Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Oxidized Phospholipids, Lipoprotein(a), Lipoprotein-Associated Phospholipase A2 Activity, and 10-Year Cardiovascular Outcomes: Prospective Results From the Bruneck Study

Background—Oxidized phospholipids (OxPL) circulate on apolipoprotein B-100 particles (OxPL/apoB), and primarily on Lp(a) lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)]. The relationship of OxPL/apoB levels to future cardiovascular events is not known. Methods and Results—The Bruneck study is a prospective population-based survey of 40- to 79-year-old men and women recruited in 1990. Plasma levels of OxPL/apoB and lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)] were measured in 765 subjects in 1995 and incident cardiovascular disease (CVD), defined as cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, stroke, and transient ischemic attack, was assessed from 1995 to 2005. During the follow-up period, 82 subjects developed CVD. In multivariable analysis, which included traditional risk factors, high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), and lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) activity, subjects in the highest tertile of OxPL/apoB had a significantly higher risk of cardiovascular events than those in the lowest tertile (hazard ratio[95% CI] 2.4[1.3 to 4.3], P=0.004). The strength of the association between OxPL/apoB and CVD risk was amplified with increasing Lp-PLA2 activity (P=0.018 for interaction). Moreover, OxPL/apoB levels predicted future cardiovascular events beyond the information provided by the Framingham Risk Score (FRS). The effects of OxPL/apoB and Lp(a) were not independent of each other but they were independent of all other measured risk factors. Conclusions—This study demonstrates that OxPL/apoB levels predict 10-year CVD event rates independently of traditional risk factors, hsCRP, and FRS. Increasing Lp-PLA2 activity further amplifies the risk of CVD mediated by OxPL/apoB.
Bayesian network meta-analysis of the effects of single-incision laparoscopic surgery, conventional laparoscopic appendectomy and open appendectomy for the treatment of acute appendicitis

The present study aimed to systematically evaluate the effectiveness of single-incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS), conventional laparoscopic appendectomy (CLA) and open appendectomy (OA) for the treatment of acute appendicitis. PubMed and Embase databases were systematically searched to identify relevant studies comparing the effectiveness of different appendectomy methods for treating acute appendicitis published prior to April 2016. ADDIS 1.16. 5 software was used for data analysis. Heterogeneity was assessed using I2 statistic. Odds ratios or standardized mean differences and 95% confidence intervals were calculated and pooled accordingly. Consistency was assessed using node-splitting analysis and inconsistency standard deviation. Convergence was assessed with the Brooks-Gelman-Rubin method using Potential Scale Reduction Factor (PSRF). Surgical procedure duration, duration of hospital stay, wound infection and incidence of abscesses were compared. A total of 24 eligible studies were included in this meta-analysis. A consistency model was used to pool data regarding the four outcomes. The PSRFs in each item were all <1.03. Pooled results showed that, compared with OA, SILS and CLA were associated with significantly shorter durations of hospital stay (all P<0.01) and lower risk of wound infection (SILS vs. OA P=0.02 and CLA vs. OA P<0.01, respectively), but no significant differences were identified between SILS and CLA. However, compared with OA, SILS exhibited a significantly longer surgical procedure duration (P=0.01) and lower incidence of abscesses (P=0.04), while no significant difference was observed between OA and CLA. This comprehensive network meta-analysis indicated that laparoscopic appendectomy, including SILS and CLA, may have more advantages for acute appendicitis compared with OA. Furthermore, SILS procedures require improvement and simplification to reduce the surgical procedure duration.
Clinical and Spectral-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography Findings of Patients with Incomplete Visual Recovery after Anatomically Successful Retinal Detachment Surgery

