Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of a Complex Ownership Structure and Judicial Efficiency on Leverage: Evidence from Pakistani Listed Companies

ABSTRACT We explore the impact of complex ownership structure and judicial efficiency on firm leverage at Pakistani pyramid firms. Ratio of controlling to ownership rights is much higher at Pakistani firms than in other economies, which motivates us to study its impact on leverage. Our results reveal that complex internal structure at Pakistani pyramid firms is positively related to leverage. We find that the presence of efficient courts weaken the impact of complex ownership structure on leverage at pyramid firms. Contrary to the literature, we find that the political connections of pyramid firms in Pakistan are not related to corporate leverage.
Hyperosmolar sexual lubricant causes epithelial damage in the distal colon: potential implication for HIV transmission.

BACKGROUND Many sexual lubricants are hyperosmolar. Hyperosmolar enemas induce epithelial damage, and enema use has been associated with an increased risk of HIV infection. To inform the development of rectal microbicide formulation, we evaluated the effects of hyperosmolar gels on the rectal mucosa. METHODS Two commercial lubricants were compounded into iso-osmolar and hyperosmolar mixtures (283 and 3429 mOsm/kg, respectively). Each gel was radiolabeled with 500 micro Ci of (99m)Technetium-diethylene triaminepentaacetic acid, and 10 mL was given rectally to 10 subjects in random sequence. Sigmoidoscopy by an endoscopist blinded to treatment assignment was performed 90 min later to obtain luminal and mucosal samples. Urine radiolabel detection was used to assess mucosal permeability. RESULTS Epithelial denudation 10 cm from the anus occurred to a greater degree with the hyperosmolar gel than with the iso-osmolar formulation (median toxicity grade, 2.50 vs. 1.17 out of 3, respectively; P=.009). The hyperosmolar gel was also associated with lower isotope luminal concentration at 10 cm, compared with the iso-osmolar gel (median, 8.9% vs. 54.6% of administered concentration, respectively). Mucosal permeability measured through 12 h was reduced with the hyperosmolar gel (P=.037). CONCLUSION Rectally applied hyperosmolar gels induce greater epithelial denudation and luminal secretion than iso-osmolar gels. Because denudation plausibly increases the risk of HIV transmission, hyperosmolar gels make poor rectal microbicide formulations, and hyperosmolar sexual lubricants may increase susceptibility to HIV infection.
Measurement of glomerular filtration rate in anesthetized and conscious rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta).

OBJECTIVE To validate a method to assess glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in conscious monkeys via transcutaneous radiation detection after IV injection of technetium Tc 99m pentatate (99mTc-DTPA). ANIMALS 4 healthy rhesus monkeys. PROCEDURES On day 1, each monkey was anesthetized, lothalamate sodium I 125 (125l-iothalamate) was administered via continuous rate infusion (0.0037 MBq/min); blood and urine samples were obtained for determination of 125l-iothalamate plasma clearance variables and estimation of GFR. One dose of 99mTc-DTPA (74 MBq/kg, IV) was also administered during the 125l-iothalamate plasma clearance test, and transcutaneous measurements of technetium 99m-emitted radiation were obtained by use of an ambulatory renal monitor (ARM) applied to a brachium of each monkey. Determination of GFR by use of the ARM was repeated on days 8 and 45 in the same monkeys without anesthesia. RESULTS Sensitivity, accuracy, and precision of the 2 methods were similar. By use of the ARM, GFR determined by use of the renal rate constant (κGFR) was calculated; the value obtained on day 1 under anesthesia was similar to values determined via 125l-iothalamate plasma clearance testing on the same day, but was 16% to 23% less than that measured on days 8 and 45 in conscious monkeys. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE The ARM method for assessment of GFR was less invasive, faster, and more convenient than the standard clearance method, but yielded comparable results. The need to train animals and size restrictions of the device may limit the use of this technique in other nonhuman animals.
Changes in dentofacial structures in untreated Class II division 1 and normal subjects: a longitudinal study.

