Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
What Role for Trade in a Post‐2012 Global Climate Policy Regime

This paper discusses the role that trade can potentially play in both negotiating and operating a post Kyoto/post 2012 global climate policy regime. As an addition to the bargaining set for a global climate negotiation, trade in principle widens the range of jointly beneficial potential outcomes and can in this sense be a potential facilitator of an agreed global climate regime. The reverse is also true, that in a linked climate-trade-finance global policy coordination structure that goes well beyond what was envisioned at Bretton Woods, climate now added to the global policy bargaining set also offers the prospect of potentially stronger trade disciplines (and even beyond WTO disciplines being negotiated). Trade policy can as well be an instrument for the implementation of a global climate regime, since trade provides a mechanism for achieving an internalization outcome for the global externality that climate change represents, and that provides a potentially more efficient outcome and also helps meet distributional objectives. In short, trade added to the emerging post 2012 climate regime can both expand the bargaining set for both (effectively linked) negotiations, and additionally provide an instrument for the implementation of an agreed outcome.
Perseverance of Social Theories: The Role of Explanation in the Persistence of Discredited Information

The perseverance of social theories was examined in two experiments within a debriefing paradigm. Subjects were initially given two case studies suggestive of either a positive or a negative relationship between risk taking and success as a firefighter. Some subjects were asked to provide a written explanation of the relationship; others were not. In addition, experimental subjects were thoroughly debriefed concerning the fictitious nature of the initial case studies. Subsequent assessments of subjects' personal beliefs about the relationship indicated that even when initially based on weak data, social theories can survive the total discrediting of that initial evidential base. Both correlational and experimental results suggested that such unwarranted theory perseverance may be mediated, in part, by the cognitive process of formulating causal scenarios or explanations. Normative issues and the cognitive processes underlying perseverance were examined in detail, and possible techniques for overcoming unwarranted theory perseverance were discussed. All of us have tried to change a friend's view about some social, political or scientific issue-from the efficacy of capital punishment as a deterrent to crime to the validity of the IQ test-only to experience frustrating failure. We offer seemingly compelling evidence or thoroughly rebut opposing arguments but produce little if any change in our friend's beliefs. Indeed, we suspect that we ourselves frequently may be guilty of similar intransigence when our views come under attack. From such everyday observations, two obvious questions arise that form the focus of the present article: Are we, in fact, prone to persist in our beliefs and theories about the world to a degree that is normatively indefensible, and if so, why?
Effects of mannose-binding lectin and mannose-binding lectin polymorphisms on treatment response in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

BACKGROUND/AIMS The natural course and clinical outcome of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is related to the interaction between HCV and the immune response of the host. Only a limited number of studies have investigated the role of mannose-binding lectin (MBL) levels in HCV infection. The aim of the present study was to explore the relationship between MBL levels and gene polymorphisms on treatment response in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC). MATERIALS AND METHODS Serum MBL levels from 50 CHC patients who completed treatment at least 24 weeks before the present study and 75 healthy HCV-negative controls were measured. In addition, the presence of codon 54 mutations was investigated. Correlational analyses were performed to determine relationships between MBL levels and treatment response. RESULTS In patients, mean serum MBL levels were lower and the rate of codon 54 mutations was higher. However, these differences were not statically significant. In both patients and controls, serum MBL levels were significantly lower in individuals with codon 54 mutations. Moreover, serum MBL levels and the rate of the codon 54 mutation were similar in patients regardless of treatment response. CONCLUSION Our findings suggest that low MBL levels do not increase the susceptibility for HCV infection. Furthermore, MBL levels were not found to have a significant effect on the course of the disease or treatment response.
The Cooperation of Sustained and Phasic Inhibitions Increases the Contrast of ITD-Tuning in Low-Frequency Neurons of the Chick Nucleus Laminaris

