LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Absence of nasal bone in fetuses with trisomy 21 at second trimester of pregnancy

Objectives: To investigate the value of second-trimester ultrasound assessment of fetal nasal bone (NB) in predicting trisomy 21. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on the test results of pregnant women who received amniocentesis besides their anomaly scan due to various reasons at the Prenatal Diagnosis Center of Fudan University Obstetrics & Gynecology Hospital from January 2012 to January 2016. The ultrasound screening and chromosome screening results of fetuses with absent NBs were recorded. Results: The rate of NB absence in the fetus group with trisomy 21 was 8.43%, significantly higher than the rate of the euploid fetus group, 0.36% (P < 0.05). The rate of trisomy 21 in the fetus group with non-isolated NB absence was 87.5% (14/16), far higher than the rate of the group with isolated NB absence, 4.5% (1/22) (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Second-trimester ultrasound screening for absence of the fetal NB, especially for non-isolated NB absence is useful in detecting fetuses with trisomy 21.
Dental development in children with mild-to-moderate hypodontia.

INTRODUCTION
The aim of this study was to compare dental development in a group of children with mild-to-moderate hypodontia with a matched group.


METHODS
A study group of 70 children (43 girls, 27 boys) with hypodontia, aged 5.3 to 12.5 years, was matched for race, age, and sex with 140 healthy, normal control subjects. The children's dental ages were calculated by using a modified dental-age estimation method. Differences between dental and chronologic ages were analyzed by t tests, and the correlations between differences in dental and chronologic ages and the numbers of missing teeth were analyzed with the Spearman correlation test.


RESULTS
Dental development in children with mild-to-moderate hypodontia was significantly delayed compared with the control group (P <0.05); however, the mean difference did not exceed 0.3 years in either sex. No correlation was observed between the differences in dental and chronologic age and the severity of hypodontia.


CONCLUSIONS
Children with mild-to-moderate hypodontia had delayed dental development of a few months; this was statistically significant. Because of individual variations, each patient should be carefully examined.
Comparison of four-drug regimens and pairs of sequential three-drug regimens as initial therapy for HIV-1 infection.

BACKGROUND
It is unclear whether therapy for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) should be initiated with a four-drug or two sequential three-drug regimens.


METHODS
In this multicenter trial we compared initial therapy involving four-drug regimens containing efavirenz and nelfinavir in combination with either didanosine and stavudine or zidovudine and lamivudine with therapy involving two consecutive three-drug regimens the first of which contained either efavirenz or nelfinavir.


RESULTS
A total of 980 subjects were followed for a median of 2.3 years. There was no significant difference in the occurrence of regimen failures between the group that received the four-drug regimen containing didanosine, stavudine, nelfinavir, and efavirenz and the groups that received the three-drug regimens beginning with didanosine, stavudine, and nelfinavir (hazard ratio for regimen failure, 1.24) or didanosine, stavudine, and efavirenz (hazard ratio, 1.01). There was no significant difference between the group that received the four-drug regimen containing zidovudine, lamivudine, nelfinavir, and efavirenz and the groups that received the three-drug regimens beginning with zidovudine, lamivudine, and nelfinavir (hazard ratio, 1.06) or zidovudine, lamivudine, and efavirenz (hazard ratio, 1.45). A four-drug regimen was associated with a longer time to the first regimen failure than the three-drug regimens containing didanosine, stavudine, and nelfinavir (hazard ratio for a first regimen failure, 0.55); didanosine, stavudine, and efavirenz (hazard ratio, 0.63); or zidovudine, lamivudine, and nelfinavir (hazard ratio, 0.49), but not the three-drug regimen containing zidovudine, lamivudine, and efavirenz (hazard ratio, 1.21).


CONCLUSIONS
There was no significant difference in the duration of successful HIV-1 treatment between a single four-drug regimen and two consecutive three-drug regimens. Among these treatment strategies, initiating therapy with the three-drug regimen of zidovudine, lamivudine, and efavirenz is the optimal choice.
Efficient power estimation techniques for HW/SW systems

