LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Efficacy of high-dose interferon in combination with ribavirin in patients with chronic hepatitis C resistant to interferon alone

OBJECTIVE:Interferon combined with ribavirin has efficacy in the treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. However, its utility in patients who have not responded to prior interferon therapy is not clear. Furthermore, the effect of using an increased dose of interferon in combination with ribavirin in patients with chronic hepatitis C resistant to conventional doses of interferon is not known. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of high-dose interferon in combination with ribavirin on the efficacy of treating patients with chronic hepatitis C resistant to interferon monotherapy in a large multicenter trial.METHODS:We randomized 154 patients with chronic hepatitis C who failed to achieve a sustained response with prior interferon therapy to receive either 3 or 5 MU of interferon α-2b and ribavirin (1000–1200 mg/day) for 12 months. There were 119 patients who had not responded and 35 who initially responded but relapsed after prior interferon monotherapy. Serum HCV RNA levels were measured at entry, 6, and 12 months of treatment and at the end of a 6-month follow-up period.RESULTS:The mean age of the subjects was 47 yr (range 28–68 yr), and 110 (71.4%) were men. One hundred thirty-two patients (86%) had HCV genotype 1, whereas 21(14%) had cirrhosis. Eighty-one subjects (53%) were randomized to receive 3 MU of interferon α-2b. Fifteen of 35 relapse subjects (43%) and 12 of 119 prior nonresponder entrants (10%) achieved a sustained virological response to the 12-month course of treatment. Overall, 11 of 81 patients (14%) receiving 3 MU, and 16 of 73 patients (22%) receiving 5 MU of interferon maintained an undetectable HCV RNA level after cessation of therapy. The difference in sustained response rates between the two interferon dosage groups did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.09). However, among the nonresponder patients alone, there was an increased sustained response in the high-dose interferon group compared with the standard interferon dose group (15.5% vs 4.9%, p = 0.055). Twenty-six patients discontinued therapy before 6 months, including 10 patients (12.3%) in the 3-MU and 16 patients (21.9%) in the 5-MU groups (p = 0.17).Conclusions:Sustained virological response to combined interferon α-2b and ribavirin was significantly higher in relapse patients than those who did not respond to prior interferon monotherapy. Although, when all treated patients were analyzed, there was no significant difference in sustained response between subjects receiving 3 and 5 MU of interferon, among the prior nonresponder patients, treatment with 5 MU of interferon with ribavirin resulted in a slightly increased response compared with treatment with the standard interferon dosage. The tolerability of the treatment regimens was comparable.
Genetic variants in GCKR and PNPLA3 confer susceptibility to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in obese individuals.

BACKGROUND
A genome-wide association study identified variants in or near patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing-3 (PNPLA3), neurocan (NCAN), lysophospholipase-like 1 (LYPLAL1), glucokinase regulatory protein (GCKR), and protein phosphatase 1 regulatory subunit 3b (PPP1R3B) that were strongly associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in adults of European ancestry.


OBJECTIVE
We examined these genetic variants in obese children and tested whether their effects on NAFLD are significant in the Taiwanese Han Chinese population.


DESIGN
We genotyped PNPLA3 rs738409, NCAN rs2228603, LYPLAL1 rs12137855, GCKR rs780094, and PPP1R3B rs4240624 in 797 obese children aged 7-18 y. NAFLD was identified by liver ultrasonography. We analyzed the effect of these genetic variants on NAFLD.


