Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cefepime: A Fourth-Generation Parenteral Cephalosporin

OBJECTIVE: To review the chemistry, microbiology, pharmacokinetics, therapeutic efficacy, adverse effect profile, drug interactions, dosing, and administration of cefepime, a new fourth-generation parenteral cephalosporin. DATA SOURCES: A MEDLINE search of the available literature, including clinical trials and reviews, was performed. Abstracts presented at recent scientific conferences and current publications were also reviewed. DATA SELECTION: In vitro and preclinical data were included, as well as data from Phase II and III clinical trials. DATA SYNTHESIS: Cefepime is an extended-spectrum parenteral cephalosporin antibiotic active in vitro against a broad spectrum of gram-positive and gram-negative aerobic bacteria. The gram-positive spectrum is similar to that of cefotaxime, the gram-negative spectrum is similar to that of ceftazidime, and many, though not all, organisms resistant to these two agents remain susceptible to cefepime, prompting the fourth-generation designation. Cefepime has a high affinity for penicillin-binding proteins and, due to its zwitterionic configuration, rapidly penetrates outer-membrane porin channels of bacteria. Beta-lactamases appear to have a low affinity for the drug. Cefepime has a decreased propensity to induce beta-lactamases compared with other beta-lactam antibiotics. Cefepime has a pharmacokinetic disposition similar to that of other renally eliminated cephalosporins, with a half-life of approximately 2 hours. Cefepime has demonstrated clinical efficacy against a variety of infections, including urinary tract infections, pneumonia, and skin and skin structure infections. Cefepime is generally well tolerated. CONCLUSIONS: Cefepime may have several chemical and pharmacologic advantages over currently available third-generation cephalosporins. In vitro data indicate that cefepime retains activity against some, but not all, gram-negative bacteria resistant to third-generation cephalosporins; however, clinical efficacy against infections due to resistant pathogens remains to be established. Cefepime was at least as effective as comparators during clinical trials, and may prove to be a viable alternative to other currently available agents.
The Political Economy of Financial Markets

The relationship between politics and financial markets is central for many, if not most, political economy arguments. The existing literature focuses on the effect of domestic and international political interests, institutions, and policy decisions on returns and volatility in stock, bond, and foreign exchange markets. This research bears implications for three major debates in political science: the distributive effects of politics, globalization and state autonomy, and the political roots of economic credibility and its tensions with democratic accountability. While the study of politics and financial markets is complicated by several theoretical and empirical challenges, recent methodological innovations in political research provide a window of opportunity for the development of the field.
Anxiety and behavioural disturbance as markers of prodromal Alzheimer's disease in patients with mild cognitive impairment

Depression and anxiety have been reported to be independently predictive of conversion to Alzheimer's disease (AD) in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Anxiety symptoms have been less well studied and findings in this regard have been inconsistent. The objectives of this study are to determine which symptoms among a range of neuropsychiatric symptoms known to commonly occur in patients with MCI are predictive of later conversion to AD. We also wish to determine whether these symptoms track existing measures of declining cognitive and functional status or may be considered distinct and sensitive biomarkers of evolving Alzheimer's pathology.
TNF‐α‐mediated multiplication of human immunodeficiency virus in chronically infected monocytoid cells by mycobacterial infection

Mycobacterial infection is a common occurrence in patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Incubation of U1, a chronically HIV‐1‐infected human promonocytic cell line, with Mycobacterium smegmatis, M. avium, M. bovis BCG and M. tuberculosis resulted in enhancement of p24 antigen release in the supernatant, indicating that these mycobacteria could activate HIV replication from this cell line. The amount of p24 in the culture infected with M. smegmatis was higher than in cultures infected with other mycobacteria. The amounts of p24 release in cultures infected with M. avium and M. bovis BCG were intermediate. M. tuberculosis slightly stimulated HIV replication. The amount of TNF‐α produced by U1 cells was correlated with the amount of p24 antigen release. The IL‐β and IL‐6 levels in the supernatant from cultures infected with all species were the same. The antibody to TNF‐α inhibited p24 release induced by mycobacterial infections. The anti‐IL‐1β and anti‐IL‐6 antibodies, however, scarcely influenced stimulation of HIV replication by mycobacterial infection. These data suggested that activation of HIV replication by mycobacteria mainly occurred by secondary release of cytokine TNF‐α.
Stability of Plasmid pHV1431 in Free and Immobilized Cell Cultures. Effect of Temperature

