nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Mental health first aid training of the public in a rural area: a cluster randomized trial [ISRCTN53887541]

A Mental Health First Aid course has been developed which trains members of the public in how to give initial help in mental health crisis situations and to support people developing mental health problems. This course has previously been evaluated in a randomized controlled trial in a workplace setting and found to produce a number of positive effects. However, this was an efficacy trial under relatively ideal conditions. Here we report the results of an effectiveness trial in which the course is given under more typical conditions.



The course was taught to members of the public in a large rural area in Australia by staff of an area health service. The 16 Local Government Areas that made up the area were grouped into pairs matched for size, geography and socio-economic level. One of each Local Government Area pair was randomised to receive immediate training while one served as a wait-list control. There were 753 participants in the trial: 416 in the 8 trained areas and 337 in the 8 control areas. Outcomes measured before the course started and 4 months after it ended were knowledge of mental disorders, confidence in providing help, actual help provided, and social distance towards people with mental disorders. The data were analysed taking account of the clustered design and using an intention-to-treat approach.



Training was found to produce significantly greater recognition of the disorders, increased agreement with health professionals about which interventions are likely to be helpful, decreased social distance, increased confidence in providing help to others, and an increase in help actually provided. There was no change in the number of people with mental health problems that trainees had contact with nor in the percentage advising someone to seek professional help.



Mental Health First Aid training produces positive changes in knowledge, attitudes and behaviour when the course is given to members of the public by instructors from the local health service.
Nicotine N-glucuronidation relative to N-oxidation and C-oxidation and UGT2B10 genotype in five ethnic/racial groups.

Nicotine metabolism influences smoking behavior and differences in metabolism probably contribute to ethnic variability in lung cancer risk. We report here on the proportion of nicotine metabolism by cytochrome P450 2A6-catalyzed C-oxidation, UDP-glucuronosyl transferase 2B10 (UGT2B10)-catalyzed N-glucuronidation and flavin monooxygenase 3-catalyzed N-oxidation in five ethnic/racial groups and the role of UGT2B10 genotype on the metabolic patterns observed. Nicotine and its metabolites were quantified in urine from African American (AA, n = 364), Native Hawaiian (NH, n = 311), White (n = 437), Latino (LA, n = 453) and Japanese American (JA, n = 674) smokers. Total nicotine equivalents, the sum of nicotine and six metabolites, and nicotine metabolism phenotypes were calculated. The relationship of UGT2B10 genotype to nicotine metabolic pathways was determined for each group; geometric means were computed and adjusted for age, sex, creatinine, and body mass index. Nicotine metabolism patterns were unique across the groups, C-oxidation was lowest in JA and NH (P < 0.0001), and N-glucuronidation lowest in AA (P < 0.0001). There was no difference in C-oxidation among Whites and AA and LA. Nicotine and cotinine glucuronide ratios were 2- and 3-fold lower in AA compared with Whites. Two UGT variants, a missense mutation (Asp67Tyr, rs61750900) and a splice variant (rs116294140) accounted for 33% of the variation in glucuronidation. In AA, the splice variant accounted for the majority of the reduced nicotine glucuronidation. UGT2B10 variant allele carriers had increased levels of C-oxidation (P = 0.0099). Our data indicate that the relative importance of nicotine metabolic pathways varies by ethnicity, and all pathways should be considered when characterizing the role of nicotine metabolism on smoking behavior and cancer risk.
Signal-Dependent Penalty Functions for Robust Acoustic Multi-Channel Equalization

