LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Depression and postoperative complications: an overview

BACKGROUND
The interaction of depression and anesthesia and surgery may result in significant increases in morbidity and mortality of patients. Major depressive disorder is a frequent complication of surgery, which may lead to further morbidity and mortality.


LITERATURE SEARCH
Several electronic data bases, including PubMed, were searched pairing "depression" with surgery, postoperative complications, postoperative cognitive impairment, cognition disorder, intensive care unit, mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.


REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
The suppression of the immune system in depressive disorders may expose the patients to increased rates of postoperative infections and increased mortality from cancer. Depression is commonly associated with cognitive impairment, which may be exacerbated postoperatively. There is evidence that acute postoperative pain causes depression and depression lowers the threshold for pain. Depression is also a strong predictor and correlate of chronic post-surgical pain. Many studies have identified depression as an independent risk factor for development of postoperative delirium, which may be a cause for a long and incomplete recovery after surgery. Depression is also frequent in intensive care unit patients and is associated with a lower health-related quality of life and increased mortality. Depression and anxiety have been widely reported soon after coronary artery bypass surgery and remain evident one year after surgery. They may increase the likelihood for new coronary artery events, further hospitalizations and increased mortality. Morbidly obese patients who undergo bariatric surgery have an increased risk of depression. Postoperative depression may also be associated with less weight loss at one year and longer. The extent of preoperative depression in patients scheduled for lumbar discectomy is a predictor of functional outcome and patient's dissatisfaction, especially after revision surgery. General postoperative mortality is increased.


CONCLUSIONS
Depression is a frequent cause of morbidity in surgery patients suffering from a wide range of conditions. Depression may be identified through the use of Patient Health Questionnaire-9 or similar instruments. Counseling interventions may be useful in ameliorating depression, but should be subject to clinical trials.
The importance of laboratory experience in power engineering education

Advances in simulations and virtual laboratories seem to allow a power engineering program to reduce or even eliminate actual laboratory experiences for engineering students. But such experiences cannot replace actual laboratory experience in developing the physical understanding of abstract concepts needed by practicing engineers.
Communication that values patient autonomy is associated with satisfaction with care: a systematic review.

QUESTION
Which communication factors used by clinicians during patient-clinician interactions are associated with satisfaction with care?


DESIGN
Systematic review with meta-analysis of studies investigating the association of verbal or nonverbal factors or interaction styles used by clinicians with patient satisfaction during an encounter between clinician and patient.


PARTICIPANTS
: Clinicians interacting with patients in primary care or rehabilitation settings.


RESULTS
Twenty seven studies investigated 129 verbal, nonverbal, and interaction style factors. Of these, 38 factors were consistently associated with satisfaction. Verbal factors concerning clinicians involving, facilitating, and supporting patients were associated with satisfaction with care. Most communication factors presented a fair correlation (r≥0.21 but <0.41) with satisfaction with care. Nonverbal factors such as time spent discussing prevention and time spent reading patient charts had a fair association with satisfaction with care (correlations range from 0.21 to 0.40). A moderate association was found between interaction styles such as caring (pooled r=0.51, 95% CI 0.42 to 0.60) and satisfaction with care. Over half (58%) of the 129 identified factors never associated with satisfaction with care and the remainder associated inconsistently.


CONCLUSION
The number of potential modifiable communication factors associated with satisfaction with care and the magnitude of their association partially support interventions to train clinicians in communication skills that value patient autonomy.
National UK audit of the short synacthen test.

UNLABELLED
We present the first national audit of the Short Synacthen Test (SST), identifying the clinical, analytical and interpretative procedures adopted by 89 laboratories.


BACKGROUND
The SST has replaced the insulin stress test as the first-line test to assess adrenal insufficiency and has received considerable attention regarding its sensitivity and specificity. Concerns regarding this test include the bias of cortisol methods, cut-off values used, contraindications and the limitations of the test in diagnosing recent, mild secondary adrenal insufficiency. The audit took into consideration the protocols used by laboratories, the advice provided prior and after the SST and the analytical bias of the methods used.


