LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Respiratory symptoms in children living near busy roads and their relationship to vehicular traffic: results of an Italian multicenter study (SIDRIA 2)

BACKGROUND
Epidemiological studies have provided evidence that exposure to vehicular traffic increases the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and may exacerbate pre-existing asthma in children. Self-reported exposure to road traffic has been questioned as a reliable measurement of exposure to air pollutants. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there were specific effects of cars and trucks traffic on current asthma symptoms (i.e. wheezing) and cough or phlegm, and to examine the validity of self-reported traffic exposure.


METHODS
The survey was conducted in 2002 in 12 centers in Northern, Center and Southern Italy, different in size, climate, latitude and level of urbanization. Standardized questionnaires filled in by parents were used to collect information on health outcomes and exposure to traffic among 33,632 6-7 and 13-14 years old children and adolescents. Three questions on traffic exposure were asked: the traffic in the zone of residence, the frequency of truck and of car traffic in the street of residence. The presence of a possible response bias for the self-reported traffic was evaluated using external validation (comparison with measurements of traffic flow in the city of Turin) and internal validations (matching by census block, in the cities of Turin, Milan and Rome).


RESULTS
Overall traffic density was weakly associated with asthma symptoms but there was a stronger association with cough or phlegm (high traffic density OR = 1.24; 95% CI: 1.04, 1.49). Car and truck traffic were independently associated with cough or phlegm. The results of the external validation did not support the existence of a reporting bias for the observed associations, for all the self-reported traffic indicators examined. The internal validations showed that the observed association between traffic density in the zone of residence and respiratory symptoms did not appear to be explained by an over reporting of traffic by parents of symptomatic subjects.


CONCLUSION
Children living in zones with intense traffic are at higher risk for respiratory effects. Since population characteristics are specific, the results of validation of studies on self-reported traffic exposure can not be generalized.
An Analysis of China's Educational Reform of University from "Tsien Hsueshen's Question"

The paper gives an analysis of educational reform in China. The expansion of colleges and universities brings various kinds of drawbacks, such as pushing too fast, bureaucrat management and deviation from realities. Consequently, our universities fail to produce excellent talents. The paper proposes that universities should take the quality education as the goal, and transform from government civil service to faculty governance. The purpose of educating outstanding talents for the society will be achieved. KEYWORD: Tsian Hsueshen's question; talents; educational reform
Safety of computed tomography in patients with cardiac rhythm management devices: assessment of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory in clinical practice.

OBJECTIVES
To assess the safety of computed tomography (CT) imaging in patients with cardiac rhythm management (CRM) devices, which was subject to an advisory from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2008.


BACKGROUND
The FDA warned about potential interference of CT imaging with CRM devices and made recommendations for clinical practice despite only limited evidence.


METHODS
All 516 CT scans that involved direct radiation exposure of CRM devices (332 defibrillators, 184 pacemakers) at 2 large-volume centers between July 2000 and May 2010 were included. The primary outcome was a composite endpoint of death, bradycardia or tachycardia requiring termination of the scan or an immediate intervention, unplanned hospital admission, reprogramming of the device, inappropriate defibrillator shocks, or device replacement/revision thought to be due to CT imaging. Significant changes in device parameters were sought as a secondary outcome (control group 4:1 ratio).


RESULTS
The main finding was that none of the CTs were associated with the primary outcome. With serial device interrogations, there were no differences in changes in battery voltage or lead parameters between devices exposed to radiation and their controls. Potentially significant changes in device parameters were observed in a small group of devices (both the CT group and control group), but no definitive link to CT was confirmed, and there were no associated clinical consequences.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings suggest that the presence of CRM devices should not delay or result in cancellation of clinically indicated CT imaging procedures, and provide evidence that would be helpful when the FDA advisory is re-evaluated.
Information overload and the message dynamics of online interaction spaces: a theoretical model and empirical exploration

This publication contains reprint articles for which IEEE does not hold copyright. Full text is not available on IEEE Xplore for these articles.
An overview of advances in the standardization of herbal drugs

