nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Daily variation in fine and ultrafine particulate air pollution and urinary concentrations of lung Clara cell protein CC16.

Daily variations in ambient particulate air pollution have been associated with respiratory mortality and morbidity.



To assess the associations between urinary concentration of lung Clara cell protein CC16, a marker for lung damage, and daily variation in fine and ultrafine particulate air pollution.



Spot urinary samples (n = 1249) were collected biweekly for six months in subjects with coronary heart disease in Amsterdam, Netherlands (n = 37), Erfurt, Germany (n = 47), and Helsinki, Finland (n = 47). Ambient particulate air pollution was monitored at a central site in each city.



The mean 24 hour number concentration of ultrafine particles was 17.3x10(3) cm(-3) in Amsterdam, 21.1x10(3) cm(-3) in Erfurt, and 17.0x10(3) cm(-3) in Helsinki. The mean 24 hour PM2.5 concentrations were 20, 23, and 13 microg/m3, respectively. Daily variation in ultrafine particle levels was not associated with CC16. In contrast, CC16 concentration seemed to increase with increasing levels of PM2.5 in Helsinki, especially among subjects with lung disorders. No clear associations were observed in Amsterdam and Erfurt. In Helsinki, the CC16 concentration increased by 20.2% (95% CI 6.9 to 33.5) per 10 microg/m3 increase in PM2.5 concentration (lag 2). The respective pooled effect estimate was 2.1% (95% CI -1.3 to 5.6).



The results suggest that exposure to particulate air pollution may lead to increased epithelial barrier permeability in lungs.
The club-level road cyclist: injury, pain, and performance.

The aims of this study were to (1) examine riding habits of injured cyclists, (2) identify factors related to seeking medical treatment, (3) investigate performance of recreational road cyclists compared with established norms regarding strength and flexibility measures, and (4) propose cycling-specific injury risk factors.



Observational and prospective study.



Cycling store and bicycle distribution company.



Sixty-three experienced road cyclists.


ASSESSMENT OF RISK FACTORS
Initial data collection included a questionnaire. A 2-week training diary and 8 weekly follow-up injury questionnaires were also collected.



Training habits and injury history, bike fit, flexibility, and isometric, dynamic, and plyometric strength measures.



Participants were likely to have an injury at baseline, and chronic pain was common. Cyclists trained for an equal quantity of time irrespective of experiencing pain. Injury severity in terms of pain level and participant age were factors in seeking medical care. Our participants performed poorly on our testing protocol compared with available norms. Flexibility, strength, and bike fit measures did not predict injury. Previous injury predicted prospective injury. The knee and lumbar region were most frequently injured.



Cycling is a sport in which injury risk and prevention need to be further studied. Cyclists are frequently injured but continue to participate in cycling at volumes equal to their healthy peers.



This study outlines a clinically reproducible cyclist assessment and discusses behaviors common to the cycling patient.
Variation in mortality rates among long-term care facilities for residents with lower respiratory tract infection.

To identify variables contributing to interfacility differences in mortality among residents of long-term care facilities who have lower respiratory tract infection.



Multicenter, prospective, 1-year observational study.



Twenty-one long-term care facilities in 4 geographic areas of Canada.



Residents of long-term care facilities prescribed antimicrobials for treatment of lower respiratory tract infection.



Mortality rates were calculated for 3 definitions of lower respiratory tract infection: episodes with a clinical or radiographic diagnosis and treated with antimicrobials (definition 1); episodes with a physician diagnosis of pneumonia (definition 2); and episodes with chest radiography findings consistent with pneumonia (definition 3). Multilevel modeling was used to evaluate variables describing premorbid resident status, clinical presentation, management, and facility characteristics. Multivariable models were developed to identify independent predictors of mortality and determine whether facility-level variables remained independently associated with mortality rate after incorporation of individual-level variables.



