LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Adrenal suppression in patients taking inhaled glucocorticoids is highly prevalent and management can be guided by morning cortisol

CONTEXT
Up to 3% of US and UK populations are prescribed glucocorticoids (GC). Suppression of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis with the potential risk of adrenal crisis is a recognized complication of therapy. The 250 μg short Synacthen stimulation test (SST) is the most commonly used dynamic assessment to diagnose adrenal insufficiency. There are challenges to the use of the SST in routine clinical practice, including both the staff and time constraints and a significant recent increase in Synacthen cost.


METHODS
We performed a retrospective analysis to determine the prevalence of adrenal suppression due to prescribed GCs and the utility of a morning serum cortisol for rapid assessment of adrenal reserve in the routine clinical setting.


RESULTS
In total, 2773 patients underwent 3603 SSTs in a large secondary/tertiary centre between 2008 and 2013 and 17.9% (n=496) failed the SST. Of 404 patients taking oral, topical, intranasal or inhaled GC therapy for non-endocrine conditions, 33.2% (n=134) had a subnormal SST response. In patients taking inhaled GCs without additional GC therapy, 20.5% (34/166) failed an SST and suppression of adrenal function increased in a dose-dependent fashion. Using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis in patients currently taking inhaled GCs, a basal cortisol ≥348 nmol/l provided 100% specificity for passing the SST; a cortisol value <34 nmol/l had 100% sensitivity for SST failure. Using these cut-offs, 50% (n=83) of SSTs performed on patients prescribed inhaled GCs were unnecessary.


CONCLUSION
Adrenal suppression due to GC treatment, particularly inhaled GCs, is common. A basal serum cortisol concentration has utility in helping determine which patients should undergo dynamic assessment of adrenal function.
The effect of a persuasive social impact game on affective learning and attitude

To investigate whether a persuasive social impact game may serve as a way to increase affective learning and attitude towards the homeless, this study examined the effects of persuasive mechanics in a video game designed to put the player in the shoes of an almost-homeless person. Data were collected from 5139 students in 200 middle/high school classes across four states. Classes were assigned to treatment groups based on matching. Two treatment conditions and a control group were employed in the study. All three groups affective learning and attitude scores decreased from the immediate posttest but the game group was significantly different from the control group in a positive direction. Students who played the persuasive social impact game sustained a significantly higher score on the Affective Learning Scale (ALS) and the Attitude Towards Homelessness Inventory (ATHI) after three weeks. Overall, findings suggest that when students play a video game that is designed using persuasive mechanics an affective and attitude change can be measured empirically. 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Effects of anacetrapib on plasma lipids in specific patient subgroups in the DEFINE (Determining the Efficacy and Tolerability of CETP INhibition with AnacEtrapib) trial.

BACKGROUND
In the Determining the Efficacy and Tolerability of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) INhibition with AnacEtrapib (DEFINE) trial, anacetrapib added to statin produced robust low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C)-lowering and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C)-raising vs placebo in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). Predictors of the degree of LDL-C and HDL-C responses to anacetrapib, however, are poorly understood.


OBJECTIVE
Lipid effects of anacetrapib in patient subgroups within the DEFINE trial (clinicaltrials.gov: NCT00685776) are reported.


METHODS
The percent of placebo-corrected changes from baseline for LDL-C (estimated by Friedewald calculation [Fc-LDL-C]) and HDL-C after 24 weeks of anacetrapib 100 mg/day were compared among patients by age, gender, race, diabetes status, type of concomitant statin with or without other lipid therapies, and baseline HDL-C, Fc-LDL-C, and triglyceride (TG) levels.


RESULTS
Percent decreases in Fc-LDL-C and increases in HDL-C with anacetrapib were similar (magnitude of difference generally <1/5 of the overall treatment effect) across subgroups by age, gender, diabetes status, lipid-modifying regimen, and baseline Fc-LDL-C, HDL-C, or TG. On the other hand, anacetrapib effects on Fc-LDL-C (-24% vs -41%) and HDL-C (+75% vs +139%) appeared to be less in black vs white patients, respectively.


