Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Marimastat as first-line therapy for patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer: a randomized trial.

PURPOSE The prognosis for unresectable pancreatic cancer remains dismal (1-year survival rate, < 10%; 5-year survival rate, < 5%). Recent advances in conventional chemotherapy and novel molecular treatment strategies warrant investigation. This, the largest randomized study in pancreatic cancer performed to date, compares marimastat, the first of a new class of agents, with gemcitabine. PATIENTS AND METHODS Four hundred fourteen patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer were randomized to receive marimastat 5, 10, or 25 mg bid or gemcitabine 1,000 mg/m2. The primary end point was survival. Progression-free survival, patient benefit, and safety were also assessed. RESULTS There was no significant difference in survival between 5, 10, or 25 mg of marimastat and gemcitabine (P =.19). Median survival times were 111, 105, 125, and 167 days, respectively, and 1-year survival rates were 14%, 14%, 20%, and 19%, respectively. There was a significant difference in survival rates between patients treated with gemcitabine and marimastat 5 and 10 mg (P <.003). Both agents were well tolerated, although grade 3 or 4 toxicities were reported in 22% and 12% of the gemcitabine- and marimastat-treated patients, respectively. The major toxicity of marimastat was musculoskeletal (44% of marimastat patients, compared with 12% of gemcitabine patients; musculoskeletal toxicity was severe in only 8% of marimastat patients). CONCLUSION The results of this study provide evidence of a dose response for marimastat in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. The 1-year survival rate for patients receiving marimastat 25 mg was similar to that of patients receiving gemcitabine. In view of the manageable tolerability of marimastat and its ease of administration, further studies are warranted.
Wirkungen des Chorsingens auf die cardio­respira­torische Koordination und das subjektive Befinden bei Erwachsenen

Zusammenfassung. Gegenstand der vorliegenden Studie ist die simultane und immediate (unmittelbare) Wirkung des Chorsingens auf die cardioresporatorische Koordination und das Befinden von Erwachsenen. Anlass ist die Frage nach der Wirkung von kunstlerischen Aktivitaten in der padagogischen Praxis der Waldorfpadagogik. Neben der Sprachgestaltung ist das Singen eine kunstlerische Disziplin, die ausgepragt rhythmisch mit der Atmung arbeitet, weshalb zu erwarten ist, dass auch ein Effekt auf die rhythmische Organisation nachzuweisen ist. Methode: Die Untersuchung wurde an 22 freiwilligen und gesunden Laiensangern durchgefuhrt (8 Manner, 14 Frauen; mittleres Alter 33 ±10 Jahre). Mittels eines tragbaren Recorders wurde bei allen Probanden wahrend 90 Minuten ein EKG aufgezeichnet: fur 15 Minuten bei sitzender Ruhe vor dem Chorsingen (Basiswerte), wahrend 60 Minuten Chorsingen und abschliesend wieder fur 15 Minuten bei sitzender Ruhe. Zur Kontrolle wurden die Messungen am Folgetag bei nicht-singenden Aktivitaten wiederholt. Zu allen Messphasen fullten die Probanden einen Fragebogen zu ihrem jeweiligen Befinden aus (10-stufige VSA). Ergebnisse: Das Chorsingen bewirkt eine auffallende interindividuelle Synchronisation der Pulsfrequenzen; die mittlere Pulsrate ist wahrend des Chorsingens gegenuber den Ausgangswerten signifikant erhoht p Schlussfolgerungen: Aus den Ergebnissen kann der Schluss gezogen werden, dass das Chorsingen eine simultane und immediate Rhythmisierung der gesunden erwachsenen Sanger bewirkt und einen regenerativen Effekt zeitigt. Die gesundheitliche Relevanz der Ergebnisse wird diskutiert. Zum Schluss werden Fragestellungen fur weitere Forschungen formuliert. Schlusselworter: Cardiorespiratorische Koordination, physiologische Dreigliederung, Herzfrequenzvariabilitat, vegetative Balance, Puls/Atem-Quotient, Befinden, Chorsingen, Waldorfpadagogik
The Membrane-Proximal Tyrosine-Based Sorting Signal of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 gp41 Is Required for Optimal Viral Infectivity

