LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Onychomycosis Due to Nondermatophytic Molds

BACKGROUND
Although there have been many studies about onychomycosis due to nondermatophytic molds (NDM), few studies about etiologic agents including NDM in onychomycosis have been reported in Korea.


OBJECTIVE
This study investigated onychomycosis due to NDM in the Gyeongju area of Korea.


METHODS
In the 10-year period from 1999~2009, we reviewed 59 patients with onychomycosis due to NDM. The etiologic agents were identified by cultures on Sabouraud's Dextrose agar with and without cycloheximide. In some cases, internal transcribed spacer sequence analysis was done. NDM isolated considered pathogens when the presence of fungal elements was identified by direct microscopy observation and in follow-up cultures yielding the same fungi.


RESULTS
Onychomycosis due to NDM comprised 2.3% of all onychomycosis. Of the 59 patients with onychomycosis due to NDM, 84.7% were toenail onychomycosis and 15.3% were fingernail onychomycosis. The incidence rate was highest in the fifth decade (27.1%). The ratio of male to female patients was 1:1.6. The frequency of associated diseases, in descending order, was hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and cerebral hematoma. Distal and lateral subungual onychomycosis (86.4%) was the most common clinical type of onychomycosis. Aspergillus spp. was the most frequently isolated etiologic agent of onychomycosis due to NDM (83.0%). Other causative agents were Scopulariopsis brevicaulis (10.2%), Acremonium spp. (3.4%), Fusarium solani (1.7%), and Chaetomium globosum (1.7%).


CONCLUSION
Because of the increase in onychomycosis due to NDM, we suggest the need of a careful mycological examination in patients with onychomycosis.
Keynes's special theory

THE THEORY OF FREE BANKING: MONEY SUPPLY UNDER COMPETITIVE NOTE ISSUE by George Selgin Totowa, N.J.: Rowman and Littlefield, and Washington, D.C.: Cato Institute, 1948. 218pp., $33.50 Keynes's analysis of the possibility of underconsumption in capitalist economies is not a general theory of market economies, but rather is relevant, at best, to economies with central banking systems. Selgin helps demonstrate that by contrast, competition in money production can link saving and investment, thus avoiding Keynes's critique. In addition, Selgin's argument provides a framework to understand central banking's inability to achieve its intended results. Many of the macroeconomic problems in historical capitalism can thus be traced to interference with financial markets, rather than to market failures.
Expert consensus on management of diabetic patients with impairment of renal function.

Service d'endocrinologie-diabétologie, Hôpital Sud, 16, boulevard de Bulgarie, 35200 Rennes Hôpital Privé de l’Est parisien, 11, avenue de la République, 93600 Aulnay-sous-Bois Service de diabétologie, Université Bordeaux II, 146, rue Léo Saignat, 33000 Bordeaux Service d’endocrinologie et diabétologie, CHU Poitiers, 2, rue de la Milétrie, BP 577, 86021 Poitiers cedex Service de néphrologie-immunologie clinique, Hôpital Bretonneau, CHU Tours, 2, boulevard Tonnellé, 37044 Tours cedex Service de néphrologie, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg, BP 426, Strasbourg cedex 67091; et Faculté de Médecine, Université de Strasbourg, 1, rue Kirschleger, 67000 Strasbourg Service d'endocrinologie et maladies métaboliques, Groupe Hospitalier Saint-Louis-Lariboisière, AP-HP, 2, rue Claude Vellefeaux, 75475 Paris cedex 10 Service d’endocrinologie-diabétologie-nutrition, Groupe Hospitalier Bichat-Claude Bernard, APHP, 46, rue Henri Huchard, 75722 Paris cedex 18 ; et Unité INSERM U695, Faculté de Médecine Paris 7 Clinique de nephrologie, CHU Grenoble, boulevard de la Chantourne, 38043 Grenoble cedex
CHAPTER 2 Improved Control of Oral Anticoagulant Dosing : A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Two Computer Algorithms

