Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of amiloride on sodium and water reabsorption in the rabbit gall‐bladder.

The effects of the Na+‐channel‐blocking diuretic agent amiloride were assessed in the rabbit gall‐bladder epithelium, a low‐resistance epithelium with an isosmotic, coupled NaCl transport mechanism. Amiloride caused a rapid, reversible, and dose‐dependent decrease in fluid absorption when applied from the mucosal side in concentrations between 8.8 X 10(‐5) and 1.76 X 10(‐3) M. These concentrations were without effect from the serosal side, suggesting an action of amiloride in the luminal cell membrane as in high‐resistance epithelia. Amiloride did not affect the epithelial resistance or the passive serosa‐to‐mucosa Na+ flux, while net Na+ and water reabsorption were inhibited in parallel. Thus, amiloride did not affect the paracellular tight junction pathway, but inhibited a transcellular, coupled salt and water transport mechanism. The kinetics of the amiloride effect were of a Michaelis‐Menten type. The dose of amiloride giving 50% inhibition of fluid absorption (ID50) was 4 X 10(‐4) M, a value about three orders of magnitude higher than in high‐resistance, Na+‐retaining epithelia. The percentage inhibitory effect at each concentration of amiloride increased with increasing rate of spontaneous (control) fluid transport, reaching maximal responses fitting a Michaelis‐Menten kinetic with an ID50 of 1.5 X 10(‐4) M. No effects of changing the extracellular Na+ concentration between 51 and 145 mequiv/l on the maximal inhibitory effect of amiloride on Na+ and water reabsorption were observed. This suggests a non‐competitive type of action of amiloride on a Na+‐dependent isosmotic fluid transport mechanism. Removal of mucosal Ca2+ did not alter the effect of amiloride. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to concepts concerning the mechanism of isosmotic salt and water transport. The data are compatible with the concept that amiloride interferes with a Na+‐dependent formation and transcellular transport of isosmotic fluid volumes in a sequestered compartment in the epithelial cells.
Política Estadual e Desigualdade: Por Que alguns Estados Redistribuem Mais do que Outros?

The aim of this study was to analyze variation in income inequality patterns between Brazilian states as a consequence of the political and institutional framework. The article contends that state-level political factors affect income redistribution through the promotion of human capital, i.e., investment in education, and investment in professional training policies or even policies to make regional areas more attractive to private investment. The study covers all states of Brazil and the Federal District from 1992 to 2006 and uses Prais-Winsten regression model estimations with panel corrected standard error (PCSE-AR1). The results show that despite the restrictions imposed on the states in this period, political competition and political parties at the state level of government produced different redistribution patterns. However, the article shows controversial results as to the role of the left and suggests the need for further research.
Specifying globalization effects on national policy: a focus on the mechanisms

This paper attempts to clarify the concept of globalization and to specify how globalization affects national education systems. It argues that though globalization represents a qualitative change in the nature of national- supranational relations, this does not necessarily imply greater homogeneity of policy or practice in education. The paper's particular focus is the mechanisms through which the external effects on national education systems are carried and delivered. It argues that it is especially important to specify those effects, since they have an independent influence on the ‘messages’ they carry. The main part of the paper is devoted to an elaboration and systematic comparison of eight mechanisms of external effects and the organizations associated with them: borrowing, learning, teaching, harmonization, dissemination, standardization, installing interdependence and imposition.
A Novel Rabies Vaccine Based on a Recombinant Parainfluenza Virus 5 Expressing Rabies Virus Glycoprotein

ABSTRACT Untreated rabies virus (RABV) infection leads to death. Vaccine and postexposure treatment have been effective in preventing RABV infection. However, due to cost, rabies vaccination and treatment have not been widely used in developing countries. There are 55,000 human death caused by rabies annually. An efficacious and cost-effective rabies vaccine is needed. Parainfluenza virus 5 (PIV5) is thought to contribute to kennel cough, and kennel cough vaccines containing live PIV5 have been used in dogs for many years. In this work, a PIV5-vectored rabies vaccine was tested in mice. A recombinant PIV5 encoding RABV glycoprotein (G) (rPIV5-RV-G) was administered to mice via intranasal (i.n.), intramuscular (i.m.), and oral inoculation. The vaccinated mice were challenged with a 50% lethal challenge dose (LD50) of RABV challenge virus standard 24 (CVS-24) intracerebrally. A single dose of 106 PFU of rPIV5-RV-G was sufficient for 100% protection when administered via the i.n. route. The mice vaccinated with a single dose of 108 PFU of rPIV5-RV-G via the i.m. route showed very robust protection (90% to 100%). Intriguingly, the mice vaccinated orally with a single dose of 108 PFU of rPIV5-RV-G showed a 50% survival rate, which is comparable to the 60% survival rate among mice inoculated with an attenuated rabies vaccine strain, recombinant LBNSE. This is first report of an orally effective rabies vaccine candidate in animals based on PIV5 as a vector. These results indicate that rPIV5-RV-G is an excellent candidate for a new generation of recombinant rabies vaccine for humans and animals and PIV5 is a potential vector for oral vaccines.
Renegotiating PPP Contracts: Reinforcing the ‘P' in Partnership

