Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A fingerprint characteristic associated with the early prenatal environment

Fingerprints and fingertip ridge counts (RCs) have a significant genetic component. However, they also reflect the nongenetic environment of early pregnancy, an important time window for tissue differentiation and organogenesis. Fingerprints are permanently configured before the 20th week of gestation, and each fingertip's RC is related to the growth and regression of its early fetal volar pads. Rostral and caudal aspects of the embryonic limb bud have different relations to somite segments and to morphogen‐activator functions. We hypothesized, therefore, that early fetal circumstances would be associated with a contrast in RCs between the thumb (digit 1) and little finger (digit 5). We obtained RCs from the fingerprints of a sample of 658 Dutch adults identified through prenatal and delivery records of Dutch urban births occurring during 1943–1947, an historical era that included months of wartime disruption with a winter famine. We calculated the mean of left‐ and right‐hand RC differences between digits 1 and 5 (Md15). The Md15 fluctuated in relation to the calendar season of the mother's last menstrual period, but only if the gestation occurred outside of the wartime disruption interval. If the gestation occurred during the disruption interval, the Md15 seasonal fluctuation was not evident. This finding suggests that parental environmental factors may influence the fingerprints of the offspring. Fingerprint RC differences observed in postnatal life may be useful in the study of metabolic or anatomic programming related to the early prenatal environment. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2008. Published 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Design and development of computer controlled active sonar system

Nowadays computerization is the most popular, reliable and flexible design for various types of control and communication systems. Sound navigation and ranging (SONAR) is a modern ultrasonic range finding technique used for collecting the information of a distant object without any physical contact. In this paper, a personal computer (PC) based active SONAR system is presented. The developed SONAR system contains both transmitter and receiver parts in the same module. A pair of 40 kHz piezoelectric ultrasonic transducers is used to transmit ultrasound toward the object and receive the reflected from the object respectively. A driver-software named CURF (Computerized Ultrasonic Range Finder) is developed for this system, using Turbo C language aimed at IBM PC and its clone machines. The CURF software provides necessary support for interfacing the developed hardware as well as desired calculations. A number of tests have been done and it is found that the performances of the developed system are good in terms of accuracy, simplicity, cost and power consumption.
SEGURANÇA DE ALIMENTOS EM SUPERMERCADOS: UM ESTUDO DE CASO EM UMA REDE NO MUNICÍPIO DE CAMPOS DOS GOYTACAZES

O trabalho enfatiza areas importantes dentro de uma empresa no ramo alimenticio, a qualidade na seguranca alimentar como uma ferramenta de aumento de produtividade e da satisfacao dos clientes. Trata-se de uma pesquisa descritiva, onde foi utilizada como procedimentos tecnicos a pesquisa bibliografica e foi elaborado um checklist de aderencia para a analise e coleta de dados atraves das auditorias nos supermercados. Identificando os reais problemas, propondo correcoes necessarias, objetivando a qualidade final, que e a prestacao de servicos e por consequencia satisfazer os clientes. Foi verificado que nenhum topico do checklist apresenta todos os requisitos conformes e que os supermercados nao apresentam o mesmo sistema de qualidade, processos internos e seguranca alimentar. Revelando a necessidade de um sistema de qualidade eficiente na organizacao e uma maior preocupacao com a seguranca dos alimentos.
Maintenance Electroconvulsive Therapy in Affective and Schizoaffective Disorder

Twenty-one patients (13 depressives and 8 schizoaffectives) who underwent maintenance electroconvulsive therapy (M-ECT) were compared with controls who received maintenance pharmacotherapy alone. Measures of effectiveness and safety of maintenance treatment were prospectively obtained during a 1-year follow-up. Survival analysis demonstrated a significantly better outcome defined by time to rehospitalization for all patients of the M-ECT group. Regarding the subgroups, depressives of the M-ECT group had markedly decreased rehospitalization rates cmpared to depressive controls. Furthermore, M-ECT in depressives resulted in a significant reduction in hospitalization rates and duration during follow-up. In schizoaffective patients, a significant difference in survival time was found in favor of the M-ECT group. In both groups, schizoaffectives had a markedly poorer outcome compared to depressive subjects. Our results indicate that in selected patients M-ECT, at least in combination with supporting medication, may be an efficient and safe alternative to pharmacological continuation or maintenance therapy alone.
Effects of metabolic inhibition on the membrane properties of isolated mouse primary sensory neurones.

