LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
A Multicenter Trial of Remote Ischemic Preconditioning for Heart Surgery.

BACKGROUND
Remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) is reported to reduce biomarkers of ischemic and reperfusion injury in patients undergoing cardiac surgery, but uncertainty about clinical outcomes remains.


METHODS
We conducted a prospective, double-blind, multicenter, randomized, controlled trial involving adults who were scheduled for elective cardiac surgery requiring cardiopulmonary bypass under total anesthesia with intravenous propofol. The trial compared upper-limb RIPC with a sham intervention. The primary end point was a composite of death, myocardial infarction, stroke, or acute renal failure up to the time of hospital discharge. Secondary end points included the occurrence of any individual component of the primary end point by day 90.


RESULTS
A total of 1403 patients underwent randomization. The full analysis set comprised 1385 patients (692 in the RIPC group and 693 in the sham-RIPC group). There was no significant between-group difference in the rate of the composite primary end point (99 patients [14.3%] in the RIPC group and 101 [14.6%] in the sham-RIPC group, P=0.89) or of any of the individual components: death (9 patients [1.3%] and 4 [0.6%], respectively; P=0.21), myocardial infarction (47 [6.8%] and 63 [9.1%], P=0.12), stroke (14 [2.0%] and 15 [2.2%], P=0.79), and acute renal failure (42 [6.1%] and 35 [5.1%], P=0.45). The results were similar in the per-protocol analysis. No treatment effect was found in any subgroup analysis. No significant differences between the RIPC group and the sham-RIPC group were seen in the level of troponin release, the duration of mechanical ventilation, the length of stay in the intensive care unit or the hospital, new onset of atrial fibrillation, and the incidence of postoperative delirium. No RIPC-related adverse events were observed.


CONCLUSIONS
Upper-limb RIPC performed while patients were under propofol-induced anesthesia did not show a relevant benefit among patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery. (Funded by the German Research Foundation; RIPHeart ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01067703.).
HZ 166 , a novel GABAA receptor subtype-selective benzodiazepine site ligand , is antihyperalgesic in mouse models of inflammatory and neuropathic pain

Diminished GABAergic and glycinergic inhibition in the spinal dorsal horn contributes significantly to chronic pain of different origins. Accordingly, pharmacological facilitation of GABAergic inhibition by spinal benzodiazepines (BDZs) has been shown to reverse pathological pain in animals as well as in human patients. Previous studies in GABA(A) receptor point-mutated mice have demonstrated that the spinal anti-hyperalgesic effect of classical BDZs is mainly mediated by GABA(A) receptors containing the α2 subunit (α2-GABA(A) receptors), while α1-GABA(A) receptors, which mediate the sedative effects, do not contribute. Here, we investigated the potential analgesic profile of HZ166, a new partial BDZ-site agonist with preferential activity at α2and α3-GABA(A) receptors. HZ166 showed a dose-dependent anti-hyperalgesic effect in mouse models of neuropathic and inflammatory pain, triggered by chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the sciatic nerve and by subcutaneous injection of the yeast extract zymosan A, respectively. This antihyperalgesic activity was antagonized by flumazenil and hence mediated via the [...] DI LIO, Alessandra, et al. HZ166, a novel GABAA receptor subtype-selective benzodiazepine site ligand, is antihyperalgesic in mouse models of inflammatory and neuropathic pain. Neuropharmacology, 2011, vol. 60, no. 4, p. 626-32 DOI : 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2010.11.026
3D Model Analysis of Ankle Flexion on Anatomic Reduction of a Syndesmotic Injury.

BACKGROUND
The effect of ankle positioning during suture-button fixation for syndesmosis repair on range of motion (ROM) and anatomic reduction has yet to be investigated. The purpose of this cadaveric study was to compare the effects of 3 different ankle positions during suture-button repair on volumetric reduction of the syndesmosis, fibular displacement, and ROM of the ankle using 3-dimensional computed tomography (CT) analysis. The null hypothesis was that ankle position during fixation would not affect syndesmotic volume restoration, fibular displacement, or ROM.


