Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Vulnerability of Medium Spiny Striatal Neurons to Glutamate: Role of Na+/K+ ATPase

In Huntington's disease neuronal degeneration mainly involves medium‐sized spiny neurons. It has been postulated that both excitotoxic mechanisms and energy metabolism failure are implicated in the neuronal degeneration observed in Huntington's disease. In central neurons, >40% of the energy released by respiration is used by Na+/K+ ATPase to maintain ionic gradients. Considering that impairment of Na+/K+ ATPase activity might alter postsynaptic responsivity to excitatory amino acids (EAAs), we investigated the effects of the Na+/K+ ATPase inhibitors, ouabain and strophanthidin, on the responses to different agonists of EAA receptors in identified medium‐sized spiny neurons electrophysiologically recorded in the current‐ and voltage‐clamp modes. In most of the cells both ouabain and strophanthidin (1–3 μM) did not cause significant change in the membrane properties of the recorded neurons. Higher doses of either ouabain (30 μM) or strophanthidin (30 μM) induced, per se, an irreversible inward current coupled to an increase in conductance, leading to cell deterioration. Moreover, both ouabain (1–10 μM) and strophanthidin (1–10 μM) dramatically increased the membrane depolarization and the inward current produced by subcritical concentrations of glutamate, AMPA and NMDA. These concentrations of Na+/K+ ATPase inhibitors also increased the membrane responses induced by repetitive cortical activation. In addition, since it had previously been proposed that dopamine mimics the effects of Na+/K+ ATPase inhibitors and that dopamine agonists differentially regulate the postsynaptic responses to EAAs, we tested the possible modulation of EAA‐induced membrane depolarization and inward current by dopamine agonists. Neither dopamine nor selective dopamine agonists or antagonists affected the postsynaptic responses to EAAs. Our experiments show that impairment of the activity of Na+/K+ ATPase may render striatal neurons more sensitive to the action of glutamate, lowering the threshold for the excitotoxic events. Our data support neither the role of dopamine as an ouabain‐like agent nor the differential modulatory action of dopamine receptors on the EAA‐induced responses in the striatum.
Connecting Political Discussion to Civic Engagement: The Role of Civic Knowledge, Efficacy and Context for Adolescents

Title of dissertation: CONNECTING POLITICAL DISCUSSION TO CIVIC ENGAGEMENT: THE ROLE OF CIVIC KNOWLEDGE, EFFICACY AND CONTEXT FOR ADOLESCENTS Wendy Klandl Richardson, Doctor of Philosophy, 2003 Dissertation directed by: Professor Judith Torney-Purta Department of Human Development The relationship between participating in political discussion and civic engagement was examined using survey data collected for the IEA Civic Education Study from a large, nationally representative sample of adolescents in the United States. This study extends previous research by considering the extent to which political discussion occurring in different contexts relates to several kinds of civic engagement and by considering the influence of civic knowledge and efficacy as possible intervening factors. Interviews with a separate sample of 32 14-year-olds provided descriptive data that enriched the presentation of statistical findings with respect to the reasons adolescents see for their participation in discussion. Results from statistical analyses found that adolescents who report more frequent discussion of politics with peers, parents, and teachers, and perceive their class as a supportive environment for discussion are more likely to believe they will engage in civic activities as adults. This is the case for both conventional activities such as writing a letter to a newspaper about an issue and social movement-related activities such as participating in a non-violent protest. Furthermore, these adolescents were more likely to report that they are currently involved in civic-related organizations. The one exception is that adolescents’ perception that their classroom supports the discussion of political issues is not related to their current involvement in civic-related organizations. Adolescents’ civic knowledge was not related to their expectations for future or current civic engagement when controlling for political discussion, nor did it change the relationship between political discussion and civic engagement. When adolescents’ reported a sense of competence in politics and in their participation at school, they were more likely to expect they would engage in civic activities as adults and report that they currently participate in a greater number of civic-related organizations. However, these indicators of civic efficacy did not moderate the relationship between political discussion and civic engagement. These findings affirm the positive role political discussion plays in promoting the civic engagement of young people. Learning more about the quality of political discussions in different contexts and adolescents’ sense of competence in politics will help educators and parents strengthen this connection. CONNECTING POLITICAL DISCUSSION TO CIVIC ENGAGEMENT: THE ROLE OF CIVIC KNOWLEDGE, EFFICACY AND CONTEXT FOR ADOLESCENTS
Attitudes towards and Effects of the Use of Video Games in Classroom Learning with Specific Reference to Literacy Attainment

