LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Testing for baseline differences in randomized controlled trials: an unhealthy research behavior that is hard to eradicate

BACKGROUND
According to the CONSORT statement, significance testing of baseline differences in randomized controlled trials should not be performed. In fact, this practice has been discouraged by numerous authors throughout the last forty years. During that time span, reporting of baseline differences has substantially decreased in the leading general medical journals. Our own experience in the field of nutrition behavior research however, is that co-authors, reviewers and even editors are still very persistent in their demand for these tests. The aim of this paper is therefore to negate this demand by providing clear evidence as to why testing for baseline differences between intervention groups statistically is superfluous and why such results should not be published.


DISCUSSION
Testing for baseline differences is often propagated because of the belief that it shows whether randomization was successful and it identifies real or important differences between treatment arms that should be accounted for in the statistical analyses. Especially the latter argument is flawed, because it ignores the fact that the prognostic strength of a variable is also important when the interest is in adjustment for confounding. In addition, including prognostic variables as covariates can increase the precision of the effect estimate. This means that choosing covariates based on significance tests for baseline differences might lead to omissions of important covariates and, less importantly, to inclusion of irrelevant covariates in the analysis. We used data from four supermarket trials on the effects of pricing strategies on fruit and vegetables purchases, to show that results from fully adjusted analyses sometimes do appreciably differ from results from analyses adjusted for significant baseline differences only. We propose to adjust for known or anticipated important prognostic variables. These could or should be pre-specified in trial protocols. Subsequently, authors should report results from the fully adjusted as well as crude analyses, especially for dichotomous and time to event data. Based on our arguments, which were illustrated by our findings, we propose that journals in and outside the field of nutrition behavior actively adopt the CONSORT 2010 statement on this topic by not publishing significance tests for baseline differences anymore.
Two medical abortion regimens for late first-trimester termination of pregnancy: a prospective randomized trial.

BACKGROUND
Medical abortion regimens based on the use of either misoprostol alone or in association with mifepristone have shown high efficacy and excellent safety profile in early pregnancy abortion. However, no clear recommendation is available for late first-trimester termination of pregnancy.


STUDY DESIGN
A prospective randomized controlled trial included 122 women seeking medical abortion at 9 to 12 weeks of gestation. Seventy-three patients were given a fixed protocol of 200 mg of mifepristone followed 48 h later by 400 mcg oral misoprostol (Group 1). The second group of 49 patients was administered 800-mcg intravaginal single-dose misoprostol (Group 2). This study sought to compare safety, efficacy and acceptability of these two nonsurgical abortion regimens.


RESULTS
Fifty-nine (80.8%) women in Group 1 had complete abortion vs. 38 (77.4%) women in Group 2 (p=.66). Abdominal pain was observed significantly more often in Group 2 (35/49 (71.4%) vs. 32/73 (43.8%) in Group 1, p<.0001. Medical abortion was equally acceptable among the two groups [37/49 (75.5%) and 55/73 (75.7%), p=.89].


CONCLUSION
For late first-trimester termination, a single 800-mcg vaginal dose of misoprostol seems to be as effective as the mifepristone+misoprostol regimen, with acceptable side effects.
Sexting among young adults.

PURPOSE
Sexting has stirred debate over its legality and safety, but few researchers have documented the relationship between sexting and health. We describe the sexting behavior of young adults in the United States, and examine its association with sexual behavior and psychological well-being.


METHODS
Using an adapted Web version of respondent-driven sampling, we recruited a sample of U.S. young adults (aged 18-24 years, N = 3,447). We examined participant sexting behavior using four categories of sexting: (1) nonsexters, (2) receivers, (3) senders, and (4) two-way sexters. We then assessed the relationships between sexting categories and sociodemographic characteristics, sexual behavior, and psychological well-being.


RESULTS
More than half (57%) of the respondents were nonsexters, 28.2% were two-way sexters, 12.6% were receivers, and 2% were senders. Male respondents were more likely to be receivers than their female counterparts. Sexually active respondents were more likely to be two-way sexters than non-sexually active ones. Among participants who were sexually active in the past 30 days, we found no differences across sexting groups in the number of sexual partners or the number of unprotected sex partners in the past 30 days. We also found no relationship between sexting and psychological well-being.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that sexting is not related to sexual risk behavior or psychological well-being. We discuss the findings of this study and propose directions for further research on sexting.
Role of vasoactive intestinal peptide and pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide in the vaginal wall of women with stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse

