LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Pharmacological effects of intravenous melatonin: comparative studies with thiopental and propofol.

BACKGROUND
Possible utility of high-dose i.v. melatonin as an anaesthetic adjuvant has not been studied. This study compared its effects with thiopental and propofol.


METHODS
Sprague Dawley rats were assigned to receive bolus or cumulative i.v. doses of melatonin, thiopental or propofol. Righting reflex, hindpaw withdrawal to a noxious stimulus, response to tail clamping and haemodynamic effects were assessed.


RESULTS
Melatonin caused a dose-dependent increase in paw withdrawal threshold and the percent of rats displaying loss of the righting reflex. Melatonin was comparable to thiopental and propofol in terms of its rapid onset of hypnosis. The mean ED(50) values for loss of righting reflex were 5.4 (SEM 1.2), 12.5 (1.1) and 178 (1.1) mg kg(-1) for propofol, thiopental and melatonin, respectively. The percent of rats displaying loss of response to tail clamping was greater with propofol than with melatonin (P<0.05). Haemodynamic changes produced by melatonin or propofol were similar in onset and magnitude.


CONCLUSIONS
I.V. melatonin can exert hypnotic effects similar to those observed with thiopental and propofol. Melatonin exhibited significant antinociceptive effects but was less effective in abolishing the response to tail clamping.
Measures of Distributional Similarity

We study distributional similarity measures for the purpose of improving probability estimation for unseen cooccurrences. Our contributions are three-fold: an empirical comparison of a broad range of measures; a classification of similarity functions based on the information that they incorporate; and the introduction of a novel function that is superior at evaluating potential proxy distributions.
Non linear neurons in the low noise limit : a factorial code maximizes information transferJean

We investigate the consequences of maximizing information transfer in a simple neural network (one input layer, one output layer), focussing on the case of non linear transfer functions. We assume that both receptive elds (synaptic eecacies) and transfer functions can be adapted to the environment. The main result is that, for bounded and invertible transfer functions, in the case of a vanishing additive output noise, and no input noise, maximization of information (Linsker'sinfomax principle) leads to a factorial code-hence to the same solution as required by the redundancy reduction principle of Barlow. We show also that this result is valid for linear, more generally unbounded, transfer functions, provided optimization is performed under an additive constraint, that is which can be written as a sum of terms, each one being speciic to one output neuron. Finally we study the eeect of a non zero input noise. We nd that, at rst order in the input noise, assumed to be small as compared to the-small-output noise, the above results are still valid, provided the output noise is uncorrelated from one neuron to the other.
RC Snubber Design using Root-Loci Approach for Synchronous Buck SMPS

..........................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.........................................................................................iv TABLE OF CONTENTS .........................................................................................vi LIST OF TABLES................................................................................................viii LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................ix
Pro-oxidant status and matrix metalloproteinases in apical lesions and gingival crevicular fluid as potential biomarkers for asymptomatic apical periodontitis and endodontic treatment response

Oxidative stress and matrix metalloproteinases -9 and -2 are involved in periodontal breakdown, whereas gingival crevicular fluid has been reported to reflect apical status. The aim of this study was to characterize oxidant balance and activity levels of MMP -2 and -9 in apical lesions and healthy periodontal ligament; and second, to determine whether potential changes in oxidant balance were reflected in gingival crevicular fluid from asymptomatic apical periodontitis (AAP)-affected teeth at baseline and after endodontic treatment. Patients with clinical diagnosis of AAP and healthy volunteers having indication of tooth extraction were recruited. Apical lesions and healthy periodontal ligaments, respectively, were homogenized or processed to obtain histological tissue sections. Matrix metalloproteinase -9 and -2 levels and/or activity were analyzed by Immunowestern blot, zymography and consecutive densitometric analysis, and their tissue localization was confirmed by immunohistochemistry. A second group of patients with AAP and indication of endodontic treatment was recruited. Gingival crevicular fluid was extracted from AAP-affected teeth at baseline, after endodontic treatment and healthy contralateral teeth. Total oxidant and antioxidant status were determined in homogenized tissue and GCF samples. Statistical analysis was performed using STATA v10 software with unpaired t test, Mann-Whitney test and Spearman's correlation. Activity of MMP-2 and MMP-9 along with oxidant status were higher in apical lesions (p < 0.05). Total oxidant status correlated positively with matrix metalloproteinase-2 and lesion size (p < 0.05). Gingival crevicular fluid showed significantly lower levels of total antioxidant status in diseased teeth at baseline compared to controls and endodontically-treated groups. Apical lesions display an oxidant imbalance along with increased activity of matrix metalloproteinase-2 and -9 and might contribute to AAP progression. Oxidant imbalance can also be reflected in GCF from AAP-affected teeth and was restored to normal levels after conservative endodontic treatment. These mediators might be useful as potential biomarkers for chair-side complementary diagnostic of apical status in GCF.
Credibility: A multidisciplinary framework

