Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Copper-Modulated Gene Expression and Senescence in the Filamentous Fungus Podospora anserina

ABSTRACT We have previously shown that the control of cellular copper homeostasis by the copper-modulated transcription factor GRISEA has an important impact on the phenotype and lifespan of Podospora anserina. Here we demonstrate that copper depletion leads to the induction of an alternative respiratory pathway and to an increase in lifespan. This response compensates mitochondrial dysfunctions via the expression of PaAox, a nuclear gene coding for an alternative oxidase. It resembles the retrograde response inSaccharomyces cerevisiae. In P. anserina, this pathway appears to be induced by specific impairments of the copper-dependent cytochrome c oxidase. It is not induced as the result of a general decline of mitochondrial functions during senescence. We cloned and characterized PaAox. Transcript levels are decreased when cellular copper, superoxide, and hydrogen peroxide levels are raised. Copper also controls transcript levels ofPaSod2, the gene encoding the mitochondrial manganese superoxide dismutase (PaSOD2). PaSod2 is a target of transcription factor GRISEA. During the senescence of wild-type strain s, the activity of PaSOD2 decreases, whereas the activity of the cytoplasmic copper/zinc superoxide dismutase (PaSOD1) increases. Collectively, the data explain the postponed senescence of mutant grisea as a defined consequence of copper depletion, ultimately leading to a reduction of oxidative stress. Moreover, they suggest that during senescence of the wild-type strain, copper is released from mitochondria. The involved mechanism is unknown. However, it is striking that the permeability of mitochondrial membranes in animal systems changes during apoptosis and that mitochondrial proteins with an important impact on this type of cellular death are released.
Two Pathways for Store-mediated Calcium Entry Differentially Dependent on the Actin Cytoskeleton in Human Platelets*

A major pathway for stimulated Ca2+ entry in non-excitable cells is activated following depletion of intracellular Ca2+ stores. Secretion-like coupling between elements in the plasma membrane (PM) and Ca2+ stores has been proposed as the most likely mechanism to activate this store-mediated Ca2+ entry (SMCE) in several cell types. Here we identify two mechanisms for SMCE in human platelets activated by depletion of two independent Ca2+ pools, which are differentially modulated by the actin cytoskeleton. Ca2+ entry induced by depletion of a 2,5-di-(tert-butyl)-1,4-hydroquinone (TBHQ)-sensitive pool is increased by disassembly of the actin cytoskeleton and that induced by a TBHQ-insensitive pool is reduced. Stabilization of the actin cytoskeleton prevented Ca2+ entry by both mechanisms. We propose that the membrane-associated actin network prevents constitutive Ca2+ entry via both pathways. Reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton permits the activation of Ca2+ entry via both mechanisms, but only SMCE activated by the TBHQ-insensitive pool requires new actin polymerization, which may support membrane trafficking toward the PM.
Polymorphisms of the protein kinase C-beta gene (PRKCB1) accelerate kidney disease in type 2 diabetes without overt proteinuria.

OBJECTIVE We investigated the contribution of PKC-beta gene (PRKCB1) polymorphisms to diabetic kidney disease in a prospective observational follow-up study. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A total of 364 Japanese subjects with type 2 diabetes without overt proteinuria were enrolled during 1996-1998 and followed until 2004. Five single nucleotide polymorphisms (-1504C/T, -546C/G, -348A/G, -278C/T, and -238C/G) in the promoter region of PRKCB1 were genotyped. The end points were transition from stage to stage of diabetic nephropathy as a time-to-event outcome and the annual decline rate of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) as a slope-based outcome. RESULTS During the study (median 6 years), 34 of 364 subjects (9.3%) progressed. Kaplan-Meier estimation revealed that subjects with both T allele at -1054 C/T and G allele at -546 C/G polymorphisms frequently showed transition to advanced stages of diabetic nephropathy (P = 0.015). The annual change rate in eGFR in the subjects with both alleles was also significantly higher than in others (-2.96 +/- 0.62 vs. -1.63 +/- 0.15 ml/min per 1.73 m(2)/year, P = 0.02). The estimated frequency of this risk T-G haplotype was significantly higher in the progressors who showed transition to advanced nephropathy stages (12%) than in the nonprogressors (5%) (odds ratio 2.3 [95% CI 1.0-5.2]), and it was also higher in those with accelerated decline of the Delta eGFR (> or =3 ml/min per 1.73 m(2)/year) than in those without (2.1 [1.1-3.9]). CONCLUSIONS Our study indicates that PRKCB1 is a predictor for worsening of kidney disease in Japanese subjects with type 2 diabetes.
Narrow-band imaging with magnifying endoscopy is accurate for detecting gastric intestinal metaplasia.

