LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Efficacy of transoral fundoplication for treatment of chronic gastroesophageal reflux disease incompletely controlled with high-dose proton-pump inhibitors therapy: a randomized, multicenter, open label, crossover study

BACKGROUND
The aim of this randomized, crossover study was to determine if transoral fundoplication (TF) could further improve clinical outcomes in partial responders to high-dose (HD) proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy and to evaluate durability of TF.


METHODS
In seven United States centers, patients with hiatal hernia ≤ 2 cm and abnormal esophageal acid exposure (EAE) were randomized to TF (n = 40) or HD PPIs (n = 23) group. At 6-month follow-up, PPI patients underwent crossover. We assessed clinical outcomes 6-month post TF in crossover patients (COP), as compared to 6-month of HD PPI therapy, and 12-month outcomes in patients initially randomized to TF. The primary outcome was symptom control evaluated by Reflux Disease Questionnaire and Reflux Symptom Index. Secondary outcomes included healing of esophagitis, normalization of EAE and PPI use after TF. We analyzed 21 COP and 39 TF patients. McNemar's test or Fisher exact test was used to compare proportions.


RESULTS
Of 63 randomized patients, 3 were lost to follow-up, leaving 39 TF and 21 COP for analyses. In the COP, TF further improved control of regurgitation and of atypical symptoms achieved after six months of HD PPIs. Of 20 patients with GERD symptoms after six months of high-dose PPI therapy, 65% (13/20) reported global elimination of troublesome regurgitation and atypical symptoms post TF off PPIs; 67% (6/9) reported no troublesome regurgitation. Esophagitis further healed in 75% (6/8) of patients. Seventy-one percent of COP patients were off PPIs six months following TF. Normalization of EAE decreased from 52% after HD PPIs (on PPIs) to 33% after TF (off PPIs), p =0.388. In the original TF group, 12-month post TF, 77% of patients achieved complete symptom control, 82% ceased PPI therapy, 100% healed esophagitis and 45% normalized EAE.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study indicate that in patients with incomplete symptom control on high-dose PPI therapy TF may provide further elimination of symptoms and esophagitis healing. In the original TF group, the clinical outcomes of TF remained stable between 6- and 12-month follow-up.
Experiences in Malware Binary Deobfuscation

Malware authors employ a myriad of evasion techniques to impede automated reverse engineering and static analysis efforts. The most popular technologies include ‘code obfuscators’ that serve to rewrite the original binary code to an equivalent form that provides identical functionality while defeating signature-based detection systems. These systems significantly complicate static analysis, making it challenging to uncover the malware intent and the full spectrum of embedded capabilities. While code obfuscation techniques are commonly integrated into contemporary commodity packers, from the perspective of a reverse engineer, deobfuscation is often a necessary step that must be conducted independently after unpacking the malware binary. In this paper, we describe a set of techniques for automatically unrolling the impact of code obfuscators with the objective of completely recovering the original malware logic. We have implemented a set of generic debofuscation rules as a plug-in for the popular IDA Pro disassembler. We use sophisticated obfuscation strategies employed by two infamous malware instances from 2009, Conficker C and Hydraq (the binary associated with the Aurora attack) as case studies. In both instances our deobfuscator enabled a complete decompilation of the underlying code logic. This work was instrumental in the comprehensive reverse engineering of the heavily obfuscated P2P protocol embedded in the Conficker worm. The plug-in is integrated with the HexRays decompiler to provide a complete reverse engineering of malware binaries from binary form to C code and is available for free download on the SRI malware threat center website: http://www.mtc.sri.com/deobfuscation/.
DNA Hypomethylation, Ambient Particulate Matter, and Increased Blood Pressure: Findings From Controlled Human Exposure Experiments

Citation Bellavia, A., B. Urch, M. Speck, R. D. Brook, J. A. Scott, B. Albetti, B. Behbod, et al. 2013. “DNA Hypomethylation, Ambient Particulate Matter, and Increased Blood Pressure: Findings From Controlled Human Exposure Experiments.” Journal of the American Heart Association: Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Disease 2 (3): e000212. doi:10.1161/JAHA.113.000212. http://dx.doi.org/10.1161/ JAHA.113.000212.
Functional Capacity Evaluation: Performance of Patients with Chronic Non-specific Low Back Pain Without Waddell Signs

