LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Statins in abdominal surgery: a systematic review.

l l Statins (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A [HMGCoA] or HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors) are the most commonly prescribed class of lipid-lowering drugs. In addiion to their established role in the medical management of ardiovascular disease, benefits have also been demontrated in cardiac and vascular surgery, where they have een shown to decrease cardiovascular complications nd reduce perioperative mortality. These cardioprotective effects also extend to the wider surgical population, with similar benefits seen in noncardiovascular surgical settings. Interestingly, some cardiovascular benefits of statins precede any substantial reduction in cholesterol levels or preexisting atheroma. Thishasbeenattributed to theadditional ffects of statins that extend beyond cholesterol-lowering, includng anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, immunomodulatory, and ibrinolytic properties. The mechanism behind these holesterol-independent or pleiotropic effects of statins is ecoming increasingly recognized. Through inhibition of he HMG-CoA reductase enzyme, statins inhibit the conersion of HMG-CoA to mevalonate and important downtream isoprenoids, such as farnesyl pyrophosphate and eranyl-geranyl pyrophosphate. In addition to reducing holesterol synthesis, inhibition of these intermediate molcules decreases isoprenylation of important signaling molcules, such as RhO and Ras, which leads to modulation of arious cellular activities (Fig. 1). These effects on ellular function are considered the basis for the observed holesterol-independent effects of statins (Table 1). Along with their cardioprotective effects, these pleiotroic properties are relevant to the general surgical populaion and there is growing evidence that statins can offer articular benefits in abdominal surgery. Laboratory tudies have demonstrated the relevance of these pleiotroic effects to abdominal surgery, with statins improving
Current and projected rates of hip fracture in Canada.

OBJECTIVE
To determine the current values and estimate the projected values (to the year 2041) for annual number of proximal femoral fractures (PFFs), age-adjusted rates of fracture, rates of death in the acute care setting, associated length of stay (LOS) in hospital, and seasonal variation by sex and age in elderly Canadians.


DESIGN
Hospital discharge data for fiscal year 1993-94 from the Canadian Institute for Health Information were used to determine PFF incidence, and Statistics Canada population projections were used to estimate the rate and number of PFFs to 2041.


SETTING
Canada.


PARTICIPANTS
Canadian patients 65 years of age or older who underwent hip arthroplasty.


OUTCOME MEASURES
PFF rates, death rates and LOS by age, sex and province.


RESULTS
In 1993-94 the incidence of PFF increased exponentially with increasing age. The age-adjusted rates were 479 per 100,000 for women and 187 per 100,000 for men. The number of PFFs was estimated at 23,375 (17,823 in women and 5552 in men), with a projected increase to 88,124 in 2041. The rate of death during the acute care stay increased exponentially with increasing age. The death rates for men were twice those for women. In 1993-94 an estimated 1570 deaths occurred in the acute care setting, and 7000 deaths were projected for 2041. LOS in the acute care setting increased with advancing age, as did variability in LOS, which suggests a more heterogeneous case mix with advancing age. The LOS for 1993-94 and 2041 was estimated at 465,000 and 1.8 million patient-days respectively. Seasonal variability in the incidence of PFFs by sex was not significant. Significant season-province interactions were seen (p < 0.05); however, the differences in incidence were small (on the order of 2% to 3%) and were not considered to have a large effect on resource use in the acute care setting.


CONCLUSIONS
On the assumption that current conditions contributing to hip fractures will remain constant, the number of PFFs will rise exponentially over the next 40 years. The results of this study highlight the serious implications for Canadians if incidence rates are not reduced by some form of intervention.
Supporting the self-management of hypertension: Patients' experiences of using a mobile phone-based system

