Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Rivaroxaban: An Oral Direct Factor Xa Inhibitor for the Prevention of Thromboembolism

Rivaroxaban is a novel oral direct factor Xa inhibitor. It is currently awaiting approval from the US Food and Drug Administration as a prophylaxis for venous thromboembolism in total knee and hip replacements. Based on phase II and III trials, rivaroxaban has been shown to be as efficacious, if not more, as traditional antithrombotic therapy with similar safety profiles. The Regulation of Coagulation in Major Orthopedic Surgery Reducing the Risk of Deep Vein Thrombosis and Pulmonary Embolism (RECORD) phase III trials have shown rivaroxaban 10 mg once daily to be superior to the low molecular weight heparin, enoxaparin, when used for prophylaxis of venous thromboembolism in orthopedic surgeries. Rivaroxaban has been shown to have tolerable adverse effects and a low potential for drug-drug or drug-food interactions. It has the major advantages of once daily oral dosing and no required laboratory monitoring, giving it the potential to replace current antithrombotics in the market today.
Nasal laser mucotomy (L-mucotomy) of the interior turbinates

Abstract Eighty-seven patients who were treated by laser mucotomy (L-mucotomy) of the inferior turbinates were followed-up for one year. Patients presented for laser surgery because of one of the three following symptoms: sneezing, rhinorrhoea, or nasal obstruction. All of them had had prior conservative or surgical treatments for their symptoms without improvement in their complaints and/or quality of life. L-mucotomy is a simple procedure performed under local anaesthesia on an ambulatory basis. A controlled amount of tissue from the inferior turbinates is ablated with improvement in the symptoms, as reported by the patients one year after laser surgery. The procedure is easy to perform, there is no bleeding, it is painless and without complications, but it requires rather expensive surgical equipment.
Human Marrow Stromal Cell Treatment Provides Long-lasting Benefit after Traumatic Brain Injury in Rats

OBJECTIVE:This study was designed to investigate the effects of human bone marrow stromal cell (hMSC) administration in rats for 3 months after traumatic brain injury (TBI). METHODS:Adult male Wistar rats (n = 60) were injured with controlled cortical impact and divided into four groups. The three treatment groups (n = 10 each) were injected with 2 × 106, 4 × 106, and 8 × 106 hMSCs, respectively, intravenously, whereas the control group (n = 30) received phosphate-buffered saline. All injections were performed 1 day after injury into the tail veins of rats. Neurological functional evaluation of animals was performed before and after injury by use of Neurological Severity Scores. Animals were sacrificed 3 months after TBI, and brain sections were stained by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS:Statistically significant improvement in functional outcome was observed in all three treatment groups compared with control values (P < 0.05). This benefit was visible 14 days after TBI and persisted until 3 months (end of trial). There was no difference in functional outcome among the three treatment groups. Histological analysis showed that hMSCs were present in the lesion boundary zone at 3 months with all three doses tested. CONCLUSION:hMSCs injected in rats after TBI survive until 3 months and provide long-lasting functional benefit. Functional improvement may be attributed to stimulation of endogenous neurorestorative functions such as neurogenesis and synaptogenesis.
Relationships between maturity status, physical activity, and physical self-perceptions in primary school children

Abstract The aim of this study was to examine the influence of maturity status on primary school children's physical activity and physical self-perceptions. Altogether, 175 children (97 girls, 78 boys) aged 10.6 ± 0.3 years completed the Children and Youth Physical Self-Perception Profile and wore an ActiGraph accelerometer for five consecutive days to assess moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Anthropometric measures were completed to estimate maturity status. A two-level, multi-level analysis was used to assess the influence of maturity status on moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and physical self-perceptions. Boys performed more moderate-to-vigorous physical activity than girls (P < 0.0001), but when the effect of maturity status was controlled the difference was reduced (P = 0.02). Significant differences between the sexes were also observed for physical self-perception sub-domains (boys > girls, P = 0.02 to 0.0001). When maturity status was added to the model, significant differences were no longer apparent for each sub-domain, with the exception of perceived strength. Significant interactions between gender and maturity status revealed that boys' physical self-perceptions improved with more advanced maturity status, whereas girls' self-perceptions decreased (P = 0.07 to 0.002). Significant differences between the sexes in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and some domains of physical self-perceptions were reduced or no longer evident when the effect of maturity status was controlled. Maturity status may differentially influence boys' and girls' physical self-perceptions.
The Coexistence of Multiple Worldviews in Livestock Farming Drives Agroecological Transition. A Case Study in French Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) Cheese Mountain Areas

