LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Bone thickness of the palate for orthodontic mini-implant anchorage in adults.

INTRODUCTION
The palate is a suitable site for the placement of orthodontic mini-implants. This study was conducted to assess the bone thickness of the palate to provide a more reliable guide for mini-implant placement.


METHODS
Computed tomographic records of 18 adults (9 men, 9 women) 18 to 35 years old (mean age, 26.8 +/- 4.0 years) were used to measure the bone thickness of the midpalatal area and its vicinity posterior to the incisive foramen. Bone thickness was measured at 80 coordinates at regular mediolateral and anteroposterior intervals along the midpalatal suture. After the mean, minimum, and maximum values were obtained for the entire group and for the male and female groups, mediolateral and anteroposterior comparison was done, and the differences between sexes were evaluated.


RESULTS
Individual variations were so great that high-resolution computed tomographic images are recommended for safety. Significant differences were seen between the male and female groups. The midpalatal area within 1 mm of the midsagittal suture had the thickest bone available in the whole palate. The thickness tended to decrease laterally and posteriorly. Maps of mean palatal bone thickness were made for visual comparison of placement locations and for selection of the mini-implant length.


CONCLUSIONS
When a mini-implant could deviate from the midpalatal area by more than 1 mm, we recommend placing it not far posteriorly or using a shorter mini-implant.
Text Categorization with Support Vector Machines: Learning with Many Relevant Features

This paper explores the use of Support Vector Machines (SVMs) for learning text classifiers from examples. It analyzes the particular properties of learning with text data and identifies why SVMs arc appropriate for this task. Empirical results support the theoretical findings. SVMs achieve substantial improvements over the currently best performing methods and behave robustly over a variety of different learning tasks. Furthermore, they are fully automatic, eliminating the need for manual parameter tuning. 1 I n t r o d u c t i o n With the rapid growth of online information, text categorization has become one of the key techniques for handling and organizing text data. Text categorization techniques are used to classify news stories, to find interesting information on the WWW, and to guide a user's search through hypertext. Since building text classifiers by hand is difficult and time-consuming, it is advantageous to learn classifiers from examples. In this paper I will explore and identify the benefits of Support Vector Machines (SVMs) for text categorization. SVMs are a new learning method introduced by V. Vapnik et al. [9] [1]. They are well-founded in terms of computational learning theory and very open to theoretical understanding and analysis. After reviewing the standard feature vector representation of text, I will identify the particular properties of text in this representation in section 4. I will argue that SVMs are very well suited for learning in this setting. The empirical results in section 5 will support this claim. Compared to state-of-the-art methods, SVMs show substantial performance gains. Moreover, in contrast to conventional text classification methods SVMs will prove to be very robust, eliminating the need for expensive parameter tuning. 2 T e x t C a t e g o r i z a t i o n The goal of text categorization is the classification of documents into a fixed number of predefined categories. Each document can be in multiple, exactly one, or no category at all. Using machine learning, the objective is to learn classifiers
Peg-IFNα/ribavirin/protease inhibitor combination in hepatitis C virus associated mixed cryoglobulinemia vasculitis: results at week 24

BACKGROUND
The standard-of-care treatment of patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV)-mixed cryoglobulinemia (MC) vasculitis includes pegylated interferon α (PegIFN)-α plus ribavirin and/or rituximab. About 30-40% of patients are non-responders or relapsers to such combination.


OBJECTIVE
To analyse the safety and efficacy of Peg-IFNα/ribavirin/protease inhibitor combination in HCV-MC vasculitis.


PATIENTS AND METHODS
Open-label, prospective, cohort study including 23 patients with HCV-MC vasculitis. Peg-IFNα/ribavirin was associated to telaprevir (375 mg three times daily, for 12 weeks, (n=15)) or boceprevir (800 mg three times daily, for 44 weeks, (n=8)) for 48 weeks.


RESULTS
The median age was 59 (52.5-66) years, with 48.8% women. Thirteen patients (56.5%) were complete clinical responders, and 10 (43.5%) were partial responders at week 24. The virological response (ie, HCV RNA negativation) was of 69.6% at week 24 (p=0.005). The cryoglobulin level decreased from 0.44 to 0.06 g/l (p=0.0006) and the C4 level increased from 0.09 to 0.15 g/l (p=0.045). Grades 3 and 4 adverse events (mainly anaemia, neutropenia and thrombocytopenia) were observed in 10 cases (43.5%). Twenty patients (87%) received erythropoietin, 9 (39.1%) had red cell transfusion, and 2 (8.7%) had granulocyte stimulating agents. Antiviral therapy discontinuation was required in 8 (34.7%) patients for virological non-response (n=5), virological relapse (n=2) and depression (n=1).