ABSTRACT The membrane-proximal tyrosine-based sorting motif in the cytoplasmic domain of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Env glycoprotein is important for endocytosis from the plasma membrane, basolateral targeting of viral budding in polarized epithelial cells, and polarized budding from a localized region of the lymphocyte plasma membrane. To study the role of the Env sorting motif (Y712XXL) in infectivity, the incorporation of Env into virions, and viral entry, we disrupted the motif with a tyrosine-to-alanine substitution. To investigate the relationship between the Env sorting motif and the enhancement of infectivity by Nef, the EnvY712A substitution was made in both Nef-positive and Nef-negative backgrounds. In spreading infections, including those using primary lymphocytes, the growth of the Y712A mutant was as impaired as Nef-negative virus, and the EnvY712A/Δ-Nef combination mutant was almost completely defective. In single-round infections using CD4-positive HeLa cells, the EnvY712A mutation impaired infectivity, and Nef retained the ability to enhance the infectivity in the context of EnvY712A. EnvY712 and Nef were required for the optimal infectivity of virions produced from either HEK293T or MT4 cells, but these sequences were required for the optimal incorporation of Env only when virions were produced from MT4 cells. Despite the wild-type levels of Env in viruses produced from 293T cells, the entry of the EnvY712A and Δ-Nef mutants into target cells was impaired. We conclude that the membrane-proximal tyrosine-based sorting motif of gp41 Env is, like Nef, important for optimal viral infectivity and, in the case of MT4 T cells, virion incorporation of Env. Nef does not require the Y712XXL motif to enhance viral infectivity. The finding that EnvY712 and Nef each affect the efficiency of viral entry independently of the Env content of virions suggests that both viral proteins are involved in trafficking events that influence morphogenesis to produce maximally fusogenic virus.
Histomorphometric comparison after fixation with formaldehyde or glyoxal

Abstract Formaldehyde has long been the fixative of choice for histological examination of tissue. The use of alternatives to formaldehyde has grown, however, owing to the serious hazards associated with its use. Companies have striven to maintain the morphological characteristics of formaldehyde-fixed tissue when developing alternatives. Glyoxal-based fixatives now are among the most popular formaldehyde alternatives. Although there are many studies that compare staining quality and immunoreactivity, there have been no studies that quantify possible structural differences. Histomorphometric analysis commonly is used to evaluate diseased tissue. We compared fixation with formaldehyde and glyoxal with regard to the histomorphological properties of plantar foot tissue using a combination of stereological methods and quantitative morphology. We measured skin thickness, interdigitation index, elastic septa thickness, and adipocyte area and diameter. No significant differences were observed between formaldehyde and glyoxal fixation for any feature measured. The glyoxal-based fixative used therefore is a suitable fixative for structural evaluation of plantar soft tissue. Measurements obtained from the glyoxal-fixed tissue can be combined with data obtained from formalin-fixed for analysis.
Increased prostaglandin E2 levels in the airway of patients with eosinophilic bronchitis

Background: Eosinophilic bronchitis is a common cause of chronic cough, which like asthma is characterized by sputum eosinophilia, but unlike asthma there is no variable airflow obstruction or airway hyperresponsiveness. We tested the hypothesis that the different airway function in patients with eosinophilic bronchitis and asthma could be caused by an imbalance in the production of bronchoconstrictor (LTC4) and bronchoprotective (prostaglandin E2; PGE2) lipid mediators.
Case-based seminars in medical ethics education: how medical students define and discuss moral problems

Discussion of real cases encountered by medical students has been advocated as a component of medical ethics education. Suggested benefits include: a focus on the actual problems that medical students confront; active learner involvement; and facilitation of an exploration of the meaning of their own values in relation to professional behaviour. However, the approach may also carry risks: students may focus too narrowly on particular clinical topics or show a preference for discussing legal problems that may appear to have clearer solutions. Teaching may therefore omit areas generally considered to be important components of the curriculum. In this paper, the authors present an analysis of the moral problems raised by medical students in response to a request to describe ethically problematic cases they had encountered during two clinical attachments, for the purpose of educational discussion at case-based seminars. We discuss the problems raised and compare the content of the cases to the UK Consensus Statement on core content of learning. The authors also describe the approaches that the students used to undertake an initial analysis of the problems raised, and consider possible implications for the development of medical ethics education.
Infant survival after cesarean section for trauma.

