LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Variation in quality of life with type of atrial fibrillation.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is one of the most common arrhythmias. It is classified according to its presentation as either paroxysmal, persistent or permanent. The presence of this arrhythmia has been associated with a decrease in patients' health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The Atrial Fibrillation-Quality of Life (AF-QoL) questionnaire, which is specifically for use in patients with AF, has recently been developed and validated. The aim of this study was to use this questionnaire to investigate differences in HRQoL associated with different types of AF.


METHODS
This prospective observational multicenter study was performed in a regular clinical context in Spain. The AF-QoL questionnaire was administered to study patients, who were diagnosed as having one of the three types of AF.


RESULTS
The study involved 341 patients with AF, 43% of whom had persistent AF, while 37% had paroxysmal AF, and 20% had permanent AF. Although the type of AF had no significant effect on the overall AF-QoL score, patients with permanent AF had the highest scores on the psychological dimension (i.e. better HRQoL). In addition, an increased frequency of symptoms, more emergency department visits, and poorer functioning were also associated with significant differences in HRQoL in AF patients.


CONCLUSIONS
Use of the AF-QoL questionnaire showed that the HRQoL of AF patients was influenced by the clinical characteristics of the disease but not, except on the psychological dimension, by the type of AF.
Dielectric Properties of Nanodielectrics with Inorganic Fillers

One of the main targets of the research in the field of polymer nanocomposite dielectrics is to obtain new materials with improved dielectric properties (resistivity, dielectric strength, permittivity and dielectric losses). In this paper the variation of the real part of the permittivity and of the loss tangent with the frequency are investigated for three formulations of nanocomposites obtained from polyethylene filled with nanoparticles of SiO2, TiO2 and Al2O3, respectively. The influence of the filler concentration (between 2 and 10 wt%) on the dielectric behavior of the nanocomposite is analyzed as well. To simulate the electrical behavior of the polymer-filler interface which might explain the experimental results a 3D electrostatic model proposed on the basis of Tanaka's multi-core model is discussed. This model allows one to study the influence of several parameters such as the nanoparticle diameter, thickness of the interface layers, concentration and permittivity of the nanoparticles or the permittivities of the interface layers, on the effective permittivity of a plane nanodielectric sample.
Implementation and Optimization of Differentiable Neural Computers

We implemented and optimized Differentiable Neural Computers (DNCs) as described in the Oct. 2016 DNC paper [1] on the bAbI dataset [25] and on copy tasks that were described in the Neural Turning Machine paper [12]. This paper will give the reader a better understanding of this new and promising architecture through the documentation of the approach in our DNC implementation and our experience of the challenges of optimizing DNCs. Given how recently the DNC paper has come out, other than the original paper, there were no such explanation, implementation and experimentation of the same level of detail as this project has produced, which is why this project will be useful for others who want to experiment with DNCs since this project successfully trained a high performing DNC on the copy task while our DNC performance on the bAbI dataset was better than or equal to our LSTM baseline.
The Effect of Heart Rate on Exposure Window and Best Phase for Stress Perfusion Computed Tomography: Lessons From the CORE320 Study.

OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of heart rate on exposure window, best phase, and image quality for stress computed tomography perfusion (CTP) in the CORE320 study.


METHODS
The CTP data sets were analyzed to determine the best phase for perfusion analysis. A predefined exposure window covering 75% to 95% of the R-R cycle was used.


RESULTS
Of the 368 patients included in the analysis, 93% received oral β blockade before the rest scan. The median heart rate during the stress acquisition was 69 bpm (interquartile range [IQR], 60-77). The median best phase was 81% (IQR, 76-90), and length of exposure window was 22% (IQR, 19-24). The best phase was significantly later in the cardiac cycle with higher heart rates (P < 0.001), and higher heart rates resulted in a small, but higher number of poor quality scans (6%, P < 0.001). The median effective dose of the stress scan was 5.3 mSv (IQR, 3.8-6.1).