CONCLUSION
Effects of anacetrapib on Fc-LDL-C and HDL-C were generally comparable across subgroups, including being relatively independent of baseline Fc-LDL-C, HDL-C, or TG levels. The clinical impact of the lipid-modifying effects of anacetrapib is being evaluated in the cardiovascular disease outcomes trial, Randomized EValuation of the Effects of Anacetrapib though Lipid-modification (REVEAL).
DSP-based self-tuning IP speed controller with load torque compensation for rolling mill DC drive

This paper describes the design and the implementation of a self-tuning integral-proportional (IP) speed controller for a rolling mill dc drive system, based on a 32-bit floating point Digital Signal Processor @SP)-TMS 3 2 0 0 . To get a better transient response than conventional proportional-integral (PI) and/or integral-proportional (IP) speed control in the presence of transient disturbance and/or parameter variations, an adaptive self-tuning IP speed control with load torque feedforward compensation was used. The model parameters, related to motor and load inertia and damping coefficient, were estimated online by using recursive extended least squares (RELS) estimation algorithm. On the basis of the estimated model parameters and a pole-placement design, a control signal was calculated. Digital simulation and experimental results showed that the proposed controller possesses excellent adaptation capability under parameter change and a better transient recovery characteristic than a conventional PYIP controller under load change.
Acute effects of the use of estrogens in association with progestogens on postprandial triglyceridemia and vascular reactivity.

OBJECTIVE
To assess whether hormone replacement therapy with estrogens in association with progestogens in postmenopausal hypertensive women alters postprandial triglyceridemia and vascular reactivity.


METHODS
A double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study was carried out with 15 postmenopausal women (age range: 50 to 70 years, mean = 61.6 +/- 6 years) randomly assigned to 2 weeks of placebo or oral ingestion of 0.625 mg of equine conjugated estrogens and 2.5 mg of medroxyprogesterone, fed a high-fat diet (897 calories; 50.1% fat). Vascular reactivity (VR - % of vessel diameter variation in the fasting period and 2 hours after meals) was measured by using the automated ultrasound method. Lipid profile and glycemia during the fasting period and 2 hours after a high-fat meal were measured.


RESULTS
With placebo, vascular reactivity (VR) decreased from 3.20 +/- 17% during the fasting period to -2.1 +/- 30% 2 hours after the meal (P = 0.041). With the hormone replacement therapy, vascular reactivity decreased from 6.14 +/- 27% during the fasting period to - 0.05 +/- 18% 2 hours after the meal (P = NS). Postprandial triglyceridemia increased as follows: 35 +/- 25% with placebo; and 12 +/- 10% with hormone replacement therapy (P < 0.05).


CONCLUSION
In postmenopausal hypertensive women, 2 weeks of hormone replacement with an association of estrogens and progestogens decreased hypertriglyceridemia after a high-fat meal, an effect that may reduce the endothelial dysfunction occurring in the postprandial period.
Topological Vulnerability Analysis

Traditionally, network administrators rely on labor-intensive processes for tracking network configurations and vulnerabilities. This requires a great deal of expertise, and is error prone because of the complexity of networks and associated security data. The interdependencies of network vulnerabilities make traditional point-wise vulnerability analysis inadequate. We describe a Topological Vulnerability Analysis (TVA) approach that analyzes vulnerability dependencies and shows all possible attack paths into a network. From models of the network vulnerabilities and potential attacker exploits, we compute attack graphs that convey the impact of individual and combined vulnerabilities on overall security. TVA finds potential paths of vulnerability through a network, showing exactly how attackers may penetrate a network. From this, we identify key vulnerabilities and provide strategies for protection of critical network assets. TVA provides predictive context for network hardening, intrusion detection deployment and alarm correlation, and optimal attack response. Further, it employs efficient algorithms that scale well to larger networks.
Literature Review and General Consideration of Energy Efficient Routing Protocols in MANETs

