LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of classical and fluctuation-enhanced gas sensing with PdxWO3 nanoparticle films

Nanoparticle films of Pd xWO3, with x being 0.01 or 0.12, were made by dual-beam gas evaporation. The stochastic signal component (fluctuation-enhanced signal) originating from resistance fluctuations and the dc resistance (classical sensor signal) were measured during e ve 300 times l ©
Road deicing salt irreversibly disrupts osmoregulation of salamander egg clutches.

It has been postulated that road deicing salts are sufficiently diluted by spring rains to ameliorate any physiological impacts to amphibians breeding in wetlands near roads. We tested this conjecture by exposing clutches of the spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculatum) to three chloride concentrations (1 mg/L, 145 mg/L, 945 mg/L) for nine days, then transferred clutches to control water for nine days, and measured change in mass at three-day intervals. We measured mass change because water uptake by clutches reduces risks to embryos associated with freezing, predation, and disease. Clutches in controls sequestered water asymptotically. Those in the moderate concentrations lost 18% mass initially and regained 14% after transfer to control water. Clutches in high concentration lost 33% mass and then lost an additional 8% after transfer. Our results suggest that spring rains do not ameliorate the effects of deicing salts in wetlands with extremely high chloride concentrations.
Computational intelligence in economics and finance: Carrying on the legacy of Herbert Simon

This is an editorial guide for the special issue on computational intelligence (CI) in economics and finance. A historical introduction to the background is given. This research paradigm is traced back to Herbert Simon, who, as a founder of artificial intelligence, pioneered the applications of AI to economics. The move from the classical AI to CI indicates a continuation of the legacy of Herbert Simon. Computational intelligence has proved to be a constructive foundation for economics. In responding to what Herbert Simon referred as procedural rationality, our study of bounded rationality has been enriched by bringing autonomous agents into the economic analysis. 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Data Cleaning Methods

Data Cleaning methods are used for finding duplicates within a file or across sets of files. This overview provides background on the Fellegi-Sunter model of record linkage. The Fellegi-Sunter model provides an optimal theoretical classification rule. Fellegi and Sunter introduced methods for automatically estimating optimal parameters without training data that we extend to many real world situations.
The Mechanism of Yaw Torque Compensation in the Human and Motion Design for Humanoid Robots

When a humanoid robot walks fast or runs, the yaw torque is so large that the supporting foot slips easily and  the  robot may  become  unstable. The  compensation for  the  yaw  torque  is  important  for  fast  humanoid walking  and many  studies  have  been  focusing  on  yaw torque  compensation. However,  the  issue  of  humanoid robot motion design that can make the movements of the robot more human‐like, as well as guarantee the stability of the robot, has not been studied in‐depth. In this paper, the mechanism of yaw  torque  compensating  for human walking  is  firstly studied. Then we propose a method  to compensate  yaw  torque  for  a  humanoid  robot  through the  motion  of  the  arms  and  waist  joint  based  on  the human  yaw  torque  compensation mechanism  and ZMP stability  citation.  Finally,  the  effectiveness  of  the proposed method is demonstrated by the results from the simulation  and  walking  experiments  on  the  newly developed BHR humanoid robot.
Learning 3D faces from 2D images via Stacked Contractive Autoencoder

3D face reconstruction from a 2D face image has been found important to various applications such as face detection and recognition because a 3D face provides more semantic information than 2D image. This paper proposes a deep learning framework for 3D face reconstruction. The framework is designed to compute subspace feature of arbitrary face image, then map the feature to its counterpart in another subspace learned with 3D faces, and reconstruct the 3D face using the counterpart feature. During the course of training, we learn 2D and 3D subspaces through Stacked Contractive Autoencoders (SCAE), use a one-layer fully connected neural network to learn the mapping, and use the pre-trained parameters of the SCAEs and the one-layer network to initialize a deep feedforward neural network whose input are face images and output are 3D faces. The network is optimized by gradient descent algorithm with back-propagation. Extensive experimental results on various data sets indicate the effectiveness of the proposed SCAE-based 3D face reconstruction method. © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Effect of prebiotic intake on gut microbiota, intestinal permeability and glycemic control in children with type 1 diabetes: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND
The gut microbiome is increasingly recognized as a contributor to disease states. Patients with type 1 diabetes (DM1) have distinct gut microbiota in comparison to non-diabetic individuals, and it has been linked to changes in intestinal permeability, inflammation and insulin resistance. Prebiotics are non-digestible carbohydrates that alter gut microbiota and could potentially improve glycemic control in children with DM1. This pilot study aims to determine the feasibility of a 12-week dietary intervention with prebiotics in children with DM1.


