LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
The effects of home interferential therapy on post-operative pain, edema, and range of motion of the knee.

OBJECTIVE
We studied the effects of home interferential current therapy (IFC) on postoperative pain, range of motion, and edema in subjects undergoing anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction, menisectomy, or knee chondroplasty.


DESIGN
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled prospective study.


SETTING
A tertiary care outpatient orthopaedic clinic/ambulatory surgery center.


SUBJECTS OR PARTICIPANTS
Eighty-seven subjects were separated into three groups based on their type of knee surgery and within each group randomized into a treatment or placebo group.


INTERVENTIONS
All subjects received home IFC units. Subjects randomized to treatment group received a working IFC unit. Placebo subjects received units that were previously set to deliver no current.


MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS
Post-operative edema at 24, 48, and 72 hours, and weeks 1-8; range of motion at 1, 3, 6, and 9 weeks; pain immediately after surgery, at 24, 48, and 72 hours, and weeks 1-7; and amount of pain medication taken at days 1-10 were compared between treatment and placebo groups.


RESULTS
All IFC subjects reported significantly less pain and had significantly greater range of motion at all post-operative time points. ACL and menisectomy IFC subjects experienced significantly less edema at all time points, while chondroplasty subjects experienced significantly less edema until 4 weeks postoperatively.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings indicate that home IFC may help reduce pain, pain medication taken, and swelling while increasing range of motion in patients undergoing knee surgery. This could result in quicker return to activities of daily living and athletic activities.
The contribution of transformative learning theory to the practice of participatory research and extension: Theoretical reflections

This paper explores ways in which experiential learning theories, in particular transformative learning theory, can inform farmer participatory research and extension (PR&E). I identify and discuss three key elements of experiential learning theory – second-order experiences, reflection, and dialogue – that are particularly pertinent to PR&E practice. I then turn to one experiential learning theorist – Mezirow, and examine his theory of transformative learning to assess how it may inform the PR&E process. I outline the basic components and stages of transformative learning and summarize the main criticisms of the theory. Following this, parallels are drawn between transformative learning and what actually takes place in PR&E, and examples are given of the ways in which scientists and rural people may undergo transformative learning through the PR&E process. Ways in which transformative learning can be encouraged within the PR&E context are discussed. I conclude that Mezirow’s work can provide PR&E practitioners and theorists with additional insights into how adults learn and especially how they – researchers, extensionists and rural people – can transform their ways of thinking to accommodate a shift from conventional research and extension to PR&E.
Connecting in the Kitchen: An Empirical Study of Physical Interactions while Cooking Together at Home

Recent research has explored the role technology might play in future kitchens, including virtually dining together, recipe sharing, augmented kitchen furniture, reactive cooking utensils and gestural interaction. When people come together in a kitchen to cook it is about more than just production of sustenance -- it is about being together, helping each other, exchanging stories, and contributing to the gradual emergence of a shared meal. In this paper we present a digital ethnography of how people coordinate and cooperate in their kitchens when cooking together for the purpose of inspiring the design of social natural user interactions for technologies in the kitchen. The study is based on 61 YouTube videos of people cooking together analyzed using the frameworks of proxemics and F-formations. Our findings unfold and illustrate relationships between people's spatial organization, their cooking activities and physical kitchen layouts. Based on these we discuss the kitchen as a design space and particularly the opportunities for social natural user interaction design.
Highly Parameterized K-means Clustering on FPGAs: Comparative Results with GPPs and GPUs

K-means clustering has been widely used in processing large datasets in many fields of studies. Advancement in many data collection techniques has been generating enormous amount of data, leaving scientists with the challenging task of processing them. Using General Purpose Processors or GPPs to process large datasets may take a long time, therefore many acceleration methods have been proposed in the literature to speed-up the processing of such large datasets. In this work, we propose a parameterized Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) implementation of the Kmeans algorithm and compare it with previous FPGA implementation as well as recent implementations on Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and with GPPs. The proposed FPGA implementation has shown higher performance in terms of speed-up over previous FPGA GPU and GPP implementations, and is more energy efficient.
A Convergent O ( n ) Algorithm for Off-policy Temporal-difference Learning with Linear Function Approximation

