LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of the Ventral Epidural Spreading in Modified Interlaminar Approach and Transforaminal Approach: A Randomized, Double-Blind Study.

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effectiveness of a modified interlaminar (MIL) approach for accessing ventral epidural space compared with the transforaminal (TF) approach.


STUDY DESIGN
Randomized double blinded control trial


METHODS
Eighty-four patients with lumbar radicular pain were randomly assigned into two groups in which drug delivery to the ventral epidural space was performed through either the MIL (n = 42) or the TF approach (n = 42). Within each group, subgroups were classified according to the dominant pathology as assessed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): bulging disc, herniated nucleus pulposus (HNP), and foraminal stenosis. Degenerative changes such as scoliosis and facet hypertrophy was also evaluated.


RESULTS
The overall accessibility to the ventral epidural space was similar between the two groups. In cases with foraminal stenosis, the success rate of ventral epidural spreading was significantly higher in the MIL group compared with the TF group (TF approach = 50.00% vs MIL approach = 100.00%, P = 0.013). Medial spread of contrast was more dominant in the MIL group (P < 0.001). There was no significant difference between the two groups in overall clinical outcome. The total success rate of accessing the ventral epidural space in degenerative bony changes was higher in the MIL group than in the TF group (TF approach = 57.1% vs MIL approach = 84.6%), but the difference was not statistically significant.


CONCLUSION
In cases where access to the ventral epidural space by conventional approach is limited, our MIL approach can be considered a suitable alternative, especially in the case of foraminal stenosis.
Impaired prefrontal sleep spindle regulation of hippocampal-dependent learning in older adults.

A hallmark feature of cognitive aging is a decline in the ability to form new memories. Parallel to these cognitive impairments are marked disruptions in sleep physiology. Despite recent evidence in young adults establishing a role for sleep spindles in restoring hippocampal-dependent memory formation, the possibility that disrupted sleep physiology contributes to age-related decline in hippocampal-dependent learning remains unknown. Here, we demonstrate that reduced prefrontal sleep spindles by over 40% in older adults statistically mediates the effects of old age on next day episodic learning, such that the degree of impaired episodic learning is explained by the extent of impoverished prefrontal sleep spindles. In addition, prefrontal spindles significantly predicted the magnitude of impaired next day hippocampal activation, thereby determining the influence of spindles on post-sleep learning capacity. These data support the hypothesis that disrupted sleep physiology contributes to age-related cognitive decline in later life, the consequence of which has significant treatment intervention potential.
Bioadhesive film formed from a novel organic-inorganic hybrid gel for transdermal drug delivery system.

A novel organic-inorganic hybrid film-forming agent for TDDS was developed by a modified poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) gel using γ-(glycidyloxypropyl)trimethoxysilane (GPTMS) as an inorganic-modifying agent, poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) as a tackifier and glycerol (GLY) as a plasticizer. The prepared gels can be applied to the skin by a coating method and in situ form very thin and transparent films with good performance, comfortable feel and cosmetic attractiveness. The key properties of the bioadhesive films produced from the hybrid gels were investigated and the results showed that the incorporation of appropriate GPTMS (GPTMS/(PVA+GPTMS) in the range of 20-30%) into the PVA matrix not only can significantly enhance mechanical strength and skin adhesion properties of the resultant film, but also can decrease the crystalline regions of PVA and hence facilitate the diffusion of water vapor and drug. Furthermore, the investigations into in vivo skin irritation suggested the films caused non-irritation to skin after topical application for 120 h. In conclusion, the bioadhesive films formed from organic-inorganic hybrid gels possessed very good qualities for application on the skin and may provide a promising formulation for TDDS, especially when the patient acceptability from an aesthetic perspective of the dosage form is a prime consideration.
Annual survey on the level and extent of usage of electronic health records in government-related hospitals in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia.

