LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
The influence of antihypertensive drugs on mineral status in hypertensive patients.

OBJECTIVES
Long-term therapy of hypertension may influence mineral status in patients. However, drug-micronutrient interactions are largely unexplored in practice. This study intended to evaluate the effect of hypotensive monotherapy on iron, zinc, and copper levels, as well as on selected biochemical parameters, in newly diagnosed patients with hypertension, and to assess the influence of diet with optimal mineral levels on the mineral balance in these subjects.


PATIENTS AND METHODS
Forty-five patients, aged 18-65 years with diagnosed essential hypertension, beginning monotherapy treatment with diuretics, calcium antagonists, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, and β-blockers, were employed. Over three months, the patients underwent monotherapy (stage II). Next, patients were randomly divided into a diet group (of 27 subjects) and a control group (of 18 subjects). In this stage, which lasted one month, patients were given the same drug but also followed an optimal mineral-content diet (for the diet group), or else continued drug use without any change in diet (for control group) (stage III). Lipids, glucose, ceruloplasmin, and ferritin--along with superoxide dismutase and catalase activities--were assayed in serum. Iron, zinc, and copper concentrations in serum, erythrocytes, and urine were determined using flame atomic absorption spectrometry. Blood pressure was measured. Diet intake was monitored at each stage.


RESULTS
It was found that the zinc level in serum significantly decreased following treatment, and that the use of the optimal-mineral diet during antihypertensive treatment markedly increased zinc serum concentration. After treatment, a significant increase in zinc excretion in the urine was observed. Glucose levels in the serum of patients in stage II were significantly higher than in the baseline. In patients in the diet group, glucose levels markedly decreased. Moreover, a negative correlation was found between serum glucose and zinc levels in patients.


CONCLUSIONS
Antihypertensive treatments should include monitoring of mineral status. It seems that the zinc balance of patients on long-term therapy with hypotensive drugs may benefit from an optimal-mineral diet.
The role of kinesiotaping combined with botulinum toxin to reduce plantar flexors spasticity after stroke.

PURPOSE
To evaluate the effect of kinesiotaping as an adjuvant therapy to botulinum toxin A (BTX-A) injection in lower extremity spasticity.


METHODS
This is a single-center, randomized, and double-blind study. Twenty hemiplegic patients with spastic equinus foot were enrolled into the study and randomized into 2 groups. The first group (n=10) received BTX-A injection and kinesiotaping, and the second group (n=10) received BTX-A injection and sham-taping. Clinical assessment was done before injection and at 2 weeks and 1, 3, and 6 months. Outcome measures were modified Ashworth scale (MAS), passive ankle dorsiflexion, gait velocity, and step length.


RESULTS
Improvement was recorded in both kinesiotaping and sham groups for all outcome variables. No significant difference was found between groups other than passive range of motion (ROM), which was found to have increased more in the kinesiotaping group at 2 weeks.


CONCLUSION
There is no clear benefit in adjuvant kinesiotaping application with botulinum toxin for correction of spastic equinus in stroke.
Ultrasound in the diagnosis of peripheral neuropathy: structure meets function in the neuromuscular clinic.

Peripheral nerve ultrasound (US) has emerged as a promising technique for the diagnosis of peripheral nerve disorders. While most experience with US has been reported in the context of nerve entrapment syndromes, the role of US in the diagnosis of peripheral neuropathy (PN) has recently been explored. Distinctive US findings have been reported in patients with hereditary, immune-mediated, infectious and axonal PN; US may add complementary information to neurophysiological studies in the diagnostic work-up of PN. This review describes the characteristic US findings in PN reported to date and a classification of abnormal nerve US patterns in PN is proposed. Closer scrutiny of nerve abnormalities beyond assessment of nerve calibre may allow for more accurate diagnostic classification of PN, as well as contribute to the understanding of the intersection of structure and function in PN.
Handy broker: an intelligent product-brokering agent for m-commerce applications with user preference tracking