Purpose. To identify causes of incomplete visual recovery in patients with anatomically successful retinal detachment surgery. Methods. This was a retrospective study of 61 eyes of 61 patients with at least 12-month follow-up and complete preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative record. Postoperative visual acuity (VA) more than 0.18 logMAR was considered as incomplete visual recovery. Complete ophthalmic examination and Spectral-Domain OCT (SD-OCT) imaging were performed at last follow-up. Results. Twenty-nine eyes (47.5%) had a postoperative VA < 0.18 logMAR and 32 eyes (52.5%) had a postoperative VA ≥ 0.18 logMAR. Mean follow-up was 32.8 ± 17.3 months. Incomplete visual recovery was strongly correlated with presence of macular pathology (P = 0.002), a detached macula preoperatively (P = 0.02), retinotomy (P = 0.025), and pars plana vitrectomy and use of silicon oil as a tamponade agent (P = 0.009). Also, although there was a strong correlation between ellipsoid zone disruption and incomplete visual recovery, a distinct, more course pathology could be identified in all cases of poor visual recovery related to edema, thickening, or atrophy of the macula. Conclusion. The careful postoperative evaluation of the macula using biomicroscopy and SD-OCT can help in diagnosis of alterations that can be associated with incomplete visual recovery.
Alarming increase in pretreatment HIV drug resistance in children living in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Children have an augmented risk of pretreatment HIV drug resistance (PDR) due to exposure to antiretroviral drugs for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT). Paediatric data are essential to evaluate the effectiveness of the restricted number of paediatric regimens currently available, but these data are scarce. Methods: We conducted a systematic review of the literature on PDR in children (median age ⩽12 years) in sub-Saharan Africa. We separately extracted the proportion of children with PDR for children with and without prior PMTCT exposure, used random-effects meta-analysis to pool proportions and used meta-regression to assess subgroup differences. Results: We included 19 studies representing 2617 children from 13 countries. The pooled PDR prevalence was 42.7% (95% CI 26.2%–59.1%) among PMTCT-exposed children and 12.7% (95% CI 6.7%–18.7%) among PMTCT-unexposed children (P = 0.004). The PDR prevalence in PMTCT-unexposed children increased from 0% in 2004 to 26.8% in 2013 (P = 0.009). NNRTI mutations were detected in 32.4% (95% CI 18.7%–46.1%) of PMTCT-exposed children and in 9.7% (95% CI 4.6%–14.8%) of PMTCT-unexposed children; PI mutations were uncommon (<2.5%). PDR was more common in children aged <3 years compared with children aged ≥3 years [40.9% (95% CI 27.6%–54.3%) versus 17.6% (95% CI 8.9%–26.3%), respectively (P = 0.025)]. Conclusions: The PDR prevalence in African children is high and rapidly increasing. Even in PMTCT-unexposed children, the most recent reports indicate that PDR is present in up to a third of children starting first-line therapy. Our data underscore the importance of initiating PI-based first-line ART in young children (<3 years of age) and suggest that older children may also benefit from this approach.
SSP: Semantic Space Projection for Knowledge Graph Embedding with Text Descriptions

Knowledge graph embedding represents entities and relations in knowledge graph as low-dimensional, continuous vectors, and thus enables knowledge graph compatible with machine learning models. Though there have been a variety of models for knowledge graph embedding, most methods merely concentrate on the fact triples, while supplementary textual descriptions of entities and relations have not been fully employed. To this end, this paper proposes the semantic space projection (SSP) model which jointly learns from the symbolic triples and textual descriptions. Our model builds interaction between the two information sources, and employs textual descriptions to discover semantic relevance and offer precise semantic embedding. Extensive experiments show that our method achieves substantial improvements against baselines on the tasks of knowledge graph completion and entity classification.
A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE AGRONOMIC AND ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY OF ORGANIC COFFEE PRODUCTION