RESULTS
NAFLD was identified in 24% of the recruited obese children. We found significant associations with NAFLD at variants in PNPLA3 and GCKR but not in NCAN, LYPLAL1, and PPP1R3B. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that, after control for the effects of age- and sex-adjusted body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, sex, and PNPLA3 rs738409 polymorphism, the variant GCKR rs780094 TT genotype independently increased the OR of NAFLD by 1.997 (95% CI: 1.196, 3.335; P = 0.008) compared with the CC genotype. Subjects with the variant GCKR rs780094 TT genotype had a higher mean serum alanine aminotransferase concentration than did those with the CC genotype (30.8 ± 34.7 compared with 22.2 ± 18.6 IU/L; P = 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
By studying the genetic variants of obese Taiwanese children, we confirmed that the genetic variants in GCKR rs780094 and PNPLA3 rs738409, but not in NCAN rs2228603, LYPLAL1 rs12137855, and PPP1R3B rs4240624, are associated with an increased risk of NAFLD. GCKR and PNPLA3 variants are the common genetic factors that may confer susceptibility to NAFLD in obese individuals across multiple ethnic groups.
Report on the 1st International Workshop on the Irrelations between Requirements Engineering Business Process Mana- gement (REBPM)

Background of the Workshop While Requirements Engineering (RE) is concerned with eliciting and managing requirements related to a particular (software) system, Business Process Management (BPM) deals with modeling and managing organizational processes and business objectives. Information technology is an enabler of business change [1] and business processes are often a starting point of software requirements elicitation. Thus, both domains are strongly interrelated (cf. [2]). The interrelation between both domains is underpinned by overlapping use of concepts and artifacts. Business processes modeling, for example, serves as an interface between both domains since the models combine knowledge about the business and the involved (software) systems. However, the methods and processes concerned with the business people, while trying to achieve similar goals, differ from those concerned with the software/requirements engineers. The 1 st International REBPM workshop has been organized by the working group “Requirements Engineering and Business Process Management” and succeeded two German workshops on the same topic (REBPM 2009 and 2010). The working group “Requirements Engineering and Business Process Management” was founded in autumn 2013 as a subgroup of the “Requirements Engineering” group within the German Informatics Society. The aim of the group is to identify and integrate common methods, artifacts and processes in order to addresses the interrelations between RE and BPM. Currently, the group consists of about ten members from research and industry.
Preoperative idoxuridine and radiation for large soft tissue sarcomas: Clinical results with five-year follow-up

Background: Local control remains an important issue in the management of large soft tissue sarcomas. Radiation is the main adjuvant to surgery for local therapy of sarcomas, but it requires relatively high doses, hitherto considered prohibitive in areas such as the retroperitoneum. We developed a preoperative treatment approach to large soft tissue sarcomas that would deliver a high total dose of radiation administered in conjunction with the halogenated pyrimidine radiosensitizer idoxuridine (IdUrd). Methods: Thirty-seven patients with large sarcomas of the head and neck, mediastinum, retroperitoneum, or extremity received three or five cycles of sequential IdUrd infusion (1000–1600 mg/m2/d×5 d) alternating weekly with twice daily radiation (125–150 cGy per dose) and were then evaluated for resection. The delivered preoperative radiation dose was up to 6250 to 7500 cGy. Results: Five patients (14%) had a partial response to preoperative therapy, and 28 of 37 patients underwent successful resection. There were no intra- or postoperative deaths. Local control was achieved in 19 of 28 resected patients, but in only 1 of 6 patients who remained unresectable despite therapy. With a median follow-up of 5.8 years, 28% of patients are alive with no evidence of disease, 17% are alive with disease, and 53% have died of their disease. Conclusions: Using the dose and schedule we employed, resection of large soft tissue sarcomas was possible after high-dose radiation delivered in conjunction with IdUrd. Although local control was acceptable, the high rate of distant failure represents a limitation of any local approach to the treatment of large soft tissue sarcomas and suggests the need for integration of this approach with an effective systemic therapy.
LUCSS: Language-based User-customized Colourization of Scene Sketches

We introduce LUCSS, a language-based system for interactive colorization of scene sketches, based on their semantic understanding. LUCSS is built upon deep neural networks trained via a large-scale repository of scene sketches and cartoon-style color images with text descriptions. It consists of three sequential modules. First, given a scene sketch, the segmentation module automatically partitions an input sketch into individual object instances. Next, the captioning module generates the text description with spatial relationships based on the instance-level segmentation results. Finally, the interactive colorization module allows users to edit the caption and produce colored images based on the altered caption. Our experiments show the effectiveness of our approach and the desirability of its components to alternative choices. CCS Concepts: • Computing methodologies → Image Processing; Additional
Applying Innovation Resistance Theory to Understand Consumer Resistance of Using Online Travel in Thailand

