LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Carbamazepine and valproate monotherapy: feasibility, relative safety and efficacy, and therapeutic drug monitoring in manic disorder

Rationale: Search for alternatives to lithium therapy for mood disorders commenced with anticonvulsants, carbamazepine (CBZ) and valproic acid (VPA), in the late 1970s. The comparative safety and efficacy data of CBZ and VPA monotherapy in patients with bipolar disorder remain to be established. Objectives: The main objectives of the study were to assess the relative anti-manic efficacy and safety of CBZ and VPA; to study the feasibility of using either, as a first line anti-manic agent; to investigate and generate clinically relevant parameters involving therapeutic drug monitoring of the two drugs. Methods: After a 2-day screening period, suitable patients (n=30) were randomly assigned to treatment with CBZ or VPA. Both the drugs were started with an average dose of approximately 20 mg/kg body weight per day. Further increment in dose was carried out at weekly intervals, guided by clinical improvement, serum levels and treatment emergent adverse events. The primary efficacy measure in the protocol was defined as a change from baseline to endpoint in total score on the Young Mania Rating Scale. A favourable clinical response was defined a priori as a decrease of more than 50% from baseline in Young Mania Rating Scale total score. Results: Both CBZ and VPA were found to be efficacious as single first-line anti-manic agents, however VPA proved to be better. Using the intent-to-treat analysis, the VPA group showed a significant fall in YMRS total scores after week 1 while the CBZ group showed a significant fall after week 2. In the primary efficacy analysis, valproate group experienced significantly greater mean improvement in Young Mania Rating Scale total score than the CBZ group. Of the VPA treated patients, 73% showed a favourable clinical response while 53% of the patients on CBZ responded favourably. In the CBZ group, significantly more patients received rescue medication during the week 2 and the requirement was quantitatively more as compared to the VPA group. The steady state serum concentration (Css) of CBZ ranged from 3 to 9 µg/ml; however, it did not appear to correlate with the dose or clinical response. The Css of VPA ranged from 50 to 100 µg/ml; a linear correlation was found between the dose and serum levels of VPA as well as between weekly rise in serum levels and clinical response. Weekly dose escalations of VPA also correlated positively with corresponding rise in serum levels. Significantly more patients in the CBZ group reported adverse events, including nausea, vomiting and dizziness, than VPA. Conclusions: The findings from this study suggest that both CBZ and VPA monotherapy is feasible for treatment of acute mania; however, VPA is more efficacious in terms of its early onset of action, lesser requirement for rescue medication and better tolerability. Further work needs to be undertaken to characterise the manic patients in terms of their differential psychopharmacologic response profile.
Internet use and addiction among Finnish adolescents (15-19 years).

This study investigates Internet use among Finnish adolescents (n = 475) combining qualitative and quantitative research. Internet use was evaluated using the Internet Addiction Test (Young, 1998a, 1998b). The data was divided into three parts according to the test scores: normal users (14.3%), mild over-users (61.5%), and moderate or serious over-users (24.2%). The most common reason for use was having fun. While half the students reported disadvantages associated with their use, further qualitative analysis revealed that students with serious overuse did not report any harm caused by using the Internet. As disadvantages of using the Internet, students reported that it is time-consuming and causes mental, social, and physical harm and poor school attendance. Four factors of Internet addiction were found, and for two of them, a statistical difference between females and males was found.
An Empirical Study of the Relationship of IT Intensity and Organizational Absorptive Capacity on CRM Performance

In recent years, e-business has emerged as a mainstream business practice for engaging in global markets. To gain a competitive advantage in these highly competitive markets, many business organizations have turned to customer relationship management (CRM), an integrated system that draws upon the strengths of IT, to allow them to gain greater insights into their customers’ needs. This study examines the relationship of information technology (IT) intensity and organizational absorptive capacity to CRM practices and performance. Data collected through a survey of Taiwanese financial service companies generally suggest that CRM practices mediate the effects of IT intensity and organizational absorptive capacity on CRM performance. Thus, it behooves organizations that seek to compete in global markets to invest in developing both their IT infrastructure and organizational absorptive capacity, and apply these resources toward building their marketing intelligence and innovating products and services that meet their customers’ needs and expectations.
The best clustering algorithms in data mining

