LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of therapeutic effects of magnesium sulfate vs. dexamethasone/metoclopramide on alleviating acute migraine headache.

BACKGROUND
There is controversy about the efficacy of currently used treatment modalities to alleviate migraine headaches.


OBJECTIVE
We aimed to evaluate and compare the effects of magnesium sulfate and combined use of dexamethasone/metoclopramide on relieving acute migraine headache.


METHODS
We randomly divided 70 patients who had been referred to an emergency department, into two equal treatment groups with the two treatment plans, and analyzed pain severity at baseline using a numeric rating scale (NRS). We gave dexamethasone/metoclopramide to one group and magnesium sulfate to the other group, and evaluated pain severity at 20 min and at 1- and 2-h intervals after infusion. Finally, we used repeated-measure and two-way analysis of variance for intra- and inter-group evaluations of pain severity and complications, respectively.


RESULTS
We found no significant differences in demographic data and pain severity at baseline (8.2 vs. 8.0) between the two groups (p < 0.05). In the dexamethasone/metoclopramide group, pain severity (mean ± standard deviation) was 7.4 ± 1.4 (p = 0.36), 6.0 ± 2.4, and 2.5 ± 2.9 (p < 0.0001) at 20-min, 1-h, and 2-h intervals after treatment, respectively, with statistically significant differences between the baseline values and 1-h and 2-h interval values. Administration of magnesium sulfate was associated with decreased pain severity at the three intervals (5.2 ± 1.7, 2.3 ± 1.9, and 1.3 ± 0.66, respectively), exhibiting significant differences compared to baseline values and the corresponding time intervals in the dexamethasone/metoclopramide group (p < 0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
According to the results, magnesium sulfate was a more effective and fast-acting medication compared to a combination of dexamethasone/metoclopramide for the treatment of acute migraine headaches.
Leveraging Parents : The Impact of High-Frequency Information on Student Achievement ∗

We partner text-messaging technology with school information systems to automate the gathering and provision of high-frequency information on students’ academic progress to parents. In an experiment across 22 schools, we use this technology to send weekly automated messages to parents about their child’s missed assignments, grades, and class absences. We pre-specified five primary outcomes. The intervention reduces course failures by 38%, increases class attendance by 17% and increases retention. The positive effects are particularly large for students with below-average GPA and students in high school, which persisted into a second year. There are no effects on state test scores, though the exams, which were new and zero stakes for students, were subsequently discontinued; students used substantially less than the expected amount of time to complete them. In contrast, we find significant improvements on in-class exam scores. Our results show this technology can improve student performance relatively cheaply and at scale. JEL Codes: I20, I21, I24, I28. ∗This research is funded by the Smith Richardson Foundation and the Teachers College Provost’s Investment fund and received approval from the Institutional Research Board at Teachers College, Columbia University. We thank Dr. Ron Duerring, Jon Duffy and Kanawha County Schools, as well as Spencer Kier, Alex Farivar, Jeremy Lupoli, Sam Elhag and Zach Posner. Bergman has previously received compensation from the learning management system company to advise them with respect to their school-to-parent information technologies. †Teachers College, Columbia University, 525 W. 120th Street New York, New York 10027. Email addresses: bergman@tc.columbia.edu and ewc2130@tc.columbia.edu. Website: www.columbia.edu/~psb2101
Notions of Chaotic Cryptography: Sketch of a Chaos based Cryptosystem

Then, we can start by answering the questions: what exactly is chaos?, how is it used in cryptography?. First of all, let us say that there is not an universally mathematical accepted definition of the term “chaos”. In general sense, it refers to some dynamical phenomena considered to be complex (lack of time and spatial order) and unpredictable (erratic). Although it was precluded by Poincaré at the end of the XIX century (Poincaré, 1890), chaos theory begins to take form in the second half of the XX century (Lorenz, 1963; Mandelbrot, 1977) after observations of the evolution of different physical systems. These systems revealed that despite of the knowledge of their evolution rules and initial conditions, their future seemed to be arbitrary and unpredictable. That opened quite a revolution in modern physics, terminating with Laplace’s ideas of casual determinism (Laplace, 1825).
Dynamic resource demand prediction and allocation in multi-tenant service clouds

