LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Adult peripheral nerve disorders: nerve entrapment, repair, transfer, and brachial plexus disorders.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading this article, the participant should be able to: 1. Describe the pathophysiologic bases for nerve injury and how they apply to patient evaluation and management. 2. Recognize the wide variety of injury patterns and associated patient complaints and physical findings associated with peripheral nerve pathology. 3. Evaluate and recommend further tests to aid in defining the diagnosis. 4. Specify treatment options and potential risks and benefits.


SUMMARY
Peripheral nerve disorders comprise a gamut of problems, ranging from entrapment neuropathy to direct open traumatic injury and closed brachial plexus injury. The pathophysiology of injury defines the patient's symptoms, examination findings, and treatment options and is critical to accurate diagnosis and treatment. The goals of treatment include management of the often associated pain and improvement of sensory and motor function. Understanding peripheral nerve anatomy is critical to adopting novel nerve transfer procedures, which may provide superior options for a variety of injury patterns.
High-Speed Microscale Optical Tracking Using Digital Frequency-Domain Multiplexing

Position-sensitive detectors (PSDs), or lateral-effect photodiodes, are commonly used for high-speed, high-resolution optical position measurement. This paper describes the instrument design for multidimensional position and orientation measurement based on the simultaneous position measurement of multiple modulated sources using frequency-domain-multiplexed (FDM) PSDs. The important advantages of this optical configuration in comparison with laser/mirror combinations are that it has a large angular measurement range and allows the use of a probe that is small in comparison with the measurement volume. We review PSD characteristics and quantitative resolution limits, consider the lock-in amplifier measurement system as a communication link, discuss the application of FDM to PSDs, and make comparisons with time-domain techniques. We consider the phase-sensitive detector as a multirate DSP problem, explore parallels with Fourier spectral estimation and filter banks, discuss how to choose the modulation frequencies and sample rates that maximize channel isolation under design constraints, and describe efficient digital implementation. We also discuss hardware design considerations, sensor calibration, probe construction and calibration, and 3-D measurement by triangulation using two sensors. As an example, we characterize the resolution, speed, and accuracy of an instrument that measures the position and orientation of a 10 mm times 5 mm probe in 5 degrees of freedom (DOF) over a 30-mm cube with 4-mum peak-to-peak resolution at 1-kHz sampling.
Dao's Theorem on Six Circumcenters associated with a Cyclic Hexagon

We reformulate and give an elegant proof of a wonderful theorem of Dao Thanh Oai concerning the centers of the circumcircles of the six triangles each bounded by the lines containing three consecutive sides of the hexagon. In slightly different notations Dao Thanh Oai [3] has posed the problem of proving the following remarkable theorem. Theorem (Dao). Let Ai, i = 1, 2, . . . , 6, be six points on a circle. Taking subscripts modulo 6, we denote, for i = 1, 2, . . . , 6, the intersection of the lines AiAi+1 and Ai+2Ai+3 by Bi+3, and the circumcenter of the triangle AiAi+1Bi+2 by Ci+3. The lines C1C4, C2C5, C3C6 are concurrent.
Tissue plasminogen activator -7351C/T enhancer polymorphism is a risk factor for lacunar stroke.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Occlusive thrombosis is an important component of small- and large-vessel ischemic stroke. Endogenous tissue plasminogen activator (TPA) is the primary mediator of intravascular fibrinolysis and is predominantly expressed by the endothelium of small vessels. The acute release of TPA is influenced by the TPA -7351C/T polymorphism and therefore may play an important role in the pathogenesis of lacunar stroke. In this study, we investigated the risk of lacunar and nonlacunar ischemic stroke associated with the TPA -7351C/T polymorphism.


METHODS
We conducted a case-control study of 182 cases of ischemic stroke and 301 community controls. Participants were evaluated for known cerebrovascular risk factors, and the TPA -7351C/T genotype was established by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. Logistic regression was used to determine the risk of lacunar and nonlacunar ischemic stroke associated with the TPA -7351C/T polymorphism.