Base on innovation resistance theory, this research builds the model of factors affecting consumers' resistance in using online travel in Thailand. Through the questionnaires and the SEM methods, empirical analysis results show that functional barriers are even greater sources of resistance to online travel website than psychological barriers. Online experience and independent travel experience have significantly influenced on consumer innovation resistance. Social influence plays an important role in this research.
Experimental study of a quantum channel from a LEO satellite to the earth

The single-photon exchange between a satellite and an Earth-based station has been investigated using satellite-laser-ranging retroreflectors in orbit. A return rate of 5 photons-per-second was measured from satellite Ajisai at 1650 km from the observer.
A study of source-level compiler algorithms for automatic construction of pre-execution code

Pre-execution is a promising latency tolerance technique that uses one or more helper threads running in spare hardware contexts ahead of the main computation to trigger long-latency memory operations early, hence absorbing their latency on behalf of the main computation. This article investigates several source-to-source C compilers for extracting pre-execution thread code automatically, thus relieving the programmer or hardware from this onerous task. We present an aggressive profile-driven compiler that employs three powerful algorithms for code extraction. First, program slicing removes non-critical code for computing cache-missing memory references. Second, prefetch conversion replaces blocking memory references with non-blocking prefetch instructions to minimize pre-execution thread stalls. Finally, speculative loop parallelization generates thread-level parallelism to tolerate the latency of blocking loads. In addition, we present four "reduced" compilers that employ less aggressive algorithms to simplify compiler implementation. Our reduced compilers rely on back-end code optimizations rather than program slicing to remove non-critical code, and use compile-time heuristics rather than profiling to approximate runtime information (e.g., cache-miss and loop-trip counts).We prototype our algorithms on the Stanford University Intermediate Format (SUIF) framework and a publicly available program slicer, called Unravel [Lyle and Wallace 1997]. Using our prototype, we undertake a performance evaluation of our compilers on a detailed architectural simulator of an 8-way out-of-order SMT processor with 4 hardware contexts, and 13 applications selected from the SPEC and Olden benchmark suites. Our most aggressive compiler improves the performance of 10 out of 13 applications, reducing execution time by 20.9%. Across all 13 applications, our aggressive compiler achieves a harmonic average speedup of 17.6%. For our reduced compilers, eliminating program slicing and relying on back-end optimizations degrades performance minimally, suggesting that effective pre-execution compilers can be built without program slicing. Furthermore, without cache-miss profiles, we still achieve good speedup, 15.5%, but without loop-trip count profiles, we achieve a speedup of only 7.7%. Finally, our results show compiler-based pre-execution can benefit multiprogrammed workloads. Simultaneously executing applications achieve higher throughput with pre-execution compared to no pre-execution. Due to contention for hardware contexts, however, time-slicing outperforms simultaneous execution in some cases where individual applications make heavy use of pre-execution threads.
Impact of the permanent ventricular pacing site on left ventricular function in children: a retrospective multicentre survey.

BACKGROUND
Chronic right ventricular (RV) pacing is associated with deleterious effects on cardiac function.


OBJECTIVE
In an observational multicentre study in children with isolated atrioventricular (AV) block receiving chronic ventricular pacing, the importance of the ventricular pacing site on left ventricular (LV) function was investigated.


METHODS
Demographics, maternal autoantibody status and echocardiographic measurements on LV end-diastolic and end-systolic dimensions and volumes at age <18 years were retrospectively collected from patients undergoing chronic ventricular pacing (>1 year) for isolated AV block. LV fractional shortening (LVFS) and, if possible LV ejection fraction (LVEF) were calculated. Linear regression analyses were adjusted for patient characteristics.


