LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Periodontal disease and cardiovascular disease: epidemiology and possible mechanisms.

BACKGROUND
Many early epidemiologic studies reported an association between periodontal disease and cardiovascular disease. However, other studies found no association or nonsignificant trends. This report summarizes the evidence from epidemiologic studies and studies that focused on potential contributing mechanisms to provide a more complete picture of the association between periodontal and heart disease.


TYPES OF STUDIES REVIEWED
The authors summarize the longitudinal studies reported to date, because they represent the highest level of evidence available regarding the connection between periodontal disease and heart disease. The authors also review many of the case-control and cross-sectional studies published, as well as findings from clinical, animal and basic laboratory studies.


RESULTS
The evidence suggests a moderate association--but not a causal relationship--between periodontal disease and heart disease. Results of some case-control studies indicate that subgingival periodontal pathogenic infection may be associated with myocardial infarction. Basic laboratory studies point to the biological plausibility of this association, since oral bacteria have been found in carotid atheromas and some oral bacteria may be associated with platelet aggregation, an event important for thrombosis. Animal studies have shown that atheroma formation can be enhanced by exposure to periodontal pathogens.


CONCLUSIONS
The accumulation of epidemiologic, in vitro, clinical and animal evidence suggests that periodontal infection may be a contributing risk factor for heart disease. However, legitimate concerns have arisen about the nature of this relationship. These are early investigations. Since even a moderate risk contributed by periodontal disease to heart disease could contribute to significant morbidity and mortality, it is imperative that further studies be conducted to evaluate this relationship. One particularly important study to be carried out is the investigation of a possible clinically meaningful reduction in heart disease resulting from the prevention or treatment of periodontal disease.
Changing circumstances, disrupting habits.

The present research investigated the mechanisms guiding habitual behavior, specifically, the stimulus cues that trigger habit performance. When usual contexts for performance change, habits cannot be cued by recurring stimuli, and performance should be disrupted. Thus, the exercising, newspaper reading, and TV watching habits of students transferring to a new university were found to survive the transfer only when aspects of the performance context did not change (e.g., participants continued to read the paper with others). In some cases, the disruption in habits also placed behavior under intentional control so that participants acted on their current intentions. Changes in circumstances also affected the favorability of intentions, but changes in intentions alone could not explain the disruption of habits. Furthermore, regardless of whether contexts changed, nonhabitual behavior was guided by intentions.
The effects of different treatment activities on functional fine motor coordination in adults with brain injury.

OBJECTIVES
Occupational therapists frequently work to improve the fine motor coordination skills of adults who have dexterity deficits secondary to brain injury. Most therapists use a combination of tabletop and functional activities to foster improved coordination in these clients. This study examined the effects of puzzle construction and kitchen activities on fine motor coordination in a group of 45 men with brain injury, as measured by pretest and posttest performance on two subtests of the Jebsen-Taylor Test of Hand Function.


METHOD
Subjects were randomly assigned to either a parquetry block assembly group (n = 22) or a meal preparation group (n = 23).


RESULTS
Subjects in the functional meal preparation group showed significantly greater improvement in dominant-band dexterity for picking up small objects than subjects in the tabletop puzzle activity group. Other coordination test results were comparable for the two treatment groups.


CONCLUSION
These findings suggest that functional activities may be better than tabletop activities for fine motor coordination training with this population.
Drinker Prototype Alteration and Cue Reminders as Strategies in a Tailored Web-Based Intervention Reducing Adults’ Alcohol Consumption: Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND
Excessive alcohol use is a prevalent and worldwide problem. Excessive drinking causes a significant burden of disease and is associated with both morbidity and excess mortality. Prototype alteration and provision of a cue reminder could be useful strategies to enhance the effectiveness of online tailored interventions for excessive drinking.


OBJECTIVE
Through a Web-based randomized controlled trial, 2 strategies (ie, prototype alteration and cue reminders) within an existing online personalized feedback intervention (Drinktest) aimed to reduce adults' excessive drinking. It was expected that both strategies would add to Drinktest and would result in reductions in alcohol consumption by intrinsic motivation and the seizure of opportunities to act.


METHODS
Participants were recruited online and through printed materials. Excessive drinking adults (N=2634) were randomly assigned to 4 conditions: original Drinktest, Drinktest plus prototype alteration, Drinktest plus cue reminder, and Drinktest plus prototype alteration and cue reminder. Evaluation took place at 1-month posttest and 6-month follow-up. Differences in drinking behavior, intentions, and behavioral willingness (ie, primary outcomes) were assessed by means of longitudinal multilevel analyses using a last observation carried forward method. Measures were based on self-reports.