Facility mortality rates varied from 0% to 17.8% for definition 1, from 0% to 47.1% for definition 2, and from 0% to 37.5% for definition 3. There were significant differences in mortality rate depending on which definition was used; for definitions 1 and 2, there were significant differences in mortality rate across facilities. Poorer premorbid resident status and a more severe presentation remained independent predictors of mortality in the multivariable analysis. There were also significantly increased mortality rates for episodes in which a fluoroquinolone was prescribed for initial treatment. For definitions 1 and 3, facility-level variables remained independently associated with mortality rate in the final multivariable model.



Rates of mortality due to lower respiratory tract infection varied among long-term care facilities and differed within a facility, depending on the definition applied. Variables describing premorbid resident status, severity of presentation, and management did not fully explain the variation in mortality rate. Some facility-level variables remained independent predictors of mortality.
Disparity between clinical and immune responses in a controlled trial of azathioprine in rheumatoid arthritis

Drugs that interfere with the immune responsein vitro, such as azathioprine (AZ), have been used extensively since 1964 in clinical therapeutic trials of autoimmune diseases. However, few adequately controlled studies are available concerning the concurrent effect of AZ on the immune and clinical responses to treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Thirty patients suffering from classical seropositive RA received AZ (1.5 – 2.0 mg/kg/day) and placebo in a controlled clinical cross-over study for two 12-week periods. Other treatments were kept constant throughout the entire 6 months. In terms of the clinical responses of joint count and grip strength patients receiving AZ improved markedly, in contrast to the placebo group. After 2 months, joint scanning revealed no progress of the disease in patients undergoing AZ treatment. Corresponding with the remarkably beneficial clinical effect of AZ, a significant drop in immunoglobulins was observed. However, since AZ failed to suppressin vivo specific antibody synthesis in RA, the question remains as to whether this drug actually does interfere with the autoimmunogenesis of the disease.
Randomised, placebo controlled trial of nebulised furosemide for breathlessness in patients with cancer.

Breathlessness is a common and difficult symptom to treat in patients with cancer. Case reports suggest that nebulised furosemide can relieve breathlessness in such patients but few data are available.



Patients with primary or secondary lung cancer and a Dyspnoea Exertion Scale score of >or=3 were recruited. Following familiarisation, patients received either nebulised furosemide 40 mg or nebulised 0.9% saline under double blind conditions or no treatment, in random order on 3 consecutive days. Patients undertook number reading and arm exercise tests to assess breathlessness and its impact, and were asked to report subjective benefit and any preference between nebulised treatments.



15 patients took part. There were no differences between furosemide, saline and no treatment in the outcomes of the number reading test (eg, mean number read per breath was 6.7, 6.4 and 6.7, respectively) or arm exercise test (eg, mean Borg score at maximum equivalent workload was 2.3, 2.5 and 2.7, respectively). No adverse effects were reported, although there was a small fall in forced expiratory volume in 1 s and forced vital capacity following saline. Six patients considered that their breathlessness improved with nebulised treatment, three preferring saline, one furosemide and two reporting they were of equal benefit.



Our findings do not support a beneficial effect from nebulised furosemide in patients with cancer related breathlessness. Listed on the National Research Register (N0170118249) and the UK Clinical Research Network Portfolio Database (1428).
Cerebral blood flow in obsessive–compulsive patients with major depression: effect of treatment with sertraline or desipramine on treatment responders and non-responders

We examined the effects of sertraline and of desipramine on patients with OCD and comorbid major depressive episodes at study entry. Sixteen patients, 9 receiving sertraline and 7 desipramine, received HMPAO SPECT scans while free of medication and after 12 weeks of treatment. Patients on sertraline showed significantly reduced regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in the right prefrontal and temporal regions. Patients on desipramine showed more diffuse rCBF reductions in frontal and temporal regions, more so in the left side. In a second analysis, patients who had a symptom reduction on the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (YBOCS), irrespective of the type of medication, were retrospectively classified as 'responders' to treatment. Eleven patients were 'responders' and 5 'non-responders'. Before being medicated, responders differed from non-responders through higher rCBF in prefrontal regions, mostly on the left, and higher rCBF in the cingulate and basal ganglia bilaterally. After 12 weeks of treatment, responders showed a diffuse reduction of rCBF in prefrontal regions while non-responders showed only a few scattered low-frequency responses. Thus, higher prefrontal and subcortical activity was associated with better response to drug treatment. In addition, clinical change, but not the administration of medication as such, was associated with a decrease of prefrontal rCBF.
Amitriptyline or not, that is the question: pharmacogenetic testing of CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 identifies patients with low or high risk for side effects in amitriptyline therapy.

