Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Researcher's Privilege: Does Any Hope Remain?

Scholars and subpoenas coexist uneasily. For at least a half century, formal demands for discovery of research results, or research in process, have posed an acute dilemma for the scholarly community. A scholar's unique academic research can, through judicial action, be wrested from the scholar and involved in often-lengthy litigation. Courts have struggled to balance the contending interests, particularly during the last quarter century. Sometimes the demands are granted, and sensitive material is required to be turned over to litigants. Other times, scholars have prevailed-usually on rather narrow, fact-based principles. The research topics that have triggered such demands by the judicial system have varied with the issues of the times. Perhaps the first such dispute involved FBI threats to subpoena highly sensitive material on sex research held by the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University. Since the Institute had pledged confidentiality to many of its research subjects, its officers insisted it could not comply with the FBI demand and would, if necessary, "accept the consequences of such defiance. " In the end, the FBI backed down and a legal resolution was not required.1 In the 1960s and 1970s, several research issues that reached the courts grew directly out of the Vietnam War.2 The years since then have brought cases involving demands for disclosure of research on subjects as varied as unsafe automobiles,3 medical devices,4 and employee morale in large public utilities.5 The 1990s have seen the focus of such litigation shift to research on cigarettes and their effects. Mounting pressures on the tobacco industry, chiefly through damage claims by former smokers or their families, or by states seeking to recover the costs of treating smokers, have intensified the potential importance of
Possibility theory in information fusion

Possibility theory and the body of aggregation operations from fuzzy set theory provide some tools to address the problem of merging information coming from several sources. The approach to fusion is set-theoretic and the choice of conjunctive versus disjunctive fusion modes depends on assumptions on whether all sources are reliable or not. Quantified, prioritized and weighted fusion rules are described. A possibilistic logic counterpart of these combination modes is also briefly presented. The fusion of imprecise information is carefully distinguished from the estimation problem. Fuzzy extensions of estimation processes are also discussed. The approach, based on conflict analysis, applies to sensor fusion, aggregation of expert opinions as well as the merging of databases especially in case of poor, qualitative information.
Anidulafungin versus fluconazole for invasive candidiasis.

BACKGROUND Anidulafungin, a new echinocandin, has potent activity against candida species. We compared anidulafungin with fluconazole in a randomized, double-blind, noninferiority trial of treatment for invasive candidiasis. METHODS Adults with invasive candidiasis were randomly assigned to receive either intravenous anidulafungin or intravenous fluconazole. All patients could receive oral fluconazole after 10 days of intravenous therapy. The primary efficacy analysis assessed the global response (clinical and microbiologic) at the end of intravenous therapy in patients who had a positive baseline culture. Efficacy was also assessed at other time points. RESULTS Eighty-nine percent of the 245 patients in the primary analysis had candidemia only. Candida albicans was isolated in 62% of the 245 patients. In vitro fluconazole resistance was infrequent. Most of the patients (97%) did not have neutropenia. At the end of intravenous therapy, treatment was successful in 75.6% of patients treated with anidulafungin, as compared with 60.2% of those treated with fluconazole (difference, 15.4 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.9 to 27.0). The results were similar for other efficacy end points. The statistical analyses failed to show a "center effect"; when data from the site enrolling the largest number of patients were removed, success rates at the end of intravenous therapy were 73.2% in the anidulafungin group and 61.1% in the fluconazole group (difference, 12.1 percentage points; 95% CI, -1.1 to 25.3). The frequency and types of adverse events were similar in the two groups. The rate of death from all causes was 31% in the fluconazole group and 23% in the anidulafungin group (P=0.13). CONCLUSIONS Anidulafungin was shown to be noninferior to fluconazole in the treatment of invasive candidiasis. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00056368 [ClinicalTrials.gov]).
Biochemical and Molecular Roles of Nutrients Von Willebrand Factor Restores Impaired Platelet Thrombogenesis in Copper-Deficient Rats

