LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Valuing postoperative recovery: validation of the SF-6D health-state utility.

BACKGROUND
Many surgical innovations are costly but may result in faster patient recovery. Economic analyses of these innovations require utility measures that reflect the construct of "postoperative recovery." We investigated the validity of Short Form 6D (SF-6D) utility value as a measure of postoperative recovery in patients undergoing elective colorectal resection.


MATERIALS AND METHODS
Patients undergoing elective colorectal resection completed the Short Form 36 and the 6-min walk test at baseline (before surgery) and at 4 and 8 wk postoperatively. SF-6D utilities were derived from the Short Form 36. Longitudinal validity (responsiveness) was assessed using standardized response means (SRM). Construct validity was assessed by comparing the difference in mean SF-6D between patients with and without complications (discriminant) and by correlating the SF-6D with other measures of recovery (convergent).


RESULTS
A total of 191 patients were included (58% male; mean age 63.0 (SD 14.2) y, 81% malignancy, and 54% laparoscopic). SF-6D values dropped significantly from baseline to 4 wk after surgery (SRM -0.54, P < 0.001) and returned to baseline by 8 wk (SRM -0.12, P = 0.111). At 4 wk after surgery, the SF-6D was lower in patients with complications than in those without (mean difference -0.047, 95% CI -0.088, -0.006). At all time points, the SF-6D correlated significantly with the physical and mental component scales of the SF-36 (Pearson r 0.67-0.80, all P < 0.001) and the 6-min walk test (r 0.21-0.29, all P < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The SF-6D is a valid measure of postoperative recovery following elective colorectal resection and may be used to measure quality-adjusted life years for cost-effectiveness analyses of surgical technologies and interventions hypothesized to impact recovery.
Abuse liability assessment of atomoxetine in a drug-abusing population.

BACKGROUND
Atomoxetine is a non-amphetamine medication approved to treat ADHD in children, adolescents, and adults. Previous studies demonstrated low abuse potential for atomoxetine in recreational drug users. This study assessed the abuse potential of atomoxetine in stimulant-preferring drug abusers compared to methylphenidate and phentermine as positive controls and desipramine and placebo as negative controls.


METHODS
Forty male and female, 32-53 years old stimulant-preferring drug abusers completed this balanced Latin-square designed study. Subjects received acute, double-blind doses of placebo, desipramine (100 and 200 mg), methylphenidate (90 mg), phentermine (60 mg), and atomoxetine (45, 90, and 180 mg). Subjective and physiological effects were collected for 24 h following each drug treatment.


RESULTS
Methylphenidate and phentermine were liked significantly more than placebo, atomoxetine, or desipramine. No atomoxetine dose was liked significantly more than placebo and liking scores for atomoxetine were similar to, or significantly lower than, desipramine, as assessed by the Drug Rating Questionnaire-Subject. While atomoxetine 45 and 180 mg did not significantly change any Addiction Research Center Inventory (ARCI) scores, atomoxetine 90 mg significantly increased A and BG stimulant scores of the ARCI and both methylphenidate and phentermine produced greater A and BG increases than any atomoxetine dose and also increased MBG (euphoria) scores relative to placebo.


CONCLUSIONS
Atomoxetine has significantly less abuse liability than methylphenidate or phentermine and no greater abuse liability than desipramine.
Lenient Multi-Agent Deep Reinforcement Learning

Much of the success of single agent deep reinforcement learning (DRL) in recent years can be attributed to the use of experience replay memories (ERM), which allow Deep Q-Networks (DQNs) to be trained efficiently through sampling stored state transitions. However, care is required when using ERMs for multi-agent deep reinforcement learning (MA-DRL), as stored transitions can become outdated because agents update their policies in parallel [11]. In this work we apply leniency [23] to MA-DRL. Lenient agents map state-action pairs to decaying temperature values that control the amount of leniency applied towards negative policy updates that are sampled from the ERM. This introduces optimism in the valuefunction update, and has been shown to facilitate cooperation in tabular fully-cooperative multi-agent reinforcement learning problems.We evaluate our Lenient-DQN (LDQN) empirically against the related Hysteretic-DQN (HDQN) algorithm [22] as well as a modified version we call scheduled-HDQN, that uses average reward learning near terminal states. Evaluations take place in extended variations of the Coordinated Multi-Agent Object Transportation Problem (CMOTP) [8] which include fully-cooperative sub-tasks and stochastic rewards. We find that LDQN agents are more likely to converge to the optimal policy in a stochastic reward CMOTP compared to standard and scheduled-HDQN agents.
2-Chlorodeoxyadenosine with or without daunorubicin in relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia

 2-Chlorodeoxyadenosine (2-CdA) is a purine analogue which has proved to be active in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), especially in children. In adults, results yielded by 2-CdA alone or with ara-C were less encouraging. Here we report on the efficacy of 2-CdA with or without daunorubicin (DNR) in 19 relapsing or refractory adult AML patients, with a median age of 57 years. 2-CdA was administered as a continuous infusion to all patients at a dose of 0.1 mg/kg per day for 7 days. For 14 patients, DNR was added at a dose of 50 mg/m2 per day on days 5, 6, and 7. Antileukemic activity was observed in all the patients, but no single complete remission was achieved. One patient had a long-lasting partial response (response rate=5%). The remaining patients died of progressive AML (n=7), uncontrollable infection with persistent disease (n=10), and cerebral hemorrhage (n=1). Median survival from start of 2-CdA therapy was 56 days. Long-lasting neutropenia and transfusion-dependent thrombopenia were encountered in all 16 evaluable patients. Grade 4 hepatic toxicity occurred in one patient. Other side effects included nausea in six, mucositis in three, and mental disturbances in three patients. Compared with 2-CdA alone, the addition of DNR to 2-CdA changed neither the response rate nor the toxicities. In conclusion, our data do not support the use of 2-CdA ± DNR for relapsing or refractory adult AML patients, at least as used in the present regimen.
The effects of a parasitic copepod on the recent larval growth of a fish inhabiting rocky coasts

Parasites can infect larval, juvenile or adult marine fishes; however, the effects of parasites on the growth and condition of fish larvae have seldom been investigated. This study analysed the effects of a parasitic copepod on the larval growth of the Chilean triplefin Helcogrammoides chilensis (Tripterygiidae) based on the microstructure of the sagittal otoliths. Fish larvae were collected during the austral spring of 2010 off central Chile. Their body length ranged from 5.1 to 16.6 mm (2 to 57 days old). They were parasitised by a penellid larval copepod that was always externally attached to the ventral side of the fish’s gut. The prevalence of the copepod ranged from 2.7 % to 20.8 %, with one to four parasites per fish larva. Relationships between otolith size (radius, perimeter) and larval size were equal for parasitised and unparasitised fish larvae (P > 0.05). Larval growth was also similar for unparasitised (0.21 mm/day) and parasitised fish larvae (0.19 mm/day) (P > 0.05). However, a comparison of same-aged larvae showed that the larvae with copepods were smaller in both length and estimated body volume than the larvae without copepods. The Recent Otolith Growth Index, indicated that larval H. chilensis with copepods showed a reduction in recent growth and condition compared with those without evidence of copepods (P < 0.05). Nevertheless, a higher parasite load (two vs. one pennellids) did not decrease the condition of the larval fish. The infestation of pennellids on coastal fish larvae may therefore induce an increase in the pelagic larval duration and potentially affect the settlement rates of this intertidal fish.
Gender and Poverty: New Evidence from 10 Developing Countries

This paper presents new evidence on the association between gender and poverty based on an empirical analysis of 11 data sets from 10 developing countries. The paper computes incomeand expenditure-based poverty measures and investigates their sensitivity to the use of per capita and per adult equivalent units. It also tests for differences in poverty incidence between individuals in maleand female-headed households using stochastic dominance analysis. Stochastic dominance analysis reveals that differences between maleand female-headed households among the very poor are not sufficiently large that one can conclude that one is unambiguously worseor better-off, except for a few exceptions. When we use the method of endogenous bounds, persons in female-headed households in rural Ghana and Bangladesh are consistently worse-off, using two stochastic dominance criteria. These results suggest that, among the very poor, persons in maleand femaleheaded households may not differ significantly. The consistent and significant exceptions, rural Ghana and Bangladesh, suggest that cultural and institutional factors may be responsible for higher poverty among women in these countries. Our results point to the need to analyze determinants of household income and consumption using multivariate methods, and to give greater attention to the processes underlying female headship.
A Survey on Urban Traffic Management System Using Wireless Sensor Networks

Nowadays, the number of vehicles has increased exponentially, but the bedrock capacities of roads and transportation systems have not developed in an equivalent way to efficiently cope with the number of vehicles traveling on them. Due to this, road jamming and traffic correlated pollution have increased with the associated adverse societal and financial effect on different markets worldwide. A static control system may block emergency vehicles due to traffic jams. Wireless Sensor networks (WSNs) have gained increasing attention in traffic detection and avoiding road congestion. WSNs are very trendy due to their faster transfer of information, easy installation, less maintenance, compactness and for being less expensive compared to other network options. There has been significant research on Traffic Management Systems using WSNs to avoid congestion, ensure priority for emergency vehicles and cut the Average Waiting Time (AWT) of vehicles at intersections. In recent decades, researchers have started to monitor real-time traffic using WSNs, RFIDs, ZigBee, VANETs, Bluetooth devices, cameras and infrared signals. This paper presents a survey of current urban traffic management schemes for priority-based signalling, and reducing congestion and the AWT of vehicles. The main objective of this survey is to provide a taxonomy of different traffic management schemes used for avoiding congestion. Existing urban traffic management schemes for the avoidance of congestion and providing priority to emergency vehicles are considered and set the foundation for further research.
Breast reduction in gigantomastia using the posterosuperior pedicle: an alternative technique, based on preservation of the anterior intercostal artery perforators.