The first part of this study shows that there is increased support for using video games in the classroom from different stakeholders, namely students, teachers and parents. The potential role that video games can play in the classroom learning process needs to be more well defined. There is a dire need for research work under experimental conditions which measures tangibly the effectiveness of videogame use in classroom learning. The experimental study described here seeks to address this need and focuses on the very important area of literacy attainment. The Experimental Group of students which used the videogame in the classroom obtained significant gains on a number of English as a Second Language items when compared to the other group of students which followed their regular programme. This study makes a claim for teachers to be supported in their endeavours to harness video games as a teaching and learning tool. However, the role of teachers in this process requires redefinition. It calls also for the concerns of teachers to be addressed if they are to feel they can play a significant role in the adoption of video games in classroom learning.
Mandibular fracture at HUSM: a 5-year retrospective study

This is a retrospective study to determine the distribution site, associated fracture and causes of mandibular fractures at HUSM, over a 5 year period, from 1 st January 2002 - 31 st December 2006. Records of patients who had mandibular fracture were reviewed. Data of age, sex, site of fracture, causes and associated fracture were recorded and analyzed using SPSS version 15.0. There were 113 (84.3%) males and 21 (15.7%) females. The mean age for male was 84.3% and female was 15.7%. The fracture occurs mostly at the age of 11-20 years (45.5%), followed by 21-30 years (30.6%). Motor vehicle accidents (MVA) were the commonest causes of mandibular fracture (92.5%), followed by fight and assault (3.7%), industrial accidents (3.0%), fall (0.7%). There were no cases recorded due to sport injury. The commonest site of mandibular fracture occurs at angle and para-symphysis (23%), followed by body (20.1%), symphysis (16.7%), condyle (15.5%) and ramus (1.7%). The most common associated fractures were head injury (23.5%), followed by clavicle fracture (17.2%) and fracture of radius (10.7%). Mandibular fracture was common in males with the mean age 24.63 years and mostly due to MVA. Angle and para-symphysis is the commonest site of mandibular fracture with most of the patient suffered from concomitant head injury.
General and Specific Training: Evidence and Implications

Using data from the Employer Opportunity Pilot Project (EOPP) survey and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), we explicitly document the specificity and generality of employer-provided training, and we analyze how wage growth and mobility are influenced by our direct measures of specific and general training. In spite of the emphasis that labor economists have placed on specific training, we find that employers in the EOPP and workers in the NLSY indicate that most of the skills learned in training are useful elsewhere. Our results are consistent with several recent models that predict that employers will often extract some of the returns to the general training they provide.
Smoking Habits among Greek University Students after the Financial Crisis

Background: University students worldwide seem to have increased rates of smoking, alcohol abuse, binge drinking episodes and harmful consumption trends, raising a serious public health issue. The aim of the present study was to investigate university students’ smoking habits and exposure to secondary smoke amid a financial crisis. Methods: The present descriptive, correlational analysis was conducted at the University of Peloponnese. Results: The average age of the sample (n=203) was 24.9 years (±7.6 years) with 36.0% of the participants (n=73) being postgraduate students. Some 51.2% (n=104) of the participants said they didn’t smoke and 46.3% (n=94, p=0.003) reported no secondary smoke exposure during the past week at home. The majority of the remainder initiated smoking at age 16-17 (48.5%, n=48), and 64.6% (n=42) said the financial crisis did not lead them to change their smoking habits. Conclusions: The majority of students support smoking ban laws in enclosed public spaces, but also their replies highlighted poor implementation on behalf of the state and the authorities. The financial crisis did not appear to have affected student smoking habits.
The wage effects of training in Portugal: differences across skill groups, genders, sectors and training types

This article investigates the determinants and wage effects of training in Portugal. In a first stage, we show that there are considerable differences in training participation across groups of workers, with elder and low educated individuals participating substantially less. In a second stage, we show that training has a positive and significant impact on wages. The estimated wage return is about 30% for men and 38% for women. Discriminating between levels of education and working experience and the public and private sector reveals important differences across categories of workers. We find that women, low educated workers and workers with long working experience earn larger returns from training. The average effect of training is similar in the private sector and the public sector. However, differences across experience groups are larger in the private sector, while differences across education groups are larger in the public sector. We use three alternative classifications of training activities and find that training in the firm, training aimed to improve skills needed at the current job and training with duration less than a year are associated to larger wage gains.
Time to target haemoglobin concentration (11 g/dl)--risk of hospitalization and mortality among incident dialysis patients.

