Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Structure of the Zymomonas mobilis respiratory chain: oxygen affinity of electron transport and the role of cytochrome c peroxidase

The genome of the ethanol-producing bacterium Zymomonas mobilis encodes a bd-type terminal oxidase, cytochrome bc1 complex and several c-type cytochromes, yet lacks sequences homologous to any of the known bacterial cytochrome c oxidase genes. Recently, it was suggested that a putative respiratory cytochrome c peroxidase, receiving electrons from the cytochrome bc1 complex via cytochrome c552, might function as a peroxidase and/or an alternative oxidase. The present study was designed to test this hypothesis, by construction of a cytochrome c peroxidase mutant (Zm6-perC), and comparison of its properties with those of a mutant defective in the cytochrome b subunit of the bc1 complex (Zm6-cytB). Disruption of the cytochrome c peroxidase gene (ZZ60192) caused a decrease of the membrane NADH peroxidase activity, impaired the resistance of growing culture to exogenous hydrogen peroxide and hampered aerobic growth. However, this mutation did not affect the activity or oxygen affinity of the respiratory chain, or the kinetics of cytochrome d reduction. Furthermore, the peroxide resistance and membrane NADH peroxidase activity of strain Zm6-cytB had not decreased, but both the oxygen affinity of electron transport and the kinetics of cytochrome d reduction were affected. It is therefore concluded that the cytochrome c peroxidase does not terminate the cytochrome bc1 branch of Z. mobilis, and that it is functioning as a quinol peroxidase.
Women Are Walking and Waiting for Water: The Time Value of Public Water Supply

Funding of the public water supply in developing countries is often justified by the expectation that it significantly decreases the time spent on water collection, leading to increased labor force participation of women. We empirically test this hypothesis for rural Benin. Daily water collection times are reduced by 41 minutes but still take 2 hours after the installation of a public pump. Even though walking distances are reduced, women still spend a lot of time waiting at the water source, and not all women use the improved water source. Moreover, a reduction in time to fill one water container induces women to fill more containers per day. Time savings are rarely followed by an increase in the labor supply of women. The economic value of the annual time savings is 1%–2% of a rural households’ income.
Dynamical masses of young star clusters in NGC 4038/4039

In order to estimate the masses of the compact, young star clusters in the merging galaxy pair, NGC 4038/4039 (“the Antennae”), we have obtained medium and high resolution spectroscopy using ISAAC on VLT-UT1 and UVES on VLT-UT2 of five such clusters. The velocity dispersions were estimated using the stellar absorption features of CO at 2.29 μ m and metal absorption lines at around 8500 A, including lines of the Calcium Triplet. The size scales and light profiles were measured from HST images. From these data and assuming Virial equilibrium, we estimated the masses of five clusters. The resulting masses range from 6.5 $\times$ 10 5 to 4.7 $\times$ 10 6 $M_{\odot}$. These masses are large, a factor of a few to more than 10 larger than the typical mass of a globular cluster in the Milky Way. The mass-to-light ratios for these clusters in the V - and K -bands in comparison with stellar synthesis models suggest that to first order the IMF slopes are approximately consistent with Salpeter for a mass range of 0.1 to 100 $M_{\odot}$. However, the clusters show a significant range of possible IMF slopes or lower mass cut-offs and that these variations may correlate with the interstellar environment of the cluster. Comparison with the results of Fokker-Planck simulations of compact clusters with properties similar to the clusters studied here suggest that they are likely to be long-lived and may lose a substantial fraction of their total mass. This mass loss would make the star clusters obtain masses which are comparable to the typical mass of a globular cluster.
Impact of Financial Reporting Quality on Investment Inefficiency

