Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interactions of superoxide anion with enzyme radicals: Kinetics of reaction with lysozyme tryptophan radicals and corresponding effects on tyrosine electron transfer

The kinetics of O·-2 reaction with semi-oxidized tryptophan radicals in lysozyme, Trp·(Lyz) have been investigated at various pHs and conformational states by pulse radiolysis. The Trp·(Lyz) radicals were formed by Br·-2 oxidation of the 3–4 exposed Trp residues in the protein. At pH lower than 6.2, the apparent bimolecular rate is about 2 × 108M-1s-1; but drops to 8 × 107M-1s-1 or less above pH 6.3 and in CTAC micelles. Similarly, the apparent bimolecular rate constant for the intermolecular Trp·(Lyz) + Trp·(Lyz) recombination reaction is about (4-7 × 106M-1s-1) at/or below pH 6.2 then drops to 1.3-1.6 × 106M-1s-1 at higher pH or in micelles. This behavior suggests important conformational and/or microenvironmental rearrangement with pH, leading to less accessible semioxidized Trp· residues upon Br·-2 reaction. The kinetics of Trp·(Lyz) with ascorbate, a reducing species rather larger than O·-2 have been measured for comparison. The well-established long range intramolecular electron transfer from Tyr residues to Trp radicals-leading to the repair of the semi-oxidized Trp·(Lyz) and formation of the tyrosyl phenoxyl radical is inhibited by the Trp·(Lyz)+O·-2 reaction, as is most of the Trp·(Lyz)+Trp·(Lyz) reaction. However, the kinetic behavior of Trp·(Lyz) suggests that not all oxidized Trp residues are involved in the intermolecular recombination or reaction with O·-2. As the kinetics are found to be quite pH sensitive, this study demonstrates the effect of the protein conformation on O·-2 reactivity. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the kinetics of a protein-O·-2 reaction not involving the detection of change in the redox state of a prosthetic group to probe the reactivity of the superoxide anion.
Effects of Hydrodynamic Conditions on OH Radical Production at Ti/Pt Anodes During Electrochemical Treatment

The effects of hydrodynamic conditions on the production of hydroxyl radicals (•OH) during electrochemical treatment using a titanium coated by platinum anode and a stainless steel cathode are discussed in this paper. The sample used was ultra-pure water containing 200 mM of 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline-N-oxide (DMPO). The amount of •OH for treatment was measured using electron spin resonance spectrometry coupled with DMPO spin trapping. Under constant hydrodynamic conditions, the production rate of the •OH spin adduct (DMPO-OH) increased with the terminal potential. This result was caused by the change in the electric current density at the anode, which was proportional to the rate of production of DMPO-OH. Increasing the linear velocity of water in an electrolytic cell promoted the production of DMPO-OH by two effects, namely, by the enhancement of ion transportation and the promotion of DMPO transfer from the bulk to the anode. The former effect emerged when the DMPO concentration near the anode was not insignificant in comparison with the DMPO concentration in the bulk, that is, when the overall rate-determining step was the electron transfer at the anode. The latter effect emerged when the DMPO concentration near the anode was much lower than the DMPO concentration in the bulk, that is, when the overall rate-determining step was the diffusion of DMPO from the bulk to the anode. In addition, the latter effect was found to be proportional to the square root of the linear velocity of water in the electrolytic cell.
Transforming Growth Factor &bgr;-coated Platinum Coils for Endovascular Treatment of Aneurysms: An Animal Study

