LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
The wheelchair circuit: reliability of a test to assess mobility in persons with spinal cord injuries.

OBJECTIVE
To assess the reliability of a 9-task wheelchair circuit.


DESIGN
Three test trials per subject were conducted by 2 raters. Inter- and intrarater reliability were examined.


SETTING
Eight rehabilitation centers in the Netherlands.


PARTICIPANTS
Convenience sample of 27 patients (age, >or=18 y) with spinal cord injury (SCI), all of whom were in the final stage of their inpatient rehabilitation.


INTERVENTION
A wheelchair circuit was developed to assess mobility in subjects with SCI. The circuit consisted of 9 tasks: figure-of-8 shape, doorstep crossing, mounting a platform, sprint, walking, driving up treadmill slopes of 3% and 6%, wheelchair driving and transfer.


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE
Task feasibility, task performance time, and peak heart rates.


RESULTS
The number of tasks that subjects could perform varied from 3 to 9. Feasibility intrarater reliability was.98, and the interrater reliability intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was.97. Performance time ICCs ranged from.70 to.99 (mean,.88) for intrarater reliability and from.76 to.98 (mean,.92) for interrater reliability. Heart rate ICCs ranged from.64 to.96 (mean,.81) for intrarater reliability and from.82 to.99 (mean,.89) for interrater reliability.


CONCLUSIONS
The reliability of the wheelchair circuit was good. More research is needed to assess test validity and responsiveness.
Location of banking automatic teller machines based on convolution

In this paper, the problem of determining the optimum number and locations of banking automatic teller machines (ATMs) is considered. The objective is to minimize the total number of ATMs to cover all customer demands within a given geographical area. First, a mathematical model of this optimization problem is formulated. A novel heuristic algorithm with unique features is then developed to efficiently solve this problem. Finally, simulation results show the effectiveness of this algorithm in solving the ATM placement problem. 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Statistical Significance Tests for Machine Translation Evaluation

If two translation systems differ differ in performance on a test set, can we trust that this indicates a difference in true system quality? To answer this question, we describe bootstrap resampling methods to compute statistical significance of test results, and validate them on the concrete example of the BLEU score. Even for small test sizes of only 300 sentences, our methods may give us assurances that test result differences are real.
Moving objects in space: exploiting proprioception in virtual-environment interaction

Manipulation in immersive virtual environments is difficult partly because users must do without the haptic contact with real objects they rely on in the real world to orient themselves and their manipulanda. To compensate for this lack, we propose exploiting the one real object every user has in a virtual environment, his body. We present a unified framework for virtual-environment interaction based on proprioception, a person's sense of the position and orientation of his body and limbs. We describe three forms of body-relative interaction: • Direct manipulation—ways to use body sense to help control manipulation • Physical mnemonics—ways to store/recall information relative to the body • Gestural actions—ways to use body-relative actions to issue commands Automatic scaling is a way to bring objects instantly within reach so that users can manipulate them using proprioceptive cues. Several novel virtual interaction techniques based upon automatic scaling and our proposed framework of proprioception allow a user to interact with a virtual world intuitively, efficiently, precisely, and lazily. We report the results of both informal user trials and formal user studies of the usability of the body-relative interaction techniques presented. CR
Self-enhancing effects of exposure to thin-body images.

OBJECTIVE
This study examines the effect of thin-body media images on mood, self-esteem, and self-image ratings of restrained and unrestrained eaters. A secondary purpose was to examine whether these effects were influenced by exposure duration.


METHOD
Under the guise of a perception study, participants were exposed to thin-body or control advertisements (e.g., perfume bottles) for either 7 or 150 ms and then completed a questionnaire packet.


RESULTS
Restrained eaters reported more favorable self-image and social self-esteem (but not appearance self-esteem) scores after exposure to thin-body images than after exposure to control advertisements. The self-image and social self-esteem scores of unrestrained eaters were unaffected by advertisement type, but their appearance self-esteem scores were lower after exposure to thin-body advertisements. No differences were found for mood ratings and total self-esteem.


