Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Protein dynamics control proton transfer from bulk solvent to protein interior: A case study with a green fluorescent protein

The kinetics of proton transfer in Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) have been studied as a model system for characterizing the correlation between dynamics and function of proteins in general. The kinetics in EGFP (a variant of GFP) were monitored by using a laser‐induced pH jump method. The pH was jumped from 8 to 5 by nanosecond flash photolysis of the “caged proton,” o‐nitrobenzaldehyde, and subsequent proton transfer was monitored by following the decrease in fluorescence intensity. The modulation of proton transfer kinetics by external perturbants such as viscosity, pH, and subdenaturing concentrations of GdnHCl as well as of salts was studied. The rate of proton transfer was inversely proportional to solvent viscosity, suggesting that the rate‐limiting step is the transfer of protons through the protein matrix. The rate is accelerated at lower pH values, and measurements of the fluorescence properties of tryptophan 57 suggest that the enhancement in rate is associated with an enhancement in protein dynamics. The rate of proton transfer is nearly independent of temperature, unlike the rate of the reverse process. When the stability of the protein was either decreased or increased by the addition of co‐solutes, including the salts KCl, KNO3, and K2SO4, a significant decrease in the rate of proton transfer was observed in all cases. The lack of correlation between the rate of proton transfer and the stability of the protein suggests that the structure is tuned to ensure maximum efficiency of the dynamics that control the proton transfer function of the protein.
Delayed hyperenhancement in magnetic resonance imaging of left ventricular hypertrophy caused by aortic stenosis and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: visualisation of focal fibrosis

Objective: To compare the extent and distribution of focal fibrosis by gadolinium contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI; delayed hyperenhancement) in severe left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy in patients with pressure overload caused by aortic stenosis (AS) and with genetically determined hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Methods: 44 patients with symptomatic valvular AS (n = 22) and HCM (n = 22) were studied. Cine images were acquired with fast imaging with steady-state precession (trueFISP) on a 1.5 T scanner (Sonata, Siemens Medical Solutions). Gadolinium contrast-enhanced MRI was performed with a segmented inversion–recovery sequence. The location, extent and enhancement pattern of hyperenhanced myocardium was analysed in a 12-segment model. Results: Mean LV mass was 238.6 (SD 75.3) g in AS and 205.4 (SD 80.5) g in HCM (p = 0.17). Hyperenhancement was observed in 27% of patients with AS and in 73% of patients with HCM (p < 0.01). In AS, hyperenhancement was observed in 60% of patients with a maximum diastolic wall thickness ⩾ 18 mm, whereas no patient with a maximum diastolic wall thickness < 18 mm had hyperenhancement (p < 0.05). Patients with hyperenhancement had more severe AS than patients without hyperenhancement (aortic valve area 0.80 (0.09) cm2v 0.99 (0.3) cm2, p < 0.05; maximum gradient 98 (22) mm Hg v 74 (24) mm Hg, p < 0.05). In HCM, hyperenhancement was predominant in the anteroseptal regions and patients with hyperenhancement had higher end diastolic (125.4 (36.9) ml v 98.8 (16.9) ml, p < 0.05) and end systolic volumes (38.9 (18.2) ml v 25.2 (1.7) ml, p < 0.05). The volume of hyperenhancement (percentage of total LV myocardium), where present, was lower in AS than in HCM (4.3 (1.9)% v 8.6 (7.4)%, p< 0.05). Hyperenhancement was observed in 4.5 (3.1) and 4.6 (2.7) segments in AS and HCM, respectively (p = 0.93), and the enhancement pattern was mostly patchy with multiple foci. Conclusions: Focal scarring can be observed in severe LV hypertrophy caused by AS and HCM, and correlates with the severity of LV remodelling. However, focal scarring is significantly less prevalent in adaptive LV hypertrophy caused by AS than in genetically determined HCM.
Improving Governance: A New Logic for Empirical Research

