nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Sleep related problems and urological symptoms: testing the hypothesis of bidirectionality in a longitudinal, population based study.

We evaluate the bidirectional association between urological symptoms (urinary incontinence, lower urinary tract symptoms and nocturia) and sleep related variables.



Data were obtained from a prospective cohort study of 1,610 men and 2,535 women who completed baseline (2002 to 2005) and followup (2006 to 2010) phases of the BACH (Boston Area Community Health) Survey, a population based random sample survey. Sleep restriction (5 hours or less per night), restless sleep, sleep medication use and urological symptoms were assessed by self-report. Urinary incontinence was defined as weekly leakage or moderate/severe leakage, lower urinary tract symptoms (overall, obstructive, irritative) were defined by the AUA-SI (American Urological Association symptom index) and nocturia was defined as urinary frequency 2 or more times per night.



At the 5-year followup 10.0%, 8.5% and 16.0% of subjects newly reported lower urinary tract symptoms, urinary incontinence and nocturia, respectively, and 24.2%, 13.3% and 11.6% newly reported poor sleep quality, sleep restriction and use of sleep medication, respectively. Controlling for confounders, the odds of urological symptoms developing were consistently increased for subjects who reported poor sleep quality and sleep restriction at baseline, but only baseline nocturia was positively associated with incident sleep related problems at followup. Body mass index, a potential mediator, reduced selected associations between sleep and incident urinary incontinence and irritative symptoms, but C-reactive protein did not.



These data suggest that self-reported sleep related problems and urological symptoms are linked bidirectionally, and that body mass index may be a factor in the relationship between sleep and the development of urological symptoms.
A validation study of the Brief Scale for Psychiatric problems in Orthopaedic Patients (BS-POP) for patients with chronic low back pain (verification of reliability, validity, and reproducibility).

We developed the Brief Scale for Psychiatric problems in Orthopaedic Patients (BS-POP) (doctor and patient versions). The present study aimed to proactively verify the factorial validity, internal consistency, criterion-related validity and reproducibility of the BS-POP with regard to chronic low back pain patients.



Subjects comprised 193 chronic low back pain patients. During the first test, the BS-POP, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), Profile of Mood States (POMS) and 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey version 2 (SF-36 v2) were conducted. In the second test, patients were asked to complete the BS-POP in order to verify BS-POP reproducibility.



Factor analysis demonstrated the factorial validity of the BS-POP, including 1-factor structure. Internal consistency was confirmed by Cronbach's α reliability coefficients of 0.794 (doctor version) and 0.750 (patient version). Criterion-related validity was confirmed through association with the psychosocial factors of the SF-36, the MMPI, and the POMS. The correlation coefficients for the retests were r = 0.654 (doctor version) and r = 0.719 (patient version), showing reproducibility.



The present findings indicate that the BS-POP possesses sufficient reliability regarding computational psychology. The BS-POP constitutes a tool enabling orthopaedists themselves to easily identify psychiatric problems in orthopaedic patients. Further study is required regarding responsiveness.
Follow-up after transanal endoscopic microsurgery or transanal excision of large benign rectal polyps

Between January 1986 and December 1995, 238 patients with benign rectal polyps under-went either transanal endoscopic microsurgery (n = 226) or transanal excision (n = 12) at the Clinic of General and Abdominal Surgery, Johannes Gutenberg-University, Mainz.  Mean polyp size was 4.2 cm; 89.1% of polyps measured more than 2 cm in diameter. In 89.1% of cases, histological analysis revealed polyps containing tubulovillous or villous adenomas. Synchronous colonic polyps were detected in 12.5% of patients. Follow-up data are available on 222 patients (94%). At follow-up examination, 169 of the 193 surviving patients (87.6%) were recurrence free. Seven of 193 patients (3.6%) had developed neoplastic colonic polyps and, in 17 patients (8.8%), metachronous polyps were detected.  Transanal endoscopic microsurgical polypectomy was furthermore demonstrated to be a low-risk procedure with a low recurrence rate for the complete resection of large rectal polyps. At a follow-up rate of 61.1%, the incidence of metachronous carcinoma ranged at 3.1%, which is markedly below the rate of 8–18% for tubulovillous or villous adenomas larger than 1 cm in diameter cited in the literature.
Phase II randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of whole-brain irradiation with concomitant chloroquine for brain metastases

Chloroquine (CLQ), an antimalarial drug, has a lysosomotropic effect associated with increased radiationsensibility, which is mediated by the leakage of hydrolytic enzymes, increased apoptosis, autophagy and increased oxidative stress in vitro. In this phase II study, we evaluated the efficacy and safety of radiosensibilization using CLQ concomitant with 30 Gray (Gy) of whole-brain irradiation (WBI) to treat patients with brain metastases (BM) from solid tumors.