RESULTS
All conditions showed reductions in drinking behavior and willingness to drink, and increased intentions to reduce drinking. Prototype alteration (B=-0.15, P<.05) and cue reminder usage (B=-0.15, P<.05) were both more effective in reducing alcohol consumption than when these strategies were not provided. Combining the strategies did not produce a synergistic effect. No differences across conditions were found regarding intentions or willingness.


CONCLUSIONS
Although individuals' awareness of their cue was reasonable, their reported alcohol consumption was nevertheless reduced. Individuals appeared to distance their self-image from heavier drinking prototypes. Thus, prototype alteration and cue reminder usage may be feasible and simple intervention strategies to promote reductions in alcohol consumption among adults, with an effect up to 6 months.


TRIAL REGISTRATION
Nederlands Trial Register (NTR): 4169; http://www.trialregister.nl/trialreg/admin/rctview.asp?TC=4169 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6VD2jnxmB).
Is postoperative exercise therapy necessary in patients with degenerative meniscus? A randomized controlled trial with one year follow-up

There is no consensus on a postoperative rehabilitation regimen for patients who have undergone surgery for medial meniscus damage. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate two rehabilitation approaches after arthroscopic surgery in patients with degenerative meniscus: supervised medical exercise therapy versus no treatment. A prospective randomized controlled clinical trial. Over 4 months, 70 participants were randomly assigned into either a medical exercise therapy group (n = 36) or a control group (n = 34). Pain was a composite score of a visual analogue scale (VAS), and function was measured with a functional assessment questionnaire (KOOS), while anxiety and depression were measured with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Function was also measured with tests of quadriceps femoris strength and a one-leg jump test. Prognostic variables were similar between the groups at baseline, with five (7 %) patients dropping out during the treatment period and another six (8 %) before the one-year follow-up. After 3 months, the medical exercise therapy group achieved significantly better outcome effects than the control group for pain and function. The results after the 12-month follow-up indicated the same results as at posttest, whereas Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, fiveRM and the one-leg hop test also demonstrated a significant difference between the groups from pre- to posttest to follow-up. In patients with surgery for degenerative meniscus damage, postoperative medical exercise therapy is an efficient treatment alternative compared to no treatment. I.
A scoring system for predicting significant fibrosis in chronic hepatitis B patients with normal or mildly elevated alanine aminotransferase levels.

BACKGROUND/AIM
We aimed to develop a clinically useful scoring system to predict the probability of significant fibrosis (the Scheuer score ≥S2) in patients with chronic hepatitis B infection (CHB) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels 2-fold lower than the upper limit of normal (ULN), in order to facilitate the clinical decision to perform a subsequent liver biopsy.


METHODS
Consecutive subjects who underwent percutaneous liver biopsy were examined. The predictors evaluated included demographic, clinical, and laboratory variables. A clinical scoring system was developed by rounding the estimated regression coefficients for the independent predictors in multivariate logistic models for the diagnosis of significant fibrosis.


RESULTS
A total of 283 patients with ALT levels 2-fold lower than the ULN were divided into 2 groups to develop (n=190) and validate (n=93) the scoring system. Of the 190 subjects examined, 52 (27.4%) had significant fibrosis. Aspartate transferase levels, platelet counts, and hepatitis B surface antigen levels were independently associated with significant liver fibrosis. A fibrosis clinical scoring system comprising these 3 variables in CHB patients with ALT levels 2-fold lower than the ULN was developed to predict the probability of significant fibrosis in 4 categories (low, intermediate, high, and very high risk).


CONCLUSIONS
The proposed fibrosis scoring system predicted the probability of significant fibrosis in CHB patients with ALT levels 2-fold lower than the ULN with sufficient accuracy. It identified individuals with a very high risk for significant fibrosis in whom liver biopsy would most likely yield a diagnostic benefit. It also identified individuals with a low risk of moderate fibrosis in whom a liver biopsy can be delayed or avoided.
P2DAP — Sybil Attacks Detection in Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks

Vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) are being increasingly advocated for traffic control, accident avoidance, and management of parking lots and public areas. Security and privacy are two major concerns in VANETs. Unfortunately, in VANETs, most privacy-preserving schemes are vulnerable to Sybil attacks, whereby a malicious user can pretend to be multiple (other) vehicles. In this paper, we present a lightweight and scalable protocol to detect Sybil attacks. In this protocol, a malicious user pretending to be multiple (other) vehicles can be detected in a distributed manner through passive overhearing by s set of fixed nodes called road-side boxes (RSBs). The detection of Sybil attacks in this manner does not require any vehicle in the network to disclose its identity; hence privacy is preserved at all times. Simulation results are presented for a realistic test case to highlight the overhead for a centralized authority such as the DMV, the false alarm rate, and the detection latency. The results also quantify the inherent trade-off between security, i.e., the detection of Sybil attacks and detection latency, and the privacy provided to the vehicles in the network. From the results, we see our scheme being able to detect Sybil attacks at low overhead and delay, while preserving privacy of vehicles.
Individualized electronic decision support and reminders to improve diabetes care in the community: COMPETE II randomized trial.

