LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Stabilizing effect of combined eicosapentaenoic acid and statin therapy on coronary thin-cap fibroatheroma.

BACKGROUND
The addition of highly purified eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) to statin therapy prevents cardiovascular events. However, the impact of this treatment on vulnerable plaques remains unclear. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of adding EPA to a standard statin therapy on vulnerable plaques by serial optical coherence tomography (OCT).


METHODS
Forty-nine non-culprit thin-cap fibroatheroma (TCFA) lesions in 30 patients with untreated dyslipidemia were included. Patients were randomly assigned to EPA (1800 mg/day) + statin (23 TCFA, 15 patients) or statin only (26 TCFA, 15 patients) treatment. The statin (rosuvastatin) dose was adjusted to achieve a target low-density lipoprotein (LDL) level of <70 mg/dL. Post-percutaneous intervention and 9-month follow-up OCT were performed to evaluate morphological changes of TCFAs. The EPA/arachidonic acid (EPA/AA) ratio and pentraxin-3 (PTX3) levels were also evaluated.


RESULTS
Despite similar follow-up LDL levels, the EPA + statin group had higher EPA/AA ratios and lower PTX3 levels than the statin group. OCT analysis showed that the EPA + statin group had a greater increase in fibrous-cap thickness, with a greater decrease in lipid arc and lipid length. Macrophage accumulation was less frequently detected in the EPA + statin group than in the statin group at follow-up. When the patients were categorized according to their follow-up PTX3 tertiles, fibrous-cap thickness showed significant increase, and the incidence of macrophages accumulation decreased with lower PTX3 levels.


CONCLUSION
The concomitant use of EPA and rosuvastatin may stabilize vulnerable plaques better than the statin alone, possibly by suppressing arterial inflammation.
A phase 2 trial of bortezomib followed by the addition of doxorubicin at progression in patients with recurrent or metastatic adenoid cystic carcinoma of the head and neck: a trial of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (E1303).

BACKGROUND
Bortezomib, an inhibitor of the 26S proteasome and NF-κB, may have antitumor activity in adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC). Preclinical studies have shown synergy between bortezomib and doxorubicin.


METHODS
Eligibility criteria included incurable ACC, any number of prior therapies but without an anthracycline, unidimensionally measurable disease, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status 0-2, and ejection fraction within normal limits. Patients with stable disease for ≥9 months were excluded. Patients received bortezomib 1.3 mg/m(2) by intravenous (IV) push on Days 1, 4, 8, and 11, every 21 days until progression. Doxorubicin 20 mg/m(2) IV on Days 1 and 8 was added at the time of progression.


RESULTS
Twenty-five patients were enrolled, of whom 24 were eligible; the most common distant metastatic sites were the lung (n = 22) and the liver (n = 7). There was no objective response with single-agent bortezomib; best response was stable disease in 15 (71%) of 21 evaluable patients. The median progression-free survival and overall survival were 6.4 months and 21 months, respectively. Of 10 evaluable patients who received bortezomib plus doxorubicin, 1 had a partial response, and 6 had stable disease. The most frequent toxicity with bortezomib was grade 3 sensory neuropathy (16%). With bortezomib plus doxorubicin, serious toxicities seen more than once were grade 3-4 neutropenia (n = 3) and grade 3 anorexia (n = 2).


CONCLUSIONS
Bortezomib was well tolerated and resulted in disease stabilization in a high percentage of patients but no objective responses. The combination of bortezomib and doxorubicin was also well tolerated and may warrant further investigation in ACC.
Barber‐say syndrome: a confirmed case of TWIST2 gene mutation

Barber-Say syndrome is a rare disorder characterized by hypertrichosis, redundant skin, and facial dysmorphism. TWIST2 gene mutation previously described in this syndrome was identified in our patient. Genetic testing is recommended in patients presenting with these phenotypic abnormalities, along with their parents, to establish de novo or inherited mutations.
Investigation of Piezoelectric Effect in Permanently Polarized Oxide Glasses and Glass-Ceramics.

