Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does the index-to-ring finger length ratio (2D:4D) differ in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)? Results from an international online case–control study

Objectives The ratio of the length of the index finger (2D) to the ring finger (4D) (2D:4D) has been reported to be lower (ie, 2D<4D) in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) than non-ALS controls. This has led to suggestions that exposure to increased prenatal testosterone, which also lowers this ratio, could be a risk factor for ALS. In an attempt to test this hypothesis, we examined 2D:4Ds from large numbers of patients with ALS and controls. Setting An online multilingual questionnaire enabling respondents to measure their own index and ring finger lengths. Participants Of the initial 949 respondents, 572 remained for analysis after elimination for inability to straighten fingers, not answering the question, statistical outliers and aged <40 years. Respondents remaining for analysis were 202 patients with ALS (125 males, 77 females) and 370 non-ALS controls (112 males, 258 females). Results Unpaired t-tests with 95% CIs were used to assess differences in mean 2D:4Ds. Males had significantly lower mean 2D:4Ds than females, in both ALS and control groups, for both left and right hands. No significant differences were found in 2D:4Ds between ALS and control groups, in either males or females, for either left or right hands. Receiver operating characteristic curves showed no power for 2D:4Ds to predict ALS status in either males or females. Conclusions 2D:4Ds did not differ between patients with ALS and controls in this study. This was despite the dataset being large enough to confirm the established finding of lower 2D:4Ds in males compared with females. These findings do not support the hypothesis that exposure to increased prenatal testosterone is a risk factor for ALS. A putative lower 2D:4D has been proposed to explain the link between ALS and exercise, but our results indicate that other exercise-related factors are more likely to explain this association.
Localization of the prostacyclin receptor in human kidney.

BACKGROUND Prostacyclin is an important mediator of renal hemodynamics. Furthermore, recent studies argue for a role of this arachidonic acid metabolite in the regulation of salt and water handling in the distal nephron. To gain insight into the network of prostacyclin signal transduction, we analyzed the intrarenal distribution of the prostacyclin receptor (IP receptor) in adult human kidney. METHODS Specific polyclonal antibodies against a synthetic peptide of the human IP receptor were generated. By means of immunohistology the localization of IP receptor protein was studied. The mRNA expression for IP receptor was analyzed by in situ hybridization using specific cRNA probes. RESULTS In human kidney sections both IP receptor-immunoreactive protein and mRNA were expressed in smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells. Expression of the IP receptor was observed in glomerular cells, namely mesangial cells, endothelial cells, and podocytes. Both mRNA and protein expression for IP receptor was observable in Tamm-Horsfall-negative distal tubules and collecting ducts. CONCLUSIONS The vascular expression of the IP receptor is consistent with the known vasodilatory effect of prostacyclin in vascular beds. Glomerular expression argues for a role of this autacoid in the regulation of glomerular hemodynamics. The tubular distribution might point towards the involvement of prostacyclin in renal salt and water handling.
Transgenic Tobacco Plants Overexpressing Chitinases of Fungal Origin Show Enhanced Resistance to Biotic and Abiotic Stress Agents1

Genes encoding defense-related proteins have been used to alter the resistance of plants to pathogens and other environmental challenges, but no single fungal gene overexpression has produced broad-spectrum stress resistance in transgenic lines. We have generated transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) lines that overexpress the endochitinases CHIT33 and CHIT42 from the mycoparasitic fungus Trichoderma harzianum and have evaluated their tolerance to biotic and abiotic stress. Both CHIT33 and CHIT42, individually, conferred broad resistance to fungal and bacterial pathogens, salinity, and heavy metals. Such broad-range protective effects came off with no obvious detrimental effect on the growth of tobacco plants.
Prevalence of Substance Use Among White and American Indian Young Adolescents in a Northern Plains State

Abstract This article documents the prevalence of self-reported substance use among White and American Indian adolescents enrolled in seventh grade (ages 12 through 13) in 1997 in a Northern Plains state. Data were collected by self-administered questionnaire preceding adolescents' participation in a randomized field trial of Project Alert, a seventh and eighth grade substance use prevention curriculum. Rates of lifetime and past-month use of cigarettes and marijuana were higher among American Indians than among Whites of the same gender. American Indian girls exceeded American Indian boys as well as White girls and White boys on lifetime and past-month use of cigarettes and marijuana as well as alcohol and inhalants; differences on cigarette and inhalant use reached statistical significance. These findings add to the sparse literature on substance use among adolescents as young as 12 through 13 years old and underscore the importance of examining gender-specific substance use patterns early in adolescence.
The appearance of pyrrolysine in tRNAHis guanylyltransferase by neutral evolution

