LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Echogenic regional anaesthesia needles: a comparison study in Thiel cadavers.

Ultrasound guidance is now the standard procedure for regional nerve block in anesthesiology. However, ultrasonic visualisation of needle manipulation and guidance within tissues remains a problem. Two new echogenic needles (Pajunk and Braun) have been introduced to anesthesiology clinical practice but evaluation has been restricted to preserved animal tissue. In this study, the visibility of both echogenic needles was compared with a standard nonechogenic needle in a Thiel cadaver model. A total of 144 intramuscular injections were made in the upper arm in-plane and out-of-plane to the ultrasound beam at four angles (30°, 45°, 60° and 75°). The visibility of the needle was assessed by two independent, blinded observers using a 5-point Likert ordinal scale. Weighted κ for interobserver agreement was 0.77 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.68-0.86). The Pajunk echogenic needle was more visible than the Braun standard needle in-plane (p = 0.04), and the Braun standard and Braun echogenic needles out-of-plane (p = 0.02). Independent predictors of visibility using logistic regression were needle (p < 0.001) and plane of insertion (p = 0.08), receiver operator characteristic (ROC) area under the curve 0.90. In conclusion, the Pajunk echogenic needle offers the best visibility for ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia.
Design of IEC 61850 based Substation Automation Systems according to customer requirements

Developments in computer and communication technologies have enabled unmatched integration of a wide range of substation functions within a computer control system. This new class of application has gone through a great deal of effort into achieveing cost-effective, efficient, secure and high performance of the utility power grid substation operations. The integrated Substation Control System (SCS) became some years ago the technology of choice, which led to the installation of a 3-level hierarchical control system in Abu Dhabi substations. The first 2 levels of control are performed locally within the boundary of the substation, and the third level puts a larger number of substations under remote control from the Network Control Centre (NCC), which is separated in most cases from the individual substations by large distances. In the design of this serial link to NCC, the IEC 60870-5-101 standard has become the protocol of choice for field installation on Abu Dhabi system.
Association of adherence to lifestyle recommendations and risk of colorectal cancer: a prospective Danish cohort study

OBJECTIVES
To evaluate the association between a simple lifestyle index based on the recommendations for five lifestyle factors and the incidence of colorectal cancer, and to estimate the proportion of colorectal cancer cases attributable to lack of adherence to the recommendations.


DESIGN
Prospective cohort study.


SETTING
General population of Copenhagen and Aarhus, Denmark.


PARTICIPANTS
55 487 men and women aged 50-64 years at baseline (1993-7), not previously diagnosed with cancer.


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE
Risk of colorectal cancer in relation to points achieved in the lifestyle index (based on physical activity, waist circumference, smoking, alcohol intake, and diet (dietary fibre, energy percentage from fat, red and processed meat, and fruits and vegetables)) modelled through Cox regression.


RESULTS
During a median follow-up of 9.9 years, 678 men and women had colorectal cancer diagnosed. After adjustment for potential confounders, each additional point achieved on the lifestyle index, corresponding to one additional recommendation that was met, was associated with a lower risk of colorectal cancer (incidence rate ratio 0.89 (95% confidence interval 0.82 to 0.96). In this population an estimated total of 13% (95% CI 4% to 22%) of the colorectal cancer cases were attributable to lack of adherence to merely one additional recommendation among all participants except the healthiest. If all participants had followed the five recommendations 23% (9% to 37%) of the colorectal cancer cases might have been prevented. Results were similar for colon and rectal cancer, but only statistically significant for colon cancer.


