LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
New insight into chemical changes between dissolved organic matter and environmental nano-CuO pollutants binding experiment using multi-spectroscopic techniques

Abstract In this work, the copper oxide nanoparticles (nano-CuO) binding characteristics to dissolved organic matter (DOM) fractions was investigated based on three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix (3D-EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy, parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) and two dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2D-COS). According to the results, the three fluorescence components were obtained from EEM-PARAFAC; furthermore, their related expressed fluorescence intensity reduced with the increase of nano-CuO concentrations. According to the 2D-COS combined with the spectra of synchronous fluorescence, the humic-like fraction fluorescence was more susceptible than protein-like fraction, while the fluorescence changes sequentially occurred in the order as below: protein-like fraction   1057 > 1600 > 842 > 913 > 1300 cm −1 . To be more detailed, DOM binding to nano-CuO's sequential order is COO − antisymmetric stretching > polysaccharide C-O > amide I C-O > aromatic C H in cellulose > C-O stretching of phenolic and deformation of OH. Hetero 2D-COS maps further revealed the close association between the aromatic functional groups and humic-like substances, and between carboxylic groups and protein-like substances. The findings would be beneficial to understand the mechanism of the superior potential of 2D hetero spectral correlation spectroscopy in studying complex interactions with DOM at the molecular level in the soil environment.
Types of visual–spatial representations and mathematical problem solving.

Although visual-spatial representations are used extensively in mathematics and spatial ability is highly correlated with success in mathematics education, research to date has not demonstrated a clear relationship between use of visual-spatial representations and success in mathematical problem solving. The authors distinguished 2 types of visual-spatial representations: schematic representations that encode the spatial relations described in a problem and pictorial representations that encode the visual appearance of the objects described in the problem. Participants solved mathematical problems and reported on their solution strategies. The authors were able to reliably classify their visual-spatial representations as primarily schematic or primarily pictorial. Use of schematic spatial representations was associated with success in mathematical problem solving, whereas use of pictorial representations was negatively correlated with success. Use of schematic representations was also significantly correlated with one measure of spatial ability. The research therefore helps clarify the relationship between visual imagery, spatial ability, and mathematical problem solving.
Efficacy of a near-infrared light device in pediatric intravenous cannulation: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVES
To determine whether the use of a near-infrared light venipuncture aid (VeinViewer; Luminetx Corporation, Memphis, Tenn) would improve the rate of successful first-attempt placement of intravenous (IV) catheters in a high-volume pediatric emergency department (ED).


METHODS
Patients younger than 20 years with standard clinical indications for IV access were randomized to have IV placement by ED nurses (in 3 groups stratified by 5-year blocks of nursing experience) using traditional methods (standard group) or with the aid of the near-infrared light source (device group). If a vein could not be cannulated after 3 attempts, patients crossed over from one study arm to the other, and study nurses attempted placement with the alternative technique. The primary end point was first-attempt success rate for IV catheter placement. After completion of patient enrollment, a questionnaire was completed by study nurses as a qualitative assessment of the device.


RESULTS
A total of 123 patients (median age, 3 years) were included in the study: 62 in the standard group and 61 in the device group. There was no significant difference in first-attempt success rate between the standard (79.0%, 95% confidence interval [CI], 66.8%-88.3%) and device (72.1%, 95% CI, 59.2%-82.9%) groups. Of the 19 study nurses, 14 completed the questionnaire of whom 70% expressed neutral or unfavorable assessments of the device in nondehydrated patients without chronic underlying medical conditions and 90% found the device a helpful tool for patients in whom IV access was difficult.


CONCLUSIONS
First-attempt success rate for IV placement was nonsignificantly higher without than with the assistance of a near-infrared light device in a high-volume pediatric ED. Nurses placing IVs did report several benefits to use of the device with specific patient groups, and future research should be conducted to demonstrate the role of the device in these patients.
Minimal acupuncture is not a valid placebo control in randomised controlled trials of acupuncture: a physiologist's perspective

