Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Perspective on Reagent Diversity and Non-covalent Binding of Reactive Carbonyl Species (RCS) and Effector Reagents in Non-enzymatic Glycation (NEG): Mechanistic Considerations and Implications for Future Research

This perspective focuses on illustrating the underappreciated connections between reactive carbonyl species (RCS), initial binding in the nonenzymatic glycation (NEG) process, and nonenzymatic covalent protein modification (here termed NECPM). While glucose is the central species involved in NEG, recent studies indicate that the initially-bound glucose species in the NEG of human hemoglobin (HbA) and human serum albumin (HSA) are non-RCS ring-closed isomers. The ring-opened glucose, an RCS structure that reacts in the NEG process, is most likely generated from previously-bound ring-closed isomers undergoing concerted acid/base reactions while bound to protein. The generation of the glucose RCS can involve concomitantly-bound physiological species (e.g., inorganic phosphate, water, etc.); here termed effector reagents. Extant NEG schemes do not account for these recent findings. In addition, effector reagent reactions with glucose in the serum and erythrocyte cytosol can generate RCS (e.g., glyoxal, glyceraldehyde, etc.). Recent research has shown that these RCS covalently modify proteins in vivo via NECPM mechanisms. A general scheme that reflects both the reagent and mechanistic diversity that can lead to NEG and NECPM is presented here. A perspective that accounts for the relationships between RCS, NEG, and NECPM can facilitate the understanding of site selectivity, may help explain overall glycation rates, and may have implications for the clinical assessment/control of diabetes mellitus. In view of this perspective, concentrations of ribose, fructose, Pi, bicarbonate, counter ions, and the resulting RCS generated within intracellular and extracellular compartments may be of importance and of clinical relevance. Future research is also proposed.
Prognostic Significance of Nodal Ratio in Patients Undergoing Adjuvant Chemoradiotherapy After Curative Resection for Ampullary Cancer

Objectives:To analyze the outcome of patients with ampullary cancer who had undergone curative surgery followed by adjuvant chemoradiotherapy and to identify the prognostic factors for these patients Methods:Between January 1991 and August 2006, 71 patients with ampullary cancer underwent curative resection followed by adjuvant radiotherapy. There were 38 males and 33 females, and median age was 56 years (range, 28 to 77 y). Postoperative radiotherapy was delivered to tumor bed and regional lymph nodes up to 40 to 50 Gy at 2 Gy/fraction; 67 patients also received intravenous 5-fluorouracil as a radiosensitizer. Median follow-up duration was 72 months for survivors. Results:There were 5 isolated locoregional recurrences, 20 isolated distant metastases, and 11 combined locoregional and distant relapses. The 5-year locoregional relapse-free and overall survival rates were 76.2% and 64.5%, respectively. On multivariate analysis, nodal ratio and histologic differentiation were significant prognostic factors for overall survival (P=0.0382 and 0.0331, respectively). Conclusions:Adjuvant chemoradiotherapy after curative resection can achieve a long-term survival rate in patients with ampullary cancer. Nodal ratio and histologic differentiation are independent prognostic factors for these patients.
Thinking locally, acting locally? Conscious consumers and farmers’ markets

Abstract The emergence of a more reflexive and discerning customer has created inter alia a demand for ‘better’ food (i.e. quality and ‘authenticity’) in terms of sourcing, processing, and specialist distribution/retailing. As a consequence, the food production/distribution industry is under pressure to change many of its practices. One manifestation is the emergence of farmers' markets and the associated emphasis on ‘local’ food. This paper aims to identify the extent to which ‘conscious’ consumers are committed to buying local foodstuffs and supporting local food producers, especially from farmers’ markets. Given the exploratory nature of this research, a qualitative approach was undertaken using in-depth interviews with ‘conscious’ consumers. The results reveal that ‘conscious’ consumers recognise their own limitations (i.e. time, convenience, and price) but also demonstrate that integrating ethical considerations into their consumption behaviour is a complex and flexible task. A number of strategic actions for farmers’ markets are proposed to help differentiate their provision, particularly in terms of capitalising on perceptions of authenticity and locality.
The Impact of Presentation Style on the Retention of Online Health Information: A Randomized-Controlled Experiment

