LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Cross-Sectional Study of Malnutrition and Associated Factors among School Aged Children in Rural and Urban Settings of Fogera and Libo Kemkem Districts, Ethiopia

INTRODUCTION
Little information is available on malnutrition-related factors among school-aged children ≥5 years in Ethiopia. This study describes the prevalence of stunting and thinness and their related factors in Libo Kemkem and Fogera, Amhara Regional State and assesses differences between urban and rural areas.


METHODS
In this cross-sectional study, anthropometrics and individual and household characteristics data were collected from 886 children. Height-for-age z-score for stunting and body-mass-index-for-age z-score for thinness were computed. Dietary data were collected through a 24-hour recall. Bivariate and backward stepwise multivariable statistical methods were employed to assess malnutrition-associated factors in rural and urban communities.


RESULTS
The prevalence of stunting among school-aged children was 42.7% in rural areas and 29.2% in urban areas, while the corresponding figures for thinness were 21.6% and 20.8%. Age differences were significant in both strata. In the rural setting, fever in the previous 2 weeks (OR: 1.62; 95% CI: 1.23-2.32), consumption of food from animal sources (OR: 0.51; 95% CI: 0.29-0.91) and consumption of the family's own cattle products (OR: 0.50; 95% CI: 0.27-0.93), among others factors were significantly associated with stunting, while in the urban setting, only age (OR: 4.62; 95% CI: 2.09-10.21) and years of schooling of the person in charge of food preparation were significant (OR: 0.88; 95% CI: 0.79-0.97). Thinness was statistically associated with number of children living in the house (OR: 1.28; 95% CI: 1.03-1.60) and family rice cultivation (OR: 0.64; 95% CI: 0.41-0.99) in the rural setting, and with consumption of food from animal sources (OR: 0.26; 95% CI: 0.10-0.67) and literacy of head of household (OR: 0.24; 95% CI: 0.09-0.65) in the urban setting.


CONCLUSION
The prevalence of stunting was significantly higher in rural areas, whereas no significant differences were observed for thinness. Various factors were associated with one or both types of malnutrition, and varied by type of setting. To effectively tackle malnutrition, nutritional programs should be oriented to local needs.
TRIAD VI: how well do emergency physicians understand Physicians Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST) forms?

BACKGROUND
Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) documents are active medical orders to be followed with intention to bridge treatment across health care systems. We hypothesized that these forms can be confusing and jeopardize patient safety.


OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study was to determine whether POLST documents are confusing in the emergency department setting and how confusion impacts the provision or withholding of lifesaving interventions.


METHODS
Members of the Pennsylvania chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians were surveyed between September and October 2013. Respondents were to determine code status and treatment decisions in scenarios of critically ill patients with POLST documents who emergently arrest. Combinations of resuscitations (do not resuscitate [DNR], cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and levels of treatment (full, limited, comfort measures) were represented. Responses were summarized as percentages and analyzed by subgroup using the Fisher exact test. P = 0.05 was considered significant. We defined confusion in response as absence of consensus (supermajority of 95%).


RESULTS
Our response rate was 26% (223/855). For scenarios specifying DNR and either full or limited treatment, most chose DNR (59%-84%) and 25% to 75% chose resuscitation. When the POLST specified DNR with comfort measures, 90% selected DNR and withheld resuscitation. When cardiopulmonary resuscitation/full treatment was presented, 95% selected "full code" and resuscitation. Physician age and experience significantly affected response rates; prior POLST education had no impact. In most scenarios depicted, responses reflected confusion over its interpretation.


