LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and cognition in Down syndrome.

AIM
Good-quality sleep is essential for normal learning and memory. Sleep fragmentation and disrupted sleep architecture are commonly observed throughout the lifespan of individuals with Down syndrome, a condition marked by cognitive deficits emerging within the first few months of life. While obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is known to contribute to the loss of sleep quality in Down syndrome, its relation to cognitive and behavioral impairment remains poorly understood.


METHOD
Using ambulatory polysomnography, we measured sleep in an unreferred community-based sample of 38 individuals with Down syndrome (15 males, 23 females; mean age 9y 7mo (SD 1y 9mo), range 7-12y). Cognitive outcomes were assessed with the Arizona Cognitive Test Battery, a set of psychometric measures designed and validated for this population.


RESULTS
Among children with Down syndrome, mean Verbal IQ score (p=0.006) was 9 points lower in those with comorbid OSAS (apnea-hypopnea index >1.5) than in those without OSAS, and performance on measures of cognitive flexibility was poorer (p=0.03). In addition, those with OSAS showed increased light-stage sleep (p=0.009) at the expense of slow-wave sleep (p=0.04).


INTERPRETATION
These findings demonstrate a relation between OSAS and cognitive outcomes in Down syndrome. More work is required to fully understand the mechanisms underlying the links between poor sleep and impaired cognitive function. Overall, these findings highlight the importance of adequate sleep in typically and atypically developing populations.
A Method for Registration of 3-D Shapes

Tianhe Yang Summary of " A Method for Registration of 3-D Shapes "
Imaginary companions and young children's responses to ambiguous auditory stimuli: implications for typical and atypical development.

BACKGROUND
Previous research has reported a link between imaginary companions (ICs) in middle childhood and the perception of verbal material in ambiguous auditory stimuli. These findings have been interpreted in terms of commonalities in the cognitive processes underlying children's engagement with ICs and adults' reporting of imaginary verbal experiences such as auditory verbal hallucinations. The aim of the present study was to examine these relations using improved methodology and a younger sample of children for whom engagement with ICs would be expected to be particularly salient.


METHOD
Data on young children's (age range: 4-8 years) reporting of ICs were gathered in two studies (total N = 80). Responses to ambiguous auditory stimuli were investigated using the new Jumbled Speech task, which measures participants' likelihood of perceiving words in meaningless but speech-like auditory stimuli.


RESULTS
Reporting hearing words in the Jumbled Speech task was associated with having a parentally corroborated IC. Hearing words on the task and having an IC were unrelated to age, gender, verbal ability, and understanding of the stream of consciousness.


CONCLUSIONS
Findings are consistent with the hypothesis that engaging with ICs is one aspect of a general susceptibility to imaginary verbal experiences. We consider the implications for the assumption of continuity in psychopathological experiences between childhood and adulthood.
Imaging blood-brain barrier dysfunction in football players.

Imaging Blood-Brain Barrier Dysfunction in Football Players There has been an increasing awareness of the long-term neuropsychiatric pathologies associated with repeated mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and specifically sports-related concussive and subconcussive head impacts.1 While mTBI had been associated with diffusion tensor imaging evidence of diffusivity changes in soccer,2 American football, and hockey players,3 the mechanisms underlying the development of post-mTBI neurodegenerative complications are poorly understood. Accumulating evidence points to vascular pathology and dysfunction of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) as a potential link between severe TBI and neurodegeneration.4 Moreover, participation in American football has been associated with changes in blood proteins reflecting BBB leakage.5 Thus, here we set out to visualize the extent and location of BBB dysfunction in football players using dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI).
An Energy Harvesting Underwater Acoustic Transmitter for Aquatic Animals

Acoustic telemetry is the primary method to actively track aquatic animals for behavioral studies. However, the small storage capacities of the batteries used in the transmitters limit the time that the implanted animals can be studied. In this research, we developed and implemented a battery-free acoustic transmitter that uses a flexible piezoelectric beam to harvest energy from fish swimming as the power source. The transmitter sends out a unique identification code with a sufficiently strong signal (150 dB, ref: 1 μPa at 1 meter) that has a detection range of up to 100 meters. Two prototypes, 100 mm and 77 mm long, respectively, weighing only about 1 gram or less in air, were sub-dermally implanted in two species of live fish. Transmissions were successfully detected as the fish swam in a natural manner. This represents the first known implanted energy-harvesting transmitter demonstrated in vivo. Successful development of this transmitter greatly expands the potential for long-term studies of the behaviors of aquatic animals and for subsequently developing strategies to mitigate the environmental impacts of renewable energy systems.
Vitamin E and beta carotene supplementation in high risk for stroke: a subgroup analysis of the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study.

