LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Physical Activity/Exercise and Diabetes: A Position Statement of the American Diabetes Association.

The adoption and maintenance of physical activity are critical foci for blood glucose management and overall health in individuals with diabetes and prediabetes. Recommendations and precautions vary depending on individual characteristics and health status. In this Position Statement, we provide a clinically oriented review and evidencebased recommendations regarding physical activity and exercise in people with type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, gestational diabetes mellitus, and prediabetes. Physical activity includes all movement that increases energy use, whereas exercise is planned, structured physical activity. Exercise improves blood glucose control in type 2 diabetes, reduces cardiovascular risk factors, contributes to weight loss, and improves well-being (1,2). Regular exercise may prevent or delay type 2 diabetes development (3). Regular exercise also has considerable health benefits for people with type 1 diabetes (e.g., improved cardiovascular fitness, muscle strength, insulin sensitivity, etc.) (4). The challenges related to blood glucose management vary with diabetes type, activity type, and presence of diabetes-related complications (5,6). Physical activity and exercise recommendations, therefore, should be tailored to meet the specific needs of each individual.
Novel Minimally Invasive VSP Er:YAG Laser Treatments in Gynecology

Some of the most common health problems among women that are caused by a deteriorating laxity, elasticity and tightness of mucous membranes are vaginal relaxation (and the associated loss of sexual gratification) and stress urinary incontinence. Recently, two novel minimally invasive, non-ablative Er:YAG laser techniques have been introduced, a vaginal tightening therapy IntimaLaseTM and a stress urinary incontinence therapy IncontiLaseTM, which show the potential to become an optimal solution for many women suffering from these problems. Both treatment techniques exploit the photothermal effect of a laser beam on mucosa tissue in order to cause its shrinkage without any removal of tissue. The overall impact and burden on the patient's organism is thus minimal, as opposed to more invasive classical or laser surgical procedures. In this paper, a special Er:YAG Pixel Screen technology used in these novel gynecological treatments, and its ablative characteristics, are first analyzed with the aim to establish a range of laser parameters for safe, single-pulse or SMOOTH mode, non-ablative treatment of mucosa tissue. The initial results of multi-center clinical studies of the IntimaLaseTM and IncontiLaseTM treatments are then presented. All five centers involved in the studies of the IntimaLaseTM treatment reported positive results, i.e an improvement in vaginal tightness for a large majority of treated patients, with practically no adverse effects. Similarly, all four studies of the IncontiLaseTM treatment showed improvement in stress urinary incontinence (SUI) for a large majority of treated patients. Many patients with mild SUI reported to become free of the symptoms of incontinence following the treatment. There were no adverse effects of this treatment reported in any of the studies. Based on these initial clinical results, the new IntimaLaseTM and IncontiLaseTM gynecological treatments are promising to become a minimally invasive solution of choice for many women suffering from vaginal relaxation syndrome or stress urinary incontinence.
Energy Efficient Routing Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor networks consist of tiny sensor nodes with sensing, computation and wireless communication capabilities. The design of routing protocols is influenced by various factors like fault tolerance, energy efficiency, scalability, latency, power consumption and network topology. The primary design objective of research is determining the active nodes and enhancing the energy efficiency. In this paper a new protocol is proposed based on the characteristics of Threshold - sensitive Energy Efficient sensor Network protocol and Ad hoc On-demand Distance Vector. The simulation results show that the proposed protocol is efficient in transmission of packets, energy and throughput.
Spot urine sodium measurements do not accurately estimate dietary sodium intake in chronic kidney disease.

BACKGROUND
Sodium intake influences blood pressure and proteinuria, yet the impact on long-term outcomes is uncertain in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Accurate assessment is essential for clinical and public policy recommendations, but few large-scale studies use 24-h urine collections. Recent studies that used spot urine sodium and associated estimating equations suggest that they may provide a suitable alternative, but their accuracy in patients with CKD is unknown.