OBJECTIVETo test the hypothesis that coating platinum coils with transforming growth factor &bgr; (TGF&bgr;) would improve the cellular proliferation within experimental aneurysms relative to uncoated coils. MATERIALS AND METHODS Elastase-induced saccular aneurysms were created in 12 New Zealand White rabbits. These aneurysms were embolized with platinum coils, either “control” (unmodified) coils or “test” (coated with TGF&bgr;) coils. Subjects were killed either 2 weeks (n = 3, control; n = 3, test) or 6 weeks (n = 3, control; n = 3, test) after embolization. Aneurysm tissue was embedded in plastic, sectioned, and stained with hematoxylin and eosin. The thickness of tissue covering the coils at the coil-lumen interface was measured by use of a digital microscope, and was compared between groups by use of the Student’s t test (P ≤ 0.05). RESULTSTwo-week implantation samples demonstrated mean thickness of tissue overlying TGF&bgr;-coated coils of 36 ± 15 &mgr;m and mean thickness of overlying control coils of 3 ± 5 &mgr;m, indicating significantly thicker tissue growth covering test versus control coils (P = 0.02). Six-week implantation samples demonstrated mean thickness of tissue overlying TGF&bgr;-coated coils of 86 ± 74 &mgr;m versus mean thickness overlying control coils of 37 ± 6 &mgr;; this difference did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.30). Thickness of tissue covering TGF&bgr;-coated coils did not change significantly from 2 to 6 weeks (P = 0.31). Tissue thickness over control coils increased significantly between 2 and 6 weeks (P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONTGF&bgr;-coated platinum coils undergo earlier cellular coverage than standard platinum coils, but differences in coverage between coated and control coils are no longer present at later time points. These data suggest that improvements in intra-aneurysmal cellular proliferation resulting from coil modifications, although significant in the early postembolization phase, may dissipate over time.
The optimization of Three-echelon Agricultural Supply Chain under Crop Revenue Insurance

As the agricultural supply chain of is vulnerability due to the dual effects of natural disaster and marketable risk, the paper deals with the optimization of agricultural supply chain by introducing the crop revenue insurance for the first time. Firstly, this paper established the profit model of supply chain without any insurance. Then the crop revenue insurance is introduced into the supply chain, and the impact of supply chain is discussed and profit optimization of the supply chain with yield insurance and crop revenue insurance is analyzed as well. Finally, a numerical example is used to verify the results. The study shows that the supply chain system can be optimized through crop revenue insurance based on the principle of sharing insurance cost and claim, which can make up profit loss of natural risk and market price risk.
The Cost of Living Longer: Projections of the Effects of Prospective Mortality Improvement on Economic Support Ratios for Eighteen More Advanced Economies

The aims of this paper are threefold; (1) to forecast mortality for a wide range of more developed countries from 2010-2050; (2) to project the effects of the forecast mortality patterns on economic support ratios assuming continuation of current fertility, migration and labour force participation; and 3) to calculate changes to labour force participation which would offset these effects. The mortality forecasts are prepared for fourteen countries using the Poisson Common Factor Model proposed by Li (2013). The mortality forecasts show that the projected gains in life expectancy are greatest in Japan, Australia and East-Central Europe, and are least in Netherlands, North America and Sweden, and correlate negatively with fertility and migration levels. The support ratios are projected to fall most over the period to 2050 in Japan, East-Central and Southern Europe, and least in Sweden and Australia. However, except for Poland, some recovery in support ratios is projected for the East-Central and Southern European countries post 2050. Using the valuation method of Parr and Guest (2014), the largest percentage increases in labour force participation needed to counterbalance the projected effects of mortality improvement are for Japan, Poland and the Czech Republic, and the smallest increases for the USA, Canada, Netherlands and Sweden. The dependency of the estimated effects of mortality improvement on support ratios and the initial age structure and the assumed levels of fertility, migration and labour force participation is discussed.
Strategy Formation and the Policy Context

Mainstream research and writing on business strategy has traditionally treated strategy formation as a rational process, based on the objective analysis of environment and resources and the objective evaluation of alternative strategic choices. This tradition is encapsulated in management classics such as Ansoffs Corporate Strategy, in the powerful and influential industrial organization economics of Porter and Kay, and in the well-known techniques of SWOT analysis, generic strategies, and portfolio matrices [1]. Few people would claim that rational analysis of this kind can lead unerringly to optimal solutions. Before strategic management ever existed as an identifiable discipline, Simon and Lindblom had argued convincingly that in administrative situations, characterised by information overload and uncertainty, rational optimization had to be replaced by the bounded rationality of satisficing, as administrators compromised on seeking good enough solutions ratherthan striving for unattainable, perfect ones [2]. But satisficing is still rational: indeed it is characteristically a rational response to a complex and uncertain situation.
Late Pleistocene divergence between eastern and western populations of wood ducks (Aix sponsa) inferred by the ‘isolation with migration’ coalescent method

