LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
A Performance Comparison of Container-Based Virtualization Systems for MapReduce Clusters

Virtualization as a platform for resource-intensive applications, such as MapReduce (MR), has been the subject of many studies in the last years, as it has brought benefits such as better manageability, overall resource utilization, security and scalability. Nevertheless, because of the performance overheads, virtualization has traditionally been avoided in computing environments where performance is a critical factor. In this context, container-based virtualization can be considered a lightweight alternative to the traditional hypervisor-based virtualization systems. In fact, there is a trend towards using containers in MR clusters in order to provide resource sharing and performance isolation (e.g., Mesos and YARN). However, there are still no studies evaluating the performance overhead of the current container-based systems and their ability to provide performance isolation when running MR applications. In this work, we conducted experiments to effectively compare and contrast the current container-based systems (Linux VServer, OpenVZ and Linux Containers (LXC)) in terms of performance and manageability when running on MR clusters. Our results showed that although all container-based systems reach a near-native performance for MapReduce workloads, LXC is the one that offers the best relationship between performance and management capabilities (specially regarding to performance isolation).
Acute Kidney Injury in Patients Undergoing Open Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair: A Pilot Observational Trial.

OBJECTIVES
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a frequent complication after open repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA). Little research has been done to determine whether intraoperative hemodynamic events may precipitate AKI. Novel biomarkers also may aid in the earlier diagnosis of AKI.


DESIGN
A pilot prospective observational trial.


SETTING
A single tertiary academic medical center.


PARTICIPANTS
Participants were 40 adult patients undergoing open repair of infrarenal AAA.


INTERVENTIONS
Intraoperative hemodynamic monitoring of heart rate, mean arterial pressure, central venous pressure, and cardiac index was performed on a continuous basis. Blood samples were obtained at baseline and at 24 hours postoperatively for inflammatory biomarkers, including neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL).


MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
AKI occurred in 20% of patients (8 of 40). Hypotension, including duration (defined as the length of time mean arterial pressure was<65 mmHg) and magnitude (the area under the curve of a mean arterial pressure<65 mmHg), was the only factor associated with postoperative AKI. Urinary NGAL at the conclusion of surgery had excellent ability to predict the development of AKI (area under the curve 0.84, 95% confidence interval = 0.70-0.97). The cytokines pentraxin 3 (PTX3), interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL1-RA), macrophage chemotactic protein (MCP), suppressor of tumorigenicity 2 (ST-2), and interleukin-10 (IL-10) also had good ability to predict the development of AKI in the immediate postoperative period.


CONCLUSIONS
AKI occurs frequently in patients undergoing open repair of AAA. Intraoperative hypotension was the only factor that predicted the development of subsequent AKI. Urinary NGAL and several novel inflammatory biomarkers demonstrated good ability to predict its development. Novel biomarkers also may aid in the early diagnosis of AKI.
Quantifying the Body and Caring for the Mind: Self-Tracking in Multiple Sclerosis

Consumer health technologies have an enormous potential to transform the self-management of chronic conditions. However, it is unclear how individuals use self-tracking technologies to manage them. This in-depth interview study explores self-tracking practices in multiple sclerosis (MS), a complex neurological disease that causes physical, cognitive, and psychological symptoms. Our findings illustrate that when faced the unpredictable and degenerative nature of MS, individuals regained a sense of control by intertwining self-care practices with different self-tracking technologies. They engaged in disease monitoring, fitness tracking, and life journaling to quantify the body and care for the mind. We focus attention on the role of emotional wellbeing and the experience of control in self-tracking and managing MS. Finally, we discuss in which ways self-tracking technologies could support the experiential nature of control and foster mindful experiences rather than focusing only on tracking primary disease indicators.
An Overview of Convolutional Neural Network Architectures for Deep Learning

Since AlexNet was developed and applied to the ImageNet classi cation competition in 2012 [1], the quantity of research on convolutional networks for deep learning applications has increased remarkably. In 2015, the top 5 classi cation error was reduced to 3.57%, with Microsoft's Residual Network [2]. The previous top 5 classi cation error was 6.67%, achieved by GoogLeNet [3]. In recent years, new arti cial neural network architectures have been developed which improve upon previous architectures. Speci cally, these are the inception modules in GoogLeNet, and residual networks, in Microsoft's ResNet [2]. Here we will examine convolutional neural networks (convnets) for image recognition, and then provide an explanation for their architecture. The role of various convnet hyperparameters will be examined. The question of how to correctly size a neural network, in terms of the number of layers, and layer size, for example, will be considered. An example for determining GPU memory required for training a de ned network architecture is presented. The training method of backpropagation will be discussed in the context of past and recent developments which have improved training e ectiveness. Other techniques and considerations related to network training, such as choosing an activation function, and proper weight initialization, are discussed brie y. Finally, recent developments in convnet architecture are reviewed.
Quantitative continuous EEG for detecting delayed cerebral ischemia in patients with poor-grade subarachnoid hemorrhage

OBJECTIVE
Delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) due to vasospasm is often undetected by clinical exam in patients with poor-grade subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). The purpose of this study was to identify quantitative EEG (qEEG) parameters that are most sensitive and specific for the detection of DCI in stuporous or comatose SAH patients.


