bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Optimization schemes and performance evaluation of Smith–Waterman algorithm on CPU, GPU and FPGA
Authors: Zou Dan , Dou Yong , Xia Fei 
Published: December 2011

SUMMARYWith fierce competition between CPU and graphics processing unit (GPU) platforms, performance evaluation has become the focus of various sectors. In this paper, we take a well‐known algorithm in the field of biosequence matching and database searching, the Smith–Waterman (S‐W) algorithm as an example, and demonstrate approaches that fully exploit its performance potentials on CPU, GPU, and field‐programmable gate array (FPGA) computing platforms. For CPU platforms, we perform two optimizations, single instruction, multiple data and multithread, with compiler options, to gain over 70 × speedups over naive CPU versions on quad‐core CPU platforms. For GPU platforms, we propose the combination of coalesced global memory accesses, shared memory tiles, and loop unfolding, achieving 50 × speedups over initial GPU versions on an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470 card. Experimental results show that the GPU GTX 470 gains 12 × speedups, instead of 100 × reported by some studies, over Intel quadcore CPU Q9400, under the same manufacturing technology and both with fully optimized schemes. In addition, for FPGA platforms, we customize a linear systolic array for the S‐W algorithm in a 45‐nm FPGA chip from Xilinx (XC6VLX760), with up to 1024 processing elements. Under only 133 MHz clock rate, the FPGA platform reaches the highest performance and becomes the most power‐efficient platform, using only 25 W compared with 190 W of the GPU GTX 470. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Relationships between Socio‐demographic Variables and Concerns about Environmental Sustainability
Authors: Park Sang‐June , Choi Sungchul , Kim Eun‐Jeong 
Published: December 2011

ABSTRACTResearchers have studied many variables to understand consumer behavior and the choices consumers make, with regard to environmentally friendly products. Past research has tried to find the relationships between socio‐demographic variables and preferences for environmentally sustainable products. The findings, however, are still relatively mixed, especially those concerning income; previous results are far from being conclusive in that past studies have found income to be negatively, positively, and insignificantly related to green consumer choices. This study investigates why the previous empirical studies of income are so varied, and, using an empirical study, demonstrates that the inconsistency of earlier findings might come from the non‐linear relationship between income variables and environmental concern. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
Advancing evidence in preterm neonatal medicine
Authors: Donahue Pamela K. , Robinson Karen A. 
Published: December 2011

AbstractFew interventions and treatments for premature infants have undergone the rigors of a randomized controlled trial (RCT), the cornerstone of evidence‐based healthcare. Multiple barriers in establishing a quality evidence base for the care of preterm infants are examined including the systematic exclusion of children from drug trials, vulnerability of the infants, burden to families of the consent process for RCTs, and the lack of standard measurements and subgroup definitions that impede systematic reviews. Delays in getting evidence into practice are highlighted, including clinician knowledge of existing evidence, attitudes about the evidence, and behavior. Landmark trials are used as examples. Finally, a call for the research community to develop guidance on good clinical research practice for preterm infants is offered that will allow the synthesis of the totality of evidence. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Disabil Res Rev 2010;16:289–295.
Kindergarten readiness after prematurity: Integrating health, development, and behavioral functioning to optimize educational outcomes of vulnerable children
Authors: Bauer Sarah C. , Msall Michael E. 
Published: December 2011

AbstractIn the past 20 years, many advances (e.g., maternal steroids and surfactant) have changed the course of neonatal medicine. As a result, extremely preterm infants survive medical complications that were previously fatal. Once they are discharged from the neonatal intensive care unit, preterm infants may continue to experience a spectrum of medical and developmental challenges, and their families are faced with the potentially daunting task of nurturing a vulnerable child. Families may be referred to multiple systems of care, including primary care physicians, pediatric subspecialists, and early intervention services. The ultimate goal for preterm infants is to optimize their motor, communicative, social‐emotional, and adaptive development as well as to promote their learning at home, at school, and in the community. As children transition to school, key indicators of their functional status include the amount of developmental, educational, habilitative, and behavioral supports they require to participate in learning activities with their peers. Success may be measured by whether preterm infants are ready for large‐group learning with peers and the extent of supports required to make this important transition. The purpose of this review is to describe what is known about certain indicators of school readiness in preterm infants, including neurodevelopmental impairments, social‐emotional skills, and social factors. We conclude with guidelines for using this transition as an important indicator of developmental trajectories that may help us to better understand risk and resilience in this vulnerable population of children. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Disabil Res Rev 2010;16:313–322.
Pathogenesis, neuroimaging and management in children with cerebral palsy born preterm
Authors: Hoon Alexander H. , Vasconcellos Faria Andreia 
Published: December 2011