Livestock systems contribute significantly to environmental issues and need to undergo an agroecological transition. This transition is not only technical, but also involves an evolution of farmers’ ways of seeing and interpreting the world, i.e., worldviews. We investigate livestock farmers’ worldviews and their relationships with farming practices (grazing and mowing management) in three Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) cheese areas in the French mountains. The study is based on quantitative and comprehensive qualitative surveys in 37 farms. We identify entities typically considered by farmers and the kind of relations they have with these entities, as well as the ontological background, sources of knowledge, and worlds of justifications. Four ideal-typical worldviews emerge: Modern; Traditional; Ecological Intensive; Holist. These four worldviews coexist in each area and also at the farm scale. Three selected farmer monographs illustrate this complexity in detail. The four worldviews are consistent with other typologies in literature. Both Ecological Intensive and Holist worldviews can be considered as “agroecological”; however, they correspond to very different conceptions of agroecology. Different worldviews imply different sustainability indicators and pathways, as well as alternative knowledge-management systems. Finally, the coexistence of multiple worldviews is a key driver of the agroecological transition, which can be enhanced by facilitating confrontation and exchanges between worldviews.
Evolving trends in the treatment of low‐risk myelodysplastic syndromes: immunomodulation and beyond—9th European Hematology Association Congress Geneva, Switzerland, 10–13 June 2004

summary The 9th European Hematology Association Congress, held in Geneva, Switzerland, from 10 through 13 June 2004, offered a number of educational programmes that focused on myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). This report will summarize the material presented at the educational symposium entitled ‘Evolving Trends in the Treatment of Low‐Risk MDS: Immunomodulation and Beyond’. The overview of the presentations includes a comparative review of the classification systems for MDS; a discussion of treatment strategies and management issues for patients in lower risk disease categories; a description of a novel class of immunomodulators, the IMiDs®, and a presentation of updated data from clinical trials of the IMiD compound, lenalidomide, in the treatment of MDS.
Genome‐wide scan of bipolar disorder and investigation of population stratification effects on linkage: Support for susceptibility loci at 4q21, 7q36, 9p21, 12q24, 14q24, and 16p13

Bipolar disorder (BPD) is a complex genetic disorder with cycling symptoms of depression and mania. Despite the extreme complexity of this psychiatric disorder, attempts to localize genes which confer vulnerability to the disorder have had some success. Chromosomal regions including 4p16, 12q24, 18p11, 18q22, and 21q21 have been repeatedly linked to BPD in different populations. Here we present the results of a whole genome scan for linkage to BPD in an Irish population. Our most significant result was at 14q24 which yielded a non‐parametric LOD (NPL) score of 3.27 at the D14S588 marker with a nominal P‐value of 0.0006 under a narrow (bipolar type I only) model of affection. We previously reported linkage to 14q22‐24 in a subset of the families tested in this analysis. We also obtained suggestive evidence for linkage at 4q21, 9p21, 12q24, and 16p13, chromosomal regions that have all been previously linked to BPD. Additionally, we report on a novel approach to linkage analysis, STRUCTURE‐Guided Linkage Analysis (SGLA), which is designed to reduce genetic heterogeneity and increase the power to detect linkage. Application of this technique resulted in more highly significant evidence for linkage of BPD to three regions including 16p13, a locus that has been repeatedly linked to numerous psychiatric disorders. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
From IoT big data to IoT big services

