Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Phasic cholinergic signaling in the hippocampus: Functional homology with the neocortex?

Acetylcholine (ACh) acts as a neurotransmitter in both the hippocampus and neocortex to facilitate learning, memory, and cognitive function. Here we show that transient muscarinic ACh receptor (mAChR) activation inhibits action potential generation in CA1, but not in CA3, pyramidal neurons via activation of an SK‐type calcium‐activated potassium conductance. Hyperpolarizing responses generated by focal ACh application near the somata of CA1 pyramidal neurons were blocked by atropine or the M1‐like mAChR antagonist pirenzepine, but not by the M2‐like mAChR antagonist methoctramine. Inhibitory cholinergic responses required intracellular calcium signaling, as evidenced by their sensitivity to depletion of internal calcium stores or internal calcium chelation. Cholinergic inhibition did not require GABAergic synaptic transmission, but was blocked by apamin, an SK channel antagonist. In contrast to inhibitory effects in CA1 neurons, ACh was primarily depolarizing, and enhanced action potential firing in CA3 pyramidal neurons. These results, when combined with recent data in neocortical neurons, suggest a functional homology in phasic cholinergic signaling in the hippocampus and neocortex whereby ACh preferentially inhibits those neurons in the lower cortical layers (CA1 and layer 5 neurons) that provide the majority of extracortical efferent projections. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
CGE Modeling and Analysis of Multilateral and Regional Negotiating Options

We have used the Michigan Model of World Production and Trade to simulate the economic effects on the United States, Japan, and other major trading countries/regions of: the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations completed in 1993-94; a prospective new round of WTO multilateral trade negotiations; and a variety of regional/bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) involving the United States and Japan. We estimate that the Uruguay Round negotiations increased global economic welfare by $75.1 billion annually, with gains of $12.9 billion for the United States and $15.6 billion for Japan. An assumed reduction of all post-Uruguay Round tariffs on agricultural and industrial products and of all services barriers by 33 percent in a new WTO trade round is estimated to increase world welfare by $613.0 billion, with gains of $177.3 billion for the United States and $123.7 billion for Japan. If there were global free trade with all post-Uruguay Round trade barriers completely removed, then world welfare would increase by $1.9 trillion, with gains of $537.2 billion (5.9 percent of GNP) for the United States and $374.8 billion (5.8 percent of GNP) for Japan. Elimination of APEC-member country bilateral post-Uruguay Round tariffs on agricultural and industrial products and services barriers is estimated to increase world welfare by $764.4 billion, with gains of $294.7 billion for the United States and $283.1 billion for Japan and losses of $7.0 billion for the European Union/EFTA and $1.0 billion for South Asia. Separate bilateral FTAs involving Japan with Singapore, Mexico, South Korea, and Chile and an ASEAN Plus-3 FTA involving Japan, China/Hong Kong, and South Korea would have positive, though generally small, welfare effects, but potentially disruptive sectoral employment shifts in some member countries. Depending on the agreement, there may be detrimental welfare effects on some nonmembers. The welfare gains from multilateral trade liberalization are therefore considerably greater than the gains from preferential trading arrangements and more uniformly positive for all countries.
Auditor Reputation and Model of Governance: A Comparison of France, Germany and Canada

This paper investigates the determinants of auditor reputation for listed companies in France, Germany and Canada. These countries differ in their financing systems, corporate governance culture and auditing regulations, and thus provide interesting backgrounds to an investigation of auditor role in corporate governance by testing both theories of the demand for auditor reputation, i.e., the agency and insurance (deep pockets) theories. Logistic analyses document that the probability to appoint one of the Greater International Networks (GIN) depends on national environments. The insurance hypothesis dominates in Canada. In France, this probability increases with the intensity of shareholder-debtholder conflicts in highly opportunistic situations. None of these theories finds any support in Germany, consistent with the characteristics of this environment: an insiders dominant and bank-oriented financing system, with an auditor role primarily devoted to the supervisory board, and a very low litigation risk for auditors.
Accounting for U.S. Regional Real Exchange Rates

We examine the relationship between the relative price of nontradables and real exchange rate movements for fixed exchange rate regimes. Using BLS CPI data, we show that purchasing power parity holds strongly for tradables across U.S. regions. As a result, nontradables play a central role in U.S. regional real exchange rate movements. Indeed changes in the relative price of nontradables explain up to 80% of regional real exchange rate changes over medium and long run horizons. We also argue that nontradables can account for a large portion of real exchange rate changes internationally with high nontradables expenditure shares.
Foreign Direct Investment in Russia’s Regions, 1993-95: Why So Little and Where Has It Gone?

