not alter cognitive decline or dementia risk among Spanish-speaking immigrants.

OBJECTIVE
Clinic-based studies suggest that dementia is diagnosed at older ages in bilinguals compared with monolinguals. The current study sought to test this hypothesis in a large, prospective, community-based study of initially nondemented Hispanic immigrants living in a Spanish-speaking enclave of northern Manhattan.


METHOD
Participants included 1,067 participants in the Washington/Hamilton Heights Inwood Columbia Aging Project (WHICAP) who were tested in Spanish and followed at 18-24 month intervals for up to 23 years. Spanish-English bilingualism was estimated via both self-report and an objective measure of English reading level. Multilevel models for change estimated the independent effects of bilingualism on cognitive decline in 4 domains: episodic memory, language, executive function, and speed. Over the course of the study, 282 participants developed dementia. Cox regression was used to estimate the independent effect of bilingualism on dementia conversion. Covariates included country of origin, gender, education, time spent in the United States, recruitment cohort, and age at enrollment.


RESULTS
Independent of the covariates, bilingualism was associated with better memory and executive function at baseline. However, bilingualism was not independently associated with rates of cognitive decline or dementia conversion. Results were similar whether bilingualism was measured via self-report or an objective test of reading level.


CONCLUSIONS
This study does not support a protective effect of bilingualism on age-related cognitive decline or the development of dementia. In this sample of Hispanic immigrants, bilingualism is related to higher initial scores on cognitive tests and higher educational attainment and may not represent a unique source of cognitive reserve.
Multimodality management of Merkel cell carcinoma.

HYPOTHESIS
Merkel cell carcinoma is a rare dermal neuroendocrine carcinoma whose optimal treatment and prognostic factors are poorly defined. We hypothesize that high-risk patients with Merkel cell carcinoma are best treated with multimodality therapy.


DESIGN
A retrospective review of all patients (N = 33) with Merkel cell carcinoma treated at the Massachusetts General Hospital from January 1, 1980, to August 24,1997. Median follow-up time was 37 months (range, 6-157 months).


PATIENTS
Adequate data for evaluation were available for 31 patients. Male to female distribution was 14 men and 17 women, with a median patient age of 68 years.


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE
Stage at presentation; factors associated with recurrence; and the effects of surgery, radiation therapy (XRT), and chemotherapy on recurrence, salvage, and survival rates.


RESULTS
There were 12 extremity, 11 head and neck, and 8 truncal tumors. There were 22 isolated primary tumors, 8 with additional clinically positive lymph nodes, and 1 with distant disease. Therapy was local excision with or without XRT in 19 patients, local resection and lymphadenectomy with or without XRT in 8 patients, and XRT alone in 4 patients with head and neck tumors. Fifteen patients developed recurrences (7 local, 8 nodal, and 10 distant). Median time to recurrence was 8 months (range, 3-48 months). There were 7 tumor-related deaths, 6 of which were associated with truncal lesions (P<.001). No locoregional recurrences occurred in patients with margins of resection of 2 cm or greater or adequate XRT. A multivariate analysis selected truncal location (P = .005) and nodal disease (P = .05) as predictors of mortality. Remission was possible in 5 patients with locoregional and 2 patients with distant recurrences.


CONCLUSIONS
Merkel cell carcinoma is an aggressive dermal cancer with frequent nodal metastases; truncal tumors have the worst prognosis. Locoregional recurrence correlates with inadequate margins and lack of XRT, but remission is possible with multimodality therapy.
Delaunay triangulation for image object indexing: a novel method for shape representation

Recent research on image databases has been aimed at the development of content-based retrieval techniques for the management of visual information. Compared with such visual information as color, texture, and spatial constraints, shape is so important a feature associated with those image objects of interest that shape alone may be sufficient to identify and classify an object completely and accurately. This paper presents a novel method based on feature point histogram indexing for object shape representation in image databases. In this scheme, the feature point histogram is obtained by discretizing the angles produced by the Delaunay triangulation of a set of unique feature points which characterize object shape in the context, and then counting the number of times each discrete angle occurs in the resulted triangulation. The proposed shape representation technique is translation, scale, and rotation independent. Our various experiments concluded that the Euclidean distance performs very well as the similarity measure function in combination with the feature point histogram computed by counting the two largest angles of each individual Delaunay triangle. Through the further experiment, we also found evidence that an image object representation using a feature point histogram provides an effective cue for image object discrimination.
On the Safety and Benefits of Repeated Intravenous Injections of Ketamine For Depression

