LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
IT Governance using COBIT implemented in a High Public Educational Institution – A Case Study

The organizations to be competitive have to provide services and delineate strategies to maintain high levels of profitability and efficiency to cope with changes in markets. Increasingly, organizations based their operational services through its Information Systems (IS) and Information Technology (IT) that need to be managed, controlled and monitored constantly. Although there are several guidelines oriented to the management and control of certain sectors of IT like COSO, ITIL, PMBok, CMM, ISO 27001 and Six Sigma. The COBIT – Control Objectives for Information and Technology is the framework that covers all activities related to IT for the IT Governance. Under the applicability of the quality services certification (ISO 9001 standard) in all IT and IS services of a High Public Portuguese Educational Institution, this paper presents a case study of the implementation and use of COBIT for IT Governance in that Institution. With the implementation of the framework the Institution could ensure the requirements for the quality services certification and manage and control efficiently there IS and IT and the results were very positive. The Institution has improved significantly the quality of services, reduced the execution time of tasks in about 25%, monitor and control more efficiency the technological infrastructure, reduced 30% in the number of incidents resolved and finalized by the various informatics departments and reduced 10% in the number of reopened incidents. Key-Words: Information Technology Governance, COBIT, ISO 9001.
Randomized clinical trial of external stent drainage of the pancreatic duct to reduce postoperative pancreatic fistula after pancreaticojejunostomy.

BACKGROUND
Postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF) remains one of the most common causes of morbidity following pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD). This randomized trial examined whether external stent drainage of the pancreatic duct decreases the rate of POPF after PD and subsequent pancreaticojejunostomy (PJ).


METHODS
Consecutive patients who underwent PD with subsequent construction of a duct-to-mucosa PJ were randomized into a stented and a non-stented group. The primary outcome was the incidence of clinically relevant POPF. Secondary outcomes were morbidity and mortality rates, and hospital stay.


RESULTS
Of 114 PD procedures, 93 were suitable for inclusion in the study after informed consent. The rate of clinically relevant POPF was significantly lower in the stented group than in the non-stented group: three of 47 (6 per cent) versus ten of 46 (22 per cent) (P = 0·040). Among patients with a dilated duct, rates of POPF were similar in both groups. Among patients with a non-dilated duct, clinically relevant POPF was significantly less common in the stented group than in the non-stented group: two of 21 (10 per cent) versus eight of 20 (40 per cent) (P = 0·033). No significant differences in morbidity or mortality were observed. Univariable analysis identified body mass index (BMI), pancreatic cancer,pancreatic texture, pancreatic duct size and duct stenting as risk factors related to clinically relevant POPF. Multivariable analysis taking these five factors into account identified high BMI (risk ratio(RR) 11·45; P = 0·008), non-dilated duct (RR 5·33; P = 0·046) and no stent (RR 10·38; P = 0·004) as significant risk factors.


CONCLUSION
External duct stenting reduced the risk of clinically relevant POPF after PD and subsequent duct-to-mucosa PJ.
Organophosphate-pyrethroid combination pesticides may be associated with increased toxicity in human poisoning compared to either pesticide alone.

BACKGROUND
Organophosphate (OP) poisoning results in significant toxicity while pyrethroid poisoning is associated with extremely low fatality. OPs can inhibit the detoxification of pyrethroid and increase the toxicity of the combination. We assessed whether mixed OP-pyrethroid poisoning impacted outcome in human poisoning.


METHODS
Patients were identified from a prospectively collected institutional poisoning database that incorporates demographic and outcome data of patients presenting with poisoning.