METHODS
Of 78 consecutive Hunt-Hess grade 4 or 5 SAH patients admitted to our Neuro-ICU over a 2-year period, 48 were eligible for participation and 34 were enrolled. Continuous EEG monitoring was performed from post-operative day 2 to post-SAH day 14. In each patient, 20 artifact-free, 1 min EEG-clips following an alerting stimulus were analyzed: 10 clips were obtained on monitoring day 1 (baseline), and 10 on days 4-6 (follow-up). In DCI patients, follow-up clips were obtained after the onset of deterioration and before infarction had occurred. Twelve qEEG parameters were calculated using fast Fourier transformation; generalized estimating equations were used to compare ratios of change in qEEG parameters in patients with and without DCI.


RESULTS
Nine of 34 patients (26%) developed DCI. The alpha/delta ratio (alpha power/delta power; ADR) demonstrated the strongest association with DCI. The median decrease of ADR for patients with DCI was 24%, compared to an increase of 3% for patients without DCI (Z=4.0, P<0.0001). Clinically useful cut-offs included 6 consecutive recordings with a >10% decrease in ADR from baseline (sensitivity 100%, specificity 76%) and any single measurement with a >50% decrease (sensitivity 89%, specificity 84%).


CONCLUSIONS
A decrease in the ADR may be a sensitive method of detecting DCI, with reasonable specificity. This post-stimulation qEEG parameter may supplement the clinical exam in poor-grade SAH patients and may prove useful for the detection of DCI.


SIGNIFICANCE
Following ADRs may allow earlier detection of DCI and initiation of interventions at a reversible stage, thus preventing infarction and neurological morbidity.
Effect of health education on knowledge and oral hygiene practices of persons living with HIV in Nairobi, Kenya.

OBJECTIVE
To assess the effect of oral health education on knowledge and oral health seeking behaviour of persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA).


METHODS
Quasi-experimental study design conducted among 195 Persons living with HIV/AIDS attending two Comprehensive Care Centres (CCC) at the Kenyatta National Hospital (intervention group) and Mbagathi district hospital (non-intervention group) in Nairobi Kenya. The participants were selected using systematic random sampling method and data collected using a questionnaire. Data was collected at baseline, at three months (review 1) and at six months (review 2).


RESULTS
There was a significant change in oral health knowledge for KNH participants. However, no significant change in oral knowledge was recorded for MDH participants. The proportion of participants who brushed their teeth at least twice a day increased significantly from 52% to 88% for KNH. The proportion of those who had brushed the previous evening increased from 47% to 83.2%. There was no significant change in the proportion brushing at least twice a day among the non-intervention group. There was a significant association between change in knowledge and change to brushing at least twice a day among the intervention group.


CONCLUSION
Oral health education led to improved oral health knowledge and oral hygiene practices among PLWHA.
An analysis of a packed bed latent heat thermal energy storage system using PCM capsules : Numerical investigation

This paper is aimed at analyzing the behavior of a packed bed latent heat thermal energy storage system. The packed bed is composed of spherical capsules filled with paraffin wax as PCM usable with a solar water heating system. The model developed in this study uses the fundamental equations similar to those of Schumann, except that the phase change phenomena of PCM inside the capsules are analyzed by using enthalpy method. The equations are numerically solved, and the results obtained are used for the thermal performance analysis of both charging and discharging processes. The effects of the inlet heat transfer fluid temperature (Stefan number), mass flow rate and phase change temperature range on the thermal performance of the capsules of various radii have been investigated. The results indicate that for the proper modeling of performance of the system the phase change temperature range of the PCM must be accurately known, and should be taken into account. 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
A pilot study of methylphenidate preference assessment in children diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

OBJECTIVE
The use of methylphenidate (MPH) in the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is widely accepted; however, there is increased concern regarding its abuse potential. Few studies have examined the reinforcing effects of drugs in individuals receiving them for clinical purposes. This study attempts to assess MPH preference in children with ADHD using a choice procedure in order to explore the relationship among drug preference, clinical efficacy, and abuse potential.


METHODS
Participants were 5 children (10-14 years of age) receiving MPH for the treatment of ADHD. Reinforcing effects were assessed using a double-blind choice procedure, with six sampling sessions and six choice sessions. Participant-rated effects were measured using self-report questionnaires. Clinical effects were measured using direct observations and behavior ratings.


