Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Potentiation by angiotensin II of the vasopressin response to an increasing plasma osmolality.

An investigation was made of the effect of angiotensin II on the release of ADH in response to an osmotic stimulus. Dogs anesthetized with pentobarbital were hydrated initially by the infusion of 4% glucose iv, in order to bring the plasma concentrations of ADH and renin to low levels. Subsequent infusion of 2.5M NaCl iv, 1.38 ml/kg per min, resulted in a progressive increase in the plasma ADH concentration in response to the increasing plasma osmolality. The relationship between the plasma ADH concentration and plasma osmolality appeared to be rectilinear over the range studied. When the hypertonic saline infusion was accompanied by an infusion of angiotensin II, 10 ng/kg per min, into a common carotid artery, the increase in the plasma ADH concentration was significantly greater. Infusion of angiotensin II alone in the dose tested and under the reported experimental conditions was without a significant effect on the plasma ADH level. It is concluded that angiotensin II can potentiate the release of ADH .
Antibacterial activity of coumermycin alone and in combination with other antibiotics

Coumermycin has been shown to inhibit Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis strains that are susceptible and those that are resistant to methicillin at concentrations less than or equal to 0.05 micrograms/ml. Listeria monocytogenes and Corynebacterium spp. resistant to cephalosporins were inhibited by less than or equal to 1.6 micrograms of coumermycin ml, and streptococcal species, with the exception of Streptococcus faecalis, were inhibited by 0.1 micrograms/ml. Cross-resistance with beta-lactams or aminoglycosides was not found. Coumermycin acted synergistically with ofloxacin, norfloxacin, and enoxacin against S. aureus but did not show synergy when combined with nafcillin, vancomycin, or rifampin. Coumermycin did not inhibit members of the family Enterobacteriaceae or Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Evaluating the prevalence of employees without written terms of employment in the European Union

Purpose Until now, there has been scant evidence on the proportion and characteristics of employees working without a written contract or terms of employment. To begin to fill this gap, the purpose of this paper is to evaluate the prevalence and distribution of employees without written contracts or terms of employment in the European Union (EU), examining whether they are unevenly distributed across countries and EU regions, and whether it is vulnerable population groups who are more likely to be without such written contracts. Design/methodology/approach A 2013 Eurobarometer survey comprising 11,025 face-to-face interviews with employees in the 28 member states of the EU (EU-28) is reported. Findings The finding is that it is less socio-demographic and socio-economic characteristics, and more firm size, institutional environment and spatial factors that are important in explaining the prevalence of employment without a written contract. Thus, governments should address not individuals but rather the formal institutional failings and asymmetry between civic and state morality, in order to reduce the level of employment without a written contract, and focus their attention on smaller firms, larger towns and Southern European countries, especially Cyprus, Malta and Portugal. Research limitations/implications Future research needs to evaluate whether and how the conditions of employment (e.g. wage rates, health and safety conditions, holiday entitlements) of employees without written contracts or terms of employment differ to their equivalents who have written contracts or terms of employment. This will reveal the implications of workers not being issued with written contracts or terms of employment. Originality/value This is one of the first extensive evaluations of the prevalence and distribution of employees without written contracts or terms of employment.
Homeless, Mentally Ill and Addicted: The Need for Abuse and Trauma Services

This paper examines an empirical investigation of the lifetime prevalence of trauma (defined as sexual and/or physical abuse) in a cohort of adults enrolled in a federally funded initiative that provides treatment for homeless persons suffering the effects of comorbid substance use and serious mental illness, and considers the impact of this information on clinical programming. Data collected from homeless individuals with co-occurring disorders admitted to the Seeking Treatment and Recovery (STAR) Program during a one year period (n=78) were analyzed for a history of trauma events. Of those individuals evaluated, 79.5% (62/78) acknowledged a history of either physical and/or sexual abuse at some time in their lifetimes. Of this population, 100% of the homeless women (27/27) with co-occurring disorders had experienced a life-altering traumatic event while 68.6% (35/51) of the homeless men also reported trauma histories. We describe the trauma-based interventions made in the STAR Program that have the potential for replication in other initiatives committed to serving homeless individuals with co-occurring disorders.
Survey on the Level of Knowledge and Skills of Project Managers in Regional Development

