LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Improved outcomes in diabetes care for rural African Americans.

PURPOSE
Rural low-income African American patients with diabetes have traditionally poorer clinical outcomes and limited access to state-of-the-art diabetes care. We determined the effectiveness of a redesigned primary care model on patients' glycemic, blood pressure, and lipid level control.


METHODS
In 3 purposively selected, rural, fee-for-service, primary care practices, African American patients with type 2 diabetes received point-of-care education, coaching, and medication intensification from a diabetes care management team made up of a nurse, pharmacist, and dietitian. In 5 randomly selected control practices matched for practice and patient characteristics, African American patients received usual care. Using univariate and multivariate adjusted models, we evaluated the effects of the intervention on intermediate (median 18 months) and long-term (median 36 months) changes in glycated hemoglobin (hemoglobin A1c) levels, blood pressure, and lipid levels, as well as the proportion of patients meeting target values.


RESULTS
Among 727 randomly selected rural African American diabetic patients (368 intervention, 359 control), intervention patients had a significantly greater reduction in mean hemoglobin A1c levels at intermediate (-0.5 % vs -0.2%; P <.05) and long-term (-0.5% vs -0.10%; P <.005) follow-up in univariate and multivariate models. The proportion of patients achieving a hemoglobin A1c level of less than 7.5% (68% vs 59%, P <.01) and/or a systolic blood pressure of less than 140 mm Hg (69% vs 57%, P <.01) was also significantly greater in intervention practices in multivariate models.


CONCLUSION
Redesigning care strategies in rural fee-for-service primary care practices for African American patients with established diabetes results in significantly improved glycemic control relative to usual care.
The 3-D Stacking Bipolar RRAM for High Density

For its simple structure, high density, and good scalability, the resistive random access memory (RRAM) has emerged as one of the promising candidates for large data storage in computing systems. Moreover, building up RRAM in a 3-D stacking structure further boosts its advantage in array density. Conventionally, multiple bipolar RRAM layers are piled up vertically separated with isolation material to prevent signal interference between the adjacent memory layers. The process of the isolation material increases the fabrication cost and brings in the potential reliability issue. To alleviate the situation, we introduce two novel 3-D stacking structures built upon bipolar RRAM crossbars that eliminate the isolation layers. The bigroup operation scheme dedicated for the proposed designs to enable multilayer accesses while avoiding the overwriting induced by the cross-layer disturbance is also presented. Our simulation results show that the proposed designs can increase the capacity of a memory island to 8K-bits (i.e., eight layers of 32 × 32 crossbar arrays) while maintaining the sense margin in the worst case configuration greater than 20% of the maximal sensing voltage.
A body and Garment Creation Method for an Internet Based Virtual Fitting Room.

In this paper we present a new methodology for producing 3D clothes, with realistic behavior, providing users with an apposite feel for the garment’s details. The 3D garments that are produced, using our methodology, originate from 2D CAD patterns of real garments and correspond to the regular sizes that can be found on a shop floor. Our aim is to build a compelling, interactive and highly realistic virtual shop, where visitors can choose between many different types of garments designs and proceed to simulate these garments on virtually animated bodies. By merging the approach often used by the fashion industry, in designing clothes, and our own methodology for creating dressed virtual humans, we present a new technique providing troublefree and straightforward garment visualization. The entire process starts from the creation of virtual bodies (either male or female), using standard measurements, which form the basis for garment modeling. Using splines, the 2D garment patterns are created and then seemed together around a virtual human body, providing the initial shape. A simulation is made using the seemed garment by applying physical parameters based on real fabric properties. Once the garment has been created, a real time platform, which has been embedded inside a web browser, is used as an interface to the Internet. We extend the web interface to add interactivity and the ability to dynamically change textures, clothes, body measurements, animation sequences and certain features of the virtual environment. The whole methodology does not aim to build only a virtual dressing room, where customers can view garments fitted onto their own virtual bodies but to visualize made-to-measure clothes, animate them, visualize the cloth behavior and to add interactivity. The entire Virtual Try-On experience is a process of targeting the clientele, designing the clothing collection, dressing the virtual models and then using the web as a virtual shop floor.
Nurse job satisfaction and retention: comparing public to private hospitals in Jordan.

AIMS
To identify variables of Jordanian nurses' job satisfaction and retention. Comparisons were performed between three public and two private hospitals.


BACKGROUND
There has been little research on nurse job satisfaction and retention in Jordan. Interest in nurse retention is renewed with each cycle of nursing shortage.


METHODS
A descriptive design using surveys guided this study through convenience sample of 438 nurses. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics.


