LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Predictors of smoking among Swedish adolescents

BACKGROUND
Smoking most often starts in adolescence, implying that understanding of predicting factors for smoking initiation during this time period is essential for successful smoking prevention. The aim of this study was to examine predicting factors in early adolescence for smoking in late adolescence.


METHODS
Longitudinal cohort study, involving 649 Swedish adolescents from lower secondary school (12-13 years old) to upper secondary school (17-18 years old). Tobacco habits, behavioural, intra- and interpersonal factors and socio-demographic variables were assessed through questionnaires. Descriptive statistics, univariable and multivariable logistic regression were used to identify predicting factors.


RESULTS
Smoking prevalence increased from 3.3% among 12-13 year olds to 25.1% among 17-18 year olds. Possible predictors of smoking were: female sex, lower parental education, poorer family mood, poorer self-rated health, poorer self-esteem, less negative attitude towards smoking, binge drinking, snus use and smoking. In a multivariable logistic regression analysis, female sex (OR 1.64, CI 1.08-2.49), medium and low self-esteem (medium: OR 1.57, CI 1.03-2.38, low: 2.79, CI 1.46-5.33), less negative attitude towards smoking (OR 2.81, CI 1.70-4.66) and ever using snus (OR 3.43, CI 1.78-6.62) remained significant independent predicting factors.


CONCLUSIONS
The study stresses the importance of strengthening adolescents' self-esteem, promoting anti-smoking attitudes in early adolescence, as well as avoidance of early initiation of snus. Such measures should be joint efforts involving parents, schools, youth associations, and legislating authorities.
The effect of motor action and different sensory modalities on terrain classification in a quadruped robot running with multiple gaits

Discriminating or classifying different terrains is an important ability for every autonomousmobile robot. A variety of sensors, preprocessing techniques, and algorithms in different robots were applied. However, little attentionwas paid to theway sensory datawas generated and to the contribution of different sensory modalities. In this work, a quadruped robot traversing different grounds using a variety of gaits is used, equipped with a collection of proprioceptive (encoders on active, and passive compliant joints), inertial, and foot pressure sensors. The effect of different gaits on classification performance is assessed and it is demonstrated that separate terrain classifiers for eachmotor program should be employed. Furthermore, poor performance of randomly generated motor commands confirms the importance of coordinated behavior on sensory information structuring. The collection of sensors sensitive to active, ‘‘tactile’’, terrain exploration proved effective. Among the individual modalities, encoders on passive compliant joints delivered best results. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Combination radiofrequency ablation and cementoplasty for palliative treatment of painful neoplastic bone metastasis: experience with 53 treated lesions in 36 patients

We report the safety and efficacy of combined radiofrequency ablation and cementoplasty in treating painful neoplastic bone lesions. Fifty-three combined radiofrequency ablation and cementoplasty procedures were completed in 36 patients. Thirty-four vertebrae (20 lumbar, 14 thoracic), 14 acetabulae, 3 sacra, 1 pubic symphysis, and 1 humerus were treated. Patient age ranged from 34 to 81 years (mean 57.6 years, SD = 12.6). Primary malignancies included: 12 breast, 5 lung, 6 multiple myeloma, 2 prostate, 2 renal cell carcinoma, 1 synovial sarcoma, 1 endometrial, 1 oral squamous cell carcinoma, 1 lymphoma, 1 colon, 1 transitional cell carcinoma, 1 colorectal, 1 cholangiocarcinoma, and 1 pheochromocytoma. Primary neoplasm location, pain levels pre- and post-procedure (as assessed using the Visual Analog Scale), number of radiofrequency (RF) treatments and any extravasation were documented. Combined radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and cementoplasty procedures were performed with 100% technical success (53 out of 53). The mean pre-procedure and post-procedure pain, as measured by the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), was 7.2/10 and 3.4/10 respectively. Symptomatic complications included one case of self-resolving transient thermal sciatic neurapraxia following RFA and acetabuloplasty. Two cases of transient pain following epidural leaks during treatment of thoracic vertebrae and breast metastases also occurred. Non-symptomatic complications, from a variety of cases, included cement emboli to the lung, incidental, non-symptomatic leaks into the needle track, spinal canal, draining veins, disc spaces, and an intra-articular leak into the hip joint. Combined RFA and cementoplasty appears to be safe, practical and effective in the palliative treatment of painful neoplastic lesions.
Evaluation of Apelin and Insulin Resistance in Patients with PCOS and Therapeutic Effect of Drospirenone-Ethinylestradiol Plus Metformin