DISCUSSION
We discuss restraint status as a moderator of the effects of thin-body images on women's body image.
Randomized, double-blind trial of simultaneous right and left atrial epicardial pacing for prevention of post-open heart surgery atrial fibrillation.

BACKGROUND
The purpose of this study was to assess simultaneous right and left atrial pacing as prophylaxis for postoperative atrial fibrillation.


METHODS AND RESULTS
In a double-blind, randomized fashion, 118 patients who underwent open heart surgery were assigned to right atrial pacing at 45 bpm (RA-AAI; n=39), right atrial triggered pacing at a rate of >/=85 bpm (RA-AAT; n=38), or simultaneous right and left atrial triggered pacing at a rate of >/=85 bpm (Bi-AAT; n=41). Holter monitoring was performed for 4. 8+/-1.4 days after surgery to assess for episodes of atrial fibrillation lasting >5 minutes. The prevalence of postoperative atrial fibrillation was significantly less in the patients randomized to biatrial AAT pacing when compared with the other 2 pacing regimens (P=0.02). An episode of atrial fibrillation occurred in 4 (10%) of 41 patients in the Bi-AAT group compared with 11 (28%) of 39 patients in the RA-AAI group (P=0.03 versus Bi-AAT) and 12 (32%) of 38 patients in the RA-AAT group (P=0.01 versus Bi-AAT). There was no difference in the occurrence of atrial fibrillation between the right atrial AAI and AAT groups (P=0.8). There was no significant difference among the 3 groups with regard to the number of postoperative hospital days (7.3+/-4.2 days), morbidity (5.1%), or mortality rate (2.5%).


CONCLUSIONS
Simultaneous right and left atrial triggered pacing is well tolerated and significantly reduces the prevalence of post-open heart surgery atrial fibrillation.
Control of 24-hour intragastric acidity with morning dosing of immediate-release and delayed-release proton pump inhibitors in patients with GERD.

GOALS
To compare the effects of immediate-release omeprazole and 2 different delayed-release proton pump inhibitors on 24-hour intragastric acidity in gastroesophageal reflux disease patients.


BACKGROUND
Because of its unique pharmacokinetic properties, immediate-release omeprazole does not need to be dosed before a meal to control intragastric acidity. Previous studies showed effectiveness of immediate-release omeprazole in controlling nocturnal intragastric acidity with bedtime dosing. This is the first study to compare the effects of prebreakfast dosing of immediate-release omeprazole and delayed-release lansoprazole and pantoprazole on 24-hour intragastric acidity.


AIM
To compare the effects of prebreakfast dosing of immediate-release omeprazole 40 mg capsules, lansoprazole 30 mg capsules, and pantoprazole 40 mg tablets on 24-hour intragastric acidity.


METHODS
Fifty-five patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease received 7 consecutive once-daily morning doses of each drug in this open-label, randomized, 3-period crossover study. On day 7, intragastric pH was recorded for 24 hours.


RESULTS
After 7 days, the percentage of time with intragastric pH >4 over 24 hours was 59.7% (14.3 hours) with immediate-release omeprazole, 48.8% (11.7 hours) with lansoprazole (P=0.005), and 41.8% (10.0 hours) with pantoprazole (P<0.001). Median intragastric pH was significantly higher with immediate-release omeprazole than with lansoprazole (P=0.003) or pantoprazole (P<0.001). All drugs were well tolerated.


CONCLUSIONS
When dosed in the morning, immediate-release omeprazole provided significantly better control of 24-hour intragastric acidity than lansoprazole and pantoprazole.
Business process verification - finally a reality!