RESULTS
The prevalence of the TPA -7351 CC, CT, and TT genotypes were 46%, 45%, and 9% for controls and 41%, 46%, and 13% for stroke patients, respectively. After adjustment for known cerebrovascular risk factors, the TT genotype was significantly associated with ischemic stroke (OR: 1.9; 95% CI: 1.01 to 3.6). Stratification for stroke subtype showed a significant association between the TT genotype and lacunar stroke but not nonlacunar stroke (OR: 2.7; 95% CI: 1.1 to 6.7).


CONCLUSIONS
The TPA -7351C/T polymorphism is an independent risk factor for lacunar stroke. The findings suggest that impaired fibrinolysis may play a role in the pathogenesis of lacunar stroke.
Assisted suicide by oxygen deprivation with helium at a Swiss right-to-die organisation.

BACKGROUND
In Switzerland, right-to-die organisations assist their members with suicide by lethal drugs, usually barbiturates. One organisation, Dignitas, has experimented with oxygen deprivation as an alternative to sodium pentobarbital.


OBJECTIVE
To analyse the process of assisted suicide by oxygen deprivation with helium and a common face mask and reservoir bag.


METHOD
This study examined four cases of assisted suicide by oxygen deprivation using helium delivered via a face mask. Videos of the deaths were provided by the Zurich police. Dignitas provided protocol and consent information.


RESULTS
One man and three women were assisted to death by oxygen deprivation. There was wide variation in the time to unconsciousness and the time to death, probably due to the poor mask fit. Swiss law prevented attendants from effectively managing the face mask apparatus. Purposeless movements of the extremities were disconcerting for Dignitas attendants, who are accustomed to assisting suicide with barbiturates. None of the dying individuals attempted self-rescue.


CONCLUSIONS
The dying process of oxygen deprivation with helium is potentially quick and appears painless. It also bypasses the prescribing role of physicians, effectively demedicalising assisted suicide. Oxygen deprivation with a face mask is not acceptable because leaks are difficult to control and it may not eliminate rebreathing. These factors will extend time to unconsciousness and time to death. A hood method could reduce the problem of mask fit. With a hood, a flow rate of helium sufficient to provide continuous washout of expired gases would remedy problems observed with the mask.
Optimization of fast block motion estimation algorithms

There are basically three approaches for carrying out fast block motion estimation: 1) fast search by a reduction of motion vector candidates; 2) fast block-matching distortion (BMD) computation; and 3) motion field subsampling. The first approach has been studied more extensively since different ways of reducing motion vector candidates may result in significantly different performance; while the second and third approaches can in general be integrated into the first one so as to further accelerate the estimation process. In this paper, we first formulate the design of good fast estimation algorithms based on motion vector candidate reduction into an optimization problem that involves the checking point pattern (CPP) design via minimizing the distance from the true motion vector to the closest checking point (DCCP). Then, we demonstrate through extensive studies on the statistical behavior of real-world motion vectors that the DCCP minimization can result in fast search algorithms that are very efficient as well as highly robust. To further utilize the spatiotemporal correlation of motion vectors, we develop an adaptive search scheme and a hybrid search idea that involves a fixed CPP and a variable CPP. Simulations are performed to confirm their advantages over conventional fast search algorithms.
Offshoring and Directed Technical Change

To study the short-run and long-run implications on wage inequality, we introduce directed technical change into a Ricardian model of offshoring. A unique final good is produced by combining a skilled and an unskilled product, each produced from a continuum of intermediates (tasks). Some of these tasks can be transferred from a skill-abundant West to a skill-scarce East. Profit maximization determines both the extent of offshoring and technological progress. Offshoring induces skill-biased technical change because it increases the relative price of skill-intensive products and induces technical change favoring unskilled workers because it expands the market size for technologies complementing unskilled labor. In the empirically more relevant case, starting from low levels, an increase in offshoring opportunities triggers a transition with falling real wages for unskilled workers in the West, skill-biased technical change and rising skill premia worldwide. However, when the extent of offshoring becomes suffi ciently large, further increases in offshoring induce technical change now biased in favor of unskilled labor because offshoring closes the gap between unskilled wages in the West and the East, thus limiting the power of the price effect fueling skill-biased technical change. The unequalizing impact of offshoring is thus greatest at the beginning. Transitional dynamics reveal that offshoring and technical change are substitutes in the short run but complements in the long run. Finally, though offshoring improves the welfare of workers in the East, it may benefit or harm unskilled workers in the West depending on elasticities and the equilibrium growth rate. JEL Classification: F43, O31, O33.
Printed Loop Antenna With a Perpendicular Feed for Penta-Band Mobile Phone Application