Abstract The issue of renegotiation is becoming increasingly important as a tool to address uncertainty of public private partnership (PPP) projects and as a mechanism to restore its economic and financial equilibrium. This paper aims to understand how and why renegotiations occur in long-lasting PPP projects and what are the pros and cons of the renegotiation. We depart from a literature review on contract incompleteness and on the determinant factors for the renegotiation of infrastructure concessions. To illustrate the discussion, the case studies of nine European PPP projects are analysed by examining the specific exogenous and endogenous determinant factors that conduce to renegotiating contracts. The implications of contractual renegotiations are explained and summarized through a comparison of our case studies with literature. Although renegotiation, per se, is not a solution for the successful implementation of PPP projects, our findings reinforce the idea of contractual flexibility as a tool that allows adapting to uncertainty. Moreover, effective communication mechanisms allow a better response to unforeseen events, reinforcing the partners’ commitment to deliver a win–win project.
Grey matter deficit in long-term recovered anorexia nervosa patients.

OBJECTIVE Cerebral grey matter (GM) reduction has repeatedly been shown in anorexia nervosa (AN). Evidence concerning completeness of GM restitution in recovered patients is contradictory. METHODS Five long-term recovered patients with AN were compared to symptomatic subjects and healthy controls using voxel-based morphometry. Whole brain GM, white matter and cerebrospinal fluid fractions were studied. Additionally, voxels that had shown significant GM reductions in symptomatic patients were investigated. RESULTS Recovered subjects had been severely affected when symptomatic (mean body mass index: 12.1 kg/m²) and were in remission for a very long time period (>5 years). Whole brain tissue fractions did not differ from controls. Regional analysis showed persistent GM volume reduction, in particular of the precuneus. CONCLUSIONS This study further supports the assumption that GM volume restitution is incomplete in subjects, who had previously been severely affected by anorexia nervosa. The meaning of GM reduction in long-term recovered AN patients, that is, its pathophysiological relevance, however, remains unclear. Furthermore, the precise aetiology of GM reduction remains an open question.
Concentrated and condemned? Residential patterns of immigrants from industrial and non-industrial countries in Amsterdam

While studies on residential concentrations of immigrants from non-industrial countries are now common, studies of residential concentrations of immigrants from industrial countries are less common and comparative studies are almost non-existent. This paper will apply identical research methods to both types of immigrants. By making a detailed comparison of the geography of seven ethnic groups in Amsterdam between 1994 and 2001, it is shown that immigrants from non-industrial countries are not extremely segregated, while immigrants from industrial countries show higher levels of concentration. Residential concentration levels do not necessarily tell us anything about the level of economic success and social/civil integration, because the different spheres of integration do not run parallel. However, concentrations of immigrants from non-industrial countries often intersect with low levels of neighbourhood satisfaction, and concentrations of immigrants from industrial countries with high levels of neighbourhood satisfaction.
In‐111 Labeled Purified Granulocytes in the Diagnosis of Synthetic Vascular Graft Infections

&NA; Indium‐111 labeled enriched granulocytes should have improved accuracy in diagnosing synthetic vascular graft infections compared to labeled mixed leukocyte preparations because of the reduced numbers of reinjected erythrocytes and platelets, thereby reducing blood pool and nonspecific platelet adhesion to the graft. To test the use of enriched granulocytes in the diagnosis of vascular graft infections, the authors reviewed 153 studies in 106 patients. All were imaged with In‐111 oxine labeled enriched autologous granulocytes prepared using Volex (American Critical Care, McGaw Park, IL) enhanced gravity sedimentation and Ficoll‐Hypaque (Pharmacia Biotech, Piscataway, NJ; Winthrop Pharmaceuticals, New York, NY) double density centrifugation. The diagnosis of infection was established or refuted based on operative appearance of infection in one third of patients, and the clinical course over a mean 10‐month follow‐up period in the remainder. Of those patients with infection, 29 of 43 had positive imaging results that yielded a sensitivity of 67%. Of 100 patients without infection, 97 had negative imaging results that yielded a specificity of 97%. Compared to pooled data of studies using In‐111 oxine labeled mixed leukocyte preparations, the sensitivity of enriched granulocytes appears lower and the specificity higher. The apparent reduced sensitivity may relate to the chronic nature of some graft infections and the markedly reduced number of reinjected lymphocytes in enriched granulocyte preparations compared to mixed leukocyte preparations. Although the specificity is very high using enriched granulocyte preparations, there may not be a significant advantage of the method over mixed leukocyte preparations.
The Effect of Earnings Management on the Value Relevance of Accounting Information

