LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Preliminary Investigations on the Distribution of Leptospira Serovars in Domestic Animals in North-west Morocco.

Leptospirosis is a neglected zoonosis of global importance with a complex epidemiology that affects humans, domestic and wild mammals. However, due to the diversity of clinical signs and difficulties of establishing a confirmatory laboratory diagnosis, the disease remains poorly investigated, particularly in the developing world. In Morocco, a descriptive study of the seroprevalence of Leptospira infection in animals has never been undertaken. To fill this gap, the current study was conducted on a subset of animals in north-west Morocco as a preliminary step towards understanding the epidemiological patterns of animal leptospirosis in the country. The study was conducted on 289 serum samples collected between January and April 2012 from dogs, cattle, sheep, goats and donkeys in the areas of Rabat-Temara, Sidi Kacem and Oulmes. All serum samples were tested by the MAT with 14 reference strains of the most prevalent pathogenic serovars of Leptospira and two serovars of non-pathogenic Leptospira. The overall seroprevalence of Leptospira in cattle, sheep, goats, dogs and donkeys was 15%, 18%, 20%, 21% and 20%, respectively. The most prevalent serogroups found in each species were Ballum, Sejroe, and Australis in cattle, Ballum, Australis and Sejroe in sheep, Australis and Ballum in goats, Javanica and Australis in donkey and Australis, Ballum and Canicola in dogs. Of all the serogroups tested in this study, Icterohaemorrhagiae, the only serogroup which has been previously reported in humans in Morocco, was rarely reactive. The majority of reactive sera were collected from low land areas. A large number of sera samples classified as seronegative when tested against pathogenic leptospires were positive when tested against non-pathogenic leptospires; this is suggestive of possible novel, as yet unclassified, Leptospira serovars in Morocco. Eleven of thirteen sheep urine samples were positive by real-time PCR confirming their role as Leptospira carriers in Morocco.
Citation Summarization Through Keyphrase Extraction

This paper presents an approach to summarize single scientific papers, by extracting its contributions from the set of citation sentences written in other papers. Our methodology is based on extracting significant keyphrases from the set of citation sentences and using these keyphrases to build the summary. Comparisons show how this methodology excels at the task of single paper summarization, and how it out-performs other multi-document summarization methods.
The overlap of cognitive impairment in depression and schizophrenia: a comparative study.

BACKGROUND
Schizophrenia (SCH) is primarily a cognitive dysfunction. Its specific cognitive impairment profile was identified and suggestions have been made to include it in present diagnostic instruments as a special differential diagnostic criterion. However, studies indicate a substantial overlap of cognitive deficits between SCH patients and those with depression (DEP). In order to elucidate the structure of cognitive functioning in both entities, principal cognitive domains of SCH and DEP patients were assessed in the acute phase of disease.


SUBJECTS AND METHODS
44 SCH and 30 DEP patients, matched according to age, gender, education, IQ score, and duration of hospitalization were included. Neurocognitive assessments were performed in the first week of hospitalization using Digit Span test (working memory, attention), Trail Making Test (psychomotor speed, sustained attention, shifting), Rey's Complex Figure Test and Verbal Learning Test (perceptual organization, visual and verbal learning and memory). Results were evaluated according to demographically matched test norms. For statistics Student's t tests were used.


RESULTS
In both study groups deficits in maintenance and shifting of attention during psychomotor tasks were found, while automatic processes (working memory, sustained attention) were preserved. In both groups memory and learning processes were impaired, in DEP however, deficits in attention shifting during cognitive tasks and delayed recall of visual material were more intense.


CONCLUSIONS
In the acute phase of schizophrenia and depression similar cognitive impairment profiles can be found. Further studies are needed to assess longitudinal dynamics and possible later development of specific patterns of cognitive functioning in these patients.
Electro-hydraulic braking system for autonomous vehicles