Background Efforts to improve dosing quality in oral anticoagulant control include the use of computer algorithms. Since current algorithms are simplistic and give dosage proposals in a small fraction of patients, we developed an algorithm based on principles of system and control engineering that gives proposals in nearly all patients. Objective We evaluated the new algorithm in clinical practice. Patients and Methods We conducted a double-blind randomized controlled trial among 712 patients with an indication for long-term anticoagulant treatment at the Leiden Anticoagulation Clinic. We compared oral anticoagulant dosing supported by the new algorithm (ICAD) with the standard algorithm (TRODIS). Results The percentage of time spent in therapeutic range was similar for the new and standard algorithm group, 79.8% versus 80.2% (Diff 0.4%, 95%CI –1.7% to 2.6%). The new algorithm produced a dosage proposal in 97.5% of visits and the standard algorithm in 60.8% (Diff 36.7%, 95%CI 35.4%-38.0%). 79.3 % of proposals of the new algorithm were accepted by the physician versus 90.9% for the standard algorithm (Diff 11.6%, 95%CI 10.2%-13.0%). This implies that the new algorithm gave an acceptable proposal in 77.4% of all patient visits versus 55.3% for the standard algorithm (Diff 22.1%, 95%CI 20.4%-23.8%). Conclusions Substantially more dosage proposals were generated and accepted with the new than with the standard algorithm, and the new algorithm will therefore improve the efficiency of anticoagulant monitoring without loss of quality. Comparison of two anticoagulant dosing algorithms 21
Family planning and pregnancy issues for women with systemic inflammatory diseases: patient and physician perspectives

OBJECTIVES
To identify family planning and pregnancy (FPP) issues for female patients of childbearing age living with a chronic inflammatory disease and to assess whether current clinical practice routinely provides adequate support to alleviate these concerns.


SETTING
Multinational survey and an analysis of online patient activity.


PARTICIPANTS
Premenopausal women (aged 20-45 years; N=969) were surveyed in the USA, the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Rheumatologists were surveyed in Germany (N=50), France (N=50), Italy (N=50) and the USA (N=100), and gastroenterologists were also surveyed in the USA (N=100).


PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES
Two online surveys were undertaken to identify FPP issues for physicians and patients. The surveys examined the frequency of dialogue on these topics between physicians and patients, alongside assessment of patient satisfaction regarding these conversations. Online analysis identified key themes for patient discussion outside their doctors' office/clinic/surgery.


RESULTS
32-56% of physicians spontaneously reported having talked about FPP with their female patients of childbearing age. When prompted, the majority of rheumatologists (74-92%) and gastroenterologists (74%) reported having discussed conception/pregnancy with female patients; however, less than half reported consulting their patient's treating general practitioner/gynaecologist about these topics. The majority of patients reported their FPP-related concerns are not adequately addressed/settled during their medical appointments. Furthermore, only 30-40% of patients considered advice/information to be consistent across multiple healthcare professionals. Key online FPP-related patient discussions included disease state, adverse effects, treatment, switch behaviour and wash-out requirements.


CONCLUSIONS
Female patients who live with chronic inflammatory disease have important FPP concerns. The majority of patients, however, do not feel that their FPP concerns are adequately addressed in current clinical practice and report that they receive inconsistent advice from the various healthcare professionals who manage different aspects of their care. There is a clear need for provision of up-to-date and consistent information/support to female patients.
Guns and gender-based violence in South Africa.

BACKGROUND
The criminal use of firearms in South Africa is widespread and a major factor in the country having the third-highest homicide rate in the world. Violence is a common feature of South African society. A firearm in the home is a risk factor in intimate partner violence, but this has not been readily demonstrated in South Africa because of a lack of data.


METHODS
We drew on several South African studies including national homicide studies, intimate partner studies, studies with male participants and studies from the justice sector, to discuss the role of gun ownership on gender-based violence.


