LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Short-term treatment of severe hypertension of pregnancy: prospective comparison of nicardipine and labetalol

Objectives. To assess the efficacy and safety of nicardipine in comparison to labetalol in the initial management of severe hypertension in pregnancy. Design. Randomized prospective study. Setting. The obstetric ward of the teaching hospital of Monastir Tunisia. Patients. Sixty consecutive pregnant women admitted beyond the 24th week of pregnancy with severe hypertension. Intervention. Patients were randomly assigned to receive intravenously for 1 h either labetalol (n=30) or nicardipine (n=30). Treatment was titrated to achieve a 20% lowering of blood pressure (BP). Measurements. Maternal BP and heart rate were measured at inclusion and repeatedly during the first hour following the drugs administration. Fetal heart rate was recorded throughout the study period. The main outcome endpoints were the success rate and the length of time needed to achieve the therapeutic goal. The rate of maternal and fetal adverse events and dose adjustments were also analyzed. Results. Labetalol and nicardipine achieved the 20% lowering in BP in the same proportion (63% and 70% success rates, respectively). Overall nicardipine caused a significantly greater decrease in systolic and diastolic BP. No patient had any episode of hypotension. The length of time to achieve the BP goal was also similar (12 vs. 11 min, respectively). Both drugs were well tolerated except for a moderate tachycardia observed with the use of nicardipine. Conclusion. Nicardipine and labetalol are effective and safe in the initial treatment of severe hypertension of pregnancy.
Broader scopes of the reflexivity principle in the economy

In this essay we show that the reflexivity principle can be extended to account for many economic phenomena; in fact it plays an essential role in a new theory that may rival mainstream economics.
Survey on Various Gesture Recognition Technologies and Techniques

Gestures considered as the most natural expressive way for communications between human and computers in virtual system. Hand gesture is a method of non-verbal communication for human beings for its freer expressions much more other than body parts. Hand gesture recognition has greater importance in designing an efficient human computer interaction system. Using gestures as a natural interface benefits as a motivation for analyzing, modeling, simulation, and recognition of gestures. In this paper a survey on various recent gesture recognition approaches is provided with particular emphasis on hand gestures. A review of static hand posture methods are explained with different tools and algorithms applied on gesture recognition system, including connectionist models, hidden Markov model, and fuzzy clustering. Challenges and future research directions are also highlighted.
THE WRITER AS TEACHER: A COMPARISON OF THE AFRICAN ADVENTURE STORIES

Adventure stories are favorites among children in many parts of the world. Africa has been the locale of hundreds of children's adventure stories written by African and non-African authors for over a century. These adventure stories, along with other fiction, are just as powerful teachers about Africa as are professional educators. This essay will compare the adventure stories of three wellknown and popular authors (as judged by literary critics and child readers) who based their stories on extensive firsthand experience in Africa. The writers belong to three different generations, and their adventure stories are typical of those of many other writers of their time.1 Representing the Victorian Age is George Alfred Henty, whose name is "probably identified above all others with the Victorian adventure story" (Townsend, 1975: 63) and whose books were so popular with children that in 1894 some British teachers limited the number that students could read (Welsch, n.d.). The early twentieth century is represented by Rene Guillot, the initiator of the exotic novel for children (Jan and Patte, 1973: 360) and winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Prize of the International Board on Books for Young People-a prize which has been awarded only three times since 1958. Although Guillot wrote all of his children's books in French, almost all of them have been translated into English. Barbara Kimenye (a journalist from Uganda, short story writer, and one of East Africa's most prolific children's writers) represents the mid-twentieth century. She writes about ordinary people "who live outside the pale of ordinary society" and makes their lives interesting (Nazareth, 1974: 167).
An innovative telemedical support system to measure physical activity in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

UNLABELLED
To assess physical activity in patients with type 1 diabetes an innovative telemedical support system has been developed. The aim of the feasibility trial was to prove its use in a clinical setting.


PATIENTS/METHODS
16 children/adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus aged 14.5 ± 2.2 years (diabetes duration 6.5 ± 3.6 years, HbA1c 8.8 ± 1.0%) were included in the study. During a period of 1-3 days all the patients received a telemedical assessment system. It consists of a sensor for physical activity integrated into a mobile phone (DiaTrace). Additionally it is combined with a system for continuous blood glucose monitoring (CGM).