A promising printed loop antenna is described that can be mounted in perpendicular to the top edge of the system circuit board of the mobile phone for penta-band operation. The antenna comprises a loop pattern printed on a thin FR4 substrate of small size 10 X 60 mm2 and a perpendicular feeding portion printed on the narrow top ungrounded region of the system circuit board. Since the top ungrounded region is 4 mm in length only, the antenna is very low profile to the top edge of the ground plane on the system circuit board; that is, the antenna occupies a small volume inside the mobile phone housing and is suitable to operate as an internal antenna. In addition, the antenna generates two wide operating bands centered at about 900 and 1900 MHz to cover GSM850/900 and DCS/PCS/UMTS operations, respectively.
Robustness and Ambiguity Aversion in General Equilibrium

We analyze the empirical predictions arising from settings of ambiguity aversion in intertemporal heterogenous agents economies. We study equilibria for two tractable wealth-homothetic settings of ambiguity aversion in continuous time. Such settings are motivated by a different robust control optimization problem. We show that ambiguity aversion affects optimal portfolio exposures in a way that is similar to an increase in risk aversion. A distinct property of the second of our settings of ambiguity aversion is that such increase is state-dependent and highly pronounced at moderate portfolio exposures. This feature causes quite prudent levels of equity market participation over a nontrivial set of states of the economy. In general equilibrium, ambiguity aversion tends to induce a higher equilibrium equity premium and lower interest rates. A distinct feature of the second of our settings of ambiguity aversion is that the equity premium part due to ambiguity aversion dominates when the exogenous random factors in the economy have low volatility. Thus, such setting can account for some distinct empirical predictions — like a limited equity market participation and ambiguity equity premia that dominate equity premia for small equity volatilities — which are unavailable under the first of our settings of ambiguity aversion.
Context and leadership : an examination of the nine-factor full-range leadership theory using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire $

In this study, we examined the validity of the measurement model and factor structure of Bass and Avolio’s Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) (Form 5X). We hypothesized that evaluations of leadership—and hence the psychometric properties of leadership instruments—may be affected by the context in which leadership is observed and evaluated. Using largely homogenous business samples consisting of 2279 pooled male and 1089 pooled female raters who evaluated same-gender leaders, we found support for the nine-factor leadership model proposed by Bass and Avolio. The model was configurally and partially metrically invariant—suggesting that the same constructs were validly measured in the male and female groups. Mean differences were found between the male and female samples on four leadership factors (Study 1). Next, using factor-level data of 18 independently gathered samples (N = 6525 raters) clustered into prototypically homogenous contexts, we tested the nine-factor model and found it was stable (i.e., fully invariant) within homogenous contexts (Study 2). The contextual factors comprised environmental risk, leader–follower gender, and leader hierarchical level. Implications for use of the MLQ and nine-factor model are discussed. D 2003 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved. 1048-9843/03/$ – see front matter D 2003 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/S1048-9843(03)00030-4 $ This study is based in part on the doctoral dissertation of the first author. * Corresponding author. Present address: Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ecoles des Hautes Etudes Commerciales—HEC, University of Lausanne, BFSH-1, Lausanne, CH-1015, Switzerland. Tel.: +41-21-692-3300. E-mail address: john.antonakis@hec.unil.ch (J. Antonakis). J. Antonakis et al. / The Leadership Quarterly 14 (2003) 261–295 262
An Optimal Algorithm for Approximate Nearest Neighbor Searching

