LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Hospital and ambulatory management, and compliance to treatment in HIV infection: regional health insurance agency analysis.

OBJECTIVE
We had for objective to study HIV management (hospital, ambulatory, and mixed) and assess compliance with health insurance database.


METHOD
We conducted a retrospective study using the French Social Security (CPAM) database. The inclusion criteria were: age>18years of age, at least 2 prescriptions of antiretroviral therapy.


RESULTS
Five hundred and seventy-five patients were included: extra-hospital (12), hospital (162), mixed (401). The prescriptions were exclusively hospital issued for 76.2% of the patients. Among the mixed group patients, 91% of treatments were delivered at least once in the community, and 45.6% of biological tests were performed in private laboratories at least once. The sex ratio (2.1 vs. 1.3), the number of patients having switched antiretroviral therapy (36.7% vs. 27.8%), and the frequency of biological tests (3.1 vs. 2.6) were significantly higher in the mixed group compared to the hospital group. The mean compliance was 90% in the hospital group and 91.8% in the mixed group. The compliance was<80% for 104 patients (21.8%). Patients with≥80% compliance were older (46.1years of age vs. 42.7years of age), with more frequent biological tests (3 per year vs. 2.5 per year), and more frequent switches in treatment (35.4% vs. 26.0%).


CONCLUSION
Prescriptions of ARV were almost exclusively hospital issued. Their dispensation and biological tests were split between hospital and extra-hospital settings. Most patients demonstrated an optimal compliance. The CPAM database allows describing HIV management and assessing compliance.
DC-Bus Voltage Control With a Three-Phase Bidirectional Inverter for DC Distribution Systems

This paper presents dc-bus voltage control with a three-phase bidirectional inverter for dc distribution systems. The bidirectional inverter can fulfill both grid connection and rectification modes with power factor correction. The proposed control includes two approaches, one line-cycle regulation approach (OLCRA) and one-sixth line-cycle regulation approach (OSLCRA), which take into account dc-bus capacitance and control dc-bus voltage to track a linear relationship between the dc-bus voltage and inverter inductor current. Since both of the approaches require the parameter of dc-bus capacitance, this paper first presents determination of dc-bus capacitor size and an online capacitance estimation method. With the OLCRA, the inverter tunes the dc-bus voltage every line cycle, which can reduce the frequency of operation-mode change and current distortion. The OSLCRA adjusts current command every one-sixth line cycle to adapt to abrupt dc-bus voltage variation. The two approaches together can prevent dc-bus voltage from wide variation and improve the availability of the dc distribution systems without increasing dc-bus capacitance. Experimental results measured from a three-phase bidirectional inverter have verified the feasibility of the discussed control approaches.
The comparisons of anthropometric characteristics among four peoples in East Asia.

This study presents comparisons of ethnic difference in anthropometric characteristics among four peoples, i.e., Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese, in East Asia. Anthropometric data from the four East Asian countries were compared. The means of 33 body dimensions and 31 bodily proportions are presented. Also, 15 segmental proportions are illustrated. The results of statistical analyses showed that there is a significant morphological difference among these peoples in the same region. The Mainland Chinese body shape has a narrower body with mid-range limbs. The Japanese body shape is wider with shorter limbs. The Korean body shape is mid-range among the four peoples, but the upper limbs are longer. The Taiwanese body shape has wide shoulder and narrow hip with large hands and long legs. The ethnic diversity in bodily proportions should be considered as well as the mean dimensions.
Kink variety in systems of two coupled scalar fields in two space-time dimensions

In this paper we describe the moduli space of kinks in a class of systems of two coupled real scalar fields in (1+1) Minkowskian space-time. The main feature of the class is the spontaneous breaking of a discrete symmetry of (real) Ginzburg-Landau type that guarantees the existence of kink topological defects.
Effect of Sintering Temperature on Microstructural and Raman Spectroscopic Analysis of Solid State Sintered Sb2O3 doped ZnO

