Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nitrate-nitrite-nitric oxide pathway in pulmonary arterial hypertension therapeutics.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a disorder characterized by elevated vascular resistance in pulmonary arterioles. Progressive increases in pulmonary vascular resistance and pulmonary artery pressures result in right heart failure and reduced cardiac output. Patients experience progressive exertional dyspnea, right heart failure, syncope, and ultimately death. The common pathophysiological features of PAH include pulmonary vasoconstriction, intimal and smooth muscle proliferation, in situ thrombosis, and pathological remodeling of pulmonary arterial circulation. Although the origin of PAH is multifactorial, impairments in vasodilator (nitric oxide [NO] and prostaglandin signaling) and vasoconstrictor (endothelin-1, reactive oxygen species, angiotensin II) pathways underlie the evolution of early disease.1 Based on this knowledge, drugs that enhance the NO signaling pathways (phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors), the prostenoids, and endothelin receptor blockers, have been developed and approved for PAH-specific therapy. Article see p 2922 Inhaled NO gas can alleviate vasoconstriction and may modulate cellular proliferative responses, but NO therapy is limited by the need for continuous inhalation, NO reactions with oxygen to form nitrogen dioxide, and special delivery devices. It is now appreciated that inorganic nitrite and nitrate are bio-transformed to NO via the nitrate-to-nitrite-to-NO pathway,2 leading to studies with inhaled nitrite as an alternative to NO gas inhalation.3,4 In this issue of Circulation , Baliga and colleagues5 investigate the nitrate-to-nitrite-to-NO pathway by studying the effects of oral nitrite and nitrate on preclinical mouse and rat models of PAH, and then attempt to characterize the enzymes that regulate bioconversion of nitrite to NO. They find that both nitrate and nitrite delivered in drinking water can prevent and reverse experimental PAH in the hypoxic and bleomycin mouse models, which is consistent with published models for in vivo conversion of nitrite to NO.6–8 They also provide unexpected evidence that eNOS may have nitrite reductase …
Estimating mutual information in genetics

In gene mapping, the science of finding connections between the genotype and the phenotype, the revealing of complex, nondeterministic connections is an important problem. Tools from information theory, especially the mutual information, have proven to be valuable. This arises the need to estimate the mutual information from a set of samples, and to know the distribution of the estimator. In this work, the established maximum likelihood estimator for the mutual information is examined using simulated data, and it is compared to an approximation. Additionally, another estimator based on preprocessing the data using B-splines is considered, and compared to the conventional estimator and to the well-established chi-square test for independence.
Pre-morbid IQ in mental disorders: a Danish draft-board study of 7486 psychiatric patients

Background Longitudinal studies indicate that future schizophrenia patients exhibit lower IQ than healthy controls. Recent studies suggest that future patients with other mental illnesses obtain lower pre-morbid IQ. The aims of this study were to compare pre-morbid IQ among five diagnostic categories and normal controls, to examine the distribution of pre-morbid IQ, and to investigate the relationship between pre-morbid IQ and risk of mental illness. Method A total of 7486 individuals hospitalized with psychiatric disease and 20 531 controls. IQ was measured at the draft board and hospital diagnoses [schizophrenia (Sz), non-schizophrenic, non-affective psychoses (NSAP), affective (AD), personality (PD) and neurotic/stress disorders (ND)] were followed up to ages 43–54 years. Individuals hospitalized ⩽1 year after appearing before the draft board were excluded. Results All future patients obtained significantly lower pre-morbid IQ than controls (3–7 IQ points), AD had the highest IQ and PD the lowest. In each diagnostic category, decreasing IQ was associated with an increasing risk of becoming a patient [odds ratios (ORs) 0.5–2.5 over the full IQ spectrum]. IQ distributions was nearly normal and uni-modal. Conclusions IQ deficits in each diagnostic category may reflect different functional patterns and temporal vicissitudes of the specific pathogenetic processes involved in different mental disorders.
Consumer Preferences for Oyster Attributes: Field Experiments on Brand, Locality, and Growing Method

Oyster aquaculture has experienced tremendous growth in the United States over the past decade, but little is known about consumer preferences for oysters. This study analyzed preferences for oysters with varied combinations of brands, production locations, and production methods (aquaculture vs. wild-caught) using dichotomous choice, revealed preference economic field experiments. Results suggest significant and distinct differences in behavior between first-time and regular oyster consumers. While infrequent oyster consumers were drawn to oysters labeled as wild-caught, experienced oyster consumers preferred oysters raised via aquaculture. These findings will be valuable for growers and policymakers who invest in aquaculture to improve surrounding ecosystems.
The oxidation of copper catalysts during ethylene epoxidation.

