Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Molecular Mechanism of the Inactivation of Tryptophan Hydroxylase by Nitric Oxide: Attack on Critical Sulfhydryls that Spare the Enzyme Iron Center

Tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH), the initial and rate-limiting enzyme in the biosynthesis of the neurotransmitter serotonin (5-HT), is irreversibly inactivated by nitric oxide (NO). We have expressed brain TPH as a recombinant glutathione-S-transferase fusion protein and delineated the catalytic domain of the enzyme as the region spanning amino acids 99–444. Highly purified TPH catalytic core, like the native enzyme from brain, is inactivated by NO in a concentration-dependent manner. Removal of iron from TPH produces an apoenzyme with low activity that can be reconverted to its highly active holo-form by the addition of ferrous iron. Apo-TPH exposed to NO cannot be reactivated by iron. Treatment of holo-TPH (iron-loaded) with the disulfide 5,5′-dithio-bis (2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB) causes an inactivation of TPH that is readily reversed by dithiothreitol (DTT). DTNB-treated TPH [sulfhydryl (SH)-protected] exposed to NO is returned to full activity by thiol reduction with DTT. The inactivation of native TPH by NO cannot be reversed by either iron or DTT. These data indicate that NO inactivates TPH by selective action on critical SH groups (i.e., cysteine residues) while sparing catalytic iron sites within the enzyme. The results are interpreted with reference to the substituted amphetamines, which are neurotoxic to 5-HT neurons, that inactivate TPH in vivo and are now known to produce NO and other reactive oxygen species in vivo.
Risk Factors for Endophthalmitis and Retinal Detachment with Retained Intraocular Foreign Bodies

Purpose. To analyze risk factors for endophthalmitis and retinal detachment (RD) in patients with retained intraocular foreign bodies (IOFBs). Design. A retrospective, interventional, consecutive case series. Participants. All patients treated at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute for traumatic IOFBs between 1999 and 2008. Methods. Analysis of visual outcome, mechanism of injury, management, and postoperative course. Results. 108 eyes with IOFBs were identified. Endophthalmitis occurred in 7 eyes (6.4%) at presentation, and risk was higher with vegetable matter exposure (P = 0.003). All eyes with posterior segment IOFBs received intravitreal antibiotics and there were no cases of endophthalmitis after initial management. RD was identified in 6 of 108 eyes (5.5%) at presentation. Risk factors were entry more than 5 mm behind the limbus (P < 0.001) and posterior segment IOFB (P = 0.028). Postoperative RD occurred in 11 of 102 eyes (10.7%). Risk factors for postoperative RD were preoperative endophthalmitis (P = 0.001), posterior segment IOFB (P = 0.008), and retinal impact sites (P = 0.028). Conclusions. Risk factors for endophthalmitis included vegetable matter exposure and delay to initial management. Risk factors for RD were posterior entry site, posterior segment IOFB, endophthalmitis, and retinal impact sites. No eyes developed endophthalmitis after presentation.
An Empirical Evaluation of Structural Credit Risk Models

This paper evaluates empirically the performance of six structural credit risk models by comparing the probabilities of default (PDs) they deliver to ex post default rates. In contrast to previous studies pursuing similar objectives, the paper employs firm-level data and finds that theory-based PDs tend to match closely the actual level of credit risk and to account for its time path. At the same time, nonmodelled macro variables from the financial and real sides of the economy help to substantially improve the forecasts of default rates. The finding suggests that theory-based PDs fail to fully reflect the dependence of credit risk on the business and credit cycles. Most of the upbeat conclusions regarding the performance of the PDs are due to models with endogenous default. For their part, frameworks that assume exogenous default tend to underpredict credit risk. Three borrower characteristics influence materially the predictions of the models: the leverage ratio; the default recovery rate; and the risk-free rate of return.
Determinants of Attitude Towards Zakat on Employment Income in Nigeria

The objective of this paper was to empirically examine the influence of perceived capability, perceived government support and religiosity as determinants of attitude towards Zakat in Nigeria. A survey questionnaire was administered on government employees and 343 valid observations were retrieved and analyzed from the survey. The PLS analysis technique was used to assess the measurement model, the structural model as well as the predictive relevance of the model of the study. The outcome of the examination disclosed the appropriateness of the model of the study as well as the analytical tool utilized. The postulated relationships were all supported. Thus, the findings, if utilized in developing policies for strengthening the attitude of employees towards Zakat, will boost Zakat collections, since a positive attitude leads to improved collections. The study establishes the efficacy and the suitability of its model on factors influencing the attitude of employees towards Zakat in Nigeria.
Persistence and career criminality: Enjoying crime!

