LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Acupressure for persistent cancer-related fatigue in breast cancer survivors (AcuCrft): a study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND
Despite high levels of clinically significant persistent cancer related fatigue in breast cancer survivors few treatments are currently available and most pose a significant burden on the part of the woman. Acupressure, a component of Traditional Chinese Medicine, has been shown to decrease fatigue levels by as much as 70% in cancer survivors while being inexpensive, non-toxic and an easy to use intervention. The primary aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of two types of self-administered acupressure (relaxation acupressure and stimulating acupressure), compared to standard of care on fatigue severity. Secondary aims were to evaluate the efficacy of two types of acupressure on sleep and kinetic parameters required for implementation of acupressure in a clinical setting; The purpose of this paper is to share the methodology used including challenges and insights.


METHODS/DESIGN
This study is a three group, randomized clinical trial. 375 breast cancer survivors at least 12 months after completion of cancer treatments, with moderate to severe persistent fatigue, are being randomized to one of 3 groups: self-administered relaxation acupressure; self-administered stimulating acupressure; or standard of care. Participants are assessed at baseline, 3 weeks, and 6 weeks followed by a 4-week follow-up period. The primary aim is to examine the effect of 6-weeks of relaxation acupressure compared to stimulatory acupressure or standard of care on fatigue as assessed by: weekly self-report using the Brief Fatigue Inventory; objective daytime physical activity on actigraph; or fatigue patterns assessed 4-times daily using a visual analog scale. Secondary endpoints include depression, anxiety, self-efficacy, and sleep quality.


DISCUSSION
This study has the potential to develop a low-cost, self-care intervention for the most troubling of late-term effects in breast cancer populations, fatigue. The methods used may lend constructive ideas to other investigators working with this population and/or intervention.


TRIAL REGISTRATION
ClinicalTrial.Gov Trials Register NCT01281904.
Modelling molybdate and tungstate adsorption to ferrihydrite

NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Chemical Geology. 1 Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural 2 formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may 3 have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was 4 subsequently published in Chemical Geology 200, 105-115. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s00095 2541(03)00161-x 6 7
Why Firm-Established User Communities Work for Innovation: The Personal Attributes of Innovative Users in the Case of Computer-Controlled Music

Studies of the sources of innovations have recognized that many innovations are developed by users. However, the fact that firms employ communities of users to strengthen their innovation process has not yet received much attention. In firm-established user communities users freely reveal innovations to a firm’s product platform, which in turn puts the firm in a favorable position (a) because these new product features become available to all users by sharing on a user-to-user basis, or (b) because it allows the firm to pick up the innovations and integrate them in future products and then benefit by selling them to all users. We study the key personal attributes of the individuals responsible for innovations and the creation of value in this organizational context, namely the innovative users, to explain why firm-established user communities work. Analyzing data derived from a web-based questionnaire generating 442 answers we find that innovative users are likely to be (i) hobbyists, an attribute that can be assumed to affect innovators’ willingness to share innovations (positively), and (ii) responsive to “firm-recognition” as a motivating factor for undertaking innovation, which explains their decision to join the firm’s domain. In agreement with earlier studies we also find that innovative users are likely to be “lead users”, an attribute that we assume to affect the quality of user innovation. Whether or not a firm-established user community can be turned into an asset for the firm is to a great extent conditioned by the issues studied in this paper.
Local Electromechanical Properties of CaCu3Ti4O12 Ceramics

Departamento de Fisico-Quimica Instituto de Quimica Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), 14800-900, Araraquara, SP
Determination of Lead in Lipstick by Microwave Digestion and FAAS

To establish a method for determination of lead in lipstick with microwave digestion and FAAS. Microwave digestion of samples with selected digestion conditions and FAAS were used to determine Pb in 10 lipstick samples. In the system of nitric acid (7.5 ml) and hydrogen peroxide (1.5ml), the time of microwave digestion was 10 minutes; a better result of digestion was obtained. The linear range and the detection limit of this method was 0.003 mg/l and 0.9994 respectively. The recovery rates of this method were 94.6%¿102.5%. This method is satisfied for determination of lead in lipstick samples.
Analytical design procedure for resonant inductively coupled wireless power transfer system with class-E2 DC-DC converter

This paper presents a resonant inductive coupling wireless power transfer (RIC-WPT) system with a class-E2 dc-dc converter along with its analytical design procedure. By using the class-E inverter as a transmitter and the class-E rectifier as a receiver, the designed WPT system can achieve a high power-conversion efficiency because of the class-E ZVS/ZDS conditions satisfied in both the inverter and the rectifier. In the simulation results, the system achieved 65.9 % overall efficiency at 5 W (50 Ω) output power, coil distance 30 cm, and 5 MHz operating frequency. Additionally, the simulation results showed good agreement with the design specifications, which indicates the validity of the design procedure.
The bone marrow niche for haematopoietic stem cells