HYPOTHESIS Emergency cesarean sections in trauma patients are not justified and should be abandoned. SETTING AND DESIGN A multi-institutional, retrospective cohort study was conducted of level 1 trauma centers. METHODS Trauma admissions from nine level 1 trauma centers from January 1986 through December 1994 were reviewed. Pregnant women who underwent emergency cesarean sections were identified. Demographic and clinical data were obtained on all patients undergoing a cesarean section. Fetal distress was defined by bradycardia, deceleration, or lack of fetal heart tones (FHTs). Maternal distress was defined by shock (systolic blood pressure < 90) or acute decompensation. Statistical analyses were performed. RESULTS Of the 114,952 consecutive trauma admissions, more than 441 pregnant women required 32 emergency cesarean sections. All were performed for fetal distress, maternal distress, or both. Overall, 15 (45%) of the fetuses and 23 (72%) of the mothers survived. Of 33 fetuses delivered, 13 had no FHTs and none survived. Twenty infants (potential survivors) had FHTs and an estimated gestational age (EGA) of greater than or equal to 26 weeks, and 75% survived. Infant survival was independent of maternal distress or maternal Injury Severity Score. The five infant deaths in the group of potential survivors resulted from delayed recognition of fetal distress, and 60% of these deaths were in mothers with mild to moderate injuries (Injury Severity Score < 16). CONCLUSIONS In pregnant trauma patients, infant viability is defined by the presence of FHTs, estimated gestational age greater than or equal to 26 weeks. In viable infants, survival after emergency cesarean section is acceptable (75%). Infant survival is independent of maternal distress or Injury Severity Score. Sixty percent of infant deaths resulted from delay in recognition of fetal distress and cesarean section. These were potentially preventable. Given the definition of fetal viability, our initial hypothesis is invalid.
The adoption and continued usage intention of RFID: an integrated framework

– The purpose of this study is to examine the factors of radio frequency identification (RFID) adoption and its continuance intention in a mandatory and in a voluntary environment leading to developing an integrated framework. , – A qualitative research approach was taken in this study. The authors conducted an extensive field study, interviewing eight organizations. Factors have been analyzed from multiple perspectives and, where possible, related with the existing literature. , – The findings show that along with technological, organizational, and environmental factors RFID adoption also depends on the expectations and self‐efficacy. Moreover, the process of continued usage intention involves satisfaction from current use and the degree of self‐efficacy. , – This study focuses on the state of the RFID adoption, current usage satisfaction, and the continuance intention of the adopters toward RFID use. This study would guide the countries with mandatory RFID policy in organizational applications. Policy makers could compare their experience with the findings of this study, evaluate the past, and find the future direction. , – This study is the first of its kind to discuss the adoption factors (in a mixed environment; mandatory as well as voluntary) and to examine the continued usage behavior together in a single platform, for the first time.
New Zealand English and English in New Zealand

Introductory - English, English everywhere, English spreads out, discovery in the Antipodes, English comes to Aotearoa, change in language across time and space the New Zealand accent - New Zealand English and RP, pronunciation change, the colonial twang, where did the New Zealand accent come from? looking for the evidence, describing New Zealand speech today, the New Zealand vowel sounds, other differences in New Zealand speech New Zealand English vocabulary - vocabulary change and New Zealand English, studying our own words, New Zealand English and the dictionaries, discarded words, words from Maori, newly made words, new twists to old words, what's in a name? informally speaking more to do with words New Zealand English in the 20th century -towards a New Zealand English standard, from colony to nation, convergence in word English the impact of American English, Americanisms and New Zealand English, the British English base, a standard for Maori names variation within New Zealand English - regional differences in New Zealand English, language and social class, Maori English, male/female language, other forms of variation in New Zealand English attitudes to New Zealand English - language variation and attitudes to language, early attitudes to New Zealand English, modern views, research into attitudes towards varieties of New Zealand English, New Zealand English and New Zealand identity, passages for comment. Appendices: notes and transcripts accompanying the audiotape New Zealand English research projects.
Authenticity of Geo-Location and Place Name in Tweets