CONCLUSIONS
Stress myocardial CTP imaging can be performed using prospective electrocardiography triggering, an exposure window of 75% to 95%, and β-blockade resulting in good or excellent image quality in the majority (80%) of patients while maintaining a low effective radiation dose.
A Reverse AODV Routing Protocol in Ad Hoc Mobile Networks

In mobile ad hoc networks, mobile devices wander autonomously for the use of wireless links and dynamically varying network topology. AODV (Ad-hoc on-demand Distance vector routing) is a representative among the most widely studied on-demand ad hoc routing protocols. Previous protocols have shown some shortcomings on performance. AODV and most of the ondemand ad hoc routing protocols use single route reply along reverse path. Rapid change of topology causes that the route reply could not arrive to the source node, i.e. after a source node sends several route request messages, the node obtains a reply message, especially on high speed mobility. This increases both in communication delay and power consumption as well as decrease in packet delivery ratio. To avoid these problems, we propose a reverse AODV which tries multiple route replies. The extended AODV is called reverse AODV (R-AODV), which has a novel aspect compared to other on-demand routing protocols on Ad-hoc Networks: it reduces path fail correction messages and obtains better performance than the AODV and other protocols have. We design the R-AODV protocol and implement simulation models using NS-2. Simulation results show that the reverse AODV provides good experimental results on packet delivery ratio, power consumption and communication delay.
Comparison of utility measures and their relationship with other health status measures in 1041 patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study was to compare three health utility instruments (15D, EQ-5D, SF-6D) and a rating scale for health (EQ-Visual Analogue Scale (VAS)) and to investigate their relationship to clinical parameters in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).


METHODS
Data were collected from 1041 patients with RA. Agreement between the instruments was assessed with Bland-Altman plots. Linear regression models were fitted for the different instruments and Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) scores, age, gender, patient global, disease duration and educational level. Differences in utility scores across levels of global health and disability, were investigated as well as correlations with disease-specific health status measures.


RESULTS
The score range in the 1041 patients with RA was 0.41-1.0 for 15D, -0.48 to 1.0 for EQ-5D, 0.0-1.0 for EQ-VAS and 0.30-1.0 for SF-6D, with a bimodal distribution for EQ-5D. Bland-Altman plots indicated poor agreement between EQ-5D and SF-6D/15D and moderate agreement between SF-6D and 15D. Utility scores were correlated with disease-specific measures, pain and fatigue (r>0.60). Mean utilities ranged from 0.30 (EQ-5D) to 0.69 (15D) in patients rating their own health as poor. When correcting for a non-linear relationship between HAQ and EQ-5D/SF-6D in linear regression models, the estimated utilities had non-overlying CI for HAQ values >1.4.


CONCLUSIONS
Diverging scores were observed across utility instruments, especially in patients with high HAQ scores. The choice of utility instrument may have an impact on the results of cost-utility analyses, with large hypothetical differences in price per quality-adjusted life year.
Detection of a frequent polymorphism in exon 10 of the low-density lipoprotein receptor gene

DNA sequencing of enzymatically-amplified exons of the low-density lipoprotein receptor gene from several individuals revealed a polymorphism in exon 10 of the gene. The codon for arginine 450 was converted from AGG to AGA in some alleles.
Real-time landscape model interaction using a tangible geospatial modeling environment

Emerging technologies that combine the flexibility of digital landscape representation with easy-to-interpret 3D physical models open new possibilities for user interaction with geospatial data. A prototype tangible geospatial modeling environment lets users interact with landscape analysis and simulations using a tangible physical model. We introduce a concept that builds upon previous independent tangible user interface (TUI) and terrain analysis research and aims at more intuitive collaborative interaction with digital landscape data
Network Security Function Virtualization(NSFV) towards Cloud computing with NFV Over Openflow infrastructure: Challenges and novel approaches