Cloud computing is emerging as an increasingly popular computing paradigm, allowing dynamic scaling of resources available to users as needed. This requires a highly accurate demand prediction and resource allocation methodology that can provision resources in advance, thereby minimizing the virtual machine downtime required for resource provisioning. In this paper, we present a dynamic resource demand prediction and allocation framework in multi-tenant service clouds. The novel contribution of our proposed framework is that it classifies the service tenants as per whether their resource requirements would increase or not; based on this classification, our framework prioritizes prediction for those service tenants in which resource demand would increase, thereby minimizing the time needed for prediction. Furthermore, our approach adds the service tenants to matched virtual machines and allocates the virtual machines to physical host machines using a best-fit heuristic approach. Performance results demonstrate how our best-fit heuristic approach could efficiently allocate virtual machines to hosts so that the hosts are utilized to their fullest capacity. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Learning Camera Viewpoint Using CNN to Improve 3D Body Pose Estimation

The objective of this work is to estimate 3D human pose from a single RGB image. Extracting image representations which incorporate both spatial relation of body parts and their relative depth plays an essential role in accurate3D pose reconstruction. In this paper, for the first time, we show that camera viewpoint in combination to 2D joint locations significantly improves 3D pose accuracy without the explicit use of perspective geometry mathematical models. To this end, we train a deep Convolutional Neural Net-work (CNN) to learn categorical camera viewpoint. To make the network robust against clothing and body shape of the subject in the image, we utilized 3D computer rendering to synthesize additional training images. We test our framework on the largest 3D pose estimation bench-mark, Human3.6m, and achieve up to 20% error reduction on standing-pose activities compared to the state-of-the-art approaches that do not use body part segmentation.
Determinant Factors of E-commerce Adoption by SMEs in Developing Country: Evidence from Indonesia

The aim of this study is to investigate those factors that influence SMEs in developing countries in adopting e-commerce. This study is motivated by the fact that the adoption of e-commerce by SMEs, especially in developing countries, is still very far behind the adoption by large companies. Yet to be able to survive in the new economic era, which is the information era; businesses, including SMEs, are forced to adopt e-commerce. Non-adopters will be left behind by the adopters. In addition, studies regarding e-commerce adoption by SMEs are rarely found. Therefore, the results of this study provide a timely understanding of e-commerce adoption by SMEs in developing countries. The model developed in this study is based on the TOE framework. Eleven variables are proposed as the factors that influence SMEs in adopting of e-commerce. These are organized into four groups, namely: technological factors, organizational factors, environmental factors and individual factors. Based on a survey of 292 Indonesian SMEs, it was found that perceived benefits, technology readiness, owners’ innovativeness, owners’ IT ability and owners’ IT experience are the determinant factors that influence Indonesian SMEs in their adopting ecommerce. © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Peer-review under responsibility of Istanbul University.
Online video game therapy for mental health concerns: a review.

BACKGROUND
There has been research on the use of offline video games for therapeutic purposes but online video game therapy is still fairly under-researched. Online therapeutic interventions have only recently included a gaming component. Hence, this review represents a timely first step toward taking advantage of these recent technological and cultural innovations, particularly for the treatment of special-needs groups such as the young, the elderly and people with various conditions such as ADHD, anxiety and autism spectrum disorders.


MATERIAL
A review integrating research findings on two technological advances was conducted: the home computer boom of the 1980s, which triggered a flood of research on therapeutic video games for the treatment of various mental health conditions; and the rise of the internet in the 1990s, which caused computers to be seen as conduits for therapeutic interaction rather than replacements for the therapist.


DISCUSSION
We discuss how video games and the internet can now be combined in therapeutic interventions, as attested by a consideration of pioneering studies.


