Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lung complications in acute pancreatitis.

CONTEXT Severe acute pancreatitis has long been known to be a cause of pulmonary dysfunction and multisystem organ failure. OBJECTIVE We evaluated the spectrum of pulmonary dysfunction in acute pancreatitis. METHODS Over a period of one year, 60 patients referred to us with a diagnosis of acute pancreatitis on the basis of clinical findings, CT and elevated serum amylase level were studied prospectively. The computed tomography severe index (CTSI) was used to assess the severity of the pancreatitis. Arterial blood gas analysis and chest X-rays were performed in all patients at admission and at intervals, when clinically indicated. RESULTS The mean age was 42.9+/-15.9 years (range: 18-80 years) and the etiology of the pancreatitis was gallstones in 29 patients, alcohol in 22 patients while no cause could be ascertained in 9. At presentation to our hospital, 48.3% had mild hypoxemia while 18.3% had moderate to severe hypoxemia (PaO2 less than 60 mmHg). The patients who were hypoxemic at presentation had a higher incidence of organ failure during the course of the disease. Pleural effusion at admission was noticed in 50%, atelectasis in 25%, and pulmonary infiltrates in 6.7%. Respiratory failure developed in 48.3% and the mean+/-SD CTSI in these patients was 8.20+/-2.29. Patients with more than 50% necrosis had more pulmonary dysfunction and needed ventilatory support. The development of consolidation during the course of the disease correlated with the occurrence of respiratory failure (P=0.068) but not with mortality (P=0.193). Similarly, the onset of adult respiratory distress syndrome also correlated with respiratory failure (P<0.001) but, unlike consolidation, adult respiratory distress syndrome correlated with mortality (P<0.001). On logistic regression analysis, the development of respiratory failure and other organ dysfunctions were independent risk factors for mortality. CONCLUSION Our study on patients who were referred to a tertiary care center points out that hypoxemia at presentation predicts a poor outcome which could be due to the high incidence of associated cardiac and renal failure. At presentation, the presence of pleural effusion but not atelectasis and consolidation correlates with the development of respiratory failure and mortality. Among the respiratory complications developing during the course of acute pancreatitis, consolidation and adult respiratory distress syndrome correlate with respiratory failure while adult respiratory distress syndrome alone leads to poor survival.
Interventions to promote the wearing of hearing protection.

BACKGROUND Noise induced hearing loss can only be prevented by eliminating or lowering noise exposure levels. Where the source of the noise can not be eliminated workers have to rely on hearing protective equipment. Several trials have been conducted to study the effectiveness of interventions to influence the wearing of hearing protection and to decrease noise exposure. We aimed to establish whether interventions to increase the wearing of hearing protection are effective. OBJECTIVES To summarise the evidence for the effectiveness of interventions to enhance the wearing of hearing protection among workers exposed to noise in the workplace. SEARCH STRATEGY We searched the Cochrane Ear, Nose and Throat Disorders Group Specialised Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL, The Cochrane Library, Issue 2 2005), MEDLINE (1966 to June 2005), EMBASE (1980 to June 2005), NIOSHTIC, CISDOC, CINAHL, LILACS (1982 to June 2005) and Scientific Electronic Library Online. The date of the last search was June 2005. SELECTION CRITERIA Studies were included if they had a randomised design, if they were among noise exposed (> 80 dB(A)) workers or pupils, if there was some kind of intervention to promote the wearing of hearing protection (compared to another intervention or no intervention), and if the outcome measured was the amount of use of hearing protection or a proxy measure thereof. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Two reviewers selected relevant trials, assessed methodological quality and extracted data. There were no cases where the pooling of data was appropriate. MAIN RESULTS Two studies were found. One study was a two-phased randomised controlled trial. A computer-based intervention tailored to the risk of an individual worker lasting 30 minutes was not found to be more effective than a video providing general information among workers, around 80% of whom already used hearing protection. The second phase of the trial involved sending a reminder to the home address of participants at 30 days, 90 days or at both 30 and 90 days after the intervention, or no reminder. No significant differences in the mean use of hearing protection were found. A second randomised controlled trial evaluated the effect of a four year school based hearing loss prevention programme among pupils working at their parents farms (N=753) in a cluster randomised controlled trial. The intervention group was twice as likely to wear some kind of hearing protection as the control group that received only minimal intervention. All results are based on self reported use of hearing protection. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS Limited evidence does not show whether tailored interventions are more or less effective than general interventions in workers, 80% of whom already use hearing protection. Long lasting school based interventions may increase the use of hearing protection substantially. These results are based on single studies only. Better interventions to enhance the use of hearing protection need to be developed and evaluated in order to increase the prevention of noise induced hearing loss among workers.
The role of serum haemagglutination-inhibiting antibody in protection against challenge infection with influenza A2 and B viruses