Accounting system today plays significant role in activity flow of the organizations and has important task in the economic environment of the countries. Financial reporting is one of the main products of accounting system, goals of which include providing information necessary for economic decision making by the users regarding evaluation of the performance and profitability capacity of the economic institution. Perquisite to achieve this goal is measurement and provision of information in such a way that allows evaluation of the past performance and helps measurement of the profitability capacity and prediction of future activities of economic institution. Current research study was conducted aiming at investigating relationship between financial reporting quality and investment inefficiency. Research statistical population includes all companies listed in Tehran Stock Exchange during 2007 to 2012. Given specified criteria, 112 companies were selected as statistical sample. Multi-variate regression, fixed effects model and generalized least squares estimation method were used for data analysis using Eviews software. Several control variables including growth, return on assets, cash balance, and assets tangibility were used in this regression model. In order to calculate and measure financial reporting quality and investment inefficient, models proposed by McNichols and Stubben (2008) and Biddle et al. (2009) were used respectively. Analysis results indicate inverse significant relationship between financial reporting quality and investment inefficient.
Globalization and poverty: what is the evidence?

This chapter reviews the evidence on the linkages between globalization and poverty, drawing on the collected works of Jagdish Bhagwati and the results of an National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) project directed by Ann Harrison, Globalization and Poverty. We focus on two measures of global¬ization: trade integration (measured using tariffs or trade flows), and international capital flows. Many economists have used the Heckscher-Ohlin framework in international trade to argue that the unskilled or the poor in countries with a comparative advantage in unskilled labor are most likely to gain from trade reform. Our first conclusion is that such a simple interpretation of general equilibrium trade models is likely to be misleading. Second, the evidence discussed suggests that the poor are more likely to share in the gains from glob¬alization when there are complementary policies in place. Such complementary policies include programs to promote human capital development, infrastructure development, credit and technical assistance to farmers, and macroeconomic sta¬bility. Third, we find that trade and foreign investment reforms have produced benefits for the poor, particularly those in exporting sectors or sectors which receive foreign investment. Fourth, financial crises are very costly to the poor. Finally, the collected evidence suggests that globalization produces both winners and losers among the poor. The fact that some poor individuals are made worse off by trade or financial integration suggests the need for carefully targeted safety nets. We emphasize the heterogeneity of results across different countries and set¬tings, but also present cross-country evidence which suggests that the path from globalization to poverty reduction via the growth effects of trade reforms is likely to be important.
SCHOOL OF ACCOUNTING , FINANCE AND MANAGEMENT DOES COMPETITION LEAD TO EFFICIENCY ? THE CASE OF EU COMMERCIAL BANKS

In Europe, the past twenty years saw a process of liberalisation, deregulation and unprecedented financial sector reform whose main aims were to increase competition and remove all remaining barriers to the integration of EU banking sectors. However, the recent acceleration in the consolidation process has raised concerns about the potential implications for public policies deriving from increased market power. Using bank level balance sheet data for commercial banks in the major EU banking markets, this paper aims to shed some light on the recent developments in competition, concentration and bank-specific efficiency levels. Furthermore, using a Granger-type causality test estimations this study aims to investigate the relationship between competition and efficiency in banking markets. Our findings suggest a negative causation between efficiency and competition, whereas the causality running from competition to efficiency, although positive, is relatively weak.
Laparoscopic Surgery in Elderly Patients Aged 65 Years and Older with Gynecologic Disease