The segregational and structural stability of pHV1431 has been examined in Bacillus subtilis grown at 30 and 37 degrees C in continuous cultures without selection pressure. Immediately after appearance of plasmid-free cells in the reactor, a competition was observed between bacteria that favored plasmid-free cells because of the faster growth. A stronger instability was found at 30 degrees C compared to that at 37 degrees C. At 30 degrees C after 50 hours of culture, 2% of the cells carried the plasmid, whereas at 37 degrees C this percentage was reached after 130 hours. In both cases, no structural instability was observed. To improve the stability, the recombinant Bacillus subtilis (pHV1431) was immobilized in kappa-carrageenan gel beads. In comparison to free cell systems, a higher cell concentration was obtained. Moreover, the plasmid was maintained stable for longer periods; after 150 hours of culture 40% of cells in the reactor still carried the plasmid at both temperatures.
Ionic strength-dependent persistence lengths of single-stranded RNA and DNA

Dynamic RNA molecules carry out essential processes in the cell including translation and splicing. Base-pair interactions stabilize RNA into relatively rigid structures, while flexible non-base-paired regions allow RNA to undergo conformational changes required for function. To advance our understanding of RNA folding and dynamics it is critical to know the flexibility of these un-base-paired regions and how it depends on counterions. Yet, information about nucleic acid polymer properties is mainly derived from studies of ssDNA. Here we measure the persistence lengths (lp) of ssRNA. We observe valence and ionic strength-dependent differences in lp in a direct comparison between 40-mers of deoxythymidylate (dT40) and uridylate (rU40) measured using the powerful combination of SAXS and smFRET. We also show that nucleic acid flexibility is influenced by local environment (an adjoining double helix). Our results illustrate the complex interplay between conformation and ion environment that modulates nucleic acid function in vivo.
Predicting Exchange Rates in Asia: New Insights on the Accuracy of Survey Forecasts

By linking measures of forecast accuracy as well as testing procedures with regard to forecast rationality this paper investigates aggregated survey forecasts with forecast horizons of 3, 12, and 24 months for the exchange rates of the Chinese yuan, the Hong Kong dollar, the Japanese yen, and the Singapore dollar vis‐a‐vis the US dollar and, hence, for four different currency regimes. The rationality of the exchange rate predictions is initially assessed utilizing tests for unbiasedness and efficiency which indicate that the investigated forecasts are irrational in the sense that the predictions are biased. As one major contribution of this paper, it is subsequently shown that these results are not consistent with an alternative, less restrictive, measure of rationality. Investigating the order of integration of the time series as well as cointegrating relationships, this empirical evidence supports the conclusion that the majority of forecasts are in fact rational. Regarding forerunning properties of the predictions, the results are rather mediocre, with shorter term forecasts for the tightly managed USD/CNY FX regime being one exception. As one additional important and novel evaluation result, it can be concluded, that the currency regime matters for the quality of exchange rate forecasts.
PIF1: a DNA helicase in yeast mitochondria.

The PIF1 gene is involved in repair and recombination of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). In this study, the PIF1 gene product, which cannot be identified in normal yeast cells, has been overproduced from the GALI promoter to detectable protein levels. Location of PIF1 in mitochondria has been shown by immunoelectron microscopy and in vivo import experiments using ts mas1 mutants deficient in the mitochondrial matrix‐localized processing protease. Overproduction of PIF1 protein in pif1 mutants restores mtDNA recombination proficiency but is toxic to yeast cells as observed by slower growth. The overproduced PIF1 protein, which is firmly associated with insoluble mitochondrial structures, has been partially purified in a mitochondrial nuclease deficient nuc1 strain by a procedure including solubilization by urea and renaturation by dialysis at alkaline pH. PIF1 is a single‐stranded (ss) DNA‐dependent ATPase and a DNA helicase which unwinds partially DNA duplexes in a 5′ to 3′ direction with respect to the ss DNA on which it binds first.
Evolutionary models of market structure