1. The patch‐clamp technique has been used to investigate the mechanisms that couple membrane excitability to metabolism in neurones isolated from mouse dorsal root ganglia. 2. Blockade of electron transport by cyanide (CN‐), reduction of the mitochondrial membrane potential with carbonyl cyanide p‐trifluoromethoxyphenyl hydrazone (FCCP), removal of glucose or inhibition of glycolysis with idoacetic acid (IAA), all increased a K+ conductance (gK), which could be sufficient to shunt action potentials. 3. The K+ conductance was reduced by incubation of cells in Ca2(+)‐free solutions or by increasing the Ca2+ buffering power of pipette‐filling solutions. The Ca2+ ionophore, ionomycin, also increased a K+ conductance, and current fluctuation analysis showed that the channels carrying the current induced by both ionomycin and by CN‐ had a similar mean conductance of circa 9 pS. Thus, increased gK was a Ca2(+)‐dependent K+ conductance, gK(Ca), reflecting a rise in resting [Ca2+]i. 4. The conductance was not affected by inclusion of ATP or an ATP‐regenerating system in the pipette, suggesting that the underlying rise in [Ca2+] is not due directly to loss of ATP, and confirming that the increased gK is not carried through ATP‐dependent K+ channels. 5. Voltage‐gated K+ currents evoked by membrane depolarization were increased by CN‐ or glucose removal. The current‐voltage relation of the increased gK mirrored the voltage dependence of Ca2+ entry, and thus reflects impaired cellular handling of the Ca2+ load imposed by depolarization. 6. The rise in [Ca2+]i and altered Ca2+ buffering capacity induced by metabolic blockade affected several other conductances: (i) a Ca2(+)‐dependent chloride current was increased. (ii) Both the low‐threshold transient and high‐threshold sustained voltage‐gated Ca2+ currents were attenuated and their thresholds were shifted in the hyperpolarizing direction. (iii) The inward current activated by hyperpolarization. IH, seen in large cells, was attenuated by either metabolic blockade or ionomycin. 7. The responses of these neurones to impaired metabolism thus depend largely on the effects of raised [Ca2+]i on the populations of channels expressed by the cells. These changes in membrane properties could account for some of the changes in neuronal behaviour seen during the clinical states of hypoxia or hypoglycaemia, underlying changes in central nervous system function.
Causation as Influence

Face au phenomene de causation redondante qui l'oblige a reviser son analyse contrefactuelle de la causation, l'A. met en evidence la distinction entre la cause (preempting) et l'effet (preempted) de la causation preemptive, quelque soit le cas, symetrique ou asymetrique, de la preemption premiere et de la preemption tardive, definies comme rupture (cutting) de la chaine causale. Rejetant l'idee de quasi-dependance, et corrigeant celle de fragilite, l'A. definit la transitivite de la causation comme modele d'influence.
Um Sistema de Recomendação Baseado em Nuvem

Os sistemas de recomendacao tem como objetivo amenizar a sobre-carga de informacao auxiliando usuario na busca pela informacao desejada. Este artigo apresenta um mecanismo de recomendacao de arquivos baseado em nuvem, em um ambiente de armazenamento de dados na nuvem. Com o Sistema de Recomendacao, os usuarios recebem recomendacoes de arquivos que sao similares as suas preferencias, baseada nos arquivos no qual o usuario salva em sua conta no ambiente. Ao mesmo tempo, que os arquivos recomendados pelo sistema atendem os fatores da nuvem, recomenda ao usuario, arquivos com maior disponibilidade no ambiente.
Cooperative problem solving using database conversations

