LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Learning to Rank for Consumer Health Search: A Semantic Approach

For many internet users, searching for health advice online is the first step in seeking treatment. We present a Learning to Rank system that uses a novel set of syntactic and semantic features to improve consumer health search. Our approach was evaluated on the 2016 CLEF eHealth dataset, outperforming the best method by 26.6% in NDCG@10.
A randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a board game on patients' knowledge uptake of HIV and sexually transmitted diseases at the Infectious Diseases Institute, Kampala, Uganda.

BACKGROUND
As the number of HIV infections continues to rise, the search for effective health education strategies must intensify. A new educational board game was developed to increase HIV peoples' attention and knowledge to HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) information. The object of this study was to assess the effect of this educational board game on the uptake of knowledge.


METHODS
A randomized controlled trial where patients attending the Infectious Diseases Clinic, Kampala, Uganda were randomized to either play the board game (intervention arm) or to attend a health talk (standard of care arm). Participants' knowledge was assessed before and after the education sessions through a questionnaire.


RESULTS
One hundred eighty HIV-positive participants were enrolled, 90 for each study arm. The pretest scores were similar for each arm. There was a statistically significant increase in uptake of knowledge of HIV and STIs in both study arms. Compared with patients in the standard of care arm, participants randomized to the intervention arm had higher uptake of knowledge (4.7 points, 95% confidence interval: 3.9 to 5.4) than the controls (1.5 points, 95% confidence interval: 0.9 to 2.1) with a difference in knowledge uptake between arms of 3.2 points (P < 0.001). Additionally, both participants and facilitators preferred the board game to the health talk as education method.


CONCLUSIONS
The educational game significantly resulted in higher uptake of knowledge of HIV and STIs. Further evaluation of the impact of this educational game on behavioral change in the short and long term is warranted.
Isometric Exercise for the Cervical Extensors Can Help Restore Physiological Lordosis and Reduce Neck Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to investigate whether isometric neck extension exercise restores physiological cervical lordosis and reduces pain.


DESIGN
Sixty-five patients with loss of cervical lordosis were randomly assigned to exercise (27 women, 7 men; mean age, 32.82 ± 8.83 yrs) and control (26 women, 5 men; mean age, 33.48 ± 9.67 yrs) groups. Both groups received nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for 10 days. The exercise group received additional therapy as a home exercise program, which consisted of isometric neck extension for 3 mos. Neck pain severity and cervical lordosis were measured at baseline and at 3 mos after baseline.


RESULTS
Compared with baseline levels, cervical lordosis angle was significantly improved in the exercise group (P < 0.001) but not in the control group (P = 0.371) at the end of 3 mos. Moreover, the exercise group was significantly superior to the control group considering the number of patients in whom cervical lordosis angle returned to physiological conditions (85.2% vs. 22.5%; P < 0.001). At the end of 3 mos, pain intensity was significantly reduced in both groups compared with baseline levels (for all, P < 0.001). Nevertheless, considering the change from baseline to month 3, the reduction in pain was about twice in the exercise group compared with the control group (P < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Isometric neck extension exercise improves cervical lordosis and pain.
Daily life activity tracking application for smart homes using android smartphone

Smart home is regarded as an independent healthy living for elderly person. Advances in phone technology and new style of computing paradigm (i.e., cloud computing) permits real time acquisition, processing, and tracking of activities in smart home. In this paper, we develop android smartphone application to assists elderly people for independent living in their own homes. It reduces the health expenditures and burden of health care professionals in care facility units. We assume smart home as an intelligent agent to perceive the environment and process the sensory data on cloud. Smartphone application communicates with cloud through web services and assists the elderly person to complete their daily life activities. It facilitates the care giver assistant by tracking the elderly persons in their own homes and avoids certain accidents. Furthermore, it also helps the family members to track the activities, when they are outside from homes.
The global prevalence of dementia: A systematic review and metaanalysis

BACKGROUND
The evidence base on the prevalence of dementia is expanding rapidly, particularly in countries with low and middle incomes. A reappraisal of global prevalence and numbers is due, given the significant implications for social and public policy and planning.