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that process verification has matured to a level where it can be used in practice. This paper reports on new verification techniques that can be used to assess the correctness of real-life models. Design/methodology/approach – The proposed approach relies on using formal methods to determine the correctness of business processes with cancellation and OR-joins. The paper also demonstrates how reduction rules can be used to improve the efficiency. These techniques are presented in the context of the workflow language yet another workflow language (YAWL) that provides direct support for 20 most frequently used patterns found today (including cancellation and OR-joins). But the results also apply to other languages with these features (e.g. BPMN, EPCs, UML activity diagrams, etc.). An editor has been developed that provides diagnostic information based on the techniques presented in this paper. Findings – The paper proposes four properties for business processes with cancellation and OR-joins, namely: soundness, weak soundness, irreducible cancellation regions and immutable OR-joins and develop new techniques to verify these properties. Reduction rules have been used as a means of improving the efficiency of the algorithm. The paper demonstrates the feasibility of this verification approach using a realistic and complex business process, the visa application process for general skilled migration to Australia, modelled as a YAWL workflow with cancellation regions and OR-joins. Originality/value – Business processes sometimes require complex execution interdependencies to properly complete a process. For instance, it is possible that certain activities need to be cancelled mid-way though the process. Some parallel activities may require complex “wait and see” style synchronisation depending on a given context. These types of business processes can be found in various domains, such as application integration, B2B commerce, web service composition and workflow systems. Even though cancellation and sophisticated join structures are present in many business processes, existing verification techniques are unable to deal with such processes. Hence, this paper plays an important role in making process verification a reality.
Repressed induction of interferon-related microRNAs miR-146a and miR-155 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells infected with HCV genotype 4

MicroRNAs regulate the expression of many genes and subsequently control various cellular processes, such as the immune response to viral infections mediated by type I interferon (IFN). In this study, the expression pattern of two interferon-related microRNAs, miR-146a and miR-155, was examined in healthy and HCV-genotype-4-infected peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) using qRT-PCR. In contrast to other viral infections, the expression pattern was similar in both healthy and infected PBMCs. This could be attributed to attenuation of IFN pathway by HCV, which was assessed by investigating the expression of MxA, an interferon-stimulated gene, that showed lower expression in HCV-infected PBMCs. To determine the site of interference of HCV in the IFN pathway, expression of both microRNAs was examined following stimulation of PBMCs with IFN-α2a, an activator of the JAK/STAT pathway as well as with imiquimod, a toll-like receptor-7 (TLR-7) agonist that promotes interferon release. IFN stimulation induced the expression of miR-146a and miR-155 in HCV-infected and healthy PBMCs. Stimulation with imiquimod led to a down-regulation of both microRNAs in infected PBMCs, while it increased their expression in healthy PBMCs, indicating that HCV might interfere with miR-146a and miR-155 expression at sites upstream of interferon release, specifically in the TLR-7 pathway. The pattern of expression of both miR-146a and miR-155 was very similar with a strong positive correlation, but showed no correlation to the patients' clinical or histopathological parameters or response to treatment. In conclusion, HCV infection might repress the induction of miR-146a and miR-155 by interfering with TLR-7 signaling.
Question-answering in an industrial setting

This work discusses a mix of challenges arising from Watson Discovery Advisor (WDA), an industrial strength descendant of the Watson Jeopardy! Question Answering system currently used in production in industry settings. Typical challenges include generation of appropriate training questions, adaptation to new industry domains, and iterative improvement of the system through manual error analyses.
Matrix Factorization Techniques for Recommender Systems

As the Netflix Prize competition has demonstrated, matrix factorization models are superior to classic nearest neighbor techniques for producing product recommendations, allowing the incorporation of additional information such as implicit feedback, temporal effects, and confidence levels.
Life-History Evolution: At the Origins of Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis is a widespread life history strategy of animals but apart from some model organisms it is poorly characterized. A recent study of moon jellies highlights the similarities and differences between the various types of metamorphosis and illuminates its molecular determinants.
A Co-CRISPR Strategy for Efficient Genome Editing in Caenorhabditis elegans

Genome editing based on CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)-associated nuclease (Cas9) has been successfully applied in dozens of diverse plant and animal species, including the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. The rapid life cycle and easy access to the ovary by micro-injection make C. elegans an ideal organism both for applying CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing technology and for optimizing genome-editing protocols. Here we report efficient and straightforward CRISPR-Cas9 genome-editing methods for C. elegans, including a Co-CRISPR strategy that facilitates detection of genome-editing events. We describe methods for detecting homologous recombination (HR) events, including direct screening methods as well as new selection/counterselection strategies. Our findings reveal a surprisingly high frequency of HR-mediated gene conversion, making it possible to rapidly and precisely edit the C. elegans genome both with and without the use of co-inserted marker genes.
Short-term effects of cervical kinesio taping on pain and cervical range of motion in patients with acute whiplash injury: a randomized clinical trial.