Preface About the Authors List of Tables and Features 1. Governance in a Democracy What is Governance? Complications of Governance ResearchPurposes of this BookLimits to GovernanceA CaveatNotes 2. A Logic for Governance Research Challenges for Governance ResearchThe Logic of Market GovernancePublic-Sector Governance: An Institutional ViewLevels of GovernanceNotes 3. Institutional Governance Legal IdealismPolitical EconomyThe New InstitutionalismNotes 4. Organizational and Technical Governance The Organizational (Managerial) LevelThe Technical (Primary Work) LevelNotes 5. Designing Research: Applying a Logic of Governance Questions and IssuesA Reduced-Form ModelSummaryNotes 6. Designing Reseach: Models, Methods, and Data Identifying a Literature of GovernanceCritiquing a Literature of GovernanceSummaryNotes 7. Governance Research: Scholarly Applications Governance Research in Three Policy DomainsMore Extensive Reviews of Individual Governance StudiesConlcuding CommentNotes 8. Governance: Research and Practice The Nature of ResearchThe Nature of PracticeEnlightening Practice: Utilizing a LogicEnlightening Practice: ProspectsConclusionNotes References Names Index Subject Index
Pass-Through Elasticity, Substitution and Market Share: the Case for Sheep Meat Exports

This paper empirically examines the exchange rate pass-through elasticity, using sheep meat exports from the two major exporters, Australia and New Zealand. The results show the coexistence of incomplete and complete pass-through in the international sheep meat industry. The Australian sheep meat exporters have a relatively smaller market share than New Zealand and are not able to exercise monopoly power. New Zealand producers, on the other hand, can increase their mark-ups in those destination countries where they have a large market share.
Urban place brands and the location of creative industries: a model for measuring place-brand equity

The situation of post-industrial cities is characterized by the effects of globalization, de-regulation, regionalization and technological developments. The application of supply-side strategies to meet the challenges contributed to the homogeneity of places which economic development professionals try to escape by creating place brands. Considerable resources are allocated to such efforts without being able to measure the effectiveness. This article presents a model to analyse the investor-based place-brand equity in the attempt to identify attributes and benefits contributing to effective place brands. The theoretically derived place-brand actuators are verified by a qualitative and quantitative approach using the creative industries as target group.
On the Form of Transfers to Special Interests

An important question in political economy concerns the form of transfers to special interests. The Chicago view is that political competition leads politicians to make such transfers efficiently. The Virginia position is that lack of information on the part of voters leads politicians to favor inefficient "sneaky" methods of redistribution. This paper analyzes the form of transfers in a model of political competition in which politicians have incentives to make transfers to special interests. It shows that when voters have imperfect information about both the effects of policy and the predispositions of politicians, inefficient methods of redistribution may be employed.
The Economics of Carbon Offsets

Although international programs for carbon offsets play an important role in current and prospective climate-change policy, they continue to be very controversial. Asymmetric information creates several incentive problems, include adverse selection and moral hazard, in offset markets. The current regulatory focus on additionality tends to paint all these problems with a broad brush without proper consideration of the context or their implications.
Glutamate transport and renal function

Welbourne, Tomas C. , and James C. Matthews. Glutamate transport and renal function. Am. J. Physiol. 277 (Renal Physiol. 46): F501– F505, 1999. —Brush border g-glutamyltransferase-glutaminase activity and the high-affinity glutamate transporter EAAC1 function as a unit in generating and transporting extracellular glutamate into proximal tubules as a signal that modulates intracellular glutamine/glutamate metabolism, paracellular permeability, and urinary acidification. The reported presence of a second glutamate transporter, GLT1, on the antiluminal tubule surface points to specific functional roles for each subtype in physiological and pathophysiological processes.
To blow or not to blow the whistle? That is the question

Whistle blower was a word created in the 70s to specifically differentiate allegations from somebody from inside the company as opposed to allegations of a wrong doing by someone from outside the company. The agreed‐upon definition of whistle‐blowing has four components: 1) A person acts with the intention of making information public; 2) The information is transmitted to people outside the organisation who make it public and a part of the public record; 3) The information has to do with possible or actual nontrivial wrong doing in a company; and 4) The individual exposing the organisation is not a journalist or ordinary citizen, but an employee or former employee of the organisation. (Johnson, 2003:3‐4).
New trend in neuroscience: low-power laser effect on peripheral and central nervous system (basic science, preclinical and clinical studies).

