Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nicotine-induced regional changes in brain noradrenaline and dopamine turnover in rats.

Using high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection, the levels of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylethyleneglycol (MHPG), 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) were determined in various brain regions of the rat 1 h after nicotine administration. Nicotine (1 mg/kg, s.c.) produced an increase in MHPG concentrations in the occipital cortex, hippocampus, striatum, hypothalamus, thalamus, midbrain, pons/medulla and cerebellum. This alkaloid at the same dose also caused an increase in DOPAC concentrations in the hypothalamus, thalamus and pons/medulla. The nicotine-induced increase in MHPG and DOPAC concentrations in the brain regions was inhibited by pretreatment with mecamylamine (5 mg/kg, i.p.) but not by hexamethonium (10 mg/kg, i.p.). Nicotine (1 mg/kg, s.c.) produced an increase in DOPA concentrations under DOPA decarboxylase inhibition with NSD-1015 (200 mg/kg, i.p.) in the hypothalamus, thalamus and pons/medulla. These results indicate that nicotine can increase the turnover of noradrenaline and dopamine in various brain regions of the rat and this effect is mediated via activation of central nicotinic receptors.
INTERORGANIZATIONAL COOPERATION AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF WELFARE REFORM

This analysis of the Community Work Experience (CWEP) component of the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills program under the Family Support Act of 1988 examines the service delivery framework and management challenges of welfare policy reform. We focus on the interagency relationships that must be built and maintained to provide work experience to welfare recipients. In particular, we examine three questions: Why do agencies that provide placement sites participateq What problems are encountered and how are they resolvedq How does the management of the program affect the experience of the placement site agencyq Answers to these questions are vital to the success of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 that transformed the American welfare system by establishing time limits on welfare benefits and creating work requirements for recipients. The analysis is based on a set of interviews with state and local JOBS managers and managers of CWEP placement sites in eight states. Copyright 1998 by The Policy Studies Organization.
Effect of Pressure Ulcers on Length of Hospital Stay

Abstract Objective: To identify the independent effect of pressure ulcers on excess length of stay and control for all observable factors that may also contribute to excess length of stay. Hospitalized patients who develop a pressure ulcer during their hospital stay are at a greater risk for increased length of stay as compared with patients who do not. Design: Cross-sectional, observational study. Setting: Tertiary-care referral and teaching hospital in Australia. Patients: Two thousand hospitalized patients 18 years and older who had a minimum stay in the hospital of 1 night and admission to selected clinical units. Methods: Two thousand participants were randomly selected from 4,500 patients enrolled in a prospective survey conducted between October 2002 and January 2003. Quantile median robust regression was used to assess risk factors for excess length of hospital stay. Results: Having a pressure ulcer resulted in a median excess length of stay of 4.31 days. Twenty other variables were statistically significant at the 5% level in the final model. Conclusions: Pressure ulcers make a significant independent contribution to excess length of hospitalization beyond what might be expected based on admission diagnosis. However, our estimates were substantially lower than those currently used to make predictions of the economic costs of pressure ulcers; existing estimates may overstate the true economic cost.
Attention shifting in Parkinson's disease: an analysis of behavioral and cortical responses.

OBJECTIVE The study was designed to examine persistent (input selection) versus transient (input shifting) mechanisms of attention control in Parkinson's disease (PD). METHOD The study identifies behavioral and neural markers of selective control and shifting control using a novel combination of a flanker task with an attentional set-shifting task, and it compares patients with PD with matched controls. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded, and analyses focused on frontally distributed N2 waves, parietally distributed P3 waves, and error-related negativities (Ne/ERN). RESULTS Controls showed robust shifting costs (prolonged response times), but patients with PD did not show evidence for comparable shifting costs. Patients with PD made more errors than controls when required to shift between attentional sets, but also when they had to initially maintain an attentional set. At the neural level it was found that contrary to controls, patients with PD did not display any N2 and P3 augmentations on shift trials. Patients with PD further did not display any error-related activity or posterror N2 augmentation. CONCLUSIONS Our results reveal that intact selective control and disrupted shifting control are dissociable in patients with PD, but additional work is required to dissect the proportionate effects of disease and treatment on shifting control in PD. Our ERP-based approach opens a new window onto an understanding of motor and cognitive flexibility that seems to be associated with the dopaminergic innervation of cortico-striatal loops.
Muscarinic receptor modulation of GABA‐mediated giant depolarizing potentials in the neonatal rat hippocampus

