LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Earnings and Employment Effects of Continuous Off-the-Job Training in East Germany after Unification

Retraining the labor force to match the demands of a modern economy is an important task during the transition process from a centrally planned to a market economy. This need is particular pressing in East Germany, because the transition process is much faster there than in the rest of Eastern Europe. Therefore, substantial resources are devoted to this purpose. This paper analyses the impact of continuous off-the-job training in East Germany from the point of view of the individuals who were in the labor force before German unification in 1990. It answers questions about the average gains from participating in a specific type of training. Typical outcomes considered to measure these gains are income, employment status, job security and expected career prospects. The methodology used for the empirical evaluation is the potential outcome approach to causality. This approach has received considerable attention in the statistical literature over the last 15 years and it has been recently rediscovered by the econometric literature as well. Here, it is adapted to allow for important permanent and transitory shocks that influence the decision to participate in the training as well as future labor market outcomes. The empirical results are based on the first five waves of the Socio-Economic Pariel (GSOEP)-East (1990-1994). This panel data set has the advantage that the fourth wave contains a special survey on continuous training and that it allows to keep track of individual behaviour on a monthly, respectively yearly, basis. The econometric analysis focuses on off-the-job training courses that began after unification. Although it is obviously too early to evaluate the long-run implications, the results suggest that at least in the short-run there are no positive effects.
Are consumers aware of the risks related to Biogenic Amines in food

Food-fermenting lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are generally considered to be not-toxinogenic and not-pathogenic. Some species of LAB, however, can produce biogenic amines. Biogenic amines (BA) are organic, basic, nitrogenous compounds, mainly formed by the decarboxylation of amino acids. BA are present in a wide range of foods and can occasionally accumulate in high concentrations. The presence of BA in foods has traditionally been used as an indicator of undesired microbial activity. Relatively high levels of certain BA have also been reported to indicate the deterioration of food products and/or their defective manufacture. The consumption of food containing large amounts of these amines can have toxicological consequences. Although there is no specific legislation regarding BA content in many fermented products, it is generally assumed that they should not be allowed to accumulate. The ability of microorganisms to decarboxylate amino acids is highly variable, often being strain-specific. Therefore, the detection of bacteria possessing aminoacid decarboxylase activity is of main importance to assess the risk of foods to contain biogenic amine and to prevent their accumulation in food products.
Phase I study of UCN-01 and perifosine in patients with relapsed and refractory acute leukemias and high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome

Background The PI3K-Akt pathway is frequently activated in acute leukemias and represents an important therapeutic target. UCN-01 and perifosine are known to inhibit Akt activation. Methods The primary objective of this phase I study was to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of UCN-01 given in combination with perifosine in patients with advanced acute leukemias and myelodysplastic syndrome. Secondary objectives included safety, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and efficacy. Perifosine 150 mg every 6 h was given orally on day 1 followed by 100 mg once a day continuously in 28-day cycles. UCN-01 was given intravenously over 3 h on day 4 at three dose levels (DL1 = 40 mg/m2; DL2 = 65 mg/m2; DL3 = 90 mg/m2). Results Thirteen patients were treated (DL1, n = 6; DL2, n = 4; DL3, n = 3) according to a traditional “3 + 3” design. Two patients at the DL3 experienced dose-limiting toxicity including grade 3–4 pericardial effusion, hypotension, hyperglycemia, hyperkalemia, constitutional symptoms and grade 5 pneumonitis. Other frequent toxicities were grade 1–2 nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, fatigue and hyperglycemia. The MTD was determined to be UCN-01 65 mg/m2 with perifosine 100 mg a day. No appreciable direct Akt inhibition could be demonstrated in patients’ mononuclear cells using Western blot, however, reduced phosphorylation of the downstream target ribosomal protein S6 in leukemic blasts was noted by intracellular flow cytometry. No objective responses were observed on this study. Conclusion UCN-01 and perifosine can be safely administered, but this regimen lacked clinical efficacy. This approach may have failed because of insufficient Akt inhibition in vivo.
Impact of parity and housing conditions on concentration of immunoglobulin G in sow colostrum

