Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bridging the climate mitigation gap with economy‐wide material productivity

Projections of UK greenhouse gas emissions estimate a shortfall in existing and planned climate policies meeting UK climate targets: the UK's mitigation gap. Material and product demand is driving industrial greenhouse gas emissions at a rate greater than carbon intensity improvements in the economy. Evidence shows that products can be produced with fewer carbon intensive inputs and demand for new products can be reduced. The economy‐wide contribution of material productivity and lifestyle changes to bridging the UK's mitigation gap is understudied. We integrate an input‐output framework with econometric analysis and case study evidence to analyse the potential of material productivity to help the UK bridge its anticipated emissions deficits, and the additional effort required to achieve transformative change aligned with 2 and 1.5°C temperature targets. We estimate that the emissions savings from material productivity measures are comparable to those from the Government's planned climate policy package. These additional measures could reduce the UK's anticipated emissions deficit up to 73%. The results demonstrate that material productivity deserves greater consideration in climate policy.
The Nucleotide Pool, a Target for Low-Dose γ-Ray-Induced Oxidative Stress

Abstract Sangsuwan, T. and Haghdoost, S. The Nucleotide Pool, a Target for Low-Dose γ-Ray-Induced Oxidative Stress. Radiat. Res. 170, 776–783 (2008). Oxidative stress occurs when the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) exceeds the cellular antioxidant capacity. The excess ROS react with and modify cellular components. Nucleic acid modifications are of principal interest because they may cause mutations. 8-Oxo-7,8-dihydro-2´-deoxyguanosine (8-oxo-dG) is a mutagenic lesion that can be formed by ROS in DNA as well as in the nucleotide pool. 8-Oxo-dG is removed from the DNA by base excision repair and from the nucleotide pool by the nucleotide sanitization enzyme hMTH1. hMTH1 hydrolyzes 8-oxo-dGTP to 8-oxo-dGMP, which is released to the extracellular environment and can serve as a marker of oxidative stress. The aim of this work was to establish the dose–response relationship for radiation-induced extracellular 8-oxo-dG and hMTH1 in the mGy range of γ rays in three cellular model systems: human whole blood, human fibroblasts and stimulated lymphocytes. Extracellular 8-oxo-dG was analyzed with the use of an ELISA and hMTH1 by Western blotting. Our results demonstrate that low-dose ionizing radiation induces a stress response that leads to the formation of extracellular 8-oxo-dG and induction of hMTH1 in all three cellular model systems tested. This suggests that the nucleotide pool is an important target for radiation-induced stress response.
Methotrexate selectively modulates TH1/TH2 balance in active rheumatoid arthritis patients.

OBJECTIVE The mechanism by which low dose methotrexate (MTX, the gold standard treatment for rheumatoid arthritis) exerts its anti-inflammatory effect in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients is still debated. Lately, the MTX immunosuppressive effect has been related to apoptosis, especially in active RA patients, with ROS involvement. METHODS In the present research we investigated MTX oxidative effect and its ability to modulate immune balance in active versus non-active RA patients. RESULTS Our results show that MTX induces IL-10 secretion (a TH2 cytokine) and significantly reduces TH1 profile in Peripheral Mononuclear Cells (PMNC) derived from active RA patients (n=28). Additionally, we found that MTX modulates the immune status towards TH2 dominance by decreasing the IL-12R and the CXCR3 receptors typical for the TH1 population. Moreover, MTX was found to inhibit the production of nitric oxide (NO) in these patients, a phenomenon that might contribute to MTX action toward cytokine homeostasis. A significant correlation was found between MTX IL-10 induction and NO inhibition in active RA patients. CONCLUSION Our data suggest that, in active RA patients, apoptosis induction by MTX may be primarily due to IL-10 production via modulation of oxidative stress, which may restore the critically important immune balance. These findings may contribute to determining which group of RA patients may better respond to MTX therapy.
Solution Structure of Peptide Toxins That Block Mechanosensitive Ion Channels*