We present a power estimation framework for hardware/softw are System-On-Chip (SOC) designs based on concurrent and synchronized execution of a hardwar e simulator and an instruction set simulator. Concurrent execution of the simulators for diff erent parts of the system is necessary to obtain accurate input and execution traces, and hence accur ate power estimates. However, as in the case of hardware/software co-simulation, the communic ation and synchronization between the various simulators causes significant overhead. We describ two speedup techniques for addressing this issue –energy caching andpower macromodeling – that present interesting accuracy vs. efficiency tradeoffs. 1: Introduction Power analysis and optimization at the early stages of the de sign cycle is known to be a source of large power savings, and can lead to fewer and faster design i terations for designs with aggressive power consumption constraints. Several studies have shown that large power savings are possible through consideration of power consumption during systeml vel design. Previous work on power estimation and optimization has most ly focussed on estimating and optimizing power consumption separately during the implemen tation/design of the various individual system-on-chip components (hardware, software, memories , buses,etc.). Various power estimation and minimization techniques for hardware at the transistor , logic, architecture, and algorithm levels have been developed in the recent years, and are described in [2, 9, 1, 3, 11, 8]. Power analysis techniques for embedded software based on instruction-lev el characterization [18] and simulation of the underlying hardware [16] have been proposed. Only recently some work has been performed on exploration of system-level tradeoffs and optimizations whose effects transcend the individual componen t boundaries. The problem of allocating, and assigning tasks from the system specification to process rs from a given candidate set to minimize power while satisfying hard real-time constraints wa s addressed in [10]. The synthesis of
A Concurrent Perspective on Smart Contracts

In this paper, we explore remarkable similarities between multi-transactional behaviors of smart contracts in cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum and classical problems of shared-memory concurrency. We examine two real-world examples from the Ethereum blockchain and analyzing how they are vulnerable to bugs that are closely reminiscent to those that often occur in traditional concurrent programs. We then elaborate on the relation between observable contract behaviors and well-studied concurrency topics, such as atomicity, interference, synchronization, and resource ownership. The described contracts-as-concurrentobjects analogy provides deeper understanding of potential threats for smart contracts, indicate better engineering practices, and enable applications of existing state-of-the-art formal verification techniques.
Planned cesarean section versus planned vaginal delivery: comparison of lower urinary tract symptoms

We compared the prevalence and risk of lower urinary tract symptoms in healthy primiparous women in relation to vaginal birth or elective cesarean section 9 months after delivery. We performed a prospective controlled cohort study including 220 women delivered by elective cesarean section and 215 by vaginal birth. All subjects received an identical questionnaire on lower urinary tract symptoms in late pregnancy, at 3 and 9 months postpartum. Two hundred twenty subjects underwent elective cesarean section, and 215 subjects underwent vaginal delivery. After childbirth, the 3-month questionnaire was completed by 389/435 subjects (89%) and the 9-month questionnaire by 376/435 subjects (86%). In the vaginal delivery cohort, all lower urinary tract symptoms increased significantly at 9 months follow-up. When compared to cesarean section, the prevalence of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) after vaginal delivery was significantly increased both at 3 (p < 0.001) and 9 months (p = 0.001) follow-up. In a multivariable risk model, vaginal delivery was the only obstetrical predictor for SUI [relative risk (RR) 8.9, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.9–42] and for urinary urgency (RR 7.3 95% CI 1.7–32) at 9 months follow-up. A history of SUI before pregnancy (OR 5.2, 95% CI 1.5–19) and at 3 months follow-up (OR 3.9, 95% CI 1.7–8.5) were independent predictors for SUI at 9 months follow-up. Vaginal delivery is associated with an increased risk for lower urinary tract symptoms 9 months after childbirth when compared to elective cesarean section.
Social networking, knowledge sharing, and student learning: The case of university students

The recent development of social networking brought new opportunities not only for socializing and marketing but also for knowledge sharing and learning. As the social computing technology is relatively new, a review of literature revealed lack of research on the impact of ways of using social networking sites (SNS) on knowledge sharing and learning among tertiary students. This paper aims to empirically examine the various categories of SNS use including: chatting and online discussion, creating knowledge and information content, file sharing, and enjoyment and entertainment by tertiary students at a University in Saudi Arabia. It will investigate the impact of these categories of SNS use on knowledge sharing and learning performance. We adopted a cross sectional survey questionnaire for data collection, and received 308 valid responses from a sample of students that include graduates and undergraduates. The results show that there are significant positive relationships between both chatting and online discussion and file sharing and knowledge sharing, and entertainment and enjoyment with student learning. The paper concludes with a discussion of the limitations and implications of this study, along with directions for further research. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Hybrid Atrial Fibrillation Ablation: Current Status and a Look Ahead.

Treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF) has evolved significantly during the last 3 decades. Successful surgical AF ablation was developed by the pioneering work of Dr James Cox in 1987 resulting in the development of the Coxmaze (CM) procedure.1 Further experience and incorporation of ablation technology allowed subsequent modifications to increase efficacy and decrease morbidity, resulting in the latest iteration—the CM IV.2 Despite the excellent results of open SA of AF, its widespread use has been limited by its morbidity, especially for standalone surgical procedures. Ablation lines from alternate energy sources to replace many of the surgical incisions in the cut and sew maze led to a thoracoscopic, minimally invasive, off-pump beating heart approach.1 Minimally invasive thoracoscopic surgery may improve on the results of AF catheter ablation but may not be as effective as open surgery because of limitations in creating transmural lesions in roof and floor of the left atrial posterior wall in some patients.3 In 1998, the observation by Haïssaguerre et al2 that the pulmonary veins (PVs) serve as common sources of AF triggers in patients with paroxysmal AF paved the way for catheter AF ablation (CA) using radiofrequency energy. Although CA is associated with relatively low morbidity, it has been characterized by higher AF recurrence rates, especially in persistent and long-standing persistent AF.4 Because thoracoscopic SA and CA interventions may lead to incomplete isolation of the PVs and the posterior wall of left atrium, a hybrid option combining these 2 techniques was developed. The so-called hybrid strategies proposed to increase procedural success. In fact, single-center studies have demonstrated that catheter ablation may be effective in completing some of the lines created by the thoracoscopicbased SA procedure.5 Hybrid AF ablations in various centers have been variable in terms of surgical approach (thorascopic versus pericardioscopic), lesion sets applied by surgeon and electrophysiologist, timing of the staged procedures, type of energy used, exclusion of left atrial appendage (LAA), and the rigor and length of patient follow-up (Table 1). Despite the presence of observational data supporting the safety and efficacy of this approach, lack of prospective trials and the remaining unanswered questions temper its widespread use. This article will review the evidence behind hybrid AF ablation and provide a rationale for the US Food and Drug Administration–sponsored prospective multicenter trials to provide more meaningful data on the safety and efficacy of hybrid approaches to AF ablation.
Deep breathing heart rate variability is associated with inspiratory muscle weakness in chronic heart failure.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
There is a synchronism between the respiratory and cardiac cycles. However, the relationship of inspiratory muscle weakness in chronic heart failure (CHF) on cardiac autonomic modulation is unknown. The purpose of the present investigation was to evaluate the impact of inspiratory muscle strength on the magnitude of respiratory sinus arrhythmia.


METHODS
Ten CHF (62 ± 7 years--left ventricle eject fraction of 40 ± 5% and New York Heart Association class I-III) and nine matched-age healthy volunteers (64 ± 5 years) participated in this study. Heart rate variability (HRV) was obtained at rest and during deep breathing manoeuvre (DB-M) by electrocardiograph.


RESULTS
CHF patients demonstrated impaired cardiac autonomic modulation at rest and during DB-M when compared with healthy subjects (p < 0.05). Moreover, significant and positive correlations between maximal inspiratory pressure and inspiratory-expiratory differences (r = 0.79), expiratory/inspiratory ratio (r = 0.83), root mean square of the successive differences (r = 0.77), standard deviation of NN intervals (r = 0.77), low frequency (r = 0.77), and high frequency (r = 0.70) were found during DB-M. At rest, significant correlations were found also.


CONCLUSION
Patients with CHF presented impaired cardiac autonomic modulation at rest. In addition, cardiac autonomic control of heart rate was associated with inspiratory muscle weakness in CHF. Based on this evidence, recommendations for future research applications of respiratory muscle training can bring to light a potentially valuable target for rehabilitation.
A Comprehensive Light-Source Description for Computer Graphics

For realistic simulation it is necessary to thoroughly define and describe light-source characteristics¿especially the light-source geometry and the luminous intensity distribution.
Food insecurity and housing instability in vulnerable families

Reducing the prevalence of household food insecurity has been a long-standing objective of the federal government. Previous research has found many negative consequences of food insecurity for families and households but has not examined its relationship with housing instability. Using longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, difference-in-difference models show that food insecurity is associated with housing instability. The association remains statistically significant after accounting for potential selection and unobserved heterogeneity using propensity score matching and excluding households that experienced prior housing instability from the sample. Examining potential mediating factors, I find that material hardship explains about half of this association. These findings suggest that maintaining a strong social safety net would reduce the risk that families experience material hardship and housing instability, which may also reduce the risk of homelessness.
Does the aldosterone: renin ratio predict the efficacy of spironolactone over bendroflumethiazide in hypertension? A clinical trial protocol for RENALDO (RENin-ALDOsterone) study

BACKGROUND
High blood pressure is an important determinant of cardiovascular disease risk. Treated hypertensives do not attain a risk level equivalent to normotensives. This may be a consequence of suboptimal blood pressure control to which indiscriminate use of antihypertensive drugs may contribute. Indeed the recent ALLHAT1study suggests that thiazides should be given first to virtually all hypertensives. Whether this is correct or whether different antihypertensive therapies should be targeted towards different patients is a major unresolved issue, which we address in this study. The measurement of the ratio of aldosterone: renin is used to identify hypertensive subjects who may respond well to treatment with the aldosterone antagonist spironolactone. It is not known if subjects with a high ratio have aldosteronism or aldosterone-sensitive hypertension is debated but it is important to know whether spironolactone is superior to other diuretics such as bendroflumethiazide in this setting.


