LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Protective effect of antibiotics against serious complications of common respiratory tract infections: retrospective cohort study with the UK General Practice Research Database.

OBJECTIVE
To determine the extent to which antibiotics reduce the risk of serious complications after common respiratory tract infections.


DESIGN
Retrospective cohort study.


SETTING
UK primary care practices contributing to the general practice research database.


DATA SOURCE
3.36 million episodes of respiratory tract infection.


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Risk of serious complications in treated and untreated patients in the month after diagnosis: mastoiditis after otitis media, quinsy after sore throat, and pneumonia after upper respiratory tract infection and chest infection. Number of patients needed to treat to prevent one complication.


RESULTS
Serious complications were rare after upper respiratory tract infections, sore throat, and otitis media, and the number needed to treat was over 4000. The risk of pneumonia after chest infection was high, particularly in elderly people, and was substantially reduced by antibiotic use, with a number needed to treat of 39 for those aged > or =65 and 96-119 in younger age groups.


CONCLUSION
Antibiotics are not justified to reduce the risk of serious complications for upper respiratory tract infection, sore throat, or otitis media. Antibiotics substantially reduce the risk of pneumonia after chest infection, particularly in elderly people in whom the risk is highest.
Efficacy of glimepiride on insulin resistance, adipocytokines, and atherosclerosis.

BACKGROUND
Plasma adiponectin levels increase after the administration of glimepiride. This unique effects would also be expected to improve other adipocytokines and have anti-atherosclerotic action in patients with metabolic syndrome.


METHODS
Thirty-four patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who were administrated glibenclamide were randomly divided into two groups. In 20 patients glibenclamide was changed to glimepiride (GP group), and the administration of glibenclamide (GB group) was continued in 14 patients. Twelve patients receiving insulin therapy (INS group) were enrolled for comparison. The levels of plasma adiponectin, high sensitive-CRP, TNF-alpha, interleukin-6, homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) and augmentation index (AI) were measured before and 28 weeks after the therapy.


RESULTS
HOMA-IR in the GP group was significantly decreased compared to the GB group. Plasma adiponectin levels were significantly increased in the GP group but not in the other groups. TNF-alpha, interleukin-6 and high sensitive-CRP levels were significantly decreased in the GP group, but not in the other groups. The baPWV and AI levels did not change in either the GB or the INS group, but were significantly decreased in the GP group.


CONCLUSIONS
Glimepiride appears to improve insulin resistance and atherosclerotic disorders.
GPS and SMS-Based Child Tracking System Using Smart Phone

Recently many cases of missing children between ages 14 and 17 years are reported. Parents always worry about the possibility of kidnapping of their children. This paper proposes an Android based solution to aid parents to track their children in real time. Nowadays, most mobile phones are equipped with location services capabilities allowing us to get the device’s geographic position in real time. The proposed solution takes the advantage of the location services provided by mobile phone since most of kids carry mobile phones. The mobile application use the GPS and SMS services found in Android mobile phones. It allows the parent to get their child’s location on a real time map. The system consists of two sides, child side and parent side. A parent’s device main duty is to send a request location SMS to the child’s device to get the location of the child. On the other hand, the child’s device main responsibility is to reply the GPS position to the parent’s device upon request. Keywords—Child Tracking System, Global Positioning System (GPS), SMS-based Mobile Application.
Transfer Learning: A Riemannian Geometry Framework With Applications to Brain–Computer Interfaces

Objective: This paper tackles the problem of transfer learning in the context of electroencephalogram (EEG)-based brain–computer interface (BCI) classification. In particular, the problems of cross-session and cross-subject classification are considered. These problems concern the ability to use data from previous sessions or from a database of past users to calibrate and initialize the classifier, allowing a calibration-less BCI mode of operation. Methods: Data are represented using spatial covariance matrices of the EEG signals, exploiting the recent successful techniques based on the Riemannian geometry of the manifold of symmetric positive definite (SPD) matrices. Cross-session and cross-subject classification can be difficult, due to the many changes intervening between sessions and between subjects, including physiological, environmental, as well as instrumental changes. Here, we propose to affine transform the covariance matrices of every session/subject in order to center them with respect to a reference covariance matrix, making data from different sessions/subjects comparable. Then, classification is performed both using a standard minimum distance to mean classifier, and through a probabilistic classifier recently developed in the literature, based on a density function (mixture of Riemannian Gaussian distributions) defined on the SPD manifold. Results: The improvements in terms of classification performances achieved by introducing the affine transformation are documented with the analysis of two BCI datasets. Conclusion and significance: Hence, we make, through the affine transformation proposed, data from different sessions and subject comparable, providing a significant improvement in the BCI transfer learning problem.
Functional rehabilitation of upper limb apraxia in poststroke patients: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND
Upper limb apraxia is a common disorder associated with stroke that can reduce patients' independence levels in activities of daily living and increase levels of disability. Traditional rehabilitation programs designed to promote the recovery of upper limb function have mainly focused on restorative or compensatory approaches. However, no previous studies have been completed that evaluate a combined intervention method approach, where patients concurrently receive cognitive training and learn compensatory strategies for enhancing daily living activities.