The purpose of this study was to compare longitudinally the changes that occur in dentofacial structures from the deciduous to the permanent dentitions in untreated Class II division 1 and normal individuals. Complete records were assembled for 65 subjects at three stages of development: at the completion of the deciduous dentition, after the first permanent molars had erupted completely, and after the permanent dentition had erupted completely (third molars excluded). On a cross-sectional basis, only mandibular length (Ar-Pog) differed significantly in the two groups, and then only during the earlier stages of development; by the later stage, the difference was not significant, indicating that some "catch up" growth may occur in Class II individuals. Longitudinal comparisons of the curve profiles, i.e., growth trends between Class II division 1 and normal subjects, indicated that there were no significant differences between the two groups except in upper lip protrusion. Comparisons of the total change from the deciduous to the permanent dentition indicated the presence of a number of significant differences between Class II division 1 and normal subjects, including larger magnitude of maxillary and mandibular lengths in the normal group and greater skeletal and soft tissue convexities in the Class II group.
Early Bill-of-Quantities Estimation of Concrete Road Bridges: An Artificial Intelligence-Based Application

Accurate cost estimation in the preliminary stages of project development is critical for making informed planning decisions. However, such early estimates are typically restricted by limited information. In this article, the widely recognized intelligence of feed-forward artificial neural networks (FFANNs) is used to process actual data from 68 concrete road bridges and provide a surrogate model for the accurate estimation of the bill-of-quantities (BoQ). Specifically, two FFANNs are trained to estimate the superstructure and piers concrete and steel-based on the construction method and the bridge dimensions. As the relevant metrics demonstrate, the FFANNs capture very well the complex interrelations in the data set and produce highly accurate estimates. Furthermore, their generalization capability is superior to the capability of respective linear regression models. As the data used to train the FFANNs are normally available early in the project lifecycle, the proposed model enables early, yet accurate cost estimates to be obtained.
Manganese Transport in the Cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803*

We have inactivated the genes encoding components of MntABC, an ABC (ATP binding cassette) transporter system for manganese in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. The growth rates of these mutant strains were significantly lower in a manganese-deficient medium and were restored to near normal levels upon addition of micromolar concentrations of Mn2+, indicating the presence of a second transport system for manganese in this organism. 54Mn2+ uptake experiments indicated that the MntABC transporter was induced under manganese starvation conditions, whereas the second transporter system was induced in the presence of micromolar levels of manganese. Both of these systems were nonfunctional at low temperatures and could transport trace levels of 54Mn2+, reflecting high affinity active transport. The initial rates of Mn2+ uptake for cells grown with or without manganese exhibited biphasic saturation kinetics, suggesting that Mn2+ can also be accumulated by a low affinity system in these bacteria. The kinetic parameters for the MntABC transporter system are Km = 1-3 μM and Vmax = 3-8 pmol/min·108 cells. Accumulation of manganese by this system was competitively inhibited by Cd2+ (Ki = 4-8 μM), Co2+ and Zn2+ (Ki = 8-15 μM). In contrast, the second high affinity system was highly specific for manganese and was not inhibited by any tested metal ion. We have also demonstrated that in this organism, photosynthetic electron transport is necessary for optimal rates of manganese uptake.
Investor Protection and Value Creation in Cross‐Border M&As by Emerging Economies

Previous research investigating cross-border M&As (CBM&As) by emerging economies (EEs) provided contrasting evidence on the value enhancement role of investor protection rules. We conduct a new empirical study to address the issue with an accurate sample selection of bidders from more homogeneous developing countries and transactions on developed countries only. Our analysis over the 1997–2012 period on a sample of M&A deals by companies from Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) does not provide evidence that better institutional standards in the destination country are rewarded by the local stock market. We find that foreign governance quality is not associated with positive excess stock returns around the announcement date. Rather, these returns are affected by firm-specific and deal-specific factors, such as the relative deal size, the listed status of the target company, and the acquirer size. Comparison with other studies on excess returns for emerging markets (including BRICs) suggests that the results could be driven at least partially by country choice.
Poverty and common mental disorders in India: the inseparable twins