BACKGROUND Haemoglobin levels <11 g/dl are associated with increased costs, morbidity and mortality. We aimed to determine if time required to reach 11 g/dl was associated with increased risk of hospitalization or death among incident dialysis patients. METHODS We studied 29 131 patients initiating dialysis in 2002 and surviving >or=9 months. Demographic, comorbid and health care use data were extracted from Medicare claims from months 4-9 post-dialysis initiation. Logistic regression was used to calculate a propensity score for odds of longer than mean time to target. Proportional hazard models were used to assess effects of longer time on hospitalization and death. Other models were stratified for quartile of propensity score. RESULTS Mean time to target haemoglobin was 1.3 months and 36% of participants required longer. These were more likely to be younger and minority, to use a dialysis catheter, and to have more comorbidity and hospitalization days during the entry period. Longer time to target was associated with increased risk for hospitalization (hazards ratio 1.15; 95% confidence interval 1.12-1.19) and mortality (1.26; 1.20-1.33) in the following year. Associations did not change when stratified by quartile of propensity score. CONCLUSIONS Longer time required to reach the target haemoglobin level was associated with significantly higher risk of hospitalization and mortality. Whether observed associations resulted from residual confounding by more severe illness remains unclear. Future trials should determine if rapidity of haemoglobin correction influences outcomes.
A $\mu$m-Scale Computational Model of Magnetic Neural Stimulation in Multifascicular Peripheral Nerves

There has been recurring interest in using magnetic neural stimulation for implantable localized stimulation. However, the large stimulation voltages and energies necessary to evoke neuronal activity have tempered this interest. To investigate the potential of magnetic stimulation as a viable methodology and to provide the ability to investigate novel coil designs that can result in lower stimulation threshold voltages and energies, there is a need for a model that accurately predicts the magnetic field-tissue interaction that results in neuronal stimulation. In this study, we provide a computational framework to accurately estimate the stimulation threshold and have validated the model with in vivo magnetic stimulation experiments. To make such predictions, we developed a micrometer-resolution anatomically driven computational model of rat sciatic nerve and quantified the effect of tissue heterogeneity (i.e., fascicular organization, axon distribution, and density) and axonal membrane capacitance on the resulting threshold. Using the multiresolution impedance method, we computed the spatial-temporal distribution of the induced electric field in the nerve and applied this field to a Frankenhaeuser-Huxley axon model in NEURON to simulate the nonlinear mechanisms of the membrane channels. The computational model developed predicts the stimulation thresholds for four magnetic coil designs with different geometrical parameters within the 95% confidence interval (experiments count = 4) of measured in vivo stimulation thresholds for the rat sciatic nerve.
Growth Slowdown in China Since 2008: Will There Be a Hard Landing in the Near Future?

China has witnessed an unprecedented great leap forward in investment since the 2008 global financial crisis, and at the same time real GDP growth has undergone a significant slowdown. This paper examines China's growth slowdown since 2008 up to 2013 using a growth accounting model in a systematic way. It is found that China's growth slowdown since 2008 almost completely comes from a sharp slowdown in total factor productivity growth. During this period, the positive effect on growth from expanding investment has been completely offset by the negative effect of the slowdown in total factor productivity growth. Currently, China's economy has slid into the Solow downward path. Under these circumstances, a soft landing is completely infeasible. Unless the Chinese Government implements substantial rebalancing and comprehensive and in-depth market-oriented reform, accompanied by large-scale de-investment (decreasing in the ratio of investment in GDP) and massive employment adjustment, China will be unable to avoid the Solow downward path, and a hard landing in investment will be inevitable in the near future.
Perceptions of Chinese Hotels

The evaluations of 941 respondents who had recently stayed in a Chinese hotel revealed that guests' satisfaction with the hotels were influenced by hotels' star ratings. By comparing the importance-evaluation matrices for each category of hotel, a clear trend emerges in which higher levels of satisfaction are discernable for five-star and deluxe hotels than for one- and two-star hotels. At all levels, however, respondents gave high ratings to the key attributes of cleanliness and bed comfort. The findings raise a question of how to ensure satisfaction for China's one- and two-star hotels.
Banking regulation, information asymmetries and industry growth: new evidence

This article investigates the relationship between banking regulation and disclosure requirements and industry growth of 23 sectors over the period 1990 to 1999. We find evidence that the efficiency of the legal environment significantly affects industry growth. In particular, prudent banking regulation has a depressing effect of industry growth. Excessive disclosure requirements hinder the results of leveraged industrial sectors. Furthermore, we confirm positive effects of investor protection on growth.
Is There a Latin Model in The Management of Human Resources

