LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Catheter-Related Bloodstream Infections in Patients on Emergent Hemodialysis.

OBJECTIVE
This study had 2 objectives: (1) to describe the epidemiology of catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSI) in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) who have no access to scheduled dialysis and (2) to evaluate whether a positive culture of the heparin-lock solution is associated with subsequent development of bacteremia.


DESIGN
Retrospective observational cohort design for objective 1; and prospective cohort design for objective 2.


SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS
The study was conducted in a 770-bed public academic tertiary hospital in Dallas, Texas. The participants were patients with ESRD undergoing scheduled or emergent hemodialysis.


METHODS
We reviewed the records of 147 patients who received hemodialysis between January 2011 and May 2011 and evaluated the rate of CRBSI in the previous 5 years. For the prospective study, we cultured the catheter heparin-lock solution in 62 consecutive patients between June 2012 and August 2012 and evaluated the incidence of CRBSI at 6 months.


RESULTS
Of the 147 patients on emergent hemodialysis, 125 had a tunneled catheter, with a CRBSI rate of 2.61 per 1,000 catheter days. The predominant organisms were Gram-negative rods (GNR). In the prospective study, we found that the dialysis catheter was colonized more frequently in patients on emergent hemodialysis than in those on scheduled hemodialysis. Colonization with GNR or Staphylococcus aureus was associated with subsequent CRBSI at 6 months follow-up.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients undergoing emergent hemodialysis via tunneled catheter are predisposed to Gram-negative CRBSI. Culturing the heparin-lock solution may predict subsequent episodes of CRBSI if it shows colonization with GNR or Staphylococcus aureus. Prevention approaches in this population need to be studied further.
Nitrous Oxide and Serious Long-term Morbidity and Mortality in the Evaluation of Nitrous Oxide in the Gas Mixture for Anaesthesia (ENIGMA)-II Trial.

BACKGROUND
The Evaluation of Nitrous Oxide in the Gas Mixture for Anaesthesia (ENIGMA)-II trial randomly assigned 7,112 noncardiac surgery patients at risk of perioperative cardiovascular events to 70% N2O or 70% N2 groups. The aim of this follow-up study was to determine the effect of nitrous oxide on a composite primary outcome of death and major cardiovascular events at 1 yr after surgery.


METHODS
One-year follow-up was conducted via a medical record review and telephone interview. Disability was defined as a Katz index of independence in activities of daily living score less than 8. Adjusted odds ratios and hazard ratios were calculated as appropriate for primary and secondary outcomes.


RESULTS
Among 5,844 patients evaluated at 1 yr, 435 (7.4%) had died, 206 (3.5%) had disability, 514 (8.8%) had a fatal or nonfatal myocardial infarction, and 111 (1.9%) had a fatal or nonfatal stroke during the 1-yr follow-up period. Exposure to nitrous oxide did not increase the risk of the primary outcome (odds ratio, 1.08; 95% CI, 0.94 to 1.25; P = 0.27), disability or death (odds ratio, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.90 to 1.27; P = 0.44), death (hazard ratio, 1.17; 95% CI, 0.97 to 1.43; P = 0.10), myocardial infarction (odds ratio, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.81 to 1.17; P = 0.78), or stroke (odds ratio, 1.08; 95% CI, 0.74 to 1.58; P = 0.70).


CONCLUSION
These results support the long-term safety of nitrous oxide administration in noncardiac surgical patients with known or suspected cardiovascular disease.
Experimental Methods for Linguists

Linguists are increasingly using experiments to provide insight into linguistic representations and linguistic processing. But linguists are rarely trained to think experimentally, and designing a carefully controlled study is not trivial. This paper provides a practical introduction to experiments. We examine issues in experimental design and survey several methodologies. The goal is to provide readers with some tools for understanding and evaluating the rapidly growing literature using experimental methods, as well as for beginning to design experiments in their own research. © 2013 The Author. Language and Linguistics Compass © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-ranging study to compare the efficacy and safety of three doses of botulinum toxin type A (Dysport) with placebo in upper limb spasticity after stroke.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
We sought to define an effective and safe dose of botulinum toxin type A (Dysport) for the treatment of upper limb muscle spasticity due to stroke.


