LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
An individualized, adjustable maintenance regimen of budesonide/formoterol provides effective asthma symptom control at a lower overall dose than fixed dosing.

PRINCIPLES
Current asthma management employing inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) and longacting b2-agonists (LABA) aims to rapidly achieve and then maintain overall asthma control including symptoms with minimal medication. This study compared self-guided adjustable maintenance dosing with budesonide/formoterol in a single inhaler with fixed dosing.


METHODS
In an open-label, parallel-group, multicentre study, 127 asthmatic patients, well controlled on ICS and LABA, were treated with budesonide/formoterol (Symbicort) Turbuhaler) 200/6 mg (equivalent to 160/4.5 mg delivered dose) 2 inhalations bid for 4 weeks, and were then randomised to budesonide/formoterol adjustable dosing (n = 69) (guided self-adjustment of dose: 1 inhalation bid or 2 inhalations at night with interim step ups to 2 inhalations bid and if not sufficient up to 4 inhalations bid for 14 days) or fixed dosing (2 inhalations bid) (n = 58) for 12 weeks.


RESULTS
Patients used adjustable dosing effectively; >50% used a decreased maintenance dose on >50% of the days. Seventy-two percent (50/69) from the adjustable-dosing group reduced their maintenance dose within the first 2 treatment weeks. Thirteen adjustable-dose patients (18.8%) never reduced their dose and 4 (5.8%) stepped up their dose. Symptom severity (NHLBI severity grade) decreased in both groups; however, the decrease was only statistically significant (p = 0.004) in the adjustable-dosing group. Treatment failures occurred in 17% and 24% of patients (adjustable and fixed dosing, respectively p = 0.35). Nocturnal awakenings (0.057 vs. 0.067/night, p = 0.006) and rescue medication use (0.15 vs. 0.23 inhalations/day, p <0.0001) were significantly less frequent with adjustable dosing, and the average daily medication dose was significantly reduced (3.0 vs. 3.9, p <0.0001) compared with fixed dosing. Lung function measurements (FEV1 and PEF) were not significantly different between groups during the study. There were no asthma-related hospital admissions.


CONCLUSION
Asthma patients on adjustable maintenance dosing with budesonide/ formoterol maintained control of symptoms using significantly less medication overall than fixed dosing. Thus, adjustable maintenance dosing achieved guideline goals of effective asthma control at an appropriately low maintenance dose. However, larger studies on adjustable maintenance dosing are needed.
GloudSim: Google trace based cloud simulator with virtual machines

In 2011, Google released a one-month production trace with hundreds of thousands of jobs running across over 12,000 heterogeneous hosts. In order to perform in-depth research based on the trace, it is necessary to construct a close-to-practice simulation system. In this paper, we devise a distributed cloud simulator (or toolkit) based on virtual machines, with three important features. (1) The dynamic changing resource amounts (such as CPU rate and memory size) consumed by the reproduced jobs can be emulated as closely as possible to the real values in the trace. (2) Various types of events (e.g., kill/evict event) can be emulated precisely based on the trace. (3) Our simulation toolkit is able to emulate more complex and useful cases beyond the original trace to adapt to various research demands. We evaluate the system on a real cluster environment with 16×8=128 cores and 112 virtual machines (VMs) constructed by XEN hypervisor. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work to reproduce Google cloud environment with real experimental system setting and real-world large scale production trace. Experiments show that our simulation system could effectively reproduce the real checkpointing/restart events based on Google trace, by leveraging Berkeley Lab Checkpoint/Restart (BLCR) tool. It can simultaneously process up to 1200 emulated Google jobs over the 112 VMs. Such a simulation toolkit has been released as a GNU GPL v3 software for free downloading, and it has been successfully applied to the fundamental research on the optimization of checkpoint intervals for Google tasks. Copyright c ⃝ 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Leveraging prior ratings for recommender systems in e-commerce

User ratings are the essence of recommender systems in e-commerce. Lack of motivation to provide ratings and eligibility to rate generally only after purchase restrain the effectiveness of such systems and contribute to the well-known data sparsity and cold start problems. This article proposes a new information source for recommender systems, called prior ratings. Prior ratings are based on users’ experiences of virtual products in a mediated environment, and they can be submitted prior to purchase. A conceptual model of prior ratings is proposed, integrating the environmental factor presence whose effects on product evaluation have not been studied previously. A user study conducted in website and virtual store modalities demonstrates the validity of the conceptual model, in that users are more willing and confident to provide prior ratings in virtual environments. A method is proposed to show how to leverage prior ratings in collaborative filtering. Experimental results indicate the effectiveness of prior ratings in improving predictive performance. 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
LI-RADS® ancillary features on CT and MRI

The Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS) uses an algorithm to assign categories that reflect the probability of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), non-HCC malignancy, or benignity. Unlike other imaging algorithms, LI-RADS utilizes ancillary features (AFs) to refine the final category. AFs in LI-RADS v2017 are divided into those favoring malignancy in general, those favoring HCC specifically, and those favoring benignity. Additionally, LI-RADS v2017 provides new rules regarding application of AFs. The purpose of this review is to discuss ancillary features included in LI-RADS v2017, the rationale for their use, potential pitfalls encountered in their interpretation, and tips on their application.
Patient delay in seeking help for potential breast cancer.