BACKGROUND
Diabetes mellitus is a complex disease with serious complications. Electronic decision support, providing information that is shared and discussed by both patient and physician, encourages timely interventions and may improve the management of this chronic disease. However, it has rarely been tested in community-based primary care.


METHODS
In this pragmatic randomized trial, we randomly assigned adult primary care patients with type 2 diabetes to receive the intervention or usual care. The intervention involved shared access by the primary care provider and the patient to a Web-based, colour-coded diabetes tracker, which provided sequential monitoring values for 13 diabetes risk factors, their respective targets and brief, prioritized messages of advice. The primary outcome measure was a process composite score. Secondary outcomes included clinical composite scores, quality of life, continuity of care and usability. The outcome assessors were blinded to each patient's intervention status.


RESULTS
We recruited sequentially 46 primary care providers and then 511 of their patients (mean age 60.7 [standard deviation 12.5] years). Mean follow-up was 5.9 months. The process composite score was significantly better for patients in the intervention group than for control patients (difference 1.27, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.79-1.75, p < 0.001); 61.7% (156/253) of patients in the intervention group, compared with 42.6% (110/258) of control patients, showed improvement (difference 19.1%, p < 0.001). The clinical composite score also had significantly more variables with improvement for the intervention group (0.59, 95% CI 0.09-1.10, p = 0.02), including significantly greater declines in blood pressure (-3.95 mm Hg systolic and -2.38 mm Hg diastolic) and glycated hemoglobin (-0.2%). Patients in the intervention group reported greater satisfaction with their diabetes care.


INTERPRETATION
A shared electronic decision-support system to support the primary care of diabetes improved the process of care and some clinical markers of the quality of diabetes care. (ClinicalTrials.gov trial register no. NCT00813085.).
A Mathematical Theory of Evidence

This is an aptly titled effort to supplement probability theory as developed for chance/aleatory devices by a parallel, but distinct, epistemically oriented quantitative theory of evidence for, and evidential support of, our opinions, judgements of facts, and beliefs. That probability takes its meaning from and is used to describe such diverse phenomena as propensities for physical behavior, propositional attitudes of belief, logical relations of inductive support, and experimental outcomes under prescribed conditions of unlinked repetitions, has long been the source of much of the controversy and vitality in the development and application of probability theory and its associated concepts. Ian Hacking in his recent book The emergence of probability [1] attempted to trace and explain this intertwining of belief/knowledge and physical (objective) behavior in terms of a conceptual transformation of the categories of knowledge and opinion that was mainly completed by the early 18th century. Hacking's historical/philosophical analysis aims to explain what he holds to be our present dualistic conception of probability as being jointly epistemic (oriented towards assessment of knowledge/belief) and aleatory (oriented towards the objective description of the outcomes of 'random' experiments) with most of the present-day emphasis on the latter. Historically, however, the epistemic component was initially dominant in conceptions of probability. Probability through the Renaissance applied only to opinions/beliefs and was based upon authoritative testimony in support of these opinions/beliefs. The 19 year-old Leibniz writing in 1665 wished to formalize the evidential support for beliefs by a numerical assignment on a scale of [0, 1] of what he referred to as 'degrees of proof'. The object of this exercise was to be a rationalized jurisprudence. Key to such assignments was an analysis into equally possible (likely) cases. The growth of an aleatory notion of probability concerning inductive relations between physical signs and physical phenomena starts in the Renaissance. The extent to which the aleatory notion was dependent upon the epistemic notion (there was also a strong converse dependence) is apparent in the posthumously published (1713) A rs conjectandi of J. Bernoulli. In Part IV of the Ars [2] we find the first statement and proof of a law of large numbers, the first firm step on the road to the frequentist/aleatory concepts dominant today. Significantly though, J. Bernoulli was not a frequentist. For Bernoulli, frequency of occurrence was only a clue to the enumeration of the equally possible cases that was the basis of quantitative epistemic probability. Much
A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field

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Insulator surface charge accumulation under impulse voltage