RESULTS
From 27 centres, 297 children were included, in whom pacing was applied at the RV epicardium (RVepi, n = 147), RV endocardium (RVendo, n = 113) or LV epicardium (LVepi, n = 37). LVFS was significantly affected by pacing site (p = 0.001), and not by maternal autoantibody status (p = 0.266). LVFS in LVepi (39 ± 5%) was significantly higher than in RVendo (33 ± 7%, p < 0.001) and RVepi (35 ± 8%, p = 0.001; no significant difference between RV-paced groups, p = 0.275). Subnormal LVFS (LVFS < 28%) was seen in 16/113 (14%) RVendo-paced and 21/147 (14%) RVepi-paced children, while LVFS was normal (LVFS ≥ 28%) in all LVepi-paced children (p = 0.049). These results are supported by the findings for LVEF (n = 122): LVEF was <50% in 17/69 (25%) RVendo- and in 10/35 (29%) RVepi-paced patients, while LVEF was ≥ 50% in 17/18 (94%) LVepi-paced patients.


CONCLUSION
In children with isolated AV block, permanent ventricular pacing site is an important determinant of LV function, with LVFS being significantly higher with LV pacing than with RV pacing.
Human Geography: Landscapes of Human Activities

1 Introduction: Some Background Basics Part 1 Themes and Fundamentals of Human Geography 2 Roots and Meaning of Culture 3 Spatial Interaction and Spatial Behavior 4 Population: World Patterns, Regional Trends Part 2 Patterns of Diversity and Unity 5 Language and Religion: Mosaics of Culture 6 Ethnic Geography: Threads of Diversity 7 Folk and Popular Culture: Diversity and Uniformity Part 3 Dynamic Patterns of the Space Economy 8 Livelihood and Economy: Primary Activities 9 Livelihood and Economy: From Blue Collar to Gold Collar 10 Patterns of Development and Change Part 4 Landscapes of Functional Organization 11 Urban Systems and Urban Structures 12 The Political Ordering of Space Part 5 Human Actions and Environmental Impacts 13 Human Impacts on Natural Systems Appendix A Map Projections Appendix B 2006 World Population Data Appendix C Anglo America Reference Map
Literature as an aid to empathic response

Abstract This article explores briefly the use of classical and modern literature as an aid to understanding those mentally disordered offenders who not infrequently raise anxiety, and sometimes fear, in those charged with their management. Reference is made also to other media as aids in this process. Literature is the one place in any society, where, within the secrecy of our own heads, we can hear voices talking about everything in every possible way. (Salman Rushdie, unpublished lecture)
Modeling Curiosity-Related Emotions for Virtual Peer Learners

With the advances in computer graphics, communication technologies and networking, virtual worlds are rapidly becoming part of the educational technology landscape [1]. Dede [2] suggests that the immersive interfaces offered by virtual worlds can promote learning, by enabling the design of educational experiences that are challenging or even impossible to duplicate in real world. In recent years, the usage of virtual worlds within the educational context is growing quickly. The New Media Consortium (NMC) Annual Survey on Second Life (SL) received 170% increase in response rate between 2007 and 2008. They also found that many of the educators who earlier used the existing SL, have started creating their own virtual worlds in less than a year's time [3].
Effects of antenatal care and institutional delivery on exclusive breastfeeding practice in northwest Ethiopia: a nested case–control study

BACKGROUND
For the first six months of life, breast milk is the ideal food to provide adequate quality and quantity of nutrients. Exclusive breastfeeding has a profound effect to reduce the risk of respiratory and gastrointestinal related morbidities as well as all-cause and infection-related neonatal mortalities. Despite the immense benefits of exclusive breastfeeding, the practice is suboptimal in Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to assess whether antenatal care and institutional delivery contributes to mothers' practice of exclusive breastfeeding in rural communities of northwest Ethiopia.


METHODS
A community-based nested case-control study was conducted in northwest Ethiopia from November 2009 to August 2011. About 1769 mother-infant pairs were included and followed for six months after birth. Interviews with mothers were conducted in the first week, at 1(st), 4(th), and 6(th) month. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression were carried out to determine associations between independent variables and exclusive breastfeeding practice.