Purpose The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of Waddell signs (WS) on Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE) in patients with chronic non-specific low back pain (CNSLBP) undergoing fitness for work evaluation. If an effect is observed, the secondary objective is to report performance of patients without WS in a standardized 1 day FCE protocol. Methods Survey of patients with CNSLBP as their primary complaint, referred for fitness for work evaluation, age between 20 and 60 years. Main outcome measures were WS and performance during manual handling assessed with lifting from floor to waist, waist to crown, horizontal and one handed carry; grip strength with Jamar hand held Dynamometer; ambulation with stair climbing and six minute walking test; work postures with elevated work, forward bend standing, kneeling, and sitting. Results 145 male with a mean age of 44.5 years (±10.1), and 53 females with a mean age of 43.6 years (±11.0) were included. Mean days off work were in male 658 (±1,056) and in female 642 (±886). 33 % of all patients presented positive WS. FCE performance in male and female patients with positive and negative WS differed significantly in all comparisons except grip strength of the dominant hand and sitting in female. Performance of patients with negative WS indicated a mean physical capacity corresponding to lightmedium work in females and medium work in males for both age groups. Conclusions WS should be assessed for interpretation of FCE results. Despite long work absence, patients with CNSLBP with negative WS demonstrated a physical capacity corresponding to substantial physical work demands.
Toward Retail Product Recognition on Grocery Shelves

This paper addresses the problem of retail product recognition on grocery shelf images. We present a technique for accomplishing this task with a low time complexity. We decompose the problem into detection and recognition. The former is achieved by a generic product detection module which is trained on a specific class of products (e.g. tobacco packages). Cascade object detection framework of Viola and Jones [1] is used for this purpose. We further make use of Support Vector Machines (SVMs) to recognize the brand inside each detected region. We extract both shape and color information; and apply feature-level fusion from two separate descriptors computed with the bag of words approach. Furthermore, we introduce a dataset (available on request) that we have collected for similar research purposes. Results are presented on this dataset of more than 5,000 images consisting of 10 tobacco brands. We show that satisfactory detection and classification can be achieved on devices with cheap computational power. Potential applications of the proposed approach include planogram compliance control, inventory management and assisting visually impaired people during shopping.
Comparative Effectiveness of Noninvasive and Invasive Ventilation in Critically Ill Patients With Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

OBJECTIVES
To compare the characteristics and hospital outcomes of patients with an acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease treated in the ICU with initial noninvasive ventilation or invasive mechanical ventilation.


DESIGN
Retrospective, multicenter cohort study of prospectively collected data. We used propensity matching to compare the outcomes of patients treated with noninvasive ventilation to those treated with invasive mechanical ventilation. We also assessed predictors for noninvasive ventilation failure.


SETTING
Thirty-eight hospitals participating in the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation database from 2008 through 2012.


SUBJECTS
A total of 3,520 patients with a diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbation including 27.7% who received noninvasive ventilation and 45.5% who received invasive mechanical ventilation.


INTERVENTIONS
None.


MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
Noninvasive ventilation failure was recorded in 13.7% from patients ventilated noninvasively. Hospital mortality was 7.4% for patients treated with noninvasive ventilation; 16.1% for those treated with invasive mechanical ventilation; and 22.5% for those who failed noninvasive ventilation. In the propensity-matched analysis, patients initially treated with noninvasive ventilation had a 41% lower risk of death compared with those treated with invasive mechanical ventilation (relative risk, 0.59; 95% CI, 0.36-0.97). Factors that were independently associated with noninvasive ventilation failure were Simplified Acute Physiology Score II (relative risk = 1.04 per point increase; 95% CI, 1.03-1.04) and the presence of cancer (2.29; 95% CI, 0.96-5.45).


CONCLUSIONS
Among critically ill adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbation, the receipt of noninvasive ventilation was associated with a lower risk of in-hospital mortality compared with that of invasive mechanical ventilation; noninvasive ventilation failure was associated with the worst outcomes. These results support the use of noninvasive ventilation as a first-line therapy in appropriately selected critically ill patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease while also highlighting the risks associated with noninvasive ventilation failure and the need to be cautious in the face of severe disease.
Can diabetes management be safely transferred to practice nurses in a primary care setting? A randomised controlled trial.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
To determine whether the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus in a primary care setting can be safely transferred to practice nurses.


BACKGROUND
Because of the increasing prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus and the burden of caring for individual patients, the demand type 2 diabetes mellitus patients place on primary health care resources has become overwhelming.


DESIGN
Randomised controlled trial.


METHODS
The patients in the intervention group were cared for by practice nurses who treated glucose levels, blood pressure and lipid profile according to a specified protocol. The control group received conventional care from a general practitioner. The primary outcome measure was the mean decrease seen in glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) levels at the end of the follow-up period (14 months).


RESULTS
A total of 230 patients was randomised with 206 completing the study. The between-group differences with respect to reduction in HbA1c, blood pressure and lipid profile were not significant. Blood pressure decreased significantly in both groups; 7.4/3.2 mm Hg in the intervention group and 5.6/1.0 mm Hg in the control group. In both groups, more patients met the target values goals for lipid profile compared to baseline. In the intervention group, there was some deterioration in the health-related quality of life and an increase in diabetes-related symptoms. Patients being treated by a practice nurse were more satisfied with their treatment than those being treated by a general practitioner.


