Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effect of selected aromatic bromine derivatives on the activity of glutathione peroxidase and transferase.

OBJECTIVES Glutathione (GSH) is an important element of antioxidative barrier. Its biological function consists in eliminating oxygen free radicals. It also acts as a co-substrate in numerous enzymatic reactions catalyzed by glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione S-transferase (GST). In our study we attempted to assess the effect of hexabromobenzene (HBB) and its metabolites on the level of GSH and related enzymes, GPx and GST. MATERIALS AND METHODS The experiments were performed on female Wistar rats. The investigated compounds (HBB, 1,2,4,5-tetraBB, 1,2,4- and 1,3,5-triBB) were administered intragastrically in three different doses (HBB: 15, 75, and 375 mg/kg; 1,2,4,5-tetraBB and 1,2,4-triBB: 8, 40, and 200 mg/kg; 1,3,5-triBB: 12, 60, and 300 mg/kg) for 7, 14, 21 or 28 days. GSH level and activity of GST and GPx were determined in the obtained material. RESULTS The highest activity of GPx and GSTwas observed after a 7-fold administration of all investigated compounds. Prolonged time of exposure caused the return to the control values. CONCLUSIONS The study revealed that repeated exposure to aromatic bromine derivatives increases GPx and GST activity only in the initial phase of the experiment.
Actin and agonist MHC–peptide complex–dependent T cell receptor microclusters as scaffolds for signaling

T cell receptor (TCR) microclusters form within seconds of T cell contact with supported planar bilayers containing intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and agonist major histocompatibility complex (MHC)–peptide complexes, and elevation of cytoplasmic Ca2+ is observed within seconds of the first detectable microclusters. At 0–30 s after contact, TCR microclusters are colocalized with activated forms of Lck, ZAP-70, and the linker for activation of T cells. By 2 min, activated kinases are reduced in the older central microclusters, but are abundant in younger peripheral microclusters. By 5 min, TCR in the central supramolecular activation cluster have reduced activated kinases, whereas faint peripheral TCR microclusters efficiently generated activated Lck and ZAP-70. TCR microcluster formation is resistant to inhibition by Src family kinase inhibitor PP2, but is abrogated by actin polymerization inhibitor latrunculin A. We propose that Src kinase–independent formation of TCR microclusters in response to agonist MHC–peptide provides an actin-dependent scaffold for signal amplification.
School of Industrial Relations and Organisational Behaviour The University of New South Wales

This paper sets out to examine the extent to which the cross-cultural management (CCM) literature acknowledges the effects of national culture on differentially shaping subordinate perceptions of what constitutes “good” or “effective” management. It does this by reviewing the mainstream CCM literature that describes and illustrates the way culture collectively shapes the way individuals think about managerial behaviour. This paper reveals that CCM researchers have focused solely at the managerial level of analysis, leaving the subordinate level of analysis overlooked. The growing significance of Asian economies to international business demands that the way subordinates’ perceptions of effective managerial performance differs across Asian and Western cultures, must be analysed. The paper discusses how future research can fill the gap in understanding how subordinate perceptions of what constitutes “good” or “effective” management vary across different cultural contexts. From the point of view of effective management of an international workforce, the importance of systematically mapping subordinates’ perceptions, from different cultural perspectives, is discussed.
New mechanism of antenna as an electromagnetic device

The operating mechanism of an antenna, especially the dipole is discussed in this paper, wherein the antenna is considered as an electromagnetic wave transmission device. It is different with the traditional radiation mechanism of antenna which is based on the radiation of oscillating electric current. According to the new operating mechanism, dipole antenna is regarded as a resonator of Sommerfeld line. To confirm it, the port impedance, radiation efficiency of the dipole antenna are analyzed by the method of the electromagnetic circuit. The results show new theory is more effective and more accurate than the previous one.
Trends in death associated with pediatric dental sedation and general anesthesia

Inadequate access to oral health care places children at risk of caries. Disease severity and inability to cooperate often result in treatment with general anesthesia (GA). Sedation is increasingly popular and viewed as lower risk than GA in community settings. Currently, few data are available to quantify pediatric morbidity and mortality related to dental anesthesia.
Balloon pulmonary valvuloplasty: A Review

Balloon pulmonary valvuloplasty has been used successfully over the last few years for the relief of moderate to severe valvar pulmonic stenosis in neonates, infants, children, and adults. Both immediate and intermediate term follow-up results have been well documented by cardiac catheterization studies. Electrocardiographic and echo-Doppler evaluation at follow-up is reflective of the results and may avoid the need for recatheterization. The results of balloon valvuloplasty are either comparable to or better than those reported with surgical valvuloplasty. The causes of restenosis have been identified, and appropriate modifications in the technique, particularly the recommended use of a balloon/annulus ratio of 1.2 to 1.5, should give better results than previously documented. Complications of the procedure have been minimal. Further refinement of the catheters and technique may reduce the complication rate even further. The indications for balloon valvuloplasty have not been clearly defined but should probably be similar to those used for surgical valvotomy; only patients with moderate to severe valvar pulmonic stenosis are candidates for balloon valvuloplasty. Previous surgery and pulmonary valve dysplasia are not contraindications for balloon valvuloplasty. The procedure is also applicable to pulmonary stenosis associated with other complex cardiac defects and stenosis of bioprosthetic valves in pulmonary position. Miniaturatization of balloon/catheter systems to further reduce the complication rate and documentation of favorable result at 5- to 10-year follow-up are necessary.
Egocentric and exocentric navigation skills in older adults.

