LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
The Cancer Patient Experiences Questionnaire (CPEQ): reliability and construct validity following a national survey to assess hospital cancer care from the patient perspective

OBJECTIVES
Patient experience questionnaires have been criticised owing to the lack of supporting psychometric evidence. The objective of this study was to describe the development and psychometric evaluation of the Cancer Patient Experiences Questionnaire (CPEQ) in Norway.


DESIGN
Questionnaire development was based on a literature review of existing questionnaires, patient interviews, expert-group consultations, pretesting of questionnaire items and a national survey. Psychometric evaluation included exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and tests of internal consistency reliability and test-retest reliability.


SETTING
Data were collected using a postal survey of cancer patients attending 54 hospitals in all 4 health regions. The subjects were 14 227 adult cancer patients who had attended an outpatient clinic or who had been discharged from an inpatient ward. Patients with all types of cancer were included. Data quality, internal consistency reliability and construct validity were assessed.


RESULTS
Of the 13 846 patients who received the CPEQ, 7212 (52%) responded. Exploratory factor analysis identified six scales of outpatient experiences relating to nurse contact, doctor contact, information, organisation, patient safety and contact with next of kin, and seven scales of inpatient experiences, with the addition of hospital standard to the aforementioned scales. All but two of the scales met the criterion of 0.70 for Cronbach's α testing, and test-retest correlations ranged from 0.57 to 0.85. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the interpretation of six and seven scales for outpatients and inpatients, respectively. Statistically significant associations based on explicit hypotheses provided evidence for the construct validity of the scales. One additional scale measuring the hospital level was identified (α=0.85).


CONCLUSIONS
The CPEQ is a self-report instrument that includes the most important aspects of patient experiences with cancer care at hospitals. The instrument was tested following a national survey in Norway; good evidence is provided herein for the internal consistency reliability, test-retest reliability and construct validity.
Neural-based navigation of a differential-drive mobile robot

This paper presents a new neural network based reactive navigation algorithm for wheeled mobile robots (WMR) in unstructured indoor environments. The mobile robot travels to a pre-defined goal position safely and efficiently without any prior map of the environment. This navigation algorithm is optimized by a user-defined objective function which minimizes the traveled distance to the goal position while avoiding obstacles. The network is trained through off-line learning followed by an on-line learning algorithm with guaranteed convergence. The performance of the proposed algorithm is verified over a variety of real unstructured indoor environments using an autonomous mobile robot platform.
Transition between Level Flight and Hovering of a Tail-Sitter Vertical Takeoff and Landing Aerial Robot

This paper presents the vertical takeoff, landing and transition between level flight and hovering of a tailsitter vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aerial robot. The tail-sitter is suitable for micro aerial vehicles because it does not need any extra equipment for the VTOL maneuver. The developed tail-sitter aerial robot is equipped with four actuators for controlling ailerons, an elevator, a rudder and a propeller. A micro computer, various sensors and a battery are mounted on the aerial robot for autonomous flight without any support from a ground system. A transition flight strategy is constructed so that the transition finishes in the shortest time restricting an altitude change. In order to achieve the transition strategy, the reference trajectory of the pitch angle is computed offline by using an optimization technique. In the transition flight control system, a PID feedback controller is applied to attitude control, while a feedforward controller is applied to altitude control. The gain scheduling is applied to the control of the rudder and aileron. The experimental results on the transition between level flight and hovering, takeoff, and landing are presented. © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden and The Robotics Society of Japan, 2010
Adiposity and insulin resistance in nondiabetic hemodialysis patients: effects of high energy supplementation.

BACKGROUND
In contrast to the general population, a higher body mass index is associated with better survival among hemodialysis patients. Theoretically, high energy supplementation in these patients ought to lead to weight gain over time, but the benefits of this strategy are unclear.


OBJECTIVE
The objective was to assess whether high energy supplementation in nondiabetic hemodialysis patients might adversely affect insulin resistance -- a known risk factor for cardiovascular disease.


