Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Calcium Influx through Calcium Leak Channels Is Responsible for the Elevated Levels of Calcium-dependent Proteolysis in Dystrophic Myotubes*

To estimate calpain proteolysis, we measured the hydrolysis rate of a fluorogenic calpain substrate in individual resting normal and dystrophic mdx mouse myotubes in culture. Hydrolysis rates were high during myoblast and myotube alignment and fusion. After alignment and fusion ceased, hydrolysis rates declined. For normal myotubes, hydrolysis remained low after the development of contractile activity. In contrast, after the development of contractile activity, dystrophic mdx myotubes had abnormally high levels of hydrolysis that were dependent on external calcium and that could be abolished by calpeptin, an inhibitor of calpain. We eliminated the direct effects of contraction during measurements of hydrolysis by the addition of tetrodotoxin. Substrate hydrolysis by lysosomes or proteosomes was controlled for using NH4Cl and clasto-lactacystin β-lactone, respectively. Increased activity of the calcium-activated protease in maturemdx myotubes was linked to the abnormal activity of calcium-specific leak channels because an antagonist of these channels reduced the higher levels of hydrolysis in dystrophic myotubes to nearly normal levels. The abnormal activity of these channels is linked to an increased frequency of transient sarcolemmal disruptions in the more fragile mdx myotubes (1, 2). Treatment ofmdx myotubes with a pro-drug of methylprednisolone also reduced calpain substrate hydrolysis to nearly normal levels. However, this inhibition only required 2.5 h of pretreatment, which was not long enough to act by the known effects of prednisolone on calcium homeostasis.
The overexpression of PXN promotes tumor progression and leads to radioresistance in cervical cancer.

AIM We aim to investigate the functions of PXN in cervical cancer. MATERIALS & METHODS PXN protein was investigated by immunohistochemistry in a panel of cervical cancer. A series of in vitro and in vivo assays were used to explore the efficacy of PXN. RESULTS PXN was significantly upregulated in cervical cancer, which associated with tumor stage, poor differentiation, lymphovascular space invasion and lymphatic metastasis. Knockdown of PXN notably impaired cellular growth and colony formation by suppressing Bcl-2 and inducing marked apoptosis. Moreover, PXN led to resistance to radiation, and downregulation of PXN resensitized C33A cells to radiation. CONCLUSION PXN was frequently upregulated and acted as an oncogene via regulating Bcl-2 in cervical cancer, which supports PXN as a potent therapeutic target.
The Contribution of Social Capital and Coping Strategies to Functioning and Quality of Life of Patients With Fibromyalgia

ObjectivesThe study aimed to determine the degree to which social capital (a combination of social resources that can be beneficial to a person's physical health and well-being), personal coping strategies, and additional personal and disease-related factors, contribute to the functioning and quality of life (QoL) of fibromyalgia (FM) patients. MethodsIn the assessment of their functioning and QoL, 175 Israeli FM patients completed the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) and the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) (dependent variables). In addition, they completed a modified Social Capital Questionnaires (which tests 3 subtypes of social capital: bonding, bridging, and linking), COPE-Multidimensional Coping Inventory (measures the use of problem vs. emotional-focused coping strategies), and a personal demographic questionnaire (independent variables). A multivariate regression analysis was used to assess the relative contribution of each independent variable to functioning and QoL of these patients. ResultsThe regression analysis showed that: (1) Bonding social capital and particularly the friend-connections component of bonding social capital contributed to the FIQ score and to the SF-36 parameters of social function, mental health, and bodily pain. (2) Problem-focused coping strategy contributed to the mental health parameter of the SF-36, whereas emotional-focused coping strategy contributed negatively to the FIQ score and to the mental health, general health, and bodily pain parameters of the SF-36. (3) In addition, duration of FM symptoms contributed to the SF-36 parameters of general health, social function, mental health, and bodily pain but not to the FIQ score; whereas, work status contributed significantly to the variance of FIQ. DiscussionBonding social capital, problem-solving coping strategies, and the duration of FM contribute positively to functioning and QoL of FM patients; whereas, emotional-focused coping strategies do the opposite. Further research to test the effects of strengthened social capital and enhanced problem-solving rather than emotion-focused coping strategies on functioning and QoL of FM patients is warranted.
The Role of Employee Ownership in the Total Rewards Strategy

