LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Use of an intravenous contrast agent (Optison) to enhance echocardiography: efficacy and cost implications. Optison Multicenter Study Group.

OBJECTIVE
To compare the overall diagnostic costs associated with non-contrast and contrast echocardiography.


STUDY DESIGN
Phase III clinical trial.


PATIENTS AND METHODS
In a secondary analysis of data from a phase III clinical trial of the intravenous contrast agent Optison, we compared the costs associated with obtaining a diagnosis in 203 patients who underwent non-contrast and contrast echocardiography. Costs for the initial test and any follow-up tests were derived from adjusted Medicare charges and a transition-1 microcost accounting system.


RESULTS
Diagnostic yield from echocardiograms was 87% with the use of Optison (3 mL) and 49% when no contrast agent was used (P < 0.001). Because technically inadequate echocardiograms were more common in the non-contrast group, follow-up testing was recommended for 42% of patients in this group compared with 12% of those who had undergone a contrast-enhanced echocardiogram (P < 0.001). Although use of Optison increased the initial diagnostic cost by $125, overall costs were 17% lower when Optison was used (P < 0.0001). Use of Optison also resulted in a 17% to 70% decrease in confirmatory transesophageal echocardiography, catheterization, and nuclear studies. Optison improved diagnostic accuracy by 2.7-fold in patients with an initial non-diagnostic echocardiogram, resulting in a substantial cost savings of $269 per patient.
Threshold Signatures, Multisignatures and Blind Signatures Based on the Gap-Diffie-Hellman-Group Signature Scheme

We propose a robust proactive threshold signature scheme, a multisignature scheme and a blind signature scheme which work in any Gap Diffie-Hellman (GDH) group (where the Computational Diffie-Hellman problem is hard but the Decisional Diffie-Hellman problem is easy). Our constructions are based on the recently proposed GDH signature scheme of Boneh et al. [BLS]. Due to the nice properties of GDH groups and of the base scheme, it turns out that most of our constructions are much simpler, more efficient and have more useful characteristics than similar existing constructions. We support all the proposed schemes with proofs under the appropriate computational assumptions, using the corresponding notions of security.
Adipose tissue secretion of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 in non-obese and obese individuals

High plasma plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) activity is a frequent finding in obesity, and both PAI-1 and obesity are risk factors for cardiovascular disease. To study the mechanisms underlying increased PAI-1 levels in obese individuals, gene expression and secretion of PAI-1 were measured in human abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue. A total of 32 obese, otherwise healthy subjects and 10 never-obese healthy subjects with a body mass index (BMI) of 42.6 ± 1.2 and 24.3 ± 1.9 kg/m2 (mean ± SEM), respectively, were investigated. Plasma PAI-1 activity, adipose tissue PAI-1 secretion and adipocyte PAI-1 mRNA levels were increased sevenfold (p < 0.0001), sixfold (p < 0.0001) and twofold (p < 0.05), respectively, in the obese group. There were clear associations between adipose tissue secretion of PAI-1 and PAI-1 mRNA levels on the one hand and fat cell volume on the other (r = 0.68, p < 0.0001 and r = 0.51, p < 0.01, respectively, in the obese group). PAI-1 mRNA levels were also related to the amount of PAI-1 secreted among obese individuals (r = 0.31, p = 0.09). It is concluded that adipose tissue secretes significant amounts of PAI-1, that PAI-1 secretion from adipose tissue is increased in obesity, and that PAI-1 secretion is related to the lipid content and cell volume of fat cells. Plasma PAI-1 activity is elevated in obesity, at least in part due to increased gene expression in adipocytes, which, in turn, enhances PAI-1 secretion from adipose tissue. [Diabetologia (1998) 41: 65–71]
Curiosity Killed the Cat, but Makes Crowdwork Better

