jimnoneill/paper-to-field-training huggingface dataset:
ERCP Is Associated With Greater Morbidity and Mortality When Compared to Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

Field: Medicine (Health Sciences)

Introduction: Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangio-pancreatography(ERCP) is performed to treat biliary disease and as an adjunct to laparascopic cholecystectomy(LC). It is well established that ERCP is associated with risk of pancreatitis, perforation, and bleeding, but because its an endoscopic procedure, can be labeled as “low risk.” We compared morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing ERCP vs LC to better understand the risks of performing ERCP Methods: Using ICD-9 procedure codes from the 2001-2010 National Hospital Discharge Survey, we identified patients who underwent ERCP, LC, or both ERCP and LC. The three groups were compared on demographics, comorbidities, hospital length of stay (LOS), and disposition. The Mann-Whitney Test, chi-square analysis, and multivariable logistic regression were conducted with IBM SPSS Statistics 23. 0 Results: Among 26,414 patients, 23,313 underwent LC, 2,395 underwent ERCP, and 706 underwent both procedures. ERCP had a significantly higher in-hospital mortality rate (3.7% vs 0. 5% P<0.001) compared to the other two groups combined. ERCP was also an independent predictor of mortality when controlling for age, COPD, type II diabetes, cirrhosis, and coronary artery disease (OR=5.02, 95% CI=3.78 to 6.68). The ERCP group had a longer LOS (8.1 days) compared to LC (4.24 days P<0.001) and ERCP-LC (6. 3 days P=0.001), with 74% in the ERCP group with a LOS of 4 or more days compared to 48% in the other two groups combined (P<0.001). ERCP had more patients discharged to a skilled nursing facility or long term care facility (SNF/LTAC) compared to the other two groups combined (12.7% vs 4.5% P<0.001) which was significant when controlling for other comorbidities. Within the ERCP group having zero or even up to three comorbidities (COPD, DM, cirrhosis, and CAD) did not affect morbidity or mortality. Conclusion: We found that ERCP increases the risk for morbidity and in-hospital mortality when compared to an invasive procedure, laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Gastroenterologists are often asked to perform ERCP in a patient who is “too sick” to undergo surgery, especially when the suspicion for biliary obstruction is equivocal. Although the ERCP group did seem to have more comorbidities, a subgroup analysis did not show that this affected outcome, and rather ERCP itself was an independent predictor for morbidity and mortality. ERCP is not a lower risk procedure than LC and careful consideration and perioperative risk should be considered.FigureTable: Table. Multivariable logistic regression for mortality in ERCP groupTable: Table. Multivariable logistic regression for mortality in ERCP group
A hormonally controlled serum factor stimulating the thymidine uptake into lectin-activated lymphocytes

Field: Medicine (Health Sciences)

Abstract. The in vitro stimulation of [ 3 H]thymidine uptake into lectin-activated lymphocytes in the presence of various sera was studied. The mean precision of the assay is 5%, and the study of the confidence intervals shows variations from 4% to 12%. Compared to a normal reference serum (fixed as 1 U/ml), the serum thymidine uptake stimulating activity (mean ± sem ) was 1.04 ± 0.07 U/ml in normal adult males, 2.63 ± 0.48 U/ml in acromegalic patients, 1.51 ± 0.13 U/ml in constitutional dwarfism and 0.37 ± 0.04 U/ml in untreated hypopituitary dwarfism with a significant difference between the groups ( P < 0.001). In patients with hypopituitarism a single im hGH dose (6 mg/m 2 ) increased the thymidine uptake stimulating activity of serum within 24 to 48 h following injection. The effects of directly adding hGH, insulin and T 3 to the assay, have been studied: pharmacological concentrations are required to produce only a slight effect. Physiological concentration of a purified preparation of somatomedin A stimulated thymidine uptake and its effect is increased in the presence of serum. These data demonstrate that [ 3 H]thymidine uptake into lectin-activated lymphocytes is stimulated by a GH-dependent serum factor. The data suggest that this method should be proposed for an accurate and sensitive biological evaluation of serum thymidine uptake stimulating activity.
Long-Term Gain Estimation in Model-Based Single Channel Speech Separation