The present review summarizes findings in our continuing study of the use of low-power laser irradiation (LPLI) in the treatment of severely injured peripheral (PNS) and central nervous systems (CNS). The radiation method was proposed by Rochkind and has been modified over the last 13 years. LPLI in specific wavelengths and energy density maintains the electrophysiological activity of severely injured peripheral nerve in rats, preventing scar formation (at injury site) as well as degenerative changes in the corresponding motor neurons of the spinal cord, thus accelerating regeneration of the injured nerve. Laser irradiation applied to the spinal cord of dogs following severe spinal cord injury and implantation of a segment of the peripheral nerve into the injured area diminished glial scar formation, induced axonal sprouting in the injured area and restoration of locomotor function. The use of laser irradiation in mammalian CNS transplantation shows that laser therapy prevents extensive glial scar formation (a limiting factor in CNS regeneration) between a neural transplant and the host brain or spinal cord. Abundant capillaries developed in the laser-irradiated transplants, and was of crucial importance in their survival. Intraoperative clinical use of laser therapy following surgical treatment of the tethered spinal cord (resulting from myelomeningocele, lipomyelomeningocele, thickened filum terminale or fibrous scar) increases functional activity of the irradiated spinal cord. In a previous experimental work, we showed that direct laser treatment on nerve tissue promotes restoration of the electrophysiological activity of the severely injured peripheral nerve, prevents degenerative changes in neurons of the spinal cord and induces proliferation of astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. This suggested a higher metabolism in neurons and improved ability for myelin production under the influence of laser treatment. The tethering of the spinal cord causes mechanical damage to neuronal cell membranes leading to metabolic disturbances in the neurons. For this reason, we believe that using LPLI may improve neuronal metabolism, prevent neuronal degeneration and promote improved spinal cord function and repair. The possible mechanism of LPLI is investigated. Using electron paramagnetic resonance in cell culture models, we found that at low radiation doses, singlet oxygen is produced by energy transfer from porphyrin (not cytochrome as commonly assumed) which is known to be present in the cell. At low concentration, singlet oxygen can modulate biochemical processes taking place in the cell and trigger accelerated cell division. On the other hand, at high concentration, singlet oxygen damages the cell. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Causality between performance and traffic: an investigation with Indian ports

This paper attempts to find out the causal relationship between port performance and port traffic by using Indian data. The use of cointegration analysis has come out with the result that performance precedes traffic in most of the ports of India. Hence, government policy towards performance augmenting facilities should be given priority so that higher efficiency induces higher traffic
Absorptive capacity in collaborative technology transfer – a practice perspective on four cases in optics in the USA and Germany

Previous studies on the concept of absorptive capacity predominantly emphasise static aspects and for the most part utilise quantitative methods. In contrast, the present comparative case study reverts to the concept of Todorova and Durisin (2007) and adopts a practice perspective in order to explore the ways in and circumstances under which absorptive capacity actually unfolds. Basing our work upon findings from four case studies in the optics industry in the USA and Germany, we contribute to the literature by illustrating how collaborative technology transfer between research institutions and private sector companies happens. We highlight the absorption practices involved – the role of meeting management and information exchange practices – and the framing conditions that facilitate such an exchange, namely boundary spanners and power relationships, the institutional and regional embeddedness of actors involved, as well as social factors that serve as a ‘glue’ for absorptive capacity.
A Model Teacher Education Program for Economics

