LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Heterogeneity of phenotypes in severe asthmatics. The Belgian Severe Asthma Registry (BSAR).

UNLABELLED
The Belgian severe asthma registry is a web-based registry encompassing demographic, clinical, functional and inflammatory data of severe asthmatics (SA), aiming at improving awareness, knowledge on its natural history and subphenotypes, and offering tools to optimize care of this asthma population.


METHODS
The cross-sectional analyses of this registry included 350 SA as defined by the ATS (2000) from 9 Belgian centres, with at least one year follow up.


RESULTS
Mean age was 55 ± 14 yrs. SA were more frequently female (57%) and atopic (70%). Late-onset asthma (≥40 yr) was observed in 31% of SA. Current smokers represented 12% while 31% were ex-smokers. In addition to high doses ICS + LABA, 65% of patients were receiving LTRA, 27% anti-IgE and 24% maintenance oral corticosteroids (8 mg (Interquartile range-IQR:4-8) methylprednisolone). Despite impaired airflow (median FEV1:67%; IQR: 52-81) only 65% had a post-bronchodilator FEV1/FVC ratio <70%. The median blood eosinophil count was 240/mm³. The median FENO was 26 ppb (IQR: 15-43) and 22% of SA had FENO ≥ 50 ppb. Induced sputum was successful in 86 patients. Eosinophilic asthma (sputum Eos ≥ 3%) was the predominant phenotype (55%) while neutrophilic (sputum Neu ≥ 76%) and paucigranulocytic asthma accounted for 22% and 17% respectively. Comorbidities included rhinitis and chronic rhinosinusitis (49%), nasal polyposis (19%), oesophageal reflux (36%), overweight and obesity (47%) and depression (19%). In addition, 8% had aspirin-induced asthma and 3% ABPA. Asthma was not well-controlled in 83% according to ACT < 20 and 77% with ACQ > 1.5.


CONCLUSION
In this cohort of patients with severe asthma, the majority displayed indices of persistent airflow limitation and eosinophilic inflammation despite high-dose corticosteroids, suggesting potential for eosinophil-targeted biotherapies.
Pharmacokinetics of Mirabegron, a β3-Adrenoceptor Agonist for Treatment of Overactive Bladder, in Healthy Japanese Male Subjects: Results from Single- and Multiple-Dose Studies

BACKGROUND
Mirabegron is a human β3-adrenoceptor agonist for the treatment of overactive bladder. The pharmacokinetic profile of mirabegron has been extensively characterized in healthy Caucasian subjects.


OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to evaluate the pharmacokinetics, dose-proportionality, and tolerability of mirabegron following single and multiple oral doses in healthy Japanese male subjects. The results were compared with those reported in non-Japanese (primarily Caucasian) subjects.


METHODS
Two studies were conducted. In a single-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, single- and multiple-ascending dose study (Study 1), mirabegron oral controlled absorption system (OCAS) tablets were administered at single doses of 50, 100, 200, 300, and 400 mg, with eight subjects (six active, two placebo) per dose group (Part I), and once daily for 7 days at 100 and 200 mg with 12 subjects (eight active, four placebo) per group (Part II). In an open-label, three-period, single-ascending dose study (Study 2), mirabegron OCAS was administered to 12 subjects at 25, 50, and 100 mg in an intra-subject dose-escalation design. Plasma and/or urine samples were collected up to 72 h after the first and last dose and analyzed for mirabegron. Pharmacokinetic parameters were determined using non-compartmental methods. Tolerability assessments included physical examinations, vital signs, 12-lead electrocardiogram, clinical laboratory tests (biochemistry, hematology, and urinalysis), and adverse event (AE) monitoring.