RESULTS
Differences between the number of MPH, Placebo, and Neither choices across participants were significant (chi2 = 9.6; p < 0.01). Three of five participants reliably chose MPH more often than placebo. MPH produced idiosyncratic patterns of participant-rated effects but failed to produce significant clinical effects.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings add to the literature on the reinforcing effects of MPH and are the first reported in a clinical sample of children. Further research exploring the role of clinical efficacy in MPH preference is warranted.
Large-Scale Silicon Photonic Circuits for Optical Phased Arrays

We review recent advances in integrated large-scale optical phased arrays. The design and fabrication of large-scale optical phased arrays using silicon photonic circuits are discussed from device designs including the directional couplers, thermo-optic phase shifters, and optical nanoantennas, to system studies including phased array synthesis and noise analysis. By taking advantage of the well-developed silicon complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) fabrication technology, several large-scale integrated silicon photonic phased arrays are demonstrated, including two passive-phased arrays (64 × 64 and 32 × 32) with the ability to generate complex holographic images, an 8 × 8 active phased array for dynamic optical beamforming, and an 8 × 8 active antenna array with amplitude apodization. These optical phased array demonstrations, with up to 12 000 integrated optical elements, represent the largest and densest silicon photonic circuits demonstrated to date.
Modulation of adipokines and cytokines in gestational diabetes and macrosomia.

CONTEXT/OBJECTIVE
Not much is known about the implication of adipokines and different cytokines in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and macrosomia. The purpose of this study was to assess the profile of these hormones and cytokines in macrosomic babies, born to gestational diabetic women.


DESIGN/SUBJECTS
A total of 59 women (age, 19-42 yr) suffering from GDM with their macrosomic babies (4.35 +/- 0.06 kg) and 60 healthy age-matched pregnant women and their newborns (3.22 +/- 0.08 kg) were selected.


METHODS
Serum adipokines (adiponectin and leptin) were quantified using an obesity-related multiple ELISA microarray kit. The concentrations of serum cytokines were determined by ELISA.


RESULTS
Serum adiponectin levels were decreased, whereas the concentrations of leptin, inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-6 and TNF-alpha, were significantly increased in gestational diabetic mothers compared with control women. The levels of these adipocytokines were diminished in macrosomic babies in comparison with their age-matched control newborns. Serum concentrations of T helper type 1 (Th1) cytokines (IL-2 and interferon-gamma) were decreased, whereas IL-10 levels were significantly enhanced in gestational diabetic mothers compared with control women. Macrosomic children exhibited high levels of Th1 cytokines and low levels of IL-10 compared with control infants. Serum IL-4 levels were not altered between gestational diabetic mothers and control mothers or the macrosomic babies and newborn control babies.


CONCLUSIONS
GDM is linked to the down-regulation of adiponectin along with Th1 cytokines and up-regulation of leptin and inflammatory cytokines. Macrosomia was associated with the up-regulation of Th1 cytokines and the down-regulation of the obesity-related agents (IL-6 and TNF-alpha, leptin, and adiponectin).
Application of Adsorbents for Water Pollution Control

A Note on the Advances in Adsorption Technology for Water Treatment: Progress and Challenges
Scleral buckling combined with vitrectomy for the management of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment associated with inferior retinal breaks

AimThe use of adjunctive scleral buckling during vitrectomy for retinal detachment associated with inferior breaks has been the recent focus of some debate. It has been suggested that any benefit might be outweighed by potential complications associated with buckling surgery. The purpose of this study was to compare the success rate of vitrectomy, gas, and supplementary scleral buckling with the results of two recently published case series suggesting that acceptable results in inferior break detachments can be achieved with vitrectomy and gas alone.MethodsA retrospective analysis of 60 consecutive patients with inferior break retinal detachments was conducted. All patients underwent vitrectomy, gas, and scleral buckling. In all cases, fellow eyes were examined under anaesthesia for retinal breaks if posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) had occurred at the time of presentation. Demographics, preoperative, and postoperative complications and outcome were recorded.ResultsPrimary retinal attachment at 3 months was achieved in 95% of patients. This exceeds success rates of published data of patients who underwent vitrectomy and gas without buckling (81–89%). In patients with PVD in the fellow eye, 53% had horseshoe tears and all were treated with cryopexy. No sight-threatening complications occurred, but five patients developed minor buckle-related complications postoperatively.ConclusionSupplementary scleral buckling is a safe procedure that improves and enhances primary success rates in inferior break detachments over vitrectomy and gas without buckling. There is a high rate of PVD-related breaks requiring treatment in the fellow eyes.
Discourse-Based Objectives for Fast Unsupervised Sentence Representation Learning

This work presents a novel objective function for the unsupervised training of neural network sentence encoders. It exploits signals from paragraph-level discourse coherence to train these models to understand text. Our objective is purely discriminative, allowing us to train models many times faster than was possible under prior methods, and it yields models which perform well in extrinsic evaluations.
[Effects of greater-than-5% weight reduction on hemodynamic, metabolic and neuroendocrine profiles of grade I obese subjects].