Mechanosensitive channels (MSCs) play key roles in sensory processing and have been implicated as primary transducers for a variety of cellular responses ranging from osmosensing to gene expression. This paper presents the first structures of any kind known to interact specifically with MSCs. GsMTx-4 and GsMtx-2 are inhibitor cysteine knot peptides isolated from venom of the tarantula,Grammostola spatulata (Suchyna, T. M., Johnson, J. H., Hamer, K., Leykam, J. F., Gage, D. A., Clemo, H. F., Baumgarten, C. M., and Sachs, F. (2000) J. Gen. Physiol. 115, 583–598). Inhibition of cationic MSCs by the higher affinity GsMtx-4 (K D ∼500 nm) reduced cell size in swollen and hypertrophic heart cells, swelling-activated currents in astrocytes, and stretch-induced arrhythmias in the heart. Despite the relatively low affinity, no cross-reactivity has been found with other channels. Using two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy, we determined the solution structure of GsMTx-4 and a lower affinity (GsMTx-2; K D ∼6 μm) peptide from the same venom. The dominant feature of the two structures is a hydrophobic patch, utilizing most of the aromatic residues and surrounded with charged residues. The spatial arrangement of charged residues that are unique to GsMTx-4 and GsMTx-2 may underlie the selectivity of these peptides.
Series resonant inverter with active snubber circuit for improved efficiency operation applied to domestic induction heating

Efficiency is a key design parameter for domestic induction heating systems. To achieve this aim, resonant converters featuring soft switch on transitions are commonly used. In this paper, a cost-effective active snubber circuit is proposed to optimize the switch off transition. This allows the converter to operate under a wide range of operating conditions, with optimized asymmetrical control strategies, and allows the designer to select slower power devices with optimized conduction parameters. The proposed circuit has been tested with a 4-kW series resonant inverter.
Selection Bias When Using Instrumental Variable Methods to Compare Two Treatments But More Than Two Treatments Are Available

Abstract Instrumental variable (IV) methods are widely used to adjust for the bias in estimating treatment effects caused by unmeasured confounders in observational studies. It is common that a comparison between two treatments is focused on and that only subjects receiving one of these two treatments are considered in the analysis even though more than two treatments are available. In this paper, we provide empirical and theoretical evidence that the IV methods may result in biased treatment effects if applied on a data set in which subjects are preselected based on their received treatments. We frame this as a selection bias problem and propose a procedure that identifies the treatment effect of interest as a function of a vector of sensitivity parameters. We also list assumptions under which analyzing the preselected data does not lead to a biased treatment effect estimate. The performance of the proposed method is examined using simulation studies. We applied our method on The Health Improvement Network (THIN) database to estimate the comparative effect of metformin and sulfonylureas on weight gain among diabetic patients.
Working for Nothing: The Supply of Volunteer Labor

Volunteer activity is work performed without monetary recompense. This article shows that volunteering is a sizeable economic activity in the United States, that volunteers have high skills and opportunity costs of time, that standard labor supply explanations of volunteering account for only a minor part of volunteer behavior, and that many volunteer only when requested to do so. This suggests that volunteering is a "conscience good or activity"-something that people feel morally obligated to do when asked, but which they would just as soon let someone else do.
Impact of breast vs. formula feeding mode on primary teeth lead level. Retrospective clinical study and literature review.

