LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
A randomized controlled trial of cell salvage in routine cardiac surgery.

BACKGROUND
Previous trials have indicated that cell salvage may reduce allogeneic blood transfusion during cardiac surgery, but these studies have limitations, including inconsistent use of other blood transfusion-sparing strategies. We designed a randomized controlled trial to determine whether routine cell salvage for elective uncomplicated cardiac surgery reduces blood transfusion and is cost effective in the setting of a rigorous transfusion protocol and routine administration of antifibrinolytics.


METHODS
Two-hundred-thirteen patients presenting for first-time coronary artery bypass grafting and/or cardiac valve surgery were prospectively randomized to control or cell salvage groups. The latter group had blood aspirate during surgery and mediastinal drainage the first 6 h after surgery processed in a cell saver device and autotransfused. All patients received tranexamic acid and were subjected to an algorithm for red blood cell and hemostatic blood factor transfusion.


RESULTS
There was no difference between the two groups in the proportion of patients exposed to allogeneic blood (32% in both groups, relative risk 1.0 P = 0.89). At current blood products and cell saver prices, the use of cell salvage increased the costs per patient by a minimum of $103. When patients who had mediastinal re-exploration for bleeding were excluded (as planned in the protocol), significantly fewer units of allogeneic red blood cells were transfused in the cell salvage compared with the control group (65 vs 100 U, relative risk 0.71 P = 0.04).


CONCLUSION
In patients undergoing routine first-time cardiac surgery in an institution with a rigorous blood conservation program, the routine use of cell salvage does not further reduce the proportion of patients exposed to allogeneic blood transfusion. However, patients who do not have excessive bleeding after surgery receive significantly fewer units of blood with cell salvage. Although the use of cell savage may reduce the demand for blood products during cardiac surgery, this comes at an increased cost to the institution.
Clinical outcomes in a cohort of Colombian patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with Etanar, a new biologic type rhTNFR:Fc.

OBJECTIVES
To evaluate the clinical response at 12 month in a cohort of patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with Etanar (rhTNFR:Fc), and to register the occurrence of adverse effects.


METHODS
This is a multicentre observational cohort study. It included patients over 18 years of age with an active rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis for which the treating physician had begun a treatment scheme of 25 mg of subcutaneous etanercept (Etanar ® 25 mg: biologic type rhTNFR:Fc), twice per week. Follow-up was done during 12 months, with assessments at weeks 12, 24, 36 and 48. Evaluated outcomes included tender joint count, swollen joint count, ACR20, ACR50, ACR70, HAQ and DAS28.


RESULTS
One-hundred and five (105) subjects were entered into the cohort. The median of tender and swollen joint count, ranged from 19 and 14, respectively at onset to 1 at the 12th month. By month 12, 90.5% of the subjects reached ACR20, 86% ACR50, and 65% ACR70. The median of DAS28 went from 4.7 to 2, and the median HAQ went from 1.3 to 0.2. The rate of adverse effects was 14 for every 100 persons per year. No serious adverse effects were reported. The most frequent were pruritus (5 cases), and rhinitis (3 cases).


CONCLUSIONS
After a year of following up a patient cohort treated with etanercept 25 mg twice per week, significant clinical results were observed, resulting in adequate disease control in a high percentage of patients with an adequate level of safety.
Partial external biliary diversion in children with progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis and Alagille disease.

BACKGROUND
Partial external biliary diversion (PEBD) is a promising treatment for children with progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (PFIC) and Alagille disease. Little is known about long-term outcomes.


PATIENTS AND METHODS
A retrospective chart review of all patients undergoing PEBD in the University Medical Centre of Groningen (UMCG).


