LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Long-term clinical results of 2 different ablation strategies in patients with paroxysmal and persistent atrial fibrillation.

BACKGROUND
Data regarding the long-term efficacy of atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation are still lacking.


METHODS AND RESULTS
Two hundred four consecutive patients symptomatic for paroxysmal or persistent/permanent AF were randomly assigned to 2 different ablation schemes: pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) and PVI plus left linear lesions (LL). Primary end point was to assess the maintenance of sinus rhythm (SR) after procedures 1 and 2 in the absence of antiarrhythmic drugs in a long-term follow-up of at least 3 years. Paroxysmal AF- With a single procedure at 12-month follow-up, 46% of patients treated with PVI maintained SR, whereas at 3-year follow-up, 29% were in SR; using the "PVI plus LL" at the 12-month follow-up, 57% of patients were in SR, whereas at the 3-year follow-up, 53% remained in SR. After a second procedure, the long-term overall success rate without antiarrhythmic drugs was 62% with PVI and 85% with PVI plus LL. Persistent/Permanent AF- With a single procedure at the 12-month follow-up, 27% of patients treated with PVI were in SR, whereas at the 3-year follow-up, 19% maintained SR; using the PVI plus LL with a single procedure at the 12-month follow-up 45% of patients were in SR, whereas at the 3-year follow-up, 41% remained in SR. After a second procedure, the long-term overall success rate without antiarrhythmic drugs was 39% with PVI and 75% with PVI plus LL.


CONCLUSIONS
A long-term follow-up of AF ablation shows that short-term results cannot be considered permanent because AF recurrences are still present after the first year especially in patients who have had "PVI" strategy. PVI isolation plus LL is superior to the PVI strategy in maintaining SR without antiarrhythmic drugs after procedures 1 and 2 both in paroxysmal and persistent AF.
The Dirty War Index: A Public Health and Human Rights Tool for Examining and Monitoring Armed Conflict Outcomes

Documentation, analysis, and prevention of the harmful effects of armed conflict on populations are established public health priorities [1–5]. Although public health research on war is increasingly framed in human rights terms [6–13], general public health methods are typically applied without direct links to laws of war. Laws of war are international humanitarian laws and customary standards regarding the treatment of civilians and combatants, mainly described in the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols I and II regarding international and civil conflicts [14]. With notable exceptions [11,15–17], absolute numbers are usually reported (e.g., number of persons killed), without systematic description of the proportional effects of armed conflict, thereby limiting the utility of findings and scope of interpretation. In this paper, we introduce the “Dirty War Index” (DWI): a data-driven public health tool based on laws of war that systematically identifies rates of particularly undesirable or prohibited, i.e., “dirty,” war outcomes inflicted on populations during armed conflict (e.g., civilian death, child injury, or torture). DWIs are explicitly linked to international humanitarian law to make public health outcomes directly relevant to prevention, monitoring, and humanitarian intervention for the moderation of war’s effects. After choosing the particular outcome to be measured, a DWI is calculated as:
A comprehensive grasp taxonomy

The goal of this work is to overview and summarize the grasping taxonomies reported in the literature. Our long term goal is to understand how to reduce mechanical complexity of anthropomorphic hands and still preserve their dexterity. On the basis of a literature survey, 33 different grasp types are taken into account. They were then arranged in a hierarchical manner, resulting in 17 grasp types.
LivDet 2017 Fingerprint Liveness Detection Competition 2017

Fingerprint Presentation Attack Detection (FPAD) deals with distinguishing images coming from artificial replicas of the fingerprint characteristic, made up of materials like silicone, gelatine or latex, and images coming from alive fingerprints. Images are captured by modern scanners, typically relying on solid-state or optical technologies. Since from 2009, the Fingerprint Liveness Detection Competition (LivDet) aims to assess the performance of the state-of-the-art algorithms according to a rigorous experimental protocol and, at the same time, a simple overview of the basic achievements. The competition is open to all academics research centers and all companies that work in this field. The positive, increasing trend of the participants number, which supports the success of this initiative, is confirmed even this year: 17 algorithms were submitted to the competition, with a larger involvement of companies and academies. This means that the topic is relevant for both sides, and points out that a lot of work must be done in terms of fundamental and applied research.
Impact of landscape composition and configuration on forest specialist and generalist bird species in the fragmented Lacandona rainforest, Mexico