−Reducing the number of traffic accidents is a declared target of most governments. Since dependence on driver reaction is the main cause of road accidents, it would be advisable to replace the human factor in some driving-related tasks with automated solutions. To automate a vehicle, it is necessary to control the actuators of a car, i.e., the steering wheel, accelerator, and brake. This paper presents the design and implementation of an electro-hydraulic braking system consisting of a pump and various valves, allowing the control computer to stop the car. It is assembled in conjunction with the original circuit for the sake of robustness and to permit the two systems to halt the car independently. This system was developed for installation in a commercial Citroën C3 Pluriel of the AUTOPIA program. Various tests were carried out to verify its correct operation, and an experiment showing the integration of the system into the longitudinal control of the car is described.
Quitting and restarting smoking: cohort study of patients with angina in primary care.

diary cards for severity of dyspeptic symptoms in patients with non-ulcer dyspepsia. Eur J Surg 1998;164(suppl 583):106-11. 10 Jaeschke R, Singer J, Guyatt GH. Measurement of health status. Ascertaining the minimal clinically important difference. Controlled Clin Trials 1989;10:407-15. 11 Wiklund IK, Junghard O, Grace E, Talley NJ, Kamm M, Veldhuyzen van Zanten SJO, et al. Quality of life in reflux and dyspepsia patients. Psychometric documentation of a new disease-specific questionnaire (QOLRAD). Eur J Surg 1998;164(suppl 583):41-9. 12 Drummond MF, O’Brien B, Stoddart GL, Torrance GW. Cost benefit analysis. In: Methods for the economic evaluation of health care programmes. New York: Oxford Medical Publications, Oxford University Press, 1997:205-31. 13 Labour force and unpaid work of Canadians: selected labour force, demographic, cultural, educational and income characteristics by sex (based on the 1991 standard occupational classification) for Canadian provinces, territories and CMAs, 1996 census (20% sample data). Ottawa, Canada: Statistics Canada, 1996. 14 Thompson SG, Barber JA. How should cost data in pragmatic randomised trials be analysed? BMJ 2000;320:1197-200. 15 Vinod HD. Bootstrap methods: applications in econometrics. In: Maddala GS, Rao CR, Vinod HD, eds. Handbook of statistics 11: econometrics. Elsevier Science, Chapman and Hall, CRC, 1993:629-61. 16 Huang JQ, Sridhar S, Chen Y, Hunt RH. Meta-analysis of the relationship between Helicobacter pylori seropositivity and gastric cancer. Gastroenterology 1998;114:1169-79. 17 Bayerdörffer E, Neubauer A, Rudolph B, Thiede C, Lehn N, Eidt S, et al. Regression of primary gastric lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue type after cure of Helicobacter pylori infection [see comments]. Lancet 1995;345:1591-4. 18 Laine L, Schoenfeld P, Fennerty MB. Therapy for Helicobacter pylori in patients with nonulcer dyspepsia. A meta-analysis of randomized, controlled trials. Ann Intern Med 2001;134:361-9. 19 Moayyedi P, Soo S, Deeks J, Forman D, Mason J, Innes M, et al. Systematic review and economic evaluation of Helicobacter pylori eradication treatment for non-ulcer dyspepsia. BMJ 2000;321:659-64. 20 Talley NJ, Stanghellini V, Heading RC, Koch KL, Malagelada JR, Tytgat GN. Functional gastroduodenal disorders. Gut 1999;45(suppl 2):II37-42. 21 Tytgat GN. GERD remains an intriguing enigma. Gastroenterology 2001;120:787. 22 McColl KEL, Dickson A, El-Nujumi A, el-Omar E, Kelman A. Symptomatic benefit 1-3 years after H. pylori eradication in ulcer patients: impact of gastroesophageal reflux disease. Am J Gastroenterol 2000;95:101-5. 23 Moayyedi P, Bardhan C, Young L, Dixon MF, Brown L, Axon AT. Helicobacter pylori eradication does not exacerbate reflux symptoms in gastroesophageal reflux disease. Gastroenterology 2001;121:1120-6. 24 Chiba N, Veldhuyzen van Zanten SJO, Grace EM, Sinclair P, Simons WR, Lee JSM. The cost-effectiveness of a test and treat approach in primary care patients. Gut 2000;47(suppl 1):A113-4.
An interactive workshop plus locally adapted guidelines can improve General Practitioners asthma management and knowledge: A cluster randomised trial in the Australian setting

BACKGROUND
A cluster randomised trial was conducted to determine the effectiveness of locally adapted practice guidelines and education about paediatric asthma management, delivered to general practitioners (GPs) in small group interactive workshops.