Placebo-control of acupuncture is used to evaluate and distinguish between the specific effects and the non-specific ones. During 'true' acupuncture treatment in general, the needles are inserted into acupoints and stimulated until deqi is evoked. In contrast, during placebo acupuncture, the needles are inserted into non-acupoints and/or superficially (so-called minimal acupuncture). A sham acupuncture needle with a blunt tip may be used in placebo acupuncture. Both minimal acupuncture and the placebo acupuncture with the sham acupuncture needle touching the skin would evoke activity in cutaneous afferent nerves. This afferent nerve activity has pronounced effects on the functional connectivity in the brain resulting in a 'limbic touch response'. Clinical studies showed that both acupuncture and minimal acupuncture procedures induced significant alleviation of migraine and that both procedures were equally effective. In other conditions such as low back pain and knee osteoarthritis, acupuncture was found to be more potent than minimal acupuncture and conventional non-acupuncture treatment. It is probable that the responses to 'true' acupuncture and minimal acupuncture are dependent on the aetiology of the pain. Furthermore, patients and healthy individuals may have different responses. In this paper, we argue that minimal acupuncture is not valid as an inert placebo-control despite its conceptual brilliance.
Real-time traffic sign recognition from video by class-specific discriminative features

Article history: Received 1 August 2007 Received in revised form 22 May 2009 Accepted 26 May 2009
Randomized controlled trial of a web-based indoor tanning intervention: Acceptability and preliminary outcomes.

OBJECTIVE
This article describes the acceptability and preliminary behavioral outcomes of a pilot randomized control trial of a web-based indoor tanning intervention for young adult women. The intervention targets indoor tanning users' perceptions of the benefits and value of tanning and addresses the role of body image-related constructs in indoor tanning.


METHOD
Participants were 186 young adult women who reported indoor tanning at least once in the past 12 months. The study design was a 2-arm randomized controlled trial with pre- and postintervention assessments and random assignment to an intervention or control condition. Intervention acceptability was assessed by obtaining participants' evaluation of the intervention. Regression analyses were used to test for intervention condition differences in preliminary behavioral outcomes measured at 6 weeks postintervention.


RESULTS
Participants provided favorable evaluations of the intervention on several dimensions and a highly positive overall rating. Intervention participants were more likely to report abstaining from indoor tanning and indicated a lower likelihood of using indoor tanning in the future compared with control participants on the postintervention assessment. No differences were found for sunburns.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this pilot randomized controlled trial provide evidence that the indoor tanning intervention is acceptable to participants and may encourage cessation of indoor tanning behavior. The findings provide preliminary support for an indoor tanning intervention that engages tanners to challenge their beliefs about the benefits of indoor tanning. The use of a web-based indoor tanning intervention is unique and provides strong potential for dissemination.
On Comparing and Complementing two MBT approaches

At INPE1 researchers and software engineers have been using Statechart-based testing for some time to test on-board satellite software. On the other hand, a group of researchers at CIFASIS2 and Flowgate Consulting have been applying Z-based testing for unit testing. Both groups started to compare their approaches and tools a year ago. What started as a comparison to share ideas and results, is now turning into the realization that actually both techniques complement and benefit from each other, yielding a more effective and wider Model-Based Testing (MBT) approach. In this paper we present the results obtained so far in comparing and complementing these two MBT techniques.
Multiple sclerosis epidemiology in Sardinia: evidence for a true increasing risk.

OBJECTIVES
To update prevalence and incidence rates of MS among Sardinians.


MATERIALS AND METHODS
The present work is a "spider" kind of population based survey, conducted over the interval 1968-97, on patients with MS (Poser criteria) living in the province of Sassari, Northern Sardinia (454,904 population).


RESULTS
A crude total prevalence rate of 144.4 per 100,000, an onset-adjusted prevalence rate of 149.7 per 100,000 and an average annual incidence rate of 8.2 for the period 1993-7 were found.


CONCLUSION
Repeated epidemiological assessments of MS in Sardinia over decades have shown that the island is at high risk for MS. The present work highlights that MS incidence in Sardinia has been increasing over time. Although a substantial and widely spread improvement in MS case ascertainment can be postulated as the reason for such observations, a comparison between our data and those recently reported from a more industrialized province in Northern Italy seems to prove an at least partially real increase in MS risk among Sardinians and favours the hypothesis of a MS "Sardinian focus" as related to its latitude.
A comparison of error subspace Kalman filters

Three advanced filter algorithms based on the Kalman filter are reviewed and presented in a unified notation. They are the well known Ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF), the Singular Evolutive Extended Kalman (SEEK) filter, and the less common Singular Evolutive Interpolated Kalman (SEIK) filter. For comparison, the mathematical formulations of the filters are reviewed in relation to the extended Kalman filter as error subspace Kalman filters. The algorithms are presented in their original form and possible variations are discussed. The comparison of the algorithms shows their theoretical capabilities for efficient data assimilation with large-scale nonlinear systems. In particular, problems of the analysis equations are apparent in the original EnKF algorithm due to the Monte Carlo sampling of ensembles. Theoretically, the SEIK filter appears to be a numerically very efficient algorithm with high potential for use with nonlinear models. The superiority of the SEIK filter is demonstrated on the basis of identical twin experiments using a shallow water model with nonlinear evolution. Identical initial conditions for all three filters allow for a consistent comparison of the data assimilation results. These show how choices of particular state ensembles and assimilation schemes lead to significant variations of the filter performance. This is related to different qualities of the predicted error subspaces as is demonstrated in a examination of the predicted state covariance matrices.
Sex-dependent neurofunctional predictors of long-term maintenance of visual word learning

