nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
The Japanese Trial to Assess Optimal Systolic Blood Pressure in Elderly Hypertensive Patients (JATOS): Protocol, Patient Characteristics, and Blood Pressure during the First 12 Months

The benefits of a systolic blood pressure (BP) below 150–160 mmHg are well established; whether a systolic BP of less than 140 mmHg provides additional benefits remains controversial. This study was designed to compare the 2-year effect of a strict treatment to maintain systolic BP below 140 mmHg (group A) and that of a mild treatment to maintain systolic BP at between 140 and below 160 mmHg (group B). The study design followed the Prospective Randomized Open Blinded End-point (PROBE) study. The subjects were elderly patients (65–85 years old) who consistently had a systolic BP of 160 mmHg or higher. The baseline drug was efonidipine hydrochloride (efonidipine), a long-acting dihydropiridine calcium antagonist. The primary endpoints were stroke, cardiac disease, vascular disease, and renal failure. After a run-in period of 2 to 4 weeks, 2,165 patients were assigned to group A and 2,155 patients to group B. There were no significant differences between the groups in sex, age, baseline BP, or other cardiovascular risk factors. The systolic BP was 7.2 mmHg lower (p<0.0001) and the diastolic BP 2.4 mmHg lower (p<0.0001) in group A than in group B after 12 months of treatment. As of this interim analysis, primary endpoints have occurred in 87 patients (stroke in 58 patients, cardiac disease in 27 patients, occlusive arterial disease in 1 patient, and renal failure in 1 patient). Five patients have died of stroke and 2 patients of myocardial infarction. The primary-endpoint-related morbidity rate was 20.9/1,000 patient-years, and the mortality rate was 1.7/1,000 patient-years. Currently available results indicate that this study, one of the largest randomized trials of antihypertensive therapy in elderly patients in Japan, was conducted safely. The final results are expected to provide important and practical information for the management of hypertension in elderly patients.
"smiles, Kids, Happy Songs!": How to Collect Metaphors with Older Adults

In the context of an ageing society, vibrotactile wearable devices can open up new avenues for assisting older adults in their daily lives. They can provide information and yet free the hands, ears and eyes, which can be crucial to safety. However, designing intuitive informational vibrotactile messages for and with the older adults has seldom been investigated. This paper describes an initial study involving older adults in the design of vibrotactile messages for a pedestrian navigation application. The design is based on metaphors or everyday analogies in an attempt to strengthen the link between the pattern and its associated meaning. The study presents the method to collect these metaphors, focusing on the difficulties encountered with such an abstract task and the steps taken to adapt it to the audience. As a result, a number of metaphors were collected, in line with what matters for older adults (e.g. kids, health).
Enabling ad-hoc-style communication in public WLAN hot-spots

Opportunistic networking between mobile devices relies on the capabilities of those devices to establish ad-hoc communication among each other. While the two dominant wireless interface technologies, IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN and Bluetooth, offer such capabilities in theory, limitations of the protocol specification, chipsets, and operating systems in mobile devices render those features largely unusable in practice. Researchers have recognized these shortcomings and devised mechanisms in which mobile devices act as WLAN access points to simulate WLAN infrastructure-based operation. In this paper, we complement these approaches by instrumenting commercial WLAN APs that do not employ L2 security to serve as link layer packet relays without requiring the mobile nodes to authenticate with the WLAN hot-spot. We present different mechanisms for peer discovery, evaluate their feasibility for a set of commercial hot-spots, and discuss operational considerations for fair use of commercial access points.
Effect of ozone exposure on airway responses to inhaled allergen in asthmatic subjects.

Controlled human exposure studies have produced conflicting results regarding the effect of ozone on the early bronchoconstrictor response to inhaled allergen in specifically sensitized asthmatic subjects. Spirometric parameters do not necessarily reflect the airway inflammatory effects of inhaled ozone or allergen.



This study was designed to investigate whether exposure to ozone enhances the late airway inflammatory response, as well as the early bronchoconstrictor response, to inhaled house dust mite allergen in sensitized asthmatic subjects.



Randomized, counter-balanced, cross-over study.



Human exposure laboratory.