AbstractWith advances in obstetric and perinatal management, the incidence of intraventricular hemorrhage in premature infants has declined, while periventricular leukomalacia remains a significant concern. It is now known that brain injury in children born preterm also involves neuronal‐axonal disease in supratentorial and infratentorial structures. The developing brain is especially vulnerable to white matter (WM) injury from 23 to 34 weeks gestation when blood vessels serving the periventricular WM are immature. Oligodendrocyte progenitors, which are beginning to form myelin during this time, are susceptible to attack from oxygen free radicals, glutamate, and inflammatory cytokines. Advances in imaging techniques such as diffusion tensor imaging provide a more complete picture of the location and extent of injury. Effective management of children born preterm with cerebral palsy is predicated on an understanding of sequential links from etiological antecedents to brain neuropathology as revealed with neuroimaging techniques to clinical phenotypes, toward focused interventions with measurable outcomes. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Disabil Res Rev 2010;16:302–312.
Structure change of PTFE by low‐energy ion irradiation. Restraint of structure collapse by crosslinking structures
Authors: Watari Kunio , Iwao Toru , Yumoto Motoshige 
Published: December 2011

AbstractThe authors irradiated PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) with low‐energy nitrogen ions (100 eV) for surface modification. However, PTFE cannot be expected to show improvement in adhesive strength because it is a degradation‐prone polymer and surface fatigue is produced by ion irradiation. We focused on cross‐linked structure to solve this problem. PTFE was changed from a degradation‐prone polymer into a cross‐linked polymer by raising the temperature above the glass‐transition temperature during ion irradiation. As a result, the formation of CF3 bonds was inhibited and degradation was prevented by ion irradiation above the glass‐transition temperature. In addition, combined consideration of the C1s spectrum and the density profile suggests that a cross‐linked structure is effective for improvement of adhesive strength. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 178(4): 1–7, 2012; Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.21225
What do plasma beta‐endorphin levels reveal about endogenous opioid analgesic function?
Authors: Bruehl S. , Burns J.W. , Chung O.Y. , Chont M. 
Published: December 2011

AbstractPlasma levels of beta‐endorphin (BE), an endogenous opioid analgesic, are often reported as they relate to acute and chronic pain outcomes. However, little is known about what resting plasma BE levels might reveal about functioning of the endogenous opioid antinociceptive system. This study directly examined associations between resting plasma BE and subsequent endogenous opioid analgesic responses to acute pain in 39 healthy controls and 37 individuals with chronic low back pain (LBP). Resting baseline levels of plasma BE were assessed. Next, participants received opioid blockade (8 mg naloxone i.v.) or placebo in a double‐blind, randomized, crossover design. Participants then underwent two acute pain stimuli: finger pressure (FP) pain and ischaemic (ISC) forearm pain. Blockade effects (naloxone minus placebo pain ratings) were derived to index endogenous opioid analgesic function. In placebo condition analyses for both pain stimuli, higher resting BE levels were associated with subsequently greater reported pain intensity (p's < 0.05), with this effect occurring primarily in healthy controls (BE × Participant Type interactions, p's < 0.05). In blockade effect analyses across both pain tasks, higher resting plasma BE predicted less subsequent endogenous opioid analgesia (smaller blockade effects; p's < 0.05). For the ISC task, these links were significantly more prominent in LBP participants (BE × Participant Type Interactions, p's < 0.05). Results suggest that elevated resting plasma BE may be a potential biomarker for reduced endogenous opioid analgesic capacity, particularly among individuals with chronic pain. Potential clinical implications are discussed.
Within‐session sensitization and between‐session habituation: A robust physiological response to repetitive painful heat stimulation
Authors: May A. , Rodriguez‐Raecke R. , Schulte A. , Ihle K. , Breimhorst M. , Birklein F. , Jürgens T.P. 
Published: December 2011

