LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Effect of home-based HIV counselling and testing on stigma and risky sexual behaviours: serial cross-sectional studies in Uganda

BACKGROUND
A large, district-wide, home-based HIV counselling and testing (HBHCT) programme was implemented in Bushenyi district of Uganda from 2004 to 2007. This programme provided free HBHCT services to all consenting adults of Bushenyi district and had a very high uptake and acceptability. We measured population-level changes in knowledge of HIV status, stigma and HIV-risk behaviours before and after HBHCT to assess whether widespread HBHCT had an effect on trends of risky sexual behaviours and on stigma and discrimination towards HIV.


METHODS
Serial cross-sectional surveys were carried out before and after the implementation of HBHCT programme in Bushenyi district of Uganda. A total of 1402 randomly selected adults (18 to 49 years) were interviewed in the baseline survey. After the implementation, a different set of randomly selected 1562 adults was interviewed using the same questionnaire. Data was collected on socio-demographic characteristics, sexual behaviour, whether respondents had ever tested for HIV and stigma and discrimination towards HIV/AIDS.


RESULTS
The proportion of people who had ever tested for HIV increased from 18.6% to 62% (p<0.001). Among people who had ever tested, the proportion of people who shared HIV test result with a sexual partner increased from 41% to 57% (p<0.001). The proportion of persons who wanted infection status of a family member not to be revealed decreased from 68% to 57% (p<0.001). Indicators of risk behaviour also improved; the proportion of people who exchanged money for sex reduced from 12% to 4% (p<0.001), who used a condom when money was exchanged during a sexual act increased from 39% to 80% (p<0.001) and who reported genital ulcer/discharge decreased from 22% to 10% (p<0.001).


CONCLUSION
These data suggest that HBHCT rapidly increased the uptake of HCT and may have led to reduction in high-risk behaviours at population level as well as reduction in stigma and discrimination. Because HBCT programmes are cost-effective, they should be considered for implementation in delivery of HIV services especially in areas where access to HCT is low.
Hybrid thoracoscopic surgical and transvenous catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation.

OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility, safety, and clinical outcomes up to 1 year in patients undergoing combined simultaneous thoracoscopic surgical and transvenous catheter atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation.


BACKGROUND
The combination of the transvenous endocardial approach with the thoracoscopic epicardial approach in a single AF ablation procedure overcomes the limitations of both techniques and should result in better outcomes.


METHODS
A cohort of 26 consecutive patients with AF who underwent hybrid thoracoscopic surgical and transvenous catheter ablation were followed, with follow-up of up to 1 year.


RESULTS
Twenty-six patients (42% with persistent AF) underwent successful hybrid procedures. There were no complications. The mean follow-up period was 470 ± 154 days. In 23% of the patients, the epicardial lesions were not transmural, and endocardial touch-up was necessary. One-year success, defined according to the Heart Rhythm Society, European Heart Rhythm Association, and European Cardiac Arrhythmia Society consensus statement for the catheter and surgical ablation of AF, was 93% for patients with paroxysmal AF and 90% for patients with persistent AF. Two patients underwent catheter ablation for recurrent AF or left atrial flutter after the hybrid procedure.


CONCLUSIONS
A combined transvenous endocardial and thoracoscopic epicardial ablation procedure for AF is feasible and safe, with a single-procedure success rate of 83% at 1 year.
A Survey of Network Function Virtualization Security

Network Function Virtualization (NFV) provides many benefits to consumers because it is a cost-efficient evolution of legacy networks, allowing the enhancement and extension of networks in quick and low cost manner since the functions of the network will be provided through virtualization. However, security issues are a major concern for NFV users. This paper goes over different security threats of NFV and some of the countermeasures to mitigate these security threats. Also, we define patterns as a way of describing security solutions in an abstract and generic way. Lastly, we provide some of the security research directions in this area.
Effectiveness and underlying mechanisms of a group-based cognitive behavioural therapy-based indicative prevention program for children with elevated anxiety levels

BACKGROUND
Anxiety is a problem for many children, particularly because of its negative consequences not only on the wellbeing of the child, but also on society. Adequate prevention and treatment might be the key in tackling this problem. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) has been found effective for treating anxiety disorders. "Coping Cat" is one of the few evidence-based CBT programs designed to treat anxiety symptoms in children. The main aim of this project is to conduct a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) to evaluate the effectiveness of a Dutch version of Coping Cat as an indicative group-based prevention program. The second aim is to gain insight into the mechanisms underlying its effectiveness.