METHODS
A web-based questionnaire using Microsoft FrontPage(TM) was prepared to collect data from laboratories and provided drop-down lists and other form-field elements to capture additional comments. The resultant data were exported to Microsoft Excel(TM) for data clean-up and analysis.


RESULTS
The workloads were highly variable; however, most laboratories were in general agreement to the indications, contraindications, timing and reference ranges. In contrast, there was variability in the bias of the cortisol methods, which had not been translated to the cut-off values used by the majority of laboratories.


CONCLUSIONS
The audit has shown that though the preanalytical procedures were similar in most laboratories, there is a requirement to recognize the effect that method bias may have on the reference ranges and consequently on the diagnosis of adrenal insufficiency. There is a need to develop consensus guidelines, which can aid both clinicians and laboratories.
A phase I weekly dosing study of brentuximab vedotin in patients with relapsed/refractory CD30-positive hematologic malignancies.

PURPOSE
The antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) brentuximab vedotin comprises a CD30-directed antibody covalently attached to the potent antimicrotubule agent monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE) via a protease-cleavable linker. This study explored the safety, maximum-tolerated dose (MTD), and activity of weekly dosing of brentuximab vedotin in patients with relapsed or refractory CD30-positive hematologic malignancies.


EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
In this phase I dose-escalation study, brentuximab vedotin was administered intravenously on Days 1, 8, and 15, of each 28-day cycle at doses ranging from 0.4 to 1.4 mg/kg. Forty-four patients were enrolled: 38 with Hodgkin lymphoma, five with systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma, and one with peripheral T-cell lymphoma not otherwise specified. Doses were escalated in increments of 0.2 mg/kg until dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) was observed. Patients were monitored for antitherapeutic antibodies and pharmacokinetic parameters. Antitumor assessments were carried out every two cycles.


RESULTS
The MTD was 1.2 mg/kg. The most common adverse events were peripheral sensory neuropathy, fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, arthralgia, and pyrexia; and the majority of events were mild to moderate in severity. Tumor regression occurred in 85% of patients and the overall objective response rate was 59% (n = 24), with 34% (n = 14) complete remissions. The median duration of response was not reached at a median follow-up of 45 weeks on study.


CONCLUSIONS
Weekly administration of brentuximab vedotin resulted in tumor regression and durable remissions in patients with CD30-positive malignancies. This ADC was associated with manageable toxicity, including peripheral neuropathy. Further study in CD30-positive malignancies is warranted.
The Effects of Cardiac Tertiary Prevention Program after Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery on Health and Quality of Life

OBJECTIVES
Cardiac tertiary prevention programs intend to support the recovery course following coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). We investigated the effects of attendance at cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programs following CABG on patients' mortality, morbidity and health related quality of life.


METHODS
Eighty patients who underwent CABG were selected in a way that half of them had attended a cardiac rehabilitation program and the other half had not. Health related quality of life (HRQoL) was measured using the Short Form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire at a mean of 23.4 months postoperatively. Severity of cardiac symptoms on the basis of the New York Health Association (NYHA), the occurrence of any neurological symptoms, hospitalization and restoration of patients to their previous level of performance in social activities were assessed after CABG surgery.


RESULTS
There were no deaths. There were no differences in postoperative NYHA scores, neurological symptoms, and hospitalization. Three of the eight health domains measured by SF-36, namely general health (P = 0.010), physical function (P = 0.002), and mental health (P < 0.001), showed significantly better values for attendants than non-attendants. Rehabilitation participants returned to their previous level of performance in social activities more than their control counterparts.