RESULTS
Between 2000 and 2005, PEBD was performed on 14 children with severe pruritus (PFIC 11, mean age 5.3 +/- 4.4 years; Alagille 3, mean age 7.4 +/- 4.2 years). Stature was <-2 standard deviation score (SDS) in 50%. Median preoperative serum bile salt concentration was 318 micromol/L (range 23-527 micromol/L). Twenty-nine percent had severe liver fibrosis and 71% had mild or moderate fibrosis. Median follow-up was 3.1 years (range 2.0-5.7 years). One patient (7%) underwent a liver transplantation at 3.2 years post-PEBD. Two years postoperatively, 50% were without pruritus and 21% had mild pruritus. In 29%, pruritus had not diminished; 3 of them had severe fibrosis preoperatively. In patients with mild or moderate fibrosis, PEBD decreased serum bile salts (105 micromol/L [range 8-269 micromol/L] 2 years postoperatively). Bile salts did not decrease in the patients with severe fibrosis. Two years after PEBD, 27% had a stature below -2 SDS.


CONCLUSIONS
At median follow-up of 3.1 years after PEBD, pruritus has been relieved in 75%. Bile salts level and growth are improved in most patients. Longer follow-up is needed to determine whether PEBD can postpone or avoid the demand for liver transplantation.
Radiation effect on viscous flow of a nanofluid and heat transfer over a nonlinearly stretching sheet

In this work, we study the flow and heat transfer characteristics of a viscous nanofluid over a nonlinearly stretching sheet in the presence of thermal radiation, included in the energy equation, and variable wall temperature. A similarity transformation was used to transform the governing partial differential equations to a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations. An efficient numerical shooting technique with a fourth-order Runge-Kutta scheme was used to obtain the solution of the boundary value problem. The variations of dimensionless surface temperature, as well as flow and heat-transfer characteristics with the governing dimensionless parameters of the problem, which include the nanoparticle volume fraction ϕ, the nonlinearly stretching sheet parameter n, the thermal radiation parameter NR, and the viscous dissipation parameter Ec, were graphed and tabulated. Excellent validation of the present numerical results has been achieved with the earlier nonlinearly stretching sheet problem of Cortell for local Nusselt number without taking the effect of nanoparticles.
Nephrotic Syndrome in Children: From Bench to Treatment

Idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (INS) is the most frequent form of NS in children. INS is defined by the association of the clinical features of NS with renal biopsy findings of minimal changes, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), or mesangial proliferation (MP) on light microscopy and effacement of foot processes on electron microscopy. Actually the podocyte has become the favourite candidate for constituting the main part of the glomerular filtration barrier. Most cases are steroid sensitive (SSINS). Fifty percents of the latter recur frequently and necessitate a prevention of relapses by nonsteroid drugs. On the contrary to SSINS, steroid resistant nephrotic syndrome (SRINS) leads often to end-stage renal failure. Thirty to forty percents of the latter are associated with mutations of genes coding for podocyte proteins. The rest is due to one or several different circulating factors. New strategies are in development to antagonize the effect of the latter.
Antimicrobial effect of cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum J. Presl) bark essential oil in cream-filled cakes and pastries

Background and objectives: Food poisoning has been always a major concern in health system of every community and cream-filled products are one of the most widespread food poisoning causes in humans. In present study, we examined the preservative effect of the cinnamon oil in cream-filled cakes. Methods: Antimicrobial activity of Cinnamomum verum J. Presl (Cinnamon) bark essential oil was examined against five food-borne pathogens (Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Candida albicans, Bacillus cereus and Salmonella typhimurium) to investigate its potential for use as a natural preservative in cream-filled baked goods. Chemical constituents of the oil were determined by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. For evaluation of preservative sufficiency of the oil, pathogens were added to cream-filled cakes manually and 1 μL/mL of the essential oil was added to all samples except the blank. Results: Chemical constituents of the oil were determined by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and twenty five components were identified where cinnamaldehyde (79.73%), linalool (4.08%), cinnamaldehyde para-methoxy (2.66%), eugenol (2.37%) and trans-caryophyllene (2.05%) were the major constituents. Cinnamon essential oil showed strong antimicrobial activity against selected pathogens in vitro and the minimum inhibitory concentration values against all tested microorganisms were determined as 0.5 μL/disc except for S. aureus for which, the oil was not effective in tested concentrations. After baking, no observable microorganism was observed in all susceptible microorganisms count in 72h stored samples. Conclusion: It was concluded that by analysing the sensory quality of the preserved food, cinnamon oil may be considered as a natural preservative in food industry, especially for cream-filled cakes and
Selections: Internet Voting with Over-the-Shoulder Coercion-Resistance