DESIGN
We first investigated the association between body fat mass and insulin resistance (homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance; HOMA-IR) in nondiabetic hemodialysis patients in a cross-sectional analysis (study 1). Of the 106 individuals studied, 55 were randomly assigned to either high energy supplementation (an extra 475 kcal/d; n = 28) or not (n = 27) for 12 wk to assess prospective changes in body fat mass and insulin resistance (study 2).


RESULTS
In study 1, body fat mass (P < 0.05) and C-reactive protein (CRP) (P < 0.05) each contributed independently to HOMA-IR. In study 2, 41 patients completed the study. The 20 patients who received high energy supplementation had a significantly greater increase in body fat mass (P < 0.05), CRP (P < 0.05), and HOMA-IR (P < 0.001) than did the 21 controls.


CONCLUSIONS
Body fat mass and CRP are primary determinants of insulin resistance in nondiabetic hemodialysis patients. High energy supplementation, because it increases adiposity and inflammation, exacerbates insulin resistance. A long-term study is needed to clarify the metabolic effects of high energy supplementation on cardiovascular disease outcomes in hemodialysis patients.
SOAR: An Architecture for General Intelligence

The ultimate goal of work in cognitive architecture is to provide the foundation for a system capable of general intelligent behavior. That is, the goal is to provide the underlying structure that would enable a system to perform the full range of cognitive tasks, employ the full range of problem-solving methods and representations appropriate for the tasks, and learn about all aspects of the tasks and its performance on them. In this article we present Soar, an implemented proposal for such an architecture. We describe its organizational principles, the system as currently implemented, and demonstrations of its capabilities. This research was sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DOD), ARPA Order No. 3597, monitored by the Air Force Avionics Laboratory under contracts F33615-81-K-1539 and N00039-83C-0136, and by the Personnel and Training Research Programs, Psychological Sciences Division, Office of Naval Research, under contract number N00014-82C-0067, contract authority identification number NR667-477. Additional partial support was provided by the Sloan Foundation and some computing support was supplied by the SUMEX-AIM facility (NIH grant number RR-00785). The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Office of Naval Research, the Sloan Foundation, the National Institute of Health, or the US Government.
Selective preservation of organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts as a tool to quantify past net primary production and bottom water oxygen concentrations

To understand the role of the ocean within the global carbon cycle, detailed information is required on key-processes within the marine carbon cycle; bio-production in the upper ocean, export of the produced material to the deep ocean and the storage of carbon in oceanic sediments. Quantification of these processes requires the separation of signals of net primary production and the rate of organic matter decay as reflected in fossil sediments. This study examines the large differences in degradation rates of organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst species to separate these degradation and productivity signals. For this, accumulation rates of cyst species known to be resistant (R-cysts) or sensitive (S-cysts) to aerobic degradation of 62 sites are compared to mean annual chlorophyll-a, sea-surface temperature, sea-surface salinity, nitrate and phosphate concentrations of the upper waters and deepwater oxygen concentrations. Furthermore, the degradation of sensitive cysts, as expressed by the degradation constant k and reaction time t, has been related to bottom water [O2]. The studied sediments were taken from the Arabian Sea, north-western African Margin (North Atlantic), western-equatorial Atlantic Ocean/Caraibic, south-western African margin (South Atlantic) and Southern Ocean (Atlantic sector). Significant relationships are observed between (a) accumulation rates of R-cysts and upper water chlorophyll-a concentrations, (b) accumulation rates of S-cysts and bottom water [O2] and (c) degradation rates of S-cysts (kt) and bottom water [O2]. Relationships that are extremely weak or are clearly insignificant on all confidence intervals are between (1) S-cyst accumulation rates and chlorophyll-a concentrations, sea-surface temperature (SST), sea-surface salinity (SSS), phosphate concentrations (P) and nitrate concentrations (N), (2) between R-cyst accumulation rates and bottom water [O2], SST, SSS, P and N, and between (3) kt and water depth. Co-variance is present between the parameters N and P, N, P and chlorophyll-a, oxygen and water depth. Correcting for this co-variance does not influence the significance of the relationship given above. The possible applicability of dinoflagellate cyst degradation to estimate past net primary production and deep ocean ventilation is discussed. © 2007 Published by Elsevier B.V.
Mythologization of Landscape as a Factor of National Self-Education in the First Half of the 20th Century. The Case of East Prussia

