LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Immediate effects of thoracic spinal mobilisation on erector spinae muscle activity and pain in patients with thoracic spine pain: a preliminary randomised controlled trial.

OBJECTIVES
To investigate the activity of the thoracic erector spinae muscles and perceived pain intensity immediately after central postero-anterior (PA) mobilisation of the thoracic spine.


DESIGN
Randomised, placebo-controlled, experimental design.


PARTICIPANTS AND INTERVENTIONS
Thirty-four participants with non-specific thoracic pain were randomised to the experimental group [grade III central PA mobilisation performed for 3minutes at the level of the seventh thoracic vertebra (T7)] or the placebo group (less than grade I central PA mobilisation performed for 3minutes at T7).


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Before and immediately after PA mobilisation, surface electromyography (EMG) was recorded from the thoracic erector spinae muscles as the participants performed 10° spine extension from a prone position for 10seconds. Each participant rated their pain intensity as an investigator performed grade III central PA over the most symptomatic thoracic segment, and the pressure pain threshold (PPT) was evaluated bilaterally over the erector spinae muscles.


RESULTS
The EMG amplitude of thoracic erector spinae activity was reduced significantly after the intervention in the experimental group (P<0.05), but not in the placebo group. The difference between the groups was significant {pre-post change: placebo -14 [standard deviation (SD) 50]mV, experimental 28 (SD 48)mV; mean difference -42mV; 95% confidence interval of the difference -76 to 7; P<0.05} albeit small (Grissom=0.44). However, both groups showed a significant reduction in pain immediately after the intervention, and both groups showed a similar pre-post change in PPT.


CONCLUSION
These preliminary findings indicate that grade III central mobilisation over the most symptomatic thoracic segment reduces thoracic erector spinae activity during extension of the trunk in people with non-specific thoracic spine pain.


CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER
ISRCTN47601528.
The most common herbal medicines affecting Sarcomastigophora branches: a review study.

Parasitic diseases cause annual mortality of more than 200 thousand people. Currently many drugs are used to treat parasitic diseases; however, they are mostly expensive, toxic, with side effects and drug resistance. Medicinal plants have been shown to represent natural source of cheap drugs with low toxicity. In this review article, the most common and most effective herbal medicines on pathogenic protozoan Sarcomastigophora branches such as Trypanosoma, Leishmania, Amoeba, Trichomonas and Giardia were reviewed. The recently published papers about different drugs as well as herbal medicines as alternative for synthetic drugs were searched using scientific sites such as Medline, PubMed and Google Scholar. The used terms included: Medicinal plants, herbal medicine, protozoa, Trypanosoma, Sarcomastigophora branches, Leishmania, Amoeba, Trichomonas or Giardia.
Association between Gender, Process of Care Measures, and Outcomes in ACS in India: Results from the Detection and Management of Coronary Heart Disease (DEMAT) Registry

BACKGROUND
Studies from high-income countries have shown that women receive less aggressive diagnostics and treatment than men in acute coronary syndromes (ACS), though their short-term mortality does not appear to differ from men. Data on gender differences in ACS presentation, management, and outcomes are sparse in India.


METHODS AND RESULTS
The Detection and Management of Coronary Heart Disease (DEMAT) Registry collected data from 1,565 suspected ACS patients (334 women; 1,231 men) from ten tertiary care centers throughout India between 2007-2008. We evaluated gender differences in presentation, in-hospital and discharge management, and 30-day death and major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE; death, re-hospitalization, and cardiac arrest) rates. Women were less likely to present with STEMI than men (38% vs. 55%, p<0.001). Overall inpatient diagnostics and treatment patterns were similar between men and women after adjustment for potential confounders. Optimal discharge management with aspirin, clopidogrel, beta-blockers, and statin therapy was lower for women than men, (58% vs. 65%, p = 0.03), but these differences were attenuated after adjustment (OR = 0.86 (0.62, 1.19)). Neither the outcome of 30-day mortality (OR = 1.40 (0.62, 3.16)) nor MACE (OR = 1.00 (0.67, 1.48)) differed significantly between men and women after adjustment.