It has been argued that, within Europe, different models of management are discernible: the Latin, the Central and the Scandinavian. Focusing on the Latin model, analyses the concept of such a model through an examination of the data and by comparison with the other areas of Europe. Concludes that whilst there is no definite answer to the question of whether there is a Latin model there is evidence for the existence of such a model and its features are outlined.
Memory dysfunction in multiple sclerosis corresponds to juxtacortical lesion load on fast fluid-attenuated inversion-recovery MR images.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE MR imaging is a sensitive diagnostic tool and paraclinical marker of disease activity and prognosis in multiple sclerosis (MS), yet the role of MR imaging of MS is controversial. The aim of this study was to describe the relationship between cognitive function and MS lesion size and position, as shown on comparative images from conventional spin-echo (CSE) and fast fluid-attenuated inversion-recovery (fast FLAIR) MR studies. METHODS CSE and fast FLAIR sequences consisted of 40 noncontiguous, 3-mm-thick axial sections matched for geometric position in 18 patients with relapsing-remitting MS. Lesions were scored for size, anatomic position, and their comparative appearance on CSE and fast FLAIR images. The neuropsychological assessment tested general psychological performance, memory, and frontal lobe executive function. RESULTS Fast FLAIR images showed significantly more small (146 versus six) and medium-sized (18 versus four) juxtacortical lesions than did CSE sequences. Small juxtacortical lesions displayed only on fast FLAIR images had a distinctive appearance, suggestive of small areas of perivascular inflammation. The number of these lesions corresponded to reduced performance on the fifth and delayed trials of the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning memory function test. CONCLUSION Fast FLAIR images show small lesions at the juxtacortical boundary that are not seen on CSE studies. The presence of such lesions correlates with impaired retention of information in memory tasks, which is characteristic of cognitive problems in patients with MS.
Measuring the Restrictiveness of International Trade Policy

A country's stance on international trade is an important component of its economic welfare. Yet relatively little theoretical attention has been paid to developing accurate methods to assess trade policies, leaving practitioners and policy makers with ad hoc solutions that lack theoretical foundation. In this book, James Anderson and Peter Neary present a new approach to gauging trade restrictiveness. Extending the standard theory of index numbers that apply to prices, output, or productivity, Anderson and Neary develop index numbers that apply directly to policy variables. Their theoretical work builds on, and extends, the standard theory of policy reform in open economics; their empirical findings illustrate how the new indexes can be applied and show the resulting difference in the assessment of trade restrictiveness. Thus their book will be of interest to both theorists and practitioners.After giving a nontechnical introduction to the topic, which includes a discussion of the theoretical and practical failings of other methods of measurement, Anderson and Neary propose two new indexes, the welfare-equivalent uniform tariff and the import-volume-equivalent uniform tariff, and present the theoretical foundation for these methods. The empirical work that follows applies the new approach to a range of issues, including the trade restrictiveness of domestic distortions and the use of a computable general equilibrium model to calculate the proposed measures of trade restrictiveness.
Privatisation and the East European Housing Model

Comparative research and analysis in housing has had a rather contentious progress and no consensus has emerged around any model of analysis. Many international comparisons have been untheorised, often consisting of descriptive accounts of policies and conditions (see, for example, Emms, 1990). Other work has taken what Kemeny (1992) describes as an implicit and covert convergence theory. The underlying assumption of much of this work is that economic development drives housing systems towards convergence (for an early example, see Donnison, 1967). This work was criticised both for its unilinearity, but also for its overemphasis on the similarities between countries rather than the differences. More recent work in the Marxist tradition has retained the economic motor, but has added the idea of `uneven development’ to explain the different variations in response of different countries to what is seen as the same process of economic restructuring (see Ball et al., 1988; and Dickens et al., 1985). Kemeny (1992) argues that this work lacks a theoretical basis for explaining the variations. In his own work, Kemeny has sought to situate comparative housing research more ® rmly in the tradition of comparative welfare state studies which have tended to give more emphasis to cultural explanations of differences and to the impact of state policies in leading to very different welfare state and housing systems. He concentrates on the individualist/collectivist continuum in societal culture and argues that this in ̄ uences the form of the housing system. In particular, he points to the cumulative impact of politica l choices translated into state action which can lead countries to very divergent housing systems. Kemeny’ s analysis can be interpreted to lead to traditiona l typolog ies of welfare states and housing systems. A longstanding distinc tion has been between market systems such as those of the US or Australia, and social democratic systems such as those in the Scandinavian countries (see for example, Headey, 1978). Britain has been considered as ̄ oating between what have often at least implicitly been seen as the extremes. Clearly, Kemeny’ s analysis does not necessarily lead to a few simple typolog ies of this kind. Thus, new typolog ies can be developed and existing ones re® ned and reformulated. Kemeny (1993) himself has contributed to this process in his distinc tion between unitary and dualistic systems of rented housing which he argues are associated with Germanic and Anglo-Saxon culture respectively. This distinction will be elaborated further later. The aim of the three housing papers in this and the next two annual reviews will be to discuss particular aspects of housing systems using the approaches elucidated by Kemeny. This will provide a framework for integrating some of the wide range of housing research