The article analyses the formation of mental links between the population of East Prussia and the naturaland cultural landscape of the said German province after World War I. By interpreting landscape as animaginary space whose symbols may impact identity, the author analyzes several ways of nationalizationof the East Prussian landscape. They include: studies of the homeland newly defined by the VersaillesPeace Treaty at school and in daily life; popularization of tours for youth of the pre-promoted places ofthe province; organized care of wartime military cemeteries moderately integrated into the landscape; theconstruction of the Tannenberg memorial complex and giving meanings to it; and reconstruction of wardevastatedcities and towns of East Prussia. The article demonstrates that the creation of meaningful linksbetween the German population, the homeland (East Prussia), the elements of its natural and culturallandscape, and the Fatherland (Germany) formed a unique perception of the region which was primarilyrelated to its meaning of a German outpost in the East. KEY WORDS: East Prussia, regional identity, natural and cultural landscape, youth tours, outpost, World War I. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.15181/ahuk.v24i0.285
Plate convergence measured by GPS across the Sundaland/Philippine Sea Plate deformed boundary: the Philippines and eastern Indonesia

The western boundary of the Philippine Sea (PH) Plate in the Philippines and eastern Indonesia corresponds to a wide deformation zone that includes the stretched continental margin of Sundaland, the Philippine Mobile Belt (PMB), extending from Luzon to the Molucca Sea, and a mosaic of continental blocks around the PH/Australia/Sunda triple junction. The GPS GEODYSSEA data are used to decipher the present kinematics of this complex area. In the Philippines, the overall scheme is quite simple: two opposing rotations on either side of the left-lateral Philippine Fault, clockwise to the southwest and counterclockwise to the northeast, transfer 55 per cent of the PH/Sundaland convergence from the Manila Trench to the northwest to the Philippine Trench to the southeast. Further south, 80 per cent of the PH/Sunda convergence is absorbed in the double subduction system of the Molucca Sea and less than 20 per cent along both continental margins of northern Borneo. Finally, within the triple junction area between the Sundaland, PH and Australia plates, from Sulawesi to Irian Jaya, preferential subduction of the Celebes Sea induces clockwise rotation of the Sulu block, which is escaping toward the diminishing Celebes Sea oceanic space from the eastwardadvancing PH Plate. To the south, we identify an undeformed Banda block that rotates counterclockwise with respect to Australia and clockwise with respect to Sundaland. The kinematics of this block can be defined and enable us to compute the rates of southward subduction of the Banda block within the Flores Trench and of eastward convergence of the Makassar Straits with the Banda block. The analysis made in this paper confirms that this deformation is compatible with the eastward motion of Sundaland with respect to Eurasia determined by the GEODYSSEA programme but is not compatible with the assumption that Sundaland belongs to Eurasia, as was often assumed prior to this study.
Conductance sizing balloon for measurement of peripheral artery minimal stent area.

BACKGROUND
Because stent underdeployment occurs frequently, accurate minimal stent area (MSA) measurement during postdilatation is necessary. This study investigated the accuracy and repeatability for MSA determination using a novel conductance balloon (CB) catheter for peripheral vessels.


METHODS
The CB catheter is a standard balloon catheter that measures electrical conductance (ratio of current/voltage drop) in real-time during inflation, which directly relates to the balloon cross-sectional area through Ohm's law. CB measurements were made in 4- to 10-mm phantoms on the bench, ex vivo in stents fully deployed in diseased human peripheral arteries, and in vivo in stents fully deployed in peripheral vessels in six swine. CB measurement accuracy and repeatability were calculated and compared with the known dimension (bench phantoms) or with intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) measurement after stent deployment (ex vivo and in vivo).


