Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A comparison of adverse event and fracture efficacy data for strontium ranelate in regulatory documents and the publication record

Objective Recently, the European Medicines Agency reported that strontium ranelate increases myocardial infarction risk in postmenopausal women, 8.5 years after it was registered for use in osteoporosis. Unreported serious adverse events in clinical trials for other pharmaceuticals have been described in recent years. We assessed reporting of adverse events and fracture efficacy of strontium. Methods We compared data on adverse effects (myocardial infarction, venous thromboembolism and pulmonary embolism) and fracture efficacy of strontium in publicly available regulatory documents with data in publications retrieved from searching PubMed. Results We identified 5 regulatory documents and 9 primary publications of 7 randomised, placebo-controlled trials of strontium that reported relevant data. We identified several areas of concern in these reports: the increased risk of myocardial infarction with strontium was not identified in a pivotal phase 3 clinical trial despite specific regulatory review of cardiovascular events; data on myocardial infarction were not included in any primary publication; increased risks of venous thromboembolism and pulmonary embolism with strontium were not reported in either of the phase 3 clinical trials; data on venous thromboembolism were reported in only 5 of 9 primary publications, data on pulmonary embolism in only 2 of 9 primary publications, and either was discussed in <50% of subsequent review articles. There were differences in participant numbers, fracture cases and venous thromboembolism cases between regulatory documents and primary publications. Based on all available data from primary publications and regulatory documents, the number of fractures prevented by strontium use is similar to the number of extra cases of venous thromboembolism, pulmonary embolism and myocardial infarction caused by strontium use. Conclusions The risks of strontium use are similar to the benefits. Full disclosure of the clinical trial data and regulatory documents would allow clinicians and their patients to decide whether use of the drug is worthwhile.
Effect of Regular Exercise on 24-Hour Arterial Pressure in Older Hypertensive Humans

The experimental goals were to determine if regular low-intensity aerobic exercise reduces 24-hour arterial blood pressure in middle-aged and older (aged 50 years or older) humans with mild diastolic (90–105 mm Hg) essential hypertension and, if so, whether this is accurately reflected by changes in casual recordings made at rest Fourteen subjects walked 3 - 4 days/wk for 6 months, with 10 exercising an additional 6 months; 12 other subjects served as nonexercising controls. In the exercising subjects, maximal oxygen consumption increased 7–14% (p<0.05) with little or no change in body weight or fat Conventional casual readings of systolic, mean, and diastolic arterial pressure at rest were lower (5–10 mm Hg, p<0.05) in all body positions after 6 months of exercise and changed little thereafter. Casual recordings made during additional circulatory measurements showed 6-month decreases of only half this magnitude and were specific to a particular blood pressure phase and body position; however, all changes were significant after 12 months of exercise. The reductions in arterial pressure at rest were associated with decreases in heart rate (p<0.05) and cardiac output (p<0.05). Ambulatory-determined 24-hour arterial pressure was unchanged after 6 months of exercise, but mean levels were slightly lower (4 mm Hg, p<0.05) after 12 months due to reductions in daytime (7 mm Hg, p<0.05) and nighttime (4 mm Hg, NS) systolic pressure; diastolic pressure was unchanged throughout the year of training. In the controls, conventionally recorded casual blood pressure levels were lower after 6 months (p<0.05), but no other changes were observed in any other variable over the 12 months of study. We conclude 1) regular low-intensity aerobic exercise at best produces only small reductions in 24-hour levels of arterial pressure in middle-aged and older humans with mild (diastolic) essential hypertension and 2) trainingassociated changes in casually determined blood pressure at rest are dependent on the measurement conditions and, most importantly, do not necessarily reflect the magnitude or even the direction of changes in arterial pressure throughout an entire day.
The Role of Context Dependent Memory on Perceptual Motor Learning in a DSP go/nogo Task