Introduction This chapter reviews the theoretical and empirical literature on the concept of credibility and its areas of application relevant to information science and technology, encompassing several disciplinary approaches. An information seeker's environment—the Internet, television, newspapers, schools, libraries, bookstores, and social networks—abounds with information resources that need to be evaluated for both their usefulness and their likely level of accuracy. As people gain access to a wider variety of information resources, they face greater uncertainty regarding who and what can be believed and, indeed, who or what is responsible for the information they encounter. Moreover, they have to develop new skills and strategies for determining how to assess the credibility of an information source. Historically, the credibility of information has been maintained largely by professional knowledge workers such as editors, reviewers, publishers, news reporters, and librarians. Today, quality control mechanisms are evolving in such a way that a vast amount of information accessed through a wide variety of systems and resources is out of date, incomplete, poorly organized, or simply inaccurate (Janes & Rosenfeld, 1996). Credibility has been examined across a number of fields ranging from communication, information science, psychology, marketing, and the management sciences to interdisciplinary efforts in human-computer interaction (HCI). Each field has examined the construct and its practical significance using fundamentally different approaches, goals, and presuppositions, all of which results in conflicting views of credibility and its effects. The notion of credibility has been discussed at least since Aristotle's examination of ethos and his observations of speakers' relative abilities to persuade listeners. Disciplinary approaches to investigating credibility systematically developed only in the last century, beginning within the field of communication. A landmark among these efforts was the work of Hovland and colleagues (Hovland, Jannis, & Kelley, 1953; Hovland & Weiss, 1951), who focused on the influence of various characteristics of a source on a recipient's message acceptance. This work was followed by decades of interest in the relative credibility of media involving comparisons between newspapers, radio, television, Communication researchers have tended to focus on sources and media, viewing credibility as a perceived characteristic. Within information science, the focus is on the evaluation of information, most typically instantiated in documents and statements. Here, credibility has been viewed largely as a criterion for relevance judgment, with researchers focusing on how information seekers assess a document's likely level of This brief account highlights an often implicit focus on varying objects …
Free fatty acid suppositories are as effective as docusate sodium and sorbitol enemas in treating constipation in children.

AIM
A well-documented, clinically proven per rectum treatment for childhood constipation is needed. This phase two clinical trial evaluated the efficacy of suppositories containing free fatty acids (FFA) compared with Klyx docusate sodium and sorbitol enemas.


METHODS
A randomised, controlled, single-blind study was undertaken on 77 children aged between one and 17 who presented to an emergency department in Iceland and were diagnosed with constipation. In stage one, 23 patients were randomised to receive lower dose FFA suppositories or Klyx (n = 33). In stage two, 21 different patients were randomised to receive higher dose suppositories and compared with the same Klyx control subjects.


RESULTS
The suppositories were effective at bowel emptying in 39% of the group who received the lower FFA doses and 81% of the group receiving higher doses, compared with 88% in the Klyx control group. Symptom relief was obtained in 30% of the group receiving the lower doses and 71% of the group receiving the higher doses, compared with 73% in the control group.


CONCLUSION
The higher dose FFA suppositories were as effective as the Klyx enemas with regard to bowel emptying and symptom relief and might provide an important and less invasive alternative for childhood constipation.
Generation of Functional Neutrophils from a Mouse Model of X-Linked Chronic Granulomatous Disorder Using Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Murine models of human genetic disorders provide a valuable tool for investigating the scope for application of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC). Here we present a proof-of-concept study to demonstrate generation of iPSC from a mouse model of X-linked chronic granulomatous disease (X-CGD), and their successful differentiation into haematopoietic progenitors of the myeloid lineage. We further demonstrate that additive gene transfer using lentiviral vectors encoding gp91(phox) is capable of restoring NADPH-oxidase activity in mature neutrophils derived from X-CGD iPSC. In the longer term, correction of iPSC from human patients with CGD has therapeutic potential not only through generation of transplantable haematopoietic stem cells, but also through production of large numbers of autologous functional neutrophils.
DNA Structure: A‐, B‐ and Z‐DNA Helix Families