OBJECTIVE
We compared the accuracy of 4 equations [the Nerbass, INTERSALT (International Cooperative Study on Salt, Other Factors, and Blood Pressure), Tanaka, and Kawasaki equations] that use spot urine sodium to estimate 24-h sodium excretion in patients with moderate to advanced CKD.


DESIGN
We evaluated the accuracy of spot urine sodium to predict mean 24-h urine sodium excretion over 9 mo in 129 participants with stage 3-4 CKD. Spot morning urine sodium was used in 4 estimating equations. Bias, precision, and accuracy were assessed and compared across each equation.


RESULTS
The mean age of the participants was 67 y, 52% were female, and the mean estimated glomerular filtration rate was 31 ± 9 mL · min(-1) · 1.73 m(-2) The mean ± SD number of 24-h urine collections was 3.5 ± 0.8/participant, and the mean 24-h sodium excretion was 168.2 ± 67.5 mmol/d. Although the Tanaka equation demonstrated the least bias (mean: -8.2 mmol/d), all 4 equations had poor precision and accuracy. The INTERSALT equation demonstrated the highest accuracy but derived an estimate only within 30% of mean measured sodium excretion in only 57% of observations. Bland-Altman plots revealed systematic bias with the Nerbass, INTERSALT, and Tanaka equations, underestimating sodium excretion when intake was high.


CONCLUSION
These findings do not support the use of spot urine specimens to estimate dietary sodium intake in patients with CKD and research studies enriched with patients with CKD. The parent data for this study come from a clinical trial that was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00785629.
An overview of lactic acid bacteria.

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are renowned for the potential of producing antimicrobial compound and other value added products. Undeniable to concern these probiotic has contributed to the importance of human life. Deserving an attention for its capabilities, this paper will discuss on the general description of lactic acid bacteria, genetics, metabolism and its application to the industries. Corresponding Author: Khalisanni Khalid  typhloids@gmail.com International Journal of Biosciences (IJB) ISSN: 2220-6655 (Print) 2222-5234 (Online) Vol. 1, No. 3, p. 1-13, 2011 http://www.innspub.net
Wavelet-based Machine Learning Techniques for ECG Signal Analysis

Machine learning of ECG is a core component in any of the ECG-based healthcare informatics system. Since the ECG is a nonlinear signal, the subtle changes in its amplitude and duration are not well manifested in time and frequency domains. Therefore, in this chapter, we introduce a machine-learning approach to screen arrhythmia from normal sinus rhythm from the ECG. The methodology consists of R-point detection using the Pan-Tompkins algorithm, discrete wavelet transform (DWT) decomposition, sub-band principal component analysis (PCA), statistical validation of features, and subsequent pattern classification. The k-fold cross validation is used in order to reduce the bias in choosing training and testing sets for classification. The average accuracy of classification is used as a benchmark for comparison. Different classifiers used are Gaussian mixture model (GMM), error back propagation neural network (EBPNN), and support vector machine (SVM). The DWT basis functions used are Daubechies-4, Daubechies-6, Daubechies-8, Symlet-2, Symlet-4, Symlet-6, Symlet-8, Coiflet-2, and Coiflet-5. An attempt is made to exploit the energy compaction in the wavelet sub-bands to yield higher classification accuracy. Results indicate that the Symlet2 wavelet basis function provides the highest accuracy in classification. Among the classifiers, SVM yields the highest classification accuracy, whereas EBPNN yields a higher accuracy than GMM. The use of other time frequency representations using different time frequency kernels as a future direction is also observed. The developed machine-learning approach can be used in a web-based telemedicine system, which can be used in remote monitoring of patients in many healthcare informatics systems. R. J. Martis (&) C. Chakraborty School of Medical Science and Technology, IIT, Kharagpur, India e-mail: roshaniitsmst@gmail.com A. K. Ray Department of Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering, IIT, Kharagpur, India S. Dua et al. (eds.), Machine Learning in Healthcare Informatics, Intelligent Systems Reference Library 56, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-40017-9_2, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014 25
Distributed Intelligent Energy Management System for a Single-Phase High-Frequency AC Microgrid