Colostrum is crucial for the survival and growth of suckling piglets. However, both the quantity and quality of colostrum are highly variable among sows. The aim of the present study was to determine the impact of sow parity number and housing conditions on concentration of immunoglobulin G in sow colostrum. A total of 358 colostrum samples were collected from two commercial swine herds in Thailand. The colostrum samples were collected from all teats at 1 and 6 h after the onset of farrowing and kept at − 20 °C until analysis. The concentration of IgG was determined using ELISA. The concentration of IgG in colostrum at 1 h after the onset of farrowing was greater than the concentration of IgG at 6 h after the onset of farrowing (P < 0.001). Moreover, herd A had a greater colostral IgG concentration than herd B (P < 0.001). The concentration of IgG in primiparous sows (64.0 mg/ml) was lower than that in sow parity numbers 3 (75.1 mg/ml, P = 0.05) and 6 (79.2 mg/ml, P = 0.04). In conclusion, the variation in colostral immunoglobulin concentration in the sow colostrum was influenced by their parity number and housing conditions. The concentration of IgG declined significantly within 6 h after the onset of farrowing (P < 0.001).
Adjusting Choice Models to Better Predict Market Behavior

The emergence of Bayesian methodology has facilitated respondent-level conjoint models, and deriving utilities from choice experiments has become very popular among those modeling product line decisions or new product ∗ Co-chairs. Author order is alphabetical.
Second-generation drug-eluting stent implantation followed by 6- versus 12-month dual antiplatelet therapy: the SECURITY randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND
The optimal duration of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) following second-generation drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation is still debated.


OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study was to test the noninferiority of 6 versus 12 months of DAPT in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention with second-generation DES.


METHODS
The SECURITY (Second Generation Drug-Eluting Stent Implantation Followed by Six- Versus Twelve-Month Dual Antiplatelet Therapy) trial was a 1:1 randomized, multicenter, international, investigator-driven, noninferiority study conducted from July 2009 to June 2014. Patients with a stable or unstable angina diagnosis or documented silent ischemia undergoing revascularization with at least 1 second-generation DES were eligible. The primary endpoint was a composite of cardiac death, myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, definite or probable stent thrombosis, or Bleeding Academic Research Consortium (BARC) type 3 or 5 bleeding at 12 months. The main secondary endpoint was a composite of cardiac death, MI, stroke, definite or probable stent thrombosis, or BARC type 2, 3, or 5 bleeding at 12 and 24 months.


RESULTS
Overall, 1,399 patients were enrolled in the study and randomized to receive 6 months (n = 682) versus 12 months (n = 717) DAPT. The primary composite endpoint occurred, respectively, in 4.5% versus 3.7% (risk difference 0.8%; 95% confidence interval [CI]: -2.4% to 1.7%; p = 0.469) at 12 months. The upper 95% CI limit was lower than the pre-set margin of 2%, confirming the noninferiority hypothesis (p < 0.05). Moreover, no differences were observed in the occurrence of the secondary endpoint at 12 months (5.3% vs. 4.0%, difference: 1.2%; 95% CI: -1.0 to 3.4; p = 0.273) and between 12 and 24 months (1.5% vs. 2.2%, difference: -0.7%; 95% CI: -2.1 to 0.6; p = 0.289). Finally, no differences were observed in definite or probable stent thrombosis at 12 months (0.3% vs. 0.4%; difference: -0.1%; 95% CI: -0.7 to 0.4; p = 0.694) and between 12 and 24 months of follow-up (0.1% vs. 0%; difference: 0.1%; 95% CI: -0.1 to 0.4; p = 0.305).


CONCLUSIONS
In a low-risk population, the noninferiority hypothesis of 6 vs. 12 months DAPT following second-generation DES implantation appears accepted for the incidence of cardiac death, MI, stroke, definite/probable stent thrombosis, and BARC type 3 or 5 bleeding at 12 months. (Second Generation Drug-Eluting Stent Implantation Followed by Six- Versus Twelve-Month Dual Antiplatelet Therapy; NCT00944333).
NICU nurses' lived experience: caring for infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome.