RESULTS
Nurses reported that they were "moderately satisfied" in their jobs with "neutral" opinion about their retention. Nurses who work in private hospitals were more satisfied and intended to retain their jobs more than nurses in public hospitals.


CONCLUSION
Nurse job satisfaction and retention are related concepts; nurses who are satisfied in their jobs are likely to retain these jobs.
Shuling Huang Korean wave in Taiwan Nation-branding and transnational consumption : Japan-mania and the

One recent development of cultural globalization emerges in the convergence of taste in media consumption within geo-cultural regions, such as Latin American telenovelas, South Asian Bollywood films and East Asian trendy dramas. Originating in Japan, the so-called trendy dramas (or idol dramas) have created a craze for Japanese commodities in its neighboring countries (Ko, 2004). Following this Japanese model, Korea has also developed as a stronghold of regional exports, ranging from TV programs, movies and pop music to food, fashion and tourism. The fondness for all things Japanese and Korean in East Asia has been vividly captured by such buzz phrases as Japan-mania (hari in Chinese) and the Korean wave (hallyu in Korean and hanliu in Chinese). These two phenomena underscore how popular culture helps polish the image of a nation and thus strengthens its economic competitiveness in the global market. Consequently, nationbranding has become incorporated into the project of nation-building in light of globalization. However, Japan’s cultural spread and Korea’s cultural expansion in East Asia are often analysed from angles that are polar opposites. Scholars suggest that Japan-mania is initiated by the ardent consumers of receiving countries (Nakano, 2002), while the Korea wave is facilitated by the Korean state in order to boost its culture industry (Ryoo, 2008). Such claims are legitimate but neglect the analogues of these two phenomena. This article examines the parallel paths through which Japan-mania and the Korean wave penetrate into people’s everyday practices in Taiwan – arguably one of the first countries to be swept by these two trends. My aim is to illuminate the processes in which nation-branding is not only promoted by a nation as an international marketing strategy, but also appropriated by a receiving country as a pattern of consumption. Three seemingly contradictory arguments explain why cultural products ‘sell’ across national borders: cultural transparency, cultural difference and hybridization. First, cultural exports targeting the global market are rarely culturally specific so that they allow worldwide audiences to ‘project [into them] indigenous values, beliefs, rites, and rituals’ Media, Culture & Society 33(1) 3 –18 © The Author(s) 2011 Reprints and permission: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0163443710379670 mcs.sagepub.com
The early referral for reduced-intensity stem cell transplantation in patients with Ph1 (+) chronic myelogenous leukemia in chronic phase in the imatinib era: results of the Latin American Cooperative Oncohematology Group (LACOHG) prospective, multicenter study

Summary:Using a reduced-intensity stem cell transplantation (RIST) schedule, 24 patients with Philadelphia (Ph1) (+) chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) in first chronic phase (CP) were prospectively allografted in four Latin American countries: México, Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela, using HLA-identical siblings as donors. The median age of the patients was 41 years (range 10–71 years); there were eight females. Patients received a median of 4.4 × 106/kg CD34 cells. The median time to achieve above 0.5 × 109/l granulocytes was 12 days, range 0–41 days, and the median time to achieve above 20 × 109/l platelets was also 12 days, range 0–45 days. In all, 22 patients are alive 81–830 (median 497) days after RIST. The 830-day probability of survival is 92%, and the median survival has not been reached, being beyond 830 days. A total of 11 patients (46%) developed acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), and seven of 23 (30%) developed chronic GVHD. Two patients died 43 and 210 days after RIST, one as a result of sepsis and the other of chronic GVHD. The 100-day mortality was 4.4%, and transplant-related mortality was 8%. RIST for patients with CML in CP appears to be an adequate therapeutic option.
A randomized trial of patellofemoral bracing for treatment of patellofemoral osteoarthritis.

PURPOSE
The number of effective knee osteoarthritis (OA) interventions, especially those tailored to specific compartmental involvement, are small. The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of a realigning patellofemoral (PF) brace in improving pain and function among persons with symptomatic lateral PF OA.


METHOD
We conducted a double blind, randomized crossover trial of a realigning PF brace for persons with lateral PF OA. Participants had lateral PF OA with anterior knee symptoms on most days of the month, lateral PF joint space narrowing, and radiographic evidence of a definite osteophyte in the PF joint. We compared two treatments: (1) Control treatment consisting of a BioSkin Q Brace with patellar realigning strap removed; and (2) Active treatment consisting of a realigning BioSkin Q Brace with the strap applied. For each participant, the trial lasted 18 weeks, including 6 weeks each of active and control treatment period separated by a 6-week washout period. The order of treatments was randomized. The primary outcome was change in knee pain on the visual analog scale (VAS). Secondary outcomes included WOMAC pain, function, and stiffness. An unstructured correlation matrix for observations within participants was used in generalized estimating equation fitting to derive a linear regression model that expressed the relation between the intervention and change in VAS pain.