UNLABELLED Lead exposure is a global environmental problem inducing lifelong adverse health effects. Children's exposure to lead, from birth to 6 months, is typically dominated by dietary sources. The first primary mandibular molar could provide an integrated record of lead exposure. The aim of this study is to detect the level of lead in the first primary molar of a group of Lebanese children born between 1990 and 2000, living in Beirut and suburbs, and to compare the amount of lead according to gender and feeding mode. MATERIALS AND METHODS A group of 53 first primary molars belonging to 53 Lebanese children (31 girls and 22 boys), and aged 9 to 12 years old, were included in the study. The primary outcome variable of the study was the amount of lead level (mg/kg) in the first primary mandibular molars taken at the time of the natural exfoliation and measured by ICP/MS (Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry). Children included in the study were fed exclusively with formula feeding or maternal feeding for six months. RESULTS The mean lead level of the first primary molar was 0.678 mg/kg +/- 0.717. The mean lead was significantly higher among children fed with instant formula milk (0.876 +/- 0.802) than breastfed children (0.455 +/- 0.540), (p = 0.044). No significant difference was found between girls (0.595 < or = 0.548) and boys (0.794 +/- 0.905), (p = 0.440). CONCLUSION Within the limitations of this study, we found a statistically significant difference in the teeth lead level between breastfeeding and formula feeding, in favor of breastfeeding. This difference proves once more the importance of breastfeeding ; on the other hand, the Lebanese children accumulated lead in their teeth to levels below the international levels.
Reovirus type 3 binds to antagonist domains of the beta-adrenergic receptor

Reovirus type 3 interfered with the binding of beta-adrenergic antagonist ligands to receptors on Y1 adrenal, C6 glioma, and mouse L cells. This inhibition of beta-adrenergic binding was dose related. Reovirus did not interfere with dopaminergic binding or isoproterenol-induced activation of adenylate cyclase. In addition, reovirus infected Y1 cells, which bind beta-adrenergic antagonist ligands but lack agonist-induced activity. These results suggest that reovirus infection is initiated by binding to antagonist (nonfunctional) domains of the adrenergic receptor complex.
Chemical carcinogen epstein‐barr virus (ebv) synergism: Ebv genome amplification and site‐specific mutation during transformation

When treated with chemical carcinogens, peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) from normal adults or patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) were more readily transformed than non‐treated PBLs into immortalized lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) by the Epstein‐Barr virus (EBV, FF41‐I). Chemical carcinogens also enhanced spontaneous transformation in both PBL populations. Co‐cultivation of lethally ultraviolet (UV)‐irradiated uninfected PBLs with EBV‐infected PBLs resulted in a dose‐related enhancement of transformation, providing evidence that enhancement is in part mediated by carcinogen‐induced diffusible trans‐acting factors. Analysis of the EcoR1 J region of resident EBV genomes showed that LCLs established from carcinogen‐treated PBLs frequently had EBV genome amplification higher than that seen in controls. Carcinogen‐induced EBV genome amplification was shown to be dose‐related. The organization of the terminal region of the EBV genome was analyzed in LCLs derived from carcinogen‐treated PBLs and compared to that of FF4I‐1 and B95‐8. LCLs established from N‐methyl‐N′‐nitroso‐nitrosoguanidine (NNNG)‐and aflatoxin B1‐treated PBLs frequently had 2 circular forms of the EBV genome and several linear forms varying by numbers of terminal repeats (TRs) at the 3′ and 5′ end. This is in contrast to the single episomal circular and linear form of the EBV genome found in the parent FF41‐1 and single episomal circular form in control FF41‐1‐carrying LCLs. Linear forms of the EBV genome were only found in FF41‐1‐transformed LCLs derived from carcinogen‐treated PBLs and were associated with the production of unusually large amounts of infectious EBV. These results demonstrate that chemical carcinogen‐mediated enhancement of transformation is accompanied by quantitative and qualitative alterations in the physical structure, organization and expression of the EBV genome which may in turn be the result of a carcinogen‐induced cellular SOS response.
Coordination of self-renewal in glioblastoma by integration of adhesion and microRNA signaling.