Pelvic floor connective tissue degeneration is closely associated with retrogradation of its dominating nerve fibers. We hypothesized that some neuropeptides from pelvic floor tissue might be involved in the pathological progress of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and pelvic organ prolapse (POP) in women. Thirty premenopausal and 31 postmenopausal patients participated in the study. The morphological appearance in the vaginal tissue was examined. The vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide-38 (PACAP) immunoreactivities (ir-VIP, ir-PACAP) were tested by immunohistochemistry and radioimmunoassay. We found that the VIP and PACAP immunostainings were weaker and sparser, and ir-VIP and ir-PACAP levels were significantly decreased in the anterior vaginal wall in the premenopausal and postmenopausal SUI or POP patients. Ir-VIP and ir-PACAP levels were reversely correlated with the age and menopausal status in the SUI or POP patients. Our data suggest that VIP and PACAP may participate in the pathophysiological process of SUI and POP.
Anxiety and outcome evaluation: The good, the bad and the ambiguous

Previous research has indicated that anxious individuals are more prone to evaluate ambiguous information as negative compared to non-anxious individuals. The feedback-related negativity (FRN) component of event-related brain potential (ERP) has been shown to be sensitive to outcome evaluation. The current ERP study aimed to test the hypothesis that the FRNs associated with ambiguous outcomes and negative outcomes are different between high-trait anxiety (HTA) and low-trait anxiety (LTA) individuals. The FRN was measured as a difference wave created across conditions. We found significantly different FRN responses between high-anxious and low-anxious participants in ambiguous outcome condition, as well as in negative outcome condition. Moreover, the HTA group's FRN responses under the ambiguous outcome condition were larger than the negative outcome condition. Nevertheless, the FRN following neutral outcome did not show any difference between the two groups. The present results support the idea that there is link between individual differences in anxiety and ambiguous outcome evaluation, which possibly reflects the adaptive function of anxiety. Additionally, the results indicate that the mechanisms underlying the evaluation of neutral outcomes and ambiguous outcomes might be different from each other.
18.4 A 4.9mΩ-sensitivity mobile electrical impedance tomography IC for early breast-cancer detection system

Approximately 1 in 8 U.S. women will develop breast cancer over the course of her lifetime, and breast cancer death rates are higher than those for any other cancer, besides lung cancer. In 2013, an estimated 232,340 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women in the U.S. and about 39,620 women in the U.S. are expected to die from breast cancer [1]. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), if breast cancer can be detected and treated early, one-third of these cancer deaths could be prevented. For the early detection of breast cancer, X-ray mammography and ultrasonic screening are mainly used in hospitals. However, for personal cancer detection at home, currently, only unscientific palpation can be used, which is not particularly effective for early detection of tumors.
DYNAMICALLY PROPAGATING SHEAR BANDS IN IMPACT-LOADED PRENOTCHED PLATES-II . NUMERICAL

The experimental observations of dynamic failure in the form of propagating shear bands and of the transition in failure mode presented in Part I of this investigation is analyzed. Finite element simulations are carried out for the initiation and propagation of shear-dominated failure in prenotched plates subjected to asymmetric impact loading. Coupled thermomechanical simulations are carried out under the assumption of plane strain. The simulations take into account finite deformations, inertia, heat conduction, thermal softening, strain hardening and strain-rate hardening. The propagation of shear bands is assumed to be governed by a critical plastic strain criterion. The results demonstrate a strong dependence of band propagation speed on impact velocity, in accordance with experimental observations. The calculations reveal an active plastic zone in front of the tip of the propagating shear bands. The size of this zone and the level of the shear stresses inside it do not change significantly with the impact velocity or the speed of shear band propagation. Shear stresses are uniform inside this zone except near the band tip where higher rates of strain prevail. The shear band behind the propagating tip exhibits highly localized deformations and intense heating. Temperature rises are relatively small in the active plastic zone compared with those inside the well-developed shear band behind the propagating tip. The calculations also show shear band speeds and temperature rises that are in good agreement with experimental observations. Computed temperature fields confirm the experimental observation that dissipation continues behind the propagating shear band tip. In addition, the numerical results capture the arrest of the shear band. The arrested shear band is first subjected to reverse shear. Subsequently, the arrested band is subjected to mixed-mode loading which eventually leads to tensile failure at an angle about 30” to the band. Copyright
Effective Congestion Avoidance Scheme for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Mobile nodes are organized randomly without any access point in Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs). Due to the mobility of nodes, the network congestion occurs. So many congestion control mechanisms were proposed to avoid the congestion avoidance or reducing the congestion status. In this research work, we proposed to develop the Effective Congestion Avoidance Scheme (ECAS), which consists of congestion monitoring, effective routing establishment and congestionless based routing. The overall congestion status is measured in congestion monitoring. In routing establishment, we propose the contention metric in the particular channel in terms of, queue length of packet, overall congestion standard, packet loss rate and packet dropping ratio to monitor the congestion status. Based on the congestion standard, the congestionless based routing is established to reduce the packet loss, high overhead, long delay in the network. By extensive simulation, the proposed scheme achieves better throughput, packet delivery ratio, low end-to-end delay and overhead than the existing schemes.
Interrater reliability of the Pediatric National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (PedNIHSS) in a multicenter study.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Stroke is an important cause of death and disability among children. Clinical trials for childhood stroke require a valid and reliable acute clinical stroke scale. We evaluated interrater reliability (IRR) of a pediatric adaptation of the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale.