Dietary copper restriction reduces microvascular thrombogenesis. We have now examined the roles of shear forces and von Willebrand factor (vWF) in in vivo thrombus formation in the cremaster microcirculation of copper-deficient rats. Male weanling Sprague-Dawley rats were fed purified diets that were either copperadequate (6.3 mg Cu/kg) or copper-deficient (0.3 mg Cu/kg) for 4 wk. Intravascular fluorescein isothiocyanate tagged to bovine serum albumin was activated with 450–490 nm light to induce thrombus formation in microvessels. Thrombus initiation time was significantly prolonged in copper-deficient rats; after thrombus appearance, however, vessel occlusion was significantly accelerated. The greater shear rates of arterioles compared with venules significantly increased the thrombus initiation time in both groups. However, vessel occlusion time and thrombus growth time were independent of shear rate. Intravascular vWF (0.2 U/100 g body wt) decreased thrombus initiation time in the CuD group without affecting thrombus growth time. The data suggest that decreased thrombogenesis in copper-deficient rats is not a result of altered rheological factors or arteriolar-venular differences, but appears to result from decreased platelet-to-endothelial cell adhesion. J. Nutr. 127: 1320–1327, 1997.
Validation of EuroSCORE for coronary artery bypass grafting at Siriraj Hospital.

OBJECTIVE To access the performance of the EuroSCORE when applied to CABG patients at Siriraj hospital. MATERIAL AND METHOD One thousand five hundred forty nine patients diagnosed with coronary artery disease (CAD) who underwent isolated CABG between January 2007 and December 2009 was prospectively studied. RESULTS The patients included 1,102 men and 447 women and had a mean age of 67 years old. The mean additive score in expired and survived groups were 9.65 +/- 5.14 and 3.87 +/- 3.06. In logistic, score were 25.43 +/- 26.31 and 4.88 +/- 7.88 respectively (p < 0.001). The best cut-off value of EuroSCORE for prediction of a death rate was 6 for additive score and 10 for logistic score. Area under the curve was 0.831 for the additive score and 0.823 for the logistic score. The observed overall mortality rate was 2.0% while the predict mortality was 5.27%. The difference between observed and predicted deaths was significant with additive score and logistic score (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION Our results suggest that EuroSCORE is not valid for CABG in Thai patient due to over prediction.
HLA class II genetic association of type 1 diabetes mellitus in Czech children

Abstract: To examine human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II association of type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM) in Czech children, we performed a case–control study of 261 patients diagnosed before the age of 15 and 289 non‐diabetic control children. Complete HLA‐DQA1, DQB1 genotyping and DRB1*04 subtyping were carried out by polymerase chain reactions with sequence‐specific primers. The effect of the DRB1*04 subtypes was studied in DRB1*04 alleles carried on DQB1*0302‐DQA1*03 haplotypes. The risk was statistically evaluated by testing 2 × 2 tables, considering corrected p‐values < 0.05 significant. The DQB1*0302 (odds ratio, OR = 9.0), DQB1*0201 (OR = 3.4) and DQA1*03 (OR = 7.5) alleles were significantly associated with diabetes risk, while the DQB1*0602 (OR = 0.02), DQB1*0301 (OR = 0.08), DQB1*0503 (OR = 0.13), DQB1*0603 (OR = 0.20), DQA1*01 (OR = 0.28) and DQA1*02 (OR = 0.26) alleles were significantly protective. Of the DQA1‐DQB1 genotypes, we point out the extremely high risk of OR = 116 conferred by HLA‐DQA1*05‐DQB1*0201/DQA1*03‐DQB1*0302. Among DRB1*04 subtypes, DRB1*0403 was significantly protective (OR = 0.05, CI 95% 0.01–0.45). Since none of the remaining DRB1*04 subtypes was associated with type 1 DM, our study may present another piece of evidence that the DRB1*0401 and DRB1*0404 alleles do not modify type 1 diabetes risk generally in European populations.
Synthesis of proteoglycan 4 by chondrocyte subpopulations in cartilage explants, monolayer cultures, and resurfaced cartilage cultures.

