LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Clinical correlates of CENP-A and CENP-B antibodies in a large cohort of patients with systemic sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE
To study the clinical phenotypes of centromeric proteins (CENP)-A- and CENP-B-positive patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and to compare them to anticentromere antibody (ACA)-positive and negative SSc patients.


METHODS
Sera samples were collected from 802 patients with SSc enrolled in a multicenter cohort study. Antibodies to CENP-A and B were detected by ELISA, and ACA by indirect immunofluorescence. Associations with clinical and other serological manifestations of SSc were investigated.


RESULTS
CENP-A antibodies were detected in 276 (34%), CENP-B in 286 (36%), and ACA in 279 (35%) patients. Patients having ACA, CENP-A, and/or CENP-B resembled each other and differed from the remainder of the cohort in the following respects: older chronologically and at disease onset; more commonly women; more likely to have limited disease and lower skin scores; less likely to have finger ulcers, digital tuft resorption, or finger contractures; more likely to have pulmonary hypertension; less likely to have interstitial lung disease, scleroderma renal crisis, inflammatory arthritis, and inflammatory myositis; and having lower overall disease severity. CENP-A and/or B status was predictive of the extent of skin involvement over time. Patients with limited disease who were CENP-A-negative at baseline were more likely to progress to diffuse disease compared to CENP-A-positive patients (OR 2.55, 95% CI 1.37, 4.85, p = 0.004).


CONCLUSION
Clinical immunology laboratories are increasingly using high-throughput ELISA tests for CENP antibodies, with or without ACA detected by indirect immunofluorescence. The phenotype of CENP-A and/or B-positive patients is generally similar to that associated with ACA.
Instance-based credit risk assessment for investment decisions in P2P lending

Recent years have witnessed increased attention on peer-to-peer (P2P) lending, which provides an alternative way of financing without the involvement of traditional financial institutions. A key challenge for personal investors in P2P lending marketplaces is the effective allocation of their money across different loans by accurately assessing the credit risk of each loan. Traditional rating-based assessment models cannot meet the needs of individual investors in P2P lending, since they do not provide an explicit mechanism for asset allocation. In this study, we propose a data-driven investment decision-making framework for this emerging market. We designed an instance-based credit risk assessment model, which has the ability of evaluating the return and risk of each individual loan. Moreover, we formulated the investment decision in P2P lending as a portfolio optimization problem with boundary constraints. To validate the proposed model, we performed extensive experiments on real∗Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 865 974 9198. Mailing Address: 916 Volunteer Blvd., SMC 247 UT BAS, Knoxville, TN 37996-0532 Email address: wzhou4@utk.edu (Wenjun Zhou) Preprint submitted to European Journal of Operational Research May 28, 2015
Creating False Memories of Words With or Without Recognition of List Items: Evidence for Nonconscious Processes

— Subjects exposed to lists of semantically related words falsely remember nonstudied words that are associated with the list items (e.g., Deese, 1959; Roediger & McDermott, 1995). To determine if subjects would demonstrate this false memory effect if they were unable to recognize the list items, we presented lists of semantically related words with or without a concurrent memory load at rates of 2 s, 250 ms, or 20 ms per word (Experiment 1, between-subjects design) and 2 s or 20 ms per word (Experiment 2, within-subjects design). We found that the subjects falsely recognized semantically related nonstudied words in all conditions, even when they were unable to discriminate studied words from unrelated nonstudied words. Recognition of list items was unnecessary for the occurrence of the false memory effect. This finding suggests that this memory illusion can be based on the nonconscious activation of semantic concepts during list presentation. 0 In an early study of false memory, Deese (1959) presented subjects with lists of semantic associates to nonpresented critical words. For example, for the critical word needle , the presented list consisted of hurt , and injection. When the subjects were given a free recall test after each list's presentation, the nonpresented critical word was often erroneously recalled. Roediger and McDermott (1995) revived interest in this paradigm when they replicated and extended Deese's result. In one experiment, they presented subjects with six of Deese's lists that had elicited the highest frequency of false recall. After the lists were presented, the subjects were given a recognition test composed of studied words, nonstudied related words (hereafter referred to as critical lures), and nonstudied unrelated words, followed by a remember/ know judgment task (Tulving, 1985). For any recognized word, the subjects had to indicate whether they specifically remembered the word's occurrence at study or merely knew the word had been presented in the absence of any specific recollection. Roediger and McDermott found that the critical lures were falsely recognized at a rate that was comparable to the hit rate for studied words. Moreover, these false recognitions were often characterized as remembered in the remember/know judgment task. Not only did subjects recognize words that were never presented, they indicated that they remembered their occurrence at study. Following Roediger and McDermott, researchers manipulated study or test conditions to determine if the false memory effect could be attenuated or eliminated. McDermott (1996) gave subjects multiple study …
AXL receptor tyrosine kinase is increased in patients with heart failure.