METHODS
Twelve matched pair (n = 24) human cadaveric specimens were used for this study. Prior to syndesmotic sectioning, ROM assessment and CT scans were performed. Following sectioning of the syndesmosis, specimens were repaired in plantarflexion, dorsiflexion, or neutral, and simulated postrepair ROM evaluations and CT scans were repeated. Least squares mean differences between repair groups and the preinjury state were compared by analysis of variance and Tukey's method.


RESULTS
There were no significant differences between repair groups for volumetric reduction ( P = .917), fibular displacement (anterior-posterior, P = .805; medial-lateral, P = .949), or dorsiflexion capacity ( P = .249). Among all specimens, compared with the preinjury state, there was a significant mean ± SD volume reduction of 337 ± 400 mm3 and medial displacement of 1.9 ± 1.5 mm.


CONCLUSION
This study failed to reject the null hypothesis and demonstrated that ankle flexion at the time of syndesmotic fixation with a suture-button construct had no significant in vitro effect on volume changes, fibular displacement, or dorsiflexion capacity. However, in comparison to the preinjured state, suture-button repair resulted in significant overcompression with respect to syndesmosis volume and medial displacement of the fibula.


CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Ankle position at the time of syndesmotic fixation did not affect overall ankle ROM when using a suture-button construct; however, overcompression was observed in all positions. The clinical impact of syndesmotic overcompression remains largely unknown.
One-year outcome of patients with atrial fibrillation undergoing coronary artery stenting: an analysis of the AFCAS registry.

BACKGROUND
Most evidence regarding the efficacy and safety of the antithrombotic regimens for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention with stent (PCI-S) derives from small, single-center, retrospective datasets. To obtain further data on this issue, we carried out the prospective, multicenter, observational Management of patients with Atrial Fibrillation undergoing Coronary Artery Stenting (AFCAS) registry (Clinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT00596570).


HYPOTHESIS
We hypothesize that the antithrombotic treatment of AF patients undergoing PCI-S is variable and the clinical outcome may vary according to the different regimens.


METHODS
Consecutive AF patients undergoing PCI-S at 17 European institutions were included and followed for 1 year. Outcome measures included: (1) major adverse cardiac/cerebrovascular events (MACCE), including all-cause death, myocardial infarction, repeat revascularization, stent thrombosis, or stroke/transient ischemic attack, and (2) bleeding, and were compared according to the antithrombotic regimen adopted. A propensity-score analysis was carried out to adjust for baseline and procedural differences.


RESULTS
Out of the 975 patients enrolled, 914 were included in the final analysis. The mean CHADS2 score was 2.2 ± 1.2, and 71% of patients had a CHADS2 score ≥2. Triple therapy (TT) of vitamin K antagonist (VKA), aspirin, and clopidogrel was prescribed to 74% of patients, dual antiplatelet therapy to 18%, and VKA plus clopidogrel to 8%. At 1-year follow-up, no significant differences were found in the occurrence of MACCE and bleeding among the 3 antithrombotic regimens, even when adjusted for propensity score.


CONCLUSIONS
In this large, real-world population of AF patients undergoing PCI-S, TT was the antithrombotic regimen most frequently prescribed. Although several limitations need to be acknowledged, in our study the 1-year efficacy and safety of TT, dual antiplatelet therapy, and VKA plus clopidogrel was comparable.
Women Also Snowboard: Overcoming Bias in Captioning Models

Most machine learning methods are known to capture and exploit biases of the training data. While some biases are beneficial for learning, others are harmful. Specifically, image captioning models tend to exaggerate biases present in training data (e.g., if a word is present in 60% of training sentences, it might be predicted in 70% of sentences at test time). This can lead to incorrect captions in domains where unbiased captions are desired, or required, due to over-reliance on the learned prior and image context. In this work we investigate generation of gender-specific caption words (e.g. man, woman) based on the person’s appearance or the image context. We introduce a new Equalizer model that encourages equal gender probability when gender evidence is occluded in a scene and confident predictions when gender evidence is present. The resulting model is forced to look at a person rather than use contextual cues to make a gender-specific prediction. The losses that comprise our model, the Appearance Confusion Loss and the Confident Loss, are general, and can be added to any description model in order to mitigate impacts of unwanted bias in a description dataset. Our proposed model has lower error than prior work when describing images with people and mentioning their gender and more closely matches the ground truth ratio of sentences including women to sentences including men. Finally, we show that our model more often looks at people when predicting their gender. 1
A parent completed questionnaire to describe the patterns of wheezing and other respiratory symptoms in infants and preschool children.