CONCLUSIONS
Significant confusion exists among members of the Pennsylvania chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians regarding the use of POLST in critically ill patients. This confusion poses risk to patient safety. Additional training and/or safeguards are needed to allow patient choice as well as protect their safety.
Automatic pose estimation of 3D facial models

Pose estimation plays an essential role in many computer vision applications, such as human computer interaction (HCI), driver attentiveness monitoring, face recognition, automatic face model editing, etc. In this paper, we propose a geometric feature based pose estimation approach based on 3D facial models. By identifying two clusters of inner eye corners of a 3D facial model, we find the nose tip with the aid of a facial reference plane. Then, a symmetry plane is generated and the pose orientation can be estimated. Our proposed algorithm is robust with respect to different persons, large pose variations, different expressions, partial facial data missing, and non-facial outliers. All computation is based on the pure 3D mesh model of a face without texture information. We tested our approach using 1,200 3D raw facial models and 1,200 corresponding clean facial models, and achieved 92.1% and 96.4% correct pose estimation rate, respectively.
Toward brief “Red Flags” for autism screening: The Short Autism Spectrum Quotient and the Short Quantitative Checklist for Autism in toddlers in 1,000 cases and 3,000 controls [corrected].

OBJECTIVE
Frontline health professionals need a "red flag" tool to aid their decision making about whether to make a referral for a full diagnostic assessment for an autism spectrum condition (ASC) in children and adults. The aim was to identify 10 items on the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) (Adult, Adolescent, and Child versions) and on the Quantitative Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (Q-CHAT) with good test accuracy.


METHOD
A case sample of more than 1,000 individuals with ASC (449 adults, 162 adolescents, 432 children and 126 toddlers) and a control sample of 3,000 controls (838 adults, 475 adolescents, 940 children, and 754 toddlers) with no ASC diagnosis participated. Case participants were recruited from the Autism Research Centre's database of volunteers. The control samples were recruited through a variety of sources. Participants completed full-length versions of the measures. The 10 best items were selected on each instrument to produce short versions.


RESULTS
At a cut-point of 6 on the AQ-10 adult, sensitivity was 0.88, specificity was 0.91, and positive predictive value (PPV) was 0.85. At a cut-point of 6 on the AQ-10 adolescent, sensitivity was 0.93, specificity was 0.95, and PPV was 0.86. At a cut-point of 6 on the AQ-10 child, sensitivity was 0.95, specificity was 0.97, and PPV was 0.94. At a cut-point of 3 on the Q-CHAT-10, sensitivity was 0.91, specificity was 0.89, and PPV was 0.58. Internal consistency was >0.85 on all measures.


CONCLUSIONS
The short measures have potential to aid referral decision making for specialist assessment and should be further evaluated.
Blockchain Standards for Compliance and Trust

Blockchain methods are emerging as practical tools for validation, record-keeping, and access control in addition to their early applications in cryptocurrency. This column explores the options for use of blockchains to enhance security, trust, and compliance in a variety of industry settings and explores the current state of blockchain standards.
Efficacy of nebulized fluticasone propionate in adult patients admitted to the emergency department due to bronchial asthma attack.

BACKGROUND
Locally delivered steroids by inhalers or nebulizers have been shown in small trials to be effective in acute asthma attack, but evidence-based data are insufficient to establish their place as routine management of adult asthma attacks.


OBJECTIVES
To determine the efficacy of nebulized compared to systemic steroids in adult asthmatics admitted to the emergency department following an acute attack.


METHODS
Adult asthmatics admitted to the ED were assigned in random consecutive case fashion to one of three protocol groups: group 1--nebulized steroid fluticasone (Flixotide Nebules), group 2--intravenous methylprednisolone, group 3--combined treatment by both routes. Objective and subjective parameters, such as peak expiratory flow, oxygen saturation, heart rate and dyspnea score, were registered before and 2 hours after ED treatment was initiated. Steroids were continued for 1 week following the ED visit according to the protocol arm. Data on hospital admission/discharge rate, ED readmissions in the week after enrollment and other major events related to asthma were registered.