CONCLUSIONS
ACS in-hospital management, discharge management, and 30-day outcomes did not significantly differ between genders in the DEMAT registry, though consistently higher treatment rates and lower event rates in men compared to women were seen. These findings underscore the importance of further investigation of gender differences in cardiovascular care in India.
Coercive measures in general hospitals on non mentally-ill patients

Results Nihil volitum quem prae cognitum. Information on intrinsic elements of the consent of the patient for the medical act showed the physician's high importance in the definition of lex artis ad hoc. According to the High Court, other actions not specified habitually in texts should be considered as coercive measures (e.g. no information to patients from health staff). The catalogue should be opened to: involuntary admission, non-wished stay, non-wished medication or treatment, seclusion, chemical coercion and no information. The profile of the patient subject to coercion has been studied previously. We developed a complementary profile: age 71–80, lives alone, confused state, with neurological or respiratory disease, applied in the first 48 hours, by nursing staff, with a low perception of coercion, during the night, without patients' and/or relatives' opinion, without information to doctors or directors, without information to Court, without previous training, without taking care of the frequency whereupon they take place.
Profile of patients treated with omalizumab in routine clinical practice in Spain.

BACKGROUND
Omalizumab is indicated in patients with severe allergic asthma not controlled by high-dose inhaled glucocorticoids and long-acting beta-agonists. Few data are available on the profile of patients treated with this drug in routine clinical practice in Spain.


OBJECTIVE
To describe the profile of patients with severe allergic asthma treated with omalizumab and the course of the disease after a period of treatment.


METHODS
Retrospective, multicentre study, recording the data on patients of either sex and ≥12 years with uncontrolled severe allergic asthma, previously treated with omalizumab. Data were evaluated in relation to pulmonary function, symptoms, quality of life, and concomitant anti-asthma treatment before the prescription of omalizumab and at the time of the study visit.


RESULTS
214 patients were evaluable (mean age=48.2±17.7 years; mean age at the time of diagnosis=26.6±16.5 years). 90.7% had experienced exacerbations the year before receiving omalizumab, and the mean total IgE level was 273±205.4IU/ml. The mean monthly dose was 380.5±185.4mg. Compared with the baseline situation, differences were observed after treatment with omalizumab in mean FEV1 (62.7±15.9% vs. 70.8±18.7%), in the proportion of patients requiring oral corticosteroids (47.7% vs. 14.0%), and in the ACQ and AQLQ scores. 32.7% of the patients received doses not recommended by the Summary of Product Characteristics (SPC).


CONCLUSIONS
Profile of asthmatic patients treated with omalizumab predominantly corresponds to uncontrolled severe asthma cases, in accordance with SPC's indications. The results of the study suggest a favourable clinical course similar to that observed in other studies.
Toward Information Diffusion Model for Viral Marketing in Business

Current obstacles in the study of social media marketing include dealing with massive data and real-time updates have motivated to contribute solutions that can be adopted for viral marketing. Since information diffusion and social networks are the core of viral marketing, this article aims to investigate the constellation of diffusion methods for viral marketing. Studies on diffusion methods for viral marketing have applied different computational methods, but a systematic investigation of these methods has limited. Most of the literature have focused on achieving objectives such as influence maximization or community detection. Therefore, this article aims to conduct an in-depth review of works related to diffusion for viral marketing. Viral marketing has applied to business-to-consumer transactions but has seen limited adoption in business-to-business transactions. The literature review reveals a lack of new diffusion methods, especially in dynamic and large-scale networks. It also offers insights into applying various mining methods for viral marketing. It discusses some of the challenges, limitations, and future research directions of information diffusion for viral marketing. The article also introduces a viral marketing information diffusion model. The proposed model attempts to solve the dynamicity and large-scale data of social networks by adopting incremental clustering and a stochastic differential equation for business-to-business transactions. Keywords—information diffusion; viral marketing; social media marketing; social networks
Designing in Semantic Web Systems ( Modern Systems )