RESULTS
The technical system was highly accepted by all the 16 children and adolescents. Physical activity measured was 13.3 ± 5.5 AU/d, mean duration of total physical activity was 204.9 ± 66.5 min/d (walking 102.5 ± 62.5, running 7.4 ± 5.8, cycling 39.2 ± 32.7, driving 36.0 ± 18.6, non-specific physical activity 57.0 ± 29.7 min/d). Periods without activity lasted for 386.5 ± 187.2 min/d. Daily energy expenditure was 1,964.1 ± 185.5 kcal/d. Correlations between physical activity (measured with DiaTrace) and blood glucose profiles (measured with CGM) were calculated. Pearson's correlation coefficients ranged between 0.59 and 0.99 (median 0.91). Hence, these good correlation coefficients show the high and direct association between blood glucose values and activity units. The wide ranges in correlation coefficients demonstrate a huge variability of individualized reactions.


CONCLUSIONS
Use of innovative electronic health technology is highly accepted by patients. It reveals an accurate, real-time assessment of an individual's physical activity. These information can use for insulin dose-adjustment.
The Relationship between the Growth Hormone/Insulin-like Growth Factor System and the Histological Features of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Objective Growth hormone (GH) deficiency has recently been reported as a cause of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and GH supplementation has been shown to improve the histology of NAFLD. The aim of the present study was to clarify the relationship between the histological severity of NAFLD and production of the GH/insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) axis. Methods A total of 222 Japanese patients with liver biopsy-confirmed NAFLD and 55 patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related chronic liver disease (CLD) were enrolled in the present study. The serum levels of GH, IGF-1, and IGF-binding protein 3 (IGFBP-3) were measured and their relationships with the histological severity of liver disease were assessed. To exclude age- and sex-related differences, the IGF-1 standard deviation score (IGF-1:SDS) was determined for each patient. Results With respect to the stage of fibrosis in patients with NAFLD, the serum GH levels were higher and the serum IGFBP-3 levels and IGF-1:SDSs were lower in patients with cirrhosis (grade F4 fibrosis) than in patients grade F1-F3 fibrosis; moreover, these differences were statistically significant (all p<0.01). The GH, IGF-1, and IGFBP-3 levels were not correlated with fibrosis in patients with HCV-related CLD. Furthermore, the GH levels were lower and the IGFBP-3 levels were significantly higher in patients with severe steatosis (S3) than in patients with mild to moderate steatosis (S1-S2) (p<0.05). Conclusion Increased GH levels and decreased IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 levels might contribute to the progression of NAFLD. The GH/IGF-1 axis may be important in the development of NAFLD, but not in patients with HCV-related CLD.
Layer-Specific Adaptive Learning Rates for Deep Networks

The increasing complexity of deep learning architectures is resulting in training time requiring weeks or even months. This slow training is due in part to "vanishing gradients," in which the gradients used by back-propagation are extremely large for weights connecting deep layers (layers near the output layer), and extremely small for shallow layers (near the input layer), this results in slow learning in the shallow layers. Additionally, it has also been shown that in highly non-convex problems, such as deep neural networks, there is a proliferation of high-error low curvature saddle points, which slows down learning dramatically [1]. In this paper, we attempt to overcome the two above problems by proposing an optimization method for training deep neural networks which uses learning rates which are both specific to each layer in the network and adaptive to the curvature of the function, increasing the learning rate at low curvature points. This enables us to speed up learning in the shallow layers of the network and quickly escape high-error low curvature saddle points. We test our method on standard image classification datasets such as MNIST, CIFAR10 and ImageNet, and demonstrate that our method increases accuracy as well as reduces the required training time over standard algorithms.
Richard Thaler and the Rise of Behavioral Economics

The emergence of behavioral economics is one of the most prominent conceptual developments in the social sciences in recent decades. The central figure in the field in its early years was Richard Thaler. In this article, I review and discuss his scientific contributions. JEL classification: B2, D9, G1
TRANX: A Transition-based Neural Abstract Syntax Parser for Semantic Parsing and Code Generation

We present TRANX, a transition-based neural semantic parser that maps natural language (NL) utterances into formal meaning representations (MRs). TRANX uses a transition system based on the abstract syntax description language for the target MR, which gives it two major advantages: (1) it is highly accurate, using information from the syntax of the target MR to constrain the output space and model the information flow, and (2) it is highly generalizable, and can easily be applied to new types of MR by just writing a new abstract syntax description corresponding to the allowable structures in the MR. Experiments on four different semantic parsing and code generation tasks show that our system is generalizable, extensible, and effective, registering strong results compared to existing neural semantic parsers.1
Effective Beginning Reading Instruction: A Paper Commissioned by the National Reading Conference