The Internet plays an increasingly important role in health education, providing laypeople with information about health-related topics that range from disease-specific contexts to general health promotion. Compared to traditional health education, the Internet allows the use of multimedia applications that offer promise to enhance individuals' health knowledge and literacy. This study aims at testing the effect of multimedia presentation of health information on learning. Relying on an experimental design, it investigates how retention of information differs for text-only presentation, image-only presentation, and multimedia (text and image) presentation of online health information. Two hundred and forty students were randomly assigned to four groups each exposed to a different website version. Three groups were exposed to the same information using text only, image only, or text and image presentation. A fourth group received unrelated information (control group). Retention was assessed by the means of a recognition test. To examine a possible interaction between website version and recognition test, half of the students received a recognition test in text form and half of them received a recognition test in imagery form. In line with assumptions from Dual Coding Theory, students exposed to the multimedia (text and image) presentation recognized significantly more information than students exposed to the text-only presentation. This did not hold for students exposed to the image-only presentation. The impact of presentation style on retention scores was moderated by the way retention was assessed for image-only presentation, but not for text-only or multimedia presentation. Possible explanations and implications for the design of online health education interventions are discussed.
The retail experience in airport departure lounges: reaching for timelessness and placelessness

It is reasonable to assume that a sense of timelessness and placelessness is particularly likely to be experienced by travelers in transit, involved in international travel between distant places with different time zones. Therefore an examination of the environment in airport departure lounges might be expected to offer an insight into the post‐modern environment in which time and place are beginning to lose meaning. Retailers have a significant role to play in the creation and shaping of such environments. The research described in this article was conducted in pursuit of the following aim: to investigate airport departure lounges as environments in which timelessness and placelessness might be exhibited. This environment is analysed in terms of: servicescape and ambience; the range of retail outlets and their product ranges; marketing messages and communication; and, the customer experience. A level of sameness is uncovered, but there are also national and cultural dimensions which invade the experience. This creates a softened, but not entirely absent sense of place and time.
Noninvasive ventilation in patients with acute exacerbation of pulmonary tuberculosis sequelae.

BACKGROUND The efficacy of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) in acute exacerbation of pulmonary tuberculosis sequelae has not been fully studied. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed 58 patients with acute exacerbation of pulmonary tuberculosis sequelae who were admitted to Tosei General Hospital and treated with NIV over a 9-year period. RESULTS The 58 patients (mean age: 76.2±8.0) consisted of 39 males and 19 females. Arterial blood gas analysis on admission showed a mean pH of 7.28±0.07 and a mean PaCO(2) of 72.6±14.2 mmHg. After the start of NIV, significant improvement occurred in pH, to 7.32±0.06 after 2 h and 7.36±0.06 after 24 h, and in PaCO(2), to 66.4±11.2 mmHg after 2 h and 61.6±11.3 mmHg after 24 h. The success rate in weaning from NIV was 86.2%. There were statistically significant differences in pH, body mass index (BMI), blood leukocyte count and serum potassium between patients successfully and unsuccessfully weaned from NIV. CONCLUSION We conclude that patients with acute exacerbation of pulmonary tuberculosis sequelae can be treated successfully with NIV. Lower pH, BMI, and serum potassium, and higher blood leukocyte count are related to NIV failure.
Structural alerts for estimating the carcinogenicity of pesticides and biocides

More than 20 years ago, Ashby and Tennant showed the interest of structural alerts for the prediction of the carcinogenicity of chemicals. These structural alerts are functional groups or structural features of various sizes that are linked to the level of carcinogenicity of chemicals. Since this pioneering work it has been possible to refine the alerts over time, as more experimental results have become available and additional mechanistic insights have been gained. To date, one of the most advanced lists of structural alerts for evaluating the carcinogenic potential of chemicals is the list proposed by Benigni and Bossa and that is implemented as a rule-based system in Toxtree and in the OECD QSAR Application Toolbox. In order to gain insight into the applicability of this system to the detection of potential carcinogens we screened about 200 pesticides and biocides showing a high structural diversity. Prediction results were compared with experimental data retrieved from an extensive bibliographical review. The prediction correctness was only equal to 60.14%. Attempts were made to analyse the sources of mispredictions.
Channeling Funds into the Group: IPO Pricing in Business Groups

We demonstrate that business groups use financial intermediaries to boost the stock prices of affiliated firms in initial public offerings (IPO). Using a complete sample of all IPOs and all mutual funds in Israel during a four-year period, we find that the participation of mutual funds affiliated with the business group leads to economically significant overpricing for those IPOs. We show an increased likelihood of participation of mutual funds in the offerings of related firms and a rapid disposal of those stocks in subsequent trade. Our findings expand on the tunneling hypothesis by demonstrating that the transfer of resources can come from sources external to the group, such as assets managed by mutual funds, in a phenomenon we call “channeling. ”
A tunable single photon avalanche diode pixel with improved time resolution

