TY - JOUR A1 - Smieliauskas, Wally A1 - Bewley, Kathryn A1 - Gronewold, Ulfert A1 - Menzefricke, Ulrich T1 - Misleading Forecasts in Accounting Estimates BT - a Form of Ethical Blindness in Accounting Standards? JF - Journal of business ethics N2 - The current financial reporting environment, with its increasing use of accounting estimates, including fair value estimates, suggests that unethical accounting estimates may be a growing concern. This paper provides explanations and empirical evidence for why some types of accounting estimates in financial reporting may promote a form of ethical blindness. These types of ethical blindness can have an escalating effect that corrupts not only an individual or organization but also the accounting profession and the public interest it serves. Ethical blindness in the standards of professional accountants may be a factor in the extent of misreporting, and may have taken on new urgency as a result of the proposals to change the conceptual framework for financial reporting using international standards. The social consequences for users of financial statements can be huge. The acquittal of former Nortel executives on fraud charges related to accounting manipulations is viewed by many as legitimizing accounting gamesmanship. This decision illustrates that the courts may not be the best place to deal with ethical reporting issues. The courts may be relied on for only the most egregious unethical conduct and, even then, the accounting profession is ill equipped to assist the legal system in prosecuting accounting fraud unless the standards have been clarified. We argue that the problem of unethical reporting should be addressed by the accounting profession itself, preferably as a key part of the conceptual framework that supports accounting and auditing standards, and the codes of ethical conduct that underpin the professionalism of accountants. KW - Ethical accounting estimates KW - Estimation uncertainty KW - IASB accounting conceptual framework KW - Accounting standards KW - Auditing standards Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3289-1 SN - 0167-4544 SN - 1573-0697 VL - 152 IS - 2 SP - 437 EP - 457 PB - Springer CY - Dordrecht ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Möring, Sebastian A1 - Leino, Olli Tapio T1 - Beyond games as political education BT - Neo-liberalism in the contemporary computer game form JF - Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds N2 - This article introduces the juxtaposed notions of liberal and neo-liberal gameplay in order to show that, while forms of contemporary game culture are heavily influenced by neo-liberalism, they often appear under a liberal disguise. The argument is grounded in Claus Pias’ idea of games as always a product of their time in terms of economic, political and cultural history. The article shows that romantic play theories (e.g. Schiller, Huizinga and Caillois) are circling around the notion of play as ‘free’, which emerged in parallel with the philosophy of liberalism and respective socio-economic developments such as the industrialization and the rise of the nation state. It shows further that contemporary discourse in computer game studies addresses computer game/play as if it still was the romantic form of play rooted in the paradigm of liberalism. The article holds that an account that acknowledges the neo-liberalist underpinnings of computer games is more suited to addressing contemporary computer games, among which are phenomena such as free to play games, which repeat the structures of a neo-liberal society. In those games the players invest time and effort in developing their skills, although their future value is mainly speculative – just like this is the case for citizens of neo-liberal societies. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1386/jgvw.8.2.145_1 SN - 1757-191X VL - 8 IS - 2 SP - 145 EP - 161 PB - Intellect CY - Bristol ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Trautwein, Matthias A1 - Fredriksson, Kai A1 - Möller, Heiko Michael A1 - Exner, Thomas E. T1 - Automated assignment of NMR chemical shifts based on a known structure and 4D spectra JF - Journal of biomolecular NMR N2 - Apart from their central role during 3D structure determination of proteins the backbone chemical shift assignment is the basis for a number of applications, like chemical shift perturbation mapping and studies on the dynamics of proteins. This assignment is not a trivial task even if a 3D protein structure is known and needs almost as much effort as the assignment for structure prediction if performed manually. We present here a new algorithm based solely on 4D [H-1, N-15]-HSQC-NOESY-[H-1, N-15]-HSQC spectra which is able to assign a large percentage of chemical shifts (73-82 %) unambiguously, demonstrated with proteins up to a size of 250 residues. For the remaining residues, a small number of possible assignments is filtered out. This is done by comparing distances in the 3D structure to restraints obtained from the peak volumes in the 4D spectrum. Using dead-end elimination, assignments are removed in which at least one of the restraints is violated. Including additional information from chemical shift predictions, a complete unambiguous assignment was