Niches are local tissue microenvironments that maintain and regulate stem cells. Haematopoiesis provides a model for understanding mammalian stem cells and their niches, but the haematopoietic stem cell (HSC) niche remains incompletely defined and beset by competing models. Recent progress has been made in elucidating the location and cellular components of the HSC niche in the bone marrow. The niche is perivascular, created partly by mesenchymal stromal cells and endothelial cells and often, but not always, located near trabecular bone. Outstanding questions concern the cellular complexity of the niche, the role of the endosteum and functional heterogeneity among perivascular microenvironments.
New measure of health-related quality of life for patients with oropharyngeal mucositis: development and preliminary psychometric evaluation.

BACKGROUND
Oropharyngeal mucositis (OM) causes profound impairment of patients' health-related quality of life (HQoL). The aim of the article is to describe the development and preliminary validation of an HQoL instrument, OMQoL, specifically for patients with OM.


METHODS
First, a qualitative phase was conducted to generate items (n = 23). Face validity was assessed by focus group interviews (n = 13). Expert content review (n = 7) was used to ensure content validity. The second step was a quantitative validation phase comprised a multicenter study (n = 210) to help identify subscales of the instrument addressing different dimensions of OM and to measure reliability.


RESULTS
The qualitative interview generated 171 items. Using focus group discussion and expert content review, items were reduced to 41 items. Factor and scaling analyses of these 41 items resulted in 4 subscales, contributed by 31 items, depicting problems with symptoms, diet, social function, and swallowing. The floor effect was modest. The factorial structure was satisfactory with loading >0.40 on each subscale for all items. All corrected item-total corrections were higher than 0.40 (r = 0.457-0.874). The internal consistency reliability of each subscale was high, with Cronbach alpha coefficients ranging from 0.906 to 0.934. The test-retest reliability of the individual items using weighted kappa was good (kappa values 0.610-0.895). The intraclass correlation results for the subscale totals were all in excess of 0.70 (0.864-0.934).


CONCLUSIONS
An initial psychometric analysis of the OMQoL was encouraging. The OMQoL could provide a valuable tool for the assessment of HQoL of patients with OM.
Novel hybrid of strong tracking Kalman filter and wavelet neural network for GPS/INS during GPS outages

Aiming to improve positioning precision of the GPS/INS integrated navigation system during GPS outages, a novel model combined with strong tracking Kalman filter (STKF) and wavelet neural network (WNN) algorithms for INS errors compensation is proposed and tested. STKF is used to estimate INS errors as a replacement of Kalman filter (KF), and WNN is applied to establish a highly accurate model based on STKF when GPS works well and to predict INS errors during GPS outages. Performance of the proposed model has been experimentally verified using GPS and INS data collected in a land vehicle navigation test. The comparison results indicate that the proposed model combined with STKF/WNN algorithms can effectively provide high accurate corrections to the standalone INS during GPS outages. 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
A Novel Secure IoT-Based Smart Home Automation System Using a Wireless Sensor Network

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) provide noteworthy benefits over traditional approaches for several applications, including smart homes, healthcare, environmental monitoring, and homeland security. WSNs are integrated with the Internet Protocol (IP) to develop the Internet of Things (IoT) for connecting everyday life objects to the internet. Hence, major challenges of WSNs include: (i) how to efficiently utilize small size and low-power nodes to implement security during data transmission among several sensor nodes; (ii) how to resolve security issues associated with the harsh and complex environmental conditions during data transmission over a long coverage range. In this study, a secure IoT-based smart home automation system was developed. To facilitate energy-efficient data encryption, a method namely Triangle Based Security Algorithm (TBSA) based on efficient key generation mechanism was proposed. The proposed TBSA in integration of the low power Wi-Fi were included in WSNs with the Internet to develop a novel IoT-based smart home which could provide secure data transmission among several associated sensor nodes in the network over a long converge range. The developed IoT based system has outstanding performance by fulfilling all the necessary security requirements. The experimental results showed that the proposed TBSA algorithm consumed less energy in comparison with some existing methods.
Cranial strains and malocclusion: a rationale for a new diagnostic and treatment approach.