1 The whole‐cell patch clamp technique was used to study the role of muscarinic receptors in regulating the frequency of giant depolarizing potentials (GDPs) in CA3 hippocampal neurones in slices from postnatal (P) P1‐P8 rats. 2 Atropine (1 μM) reduced the frequency of GDPs by 64·2 ± 2·9 %. The acetylcholinesterase inhibitor edrophonium (20 μM) increased the frequency of GDPs in a developmentally regulated way. This effect was antagonized by the M1 muscarinic receptor antagonist pirenzepine. 3 In the presence of edrophonium, tetanic stimulation of cholinergic fibres induced either an enhancement of GDP frequency (179 ± 79 %) or a membrane depolarization (27 ± 16 mV) associated with an increase in synaptic noise. These effects were prevented by atropine. 4 Application of carbachol (3 μM) produced an increase in GDP frequency that at P5‐P6 was associated with a membrane depolarization and an increase in synaptic noise. These effects were prevented by atropine, pirenzepine (3 μM) and bicuculline (10 μM). 5 In the presence of pirenzepine, carbachol reduced GDP frequency by 50 ± 4 %. Conversely, in the presence of methoctramine (3 μM), carbachol enhanced GDP frequency by 117 ± 4 %. 6 It is concluded that endogenous acetylcholine, through the activation of M1 receptors, enhances the release of γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA), in a developmentally regulated way. On the other hand, carbachol exerts both an up‐ and downregulation of GABA release through the activation of M1 and M2 receptors, respectively.
Working Capital Requirements and the Determining Factors in Pakistan

Literature on corporate finance has traditionally focused on the study of long-term financial decisions. Researchers have examined, in particular, the investment decisions, capital structure, dividends or company valuation decisions, among other topics. However, short-term assets and liabilities are important components of total assets and need to be carefully analyzed. Management of these short-term assets and liabilities warrants a careful investigation because working capital management plays an important role in a firm’s profitability as well as its value (Smith, 1980). The optimum level of working capital is determined, to a large extent, by the methods adopted by the management. Continuous monitoring is required to maintain optimum levels of various components of working capital, such as cash receivables, inventory and payables. In line with the studies of Afza and Nazir (2007 and 2008), the present study examines the factors that determine the working capital requirements of the firms. For this purpose, a study of 132 manufacturing firms from 14 industrial groups that were listed on Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) between the period 2004-2007 was undertaken. While the working capital requirement was used as the dependent variable, various financial and economical factors, such as operating cycle of the firm, level of economic activity, leverage, growth of the firm, operating cash flows, firm size, industry, return on assets and Tobin’s q, were used as the determining factors of working capital management. Regression analysis was carried out on the panel data for 132 non-financial firms over a period of nine years. Finally, the study suggests some policy implications for the managers and investors of Pakistani markets.
Overconfident Individual Day Traders: Evidence from a Natural Experiment

We take advantage of a natural experiment in the Taiwan futures market to investigate the overconfident behavior and the performance of day traders. Since October 2007, investors can commit to be literally “day traders”to enjoy halved margin deposit by closing the day-trade position on the same day. This ex ante nature provides us a laboratory without potential biases from other trading motivations and disposition effect. The result shows that the 3,470 individual day traders on average make a significantly loss of 61.5 (26.7) thousand New Taiwan dollars after (before) transaction costs. This implies that these day traders are not only overconfident in precision of information but also having biased interpretation of information. We also find that trading is hazardous to the overconfident losers, but not to the winners. Last, the evidence suggests that more experienced individual investors exhibit more aggressive day trading behavior. But these experienced day traders do not learn their types or gain superior trading skills, which could alleviate the losses brought by the behavior bias.
Top Clubs’ Performance and the Competitive Situation in European Domestic Football Competitions

The increase in payouts to European football clubs appearing in the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League (CL) in 1999-2000 had a lasting impact on the performance of top clubs in domestic football leagues. This policy change is treated as a natural experiment to compare the level of competitive balance in five top European leagues (England, Spain, Italy, Germany, and France) before and after the turn of the millennium. Based on several competitive balance measures, this article reveals a significant decrease in competitive balance after the modification of the CL payout system.
Long-Run Performance Following Private Placements of Equity

Public firms that place equity privately experience positive announcements effects, with negative post-announcement stock-price performance. This finding is inconsistent with the underreaction hypothesis. Instead, it suggests that investors are overoptimistic about the prospects of firms issuing equity, regardless of the method of issuance. Further, in contrast to public offerings, private issues follow periods of relatively poor operating performance. Thus, investor overoptimism at the time of private issues is not due to the behavioral tendency to overweight recent experience at the expense of long-term averages.
Cross-Asset Style Momentum