The large-scale deployments of Internet of Things (IoT) systems have introduced several new challenges in terms of processing their data. The massive amount of IoT-generated data requires design solutions to speed up data processing, scale up with the data volume and improve data adaptability and extensibility. Beyond existing techniques for IoT data collection, filtering, and analytics, innovative service computing technologies are required for provisioning data-centric and scalable IoT services. This paper presents a service-oriented design model and framework for realizing scalable and efficient acquisition, processing and integration of data-centric IoT services. In this approach, data-centric IoT services are organized in a service integrating tree structure, adhering to the architecture of many large-scale IoT systems, including recent fog-based IoT computing models. A service node in the tree is called a Big Service and acts as an integrator, collecting data from lower level Big Services, processing them, and delivering the result to higher level IoT Big Services. The service tree thereby encapsulates required data processing functions in a hierarchical manner in order to achieve scalable and real-time data collection and processing. We have implemented the IoT Big Services framework leveraging a popular cloud-based service and data platform called Firebase, and evaluated its performance in terms of real-time requirements.
Characterization of enzymatic synthesis of sphingolipid long-chain bases in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: mutant strains exhibiting long-chain-base auxotrophy are deficient in serine palmitoyltransferase activity

We have begun a biochemical-genetic analysis of the synthesis of sphingolipid long-chain bases in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and found evidence for the occurrence of serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT) and 3-ketosphinganine reductase, enzymes that catalyze the initial steps of the pathway in other organisms. SPT activity was demonstrated in vitro with crude membrane preparations from S. cerevisiae as judged by the formation of radiolabeled 3-ketosphinganine from the condensation of palmitoyl-coenzyme A (CoA) with radiolabeled serine. Shorter (C12 and C14) and longer (C18) acyl-CoAs sustain significant SPT activity, a result consistent with the finding of both C18 and C20 long-chain bases in the organism. Three products of the long-chain-base synthetic pathway, 3-ketosphinganine, erythrosphinganine, and phytosphingosine, neither directly inhibited the reaction in vitro nor affected the specific activity of the enzyme when these bases were included in the culture medium of wild-type cells. Thus, no evidence for either feedback inhibition or repression of enzyme synthesis could be found with these putative effectors. Mutant strains of S. cerevisiae that require a sphingolipid long-chain base for growth fall into two genetic complementation groups, LCB1 and LCB2. Membrane preparations from both lcb1 and lcb2 mutant strains exhibited negligible SPT activity when tested in vitro. Step 2 of the long-chain-base synthetic pathway was demonstrated by the stereospecific NADPH-dependent reduction of 3-ketosphinganine to erythrosphinganine. Membranes isolated from wild-type cells and from an lcb1 mutant exhibited substantial 3-ketosphinganine reductase activity. We conclude that the Lcb- phenotype of these mutants results from a missing or defective SPT, an activity controlled by both the LCB1 and LCB2 genes. These results and earlier work from this laboratory establish that SPT plays an essential role in sphingolipid synthesis in S. cerevisiae.
Epidemiological factors on hymenoptera venom allergy in a Spanish adult population.

BACKGROUND The prevalence and risk factors of hymenoptera venom allergy (HVA) have been studied in several countries. However, there are few studies on the general population and these have very variable results. METHODS An observational, prospective and cross-sectional study was carried out on a sample of 1064 subjects in a total working population of 7887 subjects (Ford factory, Spain) in order to know the prevalence of HVA in this population and the influence of several risk factors in its development. RESULTS The rate of exposure to stings was 84.1% (ci 95%: 81.8-86.3%). The prevalence of HVA was 7.6% (ci 95%: 6.1-9.4%), with local severe reactions (LSR) in 5.3% (ci 95%: 4-6.8%) and systemic reactions (SR) in 2.3% (ci 95%: 1.5-3.4%). More than 82% of individuals over 20 years had already had some exposure, a figure that did not change in the age groups of older decades. In our study, the prevalence of HVA was not dependent on either age (similar age in all groups), sex: for LSR OR 2.75 (ci 95%: 0.37-20.30), for SR OR 0.54 (ci 95%: 0.12-2.38), or atopy OR 0.96 (ci 95%: 0.50-1.83); SR being more frequent among the residents of rural habitats, with ranges approaching statistically significant levels OR 2.15 (ci 95%: 0.95-4.81). The number of stings was larger in HVA group with respect a control group. The degree of venom sensitization measure by skin test and CAP-RAST was more intensive in SR group versus LSR group. Among vespids, sensitization to Polistes was more frequent than Vespula. CONCLUSIONS HVA in our sample has a similar prevalence to other countries located in similar geo-climatic environments. Rural habitat and the number of stings suffered along life are risk factors of HVA development.
C3G regulates cortical neuron migration, preplate splitting and radial glial cell attachment