This study investigates whether opportunistic earnings management affects the value relevance of net income and book value in determining stock price. We document a decrease in the value relevance of earnings in the year of an equity offering for a group of firms with ex post evidence of earnings management. This decrease is greater for the discretionary component of earnings than for the non-discretionary component. These results are robust to model specification and the type of offering. However, the results are sensitive to firms' disclosure activity prior to the offering. Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 2004.
Wage Discrimination against Handicapped Men and Women.

The extent of discrimination against handicapped men and women is estimated in this paper. Observed wage differentials are corrected for selectivity bias. The results indicate that almost one-third of the wage differential for men and close to one-half for women can be attributed to discrimination. Interestingly, handicapped women are also subjected to sex discrimination.
The Impacts of Individual Day Trading Strategies on Market Liquidity and Volatility: Evidence from the Taiwan Index Futures Market

We investigate the investment strategies of individual day traders in the Taiwan Index Futures market, along with their impact on market liquidity and volatility. Our results indicate a tendency among most individual day traders to behave as irrational contrarian traders. We also present consistent evidence to show that most individual day traders provide market liquidity by reducing the bid‐ask spread, temporary price volatility, and the temporal price impacts. Our results, which are consistent with the experimental results of Bloomfield, O'Hara, and Saar (2009) [Review of Financial Studies, 22:2275–2302], provide no support for the general criticism that day trading destabilizes the market while also exacerbating market volatility. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 35:399–425, 2015
NUTRIENT CONSUMPTION PATTERNS OF FAMILIES IN BUSSELTON, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Nutrient consumption data were obtained from 211 members of 41 families living in the coastal town of Busselton, Western Australia. It was found that food consumption patterns were similar in boys and girls up to the age of 11 years. After that, as expected, males consumed more food than females. There was a general tendency for daily kilojoule intakes to be considerably less than the Australian Dietary Allowances for all age groups with the exception of males aged from 35 to 55 years. There was a significant prevalence of obesity in the subjects who were studied, particularly in the older groups of both sexes. The results suggest that, in the older adult groups, failure to make concessions to decreased levels of physical activity by modifying appetite and customary eating practices is a major factor which contributes to obesity.
Minimum wage effects across the private and public sectors in Brazil

Abstract Most of the available evidence on the effect of minimum wages concerns the private sector of developed countries. In this paper, we examine minimum wage effects in both private and public sectors for a key developing country. We use monthly data from a Brazilian household survey from 1982 to 2000. We find a strong compression effect in the wage distribution for both the private and public sectors. However, we find no evidence of adverse employment effects in either sector at the aggregate level or for vulnerable groups such as teenagers, women and the low educated. Hence, minimum wage policies in Brazil appear to be a potentially viable anti-poverty instrument.
Productivity, Innovation and Convergence in Poland

This paper provides evidence on factors driving productivity growth in the new EU member states, focusing on Polish manufacturing industries. The results obtained indicate that companies in Poland benefit significantly from transfer of technologies accumulated in more developed economies. No strong evidence is found on immediate technology transfer. The significant effect of domestic innovation activity is mainly due to its impact on the speed of convergence and is particularly strong in high-tech industries, relatively privatized industries and industries initially further from the technological frontier.
Identification and Robustness with Contaminated and Corrupted Data

Robust estimation aims at developing point estimators that are not highly sensitive to errors in data. However, the population parameters of interest are not identified under the assumptions of robust estimation, so the rationale for point estimation is not apparent. This paper shows that, under error models used in robust estimation, unidentified population parameters can often be bounded. The bounds provide information that is not available in robust estimation. For example, it is possible to bound the population mean under contaminated sampling. It is argued that estimating the bounds is more natural than attempting point estimation of unidentified parameters. Copyright 1995 by The Econometric Society.
The asymmetric information and price manipulation in stock market