Economics departments face increasing pressure to improve the quality of undergraduate instruction (William E. Becker, 2000). A teachertraining program (TTP) is one strategy departments can use to improve the quality of teaching. A TTP typically targets graduatestudent teaching assistants (TA’s) but can also provide valuable education to new junior faculty. The task set for this paper is to describe the ideal TTP. What is ideal is a matter of opinion. Mine is based on long experience with the TTP at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, on familiarity with TTP’s at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Indiana University, and Purdue University, and on my experience as director of teaching workshops sponsored by the AEA Committee on Economic Education (Salemi et al., 1996). I begin with principles that should guide creation of a TTP, describe a TTP’s essential elements, and conclude with a consideration of resource issues.
Banking Sector Efficiency in Sub-Saharan Africa

This paper examines the determinants of net interest margins (NIMs) in four regional blocks in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Using bank-level data, we find that countries with a high level of operating costs, a low level of non-interest income, a high ratio of equity to total assets and high treasury-bill interest rates have higher NIMs. Moreover, high operating costs are associated with low measures of institutional quality and a small size of bank operations. We find support for the view that market structure is also partly responsible for high NIMs in SSA, although quantitatively this effect is somewhat less important. High operating costs, high treasury-bill rates and a high ratio of equity to total assets and, indirectly, institutional factors, such as the rule of law, are the most important factors in accounting for high interest margins in the East African Community, relative to other regions.
Calcium transients in isolated amphibian skeletal muscle fibres: detection with aequorin.

1. Single twitch muscle fibres isolated from frogs and toads were microinjected with the Ca2+‐sensitive bioluminescent protein aequorin. The fibres contracted normally and emitted flashes of light (aequorin responses) in response to stimulation for many hours thereafter. 2. No luminescence was detected from healthy fibres at rest. 3. The aequorin diffused from the site of injection at a rate consistent with a diffusion coefficient of 5 x 10(‐8) cm2/sec. 4. During trains of isometric contractions there was a progressive reduction in both the amplitude and the rate of decline of the aequorin response, an observation consistent with the theory that Ca is redistributed from sites of release to sites of sequestration under such circumstances. 5. In isometric tetani light emission continued to rise long after the plateau of force had been achieved. This and the fact that the amplitude of the tetanic aequorin response increased steeply with increasing stimulus frequency suggest that in tetani the sarcoplasmic [Ca2+] may normally be above the level required to saturate the contractile apparatus. 6. Both in twitches and in tetani the amplitude of the aequorin response increased slightly and then decreased substantially as the fibre was stretched progressively beyond slack length. 7. In potassium contractures the luminescent and mechanical responses first became detectable at about the same [K+], but for equivalent force luminescence was less intense than in twitches. The aequorin response was biphasic in solutions of high [K+]. 8. Exposure of the fibre to Ca2+‐free solutions had no influence on either the mechanical or the luminescent responses in twitches. In Ca2+‐free solutions tetanic aequorin responses tended not to be maintained as well as normally, suggesting that intracellular Ca stores do become somewhat depleted. 9. In twitches the amplitude of the aequorin response probably reflects the amount of Ca2+ liberated into the cytoplasm rather than a [Ca2+] in equilibrium with the myofilaments. Changes in the rate of decay of the aequorin response may reflect changes in the rate of Ca sequestration by the sarcoplasmic reticulum. 10. In K+‐contractures and during the plateaus of tetani the aequorin signal changes slowly enough so that it seems unlikely that substantial gradients of [Ca2+] exist at the sarcomere level. Under such circumstances the amplitude of the aequorin response probably does reflect the [Ca2+] in equilibrium with the myofilaments.
Is quality more important than quantity? Insect behavioural responses to changes in a volatile blend after stemborer oviposition on an African grass