METHODS/DESIGN
This study will use a two-arm, assessor-blinded, parallel, randomized controlled trial design, involving 40 patients who present a left- or right-sided unilateral vascular lesion poststroke and a clinical diagnosis of upper limb apraxia. Participants will be randomized to either a combined functional rehabilitation or a traditional health education group. The experimental group will receive an 8-week combined functional program at home, including physical and occupational therapy focused on restorative and compensatory techniques for upper limb apraxia, 3 days per week in 30-min intervention periods. The control group will receive a conventional health education program once a month over 8 weeks, based on improving awareness of physical and functional limitations and facilitating the adaptation of patients to the home. Study outcomes will be assessed immediately postintervention and at the 2-month follow-up. The primary outcome measure will be basic activities of daily living skills as assessed with the Barthel Index. Secondary outcome measures will include the following: 1) the Lawton and Brody Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale, 2) the Observation and Scoring of ADL-Activities, 3) the De Renzi Test for Ideational Apraxia, 4) the De Renzi Test for Ideomotor Apraxia, 5) Recognition of Gestures, 6) the Test of Upper Limb Apraxia (TULIA), and 7) the Quality of Life Scale For Stroke (ECVI-38).


DISCUSSION
This trial is expected to clarify the effectiveness of a combined functional rehabilitation approach compared to a conservative intervention for improving upper limb movement and function in poststroke patients.


TRIAL REGISTRATION
Clinical Trial Gov number NCT02199093 . The protocol registration was received 23 July 2014. Participant enrollment began on 1 May 2014. The trial is expected to be completed in March 2016.
Comparison of complementary and genomic DNA sequencing for the detection of mutations in the HMBS gene in British patients with acute intermittent porphyria: identification of 25 novel mutations

Acute intermittent porphyria (AIP) is a low-penetrant autosomal dominant disorder caused by mutations in the hydroxymethylbilane synthase (HMBS) gene. Direct detection of mutations is becoming the method of choice for the accurate identification of asymptomatic affected individuals within AIP families so that they can be advised to avoid drugs and other compounds that provoke the life-threatening acute neurovisceral crises that characterise the condition. We describe a prospective comparison of direct automated sequencing of cDNA (29 patients) or genomic DNA (28 patients) to identify HMBS mutations in 57 patients referred consecutively for mutational analysis; 39 different mutations were identified in 54 patients. The sensitivity of the cDNA and genomic DNA methods was 69% and 95%, respectively, indicating that analysis of genomic DNA provides a higher mutation detection rate. Thirty mutations were restricted to a single family; only one (R173W) occurred in more than three families. Of the mutations (6 missense, 8 splice defects, 10 frameshifts, 1 nonsense), 25 have not been reported previously. One novel mutation (344+33G→T) was located in a putative intron splice enhancer in intron 7. Our results define the extent of allelic heterogeneity and the types (41% missense; 59% truncating) and distribution (35% in exons 10, 12, 14) of HMBS mutations, for AIP in the United Kingdom.
User experience practices in Nairobi's iHub community

How a forthcoming user experience (UX) lab will meet the needs of the African technology community.
Effects of long-term treatment with corticosteroids in COPD.

STUDY OBJECTIVE
To determine the effectiveness of treatment with corticosteroids in patients with COPD.


METHODS
In this study, we investigated the effect of a 2-year treatment with corticosteroids on clinical symptoms and the decline of lung function in 58 nonallergic patients with COPD. Subjects were treated in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel way with inhaled budesonide (bud), 1,600 micrograms/d; inhaled budesonide, 1,600 micrograms/d, plus oral prednisolone, 5 micrograms/d (bud + pred); or placebo (plac). Clinical assessment (history, physical examination, and spirometry) was carried out every 2 months. The rate of decline in FEV1 was assessed by calculating individual regression co-efficients from linear regression of FEV1 on time for each subject.


RESULTS
Eleven patients dropped out. The number of withdrawals due to pulmonary problems was significantly higher in the plac group (n = 5 out of 18) than in the actively treated groups (n = 2 out of 40). Treatment with corticosteroids significantly reduced pulmonary symptoms. Median decline of FEV1 was 60 mL/yr in the plac group, 40 mL/yr in the bud + pred group, and 30 mL/yr in the bud group. Variation was large and differences were not statistically significant. No treatment effect was found on frequency or duration of exacerbations, possibly because of the high number of withdrawals due to pulmonary deterioration in the plac group. Treatment with a combination of inhaled plus oral corticosteroids was not more effective than inhaled corticosteroids alone. Morning plasma cortisol levels remained within the normal range in all three groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study shows beneficial effects of long-term daily treatment with inhaled corticosteroids in patients with COPD with regard to symptoms and drop out due to pulmonary problems. Lung function decline tends to decrease during treatment with inhaled corticosteroids. The observed effects are limited but warrant further studies on the effectiveness of corticosteroids in larger numbers of patients with COPD.
Point-of-care screening to identify cognitive impairment in older adults.