METHODS/DESIGN
This pilot study is a single-centre, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in children aged 8 to 17 years with DM1 for at least one year. Participants will be randomized to receive either placebo (maltodextrin 3.3 g orally/day) or prebiotics (oligofructose-enriched inulin 8 g orally/day; Synergy1, Beneo, Mannheim, Germany). Measures to be assessed at baseline, 3 months and 6 months include: anthropometric measures, insulin doses/regimens, frequency of diabetic ketoacidosis, frequency of severe hypoglycemia, average number of episodes of hypoglycemia per week, serum C-peptide, HbA1c, serum inflammatory markers (IL-6, IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha, and IL-10), GLP-1 and GLP-2, intestinal permeability using urine assessment after ingestion of lactulose, mannitol and 3-O-methylglucose, and stool sample collection for gut microbiota profiling.


DISCUSSION
This is a novel pilot study designed to test feasibility for a fully powered study. We hypothesize that consumption of prebiotics will alter gut microbiota and intestinal permeability, leading to improved glycemic control. Prebiotics are a potentially novel, inexpensive, low-risk treatment addition for DM1 that may improve glycemic control by changes in gut microbiota, gut permeability and inflammation.


TRIAL REGISTRATION
ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02442544 . Registered on 10 March 2015.
Management and Outcome of Uveal Melanoma in a Single Tertiary Cancer Center in Jordan.

OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was evaluate the features and outcome of management of uveal melanoma in King Hussein Cancer Center as an example of a referral tertiary cancer center in the Middle East.


MATERIAL AND METHOD
This was aetrospective, observational case series of 46 eyes of 46 patients with uveal melanoma. Data collection required access to medical records, radiology and pathology reports, and laboratory results. The main outcome measures included age at diagnosis, tumor location and dimensions, TNM stage, treatment modality, visual outcome, metastasis, and mortality.


RESULTS
There was slight female preference, and the median age at diagnosis was 45 years. Eighteen (39%) eyes were treated by primary enucleation, and 28 (61%) eyes were treated by I-125 radioactive plaque. The melanoma was in the choroid in 40 (87%) eyes and in the ciliary body in 6 (13%) eyes, with no single tumor in the iris. According to the 7th edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer staging system (UICC/AJCC); 8 (17%) were T1, 17 (36%) were T2, 16 (35%) were T3, and 5 (11%) were T4. One (2%) patient showed lymph node metastasis (N1), and 6 (13%) patients showed distant metastasis (M1). Pathologically, 2 (10%) of the enucleated eyes were spindle cell type, 4 (20%) were epithelioid cell type, and 14 (70%) were mixed type. Extrascleral extension was seen in three (15%) eyes, and optic nerve invasion in two (10%) eyes. After brachytherapy, 26 (93%) eyes were salvaged, and 2 eyes were consecutively enucleated; one for tumor recurrence, and one for uncontrolled painful neovascular glaucoma. The eye salvage rate post plaque was 93% (26/28), and the visual acuity for the salvaged eyes was equal or better than 0.5 in 11 (42%) eyes, 0.1-0.4 in 5 (19%) eyes, and less than 0.1 in 10 (38%) eyes.


