LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Associations between serum cholinesterase and incident hyper-LDL cholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia and hypo-HDL cholesterolemia as well as changes in lipid levels in a health screening population.

OBJECTIVE
To investigate longitudinal associations between serum cholinesterase (ChE) and lipid status.


METHODS
Hazard ratios (HRs) of incident hyper-LDL cholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia and hypo-HDL cholesterolemia for baseline ChE and correlation coefficients between baseline ChE and changes in LDL cholesterol, log triglycerides and HDL cholesterol during 5 years were calculated in a health screening population.


RESULTS
During the 5-year follow-up period, 337 men (22.9%) and 208 women (26.3%), 330 men (24.3%) and 114 women (12.4%) and 137 men (8.3%) and 117 women (12.7%) developed hyper-LDL cholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia and hypo-HDL cholesterolemia, respectively. The HRs of incident hyper-LDL cholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia and hypo-HDL cholesterolemia for each 1 SD increase in baseline ChE were 1.15 (p = 0.009) in men and 1.17 (p = 0.017) in women, 1.25 (p < 0.001) in men and 1.37 (p < 0.001) in women and 1.15 (p = 0.113) in men and 1.12 (p = 0.248) in women, respectively adjusted for BMI and other confounders, while the HRs were not significant after further adjusted for each baseline lipid level except for the HR of hypertriglyceridemia in women (HR, 1.22 (p = 0.047)). The baseline ChE was inversely correlated with the changes in LDL cholesterol (r = -0.117, p < 0.001) and log triglycerides (r = -0.114, p < 0.001) in men and the change in LDL cholesterol (r = -0.191, p < 0.001) in women.


CONCLUSION
ChE was positively associated with incident hyper-LDL cholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia adjusted for BMI, while with only incident hypertriglyceridemia in women after further adjusted for the baseline lipid level.
B-type natriuretic peptide as a marker for cardiac dysfunction in anthracycline-treated children.

BACKGROUND
Anthracyclines (AC) are useful antineoplastic agents, whose utility is limited by progressive cardiotoxicity. Our purpose was to evaluate plasma B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), as a screening test for detecting late cardiac dysfunction in AC-treated children and to determine the prevalence of late cardiac dysfunction at low cumulative AC doses.


MATERIALS AND METHODS
This was a prospective study in which patients who had completed AC therapy at least 1 year earlier, underwent a detailed echocardiogram and a simultaneous BNP level. Cardiac dysfunction was defined as any one of the following: shortening fraction (FS) <29%, rate corrected velocity of circumferential fiber shortening (VCFc) <0.9 c x sec(-1), end systolic wall stress (ESWS) >60 g x cm(-2), abnormal VCFc: ESWS ratio or decreased mitral inflow velocity (E/A) ratios, compared to age-specific norms.


RESULTS
The cohort (n = 63) included 37 males with a median age of 13.1 years (range, 6.5-26.5 years). Cardiac dysfunction was found in 26 (41%) patients and in 40% of patients who received cumulative doses <150 mg x m(-2). ESWS was the most common abnormality. Mean BNP levels in the subset with abnormal function were significantly higher than the normal group (23.4 +/- 25.3 vs. 14.2 +/- 8.9 pg x ml(-1), P = 0.02).


CONCLUSIONS
Plasma BNP was significantly elevated in AC-treated patients with late cardiac dysfunction, although there was considerable overlap of levels between groups with and without cardiac dysfunction. BNP may need further evaluation as a serial index of cardiac function in this population. Cardiac dysfunction was observed in a significant proportion of patients, even at low cumulative AC doses.
The Cognitive Differentiation-Integration Effort Hypothesis: A Synthesis Between the Fitness Indicator and Life History Models of Human Intelligence

This article presents a potential synthesis between the fitness indicator and life history models of human intelligence through consideration of the phenomena of ability differentiation and integration. The cognitive differentiation-integration effort hypothesis proposes that these effects result from a life history tradeoff between cognitive integration effort, a mating effort component associated with strengthening the positive manifold amongst abilities; and cognitive differentiation effort, a somatic effort component associated with the cultivation of specific abilities. This represents one of two largely independent sources of genetic variance in intelligence; the other is mediated by general fitness and mutation load and is associated with individual differences in levels of ‘genetic g’. These two sources (along with a common source of environmental variance) combine to give rise to a variety of cognitive phenotypes characterized by different combinations of high or low levels of ‘genetic g’ and cognitive specialism or generalism. Fundamental to this model is the assumption that measures of life history speed (K) and g are essentially independent, which is demonstrated via meta-analysis of 10 studies reporting correlations between the variables ( .023, ns, n 2056). The implications of the model are discussed in an evolutionary, ecological, and developmental context. Seven key predictions are made in the discussion which if tested could provide definitive evidence for the hypothesis.
Current Concepts in the Use of Small-Particle Hyaluronic Acid.