METHODS/DESIGN
Coping Cat will be tested in Dutch primary school children grades five through eight (ages 7 to 13) with elevated levels of anxiety. This RCT has two conditions: 130 children will be randomly assigned to the experimental (N=65, Coping Cat) and control groups (N=65, no program). All children and their mothers will be asked to complete baseline, post intervention, and 3-month follow-up assessments. In addition, children in both the experimental and control group will be asked to complete 12 weekly questionnaires matched to the treatment sessions. Main outcome measure will be the child's anxiety symptoms level (SCAS). Four potential mediators will be examined, namely active coping, positive cognitive restructuring, self efficacy and cognitions about ones coping ability (from now on coping cognitions).


DISCUSSION
It is hypothesized that children in the experimental condition will experience reduced levels of anxiety in comparison with the control group. Further, active coping, positive cognitive restructuring, and coping cognitions are expected to mediate program effectiveness. If Coping Cat proves effective as a prevention program and working mechanisms can be found, this group-based approach might lead to the development of a cost-effective program suitable for prevention purposes that would be easily implemented on a large scale.


TRIAL REGISTRATION
Nederlands Trial Register NTR3818.
Make it real: Effective floating-point reasoning via exact arithmetic

Floating-point arithmetic is widely used in scientific computing. While many programmers are subliminally aware that floating-point numbers only approximate the reals, few are cognizant of the dangers this entails for programming. Such dangers range from tolerable rounding errors in sequential programs, to unexpected, divergent control flow in parallel code. To address these problems, we present a decision procedure for floating-point arithmetic (FPA) that exploits the proximity to real arithmetic (RA), via a loss-less reduction from FPA to RA. Our procedure does not involve any form of bit-blasting or bit-vectorization, and can thus generate much smaller back-end decision problems, albeit in a more complex logic. This tradeoff is beneficial for the exact and reliable analysis of parallel scientific software, which tends to give rise to large but benignly structured formulas. We have implemented a prototype decision engine and present encouraging results analyzing such software for numerical accuracy.
Permanent molar pulpotomy with a new endodontic cement: A case series

The aim of this case series was to determine the clinical and radiographic success rate of pulpotomy, with new endodontic cement (NEC), in human mature permanent molar teeth. Twelve molars with established irreversible pulpitis were selected from patients 14 - 62 years old. The selection criteria included carious pulp exposure with a positive history of lingering pain. After isolation, caries removal, and pulp exposure, pulpotomy with NEC was performed and a permanent restoration was immediately placed. At the first recall (+1 day) no patients reported postoperative pain. One wisdom tooth had been extracted after two months because of failure in coronal restoration. Eleven patients were available for the second recall, with a mean time of 15.8 months. Clinical and radiographic examination revealed that all teeth were functional and free of signs and symptoms. Histological examination of the extracted teeth revealed complete dentin bridge formation and a normal pulp. Although the results favored the use of NEC, more studies with larger samples and a longer recall period were suggested, to justify the use of this novel material for treatment of irreversible pulpitis in human permanent molar teeth.
Surface microstructures and high-temperature high-pressure corrosion behavior of N18 zirconium alloy induced by high current pulsed electron beam irradiation