CONCLUSIONS
Peg-IFNα/ribavirin/protease inhibitor combination seems highly effective in HCV-MC. Such therapeutic regimen should be administered cautiously considering the high rate of side effects.
Deep and Shallow Architecture of Multilayer Neural Networks

This paper focuses on the deep and shallow architecture of multilayer neural networks (MNNs). The demonstration of whether or not an MNN can be replaced by another MNN with fewer layers is equivalent to studying the topological conjugacy of its hidden layers. This paper provides a systematic methodology to indicate when two hidden spaces are topologically conjugated. Furthermore, some criteria are presented for some specific cases.
Analysis of geopolymer concrete columns

Ordinary portland cement (OPC) has been traditionally used as the binding agent in concrete. However, it is also necessary to search for alternative low-emission binding agents for concrete to reduce the environmental impact caused by manufacturing of cement. Geopolymer, also known as inorganic polymer, is one such material that uses by-product material such as fly ash instead of cement. Recent research has shown that fly ash-based geopolymer concrete has suitable properties for its use as a construction material. Since the strength development mechanism of geopolymer is different from that of OPC binder, it is necessary to obtain a suitable constitutive model for geopolymer concrete to predict the loaddeflection behaviour and strength of geopolymer concrete structural members. This paper has investigated the suitability of using an existing stress-strain model originally proposed by Popovics for OPC concrete. It is found that the equation of Popovics can be used for geopolymer concrete with minor modification to the expression for the curve fitting factor, to better fit with the post-peak parts of the experimental stress-strain curves. The slightly modified set of stress-strain equations was then used in a nonlinear analysis for reinforced concrete columns. A good correlation is achieved between the predicted and measured ultimate loads, load-deflection curves and deflected shapes for twelve slender test columns.
VALUE CREATION IN E-BUSINESS

We explore the theoretical foundations of value creation in e-business by examining how 59 American and European e-businesses that have recently become publicly traded corporations create value. We observe that in e-business new value can be created by the ways in which transactions are enabled. Grounded in the rich data obtained from case study analyses and in the received theory in entrepreneurship and strategic management, we develop a model of the sources of value creation. The model suggests that the value creation potential of e-businesses hinges on four interdependent dimensions, namely: efficiency, complementarities, lock-in, and novelty. Our findings suggest that no single entrepreneurship or strategic management theory can fully explain the value creation potential of e-business. Rather, an integration of the received theoretical perspectives on value creation is needed. To enable such an integration, we offer the business model construct as a unit of analysis for future research on value creation in e-business. A business model depicts the design of transaction content, structure, and governance so as to create value through the exploitation of business opportunities. We propose that a firm’s business model is an important locus of innovation and a crucial source of value creation for the firm and its suppliers, partners, and customers. Copyright  2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Brain-coupled interaction for semi-autonomous navigation of an assistive robot

This paper presents a novel semi-autonomous navigation strategy designed for low throughput interfaces. A mobile robot (e.g. intelligent wheelchair) proposes the most probable action, as analyzed from the environment, to a human user who can either accept or reject the proposition. In the case of refusal, the robot will propose another action, until both entities agree on what needs to be done. In an unknown environment, the robotic system first extracts features so as to recognize places of interest where a human–robot interaction should take place (e.g. crossings). Based on the local topology, relevant actions are then proposed, the user providing answers bymeans of a button or a brain–computer interface (BCI). Our navigation strategy is successfully tested both in simulation andwith a real robot, and a feasibility study for the use of a BCI confirms the potential of such an interface. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Videoconferencing in Business Meetings: An Affordance Perspective

This article investigates users’ perceptions of videoconferencing (VC) as a mode of communication in business meetings. The study demonstrates that affordance theory is a fruitful theoretical perspective for understanding what shapes users’ perceptions of how well VC works as a communication technology in business meetings. The article is based on observation and qualitative interviews with VC users in a multinational company. The findings suggest that multiple factors affect user perceptions of VC, including technical features, VC room setup, competence, culture, meeting norms, and organizational issues. The affordance perspective adopted in this study may provide practitioners with a theoretically based understanding that can improve their ability to guide VC implementation in organizations. Videoconferencing in Business Meetings: An Affordance Perspective
Genetic polymorphisms contribute to acute kidney injury after coronary artery bypass grafting.

BACKGROUND
Acute kidney injury is one of the most serious complications after cardiac surgery. Genetic polymorphisms are reported to be associated with postoperative renal impairment. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between selected gene polymorphisms and acute kidney injury after cardiac surgery.


