Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
In vitro evaluation of the antibacterial activity of extracts from 34 species of North American lichens

Abstract Context: The emergence of antibiotic resistant pathogens is a serious global health threat. Hence, the search for new antibiotic drugs from various natural sources should be given high priority. Lichens produce a variety of low molecular weight metabolic compounds and many cultures have utilized these compounds in traditional medicine for centuries. Objective: Report the antibiotic properties of extracts from 34 North American lichens screened against four pathogenic bacteria. Materials and methods: The micro-well dilution method was used to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of acetone and methanol extracts of 34 lichen species against four bacterial strains. Major chemical compounds in each species were identified using thin layer chromatography (TLC). Results: Most of the lichen extracts demonstrated inhibitory effects against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) with MIC values ranging from 3.9 to 500 µg/ml. In addition, extracts from three species, Letharia columbiana (Nutt.) J. W. Thomson (Parmeliaceae), Letharia vulpina (L.) Hue (Parmeliaceae), and Vulpicida canadensis (Räsänen) J.-E. Mattsson & M. J. Lai (Parmeliaceae) (MIC = 125–500 µg/ml) were also effective against Escherichia coli. Generally, acetone extractions were found to be more effective than methanol extractions. Discussion and conclusion: Results of this study show that lichen extracts provide significant antimicrobial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. These results suggest that lichens may be an important potential source of antibacterial drugs.
Optimizing the Rear Seat Environment for Older Children, Adults, and Infants

Objective: Our recent rear seat safety research found that more-forward and higher lap belt anchorage locations and much shorter and stiffer seat cushions can improve the protection of older children from 6 to 12 years old who are using the vehicle belt without a booster. The objective of this study was to investigate whether the optimal rear seat restraint systems for adults and infants are consistent with those for older children. Methods: We conducted sensitivity analyses and design optimizations for adults and for infants in a rear-facing child restraint system (CRS) using a set of MADYMO models, an automated simulation framework, and occupant belt-fit and posture prediction models from our previous studies. A series of 12 sled tests was also used to validate the computational models. Results: The optimal belt anchorage locations and the seat cushion length for older children, adults, and rear-facing CRS-seated infants conflict with each other. In particular, more-forward lap belt anchorage locations that prevent submarining for older children would reduce the protection to both adults and CRS-seated infants, although the protection is still acceptable based on regulated injury criteria. A shorter seat cushion could provide optimal protection to older children and adults but would significantly increase the CRS rotation. Conclusions: The findings of this study suggested that adaptive/adjustable restraint systems are necessary to simultaneously improve the rear seat occupant protection for all age groups. Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Traffic Injury Prevention to view the supplemental file.
Agonist‐Induced Vascular Tone

The cellular mechanisms underlying the agonist-induced sustained contraction of the vascular smooth muscle are reviewed in the light of the use of Ca2+ and the change of Ca2+ sensitivity of the contractile apparatus. It is generally accepted that the main trigger for contraction of vascular smooth muscle is the elevation of intracellular Ca2+ concentration. However, the measurement of intracellular Ca2+ concentration during the sustained phase of agonist-induced contraction is reported to be lower than that of high K+ stimulation or the value obtained by the experiments with chemically skinned smooth muscle preparations. These observations indicate that a second regulatory system may exist. One possible mechanism is the effectiveness of Ca2+ use. Agonist-induced Ca2+ influx may be more effective in raising the intracellular Ca2+ in the bulk of the cytoplasm than is Ca2+ entry induced by depolarization by the inhibition of a putative sarcoplasmic reticulum buffer barrier. Another possibility is the change of Ca2+ sensitivity of the contractile apparatus. Although the survey of the recent literature concerning the phorbol ester-induced vasoconstriction tends to support a role for protein kinase C in the change of Ca2+ sensitivity of the contractile proteins, it fails to establish a clear link between receptors, protein kinase C, and myofilaments. By using new methods for permeabilizing smooth muscle fibers, which retain the function of receptors and signal transduction systems, we now provide direct evidence that the activation of G protein by norepinephrine or guanosine 5'-0-(3-triphosphate) (GTP-γ-S), nonhydrolyzable GTP analogue, enhances myofilament sensitivity to Ca2+.
Electoral Change in Advanced Industrial Democracies: Realignment or Dealignment?