Neuronal migration is integral to the development of the cerebral cortex and higher brain function. Cortical neuron migration defects lead to mental disorders such as lissencephaly and epilepsy. Interaction of neurons with their extracellular environment regulates cortical neuron migration through cell surface receptors. However, it is unclear how the signals from extracellular matrix proteins are transduced intracellularly. We report here that mouse embryos lacking the Ras family guanine nucleotide exchange factor, C3G (Rapgef1, Grf2), exhibit a cortical neuron migration defect resulting in a failure to split the preplate into marginal zone and subplate and a failure to form a cortical plate. C3G-deficient cortical neurons fail to migrate. Instead, they arrest in a multipolar state and accumulate below the preplate. The basement membrane is disrupted and radial glial processes are disorganised and lack attachment in C3G-deficient brains. C3G is activated in response to reelin in cortical neurons, which, in turn, leads to activation of the small GTPase Rap1. In C3G-deficient cells, Rap1 GTP loading in response to reelin stimulation is reduced. In conclusion, the Ras family regulator C3G is essential for two aspects of cortex development, namely radial glial attachment and neuronal migration.
Effects of age and physical activity status on the speed-aerobic demand relationship of walking.

Older adults tend to show lower preferred walking speeds and higher aerobic demands per distance walked than young adults. It has been suggested that a more sedentary life-style contributes to diminished musculoskeletal functioning, which in turn contributes to poorer economy of motion in the aged and sedentary adults. The purpose of this study was to quantify the speed-aerobic demand relationship during walking for old (greater than 65 yr of age) and young adults and to determine whether physical activity status affects this relationship. Aerobic demands for 30 young and 30 old individuals representing sedentary and physically active groups were measured as the subjects performed treadmill walking at seven speeds ranging from 0.67 to 2.01 m/s. All four age/physical activity groups displayed U-shaped speed-aerobic demand curves with minimum gross oxygen consumption per unit distance walked (ml.kg-1.km-1) at 1.34 m/s. A statistically significant age effect on walking aerobic demand was observed, with old subjects showing an 8% higher mean aerobic demand than the young subjects. This age-related effect was not associated with shifts in the speed at which aerobic demand was minimized or with the preferred walking speed of older individuals falling on a less economical portion of the speed-aerobic demand curve. Rather, it was speculated that declines in force-generating capacity of muscle in the aged may require recruitment of additional motor units and perhaps an additional proportion of less economical fast twitch muscle fibers to generate necessary forces. Physical activity status had no significant effect on walking aerobic demand. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Contextual fear conditioning in zebrafish

Zebrafish are a genetically tractable vertebrate that hold considerable promise for elucidating the molecular basis of behavior. Although numerous recent advances have been made in the ability to precisely manipulate the zebrafish genome, much less is known about many aspects learning and memory in adult fish. Here, we develop a contextual fear conditioning paradigm using an electric shock as the aversive stimulus. We find that contextual fear conditioning is modulated by shock intensity, prevented by inhibition of (N-methyl-D-aspartate) NMDA receptors, lasts at least 14 days, and exhibits extinction. Furthermore, fish of various background strains (AB, Tu, and TL) are able to acquire fear conditioning, but differ in fear extinction rates. Taken together, we find that contextual fear conditioning in zebrafish shares many similarities with the widely used contextual fear conditioning paradigm in rodents. Combined with the amenability of genetic manipulation in zebrafish, we anticipate that our paradigm will prove to be a useful complementary system in which to examine the molecular basis of vertebrate learning and memory.
Role of proliferation in HER2 status predicted response to doxorubicin