METHODS
Two hundred forty-eight elective coronary artery bypass grafting procedure patients were enrolled in the study. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) II, ID, and DD, apolipoprotein E (APO E), and angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AGTR1) A1166C genotypes were detected by polymerase chain reaction. Plasma levels of ACE were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Acute kidney injury after cardiac surgery was graded according to the RIFLE (risk, injury, failure, loss, and end-stage kidney disease) classification.


RESULTS
In our study, 21.8% of patients had acute renal impairment after cardiac surgery. Among the 54 patients with acute kidney injury, ACE D allele frequency was 0.620. The plasma levels of ACE were significantly higher in the D allele carriers (P = .018). Three of the 54 patients with acute kidney injury were APO E epsilon 4 allele carriers (P = .002). AGTR1 C allele carriers constituted 46% of all patients with postoperative acute kidney injury. There was no statistically significant difference between A allele homozygotes and C allele carriers with respect to postoperative renal dysfunction (P > .05).


CONCLUSIONS
The present findings support the hypothesis that ACE I/D and APO E gene polymorphisms may play a role in the development of acute kidney injury after cardiac surgery. However, AGTR1 does not have a unique association with postoperative renal impairment.
Salvage therapy with thalidomide in multiple myeloma patients relapsing after autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
The introduction of high-dose therapy with stem cell support has significantly improved the outcome of patients with multiple myeloma (MM) in terms of increased complete remission (CR) rate and extended survival, both disease-free and overall. Few options, however, are presently available for patients who relapse after single or double autologous stem cell transplantation (SCT). Thalidomide, a glutamic acid derivative with anti-angiogenetic properties, has been recently proposed as salvage treatment for such patients. The present study was aimed at evaluating thalidomide as single agent therapy for patients who had previously received autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation.


DESIGN AND METHODS
From October 1999 to August 2000, 11 patients (7 males/4 females) who had relapsed after single (n = 4) or double (n = 7) autologous peripheral blood SCT were enrolled in the trial. Thalidomide, always employed as a single agent, was initially administered at a dose of 100 mg/day; if well tolerated, the dose was increased serially by 200 mg every other week to a maximum of 800 mg/day.


RESULTS
The median administered dose was 600 mg/day. WHO grade > II toxic effects were constipation, lethargy, and leukopenia. Four patients (36%) showed > 50% reduction in serum M protein concentration and 4 showed > 25% reduction, for a total response rate averaging 72%. After a median follow-up of 5 months, 3 out of 8 responding patients are alive and progression-free and 5 patients have relapsed. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS; These data confirm that thalidomide is active in poor-prognosis MM patients such as those relapsing after autologous SCT, and could thus deserve further testing in combination therapy.
Flash flood mitigation : recommendations for research and applications

New technologies promise reduced flash flood losses. However, real-time observations with vast multi-sensor networks, more precise mapping capabilities using remote sensing and GIS, quicker hydrological and meteorological models, and increasing forecast lead times have not reduced losses. In November, 1999, 35 researchers from nine countries met in Ravello, Italy at a NATO sponsored Advanced Study Institute, to discuss these issues and to develop a research agenda that incorporates the various components required to cope with flash floods. The key recommendations from the Institute were: (1) greater emphasis on increasing understanding of the social processes involved in flash flood warning, particularly in the response phases, and (2) the need to reduce vulnerability in sustainable ways compatible with long-term economic and social goals. The relationship between hydrometeorology and social science is seen as critical to advancing our abilities to cope with flash floods. r 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Effects of endotoxemia on the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of ketamine and xylazine anesthesia in Sprague-Dawley rats.

Purpose
To evaluate the effects of endotoxemia on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of ketamine and xylazine anesthesia in Sprague-Dawley rats.


Methods
Sprague-Dawley rats received ketamine (80 mg/kg) and xylazine (5 mg/kg) intramuscularly following the intraperitoneal administration of different lipopolysaccharide concentrations (1, 10, and 100 µg/kg) to simulate different levels of endotoxemia. Results were compared to control animals receiving saline intraperitoneally. During anesthesia, a toe pinch was performed to evaluate anesthesia duration, and selected physiological parameters (heart and respiratory rates, oxygen saturation, and rectal temperature) were taken. Blood samples were also taken during anesthesia at selected time points for the analysis of plasmatic ketamine and xylazine concentrations by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Blood samples were taken 1 week prior to and 24 hours following anesthesia for blood biochemistry.


Results
Anesthesia duration significantly increased for moderate (10 µg/kg) and high (100 µg/kg) lipopolysaccharide groups. Liver histopathology showed minor to moderate necrosis in all lipopolysaccharide groups in some animals. The most important physiological change that occurred was a decrease in oxygen saturation, and for blood biochemistry a decrease in serum albumin. Ketamine pharmacokinetics were not affected except for the moderate (10 µg/kg) lipopolysaccharide group where a decrease in the area under the plasma concentration-time curve from time zero to the last measurable concentration, a decrease in half-life, and an increase in the clearance were observed. For xylazine, the area under the plasma concentration-time curve increased and the clearance decreased in the moderate (10 µg/kg) and high (100 µg/kg) lipopolysaccharide groups.