Fourteen subjects were exposed to 0.2 ppm O(3) or filtered air, on separate days, for 1 h during exercise. After each exposure, the subjects were challenged with doubling doses of Dermatophagoides farinae (DF) allergen (provocative concentration of DF causing a 15% decrease in FEV(1) [PC(15)]). At 6 h after allergen challenge, bronchoscopy with BAL, proximal airway lavage (PAL), and endobronchial biopsy were performed. The second exposure/allergen challenge/bronchoscopy sequence was performed at least 4 weeks after the first sequence.



No significant difference in cellular or biochemical markers of the late inflammatory response after allergen was found between the ozone and air exposures (although a trend toward increased neutrophils was noted after ozone exposure in the PAL fluid, p = 0.06). For the group as a whole, no significant difference in PC(15) was demonstrated after ozone exposure compared to air exposure. However, subjects with the greatest ozone-induced decrements in FEV(1) tended to have lower PC(15) values after ozone exposure.



Exposure to a relatively low-level concentration of ozone does not enhance the late inflammatory or early bronchoconstrictor response to inhaled antigen in most allergic asthmatic subjects. Our results do suggest, however, that a subgroup of asthmatics may acquire increased sensitivity to aeroallergens after exposure to ozone.
Double-blind placebo controlled clinical trial of almitrine bismesylate in patients with chronic respiratory insufficiency

The efficacy and safety of almitrine bismesylate, a new respiratory stimulant, in patients with the hypoxaemic form of chronic respiratory insufficiency caused by chronic bronchitis and emphysema has been assessed. The multicentre trial of 12 weeks duration was double-blind and placebo controlled, with individual and group comparisons. Twenty three patients received almitrine 50 mg b.d. p.o. and 17 took placebo. In the almitrine group a significant increase in PaO2 was achieved (control value 54.4 mm Hg, rising to 59.1 mm Hg after 6 weeks, and to 59.4 mm Hg after 12 weeks). There was also a significant decrease in PaCO2 in the almitrine group after 12 weeks. No correlation was found between the plasma almitrine concentration, PaO2 and PaCO2. Lung function (FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC, Raw, TLC, RV, FRC) did not change in either group, but the degree of dyspnoea and performance in the 6 min walking test were significantly improved in the almitrine group. Adverse reactions appeared in 6 out of 23 patients on almitrine bismesylate (headache, urticaria, breathlessness, diarrhoea, chest pain, nausea and vomiting), causing drop out of 4 patients. Thus, almitrine bismesylate can be considered useful in the treatment of patients with chronic respiratory insufficiency.
A randomized controlled trial of sequentially bilateral prefrontal cortex repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in the treatment of negative symptoms in schizophrenia

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has been investigated for its treatment efficacy for the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Previous studies have targeted the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), which is associated with the pathophysiology of this disorder. Several rTMS parameters have been explored in the treatment of negative symptoms and include stimulating the left and bilateral DLPFC at several different frequencies and number of sessions. Results of such studies have been inconsistent, while high-frequency rTMS has shown greatest promise.



The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of bilateral high-frequency rTMS in the treatment of negative symptoms in schizophrenia. It was hypothesized rTMS would alleviate negative symptoms in schizophrenia.



Twenty-five patients were enrolled in this double-blind placebo-controlled randomized trial. Bilateral 20 Hz rTMS was MRI-targeted to the DLPFC at 90% RMT administered daily for 4 weeks for a total of 20 treatments. Negative symptoms were assessed with the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS), the Positive and Negative symptom scale (PANSS), and controlling for depression as measured with the Calgary Depression Scale (CDS) at baseline, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 2 weeks after the treatment course.



No significant group or time differences were found on negative symptoms or depressive symptoms after rTMS. Bilateral high-frequency rTMS did not alleviate negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia.