RESULTS
Of the 1177 poisoned patients admitted over 2 years, 32 presented with OP-pyrethroid (50% chlorpyrifos-5% cypermethrin mixture) poisoning (Group 1), 26 consumed 20% chlorpyrifos (Group 2), and 32 took 15% cypermethrin (Group 3). Seizures occurred in 15.6% (n = 5) with chlorpyrifos-cypermethrin poisoning, 18.8% (n = 6) with cypermethrin poisoning, and 3.9% (n = 1) with chlorpyrifos poisoning. Ventilatory requirements were 53.5% (17/32), 42.3% (11/26), and 15.7% (5/32) in Groups 1-3, respectively. Ventilator-free days (Mean ± SD) was significantly lower (p < 0.006) in Group 1 (20.9 ± 9.3 days) than those in Group 2 (26.1 ± 4.4 days) or 3 (27.8 ± 0.6). The median (inter-quartile range) hospital stay was 5.5 (4-19.5), 5 (5-6), and 1 (0.65-1.5) days, respectively, in the three groups. Four patients died in Group 1 (13%). None died in the other groups.


CONCLUSION
Although confounded by the varying quantity of chlorpyrifos and cypermethrin in the different formulations, patients with mixed poisoning appear to have shorter ventilator-free days than patients poisoned by either of the pesticides alone. Further studies are required comparing patients poisoned by formulations with similar quantities of OP and pyrethroid or with analysis of blood pesticide concentration on admission.
Non-Profiled Deep Learning-based Side-Channel attacks with Sensitivity Analysis

Deep Learning has recently been introduced as a new alternative to perform Side-Channel analysis [1]. Until now, studies have been focused on applying Deep Learning techniques to perform Profiled SideChannel attacks where an attacker has a full control of a profiling device and is able to collect a large amount of traces for different key values in order to characterize the device leakage prior to the attack. In this paper we introduce a new method to apply Deep Learning techniques in a Non-Profiled context, where an attacker can only collect a limited number of side-channel traces for a fixed unknown key value from a closed device. We show that by combining key guesses with observations of Deep Learning metrics, it is possible to recover information about the secret key. The main interest of this method, is that it is possible to use the power of Deep Learning and Neural Networks in a Non-Profiled scenario. We show that it is possible to exploit the translation-invariance property of Convolutional Neural Networks [2] against de-synchronized traces and use Data Augmentation techniques also during Non-Profiled side-channel attacks. Additionally, the present work shows that in some conditions, this method can outperform classic Non-Profiled attacks as Correlation Power Analysis. We also highlight that it is possible to target masked implementations without leakages combination pre-preprocessing and with less assumptions than classic high-order attacks. To illustrate these properties, we present a series of experiments performed on simulated data and real traces collected from the ChipWhisperer board and from the ASCAD database [3]. The results of our experiments demonstrate the interests of this new method and show that this attack can be performed in practice.
Role of antioxidant property of carvedilol in mild to moderate hypertensive patients: A prospective open-label study

OBJECTIVE
Carvedilol is a nonselective third generation β-blocker that does not display the negative effects of traditional β-blockers. Regarding the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and distinct metabolic properties of carvedilol which are similar to that of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and paraoxonase 1 (PON1), the present study intends to investigate the effects of carvedilol treatment on malondialdehyde (MDA) and soluble lectin-like ox-low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor (sLOX-1) as markers of oxidative stress in association to lipid profiles, apolipoproteins (apo), and PON1 activity in hypertensive patients.


PATIENTS AND METHODS
This clinical trial study was performed on forty patients with mild to moderate essential hypertension. Subjects were studied before and after 2 months treatment with carvedilol, 25 mg daily. Lipids and lipoproteins were measured using a biochemistry analyzer. PON and arylesterase activity were assayed using paraoxon and phenyl acetate as substrates, respectively. MDA was quantified using a chemical colorimetric assay. ELISA was used to measure sLOX-1.


RESULTS
Our results showed that carvedilol treatment decreased systolic and diastolic blood pressure as much as forty and 16 mmHg, respectively (P < 0.001). It also increased HDL, total cholesterol, and serum PON1 activity (P < 0.05), but the levels of triglyceride, LDL, apo A-I, and apo B did not significantly change. There was an inverse correlation between serum PON1 activity and serum MDA.


CONCLUSION
This study confirmed the antihypertensive effect of the drug and its beneficial metabolic effects through augmenting HDL and PON1 activity. We propose that the antioxidant effects of carvedilol can be partially attributed to increased PON-1 activity.
The effects of cryopreservation on red blood cell microvesiculation, phosphatidylserine externalization, and CD47 expression.