OBJECTIVE
To explore associations between results of a rapid screening tool for cognitive impairment and individual patient characteristics in a sample of patients receiving outpatient anticoagulation therapy who were not previously diagnosed with a dementia.


DESIGN
Descriptive, nonexperimental, cross-sectional study.


SETTING
Pharmacist-managed anticoagulation clinic in Spokane, WA, from June 2006 to March 2007.


PARTICIPANTS
300 community-dwelling patients aged 60 years or older who had at least 6 months of outpatient anticoagulation therapy services.


INTERVENTION
Following informed consent, demographic, medical history, medication history, anticoagulation therapy, and cognitive screening data were recorded from participant medical records, and a participant interview was performed using a standardized questionnaire and data collection form.


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Cognitive screening status (suggests cognitive impairment versus suggests dementia less likely) was used as an independent variable by which to compare patient demographics, medical history, medication history, and percent of out-of-range International Normalized Ratio (INR) visits.


RESULTS
55 of 300 participants (18.3%) with no previous diagnosis of a cognitive impairment were classified as "suggests cognitive impairment" based on the screening test. Presence or absence of cognitive impairment differed in those needing assistance with taking medications but was not associated with other sample characteristics, including percentage of visits with out-of-range INR value, gender, in-home care needs, age, and number of medical conditions.


CONCLUSION
Screening at a convenient health care access point may lead to increased identification of community-dwelling elderly patients with unrecognized and undiagnosed cognitive impairment. Pharmacists are particularly well suited to conduct this screening because of the extended and frequent contact they have with patients in settings such as anticoagulation therapy clinics.
Lipshütz Ulcer : An Undiagnosed Entity

Lipschütz ulcer is a rare cause of vulvar ulcerous diseases and it is often underdiagnosed, probably because of the lack of knowledge about this diagnosis. The aim of this article is to review the pathogenesis, clinical presentation, differential diagnosis and management of this entity.
How to Declare an Imperative

How can we integrate interaction into a purely declarative language? This tutorial describes a solution to this problem based on a monad. The solution has been implemented in the functional language Haskell and the declarative language Escher. Comparisons are given with other approaches to interaction based on synchronous streams, continuations, linear logic, and side effects.
Geohistorical Archaeology: A Perspective for Considering the Historic Past

Abstract The term geohistorical archaeology was adopted to describe the combination of the techniques and concepts of historical geography, historical archaeology, and history. It is suggested that the field offers the potential of enhanced research and instruction as it pertains to the early historical settlement of an area. Particular emphasis is placed on the use of site material culture as a key to site locations and the period and nature of their use. The basic techniques involved are reviewed, as is the possibility of incorporating classroom units and field projects on local historical settlement at the secondary level.
Peritoneal thickening is not inevitable in long-term peritoneal dialysis and is associated with peritoneal transport characteristics: a two-centre sonographic study.

BACKGROUND
The peritoneum is subject to alterations in the life-long course of peritoneal dialysis (PD). Studies of the parietal peritoneum by non-invasive ultrasonography in PD patients are limited. We hypothesize that a prolonged PD duration is associated with a thicker peritoneum on ultrasonography and alterations in Doppler indexes of mesenteric vessels.


METHODS
We recruited two groups of patients, 18 who had >7 years of PD and 18 who had <12 months of PD. We excluded patients with active peritonitis, history of major abdominal surgery, cirrhosis or malignancy. We measured the sonographic thickness of the parietal peritoneum and Doppler indexes of mesenteric vessels by trans-abdominal ultrasonography at two PD units in Taiwan.


RESULTS
We found no significant difference between two groups of PD patients in peritoneal thickness and in Doppler indexes. However, our univariate and multivariate analysis indicated that peritoneal thickness is associated with peritoneal transport characteristics (dialysate/plasma creatinine) but not with age, duration of dialysis, body height, body weight or Doppler index. The peritoneum is significantly thicker in rapid transporters than in slow transporters (RUQ: 0.59 +/- 0.40 mm versus 0.27 +/- 0.29 mm, P = 0.01; LUQ: 0.60 +/- 0.40 mm versus 0.27 +/- 0.32 mm, P = 0.016; LQ: 1.07 +/- 0.85 mm versus 0.48 +/- 0.53 mm, P = 0.026). In addition, rapid transporters have a marginally lower Doppler resistive index of the superior mesenteric artery (0.87 +/- 0.08 versus 0.90 +/- 0.10, P = 0.028).