This paper reports significant momentum profits among style portfolios of multiple asset classes. Previous studies have demonstrated style momentum within equity markets. The findings of this paper show that style momentum is not merely an equity market phenomenon, but a cross-asset phenomenon. A decomposition of profits reveals that profits are mostly attributable to positive auto-correlations of style returns. We interpret this result as being more consistent with the underreaction models than with the excess comovement and performance chasing models.
Price, Authority, and Trust: From Ideal Types to Plural Forms

This review article focuses on the three control mechanisms that govern economic transactions between actors: price, authority, and trust. In contrast to conventional approaches that view market and hierarchy as mutually exclusive control mechanisms (or as poles of a continuum), we argue that price, authority, and trust are independent and can be combined in a variety of ways. For instance, price and authority are often played off each other within firms, while trust and price are sometimes intertwined to control transactions between firms. We also identify a type of organization largely ignored in the literature: the plural form. In the plural form, organizations simultaneously operate distinct control mechanisms for the same function. For example, organizations operate franchises and company-owned units under the same trademark, and companies sometimes make and buy the same part. To understand this form, the analytic focus must move from individual transactions to the broader architecture of control mec.
Turning Points in the U.S. Civil War: A British Perspective

This article examines the Confederate cotton bonds floated in Europe in March 1863 and traded on the London market. Over a 27 March 1863 to 17 June 1865 sample we isolate two, nonreversed, “turning points” that follow news of Confederate defeat at Gettysburg and Vicksburg in July 1863 and the fall of Atlanta in September 1864.
The initial and long‐run returns of Japanese venture capital‐backed and non‐venture capital‐backed IPOs

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine initial and long-run returns of Japanese IPOs in particular venture capital (VC)-backed and non-VC-backed. The main research focus is on the performance of VC-backed companies. Design/methodology/approach - This paper presents a comprehensive long-run performance analysis. As such, it provides evidence using two performance methods: cumulative abnormal returns (CARs) and buy-and-hold return (BHARs). This paper uses updated data from 1998 through 2001 and presents a deeper understanding for the long-run returns of Japanese IPOs. Findings - The findings show that there is no statistically significant difference in the initial returns of VC-backed and non-VC-backed companies. The evidence is inconsistent with the VC certification hypothesis that venture capitalists certify the true value of the firm and therefore reduce underpricing. Further, Japanese IPOs underperform in the long-run. The fads hypothesis is applicable to explain the poor long-run performance. The results suggest that although VC-backed companies have high initial returns, they perform significantly worse over a three-year time horizon than non-VC-backed companies. Research limitations/implications - An examination of the lock-up agreements is necessary to understand negative returns. The results of this paper provide a good starting point for such a study. Practical implications - This paper highlights the stock returns of VC-backed and non-VC-backed companies. It is hoped that investors and academics will benefit from the outcome of the current paper. Originality/value - To date, there is no comprehensive study on the Japanese IPO market applying both CAR and BHAR long-run measurements. This paper applies both measurements. Further, this is the first study of the long-run performance of Japanese firms going public in Mothers and in Hercules stock markets.
Student Performance in First Year Tertiary Accounting Courses and Its Relationship to Secondary Accounting Education

: Prior research into this issue in the U.S. and U.K. has utilized a variety of research designs and methods of testing and has produced conflicting empirical results. This Australian study develops a model of student performance which incorporates variables for academic ability, previous accounting knowledge, and mathematics background. The model allows for interactions between some of these variables. Results are tested using a multiple regression form of extended ANCOVA. The findings indicate that the hypothesis that performance in first year accounting is independent of secondary accounting education can be rejected at high levels of significance for all four years studied, both for student marks and rankings and also for aggregate marks as well as course components. The results are contrasted with previous research and the potential implications of these findings are discussed.
Choline Uptake in Cultured Human Y79 Retinoblastoma Cells: Effect of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Compositional Modifications

Abstract: Choline uptake in Y79 human retinoblastoma cells occurs through two kinetically distinguishable processes. The high‐affinity system shows little sodium or energy dependence, and it does not appear to be linked to acetyl CoA: choline O‐acetyltransferase. When the cells are grown in a culture medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum, the high‐affinity system has a K′m= 2.16 ± 0.13 μm and V′max= 27.0 ± 2.9 pmol min−1 mg−1, whereas the low‐affinity system has K′m= 20.4 ± 1.3 μm and V′max= 402 ± 49 pmol min−1 mg−1. Under these conditions, the polyunsaturated fatty acid content of the cell membranes is relatively low. When the polyunsaturated fatty acid content of the microsomal membrane fraction was increased by supplementing the culture medium with linolenic or docosahexaenoic acids (n‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acids) or arachidonic acid (n‐6 polyunsaturated fatty acid), the K′m of the high‐affinity choline transport system was reduced by 40–60%. The V′max also was reduced by 20–40%. Supplementation with oleic acid, the most prevalent monounsaturated fatty acid, did not affect either kinetic parameter. The results suggest that one functional effect of the high unsaturated fatty acid content of neural cell membranes is to facilitate the capacity of the high‐affinity choline uptake system to transport low concentrations of choline. This effect appears to be specific for polyunsaturated fatty acids but not for a single type, for it is produced by members of both the n‐3 and n‐6 classes of polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Video Analysis for Body-worn Cameras in Law Enforcement