Cloud computing is emerging to host different services on high end compute nodes of Data center with increasing demands of social networking, video streaming, big data processing and other internet applications. With this approach resource sharing is achieved for compute, networking and storage to reduce the OPEX and CAPEX.Network Function Virtualization(NFV) is big part of cloud computing and has evolved as a proposal from operators for hosting network services as network functions implemented in software, which may be launched on the Virtual machines (VMs) dynamically based on the demand in the form of VNFaaS. With elasticity and agility of vendor independent network services coming up and going down in the cloud, chaining of network services gets affected in the End-to-End (E2E) deployment. Software defined networking (SDN) is complimentary technology to NFV for achieving unified network abstraction to expand data flow control in the form of virtual switch. SDN plays major role in the infrastructure of NFV. SDN makes networks more flexible, dynamic and cost-efficient, while greatly simplifying the operational complexities. This paper's main focus is to define, review and evaluate the architectural framework approaches of scalable compute node with NFV and SDN for addressing various challenges on Data center in the form of Network Security Function Virtualization (NSFV) over Openflow infrastructure. Key challenges in data center include network service provisioning & monitoring, E2E Security, network function virtualization in multi-tenant environment, software defined networking control for Service chaining of virtual network security functions and performance. The main aim of this paper is to provide comprehensive global forum for researchers to present the challenges and novel approaches of ongoing research in the state-of-art areas of cloud computing architectures with NFV and SDN relevance to Datacenter.
INVESTIGATION AND COMPARISON EFFECTS OF FLUID INJECTION TYPE IN THRUST VECTOR CONTROL

In this research, the effects of some liquid side injection from nozzle wall into exhaust gas of combustion chamber are studied. The side injection against main flow is as elliptical solid thing that change the symmetric of flow field on nozzle wall and causes some different pressure distribution on wall, and finally causes thrust vector deviation. Flows interaction causes some physical phenomena as bow shock wave in front of injection region. This paper explain the effects of this wave and variation velocity & pressure distribution at different cross sections of flow field and comparison results of air and other liquid fluid in thrust vector control system. The results are compared with experimental data and have well agreement with them. The results show that Freon is one of best injection liquid for this type of thrust vector control. Performance of Injection is optimum in relative position 35 to 40% nozzle divergence length.
Velogenic Newcastle Disease Virus in Captive Wild Birds

Newcastle disease virus (NDV) was isolated from the faeces of seven different species of clinically healthy captive wild birds. All seven NDV isolates were characterized as velogenic, based on the mean death time in embryonated hens' eggs and the intracerebral pathogenicity index in day-old chicks. Three of the isolates were placed in group C1 based on the reactions with monoclonal antibodies. The role of captive wild birds in the epidemiology of Newcastle disease is briefly discussed.
Addressing regional disparities in pediatric oncology: Results of a collaborative initiative across the Mexican-North American border.

BACKGROUND
Cancer is emerging as a major cause of childhood mortality in low- and middle-income countries. In Mexico, cancer is the number one cause of death in children aged 5-14. Until recently, many children with cancer from Baja California, Mexico, went untreated. We reasoned that an initiative inspired by the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (SJCRH) "twinning" model could successfully be applied to the San Diego-Tijuana border region. In 2008, a twinning project was initiated by Rady Children's Hospital, SJCRH, and the General Hospital Tijuana (GHT). Our aim was to establish a pediatric oncology unit in a culturally sensitive manner, adapted to the local healthcare system.


PROCEDURE
An initial assessment revealed that despite existence of basic hospital infrastructure at the GHT, the essential elements of a pediatric cancer unit were lacking, including dedicated space, trained staff, and uniform treatment. A 5-year action plan was designed to offer training, support the staff financially, and improve the infrastructure.


RESULTS
After 7 years, accomplishments include the opening of a new inpatient unit with updated technology, fully trained staff, and a dedicated, interdisciplinary team. Over 700 children have benefited from accurate diagnosis and treatment.