The oxidation of copper catalysts during ethylene epoxidation was characterized using in situ photoemission spectroscopy and electron microscopy. Gas chromatography, proton-transfer reaction mass spectrometry and electron-ionization mass spectrometry were used to characterize the catalytic properties of the oxidized copper. We find that copper corrodes during epoxidation in a 1 : 1 mixture of oxygen and ethylene. The catalyst corrosion passes through several stages, beginning with the formation of an O-terminated surface, followed by the formation of Cu2O scale and eventually a CuO scale. The oxidized catalyst exhibits measurable activity for ethylene epoxidation, but with a low selectivity of <3%. Tests on pure Cu2O and CuO powders confirm that the oxides intrinsically exhibit partial-oxidation activity. Cu2O was found to form acetaldehyde and ethylene epoxide in roughly equal amounts (1.0% and 1.2% respectively), while CuO was found to form much less ethyl aldehyde than ethylene epoxide (0.1% and 1.0%, respectively). Metallic copper catalysts were examined in extreme dilute-O2 epoxidation conditions to try and keep the catalyst from oxidizing during the reaction. It was found that in feed of 1 part O2 to 2500 parts C2H4 (PO2 = 1.2 × 10(-4) mbar) the copper surface becomes O-terminated. The O-terminated surface was found to exhibit partial-oxidation selectivity similar to that of Cu2O. With increasing O2 concentration (>8/2500) Cu2O forms and eventually covers the surface.
The Use of an Onboard Diagnostic Device to Provide Feedback on Driving Behaviors Related to Fuel Economy

Despite the link between greenhouse gases and climate change, drivers in the United States continue to operate vehicles that consume more fuel per mile and emit higher levels of greenhouse gases than the vehicles driven in other developed nations. Intervention packages that include feedback and goal setting are common in behavior analytic research, specifically in the Organizational Behavior Management literature, but are also used to establish and maintain sustainable human behaviors such as recycling and energy reduction. The current study examined the effects of a treatment package utilizing feedback and goal setting to increase fuel economy in three participants who drove a minimum of 15 consecutive miles at least once per day. Feedback regarding average miles per gallon (MPG), moment-to-moment MPG, and MPG in relation to the participants’ goal were provided by the Scangauge-eTM, a small onboard diagnostic-2 device that connects to the vehicles’ electronic control unit and mounted within the car. Results indicated that treatment effects were noticeable in 2 of the 3 participants for increasing overall MPG.
Hybrid Particle Swarm-Ant Colony Algorithm to Describe the Phase Equilibrium of Systems Containing Supercritical Fluids with Ionic Liquids

In an interdisciplinary field on mathematics and physics, we examine a physical problem, fluid flow in porous media, which is represented by a stochastic partial differential equation (SPDE). We first give a priori error estimates for the so- lutions to an optimization problem constrained by the physical model under lower regularity assumptions than the literature. We then use the concept of Galerkin fi- nite element methods to establish a new numerical algorithm to give approximations for our stochastic optimal physical problem. Finally, we develop original computer programs based on the algorithm and use several numerical examples of various sit- uations to see how well our solver works by comparing its outputs to the priori error estimates.
Readiness of companies to become socially responsible: social behaviour of an organization and an employee from a demographic viewpoint

The goal of the research is to investigate the readiness of companies to become socially responsible through the prism of social behavior of an organization and an employee from a demographic point of view. In order to achieve the goal, a questionnaire survey was carried out in 2013. The questionnaire “Determining the level of management culture in order to implement the concept of a socially responsible company”, formed by the authors, was used. This article presents only the results of the part of social responsibility study without elaborating the determination of the level of management culture which is included into the questionnaire. The research was carried out in two groups of Lithuanian manufacturing companies. The overall approach of the groups of companies to the readiness of the company to become a socially responsible company shows that statistically significant differences between the groups of companies are set on the following subscales: responsibility in relations with employees, uncertainty and lack of information in the workplace, corruption, nepotism, favoritism.
Exciton dynamics in photosynthetic complexes: excitation by coherent and incoherent light

