LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of the Effects of Alendronate and Alfacalcidol on Hip Bone Mineral Density and Bone Turnover in Japanese Men Having Osteoporosis or Osteopenia with Clinical Risk Factors for Fractures

PURPOSE
The comparative effects of alendronate and alfacalcidol on bone mineral density (BMD) and bone turnover have already been established in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. An open-labeled prospective study was conducted to compare the treatment effects of alendronate and alfacalcidol on hip BMD and bone turnover in Japanese men with osteoporosis or osteopenia with clinical risk factors for fractures.


MATERIALS AND METHODS
One hundred twelve men with osteoporosis or osteopenia with clinical risk factors for fractures (mean age: 71.4 years) were randomly divided into two groups of 56 patients each: the alendronate (5 mg daily) and alfacalcidol (1 microg daily) groups. The BMD of the total hip, urinary level of cross-linked N-terminal telopeptides of type I collagen (NTX), and serum levels of bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BSAP) were measured during the 12-month-treatment period.


RESULTS
Forty-five patients in the alendronate group and 42 patients in the alfacalcidol group completed the trial. Alendronate increased BMD (+2.3% at 12 months) following reductions in the urinary level of NTX (-46.4% at 3 months) and serum level of BSAP (-34.1% at 12 months), while alfacalcidol sustained BMD (-1.9% at 12 months) as well as the urinary level of NTX (+13.2% at 3 months) and serum level of BSAP (+1.8% at 12 months).


CONCLUSION
The present study confirmed that alendronate has better efficacy than alfacalcidol (active control) in increasing hip BMD and reducing bone turnover in Japanese men with osteoporosis or osteopenia with clinical risk factors for fractures.
Agent Based Negotiation using Cloud - an Approach in E-Commerce

'Cloud computing' allows subscription based access to computing. It also allows storage services over Internet. Automated Negotiation is becoming an emerging, and important area in the field of Multi-Agent Systems in ECommerce. Multi-Agent based negotiation system is necessary to increase the efficiency of E-negotiation process. Cloud computing provides security and privacy to the user data and low maintenance costs. We propose a Negotiation system using cloud. In this system, all product information and multiple agent details are stored on cloud. Both parties select their agents through cloud for negotiation. Agent acts as a negotiator. Agents have user’s details and their requirements for a particular product. Using user’s requirement, agents negotiate on some issues such as price, volume, duration, quality and so on. After completing negotiation process, agents give feedback to the user about whether negotiation is successful or not. This negotiation system is dynamic in nature and increases the agents with the increase in participating user.
Sleep patterns and sleep disturbances across pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE
This study sought to characterize sleep patterns and sleep problems in a large sample of women across all months of pregnancy.


METHODS
A total of 2427 women completed an Internet-based survey that included the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Epworth Sleepiness Scale, vitality scale of the Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36), Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), Berlin questionnaire, International Restless Legs Syndrome (IRLS) question set, and a short version of the Pregnancy Symptoms Inventory (PSI).


RESULTS
Across all months of pregnancy, women experienced poor sleep quality (76%), insufficient nighttime sleep (38%), and significant daytime sleepiness (49%). All women reported frequent nighttime awakenings (100%), and most women took daytime naps (78%). Symptoms of insomnia (57%), sleep-disordered breathing (19%), and restless legs syndrome (24%) were commonly endorsed, with no difference across the month of pregnancy for insomnia, sleep-disorder breathing, daytime sleepiness, or fatigue. In addition, high rates of pregnancy-related symptoms were found to disturb sleep, especially frequent urination (83%) and difficulty finding a comfortable sleep position (79%).


CONCLUSIONS
Women experience significant sleep disruption, inadequate sleep, and high rates of symptoms of sleep disorder throughout pregnancy. These results suggest that all women should be screened and treated for sleep disturbances throughout pregnancy, especially given the impact of inadequate sleep and sleep disorders on fetal, pregnancy, and postpartum outcomes.
Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in refractory rheumatoid arthritis: sustained response in two of four patients.