Globally, hypertension is poorly controlled and its treatment consists mainly of preventive behavior, adherence to treatment and risk-factor management. The aim of this study was to explore patients’ experiences of an interactive mobile phone-based system designed to support the self-management of hypertension. Forty-nine patients were interviewed about their experiences of using the self-management system for 8 weeks regarding: (i) daily answers on self-report questions concerning lifestyle, well-being, symptoms, medication intake and side effects; (ii) results of home blood-pressure measurements; (iii) reminders and motivational messages; and (iv) access to a web-based platform for visualization of the self-reports. The audio-recorded interviews were analyzed using qualitative thematic analysis. The patients considered the self-management system relevant for the follow-up of hypertension and found it easy to use, but some provided insight into issues for improvement. They felt that using the system offered benefits, for example, increasing their participation during follow-up consultations; they further perceived that it helped them gain understanding of the interplay between blood pressure and daily life, which resulted in increased motivation to follow treatment. Increased awareness of the importance of adhering to prescribed treatment may be a way to minimize the cardiovascular risks of hypertension.
Efficacy of an insomnia intervention on fatigue, mood and quality of life in breast cancer survivors.

AIM
This paper is a report of a study to describe the efficacy of cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia on fatigue, mood and quality of life in breast cancer survivors.


BACKGROUND
Women who receive primary treatment for breast cancer often complain of insomnia. Rarely evaluated in insomnia intervention studies is the effect of cognitive behavioural treatment on the psychosocial outcomes of fatigue, mood and quality of life.


METHOD
Data were collected between December 2002 and March 2004 with 72 women who were at least 3 months post-completion of primary treatment without current evidence of disease. Women were randomly assigned to either the cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia group, which received stimulus control instructions, sleep restriction therapy and sleep education and hygiene, or the component control group which received sleep education and hygiene only. The 10-week study consisted of 2 weeks of pre-treatment, 6 weeks of treatment and 2 weeks of post-treatment. Fatigue, mood and quality of life were measured at pre- and post-treatment.


FINDINGS
Women receiving cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia had significant improvements in fatigue, trait anxiety, depression and quality of life. The component control group also had statistically significant increases in quality of life, with a trend suggestive of lower depression at post-treatment.


CONCLUSION
Globally, as the number of survivors in this population continues to grow, it is imperative that nurses continue testing interventions that may positively affect quality of life and the commonly experienced symptoms of fatigue, anxiety and depression.
An Exploration of the Issue of Sexually Abusive Behaviour among Adolescents who have a Learning Disability

A service for young sexual abusers was required to undertake research into the sexually abusive behaviour of young people who have a learning disability. The rationale was that these young people are highly represented among services for young abusers nationally. The research sought to obtain the views of key multi-disciplinary professionals on their experience and opinions on this issue.
An evolutionary algorithm for multi-objective optimization of combustion processes

We study the optimization of the spatial distribution of fuel injection rates in a gas turbine burner. An automated procedure is implemented for the optimization. The procedure entails an evolutionary optimization algorithm and an automated interface for the modification of the parameters in the experimental setup for the fuel injection and for the post-processing. The evolutionary algorithm is capable of handling multiple objectives in a Pareto setup and of efficiently accounting for noise in the objective function. The parameterization considers eight analogue valves for controlling the fuel distribution, and the evaluation tool is an experimental test-rig for a gas turbine burner. A measurement chamber and a microphone are used to analyze the emissions and the pulsation of the burner, respectively. These two values are taken as objectives for the evolutionary algorithm. The algorithm is shown to converge to a Pareto front and the analysis of the resulting parameters elucidates further relevant physical processes.
Research on online payment mode of e-commerce

E-commerce is highlighted in the present Internet development, among which payment is its core issue. This paper, after analyzing the characteristics of online payment, gives a common online payment system model with emphasis on the discussion of the electronic credit card, electronic cash, and electronic check of three online payment modes and finally points out the respective application environment.
Single-pill combination therapy in the initial treatment of marked hypertension: a propensity-matched analysis.

BACKGROUND
Many drugs combinations are available and equally recommended for the initial treatment of patients with marked blood pressure (BP) elevation and high cardiovascular risk.


HYPOTHESIS
To investigate safety and efficacy of such combination therapies.