One of the potential applications for agent-based systems is m-commerce. A lot of research has been done on making such systems intelligent to personalize their services for users. In most systems, user-supplied keywords are generally used to help generate profiles for users. In this paper, an evolutionary ontology-based productbrokering agent has been designed for m-commerce applications. It uses an evaluation function to represent a user’s preference instead of the usual keyword-based profile. By using genetic algorithms, the agent tracks the user’s preferences for a particular product by tuning some parameters inside its evaluation function. A prototype called “Handy Broker” has been implemented in Java and the results obtained from our experiments looks promising for m-commerce use.
Laparoscopic Placement of Peritoneal Dialysis Catheter (Same Day Dialysis)

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
Peritoneal dialysis (PD) remains the generally accepted method for management of renal failure in chronic and acute renal failure. Despite the rapidly increasing use of continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) since its introduction, controversy persists as to the efficacy and exact role of the modality in the treatment of end stage renal failure. The aim of this paper is to present the experience with laparoscopic placement of a peritoneal dialysis catheter and starting the peritoneal dialysis on the same day.


METHODS
The laparoscopic placement of a peritoneal dialysis catheter was performed on 11 patients (10 males and 1 female) with an average age of 35 years, over a 12-month period. The procedure was done using two 5 mm abdominal trocars. The precise position of the catheter on the pelvis was ensured laparoscopically. One to two liters exchange dialysis was used for every patient, and no leakage was recorded.


RESULTS
The patients tolerated the procedure well. The peritoneal dialysis was started immediately. Patients were discharged after an overnight stay, and PD was carried out routinely.


CONCLUSION
The results of laparoscopic placement of a peritoneal dialysis catheter show the following advantages: minimal incision; less surgical trauma; the procedure hastens the early start of peritoneal dialysis and has no complications.
THE BLACK-WHITE ACHIEVEMENT GAP IN THE FIRST COLLEGE YEAR: EVIDENCE FROM A NEW LONGITUDINAL CASE STUDY

In the United States, an achievement gap between whites and blacks persists at all levels of schooling from elementary school to higher education. Definitive reasons and remedies for minority underperformance remain unclear. This study examines how students acquire and utilize “collegiate capital” which, in turn, relates to their academic achievement in the first year of college. Results indicate that significant black-white differences in academic achievement emerge as early as the first semester of students’ first year in college. Controls for family background, parental involvement, prior ability, cultural capital acquired during the middleand high-school years, and other factors produce a moderate reduction in the achievement gap, but over half of the gap remains unexplained. The study is part of a larger research project that involves a longitudinal study of two cohorts -the graduating classes of 2005 and 2006 -at a major private university. Through the assessment of pre-college differences and extensive data collected via student surveys and academic records during the college years, the goal of the larger project is to illuminate the factors underlying raced-based variations on a range of academic outcomes such as educational performance and attainment, but also several new measures of collegiate intellectual development such as students’ ecological integration, perceptions of other groups, and satisfaction with college.
Observations about bounded languages and developmental systems

We prove that every strictly bounded language with a semilinear Parikh mapping is an EDTOL language, and use the main proofargument to establish that all finite intersections of bounded context-free languages, and also the complements of these intersections, are EDTOL languages.
Enhancement and noise reduction of very low light level images

A general method for image contrast enhancement and noise reduction is proposed in this paper. The method is developed especially for enhancing images acquired under very low light conditions where the features of images are nearly invisible and the noise is serious. By applying an improved and effective image de-haze algorithm to the inverted input image, the intensity can be amplified so that the dark areas become bright and the contrast get enhanced. Then, the joint-bilateral filter with the original green component as the edge image is introduced to suppress the noise. Experimental results validate the performance of the proposed approach.
Relation of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio with coronary artery disease severity in patients undergoing coronary angiography.

BACKGROUND
Atherosclerosis is a chronic systemic inflammatory disease. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) are systemic inflammatory markers that are correlated with poor cardiovascular outcomes.


AIM
To explore the relation of NLR and PLR with severity of coronary artery disease (CAD).


METHODS
The study population consisted of 180 consecutive patients who underwent elective coronary angiography (CAG). While 100 patients (22 female, mean age: 60.6 ± 12.6 years) had abnormal CAG, 80 patients (44 female, mean age: 57.2 ± 10.9 years) had normal CAG. NLR and PLR were calculated as the ratio of neutrophil count to lymphocyte count and as the ratio of platelet count to lymphocyte count, respectively.