PURPOSE
The primary aim of this qualitative methods study was to describe the lived experiences of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurses with ethical and morally challenging issues.


SUBJECTS
The target population for the study was registered nurses working in the NICU. Interviews were completed with 16 nurses from 1 hospital.


DESIGN
A phenomenological method design was used to describe NICU nurses' lived experiences with ethical and moral issues encountered in the NICU.


METHODS
After obtaining signed consent, the principal investigator interviewed all participants, using a semistructured interview guide consisting of open-ended questions.


MAIN OUTCOMES
Ethical and moral distress related to neonatal abstinence syndrome was the predominant outcome.


PRINCIPAL RESULTS
Caring for infants, coping with families, and discharging infants home were the major concerns voiced by nurses in this study.


CONCLUSIONS
Nurses in this study struggled with issues of beneficence and nonmaleficence and were not aware of scientific evidence that guides methadone management of pregnant women.
Inhibition of mild steel corrosion in hydrochloric acid solution by cloxacillin drug

The effect of a semisynthetic antibiotic cloxacillin is studied for use as a low cost and ecofriendly corrosion inhibitor for mild steel in acidic environment. The corrosion inhibition effect is investigated using weight loss, Tafel polarization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and hydrogen permeation studies. The inhibitor showed 81% inhibition efficiency at 15x10 -4 M concentration of Cloxacillin. Potentiodynamic polarization suggests that it is a mixed type of inhibitor. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was used to investigate the mechanism of corrosion inhibition. Hydogen permeation measurements indicated that the compound behave as cathodic inhibitor, but predominantly under mixed control. Diffused reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) studies confirmed only the mere adsorption of cloxacillin on mild steel surface and not influence on the surface morphology. The adsorption of this compound on mild steel surface obeys Temkin’s adsorption isotherm.
The Music Ontology

In this paper, we overview some Semantic Web technologies and describe the Music Ontology: a formal framework for dealing with music-related information on the Semantic Web, including editorial, cultural and acoustic information. We detail how this ontology can act as a grounding for more domain-specific knowledge representation. In addition, we describe current projects involving the Music Ontology and interlinked repositories of musicrelated knowledge.
The RaDIANT community study protocol: community-based participatory research for reducing disparities in access to kidney transplantation

BACKGROUND
The Southeastern United States has the lowest kidney transplant rates in the nation, and racial disparities in kidney transplant access are concentrated in this region. The Southeastern Kidney Transplant Coalition (SEKTC) of Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina is an academic and community partnership that was formed with the mission to improve access to kidney transplantation and reduce disparities among African American (AA) end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients in the Southeastern United States.


METHODS/DESIGN
We describe the community-based participatory research (CBPR) process utilized in planning the Reducing Disparities In Access to kidNey Transplantation (RaDIANT) Community Study, a trial developed by the SEKTC to reduce health disparities in access to kidney transplantation among AA ESRD patients in Georgia, the state with the lowest kidney transplant rates in the nation. The SEKTC Coalition conducted a needs assessment of the ESRD population in the Southeast and used results to develop a multicomponent, dialysis facility-randomized, quality improvement intervention to improve transplant access among dialysis facilities in GA. A total of 134 dialysis facilities are randomized to receive either: (1) standard of care or "usual" transplant education, or (2) the multicomponent intervention consisting of transplant education and engagement activities targeting dialysis facility leadership, staff, and patients within dialysis facilities. The primary outcome is change in facility-level referral for kidney transplantation from baseline to 12 months; the secondary outcome is reduction in racial disparity in transplant referral.


DISCUSSION
The RaDIANT Community Study aims to improve equity in access to kidney transplantation for ESRD patients in the Southeast.