The purpose of this paper is to study Database Models to use them efficiently in E-commerce websites. In this paper we are going to find a method which can save and retrieve information in Ecommerce websites. Thus, semantic web applications can work with, and we are also going to study different technologies of E-commerce databases and we know that one of the most important deficits in semantic web is the shortage of semantic data, since most of the information is still stored in relational databases, we present an approach to map legacy data stored in relational databases into the Semantic Web using virtually any modern RDF query language, as long as it is closed within RDF. To achieve this goal we study XML structures for relational data bases of old websites and eventually we will come up one level over XML and look for a map from relational model (RDM) to RDF. Noting that a large number of semantic webs get advantage of relational model, opening the ways which can be converted to XML and RDF in modern systems (semantic web) is important. Keywords—E-Commerce, Semantic Web, Database, XML, RDF.
FUZZY-LOGIC-CONTROLLER-BASED SEPIC CONVERTER FOR MAXIMUM POWER POINT TRACKING

This paper presents a fuzzy logic controller(FLC)-based single-ended primary-inductor converter (SEPIC) for maximum power point tracking (MPPT) operation of a photovoltaic (PV) system. The FLC proposed presents that the convergent distribution of the membership function offers faster response than the symmetrically distributed membership functions. The fuzzy controller for the SEPIC MPPT scheme shows high precision in current transition and keeps the voltage without any changes, in the variable-load case, represented in small steadystate error and small overshoot. The proposed scheme ensures optimal use of PV array and proves its efficacy in variable load conditions, unity, and lagging power factor at the inverter output (load) side.. The results show that the proposed FLC-based MPPT scheme for SEPIC can accurately track the reference signal and transfer power around 4.8% more than the conventional PI-based system.
The natural history of prenatally diagnosed conjoined twins.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE
Accurate prenatal diagnosis of complex anatomic connections and associated anomalies has only been possible recently with the use of ultrasonography, echocardiography, and fetal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). To assess the impact of improved antenatal diagnosis in the management and outcome of conjoined twins, the authors reviewed their experience with 14 cases.


METHODS
A retrospective review of prenatally diagnosed conjoined twins referred to our institution from 1996 to present was conducted.


RESULTS
In 14 sets of conjoined twins, there were 10 thoracoomphalopagus, 2 dicephalus tribrachius dipus, 1 ischiopagus, and 1 ischioomphalopagus. The earliest age at diagnosis was 9 weeks' gestation (range, 9 to 29; mean, 20). Prenatal imaging with ultrasonography, echocardiography, and ultrafast fetal MRI accurately defined the shared anatomy in all cases. Associated anomalies included cardiac malformations (11 of 14), congenital diaphragmatic hernia (4 of 14), abdominal wall defects (2 of 14), and imperforate anus (2 of 14). Three sets of twins underwent therapeutic abortion, 1 set of twins died in utero, and 10 were delivered via cesarean section at a mean gestational age of 34 weeks. There were 5 individual survivors in the series after separation (18%). In one case, in which a twin with a normal heart perfused the cotwin with a rudimentary heart, the ex utero intrapartum treatment procedure (EXIT) was utilized because of concern that the normal twin would suffer immediate cardiac decompensation at birth. This EXIT-to-separation strategy allowed prompt control of the airway and circulation before clamping the umbilical cord and optimized control over a potentially emergent situation, leading to survival of the normal cotwin. In 2 sets of twins in which each twin had a normal heart, tissue expanders were inserted before separation.