BACKGROUND
AXL is a membrane receptor tyrosine kinase highly expressed in the heart and has a conspicuous role in cardiovascular physiology. The role of AXL in heart failure (HF) has not been previously addressed.


METHODS AND RESULTS
AXL protein was enhanced 6-fold in myocardial biopsies of end-stage HF patients undergoing heart transplantation compared to controls from heart donors (P<0.0001). Next, we performed a transversal study of patients with chronic HF (n=192) and a group of controls with no HF (n=67). sAXL and BNP circulating levels were quantified and clinical and demographic data were collected. sAXL levels in serum were higher in HF (86.3 ± 2.0 ng/mL) than in controls (67.8 ± 2.0 ng/mL; P<0.0001). Also, sAXL correlated with several parameters associated with worse prognosis in HF. Linear regression analysis indicated that serum creatinine, systolic blood pressure and atrial fibrillation, but not BNP levels, were predictive of sAXL levels. Cox regression analysis indicated that high sAXL values at enrollment time were related to the major HF events (all-cause mortality, heart transplantation and HF hospitalizations) at one year follow-up (P<0.001), adding predictive value to high BNP levels.


CONCLUSIONS
Myocardial expression and serum concentration of AXL is elevated in HF patients compared to controls. Furthermore, peripheral sAXL correlates with parameters associated with the progression of HF and with HF events at short term follow-up. All together these results suggest that sAXL could belong to a new molecular pathway involved in myocardial damage in HF, independent from BNP.
Efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders: a review of meta-analytic findings.

Numerous clinical trials have supported the efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for the treatment of anxiety disorders. Accordingly, CBT has been formally recognized as an empirically supported treatment for anxiety-related conditions. This article reviews the evidence supporting the efficacy of CBT for anxiety disorders. Specifically, contemporary meta-analytic studies on the treatment of anxiety disorders are reviewed and the efficacy of CBT is examined. Although the specific components of CBT differ depending on the study design and the anxiety disorder treated, meta-analyses suggest that CBT procedures (particularly exposure-based approaches) are highly efficacious. CBT generally outperforms wait-list and placebo controls. Thus, CBT provides incremental efficacy above and beyond nonspecific factors. For some anxiety disorders, CBT also tends to outperform other psychosocial treatment modalities. The implications of available meta-analytic findings in further delineating the efficacy and dissemination of CBT for anxiety disorders are discussed.
Undergraduate interprofessional education using high-fidelity paediatric simulation.

BACKGROUND
High-fidelity simulation is becoming increasingly important in the delivery of teaching and learning to health care professionals within a safe environment. Its use in an interprofessional context and at undergraduate level has the potential to facilitate the learning of good communication and teamworking, in addition to clinical knowledge and skills.


METHODS
Interprofessional teaching and learning workshops using high-fidelity paediatric simulation were developed and delivered to undergraduate medical and nursing students at Queen's University Belfast. Learning outcomes common to both professions, and essential in the clinical management of sick children, included basic competencies, communication and teamworking skills. Quantitative and qualitative evaluation was undertaken using published questionnaires.


RESULTS
Quantitative results - the 32-item questionnaire was analysed for reliability using spss. Responses were positive for both groups of students across four domains - acquisition of knowledge and skills, communication and teamworking, professional identity and role awareness, and attitudes to shared learning. Qualitative results - thematic content analysis was used to analyse open-ended responses. Students from both groups commented that an interprofessional education (IPE) approach to paediatric simulation improved clinical and practice-based skills, and provided a safe learning environment. Students commented that there should be more interprofessional and simulation learning opportunities.


DISCUSSION
High-fidelity paediatric simulation, used in an interprofessional context, has the potential to meet the requirements of undergraduate medical and nursing curricula. Further research is needed into the long-term benefits for patient care, and its generalisability to other areas within health care teaching and learning.
Psychometric properties of a prostate cancer radiation late toxicity questionnaire

BACKGROUND
To construct a short prostate cancer radiation late toxicity (PCRT) questionnaire with health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) domains.


METHODS
The PCRT was developed by item generation, questionnaire construction (n = 7 experts, n = 8 focus group patients), pilot testing (n = 37), item reduction (n = 100), reliability testing (n = 237), and validity testing (n = 274).