AIM To investigate the predictive value of narrow-band imaging with magnifying endoscopy (NBI-ME) for identifying gastric intestinal metaplasia (GIM) in unselected patients. METHODS We prospectively evaluated consecutive patients undergoing upper endoscopy for various indications, such as epigastric discomfort/pain, anaemia, gastro-oesophageal reflux disease, suspicion of peptic ulcer disease, or chronic liver diseases. Patients underwent NBI-ME, which was performed by three blinded, experienced endoscopists. In addition, five biopsies (2 antrum, 1 angulus, and 2 corpus) were taken and examined by two pathologists unaware of the endoscopic findings to determine the presence or absence of GIM. The correlation between light blue crest (LBC) appearance and histology was measured. Moreover, we quantified the degree of LBC appearance as less than 20% (+), 20%-80% (++) and more than 80% (+++) of an image field, and the semiquantitative evaluation of LBC appearance was correlated with IM percentage from the histological findings. RESULTS We enrolled 100 (58 F/42 M) patients who were mainly referred for gastro-esophageal reflux disease/dyspepsia (46%), cancer screening/anaemia (34%), chronic liver disease (9%), and suspected celiac disease (6%); the remaining patients were referred for other indications. The prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection detected from the biopsies was 31%, while 67% of the patients used proton pump inhibitors. LBCs were found in the antrum of 33 patients (33%); 20 of the cases were classified as LBC+, 9 as LBC++, and 4 as LBC+++. LBCs were found in the gastric body of 6 patients (6%), with 5 of them also having LBCs in the antrum. The correlation between the appearance of LBCs and histological GIM was good, with a sensitivity of 80% (95%CI: 67-92), a specificity of 96% (95%CI: 93-99), a positive predictive value of 84% (95%CI: 73-96), a negative predictive value of 95% (95%CI: 92-98), and an accuracy of 93% (95%CI: 90-97). The NBI-ME examination overlooked GIM in 8 cases, but the GIM was less than 5% in 7 of the cases. Moreover, in the 6 false positive cases, the histological examination showed the presence of reactive gastropathy (4 cases) or H. pylori active chronic gastritis (2 cases). The semiquantitative correlation between the rate of LBC appearance and the percentage of GIM was 79% (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION NBI-ME achieved good sensitivity and specificity in recognising GIM in an unselected population. In routine clinical practice, this technique can reliably target gastric biopsies.
Is R2P a Fully-Fledged International Norm?

This commentary examines whether R2P is a fully-fledged norm. As a normative aspiration R2P is almost universally accepted. However as a standard of behaviour that states implement as a matter of course R2P is far from fully-fledged. By examining state responses to refugee crises in Syria it is argued that powerful states are failing in their special responsibility to protect.
TRADE POLICY AND PRODUCTIVITY GAINS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES A Survey of the Literature