The role of HER2 in predicting response to doxorubicin (DXR) therapy in breast cancer was evaluated in vivo in a series of breast carcinomas from 220 patients with tumors larger than 2.5 cm and treated with 3 cycles of DXR (75 mg/m2) as neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Patients with HER2‐positive tumors were more frequently responsive to DXR treatment compared with HER2‐negative patients (p = 0.05; Mantel‐Haenszel X2 = 0.009). Progesterone receptor (PgR) negativity, but not mutated p53, was also associated with response to DXR (p = 0.05; Mantel‐Haenszel X2 = 0.004). Further analysis of those correlations using breast carcinoma cell lines characterized for different biologic parameters revealed a trend between HER2 positivity/PgR negativity and greater DXR sensitivity, but the strongest direct correlation was found between the proliferation rate and sensitivity to DXR (r = 0.82, p = 0.00009). Neither p53 nor the DXR target molecule topoisomerase‐II‐α was significantly associated with in vitro sensitivity to DXR. Thus, whereas data showed that the major biologic parameter associated with in vitro response to DXR in breast cancer cells appears to be the tumor proliferation rate, HER2 expression together with PgR negativity may serve as the counterpart of the proliferation marker in predicting the in vivo response to DXR. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Visual conspicuity: A new simple standard, its reliability, validity and applicability

A general standard for quantifying conspicuity is described. It derives from a simple and easy method to quantitatively measure the visual conspicuity of an object. The method stems from the theoretical view that the conspicuity of an object is not a property of that object, but describes the degree to which the object is perceptually embedded in, i.e. laterally masked by, its visual environment. First, three variations of a simple method to measure the strength of such lateral masking are described and empirical evidence for its reliability and its validity is presented, as are several tests of predictions concerning the effects of viewing distance and ambient light. It is then shown how this method yields a conspicuity standard, expressed as a number, which can be made part of a rule of law, and which can be used to test whether or not, and to what extent, the conspicuity of a particular object, e.g. a traffic sign, meets a predetermined criterion. An additional feature is that, when used under different ambient light conditions, the method may also yield an index of the amount of visual clutter in the environment. Taken together the evidence illustrates the methods' applicability in both the laboratory and in real-life situations. Statement of Relevance: This paper concerns a proposal for a new method to measure visual conspicuity, yielding a numerical index that can be used in a rule of law. It is of importance to ergonomists and human factor specialists who are asked to measure the conspicuity of an object, such as a traffic or rail-road sign, or any other object. The new method is simple and circumvents the need to perform elaborate (search) experiments and thus has great relevance as a simple tool for applied research.
Cardiac Tamponade in Medical Patients: A 10-Year Follow-Up Survey

Objectives: Cardiac tamponade represents a life-threatening condition that may complicate almost any cause of pericarditis. We conducted a 10-year prospective survey on patients with cardiac tamponade requiring an emergency drainage. Methods: From 1996 to 2005, 114 consecutive patients were admitted to the University Hospital of Brest for medical cardiac tamponade. Data on medical history, and volume, characteristics and histology of the pericardial fluid as well as short- and long-term follow-up data were collected. Results: Malignant disease was the primary cause of medical tamponade (74 patients; 65%), followed by viral history (11; 10%) and intra-pericardial bleeding due to anti-coagulation treatment (4; 3%). In 12 cases, aetiology remained unknown (10%). Pericardiocentesis was immediately performed in 80 cases and surgical pericardiotomy in 34. The mean volume drained was 593 ± 313 ml. In-hospital mortality was 10% without any difference between malignant and non-malignant diseases (p = 0.8). One-year mortality was 76.5% in patients with malignant disease and 13.3% in those without malignant disease (p < 0.0001). Median survival in case of malignant disease was 150 days. Conclusion: Compared to previously published data, our survey shows a decrease in some historical causes of tamponade such as tuberculosis, myxoedema or uraemia. The leading cause is currently malignant disease, which carries a very poor prognosis.