obtained for Ubiquitin and 95 % of the residues were correctly assigned in the 251 residue-long N-terminal domain of enzyme I. The program including source code is available at https://github.com/thomasexner/4Dassign. KW - Chemical shift assignment KW - Protein KW - 3D structure KW - 4D NOESY Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10858-016-0050-0 SN - 0925-2738 SN - 1573-5001 VL - 65 SP - 217 EP - 236 PB - Springer CY - Dordrecht ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Maier, Stefan K. A1 - Poluektov, Georgiy A1 - Jester, Stefan-S. A1 - Möller, Heiko Michael A1 - Hoeger, Sigurd T1 - Fast Oxidative Cyclooligomerization towards Low- and High-Symmetry Thiophene Macrocycles JF - Chemistry - a European journal N2 - Macrocycles with quaterthiophene subunits were obtained by cyclooligomerization by direct oxidative coupling of unsubstituted dithiophene moieties. The rings were closed with high selectivity by an α,β′-connection of the thiophenes as proven by NMR spectroscopy. The reaction of the precursor with terthiophene moieties yielded the symmetric α,α′-linked macrocycle in low yield together with various differently connected isomers. Blocking of the β-position of the half-rings yielded selectively the α,α′-linked macrocycle. Selected cyclothiophenes were investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy, which displayed the formation of highly ordered 2D crystalline monolayers. KW - cyclooligomers KW - scanning tunneling microscopy KW - self-assembled monolayers KW - shape-persistent macrocycles KW - thiophenes Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.201503211 SN - 0947-6539 SN - 1521-3765 VL - 22 SP - 1379 EP - 1384 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Prestel, Andreas A1 - Möller, Heiko Michael T1 - Spatio-temporal control of cellular uptake achieved by photoswitchable cell-penetrating peptides JF - Chemical communications N2 - The selective uptake of compounds into specific cells of interest is a major objective in cell biology and drug delivery. By incorporation of a novel, thermostable azobenzene moiety we generated peptides that can be switched optically between an inactive state and an active, cell-penetrating state with excellent spatio-temporal control. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/c5cc06848g SN - 1359-7345 SN - 1364-548X VL - 52 SP - 701 EP - 704 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Holert, Johannes A1 - Yücel, Onur A1 - Jagmann, Nina A1 - Prestel, Andreas A1 - Möller, Heiko Michael A1 - Philipp, Bodo T1 - Identification of bypass reactions leading to the formation of one central steroid degradation intermediate in metabolism of different bile salts in Pseudomonas sp strain Chol1 JF - Environmental microbiology Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.13192 SN - 1462-2912 SN - 1462-2920 VL - 18 SP - 3373 EP - 3389 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Stolle, Claudia A1 - Michaelis, Ingo A1 - Rauberg, Jan T1 - The role of high-resolution geomagnetic field models for investigating ionospheric currents at low Earth orbit satellites JF - Earth, planets and space N2 - Low Earth orbiting geomagnetic satellite missions, such as the Swarm satellite mission, are the only means to monitor and investigate ionospheric currents on a global scale and to make in situ measurements of F region currents. High-precision geomagnetic satellite missions are also able to detect ionospheric currents during quiet-time geomagnetic conditions that only have few nanotesla amplitudes in the magnetic field. An efficient method to isolate the ionospheric signals from satellite magnetic field measurements has been the use of residuals between the observations and predictions from empirical geomagnetic models for other geomagnetic sources, such as the core and lithospheric field or signals from the quiet-time magnetospheric currents. This study aims at highlighting the importance of high-resolution magnetic field models that are able to predict the lithospheric field and that consider the quiet-time magnetosphere for reliably isolating signatures from ionospheric currents during geomagnetically quiet times. The effects on the detection of ionospheric currents arising from neglecting the lithospheric and magnetospheric sources are discussed on the example of four Swarm orbits during very quiet times. The respective orbits show a broad range of typical scenarios, such as strong and weak ionospheric signal (during day- and nighttime, respectively) superimposed over strong and weak lithospheric signals. If predictions from the lithosphere or magnetosphere are not properly considered, the amplitude of the ionospheric currents, such as the midlatitude Sq currents or the equatorial electrojet (EEJ), is modulated by 10-15 % in the examples shown. An analysis from several orbits above the African sector, where the lithospheric field is significant, showed that the peak value of the signatures of the EEJ is in error by 5 % in average when lithospheric contributions are not considered, which is in the range of uncertainties of present empirical models of the EEJ. KW - Geomagnetic field KW - Ionospheric current KW - Geomagnetic models Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s40623-016-0494-1 SN - 