Objectives. The study was conducted to characterize the use of the laparoscopic surgery in elderly patients. Methods. The medical records of elderly patients aged ≥65 years who underwent laparoscopic surgery were retrospectively reviewed for diseases, surgical procedures, histological diagnosis, intraoperative and postoperative complications, and reasons for presentation. Results. Of the 405 patients who underwent laparoscopic surgery between January 2005 and March 2012, 41 (10.1%) were aged ≥65 years. The most common disease treated by surgery was ovarian tumor, followed by uterine prolapse. Histological diagnosis of ovarian tumor specimens obtained from 23 patients included serous cystadenoma (44.0%), mature cystic teratoma (20.0%), mucinous cystadenoma (20.0%), and endometrioma (4%). In contrast, in the non-elderly group, the most common histological diagnosis was endometrioma (42.9%), followed in order by mature cystic teratoma (28.3%), serous cystadenoma (18.0%), and mucinous cystadenoma (4.7%). While 23.7% of the non-elderly patients required emergency laparoscopic surgery, none of the elderly patients required emergency surgery. Only 1 of 27 patients who underwent surgery for an ovarian or adnexal mass presented with abdominal pain. No one developed serious intraoperative or postoperative complications. Conclusion. Laparoscopic surgery can be safely performed in elderly patients. It should be noted, however, that few elderly patients with benign pelvic mass manifest symptoms before undergoing surgery.
Emotional Adaptive Vehicle User Interfaces : moderating negative effects of failed technology interactions while driving

Automotive Natural User Interfaces have the potential to increase user experience providing intuitive interactions for drivers. However, in the complex setting of a driving vehicle, failed interactions with in-vehicle technology can lead to frustration and put drivers in a dangerous situation. This paper evaluates the possibility of applying emotion recognition to vehicular spoken dialogue systems in order to adapt the dialog strategies, in error recovery scenarios. An emotional taxonomy is developed for the interactions with a conversational vehicular application, the Voice User Help. The positive results of the performance of VUH emotion recognizer support the creation of real-time classification of the user emotional state, which serves as basis to emotional reappraisal dialog strategies that mitigate negative effects on the driver’s cognitive load and driver performance.
Elevations of intracellular calcium reflect normal voltage-dependent behavior, and not constitutive activity, of voltage-dependent calcium channels in gastrointestinal and vascular smooth muscle

In smooth muscle, the gating of dihydropyridine-sensitive Ca2+ channels may either be stochastic and voltage dependent or coordinated among channels and constitutively active. Each form of gating has been proposed to be largely responsible for Ca2+ influx and determining the bulk average cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration. Here, the contribution of voltage-dependent and constitutively active channel behavior to Ca2+ signaling has been studied in voltage-clamped single vascular and gastrointestinal smooth muscle cells using wide-field epifluorescence with near simultaneous total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy. Depolarization (−70 to +10 mV) activated a dihydropyridine-sensitive voltage-dependent Ca2+ current (ICa) and evoked a rise in [Ca2+] in each of the subplasma membrane space and bulk cytoplasm. In various regions of the bulk cytoplasm the [Ca2+] increase ([Ca2+]c) was approximately uniform, whereas that of the subplasma membrane space ([Ca2+]PM) had a wide range of amplitudes and time courses. The variations that occurred in the subplasma membrane space presumably reflected an uneven distribution of active Ca2+ channels (clusters) across the sarcolemma, and their activation appeared consistent with normal voltage-dependent behavior. Indeed, in the present study, dihydropyridine-sensitive Ca2+ channels were not normally constitutively active. The repetitive localized [Ca2+]PM rises (“persistent Ca2+ sparklets”) that characterize constitutively active channels were observed rarely (2 of 306 cells). Neither did dihydropyridine-sensitive constitutively active Ca2+ channels regulate the bulk average [Ca2+]c. A dihydropyridine blocker of Ca2+ channels, nimodipine, which blocked ICa and accompanying [Ca2+]c rise, reduced neither the resting bulk average [Ca2+]c (at −70 mV) nor the rise in [Ca2+]c, which accompanied an increased electrochemical driving force on the ion by hyperpolarization (−130 mV). Activation of protein kinase C with indolactam-V did not induce constitutive channel activity. Thus, although voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels appear clustered in certain regions of the plasma membrane, constitutive activity is unlikely to play a major role in [Ca2+]c regulation. The stochastic, voltage-dependent activity of the channel provides the major mechanism to generate rises in [Ca2+].
Response of Methanogens in Arctic Sediments to Temperature and Methanogenic Substrate Availability