BACKGROUND
The aim of this study was to determine the relevance of apelin and insulin resistance (IR) with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and to assess the possible therapeutic effect of the combined therapy of drospirenone-ethinylestradiol (DRSP-EE) combined with metformin.


MATERIAL AND METHODS
Sixty-three PCOS patients and 40 non-PCOS infertile patients were recruited. The fasting serum levels of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), testosterone (T), prolactin (PRL), estradiol (E2), glucose (FBG), insulin (FINS), and apelin at the early follicular phase were measured. To further investigate the relation between apelin and IR, we treated the PCOS patients with DRSP-EE (1 tablet daily, 21 d/month) plus metformin (500 mg tid) for 3 months. All of the above indices were measured again after treatment.


RESULTS
1) Levels of apelin, LH, LH/FSH, T, and FINS, as well as homeostatic model assessment of IR (HOMA-IR) in PCOS patients, were significantly higher than in the control group before treatment. 2) These indices significantly decreased after treatment with DRSP-EE plus metformin. 3) Correlation analysis showed that apelin level was positively correlated with body mass index (BMI), FINS level, and HOMA-IR.


CONCLUSIONS
Apelin level significantly increased in PCOS patients. The combined therapy of DRSP-EE plus metformin not only decreases IR, but also improves apelin level. This combination is a superior approach for PCOS treatment.
Robust Localization in 3D Prior Maps for Autonomous Driving.

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[Comparison of the mycobacteria growth indicator tube with solid culture for the detection of tuberculosis complex mycobacteria from blood].

AIM OF THIS STUDY
The aim of this study was to compare the mycobacteria growth indicator tube and solid culture for recovery of complex tuberculosis mycobacteria from blood.


PATIENTS AND METHODS
One hundred and twenty-five specimens from 67 Djiboutian patients with a positive serologic diagnosis of HIV and fever were collected in an Isolator tube. After centrifugation and washing with phosphate-buffer, smears were prepared from the pellet for auramin staining. The remaining sediment was suspended in 1 ml of buffer. One half was inoculated into two MGIT (incubation at 30 and 37 degrees C into Bactec 960) and the other onto two Loewenstein-Jensen and two Coletsos medium (incubation at 30 and 37 degrees C).


RESULTS
Eight cultures were contaminated: three on solid medium and MGIT simultaneously, five in MGIT only (three coagulase negative staphylococci, five enterobacteria). Fourteen strains of M. tuberculosis (six patients) and three M. canettii (two patients) (12 on solid media and MGIT, five in MGIT only) were recovered. The mean time to detection was 32.8 days for solid medium and 20.4 days for MGIT. Of a total of 25 patients with culture-proven tuberculosis, two patients had a positive blood culture only, six had blood and other specimens positive culture, 17 had a non blood specimens positive culture only.


CONCLUSION
MGIT processed into Bactec 960 is a viable tool for the detection of complexe tuberculosis mycobacteria from blood and the high-frequency of these mycobacteremia in HIV infected patients from country where the prevalence of tuberculosis is high is confirmed. However, the cost/benefit ratio of this bacteriologic diagnosis had to be evaluated in developping country.
"Work-Hardenable" ductile bulk metallic glass.