1880-5981 VL - 68 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Denecke, Klaus-Dieter T1 - The partial clone of linear terms JF - Siberian Mathematical Journal N2 - Generalizing a linear expression over a vector space, we call a term of an arbitrary type tau linear if its every variable occurs only once. Instead of the usual superposition of terms and of the total many-sorted clone of all terms in the case of linear terms, we define the partial many-sorted superposition operation and the partial many-sorted clone that satisfies the superassociative law as weak identity. The extensions of linear hypersubstitutions are weak endomorphisms of this partial clone. For a variety V of one-sorted total algebras of type tau, we define the partial many-sorted linear clone of V as the partial quotient algebra of the partial many-sorted clone of all linear terms by the set of all linear identities of V. We prove then that weak identities of this clone correspond to linear hyperidentities of V. KW - linear term KW - clone KW - partial clone KW - linear hypersubstitution KW - linear identity KW - linear hyperidentity Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1134/S0037446616040030 SN - 0037-4466 SN - 1573-9260 VL - 57 SP - 589 EP - 598 PB - Pleiades Publ. CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Leib, Julia T1 - Shaping peace: an investigation of the mechanisms underlying post-conflict peacebuilding JF - Peace, conflict & development : an interdisciplinary journal N2 - What shapes peace, and how can peace be successfully built in those countries affected by armed conflict? This paper examines mpeacebuilding in the aftermath of civil wars in order to identify the conditions for post-conflict peace. The field of civil war research is characterised by case studies, comparative analyses and quantitative research, which relate relatively little to each other. Furthermore, the complex dynamics of peacebuilding have hardly been investigated so far. Thus, the question remains of how best to enhance the prospects of a stable peace in post-conflict societies. Therefore, it is necessary to capture the dynamics of post-conflict peace. This paper aims at helping to narrow these research gaps by 1) presenting the benefits of set theoretic methods for peace and conflict studies; 2) identifying remote conflict environment factors and proximate peacebuilding factors which have an influence on the peacebuilding process and 3) proposing a set-theoretic multi-method research approach in order to identify the causal structures and mechanisms underlying the complex realm of post-conflict peacebuilding. By implementing this transparent and systematic comparative approach, it will become possible to discover the dynamics of post-conflict peace. KW - civil war KW - peacebuilding KW - post-conflict peace KW - set theory KW - QCA Y1 - 2016 SN - 1742-0601 IS - 22 SP - 25 EP - 76 PB - Univ. CY - Bradford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Abseher, Michael A1 - Musliu, Nysret A1 - Woltran, Stefan A1 - Gebser, Martin A1 - Schaub, Torsten H. T1 - Shift Design with Answer Set Programming JF - Fundamenta informaticae N2 - Answer Set Programming (ASP) is a powerful declarative programming paradigm that has been successfully applied to many different domains. Recently, ASP has also proved successful for hard optimization problems like course timetabling and travel allotment. In this paper, we approach another important task, namely, the shift design problem, aiming at an alignment of a minimum number of shifts in order to meet required numbers of employees (which typically vary for different time periods) in such a way that over- and understaffing is minimized. We provide an ASP encoding of the shift design problem, which, to the best of our knowledge, has not been addressed by ASP yet. Our experimental results demonstrate that ASP is capable of improving the best known solutions to some benchmark problems. Other instances remain challenging and make the shift design problem an interesting benchmark for ASP-based optimization methods. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3233/FI-2016-1396 SN - 0169-2968 SN - 1875-8681 VL - 147 SP - 1 EP - 25 PB - IOS Press CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kistner, Saskia A1 - Vollmeyer, Regina A1 - Burns, Bruce D. A1 - Kortenkamp, Ulrich T1 - Model development in scientific discovery learning with a computer-based physics task JF - Computers in human behavior N2 - Based on theories of scientific discovery learning (SDL) and conceptual change, this study explores students' preconceptions in the domain of torques in physics and the development of these conceptions while learning with a computer-based SDL task. As a framework we used a three-space theory of SDL and focused on model space, which is supposed to contain the current conceptualization/model of the learning domain, and on its change through hypothesis testing and experimenting. Three questions were addressed: (1) What are students' preconceptions of torques before learning about this domain? To do this a multiple-choice test for assessing students' models of torques was developed and given to secondary school students (N = 47) who learned about torques using computer simulations. (2) How