Neurons in the nucleus laminaris (NL) of birds detect the coincidence of binaural excitatory inputs from the nucleus magnocellularis (NM) on both sides and process the interaural time differences (ITDs) for sound localization. Sustained inhibition from the superior olivary nucleus is known to control the gain of coincidence detection, which allows the sensitivity of NL neurons to ITD tolerate strong-intensity sound. Here, we found a phasic inhibition in chicken brain slices that follows the ipsilateral NM inputs after a short time delay, sharpens coincidence detection, and may enhance ITD sensitivity in low-frequency NL neurons. GABA-positive small neurons are distributed in and near the NL. These neurons generate IPSCs in NL neurons when photoactivated by a caged glutamate compound, suggesting that these GABAergic neurons are interneurons that mediate phasic inhibition. These IPSCs have fast decay kinetics that is attributable to the α1-subunit of the GABAA receptor, the expression of which dominates in the low-frequency region of the NL. Model simulations demonstrate that phasic IPSCs narrow the time window of coincidence detection and increase the contrast of ITD-tuning during low-level, low-frequency excitatory input. Furthermore, cooperation of the phasic and sustained inhibitions effectively increases the contrast of ITD-tuning over a wide range of excitatory input levels. We propose that the complementary interaction between phasic and sustained inhibitions is the neural mechanism that regulates ITD sensitivity for low-frequency sound in the NL.
Quality of Business, Entrepreneurship Education and Business Start-up Intentions among Students in Serbia: Research Results

This paper will present findings of a research conducted among students in Serbia dealing with quality of business, entrepreneurship and business start-ups. Throughout a three year period the research has included 1990 examinees. The population is built on students from four universities and business schools directed towards business and management. The research has been conducted using a structured questionnaire. Among other, the research has shown that a number of examinees were not informed of the existence of financial incentives for starting a business. Interviewed students reported that they lack the knowledge of: the basics of entrepreneurship and small business, basic finance and accounting and foreign languages. In the opinion of students, Serbia is currently no suitable environment that encourages youth to start their own businesses. The results of this research point out the fact that the state must have the key role in this sphere of Serbian market through a creation of certain documents whose aim is
Multiple signals modulate the activity of the complex sensor kinase TodS

The reason for the existence of complex sensor kinases is little understood but thought to lie in the capacity to respond to multiple signals. The complex, seven‐domain sensor kinase TodS controls in concert with the TodT response regulator the expression of the toluene dioxygenase pathway in Pseudomonas putida F1 and DOT‐T1E. We have previously shown that some aromatic hydrocarbons stimulate TodS activity whereas others behave as antagonists. We show here that TodS responds in addition to the oxidative agent menadione. Menadione but no other oxidative agent tested inhibited TodS activity in vitro and reduced PtodX expression in vivo. The menadione signal is incorporated by a cysteine‐dependent mechanism. The mutation of the sole conserved cysteine of TodS (C320) rendered the protein insensitive to menadione. We evaluated the mutual opposing effects of toluene and menadione on TodS autophosphorylation. In the presence of toluene, menadione reduced TodS activity whereas toluene did not stimulate activity in the presence of menadione. It was shown by others that menadione increases expression of glucose metabolism genes. The opposing effects of menadione on glucose and toluene metabolism may be partially responsible for the interwoven regulation of both catabolic pathways. This work provides mechanistic detail on how complex sensor kinases integrate different types of signal molecules.
UK Farming Post Reform

Abstract The 2003 reform of the Common Agricultural Policy largely replaced the European Union's production orientated system of price support with a decoupled, single farm payment (SFP) system that freed farmers to choose what to do with their land, be it crops, livestock or withdrawal from farming. The outcome is reductions in the levels of farm-gate prices and greater exposure to the vicissitudes of market forces. In justifying the reform, the authorities argued inter alia that a positive outcome would be the encouragement of a more market orientated and competitive farming industry. This paper examines the likelihood of this outcome for UK agriculture and how it might be achieved. The authors find the arguments that the reform will encourage extensive farming techniques, which will serve as the basis of a more market orientated industry unconvincing. We argue that the reform is more likely to achieve its objective of a more market orientated industry if the reform encourages farmers to collaborate in horizontal networks as user members of Farmer Controlled Businesses. Such businesses operate as vertical integrators and are particularly suited to developing a market orientation. The paper concludes by highlighting potential areas for further research that can aid an understanding of the marketing functions of Farmer Controlled Businesses and their influence on the economic returns to their user members.
On the computation of collostruction strength: Testing measures of association as expressions of lexical bias