CMDs are a significant cause of morbidity and disability. A large proportion of the population of India lives below the poverty line. This policy report aims to contribute to India’s CMD prevention strategy by reviewing the relationship between CMDs and poverty. While more Indian studies are needed, this review identifies access barriers and social security insufficiencies and recommends measures to address them.
Extending food deprivation reverses the short-term lipolytic response to fasting: role of the triacylglycerol/fatty acid cycle

SUMMARY The effects of short-term food deprivation on lipid metabolism are well documented, but little is known about prolonged fasting. This study monitored the kinetics of glycerol (rate of appearance, Ra glycerol) and non-esterified fatty acids (Ra NEFA) in fasting rabbits. Our goals were to determine whether lipolysis is stimulated beyond values seen for short-term fasting, and to characterize the roles of primary (intracellular) and secondary (with transit through the circulation) triacylglycerol/fatty acid cycling (TAG/FA cycling) in regulating fatty acid allocation to oxidation or re-esterification. Ra glycerol (9.62±0.72 to 15.29±0.96 μmol kg–1 min–1) and Ra NEFA (18.05±2.55 to 31.25±1.93 μmol kg–1 min–1) were stimulated during the first 2 days of fasting, but returned to baseline after 4 days. An initial increase in TAG/FA cycling was followed by a reduction below baseline after 6 days without food, with primary and secondary cycling contributing to these responses. We conclude that the classic activation of lipolysis caused by short-term fasting is abolished when food deprivation is prolonged. High rates of re-esterification may become impossible to sustain, and TAG/FA cycling could decrease to reduce its cost to 3% of total energy expenditure. Throughout prolonged fasting, fatty acid metabolism gradually shifts towards increased oxidation and reduced re-esterification. Survival is achieved by pressing fuel selection towards the fatty acid dominance of energy metabolism and by slowing substrate cycles to assist metabolic suppression. However, TAG/FA cycling remains active even after prolonged fasting, suggesting that re-esterification is a crucial mechanism that cannot be stopped without harmful consequences.
[Effect of L-DOPA on brain serotonin metabolism related to tryptophan concentrations in plasma and brain of rats].

Changes in tryptophan (Trp) concentrations in the peripheral and brain tissues and their influences on brain serotonin (5-HT) metabolism were investigated after i.p. administrations of L-DOPA alone and in combination with Ro4-4602 in male Wistar rats. L-DOPA alone elicited marked increases of both plasma free and liver Trp levels, and a slight increase of brain Trp level. Concomitant application of L-DOPA and Ro4-4602 did not change peripheral Trp concentrations but did reduce brain Trp level. Brain 5-HT levels were reduced in proportion to the increase of dopamine (DA) level by L-DOPA alone and Ro4-4602 plus L-DOPA. A marked increase of 5-HIAA level was exhibited by L-DOPA alone, while Ro4-4602 plus L-DOPA increased 5-HIAA levels slightly despite a marked decrease in 5-HT levels. The decrease of 5-HT and increase of 5-HIAA levels were also observed after administration of L-DOPA to neonatal rats in which the brain tryptophan hydroxylase was considered to be saturated. These results suggest that changes in 5-HT metabolism after L-DOPA injections are not only caused by DA which displaces 5-HT from vesicular stores, but also by changes in Trp concentrations in the plasma and brain which alter 5-HT synthesis and turnover.
Emergency cardiopulmonary bypass in the cardiac surgical unit can be a lifesaving measure in postoperative cardiac arrest.

