LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
The effect of lumbar extension training with and without pelvic stabilization on lumbar strength and low back pain.

INTRODUCTION
A dynamometer employing a stabilization procedure (lumbar extension machine, MedX, Ocala, FL) is effective in improving strength and reducing symptoms of low back pain (LBP), and researchers have hypothesized that this effectiveness is due to the pelvic stabilization. However, effects of the dynamometer with and without pelvic stabilization on LBP have not been compared: This was the aim of the present study.


METHODS
Forty-two chronic LBP patients were randomly assigned to a lumbar extension training with pelvic stabilization group (STAB; n=15), a lumbar extension without pelvic stabilization group (NO-STAB; n=15) and a control group (n=12). STAB and NO-STAB participants completed one weekly session of dynamic variable resistance exercise (one set of 8-12 repetitions to fatigue) on the lumbar extension machine (with or without pelvic stabilization) for 12 weeks. Pre- and post-test measures of self-reported LBP (101-point visual analog scale; pre-test mean of 25), related disability (Oswestry disability index; pre-test mean of 34) and lumbar strength were taken.


RESULTS
After the exercise program, the STAB group increased significantly in lumbar strength at all joint angles, and decreased significantly in visual analogue and Oswestry scores. However, there were no significant changes in these variables in the NO-STAB and control groups.


DISCUSSION
Isolated lumbar extension exercise is very effective in reducing LBP in chronic patients. However, when the pelvis is not stabilized, otherwise identical exercises appear ineffective in reducing LBP.
An adaptive signaling network in melanoma inflammatory niches confers tolerance to MAPK signaling inhibition

Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway antagonists induce profound clinical responses in advanced cutaneous melanoma, but complete remissions are frustrated by the development of acquired resistance. Before resistance emerges, adaptive responses establish a mutation-independent drug tolerance. Antagonizing these adaptive responses could improve drug effects, thereby thwarting the emergence of acquired resistance. In this study, we reveal that inflammatory niches consisting of tumor-associated macrophages and fibroblasts contribute to treatment tolerance through a cytokine-signaling network that involves macrophage-derived IL-1β and fibroblast-derived CXCR2 ligands. Fibroblasts require IL-1β to produce CXCR2 ligands, and loss of host IL-1R signaling in vivo reduces melanoma growth. In tumors from patients on treatment, signaling from inflammatory niches is amplified in the presence of MAPK inhibitors. Signaling from inflammatory niches counteracts combined BRAF/MEK (MAPK/extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase) inhibitor treatment, and consequently, inhibiting IL-1R or CXCR2 signaling in vivo enhanced the efficacy of MAPK inhibitors. We conclude that melanoma inflammatory niches adapt to and confer drug tolerance toward BRAF and MEK inhibitors early during treatment.
Application of dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction and high-performance liquid chromatography for the determination of three phthalate esters in water samples.

A novel method, dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography-variable wavelength detector (HPLC-VWD), has been developed for the determination of three phthalate esters (dimethyl phthalate (DMP), diethyl phthalate (DEP), and di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP)) in water samples. A mixture of extraction solvent (41 microL carbon tetrachloride) and dispersive solvent (0.75 mL acetonitrile) were rapidly injected into 5.0 mL aqueous sample for the formation of cloudy solution, the analytes in the sample were extracted into the fine droplets of CCl4. After extraction, phase separation was performed by centrifugation and the enriched analytes in the sedimented phase were determined by HPLC-VWD. Some important parameters, such as the kind and volume of extraction solvent and dispersive solvent, extraction time and salt effect were investigated and optimized. Under the optimum extraction condition, the method yields a linear calibration curve in the concentration range from 5 to 5000 ng mL(-1) for target analytes. The enrichment factors for DMP, DEP and DnBP were 45, 92 and 196, respectively, and the limits of detection were 1.8, 0.88 and 0.64 ng mL(-1), respectively. The relative standard deviations (R.S.D.) for the extraction of 10 ng mL(-1) of phthalate esters were in the range of 4.3-5.9% (n=7). Lake water, tap water and bottled mineral water samples were successfully analyzed using the proposed method.
Clinical performance of CGMS in type 1 diabetic patients treated by continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion using insulin analogs.

OBJECTIVE
Performance criteria have been established for in vitro blood glucose monitoring, particularly for the self-monitoring of blood glucose using glucose meters. Devices intended for use in the future, such as the continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS), should satisfy similar criteria, particularly in diabetic patients under intensive therapy.


RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
The analysis was conducted on 18 type 1 diabetic patients (not controlled, HbA(1c) >7.5%) treated by external pump using insulin analogs. Each patient received a glucose sensor for 3 days during his/her hospitalization and was instructed in its operation. Medtronic criteria were used to determine the accuracy of the CGMS. In addition, the data were analyzed according to American Diabetes Association (ADA) criteria, Clarke Error Grid analysis, and method of residuals, with the glucose oxidase method using a Beckman analyzer used as the reference method. Specificity and sensitivity were evaluated from the viewpoint of accuracy in the detection of hypoglycemia. For nine patients, two glucose sensors were simultaneously inserted into an abdominal site to determine the reproducibility of the system. RESULTS-Among the 33 glucose sensors inserted, 6 (18%) were nonfunctional. The mean duration of CGMS recording was 63 +/- 12 h. From all of the 692 sets of data that paired glucose readings and CGMS, the coefficients of correlation ranged from 0.87 to 0.92 and the mean absolute error ranged from 12.8 to 15.7%. The time experienced in hypoglycemia (<55 mg/dl) was reported at 86 +/- 62 min/day. Only 39% of the CGMS values satisfied the ADA precision criteria to within +/-10%, and 19% of these values satisfied the future ADA precision criteria of accuracy to within +/-5%. The means of difference method showed that the CGMS slightly underestimated the plasma glucose values (mean = -12 mg/dl). Error grid analysis showed only 77% of the glucose sensor values were in zone A, and 98.9% were in zones A and B. Two values fell in zone C and a single value fell in zone D. The sensitivity and specificity of the CGMS to detect hypoglycemia were 33 and 96%, respectively. A total of 6666 paired sensor values were recorded with a coefficient of correlation of 0.84 with a coefficient of variation of 8.25%.


CONCLUSIONS
CGMS could be useful in routine clinical practice to provide much more information on the glucose profile than intermittent self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG). However, CGMS cannot be used as a replacement for glucose meters because it does not satisfy the conventional performance goals set down for in vitro glucose measurements and could therefore lead to clinically incorrect treatment decisions.
Pulsed laser deposition of La0.67Ca0.33MnO3 thin films on LiNbO3 and surface acoustic wave studies

Abstract Surface Acoustic Waves on piezoelectric substrates can be used to investigate the dynamic conductivity of thin films in a non-contact and very sensitive way, especially at low conductivities. Here, we report on such surface acoustic wave studies to characterize thin manganite film like La 0.67 Ca 0.33 MnO 3 , exhibiting a Jan Teller effect with a strong electron phonon interaction and a metal insulator transition at high temperatures. We report on the deposition of La 0.67 Ca 0.33 MnO 3 on piezoelectric substrates (LiNbO 3 in different crystal cuts, employing a pulsed laser deposition technique. The structural quality of the thin films are examined by X-Ray Diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscope and Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. For the electrical characterization, we employ the surface acoustic wave technique, accompanied by conventional direct current resistance measurements for comparison.
Prognostic value of a high on-clopidogrel treatment platelet reactivity in bivalirudin versus abciximab treated non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction patients. ISAR-REACT 4 (Intracoronary Stenting and Antithrombotic Regimen: Rapid Early Action for Coronary Treatment-4) platelet substudy.

OBJECTIVES
The ISAR-REACT 4 (Intracoronary Stenting and Antithrombotic Regimen: Rapid Early Action for Coronary Treatment-4) platelet substudy aimed to determine the relevance of high on-clopidogrel treatment platelet reactivity (HPR) in non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction patients that received abciximab with unfractionated heparin (UFH) or bivalirudin during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).


BACKGROUND
In patients undergoing PCI, HPR has been linked to a higher risk for ischemic events. The influence of HPR on clinical outcomes may differ with regard to the adjunctive antithrombotic treatment administered. In ISAR-REACT 4, bivalirudin treatment showed similar efficacy profiles as compared to abciximab with UFH. The impact of HPR on clinical outcomes in abciximab with UFH versus bivalirudin treated non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction patients has never been investigated specifically.


METHODS
A total of 564 patients (274 in abciximab/UFH group vs. 290 in bivalirudin group) were enrolled in this study. Presence or absence of HPR following clopidogrel loading was determined by platelet function testing on a Multiplate analyzer (Verum Diagnostica, Munich, Germany). Per study group and stratified in HPR and no-HPR patients, the 30-day incidence of a combined efficacy endpoint (death, myocardial infarction, urgent target vessel revascularization) was determined.


