pinecone/core-2020-05-10-deduplication huggingface dataset:
Assessment of a percutaneous iliosacral screw insertion simulator

SummaryBackgroundNavigational simulator use for specialized training purposes is rather uncommon in orthopaedic and trauma surgery. However, it reveals providing a valuable tool to train orthopaedic surgeons and help them to plan complex surgical procedures.PurposeThis work's objective was to assess educational efficiency of a path simulator under fluoroscopic guidance applied to sacroiliac joint percutaneous screw fixation.Materials and methodsWe evaluated 23 surgeons’ accuracy inserting a guide-wire in a human cadaver experiment, following a pre-established procedure. These medical trainees were defined in three prospective respects: novice or skilled; with or without theoretical knowledge; with or without surgical procedure familiarity. The screw insertion in the human cadaver was performed in two different settings: either without prior training for a first group (G1) or after simulator guidance in the second group (G2). Analysed criteria for each tested surgeon included the number of intraoperative X-rays taken in order to achieve the surgical procedure as well as an iatrogenic index reflecting the surgeon's ability to detect any hazardous trajectory at the time of performing said procedure.ResultsAn average number of 13 X-rays was required for wire implantation by the G1 group. G2 group, assisted by the simulator use, required an average of 10 X-rays. A substantial difference was especially observed within the novice sub-group (N), with an average of 12.75 X-rays for the G1 category and an average of 8.5 X-rays for the G2 category. In the second sub-group of operators devoid of procedural knowledge (P−), a significant difference was found, since 12 X-rays appeared on average required in the G1 group versus six in the G2 group. Finally, within the sub-group of operators with technical knowledge (T+), a significant difference also was found since an average of 16 X-rays was required in the G1 versus an average 10.8 X-rays in the G2 group. As far as the iatrogenic index is concerned, we were unable to observe any significant difference between the groups.DiscussionDespite some methodological variations, we were able to demonstrate the simulator's efficiency in familiarizing the operator with the use of a 2D imaging system as a first step facilitating the procedure conduct in the real 3D patient environment. Novice surgeons (N) having a good lumbosacral joint anatomy knowledge although devoid of specific surgical technique knowledge were the ones who most benefited from this guiding tool. Analysis of the training data collected during simulator's use helps orientating the prospective surgeon toward possession of not yet acquired learning points. This educational program can easily be extended to any other percutaneous technique requiring fluoroscopic control guidance.Level of evidenceLevel III prospective diagnostic study
Lung function testing in the elderly—Can we still use FEV1/FVC<70% as a criterion of COPD?

SummaryBackgroundChronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can be diagnosed when the FEV1/FVC ratio is below 70%, according to global initiative for chronic obstructive lung disease (GOLD). COPD is known as a disease which is frequently under-diagnosed. However, there is a risk of over diagnosis when this diagnostic threshold is applied among the elderly.AimsTo contribute to the discussion about the criteria for diagnosing COPD, by describing lung function and pulmonary symptoms in a population aged 60 years or more, and in particular the changes in the mean and 5% percentile of the FEV1/FVC ratio by increasing age.MethodsA cross sectional population-based study was performed in the city of Tromsø, Norway, in 2001–2002. Spirometry was performed in 4102 people 60 years and older (54.6% women), who also filled in a questionnaire.ResultsDecreased FEV1% predicted and FEV1/FVC ratio were associated with smoking, increasing age, and reported pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases. Dyspnoea and coughing were also strongly associated with smoking and reported pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases, but coughing did not become more frequent by increasing age. In never smokers aged 60–69 years the frequency of FEV1/FVC ratio<70% was approximately 7% compared to 16–18% in those 70 years or more (p<0.001). FEV1/FVC ratio<70% among never smokers aged 60–69 years was just as frequent as FEV1/FVC ratio <65% in never smokers older than 70 years.ConclusionAdjustments of the GOLD criteria for diagnosing COPD are needed, and FEV1/FVC ratios down to 65% should be regarded as normal when aged 70 years and older
Brane–antibrane solution and SUSY effective potential in five-dimensional Mirabelli–Peskin model

AbstractA localized configuration is found in the 5D bulk-boundary theory on an S1/Z2 orbifold model of Mirabelli and Peskin. A bulk scalar and the extra (fifth) component of the bulk vector constitute the configuration. N=1 SUSY is preserved. The effective potential of the SUSY theory is obtained using the background field method. The vacuum is treated in a general way by allowing its dependence on the extra coordinate. Taking into account the supersymmetric boundary condition, the 1-loop full potential is obtained. The scalar-loop contribution to the Casimir energy is also obtained. Especially we find a new type which depends on the brane configuration parameters besides the S1 periodicity parameter
Key Components of Increased Drug Expenditure in South Korea: Implications for the Future

