LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Transcatheter Closure of the Patent Ductus Arteriosus

Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) constitutes 6 to 11% of all congenital heart defects. While surgical ligation and video-assisted, thoracoscopic interruption of PDA are still available, transcatheter occlusion of PDAs has recently assumed a major role in closure of PDA. A large number of devices have been designed and tested both in animal models and human subjects, but only few devices (free and detachable Gianturco coils, GGVOD and Amplatzer duct occluder) are approved by the FDA for general clinical use. A few other devices are in clinical trials and are available only at institutions participating in clinical trials within or outside the US. At the present time, Gianturco coils for closure of very small and small PDAs and Amplatzer duct occluder for occlusion of small, moderate and large PDAs appear to be feasible, safe and effective in the majority of patients. *Corresponding author: P. Syamasundar Rao, MD, Professor of Pediatrics & Medicine, Emeritus Chief of Pediatric Cardiology, UT-Houston Medical School, 6410 Fannin Street, UTPB Suite # 425, Houston, TX 77030, Tel: 713-500-5738; Fax: 713-500-5751; E-mail: P.Syamasundar.Rao@uth.tmc.edu Received June 15, 2012; Accepted July 28, 2012; Published July 02, 2012 Citation: Yarrabolu TR, Syamasundar Rao P (2012) Transcatheter Closure of Patent Ductus Arteriosus. Pediat Therapeut S5:005. doi:10.4172/2161-0665.S5005 Copyright: © 2012 Yarrabolu TR, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
What is wrong with SLASH

In an experiment featuring nonlinear optics, delayed choice and EPR-type correlations, the possibility of faster-than-light communication appears not totally implausible. Attempts are put forward and discussed to refute this claim.
Therapeutic Potential of Human Adipose-Derived Stem/Stromal Cell Microspheroids Prepared by Three-Dimensional Culture in Non-Cross-Linked Hyaluronic Acid Gel.

UNLABELLED
Three-dimensional culture of mesenchymal stem/stromal cells for spheroid formation is known to enhance their therapeutic potential for regenerative medicine. Spheroids were prepared by culturing human adipose-derived stem/stromal cells (hASCs) in a non-cross-linked hyaluronic acid (HA) gel and compared with dissociated hASCs and hASC spheroids prepared using a nonadherent dish. Preliminary experiments indicated that a 4% HA gel was the most appropriate for forming hASC spheroids with a relatively consistent size (20-50 µm) within 48 hours. Prepared spheroids were positive for pluripotency markers (NANOG, OCT3/4, and SOX-2), and 40% of the cells were SSEA-3-positive, a marker of the multilineage differentiating stress enduring or Muse cell. In contrast with dissociated ASCs, increased secretion of cytokines such as hepatocyte growth factor was detected in ASC spheroids cultured under hypoxia. On microarray ASC spheroids showed upregulation of some pluripotency markers and downregulation of genes related to the mitotic cell cycle. After ischemia-reperfusion injury to the fat pad in SCID mice, local injection of hASC spheroids promoted tissue repair and reduced the final atrophy (1.6%) compared with that of dissociated hASCs (14.3%) or phosphate-buffered saline (20.3%). Part of the administered hASCs differentiated into vascular endothelial cells. ASC spheroids prepared in a HA gel contain undifferentiated cells with therapeutic potential to promote angiogenesis and tissue regeneration after damage.


SIGNIFICANCE
This study shows the therapeutic value of human adipose-derived stem cell spheroids prepared in hyarulonic acid gel. The spheroids have various benefits as an injectable cellular product and show therapeutic potential to the stem cell-depleted conditions such as diabetic chronic skin ulcer.
Ground reaction force and kinematic analysis of limb loading on two different beach sand tracks in harness trotters.

REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY
Although beach training is commonly used in horses, limb loading on beach sand has never been investigated. A dynamometric horseshoe (DHS) is well adapted for this purpose.


OBJECTIVES
To compare ground reaction force (GRF) and fetlock kinematics measured in harness trotters on 2 tracks of beach sand with different water content.