Seventy-three eligible patients were randomized. Thirty-nine patients received WBI (30 Gy in 10 fractions over 2 weeks) concomitant with 150 mg of CLQ for 4 weeks (the CLQ arm). Thirty-four patients received the same schedule of WBI concomitant with a placebo for 4 weeks (the control arm). All the patients were evaluated for quality of life (QoL) using the EORTC Quality of Life (QoL) Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) (Mexican version) before beginning radiotherapy and one month later.



The overall response rate (ORR) was 54% for the CLQ arm and 55% for the control arm (p=0.92). The progression-free survival of brain metastases (BMPFS) rates at one year were 83.9% (95% CI 69.4-98.4) for the CLQ arm and 55.1% (95% CI 33.6-77.6) for the control arm. Treatment with CLQ was independently associated with increased BMPFS (RR 0.31,95% CI [0.1-0.9], p=0.046).The only factor that was independently associated with increased overall survival (OS) was the presence of< 4 brain metastases (RR 1.9, 95% CI [1.12-3.3], p=0.017). WBI was associated with improvements in cognitive and emotional function but also with worsened nausea in both patients groups. No differences in QoL or toxicity were found between the study arms.



Treatment with CLQ plus WBI improved the control of BM (compared with the control arm) with no increase in toxicity; however, CLQ did not improve the RR or OS. A phase III clinical trial is warranted to confirm these findings.
Adding ribavirin to interferon alpha-2b for chronic hepatitis C infection increased virological response and nausea.

Patients 100 patients (mean age 40 y, 62% men) who had increased aminotransferase concentrations for >6 months, serum antibodies to HCV found by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and a diagnosis of chronic hepatitis on a liver biopsy sample in the previous 12 months. Exclusion criteria included previous treatment with interferon á-2b or ribavirin, decompensated cirrhosis, autoimmune hepatitis, chronic hepatitis B infection, HIV infection, current intravenous drug use, liver disease related to drug use, or pregnancy.
Low-dose terlipressin plus banding ligation versus low-dose terlipressin alone in the prevention of very early rebleeding of oesophageal varices.

Very early rebleeding is frequently encountered in patients with acute oesophageal variceal bleeding. A trial was designed to assess the efficacy and safety in patients with no active bleeding at endoscopy, receiving banding ligation association with terlipressin to prevent very early rebleeding.



Patients with no active variceal bleeding at endoscopy were evaluated. Eligible patients were randomised to receive terlipressin infusion alone for 5 days (Terlipressin group) or banding ligation plus terlipressin infusion for 2 days (Combined group). Primary endpoints were treatment failure and very early rebleeding.



The terlipressin group was composed of 46 patients and the Combined group was composed of 47 patients. Both groups were comparable in terms of baseline data. Forty-eight-hour haemostasis was achieved in 91% in the Terlipressin group and 98% in the Combined group (p = 0.20). Very early rebleeding within 48-120 h occurred in 7 patients (15%) in the Terlipressin group but not in any patients (0%) in the Combined group (p = 0.006). Treatment failure was 24% in the Terlipressin group and 2% in the Combined group (p = 0.002). Multivariate analysis revealed that treatment (OR 0.081; 95% CI 0.010 to 0.627) was the only predictive factor of very early rebleeding. Blood requirement was significantly lower in the Combined group than in the Terlipressin group. Complications and 6-week survival were similar in both groups.



Combination of banding ligation and terlipressin infusion for 2 days was superior to only infusion of terlipressin for 5 days in the reduction of very early rebleeding and treatment failure in patients with inactive variceal bleeding at endoscopy.
Detection of motor and non-motor symptoms of end-of dose wearing-off in Parkinson's disease using a dedicated questionnaire: a Belgian multicenter survey.