A mobile wireless infrastructure-less network is a collection of wireless mobile nodes dynamically forming a temporary network without the use of any preexisting network infrastructure or centralized administration. However, the battery life of these nodes is very limited, if their battery power is depleted fully, then this result in network partition, so these nodes becomes a critical spot in the network. These critical nodes can deplete their battery power earlier because of excessive load and processing for data forwarding. These unbalanced loads turn to increase the chances of nodes failure, network partition and reduce the route lifetime and route reliability of the MANETs. Due to this, energy consumption issue becomes a vital research topic in wireless infrastructure -less networks. The energy efficient routing is a most important design criterion for MANETs. This paper focuses of the routing approaches are based on the minimization of energy consum ption of individual nodes and many other ways. This paper surveys and classifies numerous energy-efficient routing mechanisms proposed for wireless infrastructure-less networks. Also presents detailed comparative study of lager number of energy efficient/power aware routing protocol in MANETs. Aim of this paper to helps the new researchers and application developers to explore an innovative idea for designing more efficient routing protocols. Keywords— Ad hoc Network Routing, Load Distribution, Energy Eff icient, Power Aware, Protocol Stack
Design and construction of continuous alternate wheels for an omnidirectional mobile robot

Many types of omnidirectional wheels with passive rollers have gaps between rollers. Since these gaps cause a wheel to make discontinuous contact with the ground, they lead to vertical and/or horizontal vibrations during wheel operation. In addition, the radii of passive rollers are related to the height of a bump an omnidirectional wheel can surmount. In this research a new design of the alternate wheel is proposed. Because this wheel makes continuous contact with the ground and has alternating large and small rollers around the wheel, it is termed a continuous alternate wheel (CAW). In this paper a design procedure is also presented to determine the optimum number of rollers, the radii of rollers and the inside inclination angle of an outer roller for given design specifications. The CAW based on this design is compared to the existing alternate wheels in terms of design. Finally, an actual continuous alternate wheel is constructed to verify validity of the design guidelines. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Multicenter hospital study on prescribing patterns for prophylaxis and treatment of complications of cirrhosis

Abstract Objective. To describe the prescribing patterns for liver disease management. Methods. A multicenter cross-sectional prospective observational study was carried out in 25 Spanish hospitals. Inpatients, admitted to gastrointestinal and liver units with a diagnosis of liver cirrhosis, were included in five centrally assigned index days between February and June 1999. Information was collected about demographic variables and pharmacological treatments used on admission and recommended at discharge. Results. Five hundred and sixty-eight patients (70% men, mean age 61 years) were studied. Alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver accounted for 44% of the sample, ascites being the most prevalent complication. The most frequent diuretic schedule on admission was the combination of spironolactone and furosemide at a ratio of 1 (100 mg/40 mg). Hospitalization resulted in an increase in the percentage of patients that received the combination at a ratio higher than 1. Diuretics were a major cause of adverse drug events on admission (7.5%). Ulcer-healing drugs showed a notable increase at discharge (35%; range 10–59%) compared with 24% (6–37%) on admission. Utilization rates at discharge were 65% (59–74%) for diuretics, 51% (38–76%) for laxatives, 31% (0–75%) for vitamin K, 24% (4–53%) for β-adrenergic blocking agents, and 13% (0–47%) for nitrates, which were significantly higher than on admission. Conclusion. These results provide the first quantitative data of drug utilization in liver disease and highlight the wide variability in prescribing practices across centers and the higher than expected use of non-evidence-based treatments, especially vitamin K and antiulcer drugs.
Uranine: Real-time Privacy Leakage Monitoring without System Modification for Android

V. Rastogi, R. Shao, Y. Chen, X. Pan, S. Zou, and R. Riley, “Are These Ads Safe: Detecting Hidden Attacks through the Mobile App-Web Interfaces,” in Proceedings of the Network and Distributed System Security Symposium (NDSS), 2016. V. Rastogi, Z. Qu, J. McClurg, Y. Cao, and Y. Chen, “Uranine: Real-time Privacy Leakage Monitoring without System Modification for Android,” in Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Security and Privacy in Communication Networks (SecureComm), 2015. B. He, V. Rastogi, Y. Cao, Y. Chen, V. N. Venkatakrishnan, R. Yang, and Z. Zhang, “Vetting SSL Usage in Applications with SSLint,” in Proceedings of the 36th IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (Oakland), 2015. Z. Qu, V. Rastogi, X. Zhang, Y. Chen, T. Zhu, and Z. Chen, “AutoCog: Measuring the Description-to-permission Fidelity in Android Applications,” in Proceedings of the 21st Vaibhav Rastogi
Quality of communication experience: definition, measurement, and implications for intercultural negotiations.