Perimeter gated single photon avalanche diodes (PGSPAD) contain an additional terminal to prevent premature breakdown and tune the noise floor. We report a PGSPAD based pixel where reduced dead time is accomplished using simple readout electronics for a compact, area efficient readout. During the dead time of a PGSPAD, defined by the avalanche-quench-reset cycle, it is unable to detect incident photons. This limits the output dynamic range. To overcome this limitation, a pixel with four identical PGSPADs and simple electronics has been designed and fabricated in a standard 0. 5μm, 2-poly, 3-metal CMOS process. Simulation and experimental results show a reduction in the dead time approximately equal to the number of pixels. For a single device with approximately the same total area the dead time was 10μs, while the use of 4 sub-pixels reduced the dead time to 2. 5μs. A 3 × 3 pixel array demonstrates the nonuniformity correction.
Money Talks: Impact of SME Policies on Innovation Capabilities

The purpose of this paper is to explore the determinants of innovative capabilities in an emerging country context. We focus more particularly on the impact of recent changes in SME policies in Turkey. Using a unique firm-level survey conducted on 50.000 SMEs, innovative capabilities of firms are assessed at three different levels; their innovation efforts, innovation decision and innovative intensity. We analyze and compare the impact of two different incentive schemes; one a purely financial support, and the second, consultancy and technological assistance coupled with financial facilities. Our results point to access to external capital as a main issue for Turkish SMEs. Whereas all firms seem to benefit from financial support, only less innovative firms take fully advantage of the advisory services. Overall, the determinants of innovative capabilities depend considerably on the sample, suggesting the need for differentiated policy measures according to the firm's technological capabilities.
Default Risk in Equity Returns; An Industrial and Cross-Industrial Study

The relationship between default risk and equity returns is investigated in this study from an industrial and economic cycle decomposition point of view. The portfolio approach and Fama-MacBeth regression are used in the analysis. This dissertation provides evidence that investors charged a premium for stocks with both lower and higher credit risks. However, the specific relationship is different across industries and economic cycles. This study also notices two unique patterns of the banking industry when it comes to default risk. First, higher default risks are more likely to be compensated by higher returns. Second, as compared to other industries, the higher default risk of the banking industry is accompanied with larger banks; furthermore, this positive relationship only exists during the post-1980 period. The Granger Causality tests suggest that the default risk of the banking industry is more likely to cause the default risk of other industries, not vice versa. The significance of this causality is related to an industry’s dependence on the banking industry. This study further explores the possibility whether the change of bank default risk is a systematic risk. The empirical results from the Fama-MacBeth approach show that the change of bank default risk affects the equity returns of other industries only during the economic contraction stages. In addition, this effect is slightly negative, indicating that during the economic contraction periods the increase of bank default risk actually drives funds to flow from the banking industry to other industries in a period as short as one month.
A Search for Missing Links

We search for “missing links” in how the different social exchange relationships employees have with supervisors (i.e., leader-member exchange [LMX] differentiation) affect their unit service climate perceptions. Drawing on a social comparison perspective, we propose a model in which the different relationships service employees establish with supervisors negatively impact unit service climate through elevated unit relationship conflict. We further suggest that unit relationship conflict plays a mediating role as customer variability increases. Using data from head nurse-nurse relationships in 56 units of two major hospitals, our findings support the proposed linkages as well as reveal that employee perceptions of customer variability strengthen the troublesome positive link between LMX differentiation and unit relationship conflict. The results also indicate that unit relationship conflict mediates the relationship between LMX differentiation and unit service climate when customer variability is high but not low. Our results paint a more nuanced picture of the missing link in the leadership-climate interface by studying the dark side of leadership, a perspective that has yet to receive much scholarly attention. Findings reveal that managers who desire to keep relationship conflict in check need to keep LMX differentiation to a minimum, especially when customer variability is high compared to low.
Friendship between banks: An application of an actor-oriented model of network formation on interbank credit relations

This paper investigates the driving forces behind banks' link formation in the interbank market by applying the stochastic actor oriented model (SAOM) developed in sociology. Our data consists of quarterly networks constructed from the transactions on an electronic platform (e-MID) over the period from 2001 to2010. Estimating the model for the time before and after the global financial crisis (GFC), shows relatively similar behavior over the complete period. We find that past trades are a significant predictor of future credit relations which indicates a strong role for the formation of lasting relationships between banks. We also find strong importance of size-related characteristics, but little influence of past interest rates. The major changes found for the period after the onset of the financial crisis are that: (1) large banks and those identified as 'core' intermediaries became even more popular and (2) indirect counterparty risk appears to be more of a concern as indicated by a higher tendency to avoid indirect exposure via clustering effects.
Relationship between growth during the fattening period and lung lesions at slaughter in swine