Herbal formulations have reached extensive acceptability as therapeutic agents for several diseases. The development of authentic analytical methods which can reliably profile the phytochemical composition, including quantitative analyses of marker/bioactive compounds and other major constituents, is a major challenge to scientists. Standardization is an important step for the establishment of a consistent biological activity, a consistent chemical profile, or simply a quality assurance program for production and manufacturing of herbal drugs. WHO specific guidelines for the assessment of the safety, efficacy and quality of herbal medicines as a prerequisite for global harmonization are of utmost importance. An overview covering various techniques employed in extraction and characterization of herbal medicines as well as herbal nanomedicines standardization is reported. In addition, phytosomes increased bioavailability, bhasma as a metal nanocarrier drug delivery system, potential of metabolomics in the development of improved phytotherapeutic agents, DNA based molecular markers in distinguishing adulterants, and SCAR markers for authentication and discrimination of herbs from their adulterants are reported. The extraction of high-valued herbal compounds using microwave–assisted extraction and supercritical phase extraction technology followed by the standardization utilizing various spectroscopic, chromatographic and thermogravimetric techniques individually and/or in combination has been discussed in relation to herbal drugs. Capillary electrophoresis and polarographic techniques contributions towards standardization of herbal drugs is also reported. Nanotechnology based Chinese herbal drugs possess improved solubility and enhanced bioavailability.
Golimumab, a new human anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha antibody, administered intravenously in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis: Forty-eight-week efficacy and safety results of a phase III randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

OBJECTIVE
To assess the efficacy and safety of intravenous administration of golimumab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).


METHODS
Adult patients with RA in whom disease activity was persistent despite treatment with methotrexate (MTX) at a dosage of 15-25 mg/week for > or = 4 weeks were randomized to receive intravenous infusions of placebo plus MTX or intravenous infusions of golimumab at a dose of 2 mg/kg or 4 mg/kg, with or without MTX, every 12 weeks through week 48. Patients with <20% improvement in the swollen and tender joint counts could enter early escape and receive additional active treatment (week 16) or could have their dose regimen adjusted (week 24). The primary end point was the proportion of patients achieving a 50% response according to the American College of Rheumatology improvement criteria (ACR50) at week 14.


RESULTS
The primary study end point was not met (at week 14, an ACR50 response was observed in 21% of the patients treated with golimumab plus MTX compared with 13% of the patients treated with placebo plus MTX [P = 0.051]). By week 24, significantly more patients treated with golimumab plus MTX had achieved an ACR50 response. Differences in the proportion of patients achieving an ACR50 response between the group receiving golimumab monotherapy and the group receiving placebo plus MTX were not significant at either week 14 (16% versus 13%) or week 24 (10% versus 9%). At week 48, the proportions of patients achieving ACR20 and ACR50 responses were highest among those who had received golimumab 4 mg/kg plus MTX (70% and 48%, respectively). Concomitant treatment with MTX was associated with a lower incidence of antibodies to golimumab. The most commonly reported adverse events through week 48 were infections (48% of patients treated with golimumab with or without MTX and 41% of patients receiving placebo plus MTX).


CONCLUSION
The primary end point was not met. However, intravenously administered golimumab plus MTX appears to have benefit in the longer-term reduction of RA signs/symptoms in MTX-resistant patients, with no unexpected safety concerns.
Mobile Cyber Physical Systems: Current Challenges and Future Networking Applications

Mobile cyber-physical systems (CPS) that take the advantages and extend the application domains of CPS have become increasingly popular in recent years. For example, mobile CPS could be a kind of foundational techniques to support the development of vehicular networking systems, thereby improving security and privacy of users in the dynamic environments of vehicular networks. In this paper, we first distinguish mobile CPS from traditional CPS. Then, we introduce their three emerging application areas, i.e., vehicular networking systems, healthcare systems, and mobile education. After that, we discuss four main research challenges of mobile CPS regarding security, energy consumption, mobile dynamic environment, and system stability. Also, we consider the corresponding techniques, which may address these challenges, and analyze the inter-relations among them. Finally, we outline the possible research directions and applications of mobile CPS in the future.
Association of Therapy for Autoimmune Disease With Myelodysplastic Syndromes and Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

Importance
Therapy-related myeloid neoplasms are a potentially life-threatening consequence of treatment for autoimmune disease (AID) and an emerging clinical phenomenon.


Objective
To query the association of cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulating agents to treat patients with AID with the risk for developing myeloid neoplasm.


Design, Setting, and Participants
This retrospective case-control study and medical record review included 40 011 patients with an International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, coded diagnosis of primary AID who were seen at 2 centers from January 1, 2004, to December 31, 2014; of these, 311 patients had a concomitant coded diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) or acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Eighty-six cases met strict inclusion criteria. A case-control match was performed at a 2:1 ratio.


Main Outcomes and Measures
Odds ratio (OR) assessment for AID-directed therapies.