BACKGROUND
Patient delay in seeking medical attention could be a contributing cause in a substantial number of breast cancer deaths. The purpose of this study was to identify factors associated with long delay in order to identify specific groups in need of more intensive education regarding the signs of breast cancer and the importance of early treatment.


METHODS
A study of 162 women with potential breast cancer symptoms was done in the area of Worcester, MA. Two methods of analysis were used. A case-control approach was used where the outcome variable was categorized into two groups of longer and shorter delay, and a survival analysis was used where the outcome variable was treated as a continuous variable.


RESULTS
It was found that women with increasing symptoms were more likely to delay than women whose symptoms either decreased or remained the same. Women performing monthly breast self-examination and/or receiving at least bi-annual mammograms were much less likely to delay than women who performed breast self-examination or received mammograms less often. It was also found that women using family practitioners were less likely to delay than women using other types of physicians.


CONCLUSIONS
Patient delay continues to be a major problem in breast cancer, as 16% of the women here delayed at least two months before seeking help. This study presented a new and improved method for defining patient delay, which should be explored further in larger studies.
Childhood maltreatment and intimate partner violence in dissociative disorder patients

BACKGROUND
Childhood maltreatment (CM) is a risk factor for subsequent intimate partner violence (IPV) in adulthood, with high rates of retrospectively reported CM among IPV victims and perpetrators. A theorized mechanism of the link between CM and IPV is dissociation. Dissociation may allow perpetrators of violence to remain emotionally distant from their behavior and minimize empathy toward those they victimize, enabling them to commit acts of violence similar to their own experiences. Indeed, elevated rates of dissociation and dissociative disorders (DD) have been found among IPV survivors and perpetrators. In addition, in pilot studies, DD clinicians have reported high levels of violent behavior among DD patients.


OBJECTIVE
The present study investigates IPV among DD patients with Dissociative Identity Disorder and Dissociative Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, a group with CM rates of 80-95% and severe dissociative symptoms.


METHODS
DD clinicians reported on rates of CM and IPV among 275 DD patients in outpatient treatment. DD patients also completed a self-report measure of dissociation. Analyses assessed the associations between CM typologies and IPV, as well as trait dissociation and IPV.


RESULTS
Physical and emotional child abuse were associated with physical IPV, and childhood witnessing of domestic violence (DV) and childhood neglect were associated with emotional IPV.


CONCLUSIONS
The present study is the first to provide empirical support for a possible CM to adult IPV developmental trajectory among DD patients. Future research is needed to better understand the link between CM and IPV among those with trauma and DD.
Conducting an article critique for a quantitative research study: perspectives for doctoral students and other novice readers

Correspondence: David E Vance NB 456, 1701 University Boulevard, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294-1210, USA Tel +1 205 934 7589 Fax +1 205 996 7183 Email devance@uab.edu Abstract: The ability to critically evaluate the merits of a quantitative design research article is a necessary skill for practitioners and researchers of all disciplines, including nursing, in order to judge the integrity and usefulness of the evidence and conclusions made in an article. In general, this skill is automatic for many practitioners and researchers who already possess a good working knowledge of research methodology, including: hypothesis development, sampling techniques, study design, testing procedures and instrumentation, data collection and data management, statistics, and interpretation of findings. For graduate students and junior faculty who have yet to master these skills, completing a formally written article critique can be a useful process to hone such skills. However, a fundamental knowledge of research methods is still needed in order to be successful. Because there are few published examples of critique examples, this article provides the practical points of conducting a formally written quantitative research article critique while providing a brief example to demonstrate the principles and form.
Relaxin Is a Key Mediator of Prostate Growth and Male Reproductive Tract Development