SUMMARY The intranasal inoculation of volunteers with living partially attenuated strains of influenza A and B viruses offers a new opportunity to determine the protective effect of serum haemagglutin-inhibiting antibody against a strictly homologous virus, under conditions where the time and dosage of the infective challenge can be controlled, the scoring of proven infections can be more precise and higher rates of infection can be achieved than in most natural epidemics. In 1032 adult volunteers, whose serum HI antibody titre was determined immediately before virus challenge, there was a consistent inverse quantitative relationship between the HI titre and the likelihood of infection. The PD50 (50 % protective dose) of HI antibody was 1/18–1/36, but an unusual finding was that volunteers with no detectable pre-challenge antibody often seem to be less susceptible to infection than those with pre-challenge antibody in low titre. In one group of volunteers challenged with an influenza B strain there was no evidence that pre-challenge antibody titres against viral neuraminidase had any significant protective effect against challenge infection.
Behaviour similarity based to cluster automated HTTP communication

HTTP automated software (auto-ware) are blooming for multiple purposes due to the fast growing of World Wide Web. Beside normal HTTP application are beneficial for users such as operating system or virus definition update software, in recent years, cyber criminals turn to fully exploit web as a medium of communication environment to lurk variety of forbidden or illicit activities through spreading malicious automated software such as adware, spyware or bot. In addition, auto-ware traffic is almost anonymity to users. Therefore, in a private network, due to early detection of internal threats, clustering of auto-ware communication is helpful to network security management. In this paper, based on analysis of the auto-ware communication behaviour, a network level approach in clustering of HTTP auto-ware communication is proposed. The experimentation with real outbound HTTP traffic data which collected through a proxy server of a private network gives a considerable result in clustering HTTP auto-ware traffic. The results can be used as a good resource for further security purposes such as malicious domain/URL detection or investigation of HTTP based malware.
Atorvastatin increases human serum levels of proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 Published, JLR Papers in Press, November 21, 2007.

Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) has gained attention as a key regulator of serum low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels. This novel protease causes the degradation of hepatic low density lipoprotein receptors. In humans, gain-of-function mutations in PCSK9 cause a form of familial hypercholesterolemia, whereas loss-of-function mutations result in significantly decreased LDL-C levels and cardiovascular risk. Previous studies have demonstrated that statins upregulate PCSK9 mRNA expression in cultured cells and animal models. In light of these observations, we studied the effect of atorvastatin on circulating PCSK9 protein levels in humans using a sandwich ELISA to quantitate serum PCSK9 levels in patients treated with atorvastatin or placebo for 16 weeks. We observed that atorvastatin (40 mg/day) significantly increased circulating PCSK9 levels by 34% compared with baseline and placebo and decreased LDL-C levels by 42%. These results suggest that the addition of a PCSK9 inhibitor to statin therapy may result in even further LDL-C decreases.
A General Way to Break Hash-based Challenge-and-Response