Abstract The aim of present paper was to study the microstructural evolution and the high-temperature high-pressure corrosion behavior of N18 zirconium alloy prior and after high-current pulsed electron beam (HCPEB) surface irradiation. Observations of microstructures showed that after HCPEB irradiation, the surface layer of the sample was melted, inside which gradually refined grains, martensites and their internal twin substructures were obtained. Meanwhile, second-phase particles (SPPs) were dissolved into the matrix within the modified layer, and alloying elements Fe, Cr, Nb were supersaturated in Zr-based solid solution. Besides, high residual compressive stress was unceasingly accumulated in the surface layer with the increasing of pulses. After exposed at 500 °C/10.3 MPa superheated steam for 30 days, the corrosion resistance of multiple-pulsed samples, particularly the 25-pulsed one, was obviously higher than that of the initial sample. The combined action of high residual compressive stress, supersaturated alloying elements, selective purification effect and abundant structure defects in the modified layer helped improve the corrosion resistance.
Handbook for Shipboard Sedimentologists

Material in this publication may be copied without restraint for In some cases, orders for copies may require a payment for postage and handling. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation, the participating agencies,
Acquiring COTS Software Selection Requirements

Today’s need for rapid software development has generated a great interest in employing Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) software products as a way of managing cost, developing time, and effort. With an abundance of COTS software packages to choose from, the problem now is how to systematically evaluate, rank, and select a COTS product that best meets the software project requirements and at the same time can leverage off the current corporate information technology architectural environment. This paper describes a systematic process for decision support in evaluating and ranking COTS software. Performed right after the requirements analysis, this process provides the evaluators with more concise, structural, and step-by-step activities for determining the best COTS software product with manageable risk. In addition, the process is presented in phases that are flexible to allow for customization or tailoring to meet various projects’ requirements.
Fundamental models for fuel cell engineering.

3.8.2. Temperature Distribution Measurements 4749 3.8.3. Two-Phase Visualization 4750 3.8.4. Experimental Validation 4751 3.9. Modeling the Catalyst Layer at Pore Level 4751 3.10. Summary and Outlook 4752 4. Direct Methanol Fuel Cells 4753 4.1. Technical Challenges 4754 4.1.1. Methanol Oxidation Kinetics 4754 4.1.2. Methanol Crossover 4755 4.1.3. Water Management 4755 4.1.4. Heat Management 4756 4.2. DMFC Modeling 4756 4.2.1. Needs for Modeling 4756 4.2.2. DMFC Models 4756 4.3. Experimental Diagnostics 4757 4.4. Model Validation 4758 4.5. Summary and Outlook 4760 5. Solid Oxide Fuel Cells 4760 5.1. SOFC Models 4761 5.2. Summary and Outlook 4762 6. Closing Remarks 4763 7. Acknowledgments 4763 8. References 4763
Genetic liability to fractures in the elderly.

BACKGROUND
The genetic impact on the causation of osteoporotic fractures is unclear. A large twin study is ideally suited to determine the genetic liability to categories of fracture at various ages.


METHODS
A cohort of all 33 432 Swedish twins born from 1896 to 1944 was used to evaluate the genetic liability to fracture occurrence in the elderly. The Swedish Inpatient Registry and computer-assisted telephone interviews enabled us to identify 6021 twins with any fracture, 3599 with an osteoporotic fracture, and 1055 with a hip fracture after the age of 50 years.


RESULTS
Genetic variation in liability to fracture differed considerably by type of fracture and age. Less than 20% of the overall age-adjusted fracture variance was explained by genetic variation. The age-adjusted heritability of any osteoporotic fracture was slightly greater (0.27; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.09-0.28), and for hip fracture alone, it was 0.48 (95% CI, 0.28-0.57). Heritability was not attenuated after further adjustment for several known osteoporotic covariates but was considerably greater for first hip fractures before the age of 69 years (0.68; 95% CI, 0.41-0.78) and between 69 and 79 years (0.47; 95% CI, 0.04-0.62) than for hip fractures after 79 years of age (0.03; 95% CI, 0.00-0.26).