do students' models of torques develop during SDL? Working with simulations led to replacement of some misconceptions with physically correct conceptions. (3) Are there differential patterns of model development and if so, how do they relate to students’ use of the simulations? By analyzing individual differences in model development, we found that an intensive use of the simulations was associated with the acquisition of correct conceptions. Thus, the three-space theory provided a useful framework for understanding conceptual change in SDL. KW - Scientific discovery learning KW - Multiple problem spaces KW - Computer simulations KW - Physics concepts KW - Misconceptions KW - Conceptual change Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.02.041 SN - 0747-5632 SN - 1873-7692 VL - 59 SP - 446 EP - 455 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sinclair, Nathalie A1 - Bussi, Maria G. Bartolini A1 - de Villiers, Michael A1 - Jones, Keith A1 - Kortenkamp, Ulrich A1 - Leung, Allen A1 - Owens, Kay T1 - Recent research on geometry education: an ICME-13 survey team report JF - ZDM : The International Journal on Mathematics Education N2 - This survey on the theme of Geometry Education (including new technologies) focuses chiefly on the time span since 2008. Based on our review of the research literature published during this time span (in refereed journal articles, conference proceedings and edited books), we have jointly identified seven major threads of contributions that span from the early years of learning (pre-school and primary school) through to post-compulsory education and to the issue of mathematics teacher education for geometry. These threads are as follows: developments and trends in the use of theories; advances in the understanding of visuo spatial reasoning; the use and role of diagrams and gestures; advances in the understanding of the role of digital technologies; advances in the understanding of the teaching and learning of definitions; advances in the understanding of the teaching and learning of the proving process; and, moving beyond traditional Euclidean approaches. Within each theme, we identify relevant research and also offer commentary on future directions. KW - Geometry KW - Technology KW - Diagrams KW - Definitions KW - Gestures KW - Proving KW - Digital technology KW - Visuospatial reasoning Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-016-0796-6 SN - 1863-9690 SN - 1863-9704 VL - 48 SP - 691 EP - 719 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kistner, Saskia A1 - Burns, Bruce D. A1 - Vollmeyer, Regina A1 - Kortenkamp, Ulrich T1 - The importance of understanding: Model space moderates goal specificity effects JF - The quarterly journal of experimental psychology N2 - The three-space theory of problem solving predicts that the quality of a learner's model and the goal specificity of a task interact on knowledge acquisition. In Experiment 1 participants used a computer simulation of a lever system to learn about torques. They either had to test hypotheses (nonspecific goal), or to produce given values for variables (specific goal). In the good- but not in the poor-model condition they saw torque depicted as an area. Results revealed the predicted interaction. A nonspecific goal only resulted in better learning when a good model of torques was provided. In Experiment 2 participants learned to manipulate the inputs of a system to control its outputs. A nonspecific goal to explore the system helped performance when compared to a specific goal to reach certain values when participants were given a good model, but not when given a poor model that suggested the wrong hypothesis space. Our findings support the three-space theory. They emphasize the importance of understanding for problem solving and stress the need to study underlying processes. KW - Goal specificity KW - Problem solving KW - Three-space theory KW - Scientific discovery learning Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/17470218.2015.1076865 SN - 1747-0218 SN - 1747-0226 VL - 69 SP - 1179 EP - 1196 PB - Optical Society of America CY - Abingdon ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kortenkamp, Ulrich A1 - Monaghan, John A1 - Trouche, Luc T1 - Jonathan M Borwein (1951-2016): exploring, experiencing and experimenting in mathematics - an inspiring journey in mathematics JF - Educational studies in mathematics : an international journal Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-016-9729-0 SN - 0013-1954 SN - 1573-0816 VL - 93 SP - 131 EP - 136 PB - Springer CY - Dordrecht ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Soemer, Alexander A1 - Saito, Satoru T1 - Domain-specific processing in short-term serial order memory JF - Journal of memory and language N2 - Recent studies of short-term serial order memory have suggested that the maintenance of order information does not involve domain-specific processes. We carried out two dual task experiments aimed at resolving several ambiguities in those studies. In our experiments, encoding and response of one serial reconstruction task was embedded within encoding and response of a concurrent serial reconstruction task. Order demands in both tasks were independently varied so as to find revealing