The interaction between asymmetrically informed traders has been mostly investigated in theoretical frameworks. Not only there are relatively few empirical studies but, if any, the mostly focus on cross-sectional analysis and use very short samples. In this study, we blend theoretic with empirical, and propose a new signalling system of turning points in the economy to examine the extent of volatility of these markets relative to their tranquil periods. The signalling system proposed here is based on the Markov-switching model. Differing from the existing literatures, the study employs three phases and time-varying transition probability, and captures the states of volatility. After examining the causality between high volatility and foreign portfolio investment (FPI) by using moving average and generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity, the portfolio's profitability of FPI and individual investors in different periods are compared. Finally, the investigation of FPI's leading effect is studied.
PERINATAL ASPHYXIA MAY CAUSE REDUCTION IN CSF DOPAMINE METABOLITE CONCENTRATIONS

Perinatal asphyxia (PA) is a major determinant of neurologic disability. In the immature brain, dopaminergic neurons are very sensitive to asphyxia, and abnormal dopamine levels can lead to functional and morphologic disturbances. The early dopaminergic input from the midbrain may play an important role in the development of the basal ganglia and the cerebral cortex.1 In newborn animal models, an excessive increase in extracellular dopamine is seen shortly following PA.2 But PA also produces long-lasting abnormalities in the dopaminergic pathways (mainly in the mesostriatal/mesolimbic dopamine system). 2 Monoamine changes following PA have seldom been reported in human newborns and always restricted to the first hours of life, showing higher CSF dopamine metabolites in moderate-to-severe PA than in control or mild cases.3 Within the CNS, the end product of dopamine is homovanillic acid (HVA) and of serotonin, 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (HIAA); both can be measured in CSF. We describe chronological changes in cerebral monoamine neurotransmitters in newborns following a moderate to severe PA. ### Methods. We recruited seven term infants …
Customer value: a review of recent literature and an integrative configuration

The concept of customer value is becoming increasingly used in strategy and marketing literature in recent years. Customer value is considered central to competitive advantage and long‐term success of business organizations. Consequently, a great importance attached to this concept. This paper attempts to build an integrative configuration of the concept of customer value that reflects its richness and complexity. It reviews, synthesizes and extends the literature on the subject. The configuration includes three complementary models, namely: customer value in exchange, customer value buildup, and customer value dynamics. Thinking about customer value in this way is helpful in the designing of and studying service offerings.
E‐commerce adoption support and advice for UK SMEs

The small business sector of the UK economy is extremely important and the government expends considerable resources in providing support services for this sector. This paper investigated the reasons why SMEs move from traditional commerce to e‐commerce, the efficacy of the support services and the barriers encountered by SMEs adopting e‐commerce. The research methodology involved literature review and interviews with SMEs’ owner‐managers and a UK Online business adviser. It was found that at least two “e‐commerce stars” used by the government to promote its support services had in fact not used those services. The historical relationship problems between Business Link and SMEs were still causing problems. Cost was not seen as an inhibitor to adopting e‐commerce. Some evidence was emerging that e‐commerce may be able to save failing or struggling businesses. Other unexpected outcomes were that e‐commerce had social benefits for SMEs’ owners in reducing working hours yet still increased sales.
Cytochemistry of sialoglycoconjugates, lysozyme, and β‐defensin in eccrine glands of porcine snout skin as studied by electron microscopy

In most mammals except for humanoid primates, eccrine glands are confined to the skin of a series of specific body regions. Sialic acids and antimicrobial substances exhibit various functional properties and serve as a component of nonspecific defense against micro‐organisms, respectively. In this study, the distribution of these moieties was studied by electron microscopic histochemical methods. The eccrine glandular acini consisted of two types of dark cells as well as clear cells. The secretory granules and Golgi apparatus of both types of dark cells contained sialic acid residues linked to α2‐6Gal/GalNAc. On the other hand, sialoglycoconjugates with Siα2‐3Galβ1‐4GlcNAc sequence were confined to those of the Type II dark cells. In addition, lysozyme and β‐defensin were mainly detected in the secretory granules of the Type II dark cells. These secretory products may create a defensive barrier against microbial invasion and play an essential role in preservation of the integrity of porcine snout skin as a sensory organ. Microsc. Res. Tech. 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Age dependence in the mortality of national labor unions: Comparisons of parametric models

This paper explores the liability of newness in the population of national labor unions in the United States from 1836–1985. It compares the fits of a variety of stochastic models that express different forms of time dependence. Both with respect to the overall hazard of mortality and the three specific types of mortality, disbanding, absorption and merger, there is evidence of a strong liability of newness. Moreover, the estimates reveal that this dependence is monotonic negative. Finally the Gompertz model that has formed the basis of recent work on this problem fits less well than a number of other models used.