In data mining, Clustering is the most popular, powerful and commonly used unsupervised learning technique. It is a way of locating similar data objects into clusters based on some similarity. Clustering algorithms can be categorized into seven groups, namely Hierarchical clustering algorithm, Density-based clustering algorithm, Partitioning clustering algorithm, Graph-based algorithm, Grid-based algorithm, Model-based clustering algorithm and Combinational clustering algorithm. These clustering algorithms give different result according to the conditions. Some clustering techniques are better for large data set and some gives good result for finding cluster with arbitrary shapes. This paper is planned to learn and relates various data mining clustering algorithms. Algorithms which are under exploration as follows: K-Means algorithm, K-Medoids, Distributed K-Means clustering algorithm, Hierarchical clustering algorithm, Grid-based Algorithm and Density based clustering algorithm. This paper compared all these clustering algorithms according to the many factors. After comparison of these clustering algorithms I describe that which clustering algorithms should be used in different conditions for getting the best result.
Non-parametric Mixture Models for Clustering

Mixture models have been widely used for data clustering. However, commonly used mixture models are generally of a parametric form (e.g., mixture of Gaussian distributions or GMM), which significantly limits their capacity in fitting diverse multidimensional data distributions encountered in practice. We propose a non-parametric mixture model (NMM) for data clustering in order to detect clusters generated from arbitrary unknown distributions, using non-parametric kernel density estimates. The proposed model is non-parametric since the generative distribution of each data point depends only on the rest of the data points and the chosen kernel. A leave-one-out likelihood maximization is performed to estimate the parameters of the model. The NMM approach, when applied to cluster high dimensional text datasets significantly outperforms the state-of-the-art and classical approaches such as K-means, Gaussian Mixture Models, spectral clustering and linkage methods.
Adaptive Polling Algorithm for Reducing Polling Delay and Increasing Utilization for High Density Subscribers in WiMAX Wireless Networks

The IEEE 802.16 standard is proposed to support QoS-aware transmission of real-time service in WMANs, where the wireless transmission range can be up to 30 miles. WiMAX adopts the polling access control for a base station (BS) to poll subscriber stations (SSs) in turn and it will increase polling delay when there is a lot of number of SSs within the BS. The disadvantage of long polling delay may not guarantee the QoS requirement of real-time service and cause long waiting time while not in unicast polling. Therefore, in this paper we propose an adaptive polling approach to switch the polling mode while continuous supporting rtPS. The proposed approach consists of two phases. First, two hysteresises of number of SSs and residual bandwidth are adopted to determine the polling mode between the unicast and multicast polling modes. Second, a novel quasi-rtPS service (QrtPS) that provides an average delay of real-time traffic instead of the maximum delay of rtPS is proposed to take over the rtPS service when the BS is in multicast polling. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed approach outperforms the IEEE 802.16 standard in average delay and utilization significantly. Moreover, the average delay of different contention slots and the number of groups within a BS are also evaluated for multicast polling
A cross-sectional assessment of the long term effects of brief strategic family therapy for adolescent substance use.

BACKGROUND
Young adult drug use and law-breaking behaviors often have roots in adolescence. These behaviors are predicted by early drug use, parental substance use disorders, and disrupted and conflict-ridden family environments.


AIM
To examine long-term outcomes of Brief Strategic Family Therapy (BSFT) compared to treatment as usual (TAU) in the rates of drug use, number of arrests and externalizing behaviors in young adults who were randomized into treatment conditions as adolescents.


DESIGN
261 of 480 adolescents who had been randomized to BSFT or TAU in the BSFT effectiveness study were assessed at a single time, 3-7 years post randomization.