These findings indicate that such symptoms are unresponsive to rTMS treatment or that more optimized parameters are needed to achieve improved therapeutic efficacy.
Effects of scopolamine on delayed-matching-to-sample and paired associates tests of visual memory and learning in human subjects: comparison with diazepam and implications for dementia

Two experiments examined dose-related effects of 200, 400 and 600 μg scopolamine (n = 24, SC) and 5 and 10 mg diazepam (n = 6, PO) on parallel tests of visual memory and learning taken from the CANTAB battery. Scopolamine significantly impaired accuracy of performance on a delayed matching to sample test of visual recognition memory in a dose-and delay-dependent manner, but had only marginal decremental effects on a test of visuospatial paired associates learning. Scopolamine significantly lengthened decision times in a visual search matching to sample task at the 400 and 600 μg doses, without significantly affecting accuracy. The drug also impaired performance on tests of spatial (on accuracy and response time measures) and pattern (on response time only) memory. Most of the deleterious effects on scopolamine were removed by covariance analyses with indices of subjective sedation, but the effects of delayed matching accuracy and latency remained. By contrast, diazepam significantly impaired paired associates learning but affected delayed matching to sample in a delay-independent manner. These results suggest that scopolamine can produce selective deficits in tests of short-term visual recognition memory which do not depend on overall impairments in arousal and which contrast with deficits in visual associative learning produced by diazepam. They have implications for the pharmacological modelling of dementia and memory disorders in man and for the neurochemical substrates of the short-term recognition memory and associative learning for visual stimuli.
Bendamustine plus rituximab versus R-CHOP as first-line treatment for patients with indolent non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma: evidence from a multicenter, retrospective study

The optimal first-line treatment for advanced low-grade non-Hodgkin lymphomas (LG-NHL) is still highly debated. Recently, the StiL and the BRIGHT trials showed that the combination of rituximab and bendamustine (R-B) is non-inferior to rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) with a better toxicity profile. Utilizing a retrospective analysis, we compared the efficacy and safety of both regimens in clinical practice. From November 1995 to January 2014, 263 LG-NHL patients treated with either R-B or R-CHOP were retrospectively assessed in seven European cancer centers. Ninety patients were treated with R-B and 173 with R-CHOP. Overall response rate was 94 and 92 % for the R-B and the R-CHOP group, respectively. The percentage of complete response was similar for both groups (63 vs. 66 % with R-B and R-CHOP, respectively; p = 0.8). R-B was better tolerated and less toxic than R-CHOP. The median follow-up was 6.8 and 5.9 years for the R-CHOP and the R-B group, respectively. Overall, no difference in progression-free survival (PFS) (108 vs. 110 months; p = 0.1) was observed in the R-B group compared to the R-CHOP cohort. Nevertheless, R-B significantly prolonged PFS in FL patients (152 and 132 months in the R-B and R-CHOP group, respectively; p = 0.05). However, this result was not verified in multivariate analysis probably due to the limits of the present study. We confirm that the R-B regimen administered in patients with LG-NHL is an effective and less toxic therapeutic option than R-CHOP in clinical practice.
An investigation of seasonal variation in leisure-time physical activity in persons with spinal cord injury

Secondary cross-sectional analyses of a cohort.To examine seasonal variation in total moderate-to-vigorous leisure-time physical activity (MV-LTPA), exercise and sport participation in a cohort of individuals with spinal cord injury (Community (Ontario, Participants with SCI (n=695) completed telephone interviews regarding their involvement in MV-LTPA along with social cognitive predictors of MV-LTPA. Logistic regression was used to predict the impact of season on participation in MV-LTPA, exercise and sport. Hierarchical linear regression was used to examine seasonal variation in min per day of MV-LTPA in the active sub-cohort (n=342) with a specific focus on exercise (for example, wheeling), and sport (for example, sledge hockey).Results:Logistic regressions revealed that season did not predict whether participants engaged in MV-LTPA, exercise or sport. Linear regressions revealed that individuals in the active sub-cohort who completed the questionnaire during the winter reported engaging in less MV-LTPA than those who were interviewed in summer (βsummer=0.14, P<0.05). This pattern was observed for exercise (βsummer=0.16, P<0.05; R2 change=0.018) but not for sport (βsummer=0.076, P=0.68; R2 change=0.014).Conclusion:Individuals with SCI report less exercise and total LTPA accrued during the winter months; sport was found to be an exception to this case.
Cuff size influences blood pressure measurement in obese children and adolescents.

Recently, we established that a group of obese children and adolescents had a higher blood pressure (BP) than a healthy control group. In the present study, we investigate whether the higher BP in the obese group was influenced by BP cuff sizes.