BACKGROUND Cancer stem cells (CSCs) provide an additional layer of complexity for tumor models and targets for therapeutic development. The balance between CSC self-renewal and differentiation is driven by niche components including adhesion, which is a hallmark of stemness. While studies have demonstrated that the reduction of adhesion molecules, such as integrins and junctional adhesion molecule-A (JAM-A), decreases CSC maintenance. The molecular circuitry underlying these interactions has yet to be resolved. METHODS MicroRNA screening predicted that microRNA-145 (miR-145) would bind to JAM-A. JAM-A overexpression in CSCs was evaluated both in vitro (proliferation and self-renewal) and in vivo (intracranial tumor initiation). miR-145 introduction into CSCs was similarly assessed in vitro. Additionally, The Cancer Genome Atlas dataset was evaluated for expression levels of miR-145 and overall survival of the different molecular groups. RESULTS Using patient-derived glioblastoma CSCs, we confirmed that JAM-A is suppressed by miR-145. CSCs expressed low levels of miR-145, and its introduction decreased self-renewal through reductions in AKT signaling and stem cell marker (SOX2, OCT4, and NANOG) expression; JAM-A overexpression rescued these effects. These findings were predictive of patient survival, with a JAM-A/miR-145 signature robustly predicting poor patient prognosis. CONCLUSIONS Our results link CSC-specific niche signaling to a microRNA regulatory network that is altered in glioblastoma and can be targeted to attenuate CSC self-renewal.
Enhancement of Information Transmission with Stochastic Resonance: Influence of Stimulating Position in Hippocampal CA1 Neuron Models

Stochastic resonance (SR) has been shown to enhance the signal to noise ratio or detection of signals in neurons. It is not yet clear how this effect of SR on the signal to noise ratio affects signal processing in neural networks. In this paper, we test the hypothesis that SR can improve information transmission in which sub-threshold stimuli are driven to distal positions on the dendritic trees of hippocampal CA1 neuron models. From spike firing times recorded at the soma, the inter spike intervals were generated and then "total" and "noise" entropies were estimated to obtain the mutual information and information rate of the spike trains. The simulation results show that the information rate reached a maximum value at a specific amplitude of the background noise in which sub-threshold stimuli were driven to distal positions on dendritic trees, while the information rate decreased as the noise intensity increased in which supra-threshold stimuli were driven to a proximal position. It is implied that SR can play a key role in improving the information transmission in the case of the sub-threshold input located at distal positions on the dendritic trees
Analysis of the Arabidopsis Cytosolic Ribosome Proteome Provides Detailed Insights into Its Components and Their Post-translational Modification *S

Finding gene-specific peptides by mass spectrometry analysis to pinpoint gene loci responsible for particular protein products is a major challenge in proteomics especially in highly conserved gene families in higher eukaryotes. We used a combination of in silico approaches coupled to mass spectrometry analysis to advance the proteomics insight into Arabidopsis cytosolic ribosomal composition and its post-translational modifications. In silico digestion of all 409 ribosomal protein sequences in Arabidopsis defined the proportion of theoretical gene-specific peptides for each gene family and highlighted the need for low m/z cutoffs of MS ion selection for MS/MS to characterize low molecular weight, highly basic ribosomal proteins. We undertook an extensive MS/MS survey of the cytosolic ribosome using trypsin and, when required, chymotrypsin and pepsin. We then used custom software to extract and filter peptide match information from Mascot result files and implement high confidence criteria for calling gene-specific identifications based on the highest quality unambiguous spectra matching exclusively to certain in silico predicted gene- or gene family-specific peptides. This provided an in-depth analysis of the protein composition based on 1446 high quality MS/MS spectra matching to 795 peptide sequences from ribosomal proteins. These identified peptides from five gene families of ribosomal proteins not identified previously, providing experimental data on 79 of the 80 different types of ribosomal subunits. We provide strong evidence for gene-specific identification of 87 different ribosomal proteins from these 79 families. We also provide new information on 30 specific sites of co- and post-translational modification of ribosomal proteins in Arabidopsis by initiator methionine removal, N-terminal acetylation, N-terminal methylation, lysine N-methylation, and phosphorylation. These site-specific modification data provide a wealth of resources for further assessment of the role of ribosome modification in influencing translation in Arabidopsis.
Acute and chronic toxicity of organophosphate monocrotophos to Daphnia magna