In this study of the breakdown of traditional party loyalties and voting patterns, prominent comparativists and country specialists examine the changes now occurring in the political systems of advanced industrial democracies. Originally published in 1985. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Experience Matters? The Impact of Prior CEO Experience on Firm Performance

We sample CEOs of the 2005? S&P 500 corporations to look at the relationship between experience in the CEO position of a different firm and the post-succession financial performance of the firm that they currently lead. We find that experience in the CEO position is negatively related to firm performance. CEOs who directly move to their current CEO position from the previous one and those with job-specific experience in the same or related industry or at the helm of a previous company similar in size to the current one are associated with significantly lower post-succession performance than those without prior CEO experience. The results contribute to the literatures on CEO succession, the performance effect of job-specific experience, and the transferability of human capital.
Degree of male ornamentation affects female preference for conspecific versus heterospecific males

Several studies have shown female preference for conspecific males with the attached artificial ornaments of more elaborate heterospecifics. However, preference for heterospecifics under natural conditions is relatively rare. We tested what factors affect behavioural mechanisms of species isolation using three species of estrildid finch (genus Uraeginthus) that occur in both sympatry and allopatry. These finches differ in degree of sexual dimorphism; male ornamentation; behavioural and morphological similarity; and phylogenetic distance. Paired mate–choice trials were used in which females were presented with a conspecific and heterospecific male to test which of the above between–species differences best predicted the degree of premating isolation. The three species differed in the degree of species–specific mate preference shown. Females from the brighter two species discriminated against dull males, independently of sympatry–allopatry, similarity and phylogenetic distance. Females from the dull species reacted to conspecific males and brighter heterospecific males equally strongly, independently of similarity and phylogenetic distance. In contrast to previous studies, an equal preference for heterospecific and conspecific males was found under natural conditions. It is suggested that differences between closely related species in male ornamentation affect the likelihood that premating isolation will occur due to the fact that sexual selection tends to drive preferences for exaggerated ornamentation.
Consolidation in the Greek banking industry: which banks are acquired?

Purpose - The present paper aims to examine the relationship between bank's characteristics and market characteristics and the probability of acquisition in the Greek banking industry. Design/methodology/approach - Logistic regression is used to examine a sample of 24 banks, 9 of which were acquired between 1998 and 2002. Findings - It is found that profit and cost efficiency, liquidity and capital strength do not seem to have an impact on the acquisition likelihood. Market share in terms of deposits, the number of branches, the annual growth of bank's total assets and the size of banks are negatively related to the acquisition likelihood. From the three market characteristics that were examined, the concentration of the five largest banks, the mean return on average assets of the industry and the average total assets growth, only the first one was found to have a negative and statistically significant impact on the acquisition likelihood. Research limitations/implications - Variables related to management incentives and corporate governance, which may have an impact on the acquisition likelihood, were not available and therefore have not been considered. It is hoped that future research will improve upon this. Practical implications - The results could be of interest to bank managers of potential targets that would like to know whether their bank is developing a profile similar to the typical target. Furthermore, knowledge of bank's and market characteristics that increase the probability of acquisition can be of particular interest to policy makers. Originality/value - The investigation of the characteristics that affect the likelihood that a bank will be acquired has been largely ignored with most studies in banks M&As using event study, operating performance or X-efficiency methodology to examine the effect of M&As on the stock prices or the performance of banks. Furthermore, the limited studies that have examined the characteristics of acquired banks have focused on the US market. The present paper adds to the literature by examining the Greek banking sector, which is different from the US one in many aspects.
NAD(P)H-dependent chromium (VI) reductase of Pseudomonas ambigua G-1: a Cr(V) intermediate is formed during the reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III)

An NAD(P)H-dependent Cr(VI) reductase (molecular weight = 65,000) was purified from a Cr(VI)-resistant bacterium, Pseudomonas ambigua G-1. Stoichiometric analysis of the enzymatic reaction showed that the enzyme catalyzed the reduction of 1 mol of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) while consuming 3 mol of NADH as an electron donor. Chromium(VI) was reduced to Cr(V) by one equivalent NADH molecule in the absence of the enzyme. Electron spin resonance analysis showed that Cr(V) species (g = 1.979) was formed during the enzymatic reduction. The amount of Cr(V) species formed was about 10 times larger than that of the nonezymatic reduction. These findings show that the Cr(VI) reductase reduced Cr(VI) to Cr(III) with at least two reaction steps via Cr(V) as an intermediate.
Industry Structure and the Conglomerate 'Discount': Theory and Evidence