BACKGROUND
The purpose of this study was to describe and evaluate the outcomes of breast reduction in cases of gigantomastia using a posterosuperior pedicle.


METHODS
Four hundred thirty-one breast reductions were performed between 2004 and 2007. Fifty patients of 431 (11.6 percent) responded to the inclusion criteria (>1000 g of tissue removed per breast (100 breasts). The mean age was 33.2 years (range, 17 to 58 years). The average notch-to-nipple distance was 37.9 cm (range, 35 to 46 cm). The mean body mass index was 27 (range, 22 to 35 cm). The technique of the posterosuperior pedicle was used, in which the perforators from fourth anterior intercostal arteries are preserved (posterior pedicle). Results were evaluated by means of self-evaluation at 1 year postoperatively.


RESULTS
The average weight resected was 1231 g (range, 1000 to 2500 g). The length of hospital stay was 2.3 days (range 2 to 4 days). Thirty seven patients evaluated their results as "very good" (74 percent), nine as "good" (18 percent), and four as "acceptable" (8 percent). There were no "poor" results. The chief complaint was insufficient breast reduction (four patients), despite the considerable improvement in their daily life (8 percent). Back pain totally resolved in 46 percent and partially (with significant improvement) in 54 percent of cases. One major and seven minor complications were recorded.


CONCLUSIONS
The posterosuperior pedicle for breast reduction is a reproducible and versatile technique. The preservation of the anterior intercostal artery perforators enhances the reliability of the vascular supply to the superior pedicle.
The Black-Box Complexity of Nearest Neighbor Search

We define a natural notion of efficiency for approximate nearest-neighbor (ANN) search in general n-point metric spaces, namely the existence of a randomized algorithm which answers (1 + ε)-approximate nearest neighbor queries in polylog(n) time using only polynomial space. We then study which families of metric spaces admit efficient ANN schemes in the black-box model, where only oracle access to the distance function is given, and any query consistent with the triangle inequality may be asked. For ε < 2 5 , we offer a complete answer to this problem. Using the notion of metric dimension defined in [GKL03] (à la [Ass83]), we show that a metric space X admits an efficient (1+ε)-ANN scheme for any ε < 2 5 if and only if dim(X) = O(log log n). For coarser approximations, clearly the upper bound continues to hold, but there is a threshold at which our lower bound breaks down—this is precisely when points in the “ambient space” may begin to affect the complexity of “hard” subspaces S ⊆ X. Indeed, we give examples which show that dim(X) does not characterize the black-box complexity of ANN above the threshold. Our scheme for ANN in low-dimensional metric spaces is the first to yield efficient algorithms without relying on any additional assumptions on the input. In previous approaches (e.g., [Cla99, KR02, KL04, HKMR04]), even spaces with dim(X) = O(1) sometimes required Ω(n) query times.
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine facilitates fear extinction learning

Acutely administered 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ‘ecstasy’) has been proposed to have long-term positive effects on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms when combined with psychotherapy. No preclinical data support a mechanistic basis for these claims. Given the persistent nature of psychotherapeutic gains facilitated by MDMA, we hypothesized that MDMA improves fear extinction learning, a key process in exposure-based therapies for PTSD. In these experiments, mice were first exposed to cued fear conditioning and treated with drug vehicle or MDMA before extinction training 2 days later. MDMA was administered systemically and also directly targeted to brain structures known to contribute to extinction. In addition to behavioral measures of extinction, changes in mRNA levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (Bdnf) and Fos were measured after MDMA treatment and extinction. MDMA (7.8 mg kg−1) persistently and robustly enhanced long-term extinction when administered before extinction training. MDMA increased the expression of Fos in the amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), whereas increases in Bdnf expression were observed only in the amygdala after extinction training. Extinction enhancements were recapitulated when MDMA (1  μg) was infused directly into the basolateral complex of the amygdala (BLA), and enhancement was abolished when BDNF signaling was inhibited before extinction. These findings suggest that MDMA enhances fear memory extinction through a BDNF-dependent mechanism, and that MDMA may be a useful adjunct to exposure-based therapies for PTSD and other anxiety disorders characterized by altered fear learning.
Some Results on Greedy Embeddings in Metric Spaces