Cooperative problem solving is a joint style of producing and consuming data. Unfortunately, most database mechanisms developed so far; are more appropriate for competitive usage than for a cooperative working style. They mostly adopt an operational point of view which binds data to applications. Data-oriented mechanisms like check-in/out avoid this binding but do not improve synchronization towards concurrent usage of data. Conversations are an application-independent, tight framework for jointly modifying common data. The idea is to create transaction-spanning conversational working stages that organize different contributions instead of serializing accesses. To illustrate the conversation concept, an extended query language with conversational operations is presented. <<ETX>>
Online versus In-Store: Price Differentiation for Multi-Channel Retailers

Pure-play online retailers have created pressure on traditional bricks-and-mortar retailers forcing many of them to move to a multi-channel business model to provide customers online storefronts in addition to local physical stores. Conventional wisdom suggests that online prices be lower than instore prices. This study investigates whether multi-channel retailers follow such clear-cut pricing strategies based on the sampling of both their online and in-store prices. The results from three national retailers of office supplies in the USA indicate that their online prices are not necessarily lower than in-store prices. In addition, they suggest that the retailers apply different pricing strategies across different product categories. The finding reveals that multi-channel retailers use differential strategies for online and in-store pricing. It calls for further investigation of the interaction between consumer behavior and pricing strategies in hybrid e-commerce environment.
Fabrication of ultrathin and highly flexible InP-based membranes for microoptoelectromechanical systems at 1.55 /spl mu/m

In this letter, tunable microcavities have been fabricated to evaluate their tunability in dependence on the membrane thickness. The membrane thickness has been decreased from 615 nm down to a record thickness of 123 nm yielding in a maximum mechanical tunability of 15.15 nm/V/sup 2/. Furthermore, a three-period /spl lambda//4 InP/air-gap high reflective mirror (R > 99.8% at 1.55 /spl mu/m) with a record wide stopband of more than 1100 nm has been fabricated. These results are achieved thanks to specific metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy growth parameters.
Expanding the Spectrum of Acquired Cerebral Hemiatrophy

The authors report a 50‐year‐old man with progressive left hemispheric atrophy, cognitive decline, infrequent seizures, and spells suggestive of complicated migraine. They discuss the association between migraine and cerebral hemiatrophy and suggest that the spectrum of acquired cerebral hemiatrophy may be broader than what has been commonly recognized.
A Role for CD4+ T‐Cell Subsets Producing a Selective Pattern of Lymphokines in the Pathogenesis of Human Chronic Inflammatory and Allergic Diseases

Analysis of experimental animal models (van Eden et al. 1988, Acha-Orbea et al. 1988), as well as more limited data on certain human inflammatory diseases (Wucherpfennig et al. 1990, Moller et al. 1988), have emphasized the involvement of T cells expressing a restricted set of T-cell antigen receptor (TCR) variable region genes in the pathogenesis of inflammatory disease. The assumption underlying this paradigm is that the selective clonal expansion of T lymphocytes leads lo inflammatory disease. An important corrolary to this theory is that the TCR expressed on the pathogenic subset of T cells provides a specific target for pharmacologie treatment of the inflammatory disease (reviewed in Wraith et al. 1989, Hcber-Katz & Acha-Orbea 1989). The ability of TCR-specific reagents, including monoclonal antibodies binding a particular TCR V^ region (AchaOrbea et al. 1988, Urban et al. 1988) or nonstimulatory MHC binding peptides (Urban et al. 1989, Sakai ct al. 1989), to prevent tbe induction ofa prototypic T cell-mediated autoimmune disease, murine experimental allergic encephaiomyelitis, provides in vivo experimental support for this approach to immunotherapy.
Subclinical hypothyroidism and the risk of heart failure, other cardiovascular events, and death.