CONCLUSIONS
Advances in prenatal diagnosis allow detailed, accurate evaluations of conjoined twins. Careful prenatal studies may uncover cases in which emergent separation at birth is lifesaving.
Control law design for haptic interfaces to virtual reality

The goal of control law design for haptic displays is to provide a safe and stable user interface while maximizing the operator’s sense of kinesthetic immersion in a virtual environment. This paper outlines a control design approach which guarantees the stability of a haptic interface when coupled to a broad class of human operators and virtual environments. Two-port absolute stability criteria are used to develop explicit control law design bounds for two different haptic display implementations: impedance display and admittance display. The strengths and weaknesses of each approach are illustrated through numerical and experimental results for a three degree-of-freedom device. The example highlights the ability of the proposed design procedure to handle some of the more difficult problems in control law synthesis for haptics, including structural flexibility and non-collocation of sensors and actuators. The authors are with the Department of Electrical Engineering University of Washington, Box 352500 Seattle, WA 98195-2500 * corresponding author submitted to IEEE Transactions on Control System Technology 9-7-99 2
The effect of consumption of low-glycemic-index and low-glycemic-load desserts on anthropometric parameters and inflammatory markers in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

PURPOSE
The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of consumption of desserts with low glycemic index (GI) and low glycemic load (GL), as part of a balanced hypo-caloric diet, on anthropometric and biochemical parameters in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).


METHODS
A total of 61 subjects with T2DM were randomly assigned to the intervention (n = 30) or to the control group (n = 31). Both groups followed the same hypo-caloric (-500 kcal) diet for 12 weeks. Consumption of four portions of low-GI/low-GL desserts/week was included in the diet in the intervention group while one portion of a favorite usual sweet/week was allowed to be consumed in the control group.


RESULTS
Thirty subjects in the control and 28 subjects in the intervention group completed the trial. Body weight, body mass index, and waist circumference were reduced significantly in both groups. Arterial blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin, insulin, and γ-GT were reduced significantly only in the intervention group; however, there were no significant differences between the two groups at endpoint. C-reactive protein was reduced in the intervention, and HDL cholesterol was also reduced in the control group; the reductions were significantly different at the end of the trial. No significant changes were observed in the other plasma lipids, uric acid, leptin, adiponectin, and interleukin-6 in either study group.


CONCLUSIONS
Consumption of desserts with low GI/GL in a balanced hypo-caloric diet has a positive impact on anthropometric and metabolic parameters of patients with T2DM.
Self-help and community mental health agency outcomes: a recovery-focused randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE
Self-help agencies (SHAs) are consumer-operated service organizations managed as participatory democracies. Members are involved in all aspects of organizational management, because a premise of SHAs is that organizationally empowered individuals become more empowered in their own lives, which promotes recovery. The study sought to determine the effectiveness of combined SHA and community mental health agency (CMHA) services in assisting recovery for persons with serious mental illness.


METHODS
A weighted sample of new clients seeking CMHA services was randomly assigned to regular CMHA services or to combined SHA-CMHA services at five proximally located pairs of SHA drop-in centers and county CMHAs. Member-clients (N=505) were assessed at baseline and at one, three, and eight months on five recovery-focused outcome measures: personal empowerment, self-efficacy, social integration, hope, and psychological functioning. Scales had high levels of reliability and independently established validity. Outcomes were evaluated with a repeated-measures multivariate analysis of covariance.


RESULTS
Overall results indicated that combined SHA-CMHA services were significantly better able to promote recovery of client-members than CMHA services alone. The sample with combined services showed greater improvements in personal empowerment (F=3.99, df=3 and 491, p<.008), self-efficacy (F=11.20, df=3 and 491, p<.001), and independent social integration (F=12.13, df=3 and 491, p<.001). Hopelessness (F=4.36, df=3 and 491, p<.005) and symptoms (F=4.49, df=3 and 491, p<.004) dissipated more quickly and to a greater extent in the combined condition than in the CMHA-only condition.


CONCLUSIONS
Member-empowering SHAs run as participatory democracies in combination with CMHA services produced more positive recovery-focused results than CMHA services alone.
An extensively hydrolysed cow's milk formula improves clinical symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux and reduces the gastric emptying time in infants.

BACKGROUND
About 20 % of infants fed with breast-milk substitutes suffer from Gastro Esophageal Reflux (GER) and 1/3 of them also show Cow's Milk Allergy (CMA) symptoms.