AbstractBackgroundThe cost of pharmaceuticals has increased rapidly in Korea in recent years. Expenditure is likely to grow further with the policy of expanding National Health Insurance coverage for the following four disease areas: cerebrovascular and cardiovascular disease, rare diseases, and cancer. Consequently, there is a need to analyze the different components leading to this increased expenditure as a basis for suggesting future reforms in Korea.ObjectiveTo quantify the impact of new and established drugs on the growth of total drug spending in South Korea in recent years, specially focusing on the differentiated components of drug spending. These include treatment expansion and drug-mix effects (switching from cheaper drugs to expensive ones and vice versa).MethodsA model was proposed and used to assess the impact of both new and existing drugs on changes in price, quantity, and drug mix over the 5-year period in Korea from 2006 to 2010. The database used was the National Health Insurance claims data, which covers about 97% of the total population of Korea.ResultsOverall drug spending increased 1.43-fold from 2006 to 2010. Drug-mix effect (εt = 1.32) was the main factor contributing to increased drug spending, followed by increased drug utilization (Qt = 1.26). For existing drugs, treatment expansion (QI) and drug-mix effect (εI) were measured at 1.28 and 1.24, respectively, while those of new drugs were 1.02 (QN) and 1.03 (εN). Therefore, existing drugs have a much greater effect on drug spending than do new drugs. According to the Anatomical Therapeutic Classification, drug spending rose most significantly for the “sensory organs” class of drugs (Et = 1.78) followed by the “various” class (Et = 1.68). For existing drugs in the sensory organs class (S), drug-mix effect (εI) was measured at 0.96. This implies that expensive drugs among existing drugs were replaced by cheaper ones. However, the quantity prescribed (QI) substantially increased by 1.88-fold. New drugs within this class that were more expensive than existing ones were also prescribed (εN = 1.09), further increasing drug expenditure in Korea.ConclusionsWe found contrasting results from previous studies. The drug-mix effect and existing drugs made the largest contribution to drug spending growth rather than new drugs. Policies targeting drug mix, such as promoting cost-effective prescription and rational use of drugs, including the use of cheaper cost generics without compromising care, should be primarily considered to help contain future drug expenditure
Decimal periods and their tables: A German research topic (1765–1801)

AbstractAt the beginning of the 18th century, several mathematicians noted regularities in the decimal expansions of common fractions. Rules of thumb were set up, but it was only from 1760 onward that the first attempts to try to establish a coherent theory of periodic decimal fractions appeared. J.H. Lambert was the first to devote two essays to the topic, but his colleagues at the Berlin Academy, J. III Bernoulli and J.L. Lagrange, also spent time on the problem. Apart from the theoretical side of the question, the applications (factoring, irrationality proofs, and computational advantages), as well as the tabulation of decimal periods, aroused considerable interest, especially among Lambert's correspondents, C.F. Hindenburg and I. Wolfram. Finally, in 1797–1801, the young C.F. Gauss, informed of these developments, based the whole theory on firm number-theoretic foundations, thereby solving most of the open problems left by the mathematicians before him
The effect of the amount of blocking cue training on blocking of appetitive conditioning in mice

AbstractConditioning of a target cue is blocked when it occurs in compound with another cue (blocking cue) that has already received conditioning. Although blocking of appetitive conditioning is commonly used in rodents as a test of selective learning, it has been demonstrated rarely in mice. In order to investigate the conditions that result in blocking in mice two studies tested the effect of the extent of prior blocking cue training on blocking of appetitive conditioning. Mice received either 80 or 200 trials of blocking cue training prior to compound conditioning. A control group received only compound training. Experiment 1 assessed the ability of a visual cue to block conditioning to an auditory target cue. Exposure to the context and the unconditioned stimulus, sucrose pellets, was equated across groups. Blocking was evident in mice that received 200, but not 80 training trials with the visual blocking cue. Responding to the blocking cue was similar across groups. Experiment 2 assessed the ability of an auditory cue to block conditioning to a visual target cue. Blocking was evident in mice trained with 80 and 200 auditory blocking cue trials. The results demonstrate that the strength of blocking in mice is dependent on the modality and experience of the blocking cue. Furthermore, prolonged training of the blocking cue after asymptotic levels of conditioned responding have been reached is necessary for blocking to occur under certain conditions suggesting that the strength of conditioned responding is a limited measure of learning
A cell polarity protein aPKCλ is required for eye lens formation and growth