Usually, monolithic bulk metallic glasses undergo inhomogeneous plastic deformation and exhibit poor ductility (< 1%) at room temperature. We present a new class of bulk metallic glass, which exhibits high strength of up to 2265 MPa together with extensive "work hardening" and large ductility of 18%. Significant increase in the flow stress was observed during deformation. The "work-hardening" capability and ductility of this class of metallic glass is attributed to a unique structure correlated with atomic-scale inhomogeneity, leading to an inherent capability of extensive shear band formation, interactions, and multiplication of shear bands.
Object Recognition Using Vision and Touch

A system is described that integrates vision and tactile sensing in a robotics environment to perform object recognition tasks. It uses multiple sensor systems (active touch and passive stereo vision) to compute three dimensional primitives that can be matched against a model data base of complex curved surface objects containing holes and cavities. The low level sensing elements provide local surface and feature matches which arc constrained by relational criteria embedded in the models. Once a model has been invoked, a verification procedure establishes confidence measures for a correct recognition. The three dimen* sional nature of the sensed data makes the matching process more robust as does the system's ability to sense visually occluded areas with touch. The model is hierarchic in nature and allows matching at different levels to provide support or inhibition for recognition. 1. INTRODUCTION Robotic systems are being designed and built to perform complex tasks such as object recognition, grasping, parts manipulation, inspection and measurement. In the case of object recognition, many systems have been designed that have tried to exploit a single sensing modality [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Single sensor systems are necessarily limited in their power. The approach described here to overcome the inherent limitations of a single sensing modality is to integrate multiple sensing modalities (passive stereo vision and active tactile sensing) for object recognition. The advantages of multiple sensory systems in a task like this are many. Multiple sensor systems supply redundant and complementary kinds of data that can be integrated to create a more coherent understanding of a scene. The inclusion of multiple sensing systems is becoming more apparent as research continues in distributed systems and parallel approaches to problem solving. The redundancy and support for a hypothesis that comes from more than one sensing subsystem is important in establishing confidence measures during a recognition process, just as the disagreement between two sensors will inhibit a hypothesis and point to possible sensing or reasoning error. The complementary nature of these sensors allows more powerful matching primitives to be used. The primitives that are the outcome of sensing with these complementary sensors are throe dimensional in nature, providing stronger invariants and a more natural way to recognize objects which are also three dimensional in nature [7].
Help seeking, learning and contingent tutoring

The focus of this paper is the application of the theory of contingent tutoring to the design of a computer-based system designed to support learning in aspects of algebra. Analyses of interactions between a computer-based tutoring system and 42, 14and 15-year-old pupils are used to explore and explain the relations between individual dierences in learner±tutor interaction, learners' prior knowledge and learning outcomes. Parallels between the results of these analyses and empirical investigations of help seeking in adult±child tutoring are drawn out. The theoretical signi®cance of help seeking as a basis for studying the impact of individual learner dierences in the collaborative construction of `zones of proximal development' is assessed. In addition to demonstrating the signi®cance of detailed analyses of learner±system interaction as a basis for inferences about learning processes, the investigation also attempts to show the value of exploiting measures of on-line help seeking as a means of assessing learning transfer. Finally, the implications of the ®ndings for contingency theory are discussed, and the theoretical and practical bene®ts of integrating psychometric assessment, interaction process analyses, and knowledge-based learner modelling in the design and evaluation of computer-based tutoring are explored. # 2000 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Clinical correlation of anticentromere antibodies

A retrospective survey of all patients with a positive anticentromere antibody (ACA) determination was undertaken over a 3-years period of time in a university hospital. Forty-five patients were positive for anticentromere antibodies. The analysis of the clinical characteristics and diagnoses of the patients with anticentromere antibodies were correlated and showed a diverse array of symptoms. Only 4.4% had CREST syndrome, 6.7% had limited scleroderma, 17.8% had diffuse scleroderma, 20% had other connective tissue diseases, 20% had other miscellaneous rheumatic conditions, 11.1% had tumours and 20% other nonrheumatic diseases. The study shows that the presence of ACA, as detected during routine ANA-testing, does not strongly suggest a diagnosis of CREST at that time. The presence of a scleroderma-variant in almost 50% of the patients and the occurrence of Raynaud's phenomenon in 62% underscores, however, an association of ACA with (early) scleroderma-like disorders.
Physical activity preferences of older home care clients.