BACKGROUND
Since the 1950s, cryopreservation has been used in transfusion medicine for long-term storage of phenotypically rare red blood cells (RBCs). Recent reports have identified phosphatidylserine (PS) exposure, loss of CD47 expression, and membrane microvesiculation as important indicators of RBC storage lesion and in vivo survival. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of RBC cryopreservation and prefreeze storage length on these novel markers of membrane injury and to correlate them to traditional RBC quality indicators.


STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS
Leukoreduced RBC units were collected in citrate-phosphate-dextrose (CPD)-saline-adenine-glucose-mannitol (SAGM), hypothermically stored (1-6 degrees C) for 2 to 3 days or 13 to 14 days after collection, and then cryopreserved in 40 percent (wt/vol) glycerol. In vitro RBC quality was assessed before freeze, after thaw, and 24 hours after thaw by evaluating RBC recovery, hemolysis, sterility, residual glycerol, adenosine triphosphate, extracellular potassium, RBC indices, and morphology. RBC membrane microvesiculation, PS externalization, and CD47 expression changes were evaluated using flow cytometry.


RESULTS
Leukoreduced CPD-SAGM RBCs showed acceptable in vitro quality after deglycerolization, according to conventional assays. Cryopreservation alone did not induce significant changes in PS exposure, CD47 expression, and membrane microvesiculation. Prolonged prefreeze storage, however, resulted in a significant increase in RBC PS exposure and microvesiculation after 24 hours of postthaw hypothermic storage (1-6 degrees C). No significant changes in CD47 expression were detected.


CONCLUSION
High-glycerol cryopreservation does not induce microvesiculation, PS exposure, and loss of CD47 expression in RBC membranes. Since prolonged prefreeze storage can result in RBC membrane injury during the postdeglycerolization storage period, more defined criteria for this variable should be adopted.
The ZX−calculus is complete for the single−qubit Clifford+T group

The ZX-calculus is a graphical calculus for reasoning about pure state qubit quantum mechanics. It is complete for pure qubit stabilizer quantum mechanics, meaning any equality involving only stabilizer operations that can be derived using matrices can also be derived pictorially. Stabilizer operations include the unitary Clifford group, as well as preparation of qubits in the state |0〉, and measurements in the computational basis. For general pure state qubit quantum mechanics, the ZX-calculus is incomplete: there exist equalities involving non-stabilizer unitary operations on single qubits which cannot be derived from the current rule set for the ZX-calculus. Here, we show that the ZX-calculus for single qubits remains complete upon adding the operator T = ( 1 0 0 eiπ/4 ) to the single-qubit stabilizer operations. This is particularly interesting as the resulting single-qubit Clifford+T group is approximately universal, i.e. any unitary single-qubit operator can be approximated to arbitrary accuracy using only Clifford operators and T .
Aerobic training decreases bronchial hyperresponsiveness and systemic inflammation in patients with moderate or severe asthma: a randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND
The benefits of aerobic training for the main features of asthma, such as bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) and inflammation, are poorly understood. We investigated the effects of aerobic training on BHR (primary outcome), serum inflammatory cytokines (secondary outcome), clinical control and asthma quality of life (Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ)) (tertiary outcomes).


METHODS
Fifty-eight patients were randomly assigned to either the control group (CG) or the aerobic training group (TG). Patients in the CG (educational programme+breathing exercises (sham)) and the TG (same as the CG+aerobic training) were followed for 3 months. BHR, serum cytokine, clinical control, AQLQ, induced sputum and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) were evaluated before and after the intervention.


RESULTS
After 12 weeks, 43 patients (21 CG/22 TG) completed the study and were analysed. The TG improved in BHR by 1 doubling dose (dd) (95% CI 0.3 to 1.7 dd), and they experienced reduced interleukin 6 (IL-6) and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) and improved AQLQ and asthma exacerbation (p<0.05). No effects were seen for IL-5, IL-8, IL-10, sputum cellularity, FeNO or Asthma Control Questionnaire 7 (ACQ-7; p>0.05). A within-group difference was found in the ACQ-6 for patients with non-well-controlled asthma and in sputum eosinophil and FeNO in patients in the TG who had worse airway inflammation.