The dispute on oligopoly theory was commenced by Vega-Redondo (1997), in which he showed that long run outcome of a symmetric Cournot oligopoly game equals the competitive Walrasian. In this dissertation, first we extend an evolutionary game theoretic model to an asymmetric oligopolistic model where we obtain a form of equilibrium so-called Walrasian in Expectation with market price equal to average marginal costs. Then we analyse firms competition under relative payoffs maximizing (RPM) behaviour. RPM behaviour is implied by evolutionary stability. We consider a simple model of symmetric oligopoly where firms select a two dimensional strategy set of price and a non-price variable known as quality simultaneously. The role of cross-elasticities of demand will be shown in determining the evolutionary equilibrium. Finally, a nonparametric revealed preference approach will present an empirical content of the evolutionary oligopoly model. Testable restrictions are derived for an evolutionary model of asymmetric oligopoly in which firms have different cost functions to produce a homogenous good. A case study on the crude oil market with main producers is presented and we compare the rejection rates of both Cournot and evolutionary hypotheses. Publications and Presentations Former versions of Chapters 2, 3, and 4 appeared at the Ruhr Economic Papers publication series with numbers 497, 575, and 576 respectively. Presentation based on Chapters 2 and 3 was done at the RGS Jamboree 2013 and 2014 and furthermore presentations based on Chapter 3 and 4 were given in TU Dortmund Brown Bag Seminar 2014 and 2015. In addition, chapters of this dissertation are presented at the international conferences. Presentations of Chapter 3 at international conferences are as follows: International PhD Meeting of Thessaloniki in Economics, Greece (27-28 June 2014) Workshop on Behavioral Economics and Industrial Organization at Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary (1-2 September 2014) 11th Spain-Italy-Netherlands Meeting on Game Theory (SING11) and European Meeting on Game Theory in St. Petersburg, Russia. (8 10 July 2015) Presentations of Chapter 4 at international conferences are as follows: 49th Annual conference of Canadian Economic Association at Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada (2931 May 2015) Royal Economic Society PhD Meeting at the Westminster Business School, London, UK (8-9 January 2016) 5th World Congress of the Game Theory Society at Maastricht University, The Netherlands (24-28 July 2016) 69th European Meeting of the Econometric Society EEA-ESEM, Geneva, Switzerland (22 -26 August 2016)
Effect of incorporating legume flour into semolina spaghetti on its cooking quality and glycaemic impact measured in vitro

Abstract Spaghetti is a favoured carbohydrate source because of its low glycaemic impact. The protein quality of semolina spaghetti is not ideal, however, and could be improved by including legume flour. We investigated whether incorporating legume flour in spaghetti, to improve its nutritional value, would affect its cooking quality and glycaemic impact. Four types of spaghetti containing 10% of either mung bean, soya bean, red lentil or chickpea flour were made and compared with a spaghetti control made only of durum semolina. Cooking quality was determined as the optimal cooking time (OCT), cooking loss (CL), dry matter (DM), swelling index, colour, hardness and adhesiveness. The spaghetti samples with legume flour were similar to one another and to the control in values of OCT, DM, swelling index, colour, CL, hardness and adhesiveness. Glycaemic impact of the samples was measured in vitro as release of rapidly available carbohydrate and slowly available carbohydrate during pancreatic digestion. The glycaemic index (GI) of the spaghetti samples was estimated by calculation, using data obtained for a reference food of known GI (shredded wheat─an extrusion-cooked wheat-only product). The shredded wheat underwent rapid parabolic digestion, and the near linear phase during which most of the starch was digested was completed between 20 and 60 min digestion. In contrast, the digestion of spaghetti was much slower and progressed almost linearly to completion. All spaghetti samples, moreover, were similarly susceptible to digestion, and compared with the wheat reference were all significantly lower in terms of relative glycaemic impact. We conclude that the incorporation of 10% legume flour in spaghetti to improve its nutritional value does not affect its cooking quality or increase its glycaemic impact.
Coordination of metabolic plasticity in skeletal muscle