Crowdsourcing systems are designed to elicit help from humans to accomplish tasks that are still difficult for computers. How to motivate workers to stay longer and/or perform better in crowdsourcing systems is a critical question for designers. Previous work have explored different motivational frameworks, both extrinsic and intrinsic. In this work, we examine the potential for curiosity as a new type of intrinsic motivational driver to incentivize crowd workers. We design crowdsourcing task interfaces that explicitly incorporate mechanisms to induce curiosity and conduct a set of experiments on Amazon's Mechanical Turk. Our experiment results show that curiosity interventions improve worker retention without degrading performance, and the magnitude of the effects are influenced by both personal characteristics of the worker and the nature of the task.
Optical PUFs Reloaded

We revisit optical physical unclonable functions (PUFs), which were proposed by Pappu et al. in their seminal first publication on PUFs [40, 41]. The first part of the paper treats non-integrated optical PUFs. Their security against modeling attacks is analyzed, and we discuss new image transformations that maximize the PUF’s output entropy while possessing similar error correction capacities as previous approaches [40, 41]. Furthermore, the influence of using more than one laser beam, varying laser diameters, and smaller scatterer sizes is systematically studied. Our findings enable the simple enhancement of an optical PUF’s security without additional hardware costs. Next, we discuss the novel application of non-integrated optical PUFs as so-called “Certifiable PUFs”. The latter are useful to achieve practical security in advanced PUF-protocols, as recently observed by Rührmair and van Dijk at Oakland 2013 [48]. Our technique is the first mechanism for Certifiable PUFs in the literature, answering an open problem posed in [48]. In the second part of the paper, we turn to integrated optical PUFs. We build the first prototype of an integrated optical PUF that functions without moving components and investigate its security. We show that these PUFs can surprisingly be attacked by machine learning techniques if the employed scattering structure is linear, and if the raw interference images of the PUF are available to the adversary. Our result enforces the use of non-linear scattering structures within integrated PUFs. The quest for suitable materials Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. To copy otherwise, to republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Copyright 200X ACM X-XXXXX-XX-X/XX/XX ...$10.00. is identified as a central, but currently open research problem. Our work makes intensive use of two prototypes of optical PUFs. The presented integratable optical PUF prototype is, to our knowledge, the first of its kind in the literature.
Performance Analysis of Hierarchical Routing Protocols in Wireless Sensor Networks

This work focusses on analyzing the optimization strategies of routing protocols with respect to energy utilization of sensor nodes in Wireless Sensor Network (WSNs). Different routing mechanisms have been proposed to address energy optimization problem in sensor nodes. Clustering mechanism is one of the popular WSNs routing mechanisms. In this paper, we first address energy limitation constraints with respect to maximizing network life time using linear programming formulation technique. To check the efficiency of different clustering scheme against modeled constraints, we select four cluster based routing protocols, Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy (LEACH), Threshold Sensitive Energy Efficient sensor Network (TEEN), Stable Election Protocol (SEP), and Distributed Energy Efficient Clustering (DEEC). To validate our mathematical framework, we perform analytical simulations in MATLAB by choosing number of alive nodes, number of dead nodes, number of packets and number of CHs, as performance metrics.
Regional lung derecruitment after endotracheal suction during volume- or pressure-controlled ventilation: a study using electric impedance tomography