The level of knowledge and skills of project managers in the field of regional development shows a high level of differentiation, which has an impact on management of (non)investment projects in the given region. For effective addressing problems of regional development is crucial that projects will be processed, handled and managed at a professional level. The paper aims to confirm or disprove the given hypothesis and to identify the knowledge areas affected by the ignorance the most. For this purpose the survey on the level of knowledge and skills of project managers in regional development in NUTS III region in the Czech Republic was conducted. The survey results has allowed identifying the level of knowledge and skills of project managers in regional development in project management knowledge areas and thereby has enabled to identify the knowledge areas affected by the ignorance the most. Among these knowledge areas belong mainly Risk management, Scope management and Quality management. The results have also enabled to present the level of differentiation of the level of knowledge and skills of project managers from the mean and to compare findings in the particular NUTS III region of the Czech Republic among each other. The findings show a high level of differentiation of the knowledge and skills of project managers.
Investigating the running abilities of Tyrannosaurus rex using stress-constrained multibody dynamic analysis

The running ability of Tyrannosaurus rex has been intensively studied due to its relevance to interpretations of feeding behaviour and the biomechanics of scaling in giant predatory dinosaurs. Different studies using differing methodologies have produced a very wide range of top speed estimates and there is therefore a need to develop techniques that can improve these predictions. Here we present a new approach that combines two separate biomechanical techniques (multibody dynamic analysis and skeletal stress analysis) to demonstrate that true running gaits would probably lead to unacceptably high skeletal loads in T. rex. Combining these two approaches reduces the high-level of uncertainty in previous predictions associated with unknown soft tissue parameters in dinosaurs, and demonstrates that the relatively long limb segments of T. rex—long argued to indicate competent running ability—would actually have mechanically limited this species to walking gaits. Being limited to walking speeds contradicts arguments of high-speed pursuit predation for the largest bipedal dinosaurs like T. rex, and demonstrates the power of multiphysics approaches for locomotor reconstructions of extinct animals.
In Pain Thou Shalt Bring Forth Children

Childbirth is usually the most painful event of a mother’s life, and resonates in individual and collective memory for years. The current study examined the relationship between the experience of labor pain and its recollection 2 days and 2 months after delivery. We found that despite the exceptional physical and emotional experiences of childbirth, the memory of the pain involved in labor was biased toward the average of the peak pain and the end pain, whereas the duration of the delivery had a relatively negligible effect on the recollected intensity of pain. A comparison of mothers whose labor ended with or without epidural analgesia corroborated previous findings that the level of pain toward the end of an experience greatly influences the way the overall experience is remembered. Although both short- and long-term retention of memories of labor exhibited the peak-and-end effect, having given birth before weakened the effect 2 months after delivery.
Implications of Crude Oil Price Volatility and Parallel Exchange Rate Fluctuation on the Cost of Living in Nigeria

As the sixth largest exporter of crude oil, Nigeria heavily depends on oil earnings to fund economic activities. The country also rely heavily on imports of consumables, both oil and non oil consumables. Nigeria’s vulnerability to crude oil price shock at the international oil market exposes the nation to certain unfavourable results. The study investigated the influence of crude oil price volatility on parallel exchange rate and their influence on the cost of living and doing business in Nigeria. Two stage least square, generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity, vector error correction, impulse response and variance decomposition was employed to measure the influence of crude oil price on parallel exchange rate and their influence on cost of living in Nigeria. Crude oil price volatility negatively and significantly influenced parallel exchange rate fluctuation and consumer price index in Nigeria. Parallel exchange rate positively and significantly influenced consumer price index in Nigeria. Declining crude oil prices implies decreasing income for the Nigerian economy and in turn per capita income. Rising cost of living with declining per capita income further impoverishes Nigerians. Therefore Nigeria should effectively take control of the production of crude oil, increase her refining capacity and increase production and export of other products with comparative advantages.
Switching-voltage detection and compensation circuits for ultra-low-voltage CMOS inverters

This paper describes a switching-voltage detector and compensation circuits for an ultra-low-voltage CMOS inverter. The switching voltage of an inverter is an important design parameters for a digital circuit, and is determined by the difference in threshold voltages between MOSFETs. However, switching voltage varies significantly with fabrication process conditions and temperature. To address this problem, we have developed a threshold voltage difference detector circuit. We have also proposed a possible compensation technique for the inverter. Monte Carlo simulations demonstrated that the threshold voltage detector circuit can monitor the threshold voltage difference between pMOSFET and nMOSFET, and that the proposed inverter can achieve 80% reduction in switching-voltage variation compared to a conventional CMOS inverter.
A checklist of helminth parasites of Elasmobranchii in Mexico