BACKGROUND Subclinical hypothyroidism has been associated with systolic and diastolic cardiac dysfunction and an elevated cholesterol level, but data on cardiovascular outcomes and death are limited. METHODS We studied 2730 men and women, aged 70 to 79 years, with baseline thyrotropin (TSH) measurements and 4-year follow-up data to determine whether subclinical hypothyroidism was associated with congestive heart failure (CHF), coronary heart disease, stroke, peripheral arterial disease, and cardiovascular-related and total mortality. After the exclusion of participants with abnormal thyroxine levels, subclinical hypothyroidism was defined as a TSH level of 4.5 mIU/L or greater, and was further classified according to TSH levels (4.5-6.9, 7.0-9.9, and > or = 10.0 mIU/L). RESULTS Subclinical hypothyroidism was present in 338 (12.4%) of the participants. Compared with euthyroid participants, CHF events occurred more frequently among those with a TSH level of 7.0 mIU/L or greater (35.0 vs 16.5 per 1000 person-years; P = .006), but not among those with TSH levels between 4.5 and 6.9 mIU/L. In multivariate analyses, the risk of CHF was higher among those with high TSH levels (TSH of 7.0-9.9 mIU/L: hazard ratio, 2.58 [95% confidence interval, 1.19-5.60]; and TSH of > or = 10.0 mIU/L: hazard ratio, 3.26 [95% confidence interval, 1.37-7.77]). Among the 2555 participants without CHF at baseline, the hazard ratio for incident CHF events was 2.33 (95% confidence interval, 1.10-4.96; P = .03) in those with a TSH of 7.0 mIU/L or greater. Subclinical hypothyroidism was not associated with increased risk for coronary heart disease, stroke, peripheral arterial disease, or cardiovascular-related or total mortality. CONCLUSIONS Subclinical hypothyroidism is associated with an increased risk of CHF among older adults with a TSH level of 7.0 mIU/L or greater, but not with other cardiovascular events and mortality. Further investigation is warranted to assess whether subclinical hypothyroidism causes or worsens preexisting heart failure.
In‐TOX‐icating neurogenesis

Early development of the mammalian cerebral cortex proceeds via a sequence of proliferative and differentiative steps from neural stem cells toward neurons and glia. However, how these steps are molecularly orchestrated is still only partially understood. In this issue of The EMBO Journal, Artegiani and colleagues implicate Tox, a HMG‐box transcription factor previously known only for its role in lymphocyte development, in early cortical development.
Re: Contact isolation is a risk factor for venous thromboembolism in trauma patients.

VTE could have occurred before isolation, which might have distorted the outcome. After adjustment for important confounders, like age, injury severity score, and hospital length of stay, the authors found an odds ratio of 2.6 for VTE in patients on CI. However, unfortunately, they were not able to adjust for some other important risk factors for VTE, includingmalignancy, surgery, and actual ambulation status. Although the authors report that CI limits patients’ movement outside the room to perform medically essential activities, they failed to describe to what extent patients on CI were stimulated to exercise within the imposed restriction. Moreover, there is no information on the actual ambulation status of both groups. Therefore, it is not clearwhether patients in isolation were indeed less ambulant. Another limitation of this study, which is also recognized by the authors, is the inability to control for the use of chemoprophylaxis. They state that all patients considered at enhanced risk of VTE received low-molecularweight heparin unless contraindicated. It remains unclear, however, whether the use of chemoprophylaxis was equally distributed among both groups. The authors suggest that patients were most likely isolated because of asymptomatic carriage of MRSA in their nares, but the actual reasons for isolation remains unclear, especially since patients isolated with droplet or aerosol precautions were also included in this study. These precautions are usually taken with more highly transmissible organisms and infections that are associated with a higher risk for VTE. Therefore, it not clear whether this risk factor was equally distributed among both groups. Finally, Table1 displays the risk factor obesity in two different rows with different p values. Taking all these concerns into account, we believe that this studywas not able to correct for all important confounding factors. The assumption that ‘‘patients were possibly placed at greater risk for a potentially fatal adverse event because of a screening policywith questionable efficacy in controlling infection and no direct benefit to the actual individual patient’’ might reveal more of the authors’ personal opinion than the actual association.
Developing new drugs for the treatment of lymphoma