TRIAL REGISTRATION
Clinicaltrials.gov number NCT02092727.
MONTESQUIEU: POSSIBILISTIC POLITICAL GEOGRAPHER

ABSTRACT The writings of Charles Louis Joseph de Secondat, Baron de la Brede et de Montesquieu, eighteenth century French nobleman, concerning the effects of the physical environment upon societies and the political systems produced by it, have been widely interpreted as being environmentalistic or deterministic. This paper examines the portions of his work which treat of the roles played by the physical environment and the non-physical societal attributes such as customs, manners, morals, and tradition, which, when combined, produce a particular political or governmental system. From the comparison of Montesquieu's political-geographic views with the basic tenets of possibilism comes the finding that his theory of political geography is more properly interpreted as being possibilistic rather than environmentalistic or deterministic.
The GZK Puzzle and Fundamental Dynamics

The conjecture that the GZK puzzle might be related with nontrivial structure of the inelastic defect of total cross sections in scattering from nuclei has been suggested.
Surface air temperature variability reconstructed with tree rings for the Gulf of Alaska over the past 1200 years

A 1200-year-long tree-ring width record from living and subfossil mountain hemlock wood is used to reconstruct February through August temperatures for the Gulf of Alaska, providing a record of past climate variability for the Northeast Pacific sector that captures interannual to centennial timescales. The moderate elevation at the tree-ring sites has allowed these trees to retain their temperature signal without evidence of the so-called divergence effect, or underestimation of tree-ring inferred temperature trends, which is observed at many northern latitude forest locations. This ‘divergence-free’ reconstruction reveals centennial trends that include a warm interval centered on ad 950 for coastal Alaska that occurs around the time of the ‘Medieval Warm Period’, a warming that is only rivaled by recent decades. Spectral analysis of this reconstruction supports the centennial pacing identified as a 170–220-year cadence consistent with solar variability. On the decadal to bidecadal scale, the reconstruction reveals ~10and 18-year cycles, which have been observed elsewhere in climate records for western North America and are linked to solar and lunar tidal forcing, respectively. Temperature minima that occur at ad 969–970 and 1698–1700 correspond with the timing of major volcanic events. This tree-ring reconstruction supports centennial modes of solar forcing as a driver of surface air temperatures in the Gulf of Alaska, with lunar tidal, solar variability, internal variability, and volcanism, impacting climate on annual to decadal timescales.
Creatine supplementation does not impair kidney function in type 2 diabetic patients: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical trial

Creatine supplementation may have a therapeutic role in diabetes, but it is uncertain whether this supplement is safe for kidney function. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of creatine supplementation on kidney function in type 2 diabetic patients. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was performed. The patients were randomly allocated to receive either creatine or placebo for 12 weeks. All the patients underwent exercise training throughout the trial. Subjects were assessed at baseline and after the intervention. Blood samples and 24-h urine samples were obtained for kidney function assessments. Additionally, 51Cr-EDTA clearance was performed. To ensure the compliance with creatine intake, we also assessed muscle phosphorylcreatine content. The creatine group presented higher muscle phosphorylcreatine content when compared to placebo group (CR Pre 44 ± 10, Post 70 ± 18 mmol/kg/wt; PL Pre 52 ± 13, Post 46 ± 13 mmol/kg/wt; p = 0.03; estimated difference between means 23.6; 95% confidence interval 1.42–45.8). No significant differences were observed for 51Cr-EDTA clearance (CR Pre 90.4 ± 16.9, Post 96.1 ± 15.0 mL/min/1.73 m2; PL Pre 97.9 ± 21.6, Post 96.4 ± 26.8 mL/min/1.73 m2; p = 0.58; estimated difference between means −0.3; 95% confidence interval −24.9 to 24.2). Creatinine clearance, serum and urinary urea, electrolytes, proteinuria, and albuminuria were unchanged. CR supplementation does not affect kidney function in type 2 diabetic patients, opening a window of opportunities to explore its promising therapeutic role in this population. ClinicalTrials.gov registration number: NCT00992043.
Social fMRI: Investigating and shaping social mechanisms in the real world

