LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Nonbenzodiazepine sleep medication use and hip fractures in nursing home residents.

IMPORTANCE
It is important to understand the relationship between sleep medication use and injurious falls in nursing home residents.


OBJECTIVE
To conduct a case-crossover study to estimate the association between nonbenzodiazepine hypnotic drug use (zolpidem tartrate, eszopiclone, or zaleplon) and the risk for hip fracture among a nationwide sample of long-stay nursing home residents, overall and stratified by individual and facility-level characteristics.


DESIGN AND SETTING
Case-crossover study performed in an academic research setting.


PARTICIPANTS
The study participants included 15,528 long-stay US nursing home residents 50 years or older with a hip fracture documented in Medicare Part A and Part D fee-for-service claims between July 1, 2007, and December 31, 2008.


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Odds ratios (ORs) of hip fracture were estimated using conditional logistic regression models by comparing the exposure to nonbenzodiazepine hypnotic drugs during the 0 to 29 days before the hip fracture (hazard period) with the exposure during the 60 to 89 and 120 to 149 days before the hip fracture (control periods). Analyses were stratified by individual and facility-level characteristics.


RESULTS
Among the study participants, 1715 (11.0%) were dispensed a nonbenzodiazepine hypnotic drug before the hip fracture, with 927 exposure-discordant pairs included in the analyses. The mean (SD) age of participants was 81.0 (9.7) years, and 77.6% were female. The risk for hip fracture was elevated among users of a nonbenzodiazepine hypnotic drug (OR, 1.66; 95% CI, 1.45-1.90). The association between nonbenzodiazepine hypnotic drug use and hip fracture was somes greater in new users (OR, 2.20; 95% CI, 1.76-2.74) and in residents with mild vs moderate to severe impairment in cognition (OR, 1.86 vs 1.43; P = .06), with moderate vs total or severe functional impairment (OR, 1.71 vs 1.16; P = .11), with limited vs full assistance required with transfers (OR, 2.02 vs 1.43; P = .02), or in a facility with fewer Medicaid beds (OR, 1.90 vs 1.46; P = .05).


CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
The risk for hip fracture is elevated among nursing home residents using a nonbenzodiazepine hypnotic drug. New users and residents having mild to moderate cognitive impairment or requiring limited assistance with transfers may be most vulnerable to the use of these drugs. Caution should be exercised when prescribing sleep medications to nursing home residents.
PoW-Based Distributed Cryptography with No Trusted Setup

Motivated by the recent success of Bitcoin we study the question of constructing distributed cryptographic protocols in a fully peer-to-peer scenario under the assumption that the adversary has limited computing power and there is no trusted setup (like PKI, or an unpredictable beacon). We propose a formal model for this scenario and then we construct a broadcast protocol in it. This protocol is secure under the assumption that the honest parties have computing power that is some non-negligible fraction of computing power of the adversary (this fraction can be small, in particular it can be much less than 1/2), and a (rough) total bound on the computing power in the system is known. Using our broadcast protocol we construct a protocol for simulating any trusted functionality. A simple application of the broadcast protocol is also a scheme for generating an unpredictable beacon (that can later serve, e.g., as a genesis block for a new cryptocurrency). Under a stronger assumption that the majority of computing power is controlled by the honest parties we construct a protocol for simulating any trusted functionality with guaranteed termination (i.e. that cannot be interrupted by the adversary). This could in principle be used as a provably-secure substitute of the blockchain technology used in the cryptocurrencies. Our main tool for verifying the computing power of the parties are the Proofs of Work (Dwork and Naor, CRYPTO 92). Our broadcast protocol is built on top of the classical protocol of Dolev and Strong (SIAM J. on Comp. 1983).
Initial study on in vivo conductivity mapping of breast cancer using MRI.

PURPOSE
To develop and apply a method to measure in vivo electrical conductivity values using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in subjects with breast cancer.