In this paper, foreign direct investment (FDI) into Russia's regions during the period 1993-95 is analysed using recently available regional data. Russia's regions are shown to be much richer than China's, but much poorer than US states, though with far less FDI than either country. FDI into the regions is also low compared to both Western and Eastern European countries, but has grown substantially from very low levels. Relatively higher FDI is found to occur when crime is lower, market size is bigger and risk is less. Surprisingly, the education of the workforce is found to be important only in the two major cities of St. Petersburg and Moscow, suggesting FDI into Russia's regions is not drawn by cheap labour. Unlike other countries, no evidence for either infrastructure or privatization influencing FDI could be found. The use of tax breaks and exemptions to attract FDI may be short-sighted as the consequent cut in budget revenues hampers the ability of the region to fight crime and to lower business risk, resulting in an implicit marginal tax increase for future foreign investors that exceeds any benefits from shortterm tax breaks. Copyright The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 1998.
Stockholder Benefits From Japanese-U.S. Joint Ventures

We examine the impact of joint ventures between industrial companies located in Japan and the U.S. on their stockholders' wealth. Consistent with previous evidence, stockholders of both Japanese and U.S. companies earn significant positive abnormal returns, on average. Further results show that joint ventures in which the Japanese company is the larger partner have greater stockholders' gains, and that the joint venture partner's currency strength is a significant determinant of the stockholders' gains.
Phenylhydrazine-induced anemia causes nitric-oxide-mediated upregulation of the angiogenic pathway in Notothenia coriiceps

SUMMARY Antarctic icefishes possess several cardiovascular characteristics that enable them to deliver oxygen adequately in the absence of hemoglobin (Hb). To gain insight into mechanisms driving development of these cardiovascular characteristics of icefish, we chemically induced severe anemia in a red-blooded notothenioid, Notothenia coriiceps. After 10 days of treatment with phenylhydrazine HCl, the hematocrit and Hb concentration of N. coriiceps decreased by >90% and >70%, respectively. Anemic fish exhibited a significantly higher concentration of nitric oxide (NO) metabolites in their plasma compared with that of control animals, indicating that corporeal levels of NO are higher in anemic animals than in control fish. The activity of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) was measured in brain, retina, pectoral muscle and ventricle of control and anemic animals. With the exception of retina, no significant differences in NOS activities were observed, indicating that the increase in plasma NO metabolites is due to loss of Hb, which normally plays a major role in the degradation of NO, and not due to an overall increase in the capacity for NO production. To determine whether loss of Hb can stimulate remodeling of the cardiovascular system, we measured expression of HIF-1α, PHD2 and VEGF mRNA in retinae of control and anemic fish. Expression of all three genes was higher in anemic animals compared with control N. coriiceps, suggesting a causative relationship between loss of Hb and induction of angiogenesis that probably is mediated through nitric oxide signaling.
John Neville Keynes's Solution to the English Methodenstreit

John Neville Keynes is best known for being the father of John Maynard Keynes and for writing The Scope and Method of Political Economy (1891). The lesser of these achievements was widely accepted as the definitive methodological tract in the field of political economy in the late-Victorian period. In this publication Keynes shed new light on many of the pressing methodological and epistemological problems of the day; he supplied the methodological underpinnings to Alfred Marshall's majestic synthesis of late-Victorian theoretical opinion, as articulated in his Principles of Economics (1890); and, whatis of paramount concern to me in this paper, he employed some deft rhetoric to hasten the end of the long and acrimonious methodological debate between the orthodox and historical economists that is now generally referred to as the English Methodenstreit or “battle of methods. ” Keynes consciously strove to provide a solution to the “battle of methods” that would be acceptable to both the orthodox and historical economists and, for this reason, The Scope and Method is understandably characterized by a conciliatory tone and repeated, almost desperate, attempts to see value in arguments from both sides of the conceptual divide. Keynes nonetheless failed in his quest to be even-handed. He was a logician of the first order who was extremely impressed by the neat logical lines of the orthodox framework, and hence, for all his intellectual honesty and obvious good will, he could not help but interpret the debate through orthodox spectacles. The chief rhetorical ploy he drew upon to achieve this orthodox-leaning settlement between the principal antagonists was the unconscious one of the “passive-aggressive” in which the advocate repeatedly makes the outward motions of conceding ground while, in effect, conceding little. The specific mechanics of this strategy entailed reformulating each precept from the historicist conceptual framework so that it would not be in conflict with its nearest orthodox opposite (itself carefully reinterpreted by Keynes), either by showing that it was identical to this orthodox opposite or by arguing that different precepts were appropriate in different situations, and then dismissing the entire methodological debate—which was then in its third decade—as one long and lamentable misunderstanding. Keynes was ably assisted in executing this strategy by his Cambridge colleagues and, for this reason, the quest to settle the debate by providing orthodox interpretations of the precepts then at stake may be termed the “Cambridge solution. ” Marshall and Henry Sidgwick played particularly important roles in carrying this rhetorical assault, as the former's more genuine sympathy for many of the historicist ideas and the latter's celebrated honesty made the Cambridge quest appear sincere.
Earnings Quality and the Adoption of IFRS-Based Accounting Standards: Evidence from an Emerging Market