Organic coffee is one of several types of speciality coffees selling at a premium over mainstream coffees because of distinct origin and flavour, environment-friendly production or socio-economic concerns for the smallholder coffee growers. The demand for organic coffee in Western Europe, North America and Japan exceeds the present supply, which is still small (<1% of annual world production). More than 85% of organic coffees come from Latin America and practically all is (washed) arabica coffee. The production of certified organic coffee follows the principles of organic farming developed in Europe and the United States out of concern for the perceived negative effects of conventional high-input agriculture on health and environment. It claims superior ecological sustainability in combination with sound economic viability. A rather complex and expensive system of certification has to be passed before such coffees can be sold as truly organic. Growers adhering to the strict rules of organic coffee production may to some extent share the concern of the health- and environment-conscious consumers, but they are motivated primarily by the economic benefits from the premium received for certified organic coffee. Nevertheless, there appears to be considerable injustice between the extreme preconditions demanded for ‘organics’ by the largely urban consumer of the industrialized world and the modest rewards received by the organic coffee growers for their strenuous efforts. From an agronomic point of view, there is also considerable ground for criticism on the principles of organic farming when applied to coffee. For instance, to sustain economically viable yield levels (1 t green coffee ha−1 year−1) large additional amounts of composted organic matter will have to come from external sources to meet nutrient requirements (especially N and K). Most smallholders will be unable to acquire such quantities and have to face declining yields. Organic farming does not necessarily reduce incidence of diseases and pests below economically harmful thresholds, while the humid conditions of heavily shaded coffee may actually stimulate the outbreak of others. These and other aspects peculiar to the preconditions of organic coffee production are addressed in this review. It is concluded that the concept of organic farming in its strict sense, when applied to coffee, is not sustainable and also not serving the interests of the producer and consumer as much as the proponents would like us to believe. On the other hand, agronomically and economically sustainable coffee production is feasible by applying best practices of crop production and post-harvest processing.
University of Groningen Diagnostic accuracy of history taking and physical examination for assessing anterior cruciate ligament lesions of the knee in primary care

Wagemakers HP, Luijsterburg PA, Boks SS, Heintjes EM, Berger MY, Verhaar JA, Koes BK, BiermaZeinstra SM. Diagnostic accuracy of history taking and physical examination for assessing anterior cruciate ligament lesions of the knee in primary care. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2010;91:1452-9. Objective: To assess the diagnostic accuracy of history taking and physical examination for assessing anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) lesions in primary care. Design: Cross-sectional diagnostic study. Setting: Primary care. Participants: Patients (N 134; age, 18–65y) who consulted their general practitioner (GP) within 5 weeks after injury. Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures: Index tests were obtained with a questionnaire and physical examination. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used as the reference test. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine associations with ACL lesions. Diagnostic accuracy was determined by calculating sensitivity (Se), specificity (Sp), predictive values, and likelihood ratio (LR). Results: MRI showed an ACL lesion in 28 of 134 included patients. “Effusion,” “popping sensation,” “giving way,” and “anterior drawer test (ADT)” showed associations with an ACL lesion (P .05). Popping sensation showed Se, Sp, positive predictive value (PPV), and positive LR (LR ) of . 63, . 73, . 39, and 2.3, respectively. Combining determinants from history taking (2 of 3 positive results regarding effusion, popping sensation, and giving way) improved diagnostic accuracy (Se, .71; Sp, .71; PPV, .42; and LR , 2.5). The ADT added diagnostic accuracy to these combinations (Se, .63; Sp, .85; PPV, .52; and LR , 4.2). Conclusions: ACL lesions are seen frequently. Based on history taking (effusion, popping sensation, and/or giving way) and physical examination (ADT), GPs can screen for ACL lesions in primary care.
Early diagnosis of lung cancer

A large randomized controlled trial, The National Lung Screening Study (NLST), has demonstrated that screening with low-dose spiral computed tomography saved lives from lung cancer when compared with screening with chest radiographs. This is the first test showing efficacy in screening for lung cancer as previous trials of chest radiographs and sputum cytology failed to result in fewer deaths with screening. This review will examine the problem of lung cancer, the issues presented by screening, and the results of computed tomography (CT) studies for lung cancer screening. Now that CT screening has been shown to be effective, implementation of screening becomes the next step.
Prevalence estimates of chronic kidney disease in Canada: results of a nationally representative survey