RESULTS
Forty and 24 young male subjects completed Part I and II, respectively, of Study 1. Twelve young males completed Study 2. After single oral doses (25-400 mg), maximum plasma concentrations (C max) were reached at approximately 2.8-4.0 h postdose. Plasma exposure (C max and area under the plasma concentration-time curve) of mirabegron increased more than dose proportionally at single doses of 25-100 mg and approximately dose proportionally at high doses of 300 and 400 mg. A more than dose proportional increase in plasma exposure was noted in the body of the same individual. Mirabegron accumulated twofold upon once-daily dosing relative to single-dose data. Steady state was reached within 7 days. Mirabegron was generally well-tolerated at single doses up to 400 mg and multiple doses up to 200 mg. The AE with the highest incidence was increased pulse rate at 400 mg in Study 1.


CONCLUSIONS
Mirabegron OCAS exhibits similar single- and multiple-dose pharmacokinetic characteristics and deviations from dose proportionality in healthy Japanese male subjects compared with those observed in non-Japanese (primarily Caucasian) subjects in previous studies.
Organisational Context and Citizenship Behaviour: Exploring the Moderating Effects of Role Ambiguity

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of organisational context on the organisational citizenship behaviour. The study also aimed at finding out the moderating effect of the role ambiguity on the relationship between organisational context (i.e. structure) and the organisational citizenship behaviour. Data from 280 respondents were used in the statistical analysis. Covariance-Based Structural Equation Modelling was used to test the hypotheses. The study revealed that structure has a significant positive effect on organisational citizenship behaviour. The interaction of organisational structure and role ambiguity has a significant positive effect on organisational citizenship behaviour. Statistical analysis confirmed that role ambiguity is a significant moderator of the relationship between organisational structure and organisational citizenship behaviour. Keyword: Organisational context; role ambiguity; organisational citizenship behaviour
Family discord, parental depression, and psychopathology in offspring: ten-year follow-up.

OBJECTIVE
To determine the independent effects of parental depression and family discord on psychopathology in offspring at high and low risk for major depression.


METHOD
One hundred eighty-two offspring of depressed or nondepressed parents were followed over 10 years. In direct interviews, parents' and offspring's psychopathology was evaluated by raters blind to parents' clinical status. Five dimensions of family discord-poor marital adjustment, parent-child discord, low family cohesion, affectionless control, and parental divorce-were assessed.


RESULTS
Offspring exposed to either parental depression or family discord had higher rates of psychopathology than their counterparts. High-risk offspring had few family discord measures associated with their psychopathology; in low-risk offspring, family discord was associated with all offspring diagnoses. Between the two risk factors, parental depression proved a more important predictor for offspring major depressive disorder (MDD) and anxiety disorder, whereas family discord was a more important predictor for substance use disorder.


CONCLUSIONS
Parental depression is a strong and consistent risk factor for offspring MDD and anxiety disorder. Without parental depression, offspring have less exposure to family discord and lower rates of psychopathology. In the presence of family discord, rates of MDD, anxiety disorder and substance use disorder increased. When offspring matured into young adulthood, effects of parental depression and family discord persisted.
The set of types of a finitely generated variety

Abstract The paper presents an algorithm of polynomial time complexity to compute the type set of a finite algebraic system A , as defined in the monograph of McKenzie and Hobby: ‘The Structure of Finite Algebras’. To do so, it introduces the concept of a subtrace, and uses subtraces to characterize the type set of A . It is also shown that to calculate the type set of the variety generated by A is more difficult, by presenting various examples, in which a given type occurs only in subalgebras of high powers of A .
Saturated Fat: Part of a Healthy Diet.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW
Despite the American public following recommendations to decrease absolute dietary fat intake and specifically decrease saturated fat intake, we have seen a dramatic rise over the past 40 years in the rates of non-communicable diseases associated with obesity and overweight, namely cardiovascular disease. The development of the diet-heart hypothesis in the mid twentieth century led to faulty but long-held beliefs that dietary intake of saturated fat led to heart disease. Saturated fat can lead to increased LDL cholesterol levels, and elevated plasma cholesterol levels have been shown to be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease; however, the correlative nature of their association does not assign causation.