Employee ownership of organizations can promote motivation to contribute to the success of those organizations. “Ownership” can be economic and/or psychological and both forms align the interests of employees and the organizations. The benefits of psychological ownership can be realized by ensuring that employees understand what the organization needs and managing in a manner that convinces them they will be positively affected by success. Economic ownership must provide benefits in the form of tangible results that outweigh the costs of making employees owners. Each organization must determine the role that economic ownership should play in its rewards strategy based on a cost–benefit analysis.
Predicting the mean cycle time as a function of throughput and product mix for cluster tool workstations using EPT-based aggregate modeling

Predicting the mean cycle time as a function of throughput and product mix is helpful in making the production planning for cluster tools. To predict the mean cycle time, detailed simulation models may be used. However, detailed models require much development time, and it may not be possible to estimate all model parameters. Instead of a detailed simulation model, we propose to use a so-called aggregate model to predict the mean cycle time as a function of throughput and product mix. The aggregate model is a lumped-parameter representation of the queueing system. We estimate the parameters of the aggregate model from arrival and departure data using the Effective Process Time (EPT) concept. The proposed method is illustrated for a simulation test case and a Crolles2 cluster tool workstation. The method accurately predicts the mean cycle time in a region around the workstations' operational product mix.
Seeking Advice In A Dynamic And Complex Business Environment: Impact On The Success Of Small Firms

The research explored the antecedents and outcomes of seeking information and advice about the marketplace in which a small firm exists. A survey of 185 small business owners suggested that both operating in a dynamic environment and having complex marketing activities had a direct link to the frequency with which the small business owner sought marketplace information and advice. Marketplace advice seeking, in turn, was positively correlated with owners' perceptions of business performance. The usefulness of the findings for owners and business-support advisors was discussed.
An Alternative Interpretation of Conditional Convergence Results

This paper focuses on the endogeneity of the investment-to-GDP ratio and the population growth rate, two of the most frequently used control variables in cross-country growth regressions for the convergence test. The Summers-Heston data (1988) show that the former rises and the latter declines with income growth. When the indirect, yet endogenous, effects through these control variables are taken into account and simultaneity bias is corrected, relatively high income countries appear to grow faster than low income countries. This interpretation sharply contrasts with the conditional convergence interpretation based on the assumption of exogenous control variables. Copyright 1996 by Ohio State University Press.
Pitavastatin improves serum resistin levels in patients with hypercholesterolemia.

AIM Resistin in serum is associated with high risk in patients with atherosclerosis. This clinical study aimed to investigate whether pitavastatin can regulate the serum level of resistin, together with levels of other inflammatory cytokines and adipocytokines. METHODS Forty two outpatients (mean age 65.2 +/- 12.6 yr, M/F: 21/21) with hypercholesterolemia were administered 2 mg of pitavastatin and serum levels of resistin, together with serum levels of adiponectin, leptin, TNF-alpha and hsCRP, were measured before, and 12 weeks after enrollment. RESULTS There was no significant gender-related difference in initial serum resistin levels. Pitavastatin significantly decreased LDL-cholesterol after 12 weeks. Initial levels of resistin showed a significant correlation with those of hsCRP (r=0.38, p=0.013), but not TNF-alpha or HOMA-R. Serum resistin, but not adiponectin and leptin, levels were significantly decreased, dropping from 17.1 +/- 9.9 ng/ dL to 15.2+/-10.0 (p=0.001) after 12 weeks of administration. The patient group with a baseline hsCRP > or = 0.1 at enrollment (n=17) had decreased levels of both resistin and hsCRP (p=0.011 and p=0.022, respectively). CONCLUSION This study showed the pleiotropic effect of pitavastatin on the serum resistin concentration, suggesting that it may assist in the prevention of atherosclerosis.
Electronic Word-of-Mouth in Social Networking Sites: A Cross-Cultural Study of the United States and China