Abstract ZnO doped with 2 wt% of Sb 2 O 3 is prepared by conventional solid state reaction method. The prepared samples were sintered at 800, 900, 950 and 1000 o C temperatures. X-ray diffraction peaks for ZnO doped with Sb 2 O 3 shows a small shift (∼0.12°) towards lower 2θ angle as compared with pure ZnO. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) with EDS is carried out to study the surface morphology as well as to find the elemental composition of the prepared samples. The modes at 334.4 cm -1 and 438.4 cm -1 in the Raman spectrum are assigned as E 2 (high)–E 2 (low), and E 2 (high) modes of ZnO base, respectively. When doping ion occupies the Zn sites, lattice or intrinsic host-lattice defects are activated, leading to additional vibration mode at 716.8 cm -1
New regimens to prevent tuberculosis in adults with HIV infection.

BACKGROUND
Treatment of latent tuberculosis in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is efficacious, but few patients around the world receive such treatment. We evaluated three new regimens for latent tuberculosis that may be more potent and durable than standard isoniazid treatment.


METHODS
We randomly assigned South African adults with HIV infection and a positive tuberculin skin test who were not taking antiretroviral therapy to receive rifapentine (900 mg) plus isoniazid (900 mg) weekly for 12 weeks, rifampin (600 mg) plus isoniazid (900 mg) twice weekly for 12 weeks, isoniazid (300 mg) daily for up to 6 years (continuous isoniazid), or isoniazid (300 mg) daily for 6 months (control group). The primary end point was tuberculosis-free survival.


RESULTS
The 1148 patients had a median age of 30 years and a median CD4 cell count of 484 per cubic millimeter. Incidence rates of active tuberculosis or death were 3.1 per 100 person-years in the rifapentine-isoniazid group, 2.9 per 100 person-years in the rifampin-isoniazid group, and 2.7 per 100 person-years in the continuous-isoniazid group, as compared with 3.6 per 100 person-years in the control group (P>0.05 for all comparisons). Serious adverse reactions were more common in the continuous-isoniazid group (18.4 per 100 person-years) than in the other treatment groups (8.7 to 15.4 per 100 person-years). Two of 58 isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (3.4%) were found to have multidrug resistance.


CONCLUSIONS
On the basis of the expected rates of tuberculosis in this population of HIV-infected adults, all secondary prophylactic regimens were effective. Neither a 3-month course of intermittent rifapentine or rifampin with isoniazid nor continuous isoniazid was superior to 6 months of isoniazid. (Funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00057122.).
MRR Improvement in Sinking Electrical Discharge Machining: A Review

Electrical discharge machining (EDM) is one of the earliest non-traditional machining processes. EDM process is based on thermoelectric energy between the workpiece and an electrode. Material removal rate (MRR) is an important performance measure in EDM process. Since long, EDM researchers have explored a number of ways to improve and optimize the MRR including some unique experimental concepts that depart from the traditional EDM sparking phenomenon. Despite a range of different approaches, all the research work in this area shares the same objectives of achieving more efficient material removal coupled with a reduction in tool wear and improved surface quality. The paper reports research on EDM relating to improvement in MRR along with some insight into mechanism of material removal. In the end of the paper scope for future research work has been outlined.
Rheumatoid atlantoaxial subluxation can be prevented by intensive use of traditional disease modifying antirheumatic drugs.

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the 5-year incidence of cervical spine disorders in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treated by 2 different disease modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) strategies.


METHODS
In a national, multicenter, prospective FIN-RACo-trial, a cohort of 199 patients with early, clinically active RA was randomly assigned to treatment with a combination of 3 DMARD and prednisolone (Combi group) or with a single DMARD (Single group) with or without prednisolone, aiming to induce remission. After 2 years, the DMARD therapy was unrestricted. Lateral view cervical spine radiographs during full flexion and extension were taken at the 5-year followup visits. The presence of anterior atlantoaxial subluxation (aAAS), atlantoaxial impaction (AAI), and subaxial subluxation (SAS) was assessed in the 149 patients with radiographs available (80 Single and 69 Combi).