CONTEXT
High serum or dietary levels of vitamin E and beta carotene appear to be associated with lower risk of stroke, but studies regarding their supplementation have not supported their use in stroke prevention.


OBJECTIVE
To determine if vitamin E (dl-alpha tocopherol) and beta carotene supplementations could be used in prevention of stroke in men at high risk for hemorrhagic or ischemic events.


DESIGN
Population-based, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 2 x 2 factorial design trial (the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study), conducted from April 1985 through April 30, 1993, with median follow-up of 6 years.


INTERVENTIONS
Alpha tocopherol, 50 mg; beta carotene, 20 mg; both; or placebo.


PARTICIPANTS
From the total male population aged 50 through 69 years in southwestern Finland (n = 290,406), 29,133 male smokers were randomized to 1 of 4 treatment regimens. We excluded 614 men because of previous stroke at baseline, leaving 28, 519.


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Incident and fatal subarachnoid and intracerebral hemorrhage, cerebral infarction, and unspecified stroke.


RESULTS
Stroke occurred in a total of 1057 men: 85 had subarachnoid and 112 had intracerebral hemorrhage, 807 had cerebral infarction, and 53 had unspecified stroke. Within 90 days from onset, 160 men died of stroke. Vitamin E supplementation increased the risk of subarachnoid hemorrhage (relative risk [RR], 2.45; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.08-5.55) and decreased risk of cerebral infarction (RR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.55-0.89) in hypertensive men but had no effect among normotensive men. Furthermore, it decreased the risk of cerebral infarction, without elevating the risk of subarachnoid hemorrhage, among hypertensive men with concurrent diabetes (RR, 0.33; 95% CI, 0.14-0.78). Beta carotene supplementation appeared to increase the risk of intracerebral hemorrhage and modestly decrease that of cerebral infarction among men with greater alcohol consumption.


CONCLUSION
Vitamin E supplementation may prevent ischemic stroke in high-risk hypertensive patients, but further studies are needed. Arch Neurol. 2000;57:1503-1509
Genetic Algorithm Performance with Different Selection Strategies in Solving TSP

become susceptible to premature convergence as problem size increases.
Requirements for clinical PET: comparisons within Europe

The aim was to assess the requirements for a positron emission tomography (PET) cancer imaging service. The UK was used as an example to create a mathematical model for calculating the number of dedicated PET scanners and cyclotron/radiochemistry production facilities required to support the demand for PET studies in lung cancer. This was then extended to all oncological indications for PET and comparison was made with present infrastructure in the UK and Europe. A clinical algorithm for the use of PET in lung cancer management was created and built into a comprehensive computer model with variable parameters. From lung cancer incidences, data reported in the literature and local data, the proportion of patients following each algorithmic path was determined and used to calculate the number of PET scans and hence PET scanners required for lung cancer, and all cancer indications. Substituting lung cancer incidences, the PET infrastructure required for each European country was assessed. From this analysis, 29,886 PET scans per year for lung cancer investigation (provision of 12 scanners) and 121,589 PET scans (2,026.5 per million population) for all indications [provision of 49 scanners (0.82 per million population)] are required in the UK; at present there are seven scanners, and thus 42 new scanners are required. Results reported here demonstrate considerable lack of investment in PET in Europe, with marked variation; Belgium has the most sufficient infrastructure (197.80% of requirements), and excluding France, which is soon to see extensive development, the UK has the least sufficient infrastructure (14.39% of requirements). Considerable investment is required so that cancer management can gain the clinical and cost-effective benefit of this functional imaging technique, which has been established.
Smoking and dental implants: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE
Recent studies implicate smoking as a significant factor in the failure of dental implants. This review aims to test the null hypothesis of no difference in the implant failure rates, risk of postoperative infection, and marginal bone loss for smokers versus non-smokers, against the alternative hypothesis of a difference.


DATA
Main search terms used in combination: dental implant, oral implant, smoking, tobacco, nicotine, smoker, and non-smoker.


SOURCES
An electronic search was undertaken in September/2014 in PubMed/Medline, Web of Science, Cochrane Oral Health Group Trials Register plus hand-searching.


STUDY SELECTION
Eligibility criteria included clinical human studies, either randomized or not. The search strategy resulted in 1432 publications, of which 107 were eligible, with 19,836 implants placed in smokers, with 1259 failures (6.35%), and 60,464 implants placed in non-smokers, with 1923 failures (3.18%).


CONCLUSIONS
The insertion of implants in smokers significantly affected the failure rates, the risk of postoperative infections as well as the marginal bone loss. The results should be interpreted with caution due to the presence of uncontrolled confounding factors in the included studies.


CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Smoking is a factor that has the potential to negatively affect healing and the outcome of implant treatment. It is important to perform an updated periodic review to synthesize the clinical research evidence relevant to the matter.
Catastrophic Forgetting in Connectionist Networks : Causes , Consequences and Solutions

All natural cognitive systems, and, in particular, our own, gradually forget previously learned information. Consequently, plausible models of human cognition should exhibit similar patterns of gradual forgetting old information as new information is acquired. Only rarely (see Box 3) does new learning in natural cognitive systems co pletely disrupt or erase previously learned information. In other words, natural cognitive systems do not, in general, forget catastrophically. Unfortunately, however, this is precisely what occurs under certain circumstances in distributed connectionist networks. It turns out that the very features that give these networks their much-touted abilities to generalize, to function in the presence of degraded input, etc., are the root cause of catastrophic forgetting. The challenge is how to keep the advantages of distributed connectionist networks while avoiding the problem of catastrophic forgetting. In this article, we examine the causes, consequences and numerous solutions to the problem of catastrophic forgetting in neural networks. We consider how the brain might have overcome this problem and explore the consequences of this solution. Introduction By the end of the 1980’s many of the early problems with connectionist networks, such as their difficulties with sequence-learning and the profoundly stimulus-response nature of supervised learning algorithms such as error backpropagation had been largely solved. However, as these problems were being solved, another was discovered by McCloskey and Cohen and Ratcliff . They suggested that there might be a fundamental imitation to this type of distributed architecture, in the same way that Minsky and Papert 3 had shown twenty years before that there were certain fundamental limitations to what a perceptron 4,5 could do. They observed that under certain conditions, the process of learning a new set of patterns suddenly and completely erased a network’s knowledge of what it had already learned. They referred to this phenomenon as catastrophic interference (or catastrophic forgetting) and suggested that the underlying reason for this difficulty was the very thing — a single set of shared weights — that gave the networks their remarkable abilities to generalize and degrade gracefully. Catastrophic interference is a radical manifestation of a more general problem for connectionist models of memory — in fact, for any model of memory —, the so-called “stability-plasticity” problem. 6,7 The problem is how to design a system that is simultaneously sensitive to, but not radically disrupted by, new input. In this article we will focus primarily on a particular, widely used class of distributed neural network architectures — namely, those with a single set of shared (or partially shared) multiplicative weights. While this defines a very broad class of networks, this definition is certainly not exhaustive. In the remainder of this article we will discuss the numerous attempts over the last decade to solve this problem within the context of this type of network.
Welfare Gains from Optimal Pollution Regulation

Successful implementation of pollution regulation often requires redistributing a portion of the benefits back to firms who incur abatement costs. When firms have private information on their costs, they have an incentive to overstate these costs and demand higher compensation. Optimal pollution regulation in this environment sacrifices allocative effi ciency to reduce information rents. I measure the gains from optimal pollution regulation by empirically examining the effect of sulfur dioxide emissions regulation on electric utilities. These electric utilities also face economic regulation, and I exploit this institutional detail. I derive estimates of marginal abatement costs from the cost of jointly producing electricity and emissions, allowing for time-varying unobserved heterogeneity to capture cost effi ciency. Cost effi ciency consists of exogenous (intrinsic type) and endogenous (managerial effort) components which are private information of the firm. To separately identify these components, I model economic regulation as a signaling game of auditing. I show that a particular equilibrium exists where the firm does not exert effort during the “rate case”, but it exerts a positive level of effort afterwards. I provide empirical evidence for the plausibility of this equilibrium using cost and rate case data. This equilibrium generates exclusion restrictions that are used to estimate parameters of the cost function and disutility of effort. I show that the type distribution can be nonparametrically identified using deconvolution methods, and estimate this distribution via a smoothed discrete approximation. Finally, I conduct counterfactual welfare simulations. I find that annual welfare gains from optimal pollution regulation relative to a uniform emission standard range from $32 million to $155 million per electric utility, or about 10% to 47% of combined electricity generation and abatement costs. Implementing the optimal form of regulation is diffi cult, if not impossible, so I examine simpler regulatory regimes. A class of regimes with uniform emission taxes captures 52% to 80% of these gains. ∗Job Market Paper. I would like to thank my advisors Aviv Nevo, David Besanko and Robert Porter for all of their help and guidance. I also thank Mark Chicu, Daniel Diermeier, Jose Espin Sanchez, Igal Hendel, Matt Masten, Tiago Pires, Mike Powell, Min Ren, William Rogerson, Kosuke Uetake, Michael Whinston and seminar participants at Northwestern. Data acquired from SNL Financial was partly funded by the TGS Graduate Research Grant and by the Center for the Study of Industrial Organization (CSIO) at Northwestern University. †Department of Economics, Northwestern University. Email: mabito@u.northwestern.edu.
Complexity Metric for XML Schema Documents