MATERIALS AND METHODS
A recently developed technique named MREPT (MR electrical properties tomography) together with a novel coil combination process was used to quantify the conductivity values. The overall technique was validated using a phantom study. In addition, 90 subjects were imaged (50 subjects with previously biopsy-confirmed breast tumor and 40 normal subjects), which was approved by our institutional review board (IRB). A routine clinical protocol, specifically a T2 -weighted FSE (fast spin echo) imaging data, was used for reconstruction of conductivity.


RESULTS
By employing the coil combination, the relative error in the conductivity map was reduced from ~70% to 10%. The average conductivity values in breast cancers regions (0.89 ± 0.33S/m) was higher compared to parenchymal tissue (0.43 S/m, P < 0.0001) and fat (0.07 S/m, P < 0.00005) regions. Malignant cases (0.89 S/m, n = 30) showed increased conductivity compared to benign cases (0.56 S/m, n = 5) (P < 0.05). In addition, invasive cancers (0.96 S/m) showed higher mean conductivity compared to in situ cancers (0.57 S/m) (P < 0.0005).


CONCLUSION
This study shows that conductivity mapping of breast cancers is feasible using a noninvasive in vivo MREPT technique combined with a coil combination process. The method may provide a tool in the MR diagnosis of breast cancer.
Data Mining: Machine Learning, Statistics, and Databases

Knowledge discovery in databases and data mining aim a t semiautomatic tools for the analysis of large data sets. We give an overview of the area and present some of the research issues, especially from the database angle.
Treatment of testosterone-induced gynecomastia with the aromatase inhibitor, anastrozole

Gynecomastia is an unusual side effect associated with testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) that has been traditionally treated with surgery, radiation, or discontinuation of testosterone supplementation. We report here our experience with two cases of gynecomastia in men undergoing TRT who were successfully treated with the aromatase inhibitor anastrozole.
Using Random Forest to Learn Imbalanced Data

In this paper we propose two ways to deal with the imbalanced data classification problem using random forest. One is based on cost sensitive learning, and the other is based on a sampling technique. Performance metrics such as precision and recall, false positive rate and false negative rate, F-measure and weighted accuracy are computed. Both methods are shown to improve the prediction accuracy of the minority class, and have favorable performance compared to the existing algorithms.
Long-acting beta-agonists with and without inhaled corticosteroids and catastrophic asthma events.

BACKGROUND
It is unclear whether long-acting beta-agonists with concomitant inhaled corticosteroids increase asthma-related intubations and deaths. We pooled data on long-acting beta-agonists with variable and concomitant inhaled corticosteroids to evaluate the risk for catastrophic asthma events.


METHODS
We conducted searches of electronic databases, the US Food and Drug Administration website, clinical-trials registries, and selected references through December 2008. We analyzed randomized controlled trials in patients with asthma, which lasted at least 3 months, evaluated long-acting beta-agonists compared with placebo or long-acting beta-agonists with inhaled corticosteroids compared with corticosteroids alone, and included at least 1 catastrophic event, defined as asthma-related intubation or death.


RESULTS
In pooled trial data that included 36,588 participants, long-acting beta-agonists increased catastrophic events 2-fold (Peto odds ratio [OR] 2.10; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.37-3.22). Statistically significant increases were seen for long-acting beta-agonists with variable corticosteroids compared with placebo (OR 1.83; 95% CI, 1.14-2.95) and for concomitant treatment with corticosteroids compared with corticosteroids alone (OR 3.65; 95% CI, 1.39-9.55). Similar increases in risk were seen for variable and concomitant corticosteroid use, salmeterol and formoterol, and children and adults. When the analysis was restricted to trials with controlled corticosteroid use, given as part of the study intervention, concomitant treatment still increased catastrophic events compared with corticosteroids alone (OR 8.19; 95% CI, 1.10-61.18).