AbstractHabituation and sensitization are important behavioural responses to repeated exposure of painful stimuli. Whereas within‐session response dynamics to nociceptive stimuli is well characterized, little is known about long‐term behaviour due to repetitive nociceptive stimulation. We used a standardized longitudinal heat pain paradigm in 66 healthy participants, 21 patients with chronic low back pain and 22 patients with depression who received daily sessions of 60 suprathreshold heat stimuli (48 °C each) for eight consecutive days. All three groups showed the same response: Repeated painful stimulation over several days resulted in substantially decreased pain ratings to identical painful stimuli. The decreased perception of pain over time was associated with a very robust increase in pain ratings in each single pain session, i.e., all participants sensitized within sessions and habituated between sessions. This uniform pattern was equally present in all examined groups. Chronic pain and depression do not seem to interfere with short‐term sensitization and long‐term habituation in this model of repetitive phasic heat pain.
Emotion‐focused coping and distraction: Sex differences in the influence of anxiety sensitivity during noxious heat stimulation
Authors: Thompson T. , Keogh E. , Chen M. J.‐L. , French C. C. 
Published: December 2011

AbstractWhile previous research has indicated that the relative efficacy of attentional strategies on pain may be influenced by anxiety sensitivity (AS) and sex, no study appears to have examined this within the context of an emotion‐focus versus distraction paradigm. The present study compared the effect of attentional emotion‐focus and distraction instructions on pain response with noxious heat stimulation in 114 healthy adults (62 women and 52 men) varying in levels of AS. Results indicated that men reported a significantly higher mean tolerance time than women. Moderated regression analysis also revealed a significant strategy × anxiety sensitivity × sex interaction on pain tolerance. For those low in AS, relative efficacy was dependent upon sex, with distraction superior to emotion‐focusing in women, but with strategies equivalent in men. For those high in AS, however, distraction resulted in uniformly greater pain tolerance than attentional emotion‐focusing. These results indicate that AS and sex may be influential in determining the relative effectiveness of distraction and emotion‐based attentional strategies for pain management.
Deficits in pain treatment in nursing homes in Germany: A cross‐sectional study
Authors: Kölzsch M. , Wulff I. , Ellert S. , Fischer T. , Kopke K. , Kalinowski S. , Dräger D. , Kreutz R. 
Published: December 2011

AbstractBackgroundCurrent knowledge about the quality and appropriateness of pharmacological pain treatment in nursing home residents (NHR), particularly in NHR with moderate to severe cognitive impairment, is poor.MethodsThis observational cross‐sectional study assessed pain treatment in a random sample of NHR with or without cognitive impairment from nursing homes in Germany. Prescribed drugs, pain intensity and frequency, diagnoses, and surgical procedures and injuries during the last 4 weeks were documented. Quality and appropriateness of pain medication were assessed by analysis of pain medications and the Pain Medication Appropriateness Scale (PMAS) score (SPMAS), with a cut‐off value of >67% indicating appropriate pain treatment.ResultsA total of 321 residents (62% women) were studied, including 152 (47%) with severe cognitive impairment. The most frequently prescribed analgesics were dipyrone, fentanyl, tramadol and ibuprofen. The mean SPMAS was 48.5 ± 1.5 (range, −33 to +100). Residents with prescribed scheduled analgesics had a significantly better SPMAS than patients without such treatment (SPMAS 58 ± 1.5 vs. 37 ± 2.5, p < 0.01). NHR without current pain had significantly better SPMAS than residents suffering from pain (SPMAS 47 ± 1.9 vs. 59 ± 4.2, p = 0.01). With an SPMAS of 69 ± 1.5, residents (n = 106) with scheduled pain medication plus PRN analgesics achieved the highest scores in the population. Overall, similar results were found in NHR with and in NHR without cognitive impairment.ConclusionOur study points to a significant deficit in pain treatment in German NHR, including NHR with or without cognitive impairment.
How the pain of others enhances our pain: Searching the cerebral correlates of ‘compassional hyperalgesia’
Authors: Godinho F. , Faillenot I. , Perchet C. , Frot M. , Magnin M. , Garcia‐Larrea L. 
Published: December 2011