RESULTS
Although age distribution was similar between the two groups (p = 0.073), female gender was significantly higher in the normal CAG group (p < 0.001). Patients with abnormal CAG had significantly higher NLR and PLR when compared to patients with normal CAG (3.7 ± 2.6 vs. 2.2 ± 1.7, p < 0.001 and 125.9 ± 72.3 vs. 102.6 ± 33.8, p = 0.027, respectively). NLR and PLR were significantly correlated with SYNTAX score and GENSINI score. In logistic regression analyses, only NLR (odds ratio: 1.576, confidence interval: 1.198-2.072, p = 0.001) was an independent predictor of CAD. An NLR of 2.3 or higher predicted the CAD with a sensitivity of 66% and specificity of 70%.


CONCLUSIONS
NLR and PLR seem to be a simple method to predict severity of CAD in patients undergoing elective CAG, and it may be part of cardiovascular examination before CAG.
The cumulative effect of long-acting bronchodilators, exercise, and inspiratory muscle training on the perception of dyspnea in patients with advanced COPD.

BACKGROUND
Dyspnea is a common complaint during daily activities in patients with advanced COPD. The mechanisms underlying dyspnea and the appropriate treatment strategies to relieve it are still not totally understood. We hypothesized that the perception of dyspnea (POD) may be modified by the accumulative effect of bronchodilator therapy, exercise, and inspiratory muscle training (IMT).


METHODS
Spirometry, submaximal exercise performance, inspiratory muscle strength and endurance, and the POD were assessed before and following three consecutive 6-week periods of therapy with a long-acting bronchodilator (LABD), the LABD plus exercise, and the LABD plus exercise plus IMT in 30 patients with moderate-to-severe COPD.


RESULTS
There was a small, statistically insignificant, increase in FEV(1) in the study group (mean [+/- SEM] increase, 1.42+/-0.3 to 1.49+/-0.4 L) following the LABD therapy period, and no additional increase following the two other periods of therapy. There was a significant increase (p<0.05) in the 6-min walk distance following the therapy period with the LABD plus exercise (mean increase, 252+/-41 to 294+/-47 m) and an additional small increase following the therapy period with the LABD plus exercise plus IMT period (mean increase, 252+/-41 to 302+/-49 m). The decrease in the POD was small and statistically not significant following the therapy periods with the LABD and the LABD plus exercise. The major and statistically significant decrease in the POD was noted following the therapy period with the LABD plus exercise plus IMT.


CONCLUSIONS
In patients with moderate-to-severe COPD, following sequential periods of therapy with the LABD, the LABD plus exercise, and the LABD plus exercise plus IMT, there is a cumulative benefit in the POD. The most significant improvement was associated with IMT and not with the LABD and exercise training. The FEV(1) was moderately increased following the therapy period with the LABD, and the addition of exercise has most affected the 6-min walk distance.
Prognostic evaluation based on cortical vein score difference in stroke.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Multimodal imaging in acute ischemic stroke defines the extent of arterial collaterals, resultant penumbra, and associated infarct core, yet limitations abound. We identified superficial and deep venous drainage patterns that predict outcomes in patients with a proximal arterial occlusion of the anterior circulation.


METHODS
An observational study that used computed tomography (CT) angiography to detail venous drainage in a consecutive series of patients with a proximal anterior circulation arterial occlusion. The principal veins that drain the cortex (superficial middle cerebral, vein of Trolard, vein of Labbé, and basal vein of Rosenthal) and deep structures were scored with a categorical scale on the basis of degree of contrast enhancement. The Prognostic Evaluation based on Cortical vein score difference In Stroke score encompassing the interhemispheric difference of the composite scores of the veins draining the cortices (superficial middle cerebral+vein of Trolard+vein of Labbé+basal vein of Rosenthal) was analyzed with respect to 90-day modified Rankin Scale outcomes.


