LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Detection of acute kidney injury in premature asphyxiated neonates by serum neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (sNGAL) – sensitivity and specificity of a potential new biomarker

INTRODUCTION
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is common in neonatal intensive care units (NICU). In recent years, every effort is made for early detection of AKI. Our hypothesis was that serum neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (sNGAL) may be a reliable screening test for early diagnosis of AKI in premature neonates after perinatal asphyxia. Therefore, our aim was to assess the diagnostic accuracy of sNGAL for AKI in premature asphyxiated neonates.


MATERIALS AND METHODS
AKI was defined in the third day of life (DOL 3) as a serum creatinine (sCr) increase ≥26.5 μmol/L from baseline (the lowest previous sCr). According to the increase of sCr, AKI patients were divided in AKIN1 (sCr increase up to 1.9 baseline) and AKIN2 (sCr increase from 2.0 to 2.9 baseline). sNGAL levels were measured on DOL 1, 3 and 7.


RESULTS
AKI was diagnosed in 73 (0.676) of 108 enrolled premature asphyxiated neonates. Sixty one patients (0.836) were classified in AKIN1 and 12 patients (0.164) in AKIN2. sNGAL reached the maximal concentrations on DOL 1 within 4 hours after admission to NICU, being higher in AKI compared with no-AKI group (160.8±113.1 vs. 87.1±81.6; P<0.001) as well as in AKIN2 compared with AKIN1 group (222.8±112.9 vs. 147.8±109.9; P<0.001). The best areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC) for prediction of AKI were 0.72 [95% (0.62-0.80) P<0.001] on DOL1 at 2h and 0.72 [95% (0.63-0.80) P<0.001] at 4th hour after admission respectively. The corresponding sNGAL cutoff concentrations were 84.87 ng/mL (sensitivity 69.0% and specificity 71.9%) and 89.43 ng/mL (sensitivity 65.7% and specificity 74.3%).


CONCLUSIONS
In premature asphyxiated neonates sNGAL measured within the first 4 hours of DOL 1 is predictive of the occurrence and severity of AKI. Therefore, plasma levels of NGAL may be used for early diagnosis of AKI in these patients.
Switching to anastrozole after tamoxifen improves survival in postmenopausal women with breast cancer

design and interventiOn This prospective, randomized, open-­label trial recruited postmenopausal women (age ≤70 years) with histologically verified grade 1–3 invasive breast cancer who had undergone primary surgery (with or without radiotherapy) and had received 2 years of continuous tamoxifen therapy (20 or 30 mg/day) between December 1996 and August 2002. Patients were randomly allocated to either treatment with anastrozole, (1 mg/day) or continu-­ ation of tamoxifen therapy (20 or 30 mg/day), for 3 years. Patients were monitored for disease recurrence and adverse events every 6 months for 3 years and every 12 months thereafter.
Stunting Is Associated with Food Diversity while Wasting with Food Insecurity among Underfive Children in East and West Gojjam Zones of Amhara Region, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND
Food insecurity has detrimental effects in protecting child undernutrition.This study sought to determine the level of child undernutrition and its association with food insecurity.


METHODS
A community based comparative cross-sectional study design involving multistage sampling technique was implemented from 24th of May to 20th of July 2013. Using two population proportion formula, a total of 4110 randomly selected households were included in the study. Availability of the productive safety net programme was used for grouping the study areas. A multiple linear regression model was used to assess the association between food insecurity and child malnutrition. Clustering effects of localities were controlled during analysis.


RESULTS
Stunting (37.5%), underweight (22.0%) and wasting (17.1%) were observed in East Gojjam zone, while 38.3% stunting, 22.5% underweight, and 18.6% wasting for the West Gojjam zone. Food insecurity was significantly associated with wasting (β = - 0.108, P < 0.05).Food diversity and number of meals the child ate per day significantly associated with stunting (β = 0.039, P < 0.01) and underweight (β = 0.035, P < 0.05) respectively. Residential area was the significant predictor of all indices.