METHODS
Twenty-nine practices were randomly allocated to one of three study arms. Australian asthma management guidelines were adapted to accommodate characteristics of the local area. GPs in the intervention arm (Group 1, n = 18 GPs) participated in a small group based education program and were provided with the adapted guidelines. One control arm (Group 2, n = 18 GPs) received only the adapted guidelines, while the other control arm (Group 3, n = 15 GPs) received an unrelated education intervention. GPs' knowledge, attitudes and management of paediatric asthma was assessed.


RESULTS
Post intervention, intervention arm GPs were no more likely to provide a written asthma action plan, but were better able to assess the severity of asthma attack (Group 1vs Group 2 p = 0.05 and Group 1 vs Group 3 p = 0.01), better able to identify patients at high risk of severe attack (Group 1vs Group 3 p = 0.06), and tended to score higher on the asthma knowledge questionnaire (Group 1 vs Group 2 p = 0.06 and Group 1 vs Group 3 p = 0.2). Most intervention arm GPs felt more confident than control GPs to manage acute asthma attack and ongoing management of infrequent episodic asthma.


CONCLUSION
Using interactive small group workshops to disseminate locally adapted guidelines was associated with improvement in GP's knowledge and confidence to manage asthma, but did not change GP's self-reported provision of written action plans.
Acute coronary syndrome in young women under 55 years of age: clinical characteristics, treatment, and outcomes

Young women with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) may represent a high risk group, but little is known about specific age and sex differences in clinical characteristics, treatment, outcomes, and trends over time. Data from 3237 men and women admitted with an ACS event from 1999 to 2006 were analyzed. Patients were grouped by sex and age less than 55 years. Demographics, presentation, treatment, and outcomes at 6 months were analyzed. Primary outcomes included mortality, recurrent myocardial infarction, rehospitalization, and stroke at 6 months. Secondary analyses assessed risk factors, management, and trends over time. Women under 55 years represented 8 % of the entire cohort, and 26 % of patients under age 55 years. Compared to older women, young women were more likely to be smokers (51 vs. 14 %, p < 0.001) and obese (44 vs. 34 %, p = 0.006). Young women had more diabetes and hypertension than young men. Mortality was lowest among young women and did not change over time. Young women received less treatment with aspirin, beta blockers, lipid-lowering agents, and ACE inhibitors, and underwent less coronary angiography and stenting than young men (44 vs. 59 %, p < 0.001). Rehospitalization was higher among young women than young men (37 vs. 27 %, p < 0.001), with no change over time. Modifiable risk factors such as smoking, obesity, diabetes, and hypertension should be addressed in young women. Following ACS, young women received fewer evidence-based medications, were treated less invasively, and had higher readmission rates within 6 months compared to young men.
Rapid A 1 c Availability Improves Clinical Decision-Making in an Urban Primary Care Clinic

RESULTS — We recruited 597 subjects. Patients were 79% female and 96% African American, with average age of 61 years, duration of diabetes 10 years, BMI 33 kg/m, and A1c 8.5%. The rapid and routine groups had similar clinical demographics. Rapid A1c availability resulted in more frequent intensification of therapy when A1c was 7.0% at the baseline visit (51 vs. 32% of patients, P 0.01), particularly when A1c was 8.0% and/or random glucose was in the 8.4–14.4 mmol/l range (151–250 mg/dl). In 275 patients with two follow-up visits, A1c fell significantly in the rapid group (from 8.4 to 8.1%, P 0.04) but not in the routine group (from 8.1 to 8.0%, P 0.31).
Fluticasone propionate aerosol is more effective for prevention than treatment of recurrent airway obstruction.

BACKGROUND
Efficacy of inhaled fluticasone propionate (FP) for management of recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) has only been evaluated after several weeks' treatment.


OBJECTIVES
To compare efficacy of (1) 3-day treatments with FP to dexamethasone (DEX) for management of RAO; and (2) FP and DEX to no treatment in prevention of acute RAO exacerbations.


ANIMALS
Nine RAO affected horses.