Background: Chronic kidney disease is an important risk factor for death and cardiovascular-related morbidity, but estimates to date of its prevalence in Canada have generally been extrapolated from the prevalence of end-stage renal disease. We used direct measures of kidney function collected from a nationally representative survey population to estimate the prevalence of chronic kidney disease among Canadian adults. Methods: We examined data for 3689 adult participants of cycle 1 of the Canadian Health Measures Survey (2007–2009) for the presence of chronic kidney disease. We also calculated the age-standardized prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors by chronic kidney disease group. We cross-tabulated the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) with albuminuria status. Results: The prevalence of chronic kidney disease during the period 2007–2009 was 12.5%, representing about 3 million Canadian adults. The estimated prevalence of stage 3–5 disease was 3.1% (0.73 million adults) and albuminuria 10.3% (2.4 million adults). The prevalence of diabetes, hypertension and hypertriglyceridemia were all significantly higher among adults with chronic kidney disease than among those without it. The prevalence of albuminuria was high, even among those whose eGFR was 90 mL/min per 1.73 m2 or greater (10.1%) and those without diabetes or hypertension (9.3%). Awareness of kidney dysfunction among adults with stage 3–5 chronic kidney disease was low (12.0%). Interpretation: The prevalence of kidney dysfunction was substantial in the survey population, including individuals without hypertension or diabetes, conditions most likely to prompt screening for kidney dysfunction. These findings highlight the potential for missed opportunities for early intervention and secondary prevention of chronic kidney disease.
Health characteristics of women beginning postmenopausal hormone therapy: have they changed since the publication of the Women’s Health Initiative?

ObjectiveAfter we demonstrated a substantial drop in postmenopausal hormone therapy (HT) in France after 2002, we sought to compare health characteristics assessed before menopause and reasons for beginning treatment among women who started postmenopausal HT before and after this year. MethodsAmong participants of the GAZEL (GAZ and ELectricité) cohort of employees of the French national power company, we studied 1,229 women who reached menopause before 2002 and 562 women who reached menopause after 2002. We analyzed HT use among these newly postmenopausal women before and after 2002 and its relations to self-rated health, simple and troublesome hot flushes, and various other symptoms before menopause. ResultsAfter 2002, compared with before 2002, women starting HT were more likely to have reported troublesome hot flushes before menopause (odds ratio, 2.3; 95% CI, 1.0-5.4). The groups of new HT users did not differ significantly except for health characteristics. Significantly higher proportions of women starting HT reported using it for hot flushes (68.1% vs 52.9%, P = 0.02) and sleep disorders (11.1% vs 2.8%, P = 0.001) and a significantly lower proportion of women starting HT reported using it for osteoporosis prevention (12.5% vs 43.9%, P < 0.001) after 2002 than before 2002. ConclusionsAfter 2002, HT tended to be prescribed for more severe hot flushes, but almost one third of prescriptions were still written for reasons not linked to hot flushes. Doctors seem to be following recommendations to not use HT as a first-line treatment of osteoporosis.
Heat shock protein expression protects against cerebral ischemia and monoamine overload in rat heatstroke.

This study attempted to ascertain whether the ischemic damage to neurons and monoamine overload in brain that occur during rat heatstroke can be attenuated by heat shock protein (HSP) 72 induction. Effects of heatstroke on mean arterial pressure (MAP), cerebral blood flow (CBF), brain dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT) release, and neural damage score were assayed in rats 0, 16, or 48 h after heat shock (42°C for 15 min) or chemical stress (5 mg/kg sodium arsenite ip). Brain HSP 72 in rats after heat shock or chemical stress was detected by Western blot, and brain monoamine was determined by a microdialysis probe combined with high-performance liquid chromatography. Heatstroke was induced by exposing the animal to a high ambient temperature (43°C); the moment at which MAP and CBF decreased from their peak values was taken as the time of heatstroke onset. Prior heat shock or chemical stress conferred significant protection against heatstroke-induced hyperthermia, arterial hypotension, cerebral ischemia, cerebral DA and 5-HT overload, and neural damage and correlated with expression of HSP 72 in brain at 16 h. However, at 48 h, when HSP 72 expression returned to basal values, the above responses that occurred during the onset of heatstroke were indistinguishable between the two groups (0 h vs. 48 h). These results lead to the hypothesis that the brain can be preconditioned by thermal or chemical injury, that this preconditioning will induce HSP 72, and that HSP 72 induction will correlate quite well with anatomic, histochemical, and hemodynamic protection in rat heatstroke.
Flow Radar Glyphs&#8212;Static Visualization of Unsteady Flow with Uncertainty