AIM
To develop a standardised and validated respiratory symptom questionnaire for use in epidemiological or follow up studies in infants and preschool children.


METHODOLOGY
After initial design and development, the questionnaire was administered to two cohorts of subjects, one recruited from a respiratory clinic and the other from a postnatal ward. The two cohorts then repeated the questionnaire, two weeks apart. The qualities of the questionnaire were assessed.


RESULTS
Response rate to the initial questionnaire was 100% for the clinic based cohort and 64% for postnatally recruited families (total number of subjects 114). Questions showed good to moderate short term reliability (weighted kappa scores 0.47-0.7; average correct classification rates 0.74-0.91). Four domain concept scores showed excellent internal consistency (Cronbach alpha scores 0.87-0.95). Using principal component factor analysis, four new domains were devised showing acceptable construct validity and internal consistency. Criterion validity was assessed using a respiratory physician based diagnosis of asthma (RPBDA) as the gold standard for comparison. All eight scales in the questionnaire could significantly distinguish between infants with RPBDA and well or mildly symptomatic subjects.


CONCLUSION
We have developed a practical, acceptable questionnaire with eight concept domains for use in infants and preschool children. The questionnaire has strong construct validity and internal consistency with good short term reliability of questions. More detailed study of criterion validity and the responsiveness of the questionnaire is required using a larger population and including children with the different phenotypes of wheezy illness.
Synthesis of silver nanoparticles using Nelumbo nucifera leaf extract and its larvicidal activity against malaria and filariasis vectors

The aim of this study was to investigate the larvicidal potential of the hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, acetone, methanol, and aqueous leaf extracts of Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. (Nymphaeaceae) and synthesized silver nanoparticles using aqueous leaf extract against fourth instar larvae of Anopheles subpictus Grassi and Culex quinquefasciatus Say (Diptera: Culicidae). Nanoparticles are being used in many commercial applications. It was found that aqueous silver ions can be reduced by aqueous extract of plant parts to generate extremely stable silver nanoparticles in water. The results recorded from UV–vis spectrum, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared support the biosynthesis and characterization of silver nanoparticles. Larvae were exposed to varying concentrations of plant extracts and synthesized silver nanoparticles for 24 h. All extracts showed moderate larvicidal effects; however, the maximum efficacy was observed in crude methanol, aqueous, and synthesized silver nanoparticles against the larvae of A. subpictus (LC50 = 8.89, 11.82, and 0.69 ppm; LC90 = 28.65, 36.06, and 2.15 ppm) and against the larvae of C. quinquefasciatus (LC50 = 9.51, 13.65, and 1.10 ppm; LC90 = 28.13, 35.83, and 3.59 ppm), respectively. These results suggest that the leaf methanol, aqueous extracts of N. nucifera, and green synthesis of silver nanoparticles have the potential to be used as an ideal eco-friendly approach for the control of the A. subpictus and C. quinquefasciatus. This is the first report on the mosquito larvicidal activity of the plant extracts and synthesized nanoparticles.
Evaluating the drug use "gateway" theory using cross-national data: consistency and associations of the order of initiation of drug use among participants in the WHO World Mental Health Surveys.

BACKGROUND
It is unclear whether the normative sequence of drug use initiation, beginning with tobacco and alcohol, progressing to cannabis and then other illicit drugs, is due to causal effects of specific earlier drug use promoting progression, or to influences of other variables such as drug availability and attitudes. One way to investigate this is to see whether risk of later drug use in the sequence, conditional on use of drugs earlier in the sequence, changes according to time-space variation in use prevalence. We compared patterns and order of initiation of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and other illicit drug use across 17 countries with a wide range of drug use prevalence.