To assess lung volume and compliance changes during open- and closed-system suctioning using electric impedance tomography (EIT) during volume- or pressure-controlled ventilation. Experimental study in a university research laboratory. Nine bronchoalveolar saline-lavaged pigs. Open and closed suctioning using a 14-F catheter in volume- or pressure-controlled ventilation at tidal volume 10 ml/kg, respiratory rate 20 breaths/min, and positive end-expiratory pressure 10 cmH2O. Lung volume was monitored by EIT and a modified N2 washout/-in technique. Airway pressure was measured via a pressure line in the endotracheal tube. In four ventral-to-dorsal regions of interest regional ventilation and compliance were calculated at baseline and 30 s and 1, 2, and 10 min after suctioning. Blood gases were followed. At disconnection functional residual capacity (FRC) decreased by 58 ± 24% of baseline and by a further 22 ± 10% during open suctioning. Arterial oxygen tension decreased to 59 ± 14% of baseline value 1 min after open suctioning. Regional compliance deteriorated most in the dorsal parts of the lung. Restitution of lung volume and compliance was significantly slower during pressure-controlled than volume-controlled ventilation. EIT can be used to monitor rapid lung volume changes. The two dorsal regions of the lavaged lungs are most affected by disconnection and suctioning with marked decreases in compliance. Volume-controlled ventilation can be used to rapidly restitute lung aeration and oxygenation after lung collapse induced by open suctioning.
Looking to bacteria for clues.

In his News Focus story “On the origin of sexual reproduction” (5 June, p. [1254][1]), C. Zimmer highlights the importance of the phylogenetic perspective championed by John Logsdon, but by considering only eukaryotes he overlooks an important bacterial clue to the evolution-of-sex puzzle.
The safety netting behaviour of first contact clinicians: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND
Acute illness is common in childhood, and it is difficult for healthcare professionals to distinguish seriously ill children from the vast majority with minor or self-limiting illnesses. Safety netting provides parents with advice on when and where to return if their child deteriorates, and it is widely recommended that parents of acutely sick young children should be given safety netting advice. Yet little is known about how and when this is given. We aimed to understand what safety netting advice first contact clinicians give parents of acutely sick young children, how, when, and why.


METHODS
This was a qualitative study. Interviews and focus groups were held with doctors and nurses in a general practice surgery, a District General Hospital emergency department, a paediatric emergency department, and an out-of-hours service. Data were analysed using the method of constant comparison.


RESULTS
Sixteen clinicians participated. They described that safety netting advice includes advising parents what to look for, when and where to seek help. How safety netting was delivered and whether it was verbal or written was inconsistent, and no participants described being trained in this area. Safety netting appeared to be rarely documented, and was left to individual preference. Limitations of written materials, and structural barriers to the provision of safety netting, were perceived. Participants described that safety netting was influenced by clinicians' experience, confidence, time and knowledge; and perceived parental anxiety, experience, and competence. Participants noted several limitations to safety netting including not knowing if it has been understood by parents or been effective; parental difficulty interpreting information and desire for face-to-face reassurance; and potential over-reassurance.


CONCLUSION
First contact clinicians employ a range of safety netting techniques, with inconsistencies within and between organisations. Structural changes, clinician training, and documentation in patient notes may improve safety netting provision. Research is needed into the optimal components of safety netting advice so that clinicians can consistently deliver the most effective advice for parents.
On the Gcd-Sum Function

In this paper we give a unified asymptotic formula for the partial gcd-sum function. We also study the mean-square of the error in the asymptotic formula.
Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color

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Vouchers, public school response, and the role of incentives: evidence from Florida

This paper analyzes the incentives and responses of public schools in the context of an educational reform. The literature on the effect of voucher programs on public schools typically focuses on student and mean school scores. This paper tries to go inside the black box to investigate some of the ways in which schools facing the Florida voucher program behaved. The program embedded vouchers in an accountability regime. Schools getting an “F” grade for the first time were exposed to the threat of vouchers, but did not face vouchers unless and until they got a second “F” within the next three years. In addition, “F,” being the lowest grade, exposed the threatened schools to stigma. Exploiting the institutional details of this program, I analyze the incentives built into the system and investigate the behavior of the threatened public schools facing these incentives. There is strong evidence that they did respond to incentives. Using highly disaggregated school-level data, a difference-in-differences estimation strategy, and a regression discontinuity analysis, I find that the threatened schools tended to focus more on students below the minimum criteria cutoffs rather than reading and math. These results are robust to controlling for differential preprogram trends, changes in demographic compositions, mean reversion, and sorting. The findings have important policy implications.
Consumer Attitudes and Decision-Making With Regard to Genetically Engineered Food Products – A Review of the Literature and a Presentation of Models for Future Research