AbstractObserving other people's pain increases our own reports to painful stimuli, a phenomenon that can be defined as ‘compassional hyperalgesia’ (CH). This functional magnetic resonance imaging study examined the neural correlates of CH, and whether CH could emerge when exposure to the driving stimulus was subliminal. Subjects received electric somatosensory stimuli while observing images of people undergoing painful or enjoyable somatic sensations, presented during a period allowing or not allowing conscious perception. The intensity attributed to painful stimuli increased significantly when these were delivered close to images showing human pain, but only when such images were consciously perceived. The basic core of the Pain Matrix (SI, SII, insula, mid‐anterior cingulate) was activated by painful stimuli, but its activation magnitude did not increase during CH. Compassional hyperalgesia was associated with increased activity in polymodal areas involved in emotional tuning (anterior prefrontal, pregenual cingulated) and areas involved in multisensory integration and short‐term memory (dorsolateral prefrontal, temporo‐parieto‐occipital junction). CH appears as a high‐order phenomenon needing conscious appraisal of the eliciting visual stimulus, and supported by polymodal areas distinct from the basic Pain Matrix. This suggests that compassion to pain does not result from a mere ‘sensory resonance’ in pain networks, but rather from an interaction between the output of a first‐line processing in the Pain Matrix, and the activity of a high‐order network involving multisensory integration (temporo‐parietal), encoding of internal states (mid‐prefrontal) and short‐time memory encoding (dorsolateral prefrontal). The Pain Matrix cannot be considered as an ‘objective’ correlate of the pain experience in all situations.
Metamizol, a non‐opioid analgesic, acts via endocannabinoids in the PAG‐RVM axis during inflammation in rats
Authors: Escobar W. , Ramirez K. , Avila C. , Limongi R. , Vanegas H. , Vazquez E. 
Published: December 2011

AbstractThe most commonly used drugs against pain act by inhibiting the cyclooxygenases (COXs). Metamizol (dipyrone) inhibits the COXs and is widely used in Europe and Latin America as a non‐opioid analgesic. One target of metamizol and other non‐opioid analgesics is the periaqueductal grey matter (PAG), where they trigger descending inhibition of spinal nociceptive transmission. Also, cannabinoids exert an analgesic action at several structures in the peripheral and central nervous system, including the PAG. The present study investigates whether the antinociceptive action of metamizol in the lateral‐ventrolateral (LVL) PAG during inflammation is related to endocannabinoids. In anaesthetized rats, unitary action potentials were recorded from spinal nociceptive neurons with receptive fields in the ipsilateral hind paw. Inflammation of the paw induced neuronal hyperexcitability, which was attenuated by intra‐LVL‐PAG microinjection of metamizol either at the beginning of inflammation or when hyperexcitability was fully established. In both cases, the antinociceptive effect of metamizol was reduced by a microinjection of AM251, an antagonist at the CB1 cannabinoid receptor, either into the LVL‐PAG or into the rostral ventromedial medulla (RVM). The RVM is a downstream structure that funnels PAG‐derived descending inhibition into the spinal cord. These results show that endocannabinoids and their CB1 receptor (1) contribute at the LVL‐PAG to the antinociceptive effects of metamizol, and possibly other non‐opioid analgesics; and (2) participate in the PAG‐derived activation of RVM descending antinociceptive influences.
The effect of catechol‐O‐methyltransferase polymorphisms on pain is modified by depressive symptoms
Authors: Schwahn C. , Grabe H.J. , Schwabedissen H. Meyer zu , Teumer A. , Schmidt C.O. , Brinkman C. , Kocher T. , Nauck M. , Völzke H. , Biffar R. , Bernhardt O. 
Published: December 2011