During the Late Pleistocene, glaciers sundered many species into multiple glacial refugia where populations diverged in allopatry. Although deeply divergent mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) lineages often reflect the number of refugia occupied, it is unlikely that populations that split during the recent Wisconsin glaciations will have reached reciprocal monophyly. We examined mtDNA control region sequences from eastern and western populations of wood ducks (Aix sponsa) to determine whether their current, disjunct distribution is consistent with the occupancy of two glacial refugia. We used the ‘isolation with migration’ coalescent method (im) to simultaneously estimate effective population sizes, maternal gene flow, and time since divergence. We found 24 unique haplotypes, none of which were shared between the eastern and western populations, but we did not find diagnostic monophyletic lineages suggestive of long‐term isolation in multiple glacial refugia. However, a high ΦST (0.31) indicates that eastern and western populations are well differentiated in mtDNA, and results from im suggest that these populations have been diverging, without extensive gene flow, for 10 000 to 124 000 years. Results from im further suggest that these populations most likely split about 34 000 years ago, and this time of divergence is consistent with the occupancy of multiple glacial refugia during the Late Wisconsin glaciation. Eastern wood ducks are characterized by high genetic diversity, a large effective population size, and a recent population expansion, while western wood ducks have much less genetic diversity, a smaller population size, and have not undergone a recent population expansion.
Hepatic Resection with in situ Hypothermic Perfusion Is Superior to Other Resection Techniques

Through the years, liver resection and bleeding control techniques have progressively evolved. However, for liver tumors located unfavorably, the standard techniques are not suitable due to either failure to control the bleeding or to liver ischemia induced by prolonged interruption of perfusion. In this regard, total vascular exclusion (TVE) with in situ hypothermic perfusion is advantageous as it protects the parenchyma, achieves better vascular control and enables difficult vascular reconstructions or reimplantations. The advantages of this procedure described as early as 1960s by Fortner were also confirmed by our team in a subsequent report. We showed that TVE with in situ hypothermic perfusion is superior to TVE alone if used for more than 60 min in complex resections with or without vascular reconstruction. Other techniques (ex situ liver resection developed by Pichlmayr and ante situm liver resection by Hannoun) have been described; however, they have not been widely accepted due to a high rate of complications. In this article, we report our operative technique as well as discuss some important operative points.
Noninvasive optical imaging in the visual cortex in young infants

During the developmental stage, the brain undergoes anatomic, functional, and metabolic changes necessary to support the complex adaptive behavior of a mature individual. Estimation of developmental changes occurring in different regions of the brain would provide a means of relating various behavioral phenomena to maturation‐specific brain structures, thereby providing useful information on structure‐function relationships in both normal and disease states. We used multichannel near‐infrared spectroscopy (MNIRS), a new noninvasive imaging technique for revealing the course of neural activity in selected brain regions, to monitor the activities of the visual cortex as mirrored by hemodynamic responses in infants subjected to photostimulation during natural sleep. In the infants, oxyhemoglobin and total hemoglobin decreased and deoxyhemoglobin increased in the visual cortex with photostimulation. This pattern of responses was different from the response pattern in adults reported previously. The different patterns of responses to photostimulation in the visual cortices of infants and adults might reflect developmental and behavioral differences. It may reflect a different functional organization of the visual cortex in infants or ongoing retinal development. Our results demonstrated that regional hemodynamic change could be detected in a small area around the visual cortex. MNIRS offers considerable potential for research and noninvasive clinical applications. Hum. Brain Mapping 22:124–134, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Are urology residents ready to treat premature ejaculation after their training?