BACKGROUND
Soft-tissue augmentation with hyaluronic acid (HA) fillers has become one of the most popular cosmetic procedures performed. HA fillers represent safe and commonly used fillers. Several different HA fillers are available. The differences lie in the manufacturing process, allowing for tailored uses. A small-particle HA with lidocaine (SP-HAL; Restylane Silk; Galderma, Uppsala, Sweden) was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in June 2014 but has been available for many years in Canada as Restylane Fine Lines and in Europe as Restylane Vital.


METHODS
Relevant articles were reviewed relating to the composition, effectiveness, and safety of SP-HAL. We also discuss the author's extensive clinical experience in the use of this product in Canada.


RESULTS
SP-HAL has demonstrated proven benefits for lip fullness, augmentation, and treatment of perioral rhytides. Although off-label in the United States, SP-HAL is also well suited for the treatment of superficial fine lines, including periorbital, forehead, marionette, and smile lines. In addition, it has also been used in the tear trough region. A novel application for SP-HAL includes use as a skinbooster with intradermal micropuncture. In this technique, small aliquots of product are injected so as to gradually rejuvenate the skin in areas such as the face and hands. Side effects of SP-HAL were generally transient and mild. The most common side effects were swelling, tenderness, bruising, pain, and redness.


CONCLUSION
SP-HAL is an effective and safe HA filler with varied clinical uses.
Experimental Evaluations of the Twiddler One-Handed Chording Mobile Keyboard

The HandyKey TwiddlerTM is a one-handed chording mobile keyboard that employs a 3 × 4 button design, similar to that of a standard mobile telephone. We present a longitudinal study of novice users’ learning rates on the Twiddler. Ten participants typed for 20 sessions using 2 different text entry methods. Each session was composed of 20 min of typing with multitap and 20 min of one-handed chording on the Twiddler. We found that users initially had a faster average typing rate with multitap; however, after 4 sessions the difference became negligible, and by the 8th session participants typed faster with chording on the Twiddler. Five participants continued our study and achieved an average rate of 47 words per minute (wpm) after approximately 25 hr of practice in varying conditions. One participant achieved an average rate of 67 wpm, equivalent to the typing rate of the 2nd author, who has been a Twiddler user for 10 years. We analyze the effects of learning on various aspects of chording, provide evidence that lack of visual feedback does not hinder expert typing speed, and examine the potential use of HUMAN–COMPUTER INTERACTION, 2006, Volume 21, pp. 343–392 Copyright © 2006, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Kent Lyons is a computer scientist with an interest in human–computer interaction issues of mobile computing; he is a Research Scientist in the College of Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Thad Starner is a computer scientist with an interest in wearable computing and intelligent agents; he is an Assistant Professor in the College of Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Brian Gane is a psychologist with an interest in cognitive and motor skill acquisition; he is a graduate student in the School of Psychology at the Georgia Institute of Technology. multicharacter chords (MCCs) to increase text entry speed. Finally, we explore improving novice user’s experience with the Twiddler through the use of a chording tutorial. 344 LYONS, STARNER, AND GANE
Incidence and Predictors of Long-Term Adverse Outcomes in Patients with Rheumatic Mitral Stenosis in Sinus Rhythm.

BACKGROUND
Rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease remain important health problems in developing countries. Mitral stenosis (MS) is the most common form of rheumatic heart disease. The aim of this study was to investigate incidence and echocardiographic predictors of long-term adverse outcomes in patients with rheumatic mitral stenosis in sinus rhythm.


MATERIAL AND METHOD
We retrospectively reviewed medical records of patients diagnosed with isolated rheumatic MS of any severity at Siriraj Hospital between 1996 and 2013. Demographic data, echocardiographic data, and long-term adverse outcomes were collected. Long-term adverse outcomes included all-cause mortality, hospitalization due to heart failure, new-onset atrial fibrillation, and/or embolic stroke during follow-up.