Despite the widely accepted view that liberal, outward-oriented trade policies are superior to restricitve, inward-oriented policies, doubts about liberalization remain strong in many circles. One reason for such doubt is the dearth of research quantifying the large gains that liberal trade policies are said to generate. The survey of the literature undertaken for this article was a review of the evidence on the link between trade policy and efficiency, or productivity gains in developing countries. Several inferences are drawn from the literature on sources of growth - particularly with regard to increases in capacity utlization and economies of scale. The article also examines evidence from the few studies that explicitly try to correlate efficiency gains directly with trade policy. These studies fall into three categories, those that : 1) evaluate the effect of trade policy on market power; 2) measure total factor productivity or technical efficiency gains and correlate these with the degree of protection; and 3) estimate the aggregate effects of changes in trade policy on welfare. In a final section, the article pulls together the findings from the indirect and direct evidence as a basis for suggesting some hypotheses on the link between efficiency and trade policy. A conclusion is that country specific analysis over time appears to be superior to cross-country comparisons.
Resource idiosyncrasy, performance, and inter-firm small-world networks

– Many networks take a small-world structure, with a high degree of clustering and shortcut ties that reduce the path-length between the clusters. It can be argued that small-world networks have benefits that are simultaneously related to network closures and the spanning of structural holes, but research on the network members’ performance is nonetheless inconclusive. The purpose of this paper is to argue that the concept of resource idiosyncrasy can explain the mixed findings. Firm idiosyncratic resources are not easily generalizable across enterprises. , – Industries may vary in terms of resource idiosyncrasy, and the paper elaborates how this can moderate shortcut ties’ effect on performance in an inter-firm network. , – If resource idiosyncrasy predominates in an industry, the paper proposes that inter-firm shortcut ties may increase performance, whereas shortcut ties may decrease performance if non-idiosyncratic resources predominate. , – Applying the concept of resource idiosyncrasy as a moderating variable, the paper aims to explain shortcut ties’ effect on performance in an inter-firm network. The theory advanced here can have practical implications and also motivate future empirical studies to gain further knowledge about small-world networks’ effect on performance.
Hedge Fund Regulation and Misreported Returns

This paper introduces a cross-country law and finance analysis of the misreporting behaviour in the hedge fund industry in terms of smoothing returns so that a fund consistently generates positive returns. We find strong evidence that international differences in hedge fund regulation are significantly associated with the propensity of fund managers to misreport monthly returns. We find a positive association between wrappers and misreporting, particularly for funds that do not have a lockup provision. Also, we find some evidence that misreporting is less common among funds in jurisdictions with minimum capitalisation requirements and restrictions on the location of key service providers. We assess the robustness of our finds to a number of specifications, including, different specifications of misreporting bin widths, subsets of the data by fund type, as well as specifications controlling for collinearity and selection effects and other robustness checks. We show misreporting significantly affects capital allocation, and calculate the wealth transfer effects of misreporting and relate this wealth transfer to differences in hedge fund regulation.
Characterization of Printing Inks Using DART‐Q‐TOF‐MS and Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) FTIR

The rise in improved and widely accessible printing technology has resulted in an interest to develop rapid and minimally destructive chemical analytical techniques that can characterize printing inks for forensic document analysis. Chemical characterization of printing inks allows for both discrimination of inks originating from different sources and the association of inks originating from the same source. Direct analysis in real‐time mass spectrometry (DART‐MS) and attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR‐FTIR) were used in tandem to analyze four different classes of printing inks: inkjets, toners, offset, and intaglio. A total of 319 samples or ~ 80 samples from each class were analyzed directly on a paper substrate using the two methods. DART‐MS was found to characterize the semi‐volatile polymeric vehicle components, while ATR‐FTIR provided chemical information associated with the bulk components of these inks. Complimentary data results in improved discrimination when both techniques are used in succession resulting in >96% discrimination for all toners, 95% for all inkjets, >92% for all offset, and >54% for all intaglio inks.
Who Is Tweeting on #PRU13?