INTRODUCTION The management of premature ejaculation (PE) among urology residents (URs) in the era of standard definition and new treatments is unknown. AIM To determine how future urologists currently address PE and to review their adherence to guidelines. METHODS A specifically designed survey on the preferred approaches to the treatment of PE was given to residents during the Eighth European Urology Education Programme. The results were tabled, and descriptive statistics were used to analyze differences in practice patterns. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES The responses are compared with clinical guidelines and recommendations. RESULTS A total of 360 URs attended the recommendation course, and 140 answered the survey (response rate: 38.8%). Seventeen (12.1%) of the respondents considered PE to be a very common sexual dysfunction, 62 (44.3%) considered PE to be frequent, 33 (23.6%) considered this condition uncommon, and 28 (20%) did not consider PE to be a dysfunction. Regarding incidents, 67 residents (47.9%) treated one patient per week. To assess PE, 132 (94.3%) used sexual history, 37 (26.4%) used physical examination, 38 (27.1%) used questionnaires, and 4 (2.9%) used laboratory testing. The preferred initial management strategy for PE was psychological/behavioral therapy for 65 (46.4%) residents. Topical anesthetic, andrological referral, and prescription of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) on demand were favored by 34 (24.3%), 19 (13.6%), and 8 (12.9%) of the respondents, respectively. Other options were psychiatric referral, which was preferred by two (1.4%) respondents, and prescription of daily SSRIs, which was preferred by two (1.4%) respondents. The preferred secondary treatment for patients who did not improve initially was prescription of SSRIs for on demand, which was 46 (32.9%) respondents. In cases where patients had concomitant erectile dysfunction (ED), 16 (11.4%) URs treated only the ED and 60 (42.9%) treated both conditions. CONCLUSIONS The majority of URs follow the established guidelines for diagnosis of PE, but not for treatment. The URs have an insufficient medical education in sexual medicine.
Radium-223 Inhibits Osseous Prostate Cancer Growth by Dual Targeting of Cancer Cells and Bone Microenvironment in Mouse Models

Purpose: Radium-223 dichloride (radium-223, Xofigo), a targeted alpha therapy, is currently used for the treatment of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) with bone metastases. This study examines the mode-of-action and antitumor efficacy of radium-223 in two prostate cancer xenograft models. Experimental Design: Mice bearing intratibial LNCaP or LuCaP 58 tumors were randomized into groups (n = 12–17) based on lesion grade and/or serum PSA level and administered radium-223 (300 kBq/kg) or vehicle, twice at 4-week intervals. X-rays and serum samples were obtained biweekly. Soft tissue tumors were observed macroscopically at sacrifice. Tibiae were analyzed by gamma counter, micro-CT, autoradiography and histology. Results: Radium-223 inhibited tumor-induced osteoblastic bone growth and protected normal bone architecture, leading to reduced bone volume in LNCaP and abiraterone-resistant LuCaP 58 models. Furthermore, radium-223 resulted in lower PSA values and reduced total tissue and tumor areas, indicating that treatment constrains prostate cancer growth in bone. In addition, radium-223 suppressed abnormal bone metabolic activity as evidenced by decreased number of osteoblasts and osteoclasts and reduced level of the bone formation marker PINP. Mode-of-action studies revealed that radium-223 was deposited in the intratumoral bone matrix. DNA double-strand breaks were induced in cancer cells within 24 hours after radium-223 treatment, and PSA levels were significantly lower 72 hours after treatment, providing further evidence of the antitumor effects. Conclusions: Taken together, radium-223 therapy exhibits a dual targeting mode-of-action that induces tumor cell death and suppresses tumor-induced pathologic bone formation in tumor microenvironment of osseous CRPC growth in mice. Clin Cancer Res; 23(15); 4335–46. ©2017 AACR.
Price and Financial Stability in Modern Central Banking