CONCLUSIONS
Adherence to the recommendations for physical activity, waist circumference, smoking, alcohol intake, and diet may reduce colorectal cancer risk considerably, and in this population 23% of the cases might be attributable to lack of adherence to the five lifestyle recommendations. The simple structure of the lifestyle index facilitates its use in public health practice.
Contexts which shape and reshape new teachers’ identities: A multi-perspective study

This paper presents the major findings of a longitudinal study of teachers’ professional identities in the early years of teaching. It analyzes key influences upon the ways in which new teachers’ identities are shaped and reshaped over time. Through their own perceptions, analyses of the school cultures in which they work and their pupils’ views it reveals how the interplay between contextual, cultural and biographical factors affects their teaching practices. Teachers’ personal and professional histories and pre-service training, alongside issues of school culture and leadership, emerge as stronger mediating influences (than previous literature suggests) in determining the kinds and relative stability and instability of professional identities which teachers develop in the early years of teaching and thus the kinds of teachers they become and their effectiveness. r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Improving effect size estimation and statistical power with multi-echo fMRI and its impact on understanding the neural systems supporting mentalizing

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) research is routinely criticized for being statistically underpowered due to characteristically small sample sizes and much larger sample sizes are being increasingly recommended. Additionally, various sources of artifact inherent in fMRI data can have detrimental impact on effect size estimates and statistical power. Here we show how specific removal of non-BOLD artifacts can improve effect size estimation and statistical power in task-fMRI contexts, with particular application to the social-cognitive domain of mentalizing/theory of mind. Non-BOLD variability identification and removal is achieved in a biophysical and statistically principled manner by combining multi-echo fMRI acquisition and independent components analysis (ME-ICA). Without smoothing, group-level effect size estimates on two different mentalizing tasks were enhanced by ME-ICA at a median rate of 24% in regions canonically associated with mentalizing, while much more substantial boosts (40-149%) were observed in non-canonical cerebellar areas. Effect size boosting occurs via reduction of non-BOLD noise at the subject-level and consequent reductions in between-subject variance at the group-level. Smoothing can attenuate ME-ICA-related effect size improvements in certain circumstances. Power simulations demonstrate that ME-ICA-related effect size enhancements enable much higher-powered studies at traditional sample sizes. Cerebellar effects observed after applying ME-ICA may be unobservable with conventional imaging at traditional sample sizes. Thus, ME-ICA allows for principled design-agnostic non-BOLD artifact removal that can substantially improve effect size estimates and statistical power in task-fMRI contexts. ME-ICA could mitigate some issues regarding statistical power in fMRI studies and enable novel discovery of aspects of brain organization that are currently under-appreciated and not well understood.
Study on Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Blood Donation among Students of Different Colleges of Kathmandu, Nepal

Introduction: Role of young college students in voluntary blood donation is crucial to meet the demands of safe blood. By assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practice of blood donation, donor mobilization and retention strategies can be designed and optimally modified. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 177 students of donor-eligible age from different colleges of Kathmandu. Self-administered structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Results: Mean age of students was 20.46 years (±1.48), girls comprised 58.8%. Eighteen percent students had donated before; 31.5% of boys and 8.7% of girls had donated. Average knowledge was about (32.4%). Practice of blood donation had male propensity and positive correlation with knowledge (p values 0.001). Most students donated for moral satisfaction or humanitarian cause; lack of information about blood collection facilities and no request to donate were the commonest causes for not donating. Conclusions: Programs to promote blood donation in Nepal should focus more on providing information about blood collection facilities or camps. Direct approach with request to donate would increase blood donation practice among girls.
Validity of a quantitative clinical measurement tool of trunk posture in idiopathic scoliosis.

STUDY DESIGN
Concurrent validity between postural indices obtained from digital photographs (two-dimensional [2D]), surface topography imaging (three-dimensional [3D]), and radiographs.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the validity of a quantitative clinical postural assessment tool of the trunk based on photographs (2D) as compared to a surface topography system (3D) as well as indices calculated from radiographs.


SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA
To monitor progression of scoliosis or change in posture over time in young persons with idiopathic scoliosis (IS), noninvasive and nonionizing methods are recommended. In a clinical setting, posture can be quite easily assessed by calculating key postural indices from photographs.