The popular microblogging platform known as Twitter has become a legitimate and frequently used communication channel in the Malaysian political arena. While the 2008 Malaysian general election was notable for the use of social media by the opposition parties during their campaigns, the 2013 general election saw a level playing field in which the Barisan Nasional coalition had quickly caught up in its use of social media. This study draws on a content analysis of election-related Twitter messages collected under the #pru13 hashtag to describe the key patterns of activity and the thematic foci of the election’s coverage on this particular social media site. The dataset is collected from Twitter’s public timeline from May 1to May 6, 2013. What emerged from this analysis is there are evidently intensified and amplified campaign messages polluting the #pru13 hastag from accounts that are questionable in their origin. This study adds to the literature that has questioned the predictive power of social media in an election.
Corporate Governance and the Prediction of the Impact of AIFRS Adoption

This study examines whether a firm's corporate governance system, particularly with respect to the characteristics of the board of directors and senior management, affects how accurately the impact of accounting changes is reported to shareholders. We concentrate on the relation between corporate governance measures and accounting forecast errors that arise with adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards by listed Australian firms. Evidence reveals that corporate governance mechanisms are associated with the likelihood and magnitude of managerial forecast errors.
The Contribution of International Student Mobility to Human Development and Global Understanding

International student mobility has been an important indicator for the degree of internationalisation in higher education. Today, international student mobility has moved from unorganised or self-organised study abroad to a variety of mobility forms organised within programmes. It has also become an issue of economic competitiveness, like attracting best talent, wealth creation and brain drain. This paper focuses on mobility as a limited period of study abroad (typically between six and 12 months) and not on mobility for the purpose of studying a whole degree programme abroad. Meanwhile, it takes ERASMUS program in Germany for example, analyzes the barriers to student mobility and possible solutions, and draws conclusions that widening participation and broadening geographical scope.
Organizing work to support relational co-ordination

Service operations that are highly uncertain, interdependent and time constrained require a competency that I call relational co-ordination – co-ordination that is carried out by front-line workers with an awareness of their relationship to the overall work process and to other participants in that process. Relational co-ordination is characterized by frequent, timely, problem solving communication, and by helping, shared goals, shared knowledge and mutual respect. Previous work reports significant positive effects of relational co-ordination on performance in such settings. This paper addresses how organizations achieve, or fail to achieve, high levels of relational coordination. I find significant correlations between relational co-ordination and the use of cross-functional liaisons, IT, supervisors, cross-functional performance measurement, employee selection, conflict resolution and flexible work roles. I explore the implications for team effectiveness and organization design, and for the theory of organizational social capital.
A 65 nm CMOS - Stacked Folded Fully Differential (SFFD) PA structure for W-CDMA application

This paper presents a 65 nm CMOS-power amplifier (PA) designed for mobile communications.The PA is based on a new structure, the stacked folded fully differential (SFFD) which is inspired by a push-pull structure. The PA is designed for the UMTS W-CDMA standard which requires linearity from -20 dBm to 24 dBm output power. The power amplifier provides 31 dBm output power with 26% of power added efficiency (PAE) at 1.95 GHz. The linear gain is 20 dB and the compression point (OCP1) is 25.6 dBm. In order to meet the UMTS W-CDMA requirements, the PA is linear until 24 dBm, which is the maximum output power required by this standard.
Intangibles disclosure, market performance and business reputation ? the case of Spain

The aim of this paper is to analyse from an evolutionary point of view the degree of disclosure of information regarding intangibles of Spanish companies listed on the Stock Exchange. In addition, the paper explores the reasons which lead companies towards greater transparency and the effects this has on share market value and business reputation. All kinds of annual reports issued by 43 listed Spanish companies have been examined for the period of 2001? 2003. With respect to previous studies, an improved classification of intangibles has been used and several refinements have been made in the way of scoring the amount of information disclosed. The research shows that information transparency regarding intangibles is clearly on the rise. No type of significant link has been noted between transparency and share market value, but a positive and significant link has been detected between the degree of intangibles disclosure and corporate reputation.
Radiologic Differences between Bone Marrow Stromal and Hematopoietic Progenitor Cell Lines from Fanconi Anemia (Fancd2–/–) Mice