Abstract : This research investigated the possible piezoelectric behavior of oxide glass samples subjected to phase separation and volume polarization. The concept consists of developing a glass composition which, when phase separated, produces a structure made up of isolated spheres within a low conductivity matrix. The conductivity of the spheres needs to be higher than the matrix at high temperatures but both materials must exhibit low conductivity at usage temperature. Thus, at high temperatures it is possible to apply an external electric field and polarize the isolated spheres by bulk ionic diffusion. When the sample is cooled to room temperature with the applied field and the applied field is removed when the sample is cold, a permanent polarization field will remain frozen in the spheres due to their low room temperature conductivity. Such material will exhibit intrinsic polarization and piezoelectic properties. Since the permanent polarization is developed throughout the glass, the piezoelectric behavior is not affected by surface polarization or by chemical reactions on the surface. Experiments are reported which demonstrate the use of phase separated glasses for development of permanently polarized electrets. Investigations of phase separation, dielectric relaxation and electrical conductivity of high silica glasses are presented.
Simulating Social Complexity

ion can be defined as “ignoring or hiding details to capture some kind of commonality between different instances” (Free On-line Dictionary of Computing). 26 Human Societies: Understanding Observed Social Phenomena 713
Dual-/Triple-Band Asymmetric Dipole Antenna for WLAN Operation in Laptop Computer

A compact (31 mm 7 mm 0.8 mm) uniplanar antenna designed for wireless local-area network (WLAN) operations in laptop applications is proposed. To achieve triple-band (2.4/5.2/5.8 GHz) WLAN operation, the structure of the proposed antenna is devised as an asymmetric dipole type, in which the 2.4/5.2 GHz operating bands are excited along the meandered feed line connected to a rectangular radiating element, and the excitation of the 5.8 GHz band comes from its asymmetric counterpart (with C-shaped parasitic strip). Interestingly, the proposed triple-band antenna can be reduced to a dual-band (2.4/5.2 GHz) one by simply tuning the length of the C-shaped parasitic strip. The simulated effects on the antenna performances by tuning the various vital parameters have been studied and experimentally verified.
The relation between dermoscopy and histopathology of basal cell
carcinoma*

BACKGROUND
Basal cell carcinoma is the most frequent cancer in fair-skinned populations and dermoscopy is an important, non-invasive technique that aids in the diagnosis of Basal cell carcinoma.


OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between histopathological subtypes and dermoscopic features of Basal cell carcinoma.


METHODS
This study included 98 patients with clinically and histopathologically confirmed Basal cell carcinomas. The dermoscopic features of the lesions from each patient were analyzed before the histopathological findings were evaluated.


RESULTS
Dermoscopic structures were observed in all 98 patients and irregular vascularity was identified in 78 patients (79.6%). The most common vascular pattern was the presence of arborizing vessels (42 patients, 42.9%) followed by arborizing microvessels (21 patients, 21.4%) and short fine telangiectasias (SFTs; 15 patients, 15.3%). White streaks (38 patients, 38.8%), translucency (31 patients, 31.6%), a milky-pink to red background (42 patients, 42.9%), and erosion/ulceration (29 patients, 29.6%) were also observed. Pigmented islands were seen as blue-gray globules (7 patients, 7.1%) and blue-gray ovoid nests (42 patients, 42.9%). The pigment distribution pattern was maple leaf-like areas in 9 patients (9.2 %) and spoke wheel-like areas in 6 patients (6.1%).