BACKGROUND
Physical activity contributes to an older person's health and well-being by maintaining strength, balance and mobility, all of which are important for older people who wish to remain living in their home for as long as possible. It is therefore essential that community nurses and those working with home care clients promote being physically active. To do this effectively requires an understanding of the type of physical activity older home care clients prefer to engage in.


AIM
The aims of this study were to identify the physical activity preferences of older people who received a home care service and to determine whether being physically active is important to this population.


METHODS
Twenty older home care clients were interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule. Data were analysed using a descriptive qualitative methodology.


RESULTS
Walking, housework and gardening were identified as the activities of choice. The majority of interviewees suggested that it was important to be physically active.


CONCLUSION
Structured exercise programmes are not the activity of choice for older home care clients. Therefore, when community nurses and allied health workers promote physical activity to their clients, they should suggest activities such as walking, housework and gardening and also endorse the benefits of physical activity for well-being and staying independent.


IMPLICATION FOR PRACTICE
Health and community nurses and organisations should routinely encourage home care clients to increase their activity levels, especially utilising those activities they most enjoy.
A survey of TQM practices in the Malaysian electrical and electronic industry

 Total quality management (TQM) is one of the key approaches towards realizing the goal of meeting customer satistaction. Besides efforts for quality improvement by large companies, many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have also pursued their quality improvement effort, but mostly through the ISO 9000 certification route. Few of these SMEs have actually implemented a total approach using the TQM philosophy. This paper relates to a survey conducted to investigate the level of practice on TQM elements and to find the most critical factors perceived by the SMEs. A questionnaire was sent to 248 companies in the electrical and electronics sector in Malaysia, which resulted in a response rate of 24.2%. Attempts at finding significant differences between small and large companies’ quality practices were made and revealed that there was a significant difference between the TQM practices of large and small companies. Management leadership, continuous improvement system and education and training proved to be rated among top priorities for successful implementation by large companies, compared with SMEs. However, supplier quality management was found to be the least implemented criteria by both large and small companies. This indicates that a much greater emphasis must be given on supplier management in future quality improvement programmes. The study has highlighted the importance of TQM adoption in SMEs to meet future challenges in realizing the vision, of world-class organizations. Engineering innovation must not be limited to ‘hard technology’ alone but should incorporate advanced manufacturing management techniques to sustain the improvement efforts and in meeting the long-term needs of the nation. Further studies can be made focusing on other types of industry in Malaysia, such as automotive, metal-based, and food processing, etc, to allow for a more comprehensive TQM framework to be built upon to meet the needs of SMEs in their drive towards a total quality organization.
Which factors influence spontaneous state transitions during resuscitation?

BACKGROUND
The clinical state (i.e. ventricular fibrillation/tachycardia: VF/VT, asystole: ASY, pulseless electrical activity: PEA, or return of spontaneous circulation, ROSC) during cardiopulmonary resuscitation determines patient management. We investigate how spontaneous transitions (i.e. not forced by DC shock) between these states are influenced by factors like age, gender, bystander CPR, CPR quality, proportion of time spent in a state, or the number of state transitions.


METHODS
Detailed recordings from CPR attempts in 304 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in Akershus (Norway), Stockholm (Sweden), and London (UK) were obtained from modified Heartstart 4000 defibrillators. Spontaneous state transitions were studied using a non-parametric intensity regression method that can handle dynamic factors like the state history properly.


RESULTS
The initial state tended to preserve itself, as did cumulative time in any state. Recent DC shock, bystander CPR, location, response time, gender, compression depth, and ventilation rate were important for some transitions. More ventilation during PEA might possibly avert development to ASY and favour ROSC; otherwise observed variations in CPR quality had little impact.