T he rapid and robust antidepressant effect of the intravenous infusion of a subanesthetic dose of ketamine in 2000 has triggered research endeavors in this novel mechanism of action (1-5). Its drug abuse potential and early reports of neuro-nal toxicity in rats are likely contributing to slowing the clinical progress (6). Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic agent used routinely for more than 40 years in human anesthesiology (7). It is particularly useful in conditions in which cardiovascular and respiratory monitoring is not available because it does not depress such parameters and its anesthetic effect rapidly subsides. For instance, six trained nurses used a median dose of 2 mg/kg of ketamine, its usual anesthetic dose given in a bolus, for 191 procedures in rural Uganda in patients from 1 week to 78 years old (8). Only minor adverse events occurred: hypoxemia in 22 cases and vomiting in nine. The procedures were carried out at an altitude of 5000 feet, which likely contributed to the former side effect. The true extent of the effectiveness of ketamine in depression nevertheless remains to be established in adequately blinded studies because patients detect its mild psychotomimetic effects. The use of saline as a placebo is not adequate. In addition, much work has to be done to better characterize its clinical benefits, the optimal doses and routes of administration, and the patient population likely to benefit most and to prolong its effects. Three concerns also remain: the level of physiologic monitoring that should be implemented , its potential neurotoxicity, and its dependence potential. There must be cardiovascular and oxygen saturation monitoring when using ketamine infusions for the treatment of depression. Indeed, depressed patients may be on medications that could syn-ergize with ketamine and produce respiratory depression or changes of blood pressure. Specifically, sedatives and opiates could depress respirations. Consequently, an ambu bag should be available for ventilation. The main problem with ketamine is that its antidepressant effects are transient, even when administered in the presence of antidepressants and/or augmentation strategies. There is obviously no concern about a potential neurotoxic effect of a single dose of ketamine, given its established safety record in anesthesia. Indeed, a single dose in rats showed that up to 20 mg/kg (subcuta-neously) of ketamine did not exert neuronal toxicity (6). It is noteworthy that the metabolism of ketamine is faster in rats than in humans. Nevertheless, in 35-day-old monkeys, there was no …
Defective autophagy in spastizin mutated patients with hereditary spastic paraparesis type 15.

Hereditary spastic paraparesis type 15 is a recessive complicated form of the disease clinically characterized by slowly progressive spastic paraparesis and mental deterioration with onset between the first and second decade of life. Thinning of corpus callosum is the neuroradiological distinctive sign frequently associated with white matter abnormalities. The causative gene, ZFYVE26, encodes a large protein of 2539 amino acid residues, termed spastizin, containing three recognizable domains: a zinc finger, a leucine zipper and a FYVE domain. Spastizin protein has a diffuse cytoplasmic distribution and co-localizes partially with early endosomes, the endoplasmic reticulum, microtubules and vesicles involved in protein trafficking. In addition, spastizin localizes to the mid-body during the final step of mitosis and contributes to successful cytokinesis. Spastizin interacts with Beclin 1, a protein required for cytokinesis and autophagy, which is the major lysosome-mediated degradation process in the cell. In view of the Beclin 1-spastizin interaction, we investigated the possible role of spastizin in autophagy. We carried out this analysis by using lymphoblast and fibroblast cells derived from four different spastizin mutated patients (p.I508N, p.L243P, p.R1209fsX, p.S1312X) and from control subjects. Of note, the truncating p.R1209fsX and p.S1312X mutations lead to loss of spastizin protein. The results obtained indicate that spastizin interacts with the autophagy related Beclin 1-UVRAG-Rubicon multiprotein complex and is required for autophagosome maturation. In cells lacking spastizin or with mutated forms of the protein, spastizin interaction with Beclin 1 is lost although the formation of the Beclin 1-UVRAG-Rubicon complex can still be observed. However, in these cells we demonstrate an impairment of autophagosome maturation and an accumulation of immature autophagosomes. Autophagy defects with autophagosome accumulation can be observed also in neuronal cells upon spastizin silencing. These results indicate that autophagy is a central process in the pathogenesis of complicated forms of hereditary spastic paraparesis with thin corpus callosum.
Ultrasound-guided greater occipital nerve block for patients with occipital headache and short term follow up

BACKGROUND
The greater occipital nerve (GON) block has been frequently used for different types of headache, but performed with rough estimates of anatomic landmarks. Our study presents the values of the anatomic parameters and estimates the effectiveness of the ultrasound-guided GON blockade.


METHODS
The GON was detected using ultrasound technique and distance from external occipital protuberance (EOP) to GON, from GON to occipital artery and depth from skin to GON was measured in volunteers. Patients with occipital headache were divided into two groups (ultrasound-guided block: group S, conventional blind block: group B) and GON block was performed. The same parameters were measured on group S and VAS scores were assessed at pretreatment, 1 week and 4 weeks after treatment on both groups.