CONCLUSION
The incidence of uveal melanomas in our region is low compared to that in the West with a younger age at presentation. Candidate tumors for radioactive plaque therapy were successfully controlled in 93% of cases.
Motivational Measure of the Instruction Compared: Instruction Based on the ARCS Motivation Theory versus Traditional Instruction in Blended Courses

The ARCS Motivation Theory was proposed to guide instructional designers and teachers who develop their own instruction to integrate motivational design strategies into the instruction. There is a lack of literature supporting the idea that instruction for blended courses if designed based on the ARCS Motivation Theory provides different experiences for learners in terms of motivation than instruction developed following the standard instructional design procedure for blended courses. This study was conducted to compare the students‘ motivational evaluation of blended course modules developed based on the ARCS Motivation Theory and students‘ motivational evaluation of blended course modules developed following the standard instructional design procedure. Randomly assigned fifty junior undergraduate students studying at the department of Turkish Language and Literature participated in the study. Motivation Measure for the Blended Course Instruction (MMBCI) instrument was used to collect data for the study after the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Results of the study indicated that designing instruction in blended courses based on the ARCS Motivation Theory provides more motivational benefits for students and consequently contributes student learning.
Solving Traveling Salesman Problem by Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm with Association Rule

The traveling salesman problem (TSP) is among the most important combinatorial problems. Ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm is a recently developed algorithm which has been successfully applied to several NP-hard problems, such as traveling salesman problem, quadratic assignment problem and job-shop problem. Association rule (AR) is the key in knowledge in data mining for finding the best data sequence. A new algorithm which integrates ACO and AR is proposed to solve TSP problems. Compare with the simulated annealing algorithm, the standard genetic algorithm and the standard ant colony algorithm, the new algorithm is better than ACO.
Efficacy comparison of levocetirizine vs montelukast in ragweed sensitized patients.

BACKGROUND
To date, no adequate data are available on direct comparison of the efficacy of levocetirizine, a recently approved histamine1-antihistamine, with that of a leukotriene antagonist in the treatment of seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR) symptoms.


OBJECTIVE
To compare the efficacy of therapeutic doses of 5 mg of levocetirizine and 10 mg of montelukast in ragweed sensitized patients.


METHODS
A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study was conducted between July and October 2006. Symptomatic patients with SAR were exposed to ragweed pollen under controlled conditions in an environmental exposure chamber for 4 to 5 hours after treatment with 5 mg of levocetirizine, 10 mg of montelukast, or matched placebo on 2 consecutive days. The mean change from baseline in pollen-induced rhinitis symptoms, expressed as a major symptoms complex (MSC) score (sum of scores for rhinorrhea, itchy nose, sniffles, nose blows, sneezes, and watery eyes), in period 1 (first 5 hours after first drug intake) was the primary efficacy outcome.


RESULTS
A total of 611 patients were screened, of whom 403 were randomized to receive treatment (102 placebo, 152 levocetirizine, and 149 montelukast). The MSC score in period 1 was progressively decreased to a significantly greater extent in the levocetirizine group compared with the montelukast and placebo groups (adjusted mean differences, -2.18 [95% confidence interval, -3.35 to -1.01; P < .001] and -2.22 [95% confidence interval, -3.51 to -0.92; P < .001] for levocetirizine vs montelukast and vs placebo, respectively). The effect of 10 mg of montelukast was not significantly different compared with placebo. Levocetirizine also achieved a significantly faster onset of action within 2.5 hours of administration. Both products were well tolerated.


CONCLUSIONS
This study in an environmental exposure chamber confirms the therapeutic efficacy of 5 mg of levocetirizine in improving symptoms of SAR, which was superior to 10 mg of montelukast.
Telaprevir with peginterferon and ribavirin for treatment-naive patients chronically infected with HCV of genotype 1 in Japan.

BACKGROUND & AIMS
To evaluate the efficacy and safety of telaprevir in combination with peginterferon-α2b (PEG-IFN) and ribavirin (RBV) in patients with chronic hepatitis C.