METHODS
This was a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-ranging study. Patients received either a placebo or 1 of 3 doses of Dysport (500, 1000, 1500 U) into 5 muscles of the affected arm. Efficacy was assessed periodically by the Modified Ashworth Scale and a battery of functional outcome measures.


RESULTS
Eighty-three patients were recruited, and 82 completed the study. The 4 study groups were comparable at baseline with respect to their demographic characteristics and severity of spasticity. All doses of Dysport studied showed a significant reduction from baseline of muscle tone compared with placebo. However, the effect on functional disability was not statistically significant and was best at a dose of 1000 U. There were no statistically significant differences between the groups in the incidence of adverse events.


CONCLUSIONS
The present study suggests that treatment with Dysport reduces muscle tone in patients with poststroke upper limb spasticity. Treatment was effective at doses of Dysport of 500, 1000, and 1500 U. The optimal dose for treatment of patients with residual voluntary movements in the upper limb appears to be 1000 U. Dysport is safe in the doses used in this study.
A 27Gb/s Forwarded-Clock I/O Receiver Using an Injection-Locked LC-DCO in 45nm CMOS

This paper describes a method for both filtering and deskewing a link clock using a differential injection-locked LC-DCO and demonstrates a forwarded-clock data receiver using this technique operating at 27 Gb/s.
Kinetic methods for the study of the enzyme systems of β-oxidation☆

Abstract Kinetic methods for studying the reactions of the “general” fatty acyl CoA dehydrogenase under three sets of substrate and enzyme concentration conditions have been developed. The reaction of butyryl-CoA and electron transfer flavoprotein (ETF) can be studied either under steady-state conditions with enzyme at catalytic concentration or under single-turnover conditions with enzyme in excess. Under the latter conditions, acyl-CoA dehydrogenase acts both as a catalyst and an ultimate electron-transfer acceptor. The reductive half-reaction of butyryl-CoA and enzyme can also be studied in a separate kinetic experiment. Comparison of the pH dependences of the rate constants and isotope effects of the steady-state reaction of butyryl-CoA and ETF with the same parameters for the reductive half-reaction is consistent with a mechanism involving transfer of electrons from butyryl-CoA to ETF within a ternary complex. An alternative mechanism in which the reductive half-reaction takes place prior to the binding and reaction of ETF seems unlikely because the pH 8.5 isotope effect on the reductive half-reaction is much larger than that on the complete reaction in spite of the fact that the rates of the reactions are comparable. The pH dependence of the K m for substrate and K I for inhibitor is consistent with a mechanism for transfer of electrons within the ternary complex which involves protonation of the C group of substrates. The protonation labilizes the C-2 proton and base catalysis of the removal of the C-2 proton results in the production of the active enzyme-substrate species, namely the C-2 anion of substrate.
The Human Inheritance: Genes, Language, and Evolution