Field: Computer Science (Physical Sciences)

Model-based single channel speech separation techniques commonly use trained patterns of the individual speakers to separate the speech signals. In most recent proposed techniques, it is assumed that data used in the train and test phase have the same level of energy, a prerequisite which is hardly met in the real situations. Considering this limitation, we propose a technique which estimates the gain associated with the individual speakers from the mixture and thus obviate the need for this assumption. The basic idea is to express the probability density function (PDF) of the mixture in terms of the individual speakers' PDFs and corresponding gains. Then, those patterns and gains which maximize the mixture's PDF are selected and used to recover the speech signals. Experimental results conducted on a wide variety of mixtures with signal-to-signal ratios ranging from 0 to 18 dB show that the proposed technique estimates the speakers' gain with 95% accuracy within the range of the actual gain ±%20. Comparing the separated speech signals with the original ones in terms of SNR criterion with/without including the gain estimation stage, we observe a significant SNR improvement (on average 5.73 dB) for the gain included scenario.
Genetic Background of the Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia Phenotypes in Hungary (P5.049)

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (Life Sciences)

Objective: to determine the frequency of different SPG mutations in Hungarian patients, and to provide further genotype-phenotype correlations for the known HSP causing genes.
Background:Hereditary spastic paraplegias (HSPs) are a clinically and genetically heterogeneous group of neurodegenerative diseases with progressive lower limb spasticity and weakness.
Design/Methods: we carried out genetic testing for 62 cases with clinical characteristics of HSP. For historical reasons, three different approaches were followed in different patients: 1) Sanger sequencing of ATL1 and SPAST genes, 2) whole exome, and 3) targeted panel sequencing by next generation sequencing.
Results:genetic diagnosis was established for 26 patients (42[percnt]). The most frequently affected gene was SPAST. The second most frequent cause of HSPs was the p.Leu78* mutation in SPG7. Additional mutations were detected in SPG11, ATL1, NIPA1, and ABCD1.
Conclusions: this is the first genetic epidemiological study of patients with HSP in Hungary. Next generation sequencing improved the yield of genetic diagnostics in this disease group even when the phenotype was atypical. However, considering the frequency of the HSP-causing gene defects, SPG4, the most common form of the disease, should be tested first to be cost effective in this economic region. Disclosure: Dr. Molnar has nothing to disclose. Dr. Balicza has nothing to disclose. Dr. Grosz has nothing to disclose. Dr. Gonzalez has nothing to disclose. Dr. Bencsik has nothing to disclose. Dr. Pentelenyi has nothing to disclose. Dr. Gal has nothing to disclose. Dr. Varga has nothing to disclose. Dr. Klivenyi has nothing to disclose. Dr. Zuchner has received license fee payments from Athena Diagnostics.
A Comparative Analysis of Distributed Clustering Algorithms: A Survey

Field: Computer Science (Physical Sciences)

Cluster analysis (or clustering) is one of the most common techniques used for data mining. It is a process in which a given set of objects is assigned into groups, where these groups are known as clusters. Objects belonging to a single cluster are similar to other objects in that cluster but different from the objects belonging to other clusters. The task of clustering becomes difficult and complex in case the data is distributed across multiple sites. Distributed clustering comes as a rescue to the problems of traditional clustering when applied to distributed databases. Many researchers have proposed clustering algorithms which work efficiently in the distributed environment. In this research paper we have provided the comparative analysis of some of these distributed clustering algorithms based on various parameters.
Why is economic growth lagging behind in former Comecon republics?