SUMMARY Skeletal muscle is a highly malleable tissue, capable of pronounced metabolic and morphological adaptations in response to contractile activity (i.e. exercise). Each bout of contractile activity results in a coordinated alteration in the expression of a variety of nuclear DNA and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) gene products, leading to phenotypic adaptations. This results in an increase in muscle mitochondrial volume and changes in organelle composition, referred to as mitochondrial biogenesis. The functional consequence of this biogenesis is an improved resistance to fatigue. Signals initiated by the exercise bout involve changes in intracellular Ca2+ as well as alterations in energy status (i.e. ATP/ADP ratio) and the consequent activation of downstream kinases such as AMP kinase and Ca2+-calmodulin-activated kinases. These kinases activate transcription factors that bind DNA to affect the transcription of genes, the most evident manifestation of which occurs during the post-exercise recovery period when energy metabolism is directed toward anabolism, rather than contractile activity. An important protein that is affected by exercise is the transcriptional coactivator PGC-1α, which cooperates with multiple transcription factors to induce the expression of nuclear genes encoding mitochondrial proteins. Once translated in the cytosol, these mitochondrially destined proteins are imported into the mitochondrial outer membrane, inner membrane or matrix space via specific import machinery transport components. Contractile activity affects the expression of the import machinery, as well as the kinetics of import, thus facilitating the entry of newly synthesized proteins into the expanding organelle. An important set of proteins that are imported are the mtDNA transcription factors, which influence the expression and replication of mtDNA. While mtDNA contributes only 13 proteins to the synthesis of the organelle, these proteins are vital for the proper assembly of multi-subunit complexes of the respiratory chain, when combined with nuclear-encoded protein subunits. The expansion of skeletal muscle mitochondria during organelle biogenesis involves the assembly of an interconnected network system (i.e. a mitochondrial reticulum). This expansion of membrane size is influenced by the balance between mitochondrial fusion and fission. Thus, mitochondrial biogenesis is an adaptive process that requires the coordination of multiple cellular events, including the transcription of two genomes, the synthesis of lipids and proteins and the stoichiometric assembly of multisubunit protein complexes into a functional respiratory chain. Impairments at any step can lead to defective electron transport, a subsequent failure of ATP production and an inability to maintain energy homeostasis.
Young adult outcome of hyperactive children: adaptive functioning in major life activities.

OBJECTIVE The authors report the adaptive functioning of hyperactive and control children in southeastern Wisconsin (Milwaukee) followed to young adulthood. METHOD Interviews with participants concerning major life activities were collected between 1992 and 1996 and used along with employer ratings and high school records at the young adult follow-up (mean = 20 years, range 19-25) for this large sample of hyperactive (H; n = 149) and community control (CC; n = 72) children initially seen in 1978-1980 and studied for at least 13 years. Age, duration of follow-up, and IQ were statistically controlled as needed. RESULTS The H group had significantly lower educational performance and attainment, with 32% failing to complete high school. H group members had been fired from more jobs and manifested greater employer-rated attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and oppositional defiant disorder symptoms and lower job performance than the CC group. Socially, the H group had fewer close friends, more trouble keeping friends, and more social problems as rated by parents. Far more H than CC group members had become parents (38% versus 4%) and had been treated for sexually transmitted disease (16% versus 4%). Severity of lifetime conduct disorder was predictive of several of the most salient outcomes (failure to graduate, earlier sexual intercourse, early parenthood) whereas attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and oppositional defiant disorder at work were predictive of job performance and risk of being fired. CONCLUSIONS These findings corroborate prior research and go further in identifying sexual activity and early parenthood as additional problematic domains of adaptive functioning at adulthood.
Identiﬁcation and Characterization of Interferon-Induced Proteins That Inhibit Alphavirus Replication (cid:1)