tRNAHis guanylyltransferase (Thg1) post-transcriptionally adds a G (position −1) to the 5′-terminus of tRNAHis. The Methanosarcina acetivorans Thg1 (MaThg1) gene contains an in-frame TAG (amber) codon. Although a UAG codon typically directs translation termination, its presence in Methanosarcina mRNA may lead to pyrrolysine (Pyl) incorporation achieved by Pyl-tRNAPyl, the product of pyrrolysyl-tRNA synthetase. Sequencing of the MaThg1 gene and transcript confirmed the amber codon. Translation of MaThg1 mRNA led to a full-length, Pyl-containing, active enzyme as determined by immunoblotting, mass spectrometry, and biochemical analysis. The nature of the inserted amino acid at the position specified by UAG is not critical, as Pyl or Trp insertion yields active MaThg1 variants in M. acetivorans and equal amounts of full-length protein. These data suggest that Pyl insertion is akin to natural suppression and unlike the active stop codon reassignment that is required for selenocysteine insertion. Only three Pyl-containing proteins have been characterized previously, a set of methylamine methyltransferases in which Pyl is assumed to have specifically evolved to be a key active-site constituent. In contrast, Pyl in MaThg1 is a dispensable residue that appears to confer no selective advantage. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that Thg1 is becoming dispensable in the archaea, and furthermore supports the hypothesis that Pyl appeared in MaThg1 as the result of neutral evolution. This indicates that even the most unusual amino acid can play an ordinary role in proteins.
Third-degree price discrimination in a short-stay accommodation industry

ABSTRACT This article analyses the pricing in the short-stay accommodation industry in Tasmania. It utilizes a novel 2008 survey of Tasmanian short-stay accommodation firms in which business managers were asked about their perception of the elasticity of their firm’s demand in each of the market segments that their firm supplied. This direct observation of elasticity allows us to demonstrate that firms’ price across market segments act in a manner consistent with the Lerner index and the theory of third-degree price discrimination. Further we show, in line with expectations based on the literature, that increased quality of the accommodation lowers the elasticity of demand, while the elasticity of demand is higher in winter. Surprisingly, Internet sales channels do not exhibit a different elasticity of demand to other sales channels.
Foreign currency borrowing, exports and firm performance: evidence from a currency crisis

ABSTRACT This paper develops a simple signaling model of foreign currency borrowing that yields predictions about firm survival and performance during a currency crisis. Using a large panel of firm level data for South Korea we offer empirical support for many of the predictions of our model, while others support predictions that cannot be tested using our data. Our paper demonstrates that although firms that borrow in foreign currency are more likely to exit after the currency collapses, those that continue to produce perform better. Among them, the best performers are exporters whose foreign sales are more competitively priced under a devalued currency.
Area spectral efficiency and energy efficiency of multi-hop multi-antenna cognitive underlay networks

In this article, we develop a unified framework for characterizing the area spectral efficiency and the energy efficiency (EE) of multi-antenna multi-hop cognitive underlay networks (CRNs). We highlight the available degrees-of-freedom which can be exploited to maximize the EE of the network. In particular, we demonstrate that considering the primary user's quality of service (QoS) requirements, joint tuning of the medium access probability and the transmit power results in an optimal EE performance. It is shown that an arbitrary selection of one degree of freedom while adapting another in accordance with the QoS constraint results in a sub-optimal performance. We highlight that the secondary array size and the employed modulation scheme can also be treated as the available degrees of freedom which can be exploited to further enhance the performance of an underlay CRN.
Parents' perspectives on otitis media and antibiotics A qualitative study

Background - Judicious use of antibiotics is an important factor in decreasing the current increase in bacterial resistance. Discussion with patients and their guardians on whether to use antibiotics or not can be expected to increase in the future. Objective - To explore the views and feelings of parents of children with acute otitis media towards the disease and its treatment. Design - A qualitative study with semi-structured interviews. Subjects - Twenty-one parents of pre-school children with newly diagnosed acute otitis media who had attended a primary care centre in Reykjavík. Results - The parents did not consider the disease a threat. They generally thought the disease was caused by environmental factors or by a disturbance in body mechanism. The majority thought that treatment with antibiotics could harm their children. Conclusion - The parents of young children hold views on acute otitis media and antibiotics which are markedly different from the medical model.
Association between dietary nutrient composition and the incidence of cirrhosis or liver cancer in the united states population

