LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Adalimumab for maintenance treatment of Crohn's disease: results of the CLASSIC II trial.

BACKGROUND
Adalimumab induced clinical remission after four weeks in patients with active Crohn's disease in the CLASSIC I trial.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate long term efficacy and safety of adalimumab maintenance therapy in Crohn's disease in a follow-on randomised controlled trial (CLASSIC II).


METHODS
In the preceding CLASSIC I trial, 299 patients with moderate to severe Crohn's disease naive to tumour necrosis factor antagonists received induction therapy with adalimumab 40 mg/20 mg, 80 mg/40 mg, or 160 mg/80 mg, or placebo, at weeks 0 and 2. In all, 276 patients from CLASSIC I enrolled in CLASSIC II and received open-label adalimumab 40 mg at weeks 0 (week 4 of CLASSIC I) and 2; 55 patients in remission at both weeks 0 and 4 were re-randomised to adalimumab 40 mg every other week, 40 mg weekly, or placebo for 56 weeks. Patients not in remission at both weeks 0 and 4 were enrolled in an open-label arm and received adalimumab 40 mg every other week. With non-response or flare, these patients could have their dosages increased to 40 mg weekly. Patients in the randomised arm with continued non-response or disease flare could switch to open-label adalimumab 40 mg every other week and again to 40 mg weekly. The primary end point was maintenance of remission (CDAI <150) in randomised patients through week 56.


RESULTS
Of 55 patients randomised at week 4, 79% who received adalimumab 40 mg every other week and 83% who received 40 mg weekly were in remission at week 56, v 44% for placebo (p<0.05). In all, 204 patients entered the open-label arm. Of these, 93 (46%) were in clinical remission at week 56. Adalimumab was generally well-tolerated in all patients.


CONCLUSIONS
Adalimumab induced and maintained clinical remission for up to 56 weeks in patients with moderate to severe Crohn's disease naive to anti-TNF treatment.
A Field-based Approach to Support Improved Diabetes Care in Rural States

INTRODUCTION
Diabetes care is a challenge in rural areas where primary care practices are faced with limited resources, few clinical information systems, and relative isolation from education programs and diabetes centers with multispecialty teams. This report describes an effective field-based approach to support improved care for patients with diabetes in primary care practices in rural states.


METHODS
A collaborative effort between diabetes prevention and control programs in Montana and Wyoming and the University of North Dakota was established to provide support to rural primary care practices for improvement in diabetes care. Field teams from each state diabetes program approached primary care practices. After assessment and orientation of office staff, a computer-based registry was established in each practice. Baseline data were collected in 1997 in Montana and in 1998 in Wyoming; follow-up occurred on July 31, 2004. Health department staff provided ongoing technical support for implementing and evaluating quality-improvement interventions.


RESULTS
Forty primary care practices, providing care to more than 7000 patients with diabetes, participated in this quality-improvement effort at follow-up. Of the 37 primary care practices participating in the quality-improvement program for 6 or more months at follow-up, there were significant improvements in Montana in rates of hemoglobin A1c testing, blood glucose control, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol testing, foot and dilated retinal examinations, and pneumococcal vaccinations, and there were significant improvements in pneumococcal vaccinations in Wyoming.


CONCLUSION
A field-based approach in which individual practices maintain and use their own registries for both clinical care and quality improvement with ongoing support is a sustainable and an effective strategy for improving diabetes care for rural populations.
Integrated operating room planning and scheduling problem with assistant surgeon dependent surgery durations

There is evidence in the literature that most surgeries in hospitals are performed by a team composed of two surgeons, and that their experience largely influences the surgery duration. However, to the best our knowledge, only one contribution has addressed the operating room planning and scheduling problem with surgical teams, but in such case surgery durations did not depend on the experience of surgeons. In this paper we address an integrated operating room planning and scheduling problem with surgical teams composed by one or two surgeons where surgery durations depend on their experience and skills. We propose a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model to optimally solve this problem. Given the high computation requirements of our MILP model, we also propose an iterative constructive method. In order to evaluate the performance of both exact and approximate methods, an extensive test bed is generated. The computational experience shows that the proposed algorithm is able to find feasible solution for all problems requiring shorter CPU time and average relative percentage deviation than the MILP model. Finally, the robustness of the so-obtained surgical schedules is analyzed using simulation. 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
On a Two-Queue Priority System with Impatience and its Application to a Call Center*