Amitriptyline has been replaced in many countries by alternative and more expensive drugs based on claims of improved tolerability and toxicity and despite slightly reduced efficacy. Preliminary studies indicate that adverse effects could be linked to polymorphisms of drug-metabolizing enzymes, but information on their clinical impact remains scanty and includes mainly case reports. We conducted a prospective blinded two-center study seeking correlations between CYP2C19 and CYP2D6 genotypes, drug concentrations, adverse events, and therapy response.



Fifty Caucasian inpatients with at least medium-grade depressive disorder received amitriptyline at a fixed dose of 75 mg twice a day. Blood samples for concentration monitoring of amitriptyline and nortriptyline were taken weekly until discharge along with evaluations of depression (Hamilton Depression Scale and Clinical Global Impression Scale) and side effect (Dosage Record and Treatment Emergent Symptoms Scale; DOTES) scores.



In a ROC analysis, nortriptyline but not amitriptyline concentrations correlated with side effects (DOTES sum score >or=5; area under the curve, 0.733; P = 0.008). Carriers of two functional CYP2D6 alleles had a significantly lower risk of side effects than carriers of only one functional allele (12.1% vs 76.5%; P = 0.00001). The lowest risk was observed for carriers of two functional CYP2D6 alleles combined with only one functional CYP2C19 allele [0 of 13 (0%) vs 9 of 11 (81.8%) for the high-risk group; P = 0.00004]. We found no correlations between drug concentrations or genotypes and therapeutic response.



Combined pharmacogenetic testing for CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 identifies patients with low risk for side effects in amitriptyline therapy and could possibly be used to individualize antidepressive regimens and reduce treatment cost. Identification of genotypes associated with slightly reduced intermediate metabolism may be more important than currently anticipated. It could also be the key to demonstrating cost-effectiveness for CYP2D6 genotyping in critical dose drugs.
Supportive care needs after an acute stroke: a descriptive enquiry of caregivers' perspective.

This mixed-methods study explored the use of the Supportive Care Needs Framework (M. Fitch, 1998; M. Fitch, H. B. Porter, & B. D. Page, 2008) as an overall guide to identify the wide spectrum of needs of the family caregivers of patients with stroke. Within this framework, a needs assessment survey developed for a different complex medical population was modified and administered to 10 caregivers of patients recently diagnosed with stroke to identify the specific needs of this population. The applicability of the tool was further evaluated through a focus group of nurses working in acute stroke care. The Supportive Care Needs Framework provides a useful and comprehensive framework for the assessment of caregiver need. Results suggest that although additional validation is needed, the modified survey may aid nurses in early identification of caregiver needs.
A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Telephone Intervention for Alcohol Misuse With Injured Emergency Department Patients.

We conduct a randomized controlled trial to test efficacy of a telephone intervention for injured emergency department (ED) patients with alcohol misuse to decrease alcohol use, impaired driving, alcohol-related injuries, and alcohol-related negative consequences.



ED patients screening positive for alcohol misuse were randomized to a 3-session telephone brief motivational intervention on alcohol, delivered by a counselor trained in motivational interviewing during 6 weeks, or a control intervention of a scripted home fire and burn safety education delivered in 3 calls. Patients were followed for 12 months and assessed for changes in alcohol use, impaired driving, alcohol-related injuries, and alcohol-related negative consequences.