RESULTS
For abciximab with UFH, the incidence of the efficacy endpoint was similar in HPR versus no-HPR patients (9.4% vs. 6.7%; odds ratio: 1.4; 95% confidence interval: 0.6 to 3.5; p = 0.43). For bivalirudin, the incidence of the efficacy endpoint was significantly higher in HPR versus no-HPR patients (22.0% vs. 5.0%; odds ratio: 5.4; 95% confidence interval: 2.4 to 12.1; p < 0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
For patients with a risk profile similar to the subjects enrolled in this platelet substudy, the impact of HPR on clinical outcomes may depend on the type of adjunctive antithrombotic therapy used during PCI. Further investigations are warranted to clarify whether assessment of platelet function may help tailoring antithrombotic therapy during PCI.
Acceptance and adoption of the innovative use of smartphone

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate human motivations affecting an adoption decision for smartphone among medical doctors and nurses. Design/methodology/approach – This study investigates smartphone users’ perception based on users’ perceived adoption under the self-efficacy, technology acceptance model (TAM) and innovation attributes leading to an adoption attitude under innovation diffusion theory by providing research constructs for the domain of medical doctors and nurses, testing them with reliability and validity, and demonstrating their distinctiveness with hypothesis testing. Findings – The results indicate that behavioral intention to use was largely influenced by perceived usefulness (PU) and attitude toward using smartphone. PU and perceived ease of use positively determine attitude toward using smartphone. Research limitations/implications – For researchers, this study shows the possible and valuable adaptation of TAM constructs into the smartphone acceptance of doctors and nurses. The perceptions of smartphone adoption in this study are based on a one-time survey. For better reliability a longitudinal study to show the measurement of attitudes will be needed. Practical implications – One of the important implications is that organizational factors become a significant predictor of users’ attitude toward innovative technologies. Originality/value – The domain of research, smartphone, is a new technology in some industries; thus smartphone adoption deserves investigation in its own right. Although academic research of smartphone adoption in healthcare is limited, this study contributes to the field by adding an important new investigation.
Public Pension Promises: How Big Are They and What Are They Worth?

We calculate the present value of state employee pension liabilities as of June 2009 using discount rates that reflect the risk of the payments from a taxpayer perspective. If benefits have the same default and recovery characteristics as state general obligation debt, the national total of promised liabilities based on current salary and service is $3.20 trillion. If pensions have higher priority than state debt, the present value of liabilities is much larger. Using zero-coupon Treasury yields, which are defaultfree but contain other priced risks, promised liabilities are $4.43 trillion. Liabilities are even larger under broader concepts that account for projected salary growth and future service. * Novy-Marx is at the Simon Graduate School of Business, University of Rochester; Joshua Rauh as at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. We thank Jeffrey Brown, Jeremy Gold, Deborah Lucas, Olivia Mitchell, Eduard Ponds, James Poterba, Steve Zeldes, and an anonymous referee for helpful discussions and comments. We also thank seminar participants at the National Tax Association Conference on Attaining Fiscal Sustainability (September 2008), Wharton Department of Risk and Insurance, the Netspar Pension Workshop (January 2009), the MIT Bradley Public Economics seminar, the Society of Actuaries Public Pension Finance Symposium (May 2009), the June 2009 ICPM Discussion Forum, the Western Finance Association Meetings (San Diego, June 2009), and NYU Stern. We are grateful to Adam Friedlan and Jerry Chao for research assistance. We thank the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) Risk Management Research Program, Netspar, the Chicago Booth Initiative on Global Markets (IGM), and the Zell Center for Risk Research at the Kellogg School of Management for financial support.
Noninformative vision improves the spatial resolution of touch in humans

Research on sensory perception now often considers more than one sense at a time. This approach reflects real-world situations, such as when a visible object touches us. Indeed, vision and touch show great interdependence: the sight of a body part can reduce tactile target detection times [1], visual and tactile attentional systems are spatially linked [2], and the texture of surfaces that are actively touched with the fingertips is perceived using both vision and touch [3]. However, these previous findings might be mediated by spatial attention [1, 2] or by improved guidance of movement [3] via visually enhanced body position sense [4--6]. Here, we investigate the direct effects of viewing the body on passive touch. We measured tactile two-point discrimination thresholds [7] on the forearm while manipulating the visibility of the arm but holding gaze direction constant. The spatial resolution of touch was better when the arm was visible than when it was not. Tactile performance was further improved when the view of the arm was magnified. In contrast, performance was not improved by viewing a neutral object at the arm's location, ruling out improved spatial orienting as a possible account. Controls confirmed that no information about the tactile stimulation was provided by visibility of the arm. This visual enhancement of touch may point to online reorganization of tactile receptive fields.
Explaining the Adjustment of Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to explain adjustment (diabetes-related quality of life, general well-being, and psychopathology) in adolescents with type 1 diabetes by testing the direct, mediating, and moderating effects of diabetes-specific and psychosocial factors, using an adapted version of the Disability-Stress-Coping model of Wallander and Varni.


RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
A total of 437 adolescents (54.5% girls; age range 11-19 years) with type 1 diabetes (mean +/- SD diabetes duration 6.13 +/- 3.78 years) were recruited from 25 hospitals in the Netherlands. Questionnaires were completed by the adolescents and their family members. Metabolic control was assessed by measuring A1C in all participants in one laboratory.