We introduce the first temporal-difference learning algorithm that is stable with linear function approximation and off-policy training, for any finite Markov decision process, behavior policy, and target policy, and whose complexity scales linearly in the number of parameters. We consider an i.i.d. policy-evaluation setting in which the data need not come from on-policy experience. The gradient temporal-difference (GTD) algorithm estimates the expected update vector of the TD(0) algorithm and performs stochastic gradient descent on its L2 norm. We prove that this algorithm is stable and convergent under the usual stochastic approximation conditions to the same least-squares solution as found by the LSTD, but without LSTD’s quadratic computational complexity. GTD is online and incremental, and does not involve multiplying by products of likelihood ratios as in importance-sampling methods. 1 Off-policy learning methods Off-policy methods have an important role to play in the larger ambitions of modern reinforcement learning. In general, updates to a statistic of a dynamical process are said to be “off-policy” if their distribution does not match the dynamics of the process, particularly if the mismatch is due to the way actions are chosen. The prototypical example in reinforcement learning is the learning of the value function for one policy, the target policy, using data obtained while following another policy, the behavior policy. For example, the popular Q-learning algorithm (Watkins 1989) is an offpolicy temporal-difference algorithm in which the target policy is greedy with respect to estimated action values, and the behavior policy is something more exploratory, such as a corresponding greedy policy. Off-policy methods are also critical to reinforcement-learning-based efforts to model human-level world knowledge and state representations as predictions of option outcomes (e.g., Sutton, Precup & Singh 1999; Sutton, Rafols & Koop 2006). Unfortunately, off-policy methods such as Q-learning are not sound when used with approximations that are linear in the learned parameters—the most popular form of function approximation in reinforcement learning. Counterexamples have been known for many years (e.g., Baird 1995) in which Q-learning’s parameters diverge to infinity for any positive step size. This is a severe problem in so far as function approximation is widely viewed as necessary for large-scale applications of reinforcement learning. The need is so great that practitioners have often simply ignored the problem and continued to use Q-learning with linear function approximation anyway. Although no instances of absolute divergence in applications have been reported in the literature, the potential for instability is disturbing and probably belies real but less obvious problems.
15th Scandinavian Symposium and Workshops on Algorithm Theory, SWAT 2016, June 22-24, 2016, Reykjavik, Iceland

We consider a lowerand upper-bounded generalization of the classical facility location problem, where each facility has a capacity (upper bound) that limits the number of clients it can serve and a lower bound on the number of clients it must serve if it is opened. We develop an LP rounding framework that exploits a Voronoi diagram-based clustering approach to derive the first bicriteria constant approximation algorithm for this problem with non-uniform lower bounds and uniform upper bounds. This naturally leads to the the first LP-based approximation algorithm for the lower bounded facility location problem (with non-uniform lower bounds). We also demonstrate the versatility of our framework by extending this and presenting the first constant approximation algorithm for some connected variant of the problems in which the facilities are required to be connected as well. 1998 ACM Subject Classification F.2.2 Nonnumerical Algorithms and Problems
Study of age dependence of epiphyseal ossification of the hand skeleton

Radiological analysis of the hand skeleton is a key pillar of forensic age diagnostics in living subjects undergoing criminal proceedings. The present study investigated whether ossification stage classification of selected epiphyses of the hand could provide added value to hand radiograph analysis. Hand radiographs from 265 male and 164 female subjects aged 10–18years old who had been X-rayed due to traumatological indications were therefore assessed. Epiphyseal ossification of selected elements of the hand skeleton (ulna, radius and third metacarpal, basal phalanx, mesophalanx and telephalanx) was graded based on the criteria of the five-stage classification system of Schmeling et al. (Int J Legal Med, 118:5–8, 2004) for clavicular epiphyseal cartilage. Stage 5 (absence of the epiphyseal scar) does not occur in the radius of men before the age of 18. Stage 5 can therefore be regarded as a potential parameter for valid determination of a minimum age of 18 years for forensic age estimation in criminal proceedings.
Intelligent Mobile Cloud Education: Smart Anytime-Anywhere Learning for the Next Generation Campus Environment