CONCLUSION
Future research into online video game therapy for mental health concerns might focus on two broad types of game: simple society games, which are accessible and enjoyable to players of all ages, and online worlds, which offer a unique opportunity for narrative content and immersive remote interaction with therapists and fellow patients. Both genres might be used for assessment and training purposes, and provide an unlimited platform for social interaction. The mental health community can benefit from more collaborative efforts between therapists and engineers, making such innovations a reality.
Accommodation measurements in a prepresbyopic and presbyopic population.

PURPOSE
To study the efficacy of several subjective and objective methods of accommodation measurement in normal prepresbyopic and presbyopic populations to identify appropriate methods for measuring the outcome of accommodative restorative procedures.


SETTING
University of Houston, College of Optometry, Houston, Texas, USA.


METHODS
Thirty-one normal subjects with a mean age of 43.7 years (range 31 to 53 years) participated. Accommodation was measured monocularly using 3 subjective approaches--the push-up test, minus lenses to blur, and a focometer--and 2 approaches measured with a Hartinger coincidence refractometer, in which accommodation was stimulated with minus lenses to blur and topical pilocarpine 6%.


RESULTS
The push-up method overestimated accommodative amplitude relative to objective measures in 28 subjects. Two subjective methods, minus lenses to blur and the focometer, produced comparable results, but with lower amplitudes in younger subjects and higher amplitudes in older subjects compared with objective methods. Comparable results were obtained when accommodation was stimulated in 1 of 2 ways and measured with the Hartinger. Pilocarpine elicited stronger accommodative responses than distance blur for subjects with low accommodative amplitudes. Pilocarpine 6% produced stronger responses in subjects with light irides than in those with dark irides.


CONCLUSIONS
Hartinger-measured accommodation provides more realistic measurement of accommodative amplitude than the subjective methods tested, especially in the presbyopic population. In presbyopic subjects, the subjective tests resulted in accommodative amplitudes up to 4.0 diopters greater than those measured with objective tests. Measurements of accommodative amplitude are best achieved with objective methods to stimulate and measure accommodation.
Impact of valvular heart disease on activities of daily living of nonagenarians: the leiden 85-plus study a population based study

BACKGROUND
Data on the prevalence of valvular heart disease in very old individuals are scarce and based mostly on in-hospital series. In addition, the potential detrimental effect of valvular heart disease on the activities of daily living is unknown. The present study evaluated the prevalence of significant valvular heart disease and the impact of valvular heart disease on the activities of daily living in community dwelling nonagenarians. Nested within the Leiden 85-plus study, a population based follow-up study of the oldest old, a sample of 81 nonagenarians was recruited.


METHODS
The left ventricular (LV) dimensions, function and the presence and severity of heart valvular disease were evaluated by echocardiography. Significant valvular heart disease included any mitral or aortic stenosis severity, moderate or severe mitral regurgitation, moderate or severe aortic regurgitation and moderate or severe tricuspid regurgitation. Activities of daily living were assessed using the Groningen Activity Restriction Scale (GARS).


RESULTS
LV cavity diameters (end-diastolic diameter 47 +/- 8 mm, end-systolic diameter 30 +/- 8 mm) and systolic LV function (LV ejection fraction 66 +/- 13%) were within normal for the majority of the participants. Significant valvular disease was present in 57 (70%) individuals, with mitral regurgitation and aortic regurgitation as the most frequent valve diseases (49% and 28% respectively). The GARS score between individuals with and without significant valvular heart disease was similar (36.2 +/- 9.2 vs. 34.4 +/- 13.2, p = 0.5).


CONCLUSIONS
Nonagenarian, outpatient individuals have a high prevalence of significant valvular heart disease. However, no relation was observed between the presence of significant valvular heart disease and the ability to perform activities of daily living.
Effect of pioglitazone treatment on the adrenal androgen response to corticotrophin in obese patients with polycystic ovary syndrome.

BACKGROUND
To investigate the effect of pioglitazone on adrenal steroidogenesis in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), we studied 11 obese (two with BMI >25 kg/m(2); nine with BMI >27 kg/m(2)) PCOS women before and after 6 months of treatment at a dose of 45 mg/day.