METHODS
Crossover studies in RAO-affected horses compared (a) 3-day treatment of RAO exacerbation with FP (3 and 6 mg q12h) and DEX (0.1 mg/kg q24h) and (b) FP (6 mg q12h) and DEX (0.1 mg/kg q24h) to no treatment for prevention of acute exacerbations of RAO. Treatment efficacy and unwanted effects were judged from maximal change in pleural pressure (DeltaPpl(max)), serum cortisol (COR), bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cytology, and subjective scores for respiratory distress and lameness.


RESULTS
In treatment trial, DEX and FP (6 mg) significantly decreased DeltaPpl(max) by 48 and 72 hours, respectively; FP (3 mg) had no significant effect. DEX decreased COR more than did FP. In prevention trial, both DEX and FP (6 mg) prevented the increase in DeltaPpl(max) that occurred in untreated horses. Both treatments decreased COR to the same degree. FP and DEX had no effects on bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) cytology and there was no evidence of laminitis.


CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE
FP (6 mg q12h) is as effective as DEX for prevention of acute exacerbations of RAO and lower doses should be evaluated. High-dose FP is not as effective as DEX for treatment of RAO exacerbations.
Feasibility of mindfulness-based therapy in patients recovering from a first psychotic episode: a pilot study.

AIM
Recently, a mindfulness therapy for people with psychotic disorders was developed. However, clinicians and researchers are cautious given case reports in which extensive meditation provoked psychotic symptoms in people with a psychotic disorder. The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility, adverse effects and possible favourable effects of mindfulness-based therapy (MBT) in people recently recovering from a first episode of psychosis.


METHOD
A nonrandomized, non-controlled prospective follow-up study. Patients were offered an MBT that consisted of eight 1-hour sessions within a 4-week time span. Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, Symptoms Checklist 90 and the Southampton Mindfulness Questionnaire were assessed before and after the therapy.


RESULTS
Of the 16 persons who started MBT, 13 completed (81.5%) the therapy. No significant increase in psychotic symptoms was found. Between two meetings, one participant initially misunderstood the mindfulness instructions, which led to an increase in distress. No increased awareness of intrusive thoughts or visual or auditory hallucinations was reported by participants. We found a decrease in agoraphobic symptoms (p < 0.028) and in psychoneuroticism (P < 0.025).


CONCLUSION
The MBT had no significant adverse effect on psychotic symptoms in patients in this small pilot study, neither did it raise the level of mindfulness in the participants. A decrease in psychological symptoms was found, although one patient experienced an increase in symptoms of distress. Our study demonstrates that therapists should be cautious that therapy and practice instructions are understood properly. Future studies are feasible and needed, in larger samples with an RCT design, in order to draw conclusions regarding the effects of the MBT.
Approximate Bias Compensation for Rendering Scenes with Heterogeneous Participating Media

In this paper we present a novel method for high-quality rendering of scenes with participating media. Our technique is based on instant radiosity, which is used to approximate indirect illumination between surfaces by gathering light from a set of virtual point lights (VPLs). It has been shown that this principle can be applied to participating media as well, so that the combined single scattering contribution of VPLs within the medium yields full multiple scattering. As in the surface case, VPL methods for participating media are prone to singularities, which appear as bright “splotches” in the image. These artifacts are usually countered by clamping the VPLs’ contribution, but this leads to energy loss within the short-distance light transport. Bias compensation recovers the missing energy, but previous approaches are prohibitively costly. We investigate VPL-based methods for rendering scenes with participating media, and propose a novel and efficient approximate bias compensation technique. We evaluate our technique using various test scenes, showing it to be visually indistinguishable from ground truth.
Primary stenting of femoropopliteal atherosclerotic lesions using new helical interwoven nitinol stents.

BACKGROUND
The Supera helical interwoven nitinol stent has enhanced flexibility in counteracting fractures when placed in the femoropopliteal arteries and may improve patency. The aim of this study is to assess the early results of the Supera stent in symptomatic patients with femoropopliteal atherosclerotic lesions.


METHODS
From October 2011 to April 2013, patients with symptomatic femoropopliteal lesions were treated with angioplasty and primary stenting using the Supera stent. They were followed up at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months with clinical, duplex, and radiographic assessments. Failure was defined as >50% restenosis of the target lesion on duplex ultrasound imaging or stent fracture on X rays.