A total of 104 obese patients aged 10-18 years were compared with 50 controls. BP was measured with a validated oscillometric device using an appropriate cuff size depending on each person's arm circumferences (AC) according to the manufacturer's recommendation; small (AC < 23 cm), medium (23 ≤ AC < 32 cm) and large (AC ≥ 32 cm).



Cuff sizes had a significant impact on BP measurements. Despite the influence of cuff size, multiple regression analyses revealed that systolic BP was 6.8 mmHg higher and diastolic BP 3.2 mmHg higher in the obese group than in the control group. A step function, i.e. a sudden fall in BP, was seen at the point of switching from small to medium cuff size in the control group, which suggests that systolic BP was overestimated when using small cuff size and underestimated when using medium cuff size in subjects with an AC near 23 cm.



BP was higher in the obese group than in the control group although BP was influenced by BP cuff sizes.



The present project received funding from The Health Sciences Research Foundation of Region Zealand, The Danish Heart Foundation, Kathrine og Vigo Skovgaards Fond, Det Medicinske Selskab i København, Edith og Henrik Henriksens Mindelegat and LEO Pharma's Travel Grant.
Lipoprotein abnormalities in patients with atherosclerotic renovascular disease.

Patients with atherosclerotic renovascular disease (ARVD) have a high risk of cardiovascular death. The primary aim was to characterize abnormalities in apolipoprotein (Apo)-defined lipoprotein (Lp) subclasses in patients with ARVD.



Baseline measurements were performed on 42 patients with ARVD 4 weeks after renal angioplasty (PTRA). All patients were on statin treatment. Twenty age-matched healthy subjects without medications served as controls. Subsequently, patients were randomized to treatment with either candesartan (n = 21), or antihypertensive treatment without inhibitors of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (n = 21) and followed for 11 months.



At baseline, ApoC-III (12.7 ± 4.6 vs. 8.8 ± 2.6 (SD) mg/dl, p < 0.05), E (13.3 ± 5.4 vs. 8.4 ± 4.3 mg/dl, p < 0.05), and the sum of ApoC-III-containing lipoproteins, i.e. LpB:C + LpB:C:E + LpA-II:B:C:D:E (46 ± 15 vs. 37 ± 8 mg/dl, p < 0.05), were significantly elevated in ARVD patients versus healthy controls. Multiple regression analyses showed that only plasma renin activity was independently associated with ApoC-III levels at baseline (p < 0.05, r = 0.74). Treatment with candesartan did not correct abnormalities.



Patients with ARVD treated with statins have an atherogenic lipoprotein profile characterized by elevated levels of ApoC-III-containing, triglyceride-rich lipoproteins that could accelerate atherosclerotic disease.
Impact of pulmonary rehabilitation on psychosocial morbidity in patients with severe COPD.

To assess the effect of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) on psychosocial morbidity, functional exercise capacity, and health-related quality of life (HRQL) in patients with severe COPD.



A prospective, randomized, controlled trial with blinding of outcome assessment and data analysis.



A tertiary-care respiratory service.



Forty patients (mean age, 65 +/- 8 years [+/- SD]) with severe chronic flow limitation (FEV(1), 35 +/- 13%) without respiratory failure (Pao(2), 72 +/- 9 mm Hg; Paco(2), 42 +/- 5 mm Hg) were randomized either to a control group or to a PR group (PRG).



Sixteen weeks of PR that included breathing retraining and exercise.



At baseline and 16 weeks, we evaluated psychosocial morbidity using two questionnaires (the Millon Behavior Health Inventory [MBHI] and the Revised Symptom Checklist [SCL-90-R]) and measured 6-min walk distance (6WMD) and HRQL using the Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire (CRQ).



We found differences in favor of the PRG in the following MBHI domains: introversive, forceful, and sensitive personality styles (all p </= 0.05) and chronic tension (p </= 0.01). Results of the depression, hostility, global severity, positive symptom distress index (all p </= 0.01), somatization, anxiety, psychoticism, and positive symptom (all p </= 0.05) domains of the SCL-90-R favored the PRG. We also found statistically and clinically significant differences between groups in 6MWD (85 m; p < 0.01) and in two domains of the CRQ: dyspnea (1.0; p < 0.01) and mastery (0.6; p < 0.05). The other two domains of CRQ showed strong trends in favor of PRG: 0.7 for both fatigue and emotional function (minimal important difference, 0.5).