In this paper, a single-phase high-frequency AC (HFAC) microgrid is shown as a novel solution towards integrating renewable energy sources in a distributed generation system. Better utilization of the Microgrid is achieved by solving power flow and power quality issues using p-q theory-based active filtering called universal active power line conditioner and unified power quality conditioner, respectively. A distributed intelligent energy management system (DIEMS) is implemented to optimize operating costs. As the optimization greatly depends on the power generation and the power output from renewable sources strongly depends on the weather, the forecast of power generation is required for DIEMS. A Fuzzy ARTMAP neural network is used to predict hourly day-type outputs based on which generation can be forecasted. Depending on the forecast, an optimization scheme is developed utilizing linear programming along with heuristics. The results obtained show the successful implementation of HFAC Microgrid with adequate power flow and power quality control, as well as the optimization of operation cost by the DIEMS with Fuzzy ARTMAP-based day-type forecasting. The improvement in the battery life is also achieved due to optimization of storage charge states using the proposed DIEMS
The poetry of W.B. Yeats

This is an A-level revision guide giving a critical approach to W.B. Yeats, which is largely based on the Macmillan "W.B. Yeats' Selected Poems". The author places the poetry of W.B. Yeats in the context of his mythological learning and evolviong metaphysical philosophy as well as that of Irish history. He traces the development of Yeats from fin-de-siecle Symbolist, through his public role as spokesman of Irish culture and politics, to the energetic and angry old man whose works are filled with "angry joy". His analysis of the poems is illuminated by a wide use of Yeats' prose and dramatic works that highlights significant themes, particularly the creative oppositions between the natural and the supernatural and the poet and the modern world.
Costs of Dengue Control Activities and Hospitalizations in the Public Health Sector during an Epidemic Year in Urban Sri Lanka.

BACKGROUND
Reported as a public health problem since the 1960s in Sri Lanka, dengue has become a high priority disease for public health authorities. The Ministry of Health is responsible for controlling dengue and other disease outbreaks and associated health care. The involvement of large numbers of public health staff in dengue control activities year-round and the provision of free medical care to dengue patients at secondary care hospitals place a formidable financial burden on the public health sector.


METHODS
We estimated the public sector costs of dengue control activities and the direct costs of hospitalizations in Colombo, the most heavily urbanized district in Sri Lanka, during the epidemic year of 2012 from the Ministry of Health's perspective. The financial costs borne by public health agencies and hospitals are collected using cost extraction tools designed specifically for the study and analysed retrospectively using a combination of activity-based and gross costing approaches.


RESULTS
The total cost of dengue control and reported hospitalizations was estimated at US$3.45 million (US$1.50 per capita) in Colombo district in 2012. Personnel costs accounted for the largest shares of the total costs of dengue control activities (79%) and hospitalizations (46%). The results indicated a per capita cost of US$0.42 for dengue control activities. The average costs per hospitalization ranged between US$216-609 for pediatric cases and between US$196-866 for adult cases according to disease severity and treatment setting.


CONCLUSIONS
This analysis is a first attempt to assess the economic burden of dengue response in the public health sector in Sri Lanka. Country-specific evidence is needed for setting public health priorities and deciding about the deployment of existing or new technologies. Our results suggest that dengue poses a major economic burden on the public health sector in Sri Lanka.
Bladder Neck Mobility and Urethral Closure Pressure as Predictors of Genuine Stress Incontinence