RESULTS
Diabetes stress mediated between A1C and adjustment, after controlling for protective factors, and explained an additional 16% variance in quality of life and a 15% variance in general well-being, whereas a 19% additional variance in psychopathology was explained by both diabetes-related and general stress. No moderating effects were identified after controlling for the main effects of all risk and protective factors in the model.


CONCLUSIONS
Both diabetes-related and general stress are critical predictors of the adjustment of adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Protective factors such as self-worth and social support may mediate the effects of generic stress and thus should be encouraged. Diabetes-related stress has the potential to displace the effects of protective factors and thus may play a critical role in the development of maladjustment in adolescents with type 1 diabetes.
The language-ready head: Evolutionary considerations

This article offers a succinct overview of the hypothesis that the evolution of cognition could benefit from a close examination of brain changes reflected in the shape of the neurocranium. I provide both neurological and genetic evidence in support of this hypothesis, and conclude that the study of language evolution need not be regarded as a mystery.
An improved centroid classifier for text categorization

In the context of text categorization, Centroid Classifier has proved to be a simple and yet efficient method. However, it often suffers from the inductive bias or model misfit incurred by its assumption. In order to address this issue, we propose a novel batch-updated approach to enhance the performance of Centroid Classifier. The main idea behind this method is to take advantage of training errors to successively update the classification model by batch. The technique is simple to implement and flexible to text data. The experimental results indicate that the technique can significantly improve the performance of Centroid Classifier. 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
A comparison of the general movements assessment with traditional approaches to newborn and infant assessment: concurrent validity.

BACKGROUND
Assessment of the quality of general movements (GMs) is an early clinical marker for prediction of cerebral palsy.


AIMS
To explore how the General Movements Assessment (GMsA) relates to traditional newborn and infant measures currently in use.


STUDY DESIGN
A prospective cohort design was used to examine concurrent validity of the GMsA in Neonatal Intensive Care (NICU) survivors (n=100) at three age points: preterm (34 weeks gestational age GA), term (38-40 weeks GA), and post term (12 weeks adjusted age [AA]) with traditional assessments (see below). Correlation analysis was used to determine the strength of the associations between tests at each age point.


SUBJECTS
Preterm infants born at <or=32 weeks gestational age and birth weight <1,500 g (n=108) were recruited sequentially from the NICU of a large teaching hospital and referral centre. Infants with diagnoses of metabolic disorders, cardiac, chromosomal, or congenital abnormalities were excluded.


OUTCOME MEASURES
Test of Infant Motor Performance (TIMP), Einstein Neonatal Neurobehavioral Assessment Scale (ENNAS), Alberta Infant Motor Scales (AIMS).


RESULTS
A low-strength relationship (r=or<0.25) was found between the GMsA and the traditional tests which increased across age points (r=0.25-0.50). Relationships between the traditional tests over time was characterized by stronger associations (r=0.50-0.75).


CONCLUSIONS
Evidence of concurrent validity of the GMsA with traditional assessments was not found. These early findings support Prechtl's suggestion that GMs reflect a unique neurologic construct, different from traditional tests and reinforce the complementary perspective which the GMsA brings to neonatal assessment.
Effect of Fixed Versus Adjusted Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation Amplitude on Chronic Mechanical Low Back Pain.

OBJECTIVES
This study aimed to investigate the effect of adjusting pulse amplitude of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation versus fixed pulse amplitude in treatment of chronic mechanical low back pain.


DESIGN
Randomized clinical trial.


SETTING
El-sahel Teaching Hospital, Egypt.


PARTICIPANTS
Forty-five patients with chronic low back pain assigned to three equal groups. Their ages ranged from 20 to 50 years.


INTERVENTION
The three groups received the same exercise program. Group A received transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation with fixed pulse amplitude for 40 minutes. Group B received transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation with adjusted pulse amplitude for 40 minutes, with the pulse amplitude adjusted every 5 minutes. Group C received exercises only. Treatment sessions were applied three times per week for 4 weeks for the three groups.


OUTCOME MEASURES
A visual analogue scale was used to assess pain severity, the Oswestry Disability Index was used to assess functional level, and a dual inclinometer was used to measure lumbar range of motion. Evaluations were performed before and after treatment.


RESULTS
Visual analogue scale, Oswestry Disability Index, and back range of motion significantly differed between the two groups that received transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and the control group and did not significantly differ between fixed and adjusted pulse amplitude of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation.


CONCLUSION
Adjusting pulse amplitude of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation does not produce a difference in the effect of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation used to treat chronic low back pain.