Field: Economics, Econometrics and Finance (Social Sciences)

Since 1990, former Comecon countries have been poorer than their neighbors in Western\nEurope and, over the past 30 years, convergence has been weak. Economic theory and\nprevious research suggest that the region should have approached similar GDP per capita\nlevels more than they have done. This study will therefore seek to explain why the\ndifferences still exist. Building on existing research on growth, the thesis asks: Why\neconomic growth is lagging behind in former Comecon republics, and what can explain\nthe internal differences?\nUsing quantitative data, we attempt to analyze the relationship between more and\nless traditional explanatory variables for growth and GDP per capita through a linear\nregression. Our results show that capital and labor in particular are very important\nfactors for growth in the region. It is also clear that corruption has a negative effect on\nGDP per capita, while a larger proportion of high-educated citizens promote growth. The\nparameters we use to measure institutional conditions do not have a significant impact on\nGDP per capita in the regression. However, we believe that this plays an important role,\nboth to explain the lack of convergence, but also to the internal differences in the region.
Gender and Tourism Development in China

Field: Social Sciences (Social Sciences)

This introductory essay clarifies the tendency of gender and tourism development in China. The study of tourism and gender in China is still immature, especially as it just focuses on the positive effects of tourism development on female roles through the statistics of three Chinese periodicals. We therefore argue that it is necessary to raise awareness of China’s uniqueness, as the nation, market, and family and traditional culture shape China’s gender relationship in the meantime. In this special issue introduction, we provide an overview of the seven papers which show the Chinese characteristics of gender studies in tourism, and end with a call for borrowing and learning knowledge from China scholars in other disciplines.
Effectiveness and toxicity of hypofractionated high‐dose intensity‐modulated radiotherapy versus 2‐ and 3‐dimensional radiotherapy in incurable head and neck cancer

Field: Medicine (Health Sciences)

Background This retrospective study evaluates efficacy and tolerability of high‐dose hypofractionated radiotherapy (RT) in patients with head and neck cancer. Methods All patients with head and neck cancer treated between September 2003 and September 2013 with 12 × 4 Gy RT were included. Two and 3D‐RT or intensity‐modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) were used. Overall survival (OS), tumor response, and palliative effect were evaluated. Results Palliative effect occurred in 63% of 81 included patients, lasted a median of 4.6 months, and was correlated with tumor response ( p = .006). Median OS was 7.2 months. Confluent mucositis occurred more often in patients treated with 2D/3D‐RT than IMRT (26% vs 44%; p = .04) and lasted for a median of 2 weeks. Conclusion High‐dose hypofractionated RT resulted in meaningful palliation in 63%, lasting for almost 5 months. IMRT should be the technique of choice, as it results in less high‐grade toxicity. The 12 × 4 schedule should be opted for patients with reasonable functional capacities and a life expectancy of >6 months. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 38 : E1264–E1270, 2016
Ferulic acid relieved ulcerative colitis by inhibiting the TXNIP/NLRP3 pathway in rats

Field: Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics (Life Sciences)

Abstract Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a disorder of the bowel that is characterized by a chronic inflammatory response. The traditional Chinese herbal medicine ferulic acid (FA) is known for its antioxidant, antiapoptotic, and antiinflammatory properties. However, its role in UC is still unclear. Thus, the current study was conducted to investigate the role of FA in UC. Rats were treated with 2,4,6‐triabrobenzene sulfonic acid to induce UC and subjected to FA. Human intestinal microvascular endothelial cells (HIMECs) were treated with tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α) and pretreated with FA. Pathological changes in colonic tissues were visualized via hematoxylin‐eosin staining. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay was conducted to detect interleukin (IL)‐6, IL‐12, and IL‐1β levels. Cell morphology was visualized by using a microscope, and viability was detected by using MTT. The percentage of apoptosis was detected via flow cytometry. Western blot analysis was performed to detect the expression of the apoptosis‐related proteins thioredoxin‐interacting protein (TXNIP) and NOD‐like receptor pyrin domain‐containing 3 (NLRP3). In vivo FA administration alleviated intestinal injury in UC rats and inhibited inflammatory factor levels (IL‐6, IL‐12, and IL‐1β), apoptosis‐related protein expression (caspase‐1 and caspase‐3) and the TXNIP/NLRP3 signaling pathway. In vitro, TNF‐α treatment reduced HIMEC viability, increased cell apoptosis and inflammatory factor levels and activated the TXNIP/NLRP3 signaling pathway. However, FA treatment restored the viability of HIMECs, reduced TNF‐α‐induced cell apoptosis and inflammation and inhibited the TXNIP/NLRP3 signaling pathway. Furthermore, with increasing FA concentration, the effects were stronger. In summary, FA inhibits the inflammatory injury of endothelial cells in ulcerative colitis or alleviates TNF‐α‐induced HIMEC injury by inhibiting the TXNIP/NLRP3 signaling pathway.
All Quiet on the Western Front (U.S., 1930): The Antiwar Film and the Modern Image of War