OBJECTIVE
To investigate the safety and efficacy of immune ablation with subsequent autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA).


METHODS
Four patients with refractory RA and poor prognostic indicators were treated. Stem cells were collected and lymphocytes were depleted by 2.3-4.0 logs. The conditioning regimen included cyclophosphamide (200 mg/kg), antithymocyte globulin (90 mg/kg), and, for 1 patient, total body irradiation (TBI) with 400 cGy. Improvement was evaluated according to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) preliminary definition of improvement in RA (ACR 20), and also according to the ACR 50 and ACR 70 criteria.


RESULTS
HSCT was well tolerated. Three patients fulfilled the ACR 70 criteria at 1 month and 3 months post-HSCT. One patient did not fulfill the ACR 20 criteria because of persistent joint tenderness, despite improvement of the joint swelling. At 6 months post-HSCT, 1 patient fulfilled the ACR 70 criteria and 1 fulfilled the ACR 50 criteria, and these 2 patients fulfilled the ACR 70 criteria at 9 months post-HSCT. The other 2 patients (including the patient who received TBI) did not meet the ACR 20 criteria at 6 months and 9 months post-HSCT. The only patient with followup of >9 months fulfilled the ACR 70 criteria at 20 months post-HSCT.


CONCLUSION
In this series, autologous HSCT was safe and effective in inducing major clinical response and maintained significant benefit for 2 patients at 9 months and 20 months posttreatment, respectively. Sustained response did not occur for 2 of 4 patients. A regimen dose-response effect may exist, but the addition of TBI did not prevent disease relapse for 1 of the patients. More aggressive T cell depletion of the autograft, use of a myeloablative regimen, or use of an allograft may be necessary to decrease relapse rates.
Where has my battery gone? Finding sensor related energy black holes in smartphone applications

Smartphone applications have millions of users. Their energy efficiency is very important. However, we investigated 174 Android applications and found 33 of them suffering serious energy inefficiency problems. Many of these problems are due to ineffective use of sensors and their data. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to systematically diagnose energy inefficiency problems in Android applications. We derive an application execution model from Android specifications, and leverage it to realistically simulate an application's runtime behavior. Our approach can automatically analyze an application's sensory data utilization at different states, and report actionable information to help developers locate energy inefficiency problems and identify their root causes. We built a tool called GreenDroid on top of Java PathFinder and evaluated it using six popularly downloaded Android applications. GreenDroid analyzed these applications in a few minutes, and successfully located real energy inefficiency problems in them.
Strength and persistence of fire-induced soil hydrophobicity under ponderosa and lodgepole pine, Colorado Front Range

Fire-induced soil hydrophobicity is presumed to be a primary cause of the observed post-fire increases in runoff and erosion from forested watersheds in the Colorado Front Range, but the presence and persistence of hydrophobic conditions has not been rigorously evaluated. Hence the goals of this study were to: (1) assess natural and fire-induced soil hydrophobicity in the Colorado Front Range, and (2) determine the effect of burn severity, soil texture, vegetation type, soil moisture, and time since burning on soil hydrophobicity . Five wild and prescribed fires ranging in age from 0 to 22 months were studied. Each fire had four study sites in ponderosa pine forests that had been burned at high, moderate, or low severity, and three sites were in unburned areas. Additional sites were established in lodgepole pine stands and an area with unusually coarse-textured soils. At each site the soil hydrophobicity was assessed in two pits using the water drop penetration time (WDPT) and the critical surface tension (CST). Measurements were made at the mineral soil surface and depths of 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18 cm. In sites burned at moderate or high severity the soils were often strongly hydrophobic at 0, 3, and 6 cm. Unburned sites or 5ites burned at low severity were typically hydrophobic only at the surface. Although soil hydrophobicity generally strengthened with increasing burn severity, statistically significant differences in soil hydrophobicity were difficult to detect because of the high variability within and between sites. Hydrophobicity also increased with increasing percent sand and was not present when soil moistures exceeded 12-25%. There were no significant differences in soil hydrophobicity between ponderosa and lodgepole pine stands, regardless of burn severity. Repeat measurements on one fire suggest a weakening of fire-induced soil hydrophobicity after 3 months. Comparisons between fires suggest that fire-induced soil hydrophobicity persists for at least 22 months. Overall, CST values were more consistent and more highly couelated with the independent variables than the WDPT , and the CST is recommended for assessing soil hydrophobicity rather than the more commonly used WDPT .Copyright @ 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
IAEA randomised trial of optimal single dose radiotherapy in the treatment of painful bone metastases.