BACKGROUND Postoperative cardiac arrest that is not responsive to conventional resuscitation is uniformly fatal. Sixteen patients who experienced postoperative ventricular fibrillation (VF) and arrest over a 6-year period and did not respond to open chest resuscitation were placed on an emergency basis on cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) in the cardiac surgical intensive care unit (CSICU). METHODS AND RESULTS Data were reviewed by retrospective analysis. Nine of the 16 patients (56.3%) survived, and they spent a mean of 9 +/- 2.8 days in the CSICU and a mean of 17 +/- 4.6 days in the hospital. They all are alive 1 month to 5 1/2 years later. The mean interval between VF/arrest and CPB in the CSICU was 50 +/- 6.7 minutes (range, 25 to 83 minutes) for survivors and 51 +/- 6.1 minutes (35 to 83 minutes) for nonsurvivors (P = .98). The duration of CPB in the CSICU was 111 +/- 16.0 minutes (range, 55 to 189 minutes) for survivors and 167 +/- 20.7 minutes (range, 80 to 232 minutes) for nonsurvivors (P = .05). There were no apparent differences between survivors and nonsurvivors in age, history of arrhythmias, use of antiarrhythmics, congestive heart failure, recent myocardial infarction, ejection fraction, preoperative intra-aortic balloon pump, urgency, or type of operation. Surgical variables and postoperative medications and electrolytes (after the primary procedure) were similar. The use of cardioplegic arrest during CPB in the CSICU was higher among survivors (3 of 9) compared with 0 of 7 for nonsurvivors (P = .21). There was no mediastinitis and only two minor soft tissue infections among survivors. CONCLUSIONS The use of CPB in the CSICU can achieve significant survival in patients who have otherwise irreversible cardiac arrest and/or VF after surgery; the incidence of infection in patients undergoing CPB in the CSICU is very low; and the use of warm cardioplegic arrest may enhance the changes of survival in this type of patient.
The motor cortex shows adaptive functional changes to brain injury from multiple sclerosis

Although multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory demyelinating disease, there can be substantial axonal injury and loss. We therefore hypothesized that adaptive cortical changes may contribute to limiting functional impairment, particularly in the early stages of the disease. To test our hypothesis, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to characterize the localization and volumes of activation in the motor cortex during simple flexion‐extension finger movements. There were differences in the patterns of cortical activation with movement between the 12 MS patients and the 12 normal controls. All patients showed greater relative supplementary motor area activation than did the normal controls. The relative hemispheric lateralization of sensorimotor cortex (SMC) activation decreased in direct proportion to the total cerebral T2‐weighted MRI hyperintense lesion load. This appeared to be due primarily to increases in ipsilateral SMC activation with increasing lesion load in white matter of the hemisphere contralateral to the limb moved. The center of activation in the contralateral SMC was shifted a mean of 8.8 mm posterior in patients relative to controls, providing additional evidence for cortical adaptive responses to injury. The magnitude of this posterior shift in the SMC activation increased with greater T2 lesion loads. These observations demonstrate that cortical recruitment for simple finger movements can change both quantitatively and qualitatively in the SMCs of MS patients, suggesting that cortical reorganization or “unmasking” of latent pathways can contribute to functional recovery. These adaptive changes are another factor potentially limiting the strength of the relationship between MRI measures of pathology and clinical measures of disability. Ann Neurol 2000;47:606–613
Visualization of cavitated vessels in winter and refilled vessels in spring in diffuse-porous trees by cryo-scanning electron microscopy