Permission to reproduce this work for personal or classroom use is granted provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit and all copies bear this notice and a full citation on the first page. Executive Summary Recently, the National Reading Panel offered a summary of the research literature about beginning reading instruction. They concluded that beginning reading competence is fostered by instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension strategies. The Panel also favored guided oral reading, teacher professional development related to beginning reading, and use of computer technology in the development of early reading skills. An important problem, however, was that much of the scientific evidence relating to beginning reading instruction was ignored in the development of the report. The Panel decided early in its process to focus on only a very few topics and limit its review to experimental and quasi-experimental evidence. Even so, the conclusions of the Panel certainly were credible, as far as they went, covering well the teaching of some beginning reading skills-notably, letter, sound, and word-level skills. • Phonemic awareness instruction is effective in promoting early reading (e.g., word reading, comprehension) and spelling skills. • Guided oral reading (i.e., a teacher listening as a student reads, providing instruction as needed) and repeated reading of texts increase reading fluency during the elementary years. • A variety of methods of vocabulary instruction make sense, with vocabulary instruction positively impacting reading comprehension. • Comprehension strategies instruction improves comprehension, with a number of strategies positively affecting understanding of text. and summarization. Teaching students to use a small repertoire of effective strategies (e.g., predicting upcoming text content, seeking clarification when confused, asking questions, constructing mental images representing text content, and summarizing) was given an especially strong endorsement by the Panel. • Professional development can change teachers' instruction in reading, with impact on student achievement, although much more research is needed to identify helpful approaches to in-service education. • Greater community resources that can promote young children's literacy, such as volunteers who tutor children in reading, and in doing so, improve early reading. 3 • When books are made available to young children-for example, through community efforts such as Reading is Fundamental-children are more likely to engage in literacy-promoting activities, with the result enhanced language and literacy skills. • Whole language interventions at school do seem to promote some general, beginning understandings about reading and writing. • Literature-driven …
Ultrasound-guided block of the axillary nerve: a volunteer study of a new method.

BACKGROUND
Interscalene brachial plexus block (IBPB) is the gold standard for perioperative pain management in shoulder surgery. However, a more distal technique would be desirable to avoid the side effects and potential serious complications of IBPB. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to develop and describe a new method to perform an ultrasound-guided specific axillary nerve block.


METHODS
After initial investigations, 12 healthy volunteers were included. We performed an in-line ultrasound-guided specific axillary nerve block by injecting 8 ml local anesthetic (lidocaine 20 mg/ml) after placing the tip of a nerve stimulation needle cranial to the posterior circumflex humeral artery in the neurovascular space bordered by the teres minor muscle, the deltoid muscle, the triceps muscle and the shaft of the humerus. Needle placement was aided by simultaneous nerve stimulation. We assessed sensory (pinprick and cold stimulation) and motor (active resistive force) block of the axillary nerve before, 15, 30, 60, 90 and 120 min after performing the block and every 30 min until termination of the block.


RESULTS
All 12 volunteers demonstrated sensory block of the axillary nerve and 10 volunteers demonstrated complete motor block. Even though it was difficult to directly visualize the axillary nerve, the block was easy to perform with easily recognizable ultrasonographic landmarks. Block duration was approximately 120 min.


CONCLUSIONS
We describe a new ultrasound-guided technique to specifically block the axillary nerve. The potential clinical role of this new block remains to be determined.
Conventional chest physiotherapy compared to other airway clearance techniques for cystic fibrosis.

BACKGROUND
Cystic fibrosis is an inherited life-limiting disorder, characterised by pulmonary infections and thick airway secretions. Chest physiotherapy has been integral to clinical management in facilitating removal of airway secretions. Conventional chest physiotherapy techniques (CCPT) have depended upon assistance during treatments, while more contemporary airway clearance techniques are self-administered, facilitating independence and flexibility.


OBJECTIVES
To compare CCPT with other airway clearance techniques in terms of their effects on respiratory function, individual preference, adherence, quality of life and other outcomes.


SEARCH STRATEGY
We searched the Cochrane Cystic Fibrosis and Genetic Disorders Group trials register which comprises references identified from comprehensive electronic database searches and handsearching of relevant journals and abstract books of conference proceedings. We also searched CINAHL from 1982 to 2002 and AMED from 1985 to 2002. Date of most recent search: January 2004.


SELECTION CRITERIA
Randomised or quasi-randomised clinical trials including those with a cross-over design where CCPT was compared with other airway clearance techniques. Studies of less than seven days duration were excluded.


DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Two reviewers allocated quality scores to relevant studies and independently extracted data. If we were unable to extract data, we invited authors to submit their data. We excluded studies from meta-analysis when data were lost or study design precluded comparison. For some continuous outcomes, we used the generic inverse variance method for meta-analysis of data from cross-over trials and data from parallel-designed trials were incorporated for comparison. We also examined efficacy of specific techniques and effects of treatment duration.


