LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Quality of sleep in primary focal dystonia: a case-control study.

BACKGROUND
Sleep disturbances are common in patients with movement disorders. Evaluating quality of sleep is of primary importance because of the effect that nocturnal and daytime sleep abnormalities exert on general health status. However, quality of sleep has never been addressed in detail in patients with dystonia. The aim of this case-control study was to analyse quality of sleep in patients with the two most common forms of primary focal dystonia, blepharospasm (BSP) and cervical dystonia (CD).


METHODS
We evaluated quality of sleep (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, PSQI) and excessive daytime sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Scale, ESS) in 98 patients with focal adult-onset dystonia (52 with BSP; 46 with CD) and in a group of 56 age-and gender-matched healthy subjects. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was used for the evaluation of depressive symptomatology.


RESULTS
Quality of sleep was impaired (significantly higher PSQI scores) in both groups of patients. However, differences in PSQI scores between patients with CD and control subjects were partly confounded by BDI scores, whereas differences in PSQI scores between patients with BSP and control subjects were not influenced by BDI. Excessive daytime sleepiness was not significantly more frequent than in control subjects in either patients with BSP or patients with CD.


CONCLUSIONS
This study suggests that the assessment and treatment of insomnia-related complaints should be considered in global management plans of patients with focal dystonia, particularly in those affected by BSP.
Commentary - On Experimental Methods for Algorithm Simulation

This is a commentary to the McGeoch's feature article. It focuses on a few aspects of the feature article, primarily from the background of computational tests on network optimization algorithms and on combinatorial optimization algorithms.
A Foundation for the Study of IT Effects: A New Look at DeSanctis and Poole's Concepts of Structural Features and Spirit

Special Issue
Management of Recurrent Stricture Formation after Transverse Vaginal Septum Excision

Background. A transverse vaginal septum (TVS) is a rare obstructing anomaly, caused due to improper fusion of Müllerian ducts and urogenital sinus during embryogenesis. Case. A 15-year-old girl presented with primary amenorrhea. She had multiple congenital anomalies. Initial examination and imaging investigation revealed the presence of a unicornuate uterus and a TVS. The TVS was excised; however the patient was unable to perform vaginal dilation postoperatively leading to recurrent stricture formation. She underwent multiple surgeries for excision of the stricture. The patient was eventually evaluated every day in the clinic until she was able to demonstrate successful vaginal dilatation in the presence of a clinician. Summary and Conclusion. Properly guided regular and intensive vaginal dilation after TVS excision may decrease the need of reoperations due to recurrent stricture formation.
Bag of Tricks for Efficient Text Classification

This paper explores a simple and efficient baseline for text classification. Our experiments show that our fast text classifier fastText is often on par with deep learning classifiers in terms of accuracy, and many orders of magnitude faster for training and evaluation. We can train fastText on more than one billion words in less than ten minutes using a standard multicore CPU, and classify half a million sentences among 312K classes in less than a minute.
Atypical Vancouver Type-C Periprosthetic Fracture Complicated by Nonunion: A Case Report.

CASE
In recent years, atypical femoral fractures (AFFs) associated with bisphosphonate use have increasingly been reported, but current definitions limit their diagnosis to native femora. Atypical periprosthetic fractures are rare. We present a case of a Vancouver type-C periprosthetic fracture that was recognized as an AFF following nonunion.


CONCLUSION
Bisphosphonate-associated AFFs can present as periprosthetic fractures. Delayed recognition of the role of bisphosphonates in a periprosthetic fracture may lead to a worse outcome, including a delay in diagnosis, delayed union, and failure of fixation.
Decision-making, reward-seeking behaviors and dopamine agonist therapy in restless legs syndrome.

STUDY OBJECTIVES
To assess whether the frequency of impulse control disorders (ICDs), addictive behaviors, impulsivity, and impairment of decision-making task performance under ambiguous and risky conditions were present in patients with restless legs syndrome (RLS) and whether changes could be related to dopaminergic medications.


DESIGN
Case-control prospective study.


SETTING
Academic Sleep Disorders Center.


PARTICIPANTS
Of the 149 participants, there were 39 who were drug free with primary RLS, 50 who were taking dopamine agonists (DA), and 60 control subjects. Participants were assessed with a clinical interview screening for ICDs, augmentation syndrome, impulsivity, depression, and addictive behaviors. All participants completed two decision-making tasks, one under an ambiguous condition (Iowa Gambling Task) and the other under a risky condition (Game of Dice Task). Drug-free patients with RLS underwent 1 night of polysomnography recording.


MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS
Seventy percent of patients were treated with pramipexole (median dose, 0.36 mg), and 30% with ropinirole (median dose, 0.75 mg). Median duration of DA intake was 11 mo (range, 1-72 mo). No differences were found on impulsivity scores, ICDs, and substance addiction between drug-free patients or those taking DA, or control subjects. Patients with RLS reported more depressive symptoms than control subjects, but without differences between patients taking or not taking DA. Drug-free and treated patients demonstrated reduced performances on the Iowa Gambling Task but not on the Game of Dice Task compared to control subjects, with no differences between patients taking medications and those who were not. No association was found between decision-making task performances, or polysomnographic and clinical variables.


CONCLUSION
Impulse control disorders, impulsivity, and substance addiction were infrequent in drug-free patients with restless legs syndrome or those treated with a low dose of dopamine agonists. However, patients with restless legs syndrome, either drug free or taking dopamine agonists, had preferences toward risky choices on the Iowa Gambling Task, which led to negative consequences in the long run, a condition potentially leading to further development of impulse control disorders.
Anterior cingulate cortex is crucial for contra- but not ipsi-lateral electro-acupuncture in the formalin-induced inflammatory pain model of rats

Acupuncture and electro-acupuncture (EA) are now widely used to treat disorders like pain. We and others have shown previously that current frequency, intensity and treatment duration all significantly influence the anti-nociceptive effects of EA. There is evidence that stimulating sites also affect the antinociception, with EA applied ipsilaterally to the pain site being more effective under some pain states but contralateral EA under others. It was recently reported that local adenosine A1 receptors were responsible for ipsilateral acupuncture, but what mechanisms specifically mediate the anti-nociceptive effects of contralateral acupuncture or EA remains unclear. In the present study, we applied 100 Hz EA on the ipsi- or contra-lateral side of rats with inflammatory pain induced by intra-plantar injection of formalin, and reported distinct anti-nociceptive effects and mechanisms between them. Both ipsi- and contra-lateral EA reduced the paw lifting time in the second phase of the formalin test and attenuated formalin-induced conditioned place aversion. Contralateral EA had an additional effect of reducing paw licking time, suggesting a supraspinal mechanism. Lesions of rostral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) completely abolished the anti-nociceptive effects of contra- but not ipsi-lateral EA. These findings were not lateralized effects, since injection of formalin into the left or right hind paws produced similar results. Overall, these results demonstrated distinct anti-nociceptive effects and mechanisms between different stimulating sides and implied the necessity of finding the best stimulating protocols for different pain states.
Associations of plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D concentrations with death and progression to maintenance dialysis in patients with advanced kidney disease.

BACKGROUND
Low vitamin D concentrations are prevalent in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). We investigated the relationship between plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) or 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25[OH](2)D) concentrations with death, cardiovascular events, and dialysis therapy initiation in patients with advanced CKD.


STUDY DESIGN
The HOST (Homocysteinemia in Kidney and End Stage Renal Disease) Study was a randomized double-blind trial evaluating the effects of high doses of folic acid on death and long-term dialysis therapy initiation in patients with advanced CKD (stages 4 and 5 not yet on dialysis therapy). 25(OH)D and 1,25(OH)(2)D were measured in stored plasma samples obtained 3 months after trial initiation and evaluated at clinically defined cutoffs (<10, 10-30, and >30 ng/mL) and tertiles (<15, 15-22, and >22 pg/mL), respectively. Cox proportional hazard models were used to examine the association between vitamin D concentrations and clinical outcomes.


SETTING & PARTICIPANTS
1,099 patients with advanced CKD from 36 Veteran Affairs Medical Centers.


PREDICTORS
25(OH)D and 1,25(OH)(2)D concentrations.


OUTCOMES
Death, cardiovascular events, and time to initiation of long-term dialysis therapy.


RESULTS
After a median follow-up of 2.9 years, 41% (n = 453) died, whereas 56% (n = 615) initiated dialysis therapy. Mean 25(OH)D and 1,25(OH)(2)D concentrations were 21 ± 10 ng/mL and 20 ± 11 pg/mL, respectively. After adjustment for potential confounders, the lowest tertile of 1,25(OH)(2)D was associated with death (HR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.01-1.74) and initiation of long-term dialysis therapy (HR, 1.78; 95% CI, 1.40-2.26) compared with the highest tertile. The association with death and initiation of dialysis therapy was moderately attenuated after adjustment for plasma fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23) concentrations (HRs of lower tertiles of 1.20 [95% CI, 0.91-1.58] and 1.56 [95% CI, 1.23-1.99], respectively, compared with highest tertile). There was no association between 25(OH)D concentrations and outcomes.


LIMITATIONS
Participants were mostly men.