CONCLUSION
Using a novel intensity regression approach we studied the influence of various factors on spontaneous (i.e. non-shock) state transitions during CPR. State development was largely determined by the initial state, the proportion of time spent in a state, and the transition frequency; all probably reflecting the underlying aetiology.
Marriage and cohabitation in the United States: A statistical portrait based on cycle 6 (2002) of the National Survey of Family Growth.

OBJECTIVE
This report provides an overview of marital and cohabiting relationships in the United States among men and women aged 15-44 in 2002, by a variety of characteristics. National estimates are provided that highlight formal and informal marital status, previous experience with marriage and cohabitation, the sequencing of marriage and cohabitation, and the stability of cohabitations and marriages.


METHODS
The analyses presented in this report are based on a nationally representative sample of 12,571 men and women aged 15-44 living in households in the United States in 2002, based on the National Survey of Family Growth, Cycle 6.


RESULTS
Over 40% of men and women aged 15-44 were currently married at the date of interview, compared with about 9% who were currently cohabiting. Men and women were, however, likely to cohabit prior to becoming married. Marriages were longer lasting than cohabiting unions; about 78% of marriages lasted 5 years or more, compared with less than 30% of cohabitations. Cohabitations were shorter-lived than marriages in part because about half of cohabitations transitioned to marriage within 3 years. Variations--often large variations-in marital and cohabiting relationships and durations were found by race and Hispanic origin, education, family background, and other factors.
A tool converting finite state machine to VHDL

Finite state machines (FSM) are a basic component in hardware design; they represent the transformation between inputs and outputs for sequential designs. FSMs can be represented graphically, which would help the designer to visualize and design in a more efficient way; on the other hand the designer requires a fast direct way to convert the visualized design to hardware description language (HDL) code directly in order to simulate and implement it for synthesis and analysis. In this paper, we present a tool which, starting from a graphical FSM representation, produces a behavioral HDL code which can be directly analyzed and synthesized.
Targeted cancer chemotherapy with arterial microcapsule chemoembolization: review of 1013 patients

 To evaluate the feasibility of intraarterial infusion of microencapsulated anticancer drugs (chemoembolization), collective data on 1013 cancer patients were reviewed. Ethylcellulose microcapsules containing mitomycin C (median total dose 20 mg), cisplatin (60 mg) or peplomycin (40 mg) were given to tumor-feeding arteries by bolus infusion in 79% of the patients and by fractionated infusion in the others, as a palliative (71%) or preoperative measure (29%). The target sites were the liver (42%), kidney (24%), intrapelvic organs (18%), lung (4%), head and neck (3%), bone (1%) and others (9%), excluding the central nervous system and gastrointestinal tract. The incidence of overall adverse effects ranged from 0.2 to 54.9%, but grade 2–3 hematological, renal and hepatic toxicities, local pain, abdominal discomfort, cutaneous reaction, remote embolization and infection were < 10%. Nine patients (0.9%) in the early stages of trials suffered serious complications including treatment-related death in two with critical underlying diseases of the target organs. The remaining patients recovered from the adverse effects, except for grade 2 cutaneous reactions, within 2 months by routine palliative measures. A ≥ 50% tumor reduction was seen in 28% of 427 evaluable tumors (42% for < 25-cm2 tumors and 20% for ≥ 25-cm2 tumors) with a median treatment number of one. The response rate depended on both the tumor size and the treatment number (P< 0.05), but it was not affected by prior therapies. Mitomycin C microcapsules produced a higher response rate. Complete or partial remission of intractable pain and genitourinary gross hemorrhage was found in two-thirds of eligible patients. The results indicate that this treatment modality, though restricted by catheter technique, can be applied to various tumor lesions with an acceptable morbidity and prospective trials are justified to evaluate the potential role of such a targeted chemotherapy.