Abstract A comprehensive and updated summary of the literature and unpublished records contained in scientific collections on the helminth parasites of the elasmobranchs from Mexico is herein presented for the first time. At present, the helminth fauna associated with Elasmobranchii recorded in Mexico is composed of 132 (110 named species and 22 not assigned to species), which belong to 70 genera included in 27 families (plus 4 incertae sedis families of cestodes). These data represent 7.2% of the worldwide species richness. Platyhelminthes is the most widely represented, with 128 taxa: 94 of cestodes, 22 of monogeneans and 12 of trematodes; Nematoda and Annelida: Hirudinea are represented by only 2 taxa each. These records come from 54 localities, pertaining to 15 states; Baja California Sur (17 sampled localities) and Baja California (10), are the states with the highest species richness: 72 and 54 species, respectively. Up to now, 48 elasmobranch species have been recorded as hosts of helminths in Mexico; so, approximately 82% of sharks and 67% of rays distributed in Mexican waters lack helminthological studies. The present list provides the host, distribution (with geographical coordinates), site of infection, accession number in scientific collections, and references for the parasites. A host-parasite list is also provided.
Electric-Field Limits for the Design of Grading Rings for Composite Line Insulators

A major consideration for utilities applying composite insulators on overhead lines and substations is the aging of the polymer materials used for insulator housing. Historically, a primary driver for composite insulator development was to achieve a good contamination of flashover and aging performance. However, the application of composite insulators is not only limited to highly contaminated areas since large numbers are now also installed in locations with low contamination severities. The study of the long-term aging and life expectancy of composite insulators in clean environments is, therefore, of fundamental importance. Recent work at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and STRI has identified water-induced discharge activity as an important aging mechanism in these environments. This paper summarizes the findings of the extensive research carried out by these two organizations to determine a practical limit for the permissible E-field on insulator surfaces for design purposes. The initial work by the EPRI to determine e-field thresholds for water-induced corona, published in 1999, is expanded on the basis of small- and full-scale tests by both organizations to refine threshold levels and determine the influence of insulator parameters, such as hydrophobicity and shed profile. The influence of water-induced corona on the aging performance of insulators is also investigated on the basis of in-service inspections, accelerated aging tests, and natural exposure tests. The implications of this work on the need and dimensioning procedures for grading rings are also discussed.
Broadband Internet and New Firm Location Decisions in Rural Areas

&NA; Improving rural broadband access has been touted as a rural development strategy, but there is limited evidence that broadband service affects rural economic growth. We measure the effect of broadband deployment on location decisions of new rural firms. Location‐specific fixed effects are controlled by a counterfactual baseline that measures how local broadband service in the early 2000s affected local new firm entry in the early 1990s before broadband was available anywhere. The change in location choice probability of new firms from the counterfactual baseline to the actual response ten years later is the difference‐in‐differences estimate of the effect of broadband deployment on locations of new firms. We find that broadband availability has a positive and significant effect on location decisions of new firms in rural areas, which is confirmed by a robustness test using ZIP Code dummy variables. The broadband effect is largest in more populated rural areas and those adjacent to a metropolitan area, suggesting that this effect increases with agglomeration economies.
Design of HIFU Transducers for Generating Specified Nonlinear Ultrasound Fields

Various clinical applications of high-intensity focused ultrasound have different requirements for the pressure levels and degree of nonlinear waveform distortion at the focus. The goal of this paper is to determine transducer design parameters that produce either a specified shock amplitude in the focal waveform or specified peak pressures while still maintaining quasi-linear conditions at the focus. Multiparametric nonlinear modeling based on the Khokhlov–Zabolotskaya–Kuznetsov (KZK) equation with an equivalent source boundary condition was employed. Peak pressures, shock amplitudes at the focus, and corresponding source outputs were determined for different transducer geometries and levels of nonlinear distortion. The results are presented in terms of the parameters of an equivalent single-element spherically shaped transducer. The accuracy of the method and its applicability to cases of strongly focused transducers were validated by comparing the KZK modeling data with measurements and nonlinear full diffraction simulations for a single-element source and arrays with 7 and 256 elements. The results provide look-up data for evaluating nonlinear distortions at the focus of existing therapeutic systems as well as for guiding the design of new transducers that generate specified nonlinear fields.
Rosuvastatin reduces experimental left ventricular infarct size after ischemia-reperfusion injury but not total coronary occlusion.