CONCLUSION
The magnitude of child undernutrition was found to be very high in the study areas. Food insecurity was the significant determinant of wasting. Food diversity and number of meals the child ate per day were the significant determinants of stunting and underweight respectively. Child nutrition intervention strategies should take into account food security, dietary diversity, and carefully specified with regard to residential locations. Addressing food insecurity is of paramount importance.
Postural changes in blood pressure and the prevalence of orthostatic hypotension among home-dwelling elderly aged 75 years or older

This cross-sectional analysis of a population-based cohort investigates the postural changes in blood pressure (BP) and heart rate and assesses the prevalence of orthostatic hypotension (OH) and its associations with the medicines used by an elderly population. The study population (n=1000) was a random sample of persons aged 75 years or older in the City of Kuopio, Finland. In 2004, altogether, 781 persons participated in the study. After the exclusion of persons living in institutional care (n=82) and those without orthostatic test (n=46), the final study population comprised 653 home-dwelling elderly persons. OH was defined as a ⩾20 mm Hg drop of systolic BP or a ⩾10 mm Hg drop of diastolic BP or both 1 or 3 min after standing up from supine position. Systolic BP dropped for more than half of the home-dwelling elderly when they stood up from a supine to a standing position. The total prevalence of OH was 34% (n=220). No significant gender or age differences were seen. The prevalence of OH was related to the total number of medicines in regular use (P<0.05). OH and postural changes in BP are more common among the home-dwelling elderly than reported in previous studies. The prevalence of OH is related to the number of medicines in regular use. There is an obvious need to measure orthostatic BP of elderly persons, as low BP and OH are important risk factors especially among the frail elderly persons.
Strategy, advanced manufacturing technology and performance: empirical evidence from U.S. manufacturing firms

Ž . This study investigates the complex relationships among strategy, advanced manufacturing technology AMT and performance using survey responses from 160 U.S. manufacturing firms. In contrast to previous studies that emphasize only the flexibility dimension of AMT, this study adopts a multidimensional view of AMT by stressing the information processing capability inherent in AMTs. The study found support for four dimensions of AMT: information exchange and Ž . Ž . Ž . planning technology IEPT , product design technology PDT , low-volume flexible automation technology LVFAT , and Ž . high-volume automation technology HVAT . The results found also indicate empirical support for the study’s major premise that a fit between certain strategy–AMT dimensions will be associated with superior performance. Using the findings, the study discusses the implications of the findings and suggests several avenues for future research. q 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Planetary gear set and automatic transmission simulation for machine design courses

Due to their unique ability to provide a variety of gear ratios in a very compact space, planetary gear systems are seen in many applications from small powered screw drivers to automobile automatic transmissions. The versatile planetary gear device is often studied as part of an undergraduate mechanical engineering program. Textbook presentations typically illustrate how the different planetary gear components are connected. Understanding of the operation of the planetary gear set can be enhanced using actual hardware or simulations that show how the components move relative to each other. The Department of Engineering Mechanics at the United States Air Force Academy has developed a computer simulation of the planetary gear set and the Chrysler 42LE automatic transmission. Called ‘‘PG-Sim,’’ the dynamic simulations complement a static textbook presentation. PG-Sim is used in several of our courses and assessment data clearly indicates students’ appreciation of its visual and interactive features. In this paper, we present an overview of PG-Sim and then describe how the simulation courseware facilitates understanding of the planetary gear system. 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 11: 144 155, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com.); DOI 10.1002/cae.10045
Neuroprotective Effects of PEP-1-Cu,Zn-SOD against Ischemic Neuronal Damage in the Rabbit Spinal Cord