METHODS
The pediatric adaptation of the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale was developed by pediatric and adult stroke experts by modifying each item of the adult National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale for children, retaining all examination items and scoring ranges of the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale. Children 2 to 18 years of age with acute arterial ischemic stroke were enrolled in a prospective cohort study from 15 North American sites from January 2007 to October 2009. Examiners were child neurologists certified in the adult National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale. Each subject was examined daily for 7 days or until discharge. A subset of patients at 3 sites was scored simultaneously and independently by 2 study neurologists.


RESULTS
IRR testing was performed in 25 of 113 a median of 3 days (interquartile range, 2 to 4 days) after symptom onset. Patient demographics, total initial pediatric adaptation of the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale scores, risk factors, and infarct characteristics in the IRR subset were similar to the non-IRR subset. The 2 raters' total scores were identical in 60% and within 1 point in 84%. IRR was excellent as measured by concordance correlation coefficient of 0.97 (95% CI, 0.94 to 0.99); intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.99 (95% CI, 0.97 to 0.99); precision measured by Pearson ρ of 0.97; and accuracy measured by the bias correction factor of 1.0.


CONCLUSIONS
There was excellent IRR of the pediatric adaptation of the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale in a multicenter prospective cohort performed by trained child neurologists.
Effect of Sulphur and Micronutrients on Growth, Nutrient Content and Yield of Wheat ( Triticum aestivum L. )

All the growth characters (lAI, LAR, NAR, RGR and dry matter accumulation) were higher at high fertility (120,60,60 kg NPK/ha). Maximum lAI was observed at 75 DAS (5.36), LI\R at 30 DAS (16374 em/g), NAR at 60-75 DAS (8.31 g/m/day) and RGR at 30-45 (80.65 mg/ g/day) crop growth periods. Among micronutrients, zinc application increased the different growth parametres and yield followed by sulphur and manganese. Iron and boron did not influence the growth and yield of wheat significantly. Zinc, manganese and boron content was higher in grain than straw whereas iron and sulphur content was higher in straw. INTRODUCTION information on these aspects is scanty and The importance of micronutrients application unsystematic. Therefore, a field experiment was in increasing crop production has been recognised designed and laid down at farmer's field nearby the in India and it is becoming evident that without campus of N.D. University of Agriculture and the use of the micronutrient, it is not possible to Technology, Faizabad (U.P.) to assess the effect of get the maximum benefilo; of NPK fertilizers and application of micronutrients on growth parameters high yielding varieties of wheat. and nutrient content in wheat. Verma (1968) reported that NPK + B and MATERIAL AND METHODS NPK + all mkronutrients increased boron uptake The soil of the experimental site was sandy in plants. Takkar and Bhumbla (1968) observed loam with pH of 8.24. Available N, Pps and Kp an antagonistic effect between free Mn and was 220 (low), 34.56 (medium) and 220 (medium) extractable Fe in neutral and acidic soils. The kg/ha, respectively. Available Zn (DTPA Table 1: Effect of fertility levels and micronutrients on growth parametres and yield of wheat (Pooled data of two seasons). Treatment LAI (at 75 DAS) LAR NAR RGR (cm Ig) (gm day·l) (mg g.l) 30 DAS .60-65, Days day·1 30-45 days DMA Grain yield (at harv~t) (q/ha) (q/ha) Harvest Index
Pharmacodynamic evaluation of switching from ticagrelor to prasugrel in patients with stable coronary artery disease: Results of the SWAP-2 Study (Switching Anti Platelet-2).

OBJECTIVES
The goal of this study was to evaluate the pharmacodynamic effects of switching patients from ticagrelor to prasugrel.


BACKGROUND
Clinicians may need to switch between more potent P2Y12 inhibitors because of adverse effects or switch to the use of a once-daily dosing regimen due to compliance issues.