CONCLUSIONS
Initiatives that implement long-term partnerships between institutions along the Mexican-North American border can be highly effective in establishing successful pediatric cancer control programs. The geographic proximity facilitated accelerated training and close monitoring of project development. Similar initiatives across other disciplines may benefit additional patients and synergize with pediatric oncology programs to reduce health disparities in underserved areas.
Open Drug Discovery Toolkit (ODDT): a new open-source player in the drug discovery field

BACKGROUND
There has been huge progress in the open cheminformatics field in both methods and software development. Unfortunately, there has been little effort to unite those methods and software into one package. We here describe the Open Drug Discovery Toolkit (ODDT), which aims to fulfill the need for comprehensive and open source drug discovery software.


RESULTS
The Open Drug Discovery Toolkit was developed as a free and open source tool for both computer aided drug discovery (CADD) developers and researchers. ODDT reimplements many state-of-the-art methods, such as machine learning scoring functions (RF-Score and NNScore) and wraps other external software to ease the process of developing CADD pipelines. ODDT is an out-of-the-box solution designed to be easily customizable and extensible. Therefore, users are strongly encouraged to extend it and develop new methods. We here present three use cases for ODDT in common tasks in computer-aided drug discovery.


CONCLUSION
Open Drug Discovery Toolkit is released on a permissive 3-clause BSD license for both academic and industrial use. ODDT's source code, additional examples and documentation are available on GitHub (https://github.com/oddt/oddt).
Associations of sexual risk-taking with having intercourse before 15 years in adolescent females in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada.

BACKGROUND
This study was carried out to determine whether having first vaginal intercourse before 15 years of age is independently associated with sexual risk behaviours in Canadian female adolescents aged from 15 to 19 years.


METHODS
Self-completion surveys which included questions about sexual risk behaviours were carried out at three high schools in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada, in May 2006. The survey also contained questions asking about socioeconomic status, substance use and depression. Associations of early intercourse with risk behaviours were assessed using unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression.


RESULTS
The survey response rate was 92.5%. Of the 797 females aged 15-19 years responding, 475 had had vaginal intercourse in the previous year; 132 of these (27.8%) had intercourse before the age of 15 years. In adjusted analysis, early vaginal intercourse was associated with not using a condom at last intercourse (odds ratio (OR) 2.22; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.40-3.54), unplanned intercourse in the previous year due to substance use (OR 2.45; 95% CI 1.49-4.04), having a casual partner at last intercourse (OR 2.10; 95% CI 1.23-3.56) and having three or more partners for vaginal intercourse in the previous year (OR 5.11; 95% CI 2.86-9.14).


CONCLUSIONS
A history of having first intercourse before 15 years is associated with subsequent sexual risk-taking behaviours in adolescent females. These associations have clinical importance because the occurrence of early intercourse can alert health care providers to the possible presence of these risk behaviours. They also underscore the need to develop and assess programs which can delay the onset of sexual debut.
Randomized clinical trial of a school-based academic and counseling program for older school-age students.

BACKGROUND
Up to 17% of children in the United States have been diagnosed with asthma; children ages 9-14 years experience higher morbidity and mortality compared with other age groups. An academic and counseling program for older elementary students with asthma was developed in collaboration with school personnel, healthcare professionals, and community members: Staying Healthy-Asthma Responsible and Prepared (SHARP). The life span development perspective and the Acceptance of Asthma Model were used to guide development and implementation.


OBJECTIVES
This study aimed to establish the preliminary efficacy of SHARP to improve cognitive, behavioral, psychosocial, and quality-of-life outcomes.


METHODS
A two-group, longitudinal, prospective, cluster randomized clinical trial design was used. The sample of fourth- to sixth-grade students (N = 66) with asthma aged 9-12 years (M = 10.5, SD = 0.9) was 52% male, was racially diverse (30% Black, 36% White, and 18% biracial), and had a wide range of incomes. Three schools (n = 38 students) were randomized to receive SHARP, and two schools (n = 28 students) were assigned to usual care. Self-report instruments were used.


