LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Gait training with the newly developed 'LokoHelp'-system is feasible for non-ambulatory patients after stroke, spinal cord and brain injury. A feasibility study.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the feasibility of using a newly developed electromechanical gait device (LokoHelp) for locomotion training in neurological patients with impaired walking ability with respect to training effects and patients' and therapists' efforts and discomfort.


METHODS AND PROCEDURES
design: Case series. setting: A neurological rehabilitation centre for children, adolescents and young adults. subjects: Six patients with impaired walking function: two after stroke, two after spinal cord injury and two after brain injury.


INTERVENTION
Twenty additional training sessions on a treadmill fitted with a newly developed electromechanical gait device and body weight support (BWS), performed over a study-period of 6 weeks.


MAIN OUTCOMES AND RESULTS
Patients' progress was assessed with the following instruments: the Functional Ambulation Category FAC (walking ability), the 10-metre walk test (gait velocity), the Motricity Index (lower limb strength), the Berg Balance Scale (postural capacity), the modified Ashworth Scale (spasticity) and the Rivermead Mobility Index (activity). After each therapy session, therapists completed a form, thereby indicating whether manual assistance was necessary and, if so, how much physical effort was expended and how much discomfort was experienced during the therapy session. The therapists also indicated on the form information about the patient's effort and discomfort. No severe adverse events were observed during the locomotion training with the LokoHelp device. Patients improved with regard to Functional Ambulation Category (FAC) (from mean 0.7, SD = 1.6, to mean 2.5, SD = 2.1, p = 0.048), Motricity Index (from mean 94 points, SD = 50, to mean 111, SD = 52, p = 0.086), Berg Balance Scale (BBS) (from mean 20 points, SD = 23 to mean 25, SD = 23, p = 0.168) and Rivermead Mobility Index (RMI) (from mean 5 points, SD = 4, to mean 7, SD = 5, p = 0.033). Therapists required a low level of effort to carry out the training and seldom experienced discomfort. Patients described their effort during training as being low-to-exhausting. They rarely experienced discomfort, which was mostly related to difficulties with the BWS-System. Training intensity had to be adjusted in one patient who complained of knee pain.


CONCLUSIONS
Locomotion training with the newly developed 'LokoHelp'-system is feasible in severely affected patients after brain injury, stroke and spinal cord injury. In addition, our results indicate that the described alternative method of gait training may decrease the exertion needed by therapists to carry out the training.
Historical Memory and Contemporary Historical Scholarship

Postmodernism offers a new appreciation of the complex interplay between history and the historical memory or consciousness of individuals, groups, and societies as filtered through oral transmission, fiction, and the media.
An improved ant colony optimization for vehicle routing problem

The vehicle routing problem (VRP), a well-known combinatorial optimization problem, holds a central place in logistics management. This paper proposes an improved ant colony optimization (IACO), which possesses a new strategy to update the increased pheromone, called ant-weight strategy, and a mutation operation, to solve VRP. The computational results for fourteen benchmark problems are reported and compared to those of other metaheuristic approaches. 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Irish Marxist Review Team and Contacts

Irish Marxist Review, a new journal of socialist ideas published in association with the Socialist Workers Party.
ROM-Based Logic (RBL) Design: A Low-Power 16 Bit Multiplier

We present a ROM-based 16 times 16 multiplier for low-power applications. The design uses sixteen 4 times 4 ROM-based multiplier blocks followed by carry-save adders and a final carry-select adder (all ROM-based) to obtain the 32 bit output. All ROM blocks are implemented using single transistor ROM cells and eliminating identical rows and columns for optimizing the power and performance. Measurement results in 0.18 mum CMOS process show a 40% reduction in power over the conventional carry-save array multiplier when operated at its maximum frequency. The ROM-based design also provides 44% less delay than the array multiplier with a minimal increase (7.7%) in power. This demonstrates the low-power operation of the ROM-based multiplier also at higher frequencies.
The Metallization Methods on Nonmetallic Material Surface

Metallization on nonmetallic material surface is an important method to develop new materials application. The author expounds the principle and technologies of metallization methods on nonmetallic material surface. The author also points out its applications and developmental prospects.
Review on mechanisms for detecting sinkhole attacks on RPLs

Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) over Low power Wireless Personal Area Networks (6LoWPAN) is extensively used in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) due to its ability to transmit IPv6 packet with low bandwidth and limited resources. 6LoWPAN has several operations in each layer. Most existing security challenges are focused on the network layer, which is represented by its routing protocol for low-power and lossy network (RPL). RPL components include WSN nodes that have constrained resources. Therefore, the exposure of RPL to various attacks may lead to network damage. A sinkhole attack is a routing attack that could affect the network topology. This paper aims to investigate the existing detection mechanisms used in detecting sinkhole attack on RPL-based networks. This work categorizes and presents each mechanism according to certain aspects. Then, their advantages and drawbacks with regard to resource consumption and false positive rate are discussed and compared.
Using E-Learning to Develop EFL Students’ Language Skills and Activate Their Independent Learning

The report presents the advantages of the E-learning Moodle and its role in enhancing “English Foreign language” (EFL) students’ language skills and independent learning. An already running and established virtual learning environment, namely the E-learning Moodle software, is being used successfully in the British University in Egypt. The different activities and resources that are provided by E-learning have been described with an analysis of how they can be used to develop EFL students’ language proficiency and independent learning.
Clinicopathological features of senile systemic amyloidosis: an ante- and post-mortem study

Senile systemic amyloidosis is a common age-related amyloidosis that involves accumulation of wild-type transthyretin, with cardiac dysfunction being a predominant result. The importance of obtaining an accurate diagnosis of senile systemic amyloidosis has been increasingly recognized, so that novel treatments are being developed. However, the clinicopathological features of senile systemic amyloidosis remain to be completely understood. Here, we evaluated cardiac specimens from 181 consecutive post-mortem cases older than 40 years, including 6 cases of senile systemic amyloidosis, and 5 cases of familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy, which is a hereditary systemic amyloidosis caused by mutant forms of transthyretin. Furthermore, we studied ante-mortem clinicopathological findings of 11 senile systemic amyloidosis cases, in which 9 cases underwent gastrointestinal tract biopsy and/or subcutaneous tissue biopsy, at Kumamoto University Hospital. Of the autopsied cases of elderly Japanese (older than 80 years), 12% had senile systemic amyloidosis, with the percentage increasing with age. The occurrence of senile systemic amyloidosis in elderly Japanese patients was lower than that in previous reports, which suggests that a genetic background and/or environmental factor(s) may have important roles in the occurrence of senile systemic amyloidosis. Transthyretin amyloid deposits in familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy cases developed mainly in the pericardium and the surrounding muscle fascicles, whereas in cases with senile systemic amyloidosis the transthyretin amyloid deposits had a patchy plaque-like shape and developed mainly inside the ventricular wall. Biopsies from senile systemic amyloidosis patients evidenced amyloid deposits in 44% (4/9) of gastrointestinal tract and subcutaneous tissue samples combined. As myocardial biopsy may be dangerous for elderly people, the use of a combination of gastrointestinal tract and subcutaneous tissue biopsies may make diagnosis of senile systemic amyloidosis easier.
Ketamine with and without midazolam for gastrointestinal endoscopies in children.

OBJECTIVES
Numerous publications on sedation of and anaesthesia for diagnostic procedures in children prove that no ideal scheme is available. Therefore, we decided to study the protocol with midazolam and ketamine used by nonanaesthetists at our institution. The study aimed to establish the lowest effective starting dose of ketamine and to estimate a difference in the frequency of adverse reactions with or without the use of midazolam as premedication, with special stress on emergence reactions.


METHODS
During 1 year we prospectively randomised children scheduled for gastrointestinal endoscopies to a first group with and to a second group without midazolam premedication. The starting ketamine dose was increased until the appropriate dissociative state was reached. Physiological functions were closely monitored and adverse reactions noted.


RESULTS
The median age of 201 analysed patients (111 girls, 90 boys) was 8.2 years. The median starting dose of ketamine was 0.97 mg/kg (the group with midazolam premedication) and 0.99 mg/kg TT (without midazolam premedication). Laryngospasm was observed in 6 patients without statistical difference between the 2 groups. All of the adverse reactions were short lasting; they resolved by symptomatic treatment without complications. Emergence reactions during the observation period at the hospital occurred more often in the group sedated with ketamine without midazolam premedication (P=0.02).


CONCLUSIONS
: The sedation protocol with ketamine is safe and efficient. The starting dose of ketamine should be at least 1 mg/kg. There is an advantage to the use of midazolam as premedication before ketamine in paediatric patients because the frequency of emergence reactions in hospital was reduced compared with sole ketamine use.
An effect of walking exercise applying the theory of planned behavior in people at risk of hypertension.

OBJECTIVE
To investigate an effectiveness of walking exercise program applying the Theory of Planned Behavior in people at risk of hypertension in Samut Sakorn province.