Acoustic multi-channel equalization techniques, which aim to achieve dereverberation by reshaping the room impulse responses RIRs between the source and the microphone array, are known to be highly sensitive to RIR perturbations. In order to increase the robustness against RIR perturbations, several signal-independent methods have been proposed, which only rely on the available perturbed RIRs and do not incorporate any knowledge about the output signal. This paper presents a novel signal-dependent method to increase the robustness of equalization techniques by enforcing the output signal to exhibit spectrotemporal characteristics of a clean speech signal. Motivated by the sparse nature of clean speech, we propose to extend the cost function of state-of-the-art least squares equalization techniques, i.e., the multiple-input/output inverse theorem MINT, relaxed multi-channel least squares RMCLS, and partial multi-channel equalization based on MINT PMINT, with a signal-dependent penalty function promoting sparsity of the output signal in the short-time Fourier transform domain. Three conventionally used sparsity-promoting penalty functions are investigated, i.e., the l0-norm, the l1-norm, and the weighted l1-norm, and the sparsitypromoting reshaping filters are iteratively computed using the alternating direction method of multipliers. Simulation results for several acoustic systems and RIR perturbations demonstrate that incorporating sparsity-promoting penalty functions significantly increases the robustness of MINT, RMCLS, and PMINT, with the weighted l1-norm typically outperforming the l0-norm and the l1-norm. Furthermore, it is shown that the weighted l1-norm sparsity-promoting PMINT technique outperforms the other sparsity-promoting techniques in terms of perceptual speech quality. Finally, it is shown that the signal-dependent weighted l1-norm sparsity-promoting PMINT technique yields a similar or better dereverberation performance than the signal-independent regularized PMINT technique, confirming the advantage of using signal-dependent penalty functions for robust dereverberation filter design.
Effects of oral alendronate in elderly patients with osteoporosis and mild primary hyperparathyroidism.

In a large proportion of the patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT), a variable degree of osteopenia is the only relevant manifestation of the disease. Low bone mineral density (BMD) in patients with PHPT is an indication for surgical intervention because successful parathyroidectomy results in a dramatic increase in BMD. However, low BMD values are almost an invariable finding in elderly women with PHPT, who are often either unwilling or considered unfit for surgery. Bisphosphonates are capable of suppressing parathyroid hormone (PTH)-mediated bone resorption and are useful for the prevention and treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis. In this pilot-controlled study, we investigated the effects of oral treatment with alendronate on BMD and biochemical markers of calcium and bone metabolism in elderly women presenting osteoporosis and mild PHPT. Twenty-six elderly patients aged 67-81 years were randomized for treatment with either oral 10 mg alendronate on alternate-day treatment or no treatment for 2 years. In the control untreated patients a slight significant decrease was observed for total body and femoral neck BMD, without significant changes in biochemical markers of calcium and bone metabolism during the 2 years of observation. Urine deoxypyridinoline (Dpyr) excretion significantly fell within the first month of treatment with alendronate, while serum markers of bone formation alkaline phosphatase and osteocalcin fell more gradually and the decrease became significant only after 3 months of treatment; thereafter all bone turnover markers remained consistently suppressed during alendronate treatment. After 2 years in this group we observed statistically significant increases in BMD at lumbar spine, total hip, and total body (+8.6 +/- 3.0%, +4.8 +/- 3.9%, and +1.2 +/- 1.4% changes vs. baseline mean +/- SD) versus both baseline and control patients. Serum calcium, serum phosphate, and urinary calcium excretion significantly decreased during the first 3-6 months but rose back to the baseline values afterward. Increase in serum PTH level was statistically significant during the first year of treatment. These preliminary results may make alendronate a candidate as a supportive therapy in patients with mild PHPT who are unwilling or are unsuitable for surgery, and for whom osteoporosis is a reason of concern.
Sampling and Homogenization Strategies Significantly Influence the Detection of Foodborne Pathogens in Meat

Efficient preparation of food samples, comprising sampling and homogenization, for microbiological testing is an essential, yet largely neglected, component of foodstuff control. Salmonella enterica spiked chicken breasts were used as a surface contamination model whereas salami and meat paste acted as models of inner-matrix contamination. A systematic comparison of different homogenization approaches, namely, stomaching, sonication, and milling by FastPrep-24 or SpeedMill, revealed that for surface contamination a broad range of sample pretreatment steps is applicable and loss of culturability due to the homogenization procedure is marginal. In contrast, for inner-matrix contamination long treatments up to 8 min are required and only FastPrep-24 as a large-volume milling device produced consistently good recovery rates. In addition, sampling of different regions of the spiked sausages showed that pathogens are not necessarily homogenously distributed throughout the entire matrix. Instead, in meat paste the core region contained considerably more pathogens compared to the rim, whereas in the salamis the distribution was more even with an increased concentration within the intermediate region of the sausages. Our results indicate that sampling and homogenization as integral parts of food microbiology and monitoring deserve more attention to further improve food safety.
Effect of neck exercise on sitting posture in patients with chronic neck pain.