Little is known about the impact of dietary factors on the progression of liver disease. Our aim was to determine whether dietary intake was associated with the risk of cirrhosis‐related or liver cancer–related death or hospitalization in the U.S. population. Participants included 9221 persons aged 25‐74 years without evidence of cirrhosis at entry into the study or during the first 5 years of follow‐up, who were subsequently followed for a mean of 13.3 years as part of the first National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Dietary intake was ascertained at baseline using a 24‐hour dietary recall questionnaire. During follow‐up, 123 of 9221 participants had a diagnosis of cirrhosis (n = 118) or liver cancer (n = 5) in hospitalization records or death certificates, including 36 who were diagnosed only on the basis of death certificates. Participants who reported a diet high in protein were at a higher risk of hospitalization or death due to cirrhosis or liver cancer (P = 0.001), whereas those who reported a diet high in carbohydrates were at a lower risk (P = 0.003), after adjusting for potential confounders (daily consumption of protein, carbohydrate, fat, tea or coffee, and alcohol, gender, race, age, educational attainment, U.S. geographical region, diabetes, body mass index, and subscapular‐to‐triceps skinfold ratio). Although total fat consumption was not significantly associated with the risk of cirrhosis or liver cancer, cholesterol consumption was associated with higher risk (P = 0.007), whereas serum cholesterol level was not associated with risk of cirrhosis or liver cancer. Conclusion: Diet may be an important and potentially modifiable determinant of liver disease. (HEPATOLOGY 2009.)
Construction and usage of a onefold‐coverage shotgun DNA microarray to characterize the metabolism of the archaeon Haloferax volcanii

Haloferax volcanii is a moderately halophilic archaeon that can grow aerobically and anaerobically with a variety of substrates. We undertook a novel approach for the characterization of metabolic adaptations, i.e. transcriptome analysis with a onefold‐coverage shotgun DNA microarray. A genomic library was constructed and converted into a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) product library, which was used to print two DNA microarrays, a 960‐spot test array used for optimization of microarray analysis and a 2880‐spot onefold‐coverage array. H. volcanii cultures were shifted from casamino acid‐based metabolism to glucose‐based metabolism, and the transcriptome changes were analysed with the onefold‐coverage array at five time points covering the transition phase and the onset of exponential growth with the new carbon source. About 10% of all genes were found to be more than 2.5‐fold regulated at at least one time point. The genes fall into five clusters of kinetically co‐regulated genes. For members of all five clusters, the results were verified by Northern blot analyses. The identity of the regulated genes was determined by sequencing. Many co‐regulated genes encode proteins of common functions. Expected as well as a variety of unexpected findings allowed predictions about the central metabolism, the transport capacity and the cellular composition of H. volcanii growing on casamino acids and on glucose. The microarray analyses are in accordance with the growth rates and ribosome contents of H. volcanii growing on the two carbon sources. Analysis of the results revealed that onefold‐coverage shotgun DNA microarrays are well suited to characterize the regulation of metabolic pathways as well as protein complexes in response to changes in environmental conditions.
Labor Supply in the Future: Who Will Work?

Evidence on hours worked per capita from historical time series as well as from a large cross-section of countries at different income levels strongly suggests that the income effect of increased labor productivity exceeds the substitution effect. To the extent that productivity keeps growing in the future, we should then expect people to want to work less and less. Given that labor-force participation is associated with natural indivisibilities, our perspective must furthermore imply that a smaller and smaller fraction of the population will be working. So who will then withdraw from the labor force, and when? This paper examines these questions in a frictionless setting where consumers/workers at any point in time differ in wealth and in productivity. It also addresses the normative issue: who should (given some welfare weights) work in the future?
Common Wealth Economics For A Crowded Planet

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Role of computerized morphometric analysis in diagnosis of effusion specimens

The present study was undertaken to compare morphometric analysis of cells in 100 effusion samples, with unaided cytological diagnosis. All the cases in the form of Leishman's stained smears were subjected to computerized‐interactive morphometry (CIM) by usage of Image analysis software. On routine cytological examination, 44 cases were benign, 26 were malignant, and 30 cases were placed in “atypical” category. On morphometry, values for mean nuclear area (MNA) and mean cytoplasmic area (MCA) in benign cases were found to be 58.39 ± 12.22 μm2 and 185.70 ± 43.69 μm2, while for malignant cases were 120.12 ± 16.28 μm2 and 274.65 ± 61.01 μm2, respectively (P < 0.001, P < 0.001, highly significant). Significant differences were also noted among benign, atypical, and malignant cases for MNA (P < 0.001). The differences between atypical and malignant cases for N/C (nuclear/cytoplasmic) ratio were also found to be statistically significant (P < 0.001). Finally, 46 cases were found to be benign, 39 malignant, and 15 in the category of atypical cases. CIM helps in better and quicker sorting for malignant cells. MNA and N/C ratio are the most significant parameters in differentiating various cells in effusions. MCA constitutes as another useful parameter. Salient features of CIM, including their applications in the light of current study, are discussed. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2006;34:670–675. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Clinical features of Graves' ophthalmopathy in an incidence cohort.