A rabbit model of spinal cord ischemia has been introduced as a good model to investigate the pathophysiology of ischemia–reperfusion (I–R)-induced paraplegia. In the present study, we observed the effects of Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase (SOD1) against ischemic damage in the ventral horn of L5–6 levels in the rabbit spinal cord. For this study, the expression vector PEP-1 was constructed, and this vector was fused with SOD1 to create a PEP-1-SOD1 fusion protein that easily penetrated the blood–brain barrier. Spinal cord ischemia was induced by transient occlusion of the abdominal aorta for 15 min. PEP-1-SOD1 (0.5 mg/kg) was intraperitoneally administered to rabbits 30 min before ischemic surgery. The administration of PEP-1-SOD1 significantly improved neurological scores compared to those in the PEP-1 (vehicle)-treated ischemia group. Also, in this group, the number of cresyl violet-positive cells at 72 h after I–R was much higher than that in the vehicle-treated ischemia group. Malondialdehyde levels were significantly decreased in the ischemic spinal cord of the PEP-1-SOD1-treated ischemia group compared to those in the vehicle-treated ischemia group. In contrast, the administration of PEP-1-SOD1 significantly ameliorated the ischemia–induced reduction of SOD and catalase levels in the ischemic spinal cord. These results suggest that PEP-1-SOD1 protects neurons from spinal ischemic damage by decreasing lipid peroxidation and maintaining SOD and catalase levels in the ischemic rabbit spinal cord.
Methodological challenges in cross-language qualitative research: a research review.

OBJECTIVES
Cross-language qualitative research occurs when a language barrier is present between researchers and participants. The language barrier is frequently mediated through the use of a translator or interpreter. The purpose of this analysis of cross-language qualitative research was threefold: (1) review the methods literature addressing cross-language research; (2) synthesize the methodological recommendations from the literature into a list of criteria that could evaluate how researchers methodologically managed translators and interpreters in their qualitative studies; (3) test these criteria on published cross-language qualitative studies.


DATA SOURCES
A group of 40 purposively selected cross-language qualitative studies found in nursing and health sciences journals.


REVIEW METHODS
The synthesis of the cross-language methods literature produced 14 criteria to evaluate how qualitative researchers managed the language barrier between themselves and their study participants. To test the criteria, the researcher conducted a summative content analysis framed by discourse analysis techniques of the 40 cross-language studies.


RESULTS
The evaluation showed that only 6 out of 40 studies met all the criteria recommended by the cross-language methods literature for the production of trustworthy results in cross-language qualitative studies. Multiple inconsistencies, reflecting disadvantageous methodological choices by cross-language researchers, appeared in the remaining 33 studies. To name a few, these included rendering the translator or interpreter as an invisible part of the research process, failure to pilot test interview questions in the participant's language, no description of translator or interpreter credentials, failure to acknowledge translation as a limitation of the study, and inappropriate methodological frameworks for cross-language research.


CONCLUSIONS
The finding about researchers making the role of the translator or interpreter invisible during the research process supports studies completed by other authors examining this issue. The analysis demonstrated that the criteria produced by this study may provide useful guidelines for evaluating cross-language research and for novice cross-language researchers designing their first studies. Finally, the study also indicates that researchers attempting cross-language studies need to address the methodological issues surrounding language barriers between researchers and participants more systematically.
Култукский острог. Факты и гипотезы

This article is devoted to study of the origin of Kultukskii Ostrog (wooden fortress) during a trip of a Russian Kosack troop lead by Ivan Pokhabov to Transbaikalia. Based on several indirect data author proposes the hypothesis of the fate of one of the earliest Russian settlements on Baikal Lake
Never-Ending Learning for Open-Domain Question Answering over Knowledge Bases

ABSTRACT Translating natural language questions to semantic representations such as SPARQL is a core challenge in open-domain question answering over knowledge bases (KB-QA). Existing methods rely on a clear separation between an offline training phase, where a model is learned, and an online phase where this model is deployed. Two major shortcomings of such methods are that (i) they require access to a large annotated training set that is not always readily available and (ii) they fail on questions from before-unseen domains. To overcome these limitations, this paper presents NEQA, a continuous learning paradigm for KB-QA. Offline, NEQA automatically learns templates mapping syntactic structures to semantic ones from a small number of training question-answer pairs. Once deployed, continuous learning is triggered on cases where templates are insufficient. Using a semantic similarity function between questions and by judicious invocation of non-expert user feedback, NEQA learns new templates that capture previously-unseen syntactic structures. This way, NEQA gradually extends its template repository. NEQA periodically re-trains its underlying models, allowing it to adapt to the language used after deployment. Our experiments demonstrate NEQA’s viability, with steady improvement in answering quality over time, and the ability to answer questions from new domains.
Acetabular component position of the noncemented total hip endoprosthesis after previous Chiari pelvic osteotomy.