Despite its existence as a common-sense category and criminological analytic, the notion of the ‘persistent criminal’ remains theoretically underdeveloped. While there is a notion that particular individuals ‘commit’ to a life of crime, criminology is yet to properly articulate why this is and how it comes to be. Drawing on psychoanalytically inflected discourse theory, this article demonstrates that the clinical categories of psychoanalysis such as subject, lack, identification and jouissance (enjoyment) are useful in understanding persistence and career criminality. The imagined possibility of inhabiting a ‘fantasmatic’ lifestyle becomes unconsciously reinforced by the joyful sensations that accompany aspects of their criminal lifestyle: criminal cultural consumerism, peer group respect and appearing attractive to women. Without being conscious and rationalistic, these processes nevertheless inform self-perception and behaviour at a deep level of being. This article provides a novel explanation for why persistent criminals remain dedicated to their illicit lifestyles.
An Empirical Study of Factors That Influence E-Commerce Adoption/Non-Adoption in Small and Medium Sized Businesses

ABSTRACT The study of technology adoption has received considerable attention from researchers in the IS community in recent years. With the increased use of the Internet and the World Wide Web, business organizations have taken advantage of the potential benefits that e-commerce can provide. However, a significant number of small and medium sized businesses have not adopted e-commerce yet. This study surveyed managers/owners of SMEs to identify variables that differentiate between adopters and non-adopters of e-commerce. The results indicate that SMEs most receptive to adopting e-commerce have the financial and technological resources, see e-commerce as useful for their firms, and feel external pressure to integrate e-commerce into their organization.
Cervical Carotid Imaging With a Continuous‐Wave Doppler Flowmeter

A noninvasive technique for carotid arteriography using an ultrasonic directional Doppler flowmeter to image the carotid bifurcations is described. The technique uses a position sensing arm to hold the sharply focusing probe and translates the position of arterial flow onto an image storage screen. By multiple manual sweeps across the cervical carotids, a two-dimensional projection of the locus of arterial flow is developed. The probe beam is then applied through the eyelids to assess the posterior orbital ophthalmic flow. The adequacy of the internal carotid circulation and the presence of stenosis and calcified plaques are determined. Experience with the first 60 patients surveyed using the Doppler technique demonstrated a high degree of accuracy and reproducibility. The ultrasonic angiography provided local flow and velocity information that x-ray angiography did not. X-ray angiography is frequently indicated by the ultrasonic findings when risks of x-ray angiography might not otherwise be taken. The technique was found especially sensitive in detecting calcified atherosclerotic plaques and may be used in screening for the stroke-prone patient and following arterial lesions over extended periods of time.
Understanding, fostering, and supporting cultures of participation

their media and their tools for thinking, working, learning, and collaborating. In the past, the design of most media emphasized a clear distinction between producers and consumers [1]. Television is the medium that most obviously exhibits this orientation and has contributed to the degeneration of humans into “couch potatoes” [2], for whom remote controls are the most important instruments of their cognitive activities. In a similar manner, our current educational institutions often treat learners as consumers, fostering in students a mind-set of consumerism rather than of ownership of problems, which they carry with them for the rest of their lives. As a result, learners, workers, and citizens often feel left out of decisions by teachers, managers, and policymakers, denied opportunities to take active roles. The rise in social computing (based on social production and mass collaboration) has facilitated a shift from consumer cultures (specialized in producing finished artifacts to be consumed passively) to cultures of participation (in which all people are provided with the means to participate and to contribute actively in personally meaningful problems) [3]. These developments represent unique and fundamental opportunities, challenges, and transformative changes for innovative research and practice in human-centered computing, as we move away from a world in which a small number of people define rules, create artifacts, and make decisions for many consumers toward a world in which everyone has interests and opportunities to actively participate. Our research is exploring theoretical foundations and system developments for understanding, fostering, and supporting cultures of participation grounded in the basic assumption that innovative technological developments are necessary for cultures of participation, but they are not sufficient. Sociotechnical environments are needed because cultures of participation are not dictated by technology; they are the result of changes in human behavior and social organization, in which active contributors engage in the innovative design, adoption, and adaptation of technologies to their needs and in collaborative knowledge construction. Understanding, Fostering, and Supporting Cultures of Participation
Age‐related naturally occurring depression of hippocampal neurogenesis does not affect trace fear conditioning