METHODS
Quantitative postural indices of 70 subjects aged 10 to 20 years old with IS (Cobb angle, 15 degrees -60 degrees) were measured from photographs and from 3D trunk surface images taken in the standing position. Shoulder, scapula, trunk list, pelvis, scoliosis, and waist angles indices were calculated with specially designed software. Frontal and sagittal Cobb angles and trunk list were also calculated on radiographs. The Pearson correlation coefficients (r) was used to estimate concurrent validity of the 2D clinical postural tool of the trunk with indices extracted from the 3D system and with those obtained from radiographs.


RESULTS
The correlation between 2D and 3D indices was good to excellent for shoulder, pelvis, trunk list, and thoracic scoliosis (0.81>r<0.97; P<0.01) but fair to moderate for thoracic kyphosis, lumbar lordosis, and thoracolumbar or lumbar scoliosis (0.30>r<0.56; P<0.05). The correlation between 2D and radiograph spinal indices was fair to good (-0.33 to -0.80 with Cobb angles and 0.76 for trunk list; P<0.05).


CONCLUSION
This tool will facilitate clinical practice by monitoring trunk posture among persons with IS. Further, it may contribute to a reduction in the use of radiographs to monitor scoliosis progression.
Two-dimensional oxide and hydroxide nanosheets: controllable high-quality exfoliation, molecular assembly, and exploration of functionality.

CONSPECTUS: Two-dimensional (2D) materials, represented by graphene, have attracted tremendous interest due to their ultimate structural anisotropy and fascinating resultant properties. The search for 2D material alternatives to graphene, molecularly thin with diverse composition, structure, and functionality, has become a hot research topic. A wide variety of layered metal oxides and hydroxides have been exfoliated into the form of individual host layers, that is, 2D nanosheets. This Account presents an overview of 2D oxide and hydroxide nanosheets on the following subtopics: (1) controllable preparation of high-quality nanosheets and (2) molecular assembly and the exploration of functionality of the nanosheets. High-quality exfoliation is generally achieved via a multistep soft chemical process, comprised of ion-exchange, osmotic swelling, and exfoliation. A high degree of hydration-induced swelling, typically triggered by intercalation of organo-ammonium ions, is a critical stage leading to the high-yield production of molecularly thin nanosheets. Recent studies reveal that massive swelling, an astounding ∼100 times the original size, can be induced by a range of amine solutions. The degree of swelling is controlled by the balance of osmotic pressure between the inner gallery and the outer electrolyte solution, which is strongly influenced by amine molarity. Conversely, the stability of the resultant swollen structure is dependent on the chemical nature of the amine/ammonium ions. Particular species of lower polarity and bulky size, for example, quaternary ammonium ions, are beneficial in promoting exfoliation. Rational design and tuning of the lateral dimension, chemical composition, and structure of nanosheets are vital in exploring diverse functionalities. The lateral dimension of the nanosheets can be tuned by controlling the crystal size of the parent layered compounds, as well as the kinetics of the exfoliating reaction, for example, the type of amine/ammonium ions, their concentration, and the mode of exfoliation (manual versus mechanical shaking, etc.). Employing optimum conditions enables the production of high-quality nanosheets with a lateral size as large as several tens of micrometers. A couple of examples tailoring the nanosheets have been demonstrated with a highlight on a novel class of 2D perovskite-type oxide nanosheets with a finely tuned composition and a progressively increasing thickness at a step of 0.4-0.5 nm (corresponding to the height of the MO6 octahedron). The charge-bearing nanosheets can be organized through solution-based molecular assembly techniques (e.g., electrostatic layer-by-layer deposition, Langmuir-Blodgett method) to produce highly organized nanofilms, superlattices, etc., the exploration of which holds great potential for the development of various electronic and optical applications, among others.
Multicenter prospective nonrandomized controlled clinical trial to prove neurotherapeutic effects of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor for acute spinal cord injury: analyses of follow-up cases after at least 1 year.

STUDY DESIGN
An open-labeled multicenter prospective nonrandomized controlled clinical trial.