RESULTS
A total of 78 consecutive patients (46 males, 32 females) with 82 legs, mean age of 78.5 years (range, 57-97 years) were included. Symptoms of claudication, rest pain, and tissue loss were 48 (59%), 8 (10.1%), and 30 (37%), respectively. Ninety-six Supera stents were inserted in total. In 44 (53.7%) of the legs, stents were extended to the popliteal segments. The mean stented length was 12.6 cm (range, 4.0-38.0 cm). The primary patency rates at 6 and 12 months were 83.5% and 78.6%, respectively. The ankle brachial index increased from 0.58 ± 0.16 preoperative to 0.87 ± 0.14 postoperative. There were no stent fractures. Patency rate was not affected by severity of symptoms, stent lengths, femoro/popliteal stents (log-rank test, P = .50, .13, .52). All the patients reported symptomatic improvement. There was no procedural- or device-related morbidity or mortality, no major amputation after revascularization, and 10 patients died of unrelated cardiopulmonary/renal causes on follow-up.


CONCLUSIONS
Our early experience shows that the Supera stents are effective in our cohort of elderly patients, with acceptable patency rates. There were no stent fractures so far even with stenting of the popliteal segments.
Stable Non-Gaussian Random Processes: Stochastic Models with In nite Variance

1.1 Equivalent de nitions of a stable distribution : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 2 1.2 Properties of stable random variables : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :10 1.3 Symmetric -stable random variables : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :20 1.4 Series representation : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 21 1.5 Series representation of skewed -stable random variables : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 30 1.6 Graphs and tables of -stable densities and c.d.f.'s : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :35 1.7 Simulation : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :41 1.8 Exercises : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : 49
Automatic reconstruction of personalized avatars from 3D face scans

We present a simple algorithm for computing a high-quality personalized avatar from a single color image and the corresponding depth map which have been captured by Microsoft’s Kinect sensor. Due to the low market price of our hardware setup, 3D face scanning becomes feasible for home use. The proposed algorithm combines the advantages of robust non-rigid registration and fitting of a morphable face model. We obtain a high-quality reconstruction of the facial geometry and texture along with one-to-one correspondences with our generic face model. This representation allows for a wide range of further applications such as facial animation or manipulation. Our algorithm has proven to be very robust. Since it does not require any user interaction, even non-expert users can easily create their own personalized avatars. Copyright # 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Phase I trial of docetaxel, cisplatin and concurrent radical radiotherapy in locally advanced oesophageal cancer

Background:Locally advanced oesophageal cancer (LAEC) is associated with poor survival and more effective treatments are needed. The aim of this phase I trial was to assess the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of a novel weekly docetaxel and cisplatin regimen concurrent with radical radiotherapy.Methods:Patients with unresectable, non-metastatic LAEC were eligible. Treatment comprised docetaxel 15–30 mg m−2 per week and cisplatin 15–30 mg m−2 per week in six planned dose levels (DLs) in 3–6 patient cohorts with 50 Gy radiotherapy in 25 fractions. Maximum tolerated dose was based on defined dose-limiting toxicities (DLTs) during therapy and 2 weeks post therapy.Results:A total of 24 patients were enrolled. There were two DLTs: grade 3 fever in DL1 (docetaxel 15 mg m−2, cisplatin 15 mg m−2) and grade 3 nausea in DL2 (20 mg m−2, 15 mg m−2). These DLs were each expanded to six patients without further DLTs. The most common acute toxicity was grade 3 radiation oesophagitis (37.5%). There were no grade 4 toxicities, and haematologic toxicity was minimal. Cisplatin and docetaxel dose intensity was 100% at the highest dose level (DL6). A MTD was not reached in this trial. Tumour overall response rate was 50% (33% complete, 17% partial).Conclusion:Cisplatin and docetaxel each 30 mg m−2 per week concurrent with 50 Gy radiotherapy is recommended for use in phase II clinical trials in oesophageal cancer.
HCI for people with cognitive disabilities

The self-advocacy movement (Dybwad & Bersani, 1996) grew out of resistance to oppressive practices of institutionalization (and worse) for people with cognitive disabilities. Moving beyond the worst abuses, people with cognitive disabilities seek as full participation in society as possible.