This study aims to determine the level and extent of usage of electronic health records (EHRs) in government-related hospitals in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. Another aim is to develop a Web site to serve as a forum of exchange on the development of EHRs in Saudi Arabia. All government hospitals (n = 19) in the province were included. The information technology (IT) managers in those hospitals made up the target population. An online questionnaire was developed, and the IT managers in all 19 government hospitals were invited to participate in the survey. The responses from the online survey were downloaded and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Of the 19 hospitals, only three (15.8 percent) use EHRs. These hospitals were established in 1984, 1995, and 2005. All three of these hospitals have implemented the same EHR software and were using it successfully, and all three were using the three core features of laboratory, radiology, and pharmacy electronic modules. Some modules were present in the EHR system but were underutilized. Some of the main challenges faced by the IT managers in implementing EHRs in their hospitals were related to the uncooperative attitudes of some physicians and nurses toward EHRs. In fulfillment of the second aim of the study, a Web site, http://ehr2011.weebly.com, was developed to serve as a forum for exchange of information on the development of EHRs in Saudi Arabia. The government of Saudi Arabia has prioritized the development of eHealth (health information technology) and allocated committed funding for it during 2008-2011. During this period, some sectors of government made highly commendable efforts in developing eHealth services. Along these lines, we had hoped to see higher uptake of EHRs than the 15.8 percent found in this study. The rate of implementing EHRs in government hospitals should be accelerated. The aim should be on achieving some basic EHR functionality in these hospitals, and once this has been achieved, additional functionality can be pursued in stages.
Developmental timing of trauma exposure and emotion dysregulation in adulthood: Are there sensitive periods when trauma is most harmful?

BACKGROUND
This study aimed to determine whether there were sensitive periods when a first exposure to trauma was most associated with emotion dysregulation symptoms in adulthood.


METHODS
Adult participants came from a public urban hospital in Atlanta, GA (n = 1944). Lifetime trauma exposure was assessed using the Traumatic Events Inventory (TEI). Multiple linear regression models were used to assess the association between the developmental timing of first trauma exposure, classified as early childhood (ages 0-5), middle childhood (ages 6-10), adolescence (ages 11-18), and adulthood (ages 19+), on adult emotion dysregulation symptoms, measured using the abbreviated Emotion Dysregulation Scale.


RESULTS
Participants exposed to trauma at any age had higher emotion dysregulation scores than their unexposed peers. However, participants first exposed to child maltreatment or interpersonal violence during middle childhood had higher emotion dysregulation scores relative to those first exposed during other developmental stages; these developmental timing differences were detected even after controlling for sociodemographic factors, exposure to other trauma, and frequency of exposure to trauma. Further, after controlling for current psychiatric symptoms, the effect of other interpersonal trauma exposure in middle childhood was diminished and first exposure to other interpersonal violence in early childhood was associated with significantly lower emotion dysregulation symptoms.


LIMITATIONS
Limitations of this study include the use of retrospective reports and absence of complete information about trauma severity or duration.


CONCLUSION
These findings should be replicated in other population-based samples with prospective designs to confirm the importance of developmental timing of trauma on later emotion dysregulation.
Fingerprint classification using one-vs-all support vector machines dynamically ordered with naive Bayes classifiers

Fingerprint classification reduces the number of possible matches in automated fingerprint identification systems by categorizing fingerprints into predefined classes. Support vector machines (SVMs) are widely used in pattern classification and have produced high accuracy when performing fingerprint classification. In order to effectively apply SVMs to multi-class fingerprint classification systems, we propose a novel method in which the SVMs are generated with the one-vs-all (OVA) scheme and dynamically ordered with naïve Bayes classifiers. This is necessary to break the ties that frequently occur when working with multi-class classification systems that use OVA SVMs. More specifically, it uses representative fingerprint features as the FingerCode, singularities and pseudo ridges to train the OVA SVMs and naïve Bayes classifiers. The proposed method has been validated on the NIST-4 database and produced a classification accuracy of 90.8% for five-class classification with the statistical significance. The results show the benefits of integrating different fingerprint features as well as the usefulness of the proposed method in multi-class fingerprint classification. 2007 Pattern Recognition Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
EXPLORING THE PARENTING DIFFICULTIES OF STEPMOTHERS IN HONG KONG: IMPLICATIONS FOR SOCIAL WORKERS AND TEACHERS