PR may decrease psychosocial morbidity in COPD patients even when no specific psychological intervention is performed. Findings from this study also confirm the positive impact of PR on functional exercise capacity and HRQL.
Decrease in serum level of matrix metalloproteinases is predictive of the disease-modifying effect of osteoarthritis drugs assessed by quantitative MRI in patients with knee osteoarthritis.

To explore the impact of disease-modifying osteoarthritis drug (DMOAD) treatment on biomarker levels and their correlation with cartilage volume loss and disease symptoms in a 2-year phase III clinical trial in patients with knee OA.



161 patients with knee OA (according-to-protocol population) were selected from a 2-year DMOAD trial studying the effect of licofelone (200 mg twice daily) versus naproxen (500 mg twice daily). Clinical evaluation of patients was carried out using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) questionnaire. Biomarker measurements of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1, MMP-3, interleukin (IL)-6, C reactive protein (CRP), cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) and type I collagen C-terminal telopeptide (CTX-I) in serum, type II collagen C-terminal telopeptide (CTX-II) in urine, and knee MRI were performed at baseline and 2 years.



Over time an increase occurred in all biomarker levels with the exception of IL-6, CRP and CTX-II which decreased. The increase in MMP-1 and MMP-3 was significantly less (p = 0.05; p < 0.01, respectively) in the licofelone group. The baseline MMP-1 level was significantly but inversely predictive of cartilage volume loss for the medial compartment in both univariate (p = 0.04) and multivariate (p ≤ 0.04) regression analyses, and COMP, a predictor for the lateral compartment, in both univariate and multivariate models (p < 0.01). Baseline levels of IL-6 and CRP also showed a significant relationship with volume loss for the medial compartment (univariate analysis, p = 0.04 and p = 0.01, respectively; multivariate analysis, p = 0.03, p = 0.01). A significant association (univariate) was observed between the change in the levels of MMP-1 (p = 0.03) and MMP-3 (p = 0.02) and cartilage volume loss (lateral compartment) over 2 years. Baseline levels of CTX-I correlated (p = 0.02) with an increase in the size of the bone marrow lesion in the medial compartment. The baseline CRP levels correlated with worsening of symptoms: WOMAC total index (p < 0.01), pain (p < 0.01) and function (p < 0.01).



Higher baseline values of IL-6, CRP and COMP are predictive of greater risk of cartilage loss in OA. However, over time a reduction in MMP-1 and MMP-3 levels correlated best with reduction in cartilage volume loss and the effect of drug treatment. Baseline CRP was found to be a good predictor of the symptomatic response to treatment.
The negative results of the SELECT study do not necessarily discredit the selenium-cancer prevention hypothesis.

The lack of treatment options for the worried well prostate cancer patients and the issues of cancer recurrence and hormone resistant disease in cancer survivors remain enormous obstacles (1). However, the long latency of prostate cancer presents an ample opportunity to intervene before the disease can progress to an invasive state. Thus, there is a strong need for mechanismbased naturally occurring or synthetic agents that can inhibit prostate cancer development and/or progression and for agents that can improve cancer survivorship. Though the etiology of prostate cancer remains poorly understood, epidemiologic studies revealed a number of potential risk factors for prostate cancer. Risk factors that cannot be modified include age, race, and family history (2). However, risk factors that can be modified include lifestyle in general and specifically nutritional, environmental, and hormonal factors (2). Thus diet derived compounds have the potential to be safe and several agents have been shown to have chemopreventive potential against experimental prostate cancer, including retinoids, cartenoids (e.g., lycopene), vitamin E, indole-3-carbinol, isoflavone, polyphenols, and selenium (3). Researchers in the area of selenium-cancer prevention often receive questions from the general public, reporters from the media, and in some instances, clinicians about the form and dose of selenium people may take as supplement and what is the active form of selenium in our daily diet. At present, our knowledge on the mechanisms that may account for cancer prevention by various forms of selenium is poorly understood and is based primarily on animal model studies and assays conducted in cultured prostate cancer cells (4–6). Unfortunately, how such knowledge can be applied to humans is unclear and this void presents a great challenge in the design of future clinical trials. This commentary is not meant to provide a comprehensive review on the role of different forms and doses of selenium in