CONCLUSION
Long-acting beta-agonists increase the risk for asthma-related intubations and deaths, even when used in a controlled fashion with concomitant inhaled corticosteroids.
Audio event detection from acoustic unit occurrence patterns

In most real-world audio recordings, we encounter several types of audio events. In this paper, we develop a technique for detecting signature audio events, that is based on identifying patterns of occurrences of automatically learned atomic units of sound, which we call Acoustic Unit Descriptors or AUDs. Experiments show that the methodology works as well for detection of individual events and their boundaries in complex recordings.
Restorability of Teeth: A Numerical Simplified Restorative Decision-Making Chart

Citation: Nermin Kamal., et al. “Restorability of Teeth: A Numerical Simplified Restorative Decision-Making Chart”. EC Dental Science 17.6 (2018): 961-967. Abstract A decision to extract or to keep a tooth was always a debatable matter in dentistry. Each dental specialty has its own perspective in that regards. Although, real life in the dental clinic showed that the decision is always multi-disciplinary, and that full awareness of all aspects should be there in order to reach to a reliable outcome. This article presents a simple evidence-based clinical chart for the judgment of restorability of teeth for better treatment planning.
Carrier charging effect of V3Si nanocrystals floating gate memory structure

Abstract We fabricated V 3 Si nanocrystals embedded in SiO 2 dielectric layer as a function of post- annealing conditions and characterized their charging effect to apply a nonvolatile memory device. The V 3 Si thin layer of 5-nm-thickness was deposited on the SiO 2 tunneling layer by r.f. sputtering system. To create nanocrystals structure, the post-annealing process in N 2 gas ambient by rapid thermal annealing method was done at temperature ranges from 600 °C to 1000 °C as a function of annealing times. After the post-annealing at 800 °C for 5 s, the spherical shaped V 3 Si nanocrystals with average diameter of 4 nm were formed. From the nano-floating gate capacitor structure with V 3 Si nanocrystals, the memory window was measured about 3.4 V when the sweeping voltages applied from − 9 V to 9 V and from 9 V to − 9 V. This result indicates that V 3 Si nanocrystals have a strong potential for the nonvolatile memory device.
Impact of a population-based HPV vaccination program on cervical abnormalities: a data linkage study

BACKGROUND
Australia was one of the first countries to introduce a publicly funded national human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination program that commenced in April 2007, using the quadrivalent HPV vaccine targeting 12- to 13-year-old girls on an ongoing basis. Two-year catch-up programs were offered to 14- to 17- year-old girls in schools and 18- to 26-year-old women in community-based settings. We present data from the school-based program on population-level vaccine effectiveness against cervical abnormalities in Victoria, Australia.


METHODS
Data for women age-eligible for the HPV vaccination program were linked between the Victorian Cervical Cytology Registry and the National HPV Vaccination Program Register to create a cohort of screening women who were either vaccinated or unvaccinated. Entry into the cohort was 1 April 2007 or at first Pap test for women not already screening. Vaccine effectiveness (VE) and hazard ratios (HR) for cervical abnormalities by vaccination status between 1 April 2007 and 31 December 2011 were calculated using proportional hazards regression.


RESULTS
The study included 14,085 unvaccinated and 24,871 vaccinated women attending screening who were eligible for vaccination at school, 85.0% of whom had received three doses. Detection rates of histologically confirmed high-grade (HG) cervical abnormalities and high-grade cytology (HGC) were significantly lower for vaccinated women (any dose) (HG 4.8 per 1,000 person-years, HGC 11.9 per 1,000 person-years) compared with unvaccinated women (HG 6.4 per 1,000 person-years, HGC 15.3 per 1,000 person-years) HR 0.72 (95% CI 0.58 to 0.91) and HR 0.75 (95% CI 0.65 to 0.87), respectively. The HR for low-grade (LG) cytological abnormalities was 0.76 (95% CI 0.72 to 0.80). VE adjusted a priori for age at first screening, socioeconomic status and remoteness index, for women who were completely vaccinated, was greatest for CIN3+/AIS at 47.5% (95% CI 22.7 to 64.4) and 36.4% (95% CI 9.8 to 55.1) for women who received any dose of vaccine, and was negatively associated with age. For women who received only one or two doses of vaccine, HRs for HG histology were not significantly different from 1.0, although the number of outcomes was small.


CONCLUSION
A population-based HPV vaccination program in schools significantly reduced cervical abnormalities for vaccinated women within five years of implementation, with the greatest vaccine effectiveness observed for the youngest women.
Toenail onychomycosis: an important global disease burden.