Plants subjected to insect attack usually increase volatile emission which attracts natural enemies and repels further herbivore colonization. Less is known about the capacity of herbivores to suppress volatiles and the multitrophic consequences thereof. In our study, the African forage grass, Brachiaria brizantha, was exposed to ovipositing spotted stemborer, Chilo partellus, moths. A marked reduction in emission of the main volatile, (Z)-3-hexenyl acetate (Z3HA), occurred following oviposition but the ratio of certain other minor component volatiles to Z3HA was increased. While further herbivore colonization was reduced on plants after oviposition, the new volatile profile caused increased attraction of an adapted parasitoid, Cotesia sesamiae. Our results show that insect responses are dependent on the quality of volatile emission rather than merely the quantity in this multitrophic interaction.
An Overview of a Novel, Water-Soluble Undenatured Type II Collagen (NEXT-II)

Background: Osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis, is a crippling, chronic debilitating bone disease that commonly affects humans, dogs, and horses. Inflammation and inflammatory responses are key factors for causing swelling, redness, pain, and loss of movement in arthritic animals and humans. Methods and Results: We developed a novel, water-soluble, undenatured type II collagen (NEXT-II) for osteoarthritis. NEXT-II demonstrated broad-spectrum safety and nonmutagenicity. NEXT-II exhibited significant efficacy in ameliorating pain and inflammation in collagen-induced arthritis in mice. NEXT-II enhanced the proportion of CD4+CD25+T cells, and gene expressions of stimulated dendritic cells induced markers for regulatory T cell such as forkhead box p3, transforming growth factor-β1, and CD25. Furthermore, NEXT-II was assessed in moderately arthritic dogs receiving either placebo or 10 mg NEXT-II over a period of 150 days. NEXT-II exhibited a significant reduction in overall pain, pain after limb manipulation, and pain after physical exertion compared to the control dogs. Physical health and serum chemistry (alanine aminotransferase, blood urea nitrogen, and creatine kinase) were not altered when these arthritic dogs were treated over a period of 150 days. Conclusions: These results demonstrate the broad-spectrum safety and efficacy of NEXT-II in ameliorating the symptoms of arthritis. Key Teaching Points: •A novel, water-soluble, undenatured type II collagen (NEXT-II) was developed for osteoarthritis. •The safety studies including acute oral and dermal toxicity, primary dermal and primary eye irritation, Ames’ bacterial reverse mutation assay, mouse lymphoma assay, and 150-day long-term safety studies were conducted. •NEXT-II exhibited significant efficacy in ameliorating pain and inflammation in collagen-induced arthritis in mice. •NEXT-II exhibited a significant reduction in overall pain in moderately arthritic dogs without changing physical parameters.
Design of signals for analog communication

A method for the design of time-limited and effectively band-limited waveforms for analog communication systems is developed. The design problem is first formulated in the L_2 (0, T) space. Nonlinear modulation threshold effects are incorporated directly into the design by introducing constraints in the form of minimum distance between points on the locus. It is shown that all pertinent information can be expressed in terms of the inner product function generated by the locus and its cross derivative. The design is then transformed into a constrained minimization problem in a space of inner product functions. The cases of stationary locus and N -dimensional locus are further investigated.
Programming web-course analysis: How to introduce computer programming?

Nowadays, computer programming and logical thinking skills have been proposed as a fundamental knowledge, even to young learners. On one hand, in undergraduate STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) courses, the first contact of students with the logic of programming usually results in high failure rates. The literature and experiments conducted by the authors point out that this occurs regardless the adopted programming language. On the other hand, the literature presents some positive results when the paradigm used to introduce the subject is Visual Programming (VP), where the learners use icons to build their programs. This approach is successful even with young learners. In this context, a relevant question is whether, and how, the Visual Programming can help learners to understand a traditional textual programming language. The proposal of this work is to study differences between visual and traditional programming by analyzing the mental workload of using both paradigms during the introduction of algorithms and basic concepts of programming in the context of an online course of introductory programming. In order to perform such analysis, we adopted the NASA TLX protocol.