FancD2 plays a central role in the human Fanconi anemia DNA damage response (DDR) pathway. Fancd2–/– mice exhibit many features of human Fanconi anemia including cellular DNA repair defects. Whether the DNA repair defect in Fancd2–/– mice results in radiologic changes in all cell lineages is unknown. We measured stress of hematopoiesis in long-term marrow cultures and radiosensitivity in clonogenic survival curves, as well as comet tail intensity, total antioxidant stores and radiation-induced gene expression in hematopoietic progenitor compared to bone marrow stromal cell lines. We further evaluated radioprotection by a mitochondrial-targeted antioxidant GS-nitroxide, JP4-039. Hematopoiesis longevity in Fancd2–/– mouse long-term marrow cultures was diminished and bone marrow stromal cell lines were radiosensitive compared to Fancd2+/+ stromal cells (Fancd2–/– D0 = 1.4 ± 0.1 Gy, ñ = 5.0 ± 0.6 vs. Fancd2+/+ D0 = 1.6 ± 0.1 Gy, ñ = 6.7 ± 1.6), P = 0.0124 for D0 and P = 0.0023 for ñ, respectively). In contrast, Fancd2–/– IL-3-dependent hematopoietic progenitor cells were radioresistant (D0 = 1.71 ± 0.04 Gy and ñ = 5.07 ± 0.52) compared to Fancd2+/+ (D0 = 1.39 ± 0.09 Gy and ñ = 2.31 ± 0.85, P = 0.001 for D0). CFU-GM from freshly explanted Fancd2–/– marrow was also radioresistant. Consistent with radiosensitivity, irradiated Fancd2–/– stromal cells had higher DNA damage by comet tail intensity assay compared to Fancd2+/+ cells (P < 0.0001), slower DNA damage recovery, lower baseline total antioxidant capacity, enhanced radiation-induced depletion of antioxidants, and increased CDKN1A-p21 gene transcripts and protein. Consistent with radioresistance, Fancd2–/– IL-3-dependent hematopoietic cells had higher baseline and post irradiation total antioxidant capacity. While, there was no detectable alteration of radiation-induced cell cycle arrest with Fancd2–/– stromal cells, hematopoietic progenitor cells showed reduced G2/M cell cycle arrest. The absence of the mouse Fancd2 gene product confers radiosensitivity to bone marrow stromal but not hematopoietic progenitor cells.
Seasonal adjustment with 'bad' neural networks: a case of benign underfitting

This paper is a response to reports by a number of authors of difficulties in using feedforward neural networks (NNs) in the presence of seasonality. Such difficulties appear to contradict the well-known property of 'universal approximation', but arise in fact because the property only applies to suitably smooth functions. We report on what is an unexpected benefit of this limitation of NNs: although the network is unable to follow seasonal movements it can identify an underlying trend, through being forced to steer a middle course. We achieve such deseasonalisation through network pruning, which restricts the approximation capacity of the network by depriving it of connections. Although pruning is in general motivated by the search for the most parsimonious network, in our particular context it forces the network to ignore both seasonal movements and noise.
Isometric and isokinetic testing of lifting strength of males in teamwork.

Additivity of static (isometric) and dynamic (isokinetic) strengths for teams of two and three males was evaluated. Six healthy college students participated in the laboratory experiment. The isometric strength evaluations consisted of four standard measures: arm, stooped back, leg, and composite, while the dynamic lift strength and dynamic back extension strength were used in isokinetic strength testing. In addition to individual strengths, the two-man strengths (15 teams for each of the six strengths) and the three-man strengths (20 teams for each of the six strengths) were tested. With the exception of the isometric leg strength for the team of two, and the isometric arm strength for the team of three, the team strengths were significantly lower (P<0·01) than the respective sums of the individual strengths of team members. On the average, the isometric strengths were approximately 94% of the sums of corresponding individual strengths for the team of two males. For the team of three males, the team isom.
Does International Financial Contagion Really Exist?

This article surveys the various definitions and taxonomies of international financial contagion in the academic literature and popular press and relates it to the existing evidence on co-movements in international asset prices, on the growth and volatility of international capital flows and on the relationship between flows and asset prices. The central argument of the article is that the empirical evidence is not as obviously consistent with the existence of market contagion as many researchers, the press, or market regulators believe. Policy implications of this alternative viewpoint are presented. Copyright 2003 by Blackwell Publishers Ltd.