METHODS
Two linear sand tracks were compared: firm wet sand (FWS, 19% moisture) vs. deep wet sand (DWS, 13.5% moisture). Four French trotters (550 ± 22 kg) were used. Their right forelimb was equipped with a DHS and skin markers. Each track was tested 3 times at 7 m/s. Each trial was filmed by a high-speed camera (600 Hz); DHS and speed data acquisition was performed at 10 kHz on 10 consecutive strides. All recordings were synchronised. The components Fx (parallel to the hoof solar surface) and Fz (perpendicular) of the GRF were considered. For 3 horses the fetlock angle and forelimb axis-track angle at landing were measured. Statistical differences were tested using the GLM procedure (SAS; P < 0.05).


RESULTS
Stance duration was increased on DWS compared to FWS. Fzmax and Fxmax (oriented, respectively, downwards and forwards relatively to the solar surface) and the corresponding loading rates, were decreased on DWS and these force peaks occurred later. Fxmin (backwards) was not significantly different between both surfaces; the propulsive phase (Fx negative) was longer and the corresponding impulse higher, on DWS compared to FWS. The forelimb was more oblique to the track at landing and maximal fetlock extension was less and delayed on DWS.


CONCLUSIONS
This study confirms that trotting on deep sand overall reduces maximal GRF and induces a more progressive limb loading. However, it increases the propulsive effort and likely superficial digital flexor tendon tension at the end of stance, which should be taken into account in beach training.
Ultrasonic 2D matrix array transducer for volumetric imaging in real time

Matrix array transducers have been developed in this work for cardiac imaging in real-time and 3D. The matrix array transducers have 4,096 (64×64) active elements made of the piezoelectric single crystals, PMN-PT, within 1 inch square. Two different matrix array structures have been developed: (1) fabrication of whole 64×64 elements as a single unit on a PMN-PT plate with a conductive backing, and (2) assembly of eight 64×8 element modules to compose 64×64 channels. Optimal structures of the two matrix array transducer types have been determined through finite element analysis to have their center frequency at 3.5 MHz and fractional frequency bandwidth over 60%. In the single unit structure, it was very difficult to achieve good enough uniformity over the whole 4,096 elements, which was likely to cause serious difficulty in production of the transducer. The acoustic module assembly technique was developed to resolve the problem. In case some elements showed big deviation in performance due to mistakes in fabrication, that particular module containing the bad elements could be easily replaced with a good one. However, the module assembly method necessitated more complicated fabrication processes. Fabricated prototypes of the transducers satisfied the design specifications very well.
Role of the decrement in intraislet insulin for the glucagon response to hypoglycemia in humans.

OBJECTIVE
Animal and in vitro studies indicate that a decrease in beta-cell insulin secretion, and thus a decrease in tonic alpha-cell inhibition by intraislet insulin, may be an important factor for the increase in glucagon secretion during hypoglycemia. However, in humans this role of decreased intraislet insulin is still unclear.


RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
We studied glucagon responses to hypoglycemia in 14 nondiabetic subjects on two separate occasions. On both occasions, insulin was infused from 0 to 120 min to induce hypoglycemia. On one occasion, somatostatin was infused from -60 to 60 min to suppress insulin secretion, so that the decrement in intraislet insulin during the final 60 min of hypoglycemia would be reduced. On the other occasion, subjects received an infusion of normal saline instead of the somatostatin.


RESULTS
During the 2nd h of the insulin infusion, when somatostatin or saline was no longer being infused, plasma glucose ( approximately 2.6 mmol/l) and insulin levels ( approximately 570 pmol/l) were comparable in both sets of experiments (both P > 0.4). In the saline experiments, insulin secretion remained unchanged from baseline (-90 to -60 min) before insulin infusion and decreased from 1.20 +/- 0.12 to 0.16 +/- 0.04 pmol . kg(-1) . min(-1) during insulin infusion (P < 0.001). However, in the somatostatin experiments, insulin secretion decreased from 1.18 +/- 0.12 pmol . kg(-1) . min(-1) at baseline to 0.25 +/- 0.09 pmol . kg(-1) . min(-1) before insulin infusion so that it did not decrease further during insulin infusion (-0.12 +/- 0.10 pmol . kg(-1) . min(-1), P = 0.26) indicating the complete lack of a decrement in intraislet insulin during hypoglycemia. This was associated with approximately 30% lower plasma glucagon concentrations (109 +/- 7 vs. 136 +/- 9 pg/ml, P < 0.006) and increments in plasma glucagon above baseline (41 +/- 8 vs. 67 +/- 11 pg/ml, P < 0.008) during the last 15 min of the hypoglycemic clamp. In contrast, increases in plasma growth hormone were approximately 70% greater during hypoglycemia after somatostatin infusion (P < 0.007), suggesting that to some extent the increases in plasma glucagon might have reflected a rebound in glucagon secretion.