I n our last article 1 we described the external features which characterize the cranial and facial structures of the cranial strains known as hyperflexion and hyperextension. To understand how these strains develop we have to examine the anatomical relations underlying all cranial patterns. Each strain represent a variation on a theme. By studying the features in common, it is possible to account for the facial and dental consequences of these variations. The key is the spheno-basilar symphysis and the displacements which can take place between the occiput and the sphenoid at that suture. In hyperflexion there is shortening of the cranium in an antero-posterior direction with a subsequent upward buckling of the spheno-basilar symphysis (Figure 1). In children, where the cartilage of the joint has not ossified, a v-shaped wedge can be seen occasionally on the lateral skull radiograph (Figure 2). Figure (3a) is of the cranial base seen from a vertex viewpoint. By leaving out the temporal bones the connection between the centrally placed spheno-basilar symphysis and the peripheral structures of the cranium can be seen more easily. Sutherland realized that the cranium could be divided into quadrants (Figure 3b) centered on the spheno-basilar symphysis and that what happens in each quadrant is directly influenced by the spheno-basilar symphysis. He noted that accompanying the vertical changes at the symphysis there are various lateral displacements. As the peripheral structures move laterally, this is known as external rotation. If they move closer to the midline, this is called internal rotation. It is not unusual to have one side of the face externally rotated and the other side internally rotated (Figure 4a). This can have a significant effect in the mouth, giving rise to asymmetries (Figure 4b). This shows a palatal view of the maxilla with the left posterior dentition externally rotated and the right buccal posterior segment internally rotated, reflecting the internal rotation of the whole right side of the face. This can be seen in hyperflexion but also other strains. With this background, it is now appropriate to examine in detail the cranial strain known as hyperflexion. As its name implies, it is brought about by an exaggeration of the flexion/ extension movement of the cranium into flexion. Rhythmic movement of the cranium continues despite the displacement into flexion, but it does so more readily into flexion than extension. As the skull is shortened in an antero-posterior plane, it is widened laterally. Figures 3a and 3b. 3a: cranial base from a vertex view (temporal bones left out). 3b: Sutherland’s quadrants imposed on cranial base. Figure 2. Lateral Skull Radiograph of Hyperflexion patient. Note V-shaped wedge at superior border of the spheno-basillar symphysis. Figure 1. Movement of Occiput and Sphenold in Hyperflexion. Reprinted from Orthopedic Gnathology, Hockel, J., Ed. 1983. With permission from Quintessence Publishing Co.
Brief physician advice for alcohol problems in older adults: a randomized community-based trial.

BACKGROUND
Alcohol use in older adults is common. It is associated with depression, hypertension, diabetes, drug interactions, accidents, and increased rates of emergency department visits and hospitalizations.


METHODS
A controlled clinical trial (Project GOAL--Guiding Older Adult Lifestyles) tested the efficacy of brief physician advice in reducing the alcohol use and use of health care services of older adult problem drinkers. Twenty-four community-based primary care practices in Wisconsin (43 family physicians and internists) participated in the trial. Of the 6073 patients screened, 105 men and 53 women met inclusion criteria and were randomized into a control group (n = 71) or an intervention group (n = 87). Intervention group patients received two 10- to 15-minute physician-delivered counseling sessions that included advice, education, and contracting using a scripted workbook. A total of 146 patients (92.4%) participated in the 12-month follow-up procedure.


RESULTS
No significant differences were found between the control and intervention groups at baseline in alcohol use, age, socioeconomic status, depression, onset of alcohol use, smoking status, activity level, or use of mood-altering drugs. The older adults who received the physician intervention demonstrated a significant reduction in 7-day alcohol use, episodes of binge drinking, and frequency of excessive drinking (P <.005) compared with the control group at 3, 6, and 12 months after the intervention. There was a 34% reduction in 7-day alcohol use, 74% reduction in mean number of binge-drinking episodes, and 62% reduction in the percentage of older adults drinking more than 21 drinks per week in the intervention group compared with the control group. There were no significant changes in health status. Patterns of health care utilization were not extensively analyzed because of the small number of events.


CONCLUSIONS
This study provides the first direct evidence that brief physician advice can decrease alcohol use by older adults in community-based primary care practices.
Comparison of navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation and functional magnetic resonance imaging for preoperative mapping in rolandic tumor surgery

Navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (nTMS) is a novel tool for preoperative functional mapping. It detects eloquent cortical areas directly, comparable to intraoperative direct cortical stimulation (DCS). The aim of this study was to evaluate the advantage of nTMS in comparison with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in the clinical setting. Special focus was placed on accuracy of motor cortex localization in patients with rolandic lesions. Thirty consecutive patients were enrolled in the study. All patients received an fMRI and nTMS examination preoperatively. Feasibility of the technique and spatial resolution of upper and lower extremity cortical mapping were compared with fMRI. Consistency of preoperative mapping with intraoperative DCS was assessed via the neuronavigation system. nTMS was feasible in all 30 patients. fMRI was impossible in 7 out of 30 patients with special clinical conditions, pediatric patients, central vascular lesions, or compliance issues. The mean accuracy to localize motor cortex of nTMS was higher than in fMRI. In the subgroup of intrinsic tumors, nTMS produced statistically significant higher accuracy scores of the lower extremity localization than fMRI. fMRI failed to localize hand or leg areas in 6 out of 23 cases. Using nTMS, a preoperative localization of the central sulcus was possible in all patients. Verification of nTMS motor cortex localization with DCS was achieved in all cases. The fMRI localization of the hand area proved to be postcentral in one case. nTMS has fewer restrictions for preoperative functional mapping than fMRI and requires only a limited level of compliance. nTMS scores higher on the accuracy scale than fMRI. nTMS represents a highly valuable supplement for the preoperative functional planning in the clinical routine.
The impact of group counseling on depression, post-traumatic stress and function outcomes: a prospective comparison study in the Peter C. Alderman trauma clinics in northern Uganda.