METHODS/DESIGN
The study is a double-blind, randomised, crossover, controlled trial that will randomise 120 hypertensive subjects to 12 weeks treatment with spironolactone 50 mg once daily and 12 weeks treatment with bendroflumethiazide 2.5 mg once daily. The 2 treatment periods are separated by a 2-week washout period. Randomisation is stratified by aldosterone: renin ratio to include equal numbers of subjects with high and low aldosterone: renin ratios. Primary Objective--To test the hypothesis that the aldosterone: renin ratio predicts the antihypertensive response to spironolactone, specifically that the effect of spironolactone 50 mg is greater than that of bendroflumethiazide 2.5 mg in hypertensive subjects with high aldosterone: renin ratios. Secondary Objectives--To determine whether bendroflumethiazide induces adverse metabolic abnormalities, especially in subjects with high aldosterone: renin ratios and if baseline renin measurement predicts the antihypertensive response to spironolactone and/or bendrofluazide.


DISCUSSION
The numerous deleterious effects of hypertension dictate the need for a systematic approach for its treatment. In spite of various therapies, resistant hypertension is widely prevalent. Among various factors, primary aldosteronism is an important cause of resistant hypertension and is now more commonly recognised. More significantly, hypertensives with primary aldosteronism are also exposed to various other deleterious effects of excess aldosterone. Hence treating hypertension with specific aldosterone antagonists may be a better approach in this group of patients. It may lead on to better blood pressures with fewer medications.
Antimicrobial biocides in the healthcare environment: efficacy, usage, policies, and perceived problems

Biocides are heavily used in the healthcare environment, mainly for the disinfection of surfaces, water, equipment, and antisepsis, but also for the sterilization of medical devices and preservation of pharmaceutical and medicinal products. The number of biocidal products for such usage continuously increases along with the number of applications, although some are prone to controversies. There are hundreds of products containing low concentrations of biocides, including various fabrics such as linen, curtains, mattresses, and mops that claim to help control infection, although evidence has not been evaluated in practice. Concurrently, the incidence of hospital-associated infections (HAIs) caused notably by bacterial pathogens such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) remains high. The intensive use of biocides is the subject of current debate. Some professionals would like to see an increase in their use throughout hospitals, whereas others call for a restriction in their usage to where the risk of pathogen transmission to patients is high. In addition, the possible linkage between biocide and antibiotic resistance in bacteria and the role of biocides in the emergence of such resistance has provided more controversies in their extensive and indiscriminate usage. When used appropriately, biocidal products have a very important role to play in the control of HAIs. This paper discusses the benefits and problems associated with the use of biocides in the healthcare environment and provides a constructive view on their overall usefulness in the hospital setting.
Low-Grade Inflammation, Oxidative Stress and Risk of Invasive Post-Menopausal Breast Cancer - A Nested Case-Control Study from the Malmö Diet and Cancer Cohort

OBJECTIVE
Although cancer promotes inflammation, the role of inflammation in tumor-genesis is less well established. The aim was to examine if low-grade inflammation is related to post-menopausal breast cancer risk, and if obesity modifies this association.


METHODS
In the Malmö Diet and Cancer cohort, a nested case-control study was defined among 8,513 women free of cancer and aged 55-73 years at baseline (1991-96); 459 were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer during follow-up (until December 31st, 2010). In laboratory analyses of blood from 446 cases, and 885 controls (matched on age and date of blood sampling) we examined systemic inflammation markers: oxidized (ox)-LDL, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-8, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, white blood cells, lymphocytes and neutrophils. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for breast cancer risk was calculated using multivariable conditional logistic regression.


RESULTS
Inverse associations with breast cancer were seen in fully-adjusted models, for 2nd and 3rd tertiles of ox-LDL, OR (95% CI): 0.65 (0.47-0.90), 0.63 (0.45-0.89) respectively, p-trend = 0.01; and for the 3rd tertile of TNF-α, 0.65 (0.43-0.99), p-trend = 0.04. In contrast, those in the highest IL-1β category had higher risk, 1.71 (1.05-2.79), p-trend = 0.01. Obesity did not modify associations between inflammation biomarkers and breast cancer.


CONCLUSION
Our study does not suggest that low-grade inflammation increase the risk of post-menopausal breast cancer.