CONCLUSIONS
Low plasma 1,25(OH)(2)D concentrations are associated with death and initiation of long-term dialysis therapy in patients with advanced CKD. FGF-23 level may attentuate this relationship.
CIRCULAR MICROSTRIP SLOT ANTENNA FOR DUAL- FREQUENCY RFID APPLICATION

A compact wideband dual-frequency microstrip antenna is proposed in this paper. By employing an offset microstrip-fed line and a strip close to the radiating edges in the circular slot patch, an antenna operating at dual frequency with the impedance bandwidth of 26.2% and 22.2% respectively is presented. By attaching a strip to the radiating edges opposite to the microstrip-fed line, this alters the current distribution and radiation on the antenna at the second resonant frequency. The second frequency is also tunable by varying the lengths of the microstrip-fed line. It is demonstrated that the proposed antenna covers the widebands of UHF and microwave for RFID application. A good agreement is obtained between the simulated and experimental results.
Systematic review of epidemiological studies on health effects associated with management of solid waste

BACKGROUND
Management of solid waste (mainly landfills and incineration) releases a number of toxic substances, most in small quantities and at extremely low levels. Because of the wide range of pollutants, the different pathways of exposure, long-term low-level exposure, and the potential for synergism among the pollutants, concerns remain about potential health effects but there are many uncertainties involved in the assessment. Our aim was to systematically review the available epidemiological literature on the health effects in the vicinity of landfills and incinerators and among workers at waste processing plants to derive usable excess risk estimates for health impact assessment.


METHODS
We examined the published, peer-reviewed literature addressing health effects of waste management between 1983 and 2008. For each paper, we examined the study design and assessed potential biases in the effect estimates. We evaluated the overall evidence and graded the associated uncertainties.


RESULTS
In most cases the overall evidence was inadequate to establish a relationship between a specific waste process and health effects; the evidence from occupational studies was not sufficient to make an overall assessment. For community studies, at least for some processes, there was limited evidence of a causal relationship and a few studies were selected for a quantitative evaluation. In particular, for populations living within two kilometres of landfills there was limited evidence of congenital anomalies and low birth weight with excess risk of 2 percent and 6 percent, respectively. The excess risk tended to be higher when sites dealing with toxic wastes were considered. For populations living within three kilometres of old incinerators, there was limited evidence of an increased risk of cancer, with an estimated excess risk of 3.5 percent. The confidence in the evaluation and in the estimated excess risk tended to be higher for specific cancer forms such as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and soft tissue sarcoma than for other cancers.


CONCLUSIONS
The studies we have reviewed suffer from many limitations due to poor exposure assessment, ecological level of analysis, and lack of information on relevant confounders. With a moderate level confidence, however, we have derived some effect estimates that could be used for health impact assessment of old landfill and incineration plants. The uncertainties surrounding these numbers should be considered carefully when health effects are estimated. It is clear that future research into the health risks of waste management needs to overcome current limitations.
Phase II study of S-1 combined with oxaliplatin as therapy for patients with metastatic biliary tract cancer: influence of the CYP2A6 polymorphism on pharmacokinetics and clinical activity

Background:Advanced biliary cancer is often treated with fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy and tolerability of a combination of S-1, an oral fluoropyrimidine prodrug, and oxaliplatin in patients with metastatic biliary cancer.Methods:Patients with histologically confirmed metastatic biliary cancer and no history of radiotherapy or chemotherapy were enrolled. Oxaliplatin was administered intravenously (130 mg m−2), followed by 14-day administration of oral S-1 (40 mg m−2 twice daily) with a subsequent 7-day rest period every 21 days. Pharmacokinetic analysis of S-1 was performed at cycle 1. Patients were genotyped for CYP2A6 polymorphisms (*1, *4, *7, *9 or *10), and pharmacokinetic and clinical parameters compared according to the CYP2A6 genotype.Results:In total, 49 patients were evaluated, who received a median of four cycles. The overall response rate was 24.5%. Median progression-free and overall survival was 3.7 and 8.7 months, respectively. The most common haematological grade 3 out of 4 toxicity was neutropenia (14%), while non-hematological grade 3 out of 4 toxicities included anorexia (14%), nausea (12%), asthenia (10%), vomiting (10%), and diarrhoea (4%). Biotransformation of S-1 (AUC0−24 h of 5-fluorouracil/AUC0−24 h of tegafur) was 1.85-fold higher for the *1/*1 group than for the other groups (90% confidence interval 1.37–2.49). Diarrhoea (P=0.0740), neutropenia (P=0.396), and clinical efficacy (response rate, P=0.583; PFS, P=0.916) were not significantly associated with CYP2A6 genotype, despite differences in 5-FU exposure.Conclusion:The combination of S-1 and oxaliplatin appears to be active and well tolerated in patients with metastatic biliary cancer, and thus is feasible as a therapeutic modality. CYP2A6 genotypes are associated with differences in the biotransformation of S-1. However, the impact of the CYP2A6 polymorphism on variations in clinical efficacy or toxicity requires further evaluation.
A review of empirically supported psychological therapies for mood disorders in adults.