BACKGROUND
The effectiveness of group interventions for adults with mental distress in post-conflict settings is less clear in sub-Saharan Africa.


AIM
To assess the impact of group counseling intervention on depression, post-traumatic stress and function outcomes among adults attending the Peter C. Alderman Foundation (PCAF) trauma clinics in northern Uganda.


METHODS
631 War affected adults were enrolled into PCAF trauma clinics. Using a quasi-experimental design, assessments were conducted at baseline, at 3 and 6 months following initiation of care. Multivariate longitudinal regression models were used to determine change in depression, post-traumatic stress and function scores over time among group counseling participants and non-participants.


RESULTS
In comparison to non-participants, participants had faster reduction in depression scores during the 6-month follow-up period [β=-1.84, 95%CI (-3.38 to -0.30), p=0.019] and faster reduction in post-traumatic stress scores during the 3-month follow-up period [β=-2.14, 95%CI (-4.21 to -0.10), p=0.042]. At 3-month follow up, participants who attended two or more sessions had faster increase in function scores [β=3.51, 95%CI (0.61-6.40), p=0.018] than participants who attended only one session.


LIMITATIONS
Selection bias due to the use of non-random samples. Substantial attrition rates and small sample sizes may have resulted in insufficient statistical power to determine meaningful differences.


CONCLUSION
The group counseling intervention offered in the PCAF clinics may have considerable mental health benefits over time. There is need for more research to structure, standardize and test the efficacy of this intervention using a randomized controlled trial.
Multiscale hybrid micro-nanocomposites based on carbon nanotubes and carbon fibers

Amino-modified double wall carbon nanotube (DWCNT-NH2)/carbon fiber (CF)/epoxy hybrid micro-nanocomposite laminates were prepared by a resin infusion technique. DWCNT-NH2/epoxy nanocomposites and carbon fiber/epoxy microcomposites were made for comparison. Morphological analysis of the hybrid composites was performed using field emission scanning electron microscope. A good dispersion at low loadings of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in epoxy matrix was achieved by a bath ultrasonication method. Mechanical characterization of the hybrid micro-nanocomposites manufactured by a resin infusion process included three-point bending, mode I interlaminar toughness, dynamic mechanical analysis, and drop-weight impact testing. The addition of small amounts of CNTs (0.025, 0.05, and 0.1 wt%) to epoxy resins for the fabrication of multiscale carbon fiber composites resulted in a maximum enhancement in flexural modulus by 35%, a 5% improvement in flexural strength, a 6% improvement in absorbed impact energy, and 23% decrease in the mode I interlaminar toughness. Hybridization of carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy using CNTs resulted in a reduction in Tg and dampening characteristics, presumably as a result of the presence of micron-sized agglomerates.
In vitro trans-differentiation of human umbilical cord derived hematopoietic stem cells into hepatocyte like cells using combination of growth factors for cell based therapy

The aim of the study was to develop a new strategy for the differentiation of hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) derived from UCB into hepatocyte like cells and also to estimate the effects of combination of fibroblast growth factor 4 (FGF 4) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) on hematopoietic stem cell differentiation. HSCs were isolated and purified by magnetic activated cell sorting. HSCs were induced to hepatocyte like cells under a 2-step protocol with combination of growth factors. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was performed to detect multiple genes related to hepatocyte like cells development and function. Hepatocyte like morphology was illustrated by inverted repeat microscope and the secretion of albumin and α- fetoprotein by these cells was confirmed by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Hepatocyte like cells was observed at the end of the protocol (days 14). These differentiated cells were observed to show high expression of genes related to hepatocytes (tryptophan 2, 3-dioxygenase [TO], glucose 6-phosphate [G6P], cytokeratin 18 [CK 18], albumin and α- fetoprotein [AFP]). The quantities of albumin and AFP at day 0 were low and upon differentiation the cells were able to produce albumin and AFP at high levels. Our results show a new strategy for differentiation in a short duration, using a combination of growth factors for the differentiation of umbilical cord blood derived HSC into hepatocyte like cells under certain in vitro conditions. After further studies this approach has the potency, for widespread cell replacement therapy for liver diseases.