The number of divorce cases in Hong Kong is soaring in recent years and the stepfamily is an emerging family structure. This exploratory study is aimed at examining difficulties of parenting in stepfamilies through interviews with stepmothers, social workers and teachers. Reports of these stepmothers reveal that they feel overloaded in the stepfamilies and that their spouses do not give them enough support. They complain that their in-laws and relatives create stress rather than offer help in child management. The findings indicated that there are difficulties in communication between the couples, problems between stepmother-stepchild, and in-law relationships. It is suggested that social workers and teachers should cooperate to deal with cultural stereotyping of stepfamily and change negative social attitudes towards members of stepfamilies. Efforts should also be made by these professionals to identify stepmother-stepchild relationship problems with greater sensitivity, and regularity. 香港近年离婚个案数字飚升，再婚家庭成逐渐涌现的家庭架构。这个研究目的是透过访问继母、社工和教师检视再婚家庭的亲职问题。被访继母感到家务繁重、配偶支持不足，在管教子女方面，她们的翁姑及姻亲没有给予援助反而给她们加添压力。资料显示再婚家庭内的夫妇沟通出现困难，继母和继子女及翁姑姻亲关系亦有问题。社工和教师应携手处理文化上将再婚家庭典型化的问题，改变社会人士对这类家庭的负面态度，醒觉地识别继母和继子女关系的问题予以适切介入。
Dimensionality, reliability, and validity of the revised fibromyalgia impact questionnaire in two Spanish samples.

OBJECTIVE
The present study attempted to fill a research gap by performing the first dimensionality analysis of the Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQR) using exploratory and confirmatory techniques. A second objective was to report on the reliability and construct validity of the FIQR in Spanish patients.


METHODS
FIQR data from a sample of adult fibromyalgia patients (n = 113) were analyzed using principal components analysis (PCA). Subsequently, a set of confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) was conducted in another sample (n = 179) to analyze the goodness of fit of various factor models. FIQR reliability was assessed by computing Cronbach's alpha and coefficient H. Construct validity was evaluated by comparing the FIQR scores of participants categorized by employment status.


RESULTS
According to the PCA, the FIQR structure might be described as having 1 global factor of functional impairment. Although subsequent CFAs confirmed that 1 factor accounted for the greatest proportion of common variance in the FIQR items, a confirmatory bifactor analysis indicated that the items were multidimensional because of their simultaneous significant loading on specific factors. The Cronbach's alpha values of the FIQR domains were very good (>0.80) and the H estimate for the FIQR total score was excellent (0.93). Overall, the FIQR domains were able to distinguish between patients differing in employment status (working outside the home versus on sick leave).


CONCLUSION
Our results indicate that the Spanish version of the FIQR has a complex factor structure, has excellent reliability, and shows good construct validity.
Research strategies in Japan

The membership and working groups of the Japanese Society of Medical Electronics and Biomedical Engineering (USMEBE) are described. The output of medical engineering equipment since the JSMEBE was founded in 1962 and legislation regarding clinical engineering technicians are discussed. Important future issues for biomedical engineering are outlined.<<ETX>>
Self-calibration of walking speed estimations using smartphone sensors

Activity recognition for human behavior monitoring is an important research topic in the field of mHealth, especially for aspects of physical activity linked to fitness and disease progress, such as walking and walking speed. Sensors embedded into smartphones recently enabled new opportunities for non invasive activity and walking speed inference. In this paper, we propose a data fusion approach to the problem of physical activity recognition and walking speed estimation using smartphones. Our architecture combines different sensors to take into account practical issues arising in realistic settings, such as variability in phone location and orientation. Additionally, we introduce a novel automatic calibration methodology combining accelerometer and GPS data while walking in unconstrained settings, in order to reduce walking speed estimation error at the individual level. The proposed system was validated in 20 participants while performing sedentary, household, ambulatory and sport activities, in both indoor laboratory and outdoor self-paced settings. We show that by combining accelerometer and gyroscope data, smartphone location can be distinguished between the two most commonly used positions (bag and pocket), regardless of phone orientation (97 % f-score). Location-specific activity recognition models can significantly improve activity recognition performance (p = 0.0010 <; α), especially helping in distinguishing activities involving similar motion patterns (91 % f-score overall, improvements between 4% and 11 % for walking and biking activities). Our proposed method to personalize walking speed estimates, by automatically calibrating walking speed estimation models during a short self-paced walk, reduced walking speed estimation error by 8.8% on average (p = 0.0012 <; α).
Programming collective intelligence - building smart Web 2.0 applications