Pictures of the double helix of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) have become so common that everyone is familiar with its overall shape and structure (Figure 1a).This structure is known as B-DNA, and represents an average conformation of DNA, based on fibre diffraction studies. However, this average shape of DNA is very unlikely to exist within the cells of living organisms, for several reasons. First, there is simply not enough room for the DNA to be stretched out in a perfect, linear B-DNA conformation. In nearly all cells, from simple bacteria through complex eukaryotes, theDNAmust be compacted by more than a thousandfold in order even to fit inside the cell or nucleus. Furthermore, refined resolution of the structure ofDNA, based onX-ray crystallography of short synthetic pieces of DNA, has shown that there is considerable variance of the helical structure of DNA, based on the sequence. For example, a 200-bp piece of DNA can run as if it were more than 1000 bp on an acrylamide gel, if it has the right sequence. Thedouble helix is not the same uniform structure. The structure (and function) of DNA depends on the sequence of the DNA. There are three families of DNA helices: A-DNA, which can readily form within certain stretches of purines (e.g. GAGGGA); B-DNA, which is favoured by mixed sequences (although the exact conformation depends on the particular nucleotide sequence, as described below); and Z-DNA, which is favoured by alternating pyrimidine– purine steps (e.g. CGCGCG). The A-and B-DNA families are right-handed helices, while the Z-DNA family has a Article
The architecture of safety: hospital design.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW
This paper reviews recent research literature reporting the effects of hospital design on patient safety.


RECENT FINDINGS
Features of hospital design that are linked to patient safety in the literature include noise, air quality, lighting conditions, patient room design, unit layout, and several other interior design features. Some of these features act as latent conditions for adverse events, and impact safety outcomes directly and indirectly by impacting staff working conditions. Others act as barriers to adverse events by providing hospital staff with opportunities for preventing accidents before they occur.


SUMMARY
Although the evidence linking hospital design to patient safety is growing, much is left to be done in this area of research. Nevertheless, the evidence reported in the literature may already be sufficient to have a positive impact on hospital design.
On visual crosswalk detection for driver assistance systems

In this paper a new crosswalk detection strategy is presented. The application area is narrowed down to driver assistance systems to guarantee a reliable detection result and to benefit from the properties of a vehicle mounted camera.
Upper Extremity Limb Function Discrimination Using EMG Signal Analysis

A signal analysis technique is developed for discriminating a set of lower arm and wrist functions using surface EMG signals. Data wete obtained from four electrodes placed around the proximal forearm. The functions analyzed included wrist flexion/extension, wrist abduction/adduction, and forearm pronation/supination. Multivariate autoregression models were derived for each function; discrimination was performed using a multiple-model hypothesis detection technique. This approach extends the work of Graupe and Cline [1] by including spatial correlations and by using a more generalized detection philosophy, based on analysis of the time history of all limb function probabilities. These probabilities are the sufficient statistics for the problem if the EMG data are stationary Gauss-Markov processes. Experimental results on-normal subjects are presented which demonstrate the advantages of using the spatial and time correlation of the signals. This technique should be useful in generating control signals for prosthetic devices.
Factoring With Two Large Primes

We describe a modification to the well-known large prime variant of the multiple polynomial quadratic sieve factoring algorithm. In practice this leads to a speed-up factor of 2 to 2.5. We discuss several implementation-related aspects, and we include some examples. Our new variation is also of practical importance for the number field sieve factoring algorithm. 1. Factoring with two large primes Let « > 1 be an odd integer which is not a prime power. For each random integer x satisfying
Evaluation of Persistence of Resistant Variants with Ultra-Deep Pyrosequencing in Chronic Hepatitis C Patients Treated with Telaprevir

BACKGROUND & AIMS
Telaprevir, a hepatitis C virus NS3/4A protease inhibitor has significantly improved sustained viral response rates when given in combination with pegylated interferon alfa-2a and ribavirin, compared with current standard of care in hepatitis C virus genotype 1 infected patients. In patients with a failed sustained response, the emergence of drug-resistant variants during treatment has been reported. It is unclear to what extent these variants persist in untreated patients. The aim of this study was to assess using ultra-deep pyrosequencing, whether after 4 years follow-up, the frequency of resistant variants is increased compared to pre-treatment frequencies following 14 days of telaprevir treatment.


METHODS
Fifteen patients from 2 previous telaprevir phase 1 clinical studies (VX04-950-101 and VX05-950-103) were included. These patients all received telaprevir monotherapy for 14 days, and 2 patients subsequently received standard of care. Variants at previously well-characterized NS3 protease positions V36, T54, R155 and A156 were assessed at baseline and after a follow-up of 4±1.2 years by ultra-deep pyrosequencing. The prevalence of resistant variants at follow-up was compared to baseline.


RESULTS
Resistance associated mutations were detectable at low frequency at baseline. In general, prevalence of resistance mutations at follow-up was not increased compared to baseline. Only one patient had a small, but statistically significant, increase in the number of V36M and T54S variants 4 years after telaprevir-dosing.