The present study was designed to address the role of context on perceptual –motor learning. Former studies have only concentrated on the influence of context on perceptual motor learning with regard on task difficulty, this is why this study put emphasis on something different. It was intended to see whether Practice plays a mediating role in the development of contextual dependencies. In line with former investigations the following hypothesis were made: 1.Context will have an influence on the performance of perceptual motor learning. 2.Practice will have a positive influence on motor performance 3. With increasing practice the dependency on contextual cues might diminish. 48 students with a mean age of 22 were subject to the study. A 2x3design was used with context and practice as the between-subject variables (independent) and Reaction time and amount of correct responses as within-subject variables (dependent). The experiment was a DSP go/no task. Subjects had to remember 2 fixed sequences a six and subsequently execute them. The experiment was divided into acquisition phase and retention phase. Amount of practice was altered during Acquisition (one versus five practice blocks) whereas context was altered during retention (same context condition, switched context condition and intentional only context condition). Thus subjects were subject to one of 6 test conditions: short-practice same-context; short-practice switched context, short-practice intentional-only context, long-practice same context, long-practice switched context, long-practice intentional only context. It was found that context had an effect on performance but only if context was switched rather than changed completely. Further practice had enhancing effects on performance. However practice did not act as a mediating factor in the development of contextual dependencies as it did not interact with context.
Transient elastography using Fibroscan is the most reliable noninvasive method for the diagnosis of advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis in alcoholic liver disease

Objective Fibroscan (FS) is a reliable noninvasive method for the diagnosis of advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis in chronic liver disease. However, there is no clear consensus with respect to the best FS cut-off values for use in alcoholic liver disease (ALD). The aims of this study were as follows: (a) to compare the performance of FS and different biochemical markers in ALD patients; (b) to assess the best FS cut-off values for the prediction of fibrosis stage in our ALD population; and (c) to assess the influence of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) values on FS. Patients and methods This retrospective study included 135 consecutive and compensated ALD patients who underwent liver biopsy between November 2006 and March 2012 at Erasme Hospital. FS, Fibrotest, FIB-4, aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRI), and Forns’ scores were tested in all patients. Results The diagnostic accuracy of FS was 0.89 (95% confidence interval: 0.83–0.95) for the diagnosis of advanced fibrosis and 0.93 (95% confidence interval 0.90–0.97) for the diagnosis of cirrhosis. FS performed better than Fibrotest (0.81 and 0.88), APRI (0.65 and 0.75), Forns’ (0.64 and 0.78), and FIB-4 (0.70 and 0.73). The optimal cut-off values of liver stiffness (LS) for predicting METAVIR fibrosis stage F≥3 and F4 disease were 10.3 and 18.0 kPa, respectively. AST showed a significant positive correlation with LS (r=0.24, P=0.001). However, exclusion of patients with AST more than 50 IU/l only lowered the LS cut-off for the diagnosis of F4 (14 vs. 18.0 kPa). Conclusion FS is currently the most reliable noninvasive method for the diagnosis of advanced liver fibrosis and cirrhosis in ALD.
Influence of Perturbation Velocity on Balance Control in Parkinson’s Disease

Underlying somatosensory processing deficits of joint rotation velocities may cause patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) to be more unstable for fast rather than slow balance perturbations. Such deficits could lead to reduced proprioceptive amplitude feedback triggered by perturbations, and thereby to smaller or delayed stabilizing postural responses. For this reason, we investigated whether support surface perturbation velocity affects balance reactions in PD patients. We examined postural responses of seven PD patients (OFF medication) and eight age-matched controls following backward rotations of a support-surface platform. Rotations occurred at three different speeds: fast (60 deg/s), medium (30 deg/s) or slow (3.8 deg/s), presented in random order. Each subject completed the protocol under eyes open and closed conditions. Full body kinematics, ankle torques and the number of near-falls were recorded. Patients were significantly more unstable than controls following fast perturbations (26% larger displacements of the body’s centre of mass; P<0.01), but not following slow perturbations. Also, more near-falls occurred in patients for fast rotations. Balance correcting ankle torques were weaker for patients than controls on the most affected side, but were stronger than controls for the least affected side. These differences were present both with eyes open and eyes closed (P<0.01). Fast support surface rotations caused greater instability and discriminated Parkinson patients better from controls than slow rotations. Although ankle torques on the most affected side were weaker, patients partially compensated for this by generating larger than normal stabilizing torques about the ankle joint on the least affected side. Without this compensation, instability may have been greater.
Challenges Faced by Ontology Matching Techniques: Case Study of the OAEI Datasets