SUMMARY The examination of lung lesions on fattening pigs at slaughter is a useful tool for estimating the importance of respiratory diseases in a farm. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between prevalence and extent of lung lesions at slaughter and the previous pig growth during the fattening period. Data were collected on near of 7000 pigs from 14 French farms, individually identified, weighed, and then scored at slaughter. Simple notation scales (0 to 28 for pneumonia, 0 to 2 for pleurisy), easy to apply during the slaughtering process, were used. At the farm level, there is a significant (p=0.008) negative correlation between prevalence of pneumonia and growth. At the individual level, there is a significant (p<10 -3 ) negative correlation between pneumonia score and growth, with a weight gain loss of about 0.7% for each point of pneumonia increase. The pneumonia score is also significantly (p<10 -3 ) linked with the age at slaughtering, especially for the high scores. The analysis also shows significant (p<10 -3 ) differences for growth and age at slaughtering depending on the pleurisy scores.
Intracellular parasitism of Legionella and signaling in eukaryotic cells

In this review the phenomenon of anti‐bacterial activity of phagocytes and its relationship to the general system of signal transduction in eukaryotic cells is examined. Data are reviewed that support the hypothesis that interference in transduction of regulatory signals during microbial invasion could be caused by specific bacterial products and lead to an inadequate bactericidal response, and hence multiplication of the bacteria in a host. In this connection, information concerning virulence factors of the facultative intracellular parasite Legionella is discussed. —Belyi, Y. F. intracellular parasitism of Legionella and signaling in eukaryotic cells. FASEB J. 7: 1011‐1015; 1993.
Short-Term Medical Missions: Enhancing or Eroding Health?

This paper analyzes two case studies of short-term medical missions to Latin America. Its conclusions suggest that when such projects are evaluated in terms of their impact upon the health status of the local population or health care delivery systems, they are found to have insignificant and even negative consequences. The shortcomings of these short-term efforts reflect the cultural assumptions that inform their design and implementation, rather than local health realities. Recommendations are suggested to increase the effectiveness of these missions in terms of the health needs of local populations.
Smart Phones and Social Bonds: Communication Technology and Inter-Ethnic Cooperation in Kenya

The expansion of access to mobile phones in the developing world has provided new opportunities for development and peacebuilding institutions to reach communities, and for communities to develop local development and peacebuilding solutions. Kenya has seen a particularly high concentration of programming geared towards using mobile phones for banking, election monitoring and violence prevention, using crowdsourcing methods to collect and share information. While there have been a number of notable crowdsourcing programmes that have been successful at preventing violence, there remains limited theorisation in the peacebuilding community about why these successes occurred. Using Fearon and Laitin's (American Political Science Review 90 [1996]: 715–795) models of inter-ethnic cooperation, intra-group organising and inter-group policing, we explore whether success in crowdsourcing for violence prevention is a function of direct intra-community organising, or is an outcome of previously unavailable information being broadcast on traditional media such as radio.
Expression of hepatitis B viral core region in mammalian cells

We studied the expression of the core region of the hepatitis B virus genome in mammalian cells with recombinant plasmid vectors. Stably transformed rat fibroblast cell lines were established by transfection with vectors containing subgenomic and genome-length hepatitis B virus DNA, followed by G418 selection. The RNA transcripts directed by the core region were characterized by Northern blot hybridization and S1 nuclease mapping. Using the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene expression system, the promoter activity located upstream of the core open reading frame was confirmed. The synthesis of core and e polypeptides was studied with a commercial radioimmunoassay. These studies show that partial deletion of the precore sequences abolished secretion of the e antigen, but there was pronounced synthesis of the core antigen in transfected cells.
Consumer profiles of apparel product involvement and values

Purpose – This study sets out to explore how consumers may be segmented based on their levels of apparel product involvement using Kapferer and Laurent's consumer involvement profiles (CIP). It also seeks to examine whether consumers within each profile group could be differentiated by their personally‐held values.Design/methodology/approach – Questionnaires were mailed to female consumers, ages 18 and over, randomly selected from a consumer database. Responses from 757 female consumers were used. The response rate based on delivered questionnaires was 30 percent. Laurent and Kapferer's CIP was used to measure consumer involvement and Kahle's list of values (LOV) was used to measure consumer values.Findings – Five consumer involvement types were identified based on four dimensions of involvement: challenged moderate, knowledged enthusiast, indifferent moderate, challenged enthusiast, and cautious moderate. This study found that values could be used to further explain differences between the enthusiast and.