RESULTS
CB measurements were highly accurate (error: 1.8% bench, 5% ex vivo, and 5% in vivo) and repeatable (error: 0.9% bench, 1.8% ex vivo, and 1.3% in vivo), with virtually no bias (average difference in measurements: -0.05 mm bench CB vs known phantom diameters, -0.06 mm ex vivo CB vs IVUS, and -0.11 mm in vivo CB vs IVUS).


CONCLUSIONS
The CB sizing capability can be integrated within a standard balloon catheter (two-in-one function) to provide accurate, real-time assessment of MSA to ensure full stent apposition rather than the use of pressure as a surrogate for size.
NpBench: A Benchmark Suite for Control plane and Data plane Applications for Network Processors

Modern network interfaces demand highly intelligent traffic management in addition to the basic requirement of wire speed packet forwarding. Several vendors are releasing network processors in order to handle these demands. Network workloads can be classified into data plane and control plane workloads, however most network processors are optimized for data plane. Also, existing benchmark suites for network processors primarily contain data plane workloads, which perform packet processing for a forwarding function. In this paper, we present a set of benchmarks, called NpBench, targeted towards control plane (e.g., traffic management, quality of service, etc.) as well as data plane workloads. The characteristics of NpBench workloads, such as instruction mix, parallelism, cache behavior and required processing capability per packet, are presented and compared with CommBench, an existing network processor benchmark suite [9]. We also discuss the architectural characteristics of the benchmarks having control plane functions, their implications to designing network processors and the significance of Instruction Level Parallelism (ILP) in network processors.
HIV-1 amino acid changes among participants with virologic failure: associations with first-line efavirenz or atazanavir plus ritonavir and disease status.

BACKGROUND
Although specific human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) drug resistance mutations are well studied, little is known about cumulative amino acid changes, or how regimen and participant characteristics influence these changes.


METHODS
In the AIDS Clinical Trials Group randomized study A5202 of treatment-naive HIV-infected participants, cumulative HIV-1 amino acid changes from pretreatment to virologic failure were evaluated in protease and reverse transcriptase (RT) gene sequences.


RESULTS
Among 265 participants with virologic failure, those assigned atazanavir plus ritonavir (ATV/r) did not have significantly more protease changes compared with those assigned efavirenz (EFV) (P ≥ .13). In contrast, participants with virologic failure assigned EFV had more RT changes, including and excluding known resistance codons (P < .001). At pretreatment, lower CD4 cell count, major resistance, more amino acid mixtures (all P < .001), hepatitis C antibody negativity (P = .05), and black race/ethnicity (P = .02) were associated with more HIV-1 amino acid changes.


CONCLUSIONS
Virologic failure following EFV-containing treatment was associated with more HIV-1 amino acid changes compared to failure of ATV/r-containing treatment. Furthermore, we show that non-drug resistance mutations occurred more frequently among those failing EFV, the clinical relevance of which warrants further investigation. Pretreatment immunologic status may play a role in viral evolution during treatment, as evidenced by increased amino acid changes among those with lower pretreatment CD4 count.


CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION
NCT00118898.
Female Stereotypes in Print Advertising : A Retrospective Analysis

The depiction of females in advertising has received considerable academic attention, fuelled by the feminist movement and the evolution of women’s roles in the society. Early studies revealed the prevalence of traditional portrayals such as housewives, women dependent on a man’s protection and depictions of sexual objectification. Even though a decrease in female stereotyping would be reasonable considering the contemporary structure of society that prescribes multiple gender roles, this does not seem to be the case: The literature is replete with studies documenting that female stereotyping is alive and well, even if it manifests itself with different types and patterns than it did some decades ago. This study strives to adopt a holistic outlook to the phenomenon of female stereotypes in print advertisements, tracing its origins, analyzing the interplay of stereotypes and advertising, undertaking an exhaustive perusal of the particular stream of literature, addressing methodological issues and proposing directions for further research. © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of The 2nd International Conference on Strategic Innovative Marketing.
Extended technology acceptance model of Internet utilization behavior