AbstractThe organisation of individual cells into a functional three-dimensional tissue is still a major question in developmental biology. Modulation of epithelial cell shape is a critical driving force in forming tissues. This is well illustrated in the eye lens where epithelial cells elongate extensively during their differentiation into fibre cells. It is at the lens equator that epithelial cells elongate along their apical–basal axis. During this process the elongating epithelial cells and their earliest fibre cell derivatives remain anchored at their apical tips, forming a discrete region or modiolus, which we term the lens fulcrum. How this is achieved has received scant attention and is little understood. Here, we show that conditional depletion of aPKCλ, a central effector of the PAR polarity complex, disrupts the apical junctions in elongating epithelial cells so that the lens fulcrum fails to form. This results in disorganised fibre cell alignment that then causes cataract. Interestingly, aPKCλ depletion also promotes epithelial–mesenchymal transition of the lens epithelial cells, reducing their proliferation, leading ultimately to a small lens and microphthalmia. These observations indicate that aPKCλ, a regulator of polarity and apical junctions, is required for development of a lens that is the correct size and shape
An SO(10) GUT model with lopsided mass matrix and neutrino mixing angle θ13

AbstractAn alternative supersymmetric SO(10) grand unification model with lopsided fermion mass matrices is introduced. It generates a large solar-neutrino mixing angle through the neutrinos' Dirac mass matrix constrained by the SO(10) group structure, avoiding the fine-tuning required in the Majorana mass matrix of right-handed neutrinos. The model fits well the known data on masses and mixings of quarks and leptons, and predicts a sizable lepton mixing sin22θ13≃0.074, which is significantly larger than that of the original lopsided model
Model-independent search for CP violation in D0→K−K+π−π+ and D0→π−π+π+π− decays

AbstractA search for CP violation in the phase-space structures of D0 and D¯0 decays to the final states K−K+π−π+ and π−π+π+π− is presented. The search is carried out with a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb−1 collected in 2011 by the LHCb experiment in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. For the K−K+π−π+ final state, the four-body phase space is divided into 32 bins, each bin with approximately 1800 decays. The p-value under the hypothesis of no CP violation is 9.1%, and in no bin is a CP asymmetry greater than 6.5% observed. The phase space of the π−π+π+π− final state is partitioned into 128 bins, each bin with approximately 2500 decays. The p-value under the hypothesis of no CP violation is 41%, and in no bin is a CP asymmetry greater than 5.5% observed. All results are consistent with the hypothesis of no CP violation at the current sensitivity
General U(1)×U(1) F-theory compactifications and beyond: geometry of unHiggsings and novel matter structure

We construct the general form of an F-theory compactification with two U(1) factors based on a general elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau manifold with Mordell-Weil group of rank two. This construction produces broad classes of models with diverse matter spectra, including many that are not realized in earlier F-theory constructions with U(1)×U(1) gauge symmetry. Generic U(1)×U(1) models can be related to a Higgsed non-Abelian model with gauge group SU(2)×SU(2)×SU(3), SU(2)[superscript 3]×SU(3), or a subgroup thereof. The nonlocal horizontal divisors of the Mordell-Weil group are replaced with local vertical divisors associated with the Cartan generators of non-Abelian gauge groups from Kodaira singularities. We give a global resolution of codimension two singularities of the Abelian model; we identify the full anomaly free matter content, and match it to the unHiggsed non-Abelian model. The non-Abelian Weierstrass model exhibits a new algebraic description of the singularities in the fibration that results in the first explicit construction of matter in the symmetric representation of SU(3). This matter is realized on double point singularities of the discriminant locus. The construction suggests a generalization to U(1)[superscript k] factors with k > 2, which can be studied by Higgsing theories with larger non-Abelian gauge groups.United States. Dept. of Energy. Office of High Energy Physics (Award DE-SC00012567
Role of multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging in early detection of prostate cancer

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                  171441.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Most prostate cancers (PC) are currently found on the basis of an elevated PSA, although this biomarker has only moderate accuracy. Histological confirmation is traditionally obtained by random transrectal ultrasound guided biopsy, but this approach may underestimate PC. It is generally accepted that a clinically significant PC requires treatment, but in case of an non-significant PC, deferment of treatment and inclusion in an active surveillance program is a valid option. The implementation of multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) into a screening program may reduce the risk of overdetection of non-significant PC and improve the early detection of clinically significant PC. A mpMRI consists of T2-weighted images supplemented with diffusion-weighted imaging, dynamic contrast enhanced imaging, and/or magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging and is preferably performed and reported according to the uniform quality standards of the Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PIRADS). International guidelines currently recommend mpMRI in patients with persistently rising PSA and previous negative biopsies, but mpMRI may also be used before first biopsy to improve the biopsy yield by targeting suspicious lesions or to assist in the selection of low-risk patients in whom consideration could be given for surveillance.? MpMRI may be used to detect or exclude significant prostate cancer. ? MpMRI can guide targeted rebiopsy in patients with previous negative biopsies. ? In patients with negative mpMRI consideration could be given for surveillance. ? MpMRI may add valuable information for the optimal treatment selection
Search for new physics in final states with two opposite-sign, same-flavor leptons, jets, and missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV

A search is presented for physics beyond the standard model in final states with two opposite-sign, same-flavor leptons, jets, and missing transverse momentum. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 2.3 fb−1 of proton-proton collisions at s=13 TeV collected with the CMS detector at the LHC in 2015. The analysis uses the invariant mass of the lepton pair, searching for a kinematic edge or a resonant-like excess compatible with the Z boson mass. Both search modes use several event categories in order to increase the sensitivity to new physics. These categories are based on the rapidity of the leptons, the multiplicity of jets and b jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta, and missing transverse momentum. The observations in all signal regions are consistent with the expectations from the standard model, and the results are interpreted in the context of simplified models of supersymmetry.The Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey, and Turkish Atomic Energy Authorit
Diagnosing the time-dependence of active region core heating from the
  emission measure: I. Low-frequency nanoflares

Observational measurements of active region emission measures contain clues
to the time-dependence of the underlying heating mechanism. A strongly
non-linear scaling of the emission measure with temperature indicates a large
amount of hot plasma relative to warm plasma. A weakly non-linear (or linear)
scaling of the emission measure indicates a relatively large amount of warm
plasma, suggesting that the hot active region plasma is allowed to cool and so
the heating is impulsive with a long repeat time. This case is called {\it
low-frequency} nanoflare heating and we investigate its feasibility as an
active region heating scenario here. We explore a parameter space of heating
and coronal loop properties with a hydrodynamic model. For each model run, we
calculate the slope $\alpha$ of the emission measure distribution $EM(T)
\propto T^\alpha$. Our conclusions are: (1) low-frequency nanoflare heating is
consistent with about 36% of observed active region cores when uncertainties in
the atomic data are not accounted for; (2) proper consideration of
uncertainties yields a range in which as many as 77% of observed active regions
are consistent with low-frequency nanoflare heating and as few as zero; (3)
low-frequency nanoflare heating cannot explain observed slopes greater than 3;
(4) the upper limit to the volumetric energy release is in the region of 50 erg
cm$^{-3}$ to avoid unphysical magnetic field strengths; (5) the heating
timescale may be short for loops of total length less than 40 Mm to be
consistent with the observed range of slopes; (6) predicted slopes are
consistently steeper for longer loops
Measurement of the CP-violating weak phase phi[s] and the decay width difference Delta Gamma[s] using the Bs to J/Psi phi(1020) decay channel in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV

The CP-violating weak phase phi[s] of the Bs meson and the decay width difference Delta Gamma[s] of the Bs light and heavy mass eigenstates are measured with the CMS detector at the LHC using a data sample of Bs to J/Psi phi(1020) to mu+mu-K+K- decays. The analysed data set corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse femtobarns collected in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. A total of 49, 200 reconstructed Bs decays are used to extract the values of phi[s] and Delta Gamma[s] by performing a time-dependent and flavour-tagged angular analysis of the mu+mu-K+K- final state. The weak phase is measured to be phi[s] = -0.075 +/- 0.097 (stat) +/- 0.031 (syst) rad, and the decay width difference is Delta Gamma[s] = 0.095 +/- 0.013 (stat) +/- 0.007 (syst) inverse picoseconds
Entropy and the canonical height.

The height of an algebraic number in the sense of Diophantine geometry is a measure of arithmetic complexity. There is a well-known relationship between the entropy of automorphisms of solenoids and classical heights. We consider an elliptic analogue of this relationship, which involves two novel features. Firstly, the introduction of a notion of entropy for sequences of transformations. Secondly, the recognition of local heights as integrals over the closure of the torsion subgroup of the curve (an elliptic Jensen formula).\ud
\ud
A sequence of transformations is defined for which there is a canonical arithmetically defined quotient whose entropy is the canonical height, and in which the fibre entropy is accounted for by local heights at primes of singular reduction, yielding a dynamical interpretation of singular reduction. This system is related to local systems, whose entropy coincides with the local canonical height up to sign. The proofs use transcendence theory, a strong form of Siegel's theorem, and an elliptic analogue of Jensen's formula