CONCLUSIONS
The importance of genetic factors in propensity to fractures depends on fracture site and age. The search for susceptibility genes and environmental factors that may modulate expression of these genes in younger elderly patients with hip fracture, the most devastating osteoporotic fracture, should be encouraged. Prevention of fractures in the oldest elderly should focus on lifestyle interventions.
Research Guides: ENGS 7: Changing Climate: What to Keep in Mind

This course explores the published scientific literature on the nature and cause of climate change, potential impacts on us, and the implications for our nation's energy issues.
Hyaluronic acid gel (Restylane) filler for facial rhytids: lessons learned from American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery member treatment of 286 patients.

PURPOSE
To review injection techniques and patient satisfaction with injection of Restylane in various facial areas by American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery members.


METHODS
Data from 286 patients treated with Restylane in nine American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery practices were abstracted to a spreadsheet for analysis.


RESULTS
Nine practices performed Restylane injections for 8.8 months on average (range, 2 to 28 months). Average practice volume per patient was 1.2 ml (range, 0.7 to 2.1 ml). Nine of nine practices injected the nasolabial and melolabial folds, 9 of 9 practices injected the lips, and 6 of 9 injected the glabella. Only 2 of 9 practices injected other fillers concurrently. Botox was injected concurrently by 8 of 9 practices. On a scale of 1 to 10, physicians rated average patient discomfort during Restylane injection 4.6 with topical anesthesia and 2.1 with injectable lidocaine, with or without topical anesthesia. The end point for injection was determined by visual cues, volume of injection, extrusion of the product, and palpation. "Problematic" complications, including bruising, swelling, bumpiness, and redness each had an incidence of 5% or less. Patient satisfaction on a scale of 1 to 10 had an average rating of 8.1, compared with that of Botox injection (8.9), upper blepharoplasty (8.9), and collagen injection (6.6). The source of Restylane patients was estimated to be existing Botox patients (45%); existing non-Botox patients (18%); word of mouth (14%); and new patients for other services (13%).


CONCLUSIONS
Injection techniques, volume, end points, and anesthesia vary for different facial areas and between practices. Patients experience mild to moderate injection discomfort that is lessened with injectable lidocaine. Self-limited problems occur in about 5% of patients. Physician-determined patient satisfaction is perceived to be higher than that of collagen injection but slightly lower than that of botulinum toxin injection. The major source of Restylane patients was from existing practice patients, especially botulinum toxin patients.
Potentiated sympathetic and hemodynamic responses to alcohol in hypertensive vs. normotensive individuals.

OBJECTIVE
Alcohol is associated with acute increases in muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) in normal individuals. The effects of alcohol on MSNA in patients with hypertension are unknown. Using a randomized, placebo-controlled study design, we tested the hypothesis that there is a differential effect of acute alcohol consumption on cardiovascular function in hypertensive patients compared with normotensive controls.


METHODS
We examined the effects of oral alcohol intake (1.0 g/kg body weight) and placebo on blood pressure, heart rate, and MSNA in 13 newly diagnosed hypertensive patients and 11 normotensive controls. The two sessions were performed in random order, each study on a separate day.


RESULTS
Baseline MSNA was significantly elevated in the hypertensive patients as compared to the controls (38 ± 2 vs. 28 ± 2 bursts/min; P < 0.01). Placebo had no significant effect on MSNA, blood pressure, or heart rate in either group. In normotensive individuals, alcohol had no significant effect on blood pressure (SBP increased by 1 ± 4 mmHg). By contrast, SBP increased after alcohol in hypertensive patients by 24 ± 6 mmHg (P < 0.001 vs. controls). MSNA increased after alcohol in controls by 83 ± 34% (P < 0.01 vs. baseline). MSNA did not change significantly after alcohol in hypertensive patients (16 ± 7%, not significant), despite a profound blood pressure increase, which would be expected to inhibit sympathetic activity.