RESULTS
The GON had distance of 23.1 ± 3.4 mm (right) and 20.5 ± 2.8 mm (left) from EOP to GON. Its depth below the skin was 6.8 ± 1.5 mm (right) and 7.0 ± 1.3 mm (left). The distance from GON to occipital artery was 1.5 ± 0.6 mm (right) and 1.2 ± 0.6 mm (left) in volunteers. Initial VAS score of group S and group B patients were 6.4 ± 0.2 and 6.5 ± 0.2. VAS score of 4 weeks after injection were 2.3 ± 0.2 on group S and 3.8 ± 0.3 on group B (P = 0.0003).


CONCLUSIONS
The parameters measured in this study should be useful for GON block and ultrasound-guided blockade is likely to be a more effective technique than blind blockade in occipital headache treatment.
Virtual Network Computing

VNC is platform-independent – a VNC viewer on one operating system may connect to a VNC server on the same or any other operating system. There are clients and servers for many GUIbased operating systems and for Java. Multiple clients may connect to a VNC server at the same time. Popular uses for this technology include remote technical support and accessing files on one's work computer from one's home computer, or vice versa.
Results of a Study on Software Architectures for Augmented Reality Systems

Research prototypes in AR usually do not emphasize software architecture. Nevertheless, their architecture is not arbitrary, but results from specific needs. Architectural approaches embodying research contributions are of particular value for reuse at component and architectural levels. We have conducted a study of existing AR software architectures for the ARVIKA project [10]. This has resulted in a catalog of important desired quality attributes for AR systems, a reference architecture for comparison of AR architectures, and a catalog of architectural approaches used in current AR systems. We believe this lays the foundation for further research in AR software architectures.
Do non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs have a significant effect on detection and grading of ultrasound-detected synovitis in patients with rheumatoid arthritis? Results from a randomised study.

OBJECTIVES
To determine whether non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have a significant effect on ultrasonographic (US) grey scale (GS) and power Doppler (PD) assessment of synovitis in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).


METHODS
Patients with RA taking NSAIDs were randomised to either stopping (for a minimum of 5 drug half-lives) or continuing the drug. All patients had a clinical assessment and US examination of both hands and wrists before and after stopping/continuing the NSAID. Changes at follow-up were compared between groups using Mann-Whitney U tests.


RESULTS
A total of 58 patients with RA were recruited. All the clinical assessment parameters (including disease activity, pain, general state of health and physician global visual analogue score and tender and swollen joints count) showed an increase in the group who stopped their NSAID treatment. The total GS and PD score showed median (first to third quartiles) increase of 9.5 (5.75 to 19.0) and 4.0 (2.0 to 6.0) per patient, respectively, in the patients who stopped their NSAID in comparison with 1.0 (-1.0 to 2.25) and 0.0 (-2.0 to 3.0), respectively, in the patients who continued their NSAID (p<0.001). There was an increase in the number of joints scoring >0 for GS and PD in the patients who stopped the NSAID. The inter- and intrareader agreement was good to excellent for the US examination.


CONCLUSION
NSAID usage may mask the GS and PD signal and result in lower scoring despite continuing disease activity. Consideration should be given to the NSAID effect in designing clinical studies which use US to assess response to therapeutic.
Design Inspiration from Generative Networks

Can an algorithm create original and compelling fashion designs to serve as an inspirational assistant? To help answer this question, we design and investigate different image generation models associated with different loss functions to boost creativity in fashion generation. The dimensions of our explorations include: (i) different Generative Adversarial Networks architectures that start from noise vectors to generate fashion items, (ii) novel loss functions that encourage creativity, inspired from Sharma-Mittal divergence, a generalized mutual information measure for the widely used relative entropies such as Kullback-Leibler, and (iii) a generation process following the key elements of fashion design (disentangling shape and texture components). A key challenge of this study is the evaluation of generated designs and the retrieval of best ones, hence we put together an evaluation protocol associating automatic metrics and human experimental studies that we hope will help ease future research. We show that our proposed creativity losses yield better overall appreciation than the one employed in Creative Adversarial Networks. In the end, about 61% of our images are thought to be created by human designers rather than by a computer while also being considered original per our human subject experiments, and our proposed loss scores the highest compared to existing losses in both novelty and likability. Figure 1: Training generative adversarial models with appropriate losses leads to realistic and creative 512× 512 fashion images.
Classical and superposed learning for quantum weightless neural networks

