LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Importance of immobilization after intraarticular glucocorticoid treatment for elbow synovitis: a randomized controlled study.

OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether better treatment results might be achieved with postinjection rest following intraarticular glucocorticoid treatment for elbow synovitis.


METHODS
Ninety patients with rheumatoid arthritis and elbow synovitis were treated with 20 mg of intraarticular triamcinolone hexacetonide and randomized to either a 48-hour immobilization in a triangular sling (n = 46) or to normal activity without restrictions (n = 44). The primary end point was relapse of synovitis. In addition, pain, function according to a self-assessment questionnaire (the Patient Rated Elbow Evaluation), and range of movement were followed for 6 months.


RESULTS
Thirteen relapses occurred in the rest group and 8 in the active group (results not significant). The secondary measures showed no statistically significant differences between the groups.


CONCLUSION
Immobilization procedures do not improve the outcome of intraarticular glucocorticoid therapy for elbow synovitis. In future guidelines for such treatment of the upper extremity, normal activity after the injection should be recommended.
Visually guided pointing, the Müller-Lyer illusion, and the functional interpretation of the dorsal-ventral split: Conclusions from 33 independent studies

Models of the human vision propose a division of labor between vision-for-action (identified with the V1-PPT dorsal stream) and vision-for-perception (the V1-IT ventral stream). The idea has been successful in explaining a host of neuropsychological and behavioral data, but has remained controversial in predicting that visually guided actions should be immune from visual illusions. Here we evaluate this prediction by reanalyzing 33 independent studies of rapid pointing involving the Müller-Lyer or related illusions. We find that illusion effects vary widely across studies from around zero to comparable to perceptual effects. After examining several candidate factors both between and within participants, we show that almost 80% of this variability is explained well by two general concepts. The first is that the illusion has little effect when pointing is programmed from viewing the target rather than from memory. The second that the illusion effect is weakened when participants learn to selectively attend to target locations over repeated trials. These results are largely in accord with the vision-for-action vs. vision-for-perception distinction. However, they also suggest a potential involvement of learning and attentional processes during motor preparation. Whether these are specific to visuomotor mechanisms or shared with vision-for-perception remains to be established.
Strategy for Adopting Information Technology for SMEs : Experience in Adopting Email within an Indonesian Furniture Company

In order to adopt IT, SMEs need to consider drivers and barriers that can influence the IT adoption success. This paper proposes a guideline to assists SMEs in adopting IT. The guidelines are formulated based on existing literature and authors’ experience in assisting Indonesian SMEs. An example of adopting email have been used to illustrate the process.
Ambrisentan for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension: results of the ambrisentan in pulmonary arterial hypertension, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter, efficacy (ARIES) study 1 and 2.

BACKGROUND
Ambrisentan is a propanoic acid-based, A-selective endothelin receptor antagonist for the once-daily treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension.


METHODS AND RESULTS
Ambrisentan in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Multicenter, Efficacy Study 1 and 2 (ARIES-1 and ARIES-2) were concurrent, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies that randomized 202 and 192 patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension, respectively, to placebo or ambrisentan (ARIES-1, 5 or 10 mg; ARIES-2, 2.5 or 5 mg) orally once daily for 12 weeks. The primary end point for each study was change in 6-minute walk distance from baseline to week 12. Clinical worsening, World Health Organization functional class, Short Form-36 Health Survey score, Borg dyspnea score, and B-type natriuretic peptide plasma concentrations also were assessed. In addition, a long-term extension study was performed. The 6-minute walk distance increased in all ambrisentan groups; mean placebo-corrected treatment effects were 31 m (P=0.008) and 51 m (P<0.001) in ARIES-1 for 5 and 10 mg ambrisentan, respectively, and 32 m (P=0.022) and 59 m (P<0.001) in ARIES-2 for 2.5 and 5 mg ambrisentan, respectively. Improvements in time to clinical worsening (ARIES-2), World Health Organization functional class (ARIES-1), Short Form-36 score (ARIES-2), Borg dyspnea score (both studies), and B-type natriuretic peptide (both studies) were observed. No patient treated with ambrisentan developed aminotransferase concentrations >3 times the upper limit of normal. In 280 patients completing 48 weeks of treatment with ambrisentan monotherapy, the improvement from baseline in 6-minute walk at 48 weeks was 39 m.


CONCLUSIONS
Ambrisentan improves exercise capacity in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension. Improvements were observed for several secondary end points in each of the studies, although statistical significance was more variable. Ambrisentan is well tolerated and is associated with a low risk of aminotransferase abnormalities.
Background : Physics and Math of Shading

Light is an electromagnetic transverse wave, which means that it oscillates in directions perpendicular to its propagation (see Figure 1). Since it is a wave, light is characterized by its wavelength—the distance from peak to peak. Electromagnetic wavelengths cover a very wide range but only a tiny part of this range (about 400 to 700 nanometers) is visible to humans and thus of interest for shading (see Figure 2). The effect matter has on light is defined by a property called the refractive index. The refractive
Knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding dengue fever among adults of high and low socioeconomic groups.