In an increasingly globalized workplace, the ability to communicate effectively across cultures is critical. We propose that the quality of communication experienced by individuals plays a significant role in the outcomes of intercultural interactions, such as cross-border negotiations. In 4 studies, we developed and validated a multidimensional conceptualization of quality of communication experience (QCE) and examined its consequences in intracultural versus intercultural business negotiations. We proposed and found 3 dimensions of QCE-namely, Clarity, Responsiveness, and Comfort. Findings from intercultural and same-cultural negotiations supported the hypotheses that QCE is lower in intercultural negotiation than in intracultural negotiation and that a higher degree of QCE leads to better negotiation outcomes. Moreover, we found evidence that the beneficial effects of higher QCE on negotiation outcomes are more pronounced in intercultural than in intracultural negotiations. We propose an agenda for future research and identify implications for practice.
Urethral reconstruction using colonic mucosa graft for complex strictures.

PURPOSE
We investigated the long-term outcome of urethral reconstruction using colonic mucosa grafts for long segment, complex urethral strictures. Another aim was to identify clinical factors impacting long-term outcomes.


MATERIALS AND METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed the records of 36 consecutive patients with a mean age of 39.8 years (range 17 to 70) who underwent colonic mucosal graft urethroplasty for long segment, complex urethral stricture from October 2000 to November 2006. Patients were evaluated postoperatively at scheduled office visits at our institution and/or by telephone interview. Successful repair was defined as normal voiding without any postoperative procedure such as dilation.


RESULTS
Urethral reconstruction with done with colonic mucosa grafts 10 to 20 cm long (mean 15.1). One patient was lost to followup. Mean followup in the remaining cases was 53.6 months (range 26 to 94). Outcomes were successful in 30 of 35 patients (85.7%). Complications, specifically meatal stenosis, bulbar or bulbomembranous urethral stenosis and proximal anastomotic site stricture, developed in 5 patients (13.3%).


CONCLUSIONS
Colonic mucosa graft urethroplasty is a feasible procedure for complex urethral strictures. The most common complications are meatal stenosis and stenosis at the anastomosis.
A "Paradoxical" Indentity-Based Signature Scheme Resulting from Zero-Knowledge

At EUROCRYPT’88, we introduced an interactive zero-howledge protocol ( G ~ O U and Quisquater [13]) fitted to the authentication of tamper-resistant devices (e.g. smart cads , Guillou and Ugon [14]). Each security device stores its secret authentication number, an RSA-like signature computed by an authority from the device identity. Any transaction between a tamperresistant security device and a verifier is limited to a unique interaction: the device sends its identity and a random test number; then the verifier teUs a random large question; and finally the device answers by a witness number. The transaction is successful when the test number is reconstructed from the witness number, the question and the identity according to numbers published by the authority and rules of redundancy possibly standardized. This protocol allows a cooperation between users in such a way that a group of cooperative users looks like a new entity, having a shadowed identity the product of the individual shadowed identities, while each member reveals nothing about its secret. In another scenario, the secret is partitioned between distinkt devices sharing the same identity. A group of cooperative users looks like a unique user having a larger public exponent which is the greater common multiple of each individual exponent. In this paper, additional features are introduced in order to provide: firstly, a mutual interactive authentication of both communicating entities and previously exchanged messages, and, secondly, a digital signature of messages, with a non-interactive zero-knowledge protocol. The problem of multiple signature is solved here in a very smart way due to the possibilities of cooperation between users. The only secret key is the factors of the composite number chosen by the authority delivering one authentication number to each smart card. This key is not known by the user. At the user level, such a scheme may be considered as a keyless identity-based integrity scheme. This integrity has a new and important property: it cannot be misused, i.e. derived into a confidentiality scheme.
Weak approximation and rationally connected varieties over function fields of curves

This is a survey of weak approximation over complex function fields, touching on the Koll'ar-Miyaoka-Mori theorem, places of good and bad reduction, the special case of rational surfaces, rationally simply connected varieties, and applications to low-degree complete intersections.
Feminist locations : global and local, theory and practice