MATERIAL AND METHOD
The present study is a quasi-experimental research. The inclusion criteria were people aged 35-59 years old, systolic blood pressure 120-139 mmHg, and diastolic blood pressure 80-89 mmHg. Participants were randomly selected into the experimental group (n = 34) and the comparison group (n = 34). The experimental group received activities including health information, benefits of walking exercise, group discussion in exercise barriers, modeling and experience exchange, walking exercise practice, and practice on using walking monitoring booklet at the baseline and the 2nd week, whereas the comparison group received only health information and the booklet practice at the beginning of the intervention. Data were collected by self-administered questionnaires at the baseline, 2nd week, and 6th week. Statistical analysis was performed using Chi-square, Independent t-test, and repeated measures ANOVA.


RESULTS
The experimental group made significant improvements in attitude towards walking exercise, perceived behavior control, subjective norm, walking exercise intention, and walking exercise over time (p < 0.05). However, no statistically significant differences between the experimental and the comparison groups were found in subjective norm, systolic and diastolic blood pressure from baseline to the 6th week. The experimental group had a significant higher mean difference score of attitude towards walking exercise, perceived behavior control, walking exercise intention, walking exercise, weight, and BMI compared to those in the comparison group (p < 0.05). Subjective norm scores in the experimental group were more likely to increase from baseline to the 6th week, but not a significant difference.


CONCLUSION
Walking exercise programs applying the Theory of Planned Behavior should be recommended in people at risk of hypertension. Health professionals should also be motivated to practice with this program.
Impact of care at a multidisciplinary congestive heart failure clinic: a randomized trial.

BACKGROUND
Although multidisciplinary congestive heart failure clinics in the United States appear to be effective in reducing the number of hospital readmissions, it is unclear whether the same benefit is seen in countries such as Canada, where access to both general and specialized medical care is free and unrestricted. We sought to determine the impact of care at a multidisciplinary specialized outpatient congestive heart failure clinic compared with standard care.


METHODS
We randomly assigned 230 eligible patients who had experienced an acute episode of congestive heart failure to standard care (n = 115) or follow-up at a multidisciplinary specialized heart failure outpatient clinic (n = 115). The intervention consisted of a structured outpatient clinic environment with complete access to cardiologists and allied health professionals. The primary outcomes were all-cause hospital admission rates and total number of days in hospital at 6 months. The secondary outcomes were total number of emergency department visits, quality of life and total mortality.


RESULTS
At 6 months, fewer patients in the intervention group had required readmission to hospital than patients in the control group (45 [39%] v. 66 [57%], crude hazard ratio [HR] 0.59, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.38-0.92. Patients in the intervention group stayed in hospital for 514 days compared with 815 days required by patients in the control group (adjusted HR 0.56, 95% CI 0.35-0.89). The number of patients seen in the emergency department and the total number of emergency department visits were similar in the intervention and control groups. At 6 months, quality of life, which was self-assessed using the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure questionnaire, was unchanged in the control group but improved in the intervention group (p < 0.001). No difference in mortality was observed, with 19 deaths in the control group and 12 in the intervention group (HR 0.61, 95% CI 0.24-1.54).


INTERPRETATION
Compared with usual care, care at a multidisciplinary specialized congestive heart failure outpatient clinic reduced the number of hospital readmissions and hospital days and improved quality of life. When our results are integrated with those from other, similar trials, multidisciplinary disease management strategies for congestive heart failure are associated with clinically worthwhile improvements in survival.
The impact of emotionality and self-disclosure on online dating versus traditional dating

Online dating is unique in the pursuit of romance. The bond created between potential partners takes a different path than normal dating relationships. Online dating usually begins with a flurry of e-mail messages, each more intimate than the last. Traditional dating relationships that might take months to develop in the real world, take weeks or even days online. Much has been written about cyber-dating, but little research has been done. This series of four studies examines the online dating process, similarities and differences between online and traditional dating, and the impact of emotionality and self-disclosure on first (e-mail) impressions of a potential partner. Results indicate that the amount of emotionality and self-disclosure affected a person’s perception of a potential partner. An e-mail with strong emotional words (e.g., excited, wonderful) led to more positive impressions than an e-mail with fewer strong emotional words (e.g., happy, fine) and resulted in nearly three out of four subjects selecting the e-mailer with strong emotional words for the fictitious dater of the opposite sex. Results for self-disclosure e-mails were complex, but indicate that levels of self-disclosure led to different impressions. Low levels of self-disclosure were generally preferred in choosing for the fictitious dater, although these preferences differed by gender, education, and ethnic background. Results were discussed in terms of theories of computer-mediated communication. 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Intrusion Detection Using PCASOM Neural Networks

This paper proposes a method to detect network intrusions by using the PCASOM (principal components analysis and self-organizing map) neural networks. A modified unsupervised learning algorithm which is more suitable for intrusion detection is presented. Experiments are carried out to illustrate the performance of the proposed method by using DARPA 1998 evaluation data sets. It shows that the proposed method can cluster the network connections into proper clusters with high detection rate and relatively low false alarm rate.
The Problems With Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment.