RECENT FINDINGS
Advances in understanding the role of various lipoprotein particles and their atherogenic risk have been helpful for understanding how different dietary components may impact CVD risk. Numerous meta-analyses and systematic reviews of both the historical and current literature reveals that the diet-heart hypothesis was not, and still is not, supported by the evidence. There appears to be no consistent benefit to all-cause or CVD mortality from the reduction of dietary saturated fat. Further, saturated fat has been shown in some cases to have an inverse relationship with obesity-related type 2 diabetes. Rather than focus on a single nutrient, the overall diet quality and elimination of processed foods, including simple carbohydrates, would likely do more to improve CVD and overall health. It is in the best interest of the American public to clarify dietary guidelines to recognize that dietary saturated fat is not the villain we once thought it was.
Electrical Initiation of Solidification and Preservation of Supercooled State for Sodium Acetate Trihydrate

Electrical initiation of solidification from supercooled state and preservation of supercooled state of sodium acetate trihydrate solution, which is considered as a promising thermal energy storage material, are experimentally investigated with varying the configuration of electrodes and confirmed that the initiation of solidification and preservation of supercooled state are both possible by using the electric field. Further, effect of crystal growth direction on crystal growth rate is also investigated by using the newly developed electrical nucleation method. The result shows that the crystal growth rate, which growth direction is bottom to top, is slightly decreased compared with the direction of top to bottom at certain supercooling temperature range.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
Big Data - Security and Privacy

The paper introduces a research agenda for security and privacy in big data. The paper discusses research challenges and directions concerning data confidentiality, privacy, and trustworthiness in the context of big data. Key research issues discussed in the paper include how to reconcile security with privacy, the notion of data ownership, and how to enforce access control in big data stores.
Proof, Completeness, Transcendentals, and Sampling

This paper considers informally the relationship between computer aided mathematical proof, formal algebraic languages, computation with transcendental numbers, and proof by sampling.
Development of a reliable self-report outcome measure for pragmatic trials of communication therapy following stroke: the Communication Outcome after Stroke (COAST) scale.

OBJECTIVE
To develop and validate a clinically feasible measure of communication effectiveness for people with any type of communication problem following stroke.


DESIGN
Cross-sectional, interview-based, psychometric study, building on the development phase for construction of the Communication Outcome after Stroke (COAST) scale.


SETTING
A community sample from the northwest of England, UK.


SUBJECTS
One hundred and two people with communication problems (aphasia and/or dysarthria) following a stroke, within the previous 4-12 months.


INTERVENTIONS
Administration of the COAST scale, on two occasions, within a two-week period, and collection of demographic and other data relating to disability, degree of aphasia (where appropriate) and hospital diagnosis of aphasia/dysarthria.


MAIN MEASURES
Acceptability (missing values), reliability (internal consistency and test-retest reliability) and item analysis (item redundancy).


RESULTS
Ninety-seven (visit 1) and 98 (visit 2) respondents provided usable data for the psychometric analysis. The 29-item COAST scale showed good acceptability (few missing values, sample spread 28-100%), internal consistency and test-retest reliability for the scale (alpha = 0.95; ICC = 0.90) and its subscales (alpha = 0.65-0.93; ICC = 0.72-0.88), but possible item redundancy. A revised scale of 20 items was produced, demonstrating good internal consistency and test-retest reliability (alpha = 0.83-92; ICC = 0.72-0.88).


CONCLUSIONS
The COAST is a patient-centred, practical and reliable measure that can be used to assess self-perceived communication effectiveness for people with aphasia and/or dysarthria. Further testing on construct validity and responsiveness to change is needed before the measure can be firmly recommended for use within clinical practice and research.
Does religious involvement protect against early drinking? A behavior genetic approach.

BACKGROUND
Adolescent involvement in religious organizations has been hypothesized to protect against early age at first drink. However, the correlation between adolescent religiosity and later age at first drink may be confounded by environmental or genetic differences between families. This study tests whether, after controlling for shared environmental and genetic confounds using a behavior genetic design, the association between individual levels of religiosity and earlier age at first drink is still evident.