Male mice deficient in relaxin showed retarded growth and marked deficiencies in the reproductive tract within 1 month of age. At 3 months of age, male reproductive organ weight (including the testis, epididymis, prostate, and seminal vesicle) from relaxin null (RLX−/−) mice were significantly (p < 0.05) smaller than those of wild-type (RLX+/+) male mice. Histologic examination of RLX−/− mouse tissues demonstrated decreased sperm maturation (testis), increased collagen, and decreased epithelial proliferation in the prostate compared with tissues obtained from RLX+/+ animals. The degree of sperm maturation in the testes of sexually mature RLX−/− mice (3 months) resembled that of immature (1 month) RLX+/+ mice and correlated with a decrease in fertility in RLX−/− mice. The marked differences in the extracellular matrix of the testis and prostate in RLX−/− males also correlated with an increase in the rate of cell apoptosis. Relaxin and LGR7 (relaxin receptor) mRNA expression was demonstrated in the prostate gland and testis of the normal mouse. Data from this study demonstrate that relaxin is an important factor in the development and function of the male reproductive tract in mice and has an essential role in the growth of the prostate and maintenance of male fertility. Relaxin may mediate its effects on growth and development by serving as an antiapoptotic factor.
윌리엄 모리스의 정치사상

William Morris was not only a poet and artist and a designer of various applied arts but also a revolutionary socialist. About 10 years in his later...
Substance-use outcomes at 18 months past baseline: the PROSPER Community-University Partnership Trial.

BACKGROUND
The study's objective was to examine the effects of "real-world," community-based implementation of universal preventive interventions selected from a menu, including effects specific to higher- and lower-risk subsamples.


DESIGN
School districts were selected based on size and location, and then randomly assigned to a control condition or to an experimental condition in a cohort sequential design.


SETTING/PARTICIPANTS
The study included 28 public school districts in Iowa and Pennsylvania that were located in rural towns and small cities, ranging in size from 6975 to 44,510. Sixth and seventh graders in these school districts participated in the study.


INTERVENTION
Community teams were mobilized; each team implemented one of three evidence-based, family-focused interventions (5 to 12 sessions) and one of three evidence-based school interventions (11 to 15 sessions), for 6th and 7th graders, respectively. Observations showed that interventions were implemented with fidelity.


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Outcomes included student reports of past month, past year, and lifetime use of alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, methamphetamines, ecstasy, and inhalants, as well as indices of gateway and illicit substance initiation, at pretest and at a follow-up assessment 18 months later.


RESULTS
Intent-to-treat analyses demonstrated significant effects on substance initiation (marijuana, inhalants, methamphetamines, ecstasy, gateway index, illicit-use index), as well as past-year use of marijuana and inhalants, with positive trends for all substances measured. For three outcomes, intervention effects were stronger for higher-risk students than lower-risk students.


CONCLUSIONS
Community-based implementation of brief universal interventions designed for general populations has potential for public health impact by reducing substance use among adolescents.
Knowledge Fusion via Embeddings from Text, Knowledge Graphs, and Images

We present a baseline approach for cross-modal knowledge fusion. Different basic fusion methods are evaluated on existing embedding approaches to show the potential of joining knowledge about certain concepts across modalities in a fused concept representation.
Chapter 3 – Hormone-Behavior Interrelationships of Birds in Response to Weather

This chapter was originally published in the book Advances in the Study of Behavior, Vol. 43, published by Elsevier, and the attached copy is provided by Elsevier for the author's benefit and for the benefit of the author's institution, for non-commercial research and educational use including without limitation use in instruction at your institution, sending it to specific colleagues who know you, and providing a copy to your institution’s administrator.
Learning from and with Customers with Social Media: A Model for Social Customer Learning

Social media can enable and significantly increase the collaboration and learning from customers in various ways, for instance by novel social ways of providing and receiving feedback from new products and concepts. We have created a model that can support managers and researchers to better analyse and understand the possibilities of social media approaches especially from the business-to-business (B2B) customer interface standpoint. We used the model to analyse found various types of business-to-business related social media approaches to create new understanding of the scarcely researched field of social media in the customer learning and the customer interface of B2B innovation.
Natural compounds from traditional medicinal herbs in the treatment of cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury

AbstractMore and more attention in the field of drug discovery has been focused on the neuroprotection of natural compounds from traditional medicinal herbs. Cerebral ischemia is a complex pathological process involving a series of mechanisms, and a framework for the development of neuroprotectants from traditional herb medicine is a promising treatment for cerebral ischemia. Natural compounds with the effects of anti-oxidation, anti-inflammation, calcium antagonization, anti-apoptosis, and neurofunctional regulation exhibit preventive or therapeutic effects on experimental ischemic brain injury. According to the pharmacological mechanisms underlying neuroprotection, we evaluated natural products from traditional medicinal herbs that exhibit protective effects on ischemic brain injury and characterized the promising targets.
Superficial femoral artery plaque and functional performance in peripheral arterial disease: walking and leg circulation study (WALCS III).