Results
Among the 86 patients who met inclusion criteria (49 men [57%]; 37 women [43%]; mean [SD] age, 72.3 [15.6] years), 55 (64.0%) had MDS, 21 (24.4%) had de novo AML, and 10 (11.6%) had AML and a history of MDS. Rheumatoid arthritis (23 [26.7%]), psoriasis (18 [20.9%]), and systemic lupus erythematosus (12 [14.0%]) were the most common autoimmune profiles. Median time from onset of AID to diagnosis of myeloid neoplasm was 8 (interquartile range, 4-15) years. A total of 57 of 86 cases (66.3%) received a cytotoxic or an immunomodulating agent. In the comparison group of 172 controls (98 men [57.0%]; 74 women [43.0%]; mean [SD] age, 72.7 [13.8] years), 105 (61.0%) received either agent (P = .50). Azathioprine sodium use was observed more frequently in cases (odds ratio [OR], 7.05; 95% CI, 2.35- 21.13; P < .001). Notable but insignificant case cohort use among cytotoxic agents was found for exposure to cyclophosphamide (OR, 3.58; 95% CI, 0.91-14.11) followed by mitoxantrone hydrochloride (OR, 2.73; 95% CI, 0.23-33.0). Methotrexate sodium (OR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.29-1.22), mercaptopurine (OR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.15-2.53), and mycophenolate mofetil hydrochloride (OR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.21-2.03) had favorable ORs that were not statistically significant. No significant association between a specific length of time of exposure to an agent and the drug's category was observed.


Conclusions and Relevance
In a large population with primary AID, azathioprine exposure was associated with a 7-fold risk for myeloid neoplasm. The control and case cohorts had similar systemic exposures by agent category. No association was found for anti-tumor necrosis factor agents. Finally, no timeline was found for the association of drug exposure with the incidence in development of myeloid neoplasm.
Laser melting functionally graded composition of Waspaloy® and Zirconia powders

An approach for fabricating functionally graded specimens of supernickel alloy and ceramic compositions via Selective Laser Melting (SLM) is presented. The focus aimed at using the Functionally Graded Material (FGM) concept to gradually grade powdered compositions of Zirconia within a base material of Waspaloy. A high power Nd:YAG laser was used to process the material compositions to a high density with gradual but discrete changes between layered compositions. The graded specimens initially consisted of 100% Waspaloy with subsequent layers containing increased volume compositions of Zirconia (0-10%). Specimens were examined for porosity and microstructure. It was found that specimens contained an average porosity of 0.34% with a gradual change between layers without any major interface defects.
Towards Accessible Human-Computer Interaction1

In spite of the growing focus on user-centered interface design promoted by humancomputer interaction researchers and practitioners, there remains a large and diverse user population that is generally overlooked: users with disabilities. There are compelling legal, economic, social, and moral arguments for providing users with disabilities access to information technologies. Although we will touch on some of those arguments here, the primary purpose of this chapter is to provide a broad overview of the software humancomputer interaction (HCI) issues surrounding access to computer systems.
The effect of IVX-0142, a heparin-derived hypersulfated disaccharide, on the allergic airway responses in asthma.

BACKGROUND
IVX-0142 is a heparin-derived hypersulfated disaccharide devoid of anticoagulant activity while possessing anti-allergic and anti-inflammatory activity in preclinical studies. In a proof-of-concept study, the allergen inhalation challenge model was used to investigate the effect of IVX-0142 in mild atopic asthma.


METHODS
Nineteen subjects, not on controller medications, were randomized to an evaluator-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study. The effect of a single nebulized dose of IVX-0142 (80 mg) or placebo administered 30 min prior to allergen inhalation was evaluated on the allergic airway responses, airway responsiveness, and airway inflammation.


RESULTS
When compared with placebo, 14 and 13 subjects experienced a relatively smaller maximum fall in forced expiratory volume in 1 s (maxFEV(1)%) for the early airway response (EAR) and late airway response (LAR) with IVX-0142, respectively (P < 0.01). The degree of attenuation in the EAR [maxFEV(1)% (mean +/- SE) 26.5 +/- 2.8%vs placebo 31.0 +/- 2.8%, P = 0.059] and LAR (15.6 +/- 2.9%vs placebo 19.0 +/- 2.9%, P = 0.24) with IVX-0142, however, was small and did not reach statistical significance compared with placebo. Similarly, a trend in the attenuation of allergen-induced increase in the absolute sputum cell counts was also observed. No difference in the allergen-induced increase in airway hyper-responsiveness and exhaled nitric oxide was noticed.