Learning has evolved significantly, creating several challenges for the traditional educational system. This paradigm shift in education is imminent and has since gathered a great deal of interest in recent years, as an attempt to bridge the technological gap in the educational sector. Under EBTIC's international iCampus (intelligent campus) initiative [1], this paper examines mobile cloud-education -- a novel cutting-edge research in the area of intelligent learning, based on the design, development and testing of a mobile cloud learning system. This system can provide smart anytime-anywhere learning that is customised and adapted to individuals, and delivered via personal portables devices. A preliminary testing of the system reveals its effectiveness in supporting teaching and learning in an intelligent campus environment.
Immunological evidence that non-carboxymethyllysine advanced glycation end-products are produced from short chain sugars and dicarbonyl compounds in vivo.

BACKGROUND
The Maillard reaction that leads to the formation of advanced glycation end-products (AGE) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of angiopathy in diabetic patients and in the aging process. Recently, it was proposed that AGE were not only created by glucose, but also by dicarbonyl compounds derived from the Maillard reaction, autoxidation of sugars and other metabolic pathways of glucose. In this study, we developed four types of non-carboxymethyllysine (CML) anti-AGE antibodies that recognized proteins modified by incubation with short chain sugars and dicarbonyl compounds.


MATERIALS AND METHODS
AGE-modified serum albumins were prepared by incubation of rabbit serum albumin with glyceraldehyde, glycolaldehyde, methylglyoxal or glyoxal. After immunization of rabbits, four types of AGE-specific antisera were obtained that were specific for the AGE modification. To separate non-CML AGE antibodies (Ab) (non-CML AGE-Ab-2, -3, -4, and -5), these anti-AGE antisera were subjected to affinity chromatography on a matrix coupled with four kinds of AGE bovine serum albumin (BSA) or CML-BSA. These non-CML AGE antibodies were used to investigate the AGE content of serum obtained from diabetic patients on hemodialysis.


RESULTS
Characterization of the four types of non-CML AGE antibodies obtained by immunoaffinity chromatography was performed by competitive ELISA and immunoblot analysis. Non-CML AGE-Ab-2 crossreacted with the protein modified by glyceraldehyde or glycolaldehyde. Non-CML AGE-Ab-3 and -Ab-4 specifically cross-reacted with protein modified by glycolaldehyde and methylglyoxal, respectively. NonCML AGE-Ab-5 cross-reacted with protein modified with glyoxal as well as methylglyoxal and glycolaldehyde. Three kinds of non-CML AGE (AGE-2, -4, and -5) were detected in diabetic serum as three peaks with apparent molecular weights of 200, 1.15, and 0.85 kD; whereas, AGE-3 was detected as two peaks with apparent molecular weights of 200 and 0.85 kD.


CONCLUSION
We propose that various types of non-CML AGE are formed by the Maillard reaction, sugar autoxidation and sugar metabolism. These antibodies enable us to identify such compounds created by the Maillard reaction in vivo.
An overview of anomaly detection techniques: Existing solutions and latest technological trends