METHOD
Twin and sibling pairs were drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a nationally-representative sample of US adolescents. Age at first drink was measured as how old adolescents were when they first had a drink of beer, wine, or liquor. Religiosity was measured using four items concerning frequency of religious activities and importance of religious beliefs. Using twins and siblings who were discordant for religiosity, analyses tested whether religious adolescents had a later age at first drink than their non-religious co-twins/co-siblings.


RESULTS
Religious adolescents did not differ from their non-religious siblings in their mean age at first drink. Results from survival models indicate that environmental differences between families completely account for the correlation between religiosity and later age at first drink.


CONCLUSIONS
Results suggest that individual religious involvement is a proxy variable for family or cultural environments that are salient for when adolescents initiate alcohol use. Future research is needed to identify specific protective environments in religious families. These results have implications for both public policy and etiological theory.
Islamic views on artificial nutrition and hydration in terminally ill patients.

Withholding and withdrawing artificial nutrition and hydration from terminally ill patients poses many ethical challenges. The literature provides little information about the Islamic beliefs, attitudes, and laws related to these challenges. Artificial nutrition and hydration may be futile and reduce quality of life. They can also harm the terminally ill patient because of complications such as aspiration pneumonia, dyspnea, nausea, diarrhea, and hypervolemia. From the perspective of Islam, rules governing the care of terminally ill patients are derived from the principle that injury and harm should be prevented or avoided. The hastening of death by the withdrawal of food and drink is forbidden, but Islamic law permits the withdrawal of futile, death-delaying treatment, including life support. Nutritional support is considered basic care and not medical treatment, and there is an obligation to provide nutrition and hydration for the dying person unless it shortens life, causes more harm than benefit, or is contrary to an advance directive that is consistent with Islamic law. The decision about withholding or withdrawing artificial nutrition and hydration from the terminally ill Muslim patient is made with informed consent, considering the clinical context of minimizing harm to the patient, with input from the patient, family members, health care providers, and religious scholars.
Retrieval Practice and Study Planning in MOOCs: Exploring Classroom-Based Self-regulated Learning Strategies at Scale

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are successful in delivering educational resources to the masses, however, the current retention rates — well below 10% — indicate that they fall short in helping their audience become effective MOOC learners. In this paper, we report two MOOC studies we conducted in order to test the effectiveness of pedagogical strategies found to be beneficial in the traditional classroom setting: retrieval practice (i.e. strengthening course knowledge through actively recalling information) and study planning (elaborating on weekly study plans). In contrast to the classroom-based results, we do not confirm our hypothesis, that small changes to the standard MOOC design can teach MOOC learners valuable self-regulated learning strategies.
A Complementary Switched MOSFET Architecture for the 1/f Noise Reduction in Linear Analog CMOS ICs

We present a novel principle for 1/f noise reduction in linear analog CMOS ICs. The principle is experimentally demonstrated for a two-stage CMOS Miller operational amplifier in a standard 0.12-mum, 1.5-V digital CMOS technology. A threefold 1/f noise reduction (5 dB) is achieved at 10 Hz compared with a reference circuit. The impact of the principle on the circuit performance is investigated
Removing the regional level from the Niger vaccine supply chain.

OBJECTIVE
Since many of the world's vaccine supply chains contain multiple levels, the question remains of whether removing a level could bring efficiencies.


METHODS
We utilized HERMES to generate a detailed discrete-event simulation model of Niger's vaccine supply chain and compared the current four-tier (central, regional, district, and integrated health center levels) with a modified three-tier structure (removing the regional level). Different scenarios explored various accompanying shipping policies and frequencies.