ABSTRACT Understanding electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) in social networking sites (SNSs) is crucial as consumers have potential to reach global audiences quickly and easily. This article presents the first cross-cultural study on eWOM in SNSs by examining social relationship variables between the United States and China. Specifically, social capital, tie strength, trust, and interpersonal influence were examined as potential predictors of eWOM communication in the emerging online social channels. The results suggest that national culture plays a significant factor that affects consumers’ engagement in eWOM in SNSs in the two countries. Theoretical and managerial implications for global Internet marketers were presented and discussed.
The Externalization of JHA Policies in Georgia: Partner or Hotbed of Threats?

Abstract This paper argues that the European Union’s attempts to externalize JHA policies and turn neighbouring countries into partners contributing to its internal security are hampered by numerous factors, including its obvious ambivalence towards these countries. The limitations of pursuing internal security objectives through a ‘soft’ partnership approach are particularly visible in the South Caucasus. The paper examines the EU’s policies in Georgia and finds that they lack strategic vision and coherence. EU activity in Georgia illustrates three major challenges to the export of JHA policies in the neighbourhood: (1) the form of relations between the EU and its supposed partners (‘modes of governance’); (2) the EU’s policies vs. local expectations; and (3) the contradictions in the EU’s objectives (democracy vs. efficiency).
Developing sustainability: sustainability policy and gentrification on Toronto's waterfront

A “three pillar” concept of sustainability guides the current publicly funded planning and redevelopment process on Toronto's waterfront. While this concept serves as a guiding framework, sustainability is largely defined in planning and redevelopment policy and practice by multi-level public sector urban intensification policy and a reliance on the private sector-led implementation of new sustainable communities. This study connects perspectives on “policy-led gentrification” and “third-wave gentrification” with an exploration of public plans and development strategies for the new West Don Lands waterfront neighbourhood. It traces how sustainability objectives are integrated into a gentrification process driven by public sector planning and development policies and private sector development interests. Components of the integration of sustainability into gentrification practices are the sale of publicly owned waterfront lands to private developers and public sector financial and educational incentives for private real estate development that meets Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design sustainability targets.
Functional studies of MP62 during male chromatin decondensation in sea urchins

In amphibians, sperm histone transition post‐fertilization during male pronucleus formation is commanded by histone chaperone Nucleoplasmin (NPM). Here, we report the first studies to analyze the participation of a Nucleoplasmin‐like protein on male chromatin remodeling in sea urchins. In this report, we present the molecular characterization of a nucleoplasmin‐like protein that is present in non fertilized eggs and early zygotes in sea urchin specie Tetrapygus niger. This protein, named MP62 can interact with sperm histones in vitro. By male chromatin decondensation assays and immunodepletion experiments in vitro, we have demonstrated that this protein is responsible for sperm nucleosome disorganization. Furthermore, as amphibian nucleoplasmin MP62 is phosphorylated in vivo immediately post‐fertilization and this phosphorylation is dependent on CDK‐cyclin activities found after fertilization. As we shown, olomoucine and roscovitine inhibits male nucleosome decondensation, sperm histone replacement in vitro and MP62 phosphorylation in vivo. This is the first report of a nucleoplasmin‐like activity in sea urchins participating during male pronucleus formation post‐fecundation. J. Cell. Biochem. 114: 1779–1788, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Tag completion with defective tag assignments via image-tag re-weighting