Want to tap the power behind search rankings, product recommendations, social bookmarking, and online matchmaking? This fascinating book demonstrates how you can build Web 2.0 applications to mine the enormous amount of...
Symptomatology and family functioning in children and adolescents with comorbid anxiety and depression.

OBJECTIVE
Previous studies suggest that comorbid anxiety and depressive disorders in youth are associated with more severe symptomatology and family dysfunction than either disorder alone. Our aim was to replicate and extend past findings by expanding the definition of comorbidity to include comorbid subthreshold symptoms (i.e., symptoms fall below the diagnostic criteria cut-off of a disorder).


METHOD
A clinic-based sample of 193 youth (aged 4-18) and maternal caregivers completed measures assessing the youth's internalizing symptoms and family functioning.


RESULTS
Comorbid youth endorsed more severe anxiety symptoms and family dysfunction than anxiety-only youth. By contrast, comorbid youth did not endorse more severe depression symptoms or family dysfunction compared to youth with depression only. Similar results were found for maternal reports of internalizing symptoms, but maternal reports of family functioning yielded no group differences.


CONCLUSIONS
This study replicates past findings that the presence of comorbid depression in anxious youth is associated with severe anxiety and family dysfunction. Our findings also suggest that subthreshold depressive symptoms in anxious youth relate to the severity of symptomatology and family dysfunction reported, but subthreshold anxiety symptoms in depressed youth do not. Longitudinal studies are needed to further clarify the etiology and developmental course of this comorbidity.
A High Performance CRF Model for Clothes Parsing

 Simple Features [1] o Logistic regression trained for one-vs-all o Color histograms (RGB and CIE L*a*b) o Texture histograms (Gabor filters) o Location features (relative position to 2D pose)  Person Mask o Foreground/background segmentation by [3] o Avoids false positives on background  Clothelets o Pose-conditioned garment likelihood o Masks for all garments are averaged based on 2D pose bounding boxes  Shape Features o Logistic regression trained for one-vs-all o Enriched SIFT descriptors with second-order pooling [3] CRF Model Superpixel labels: yi ∈ {1,...,C} Limb segment labels: lp ∈ {1,...,C} Edgar Simo-Serra1 Sanja Fidler2 Francesc Moreno-Noguer1 Raquel Urtasun2 A High Performance CRF Model for Clothes Parsing
Formulation and drying of miconazole and itraconazole nanosuspensions.

Miconazole and itraconazole possess adequate membrane permeability, but only slight water solubility, which limits their bioavailability and antifungal effect. To increase their dissolution rate, the compounds were nanoground by media milling to produce nanosuspensions with mean particle size of approximately 210 nm and stabilized with sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) in combinations with either cellulose ethers (HPC or HPMC) or poloxamers. During storage for 3 months at 25 °C, HPC/SDS stabilized more efficiently miconazole nanoparticles, while poloxamer 407/SDS performed better with itraconazole nanosuspensions. The stabilizing efficiency of the excipients was explained by physical-chemical drug-excipients interactions. The HPC/SDS-stabilized nanosuspensions were spray-dried or freeze-dried with and without the matrix formers mannitol or microcrystalline cellulose (MCC). In absence of matrix former, itraconazole particles agglomerated more extensively than miconazole particles, resulting in a low dissolution rate. Dissolution of the spray- or freeze-dried miconazole nanosuspension was enhanced in presence of mannitol or MCC (drug substance:excipient ratio of 1:1, w/w), as compared to the coarse drug suspension (twice the amount dissolved after 10 and 20 min). Spray-drying itraconazole nanosuspension in presence of mannitol or MCC also yielded fast dissolution (60% dissolved in less than 10 min as compared to 30-45 min with the coarse suspension). Freeze-dried itraconazole nanosuspensions did generally not dissolve substantially faster than freeze-dried coarse suspension. In conclusion, we were able to process miconazole and itraconazole successfully and under similar conditions into dry nanoparticulate drug products with enhanced in vitro performance.
A View of the Origins and Development of Prolog

Dealing with failure is easy: Work hard to improve. Success is also easy to handle: You've solved the wrong problem. Work hard to improve.
Structure and evolution of ribonuclease P RNA in Gram-positive bacteria.