New neuron production throughout adulthood in granule cell layer (GCL) of rat hippocampus is a well‐known phenomenon. A role of new neurons in hippocampal learning has been proposed, but the question is still open. A reduction of neural precursor proliferation in GCL of 2‐month‐old rats to about 20%, induced by the cytostatic agent methylazoxymethanol, was found to cause impairment in trace conditioning, suggesting a role of immature neurons in this kind of hippocampus‐dependent learning (Shors et al., Hippocampus 2002;12:578–584). Neurogenesis decreases with increasing age. In this study, neural precursor proliferation and newborn cell survival were evaluated in GCL of adult rats within a range of ages following development and preceding old age. In 5‐month‐old rats, neural precursor proliferation was reduced to 57% and newborn cell survival was reduced to 40% in comparison to rats of 2 months of age; in 12‐month‐old rats, the decrease was to 5 and 4%, respectively. Consistently, the density of immature neurons decreased to 41 and 13% in 5‐ and 12‐month‐old rats, respectively. The role of neurogenesis in trace fear conditioning was studied in this natural model of neurogenesis depression. No impairment in trace fear conditioning was found both in 5‐ and 12‐month‐old rats in comparison to 2‐month‐old rats, notwithstanding the decrease of neurogenesis that is marked in 12‐month‐old rats. This finding shows that a lower rate of neurogenesis is sufficient for learning in 12‐month‐old rats in comparison to young rats. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Understanding Higher-Order Shape via 3D Shape Attributes

In this paper we investigate 3D shape attributes as a means to understand the shape of an object in a single image. To this end, we make a number of contributions: (i) we introduce and define a set of 3D shape attributes, including planarity, symmetry and occupied space; (ii) we show that such properties can be successfully inferred from a single image using a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN); (iii) we introduce a 143K image dataset of sculptures with 2197 works over 242 artists for training and evaluating the CNN; (iv) we show that the 3D attributes trained on this dataset generalize to images of other (non-sculpture) object classes; (v) we show that the CNN also provides a shape embedding that can be used to match previously unseen sculptures largely independent of viewpoint; and furthermore (vi) we analyze how the CNN predicts these attributes.
Neuronal mitochondrial amelioration by feeding acetyl-L-carnitine and lipoic acid to aged rats

Brain function declines with age and is associated with diminishing mitochondrial integrity. The neuronal mitochondrial ultrastructural changes of young (4 months) and old (21 months) F344 rats supplemented with two mitochondrial metabolites, acetyl‐L‐carnitine (ALCAR, 0.2%[wt/vol] in the drinking water) and R‐α‐lipoic acid (LA, 0.1%[wt/wt] in the chow), were analysed using qualitative and quantitative electron microscopy techniques. Two independent morphologists blinded to sample identity examined and scored all electron micrographs. Mitochondria were examined in each micrograph, and each structure was scored according to the degree of injury. Controls displayed an age‐associated significant decrease in the number of intact mitochondria (P = 0.026) as well as an increase in mitochondria with broken cristae (P < 0.001) in the hippocampus as demonstrated by electron microscopic observations. Neuronal mitochondrial damage was associated with damage in vessel wall cells, especially vascular endothelial cells. Dietary supplementation of young and aged animals increased the proliferation of intact mitochondria and reduced the density of mitochondria associated with vacuoles and lipofuscin. Feeding old rats ALCAR and LA significantly reduced the number of severely damaged mitochondria (P = 0.02) and increased the number of intact mitochondria (P < 0.001) in the hippocampus. These results suggest that feeding ALCAR with LA may ameliorate age‐associated mitochondrial ultrastructural decay and are consistent with previous studies showing improved brain function.
pregnancy: cross-sectional and longitudinal

Background: Pregnancy triggers well-known alterations in maternal glucose and lipid balance but its overall effects on systemic metabolism remain incompletely understood. Methods: Detailed molecular profiles (87 metabolic measures and 37 cytokines) were measured for up to 4260 women (24 – 49 years, 322 pregnant) from three population-based cohorts in Finland. Circulating molecular concentrations in pregnant women were compared to those in non-pregnant women. Metabolic profiles were also reassessed for 583 women 6 years later to uncover the longitudinal metabolic changes in response to change in the pregnancy status. Results: Compared to non-pregnant women, all lipoprotein subclasses and lipids were markedly increased in pregnant women. The most pronounced differences were observed for the intermediate-density, low-density and high-density lipoprotein triglyceride concentrations. Large differences were also seen for many fatty acids and amino acids. Pregnant women also had higher concentrations of low-grade inflammatory marker glycoprotein acetyls, higher concentrations of interleukin-18 and lower concentrations of interleukin-12p70. The changes in metabolic concentrations for women who were not pregnant at baseline but pregnant 6 years later (or vice versa) matched (or were mirror-images of) the cross-sectional association pattern. Cross-sectional results were consistent across the three cohorts and similar longitudinal changes were seen for 653 women in 4-year and 497 women in 10-year follow-up. For multiple metabolic measures, the changes increased in magnitude across the three trimesters. Conclusions: Pregnancy initiates substantial metabolic and inflammatory changes in the mothers. Comprehensive characterisation of normal pregnancy is important for gaining understanding of the key nutrients for fetal growth and development. These findings also provide a valuable molecular reference in relation to studies of adverse pregnancy outcomes.
Valuation of Endowment-Insurance Equity-Linked Contracts for Stocks with Exotic Dynamics

We consider the fair martingale prize of insurance contracts with benefit received either at the insurer's demise or at maturity. We show how to modify the dynamics of the underlying so as to incorporate the possibility that the traded stock has a strong support at some level. The resulting dynamics is integrated and the fair prize of several natural endowment-insurance contracts is obtained.
Implementing Innovations in Schools: A Concerns-Based Approach.