PREFACE This report is a task of a project with the title Consumer Attitudes and Decision-Making with regard to Genetically Engineered Food Products. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. Few studies have to date explained consumer attitudes and purchase decisions with regard to genetically engineered food products. However, the increased marketing of genetically engineered food products and the considerable concern that consumers seem to express with regard to the technology call for the development of a theoretical basis for research into these issues. 2. The aim of the paper is to present three models which we have developed to explain consumer attitudes, buying behaviour and attitude change with regard to genetically engineered food products. All three models build on established consumer behaviour theory and on existing and comparable research in the field. 3. Consumer attitudes toward genetic engineering in food products are explained in an attitude model that builds on Fishbein's multiattribute attitude model. The model deviates from Fishbein's model in a number of ways: there is an explicit distinction between perceived benefits and risks and between attitude towards product and process, outcome beliefs are targeted at different outcome groups, more general attitudes are included as additional determinants of attitudes , and the traditional outcome evaluation measures are replaced by stan-dardised regression coefficients obtained by regressing attitudes, measured by global measures, on beliefs. 4. Consumer buying behaviour with regard to specific genetically engineered food products is explained in a behavioural intention model which uses Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior as its point of departure. In the model, behavioural intention covers both intentions to purchase and intentions to avoid a genetically engineered food product, and the model suggests perceived moral obligation,perceived difficulty and, through the attitude to behaviour factor, the person's attitude towards genetic engineering in food production in general as additional determinants of behavioural intentions. 5. How consumers' attitudes towards genetically engineered food products are affected by various information strategies is explained in an attitude change model, which integrates aspects of the Elaboration Likelihood Model and Social Judgment Theory. The model specifically takes into account the impact of source credibility and various informational factors, such as persuasive content of the information provided, on attitudes.
Temporal changes in blood product usage in preterm neonates born at less than 30 weeks' gestation in Canada.

BACKGROUND
Knowledge of neonatal transfusion practices remains limited to local cohorts or survey-based studies. This study evaluated the pattern and temporal changes in the types and frequency of blood product use among preterm neonates born at less than 30 weeks' gestation in Canada.


STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS
A retrospective cohort study of preterm neonates born at less than 30 weeks' gestation and admitted to participating neonatal intensive care units in the Canadian Neonatal Network from 2004 to 2012 was conducted to evaluate blood product usage. The temporal change in red blood cell (RBC) use was evaluated by dividing the study period into three epochs: 2004 to 2006, 2007 to 2009, and 2010 to 2012.


RESULTS
Of 14,868 eligible neonates admitted to participating units in Canada during the overall study period, 8252 (56%) received RBCs, 2151 (15%) platelets, 1556 (11%) fresh-frozen plasma, 915 (6%) albumin, and 302 (2%) cryoprecipitate. Temporal evaluation over three epochs revealed a trend toward fewer RBC transfusions among neonates born at 26 to 29 weeks' gestation (p = <0.01-0.04) but use remained unchanged or increased for neonates born at 23 to 25 weeks' gestation (p = 0.02-0.54).


CONCLUSION
Blood product use remains at a very high frequency in preterm neonates born at less than 30 weeks' gestation. Evolutionary practice changes and relative high tolerance for anemia may be associated with a reduction in RBC usage in recent years in neonates born at at least 26 weeks' gestation. This contrasts with the ongoing higher usage of blood products observed at extremely low gestational ages.
Reduced acquisition and reactivation of human papillomavirus infections among older women treated with cryotherapy: results from a randomized trial in South Africa

BACKGROUND
Treatment of women for high-grade cervical cancer precursors frequently results in clearance of the associated high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) infection but the role of treatment among women without hrHPV is unknown. We investigated whether cervical cryotherapy reduces newly detected hrHPV infections among HIV-positive and HIV-negative women who were hrHPV negative when treated.