User-provided image tags are usually incomplete or noisy to describe the visual content of corresponding images. In this paper, we consider defective tagging which covers both incomplete and noisy situations, and address the problem of tag completion where tag assignments of training images are defective. While previous studies on tag completion usually assign equal penalty to empirical loss when processing each missing or noisy tag for each image, we show that this may be suboptimal as the relatedness of each tag to each image varies due to the defective setting. Thus, we introduce an image-tag re-weighting scheme to re-weight the penalty term of each tag to each image considering both image similarities and tag associations, and formulate a unified re-weighted empirical loss function. Experimental evaluations show that embedding proposed re-weighted empirical loss function in state-of-the-art tag completion algorithms achieves significant improvement in dealing with defective tag assignments.
An Old Yellow Enzyme Gene Controls the Branch Point between Aspergillus fumigatus and Claviceps purpurea Ergot Alkaloid Pathways

ABSTRACT Ergot fungi in the genus Claviceps and several related fungal groups in the family Clavicipitaceae produce toxic ergot alkaloids. These fungi produce a variety of ergot alkaloids, including clavines as well as lysergic acid derivatives. Ergot alkaloids are also produced by the distantly related, opportunistic human pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus. However, this fungus produces festuclavine and fumigaclavines A, B, and C, which collectively differ from clavines of clavicipitaceous fungi in saturation of the last assembled of four rings in the ergoline ring structure. The two lineages are hypothesized to share early steps of the ergot alkaloid pathway before diverging at some point after the synthesis of the tricyclic intermediate chanoclavine-I. Disruption of easA, a gene predicted to encode a flavin-dependent oxidoreductase of the old yellow enzyme class, in A. fumigatus led to accumulation of chanoclavine-I and chanoclavine-I-aldehyde. Complementation of the A. fumigatus easA mutant with a wild-type allele from the same fungus restored the wild-type profile of ergot alkaloids. These data demonstrate that the product of A. fumigatus easA is required for incorporation of chanoclavine-I-aldehyde into more-complex ergot alkaloids, presumably by reducing the double bond conjugated to the aldehyde group, thus facilitating ring closure. Augmentation of the A. fumigatus easA mutant with a homologue of easA from Claviceps purpurea resulted in accumulation of ergot alkaloids typical of clavicipitaceous fungi (agroclavine, setoclavine, and its diastereoisomer isosetoclavine). These data indicate that functional differences in the easA-encoded old yellow enzymes of A. fumigatus and C. purpurea result in divergence of their respective ergot alkaloid pathways.
Euroisierung der mittel- und osteuropäischen EU-Beitrittskandidaten – ein alternativer Weg in die Währungsunion?*

The official view of the European Commission for the Central and Eastern European Countries on their way to the euro is: first join the EU, then converge to the Maastricht criteria, then join the ECB. However, some CEES still aim at fixing their currencies to the euro. Why does the ECB oppose so strongly a leuroizationr of Central and Eastern European countries which are not members of European Monetary Union? What arguments can be made in favour of this strategy from the perspective of the affected CEECs? Is the unilateral leuroizationr also an alternative exchange rate system for bigger CEECs? This article gives tentative answers to these current and pressing questions. Copyright Verein fur Socialpolitik und Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 2003
The PSII-S protein of higher plants: a new type of pigment-binding protein.

An intrinsic 22 kDa protein of photosystem II has been shown to possess high sequence homology with the CAB gene products, but differs from these proteins by an additional putative fourth transmembrane helix. This protein, designated PSII-S in accordance with the assignment of the name psbS to its gene, has been isolated by nonionic detergents and preparative isoelectric focusing in this study. The isolated PSII-S protein was shown to bind 5 chlorophyll molecules (a and b) per protein unit and also several different kinds of carotenoids. The room temperature absorption spectrum of the Qy transition of the chlorophylls bound to the isolated protein is characterized by a broad band with a maximum at 671 nm. The 77 K fluorescence spectrum exhibits a peak at 672 nm. A single photon counting technique was applied to resolve the room temperature decay kinetics of the first excited singlet states in the chlorophyll ensemble of the PSII-S protein. The data can be satisfactorily described by triexponential kinetics with lifetimes of tau 1 = 1.8 ns, tau 2 = 4.4 ns, and tau 3 = 6.1 ns and normalized amplitudes of 0.09, 0.60, and 0.31, respectively. Circular dichroism spectra suggest that, in contrast to LHCII, virtually no pigment coupling exists in the PSII-S protein. Two copies of the PSII-S protein were found per PSII in spinach thylakoids. It displays an unusually extreme lateral heterogeneity, since the PSII beta centers located in the stroma exposed thylakoid regions contained only residual amounts of the PSII-S protein. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
An Investigation of Policy Administrative Costs Using Panel Data for the English Environmentally Sensitive Areas