Although cold environments are major contributors to global biogeochemical cycles, comparatively little is known about their microbial community function, structure, and limits of activity. In this study a microcosm based approach was used to investigate the effects of temperature, and methanogenic substrate amendment, (acetate, methanol and H2/CO2) on methanogen activity and methanogen community structure in high Arctic wetlands (Solvatnet and Stuphallet, Svalbard). Methane production was not detected in Stuphallet sediment microcosms (over a 150 day period) and occurred within Solvatnet sediments microcosms (within 24 hours) at temperatures from 5 to 40°C, the maximum temperature being at far higher than in situ maximum temperatures (which range from air temperatures of -1.4 to 14.1°C during summer months). Distinct responses were observed in the Solvatnet methanogen community under different short term incubation conditions. Specifically, different communities were selected at higher and lower temperatures. At lower temperatures (5°C) addition of exogenous substrates (acetate, methanol or H2/CO2) had no stimulatory effect on the rate of methanogenesis or on methanogen community structure. The community in these incubations was dominated by members of the Methanoregulaceae/WCHA2-08 family-level group, which were most similar to the psychrotolerant hydrogenotrophic methanogen Methanosphaerula palustris strain E1-9c. In contrast, at higher temperatures, substrate amendment enhanced methane production in H2/CO2 amended microcosms, and played a clear role in structuring methanogen communities. Specifically, at 30°C members of the Methanoregulaceae/WCHA2-08 predominated following incubation with H2/CO2, and Methanosarcinaceaeand Methanosaetaceae were enriched in response to acetate addition. These results may indicate that in transiently cold environments, methanogen communities can rapidly respond to moderate short term increases in temperature, but not necessarily to the seasonal release of previously frozen organic carbon from thawing permafrost soils. However, as temperatures increase such inputs of carbon will likely have a greater influence on methane production and methanogen community structure. Understanding the action and limitations of anaerobic microorganisms within cold environments may provide information which can be used in defining region-specific differences in the microbial processes; which ultimately control methane flux to the atmosphere.
Agrammatism in Aphasics and Normals 1 running head: AGRAMMATISM IN APHASICS AND NORMALS Language Deficits, Localization, and Grammar: Evidence for a Distributive Model of Language Breakdown in Aphasics and Normals

Selective deficits in aphasics' grammatical production and comprehension are often cited as evidence that syntactic processing is modular and localizable in discrete areas of the brain (e.g., Grodzinsky, 2000). In this paper, we review a large body of experimental evidence suggesting that morphosyntactic deficits can be observed in a number of aphasic and neurologically intact populations. We present new data showing that receptive agrammatism is found not only over a range of aphasic groups, but is also observed in neurologically intact normals processing under stressful conditions. We suggest that these data are most compatible with a domain-general account of language, one that emphasizes the interaction of linguistic distributions with the properties of an associative processor working under normal or suboptimal conditions.
Transnational Activism in Asia : Problems of power and democracy

1. New Perspectives on Transnational Activism 2. State Power and Transnational Activism 3. Governance Regimes and the Politics of Discursive Representation 4. Transnational Activism, Institutions, and Global Democratization 5. World Citizenship and Transnational Activism 6. Transnational Activism and Electronic Communication: Cyber-Rainbow-Warriors in Action 7. Putting Transnational Activism in its Place: HIV/AIDS in the Indonesia-Malaysia-Singapore Growth Triangle and Beyond 8. Transnational Activism by Malaysians: Foci, Tradeoffs, and Implications 9. Transnational Activism and the Pursuit of Democratization in Indonesia: National, Regional and Global Networks 10. 'Democratization' in Taiwan and Its Discontents: Transnational Activism as a Critique
Recognizing corporate citizenship: market reactions