CONCLUSION
In patients treated for 14 days with telaprevir monotherapy, ultra-deep pyrosequencing indicates that long-term persistence of resistant variants is rare.
New technology trends in education: Seven years of forecasts and convergence

Each year since 2004, a new Horizon Report has been released. Each edition attempts to forecast the most promising technologies likely to impact on education along three horizons: the short term (the year of the report), the mid-term (the next 2 years) and the long term (the next 4 years). This paper analyzes the evolution of technology trends from 2004 to 2014 that correspond to the long-term predictions of the most recent Horizon Report. The study analyzes through bibliometric analysis which technologies were successful and became a regular part of education systems, which ones failed to have the predicted impact and why, and the shape of technology flows in recent years. The study also shows how the evolution and maturity of some technologies allowed the revival of expectations for others. The analysis here, which focuses on educational applications, offers guidelines that may be helpful to those seeking to invest in new research areas. 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Semiochemicals of the common bed bug, Cimex lectularius L. (Hemiptera: Cimicidae), and their potential for use in monitoring and control.

The recent resurgence of the common bed bug, Cimex lectularius L., has driven an increase in research into the biology and behaviour of this pest. Current control is reliant on the application of insecticides, but, owing to the development of insecticide resistance, there is a need for new tools and techniques. Semiochemicals (behaviour- and physiology-modifying chemicals) could be exploited for management of bed bugs. The aim of this review was to evaluate studies undertaken in bed bug chemical ecology to date, with particular reference to how the research could be exploited for monitoring and control. Bed bugs, like many other insects, have a complex olfactory system. Recent studies have characterised the olfactory sensilla, located on the terminal segment of the antennae, to functional classes by electrophysiological screening. Behavioural studies have revealed the presence of an alarm pheromone and potential airborne aggregation semiochemicals, but it is not yet understood if bed bugs use a sex pheromone during mating. Host location cues have been investigated, and carbon dioxide has been found to be highly attractive both in laboratory and in field studies. Recent field trials have tested blends of other potential kairomones, which have been shown to have an additive effect when used in a heated bed bug trap with carbon dioxide. The trap, which combines heat and kairomones, is the only trap currently available with proven efficacy in the field. In order for semiochemicals to be useful for bed bug management, an increased knowledge and understanding of the biology, behaviour and chemical ecology of this insect is essential.
Differences between trait fear and trait anxiety: implications for psychopathology.

Fear and anxiety are poorly delineated in much of the clinical and research literatures. Although some theorists and researchers have posited explanations for how trait fear and trait anxiety differ, many others conceptualize the constructs as largely or entirely interchangeable. The primary goals of this review are to examine clinical conceptualizations and neurobiological studies of fear and anxiety, examine the animal and human literatures on the correlates of fear and anxiety, provide clearer definitions of these two constructs, and discuss their implications for psychopathology. A secondary goal is to evaluate content of self-report measures of trait fear and anxiety, and meta-analyze the relations between self-reported trait fear and anxiety. We found that existing measures share significant content overlap across constructs. Despite this overlap, our meta-analysis revealed only a moderate (r=0.32) relationship between measures of trait fear and anxiety, with an even lower relationship (r=0.14) when we examined trait fear measures operationalized in terms of harm avoidance. These findings suggest that fear and anxiety are largely distinct emotions, and that psychological disorders of trait fear and trait anxiety warrant classification in separate higher-order categories. Moreover, they suggest that future research should focus on deriving more content valid measures of trait fear and trait anxiety from the neurobiological and diagnostic literatures.
Effects of HEPA air cleaners on unscheduled asthma visits and asthma symptoms for children exposed to secondhand tobacco smoke.

OBJECTIVE
The goal was to test the effects of high-efficiency, particulate-arresting (HEPA) air cleaners on unscheduled asthma visits and symptoms among children with asthma exposed to secondhand smoke.


METHODS
We enrolled 225 eligible children who were 6 to 12 years of age, had physician-diagnosed asthma, and were exposed to ≥5 cigarettes per day. We conducted a double-blind, randomized trial. Children were assigned randomly to receive 2 active or inactive HEPA air cleaners.


RESULTS
Of 225 enrolled children, 110 (49%) were assigned to the intervention group and 115 (51%) to the control group; 215 (95%) completed the trial. During the trial, there were 42 fewer unscheduled asthma visits among children in the intervention group (18.5% [95% confidence interval: 1.25%-82.75%]; P = .043), compared with those in the control group, after adjustment for baseline differences. There was a significant difference in the reductions of levels of particles of >0.3 μm according to group assignment; there was a 25% reduction in particle levels in the intervention group, compared with a 5% reduction in the control group (P = .026). There were no significant differences in parent-reported asthma symptoms, exhaled nitric-oxide levels, air nicotine levels, or cotinine levels according to group assignment.


CONCLUSIONS
These results hold promise for using HEPA air cleaners as part of a multifaceted strategy to reduce asthma morbidity, but further research is necessary before they can be recommended routinely for the medical management of asthma.