The sequences and structures of RNase P RNAs of some Gram-positive bacteria, e.g. Bacillus subtilis, are very different than those of other bacteria. In order to expand our understanding of the structure and evolution of RNase P RNA in Gram-positive bacteria, gene sequences encoding RNase P RNAs from 10 additional species from this evolutionary group have been determined, doubling the number of sequences available for comparative analysis. The enlarged data set allows refinement of the secondary structure model of these unusual RNase P RNAs and the identification of potential tertiary interactions between P10.1 and L12, and between L5.1 and L15.1. The newly-obtained sequences suggest that RNase P RNA underwent an abrupt, dramatic restructuring in the ancestry of the low-G+C Gram-positive bacteria after the divergence of the branches leading to the 'Clostridia and relatives' and the remaining low-G+C Gram-positive species. The unusual structures of the RNase P RNAs of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and M.floccularre are apparently derived from RNAs with Bacillus-like structure rather than from intermediate, partially restructured ancestral RNAs. The structure of the RNase P RNA from the photosynthetic Heliobacillus mobilis supports the relationship of this specie with Bacillus and Staphylococcus rather than the 'Clostridia and relatives' as suggested by the sequences of their small-subunit ribosomal RNAs.
megasat: automated inference of microsatellite genotypes from sequence data.

megasat is software that enables genotyping of microsatellite loci using next-generation sequencing data. Microsatellites are amplified in large multiplexes, and then sequenced in pooled amplicons. megasat reads sequence files and automatically scores microsatellite genotypes. It uses fuzzy matches to allow for sequencing errors and applies decision rules to account for amplification artefacts, including nontarget amplification products, replication slippage during PCR (amplification stutter) and differential amplification of alleles. An important feature of megasat is the generation of histograms of the length-frequency distributions of amplification products for each locus and each individual. These histograms, analogous to electropherograms traditionally used to score microsatellite genotypes, enable rapid evaluation and editing of automatically scored genotypes. megasat is written in Perl, runs on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux systems, and includes a simple graphical user interface. We demonstrate megasat using data from guppy, Poecilia reticulata. We genotype 1024 guppies at 43 microsatellites per run on an Illumina MiSeq sequencer. We evaluated the accuracy of automatically called genotypes using two methods, based on pedigree and repeat genotyping data, and obtained estimates of mean genotyping error rates of 0.021 and 0.012. In both estimates, three loci accounted for a disproportionate fraction of genotyping errors; conversely, 26 loci were scored with 0-1 detected error (error rate ≤0.007). Our results show that with appropriate selection of loci, automated genotyping of microsatellite loci can be achieved with very high throughput, low genotyping error and very low genotyping costs.
2,3-diphosphoglycerate binding of Zn2+ and Al3+

Abstract The blood red cell contains millimolar amounts of 2,3-diphosphoglycerate, yet no metal ion stability constants appear to have been determined. We show that in the free ligand the 2-phospho group is about six times more basic than the 3-phospho group. We have determined the stability constants for the binding of Zn 2+ which occurs at about 0.2 mM in the red cell, and of Al 3+ which reduces red cell size and inhibits haemoglobin synthesis. At physiological pH both metal ions occur predominantly as MA 2 complexes. The free Zn 2+ concentration permitted within the red cell by the 2:1 complex is about 0.3 μm. 2,3-Diphosphoglycerate binds Al 3+ strongly enough so that at equilibrium there should be comparable concentrations of Al 3+ on both sides of the red cell membrane.