METHODS
In a multi-center randomized clinical trial in Japan, on patients infected with HCV of genotype 1, 126 patients were assigned to telaprevir for 12 weeks along with PEG-IFN and RBV for 24 weeks (Group A), while 63 to PEG-IFN and RBV for 48 weeks (Group B).


RESULTS
HCV RNA disappeared more swiftly in patients in Group A than B, and the frequency of patients without detectable HCV RNA at week 4 (rapid virological response (RVR)) was higher in Group A than B (84.0% vs. 4.8%, p <0.0001). Grade 3 and 4 skin disorders, including Stevens-Johnson syndrome and drug rashes with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms, as well as Grade 3 anemia (<8.0 g/dl), occurred more frequently in Group A than B (skin disorders, 11.9% vs. 4.8%; anemia, 11.1% vs. 0.0%). The total RBV dose was smaller in Group A than B (47.0% vs. 77.7% of the target, p <0.0001). Despite these drawbacks, sustained virological response (SVR) was achieved more frequently in Group A than B (73.0% vs. 49.2%, p=0.0020).


CONCLUSIONS
Although the triple therapy with telaprevir-based regimen for 24 weeks resulted in more adverse events and less total RBV dose than PEG-IFN and RBV for 48 weeks, it was able to achieve higher SVR within shorter duration by carefully monitoring adverse events and modifying the RBV dose as required.
Supporting intelligent Web search

Search engines continue to struggle to provide everyday users with a service capable of delivering focussed results that are relevant to their information needs. Moreover, traditional search engines really only provide users with a starting point for their information search. That is, upon selecting a page from a search result list, the interaction between user and search engine is effectively over and the user must continue their search alone. In this article, we argue that a comprehensive search service needs to provide the user with more help, both at the result list level and beyond, and we outline some recommendations for intelligent Web search support. We introduce the SearchGuide Web search support system and we describe how it fulfils the requirements for a search support system, providing evaluation results where applicable.
Biologics in juvenile idiopathic arthritis: a narrative review

In the past years, pediatric rheumatology has seen a revolution in the treatments for rheumatic diseases, particularly juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Even if nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID), intra-articular corticosteroids (IAC) injections, and methotrexate remain the mainstay of the treatment for JIA patients, in aggressive disease, these treatments may be not sufficient to reach disease remission and to prevent long-term disability. Comprehension of immunological mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of the diseases allowed to conceive new drugs targeting specific steps of the immune response. Several cytokines, like TNF alpha and IL-1, represent a very interesting target for biologic therapies. Due to the efficacy of these therapies, nowadays, “disease remission” in pediatric rheumatology is more and more frequent, especially in juvenile idiopathic arthritis patients, and the long-term outcomes have been significantly improved. Crucial to these advancements have been multicenter controlled clinical trials and long-term safety monitoring. Conclusions: Research in pediatric rheumatology has resulted in dramatic advances in diseases management. Biologic treatments have improved physical and functional outcomes and quality of life of patients with rheumatic disease. What is Known: • NSAID, intra-articular injection of corticoids, and methotrexate are the mainstay in treatment of JIA. • In aggressive JIA, these treatments may be not sufficient to reach disease remission and to prevent long term disability. What is New: • In recent years, management of JIA has significantly improved with the development of biologic therapies that allowed children with arthritis to reach a normal growth and to achieve a good long-term functional outcome.
Collecting Large, Richly Annotated Facial-Expression Databases from Movies

Two large facial-expression databases depicting challenging real-world conditions were constructed using a semi-automatic approach via a recommender system based on subtitles.
Relationships between oil price shocks and stock market: an empirical analysis from Greater China