Recent literature has been largely negative in its assessment of corporate diversification. Diversified firms have been regarded as destructive of firm value, prone to agency problems and divisional rent-seeking. The empirical finding that multi-division firms tend to trade at a 'discount,' or negative 'excess value' relative to their single-segment counterparts, is claimed in support of this view. Our paper offers a different, more positive, perspective. We develop a simple, industry-based model to argue that conglomeration (and discounts) may, in fact, reflect an endogenous, value-enhancing response of firms to industry conditions and agency problems prevalent in all firms, not just conglomerates. With managers reluctant to reduce assets under their control, conglomeration emerges as a way to optimally induce managers to shift resources away from an industry, in response to unfavorable conditions. The model also provides a framework, with testable implications, to analyze patterns of conglomeration and excess values across different environments. The degree of conglomeration in an industry is predicted to have an inverse relation to the excess values of conglomerates in the industry and to the investment opportunities anticipated for single-segment firms. Using a panel data set of fifty of the largest US industries, over 1978-1997, we find significant empirical support for the model's predictions.
THE ECONOMIC RATIONALE OF UNIVERSITIES: A RECONSIDERATION

This paper is an attempt to make a contribution to current debates about the reform of higher education by using the work of Ronald Coase on the nature of the firm as a framework for considering alternative institutional structures for delivering educational services. Attention is focused particularly on rival ways of coordinating the delivery of educational services and guaranteeing standards. Extreme market-based scenarios involving freelance academics and itemised billing for specific services are contrasted with the present system involving very incomplete contracts for academic employees and package deal purchases of degrees by students. Costs and benefits of different institutional structures are examined. The role of academic professionalism in limiting opportunistic behaviour is considered in relation to policies that involve an increase in auditing of tertiary institutions.
Outcomes reported by students who participated in the 1994 Shell Technology Enterprise Programme

Policy-makers have supported initiatives that enhance the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). They have also encouraged more students to seek jobs in SMEs. This study assessed the contribution of the 1994 Shell Technology Enterprise Programme (STEP), which subsidized the employment of students in SMEs in the UK. A key issue is whether STEP students participating in the programme reported significantly superior benefits than students who had never participated in the programme (i.e. non-STEP students). Outcomes associated with the programme were assessed over a 36-month period between 1994 and 1997. The programme had no significant impact on the ability students to have obtained full-time jobs. Similarly, the programme was not found to be significantly associated with the ability of graduates to have obtained full-time jobs in small private firms. Both STEP and non-STEP students reported in 1997 less positive attitudes towards self-employment or starting their own business. However, STEP students expressed a significantly more positive attitude than non-STEP students towards self-employment or starting their own business. Conclusions and implications for policy-makers and practitioners are detailed.
GMAT Scores and Performance: Selecting Students into a Graduate Management School

Research shows that scores on the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) are positively correlated with academic performance at graduate management schools. This study replicates this finding on Australian data and extends the analysis to cover performance at the individual course level as well as for aggregate grade point average. This traditional treatment of the data while directed at the admission decision is in fact structured to explain variance in performance. A novel analysis is presented in parallel which investigates the trade–off between Type I errors (rejecting a student who would pass) and Type II errors (accepting a student who fails). This reveals that, while GMAT may be a good predictor of performance, it is an inefficient discriminator for selection purposes.
Do antiemetic drugs benefit adult emergency department patients with nausea? The literature says no, but is it right?

Nausea is a common problem in ED patients. Antiemetic drugs have been used in the ED for decades, but a recent Cochrane review found no convincing evidence for the benefit of antiemetic drugs over placebo. This was largely based on three placebo‐controlled trials, which found mean Visual Analog Scale (VAS) changes for various drugs and placebo, to be similar. However, reliance on mean VAS change as the primary outcome measure has probably been a mistake. It does not give information on the number of improved patients, so these cannot be compared between groups. Alternative primary outcome measures warrant further exploration. Use of a VAS cut‐off level indicative of clinically significant symptom improvement would allow comparison of numbers of patients with improved nausea ratings. This is proposed as the best option currently available. Preliminary testing of this outcome measure suggests that the conclusions of past studies may be misleading, and that the question of antiemetic efficacy for ED patients is not yet answered.
PHYLOGENY OF THE EUGLENOID LORICATE GENERA TRACHELOMONAS AND STROMBOMONAS (EUGLENOPHYTA) INFERRED FROM NUCLEAR SSU AND LSU rDNA 1