METHODS
During the early follicular phase, ultrasonography and hormonal assays were performed. On separate days, all women underwent an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), a euglycaemic hyperinsulinaemic clamp and an adrenocorticotrophin hormone (ACTH) test. The same protocol was repeated after therapy.


RESULTS
Pioglitazone treatment significantly reduced the insulin response to OGTT and improved the insulin sensitivity indices (P < 0.01 and P = 0.03 respectively). A significant decrease was found in LH (P < 0.05) and androstenedione (P < 0.01) levels after therapy, whereas the other hormonal parameters improved but not significantly. Pioglitazone administration reduced the response of 17alpha-hydroxyprogesterone (17OHP) and androstenedione to ACTH (P < 0.01 and P < 0.02 respectively), most likely through an inhibition of cytochrome P450. The same treatment was able to rebalance the relative activity of 17,20-lyase, as documented by an increase in the androstenedione:17OHP ratio (P < 0.05) after ACTH stimulation.


CONCLUSIONS
Our data support the contention that insulin enhances ACTH-stimulated steroidogenesis, while inducing a relative impairment of 17,20-lyase activity. Whether the beneficial effects of pioglitazone on this imbalance could be related to the ameliorated glyco-insulinaemic metabolism or to a direct effect on the adrenal glands remains to be determined.
Improvement of termite resistance, dimensional stability and mechanical properties of pine wood by paraffin impregnation

Paraffin has been used as surface protection of wood throughout the ages but its use for impregnation to improve wood resistance to biodegradation is recent. This study determined the main improvements on wood properties with paraffin impregnation. Healthy Pinus pinaster Ait. wood was impregnated with paraffin at different levels using a hot–cold process. Weight gain, equilibrium moisture content and dimensional stability (ASE) at 35 and 65 % relative humidity, termite durability against Reticulitermes grassei (Clément), bending strength, bending stiffness (MOE) and Janka hardness were determined. Density increased from 0.57 to 0.99, ASE ranged between 38–96 % and 16–71 % for 35 and 65 % relative humidity, respectively. Equilibrium moisture content decreased from 9.9 and 12.0 % to 0.8 and 3.6 % for 35 and 65 % relative humidity. Termite durability improved from level 4 to level 3 of attack, and higher termite mortality was found in treated wood (52 % against 17 %). Bending strength (MOR) increased with paraffin weight gain, reaching a 39 % increase. MOE also increased by about 13 % for wood with a weight gain around 80 %. Janka hardness increased significantly reaching about 40 % for wood with 80 % weight gain. Paraffin impregnated wood has improved properties with regard to equilibrium moisture content, dimensional stability and density, bending strength and Janka hardness, and resistance against termites.
A geostatistical analysis of small-scale spatial variability in bacterial abundance and community structure in salt marsh creek bank sediments.

Small-scale variations in bacterial abundance and community structure were examined in salt marsh sediments from Virginia's eastern shore. Samples were collected at 5 cm intervals (horizontally) along a 50 cm elevation gradient, over a 215 cm horizontal transect. For each sample, bacterial abundance was determined using acridine orange direct counts and community structure was analyzed using randomly amplified polymorphic DNA fingerprinting of whole-community DNA extracts. A geostatistical analysis was used to determine the degree of spatial autocorrelation among the samples, for each variable and each direction (horizontal and vertical). The proportion of variance in bacterial abundance that could be accounted for by the spatial model was quite high (vertical: 60%, horizontal: 73%); significant autocorrelation was found among samples separated by 25 cm in the vertical direction and up to 115 cm horizontally. In contrast, most of the variability in community structure was not accounted for by simply considering the spatial separation of samples (vertical: 11%, horizontal: 22%), and must reflect variability from other parameters (e.g., variation at other spatial scales, experimental error, or environmental heterogeneity). Microbial community patch size based upon overall similarity in community structure varied between 17 cm (vertical) and 35 cm (horizontal). Overall, variability due to horizontal position (distance from the creek bank) was much smaller than that due to vertical position (elevation) for both community properties assayed. This suggests that processes more correlated with elevation (e.g., drainage and redox potential) vary at a smaller scale (therefore producing smaller patch sizes) than processes controlled by distance from the creek bank.
Use of mesalazine slow release suppositories 1 g three times per week to maintain remission of ulcerative proctitis: a randomised double blind placebo controlled multicentre study.