CONCLUSIONS
These results provide direct support for the intraislet insulin hypothesis in humans. However, the exact extent to which a decrement in intraislet insulin accounts for the glucagon responses to hypoglycemia remains to be established.
Saliency from hierarchical adaptation through decorrelation and variance normalization

In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or institutional repository. Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier's archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit: a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o This paper presents a novel approach to visual saliency that relies on a contextually adapted representation produced through adaptive whitening of color and scale features. Unlike previous models, the proposal is grounded on the specific adaptation of the basis of low level features to the statistical structure of the image. Adaptation is achieved through decorrelation and contrast normalization in several steps in a hierarchical approach, in compliance with coarse features described in biological visual systems. Saliency is simply computed as the square of the vector norm in the resulting representation. The performance of the model is compared with several state-of-the-art approaches, in predicting human fixations using three different eye-tracking datasets. Referring this measure to the performance of human priority maps, the model proves to be the only one able to keep the same behavior through different datasets, showing free of biases. Moreover, it is able to predict a wide set of relevant psychophysical observations, to our knowledge, not reproduced together by any other model before. Research on the estimation of visual saliency has experienced an increasing activity in the last years from both computer vision and neuro-science perspectives, giving rise to a number of improved approaches. Furthermore, a wide diversity of applications based on saliency are being proposed that range from image retargeting [1] to human-like robot surveillance [2], object learning and recognition [3–5], objectness definition [6], image processing for retinal implants [7], and many others. Existing approaches to visual saliency have adopted a number of quite different strategies. A first group, including many early models, is very influenced by psychophysical theories supporting a parallel processing of several feature dimensions. Models in this group are particularly concerned with biological plausibility in their formulation, and they resort to the modeling of visual functions. Outstanding examples can be found in [8] or in [9]. Most recent models are in a second group that broadly aims to estimate the inverse of the probability density of a set of low level features by different procedures. In this kind of models, low level features are usually …
Changes in Lipoprotein Particle Number With Ezetimibe/Simvastatin Coadministered With Extended‐Release Niacin in Hyperlipidemic Patients

BACKGROUND
Combination therapy with ezetimibe/simvastatin (E/S) and extended-release niacin (N) has been reported to be safe and efficacious in concomitantly reducing low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and increasing high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in hyperlipidemic patients at high risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular events. This analysis evaluated the effect of E/S coadministered with N on low-density lipoprotein particle number (LDL-P) and high-density lipoprotein particle number (HDL-P) as assessed by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy in patients with type IIa or IIb hyperlipidemia.


METHODS AND RESULTS
This was an analysis of a previously reported 24-week randomized, double-blind study in type IIa/IIb hyperlipidemic patients randomized to treatment with E/S (10/20 mg/day)+N (titrated to 2 g/day) or N (titrated to 2 g/day) or E/S (10/20 mg/day). Samples from a subset of patients (577 of 1220) were available for post hoc analysis of LDL-P and HDL-P by NMR spectroscopy. Increases in HDL-P (+16.2%) and decreases in LDL-P (-47.7%) were significantly greater with E/S+N compared with N (+9.8% for HDL-P and -21.5% for LDL-P) and E/S (+12.8% for HDL-P and -36.8% for LDL-P). In tertile analyses, those with the lowest baseline HDL-P had the greatest percent increase in HDL-P (N, 18.4/7.9/2.1; E/S, 19.3/12.2/5.3; and E/S+N, 26.9/13.8/6.9; all P<0.001). Individuals in the highest tertile of LDL-P had the greatest percent reduction in LDL-P (N, 18.3/23.1/24.6; E/S, 29.7/38.3/41.8; and E/S+N, 44.3/49.0/50.5; all P<0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that E/S+N improves lipoprotein particle number, consistent with its lipid-modifying benefits in type IIa or IIb hyperlipidemia patients and may exert the greatest effect in those with high LDL-P and low HDL-P at baseline.
Is single or dual channel with different English proficiencies better for English listening comprehension, cognitive load and attitude in ubiquitous learning environment?