OBJECTIVE
To ascertain the knowledge, attitudes and practices of selected adult population in Pakistan regarding Dengue Fever.


METHODS
A cross sectional survey was conducted among selected communities with different socio-economic backgrounds in Karachi, Pakistan. A sample size of 440 adults (aged 18 years and above) were interviewed using a pre-tested questionnaire regarding their knowledge, attitude and practices about dengue fever. A composite scoring system, based on the answers given in the questionnaire, was used to establish the level of awareness in the population. The division of the higher and lower socio-economic groups was based on their income and locality; both these variables were determined as a part of our survey.


RESULTS
Data from 400 respondents (244 males, 156 females) was used for primary analysis. About thirty five percent of the sample had adequate knowledge about dengue fever and its vector. Knowledge had significant associations with education (p = 0.004) and socioeconomic status (p = 0.02). The high socioeconomic group showed better preventive practices.


CONCLUSION
Knowledge of dengue is inadequate in the low socioeconomic class. Better preventive practices against the vector are prevalent in the high socioeconomic group. Hence, a greater focus should be accorded to the low socioeconomic areas in future health campaigns.
Evaluating the impact of treatment for sleep/wake disorders on recovery of cognition and communication in adults with chronic TBI

OBJECTIVE
To longitudinally examine objective and self-reported outcomes for recovery of cognition, communication, mood and participation in adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and co-morbid post-traumatic sleep/wake disorders.


DESIGN
Prospective, longitudinal, single blind outcome study.


SETTING
Community-based.


PARTICIPANTS
Ten adults with moderate-severe TBI and two adults with mild TBI and persistent symptoms aged 18-58 years. Six males and six females, who were 1-22 years post-injury and presented with self-reported sleep/wake disturbances with onset post-injury.


INTERVENTIONS
Individualized treatments for sleep/wake disorders that included sleep hygiene recommendations, pharmacological interventions and/or treatments for sleep apnea with follow-up.


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Insomnia Severity Index, Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories, Latrobe Communication Questionnaire, Speed and Capacity of Language Processing, Test of Everyday Attention, Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status, Daily Cognitive-Communication and Sleep Profile.


RESULTS
Group analysis revealed positive trends in change for each measure and across sub-tests of all measures. Statistically significant changes were noted in insomnia severity, p = 0.0003; depression severity, p = 0.03; language, p = 0.01; speed of language processing, p = 0.007.


CONCLUSIONS
These results add to a small but growing body of evidence that sleep/wake disorders associated with TBI exacerbate trauma-related cognitive, communication and mood impairments. Treatment for sleep/wake disorders may optimize recovery and outcomes.
Use and Acceptance of Electronic Communication by Patients With Multiple Sclerosis: A Multicenter Questionnaire Study

BACKGROUND
The number of multiple sclerosis (MS) information websites, online communities, and Web-based health education programs has been increasing. However, MS patients' willingness to use new ways of communication, such as websites, mobile phone application, short message service, or email with their physician, remains unknown.


OBJECTIVES
We designed a questionnaire to evaluate the a priori use of electronic communication methods by MS patients and to assess their acceptance of such tools for communication with their health care providers.


METHODS
We received complete data from 586 MS patients aged between 17 and 73 years. Respondents were surveyed in outpatient clinics across Germany using a novel paper-and-pencil questionnaire. In addition to demographics, the survey items queried frequency of use of, familiarity with, and comfort with using computers, websites, email, and mobile phones.


RESULTS
About 90% of all MS patients used a personal computer (534/586) and the Internet (527/586) at least once a week, 87.0% (510/586) communicated by email, and 85.6% (488/570) communicated by mobile phone. When asked about their comfort with using electronic communication methods for communication with health care providers, 20.5% (120/586) accepted communication by mobile Internet application or short message service via mobile phone, 41.0% (240/586) by websites, 54.3% (318/586) by email service, and 67.8% (397/586) by at least one type of electronic communication. The level of a priori use was the best predictor for the acceptance of electronic communication with health care providers. Patients who reported already searching online for health information (odds ratio 2.4, P < .001) and who had already communicated with a physician through a website (odds ratio 3.3, P = .03) reported higher acceptance for Web-based communication. Patients who already scheduled appointments with their mobile phones (odds ratio 2.1, P = .002) were more likely to accept the use of mobile phone applications or short message service for communicating with their physician.