METHOD
Analyses used data from World Health Organization (WHO) World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys, a series of parallel community epidemiological surveys using the same instruments and field procedures carried out in 17 countries throughout the world.


RESULTS
Initiation of "gateway" substances (i.e. alcohol, tobacco and cannabis) was differentially associated with subsequent onset of other illicit drug use based on background prevalence of gateway substance use. Cross-country differences in substance use prevalence also corresponded to differences in the likelihood of individuals reporting a non-normative sequence of substance initiation.


CONCLUSION
These results suggest the "gateway" pattern at least partially reflects unmeasured common causes rather than causal effects of specific drugs on subsequent use of others. This implies that successful efforts to prevent use of specific "gateway" drugs may not in themselves lead to major reductions in the use of later drugs.
Accelerating the reduction to upper Hessenberg form through hybrid GPU-based computing

We present a Hessenberg reduction (HR) algorithm for hybrid multicore + GPU systems that gets more than 16× performance improvement over the current LAPACK algorithm running just on current multicores (in double precision arithmetic). This enormous acceleration is due to proper matching of algorithmic requirements to architectural strengths of the hybrid components. The reduction itself is an important linear algebra problem, especially with its relevance to eigenvalue problems. The results described in this paper are significant because Hessenberg reduction has not yet been accelerated on multicore architectures, and it plays a significant role in solving nonsymmetric eigenvalue problems. The approach can be applied to the symmetric problem and in general, to two-sided matrix transformations. The work further motivates and highlights the strengths of hybrid computing: to harness the strengths of the components of a hybrid architecture to get significant computational acceleration which otherwise may have been impossible.
S3-P3: Advanced no-field-plate AlGaN/GaN hemts for millimeter-wave MMIC applications

We report successful development of an advanced no-field-plate AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) for millimeter-wave (MMW) applications. The HEMT adopts a reduced source-drain spacing of 2 μm and the 0.2-μm gate is placed 0.5 μm off the source electrode. Additionally, the devices and monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) are fabricated on the SiC substrate of 2mil, enabling the fabrication of 15 μm × 25 μm slot via holes for realizing low inductance and more compact devices to facilitate MMW MMIC design. As a result, the narrow band MMICs have achieved an output power of 10.4 W with associated power added efficiency (PAE) of 31% at 28 GHz, and 10.7W and 27% at 36 GHz, respectively. Besides, a state-of-the-art 2-stage single-ended wideband MMIC demonstrates output power of 5-7.9 W and associated PAE of 13-21% from low K-band to high Ka-band.
GSM-Bluetooth based Remote Monitoring and Control System with Automatic Light Controller

In past few years, home automation & remote control and monitoring systems have seen a rapid growth in terms of technology. This paper gives a review of these systems based on existing technologies and also proposes a GSM-Bluetooth based light controller and remote monitoring system. This system has simple features designed with the objective of minimum power consumption using infrared sensor for controlling lights, fans and other appliances which are controlled via SMS using a GSM module. A Bluetooth module is also interfaced with the main microcontroller chip. This Bluetooth module eliminates the usage charges by communicating with the appliances via Bluetooth when the application is in a limited range of few meters. The system informs user about any abnormal conditions like intrusion detection and temperature rise via SMS from the GSM module or by Bluetooth module to the user's mobile and actions are taken accordingly by the user.
De novo assembly and genotyping of variants using colored de Bruijn graphs

Detecting genetic variants that are highly divergent from a reference sequence remains a major challenge in genome sequencing. We introduce de novo assembly algorithms using colored de Bruijn graphs for detecting and genotyping simple and complex genetic variants in an individual or population. We provide an efficient software implementation, Cortex, the first de novo assembler capable of assembling multiple eukaryotic genomes simultaneously. Four applications of Cortex are presented. First, we detect and validate both simple and complex structural variations in a high-coverage human genome. Second, we identify more than 3 Mb of sequence absent from the human reference genome, in pooled low-coverage population sequence data from the 1000 Genomes Project. Third, we show how population information from ten chimpanzees enables accurate variant calls without a reference sequence. Last, we estimate classical human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genotypes at HLA-B, the most variable gene in the human genome.
Antioxidant and pro-oxidant properties of chlorhexidine and its interaction with calcium hydroxide solutions.