RESULTS
At the 5-year visits, aAAS, AAI, and SAS were found in 13 (9%), 6 (4%), and 9 (6%) patients, respectively. The corresponding Single/Combi group ratios were 11/2, 5/1, and 5/4. Of the baseline data, only poor physical function [Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ); p = 0.024] and Single treatment strategy (p = 0.019) were significantly associated with aAAS. Worse HAQ scores and Disease Activity Score 28 values were found in patients who developed aAAS during the 5-year followup.


CONCLUSION
RA patients with sustained clinical disease activity and poor HAQ are at increased risk of developing aAAS. The development of aAAS during the first 5 years of RA was rare among the patients treated with a combination of DMARD for at least 2 years from the diagnosis. Intensive treatment with traditional DMARD prevents or retards the development of aAAS in patients with recent-onset RA.
Soluble or insoluble fibre in irritable bowel syndrome in primary care? Randomised placebo controlled trial

OBJECTIVE
To determine the effectiveness of increasing the dietary content of soluble fibre (psyllium) or insoluble fibre (bran) in patients with irritable bowel syndrome.


DESIGN
Randomised controlled trial.


SETTING
General practice.


PARTICIPANTS
275 patients aged 18-65 years with irritable bowel syndrome.


INTERVENTIONS
12 weeks of treatment with 10 g psyllium (n=85), 10 g bran (n=97), or 10 g placebo (rice flour) (n=93).


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
The primary end point was adequate symptom relief during at least two weeks in the previous month, analysed after one, two, and three months of treatment to assess both short term and sustained effectiveness. Secondary end points included irritable bowel syndrome symptom severity score, severity of abdominal pain, and irritable bowel syndrome quality of life scale.


RESULTS
The proportion of responders was significantly greater in the psyllium group than in the placebo group during the first month (57% v 35%; relative risk 1.60, 95% confidence interval 1.13 to 2.26) and the second month of treatment (59% v 41%; 1.44, 1.02 to 2.06). Bran was more effective than placebo during the third month of treatment only (57% v 32%; 1.70, 1.12 to 2.57), but this was not statistically significant in the worst case analysis (1.45, 0.97 to 2.16). After three months of treatment, symptom severity in the psyllium group was reduced by 90 points, compared with 49 points in the placebo group (P=0.03) and 58 points in the bran group (P=0.61 versus placebo). No differences were found with respect to quality of life. Fifty four (64%) of the patients allocated to psyllium, 54 (56%) in the bran group, and 56 (60%) in the placebo group completed the three month treatment period. Early dropout was most common in the bran group; the main reason was that the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome worsened.


CONCLUSIONS
Psyllium offers benefits in patients with irritable bowel syndrome in primary care.


TRIAL REGISTRATION
Clinical trials NCT00189033.
Total quality management as cultural phenomena : a conceptual model and empirical illustration

Dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Technology to be presented with due permission for public examination and debate in ABSTRACT Total quality management has proven to be more than just a quickly disappearing management fad or fashion. It has been considered one of the most influential management innovations of the 20 th century. TQM is based on a rather naïve and overly rational view of an organization but, without a doubt, it has had a significant influence on contemporary management practices. The ISO 9000 family quality standards and quality award criteria have led to the practical development and diffusion of the discipline, and at the moment, they provide the most comprehensive definition for TQM. The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award has been selected as the practical definition of TQM for this study. The role and impact of TQM is examined based upon how it ensures an organization will meet its mission and ultimate objective of long-term survival. The means of how to achieve survival are specific to an organization, and depend on multiple factors. At the basic level, organizational survival is based on the processes of external adaptation and of internal integration. The role of TQM is analyzed based on the impact it has on those processes. Additionally, this analysis takes into account both the symbolic and technical value of TQM practices and approaches. TQM is studied as a cultural phenomenon. Schein's model of organizational culture is used to create a multilevel framework of TQM. The framework has four interrelated levels: basic assumptions, core concepts and principles, management areas, and management practices. This research focuses on the deepest level, the analysis of basic assumptions. These are implicitly inherent to the discipline, and the process of deconstruction is used to uncover the core basic assumptions that support the implementation of a TQM program. They define the basic beliefs held in an organization, which has been able to fully implement TQM. These basic beliefs include an organization's mission and relationship to the external environment, the nature of human nature and relationships, the nature of reality and truth and the nature of time and space. The deconstruction of TQM and identification of its basic assumptions is done in the context of ideal quality management, which is the perfect implementation of TQM based on quality award scoring criteria. Convergent analysis of the discipline demonstrates that TQM is based on mutually compatible basic assumptions, …
One-step green synthesis and characterization of leaf extract-mediated biocompatible silver and gold nanoparticles from Memecylon umbellatum