METHODS
We planned this study to assess by dynamic echography the usefulness of an Extensively Hydrolysed Cow's Milk Formula (eHF) in infants suffering from GER. Ten infants showing GER symptoms and 10 normal babies, all fed with breast-milk substitutes, were enrolled. Clinical symptom scores related to GER were assessed for one week. The Gastric Emptying Time (GET) was determined by means of dynamic echography after feeding with cow's milk-derived formulae and again after a week feeding with eHF in subjects previously showing GER symptoms.


RESULTS
All infants with a clinical diagnosis for GER showed an abnormally high average GET in comparison to normal subjects (205 vs 124 min, p = 0.000). Switching to the eHF led to a significant clinical improvement (p = 0.0039) especially in babies skin-test and RAST positive to cow's milk, and to a significant decrease toward the normal value of the GET (167 min, p < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
The eHF tested improves GER symptoms in infants suffering from this disease. Our experience confirms and supports the use of dynamic echography as a reliable, simple, and non-invasive diagnostic method for infants with an increased GET associated with clinical symptoms of GER.
Persistence of Alarm-Call Behaviour in the Absence of Predators: A Comparison Between Wild and Captive-Born Meerkats (Suricata Suricatta)

Performing correct anti-predator behaviour is crucial for prey to survive. But are such abilities lost in species or populations living in predator-free environments? How individuals respond to the loss of predators has been shown to depend on factors such as the degree to which anti-predator behaviour relies on experience, the type of cues evoking the behaviour, the cost of expressing the behaviour and the number of generations under which the relaxed selection has taken place. Here we investigated whether captive-born populations of meerkats (Suricata suricatta) used the same repertoire of alarm calls previously documented in wild populations and whether captive animals, as wild ones, could recognize potential predators through olfactory cues. We found that all alarm calls that have been documented in the wild also occurred in captivity and were given in broadly similar contexts. Furthermore, without prior experience of odours from predators, captive meerkats seemed to dist inguish between faeces of potential predators (carnivores) and non-predators (herbivores). Despite slight structural differences, the alarm calls given in response to the faeces largely resembled those recorded in similar contexts in the wild. These results from captive populations suggest that direct, physical interaction with predators is not necessary for meerkats to perform correct anti-predator behaviour in terms of alarm-call usage and olfactory predator recognition. Such behaviour may have been retained in captivity because relatively little experience seems necessary for correct performance in the wild and/or because of the recency of relaxed selection on these populations. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0310.2007.01409.x Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-282 Accepted Version Originally published at: Hollén, L I; Manser, M B (2007). Persistence of Alarm-Call Behaviour in the Absence of Predators: A Comparison Between Wild and Captive-Born Meerkats (Suricata suricatta). Ethology, 113(11):10381047. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0310.2007.01409.x
Dutch Disease in Australia: Policy Options for a Three‐Speed Economy

This paper expounds the concept of Dutch Disease as it applies currently to Australia, noting the various gains and losses resulting from the Australian mining boom. “Dutch Disease” refers to the adverse effects through real exchange rate appreciation that such a boom can have on various export and import-competing industries. Particular firms or industries may be both gainers and losers. The distinction is made between the Booming Sector (mining), the Lagging Sector (exports not part of the Booming Sector, and import-competing goods and services), and the Non-tradable Sector. The main discussion focuses on policy options, given a floating exchange rate regime. What should the government do – if anything to reduce or avoid this Dutch “disease”? The principal three options are: Do nothing, piecemeal protectionism, and run a fiscal surplus, combined with lowering the interest rate and possibly establishing a Sovereign Wealth Fund. Piecemeal protectionism is likely to be politically popular but there are strong arguments against it. The costs of any measures that successfully moderate real appreciation of the exchange rate and thus Dutch Disease effects are noted, and may be considerable. This is “exchange rate protection”. Gains to some industries are likely to be balanced by losses to others. It is shown, surprisingly, that a fiscal surplus that is financed by taxation of the profits of the Booming Sector may not significantly moderate real appreciation. The reason is that this sector is to a significant extent foreign owned. A fourth option, namely deliberately slowing up the investment boom, is also discussed briefly.