Conclusion
During ketamine-xylazine anesthesia, endotoxemia may alter xylazine pharmacokinetics and selected biochemical and physiological parameters, suggesting that anesthetic drug dosages could be modified for a more rapid recovery.
Student teachers' thinking processes and ICT integration: Predictors of prospective teaching behaviors with educational technology

Teacher candidates should be prepared to integrate information and communication technology (ICT) into their future teaching practices. Despite the increased availability and support for ICT integration, relatively few teachers intend to integrate ICT into their teaching activities. The available research has thus far focused on isolated teacher related variables to explain the weak level of ICT integration. Also, most of this research was set up in Western settings. The present study centers on the impact of Chinese student teachers' gender, constructivist teaching beliefs, teaching self-efficacy, computer self-efficacy, and computer attitudes on their prospective ICT use. For this purpose, a survey was set up involving teacher education college students of four teacher education universities in China (N = 727). Results showed that prospective ICT integration significantly correlates with all teacher related variables. Building on a path analysis, prospective ICT integration could be directly predicted on the base of teacher thinking variables (constructivist teaching beliefs, teacher self-efficacy, computer self-efficacy and computer attitudes in education), and indirectly by the gender of the student teachers. Implications for teacher education and further research are discussed. Suggested Reviewers:
Cuckoo hashing

We present a simple dictionary with worst case constant lookup time, equaling the theoretical performance of the classic dynamic perfect hashing scheme of Dietzfelbinger et al. (Dynamic perfect hashing: Upper and lower bounds. SIAM J. Comput., 23(4):738–761, 1994). The space usage is similar to that of binary search trees, i.e., three words per key on average. Besides being conceptually much simpler than previous dynamic dictionaries with worst case constant lookup time, our data structure is interesting in that it does not use perfect hashing, but rather a variant of open addressing where keys can be moved back in their probe sequences. An implementation inspired by our algorithm, but using weaker hash functions, is found to be quite practical. It is competitive with the best known dictionaries having an average case (but no nontrivial worst case) guarantee.
Evaluation of an Australian indigenous housing programme: community level impact on crowding, infrastructure function and hygiene

BACKGROUND AND AIM
Housing programmes in indigenous Australian communities have focused largely on achieving good standards of infrastructure function. The impact of this approach was assessed on three potentially important housing-related influences on child health at the community level: (1) crowding, (2) the functional state of the house infrastructure and (3) the hygienic condition of the houses.


METHODS
A before-and-after study, including house infrastructure surveys and structured interviews with the main householder, was conducted in all homes of young children in 10 remote Australian indigenous communities.


RESULTS
Compared with baseline, follow-up surveys showed (1) a small non-significant decrease in the mean number of people per bedroom in the house on the night before the survey (3.4, 95% CI 3.1 to 3.6 at baseline vs 3.2, 95% CI 2.9 to 3.4 at follow-up; natural logarithm transformed t test, t=1.3, p=0.102); (2) a marginally significant overall improvement in infrastructure function scores (Kruskal-Wallis test, χ(2)=3.9, p=0.047); and (3) no clear overall improvement in hygiene (Kruskal-Wallis test, χ(2)=0.3, p=0.605).


CONCLUSION
Housing programmes of this scale that focus on the provision of infrastructure alone appear unlikely to lead to more hygienic general living environments, at least in this study context. A broader ecological approach to housing programmes delivered in these communities is needed if potential health benefits are to be maximised. This ecological approach would require a balanced programme of improving access to health hardware, hygiene promotion and creating a broader enabling environment in communities.
Circular polarization generating coaxial to waveguide adapter for horn antenna

This paper deals with a coaxial-to-waveguide adapter generating circularly polarized wave to be connected with horn antennas. By combining the polarization twisting structure and the phase delay structure, the circular polarization is successfully generated in the waveguide. The designed and implemented adapter shows that the present structure can significantly reduce the size of the adapter for circularly polarized horn antenna.
Survey on Kannada Digits Recognition Using OCR Technique

— Day by day technology is going very fast, digital recognitions are playing wide role and providing more scope to perform research in OCR techniques. Recognition of Kannada handwritten numeral is complicated compared to English and other western numerals. However, many researchers have provided real time solution for printed Kannada numerals. Printed numeral documents recognition still offers many motivating challenges to researchers. Current research offers many solutions on Kannada handwritten documents recognition even then reasonable accuracy and concerning handwritten numeral recognition.