Abstract Collostruction strength, i.e. the degree of attraction that a word Cj exhibits to a construction Ck, has been argued to be exploited in processes of online comprehension, for example, to parse ambiguous structures. There are, however, many ways to express this quantity and a large body of candidate measures can be found in the computational and corpus linguistic literature. The present study provides a comprehensive empirical evaluation of 47 competing (variants of) measures of association in order to assess their usefulness for models of sentence comprehension. To that end, the degree of adequacy of a given measure is evaluated against its performance in a task of predicting human behavior in an eye-tracking experiment that investigated the reading of a local syntactic complementation ambiguity (Kennison 2001). The analysis shows that individual measures in fact arrive at different estimations of degrees of attraction between verbs and the relevant complementation patterns, and hence differ in their power to predict human reading behavior. On the basis of the obtained results, it is suggested that minimum sensitivity (Pedersen and Bruce 1996) is best suited as an expression of collostruction strength.
Evolution of Genomic Structures on Mammalian Sex Chromosomes

Throughout mammalian evolution, recombination between the two sex chromosomes was suppressed in a stepwise manner. It is thought that the suppression of recombination led to an accumulation of deleterious mutations and frequent genomic rearrangements on the Y chromosome. In this article, we review three evolutionary aspects related to genomic rearrangements and structures, such as inverted repeats (IRs) and palindromes (PDs), on the mammalian sex chromosomes. First, we describe the stepwise manner in which recombination between the X and Y chromosomes was suppressed in placental mammals and discuss a genomic rearrangement that might have led to the formation of present pseudoautosomal boundaries (PAB). Second, we describe ectopic gene conversion between the X and Y chromosomes, and propose possible molecular causes. Third, we focus on the evolutionary mode and timing of PD formation on the X and Y chromosomes. The sequence of the chimpanzee Y chromosome was recently published by two groups. Both groups suggest that rapid evolution of genomic structure occurred on the Y chromosome. Our re-analysis of the sequences confirmed the species-specific mode of human and chimpanzee Y chromosomal evolution. Finally, we present a general outlook regarding the rapid evolution of mammalian sex chromosomes.
Galaxy Number Counts and Implications for Strong Lensing

We compare galaxy number counts in Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) fields containing moderate-redshift (0.2 <z <1.0) strong gravitational lenses with those in two control samples: (1) the first square degree of the COSMOS survey, comprising 259 ACS fields and (2) 20 ‘pure-parallel’ fields randomly located on the sky. Through a Bayesian analysis we determine the expectation values (μ0) and confidence levels of the underlying number counts for a range of apertures and magnitude bins. Our analysis has produced the following results: (i) we infer that our control samples are not consistent, with the number counts in the COSMOS sample being significantly higher than in the pure-parallel sample for 21 ≤F814W≤ 23. This result matches those found in previous analyses of COSMOS data using different techniques. (ii) We find that small-sized apertures, centred on strong lenses, are overdense compared with randomly placed apertures in the control samples, even compared to the COSMOS sample. Correcting for the local clustering of elliptical galaxies, based on the average two-point correlation function, reduces this overdensity to the 1-2σ level. Thus, the overdensity of galaxies seen along a typical line of sight to a lens can be explained mostly by the natural clustering of galaxies, rather than being due to lenses lying along otherwise biased lines of sight. However, a larger sample of lenses is needed to see if the remaining bias persists when the lens-field uncertainties are smaller. (iii) There is considerable scatter in the lines of sight to individual lens systems, but quantities that are linearly dependent on the external convergence (e.g. H0) should become unbiased if the extra galaxies that cause the bias can be accounted for in the lens models either through direct modelling or via an informed prior on the external convergence. The number counts can be used to set such an informed prior.
Brinzolamide-induced retinopathy in neonatal rats: an alternative animal model of retinal neovascularization