Let S denote a set of n points in d-dimensional space, Rd, and let dist(p, g) denote the distance between two points in any Minkowski metric. For any real E > 0 and q E Rd, a point p E S is a (1 + c)-approximate nearest neighbor of q if, for all p’ E S, we have dist(p, q)/dist(p’,q) 5 (1 + E). We show how to preprocess a set of n points in Rd in O(nlog n) time and O(n) space, so that given a query point p E Rd, and e > 0, a (1 + c)-approximate nearest neighbor of q can be computed in O(log n) time. Constant factors depend on d and C. We show that given an integer k 1 1, (1 + c)-approximations to the L-nearest neighbors of q can be computed in O(k log n) time.
48-Hour Fluid Balance Does Not Predict a Successful Spontaneous Breathing Trial.

BACKGROUND
Both premature and delayed liberation from mechanical ventilation are associated with increased morbidity and mortality, and fluid balance could negatively influence extubation outcomes. We sought to determine the impact of fluid balance in the 48 h before a spontaneous breathing trial (SBT) on weaning outcomes in a mixed ICU population.


METHODS
This was a prospective observational study in 2 adult medical-surgical ICUs. All enrolled subjects met eligibility criteria for weaning from mechanical ventilation. SBT failure was defined as inability to tolerate a T-piece trial for 30-120 min. Data on demographics, physiology, fluid balance in the 48 h preceding SBT (fluid input minus output over the 48-h period), lung ultrasound findings, and outcomes were collected.


RESULTS
Of a total of 250 SBTs, SBT failure eventuated in 51 (20.4%). Twenty-nine subjects (11.6%) had COPD, and 40 subjects (16%) were intubated due to respiratory sepsis. One-hundred eighty-nine subjects (75.6%) were extubated on the first attempt. Compared with subjects with SBT success, SBT failure subjects were younger (median of 66 vs. 75 y, P = .001) and had a higher duration of mechanical ventilation (median of 7 vs. 4 d, P < .001) and a higher prevalence of COPD (19.6 vs. 9.5%, P = .04). There were no statistically significant differences in 48-h fluid balance before SBT between groups (SBT failure, 1,201.65 ± 2,801.68 mL; SBT success, 1,324.39 ± 2,915.95 mL). However, in the COPD subgroup, we found a significant association between positive fluid balance in the 48 h before SBT and SBT failure (odds ratio of 1.77 [1.24-2.53], P = .04).


CONCLUSIONS
Fluid balance should not delay SBT indication because it does not predict greater probability of SBT failure in the medical-surgical critically ill population. Notwithstanding, avoiding positive fluid balance in patients with COPD might improve weaning outcomes. (ClinicalTrials.gov registration NCT02022839.).
Lichen Aureus : A Congenital Case ? Liquen aureus : ¿ un caso congénito ?

A 9-year-old boy, with Fitzpatrick skin phototype V, was seen for an asymptomatic lesion on his left knee, diagnosed at birth by the neonatologist as a café au lait spot. The lesion was described in the neonatal discharge report as a brownish macule measuring 1.5 × 1.5 cm, on the left knee, observed during the first examination of the newborn infant. However, there had been no subsequent follow-up and the child had not been seen in dermatology before his visit to our outpatient clinic. On examination of the child’s left knee, a number of shiny erythematous-purpuric plaques were observed in a linear distribution, with a slightly pigmented halo and fine superficial desquamation. Dermoscopy revealed lobules and pink dots on a diffuse coppery-brown background, and a fine brown network (Fig. 1). With a diagnostic suspicion of a lichenoid rash, lichen aureus (LA), or nevus flammeus----because of its congenital nature----one of the plaques was biopsied. Minimal hyperkeratosis, mild acanthosis, and mild epidermal spongiosis were observed on histology, together with a dense, band-like lichenoid inflammatory infiltrate in the papillary dermis, with occasional apoptotic keratinocytes and extensive red cell extravasation (Fig. 2). The
Sandwiched piezoelectric ultrasonic transducers of longitudinal-torsional compound vibrational modes