CONCLUSIONS
Aerobic training reduced BHR and serum proinflammatory cytokines and improved quality of life and asthma exacerbation in patients with moderate or severe asthma. These results suggest that adding exercise as an adjunct therapy to pharmacological treatment could improve the main features of asthma.


TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER
NCT02033122.
Knowledge Representing Schemes for Planning

An investigation of recent development of planning systems is performed, with emphasis on issues of knowledge representation, and the possible solutions for representing the effects of actions are pointed out.
ABAC and RBAC: Scalable, Flexible, and Auditable Access Management

Is it possible to obtain the flexibility and advantages of attribute-based access control while maintaining role-based access control's advantages for analysis and risk control?
Exploration of Sub-VT and Near-VT 2T Gain-Cell Memories for Ultra-Low Power Applications under Technology Scaling

Ultra-low power applications often require several kb of embedded memory and are typically operated at the lowest possible operating voltage (VDD) to minimize both dynamic and static power consumption. Embedded memories can easily dominate the overall silicon area of these systems, and their leakage currents often dominate the total power consumption. Gain-cell based embedded DRAM arrays provide a high-density, low-leakage alternative to SRAM for such systems; however, they are typically designed for operation at nominal or only slightly scaled supply voltages. This paper presents a gain-cell array which, for the first time, targets aggressively scaled supply voltages, down into the subthreshold (sub-VT) domain. Minimum VDD design of gain-cell arrays is evaluated in light of technology scaling, considering both a mature 0.18 μm CMOS node, as well as a scaled 40 nm node. We first analyze the trade-offs that characterize the bitcell design in both nodes, arriving at a best-practice design methodology for both mature and scaled technologies. Following this analysis, we propose full gain-cell arrays for each of the nodes, operated at a minimum VDD. We find that an 0.18 μm gain-cell array can be robustly operated at a sub-VT supply voltage of 400 mV, providing read/write availability over 99% of the time, despite refresh cycles. This is demonstrated on a 2 kb array, operated at 1 MHz, exhibiting full functionality J. Low Power Electron. Appl. 2013, 3 55 under parametric variations. As opposed to sub-VT operation at the mature node, we find that the scaled 40 nm node requires a near-threshold 600 mV supply to achieve at least 97% read/write availability due to higher leakage currents that limit the bitcell’s retention time. Monte Carlo simulations show that a 600 mV 2 kb 40 nm gain-cell array is fully functional at frequencies higher than 50 MHz.
Preprocessing RR interval time series for heart rate variability analysis and estimates of standard deviation of RR intervals

Heart rate variability is concerned with the analysis of the fluctuations in the interval between heart beats known as RR intervals. The long time RR time series obtained suffer from non-stationarity and the presence of ectopic beats, which prevents extraction of useful statistical information. The paper describes a wavelet-based technique for trend removal and a nonlinear filter to remove ectopic beats. This attempts to correct the limitations observed in a recent advanced heart rate toolkit [J. Niskanen, M.P. Tarvainen, P.O. Ranta-aho P.A. Karjalainen, Software for advanced HRV analysis, Comput. Meth. Prog. Biomed.,76 (2004) 73-81] when preprocessing. The results are encouraging. The preprocessed data are then used to obtain the standard deviation of RR interval time series (SDRR) of 15 healthy patients and 15 patients suffering from congestive heart failure. The results demonstrate the importance of preprocessing. The analysis show that the SDRR values of congestive heart failure patients are depressed compared to the healthy group.
Short- and medium-term effects of manual therapy on cervical active range of motion and pressure pain sensitivity in latent myofascial pain of the upper trapezius muscle: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to investigate effects of different manual techniques on cervical ranges of motion and pressure pain sensitivity in subjects with latent trigger point of the upper trapezius muscle.