RESULTS
Thirty-nine patients were included in the study. A Prognostic Evaluation based on Cortical vein score difference In Stroke score of 4 to 8 accurately predicted poor outcomes (modified Rankin Scale, 3-6; odds ratio, 20.53; P<0.001). On stepwise logistic regression analyses adjusted for CT Alberta stroke program early CT score, CT angiography collateral grading and National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score, a Prognostic Evaluation based on Cortical vein score difference In Stroke score of 4 to 8 (odds ratio, 23.598; P=0.009) and an elevated admission National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (odds ratio, 1.423; P=0.023) were independent predictors of poor outcome.


CONCLUSIONS
The Prognostic Evaluation based on Cortical vein score difference In Stroke score, a novel measure of venous enhancement on CT angiography, accurately predicts clinical outcomes. Venous features on computed tomography angiography provide additional characterization of collateral perfusion and prognostication in acute ischemic stroke.
Effectiveness of virtual reality-based instruction on students' learning outcomes in K-12 and higher education: A meta-analysis

The purpose of this meta-analysis is to examine overall effect as well as the impact of selected instructional design principles in the context of virtual reality technology-based instruction (i.e. games, simulation, virtual worlds) in K-12 or higher education settings. A total of 13 studies (N 1⁄4 3081) in the category of games, 29 studies (N 1⁄4 2553) in the category of games, and 27 studies (N 1⁄4 2798) in the category of virtual worlds were meta-analyzed. The key inclusion criteria were that the study came from K-12 or higher education settings, used experimental or quasi-experimental research designs, and used a learning outcome measure to evaluate the effects of the virtual reality-based instruction. Results suggest games (FEM 1⁄4 0.77; REM 1⁄4 0.51), simulations (FEM 1⁄4 0.38; REM 1⁄4 0.41), and virtual worlds (FEM 1⁄4 0.36; REM 1⁄4 0.41) were effective in improving learning outcome gains. The homogeneity analysis of the effect sizes was statistically significant, indicating that the studies were different from each other. Therefore, we conducted moderator analysis using 13 variables used to code the studies. Key findings included that: games show higher learning gains than simulations and virtual worlds. For simulation studies, elaborate explanation type feedback is more suitable for declarative tasks whereas knowledge of correct response is more appropriate for procedural tasks. Students performance is enhanced when they conduct the game play individually than in a group. In addition, we found an inverse relationship between number of treatment sessions learning gains for games. With regards to the virtual world, we found that if students were repeatedly measured it deteriorates their learning outcome gains. We discuss results to highlight the importance of considering instructional design principles when designing virtual reality-based instruction. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Differences in the topographic profiles of retinal thickening in eyes with and without serous macular detachment associated with diabetic macular oedema.

PURPOSE
To investigate if cases of diabetic macular oedema (DMO) associated with serous macular detachment (SMD) have a different topographic profile of retinal thickening compared with DMO cases not associated with SMD.


METHODS
Optical coherence tomography scans of 152 eyes from 152 patients with centre-involving DMO and central subfield thickness >350 µm were identified. Measurements were taken of the neural retina at the highest point of thickening within the central subfield (H) and lateral extent of retina thicker than 350 µm (W). Group means were compared between eyes with SMD and eyes without SMD.


RESULTS
SMD was present in 55 eyes (36%). H was lower in eyes with SMD than in eyes without SMD (396 µm vs 550 µm, p<0.001) while W was higher in eyes with SMD compared with eyes without SMD (4.74 mm vs 4.18 mm, p=0.011).


CONCLUSIONS
There were distinct differences in topographical profiles of retinal thickening between eyes with SMD and eyes without SMD. These findings suggest a possible mechanical basis for the pathogenesis of SMD in DMO.
Knowledge sharing behavior in virtual communities: The relationship between trust, self-efficacy, and outcome expectations

There has been a growing interest in examining the factors that support or hinder one’s knowledge sharing behavior in the virtual communities. However, still very few studies examined them from both personal and environmental perspectives. In order to explore the knowledge sharing behaviors within the virtual communities of professional societies, this study proposed a social cognitive theory (SCT)-based model that includes knowledge sharing self-efficacy and outcome expectations for personal influences, and multidimensional trusts for environmental influences. The proposed research model was then evaluated with structural equation modeling, and confirmatory factor analysis was also applied to test if the empirical data conform to the proposed model. r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
MicroRNA-146a and Ets-1 gene polymorphisms in ocular Behcet's disease and Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome.