Onychomycosis is a fungal infection of the nail plate or nail bed. It does not usually cure itself and it can trigger more infectious lesions in other parts of the body. The reported prevalence of onychomycosis is increasing in Western countries, presumably due to lifestyle changes and the ageing of the population. Approximately 10% of the general population, 20% of the population aged>60 years, up to 50% of people aged>70 years and up to one-third of diabetic individuals have onychomycosis. Care should be taken for the accurate diagnosis and timely treatment of toenail onychomycosis to prevent complications. Current treatment options have relatively limited therapeutic success, particularly long-term. Oral medications are associated with high recurrence rates and treatment failure, and are not suitable for many cases due to potential adverse effects. Topical medications are recommended only for mild to moderate cases. The cost of therapies may also be prohibitive in some cases. In the light of these issues, more research is warranted for the investigation and development of more effective and economical options for the treatment and prophylaxis of toenail onychomycosis. In patient populations such as diabetic individuals, where onychomycosis can provoke lower extremity complications, professional podiatry care of toenails and feet should be encouraged.
Orientation estimate for mobile robots using gyroscopic information

An error model for a solid-state gyroscope developed in previous work is included in a Kalman filter for improving the orientation estimate of a mobile robot. Orientation measurement with the error model is compared to the performance when no error model is incorporated in the system. The results demonstrate that without error compensation, the error in localization is between 5-15"/min but can be improved by a factor of 5 to 7 if an adequate error model is supplied. Results from tests of this gyroscope on a large outdoor mobile robot system are described and compared to the results obtained from the robot's own radar-based guidance system. Like all inertial systems, the platform requires additional information from some absolute position sensing mechanism to overcome long-term drift. However, the results show that with careful and detailed modelling of error sources, low cost inertial devices can provide valuable orientation and position information particularly for outdoor mobile robot applications.
NCTUns 4.0: An Integrated Simulation Platform for Vehicular Traffic, Communication, and Network Researches

In this paper, we present an integrated simulation platform, called NCTUns, for vehicular traffic, communication, and network researches. This platform combines the capabilities supported by a network simulator and those supported by a traffic simulator. With these simulation capabilities, NCTUns can be used to design protocols for intelligent transportation systems (ITS) communication networks such as a wireless vehicular communication network. Besides, the novel architecture of the platform enables the real-world Linux protocol stack and any real-world application to be used in simulations of such networks. In this paper, we present the design of NCTUns for supporting ITS researches and show its scalability.
Wood/Polymer Nanocomposites Prepared by Impregnation with Furfuryl Alcohol and Nano-SiO2

Wood/polymer nanocomposites were prepared by vacuum impregnation of furfuryl alcohol (FA) and nano-SiO2 into fast-growing poplar wood. The nano-SiO2 was mixed with FA solution, followed by in-situ polymerization of FA. The properties of nanocomposites and the effects of nanoparticles on these properties were investigated. Wood physico-mechanical properties, such as dimensional stability, density, water uptake, and surface hardness, were significantly improved. Moreover, the addition of nano-SiO2 improved the surface hardness and dimensional stability of wood and kept the excellent properties of FA-treated wood. Thermogravimetric analysis indicated that the effect of nano-SiO2 on thermostability was hindered. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy showed that nano-SiO2 was successfully incorporated into wood via the action of FA, and diffused into the wood lumen and cell wall. X-ray diffraction results indicated the weakening of the crystallinity in the treated wood was due to the polymerization of FA.
Transcatheter versus surgical treatment for aortic stenosis: patient selection and early outcome.

OBJECTIVES
To describe short-term clinical and echocardiography outcomes in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) and surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). To explore patient selection criteria for treatment with TAVI.


DESIGN
TAVI patients (n = 45) were matched to SAVR patients (n = 45) with respect to age within ± 10 years, sex and systolic left ventricular function.