BACKGROUND
The mood disorders are prevalent and problematic. We review randomized controlled psychotherapy trials to find those that are empirically supported with respect to acute symptom reduction and the prevention of subsequent relapse and recurrence.


METHODS
We searched the PsycINFO and PubMed databases and the reference sections of chapters and journal articles to identify appropriate articles.


RESULTS
One hundred twenty-five studies were found evaluating treatment efficacy for the various mood disorders. With respect to the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD), interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), and behavior therapy (BT) are efficacious and specific and brief dynamic therapy (BDT) and emotion-focused therapy (EFT) are possibly efficacious. CBT is efficacious and specific, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) efficacious, and BDT and EFT possibly efficacious in the prevention of relapse/recurrence following treatment termination and IPT and CBT are each possibly efficacious in the prevention of relapse/recurrence if continued or maintained. IPT is possibly efficacious in the treatment of dysthymic disorder. With respect to bipolar disorder (BD), CBT and family-focused therapy (FFT) are efficacious and interpersonal social rhythm therapy (IPSRT) possibly efficacious as adjuncts to medication in the treatment of depression. Psychoeducation (PE) is efficacious in the prevention of mania/hypomania (and possibly depression) and FFT is efficacious and IPSRT and CBT possibly efficacious in preventing bipolar episodes.


CONCLUSIONS
The newer psychological interventions are as efficacious as and more enduring than medications in the treatment of MDD and may enhance the efficacy of medications in the treatment of BD.
Nonlinearity in Data Assimilation Applications: A Practical Method for Analysis

A new method to quantify the nonlinearity of data assimilation problems is proposed. The method includes the effects of system errors, measurement errors, observational network, and sampling interval. It is based on computation of the first neglected term in a ‘‘Taylor’’ series expansion of the errors introduced by an extended Kalman filter, and can be computed at very little cost when one is already applying a second-order (or higher order) Kalman filter or an ensemble Kalman filter. The nonlinearity measure proposed here can be used to classify the ‘‘hardness’’ of the problem and predict the failure of data assimilation algorithms. In this manner it facilitates the comparison of data assimilation algorithms and applications. The method is applied to the well-known Lorenz model. A comparison is made between several data assimilation algorithms that are suitable for nonlinear problems. The results indicate significant differences in performance for more nonlinear problems. For low values of V, a measure of nonlinearity, the differences are negligible.
Enhanced Self Tuning On-Board Real-Time Model (eSTORM) for Aircraft Engine Performance Health Tracking

A key technological concept for producing reliable engine diagnostics and prognostics exploits the benefits of fusing sensor data, information, and/or processing algorithms. This report describes the development of a hybrid engine model for a propulsion gas turbine engine which is the result of fusing two diverse modeling methodologies; a physics-based model approach and an empirical model approach. The report describes the process and methods involved in deriving and implementing a hybrid model configuration for a commercial turbofan engine. Among the intended uses for such a model is to enable real-time, on-board tracking of engine module performance changes and engine parameter synthesis for fault detection and accommodation. Enhanced Self Tuning On-Board Real-Time Model (eSTORM) for Aircraft Engine Performance Health Tracking Al Volponi Pratt & Whitney East Hartford, Connecticut 06108 NASA/CR—2008-215272 1
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHERS AND TEACHING WITH TECHNOLOGY

This study aims to identify the relationship between elementary school teachers’ ICT engagement with their attitudes towards technology. To this end, one hundred elementary school students were asked to fill out questionnaires related to their ICT knowledge, usage, and attitude towards technology. The results show that teachers’ ICT knowledge and usage is very low. Also, their attitude toward technology is at medium level. Teachers’ ICT engagement predicts their attitude towards technology and selfconfidence for teaching with technology.
Descriptive statistics: the specification of statistical measures and their presentation in tables and graphs. Part 7 of a series on evaluation of scientific publications.

BACKGROUND
Descriptive statistics are an essential part of biometric analysis and a prerequisite for the understanding of further statistical evaluations, including the drawing of inferences. When data are well presented, it is usually obvious whether the author has collected and evaluated them correctly and in keeping with accepted practice in the field.


METHODS
Statistical variables in medicine may be of either the metric (continuous, quantitative) or categorical (nominal, ordinal) type. Easily understandable examples are given. Basic techniques for the statistical description of collected data are presented and illustrated with examples.


RESULTS
The goal of a scientific study must always be clearly defined. The definition of the target value or clinical endpoint determines the level of measurement of the variables in question. Nearly all variables, whatever their level of measurement, can be usefully presented graphically and numerically. The level of measurement determines what types of diagrams and statistical values are appropriate. There are also different ways of presenting combinations of two independent variables graphically and numerically.


CONCLUSIONS
The description of collected data is indispensable. If the data are of good quality, valid and important conclusions can already be drawn when they are properly described. Furthermore, data description provides a basis for inferential statistics.