CONCLUSIONS
Higher general health scores (SF-36) were associated with attendance at CR programs. The findings of this study provide rationale to consider a broader scope of physiological and psychosocial parameters to predict outcomes of CABG surgery.
APPRAISAL OF HEAVY METAL CONTENTS IN DIFFERENT VEGETABLES GROWN IN THE VICINITY OF AN INDUSTRIAL AREA

The contents of lead (Pb), copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), zinc (Zn) and cadmium (Cd) in various leafy vegetables viz., spinach, coriander, lettuce, radish, cabbage and cauliflower grown in an effluent irrigated fields in the vicinity of an industrial area of Faisalabad, Pakistan were assessed using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The concentrations of Pb, Cu, Cr, Zn and Cd in the leaves, stems and roots of spinach, coriander, lettuce, radish, cabbage and cauliflower were found to be 1.1331−2.652, 1.313-2.161, 1.121-2.254; 0.252-0.923, 0.161-0.855, 0.221-0.931; 0.2170.546, 0.376-0.495, 0.338-0.511; 0.461-1.893, 0.361-0.874, 0.442-1.637; 0.033-0.073, 0.017-0.061, 0.011-0.052 mg kg on dry matter basis, respectively. The contents of Cu, Zn, Cr, Pb and Cd were below the recommended maximum acceptable levels proposed by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives. The leaves of spinach, cabbage, cauliflower, radish and coriander contained higher concentrations of Cu (0.923 mg kg), Cd (0.073 mg kg), Cr (0.546 mg kg), Zn (1.893 mg kg) and Pb (2.652 mg kg) as compared to other parts of each vegetable. High concentrations of heavy metals as analyzed in the present analysis of different parts of the vegetables might be related to their concentration in the soils irrigated with industrial waste water.
A COMPACT DUAL INVERTED C-SHAPED SLOTS ANTENNA FOR WLAN APPLICATIONS

A novel design of a compact dual inverted C-shaped slots antenna for dual-band (IEEE 802.11 b/g, 2.4–2.484 GHz and IEEE 802.11 a, 5.15–5.35/5.725–5.825 GHz) WLAN applications is proposed in this paper. The antenna is based on dual inverted C-shaped slots and a μ-shaped feeding structure. These fundamental configurations are applied to achieve two operating bands with resonating frequencies at about 2.45GHz and 5.5 GHz to cover the dual WLAN bands. The proposed antenna is fabricated and tested. The simulated and measured results show that the slot antenna obtains two independent operation bands of 2.4–2.515 GHz and 5.14–5.85 GHz for S11 ≤ −10 dB, and also stable gain characteristic with peak gain variations less than 1 dBi for both the bands. Details of the analysis and research progresses are shown in the following sections to illustrate the design steps and the performance of the proposed antenna.
Peer review: a flawed process at the heart of science and journals.

Peer review is at the heart of the processes of not just medical journals but of all of science. It is the method by which grants are allocated, papers published, academics promoted, and Nobel prizes won. Yet it is hard to define. It has until recently been unstudied. And its defects are easier to identify than its attributes. Yet it shows no sign of going away. Famously, it is compared with democracy: a system full of problems but the least worst we have. When something is peer reviewed it is in some sense blessed. Even journalists recognize this. When the BMJ published a highly controversial paper that argued that a new ‘disease’, female sexual dysfunction, was in some ways being created by pharmaceutical companies, a friend who is a journalist was very excited—not least because reporting it gave him a chance to get sex onto the front page of a highly respectable but somewhat priggish newspaper (the Financial Times). ‘But,’ the news editor wanted to know, ‘was this paper peer reviewed?’. The implication was that if it had been it was good enough for the front page and if it had not been it was not. Well, had it been? I had read it much more carefully than I read many papers and had asked the author, who happened to be a journalist, to revise the paper and produce more evidence. But this was not peer review, even though I was a peer of the author and had reviewed the paper. Or was it? (I told my friend that it had not been peer reviewed, but it was too late to pull the story from the front page.)
MCM-based implementation of block FIR filters for high-speed and low-power applications

