A First Look at the Deprecation of RESTful APIs: An Empirical Study

REpresentational State Transfer (REST) is considered as one standard software architectural style to build web APIs that can integrate software systems over the internet. However, while connecting systems, RESTful APIs might also break the dependent applications that rely on their services when they introduce breaking changes, e.g., an older version of the API is no longer supported. To warn developers promptly and thus prevent critical impact on downstream applications, a deprecated-removed model should be followed, and deprecation-related information such as alternative approaches should also be listed. While API deprecation analysis as a theme is not new, most existing work focuses on non-web APIs, such as the ones provided by Java and Android. To investigate RESTful API deprecation, we propose a framework called RADA (RESTful API Deprecation Analyzer). RADA is capable of automatically identifying deprecated API elements and analyzing impacted operations from an OpenAPI specification, a machine-readable profile for describing RESTful web service. We apply RADA on 2,224 OpenAPI specifications of 1,368 RESTful APIs collected from APIs.guru, the largest directory of OpenAPI specifications. Based on the data mined by RADA, we perform an empirical study to investigate how the deprecated-removed protocol is followed in RESTful APIs and characterize practices in RESTful API deprecation. The results of our study reveal several severe deprecation-related problems in existing RESTful APIs. Our implementation of RADA and detailed empirical results are publicly available for future intelligent tools that could automatically identify and migrate usage of deprecated RESTful API operations in client code

Garlic Consumption and All-Cause Mortality among Chinese Oldest-Old Individuals: A Population-Based Cohort Study.

In vitro and in vivo experimental studies have shown garlic has protective effects on the aging process; however, there is no evidence that garlic consumption is associated with all-cause mortality among oldest-old individuals (≥80 years). From 1998 to 2011, 27,437 oldest-old participants (mean age: 92.9 years) were recruited from 23 provinces in China. The frequencies of garlic consumption at baseline and at age 60 were collected. Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for potential covariates were constructed to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) relating garlic consumption to all-cause mortality. Among 92,505 person-years of follow-up from baseline to September 1, 2014, 22,321 participants died. Participants who often (≥5 times/week) or occasionally (1-4 times/week) consumed garlic survived longer than those who rarely (less than once/week) consumed it (p < 0.001). Participants who consumed garlic occasionally or often had a lower risk for mortality than those who rarely consumed garlic at baseline; the adjusted HRs for mortality were 0.92(0.89-0.94) and 0.89(0.85-0.92), respectively. The inverse associations between garlic consumption and all-cause mortality were robust in sensitivity analyses and subgroup analyses. In this study, habitual consumption of garlic was associated with a lower all-cause mortality risk; this advocates further investigation into garlic consumption for promoting longevity

Gender-specific association between the regular use of statins and the risk of irritable bowel syndrome: A population-based prospective cohort study

Introduction: In addition to lipid-lowering effects, statins might modulate the gut microbiome and alleviate systematic inflammation, which in turn, may have a protective effect against irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The aim of our study was to evaluate the gender-specific association between statin exposure and the risk of IBS.Method: We undertook a prospective analysis based on the United Kingdom Biobank, a large ongoing cohort including 477,293 participants aged 37–73 years. We included participants based on information on their personal statin use and also those free of IBS and cancer at the baseline. We evaluated the gender-specific hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) with Cox proportional hazards regression, adjusting for demographic factors, lifestyle factors, comorbidities, and statin indications.Result: A total of 438,805 participants (206,499 males and 232,306 females) were included in the analysis. Among male participants, the regular use of statins was associated with a decreased risk of IBS (HR: 0.77; 95% CI: 0.61–0.97). This association persists across multiple sensitivity and subgroup analyses and did not show clear evidence of variance among the major types of statins. We did not find sufficient evidence of the association between the statin use and IBS risk in females (HR: 0.98; 95% CI: 0.82–1.16).Conclusion: Our study found that the regular use of statins was associated with a decreased risk of IBS in male participants. Further studies are required to confirm the beneficial effect of statins

PND-Net: Physics based Non-local Dual-domain Network for Metal Artifact Reduction

Metal artifacts caused by the presence of metallic implants tremendously degrade the reconstructed computed tomography (CT) image quality, affecting clinical diagnosis or reducing the accuracy of organ delineation and dose calculation in radiotherapy. Recently, deep learning methods in sinogram and image domains have been rapidly applied on metal artifact reduction (MAR) task. The supervised dual-domain methods perform well on synthesized data, while unsupervised methods with unpaired data are more generalized on clinical data. However, most existing methods intend to restore the corrupted sinogram within metal trace, which essentially remove beam hardening artifacts but ignore other components of metal artifacts, such as scatter, non-linear partial volume effect and noise. In this paper, we mathematically derive a physical property of metal artifacts which is verified via Monte Carlo (MC) simulation and propose a novel physics based non-local dual-domain network (PND-Net) for MAR in CT imaging. Specifically, we design a novel non-local sinogram decomposition network (NSD-Net) to acquire the weighted artifact component, and an image restoration network (IR-Net) is proposed to reduce the residual and secondary artifacts in the image domain. To facilitate the generalization and robustness of our method on clinical CT images, we employ a trainable fusion network (F-Net) in the artifact synthesis path to achieve unpaired learning. Furthermore, we design an internal consistency loss to ensure the integrity of anatomical structures in the image domain, and introduce the linear interpolation sinogram as prior knowledge to guide sinogram decomposition. Extensive experiments on simulation and clinical data demonstrate that our method outperforms the state-of-the-art MAR methods.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figure