Hash-based challenge-and-response protocols are widely used as an authentication scheme in network applications. The authenticator sends a random string as a challenge to the peer, the peer generates a response with a hash function on a pre-shared password combined the received challenge. In this paper, we propose a general and efficient way to break some prevalent hash-based challenge- and-response protocols in use. These protocols are vulnerable to the chosen challenge attack launched by a malicious user, who impersonates the server. We first generate a rainbow table containing hash values of all possible passwords, which is produced by hashing a pre-chosen challenge concatenated with all possible password candidates. Second, we impersonate the authenticator and send the pre-chosen challenge to the peer. Finally, we look up in the rainbow table for the received response from the peer to crack the password. With this tactic, we can do the cost consuming pre-computation once, and then we can always use it to recover all of the peer's passwords with only one additional on-line query.
Short-term outcomes of patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus treated with canagliflozin compared with sitagliptin in a real-world setting.

INTRODUCTION We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of canagliflozin as compared to sitagliptin in a real-world setting among multiethnic patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Singapore. METHODS This was a new-user, active-comparator, single-centre retrospective cohort study. Patients aged 18-69 years with T2DM and estimated glomerular filtration rate ≥ 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 were eligible for inclusion if they were initiated and maintained on a steady daily dose of canagliflozin 300 mg or sitagliptin 100 mg between 1 May and 31 December 2014, and followed up for 24 weeks. RESULTS In total, 57 patients (canagliflozin 300 mg, n = 22; sitagliptin 100 mg, n = 35) were included. The baseline patient characteristics in the two groups were similar, with overall mean glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) of 9.4% ± 1.4%. The use of canagliflozin 300 mg was associated with greater reductions in HbA1c (least squares [LS] mean change -1.6% vs. -0.4%; p < 0.001), body weight (LS mean change -3.0 kg vs. 0.2 kg; p < 0.001) and systolic blood pressure (LS mean change: -9.7 mmHg vs. 0.4 mmHg; p < 0.001), as compared with sitagliptin 100 mg. About half of the patients on canagliflozin 300 mg reported mild osmotic diuresis-related side effects that did not lead to drug discontinuation. CONCLUSION Our findings suggest that canagliflozin was more effective than sitagliptin in reducing HbA1c, body weight and systolic blood pressure in patients with T2DM, although its use was associated with an increased incidence of mild osmotic diuresis-related side effects.
Ecology of Alpine Macrofungi - Combining Historical with Recent Data

Historical datasets of living communities are important because they can be used to document creeping shifts in species compositions. Such a historical data set exists for alpine fungi. From 1941 to 1953, the Swiss geologist Jules Favre visited yearly the region of the Swiss National Park and recorded the occurring fruiting bodies of fungi >1 mm (so-called “macrofungi”) in the alpine zone. Favre can be regarded as one of the pioneers of alpine fungal ecology not least because he noted location, elevation, geology, and associated plants during his numerous excursions. However, some relevant information is only available in his unpublished field-book. Overall, Favre listed 204 fungal species in 26 sampling sites, with 46 species being previously unknown. The analysis of his data revealed that the macrofungi recorded belong to two major ecological groups, either they are symbiotrophs and live in ectomycorrhizal associations with alpine plant hosts, or they are saprotrophs and decompose plant litter and soil organic matter. The most frequent fungi were members of Inocybe and Cortinarius, which form ectomycorrhizas with Dryas octopetala or the dwarf alpine Salix species. The scope of the present study was to combine Favre's historical dataset with more recent data, either with the “SwissFungi” database or with data from major studies of the French and German Alps, and with the data from novel high-throughput DNA sequencing techniques of soils from the Swiss Alps. Results of the latter application revealed, that problems associated with these new techniques are manifold and species determination remains often unclear. At this point, the fungal taxa collected by Favre and deposited as exsiccata at the “Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques de la Ville de Genève” could be used as a reference sequence dataset for alpine fungal studies. In conclusion, it can be postulated that new improved databases are urgently necessary for the near future, particularly, with regard to investigating fungal communities from alpine regions using new techniques.
Implementation of a Novel Low-Cost Low-Profile Ku-Band Antenna Array for Single Beam Steering from Space