Poor sitting posture has been implicated in the development and perpetuation of neck pain symptoms. This study had 2 purposes: (1) to compare change in cervical and thoracic posture during a distracting task between subjects with chronic neck pain and control subjects and (2) to compare the effects of 2 different neck exercise regimens on the ability of people with neck pain to maintain an upright cervical and thoracic posture during this task.



Fifty-eight subjects with chronic, nonsevere neck pain and 10 control subjects participated in the study.



Change in cervical and thoracic posture from an upright posture was measured every 2 minutes during a 10-minute computer task. Following baseline measurements, the subjects with neck pain were randomized into one of two 6-week exercise intervention groups: a group that received training of the craniocervical flexor muscles or a group that received endurance-strength training of the cervical flexor muscles. The primary outcomes following intervention were changes in the angle of cervical and thoracic posture during the computer task.



Subjects with neck pain demonstrated a change in cervical angle across the duration of the task (mean=4.4 degrees ; 95% confidence interval [CI]=3.3-5.4), consistent with a more forward head posture. No significant difference was observed for the change in cervical angle across the duration of the task for the control group subjects (mean=2.2 degrees ; 95% CI=1.0-3.4). Following intervention, the craniocervical flexor training group demonstrated a significant reduction in the change of cervical angle across the duration of the computer task.



This study showed that people with chronic neck pain demonstrate a reduced ability to maintain an upright posture when distracted. Following intervention with an exercise program targeted at training the craniocervical flexor muscles, subjects with neck pain demonstrated an improved ability to maintain a neutral cervical posture during prolonged sitting.
Preliminary randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial of tryptophan combined with fluoxetine to treat major depressive disorder: antidepressant and hypnotic effects.

Because the initial phase of treatment of depression with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor is often complicated by a delayed onset of action of the antidepressant or severe insomnia or both, we investigated whether tryptophan, an amino acid with both antidepressant-augmenting and hypnotic effects, would benefit patients with depression at the beginning of treatment with fluoxetine.



Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.



Thirty individuals with major depressive disorder.



Treatment over 8 weeks with 20 mg of fluoxetine per day and either tryptophan (2 to 4 g per day) or placebo.



Mood was assessed using the 29-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS-29) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Laboratory sleep studies were done at baseline and after 4 and 8 weeks of treatment using standard procedures.



During the first week of treatment, there was a significantly greater decrease in HDRS-29 depression scores, and a similar trend in BDI scores, in the tryptophan/fluoxetine group than in the placebo/fluoxetine group. No significant differences were noted at later time points. With respect to sleep measures, there was a significant group-by-time interaction for slow-wave sleep at week 4. Further analysis revealed a significant decrease in slow-wave sleep after 4 weeks of treatment in the placebo/fluoxetine group, but not in the tryptophan/fluoxetine group. No cases of serotonin syndrome occurred, and the combination was well tolerated, although the 4 g per day dosage of tryptophan produced daytime drowsiness.