We consider a s-server system with two FCFS queues, where the arrival rates at the queues and the service rate may depend on the number n of customers being in service or in the rst queue, but the service rate is assumed to be constant for n > s. The customers in the rst queue are impatient. If the ooered waiting time exceeds a random maximal waiting time I, then the customer leaves the rst queue after time I. If I is less than a given deterministic time then he leaves the system else he transits to the end of the second queue. The customers in the rst queue have priority. The service of a customer from the second queue will be started if the rst queue is empty and more than a given number of servers become idle. For the model being a generalization of the M (n)=M(n)=s+GI system balance conditions for the density of the stationary state process are derived yielding the stability conditions and the probabilities that precisely n customers are in service or in the rst queue. For obtaining performance measures for the second queue a system approximation basing on tting impatience intensities is constructed. The results are applied to the performance analysis of a call center with an integrated voice-mail-server. For an important special case a stochastic decomposition is derived illuminating the connection to the dynamics of the M (n)=M(n)=s+GI system.
Cryptography based on delayed chaotic neural networks

In this Letter, a novel approach of encryption based on chaotic Hopfield neural networks with time varying delay is proposed. We use the chaotic neural network to generate binary sequences which will be used for masking plaintext. The plaintext is masked by switching of chaotic neural network maps and permutation of generated binary sequences. Simulation results were given to show the feasibility and effectiveness in the proposed scheme of this Letter. As a result, chaotic cryptography becomes more practical in the secure transmission of large multi-media files over public data communication network. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Surgery of the superficial musculoaponeurotic system: principles of release, vectors, and fixation.

The SMAS was described more than 25 years ago, yet its full potential in face-lift surgery has become appreciated only more recently. A reappraisal of the various aspects of SMAS surgery is now appropriate. These include aspects of its release from the deep fascia, the several considerations underlying the vectors of flap redistribution, and the rationale underlying the methods of flap fixation. These are unique, compared with the traditional considerations in subcutaneous face lifts and en bloc subperiosteal lifts. (Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 107: 1545, 2001.)
Early trends from the Study to Evaluate the Prospective Payment System Impact on Small Dialysis Organizations (STEPPS).

BACKGROUND
Launched in January 2011, the prospective payment system (PPS) for the US Medicare End-Stage Renal Disease Program bundled payment for services previously reimbursed independently. Small dialysis organizations may be particularly susceptible to the financial implications of the PPS. The ongoing Study to Evaluate the Prospective Payment System Impact on Small Dialysis Organizations (STEPPS) was designed to describe trends in care and outcomes over the period of PPS implementation. This report details early results between October 2010 and June 2011.


STUDY DESIGN
Prospective observational cohort study of patients from a sample of 51 small dialysis organizations.


SETTING & PARTICIPANTS
1,873 adult hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis patients.


OUTCOMES
Secular trends in processes of care, anemia, metabolic bone disease management, and red blood cell transfusions.


MEASUREMENTS
Facility-level data are collected quarterly. Patient characteristics were collected at enrollment and scheduled intervals thereafter. Clinical outcomes are collected on an ongoing basis.


RESULTS
Over time, no significant changes were observed in patient to staff ratios. There was a temporal trend toward greater use of peritoneal dialysis (from 2.4% to 3.6%; P = 0.09). Use of cinacalcet, phosphate binders, and oral vitamin D increased; intravenous (IV) vitamin D use decreased (P for trend for all <0.001). Parathyroid hormone levels increased (from 273 to 324 pg/dL; P < 0.001). Erythropoiesis-stimulating agent doses decreased (P < 0.001 for IV epoetin alfa and IV darbepoetin alfa), particularly high doses. Mean hemoglobin levels decreased (P < 0.001), the percentage of patients with hemoglobin levels <10 g/dL increased (from 12.7% to 16.8%), and transfusion rates increased (from 14.3 to 19.6/100 person-years; P = 0.1). Changes in anemia management were more pronounced for African American patients.


LIMITATIONS
Limited data were available for the prebundle period. Secular trends may be subject to the ecologic fallacy and are not causal in nature.


CONCLUSIONS
In the period after PPS implementation, IV vitamin D use decreased, use of oral therapies for metabolic bone disease increased, erythropoiesis-stimulating agent use and hemoglobin levels decreased, and transfusion rates increased numerically.
Fractional Order Differentiator Based Filter For Edge Detection of Low Contrast Underwater Images