The aim of this study is to review some of the most successful recent techniques in ontology matching and to lay down pending challenges that need to be addressed in this area. Ontologies are essential for the realization of the semantic web, which in turn relies on the ability of systems to identify and exploit relationships that exist between and within ontologies. As ontologies can be used to represent different domains, there is a high need for efficient ontology matching techniques that can allow information to be easily shared between different heterogeneous systems. In this paper, six systems that obtained overall good performance in the Ontology Alignment Evaluation Initiative (OAEI) for the year 2008 and the year 2009 are analyzed based on their underlying techniques, datasets, and matching results. According to the analysis carried out, it is found that although some systems work well for dataset representing a given domain, the same system does not perform well for datasets representing other domains. To assist further research in this area, techniques that work well for particular domains are highlighted and areas for cross-domain ontology matching that still require attention are discussed with recommendations based on lessons learnt from the techniques described.
HBeAg and hepatitis B virus DNA as outcome predictors during therapy with peginterferon alfa‐2a for HBeAg‐positive chronic hepatitis B

The aims of this study were to evaluate the usefulness of quantitative hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) values for predicting HBeAg seroconversion in patients treated with peginterferon alfa‐2a and to assess the dynamic changes in quantitative HBeAg during therapy, compared with conventional measures of serum hepatitis B virus DNA. Data were analyzed from a large, randomized, multinational phase III registration trial involving 271 HBV‐infected HBeAg‐positive patients who received peginterferon alfa‐2a plus oral placebo for 48 weeks. HBeAg levels were measured serially during therapy using a microparticle enzyme immunoassay validated with in‐house reference standards obtained from the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEIU/mL). In patients who achieved HBeAg seroconversion, levels of HBeAg consistently decreased during treatment and remained at their lowest level during the 24 weeks of posttreatment follow‐up. After 24 weeks of treatment, 4% of patients with the highest levels of HBeAg (≥100 PEIU/mL) achieved HBeAg seroconversion, yielding a negative predictive value of 96%, which was greater than that obtained for levels of HBV DNA (86%). Late responders to peginterferon alfa‐2a could also be differentiated from nonresponders by continued decrease in HBeAg values, which were not evident by changes in HBV DNA. Conclusion: These analyses suggest quantitative HBeAg is a useful adjunctive measurement for predicting HBeAg seroconversion in patients treated with peginterferon when considering both sensitivity and specificity compared with serum HBV DNA. (HEPATOLOGY 2008;47:428–434.)
TRIPLE ARTHRODESIS. A STUDY OF THE FACTORS AFFECTING FUSION AFTER THREE HUNDRED AND ONE PROCEDURES.

The factors relating to pseudarthrosis after triple arthrodesis were analyzed in 301 feet. The primary factors associated with pseudarthrosis were poor contact of the joint surfaces being fused and early weight-bearing. Unrelated factors were age, anatomical deformity, disease entity, infection, total time in a plaster cast, and tendon transplantation in the early postoperative period. Most of the pseudarthroses occurred at the talonavicular joint and in patients who had simultaneous bilateral procedures.
Reasoning aluminium thermal analysis platform for the prediction of W 319 Al cast component characteristics