The surface charge distribution under impulse voltage is measured using a static capacitance probe. A probe with very small charge leakage is designed. The condition of surface charge accumulation under impulse voltage is analyzed, and it is concluded that micro discharges in the gas near the insulator surface such as the corona caused by free and fixed metal particles is usually a prerequisite condition. The dynamic equation describing the relationship between surface charge density and the applied voltage is established, and the process of surface charge accumulation under impulse voltage is analyzed. Theoretical analysis and experimental results show that the decrease of wave front time of the impulse voltage can result in an increase of surface charge accumulation. A GIS spacer is used to investigate the influence of charge accumulation on the flashover characteristics. It is shown that the 50% impulse flashover voltage can be reduced by 23.4%, and the lower limit of the V-t characteristics can be lowered drastically if the polarity of the surface charge is opposite to that of the applied voltage.
UML 3.0 and the future of modeling

Themajor revision work for UML 2.0 is complete, and it is now an OMG Final Adopted Specification. This is a good time to reflect on UML’s future, and the future of modeldriven development. In April 2003 the U2 Partners submission team completed the final editing changes to the third revision of its Unified Modeling Language (UML) 2.0 Superstructure proposal, and submitted it to the Object Management Group (OMG) for consideration [1]. Since the Superstructure final submission specified the high-level constructs and diagrams that users commonly identify with UML, this was the last and most important submission of the four UML 2.0 revision processes.1 The OMGAnalysis and Design Task Force (ADTF) unanimously recommended that the OMG adopt the Superstructure final submission in June 2003, and the OMG classified it as a Final Adopted Specification in August 2003 [2]. The adoption of the UML 2.0 Superstructure final submission marked the culmination of 3 1/2 years of major revision process, which started with the drafting of UML 2.0 Requests for Proposals in early 2000. It also marked the fruition of 2 3/4 years of intensive proposal and specification writing by the largest submission team in the history of the OMG. By the time that we had finished, the U2 Partners submission team consisted of over fifty companies and organizations that were either submitters or supporters. Given the heated politicking that occurred throughout the UML 2.0 revision process, the Task Force’s unanimous vote to recommend the Superstructure for adoption was anticlimactic. From a personal perspective, the recommended adoption of the UML 2.0 Superstructure submission occurred after more than six years of leading, and more than seven years of participating in, UML standardization efforts.
Forensic investigations in Cloud environments

Cloud computing presents many promising technological and economical opportunities, however, it can pose a challenge for cybercrime investigation and digital forensics. Therefore, there is an urgent need to extend the applications of investigation processes in the Cloud. In this paper, we present the definition of cloud computing and its various models. Further we compare traditional forensic investigations and forensic investigations in cloud and analyze the challenges of forensic investigations in cloud environments.
Can we beat Hadamard multiplexing? Data driven design and analysis for computational imaging systems

Computational Imaging (CI) systems that exploit optical multiplexing and algorithmic demultiplexing have been shown to improve imaging performance in tasks such as motion deblurring, extended depth of field, light field and hyper-spectral imaging. Design and performance analysis of many of these approaches tend to ignore the role of image priors. It is well known that utilizing statistical image priors significantly improves demultiplexing performance. In this paper, we extend the Gaussian Mixture Model as a data-driven image prior (proposed by Mitra et. al [21]) to under-determined linear systems and study compressive CI methods such as light-field and hyper-spectral imaging. Further, we derive a novel algorithm for optimizing multiplexing matrices that simultaneously accounts for (a) sensor noise (b) image priors and (c) CI design constraints. We use our algorithm to design data-optimal multiplexing matrices for a variety of existing CI designs, and we use these matrices to analyze the performance of CI systems as a function of noise level. Our analysis gives new insight into the optimal performance of CI systems, and how this relates to the performance of classical multiplexing designs such as Hadamard matrices.
An integrated vendor-buyer inventory model with order-processing cost reduction and permissible delay in payments

Trade credit plays an important role in financing for many businesses and industries. For the buyers, purchased inventory can be considered to be financed in whole or in part with permissible delay in payments during the purchasing process. On the other hand, both the vendor and buyer take part in order-processing cost reduction by applying information technologies, such as EDI (electronic data interchange). The order-processing cost can also be reduced by adding certain capital investments, and this will affect the lot size decisions. This article develops an integrated inventory model to determine the optimal inventory policy under conditions of order-processing cost reduction and permissible delay in payments, and shows that the total annual variable cost function possesses some kinds of convexities. A solution procedure is provided to determine the optimal order policy. Finally, a numerical example is presented to illustrate the solution procedure. 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.