Sandwiched piezoelectric ultrasonic transducers of longitudinal-torsional compound vibrational modes were studied. The transducers consist of coaxially segmented, longitudinally and tangentially polarized piezoelectric ceramic rings, a back metal cylinder, and a front exponential solid metal horn. Based on the plane-wave approximation, the equivalent circuits of the longitudinal and torsional vibrations in the sandwiched transducer were obtained and the resonance frequency equations of the transducer in longitudinal and torsional vibrations were derived. By means of choosing the radius decay coefficient of the front exponential horn, the longitudinal and torsional vibrations are made to resonate at the same frequency in the transducer. Sandwiched piezoelectric ultrasonic transducers of longitudinal-torsional compound modes were designed and fabricated according to the frequency equations. It is demonstrated that the measured resonance frequencies of the transducers are in good agreement with the theoretical results, and the measured resonance frequencies of the transducers in longitudinal and torsional vibration modes are also in good agreement with each other. Theoretical and experimental results show that this kind of transducer can be used in ultrasonic welding, ultrasonic machining, ultrasonic motors, and other ultrasonic applications which need large displacement amplitudes.
A Merged Interleaved Flyback PFC Converter with Active Clamp and ZVZCS

The design and analysis of a compact flyback AC to DC power supply is described and simulation results are presented. Of particular interest is merging two interleaved power converters such that the main switch in one converter behaves as the clamp switch of the other while ripple cancellation is accomplished. Also, PFC and ZVZCS are achieved with no extra components. Using these approaches, the total number of active and passive components used and consequently the associated power loss, complexity and cost is reduced, which makes the design appealable for low-power high-volume applications. The proposed circuit converts 110VAC to 230VDC at 2.2A load current with an overall simulated efficiency of around 93%. Keywords—Merged, interleaved, flyback, PFC, active clamp, ZVZCS.
Salvaging Merkle-Damgard for Practical Applications

Many cryptographic applications of hash functions are analyzed in the random oracle model. Unfortunately, most concrete hash functions, including the SHA family, use the iterative (strengthened) Merkle-Damgård transform applied to a corresponding compression function. Moreover, it is well known that the resulting “structured” hash function cannot be generically used as a random oracle, even if the compression function is assumed to be ideal. This leaves a large disconnect between theory and practice: although no attack is known for many concrete applications utilizing existing (Merkle-Damgård based) hash functions, there is no security guarantee either, even by idealizing the compression function. Motivated by this question, we initiate a rigorous and modular study of developing new notions of (still idealized) hash functions which would be (a) natural and elegant; (b) sufficient for arguing security of important applications; and (c) provably met by the (strengthened) Merkle-Damgård transform, applied to a “strong enough” compression function. In particular, we show that a fixed-length compressing random oracle, as well as the currently used Davies-Meyer compression function (the latter analyzed in the ideal cipher model) are “strong enough” for the two specific weakenings of the random oracle that we develop. These weaker notions, described below, are quite natural and should be interesting in their own right: • Preimage Aware Functions. Roughly, if an attacker found a “later useful” output y of the function, then it must “already know” the corresponding preimage x. We show that this notion works well with the Merkle-Damgård transform (unlike fixed-length random oracles), and has many applications. Most notably, it yields a variable-length random oracle, when composed with a fixed-length random oracle. Additionally, (compressing) preimage aware functions considerably generalize collision-resistant hash functions. Moreover, we show that existing block-cipherbased hash functions, originally only shown collision-resistant in the ideal cipher model, are in fact preimage aware. • Public-Use Random Oracles. Roughly, these objects are indifferentiable from ordinary random oracles, but only when they are never evaluated on secret inputs. We show that such public-use oracles are enough to argue security of most hash-based signature schemes, including Full Domain Hash and Fiat-Shamir signatures. Moreover, the MerkleDamgård transform preserves this notion. As a result, all “public-use” applications of random oracles are still secure with existing hash functions (assuming a strong enough compression function, such as a fixed-length random oracle or the Davies-Meyer function).