BACKGROUND Human spatial navigation can be conceptualized as egocentric or exocentric, depending on the navigator's perspective. Navigational impairment is known to occur in individuals with cognitive impairment, but less is known about navigational abilities in nondemented older adults. Our objective was to develop tests of navigation and study their cognitive correlates in nondemented older adults. METHODS We developed a Local Route Recall Test (LRRT) to examine egocentric navigation and a Floor Maze Test (FMT) to assess exocentric navigation in 127 older adults without dementia or amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). Factor analysis was used to reduce neuropsychological test scores to three cognitive factors representing Executive Function/Attention, Verbal Ability, and Memory. We examined relationships between navigational tests and cognitive function (using both cognitive factors and the highest loading individual test on each factor) in a series of regression analyses adjusted for demographic variables (age, sex, and education), medical illnesses, and gait velocity. RESULTS The tests were well tolerated, easy to administer, and reliable in this nondemented and non-MCI sample. Egocentric skills on the LRRT were associated with Executive Function/Attention (B = -0.650; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.535 to -0.139) and Memory (B = -0.518; 95% CI, -4.893 to -0.063) factors. Exocentric navigation on the FMT was related to Executive Function/Attention (B = -8.542; 95% CI, -13.357 to -3.727). CONCLUSIONS Our tests appear to assess egocentric and exocentric navigation skills in cognitively normal older adults, and these skills are associated with specific cognitive processes such as executive function and memory.
Association of p19ARF with Mdm2 inhibits ubiquitin ligase activity of Mdm2 for tumor suppressor p53

We have demonstrated previously that the oncoprotein Mdm2 has a ubiquitin ligase activity for the tumor suppressor p53 protein. In the present study, we characterize this ubiquitin ligase activity of Mdm2. We first demonstrate the ubiquitination of several p53 point mutants and deletion mutants by Mdm2. The point mutants, which cannot bind to Mdm2, are not ubiquitinated by Mdm2. The ubiquitination of the C‐terminal deletion mutants, which contain so‐called Mdm2‐binding sites, is markedly decreased, compared with that of wild‐type p53. The binding of Mdm2 to p53 is essential for ubiquitination, but p53′s tertiary structure and/or C‐terminal region may also be important for this reaction. DNA‐dependent protein kinase is known to phosphorylate p53 on Mdm2‐binding sites, where DNA damage induces phosphorylation, and p53 phosphorylated by this kinase is not a good substrate for Mdm2. This suggests that DNA damage‐induced phosphorylation stabilizes p53 by inhibiting its ubiquitination by Mdm2. We further investigated whether the tumor suppressor p19ARF affects the ubiquitin ligase activity of Mdm2 for p53. The activity of p19ARF‐bound Mdm2 was found to be lower than that of free Mdm2, suggesting that p19ARF promotes the stabilization of p53 by inactivating Mdm2.
Individuality That is Unheard of: Systematic Temporal Deviations in Scale Playing Leave an Inaudible Pianistic Fingerprint

Whatever we do, we do it in our own way, and we recognize master artists by small samples of their work. This study investigates individuality of temporal deviations in musical scales in pianists in the absence of deliberate expressive intention. Note-by-note timing deviations away from regularity form a remarkably consistent "pianistic fingerprint. " First, eight professional pianists played C-major scales in two sessions, separated by 15 min. Euclidian distances between deviation traces originating from different pianists were reliably larger than traces originating from the same pianist. As a result, a simple classifier that matched deviation traces by minimizing their distance was able to recognize each pianist with 100% accuracy. Furthermore, within each pianist, fingerprints produced by the same movements were more similar than fingerprints resulting in the same scale sound. This allowed us to conclude that the fingerprints are mostly neuromuscular rather than intentional or expressive in nature. However, human listeners were not able to distinguish the temporal fingerprints by ear. Next, 18 pianists played C-major scales on a normal or muted piano. Recognition rates ranged from 83 to 100%, further supporting the view that auditory feedback is not implicated in the creation of the temporal signature. Finally, 20 pianists were recognized 20 months later at above chance level, showing signature effects to be long lasting. Our results indicate that even non-expressive playing of scales reveals consistent, partially effector-unspecific, but inaudible inter-individual differences. We suggest that machine learning studies into individuality in performance will need to take into account unintentional but consistent variability below the perceptual threshold.
A Slice Sampler for Restricted Hierarchical Beta Process with Applications to Shared Subspace Learning