BACKGROUND
To determine the optimal single-dose radiotherapy schedule for pain from bone metastases in a multi-centre, international, randomised trial.


PATIENTS AND METHODS
651 patients were randomised to either 8Gy (n=325) or 4Gy (n=326) radiotherapy. Pain at 4, 8, 12, 24 and 52weeks was assessed using a Categorical Scale (CS) and a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). The primary endpoint was response at 4weeks.


RESULTS
There was no significant difference in patient demographics and other co-variates. The complete response (CR) rate and ORR (complete or partial response) for all follow-up times were higher after 8Gy (p=0.02). The Kaplan-Meier actuarial rate (categorical scale) at 4weeks for ORR was 80% after 8Gy compared to 68% after 4Gy (p=0.0015). 117 re-treatments were given of which 72 were in the 4Gy group and 45 in 8Gy arm (p=0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
There was a marked consistent difference in pain relief at all time points in favour of 8Gy. These data reinforce the case for single dose 8Gy radiotherapy to be recommended for metastatic bone pain in all healthcare settings.
A phase I study of flavopiridol in combination with gemcitabine and irinotecan in patients with metastatic cancer.

BACKGROUND
Flavopiridol (HMR 1275) is a synthetic flavone with antineoplastic properties through inhibition of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor. Flavopiridol synergizes in a sequence-dependent fashion with chemotherapy. Major adverse events of flavopiridol in single agent phase I studies are secretory diarrhea, neutropenia, thrombosis, and fatigue.


PATIENTS AND METHODS
Patients with advanced solid tumors were treated with gemcitabine 800 mg/m and irinotecan 80 mg/m on day 1, followed by flavopiridol, starting dose of 30 mg/m on day 2 with increment of 15 mg/m per dose level, repeated on days 8 and 9 for the first 6 patients (3-week cycle), and then repeated on days 15 and 16 for the remainder patients (4-week cycle). The protocol had to be amended for inability to redose after 1 week.


RESULTS
Fourteen women and 7 men with advanced solid tumors were enrolled. The median age was 51 years and the median number of prior chemotherapies was 3 (0-9). Neutropenic sepsis (1 patient), grade 3 diarrhea (1 patient), and neutropenia (2 patients) preventing retreatment on day 8 were observed among the 6 subjects treated on the first schedule. The recommended phase II dose of flavopiridol was 45 mg/m in combination with irinotecan and gemcitabine every 2 weeks. Dose-limiting toxicities were electrolyte imbalance with fatigue (1 patient), and renal failure and dyspnea with hypoxia (1 patient each), seen at 45 and 60 mg/m doses, respectively. The most common side effects were fatigue (81%), nausea (71%), diarrhea (67%), transient myelosuppression (43%), and vomiting (24%).


CONCLUSIONS
The every 2 week dosing is well tolerated with a phase II recommended dose of 45 mg/m of flavopiridol in combination with irinotecan (80 mg/m) and gemcitabine (800 mg/m).
Cost and disease burden of Dengue in Cambodia

BACKGROUND
Dengue is endemic in Cambodia (pop. estimates 14.4 million), a country with poor health and economic indicators. Disease burden estimates help decision makers in setting priorities. Using recent estimates of dengue incidence in Cambodia, we estimated the cost of dengue and its burden using disability adjusted life years (DALYs).