We present Selections, a new cryptographic voting protocol that is end-to-end verifiable and suitable for Internet voting. After a one-time in-person registration, voters can cast ballots in an arbitrary number of elections. We say a system provides over-the-shoulder coercionresistance if a voter can undetectably avoid complying with an adversary that is present during the vote casting process. Our system is the first in the literature to offer this property without the voter having to anticipate coercion and precompute values. Instead, a voter can employ a panic password. We prove that Selections is coercion-resistant against a non-adaptive adversary. 1 Introductory Remarks From a security perspective, the use of electronic voting machines in elections around the world continues to be concerning. In principle, many security issues can be allayed with cryptography. While cryptographic voting has not seen wide deployment, refined systems like Prêt à Voter [11,28] and Scantegrity II [9] are representative of what is theoretically possible, and have even seen some use in governmental elections [7]. Today, a share of the skepticism over electronic elections is being apportioned to Internet voting.1 Many nation-states are considering, piloting or using Internet voting in elections. In addition to the challenges of verifiability and ballot secrecy present in any voting system, Internet voting adds two additional constraints: • Untrusted platforms: voters should be able to reliably cast secret ballots, even when their devices may leak information or do not function correctly. • Unsupervised voting: coercers or vote buyers should not be able to exert undue influence over voters despite the open environment of Internet voting. As with electronic voting, cryptography can assist in addressing these issues. The study of cryptographic Internet voting is not as mature. Most of the literature concentrates on only one of the two problems (see related work in Section 1.2). In this paper, we are concerned with the unsupervised voting problem. Informally, a system that solves it is said to be coercion-resistant. Full version available: http://eprint.iacr.org/2011/166 1 One noted cryptographer, Ronald Rivest, infamously opined that “best practices for Internet voting are like best practices for drunk driving” [25]. G. Danezis (Ed.): FC 2011, LNCS 7035, pp. 47–61, 2012. c © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012 48 J. Clark and U. Hengartner
Résumé automatique de texte avec un algorithme d'ordonnancement

Résumé: Dans cet article, nous proposons une nouvelle approche pour le résumé automatique de textes utilisant un algorithme d'apprentissage numérique spécifique à la tâche d'ordonnancement. L'objectif est d'extraire les phrases d'un document qui sont les plus représentatives de son contenu. Pour se faire, chaque phrase d'un document est représentée par un vecteur de scores de pertinence, où chaque score est un score de similarité entre une requête particulière et la phrase considérée. L'algorithme d'ordonnancement effectue alors une combinaison linéaire de ces scores, avec pour but d'affecter aux phrases pertinentes d'un document des scores supérieurs à ceux des phrases non pertinentes du même document. Les algorithmes d'ordonnancement ont montré leur efficacité en particulier dans le domaine de la méta-recherche, et leur utilisation pour le résumé est motivée par une analogie peut être faite entre la méta-recherche et le résumé automatique qui consiste, dans notre cas, à considérer les similarités des phrases avec les différentes requêtes comme étant des sorties de différents moteurs de recherche. Nous montrons empiriquement que l'algorithme d'ordonnancement a de meilleures performances qu'une approche utilisant un algorithme de classification sur deux corpus distincts.
Forebrain PENK and PDYN gene expression levels in three inbred strains of mice and their relationship to genotype-dependent morphine reward sensitivity