RESULTS
80 participants (63 F) with a mean age and body mass index of 61 years and 28 kg/m(2), respectively, were randomized by order of treatment. A model examining the main effects for change in VAS knee pain (0-100) demonstrated no significant treatment effect (-0.68 VAS units, 95% CI: -6.2, 4.8 units, P=0.81) and no differential carryover effect. There was also no significant difference between active and control treatments for WOMAC pain, function, or stiffness outcomes.


CONCLUSION
The effects of a specific realigning PF brace are not of clinical or statistical significance.
Agent-based techniques for National Infrastructure Simulation

Modern society is dependent upon its networks of infrastructure. These networks have grown in size and complexity to become interdependent, creating within them hidden vulnerabilities. The critical nature of these infrastructures has led to the establishment of the National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center (NISAC) by the United States Government. The goal of NISAC is to provide the simulation capability to understand infrastructure interdependencies, detect vulnerabilities, and provide infrastructure planning and crises response assistance. This thesis examines recent techniques for simulation and analyzes their suitability for the national infrastructure simulation problem. Variable and agent-based simulation models are described and compared. The bottom-up approach of the agent-based model is found to be more suitable than the top-down approach of the variable-based model. Supercomputer and distributed, or grid computing solutions are explored. Both are found to be valid solutions and have complimentary strengths. Software architectures for implementation such as the traditional object-oriented approach and the web service model are examined. Solutions to meet NISAC objectives using the agent-based simulation model implemented with web services and a combination of hardware configurations are proposed. Thesis Supervisor: John R. Williams Title: Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Performance of Turbo-SISO, Turbo-SIMO, Turbo-MISO and Turbo-MIMO system using STBC

In this paper, performance of a Turbo coded wireless link is evaluated in the presence of Rayleigh fading for single-input single-output (SISO), single-input multipleoutput(SIMO), multiple-input single-output (MISO) and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system. Turbo encoded and 64-ary Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) modulated data are further encoded using spacetime block coding (STBC) and then split into n streams which are simultaneously transmitted through single transmit antenna for Turbo-SIMO system and n transmit antennas for Turbo-MISO and Turbo-MIMO system. Simulation results obatianed show that the Turbo-SISO system provides 45 dB coding gain, Turbo-SIMO system provides 27,20 and 17 dB coding gain for 2,3 and 4 receive antenna respectively, Turbo-MISO system provides 26, 19 and 15 dB coding gain for 2,3 and 4 transmit antenna respectively, Turbo-MIMO system provides 12 to 17 dB coding gain for different combination of transmit and receive antennas at a BER of 10 compared to uncoded SISO, SIMO, MISO and MIMO system.
Sex differences in risk of lung cancer associated with methylene-tetrahydrofolate reductase polymorphisms.

Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) catalyzes the metabolism of folate and nucleotides needed for DNA synthesis and repair. Variations in MTHFR functions likely play roles in the etiology of lung cancer. The MTHFR gene has three nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (i.e., C677T, A1298C, and G1793A) that have a minor allele frequency of >5%. We investigated the associations between the frequencies of MTHFR variant genotypes and risk of lung cancer in a hospital-based case-control study of 1,051 lung cancer patients and 1,141 cancer-free controls in a non-Hispanic White population. We found that compared with the MTHFR 1298AA genotype, the 1298CC genotype was associated with a significantly increased risk of lung cancer in women [(odds ratio (OR), 2.09; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.32-3.29)] but not in men (OR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.62-1.45). The MTHFR 677TT genotype was associated with a significantly decreased risk of lung cancer in women (OR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.40-0.92) but not in men. No association was found between the MTHFR G1793A polymorphism and risk of lung cancer. Further analysis suggested evidence of gene-dietary interactions between the MTHFR C677T polymorphism and dietary intake of vitamin B6, vitamin B12, and methionine in women and evidence of gene-environment interactions between the MTHFR C677T and A1298C polymorphisms and tobacco smoking in men. In conclusion, the polymorphisms of MTHFR may contribute to the risk of lung cancer in non-Hispanic Whites and modify the risk associated with the dietary and environmental exposure in a sex-specific manner.
A Survey on Security Issues in Big Data and NoSQL