We introduce the Friends and Family study, a longitudinal living laboratory in a residential community. In this study, we employ a ubiquitous computing approach, Social Functional Mechanism-design and Relationship Imaging, or Social fMRI, that combines extremely rich data collection with the ability to conduct targeted experimental interventions with study populations. We present our mobile-phone-based social and behavioral sensing system, deployed in thewild for over 15months. Finally,we present three investigations performed during the study, looking into the connection between individuals’ social behavior and their financial status, network effects in decision making, and a novel intervention aimed at increasing physical activity in the subject population. Results demonstrate the value of social factors for choice, motivation, and adherence, and enable quantifying the contribution of different incentive mechanisms. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Combination of dual-tree complex wavelet and SVM for face recognition

Based on the attractive property such as shift invariance, good directional selectivity, limited redundancy and efficient computation of dual-tree complex wavelet transform, a novel face recognition method with combining of dual-tree complex wavelet transform and support vector machine is proposed in this paper. Firstly, it uses 2D dual-tree complex wavelet transform to decompose each face image into six band-pass sub-images that are strongly oriented at 6 different angles and two low-pass sub-images and extracts the human face features. Then principal component analysis technique is used to reduce the feature dimensions. Finally, support vector machine is used as classifier. Through the comparative experiments between the Gabor wavelet approach and the 2D dual-tree complex wavelet transform approach, the results show that the proposed approach can achieve higher recognition rate no matter what SVM kernel is used. Also, experiments show that the proposed method needs least computation time.
Tectonically induced fluid flow in Devonian carbonate aquifers of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin

Abstract This study investigates paleofluid flow through the Devonian carbonate aquifers in the deep part of the Alberta Basin, Canada, using the distribution and geochemical composition of deep burial, late diagenetic, sparry calcite and dolomite cements, as well as that of the Precambrian metasediments that make up the underlying basement and much of the adjacent Rocky Mountain Main Ranges. The objective of this study is to characterize regional, tectonically induced (squeegee-type) fluid flow in these Devonian aquifers. The data indicate sublateral injection of fluids from a basin-external, probably metamorphic source during deep burial diagenesis in some gas pools close to the deformed belt and/or injection of such fluids via subvertical faults from the metasedimentary basement, or sublaterally via the intervening Cambrian clastics. The fluxes and possible geothermal anomalies during injection of basin-external fluids appear to have been low. Also, tectonically induced fluid flow appears to have been rather limited laterally, extending perhaps only 100–200 km into the foreland basins.
Inertia Weight strategies in Particle Swarm Optimization

Particle Swarm Optimization is a popular heuristic search algorithm which is inspired by the social learning of birds or fishes. It is a swarm intelligence technique for optimization developed by Eberhart and Kennedy [1] in 1995. Inertia weight is an important parameter in PSO, which significantly affects the convergence and exploration-exploitation trade-off in PSO process. Since inception of Inertia Weight in PSO, a large number of variations of Inertia Weight strategy have been proposed. In order to propose one or more than one Inertia Weight strategies which are efficient than others, this paper studies 15 relatively recent and popular Inertia Weight strategies and compares their performance on 05 optimization test problems.
Towards a Service Lifecycle Based Methodology for Risk Assessment in Cloud Computing

The principles of risk management have been introduced in grid computing to help document and anticipate certain risks and manage them to ensure job executions are successful. Clouds are more complex environments with further concerns like risk, trust, eco-efficiency, green, security or cost. In this paper we present ongoing research work to analyze and address the risk factor in clouds with the aim of optimizing cloud services. The main contribution of this work is the presentation of a methodology for performing risk assessment in cloud environments including the target use cases, risk identification, mitigation and monitoring. Together with the corresponding mitigation strategies, the methodology provides technological assurance that will lead to a high confidence of Cloud service consumers on one side, and a cost effective and reliable productivity of cloud Service/Infrastructure Providers on the other side. The design of the risk assessment framework and its software toolkit implementation are part of the research and development work of the OPTIMIS (Optimized Infrastructure Services) project whose objective is to enable an open and dependable Cloud Service Ecosystem that delivers IT services that are adaptable, reliable, auditable and sustainable both ecologically and economically. The paper presents some preliminary results on the risk assessment of a Service/Infrastructure Provider at the cloud service deployment stage.