142 research outputs found
Effect of statins and non-statin LDL-lowering medications on cardiovascular outcomes in secondary prevention: A meta-analysis of randomized trials
No full textAIMS:
Current evidence on dyslipidaemia management has expanded to novel treatments and very low achieved levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). We sought to compare the clinical impact of more-intensive vs. less-intensive LDL-C lowering by means of statins and currently recommended non-statin medications in secondary prevention.
METHODS AND RESULTS:
We searched Medline, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases for randomized controlled trials of statins, ezetimibe, proprotein convertase subtilisin-kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors, or bile acid sequestrants with >500 patients followed for ≥1 year. We employed random-effects models using risk ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to compare outcomes. We included 19 trials (15 of statins, 3 of PCSK9 inhibitors, and 1 of ezetimibe) with 152 507 patients randomly assigned to more-intensive (n = 76 678) or less-intensive treatment (n = 75 829). More-intensive treatment was associated with 19% relative risk reduction for the primary outcome, major vascular events (MVEs; RR 0.81, 95% CI 0.77-0.86). Risk reduction was greater across higher baseline levels and greater achieved reductions of LDL-C. The clinical benefit was significant across varying types of more-intensive treatment and was consistent for statins (RR 0.81, 95% CI 0.76-0.86) and non-statin agents (PCSK9 inhibitors and ezetimibe; RR 0.85, 95% CI 0.77-0.94) as active (more-intensive) intervention (P-interaction = 0.38). Each 1.0 mmol/L reduction in LDL-C was associated with 19% relative decrease in MVE. Death, cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, stroke, and coronary revascularization also favoured more-intensive treatment.
CONCLUSION:
Reduction of MVE is proportional to the magnitude of LDL-C lowering across a broad spectrum of on-treatment levels in secondary prevention. Statin intensification and add-on treatment with PCSK9 inhibitors or ezetimibe are associated with significant reduction of cardiovascular morbidity in this very high-risk population
Percutaneous Coronary Interventions for the Treatment of Stenoses in Small Coronary Arteries: A Network Meta-Analysis.
No full textOBJECTIVES
This study evaluated the most appropriate percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for the treatment of stenoses in small coronary arteries.
BACKGROUND
PCI in small coronary arteries is associated with an increased risk of lesion failure and restenosis.
METHODS
Randomized trials comparing different PCI strategies were identified through a broad search of published reports. Primary angiographic outcome was %DS (%DS). A pairwise meta-analysis was performed by using random effects model, followed by a network meta-analysis synthesizing direct and indirect evidence.
RESULTS
Overall, 19 trials were eligible, which included 5,072 patients comprising a network without closed loops among 5 identified interventions (early generation sirolimus-eluting stents [SES], paclitaxel-eluting stents [PES], drug-coated balloons [DCB], bare-metal stents [BMS], and balloon angioplasty [BA]). No dedicated trial was identified evaluating new generation drug-eluting stents. Early generation SES yielded the best angiographic results according to %DS. For %DS, SES was ranked as the most effective treatment, followed by PES (standardized mean differences [SMD]: -0.44; 95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.92 to 0.05 vs. SES) and DCB (SMD: -0.89; 95% CI: -1.53 to -0.25 vs. SES). In terms of absolute differences, SES yielded a reduction of 18% in diameter stenosis compared to DCB. SES significantly reduced the risk of target-lesion revascularization compared to PES (odds ratio [OR]: 0.39; 95% CI: 0.16 to 0.93), DCB (OR: 0.34; 95% CI: 0.10 to 0.97), BMS (OR: 0.21; 95% CI: 0.13 to 0.36), and BA (OR: 0.16; 95% CI: 0.09 to 0.29).