Hierarchical beta process has found interesting applications in recent years. In this paper we present a modified hierarchical beta process prior with applications to hierarchical modeling of multiple data sources. The novel use of the prior over a hierarchical factor model allows factors to be shared across different sources. We derive a slice sampler for this model, enabling tractable inference even when the likelihood and the prior over parameters are non-conjugate. This allows the application of the model in much wider contexts without restrictions. We present two different data generative models a linear GaussianGaussian model for real valued data and a linear Poisson-gamma model for count data. Encouraging transfer learning results are shown for two real world applications text modeling and content based image retrieval.
Strategic Central Bank Communication: Discourse and Game -Theoretic Analyses of the Bank of Japan's Monthly Report

We conduct a discourse analysis of the Bank of Japan's Monthly Report and examine its characteristics in relation to business cycles. We find that the difference between the number of positive and negative expressions in the reports leads the leading index of the economy by approximately three months, which suggests that the central bank' reports have some superior information about the state of the economy. Moreover, ambiguous expressions tend to appear more frequently with negative expressions. Using a simple persuasion game, we argue that the use of ambiguity in communication by the central bank can be seen as strategic information revelation when the central bank has an incentive to bias the reports (and hence beliefs in the market) upwards.
The Origins and Meaning of Liberal/Conservative Self-Identifications.

Although over the past few decades liberal/conservative self-identifications have often played a part in studies of belief systems, they have seldom been the focus of research. Recently, however, several studies have suggested that such identifications play a significant role in voting behavior and political perception. Implicit in this research, however, are two tenuous assumptions: that liberal/conservative identifications are bipolar in meaning and that underlying this bipolarity is cognitive meaning based on political issues. In this paper, we develop a model of ideological identifications that emphasizes their symbolic and nondimensional origins and nature. Based on the 1976 and 1978 National Election Studies, our empirical analysis reveals strong support for the model. Specifically, ideological identifications are found to have largely symbolic meanings, a fact that helps to explain some of the findings concerning the relationship of the liberal/conservative continuum to political perception and behavior.
Lipid-altering efficacy of the ezetimibe/simvastatin single tablet versus rosuvastatin in hypercholesterolemic patients*

ABSTRACT Objective: To assess the lipid-altering efficacy and safety of ezetimibe/simvastatin single tablet product compared with rosuvastatin at the approved usual starting, next highest, and maximum doses. Research design and methods: Double-blind, multicenter, 6‐week, parallel-group study in hypercholesterolemic patients (n = 2959). Patients were randomized based on stratification by low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels to ezetimibe/simvastatin or rosuvastatin, respectively, at the usual starting (10/20 or 10 mg/day), the next highest (10/40 or 20 mg/day), and maximum doses (10/80 or 40 mg/day). Results: At all doses and across doses, ezetimibe/simvastatin reduced LDL‐C levels significantly more (52–61%) than rosuvastatin (46–57%; p ≤ 0.001). Significantly greater percentages of all patients (p < 0.001) and high risk patients (p ≤ 0.005) attained LDL‐C levels < 70 mg/dL (1.8 mmol/L) following ezetimibe/simvastatin treatment compared with rosuvastatin at the prespecified doses and across doses. Ezetimibe/simvastatin also produced significantly greater reductions in total cholesterol ( p < 0.001), non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ( p < 0.001), lipid ratios ( p ≤ 0.003), and apolipoprotein B ( p < 0.05). Reductions in triglycerides were significantly greater with ezetimibe/simvastatin than rosuvastatin at the usual starting ( p = 0.004) and next highest ( p = 0.006) doses, and across all doses ( p < 0.001). Increases in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and decreases in high sensitivity C reactive protein (hsCRP) were similar between treatment groups. Safety profiles were comparable for both treatments; however, the percent of patients with proteinuria was significantly higher following rosuvastatin treatment than ezetimibe/simvastatin, respectively at 10 mg versus 10/20 mg/day ( p = 0.004) and 40 mg versus 10/80 mg/day ( p < 0.001). Conclusion: Ezetimibe/simvastatin was more effective than rosuvastatin in LDL‐C lowering, and provided greater or comparable improvements in other lipid measures and hsCRP at the approved usual starting, next highest, and maximum doses in hypercholesterolemic patients. Although the doses compared in this study were not equivalent on a milligram basis, the results provide clinically relevant information regarding the use of these drugs for initial therapy and for subsequent use at higher doses when appropriate. Both treatments were generally well-tolerated; however, this study was not powered nor of sufficient duration to assess the prevalence of rare clinical adverse effects. Overall, ezetimibe/simvastatin offers an effective and tolerable treatment option for lipid management. An assessment of its full clinical benefit awaits evaluation in longer-term clinical studies.
Construction and validation of a questionnaire to study future teachers' beliefs about cultural diversity