Seven hundred thirty ED patients were randomized; 78% received their assigned intervention by telephone, and of those, 72% completed 12-month assessments. There were no differential benefits of telephone brief motivational intervention versus assessment and a control intervention in all 3 variables of alcohol use (frequency of binge alcohol use during the previous 30 days, maximum number of drinks at one time in the past 30 days, and typical alcohol use in the past 30 days), alcohol-impaired driving, alcohol-related injuries, and alcohol-related negative consequences.



Despite the potential advantage of delivering a telephone brief motivational intervention in not disrupting ED clinical care, our study found no efficacy for it over an assessment and control intervention. Potential causes for our finding include that injury itself, alcohol assessments, or the control intervention had active ingredients for alcohol change.
Priming of beta-2 agonist and antimuscarinic induced physiological responses induced by 1200<ce:hsp sp=0.25></ce:hsp>mg/day NAC in moderate to severe COPD patients: A pilot study

This study evaluated antioxidant modulations of lung physiological-responses to beta-2-agonist and antimuscarinic bronchodilators with 1200mg/day n-acetyl-cysteine (NAC) in a placebo-controlled, randomised, double-blind, parallel-group study, in moderate-very severe COPD patients.



15 COPD patients received NAC treatment, while 9 COPD patients received placebo treatment, for 15 days. Pre-and-post salbutamol and ipratopium-bromide lung-physiology responses were measured using body-plethysmography, impulse-oscillometry (IOS) and spirometry before-and-after study treatments.



Compared to pre-treatment, the NAC-treatment significantly enhanced the potential of ipratopium-bromide to reduce functional-residual-capacity (FRC) by nearly 3-folds (mean% FRC-response: pre-NAC: -5.51%±10.42% versus post-NAC: -17.89%±12.94%, p=0.02; mean-absolute FRC-response: pre-NAC: -300ml±450ml versus post-NAC: -770ml±550ml, p=0.02), which was superior to placebo-treatment. The increase in total-lung-capacity response to ipratopium-bromide, although insignificant, was superior with post-NAC treatment versus post-placebo treatment (p=0.049). The salbutamol-response remained unaltered with either treatment.



The treatment with 1200mg/day NAC has potential to enhance the bronchodilator ability of antimuscarinic-agents but not beta-2-agonist. However, its clinical application has to be established in large sample-size studies for longer-duration.
Detecting variability of internal carotid arterial Doppler signals by Lyapunov exponents.

The new method presented in this study was directly based on the consideration that internal carotid arterial Doppler signals are chaotic signals. This consideration was tested successfully using the nonlinear dynamics tools, like the computation of Lyapunov exponents. Multilayer perceptron neural network (MLPNN) architecture was formulated and used as a basis for detecting variabilities such as stenosis and occlusion in the physical state of internal carotid arterial Doppler signals. The computed Lyapunov exponents of the internal carotid arterial Doppler signals were used as inputs of the MLPNN. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to assess the performance of the detection process. The internal carotid arterial Doppler signals were classified with the accuracy varying from 94.87% to 97.44%. The results confirmed that the proposed MLPNN trained with Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm has potential in detecting stenosis and occlusion in internal carotid arteries.
Edoxaban versus warfarin for the treatment of symptomatic venous thromboembolism.

Whether the oral factor Xa inhibitor edoxaban can be an alternative to warfarin in patients with venous thromboembolism is unclear.



In a randomized, double-blind, noninferiority study, we randomly assigned patients with acute venous thromboembolism, who had initially received heparin, to receive edoxaban at a dose of 60 mg once daily, or 30 mg once daily (e.g., in the case of patients with creatinine clearance of 30 to 50 ml per minute or a body weight below 60 kg), or to receive warfarin. Patients received the study drug for 3 to 12 months. The primary efficacy outcome was recurrent symptomatic venous thromboembolism. The principal safety outcome was major or clinically relevant nonmajor bleeding.