Background and Purpose: Neovascular retinal pathology is steel uncertain. Thus, there is great need to investigate new modeling, diagnostic and treatment technologies. Brinzolamide induces a metabolic acidosis via an alternative biochemical mechanism (bicarbonate loss). In the present study the influence of brinzolamide-induced acidosis on preretinal neovascularization in neonatal rat was investigated. Materials and Methods. In our study we used newborn Wistar rats raised in two litters. Newborn rats (n=17) were randomized to either intraperitoneal brinzolamide in dose 200 mg/kg (n=9) or saline (n=8), twice daily from days 2 to 7. After 5 days of recovery all rats were euthanized. Six paraffin-embedded sections prepared in a standard manner and stained with hematoxylin and eosin. To investigate the damage, we evaluated the number of cells in the ganglion cell layer (GCL) and the thicknesses of the inner plexiform layer (IPL), inner nuclear layer (INL), outer plexiform layer (OPL), and outer nuclear layer (ONL). The cells in GCL and the thicknesses of the IPL, INL, and ONL at a distance between 375 and 625 μm from the optic disc were measured. Results: Preretinal neovascularization was found in 71% retinas, from brinzolamide-injected rats. Cataract formation was detected in 100% eyes after brinzolamide injections. All retinas from saline group were negative for neither neovascularization nor cataract. Brinzolamide rat model retinas showed decrease in the thicknesses of the retinal layers. Conclusion: In the present study, we report that brinzolamide (a drug causing metabolic acidosis primarily by bicarbonate loss) is associated with preretinal neovascularization in the neonatal rat. So this method can be suitable model for other neovascular pathologies of the eye.
Changes in the Aggressiveness and Fecundity of Hot Pepper Anthracnose Pathogen (Colletotricum acutatum) under Elevated CO2 and Temperature over 100 Infection Cycles

We observed the changes in aggressiveness and fecundity of the anthracnose pathogen Colletotrichum acutatum on hot pepper, under the ambient and the twice-ambient treatments. Artificial infection was repeated over 100 cycles for ambient (25°C/400 ppm CO2) and twice-ambient (30°C/700 ppm CO2) growth chamber conditions, over 3 years. During repeated infection cycles (ICs) on green-pepper fruits, the aggressiveness (incidence [% of diseased fruits among 20 inoculated fruits] and severity [lesion length in mm] of infection) and fecundity (the average number of spores per five lesions) of the pathogen were measured in each cycle and compared between the ambient and twice-ambient treatments, and also between the early (ICs 31–50) and late (ICs 81–100) generations. In summary, the pathogen’s aggressiveness and fecundity were significantly lower in the late generation. It is likely that aggressiveness and fecundity of C. acutatum may be reduced as global CO2 and temperatures increase.
The Puzzle of the Antebellum Fertility Decline in the United States: New Evidence and Reconsideration

All nations that can be characterized as developed have undergone the demographic transition from high to low levels of fertility and mortality. Most presently developed nations began their fertility transitions in the late nineteenth or early twentieth centuries. The United States was an exception. Evidence using census-based child-woman ratios suggests that the fertility of the white population of the United States was declining from at least the year 1800. By the end of the antebellum period in 1860, child-woman ratios had declined 33 percent. There is also indication that the free black population was experiencing a fertility transition. This transition was well in advance of significant urbanization, industrialization, and mortality decline and well in advance of every other presently developed nation with the exception of France. This paper uses census data on county-level child-woman ratios to test a variety of explanations on the antebellum American fertility transition. It also uses micro data from the IPUMS files for 1850 and 1860. A number of the explanations, including the land availability hypothesis, the local labor market-child default hypothesis, and the life cycle saving hypothesis, are consistent with the data, but nuptiality, not one of the usual explanations, emerges as likely very important.
An Intelligent Handover Management System for Future Generation Wireless Networks