As advances in networking technology help to connect the distant corners of the globe and as the Internet continues to expand its influence as a medium for communications and commerce, the threat from spammers, attackers and criminal enterprises has also grown accordingly. It is the prevalence of such threats that has made intrusion detection systems—the cyberspace’s equivalent to the burglar alarm—join ranks with firewalls as one of the fundamental technologies for network security. However, today’s commercially available intrusion detection systems are predominantly signature-based intrusion detection systems that are designed to detect known attacks by utilizing the signatures of those attacks. Such systems require frequent rule-base updates and signature updates, and are not capable of detecting unknown attacks. In contrast, anomaly detection systems, a subset of intrusion detection systems, model the normal system/network behavior which enables them to be extremely effective in finding and foiling both known as well as unknown or ‘‘zero day’’ attacks. While anomaly detection systems are attractive conceptually, a host of technological problems need to be overcome before they can be widely adopted. These problems include: high false alarm rate, failure to scale to gigabit speeds, etc. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive survey of anomaly detection systems and hybrid intrusion detection systems of the recent past and present. We also discuss recent technological trends in anomaly detection and identify open problems and challenges in this area. 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Structural controls on the continent-ocean transition in the northern Gulf of California

In the Gulf of California the Pacific-North America plate boundary changes character from an oceanic-type spreading center and transform fault system (to the south) to a region of diffuse continental deformation (to the north). The presence of spreading centers commonly inferred in the northernmost gulf is not supported by bathymetric, heat flow, gravity, or seismic data which indicate significant differences north and south of latitude -30øN. We suggest instead that north of-30øN a continent-ocean transition begins which we name the Wagner Transition Zone (WTZ). Diffuse deformation characterizes the WTZ where slip occurs along reactivated north to NNW striking normal faults developed uring late Miocene or Pliocene ENE directed extension. Transtensional deformation varies from ENE directed extension along dip-slip faults in the west to dextral shear along the coast o dextral-oblique slip along inferred north to NNW striking faults submerged in the northern gulf. By accounting for rotational and extensional plate motion deformation in northeastern Baja California, vector constraints require that submerged structures accommodate -30 mm/yr of slip in a direction slightly clockwise of the relative plate motion direction. The juxtaposition of the discrete spreading center system in the central gulf with the diffuse WTZ appears to have been a stable configuration since 4-6 Ma, perhaps controlling the evolution of spreading center jumps between Upper and Lower Tibur6n and Delfin basins due to the juxtaposition of kinematically partitioned structural domains. Different histories of prerift extension and subduction-related arc magmatism along the length of the gulf, partly related to the migration of the Rivera triple junction, may explain the location of the continent-ocean transition.
How Many Bits have to be Changed to Decrease the Linear Complexity?

The k-error linear complexity of periodic binary sequences is defined to be the smallest linear complexity that can be obtained by changing k or fewer bits of the sequence per period. For the period length p, where p is an odd prime and 2 is a primitive root modulo p, we show a relationship between the linear complexity and the minimum value k for which the k-error linear complexity is strictly less than the linear complexity. Moreover, we describe an algorithm to determine the k-error linear complexity of a given p-periodic binary sequence.
Drug-induced thrombocytopenia and thrombosis: Evidence from patients receiving an oral glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor in the Orbofiban in Patients with Unstable coronary Syndromes- (OPUS-TIMI 16) trial

Objective: To assess etiology and impact of thrombocytopenia in a large oral glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa inhibitor trial. Background: Heparin is known to cause thrombocytopenia, and in some of these patients thrombosis. GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors are also associated with thrombocytopenia. Methods: The Orbofiban in Patients with Unstable Coronary Syndromes (OPUS-TIMI 16) Trial randomized 10,392 patients with ACS to the oral GP IIb/IIIa inhibitor orbofiban or placebo. Patients were followed for a minimum of ten months. Thrombocytopenia was defined prospectively as a platelet count < 80,000. Results: Thrombocytopenia was rare in the OPUS-TIMI 16 trial (0.68% at Day 30 and 0.80% at 1 year), but more common in patients treated with orbofiban (0.92%) compared with those treated with placebo (0.2%), p < 0.001. Patients who developed thrombocytopenia had higher rates of death (11.6% vs. 1.7%, p < 0.001), recurrent MI (12.1% vs. 2.8%, p < 0.001), intracranial hemorrhage (2.9% vs. 0.0%, p < 0.001), and major or severe bleeding (19.0% vs. 2.0%, p < 0.001) at 30 days (with similar results at one year). Conclusion: Thrombocytopenia, though uncommon, was associated with orbofiban use and an increased risk of bleeding, but also death and MI. This study provides further evidence that drugs that lead to thrombocytopenia are, in a significant proportion of patients associated with thrombotic events.
A RGB image encryption algorithm based on total plain image characteristics and chaos