CONCLUSION
Guns play a significant role in violence against women in South Africa, most notably in the killing of intimate partners. Although the overall homicide data suggest that death by shooting is decreasing, data for intimate partner violence are not readily available. We have no idea if the overall decrease in gunshot homicides applies to women in relationships, and therefore gun control should remain high on the legislative agenda.
CHAPTER 10 PULSE COMPRESSION RADAR

10.1 INTRODUCTION Pulse compression involves the transmission of a long coded pulse and the processing of the received echo to obtain a relatively narrow pulse. The increased detection capability of a long-pulse radar system is achieved while retaining the range resolution capability of a narrow-pulse system. Several advantages are obtained. Transmission of long pulses permits a more efficient use of the average power capability of the radar. Generation of high peak power signals is avoided. The average power of the radar may be increased without increasing the pulse repetition frequency (PRF) and, hence, decreasing the radar's unambiguous range. An increased system resolving capability in doppler is also obtained as a result of the use of the long pulse. In addition, the radar is less vulnerable to interfering signals that differ from the coded transmitted signal. A long pulse may be generated from a narrow pulse. A narrow pulse contains a large number of frequency components with a precise phase relationship between them. If the relative phases are changed by a phase-distorting filter, the frequency components combine to produce a stretched, or expanded, pulse. This expanded pulse is the pulse that is transmitted. The received echo is processed in the receiver by a compression filter. The compression filter readjusts the relative phases of the frequency components so that a narrow or compressed pulse is again produced. The pulse compression ratio is the ratio of the width of the expanded pulse to that of the compressed pulse. The pulse compression ratio is also equal to the product of the time duration and the spectral bandwidth (time-bandwidth product) of the transmitted signal. A pulse compression radar is a practical implementation of a matched-filter system. The coded signal may be represented either as a frequency response H(U) or as an impulse time response h(i) of a coding filter. In Fig. 10. Ia 9 the coded signal is obtained by exciting the coding filter //(<*>) with a unit impulse. The received signal is fed to the matched filter, whose frequency response is the complex conjugate #*(a>) of the coding filter. The output of the matched-filter section is the compressed pulse, which is given by the inverse Fourier transform of the product of the signal spectrum //(a>) and the matched-filter response //*(o>):
Spanish version of the Northwick Park Neck Pain Questionnaire: reliability and validity.

OBJECTIVE
To validate a Spanish version of the Northwick Park Neck Pain Questionnaire (NPQ) and to prove its usefulness in clinical practice.


METHODS
We studied 58 patients with non-inflammatory neck pain of more than 4 months duration. A blind back translation of the NPQ was made, and the resulting back-translation version was then compared with the original. The NPQ comprises 9 questions with 5 statements of increasing difficulty. Patients completed the questionnaire 3 times: on their initial assessment; 8-10 days later (test-retest); and after physiotherapy treatment 3 months later. Neck pain was assessed by a visual analogue scale (VAS).


RESULTS
Fifty-three patients completed the questionnaire (90%). There was a good intra-class correlation between the test-retest NPQ (r = 0.63), indicating good agreement. For each of the 9 sections, agreement ranged from r = 0.43 to r = 0.85, p < 0.05 in all cases. Correlation with the VAS was also good, between r = 0.51 (test) and r = 0.74 (retest) (p < 0.05 in all cases). Pain measured by the VAS increased according to the NPQ score, grouped by percentages (p = 0.003). The mean scores for each section increased with that of the intensity of pain, in most sections showing good internal consistency. Pain and the NPQ score improved after treatment (56.1 +/- 20.2 to 29.9 +/- 20.1, p = 0.0001 and 45.9% +/- 12.7% to 28.9% +/- 15.3%, p = 0.0001 respectively), as did all the other items except for driving (p < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The Spanish version of the NPQ is a feasible, reliable and valid instrument to measure pain in Spanish-speaking patients with chronic neck pain.
Medical Concept Representation Learning from Electronic Health Records and its Application on Heart Failure Prediction