RESULTS
Compared with the usual care group, statistically significant improvements in the SHARP group were found in student knowledge of asthma, reasoning about asthma, use of risk reduction behaviors, and participation in life activities (p < .01, effect sizes >0.7). Improvements in use of episode management behaviors and acceptance of asthma outcomes were clinically significant with medium effect sizes of 0.3-0.5.


DISCUSSION
The SHARP Student and Community Components demonstrated preliminary efficacy for improving asthma knowledge, reasoning about asthma, use of episode management and risk reduction behaviors, acceptance of asthma in taking control and vigilance, and participation in life activities.
Evaluation of urine tumor-associated trypsin inhibitor, CYFRA 21-1, and urinary bladder cancer antigen for detection of high-grade bladder carcinoma.

OBJECTIVES
To assess the value of urine tumor-associated trypsin inhibitor (TATI), CYFRA 21-1, which measures cytokeratin 19 fragment, and urinary bladder carcinoma antigen (UBC) for the detection of high-grade bladder carcinoma.


METHODS
A total of 160 individuals were enrolled in the present study. Of these, 80 were patients with proven primary high-grade urothelial bladder cancer (group 1), 40 were healthy volunteers (group 2), and 40 had history of benign urologic disease (group 3). All were evaluated with respect to urinary TATI, CYFRA 21-1, and UBC levels. All these markers were evaluated using commercial kits. Cytology was also performed.


RESULTS
The TATI measurements were significant greater in group 1 compared with groups 2 and 3. The cutoff point used for TATI, CYFRA 21-1, and UBC was 22, 2.8, and 12 microg/L, respectively. The overall sensitivity was 85.7% for TATI, 61.9% for CYFRA 21-1, 50% for UBC, and 42.8% for cytology. TATI was significantly more sensitive in Stage Ta (80%) than was CYFRA 21-1 (32%), UBC (12%), and cytology (20%). TATI was also more sensitive compared with other tumor markers for Stage T1 but not for Stage T2 or T3.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of our study have shown that TATI is a promising urinary tumor marker for high-grade urothelial bladder cancer. It is more sensitive than CYFRA 21-1, UBC, and cytology for Stage Ta and T1 bladder cancer.
Maximum entropy modeling of species geographic distributions

The availability of detailed environmental data, together with inexpensive and powerful computers, has fueled a rapid increase in predictive modeling of species environmental requirements and geographic distributions. For some species, detailed presence/absence occurrence data are available, allowing the use of a variety of standard statistical techniques. However, absence data are not available for most species. In this paper, we introduce the use of the maximum entropy method (Maxent) for modeling species geographic distributions with presence-only data. Maxent is a general-purpose machine learning method with a simple and precise mathematical formulation, and it has a number of aspects that make it well-suited for species distribution modeling. In mmals: a diction emaining outline eceiver dicating ts present ues horder to investigate the efficacy of the method, here we perform a continental-scale case study using two Neotropical ma lowland species of sloth, Bradypus variegatus, and a small montane murid rodent, Microryzomys minutus. We compared Maxent predictions with those of a commonly used presence-only modeling method, the Genetic Algorithm for Rule-Set Pre (GARP). We made predictions on 10 random subsets of the occurrence records for both species, and then used the r localities for testing. Both algorithms provided reasonable estimates of the species’ range, far superior to the shaded maps available in field guides. All models were significantly better than random in both binomial tests of omission and r operating characteristic (ROC) analyses. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was almost always higher for Maxent, in better discrimination of suitable versus unsuitable areas for the species. The Maxent modeling approach can be used in i form for many applications with presence-only datasets, and merits further research and development. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
The Impact of Social Networking Sites on the Employer-Employee Relationship

The effects that internet-based social networking sites (SNS) have on the labour market have yet to be investigated. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether and in what way SNS are changing the nature of the relationships between employers on the one hand, and employees and job applicants on the other. By means of an online survey, information was collected about attitudes towards data security, self-marketing and career development. This study suggests that employees who use social networking sites as self-marketing tools aim to build a positive reputation and thus redress the asymmetrical information relationship with employers. The survey also shows that data security plays an important role.