PURPOSE To determine the clinical characteristics of an incidence cohort of patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy. METHODS We reviewed the community medical records of 120 patients residing in Olmsted County, Minnesota, in whom Graves' ophthalmopathy was diagnosed between 1976 and 1990. RESULTS Among 120 patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy, 108 (90%) patients had Graves' hyperthyroidism, one (1%) had primary hypothyroidism, four (3%) had Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and seven (6%) were euthyroid. At some point in their clinical course, eyelid retraction was present in 108 patients, whereas the approximate frequency of exophthalmos was 62% (73 patients); restrictive extraocular myopathy, 43% (51 patients); and optic nerve dysfunction, 6% (seven patients). Only six (5%) patients had eyelid retraction, exophthalmos, optic nerve dysfunction, extraocular muscle involvement, and hyperthyroidism. At the time of diagnosis of ophthalmopathy, upper eyelid retraction and eyelid lag were documented in 85 and 52 patients, respectively, and the most frequent ocular symptom was pain (36 patients, 30%). Diplopia was noted at the initial examination by 20 patients, lacrimation was present in 25 patients, 19 patients had photophobia, and nine patients had blurred vision. Decreased vision from optic neuropathy was present in less than 2% of eyes at the time of diagnosis. Thyroid dermopathy and acropachy accompanied Graves' ophthalmopathy in five patients (4%) and one (1%) patient, respectively. Myasthenia gravis occurred in only one patient. CONCLUSIONS Eyelid retraction is the most common clinical sign of Graves' ophthalmopathy. The complete constellation of typical features (hyperthyroidism, eyelid retraction, exophthalmos, restrictive extraocular myopathy, and optic nerve dysfunction) occurs relatively infrequently.
Confronting challenges in intervention research with ethnically diverse older adults: the USC Well Elderly II Trial

Background Community-dwelling older adults are at risk for declines in physical health, cognition, and psychosocial well-being. However, their enactment of active and health-promoting lifestyles can reduce such declines. Purpose The purpose of this article is to describe the USC Well Elderly II study, a randomized clinical trial designed to test the effectiveness of a healthy lifestyle program for elders, and document how various methodological challenges were addressed during the course of the trial. Methods In the study, 460 ethnically diverse elders recruited from a variety of sites in the urban Los Angeles area were enrolled in a randomized experiment involving a crossover design component. Within either the first or second 6-month phase of their study involvement, each elder received a lifestyle intervention designed to improve a variety of aging outcomes. At 4—5 time points over an 18—24 month interval, the research participants were assessed on measures of healthy activity, coping, social support, perceived control, stress-related biomarkers, perceived physical health, psychosocial well-being, and cognitive functioning to test the effectiveness of the intervention and document the process mechanisms responsible for its effects. Results The study protocol was successfully implemented, including the enrollment of study sites, the recruitment of 460 older adults, administration of the intervention, adherence to the plan for assessment, and establishment of a large computerized data base. Limitations: Methodological challenges were encountered in the areas of site recruitment, participant recruitment, testing, and intervention delivery. Conclusions The completion of clinical trials involving elders from numerous local sites requires careful oversight and anticipation of threats to the study design that stem from: (a) social situations that are particular to specific study sites; and (b) physical, functional, and social challenges pertaining to the elder population. Clinical Trials 2009; 6: 90—101. http://ctj.sagepub. com
Viral characteristics of human papillomavirus infection and antioxidant levels as risk factors for cervical dysplasia

Genital human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the major causal factor of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). The potential role of nutrition as an additional, independent risk factor for CIN has not been appropriately addressed in the context of HPV. This case‐control study evaluated the etiologic role of HPV in terms of viral type and load and examined the association between CIN and plasma levels of micronutrients adjusting for HPV. Cases (n = 378) with histo‐pathologically confirmed CIN and controls (n = 366) with no history of abnormal Pap smears were recruited from colposcopy and gynecology clinics, respectively. Risk of CIN was significantly increased among women who were infected with multiple HPV types (odds ratio [OR] = 21.06), a high viral load (OR = 13.08) and HPV 16 (OR = 62.49). After adjusting for HPV positivity and demographic factors, there was an inverse correlation between plasma α‐tocopherol and risk of CIN (OR = 0.15). Plasma ascorbic acid was protective at a high level of ≥ 0.803 mg/ dl (OR = 0.46). CIN was not associated with plasma retinol and β‐carotene levels. The effect of genital HPV infection on CIN development is highly influenced by oncogenic viral type and high viral load. Vitamins C and E may play an independent protective role in development of CIN that needs to be confirmed in prospective studies. Int. J. Cancer 78:594–599, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.