Block finite impulse response (FIR) digital filters have potential for high-speed and low-power realization through parallel processing. In this paper, we suggest an efficient implementation of block FIR filters using multiple constant multiplication (MCM) technique. Constant multiplication methods are widely used for reducing computational complexity of implementation of FIR filters. Sub-expression sharing for single constant multiplications can be performed for direct-form as well as transposed direct-form structures of FIR filters, while MCM techniques are not applicable to the direct-form FIR structure. On the other hand block FIR filters cannot be implemented in transposed direct-form. In this paper, we have shown that MCM can be used for direct-form implementation block FIR filters. Experimentation on block filters for filter orders 8 and 16 of different block lengths indicates that, compared to sample-by-sample MCM based transposed direct-form filters, the maximum sampling rate and energy delay product may be improved by up to 3.5 and 7.6 times respectively due to aggressive parallelization of block processing. It is also found that by using MCMs, up to 20% total area may be reduced compared to straightforward block filter implementation.
Accuracy of frozen section of sentinel lymph nodes: a prospective analysis of 659 breast cancer patients of the Swiss multicenter study

Objective To assess the accuracy of sentinel lymph node (SLN) frozen section in a prospective multicenter study of early-stage breast cancer patients. Summary background data The decision to perform an immediate completion axillary node dissection (ALND) is based on results of SLN frozen section. However, SLN frozen sections are not routinely performed in all centers. Moreover, the accuracy of SLN frozen section remains a matter of great debate. Methods Prospective multicenter trial analyzing 659 early stage breast cancer patients (pT1 and pT2 ≤ 3 cm, cN0) enrolled between January 2000 and December 2003. SLN were intraoperatively examined by frozen section. Final histopathology consisted in performing step sectioning as well as staining with H&E and immunohistochemistry. Results SLN were identified in 98.3% (648/659) of all patients. The accuracy of frozen section was 90.1% (584/648), the sensitivity for SLN macro-metastases 98% (142/145), and the specificity 100%. A total of 47 patients with SLN micro-metastases (n = 36) or isolated tumor cells (n = 11) underwent a delayed completion ALND. In 96% (45/47) of these patients the ALND specimens were free of macro-metastases. Conclusions SLN frozen section provides highly accurate information regarding identification of SLN macro-metastases, a delayed completion ALND can be avoided in 98% of these patients. More importantly, in the present investigation the vast majority (96%) of patients with SLN micro-metastases or isolated tumor cells undergoing delayed completion ALND did not benefit from the second operation as ALND specimens were free of macro-metastases. We strongly recommend the routine use of SLN frozen section in early stage breast cancer patients.
Effectiveness of perindopril/amlodipine fixed dose combination in everyday clinical practice: results from the EMERALD study.

OBJECTIVE
The rates of blood pressure (BP) control worldwide are discouraging. This study had the purpose of assessing the effectiveness of perindopril/amlodipine fixed dose combination on BP-lowering efficacy, and recording adherence, safety and tolerability during a 4 month treatment period.


RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
In this multicenter, observational study 2269 hypertensive patients were prospectively enrolled. The data were recorded at 1 and 4 months of treatment.


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES AND RESULTS
Between the first and third visits mean BP values (systolic/diastolic) decreased from 158.4 ± 13.6/89.9 ± 8.7 mmHg to 130.0 ± 7.9/77.7 ± 6.3 mmHg (P < 0.001). The magnitude of BP reduction depended on baseline blood pressure levels and total cardiovascular (CV) risk (P < 0.001). Patients with grade 1, 2 and 3 showed a BP reduction of 21.9/10.0 mmHg, 34.4/14.2 mmHg and 51.4/21.2 mmHg, accordingly (P < 0.001). Patients with very high, high, moderate and low added CV risk showed a BP reduction of 35.7/14.9 mmHg, 27.5/12.1 mmHg, 28.6/12.2 mmHg and 14.5/5.8 mmHg respectively (P < 0.001). Adherence to treatment was high: 98.3% of the sample was taking the treatment "every day" or "quite often", while only 15 patients (0.7% of the sample) prematurely discontinued treatment. Study interpretation may be limited by the fact that this is an observational study with no comparator and a short follow-up period.


CONCLUSIONS
A perindopril/amlodipine fixed dose combination significantly decreases BP levels. The degree of BP reduction is related to baseline BP levels and total CV risk.
Efficacy of a nucleoside-sparing regimen of darunavir/ritonavir plus raltegravir in treatment-naive HIV-1-infected patients (ACTG A5262).