METHODS
In this study we provide a systematic review of the global literature on the prevalence of dementia (1980-2009) and metaanalysis to estimate the prevalence and numbers of those affected, aged ≥60 years in 21 Global Burden of Disease regions.


RESULTS
Age-standardized prevalence for those aged ≥60 years varied in a narrow band, 5%-7% in most world regions, with a higher prevalence in Latin America (8.5%), and a distinctively lower prevalence in the four sub-Saharan African regions (2%-4%). It was estimated that 35.6 million people lived with dementia worldwide in 2010, with numbers expected to almost double every 20 years, to 65.7 million in 2030 and 115.4 million in 2050. In 2010, 58% of all people with dementia lived in countries with low or middle incomes, with this proportion anticipated to rise to 63% in 2030 and 71% in 2050.


CONCLUSION
The detailed estimates in this study constitute the best current basis for policymaking, planning, and allocation of health and welfare resources in dementia care. The age-specific prevalence of dementia varies little between world regions, and may converge further. Future projections of numbers of people with dementia may be modified substantially by preventive interventions (lowering incidence), improvements in treatment and care (prolonging survival), and disease-modifying interventions (preventing or slowing progression). All countries need to commission nationally representative surveys that are repeated regularly to monitor trends.
Mathematical features of Whitehead ’ s point-free geometry

This paper is devoted to some mathematical considerations on the geometrical ideas contained in PNK, CN and, successively, in PR. Mainly, we will emphasize that these ideas give very promising suggestions for a modern point-free foundation of geometry. 1. Introduction Recently the researches in point-free geometry received an increasing interest in different areas. As an example, we can quote computability theory, lattice theory, computer science. Now, the basic ideas of point-free geometry were firstly formulated by A. N. Whitehead in PNK and CN where the extension relation between events is proposed as a primitive. The points, the lines and all the " abstract " geometrical entities are defined by suitable abstraction processes. As a matter of fact, as observed in Casati and Varzi 1997, the approach proposed in these books is a basis for a "mereology" (i.e. an investigation about the part-whole relation) rather than for a point-free geometry. Indeed , the inclusion relation is set-theoretical and not topological in nature and this generates several difficulties. As an example, the definition of point is unsatisfactory (see Section 6). So, it is not surprising that some years later the publication of PNK and CN, Whitehead in PR proposed a different approach in which the primitive notion is the one of connection relation. This idea was suggested in de Laguna 1922. The aim of this paper is not to give a precise account of geometrical ideas contained in these books but only to emphasize their mathematical potentialities. So, we translate the analysis of Whitehead into suitable first order theories and we examine these theories from a logical point of view. Also, we argue that multi-valued logic is a promising tool to reformulate the approach in PNK and CN.
Evaluating rotational kinematics of the knee in ACL reconstructed patients using 3.0 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging.

INTRODUCTION
Injury to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is common. While prior studies have shown that surgical reconstruction of the ACL can restore anterior-posterior kinematics, ACL-injured and reconstructed knees have been shown to have significant differences in tibial rotation when compared to uninjured knees. Our laboratory has developed an MR compatible rotational loading device to objectively quantify rotational stability of the knee following ACL injuries and reconstructions. Previous work from our group demonstrated a significant increase in total tibial rotation following ACL injuries. The current study is a prospective study on the same cohort of patients who have now undergone ACL reconstruction. We hypothesize that ACL reconstructed knees will have less tibial rotation relative to the pre-operative ACL deficient condition. We also hypothesize that ACL reconstructed knees will have greater rotational laxity when compared to healthy contralateral knees.