BACKGROUND
Daily administration of rectal formulations of mesalazine is effective in preventing relapse of ulcerative proctitis. Maintenance of remission with lower doses would be an advantage.


AIM
The efficacy of mesalazine suppositories (Pentasa) 1 g three times a week v placebo to maintain remission in patients with cryptogenetic proctitis was studied.


METHODS
Ninety five patients with cryptogenetic proctitis were randomised within two weeks of remission to receive for one year or until relapse three suppositories per week of either Pentasa (n = 48) or placebo (n = 47). In the case of a relapse, the patients received one suppository/day.


RESULTS
It was found that 25 of 48 subjects v 18 of 47 remained in remission in the mesalazine and placebo groups respectively. The relapse rate was lower in the mesalazine group for the following time intervals: 0-90 days (19% v 38%, p = 0.035), 0-180 days (29% v 54%, p = 0.017), 0-270 days (38% v 60%, p = 0.031), and 0-365 days (48% v 62%, p = 0.18). Treatment of relapse with one suppository/day induced remission in 11 of 18 and 2 of 26 patients in the mesalazine and placebo groups respectively (p = 0.001). Overall, 61% v 28% patients remained in the protocol and were in remission at one year (p = 0.001). Tolerance was good.


CONCLUSION
Mesalazine suppositories 1 g three times a week are effective for preventing relapses of cryptogenetic proctitis. Increasing the dose to 1 g/day is effective in a high proportion of subjects who relapsed.
Surveillance of autoimmune conditions following routine use of quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine.

OBJECTIVE
An observational safety study of the quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV4) in women was conducted. This report presents findings from autoimmune surveillance. Design.  Subjects were followed for 180days after each HPV4 dose for new diagnoses of 16 prespecified autoimmune conditions.


SETTING
Two managed care organizations in California. Subjects.  Number of 189,629 women who received ≥1 dose of HPV4 between 08/2006 and 03/2008.


OUTCOME
Potential new-onset autoimmune condition cases amongst HPV4 recipients were identified by electronic medical records. Medical records of those with ≥12-month health plan membership prior to vaccination were reviewed by clinicians to confirm the diagnosis and determine the date of disease onset. The incidence of each autoimmune condition was estimated for unvaccinated women at one study site using multiple imputations and compared with that observed in vaccinated women. Incidence rate ratios (IRR) were calculated. Findings were reviewed by an independent Safety Review Committee (SRC).


RESULTS
Overall, 1014 potential new-onset cases were electronically identified; 719 were eligible for case review; 31-40% were confirmed as new onset. Of these, no cluster of disease onset in relation to vaccination timing, dose sequence or age was found for any autoimmune condition. None of the estimated IRR was significantly elevated except Hashimoto's disease [IRR=1.29, 95% confidence interval: 1.08-1.56]. Further investigation of temporal relationship and biological plausibility revealed no consistent evidence for a safety signal for autoimmune thyroid conditions. The SRC and the investigators identified no autoimmune safety concerns in this study.


CONCLUSIONS
No autoimmune safety signal was found in women vaccinated with HPV4.
Understanding customer satisfaction and loyalty: An empirical study of mobile instant messages in China

With the rapid development of mobile technology and large usage rates of mobile phones, mobile instant message (MIM) services have been widely adopted in China. Although previous studies on the adoption of mobile services are quite extensive, few focus on customer satisfaction and loyalty to MIM in China.
Connections between covering-based rough sets and concept lattices

Article history: Received 12 December 2013 Received in revised form 30 August 2014 Accepted 3 September 2014 Available online xxxx