OBJECTIVE To quantify the levels of proteoglycan 4 (PRG4) expression by subpopulations of chondrocytes from superficial, middle, and deep layers of normal bovine calf cartilage in various culture systems. METHODS Bovine calf articular cartilage discs or isolated cells were used in 1 of 3 systems of chondrocyte culture: explant, monolayer, or transplant, for 1-9 days. PRG4 expression was quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay of spent medium and localized by immunohistochemistry at the articular surface and within chondrocytes in explants and cultured cells. RESULTS Superficial chondrocytes secreted much more PRG4 than did middle and deep chondrocytes in all cultures. The pattern of PRG4 secretion into superficial culture medium varied with the duration of culture, decreasing with time in explant culture (from approximately 25 microg/cm(2)/day on days 0-1 to approximately 3 microg/cm(2)/day on days 5-9), while increasing in monolayer culture (from approximately 1 pg/cell/day on days 0-1 to approximately 7 pg/cell/day on days 7-9) and tending to increase in transplant culture (reaching approximately 2 microg/cm(2)/day by days 7-9). In all of the culture systems, inclusion of ascorbic acid stimulated PRG4 secretion, and the source of PRG4 was immunolocalized to superficial cells. CONCLUSION The results described here indicate that the phenotype of PRG4 secretion by chondrocytes in culture is generally maintained, in that PRG4 is expressed to a much greater degree by chondrocytes from the superficial zone than by those from the middle and deep zones. The marked up-regulation of PRG4 synthesis by ascorbic acid may have implications for cartilage homeostasis and prevention of osteoarthritic disease. Transplanting specialized cells that secrete PRG4 to a surface may impart functional lubrication and be generally applicable to many tissues in the body.
Analysis of the Development of the Working Alliance Using Hierarchical Linear Modeling

The relation between the working alliance and therapeutic outcome was examined in 21 therapist-client dyads. This relation was analyzed in terms of the level of alliance at the third counseling session, midpoint of treatment, and last session with linear and curvilinear models of the temporal development of the working alliance. Analyses were conducted with hierarchical linear modeling. Results revealed a significant association between the linear growth function of therapist ratings of the working alliance and therapeutic outcome. The use of hierarchical linear modeling in counseling psychology research and the need for conceptualizing the working alliance as a temporally variant, as opposed to a static, process are discussed.
Low-noise metamorphic HEMTs with reflowed 0.1-/spl mu/m T-gate

A 0.1-/spl mu/m T-gate fabricated using e-beam lithography and thermally reflow process was developed and applied to the manufacture of the low-noise metamorphic high electron-mobility transistors (MHEMTs). The T-gate developed using the thermally reflowed e-beam resist technique had a gate length of 0.1 /spl mu/m and compatible with the MHEMT fabrication process. The MHEMT manufactured demonstrates a cutoff frequency f/sub T/ of 154 GHz and a maximum frequency f/sub max/ of 300 GHz. The noise figure for the 160 /spl mu/m gate-width device is less than 1 dB and the associated gain is up to 14 dB at 18 GHz. This is the first report of a 0.1 /spl mu/m MHEMT device manufactured using the reflowed e-beam resist process for T-gate formation.
The natural history of angina in a general practice.

An appreciation of the natural history of angina pectoris is important when deciding on the place of new and potentially dangerous forms of treatment. During 1950-1975, 268 patients with angina were diagnosed and followed up in my London general practice. The annual incidence, in adults over 40, was five per 1,000 and increased with age.During the period of follow-up, half the patients died, an annual mortality of 4.6 per cent. However, among the survivors one third ceased to suffer anginal symptoms spontaneously and without specific therapy. Of those who continued to suffer from angina, in 71 per cent the condition was graded as minor, in 27 per cent as moderate, and in only two per cent were the attacks severe and disabling. Usually the angina was primary (77 per cent) and it was secondary, after myocardial infarction, in 23 per cent.Of the 134 deaths, three quarters were from a cardiovascular cause. This group of angina patients had a 2:1 times greater observed, than expected, risk of dying (O/E ratio). The O/E mortality ratio fell progressively with age. It was highest in the 40-49 decade (4.0) and lowest in the over 80s, when the observed mortality rate was less than expected (0.9). The O/E mortality ratio was higher in men (2.3) than in women (1.7). From this survey I conclude that angina does not have a uniformly bad prognosis, and that with the advent of beta-adrenergic blockers, the proportion considered for angiocardiography and aorto-coronary bypass grafting should be less than five per cent of all patients with angina.
4E10 and 2F5 monoclonal antibodies: binding specificities to phospholipids, tolerance, and clinical safety issues.