Underwater images usually suffer from degraded visibility. Light attenuates and scatters in water resulting in low contrast and haziness in the scenes. Therefore, the main problems to be dealt with in underwater environment are poor contrast, non-uniform lighting, haziness and blurring. Hence, in order to study underwater images, it becomes utmost important to extract the invisible or unclear edges. This paper presents an edge detection method by using fractional order differentiation (FOD) approach. As texture plays a major role in low-level image analysis, therefore texture based image enhancement is very important. In order to attain texture enhancement in images, an algorithm based on the Grünwald-Letnikov (G–L) fractional order derivative is proposed. Considering the G-L based fractional differential operator’s basic definition and implementation, a filter is devised and its applicability for texture enhancement is analyzed. Legendre polynomials based FOD has been used to design the filter. Further High Pass Filters (HPF) and Low Pass Filters (LPF) with the concept of intensity factor (γ) are designed. Next, a multiplication operation is performed in the pre processing stage. At last, Sobel’s method for edge detection is applied on the resultant pre processed image. The algorithm is experimented on various underwater images. The quality of the resultant images are evaluated by checking their respective Mean Square Error (MSE) and Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR) values. Further, the results are compared with another approach based on Riemann Liouville (R-L) fractional differential operator. The analysis of tests proves that the proposed method displays better results for detecting edges of low contrast underwater images and reveals more information than Histogram Equalization method and R-L method based on MSE and PSNR values. Keywords— Fractional Order Differentiator, Legendre polynomials, Grunwald Letnikov fractional derivative, MSE, PSNR, Sobel Edge Detector, Underwater Images.
Prevalence of remission and recovery in schizophrenia in the Czech Republic.

OBJECTIVE
The aim of the study was to map the point prevalence of remission and recovery in patients with schizophrenia in the Czech Republic.


METHOD
The point-symptomatic remission criteria were based on the definition of remission in schizophrenia according to Andreasen, without the time criterion. The definition of complete remission contained, in addition to the point-symptomatic remission criteria, a time aspect which was determined by the absence of psychiatric hospitalisation or a change in antipsychotic medications due to inefficiency in the preceding six months. Functional remission was defined by a total score on the PSP scale in the range between 71 and 100 points. Recovery was defined by the simultaneous fulfilment of the criteria for complete and functional remission.


RESULTS
A total of 481 patients with schizophrenia were included in the study. The point-symptomatic remission criteria were fulfilled in a total of 258 patients (54%); complete remission occurred in a total of 214 patients (44%). Functional remission was reached by 124 patients (26%) in total. Recovery was proven in a total of 91 patients (19%).


CONCLUSION
The ascertained data are in accordance with the results of methodologically similar studies and confirm the known trajectories of the course of schizophrenia.
Effect of augmented atypical antipsychotics on weight change in patients with major depressive disorder in a naturalistic setting.

OBJECTIVE
The extent of weight changes in depressed patients who use atypical antipsychotics (AAP) as augmentation could not be easily predicted due to weight related symptoms of depression and the interaction with antidepressants which have weight reducing effects.


METHODS
Patients were treated with either antidepressants augmented with AAP for more than 2 weeks (AAP group, n = 100) or only with antidepressants (non-AAP group, n = 172) during the admission between 2002 and 2006, and the differences in weight were analyzed.


RESULTS
Mean weight gains of AAP group were significantly higher than those of non-AAP group (2.98 +/- 1.87 kg vs. 1.70 +/- 1.85 kg, p = 0.001). When stratified by antidepressants, the significant difference between the two groups was shown among the subjects who had taken serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), but not mirtazapine and venlafaxine (3.42 +/- 2.01 kg vs. 1.48 +/- 1.79 kg, p < 0.001). Comparing among different combinations in AAP group showed that subjects treated with SSRIs and olanzapine had the greatest weight gain (4.21 +/- 1.90 kg), significantly higher than that of the other subgroups (p < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that AAP used in patients with depression could severely aggravate preexisting weight-related problems of antidepressants use and the possibility that the combined use with specific antidepressants could have a unique effect on weight by drug-drug interactions.
Group RFM analysis as a novel framework to discover better customer consumption behavior

The RFM model provides an effective measure for customers’ consumption behavior analysis, where three variables, namely, consumption interval, frequency, and money amount are used to quantify a customer’s loyalty and contribution. Based on the RFM value, customers can be clustered into different groups and the group information is very useful in market decision making. However, most previous works completely left out important characteristics of purchased products, such as their prices and lifetimes, and apply the RFM measure on all of a customer’s purchased products. This renders the calculation of the RFM value unreasonable or insignificant for customer analysis. In this paper, we propose a new framework called GRFM (for group RFM) analysis to alleviate the problem. The new measure method takes into account the characteristics of the purchased items so that the calculated the RFM value for the customers are strongly related to their purchased items and can correctly reflect their actual consumption behavior. Moreover, GRFM employs a constrained clustering method PICC (for Purchased Items-Constrained Clustering) that could base on a cleverly designed purchase pattern table to adjust original purchase records to satisfy various clustering constraints as well as to decrease re-clustering time. The GRFM allows a customer to belong to different clusters, and thus to be associated with different loyalties and contributions with respect to different characteristics of purchased items. Finally, the clustering result of PICC contains extra information about the distribution status inside each cluster that could help the manager to decide when is most proper to launch a specific sales promotion campaign. Our experiments have confirmed the above observations and suggest that GRFM can play an important role in building a personalized purchasing management system and an inventory management system. 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
The effectiveness of the Liverpool care pathway in improving end of life care for dying cancer patients in hospital. A cluster randomised trial