This paper presents a survey on security and privacy issues in big data and NoSQL. Due to the high volume, velocity and variety of big data, security and privacy issues are different in such streaming data infrastructures with diverse data format. Therefore, traditional security models have difficulties in dealing with such large scale data. In this paper we present some security issues in big data and highlight the security and privacy challenges in big data infrastructures and NoSQL databases.
Automatic detection of phone-level mispronunciation for language learning

We are interested in automatically detecting specific phone segments that have been mispronounced by a nonnative student of a foreign language. The phone-level information allows a language instruction system to provide the student with feedback about specific pronunciation mistakes. Two approaches were evaluated; in the first approach, log-posterior probability-based scores [1] are computed for each phone segment. These probabilities are based on acoustic models of native speech. The second approach uses a phonetically labeled nonnative speech database to train two different acoustic models for each phone: one model is trained with the acceptable, or correct native-like pronunciations, while the other model is trained with the incorrect, strongly nonnative pronunciations. For each phone segment, a log-likelihood ratio score is computed using the incorrect and correct pronunciation models. Either type of score is compared with a phone dependent threshold to detect a mispronunciation. Performance of both approaches was evaluated in a phonetically transcribed database of 130,000 phones uttered in continuous speech sentences by 206 nonnative speakers.
Donepezil hydrochloride preserves regional cerebral blood flow in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

UNLABELLED
The aim of this SPECT study was to investigate the effects of donepezil on regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD) using statistical parametric mapping.


METHODS
rCBF was noninvasively measured using (99m)Tc-ethyl cysteinate dimer in 35 AD patients with a Mini-Mental State Examination score > 16 on initial evaluation. Baseline and follow-up SPECT studies with a mean interval of 12 mo were performed on these patients. We used the adjusted rCBF images in the relative flow distribution (normalization of global cerebral blood flow for each patient to 50 mL/100 g/min with proportional scaling) to compare these groups through statistical parametric mapping.


RESULTS
In the follow-up study, the adjusted rCBF was significantly preserved in the right and left anterior cingulate gyri, right middle temporal gyrus, right inferior parietal lobules, and prefrontal cortex of donepezil-treated AD patients, compared with placebo-treated AD patients.


CONCLUSION
Treatment with donepezil for 1 y appears to reduce the decline in rCBF, suggesting preservation of functional brain activity.
Particle Swarm Optimization-Based Clustering by Preventing Residual Nodes in Wireless Sensor Networks

Particle swarm optimization (PSO)-based effective clustering in wireless sensor networks is proposed. In the existing optimized energy efficient routing protocol (OEERP), during cluster formation some of the nodes are left out without being a member of any of the cluster which results in residual node formation. Such residual or individual nodes forward the sensed data either directly to the base station or by finding the next best hop by sending many control messages hence reduces the network lifetime. The proposed enhanced-OEERP (E-OEERP) reduces/eliminates such individual node formation and improves the overall network lifetime when compared with the existing protocols. It can be achieved by applying the concepts of PSO and gravitational search algorithm (GSA) for cluster formation and routing, respectively. For each cluster head (CH), a supportive node called cluster assistant node is elected to reduce the overhead of the CH. With the help of PSO, clustering is performed until all the nodes become a member of any of the cluster. This eliminates the individual node formation which results in comparatively better network lifetime. With the concept of GSA, the term force between the CHs is considered for finding the next best hop during route construction phase. The performance of the proposed work in terms of energy consumption, throughput, packet delivery ratio, and network lifetime are evaluated and compared with the existing OEERP, low energy adaptive clustering hierarchy, data routing for in-network aggregation, base-station controlled dynamic clustering protocols. This paper is simulated using NS-2 simulator. The results prove that, the proposed E-OEERP shows better performance in terms of lifetime.
Face Recognition and Privacy in the Age of Augmented Reality

In recent years, massive amounts of identified and unidentified facial data have become available—often publicly so—through Web 2.0 applications. So have also the infrastructure and technologies necessary to navigate through those data in real time, matching individuals across online services, independently of their knowledge or consent. In the literature on statistical re-identification [5, 6], an identified database is pinned against an unidentified database in order to recognize individuals in the latter and associate them with information from the former. Many online services make available to visitors identified facial images: social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn, online services such as Amazon.com profiles, or organizational rosters. Consider Facebook, for example. Most active Facebook users (currently estimated at 1.35 billion monthly active users worldwide [7], with over 250 billion photos uploaded photos [8]) use photos of themselves as their primary profile image. These photos are often identifiable: Facebook has pursued a ‘real identity’ policy, under which members are expected to appear on the network under their real names under penalty of account cancellation [9]. Using tagging features and login security questions, Facebook has encouraged users to associate their and their friends’ names to uploaded photos. Facebook photos are also frequently publicly available. Primary profile photos must be shared with strangers un-