In this report the usefulness of a dedicated questionnaire to detect end-of-dose wearing-off (EODWO) fluctuations in PD was studied. One hundred and sixty patients were administered an 18-item questionnaire encompassing both motor and non-motor phenomena. One hundred and eight (86%) reported EODWO, defined as the occurrence of at least one symptom improving by drug intake. Motor phenomena were significantly more frequent and non-motor phenomena never occurred in isolation. This questionnaire was deemed useful by most participants.
Serial sampling of copeptin levels improves diagnosis and risk stratification in patients presenting with chest pain: results from the CHOPIN trial.

Copeptin has demonstrated a role in early rule out for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in combination with a negative troponin. However, management of patients with chest pain with a positive copeptin in the setting of a negative troponin is unclear.



The multicentre CHOPIN trial enrolled 2071 patients with acute chest pain. Of these, 476 subjects with an initial negative troponin but an elevated copeptin (>14 pmol/L) were included in this study. Copeptin and troponin levels were rechecked at 2 h and the final diagnosis of AMI was made by two independent, blinded cardiologists. Follow-up at 30 days was obtained for major adverse cardiac events (MACEs), including death, AMI and urgent revascularisation.



Of the 476 patients analysed, 365 (76.7%) had a persistently elevated copeptin at 2 h and 111 patients (23.3%) had a copeptin that fell below the cut-off of 14 pmol/L. When the second copeptin was elevated there were 18 AMIs (4.9%) compared with 0 (0%) when the second copeptin was negative (p=0.017), yielding a negative predictive value of 100% (95% CI 96.7% to 100%). On 30-day follow-up there were 36 MACEs (9.9%) in the positive second copeptin group and 2 (1.8%) MACEs in the negative second copeptin group (p=0.006).



Patients with chest pain with an initial negative troponin but positive copeptin are common and carry an intermediate risk of AMI. A second copeptin drawn 2 h after presentation may help risk stratify and potentially rule out AMI in this cohort.
NPACT: Enhancing Programs of Assertive Community Treatment for the Seriously Mentally Ill

Morbidity and mortality due to physical illness is extremely high in the population of persons with serious mental illness. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact on psychiatric and physical outcomes through enhancing a standard Program of Assertive Community Treatment (PACT) with Advanced Practice Psychiatric Mental Health Nurses (APNs) and stabilized consumer peer providers (NPACT). In a two-group community comparison design, 38 participants receiving NPACT were compared to 21 participants receiving traditional PACT. Evaluations were conducted at baseline and 6 months. Significant improvements over time were demonstrated for both groups on all summary variables. Treatment effects for NPACT over PACT were demonstrated for psychiatric symptoms, community functioning, and consumer satisfaction.  Enhancements for PACT using advanced practice nurses and consumer peer providers have the potential to address both health and mental health problems for the seriously mentally ill.
Clinical Impact and Cost-Effectiveness of Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography or Exercise Electrocardiogram in Individuals Without Known Cardiovascular Disease

It is not clear whether screening by coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) and/or exercise electrocardiogram (ECG) can improve clinical outcomes and reduce costs in individuals without known cardiovascular disease (CVD). In total, 71,811 consecutive individuals without known CVD who underwent general health examinations were enrolled. Using propensity-score matching according to screening tests, 1-year clinical outcomes and 6-month total and coronary artery disease-related medical costs were analyzed in separate groups: group 1 (CCTA [n = 2578] vs no screening [n = 5146]), group 2 (exercise ECG [n = 2898] vs no screening [n = 5796]), and group 3 (CCTA and exercise ECG [n = 2003] vs no screening [n = 4006]). There were no significant differences in the composite outcome of death, myocardial infarction, and stroke in each matched group: group 1 (0.35% vs 0.45%, P = 0.501), group 2 (0.14% vs 0.28%, P = 0.157), and group 3 (0.25% vs 0.27%, P = 0.858). However, revascularization was more frequent in the CCTA screening groups: group 1 (2.02% vs 0.45%, P < 0.001) and group 3 (1.40% vs 0.45%, P < 0.001). Matched screening groups had higher 6-month total and coronary artery disease-related medical costs: group 1 ($777 vs $603, P < 0.001 and $177 vs $39, P < 0.001), group 2 ($544 vs $492, P = 0.045 and $12 vs $15, P = 0.611), and group 3 ($705 vs $627, P = 0.090 and $135 vs $35, P < 0.001). In individuals without known CVD, CCTA screening with or without exercise ECG led to more frequent revascularization at the expense of higher medical costs, but did not decrease the 1-year risk of death, myocardial infarction, and stroke.
Validity of bioelectrical impedance analysis to assess fat-free mass in patients with head and neck cancer: an exploratory study.