Combining 20 mg of fluoxetine with 2 g of tryptophan daily at the outset of treatment for major depressive disorder appears to be a safe protocol that may have both a rapid antidepressant effect and a protective effect on slow-wave sleep. Further large-scale studies are needed to confirm these initial findings.
Prenatal Dexamethasone and Exogenous Surfactant Therapy: Surface Activity and Surfactant Components in Airway Specimens

To explain some of the effects of prenatal glucocorticoid treatment on lung function, surfactant parameters in the airway specimens of ventilator-dependent preterm infants were analyzed. In this double-blind study, the mothers of these infants had received dexamethasone (DEX) or placebo prenatally. Human surfactant was given for the treatment of moderate to severe respiratory distress syndrome. Seventy-six preterm infants with mean gestational age of 29 wk and mean birth weight of 1137 g were studied. The concentrations of surfactant components in epithelial lining fluid (ELF) were analyzed, and the surface activity was measured using a pulsating bubble method. Prenatal DEX treatment increased the responsiveness to exogenous surfactant and decreased the severity of respiratory failure during the first day of life. The treatment had no effect on the concentrations of surfactant phospholipids that were generally high. Prenatal DEX treatment increased the association between phospholipid concentration in ELF and the degree of respiratory failure. Prenatal DEX improved the surface activity of surfactant isolated from airway specimens and tended to increase the ratio of surfactant protein A to phosphatidylcholine among recipients of exogenous surfactant. A subgroup of infants, offspring of mothers with severe hypertension had an abnormally low concentration of surfactant protein A and a poor outcome, despite prenatal DEX treatment or surfactant substitution. Prenatal DEX decreased the concentration of nonsedimentable proteins in ELF and decreased the inhibition of surface activity by these proteins. Our results indicate that improved surfactant function during the first day of life explains some of the beneficial pulmonary effects of prenatal glucocorticoid treatment in preterm infants who are ventilator-dependent.
Add-On Therapy with a Nighttime Dose of Doxazosin in Patients with Uncontrolled Hypertension: Effects on Autonomic Modulation of the Cardiovascular System

This study was designed to determine whether or not the addition of a single nighttime dose of doxazosin in extended-release form (GITS; gastrointestinal therapeutic system) would affect the autonomic modulation of the cardiovascular system in patients with uncontrolled hypertension treated with a multi-drug regimen. Resting 5-min noninvasive finger blood pressure and ECG signals, as well as 24-h Holter ECGs, were recorded in 30 patients with uncontrolled hypertension on multi-drug treatment before and after 16-week add-on therapy with doxazosin GITS. Cardiovascular autonomic modulation was evaluated by spectral analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) and a cross-correlation method for spontaneous baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) in 5-min resting recordings, and by the analysis of Poincaré plots and phase-rectified signal averaging of the duration of cardiac cycles in 24-h ECG recordings. This combined therapy significantly reduced systolic pressure (19.4±3.5 mmHg; p<0.0001), diastolic blood pressure (9.4±2.0 mmHg; p=0.0003), and pulse pressure (10.0±2.8 mmHg; p=0.0021). Concomitantly, there was a significant increase in resting spontaneous BRS (p=0.0191) and increases in 24-h short-term (p=0.0129) and total (p=0.0153) HRV, but with no significant change in heart rate or other measures of HRV. The improvements in HRV and BRS were observed mainly in patients already treated with thiazide diuretics. There was a significant association (r=0.49; p=0.0065) between the degree of change in diastolic blood pressure and short-term HRV caused by the combined treatment. The addition of 4 mg doxazosin GITS to multi-drug antihypertensive therapy is associated with an improvement in cardiovascular autonomic control.
The effect of blood pressure on non-invasive fractional flow reserve derived from coronary computed tomography angiography