This research addresses whether corporations take on environmental, social and governance (ESG) integration at shareholders’ expense or whether ESG integration is a mechanism to increase shareholder value. It therefore investigates stock market reactions to recognition of good (or bad) corporate citizens using additions to (removals from) the Jantzi Social Index as a signal of good (bad) corporate citizenship. The Jantzi Index is a 60-security market index for which inclusion is based on ESG-related criteria. The study measures stock return dynamics around the announcement date of stock additions to/removals from the index. Accordingly, the findings are supportive of the view that ESG integration is a value-enhancing activity for shareholders and that the market therefore acknowledges socially responsible corporate citizens in a favourable way. It is worth noting that these findings are situated in the context of well-established capital markets comprising generally well-informed investors and are robust to alternative models of stock return-generating functions.
Does Patenting negatively impact on R&D investment?An international panel data assessment

Although the conventional RD restricting the highest developed convergence club down to countries with a R&D intensity above 3%, the negativity reverse causality arises, corroborating the asymmetric impact of patents on R&D investment. We further demonstrate that albeit causality appears to be stronger in the most intuitive appealing traditional direction, evidence supports the theoretical conveyed double causality between R&D and Patent.
The History and Growth of Career and Technical Education in America

This book aims to document the historical foundations of career and technical education (CTE) in the United States as they have developed. It also addresses the significance of the contribution of CTE to a society that differs greatly from that of the early 1900s - in particular the rapid progress in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). This edition features comprehensive background and research on such topics as evolving employer expectations, special-needs populations, land-grant institutions, teacher shortages and alternative certification, career and technical student organizations, and an historical overview of influential leaders and their impact CTE curriculum development. Detailed discussions of current research and statistics on the latest CTE issues and trends include: (1) the participation of women and minorities, particularly in nontraditional programs such as STEM, and gender-equity issues both in education and in the workplace; (2) closing the achievement gap and the skills gap; (3) the implications of an aging workforce for CTE career opportunities, and an analysis of the contemporary multi-generational workforce; (4) the impact of globalization, including workforce diversity, an increasing number of limited English-proficient students, and the promising fields of alternative energy and 'green' technology; (5) the future of CTE programs and funding in a precarious economic climate; and (6) a new chapter on 21st-century agents of growth, emphasizing college and career readiness and the effectiveness of programs of study/career clusters. A student study guide accompanies the book.
Heterogeneity of Central Bankers and Inflationary Pressure

This paper investigates the role of the degree of heterogeneity of central bankers’ preferences in the output-inflation tradeoff. It builds a game theoretic model of monetary policy with inflation targets not set by the monetary authority and with uncertainty about the preferences of the central banker. Under reasonable assumptions, the model shows that in countries with greater dispersion in the distribution of central bankers’ preferences, as it is the case in a number of developing nations, monetary policy has to be tougher to convince society of the central banker’s commitment to controlling inflation. The model also shows that inflation targets have a role in anchoring expectations even when the central banker highly values output expansions. The paper also presents empirical evidence supporting the model’s results. JEL Classification: E52, E58, C72
Do Not‐For‐Profits Need Their Own Conceptual Framework?

This paper raises the issue of whether not-for-profit (NFP) organisations require a conceptual framework that acknowledges their mission imperative and enables them to discharge their broader accountability. Relying on publicly available documentation and literature, it suggests that current conceptaul Frameworks for the for-profit and public sectors are inadequate in meeting the accountability needs of broader NFP-specific accountability and the formulation of NFP-appropriate reporting practice, including the provision of financial and non-financial reporting. The paper thus theoretically challenges existing financial reporting arrangements and investes debate on their future direction.
Independent child labor migrants

Children living and working away from home are some of the most vulnerable in society. Parents, family, friends, and home communities provide protections that reduce a child’s susceptibility to abuse, exploitation, and the consequences of bad or poorly informed decisions. This chapter reviews the nascent literature on the prevalence, causes, and consequences of independent child labor migration. Measurement challenges have constrained progress on understanding this phenomenon. There is considerable scope for future research to transform how we think about issues related to the millions of children living and working away from their parents.