With accelerated land-use change throughout the tropics, an increasing proportion of global biodiversity is located in human-modified landscapes. Understanding the relative effects of landscape composition and configuration on biodiversity is needed to design effective conservation strategies. Yet this topic is poorly understood because most studies have been performed at the patch scale, and do not assess the impact of landscape structure on species. Using a multi-model inference approach, we assessed the relative effect of landscape composition (i.e. percentage of forest cover and matrix composition) and landscape configuration (i.e. number of forest patches and forest edge density) on aand b-diversity of birds in 17 forest fragments and three areas of continuous forest within the Lacandona rainforest, Mexico. We tested these impacts at two spatial scales (100 and 500 ha) for forest specialist and generalist birds. In general, forest specialist birds showed stronger responses to landscape characteristics than generalist species, particularly to variations in landscape composition at the 100-ha scale. The loss of forest cover represented the main threat to forest specialist birds, with a negative impact on a-diversity that was consistent across the two spatial scales. In contrast, at the two spatial scales generalist birds seemed to be favored by forest loss, as a-diversity of these birds increased in landscapes with lower forest cover and higher number of forest patches. If current deforestation rates continue, several forest specialists are likely to disappear. Future conservation and management initiatives should therefore prevent deforestation in this biodiversity-rich but vanishing tropical forest ecosystem. 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Hospital re-admissions in relation to acute stroke unit care versus conventional care in elderly patients the first year after stroke: the Göteborg 70+ Stroke study.

BACKGROUND
re-hospitalisation after discharge following index stroke varies over time and with age and comorbidity. There is little knowledge about whether stroke unit care reduces the need of re-admissions.


OBJECTIVES
to examine whether stroke unit care as compared with care in general medical wards was associated with fewer re-hospitalisations for conditions judged to be secondary to acute stroke and to identify the influence of stroke severity on re-admission rates.


DESIGN
we conducted a one-year randomised study to compare the outcome of treatment at an acute stroke unit in a care continuum with the outcome of treatment at general medical wards.


SETTINGS
acute and geriatric hospitals in Göteborg, Sweden.


SUBJECTS
216 elderly patients aged >or=70 years discharged to their own homes or to institutionalised living after index stroke.


METHODS
comparison of comorbidity classified according to Charlson's morbidity index, re-admission rates, length of hospital stay, number of re-admissions and diagnoses between a group treated at a stroke unit and a group treated at general wards.


RESULTS
the re-admission rates, length of hospital stay and causes of re-admissions did not differ between the two groups. Complications related to the damage to the brain and concomitant heart disease were the most common causes of re-admissions in both groups. Index stroke severity did not influence the re-admission rates.


CONCLUSIONS
re-admissions for conditions judged to be secondary to acute stroke were equal in the two groups in this prospective study.
T1C: IoT Security: - Threats, Security Challenges and IoT Security Research and Technology Trends

IoT Security: - Threats, Security Challenges and IoT Security Research and Technology Trends Sakir Sezer, Chair, Information and Communication Security, Queen's University Belfast, UK.
Heterogeneity in the systems of pediatric diabetes care across the European Union.

BACKGROUND
It is known that the systems of pediatric diabetes care differ across the member states of the European Union (EU). The aim of this project was to characterize some of the main differences among the national systems.


METHODS
Data were collected using two questionnaires. The first one was distributed among leading centers of pediatric diabetes (one per country) with the aim of establishing an overview of the systems, national policies, quality control (QC) and financing of pediatric diabetes care. Responses were received from all 27 EU countries. The second questionnaire was widely disseminated among all 354 International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes members with a domicile in an EU country; it included questions related to individual pediatric diabetes centers. A total of 108 datasets were collected and processed from healthcare professionals who were treating more than 29 000 children and adolescents with diabetes. Data on the reimbursement policies were verified by representatives of the pharmaceutical and medical device companies.


RESULTS
The collected data reflect the situation in 2009. There was a notable heterogeneity among the systems for provision of pediatric diabetes care across the EU. Only 20/27 EU countries had a pediatric diabetes register. Nineteen countries had officially recognized centers for pediatric diabetes, but only nine of them had defined criteria for becoming such a center. A system for QC of pediatric diabetes at the national level was reported in 7/26 countries. Reimbursement for treatment varied significantly across the EU, potentially causing inequalities in access to modern technologies.


CONCLUSIONS
The collected data help develop strategies toward improving equity and access to modern pediatric diabetes care across Europe.
Eliciting hierarchical structures from enumerative structures for ontology learning

Some discourse structures such as enumerative structures have typographical, punctuational and laying out characteristics which (1) make them easily identifiable and (2) convey hierarchical relations which provide ontology fragments clues. This study will try to show how these textual objects can be exploited in order to considerably improve the process of ontology enrichment from text.
A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Cavity Shave Margins in Breast Cancer.

BACKGROUND
Routine resection of cavity shave margins (additional tissue circumferentially around the cavity left by partial mastectomy) may reduce the rates of positive margins (margins positive for tumor) and reexcision among patients undergoing partial mastectomy for breast cancer.