A supervised learning algorithm for quantum neural networks (QNN) based on a novel quantum neuron node implemented as a very simple quantum circuit is proposed and investigated. In contrast to the QNN published in the literature, the proposed model can perform both quantum learning and simulate the classical models. This is partly due to the neural model used elsewhere which has weights and nonlinear activations functions. Here a quantum weightless neural network model is proposed as a quantisation of the classical weightless neural networks (WNN). The theoretical and practical results on WNN can be inherited by these quantum weightless neural networks (qWNN). In the quantum learning algorithm proposed here patterns of the training set are presented concurrently in superposition. This superposition-based learning algorithm (SLA) has computational cost polynomial on the number of patterns in the training set. & 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Transferring responsibility and accountability in maternity care: clinicians defining their boundaries of practice in relation to clinical handover

OBJECTIVE
This exploratory study reports on maternity clinicians' perceptions of transfer of their responsibility and accountability for patients in relation to clinical handover with particular focus transfers of care in birth suite.


DESIGN
A qualitative study of semistructured interviews and focus groups of maternity clinicians was undertaken in 2007. De-indentified data were transcribed and coded using the constant comparative method. Multiple themes emerged but only those related to responsibility and accountability are reported in this paper.


SETTING
One tertiary Australian maternity hospital.


PARTICIPANTS
Maternity care midwives, nurses (neonatal, mental health, bed managers) and doctors (obstetric, neontatology, anaesthetics, internal medicine, psychiatry).


PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES
Primary outcome measures were the perceptions of clinicians of maternity clinical handover.


RESULTS
The majority of participants did not automatically connect maternity handover with the transfer of responsibility and accountability. Once introduced to this concept, they agreed that it was one of the roles of clinical handover. They spoke of complete transfer, shared and ongoing responsibility and accountability. When clinicians had direct involvement or extensive clinical knowledge of the patient, blurring of transition of responsibility and accountability sometimes occurred. A lack of 'ownership' of a patient and their problems were seen to result in confusion about who was to address the clinical issues of the patient. Personal choice of ongoing responsibility and accountability past the handover communication were described. This enabled the off-going person to rectify an inadequate handover or assist in an emergency when duty clinicians were unavailable.


CONCLUSIONS
There is a clear lack of consensus about the transition of responsibility and accountability-this should be explicit at the handover. It is important that on each shift and new workplace environment clinicians agree upon primary role definitions, responsibilities and accountabilities for patients. To provide system resilience, secondary responsibilities may be allocated as required.
Carving research slices out of your production networks with OpenFlow

1. SLICED PROGRAMMABLE NETWORKS OpenFlow [4] has been demonstrated as a way for researchers to run networking experiments in their production network. Last year, we demonstrated how an OpenFlow controller running on NOX [3] could move VMs seamlessly around an OpenFlow network [1]. While OpenFlow has potential [2] to open control of the network, only one researcher can innovate on the network at a time. What is required is a way to divide, or slice, network resources so that researchers and network administrators can use them in parallel. Network slicing implies that actions in one slice do not negatively affect other slices, even if they share the same underlying physical hardware. A common network slicing technique is VLANs. With VLANs, the administrator partitions the network by switch port and all traffic is mapped to a VLAN by input port or explicit tag. This coarse-grained type of network slicing complicates more interesting experiments such as IP mobility or wireless handover. Here, we demonstrate FlowVisor, a special purpose OpenFlow controller that allows multiple researchers to run experiments safely and independently on the same production OpenFlow network. To motivate FlowVisor’s flexibility, we demonstrate four network slices running in parallel: one slice for the production network and three slices running experimental code (Figure 1). Our demonstration runs on real network hardware deployed on our production network at Stanford and a wide-area test-bed with a mix of wired and wireless technologies.
Advances in Real-Time Database Systems Research

A Real-Time DataBase System (RTDBS) can be viewed as an amalgamation of a conventional DataBase Management System (DBMS) and a real-t ime system. Like a DBMS, it has to process transactions and guarantee ACID database properties. Furthermore, it has to operate in real-time, satisfying t ime constraints imposed on transaction commitments. A RTDBS may exist as a standoalone system or as an embedded component in a larger mult idatabase system. The publication in 1988 of a special issue of ACM SIGMOD Record on Real-Time DataBases [23] signaled the bir th of the RTDBS research a r e a a n area that brings together researchers from both the database and real-time systems communities. Today, almost eight years later, I am pleased to present in this special section of ACM SIGMOD Record a review of recent advances in RTDBS research. There were 18 submissions to this special section, of which eight papers were selected for inclusion to provide the readers of ACM SIGMOD Record with an overview of current and future research directions within the RTDBS community. In the remainder of this paper, I will summarize these directions and provide the reader with pointers to other publications for further information.1