RESULTS
Reliability of the three item-reduced subscales demonstrated intraclass correlation coefficients (CC) of 0.811 (GU), 0.842 (GI), and 0.740 (sexual). Discriminant validity demonstrated Pearson CC of 0.449 (GU-GI), 0.200 (sexual-GU), and 0.09 (sexual-GI). Content validity correlations between PCRT-PCQoL were 0.35-0.78, PCRT-FACT-G(c) were 0.19-0.39, and PCRT-SF-36(R) were 0.03-0.34.


CONCLUSION
We successfully generated a PCRT HRQoL questionnaire including subscales with very good psychometric properties.
Occupational toxicology and the control of exposure to pharmaceutical agents at work.

BACKGROUND
The pharmaceutical industry employs >350 000 people worldwide in operations including research and development (R&D), manufacturing, sales and marketing. Workers employed in R&D and manufacturing sectors are potentially exposed to drug substances in the workplace that are designed to modify physiology and also to chemical precursors that are potentially hazardous to health. Pharmaceutical workers are at risk from adverse health effects, including occupational asthma, pharmacological effects, adverse reproductive outcomes and dermatitis.


AIM
This study aimed to describe the approaches taken by pharmaceutical companies for identifying and communicating potential adverse health effects that may result from workplace exposures and in setting 'in-house' exposure control limits and to highlight the challenges in controlling workplace exposures to increasingly potent compounds.


METHOD
The literature was reviewed by searching the Medline and HSELine databases.


RESULTS
The findings are presented in five sections, covering: test methods and approaches to occupational toxicology; hazard communication; approaches to setting health-based occupational exposure limits for pharmaceutically active agents; recent approaches to risk control; and occupational hygiene and exposure controls.


CONCLUSION
Significant efforts have been directed at predicting and evaluating potential occupational health hazards in the pharmaceutical industry. The pharmaceutical industry has provided leadership in controlling exposure to hazardous substances. Much of this work has been driven by a real need to control occupational exposures to substances that can have profound adverse health effects in exposed employees and that are becoming increasingly more potent.
The Complexity of a Pop-Up Book

Origami is the centuries-old art of folding paper, and recently, it is investigated as science. In this paper, another hundreds-old art of folding paper, a pop-up book, is studied. A model for the pop-up book design problem is given, and its complexity is investigated. We show that both of the opening book problem and the closing book problem are NP-hard.
Measuring user satisfaction with data warehouses: an exploratory study

Data warehouses are users driven; that is, they allow end-users to be in control of the data. As user satisfaction is commonly acknowledged as the most useful measurement of system success, we identify the underlying factors of end-user satisfaction with data warehouses and develop an instrument to measure these factors. The study demonstrates that most of the items in classic end-user satisfaction measure are still valid in the data warehouse environment, and that end-user satisfaction with data warehouses depends heavily on the roles and performance of organizational information centers. # 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Birth characteristics and risk of colorectal cancer: a study among Swedish twins

Type-2 diabetes increases the risk of colorectal cancer, and is also associated with low birth weight. However, we found no evidence of associations between birth characteristics and risk of colorectal cancer (m=248) among Swedish twins.
Incorporating maintenance outage effects in substation and switching station reliability studies

This paper illustrates a procedure to incorporate maintenance outages in substation and switching station reliability evaluation. Markov models of the station components and their application in creating mathematical models of station maintenance failure modes are presented. The method is illustrated by application to a switching station. The single station analysis is extended by application to all the stations in a composite generation and transmission system using a small test system. System sensitivity analysis is illustrated by varying selected station component parameters. The results show the implications of including maintenance outage considerations in the overall analysis of a composite system. The approach presented in this paper can provide valuable information for decision-making in power system planning, design and operation
Randomized trial of a decision aid for patients with cystic fibrosis considering lung transplantation.

RATIONALE
We developed an evidence-based decision aid for patients with advanced cystic fibrosis considering referral for lung transplantation.


OBJECTIVES
To prospectively evaluate whether use of the decision aid increased knowledge about the options, improved realistic expectations, and decreased decisional conflict in adult patients.


METHODS
We performed a single-blind randomized controlled trial involving 149 adult patients with cystic fibrosis with an FEV(1) <or= 40% predicted from 14 Canadian and Australian centers. All participants received an education and counseling session from their cystic fibrosis team and were then randomized to receive the decision aid or usual care. The decision aid is available online at http://decisionaid.ohri.ca/decaids.html.


MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
The primary end points measured were participants' knowledge, realistic expectations, and decisional conflict evaluated 3 weeks after randomization. Patients randomized to the decision aid had greater knowledge about their options (P < 0.0001) and had more realistic expectations about the benefits and risks of lung transplantation (P < 0.0001) compared with those randomized to usual care. The total decisional conflict score was significantly lower in the decision aid group 3 weeks postrandomization compared with the usual care group (11.6 vs. 20.4; P = 0.0007). Decisions were durable; 88% of patients in the decision aid group and 75% in the usual care group maintained the same choice 12 months after randomization (P = 0.06).