The acute and chronic toxicity of monocrotophos (MCP), the binary joint toxicity of MCP and bifenthrin (BF), and sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) to Daphnia magna (D. magna) was evaluated. The 24 h-median effective concentration (24 h-EC50) and 48 h-median lethal concentration (48 h-LC50) of MCP towards D. magna were 161 and 388 μ g/L, respectively. In addition, the lowest-observed effective concentration (LOEC) and non-observed effective concentration (NOEC) of MCP to D. magna were 10 and 5 μ g/L, respectively. Furthermore, the chronic value (ChV) of MCP against D. magna was 7 μ g/L and the acute chronic ratio (ACR) was 55. The number of offspring per female and the intrinsic rate of natural increase (r) were identified as the parameters that were most sensitive to MCP. In addition, toxic unit (TU) analysis was employed to evaluate the joint toxicities. The calculated TUmix values of binary equitoxic mixtures of MCP + BF and MCP + SDBS were 1.47 and 1.63, respectively, which suggests that both equitoxic mixtures exert a limited antagonistic effect. The results of this study revealed that the toxic threshold of MCP towards D. magna is higher than its reported highest residue (4 μ g/L) in the ordinary aquatic environment, and that concurrent exposure to BF or SDBS may exert a slight antagonistic effect.
Osteogenic Responses to Zirconia with Hydroxyapatite Coating by Aerosol Deposition

Previously, we found that osteogenic responses to zirconia co-doped with niobium oxide (Nb2O5) or tantalum oxide (Ta2O5) are comparable with responses to titanium, which is widely used as a dental implant material. The present study aimed to evaluate the in vitro osteogenic potential of hydroxyapatite (HA)-coated zirconia by an aerosol deposition method for improved osseointegration. Surface analysis by scanning electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction proved that a thin as-deposited HA film on zirconia showed a shallow, regular, crater-like surface. Deposition of dense and uniform HA films was measured by SEM, and the contact angle test demonstrated improved wettability of the HA-coated surface. Confocal laser scanning microscopy indicated that MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblast attachment did not differ notably between the titanium and zirconia surfaces; however, cells on the HA-coated zirconia exhibited a lower proliferation than those on the uncoated zirconia late in the culture. Nevertheless, ALP, alizarin red S staining, and bone marker gene expression analysis indicated good osteogenic responses on HA-coated zirconia. Our results suggest that HA-coating by aerosol deposition improves the quality of surface modification and is favorable to osteogenesis.
Prolongation of satiety after low versus moderately high glycemic index meals in obese adolescents.

BACKGROUND One in 5 American children is overweight, despite a decrease in total fat consumption. This has sparked an interest in the carbohydrate composition of diets, including the glycemic index (GI). OBJECTIVE To investigate whether a low-GI meal replacement (LMR) produced similar metabolic, hormonal, and satiety responses in overweight adolescents as a low-GI whole-food meal (LWM) when compared with a moderately high-GI meal replacement (HMR). METHODS Randomized, crossover study comparing LMR, HMR, and LWM in 16 (8 male/8 female) adolescents during 3 separate 24-hour admissions. The meal replacements consisted of a shake and a nutrition bar. Identical test meals were provided at breakfast and lunch. Metabolic and hormonal indices were assessed between meals. Measures of participants' perceived satiety included hunger scales and ad libitum food intake. RESULTS The incremental areas under the curve for glucose were 46% and 43% lower after the LMR and LWM, respectively, compared with the HMR. Insulin's incremental area under the curve was also significantly lower after both low GI test meals (LMR = 36%; LWM = 51%) compared with the HMR. Additional food was requested earlier after the HMR than the LMR (3.1 vs 3.9 hours, respectively), although voluntary energy intake did not differ. CONCLUSIONS Differences in insulin response between the meal replacements occurred, and prolongation of satiety after the LMR, based on time to request additional food, was observed. We speculate that the prolonged satiety associated with low GI foods may prove an effective method for reducing caloric intake and achieving long-term weight control.