CONCLUSIONS
Our data showed that peritoneal thickening is not inevitable in long-term PD patients. Sonographic thickness in the parietal peritoneum is associated with transport characteristics. Rapid transporters have a significantly thicker peritoneum. The Doppler index of mesenteric vessels had no association with PD duration or transport characteristics. Trans-abdominal ultrasonography is non-invasive and useful in evaluating peritoneal characteristics of PD patients.
International physical activity questionnaire: 12-country reliability and validity.

BACKGROUND
Physical inactivity is a global concern, but diverse physical activity measures in use prevent international comparisons. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was developed as an instrument for cross-national monitoring of physical activity and inactivity.


METHODS
Between 1997 and 1998, an International Consensus Group developed four long and four short forms of the IPAQ instruments (administered by telephone interview or self-administration, with two alternate reference periods, either the "last 7 d" or a "usual week" of recalled physical activity). During 2000, 14 centers from 12 countries collected reliability and/or validity data on at least two of the eight IPAQ instruments. Test-retest repeatability was assessed within the same week. Concurrent (inter-method) validity was assessed at the same administration, and criterion IPAQ validity was assessed against the CSA (now MTI) accelerometer. Spearman's correlation coefficients are reported, based on the total reported physical activity.


RESULTS
Overall, the IPAQ questionnaires produced repeatable data (Spearman's rho clustered around 0.8), with comparable data from short and long forms. Criterion validity had a median rho of about 0.30, which was comparable to most other self-report validation studies. The "usual week" and "last 7 d" reference periods performed similarly, and the reliability of telephone administration was similar to the self-administered mode.


CONCLUSIONS
The IPAQ instruments have acceptable measurement properties, at least as good as other established self-reports. Considering the diverse samples in this study, IPAQ has reasonable measurement properties for monitoring population levels of physical activity among 18- to 65-yr-old adults in diverse settings. The short IPAQ form "last 7 d recall" is recommended for national monitoring and the long form for research requiring more detailed assessment.
An analysis of young people's use of and attitudes toward cell phones

Cell phones are a pervasive new communication technology, especially among college students. This paper examines college students cell phone usage from a behavioral and psychological perspective. Utilizing both qualitative (focus groups) and quantitative (survey) approaches, the study suggests these individuals use the devices for a variety of purposes: to help them feel safe, for financial benefits, to manage time efficiently, to keep in touch with friends and family members, et al. The degree to which the individuals are dependent on the cell phones and what they view as the negatives of their utilization are also examined. The findings suggest people have various feelings and attitudes toward cell phone usage. This study serves as a foundation on which future studies will be built. 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Structural and Optical Properties of ZnS Thin Films Deposited by Spray Pyrolysis Technique

ABSTRACT The II-VI group semiconductors are of great importance due to their applications in various opto electronic devices. Among these semiconductor. Zinc sulphide is the most suitable for its utility in opto electronic devices. Zinc Sulphide has been prepared on glass substrate by using Spray Pyrolysis method. The optical properties of these films have been studied in the wavelength range 380-1000-nm using UV-VIS spectro-photometer. The ZnS films has a direct band gap of 3.47eV-3.54eV. The thickness of these films were determined by weighing method and in the range of 0.2120μm 0.2543.μm The structure of the prepared films was studied from X-ray diffraction pattern, the results shows that the film was polycrystalline with hexagonal structure.
Utilization of open government data: A systematic literature review of types, conditions, effects and users

This paper presents a comprehensive overview of the literature on the types, effects, conditions and user of Open 6 Government Data (OGD). The review analyses 101 academic studies about OGD which discuss at least one of the four factors 7 of OGD utilization: the different types of utilization, the effects of utilization, the key conditions, and the different users. Our 8 analysis shows that the majority of studies focus on the OGD provisions while assuming, but not empirically testing, various 9 forms of utilization. The paper synthesizes the hypothesized relations in a multi-dimensional framework of OGD utilization. 10 Based on the framework we suggest four future directions for research: 1) investigate the link between type of utilization and 11 type of users (e.g. journalists, citizens) 2) investigate the link between type of user and type of effect (e.g. societal, economic and 12 good governance benefits) 3) investigate the conditions that moderate OGD effects (e.g. policy, data quality) and 4) establishing 13 a causal link between utilization and OGD outcomes. 14
The Self and What It’s Like to Be One: Reviews of José Luis Bermúdez, The Paradox of Self‐Conciousness and Lawrence Weiskrantz, Consiousness Lost and Found

Books reviewed in this article: 
 
 
 
Jose Luis Bermu dez, The Paradox of Self-Conciousness 
 
 
 
Lawrence Weiskrantz, Conciousness Lost and Found: A Neuropsychological Exploration