CONCLUSIONS
Use of a decision aid for patients with cystic fibrosis considering referral for lung transplantation, in addition to usual education and counseling, improves patient knowledge, realistic expectations, decisional conflict, and patient satisfaction. Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT00345449).
Detecting 3D Points of Interest Using Multiple Features and Stacked Auto-encoder.

Considering the fact that points of interest on 3D shapes can be discriminated from a geometric perspective, it is reasonable to map the geometric signature of a point to a probability value encoding to what degree is a point of interest, especially for a specific class of 3D shapes. Based on the observation, we propose a three-phase algorithm for learning and predicting points of interest on 3D shapes by using multiple feature descriptors. Our algorithm requires two separate deep neural networks (stacked auto-encoders) to accomplish the task. During the first phase, we predict the membership of the given 3D shape according to a set of geometric descriptors using a deep neural network. After that, we train the other deep neural network to predict a probability distribution defined on the surface representing the possibility of a point being a point of interest. Finally, we use a manifold clustering technique to extract a set of points of interest as the output. Experimental results show superior detection performance of the proposed method over the previous state-of-the-art approaches.
How to Make Causal Inferences Using Texts

New text as data techniques offer a great promise: the ability to inductively discover measures that are useful for testing social science theories of interest from large collections of text. We introduce a conceptual framework for making causal inferences with discovered measures as a treatment or outcome. Our framework enables researchers to discover high-dimensional textual interventions and estimate the ways that observed treatments affect text-based outcomes. We argue that nearly all text-based causal inferences depend upon a latent representation of the text and we provide a framework to learn the latent representation. But estimating this latent representation, we show, creates new risks: we may introduce an identification problem or overfit. To address these risks we describe a split-sample framework and apply it to estimate causal effects from an experiment on immigration attitudes and a study on bureaucratic response. Our work provides a rigorous foundation for textbased causal inferences. ∗We thank Edo Airoldi, Peter Aronow, Matt Blackwell, Sarah Bouchat, Chris Felton, Mark Handcock, Erin Hartman, Rebecca Johnson, Gary King, Ian Lundberg, Rich Nielsen, Thomas Richardson, Matt Salganik, Melissa Sands, Fredrik Sävje, Arthur Spirling, Alex Tahk, Endre Tvinnereim, Hannah Waight, Hanna Wallach, Simone Zhang and numerous seminar participants for useful discussions about making causal inference with texts. We also thank Dustin Tingley for early conversations about potential SUTVA concerns with respect to STM and sequential experiments as a possible way to combat it. In addition, we thank a National Science Foundation grant under the Resource Implementations for Data Intensive Research program. †Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Politics, Princeton University, negami@princeton.edu ‡Ph.D. Candidate, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, cjfong@stanford.edu §Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Chicago, JustinGrimmer.org, grimmer@uchicago.edu. ¶Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, University of California San Diego, meroberts@ucsd.edu ‖Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Princeton University, brandonstewart.org, bms4@princeton.edu
Public, Catholic Single-Sex, and Catholic Coeducational High Schools: Their Effects on Achievement, Affect, and Behaviors.

Growth during the last 2 years of high school was exEmined in public and Catholic high schools using data from the High School and Beyond database--a large, nationally representative study. Earlier research was extended by considering: (1) affective variables (e.g., self-concept, locus c.f control), academic choices (e.g., course selection), and postsecondary activities as well as academic achievement outcomes; (2) Catholic single-sex and Catholic coeducational schools separately; and (3) academic self-concept, school policies related to discipline, and academic orientation as mediating variables. Data for 4,378 students from public schools, Catholic coeducational schools, Catholic boys schools, and Catholic girls schools were analyzed. A sample size of 4,000 was used to test statistical significance in all analyses. Results indicate that growth in the last 2 years of high school on a variety of outcomes was modestly larger for Catholic school students than for public school students. Effects favoring Catholic schools were relatively larger for che selection of academic courses, relatively smaller for achievement and university attendance, and almost zero for affective variables. Subsequent analyses suggest that Cathrjlic schools encourage students to take more academically challenging coursework and that this difference explained ot:her public/Catholic differences. Three tables contain study data. A 49-item list of references is included, and an appendix defines the variables considered. (Author/SLD) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Public, Catholic Single-Sex, and Catholic Coeckicatiowl High Schools: Their Effects on Achievement, Affect and Behaviors