A new type of glyph is introduced to visualize unsteady flow with static images, allowing easier analysis of time-dependent phenomena compared to animated visualization. Adopting the visual metaphor of radar displays, this glyph represents flow directions by angles and time by radius in spherical coordinates. Dense seeding of flow radar glyphs on the flow domain naturally lends itself to multi-scale visualization: zoomed-out views show aggregated overviews, zooming-in enables detailed analysis of spatial and temporal characteristics. Uncertainty visualization is supported by extending the glyph to display possible ranges of flow directions. The paper focuses on 2D flow, but includes a discussion of 3D flow as well. Examples from CFD and the field of stochastic hydrogeology show that it is easy to discriminate regions of different spatiotemporal flow behavior and regions of different uncertainty variations in space and time. The examples also demonstrate that parameter studies can be analyzed because the glyph design facilitates comparative visualization. Finally, different variants of interactive GPU-accelerated implementations are discussed.
Twenty years after ACEIs and ARBs : Emerging Treatment Strategies 1 for Diabetic Nephropathy 2 3

22 Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a serious complication of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus. 23 The disease is now the most common cause of end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) in developed 24 countries, and both the incidence and prevalence of diabetes mellitus is increasing worldwide. 25 Current treatments are directed at controlling hyperglycemia and hypertension as well as 26 blockade of the renin angiotensin system (RAS) with angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors 27 (ACEIs) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs). Despite these therapies, DN progresses to 28 ESKD in many patients. As a result, much interest is focused on developing new therapies. It 29 has been over 2 decades since ACEIs were shown to have beneficial effects in DN independent 30 of their blood pressure (BP) lowering actions. Since that time, our understanding of disease 31 mechanisms in DN has evolved. In this review, we summarize major cell signaling pathways 32 implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetic kidney disease as well as emerging treatment 33 strategies. The goal is to identify promising targets that might be translated into therapies for 34 the treatment of patients with diabetic kidney disease. 35 36
Effects of topical capsaicin in seasonal allergic rhinitis.

BACKGROUND--Mucosal exudation (luminal entry) of bulk plasma is a key feature of airway defence and inflammation. In guinea pig and rat airways this response is readily produced by neurogenic irritants, notably capsaicin. Thus "neurogenic airway inflammation" has become an established concept. The present study examines whether capsaicin also produces mucosal exudation of plasma in human nasal airways both in health and disease (seasonal allergic rhinitis). METHODS--Pain-producing concentrations of capsaicin (30-300 ng/ml) were applied to the nasal mucosal surface both before and late into the pollen season. Levels of albumin in nasal lavage fluid were measured as an index of mucosal exudation of plasma. In a separate group of patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis nasal challenge with an exudative concentration of histamine was carried out before the birch pollen season and concentrations of albumin in lavage fluid were measured. RESULTS--Pollen counts and symptom scores revealed a mild pollen season. Capsaicin produced considerable nasal pain and this response was augmented late into the season when capsaicin also produced nasal blockage. However, capsaicin failed to produce any mucosal exudation of plasma either before or late into the pollen season. The exudative effect of histamine was confirmed. CONCLUSIONS--The augmented pain response to capsaicin suggests that a sensory nerve hyperresponsiveness may characterise allergic airways disease. In contrast to the effects on animal airways, capsaicin failed to produce mucosal exudation of plasma in the human nasal airway. The animal based neurogenic inflammation concept is therefore not valid for the human nasal airway, not even in inflamed airways when a neural hyperresponsiveness has developed.