The place name and geo-coordinates of tweets are supposed to represent the possible location of the user at the time of posting that tweet. However, our analysis over a large collection of tweets indicates that these fields may not give the correct location of the user at the time of posting that tweet. Our investigation reveals that the tweets posted through third party applications such as Instagram or Swarmapp contain the geo-coordinate of the user specified location, not his current location. Any place name can be entered by a user to be displayed on a tweet. It may not be same as his/her exact location. Our analysis revealed that around 12% of tweets contains place names which are different from their real location. The findings of this research can be used as caution while designing location-based services using social media.
Does sedation help in fibreoptic bronchoscopy?

Although sedation is associated with major complications1,2 sedative drugs are often given immediately before fibreoptic bronchoscopy in the belief that patients' comfort is improved. Uncontrolled studies have shown that fibreoptic bronchoscopy is well tolerated without sedation.3,4 Most comparative studies of premedication have looked at different drug regimens; we are aware of only one study that included an unsedated control arm.5 Opiates and benzodiazepines are frequently used for sedation during fibreoptic bronchoscopy; we compared two such regimens with placebo. Of 184 patients undergoing routine diagnostic fibreoptic bronchoscopy without transbronchial biopsy, 182 consented to enter a consecutive double blind comparison of (a) intravenous phenoperidine and droperidol with saline placebo or (b) intravenous midazolam with saline placebo. Three doctors performed the bronchoscopy; all patients received supplemental oxygen, topical lignocaine, intravenous atropine 600 μg, and the …
Tribe: a simple virtual class calculus

Beginning with BETA, a range of programming language mechanisms such as virtual classes (class-valued attributes of objects) have been developed to allow inheritance in the presence of mutually dependent classes. This paper presents Tribe, a type system which generalises and simplifies other formalisms of such mechanisms, by treating issues which are inessential for soundness, such as the precise details of dispatch and field initialisation, as orthogonal to the core formalism. Tribe can support path types dependent simultaneously on both classes and objects, which is useful for writing library code, and ubiquitous access to an object's family, which offers family polymorphism without the need to drag around family arguments. Languages based on Tribe will be both simpler and more expressive than existing designs, while having a simpler type system, serving as a useful basis for future language designs.
Image size in the fundus: structural evidence for wide-field retinal magnification factor.

A simple geometrical method is described of calculating the retinal magnification factor (micrometres/degree) at the ora serrata of the human eye. At the ora the magnification factor is some 176 microns/deg. , whereas at the posterior pole it is 276 microns/deg. This result may be of clinical use in examinations where dimensions of tears and holes near the ora serrata are estimated.
Three Cases of Postoperative Septic Arthritis Caused by Mycobacterium conceptionense in the Shoulder Joints of Immunocompetent Patients

ABSTRACT Mycobacterium conceptionense is a species member of Mycobacterium fortuitum complex, a potential pathogen of increasing clinical importance among opportunistic infections. This species causes a wide spectrum of cutaneous and extracutaneous diseases. In this report, we describe three patients who underwent shoulder surgery with postoperative joint infection by M. conceptionense.
The Selected Papers of Margaret Sanger. Vol. I: The Woman Rebel, 1900-1928