Long-term use of antibiotics and risk of type 2 diabetes in women:a prospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: Accumulating evidence suggested that long-term antibiotic use may alter the gut microbiome, which has, in turn, been linked to type 2 diabetes. We undertook this study to investigate whether antibiotic use was associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes. METHODS: This prospective cohort study included women free of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer in the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS 2008–2014) and NHS II (2009–2017). We evaluated the overall duration of antibiotics use in the past 4 years and subsequent diabetes risk with Cox proportional-hazards regression adjusting for demography, family history of diabetes and lifestyle factors. RESULTS: Pooled analyses of NHS and NHS II (2837 cases, 703 934 person-years) revealed that a longer duration of antibiotic use in the past 4 years was associated with higher risk of diabetes [Trend-coefficient = 0.09, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.04 to 0.13]. Participants who received antibiotics treatment for a medium duration of 15 days to 2 months [hazard ratio (HR) 1.23, 95% CI 1.10 to 1.39] or long duration of >2 months (HR 1.20, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.38) had higher risk of type 2 diabetes as compared with non-users. Subgroup analyses suggested that the associations were unlikely to be modified by age, family history of diabetes, obesity, smoking, alcohol drinking, physical activity and overall diet quality. CONCLUSIONS: A longer duration of antibiotic use in recent years was associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes in women. Physicians should exercise caution when prescribing antibiotics, particularly for long-term use

Adherence to a Mediterranean diet is associated with a lower risk of diabetic kidney disease among individuals with hyperglycemia:a prospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes is associated with a variety of complications, including micro- and macrovascular complications, neurological manifestations and poor wound healing. Adhering to a Mediterranean Diet (MED) is generally considered an effective intervention in individuals at risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, little is known about its effect with respect to the different specific manifestations of T2DM. This prompted us to explore the effect of MED on the three most significant microvascular complications of T2DM: diabetic retinopathy (DR), diabetic kidney disease (DKD), and vascular diabetic neuropathies (DN). METHODS: We examined the association between the MED and the incidence of these microvascular complications in a prospective cohort of 33,441 participants with hyperglycemia free of microvascular complications at baseline, identified in the UK Biobank. For each individual, we calculated the Alternate Mediterranean Diet (AMED) score, which yields a semi-continuous measure of the extent to which an individual's diet can be considered as MED. We used Cox proportional hazard models to analyze hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), adjusting for demographics, lifestyle factors, medical histories and cardiovascular risk factors. RESULTS: Over a median of 12.3 years of follow-up, 3,392 cases of microvascular complications occurred, including 1,084 cases of diabetic retinopathy (DR), 2,184 cases of diabetic kidney disease (DKD), and 632 cases of diabetic neuropathies (DN), with some patients having 2 or 3 microvascular complications simultaneously. After adjusting for confounders, we observed that higher AMED scores offer protection against DKD among participants with hyperglycemia (comparing the highest AMED scores to the lowest yielded an HR of 0.79 [95% CIs: 0.67, 0.94]). Additionally, the protective effect of AMED against DKD was more evident in the hyperglycemic participants with T2DM (HR, 0.64; 95% CI: 0.50, 0.83). No such effect, however, was seen for DR or DN. CONCLUSIONS: In this prospective cohort study, we have demonstrated that higher adherence to a MED is associated with a reduced risk of DKD among individuals with hyperglycemia. Our study emphasizes the necessity for continued research focusing on the benefits of the MED. Such efforts including the ongoing clinical trial will offer further insights into the role of MED in the clinical management of DKD.</p