OBJECTIVE
To explore darunavir/ritonavir (DRV/r) plus raltegravir (RAL) combination therapy in antiretroviral-naive patients.


DESIGN
Phase IIb, single-arm, open-label, multicenter study.


METHODS
One hundred and twelve antiretroviral-naive, HIV-1-infected patients received DRV/r 800/100 mg once daily and RAL 400 mg twice daily. Primary endpoint was virologic failure by week 24. Virologic failure was defined as confirmed viral load of 1000 copies/ml or more at week 12, or an increase of more than 0.5 log(10) copies/ml in viral load from week 4 to 12, or a confirmed viral load of more than 50 copies/ml at or after week 24. Protease and integrase genes were sequenced in patients experiencing virologic failure.


RESULTS
Virologic failure rate was 16% [95% confidence interval (CI) 10-24] by week 24 and 26% (95% CI 19-36) by week 48 in an intent-to-treat analysis. Viral load at virologic failure was 51-200 copies/ml in 17/28 failures. Adjusting for age and sex, virologic failure was associated with baseline viral load of more than 100,000 copies/ml [hazard ratio 3.76, 95% CI (1.52-9.31), P = 0.004] and lower CD4 cell count [0.77 per 100 cells/μl increase (95% CI 0.61-0.98), P = 0.037]. When trough RAL concentrations were included as a time-varying covariate in the analysis, virologic failure remained associated with baseline viral load more than 100,000 copies/ml [hazard ratio = 4.67 (95% CI 1.93-11.25), P < 0.001], whereas RAL level below detection limit in plasma at one or more previous visits was associated with increased hazard [hazard ratio = 3.42 (95% CI 1.41-8.26), P = 0.006]. All five participants with integrase mutations during virologic failure had baseline viral load more than 100,000 copies/ml.


CONCLUSION
DRV/r plus RAL was effective and well tolerated in most patients, but virologic failure and integrase resistance were common, particularly in patients with baseline viral load more than 100,000 copies/ml.
On Designing PMI Kalman Filter for INS/GPS Integrated Systems With Unknown Sensor Errors

In this paper, a Kalman filter with proportional gain and multiintegral (PMI) gains is proposed to inertial navigation system (INS) and global positioning system (GPS) integration. A generalized fault is first introduced to represent the unexpected inertial sensors' biases resulted by environment condition changes or performance degradation of INS. Then, a linear time-varying system subject to fault is given to describe the dynamics of the INS/GPS integrated system. To achieve simultaneous estimation of navigation state and inertial sensors' biases, a PMI Kalman filter is developed in the framework of active fault tolerant filtering. Furthermore, a flight experiment is also given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. It is shown from the experimental results that the designed PMI Kalman filter can estimate biases more accurately than the traditional Kalman filter.
The relationship between cannabis use, depression and anxiety among Australian adults: findings from the National Survey of Mental Health and Well-Being

Background: This study aimed to examine the patterns of association between cannabis use, and anxiety and affective disorders, in the general population. Method: Data from the Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Well-Being, a representative survey of Australians aged 18 years and over, were analysed to address the following questions: (1) is there an association between cannabis use, DSM-IV abuse and dependence, and DSM-IV affective and anxiety disorders; (2) if so, is it explained by: demographic characteristics, levels of neuroticism, or other drug use; and (3) does the presence of a comorbid affective or anxiety disorder affect the likelihood of treatment seeking among cannabis users? Results: There was a moderate univariate association between involvement with cannabis use in the past 12 months and the prevalence of affective and anxiety disorders. Among those with DSM-IV cannabis dependence, 14 % met criteria for an affective disorder, compared to 6 % of non-users; while 17 % met criteria for an anxiety disorder, compared to 5 % of non-users. These associations did not remain significant after including demographics, neuroticism and other drug use in multiple regressions. Conclusions: Cannabis use did not appear to be directly related to depression or anxiety when account was taken of other drug use. However, the association between heavier involvement with cannabis use and affective and anxiety disorders has implications for the treatment of persons with problematic cannabis use.