Although a lot of the empirical research have studied the relationship between changes of oil price and economic activity, it is surprising that little research has been conducted on the relationship between oil price shocks and the Greater China region (China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan). Therefore, the main goal of this paper is to apply a detail monthly data from 1997/7 to 2008/9 to fill up this gap. As describe Kilian (2009), Kilian and Park (2008) the effect of U.S. stock market return, we find that the impact of oil price shocks on the Greater China stock prices has been mixed. Firstly, the effect in Taiwan stock market return is completely similar to the U.S. stock market does. Additionally, all three shocks have significantly positive impacts on Hong Kong stock return, which partially contrast to the effect of U.S. stock market. However, contrast to the effect in the U.S. stock market, we find that only global supply shock has a significantly positive impact on China stock return, but global demand shock and the oil specific demand shock have no significant impacts. The reason of no significant impacts is that the positive expectation effect of China’s fast economic growth may be almost decayed by the negative effect of precautionary demand driven effect. This result is also consistent with the previous Wang and Firth (2004) empirical findings that the segmented and integrated China stock market is mixed, and it’s implies the China stock market is “partially integrated” with the other stock markets and oil price shocks. JEL classifications: C22, C32, F32, F36, G15
Effect of ramipril on walking times and quality of life among patients with peripheral artery disease and intermittent claudication: a randomized controlled trial.

IMPORTANCE
Approximately one-third of patients with peripheral artery disease experience intermittent claudication, with consequent loss of quality of life.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the efficacy of ramipril for improving walking ability, patient-perceived walking performance, and quality of life in patients with claudication.


DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial conducted among 212 patients with peripheral artery disease (mean age, 65.5 [SD, 6.2] years), initiated in May 2008 and completed in August 2011 and conducted at 3 hospitals in Australia.


INTERVENTION
Patients were randomized to receive 10 mg/d of ramipril (n = 106) or matching placebo (n = 106) for 24 weeks.


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Maximum and pain-free walking times were recorded during a standard treadmill test. The Walking Impairment Questionnaire (WIQ) and Short-Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36) were used to assess walking ability and quality of life, respectively.


RESULTS
At 6 months, relative to placebo, ramipril was associated with a 75-second (95% CI, 60-89 seconds) increase in mean pain-free walking time (P < .001) and a 255-second (95% CI, 215-295 seconds) increase in maximum walking time (P < .001). Relative to placebo, ramipril improved the WIQ median distance score by 13.8 (Hodges-Lehmann 95% CI, 12.2-15.5), speed score by 13.3 (95% CI, 11.9-15.2), and stair climbing score by 25.2 (95% CI, 25.1-29.4) (P < .001 for all). The overall SF-36 median Physical Component Summary score improved by 8.2 (Hodges-Lehmann 95% CI, 3.6-11.4; P = .02) in the ramipril group relative to placebo. Ramipril did not affect the overall SF-36 median Mental Component Summary score.


CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
Among patients with intermittent claudication, 24-week treatment with ramipril resulted in significant increases in pain-free and maximum treadmill walking times compared with placebo. This was associated with a significant increase in the physical functioning component of the SF-36 score.


TRIAL REGISTRATION
clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00681226.
The MORFO3D Foot Database

A foot database comprising 3D foot shapes and footwear fitting reports of more than 300 participants is presented. It was primarily acquired to study footwear fitting, though it can also be used to analyse anatomical features of the foot. In fact, we present a technique for automatic detection of several foot anatomical landmarks, together with some empirical results.
Simulation of a Current Source Inverter Drive

A novel simulation of a current source inverter is developed which retains the effects of commutation but minimizes the number of analog computer components. Simulation traces are compared with tested results on an actual system.
Active Data Mining

We introduce an active data mining paradigm that combines the recent work in data mining with the rich literature on active database systems. In this paradigm, data is continuously mined at a desired frequency. As rules are discovered, they are added to a rulebase, and if they already exist, the history of the statistical parameters associated with the rules is updated. When the history starts exhibiting certain trends, speci ed as shape queries in the user-speci ed triggers, the triggers are red and appropriate actions are initiated. To be able to specify shape queries, we describe the constructs for de ning shapes, and discuss how the shape predicates are used in a query construct to retrieve rules whose histories exhibit the desired trends. We describe how this query capability is integrated into a trigger system to realize an active mining system. The system presented here has been validated using two sets of customer data.