Alpha/beta interferon (IFN- (cid:1) / (cid:2) ) produces antiviral effects through upregulation of many interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) whose protein products are effectors of the antiviral state. Previous data from our laboratory have shown that IFN- (cid:1) / (cid:2) can limit Sindbis virus (SB) replication through protein kinase R (PKR)-dependent and PKR-independent mechanisms and that one PKR-independent mechanism inhibits translation of the infecting virus genome (K. D. Ryman et al., J. Virol. 79:1487–1499, 2005). Further, using Affymetrix microarray technology, we identiﬁed 44 genes as candidates for PKR/RNase L-independent IFN-induced antiviral activities. In the current studies, we have begun analyzing these gene products for antialphavirus activity using three techniques: (i) overexpression of the protein from SB vectors and assessment of virulence attenuation in mice; (ii) overexpression of the proteins in a stable tetracycline-inducible murine ﬁbroblast culture system and assessment of effects upon SB replication; and (iii) small interfering RNA-mediated knockdown of gene mRNA in ﬁbroblast cultures followed by SB replication assessment as above. Tested proteins included those we hypothesized had potential to affect virus genome translation and included murine ISG20, ISG15, the zinc ﬁnger antiviral protein (ZAP), viperin, p56, p54, and p49. Interestingly, the pattern of antiviral activity for some gene products was different between in vitro and in vivo assays. Viperin and ZAP attenuated virulence most profoundly in mice. However, ISG20 and ZAP potently inhibited SB replication in vitro, whereas and viperin, p56, and ISG15 exhibited modest replication inhibition in vitro. In contrast, p54 and p49 had little to no effect in any assay.
Minor anomalies in stillborn and second trimester miscarried fetuses

In 1964, the landmark paper of Marden, Smith, and McDonald established that multiple minor anomalies in newborn infants are associated with an increased risk for major malformations. There were until now no comparable studies in stillbirths. The Wisconsin Stillbirth Service Program (WiSSP) has data regarding nearly 3,000 stillbirths and second trimester losses that have been analyzed for major anomalies and cause of death. One dysmorphologist retrospectively reviewed all 2,397 with usable photographs. Minor anomalies were identified in 1,413 (59%) with 575 of these (41%) having at least one major anomaly. Probability of a major anomaly increased from 7% with no minor anomalies to 15%, 36%, 67%, and 89% with 1, 2, 3, and >33 minor anomalies, respectively. Frequency of minor anomalies was less with lower resolution photographs, but did not show significant differences with maceration or gestational age. The most frequent minor anomalies were infraorbital creases/folds, lowset/posteriorly angulated ears, nuchal edema, flat face, equinovarus foot, camptodactyly, upslanted palpebral fissures, ear antihelix abnormalities (combined), micrognathia/retrognathia, and single transverse palmar crease. Except for infraorbital creases/folds each of these minor anomalies was strongly correlated with major anomalies (P < 0.0001). Infraorbital folds were the only anomaly which increased with placental cause of death, and reanalysis with placental causes excluded showed the expected relationship to major anomalies, suggesting that infraorbital folds may be markers for oligohydramnios due to various causes including placental hypoperfusion. Minor anomalies correlate with presence of major anomalies in stillborn fetuses, regardless of gestational age and maceration, and can provide information to guide decisions regarding laboratory testing and other evaluations. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Vitamin E

Vitamin E activity was first identified as a dietary factor essential for reproduction in the rat. It is now known that this vitamin has a far wider range of functions in the body than its role in fertility. It interacts with selenium-containing glutathione peroxidase to prevent the oxidative breakdown of tissue membranes associated with the hydroperoxides of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Relationships with other factors such as stress and vitamin C, have been proposed. The symptoms of deficiency of vitamin E vary according to species. With so many variables it is difficult to estimate the optimum allowances of the vitamin for the many types of livestock diets. These problems are discussed and the calculation of allowances of vitamin E in rations for both monogastric and ruminant animals is explained.