RESULTS
One hundred eighty five patients (aged 41.9 ± 13.2 years, 81.1% female) were included during the median follow-up period of 12.6 years (95% CI: 11.2-14.0). MS was classified as mild, moderate, and severe in 8.6%, 2 7.6%, and 63.8% of patients, respectively. Average mitral valve score was 8.25 ± 1.5. Most patients (61.6%) underwent percutaneous balloon mitral valvulotomy. Incidence of long-term adverse outcome was 43.2% (95% CI: 36.0-50.7%) and included mortality in two patients (1.1%, 95% CI: 0.13-3.9%), hospitalization due to heart failure in 20 patients (10.8%, 95% CI: 6.7-16.2%), new-onset atrial fibrillation in 71 patients (38.4%, 95% CI: 31.3-45.8%), and embolic stroke in 14 patients (7.6%, 95% CI: 4.2-12.4%). Echocardiographic parameters associated with long-term adverse outcomes were left atrial dimension greater than 50 mm (HR 2.61, 95% CI: 1.08-6.30; p = 0.03) and left ventricular end-systolic dimension less than 28 mm (HR 3.06, 95% CI: 1.25-7.49; p = 0.01).


CONCLUSION
Long-term adverse outcomes are common in patients with rheumatic MS in sinus rhythm. Long-term adverse outcomes were found to correlate with left atrial dimension and left ventricular end-systolic dimension.
Pharmacoepidemiology of psychotropic drugs in patients with severe mental disorders in Italy

Objective: To describe the epidemiology of psychotropic drug use in a sample of Italian outpatient psychiatric services. Methods: Drug-utilisation survey conducted within the framework of a broader prospective follow-up study with 67 Italian outpatient psychiatric services. Results: The data concern 2322 patients recruited over a 3-year period. Three-quarters of the cohort were prescribed antipsychotic drugs, one-half received benzodiazepines and nearly one-third received antidepressants. The trends in drug use from 1994 to 1997 show that for patients with schizophrenia there has been a decrease in the prescription of typical neuroleptics: the use of haloperidol passed from 56% to 42.4% and that of chlorpromazine dropped from 13.5% to 6.1%; during the same period, an increasing use of the atypical compound risperidone was observed. Among patients suffering from unipolar affective psychosis, the prescriptions of tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have not changed in time, while the proportion of patients receiving neuroleptic drugs has increased from 41% to 45.2%. In addition, the use of antiepileptic drugs and lithium increased, irrespective of diagnosis. Almost 40% of the patients on psychotropic drugs received three or more drugs. Finally, a positive association was found between the number of prescribed compounds and the daily dose administered. Conclusion: These data indicate that in the absence of a rational approach to drug use, a symptomatic approach is generally adopted, by which common sense, experience, information provided by non-independent agencies and other cultural parameters play an important role in the prescription strategy. Pharmacoepidemiology should more often consider the use of drugs as a dependent variable, to be investigated within the context of other clinical, cultural, social and setting-related parameters; this approach would enable a more comprehensive assessment of prescribing practices and strategies in routine clinical care.
Real-time vision-based multiple vehicle detection and tracking for nighttime traffic surveillance

This study presents an effective system for detecting and tracking moving vehicles in nighttime traffic scene for traffic surveillance. The proposed method identifies vehicles based on detecting and locating vehicle headlights and taillights by using the techniques of image segmentation and pattern analysis. First, to effectively extract bright objects of interest, a fast bright-object segmentation process based on automatic multilevel histogram thresholding is applied on the nighttime road-scene images. This automatic multilevel thresholding approach can provide robustness and adaptability for the detection system to be operated well under various illumination conditions at night. The extracted bright objects are processed by a spatial clustering and tracking procedure by locating and analyzing the spatial and temporal features of vehicle light patterns, and then identifying and classifying the moving cars and motorbikes in the traffic scenes. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach is feasible and effective for vehicle detection and identification in various nighttime environments for traffic surveillance.
Acupuncture for low back pain due to spondylolisthesis: study protocol for a randomized controlled pilot trial

BACKGROUND
Spondylolisthesis is the major cause of refractory low back pain. There are many studies of the surgical treatment of spondylolisthesis, but few of conservative treatments. There is also no optimal conservative treatment protocol, however, low back pain caused by low-grade spondylolisthesis is controlled with non-surgical pain management. Acupuncture has become a useful method for treating low back pain, but there has not been any study of its efficacy in relation to spondylolisthesis. This study was designed to establish the feasibility of a randomized controlled trial and the safety of acupuncture for low back pain due to low-grade spondylolisthesis.


METHODS/DESIGN
The study is a randomized controlled pilot clinical trial of five weeks duration. Fourteen patients will be recruited and randomly allocated to two groups: an acupuncture plus interlaminar epidural steroid injection group (experimental group), and an interlaminar epidural steroid injection group (control group). All patients will be administered an interlaminar epidural steroid injection once a week for three weeks (three injections in total), but only the experimental group will receive additional treatment with three acupuncture sessions a week for three weeks (nine acupuncture sessions in total). The primary outcome will be measured by the visual analogue scale (VAS). Our primary end point is three-week VAS. The secondary outcome will be measured using the PainVision system, the short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire, and the Oswestry Disability Index. Assessments will be made at baseline and at one, three and five weeks thereafter (that is, the five-week assessment will be made two weeks after treatment cessation).


