LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Effect of acarbose on glycemic control, serum lipids and lipoproteins in type 2 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE
To assess the efficacy of acarbose monotherapy during 12-weeks treatment on the fasting glycemic level, lipid and lipoproteins profiles, in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.


SETTING
Type 2 diabetics were selected from out patient department of Baqai Diabetes and Endocrine Centre, and one other diabetic clinic of Karachi, during 1996-97.


DESIGN
A prospective intervention trial, and a 10 days screening period with a follow-up of 12 weeks.


METHODS
Forty-four patients (36 men and 8 women, mean age 55.09 +/- 1.72 years) were included of whom 25 (56.81%) patients were previously treated with diet alone, 11(25%) with diet and glibenclamide, 5(11.36%) with diet and gliclazide, and 3(6.81%) with diet and chlorpropamide, more than at least 3 months known duration of diagnosed type 2 diabetes, body mass index (BMI) 23.69 +/- 0.49 kg/m2, were insufficiently controlled on diet alone, or diet plus sulfonylureas, were studied. The dosage of acarbose was started with 50 mg t.i.d with each meal, if necessary, was titrated upward on subsequent visits to 100 mg t.i.d with each meal, based on tolerability and efficacy. Fasting blood glucose, lipid and lipoprotein profiles were determined at the baseline and at the end of the study.


RESULTS
Acarbose treatment was associated with significant reduction in fasting blood glucose from (mean +/- SE) 173.89 +/- 3.89 mg/dl at day 0 to 161.29 +/- 3.41 mg/dl at day 90 (P < 0.01). The serum total triglyceride level was (mean +/- SE) 188.85 +/- 5.91 mg/dl at entry, and was also significantly decreased to 158.57 +/- 4.48 mg/dl at day 90, this reduction was found statistically significant (P < 0.01). Whereas very-low density lipoprotein cholesterol reduced significantly from 33.08 +/- 1.09 mg/dl at day 0 to 31.02 +/- 0.95 mg/dl at day 90 (P < 0.01). Acarbose had no significant effect on serum total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and High-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations. Almost, all adverse experiences, as reported by patients on acarbose, were related to the digestive system and included diarrhea, flatulence, bloating and nausea. Most symptoms were of mild to moderate intensity and tended to improve with time. Overall, acarbose was well tolerated and the adverse experience profile was clinically acceptable.


CONCLUSION
In type 2 diabetic patients, acarbose as monotherapy for 12 weeks resulted in beneficial effects on glycemic control, fasting blood glucose, mean serum total triglyceride and very-low density lipoprotein cholesterol decreased significantly. Perhaps attainment of normoglycemia on a long-term basis would result in more normal lipid and lipoprotein levels. Furthermore use of acarbose can be considered as a useful alternative in such type 2 patients, if they are difficult to control with diet alone or diet plus sulfonylureas (JPMA 50:152, 2000).
Heart rate variability and functional outcome in ischemic stroke: a multiparameter approach.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Heart rate variability (HRV) as a measure of autonomic function might provide prognostic information in ischemic stroke. However, numerous difficulties are associated with HRV parameters assessment and interpretation, especially in short-term ECG recordings. For better understanding of derived HRV data and to avoid methodological bias we simultaneously recorded and analyzed heart rate, blood pressure and respiratory rate.


METHODS
Seventy-five ischemic stroke patients underwent short-term ECG recordings. Linear and nonlinear parameters of HRV as well as beat-to-beat blood pressure and respiratory rate were assessed and compared in patients with different functional neurological outcomes at 7th and 90th days.


RESULTS
Values of Approximate, Sample and Fuzzy Entropy were significantly lower in patients with poor early neurological outcome. Patients with poor 90-day outcome had higher percentage of high frequency spectrum and normalized high frequency power, lower normalized low frequency power and lower low frequency/high frequency ratio. Low frequency/high frequency ratio correlated negatively with scores in the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale and modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at the 7th and mRS at the 90th days. Mean RR interval, values of blood pressure as well as blood pressure variability did not differ between groups with good and poor outcomes. Respiratory frequency was significantly correlated with the functional neurological outcome at 7th and 90th days.