Cusk's account begins with a chapter on pregnancy's "Forty Weeks" and its attendant physical and emotional difficulties: "The baby plays a curious role in the culture of pregnancy," she observes, is "at once victim and autocrat. " Her larger purpose in this and subsequent chapters arranged thematically and spanning the author's two pregnancies, however, is to capture the process by which a woman is removed from "the anonymity of childlessness" and is transformed "into a mother," both "martyr and devil. More virtuous and more terrible, and more implicated too in the world's virtue and terror. " Cuskanalyzes the emotional and practical difficulties of sharing chiidrearing and domestic work in postmodern times: "after a child is born the lives of its mother and father diverge, so that where before they were living in a state of some equality, now they exist in a sort of feudal relation to each other. " She documents power struggles with both a recalcitrant toddler and temperamental baby minders. As she reflects on the literature she reads during her children's naptimes, literature that profoundly alters her understanding of artistic expression, Cusk resists interpreting the experience of childbirth and motherhood through the lens ofeither archetypallife script or popular culture. Evading, and often good humoredly mocking, the well-meant but oversimplified rhetoric of how-to-manuals or the equally worn sass of girlfriends' guides, none ofwhich adequately capture the complexities of a new mother's evolving consciousness, Cusk observes her life and thought with a novelist's dispassionate intensity, mapping the fraught terrain ofpostfeminist motherhoodwith clarity and grace. In the nearly thirty years since publication of Adrienne Rich's groundbreaking Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Institution and Experience, much has-and has not-changed. When she becomes a mother, Cusk maintains, a woman "exchanges her public significance for a range of private meanings, and like sounds outside a certain range they can be very difficult for other people to identify. " Cusk's ability to translate this hidden range of meanings and sounds is considerable; in her hands descriptive scenes move swiftly, surprisingly, and effectively into insight and analysis, making A Life's Work an essential contribution to the literature of motherhood.
Improving Children's Speech Recognition Through Explicit Pitch Scaling Based on Iterative Spectrogram Inversion

The task of transcribing children’s speech using statistical models trained on adults’ speech is very challenging. Large mismatch in the acoustic and linguistic attributes of the training and test data is reported to degrade the performance. In such speech recognition tasks, the differences in pitch (or fundamental frequency) between the two groups of speakers is one among several mismatch factors. To overcome the pitch mismatch, an existing pitch scaling technique based on iterative spectrogram inversion is explored in this work. Explicit pitch scaling is found to improve the recognition of children’s speech under mismatched setup. In addition to that, we have also studied the effect of discarding the phase information during spectrum reconstruction. This is motivated by the fact that the dominant acoustic feature extraction techniques make use of the magnitude spectrum only. On evaluating the effectiveness under mismatched testing scenario, the existing as well as the modified pitch scaling techniques result in very similar recognition performances. Furthermore, we have explored the role of pitch scaling on another speech recognition system which is trained on speech data from both adult and child speakers. Pitch scaling is noted to be effective for children’s speech recognition in this case as well.
Prediction of Headache Response in Migraine Treatment

Triptans are efficacious for the acute treatment of migraine attacks. Yet, defining a concentration-effect relation for these compounds is difficult as the dynamics of the migraine attack are not thoroughly understood. The objective of this investigation was to develop a disease model to predict measures of headache in randomized placebo-controlled clinical trials investigating oral sumatriptan as a paradigm compound. A hidden Markov model based on the states of response (no relief, relief, and pain free) and headache scores (observed variable) was used in conjunction with population pharmacokinetics. Model parameters were capable of predicting the course of headache relief, pain-free status and headache recurrence. It was shown that sumatriptan shortens mean transit times between states by up to 5 h. The potency of sumatriptan (EC50) was 9 ng/ml. These findings demonstrate the value of combining pharmacokinetic and efficacy information to model disease and characterize time-independent drug properties in a population of migraineurs.
Resource 1 OR Resource 1 Resource 3 Resource 2 h 1 Resource 1 MATCH MATCHResource 3 Resource 2 UNCOVERED

While modeling entailment at the lexical-level is a prominent task, addressed by most textual entailment systems, it has been approached mostly by heuristic methods, neglecting some of its important aspects. We present a probabilistic approach for this task which covers aspects such as differentiating various resources by their reliability levels, considering the length of the entailed sentence, the number of its covered terms and the existence of multiple evidence for the entailment of a term. The impact of our model components is validated by evaluations, which also show that its performance is in line with the best published entailment systems.