METHODS
Patients. Six of the ACL injured patients from our initial study who had subsequently undergone ACL reconstruction were evaluated 8.1 ± 2.9 months after surgery. All patients underwent single-bundle ACL reconstruction using anteromedial portal drilling of the femoral tunnel with identical post-operative regimens. Magnetic Resonance (MR) Imaging. Patients were placed in a supine position in the MR scanner on a custom-built loading device. Once secured in the scanner bore, an internal/external torque was applied to the foot. The tibiae were semi-automatically segmented with in-house software. Tibial rotation comparisons were made within subjects (i.e. side-to-side comparison between reconstructed and contralateral knees) and differences were explored using paired sample t-tests with significance set at p=0.05.


RESULTS
Regarding tibial rotation, in the ACL deficient state, these patients experienced an average of 5.9 ± 4.1° difference in tibial rotation between their ACL deficient and contralateral knees. However, there was a -0.2 ± 6.1° difference in tibial rotation of the ACL reconstructed knee when compared to the contralateral uninjured knee. Regarding tibial translation, ACL deficient patients showed a difference of 0.75 ± 1.4mm of anterior tibial translation between injured and healthy knees. After ACL reconstruction, there was a 0.2 ± 1.1mm difference in coupled anterior tibial translation of the ACL reconstructed knee compared to the contralateral knee. No significant differences in contact area between the two time points could be discerned.


DISCUSSION
The objective of our study was to assess the rotational laxity present in ACL reconstructed knees using a previously validated MRI-compatible rotational loading device. Our study demonstrated that ACL reconstruction can restore rotational laxity under load. This may speak to the benefit of an anteromedial drilling technique, which allows for a more horizontal and anatomically appropriate graft position.
Pre-Transplant Cardiovascular Risk Factors Affect Kidney Allograft Survival: A Multi-Center Study in Korea

BACKGROUND
Pre-transplant cardiovascular (CV) risk factors affect the development of CV events even after successful kidney transplantation (KT). However, the impact of pre-transplant CV risk factors on allograft failure (GF) has not been reported.


METHODS AND FINDINGS
We analyzed the graft outcomes of 2,902 KT recipients who were enrolled in a multi-center cohort from 1997 to 2012. We calculated the pre-transplant CV risk scores based on the Framingham risk model using age, gender, total cholesterol level, smoking status, and history of hypertension. Vascular disease (a composite of ischemic heart disease, peripheral vascular disease, and cerebrovascular disease) was noted in 6.5% of the patients. During the median follow-up of 6.4 years, 286 (9.9%) patients had developed GF. In the multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazard model, pre-transplant vascular disease was associated with an increased risk of GF (HR 2.51; 95% CI 1.66-3.80). The HR for GF (comparing the highest with the lowest tertile regarding the pre-transplant CV risk scores) was 1.65 (95% CI 1.22-2.23). In the competing risk model, both pre-transplant vascular disease and CV risk score were independent risk factors for GF. Moreover, the addition of the CV risk score, the pre-transplant vascular disease, or both had a better predictability for GF compared to the traditional GF risk factors.


CONCLUSIONS
In conclusion, both vascular disease and pre-transplant CV risk score were independently associated with GF in this multi-center study. Pre-transplant CV risk assessments could be useful in predicting GF in KT recipients.
Long-term platinum retention after treatment with cisplatin and oxaliplatin

BACKGROUND
The aim of this study was to evaluate long-term platinum retention in patients treated with cisplatin and oxaliplatin.


METHODS
45 patients, treated 8-75 months before participating in this study, were included. Platinum levels in plasma and plasma ultrafiltrate (pUF) were determined. In addition, the reactivity of platinum species in pUF was evaluated. Relationships between platinum retention and possible determinants were evaluated.