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effects of a greater-than-5% weight reduction in hemodynamic, metabolic, and neuroendocrine profiles of grade I obese subjects.


METHODS
Observational study with 47 grade I obese subjects, with mean age of 33 years who received monthly orientation regarding diet, physical exercises, and eating behavior for four months. Blood pressure using the auscultatory method and pulse rate were assessed monthly, whereas the following variables (and respective methods) were measured at the beginning and at the end of the study: total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL-cholesterol (enzymatic method), LDL-cholesterol (Friedewald formula), blood glucose (hexokinase method), leptin, adiponectin, renin, aldosterone, insulin (radioimmunoassay) and insulin-resistance index (HOMA).


RESULTS
After adjustment for other variables, significant reductions of 6 mmHg in diastolic blood pressure, 7 pg/ml in renin, 13 mg/dl in total cholesterol and 12 mg/dl in LDL-cholesterol were observed in the greater-than-5% weight reduction group. Also, a tendency to a higher increase in adiponectin levels by the end of the study, as well as a three-fold higher reduction in blood glucose, insulin, and HOMA levels, and a six-fold higher reduction in leptin levels were observed in this group.


CONCLUSION
Non-pharmacological measures that promote a greater-than-5% weight reduction produce hemodynamic, metabolic, and neuroendocrine effects that improve the cardiovascular risk of obese subjects.
[Relationship between obstructive sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome and insulin resistance].

OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether obstructive sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) is independently associated with insulin resistance (IR).


METHODS
We recruited 60 male obese patients with OSAHS [OSAHS group, age (42.3 +/- 2.6) years, body mass index (BMI) (28.3 +/- 2.1) kg/m2, waist/hip ratio (WHR) 0.95 +/- 0.05], 60 male weight-matched obese patients without OSAHS [OB group, age (41.5 +/- 3.1) years, BMI (27.7 +/- 1.5) kg/m2, WHR 0.94 +/- 0.04] and 60 male normal weight subjects [NW group, age (41.8 +/- 2.4) years, BMI (22.6 +/- 1.9) kg/m2, WHR 0.86 +/- 0.05]. The subjects underwent polysomnography and OSAHS was defined as an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) > or = 5. The systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure were measured. IR was evaluated by fasting serum true insulin (TI) level and IR index based on the homeostasis model assessment method (HOMA-IR). In the OSAHS group, multiple linear regression was used with either TI or HOMA-IR as the dependent variable, and the corresponding set of independent variables included age, BMI, WHR, AHI and minimum oxygen saturation (MSpO2).


RESULTS
After adjustment for age, BMI, and WHR, the OSAHS group was more insulin resistant, as indicated by the higher levels of TI and HOMA-IR. Multiple linear regression showed that the central obesity parameter (WHR) was the major determinant of IR of the OSAHS group, while sleep-disordered breathing parameters (AHI and MSpO2) were also independent determinants of IR of the group (TI: AHI P = 0.017, TI: MSpO2 P = 0.005; HOMA-IR: AHI P = 0.008, HOMA-IR: MSpO2 P = 0.003).


CONCLUSION
OSAHS may be independently associated with IR.
The national database of the German Collaborative Arthritis Centres: II. Treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVE
To describe current treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in German rheumatology.


METHODS
Data from the German rheumatological database of 1998, comprising clinical and patient questionnaire data of 12 992 outpatients with RA seen at 24 collaborative arthritis centres in Germany, were analysed.


RESULTS
At the time of documentation, 88% of the patients with RA were undergoing disease modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) treatment. Methotrexate (MTX) was prescribed to 56% of the patients (61% with seropositive and 45% with seronegative RA). Combination treatment was used in 15%. MTX was the drug of first choice even in patients with up to one year's disease duration (49%), followed by antimalarial drugs (21%). Patients treated by non-rheumatologists within the previous year had received DMARD treatment in only 33% of the cases. In steroid treatment, low doses (< or = 7.5 mg/day) were used by rheumatologists much more often (44%) than higher doses (12%). 16% of the patients had been inpatients during the previous year, with a median length of stay accumulated over the year of 21 days. Together with stays in inpatient rehabilitation, 22% of all patients had had some form of inpatient treatment. Comprehensive measures such as occupational therapy and patient education were prescribed to fewer than 12% of the patients, mostly during their hospital stay.


CONCLUSION
German rheumatologists do follow recent recommendations about early and effective treatment. However, there are still deficits in outpatient care with non-medicinal measures like occupational therapy and patient education, which may partly explain the high hospital admission rates.