MAIN RESULTS
Seventy-eight publications were identified by the searches. Twenty-nine of these were included, representing 15 data sets with 475 participants. There was no difference between CCPT and other airway clearance techniques in terms of respiratory function measured by standard lung function tests. Studies undertaken during acute exacerbations demonstrated relatively large gains in respiratory function irrespective of airway clearance technique. Longer-term studies demonstrated smaller improvements or deterioration over time. Ten studies reported individual preferences for technique, with participants tending to favour self-administered techniques. Heterogeneity in the measurement of preference precluded these data from meta-analysis.


AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
This review demonstrated no advantage of CCPT over other airway clearance techniques in terms of respiratory function. There was a trend for participants to prefer self-administered airway clearance techniques. Limitations of this review included a paucity of well-designed, adequately-powered, long-term trials.
Niche separation between the maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus), the crab‐eating fox (Dusicyon thous) and the hoary fox (Dusicyon vetulus) in central Brazil

Four species of canids occur in the Cerrado of central Brazil. Three of them, the maned wolf Chrysocyon brachyurus, the crab-eating fox Dusicyon thous and the hoary fox Dusicyon vetulus, were studied in Emas National Park between 1996 and 1999 to investigate niche separation. The diet of the three species was studied to understand niche breadth and degree of overlap. Habitat and activity patterns were used as second and third ecological parameters to define niche dimensions, and were estimated using camera-trap data. The maned wolf is the largest species, weighing c. 21 kg, and is about three times larger than the crab-eating fox and six times larger than the hoary fox. The major ecological differences between the three species were found in their food niche and habitat use, where crab-eating fox presented higher differences from the hoary fox (Pianka’s index of niche overlap (O) = 0.405). Despite differences in niche breadth, habitat use between the hoary fox and the maned wolf were more similar, explaining their larger overlap, in comparison with habitat use by the crab-eating fox. Activity patterns among the species showed less divergence. The three species presented two activity peaks, one in the dusk–night period and another in the morning period. These data permit a better understanding of the ecological separation of the three Cerrado canids that enables their coexistence.
A phase I clinical pharmacologic study of pralatrexate in combination with probenecid in adults with advanced solid tumors

Purpose: The antifolate pralatrexate (10-propargyl-10-deazaaminopterin, PDX) demonstrates greater in vitro and in vivo antitumor efficacy than methotrexate. Preclinical models indicated that the efficacy of pralatrexate may be enhanced by coadministration with probenecid. The aim of this phase I study was to determine the maximum-tolerated dose of pralatrexate when combined with probenecid given every 2 weeks in humans. Methods: The starting dose was pralatrexate 40 mg/m2 intravenously and probenecid 70 mg/m2 intravenously administered every 14 days, where one cycle of treatment was every 28 days. The pralatrexate dose was initially fixed while probenecid dose escalation was explored. The pralatrexate area under the curve (AUC), terminal-half life (t1/2), and maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) were determined in cycle 1. Results: Seventeen patients with advanced solid tumors were treated with a median of two prior chemotherapy regimens. Stomatitis was dose-limiting with pralatrexate 40 mg/m2 and probenecid 233 mg/m2. Mean pralatrexate AUC and half life (t1/2) increased with increasing doses of probenecid. No objective responses were seen. Conclusion: For patients with advanced solid tumors, the maximum-tolerated dose of this drug combination was pralatrexate 40 mg/m2 and probenecid 140 mg/m2. Vitamin B12 and folate supplementation may allow for further dose escalation of pralatrexate and probenecid. This is a suitable question for a future study.
Integration of Driving and Traffic Simulation: Issues and First Solutions

Driving simulators are very suitable test beds for the evaluation and development of intelligent transportation systems (ITSs). However, the impact of such systems on the behavior of individual drivers can properly be analyzed through driving simulators only if autonomous vehicles in the driving scenario move according to the system under evaluation. This condition means that the simulation of the traffic surrounding the interactive vehicle should already take into account the driver's behavior as affected by the system under analysis. Currently, this “loop” is not properly tackled, because the effects on individuals and traffic are, in general, separately and, often, independently evaluated. The integration of traffic and driving simulations, instead, may provide a more consistent solution to this challenging evaluation problem. It also opens up new scenarios for enhancing the credibility of both traffic modeling and driving simulation and for their combined development. For instance, because drivers directly interact with driver/traffic models in a driving simulation environment, such models may also be tested against nonnormative behavior, and this case seems the only way to test driver/traffic models for safety applications. Based on this idea, this paper describes the integration of a driving simulation engine known as SCANeR and a traffic-flow microsimulation model known as AIMSUN. Methodological and technical issues of such integration are first presented, and future enhancements for higher consistency of the simulation environments are finally envisaged.
Doris Salcedo’s Melancholy Objects

This article takes Doris Salcedo's work 'Atrabiliarios' (held in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art) as the starting point for a discussion of the mechanisms of melancholy and fetishism. This is linked to a discussion of the politics of looking, museum displays and memory.