Quantum Evolution: The New Science of Life simply does not work. The author has a central idea regarding how Darwinian natural selection may be complemented by another evolutionary force, which he refers to as quantum evolution. However, this idea is hidden in the shortest chapter, near the end of the book, after more than 200 pages of wide-ranging material covering a miscellany of rather tenuously linked subjects Ð biospheric extremes, reproduction, the origin of life, muscle action, enzyme action and quantum mechanics. This results in the reader becoming progressively frustrated as the book does not get to the point and when one eventually gets there one is in no mood to take on board speculative and badly explained new mechanisms, which is how I viewed the core ideas when I ®nally reached them. So, what is McFadden's `Quantum Evolution', which he describes in his sub-title as `The New Science of Life'? Firstly, it bears no relation to G. G. Simpson's `quantum evolution' that we are all familiar with Ð indeed, and bizarrely, McFadden seems entirely unaware of this standard usage of his key term. There are no references to Simpson's work anywhere in the book. Instead, McFadden's `quantum evolution' emerges as an application of quantum mechanics to mechanisms of mutation and it becomes, among other things, a proposed way in which the controversial `adaptive mutations' described in E. coli by Cairns et al. (1988) might come about. As I have never believed that environmental conditions systematically cause mutations that are adaptive in those conditions, I was not particularly interested in a possible mechanism for the production of such mutations. Perhaps other readers with dierent preconceptions may take a more positive view. Regrettably, the recurrent errors throughout the book lead to the feeling of not being in a safe pair of hands. Some of these are trivial, yet add to the general sense of insecurity Ð for example, a tendency to get names wrong. So, for example, Margulis becomes Margolis, Eldredge becomes Eldridge and Galilei becomes Galiliei. More importantly, there are other parts of the book that are just plain wrong. For example, McFadden says (p. 133) that the second law of thermodynamics `states that everything in the universe is accompanied by an increase in entropy'. Even the author himself realises that this is not so, because he states on the following page that the second law `does not forbid processes that decrease entropy', so the ®rst statement represents careless writing rather than misconception. The lesser of two evils, to be sure, but disconcerting nonetheless. As will be clear by now, I did not like the central idea or the book as a whole. However, I was left asking myself whether I might have been prepared to consider the central idea more sympathetically if McFadden had written a much shorter book with quantum evolution up front and with greater attention to detail. I suspect the answer is no.
Knowledge-enabled Recommender Systems: Models, Challenges, Solutions

Together with the rapid growing of information we daily produce, we have assisted to the flourishing of new tools and techniques whose aim is to help users in accessing such information in a personalized way. In the Information Overload era we are living in, the amount of information exceeds the users capability of processing and using it [39]. Huge and fast growing number of possibilities overwhelms users, leading them to make poor decisions and feel anxiety and unsatisfaction [37]. Recommender Systems (RSs) [32] are a family of information filtering tools which have proven to be valuable means in assisting users to find, in a personalized manner, what is relevant for them in such overflowing complex information spaces. They provide users with personalized access to large collections of resources. The main task of a recommendation engine is typically to estimate the relevance of unknown items for a target user and recommend the Top-N items by considering for each user the best N items with highest utility [32]. Typically, the utility of an item is represented by a numerical rating, which indicates how much a particular user liked such item. However, the utility is not defined for each pair of users and items and usually it is available only for a small subset of them. Such subset represents the input of a generic recommender system, whose objective is to estimate the utility of all the remaining pairs. A formal definition of the recommendation problem has been given in [1] and defined as follows.
Democracy : the unfinished journey : 508 BC to AD 1993

Two and a half thousand years ago the small Greek city state of Athens invented a new form of political regime. Today the name of that form of regime is the only credible basis on which to claim regular and lasting political authority across the entire world. This book explains how a casual practical solution to local Greek political difficulties so long ago has come to stand virtually unchallenged as the ground for modern political authority. It shows how the idea of democracy has kept its power in a world which is utterly different from the world of classical Greece, and how the questions which the Greeks first raised about the meaning of democratic rule still loom over human political and economic institutions in a setting in which no modern population can ever rule in practice, day by day, as the Athenian demos ruled. By viewing its astonishing history across this great arc of time, the book shows why democracy today has both the power and the vulnerability which make it the key to understanding politics; and it explains why it has triumphed so decisively in the modern world. Contributors: Simon Hornblower, Cynthia Farrar, Geoffrey Lloyd, Quentin Skinner, David Wootton, Gordon S. Wood, Biancamaria Fontana, Charles S. Maier, Neil Harding, Sunil Khilnani, Susan Mendus, Neal Ascherson, John Dunn
Nicorandil Versus Nitroglycerin for Symptomatic Relief of Angina in Patients With Slow Coronary Flow Phenomenon: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

OBJECTIVE
Patients with the coronary slow flow phenomenon frequently experience angina episodes. The present study aimed to compare the efficacy of nicorandil versus nitroglycerin for alleviation of angina symptoms in slow flow patients.