In this experiment, green-synthesized silver and gold nanoparticles were produced rapidly by treating silver and gold ions with an extract of Memecylon umbellatum leaf. The reaction process was simple and easy to handle, and was monitored using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. The effect of the phytochemicals present in M. umbellatum, including saponins, phenolic compounds, phytosterols, and quinones, on formation of stable silver and gold nanoparticles was investigated by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The morphology and crystalline phase of the nanoparticles were determined by transmission electron microscopy and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. The results indicate that the saponins, phytosterols, and phenolic compounds present in the plant extract play a major role in formation of silver and gold nanoparticles in their respective ions in solution. The characteristics of the nanoparticles formed suggest application of silver and gold nanoparticles as chemical sensors in the future. Given the simple and eco-friendly approach for synthesis, these nanoparticles could easily be commercialized for large-scale production.
Brand Policy and Brand Equity

A brand represents the awareness and the image t hat a product has managed with a segment of customers. In business terms, a b rand can be defined as a specific relationship created within a given market for the promotion of a particular product. The specific existing relationship between a brand a given market indicates the functional and symbolic values that demand attr ibu es to the product through the brand. Brand equity expresses brand value in operating con ditions. Brand equity shapes the value, at a certain time, of brand identity (aw areness and image) that has been established with a specific demand.
'Show me, don't tell me'; is this a good approach for rehabilitation?

OBJECTIVE
To assess the possible memory advantages of the subject-performed task (SPT) and experimenter-performed task (EPT) encoding method in rehabilitation settings.


DESIGN
Controlled quasi-experimental trial.


SETTING
University research laboratory and community setting.


SUBJECTS
Eighteen stroke survivors and 18 age-, education- and gender-matched controls.


INTERVENTION
Participants were instructed to study three lists of 20 action phrases (such as 'ring the bell') by either reading, performing or observing others perform the tasks for later memory assessment.


MAIN MEASURE
After the phrases had been studied, verbal and written memory tests were implemented and responses were recorded.


RESULTS
The memory performance of stroke survivors and control groups was significantly better under the SPT method (mean (SD) 7.95 (2.7)) and EPT method (mean (SD) 7.95 (2.5)) relative to the baseline verbal task method (mean (SD) 4.2 (1.9)), (P<0.001 ANOVA). Participants also remembered functional tasks better than clinical tasks (P<0.001 ANOVA).


CONCLUSION
Encoding by the SPT and EPT methods are significantly more effective than receiving verbal instructions. The SPT and EPT encoding methods show promise and therapists may be able to use them in the clinic to facilitate the memory performance of stroke survivors.
Corrections of the NIST Statistical Test Suite for Randomness

It is well known that the NIST statistical test suite was used for the evaluation of AES candidate algorithms. We have found that the test setting of Discrete Fourier Transform test and Lempel-Ziv test of this test suite are wrong. We give four corrections of mistakes in the test settings. This suggests that re-evaluation of the test results should be needed.
A General Method for Visualizing and Explaining Black-Box Regression Models

We propose a method for explaining regression models and their predictions for individual instances. The method successfully reveals how individual features influence the model and can be used with any type of regression model in a uniform way. We used different types of models and data sets to demonstrate that the method is a useful tool for explaining, comparing, and identifying errors in regression models.
A Pretrained DenseNet Encoder for Brain Tumor Segmentation