DESIGN
Randomized clinical trial.


OBJECTIVES
To determine the short-term effects of Kinesio Taping, applied to the cervical spine, on neck pain and cervical range of motion in individuals with acute whiplash-associated disorders (WADs).


BACKGROUND
Researchers have begun to investigate the effects of Kinesio Taping on different musculoskeletal conditions (eg, shoulder and trunk pain). Considering the demonstrated short-term effectiveness of Kinesio Tape for the management of shoulder pain, it is suggested that Kinesio Tape may also be beneficial in reducing pain associated with WAD.


METHODS AND MEASURES
Forty-one patients (21 females) were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups: the experimental group received Kinesio Taping to the cervical spine (applied with tension) and the placebo group received a sham Kinesio Taping application (applied without tension). Both neck pain (11-point numerical pain rating scale) and cervical range-of-motion data were collected at baseline, immediately after the Kinesio Tape application, and at a 24-hour follow-up by an assessor blinded to the treatment allocation of the patients. Mixed-model analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were used to examine the effects of the treatment on each outcome variable, with group as the between-subjects variable and time as the within-subjects variable. The primary analysis was the group-by-time interaction.


RESULTS
The group-by-time interaction for the 2-by-3 mixed-model ANOVA was statistically significant for pain as the dependent variable (F = 64.8; P<.001), indicating that patients receiving Kinesio Taping experienced a greater decrease in pain immediately postapplication and at the 24-hour follow-up (both, P<.001). The group-by-time interaction was also significant for all directions of cervical range of motion: flexion (F = 50.8; P<.001), extension (F = 50.7; P<.001), right (F = 39.5; P<.001) and left (F = 3.8, P<.05) lateral flexion, and right (F = 33.9, P<.001) and left (F = 39.5, P<.001) rotation. Patients in the experimental group obtained a greater improvement in range of motion than thosein the control group (all, P<.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with acute WAD receiving an application of Kinesio Taping, applied with proper tension, exhibited statistically significant improvements immediately following application of the Kinesio Tape and at a 24-hour follow-up. However, the improvements in pain and cervical range of motion were small and may not be clinically meaningful. Future studies should investigate if Kinesio Taping provides enhanced outcomes when added to physical therapy interventions with proven efficacy or when applied over a longer period.


LEVEL OF EVIDENCE
Therapy, level 1b. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2009;39(7):515-521, Epub 24 February 2009. doi:10.2519/jospt.2009.3072.
Validation of a BMI cut-off point to predict an adverse cardiometabolic profile with adiposity measurements by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in Guatemalan children.

OBJECTIVE
To identify a body fat percentage (%BF) threshold related to an adverse cardiometabolic profile and its surrogate BMI cut-off point.


DESIGN
Cross-sectional study.


SETTING
Two public schools in poor urban areas on the outskirts of Guatemala City.


SUBJECTS
A convenience sample of ninety-three healthy, prepubertal, Ladino children (aged 7-12 years).


RESULTS
Spearman correlations of cardiometabolic parameters were higher with %BF than with BMI-for-age Z-score. BMI-for-age Z-score and %BF were highly correlated (r=0·84). The %BF threshold that maximized sensitivity and specificity for predicting an adverse cardiometabolic profile (elevated homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance index and/or total cholesterol:HDL-cholesterol ratio) according to receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was 36 %. The BMI-for-age Z-score cut-off point that maximized the prediction of BF ≥ 36 % by the same procedure was 1·5. The area under the curve (AUC) for %BF and for BMI data showed excellent accuracy to predict an adverse cardiometabolic profile (AUC 0·93 (sd 0·04)) and excess adiposity (AUC 0·95 (sd 0·02)).