Geographic routing is a family of routing algorithms that uses geographic point locations as addresses for the purposes of routing. Such routing algorithms have proven to be both simple to implement and heuristically effective when applied to wireless sensor networks. Greedy routing is a natural abstraction of this model in which nodes are assigned virtual coordinates in a metric space, and these coordinates are used to perform point-to-point routing. Here we resolve a conjecture of Papadimitriou and Ratajczak that every 3-connected planar graph admits a greedy embedding into the Euclidean plane. This immediately implies that all 3-connected graphs that exclude K3.3 as a minor admit a greedy embedding into the Euclidean plane. Additionally, we provide the first non-trivial examples of graphs that admit no such embedding. These structural results provide efficiently verifiable certificates that a graph admits a greedy embedding or that a graph admits no greedy embedding into the Euclidean plane.
Coordinated Scheduling and Dynamic Performance Analysis in Multiprocessor Systems

to design and build computing systems capable of running themselves, adjusting to varying circumstances, and preparing their resources to handle most efficiently the workloads we put upon them. These autonomic systems must anticipate needs and allow users to concentrate on what they want to accomplish rather than figuring how to rig the computing systems to get them there. Abtract The performance of current shared-memory multiprocessor systems depends on both the efficient utilization of all the architectural elements in the system (processors, memory, etc), and the workload characteristics. This Thesis has the main goal of improving the execution of workloads of parallel applications in shared-memory multiprocessor systems by using real performance information in the processor scheduling. In multiprocessor systems, users request for resources (processors) to execute their parallel applications. The Operating System is responsible to distribute the available physical resources among parallel applications in the more convenient way for both the system and the application performance. It is a typical practice of users in multiprocessor systems to request for a high number of processors assuming that the higher the processor request, the higher the number of processors allocated, and the higher the speedup achieved by their applications. However, this is not true. Parallel applications have different characteristics with respect to their scalability. Their speedup also depends on run-time parameters such as the influence of the rest of running applications. This Thesis proposes that the system should not base its decisions on the users requests only, but the system must decide, or adjust, its decisions based on real performance information calculated at run-time. The performance of parallel applications is an information that the system can dynamically measure without introducing a significant penalty in the application execution time. Using this information, the processor allocation can be decided, or modified, being robust to incorrect processor requests given by users. We also propose that the system use a target efficiency to ensure the efficient use of processors. This target efficiency is a system parameter and can be dynamically decided as a function of the characteristics of running applications or the number of queued applications. We also propose to coordinate the different scheduling levels that operate in the processor scheduling: the run-time scheduler, the processor scheduler, and the queueing system. We propose to establish an interface between levels to send and receive information, and to take scheduling decisions considering the information provided by the rest of …
Image Classification Using Biomimetic Pattern Recognition with Convolutional Neural Networks Features

As a typical deep-learning model, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) can be exploited to automatically extract features from images using the hierarchical structure inspired by mammalian visual system. For image classification tasks, traditional CNN models employ the softmax function for classification. However, owing to the limited capacity of the softmax function, there are some shortcomings of traditional CNN models in image classification. To deal with this problem, a new method combining Biomimetic Pattern Recognition (BPR) with CNNs is proposed for image classification. BPR performs class recognition by a union of geometrical cover sets in a high-dimensional feature space and therefore can overcome some disadvantages of traditional pattern recognition. The proposed method is evaluated on three famous image classification benchmarks, that is, MNIST, AR, and CIFAR-10. The classification accuracies of the proposed method for the three datasets are 99.01%, 98.40%, and 87.11%, respectively, which are much higher in comparison with the other four methods in most cases.
Research on Manufacture Technology for SiC Nano-whiskers

Some manufacture technologies for SiC nano-whiskers are presented.There are three processes of silicon carbide nano-whiskers,including solid-phase source,evaporation source and liquid-phase source at high temperature. The process,characterization and mechanism of SiC nano-whiskers are analyzed.The future research of SiC nanowhiskers is forecasted.
Secure Image Steganography using Cryptography and Image Transposition

Information security is one of the most challenging problems in today's technological world. In order to secure the transmission of secret data over the public network (Internet), various schemes have been presented over the last decade. Steganography combined with cryptography, can be one of the best choices for solving this problem. This paper proposes a new steganographic method based on gray-level modification for true colour images using image transposition, secret key and cryptography. Both the secret key and secret information are initially encrypted using multiple encryption algorithms (bitxor operation, bits shuffling, and stego key-based encryption); these are, subsequently, hidden in the host image pixels. In addition, the input image is transposed before data hiding. Image transposition, bits shuffling, bitxoring, stego key-based encryption, and gray-level modification introduce five different security levels to the proposed scheme, making the data recovery extremely difficult for attackers. The proposed technique is evaluated by objective analysis using various image quality assessment metrics, producing promising results in terms of imperceptibility and security. Moreover, the high quality stego images and its minimal histogram changeability, also validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. 1 PhD student, Digital