RESULTS
Of the total respondents, 30.7 % (95 % CI: 27 %, 35 %) of mothers exclusively breastfed their infants. In multivariate analysis, own business activity (AOR= 3.06; 95 % CI: 1.29, 7.25), being a housewife (AOR= 3.41; 95 % CI: 1.28, 9.11), having antenatal care (AOR= 1.32; 95 % CI: 1.01, 1.73), giving birth in a health institution (AOR= 1.29; 95 % CI: 1.02, 1.62), and possessing a microfinance bank account (AOR= 2.35; 95 % CI: 1.80, 3.07) were positively associated with exclusive breastfeeding practice.


CONCLUSIONS
Despite underutilization of maternal health services, these services contributed to mothers exclusive breastfeeding practice. Strengthening utilization of antenatal care and institutional delivery would have an added benefit in improving exclusive breastfeeding practice. Moreover involving mothers in business activities is important.
ALTERNATIVES TO SCATTERPLOTS

Emerging evidence suggests that people do not have difficulty judging covariation per se but rather have difficulty decoding standard displays such as scatterplots. Using the data analysis software Tinkerplots, I demonstrate various alternative representations that students appear to be able to use quite effectively to make judgments about covariation. More generally, I argue that data analysis instruction in K-12 should be structured according to how statistical reasoning develops in young students and should, for the time begin, not target specific graphical representations as objectives of instruction. TINKERPLOTS: SOFTWARE FOR THE MIDDLE SCHOOL The computer's potential to improve the teaching of data analysis is now a well-known It includes its power to illuminate key concepts through simulations and multiple-linked representations. It also includes its ability to free students up, at the appropriate time, from time-intensive tasks—from what National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (1989) Standards referred to as the " narrow aspects of statistics " (p. 113). This potentially allows instruction to focus more attention on the processes of data analysis—exploring substantive questions of interest, searching for and interpreting patterns and trends in data, and communicating findings. However, as Biehler (1995) has suggested, the younger the student, the more difficult it is to design an appropriate tool for learning statistics. Most of the existing tools for young students have been developed from the " top down. " They provide a subset of conventional plots and thus are simpler than professional tools only in that they have fewer options. These " simplified professional tools " are ill-suited to younger students who " need a tool that is designed from their bottom-up perspective of statistical novices and can develop in various ways into a full professional tool (not vice versa) " (p.3). Tinkerplots is a data analysis tool for the middle school that we are designing " from the bottom up " (Konold & Miller, 2001). When a data set is first opened in Tinkerplots, a plot window appears showing a haphazard arrangement of data icons on the screen. As in Tabletop (see Hancock, Kaput & Goldsmith, 1992), each icon represents an individual case. But in Tinkerplots, rather than choosing from a menu of existing plot types (e.g., bar graph, pie chart, scatterplot), students progressively organize the data using a small set of intuitive operators including " stack, " " order, " and " separate ". By using these operators in different combinations, …
Photo-voltaic power converter with a simple maximum-power-point-tracker

A simple power conditioner to convert the power available from solar panels for feeding into 60Hz ac mains is 'described. The output from the solar panels will be converted into a regulated dc voltage using a boost converter and a large capacitor. The dc output will then be converted to 60Hz ac using a bridge inverter. The ratio between the load current and the short-circuit current of a PV panel at maximum power point is nearly constant for different insolation (light) levels and this property is utilized in. designing a simple maximum power point tracking (MPPT) controller. The results obtained on an experimental converter are presented.
Constrained Markov decision processes with total cost criteria: Lagrangian approach and dual linear program

We consider stochastic games with countable state spaces and unbounded immediate payo ̈ functions. Our assumptions on the transition structure of the game are based on a recent work by Meyn and Tweedie [19] on computable bounds for geometric convergence rates of Markov chains. The main results in this paper concern the existence of sensitive optimal strategies in some classes of zero-sum stochastic games. By sensitive optimality we mean overtaking or 1-optimality. We also provide a new Nash equilibrium theorem for a class of ergodic nonzero-sum stochastic games with denumerable state spaces.