Objective: To transform heterogeneous clinical data from electronic health records into clinically meaningful constructed features using data driven method that rely, in part, on temporal relations among data. Materials and Methods: The clinically meaningful representations of medical concepts and patients are the key for health analytic applications. Most of existing approaches directly construct features mapped to raw data (e.g., ICD or CPT codes), or utilize some ontology mapping such as SNOMED codes. However, none of the existing approaches leverage EHR data directly for learning such concept representation. We propose a new way to represent heterogeneous medical concepts (e.g., diagnoses, medications and procedures) based on co-occurrence patterns in longitudinal electronic health records. The intuition behind the method is to map medical concepts that are co-occuring closely in time to similar concept vectors so that their distance will be small. We also derive a simple method to construct patient vectors from the related medical concept vectors. Results: We evaluate similar medical concepts across diagnosis, medication and procedure. The results show xx% relevancy between similar pairs of medical concepts. Our proposed representation significantly improves the predictive modeling performance for onset of heart failure (HF), where classification methods (e.g. logistic regression, neural network, support vector machine and K-nearest neighbors) achieve up to 23% improvement in area under the ROC curve (AUC) using this proposed representation. Conclusion: We proposed an effective method for patient and medical concept representation learning. The resulting representation can map relevant concepts together and also improves predictive modeling performance.
A randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study to establish the effects of spirulina in elderly Koreans.

AIMS
This study was conducted to determine the antioxidant capacity, immunomodulatory and lipid-lowering effects of spirulina in healthy elderly subjects and to document the effectiveness of spirulina as a functional food for the elderly.


METHODS
A randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study was performed. The subjects were 78 individuals aged 60-87 years and were randomly assigned in a blinded fashion to receive either spirulina or placebo. The elderly were instructed to consume the spirulina or placebo at home, 8 g/day, for 16 consecutive weeks.


RESULTS
In male subjects, a significant plasma cholesterol-lowering effect was observed after the spirulina intervention (p < 0.05). Spirulina supplementation resulted in a significant rise in plasma interleukin (IL)-2 concentration, and a significant reduction in IL-6 concentration. A significant time-by-treatment intervention for total antioxidant status was observed between spirulina and placebo groups (p < 0.05). In female subjects, significant increases in IL-2 level and superoxide dismutase activity were observed (p < 0.05) after spirulina supplementation. There were significant reductions in total cholesterol in female subjects.


CONCLUSIONS
The results demonstrate that spirulina has favorable effects on lipid profiles, immune variables, and antioxidant capacity in healthy, elderly male and female subjects and is suitable as a functional food.
Unmasking glucose metabolism alterations in stable renal transplant recipients: a multicenter study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Emerging information indicates that glucose metabolism alterations are common after renal transplantation and are associated with carotid atheromatosis. The aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence of different glucose metabolism alterations in stable recipients as well as the factors related to the condition.


DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS
A multicenter, cross-sectional study was conducted of 374 renal transplant recipients without pre- or posttransplantation diabetes. A standard 75-g oral glucose tolerance test was performed.


RESULTS
Glucose metabolism alterations were present in 119 (31.8%) recipients: 92 (24.6%) with an abnormal oral glucose tolerance test and 27 (7.2%) with isolated impaired fasting glucose. The most common disorder was impaired glucose tolerance (17.9%), and an abnormal oral glucose tolerance test was observed for 21.5% of recipients with a normal fasting glucose. By multivariate analysis, age, prednisone dosage, triglyceride/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio, and beta blocker use were shown to be factors related to glucose metabolism alterations. Remarkably, triglyceride levels, triglyceride/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio, and the proportion of recipients with impaired fasting glucose were already higher throughout the first posttransplantation year in recipients with a current glucose metabolism alteration as compared with those without the condition.