Vulnerability to drug abuse disorders is determined not only by environmental but also by genetic factors. A body of evidence suggests that endogenous opioid peptide systems may influence rewarding effects of addictive substances, and thus, their individual expression levels may contribute to drug abuse liability. The aim of our study was to assess whether basal genotype-dependent brain expression of opioid propeptides genes can influence sensitivity to morphine reward. Experiments were performed on inbred mouse strains C57BL/6J, DBA/2J, and SWR/J, which differ markedly in responses to morphine administration: DBA/2J and SWR/J show low and C57BL/6J high sensitivity to opioid reward. Proenkephalin (PENK) and prodynorphin (PDYN) gene expression was measured by in situ hybridization in brain regions implicated in addiction. The influence of the κ opioid receptor antagonist nor-binaltorphimine (nor-BNI), which attenuates effects of endogenous PDYN-derived peptides, on rewarding actions of morphine was studied using the conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm. DBA/2J and SWR/J mice showed higher levels of PDYN and lower levels of PENK messenger RNA in the nucleus accumbens than the C57BL/6J strain. Pretreatment with nor-BNI enhanced morphine-induced CPP in the opioid-insensitive DBA/2J and SWR/J strains. Our results demonstrate that inter-strain differences in PENK and PDYN genes expression in the nucleus accumbens parallel sensitivity of the selected mouse strains to rewarding effects of morphine. They suggest that high expression of PDYN may protect against drug abuse by limiting drug-produced reward, which may be due to dynorphin-mediated modulation of dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens.
A cost-minimization algorithm for fast location tracking in mobile wireless networks

Location tracking is one of the most important issues in providing real-time applications over wireless networks due to its effect to quality of service (QoS), such as end-to-end delay, bandwidth utilization, and connection dropping probability. In this paper, we study cost minimization for locating mobile users under delay constraints in mobile wireless networks. Specifically, a new location tracking algorithm is developed to determine the position of mobile terminals under delay constraints, while minimizing the average locating cost based on a unimodal property. We demonstrate that the new algorithm not only results in minimum locating cost, but also has a lower computational complexity compared to existing algorithms. Furthermore, detailed searching procedures are discussed under both deterministic and statistic delay bounds. Numerical results for a variety of location probability distributions show that our algorithm compares favorably with existing algorithms. 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
On the Individuality of Fingerprints: Models and Methods

Fingerprint individuality is the study of the extent of uniqueness of fingerprints and is the central premise of expert testimony in court. A forensic expert testifies whether a pair of fingerprints is either a match or non-match by comparing salient features of the fingerprint pair. However, the experts are rarely questioned on the uncertainty associated with the match: How likely is the observed match between the fingerprint pair due to just random chance? The main concern with the admissibility of fingerprint evidence is that the matching error rates (i.e., the fundamental error rates of matching by the human expert) are unknown. The problem of unknown error rates is also prevalent in other modes of identification such as handwriting, lie detection, etc. Realizing this, the U.S. Supreme Court, in the 1993 case of Daubert vs. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, ruled that forensic evidence presented in a court is subject to five principles of scientific validation, namely whether (i) the particular technique or methodology has been subject to statistical hypothesis testing, (ii) its error rates has been established, (iii) standards controlling the technique’s operation exist and have been maintained, (iv) it has been peer reviewed, and (v) it has a general widespread acceptance. Following Daubert, forensic evidence based on fingerprints was first challenged in the 1999 case of USA vs. Byron Mitchell based on the “known error rate” condition 2 mentioned above, and subsequently, in 20 other cases involving fingerprint evidence. The establishment of matching error rates is directly related to the extent of fingerprint individualization. This article gives an overview of the problem of fingerprint individuality, the challenges faced and the models and methods that have been developed to study this problem. Related entries: Fingerprint individuality, fingerprint matching automatic, fingerprint matching manual, forensic evidence of fingerprint, individuality. Definitional entries: 1.Genuine match: This is the match between two fingerprint images of the same person. 2. Impostor match: This is the match between a pair of fingerprints from two different persons. 3. Fingerprint individuality: It is the study of the extent of which different fingerprints tend to match with each other. It is the most important measure to be judged when fingerprint evidence is presented in court as it reflects the uncertainty with the experts’ decision. 4. Variability: It refers to the differences in the observed features from one sample to another in a population. The differences can be random, that is, just by chance, or systematic due to some underlying factor that governs the variability.
The Motivation to Serve Others: Exploring Relations to Career Development