Purpose: This paper presents the research on the development of the Aluminum Thermal Analysis Technology Platform (AlTAP) utilizing a Case Based Reasoning (CBR) Caspian shell for interpretation of industrial cooling curves and predicting alloy and cast component characteristics. Design/methodology/approach: CBR being a branch of Artificial Intelligence (AI) that solves problems based on understanding and adaptation of previous experiences is suitable for interpretation of the AlTAP results since this is a knowledge intensive activity which requires a fair amount of experience. Findings: The integrated AlTAP and CBR system was found to be useful for the prediction of melt thermal characteristics, cast component mechanical and structural properties. Practical implications: Industrial trials confirmed the technical capabilities of the AlTAP/CBR Platform for the on-line quality control and prediction of 319 melt characteristics and the aluminum engine block’s (Cosworth casting process) engineering specifications. Originality/value: An automated AlTAP Platform integrated with a CBR system is a new Quality Control concept in the area of the aluminum automotive casting.
A Novel Angle Computation and Calibration Algorithm of Bio-Inspired Sky-Light Polarization Navigation Sensor

Navigation plays a vital role in our daily life. As traditional and commonly used navigation technologies, Inertial Navigation System (INS) and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) can provide accurate location information, but suffer from the accumulative error of inertial sensors and cannot be used in a satellite denied environment. The remarkable navigation ability of animals shows that the pattern of the polarization sky can be used for navigation. A bio-inspired POLarization Navigation Sensor (POLNS) is constructed to detect the polarization of skylight. Contrary to the previous approach, we utilize all the outputs of POLNS to compute input polarization angle, based on Least Squares, which provides optimal angle estimation. In addition, a new sensor calibration algorithm is presented, in which the installation angle errors and sensor biases are taken into consideration. Derivation and implementation of our calibration algorithm are discussed in detail. To evaluate the performance of our algorithms, simulation and real data test are done to compare our algorithms with several exiting algorithms. Comparison results indicate that our algorithms are superior to the others and are more feasible and effective in practice.
Abductive Processes for Answer Justification

An answer mined from text collections is deemed correct if an explanation or justification is provided. Due to multiple language ambiguities, abduction, or inference to the best explanation, is a possible vehicle for such justifications. To interpret abductively an answer, world knowledge, iexico-semantic knowledge as well as pragmatic knowledge need to be integrated. This paper presents various forms of abductive processes taking place when answers are mined from texts and knowledge bases.
Review article: lymphatic system and associated adipose tissue in the development of inflammatory bowel disease

Background The lymphatic system plays critical roles in tissue fluid homoeostasis, immune defence and metabolic maintenance. Lymphatic vessels transport lymph, proteins, immune cells and digested lipids, allowing fluid and proteins to be returned to the blood stream, lipids to be stored and metabolized and antigens to be sampled in lymph nodes. Lymphatic drainage is mainly driven by rhythmic constrictions intrinsic to the vessels and critically modulated by fluid pressure and inflammatory mediators.
Time varying brain connectivity modeling using FMRI signals

Inferring brain connectivity networks has been increasingly important for understanding brain functioning. It is suggested that brain is inherently non-stationary and the dynamic patterns of brain networks may provide deeper insights into brain function. However, the majority of current models assume that brain connectivity networks have time invariant structures, neglecting the variability in brain interactions over time. To investigate time varying brain connectivity networks, a stick time varying model is presented in this paper. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method could improve the accuracy in estimating time-dependent connectivity patterns. It is also applied to real fMRI data set for studying time-varying resting-state brain connectivity networks.
Self-adaptation Challenges for Cloud-based Applications: A Control Theoretic Perspective