METHODS
Prospectively collected data were retrospectively reviewed, inclusion criteria were: initial single-pill combination therapy, availability of clinical and echocardiographic 6-month follow-up. Six treatment groups were identified: Enalapril 20 mg+ Hydrochlorothiazide 12.5 mg (E/H), E 20 mg + Lercanidipine 10 mg (E/L), Ramipril 2.5 mg+ H 12.5 mg (R/H), Perindopril 5 mg+ Amlodipine 5 mg (P/A), Olmesartan 40 mg+ H 12.5 mg (O/H) and Telmisartan 40 mg+ H 12.5 mg (T/H). To avoid selection bias a Propensity score (goodness of fit: c-statistic 0.78, p = 0.0001) was used to select comparable cohorts of patients (n = 142 each).


RESULTS
After 4 weeks of treatment BP goal was achieved by 624/852 (73.2%) patients, and adverse events were registered in 24/852 (2.8%) patients. After 6 months, 562/624 (90.1%) patients maintained the BP goal. Six-month responder rate was significantly higher in the E/L (69.0%) and P/A (68.3%) groups (p = 0.05); especially among diabetics (52.0% and 51.0%, respectively; p = 0.003). Patients receiving E/L (-19.8 ± 3.2 mmHg) and P/A (-19.9 ± 4.6 mmHg) showed greater reductions of diastolic BP (p = 0.03); whereas reductions of systolic BP were similar between treatment groups (p = 0.46). Echocardiographic follow-up revealed greater left ventricular reverse remodeling among patients receiving ACE-inhibitors (E/L, R/H, E/H and P/A), but this trend did not reach statistical significance.


CONCLUSIONS
Single-pill fixed-dose combination therapies are highly effective and safe in the study settings. Best clinical and echocardiographic outcomes were noted among patients receiving E/L, R/H and P/A.
The role of fibular tape in the prevention of ankle injury in basketball: A pilot study.

STUDY DESIGN
Prospective nonrandomized controlled trial.


OBJECTIVES
To determine the effect of fibular repositioning tape (FRT) on incidence and severity of ankle injury.


BACKGROUND
Pain and functional disability is common following ankle sprain and a major problem in sport. A novel method of taping, FRT, which has been described to prevent ankle sprain, requires less tape than traditional methods and is easier to apply. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of FRT on the incidence and severity of ankle injury in basketball.


METHODS AND MEASURES
One hundred twenty-five male basketball players were assigned at time of play to either the control (209 exposures) or FRT (224 exposures) condition in a manner of convenience. Control participants had the choice on the use and type of prophylaxis, excluding FRT. FRT participants were taped using the method described by Mulligan. Ankle injury data were collected after each exposure. Injury severity was determined by functional limitation, pain levels, and days to return to play.


RESULTS
Four hundred forty-three measured basketball exposures resulted in 11 ankle injuries. All injuries occurred in subjects with a history of previous ankle sprain. Significantly less ankle injuries were sustained by members of the FRT condition (n = 2), compared to members of the control condition (n = 9) (Fisher exact test, P = .03). The odds ratio of sustaining an ankle injury was 0.20 (P = .04; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.04, 0.93) when taped with FRT and the number needed to treat was 22 (95% CI, 12-312).


CONCLUSIONS
This study provides preliminary data regarding the prophylactic effects of FRT on ankle injury in male basketball players.
Experiments with Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning of Multiple Grasping Policies

Robotic grasping has attracted considerable interest, but it still remains a challenging task. The data-driven approach is a promising solution to the robotic grasping problem; this approach leverages a grasp dataset and generalizes grasps for various objects. However, these methods often depend on the quality of the given datasets, which are not trivial to obtain with sufficient quality. Although reinforcement learning approaches have been recently used to achieve autonomous collection of grasp datasets, the existing algorithms are often limited to specific grasp types. In this paper, we present a framework for hierarchical reinforcement learning of grasping policies. In our framework, the lowerlevel hierarchy learns multiple grasp types, and the upper-level hierarchy learns a policy to select from the learned grasp types according to a point cloud of a new object. Through experiments, we validate that our approach learns grasping by constructing the grasp dataset autonomously. The experimental results show that our approach learns multiple grasping policies and generalizes the learned grasps by using local point cloud information.
Causes and effects of teacher conflict-inducing attitudes towards pupils : a path analysis model