CONCLUSION
While HRV assessed by linear methods seems to have long-term prognostic value, complexity measures of HRV reflect the impact of the neurological state on distinct, temporary properties of heart rate dynamic. Respiratory rate during the first days of the stroke is associated with early and long-term neurological outcome and should be further investigated as a potential risk factor.
Characteristics of youth seeking emergency care for assault injuries.

OBJECTIVE
To characterize youth seeking care for assault injuries, the context of violence, and previous emergency department (ED) service utilization to inform ED-based injury prevention.


METHODS
A consecutive sample of youth (14-24) presenting to an urban ED with an assault injury completed a survey of partner violence, gun/knife victimization, gang membership, and context of the fight.


RESULTS
A total of 925 youth entered the ED with an assault injury; 718 completed the survey (15.4% refused); 730 comparison youth were sampled. The fights leading to the ED visit occurred at home (37.6%) or on streets (30.4%), and were commonly with a known person (68.3%). Fights were caused by issues of territory (23.3%) and retaliation (8.9%); 20.8% of youth reported substance use before the fight. The assault-injured group reported more peer/partner violence and more gun experiences. Assault-injured youth reported higher past ED utilization for assault (odds ratio [OR]: 2.16) or mental health reasons (OR: 7.98). Regression analysis found the assault-injured youth had more frequent weapon use (OR: 1.25) and substance misuse (OR: 1.41).


CONCLUSIONS
Assault-injured youth seeking ED care report higher levels of previous violence, weapon experience, and substance use compared with a comparison group seeking care for other complaints. Almost 10% of assault-injured youth had another fight-related ED visit in the previous year, and ~5% had an ED visit for mental health. Most fights were with people known to them and for well-defined reasons, and were therefore likely preventable. The ED is a critical time to interact with youth to prevent future morbidity.
Research on modeling and simulation of cruise missile interception system based on Object-Oriented Petri net

Petri net is a tool suited for describing system with the feature of concurrence, asynchronization, distribution and undecision. This paper studied and realized a modelling method based on Petri net which integrated Object-Oriented approach and Petri net method, calling Timed Object-Oriented Petri net. It's more powerful to describe complex system but with less complex Petri net structure. We researched how to realize this method in computer simulation and applied this theory to the confrontation simulation of cruise missile interception system, which is a very complex system.
Defending Puts the Anterior Cruciate Ligament at Risk During Soccer

BACKGROUND
Soccer athletes are at risk for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. To date, there are limited studies on the mechanisms of ACL injuries in soccer athletes and no video-based analysis or sex-based comparison of these mechanisms.


HYPOTHESIS
There is no difference in ACL injury mechanisms among soccer athletes by sex.


STUDY DESIGN
Case series.


LEVEL OF EVIDENCE
Level 4.


METHODS
Fifty-five videos of ACL injuries in 32 male and 23 female soccer players were reviewed. Most athletes were professionals (22 males, 4 females) or collegiate players (8 males, 14 females). Visual analysis of each case was performed to describe the injury mechanisms in detail (game situation, player behavior, and lower extremity alignment).


RESULTS
The majority of ACL injuries occurred when the opposing team had the ball and the injured athlete was defending (73%). Females were more likely to be defending when they injured their ACLs (87% vs 63% for males, P = 0.045). The most common playing action was tackling (51%), followed by cutting (15%). Most injuries occurred due to a contact mechanism (56%) with no significant difference for sex. Females were more likely to suffer a noncontact injury in their left knee (54%) than males (33%) (P = 0.05).


CONCLUSION
Soccer players are at greatest risk for ACL injury when defending, especially when tackling the opponent in an attempt to win possession of the ball. Females are more likely to injure their ACLs when defending and are at greater risk for noncontact injuries in their left lower extremity.


CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Soccer ACL injury prevention programs should include proper defending and tackling techniques, particularly for female athletes.
Learning classifiers from linked data

xi CHAPTER 1. LEARNING CLASSIFIERS FROM LINKED DATA: AN OVERVIEW 1 1.
Cognitive computing

Unite neuroscience, supercomputing, and nanotechnology to discover, demonstrate, and deliver the brain's core algorithms.
Distribution and autecology of chrysophyte cysts from high Arctic Svalbard lakes: preliminary evidence of recent environmental change

Chrysophycean stomatocyst assemblages were analysed from the sediments of 17 lakes and ponds from Svalbard as one component of a multi-proxy investigation of recent environmental change in the high Arctic. Sediment cores and water chemistry were collected from each of the study lakes, and chrysophyte stomatocysts were investigated from the top 0.25 cm of sediment (present-day) and bottom (i.e. bottom of short sediment core, pre-industrial) sediment samples. This study represents the first undertaking of chrysophyte cyst morphology and distribution on Svalbard. A total of 153 cyst morphotypes were described with light microscopy and/or scanning electron microscopy, of which 21 are new forms. Canonical correspondence analysis indicates that the present-day distribution of cysts is significantly related to pH (p = 0.02), altitude (p = 0.02), and Na (p = 0.04). Marked shifts in chrysophyte cyst assemblages were recorded between the top and bottom sediment samples of most lakes. Rose et al. (2004) have demonstrated that Svalbard lakes receive atmospheric contaminants from both local and remote sources. The observed assemblage shifts may be the result of the combined effects of these point sources and long-range pollutants, or the effects of recent climate change, or both. Figure 1. The Svalbard archipelago and (inset map) its position relative to the North Pole and mainland Norway. The locations of the 21 lakes (A-U) samples in 1995 are shown. Seventeen top and ‘bottom’ core samples were examined in this study but only sediments from A, B, D, G-K, M-O, Q, and S contained abundant cysts. Lake codes follow Birks et al. (2004a).
Neural and behavioral responses to tryptophan depletion in unmedicated patients with remitted major depressive disorder and controls.

CONTEXT
An instructive paradigm for investigating the relationship between brain serotonin function and major depressive disorder (MDD) is the response to tryptophan depletion (TD) induced by oral loading with all essential amino acids except the serotonin precursor tryptophan.


OBJECTIVE
To determine whether serotonin dysfunction represents a trait abnormality in MDD in the context of specific neural circuitry abnormalities involved in the pathogenesis of MDD.


DESIGN
Randomized double-blind crossover study.


SETTING
Outpatient clinic.


PARTICIPANTS
Twenty-seven medication-free patients with remitted MDD (18 women and 9 men; mean +/- SD age, 39.8 +/- 12.7 years) and 19 controls (10 women and 9 men; mean +/- SD age, 34.4 +/- 11.5 years).


INTERVENTIONS
We induced TD by administering capsules containing an amino acid mixture without tryptophan. Sham depletion used identical capsules containing hydrous lactose. Fluorodeoxyglucose F 18 positron emission tomography studies were performed 6 hours after TD. Magnetic resonance images were obtained for all participants.


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Quantitative positron emission tomography of regional cerebral glucose utilization to study the neural effects of sham depletion and TD. Behavioral assessments used a modified (24-item) version of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale.


RESULTS
Tryptophan depletion induced a transient return of depressive symptoms in patients with remitted MDD but not in controls (P<.001). Compared with sham depletion, TD was associated with an increase in regional cerebral glucose utilization in the orbitofrontal cortex, medial thalamus, anterior and posterior cingulate cortices, and ventral striatum in patients with remitted MDD but not in controls.