A previous study has revealed sex-dependent neurofunctional predictors of visual word learning [C. Chen, G. Xue, Q. Dong, Z. Jin, T. Li, F. Xue, L. Zhao, Y. Guo, Sex determines the neurofunctional predictors of visual word learning, Neuropsychologia 45 (2007) 741-747]. The present study aimed to extend that study to investigate sex-dependent neurofunctional predictors of long-term maintenance. Twenty-three Chinese college students trained in the previous study were followed up twice: immediately (T1) and 6 months after the training (T2). At both T1 and T2, subjects were tested with the simultaneously presented same-different judgment task. Compared with the T1 performance, subjects (both males and females) showed a small but significant amount of forgetting (i.e., longer reaction times) at T2. Consistent with our hypothesis, males' performance at both T1 and T2 was predicted by the pre-training left-lateralized fusiform activation, whereas females' performance was predicted by symmetrical bilateral fusiform activation.
Outcome of unilateral pallidotomy in advanced Parkinson's disease: cohort study of 32 patients.

OBJECTIVES
In a randomised trial to study the efficacy of unilateral pallidotomy in patients with advanced Parkinson's disease, patients having pallidotomy within 1 month after randomisation were compared with patients having pallidotomy 6 months after the primary outcome assessment. Of the 37 patients enrolled 32 had a unilateral pallidotomy. The follow up study of these patients is presented to report (1) clinical outcome; (2) adverse effects; (3) cognitive and behavioural effects; (4) relation between lesion location and outcome; and (5) preoperative patient characteristics predictive for good outcome.


METHODS
Outcome measures were the motor section of the unified Parkinson's disease rating scale (UPDRS), levodopa induced dyskinesias, disability, quality of life, and a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify preoperative patient characteristics independently associated with good outcome.


RESULTS
Off phase assessment showed a reduction in parkinsonism from 49 to 36.5 points on the UPDRS 6 months after surgery. Improvements were also demonstrated for activities of daily living and quality of life. In the on phase dyskinesias were reduced. All effects lasted up to 12 months after surgery. Three patients had major permanent adverse effects. Besides worsening of verbal fluency after left sided surgery, systematic cognitive deterioration was not detected. Patients taking less than 1000 levodopa equivalent units (LEU)/day were more likely to improve.


CONCLUSIONS
The positive effects of unilateral pallidotomy are stable up to 1 year after surgery. Patients taking less than 1000 LEU per day were most likely to improve.
Influenza vaccine effectiveness in preventing outpatient, inpatient, and severe cases of laboratory-confirmed influenza.

BACKGROUND
In most seasons, the influenza vaccine is effective in preventing influenza, but it is not clear whether it is equally effective in preventing mild and severe cases. We designed a case-control study to compare the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine in preventing outpatient, inpatient, and severe or fatal cases of laboratory-confirmed influenza.


METHODS
Hospitalized patients (n = 691) with laboratory-confirmed influenza in the 2010-2011 season recruited in 29 Spanish hospitals were individually matched by age, admission/visit date, and province with an outpatient with laboratory-confirmed influenza and an outpatient control. Severe cases were considered those patients admitted to intensive care units or who died in the hospital (n = 177). We compared the influenza vaccine status of controls and outpatient cases, inpatient cases, and severe cases using conditional logistic regression adjusted for potential confounding factors. Severe and nonsevere inpatient influenza cases were compared using unconditional logistic regression. Vaccine effectiveness was (1 - odds ratio) × 100.


RESULTS
Vaccine effectiveness was 75% (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 0.25; 95% confidence interval [CI], .16-.39) in preventing influenza outpatient cases, 60% (AOR, 0.40; 95% CI, .25-.63) in preventing influenza-associated hospitalizations, and 89% (AOR, 0.11; 95% CI, .04-.37) in preventing severe cases. In inpatients, influenza vaccination was associated with a lower risk of severe influenza (AOR, 0.42; 95% CI, .22-.80).