METHODS
The impact of cryotherapy on newly detected hrHPV infections was examined among 612 women of known HIV serostatus, aged 35 to 65 years, who were negative for hrHPV DNA, and randomized to either undergo cryotherapy (n = 309) or not (n = 303). All women underwent repeat hrHPV DNA testing 6, 12, 24, and 36 months later.


RESULTS
Among 540 HIV-negative women, cryotherapy was associated with a significant reduction in newly detected hrHPV infections. Women in the cryotherapy group were 55% less likely to have newly detected hrHPV than women in the control group (95% CI 0.28 to 0.71). This association was independent of the influence of changes in sexual behaviors following therapy (adjusted hazards ratio (HR) = 0.49, 95% CI 0.29 to 0.81). Among 72 HIV-positive women, similar reductions were not observed (HR = 1.10, 95% CI 0.53 to 2.29).


CONCLUSIONS
Cervical cryotherapy significantly reduced newly detected hrHPV infections among HIV-negative, but not HIV-positive women. These results raise intriguing questions about immunological responses and biological mechanisms underlying the apparent prophylactic benefits of cryotherapy.
Developing emotional intelligence ability in oncology nurses: a clinical rounds approach.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES
To explore the feasibility and impact of an emotional intelligence ability development program on staff and patient care.


DESIGN
A mixed method, pre/post-test design.


SETTING
A tertiary care hospital in urban Honolulu, HI. Rounds took place on a 24-bed inpatient oncology unit.


SAMPLE
33 RNs in an oncology unit.


METHODS
After collection of baseline data, the emotional intelligence rounds were conducted in an inpatient oncology nursing unit on all shifts during a 10-month period.


MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES
Demographic information, emotional intelligence scores, data from rounds, chart reviews of emotional care documentation, and unit-wide satisfaction and safety data.


FINDINGS
The ability to identify emotions in self and others was demonstrated less frequently than expected in this population. The low test response rate prevented comparison of scores pre- and postintervention.


CONCLUSIONS
The staff's 94% participation in rounds, the positive (100%) evaluation of rounds, and poststudy improvements in emotional care documentation and emotional care planning suggest a positive effect from the intervention. Additional research is recommended over a longer period of time to evaluate the impact emotional intelligence specifically has on the staff's identification of emotions. Because the intervention involved minimal time and resources, feasibility for continuation of the intervention poststudy was rated "high" by the research team.


IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING
Research in other disciplines suggests that improvement in emotional intelligence ability in clinical staff nurses may improve retention, performance, and teamwork in nursing, which would be of particular significance in high-risk clinical practice environments.


KNOWLEDGE TRANSLATION
Few research studies have explored development of emotional intelligence abilities in clinical staff nurses. Evidence from this study suggests that interventions in the clinical environment may be used to develop emotional intelligence ability. Impact from such development may be used in the future to not only improve the quality of nursing care, but also potentially limit the negative effects of high-stress environments on nurses.
Studies in bioluminescence. 10. Chemical models of enzymic oxidations.

Summary Oxidation of Pholad luciferin, luminol and a wide range of other compounds by superoxide ion produced electrolytically or by oxidation of H 2 O 2 with sodium periodate is described. Similar behaviour is shown by reduced FMN, or by ferrous ions and a phosphate ligand, in the presence of oxygen and it is shown that such systems are strongly oxidative due to a one electron reduction of dissolved molecular oxygen to O 2 ⨪rather than to production of hydrogen peroxide. Thus although catalase shows little or no effect on the oxidation, superoxide dismutase strongly inhibits. The general characteristics of the FMNH 2 /O 2 and Fe 2+ /O 2 / phosphate systems as a function of pH and of other parameters are described. In the absence of substrate, all four systems mentioned emit light (at a very low level) due to decomposition of the superoxide ions produced, presumably via excited singlet oxygen molecules.