This paper explores transactions costs in the context of agri‐environmental policy schemes based on management agreements. While transactions costs encompass a wide range of organisational costs, the focus here is on the public‐sector administrative costs of policy implementation. Empirical administrative cost functions were estimated to investigate the factors affecting the magnitude of such costs, using panel data spanning five years for the 22 English Environmentally Sensitive Areas. The extent of participation appears to be important in explaining administrative cost variability across areas. The data suggested the existence of size economics with regard to the numbers of agreements made in any one ESA, and a significant effect of scheme experience in exerting downwards‐pressure on administrative costs. Policy budgeting and evaluation should take into account the non‐trivial costs of organisation, particularly if agri‐environmental schemes based on the procurement of conservation goods through management agreements are to be extended in future.
Uropathogenic Escherichia coli use d‐serine deaminase to modulate infection of the murine urinary tract

Although once thought to be unique to bacteria, d‐amino acids are also produced by mammals. For example, d‐serine is excreted in human urine at concentrations ranging from 3.0 to 40 µg ml−1. An epidemiological survey demonstrated that urine isolates of E. coli are more likely to catabolise d‐serine via expression of d‐serine deaminase, DsdA than enteric disease isolates. The urosepsis strain, CFT073, and an isogenic dsdA mutant have similar growth kinetics in minimal or complex media. However, relative to the wild type, the dsdA mutant has a pleiomorphic cell shape and a prolonged, 4–6 h lag phase when grown in human urine. This suggests that d‐serine catabolism provides a growth advantage in the urinary tract. Unexpectedly, in a direct competition model of urinary tract infection, the dsdA mutant was recovered 300‐times more frequently than the wild type in the bladders of mice 48 h after infection. A new model of E. coli uropathogenesis is proposed where growth and gene expression are modulated in response to environmental d‐serine levels. In support of this, the CFT073 dsdA mutant is hyperflagellated and more motile than the wild type indicating that intracellular levels of d‐serine may directly or indirectly influence the expression of regulons associated with E. coli uropathogenesis.
Adolescent changes in homeostatic regulation of EEG activity in the delta and theta frequency bands during NREM sleep.

STUDY OBJECTIVES Slow wave EEG activity in NREM sleep decreases by more than 60% between ages 10 and 20 years. Slow wave EEG activity also declines across NREM periods (NREMPs) within a night, and this decline is thought to represent the dynamics of sleep homeostasis. We used longitudinal data to determine whether these homeostatic dynamics change across adolescence. DESIGN All-night sleep EEG was recorded semiannually for 6 years. SETTING EEG was recorded with ambulatory recorders in the subjects' homes. PARTICIPANTS Sixty-seven subjects in 2 cohorts, one starting at age 9 and one starting at age 12 years. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS For NREM delta (1-4 Hz) and theta (4-8 Hz) EEG, we tested whether the proportion of spectral energy contained in the first NREMP changes with age. We also tested for age changes in the parameters of the process S exponential decline. For both delta and theta, the proportion of energy in the first NREMP declined significantly across ages 9 to 18 years. Process S parameters SWA(0) and TWA(0), respectively, represent slow wave (delta) activity and theta wave activity at the beginning of the night. SWA(0) and TWA(0) declined significantly (P < 0.0001) across ages 9 to 18. CONCLUSIONS These declines indicate that the intensity of the homeostatic or restorative processes at the beginning of sleep diminished across adolescence. We propose that this change in sleep regulation is caused by the synaptic pruning that occurs during adolescent brain maturation.