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of English proficiency (low vs. high) and material presentation mode (single channel vs. dual channel) on English listening comprehension, cognitive load and learning attitude in a ubiquitous learning environment. An experimental learning activity was implemented using PDA as a learning tool to facilitate learning. A quasi-experimental design was employed with university students participating in the experiment. The results revealed that (a) high English proficiency learners had significantly better English listening comprehension and lower intrinsic and extraneous load than low English proficiency learners; (b) both high and low English proficiency learners learning with dual channel had significantly better English listening comprehension and held more positive attitude toward the ubiquitous learning environment than learners learning with single channel; (c) for learners learning with single channel, low English proficiency learners had significantly higher extraneous load than high English proficiency learners; and (d) for low English proficiency learners, learners who learned with dual channel possessed significantly lower extraneous load than learners who learned with single channel. The suggestions for educators and instructional designers were also discussed in the present study. 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Ecological momentary assessment of fatigue, sleepiness, and exhaustion in ESKD

BACKGROUND
Many patients on maintenance dialysis experience significant sleepiness and fatigue. However, the influence of the hemodialysis (HD) day and circadian rhythms on patients' symptoms have not been well characterized. We sought to use ecological momentary assessment to evaluate day-to-day and diurnal variability of fatigue, sleepiness, exhaustion and related symptoms in thrice-weekly maintenance HD patients.


METHODS
Subjects used a modified cellular phone to access an interactive voice response system that administered the Daytime Insomnia Symptom Scale (DISS). The DISS assessed subjective vitality, mood, and alertness through 19 questions using 7- point Likert scales. Subjects completed the DISS 4 times daily for 7 consecutive days. Factor analysis was conducted and a mean composite score of fatigue-sleepiness-exhaustion was created. Linear mixed regression models (LMM) were used to examine the association of time of day, dialysis day and fatigue, sleepiness, and exhaustion composite scores.


RESULTS
The 55 participants completed 1,252 of 1,540 (81%) possible assessments over the 7 day period. Multiple symptoms related to mood (e.g., feeling sad, feeling tense), cognition (e.g., difficulty concentrating), and fatigue (e.g., exhaustion, feeling sleepy) demonstrated significant daily and diurnal variation, with higher overall symptom scores noted on hemodialysis days and later in the day. In factor analysis, 4 factors explained the majority of the observed variance for DISS symptoms. Fatigue, sleepiness, and exhaustion loaded onto the same factor and were highly intercorrelated. In LMM, mean composite fatigue-sleepiness-exhaustion scores were associated with dialysis day (coefficient and 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.21 [0.02 - 0.39]) and time of day (coefficient and 95% CI 0.33 [0.25 - 0.41]. Observed associations were minimally affected by adjustment for demographics and common confounders.


CONCLUSIONS
Maintenance HD patients experience fatigue-sleepiness-exhaustion symptoms that demonstrate significant daily and diurnal variation. The variability in symptoms may contribute to poor symptom awareness by providers and greater misclassification bias of fatigue related symptoms in clinical studies.
Metabolic effects of carteolol and dilevalol in essential hypertension