METHODS
In this randomized, controlled trial, we assigned, in a 1:1 ratio, 235 patients with breast cancer of stage 0 to III who were undergoing partial mastectomy, with or without resection of selective margins, to have further cavity shave margins resected (shave group) or not to have further cavity shave margins resected (no-shave group). Randomization occurred intraoperatively after surgeons had completed standard partial mastectomy. Positive margins were defined as tumor touching the edge of the specimen that was removed in the case of invasive cancer and tumor that was within 1 mm of the edge of the specimen removed in the case of ductal carcinoma in situ. The rate of positive margins was the primary outcome measure; secondary outcome measures included cosmesis and the volume of tissue resected.


RESULTS
The median age of the patients was 61 years (range, 33 to 94). On final pathological testing, 54 patients (23%) had invasive cancer, 45 (19%) had ductal carcinoma in situ, and 125 (53%) had both; 11 patients had no further disease. The median size of the tumor in the greatest diameter was 1.1 cm (range, 0 to 6.5) in patients with invasive carcinoma and 1.0 cm (range, 0 to 9.3) in patients with ductal carcinoma in situ. Groups were well matched at baseline with respect to demographic and clinicopathological characteristics. The rate of positive margins after partial mastectomy (before randomization) was similar in the shave group and the no-shave group (36% and 34%, respectively; P=0.69). After randomization, patients in the shave group had a significantly lower rate of positive margins than did those in the no-shave group (19% vs. 34%, P=0.01), as well as a lower rate of second surgery for margin clearance (10% vs. 21%, P=0.02). There was no significant difference in complications between the two groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Cavity shaving halved the rates of positive margins and reexcision among patients with partial mastectomy. (Funded by the Yale Cancer Center; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01452399.).
ThingPot: an interactive Internet-of-Things honeypot

The Mirai Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack exploited security vulnerabilities of Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices and thereby clearly signaled that attackers have IoT on their radar. Securing IoT is therefore imperative, but in order to do so it is crucial to understand the strategies of such attackers. For that purpose, in this paper, a novel IoT honeypot called ThingPot is proposed and deployed. Honeypot technology mimics devices that might be exploited by attackers and logs their behavior to detect and analyze the used attack vectors. ThingPot is the first of its kind, since it focuses not only on the IoT application protocols themselves, but on the whole IoT platform. A Proof-of-Concept is implemented with XMPP and a REST API, to mimic a Philips Hue smart lighting system. ThingPot has been deployed for 1.5 months and through the captured data we have found five types of attacks and attack vectors against smart devices. The ThingPot source code is made available as open source.
Online shopping post-payment dissonance: Dissonance reduction strategy using online consumer social experiences

This study applied the concept of online consumer social experiences (OCSEs) to reduce online shopping post-payment dissonance (i.e., dissonance occurring between online payment and product receipt). Two types of OCSEs were developed: indirect social experiences (IDSEs) and virtual social experiences (VSEs). Two studies were conducted, in which 447 college students were enrolled. Study 1 compared the effects of OCSEs and non-OCSEs when online shopping post-payment dissonance occurred. The results indicate that providing consumers affected by online shopping post-payment dissonance with OCSEs reduces dissonance and produces higher satisfaction, higher repurchase intention, and lower complaint intention than when no OCSEs are provided. In addition, consumers’ interpersonal trust (IPT) and susceptibility to interpersonal informational influence (SIII) moderated the positive effects of OCSEs. Study 2 compared the effects of IDSEs and VSEs when online shopping post-payment dissonance occurred. The results sugomputing need for control omputer-mediated communication pprehension gest that the effects of IDSEs and VSEs on satisfaction, repurchase intention, and complaint intention are moderated by consumers’ computing need for control (CNC) and computer-mediated communication apprehension (CMCA). The consumers with high CNC and low CMCA preferred VSEs, whereas the consumers with low CNC and high CMCA preferred IDSEs. The effects of VSEs and IDSEs on consumers with high CNC and CMCA and those with low CNC and CMCA were not significantly different. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
How to reach the dynamic limits of parallel robots? An autonomous control approach