Adherence to a Mediterranean diet is associated with a lower risk of diabetic kidney disease among individuals with hyperglycemia:a prospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes is associated with a variety of complications, including micro- and macrovascular complications, neurological manifestations and poor wound healing. Adhering to a Mediterranean Diet (MED) is generally considered an effective intervention in individuals at risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, little is known about its effect with respect to the different specific manifestations of T2DM. This prompted us to explore the effect of MED on the three most significant microvascular complications of T2DM: diabetic retinopathy (DR), diabetic kidney disease (DKD), and vascular diabetic neuropathies (DN). METHODS: We examined the association between the MED and the incidence of these microvascular complications in a prospective cohort of 33,441 participants with hyperglycemia free of microvascular complications at baseline, identified in the UK Biobank. For each individual, we calculated the Alternate Mediterranean Diet (AMED) score, which yields a semi-continuous measure of the extent to which an individual's diet can be considered as MED. We used Cox proportional hazard models to analyze hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), adjusting for demographics, lifestyle factors, medical histories and cardiovascular risk factors. RESULTS: Over a median of 12.3 years of follow-up, 3,392 cases of microvascular complications occurred, including 1,084 cases of diabetic retinopathy (DR), 2,184 cases of diabetic kidney disease (DKD), and 632 cases of diabetic neuropathies (DN), with some patients having 2 or 3 microvascular complications simultaneously. After adjusting for confounders, we observed that higher AMED scores offer protection against DKD among participants with hyperglycemia (comparing the highest AMED scores to the lowest yielded an HR of 0.79 [95% CIs: 0.67, 0.94]). Additionally, the protective effect of AMED against DKD was more evident in the hyperglycemic participants with T2DM (HR, 0.64; 95% CI: 0.50, 0.83). No such effect, however, was seen for DR or DN. CONCLUSIONS: In this prospective cohort study, we have demonstrated that higher adherence to a MED is associated with a reduced risk of DKD among individuals with hyperglycemia. Our study emphasizes the necessity for continued research focusing on the benefits of the MED. Such efforts including the ongoing clinical trial will offer further insights into the role of MED in the clinical management of DKD.</p

Individualized prevention of proton pump inhibitor related adverse events by risk stratification

Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are commonly used for gastric acid-related disorders, but their safety profile and risk stratification for high-burden diseases need further investigation. Analyzing over 2 million participants from five prospective cohorts from the US, the UK, and China, we found that PPI use correlated with increased risk of 15 leading global diseases, such as ischemic heart disease, diabetes, respiratory infections, and chronic kidney disease. These associations showed dose-response relationships and consistency across different PPI types. PPI-related absolute risks increased with baseline risks, with approximately 82% of cases occurring in those at the upper 40% of the baseline predicted risk, and only 11.5% of cases occurring in individuals at the lower 50% of the baseline risk. While statistical association does not necessarily imply causation, its potential safety concerns suggest that personalized use of PPIs through risk stratification might guide appropriate decision-making for patients, clinicians, and the public

Individualized prevention of proton pump inhibitor related adverse events by risk stratification

Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are commonly used for gastric acid-related disorders, but their safety profile and risk stratification for high-burden diseases need further investigation. Analyzing over 2 million participants from five prospective cohorts from the US, the UK, and China, we found that PPI use correlated with increased risk of 15 leading global diseases, such as ischemic heart disease, diabetes, respiratory infections, and chronic kidney disease. These associations showed dose-response relationships and consistency across different PPI types. PPI-related absolute risks increased with baseline risks, with approximately 82% of cases occurring in those at the upper 40% of the baseline predicted risk, and only 11.5% of cases occurring in individuals at the lower 50% of the baseline risk. While statistical association does not necessarily imply causation, its potential safety concerns suggest that personalized use of PPIs through risk stratification might guide appropriate decision-making for patients, clinicians, and the public

Performance of screening tests for oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background and Aims: This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to compare the pooled diagnostic accuracy of the currently available esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) screening tests. Methods: A comprehensive literature search of Embase and Medline (up to October 31, 2020) was performed to identify eligible studies. We pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) for ESCC screening tools using a bivariate random-effects model. The summary receiver operating characteristic (sROC) curves with area under the curve (AUC) were plotted for each screening test. Results: We included 161 studies conducted in 81 research articles involving 32,209 subjects. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, and AUC (95% CIs) of the major screening tools were: (1). Endoscopy (per-oral endoscopy): 0.94 (0.87-0.97), 0.92 (0.87-0.95), and 0.97 (0.96-0.99); (2) Endoscopy (transnasal endoscopy): 0.85 (0.70-0.93), 0.96 (0.91-0.98), and 0.97 (0.95, -0.98); (3). MicroRNA: 0.77 (0.75-0.80), 0.78 (0.75-0.80), and 0.85 (0.81-0.87); (4). Autoantibody: 0.45 (0.36-0.53), 0.91 (0.89-0.93), and 0.84 (0.81-0.87); and (5). Cytology: 0.82 (0.60-0.93), 0.97 (0.88-0.99), and 0.97 (0.95-0.98). There was high heterogeneity. Conclusions: The diagnostic accuracy seems comparable between Cytology and endoscopy, whilst autoantibody and microRNAs bear potential as future non-invasive screening tools for ESCC. To reduce ESCC-related death in the high-risk populations, it is important to develop a more accurate and less invasive screening test