Previous studies using the nuclear SSU rDNA and partial LSU rDNA have demonstrated that the euglenoid loricate taxa form a monophyletic clade within the photosynthetic euglenoid lineage. It was unclear, however, whether the loricate genera Trachelomonas and Strombomonas were monophyletic. In order to determine the relationships among the loricate taxa, SSU and LSU nuclear rDNA sequences were obtained for eight Strombomonas and 25 Trachelomonas strains and combined in a multigene phylogenetic analysis. Conserved regions of the aligned data set were used to generate maximum‐likelihood (ML) and Bayesian phylogenies. Both methods recovered a strongly supported monophyletic loricate clade with Strombomonas and Trachelomonas species separated into two sister clades. Taxa in the genus Strombomonas sorted into three subclades. Within the genus Trachelomonas, five strongly supported subclades were recovered in all analyses. Key morphological features could be attributed to each of the subclades, with the major separation being that all of the spine‐bearing taxa were located in two sister subclades, while the more rounded, spineless taxa formed the remaining three subclades. The separation of genera and subclades was supported by 42 distinct molecular signatures (33 in Trachelomonas and nine in Strombomonas). The morphological and molecular data supported the retention of Trachelomonas and Strombomonas as separate loricate genera.
Pentoxifylline in the treatment of refractory nephrotic syndrome secondary to lupus nephritis.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the efficacy of pentoxifylline in the treatment of refractory nephrotic syndrome secondary to lupus nephritis. METHODS We studied 11 patients who met the following inclusion criteria: (1) systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) according to the American College of Rheumatology criteria; (2) lupus nephritis class III, IV, or V according to the World Health Organization; (3) proteinuria in the nephrotic range (> or = 3 g/24 h) for at least 6 months despite treatment. All patients received pentoxifylline 800-1600 mg/day. Clinical and laboratory data, including creatinine, urine test, creatinine clearance, and 24-h urinary protein, were collected monthly for 6 months. No changes in treatment were allowed, except for alterations in the dose of prednisone. RESULTS All patients had received corticosteroids and immunosuppressants for at least 6 months. All patients showed a decrease in proteinuria concentrations after use of pentoxifylline from a median of 5.5 to 2.0 (p = 0.003). No patient discontinued the drug due to side effects. One patient had nausea and one had anxiety that disappeared after decreasing the dosage. CONCLUSION Pentoxifylline seems to be effective in the treatment of refractory nephrotic syndrome secondary to lupus nephritis.
Simultaneously Learning and Advising in Multiagent Reinforcement Learning

Reinforcement Learning has long been employed to solve sequential decision-making problems with minimal input data. However, the classical approach requires a large number of interactions with an environment to learn a suitable policy. This problem is further intensified when multiple autonomous agents are simultaneously learning in the same environment. The teacher-student approach aims at alleviating this problem by integrating an advising procedure in the learning process, in which an experienced agent (human or not) can advise a student to guide her exploration. Even though previous works reported that an agent can learn faster when receiving advice, their proposals require that the teacher is an expert in the learning task. Sharing successful episodes can also accelerate learning, but this procedure requires a lot of communication between agents, which is unfeasible for domains in which communication is limited. Thus, we here propose a multiagent advising framework where multiple agents can advise each other while learning in a shared environment. If in any state an agent is unsure about what to do, it can ask for advice to other agents and may receive answers from agents that have more confidence in their actuation for that state. We perform experiments in a simulated Robot Soccer environment and show that the learning process is improved by incorporating this kind of advice.
Problems and solutions in the measurement of migration intensities: Australia and Britain compared

The differences in internal mobility between national populations are large and complex in origin. In studying them we must use comparable indicators. This paper discusses how measures of migration intensity at the national level should be constructed, drawing on analyses of residential mobility in Australia and Britain. We argue for the tailoring of intensity measures to observation plan and to age-time plan, and for removing the effects of mortality and external migration on census-based measures. We propose simple estimation of infant migrants, a standard stopping-age in calculating gross measures of migration, and argue for the use of a common population for computing age-standardized measures of migration and a common mortality schedule for computing migration expectancies. We conclude with recommendations for developing comparable cross-national measures of migration intensity.
model for reporting violence 'Bullets as bacteria': Television news magazines' use of the public health

Surveys of mass media content related to social violence suggest that it generally focuses on the individual, atomistic ‘act’ (e.g. the bang-bang car chase) rather than issues of cause and prevention. Yet, increasingly – but with controversy – doctors, health officials and activists have pushed for a ‘public health’ model of reporting news about crime and violence that looks at interactions between the victim, the agent of injury or death, and the environment in which the injury or death took place rather than viewing it in strictly individual terms. In this study of television news-magazine stories, we found a strong emphasis on episodic and personal stories, with minor allusions to greater social issues. The emphasis on entertainment seemed to negate any promised ‘public health’ angles. We conclude that the challenge for the public health model is to find ‘scripts’ that journalists deem to be publicly consumable and ratings friendly. K E Y W O R D S j crime j journalism j news j public health j television