patterns of interference between the two tasks. In Experiment 1, participants were to maintain and reconstruct the order of a list of verbal materials, while maintaining a list of spatial materials or vice-versa. Increasing the order demands in the outer reconstruction task resulted in small or non reliable performance decrements in the embedded reconstruction task. Experiment 2 sought to compare these results against two same-domain baseline conditions (two verbal lists or two spatial lists). In all conditions, increasing order demands in the outer task resulted in small or non-reliable performance decrements in the embedded task. However, performance in the embedded tasks was generally lower in the same-domain baseline conditions than in the cross-domain conditions. We argue that the main effect of domain in Experiment 2 indicates the contribution of domain-specific processes to short-term serial order maintenance. In addition, we interpret the failure to find consistent cross-list interference irrespective of domain as indicating the involvement of grouping mechanisms in concurrently performed serial order tasks. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. KW - Serial order memory KW - Verbal memory KW - Spatial memory KW - Domain specificity KW - Working memory Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2015.12.003 SN - 0749-596X SN - 1096-0821 VL - 88 SP - 1 EP - 17 PB - Elsevier CY - San Diego ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Soemer, Alexander A1 - Schwan, Stephan T1 - Task-Appropriate Visualizations: Can the Very Same Visualization Format Either Promote or Hinder Learning Depending on the Task Requirements? JF - The journal of educational psychology N2 - In a series of experiments, we tested a recently proposed hypothesis stating that the degree of alignment between the form of a mental representation resulting from learning with a particular visualization format and the specific requirements of a learning task determines learning performance (task-appropriateness). Groups of participants were required to learn the stroke configuration, the stroke order, or the stroke directions of a set of Chinese pseudocharacters. For each learning task, participants were divided into groups receiving dynamic, static-sequential, or static visualizations. An old/new character recognition task was given at test. The results showed that learning both stroke configuration and stroke order was best with static pictures (Experiments 1 and 2), while there was no reliable difference between the groups for learning stroke direction (Experiment 3). An additional experiment, however, revealed that learning with sequential pictures was superior when testing was carried out with sequential pictures, irrespective of the learning task (Experiment 4). The combined evidence from all experiments speaks against task requirements playing a role in determining the effectiveness of a visualization format. Furthermore, the evidence supports the view that a high degree of congruence between information presented during learning and information presented at test results in better learning (study-test congruence). Implications for instructional design are discussed. KW - animations KW - pictures KW - task requirements KW - study-test congruence KW - Chinese characters Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000093 SN - 0022-0663 SN - 1939-2176 VL - 108 SP - 960 EP - 968 PB - American Psychological Association CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ly, Ibrahim A1 - Tarkhanov, Nikolai Nikolaevich T1 - A Rado theorem for p-harmonic functions JF - Boletin de la Sociedad Matemática Mexicana N2 - Let A be a nonlinear differential operator on an open set X subset of R-n and S a closed subset of X. Given a class F of functions in X, the set S is said to be removable for F relative to A if any weak solution of A(u) = 0 in XS of class F satisfies this equation weakly in all of X. For the most extensively studied classes F, we show conditions on S which guarantee that S is removable for F relative to A. KW - Quasilinear equations KW - Removable sets KW - p-Laplace equation Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s40590-016-0109-7 SN - 1405-213X SN - 2296-4495 VL - 22 SP - 461 EP - 472 PB - Springer CY - Basel ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Walter, J. A1 - Hamann, Göran A1 - Lück, Erika A1 - Klingenfuss, C. A1 - Zeitz, Jutta T1 - Stratigraphy and soil properties of fens: Geophysical case studies from northeastern Germany JF - Catena : an interdisciplinary journal of soil science, hydrology, geomorphology focusing on geoecology and landscape evolution N2 - The determination of the total carbon storage of peatlands is of high relevance in the context of climate-change mitigation efforts. This determination relies on data about stratigraphy and peat properties, which are conventionally collected by coring. Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and electrical resistivity imaging (ERI) can support these point data by providing subsoil information in two-dimensional cross-sections. In this study, GPR and ERI were conducted at two groundwater-fed fen sites located in the temperate zone in north-east Germany. The fens of this region are embedded in low conductive glacial sand and are characterised by thick layers of gyttja, which can be either mineral or organic. The two study sites are representative of this region with respect to stratigraphy (total thickness, peat and gyttja types) and ecological conditions (pH-value, trophic condition). The aim of this study is to assess the suitability of GPR and ERI to detect stratigraphy and peat properties under these characteristic site conditions. Results show that GPR clearly detects the interfaces between (i) Carex and brown-moss peat, (ii) brown-moss peat and organic gyttja, (iii) organic- and mineral gyttja, and (iv) mineral gyttja and the parent material (glacial sand). These layers differ in bulk density and the related organic matter content. ERI, however, does not delineate these layers; rather it delineates regions of varying properties. At our base-rich site, pore fluid conductivity and cation.exchange capacity are the main factors that determine peat electrical conductivity (reverse of resistivity), whereas organic matter and water content are most influential at the more acidic site. Thus the correlation between peat properties and electrical conductivity are driven by site-specific conditions, which are mainly determined by the solute load in the groundwater at fens. When the total organic deposits exceed a thickness of 5 m, the depth of investigation by GPR is limited due to increasing attenuation. This is not a limiting factor for ERI, where the transition from organic deposits to glacial sand is visible at both sites. Due to these specific sensitivities, a combined application of GPR and ERI meets the demand for up-to-date information on carbon storage of peatlands, which is, moreover, very site-specific because of the inherent variety of ecological conditions and stratigraphy between peatlands in general and between fens and bogs in particular. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. KW - Fen stratigraphy KW - Peat properties KW - Gyttja KW - Ground penetrating radar KW - Electrical conductivity KW - Electrical resistivity imaging Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2016.02.028 SN - 0341-8162 SN - 1872-6887 VL - 142 SP - 112 EP - 125 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Reyes, Anibal M. A1 - Vazquez, Diego S. A1 - Zeida, Ari A1 - Hugo, Martin A1 - Dolores Pineyro, M. A1 - Ines De Armas, Maria A1 - Estrin, Dario A1 - Radi, Rafael A1 - Santos, Javier A1 - Trujillo, Madia T1 - PrxQ B from Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a monomeric, thioredoxin-dependent and highly efficient fatty acid hydroperoxide reductase JF - Free radical biology and medicine : the official journal of the Oxygen Society, a constituent member of the International Society for Free Radical Research N2 - Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) is the intracellular bacterium responsible for tuberculosis disease (TD). Inside the phagosomes of activated macrophages, M. tuberculosis is exposed to cytotoxic hydroperoxides such as hydrogen peroxide, fatty acid hydroperoxides and peroxynitrite. Thus, the characterization of the bacterial antioxidant systems could facilitate novel drug developments. In this work, we characterized the product of the gene Rv1608c from M. tuberculosis, which according to sequence homology had been annotated as a putative peroxiredoxin of the peroxiredoxin Q subfamily (PrxQ B from M. tuberculosis or MtPrxQ B). The protein has been reported to be essential for M. tuberculosis growth in cholesterol-rich medium. We demonstrated the M. tuberculosis thioredoxin B/C-dependent peroxidase activity of MtPrxQ B, which acted as a two-cysteine peroxiredoxin that could function, although less efficiently, using a one-cysteine mechanism. Through steady-state and competition kinetic analysis, we proved that the net forward rate constant of MtPrxQ B reaction was 3 orders of magnitude faster for fatty acid hydroperoxides than for hydrogen peroxide (3x10(6) vs 6x10(3) M-1 s(-1), respectively), while the rate constant of peroxynitrite reduction was (0.6-1.4) x10(6) M-1 s(-1) at pH 7.4. The enzyme lacked activity towards cholesterol hydroperoxides solubilized in sodium deoxycholate. Both thioredoxin B and C rapidly reduced the oxidized form of MtPrxQ B, with rates constants of 0.5x10(6) and 1x10(6) M-1 s(-1), respectively. Our data indicated that MtPrxQ B is monomeric in solution both under reduced and oxidized states. In spite of the similar hydrodynamic behavior the reduced and oxidized forms of the protein showed important structural differences that were reflected in the protein circular dichroism spectra. KW - Mycobacterium tuberculosis KW - Peroxiredoxin KW - Thioredoxin KW - Peroxynitrite KW - Fatty acid hydroperoxides KW - Thiol-dependent peroxidase KW - Peroxidatic and resolving cysteine Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2016.10.005 SN - 0891-5849 SN - 1873-4596 VL - 101 SP - 249 EP - 260 PB - Elsevier CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Höhle, Barbara A1 - Berger, Frauke A1 - Sauermann, Antje T1 - Information structure in first language acquisition JF - The Oxford handbook of information structure Y1 - 2016 SN - 978-0-19-964267-0 SP - 562 EP - 580 PB - Oxford University Press CY - Oxford ER -