Software applications accessible over the web are typically subject to very dynamic workloads. Since cloud elasticity provides the ability to adjust the deployed environment on the ﬂy, modern software systems tend to target cloud as a fertile deployment environment. However, relying only on native elasticity features of cloud service providers is not su � cient for modern applications. This is because current features rely on users’ knowledge for conﬁguring the performance parameters of the elasticity mechanism and in general users cannot optimally determine such sensitive parameters. In order to overcome this user dependency, using approaches from autonomic computing is shown to be appropriate. Control theory proposes a systematic way to design feedback control loops to handle unpredictable changes at runtime for software applications. Although there are still substantial challenges to e ↵ ectively utilize feedback control in self-adaptation of software systems, software engineering and control theory communities have made recent progress to consolidate their di ↵ erences by identifying challenges that can be addressed cooperatively. This paper is in the same vein, but in a narrower domain given that cloud computing is a sub-domain of software engineering. It aims to highlight the challenges in the self-adaptation process of cloud-based applications in the perspective of control engineers.
Universal effects of spin-orbit scattering in mesoscopic systems.

The effect of spin-orbit (SO) scattering in disordered mesoscopic systems is studied. In one dimension it is shown that any spin-independent thermodynamic or transport quantity can be expressed in terms of the same quantity in the absence of SO scattering, but with an effective magnetic flux. This leads to universal SO reduction factors of the harmonics. In particular, the conductance and its fluctuations are interrelated, within and beyond weak-localization theory. Generalizations to higher dimensions are discussed
Learning the Differential Correlation Matrix of a Smooth Function From Point Samples

Consider an open set $\mathbb{D}\subseteq\mathbb{R}^n$, equipped with a probability measure $\mu$. An important characteristic of a smooth function $f:\mathbb{D}\rightarrow\mathbb{R}$ is its $differential$ $correlation$ $matrix$ $\Sigma_{\mu}:=\int \nabla f(x) (\nabla f(x))^* \mu(dx) \in\mathbb{R}^{n\times n}$, where $\nabla f(x)\in\mathbb{R}^n$ is the gradient of $f(\cdot)$ at $x\in\mathbb{D}$. For instance, the span of the leading $r$ eigenvectors of $\Sigma_{\mu}$ forms an $active$ $subspace$ of $f(\cdot)$, thereby extending the concept of $principal$ $component$ $analysis$ to the problem of $ridge$ $approximation$. In this work, we propose a simple algorithm for estimating $\Sigma_{\mu}$ from point values of $f(\cdot)$ $without$ imposing any structural assumptions on $f(\cdot)$. Theoretical guarantees for this algorithm are provided with the aid of the same technical tools that have proved valuable in the context of covariance matrix estimation from partial measurements.
Dose‐dependent effect of oregano (Origanum vulgare L.) on lipid peroxidation and antioxidant status in 1,2‐dimethylhydrazine‐induced rat colon carcinogenesis

Colon cancer is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in developed and developing countries. Diet and dietary constituents play a major role in the aetiology of colon cancer. We have investigated the effect of an aqueous extract of oregano (Origanum vulgare. L.) on lipid peroxidation and anti‐oxidant status in 1,2‐dimethylhydrazine (DMH)‐induced rat colon carcinogenesis. We aimed to identify the important antioxidants present in Indian oregano using RP‐HPLC. DMH (20 mgkg−1) was administered subcutaneously once a week for the first four weeks and then discontinued. Oregano was supplemented every day orally at a dose of 20, 40 or 60 mgkg−1 to different groups of rats for 15 weeks. After this time the rats were killed and the colons were examined visually and evaluated biochemically. The levels of lipid peroxidation products, such as thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and conjugated dienes were significantly higher in the liver whereas in caecum and colon the levels were lower in DMH‐treated animals as compared with control rats. The levels of the anti‐oxidants superoxide dismutase, catalase, reduced glutathione, glutathione reductase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione‐S‐transferase were decreased in DMH‐treated rats, but were significantly reversed on oregano supplementation. Oregano supplementation (40 mgkg−1) had a modulatory role on tissue lipid peroxidation and antioxidant profile in colon cancer‐bearing rats, which suggested a possible anti‐cancer property of oregano.