CONCLUSIONS
The majority of MS patients seen at specialist centers already use modern communication technology regularly. New forms of electronic communication appear to have high levels of acceptance for exchanging information about MS between patients and health care providers. Such methods should be integrated into eHealth services such as electronic health records and patient relationship management systems.
Role of Clustering in the Probabilistic Evaluation of TTC in Power Systems Including Wind Power Generation

Transfer capability is used to schedule future transactions between areas and arrange commercial activities in multi-area power systems. Probabilistic evaluation can provide more information about transfer capability than deterministic approaches, potentially leading to more efficient operation of the transmission network. Probabilistic methods can also model generating units with variable outputs such as wind farms (WFs). Fluctuating nature of WF creates different impact on transfer capability compared to conventional generators. In this paper, three methods are proposed to compute transfer capability in multi-area power systems containing WF. In all the methods, Monte Carlo simulation is used to assess probabilistic variation of transfer capability. The methods differ in the manner of handling output of WF and load. In the first approach, system load data and power output of WF are directly used in the Monte Carlo simulation. In the second approach clustered power output of WF and system load data are used. In the third one, after clustering of input data, Monte Carlo simulation is run separately for each of the clusters. Incorporating clustering into Monte Carlo simulation can accelerate convergence speed, reduce variance and sometimes provide additional useful information. IEEE-RTS is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approaches.
Single view augmentation of 3D elastic objects

This paper proposes an efficient method to capture and augment highly elastic objects from a single view. 3D shape recovery from a monocular video sequence is an underconstrained problem and many approaches have been proposed to enforce constraints and resolve the ambiguities. State-of-the art solutions enforce smoothness or geometric constraints, consider specific deformation properties such as inextensibility or ressort to shading constraints. However, few of them can handle properly large elastic deformations. We propose in this paper a real-time method which makes use of a mechanical model and is able to handle highly elastic objects. Our method is formulated as a energy minimization problem accounting for a non-linear elastic model constrained by external image points acquired from a monocular camera. This method prevents us from formulating restrictive assumptions and specific constraint terms in the minimization. The only parameter involved in the method is the Young's modulus where we show in experiments that a rough estimate of its value is sufficient to obtain a good reconstruction. Our method is compared to existing techniques with experiments conducted on computer-generated and real data that show the effectiveness of our approach. Experiments in the context of minimally invasive liver surgery are also provided.
An Efficient Single-Switch Quasi-Active PFC Converter With Continuous Input Current and Low DC-Bus Voltage Stress

This paper proposes a novel single-switch quasi-active power factor correction (PFC) converter based on two flyback dc/dc modules. To achieve a high efficiency, part of the input power is directly transferred to the load by the first dc/dc module. The rest of the input power is stored in the dc-bus capacitor and reprocessed by the second dc/dc module. Together, the dc-bus capacitor and the second dc/dc module also serve as a regenerative snubber. Furthermore, a quasi-active PFC circuit is provided to improve the power factor and to ensure the continuous current mode (CCM) operation of the input inductor without the need for sophisticated feedforward sensing and control mechanism. The quasi-active PFC circuit is driven by a magnetic switch, through the tertiary winding of the transformer of the first flyback module. The input current harmonics of the proposed converter meet the IEC 61000-3-2 (Classes A, C, and D) requirements. The dc-bus capacitor voltage is always less than the input voltage regardless of the load condition and is fairly invariant to large variations of the input voltages. High power factor with CCM operation and fast output voltage regulation have been achieved through a single-loop controller. Operating principles, analysis, and experimental results are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed converter.
Comparison of Open Versus Percutaneous Pedicle Screw Fixation Using the Sextant System in the Treatment of Traumatic Thoracolumbar Fractures.

STUDY DESIGN
We retrospectively reviewed 100 patients who were posterior stabilized without graft fusion. Using the Sextant system, 22 patients underwent minimally invasive short-segment 4-pedicle screw fixation (MIF4) and 39 patients underwent minimally invasive short-segment combined with intermediate screws fixation, that is, 6-pedicle screw fixation (MIF6). The conventional open posterior short-segment 4-pedicle screw fixation (OPF4) technique was used in 39 patients.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of percutaneous pedicle screw fixation using the Sextant system in the treatment of traumatic thoracolumbar fractures compared with the conventional open posterior short-segment pedicle screw fixation technique.


SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA
To the best of our knowledge, the clinical and radiographic outcomes of MIF4, MIF6 with polyaxial pedicle screws, and OPF4 with monoaxial pedicle screws have not been compared in the treatment of thoracolumbar fractures.


METHODS
Visual analogue scores (VAS), Oswestry disability index (ODI) scores, clinical outcomes including surgical blood loss, operation time, and postoperative hospital stay, sagittal Cobb angle, vertebral body angle, and anterior height of the fractured vertebrae were compared among the 3 groups.