CONCLUSION
Pressor responses to acute alcohol consumption are potentiated in hypertensive patients compared with normotensive controls. Vasoconstrictor sympathetic tone is not suppressed in hypertensive patients after alcohol, despite the enhanced pressor response. Sympathetic neural mechanisms might contribute to both alcohol-related blood pressure increases and cardiovascular events in hypertensive patients.
Evaluation of a blended learning course for teaching oral radiology to undergraduate dental students.

AIMS
The purpose of this study was to develop and implement a blended course (a combined face-to-face and online instruction) on undergraduate oral radiology and evaluate it by comparing its educational effectiveness (derived from students' performance and answers to questionnaires) to a conventional course's. Students' attitudes concerning the blended methodology were also registered.


METHODOLOGY
An original course was developed and implemented, and its electronic version was uploaded to an e-learning educational platform. The course was attended by two groups of final-year students, who were taught by either the conventional face-to-face methodology or the blended learning methodology. Students answered a series of questionnaires, before and after following the course, regarding their perceptions, attitudes and evaluation of the course. Additionally, they completed knowledge assessment tests and their grades (before and after the course) were compared. Educational effectiveness of the course was determined by analysing the results of the questionnaires and the tests.


RESULTS
Students in the blended group performed significantly better than their colleagues of the conventional group in the post-course knowledge test, and female students of the blended group performed better than male students. Students evaluated high the course content, organisation, educational material, and the blended group students additionally appreciated the course design and clarity of instructions. Students' attitudes towards elements of blended learning (effectiveness, motivation and active engagement) were very positive. Most of the blended group students, who attended the face-to-face meeting (approx. 91%), evaluated it as helpful for summarising the subject and clarifying difficult issues.


CONCLUSIONS
Blended learning is effective and well evaluated by dental students and can be implemented in undergraduate curriculum for teaching oral radiology.
Maternal Knowledge of Optimal Breastfeeding Practices and Associated Factors in Rural Communities of Arba Minch Zuria

Introduction: Breastfeeding is one of the components of Primary Health Care and considered as natural practices in Ethiopia. However, a wide range of harmful infant feeding practices is documented even after implementations of infant and young child feeding guidelines in 2004. Therefore the major objective of this study was to assess maternal knowledge about optimal breastfeeding practices and associated factors in rural communities of Arba Minch Zuria. Methods: A cross sectional community based study was carried out from January to February, 2012 in Arba Minch Zuria. Quantitative data were collected from 383 mothers supplemented with qualitative data from 10 key informants. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 16.0. Binary logistic regressions were used to see the strength of association between independent and dependent variables using odds ratios and 95% of confidence intervals. Finally a multivariate logistic regression analysis was made to identify the predictors of maternal knowledge about optimal breastfeeding practices. Results: Breastfeeding was considered as a natural gift in Arba Minch Zuria. More than half of mothers (57.2%) initiated breastfeeding within the first hour of delivery and 213 (55.6%) were exclusively breastfed their children for 6 months. Three-hundred forty one (89%) mothers gave colostrum though a small number of mothers considered colostrum as an expired breast milk and discarded it. Maternal knowledge about optimal breastfeeding was positively associated with paternal education level, total number of births, attending antenatal care, having the radio, using family planning and giving birth by health workers. This study also showed there is a positive relationship between maternal knowledge of optimal breastfeeding with exclusive breastfeeding and timely introduction of complementary food. Conclusions: Findings from this study showed that maternal knowledge was directly related with paternal education level, attending antenatal care, having the radio, using family planning and giving birth by health workers. Maternal knowledge had a significant contribution in the promotion of optimal child feeding practices. Promotion of strong community based education and support to ensure optimal infant and young child feeding is recommended for the whole communities with health workers and community leaders to provide counseling and support related to infant and young child feeding practices.
Constructing the Leading Order Terms of the Yang-Mills Schroedinger Functional

The leading short-time behaviour of the Yang-Mills Schroedinger functional is obtained within a local expansion in the fields.