The purpose of this study was to validate bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) using the Geneva equation for fat-free mass (FFM) in patients with head and neck cancer.



In 24 patients with head and neck cancer, agreement between BIA (FFMBIA ) and dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (FFMDXA ) 1 week before (T0 ), 1 month (T1 ), and 4 months (T2 ) after cancer treatment was analyzed.



FFMBIA did not differ from FFMDXA (mean difference 0.71 ± 1.9, 0.30 ± 1.9, and 0.02 ± 2.1 kg) at any time point. Only at T0 , mean FFM correlated to the difference between FFMDXA and FFMBIA (r = 0.48; p = .017). Limits of agreement were 3.8, 3.7, and 4.1 kg, respectively. Concordance Correlation Coefficients were 0.98 at all time points.



BIA may be used to assess FFM with reasonable validity based on mean-level comparisons, but differences between BIA and DXA may vary by about 4 kg in an individual patient. These results require confirmation in a larger sample of patients with head and neck cancer.
Automated metrics for speech translation

In this paper, we describe automated measures used to evaluate machine translation quality in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Spoken Language Communication and Translation System for Tactical Use program, which is developing speech translation systems for dialogue between English and Iraqi Arabic speakers in military contexts. Limitations of the automated measures are illustrated along with variants of the measures that seek to overcome those limitations. Both the dialogue structure of the data and the Iraqi Arabic language challenge these measures, and the paper presents some solutions adopted by MITRE and NIST to improve confidence in the scores.
The impact of HLA matching on long-term transplant outcome after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for CLL: a retrospective study from the EBMT registry

We analyzed 368 chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients who underwent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation reported to the EBMT registry between 1995 and 2007. There were 198 human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-identical siblings; among unrelated transplants, 31 were well matched in high resolution (‘well matched’ unrelated donor, WMUD), and 139 were mismatched (MM), including 30 matched in low resolution; 266 patients (72%) received reduced-intensity conditioning and 102 (28%) received standard. According to the EBMT risk score, 11% were in scores 1–3, 23% in score 4, 40% in score 5, 22% in score 6 and 4% in score 7. There was no difference in overall survival (OS) at 5 years between HLA-identical siblings (55% (48–64)) and WMUD (59% (41–84)), P=0.82. In contrast, OS was significantly worse for MM (37% (29–48) P=0.005) due to a significant excess of transplant-related mortality. Also OS worsened significantly when EBMT risk score increased. HLA matching had no significant impact on relapse (siblings: 24% (21–27); WMUD: 35% (26–44), P=0.11 and MM: 21% (18–24), P=0.81); alemtuzumab T-cell depletion and stem cell source (peripheral blood) were associated with an increased risk. Our findings support the use of WMUD as equivalent alternative to HLA-matched sibling donors for allogeneic HSCT in CLL, and justify the application of EBMT risk score in this disease.
Reduction of oxidative stress by oral N-acetyl-L-cysteine treatment decreases plasma soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 concentrations in non-obese, non-dyslipidaemic, normotensive, patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes

To assess in vivo effects of antioxidants on vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1 expression, circulating soluble VCAM-1 and intraerythrocytic reduced glutathione (GSH) and GSH disulphide (GSSG) concentrations were evaluated in non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients without complications (9 men, 6 women, 48 ± 6 years old) before and after 1 month of either oral N-acetyl-L-cysteine (1.200 mg/day) or placebo treatments, given in randomized, cross-over, double-blind fashion. Ten healthy subjects (7 men, 3 women, 52 ± 4 years old) served as control subjects. Baseline plasma VCAM-1 concentrations were higher (p = 0.007) in non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients (707.9 ± 52.5 ng/ml) than in control subjects (627.3 ± 84.6 ng/ml). Intraerythrocytic GSSG content was higher (non-insulin dependent diabetic patients: 0.618 ± 0.185 μmol/g Hb; control subjects: 0.352 ± 0.04 μmol/g Hb, p = 0.0002), whereas intraerythrocytic GSH concentrations were lower (p = 0.001) in non-insulin dependent diabetic patients (6.0 ± 0.7 μmol/g Hb) than in control subjects (7.1 ± 0.5 μmol/g Hb). The mean GSH:GSSG ratio was also lower (p = 0.0001) in the first (10.9 ± 4.5) than in the second group (20.2 ± 1.4). Circulating VCAM-1 and intraerythrocytic GSH concentrations were negatively correlated in non-insulin diabetic patients (r = 0.605, p = 0.01). Treatment with N-acetyl-L-cysteine decreased plasma VCAM-1 (p = 0.01) and intraerythrocytic GSSG (p = 0.006) but increased GSH concentrations (p = 0.04) and the GSH:GSSG ratio (p = 0.004) in non-insulin dependent diabetic patients. Our data indicate that the vascular endothelium is activated in non-insulin dependent diabetes. Antioxidant treatment counterbalanced such endothelial activation. Thus, antioxidant agents might protect against oxidant-related upregulation of endothelial adhesion molecules and slow down the progression of vascular damage in non-insulin dependent diabetes.
Definition of progression risk based on combinations of cellular and molecular markers in patients with Binet stage A chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.

IGHV mutational status and ZAP-70 or CD38 expression correlate with clinical course in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). The three markers may be discordant in the single case and there is no consensus on their combined use in clinical practise. This multicenter study investigated this issue. Two-hundred and sixty-two Binet stage A patients were studied for the three markers. Sixty patients were profiled with HG-U133A gene expression chips. Disease progression was determined by time from diagnosis to treatment (TTT). The probability of being treatment-free at 3 years was significantly shorter in patients with unmutated IGHV genes (IGHVunmut 66% vs. 93%, chi square of log-rank = 30, P < 0.0001), ZAP-70 positive (ZAP-70pos 73% vs. 96%, chi square of log-rank = 8.2, P = 0.004) or CD38-positive cells (CD38pos 68% vs. 91%, chi square of log-rank = 21, P < 0.0001). Cox multivariate regression analysis showed that the three markers had an independent predictive value for TTT of similar power. A prognostic system based on presence of none (low-risk), one (intermediate-risk) or two or three (high-risk) markers was generated. Based on such criteria, 56%, 23% and 21% of cases were clustered in low (HR = 1), intermediate [HR = 2.8, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.4-5.8] and high-risk group (HR = 8.0, 95% CI 3.9-16.2). Specific transcriptional patterns were significantly associated with risk groups.
Quantification of synchronization during atrial fibrillation by Shannon entropy: validation in patients and computer model of atrial arrhythmias.

Atrial fibrillation (AF), a cardiac arrhythmia classically described as completely desynchronized, is now known to show a certain amount of synchronized electrical activity. In the present work a new method for quantifying the level of synchronization of the electrical activity recorded in pairs of atrial sites during atrial fibrillation is presented. A synchronization index (Sy) was defined by quantifying the degree of complexity of the distribution of the time delays between sites by Shannon entropy estimation. The capability of Sy to discriminate different AF types in patients was assessed on a database of 60 pairs of endocardial recordings from a multipolar basket catheter. The analysis showed a progressive and significant decrease of Sy with increasing AF complexity classes as defined by Wells (AF type I Sy = 0.73 +/- 0.07, type II Sy = 0.56 +/- 0.07, type III Sy = 0.36 +/- 0.04, p < 0.001). The extension of Sy calculation to the whole right atrium showed the existence of spatial heterogeneities in the synchronization level. Moreover, experiments simulated by a computer model of atrial arrhythmias showed that propagation patterns with different complexity could be the basis of different synchronization levels found in patients. In conclusion the quantification of synchronization by Shannon entropy estimation of time delay dispersion may facilitate the identification of different propagation patterns associated with AF, thus enhancing our understanding of AF mechanisms and helping in its treatment.