Phased array antennas afford many advantages over traditional reflector antennas due to their conformality, high aperture efficiency, and unfettered beam steering capability at the price of increased cost and complexity. This paper eliminates the complex and costly array backend via the implementation of a series fed array employing a propagation constant reconfigurable transmission line connecting each element in series. Scanning can then be accomplished through one small (less than or equal to 100mil) linear motion that controls propagation constant. Specifically, each element is fed via a reconfigurable coplanar stripline transmission line with a tapered dielectric insert positioned between the transmission line traces. The dielectric insert is allowed to move up and down to control propagation constant and therefore induce scanning. We present a 20 element patch array design, scanning from -25 deg. less than or equal to theta less than or equal to 21 deg. at 13GHz. Measurements achieve only10.5 deg. less than or equal to theta less than or equal to 22 deg. scanning due to a faulty, yet correctable, manufacturing process. Beam squint is measured to be plus or minus 3 deg. for a 600MHz bandwidth. This prototype was improved to give scanning of 3.5 deg. less than or equal to theta less than or equal to 22 deg. Cross-pol patterns were shown to be -15dB below the main beam. Simulations accounting for fabrication errors match measured patterns, thus validating the designs.
[Destructive effect of eggs of Schistosoma japonicum on spleens in C57BL/6 mice].

OBJECTIVE To observe the destructive effect of eggs of Schistosomajaponicum on the splenic structure in C57BL/6 mice. METHODS The C57BL/6 mice were injected intravenously with eggs of S. japonicum or soluble egg antigen (SEA), or the eggs were injected surgically into the spleens of the mice. Four weeks later, the mice were sacrificed, the splenic paraffin sections were stained with H & E and the splenic structures were observed. Other two groups of mice were infected with single-sex and both sexes of schistosome cercariae, respectively. Nine weeks after the infection, the mice were sacrificed, and the splenic structures were observed and compared among the groups aforementioned. RESULTS The splenic structure of mice injected intravenously with eggs were destroyed, and characterized with decreased number of lymphoid follicles and blurred marginal zone. Lymphoid follicles around the eggs injected into the spleen were also seriously depauperated. The splenic weight (0.15 +/- 0.01) g of the mice infected with single-sex cercariae significantly less than that (0.41 +/- 0.03) g of the mice infected with both sexes cercariae (P < 0.01). However, the splenic structure of the mice infected with single-sex cercariae kept integrated. CONCLUSION Eggs of S. japonicum have a destructive effect on the splenic structure in C57BL/6 mice.
Serum levels of rubella virus antibodies indicating immunity: response to vaccination of subjects with low or undetectable antibody concentrations.

To define the concentration of anti-rubella virus (RV) antibodies discriminating nonimmune from immune persons and to characterize immune responses to rubella vaccination, serologic studies were performed after rubella vaccination in persons with low or undetectable antibody concentrations. Thirty-six subjects with primary immune responses had prevaccination anti-RV IgG concentrations <15 IU/mL by ELISA and negative results by radial hemolysis. Eighty-three subjects with secondary immune responses had mean IgG increases of 9 IU/mL within 2 weeks. Eight of them had initial IgG levels <15 IU/mL, and 2 were negative by radial hemolysis. Both groups attained similar antibody levels after 1-3 months. Secondary immune responses to rubella vaccination were delayed by >2 weeks and thus resembled the time course of primary immunization, but IgM responses and IgG avidity were distinct between subjects with primary or secondary immune responses. Thresholds for immunity <15 IU/mL entail the risk of withholding rubella vaccination from susceptible persons.
An analysis of hysteroscopy experience over a seven-year period.