Future generation wireless networks should provide to mobile users the best connectivity to services anywhere at anytime. The most challenging problem is the seamless intersystem/vertical mobility across heterogeneous wireless networks. In order to answer it, a vertical handover management system is needed. In our paper, we propose an intelligent solution answering user requirements and ensuring service continuity. We focus on a vertical handover decision strategy based on the context-awareness concept. The given strategy chooses the appropriate time and the most suitable access network among those available to perform a handover. It uses advanced decision algorithms (for more efficiency and intelligence) and it is governed by handover policies as decision rules (for more flexibility and optimization). To maintain a seamless service continuity, handover execution is based on mobile IP functionalities. We study our decision system in a case of a 3G/UMTS-WLAN scenario and we discuss all the handover decision issues in our solution.
GEMINI 3D spectroscopy of BAL + IR + Fe ii QSOs – I. Decoupling the BAL, QSO, starburst, NLR, supergiant bubbles and galactic wind in Mrk 231

In this paper we present the first results of a study of BAL QSOs (at low and high redshift), based on very deep Gemini GMOS integral field spectroscopy. In particular, the results obtained for the nearest BAL IR–QSO Mrk 231 are presented. For the nuclear region of Mrk 231, the QSO and host galaxy components were modelled, using a new technique of decoupling 3D spectra. From this study, the following main results were found: (i) in the pure host galaxy spectrum an extreme nuclear starburst component was clearly observed, as a very strong increase in the flux, at the blue wavelengths; (ii) the BAL system I is observed in the spectrum of the host galaxy; (iii) in the clean/pure QSO emission spectrum, only broad lines were detected. 3D GMOS individual spectra (specially in the near-infrared Ca ii triplet) and maps confirm the presence of an extreme and young nuclear starburst (8 < age < 15 Myr), which was detected in a ring or toroid with a radius r= 0.3 arcsec ∼ 200 pc, around the core of the nucleus. The extreme continuum blue component was detected only to the south of the core of the nucleus. This area is coincident with the region where we previously suggested that the galactic wind is cleaning the nuclear dust. Very deep 3D spectra and maps clearly show that the BAL systems I and II – in the strong ‘absorption lines’ Na iDλ5889–95 and Ca ii Kλ3933 – are extended (reaching ∼1.4–1.6 arcsec ∼ 1.2–1.3 kpc, from the nucleus) and clearly elongated at the position angle (PA) close to the radio jet PA, which suggest that the BAL systems I and II are ‘both’ associated with the radio jet. The physical properties of the four expanding nuclear bubbles were analysed, using the GMOS 3D spectra and maps. In particular, we found strong multiple LINER/OF emission-line systems and Wolf–Rayet features in the main knots of the more external super bubble S1 (r= 3.0 kpc). The kinematics of these knots – and the internal bubbles – suggest that they are associated with an area of rupture of the shell S1 (at the south-west). In addition, in the more internal superbubble S4 and close to the core of the nucleus (for r < 0.7 arcsec ∼ 0.6 kpc), two similar narrow emission-line systems were detected, with strong [S ii] and [O i] emission and ΔV∼−200 km s−1. These results suggest that an important part of the nuclear NLR is generated by the OF process and the associated low-velocity ionizing shocks. Finally, the nature of the composite BAL systems and very extended OF process – of 50 kpc – in Mrk 231 (and similar QSOs) are discussed. In addition, the ‘composite hyperwind scenario’ (already proposed for BALs) is suggested for the origin of giant Lyα blobs. The importance of study the end phases of Mrk 231, and similar evolving elliptical galaxies and QSOs (i.e. galaxy remnants) is discussed.