BACKGROUND
Most cancer patients still die in hospital, mainly in medical wards. Many studies in different countries have shown the poor quality of end-of-life care delivery in hospitals. The Program "Liverpool Care Pathway for the dying patient" (LCP), developed in the UK to transfer the hospice model of care into hospitals and other care settings, is a complex intervention to improve the quality of end-of-life care. The results from qualitative and quantitative studies suggest that the LCP Program can improve significantly the quality of end-of-life care delivery in hospitals, but no randomised trial has been conducted till now.


METHODS AND DESIGN
This is a randomized cluster trial, stratified by regions and matched for assessment period. Pairs of eligible medical wards from different hospitals will be randomized to receive the LCP-I Program or no intervention until the end of the trial. The LCP-I Program will be implemented by a Palliative Care Unit.The assessment of the end-points will be performed for all cancer deaths occurred in the six months after the end of the LCP-I implementation in the experimental wards and, in the same period of time, in the matched control wards. The primary end-point is the overall quality of end-of-life care provided on the ward to dying cancer patients and their families, assessed using the Global Scale of the Italian version of the Toolkit "After-death Bereaved Family Member Interview".


DISCUSSION
This study can be interpreted as a Phase III trial according to the Medical Research Council Framework. In this study, the effectiveness of a fully defined intervention is assessed by comparing the distribution of the endpoints in the experimental and in the control arm. RESEARCH ID: RFPS-2006-6-341619


TRIAL REGISTRATION
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01081899.
A Practical Guide to Wavelet Analysis

A practical step-by-step guide to wavelet analysis is given, with examples taken from time series of the El Niño– Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The guide includes a comparison to the windowed Fourier transform, the choice of an appropriate wavelet basis function, edge effects due to finite-length time series, and the relationship between wavelet scale and Fourier frequency. New statistical significance tests for wavelet power spectra are developed by deriving theoretical wavelet spectra for white and red noise processes and using these to establish significance levels and confidence intervals. It is shown that smoothing in time or scale can be used to increase the confidence of the wavelet spectrum. Empirical formulas are given for the effect of smoothing on significance levels and confidence intervals. Extensions to wavelet analysis such as filtering, the power Hovmöller, cross-wavelet spectra, and coherence are described. The statistical significance tests are used to give a quantitative measure of changes in ENSO variance on interdecadal timescales. Using new datasets that extend back to 1871, the Niño3 sea surface temperature and the Southern Oscillation index show significantly higher power during 1880–1920 and 1960–90, and lower power during 1920–60, as well as a possible 15-yr modulation of variance. The power Hovmöller of sea level pressure shows significant variations in 2–8-yr wavelet power in both longitude and time. Corresponding author address: Dr. Christopher Torrence, Advanced Study Program, National Center for Atmospheric Research, P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307-3000. E-mail: torrence@ucar.edu In final form 20 October 1997. ©1998 American Meteorological Society
Cognitive effects of risperidone in children with autism and irritable behavior.

OBJECTIVE
The objective of this research was to explore the effects of risperidone on cognitive processes in children with autism and irritable behavior.


METHOD
Thirty-eight children, ages 5-17 years with autism and severe behavioral disturbance, were randomly assigned to risperidone (0.5 to 3.5 mg/day) or placebo for 8 weeks. This sample of 38 was a subset of 101 subjects who participated in the clinical trial; 63 were unable to perform the cognitive tasks. A double-blind placebo-controlled parallel groups design was used. Dependent measures included tests of sustained attention, verbal learning, hand-eye coordination, and spatial memory assessed before, during, and after the 8-week treatment. Changes in performance were compared by repeated measures ANOVA.


RESULTS
Twenty-nine boys and 9 girls with autism and severe behavioral disturbance and a mental age >or=18 months completed the cognitive part of the study. No decline in performance occurred with risperidone. Performance on a cancellation task (number of correct detections) and a verbal learning task (word recognition) was better on risperidone than on placebo (without correction for multiplicity). Equivocal improvement also occurred on a spatial memory task. There were no significant differences between treatment conditions on the Purdue Pegboard (hand-eye coordination) task or the Analog Classroom Task (timed math test).


CONCLUSION
Risperidone given to children with autism at doses up to 3.5 mg for up to 8 weeks appears to have no detrimental effect on cognitive performance.
TIMESAT - a program for analyzing time-series of satellite sensor data

Users of the TIMESAT program are welcome to contact the authors in order to receive the most updated version of the program. The authors are also happy to answer questions on optimal parameter settings.