CONCLUSION
The pattern of TD-induced regional cerebral glucose utilization changes in patients with remitted MDD suggests that TD unmasks a disease-specific, serotonin system-related trait dysfunction and identifies a circuit that probably plays a key role in the pathogenesis of MDD.
Constellation Deployment for the FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC Mission

The FORMOSA Satellite Series No. 3/Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate (FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC) spacecraft constellation consisting of six low-earth-orbiting satellites is the world's first operational Global Positioning System (GPS) radio occultation mission. The mission has been jointly developed by the National Space Organization of Taiwan and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research of the U.S. in collaboration with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA, and the Naval Research Laboratory for three onboard payloads, including a GPS Occultation Receiver, a triband beacon, and a tiny ionospheric photometer. The FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC mission was successfully launched from Vandenberg into the same orbit plane of the designated 516-km circular parking orbit altitude on April 15, 2006. After the six satellites completed the in-orbit checkout activities, the mission was started immediately at the parking orbit for in-orbit checkout, calibration, and experiment of three onboard payloads. Individual spacecraft thrust burns for orbit raising were performed to begin the constellation deployment of the satellites into six separate orbit planes. All six FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC satellites are maintained in a good state of health except spacecraft flight model no. 2, which has had power shortages. Five out of the six satellites had reached their final mission orbits of 800 km as of November 2007. This paper provides an overview of the constellation spacecraft design, constellation mission operations, constellation deployment timeline evolution, associated spacecraft mass property and moment of inertia results, orbit-raising challenges, and lessons learned during the orbit-raising operations.
Does anybody notice? On the impact of improved truancy reporting on school dropout

Various policy measures have been taken in industrialised countries to reduce school dropout rates. This paper first examines the relationship between truancy and school dropout. Using fixed effects regressions and controlling for truancy peer group effects, we observe that truancy (measured as both a discrete dummy variable, and a continuous count measure) positively correlates to early school leaving. A truant has a 3.4 percentage points higher risk of leaving school without a qualification. Second, we exploit the introduction of truancy reporting in a quasi-experimental identification strategy. In essence, the idea is straightforward: if students are better monitored with respect to truancy, schools can identify more easily students at risk. The results indicate that improved truancy reporting significantly reduces school dropout by 5 percentage points.
A framework for dynamically adaptive applications in a self-organized mobile network environment

Self-organized mobile networks present a challenging environment for the execution of software applications, due to their dynamic topologies and consistently changing resource conditions. In view of the above, a desirable property for software applications to be run over these networks is their ability to dynamically adapt to changing execution environments. The contract-based adaptive software architecture (CASA) provides a framework for the development of adaptive applications that are able to adapt their functionality and/or performance dynamically in response to runtime changes in their execution environments. The approach of the CASA framework is to decouple application code from any assumptions about resource availability, while enabling the application to execute under varying resource conditions. The CASA framework relies on specifying adaptation behavior of applications in application contracts, which enables the dynamic adaptation to be carried out in an application-transparent manner.
Tobacco smoke exposure in pulmonary arterial and thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.

BACKGROUND
Animal studies and data from a single-center study suggest that tobacco smoke exposure may be a risk factor for precapillary pulmonary hypertension (PH).


OBJECTIVE
We aimed to survey tobacco smoke exposure in a large PH collective and to compare it with epidemiological data from healthy subjects.


METHODS
This is an international, multicenter, case-control study including patients with pulmonary arterial and chronic thromboembolic PH. All patients were asked specific questions about tobacco smoke exposure. Healthy controls were retrieved from the Swiss Health Survey (n = 18,747).


RESULTS
Overall (n = 472), 49% of PH patients were smokers and there was a clear sex difference (women 37%, men 71%). Significantly more PH men were smokers compared with healthy controls, whereas less PH women were ever active smokers. However, 50% of the non-smoking PH women were exposed to secondhand smoke, leading to a significantly higher number of tobacco smoke-exposed individuals compared to healthy controls. PH smokers were significantly younger compared to those not exposed.