PURPOSE OF INVESTIGATION Over the years, hysteroscopy has been increasingly performed for various gynecological disorders. In this study, we present a review of hysteroscopic procedures performed over a 7-year period. METHODS Five hundred and eighty hysteroscopic procedures performed at the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University of Gaziantep, Turkey from 2002 to 2009 were reviewed particularly highlighting the preoperative indications, postoperative diagnoses and complications associated with the procedure retrospectively. RESULTS The most common indication for diagnostic hysteroscopy was infertility followed by AUB. The most common pathologies for referal to operative hysteroscopy were uterine septum, endometrial polyps, Asherman's syndrome, submucous myomas, and other uterine anomalies. The complication rate was 0.86% of the total hysteroscopies. False passage and uterine perforation were the most common acute complications. No late complications occurred. CONCLUSION Our data is consistent with reports from other studies supporting that hysteroscopy is a safe and effective minimally invasive procedure with a low rate of complications with certain surgical principles.
Lo que aprendí de Alan: Un caso de cambio en la formación inicial del profesorado

Este articulo examina un cambio en los procedimientos para mejorar el conocimiento de la asignatura en los estudiantes en un programa de formacion inicial del profesorado de musica. El cambio, provocado por la respuesta de un estudiante extraordinario, lleva al autor a preguntar “? hasta que punto los cambios en las practicas docentes estan provocados por alumnos extraordinarios? ” y “? como se podria investigar esos procesos? ”.
Context-aware delivery of interaction tutorials in ambient spaces

Over the past years, the amount as well as the provided functionality of (smart) devices raised, with increasing tendency. In terms of ubiquitous computing and smart home solutions, systems get more embedded into ambient spaces. Recent studies showed, that users are often overwhelmed even in interacting with everday objects, which can be applied to smart objects and gesture control as well. In addition to an insufficent design a lack of documentation is responsible for this. In this paper we present an approach to create a framework based on formal descriptions of interaction, space and objects to allow a context-aware delivery of interaction tutorials, based on the users needs and preferences.
Microcavity lasers on polymer materials: Boundary integral equation modeling and experiments

We consider the modeling and experiments with polymer dye-doped lasers shaped as thin flat cavities, allowing one to consider them as two-dimensional (2-D) active cavities. We focus our modeling on the H-polarized electromagnetic field in a kite-shaped laser. Assuming that the lasing-mode frequency is real-valued, we look for it together with the corresponding threshold value of material gain. Such electromagnetic-field problem is reduced to the Muller set of the boundary integral equations (MBIE), discretization of which yields determinantal equation. Numerical results reveal various types of modes existing in the kite including the perturbed whispering gallery (WG) modes that have the lowest thresholds. Their far-field emission patterns show good agreement with the measurements.
Polarization diversity array of E-shaped patch antenna

In this work a E-shaped microstrip patch antenna is design to resonate at 2.4 Ghz frequency. The FR4 material having dielectric constant of 4.4 is used as a substrate for the design antenna. Further a polarization diversity pair is proposed in which one E-shaped antenna element is horizontally polarized while other is design to be vertically polarized. Polarization diversity pair is oriented in space such a way to have mutual coupling between two E-shaped elements to be less than 40dB.Single patch antenna and the polarization diversity pair are optimized using HFSS simulation software. The designed antennas were manufactured and tested with Vector Network Analyzer.
Sugar transport in Sulfolobus solfataricus is mediated by two families of binding protein‐dependent ABC transporters

The extreme thermoacidophilic archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus grows optimally at 80°C and pH 3 and uses a variety of sugars as sole carbon and energy source. Glucose transport in this organism is mediated by a high‐affinity binding protein‐dependent ATP‐binding cassette (ABC) transporter. Sugar‐binding studies revealed the presence of four additional membrane‐bound binding proteins for arabinose, cellobiose, maltose and trehalose. These glycosylated binding proteins are subunits of ABC transporters that fall into two distinct groups: (i) monosaccharide transporters that are homologous to the sugar transport family containing a single ATPase and a periplasmic‐binding protein that is processed at an unusual site at its amino‐terminus; (ii) di‐ and oligosaccharide transporters, which are homologous to the family of oligo/dipeptide transporters that contain two different ATPases, and a binding protein that is synthesized with a typical bacterial signal sequence. The latter family has not been implicated in sugar transport before. These data indicate that binding protein‐dependent transport is the predominant mechanism of transport for sugars in S. solfataricus.