FINDINGS
Removing the regional level and implementing a collection-based shipping policy from the district stores increases vaccine availability from a mean of 70-100% when districts could collect vaccines at least weekly. Alternatively, implementing a delivery-based shipping policy from the central store monthly in three-route and eight-route scenarios only increases vaccine availability to 87%. Restricting central-to district vaccine shipments to a quarterly schedule for three-route and eight-route scenarios reduces vaccine availability to 49%. The collection-based shipping policy from district stores reduces supply chain logistics cost per dose administered from US$0.14 at baseline to US$0.13 after removing the regional level.


CONCLUSION
Removing the regional level from Niger's vaccine supply chain can substantially improve vaccine availability as long as certain concomitant adjustments to shipping policies and frequencies are implemented.
Effects on office and home blood pressure of the lercanidipine-enalapril combination in patients with Stage 2 hypertension: a European randomized, controlled clinical trial

OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of combinations of lercanidipine (L) and enalapril (E) at different doses on office and home blood pressure (BP) in patients with Stage 2 hypertension.


STUDY DESIGN
This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, factorial study conducted in 100 centres from seven countries. Patients with office DBP 100-109 mmHg and home DBP at least 85 mmHg at the end of a 2-week placebo run-in period were randomized to a 10-week treatment with placebo, L (10 or 20 mg), E (10 or 20 mg) or the four L-E combinations. The efficacy parameters were office DBP at trough (primary), SBP at trough and home SBP and DBP. Office BP was measured at each visit in both the sitting and the standing position, while home BP was measured twice in the morning and twice in the evening for at least 3 days before treatment and at study end. Safety parameters included adverse events, laboratory tests and 12-lead ECG.


RESULTS
A total of 1039 patients were randomized (48% men, mean age 54 years, mean BMI 30 kg/m, 40% obese patients). Baseline BP was similar in all groups and lower for home than for office values (149/95 and 159/103 mmHg, respectively). A marked placebo effect was observed on office but not on home BP. Combination therapy was superior to placebo at all doses for both office and home BP. The greatest effect was observed in the L20/E20 group, in which the SBP/DBP fall amounted to -19.2/-15.2 and -13.2/-7.5 mmHg for sitting office and home BP, respectively. Similar reductions were observed on standing office BP. The L20/E20 combination was associated with less cough, palpitations and leg oedema than monotherapies, with no increased rate of dizziness or hypotension.


CONCLUSION
In Stage 2 hypertension, a fixed-dose combination of L and E ensures a control of both office and out-of-office BP, with a favourable tolerability profile.
Perceptual learning: learning to see

Perceptual learning in vision has been found to be highly specific for simple stimulus attributes, implying highly specific modifications in the nervous system. The type of specificity found (location, orientation, eye) implied plasticity at very early stages of visual processing, where processing modules were believed to be hard-wired and task independent. Recent studies show, however, that learning is task dependent. Studies examining the time course of learning indicate that at least two different learning processes are involved in perceptual learning, reflecting different levels of processing. Perceptual learning appears to be governed by associative rules and to be constrained by system architecture.
Transcriptomics and microbial eukaryote diversity: a way forward.

Recent reviews have pointed out the large proportion of microbial eukaryotic (protist) diversity that has yet to be described, and the enormous challenges that accompany its description [1]. The ∼100 000 species [2] of microbial eukaryotes may be significantly underestimated if we continue to discover increasing numbers of cryptic species. Tools such as environmental sequencing, which have been highly successful in revealing novel lineages of uncultured bacteria and archaea, promise to add substantial new data for comparatively little effort [1].
MACHINE LEARNING TECHNIQUES FOR BRAIN-COMPUTER INTERFACES

This review discusses machine learning methods and their application to Brain-Computer Interfacing. A particular focus is placed on feature selection. We also point out common flaws when validating machine learning methods in the context of BCI. Finally we provide a brief overview on the Berlin-Brain Computer Interface (BBCI).
Symbolic execution for software testing: three decades later

The challenges---and great promise---of modern symbolic execution techniques, and the tools to help implement them.