METHODS
One hundred seventeen volunteers, with a unilateral latent trigger point on upper trapezius due to computer work, were randomly divided into 5 groups: ischemic compression (IC) group (n=24); passive stretching group (n=23); muscle energy technique group (n=23); and 2 control groups, wait-and-see group (n=25) and placebo group (n=22). Cervical spine range of movement was measured using a cervical range of motion instrument as well as pressure pain sensitivity by means of an algometer and a visual analog scale. Outcomes were assessed pretreatment, immediately, and 24 hours after the intervention and 1 week later by a blind researcher. A 4×5 mixed repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to examine the effects of the intervention and Cohen d coefficient was used.


RESULTS
A group-by-time interaction was detected in all variables (P<.01), except contralateral rotation. The immediate effect sizes of the contralateral flexion, ipsilateral rotation, and pressure pain threshold were large for 3 experimental groups. Nevertheless, after 24 hours and 1 week, only IC group maintained the effect size.


CONCLUSIONS
Manual techniques on upper trapezius with latent trigger point seemed to improve the cervical range of motion and the pressure pain sensitivity. These effects persist after 1 week in the IC group.
The effect of the density of flowering individuals on the mating systems of nine tropical tree species

Mating systems were examined through allozyme analysis for nine tropical tree species that occur on Barro Colorado Island, Republic of Panama. Estimates of outcrossing rates, using a mixed mating model, ranged from 0.35 to 1.08. Most species were highly outcrossed but two species that occurred at low densities had outcrossing rates below 0.7. Heterogeneity among trees in pollen allele frequencies contributing to progeny arrays was significant. The degree of heterogeneity in pollen allele frequencies was measured by Wright's FST, treating progeny arrays as populations. Mean FST values were negatively correlated with flowering tree density, which indicates that trees at low density sample pollen from fewer individuals than trees in denser populations. Among-year heterogeneity in pollen allele frequencies for two species was also related to the density of flowering individuals; years with lower flowering tree density had greater heterogeneity and/or more selfing. These results indicate that several population parameters, such as inbreeding, genetic relatedness of progeny arrays, gene flow and effective population size are associated with the density of flowering individuals and thus vary from year to year and among locations.
INTERACTION OF COPPER-AMINE WITH SOUTHERN PINE : RETENTION AND MIGRATION

The retention and leachability of copper in copper-amine (Cu-EA)-treated southern pine (SP) are influenced by the formulation and the composition of copper-amine treating solutions. The sources of copper used, Cu(OH),, CuCO,, CuSO,, and Cu(NO,),, in the copper-amine complex formulation affect the leachability of copper. Data show that copper-amine from CuS0,and Cu(NO,),-treated wood has less copper loss during laboratory water leaching than that from Cu(OH),and CuC0,-treated wood. Increasing the amine-to-copper molar ratio increases the copper retention by wood, but reduces the leach resistance of copper. The nature of amine ligands, such as monoethanolamine (primary amine), 2-methylamino-ethanol (secondary amine), and N, N-dimethyl-ethanolamine (tertiary amine), has some effect on copper retention and copper leaching. As the molecular weight of amine ligands increases, copper loss during leaching decreases.
Surrogate time series

Before we apply nonlinear techniques, e.g. those inspired by chaos theory, to dynamical phenomena occurring in nature, it is necessary to first ask if the use of such advanced techniques is justified by the data. While many processes in nature seem very unlikely a priori to be linear, the possible nonlinear nature might not be evident in specific aspects of their dynamics. The method of surrogate data has become a very popular tool to address such a question. However, while it was meant to provide a statistically rigorous, foolproof framework, some limitations and caveats have shown up in its practical use. In this paper, recent efforts to understand the caveats, avoid the pitfalls, and to overcome some of the limitations, are reviewed and augmented by new material. In particular, we will discuss specific as well as more general approaches to constrained randomisation, providing a full range of examples. New algorithms will be introduced for unevenly sampled and multivariate data and for surrogate spike trains. The main limitation, which lies in the interpretability of the test results, will be illustrated through instructive case studies. We will also discuss some implementational aspects of the realisation of these methods in the TISEAN software package. © 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.