Based on closed kinematic chains, parallel robots obtain favorable dynamic properties as well as high stiffness. Hence, their application can significantly enlarge the productivity of automated production processes. A control concept for tapping the high potential concerning low cycle times and high path-tracking accuracy is presented. The proposed approach adapts autonomously to changing dynamic parameters as varying payload. The autonomous behavior is achieved by combining an adaptive control approach with an adaptive, time-optimal trajectory planning concept and an online-trajectory adaption mechanism. Extensive experimental results prove the performance of the proposed approach. Note to Practitioners -Many applications in the field of production automation (material handling, assembly, etc.) require high operating speeds and accelerations. During the past years, parallel robots proved to be an efficient and suitable supplement to serial robots. Unfortunately, the promising possibilities of parallel robots often cannot yield profit because their dynamic potential is still not fully exploited. The payload/robot mass ratio of parallel structures is even higher compared to serial robots, where the influence of the payload on the impedance of the robot is negligible. By use of direct drives the influence of a variable payload cannot be ignored. A modified adaptive control concept, which adapts autonomously to changing dynamic parameters-as varying payload due to diversity of assembly processes-guarantees high tracking accuracy and therefore better process quality as well as accurate estimates of changing dynamic parameters and therefore better process quality. In addition the productivity of the process can be enlarged, if the full drive power can be used at each point on the path. Thus, a new adaptive time-optimal trajectory planning algorithm is used to exploit the dynamic potential of the direct drives and consequently to shorten the cycle times. The aim of time-optimal trajectory planning, as it is commonly understood, is the determination of the maximum velocity profile along a given path that complies with all given dynamic and kinematic robot constraints like limited drive forces/torques, limited path and/or drive velocities and limited path jerk. Combining the adaptive control scheme and the adaptive, time-optimal trajectory planning algorithm with an online trajectory adaption mechanism, a control concept is realized, which autonomously adapts to changing dynamic robot behavior. Using this new approach, the advantages of parallel robots-as well as serial robots with direct drives-can better be utilized. This is a necessary prerequisite for a larger extension of PKMs for industrial applications.
A Study of MAC Protocols for WBANs

The seamless integration of low-power, miniaturised, invasive/non-invasive lightweight sensor nodes have contributed to the development of a proactive and unobtrusive Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN). A WBAN provides long-term health monitoring of a patient without any constraint on his/her normal dailylife activities. This monitoring requires the low-power operation of invasive/non-invasive sensor nodes. In other words, a power-efficient Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol is required to satisfy the stringent WBAN requirements, including low-power consumption. In this paper, we first outline the WBAN requirements that are important for the design of a low-power MAC protocol. Then we study low-power MAC protocols proposed/investigated for a WBAN with emphasis on their strengths and weaknesses. We also review different power-efficient mechanisms for a WBAN. In addition, useful suggestions are given to help the MAC designers to develop a low-power MAC protocol that will satisfy the stringent requirements.
Enhancing the traditional hospital design process: a focus on patient safety.

BACKGROUND
In 2002 St. Joseph's Community Hospital (West Bend, WI), a member of SynergyHealth, brought together leaders in health care and systems engineering to develop a set of safety-driven facility design principles that would guide the hospital design process. DESIGNING FOR SAFETY: Hospital leadership recognized that a cross-departmental team approach would be needed and formed the 11-member Facility Design Advisory Council, which, with departmental teams and the aid of architects, was responsible for overseeing the design process and for ensuring that the safety considerations were met. The design process was a team approach, with input from national experts, patients and families, hospital staff and physicians, architects, contractors, and the community.


OUTCOME
The new facility, designed using safety-driven design principles, reflects many innovative design elements, including truly standardized patient rooms, new technology to minimize falls, and patient care alcoves for every patient room. The new hospital has been designed with maximum adaptability and flexibility in mind, to accommodate changes and provide for future growth. The architects labeled the innovative design. The Synergy Model, to describe the process of shaping the entire building and its spaces to work efficiently as a whole for the care and safety of patients.


CONCLUSION
Construction began on the new facility in August 2003 and is expected to be completed in 2005.
Tar formation in pyrolysis and gasification

This report summarises knowledge from the open literature on the reactivity of tars during pyrolysis and gasification of biomass. Also other mechanism of the chemical reactions involved is considered. The goal of this summary is to make the knowledge accessible not only to ECN but for a broader community and help in the development of both producer gas cleaning technology and innovative gasification processes. Gaseous biomass tars can react under inert conditions (thermal cracking) or with components in the producer gas such as H2, H2O or CO2 (gasification). The reaction rate of thermal cracking is such that high temperatures of approximately 1200°C or higher (also depending on residence time) are needed to create a producer gas with low tar concentrations. The rate of thermal cracking of tars depends on the kind of tar. The rate decreases in the series: biomass pyrolysis oils/tars > phenolic tar compounds (phenol, cresol, naphthol) > Pyrolysis tars from coal > Polycyclic aromatic tar compounds (anthracene, phenanthrene, naphthalene, benzene). The rate of thermal cracking also depends on the atmosphere in which the tars are cracked because the gas phase components H2, H2O en CO2 play a role in the cracking reactions. H2O and/or CO2 increase the decomposition rate of tars whereas H2 decreases this rate. The aromatic rings of tars can also be hydrogenated which only occurs under hydrogasification conditions at high partial pressures of H2. This leads to the production of CH4. Radical reactions are the main reactions in the mechanism of tar decomposition and the formation of methane. Radical formation is the rate-determining step in this mechanism. After radical formation, the composition of the gas phase determines what are the final products of the tar decomposition.