Web Services, as a new type of distributed application, use XML documents for their data representations, so design of XML schemas play an important role in software development process and needs to be quantified for ease of maintainability. In this paper, we propose a new complexity metric for XML Schema documents (XSD). On the contrary of the available complexity metrics, the proposed metric is based on the internal architecture of the XSD components and hence considers the complexities of its building components. The proposed metric has been demonstrated with examples. Further a comparative study with other similar metrics proves its soundness and robustness.
DIDACache: An Integration of Device and Application for Flash-based Key-value Caching

Key-value caching is crucial to today’s low-latency Internet services. Conventional key-value cache systems, such as Memcached, heavily rely on expensive DRAM memory. To lower Total Cost of Ownership, the industry recently is moving toward more cost-efficient flash-based solutions, such as Facebook’s McDipper [14] and Twitter’s Fatcache [56]. These cache systems typically take commercial SSDs and adopt a Memcached-like scheme to store and manage key-value cache data in flash. Such a practice, though simple, is inefficient due to the huge semantic gap between the key-value cache manager and the underlying flash devices.
 In this article, we advocate to reconsider the cache system design and directly open device-level details of the underlying flash storage for key-value caching. We propose an enhanced flash-aware key-value cache manager, which consists of a novel unified address mapping module, an integrated garbage collection policy, a dynamic over-provisioning space management, and a customized wear-leveling policy, to directly drive the flash management. A thin intermediate library layer provides a slab-based abstraction of low-level flash memory space and an API interface for directly and easily operating flash devices. A special flash memory SSD hardware that exposes flash physical details is adopted to store key-value items. This co-design approach bridges the semantic gap and well connects the two layers together, which allows us to leverage both the domain knowledge of key-value caches and the unique device properties. In this way, we can maximize the efficiency of key-value caching on flash devices while minimizing its weakness. We implemented a prototype, called DIDACache, based on the Open-Channel SSD platform. Our experiments on real hardware show that we can significantly increase the throughput by 35.5%, reduce the latency by 23.6%, and remove unnecessary erase operations by 28%.
A systematic review of randomized controlled trials examining psychological interventions for needle-related procedural pain and distress in children and adolescents: an abbreviated cochrane review.

OBJECTIVE
To report the results of a systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of psychological interventions for children and adolescents undergoing needle-related procedures.


METHODS
A variety of cognitive-behavioral psychological interventions for managing procedural pain and distress in children and adolescents between 2 and 19 years of age were examined. Outcome measures included pain and distress as assessed by self-report, observer report, behavioral/observational measures, and physiological correlates.


RESULTS
Twenty-eight trials met the criteria for inclusion in the review and provided the data necessary for pooling the results. Together, the trials included 1,039 participants in treatment conditions and 951 in control conditions. The largest effect sizes for treatment improvement over control conditions were found for distraction, combined cognitive-behavioral interventions, and hypnosis, with promising but limited evidence for several other psychological interventions.


CONCLUSIONS
Recommendations for conducting future RCTs are provided, and particular attention to the quality of trial design and reporting is highlighted.
USCAP 2018 Abstracts: Liver (1719–1811)

S 2018 PLATFORM & POSTER PRESENTATIONS
Increasing the veracity of event detection on social media networks through user trust modeling

With the success and ubiquity of large scale, social media networks comes the challenge of assessing the veracity of information shared across them that inform individuals about emerging real-world events and trends. We propose a veracity-assessment model for information dissemination on social media networks that combines natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to mine textual content generated by each user. Large scale social media networks (such as Twitter and Facebook) are considered digital communication platforms, in which information can be quickly and easily exchanged, thereby expanding the breadth of knowledge across the globe. In this paper, four case studies spanning multiple geographic regions, threat scenarios and time frames are investigated, in order to demonstrate how real-world events impact the manner in which information/misinformation is communicated and spread through a social media network. Our results show that metadata associated with each user can provide significant insight on the social media network's users' tendency to accurately discuss a topic.
Drug discovery from natural products

Natural product compounds are the source of numerous therapeutic agents. Recent progress to discover drugs from natural product sources has resulted in compounds that are being developed to treat cancer, resistant bacteria and viruses and immunosuppressive disorders. Many of these compounds were discovered by applying recent advances in understanding the genetics of secondary metabolism in actinomycetes, exploring the marine environment and applying new screening technologies. In many instances, the discovery of a novel natural product serves as a tool to better understand targets and pathways in the disease process. This review describes recent progress in drug discovery from natural sources including several examples of compounds that inhibit novel drug targets.