Currently, color image encryption is important to ensure its confidentiality during its transmission on insecure networks or its storage. The fact that chaotic properties are related with cryptography properties in confusion, diffusion, pseudorandom, etc., researchers around the world have presented several image (gray and color) encryption algorithms based on chaos, but almost all them with serious security problems have been broken with the powerful chosen/known plain image attack. In this work, we present a color image encryption algorithm based on total plain image characteristics (to resist a chosen/known plain image attack), and 1D logistic map with optimized distribution (for fast encryption process) based on Murillo-Escobar's algorithm (Murillo-Escobar et al. (2014) [38]). The security analysis confirms that the RGB image encryption is fast and secure against several known attacks; therefore, it can be implemented in real-time applications where a high security is required. & 2014 Published by Elsevier B.V.
Swarm intelligence based routing protocol for wireless sensor networks: Survey and future directions

Swarm intelligence is a relatively novel field. It addresses the study of the collective behaviors of systems made by many components that coordinate using decentralized controls and self-organization. A large part of the research in swarm intelligence has focused on the reverse engineering and the adaptation of collective behaviors observed in natural systems with the aim of designing effective algorithms for distributed optimization. These algorithms, like their natural systems of inspiration, show the desirable properties of being adaptive, scalable, and robust. These are key properties in the context of network routing, and in particular of routing in wireless sensor networks. Therefore, in the last decade, a number of routing protocols for wireless sensor networks have been developed according to the principles of swarm intelligence, and, in particular, taking inspiration from the foraging behaviors of ant and bee colonies. In this paper, we provide an extensive survey of these protocols. We discuss the general principles of swarm intelligence and of its application to routing. We also introduce a novel taxonomy for routing protocols in wireless sensor networks and use it to classify the surveyed protocols. We conclude the paper with a critical analysis of the status of the field, pointing out a number of fundamental issues related to the (mis) use of scientific methodology and evaluation procedures, and we identify some future research directions. 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Do Treatment Differences between Arms Affect the Main Outcome of ERSPC Rotterdam?

PURPOSE
We assessed differences in treatment between the screening and control arms of ERSPC Rotterdam and studied whether possible treatment differences could explain the positive study outcome.


MATERIALS AND METHODS
In ERSPC Rotterdam men 55 to 74 years old were randomized to a screening arm of 21,210 and a control arm of 21,166. Treatment after diagnosis was at the discretion of the care provider chosen by the patient. Initial treatment was compared in 4 risk groups. The relation between prostate cancer incidence and prostate cancer mortality was assessed by risk group by correlating the incidence RR and the mortality RR. A direct relation would have supported a stage shift as the main cause of changes in prostate cancer mortality.


RESULTS
Initial treatment differed between the arms in the low, intermediate and high risk groups but not in the metastatic group. The RRs of prostate cancer incidence and mortality per risk group were related 1:1 (regression line slope 1.00, 95% CI 0.30-1.74). Of changes in prostate cancer mortality 94% could be explained by changes in prostate cancer incidence. This made treatment differences unlikely as the reason for the observed decrease in prostate cancer mortality.


CONCLUSIONS
Differences in treatment between the ERSPC Rotterdam screening and control arms were unlikely to explain the differences in prostate cancer mortality. Results are instead consistent with a decrease in prostate cancer mortality as the result of a favorable stage through screening.