OBJECTIVE
To confirm the feasibility of using granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) for treatment of acute spinal cord injury (SCI).


SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA
We previously reported that G-CSF promotes functional recovery after compression-induced SCI in mice. On the basis of these findings, we conducted a multicenter prospective controlled clinical trial to assess the feasibility of G-CSF therapy for patients with acute SCI.


METHODS
The trial ran from August 2009 to March 2011, and included 41 patients with SCI treated within 48 hours of onset. Informed consent was obtained from all patients. After providing consent, patients were divided into 2 groups. In the G-CSF group (17 patients), G-CSF (10 μg/kg/d) was intravenously administered for 5 consecutive days, and in the control group (24 patients), patients were similarly treated except for the G-CSF administration. We evaluated motor and sensory functions using the American Spinal Cord Injury Association score and American Spinal Cord Injury Association impairment scale at 1 week, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year after onset.


RESULTS
Only 2 patients did not experience American Spinal Cord Injury Association impairment scale improvement in the G-CSF group. In contrast, 15 patients in the control group did not experience American Spinal Cord Injury Association impairment scale improvement. In the analysis of increased American Spinal Cord Injury Association motor score, a significant increase in G-CSF group was detected from 1 week after the administration compared with the control group. After that, some spontaneous increase of motor score was detected in control group, but the significant increase in G-CSF group was maintained until 1 year of follow-up.


CONCLUSION
Despite the limitation that patient selection was not randomized, the present results suggest the possibility that G-CSF administration has beneficial effects on neurological recovery in patients with acute SCI.


LEVEL OF EVIDENCE
3.
Religion and trust: An experimental study☆

We investigate the relationship between religion and trust. Using a questionnaire, we measure: i) general religiosity, and; ii) the extent of religious beliefs, experience, and ritual. These are then analyzed with behavior in a trust game (Berg et al., Games and Economic Behavior, 1995), which we also extend by providing information of a potential trustee’s religiosity in certain tasks. We find that trusting increases with the potential trustee’s religiosity. The extent to which trusting increases with a trustee’s religiosity, in turn, increases with a truster’s religiosity. Trustworthiness also increases with religiosity, and at an increasing rate. PsycINFO classification: 2920, 3020 JEL classification: C72, C91, Z12
Efficacy and safety of ezogabine/retigabine as adjunctive therapy to specified single antiepileptic medications in an open-label study of adults with partial-onset seizures

PURPOSE
To assess efficacy/tolerability of ezogabine (EZG)/retigabine (RTG) in combination with specified monotherapy antiepileptic drug (AED) treatments in adults with uncontrolled partial-onset seizures using a flexible dosing regimen.


METHODS
NCT01227902 was an open-label, uncontrolled study of flexibly dosed EZG/RTG. Adults with partial-onset seizures must have been taking either carbamazepine/oxcarbazepine (CBZ/OXC), lamotrigine (LTG), levetiracetam (LEV), or valproic acid (VPA). The study comprised a screening/baseline phase, a 4-week titration phase (initiation on 150mg/day [50mg three times daily (TID)] with weekly increases of 150mg/day [50mg TID] over 4 weeks to 600mg/day), and a flexible dose evaluation (FDE) phase (optional weekly dose changes of 50-150mg/day, to an optimal daily dosage [300-1200mg/day]). The primary efficacy endpoint was percentage of patients experiencing a ≥50% reduction from baseline in partial seizure frequency (responder rate) during the treatment phase (titration and FDE phases). Safety and tolerability were also assessed.


RESULTS
Patients (N=203) were enrolled and received ≥1 dose of EZG/RTG. The dose of EZG/RTG prescribed most frequently during the treatment phase was 600mg/day for all AED groups. Responder rates during the treatment phase were: 40.0% (CBZ/OXC), 32.0% (LTG), 50.0% (LEV), and 56.9% (VPA). Treatment-emergent adverse events occurred in 82% (CBZ/OXC), 76% (LTG), 73% (LEV), and 67% (VPA) of patients; most were of mild-to-moderate intensity.