CONCLUSIONS
Glucose metabolism alterations are common in stable renal transplant recipients, and an oral glucose tolerance test is required for its detection. They are associated with a worse metabolic profile, which is already present during the first posttransplantation year. These findings may help planning strategies for early detection and intervention.
Prospective Randomized Trial Comparing Hepatic Venous Outflow and Renal Function after Conventional versus Piggyback Liver Transplantation

BACKGROUND
This randomized prospective clinical trial compared the hepatic venous outflow drainage and renal function after conventional with venovenous bypass (n = 15) or piggyback (n = 17) liver transplantation.


METHODS
Free hepatic vein pressure (FHVP) and central venous pressure (CVP) measurements were performed after graft reperfusion. Postoperative serum creatinine (Cr) was measured daily on the first week and on the 14th, 21st and 28th postoperative days (PO). The prevalence of acute renal failure (ARF) up to the 28th PO was analyzed by RIFLE-AKIN criteria. A Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) approach was used for comparison of longitudinal measurements of renal function.


RESULTS
FHVP-CVP gradient > 3 mm Hg was observed in 26.7% (4/15) of the patients in the conventional group and in 17.6% (3/17) in the piggyback group (p = 0.68). Median FHVP-CVP gradient was 2 mm Hg (0-8 mmHg) vs. 3 mm Hg (0-7 mm Hg) in conventional and piggyback groups, respectively (p = 0.73). There is no statistically significant difference between the conventional (1/15) and the piggyback (2/17) groups regarding massive ascites development (p = 1.00). GEE estimated marginal mean for Cr was significantly higher in conventional than in piggyback group (2.14 ± 0.26 vs. 1.47 ± 0.15 mg/dL; p = 0.02). The conventional method presented a higher prevalence of severe ARF during the first 28 PO days (OR = 3.207; 95% CI, 1.010 to 10.179; p = 0.048).


CONCLUSION
Patients submitted to liver transplantation using conventional or piggyback methods present similar results regarding venous outflow drainage of the graft. Conventional with venovenous bypass technique significantly increases the harm of postoperative renal dysfunction.


TRIAL REGISTRATION
ClinicalTrials.gov https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01707810.
A roadmap for parametric CAD efficiency in the automotive industry

3D CAD systems are used in product design for simultaneous engineering and to improve productivity. CAD tools can substantially enhance design performance. Although 3D CAD is a widely used and highly effective tool in mechanical design, mastery of CAD skills is complex and time-consuming. The concepts of parametric–associative models and systems are powerful tools whose efficiency is proportional to the complexity of their implementation. The availability of a framework for actions that can be taken to improve CAD efficiency can therefore be highly beneficial. Today, a clear and structured approach does not exist in this way for CAD methodology deployment. The novelty of this work is therefore to propose a general strategy for utilizing the advantages of parametric CAD in the automotive industry in the form of a roadmap. The main stages of the roadmap are illustrated by means of industrial use cases. The first results of his research are discussed and suggestions for future work are given. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Household Risk Management and Optimal Mortgage Choice

A typical household has a home mortgage as its most significant financial contract. The form of this contract is correspondingly important. This paper studies the choice between a fixed-rate (FRM) and an adjustable-rate (ARM) mortgage. In an environment with uncertain inflation, a nominal FRM has risky real capital value whereas an ARM has a stable real capital value. However an ARM can increase the short-term variability of required real interest payments. This is a disadvantage of the ARM for a household that faces borrowing constraints and has only a small buffer stock of financial assets. The paper uses numerical methods to solve a life-cycle model with risky labor income and borrowing constraints, under alternative assumptions about available mortgage contracts. While an ARM is generally an attractive form of mortgage, a household with a large mortgage, risky labor income, high risk aversion, a high cost of default, and a low probability of moving is less likely to prefer an ARM. The paper also considers an inflation-indexed FRM, which removes the wealth risk of the nominal FRM without incurring the income risk of the ARM, and is therefore a superior vehicle for household risk management. The welfare gain from mortgage indexation can be very large.