RESULTS
Platinum plasma concentrations ranged between 142-2.99 x 10(3) ng/L. Up to 24% of plasma platinum was recovered in pUF. No platinum-DNA adducts in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) could be detected. Ex vivo incubation of DNA with pUF of patients revealed that up to 10% of the reactivity of platinum species was retained. Protein binding proceeded during sample storage. Sodium thiosulfate (STS) appeared to release platinum from the plasma proteins. Platinum levels were related to time, dose, STS co-administration, and glomerular filtration rates (GFR).


CONCLUSION
Our data suggest that plasma platinum levels are related to time, age, dose, GFR, and STS use. Platinum in plasma, probably, represent platinum eliminated from regenerating tissue. Platinum species in pUF were partly present in a reactive form. The effects of the reactivity on long-term consequences of Pt-containing chemotherapy, however, remains to be established.
An efficient DHT-based elastic SDN controller

Elasticity in distributed SDN Controllers [1], [2], [3] improves fault tolerance, power efficiency, cost efficiency and scalability. We find that the Elasticon [1] algorithm has high time complexity since it balances the load equally on all the controllers for every event. In this paper, we propose an efficient algorithm for elastic controllers using Chord [4], a Distributed Hash Table (DHT). In our scheme, we do not balance the load on the controllers until a controller is overloaded. The switch ID space forms the ring in the DHT. The controller is assigned an ID based on the range of switch IDs it is responsible for which changes as the switches migrate from an overloaded controller to its adjacent controllers in the ring. If the average load on the controllers falls below a given threshold, we consolidate the switch allocation to controllers so that some of the controllers can be powered off. We compared the performance of Elasticon and the proposed algorithm in terms of the number of migrations needed, the average number of controllers that are powered on, the time taken to run the algorithm and the standard deviation of the load on the controllers. We find that the number of controllers is similar for our algorithm and Elasticon, the migrations are fewer in our algorithm while the time taken by our algorithm is orders of magnitude less than Elasticon.
The presence of Aβ seeds, and not age per se, is critical to the initiation of Aβ deposition in the brain

The deposition of the β-amyloid (Aβ) peptide in senile plaques and cerebral Aβ-amyloid angiopathy can be seeded in β-amyloid precursor protein (APP)-transgenic mice by the intracerebral infusion of brain extracts containing aggregated Aβ. Previous studies of seeded β-amyloid induction have used relatively short incubation periods to dissociate seeded β-amyloid induction from endogenous β-amyloid deposition of the host, thus precluding the analysis of the impact of age and extended incubation periods on the instigation and spread of Aβ lesions in brain. In the present study using R1.40 APP-transgenic mice (which do not develop endogenous Aβ deposition up to 15 months of age) we show that: (1) seeding at 9 months of age does not induce more Aβ deposition than seeding at 3 months of age, provided that the incubation period (6 months) is the same; and (2) very long-term (12 months) incubation after a focal application of the seed results in the emergence of Aβ deposits throughout the forebrain. These findings indicate that the presence of Aβ seeds, and not the age of the host per se, is critical to the initiation of Aβ aggregation in the brain, and that Aβ deposition, actuated in one brain area, eventually spreads throughout the brain.
A highly immunogenic trivalent T cell receptor peptide vaccine for multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND
T cell receptor (TCR) peptide vaccination is a novel approach to treating multiple sclerosis (MS). The low immunogenicity of previous vaccines has hindered the development of TCR peptide vaccination for MS.


OBJECTIVE
To compare the immunogenicity of intramuscular injections of TCR BV5S2, BV6S5 and BV13S1 CDR2 peptides in incomplete Freunds adjuvant (IFA) with intradermal injections of the same peptides without IFA.


METHODS
MS subjects were randomized to receive TCR peptides/IFA, TCR peptides/saline or IFA alone. Subjects were on study for 24 weeks.


RESULTS
The TCR peptides/IFA vaccine induced vigorous T cell responses in 100% of subjects completing the 24-week study (9/9) compared with only 20% (2/10) of those receiving the TCR peptides/saline vaccine (P =0.001). IFA alone induced a weak response in only one of five subjects. Aside from injection site reactions, there were no significant adverse events attributable to the treatment.