AIM
To evaluate the antioxidant and pro-oxidant properties of chlorhexidine (CHX).


METHODOLOGY
The scavenging and generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by CHX in the presence or absence of saturated Ca(OH)(2) solutions was evaluated. The reaction emitted chemiluminescence in the presence of lucigenin thus was determined by a luminometer to evaluate the levels of ROS production. Changes in DNA conformation were analysed by agarose gel electrophoresis. Paired Student's t-test was used to compare the difference between groups.


RESULTS
Chlorhexidine (0.00002-0.02%) effectively scavenged 56-88% of the superoxide radicals generated by the xanthine/xanthine oxidase reaction. Through analysis of PUC18 DNA conformation changes, CHX was shown to be a mild scavenger of hydroxyl radicals generated by H(2)O(2) plus FeCl(2). However, CHX (>0.083%) decreased the mobility of PUC18 plasmid DNA with potential production of DNA-DNA cross-link and severe DNA breaks (presence of DNA smear) at further higher concentrations. Furthermore, CHX induced ROS production including H(2)O(2) and superoxide radicals in 0.1N NaOH (pH = 12.76) or Ca(OH)(2) (pH = 12.5) solutions.


CONCLUSION
Chlorhexidine exhibited both antioxidant and pro-oxidant properties under different conditions. These events are possibly involved in the killing of root canal and periodontal microorganisms when CHX and Ca(OH)(2) were used in combination or separately. Potential genotoxicity and tissue damage when extruded into the periradicular tissue and at higher concentrations should be considered during periodontal and endodontic practice.
OPUS study: suicidal behaviour, suicidal ideation and hopelessness among patients with first-episode psychosis. One-year follow-up of a randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND
Patients with first-episode psychosis comprise a high-risk group in terms of suicide.


AIMS
To identify predictive factors for suicidal behaviour and to examine the effect of integrated treatment on suicidal behaviour and hopelessness.


METHOD
A total of 341 patients with a first-episode schizophrenia-spectrum disorder were randomised to integrated treatment or treatment as usual.


RESULTS
During the 1-year follow-up period, 11% attempted suicide. This was associated with female gender, hopelessness, hallucinations and suicide attempt reported at baseline, with the two latter variables being the only significant ones in the final multivariate model. The integrated treatment reduced hopelessness.


CONCLUSIONS
Hallucinations and suicide attempt before inclusion in the study were the most significant predictors of suicide attempt in the follow-up period.
A prospective study of the management of non-massive pulmonary embolism in the home.

BACKGROUND
The objective of this study is to compare the characteristics, outcomes, and clinical complications of patients with pulmonary embolism (PE) who were treated at home as outpatients versus traditional hospitalization.


METHODS
Prospective study from January 2006 to June 2007. Selected patients diagnosed at the Emergency Department with stable non-massive pulmonary embolism that met standard inclusion criteria of Hospital at Home (HH) were treated at home. Patients that did not meet these criteria were admitted to Conventional Hospitalization (CH). Major and minor bleeding, re-thrombosis, clinical course, unexpected returns to hospital, and need for hospital re-admission in the following 3 months were recorded.


RESULTS
61 patients with PE were included (30 HH and 31 CH). Mean age 66.8 and 66.7 years in HH and CH, respectively. A history of neoplasm was found to be present in 13.3% and 9.7% of HH and CH patients. In the CH group, 19.3% of patients had prior thromboembolic disease. Concomitant DVT was seen in 40% and 29% of HH and CH patient. Pulmonary embolism was bilateral in 30% and 38.7% of HH and CH patients. No major bleeding, re-thrombosis, or death occurred. The home treatment was successfully completed in 100% of the patients. Three patients in the CH group had hospital-acquired infections.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with stable non-massive pulmonary embolism may be safely treated under conditions of home hospitalization.