A model explaining several causes and consequences of negative teacher–pupil relationships was developed. Data from 109 teachers and 946 high school pupils was analyzed using path analysis. The results suggest that teachers who prefer a custodial approach of controlling pupils, who have lower morale due to school climate conditions and who are less likely to burn out, tend to adopt conflict-inducing attitudes towards pupils. The results also demonstrate a high incidence of educational, psychological and somatic complaints in students whose characterized teachers are perceived as more hostile in their attitude towards pupils. Implications of these findings are discussed. r 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Industrial robot capability models for agile manufacturing

Purpose – This paper aims to represent a capability model for industrial robot as they pertain to assembly tasks. Design/methodology/approach – The architecture of a real kit building application is provided to demonstrate how robot capabilities can be used to fully automate the planning of assembly tasks. Discussion on the planning infrastructure is done with the Planning Domain Definition Language (PDDL) for heterogeneous multi robot systems. Findings – The paper describes PDDL domain and problem files that are used by a planner to generate a plan for kitting. Discussion on the plan shows that the best robot is selected to carry out assembly actions. Originality/value – The author presents a robot capability model that is intended to be used for helping manufacturers to characterize the different capabilities their robots contribute to help the end user to select the appropriate robots for the appropriate tasks, selecting backup robots during robot’s failures to limit the deterioration of the system’s productivity and the products’ quality and limiting robots’ failures and increasing productivity by providing a tool to manufacturers that outputs a process plan that assigns the best robot to each task needed to accomplish the assembly.
Relevance of platinum-sensitivity status in relapsed/refractory extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer in the modern era: a patient-level analysis of southwest oncology group trials.

BACKGROUND
Extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients who progress after platinum-based chemotherapy are traditionally categorized as platinum sensitive (progression ≥ 90 days from last platinum dose) or refractory (progression < 90 days), a practice arising from seminal observations of worse survival in refractory patients. Subsequent trials accounted for platinum sensitivity, resulting in higher sample sizes and increased resource use.


METHODS
To assess whether platinum-sensitivity status remains associated with outcomes, patient-level data from recent Southwest Oncology Group trials in second- and/or third-line extensive-stage SCLC were pooled. Hazard ratios (HRs) for progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) accounting for platinum sensitivity were calculated using unadjusted and adjusted Cox Proportional Hazard models. Recursive partitioning was performed to define prognostic risk groups.


RESULTS
Of 329 patients, 151 were platinum sensitive and 178 refractory. HRs from unadjusted Cox PFS and OS models for refractory versus sensitive disease were 1.0 (95% confidence interval, 0.81-1.25; p = 0.98) and 1.24 (0.99-1.57; p = 0.06), respectively. Adjusted Cox models showed that only elevated serum lactate dehydrogenase (HR, 2.04; p < 0.001), males (HR, 1.36; p = 0.04), performance status of 1 (HR, 1.25; p = 0.02), and weight loss greater than or equal to 5% (1.53, p = 0.01) were independently associated with OS. Platinum-sensitivity status was not associated with PFS (HR, 1.11; p = 0.49) or OS (HR, 1.25; p = 0.14), except in a model that excluded 36 patients who received more than one prior chemotherapy regimen (HR, 1.34; p = 0.049). Prognostic groups with differential OS outcomes (high, intermediate, and poor risk) were identified.