Xylem cavitation in winter and recovery from cavitation in the spring were visualized in two species of diffuse-porous trees, Betula platyphylla var. japonica Hara and Salix sachalinensis Fr. Schm. , by cryo-scanning electron microscopy after freeze-fixation of living twigs. Water in the vessel lumina of the outer three annual rings of twigs of B. platyphylla var. japonica and of S. sachalinensis gradually disappeared during the period from January to March, an indication that cavitation occurs gradually in these species during the winter. In April, when no leaves had yet expanded, the lumina of most of the vessels of both species were filled with water. Many vessel lumina in twigs of both species were filled with water during the period from the subsequent growth season to the beginning of the next winter. These observations indicate that recovery in spring occurs before the onset of transpiration and that water transport through twigs occurs during the subsequent growing season. We found, moreover, that vessels repeat an annual cycle of winter cavitation and spring recovery from cavitation for several years until irreversible cavitation occurs.
An Evaluation Model of Problem-Based Learner Assessment in Curriculum 2013

Curriculum 2013 has just been implemented at schools in Indonesia, and its implementationhas brought pros and cons among academicians. One of the major constructive criticismsrelated to the implementation of curriculum 2013 deals with the application of the creation.Bloom claims that creating places the top level among the thinking skills (Pohl, 2000). Furthermore, Dyers (2011) states that the main goal of each learning process is to improvethe learners? creativity. This paper focuses on the evaluation of learner assessment; hence, itaims to propose an alternative model of learner assessment based on curriculum 2013 byfocusing on the concept of scientific approach especially on creation and also the concept ofpositivism. Moreover, the result of Forum Group Discussion (FGD) shows positive feedback.The findings obtained from FGD generally show more positive feedback than the negativeone. In brief, it can be concluded that the model has been better because it provides creation,clear description, and it may encourage building positive characters of the learners.Keywords: evaluation model, problem based, learner assessment, creation, scientific approach, positivism
Coordinate Variation in Lengths of Deoxyribonucleic Acid Molecules and Head Lengths in Morphological Variants of Bacteriophage T4

We have investigated three classes of small bacteriophage T4 particles which differ from normal T4 particles in length of their deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), in head length, in protein content, and in density. The different particles contain DNA molecules measuring 0.90, 0.77, or 0.67, respectively, of the normal T4 length. An additional class of viable particles contains DNA molecules of 1.1 unit length. These discrete differences in DNA length correspond to discrete differences in length (but not width) of the respective heads and are roughly proportional to the resulting differences in head volumes. The measured relative dimensions of the different heads fit best the relative dimensions predicted by a quasi-icosahedral model in which the smallest T4 head corresponds to an icosahedron with a triangulation number T = 21. The mid-portion of this structure is thought to be elongated by adding successive rows of gene 23 protein hexamers, the normal T4 head having three added rows. Different mutants produce small particles of the three classes in varying proportions, but no mutant produces exclusively particles of a single class. Particles of each class, with indistinguishable DNA content, show additional minor differences in protein content, as measured by differences in buoyant density and in the relative ratio of 32P to 35S.
Recent advances in the exploration of the bile salt export pump (BSEP/ABCB11) function

Introduction: The bile salt export pump (BSEP/ABCB11), residing in the apical membrane of hepatocyte, mediates the secretion of bile salts into the bile. A range of human diseases is associated with the malfunction of BSEP, including fatal hereditary liver disorders and mild cholestatic conditions. Manifestation of these diseases primarily depends on the mutation type; however, other factors such as hormonal changes and drug interactions can also trigger or influence the related diseases. Areas covered: Here, we summarize the recent knowledge on BSEP by covering its transport properties, cellular localization, regulation and major mutations/polymorphisms, as well as the hereditary and acquired diseases associated with BSEP dysfunction. We discuss the different model expression systems employed to understand the function of the BSEP variants, their drug interactions and the contemporary therapeutic interventions. Expert opinion: The limitations of the available model expression systems for BSEP result in controversial conclusions, and obstruct our deeper insight into BSEP deficiencies and BSEP-related drug interactions. The knowledge originating from different methodologies, such as clinical studies, molecular genetics, as well as in vitro and in silico modeling, should be integrated and harmonized. Increasing availability of robust molecular biological tools and our better understanding of the mechanism of BSEP deficiencies should make the personalized, mutation-based therapeutic interventions more attainable.