The current study explored the relation between service motivation, or the desire to serve others through one’s future career, and vocational outcomes across two studies. In the first study, using a sample of 225 undergraduate students, an instrument was developed to measure service motivation that demonstrated convergent and discriminant validity, strong internal consistency reliability, and strong test–retest reliability. In the second study, with a sample of 265 undergraduate students, service motivation was found to correlate positively with career decision self-efficacy, career adaptability, and career optimism and to correlate negatively with career indecision. Post hoc analyses found career optimism to fully mediate the relationship between service motivation and career indecision. These findings suggest that students who feel a stronger desire to use their future career to serve others will be more optimistic regarding their career future. Implications for research and practice are considered.
Self-reported nonadherence to antiretroviral therapy as a predictor of viral failure and mortality.

OBJECTIVE
To determine the effect of nonadherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) on virologic failure and mortality in naive individuals starting ART.


DESIGN
Prospective observational cohort study.


METHODS
Eligible individuals enrolled in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study, started ART between 2003 and 2012, and provided adherence data on at least one biannual clinical visit. Adherence was defined as missed doses (none, one, two, or more than two) and percentage adherence (>95, 90-95, and <90) in the previous 4 weeks. Inverse probability weighting of marginal structural models was used to estimate the effect of nonadherence on viral failure (HIV-1 viral load >500 copies/ml) and mortality.


RESULTS
Of 3150 individuals followed for a median 4.7 years, 480 (15.2%) experienced viral failure and 104 (3.3%) died, 1155 (36.6%) reported missing one dose, 414 (13.1%) two doses and, 333 (10.6%) more than two doses of ART. The risk of viral failure increased with each missed dose (one dose: hazard ratio [HR] 1.15, 95% confidence interval 0.79-1.67; two doses: 2.15, 1.31-3.53; more than two doses: 5.21, 2.96-9.18). The risk of death increased with more than two missed doses (HR 4.87, 2.21-10.73). Missing one to two doses of ART increased the risk of viral failure in those starting once-daily (HR 1.67, 1.11-2.50) compared with those starting twice-daily regimens (HR 0.99, 0.64-1.54, interaction P = 0.09). Consistent results were found for percentage adherence.


CONCLUSION
Self-report of two or more missed doses of ART is associated with an increased risk of both viral failure and death. A simple adherence question helps identify patients at risk for negative clinical outcomes and offers opportunities for intervention.
Cholesterol metabolism in patients with hemodialysis in the presence or absence of coronary artery disease.

BACKGROUND
Little is known about the interrelationship between the lipid profile, cholesterol metabolism, and coronary risk factors in patients with hemodialysis (HD) in the presence or absence of coronary artery disease (CAD).


METHODS AND RESULTS
Ninety-five patients with HD were selected (HD group). Fifty-eight age-, gender-, and body mass index (BMI)-matched patients who had at least 1 cardiovascular risk factor were selected as a non-HD group. Total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), non-HDL-C, and the ratio of LDL-C to HDL-C (L/H) in the HD group were significantly lower than those in the non-HD group. All markers of cholesterol absorption (campesterol/TC, sitosterol/TC, and cholestanol/TC) and the ratio of campesterol to lathosterol in the HD group were significantly higher. In addition, in the HD group, L/H was negatively correlated with lathosterol/TC, campesterol/TC, sitosterol/TC, and cholestanol/TC. Finally, CAD was significantly associated with lathosterol/TC (P=0.028), which was positively associated with BMI in the HD group, whereas CAD was significantly associated only with hypertension (P=0.020) in the non-HD group.


CONCLUSIONS
HD patients showed lower cholesterol concentrations than non-HD patients, and, as compensation, their cholesterol absorption might be accelerated. However, higher cholesterol synthesis, which was correlated with higher BMI, might be an independent predictor for the presence of CAD in HD patients.
Large-scale analytics of dynamics of choice among discrete alternatives

This talk will discuss the theory of discrete choice with a particular focus on aspects that are of interest to practitioners of large-scale data mining and analysis. We'll look at some example types of choice problems, including geographic choice as in restaurant selection, repeated sequential choice as in music listening, and the induction of nested models of choice.