As further classes of antihypertensive agents become available, more attention is being directed toward the ancillary pharmacological activities of the drugs, such as metabolic effects, fl-Adrenoceptor blockers are known to produce different effects on serum lipids, depending on their pharmacological characteristics [1, 2]; for example, non-cardioselective ffblockers without intrinsic sympathomimetic activity (ISA) have been reported to raise triglycerides and to lower HDL-cholesterol [3, 4], while cardioselective flz-blockers show less of this adverse effect [5], and/3-blockers with ISA appear to cause the least alteration in serum lipids [6]. Nevertheless, the precise reasons why/3-blockers with ISA have a less unfavourable effect on lipid metabolism than those without ISA remains unclear. The present study was designed to assess whether a fl-blocker with partial selective ~-adrenoceptor agonism would have any advantageous metabolic effects when compared to a convectional/3-blocker with ISA. The metabolic effects of carteolol (10 mg, once daily), a/3-blocker with potent intrinsic sympathomimetic activity [7, 8], and dilevalol (100 mg, once daily), a/3-blocker with fl2-selective ISA [9], have been in compared 9 patients with untreated mild-to-moderate, otherwise uncomplicated, essential hypertension (WHO Classes I and II) in a randomised, two-way, cross-over trial, following a 2-week run-in control period. Blood samples for measurement of serum lipids, creatine phosphokinase (CK), uric acid and glycosylated haemoglobin Ale (HbAlc), an indicator of glycaemic control, were obtained from each of the patients after a 12-h overnight fast at the end of the 2-week run-in and of 6-week fixed maintenance periods of carteolol and dilevalol. The results are summarized in Table 1. Six-week oral monotherapy with carteolol and dilevalol significantly lowered (P<0.01) both systolic and diastolic blood pressure to a similar extent as compared to the predose values. Total serum cholesterol, triglycerides, low(LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and the LDL/HDL-cholesterol ratio were not altered by either drug. The serum CK level was significantly increased (P < 0.05) by carteolol ( + 23 %) and dilevalol ( + 27 %) as compared to the predose level. Serum uric acid and HbAzc remained unchanged
The DEBIT trial: an intervention to reduce antipsychotic polypharmacy prescribing in adult psychiatry wards - a cluster randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND
Clinical guidelines advise against prescribing more than one antipsychotic with limited exceptions. Despite this, surveys continue to report high antipsychotic polypharmacy rates. The aim of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of a multi-faceted intervention in reducing prescribing of antipsychotic polypharmacy on general adult psychiatry wards, compared with guidelines alone.


METHOD
A pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial recruited 19 adult psychiatric units (clusters) from the South West of England. Participants were all ward doctors and nurses. The multi-faceted intervention comprised: an educational/CBT workbook; an educational visit to consultants; and a reminder system on medication charts.


RESULTS
The odds of being prescribed antipsychotic polypharmacy in those patients prescribed antipsychotic medication was significantly lower in the intervention than control group when adjusted for confounders (OR 0.43, 95% CI 0.21-0.90, p=0.028). There was considerable between-unit variation in polypharmacy rates and in the change in rates between baseline and follow-up (5 months after baseline).


CONCLUSION
The intervention reduced levels of polypharmacy prescribing compared to guidelines alone although the effect size was relatively modest. Further work is needed to elicit the factors that were active in changing prescribing behaviour.
Temporal Closure in an Annotation Environment

News articles typically present a story that develops over time. Events and times are introduced and the reader understands what the sequence of events is. Simple questions like “What happened after the kidnapping?” can only be answered if information about events and the temporal relations between events is available and a document needs to be annotated automatically or manually to provide this information. This article focuses on how a temporal closure component can be embedded in a temporal annotation environment. Temporal closure takes known temporal relations in a text and derives new implied relations from them, in effect making explicit what was implicit. A temporal closure component helps to create an annotation that is complete and consistent. The assumption here is that explicit temporal annotation is required for natural language processing applications like question answering and text summarization. Take for example the question-answering task. We want to be able to answer questions that involve events occurring at certain times or events happening in a certain order. As an example consider the following fragment from a 1998 Associated Press newswire.
Muscle hernias of the lower leg: MRI findings

Muscle hernias of the lower leg involving the tibialis anterior, peroneus brevis, and lateral head of the gastrocnemius were found in three different patients. MRI findings allowed recognition of herniated muscle in all cases and identification of fascial defect in two of them. MR imaging findings and the value of dynamic MR imaging is emphasized.