Field: Arts and Humanities (Social Sciences)

More than any other American feature film in the interwar years, All Quiet on the Western Front came to represent the image of World War I. In a poignant saga of the life and death of a sensitive young German recruit, the film vividly portrays the senseless horror of trench warfare on the western front. Explosive sound effects accompany powerful visual images—it was one of the first "talking" pictures—to produce an emotionally wrenching viewing experience. It directly contributed to the widespread revulsion against such slaughter and against industrialized mass warfare in general. Half a century later, the very title remains highly evocative. It has emotional significance even for those whose understanding of World War I comes primarily from sepia pictures in history books. Despite the objections of the younger Laemmle, Milestone hired Ayres, who was only twenty years old and largely unknown, for the starring role of Paul Baumer.
Determining accurate measurements of the growth rate from the galaxy correlation function in simulations

Field: Physics and Astronomy (Physical Sciences)

We use high-resolution N-body simulations to develop a new, flexible empirical approach for measuring the growth rate from redshift-space distortions in the 2-point galaxy correlation function. We quantify the systematic error in measuring the growth rate in a 1 h-3 Gpc3 volume over a range of redshifts, from the dark matter particle distribution and a range of halo-mass catalogues with a number density comparable to the latest large-volume galaxy surveys such as the WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey and the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey. Our simulations allow us to span halo masses with bias factors ranging from unity (probed by emission-line galaxies) to more massive haloes hosting luminous red galaxies. We show that the measured growth rate is sensitive to the model adopted for the small-scale real-space correlation function, and in particular that the 'standard' assumption of a power-law correlation function can result in a significant systematic error in the growth-rate determination. We introduce a new, empirical fitting function that produces results with a lower (5-10 per cent) amplitude of systematic error. We also introduce a new technique which permits the galaxy pairwise velocity distribution, the quantity which drives the non-linear growth of structure, to be measured as a non-parametric stepwise function. Our (model-independent) results agree well with an exponential pairwise velocity distribution, expected from theoretical considerations, and are consistent with direct measurements of halo velocity differences from the parent catalogues. In a companion paper, we present the application of our new methodology to the WiggleZ Survey data set.
Content-aware Density Map for Crowd Counting and Density Estimation

Field: Computer Science (Physical Sciences)

Precise knowledge about the size of a crowd, its density and flow can provide valuable information for safety and security applications, event planning, architectural design and to analyze consumer behavior. Creating a powerful machine learning model, to employ for such applications requires a large and highly accurate and reliable dataset. Unfortunately the existing crowd counting and density estimation benchmark datasets are not only limited in terms of their size, but also lack annotation, in general too time consuming to implement. This paper attempts to address this very issue through a content aware technique, uses combinations of Chan-Vese segmentation algorithm, two-dimensional Gaussian filter and brute-force nearest neighbor search. The results shows that by simply replacing the commonly used density map generators with the proposed method, higher level of accuracy can be achieved using the existing state of the art models.
Isolation, characterization, pathogenicity and antibiotic resistance of Escherichia Coli from poultry farms

Field: Veterinary (Health Sciences)