INTRODUCTION
The aim of the study was to determine the validity of acetabular component position of the noncemented total hip endoprosthesis after Chiari pelvic osteotomy.


MATERIAL AND METHODS
The study involved 75 patients operated on at the Institute of Orthopedic Surgery "Banjica" in the period from 1990-2009. The first group consisted of 39 patients (46 hips) who underwent Chiari pelvic osteotomy and also later the implantation of a noncemented total hip endoprosthesis. A control group consisted of 36 patients (47 hips) who underwent total hip arthroplasty due to degenerative hip dysplasia.


RESULTS
In the previously operated patients the centre of rotation of the hip was on the average placed more proximally, while in the control group of patients the position of the acetabular component was closer to the anatomical one. In the group of patients after Chiari osteotomy the mean acetabular cup abduction angle rated 41.8°±9.8°, while in the control group this value was on the average higher (45.4°±8.6°).


DISCUSSION
There was a significant difference between the studied groups in relation to the distance between the acetabular component of endoprosthesis and the acetabular teardrop (t=-2.763; p=0.007). No statistically significant difference was determined in the mean value of the angle of acetabular abduction component of endoprosthesis between the studied groups of patients (t=1.878; p=0.064).


CONCLUSIONS
Acetabular component position of the total hip endoprosthesis was not compromised by anatomic changes of the acetabulum caused by Chiari pelvic osteotomy.
Cognitive outcomes following contemporary treatment without cranial irradiation for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

BACKGROUND
Treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has included the use of prophylactic cranial irradiation in up to 20% of children with high-risk disease despite known cognitive risks of this treatment modality.


METHODS
Patients enrolled on the St Jude ALL Total Therapy Study XV, which omitted prophylactic cranial irradiation in all patients, were assessed 120 weeks after completion of consolidation therapy (n = 243) using a comprehensive cognitive battery. χ(2) analysis was used to compare the percentage of below-average performers among the entire ALL patient group to the expected rate based on the normative sample. Univariate logistic regression was used to estimate the effect of intensity of chemotherapy (treatment arm), age at diagnosis, and sex on the probability of below-average performance. All statistical tests were two-sided.


RESULTS
Overall, the ALL group had a statistically significantly higher risk for below-average performance on a measure of sustained attention (67.31% more than 1 SD below the normative mean for omission errors, P < .001) but not on measures of intellectual functioning, academic skills, or memory. Patients given higher intensity chemotherapy were at greater risk for below-average performance compared with those given lower intensity therapy on measures of processing speed (27.14% vs 6.25%, P = .009) and academic abilities (Math Reasoning: 18.60% vs 3.90%, P = .008; Word Reading: 20.00% vs 2.60%, P = .007; Spelling: 27.91% vs 3.90%, P = .001) and had higher parent-reported hyperactivity (23.00% vs 9.84%, P = .018) and learning problems (35.00% vs 16.39%, P = .005). Neither age at diagnosis nor sex was associated with risk for below-average cognitive performance.


CONCLUSIONS
Omitting cranial irradiation may help preserve global cognitive abilities, but treatment with chemotherapy alone is not without risks. Caregiver education and development of interventions should address both early attention deficits and cognitive late effects.
Collateral , Type of Lender and Relationship Banking as Determinants of Credit Risk

This paper analyses the determinants of the probability of default (PD) of bank loans. We focus the discussion on the role of a limited set of variables (collateral, type of lender and bank-borrower relationship) while controlling for the other explanatory variables. The study uses information on the more than three million loans entered into by Spanish credit institutions over a complete business cycle (1988 to 2000) collected by the Bank of Spain’s Credit Register (Central de Información de Riesgos). We find that collateralised loans have a higher PD, loans granted by savings banks are riskier and, finally, that a close bank-borrower relationship increases the willingness to take more risk. JEL: G21
Response of arthropod species richness and functional groups to urban habitat structure and management