RESULTS
Altogether, 73 adult asthmatics were assigned to receive treatment: 24 patients in group 1, 23 in group 2 and 26 in group 3. Mean age was 44.4 +/- 16.8 years (range 17-75 years). Peak expiratory flow and dyspnea score significantly improved in group 1 patients compared with patients in the other groups after 2 hours of ED treatment (P = 0.021 and 0.009, respectively). The discharge rate after ED treatment was significantly higher in groups 1 and 3 than in group 2 (P = 0.05). All 73 patients were alive a week after enrollment. Five patients (20.8%) in the Flixotide treatment arm were hospitalized and required additional systemic steroids. Multivariate analysis of factors affecting hospitalization rate demonstrated that severity of asthma (odds ratio 8.11) and group 2 (OD 4.17) had a negative effect, whereas adherence to chronic anti-asthma therapy (OD 0.49) reduced the hospitalization rate.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study cohort showed the advantage of nebulized steroid fluticasone versus systemic corticosteroids in adult asthmatics managed in the ED following an acute attack. Both these and previous results suggest that nebulized steroids should be used, either alone or in combination with systemic steroids, to treat adults suffering acute asthma attack.
Contrast Enhancement Techniques for Images- A Visual Analysis

Image enhancement is one of the most interesting and visually appealing areas of image processing. It involves operations such as enhancing contrast, reducing noise for improving the quality of the image. This paper presents an analysis of the mathematical morphological approach with comparison to various other state-of-art techniques for addressing the problems of low contrast in images. Histogram equalization (HE) is one of the common methods used for improving contrast in digital images. This method is simple and effective for global contrast enhancement of images but it suffers from some drawbacks. Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization (CLAHE) enhances the local contrast of the images without the amplification of the noise. Morphological Contrast enhancement is performed using the white and black top-hat transformation. It can be performed at a single scale or at multiple scales of the structuring element. The structuring element can be of various shapes and sizes.
Association between body condition and survival in dogs with acquired chronic kidney disease.

BACKGROUND
Obesity in people with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with longer survival. The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship exists between body condition score (BCS) and survival in dogs with CKD.


HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES
Higher BCS is a predictor of prolonged survival in dogs with CKD.


ANIMALS
One hundred dogs were diagnosed with CKD (International Renal Interest Society stages II, III or IV) between 2008 and 2009.


METHODS
Retrospective case review. Data regarding initial body weight and BCS, clinicopathologic values and treatments were collected from medical records and compared with survival times.


RESULTS
For dogs with BCS recorded (n = 72), 13 were underweight (BCS = 1-3; 18%), 49 were moderate (BCS = 4-6; 68%), and 10 were overweight (BCS = 7-9; 14%). For dogs with at least 2 body weights recorded (n = 77), 21 gained weight, 47 lost weight, and 9 had no change in weight. Dogs classified as underweight at the time of diagnosis (median survival = 25 days) had a significantly shorter survival time compared to that in both moderate (median survival = 190 days; P < .001) and overweight dogs (median survival = 365 days; P < .001). There was no significant difference in survival between moderate and overweight dogs (P = .95).


CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE
Higher BCS at the time of diagnosis was significantly associated with improved survival. Further research on the effects of body composition could enhance the management of dogs with CKD.
Complex drug interactions of HIV protease inhibitors 2: in vivo induction and in vitro to in vivo correlation of induction of cytochrome P450 1A2, 2B6, and 2C9 by ritonavir or nelfinavir.

Drug-drug interactions (DDIs) with the HIV protease inhibitors (PIs) are complex, paradoxical (e.g., ritonavir/alprazolam), and involve multiple mechanisms. As part of a larger study to better understand these DDIs and to devise a framework for in vitro to in vivo prediction of these DDIs, we determined the inductive effect of ∼2 weeks of administration of two prototypic PIs, nelfinavir (NFV), ritonavir (RTV), and rifampin (RIF; induction positive control) on the cytochrome P450 enzymes CYP1A2, CYP2B6, CYP2C9, and CYP2D6 and the inductive or inductive plus inhibitory effect of NFV, RTV, or RIF on CYP3A and P-glycoprotein in healthy human volunteers. Statistically significant induction of CYP1A2 (2.1-, 2.9-, and 2.2-fold), CYP2B6 (1.8-, 2.4-, and 4-fold), and CYP2C9 (1.3-, 1.8-, and 2.6-fold) was observed after NFV, RTV, or RIF treatment, respectively (as expected, CYP2D6 was not induced). Moreover, we accurately predicted the in vivo induction of these enzymes by quantifying their induction by the PIs in human hepatocytes and by using RIF as an in vitro to in vivo scalar. On the basis of the modest in vivo induction of CYP1A2, CYP2B6, or CYP2C9, the in vivo paradoxical DDIs with the PIs are likely explained by mechanisms other than induction of these enzymes such as induction of other metabolic enzymes, transporters, or both.
Indexing by Latent Dirichlet Allocation and an Ensemble Model