This study compared the effects of rosuvastatin on left ventricular infarct size in mice after permanent coronary occlusion vs. 60 min of ischemia followed by 24 h of reperfusion. Statins can inhibit neutrophil adhesion, increase nitric oxide synthase (NOS) expression, and mobilize progenitor stem cells after ischemic injury. Mice received blinded and randomized administration of rosuvastatin (20 mg.kg(-1). day(-1)) or saline from 2 days before surgery until death. After 60 min of ischemia with reperfusion, infarct size was reduced by 18% (P = 0.03) in mice randomized to receive rosuvastatin (n = 18) vs. saline (n = 22) but was similar after permanent occlusion in rosuvastatin (n = 17) and saline (n = 20) groups (P = not significant). Myocardial infarct size after permanent left anterior descending coronary artery occlusion (n = 6) tended to be greater in NOS3-deficient mice than in the wild-type saline group (33 +/- 4 vs. 23 +/- 2%, P = 0.08). Infarct size in NOS3-deficient mice was not modified by treatment with rosuvastatin (34 +/- 5%, n = 6, P = not significant vs. NOS3-deficient saline group). After 60 min of ischemia-reperfusion, neutrophil infiltration was similar in rosuvastatin and saline groups as was the percentage of CD34(+), Sca-1(+), and c-Kit(+) cells. Left ventricular NOS3 mRNA and protein levels were unchanged by rosuvastatin. Rosuvastatin reduces infarct size after 60 min of ischemia-reperfusion but not after permanent coronary occlusion, suggesting a potential anti-inflammatory effect. Although we were unable to demonstrate that the myocardial protection was due to an effect on neutrophil infiltration, stem cell mobilization, or induction of NOS3, these data suggest that rosuvastatin may be particularly beneficial in myocardial protection after ischemia-reperfusion injury.
Impact of Market Orientation on the Performance of Private Universities in Pakistan

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of market orientation on the performance of private universities in Pakistan. The effects of market orientation are visualized on different performance measures which were developed for universities specifically. Design/methodology/approach: The data in this study was collected through survey strategy from 300 faculty members of 15 randomly selected private universities of Pakistan. The survey was performed by using questionnaire stating the measures of market orientation and performance. The reliability and validity of scale were assessed. The regression analysis was performed to test the hypothesis. Findings: The findings of this study confirm the relationship of market orientation with performance measures. The market orientation has positive and significant relationship with student retention, student growth, market share, quality of teaching & services, research performance and overall performance. Research Limitations: The data was collected from only one country Pakistan. Furthermore, this study is cross-sectional as performance measure may be longitudinal process. Originality/value: The results of this study point out the importance of market orientation in private universities. The universities with high level of market orientation will have positive performance outcomes in terms of higher level of student retention, enrolment growth and rise in market share and enhancement in overall performance.
Leveraging the impact of supply chain integration through information technology

Purpose Companies increasingly exchange information to work more closely with supply chain partners. Although information exchange is a critical element for up- and downstream partnerships, the purpose of this paper is to indicate that it is not a guarantee for improved performance and should be combined with other integration tactics to fully capture its benefits. Design/methodology/approach Using a global sample in the industrial sector, a moderated mediation framework for both upstream and downstream integration, which links integration tactics to operational performance, was empirically tested. Findings This research shows that operational integration is indispensable to capture the benefits of information exchange. In addition, it points out that the impact of the use of information technology (IT) is stronger for upstream integration. Practical implications While the data show that the use of IT significantly improves the delivery performance in the supply chain, it also signals to managers how and when to invest in supply chain integration tactics. Originality/value This paper contributes to a better understanding of the supply chain integration-performance link, by clarifying some of the inconsistencies in previous literature and by simultaneously analyzing upstream and downstream implications.
Distribution of doublecortin expressing cells near the lateral ventricles in the adult mouse brain

Doublecortin (Dcx) is a microtubule‐associated protein expressed by migrating neuroblasts in the embryo and in the adult subventricular zone (SVZ). The adult SVZ contains neuroblasts that migrate in the rostral migratory stream (RMS) to the olfactory bulbs. We have examined the distribution and phenotype of Dcx‐positive cells in the adult mouse SVZ and surrounding regions. Chains of Dcx‐positive cells in the SVZ were distributed in a tight dorsal population contiguous with the RMS, with a separate ventral population comprised of discontinuous chains. Unexpectedly, Dcx‐positive cells were also found outside of the SVZ: dorsally in the corpus callosum, and ventrally in the nucleus accumbens, ventromedial striatum, ventrolateral septum, and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. Dcx‐positive cells outside the SVZ had the morphology of migrating cells, occurred as individual cells or in chain‐like clusters, and were more numerous anteriorly. Of the Dcx‐positive cells found outside of the SVZ, 47% expressed the immature neuronal protein class III β‐tubulin, 8% expressed NeuN, a marker of mature neurons. Dcx‐positive cells did not express molecules found in astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, or microglia. Structural and immunoelectron microscopy revealed that cells with the ultrastructural features of neuroblasts in the SVZ were Dcx+, and that clusters of neuroblasts emanated ventrally from the SVZ into the parenchyma. Our results suggest that the distribution of cells comprising the walls of the lateral ventricle are more heterogeneous than was thought previously, that SVZ cells may migrate dorsally and ventrally away from the SVZ, and that some emigrated cells express a neuronal phenotype. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.