Of 500 samples screened, 225 (45%) E. coli isolates from poultry farms of Andhra Pradesh were serotyped as O2, O5, O8, O20, O28, O60, O69, O82, O100, O111, O123, O128, O138, O143 and O156. The hemagglutination (HA) study using erythrocytes of guinea pig, mice, rabbit, cattle, goat, sheepand chicken showed five HA patterns. Mannose sensitive strains of six serotypes caused air sacculitis, pericarditis, perihepatitis andperitonitis in pathogenicity assays. The pathogenic nature was studied by Congo red binding test. Chloremphenicol was most effective drug on E.coli isolates tested, followed by streptomycin, gentamycin and kanamycin.
Force Spectroscopy of Individual Stimulus‐Responsive Poly(ferrocenyldimethylsilane) Chains: Towards a Redox‐Driven Macromolecular Motor

Field: Chemistry (Physical Sciences)

Abstract Summary: Progress in the development of a redox‐driven macromolecular motor and the characterization of its redox‐mechanical cycle using electrochemical AFM‐based single‐molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) is described. The elasticities of individual neutral and oxidized poly(ferrocenyldimethylsilane) (PFS) macromolecules were reversibly controlled in situ by adjusting the potential in electrochemical SMFS experiments. For the operating cycle of one individual PFS‐based molecular motor, an output of 3.4 × 10 −19 J and an efficiency of 5% have been estimated. Force‐extension curves of a single‐molecule motor. image Force‐extension curves of a single‐molecule motor.
FIGURES 9–10 in New records of little known pyraloid moths (Lepidoptera: Pyraloidea) from different regions of Ukraine

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences (Life Sciences)

FIGURES 9–10. Phycitini spp.: 9. Female of Isauria dilucidella, wingspan 24 mm, Velykyi Bukryn. 10. Male of Acrobasis suavella, wingspan 22.5 mm, Subich.
[Total and partial cavo-pulmonary anastomosis for univentricular hearts].

Field: Medicine (Health Sciences)

Between January 1990 and January 1995, 37 children and young adults with univentricular hearts were evaluated for total cavo-pulmonary connection (TCPC) or partial cavo-pulmonary connection (PCPC). Nineteen patients had tricuspid atresia, ten double-inlet left ventricle, five mitral atresia, and three had other complex univentricular lesions. Twenty-eight patients had previously been palliated by a systemic-pulmonary artery shunt or by pulmonary artery banding. All patients underwent physical examination, two-dimensional echo-cardiography, and cardiac catheterization. Suitability for TCPC was decided according to the modified Choussat criteria. Nine patients (24%), were judged unsuitable for any type of cava-pulmonary connection. Seventeen patients aged 5 (2-20) years underwent TCPC, and two patients awaited TCPC at follow-up (October 1995) Nine patients aged 10 (1-40) years had borderline morphology or haemodynamics and therefore underwent PCPC. One of these had, however, to be taken down immediately due to development of superior vena cava syndrome. The postoperative follow-up time was 20 (0.3 5.4) years. The 30-day, 1-, and 5-year survival rates (Kaplan-Meier) were 82%, 76%, and 76% after TCPC and 100%, 100%, and 100% after PCPC. All deaths were due to ventricular failure. At latest follow-up, all hospital survivors were in NYHA class I or II. All PCPC, and 85% of the TCPC patients were in sinus rhythm. All patients had good ventricular function. TCPC and PCPC can be performed in selected patients with univentricular hearts with an acceptable mortality and morbidity and result in significant functional improvement.
Decision-Focused Model-based Reinforcement Learning for Reward Transfer

Field: Computer Science (Physical Sciences)

Model-based reinforcement learning (MBRL) provides a way to learn a transition model of the environment, which can then be used to plan personalized policies for different patient cohorts and to understand the dynamics involved in the decision-making process. However, standard MBRL algorithms are either sensitive to changes in the reward function or achieve suboptimal performance on the task when the transition model is restricted. Motivated by the need to use simple and interpretable models in critical domains such as healthcare, we propose a novel robust decision-focused (RDF) algorithm that learns a transition model that achieves high returns while being robust to changes in the reward function. We demonstrate our RDF algorithm can be used with several model classes and planning algorithms. We also provide theoretical and empirical evidence, on a variety of simulators and real patient data, that RDF can learn simple yet effective models that can be used to plan personalized policies.