CONCLUSION
Active and environmental tobacco smoke exposure is common in PH. The higher prevalence of male PH smokers, the higher exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in PH women compared to healthy controls and the lower age at PH diagnosis in smokers may indicate a pathogenic role of tobacco smoke exposure in PH.
High prevalence of cooled tip use as compared with 8-mm tip in a multicenter Italian registry on atrial fibrillation ablation: focus on procedural safety.

BACKGROUND
Whether cooling catheters should be preferred for atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation is not yet clear.


METHODS
From April 2005 to October 2006, 991 (74% men) consecutive patients who underwent AF ablation were prospectively enrolled in 10 Italian centers. For the present subanalysis, patients were ranked in the two study groups on the basis of the catheter system chosen: 8-mm tip was used in 86 patients (9% conventional group) and open-irrigated tip in 905 patients (91% cooled group).


RESULTS
The registry clinical data of both groups showed marked heterogeneity due to the fact that the higher number of patients of the cooled group had longer AF history (4.9+/-4.1 versus 1.2+/-1.8 years; P=0.0001), permanent/persistent AF (41.2 versus 27.9%; P=0.01), and larger left atrium (LA) size (44.1+/-6.2 versus 33.4+/-10.5 mm; P<or=0.00001). Moreover, they underwent a longer procedure (207.2+/-70.8 versus 85.2+/-58 min; P=0.00001), with longer fluoroscopy time (36.5+/-20.1 versus 15.6+/-12 min; P<or=0.0000), and LA roof ablation lines were more frequently added (29.6 versus 3.5%; P<0.0001). Data were confirmed in the multivariate analysis, in which a longer procedure [odds ratio (OR) 1.018; 95% CI 1.009-1.027; P=0.0001], added linear lesions (OR 16.847; 95% CI 4.288-66.190; P=0.0001), and a longer AF history (OR 1.311; 95% CI 1.063-1.616; P=0.01) continued to characterize the cooled group. Even though the lack of homogeneity of the groups could not render any reliable comparison about safety, we report that the rate of cumulative complications (4.7 versus 3.8%; P=NS), cerebral thromboembolism (0 versus 0.4%; P=NS), pulmonary vein (PV) stenosis (0 versus 0.5%; P=NS), pericardial effusions or tamponade (1.2 versus 1.5%; P=NS), and groin complications (4.7 versus 2.0%, P=NS) was low and similar in both the groups.


CONCLUSION
In the present subanalysis, both the systems showed a similar safety procedural profile, though the lack of homogeneity observed in the two study groups could render any straight conclusion as mere speculation. The longer availability and the consequent higher use of open-irrigated catheters technology for LA ablation in Europe could explain the large preference given to the latter system in the present registry.
Sensitivity Analysis of features in tolerancing based on constraint function level sets

Usually, the geometry of the manufactured product inherently varies from the nominal geometry. This may negatively affect the product functions and properties (such as quality and reliability), as well as the assemblability of the single components. In order to avoid this, the geometric variation of these component surfaces and associated geometry elements (like hole axes) are restricted by tolerances. Since tighter tolerances lead to significant higher manufacturing costs, tolerances should be specified carefully. Therefore, the impact of deviating component surfaces on functions, properties and assemblability of the product has to be analyzed. As physical experiments are expensive, methods of statistical tolerance analysis tools are widely used in engineering design. Current tolerance simulation tools lack of an appropriate indicator for the impact of deviating component surfaces. In the adoption of Sensitivity Analysis methods, there are several challenges, which arise from the specific framework in tolerancing. This paper presents an approach to adopt Sensitivity Analysis methods on current tolerance simulations with an interface module, which bases on level sets of constraint functions for parameters of the simulation model. The paper is an extension and generalization of Ziegler and Wartzack [1]. Mathematical properties of the constraint functions (convexity, homogeneity), which are important for the computational costs of the Sensitivity Analysis, are shown. The practical use of the method is illustrated in a case study of a plain bearing. & 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.