CONCLUSIONS
The majority of mild atopic asthmatics demonstrated a reduction in the EAR and LAR to IVX-0142. However, the treatment effect observed with a single prechallenge dose of IVX-0142 was small and heterogeneous. The potential anti-allergic and anti-inflammatory effects using multiple higher doses need to be evaluated.
Auto-Encoder Guided GAN for Chinese Calligraphy Synthesis

In this paper, we investigate the Chinese calligraphy synthesis problem: synthesizing Chinese calligraphy images with specified style from standard font(eg. Hei font) images (Fig. 1(a)). Recent works mostly follow the stroke extraction and assemble pipeline which is complex in the process and limited by the effect of stroke extraction. In this work we treat the calligraphy synthesis problem as an image-to-image translation problem and propose a deep neural network based model which can generate calligraphy images from standard font images directly. Besides, we also construct a large scale benchmark that contains various styles for Chinese calligraphy synthesis. We evaluate our method as well as some baseline methods on the proposed dataset, and the experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed model.
METFORMIN: an efficacy, safety and pharmacokinetic study on the short-term and long-term use in obese children and adolescents – study protocol of a randomized controlled study

BACKGROUND
The prevalence of childhood obesity and insulin resistance is rising, increasing the risk of diabetes mellitus type 2. To prevent these complications, lifestyle intervention is the corner stone in treatment. However, long-term efficacy of lifestyle intervention is questionable. In addition to lifestyle intervention, pharmacological treatments have been explored. Metformin has been shown to be moderately effective to reduce BMI in obese adolescents with hyperinsulinemia. However, data on pharmacokinetics and long-term efficacy and safety are lacking as well as an evidence-based dosing regimen for this age group. The primary objective of the METFORMIN study is to determine the effect of adding metformin treatment to lifestyle intervention in reducing BMI in obese adolescents with insulin resistance. In addition, the pharmacokinetics of metformin in obese adolescents will be studied.


METHODS/DESIGN
The METFORMIN study is a multi-centre prospective study that consists of two 18-month phases: a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial (part 1) and an open-label follow-up study (part 2). During part 1, the participants will be given metformin 1,000 mg or placebo twice daily and will be offered a lifestyle intervention programme; 144 participants will be included, 72 in each arm. Primary endpoints are reduction in body mass index, insulin resistance, and percentage body fat.


DISCUSSION
This study will provide data on short- and long-term efficacy and safety of metformin and on the pharmacokinetics of metformin in obese adolescents.


TRIAL REGISTRATION
ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT01487993; EudraCT nr. 2010-023980-17. Registration date: 06-01-2011.
Osteoporosis in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW
The purpose of this review is to examine the state of knowledge and clinical practice in the association of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to osteoporosis and fracture incidence.


RECENT FINDINGS
There is a clear association between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and excessive bone loss/risk of fractures. Little is known about the pathophysiological processes involved in the bone loss, but recent reports point to a continuous systemic inflammatory state in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This inflammation involves the release of inflammatory cytokines such as tumour necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-1. During the course of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a protein catabolic process takes place, including increased production of catalytic enzymes (matrix metalloproteinases etc.), which together with the inflammatory cytokines induces bone resorption.


SUMMARY
Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are at increased risk of osteoporosis and fractures. Risk factors such as smoking, advanced age, physical inactivity, malnutrition, and low weight may be responsible, but a number of pathophysiological explanations including the presence of a chronic inflammatory state with increased levels of proinflammatory cytokines and protein catalytic enzymes may also be involved. The use of oral glucocorticoids is also a significant risk factor. Increased awareness is highly warranted to diagnose osteoporosis at an early stage, and professionals should be aware of the risk of osteoporosis in this patient population.
Presidential greatness and personality: A response to McCann (1992).

McCann (1992) offered a new set of equations that predict presidential greatness. He explicitly argued that his new equations contradict the attributional model put forward by Simonton (1986c, 1987b). However, several conceptual and statistical problems may undermine the force of his argument
Diagnostic inaccuracy of smartphone applications for melanoma detection.

OBJECTIVE
To measure the performance of smartphone applications that evaluate photographs of skin lesions and provide the user with feedback about the likelihood of malignancy.


DESIGN
Case-control diagnostic accuracy study.


SETTING
Academic dermatology department. PARTICIPANTS AND MATERIALS: Digital clinical images of pigmented cutaneous lesions (60 melanoma and 128 benign control lesions) with a histologic diagnosis rendered by a board-certified dermatopathologist, obtained before biopsy from patients undergoing lesion removal as a part of routine care.


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of 4 smartphone applications designed to aid nonclinician users in determining whether their skin lesion is benign or malignant.


RESULTS
Sensitivity of the 4 tested applications ranged from 6.8% to 98.1%; specificity, 30.4% to 93.7%; positive predictive value, 33.3% to 42.1%; and negative predictive value, 65.4% to 97.0%. The highest sensitivity for melanoma diagnosis was observed for an application that sends the image directly to a board-certified dermatologist for analysis; the lowest, for applications that use automated algorithms to analyze images.


CONCLUSIONS
The performance of smartphone applications in assessing melanoma risk is highly variable, and 3 of 4 smartphone applications incorrectly classified 30% or more of melanomas as unconcerning. Reliance on these applications, which are not subject to regulatory oversight, in lieu of medical consultation can delay the diagnosis of melanoma and harm users.