RESULTS
Significant postoperative improvements, relative to baseline, were observed in the VAS and ODI scores (P<0.05 each). There were no significant differences between the MIF4 and MIF6 groups in clinical outcomes, including surgical blood loss, operation time, postoperative hospital stay, VAS, and ODI scores (P>0.05 each). However, there were significant differences between both MIF groups and the OPF group (P<0.05 each). Significant improvements were observed in the sagittal Cobb angle, vertebral body angle, and anterior height of the fractured vertebrae (P<0.05 each). During follow-up, however, the correction loss of the sagittal Cobb angle was smallest in the MIF6 group (P<0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Minimally invasive posterior stabilization using the Sextant system resulted in reduced injury compared with the open surgery, during both the internal fixation surgery and the implant removal surgery. Percutaneous screw fixation through the pedicle of the fractured vertebra is superior to the conventional OPF4 technique in correcting kyphotic deformities, and can be performed without any extra procedures.
Identifying and Targeting Sporadic Oncogenic Genetic Aberrations in Mouse Models of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.

Triple-negative breast cancers (TNBC) are genetically characterized by aberrations in TP53 and a low rate of activating point mutations in common oncogenes, rendering it challenging in applying targeted therapies. We performed whole-exome sequencing (WES) and RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to identify somatic genetic alterations in mouse models of TNBCs driven by loss of Trp53 alone or in combination with Brca1 Amplifications or translocations that resulted in elevated oncoprotein expression or oncoprotein-containing fusions, respectively, as well as frameshift mutations of tumor suppressors were identified in approximately 50% of the tumors evaluated. Although the spectrum of sporadic genetic alterations was diverse, the majority had in common the ability to activate the MAPK/PI3K pathways. Importantly, we demonstrated that approved or experimental drugs efficiently induce tumor regression specifically in tumors harboring somatic aberrations of the drug target. Our study suggests that the combination of WES and RNA-seq on human TNBC will lead to the identification of actionable therapeutic targets for precision medicine-guided TNBC treatment.Significance: Using combined WES and RNA-seq analyses, we identified sporadic oncogenic events in TNBC mouse models that share the capacity to activate the MAPK and/or PI3K pathways. Our data support a treatment tailored to the genetics of individual tumors that parallels the approaches being investigated in the ongoing NCI-MATCH, My Pathway Trial, and ESMART clinical trials. Cancer Discov; 8(3); 354-69. ©2017 AACR.See related commentary by Natrajan et al., p. 272See related article by Matissek et al., p. 336This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 253.
Discovery of Latent 3D Keypoints via End-to-end Geometric Reasoning

This paper presents KeypointNet, an end-to-end geometric reasoning framework to learn an optimal set of category-specific 3D keypoints, along with their detectors. Given a single image, KeypointNet extracts 3D keypoints that are optimized for a downstream task. We demonstrate this framework on 3D pose estimation by proposing a differentiable objective that seeks the optimal set of keypoints for recovering the relative pose between two views of an object. Our model discovers geometrically and semantically consistent keypoints across viewing angles and instances of an object category. Importantly, we find that our end-to-end framework using no ground-truth keypoint annotations outperforms a fully supervised baseline using the same neural network architecture on the task of pose estimation. The discovered 3D keypoints on the car, chair, and plane categories of ShapeNet [6] are visualized at keypointnet.github.io.
Long-term results after subcrestal or crestal placement of delayed loaded implants.

PURPOSE
Prevention of peri-implant bone loss is essential for achieving long-term implant success, but few studies have evaluated the impact of placement depth on long-term bone loss. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate outcomes for platform-shifted implants placed at different depths relative to the bone crest.


MATERIALS AND METHODS
The mesial and distal shoulders of 228 delayed-loaded Ankylos® (Dentsply Implants Manufacturing GmbH, Mannheim, Germany) implants placed in 85 patients were divided retrospectively into two groups based on the implant shoulder position on the day of placement surgery as follows: subcrestal group A (n = 197; 0.5 mm or more below the crestal bone level) or crestal group B (n = 65; within 0.5 mm or less of the crestal bone level). The remaining sites (n = 194; more than 0.5 mm above the crestal bone level) were supracrestal and were excluded from this analysis. Mesial and distal bone loss was evaluated under 5× magnification and analyzed, along with Periotest values.


RESULTS
Mean Periotest values were -1.77 (±3.57) for Group A and -1.77 (±3.26) for Group B. For Group A, mean mesial (m) bone loss was 1.84 (±1.49 mm) and mean distal (d) bone loss was 1.73 (±1.31 mm). For Group B, the bone loss values were m: 1.41 (±1.65 mm) and d: 1.34 (±1.60 mm). No statistically significant differences were found for the Periotest values (p = .521) or bone level values for the two groups (m: p = .130; d: p = .153).


CONCLUSION
Within the limitations of this study, subcrestal or crestal implant placement in combination with delayed loading was associated with similar initial implant stability and subsequent crestal bone loss.