AIM
MicroRNA-146a (miR-146a) is involved in certain immune-mediated diseases. Transcription factor Ets-1 strongly affects miR-146a promoter activity and directly regulates miR-146a expression. This study was performed to investigate the association of miR-146a and Ets-1 gene polymorphisms with Behçet's disease (BD) and Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease in a Chinese Han population.


METHODS
A total of 809 patients with BD, 613 patients with VKH and 1132 normal controls were genotyped for miR-146a/rs2910164, rs57095329 and rs6864584, Ets-1/rs1128334 and rs10893872 using a PCR restriction fragment length polymorphism assay. miR-146a expression was examined in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) by real-time PCR. Cytokine production by PBMCs was measured by ELISA.


RESULTS
A significantly decreased frequency of the homozygous rs2910164 CC genotype and C allele was observed in patients with BD compared with controls (pc(a)=1.24×10(-5), OR 0.61; pc(a)=1.33×10(-4), OR 0.75, respectively). MiR-146a expression in GG cases was 2.45-fold and 1.99-fold higher, respectively, than that in CC cases and GC cases. There was no association of the other four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with BD. There was also no association of these five SNPs with its main clinical features. No associations were found with the five SNPs tested or with its clinical manifestations in VKH disease. Interleukin (IL)-17, tumour necrosis factor (TNF)α and IL-1β production from rs2910164 CC cases was markedly lower than that in GG cases. No effect of genotype was observed on IL-6 and monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1 production and IL-8 expression was slightly higher in CC cases.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study identified a strong association of rs2910164 of miR-146a with BD in a Chinese population and decreased expression of miR-146a and certain proinflammatory cytokines in individuals carrying the CC genotype.
Vertical display oscillation effects on forward vection and simulator sickness.

BACKGROUND
The current study investigated the effects that vertical display oscillation had on the development of both vection and simulator sickness.


METHODS
There were 16 subjects who were exposed to optic flow displays which simulated either: 1) constant velocity forward self-motion (pure radial flow); or 2) combined constant velocity forward and vertically oscillating self-motion (radial flow with vertical oscillation at one of three frequencies: 1.8, 3.7, or 7.4 Hz). During each 10-min display exposure, subjects rated the strength of their vection and eight symptoms listed on the Subjective Symptoms of Motion Sickness (SSMS) scale at 2-min intervals. Subjects also completed the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ) designed by Kennedy and colleagues before and after each trial, which generated a total SSQ score and three SSQ subscores (nausea, oculomotor symptoms, and disorientation).


RESULTS
Vertically oscillating displays (mean = 5.51; SD = 2.5) were found to produce significantly stronger vection ratings than non-oscillating displays (mean = 3.56; SD = 2.1). Vertically oscillating displays (mean = 58.18; SD = 32.2) were also found to produce significantly more severe sickness (as rated by total SSQ scores) than non-oscillating displays (mean = 29.67; SD = 24.7). Both vection and sickness symptoms increased in magnitude with prolonged exposure to optic flow.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings appear to represent a special case in visual self-motion perception where high-frequency vertical oscillation both enhances vection and increases simulator sickness when it is incorporated into an optic flow display simulating constant velocity self-motion in depth.
When and Why are Pre-trained Word Embeddings Useful for Neural Machine Translation?

The performance of Neural Machine Translation (NMT) systems often suffers in lowresource scenarios where sufficiently largescale parallel corpora cannot be obtained. Pretrained word embeddings have proven to be invaluable for improving performance in natural language analysis tasks, which often suffer from paucity of data. However, their utility for NMT has not been extensively explored. In this work, we perform five sets of experiments that analyze when we can expect pre-trained word embeddings to help in NMT tasks. We show that such embeddings can be surprisingly effective in some cases – providing gains of up to 20 BLEU points in the most favorable setting.1