This article presents a convolutional neural network for the automatic segmentation of brain tumors in multimodal 3D MR images based on a U-net architecture. We evaluate the use of a densely connected convolutional network encoder (DenseNet) which was pretrained on the ImageNet data set. We detail two network architectures that can take into account multiple 3D images as inputs. This work aims to identify if a generic pretrained network can be used for very specific medical applications where the target data differ both in the number of spatial dimensions as well as in the number of inputs channels. Moreover in order to regularize this transfer learning task we only train the decoder part of the U-net architecture. We evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach on the BRATS 2018 segmentation challenge [1,2,3,4,5] where we obtained dice scores of 0.79, 0.90, 0.85 and 95% Hausdorff distance of 2.9mm, 3.95mm, and 6.48mm for enhanced tumor core, whole tumor and tumor core respectively on the validation set. This scores degrades to 0.77, 0.88, 0.78 and 95% Hausdorff distance of 3.6mm, 5.72mm, and 5.83mm on the testing set [1].
Modular Q-learning based multi-agent cooperation for robot soccer

In a multi-agent system, action selection is important for the cooperation and coordination among agents. As the environment is dynamic and complex, modular Q-learning, which is one of the reinforcement learning schemes, is employed in assigning a proper action to an agent in the multi-agent system. The architecture of modular Q-learning consists of learning modules and a mediator module. The mediator module of the modular Q-learning system selects a proper action for the agent based on the Q-value obtained from each learning module. To obtain better performance, along with the Q-value, the mediator module also considers the state information in the action selection process. A uni-vector field is used for robot navigation. In the robot soccer environment, the effectiveness and applicability of modular Q-learning and the uni-vector field method are verified by real experiments using five micro-robots. © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PTEN Inhibits Cell Proliferation, Promotes Cell Apoptosis, and Induces Cell Cycle Arrest via Downregulating the PI3K/AKT/hTERT Pathway in Lung Adenocarcinoma A549 Cells

PTEN plays an essential role in tumorigenesis and both its mutation and inactivation can influence proliferation, apoptosis, and cell cycle progression in tumor cells. However, the precise role of PTEN in lung cancer cells has not been well studied. To address this, we have generated lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells overexpressing wild-type or mutant PTEN as well as A549 cells expressing a siRNA directed toward endogenous PTEN. Overexpression of wild-type PTEN profoundly inhibited cell proliferation, promoted cell apoptosis, caused cell cycle arrest at G1, downregulated p-AKT, and decreased expression of the telomerase protein hTERT. In contrast, in cells expressing a PTEN directed siRNA, the opposite effects on cell proliferation, apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, p-AKT levels, and hTERT protein expression were observed. A549 cells transfected with a PTEN mutant lacking phosphatase activity (PTEN-C124A) or an empty vector (null) did not show any effect. Furthermore, using the PI3K/AKT pathway blocker LY294002, we confirmed that the PI3K/AKT pathway was involved in mediating these effects of PTEN. Taken together, we have demonstrated that PTEN downregulates the PI3K/AKT/hTERT pathway, thereby suppressing the growth of lung adenocarcinoma cells. Our study may provide evidence for a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of lung adenocarcinoma.
Active Nearest Neighbors in Changing Environments

While classic machine learning paradigms assume training and test data are generated from the same process, domain adaptation addresses the more realistic setting in which the learner has large quantities of labeled data from some source task but limited or no labeled data from the target task it is attempting to learn. In this work, we give the first formal analysis showing that using active learning for domain adaptation yields a way to address the statistical challenges inherent in this setting. We propose a novel nonparametric algorithm, ANDA, that combines an active nearest neighbor querying strategy with nearest neighbor prediction. We provide analyses of its querying behavior and of finite sample convergence rates of the resulting classifier under covariate shift. Our experiments show that ANDA successfully corrects for dataset bias in multiclass image categorization.