RESULTS
TAVI patients were older, 82 ± 8 versus 78 ± 5 years (p = 0.005) and they had higher logEuroSCORE, 16 ± 11% versus 8 ± 4% (p = 0.001). There were no significant differences in 30 days mortality, stroke and myocardial infarction. TAVI patients received less erythrocyte (53% vs. 78%, p = 0.03) and thrombocyte (7% vs. 27%, p = 0.02) transfusions. Postoperative atrial fibrillation was less common (18% vs. 60%, p = 0.001) in the TAVI group. Paravalvular regurgitation was more common in TAVI patients (87% vs. 0%, p = 0.001) and 27% had access site complications. Aortic transvalvular velocity was 2.3 ± 0.4 m/s versus 2.6 ± 0.5 m/s (p = 0.002) and mean valve pressure gradient was 12 ± 4 mmHg versus 15 ± 5 mmHg (p = 0.01) in the TAVI and SAVR groups, respectively. Twenty-nine (64%) of the TAVI patients had logEuroSCORE = 15%.


CONCLUSIONS
Both TAVI and SAVR have good short term clinical outcome with excellent hemodynamic result. In clinical practice, factors other than high logEuroSCORE play an important role in patient selection for TAVI.
Factors Associated With Microalbuminuria in 7,549 Children and Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes in the T1D Exchange Clinic Registry

OBJECTIVE
To examine factors associated with clinical microalbuminuria (MA) diagnosis in children and adolescents in the T1D Exchange clinic registry.


RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
T1D Exchange participants <20 years of age with type 1 diabetes ≥ 1 year and urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) measured within the prior 2 years were included in the analysis. MA diagnosis required all of the following: 1) a clinical diagnosis of sustained MA or macroalbuminuria, 2) confirmation of MA diagnosis by either the most recent ACR being ≥ 30 mg/g or current treatment with an ACE inhibitor (ACEI) or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB), and 3) no known cause for nephropathy other than diabetes. Logistic regression was used to assess factors associated with MA.


RESULTS
MA was present in 329 of 7,549 (4.4%) participants, with a higher frequency associated with longer diabetes duration, higher mean glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level, older age, female sex, higher diastolic blood pressure (BP), and lower BMI (P ≤ 0.01 for each in multivariate analysis). Older age was most strongly associated with MA among participants with HbA1c ≥ 9.5% (≥ 80 mmol/mol). MA was uncommon (<2%) among participants with HbA1c <7.5% (<58 mmol/mol). Of those with MA, only 36% were receiving ACEI/ARB treatment.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results emphasize the importance of good glycemic and BP control, particularly as diabetes duration increases, in order to reduce the risk of nephropathy. Since age and diabetes duration are important nonmodifiable factors associated with MA, the importance of routine screening is underscored to ensure early diagnosis and timely treatment of MA.
The Cognitive Perspective on Learning: Its Theoretical Underpinnings and Implications for Classroom Practices

Learning theories are essential for effective teaching in that they shed light on different aspects of the learning process. The spectrum of learning theories can be categorized into three main areas: behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism. Behaviorism as a teacher-centered instructional framework for a long time dominated educational settings, shaping every aspect of curriculum and instruction. In contrast to behaviorism, cognitivism is a relatively recent learning theory and its features are not well known or are confused with constructivism by teachers. This article aims to provide an overview of the core characteristics of cognitivism, its philosophical and theoretical basis, its implications for classroom practices, and its illustrative teaching methods. Cognitive apprenticeship, reciprocal teaching, anchored instruction, inquiry learning, discovery learning, and problem-based learning are explicated as the most distinctive methods of the cognitive perspective on learning.
Perceived Social Support and Self-Esteem towards Gender Roles : Contributing Factors in Adolescents

The study aims to examine the relationship between self-esteem and perceived social support among the Malaysian adolescents. Gender differences of perceived social support and self-esteem among the respondents were also investigated. To achieve the objectives of the study, a survey was conducted with a relatively large (n=460) random samples of adolescents, aged 16-20, drawn from schools, colleges and universities in Malaysia. The Self-esteem Rating Scale (SERS) and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) were used in the study. The results indicated that there were no gender differences in perceived social support and self-esteem among adolescents. However, a positive correlation was found between perceived social support and self-esteem. The study also found peer support was the highest form of perceived social support.