Two hundred and seventy-five consecutive patients with symptoms of lower urinary tract dysfunction underwent urodynamic evaluation, including multichannel urodynamics, urethral pressure profilometry, X-ray and ultrasound imaging. After women with previous incontinence or prolapse surgery or pelvic radiotherapy and those with evidence of urethral kinking on ultrasound had been excluded, 179 datasets were analyzed. Both bladder neck descent (P<0.0001) and maximum urethral closure pressure (P<0.0001) were strongly associated with a fluoroscopic diagnosis of GSI. Only weak correlations between bladder neck mobility and urethral pressure parameters (highest r=−0.17) were observed. Regression analysis yielded a mathematical model that demonstrated a wide spread of odds ratios for GSI for the measured values (from <0.2 to >100). Bladder neck descent explained 29% and urethral closure pressure 12% of overall variability. Both bladder neck mobility and maximum urethral closure pressure are strong predictors of the diagnosis of GSI, provided major confounders are excluded. Bladder neck mobility appears to be the stronger predictor.
Fundamental Principles of Deception in Genetic Search

This paper presents several theorems concerning the nature of deception and the central role that deception plays in function optimization using genetic algorithms. A simple proof is ooered which shows that the only problems which pose challenging optimization tasks are problems that involve some degree of deception and which result in connicting k-arm bandit competitions between hyperplanes. The concept of a deceptive attractor is introduced and shown to be more general than the deceptive optimum found in the deceptive functions that have been constructed to date. Also introduced are the concepts of fully deceptive problems as well as less strict consistently deceptive problems. A proof is given showing that deceptive attractors must have a complementary bit pattern to that found in the binary representation of the global optimum if a function is to be either fully deceptive or consistently deceptive. Some empirical results are presented which demonstrate diierent methods of dealing with deception and poor linkage during genetic search. 1 Background Based on earlier work by Bethke (1980), Goldberg (1987) introduced the concept of deception in order to better understand what kinds of situations are likely to create diiculty for a genetic algorithm when performing a function optimization task.
Is circumferential injection advantageous for ultrasound-guided popliteal sciatic nerve block?: A proof-of-concept study.

BACKGROUND
Ultrasound (US) guidance, in some instances, can increase the success rate and reduce the onset and procedure times for peripheral nerve blockade compared with traditional nerve localization techniques. The presumptive mechanism for these benefits is the ability to accurately inject local anesthetic circumferentially around the target nerve. We aimed to determine whether ensuring circumferential spread of local anesthetic is advantageous for US-guided popliteal sciatic nerve block.


METHODS
Sixty-four adult patients undergoing US-guided popliteal sciatic block for elective foot and ankle surgery were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups, circumferential or single-location injection. Using a short-axis nerve view and out-of-plane needle approach, the needle tip was advanced to the posterior external surface of the sciatic nerve. A 30-mL local anesthetic admixture (1:1 lidocaine 2%/bupivacaine 0.5% with 1:200,000 epinephrine) was injected either entirely at this location (single location) or incrementally at multiple locations to ensure circumferential spread around the sciatic nerve (circumferential). Sensory and motor functions were assessed by a blinded observer at predetermined intervals. The primary outcome was sensory block defined as loss of sensation to pinprick in the distribution of both tibial and common peroneal nerves at 30 mins after injection.


RESULTS
Sensory block was achieved in 94% of patients in the circumferential injection group compared with 69% in the single-location injection group (P = 0.010). There were no differences detected in block performance time, pain during block performance, or block-related complications between groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Ultrasound-guided circumferential injection of local anesthetic around the sciatic nerve at the popliteal fossa can improve the rate of sensory block without an increase in block procedure time or block-related complications compared with a single-location injection technique.
Modifications of Machine Translation Evaluation Metrics by Using Word Embeddings

Traditional machine translation evaluation metrics such as BLEU and WER have been widely used, but these metrics have poor correlations with human judgements because they badly represent word similarity and impose strict identity matching. In this paper, we propose some modifications to the traditional measures based on word embeddings for these two metrics. The evaluation results show that our modifications significantly improve their correlation with human judgements.
Blortasia: a virtual reality art experience