The social conventions and expectations around the appropriate use of imaging and video has been transformed by the availability of video cameras in our pockets. The impact on law enforcement can easily be seen by watching the nightly news; more and more arrests, interventions, or even routine stops are being caught on cell phones or surveillance video, with both positive and negative consequences. This proliferation of the use of video has led law enforcement to look at the potential benefits of incorporating video capture systematically in their day to day operations. At the same time, recognition of the inevitability of widespread use of video for police operations has caused a rush to deploy all types of cameras, including body worn cameras. However, the vast majority of police agencies have limited experience in utilizing video to its full advantage, and thus do not have the capability to fully realize the value of expanding their video capabilities. In this white paper, we highlight some of the technology needs and challenges of body-worn cameras, and we relate these needs to the relevant state of the art in computer vision and multimedia research. We conclude with a set of recommendations.
Mindfulness-based forgiveness groups for older adults

ABSTRACT Interventions that enable individuals to be more forgiving toward themselves and others are important for older adults. This article describes a group intervention for adults aged 60 or older that integrates forgiveness-related skills with a mindfulness approach. The Mindfulness-based Forgiveness Group was designed to meet for eight sessions. The skills taught included: recognizing one’s own expectations and unenforceable rules, broadening one’s perspectives about the context of the transgression, and discovering positive intentions through exercises as well as a variety of meditations to cultivate mindfulness, self-compassion and forgiveness. Data from five Mindfulness-Based Forgiveness Groups were collected. Based on pre- and post-test measures, analyses indicate that participants improved significantly in relation to forgiveness, mindfulness/self-compassion, and mental health. Using qualitative post-test data from participants, we identify elements of the intervention that appear to be helpful. Suggestions are provided for social workers seeking to replicate and build upon this promising intervention.
Urban Form, Energy and the Environment: A Review of Issues, Evidence and Policy

The spatial configuration of cities and its relationship to the urban environment has recently been the subject of empirical, theoretical and policy research. Because of the disciplines involved, relevant articles are scattered over a large number of journals. The objective of this paper is to put the issues in perspective by reviewing the basic concepts and relationships involved, and to evaluate critically the current state of knowledge about urban form, energy utilisation and the environment. The scope of the paper is limited to urban transport energy use and the associated emissions. Suggestions for further progress in the field are offered, with emphasis placed on integrated urban models as useful and policy-sensitive analytical tools.
Extrapleural pneumonectomy for lung cancer with carcinomatous pleuritis.

C arcinomatous pleuritis in patients with lung cancer is usually found to accompany frank malignant pleural effusion and is associated with short-term survival.1 However, this condition is sometimes discovered, with or without a small amount of pleural effusion, at thoracotomy in patients with resectable non–small cell lung cancer. The incidence is reported as 3.2%,2 and in such patients surgical treatment has been applied in some institutions, with long-term survival in selected cases. We report here the results of extrapleural pneumonectomy for patients with lung cancer with carcinomatous pleuritis and discuss surgical treatment for this disease.
Effects of payment changes on trends in post-acute care.

OBJECTIVE To test how the implementation of new Medicare post-acute payment systems affected the use of inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs), skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), and home health agencies. DATA SOURCES Medicare acute hospital, IRF, and SNF claims; provider of services file; enrollment file; and Area Resource File data. STUDY DESIGN We used multinomial logit models to measure realized access to post-acute care and to predict how access to alternative sites of care changed in response to prospective payment systems. DATA EXTRACTION METHODS A file was constructed linking data for elderly Medicare patients discharged from acute care facilities between 1996 and 2003 with a diagnosis of hip fracture, stroke, or lower extremity joint replacement. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Although the effects of the payment systems on the use of post-acute care varied, most reduced the use of the site of care they directly affected and boosted the use of alternative sites of care. Payment system changes do not appear to have differentially affected the severely ill. CONCLUSIONS Payment system incentives play a significant role in determining where Medicare beneficiaries receive their post-acute care. Changing these incentives results in shifting of patients between post-acute sites.