CONCLUSIONS
Since BMI standards have limitations in screening for adiposity, specific cut-off points based on ethnic-/sex- and age-specific %BF thresholds are needed to better predict an adverse cardiometabolic profile.
Diagnosing Lassa virus infection by tracking the antiviral response

Background Lassa fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic fever caused by the Lassa virus. It infects 300,000 to 500,000 West Africans every year, with a mortality rate among hospitalized patients of 15%. It is difficult to diagnose because its early symptoms (fever, sore throat, general malaise) often go unnoticed, or are confused with those of the common flu, malaria, or other febrile diseases. For this reason, there is considerable interest in developing tests that can detect the presence of the virus at the earliest stages of infection, when treatment is most effective. Methods such as the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) or the
Biometric template selection and update: a case study in fingerprints

A biometric authentication system operates by acquiring biometric data from a user and comparing it against the template data stored in a database in order to identify a person or to verify a claimed identity. Most systems store multiple templates per user in order to account for variations observed in a person’s biometric data. In this paper we propose two methods to perform automatic template selection where the goal is to select prototype #ngerprint templates for a #nger from a given set of #ngerprint impressions. The #rst method, called DEND, employs a clustering strategy to choose a template set that best represents the intra-class variations, while the second method, called MDIST, selects templates that exhibit maximum similarity with the rest of the impressions. Matching results on a database of 50 di4erent #ngers, with 200 impressions per #nger, indicate that a systematic template selection procedure as presented here results in better performance than random template selection. The proposed methods have also been utilized to perform automatic template update. Experimental results underscore the importance of these techniques. ? 2003 Pattern Recognition Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Higher-Order Concurrent Linear Logic Programming

We propose a typed, higher-order, concurrent linear logic programming called higher-order ACL, which uniformly integrates a variety of mechanisms for concurrent computation based on asynchronous message passing. Higher-order ACL is based on a proof search paradigm according to the principle, proofs as computations, formulas as processes in linear logic. In higher-order ACL, processes as well as functions, and other values can be communicated via messages, which provides high modularity of concurrent programs. Higher-order ACL can be viewed as an asynchronous counterpart of Milner's higher-order, polyadic calculus. Moreover, higher-order ACL is equipped with an elegant MLstyle type system that ensures (1) well typed programs can never cause type mismatch errors, and (2) there is a type inference algorithm which computes a most general typing for an untyped term. We also demonstrate a power of higher-order ACL by showing several examples of \higher-order concurrent programming."
Ampicillin plus ceftriaxone is as effective as ampicillin plus gentamicin for treating enterococcus faecalis infective endocarditis.

BACKGROUND
The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of the ampicillin plus ceftriaxone (AC) and ampicillin plus gentamicin (AG) combinations for treating Enterococcus faecalis infective endocarditis (EFIE).


METHODS
An observational, nonrandomized, comparative multicenter cohort study was conducted at 17 Spanish and 1 Italian hospitals. Consecutive adult patients diagnosed of EFIE were included. Outcome measurements were death during treatment and at 3 months of follow-up, adverse events requiring treatment withdrawal, treatment failure requiring a change of antimicrobials, and relapse.


RESULTS
A larger percentage of AC-treated patients (n = 159) had previous chronic renal failure than AG-treated patients (n = 87) (33% vs 16%, P = .004), and AC patients had a higher incidence of cancer (18% vs 7%, P = .015), transplantation (6% vs 0%, P = .040), and healthcare-acquired infection (59% vs 40%, P = .006). Between AC and AG-treated EFIE patients, there were no differences in mortality while on antimicrobial treatment (22% vs 21%, P = .81) or at 3-month follow-up (8% vs 7%, P = .72), in treatment failure requiring a change in antimicrobials (1% vs 2%, P = .54), or in relapses (3% vs 4%, P = .67). However, interruption of antibiotic treatment due to adverse events was much more frequent in AG-treated patients than in those receiving AC (25% vs 1%, P < .001), mainly due to new renal failure (≥25% increase in baseline creatinine concentration; 23% vs 0%, P < .001).


CONCLUSIONS
AC appears as effective as AG for treating EFIE patients and can be used with virtually no risk of renal failure and regardless of the high-level aminoglycoside resistance status of E. faecalis.