Small numbers of human monoclonal antibodies have been used as important models by researchers seeking to obtain broadly neutralizing antibodies to HIV-1 for development of vaccines or immunotherapy. Two of these unusual monoclonal antibodies, 4E10 and 2F5, recognize short amino acid sequences in the membrane proximal external region of gp41 envelope protein of HIV-1. These binding sites are close to the lipid bilayer of the virion, and several laboratories have reported that 4E10 and 2F5 also recognize a variety of phospholipids, including cardiolipin [1,2]. The lipidbinding properties of the monoclonal antibodies has kindled an interest in the possible role of phospholipids, and perhaps other types of lipid, as additional antigenic targets for HIV-1 vaccine development [3]. However, 4E10 and 2F5 were also proposed to be polyreactive autoimmune antibodies of a type that might be subjected to downregulation by immunological tolerance, and it was suggested that this outcome might represent an escape mechanism [4]. Two recent papers in this journal [5,6] have addressed several important questions relating to these observations. First, are the binding specificities to phospholipids reproducible? Second, is the previously proposed idea correct that immunological tolerance might make induction of antibodies that bind to phospholipids difficult? Third, does a possible clinical risk accompany the use of 4E10 or 2F5?
Increased leucine flux in short-term fasted human subjects: evidence for increased proteolysis.

Plasma leucine concentration increases with short-term fasting in normal humans. In previous studies using an 18-h constant infusion of [2H3]leucine, a 15% decrease in the rate of appearance (Ra) of leucine was observed between 15 and 30 h of fasting. However, incorporation of labeled leucine into and subsequent release from body protein could result in an apparent decrease in leucine Ra. The present studies were undertaken to determine the rate of leucine N and carbon flux in short-term fasted human subjects in using an experimental design that would minimize potential recycling of label. Six normal subjects were infused with [15N]- and [2H3]leucine for two 4-h periods (0600 to 1000 h and 2000 to 2400 h) during a 30-h fast. Between the 15th and 30th h of fasting, plasma leucine concentration (102 +/- 10 to 169 +/- 18 microM, P less than 0.01) and leucine C (1.46 +/- 0.05 to 1.64 +/- 0.10 mumol X kg-1 X min-1, P less than 0.05) and leucine N (1.93 +/- 0.14 to 2.49 +/- 0.26 mumol X kg-1 X min-1, P less than 0.05) flux increased, whereas the metabolic clearance rates of leucine C and N decreased (P less than 0.01 and less than 0.05, respectively). Therefore, when isotope recycling is minimized with short periods of isotope infusion, leucine flux increases between 15 and 30 h of fasting. Because the only source of leucine in the postabsorptive periods is body protein, we conclude that the rate of whole-body proteolysis is increased in short-term fasting in humans. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Unilateral Interstitial Lung Pattern as a First Sign of a Bacterial Endocarditis

Infective endocarditis (IE) refers to the set of clinical and pathological alterations accompanying an infection of the endocardium, particularly in the cardiac valves. It may be caused by countless bacterial and fungal strains. Depending on the course of the disease, it may be classified as acute or sub-acute; the latter form progresses more slowly and is associated with previously abnormal valves and prior infections. We report the case of a woman who had been experiencing fever and dyspnoea for a month and whose radiology images showed a unilateral interstitial pattern compatible with pulmonary oedema of cardiogenic origin caused by bacterial endocarditis. Our search of medical literature revealed only one published case of a radiography showing a unilateral interstitial pattern due to heart failure. The 49-year old female patient was admitted to our unit for the first time for study of constitutional symptoms including loss of 8kg in one month and fever. Relevant factors in her personal history were discoid lupus on the lower lip, hypoacusia and smoking (one pack/ day smoker for 18 years). She was not taking any habitual treatments. During the time she was admitted to our centre, physical examination was normal except for pulmonary auscultation, which detected crackling sounds in the left hemithorax, and cardiac auscultation, which detected a pansystolic murmur at 90Lpm. Additional procedures included the following: blood work showing haemoglobin at 10mg/dl, white blood cell count 6,620/μl, platelet count 614,000/μl, fibrinogen 628mg/dl, sedimentation rate 86mm/h, C-reactive protein 118mg/dl and rheumatoid factor 8.5 U/ ml (positive). All other immunological studies were normal. In the tumour marker study, CA-125 was at 43 U/ml. Biochemical analysis revealed abnormal liver function, with alanine aminotransferase (ALAT) at 126 U/l, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) at 85 U/l, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) at 67 U/l and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) at 607 U/l. Functional respiratory tests showed a forced vital capacity (FVC) of 2.22L (77%), forced expired volume in one second (FEV1) of 1.36L (55%), FEV1/FVC of 60% and baseline oxygen saturation of 90%. No significant abnormalities were found in the bronchoscopy; cytological examination of bronchial aspirate and bronchoalveolar lavage were negative, and there were no other microbiological findings. The chest radiography showed loss of volume in the left hemithorax, areas with a groundglass appearance and others with an interstitial pattern. Inspection with a high-resolution CT showed small bilateral pleural effusion, signs of pulmonary hypertension, decreased left hemithorax volume with widespread pulmonary involvement, interlobular and Table 1 Duke-Durack Criteria
Geant4 simulations for microbeam radiation therapy (MRT) dosimetry