Blortasia is an abstract art world in the sky where you fly freely through a surreal maze of evolving sculptures.
 Blortasia combines art and flying in virtual reality to engage the imagination and inspire wonder through shape, color, motion, sound, and spatial presence.
 Instead of recreating art from the real world, Blortasia explores virtual reality as an aesthetic medium in and of itself. Blortasia transports you into an art installation unconstrained by the limits of ordinary reality.
 Blortasia exploits a variety of methods and perceptual mechanisms to inspire transcendent states.
Neural Architectures for Named Entity Recognition

State-of-the-art named entity recognition systems rely heavily on hand-crafted features and domain-specific knowledge in order to learn effectively from the small, supervised training corpora that are available. In this paper, we introduce two new neural architectures—one based on bidirectional LSTMs and conditional random fields, and the other that constructs and labels segments using a transition-based approach inspired by shift-reduce parsers. Our models rely on two sources of information about words: character-based word representations learned from the supervised corpus and unsupervised word representations learned from unannotated corpora. Our models obtain state-of-the-art performance in NER in four languages without resorting to any language-specific knowledge or resources such as gazetteers. 1
Effect of low doses of corticosteroids in septic shock patients with or without early acute respiratory distress syndrome.

OBJECTIVE
We investigated the efficacy of low doses of corticosteroids in septic shock patients with or without early acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) by post hoc analysis of a previously completed clinical trial.


DESIGN
Retrospective analysis of a placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind trial of low doses of corticosteroids in septic shock.


SETTING
Nineteen intensive care units in France.


PATIENTS
Among the 300 septic shock patients enrolled, we selected those meeting standard criteria for ARDS at inclusion.


INTERVENTIONS
Seven-day treatment with 50 mg of hydrocortisone every 6 hrs and 50 microg of 9-alpha-fludrocortisone once a day.


MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
There were 177 patients with ARDS (placebo, n = 92; corticosteroids, n = 85) including 129 (placebo, n = 67; corticosteroids, n = 62) nonresponders and 48 (placebo, n = 25; corticosteroids, n = 23) responders. In nonresponders, there were 50 deaths (75%) in the placebo group and 33 deaths (53%) in the steroid group (hazard ratio 0.57, 95% confidence interval 0.36-0.89, p = .013; relative risk 0.71, 95% confidence interval 0.54-0.94, p = .011). The number of days alive and off the ventilator was 2.6 +/- 6.6 in the placebo group and 5.7 +/- 8.6 in the steroid group (p = .006). There was no significant difference between groups in responders. There was no significant difference between groups in the two subsets of patients without ARDS. Adverse events rates were similar in the two groups.


CONCLUSIONS
This post hoc analysis shows that a 7-day treatment with low doses of corticosteroids was associated with better outcomes in septic shock-associated early ARDS nonresponders, but not in responders and not in septic shock patients without ARDS.
How to talk to doctors--a guide for effective communication.

BACKGROUND
Nurses and doctors undertake segregated and distinct preparation for clinical practice, yet are expected to communicate effectively with each other in the workplace. Most healthcare facilities have policies relating to written communication, but guidelines for verbal communication, which is used most in times of uncertainty and urgency, are generally less regulated. Poor communication and communication overload are shown to have a direct correlation with patient outcomes, adverse events and stressors among healthcare professionals. We suggest a guide for more effective verbal communication between nurses and doctors.


METHODS
We perform an integrated review of the extensive literature that identifies specific problems that contribute to ineffective communication between a doctor and nurse. We discuss these in five themes in the modern clinical context including intensification of workload, workforce mobility, differing perceptions, language use and heuristics. To combat these, we provide a four point practical guide to arm the nurse clinician with effective tools to ensure a satisfactory exchange of information in the context of patient advocacy.


CONCLUSIONS
The guide assists in overcoming the discussed barriers by creating a premise for fostering communication, understanding each clinician's information needs in a mutually respectful manner, especially in the context of uncertainty. We recommend that a shared mental model regarding communication in health be adopted at tertiary institutions offering pre-registration nursing and medical training and techniques and be woven into respective curriculum design.