OBJECTIVES
We studied associations of magnetic resonance imaging measurements of plaque area and relative percent lumen reduction in the proximal superficial femoral artery with functional performance among participants with peripheral arterial disease.


BACKGROUND
The clinical significance of directly imaged plaque characteristics in lower extremity arteries is not well established.


METHODS
A total of 454 participants with an ankle brachial index <1.00 underwent magnetic resonance cross-sectional imaging of the proximal superficial femoral artery and completed a 6-min walk test, measurement of 4-m walking velocity at usual and fastest pace, and measurement of physical activity with a vertical accelerometer.


RESULTS
Adjusting for age, sex, race, body mass index, smoking, statin use, comorbidities, and other covariates, higher mean plaque area (1st quintile [least plaque]: 394 m, 2nd quintile: 360 m, 3rd quintile: 359 m, 4th quintile: 329 m, 5th quintile [greatest plaque]: 311 m; p trend <0.001) and smaller mean percent lumen area (1st quintile [greatest plaque]: 319 m, 2nd quintile: 330 m, 3rd quintile: 364 m, 4th quintile: 350 m, 5th quintile: 390 m; p trend <0.001) were associated with shorter distance achieved in the 6-min walk test. Greater mean plaque area was also associated with slower usual-paced walking velocity (p trend = 0.006) and slower fastest-paced 4-m walking velocity (p trend = 0.003). Associations of mean plaque area and mean lumen area with 6-min walk distance remained statistically significant even after additional adjustment for the ankle brachial index and leg symptoms.


CONCLUSIONS
Among participants with peripheral arterial disease, greater plaque burden and smaller lumen area in the proximal superficial femoral artery are associated independently with poorer functional performance, even after adjusting for the ankle brachial index and leg symptoms.
Analysis to the relationship of classification accuracy, segmentation scale, image resolution

-Information extraction encountered a new challenge while the spatial resolution is increasing quickly. People suppose that the higher the spatial resolution is, the better the result of classification is. To prove this guess we use two approaches: pixel-based classification and object-oriented classification. The former site test shows one class has different accuracy from various resolution images. Object-oriented approach is an advanced solution for image analysis. The accuracy of objectoriented approach is much higher than those of based-pixel approach. The site result shows that each class has its optimal image segmentation scale. Keywords--Feature, Scale; Resolution; Image analysis.
Promoter but not exon 7 polymorphism of endothelial nitric oxide synthase affects training-induced correction of endothelial dysfunction.

UNLABELLED
Background- Polymorphisms in the promoter (T-786C) and exon 7 (G894T) of the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) gene were shown to be associated with reduced vascular NO production or increased proteolytic cleavage of eNOS. Therefore, we aimed to determine the effects of these polymorphisms on endothelial function and endothelial response to physical exercise in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).


METHODS AND RESULTS
Sixty-seven patients were randomized to either a training or a control group. At the beginning and after 4 weeks, acetylcholine-induced changes in average peak velocity (APV) of a coronary or mammary artery were invasively assessed by Doppler velocimetry. Polymorphisms were detected by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. At the beginning, in subjects with the wild-type (WT) variant, APV increased by 88+/-7% in response to acetylcholine. This response was significantly blunted in patients who were positive for the promoter (44+/-7%) or the exon 7 (62+/-9%) polymorphism. Four weeks of exercise training resulted in augmentation of an endothelium-dependent increase in APV by +36+/-12% in promoter polymorphism-positive patients but by +81+/-18% and +91+/-15% in WT variant- and exon 7 polymorphism-positive subjects, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that the presence of either one of the polymorphisms attenuates endothelium-dependent vasodilatation in CAD patients. Only the promoter polymorphism might have an adverse effect on training-induced improvement in endothelial function.
Formal Verification of Smart Contracts: Short Paper

Ethereum is a framework for cryptocurrencies which uses blockchain technology to provide an open global computing platform, called the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). EVM executes bytecode on a simple stack machine. Programmers do not usually write EVM code; instead, they can program in a JavaScript-like language, called Solidity, that compiles to bytecode. Since the main purpose of EVM is to execute smart contracts that manage and transfer digital assets (called Ether), security is of paramount importance. However, writing secure smart contracts can be extremely difficult: due to the openness of Ethereum, both programs and pseudonymous users can call into the public methods of other programs, leading to potentially dangerous compositions of trusted and untrusted code. This risk was recently illustrated by an attack on TheDAO contract that exploited subtle details of the EVM semantics to transfer roughly $50M worth of Ether into the control of an attacker.
 In this paper, we outline a framework to analyze and verify both the runtime safety and the functional correctness of Ethereum contracts by translation to F*, a functional programming language aimed at program verification.