Purpose - This study aims to investigate the differences in earnings quality of Malaysian companies after the adoption of IFRS-based accounting standards named FRS. Design/methodology/approach - It is hypothesize that under the new set of accounting standards, the quality of earnings reported by these companies is relatively higher. Specifically, the study tests whether the level of earnings management is significantly lower after the adoption of IFRS, and reported earnings is more value relevant during the IFRS period. This study uses a large sample of 4,010 observations over a three-year period before and a three-year period after the adoption of the new set of accounting standards. Findings - The results show that IFRS adoption is associated with higher quality of reported earnings. It is found that earnings reported during the period after the adoption of IFRS is associated with lower earnings management and higher value relevant. Originality/value - The results of this study contribute additional evidence to the literature on earnings quality and the impact of IFRS adoption. As most of the existing studies on earnings quality and IFRS have been conducted on data from the U.S and European countries, this study fills a gap in the existing literature by studying the effect of adoption of IFRS on earnings quality in an emerging market.
An Empirical Investigation of the Extent of Corporate Financial Disclosure in the Oil and Gas Industry

The principal research question addressed by the study was: Are there identifiable and measurable factors that are associated with the extent to which firms in the oil and gas industry disclose financial information? Extent of financial disclosure was measured by using a weighted index of disclosure items. The 10-K and annual reports of 125 oil and gas firms were examined in order to identify various financial disclosures provided by each firm. This set of disclosures was weighted by oil and gas financial analysts according to the importance of each disclosure in an investment decision. The items of information provided by an individual firm were then applied to the index. The dependent variable, extent of financial disclosure, was the ratio of a firm's total disclosure score to the firm's total possible disclosure. A stepwise regression model was used to determine which variables were “best” in explaining extent of financial disclosure. Of the ten independent variables entered, four were retained in the final model at the . 20 level of significance: exchange listing status, audit firm size, ratio of debt to total equity, and number of shareholders. The final model was examined for the significance of parameter estimates. Three variables—listing status, ratio of debt to total equity, and number of shareholders—were determined to be statistically significant.
Phylogeography and population structure of the golden monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana): inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences

The golden monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana) is one of the most endangered primate species due to its dramatically shrinking distribution during the past 400 years. Its populations are restricted to three isolated regions, Qinglin (QL), Sichuan/Gansu (SG), and Shennongjia (SNJ) in China. As with other snub‐nosed monkeys in China and Vietnam, the biology and evolution of this species is still poorly known. To assess genetic differentiation and explore the relationships among populations of golden monkeys from different geographic locations, 379 bp of mitochondrial DNA control region (CR) hypervariable segment I (HVI) was studied from 60 individuals. Twelve haplotypes were identified from seven populations within the three regions. Haplotype diversity was high (0.845), whereas nucleotide diversity among all haplotypes was low (0.0331). The most recent common ancestor (TMRCA) among mtDNA haplotypes was estimated to have lived approximately 0.48–0.32 million years ago. None of the haplotypes is shared among any of the three regions. Phylogenetic analysis and AMOVA revealed clear and significant phylogeographic structure between the three regions. However, only SG contained haplotypes of the two main clades, indicating either incomplete random sorting of haplotypes or a complex history with phases of population subdivisions and merging of populations. The phylogeographic structure implies that R. roxellana should be regarded as separate management units (MUs) for each of the three regions. It is likely that recent phylogeographic history has shaped the pattern of genetic differentiation observed in the golden monkey and that its populations have suffered significant demographic fluctuation. Am. J. Primatol. 69:1195–1209, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Liquidity as an investment style : evidence from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange

In the mid-1980s it was suggested that liquidity might be a factor influencing stock returns. However, in the South African equity market, studies of this so-called liquidity effect are still limited. This study analysed liquidity as a risk factor on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) during the period 1996 to 2012, using different methodologies from those employed in previous South African studies. In contrast to most United States-based studies, this study found that liquidity is not a significant risk factor affecting broad market returns. Instead, the effect is significant in small- and low-liquidity portfolios only. However, the study found that including a liquidity factor improved the Fama-French three-factor model in capturing shared variation in stock returns. Finally, incorporating a liquidity style into two passive portfolio strategies yielded weak evidence of enhanced risk-adjusted performance.
Markets for surplus components with a strategic supplier