The aim of this study is to assess the effect of blood pressure (BP) on coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) derived computational fractional flow reserve (CTA-FFR). Twenty-one patients who underwent coronary CTA and invasive FFR were retrospectively identified. Ischemia was defined as invasive FFR ≤0.80. Using a work-in-progress computational fluid dynamics algorithm, CTA-FFR was computed with BP measured before CTA, and simulated BPs of 60/50, 90/60, 110/70, 130/80, 150/90, and 180/100 mmHg respectively. Correlation between CTA-FFR and invasive FFR was assessed using Pearson test. The repeated measuring test was used for multiple comparisons of CTA-FFR values by simulated BP inputs. Twenty-nine vessels (14 with invasive FFR ≤0.80) were assessed. The average CTA-FFR for measured BP (134 ± 20/73 ± 12 mmHg) was 0.77 ± 0.12. Correlation between CTA-FFR by measured BP and invasive FFR was good (r = 0.735, P < 0.001). For simulated BPs of 60/50, 90/60, 110/70, 130/80, 150/90, and 180/100 mmHg, the CTA-FFR increased: 0.69 ± 0.13, 0.73 ± 0.12, 0.75 ± 0.12, 0.77 ± 0.11, 0.79 ± 0.11, and 0.81 ± 0.10 respectively (P < 0.05). Measurement of the BP just before CTA is preferred for accurate CTA-FFR simulation. BP variations in the common range slightly affect CTA-FFR. However, inaccurate BP assumptions differing from the patient-specific BP could cause misinterpretation of borderline significant lesions. • The blood pressure (BP) affects the CTA-FFR computation. • Measured BP before CT examination is preferable for accurate CTA-FFR simulation. • Inaccurate BP assumptions can cause misinterpretation of borderline significant lesions.
Socioeconomic status and COPD among low- and middle-income countries

Socioeconomic status (SES) is a strong social determinant of health. There remains a limited understanding of the association between SES and COPD prevalence among low- and middle-income countries where the majority of COPD-related morbidity and mortality occurs. We examined the association between SES and COPD prevalence using data collected in Argentina, Bangladesh, Chile, Peru, and Uruguay.



We compiled lung function, demographic, and SES data from three population-based studies for 11,042 participants aged 35-95 years. We used multivariable alternating logistic regressions to study the association between COPD prevalence and SES indicators adjusted for age, sex, self-reported daily smoking, and biomass fuel smoke exposure. Principal component analysis was performed on monthly household income, household size, and education to create a composite SES index.



Overall COPD prevalence was 9.2%, ranging from 1.7% to 15.4% across sites. The adjusted odds ratio of having COPD was lower for people who completed secondary school (odds ratio [OR] =0.73, 95% CI 0.55-0.98) and lower with higher monthly household income (OR =0.96 per category, 95% CI 0.93-0.99). When combining SES factors into a composite index, we found that the odds of having COPD was greater with lower SES (interquartile OR =1.23, 95% CI 1.05-1.43) even after controlling for subject-specific factors and environmental exposures.



In this analysis of multiple population-based studies, lower education, lower household income, and lower composite SES index were associated with COPD. Since household income may be underestimated in population studies, adding household size and education into a composite index may provide a better surrogate for SES.
Complete phenotypic and metabolic profiles of a large consecutive cohort of untreated Korean women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

To investigate the complete metabolic and phenotypic profiles of a large cohort of untreated, consecutively recruited Korean women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), for whom a registry for Korean women with PCOS was constructed.



Observational study.



Three infertility clinics and 10 university hospitals.



Eight hundred sixty-five women with PCOS were recruited using the Rotterdam criteria.



Standardized evaluation protocol and web-based case report form.



Metabolic and phenotypic profiles.


RESULT(S)
The subjects with PCOS mainly consisted of young and nonobese women. The most problematic subjective symptom was menstrual disturbance or infertility, and, on average, the patients seemed to menstruate every 2 months. PCO morphology was observed in 96.5% of the patients. Although few women visited hospitals owing to HA symptoms alone, hirsutism was observed in one-third of the patients (33.9%) and half (47.4%) of the patients had biochemical HA. About one-fifth (20.1%) of the patients had generalized obesity, and one-third (33.2%) had central obesity. Prevalence of dyslipidemia, diabetes, hypertension, and metabolic syndrome were 35.7%, 3.5%, 4.0%, and 13.7%, respectively. Prevalence of prediabetes was 20.8%, and a substantial proportion of additional subjects with normal fasting plasma glucose or oral glucose tolerance tests were identified as having prediabetes by hemoglobin A1C testing.


CONCLUSION(S)
Our well-defined cohort provided comprehensive estimates of the features of metabolic and phenotypic profiles related to PCOS in Korean women. Further longitudinal follow-up studies are needed to investigate the changes in phenotypic and metabolic markers in this PCOS cohort.