METHODS
In a single-center, single-blind, parallel-design, comparator-controlled, randomized clinical trial (NCT02254252), 54 patients with slow flow and normal or near-normal coronary angiography who presented with frequent angina episodes were randomly assigned to 1-month treatment with nicorandil 10 mg, 2 times a day (n = 27) or sustained-release glyceryltrinitrate 6.4 mg 2 times a day (n =27). Frequency of angina episodes, pain intensity, and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) grading of angina pectoris were assessed at baseline and after 1 month of treatment.


RESULTS
In all, 25 patients in the nicorandil arm and 24 patients in the nitroglycerin arm were analyzed. After 1 month, patients treated with nicorandil had fewer angina episodes (adjusted mean number of episodes per week, nicorandil versus nitroglycerin; 1.68 ± 0.15 vs 2.29 ± 0.15, P = .007, effect size = 14.6%). Patients also reported greater reductions in pain intensity with nicorandil versus nitroglycerin (adjusted mean of self-reported pain score; 3.03 ± 0.29 vs 3.89 ± 0.30, P = .046, effect size = 8.4%). A significantly higher proportion of patients in the nicorandil arm were categorized in CCS class I (76% vs 33.3%, P = .004) or class II (16.0% vs 45.8%, P = .032).


CONCLUSION
In slow flow patients, nicorandil provides better symptomatic relief of angina than nitroglycerin.
Demonstration of quantum error correction and universal gate set on a binomial bosonic logical qubit

L. Hu,1, ∗ Y. Ma,1, ∗ W. Cai,1 X. Mu,1 Y. Xu,1 W. Wang,1 Y. Wu,2 H. Wang,1 Y. P. Song,1 C.-L. Zou,3, † S. M. Girvin,4 L-M. Duan,1, 2 and L. Sun1, ‡ 1Center for Quantum Information, Institute for Interdisciplinary Information Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China 2Department of Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA 3Key Laboratory of Quantum Information, CAS, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, P. R. China 4Departments of Applied Physics and Physics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
Synthesis and optical characterization of copper oxide nanoparticles

Copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles are synthesized by aqueous precipitation method using copper acetate as a precursor and NaOH as a stabilizing agent. This gives a large scale production of CuO nanoparticles easily. X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD) reveals single phase monoclinic structure. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed the rectangular morphology of as prepared CuO nanoparticles. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed 5-6 nm size of as prepared CuO nanoparticles. Photoluminescence (PL) showed band edge emission at 398 nm and green emission at 527 nm. The band edge-absorption peak is found to be at 355 nm.
Dietary administration of mushroom mycelium extracts in patients with early stage prostate cancers managed expectantly: a phase II study.

OBJECTIVE
To assess the efficacy and safety of dietary supplements in patients with early stage prostate cancers who are managed expectantly.


METHODS
Seventy-four patients with early prostate cancer, who were treated with expectant management, enrolled in the study. A mushroom mycelium extract was given at a dose of 4.5 g/day for 6 months. The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients in which the prostate specific antigen level decreased by 50% or more following treatment. The adverse events, change of prostate specific antigen value and quality of life were also evaluated.


RESULTS
In only one of 74 patients (1.4%), the prostate specific antigen value decreased more than 50%. Grade 2 diarrhea and grade 1 itching were observed in one patient, and patient ingestion compliance was maintained near 100%. The alternation of prostate specific antigen values was stable before and after treatment. In subjects with strong anxiety prior to supplement ingestion, these feelings were significantly alleviated (state anxiety, P = 0.0018; trait anxiety, P = 0.0099).


CONCLUSIONS
In this phase II study of early prostate cancer patients who were managed expectantly, a mushroom mycelium extract was an ineffective treatment for reducing 50% or more the patient prostate specific antigen values.
Maternal cfDNA screening for Down syndrome--a cost sensitivity analysis.

OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to determine the principal factors contributing to the cost of avoiding a birth with Down syndrome by using cell-free DNA (cfDNA) to replace conventional screening.


METHODS
A range of unit costs were assigned to each item in the screening process. Detection rates were estimated by meta-analysis and modeling. The marginal cost associated with the detection of additional cases using cfDNA was estimated from the difference in average costs divided by the difference in detection.


RESULTS
The main factor was the unit cost of cfDNA testing. For example, replacing a combined test costing $150 with 3% false-positive rate and invasive testing at $1000, by cfDNA tests at $2000, $1500, $1000, and $500, the marginal cost is $8.0, $5.8, $3.6, and $1.4m, respectively. Costs were lower when replacing a quadruple test and higher for a 5% false-positive rate, but the relative importance of cfDNA unit cost was unchanged. A contingent policy whereby 10% to 20% women were selected for cfDNA testing by conventional screening was considerably more cost-efficient. Costs were sensitive to cfDNA uptake.


CONCLUSION
Universal cfDNA screening for Down syndrome will only become affordable by public health purchasers if costs fall substantially. Until this happens, the contingent use of cfDNA is recommended.
Lean and agile manufacturing: external and internal drivers and performance outcomes

Purpose – Lean and agile manufacturing are two initiatives that are used by manufacturing plant managers to improve operations capabilities. The purpose of this paper is to investigate internal and external factors that drive the choice of lean and agile operations capabilities and their respective impact on operational performance. Design/methodology/approach – Lean and agile manufacturing are each conceptualized as a second-order factor and measured through a bundle of distinct practices. The competitive intensity of industry and the competitive strategy are modeled as potential external and internal drivers, respectively, and the impact on quality, delivery, cost, and flexibility performance is analyzed using structural equations modeling. The model is tested with data from the high performance manufacturing project comprising a total of 211 plants from three industries and seven countries. Findings – The results indicate that lean and agile manufacturing differ in terms of drivers and outcomes. The choice of a cost-leadership strategy fully mediates the impact of the competitive intensity of industry as a driver of lean manufacturing, while agile manufacturing is directly affected by both internal and external drivers, i.e. a differentiation strategy as well as the competitive intensity of industry. Agile manufacturing is found to be negatively associated with a cost-leadership strategy, emphasizing the difference between lean and agile manufacturing. The major differences in performance outcomes are related to cost and flexibility, such that lean manufacturing has a significant impact on cost performance (whereas agile manufacturing has not), and that agile manufacturing has a stronger relationship with volume as well as product mix flexibility than does lean manufacturing. Research limitations/implications – Cross-sectional data from three industries and seven countries are used, and it would be interesting to test this model for more industries and countries. Practical implications – The results provide insights into the factors that influence the choice of lean or agile manufacturing for improving operations, and the results that can be obtained. Originality/value – To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first large-scale empirical survey of leanness and agility simultaneously, using data from manufacturing firms in Europe, Asia, and North America. The model incorporates a wide perspective on factors related to lean and agile manufacturing, to be able to identify similarities and differences.
A generalized MoM-SPICE iterative technique for field coupling to multiconductor transmission lines in presence of complex structures

A generalized method of moments (MoM)-SPICE iterative technique for field coupling analysis of multiconductor transmission lines (MTLs) in the vicinity of complex structures is presented. Telegrapher's coupling equations are modified with additional distributed voltage and current sources for more accurate analysis of the total current induced onto transmission line bundles in the presence of complex structures. These additional voltage and current sources are introduced to enforce the electric field boundary condition and continuity equation on MTLs beyond the quasi-static regime. The surrounding structure is modeled via the MoM and a SPICE-like simulator is used to simulate equivalent circuit model of the MTLs extracted via the partial element equivalent circuit method. The proposed technique is based on perturbation theory with the quasi-static current distributions on the transmission lines still assumed to be dominant. Validation examples for single and MTLs are given in the presence of complex structures.