We study markets for surplus components, which allow manufacturers with excess component inventory to sell to firms with a shortage. Recent developments in internet commerce have the potential to greatly increase the efficiency of such markets. We develop a one‐period model in which a monopolist supplier sells to a number of independent manufacturers who are uncertain about demand for final goods. After uncertainty is resolved, the manufacturers have the opportunity to trade. Because uncertainty is over demand functions, the model allows us to endogenize both the price of final goods and the price of components in wholesale and surplus markets. We derive conditions on demand uncertainty that determine whether a surplus market will increase or decrease supplier profits. Increased costs of transacting on the surplus market may benefit manufacturers, because of the impact of these costs on the supplier's pricing power. The surplus market can decrease overall efficiency of the supply chain, since the benefit of better allocation of components may be outweighed by an increased double‐marginalization effect. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2005.
Adjusting the Flow: Two Comments on the Middle East Water Crisis

ABSTRACT Whereas almost all nations in the Middle East face a chronic problem of water shortage, the riparians of the Jordan River (mainly Israel, Jordan, and Palestine) are close to crisis. To deal with this situation, it is suggested that the emphasis in water management be shifted from supply to demand and from quantity to quality This approach emulates alternative energy analysis, dubbed the ‘soft path,’ which has demonstrated that it is typically economically cheaper and ecologically less damaging to approach problems from the demand than from the supply side. Major opportunities exist to increase efficiency of use in the Jordan River basin, particularly for irrigation, which is by far the main consumer Other opportunities lie in avoiding the degradation arising from excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers, inadequate treatment of sewage, and industrial dumping. Continuing the analogy to energy, policy analysis should be recast in terms of normative scenarios so as to determine the feasibility an.
Feasibility and efficacy of an attachment-based intervention in a maltreatment sample in residential care: A pilot study

The effects of the Video-feedback Intervention to promote Positive Parenting and Sensitive Discipline on improving maternal sensitivity and sensitive discipline were investigated using a randomized control design in a pilot sample of mothers at high risk of maltreatment. The study included 12 mothers and their 10- to 36-month-old children placed in parental residential care, due to a guardianship order issued by the Youth Court. Both at pretest and post-test, maternal sensitivity and sensitive discipline were assessed during mother–child interaction via observational measures. Mothers who received the intervention showed a significant reduction in dysfunctional strategies of maternal discipline. Results highlight the usefulness and feasibility of a brief residential care–based intervention in such a risk sample, with promising implications for the prevention of child maltreatment.
Proteomic Characterisation of the Salt Gland-Enriched Tissues of the Mangrove Tree Species Avicennia officinalis

Plant salt glands are nature’s desalination devices that harbour potentially useful information pertaining to salt and water transport during secretion. As part of the program toward deciphering secretion mechanisms in salt glands, we used shotgun proteomics to compare the protein profiles of salt gland-enriched (isolated epidermal peels) and salt gland-deprived (mesophyll) tissues of the mangrove species Avicennia officinalis. The purpose of the work is to identify proteins that are present in the salt gland-enriched tissues. An average of 2189 and 977 proteins were identified from the epidermal peel and mesophyll tissues, respectively. Among these, 2188 proteins were identified in salt gland-enriched tissues and a total of 1032 selected proteins were categorized by Gene Ontology (GO) analysis. This paper reports for the first time the proteomic analysis of salt gland-enriched tissues of a mangrove tree species. Candidate proteins that may play a role in the desalination process of the mangrove salt glands and their potential localization were identified. Information obtained from this study paves the way for future proteomic research aiming at elucidating the molecular mechanism underlying secretion in plant salt glands. The data have been deposited to the ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD000771.
THE COMPLEX RELATIONAL DYNAMICS IN PUBLIC SECTOR REFORMS

Even though public sector reforms have become nearly every day-business in many countries, the implementation of the reforms is often a challenge for change management. This is the case also in Finland. Nationwide local government reform aiming to create a thriving municipal structure was launched in 2011 and gained a lot attention and criticism. We aim to analyze what kind of diverse views occurred in the implementation phase of this particular reform and how those affected the reform process. Thus we aim to analyse the reform as a complex social process by using the figuration theory of Elias’. According to our analysis it seems that there is a dominant discourse that includes actors with different goals. We also identified counter discourse, arisen as a reaction to the dominant discourse. In the reforms there also seems to be some structural diversity due to actors who look at things from various perspectives. Thus the implementation of reforms is not only a question of the policy goals but also a question of different actors competing with each others. This underlines the fact that managing public sector reforms should focus more on building long-term processes of co-operation and not only on institutional or rationally explained changes. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.5755/j01.eis. 0.9. 12795