The contribution of this paper is two-fold. First, we presen t indexing by Latent Dirichlet Allocation(LDI), an automatic document indexing method with a probabilistic concept search. The pr obability distributions in LDI utilizes those in Latent Dir ichlet Allocation (LDA), which is a generative topic model that has been pr eviously used in applications for document indexing tasks. However, those ad hoc applications, or their variants with smoothing techniques as prompted by previous studies in LDA-based lan guage modeling, would result in unsatisfactory performance as th e terms in documents may not properly reflect concept space. T o improve the performances, we introduce a new definition of docu ment probability vectors in the context of LDA and present a n ovel scheme for automatic document indexing based on it. Second, we propose an ensemble model (EnM) for document indexing. Th e EnM combines basis indexing models by assigning di fferent weights and tries to uncover the optimal weights with w hich the mean average precision (MAP) is maximized. To solve the optimiza tion problem, we propose three algorithms, EnM.B, EnM,CD an d EnM.PCD. EnM.B is derived based on the boosting method, EnM. CD the coordinate descent method, and EnM.PCD the parallel property of the EnM.CD. The results of our computational exp eriment on a benchmark data set indicate that both the propos ed approaches are viable options in the document indexing task s. c © 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Decompilation to Compiler High IR in a binary rewriter Kapil

A binary rewriter is a piece of software that accepts a binary executable program as input, and produces an improved executable as output. This paper describes the first technique in literature to decompile the input binary into an existing compiler’s high-level intermediate form (IR). The compiler’s back-end is then used to generate the output binary from the IR. Doing so enables the use of the rich set of compiler analysis and transformation passes available in mature compilers. It also enables binary rewriters to perform complex high-level transformations, such as automatic parallelization, not possible in existing binary rewriters. Certain characteristics of binary code pose a great challenge while translating a binary to a high-level compiler IR; these include the use of an explicitly addressed stack, lack of function prototypes and the lack of symbols. We present techniques to overcome these challenges. We have built a prototype binary rewriter called SecondWrite that uses LLVM, a widely-used compiler infrastructure, as our intermediate IR, and rewrites both x86 binaries. Our results show that SecondWrite accelerates un-optimized binaries by 27% on average for our benchmarks, and maintains the performance of already optimized binaries without any custom optimizations on our part. We also present two case studies for custom improvement – automatic parallelization and security – to exemplify the benefits and applications of a binary rewriter using a high IR.
A statistical approach to localize passive RFIDs

We suggest a novel method for localizing passive radio frequency identification (RFID) tags based on a Bayesian approach. The localization framework requires a suitable number of tag-readers deployed in the area under investigation and connected to antennas which, provided with rotation ability, perform the detection task by scanning each angular sector at different power levels. Since readers are programmed to detect tags at increasing transmitting power (and provide binary tag/no tag information), we take advantage of the reader interrogation results to develop a Bayesian model for tags localization. By testing the solution with off-the-shelf UHF tags were experimented the accuracy of the method that, in a 5mtimes4m environment, provides an average error in localization of about 0.6 meters. This without exploiting any a priori information of the location, orientation or the power delivered to the tag (since not available in actual tags) which would significantly improve localization accuracy
Association between use of β-blockers and prostate cancer-specific survival: a cohort study of 3561 prostate cancer patients with high-risk or metastatic disease.

BACKGROUND
We recently reported reduced prostate cancer (PCa)-specific mortality for β-blocker users among patients receiving androgen-deprivation therapy in a health survey cohort including 655 PCa patients. Information on clinical characteristics was limited.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the association between β-blockers and PCa-specific mortality in a cohort of 3561 prostate cancer patients with high-risk or metastatic disease, and to address potential confounding from the use of statins or acetylsalicylic acid (ASA).


DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
Clinical information from all men reported to the Cancer Registry of Norway with a PCa diagnosis between 2004 and 2009 (n=24 571) was coupled with information on filled prescriptions between 2004 and 2011 from the Norwegian Prescription Database. Exclusion criteria were low- or intermediate-risk disease; planned radiotherapy or radical prostatectomy; initiation of β-blocker, ASA, or statin use after diagnosis where applicable; missing information on baseline Gleason score, prostate-specific antigen level, T stage or performance status; and missing follow-up.


OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
Cox proportional hazards modelling and competing risk regression modelling were used to analyse the effects of β-blocker use on all-cause and PCa-specific mortality, respectively. Differences between β-blocker users and nonusers regarding baseline clinical characteristics were assessed by the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney U test, Pearson chi-square test, and Student t test.


RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS
Median follow-up was 39 mo. β-Blocker use was associated with reduced PCa mortality (adjusted subhazard ratio: 0.79; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.68-0.91; p value: 0.001). The observed reduction in PCa mortality was independent of the use of statins or ASA. We observed no association with all-cause mortality (adjusted hazard ratio: 0.92; 95% CI, 0.83-1.02). The main limitations of the study were the observational study design and short follow-up.


CONCLUSIONS
β-Blocker use was associated with reduced PCa-specific mortality in patients with high-risk or metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis. Our findings need validation from further observational studies.
The Disabilities of the Arm , Shoulder and Hand Questionnaire ( DASH ) can measure the International Classification of Functioning , Disability and Health ( ICF )

Background The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) model of the consequences of disease identifies three health outcomes, impairment, activity limitations and participation restrictions. However, few orthopaedic health outcome measures were developed with reference to the ICF. This study examined the ability of a valid and frequently used measure of upper limb function, namely the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand Questionnaire (DASH), to operationalise the ICF. Methods Twenty-four judges used the method of Discriminant Content Validation to allocate the 38 items of the DASH to the theoretical definition of one or more ICF outcome. Onesample t-tests classified each item as measuring, impairment, activity limitations, participation restrictions, or a combination thereof. Results The DASH contains items able to measure each of the three ICF outcomes with discriminant validity. The DASH contains five pure impairment items, 19 pure activity limitations items and three participation restriction items. In addition, seven items measured both activity limitations and participation restrictions. Conclusions The DASH can measure the three health outcomes identified by the ICF. Consequently the DASH could be used to examine the impact of trauma and subsequent interventions on each health outcome in the absence of measurement confound.
Effect of sevoflurane combination with epidural anesthesia on myocardial injury in patients with coronary artery disease undergoing non-cardiac surgery.

OBJECTIVE
To determine the effect of sevoflurane combination with epidural anesthesia on myocardial injury in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) undergoing non-cardiac surgery


METHODS
The investigation was performed in TianJin NanKai Hospital, TianJin, China from November 2009 to March 2010. Eighty patients with CAD undergoing elective abdominal surgery were randomized into 4 groups: group S1- combined sevoflurane general and epidural anesthesia; group S2 - standard sevoflurane general anesthesia; group P1 - combined propofol general and epidural anesthesia; and group P2 - standard propofol general anesthesia. Mean arterial pressure, central venous pressure, electrocardiogram, and bispectral index was monitored throughout the surgery. The serum levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8), tumor necrosis factor-alpha TNF-alpha, cardiac troponin I (cTnI), and glycogen phosphorylase BB (GP-BB) was measured at different time points during surgery.


RESULTS
The ST depression in group P1 and S2 was significantly higher than that in group S1 (p=0.000) and lower than that in group P2 (p=0.00). The serum levels of IL-6, IL-8, TNF-alpha, cTnI, and GP-BB in group P1 and S2 were dramatically greater than that in group S1 (p=0.00), and lower than that in group P2 (p=0.00).


CONCLUSION
Sevoflurane in combination with continuous epidural anesthesia could protect against myocardial damage in patients with CAD, downregulation of IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-alpha might contribute to this protection.