METHODS
After a 3- to 5-day run-in phase with a ticagrelor 180-mg loading dose (LD) followed by a ticagrelor 90-mg twice-daily maintenance dose (MD), aspirin-treated patients (N = 110) with stable coronary artery disease were randomized to continue ticagrelor or switch to prasugrel 10-mg once-daily MD, with or without a 60-mg LD. Pharmacodynamic assessments were defined according to P2Y12 reaction unit (PRU) (P2Y12 assay) and platelet reactivity index (vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein phosphorylation assay) at baseline (before and after the run-in phase) and 2, 4, 24, and 48 h and 7 days after randomization.


RESULTS
Platelet reactivity was significantly greater at 24 and 48 h after switching to prasugrel versus continued therapy with ticagrelor, although to a lesser extent in those receiving an LD. Mean PRU remained significantly higher in the combined prasugrel groups versus the ticagrelor group (least-squares mean difference: 46 [95% confidence interval 25 to 67]) and did not meet the primary noninferiority endpoint (upper limit of the confidence interval ≤45), although PRU in the prasugrel cohort was lower at 7 days than at 24 or 48 h. Accordingly, rates of high on-treatment platelet reactivity were higher at 24 and 48 h in both prasugrel groups. At 7 days, there was no difference in high on-treatment platelet reactivity rate between the combined prasugrel and ticagrelor groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Compared with continued ticagrelor therapy, switching from ticagrelor to prasugrel therapy was associated with an increase in platelet reactivity that was partially mitigated by the administration of an LD.
The structure of DSM-IV ADHD, ODD, and CD criteria in adolescent boys: A hierarchical approach

Numerous studies have examined the structure of the childhood externalizing disorder symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), and Conduct Disorder (CD), both separately as well as simultaneously. The present study expanded on previous findings by implementing a multi-level hierarchical approach to investigating the component structure of ADHD, ODD, and CD criteria in 487 14-year-old boys from the Minnesota Twin Family Study (MTFS). We found support for a hierarchical conceptualization of externalizing behavior criteria in early adolescent boys by specifying how one-, two-, three-, four-, five- and six-factor models of externalizing criteria can be integrated. These results suggest that it may be more beneficial to conceptualize different levels of this hierarchy as relevant to different issues in case conceptualization and research design, from the broad level of an overall externalizing spectrum, to the level of finer-grained subtypes within specific disorders.
Design of a compact planar MIMO antenna for LTE mobile application

Recently, the long-term evolution (LTE) is considered as one of the most promising 4th generation (4G) mobile standards to increase the capacity and speed of mobile handset networks [1]. In order to realize the LTE wireless communication system, the diversity and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems have been introduced [2]. In a MIMO mobile user terminal such as handset or USB dongle, at least two uncorrelated antennas should be placed within an extremely restricted space. This task becomes especially difficult when a MIMO planar antenna is designed for LTE band 13 (the corresponding wavelength is 390 mm). Due to the limited space available for antenna elements, the antennas are strongly coupled with each other and have narrow bandwidth.
Factors influencing Chinese Consumer Online Group-Buying Purchase Intention : An Empirical Study

Background: Because of the high-speed development of e-commerce, online group buying has become a new popular pattern of consumption for Chinese consumers. Previous research has studied online group-buying (OGB) purchase intention in some specific areas such as Taiwan, but in mainland China. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to contribute to the Technology Acceptance Model, incorporating other potential driving factors to address how they influence Chinese consumers' online group-buying purchase intentions. Method: The study uses two steps to achieve its purpose. The first step is that I use the focus group interview technique to collect primary data. The results combining the Technology Acceptance model help me propose hypotheses. The second step is that the questionnaire method is applied for empirical data collection. The constructs are validated with exploratory factor analysis and reliability analysis, and then the model is tested with Linear multiple regression. Findings: The results have shown that the adapted research model has been successfully tested in this study. The seven factors (perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, price, e-trust, Word of Mouth, website quality and perceived risk) have significant effects on Chinese consumers' online group-buying purchase intentions. This study suggests that managers of group-buying websites need to design easy-to-use platform for users. Moreover, group-buying website companies need to propose some rules or regulations to protect consumers' rights. When conflicts occur, evendors can follow these rules to provide solutions that are reasonable and satisfying for consumers.
The Application of Fuzzy Control in Water Tank Level Using Arduino

Fuzzy logic control has been successfully utilized in various industrial applications; it is generally used in complex control systems, such as chemical process control. Today, most of the fuzzy logic controls are still implemented on expensive highperformance processors. This paper analyzes the effectiveness of a fuzzy logic control using a low-cost controller applied to a water level control system. The paper also gives a low-cost hardware solution and practical procedure for system identification and control. First, the mathematical model of the process was obtained with the help of Matlab. Then two methods were used to control the system, PI (Proportional, Integral) and fuzzy control. Simulation and experimental results are presented. Keywords—Fuzzy control; PI; PID; Arduino; System identification