A total of 4921 patients presented with deep-vein thrombosis, and 3319 with a pulmonary embolism. Among patients receiving warfarin, the time in the therapeutic range was 63.5%. Edoxaban was noninferior to warfarin with respect to the primary efficacy outcome, which occurred in 130 patients in the edoxaban group (3.2%) and 146 patients in the warfarin group (3.5%) (hazard ratio, 0.89; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.70 to 1.13; P<0.001 for noninferiority). The safety outcome occurred in 349 patients (8.5%) in the edoxaban group and 423 patients (10.3%) in the warfarin group (hazard ratio, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.71 to 0.94; P=0.004 for superiority). The rates of other adverse events were similar in the two groups. A total of 938 patients with pulmonary embolism had right ventricular dysfunction, as assessed by measurement of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide levels; the rate of recurrent venous thromboembolism in this subgroup was 3.3% in the edoxaban group and 6.2% in the warfarin group (hazard ratio, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.28 to 0.98).



Edoxaban administered once daily after initial treatment with heparin was noninferior to high-quality standard therapy and caused significantly less bleeding in a broad spectrum of patients with venous thromboembolism, including those with severe pulmonary embolism.
Programming and its implication on programming languages: Overview and introduction

In the short time that has elapsed since the appearance of the special issue of Computing Survey, [8, 12, 23, 31, 32, 33], it has become one of the classics in computer science. Articles from that issue have become required reading material for introductory computer science courses at many universities. When I was asked to organize a panel session to serve as a sequel to this issue I was therefore understandably excited. As my first task I conducted an informal survey of what people from both academe and industry feel are the pragmatic issues of concern today.
 It is known that a strong correlation exists between the language and the culture a populace develops, and that the thought process of an individual is very much influenced by the language she grows up with. We might correspondingly ask how programming languages affect the thought process involved in solving problems. Proponents of FORTRAN and alike languages claim that no similar conclusions can be drawn for programming languages or at least that the degree of influence is considerably less. Which argument is used as a defense against the accusation that FORTRAN has induced a style detrimental to solving problems.
Betamethasone in prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting following breast surgery.

To investigate whether betamethasone decreases the incidence of postoperative nausea/vomiting (PONV) and reduces postoperative pain following partial mastectomy.



Prospective randomized, double-blinded study.



Operating room and Postanesthesia Care Unit of a university hospital.



80 ASA physical status 1 and 2 women scheduled for elective breast cancer surgery.



Patients were randomly allocated to two groups in double-blinded fashion: Group B (betamethasone; 37 pts) and Group C (control; 38 pts). Group B received 8 mg of betamethasone intravenously before the start of surgery.



The rate of PONV and pain were recorded using a numeric rating scale (NRS; 0-10), as well as rescue doses of antiemetics (ondansetron) and analgesics (ketobemidone).



There was a significant lower incidence of postoperative nausea (PON) scoring NRS ≥ 1 in Group B in the 4 to 12-hour period compared with Group C (P = 0.02). The cumulative incidence of PON was 57% in Group B versus 68% in Group C (P = 0.27). The overall incidence of postoperative vomiting (POV) was 18% and 20% in Groups B and C, respectively. Postoperative pain was reduced by 40% in Group B in the 4 to 12-hour period, but the mean dose of postoperative rescue analgesic did not differ between the groups.



Preoperative betamethasone reduces the severity of PONV and pain in patients undergoing elective breast surgery.
OpenVLC: software-defined visible light embedded networks

Though there has been a lot of interest in Visible Light Communication (VLC) in recent years, a reference platform based on commercial off-the-shelf components is still missing. We believe that an open-source platform would lower the barriers of entry to VLC research and help the VLC community gain momentum. In this paper we take an initial step toward the goal of a VLC reference platform - OpenVLC, and present our design and implementation. Built around a credit-card-sized embedded Linux platform with an LED front-end, OpenVLC offers a basic physical layer, a set of essential medium access primitives, as well as interaction with Internet protocols. We investigate the performance of OpenVLC and show how it can be used along with standard networking diagnostics tools.