CONCLUSIONS
Basal cell carcinomas show a wide spectrum of dermoscopic features. Arborizing vessels were the most common dermoscopic findings in Basal cell carcinomas, while superficial Basal cell carcinomas displayed mainly milky-pink to red areas, and arborizing microvessels. The most common dermoscopic features of pigmented types were islands of pigment (blue-gray globules, blue-gray ovoid nests). In conclusion, dermoscopy can be used as a valuable tool for the diagnosis of Basal cell carcinomas and prediction of their histopathological subtypes.
Novel fabrication of magnetic thermoplastic nanofibers via melt extrusion of immiscible blends

A novel technique of fabricating magnetic thermoplastic nanofibers by the control of the phase separation of immiscible polymer blends during melt extrusion was presented. The magnetic poly(vinyl alcohol-co-ethylene) (PVA-co-PE)/Fe3O4 composite nanofibers were prepared via the melt extrusion of cellulose acetate butyrate matrix and PVA-co-PE preloaded with different amounts of Fe3O4 nanoparticles. The morphologies of magnetic composite nanofibers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The uniform dispersion of Fe3O4 nanoparticles in nanofiber matrixes and crystal structures were confirmed using transmission electron microscopy and wide angle X-ray diffraction. Thermogravimetric analysis was employed to quantify the exact loading amount of Fe3O4 nanoparticles in the composite nanofibers. The magnetic measurements showed that composite nanofibers displayed superparamagnetic behavior at room temperature. With increasing content of Fe3O4 nanoparticles, the saturation magnetization of the magnetic composite nanofiber significantly improved. The prepared magnetic composite nanofibers might have found potential applications in the sensors and bio-molecular separation fields. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Occult hernias detected by laparoscopic totally extra-peritoneal inguinal hernia repair: a prospective study

One distinct advantage of laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair is the opportunity for clear visualization of the direct, indirect, femoral, obturator and other groin spaces. The aim of this study was to examine/assess the potential of the laparoscopic totally extraperitoneal (TEP) inguinal hernia repair method in detecting unexpected additional hernias. Patients who underwent an elective inguinal hernia repair, in the department of abdominal surgery at the institute of laparoscopic surgery (ILS, Bordeaux, France) between September 2003 and July 2005 were enrolled prospectively in the study. The patients’ demographic data, operative, postoperative course and outpatient follow-up were studied. A total of 337 laparoscopic inguinal hernia repairs were performed in 263 patients. Of these, 189 patients had unilateral hernia (109 right and 80 left) and 74 patients had bilateral hernias. Indirect hernias were the most common, followed by direct and then femoral hernias. There were 218 male patients and 45 female patients with a mean age of 60 ± 15 years. There were 44 unexpected hernias: 6 spegilian hernias, 19 obturator hernias and another 19 femoral hernias. Two patients were converted to transabdominal preperitoneal (TAPP) due to surgical difficulties. There were no major intraoperative complications in all patients except for three cases of bleeding arising from the inferior epigastric artery. Only one patient had postoperative bleeding and was re-operated on several hours after the hernia repair. No recurrence occurred in the present series. The laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair approach allows viewing of the entire myopectineal orifice, facilitating repair of any unexpected hernias and thereby reducing the chance of recurrence.
Do you "like" my photo? Facebook use maintains eating disorder risk.

OBJECTIVE
Social media sites, such as Facebook, merge two factors that influence risk for eating disorders:media and peers. Previous work has identified cross-sectional and temporal associations between Facebook use and disordered eating. This study sought to replicate and extend these findings using an experimental design.


METHOD
In Study 1, 960 women completed self-report surveys regarding Facebook use and disordered eating. In Study 2, 84 women were randomly assigned to use Facebook or to use an alternate internet site for 20 min.


RESULTS
More frequent Facebook use was associated with greater disordered eating in a cross-sectional survey. Facebook use was associated with the maintenance of weight/shape concerns and state anxiety compared to an alternate internet activity.


DISCUSSION
Facebook use may contribute to disordered eating by maintaining risk for eating pathology. As such, targeting Facebook use may be helpful in intervention and prevention programs.
The brain as a flexible task machine: implications for visual rehabilitation using noninvasive vs. invasive approaches.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW
The exciting view of our brain as highly flexible task-based and not sensory-based raises the chances for visual rehabilitation, long considered unachievable, given adequate training in teaching the brain how to see. Recent advances in rehabilitation approaches, both noninvasive, like sensory substitution devices (SSDs) which present visual information using sound or touch, and invasive, like visual prosthesis, may potentially be used to achieve this goal, each alone, and most preferably together.