CONCLUSIONS
Early generation SES yielded the most favorable angiographic and clinical outcomes for the treatment of stenoses in small coronary arteries. New generation DES need to be evaluated against this standard in future randomized trials
A review of verbal and non-verbal human–robot interactive communication
No full textAbstractIn this paper, an overview of human–robot interactive communication is presented, covering verbal as well as non-verbal aspects. Following a historical introduction, and motivation towards fluid human–robot communication, ten desiderata are proposed, which provide an organizational axis both of recent as well as of future research on human–robot communication. Then, the ten desiderata are examined in detail, culminating in a unifying discussion, and a forward-looking conclusion
Correction to: The mobile augmented reality acceptance model for teachers and future teachers (Education and Information Technologies, (2024), 29, 7, (7855-7893), 10.1007/s10639-023-12116-6)
No full textThe original publication of this article contains incorrect presentation of author names. The original article has been corrected. © The Author(s) 2023
Fake news and Social Media: How Greek users identify and curb misinformation online
No full textThe issue of fake news and its impact has become very prominent in recent years. Despite the fact that fake news is not a new phenomenon, technological advances have constructed a fertile environment for the fake news to be spread rapidly. Social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter or YouTube, offer ground for generation and distribution of fake news. Consequently, it is important to study the way social media operates, how fake news is produced and spread through social network sites and what is the role users play. In particular, this study examines the methods and tools Greek users implement in order to spot fake news on social media and counter its spread. Moreover, this research contributes to the theory of fake news by addressing the issue of users’ interaction with news and users’ collaboration in the information era. The data presented in this research was collected from the members of the Ellinika Hoaxes Facebook group, an online Greek community where users exchange knowledge and insights and they collaborate to spot fake news and counter its spread
Digital Communication and Interactive Storytelling in Wikipedia : A Study of Greek Users’ Interaction and Experience
No full textWikipedia consists of an online encyclopedia created by users worldwide who collaborate to distribute knowledge and edit information in real-time. Although Wikipedia's accuracy has been a disputable and debatable issue in many recent studies, little academic research has systematically addressed how users interact with the platform's storytelling tools and how do they perceive and use Wikipedia's infrastructure, such as interactive tools. This exploratory study fulfills this gap and sheds light on users' perceptions about Wikipedia's interactivity. Moreover, Wikipedia is approached as an online community where collaboration, co-creation, and knowledge distribution play an important role. Therefore, it can be studied under the scope of Digital Humanities as well. The theoretical framework of interactive storytelling and digital communication suggests that hyperlinks, page preview bottoms, or interactive catalogs are applied in Wikipedia's environment to help users absorb information and construct their narratives. The findings of this thesis offer practical insights on how Wikipedia's interactive storytelling tools empower users with the ability to develop their stories and become editors/authors and provide a foundation for further academic research on user experience and how to improve interactivity and digital communication in Wikipedi
Characterising and Mitigating Aggregation-Bias in Crowdsourced Toxicity Annotations
No full textTraining machine learning (ML) models for natural language processing usually requires large amount of data, often acquired through crowdsourcing. The way this data is collected and aggregated can have an effect on the outputs of the trained model such as ignoring the labels which differ from the majority. In this paper we investigate how label aggregation can bias the ML results towards certain data samples and propose a methodology to highlight and mitigate this bias. Although our work is applicable to any kind of label aggregation for data subject to multiple interpretations, we focus on the effects of the bias introduced by majority voting on toxicity prediction over sentences. Our preliminary results point out that we can mitigate the majority-bias and get increased prediction accuracy for the minority opinions if we take into account the different labels from annotators when training adapted models, rather than rely on the aggregated labels.Accepted Author ManuscriptWeb Information System
Protocol of an interdisciplinary consensus project aiming to develop an AGREE II extension for guidelines in surgery
No full textAppraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE II) is an instrument that informs development, reporting and assessment of clinical practice guidelines. Previous research has demonstrated the need for improvement in methodological and reporting quality of clinical practice guidelines specifically in surgery. We aimed to develop an AGREE II extension document for application in surgical guidelines
Digital Communication and Interactive Storytelling in Wikipedia : A Study of Greek Users’ Interaction and Experience
No full textWikipedia consists of an online encyclopedia created by users worldwide who collaborate to distribute knowledge and edit information in real-time. Although Wikipedia's accuracy has been a disputable and debatable issue in many recent studies, little academic research has systematically addressed how users interact with the platform's storytelling tools and how do they perceive and use Wikipedia's infrastructure, such as interactive tools. This exploratory study fulfills this gap and sheds light on users' perceptions about Wikipedia's interactivity. Moreover, Wikipedia is approached as an online community where collaboration, co-creation, and knowledge distribution play an important role. Therefore, it can be studied under the scope of Digital Humanities as well. The theoretical framework of interactive storytelling and digital communication suggests that hyperlinks, page preview bottoms, or interactive catalogs are applied in Wikipedia's environment to help users absorb information and construct their narratives. The findings of this thesis offer practical insights on how Wikipedia's interactive storytelling tools empower users with the ability to develop their stories and become editors/authors and provide a foundation for further academic research on user experience and how to improve interactivity and digital communication in Wikipedi
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