Radiation therapy is one of the techniques most commonly used in the treatment of various types of tumors. The microbeam radiation therapy (MRT) is a very promising variant, which exploits the property that tissues can tolerate high doses of radiation in small volumes. The effectiveness of MRT is well represented by the peak-to-valley dose ratios (PVDRs), which are one of the crucial parameters associated with the outcome of the treatment. In this study, we investigate on the factors that influence PVDRs, such as different beam energies and geometries. MRT experiments typically employ rectangular (planar) microbeams of different sizes, but, for convenience of analysis, preliminary computations have been performed also using arrays of cylindrical microbeams. This work shows that the shape of the impinging irradiation field largely influences the dose distribution. It highlights that a bundle of larger microbeams, with a small separation, produces more scattered radiation and therefore lower PVDRs. The study of how dose distributions vary with different setups and irradiation parameters is an essential step in enhancing the comparability of experimental data and simulation results.
Comparison of four real-time ultrasound systems that predict intramuscular fat in beef cattle.

Eighty-one crossbred steers were used to evaluate four commercially available ultrasound systems that predict intramuscular fat. The software systems represented included Animal Ultrasound Services, Inc., Ithaca, NY; CPEC, Oakley, KS; Critical Vision, Inc., Atlanta, GA (CVIS); and Classic Ultrasound Equipment, Tequesta, FL. Systems were evaluated using marbling scores and percentage ether extractable fat of the longissimus muscle. Before statistical analyses, system predictions were corrected for the respective system's average deviation between the prediction and carcass measurement. The absolute difference between system prediction and percentage ether extract (EEADIFF) or marbling score (MADIFF) converted to ether extract by regression was analyzed with a model accounting for effects of system, technician within system, animal, and animal x system. Steers with USDA marbling scores less than Small00 were assigned to a low marbling class, and all others were assigned to a second class. Data were then analyzed with a subsequent model including marbling class. For EEADIFF in the first model, system, animal, and system x animal were significant (P < .001). For MADIFF, technician within system (P < .05) and all other effects (P < .001) were significant. In the second model, system x marbling class was significant (P < .05) for EEADIFF and approached significance for MADIFF (P = .17). Least squares means for EEADIFF indicated that the systems were more precise measuring animals in the low marbling class. Finally, the CPEC and CVIS systems were the most precise for predicting intramuscular fat.
Implicit QR for companion-like pencils

A fast implicit QR algorithm for eigenvalue computation of low rank corrections of unitary matrices is adjusted to work with matrix pencils arising from polynomial zerofinding problems . The modified QZ algorithm computes the generalized eigenvalues of certain NxN rank structured matrix pencils using O(N^2) ops and O(N) memory storage. Numerical experiments and comparisons confirm the effectiveness and the stability of the proposed method.
An update on the management of Chagas cardiomyopathy

Chagas disease, caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, infects nearly 18 million people in Latin America and mainly affects the heart, causing heart failure, arrhythmias, heart block, thromboembolism, stroke and death. In this review, the clinical diagnosis and management of Chagas cardiomyopathy are discussed. Particular emphasis is placed on the clinical staging of patients and the use of various diagnostic tests that may be useful in individualizing treatment of the two most relevant clinical syndromes, that is, heart failure and arrhythmias. The relevance of specific treatments are discussed, stressing the important role of parasite persistence in disease pathogenesis. We also discuss new therapy modalities that may have a role in the treatment of Chagas cardiomyopathy.