RECENT FINDINGS
Visual impairments and said solutions are being used as a model for answering fundamental questions ranging from basic cognitive neuroscience, showing that several key visual brain areas are actually highly flexible, modality-independent and, as was recently shown, even visual experience-independent task machines, to technological and behavioral developments, allowing blind persons to 'see' using SSDs and other approaches.


SUMMARY
SSDs can be potentially used as a research tool for assessing the brain's functional organization; as an aid for the blind in daily visual tasks; to visually train the brain prior to invasive procedures, by taking advantage of the 'visual' cortex's flexibility and task specialization even in the absence of vision; and to augment postsurgery functional vision using a unique SSD-prostheses hybrid. Taken together the reviewed results suggest a brighter future for visual neuro-rehabilitation.
Validation of a screening tool to identify older children living with HIV in primary care facilities in high HIV prevalence settings

OBJECTIVE
We previously proposed a simple tool consisting of five items to screen for risk of HIV infection in adolescents (10-19 years) in Zimbabwe. The objective of this study is to validate the performance of this screening tool in children aged 6-15 years attending primary healthcare facilities in Zimbabwe.


METHODS
Children who had not been previously tested for HIV underwent testing with caregiver consent. The screening tool was modified to include four of the original five items to be appropriate for the younger age range, and was administered. A receiver operator characteristic analysis was conducted to determine a suitable cut-off score. The sensitivity, specificity and predictive value of the modified tool were assessed against the HIV test result.


RESULTS
A total of 9568 children, median age 9 (interquartile, IQR: 7-11) years and 4971 (52%) men, underwent HIV testing. HIV prevalence was 4.7% (95% confidence interval, CI:4.2-5.1%) and increased from 1.4% among those scoring zero on the tool to 63.6% among those scoring four (P < 0.001). Using a score of not less than one as the cut-off for HIV testing, the tool had a sensitivity of 80.4% (95% CI:76.5-84.0%), specificity of 66.3% (95% CI:65.3-67.2%), positive predictive value of 10.4% and a negative predictive value of 98.6%. The number needed to screen to identify one child living with HIV would drop from 22 to 10 if this screening tool was used.


CONCLUSION
The screening tool is a simple and sensitive method to identify children living with HIV in this setting. It can be used by lay healthcare workers and help prioritize limited resources.
Enhanced Luminous Efficiency of WLEDs Using a Dual-Layer Structure of the Remote Phosphor Package

This study demonstrates how the insertion of a thin silicone layer into a dual-layer remote phosphor structure enhances light extraction in white light-emitting diodes (WLEDs). In the experiment, a dual-layer phosphor structure yielded a higher intensity of blue and yellow components than a conventional structure. Moreover, the lumen flux was 5% higher than a conventional remote phosphor package at the same correlated color temperature (CCT). Using a TFCalc32 simulation, the electric field intensity was calculated for different thicknesses of the dual-layer remote phosphor structures, and the enhanced use of blue rays was verified. Additionally, the dual-layer structure reduces chromaticity deviations as the driving current increases.
A prospective multicentric study of pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and different clinical phenotypes.

BACKGROUND
Recently, it has been proposed that different clinical phenotypes can be recognized in patients with chronic obstructive disease (COPD), namely predominant airway disease or parenchymal destructive changes.


OBJECTIVES
The aim of this prospective multicenter study was to evaluate whether these two phenotypes may influence outcomes following a pulmonary rehabilitation program (PRP).


METHODS
We have prospectively evaluated 364 consecutive COPD patients (70 ± 8 years, 76.3% males) admitted to a standard hospital-based PRP in 6 Italian centers. According to their phenotype, the study cohort was divided into two groups: patients with airway obstructive (group 1, n = 208) or parenchymal destructive COPD (group 2, n = 156). Before and after PRP, values of 6-min walking distance, perceived breathlessness (Medical Research Council), health-related quality of life (St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire) and respiratory muscle function (maximal inspiratory and expiratory pressure) were recorded.