CONCLUSION
Practice nurses achieved results, which were comparable to those achieved by a general practitioner with respect to clinical parameters with better patient satisfaction.


RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE
This study shows that diabetes management in primary care can be safely transferred to practice nurses.
How Sustainable are Model Software Artifacts in the Context of Model Driven Software Engineering

Today, software is pervasive in our daily lives and its sustainability and environmental impact have become major factors in the development of software systems. Due to increasing of software complexity, it is widely acknowledged that it is impossible to test every aspect of system software. One method of increasing understanding between the software developer and the customer, of deepening the understanding of how software works, and ultimately of reducing the complexity of software, is through the use of models. Model driven software engineering (MDSE) is an established approach for developing complex software systems. This work presents a first attempt at reshaping existing basic dimensions for software sustainability in terms of MDSE. Moreover, we describe 8 quality aspects and their relationships with each other. We also present a set of guidelines to identify the 8 quality aspects, and the paths to measure sustainability in terms of MDSE. Finally, we describe an example with a set of hypothetical scenarios where we show how our quality aspects could be helpful to measure and analyze the degree of sustainability in the context of MDSE. Keywords— Sustainability, Green, Model Driven Software Engineering, MDSE, MDSE Sustainability, MDE, Model Sustainability, Green IN models.
Evaluation of accordance of magnetic resonance volumetric and flow measurements in determining ventricular stroke volume in cardiac patients.

BACKGROUND
Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) has become an established noninvasive method for evaluating ventricular function utilizing three-dimensional volumetry. Postprocessing of volumetric measurements is still tedious and time consuming. Stroke volumes obtained by flow quantification across the aortic root or pulmonary trunk could be utilized to increase both speed of workflow and accuracy.


PURPOSE
To assess accuracy of stroke volume quantification using MR volumetric imaging compared to flow quantification in patients with various cardiac diseases. Strategies for the augmentation of accuracy in clinical routine were deduced.


MATERIAL AND METHODS
78 patients with various cardiac diseases-excluding intra- or extracardiac shunts, regurgitant valvular defects, or heart rhythm disturbance-underwent cardiac function analysis with flow measurements across the aortic root and cine imaging of the left ventricle. Forty-six patients additionally underwent flow measurements in the pulmonary trunk and cine imaging of the right ventricle.


RESULTS
Left ventricular stroke volume (LVSV) and stroke volume of the aortic root (SVAo) correlated with r=0.97, and Bland-Altman analysis showed a mean difference of 0.11 ml and a standard error of estimation (SEE) of 4.31 ml. Ninety-two percent of the data were within the 95% limits of agreement. Right ventricular stroke volume (RVSV) and stroke volume of the pulmonary trunk (SVP) correlated with a factor of r=0.86, and mean difference in the Bland-Altman analysis was fixed at -2.62 ml (SEE 8.47 ml). For RVSV and SVP, we calculated r=0.82, and Bland-Altman analysis revealed a mean difference of 1.27 ml (SEE 9.89 ml). LVSV and RVSV correlated closely, with r=0.91 and a mean difference of 2.79 ml (SEE 7.17 ml). SVAo and SVP correlated with r=0.95 and a mean difference of 0.50 ml (SEE 5.56 ml).


CONCLUSION
Flow quantification can be used as a guidance tool, providing accurate and reproducible stroke volumes of both ventricles. Combining both offers a highly accurate tool to gauge ventricular function in a routine clinical setting, increasing workflow speed.
Exploring the nature and implementation process of IT-based user-centric business models

Recent advances in information and communication technologies have allowed companies to interact with external stakeholders, especially users, in a very efficient and effective way. As a result, more and more companies are striving to take advantage of these new opportunities and to harness the creative potential of their users by integrating them into core business processes. Successful companies like Threadless or Dell, which were designed to allow user innovation and co-creation from the outset, clearly demonstrate the potential value of such approaches. However, the introduction of user-centric value creation processes at established companies is a rather complex task, as it requires major adaptations to traditional manufacturer-centered business models. At present, little is known about how established companies can successfully implement user-centric business models. In this paper, we therefore explore (1) the success factors for attracting and engaging users in core business processes, and (2) effective strategies to overcome internal resistance when established companies introduce user-centric business models. We apply a multi-case comparison methodology between three well-known companies (LEGO, IBM and Coloplast) which have successfully integrated users into their core business processes. We find that the successful implementation of user-centric business models requires a comprehensive approach encompassing not only an appropriate social softwaredesign, but also a transparent intellectual property policy, proper incentive systems, evolutional learning and nurturing as well as employee empowerment.
An automated framework for software test oracle