METHODS
Recent population-based cohort data were used to calculate direct and productive costs, and DALYs. Health seeking behaviors were taken into account in cost estimates. Specific age group incidence estimates were used in DALYs calculation.


RESULTS
The mean cost per dengue case varied from US$36 - $75 over 2006-2008 respectively, resulting in an overall annual cost from US$3,327,284 in 2008 to US$14,429,513 during a large epidemic in 2007. Patients sustain the highest share of costs by paying an average of 78% of total costs and 63% of direct medical costs. DALY rates per 100,000 individuals ranged from 24.3 to 100.6 in 2007-2008 with 80% on average due to premature mortality.


CONCLUSION
Our analysis confirmed the high societal and individual family burden of dengue. Total costs represented between 0.03 and 0.17% of Gross Domestic Product. Health seeking behavior has a major impact on costs. The more accurate estimate used in this study will better allow decision makers to account for dengue costs particularly among the poor when balancing the benefits of introducing a potentially effective dengue vaccine.
A new adaptive Direct Torque Control (DTC) scheme based-on SVM for adjustable speed sensorless induction motor drive

This paper describes a combination of Direct Torque Control (DTC) and Space Vector Modulation (SVM) for an adjustable speed sensorless induction motor (IM) drive. The motor drive is supplied by a two level FPGA-based SVPWM inverter. The inverter reference voltage is obtained based on input-output feedback linearization control, using the IM model in the stator d-q axes reference frame with stator current and flux vectors components as state variables. In addition, a conventional PI speed controller is employed to generate the reference torque signal. Moreover, a novel Lyapunov based nonlinear stator flux observer is developed which provides simultaneous estimation of the stator flux, rotor speed, and rotor and stator resistances. Finally, the effectiveness and validity of the proposed control approach is verified by computer simulation and experimental results.
Analysis of incorporating logistic testing-effort function into software reliability modeling

This paper investigates a SRGM (software reliability growth model) based on the NHPP (nonhomogeneous Poisson process) which incorporates a logistic testing-effort function. SRGM proposed in the literature consider the amount of testing-effort spent on software testing which can be depicted as an exponential curve, a Rayleigh curve, or a Weibull curve. However, it might not be appropriate to represent the consumption curve for testing-effort by one of those curves in some software development environments. Therefore, this paper shows that a logistic testing-effort function can be expressed as a software-development/test-effort curve and that it gives a good predictive capability based on real failure-data. Parameters are estimated, and experiments performed on actual test/debug data sets. Results from applications to a real data set are analyzed and compared with other existing models to show that the proposed model predicts better. In addition, an optimal software release policy for this model, based on cost-reliability criteria, is proposed.
The Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI) scale: validation of the Japanese version

BACKGROUND
The present study investigated the reliability and validity of a Japanese version of the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI) scale, designed to assess internalized stigma experienced by people with mental illness.


METHODS
A survey was conducted with 173 outpatients with mental illness who attended psychiatric clinics on a regular basis. A retest was conducted with 51 participants to evaluate the scale's psychometric properties.


RESULTS
The alpha coefficient for the overall internal consistency was 0.91, and the coefficients of the individual ISMI subscales ranged from 0.57 to 0.81. The test-retest reliability was r = 0.85 (n = 51, P < 0.01). In terms of criterion-related validity, the Japanese version of the ISMI scale was significantly correlated with the Beck Depression Inventory (r = 0.61, P < 0.01), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (r = -0.53, P < 0.01), and the Empowerment Scale (r = -0.52, P < 0.01). In addition, factor analyses of the ISMI items demonstrated a four-factor solution for the alienation, stereotype endorsement, discrimination experience, and social withdrawal subscales, with the stigma resistance items excluded.