CONCLUSIONS
EZG/RTG was effective as adjunctive therapy to CBZ/OXC, LTG, LEV, and VPA, using a flexible dosing regimen, in adults with partial-onset seizures; safety and tolerability were consistent with that previously observed.
Predictors of serious injury among hospitalized patients evaluated for falls.

BACKGROUND
Inpatient falls are common and result in significant patient morbidity.


OBJECTIVE
To identify predictors of serious injury being found on imaging studies of inpatients evaluated after a fall.


DESIGN
Retrospective study.


SETTING
: An 1171-bed urban academic medical center.


PATIENTS
All inpatients who fell on thirteen medical and surgical units from January 1 to December 31, 2006.


MEASUREMENTS
Patient characteristics, circumstances surrounding falls, fall-related injuries, and length of stay were collected through review of incident reports and computerized medical records. Primary outcome of fall-related injury was determined by evidence of injury on imaging studies within two weeks of the fall. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to calculate adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for injury after an inpatient fall.


RESULTS
A total of 513 patients had 636 falls during the study time period. Fall incidence rate was 1.97 falls per 1,000 patient days. 95 patients (19%) fell multiple times (range, 2-6 events); 74% of the falls occurred in patients who were previously assessed as being "at risk" by the nursing staff. Multivariate analysis, adjusting for age and sex, found evidence of trauma after a fall (OR = 24.6, P < 0.001) and ambulatory status (OR = 7.3, P < 0.01) to be independent predictors of injury being found on imaging studies.


CONCLUSIONS
Inpatient falls are common despite high-risk patients being identified. After adjusting for age and sex, evidence of trauma and ambulatory status were independent predictors of an injury being found on imaging studies after an inpatient fall.
Physiological Factors Causing Tonal Characteristics of Speech: from Global to Local Prosody

Voice fundamental frequency (F0) determines the tonal quality of vowels, and its rise and fall comprise part of prosody in speech. This seemingly simple linear function results from highly complex physiological factors and thus lacks definitive explanations of the causal mechanisms. This report reviews previous studies and recent discoveries regarding the causal factors of F0 patterns and discusses possible explanations for lexical accent, local F0 fluctuations, and phrasal declination. A special focus is placed on the following topics. (1) Historical arguments on the two actions of the cricothyroid joint, rotation and translation, for stretching the vocal folds: whether they both actually exist and how they contribute to F0 patterns is revisited with MRI observations. (2) Causal mechanisms of the so-called micro-prosody, i.e., F0 fluctuations due to voicing and vowel articulation: whether such local prosodic patterns are automatically derived from the relevant anatomical structure or derived from deliberate efforts of a speaker to enhance speech perception is discussed based on EMG data.
Validity and Reliability of the Bahasa Melayu Version of the Migraine Disability Assessment Questionnaire

BACKGROUND
The study was designed to determine the validity and reliability of the Bahasa Melayu version (MIDAS-M) of the Migraine Disability Assessment (MIDAS) questionnaire.


METHODS
Patients having migraine for more than six months attending the Neurology Clinic, Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia, were recruited. Standard forward and back translation procedures were used to translate and adapt the MIDAS questionnaire to produce the Bahasa Melayu version. The translated Malay version was tested for face and content validity. Validity and reliability testing were further conducted with 100 migraine patients (1st administration) followed by a retesting session 21 days later (2nd administration).


RESULTS
A total of 100 patients between 15 and 60 years of age were recruited. The majority of the patients were single (66%) and students (46%). Cronbach's alpha values were 0.84 (1st administration) and 0.80 (2nd administration). The test-retest reliability for the total MIDAS score was 0.73, indicating that the MIDAS-M questionnaire is stable; for the five disability questions, the test-retest values ranged from 0.77 to 0.87.


CONCLUSION
The MIDAS-M questionnaire is comparable with the original English version in terms of validity and reliability and may be used for the assessment of migraine in clinical settings.