METHODS
Assessments of drug use, externalizing behaviors, arrests and incarcerations were conducted using Timeline Follow Back, Adult Self Report, and self-report, respectively. Drug use, arrests and incarcerations were examined using negative binomial models and externalizing behaviors were examined using linear regression.


RESULTS
When compared with TAU, BSFT youth reported lower incidence of lifetime (IRR = 0.68, 95%CI [0.57, 0.81]) and past year (IRR = 0.54, 95%CI [0.40, 0.71]) arrests; lower rates of lifetime (IRR = 0.63, 95%CI [0.49, 0.81]) and past year (IRR = 0.70, 95%CI [0.53, 0.92]) incarcerations; and lower scores on externalizing behaviors at follow-up (B = -0.42, SE = .15, p = .005). There were no differences in drug use.


CONCLUSIONS AND SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE
BSFT may have long term effects in reducing the number of arrests, incarcerations and externalizing problems. These effects could be explained by the improvements in family functioning that occurred during the effectiveness study. This study contributes to the literature by reporting on the long term outcomes of family therapy for adolescent drug abuse.
Projection-Based Augmented Reality in Disney Theme Parks

Walt Disney Imagineering and Disney Research Zürich are building a projector- camera toolbox to help create spatially augmented 3D objects and dynamic, interactive spaces that enhance the theme park experience by immersing guests in magical worlds. A related video can be seen here: http://youtu.be/wjrylXl0tTk. It shows examples of projection-based augmented reality techniques being employed in Disney theme parks.
Exploring Network Structure, Dynamics, and Function using NetworkX

NetworkX is a Python language package for exploration and analysis of networks and network algorithms. The core package provides data structures for representing many types of networks, or graphs, including simple graphs, directed graphs, and graphs with parallel edges and self-loops. The nodes in NetworkX graphs can be any (hashable) Python object and edges can contain arbitrary data; this flexibility makes NetworkX ideal for representing networks found in many different scientific fields.
Report from China

Certain people in every culture stand out as icons of the goodness and heroism of their people, and China certainly has many of these.
True complete left bundle branch block morphology strongly predicts good response to cardiac resynchronization therapy.

AIMS
To determine whether patients with congestive heart failure and true left bundle branch block (LBBB) morphology have better response to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) than do patients without true LBBB.


METHODS AND RESULTS
We defined true LBBB as conventional LBBB plus QRS duration ≥ 130 ms and mid-QRS notching/slurring in at least two of the leads I, aVL, V1, V2, V5, or V6. We prospectively enrolled 58 patients with heart failure and allocated them to three groups: true LBBB (t-LBBB, n = 22); non-true LBBB (nt-LBBB, LBBB with no notch or notches in fewer than two of the leads, n = 17); and non-specific intraventricular conduction delay (IVCD, n = 19). At 6 month follow-up, mean absolute increases in left ventricular ejection fraction were 16.0% ± 11.6% in t-LBBB, 8.1% ± 11.2% in nt-LBBB (P = 0.02), and 3.3% ± 7.8% in IVCD (P < 0.001, t-LBBB vs. IVCD) and changes in mean New York Heart Association class were -1.2 ± 0.6 in t-LBBB, -0.8 ± 0.6 in nt-LBBB (P = 0.071), and -0.5 ± 0.6 in IVCD (P = 0.01, t-LBBB vs. IVCD). All patients with t-LBBB were responders, some were super-responders. Multivariate analysis showed that t-LBBB (odds ratio, OR, 11.680; 95% confidence interval, CI, 1.966-69.390; P = 0.007) and left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (OR, 0.891; 95% CI, 0.797-0.996; P = 0.043) are independent predictors of super-response to CRT.


CONCLUSION
In patients with conventional wider LBBB morphology, the presence of mid-QRS notching or slurring is a strong predictor of better response to CRT.
Herbal creams used for atopic eczema in Birmingham, UK illegally contain potent corticosteroids.