Context: One of the important issues of software testing is to provide an automated test oracle. Test oracles are reliable sources of how the software under test must operate. In particular, they are used to evaluate the actual results that produced by the software. However, in order to generate an automated test oracle, oracle challenges need to be addressed. These challenges are output-domain generation, input domain to output domain mapping, and a comparator to decide on the accuracy of the actual outputs. Objective: This paper proposes an automated test oracle framework to address all of these challenges. Method: I/O Relationship Analysis is used to generate the output domain automatically and MultiNetworks Oracles based on artificial neural networks are introduced to handle the second challenge. The last challenge is addressed using an automated comparator that adjusts the oracle precision by defining the comparison tolerance. The proposed approach was evaluated using an industry strength case study, which was injected with some faults. The quality of the proposed oracle was measured by assessing its accuracy, precision, misclassification error and practicality. Mutation testing was considered to provide the evaluation framework by implementing two different versions of the case study: a Golden Version and a Mutated Version. Furthermore, a comparative study between the existing automated oracles and the proposed one is provided based on which challenges they can automate. Results: Results indicate that the proposed approach automated the oracle generation process 97% in this experiment. Accuracy of the proposed oracle was up to 98.26%, and the oracle detected up to 97.7% of the injected faults. Conclusion: Consequently, the results of the study highlight the practicality of the proposed oracle in addition to the automation it offers. 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Manufacturing of Full Automatic Carwash Using with Intelligent Control Algorithms

In this paper the intelligent control of full automatic car wash using a programmable logic controller (PLC) has been investigated and designed to do all steps of carwashing. The Intelligent control of full automatic carwash has the ability to identify and profile the geometrical dimensions of the vehicle chassis. Vehicle dimension identification is an important point in this control system to adjust the washing brushes position and time duration. The study also tries to design a control set for simulating and building the automatic carwash. The main purpose of the simulation is to develop criteria for designing and building this type of carwash in actual size to overcome challenges of automation. The results of this research indicate that the proposed method in process control not only increases productivity, speed, accuracy and safety but also reduce the time and cost of washing based on dynamic model of the vehicle. A laboratory prototype based on an advanced intelligent control has been built to study the validity of the design and simulation which it’s appropriate performance confirms the validity of this study. Keywords—Automatic Carwash, Dimension, PLC.
Does Direct Instruction Develop Pragmatic Competence? Teaching Refusals to EFL Learners of English

To achieve communicative competence, L2 learners’ need to develop their pragmatic competence and this may be fostered with the help the learners receive from their teachers. This paper is an attempt to investigate the efficacy of explicit instruction of refusal at pragmatic level to four types of actsinvitations, suggestions, offers and requests. Adopting a pretest/posttest design as with treatment and control group, the two groups in this study were exposed to the treatment. Data collected by means of written Discourse Completion Test (DCT) as well as written self report suggest that the instructional approach resulted in gain in L2 pragmatic ability of the experimental group. The delayed posttest used in the study confirmed the findings. The findings may contribute to the interlanguage pragmatic pedagogy, especially in the EFL context and suggest that meta-pragmatic information the L2 learners received through pedagogy may lead to learners’ L2 pragmatic development.
Inositol supplement improves clinical pregnancy rate in infertile women undergoing ovulation induction for ICSI or IVF-ET

OBJECTIVE
Pretreatment of myoinositol is a very new method that was evaluated in multiple small studies to manage poor ovarian response in assisted reproduction. This study was to determine the efficacy of myoinositol supplement in infertile women undergoing ovulation induction for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) or in vitro fertilization embryo transfer (IVF-ET).


METHODS
A meta-analysis and systematic review of published articles evaluating the efficacy of myo-inositol in patients undergoing ovulation induction for ICSI or IVF-ET was performed.


RESULTS
Seven trials with 935 women were included. Myoinositol supplement was associated with significantly improved clinical pregnancy rate [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.04-1.96; P = .03] and abortion rate (95% CI, 0.08-0.50; P = .0006). Meanwhile, Grade 1 embryos proportion (95% CI, 1.10-2.74; P = .02), germinal vescicle and degenerated oocytes retrieved (95% CI, 0.11-0.86; P = .02), and total amount of ovulation drugs (95% CI, -591.69 to -210.39; P = .001) were also improved in favor of myo-inositol. There were no significant difference in total oocytes retrieved, MII stage oocytes retrieved, stimulation days, and E2 peak level.


CONCLUSIONS
Myoinositol supplement increase clinical pregnancy rate in infertile women undergoing ovulation induction for ICSI or IVF-ET. It may improve the quality of embryos, and reduce the unsuitable oocytes and required amount of stimulation drugs.