ABSTRACT Tim Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) has been designed to describe change as it affects individuals and to prompt more successful change efforts. CBAM views the teacher as the focal point in schcol improvement efforts, yet also acknowledges social and organizational influences. This paper describes the application of the model to a curriculum implementation effort in revising the science curriculna in grades three to six in the 80 elementary schools of Jefferson County (Colorado). The design for curricula' implementation was based on an understanding of teachers' concerns and how they change over time. Two CBAM measures of teacher change
An Analysis of Strategic Behavior in Ebay Auctions

A relatively new type of panel data analysis is becoming more and more topical in the applied econometrics literature as auction mechanisms are being explored in more depth. The typical data utilized in such studies involves repeated measures of auction outcomes, where the variable of interest involves order statistics from the sample of bids from many bids on completed auctions for a particular commodity. This article presents structural estimates of bidding behavior in eBay computer monitor auctions. We exploit characteristics of such repeated measures to analyze the efficiency of private value auctions for a relatively homogeneous good, computer monitors sold on eBay. We discuss how outcomes of the auction mechanism can be analyzed and their equilibrium outcomes assessed and evaluate the consumer surplus that is generated from such auctions. Particular attention is given to the collection of the eBay data from data recovery protocols that monitor in real time and in relative detail, characteristics of a particular auction with heterogeneity controls for different types of monitors and for different reputation effects of the auctioneer. Among other findings, our results point to a rejection of the use of Jump Bidding (Avery, 1998) or "Snipe or War" bidding (Roth and Ockenfels, 2002). We also find that longer auctions only have a small effect on price and experienced auctioneers respond to this incentive.
Challenges in Processes of Validation and Comprehension

ABSTRACT There is accumulating evidence that readers continually evaluate the consistency, congruence, and coherence of text by processes of validation. Validation is initiated immediately on stimulus presentation, may proceed nonstrategically, and serves as a criterion for representational updating. However, validation exhibits a variety of deficiencies. Readers tend to overlook presupposed anomalies and are prone to both endorse text misinformation and to retain previously encoded misinformation. Here, several challenges concerning validation processing are considered against the backdrop of refinements of Kintsch's construction-integration model. Predictions about upcoming text might facilitate comprehension but demand validation. Conversely, the spillover of processing beyond the current text segment reflects processes subsequent to construction and integration and likely contributes to validation. This theoretical framework raises questions about the staging of comprehension processes and about their possible automaticity. Certain contemporary theories tend to highlight either the successes or deficiencies of validation, but they exhibit enough convergence to offer the promise of an effective analysis.
Conditional-Based Refactorings and Fault-Proneness: An Empirical Study

Recent empirical work has shown that some of the most frequently applied Java-based refactorings relate to the manipulation of code conditionals and flags. The logic of such code is often complex and difficult to test regressively. One open research issue thus relates to the fault-proneness profiles of classes where these refactorings have been applied, vis-a-vis refactorings on other classes. In this paper, we explore six releases of three Eclipse projects and the faults in the refactored classes of those releases. We explore four specific conditional-based refactorings and the supposition that: classes where these four refactorings have been applied will tend to have relatively higher fault incidences because of the inherent complexity of the embedded logic given by the constructs they operate on. Results showed that one of the four refactorings in particular had been applied to classes with higher fault profiles - the `Replace Nested Conditional with Guard Clauses' refactoring. Some evidence that the `Remove Control Flag' refactoring had also been applied to relatively highly fault-prone classes was found. Relative to other types of refactoring, the result thus suggests that these two effectively signpost fault-prone classes.
Extended and direct evaluation of RT‐QuIC assays for Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease diagnosis

Real‐Time Quaking‐Induced Conversion (RT‐QuIC) testing of human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is highly sensitive and specific in discriminating sporadic CJD patients from those without prion disease. Here, using CSF samples from 113 CJD and 64 non‐prion disease patients, we provide the first direct and concurrent comparison of our improved RT‐QuIC assay to our previous assay, which is similar to those commonly used internationally for CJD diagnosis. This extended comparison demonstrated a ~21% increase in diagnostic sensitivity, a 2‐day reduction in average detection time, and 100% specificity.