DISCUSSION
This randomized controlled pilot trial will inform the design of a further full-scale trial. The outcomes will provide some resources for incorporating acupuncture into existing pain management methods such as interlaminar epidural steroid injection in low-grade spondylolisthesis.


TRIAL REGISTRATION
This trial is registered with the US National Institutes of Health Clinical Trials registry: NCT01909284.
A Linear-Time Algorithm for Finding Tree-Decompositions of Small Treewidth

In this paper, we give for constant k a linear-time algorithm that, given a graph G (V, E), determines whether the treewidth of G is at most k and, if so, finds a tree-decomposition of G with treewidth at most k. A consequence is that every minor-closed class of graphs that does not contain all planar graphs has a linear-time recognition algorithm. Another consequence is that a similar result holds when we look instead for path-decompositions with pathwidth at most some constant k. Key words, graph algorithms, treewidth, pathwidth, partial k-trees, graph minors AMS subject classifications. 68R10, 05C85, 05C05
Contract Size and Small Firm Competition in Public Procurement

The European Commission encourages public authorities to split procurement contracts into multiple contracts in order to increase the competiveness of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). In ...
Sex differences in the single prolonged stress model

Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating anxiety disorder resulting from traumatic stress exposure. Females are more likely to develop PTSD than males, but neurobiological mechanisms underlying female susceptibility are lacking. This can be addressed by using nonhuman animal models. Single prolonged stress (SPS), a nonhuman animal model of PTSD, results in cued fear extinction retention deficits and hippocampal glucocorticoid receptor (GR) upregulation in male rats. These effects appear linked in the SPS model, as well as in PTSD. However, the effects of SPS on cued fear extinction retention and hippocampal GRs in female rats remain unknown. Thus, we examined sex differences in SPS-induced cued fear extinction retention deficits and hippocampal GR upregulation. SPS induced cued fear extinction retention deficits in male rats but not female rats. SPS enhanced GR levels in the dorsal hippocampus of female rats, but not male rats. SPS had no effects on ventral hippocampal GR levels, but ventral hippocampal GR levels were attenuated in female rats relative to males. These results suggest that female rats are more resilient to the effects of SPS. The results also suggest that GR upregulation and cued fear extinction retention deficits can be dissociated in the SPS model.
Combining Instance-Based and Model-Based Learning

This paper concerns learning tasks that require the prediction of a continuous value rather than a discrete class. A general method is presented that allows predictions to use both instance-based and model-based learning. Results with three approaches to constructing models and with eight datasets demonstrate improvements due to the composite method.
Corruption in Indonesia

Bribes paid by firms in Indonesia arise principally from red tape, in particular licenses, imposed by local government officials. Red tape generates direct revenues (fees) plus indirect revenues in the form of bribes. The expected value of the latter is capitalized into lower salaries needed by localities to compensate public officials. Localities in Indonesia are hampered by insufficient revenues from formal tax and transfer sources to pay competitive salaries to officials and meet public service expenditure requirements, because local tax rates are capped by the center and inter-governmental transfers are limited. Thus the direct and indirect (bribe) revenues from local red tape are critical to local finances. The paper models how inter-jurisdictional competition for firms limits the extent of locally imposed red tape and how greater sources of inter-governmental revenues reduce the need for red tape and corruption. The paper estimates a large reduction in red tape in better funded localities. For countries such as Indonesia that are in the midst of decentralizing government functions, the impact on corruption is tied to fiscal arrangements and the ability of localities to legitimately fund activities. The paper then estimates the relationships between red tape, bribes, and time devoted by firms to dealing with corrupt officials.
Reasons for cannabis use in psychosis.

OBJECTIVE
To examine the reasons for cannabis use among individuals with psychotic disorders.


METHOD
Forty-nine people with psychotic disorders in treatment with community health centres in Northern Sydney were interviewed to collect information about their experience of antipsychotic side-effects and their influence on cannabis use. Other information collected on cannabis use included: amount and frequency, effects of use and other general reasons given for use.


RESULTS
It was found that boredom, social motives, improving sleep, anxiety and agitation and symptoms associated with negative psychotic symptoms or depression were the most important motivators of cannabis use. Positive symptoms of psychosis and antipsychotic side-effects that were not associated with anxiety, were not important motivators of cannabis use.


CONCLUSIONS
As cannabis use may precipitate relapse in this population, it is important to reduce these motivators of use. Clinician's must assess and treat these problems, thus reducing the need for patients to self-medicate with cannabis, and therefore reducing the risk of relapse.