Abstract: Despite the great progress that has been made over the last several decades in the treatment of lymphoma, the prognosis for patients with relapsed disease, and particular sub‐types of lymphoma like mantle cell and T cell lymphoma, remains quite poor. While major advances in the use of combination chemotherapy, monoclonal antibodies, peripheral blood stem cell transplants, and radioimmunotherapy, have provided new opportunities to alter the natural history of these diseases, and even improve cure rates among elected sub‐populations of patients, these ‘traditional‘ approaches have not benefited all patients, or sub‐types of lymphoma. The incredibly rapid pace of understanding the molecular basis for the discrete sub‐types of both non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma and Hodgkin's Disease is beginning to afford exciting new opportunities to both risk stratify patients, and to identify potentially novel ‘drugable’ targets. These advancements in understanding the major molecular defects in lymphoma, have provided a new context in which we can rethink the use of new and old drugs, and design new ones with unique mechanisms of action. The panoply of new targets and drugs now becoming available for the treatment of lymphoma is truly daunting. A plethora of new small molecules that target bcl‐2, mTOR, histone deactylases, and NF‐kB have shown promising preclinical activity, and are now promising early phase activity. In many cases, the empirical observations from early clinical trials have provided invaluable clues to potentially valuable drugs like bortezomib, depsipeptide, and SAHA, These empirical observations, based on the inclusion of patients with lymphoma on these studies, have thus far proven to be as or more valuable than any other ‘rational’ target based approach. In addition, beyond the novel small molecules affecting unique and heretofore unrecognized biological pathways, there continues to be a robust and important effort to identify new derivatives of older generation drugs with hopefully better activity, and less toxicity. For example, new generation anthracenediones and anti‐folates, and new formations of older drugs like doxorubicin, irinotecan, and vincristine afford new opportunities to favourably change the pharmacokinetic profile of these agents, and improve their overall safety profile. While it would not be possible to address each and every new such drug, we hope to touch on some of the major new themes and agents emerging for the treatment of Hodgkin's Disease and non‐Hodgkin's lymphoma.
External validation of IMP3 expression as an independent prognostic marker for metastatic progression and death for patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma

High‐quality external validation studies have recently been highlighted to be of paramount importance for proper translation of prognostic markers into the clinical setting. To that end, the authors examined associations of the insulin‐like growth factor‐II mRNA binding protein, IMP3, with clinical and pathologic features of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) in an independent cohort of patients to validate recent work showing IMP3 as a prognostic marker for RCC progression and death.
Alefacept (Biogen).

Alefacept (B-9273) is an LFA-3-Ig fusion protein CD2 antagonist under development by Biogen for the potential treatment of autoimmune diseases, including psoriasis and transplant rejection [270267]. It is in phase III trials for psoriasis [349467]. In October 2000, the company reported that Amevive was on track for regulatory filing in the second half of 2001 [385250], with a possible launch in the second half of 2002 [395628]. The company began a pivotal phase III trial in the US in December 1999, involving patients with chronic plaque psoriasis [349467]. A second phase III trial has also been initiated [362199], [374040]. Results from both trials are expected in mid-2001 [396544]. In April 2001, SalomonSmithBarney confirmed that a regulatory filing was expected in Europe and the US in the second half of 2001 and stated that alefacept would be critical to the future earnings growth of the company [407796]. In June 1999, Merrill Lynch estimated product launch in 2001 [327145], [344773]. Sales in 2001 and 2002 were anticipated to be US $20 million and US $100 million, respectively [327145].
Photorespiration: metabolic pathways and their role in stress protection.

Photorespiration results from the oxygenase reaction catalysed by ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase. In this reaction glycollate-2-phosphate is produced and subsequently metabolized in the photorespiratory pathway to form the Calvin cycle intermediate glycerate-3-phosphate. During this metabolic process, CO2 and NH3 are produced and ATP and reducing equivalents are consumed, thus making photorespiration a wasteful process. However, precisely because of this inefficiency, photorespiration could serve as an energy sink preventing the overreduction of the photosynthetic electron transport chain and photoinhibition, especially under stress conditions that lead to reduced rates of photosynthetic CO2 assimilation. Furthermore, photorespiration provides metabolites for other metabolic processes, e.g. glycine for the synthesis of glutathione, which is also involved in stress protection. In this review we describe the use of photorespiratory mutants to study the control and regulation of photorespiratory pathways. In addition, we discuss the possible role of photorespiration under stress conditions, such as drought, high salt concentrations and high light intensities encountered by alpine plants.