AIMS
To determine whether "herbal creams" reported as being effective for the treatment of childhood atopic eczema contained corticosteroids.


METHODS
Patients attending the paediatric dermatology clinic at Birmingham Children's Hospital, April 2001 to March 2002, and who reported using "herbal creams" with good effect for atopic eczema were asked to submit the cream for analysis. Hydrocortisone, clobetasone butyrate, betamethasone valerate, and clobetasol propionate were analysed by HPLC.


RESULTS
Twenty four creams from 19 patients, median (interquartile range) age 3.82 (0.69-7.98) years were analysed. All five creams labelled Wau Wa and the two labelled Muijiza cream contained clobetasol propionate. Thirteen of 17 unnamed creams contained corticosteroids: clobetasol proprionate (n = 4), clobetasol proprionate + hydrocortisone (n = 1), betamethasone valerate (n = 2), clobetasone butyrate (n = 3), and hydrocortisone (n = 2); there was an unidentified peak in one. Further analysis suggested Wau Wa cream contained approximately 20% proprietary Dermovate Cream in a paraffin base. No parents were aware that the creams contained steroid.


CONCLUSIONS
The majority of herbal creams analysed illegally contained potent or very potent topical steroids. There is an urgent need for tighter regulation of herbal creams and for increased public education about the potential dangers of alternative therapies.
FAM-FACE-SG: a score for risk stratification of frequent hospital admitters

BACKGROUND
An accurate risk stratification tool is critical in identifying patients who are at high risk of frequent hospital readmissions. While 30-day hospital readmissions have been widely studied, there is increasing interest in identifying potential high-cost users or frequent hospital admitters. In this study, we aimed to derive and validate a risk stratification tool to predict frequent hospital admitters.


METHODS
We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the readily available clinical and administrative data from the electronic health records of a tertiary hospital in Singapore. The primary outcome was chosen as three or more inpatient readmissions within 12 months of index discharge. We used univariable and multivariable logistic regression models to build a frequent hospital admission risk score (FAM-FACE-SG) by incorporating demographics, indicators of socioeconomic status, prior healthcare utilization, markers of acute illness burden and markers of chronic illness burden. We further validated the risk score on a separate dataset and compared its performance with the LACE index using the receiver operating characteristic analysis.


RESULTS
Our study included 25,244 patients, with 70% randomly selected patients for risk score derivation and the remaining 30% for validation. Overall, 4,322 patients (17.1%) met the outcome. The final FAM-FACE-SG score consisted of nine components: Furosemide (Intravenous 40 mg and above during index admission); Admissions in past one year; Medifund (Required financial assistance); Frequent emergency department (ED) use (≥3 ED visits in 6 month before index admission); Anti-depressants in past one year; Charlson comorbidity index; End Stage Renal Failure on Dialysis; Subsidized ward stay; and Geriatric patient or not. In the experiments, the FAM-FACE-SG score had good discriminative ability with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.839 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.825-0.853) for risk prediction of frequent hospital admission. In comparison, the LACE index only achieved an AUC of 0.761 (0.745-0.777).


CONCLUSIONS
The FAM-FACE-SG score shows strong potential for implementation to provide near real-time prediction of frequent admissions. It may serve as the first step to identify high risk patients to receive resource intensive interventions.
Magnetic resonance imaging of the middle and inner ear after intratympanic injection of a gadolinium-containing gel.

OBJECTIVE
To investigate the distribution and elimination of a gadolinium containing high viscosity formulation of sodium hyaluronan (HYA gel) after injection to the middle ear.


MATERIALS AND METHODS
The T1 contrast agent gadolinium-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid-bis methylamine (Gd-DTPA-BMA) was added to HYA gel and delivered to the middle ear of 13 albino guinea pigs by 3 different ways of injection. Magnetic resonance imaging was performed with a 4.7 T MRI system using a T1-weighted 3-dimentional rapid acquisition with relaxation enhancement sequence.