AbstractBackgroundVariations within the catechol‐O‐methyltransferase (COMT) gene have been associated with pain severity in temporomandibular disorders (TMDs). Psychological factors such as personal conflicts, life stress and depression, are well known to be associated with onset, severity and chronicity of pain disorders.AimWe hypothesized that the relationship between the COMT gene and TMD pain is modified by depressive symptoms.MethodsCross‐sectional data from the population‐based Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP) in Germany were used to estimate additive interactions between depressive symptoms and 22 single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the COMT gene and the neighbouring thioredoxin reductase 2 (TXNRD2) gene on TMD pain. All participants were Caucasian subjects from a rural area in Northeast Germany. After exclusion of 79 subjects with antidepressant medication, 29.9% of the remaining 3904 subjects reported lifetime depressive symptoms. TMD pain was assessed by a standardized clinical examination. Among various TMD signs, only those that assessed muscle or joint pain on palpation were used as recommended.ResultsSix SNPs from the first of three COMT/TXNRD2 haploblocks interacted with depressive symptoms on TMD pain (smallest p‐value: 2.7 × 10−10). In subjects without depressive symptoms, rs5993882 was identified as the SNP most likely to be related to TMD pain. In subjects with symptoms of depression, rs1544325 was the corresponding top COMT SNP.ConclusionsOur results indicate that variants within the COMT gene are associated with pain perception. However, this association is highly moderated by the absence or presence of lifetime depressive symptoms.
Randomized controlled trial of the combined monoaminergic and opioid investigational compound GRT9906 in painful polyneuropathy
Authors: Sindrup S.H. , Konder R. , Lehmann R. , Meier T. , Winkel M. , Ashworth J. , Baron R. , Jensen T.S. 
Published: December 2011

AbstractGRT9906 is an investigational novel compound with μ‐opioid receptor agonism and inhibition of noradrenalin/serotonin re‐uptake. In this randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, three‐way cross‐over trial in painful polyneuropathy, the efficacy and safety of GRT9906 was assessed and compared with tramadol. During 4‐week treatment periods, daily oral doses of either GRT9906 120–240 mg, or placebo, or tramadol 200–400 mg were given. These were separated by 1‐week washout periods. The primary endpoint was the average pain intensity (average of daily current pain intensity over the last 3 days of each treatment period rated on a 0 to 10‐point numeric rating scale). One hundred seventeen patients were enrolled and 64 were randomized to one of six treatment sequences. Forty‐seven patients qualified for the per protocol analysis. GRT9906 reduced average pain intensity by 2.1 points compared with a reduction of 0.6 points on placebo (p < 0.0001) and 2.4 points on tramadol. GRT9906 also improved scores on the sleep problem scale and the neuropathic pain symptom inventory and scored better than placebo on the patient global impression of change. Numbers needed to treat to obtain one patient with more than 50% pain relief was 3.9 (95% CI 2.4–11.5) for both GRT9906 and tramadol. The most frequently reported adverse events were nausea, fatigue, constipation and sleep disorder for GRT9906 and tramadol. Four patients dropped out due to adverse events during both GRT9906 and tramadol treatment and two dropped out during placebo treatment. In conclusion, in painful polyneuropathy, GRT9906 demonstrated analgesic efficacy with a magnitude of effect comparable with tramadol and was well tolerated.
Information Processing and New Ideas — Lateral and Vertical Thinking*
Authors: de BONO EDWARD 
Published: December 2011

‘Vertical thinking is concerned with digging the same hole deeper. Lateral thinking is concerned with digging the hole somewhere else.’ This is how the author differentiates between the two types of thinking.Education, according to the author, only teaches vertical thinking because lateral thinking has always seemed impossible to teach. He then outlines why (with the increased interest in creativity and the computer) there is growing interest in the thinking processes.Describing how the brain operates and how creative behaviour may be increased Dr. de Bono goes on to discuss the nature of vertical thinking. It is sequential, based on the idea that one must not be wrong, works on the most promising approach, only moves in a planned direction, only considers the relevant, and tends to build up large established patterns.To describe the lateral thinking process the author poses a number of problems discussing their solution and the difficulties which people normally encounter in solving these problems.Finally, he sets out the four main categories of the techniques of lateral thinking; and the reader's attention is drawn to several books which Dr. de Bono has written on the subject.