It was not until the recent global crisis that financial stability was recognized as a central objective of central banks among advanced economies. However, the concerns for financial stability in emerging markets economies are much more long dated, and come from repeated experiences dealing with serious financial crisis. This paper reviews price and financial stability in central banking. It argues that price stability can be achieved with a flexible inflation-targeting regime, as they have succeeded in many emerging markets. Financial stability, in turn, requires micro supervision to insure strength of balance sheets of financial institutions. Nevertheless, this may not be enough to deal with financial stability as the interactions among institutions and their behavior along the business cycle may create fragilities. Macroprudential tools may complement regulation to insure financial stability. The paper discusses on the instruments for financial stability and the interactions between financial and price stability, which brings new challenges to central banking.
Aberrant lens fiber differentiation in anterior subcapsular cataract formation: a process dependent on reduced levels of Pax6.

PURPOSE TGFbeta can induce development in lenses of opaque subcapsular fibrotic plaques that have many features of human subcapsular cataracts. To understand further the events associated with the onset and progression of TGFbeta-induced cataract, several different models for anterior subcapsular cataract (ASC) were used and characterized. METHODS Anterior subcapsular plaques were induced in rat lenses cultured with TGFbeta and in transgenic mice overexpressing TGFbeta in the lens. ASC was also examined in lenses of mice haploinsufficient for Pax6, as well as in human biopsy specimens. Immunofluorescence and in situ hybridization labeling were used to examine changes in patterns of gene expression associated with cataract formation in these models. RESULTS Examination of TGFbeta-induced cataract in transgenic mice established that the subcapsular plaques are composed of a heterogenous cell population: a population of myofibroblastic cells as well as a population of lens-fiber-like cells. Further support for phenotypic change comes from the observation that the cells in these plaques no longer expressed lens epithelial markers, such as Pax6 and Connexin43. Subsequent examination of human biopsy specimens of ASC, as well as lenses from Pax6-deficient mice, showed that the anterior subcapsular plaques in both cases were also composed of a heterogenous population of cells. In contrast, anterior subcapsular plaques that developed in vitro in response to TGFbeta did not have this same cellular heterogeneity, as no fiber-like cells were present. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that in vivo, during TGFbeta-induced cataract formation, some lens epithelial cells transform into myofibroblastic cells, whereas others differentiate into fiber cells. As this pathologic change is accompanied by altered expression of genes characteristic of the normal lens epithelial cell phenotype and as lenses from Pax6-deficient mice exhibit development of anterior subcapsular plaques closely resembling those induced by TGFbeta in transgenic mice, the authors propose that a reduction in Pax6 levels may be essential for this pathologic process to progress. Furthermore, it is clear from these in vitro studies that TGFbeta alone cannot reproduce the same morphologic and molecular changes associated with ASC formation in vivo, indicating that additional molecule(s) in the eye are important in this process.
Infant Orthopedics Has No Effect on Maxillary Arch Dimensions in the Deciduous Dentition of Children with Complete Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate (Dutchcleft)

Objective: Evaluation of the effect of infant orthopedics on maxillary arch dimensions in the deciduous dentition in patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate. Design: Prospective two-arm randomized controlled clinical trial with three participating cleft palate centers. Setting: Cleft palate centers of the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, Academic Center of Dentistry Amsterdam, and University Medical Center Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Patients: Children with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate (n = 54) were included. Interventions: Patients were randomly divided into two groups. Half of the patients (IO+) had a presurgical orthopedic plate until surgical closure of the soft palate at the age of 52 weeks; the other half (IO−) did not undergo presurgical orthopedics. Mean outcome measures: Maxillary arch dimensions were assessed on dental casts at 4 and 6 years of age with measurements for arch width, arch depth, arch length, arch form, and the vertical position of the lesser segment. Contact and collapse were assessed also. Results: There were no clinically significant differences found between IO+ and IO− for any of the variables. Conclusions: Infant orthopedics had no observable effect on the maxillary arch dimensions or on the contact and collapse scores in the deciduous dentition at the ages of 4 and 6 years. Considering the Dutchcleft results to date, there is no need to perform infant orthopedics for unilateral cleft lip and palate patients.