Based on the belief–attitude–performance chain, this study combines Davis’s technology acceptance model (TAM) and the information behavior model to develop an extended TAM for Internet use. The theoretical model was tested via a questionnaire survey of 203 Taiwanese office workers. The empirical results not only confirmed TAM, but also showed that the relevance of information needs strongly determines perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user attitudes toward Internet use for information seeking, as well as strongly influencing individual performance during the information use stage. More importantly, relevance has greater positive effect on perceived performance and perceived usefulness for enterprise Intranet users than for simple/interactive Intraweb users. Enterprise Intranet users have more positive attitudes toward the Internet and more positive perceptions of system effectiveness for supporting office tasks than simple/interactive Intraweb users. Furthermore, perceived ease of use is the strongest determinant of user attitude toward Internet use in both enterprise Intranet and simple/interactive Intraweb applications. Overall, the extended TAM explains the behavior of enterprise Intranet users better than that of simple/ interactive Intraweb users. Limitations of this study are discussed. # 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Issues in Mobile e-commerce : A survey

Mobile e-commerce or M-commerce describes online sales transaction that uses wireless or mobile electronic devices. These wireless devices interact with computer networks that have the ability to conduct online merchandise purchases. The rapid growth of mobile commerce is being driven by number of factors – increasing mobile user base, rapid adoption of online commerce and technological advances. These systems provide the potential for organizations and users to perform various commerce-related tasks without regard to time and location. Owing to wireless nature of these devices, there are many issues that affect the functioning of m-commerce. This paper identifies and discusses these issues which include technological issues and application issues pertaining to M-commerce. Keywords— mobile, e-commerce, M-commerce
Pharmacy Asthma Care Program (PACP) improves outcomes for patients in the community.

BACKGROUND
Despite national disease management plans, optimal asthma management remains a challenge in Australia. Community pharmacists are ideally placed to implement new strategies that aim to ensure asthma care meets current standards of best practice. The impact of the Pharmacy Asthma Care Program (PACP) on asthma control was assessed using a multi-site randomised intervention versus control repeated measures study design.


METHODS
Fifty Australian pharmacies were randomised into two groups: intervention pharmacies implemented the PACP (an ongoing cycle of assessment, goal setting, monitoring and review) to 191 patients over 6 months, while control pharmacies gave their usual care to 205 control patients. Both groups administered questionnaires and conducted spirometric testing at baseline and 6 months later. The main outcome measure was asthma severity/control status.


RESULTS
186 of 205 control patients (91%) and 165 of 191 intervention patients (86%) completed the study. The intervention resulted in improved asthma control: patients receiving the intervention were 2.7 times more likely to improve from "severe" to "not severe" than control patients (OR 2.68, 95% CI 1.64 to 4.37; p<0.001). The intervention also resulted in improved adherence to preventer medication (OR 1.89, 95% CI 1.08 to 3.30; p = 0.03), decreased mean daily dose of reliever medication (difference -149.11 microg, 95% CI -283.87 to -14.36; p=0.03), a shift in medication profile from reliever only to a combination of preventer, reliever with or without long-acting beta agonist (OR 3.80, 95% CI 1.40 to 10.32; p=0.01) and improved scores on risk of non-adherence (difference -0.44, 95% CI -0.69 to -0.18; p=0.04), quality of life (difference -0.23, 95% CI -0.46 to 0.00; p=0.05), asthma knowledge (difference 1.18, 95% CI 0.73 to 1.63; p<0.01) and perceived control of asthma questionnaires (difference -1.39, 95% CI -2.44 to -0.35; p<0.01). No significant change in spirometric measures occurred in either group.


CONCLUSIONS
A pharmacist-delivered asthma care programme based on national guidelines improves asthma control. The sustainability and implementation of the programme within the healthcare system remains to be investigated.