CONCLUSIONS
Platinum-sensitivity status may no longer be strongly associated with PFS or OS in at least one multivariate model. Validation of prognostic risk groups identified here is warranted. These data have critical implications in the design of future SCLC trials.
A Tauberian Theorem for Stretchings

R. C. Buck fl] has shown that if a regular matrix sums every subsequence of a sequence x, then x is convergent. I. J. Maddox [4] improved Buck's theorem by showing that if a non-Schur matrix sums every subsequence of a sequence x, then x is convergent. Actually Maddox proved a stronger result: If x is divergent and A sums every subsequence of x, then A is a Schur matrix, i.e., It should be remarked that a matrix is a Schur matrix if and only if it sums every bounded sequence. In [3] we worked with stretchings of sequences, and obtained a result similar to Buck's theorem. The purpose of the present paper is to give a result on stretchings which is analogous to Maddox's theorem. Thus we have the THEOREM. / / x is a divergent complex sequence and A is a complex matrix which sums every stretching of x, then there exists N such that (i) a pq-> c q as p-» oo, q > N, 00 (ii) £ c q converges, q=N+l oo (iii) £ (a pq-c q)-> 0 as p-» oo. If D denotes the set of all matrices A such that for some N(A), (i), (ii), and (iii) hold for N = N(A), then our theorem can be formulated as a Tauberian theorem: If a non-D matrix sums every stretching of a sequence x, then x is convergent. We begin with a lemma which may be of independent interest. LEMMA. / / x is a sequence and A is a matrix with each Z a pq q = l convergent, then there exist a stretching x* of x and a row finite matrix A* such that if y is any stretching of x*, then Ay exists and Ay and A*y are either both convergent or
Extrusion/spheronization of pectin-based formulations. I. Screening of important factors

This study investigated the possibility of producing pectin-based pellets by extrusion/spheronization. The study also identified factors influencing the process and the characteristics of the resulting product. Three types of pectin with different degrees of amid and methoxyl substitution were studied in combination with different granulation liquids (water, calcium chloride, citric acid, and ethanol) and/or microcrystalline cellulose. Pellets were prepared in a power-consumption-controlled, twinscrew extruder; then they were spheronized and dried. The products were characterized by image analysis, sieving analysis, and disintegration and dissolution tests. The results were evaluated by multivariate analysis. Different additives, either in the granulation liquid or in the powder mixture, influenced the ability of the extruded mass to form pellets (the processability) with this technique. However, the various pectin types responded to modifications to a different extent. Short, nearly spherical pellets are obtained with granulation liquids, such as ethanol, that reduce the swelling ability of pectin. Pellets produced with ethanol are, however, mechanically weak and tend to ditintegrate. Pectin molecules with a high degree of free carboxylic acid groups seem to be more sensitive to changes in the granulation liquid. Addition of microcrystalline cellulose as an extrusion aid generally resulted in improvements in shape and size. It was demonstrated that the processability of pectin as well as the characteristics of the products can be influenced in different ways during the process (eg, adding substances to the granulation liquid or to the powder mixture).
Postfault Analysis of Operation of Distance Protective Relays of Power Transmission Lines

This paper deals with the postfault analysis of the operation of distance protective relays from the line terminals. The signals of the digital distance relays are processed in the offline regime with the aim of evaluating the particular relay operation case. First, the program enables imitating the fault-loop impedance measurements of the distance relays. Second, the two-end unsynchronized measurements of the relays are considered. The unknown synchronization angle is determined by using the developed noniterative procedure. Then, the distance to fault is calculated. It is applied for calculating the actual values of impedance for the line sections. Comparing the results of these two ways performs analysis of operation of the relays under resistive fault cases. The described postfault analysis algorithm has been tested with the fault data obtained from versatile Alternative Transients Program-Electromagnetic Transients Program simulations. The examples are reported and discussed
A short literature review on reward-based crowdfunding

In this short article, we discuss about a popular online fundraising method, named crowdfunding. One of the most useful types is reward-based crowdfunding, where the return is tangible products. We review related researches from three streams, the conceptual research, the empirical research, and the modelling research. Some possible research directions are also discussed in the paper.
Deep learning for anomaly detectionin multivariate time series data

Anomaly detection is crucial for the procactive detection of fatal failures of machines in industry applications. This thesis implements a deep learning algorithm for the task of anomaly detection in multivariate sensor data. The dataset is taken from a real-world application.