RESULTS
PRP resulted in significant improvements in all outcome measures without any significant differences between groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study confirms that COPD patients may benefit from pulmonary rehabilitation independent of their clinical phenotype.
Feature Representation in Convolutional Neural Networks

Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) are powerful models that achieve impressive results for image classification. In addition, pre-trained CNNs are also useful for other computer vision tasks as generic feature extractors [1]. This paper aims to gain insight into the feature aspect of CNN and demonstrate other uses of CNN features. Our results show that CNN feature maps can be used with Random Forests and SVM to yield classification results that outperforms the original CNN. A CNN that is less than optimal (e.g. not fully trained or overfitting) can also extract features for Random Forest/SVM that yield competitive classification accuracy. In contrast to the literature which uses the top-layer activations as feature representation of images for other tasks [1], using lower-layer features can yield better results for classification.
Geophysical images and a crustal model of intrusive structures beneath the Messum ring complex, Namibia

Abstract The Early Cretaceous Messum complex in Namibia is an excellent example of the type of composite mafic and alkaline igneous ring complexes associated with continental rifts worldwide. This study integrates reflection seismic, gravity and aeromagnetic data from a profile across Messum and reveals a heavily intruded root zone extending vertically to Moho depths (40 km). The crustal section to either side of the Messum complex is characterized by a seismically transparent upper crust, to 20 km depth, and a laminar reflective lower crust below. The crust below the Messum complex is seismically transparent at all depths but it shows a combination of high seismic reflection strength and weak coherency relative to the unintruded crust, and P velocities about 0.2–0.3 km/s higher at all depths. The seismic attributes are best explained by a network of mafic intrusions, and this is supported by steep-sided positive magnetic and gravity anomalies centered on the complex. Modelling indicates that about 30% gabbroic material in the crustal column can explain the velocity and potential field data. An increase in reflective strength below 20 km suggests the degree of intrusion is greater in the lower crust but the difference is not resolved in the velocity or gravity models. The new geometric and compositional constraints on the crust below the Messum complex contradict the hypothesis that Messum was the sole eruptive center for an estimated 8600 km 3 of crustally derived rhyodacitic magmas that now form part of the regional Parana–Etendeka volcanic sequences. To our knowledge this is the first study to provide a seismic image of the whole crust below a typical igneous ring complex and our conclusion that the cross-sectional area of the complex is the same in the lower as in the upper crust could not have been predicted from surface studies. The data resolution is insufficient to define intrusion geometry in detail, but the cylindrical 3-D shape throughout the crust and the lack of major breaks in the vertical distribution of intrusions indicate depth-independent controls on the nature of the intruded zone. The suggestion is that the magma transport and emplacement took place in a brittle fashion at all levels of the crust, in response to conditions of high fluid (magma) pressure and a high magma flux.
Chapter 2 Application of MATLAB / SIMULINK in Solar PV Systems Learning

• Basic components of Solar PV system and its merits and demerits. • Involvement of power electronic devices in Solar PV components. • MATLAB/SIMULINK model of different control strategies of power conditioning unit. • Importance of MATLAB/SIMULINK model in improving the efficiency of the overall solar PV system. • Characteristics of Solar PV panel and its MATLAB/SIMULINK model. • Characteristics and MATLAB/SIMULINK model of Solar PV power conditioning unit.
Examining the role of self-regulated learning on introductory programming performance

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between self-regulated learning (SRL) and introductory programming performance. Participants were undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory computer programming module at a third-level (post-high school) institution. The instrument used in this study was designed to assess the motivations and learning strategies (cognitive, metacognitive and resource management strategies) of college students. The data gathered was analyzed to determine if a relationship existed between self-regulation and programming performance and investigate if SRL could be used to predict performance on the module. The study found that students who perform well in programming use more metacognitive and resource management strategies than lower performing students. In addition, students who have high levels of intrinsic motivation and task value perform better in programming and use more metacognitive and resource management strategies than students with low levels of intrinsic motivation and task value. Finally, a regression model based on cognitive, metacognitive and resource management strategies was able to account for 45% of the variance in programming performance results.