Urban areas are a particular landscape matrix characterized by a fine-grained spatial arrangement of very diverse habitats (urban mosaic). We investigated arthropods to analyse biodiversity-habitat associations along five environmental gradients (age, impervious area, management, configuration, composition) in three Swiss cities (96 study sites). We considered total species richness and species richness within different functional groups (zoophagous, phytophagous, pollinator, low mobility, and high mobility species). Information theoretical model selection procedures were applied and predictions were calculated based on weighted models. Urban areas yielded on average 284 arthropod species (range: 169–361), with species richness correlating mostly with heterogeneity indices (configuration and composition). Species richness also increased with age of urban settlement, while enlarged proportions of impervious area and intensified habitat management was negatively correlated. Functional groups showed contrasted, specific responses to environmental variables. Overall, we found surprisingly little variation in species richness along the gradients, which is possibly due to the fine-grained spatial interlinkage of good (heterogeneous) and bad (sealed) habitats. The highly fragmented nature of urban areas may not represent a major obstacle for the arthropods currently existing in cities because they have probably been selected for tolerance to fragmentation and for high colonisation potential. Given that built areas are becoming denser, increasing spatial heterogeneity of the urban green offers potential for counteracting the detrimental effects of densification upon urban biodiversity. By quantifying the expected effects along environmental gradients, this study provides guidance for managers to set priorities when enhancing urban arthropod species richness.
Proximity-Coupled Microstrip Antenna for Bluetooth, WiMAX, and WLAN Applications

This letter presents a novel proximity-coupled multiband microstrip patch antenna. The proposed antenna simultaneously operates at Bluetooth (2.4-2.485 GHz), WiMAX (3.3-3.7 GHz), and WLAN (5.15-5.35 and 5.725-5.85 GHz) bands with consistent radiation pattern and uniform gain. The antenna is a two-layer design. A V-shaped patch with a rectangular strip on the top layer is fed by a buried rectangular strip in the middle layer by proximity coupling. Furthermore, resonating parasitic structures in the bottom plane are used to improve the antenna characteristics. The fabricated antenna has a small size of 24 ×27 ×1.6 mm3 on an FR4 substrate.
Prenatal Dexamethasone and Exogenous Surfactant Therapy: Surface Activity and Surfactant Components in Airway Specimens

ABSTRACT: To explain some of the effects of prenatal glucocorticoid treatment on lung function, surfactant parameters in the airway specimens of ventilator-dependent preterm infants were analyzed. In this double-blind study, the mothers of these infants had received dexamethasone (DEX) or placebo prenatally. Human surfactant was given for the treatment of moderate to severe respiratory distress syndrome. Seventy-six preterm infants with mean gestational age of 29 wk and mean birth weight of 1137 g were studied. The concentrations of surfactant components in epithelial lining fluid (ELF) were analyzed, and the surface activity was measured using a pulsating bubble method. Prenatal DEX treatment increased the responsiveness to exogenous surfactant and decreased the severity of respiratory failure during the first day of life. The treatment had no effect on the concentrations of surfactant phospholipids that were generally high. Prenatal DEX treatment increased the association between phospholipid concentration in ELF and the degree of respiratory failure. Prenatal DEX improved the surface activity of surfactant isolated from airway specimens and tended to increase the ratio of surfactant protein A to phosphatidylcholine among recipients of exogenous surfactant. A subgroup of infants, offspring of mothers with severe hypertension had an abnormally low concentration of surfactant protein A and a poor outcome, despite prenatal DEX treatment or surfactant substitution. Prenatal DEX decreased the concentration of nonsedimentable proteins in ELF and decreased the inhibition of surface activity by these proteins. Our results indicate that improved surfactant function during the first day of life explains some of the beneficial pulmonary effects of prenatal glucocorticoid treatment in preterm infants who are ventilator-dependent.