CONCLUSIONS
The Japanese version of the ISMI scale demonstrated similar reliability and validity to the original English version. Therefore, the Japanese version of the ISMI scale may be an effective and valid tool to measure internalized stigma among Japanese people who have a mental illness.
Improving on-demand data access efficiency in MANETs with cooperative caching

Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) provide an attractive solution for networking in the situations where network infrastructure or service subscription is not available. Its usage can further be extended by enabling communications with external networks such as the Internet or cellular networks through gateways. However, data access applications in MANETs suffer from dynamic network connections and restricted resources. While most of the research focuses on media (or medium) access control (MAC) and routing layer solutions, we explore the possibility of making use of data locality and the commonality in users’ interests at the application level. In this paper, we investigate how cooperative caching can be used to improve data access efficiency in MANETs. We propose COOP, a novel cooperative caching scheme for on-demand data access applications in MANETs. The objective is to improve data availability and access efficiency by collaborating local resources of mobile nodes. COOP addresses two basic problems of cooperative caching: cache resolution and cache management. To improve data availability and access efficiency, COOP discovers data sources which induce less communication overhead by utilizing cooperation zones, historical profiles, and hop-by-hop resolution. For cache management, COOP increases the effective capacity of cooperative caches by minimizing caching duplications within the cooperation zone and accommodating more data varieties. The performance of COOP is studied using mathematical analysis and simulations from the perspectives of data availability, time efficiency, and energy efficiency. The analysis and simulation results show that COOP significantly reduces response delay and improves data availability with proper settings of the cooperation zone radius. 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
The Finnish Telecom Sector Facing Next Generation Standards - Indigenous Capabilities Versus R&D Alliances

1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background The Finnish telecom sector has come to the crossroads and now faces various possible paths to follow and challenges to master. The 1990s witnessed the emergence, internationalisation and rapid growth of Nokia, which, today, has a very strong position globally (and indeed in the Finnish economy as a whole). Nokia has also contributed to an outgrowth of a broader ICT cluster of related and supporting industries especially in the field of embedded software, mobile network equipment and operation, multimedia and components. A pivotal event in this context was the early focus given to the GSM standard in the late 1980s in Finland and the capabilities which were developed to overcome the related technological and market discontinuities (Palmberg and Martikainen, 2003). After the successful global inauguration of the GSM service, the Finnish telecom sector has set out on a development path towards the commercialisation of technologies related to third generation (3G) wireless standards, and especially the UMTS (the UMTS is a European incarnation of the W-CDMA standard). This is a logical path, given that the UMTS standard often is considered as a linear European outgrowth of the GSM standard. Nonetheless, it is as of yet unclear whether the UMTS standard will achieve the same momentum as the GSM. At present there is technological and market competition between different 3G standards, where the US-and Korean-backed CDMA2000, and possible also the Chinese TD-SCDMA are serious contenders to the W-CDMA. Some commentators also identify wireless VoIP and especially WLAN/WiMax as dire competitors to 3G standards with the potential to disrupt the ICT sector as a whole. Common to these competitors to the linear GSM-UMTS path is their origin in the datacom industry following the development of the Internet Protocol (IP) that underlies the Internet (Tan et al., 2004). The Finnish telecom sector has broadened significantly both technology-and product-wise, and developed into a coherent cluster of related and supporting industries. 2 However, one might suspect that a degree of path-dependency is observable in so far as the UMTS standard is a logical extension of the GSM standard, so successfully mastered in the past. Further, Nokia is now a global firm with lesser domestic ties. A key question is therefore if, and to what degree, the Finnish telecom sector indeed is overly focused within GSM based telecom technologies, especially at the expense of Internet-related 'new' technologies that hold disruptive potential. One way …
China and the relationship between the oil price and the dollar

We study cointegration and causality between the real price of oil and the real price of the dollar over the 1974-2004 period. Our results suggest that a 10% rise in the oil price coincides with a 4.3% appreciation of the dollar in the long run, and that the causality runs from oil to the dollar. Through the development of a theoretical model, we then investigate possible reasons why this relationship could be reversed in the future due to the emergence of China as a major player on both the oil and the foreign exchange markets. JEL classification: C22, F31, Q43.