CONCLUSIONS
Influenza vaccination prevented influenza cases and hospitalizations and was associated with a better prognosis in inpatients with influenza. The combined effect of these 2 mechanisms would explain the high effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing severe cases due to influenza.
Writing for publication: the basics.

PROBLEM
Most midwives and nurses do not write for publication. Previous authors on this topic have focussed on the processes of writing and getting published. Although definitive English usage style guides exist, they are infrequently consulted by new midwifery authors.


PURPOSE
To enable new writers to confidently apply the basic skills of scientific writing when preparing a paper for publication.


OVERVIEW
The basic skills needed for scientific writing are the focus of this paper. The importance of careful word choices is discussed first. Next, the skills of writing sentences are presented. Finally, the skills of writing paragraphs are discussed. Examples of poor and better writing are given in relation to each of these basic elements.
Factors Associated With Daily Consumption of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Among Adult Patients at Four Federally Qualified Health Centers, Bronx, New York, 2013

INTRODUCTION
Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) is associated with cardiovascular disease risk factors. This study examined the relationships between SSB consumption and demographic, health behavior, health service, and health condition characteristics of adult patients of a network of federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) in a low-income, urban setting.


METHODS
Validated, standardized self-reported health behavior questions were incorporated into the electronic health record (EHR) and asked of patients yearly, at 4 FQHCs. We conducted cross-sectional analysis of EHR data collected in 2013 from 12,214 adult patients by using logistic regression.


RESULTS
Forty percent of adult patients consumed 1 or more SSBs daily. The adjusted odds ratios indicated that patients who consumed more than 1 SSB daily were more likely to be aged 18 to 29 years versus age 70 or older, current smokers versus never smoking, eating no servings of fruits and/or vegetables daily or 1 to 4 servings daily versus 5 or more servings daily, and not walking or biking more than 10 blocks in the past 30 days. Patients consuming 1 or more servings of SSBs daily were less likely to speak Spanish than English, be women than men, be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes versus no diabetes, and be diagnosed with hypertension versus no hypertension.


CONCLUSION
SSB consumption differed by certain demographic characteristics, health behaviors, and health conditions. Recording SSB intake and other health behaviors data in the EHR could help clinicians in identifying and counseling patients to promote health behavior changes. Future studies should investigate how EHR data on patient health behavior can be used to improve the health of patients and communities.
Mechanical non-surgical treatment of peri-implantitis: a single-blinded randomized longitudinal clinical study. II. Microbiological results.

BACKGROUND
Peri-implantitis is common in patients with dental implants. We performed a single-blinded longitudinal randomized study to assess the effects of mechanical debridement on the peri-implant microbiota in peri-implantitis lesions.


MATERIALS AND METHODS
An expanded checkerboard DNA-DNA hybridization assay encompassing 79 different microorganisms was used to study bacterial counts before and during 6 months following mechanical treatment of peri-implantitis in 17 cases treated with curettes and 14 cases treated with an ultrasonic device. Statistics included non-parametric tests and GLM multivariate analysis with p<0001 indicating significance and 80% power.


RESULTS
At selected implant test sites, the most prevalent bacteria were: Fusobacterium nucleatum sp., Staphylococci sp., Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Helicobacter pylori, and Tannerella forsythia. 30 min. after treatment with curettes, A. actinomycetemcomitans (serotype a), Lactobacillus acidophilus, Streptococcus anginosus, and Veillonella parvula were found at lower counts (p<0.001). No such differences were found for implants treated with the ultrasonic device. Inconsistent changes occurred following the first week. No microbiological differences between baseline and 6-month samples were found for any species or between treatment study methods in peri-implantitis.


CONCLUSIONS
Both methods failed to eliminate or reduce bacterial counts in peri-implantitis. No group differences were found in the ability to reduce the microbiota in peri-implantitis.
FACE RECOGNITION UNDER VARYING LIGHTING CONDITIONS

The next stage after face detection in a face recognition system is face recognition. A practical face recognition system should be capable of making recognition under uncontrolled lighting conditions which remains an important challenge. The ability to correctly classify the image depends on a variety of variables including lighting and pose as explained by Gross and Brajovic (2003), facial expressions as found by Georghiades et al (2001) and image quality as demonstrated by Shan et al (2003). Adini et al (1997) illustrated that the changes induced by illumination could be larger than the differences between individuals, causing the systems based on comparing images to misclassify the identity of the input image i.e. the differences between images of one face under different illumination conditions are greater than the differences between images of different faces under the same illumination conditions.