In 1991, physicians in Oregon developed the Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) program to address a specific and substantive problem: due to societal defaults toward cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and life support absent orders to the contrary, many seriously ill patients receive unwanted resuscitation and hospitalization. By making physicians’ orders portable, the original intent of POLST was to provide legal authority for emergency medical services personnel (ie, paramedics and emergency medical technicians) to not attempt CPR for patients who had requested that CPR be withheld. In contrast to advance directives, which provide guidance for clinicians and family members in the future if a patient were to become terminally ill or permanently unconscious, POLST enacts legally valid medical orders for current treatment. More than 30% of patients in Oregon have an active POLST at the time of death,1 and the National Quality Forum has identified POLST as a preferred palliative care practice.2 Seventeen states have implemented POLST statewide or are considering statewide implementation, and another 28 states are in the process of developing a POLST program.3 In addition to orders to attempt or not to attempt CPR (often section A of POLST documents), all state POLST documents now govern, to some extent, the scope of medical treatment to be provided if the patient has a pulse or is breathing (often section B). Common options in section B include comfort measures (which excludes transfer to a hospital), limited treatment (which excludes advanced airway management), and full treatment. All 17 states with fully developed programs include orders regarding the use of mechanical ventilation and artificial nutrition and hydration. Eight of these states also include orders regarding the use of antibiotics. A review of the 28 developing state programs suggests a very similar pattern of covered interventions. In addition to this geographical expansion, POLST has expanded beyond the out-of-hospital setting to emergency departments and other settings. Given the frequency of unwanted medical interventions provided to dying patients that gave rise to the POLST movement, concerted efforts to change the status quo are commendable. However, in this Viewpoint, we suggest that the rapid expansion of POLST programs may distract from the broader social goals of promoting informed decisions about health care options among seriously ill patients and improving the infrastructure needed to deliver high-quality care near the end of life. Given these risks and the dearth of evidence that POLST programs, as currently designed, improve care for the dying, we also suggest: (1) any further implementation of POLST programs be accompanied by a rigorous plan for evaluating their effects on processes and outcomes of care; and (2) any plans to consider POLST completion as a quality metric be halted.
Customer Relationship Management : Emerging Practice , Process , and Discipline

Customer relationship management (CRM) has once again gained prominence amongst academics and practitioners. However, there is a tremendous amount of confusion regarding its domain and meaning. In this paper, the authors explore the conceptual foundations of CRM by examining the literature on relationship marketing and other disciplines that contribute to the knowledge of CRM. A CRM process framework is proposed that builds on other relationship development process models. CRM implementation challenges as well as CRM's potential to become a distinct discipline of marketing are also discussed in this paper. JEL Classification Codes: M31.
Providing a cushion for wireless healthcare application development

Recent advances in the electronics industry and wireless communication have enabled the evolution of innovative application domains. Smaller embedded processors and systems have allowed a new level of mobile communication and interaction in everyday life. In particular, the expansion of broadband wireless services and the advancement of handheld technology have allowed for real-time patient monitoring in locations where not previously possible. Low-cost sensors and wireless systems can now create a constantly vigilant and pervasive monitoring capability at home, work, and in conventional point-of-care environments (e.g., primary care physician offices, outpatient clinics, and rehabilitation centers). A large research community (e.g., the UCLA Wireless Health Institute) and a nascent industry is beginning to connect medical care with technology developers, vendors of wireless and sensing hardware systems, network service providers, and enterprise data management communities. Wearable devices focusing on personal health, rehabilitation, and early disease detection are now being prototyped. All of this has led to the new notion of "wireless healthcare." In this paper, we have presented an infrastructure for a typical wireless healthcare application-a smart cushion for back pain prevention. Many other interesting applications can be developed based on similar frameworks. For instance, the Nike+iPod sport kit can be simply implemented by integrating the on-cushion circuitries into the insole of the shoes. Due to the configurability of the system, design issues such as power and reliability can be optimized through modifications of the data sampling rate, communication frequency, and the analysis algorithms running on the handset.