RESULTS
An injection technique where the Gd-DTPA-BMA-containing HYA gel was delivered to the middle ear through a percutaneous injection through the auditory bulla after a small incision had been made in the tympanic membrane gave the best filling of the middle ear, covering the cochlea and the region of the round window niche for 24 hours in a majority of the ears studied. Ears injected without an incision in the tympanic membrane showed an immediate uptake of Gd-DTPA-BMA in the inner ear as a sign of rupture of the round window membrane.


CONCLUSION
A percutaneous injection of a HYA gel into the tympanic bulla is distributed in a predictable way and gives a good filling of the middle ear cavity. The HYA gel remains in close vicinity to the RWM for more than 24 hours. Injection should be performed after an incision of the tympanic membrane has been made to prevent rupture of the round window membrane.
Representing Process Variation with a Process Family

The formalization of process definitions has been an invaluable aid in many domains. However, noticeable variations in processes start to emerge as precise details are added to process definitions. While each such variation gives rise to a different process, these processes might more usefully be considered as variants of each other, rather than completely different processes. This paper proposes that it is beneficial to regard such an appropriately close set of process variants as a process family. The paper suggests a characterization of what might comprise a process family and introduces a formal approach to defining families based upon this characterization. To illustrate this approach, we describe a case study that demonstrates the different variations we observed in processes that define how dispute resolution is performed at the U.S. National Mediation Board. We demonstrate how our approach supports the definition of this set of process variants as a process family.
A literature review on the prosthetic treatment of structurally compromised teeth.

PURPOSE
This article presents a review of the literature on biomechanical factors affecting the treatment outcome of prosthetic treatment of structurally compromised dentitions, with the main emphasis on often-compromised endodontically treated teeth.


MATERIALS AND METHODS
Articles cited in a MEDLINE/PubMed search were reviewed with a focus on factors influencing the risk for fatigue failures.


RESULTS
Technical failures in connection with fixed prosthodontics are often caused by fatigue fractures. The abutments, cement, and reconstruction are all subjected to stress caused by occlusal forces, and fatigue fracture may occur at the weakest point or where the maximum stress occurs. The weakest point is frequently in connection with endodontically treated teeth restored with posts and cores.


CONCLUSION
The literature points to nonaxial forces as a risk for fatigue fracture of teeth, cement, and restorative material. Favorable occlusal prosthesis design is probably more important for survival of structurally compromised endodontically treated teeth than is the type of post used.
Nutrient Composition and Weight Evaluation of some Newly Developed Maize Varieties in Nigeria.

The Journal of Food Technology in Africa, Vol. 7, Jan-Mar, 2002 pp. 27-29 Nutrient Composition and Weight Evaluation of some Newly Developed Maize Varieties in Nigeria. Iken J. E., Amusa, N. A., Obatolu V.O. Institute of Agricultural Research and Training, Obafemi Awolowo University, Moor Plantation, P.MB 5029, Ibadan, Nigeria Code Number: ft02008 Abstract The weight and chemical composition of improved white and improved yellow dent maize was compared with some local floury maize varieties. The average protein content was 10.8%, 11.1% and 10.5% in improved white dent, improved yellow dent and local floury respectively. The major carbohydrate in all the varieties was starch with local floury having a slightly higher level of sugar. Improved yellow dent was significantly (P<0.05) higher in Ca and Fe than other varieties. However, Wy-1 an improved yellow dent variety was particularly low in Fe. There was no significant (P> 0.05) change in the average weight of all varieties. The average weight ranged between 28.2 in improved white dent to 29.8 in improved yellow dent. The yellow dent variety will be particularly useful in improving level of micronutrient intake.
Digital Pulse-Width Modulation Control in Power Electronic Circuits: Theory and Applications

Digital Pulse–Width Modulation Control in Power Electronic Circuits: Theory and Applications