Contemporary feminist scholarship has done much to challenge the many binary constructions at the heart of Western culture: white/nonwhite, theory/practice, and, most notably, masculine/feminine. Feminist criticism has reshaped these conceptions by breaking them apart and reconfiguring them into intersecting, relational fields of difference. The contributors to this collection look to the future of feminist theory and practice, specifically in terms of their complex relationship with the global and local configurations of postmodernity. In the first part of this book, current feminist theory is assessed for possible future directions. Part two focuses primarily on political issues and part three on questions of the body. Topics include feminist success versus social backlash, global womens human rights, postcolonial feminism, the politics of reproduction, and narratives of womens aging in postmodern culture. Contributors: Karen Barad, Anne C. Bellows, Charlotte Bunch, Nao Bustamante, Elaine K. Chang, Marianne DeKoven, Leela Fernandes, Susan Stanford Friedman, Coco Fusco, Radha S. Hegde, Cheryl Johnson-Odim, E. Ann Kaplan, Debra J. Liebowitz, Rajeswari Sunder Rajan, Cynthia Saltzman, Lynne Segal
Sustained angina relief 5 years after transmyocardial laser revascularization with a CO(2) laser.

BACKGROUND
Although transmyocardial laser revascularization (TMR) has provided symptomatic relief of angina over the short term, the long-term efficacy of the procedure is unknown. Angina symptoms as assessed independently by angina class and the Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ) were prospectively collected up to 7 years after TMR.


METHODS
Seventy-eight patients with severe angina not amenable to conventional revascularization were treated with a CO(2) laser. Their mean age was 61+/-10 years at the time of treatment. Preoperatively, 66% had unstable angina, 73% had had >/=1 myocardial infarction, 93% had undergone >/=1 CABG, 42% had >/=1 PTCA, 76% were in angina class IV, and 24% were in angina class III. Their average pre-TMR angina class was 3.7+/-0.4.


RESULTS
After an average of 5 years (and up to 7 years) of follow-up, the average angina class was significantly improved to 1.6+/-1 (P=0.0001). This was unchanged from the 1.5+/-1 average angina class at 1 year postoperatively (P=NS). There was a marked redistribution according to angina class, with 81% of the patients in class II or better, and 17% of the patients had no angina 5 years after TMR. A decrease of >/=2 angina classes was considered significant, and by this criterion, 68% of the patients had successful long-term angina relief. The angina class results were further confirmed with the SAQ; 5-year SAQ scores revealed an average improvement of 170% over the baseline results.


CONCLUSIONS
The long-term efficacy of TMR persists for >/=5 years. TMR with CO(2) laser as sole therapy for severe disabling angina provides significant long-term angina relief.
Risks and Benefits of Shunting in Carotid Endarterectomy

Background and Purpose: Controversy continues about the pathogenesis of perioperative stroke in carotid endarterectomy and the use of shunting. The purpose of this study was to determine, using transcranial Doppler ultrasonography, the severity of ischemia during clamping of the carotid artery as a basis for analysis of complications in patients operated on with and without shunting. Methods: In a retrospective study, 11 centers contributed 1,495 carotid endarterectomies monitored with transcranial Doppler. The cases were divided into groups with severe, mild, and no ischemia, and each group was subdivided according to shunt use. The perioperative rate of severe stroke attributable to intraoperative ischemia, in addition to total perioperative stroke, was determined for each subgroup. Results: Severe ischemia occurred in 7.2% of our cases but cleared spontaneously in about half of these. In those with persisting ischemia the rate of severe stroke was very high, while shunting protected against stroke in such cases. If ischemia did not occur, the stroke rate was higher with shunting, although not so high as in unshunted cases with severe ischemia. Slightly more than one third of the severe strokes were due to postoperative cerebral hemorrhage or carotid thrombosis, unrelated to clamp-induced ischemia or shunting. Conclusions: Carotid endarterectomy complications might be reduced by selectively shunting only for severe persisting ischemia. Monitoring of cerebral ischemia would be essential to selective shunting. (Stroke 1992;23:1583-1587)