The article presents the construction and validation process of a questionnaire designed to study student teachers' beliefs about cultural diversity. The study, beyond highlighting the complexity involved in the study of beliefs, emphasises their relevance in implementing inclusive educational processes that guarantee the right to a good education for all. The questionnaire was administered to 1464 students from the different Teacher Education specialties. The results show that the instrument has a satisfactory internal consistency and is structured in seven components that largely correspond to the theoretical proposals used as the basis for constructing the questionnaire. The actions and analyses performed in the process of elaborating this inventory represent an advance compared to other similar studies in this line of research. From a methodological point of view, they provide detailed information about the questionnaire's psychometric characteristics, reliability and validity, with particular emphasis on the empirical data stemming from its application. From a conceptual point of view, the study incorporates beliefs related to different theoretical models of attention to cultural diversity, as well as their possible practical derivations at different levels of specificity.
Characterization of the conformational space of a triple‐stranded β‐sheet forming peptide with molecular dynamics simulations

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have been performed on a series of mutants of the 20 amino acid peptide Betanova in order to critically assess the ability of MD simulations to reproduce the folding and stability of small β‐sheet–forming peptides on currently accessible timescales. Simulations were performed in both water and in 40% methanol solution, using an explicit solvent model. The simulations suggest that all mutants adopt a wide range of conformations in solution, that the structures are highly flexible, and that stabilization of compact structures is due to a delicate balance of hydrophobic and polar side‐chain interactions. Simulations longer than 100 ns, although not sufficient for a complete thermodynamic and kinetic description of the system, sample an ensemble of compact conformations characterized by the loss of ordered β‐sheet secondary structure. This suggests that no significant free energy barrier separates the different conformations available. Proteins 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
LIRmeter: A new tool for rapid assessment of sea floor parameters. Bridging the gap between free-fall instruments and frame-based CPT

Physical and geotechnical parameters of marine sediments are of vital interest to fields like foundation-planning of offshore structures, surveying of cable routes, sediment dynamics, sediment manipulation (dredging, plowing), ground-truthing of acoustical surveys, risk assessment and mine burial predictions. Therefore, characterization of geotechnical in-situ parameters with dynamic penetrometers is of interest for research, consulting and the offshore industry, because in-situ methods, and especially dynamic tests, are generally less time consuming than static tests or measurements on samples. In addition, recovery of sediment samples from the seafloor may alter the sediment characteristics (pressure decrease, temperature change) and limits the information value. To date, the determination of fundamental parameters like shear strength, bearing capacity or grain size is predominantly done ex-situ. However, in-situ assessment of these parameters leads to a better characterization of marine sediments due to direct measurement under field conditions.
Estimates of Semigroups and Eigenvalues Using Functional Inequalities

Boundedness properties of semigroups are studied by using general PoincareSobolev type inequalities, from which Gross’ theorem on hyperboundedness and log-Sobolev inequality is extended. Some results hold also for nonsymmetric semigroups. For instance, a super-Poincare inequality always imply an estimate of the corresponding semigroup. In particular, the log-Sobolev inequality implies the hyperboundedness of the corresponding (possibly nonsymmetric) semigroup. Conversely, functional inequalities are derived from boundedness properties of semigroups which are either symmetric or satisfy a “gradient estimate”. Especially, the log-Sobolev inequality follows from hyperboundedness for such semigroups. According to our previous work, under some mild assumptions, the superPoincare inequality implies empty essential spectrum of the generator. In this paper we present some lower bound estimates of high order eigenvalues using functional inequalities. The resulting estimates are sharp in the sense of order. Some examples of diffusion processes and birth-death processes are presented. Finally, functional inequalities are obtained by using concentration of invariant measures for diffusions on a noncompact Riemannian manifold. This provides a converse of Herbst type results. AMS 1991 Subject classification: 35P15, 47D07.
An overlapping subzone technique for MR‐based elastic property reconstruction

A finite element–based nonlinear inversion scheme for magnetic resonance (MR) elastography is detailed. The algorithm operates on small overlapping subzones of the total region of interest, processed in a hierarchical order as determined by progressive error minimization. This zoned approach allows for a high degree of spatial discretization, taking advantage of the data‐rich environment afforded by the MR. The inversion technique is tested in simulation under high‐noise conditions (15% random noise applied to the displacement data) with both complicated user‐defined stiffness distributions and realistic tissue geometries obtained by thresholding MR image slices. In both cases the process has proved successful and has been capable of discerning small inclusions near 4 mm in diameter. Magn Reson Med 42:779–786, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.