CONCLUSIONS
The trivalent TCR peptide in IFA vaccine represents a significant improvement in immunogenicity over previous TCR peptide vaccines and warrants investigation of its ability to treat MS.
Direct implantation of rapamycin-eluting stents with bioresorbable drug carrier technology utilising the Svelte coronary stent-on-a-wire: the DIRECT II study.

AIMS
Our aim was to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of the Svelte sirolimus-eluting coronary stent-on-a-wire Integrated Delivery System (IDS) with bioresorbable drug coating compared to the Resolute Integrity zotarolimus-eluting stent with durable polymer in patients with de novo coronary artery lesions.


METHODS AND RESULTS
Direct stenting, particularly in conjunction with transradial intervention (TRI), has been associated with reduced bleeding complications, procedure time, radiation exposure and contrast administration compared to conventional stenting with wiring and predilatation. The low-profile Svelte IDS is designed to facilitate TRI and direct stenting, reducing the number of procedural steps, time and cost associated with coronary stenting. DIRECT II was a prospective, multicentre trial which enrolled 159 patients to establish non-inferiority of the Svelte IDS versus Resolute Integrity using a 2:1 randomisation. The primary endpoint was angiographic in-stent late lumen loss (LLL) at six months. Target vessel failure (TVF), as well as secondary clinical endpoints, will be assessed annually up to five years. At six months, in-stent LLL was 0.09±0.31 mm in the Svelte IDS group compared to 0.13±0.27 mm in the Resolute Integrity group (p<0.001 for non-inferiority). TVF at one year was similar across the Svelte IDS and Resolute Integrity groups (6.5% vs. 9.8%, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
DIRECT II demonstrated the non-inferiority of the Svelte IDS to Resolute Integrity with respect to in-stent LLL at six months. Clinical outcomes at one year were comparable between the two groups.
Evaluation of the effect of obesity on voriconazole serum concentrations.

OBJECTIVES
Voriconazole is a second-generation triazole antifungal, approved by the FDA in 2002. Despite a decade of experience with voriconazole, there are limited published data analysing serum concentrations and toxicity in obese patients. Therefore, we evaluated voriconazole trough serum concentrations in obese and normal-weight patients in a retrospective cohort study.


METHODS
Voriconazole serum trough concentrations and toxicities were compared for obese (body mass index >35 kg/m(2)) versus normal-weight (body mass index 18.5-24.9 kg/m(2)) patients receiving 4 mg/kg voriconazole every 12 h.


RESULTS
The obese group (n = 21) had significantly higher mean serum voriconazole trough concentrations than the normal-weight group (n = 66) (6.2 and 3.5 mg/L, respectively, P < 0.0001). Patients in the obese group also had higher rates of supratherapeutic voriconazole levels (>5.5 mg/L) than patients in the normal-weight group (67% versus 17%, respectively, P < 0.0001). However, hepatotoxicity and neurotoxicity rates did not differ between groups. The secondary endpoint compared mean serum voriconazole concentrations in the obese population when dosed at 4 mg/kg based on ideal body weight, adjusted body weight and actual body weight, which were statistically significantly different at 3.95, 3.3 and 6.2 mg/L, respectively (P = 0.0009). Therapeutic voriconazole concentrations (2.0-5.5 mg/L) occurred in 29% of obese patients when dosed on actual body weight, and 45% and 80% of patients when dosed on ideal body weight and adjusted body weight, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest a strong association between supratherapeutic concentrations and morbidly obese patients when dosed at 4 mg/kg actual body weight. Dosing voriconazole based on an ideal body weight or adjusted body weight may be appropriate for morbidly obese patients.
Critical Rationalism And Macrosociology of Globalisation

vi Acknowledgements vii Part I: A Critical Rationalist Approach to Globalisation Chapter 1 Principal Argument and Thesis Structure 1.