In this paper, we consider the dynamics of a molecular system subjected to external pumping by a light source. Within a completely quantum mechanical treatment, we derive a general formula, which enables us to assess the effects of different light properties on the photo-induced dynamics of excitations in a molecular system. We show that, once the properties of light are known in terms of a certain two-point correlation function, the only information needed to reconstruct the system dynamics is the reduced evolution superoperator. The latter quantity is, in principle, accessible through ultrafast nonlinear spectroscopy. Considering a direct excitation of a small molecular antenna by incoherent light, we find that excitation of coherences is possible due to the overlap of homogeneous line shapes associated with different excitonic states. In Markov and secular approximations, the amount of coherence is significant only under fast relaxation, and both the populations and coherences between exciton states become static at long times. We also study the case when the excitation of a photosynthetic complex is mediated by a mesoscopic system. We find that such a case can be treated by the same formalism with a special correlation function characterizing ultrafast fluctuations of the mesoscopic system. We discuss bacterial chlorosome as an example of such a mesoscopic mediator and propose that the properties of energy-transferring chromophore–protein complexes might be specially tuned to the fluctuation properties of their associated antennae.
CT of Coronary Artery Disease 1

Gorka Bastarrika, MD, PhD Yeong Shyan Lee, MD Walter Huda, PhD Balazs Ruzsics, MD, PhD Philip Costello, MD U. Joseph Schoepf, MD Technical innovation is rapidly improving the clinical utility of cardiac computed tomography (CT) and will increasingly address current technical limitations, especially the association of this test with relatively high levels of radiation. Guidelines for appropriate indications are in place and are evolving, with an increasing evidence base to ensure the appropriate use of this modality. New technologies and new applications, such as myocardial perfusion imaging and dual-energy CT, are being explored and are widening the scope of coronary CT angiography from mere coronary artery assessment to the integrative analysis of cardiac morphology, function, perfusion, and viability. The scientific evaluation of coronary CT angiography has left the stage of feasibility testing and increasingly, evidencebased data are accumulating on outcomes, prognosis, and cost-effectiveness. In this review, these developments will be discussed in the context of current pivotal transitions in cardiovascular disease management and their potential influence on the current role and future fate of coronary CT angiography will be examined.
Identification and quantification of lichenysin – a possible source of food poisoning

Lichenysin produced by 53 different Bacillus licheniformis strains has been structurally examined with a qualitative liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method using quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The same lichenysin isoforms are produced from all strains, indicating that the growth conditions have a stronger influence on the lipopeptide production than the genotype. A rapid method for the quantification of lichenysin from bacterial cell cultures with LC-MS/MS after a simple methanol extraction has been refined. For the first time commercially available lichenysin has been used as calibrant, making quantification more accurate. The trueness for C15-lichenysin has been improved to 94% using matrix-matched calibration with lichenysin compared with 30% using solvent calibration with surfactin. The quantitative method was fully validated based on Commission Decision 2002/657/EC. The LOD of the method was below 1 µg g–1 and the repeatability ranged from 10% to 16%.
THE ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION OF FAMILY MICROENTERPRISES IN MAYLAYSIA

This study explores the entrepreneurial orientation of family-owned and non-family owned microenterprise businesses in Malaysia. Entrepreneurial orientation is evaluated in relation to family business, family microenterprise management, and economic and non-economic goals. Results showed that family-owned microenterprises were more proactive and used different business approaches than non-family owned microenterprises. Family businesses were more risk-averse and less innovative than non-family businesses, although differences were not statistically significant. However, family businesses tended to outperform non-family businesses. Family businesses also tend to be more aggressive than non-family businesses when faced with decision-making affecting the future. Implications for future studies and public policy are discussed.
Compensatory Insulin Receptor (IR) Activation on Inhibition of Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 Receptor (IGF-1R): Rationale for Cotargeting IGF-1R and IR in Cancer

Insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) is a receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) and critical activator of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase–AKT pathway. IGF-1R is required for oncogenic transformation and tumorigenesis. These observations have spurred anticancer drug discovery and development efforts for both biological and small-molecule IGF-1R inhibitors. The ability for one RTK to compensate for another to maintain tumor cell viability is emerging as a common resistance mechanism to antitumor agents targeting individual RTKs. As IGF-1R is structurally and functionally related to the insulin receptor (IR), we asked whether IR is tumorigenic and whether IR-AKT signaling contributes to resistance to IGF-1R inhibition. Both IGF-1R and IR(A) are tumorigenic in a mouse mammary tumor model. In human tumor cells coexpressing IGF-1R and IR, bidirectional cross talk was observed following either knockdown of IR expression or treatment with a selective anti–IGF-1R antibody, MAB391. MAB391 treatment resulted in a compensatory increase in phospho-IR, which was associated with resistance to inhibition of IRS1 and AKT. In contrast, treatment with OSI-906, a small-molecule dual inhibitor of IGF-1R/IR, resulted in enhanced reduction in phospho-IRS1/phospho-AKT relative to MAB391. Insulin or IGF-2 activated the IR-AKT pathway and decreased sensitivity to MAB391 but not to OSI-906. In tumor cells with an autocrine IGF-2 loop, both OSI-906 and an anti–IGF-2 antibody reduced phospho-IR/phospho-AKT, whereas MAB391 was ineffective. Finally, OSI-906 showed superior efficacy compared with MAB391 in human tumor xenograft models in which both IGF-1R and IR were phosphorylated. Collectively, these data indicate that cotargeting IGF-1R and IR may provide superior antitumor efficacy compared with targeting IGF-1R alone. Mol Cancer Ther; 9(10); 2652–64. ©2010 AACR.
First trimester pregnancy.

viated; most will disappear as the months pass. Perhaps the most frequent symptoms of early pregnancy are nausea and vomiting. In one study 50 percent of gravid women experienced nausea and one-half of these vomited(l). Although this is called morning sickness, we have encountered an increasing number of patients who complain of severe nausea in the evening and even vague nausea during all waking hours.
Pricing and Revenue Management

The focus of this chapter is on the strategic role of price in revenue management (RM). In order to successfully use price as a strategic weapon, firms must address two questions: what prices to charge and how’ to determine which customers or market segments should be offered those prices. In addition, companies must study and understand both customer and competitive reaction to their use of RM pricing. In this chapter, I address these questions through a review of the relevant literature and of current practice
Noncontact Thickness Measurement of Metal Films Using Eddy-Current Sensors Immune to Distance Variation

A simple method for measuring the thickness of metal films based on eddy-current sensors (ECSs) immune to distance variation is proposed. The slope of the lift-off curve (LOC) in the RL impedance plane is a good feature for characterizing target thickness independent of lift-off distance variation. A simple equivalent model was built to deal with the ECS problem, and the essential relationship between the slope of LOC (SLOC) and target properties was obtained. Full finite element analysis was conducted to analyze the relationship between SLOC feature and target thickness, and the results matched the modeling results very well. A sensor coil probe was then manufactured and used to measure the thickness of copper films with high performance, and the capability of this technique for online noncontact thickness measurement was verified. The basic characteristics and performances of this thickness measurement technique were tested and discussed. The SLOC feature for thickness measurement had significant advantages, such as simplicity, reliability, immunity to the lift-off effect (most important), high speed, simple signal processing, and negligible design limitation of the sensor probe. The results of this paper revealed that online thickness measurement systems could be developed for various advanced industrial applications.
Hospital Staff and Family Perspectives Regarding Quality of Pediatric Palliative Care

Background. Development of a pediatric palliative care program was preceded by a needs assessment that included a staff survey and family interviews regarding improving pediatric palliative care. Methods. Four hundred forty-six staff members and community physicians responded to a written survey regarding comfort and expertise in delivering end of life care. Sixty-eight family members of 44 deceased children were interviewed regarding treatment, transition to palliative care, and bereavement follow-up contact. Frequencies were generated for responses to the staff survey. Five interviewers reviewed the families' narratives and identified frequently occurring themes. Results. Staff members reported feeling inexperienced in communicating with patients and families about end of life issues, transition to palliative care, and do not resuscitate status. Families reported distress caused by uncaring delivery of bad news and careless remarks made by staff members. Staff members reported feeling inexperienced in symptom and pain management and described occasions when pain could have been better managed. Families believed pain had been managed as well as possible despite observing their children suffer. Fifty-four percent of staff members reported that adequate support was not provided for those who treat dying children. Staff members and family members stated their desire for more support. Staff members who described their most difficult experiences caring for a dying child referenced personal pain and inadequate support most frequently. Conclusions. Albeit from different perspectives, staff members and family members shared common concerns and experiences regarding pediatric palliative care. These experiences emphasize the need for additional systematic study, improved education and support for staff members, and continued development of more effective and compassionate delivery of pediatric palliative care.